The Adventures of Mr. Robotic on planet Earth...

All I Want For Christmas Is...

2011-12-25T23:16:00.000+08:00

The festive joyous atmosphere makes the Christmas holidays Mr. Robotic's favorite time of the year. It is also the time of the year where one can have as much junk food like chocolate and cakes and shrugged it off that it can be resolved in the new year's resolution. Hehe...

Mr. Robotic is not a social butterfly and finds it awkward to show appreciation for his colleagues during the normal course of work. Thank goodness for Christmas where he can openly give thanks to his colleagues without coming across in the wrong way.

Now besides the Christmas gifts, food, lights and decoration, the most important aspect of Christmas is spending the time with your loved ones. So all Mr. Robotic wants for Christmas is for everyone to be happy and to enjoy the holidays with your loved ones!

With that Mr. Robotic leaves you with this version of the Christmas song by Michael Buble. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Taking things for granted...

2011-10-22T15:55:00.000+08:00

Taking things for granted is human nature. This rule applies to robots too.

1.5 weeks of being confined, Mr. Robotic is thankful for the following things which he took for granted...

Freedom - Donning the green uniform, Mr. Robotic has no freedom whatsoever in how he manages his life. He needs to follow instructions on the time to wake up, which location to be at, adhere to the training schedule, what kind of phones that he is allowed to bring, how short the hair should be etc. Without freedom, Mr. Robotic felt as if he lost his individuality. The 1.5 weeks actually felt like 1 month. Unbelieveable.

Safe and Sound - Having read the news of the poor little gal in China that got ran over by a vehicle, Mr. Robotic came to the realisation that there are many events that can just take away one's life so easily. Mr. Robotic is glad that he made it through the range safely with all the bullets flying by. Mr. Robotic appreciates the shelter over his head when there is a thunderstorm raging. Mr. Robotic counts his blessing that as reckless the bus driver is with hitting the front and rear of the bus at the steep slopes, he made it through the journey.

Peers - Mr. Robotic's peers help to keep Mr. Robotic grounded on his goals and offers a reality check for Mr. Robotic. Drawing from their experience and success in different fields, Mr. Robotic hopes to do the same as them. Good company!

Blessed~

Be hated...

2011-08-24T23:43:00.000+08:00

Mr. Robotic came across the speech by Adrian Tan to the graduating class of 2008 at Ms. InquisitObserver's blog. There is one part which Mr. Robotic can relate to but finds it hard to execute.

The following is an extract of it:

"be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong."

Interestingly, a highly successful person shared the same idea to Mr. Robotic recently, that is a good leader is not expected to be Mr. Popular or to be Mr. Nice. This is because often a times, a leader is expected to make unpopular decisions or communicate negative information for the greater good of the team.

Guess, Mr. Robotic has to get used to "be hated". Whahaha...

Simple things can be a blessing...

2011-07-23T22:37:00.002+08:00

It had been a rough week for Mr. Robotic. Luckily, lady luck seemed to be smiling at Mr. Robotic today.

So the goods news at a glance:
- Received a letter informing Mr. Robotic of a rebate.
- Got a good haircut which somehow also cut away Mr. Robotic's troubles.
- Enjoyed retail therapy (good deals too at Pull & Bear and Bershka!).
- Liked the Calpsi and Mango drinks.
- Went for a 2.4 km jog and there was improvement in his timing.
- Explored the skyview from another block in his neighbourhood.

Some random photos from Taipei...

2011-07-23T22:10:00.000+08:00

Mr. Robotic is rather lazy in maintaing his blog lately. Just some random photos from his past Taipei Trip.

Sometimes the best of intentions but we may not get it right...

2011-05-15T20:22:00.000+08:00

The lyrics of the Glee song "Get it right" echo Mr. Robotic feelings at the moment. Enjoy...

Get it right

What have I done? I wish I could run
Away from this ship goin' under
Just tryin' to help, hurt everyone else
Now I feel the weight of the world is
On my shoulders

What can you do when your good isn't good enough?
When all that you touch tumbles down?
'Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take for me?
To get it right
To get it right

Can I start again with my faith shaken?
'Cause I can't go back and undo this
I just have to stay and face my mistakes
But if I get stronger and wiser
I'll get through this

So I throw up my fist
Throw a punch in the air
And accept the truth that sometimes life isn't fair
Yeah, I'll send down a wish
Yeah, I'll send up a prayer
And finally, someone will see
How much I care!

What can you do when your good isn't good enough?
When all that you touch tumbles down?
'Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many it times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take for me?
To get it right
To get it right

Inspiring Uncle Courageous...

2011-04-29T00:45:00.001+08:00

It has been 5 years and again Mr. Robotic's neighbourhood is in the spotlight. Sadly the place is usually depicted as one you wouldn't want to stay in.

Though you may find it hard to believe, Mr. Robotic is not living in some run down neighbourhood. In fact, Uncle Courageous has been managing Mr. Robotic's neighbourhood very well for many, many years. However, outside dissenting voices continue to try reduce Uncle Courageous 's credibility by citing his "weaknesses". They pointed matter-of-factly that Uncle Courageous is frail and old and that being alone in the committee, he is not able to garner support for major funds to build beautiful facilities for the neighbourhood.

Somehow, Mr. Robotic sees these very "weaknesses" as strengths instead. Through the challenges that Uncle Courageous faces year after year, he remains humble and demonstrates perseverance and passion for helping the people. How many of us after being critically ill is able to stand back on our feet and even inspire people in the process? Not many. Even rarer for those in managing neighbourhoods. But we see these qualities in Uncle Courageous.

Mr. Robotic remembered vividly the last Mid-autumn festival. Uncle Courageous who was then recovering from stroke could have easily excused himself from the neighbourhood event and no one would have blamed him. Yet, he made the point to be at the event to participate in the walk and interact with the people, even though he was painstakingly using a walker. Mr. Robotic is not sympathetic though. Instead, Mr. Robotic is full of awe and admiration of Uncle Courageous who perseveres despite adversities.

As to managing the neighbourhood with measly funds, Uncle Courageous shows that he is frugal, practical and one who is able to work within the means to get the best for his neighbourhood. Given that he is able to manage the funds cost effectively, he should be tasked with more funds right?

While Uncle Courageous is moving on to another neighbourhood this year to take on more challenges, Mr. Robotic salutes Uncle Courageous for all that he had done for the neighbourhood and wishes him all the best. Hopefully, people sees these qualities that Uncle Courageous embodies.

Overdue post about Taipei...

2011-04-07T01:01:00.000+08:00

Mr. Robotic went to Taipei for the new year countdown, end of December 2010 so yes he is awfully late with this post. The next few posts would cover the food, sightseeing and the new experiences in his 6 days Taipei trip.

Truth be told, Mr. Robotic had certain reservations prior to the trip. For instance, rubbing shoulders with another person at a crowded place ain't exactly Mr. Robotic's idea of fun. He was also afraid that the shops would be closed for the festive period which is a bummer for any holiday. Luckily, the reservations were uncalled for and Mr. Robotic enjoyed his trip much!

Food are most suited for Mr. Robotic's taste buds. Here are the food places that Mr. Robotic recommends...

85 degrees cafe

There is one outlet near Mr. Robotic's hotel, at the Xi Men Ding area. Not sure why, but Mr. Robotic just loves the ham and cheese sandwiches here. The warm fruit tea and green jasmine tea, though a tad expensive, is very much appreciated in the cold Taipei nights. Believe it or not, even though Mr. Robotic is a tin can, he is afraid of chilling winds. Also worth mentioning is that this cafe opens till the wee hours of the night which is great if you just want a place to chit chat with friends.

Cute desserts on display at 85 degrees cafe!

The bear ain't spare from Mr. Robotic's group...

Din Tai Fung

Mr. Robotic has few cravings for food. Xiao long bao or steamed pork dumplings that oozes hot delicious soup and a perfect match with vinegar and fresh ginger slices however has a special place in his tummy! He especially likes the ones at Din Tai Fung.

Now, before visiting the main Din Tai Fung which is located at Xinyi, Mr. Robotic thought that the standards should be the same as Singapore. Hence, he would rather use the opportunity to savour other cruisines not available in Singapore. Boy, was he glad that his friends insisted. The Xinyi main restaurant where the founder started his first restaurant is a must go place (even though the location is a bit out of the way) if you adore steamed pork dumplings!!

Besides the food, the Xinyi main restaurant is worth visiting because it is interestingly a few levels high and it sells Din Tai Fung merchandise like pens and key chains made in its mascot, Bao Zai's design that is not available in Singapore. And importantly, as a tourist, you can take photos with Bao Zai at the entrance in creative poses. For instance, you can attempt to steal the dumplings from Bao Zai's basket (see photo) or you can open your mouth wide to try and bite Bao Zai... :)

Kiki Restaurant

Mr. Robotic heard from Ms. Queen that the Kiki restaurants were started by the Taiwanese celebrity Lan Xi Mei and thus far the restaurants got good reviews for its sichuan cruisine (meaning spicy food). Ms. Queen who is missing her spicy hotpots is not ready to forgo this chance. Hence, the group visited the Yan Ji branch expecting good spicy food and hopefully run into a celebrity or two.

While the group did not get to meet any celebrity, the food very much exceeded the group's expectations. The group selected two of the chef recommendation items which are 蒼蝇头(Heads of flies) which is stired fried minced pork with chinese chives and fermented black beans and 老皮嫩肉 (Old skin, tender meat) which is crispy deep fried tofu that is tender on the inside. Almost every other table chose these two dishes and it was understandable because these two dishes were really good, especially the former which just goes very nicely with plain rice. The names of the dishes are also very interesting and reflective of the quirky personality of the celebrity owner.

While the two dishes were midly spicy, the main purpose for Ms. Queen was still the spicy hotpot and the group decided on the one with pork slices. Spicy level for Mr. Robotic - extreme.

But it was through this that showed the good service of the staff. The waitress noted that the spicy hotpot was too much for Mr. Robotic to handle and actually got him a bucket of ice to add in his ice water. It was a very thoughtful gesture! Furthermore, the waitress asked if the group enjoyed the meal and recommended other suitable dining places. This place is surely worth re-visiting!

Entrance of the restaurant with the KiKi cat logo.

The spicy hotpot that made Mr. Robotic breaking
out in sweat, running nose and voluptuous lips,
meaning unglam!

12 slices of crispy yet tender tofu.
Seemingly simple yet very delicious!

A great photo by Ms. Long Boots with the
minced pork in the foreground.

Hu Xu Zhang (aka Formosa Zhang or 鬍鬚張)

Lu Rou Fan (minced pork rice) is a simple local dish. However, half of Mr. Robotic's group swore they need to have at least 3 servings for the whole trip. Well, the group only managed to try two places, one of them being the Hu Xu Zhang outlet at Wu Fen Pu area. You can recognise the place easily with the prominent logo of a big beard man of course! Mr. Robotic's verdict is the place is decent with a fairly competitive price. Mr. Robotic heard it is celebrity Xiao S's favorite place for minced pork rice!

The Next Singapore Superstar...?

2011-03-02T00:00:00.002+08:00

Coincidentally, one of Ms. Teacher's students was at the same KTV place where the group celebrated Ms. Sexy's birthday. Ms. Teacher was full of praise for her student's singing ability and asked if her student can sing a song in front of the group. Of course, the group agreed and gosh was the group treated to a spectacular performance. To think that the student chose to sing a 林志炫 song at KTV and even more unbelievable a song called "Surrender" that was originally sang by Celine Dion.

For those who have not heard the song before, check the following video:

As Randy would have said on American Idol, the student has mad vocals, dawg! And he is comparable to the singer considering his young age! A check with Ms. Teacher revealed that the student was actually under the famous Li Wei Song + Li Si Song music school. Wow, seems like there is a pool of singing talent in Singapore waiting to be groomed to be the next superstar!

Ms. Sexy gonna born this way!

2011-03-01T23:25:00.004+08:00

When the first digit of one's age jumps, it is as though it is a step into another stage in life. And this year, Mr. Robotic will be proceeding to step 3 in his life. *shudders*

Thankfully, Mr. Robotic has friends who will bravely venture into this new stage before him. One of them being Ms. Sexy. For her bravery, the group consisting of Mr. Trust Me, Mr. Robotic, Ms. Teacher and Ms. Gourmet, celebrated Ms. Sexy's birthday over KTV (most fitting way since its Ms. Sexy's favorite hobby).

Ms. Sexy had in the past KTV sessions belted out Lady Gaga's hits like "Bad Romance" (rah rah) and "Poker Face" (p-p-p-poker). And a crazy thought popped into Mr. Robotic's head, what if for Ms. Sexy's birthday, she embraced it like Lady Gaga at the Grammy's by breaking out of the egg and singing and dancing to "Born this way".

The song has simple but meaning lyrics...
"Whether life's disabilities

Left you outcast, bullied or teased

Rejoice and love yourself today

'Cause baby, you were born this way"

Sexy way to celebrate one's birthday right? Ms. Sexy, please learn the song for your next birthday! :)

Mdm. Agaration goes on a holiday...

2011-02-27T23:02:00.005+08:00

For the past week or so, Mdm. Agaration and Mr. Worry Too Much was on a holiday in Taiwan. Hence, Mr. Robotic, Mr. Songwriter Wannabe and Mr. Annoying Orange were left at home to fend for themselves. It's only these little getaways by Mdm. Agaration that Mr. Robotic realises how important she is. Maintaining a house is no easy feat and Mr. Robotic hereby salutes all the mothers out there, especially the working mums! However do you do it on a daily basis?!

Well, Mr. Robotic and the gang did managed to survive the household chores. Thankfully! However, what really strikes a chord with Mr. Robotic is how he misses the little gestures of Mdm. Agaration when she is away. For instance, Mdm. Agaration will never fail each morning to wave at Mr. Robotic from the window while he is about to catch the bus to work. And for the past week, when Mr. Robotic looked up at the window, she ain't there and a wave of sentiments hit Mr. Robotic. To think, Mr. Robotic actually said to Mdm. Agaration that it is a silly gesture of hers that mimic Grumpy Gran. Guess, its the silliest things that are close to one's heart.

Now now, although Mdm. Agaration was not at home, Mr. Robotic still gets to have some home cooked meals. The following are some of the simple fare that Mr. Robotic made for the past week...

Cha Soba (not sure why it ain't that green in the photo) and luncheon meat. Ms. Marble shared a good method of having "deep fried" luncheon meat less all the oil. That is to put the luncheon meat in the toaster oven. Mr. Robotic presumes that this is a healthier choice too.

From left, stirred fried Angel's hair, Potato Soup, Canned beans and Tomatoes with Eggs. Mr. Robotic is horrible when it comes to pasta. Tried different combinations but it just doesn't seem to work. As for the soup, thanks to the secret ingredient - packaged chicken stock, Mr. Annoying Orange thought the soup which contains potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and spring onion, to be pretty decent.

Mushroom soup that comes with meat, tofu, 2 kinds of mushrooms and vegetables. Mr. Robotic originally wanted to cook a few dishes after work. But it proved to be too ambitious. After spending more hours in the office then he had planned, he rushed home and decided on the quick recipe... dumped all the ingredients together with secret ingredient - chicken stock. Balanced and healthy dish? Mr. Songwriter Wannabe had two large bowls of the soup and was surprised that its good.

So if you are home alone, remember to stock up on canned food and chicken stock. :P

Mr. Robotic behind the steering wheel...

2011-02-24T21:00:00.004+08:00

For those who had challenged Mr. Robotic to a race at the Daytona machines in the arcade, you would have known how "spectacular" a driver Mr. Robotic is. For the clueless, well... let's just say that Mr. Robotic usually carrying out defying stunts with the race car (e.g. 180 degrees turn). So for Mr. Robotic to take up driving and be behind the steering wheel of an actual car... road users beware!!

So how did the first lesson go?

There were loads of introduction on the different controls of the car. Supposedly, it is nothing new to Mr. Robotic as he had took the final theory test but somehow when it comes to practical, Mr. Robotic's mind just go into a blank. Does he need to look right, left, rear or in front? Does he depress the brake, the accelerator or turn on the signal? Information overload and Mr. Robotic's spatial awareness is almost zero. Thankfully, the instructor was besides Mr. Robotic all the way and helped to steer the car whenever Mr. Robotic is not doing it right. Sigh of relief~

Guess it will be sometime before Mr. Robotic can drive his dream car... well for both reasons, the driving license and the hefty price tag. Till then... a picture to look at.. :)

Belated Happy New Year 2011!!

2011-02-11T22:39:00.005+08:00

Cheers to the new year 2011. It's been a busy start to the year for Mr. Robotic which explains for the late update in his blog... So what have Mr. Robotic been up to for the past few weeks?

For a start, Mr. Robotic has been getting physical! Lest your mind runs wild, Mr. Robotic has been starting on a gruelling exercise routine to squeeze some meat (5kg hopefully?... no results yet though) onto his tiny frame. The workout per week consists of one day of upper exercise, one day of lower exercise and two days of body conditioning. Each exercise day left Mr. Robotic so winded that there just isn't much energy to do anything else.

And of course to kick start the growing, Mr. Robotic got himself a blender and start mixing different items with the protein powder to make it more delicious. The above picture is a mix of blueberries and yogurt. Sweet!

Another goal which Mr. Robotic set for himself this year is to pass his driving. Yes, this is long overdue considering that Mr. Robotic passed his basic theory test like 5 years ago. But Mr. Robotic hates taking test as it gives him the jitters, no matter what kind of tests. Even taking IPPT, Mr. Robotic will feel nervous. Maybe a little bit of anxiety is good... cause it keeps one on his or her toes. Mr. Robotic is glad that he passed his final theory test today on his first attempt. Mr. Robotic is keeping his fingers crossed that he can clear the driving test on the first attempt too so that he can keep the expenses low. Yeah, learning driving is expensive! A thing to note is our technology had advanced. 5 years ago, Mr. Robotic was still taking the basic theory test via sheets of question and answer paper. Now, the tests are taken using the computer terminals with sleek touchscreen monitors. The person besides Mr. Robotic has a unique way of "interacting" with the touchscreen i.e. flicking on the screen to choose his answers.

Lastly, one very important issue to follow up (especially given that Mr. Robotic is moving in to the big 3) is to plan for his retirement. Mr. Robotic had ran through his insurance plans and realised that he had duplicates in his plans which he had ridiculously paid for the past 2 years. Well, better realise now than later. More fine tuning for the insurance plans are in order and Mr. Robotic will be working on that area. Another area Mr. Robotic will need to schedule time to explore will be CPF and investment as part of the retirement package.

