TA1
Language Arts
Nov &
Dec Holiday Homework 2012
Choose ONE from Section A and ONE from Section B.
Section A:
1)
Read 2 novels OR 2 plays OR 2 poems and write a
300 to 500-word review comparing various aspects of the novels (e.g. the writer’s
handling of themes/ character portrayals/ literary techniques/ plot devices).
2)
Read a series of short stories on a particular
genre (science fiction, fantasy, gothic, detective and other genres of fiction) and come up with
your own short story of 300-500 words as well as a short prologue that explains
how you are inspired by the short stories.
3)
Read a play and write a play of your own.
Include a short commentary that explains how you are inspired by the other
play.
Section B
1.
Visit 2 restaurants and write a 300-word review
comparing your experience (of the food and service).
2.
Watch 2 plays and write a 300-word review
comparing them.
3.
Go to 2 exhibitions and write a 300-word review
of the differences and similarities between them.
UPLOAD your REVIEWS as comments on the Lang Arts Blog using the following format by latest 31 December 2012:
Jiang Zhifeng of 1C/12: A3) A Play on Singapore Politics
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A3) Play that inspired me is ______________________ which I watched
on ____. Details can be found at www.aslkflaasdlkfaslj;fl.com
Play Title:
Play:
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Jiang Zhifeng of 1C/12: B2) a Review of 2 Restaurants
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B2) The 2 Restaurants are Gunther’s at Club Street and Zhi Char Store at Bedok Blk XX which I visited on ____ and ____
respectively.
Review:
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Note: The total of time taken for
planning and writing is likely to take not more than 5 hours.
Ms Goh, can we compare novels which we have read before?
ReplyDeleteHow do we upload our reviews as new posts on the Lang Arts Blog?
ReplyDeleteMs Goh, for the series of short stories on a particular genre, can we instead read a series of novels, like a chronicles series, but still just write a short story?
ReplyDeleteA1:
ReplyDeleteThe 2 novels that I’ve read was by Pseudonymous Bosch and “The well between the worlds” by Sam Llewellyn. “The Name of This Book is Secret” is about two extraordinary adventurers named Max-Ernest and Cass, a missing magician’s diary, a symphony of spells and a deadly secret that they still do not know what the secret is. “The well between the worlds” is about Lyonesse, a country that used to be green and pleasant but is slowly sinking, and it is up to one boy, Idris, to save his people and his land. Idris discovers the Monsters are from the bottomless wells and an evil plan.
Pseudonymous Bosch uses a very unique style of writing, which was to include the author himself, into the story. His story makes it seem like the readers are also part of the story as we also know about this forbidden secret. It is amusing as the author could expect what the readers reply would be when he posted a question to the readers through the book which makes it seem like he was chatting with the readers. His book kept me reading as it was interactive and there were mind puzzles in his story.
Sam Llewellyn uses an approach that most authors use. He describes the setting in detail at the beginning which let readers feel at peace if readers were in the same place. As the story builds up, the tension increases and I could no longer feel the peace within the story. I could also observe that there is a gradual character development in his characters as the situation worsens.
In both novels, the characters were just ordinary people until they stumbled upon a situation and slowly discovered an evil plan. Both authors wrote their stories in a third person perspective, but they had different ways of writing how these characters found out about the secret. I feel that “ The Name of This Book is Secret” has given me another perspective on writing a story and “The Well Between The Worlds” has a fresh and new storyline.
B1:
The two restaurants I visited was MOF(Ministry of Food) Japanese Sweets & Coffee(at Tampiness) and Waraku Japanese Restaurant(at East Coast). In both restaurants, they sold Japanese Sushi, Japanese noodles, Bento, ect and they were very delicious! The way they serve and cook the food is quite different, and also the atmosphere that the restaurant has.
In MOF, the desserts that they sell are nicer than Waraku’s and I really love their Macha desserts! I ordered one Macha milkshake and sesame ice cream with sweet potato! The milkshake had a very strong taste of Macha and there was ice cream in it too! I took a sip of it and it tasted heavenly. I scooped a little of the ice cream and it was really delicious! After the main course, my mum and I shared the sesame ice cream with sweet potato. The mixture of hot sweet potato and a bit of ice cream was an enjoyable experience as it melts in my mouth as I eat them. However, I felt that the main course tasted rather normal and that the food wasn’t as nice as I’ve thought,
In Waraku, their main course is more delicious compared to MOF. In MOF, their food was a bit more expensive and it was a little too oily. The serving was lesser but MOF’s desserts were worth the money! Waraku has quite a large serving and I felt very full after I finished my meal. I ordered a set meal which included a soup, chawanmushi, Tempura and udon. The tempura was crunchy and tasty and they had a sauce that we could dip in to make it less oily. The chanwanmushi was very smooth and delicious tasting and I could hardly see any air bubbles in them. The udon had a very soft texture and its soup base was nice! The desserts were quite expensive, so I only got to try a little of it, but I still felt that MOF had nicer desserts. I would recommend Waraku for those who loves Japanese food and MOF for Japanese desserts!
Chuang Kai Ting of 1B/12
Glenn Ting of 1C/12: A1) a review of 2 poems
ReplyDeleteA1) The 2 poems are ‘There is another sky’ by Emily Dickinson and ‘Phenomenal Woman’ by Maya Angelou. The full poem could be found at (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/there-is-another-sky/) and (http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/maya_angelou/poems/492) respectively.
Review:
1) There is another sky by Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson, a prominent American poet, led a mostly introverted and reclusive life. She is a very deep poet who had many layers of meaning. This poem she wrote seemed simplistic however I could sense her underlying feelings. In this poem, Emily offers her brother, Austin, to join her in a ‘brighter garden’ where there are ‘unfading flowers’ and ignore the ‘faded forest’. In my opinion, Emily did not merely want her brother to choose the garden instead of the forest. She was trying to advice Austin to avoid the negative side of life as she said: ‘Never mind faded forests, Austin, Never mind silent fields’. I feel that the use of the word ‘faded’ represents that hope was lost and the word ‘silent’ shows misery and loneliness. Instead, she tried to persuade her brother to enter the goodness of life where the sky is ‘serene and fair’ and forest’s leaf is ‘ever green’. I think that ‘serene and fair’ and ‘ever green’ are metaphors for the pureness of life and the never ending hope on the brighter side of life. This poem portrayed Emily’s optimism of life and I enjoyed reading this poem.
2) Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Dr.Maya Angelou, one of the most influential women of all time, wrote several books of poetry. In this poem (Phenomenal Woman) she did not use many metaphors. Instead, Maya used repetition throughout her poem as she constantly mentions; ‘I’m a woman, Phenomenally, Phenomenal woman.’ The main point Maya was trying to bring out throughout this poem was that inner beauty is more valuable than physical beauty. Maya was aware that now, women feel that physical beauty is the main factor in deciding whether a person is phenomenal. This could be seen in the first paragraph:
‘Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.’
Maya later went on by describing how a phenomenal woman behaves and the values a phenomenal woman should have. This poem is straight forward as she writes about the misperception people have about what makes someone phenomenal. I agree with Maya that inner beauty is the main deciding factor and I hope that more would share this thought.
Glenn Ting of 1C/12: B2) a Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB2) The 2 Restaurants are Din Tai Fung at Tampines mall and eighteen chefs at East Point which I visited on the 12th of December and the 17th of December respectively.
Review:
Din Tai Fung is a world renowned restaurant that was ranked as one of the world’s Top Ten Best Restaurants by The New York Times. Originating from Taiwan, this restaurant has been making its mark with branches throughout the world including many Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and Indonesia and also in western countries such as the United States and Australia. I visited the Tampines branch on the 12th of December and ordered its signature Xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings). Slurping its rich broth contained in the dumpling and biting its tender meat, it was a symphony for my taste buds and this delicacy inevitably makes me desire more. This is one of the delicious varieties of food they offer in the menu and it is worth going to try out their delicacies! Eighteenchefs, a restaurant famous among students, offers western cuisine such as baked rice and spaghetti. I went to the Eastpoint’s branch and purchased root beer fish n chips as it sounded unique. However to my dismay, when I ate the fish n chips, I wasn’t amazed as it tasted like a regular fish n chips. Furthermore, the fish n chips was accompanied with a plethora of oil that made me feel queasy when the food arrived. The food there wasn’t bad however it fail to spur me to return back to Eighteenchefs.
Din Tai Fung’s waitresses and waiters never fail to great people with a smile. They take their job very seriously and are never seen fed up about a customer’s request. Basic manners are also practiced amongst them and they would carry out a customer’s request swiftly and efficiently. When I requested for a refill of my tea, they would politely assure me that it would not be a problem and had my tea filled as swiftly as possible. Eighteenchefs crew mainly consists of ex-convicts and teenagers who were seeking to work part-time. Basic manners could be observed from them however they fail to smile often. Furthermore Eighteenchefs crew could be seen not taking their job seriously as they chat amongst themselves in the presence of a pending customer. Eighteenchefs also lacks sufficient seats as it occupies only a small area and food is self-serviced as it is an economically cheap restaurant.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the experience at Din Tai Fung more than at Eighteenchefs as the food was more delicious and the ambience was more delightful.
Wee Wen Jun of 1B/12:
ReplyDeleteA1) Read 2 novels OR 2 plays OR 2 poems and write a 300 to 500-word review comparing various aspects of the novels (e.g. the writer’s handling of themes/ character portrayals/ literary techniques/ plot devices).
A1) The 2 poems are Mid-Term Break written by Seamus Heaney and Dulce Et Decorum Est written by Wilfred Owen. These 2 poems are well written, especially due to the writers’ huge effort to make the poems very descriptive, as a result, making the poems a lot more vibrant and alive. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, Owen makes it a must to insert imageries into his poem. Through the usage of sensory language and various phrases like “knock-kneed”, “blood-shod”, “drunk with fatigue” and “haunting”, Owen successfully makes readers feel as if they are soldiers, fighting closely alongside with their fellow soldiers. Other sensory languages include the usage of the reader’s sense of sound as well as sense of sight. “Coughing like hags” helps add on to the imagery, giving the reader a livelier image on how soldiers are suffering when fighting a war and what it feels to be a soldier. Phrases like “Flound’ring like a man in fire or lime” and “as under a green sea” gives readers a thorough and clear visual effect when imagining the scene of the war. Although Seamus Heaney’s poem lacks in his similes and metaphors, however, he replaces them with a great input of descriptions that bring about emotions and life to the characters in his poems. Through the use of simple words like “crying”, “cooed”, “laughed” and phrases like “coughed out angry tearless sighs”, the writer effectively portrays individual characters and their emotions. While the child’s mother is portrayed as a grief stricken woman, the child’s brother is portrayed as still in shock. Having good imageries and descriptions allow forms the basis of the mood of the poem. Owen has managed to define the mood of the poem as a gloomy one through his extensive use of figurative language. On the other hand, Heaney uses words like “knelling” to build up the mood of his poem. While counting bells normally peal, he describes it as “knelling” to show sadness and grief. Both poems utilize different methods to build up the liveliness of the poem as well as the atmosphere of the poem and are unique in their own way.
Wee Wen Jun of 1B/12: B1) Visit 2 restaurants and write a 300-word review comparing your experience (of the food and service).
ReplyDeleteB1) The 2 restaurants are at The Oval Room at Singapore Cricket Club and Spices café at Concorde Hotel Singapore. These two restaurants have a posh or luxurious atmosphere, but due to different reasons. For the first restaurant, it is the type of people dining there who are pretty well-off and led luxurious lives that causes the atmosphere to be this way. On the other hand, the latter has the high-class atmosphere due to the service given. In terms of the layout, the second restaurant did a much better job, from the arrangements of the cutleries to the layout of the seats to the serving etiquette by the staff. Of course, all these remarkable service accompanies a greater cost. Foods at The Oval Room are served À la carte whereas foods at Spices café are served in a buffet style. It is not just the serving of food that is different but the type of food as well. Foods served at The Oval Room are mainly Indian food, with the addition of some other Chinese dishes and Pizzas whereas food served at Spices café varies from Japanese dishes to Chinese dishes to Western desserts. I find that the foods served at Spices café are a great deal more delicious as compared to the food served at The Oval Room. For an À la carte serving, I personally feel that the menu is far too ordinary. It is not just the type of dishes that is ordinary but the taste as well. However, various food served at Spices café were unique and appetizing at the same time, of course, in exchange for a greater cost. Despite the cost, food served accompanied with the excellent service brought about by the staff at Spices café is definitely worth it. Overall, Spices café is better than The Oval Room in many areas.
