Batam trip

Our quick getaway, or a "FINALLY WE WENT ON A TRIP TOGETHER" to Batam. E's had lots of nightmares about me abandoning her during any trips we go on together. She once dreamt she didn't have her passport on her and almost got kidnapped. I AM NOT SUCH AN IRRESPONSIBLE FRIEND. However she got that idea that I'd leave her alone in a foreign place is beyond me. Trust me, I won't do that, so don't hesitate to call me for a quick getaway like this. 

So we decided, we should try to put E's mind at ease and travel together. See what happens. We did almost split up cause I was staring at Kueh Lapis while she was staring at Egg Tarts and we drifted off in different directions. Yeah. But I swear I'm safe to be with.

E did all the booking for the trip, because I'm lazy like that. We spent $150/pax(including the currency we brought there). We can be such retarded people and forget how much our hotel costs.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort. Not a bad place, it's the hotel closest to the jetty so you could just walk over, but the hotel does provide free shuttle for lazy people.

They also provide free shuttle to Nagoya, but the journey was a tad long.

When we reached the hotel on our first day, a couple with kids in front of us had so much requests about putting beds together and whatnot, E and I sat and had the free pineapple juice while they tried to check-in. When it was finally our turn, we didn't have any request, just that the bed has to be comfortable and clean. And they decided to reward our simplicity with a HOTEL SUITE. See, it pays to be the nice, friendly customer.

Travelling like a boss. Our suite.

I think we did ask for 2 single beds, but in the end we just slept on the huge single one. That room had a TV.

Freshest cheap seafood I've ever eaten.

After settling down at the hotel, we took the shuttle to Nagoya. Now, I don't know where our courage came from, but we decided that we wanted to be adventurous and take a cab to a more ulu place with cheap seafood. The things your hungry stomach can make you do. We had to hand gesture and try our best in whatever knowledge of Malay we had to tell the taxi uncle we wanted the journey back as well.

But I can't say that was a bad decision.

So, don't go to Batam for the scenery.

When we entered, the waitress brought us into a room with all the live seafood swimming about in little tanks. We were asked to choose which seafood we want right out of the tank and how we wanted it cooked. So we decided on mussels and prawns. Chilli for the former and cereal for the latter.

Can I just ask if I'm the only weirdo that eats the shell for cereal prawns? I don't eat the head though.

Fresh mussels. Completely different from the frozen ones we usually eat in Singapore.

Veggies are necessary for every meal, people. Always eat your greens!

Soak in more of the atmosphere by going tropical and drinking coconuts.

All this comes with free flow of rice and for only SGD$15/pax. Yes you heard me right. 

And for dinner, we got for ourselves A&W! Can't remember when was the last time I had this.

When was the last time you saw this fella?

Oh yes, we also had egg tarts(yes, the same one that almost separated us). Then we fell asleep after watching Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides. 

The egg tarts that almost separated us. It was good though.

And in the morning, we had a buffet breakfast. I think it's a great end to a quick getaway. Then we went back to bed for like a couple of hours before heading back home.

Back to civilisation.

E got carried away, obviously.

So since our first trip ended with no one getting kidnapped or lost.... We can now go other countries for a longer duration. Where will it be, E??

Geeking out - Food and Games

I'm back with my random post about food! Previously, I did a post about food in movies and television shows. (Don't what me. Go read it.  )

Now I'm not going to hide it, I'm a geek. There's 2 things I love most in the world; Food and video games. So it's basically heaven for me when you combine these 2 together. If I'm not playing video games, I'd like to be eating.
Food and games go together like cookies and milk, brilliant pairing. Majority of the time in video games, food is used like a health potion, but I'm not going to go into that, let's see if I can pull something else off............ FOOD GAMES!

If you've played your fair share of video games, you would think of one game while reading this post the most;

COOKING MAMA

Cooking Mama! With her really bad English.

What else could it be? This game is the closest simulation game you get to actual cooking. You can use the recipes in the game to create real dishes too.
The game teaches actual cooking techniques, such as when you are frying, keep stirring your onions and stuff, or they'll burn easier.

Move those chopsticks or Mama will be angry!

They make you do everything from stir frying, to deep frying, to baking to garnishing. Whatever you can think of, you could probably find in some Cooking Mama 2 or some other Cooking Mama expansions.

If you get angry enough at the lady slave driver, you can go all Hannibal Lecter on her with the that knife.

You have to shape those patties as fast and as many as you can or Mama will not have enough for her  8-bit guests.

After you've completed a dish, she'll score you depending on how you did for each section of the food preparation.

That deserved a 95! This mama is one tough cookie. (Pun? What pun?)

Now that we've covered the food, let's move on to drinks. I haven't heard of a really popular and famous bartending or barista game that's the equivalent to Cooking Mama, but hey, I could be ignorant.
While I'm in my own world, here's a bartending game that I found interesting:

THE RIGHT MIX

You may play the game here.

Simple enough, your aim is to mix the perfect drink for the stuck up Bartender to try. Then he judges you on that.

Stuck up Italian guy judges you.

Also realistic enough like Cooking Mama, the drink combinations are not random, they have to make sense in real life, and if you shake too long your drinks explode. (Ok the last part maybe isn't true, but it's true that you should not over shake your drinks)

This is the screen you should be aiming to see. Assuming you're normal and don't wish to kill the Bartender.

And folks, that's all you do in this game. But the slapstick humour in this game does make it addictive for awhile.

I'm not going to move on and do waitress games, looking at you Diner Dash, even though it's in-my-face famous and is screaming for a place in this post. I just always feel a tinge of sympathy for Flo as she solos her eatery tables and serving demanding customers, while you click on the tables in such inhumane speed, that I can almost see pixelated tears rolling down her face. So yeah, I'm not going to glorify that.

I would have continued with RESTAURANT CITY, the Facebook game, where you could overwork your friends and see pixelated tears running down their faces instead. Unfortunately, the game has closed down. What a waste.


Excuse me now while I go try killing the bartender  making some nice cocktails.