Hungry Go Here!

Today, Stan & I had a lunch date with HungryGoWhere.com's Dennis Goh, who was a guest on The Living Room recently. The die-hard foodie & founder of Singapore's No. 1 food website had promised to take us out for makan, and well, TODAY is the day. But where's he taking us? We didn't find out till this morning. And this is where... 

 Ming Ji Bak Chor Mee @ Blk 1A coffeeshop, Eunos Crescent!

As you can see, there's a queue snaking all the way to the stall. But hey, no one seemed to be complaining. So was the wait worth it? The verdict: A resounding YES! *grin* 

While this bak chor mee is not the vinegar type that I like, I loved the springy meepok, the tasty mushrooms & ah! the chilli mixed into the noodles. But the highlight for me was definitely the fish maw soup. It's one of the best I've tried. My take: Get the bak chor mee + fish maw soup combo for $6. 

I love this job because we get to meet so many people from different walks of life, and sometimes these friendships are extended beyond the Living Room. 

Beyond The Living Room: With HungryGoWhere.com's Dennis Goh. 

We're already planning the next stop on our makan trail ~ char kway teow @ Bedok! 

When The Lion Dances

"What's that ruckus?", you ask. The lions are here and they're not sleeping tonight! They stand ready to pounce, their roar masked by the deafening beat of the drums and clashing cymbals. More lions will be on the prowl as we close in on the Lunar New Year.

The world turns topsy turvy when the lions dance at Chinese festivities. Men have always ridden on beasts, but never beasts on men. Just look who's on top of elephants, camels and horses. The lions have it better in the Chinese culture because the men do all the work while the felines just bat their eyelids seductively and clank their wide lower jaw shut as they prance around.

Thankfully the lion that visited The Living Room (courtesy of the Zhou Guan Sports Centre & Lion Dance Troupe) was vegetarian. It was an eye-opener prying into the world of a lion dancer, getting inside the head of a lion (above: Pam in the lion) and feeling the weight on your arms as you make sudden jerks under the $2,000-plus costume that's made in Hong Kong and weights about 10 kilogrammes in all.

(above from l-r: Wong Gek Heng, Calvin Wong & Laurence Wong with us!)

The weight distribution is almost half borne by the person who manipulates the head movement (usually the lighter of the two dancers who concentrates on the facial expression of the lion) and the guy behind who's hunched over almost 45 degrees to literally hold up the behind (this guy usually the stouter and stronger of the two; he has to be able to carry his buddy on his shoulders and hold him steady when the lion stands on its hind legs).

It's one sure weight-loss strategy to be under the lion's skin. Our guest Laurence says their troupe's on the hunt for females to join the pack. Don't worry if you think the lion's are way too huge or heavy, we were surprised to hear they come in smaller sizes too!

Rhythm of the Middle-East

What a treat to have sizzlin' rhythms in The Living Room on a Monday morning. No better way to shake out the Monday blues!

We were shocked when percussionist Amit Gilboa came in lugging gargantuan bags filled of percussion instruments of different shapes and sizes. He tells us that the most widely-used drum in the Middle-East is the Darbuka, which can be played solo (like accompaniment for a belly dance performance) or in a band with string instruments like the Oud. 

Well, Stan & I got to roll up our sleeves and have a hand at playing the Darbuka. Here we are, trying our darnest to keep in rhythm while Amit added a layer of percussion solo over our base rhythm. It wasn't that tough lah, and we had a blast! 

 

Getting into the Groove: Stan & Pam play the Darbuka!

But hey, nothing compares to seeing the Master in action. So here he is:  

This (soon-to-be) father of two formed a band called the Al-Bedouin Middle Eastern Music Emsemble in 2004. You can also find out more about what he does here. Or if you're keen on some 'live' Middle-Eastern music, head down to Shiraz @ Clark Quay on Friday & Saturday nights to catch Amit in action. 

We also found out about Singapore Polytechnic's new Diploma course in Creative Writing for TV & New Media from three lecturers and veterans in the media/broadcast industry. They are Frederick Sui Tan, Lee Sher Lin and Gamar Aziz (pictured). It was a very lively and informative discussion ~ but what would you expect when you thrust five media people together in a room? *grin*  

Find out more about this very exciting course here or at Singapore Poly's website. I truly believe the journalist of the today needs to be effective in multiple platforms, especially New Media ~ this is where it's heading with MediaCorp's Newsplex, so this course is surely timely. 

Miami Ink's Chris Garver Visits!

I've been waiting for this for weeks... actually since I found out from my sis last year that Singapore will host its 1st ever tattoo convention in Jan '09, and more recently, that Chris Garver of Miami Ink is coming down to our sunny island.

The talented team from Miami Ink: Chris Garver on extreme right.

I'm a fan of the show for two reasons: Firstly, the people who step into the shop requesting for tattoos each have a story to tell. I'm personally fascinated by these real-life stories, which have opened my eyes to the myriad of reasons ordinary people get tattoos. With Miami Ink, I started to see tattooing more as an "art form", a mode of self-expression.

Secondly, I am mesmerised by the artistic flair and raw talent of the tattoo artists on Miami Ink. I see people trickle in to the shop earnestly sharing their ideas, sometimes armed with a sketch or photo, and then I see how these guys transform these ideas into pure works on art. It's like bare skin is their canvas. The final product always blows my mind!

