Traditional Dim Sum from Central in Hong Kong - Luk Yu Teahouse & Restaurant (Ion Orchard)

Tucked away in a corner right at the entrance of the Food Opera foodcourt in Orchard Ion, Luk Yu Teahouse & Restaurant might be displayed as a mere dim sum takeaway stall. In fact, I noticed that most people buy the dim sum and eat at the tables in the foodcourt rather than head inside the restaurant's dining area. Maybe they thought that they had to pay extra to eat there? I also thought so at first but surprisingly, I didn't have to pay any additional GST nor service charge.

Actually, the reason why I was keen to try Luk Yu had to do with the fact that I had intended to visit its Hong Kong outlet when I was there at the beginning of the year. However, due to some last-minute changes to my plans, I had to give this a miss even though the guidebook I had highly recommended this for its traditional charm since it was established back in 1933. As such, I have no basis of comparison when it comes to whether the HK or SG version is better. In a way, that is helpful too because I tried the food with an open mind and wasn't too critical about it. Maybe I'll be less forgiving when I try Tim Ho Wan in Plaza Singapura since I was really impressed with what I tasted in HK.

Looking at the menu, it is predominantly made up of dim sum items taking up two-thirds of the page. The remaining space is for congee, noodles, desserts and beverages which you can see that there aren't too many choices.

Starting off the meal with a plum drink since it was pretty hot that day and I wasn't in the mood for Chinese tea. By the way, Luk Yu offers a selection of Chinese tea for you to match with your dim sum so you can check out the menu on the table. I was hoping that the plum drink would be a light and refreshing drink which could help to reduce the after-meal oiliness. However, it was a tad too sour for my liking and so I would have liked it to be slightly more diluted. There isn't much to say about the way the drink was presented which I suppose lies with the fact that Luk Yu is a teahouse after all so they would probably put more effort in the teapots and teacups used for Chinese tea rather drinks like plum juice which are commonplace everywhere else. Not that it bothers me though because I can understand where the emphasis would be placed on.

And next up are the dim sum items! I always like to order this dish of spare ribs steamed in black bean sauce whenever I have dim sum but not every place does this well enough. Either their spare ribs are too bony with little meat or too oily so I find myself being disappointed most of the time. Luckily, Luk Yu does fine in this dish with a generous portion of meaty spare ribs which doesn't leave an oily aftertaste at the end of the meal. However, if there's one thing I must point out, I think the evenness of the taste needs to be improved because the spare ribs at the bottom seem to have soaked up a lot of the sauce and became a tad saltier than the meat at the top which can taste less flavourful than it should have been so it's a pity that something like this happened.

Another staple dim sum item I must have will be the siew mai. Luk Yu's version seems a bit more meaty than "prawny" and gives the impression that the meat's taste has overshadowed the prawns within. Given that the size of the prawns is a little smaller than the versions found in places such as Crystal Jade, maybe that's why the taste leans towards the meaty side rather than the seafood freshness found in prawns. For people who prefer to taste big fat prawns in their siew mai, this version might not meet your expectations. Although I'm also the type who prefers the prawn taste to be stronger than the meat, I can still accept this version but if I have to eat multiple pieces of this in one seating, I don't think I would really enjoy doing this. Maybe one or two would do just fine for me.

I always like to have Cantonese-style congee with my dim sum so I ordered the seafood porridge here. It was a huge surprise to see so many ingredients inside this $6.80 porridge with at least four pieces of fish, prawns and scallops each. No doubt the prawns might not as big as those in Crystal Jade's version or that the scallops were actually sliced thinner (maybe into half of its original size?), I think it's a pretty good bargain after all given its price. Another good thing was to see the peanuts and crispy crackers on top of the congee when it was served. A lot of places don't serve peanuts with their congee so I was really happy to see that. The only grouse I have has got more to do with my personal taste though, the congee seemed a bit bland and I had to add some light soy sauce to it. In other places, I'm usually fine with no light soy sauce for my congee. As such, if you are one who likes lighter fare, I think this congee might just suit you.

On the whole, this outlet of Luk Yu dishes out decent fare at market prices comparable to the competition. The biggest selling points or should I have its advantages lie in the fact that it's right at the entrance of the food court and doesn't charge you taxes or service charge thus should attract a fair bit of customers. However, people seemed unwilling to enter the restaurant's dining area so it would be to the restaurant's advantage if they inform customers about the no-GST and no-service charge perks which should boost the restaurant's table occupancy rate. When I was there on a weekend evening, there were just three tables of customers including me so that's definitely on the low side.