Jayne Ong of 1C/12: A1) A review of 2 novels
ReplyDeleteA1) I read To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) by Harper Lee, and Songs of the Humpback Whale (SOHW) by Jodi Picoult. Themes like parent-child love and sacrifice (both of which is interlinked) were well explored by both authors. Several incidents were weaved in the story to paint a clear picture about the respective themes. For example, in TKAM, Jem and Scout did not hesitate to jump to Atticus’s rescue when the mob threatened him outside the prison. As for SOAHW, parent-child love triggered the whole story. Every action that Jane did, from taking her daughter away from her father to leaving her true love and getting back with her husband, was for the welfare of her child. Thus, the unconditional love of a parent for her child is shown clearly. At the same time, Jane was sacrificing her own happiness for her daughter’s growth as a broken family might affect her development.
In both stories, the mental development of characters can be seen as the story slowly develops. At the end, characters that were supposed to be child-like behaved as a grown up instead. The step-by-step development for characters allowed readers to relate their own experience to the story and mature along with the characters. In TKAM, at the start of the story, Jem was just a typical child who plays prank on others. However, preceding Tom Robinson’s court case, several incidence caused Jem to see that there are grey areas in life. Jem then fully lost his innocence after the sentencing of Tom Robinson for a crime that he did not commit, as he saw how racist and bias people can be, even in a court where everything ought to be just. As for SOAHW, Rebecca exhibited adult-like characteristics, and she took care of her mother instead of the other way round. For example, when Rebecca saw her parents fought, she understood what she had to do and prepared the necessary items for a road trip, even before her mother decided to leave. When her boyfriend died because of her, she did not breakdown, but rather, stayed strong so that her mother would not worry.
The way that the authors wrote the stories were different. For TKAM, the story ends at where it began, and it is narrated by Scout, in a child’s point of view. Whereas for SOAHW, the story is like a rewinding movie, with different characters narrating the story to give the readers different viewpoints about the same incident. Jodi Picoult’s writing style was comparatively more confusing than Harper Lee’s, thus TKAM would be more suitable for most people to read.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJayne Ong of 1C/12: B1) A review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB1) The 2 Restaurants are Poulet at Bugis + and Han’s at Century Square which I visited on 21 nov and 22 nov respectively.
Review: At Poulet, I ordered sauté wild mushroom ($5.80) for appetiser and poulet rôti ($15.80 for half) as the main course. At Han’s, I ordered black pepper chicken chop ($11.80). The soup of the day was cream of mushroom.
Comparing the appetisers from both restaurant, sauté wild mushroom was tastier than cream of mushroom. In sauté wild mushroom, there were countless mushroom bits with a pleasant taste of herbs. On the other hand, the cream of mushroom only had a slight creamy taste with close to zero bits of mushroom. Moving on, the main course at Poulet was excellent, while Han’s was just satisfactory. For poulet rôti , the skin was roasted to a light golden brown and it was crispy. The meat was tender and had a slight sweet taste. It comes off the bone easily, making it easier for consumers. The homemade mushroom chardonnay sauce made the whole dish even better, giving it a unique sweet taste. However, it is not recommended to eat sauté wild mushroom as an appetiser together with this dish as there is strong cream taste for both dishes and one would get bloated or even nausea. As for black pepper chicken chop, the chicken chop was well grilled, but as compared to poulet roti, the meat was not as tender. The black pepper sauce complemented well with the meat, giving it a spicy taste.
The service at Poulet was much better than Han’s as the waiters were polite and efficient. The ambience at the restaurant was good too, with soft background music playing in the background, making it a pleasant experience to eat there. However, at Han’s, I had to self service and the restaurant was quite noisy since the customers were all chatting loudly. All in all, the meal at Poulet was value for money!
Timothy Robin Noah Cutter of 1A/12: A2) M is for Magic
ReplyDeleteA2) The series of short stories I read were came from the book ‘M is for Magic’, a collection of 11 Short stories by Neil Gaiman. Details can be found at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47699.M_Is_for_Magic
Prologue: After reading ‘M is for Magic’, I was inspired to try and write Fantasy. Fantasy was a genre that I had never tried writing before. I enjoyed writing fictional stories but refrained from writing too far-fetched stories. Our world is already so diverse, with too many possibilities, too many possible outcomes, and too many inconceivable situations. But writing Fantasy was heading down a totally different direction, something that would make all that seem little. Delving into Fantasy meant unlimited possibilities, an unlimited amount of possible outcomes and even the most bizarre situations became likely. Even the impossible becomes possible. Don’t get me wrong. I love reading Fantasy but writing it is a completely different issue. The world of Fantasy was simply too big for my liking. Our world was big enough for me. And Neil Gaiman has managed to further illustrate my point. He manages to bring Magic into every possible scenario, in so many different styles. In the end, I guess that the charm of Fantasy is actually the thing I initially disliked about writing Fantasy, in its open-endedness and how nothing is impossible anymore. The book has shown how magic can be explored in so many different avenues and that has made me want to try my hand at writing a Fantasy short story too. I might not be the master storyteller that Neil Gaiman is, but here goes.
Short Story: So how was the world made? Some say it was made in 7 days. Some say it started with a bang. Some would even say it came out of nothing. But let me tell you how the world was truly formed.
ReplyDeleteBefore our world began, there was utter chaos-from the previous world. Nothing is known of the world before ours. All we know is that they weren’t exactly role-models. It all started when the Great Dragon Wyrsaryx decided he had enough of the previous world. Enough of its constant wars, power struggles, massacres that occurred on the surface on that planet. The inhabitants of that world seemed to have no will to live. They were killing themselves. It was just a matter of time. With a single breath of flame, the Great Dragon Wyrsaryx destroyed everything and the world ceased to exist. The Great Dragon Wyrsaryx lost faith in his creation. He decided it was time for something else. After several eons, he decided it was time to fill that void. First, he breathed 3 balls of fire out of his mouth and from them, the Suns. Yes, that’s right, the 3 suns you see every ixu. He made them in different sizes, and in different colours. Next the Great Dragon Wyrsaryx made a great black cloth from smoke that came out of his nostrils. Every exu, this great black cloth covers our world, to prevent the world from burning up. The moons and stars you see each exu were holes poked by the great dragon himself. Next he created the 7 realms. He then breathed life into 7 lesser beings to govern and keep order in each of the 7 realms. These 7 realms were connected by the river of life, Edrasil. With a click of his talons, all life sprung into being. All the elves, dwarves, pixies, centaurs, griffins, giants, mermaids, trees, animals and humans.
For centuries, we lived side by side in harmony governed by the care-taker of our realm, Inarius, an angel of great might but more importantly great Wisdom. Then a great evil stepped in our realm. Orcs and Demons appeared out of nowhere and slaughtered our people. The people of our realm, despite all differences, banded together to destroy the threat that plagued our homeland. It took 4 bloody and gruesome years, but we finally vanquished the Orcs and Demons. We had to rebuild our cities and towns again; almost everything had been destroyed by them. But this period of hardship only made our races grow stronger and closer to each other. There was a long and happy time where man could be seen walking next to dwarf, elves hunting with centaurs. However, a new enemy suddenly emerged. But this time, the enemy came from within. Power hungry humans took over the lands of the whole realm, slaughtering anything that came into their path. All the other races were forced to go into hiding. Inarius saw this but did not report this to the Great Dragon Wyrsaryx. Instead, he took matter into his own hands and as a punishment for their greediness, had all their technological advancements taken away from them. They had to learn how to live again.
And so here we are in the 21st century. Man has almost forgotten about all the ancient races and how the world was in the beginning. Little is known of what happened to all the other races. Some say when you suddenly lose something; it’s not really your fault. The mischievous pixies just took it to play with. Some say Tsunamis are caused by the mermaids, secretly punishing us for our failure to keep our promise. Some say “big foot” or the “sasquatch” are just dwarves that were spotted. All I know is that they’re still somewhere out there.
Timothy Robin Noah Cutter of 1A/12: B2) A Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB2) The 2 Restaurants are Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel Merchant Court (20 Merchant Road) and Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria at 49/50 Duxton Road which I visited on 4th November 2012 and 18th November 2012 respectively.
Review: The following review of the two restaurants will be split into different compartments, namely Ambience, Service, Food/Drink, and its Value.
The First Restaurant I visited was Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel Merchant Court. Upon entering, I was greeted by a fleet of friendly waiters who escorted my family and me to our seats. Undoubtedly, it was a popular dining joint for many Singaporeans and almost the entire Restaurant was filled. Like its name suggests, It reminded me just like a marketplace. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and there was this warm buzz around the restaurant that made it feel just like a marketplace, just that it was also like a cafe, extremely clean, with a classy professional look.
We all sat down and our napkins were placed on our thighs by the friendly staff. The Restaurant Staff were extremely friendly and did not hesitate in assisting us. Water was almost instantly refilled while used plates were quickly taken away and replaced with new clean ones.
The Ellenborough Market Cafe is a buffet restaurant and serves Buffet Breakfast, Buffet Lunch, Buffet Dinner and Buffet High Tea. Our family had made a reservation for the Buffet Lunch and the promotional menu at that time was the “Up for Crabs! Buffet”. This was not the first time I had been here but I was a bit apprehensive at the new menu as I was not particularly fond of one dish, the main dish actually, crab. Being a boy who barely goes out of his comfort zone, and is the least bit adventurous meant that I was new to crab.
I was afraid that the whole Restaurant was going to be full of Crab dishes that I dare not try, but there was a wide variety of dishes ranging from Chinese to nonya and of course International cuisine. After much coaxing from my parents, I finally tried one crab dish, the Piping hot Thai deep fried soft shell crab. It was prepared live by a cook and came out piping hot and extremely crispy. It had a golden brown colour, and just one bite was all it took to convince me that crab was okay. The crunch in that bite could be heard by the next table and I came back for more of it the instant my plate was wiped clean. However, many of the crab dishes still seemed strange and scary to me such as Alaskan Crab Leg with ponzu served on ice, Nonya Sambak Crab Cake, Salt Baked Crab, Marmite Crab and Wasabi Crab. For desert I headed over to the crepe station, where again my delicious crepe was prepared right in front of me, which I could decorate myself with various toppings and sauces. It was made perfect when a scoop of vanilla ice-cream was placed on top of it. This combination of hot and cold worked so well that I wanted more but unfortunately I had already stuffed myself. The one thing I would have loved to have at this buffet is Bread and Butter Pudding which is almost a must-have for me at any international buffet. While the Ellenborough market Cafe usually has it, I guess it was displaced by another dish for this promotional menu.
For an adult it cost $64++, while for a child it cost $32++. I would say that though the food and service were both commendable, $64++ is not value-for-money. If you’re thinking about whether to come here, I would advise you against it. Unless of course, you have a few extra dollars to spare, then by all means, come to Ellenborough Market Cafe and soak in its warm atmosphere and enjoy the good food!
The second Restaurant I visited was Etna Italian Restaurant& Pizzeria at 49/50 Duxton Road. The front of its store was cluttered with too many signs, boards and posters. Its name was no less intimidating. Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, located on the east coast of Sicily, Italy and also holds the title for the tallest volcano in Europe. I wondered just how disastrous this Restaurant could be too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as soon as I entered the Restaurant, my impression of the restaurant changed. There was an aromatic smell in the Restaurant from the many fragrance oil burners placed strategically around the restaurant. The smell was strong, not too strong but just right. It cleared my head and set me in the right mood. It had a refined ambience with a very classy look. It was fit for royalty. Even the toilet (though there was only one) smelt nice.
The service was very professional and warm. A bubbly waitress cheerfully guided us to our seats and provided us with the menus. Each seat had an elaborately folded napkin on the table and it was a shame we had to use it. The next thing we knew, we were served a complimentary basket of foccacia bread! (Everybody likes free stuff!) The focaccia bread was deliciously fresh and moist and available with a dipping of either vinegar or olive oil. In the end, it was so good we ordered another basket of focaccia bread.