So there you go... the above 3 areas are and will continue to be the areas that will keep Mr. Robotic busy for year 2011. Wish him luck!

Merry Christmas 2010!

2010-12-25T00:46:00.001+08:00

Merry Christmas to all! Mr. Robotic will like to wish all happy holidays and spend the quality time celebrating and cuddling to your loved ones! Happiness!

Season for binging... guilt free!

2010-12-21T00:57:00.004+08:00

What better way to celebrate Christmas besides binging (other than receiving presents... haha)?!?

The international buffet spread at the Pan Pacific Orchard Hotel is good! Of course, importantly, the company was great which matters more! Lots of fun! Snippets of the spread...

Salad selection was comparable if not better for places that prided themselves for the salad bar. From left, cherry tomatoes, quail eggs, mushrooms (one of Mr. Robotic's favorites of the night) and sweet potatoes. After salad, Mr. Robotic moved on to the raw stuff that included salmon sashimi, oysters. The oysters were incredibly fresh and delicious! Mr. Robotic was swearing off raw oysters as he had pretty bad previous encounters at other food outlets. Mr. Robotic's faith in raw oysters are finally restored!

From left, Turkey, Potato Gelatin, Duck, Thai Pineapple Rice (a bit too strong for Mr. Robotic's liking), Fish (Mr. Robotic's friends were raving over this dish), Fisherman's hotpot (as how Mr. Robotic remembered the name was).

From left, Noodle, Tofu with Broccoli, Ham and Pineapples (Baked pineapples with the apple sauce were nice. Recommended by the chef).

From left, Blueberry Mousse, Mango Tart, Honeydew thingy. There was a chocolate fondue which Mr. Robotic had to give up indulging in. Mr. Robotic wished he had more room for dessert!

Happy Holidays!!!

2010-12-19T00:45:00.005+08:00

Opps... it's been a while since Mr. Robotic updated his blog. Fret not, Mr. Robotic was busy with work, serving the nation, planning his trip and importantly, Christmas shopping to express his gratitude to the people who had helped him or accompanied him for the past year.

Express updates by Mr. Robotic on photos taken in this Christmas period...

TCC's Seafood Aglio Olio. Mr. Robotic's all time favorite from the place. Citibank cardholders get to enjoy 15% off. Remember to use your benefits!

Chirstmas tree right beside Mr. Robotic's table in TCC.

Orange Juice to load up on Vitamin C to stay healthy in the holiday season!

Banana Pancake. Rich layer of cream. If you like bananas. you got to try this at 313 somerset. Mr. Robotic cannot remember the name but it is the shop outside Harris bookstore.

As Mr. Robotic is more or less done with his Christmas shopping, you can expect more posts to come from Mr. Robotic... till then... Enjoy the Festive Season!!!

Pictures said it all...

2010-10-04T22:56:00.010+08:00

To celebrate Mdm. Agaration's birthday, the group went to Long Beach restaurant at IMM. The standards are as good as Mr. Robotic remembered - Yumm-licious!

Warning: Salivating over the pictures may happen...

Prawns with butter and onions. A marvellous start!

Roasted Chicken. The skin is really crispy even though it is not fried!

Chilli Crab. It is so heavenly to eat crab when the shell is removed by other than Mr. Robotic!

Fried Man Tou to dip in Chili Crab is a must! This is what's stopping Mr. Robotic from trying black pepper crab.
Kai Lan with garlic. Some greens to balance the diet.

Fried Rice. Single portion serving for Mr. Robotic.

Steamed Sea Bass.

Almond Jelly with Longan. Mr. Robotic was so full he can barely finish this even though supposedly there is always room for dessert!

Romance in the workplace...

2010-09-24T00:02:00.007+08:00

Romance in the workplace... there seems to be an on-going debate whether that is good or bad. In the weddings which Mr. Robotic attended lately, it seems that the happy couples found their significant other half at the workplace. Mr. Robotic is not going to statistically prove this but it seems to be a good probability. Haha...

The latest couple to get hitched is Mr. Dataminer and wife! Congratulations to the couple!

The take home gift to commemorate the event was a deck of playing cards (above) with an adorable design of a groom and bride. Each card contains a different love quote. Romantic ya?

Mr. Robotic thought it would be socially inappropriate to take out his camera and take photos of the wedding food so there are no food pictures in this post. Overall though, the food at Hotel Rendezvous was good. In particular, Mr. Robotic liked the starter dish and desert which are usually Mr. Robotic's favorites for most banquets. Hotel Rendezvous starter platter includes prawns with mango salad, sambal abalone clams, baby octopus, egg with bean sprouts, fried popiah while yam paste with pumpkin is for desert. Yummy...

A wonderful event!

Otaku otaku...

2010-09-22T00:21:00.010+08:00

The Japanese term otaku is coined to refer to a fan of any particular theme, topic, or hobby. If you have watched the American sitcom, "The Big Bang Theory", an example of one possible otaku behavoir would be how the characters talk Yoda-ish in view of their love for the Star Wars movie. Having clarified that, Mr. Robotic while an anime otaku is not a hardcore otaku that would dress in his favorite anime character's dressing. Sorry to disappoint the readers!

Mr. Robotic especially likes those anime with a fantasy element so it ain't surprising that his follow list includes Fairytail, Bleach and Naruto. Not forgeting his robotic counterparts though, Gundam!

The reason why Mr. Robotic adores the fantasy genre is because he admires the visionary abilities of the manga and anime authors to create things that are beyond this world which would have been really extraordinary if it do existed. Think mages, shinigami, ninjas and war robots etc.

Contrary to some views that manga and anime are childish and has no value, the Japanese manga and anime teaches a number of life lessons that are no less than those found in TV dramas or even textbooks. For instance, the animes which Mr. Robotic named above shares common messages like how to never give up even if the odds are against you, the camaraderie and bonding among team-mates and friends, the sad baggage behind each character...

Mr. Robotic don't watch war and gory movies as it makes him feels depressing and disgusted at the cruel side of humans in reality. So on the onstart, Mr. Robotic didn't really appreciate the Gundam series as it touches on war struggles between humans. The beautiful and lightyears ahead designs presented in an animation format however softens the genre for Mr. Robotic and eventually wins him over.

Ironically, Mr. Robotic's favorite of the Gundam Series is the Gundam 00 for its realism and references to the real world on its on-going conflicts in Middle East. The central theme of this series is on a organisation called the Celestial Being who uses its high tech and overpowering gundams to handle the conflicts in the world. The organisation hopes that the fear for Celestial Being would have a policing effect so that none resort to violence to resolve conflicts.

Gundam 00 had a new movie recently called Gundam 00: Trailblazer. It seems that Singapore do have a strong otaku base as the movie premieres in English subtitles in Singapore. Hooray to anime otakus in Singapore as it is an indication of possible more diverse animes to come. Animax is also doing a great job in introducing anime to a broader audience. Mr. Robotic was invited to catch the movie together with Mr. Manga (guess who is more of a fan? haha). The story line is weaker compared to the animation series but it is worth watching to appreciate the far ahead gundam designs which Mr. Robotic is doubtful if it is ever achievable in reality in his lifetime.

Gundam Zabanya. Mr. Robotic's favorite gundam in the movie.

Make LOVE, not WAR!

Spread your birthday celebration...

2010-09-20T23:19:00.009+08:00

Coincidentally, Mr. Manga, Mr. Robotic and Mr. Kong 's birthdays are about 3 months apart from each other. This year, for some reasons, the trio celebrated Mr. Manga's birthday way late (about 3 months later) which by then was Mr. Robotic's birthday. The trio decided to push back the other two's birthday celebration which was rather amusing. So while it was actually Mr. Kong's birthday month, the trio was celebrating Mr. Robotic's belated birthday. But whatever it is, Mr. Robotic got to binge on good food for free and celebrate his birthday again!!

Mr. Manga brought the trio to a diner which serves Japanese BBQ that was located at level 2 of the Concorde Hotel's shopping mall stretch. Most people would have likely missed this diner given that it is a small place (less than 15 seats) and being located in an area surrounded by masseurs, KTV lounges, billiard places, it is not exactly one's first choice for a dinner appointment.

If one can get past that first impression, one would be pleasantly surprised to discover that this diner is a rather homely and cosy place. Credit of course goes to the lady boss who is very chirpy, smiley and mingles easily with all the customers to ensure that the food is to their satisfaction. Half of the customers were Japanese. A gauge to whether the Japanese food served by a eatery is authentic is by observing if it attracts Japanese customers. So this place pass for authenticity? :)

Here goes...

Seaweed Appetizer. A tinge of spice and sourness to work the appetite. A good start...

Pork stew on the left and Salmon Onigiri on the right. The pork stew was very rich in flavours and warmed up the tummy for more dishes to come. It was the first time that Mr. Robotic had onigiri and it was delicious! Mr. Robotic wants more of this!

Grilled Lamb. Mr. Robotic don't mind this as the aroma of the lamb was just right. Not overpowering compared to those served by other food joints. Choose Grilled Beef if you prefer your meat juicer and accompanied with a sauce. This dish was the only one with any substantial leafy vegetables. Opps...

BBQ Puffer Fish? Mr. Manga said that the above is puffer fish but Mr. Robotic is doubtful as puffer fish can be lethal for consumption if not prepared carefully. Whatever fish aside, the texture is interesting like cuttlefish, only harder.

Assorted BBQ items - Quail Eggs, Asparagus wrapped in Pork and Golden Needle Mushrooms (also known as Enokitake) wrapped in Pork. Mr. Robotic likes quail eggs. Pity few food establishments serve them.

Deep Fried Chicken. Decent but not striking given the more outstanding items available.

Deep Fried Mini Prawns. A crunchy side dish that would be a good 下酒菜 (similar to Tapas).

Others dishes that the trio ate but not captured in the above pictures include:

- BBQ Shiitake Mushrooms with Melted Cheese. The taste and aroma of the mushroom really came through. Thumbs up.

- Calpsi Green Tea Mixed Drink. Mr. Robotic heard Calpsi is a popular drink in Japan and he finally understands why. It is sweet like yakult drink. Mr. Robotic wonders where he can get more of the drink in Singapore. 2 thumbs up.
- Melted Mayonnaise and Cheese over Steamed Squid. Mr. Robotic has no idea that mayonnaise can be melted like this.

There were multiple dishes that came with a mayonnaise dip on the side but it is the original taste of the dishes that really won Mr. Robotic's heart. All in all, this place is really worth visiting but do book in advance!!!

Branding can be a double edge sword...

2010-09-17T22:17:00.003+08:00

Mr. Robotic had high expectations for Ling Zhi vegetarian restaurant as it is under the Tung Lok group which stands for a prestige brand in the food and beverage industry. On top of that, Mr. Robotic had been to Noble House, another restaurant under the Tung Lok group, of which he was served a rather delicious buffet spread and was hoping to visit again someday. So were Mr. Robotic's expectations met? Not really...

Perhaps Mr. Robotic didn't choose the best items which Ling Zhi got to offer or the group should have went for the Ling Zhi buffet or the waitress didn't get the orders right (Mr. Robotic had wanted something else on the menu) or...

Oh well, Mr. Robotic may give it another shot someday...

Pineapple Fried Rice. Pity the waiter divided the portions before Mr. Robotic can take a photo of the beautiful pineapple bowl presentation. Interesting mix of taste...

Vegetables with "Abalone" like mushrooms. Typical but could do no wrong...

Vegetables with Dai Gui. You are not seeing double, its the same vegetables! Please ask Ms. 大眼妹 the reason for the same vegetables. Haha...

Vegetarian Satay. The whole resemblance to your conventional satay is that it is served Satay again?

Little basket with mushrooms. Mr. Robotic's favorite of the lot. Ms. Mickey said the basket was made using potatoes. Mr. Robotic can't tell the difference but it was visually pleasing and delectable.
Fried Tofu with mushrooms. Average...

Mr. Robotic hoped that Ms. Mickey liked her little belated birthday celebration even though the food was so so and the table was a too big for a decent conversation (Mr. Congeniality couldn't hear Ms. Mickey half the time). Till the next meeting...

Tipsy on Mooncake...

2010-09-15T20:19:00.006+08:00

The Mid-Autumn Festival, a day where family and friends are to gather around to admire the moon and enjoy mooncakes and tea under the moon together. As the years pass by, Mr. Robotic wonders if the values and thoughts behind such traditions are kept.

Not sure why, but Mr. Robotic was hit by a wave of nostalgia for the event this year. In particular, he recalled how he looked forward to this event each year when he was younger because he would receive a new toy in the form of a lantern (the other event being Christmas). Mr. Robotic, Mr. Songwriter Wannabe and Mr. Annoying Orange would compare and brag about the different features of their lanterns like how they can display disco lights or play festival music and deliberately switch off the lights in the room to showcase their lanterns. One year, Mr. Robotic even attempted with Grumpy Gran to make a lantern from pomelo which turned out rather dandy, although it was kind of heavy for a lantern.

Mr. Robotic also enjoyed the parades around the neighbourhood, showing off his new prized possession, alongside Mr. Songwriter Wannabe, Mr. Annoying Orange and Grumpy Gran. What a beautiful array of lights those lanterns were. A special note to Grumpy Gran who is now in the land far far away - Thank you, Grumpy Gran for the sweet memories.

The event is much less celebrated nowadays in this household without a kid. It is reduced to a sampling of mooncakes. This year, Mr. Robotic is absolutely in love with the Raffles Hotel's Snow-Skin Mooncake with Champagne Truffle and Ganache. The velvet snow skin that dissolves in one's mouth is simply divine. Mr. Robotic is not a fan of alcohol. Yet the little tinge of champagne aftertaste is just the right amount for Mr. Robotic. Mr. Robotic is careful not to indulge too much on this delicacy for fear of becoming an alcoholic. From hearsay, Raffles Hotel is the pioneer in concocting inventive mooncake flavours and that head start definitely shows in how they perfected the taste for this mooncake. Mr. Robotic recommends this to anyone who has not tried it before.

So the above is what the event means to Mr. Robotic. What does the Mid-Autumn Festival means to you?

Love Your Ride...

2010-09-13T21:31:00.003+08:00

Train is coming...
Train is coming...
Train is coming...
Please start queuing
Love your ride.

For the fortunate ones who don't need to take public transport, the above are lyrics to a jingle being played at the train stations to announce the trains' arrival. It is part of the Public Transport Council's efforts to encourage commuters to be more gracious on public transport so as to make it a more pleasant commuting experience for everyone.

Mr. Robotic heard the catchy and happy little jingle and fell in love with it immediately! It is an entertaining and fun marketing programme. The satirical one in Mr. Robotic also pictures someone who cannot squeeze on the peak period trains rolling his or her eyes each time the jingle sings at their misfortune. Apparently, there are different versions of the jingle. Maybe, there is one that sings happy waiting... happy waiting... happy waiting...?

The jingles are sang by the local icon, Dim Sum Dollies, who are also the programme ambassadors. Watch the video and love your ride!

Deep Fried...

2010-09-06T22:40:00.004+08:00

For the health conscious, you have been warned to take a deep breath before reading this post as you may find it potentially disturbing...

Deep Fried Squid
Learned of this recipe from NoobCook.

Ingredients (serves 2):
- 1 medium squid (about 300g)
- 40-50g corn flour for a heavier/crispier batter
- sea salt and pepper
- vegetable oil, for deep frying

Lemon Mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp boiling water

Directions:
1. Mix ingredients for lemon mayonnaise in a small bowl until well combined. Set aside.
2. Slice the squid to thin rings.
3. Place cut squid into a shallow but wide dish. Season squid with salt and pepper, then add flour. Toss squid to evenly coat squid in the flour (add more if needed); shake off excess.
4. Heat oil to 180C (356F) in wok/large saucepan/deep fryer and deep fry squid in batches until tender and browned lightly (about 3 minutes). Drain on absorbent paper.
5. Serve warm with a lemon wedge and the lemon mayonnaise dip prepared in step 1.

Experience:

It turned out to be like onion rings. And like always, Mr. Robotic overcooked the food and it is a bit too chewy. The sauce is good though and Mr. Robotic has come to a conclusion, mayonnaise can hide bad cooking. Haha...

Vacation Leave means...

2010-09-06T00:00:00.005+08:00

People around Mr. Robotic is always puzzled at how Mr. Robotic spends his vacation leave especially when he does not utilise the leave to travel overseas. While Mr. Robotic may not be a frequent flyer, it does not mean he is enjoying any less the time off from work. In fact, Mr. Robotic likes such day off on the weekdays compared to the weekends as he gets to wander around Singapore without the crowd. Yes you hear it right! Mr. Robotic is more of a crowd avoid-er rather than a party-goer. Surprise surprise? It ain't surprising for those who knew Mr. Robotic prior to his work days where he is the nerdy kind... He still is today actually... :S

So what did a typical day off entails?

Firstly, Mr. Robotic gets to laze and crawl out of bed when he is indeed awake. Waking up naturally is a better way to start the day, ya?

A bit of physical exercise is crucial given that Mr. Robotic's job only requires to exercise his brains. Mr. Robotic will usually choose among weight trainings, swimming and jogging. Thankfully, instead of just off days, Mr. Robotic is now trying hard to squeeze those activities into his weekend too. Just this weekend, Mr. Robotic got to do all 3! Kudos!

Next up, appreciating food with Mdm. Agaration. For the previous off day, the duo ate at Crystal Jade at Vivocity and was the food excellent! The top to bottom glass panel allows a view of Sentosa. The view would be more magnificent once all the construction work at Sentosa is completed.

Mr. Robotic likes the sleek white and black utensils. These colors are simply timeless.

Kai Lan with Garlic. A simple dish but delicious nonetheless. It is a bit costly though at $14 for small serving.

Xiao Long Bao. Don't you just like the soup gushing out when you bite it? Frankly, Mr. Robotic didn't appreciate this delicacy until Ms. Queen kept raving how good Din Tai Feng's ones are!

Crab and scallop bits fried rice. At $18, it is on the pricey side but the rice is really fragrant and the serving is meant for 3 to 4 people. Yup, Mr. Robotic and Mdm. Agaration finished it all though there were only 2!

Cod fish. Under the fish is a thin layer of steamed egg. Nice combination of ingredients.

Egg Tarts. No meal is complete without some sweet stuff... dessert! Mr. Robotic likes the fluffy texture of such egg tarts.