Maybe it's time for me to consider going back to HK again to try the original Luk Yu? ^__^

Review of Platina Data (novel) by Higashino Keigo

Even though I bought this book in September last year, I only managed to complete it in late March because I read a few pages and stopped for a long time because I was tied up with other things. It doesn't mean that this novel is bad in any way though so I would like to make this clear. I have a bad habit of wanting to buy new books even though I still have a huge number of unread stuff to go through so I'm trying hard to resist the urge to get new books and aiming to finish my waiting list first. Since the movie version was just released in March, I thought that I should finish this first in case the movie does come to Singapore anytime soon. Last time I heard, it should be coming to our cinemas in May! ^__^

Anyway, if you haven't read this novel and wish to avoid knowing how the story develops, I would suggest that you skip this review. I certainly do not want to spoil the fun for you especially if you are in the midst of reading it or haven't even started.

Before I begin sharing my thoughts on this, let me give a summary of the key characters involved and their relationships with one another. Note that there are some minor characters I've left out since they did not appear for too long:

Kagura Ryuuhei - the chief analyst of National Police Agency's Special Analysis & Research Institute. Develops a second personality named Ryuu after the suicide of his father.
Asama Reiji - assistant police inspector of Metropolitan Police Department's 1st section
Tokura - Asama's junior and partner
Nasu - the chief of MPD's 1st section
Kiba - subsection chief of MPD's 1st section
Shiga Takashi - chief of National Police Agency's Special Analysis & Research Institute
Kagura Shogo - Ryuuhei's father, a ceramic artist
Tateshina Saki - the programmer who developed the DNA Investigation system
Tateshina Kousaku - Saki's elder brother
Minagami Youjirou - a professor in neurology at Shinseiki University Hospital and Ryuuhei's doctor
Shiratori Risa - a American-Japanese who is doing research on DNA profiling
Suzuran - Ryuu's girlfriend
Chikushi - a former architect who lives at a remote settlement in Borero City
Sasori - a former bartender who used to work at a bar operated by a gang and lives in the same settlement as Chikushi

Despite the fact that there are so many characters in this story, the movie version chooses to make some changes to the lineup and only showcases the characters I've put in bold as the main cast (based on what I see from the movie's official site). I am guessing some of the characters above may also appear in the movie. Besides this, Tateshina Kousaku's character is also missing from the lineup while Minagami is changed to become a female (Suzuki Honami) in the movie.

The novel can be largely broken up into three main arcs i.e. the events leading up to the development of the DNA Investigation System, the Tateshina siblings' double murders and the manhunt for Kagura. To begin with, the novel talks about how the police is developing this DNA Investigation System which uses DNA data to do matching in order to find criminals easily and accurately. Besides that, it can also help to project how the person may look like and even reveal specific physical characteristics about the criminal and his/her family members. However, Asama being the type of old-school police detective you see in most police dramas who believe in using his feet to find the criminals i.e. going around looking for clues or questioning people, he doesn't believe in the DNA Investigation System which is very strongly "promoted" by Kagura. Despite Asama's resistance and lack of faith in the system, it turns out to be a great thing after all as the police solve cases quickly and get their hands on the criminals easily. Kagura who strongly believes in the worth of his system and data then takes part in efforts in boosting awareness of the system and getting all Japanese citizens to provide their DNA to be included in the database despite concerns over privacy etc.

The second arc is set some time after the DNA system takes off and it is then revealed that the system is actually developed by the Tateshina siblings who stay in a VIP room at Shinseiki University Hospital. Kagura is also revealed to have a dual-personality by the name of Ryu so he has to seek treatment at the same hospital to allow Ryu to "appear" at designated times to do his thing. However, during one of the visits to the hospital, Kagura finds the Tateshina siblings dead in their room and starts to doubt whether Ryu could be behind it. In addition, he is horrified to see that his own DNA was found on Saki which will place him under suspicion as the culprit.


The final arc shows Kagura being aided by Shiratori as he goes on the run to find the truth. Asama who goes after Kagura, slowly realises that there is more to what it seems as they both arrive at the same conclusion...

I must say that the beauty of this novel lies in Higashino Keigo's ability to craft his characters in such a way that gets you fully emotionally invested in what happens to them and to surprise you with unexpected developments just when you least expect and that helps to keep the reader engaged instead of losing interest. Frankly speaking, I thought the first arc was a tad slow but given that it needed to show all the relationships between the characters, explain how the DNA Investigation System came about and why it was touted to be a lifesaver as well as show a contrast in Kagura and Asama's attitudes towards the system. One thinks that it is the solution to everything and can do no wrong while the other thinks that it is definitely not without its flaws. Of course, Kagura gets proven wrong at the end because the same system he believes in actually led to him being accused of something he did not do. No doubt he had suffered while being on the run, I think the experience helped to make him see things from different perspectives instead of being stubborn in everything. It was also good that Asama doubted the accuracy of the system or else he would have been tricked into believing that Kagura was responsible for the murders. Sometimes, a police detective's instinct works better than hard and cold data.