We ordered the Patatine Fritte al Tarufo (Truffle French Fries) to begin with. The large plate of Truffle French Fries were fried to a crispy golden brown and sprinkled on top with truffle. While aesthetically pleasing, I found the Truffle French fries quite ordinary and while the taste of truffle was quite to my liking, it was not very special. Although the specialty at the restaurant was pizza, we all ordered individual dishes, with everyone, except me, choosing to have pasta. I ordered the chef’s special for that day, a 250g beef steak. (I’m not sure what cut it was)
My steak arrived and it was dressed extravagantly. What surprised me was that unlike most restaurants when I ordered my steak medium rare, this one actually managed to give me a proper medium rare. It was pink in the centre with a minimal amount of grey at the edges of the steak. It was done to perfection. It looked like a sous-vide steak but I didn’t have to wait. Each bite of the steak was succulent and moist. The steak was juicy and the outside was a little burnt, just a little. The cheese on top complimented the strong flavours of the steak beautifully and I was thankful that my steak was big enough for my appetite because I could not have enough. It was all the little things that worked and that made the dish work. The steak was fantastic and I recommend it to everyone.
However, there was a price to pay for all this good food. An exorbitant price. The price of the Truffle French Fries was $16, the pasta ranged from $19 to $26 while my steak was the most expensive and cost us $32. However, I think that its price tag is justified and I would not mind coming here again.
Kylene Chia of 1A/12: A1) A Review on 2 Novels
ReplyDeleteReview:
Two people meet, they fall in love, occasional quarrels happen between the both of them, but in all, they still love one another. This is a shared plot amongst the two books, Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks as well as One Day by David Nicholls. Cliché as it may seem, both novels are in fact far from it as they bring out the themes of love, relationships and commitments in a different way.
Message in the Bottle is a story whereby divorcee Theresa Osborne picks up a bottle while grieving over her failed marriage one day. In the bottle, is a love letter, written by Garret Blake, to Catherine, his deceased wife. Touched by the content of the letter, Theresa once again believes in true love and she goes all out to find Blake. Using clues from the letter, she finds him, they fall in love, and they experience the highs and lows in a relationship, like any ordinary couple.
Similarly, One Day gives an account of the lives of Emma and Dexter for 20 successive years. Emma first met Dexter on their graduation night. Since then, although both of them goes different ways, pursuing different things, they remain as close friends, secretly longing for one another deep inside. This relationship continues until one day when they finally admit the feelings they have for one another.
Also, both writers wrote a similar twist at the back of the story. In both the novels, just when both the couples seem to have a happy ending, something uneventful happens and either one of them dies, making the relationship a short-lived romance. Both the writers intentionally “kill” one of the main character, definitely not to make their novel a more well received one but rather one which is able to touch the hearts and the souls of the reader.
Although One Day is somewhat similar to Message in the Bottle, what really differs it is the plot device that Nicholls used. As the name of the novel suggest, Nicholls give readers snapshots of Dex and Emma’s life, only on a single day every year for 20 consecutive years. On the other hand, Sparks added many detailed descriptors of scenery and characters in the story and this helped readers to imagine the story better and get into the story.
All in all, Message in the Bottle by Nicholas Sparks is a better choice of book as it managed to bring out the readers feelings, even thought he used simple, comprehendible language as compared to David Nicholls who sometimes uses overly sophisticated words that are sometimes hard to comprehend.
Kylene Chia of 1A/12: B2) a Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB2) The 2 Restaurants are McDonalds and Subway which I visited on 3rd December and 21st December respectively.
Review:
Subway versus McDonalds. Both restaurants have no doubt been the oligopolies of the fast food chain since the 18th Century. Till today, it remains popular amongst all, providing quick meals at a low price. In fact, these fast food chains are located conveniently, in almost every possible place one could ever think of.
The obvious difference of Subway and McDonalds is that one mainly sells sandwiches and the other, burgers. What else differs Subway and McDonalds is the health value of the food as well as the variety of food offered. It is true that Subway and McDonalds both contain large amounts of preservatives and are indeed bad to one’s health. However, as compared to the fried and greasy meals offered in McDonalds, Subway is definitely healthier. In fact, as the catch line of Subway “Subway, Eat Fresh” suggest, Subway offers their customers a large range of fresh vegetables to choose from, ranging from cucumbers and lettuces to olives and pickles. In fact, Subway also offers “low fat” sandwiches as part of their menu, offering choices of sandwiches with less than 5g of fat content.
Also, unlike in McDonalds where customers are offered a limited range of burgers, Subway offers their patron different sauces, different vegetable add-ons and different types of bread, in addition to the large variety of sandwiches options. Instead of cracking their heads to decide which sandwich to eat, patrons of subway can instead choose to add a different sauce to the same sandwich, adding a whole new taste to it. No doubt, McDonalds also offers a larger range of sides and desserts, such as ice cream sundaes and nuggets.
As a whole, Subway is definitely a better choice of fast food, as it offers healthier food for around the same price. Customers can definitely feel less guilty when eating Subway.
Viviana Chew of 1B/12: A1) A Review on 2 Novels
ReplyDeleteWhile both books revolve around an unsolved murder case, the two books differ greatly in the way the mystery is presented and the characters involved. In Picoult’s House Rules, Jacob is an 18 year old teen with Asperger’s. When his tutor Jess’s body is found, his symptoms make him look guilty. On the other hand, Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is told from the perspective of a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, who was raped and murdered on her way home from school. The story unfolds as she watches from her heaven how her family copes with her death.
Even though most people find the two stories to be predictable, I felt that the two stories were more character-driven than plot-driven and that the plot wasn’t as important compared to how the characters felt and how the entire picture was portrayed.
In House Rules, the theme dealt with was family and how being different in society affected the daily lives of Jacob and his family. Picoult gives Jacob almost every symptom of Asperger’s and shows readers how similar we are to them in some aspects and how different we are in others. Family was a very important factor in the story. Picoult brought out the relationship between Emma (his mother) , Jacob and Theo (his brother) very well. She showed us how Emma stood by her son even though there were times when her faith in him waivered. Even though Theo loves his brother at the same time he is jealous of the attention his brother gets and the reversal of their roles. Even though Jacob is the elder brother Theo feels as if he has to take care of and protect his brother from others.
However, compared to House Rules, I felt that the theme was better managed in Sebold’s lovely Bones. The theme of grief was obvious throughout the whole book. It showed us how Susie’s family members dealt with the tragedy and how it led to their different actions, such as her sister Lindsey moving out and her father’s feelings of guilt for not being to protect his daughter. It also showed how grief was capable of destroying a family. After Susie’s death her family collapsed. Her mother cheated on her father and her father was consumed by grief. Every family member had a different way of mourning Susie and a different mourning period.
While The Lovely Bones is told from Susie’s perspective, House Rules is told from multiple perspectives. This was a little confusing at the start but it allowed me to understand the story through the different characters and understand why they did the things they did. The characters Picoult presented were very well-developed, especially Jacob Hunt. She gave us an insight to every character’s mind, how they felt and the reasons for their particular actions. However, in The Lovely Bones the only well-developed character was Susie and perhaps her sister Lindsey.
In conclusion, I feel that The Lovely Bones was a better read. The themes were handled better and the reader was brought through the entire mourning period of the whole family. Even though the characters in House rules were better developed the theme was not as prevalent.
Viviana Chew of 1B/12: B2) A Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteThe 2 Restaurants are Brewbaker’s at Serangoon Community Centre and Swenson’s at Changi Airport which I visited on 8-12-12 and 15-12-12 respectively.
The decor and atmosphere at Brewbakers was better than the décor at Swenson’s. Swenson’s was brighter and more airy while Brewbaker’s was more dimly lit and cosier. The seats in Brewbakers were also more comfortable than those in Swenson’s. The atmosphere in Swenson’s somehow reminded me of a fast food restaurant while the ambience in Brewbaker’s was one in which you could sit and relax for a longer period of time.
Compared to Swenson’s, the service in Brewbaker’s was better. In Swenson’s, when a glass of water was spilt, the waiter took a long time to wipe up the spilt drink and we had to wait for some time before we could get a waiter’s attention. However, in Brewbaker’s when my father complained that his steak was too tough, the waiter immediately replaced the steak. Even though the waiter forgot that I had requested for the cake that came with ice-cream they apologised immediately and changed it to (vanilla) ice-cream immediately.
The food in Swenson's, however, was better than the food in Brewbaker’s. In both restaurants I ordered pasta. In Swenson’s I ordered Crayfish Pasta while in Brewbaker’s I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. The spaghetti in Brewbaker’s was overcooked and soggy. The noodle did not have the elasticity and chewiness I like in y pasta. The spaghetti in Swenson’s, however, was cooked perfectly. It was neither too hard nor too soft and had the right texture to it. Both spaghetti sauces needed more flavours to it. Both sauces somehow felt rather flat. The texture of the spaghetti in Swenson’s was better because there were mushrooms, crab meat, fish bits and crayfish to add to the texture.
The ice-cream in Brewbaker’s could not hold a candle to the ice-cream in Swenson’s. In Brewbaker’s the choices were limited to three flavours, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla while in Swenson’s there were many more flavours and I was spoilt for choice. In Brewbaker’s I ordered vanilla ice-cream and in Swenson’s we ordered a banana crumble from the sizzling pan series and an “earthquake”. The Brewbaker’s ice-cream was nothing special and it even came with chocolate. We could pick the flavours in Swenson’s “earthquake” so I managed to eat all my favourite flavours. The butterscotch was creamy but not too sweet and the lime sorbet was sour and cold and just right. The banana sizzle, however, was a little on the sweet side.
In conclusion, the ambience in Swenson’s does not match up to Brewbaker’s but the food more than makes up for it. Swenson's is the better place to go for a simple meal or a birthday gathering but Brewbaker’s would be a better choice for high tea.
Isabel Tan of 1C/12; A1) The novels that I read are Animal Farm by George Orwell and Emily of Emerald Hill by Stella Kon.
ReplyDeleteAnimal Farm is a political satire that criticises Communism. Orwell uses a third person POV to tell the story. I felt that this made the novel more interesting as it allows readers to know things that the animals are unaware of. The characters and happenings in the novel parallel figures and events that took place in Russia between 1917 and 1943. For example, the pigs represent the various Communist leaders, while Mr Jones is used to symbolize the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Similarly, the Rebellion by the animals represents the overthrow of the Tsar, and the building of the windmill symbolises the rapid industrialization of Russia and the Five Year Plan. One of the major themes in Animal Farm is equality, which Orwell uses irony to bring out. This is evident in how although it was written in the Seven Commandments that “all animals are equal”, there was a hierarchy amongst the animals even from the start of the establishment of Animal Farm where the pigs were considered to be above the other animals. Hence, the animals were never all “equal”. Another theme is power and oppression. In the end, the pigs who are the leaders are shown to have brought destruction of the farm. Although they managed to accumulate immense wealth, it is kept solely for themselves. The rest of the animals are overworked, and some are even sold to the knackers when they have outlived their usefulness. The novel therefore aims to show that the Communism will never work and only result in the welfare of the people being neglected.
On the other hand, Emily of Emerald Hill is a play that describes the title character’s life as the matriarch of a Peranakan household. The book is told from Emily’s perspective, and this allows readers to understand Emily’s inner thoughts and how her past influenced the way she brought up her family. Oppression is an important theme in the novel, as Emily’s oppression as a child causes her to become the oppressor in order to suppress her feelings of insecurity. This can be seen in the author’s use of diction, when she writes that Emily wants to “bind them in the web of her control” because she was “thrown away as a child”. Symbols are used to help her transit between the past and the present, for instance she puts on her pink coat when talking about the joy her son Richard brought her. When she moves into the death of Richard, she takes off her coat. This shows that the coat symbolises her happiness and youth, which ended when her son died. Ultimately, Emily becomes a shell of her former self as the years pass by, with various incidents such as the death of Richard taking a toll on her. She learns to let go and allow her children to lead their own lives. Despite this, all of her children decide to move out of their family mansion, leaving Emily alone. The ending is hence a sharp contrast to the start of the novel, in which she has kept her family under her control and the house is bustling with life.
