The Maestro's return to the podium

I love to watch tennis matches. However, since I don't subscribe to any sports TV channels, I hardly ever get a chance to watch them. It's only once in a while when the local cable TV provider opens up free access to the sports channels during special occasions of the year that I manage to catch them.

Other than "Tennis no Oujisama" which got me really hooked onto the sport, Roger Federer is probably one big reason why I like the sport so much. His way of playing is like the flowing water with so much variation and fine precision. Although it's human nature to show your emotions on court as seen from many players who may get so worked up that they swear at themselves or smash rackets, Federer always looks so cool and collected even when facing the toughest challenger. Even when he lost matches, he displayed so much grace and humility as if he wasn't affected adversely by the loss.

Especially in the past few years as more younger and hard-hitting players joined the tour, Federer has been written off more than once with reasons such as age catching up on him and physical issues like injury. Nonetheless, he bounced back many times with his actions to silence the critics even though it was clearly getting more difficult for him to get to the Grand Slam finals. Unfortunately, the 6-month break he took last year due to injury also made it seem like an impossible journey for him to regain his past glory on the tour again.

Tonight, Federer had done it again. At the Australian Open 2017 final and against his biggest nemesis Rafael Nadal.

The final match was a nail-biting one and long (as usual!) for a viewer like me to sit through but I imagine that it must be worse for both players to play for that long and at such great intensity. That was also why I hoped that it wouldn't drag till a tie-breaker in the fifth set because they both looked so exhausted. Especially after seeing that Federer had to take some injury time off, the prospects of him winning seemed to be low again. However, the way he turned the tables on Nadal was so typical of Federer - classic style with grace.

What surprised me was seeing his joy at the winning moment and his eyes brimming with tears which means that this victory must have meant a lot to him. Maybe it wasn't just because he had overcome his biggest rival after so much time and effort. I think the break he had to take last year could have made him doubt his chances too. To be able to withstand all this doubt, criticism and harsh words saying that you are a "has-been", it takes a lot of mental strength to overcome this and play at the top level. That is why this victory is especially sweet for him and his fans because it proves that he can still perform.

When everyone tells you that you can't make it, being able to beat the odds and shut out all the criticism is definitely an uphill task. However, that doesn't mean that you should give up. Federer's success today was especially inspiring to me since I'm about the same age as Federer. If he can overcome his age and injury to play such a fine game again, what reason do I have to throw in the towel and not pursue my dreams even though I may be written off for being too old to dream or being impractical to still want to pursue a seemingly meaningless or unachievable goal?

Thank you Federer. Not only did you make my day for winning again, I've received a much-needed boost of courage just at the right time.

My take on the hype over Hattendo's cream buns

With the partial opening of Tanjong Pagar Centre, there are some new dining options available for the office crowd. One of the most popular ones would have to be Hattendo Cafe which is on Level 1 and boasts of cream buns which sell-out in a matter of hours. From what I gather, there are two timeslots when you can get your fix i.e. during lunch hour and after 6pm. As for the hours in between, it depends. There was one day when I visited at 2 plus but there was nothing left. On another day, when I visited near 3pm, there was still plenty to buy so this really depends on your luck.

For those who aren't aware of Hattendo, here's a brief introduction about them. Hattendo was actually a wagashi maker initially when it was established at Mihara Minato-machi, Hiroshima Prefecture in 1933 (Showa 8th Year). By the time the second generation owner took over, it was already in the 1940s after WWII when Japan entered a period of rapid growth. With hope for the bright future, the owner then started to introduce Western desserts. When the third generation owner took over, he integrated both Japanese and Western elements in Hattendo's products which are what we see today.

 Actually, on Hattendo's Japanese website, there are six types of buns in its product range i.e. cream buns, premium frozen series, melonpan, warm series, Danish series and others. However, in the local version cafe, the signature product would have to be the cream buns. There are a total of 5 flavours available i.e custard cream, whipped cream, chocolate, matcha and azuki. Coupled with the salad jars, oven-baked chicken and salmon, the cafe also offers a variety of drinks to go with the food. I am not sure if Hattendo intends to bring in the rest of its other cream bun categories and if the versions sold here are identical to the originals back in Japan though. Personally, as I've not tried the original in Hiroshima, my opinion here will be solely based on the local version.

Among the five flavours, I've tried the azuki and matcha versions. If you have seen the photo of the cream buns' interior filling from Hattendo's website, the biggest difference I noticed was how watery the cream in the local version seemed. It was noticeably more fluid compared to what was shown in the original version's picture and there were more red beans in the cream than what I had. Frankly speaking, I do not know if this had to do with Singapore's weather because the higher temperature and humidity here could have caused some water condensation to take place in the cream thus making it wetter and more fluid. As such, I thought that sort of diluted the taste of the cream and made it more bland than I would have liked. The same issue was also noticed in the matcha cream which honestly had a barely noticeable matcha aroma and flavour. It would have been nice if the flavours were intensified and the amount of water content in the cream reduced to make it more suitable for the local climate.

As for the bun itself, I felt that it was too soft to my liking and didn't accentuate the flavour of the cream. The moisture buildup seemed to be an issue here as well with the texture of the bun being rather damp and sticky to the palette. If there is a difference in the texture between the bun and the cream, it would probably have tasted better overall. However, with both the cream and bun being soft and somewhat damp, I wondered if the original recipe could have been modified slightly to make it more suitable for the local conditions.

Since the first time when I had the buns was about one hour after I bought them from the shop and brought them back to the office, I thought that the taste could have been different if I had it on the spot at the cafe. However, I was disappointed to note that there was no significant difference in taste or texture so I guess whether I have the buns straight from the chiller or eat it after carrying it for some time in this weather would be the same after all.

The biggest issue about food items being brought from overseas is usually whether to stick to the original formula or to adapt it to local tastes or conditions. Much as I prefer the original versions most of the time, there are times when a total copy-and-paste wouldn't work so well. For example, when Tim Ho Wan first came to Singapore, I was quite peeved to find the local baked char siew buns soft and rather damp compared to what I had in Hong Kong. In Hattendo's case, I haven't had a chance to compare the local version with its original but from what I heard from friends who tasted the original before, they had similar observations as I did about the texture and water content and claimed that the original version tasted much better. Perhaps if the local version can be slightly modified to make the bun less soggy and fluffier while the cream's texture can be made less watery, I may be enticed to brave the snaking queue for this again.