Such little breaks from work serves to motivate one or Mr. Robotic at least to work harder or smarter for his dream of early retirement where he can slow down and experience the life of a retiree instead of the super fast paced which one in Singapore is programmed to follow. Mr. Robotic refuses to believe that the retirement age is expected to lengthen yet again. The forefathers have a longer life expectancy and they retired much earlier. Come on, what about enjoying life and smelling the roses at the sidewalk instead of whizzing through everything? Mr. Robotic refuses to accept his "destiny"!

Wish him luck in overcoming it!

A Post of Mixed Feelings...

2010-09-05T00:08:00.002+08:00

The trip to Johor Bahru was again very eventful as Mr. Robotic gets to learn about the rich culture of other races. Mr. Robotic has no idea that just nearby to City Square, there was a lane selling supplies found in an Indian Household. Manufactured in Singapore, Mr. Robotic is mistaken that only Singapore holds cultural diversity in the region.

Thanks to Ms. Limelight, Mr. Robotic gets to find out a little about the Hindu Gods that was displayed in the shop. At the same shop, Mr. Robotic was amazed at how nimble the worker was his hands at stringing flowers together. It was so fast that Mr. Robotic can barely follow the movement with his eyes. Sadly with modernisation, such a craft may eventually disappear one day. At the "little India lane", Mr. Robotic also finds that he can't resist bobbing his head to Bollywood dance tracks, much to the amusement of Ms. Hysterical. Indeed music transcends cultural barriers.

Of course, a day trip to Johor Bahru ain't complete without shopping and binging of food. Mr. Robotic cannot be more fascinated at how a bridge that divides the two countries means such differences in prices. It was apparent when Mr. Robotic compares the contact lenses solution of the same brand which is $4 cheaper in Johor Bahru.

Top from F.O.S. It is in cyan, a color which Mr. Robotic got to add to his collection.

Mr. Robotic meets Mr. Robotic?

Marybrown's Chicken. Chicken Delicious! Sides a bit weak though.

Note: Mr. Robotic deliberated on this post not that the trip ain't enjoyable as it was definitely a most fun day but rather the day following the trip holds lots of regret and sadness for Mr. Trust Me. If Mr. Trust Me is reading this post, Mr. Robotic hopes that Mr. Trust Me can let go of his regret and resume his smiley and cheeky character soon as everyone around him is missing that. Mr. Robotic is sure uncle also wishes for the same thing for Mr. Trust Me.

Pu Tien... the twists and turns...

2010-08-15T18:53:00.009+08:00

Ever since Mr. Robotic was introduced to the fried yam at Pu Tien, Mr. Robotic has added that to his cravings list! Mr. Robotic must admit that he ain't a fan of yam (come on, the food is purple!) but Pu Tien totally changed his opinion.

It was Mr. Worry Too Much's birthday (coincidentally it happens to be Mr. Robotic 4th year at his current job too) and Mr. Robotic suggested Pu Tien at Tampines for the mini celebration. However, Mr. Worry Too Much whom again was true to his character was worried that there ain't any parking space at Tampines and suggested to go the Parkway Parade instead.

The group was at a loss at what to eat at Parkway Parade as Mdm. Agaration wanted to eat Chinese food. Surprisingly, as luck would have it, there was a Pu Tien at Parkway Parade too, tucked nicely at one quiet corner and the group was just in time at 2.30 pm to make the last order for the kitchen. So here's the food selection...

Hums with garlic as starters. It's not too bad. But for a party of 5, it is a bit much...

The Fried Yam which Mr. Robotic is raving about.

Stir fried bee hoon. The bee hoon has a interesting herbal kind of taste to it. Mr. Robotic liked how crispy the seaweed is. The rest of the group found it a bit bland compared to the rest of the dishes though...

Kai lan covered with bean curd skin. Though this dish is standard fare for lots of Chinese restaurants, it was wiped out by the group within minutes. A gesture of how good it is...?

Fried pork ribs with chestnut. Seldom does Mr. Robotic find chunky chestnuts in dishes. This was one of the rare occasions.

Steamed Sea Bass. Standard fare but good enough...

Chili. This chili has a nice spicy and sour kick to it. Very appetizing...

The cute little bag contains a bottle of the their chili. Marvellous!

UOB card holders will receive a discount for weekdays. Even without the discount on the weekend, the prices are very reasonable considering the group has ordered all medium size dishes except for the fried bee hoon and yet the group of 5 is super full by the end of the meal for just $125. Till the next craving for fried yam... :)

Oh Yeah Oh Yeah Oh Yeah...

2010-08-08T21:05:00.009+08:00

Mr. Robotic slept at 1 am and was not expecting to be up till 11 am. Yet at 8.45 am, he was awaken by music beaming about happiness and cheering by zealous people all in the spirit of promoting the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

So the music goes like this...
"Cmon lift me up (it's a brand new day)

Open up a lil happiness today

So I can be someone new

Cmon and lift me up (to a better way)

Open up a smile on another face

So I can (feel something new)..."

Mr. Robotic definitely like this feel good music better than the Oh Yeah to the power of 3 song. Sorry JJ, you can do better than this.

Wake up sleepy neighbourhood! YOG is in town!

People gathering to see what the party is about...

It's the torch bearer carrying the YOG flame! Go go torch bearer...

The contrast back to quiet town is amusing...

The efforts to promote YOG worked as Mr. Robotic got out of bed to bring you the above photos and it transformed the usual tranquil and forgotten neighbourhood into a party area. However, playing a song that asks one to open up a bottle of Coca Cola and a team of blue flag bearers carrying the Samsung name, Mr. Robotic wonders if the YOG spirit is overshadowed by the advertising of its sponsors. Hmm...

Create your own fantasy world...

2010-08-01T23:32:00.004+08:00

Mr. Uncle once commented "What's so nice or enjoyable about playing (computer) games? Will you get anything from moving around that piece of furniture in the virtual game?"

He finds it hard to believe why his girlfriend is spending some much of her time trying to decorate her virtual restaurant in the online game - Restaurant City, as the time could be spent on doing something more meaningful. Well, somehow, Mr. Robotic agrees with Mr. Uncle on the point that gaming is indeed a time exhaustive activity. Mr. Robotic remembered his vacation days where instead of getting a vacation job, he dwindled his days playing online games. If he had been wiser to choose the earlier, he would have gotten his first pot of gold (figure of speech, not referring to virtual gold) by now.

Of course, the worst form of being too engrossed into the virtual reality world is when it starts to ruin your actual life. The news about the Korean youth who killed his mother because she tried to disrupt him from his gaming is disheartening. After watching the movie Inception, one can't help but to ponder if the critics of violent game graphics are actually correct that subconsciously, one might be implanted with the violence notion even though one logically deduce that they are able to differentiate reality from virtual reality. Hmm...

To be fair, gaming does offer its own fantasy world that is very alluring. "Escapism" perhaps for most? How else would one be able to experience running a restaurant, a hotel, a farm, an empire and a pirate ship (these happens to be the Facebook games) in one's lifetime? Even if one can afford to have a real restaurant, it would be crazy to tear down the decorations and replace them with a 80s vibe, a contemporary chic etc. In the virtual world, one can be adventurous and creative without the baggage of reality. What's the worst that can happen? Restart or stop playing? In real life, most sadly can't afford that luxury...

Mr. Annoying Orange whom likes to model himself after the annoying laughter and lines of the YouTube videos - Annoying Orange, is an avid gamer himself. A few of the games which Mr. Robotic was addicted to was due to his introduction. Interestingly, Mr. Annoying Orange has a new hobby lately which is to create his own role-playing games better known as RPG. This involves creating his own maps, story lines, characters. Mr. Robotic also tried out parts of it. It is seriously tedious work even though the graphics are basic and ancient. After a few hours, Mr. Robotic only managed to come up with a map and two characters. It is worth it though when Mr. Annoying Orange programmed it to work and Mr. Robotic sees the characters moving around in his map. Kudos to all game designers for all their hard work!

Mr. Annoying Orange seems very focused on this project. Hopefully it would all materialise in due time so that Mr. Robotic can let his readers play it for free... haha...

Fried Rice that doesn't look fried...

2010-07-25T19:53:00.005+08:00

Fried Rice
Learned of this recipe from Mdm. Agaration.

Ingredients (serves 3 and based on agaration):
- 3 cups of cooked but cooled white rice
- 2 eggs
- A bit of soy sauce
- Half of canned luncheon meat cut into small pieces
- Pinch of salt
- 1 onion cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon of Olive oil

Directions:
1) Beat the eggs and add the soy sauce.
2) Heat the oil and fry the eggs over high heat.
3) Throw in onion pieces followed by luncheon meat.
4) Throw in the white rice and salt and stir away.

Experience:

The good thing about fried rice is that one can prepare it using the common ingredients that one can find in the house. In fact, the origins of fried rice is about using leftover bits and pieces of ingredients. So Mr. Robotic's version looked like a fake version of fried rice or rather white rice mixed with luncheon meat and eggs but it tasted better than its looks. Haha. Till the next attempt!

Stylish house...

2010-07-25T14:49:00.005+08:00

Whenever Mr. Robotic is at a bookstore, he will take the opportunity to flip through the home interior design books for Mr. Robotic likes to admire the different design concepts and pictures (or daydreams) how his future house will be like.

Therefore, when Mr. Robotic was invited for a house visit to Mr. Bummy's recently renovated place, Mr. Robotic was most eager to find out the kind of design concept which Mr. Bummy had chosen.

It was apparent from the very point that Mr. Robotic stepped into the house that the design concept was "Minimalist". The big plus on a minimalist design is how it makes the house looks clean and uncluttered thereby making the place more spacious than it is. It is definitely a style which Mr. Robotic likes as it is easier to maintain without all the hidden nooks that comes with the other designs. The little downside however would be the "stripped down" effect makes the place a little less homely and cosy so the choice of colours are important.

The following points are what Mr. Robotic adores about Mr. Bummy's house in no particular order:

1) See through to the kitchen from the living room concept. Mr. Bummy had the separation wall knocked down in favor of transparent glass doors and the kitchen was flushed to the same level of the living room. It created a much roomier feel to the place.

2) The bedrooms were cleverly hidden behind the feature wall and Mr. Bummy enjoys deceiving his guests that he has no bedrooms.

3) Optimal use of designer lights to decorate the room which is an important part of the minimalist design.

4) Choice of the induction stoves instead of the traditional gas stoves. While it runs on electricity and is expensive for frequent cooks, it just look so neat, sleek and easy to clean.

5) 4 pieces of full length mirrors for the wardrobe doors. What better way to check one's attire before going out to party? Mr. Robotic would be contented with just 2 pieces. Haha...

6) A shoe cupboard which is at the right height for one to sit on while wearing their shoes. The dual functionality is good. Mr. Robotic wants something similar for his future house and will include a cushion seat to add to the cosiness.

7) Designing sink and tap which one finds in the hotels. Adds a modern touch but a bit too costly for Mr. Robotic.

Besides the renovation which totally transformed the place (Mr. Bummy showed Mr. Robotic pictures of how run down the place was when he first bought it), Mr. Robotic also likes the location of the flat which is at a quiet corner by itself without any one walking by it and there are no nearby tall buildings to obstruct one's view which are key factors to select a house.

All in all, Mr. Robotic is inspired by the visit because it helps to reinforce the mental image of his own dream house and motivates he to work harder for it (saving up for the house and $45k for the renovation).

So what will your dream house be like?

Fun packed weekend... on a car...

2010-07-18T16:52:00.014+08:00

Mr. Robotic knows that it is quite impossible to own a car in his life time due to the high costs involved with maintaining the car that will surely slow down his plans for retirement. And it does not help that his dream car is the mini cooper. With that in mind, Mr. Robotic is in no rush to to get a driving licence or rather he may not attempt at all.

Having said that, Mr Robotic is really thankful for his friends who drives, especially Ms. Sexy. This is because without friends like her, Mr. Robotic would have missed out exploring and appreciating the less travelled parts of Singapore. For instance, Mr. Robotic had a fun packed weekend which would not have be as convenient without her assistance...

Friday Night:
Mr. Robotic was invited to a chalet at Downtown East organised by Ms. Organiser. No chalet is complete without a BBQ and Mr. Robotic was glad that Ms. Organiser did the BBQ because Mr. Robotic got to enjoy quite a delightful spread.

It could be the first time that Mr. Robotic had stingray at a BBQ event and was the stingray with sambal sauce amazing!! Kudos to Ms. Organiser and her friends for spending the afternoon to marinate the stingray and all the other food preparations. If Mr. Robotic didn't remember wrongly, the brand used for the stingrays was Sin Long Sambal sauce. It was the right level of spiciness. The time taken to grill the stingrays was also perfect as the stingrays came out tender and juicy. The standards of the stingray really put a lot of the hawkers out there to shame.

Friday Midnight:
The group went off to catch the movie "Inception" at Tampines. It was a long show but the concept, storyline and matrix like effects of the movie was interesting enough to keep Mr. Robotic awake throughout the whole movie. In particular, Mr. Robotic was in awe over the zero gravity fighting scenes and enjoyed the witty banter between the various characters. The only downside was the "draw your own conclusion" ending which left people leaving the cinema in suspense.

Mr. Trust Me was so into the movie that he went in and out of slumber in the duration of the movie in order to better understand the movie's concept of dreams within a dream... Brilliant ain't he?

Wee Hours of Saturday:
After the movie, the trio had an early breakfast at a McDonalds' in Mr. Robotic's neighbourhood. Though the place is near to Mr. Robotic's house, he had never been to it at such hours. Hence, it counted as a whole new experience for him. If Mr. Robotic ever needs a place to chit chat with his friends in the wee hours, that would be it because there were barely any customers at Mr. Robotic's visit.

Saturday Night:
Mr. Trust Me always like to challenge Mr. Robotic to be spontaneous in going out by giving him short notice to prepare (half an hour to one hour). Luckily, Mr. Robotic was well trained on his working days to get ready quickly so that he could sleep on his comfy bed till as much as possible.

The trio went to IKEA Tampines to shop around which surprisingly was still pretty crowded near its closing hours. Mr. Robotic always like to admire the different concepts for the showrooms at IKEA and wishes his house would one day be as stylish.

Saturday Midnight:
The trio settled for supper at Changi Village and no the trio did not have the famous Nasi Lemak which had a long queue at their visit. Instead, Mr. Trust Me had cravings for Chili Crab (yeah many would have concluded that Mr. Trust Me was pregnant with all his food cravings). After circling the areas for halal food, the trio settled on a stall tucked quietly at one corner and ordered the Spicy Chili Crab, BBQ Squid and Steamed Gong Gong (shell snail like thingy).

The verdict of the food?

Mr. Trust Me raved about the goodness of the crab (which Mr. Robotic agreed given the pricing) throughout the meal and mentally bookmarked the place for future repeated visits. The BBQ Squid was normal fare. The Steamed Gong Gong was a bit disappointing though as it tasted bland and rubbery even when Mr. Robotic had lowered his expectations for the shell snail like thingy.

Overall, though Mr. Robotic was tired from all the late nights and need to recharge by snoozing all the way till 1 to 2pm in the afternoon, he welcomed the change in routine for his weekend. It's been a while since Mr. Robotic felt "happening" compared to his usual stay home YouTube junkie weekends.

:)

Something fishy... swimming your way...

2010-07-11T23:26:00.006+08:00

From the same people who brought you Fish & Co., they have come up with a new restaurant concept under the branding F.I.S.H which is now available at Somerset 313 and Tampines One. The good news is... it is Halal-certified!

So what's different?

There is now a salad bar which is the main highlight where one can opt for the salad bar buffet at $12.90 (price before GST). One can also choose among the value meals where the main course includes the salad bar buffet. Otherwise, one can top up at $5.90 with any of the other main courses to enjoy the salad bar buffet. F.I.S.H also attempts to differentiate from Fish & Co. with a different menu selection.

At Mr. Robotic's visit, the waitress was very welcoming and took time to explain the restaurant's concept. Kudos for the customer service!

Mr. Robotic had the baked codfish that comes with tomatoes and baby potatoes. The sauce is a little bit on the spicy side with the little chili padis and come across as the sauce for an Asian cuisine. Not really to Mr. Robotic's liking cause Mr. Robotic has high expectations for dishes using codfish.

The salad bar while being the main draw has limited offering compared to other other establishments that have the same concept like Sizzler or Earle Swensen's. But there are salad items that are available in F.I.S.H which are not available at the other two so that is a plus. The big jug freezes which is essentially a drink for two found at Fish & Co. can be found at F.I.S.H too.

Overall, since this restaurant just started out, Mr. Robotic would say that it is a concept in a right direction. However, it would need to fine tune its selection to know the customers' taste buds so as to have repeated visits beyond just the novelty concept.

Peachy...

2010-07-11T22:59:00.007+08:00

The best perk about Mr. Worry Too Much's current job has got to be that his boss is an owner of an orchard of peach trees in the United States. Because every year, after a good harvest of the peaches, his boss would share the imported peaches with his staff.

Mr. Robotic gets a free fruit per week from his employer too. The fruits include apples, bananas, oranges etc. But Mr. Robotic seldom drop by to collect the free fruit cause the fruits given are like what one would find in a supermarket. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

The peaches from Mr. Worry Too Much's boss is however of a different league altogether. They are super delicious since they are soft, sweet and importantly juicy! The juice from the peach is like spurting out whenever Mr. Robotic bites into one. It was a grand sight when the 16 peaches lined up together on one level of the fridge compartment.

Till next year, peaches...

Maroon 5 is coming back with Misery!

2010-07-06T22:38:00.013+08:00

One of Mr. Robotic's favorite bands, Maroon 5, is coming back with their new album titled "Hands All Over" in September 2010.

Mr. Robotic is in anticipation for the new album as the last two albums by the band are fantastic!! The songs in the last two albums were on Mr. Robotic's playlist for a very very long time.

Lucky for the fans, Maroon 5 had released their first single called "Misery" to help "miserable" fans bear with the wait.

Judging by the strong first single, the coming album should be pretty darn good! Guess this single is going to be on Mr. Robotic's playlist till September 2010. Mr. Robotic can never get tired of the unique voice of the lead singer.

Now this is one piece of Misery that one don't mind sharing with his or her friends. Enjoy the Misery!

Batman meets Mr. Bean...

2010-07-06T00:11:00.003+08:00

Mr. Robotic is pretty pleased with the whole new look that he had fixed up for the blog. It is now in a sleek black color scheme! Black is classic and forever yeah?

Together with the new color scheme, Mr. Robotic had to recolor his banner into black and orange. That took a whole afternoon because Mr. Robotic did not have proper software and had to rely on Microsoft Words and the default Paint software. A bit pathetic but its all worth it!