Although both books deal with similar themes such as power and oppression, the authors differ in writing style. Also, while Animal Farm portrays the pigs as utterly ruthless, Emily of Emerald Hill highlights the vulnerabilities of its title character and allows readers to sympathise with her, thus the novels also have different character portrayals.
ISabel Tan of 1C/12: B1) The 2 restaurants that I visited are Prime Cut Café at Kovan Road and Roland Restaurant at Marine Parade Central which I visited on the 28th of November and 13th of December respectively.
ReplyDeletePrime Cut Café is a small, homely restaurant that serves mostly Western-style food. The ambience of Prime Cut Café was warm, as many families were dining there, with appropriate decorations and music playing in background. The salmon spaghetti which I ordered was sumptuous and hearty, and came in a generous portion. It also looked very appetising and presentable, with a substantial serving of salmon. I felt that it would have been better if less salt was used in the dish. The service at Prime Cut Café was good, as the waitresses were friendly despite being evidently underhanded. However, they were also rather slow, and I had to wait for around 20 minutes for my food to be served although there were not many customers around.
On the other hand, Roland Restaurant serves up seafood, Cantonese cuisine as well as Tim Sum dishes. It had a much larger premise as compared to the former, and was also busier. The menu also boasted a larger variety of dishes than that of Prime Cut Café. I felt that the staff were more brusque and less friendly, which was probably due to the fact they had to attend to the large number of customers. In addition, they spoke Mandarin or Cantonese fluently but were not very proficient in English, which I felt may pose a problem for English-speaking customers. The Tim Sum dishes which I ordered also arrived quickly, as most were served within 15 minutes. It was delectable and came piping hot. The filling in the food, for example the custard and cha shou buns, were generous. The food was also visually appealing, being served in small portions neatly on plates. Hence, I enjoyed my visit at both restaurants, but felt that there were areas that both could have improved on.
Liu Shuwei of 1C/12: A1)
ReplyDeleteA3) The two poems I read are The Road Not Taken and TO THE VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME
The poem, The Road Not Taken, describes how a person hesitates when he is deciding which road to taking for his journey. The choices of roads actually imply various options in our life. It tells us that we can choose one road among millions of them and thus we must be careful and not following the crowd.
The other poem, as its title suggests, addresses itself to a group of virgins to encourage young ladies to make full use of their time.
These two poems have relatively similar subjects, as the first mainly talks about the importance of making choice while the other focuses on valuing time.
However, the two poems are fairly different in other aspects. Firstly, The Road Not Taken uses roads to metaphorise the choices in our life, while To The Virgins, To Make Much Of Time portrays itself in a way that is plainer. In addition, To The Virgins, To Make Much Of Time has a strong standpoint that people should make full use of time, while The Road Not Taken is much more objectively describing how the author himself makes choice rather than give a point that people should choose the road that is not taken by others before.
Liu Shuwei of 1C/12: B2) a Review of 2 Restaurants
B2) The 2 Restaurants are Pizza Hut and Nanchang Hotpot which I visited on 25th Nov and 12th Dec respectively.
Review: Pizza Hut, a well-known pizza restaurant spreads all over the world, was firstly imported in Nanchang in 2001. Nanchang Hotpot, on the other hand, has always been one of the most populous traditional restaurants since the 1980s. I had an enjoyable experience dining in these two restaurants.
There are three Pizza Hut restaurants in Nanchang and they were incredibly crowded during weekends. People usually have to queue up for seats for more half an hour. On the other hand, Nanchang Hotpot was not so crowded all the time, as most of the guests come there at night to warm up them in cold winter.
As for the food provided, Pizza Hut mainly offers western meals and snacks while it actually introduced some Asian style food to cater local customers. Nanchang Hotpot, on the other hand, offers a wide range of choices of food in hotpot with different seasonings such that the customers are able select their favored food themselves. The food is local special products originated from PoYang Lake, a lake near Nanchang City.
In term of prices, Nanchang Hotpot has many economical set meals while Pizza Hut is more expensive. However, servers are always available in Pizza Hut while people usually have to help themselves in Nanchang Hotpot. Nevertheless, both restaurants have friendly servers and enjoyable dining ambience.
Chua Kai Yun of 1C/12: A1) Review of 2 poems
ReplyDeleteThe two poems, Timothy Winters by Charles Causley and Percival Mandeville, the Perfect Boy by John Betjeman, are selected as they showed two different kinds of school boys coming from both extreme ends. However, both boys portrayed one value that comes natural from the human’s heart: Compassion
The poem Timothy Winters talks about Timothy, a poor school boy that was not looked after by the country’s Welfare State. The poet started off by describing his physical features and showed Timothy’s unkempt image, that even “his clothes are enough to scare a crow.” His school performance can be explained by his family background, as his parents’ relationship are not stable and could not even buy him shoes to prevent his feet from getting injured and “bloody”. His education level and his parents’ could clearly be shown when “he’s not even heard of the Welfare State.” However, even though the Welfare State refused to help his family, Timothy, a normal peasant that did not receive any education, was able to pray whole heartedly for the less fortunate children in church. Kindness and compassion need not to be taught by the school or the family; in fact, it is clearly shown in this plot that humans are kind by nature and have a heart for everyone.
The poet’s intention of writing this poem was clearly shown – he sympathises with the poor people around him that did not manage to receive help from the government, at the same time indirectly criticizing the government for not taking care of his people. While showing readers the hard life that Timothy faces, the poet evokes readers to sympathise him but at the same time, not letting people to look down on him. The last two stanzas could make readers surprised and commend Timothy for his selfless wishes. Even though Timothy himself isn’t living a comfortable life, he doesn’t find himself being at the rock bottom and does not self pity. This conclusion portrayed the character’s personality and lighted up hope, when the poet ended the last line by praying for Timothy.
The second poem showed Percival Mandeville to be an exemplary student and a role model that all teachers like and all students emulate to. While he was popular among the student body and his “open smile enchanted others”, he was extremely against people who acted not according to the spirit of the schools. But even so, Percival Mandeville is an understanding boy that comforts the poet he receive his news about his mater’s illness. Similarly like Timothy, Percival Mandeville is a compassionate boy that could empathise with others. This effect is created by the poet, when he mentioned a whole list of his strengths in the first stanza, but bringing out Percival Mandeville’s compassion at the last line for greater emphasis.
Chua Kai Yun of 1C/12: B1) Review of 2 restaurants.
ReplyDeleteI have visited two restaurants in Taiwan during my holiday trip. The first one was a Ninja-themed restaurant that serves Japanese food, the second was Din Tai Fung, a famous Chinese restaurant that is open in Singapore as well but it actually started off in Taiwan. I have visited the two restaurants on 03 December and 06 December respectively.
The first restaurant was unique in terms of service unlike many other restaurants I have went. The waiters and waitresses were dressed in red Japanese Ninja costumes, with a sword at the back. In order to enter the restaurant, we have to shout 'Nin-ja!' before the waterfall in front of us stops and we can proceed to the second floor.
Each table have a waitress that will attend to them and introduce the restaurant, before the first dish comes up. The appetizer was arranged in a ship-like bowl and that appealed to many kids in my tour group. We were served with a variety of dishes ranging from soup to vegetable to stir-fry banana tempura. During our lunch, there were magic tricks performed to each table and a glass tube of soda for everyone! It was the most memorable lunch that everyone enjoyed!
The second would be Din Tai Fung. It is so famous in Taiwan that people have to book their tables beforehand, there's simply no chance for one to queue and get a table! The service was comparable to Singapore's, but the atmosphere and lighting is very different that one would definitely call it a high class restaurant. The food was served without much waiting and everyone was eating at a fast pace in order to catch up with the incoming dishes. Though the food was nice, one could not eat comfortably at their own pace. Looks like the ones opened in Singapore are better for Singaporeans after all!
Rohit Idnani of 1B/12: A3) DOUBLE TROUBLE
ReplyDeleteDappled sunlight shone through the dense foliage. In the dense jungle, humidity hung around like a mist. From high in the tree tops, colourful macaws were squawking shrilly. Danger started to loom instantly.
A young, healthy and strong man slashed his way through the thick undergrowth and a forest of conifers. The masked man, brandishing a knife, stabbed it into the abdomen of a S.W.A.T officer.
Thick, crimson blood similar to that of fresh prey spurted through his abdomen and he clutched it in agony. He barked at the top of his voice “I’ve got him!!!!” His voice started to croak like a frog as a bullet whipped into his skull and he fell backwards onto the slippery and muddy jungle trail. The heavily built man’s face was drenched with blood from the ordeal. He began dashing as fast as a cheetah with instincts as an alert lion chasing his prey.
Bullets and knives buzzed like bees past him. Many S.W.A.T men let out a battle cry and in the next moment their faces turned deathly pale like a ghost as the man threw a bomb towards their direction. The forest was turned into a gruesome graveyard as parts of their bodies erupted into different directions and lay scattered. However the man’s victory was not over yet and Lady Luck was not on his side as another S.W.A.T team surrounded every nook and cranny of the jungle. He had nowhere to run. The man slowly craned his neck around with his mouth agape as he came face to face with the salty breeze which invigorated him.
He was standing at the edge of a cliff with delicate rocks which were falling into the sea and making soft splashes.
The officer of the S.W.A.T team grinned from ear to ear “Assassin, you have nowhere to run now. Your fairytale of killing ends now.”
He screamed at the top of his lungs “Fire!!!”
At once the whole team started shooting towards their target. The officer glared at the Assassin with bloodshot eyes and stood rooted to the ground. The Assassin’s gleaming teeth was the last he saw as the Assassin fell off the cliff. The S.W.A.T team looked down and started searching frantically for the body of the Assassin but to no avail. They gave up their futile attempts and the officer presumed that the Assassin could not have survived a huge plunge into the deep sea; it was a feat no daredevil could survive. The cat and mouse chase was over for him and his men as they left the jungle with their hearts palpitating in excitement. The hullabaloo had died down and the serenity of the forest came back again. Their objectives had been achieved, mission accomplished……..
The moment the bullets began firing towards the Assassin, he fell instantly to prevent himself from being shot. Unfortunately a bullet grazed his shoulder and he crashed headlong into a few dangling tree branches and he held on for his dear life. The tree branches had broken his ultimate fall. Mustering his remaining energy he climbed up and he sauntered slowly along the treacherous cliff and there thankfully in front of him was an enormous cave. Dazed and concussed after his near death experience, he staggered groggily towards the cave. He felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he was giddy with relief.
Suddenly, his mind began churning around him like a black hole. Before he collapsed to the ground, he realized he still had one unanswered question and was burning with curiosity for the answer: who double crossed him and attempted to eliminate him on his last mission, placing his life in jeopardy?
Rohit Idnani of 1B/12 Double Trouble (Continuation)
ReplyDelete------------------------------------------------
The hand phone began ringing rudely at the moment of sunrise. The stocky and burly man picked it up. The voice on the other side began
“You have a new mission waiting for you, the most formidable mission that will stretch you out of your limits. It will probably be the last mission. I hope you will accomplish this mission with success and take it seriously….”
“What’s the pay off? It better be good.” The man interrupted.
“The bonus amount plus this mission’s million dollars will be in your Swiss bank account within the next few minutes, if you agree to this deal.”
“OK – go on…..”
“Here are the details of the mission. You are to eliminate a political multi billionaire businessman who has been involved with smuggling drugs and weapons into Russia and is working with the insidious terrorist organization. He is to have a meeting in a deserted alley near Boulevard Ring in approximately an hour’s time with the leader of this organization. He is to be eliminated before he passes the money to the leader. Just eliminate the businessman, our sole target.”
The call ended as quickly as it had begun. The man taking on this mission whose codename was the Assassin quickly logged on to his online Swiss bank account to check for the deposited funds.
His temples were swollen, giving his head a bubbly look. A long, straight nose with flaring nostrils did nothing to make his thin reddish face appealing. Nor did his large, staring green eyes framed by bushy black eyebrows. A bull’s neck supported his head and curly black locks fell to his wide shoulders. The Assassin covered his embarrassing face with a mask. He grabbed a suitcase and dressed up as an ordinary man as a disguise and dashed out and ambled towards Boulevard Ring which was just a stone’s throw away from his house.
