Kaiseiki Yoshiyuki - Par Excellence

            Situated at the basement of Forum the Shopping Mall at the start of the Orchard Road, Yoshiyuki's entrance is uninspiring if not modestly discreet for many shoppers and diners.  Helmed by head chef Yoshi Kashiwabara, Yoshiyuki provides 2 types of dining experience, first, the Kaiseiki (multi-course omakase, meaning the chef's choice of food preparation) and the bar outside which is more casual.

           To make it to the dining room, you first have to walk through a black tunnel room, and enter the dining room after some sliding door entrance. On the right is the casual drinking and bistro area.

                                           Kaiseiki Yoshiyuki, at the Forum 

          Yoshi san cuts an imposing but friendly figure ; his dining counter where he holds court only caters to 14 diners. As it was my wife May's birthday, I decided it was worth a try after reading all the 'superb' reviews.

          I ordered the Yuki 7 set course meal, which consisted of 
Sakizuke (amuse bouche)
Suimono (clear soup)
Sashimi  (raw fish)
Yakimono (grilled dishes) 
Nimano (simmered dishes)
Shokuji (rice with seasonal ingredients,pickles and soup)
Mizugashi (japanese sweets and macha)

        She had the 8 course meal, consisting of 
Sakizuke
Hassun
Suimono
Sashimi
Yakimono
Shizakana (main meat dish)
Shokuji
Mizugashi

         Each dish was a delight visually, and the tastes were a delight to behold. My taste buds are not as refined as my wife's but the experience was nothing short of ethereal or out of this world.The sashimi was so fresh, the simmered dishes as good as the best from Japan and the grilled dishes excellent. The phrase "less is more" certainly applies to the dining experience and chef Yoshi is a master at making small talk explaining each serving with the finesse only a master chef can. Chef Yoshi has served previously as the personal chef for the Japanese ambassadors to San Francisco and Singapore and has perfected the fine dining art. We were kleft in wonder at the wonderful presentation, the nuanced tastes of each dish and the warm banter from him which made the meal so unforgettable.  

Sashimi

          We have been to Japan a number of times and had fantastic food in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hokkaido to name but a few. I am pleased to say that Singapore is fast gaining a reputation as a foodie's paradise for high quality food and Japanese top end restaurants such as Kaiseiki Toshiyuki will only reinforce that view.  The sashimi slices of toro (salmon belly), uni (sea urchin) and maguro were all par excellent. "Oishi' 

Sakizuke (Amuse Bouche)

Frankly, the visit to Tokyo in 2014, when we visited Kyubey (second restaurant at Shinjuku Keio Plaza Hotel) and had the best sushi in my life still stands as the best. Kaiseiki Yoshiyuki comes in a close second place.    

Sakizuke (Amuse Bouche) 

Many happy returns 

Pricing of this set courses is steep, for the 7 course set it is S$ 258 (plus service and GST) while the 8 course  set is S$ 288. So it is only reserved for treats and special occasions.  

For the curious ; the location of Kaiseiki Yoshiyuki is below :
58 Orchard Road, B1-39 Forum the Shopping Mall
S'pore 238884
Reservations :info@kaiseikiyoshiyuki.com
Tel:(65) 62351088

Vietnam Cuci Tunnels Complex - my visit in 2011

After about barely 50 m of crawling in the tunnel specially enlarged for tourists like me 

       The experience of crawling inside the Cuci tunnel roughly about 45 minutes north of Ho Chih Minh city, once used as defence against the US in the Vietnam war is in one word - terrifying. It is pitch black, damp and your sense of sight is rendered totally useless as you navigate on alternately on your belly, or on all four limbs and follow your guide in front of you based on his voice and the odd movements. For a very fit guy like myself, even when I went there in 2011, it was a real test of endurance and coordination, just to maneuvre the 50 m underground. During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong had to maneuvre up to hundreds of meters underground in near pitch black darkness while up above ground, all hell broke loose.

The Tunnel Complex as explained by the Guide

      The Vietnamese communists or Viet Cong as they were called in the 60s to 70s, were highly trained, extremely motivated force, as they were fighting for the liberation of their land from the American imperialists. The tunnel complex was thousands of km long, according to the war museums account, and was as much as 4 levels or 50 to 60 meters deep under the surface to withstand the mass bombings of the US forces. Much of the tunnel complex was in total darkness, but they opened up to certain landings or flat portions where hospitals, communication centers and armouries were in operation. It was practically a small town totally underground.   