Strangely when Mr. Robotic sees the new colors for the banner, he is reminded of Batman even though Batman is in black and yellow. Also, the little white circle resembles the spotlight that shines on Mr. Bean. So the title for Mr. Robotic's updated banner is Batman meets Mr. Bean! Haha...

Mr. Robotic hopes the readers like the new layout!

World Cup Fever

2010-07-04T00:08:00.009+08:00

Mr. Robotic is not a fan of football but it is hard not to pay attention to the ongoing World Cup Fever since people around him are raving about it.

Even for Friday night outs, the invitations were mainly to support the teams at bars that shows the World Cup live. The group comprising of Ms. Limelight, Ms. Hysterical, Mr. Hidden Rockstar, Mr. Trust Me and Mr. Robotic decided to go to boat quay to bask in the World Cup Fever.

The group started the night with Eski Bar which Mr. Hidden Rockstar recommended. Mr. Trust Me is crazy about chocolate milk and has been questioning the group if the bar serves chocolate milk... Hey, a bar serving chocolate milk?!? Maybe at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Bar?

To put Mr. Trust Me's insatiable need for chocolate milk to a rest, Mr. Hidden Rockstar asked on his behalf which the waitress laughed and replied no. Lucky Mr. Trust Me did not ask instead cause there is a twinkle in his eye when he asks for chocolate milk that may come across as perverted for some. Haha...

Eski Bar has an interesting concept with the entrance of the bar which is way freezing and one can put on the neon blue and pink jackets available for a different experience. Imagine Eskimos shaking their booties? Some super sized foreigners were really enjoying themselves and partying it out in the deep freeze section. Mr. Robotic felt like Frodo walking past them. The music in the bar is pretty good too though a bit loud so it is not really a place for conversation. Pity the bar has no screening of the World Cup so the group had to leave after 1 drink.

The group seek a second location for the night and settled at a seafood restaurant. It's pretty quiet at the restaurant and thus makes it a good place for funny banter. Ms. Limelight also shared her travel experience Uzbekistan. According to her, Indians with sharp ventures are wildly popular in Uzbekistan akin to Bollywood celebrities.

And the match between Brazil and Holland started (the crowd also start pouring in to the restaurant). The game started with lightning attacks by the Brazilians which resulted in a early goal for Brazil (Ms. Hysterical and Ms. Limelight cheered for their team while Mr. Hidden Rockstar knows in his blood that Holland will eventually win) and that set the pace for the viewers that it was going to be an exciting match. Even at the sidelines, the angst and fiery expressions by the Brazil coach is pure entertainment in itself.

Is Holland going to hand over the entry ticket to the next match to Brazil?

No way! The Dutch came back in the second half of the game much stronger and kept biting at Brazil's defence. While Mr. Robotic has no preference on the team advancing to the next match, Mr. Robotic did liked the fighting spirit of the Underdog and the Dutch embodied that, coming in the match against the hot favorites and going against the odds of a goal behind. The hard work paid off for the Dutch as they scored a key goal from the free kick area (technically the Brazilian headed in the own goal while trying to defend against the free kick). Mr. Robotic swore that he thought Ms. Hysterical's heart stopped momentarily for 5 seconds due to the conceited goal.

It is really a cliche on the expression on how the ball is round and that anything can happen but indeed that was what happened for the Brazil and Holland match after the Dutch scored their second goal and snatched the win from the Brazilians much to the dismay of many fans.

To sum it up, the adrenaline rush rooting for the teams, the frustrations about the missed opportunities, the unison shouting for GOAL and watching the crazy antics when the players scores do make it compelling to fall in love with the World Cup! Mr. Robotic did enjoyed the night much.

Mr. Robotic always wonders don't the knees hurt with this slide? Haha...

Who is your pick to win it all for World Cup?

PS: If you recalled the Malaysia episode, Mr. Trust Me has been banned from leading the way. Yet Mr. Trust Me still inconspicuously walks to the front of the pack and tries to lead people into random places. For instance, on the way home, Mr. Trust Me asked the group to cross the road and yet turn back and asked the group where they are after crossing the road. Where did Mr. Trust Me get his confidence? Mr. Robotic has no idea...

Potato Salad

2010-06-28T21:53:00.005+08:00

Potato Salad
Learned of this recipe from cookingwithdog.

Ingredients (Based on agaration):
-1 to 2 Potatoes
- Small pieces of Carrot
- Pinches of Salt
- Half a Japanese Cucumber
- Half a Sweet Corn
- 1/2 tea spoon of Vinegar
- A pinch of Sugar
- A pinch of Black Pepper
- 2 table spoon of Mayonnaise

Directions (Refer to the cookingwithdog for video instructions):
1) Boil the sweet corn in a pot.
2) Cut the cucumber, potatoes and carrot into quarter slices.
3) Add a pinch of salt to the cucumber slices and rub the salt evenly.
4) Put the potatoes and carrot bits in a pot of water that is filled with salt and bring the pot of water to a boil.
5) Remove the sweet corn from step 1) and cut out the corn bits.
6) Drain the potatoes and carrot bits from step 4) and put into large bowl.
7) Lightly mash the potatoes and carrot bits while adding in vinegar, sugar and black pepper.
8) Use kitchen towels to squeeze dry the cucmber slices from step 2) and add it into the bowl.
9) Add in the corn bits and mayonnaise and mix the ingredients.
10) Serve the potatoe salad.

Experience:

Mr. Robotic thinks the potato salad is one of those dishes that can't go too wrong. Mr. Robotic totally did not follow the portions in the original recipe and just added the quantity as he deemed appropriate.

The best part though is it can be kept in the fridge and used as a side dish for the next meal. Mr. Robotic had it as a side for his eggs and sausages and pan seared salmon fish.

The colors are nice too! :)

Sing... sing a song...

2010-06-20T23:42:00.003+08:00

Kbox is having a promotion for its members on week nights from Mon to Thurs between 7 to 10pm. It's only $8 net compared to the usual $18++. Of course, with the lower price package, you are only served 1 drink, shorter singing hours and you don't get free flow of snacks...

But Mr. Robotic still thinks it is a good deal for anyone who just wants to sing! It's like the budget airline concept... cutting away the frills!

La la la...

Mr. Congeniality turns 3...

2010-06-13T13:10:00.010+08:00

Mr. Robotic and Ms. 大眼妹 decided to throw Mr. Congeniality a mini birthday celebration in view that he is at in their opinion a new stage in life. Mr. Congeniality is now 3 years old!!! Well at least that is what the candle on his cake says. haha..

If you are wondering why is the cake amateurishly decorated... that is because it was decorated by Mr. Robotic and Ms. 大眼妹. The duo met up earlier at the shop Icing Room in the basement of 313 at Somerset (same management of Breadtalk) and was given a plain white cake with 3 icings and decorative stars. Using the icing to draw is no easy feat which explains for a not so "handsome" caricature of Mr. Congeniality.

However, if you want to give a personalised gift to someone and is good with icing drawings, then this shop will be the one for you. And the bonus is... the cake actually tasted good!

Hoped that Mr. Congeniality enjoyed his mini celebration!

Jelly jelly...

2010-06-06T17:39:00.009+08:00

Konnyake Jelly

Followed the instructions on the packaging.

Ingredients (serves 8 to 10):
- Konnyake Jelly Powder

- Fruits of your choice cut to bits size
- 500ml of water

Directions:
- Fill the pot with the 500ml of water. Upon turning on the flame, pour the jelly powder gradually into the water. Keep stirring till it boils.

- Upon boiling, remove from stove and stir till bubbles disappears.

- Add fruits to mould. Pour mixture from step 2 into mould.
- Chill for 3 hours before serving.

Experience:

Mr. Robotic chose the pineapple flavored jelly and used apples as the garnishing for the jelly to give it a little crunchiness in texture. Apples however are not meant to be kept for long so it is advisable to consume the jelly the day itself once it is chilled nicely. Each pack actually can serve 8 to 10 people so you may want to cut down on the quantity. Mr. Robotic is going to try this jelly thingy again but with a clear colored jelly instead. The rich yellow overshadows the garnishing.

PS: Mr. Robotic bought the small little turtle pick from Daiso. Daiso just have some things that are irresistible at $2 (there are other picks in the pack for future use). Haha...

Mango Sago Pomelo w/o sago and pomelo...

2010-06-06T14:59:00.006+08:00

Mango Sago Pomelo (better known as 杨枝甘露)

Learned of this recipe from Noob Cook.

Ingredients(Serves 4):
- 400ml Mango Juice (substituted with Marigold PeelFresh)

- 150ml Evaporated Milk

- 2 large ripe Honey Mangoes, cubed

- Sugar Syrup by mixing 2 table spoon caster sugar with just enough hot water to dissolve

- 80g Pearl Sago, soak in water for 20 minutes till white and enlarged, then rinsed

- Pomelo, peeled and sacs separated, about 50g or more

Directions:

1) Boil a pot of water, add sago and boil for a short while till the sago is transparent. Run the cooked sago through a fine sieve and running water to remove excess starch. Set aside.

2) Reserve one quarter of the cubed mangoes for garnishing. In a blender, blend the rest of the mangoes and the evaporated milk for a short while till well mixed.

3) Mix mango smoothie prepared in step 2 with mango juice. Add sugar syrup to taste. Add cooked pearl sago prepared in step 1 to the mixture. Chill in fridge.

4) To serve, portion out to individual serving bowls and garnish with pomelo sacs and cubed mangoes.

Experience:
Mr. Robotic had been warned by Mdm. Agaration that sago is a hard thing to get right and was she right on the money for this. Mr. Robotic didn't manage to get the sago to boil to the right texture. It turned out all squishy... nothing like sago. To ensure that the dessert don't turn out to be a disaster, Mr. Robotic decided to throw the failed batch of sago away which is definitely a right decision. Pomelo is an ingredient that is hard to get (Mr. Robotic didn't manage to get any from the supermarkets) so that was left out too.

Fortunately, notwithstanding that ingredients are missing, the dessert still came out nice. Those who tasted it said that it was Mr. Robotic's most successful dessert to date. It is a tad on the sweet side so Mr. Robotic wouldn't recommend having it everyday. But it is a simple dessert and serving it chilled makes it a most suitable dessert for the warm climate in Singapore!

Yummy!

The Fastest Burning Candles ever....

2010-06-06T01:37:00.007+08:00

Mr. Robotic never liked his birthdays cause it is a constant reminder to himself that yet another year had passed in his life and he needs to evaluate his past achievements. For machines especially, this is a big no no cause they would have depreciate in value with each passing year. Lucky for Mr. Robotic, his friends were there each year with their warm wishes to make the transition easier.

This year marks the last year in his twenties for Mr. Robotic as Mr. Trust Me "brutally" reminded him. The next year would be the big 3 for Mr. Robotic. The numbers again sunk in when the mango cake presented to Mr. Robotic contained so many candles which more or less crowded the cake. And as there were so many burning candles next to each other, they burned so fast that Mr. Robotic and friends had barely enough time to take photos with the birthday cake. It was hilarious trying to capture a photo before the candle burns out! Got to be a first!

Another first for Mr. Robotic was that it was the first birthday where the friends celebrated with a BBQ. Lots of laughter and fun. Thank you Ms. Molly for being the host and organising the whole event!

While the day ended, it is kind of surreal for Mr. Robotic as he took it all in. He is approaching the next stage of his life. A little clueless, maybe a little scary... but its alright. Cause he can count on all his friends to make the journey forward, interesting, exciting and memorable!

Thank you all!

Are you really in Singapore?

2010-05-25T21:11:00.021+08:00

This post is long overdue since the actual event took place in April itself and you may have already read about a related post on this. But it's all good since Mr. Robotic get to reminisce the moment. :)

Ever since Mr. Robotic heard that Universal Studios is going to bring their act to Singapore, Mr. Robotic has been enthusiastically awaiting their arrival. While Mr. Robotic is thankful for Singapore for many things (e.g. stability, infrastructure), the small island can definitely do no wrong in adding familiar characters from Shrek and Madagascar to its population and make things more interesting.

Universal Studios really did lived up to its expectations. There are lots to see and Mr. Robotic felt that he was at the set for the different movie scenes (at "Lights, Camera, Action!" Mr. Robotic did get to witness the setting for a major hurricane). It is amazing how this part of Sentosa is transformed, so much so that one questions whether he or she is still in Singapore. The best part of course is that Mr. Robotic get to spend a memorable day out with his family (the previous one being the now dysfunctional Haw Par Villa?! Gosh, that's ancient!)!

Universal Studios Singapore (USS) are divided into Hollywood, New York City, Sci-Fi City, Egypt, Madagascar, Far Far Away and Lost World. Lest for Sci-Fi City which Mr. Robotic thinks is a tad dull (maybe cause the main attraction Battlestar Galactica is down for repairs), the rest of the USS has much to do and Mr. Robotic couldn't complete them in a day (e.g. "Pantages Hollywood Theater").

It could have been the long queue times for the attractions (some rides actually need 50 minutes waiting time! Or it could be the weekend) that slowed Mr. Robotic's progress or the glaring sun that made Mr. Robotic hid in the air-conditioned places. Whatever the case, it is worth a second or third visit!

Not convinced? Take a look at some of Mr. Robotic's photographs of USS!!!

In the WaterWorld stage, watch as the actors and actresses perform defying stunts before your very eyes. An explosive performance! Those sitting in the front seats, be prepared to get soaked! Keep a lookout for the schedule as there are limited times for this performance.

Mr. Robotic donning his Ogre ears and pretending that Shrek's place is his. Mr. Robotic looks endearing as Shrek right? Maybe Mr. Robotic can consider a part time job as the Shrek mascot. Haha.

There are mascots (e.g. Puss in boots and Kungfu Panda) going around to take photos and the mascots sure have a number of cheeky poses. A pity Mr. Robotic missed out the opportunities to take photos with them as they appeared only for short intervals. Well, it's not easy to be in those thick suits in Singapore's hot climate. So the mascots definitely deserve their cool down breaks. Kudos to these people whom braved the weather and made it possible! Mr. Robotic hopes to be able to take pictures with them in his next visit to USS.

While Fairy Godmother is a villain in Shrek 2, Mr. Robotic like the two-faced character for she sang one of his favorite song "Holding out for a Hero" in the movie. Also, like Pinocchio, Mr. Robotic wishes that the Fairy Godmother can turn him into a real boy instead of a working machine! Happily Ever After potion anyone?

Pity there are not many villains stuff in USS. Mr. Robotic thinks they have a niche audience that should not be missed.

The guardians to the indoor roller coaster, "The Revenge of the Mummy". Mr. Robotic had never took any indoor roller coasters prior to this and so Mr. Robotic is giving two thumbs up for this cool and thrilling ride! Many of Mr. Robotic's friends also give rave reviews about the ride. The long walk in to the ride is complete with flickering lights which adds to the spook factor. Hey, its dark on the ride itself, so scream all you want (not that Mr. Robotic screamed... :P).

No theme park is complete without the kiddie rides. Let the kids or adults have a go at the above "King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round". Mr. Robotic likes to Move it Move it and he chose Nana, the crazy and aggressive old lady. She deserves punishment for trying to bully Mr. Robotic's favorites, the Penguins. Opps... Anyway, Nana does not move much... like moving an inch up and down?

So there you go, Mr. Robotic's take on some of the attractions at USS. It's cool to feel as though you are a tourist visiting Singapore even though you are a local. Be there to experience it!

Make someone happy today!

2010-05-22T16:37:00.005+08:00

While watching a video on "Johnny the bagger" at the service excellence workshop, a particular quote by Mark Twain in the video resonated with Mr. Robotic.

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up."

It is easy to point out other people's mistake but as Asians, one is not so forthcoming in giving or accepting compliments. One should learn to give others compliments when it is due. Your words may just uplift another person's day and in doing that creates a positive energy that may bounce right back at ya. It is nice to see someone smile right?

Also, by praising someone, you are helping to reinforce the strength or attribute that the person is good at for he or she may not realise to explore that area.

So... make it a point to compliment someone each day!

Funny side note:
Mr. Robotic remarked that Mr. Trust Me was dashing on a random day. But instead of gracefully accepting the compliment, Mr. Trust Me grabbed a stapler (not the small kind but the large kind) and threatened to throw at Mr. Robotic for his nonsense.

Moral of story? The compliment must be sincere and genuine or it may just backfire. Opps....

Service Excellence Workshop

2010-05-18T22:46:00.008+08:00

Mr. Robotic is always in a dilemma over quality versus quantity in his course of work. As quantity is easily measured, Mr. Robotic finds himself constantly evaluated based on the volume of work that he can complete and whether the work is completed on a prompt basis.

However, Mr. Robotic's developers have also been emphasizing that quality is of equal importance in his work. But due to lack of time, increasingly higher quantity targets or simply losing sight of the objectives, Mr. Robotic finds he does sacrifice quality over quantity from time to time.

It was therefore good timing that Mr. Robotic received valuable training in a form of a two day workshop on "service excellence" to help him reconnect to his job purpose. That is, he is there at his job to help people.

What is Mr. Robotic's main takeaway from the workshop conducted by Mr. Trainer?

Generalisation:
Generalisation, is one's in-built mechanism to helps one do their work faster (aka handling the quantity aspect) and it is especially important in today's world given the clutter of information that one is required to process each day. It is a double-edged sword though. Sometimes one needs to be mindful not to jump too quickly to conclusions and that not one solution fits all problems, for one's generalisation could be incorrect.

Mr. Robotic is gulity of generalisation too as he may be too quick to judge things and reject an idea instead of letting the events play out and see how it eventually goes.

Similarly, Mr. Robotic experiences how he is discriminated due to generalisation as he recalls how the sales people in a particular shop only greeted and attended to the ang moh customers (predicted to be tourists who are willing to spend money in the shop) and totally ignored Mr. Robotic's presence because he is in a T-shirt and bermudaes (predicted to be a Singaporean who is merely doing window shopping and not worth their effort) that day.

True enough, due to the double standards experienced, Mr. Robotic left the shop quickly. Self-fulfilling prophecy? One should be wary not to fall in that loop.

While the workshop may be touching on topics which Mr. Robotic already know, it is a good workshop because it keeps Mr. Robotic grounded and not lose focus of his job purpose. Importantly, the ideas are presented in a fun manner and a nice break from work!

Thanks Mr. Trainer! Much Appreciated!

Life of a "retiree"...