He took a glimpse of the deserted alley before he hurried up a building which was facing the alley. At the roof top, he immediately opened up his suitcase and began assembling the parts of the sniper and he was ready…..
Just at the nick of time, a Mercedes Benz car stopped at the foot of a pavement. The businessman came out with a black suitcase and hurried towards the deserted alley with three of his most trusted body guards armed with submachine guns. A few moments later, one of the body guards whistled and instantly an old man came out of the door, looking innocently with six men. The businessman and the terrorist shook hands and were talking under their breaths.
The Assassin mopped sweat from his forehead and
grabbed hold of his sniper and carefully aimed it at the head of the businessman and released the trigger and the next thing was the businessman was sprawled on the ground with blood drenched on his expensive shirt. He had died. The Assassin kept the sniper in his suitcase before escaping the scene with a smile plastered on his face.
A plump man was on the phone with a S.W.A.T officer and narrated the entire incident that happened at Boulevard Ring and described the characteristics of the Assassin. He immediately cut the call, proud of himself that he had made the Assassin walk into a trap….
As the Assassin was making his way to his car, he heard sirens of S.W.A.T cars speeding towards him. In a fit of anger, he grabbed his shotgun from his car and began firing blindly towards them. He realized he had been double crossed on his last mission. He jumped into his car and drove at breakneck speed towards any random direction but the police was still hot on his heels. He stopped at a forest, grabbed a few knives, his shotgun and a bomb and took off at the speed of lightning into the forest…..
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ReplyDeleteRohit Idnani of 1B/12 Double Trouble (Continuation)
ReplyDelete----------------------------------------------------------------
He woke up with a sudden start. His mind was blanked out from the recent incidents which had drained every ounce of energy he had. Vivid images were still imprinted in his mind. The betrayal. It was all a trap.
Stumbling with exhaustion, the man only known as the Assassin felt around for his surroundings. With great effort, summoning the last ounce of energy in his protesting muscles, he reached out and felt a rough surface making contact. It was simply rocks and limestone’s surrounding him. There was only one place which has rocks and limestones. A cave.
The Assassin was like a blind man, trying to find his way out of this trail of mazes. Darkness had fallen like a shroud outside and the only sense of direction he had was from a pale crescent moon which shone like a silvery claw in the night sky. The illuminated moonlight had pierced the stars that were snoozing away.
As he reached the end of the trail, he made his decision. He knew he could only trust one person who could come and rescue him; his partner, Jason. The Assassin fished out his hand phone and called Jason and narrated his near death experiences to him.
“I will be right there “replied Jason in his calm and soothing tone.
Shattering the tranquility of the late night was the brazen, irksome of engines a few minutes later. Following that, a man climbed slowly into the cave. He squinted to double-check whether it was Jason, brandishing my sharp knife which glowered in the moonlight for protection. He was a tall, lean man with an almost stick-like figure and long gnarled hands. His visage, though frequently shadowed with a swarthy hood, was pallid. Prominent cheekbones jutted forth accompanied by a wide forehead. His nose was noticeably minute. It perfectly matched Jason’s description.
“Are you alright? Are you alright?” came the concerned bombardment of a frenzied voice.
He ignored his sudden concern and inquired infuriatedly “What took you so long?? I am in agony……”
Jason had a thin, smile plastered on his face and muttered,” Oh. There was a lot of traffic along the way. And I was preparing a surprise for you.”
The Assassin stammered,” Um…. What surprise? I don’t really understand.”
He grinned like a Cheshire cat,” Maybe, this could ease your understanding a little.”
Jason slowly took out a pistol and pointed it at The Assassin.
He stopped dead in my tracks, his face as white as a sheet. He blinked in surprise and yelled” What nonsense is this??”
He let out a demonic laughter and calmly said, “Let me demonstrate.”
An ear-shattering bang reverberated in the air, causing The Assassin to jump out of my skin.
Jason replied with a smirk plastered on his face,” I am just here to finish the job that the police have countlessly tried to accomplish but failed. I was the one who double crossed you…”
He then released the trigger.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
PROLOGUE
Over the past few weeks of holidays, I’ve been inspired by this series called CHERUB 2. It was written by Robert Muchamore, a well-established writer. The two books I’ve read from the series are People’s Republic and Guardian Angel. I was impressed by the storyline of this young adult spy novel. The second series has a new central character named Ryan Sharma whose first job is to befriend a spoilt rich kid whose grandma runs a billion-dollar criminal empire. It is an action-packed thriller with a lot of twists and turns throughout both novels. I was awed by how well the story was weaved. Similarly I had a huge twist in the end which I had included. I did not want my story to have a perfect ending thus I wanted to show my main character had flaws. All in all “DOUBLE TROUBLE” is an action-thriller and is worth reading.
Rohit Idnani of 1B/12: B1)Restaurant Reviews
ReplyDeleteThe two restaurants I visited during the holidays were Gokul Vegetarian Restaurant and Kashmir Restaurant on the 1st and 8st of December respectively.
Gokul is located at Upper Dickson Road and specializes in serving Vegetarian cuisine whereas Kashmir is located at Race Course Road and serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian food. After visiting both restaurants, I preferred the food of Gokul as compared to Kashmir. I loved the decorations and interior of Gokul and it felt pleasant. Due to the fact that I am a vegetarian, I did not like the ambience of Kashmir as the unpleasant smell of non-vegetarian food got the better of me.
One thing which I realized was that Kashmir served only Indian food like kebabs and daal however Gokul served a variety of food ranging from Chinese to Indian such as fried rice. Hence the number of dishes for Kashmir was very limited as compared to Gokul. Moreover, the food from Gokul is more filling than Kashmir as their servings are bigger. The pricing of dishes from Kashmir was disappointing as it was quite costly.
What I did not like from both restaurants was that the Indian dishes were very spicy. For example the daals and curries were very hot. I did not expect the dishes to have so many spices in it despite telling the waiter to use fewer chillies and spices. Both Kashmir and Gokul had staff and waiters who were friendly and patiently waited for my order. However at Kashmir it was rather astounding to see only 3 staff attending to customers.
All in all, it was worth going to both restaurants especially since the food and dishes from both restaurants are equally delicious and scrumptious. Amongst all the restaurants around Little India, these two are perhaps the best due to the delectable food.
Books that inspired me are Animal Farm and Death On the Nile which I bought in Xinhua bookstore.
ReplyDeleteTwo novels that I have read during holiday were George Orwell's Animal Farm and Death On the Nile, written by Agatha Christie. Tough very much differences in themes, characters, literary techniques and plot devices, both of them have their uniqueness that draw me a lot while reading.
Initially, they differ in types and story lines. It is an allegorical novella that Animal Farm is regarded as. And in contrast, Death On the Nile is undoubted a work of detective fiction, telling the readers an unexpected ending. Just as the name suggested, it is a farm dominated by a group of animals that composes the setting of Animal Farm. The story is briefly about: An planned uprising launched by animals drove their master from the farm and these animals subsequently took over the positions of humans. As for the latter, the murder took place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River. There was not a single animal but all humans. In Death On the Nile, the Belgian detective Hercule poirot was managed to find out the assassin who had shot a lady through her head.
Main characters in Death On the Nile, mentioned a little in first paragraph, are the detective Hercule Poirot and all the suspects. Hercule Poirot, described as "a little man of comical appearance with immense black moustaches", is a classic detective feature created by Agatha Christie and appears in most of her books. However, Animal Farm is a world controlled by pigs and consisted of other kinds of animals. Granted with human names and the capacity to speak, animals are personalized to form a mini human society. While author of Death On the Nile is inclining to use dialogues to shape the characters, George Orwell is preferring description of appearance and actions.
Themes are the fundamental ideas of the explored in a literacy work. There are four themes in Animal farm: "The corruption of socialist ideals in the soviet union"," the societal tendency toward class stratification", "The danger of a native working class" and" The abuse of language as instrumental to the abuse of power". Since it is writer's purpose that is to satirize Joseph Stalin and Moscow-directed Stalinism, the themes of Animal Farm are strong and negative. But Death On the Nile is a relaxing detective fiction reading during pastime, therefore, its themes are relatively vague, shallow and generally positive: "The right always prevails", " money does not buy happiness".
In conclusion, Animal Farm is written and published with strong political purpose while Death on the Nile is welcomed for relaxation. To be frank, reading Animal Farm would be in a miserable mood because it demonstrates a desperate world under harsh dictatorship, at the same time, it is very necessary to learn the background for deeper understanding of Animal Farm. However, it is in a total relax condition that when audiences read Death On the Nile.
I visited two restaurants during my holiday, one was a half-buffet restaurant called The Bullfighter and another one was a first-day-opening porterhouse named Zhongxiang Hotpot. The Bullfighter was famous for its free desserts and beverages. But the decision, made on Zhongxiang Hotpot, was not relative to fame because I found the information of its opening on newspaper. Due to the first day of business, no matter how much money a customer had consumed, the same price of coupons would be granted for the next visit.
ReplyDeleteEnvironment and decoration: The Bullfighter which was a typical western restaurant had a lovely symbol on its sign------ a fierce-looking bullfighter, holding a scarlet flapped rag, endeavoured to defend an strong bull. Walking through the glass door, the hall smelt of coffee and cooked steaks. Decorated with wooden furniture and obviously dim light, customers felt like emerging into an scene of medieval Europe. Tables were rectangle-shaped and places western tableware( knives, forks and napkins). In comparison, Zhongxiang Hotpot was a Chinese restaurant with a plain decoration. Lacking of beauty on its sign, with four Chinese characters, Zhongxiang Hotpot convey its name to the public straight forward. The hall was filled with the smell of Sichuan peppers which was used as sauce. Tables, placing chopsticks, spoons and bowls, were round-shaped and made of marble.
waiters/service: Considerate services which were routinely smile and recommendation on dishes had been offered by both restaurants. Each table was accompanied by a waiter for convenient order. Only clothing was the thing for differentiating. Dressed in decent suits and leather shoes, waiters in The Bullfighters were more elegant while there were no uniforms in Zhongxiang Hotpot
food/taste: Generally I preferred the dishes in Zhongxiang Hotpot owing to the adoration of spicy food, though its hotpot was not authentic Chungking style. I tasted beef, mutton, tofu, rice cake and various vegetable cooking in the spicy hot pot soup bases. Although it was steaks that were The Bullfighter's specials, I ordered Spaghetti with meatballs. The cheesy sauce, covering the spaghetti, was super delicious, however, the meatballs were a bit of burned. Since desserts were free, I ate ice-cream, caramel puddings, black forest cakes and fruit salads.
After evaluations, the dining environment in The Bullfighter was more pleasant but I had an inclination to the dishes in Zhongxiang Hotpot. Owing to their thoughtful services, both two tastes were quite enjoyable and impressive.
Yong Hanting of 1B/12:
ReplyDeleteA1) Comparing 2 poems – Rites of Passage and The Lesson
Both poems are similar in the theme, which is loss of innocence and coming of age.
In “Rites of Passage”, the speaker’s son shows he is capable of violence and aggression. Even when only “in first grade”, he can “easily kill a two-year-old”. This shows us that children are not without a dark and destructive side, hinted even in the title “Rites of Passage”, which in this case is the stage of the speaker’s son growing into an adult.
Also, in “The Lesson”, the persona’s maturity is revealed by his emotional reaction to his father’s death. He cried not because of grief, but rather “for knowledge which was bitterer/ Than any grief”, referring to his realization “That grief has uses—that a father dead/ Could bind the bully’s fist a week or two”. Soon after, he “cried for shame, then for relief”. This whole complex of emotions surfacing within the persona displays his increasing self-awareness, thereby showing changes which take place in a child when he is growing up in both emotional and psychological aspects, proving quite similar to the speaker’s son who was going through the “Rites of Passage”.
However, what differ between the two poems are the literary devices employed by the poets.
