Amazing Grace

Sang this song in church on Sunday; it’s been a long time since we’ve sung it the slow, reverent way…I’ve always thought that beautiful songs like these should be sung in a manner that allows the worshipper to absorb the meaning of the words.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me ;
I once was lost, but now am found ,
Was blind, but now I see.

T’was grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ'd!

Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
T’was grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun;
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
Then when we've first begun.

This reminded me of the recent ‘Amazing Grace’ movie that I watched with Mum and Moonie in Singapore. Thought it would be a movie about John Newton, who wrote this wonderful hymn- but it turned out to be the story of William Wilberforce and his 20-year struggle to abolish slavery in the United Kingdom.

No matter, it was still an interesting movie. Granted, it was probably very low-budget compared to most movies we see these days. No special effects (except for the makeup- that was excellent), or dramatic scenes requiring expensive props and all.

Ioan Gruffudd starred as William Wilberforce; a role he played with much passion and conviction as he fought the powers-that-be on the issue of slavery, whilst trying to defend his loyalty to his Queen and country. His opponents in parliament accused him of being a traitor; they argued that the abolition of slavery would have a huge negative impact on trade, and therefore the economy of the British Empire. He sought encouragement from John Newton himself (brilliantly played by Albert Finney), who was an ex-slave trader who repented of his ways when he came to know God, and went on to pen the beautiful hymn- Amazing Grace.

For Ioan Gruffudd, this is such a different role compared to the one he plays in another big-budget Hollywood movie! Wonder how many people in the audience knew that he is also the ever-flexible Mr Fantastic of the Fantastic 4 Fame?

All in all, Amazing Grace is an inspiring, thought-provoking movie indeed.

Robertson Quay

It was great to be able to meet up with some dear friends for dinner at the Riverside Café in Robertson Quay. We originally wanted to try the mussel place but there weren’t any tables available! Guess it’s true about crowds at restaurants being the economic barometer. Apparently many of these restaurants were struggling to survive a few years back.

Anyway, Riverside Café turned out to be quite lovely in the end. I had the lamb (with a Shiraz glaze and lots of other ingredients which I can’t recall now); it was absolutely delicious- flavourful and tender! SY had a Beer Batter Fish & Chips- loved the beer batter, not something we get here often, I don’t think?

We moved on to the Chocolate Factory for dessert and decided to takeaway a slice of chocolate tart and another slice of something else. Again, the name escapes me- I only remember that tiny piece of something else costing $9 (!). Nine Singapore Dollars?!?. But then again, it was really, really good. It was like this biscuit with layers of great stuff (I remember hazelnuts) and every bite was a dream. Mmmm…

The chocolate tart was a bit too sweet- even for me!

This is really quite tiny- don't be fooled by the close-up! :p

Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant, Takashimaya

Mum was going on about how delicious the dim sum here is; so we decided to head for the restaurant on a Sunday morning despite not having a reservation. That was a bad, BAD idea.

We were greeted by the sight of a crowd at the entrance, but that did not deter us (the thought of yummy ‘ngau mai’- beef balls of some sort; kept us holding on). When we took our number, we were told we needed to wait about 15 minutes. Fine, so we walked around a bit and came back 15 minutes later. No table. And so we waited… and waited… and WAITED. Every time we asked ourselves- should we stay or should we go; we decided to stay since we had already waited for such a looong time.

By that time I couldn’t really care less if we ate the darn dim sum or not. To add to my misery, I was wrestling with a tummy ache and there were no places to sit while we waited.

We FINALLY got in after a ONE AND A HALF HOUR wait.

And was the dim sum worth it? Well I guess it is really yummy, but I seriously don’t think ANY dim sum is worth THAT long a wait. Sheesh.

I would definitely recommend this place; but NEVER EVER go there without a reservation.

The porridge was yummy...

Mmm... duck... This was my favourite!

'Ngau mai'

This isn't carrot cake; it's a waterchestnut cake- a dessert!

Singapore Art Museum

It’s been ages since I last went to a museum, so visiting one here seemed like a good idea! So cultured, hor? Ahem. :p

Check out these photos…

Just had to take a shot of this... :)

Found this quite interesting- wonder what the artist's thoughts on marriage are? Hmmm.

Amici, Holland Village

Hanging out with Mum and Moonie in Singapore was great fun. Had dinner at the famous Holland Village one day- there were just so many restaurants to choose from! We decided on Amici, and it was a lovely experience.