2010-05-15T00:05:00.008+08:00

Well... Mr. Robotic ain't exactly a machine that is due for retirement soon. However, that ain't stopping him from experiencing the kind of lifestyle if he is indeed a retiree. What would one of the "retirement" days entail? It would be sipping away afternoon tea and enjoying little snacks while flipping the business times and magazines at the cafe.

Mr. Robotic has been eyeing the coffee connoisseur (TCC)'s tea set promotion ever since he learned about the promotion a week ago. The promotion is from 2 to 6pm where one gets to enjoy snacks and a drink (choice between coffee and tea) for $12.90. Citibank card holders get to enjoy a further 15% discount on the bill.

The strawberry tart is missing as it is already in Mdm. Agaration's tummy before Mr. Robotic can take up his camera.
Salmon sandwich.

The peppermint tea pot.

Little cookies to go with the tea itself.

Mr. Robotic always like visiting the different branches of TCC because while the colors used for the decoration is yellow, brown, white and black, each branch has somehow a unique decor to it due to the choice of furniture and even the chandeliers. Besides the design, the alternative drinks such as "Peach Me Up" and "Green Apple Twist" are quite nice (Mr. Robotic can't take coffee as it is like a laxative to him) and the highlight of course would be the "Seafood Aglio Olio". The scallops are a little bit chewy or as the Taiwanese would call it the QQ texture.

Do let Mr. Robotic know if you come across any other good promotions ya...?!?

Pizza for the Dummies...

2010-05-13T20:55:00.009+08:00

Hawaiian Pita Pizza

Learned of this recipe from Noob Cook.

Mr. Robotic has always been a fan of Noob Cook cause she really simplifies recipes for the likes of Mr. Robotic to follow. She can so like write a book on cooking for dummies. Haha... Mr. Robotic also like her food photography skills and her nice and cute utensils that match the food. Do visit her site for more recipes.

This Pita Pizza recipe is gonna be a favorite for Mr. Robotic mainly because it is completed in so few steps and in like 15 minutes. The bonus is that there ain't much follow up like washing and cleaning the plates... :)

Ingredients (From the top in clockwise direction):

Pineapples slices
Tomato Paste (or tomato paste sauce or pizza sauces)
Pita Bread
Mozzarella Cheese

Ham

Directions:
1. Place a piece of pita bread on an oven tray (Mr. Robotic had put a little bit of butter in case the pita bread stick to the tray).
2. Spread the tomato paste evenly over the pita bread using the back of a spoon.
3. Add the toppings of pineapples and ham, followed by a layer of mozzarella cheese, followed by more toppings over the cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven of 200C (392F) for roughly 10 minutes.

It's amazing watching the ingredients transform before one's very eyes...

Fresh and piping hot from the oven! Pizza Hut can't deliver faster than this...

Serve on a nice plate...

Experience:
Did you notice that Mr. Robotic had many more pictures for this dish compared to all his other recipes? It was possible because this dish is really really easy so Mr. Robotic had free time to play around with his camera while waiting for the pizza to cook in the oven. It ain't an authentic Italian pizza but hey it is good for a hungry day where one is lazy to cook something too complicated.

Mr. Robotic can't wait to try out new ingredients to come up with variations for this...

Chicken with Pineapple

2010-05-12T23:49:00.005+08:00

Teriyaki Chicken with Pineapple Slices
Learned of this recipe from 女人我最大 episode 20100308 超幸福爱心便当

Ingredients (Mr. Robotic based it on agaration):
Chicken Fillets Teriyaki Sauce (enough to cover the chicken fillets)

Dash of sugar

Half a garlic flatten

Stub of ginger finely grated

1 teaspoon of oil

Slices of pineapple

Marination:
1. Add sugar to the teriyaki sauce, followed by the garlic and ginger.
2. Cut away the fatty parts of the chicken fillets and marinate the chicken fillets using the teriyaki sauce.

3. Cover in cling wrap and leave in fridge overnight.

Cooking:
1. Lightly oil the pan.
2. Cook the side of the chicken fillets with the skin first.
3. Add the pineapple slice on top of the chicken.

4. Turn the fillets to the other side. Once fully cooked, remove the chicken fillets and serve.

For the photo of the finished dish, click here.

Experience:
Mdm. Agaration who is a fan of ginger liked the dish. Mr. Robotic in order not to waste the stub of ginger, used more than he should for the dish. The taste of the pineapple was also overpowered by the other ingredients. Not fantastic results but at least there is one fan. Furthermore, Mr. Little Terror did not give much negative comments so that is definitely a plus. A simple east meets west dish.

Tomato Egg...

2010-05-12T23:18:00.011+08:00

Tomatoes stirred fried with Eggs
Learned of this recipe from 女人我最大 episode 20100308 超幸福爱心便当

Ingredients (Serves 2 to 3):

3 eggs mixed
2 tomatoes

A few stalks of spring onions

1 table spoon of tomato sauce

Dash of salt and sugar

1 tea spoon of oil

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in pan and start cooking the eggs over low fire till the eggs are half cooked. Take out the eggs.
2. Put in the tomatoes and spring onions in pan and stir fried.
3. Next add in the tomato sauce and some water.
4. Add back the eggs and the salt and sugar.

Wonder whats besides the tomatoes and eggs? Click here.

Experience:

A very simple dish. Good for those who likes tomatoes. Anyway, Mr. Robotic did made some mistakes on this dish too. He couldn't find salt so he skipped the step of adding salt. And he didn't realise that he is supposed to add sugar. Mr. Robotic added white pepper instead. So overall his take on this is a bit bland. Anyway, one can't go too wrong with this dish.

Also, it's ideal for vegans who can take egg products too. :)

Mango Yogurt Cake Recipe

2010-05-12T10:54:00.006+08:00

Mango Yogurt Recipe

Learned of this recipe from Nami-Nami.

Mr. Robotic tried to halve the amount of ingredients and used a small tin because of the disastrous encounter with the previous cake.

Ingredients (Serves 5 to 6):
Base:
100 g digestive biscuits, crushed
40g butter, melted

Mango filling:
250g good-quality mango pulp
100g plain yogurt
100ml whipping cream
1 Table spoon sugar
Juice of a half a lemon
1 Table spoon gelatine powder

Directions:
Base:
1. Mix the finely crushed biscuits with melted butter.
2. Line the small tin with a parchment paper and press the mixture onto the base.

Filling:
1. Soak the gelatine in 1 table spoon of water for about 5-10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix the mango pulp and yogurt.
3. Heat the lemon juice in a small bowl, adding 2 to 3 table spoon of hot water.
4. Add gelatine and stir into the hot lemon juice/water mixture. Stir couple of times, until melted.
5. Pour into the mango-yogurt mixture, stirring vigorously.
6. Whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form, then fold into the mango mixture.

Final:
1. Spoon the mango filling onto cookie base, smooth the top.
2. Place into the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Experience:

So Mr. Robotic didn't follow the instructions for the recipe and what was the outcome? Just Mango Yogurt... the disaster was still edible though. Lol. The filling did not firm up as a cake. What might have went wrong?

Mr. Robotic thinks it was the amount of water used that stopped the cake from firming up. He used too much lemon juice (whole lemon) and water. Also, he reduced the gelatin powder used to 1 teaspoon instead of a table spoon as Mr. Songwriter Wannabe told him that his previous cake were too hard in texture. It could also be that instead of mango pulp, he had used fresh mangoes and blended them. Or it could be he used the blender to mix the ingredients instead of stirring them. Haha... so many variables to isolate... cakes are really no easy feat... Kudos to the chefs!

OTD mentality...

2010-05-04T23:44:00.006+08:00

OTD stands for On the Dot. Apply it to work context, it literally means to leave the office on time but there is more to it. To Mr. Robotic, it means to be able to complete all the work due for the day and leave the office at ease and ensuring that his personal time are by no means compromised by work. Mr. Robotic always admired his colleagues who are able to achieve the OTD spirit and hopefully pick up a few tips from them to improve his own pace of work.

Click on Mr. Robotic's profile and his earlier posts and take a look at his aspiration on how he wishes to become a real boy who gets to explore the fun things in life instead of a remaining as a working machine. To put things in perspective, do take a look at the equation below...

Work Life Balance Equation for a "normal" person:

8 hours of Work + 8 hours of Personal Time + 8 hours of sleep = 1 day

By normal person, Mr. Robotic is referring to one that has a office job and is expected to clock the standard office hours per day. Also do note that in the above equation, 1 day = 24 hours = 1,440 minutes = 86,400 seconds which is impossible to increase. The only variables are work, personal time and sleep. However, sleep cannot be reduced too drastically or it would lead to dire or undesirable effects.

On the same issue, Mr. Robotic read a book recently by the author, Robert Shemin, in which he said that the true measure of wealth is not in the monetary measures (i.e. how much money one have) but rather time itself. This is because one can make more money but one cannot make more time. Mr. Robotic's take from the book is wealth should not be created at the expense of one's personal time. Instead one should work towards generating wealth through methods that can reduce the number of work hours and further translate that to more personal time. And this is Mr. Robotic's goal for 2010.

Looking back at the past few weeks stretching from February to April, Mr. Robotic's work life balance equation was in a total mess. Mr. Robotic landed up sacrificing his personal time and sleep due to increase in additional hours put in for work. And the worst part of all, the additional hours does not necessarily translate in to more wealth for Mr. Robotic. On the contrary, if Mr. Robotic did not perform to the expectations of his job level, it could mean less wealth.

Lucky for Mr. Robotic, May is finally becoming a better month for him. He has been repeating to himself throughout each day that he has to clear the various objectives of the day by 6pm each day and he would cut away all distractions that obstructs his path. By practicing the OTD spirit, Mr. Robotic finally get to achieve much more things in his after work times like:

- Running
- Update blog

- Finish reading a book

- Gym exercises

- Experience the evening sun

- Small talk with family members

Being able to get his personal time back on track, Mr. Robotic felt "richer" already.

OTD all the way!!

China Bistro...

2010-05-04T22:01:00.006+08:00

When one has free vouchers, there is that tendency to over spend. That is exactly what happened with Mr. Robotic and gang when Mr. Robotic received free food vouchers of over $50 for spending at Universal Studios.

As Mdm. Agaration likes Chinese Food, the gang settled on Holly China Bistro among all the eateries in Universal Studios.

The dishes are (from top to bottom) Yang Zhou fried rice (without prawns), Spinach with garlic (vegetable of the day), Glutinous Rice wrapped in leave, Spring roll, Meat Platter, Guo Tie and Longjing Tea.

Total damage for the whole lot of the food is $120+ for a group of 4. Pity all the dishes above came across as standfare and none was really outstanding except for the roasted pork from the meat platter. The skin of the roasted pork was really crispy and there was a few sauces to dip on. It was one of the rare occasions that Mr. Robotic was not turn off by the fatty meat. Another point worth mentioning was that the service was prompt which was especially important then for the extremely hungry group.

Worth another try for Mr. Robotic? Perhaps with another selection of dishes.

Wouldn't it be nice....

2010-04-18T01:30:00.003+08:00

The song that never fails to bring a smile to Mr. Robotic's face... The dreamer always wondering the what ifs...

Wouldn’t It Be Nice:

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long
And wouldn't it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong

You know its gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through

The happy times together we've been spending
I wish that every kiss was never ending
Oh Wouldn't it be nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true (run, run, run)
Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could be married (we could be married)
And then we'd be happy (then we'd be happy)

Wouldn't it be nice (ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Oh, wouldn't it be nice

good night my baby
sleep tight my baby

good night my baby
sleep tight my baby

good night my baby
sleep tight my baby

good night my baby
sleep tight my baby

Mayday Concert in April...?

2010-04-18T01:27:00.014+08:00

Mr. Robotic ain't an avid concert-goer cause he wouldn't be paying for front seat prices just to get the up close view of the celebrities. If he ain't paying for good seats, that would mean that he would just be watching the concert via the big screen and Mr. Robotic thinks he would be better off watching the repeat telecasts on TV.

However, as he has been hearing rave reviews from friends about how marvellous Mayday (better known as 五月天) is at live concerts and Mr. Robotic does like Mayday's songs, Mr. Robotic decided to abandonhis skeptical side and went for the Mayday concert in Singapore. Lucky, he did, as it was a good night for Rock and Entertainment!

Special Mentions: Mr. Robotic, Ms. Molly and Ms. Queen (follower of 女人我最大) had dinner at Kallang Seafood Restaurant which is located at the top level of of Leisure park. The food is surprisingly good and so is the outdoor decor. Mr. Robotic's word of advice though is to avoid the dinner crowd prior to a popular concert.

Photos ripped from Ms. Queen. Opps... Mr. Robotic meant thanks, Ms. Queen!

Due to the heavy downpour, the backstage crew was busy fixing all the damaged equipment and that delayed the start of the concert. The concert started off with motorcycle stunts on the runway but it was the appearance of the band that really got the fans cheering and on their feet! Afterwards, the crowd also sangalong to the familiar songs from the band.

Kudos to the crowd that remained upbeat despite the delay!

The runway for the band members (except poor drummer) to get up close to the fans is a fantastic idea! Monster strumming his guitar (picture above) while the fans trailed enthusiastically by the side of the runway. At one point in time, Mr. Robotic was so close to the lead singer 阿信 that he was practically looking right at 阿信 in the eyes till it felt awkwardly close. The crazed male fan beside Mr. Robotic had no issue with that closeness and was reaching out to 阿信, hoping to get his hand shake. Psychotic...

Kudos to the power of rock music and the runway!

One of the various stage props that added a different feel to the whole concert experience.

Kudos to the backstage crew for all their efforts in ensuring the success of the concert!

The sixth member of the band was introduced. Bumblebee from transformers? He commented that he didn't dare to dance on the stage lest the stage collapsed. He did give a friendly wave though. Mr. Robotic read in the news that the super tall robot was supposed to do more but the rain short circuited his wires. Nonetheless, Mr. Robotic is still proud that another milestone was achieved for the robotic kind.

Kudos to the robotic world!

The band reminded the crowd that it was their first outdoor paid concert in Singapore and they were having a blast except for the excruciating heat. 阿信also commented that their band was the last one to have a concert at the existing National Stadium as the place would be teared down for further development. Wow... and that was Mr. Robotic's first time to the National Stadium. The band ended the concert by treating the crowd to an amazing array of beautiful fireworks which would not been possible had it been an indoor event.

Kudos to Mayday for going all the way to make it a memorable experience for the fans!

It was a great night!

St' Games...

2010-04-04T22:28:00.006+08:00

If you are thinking that there is a typo to Mr. Robotic's title entry and it should be St' James Powerhouse... can't blame you. That is the kind of reaction when Mr. Robotic first hear of the name of the place. But alas, that would somehow give away that you are kind of a clubber to do think of St' James Powerhouse. :)

Anyway, St' Games, the place that Mr. Robotic went on a Thursday evening is a place for playing video games (think Wii, Playstation etc) with your friends or family. The shop is located at a quiet corner of Novena Square 2. The prices which are about $6 to $7 per hour are reasonable to Mr. Robotic as it is about the same prices for movie tickets anyway. One, however, is required to sign up as a member first before using the facilities, which involves a one time $10 charge. Apparently, there is a promotion for now and that charge is waived.

Since it was a Thursday night and just after office hours, it was rather weird for Mr. Robotic to be in office attire (Mr. Trust Me and Ms. Hysterical were in casual clothes as they were on course for the day) and swinging the Wii remote to and fro vigorously. But as Mr. Robotic's got drawn into the game and got a good workout on his forearms from swinging (for real as Mr. Robotic is sweating from it), that awkwardness just fade into the background.

The trio challenged each other to Raving Rabbits 2 and Wii Sport. Raving Rabbits has cutesy graphics and involves one in a variety of random tasks like washing clothes and spinning the porcelain plates while Wii Sport as the name suggest has games like archery and volleyball (Mr. Robotic and Ms. Hysterical hate to admit it but Mr. Trust Me is good at virtual volleyball).

Boy were there competitive streaks in Mr. Trust Me and Ms. Hysterical and you can see the fire (i.e. determination) in their eyes. Sadly, both of them didn't think of Mr. Robotic as much of a competitor. So how did the score go?

Raving Rabbits:

1st - Ms. Hysterical

2nd - Mr. Robotic

3rd - Mr. Trust Me

Will Sport:

1st - Mr. Trust Me

2nd - Mr. Robotic

3rd - Ms. Hysterical

So overall, it is a tie? Well... Mr. Trust Me and Ms. Hysterical are of course not contended with the results and swore for a rematch. Till the next Wii battle~

Malaysia, Truly Asia...

2010-03-31T23:33:00.021+08:00

A lot of people find it amazing and at the same time amusing that in his close to 30 years of existence, that Mr. Robotic has NEVER EVER step into Malaysia till just recently. To set things straight, Mr. Robotic did venture out to other places like Hong Kong and Bangkok but rather the opportunity to travel to Malaysia did not present itself to Mr. Robotic.

How is that possible, you ask? Well, Mr. Worry Too Much holds this perception that the whole family should not be travelling together, in fact, even individual family members should not be travelling if possible, cause the world beyond Singapore is a scary place with all the politics, riots etc. Hence, if you ever find that Mr. Robotic is pessimistic, he must have inherited it from Mr. Worry Too Much.

That aside, how did Mr. Robotic find his "virgin" trip (as his friends would like to tease him) to Johor Bahru (just across the Causeway from Singapore) with Ms. Hysterical and Mr. Trust Me?

Misfit trying to fit in:

"Thanks" to his seasoned traveller "friends" who keep warning him to dress as un-glamorous as possible so that Mr. Robotic does not come across as a viable target for robbers and thieves in the foreign country, Mr. Robotic turned up for the trip in an over sized T-shirt, seasoned bermudas, a pair of flip flops and a backpack. Ms. Hysterical was of course (you guessed it right) hysterical about Mr. Robotic's whole outfit and break into laughter every now and then when reminded about the outfit. To make things worse, the locals are not shabbily dressed at all in the malls. In fact, their dress sense is what is typical of youngsters would wear in Orchard Road and Mr. Robotic felt like an eyesore to the locals.

So is this pair of slippers amusing to you?

3 and a half meals in half a day?

Food prices in Johor Bahru is seemingly cheap compared to those in Singapore. Well, Mr. Robotic and gang had all their meals at City Square so maybe it could even be cheaper?

For instance, a lunch meal at Kenny Rogers costs about S$11 in Malaysia which one would not be able to find in the Kenny Rogers in Singapore even for set lunch specials. To compensate though, the portions served in Malaysia are smaller but Mr. Robotic thinks that the portions are just right. There is even a choice between chocolate and vanilla muffins. Sweet!