“Rites of Passage” is heavy with irony as Olds constantly puts contrasting images and ideas together. The speaker describes her son and his friends as “men in first grade/ with smooth jaws and chins”, with their “Hands in pockets”, evidently acting tough. She often observes them with a sarcastic tone, describing them as “a room of small bankers” who “clear their throats a lot” and “fold their arms and frown”, obviously acting like adults when they are only seven or six. The speaker also sees the innocence of the children, which did not change from “the day they guided him/ out of me”, referring to when her son was a baby. All this is compared to the military imagery used throughout the poem like “turret”, “kill”, “Generals” and “war”. These contradicting images all lead to tension in the poem, capturing the reader’s attention.
On the other hand, Lucie-Smith captures the reader’s attention by using personification, imagery and metaphorical expressions. By describing the memory of learning about his father’s death as “when my grief came in”, the persona emphasizes the intensity of his grief. Also, he likens his emotions to “Some goldfish in a bowl” which “quietly sculled/ Around their shining prison on its shelf”, expressing his feelings of being trapped and confined in this situation where “All the other eyes/ were turned towards (him)”, making him the center of attention. “Pride, like a goldfish, flashed a sudden fin.” . This suggests to the reader that he does not want to reveal his true emotion, and instead chooses to put on a brave exterior. The mixture of different thoughts running through the mind of a young boy “a month past ten” results in the reader sympathizing with him and pitying him for his quick loss of innocence after the death of his father.
Yong Hanting of 1B/12:
ReplyDeleteB1) A review of two restaurants
The two restaurants are Luvvy Curry at 430 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #01-02 OrangeTee Building and Greenland Vegetarian Restaurant at 789 & 791 Upper Serangoon Road which I visited on 11 November and 24 November respectively.
Review:
Luvvy Curry - Near the bustling Toa Payoh Central, my family discovered this restaurant in a rather quiet area. Upon seeing us, a waitress welcomed us and immediately showed our way in, only for us to realize we were the only ones there. We ordered two pots of spicy frog legs, a Chinese delicacy, and four bowls of porridge to go along with it. As expected, our food speedily arrived and the aroma from the frog legs was sufficient to work up an appetite. The frog legs were not too tough, and the balance of sweet, salty and spicy was vastly satisfying to my taste buds. The porridge was just of the right consistency and already had a perfect amount of seasoning. The combination of these two components made a perfect evening, talking with family and enjoying great food. Not to mention, the waitress who served us that night was very helpful and did not hesitate to recommend to us dishes to try out.
Greenland Vegetarian Restaurant – My family always patronized this restaurant when we needed to go vegetarian. Famous for their fried olive rice, it never failed to disappoint me. However, it was much busier compared to before and it was tough to even get a waiter’s attention. On top of the regular dishes we had, we ordered a new dish – sambal fish. This dish left the deepest impression on me. Shaped like a real fish, it showcased the restaurant’s creativity. Like other mock meat, it was made of beancurd skin and was fried to the most perfect crisp on the outside, like real fish skin. The sauce was impressive as it was sweet spicy and even had a tinge of sourness to it, bringing the whole dish to life. This whole experience will be eye-opening for new vegetarians and satisfying for regular vegetarians, in spite of the mediocre service provided.
Overall, I like both restaurants as they have their unique qualities in their dishes- exciting and memorable. Admittedly, Luvvy Curry provides better service, but it is most probably because of the vast difference in the amount of business.
Chua Wei Pin of 1A/12
ReplyDeleteA1) A review of 2 poems
Eldorado: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/eldorado/
The Most Beautiful Flower: http://www.geocities.com/jjhornr/rose.htm
“Eldorado” and “The Most Beautiful Flower” are both poems that make use of simple events to convey a deep, underlying message to the reader.
Edgar Allen Poe wrote about a gallant knight who devoted his entire life to search for a kingdom. While Cheryl L described an event in a park which changed her perspective of seeing things. “Eldorado” was written in a more lively tone, in short and sweet verses. At first sight, it appears to be a poem simply telling a story of a knight’s quest, but one has to peer deeper beyond the cheerful mood of the poem to see that it also tells of unwavering determination to complete something. So much that one would set aside one’s whole life to complete. Drawing a parallel to real life, this quest could be for power, fame, money, or even the meaning of life. “The Most Beautiful Flower” was more personal, due to its first person perspective. The message sent was clear and concise, partly due to the overall solemn tone of the poem, and the fact that a dead flower being “beautiful” had a sort of irony and symbolic significance. It teaches us that the most valuable things may not be visually appeasing, but heartfelt to us.
Both poems had an important symbol, namely Eldorado and the dead flower, which the poem revolved around. “Eldorado” was repeated constantly throughout the poem, which is one of the literary devices (repetition) used to express the constant longing of the knight to realise his dream of locating the area. Edgar handled the theme well in this case. Irony was used to express, in “The most Beautiful Flower”, how an object which is not beautiful in visual sense could actually be gorgeous in meaning or in spirit. But Cheryl‘s poem was somewhat draggy, with the theme not present until the later part. The feeling of dread and disappointment could be felt at the start, with the description of the solemn setting.
On the whole, both poems were generally well written, making appropriate usage of vocabulary which brought out the theme for the reader to embrace.
Chua Wei Pin of 1A/12
ReplyDeleteB2) The 2 Restaurants are Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice at 38 South Buona Vista Road, and Kacha Kacha at Asiatique the Riverfront, Bangkok 10210, which I visited on 14-12-12 and 20-12-12 respectively.
Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice: Tucked away in a humble corner along South Buona Vista Road, and with unrenovated facilities, this stall is unassuming. But after walking in and tasting the food, never will you view the place the same again. Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice’s speciality is boneless duck rice and porridge, and it reminds one of Singapore’s olden day coffee shops. Wooden chairs and tables were used, the staff was dressed in only a shirt and pants, and a multitude of Chinese dialects was spoken.
I ordered a plate of braised boneless duck meat and a bowl of porridge. Within five minutes, both dishes were served, making the service extremely efficient. The duck meat was carefully deboned and sliced into very thin pieces, then drenched in thick, mouthwatering gravy called Lu Zhi by the Chinese. The duck slices were tender to the extent that they almost seemed to melt in my mouth! My taste buds were stimulated at once. Combined with an extra serving of gravy and a mouthful of rice, this meal had an entire new dimension and flavour. A complimentary bowl of soup made of boiled duck bones was served, and I chose to have that for the last. Salty and oily is what I would describe it, but it was just the perfect way to conclude the meal. After requesting for the bill, a waiter approached my table without any calculating devices and concluded the amount within seconds! That was astonishing for me, as I thought: he must have worked here for many years to be so familiar with the prices!
The only downside of this restaurant is that parking is difficult to find, especially on peak period such as dinner or lunch time. Be sure to check this eatery out, before it really becomes part of Singapore’s History!
Kacha Kacha: Along the banks of the Chao Phraya River, lies a warehouse converted into a riverfront shopping centre called Asiatique the Riverfront. My family and I were on a trip to Bangkok, and we had chosen a restaurant named “Kacha Kacha”. It was a Japanese restaurant, and its name was to be taken quite literally.
ReplyDeleteWe were welcomed by a harmonious and syncronised Japanese greeting. As we were the first customer to step in for dinner, we were ushered to the seat in front of the stove, so we had the full view of the cooking procedure.
After placing our order, the head chef laid some beef slices on the stove, a large metal area almost five meters long. A melodious rhythm came from the drumming of his thongs and knife, and once in a while, he would spin the knife up in the air and deftly grab it behind his back with ease. We all applauded with amazement. Who would have known working in the kitchen could bring so much entertainment?
A second chef strode up to take his place beside the head chef. He would be cooking the teriyaki chicken. But, out of nowhere, the head chef started drumming his salt container towards the second chef. Then suddenly, he threw the container under the second chef’s arm and caught it. Never have I seen before such great coordination. It was almost some sort of kitchen choreography.
The steak prepared was capped at medium raw, and it almost melted in my mouth! An appropriate level of salt and spice was added, which multiplied the good taste! The first bite instantly stimulated my taste buds and made my mouth water. We ended up ordering three servings of steak. This is a must try!
I had my own serving of cold soba, or thin Japanese noodles that were iced after cooking. Because they would taste plain after icing, a cup of dark sauce was prepared. The aesthetics of the dish was excellent: the noodles were twirled so that they formed a tower of some sort, and a basil leaf was placed on the top. Eggplant tempura, or fried eggplant, was placed neatly at the side. The combination of warm sauce and cold noodles was astonishingly great, and I would slurp up my noodles with a smacking sound.
After the bill was paid, and as we were leaving, a goodbye in the same language as the welcome chimed behind us, but it did not sound as foreign as before.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteXena Kaur of 1B/12
DeleteBooks :
1) Title: Lightning Thief, Author: Rick Riordan
2) Title: Lord of the Flies, Author: William Golding
Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. Lord of the Flies is a classic novel that explores the inherent nature of man, when freed from civilization's rules. In Lord of the Flies, Golding takes a very Hobbes-esque view of mankind, making a point that without society to dictate morality, humans are inherently dangerous and savage.
Lightning thief is the first book of the 7 series of Percy Jackson’s adventure as a Son of the God of Sea. It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they're not happy. Percy Jackson then embarks on an adventure to retrieve the lightning bolt which belongs to his uncle, God of Air to prevent a third World War.
Although both books are fictional, their plot and ideas are entirely different. Lord of the flies has a deeper meaning which is wishes to portray, its an analogy of the author’s idea of the society without rules and law and how it start to fall apart. The author has a negative view of the society. It was an exciting read which did make me question many of the things that we take for granted, namely “ will this civilization actually stay in place if we were placed in the same scenario as the boys ?”. Lightning Thief on the other hand, tackles prominent issues which teens have to deal with – choosing their identity and trying to be accepted by everyone with it’s plot. The main character Percy Jackson is dyslexic and has ADHD which causes him to be constantly scolded by his teacher and viewed as ‘stupid’ however, in a different world, has really good sword skills and is a pretty important person. Similarly, many a times teens may be a whole different person on the inside as compared to their appearance.
Both books were very enjoyable books to read and has numerous learning points.
Play Review
1) Krishnan’s Dairy
2) A play on Singapore’s politics
Krishnan's Dairy takes two of the most common universal Indian clichés - the Taj Mahal and the corner store in london - and turns them into a funny and touching love story. Krishnan dairy is based on lives of 2 Indians who moved to London and their struggles to keep their lives going as smoothly as possible. It was amazing to watch one person play the roles of 4 different people and bring out their emotions so perfectly. I really liked the fact that there was a life band back stage that played the guitar, the sound of a cashier or even a baby’s cry. At the end of the play, it was great to be able to speak to the actor personally and find out how certain elements of the play was brought out or carried out.
A play on Singapore’s politics was a part of an exhibition that was set up at the National Library. The play predicted how life would be in 2050 if a water crisis hit Singapore and the government was unable to retain the support of its citizens. The play was thought provoking as it challenged the audience to think from all the characters' point of view and decide for themselves which one was right in his/her actions. After the play was, viewers were asked for their opinion of how the situation might have been different if an actor had chosen to take a different approach to settle the issue differently, they were then given the opportunity to replace the actor and act out their idea. It was a creative idea as it got people to think about the future and how they could Impact the surrounding. It was also a good platform for people to share their ideas for the future.
Caleb Chia of 1B / 12
ReplyDeleteThe 2 Restaurants are Swenson's at Tampines Mall and Zhou's Kitchen at Square 2 which I visited on 12/11/12 and 20/11/12 respectively.
Review: First and foremost, Swenson's is famous for its Western cuisine and on the other hand, Zhou's Kitchen is renowned for their Chinese dim sum and culinary expertise. Both of them are similar in terms of service, being that there are waiters and waitresses serving you at your table. Zhou’s Kitchen is commendable for their fast and efficient service, as the waitresses take special note of whether your cup is almost empty or not now and then, and will not hesitate to fill it up again with tea. In terms of the food, I think I enjoyed that of Zhou's Kitchen more over Swenson's, as I do prefer Oriental over Western cuisine. The dim sum served at Zhou's Kitchen was excellent, which reminded me fondly of my vacation in Hong Kong 2 years back which is also famous for its dim sum, with my most favourite dish of all at Zhou’s Kitchen being the Siew Mai as it was tender, succulent and most importantly, it was fresh from the stove. On the other hand, the Chicken in a Basket served at Swenson’s was not exactly to my liking, with the chicken being rather overly greasy and the fries that was served with it rather soggy, which goes to show that it was already prepared quite a while ago before it was served. For dessert, at Swenson’s I had banana split and at Zhou’s Kitchen, I had grass jelly with honey, both being commendable and praiseworthy in this aspect as both desserts were to my liking, just that the banana split was a tad too sweet. In conclusion, both restaurants had their strengths and weaknesses, and whether one likes one restaurant over another is purely a personal preference. For me personally, I would still prefer to dine at Zhou’s Kitchen.