Miami Ink's Chris Garver & Kirby Lian on The Living Room.

In my opinion, one of the best tattoo artists around is Chris. This man is seriously GOOD at his craft. And I hope to one day be inked by him. He tells us though that the waiting list as of now is 15,000...

"15,001," I remind him, pointing to myself. Expectantly. But no such luck.

I must say it was a real pleasure chatting with Chris. He's warm and down-to-earth, and when he listens to you, he looks you attentively in the eye. When we were snapping the blog photo, he jokes, "So, do you want us to take off our shirts?" I was like OH. OKAY. But he just laughed it off... DARN.

Also on our couch this morning was Kirby Lian of Utopia Studio - the visionary behind the Singapore Tattoo Show 2009. It's undeniable how passionate this self-taught local tattoo artist is about his profession. He took a leap of faith by organising this convention, which will bring together tattoo artists from around the world.

It's truly an international platform where cultural ideas, styles and expertise will be exchanged. It's even garnered the endorsement of the Singapore Tourism Board. Kirby tells us that he plans to make this an annual event, which is exciting I think!

Well, I'm looking forward to checking out the convention this weekend. Who knows? You may just spot me with a brand new tattoo next Monday?

Singapore Tattoo Show 2009

9-11 Jan '09

11am - 10pm (Fri-Sat) 11am - 8pm (Sun)

Singapore Expo Hall 6B

$18 (1-day) / $50 (3-day)

www.tattoo.com.sg

When Ducks go "HONK!"...

...you know you're in a strange place. You'd be even stranger if you were the only duck to 'honk' rather than quack your way through life. It was loads of laughs when we hosted Joshua Lim and Ann Lek, the two student leads of HONK! The Musical to be staged by SMU later this month.

Calling the shots is first-time director, actor Sebastian Tan, of Snow White & Seven Dwarves (where he played the wicked Queen) and Broadway Beng fame. The story's based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the ugly duckling. The show will be staged over two evenings later this month.

(above: Pam with Sebastian, Ann, Josh & Chris who's programme director of the SMU Arts Fest)

We bring you an x-clue-sif Living Room Blog interview with Sebastian Tan. Click on the picture below for an enlarged view of his handwritten answers to our questions.

HONK! The Musical
presented by the Singapore Management University
Fri, 23rd Jan & Sat, 24th Jan 2009
Victoria Theatre, 8pm
Tickets @ $20/$25
Email to book your tickets!

Coined "The Year of the Ox"

I'm still scratching my head trying to decipher how different a cow from the West would look from an ox from the east. Pam stumped me when she remarked it was a "Western-looking" cow after taking a look at the picture (left) of the 2009 Australia Year of the Ox 1oz 999 Silver Coloured Edition Coin being sold by the Singapore Mint. You decide.

After today's chat with Singapore Mint's Director Yip Pak Ling, I think it's a novel idea to replace the traditional red packets we give out to children at Lunar New Year with special edition coins or the 2009 Hongbao Coin Set which consists a scallop-shaped $5 uncirculated coin and newly minted coins of the 5, 10, 50 and one-dollar denomination.

Speaking of sets, we've got two Singapore Lunar Ox 2 oz 999 Silver Piedfort Proof Colour Coins each worth $163 (design below, but colours aren't precise) to give away to two lucky listeners/blog readers of The Living Room, courtesy of the Singapore Mint. Either email us at or leave us a comment on this blog, telling us why you ought to be the one charging away with one of these limited edition coins! (mintage: 20,000)
Hurry! Closing date for submissions is Thursday, 8th Jan 2009.

New Year, New Nonsense

It's our first day back at work in the New Year, and Stan & I are brimming with new ideas. For one, we've decided to freak our guests out by placing these emoticators on the console - facing them - so they know how we're feeling. *grin*

I thought Stan was kidding, but when I didn't bring mine down, the boy made me run up 4 floors to get it! *grumble*

Stan & Pam's moods this morning: Now plain for all our guests to see...

Well, it didn't help that our first guest of 2009 was an NLP coach & trainer! Bless her heart, Sylvia Fernandes (who's also founder of Via Group) looked a tad concerned when she saw my emoticon staring back at her. "Why?" she asked kindly. I smiled and shrugged it off as I seriously was not soliciting free therapy.

A little perplexed, I ask Stan later, "Should I tell the truth ah?" He looks at me for a moment, then says matter-of-factly. "Tell the truth lah." Oh. Alright.

In any case, I totally enjoyed the uplifting conversation with Sylvia! One takeaway for me: Seize this time of economic gloom to do the things we've always wanted to do but held off because we were going on auto-pilot. It can be a period that brings us closer to our passion.

I've decided to travel this year and just agreed to go skydiving with a friend. *gulp*

I was also heartened by the real-life story of Francis & Dorothy Chong, who shared candidly about how their marriage survived adultery. The brave couple hopes that their book 'No More Tears: Reconciliation After Adultery' will help other couples going through similar pain to find hope.

Well, the couple has generously offered to give away 2 copies of their book to our listeners. So if you'd like a copy, perhaps to pass to a friend you know who is in such a predicament, email us at livingroom@938LIVE.sg.

We look forward to having you join us in our Living Room this year. Do continue to write us as we'd love to hear from you! Happy New Year!!!