Tea break comes in the form of Mary Browns. For the clueless, Mary Browns serves deep fried chicken, except (at least to Mr. Robotic and Mr. Trust Me) the fried chicken skin taste far superior to the other more available fried chicken fast food joints (the nuggets are so so though) as it does not use excessive flour. The downside is, the chicken is dripping with oil. Sinful!

The decoration of Mary Browns is also very interesting with ceiling swings replacing some of the the conventional seats. Rock it out!

Japanese food! Mr. Robotic was delighted that Mr. Trust Me choice for dinner was the Sushi King located at the basement of City Square mall. It serves almost authentic Japanese Food and boy was Mr. Robotic famished from the long day of walking (read further to understand why). Mr. Robotic ordered a bento set which includes chawamushi, salmon slices, fried tempura, a yakult drink, miso soup and white rice. And the best part... the bento set cost less than S$10! Paradise!

To top things off, Mr. Robotic and Mr. Trust Me bought ice cream from a shop located at level 1 (don't recall the name of the shop). Mr. Robotic chose something that is called Royal Chocolate Mousse something. The chocolate is deliciously rich. Yummy!

Opps... it was such an enjoyable eating experience that Mr. Robotic had forgotten to take photos of the food.

Walking the road less travelled:

As Mr. Trust Me has been to Johor Bahru several times, he tempted Mr. Robotic and Ms. Hysterical to explore beyond the City Square Mall and constantly re-assured the two that he knows his way around. So, Mr. Robotic and Ms. Hysterical eventually placed their faith in Mr. Trust Me and ventured out of the comforts of the mall. The group got on a bus towards Danga Bay where Mr. Trust Me then communicated his main objective of the Johor trip, that was to eat seafood (this is even though Mr. Trust Me is allergic to prawns and shell related seafood items)!

The group dropped off at the wrong stop (a place that was even out of the Johor Bahru's tourist map) and had to walk back 1km to Danga Bay. Mr. Robotic cannot believe that was the nth time he misplaced his faith in Mr. Trust me. The group wandered across muddy tracks and construction areas. Somehow Mr. Trust Me has the most far-out way of humor and got his kicks from seeing Mr. Robotic spent his first trip in the un-touristy part of Malaysia.

To add salt to the wound, a rubbish collection truck past by the trio with the overpowering "aroma" expected no less from a rubbish collection truck. Mr. Trust Me could not contained it anymore and burst into giggles and laughter imagining the turn off expression that Mr. Robotic was making and how Mr. Robotic would be rolling his eyes... This was when Mr. Robotic's back was facing him and before Mr. Robotic uttered any complains. Somehow, Mr. Robotic also found his plight somewhat funny. Ms. Hysterical was clueless with what's going on.

There was nothing much to do at Danga Bay. There may be efforts to develop the place and it could be fantastic when completed. Hence, at the point of visit, the place was rather quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

The street malls at Danga Bay that sells handicrafts and stuff.

A Malay wedding by Danga Bay. Mr. Trust Me even wanted to gatecrash for free food.

Without much to do at Danga Bay, the trio decided to return back to City Square. As there were no traffic lights to cross over to the other side of the road to take the bus, the trio decided to push forward till they see some safe way to cross. That again was a bad decision as there were no traffic lights or sorts in sight. And there were no proper pavement, the trio had to walk on the side of the road, facing in coming traffic. To make things worst, dust were flying around due to the construction for new roads. The trio walked a good 3km before succumbing to taking a cab back.

Shopping:

Shopping-wise, Mr. Robotic liked the shop Padini & SEED which was recommended by Mr. Congeniality. Quite a nice selection of t-shirts which costs about $10 each but it was a pity that the ones that caught Mr. Robotic's eye only had the XL sizes left. Oh well... till next time!

If you know Mr. Robotic well enough, you know he has a weakness for jackets! So Mr. Robotic could not resist this white jacket from SEED.

A new pair of slippers to "erase" the joke on Mr. Robotic's causal flip flops. Mr. Robotic got them from Men's (no kidding, that's the title of the shop). Good selection of slippers for decent prices.

The verdict:

Mr. Robotic likes how accessible and spontaneous it is to go to a different country just using an ez-link card and without much prior planning. Even with the walking, it was a pretty fun trip. Look forward to another trip to Malaysia in the latter part of the year. And Mr. Robotic hoped Mr. Trust Me enjoyed his birthday trip!

Living the fast life...

2010-03-22T23:30:00.004+08:00

Indeed... Mr. Robotic is living the fast life lately with the numerous deadlines at work. However, the fast paced work life is nothing compared to that of riding on the motorbike. Mr. Robotic was offered a ride home by Mr. Abang and as it is the very first time that Mr. Robotic get to ride a bike, gosh was it exciting! The adrenaline rush dashing in and out of traffic and the wind coming so strongly at one's face (Mr. Robotic almost felt that his face is flapping of sorts... that ain't good). Seriously when one is used to sitting inside cars, one has no idea how fast the vehicles are travelling. Mr. Robotic thought he was almost at some adventure ride.

Mr. Robotic is ashamed to admit that his legs were wobbly and all his muscles were tensed up (especially the hand muscles for clinging tightly to the sides of the bike) at the end of the ride. Nonetheless, it was really cool to get on the bike and live the fast life...

Dian Xiao Er

2010-03-21T17:59:00.006+08:00

Mr. Robotic is not a huge fan of duck meat. But on occasions where he has a strange craving for duck meat, he likes to go to the restaurant called Dian Xiao Er. The restaurant has a nice concept and theme for it tries to create a restaurant that is in the time of the the pugilistic world of Chinese Martial Arts, best represented by Jin Yong novels. Some of the waiters and waitresses are even dress up in the costumes of a Dian Xiao Er.

Gimmicky? Yes. But that is what help it to stand out among all the restaurants out there in Singapore.

Roasted Duck with 10 Wonder Herbs. A tad disappointed for the taste is not as gratifying as Mr. Robotic remembered it. The "supposedly" herbs are not in sight.

Plain Pea Sprouts. Simple but one of Mr. Robotic's favorite vegetables.

Some Fried Doufu thingy. Do not choose this item. Besides the slightly appealing presentation of the dish, there is nothing good to say about this dish.

While Mr. Robotic acknowledges the strong branding concept behind this restaurant, Mr. Robotic hopes that the standards of the food is still given priority as that is what customers are after.

The Amusing Part of Law

2010-03-20T11:46:00.008+08:00

Notice anything outstanding about the above signage found in a SBS bus? Mr. Robotic did and his funny bone is tickled cause he saw the part, "No assault on bus captain".

Make no mistake about it, Mr. Robotic do not support any form of physical assaults on others and understand the rationale for a legislation to be in place to protect individuals. However, it is just bizarre to Mr. Robotic that such an uncommon occurrence would actually warrant public communication. Or has passengers turned barbaric and turned a bus captain position into a high risk job? Whatever is the management "thinking" when they put up the signage?

PS: Apologies for the poorly taken picture. Mr. Robotic is trying to balance himself while taking this picture at night with a so-so phone camera.

Uniquely Singapore is now Your Singapore....

2010-03-14T21:02:00.011+08:00

The controversial "Uniquely Singapore" branding that first sparked off debate on whether Singapore truly offers unique things or experiences which are not available in the rest of the world has been adapted recently to the new marketing direction "Your Singapore". The new branding's focus is to appeal to the increasingly new group of travellers whom no longer rely on tour agencies to explore a country but rather travellers who wants to be able to personalise their very own experience.

"Your Singapore" is a bit too simple for Mr. Robotic's liking. Only time will tell...

The website http://www.yoursingapore.com/ is as what the branding says, allowing travellers to plan their itineraries. Not only is it useful for tourists but locals like Mr. Robotic can consider the recommended places as a refreshing change to going to familiar places like the malls etc.

So, where did Mr. Robotic explored this 2010?
The place where travellers first arrive (usually), the Singapore Changi Airport of course!

Mr. Robotic had his lunch slash dinner at the Seoul Garden Hotpot. The hotpot is more like a side for Mr. Robotic as his was busy enjoying his rib eye beef bibimbap. Alas, Mr. Robotic attacked the bibimbap before getting a picture of it. So enjoy the rest of the pictures of the hotpot instead...

The Miso soup pot prior to the cooking and the appetizers and sauces that comes with the set...

Clams, mussels and prawns...

Cabbage, carrots, fried yams and the chicken meat dumplings...

The restaurant is awfully quiet on a Saturday afternoon. This seems to the same trend with most of the other restaurants at the airport. Hence, while it is a bit out of the way for Mr. Robotic now, Mr. Robotic is tempted to try out the other restaurants once the Circle Line Mrt Station at Paya Lebar is open. Should be a good place to chill...

So what is the after meal activities? Mr. Robotic had heard how Terminal 3 of the airport has been branded to be a greener airport but Mr. Robotic has never even been to Terminal 3 before (yes it is sad that Mr. Robotic rarely has the opportunity to go overseas on a vacation), so it is the best time to explore!

Nicely designed recycling bins...

Interesting water structure in the transit area... Mr. Robotic wished he had a transit pass to explore it further...

Relaxing transit area...

Mr. Robotic can't help but admires the travellers sipping tea at the cosy cafes and wonders when he is able to be at that stage where he can have such a relaxing lifestyle... Ganbatte!!

Joining the dark side...

2010-03-14T20:16:00.007+08:00

Mission objective to the terrorists....
1. Destroy the control switch.
2. Proceed to detonate the C4 and destroy the helicopter.
3. Kill any counter-terrorists in sight.

So has Mr. Robotic turned to the dark side like the killer robots in Terminators?

That is what the game moderators at Red Dynasty would want you to believe when you join their paintball session. You would immerse yourself in a outdoor arena that has items like a wooden helicopter and a bridge to simulate the battlefield and a weapon that is loaded with 50 rounds of paintballs. If that is not enough, how about donning a Darth Vader alike mask? (breathes heavily....)

So how did Mr. Robotic fared in the dark side. Not very good apparently. He was shot in the mouth area. Lucky for Mr. Robotic, there was his trusty Darth Vader mask that blocked most of the impact from that head shot, failing which, Mr. Robotic may need to go for some face realignment of sorts. However, the mask can only protect Mr. Robotic that much. As there are little ventilation openings in the mask, parts of the paintball actually went past the mask and into Mr. Robotic's mouth. Mr. Robotic's advice to anyone who wishes to know how paintball taste like... don't ever try, unless you are into eating grease or something :(

For all the time spent to go to the rather isolated place and listening to the briefing and gearing up for the game, the game itself ended rather quickly. But it is still a rather fun experience although a little pain is to be expected. If you have a little grudge that you have with your friends, it is time to organise a painball... opps... paintball session.

Happy Cooking 2: Oreo Cheesecake

2010-02-22T22:49:00.012+08:00

So Mr. Robotic has not been putting it much effort when it comes to trying out new recipes. The steps for the Oreo Cheesecake is pretty much the same as the Lemon Cheesecake.

Worst still, the ingredients are based on agaration!!! Mr. Robotic has further fine-tuned it compared to the quantity he used for his cake. Hopefully this will help to improve the texture for future versions of the cake.

Ingredients:
- 2 packets of Oreo Cookies
- 50g unsalted butter
- 250g Cream Cheese
- 60g Castor Sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon gelatin, dissolved in 2 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 150ml whipping cream

Experience:
Mr. Robotic still prefers the Lemon Cheesecake but the tester panel (of 2) prefers the new Oreo Cheesecake because of the Oreo base compared to a Digestive biscuit one.

PS: Mr. Robotic did squats, leg lunges and abs exercises before having the cake. You are advised to do the same before taking in those Oreo calories. Lol.

Each word is a trap...

2010-02-15T13:39:00.009+08:00

"话总说不清楚该怎么明了一字一句像圈套" extracted from JJ Lin (林俊杰)'s new song 背对背拥抱. Loosely translated, it means "how do one understand if the words are not spoken clearly? Each word becomes a trap."

While words can be used to express your thoughts and feelings to another, it is after all a medium of expression. Whether the intended message can be understood by the recipient will depend on the choice of words used by the sender and the interpretation of the recipient. If the words are communicated incorrectly, it can give rise to misunderstandings that prevents one from feeling.... happy.

Just recently, Mr. Robotic can cite one occasion where he as the recipient was gravely mistaken on wrong assumptions. In the end, it doubled his workload and robbed him of his time in other areas and happiness of course. Also, not forgetting another time, when Mr. Wild Animal was angry with Mr. Robotic's comment and only after clarification did it turn out that the it was yet another misunderstanding on the message.

Hence, both the sender and recipient should always clarify if in doubt to ensure that the message is communicated across successfully. Simple logic? Yet its not always applied... :)

Reunion Dinner...

2010-02-15T13:16:00.003+08:00

Due to the different work schedules, it may not always be possible to sit down to have a proper meal together. Also, one may want to dine out with friends instead.

When Mr. Robotic was younger, he did not really understand the purpose of gathering around the table for the family's traditional steamboat reunion dinner. It just seemed like another silly rule which he was programmed to follow.

Now Mr. Robotic learns to appreciate such minor activities which the whole family gets to do together like shopping for the groceries and preparing the reunion food. It should be done more often...

Live like we're dying...

2010-02-07T23:44:00.007+08:00

Mr. Robotic would like to dedicate this song to his friends, especially Ms. 大眼妹 whom is lately disheartened with some people at her workplace.

The take from the Kris Allen song is that each day is short and one should give thanks and spend quality time with people who matters. Correspondingly, one should not spend unnecessary time (i.e. feeling sad) over people who are bent on bringing misery in one's life cause they are not worth it.

Enjoy the song and lyrics! :)

Sometimes we fall down and can't get back up
We're hiding behind skin that's too tough
How come we don't say I love you enough
Till it's to late, it's not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won't come
We could make a feast from these crumbs
And we're all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you
What would you wish you would've done

Yeah... gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we've been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
Every second counts on a clock that's tickin'
Gotta live like we're dying

We only got
86400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying

And if your plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbyes
Should be so careful who we live out our lives
So when we long for absolution
There'll no one on the line

Yeah... gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we've been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin it
Every second counts on a clock that's tickin'
Gotta live like we're dying

We only got
86400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying

Like we're dying oh-- like we're dying [x2]

We only got
86400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live -- like we're dying

We never know a good thing till it's gone
You never see a crash until it's head on
All those people right when we're dead wrong
You never know a good thing till it's gone

Yeah... gotta start
Lookin at the hand of the time we've been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start livin it
Every second counts on a clock that's tickin'
Gotta live like we're dying

We only got
86400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying

Like we're dying oh -- like we're dying [x2]

We only got
86400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying
Live like we're dying
[Fade out]

And the winner of the Grammy award goes to...

2010-02-06T15:55:00.008+08:00

So it ain't exactly a Grammy award yet. Nonetheless, Mr. Robotic is ecstatic and proud of Mr. Songwriter Wannabe for clinching the top prize for overall best composition and the best lyrics award in the 12th XQRJ Regional Chinese Songwriting Competition. There is even a CD for the top 10 finalists...

Mr. Robotic hopes one day he has achievements of such scale.... For now, he is contented with holding to his makeshift shower-head trophy and rehearsing for his would be Grammy thank you speech in the bathroom. :)

Hot hot hot...

2010-02-06T14:32:00.008+08:00

How nice it would be to have a healthy bronzed tanned look? Mr. Robotic likes going out for lunch or a weekend swim when he gets to enjoy that brief moment of sunlight and Vitamin D instead of being cooped up in the enclosed environment all day.

The sun is way too glaring today though. Mr. Robotic was out in the sun for barely 15 minutes (without applying sunblock) and his skin turned red soon after. For those going out in open areas today, remember to put on sunblock. Over exposure to the sun is one of the primary reasons for premature aging.

Mr. Robotic came across an article lately which commented that with the different methods of improving the skin and activities that makes one's mindset younger, a person whose actual age is 40 years old can easily look and pass off as 30 instead. Hence, if you are going to be lazy in your skin care regime, you could jolly look one decade older the next time you have a gathering with your peers.

Worried? What are the other means to combat aging? For a start, choose facial products that contains Vitamin E, for its anti-oxidant elements to fight free radicals in the environment and Vitamin C, for encouraging the growth of collagen on your skin.

On such a warm day, Mr. Robotic misses the Azabu Sabo green tea ice-cream which he had just last night. Looking at the picture would help for now...

Mr. Songwriter Wannabe

2010-01-25T01:03:00.007+08:00

While Mr. Robotic is often a harsh critic on Mr. Songwriter Wannabe on his compositions, Mr. Robotic is very proud of Mr. Songwriter Wannabe making it to the finals of the NUS song-writing competition and even recorded a compilation album for the event. How many of us actually manage to enjoy minutes of fame like this?

The song, 保存, is the first song which Mr. Songwriter Wannabe wrote. It is a love ballad about retaining the memories (both good and the bad) for a broken relationship.

Please support local music and vote for Mr. Songwriter Wannabe if you think he is worthy of your vote at the link: http://mediaecho.com.sg/xqrj_vote.php. You can also find out more on Mr. Songwriter Wannabes music on http://www.streetvoice.com/cyongkang.

Lala

2010-01-25T00:35:00.010+08:00

Mr. Robotic really thinks that 徐佳莹 aka Lala is a very talented songwriter and singer. While her album has been out for some time now, her songs are very listenable and invoke one's emotions. Below is the lyrics to 失落沙洲 which is Mr. Robotic's favorite song on the album. While a happy song will perk you up, an emotional song will help you to release all your pent up sadness. This song is the later. Enjoy...

又来到这个港口
没有原因的拘留
我的心乘着斑剥的轻舟
寻找失落的沙洲

随时间的海浪漂流
我用力张开双手
拥抱那么多起起落落
想念的还是你望着我的眼波

我不是一定要你回来
只是当又一个人看海
回头才发现你不在
留下我迂回的徘徊

我不是一定要你回来
只是当又把回忆翻开
除了你之外的空白
还有谁能来教我爱

又回到这个尽头
我也想再往前走
只是越看见海阔天空
越遗憾没有你分享我的感动

我不是一定要你回来
只是当又一个人看海
回头才发现你不在
留下我迂回的徘徊

我不是一定要你回来
只是当又把回忆翻开
除了你之外的空白
还有谁能来教我爱

我不是一定要你回来
只是当又一个人看海
疲惫的身影不是我
不是你想看见的我

我不是一定要你回来
只是当独自走入人海
除了你之外的依赖
还有谁能教我勇敢

除了你之外的空白
还有谁能来教我爱

Time to say goodbye...