Chong Yuan Wen of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteA1) The 2 poems that I read are Strange Meeting and Dream-Land whose authors are Wilfred Owen and Edgar Allan Poe respectively.
The Strange Meeting and Dream-Land are pre-21st century poems of which both are set in either dreams or in death, their settings contain a few fictional elements like ghosts or disfigured landscapes. Strange Meeting is written mainly about the horrors of war unlike what the army propaganda has glorified soldiers and war to be and is spoken through the words of a supposedly dead soldier who has been killed by the poet, the dead solider also bemoans the loss of what he could have done if he had not joined the war. Dream-Land meanwhile points out the fantasy of dreams, where ghosts of loved ones can be found, but it also points out the loneliness of dreams, however the author finds it comforting because of the difficulties he faces in real life. The Strange Meeting was written during a time of bloodshed and chaos in World War 1 (WW1) and Dream-Land was written during the poet’s period of mental instability when he had lost his wife, therefore arising in similar pessimistic views of life and the idea of a better life in the dreams or even in hell. Both poems are written with pararhymes, however Strange Meeting is written without stanzas unlike Dream-Land which has 6 stanzas. Dream-Land has a lot of bombastic words, like Eidolon, Thule, and Eldorado, while Strange Meeting mainly makes use of simple words but form oxymoron to express the words real meaning. Strange Meeting and Dream-Land also makes use of alliterations, metaphors and to certain extent onomatopoeia too. The ending of both poems are very different from one another, Strange Meeting ended with the line ‘Let us sleep now ….’, halting abruptly the incomplete poem with ellipses, thus leaving readers unaware of what the ending might be and also letting readers speculate the cause of the abrupt ending, it is also an irony that turns the poem and makes the author seem as though he was already dead. Dream-Land however repeats most of the first stanza, and mentions about going home from a faraway place that he has just visited. But whatever the poets were trying to put across in both poems were never really known, as both poets passed away horrifically without explaining their masterpiece.
Chong Yuan Wen of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteB1) The 2 restaurants are The Oval and Verandah Restaurant at the Padang and Hotpot Culture Restaurant at Marina Square which I visited on 18 November and 30 November respectively.
Review:
The Oval and Verandah Restaurant and Hotpot Culture Restaurant are both located in the downtown district of the city, one in the centre of Singapore’s colonial heart, the other in a modern revamp shopping mall, thus explaining both uniqueness in cuisine and service. The Oval and Verandah Restaurant is an A la carte restaurant with a variety of cuisine type to choose from, including Western, Chinese, Indian and Pizza, this enables a big group with a diversity of taste buds to eat at the same restaurant or a person can simply enjoy the many cuisines without needing to travel to another restaurant. The Hotpot Culture Restaurant is a steamboat, all-you-can-eat buffet, restaurant with several soup bases to choose from and an array of dishes to select and cook. The Indian food, with naan, a type of flatbread, in the Oval and Verandah Restaurant is delicious although the portion of naan given was relatively little. The food in Hotpot Culture restaurant in comparison is cooked by your own; however there is a possibility that the food was under cooked, although one could help himself to the dishes as many times as he liked. The Oval and Verandah Restaurant is a very high class restaurant, with customers being allowed to enter only if they are correctly attired, and the use of hand phones in the restaurant is generally frowned upon. This relatively strict rules, creates uneasiness for customers who are unfamiliar to restaurant etiquettes, though it is a perfect place for formal dinners. The Hotpot Culture restaurant is almost completely opposite and the atmosphere is generally relax with no specific dress code and is better for informal meals. The staffs in both restaurants have adequate knowledge on the food and know what the specialties of their restaurant are; they are generally fast in their service, though the staffs in the Hotpot Culture Restaurant are always difficult to call. One waiter in the Oval and Verandah Restaurant however was very grumpy, though he meant well by asking customers to order all the food in one order if not the waiting time might be long. The staffs in the Hotpot Culture Restaurant were slow to respond to complaints and towards the closing of the restaurant, they issued bills before the customers have eaten finish. There are very different experiences in the two restaurants, where although none are perfect, the food and service price was reasonable and going to the restaurants to eat again would not be a problem.
Nea Jie Qi of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteA1) Books :
1. Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Author: J.K Rowling
2. Title: The Time Traveller's Wife, Author: Audrey Niffenegger
The time traveller’s wife and Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows are both addictive and interesting fictional books that capture the reader’s utmost attention. They are both unique in different aspects and the authors have different styles in delivering the story to the readers. For the time traveller’s wife, a heartwarming and touching love story of two people – Henry and Clair beyond time and space, the writer portrays the whole story from the perspective of the main characters, making the whole narration of the story much more personal and giving the readers a more in depth view of the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. Whereas for Harry Potter, the writer narrates the story and the characters in the perspective of a third person providing the readers with a wider and bigger picture of what is going on in the whole story. In addition, the themes in Harry Potter and the time traveller’s wife are vastly different, one is more focused on theme of love while the other deals with darker themes with deaths and tragedies involved. The time traveller’s wife dwells a lot more on the normal lives, the interaction between people such as Henry and Clair, and it touches on all the different relationships of their lives: mainly their parents, families and friends between people bringing out the theme of love. This touch is what that makes the book captivating as its much more linked and closer to the reader’s daily lives and they can relate to what the main characters experience and go through. On the other hand, the tone of Harry Potter is much darker and mystical, far more epic and has much more twists, turns, shocking revelations and even unexpected tragedies throughout the entire story. This helps to bring out the darker thematic significance of the book. Lastly, the plot devices used in the time traveller’s wife – the time travelling device helps to give greater insight and enhance the depth of the love that Henry and Clair has for each in the presence of a barrier that can never be destroyed – time. This makes the whole narration much more heartrending and touching, capturing the hearts of the readers. Lord Voldemort, the main villain and the plot device used in Harry Potter helps to propel the story forward as it creates new adventures, obstacles and unforeseen circumstances for Harry to overcome and this fosters an atmosphere of suspense that keeps readers at the edge of their seat, anticipating the unknown. In conclusion, both of the books are as enthralling, unique in their own ways and are definitely worth the read.
Nea Jie Qi of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteB1) The two restaurants that I am reviewing on are Swensens at Changi Airport Terminal 2 and Coca at Takashimaya which I visited on 20/11/12 and 30/11/12 respectively. Swensens offers delicacies that are much more westernized such as spaghettis, pizzas, and also a variety of ice cream as dessert which is of the main attractions of the restaurant. The overall ambience of the restaurant is very soothing and comfortable for dining and also, the level of service is also pretty satisfying. When my family settled down in the restaurant, we were greeted by polite waiters who passed us our menus and patiently waited for us to decide on our dishes before taking down our orders. After waiting for around 15-20 minutes, we were served our food. The food here is really delicious; I was really pleased with the Bolognese spaghetti that I ordered as it was sumptuous and not to mention the sticky-chewy-chocolate ice cream for dessert that was simply great and unforgettable. I really enjoyed my whole experience at swensens very much. Now, moving on to coca, whose main attraction - steamboat is also another restaurant that offers palatable and an assortment of dishes/side dishes to choose from. The ambience of the restaurant is slightly noisier and less soothing in comparison to swensens but overall it was still acceptable. The level of service is also rather commendable as we were served quickly by the waitors and the food came in around 10-15 minutes after we ordered. The soup base of the steamboat was really heavenly and the side dishes that we ordered were also very fresh such as the vegetables, beef and fish meat slices. In addition, the special sauce that they provided was a great accompaniment and it really helped to enhance the taste of the food further bringing it up to a whole new level. My family had a great and pleasant dining experience in coca and we had our fill. Though these two restaurants offers different kinds of food with varying styles, the level of service and the quality of food is really great and tasty. I would definitely recommend my friends and relatives to dine at these two restaurants and they will not regret it.
Book Review:
ReplyDelete1.A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
2.The Twelfth Angel by Og Mandino
A Thousand Splendid Suns offered readers a compelling and emotional allegory of the oppression of women in Afghanistan. This novel is enmeshed during the late 1970s, through the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, till the takeover of the South Asian state by the intolerably oppressive Taliban. In contrast, the context of The Twelfth Angel is modern-day America, where the idea of human rights is of paramount importance, enabling citizens to lead dignified lives.
A Thousand Splendid Suns revolves around the sympathetically gut-wrenching lives of two women, namely Mariam and Laila who are born in a country where women are deemed “second-class” citizens. Both girls led distinctively, separate lives until Laila is being married to Mariam’s husband. Khaled Hosseini characterised Laila as an educated, strong-willed girl while Mariam is an illiterate, physically abused lady who is constantly trapped in the mentality that women are indeed inferior. Although the personalities of the two somewhat differed, they shared a common dream: freedom. In this novel, I witnessed an evolution of Mariam’s character –from a timid, embittered slave to a determined, fearless lady. Though she can’t read or write, she is “educated” in the sense that she is finally enlightened about the idea of women rights by Laila. Similarly, in The Twelfth Angel, John whose family was killed in a car accident, managed to change his suicidal pessimistic attitude towards life into optimism. Through his meeting with a young baseball player named Timothy Noble, he found motivation to move and live on with life. In these two novels, the characters are engaged in the search for the true meaning of life –Liberty and resilience respectively. Ironically, Mariam and Laila had the resilience to pursue liberty while John had his constitutionally protected freedoms but had difficulties persevering through his turbulent trials. These two novels reflect on the broader struggles people in the traditionally-restricted country of Afghanistan and the metropolitan cities of America face.
“…A man’s accusing finger always finds a woman…” This phrase is the motif of A Thousand Splendid Suns. On the other hand, “Never, never, never give up!” is the signature of The Twelfth Angel. Both motifs appeared numerous times throughout the novels and resonated well with their main themes.
The themes of the novels were starkly different. A Thousand Splendid Suns advocated on the themes of Oppression, Liberty, Love and the idea of what it is to be a woman. However, The Twelfth Angel touched on Resilience and the Courage to move on with life.
Og Mandino’s novel narrated more than it describes. To me, I felt that A Thousand Splendid Suns was much more impactful. This is because Khaled Hosseini was better at describing the feelings and thoughts of the characters which allowed me to better empathise with the plight of women. For example, he was effective in describing how the women’s husband abused Laila, “she was on all fours, wide-eyed and red-faced, trying to catch her breath.” His effective use of languages –both English and some Persian (e.g. Hamshira) to describe, successfully and emotionally captivated me.
Restaurants Review –experience (food and service) –Dinner
ReplyDelete1.Samgyetang –Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup Restaurant; Jeju Island, South Korea
2.Red House Seafood Restaurant; East Coast, Singapore
The Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang) is one of the more reputable dishes in the East Asian country. Ginseng, originated from South Korea, is proven to have numerous health benefits such as stimulating brain cells. Each meal set consists of a black-coloured ceramic pot with a whole but fist-sized (farm grown) chicken in it, with rice being stuffed into the chicken. The ingredients used to boil the soup solely include Korean Ginseng. To many people’s disappointment, the soup tastes plain. Alongside the pot of Samgyetang is a plate of noodles. Dinners are supposed to dipped the noodles into the soup and consume it with the chicken. As it was nearing winter during my time in Korea, the hot piping signature soup was a relief from the chilling cold weather! As usual, in every meal, there would be Korea’s traditional national dish –Kimchi. Kimchi is practically an important “side dish”.
In contrast, when I was eating at Red House, dry fried peanuts were offered instead. Each diner had a bowl of white rice. As opposed to the Korean restaurant whereby meals are served as individual sets at one go, Red House serves food in dishes which everyone on the same dining table shares. I indulged myself in Scallops, fresh cooked prawns and yes, the delicious Chilli Crab! It wasn’t exactly spicy, in fact not as spicy as Korea’s Kimchi! The Chilli Crab sauce was creamy, sweet and was irresistible with the yellow fried buns. One major difference between them is that the Korean dish used less oil, salt and is much plainer as compared to Singaporean seafood meal. Frankly, Samgyetang is way healthier and more nutritious than the seafood dinner.