I’m not a big pizza fan- but the Pizza with Parma Ham and Mesclun Salad was delicious! The pizza was thin and crispy- not the thick slabs of dough one usually gets at Pizza Hut; and the lovely parma ham brought back fond memories of Italy. Mmmm….

The Tagliatelle with Crayfish was yummy as well, but I think the most memorable dish of the evening was the Pasta Al Nero. Truth be told, it did not look appetizing at all- but looks can be deceiving. We had lots of fun figuring out what were the bits of stuff in the pasta. Identifying pieces of squid, fish or shrimp in the black ‘mess’ under dim lighting was a huge challenge! Heh.

Mum eyed this dish suspiciously...

Blokus!!

I jumped for joy when I stumbled upon this game at a cafe in Cineleisure. I was looking for it sometime last year but heard that one can only get it in Singapore. I was so excited and finally ended up buying the version for 4 players, instead of 2 (since hubby also said that this way, more people can join in the fun when we have a games night!). Yippeee!! :D

Took this picture of the instructions printed on the back of the box- hmm not sure if the instructions posted here are actually legible. Anyway, it's a really really simple game, and each game is unique. Apparently, Blokus is the 'Most Awarded Game of the 21st Century'!

Colours for 4 players...

Hubby and I partitioned the board so that we could play a 2-player game. He's already beaten me 3 times! :p Beginner's luck, he says. I say it helps that he's into buildings and blocks and stuff. ^_^

Talk about sour grapes! Hahaha :D

Check out www.blokus.com for more info!

Midori, Cineleisure Damansara

I simply could not resist this cute, pink outlet and was secretly hoping that hubby would say yes to my suggestion to have dinner there. Who says packaging isn't important? Heh :p

One can choose to sit inside- on the funky grey or red chairs; or sit outside on the adorable pink or grey stools.

More cute stuff lying around... The original buttefly at our table actually had a broken wing so I made hubby swap it with the one at the next table for me to get a picture! :)

The chairs were quite comfortable too...

Hubby had the Beef Teppanyaki, and I went for the Hot & Spicy Ramen Noodles with Beef. I liked the pieces of seaweed that garnished both dishes; overall both dishes were quite ok.

Judging from the menu, it seems like Midori specialises in desserts. They have rather interesting things like 'Japanese Rice Balls in Azuki Bean (red bean) Paste topped with Green Tea Ice-cream' and 'Ice-cream with Sweet Potato and Black Sesame Topping with Azuki Bean Paste'. Guess we'll have to pop by to try the desserts some day!

Spiderman Ice-Cream!

Hubby got this free from the drive-thru Burger King at Desa Sri Hartamas the other day. It was sitting quietly in the freezer since then until one warm afternoon, when I decided to put it out of its misery. ^_^

Hmmm... I wonder what kind of ice-cream this is? Blackcurrant with chocolate? That sounds rather odd.

I burst out into laughter when I saw the ice-cream; and rushed to grab the camera to take some pictures before it melted. Talk about staying true to the Spiderman franchise! :D

Oh, and how was the ice-cream? Better to let it all just melt away, I think. Heh. :p

Shrek 3

Watched this with hubby the other day- nearly died laughing; it was just so funny! Personally I liked this better than Shrek 2, where I found the Fairy Godmother dreadfully annoying.

In this movie, when his new father-in-law King Harold falls ill, Shrek is looked at as the heir to the land of Far, Far Away. Horrified at the thought of becoming king, Shrek recruits his friends Donkey and Puss in Boots to find the 'other' heir, while Princess Fiona rallies a band of royal girlfriends to fend off the nasty Prince Charming.

I wonder if there will be a Shrek 4? Hahaha :D

Maju Palace Restaurant, Maju Junction

Had lunch with some dear friends at Maju Palace the other day. It was my first time there, and I have to say this is one of the better halal chinese restaurants that I've been to.

We ordered dim sum and a couple of other dishes. Apologies for the super blur photos; I forgot my camera and took these with my old old phone. :p

Yam Dumplings

Now this was the most interesting dish that day. I don't know what the proper name is- but in Cantonese it is 'hao sui yin kai'. A direct translation makes it 'Saliva Smoked Chicken'. Sounds gross right? Hahaha :D

When the dish arrived, I thought I smelled something burning and I wondered if the kitchen was on fire or something. I looked around and realised it came from the chicken! It was really smoky, heh.

This dish was really delicious- the salty, smoky chicken went well with the crunchy salad leaves tossed in salad cream.

I think I shall be visiting Maju Palace again! :)