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

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...

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...

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...