The entrance to the tunnel was barely 30 cm or 3 feet in width and 2 feet in depth as demonstrated by yours truly 

             The effective use of these tunnels was one of the main factors in the VCs strong resilience against the American onslaught who had superior  communications, firepower, superior air force, with the air calvary (Chinook Helicopters and high speed machine guns - weapons of death) and carpet bombing, just to name some of the obvious advantages. All these were not enough to overcome the mental resilience and will of the Vietnamese people in the end. the US pulled out of South Vietnam in 1975 leaving behind a trail of destruction, maimed people, hundreds of thousands of unexploded land mines, bombs and chemicals.


              Today, Vietnam is fast becoming another mini China with bouyant manufacturing and a relatively young population and booming real estate. Many Chinese manufacturers have relocated some of their operations there as is Intel and some European manufacturers. The reemergence of Indo China is fast taking shape.    
           

Vietnam Cuci Tunnels Comples - Entrance Hidden from Plain Sight

The guide showing us how small it the entrance actually is

This fascinating pictures shows how small the actual entrance to the tunnels at Cu Ci were. During the height of the Vietnam War against the US, these tunnels were the main deciding factor in determining how the war swung from the stronger, larger built soldiers, superior forces of the US to much smaller, poorer armed both in technology and communications but motivationally and possibly strategically stronger Viet Cong army.  

Placing the top of the tunnel covered with dead leaves

           The guide shows us exactly how small the tunnel entrance is ; hence many of the enemy could not find the VC or after an ambush had taken place, the VC somehow had disappeared into thin air. In fact they went underground. A very brilliant maneuvre and tactic using only manpower and motivation to dig these long tunnels. Once the entrance is shut, it is pitch black and everyone inside is supposed to keep silent as their entire unit and lives depended on it. The US forces upon discovering the tunnels would first throw a couple of hand granades or smoke granades to kill, maim, or stun or even smoke out the VC. Once they came dashing out, they were easy prey or surrendered. 

The entrance totally hidden from plain sight ; you need to practically walk over the entrance to notice it if you actually do. 

The LURPs Long Underground Reconnaissance Patrols were the specialists Rangers tasked to flush out these tunnel combatants. Called the Tunnel Rats, they would sleep most of the day and only operate to full efficiency at night. Their jobs were ruthless and it was savage from what I read about how they carried out their jobs. 

4 Levels underground - Tunnel Complex ; there are even small pipes to emit CO2 and expelled air 

        Here is the Elevation View of the Tunnel Complex ; at the highest levels are the Command Center, the Hospital and the Armoury. They are not directly linked so that there are routes to escape in the event one entrance is found out by the enemy. The Command Centre is only accessible probably near some river embankment or even underwater as shown on the extreme right. The people lived their entire lives underground for up to 20 hours each day. 

Ho Chih Minh City - War Museum

Kannan with the Chinook Helicopter 

          During my last visit to Ho Chi Minh city (2011 I believe), my colleague N. Kannan and I visited the War Museum in District 1. It frankly opened my eyes about the Vietnam war, the atrocities which the US occupying forces did to firstly contain and hopefully defeat the Communist Party Viet Cong. As history as proven, the US lost the war and pulled out in 1976 when Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam (now called Ho Chi Minh city) fell to the North Vietnamese.  

          With the collapse of the South Vietnam army after the US pullout, the country unified itself under Communist rule and now, some 40 years down the road, is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Coupled with a young population, it has excellent potential for manufacturing, tourism and a seaport (Da Nang) to lead its development. 

         The War Museum presents history from the Vietnamese eyes, it presents the US as the oppressor who used all their superior weaponry, firepower, military aircraft and shamefully, chemical weapons (who can forget the carpet bombing of the jungles with Agent Orange) to try to  defeat the morale, the numbers and will of the North Vietnamese. In the end it was the North Vietnamese Communists who WON the war through sheer tenacity, strategy and collective will. 