2010-01-23T16:48:00.006+08:00

Yes, as the title suggests, it is time for Mr. Robotic to say goodbye. Not that he is leaving his work, or shutting down this blog but rather, Mr. Robotic is gonna clean up his table and bid farewell to the junk that he has been keeping.

If you didn't know, Mr Robotic is a hoarder when it comes to junk. His laptop table is constantly piling up with receipts, bank statements and what not... At a point where he can't find his stuff on the table anymore or when he can't stack anymore things on the table, Mr. Robotic would then spend a lazy afternoon like today, sorting through the mess while listening to some laid back music.

Going through the receipts and stuff, Mr. Robotic reminisces about the past events, the friends he went out with, the places he had been, the stuff (useful and useless) which he had bought etc. At the end of the process when all the dust has settled (literally), it is almost a mini victory celebration moment for Mr. Robotic for he has managed to organise a small portion of his life on track among all the other things which he cannot control nor predict.

Goodbye junk... Till the next piled up...

Friends matters

2010-01-17T23:30:00.017+08:00

Christmas, new year... a few weeks of celebrations and cheer. But somehow behind all the laughter and happiness, Mr. Robotic can't help but feel that there seems to be an emptiness somewhere which he can't really describe that left him kinda sad. It could be the fact that another year has past and Mr. Robotic is reaching the big 30 or a case of self triggered mechanism that is out to nullify Mr. Robotic's happy emotions...

Fortunately for Mr. Robotic, he get to chill out with Mr. Congeniality (he has friends almost everywhere) and Ms. 大眼妹(apparently she still wants to be known as this moniker cause it is more adorable and sweet and fitting for her). The group tested the Crystal Jade Hong kong Cafe located at a quiet corner of level 7 of Orchard Central. The best part about the cafe is that a window seat allows you to have a bird's eye view of the buzz on the streets.

The drinks come in interesting glasses. Mr. Robotic chose warm Jasmine Tea which was served in a little clear teapot (which is refillable) and teacup.

Mr. Congeniality chose a Milk Tea thingy that came in a flask and a shot glass. Your eyes ain't playing any tricks on you. Dry ice was added to the hole in the middle of the flask which explains for the smoke coming out of it. It does look like an experimental concoction from the science labs, doesn't it?

The food however is a tad disappointing. Japanese food is best reserved for Japanese restaurants.

Would not recommend this eatery if you are looking for delicious food. However, if you are looking for a chill out spot to make small talk with your friends or you prefer your drinks served in unconventional glasses, you can give this place a chance.

Importantly it is not the food that matters but the company. Mr. Robotic really appreciate Mr. Congeniality and Ms. 大眼妹 for brightening his otherwise depressing and moody week. Thank you you!

Tarts!!

2010-01-10T23:27:00.011+08:00

Goodness Gracious Me... You did not hear it wrong. For this post, Mr. Robotic is going to talk about Tarts!

Well, Ms. Gourmet likes to share delicious food with people around her and hence, Mr. Robotic is very fortunate to be introduced to divin-licious goodies from time to time which he didn't know existed. This time round, it's silky smooth bean curd tarts from LE Cafe Confectionery & Pastry!

Mr. Robotic has always been a fan of bean curd and egg tarts and thinks the creator who came up with the marriage of bean curd-like filling with tart is simply amazing and brilliant. The taste and texture is great and not to mention that it is a much less sinful pastry compared to egg tart. Mr. Robotic crazed for the tarts so much after trying them till he decided to go to the middle road branch and walked an out of the way route just to get his hands on them. Alas, the tarts is so popular that it was sold out on Mr. Robotic's day of visit. So do drop them a call if you want to get these tarts.

Shucks... Mr. Robotic is drooling over those tarts just trying to remember the whole eating experience. Got to get them soon...

Happy Cooking 1: Lemon Cheesecake

2010-01-03T16:07:00.008+08:00

So it is the start of 2010 and therefore it is time to re-start the count of the no. of recipes attempted. First of the list would be Lemon Cheesecake!!! And it is non-bake too. Good for people who want to try pastries but do not have an oven.

Mr. Robotic has been saying that he wanted to try the supposedly 100% success rate recipe (even Mr. Wild Animal tried making it and remarked its a piece of cake, puns intended) back in December 2009, but alas the year whizzed past Mr. Robotic to his dismay. It is all good though, as it is a good recipe to usher in the new year!

Unlike previous posts, Mr. Robotic will not be providing the steps to making the recipe as he thinks that the author from Food 4 Tots has a very good illustration on the steps already. So, if you are keen to try out the recipe, please visit the Food 4 Tots webbie.

Experience:

While you can surely beat the cream cheese and the whipping cream using a mere hand whisk and sheer perseverance, if you have a electrical mixer, choose the latter, no questions asked. The only comforting thing about hand whisking is you get to burn some calories and tone your arms before putting yummy calories into your tummy. Lol.

Wow, this cheese cream sure is stubborn!!

But Mr. Robotic is more fierce! Finally beat it into cream-like texture.

After 5 long hours of waiting, the lemon cheesecake is ready for sampling.

Time to put the taste to the test!

The lemon twist is a good balance to the richness of the creamy cheese. And Mr. Robotic like things sour. While Mr. Robotic can't claim credit that it is the best cheesecake that he ever tasted, this is a nice home made cheesecake which Mr. Robotic can visualise himself bringing to gatherings. Anyone up for Oreo cheesecake?

A new year, a new chapter...

2010-01-02T22:02:00.006+08:00

While Mr. Robotic is sad to bid farewell to year 2009 (well, a new year means a year older ain't it and Mr. Robotic is one year closer to the scary 30 digits), the start of a new year is akin to a fresh chapter in Mr. Robotic's life story. It is a much needed point for Mr. Robotic to look back and review the past year at what he had achieved or failed to complete and plan and work towards on for the new year, AKA new year resolutions.

So Mr. Robotic's goals for 2010 (or Part 1 at least) are as follows:

Improve Fitness Levels:
- 2 workout sessions per week (1 session for chest and biceps, 1 session for shoulders, triceps and legs)
- 1 sport per week (be it swimming, jogging etc.)
- Start training for IPPT in January and hopefully pass by May 2010 (so it will be at least jogging twice a week during this period)
- 2 abs sessions per week (this can be done in mini breaks while surfing the net or between TV commercials)

Improve Cooking Skills:
- To have 2nd attempts on the "failed" dishes in the past
- To learn 20 new recipes

To explore the World:
- Travel to 2 new destinations (hopefully Mr. Robotic can save enough for Japan)

Wish Mr. Robotic luck on the above. Lol.

Happy Note 8: Christmas

2009-12-25T14:29:00.005+08:00

The time of the year where Mr. Robotic goes into a frenzy of non-stop shopping and fretting over what to get for each friend is finally coming to an end. While it is a most tiring process (Mr. Robotic has lost count of the number of shopping bags he had carried around), the happy faces of the recipients is "priceless". =)

Mr. Robotic would like to give thanks to all who had helped him for year 2009 and wishes all his friends a Merry X'mas and Happy Holidays!!

Bring on 2010!

Happy Note 7: Chapter on Ms. 大眼妹

2009-12-21T00:09:00.006+08:00

It is a joyous day! Not so much that the day is centred around Mr. Robotic but rather Mr. Robotic got to share and take part in the wonderful wedding moments of Ms. 大眼妹.

This is the first time Mr. Robotic get to witness the "fetch the bride" cerenomy as compared to hearsay from friends on the event. One of the highlights got to be the bridesmaids wedding game challenges for the groom where the bridesmaids will block the door until the groom performs a series of tasks with the help of his brothers troupe.

On the surface, this seems to be a money grabbing opportunity for the bridesmaids or a tekan session for the groom and the brothers, well, at least this is the version that we are familiar today. Thinking deeper, the original intent of the simple games is to test the groom's sincerity and love for the bride. To Mr. Robotic, these little obstacles are what makes the love memorable and interesting. Ain't it a good story material to tell your grandchildren what is grandpa 's love pledge to grandma or the love song that grandpa crooned to grandma? =)

Ms. 大眼妹 has grown up to be Mrs. Lim.

Mr. Robotic wishes Mr and Mrs. Lim many more chapters of happiness and romance in their love story!!

Happy Cooking 6: Siew Mai

2009-12-06T21:52:00.006+08:00

At the start of the week, Mr. Robotic is so looking forward to the weekend to test out the siew mai recipe. As there were a few hiccups, the siew mai did not turn out as he intended for it to be. Read on...

Siew Mai
Learned of this recipe from Food 4 Tots.

Ingredients (Serves 15 to 18 pieces):
- 120g prawns (net weight, around 10 medium sized prawns)
- 100g pork (semi-lean)
- 2 pieces water chestnuts
- 1 piece dried shitake mushroom (soaked and squeezed dry)
- 1 stalk spring onion
- 20 pieces square dumpling skins (trimmed into neat round circles)

Seasonings:
- ½ tea spoon salt
- ½ tea spoon sugar
- 2 tea spoon cornflour
- ½ to 1 table spoon fried garlic /onion oil
- Dash of sesame oil and white pepper

Toppings:
- Fine carrots cubes or fine cubes of salted egg yolk

Directions:
(A) Stuffing
1) Chop water chestnuts, mushrooms, spring onion into fine cubes/ pieces.
2) For prawns, peel, de-vein and wash in running water, pat dry with kitchen towel. (Secret no. 1) Divide them into 2 portions. 1st portion – pat flat and chop with the back of a knife (chopper) till fine and sticky. Cut the other portion into fine cubes.
3) Knead minced prawns in a bowl till sticky.
4) Add in minced pork, cubed prawns, salt, sugar, pepper and stir well.
5) Add in water chestnuts and mushrooms and mix well.
6) Add in fried oil, sesame oil and cornflour and stir in 1 direction until well combined and sticky.
7) (Secret no. 2) Cover the bowl with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

(B) Wrapping
1) Cover the wantan skin with a wet cloth (to prevent the skins from turning dry).
2) Prepare a piece of clean cloth to wipe your hands (make sure your hands are clean and dry)
3) Put a piece of wantan skin on your palm.
4) Add 1 full teaspoon of filling in the centre.
5) (Secret no. 3) Wet the edge of the skin with water (to help it stick tightly).
6) Bring the edges together with the back of the teaspoon. Close the edges using your thumb and index finger forming a circle like closing a full blossom rose.
7) Press down the filling and smooth the surface (apply a bit of water and use your thumb).
8) (Secret no. 4) Flatten the bottom so that the siew mai can sit properly on a greased steaming bamboo basket.
9) Sprinkle with a little chopped carrots or salted egg yolk.
10) (Secret no. 5) Steam it over HIGH heat for about 10-12 minutes.
11) Remove and serve.

Experience:
With the no. of steps involved in making this dish, it has got to be one of Mr. Robotic's most challenging task till date. Mr. Robotic made a few mistakes but the crucial one is leaving the filling in the fridge for more than 2 hours. In fact, Mr. Robotic left the filling overnight in the fridge as he was called out by friends and only returned home after midnight. The other little mistakes are the substitute of fried garlic or onion oil with olive oil with the wrong measurement, failure to pat the prawns dry and the hiccup with the steaming halfway with the stove out of gas.
While Mr. Robotic is quite pleased with the aesthetic look of the siew mai, he couldn't pass the dish with the bland taste. He will be taking up the challenge again!

Happy Cooking 5: Sweet Potato Dessert

2009-11-28T23:52:00.007+08:00

So Mr. Robotic has raved about the benefits of white fungus in one of his earlier post. But today, Mr. Robotic was even amazed to hear that the extremely cheap white fungus has the same nutritional value as bird's nest. Some people even went as far to term white fungus as the poor man's bird's nest. Wow!!!

Found a useful comparison between white fungus and bird's nest at Loving Life. Anyway, you know *wink* what Mr. Robotic is going to add to his soup and dessert now onwards right?

The limelight for this post though lies on sweet potatoes.

Mr. Robotic's previous few gym instructors had asked him to add sweet potatoes (protein content) into his diet to help with his bulking up (yes, Mr. Robotic wants to be at the size of Optimus Prime one day). Little did Mr. Robotic know that the sweet potato actually packs so much nutritional value.

According to nutritionists at the Centre for Science in the public interest (CSPI), the sweet potato ranks number one in nutrition among all vegetables. The rich vitamins and minerals in the sweet potato is so high that its score is doubled of the next most nutritional vegetable. Wow!!!

Apparently, the sweet potato is also a source of anti-oxidants which helps to prevent and repair damage caused by free radicals (think cancer, heart disease and accelerated aging).

So how would the combination of the sweet potato and white fungus turn out? Read on...

Sweet Potato Dessert
Completed this dessert based on Mdm. Agaration's instructions. Hence, please feel free to explore if the portions are suitable for you.

Ingredients (Serves 6 to 7):
- 20g white fungus
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 6 to 8 red dates
- 50g rock sugar
- 20 dried longans
- 1.5 litre water
- 6 pandan leaves

Directions:
1. Soak the white fungus, red dates and dried longans in cold water.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut it into pieces. (Easier to cook for smaller pieces).
3. Cut the stem of the white fungus.
4. Wash pandan leaves, cut off dead edges and tie into a bundle.
5. Add all ingredients into pot and bring the water to boil.
6. After water boils, turn down to low heat and let it simmer for another 15 mins.
7. Ready to serve once the sweet potatoes are soft.

Experience:
Mr. Robotic prefers the orange sweet potato than the yellow one. Nonetheless, the sweet potatoes Mr. Robotic cooked at home is most likely to be fresher than those he had outside at dessert stores, especially in food courts. Outside vendors would usually pre-prepared the sweet potato and put it in the freezer till it is needed. The taste and nutritional value are sadly lost. And of course, you would not be able to get an abundance of ingredients if you are eating out.

Mr. Robotic feels good that he is putting something delicious and yet good for his pipes into his system. Sweet~

Happy Note 6: It's the season to be jolly!!!

2009-11-28T22:12:00.008+08:00

Ho ho ho~
December is Mr. Robotic's favorite part of the year! It's a period whereby he does not feel guilty about over indulgence in shopping, food, partying and most importantly receiving presents. Haha!

With the end of the year coming, how did Mr. Robotic fared for the resolutions set out for year 2009?

Cooking:
He is on track to completing his 10 dishes although he cheated in the last few by concentrating on making desserts. 4 more dishes to go!

Watching less TV:
Mr. Robotic wanted to reduce the time spent watching TV and YouTube to 4 hours per week. Sadly this seems to be a impossible task given that there are just so many interesting Hongkong serial, Taiwanese variety shows and Japanese Anime. Argh...

Writing:
Business or work writing everyday would make Mr. Robotic a dull writer. Hence, Mr. Robotic wanted to write a book or articles to stretch his writing a little bit besides normal writing. Guess, blogging counts. So this resolution is somehow completed!

Readers out there, have you completed your resolutions? If you haven't, quickly do so among all the other Christmas activities that you have planned for December. Enjoy!!

Happy Eating 2: Healthy Fast food?

2009-11-25T23:30:00.015+08:00

So our familiarity with burgers, fries and fried chicken is a given since the Golden Arches and the Finger lickin' good colonel (no mention of brand names here since Mr. Robotic is not a fan) are available at almost all malls in Singapore and even creeping into the heartland areas. While the over-saturation phenonmen is a cause of concern as kids grow up thinking that such fast food are the "real" food, the saturated fat content in such fast food is even more worrying.

Lest you think that Mr. Robotic is an advocate of no fast food, Mr. Robotic do like the healthier choices, Yoshinoya and MOS burger which stems from Japan. But this post is not about these two common choices. Rather, it is about the newly arrived fast food joint - R Burger, that similarly came from the "Land of the Rising Sun".

So what's the hype with the R burger...?

R Burger prides itself to be the first hamburger café to introduce Marine Collagen in its buns. According to R Burger, "Marine collagen helps to stimulate collagen production. It encourages skin renewal, minimises muscle contractions, reduces the appearance of deep wrinkles and fine lines, and provides long-term improvement for the skin."
Therefore, it's marketing point lies in it being a healthier and alternative taste to the traditional burger.

Mr. Robotic ordered the R Burger Combo Meal which includes R Burger, Salad Stick with wasabi mayonnaise, Potato Wedges (hmm... this ain't too healthy ya?) and the Iced Black Tea.

Forgive Mr. Robotic for the poorly taken photo as he was very hungry at 8.50 pm and could not wait to start on his dinner.

The R Burger which comes with the beef patty really reminded Mr. Robotic of the Chinese's Kong Bak Bao (stewed pork wrapped with white buns) both in taste and presentation while the other items are not uncommon too with the other fast food joints. The cost of the combo meal is around $8+. Higher cost but supposely healthier choice? You be the judge.

If you are thinking of trying the R Burger, drop back at its only outlet in Singapore at ION Orchard.

Happy Bargains 1: Why pay more if you can pay less?

2009-11-25T00:05:00.013+08:00

While Mr. Robotic is a machine, he too cannot resist the temptation of a good bargain when he finds one. The satisfaction of getting a "good" deal may at times short circuit his logical thinking of whether he truly needs the items. For instance, there are times where it is cheaper for bundled purchases, Mr. Robotic landed up getting more than he usually needs and the "extra" items were left around in his house which eventually disappear into oblivion.

Nonetheless, Mr. Robotic figured out that he is ought to share deals which in his opinion is worth it. So here starts the new series of posts beginning with Happy Bargains!

So what is Mr. Robotic going to kick start with, you asked? Since Mr. Robotic has been blogging about food entries for the last few posts, the first bargain in the new series would be on food of course!

WOW!!! Promotion Gist:
Seoul Garden is having a 1 for 1 adult buffet promotion for its new branch at City Square Mall (located next to Farrer Park MRT) on weekdays. Promotional period is from 2 November to 30 November 2009. Friday dinner is considered as the beginning of weekend and hence not under this promotion. For more promotional details, visit here.

Mr. Robotic's Review:
Mr. Robotic went on a Tuesday evening and the place is jam-packed with people. Apparently many other people is aware of this promotion. Mr. Robotic waited for a good 1 hour before he managed to get a table. So be prepared to wait.

The place is smaller than the usual Seoul Garden branches but this is overcome with the new service arrangement. Instead of self service whereby the customers will need to take the food and drinks from the counters which involves a lot of moving around and space, the new branch has a self ordering computer system at each table for customers to order the food and get it served to the table. That is an optimal use of space and technology so kudos to that!

