2 Post 100: post-exams!

I declare I'm officially done with Year 3 at 00:12 am this morning, after submitting my paper. And so the typical question pops up again - What's next?

Well, I haven't had much time to think about holiday plans during the exam rush, but now that it has started, I don't know if I should take up a job or internship. I probably should solve the paramount issue first, which is securing a FYP prof.

Today I hung around the orchard area to do some errands.

First stop: return/borrow books at NLB. Finally I have the time to read Houellebecq's Map and the Territory!

Second stop: Saveur@Purvis Street. This French-style cafe has caused quite a stir recently for good reason - french food at low prices. We're talking about duck confits priced at 9 bucks. My Angel hair pasta with Tiger Prawns and Lumpfish Caviar had cost me $6.90 ($7.35 after GST). Given that I was in the North Bridge area, I couldn't pass up the chance not to try out this place. Apparently many others had the same idea; by the time I got there at 12.20 pm, it was fully packed and a queue outside the restaurant. Keep in mind that they only open at 12 noon. Most of the patrons were middle-aged Singaporeans and tend to come in husband-wive pairs. So when I said "table for one," it was kind of awkward because of the odd number and given their business, I would be making things hard for them. Luckily they have a special table that seats one right in the corner of the shop.

Hmmm... I noticed that the caviar is red compared to the black in other food blogger's pictures. I wonder if there's a difference between the two? Google says the red or black color is the result from the dye coloring, so the original source may not be different.

Can cheap food deliver good food? While aesthetically pleasing, I highly suspect that the pasta was made in advanced. It was served lukewarm, or more like room temperature, which is a big bad point cause I like my food served piping hot. The pasta was nicely al dente (thankfully, given how easy it is to overcook angel hair), but unfortunately, unevenly coated with the dressing oil such as some parts were a tad hard, dry and bland. But amid the ocean of pasta, the tiger prawns and lumpfish were like bursts of umami. In other words, the experience was ambivalent: sometimes you get a good tasty mouthful with prawns & lumpfish, other times you get just bland pasta. The portion was small too (starter size), but since it's only 7 bucks I can't be complaining. So it seems that if you want to have good pasta served hot and well-coated/seasoned and in a reasonable size for main meal, you still have to pay the premiums. (Like head to Garibaldi just opposite the street).

After lunch I redeemed my free movie ticket for The Lucky One, which is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. The storyline is the typical Hollywood love story. Man goes war, picks up a photo of a woman and sets out to find her. There is a love triangle involving the woman's ex-husband. But eventually, it still ends on a happy note. Enjoyable but not memorable.

After the movie I paid my overdue visit to BRP, where I bought a new breakfast cereal - Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted cereal (original). This wasn't what I had in mind (I wanted steel cutters but BRM's one wasn't there) but since I've tried Ezekiel's sprouted wheat bread before, which has a very "healthy" grassy taste, I thought I might just try out something different. I like that it has 0g sugar in it, and also high-protein. It consists of a mix of sprouted grains including wheat, barley, millet, lentils, soybeans, spelt. Tomorrow's breakfast will tell if I made a lucky choice :)