Things start to heat up in the second arc after the murders took place especially as Kagura also doubts himself or rather his other self about whether he is the murderer. Although Kagura and Ryu have been co-existing without much trouble, Kagura does not seem to think too favourably about his alter-ego while Ryu can't be bothered with Kagura either. The amount of faith that Kagura has in his DNA Investigation System can be seen from the fact that he chose to doubt Ryu first instead of the system. With Shiratori's assistance, he begins his journey of being on the run before the police can catch up. During this period, Kagura finds out more things about Ryu and that he even has a girlfriend Suzuran who seems to appear and disappear at will.

The third arc offers a lot of revelations and unexpected twists as Kagura is fighting with an invisible enemy i.e. the real culprit while Asama is investigating the case through his own ways. Although they appear to be going in different directions, they manage to arrive at the same conclusion somehow or so it seems. I won't give away the ending because it is really gripping and very interesting. As for how the main characters end up, I would say that it's a happy ending after all although I think there's a tinge of regret and it's not an ideal fairy tale conclusion. It's something more in tune with the circumstances described in the novel and really more believable as something which might happen in the real world.

On the whole, I think this is a great novel from Higashino which is truly a classic piece of work. I'm not sure if this has been translated into other languages yet but if you can read Japanese, do pick this up and have a go at it. I don't know if the movie follows the novel very closely but I'm guessing it might not, going by some telltale clues in the cast.

Japanese kissaten around the corner - Okada Coffee 岡田珈琲 (100AM)

Tucked away in a corner at the newly-opened 100AM (formerly known as Amara Shopping Centre) is this quaint kissaten 喫茶店 called Okada Coffee which hails from Kumamoto in Japan. According to its Facebook page, Okada Coffee defines the activity kissa as 1) to enjoy cake and dessert with coffee or tea and 2) to enjoy coffee or tea after meal. I happened to spot this little cafe after having ramen at Keisuke which is in the same building so I made up my mind to check out this Japanese-style cafe one day. In case you are wondering, I'll have a post about Keisuke another day.

The selling point of this cafe is definitely its coffee but unfortunately, I don't drink coffee so I can't judge whether the coffee lives up to what it claims to be. In fact, I was a bit wary about entering the place because I wondered if there was anything for someone like me. However, there are alternative choices for non-coffee drinkers or those who prefer not to drink coffee on a particular day so don't be intimidated by the fact that although the name of the cafe emphasizes coffee, you can still find other beverage choices here to go with the exquisite desserts here.

I paid a visit to Okada Coffee at teatime on a weekday which was almost empty except for a couple who was having coffee and desserts while chatting. It may be a different story during weekends though. Not that I mind though because I've always liked places like this which are relatively quiet and allows me to relax while enjoying a nice dessert. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to find such places around because the popular cafes tend to get so crowded and noisy so relaxation seems to be an elusive concept at such places. When you look at the store front, it appears to be rather small but once you step in, it's not cramped at all and has quite a number of tables placed at a comfortable distance from one another.

From the menu, it appears that Okada Coffee serves a selection of main dishes during lunch and dinner hours so it's more than just coffee/tea and desserts here. However, as I was there during teatime, I didn't get to taste the main dishes so I'll probably have to come for a second visit to try them. At the entrance, there are some Japanese magazines including travel guides to various spots so you can bring them to your table for your reading pleasure.

If you are at Okada Coffee after 2pm, there is this teatime offer where you can order a dessert with a drink for an additional of $4. I ordered the matcha cake which was $6 and the yuzu soda so the bill came up to $10.70 after GST. The matcha cake was very flavourful and the sponge cake portion moist enough to bring out the aroma of the matcha. Combined with the slightly sour-and-sweet yuzu soda, it evened out the sweetness of the cake. At the same time, the cake brought out the refreshing taste of the yuzu soda so I was pleased that this turned out to be a good combination after all.

If you are looking for a quiet place to do some reading while drinking aromatic coffee and having some desserts at the same time, this will be a good place to check out. Just in case you miss this place, Okada Coffee's on the third floor and at the opposite end from where Keisuke, Yayoiken and the Jeju restaurants are. There's a juice bar just beside the cafe so it should be easy to locate this little kissaten.

