Saturday, February 12, 2011

Early Valentine's

Round and around we drove up the carpark of Orchard Central and slotted into a lot on level 5. We thought we were lucky to find a lot near the elevator (when we went home, we wished the exit from the lot would have taken us a lot less manoeuvers!).

Today, we are here at OC to celebrate love at "Sarang". Get the pun? Well, I happened to spot Sarang's Valentine's special menu in the newpapers and thought, hey, why not? We are always on the lookout for potential joints that offer yummy and authentic Korean food. The website (http://www.sarang.com.sg) looked convincing, in fact, quite enticing as the layout was clean, pictures of the food were well-taken and looked tasty, plus, chefs were Koreans.

When we arrived, there was a strong wind blowing and the sky looked dark. The staff at the outdoor section of the restaurant were busy putting away items that would be blown away if the wind got any stronger or would get wet if the rain came. We were really surprised when we asked for a table for the 4 of us and heard a "gonggg" as we were walking in. LOL. Talk about announcing your arrival. Now we know that the gong there served a purpose and was not purely for decor.

We did not really ponder over what we wanted to eat because we were there for that special menu and were ready to try it. We just ordered an additional "Panda Noodles" for the girls (Jajangmyeon) which came out a little spicy. PapaKim was quite adamant that Jajangmyeon are by default, not spicy, so they should have pointed out that it was spicy. En Bi took a mouthful of the Jajangmyeon and called "Fire"! They took a while to replace the Jajangmyeon (well, we should be glad that they offered to replace it) with a non-spicy version but it was disappointing because the noodles were more bits and pieces rather than 'full-length noodles' the second round.

Our order turned out better than expected and we were therefore, pleased. The efforts in the presentation of the food were lovely.



The joke of the day: PapaKim and I walked out feeling that we could have eaten a little bit more, like something was missing from the course. We thought, maybe that's just the way it is with restaurants nowadays, underfeed you when you order a set meal so that you'll order more. What made us realise that we were short-served our MAIN course was this huge picture of "World Star" pasted right outside the pretty walls of Sarang restaurant. Then it clicked in PapaKim's mind.

PPK : "Hey, the staff asked us whether we wanted chicken, pork, or beef, right?
MMK: "Yar, and we said 'beef'. OHH! They didn't serve us the beef!"

Good gracious! PapaKim was not going to ask for the main course but I was in my "auntie" mood and just refused to leave without trying the Bulgogi. I went up to the manager and just told him politely that we weren't served our main course. Jaws dropped. But his recovery was quick. He told us that he would get the food prepared and pack it for us to bring back. Good fire-saving skills!

We went back exploring the place a little more, with packed bulgogi in hand.

What I liked about this place:

- Really cool ambience;
- Friendly staff;
- "Odaeng" in a cup of radish soup (this pleasantly surprised us) + Seaweed-flavoured crackers for Appetiser;
- Authentic and good-tasting Korean food.

Worth a try!

Traditional Chinese Bean Art Workshop

I arrived with no preparation. In fact, I almost forgot that we had the workshop and was heading for lunch at OC until we reached the exit to CTE! Blimey! Thank God  we didn't waste $12! We quickly used our mental navigation system and drove our way to the Esplanade for the workshop. Neat. In time for a quick lunch at "Kopi-O" and then I whisked En Bi off to the workshop while PapaKim hung around the Esplanade with Seo Yeon.

Sidewhisper: Kopi-O food wasn't really fantastic, if you know what I mean. My tea was too sweet, the chicken in the chicken curry noodle was a bit tough (cooked separately and not in the curry). But, given that it most likely is serving the cheapest valued meal at the Esplanade, I guess it's a good quick-fix solution for those who want a fuss-free local fare (before the Esplanade's Makansutra Gluttons Bay opens).


We made our way to the Rehearsal Studio (up from the Theatre Studio and up another 4 flights of stairs) for the Parent-Child Workshop: Chinese New Year Bean Art 亲子学习坊: 农历新年豆豆艺术班 (an Esplanade Presents programme) held during this Chinese Festival of Arts from February 4 - 13, 2011.

I didn't tell En Bi that Estelle and Kimi would be joining us in this workshop too. In fact, she didn't get any briefing from me until we left PapaKim to make our way to the Studio. Just didn't want her to get too excited about seeing her friends and lose her focus. Estelle was already there waiting with her Papa. Paid our dues and waited for Kimi and his Mama to arrive. That handsome boy turned up in his cool sunglasses and swept me off my feet! I don't know about those 2 girls, but I was very happy to see him. Hee!

The workshop started about 10 minutes after 2.30 p.m. as we were waiting for others to turn up. The children chose their seats and started to settle in. They were all very curious about what those beans on the table were for.

When the facilitator begun the workshop and showed us some examples of Traditional Chinese Bean Art, it seemed difficult to me.
The facilitator continued to explain to the group of about 6 children (accompanied by 1 parent each) that Traditional Chinese Bean Art is different from Western-style Bean Art mainly in the way the beans are used to form a picture. Bean Art (Western-styled) creates pictures in the same style as mosaics whereas in Traditional Chinese Bean Art, the beans are individually qualified to, for example, be a watermelon as opposed to just being "part" of a watermelon. I think pictorial illustration is always the best. Don't need me to explain excessively. I searched the internet and found the 2 images below that I think pretty clearly shows the difference.

After a brief outline from the facilitator, we started working on our beans. I was supposed to do one too. Eeks. The facilitators were constantly watching our progress and were very ready to give us further explanation and guidance on how we could do our art pieces.

The steps were simple:
1) Use recycled cardboard boxes for the base frame.
2) Recycle magazines by creating the background of your artwork with it.
3) Plan the bean's "layout".
4) Apply glue and stick those beans on!

What I learnt from this workshop:
- Where the Rehearsal Studio at the Esplanade was;
- 6 types of beans are enough to make an Bean Art artpiece;
- Bean Art is a very simple and engaging activity for children;
- Handling beans trains motor skills;
- Develops our eye for detail when we have to pick a bean of the best relevant size and shape.

A great deal at $5/person!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Slow Traffic

Today, En Bi knocked her head while walking into the restaurant for dinner. She knocked her head against the podium outside the restaurant. I guess PapaKim was really worried that she was hungry and was rushing her from class to the restaurant.

We were really caught up in the jam on the way to class. Had a good half hour to travel what would usually take 20 minutes. We ended up 20 minutes late for class. Lovely Ms. Tang was a darling. She actually gave En Bi a makeup lesson because En Bi didn't get a chance to play for her during the lesson. I guess, there wasn't really much to teach in the last 15 minutes. More of wrap-up and reviewing what was taught for that lesson.

How we wrapped up our day: The girls met Super Why (one of their favourite animation series that I fancy as well!) outside Popular Book store on the way to the carpark. They had a picture taken with him. Lovely! It's my latest screensaver on the phone.