The turnaround time when a request for the food was put up to when the food was served was reasonably fast. Alas, the over reliance on the self ordering system is a double edged sword. In the later part of the evening, the system encountered problems. Customers were disgruntled that their orders were either missed out or wrongly taken. Hence, Seoul Garden should really train their staff to cope with downtime like this to maintain customer satisfaction.

Other points to note is the food selection at this branch is different and seems to be lesser than the other branches, especially for the cooked food items. There are also some items on the menu which you would need to pay extra so be mindful!

Mr. Robotic's bill worked out to be around $14 per person for dinner.

So, if you have a strong craving for Seoul Garden, happen to be in the neighbour with lots of time to spare, why not give it a go?

Happy Eating 1: Long Beach Seafood Restaurant

2009-11-22T15:37:00.015+08:00

What is better than eating delicious food...?

Eating delicious food for free of course!!! Mr. Robotic was treated to seafood at the Long Beach Seafood Restaurant at IMM.

The dishes are (from top to bottom) Honey Pork, Chilli Crab with buns, Butter Prawns and Scallops with Kai-Lan. Unfortunately, the steamed fish was cut apart by the waiter so quickly before Mr. Robotic can take a photo of it.

Side note: Mr. Robotic thought the waitress was excellent by helping to remove the shells for the crab claws so that it is much easier to eat. Every restaurant that serves crabs should offer this service!

Happy Cooking 4: Green Bean Soup

2009-11-21T15:09:00.009+08:00

It is one of those days where the weather is good for an afternoon nap and Mr. Robotic is not spared either.

Feeling heaty down his metalic throat pipe, Mr. Robotic decides to cook a simple Green Bean Soup to cool down and detoxicate. Green bean also known as Mung bean packs quite alot of nutritional value in the little bean. It contains iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin A, B etc.

Green Bean Soup
Mr. Robotic completed this dessert based on Mdm. Agaration 's instructions. For this who need the recipe, here is an adaption from Healthy Chinese Recipes.

Ingredients (Serves 6):
- 300g green beans
- 1.5 litre water
- 6 pandan leaves
- 75 to 100g rock sugar (more if you have a sweet tooth)

Directions:
1. Wash the green beans in running water. Remove dirt and discolored beans.
2. Place beans and water in a large pot (cover with lid).
3. Bring water to boil then reduce heat to low.
4. Wash pandan leaves, cut off dead edges and tie into a bundle.
5. Place pandan leaves & rock sugar into the boiling water.
6. Simmer for 60-80 minutes until the beans have expanded out of their skins and are soft & fluffy.
Directions:
1. Wash the green beans in running water. Remove dirt and discolored beans.
2. Place beans and water in a large pot (cover with lid).
3. Bring water to boil then reduce heat to low.
4. Wash pandan leaves, cut off dead edges and tie into a bundle.
5. Place pandan leaves & rock sugar into the boiling water.
6. Simmer for 60-80 minutes until the beans have expanded out of their skins and are soft & fluffy.

Experience:
Simple yet delicious dessert for a lazy weekend afternoon. You can also throw in different ingredients (e.g. pearl barley, sago, small sweet potato bits, orange peel) to give a twist to this traditional dessert.

Happy Post 3: Sweet Papaya White Fungus Dessert

2009-11-16T22:24:00.011+08:00

Coughing? Need some natural beauty enhancing food?

Mr. Robotic learns that the answer to the preceding questions lies in the very affordable white fungus. White fungus nourishes the lungs, helps to treat dry coughs, combats cholesterol levels and even a natural source of collagen. This makes it an ideal accompanying ingredient in soups and desserts. Try the recipe below! :)

Sweet Papaya White Fungus Dessert
Learned of this recipe from Chrystal.

Ingredients (Serves 6 to 7):
- 20g white fungus
- 1 ripe papaya (depending on the size of the papaya. Mr. Robotic only used 3/4 of the papaya)
- 2 tbsp Chinese almonds
- 6 to 8 red dates
- 50g rock sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)
- 1 litre water

Directions:
1. Soak the white fungus and red dates in cold water.
2. Put the sugar, red dates and the almonds in the pot (ideally to use a crockpot).
3. Peel the papaya, unseed the fruit and cut it into even pieces. Add to the pot.
4. Cut the stem of the white fungus.
5. Rinse the white fungus and red dates and add to the pot.
6. Add the water in the pot and put the pot in a large pan with cold water.
7. Bring the water to boil and let it simmer for an hour.

Note:
Mr. Robotic would be sharing the little tips he had learned on peeling the papaya in another post soon with pictures.

Experience:
With the previous not so successful experimental with fruits in cooking, Mr. Robotic was extra careful in using papaya in making this dessert. After having the papaya noodle soup, Mr. Robotic knows that he has to try papaya in cooking. While there are several preparation steps, Mr. Robotic likes this recipe as the actual cooking is very minimal.

Taste wise, it is something very familiar and nothing way out of the ordinary so much so that you would reject the taste as the ingredients used are commonly found in other Chinese desserts like Sweet Potato dessert etc. The difference lies in the main ingredient - papaya. The papaya's smooth and soft texture is very easy on the teeth.

Mr. Robotic is going to hunt for more white fungus recipes!!!

Happy Cooking 2: Apple Soup

2009-11-10T22:42:00.019+08:00

Slowed cooked soup... a notable trait of Cantonese cuisine. The soup is usually a clear broth made by simmering meat and other ingredients for several hours to bring out the essence of the ingredients. Putting all the ingredients in a pot and boiling them. That shouldn't be too difficult ain't it? Read on for Mr. Robotic attempt at making apple soup.

Apple Soup
Learned of this recipe from the Noob Cook. Changes made in no. of apples used for recipe.

Ingredients(Serves 2-3):
- 1.5 litres water
- 200-300g spare ribs or pork shoulder ribs
- 1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 red apples, cut into pieces (advisable to remove skins if you are using waxed apples)
- 6 red dates
- Salt for seasoning if required

Directions:
1. Blanch the pork ribs.
2. Boil water in a pot and put in the blanched ribs, onions, apples and red dates.
3. Bring to boil again and turn to low heat.
4. Simmer for 2 hours.
5. Season with salt if required.

Note: As far as Mr. Robotic understands, blanching the pork ribs is to put the ribs in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes, followed by washing away the impurities.

Experience:

There is more to Chinese soup than Mr. Robotic's original simple view. For one, Mr. Robotic realise the test in making a good soup lies in the simmering skills of the cook. One would need to be able to control the fire (控制火喉) in order to really bring out the taste of the meat and ingredients. Due to a shortage of time, Mr. Robotic took the shortcut and only simmered the soup for 1 hour. Hence, the soup turned out to be a weaker version of the familiar ABC soup.

Apples in Chinese recipes are pretty rare. The original recipe calls for 4 apples. If you are using apples in cooking for the first time, Mr. Robotic's advice is to reduce the no. of apples to 2 so that you can get acquired to the taste.

Practice makes perfect! Mr. Robotic is going to take up the apple soup challenge again some day!

Happy Cooking 1: Ketchup Prawns

2009-11-09T22:40:00.017+08:00

So this post marks the first entry which Mr. Robotic blogs about his novice cooking skills. For those who know Mr. Robotic on a personal level, you must have remembered that Mr. Robotic's aim for the end of this year is to attempt 10 dishes. He had already tried 2 dishes so far and this post is his third attempt at it...

Ketchup Prawns
Learned of this recipe from the Noob Cook.

Ingredients (Serves 2):
- 10 large prawns (shrimps), shells & veins removed
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup of ketchup, mixed with 25 ml of water
- 1 chilli, deseed and cut to long strips (add more if you want more )
- 1 small tomato, cut to small chucks

Directions:
1. Heat oil in wok and stir fry garlic and chilli till fragrant.
2. Add prawns and stir fry till they are almost cooked.
3. Add the ketchup solution and stir evenly till the paste bubbles.

Note: You can stir in a beaten egg to cook at step 3 if you like.

Experience:
The preparation time and steps for this dish is relatively quick and easy. So it is really good as a starter dish for novice cooks like Mr. Robotic. Taste-wise, Mr. Robotic thinks it will be as good as the ketchup that you use. So choose your favorite ketchup brand!

Happy Note 5: A journey to a tranquil side of Singapore

2009-11-09T17:09:00.009+08:00

Do you know that Sengkang Swimming Complex houses 1 competition pool, 2 teaching pools, 1 fun pool and importantly 1 jacuzzi and 8 water slides? With such attractive facilities at only $1 for adult entry on a weekday, Mr. Robotic decides to embark on an exploratory trip to the less travelled part of Singapore.

Mr. Robotic alighted at Sengkang Interchange with the intention to walk to the swimming complex but decided to take the LRT instead since Mr. Robotic rarely gets a chance to take the LRT.

Little did Mr. Robotic know that there are different routes on the same platform for the LRT. Mr. Robotic can only blame himself for not scrutinising the map first before hopping on the next available LRT. That would have saved Mr. Robotic the trouble of going one big circle on the East Loop line. Mr. Robotic recalled his physics lessons which can be applied to this situation.

Distance travelled = 2 km.
Displacement = 0 km.
Mr. Robotic's rookie mistake. Priceless.

So if you are planning to go to the swimming complex by LRT, remember to look carefully at the signage, you should take the West Loop line on platform 2. If you wish to find out more, you can read "Wikipedia: Sengkang LRT line".

Mr. Robotic alighted at the Farmway station. The simplicity of this LRT station was intriguing, given that Mr. Robotic is used to full fledged stations that have staff manning the control stations or with staff patrolling and gawking at your bags for dangerous items. Some stations even have small "mama" shops for the busy passer-bys. Interestingly, there was a notice in the Farmway station that advertised the leasing of shop space at the station.

Arriving at the swimming complex, Mr. Robotic immediately saw the water slides which he was so looking forward to riding. Mr. Robotic further admired the sheltered pool as the stormy weather lately was hurting his swimming plans. However, Mr. Robotic realised the abnormal tranquility at the area. It was very quiet. In fact, there was no one in sight at the pools or the slides. Mr. Robotic brushed it aside since it was after all a Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. Perhaps, the crowd would come in later?

Alas, his suspicious were not unfounded. Apparently the pool is closed every Monday for cleaning. A check with the sports council website shows that this is a conventional practice for other swimming complexes with water slides too.

Although, Mr. Robotic was a tad disappointed that he didn't manage to get on the rides, there were still some interesting finds. For instance, next to the swimming complex is 3 basketball courts which were empty at Mr. Robotic's point of visit. It may be empty due to the timing of visit but Mr. Robotic thought it seems like a nice place which his colleagues can consider for the next sports day outing.

Also, there are a number of fields (state land) which are undeveloped. Mr. Robotic can't help but laments that soon green fields are going to be unconventional sights in Singapore given the speed of development and the lack of space in Singapore. One day, the earth could be surrounded by likes of Mr. Robotic, cold steel and iron parts and one would need to pay a ticket price just to view a batch of green grass. At least for now, the nice patch of green is free for one to use and one can enjoy flying kites in the wide open space.

Even though Mr. Robotic didn't achieved his objective of the visit, he did enjoyed the tranquility and slow pace of this part of Singapore for a change to the clutter of high rising and attention seeking malls. It was a nice lazy afternoon for Mr. Robotic.

Happy Note 4: A new face for Mr. Robotic

2009-11-07T20:40:00.001+08:00

If you are wondering if Mr. Robotic's numerous facial products had finally paid off and give Mr. Robotic a brand new and radiant face... hmm... not yet. But if that miracle happens, you can be sure that it warrants another happy note posting. So stay tuned!

The joyous thing rather is Mr. Robotic had completed a photo shoot of himself. 2 hours of sheer hard work of posing, more posing and more posing ya. Now, you can finally view Mr. Robotic in his ever so charming form in the title of the blog.

Did you say that Mr. Robotic look like Wall.E? That gorgeous yellow metallic squarish box from the Hollywood blockbuster? Apparently Mr. Robotic did look a little itsy-bitsy bit like Wall.E. Well... perhaps all square things look the same?

Mr. Robotic noticed the resemblance only after the photo shoot. While there is some resemblance, please don't compare Mr. Robotic with Wall.E. After all, Wall.E is backed by a Hollywood budget of enormous proportions and a team of super talented designers and programmers to ensure that Wall.E look spectacular at every angle. Mr. Robotic on the other hand is a poor robot trying to make ends meet and took the photos by himself.

Nonetheless, Mr. Robotic is extremely satisfied with the outcome of the photo shoot. Kudos to the photographer! Opps... that is Mr. Robotic himself. Look forward to posting more pictures! :)

Joke 1: Bull Shit?

2009-11-06T23:00:00.001+08:00

Mr. Robotic decides to add a little depth to his blog by including jokes that he come across which he thinks is good for a quick and harmless laugh. Thanks to all the people who came up with the jokes! Enjoy the first one...

A turkey was chatting with a bull. 'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.' 'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Happy Note 3: 8 hours a day

2009-11-06T22:07:00.001+08:00

8 hours a day... that is how much time a human will need to get their body rested for the next day of activities. Well, some humans will spend less time on sleeping just to steal a little bit of time to spend it on other activities. But all is fair, if you steal time by sleeping less, you will be punished, although not in an obvious manner. Age will secretly crawl all over your face and before you know it, all is lost...

All along, Mr. Robotic is a skeptic when it comes to spending money on items related to sleeping like the mattress, the bedsheet covers. After all, Mr. Robotic is made of metals and screws, does it matter where he sleeps on? Also, sleeping is something all are programmed to do, so it is unimportant whether the bed is comfortable.

If you are a skeptic too, please change your opinion. Remember it is 8 hours a day which you are spending your time on everyday. You deserve better! A lousy mattress not only affects your sleep and your mood the following day, it may even give you bad back problems if you are not careful. Mr. Robotic learns it the hard way when his back starts giving he problems as his previous mattress is a old piece of foam that does not give any support for his back.

Now, Mr. Robotic is a proud owner of a new super single pocket spring mattress (yeah super single is much more spacious) and the cost fortunately didn't burn a hole in his tin can wallet, thanks to Seahorse. And not forgetting, Aussino cotton tee bedsheets to match. It is like sleeping on a bed of cotton t-shirts!

Zzzz... sorry... Mr. Robotic needs to take a snooze. *switch off* Zzz....

Happy Note 2: Whacking things

2009-10-31T22:24:00.001+08:00

Alright, Mr. Robotic is definitely not a violent piece of machine, unlike "The Terminator" which derives joy from gunning things down. Neither, does Mr. Robotic advocates fists and kicks as a means to resolve any issue even though the temptation to give a slap to certain deserving people did played out in Mr. Robotic twisted little mechanical brain on several occasions.

"Whacking things" to Mr. Robotic does not include the harm of any living creatures. In fact, what Mr. Robotic likes to do here is playing a racket game like badminton, squash. Especially the latter sport.

It is funny though, when Mr. Robotic was first introduced to this sport several years ago, he didn't enjoy squash as much as he did today. It could be because the opponents that he had then were a bunch of competitive people who are so concerned on winning and getting the approval from Coach that the fun element of the sport is missing. Playing it at a recreational level without feeling any burden is really a much better way to enjoy this sport.

The objective of squash simply put is to return the ball back to the designated portions of the wall in a manner so as to prevent your opponent from returning the ball. The adrenaline rush from trying to react and outsmart your opponents moves is exhilarating. It is like a chess game, except at a fast pace with little time to ponder.

Mr. Robotic also likes releasing all the pent up frustration on the little black ball instead of fuming it inside his bots. Not only is it a good form of exercise for this depreciating machine, it aids mentally too for Mr. Robotic to deal with the stress and unhappiness in his life.

In our busy environment whereby we are constantly bombarded by information seeking our attention and thereby making one lose one's concentration. Squash like other sports is a much welcomed change. In that enclosed room, one trains to focus all the attention on a little black ball. By constantly improving one's focus, that skill would essentially allow one to deal with the challenges at work.

Whatever the case, "whacking things" or other sports is good addition to Mr. Robotic's otherwise unhealthy lifestyle of eating junk food and sitting in front of the computer whole day. Hopefully, one day, Mr. Robotic can take on new sports for instance... Tennis.

Happy Note 1: Julie and Julia

2009-10-25T23:32:00.001+08:00

If you have chanced upon this blog and not knowing what exactly this blogger, Mr. Robotic, is up to, well hopefully this post can shed some light...

Mr. Robotic caught the movie "Julie and Julia" yesterday. It is surely an entertaining, touching and funny movie (What's not to love with the endearing Meryl Streep?). Mr. Robotic recommend the movie to anyone looking for a good laugh or wanting to feel good.

But beyond all that, the underlying message of the two female leads seeking their purpose in lives, peserving and overcoming the obstacles is what really inspires Mr. Robotic.

This is because Mr. Robotic is at a stage now in his mechanical life whereby he is wondering what is the purpose or objective in his life (if any at all) and kind of feeling disoriented for his circuits. Besides his day job which is rather robotic at times, he spent his time on Facebook, watching TV etc. Similar to the female leads, he needed something, a project that helps to keep him occupied and at the same time get some value out of it.

Somehow, Mr. Robotic is never contended to be a mere robot and like to be a dreamer and always like to express himself in writing even though his mechanical hands are never really good for writing. Nevertheless, Mr. Robotic decided to emulate Julia by starting this blog.

What topics will Mr. Robotic be writing you asked? Well... mostly on events or things in life that makes he happy or excited of course! Hopefully, he can look back at his blog one year later and be contended or reminded that he too have achieved numerous things.

Who knows, you may find some things in his blog that you may enjoy doing too but has failed to start doing...?

The humble beginnings of Mr. Robotic...

2009-10-25T22:04:00.001+08:00

It is the year 2009. In a distant galaxy far far away...

There lies a planet called Earth. On this planet, is a machine called Mr. Robotic.

Mr. Robotic is a composite of metals devoid of emotions and individual thinking and is programmed specifically to carry out mundane tasks in a designated 2 by 2 metres cubicle. At the end of each month, Mr. Robotic is given an energy source called "battso" which keeps his circuits up and running.

For the past 28 years since he was manufactured, Mr. Robotic somehow felt that he is missing a screw, a circuit part or an application but he couldn't pin point what it is exactly. He ran many processes and applications but to no avail.

One day, while he was catching a movie called "Julie and Julia" with his human co-workers, something in the movie short-circuited Mr. Robotic's motherboard. It is apparent to Mr. Robotic that his purpose is to seek happiness and excitement so that he can be a real human begin rather than just a machine.

And there it started, the document of the Adventures of Mr. Robotic on planet Earth...