        Countless films have been made to soothe and befuddle the rest of the world, Platoon, Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now,Hamburger Hill and the incredibly inane Rambo series pandering to the intellectually comatose and ignorant audiences. The fact that US lost and pulled out, and here are propoganda films starring a bulging Sylvester killing hundreds of soliders is indeed laughable and in a sense, embarrassing.   

           2 memories stick out till today. There was this instrument of torture I will never forget. In the Hanoi 'Hilton' (or the prisoner of war camp) there was a 'cage' made of barbed wire and the prisoner of war (Viet Cong) who was captured would be thrown into that cage and be impaled and cut by the every piece of rusty spikes in it. He would be there until he gave some 'information'. How inhumane was that ?  

         There was another propoganda film made by the Vietnamese, it showed how a brave 16 year old girl had single-handedly blown up 2 tanks by crawling near to them and firing bazookas point blank.

        When you 'see' the war from the 'other side' finally you get the true picture of how it was, from a independent viewpoint. 

Comparison between living in Sweden and Singapore ; from the Market Perspective

         I do not own rights to this video, but this is one Swede's perspective of his 2 years living in Singapore after having lived his earlier life in Sweden. 

         Its always easy to criticise the tough aspects about living in Singapore, so sometimes its good to hear from a Western perspective, totally devoid of bias and purely based on ease of living and quality of life. 


      


      This video comes in 2 parts and in Part 2 ; the Vlogger gets so taken up by Singapore's orderly and clean society - compared to Sweden now. Sweden was once touted as the perfect Scandinavian image to the world, but now some of it (in the city anyway) has degenerated into lawlessness, homelessness and lack of civic consciousness by its people and inhabitants. This is his viewpoint in the video and not mine. 

       Its no surprise Singapore has recently emerged as the most liveable and the city has the highest quality of life in Asia.  

This Lor Mee stall can't make it

        

           Situated at the basement 2 of Vivocity is the KopiTiam foodcourt. there are at least 15 food stalls and today I ventured to try the Lor Mee (or dry noodle with gravy). Lor Mee is a staple dish at many food centres and Vivocity was no exception. I decided to give it a try and spent $5 for a Signature Bowl.  The name of this stall is called Penang Cuisine and during breakfast time around 9.30 am, the food court had just opened.   

          Much to my disappointment, the bowl of noodles had 3 fried shark pieces, 4 sliced fish cakes and nothing much else. It was full of yellow noodles, super thick gravy. Normally I would expect the Lor Mee to come with some posk belly slices, additional fish bits, more fish cake and generous helping of shark pieces.

         The stall 138 at Tiong bahru Hawker Center (scheduled for reopening on 19th May) is so much better in terms of taste, and much more ingredients.

         So my rating for this :

-    Food quality  : 1.5 out of 5

-   Service          : 2.5 out of 5

    Overall           : Cannot Make the Grade ; in Singlish Cannot Make It 



     

Cognitive Dissonance - What Exactly is It ?

                  This cartoon by Dilbert brilliantly explains the cognitive dissonance theory 


     Cognitive dissonance is a state of mind whereby humans or animals (if they can think),
create an acceptable illusion ('deal with it') of their situation even though their current situation is considered so absurd or contradictory to their rational beliefs or state of mind.Dilbert's cartoon so brilliantly exemplifies this theory. 

    A good example is this fable by Aesop, long time ago, there was this hungry fox, he was wandering around a nice wine estate and chanced upon some lovely grapes which looked so ripe and juicy. The trouble was that the grapes were hanging high up from the branches and the fox had to try its best to jump to reach them. he envisioned that the grapes would be really sweet and melt in his hungry and thirsty mouth.

   So, he want just below it, with all his might, he jumped high up and snapped. He missed it and chewed air. Damn ! he said to himself, so close ! So he tried again and again with all his might and jumped up 8 more times. Again he fell back to earth disappointed and with a mouthful of bitter defeat. Nothing.

   Finally he tried the running and jumping from a distance. 3 more times he tried and failed.
Damn ! again he missed it. 

   He slowly walked away in disgust and told himself : " ah what the heck, the grapes would have probably tasted sour and I would not have liked them at all".

   He created an illusion that it was better not to have eaten the unattainable fruit or goals

   Hence the common phrase "sour grapes".  .