Review of "The Bride Always Knocks Twice" / 她门 (Stage play)

I must confess, I'm not an avid theatre-goer. I used to see a number of stage plays when I was in school and that was when we got subsidised tickets at prices which were affordable then. However, after leaving school, I didn't approach plays with the same level of passion as before and it was only till last year when I started to watch stage productions again. There were some titles over the years which did interest me but sad to say, sometimes the ticket prices were too high (in my opinion though) or that the timing wasn't suitable for me. When the moon and stars were in alignment again, that was when I made a comeback to watching plays and boy, this is an addictive and very cost-intensive hobby. ^__^

Grabbing the title of being the first stage play I've watched this year is "The Bride Always Knocks Twice" (Chinese title is 她门) by the Theatre Practice (实践剧场). The story features a bride who ran away from her wedding and accidentally chances upon a house where six other women from various eras and backgrounds live in. Through an exploration of the reason that led to the bride running away, the play also showcases the lives of the other women in the house and what led them to "seek refuge" here where time seems to have come to a standstill.

As this play was written by two people i.e. Jonathan Lim and Liu Xiaoyi, the difference between their writing skills is rather obvious because the pacing of the story is uneven. The first act was slower in contrast to the second part and there were some developments which I thought were too draggy. In addition, I felt that there should have been more emphasis on the women in the house and how they came to be there but that was sorely lacking. It felt as if the writers decided to tease the viewer with small snippets of information but that didn't form a comprehensive picture of the women's pasts. As such, I felt as if I was none the wiser about what was binding these women to this unusual house and why they didn't want to take the first step out into the "real" world. Perhaps they think that their "halfway house" is the real world and what they are more at ease with. However, without an idea of what motivated them to remain status quo, I didn't feel much emotional attachment to the characters. Of course, I understand this is supposed to be dark humour and it probably means a lot of things are open to interpretation rather than being conveyed directly but there are too many points which are not explained so it can be a bit annoying (at least to me).

Despite this, I think the acting was quite good and I particularly liked characters such as the 60s -70s movie star, the Sultan's concubine and the Samsui Woman. Not only did they provide lots of laughter to spice up the play, I thought their characters were most interesting and endearing to me. Kudos to Su Chun Ying, Siti Khadlijah Zainal and Hung Chit Wah Felix! As for the lead i.e. the runaway bride played by Isabella Chiam, I do like her acting but her character didn't go down that well with me.

On the whole, this was a OK production which I felt needed more fine-tuning to make it more palatable to the general public. If the pacing of the story was managed better and there was more exploration of the characters who all had potential to be interesting stories on their own, I think I might have liked this better.

Satisfying & tasty - Monster Curry (Orchard Ion)

Among the various Japanese food items I like, curry is one of the more common items I order whenever I eat out. Compared to the curry that we usually eat in Singapore (be it Chinese, Malay or Indian style), Japanese curry tends to be on the sweet side and lacks the punch of the spiciness found in local curries. I'm perfectly fine with this since I'm not someone who really loves spicy stuff but at the same time, I do think that some of the Japanese curries on offer out there tend to be a bit bland at times. That's why when I came across Monster Curry, it was as if I finally found something which I had been searching for i.e. the flavourful curry with a tinge of spiciness.

As seen from the picture, the portion is huge. At first, I thought it was just the plate which was big but it turns out that the portion of the food matches the size of the serving plate. If you do not add any additional toppings to the standard one-item curry, I think it's manageable for one person. You can do mix-and-matches as you wish just like how I combined the pork shabu-shabu set with ebi-fry in the photo. Frankly speaking, I don't really like to eat fried meat e.g. tonkatsu with curry because the taste kinda lingers on and it can get too rich for my own good especially on a hot day when I crave for something lighter. The pork shabu shabu is thinly sliced and yet it's done so nicely that it matches the curry very well. The ebi-fry was also cooked in such a way that the batter didn't taste crunchy or the prawn was overcooked. The colour of the curry turned out to be a bit darker than most of the versions I've tasted so far but I think that's fine because that's how the curry I cook at home looks like when I use those Japanese curry packs from the supermarket. I only asked for a Level 1 spiciness which was fine for me so if I do get adventurous another day, I might go for a higher level of spiciness.

On the whole, it was a pleasant experience to eat at Monster Curry although it can be a tad cramped if you come on a weekend since the place takes up a rather small space on B4. Nonetheless, most people simply eat and go so you won't have to queue for a long time either. Prices are generally a bit higher than what you pay for curry rice in restaurants like Sushi Tei or Watami but given the portion and the quality of the food, I think it's still something worth paying for.