Confessions of a City Slicker

I could probably get my ass hauled up to that exclusive neighborhood where RPK spent some time recently for writing this, but I really need to air my frustrations.

I don’t know about most people, but I’m finding it really hard to blog these days. Know why?

Because it takes the whole day to upload a post! I keep getting a time out message from my browser, no matter which one I use - IE, Firefox or Google Chrome.

So one of Streamyx’s very important cable was severed. So what?????

This shows very clearly that these guys have never heard of the term “CONTINGENCY PLANNING“.

If one of your cables is severed, you don’t have a backup plan? This is how fragile their infrastructure is?

OK, maybe I don’t really know much about these, but seems to me that for a company that is providing internet service (which is so crucial nowadays) to the whole country, they should have a backup in place in case something like this happens. They just can’t ask the whole country to bear with it while they fix the problem, which they seem to be dragging their asses to do.

Which leads me to wonder what other infrastructure is just as fragile?

Utilities? Remember some time ago when lightning struck a cable and rendered the whole country without power? You’d think that the PTBs would have learned their lesson from that.

Imagine, a small nation like Singapore has an infrastructure that is years ahead of us. When can we catch up to their efficiency, if ever?

Gee, don’t let the hostiles know how fragile this country is. They won’t have to work very hard to cripple us if they want to. Just that, the way I see it, we don’t have anything valuable enough for their attention, that’s why they are leaving us alone :p

Went to Pulau Tikus market to buy my dinner last night. Had the worst hankering for kiam moi, but don’t know any place that sells it during the night. Heck, I don’t even know any place that sells it during the day! So I had to make do with whatever other types of porridge that I can find.

Spotted a yee sang kai chuk stall tucked away in the little alley off Jalan Pasar. I was standing there waiting for them to prepare my order when I saw it – that very familiar red Japanese lamp. There’s Japanese food here? Oooooo gotta check it out!

After paying for my porridge, I strolled over to check out their menu. At first glance, there are easily 80+ different types of sushi and over 20 different types of temaki available.

Individually, the prices seem reasonable, at only a few ringgit for a sushi roll, but I think for a big group that orders everything they have, the total bill can come up to quite a hefty sum.

Here’s what I bought.

California Roll for RM2.50 and Tamago for RM1.00 each.

What I liked about the California roll is that they gave me a generous helping of ebiko. Most Japanese restaurants will just put about a teaspoon or less of the stuff on top of the roll. This guy slathers a whole long strip on the inside of the roll so you get ebiko on every bite from top to bottom.

I love eating ebiko. They are so crunchy and it’s so much fun putting them between my teeth and gently biting down until I feel them pop ^_^

The tamago is also not too bad. Their egg is really thick compared to the ones from Japanese restaurants. Those are too thin for me to savor the taste of the eggs. I think I detected a hint of vanilla in there.

While browsing through their menu I saw something interesting – fruity flavors. Maybe I’m a total bumpkin when it comes to Japanese cuisine, but I’ve never heard of fruits in sushi. Well, they are not really fruits, just yoghurt. There was strawberry, mango, apple or just plain yoghurt, to name a few.

Well, I’m gonna have to round up a big group of equally tham chiak friends if I wanna go try out the other things in their menu. Or I can work slowly and try out a few different things each night :p

I didn’t notice a name for the sushi stall, or maybe I was too cockeyed to see it :p Anyway, they are located on the first alley on your left as you enter Jalan Pasar from Cantonment Road. You’ll have to park your car somewhere and walk there because the entrance is blocked by the tables and chairs set up for the night hawkers. They are closed on Monday’s by the way.