Although Red House was air-conditioned, the Jeju Island Samgyetang Restaurant wasn’t. Despite the cold weather, I felt warm inside the restaurant because it was primarily made of wood and had air-heaters in it. At Red House, there are waiters servicing you from time to time, but at the Samgyetang Restaurant, there was none –self-help. Every table had a jar of water and if one wants more kimchi, he has to proceed to corner to get more kimchi. “Refilling” is free of charge.
Moreover, what struck me most was that when I sat down at the Samgyetang Restaurant, I was served with my food almost instantly. This was despite the huge crowd of diners in the restaurant. (The quality of food they served was of remarkable standard.) Similar to many restaurants in Singapore, Red House took quite a while to prepare the dishes. I truly miss the efficiency of the restaurants back in Korea!
A1. Review of The Hunger Games Trilogy – ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Catching Fire’
ReplyDeleteIt is The New York Times bestseller with over 75 million books in print worldwide with universal acclaim from critics and a massive fan base. Its blockbuster action pack film adaptation series has spent five weeks at Number One on the American Movie Charts, grossing over $700 million in worldwide box office sales. With an American Billboard Number-One Album Soundtrack ‘The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond’ to its name, as well as receiving multiple accolades for both the books and films series, it seems that the Hunger Games has taken the world by storm and will be here to stay.
The trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins explores themes such as Feminism, Governance, Politics and Religion. Set in a future dystopian world after North America has been destroyed, the powerful Capitol now rules the 12 Districts to suppress the districts against a possible uprising; the Capitol arranges a game to the death each year in an elaborate arena with each district randomly sending one boy and one girl to go as tributes by reaping. The heroine of the series, Katniss Everdeen takes on the 74th Hunger Games and finds herself in trouble after opposing the Capitol and sparking a rebellion in the districts. Katniss and her district-mate Peeta must fend for themselves against natural elements in the arena of death, the Gamemakers and the other contestants whose only option is to kill or be killed.
Suzanne Collins has done an amazing job in building a fantastical and believable world where the United States is no more and instead the country is now called Panem which is run from the Capitol and divided into 12 districts. The characters in the series have well developed story plot-lines and readers are immediately attached to them as they face horrific obstacles, fighting for their lives. Katniss displays traits of a heroine fighting to save all that she has, her family, friends and home. Collins develops real emotions and dialogue between teenagers growing up with challenges, which readers are able to relate to and her amazing flair for writing and ferociously good prose which is stronger than Rowling of Harry Potter series or Meyer of the Twilight series keeps us all glued to the pages.
‘The Hunger Games’, the first book of the trilogy, is carefully weaved; with its sequel ‘Catching Fire’ matching the same standards Collins set for the first book. ‘Catching Fire’ however, is weaker than the title book due the fact that Collins spent the first 150 pages tying up loose ends from the first book and causing the next half of the book to feel much more rushed and undeveloped. This however leads to readers looking forward to the third and final book of the series ‘Mockingjay’ to answer unanswered questions.
Definitely, the Hunger Games have surpassed the modest expectations of Collins and have become the next big thing as the Harry Potter and Twilight franchise have come to an end. The Hunger Games Trilogy shows how suppression, war and hunger take their toll on the young and how the young, with courageous hearts and ambitious minds, will spark a society to change. Collins works magic in the world of Panem, revealing how determination, sacrifice and love can conquer even the greatest empire of evil as the odds will always be in their favour.
B1. The two restaurants that I have reviewed are:
ReplyDelete1.Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant in Joo Chiat, Singapore. Visited on 22 December 2012.
2.Chili Padi Peranakan Restaurant in Joo Chiat, Singapore. Visited on 28 December 2012.
Joo Chiat and its surrounding area have always been renowned for its countless number of famous restaurants ranging from Japanese to Peranakan, Korean to even Italian. Singapore’s best restaurants have been sprouting like mushrooms in the area, so for those searching for a culinary experience like no other, look no further than Joo Chiat.
I visited two restaurants in the area, nestled within this Heritage Town full of old Peranakan shop houses. The first is a Korean restaurant housed in a sophisticated modern-day office building.
When I arrived at the Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant, I was immediately welcomed by friendly waitresses. It was evident that they were from Korea from their accents and the restaurant had a distinct Korean vibe to it. Even, the menu had Korean in it, adding to the authencity of the ambience. The waitresses brought many dishes of Korean appetizers including Kimchi, fermented Napa Cabbage, and Pjeon or Korean Pancakes, these sumptuous dishes immediately lifted my taste buds.
I ordered the Bibimbap ($13.50), a signature Korean Dish served with rice and seasoned sautéed vegetables. The sauce went perfectly well, in fact complementing the taste of the vegetables. The dish was executed perfectly, which each of the bright colors of the ingredients, peeking through the hot stone bowl. It was a little spicy, but I know there will be countless of other people that would pay for this incredible dish.
In addition, I called for the Beef BBQ Set ($50.00) that comes with 250g of Beef, a Seafood Soup served with Rice and two bottles of Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine). The meat was juicy and tender, too irresistible and too true to be good. The portion of savory beef and the seafood soup was really generous; ‘tasty’ barely comes close in describing the soup, ‘perfect’ seems much more legit.
The service and the efficiency of the crew was exceptional, all small details were pointed out to the customers. The food was served fast and the crew did not hesitate in tending to the customer’s every need. To my surprise, the restaurant even prepared a stationary set as a Christmas Present for young customers, which left me very impressed by the gesture. At the end of the day, Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant had left a smile on my face and another more than satisfied customer in me. I will definitely recommend this place to all.
Visiting another restaurant in Joo Chiat, I decided to look for something more traditional in this place rich in culture. I visited the award-winning Chili Padi Peranakan Restaurant near-by, I was really amazed by the architecture of the shop house housing the restaurant, it was a real 1930 British colonial-style shop house.
I ordered the Nonya Assam Curry Fish ($22.90), it was amazing, the taste of the Peranakan spices was tantalizing. The dish exemplified the best of Peranakan cuisine I have ever tasted. On top of that, I ordered the Sayur Lodeh or Vegetable Curry ($15.90) which was probably one of the best curry I have ever tasted. Their signature drinks, the Soursop Juice ($3.20) was really sweet and it was refreshing.
Again, the staff here was very helpful. I did not make a reservation for dinner, but the staff was glad to help set up additional tables just for us. They knew the menu very well and could communicate in more than 3 languages. They were also very attentive to the children’s needs, knowing that they could not take spicy food, the waiter reminded us to order something else for them.
Delicious food, coupled with friendly service, makes the restaurant a great place where you can enjoy a satisfying meal with your family and friends. Both restaurants had excellent service and incredible variety of dishes that represent their culture. I will definitely recommend both restaurants .
Section A:
ReplyDeleteTask 2 ( A short story )
Prologue
I was inspired mainly by the fantasy novel Eragon (as well as the rest of the books in the series). The concept magic as a form of energy is quite evident in Eragon as it is in my story below. A novel that is very logical and manages to add in magical elements into very real situations (like war) and readers will still be able to keep up with the story relatively easily.
My story is titled : Realm Of Chaos
It came.
ReplyDeleteA vortex of swirling, rushing wind threatened to pull me apart. I forced myself downwards against the massive force of nature and held on to a lamppost, my knuckles bone-white.
It seemed that the world was being torn to pieces. Stones from the cobblestone path were wrenched from the ground’s hold and flung into the gaping hole in the sky. Livestock were not spared either, and the stocky bodies of cows and horses could be faintly made out in the distance as they too were carried into the unknown.
Mother Nature had finally decided that the humans were going to suffer. The howling wind continued terrorizing everything in its path, and overhead the roar of dragons penetrated the air and reverberated in my ears.
Dragons! The majestic creatures once thought to roam the earth have seemingly appeared out of nowhere during the past few days. Rumors began spreading like wildfire throughout Starlight Village that the gods were somehow incensed by us humans and unrest would soon follow.
Perhaps it was the greed of the people. Farmers trying to squeeze as much as they could from the villagers, slave trade and others unfortunate enough to be exploited by the merchants… Animals too were acting strangely, and more than once, strange nocturnal creatures had been sighted. Migratory birds were choosing to stay during the winter, animals running helter-skelter for no apparent reason, and most recently, the carcasses of livestock strewn in open fields, where evidence of disturbingly large creature attacks laid bare. It was an incredibly dark magic, the likes of which I have never experienced before in all my years (which were not very long, I might add). Something evil was lurking, waiting to reveal itself when it decided to. Dark times were upon us, and the strains of the very world trying to hold itself together were showing. It was as though reality itself was contorting and shifting until there were no longer bounds which could define it.
Anyway, it was time to get out. Now or never. Tugging my hood over my face, I inched further and further away from the raging tempest, towards the hills where I would find the Cave of Dreams. Powerful and ancient magic was at work there, and mystery shrouded that place, of which none dared venture to. As much as I hated it, I could find no other alternative. There was a legend about the Cave of Dreams, that when all seems lost, head there and seek the answer for peace to return yet again to the land.
I would have admitted that I was only a boy, and that the chances of me actually reaching the Cave of Dreams were slim, had I not been gifted with the use of magic. Spell casters were scarce, and perhaps for a good thing too. Too many spell casters with wrong intentions could spell disaster, as my Teacher used to say. I had undergone some form of training as a young child in order to properly harness and use magic for the good of the people. Although my training was not complete, I considered myself fairly competent in the art.
With every step I took, the air around me became much warmer, and very soon I had left the messy scene behind and only the emerald greenery surrounded me. I had reached the hills. I reached deep into the course pocket of my haversack and pulled out a yellowed parchment, which also happened to be the only remaining copy of the map leading to the Cave of Dreams. The head of Magic Keep, a powerful spell caster and also a friend of mine, entrusted the map to me only moments before his untimely demise at the jaws of a very hungry dragon.
Beads of sweat continued to sting my eyes as I continued the arduous journey in search of the mysterious Cave of Dreams. The rolling thunder overhead was a continuous reminder that time was unfortunately not on my side. Roots tugged at my ankles and the leaves played their part by causing me to slip time and time again. Scrambling up each time, I hastened my pace and trudged on.
Weaving through a particularly tricky maze of shrubs, I paused to catch my breath. It was only then that I heard the sound of crashing water. The sound in the distance was barely audible, but it was not my imagination. I was sure of it. This was important indeed. The waterfall was an important landmark, and it meant that the cave I was looking for was not far ahead.
ReplyDeleteI had only begun to move in the direction of the waterfall when a tremendous roar blasted all around me. I clamped my hand on my ears, my face an expression of absolute agony. This was followed by the snapping of branches and twigs as a monstrous creature came into sight. The trees were toppled over as the creature swung its massive tail, knocking them down with impunity.
It was unbelievable. A Lithraken! A distant relative of the true dragon, it was said that these creatures died off one by one or disappeared off the face of this earth. The Lithraken, although without any wings, had twelve eyes and six legs, and dull but almost impenetrable scales which made it look like it was clad in armour. The Lithraken clacked its teeth, its piercing crimson eyes searching for any unguarded spots on my body so that it could finish me off quickly.
Well, I was not going to be a sitting duck when the fate of humanity possibly rested in my hands. Muttering a spell under my breath, I summoned a giant whirlwind which picked up the leaf litter on the ground and swirled them in the air, obscuring the Lithraken’s view.
With the distraction that I needed, I turned and hurried towards the sound of the waterfall. Behind me, mini quakes shook the ground as the enraged Lithraken tried to follow me. However, so did my whirlwind. The leaves flew and plastered themselves on the Lithraken’s body, some on its hide but most on its eyes. The blinded Lithraken thrashed furiously as it tried to fend itself from the onslaught of the leaves, and the whole forest trembled in its wrath.
I could not sustain the spell for long. The only downside of using magic was that it would start sapping your energy, and the number and magnitude of spells that you casted depended on yourself and your current state. Right now, spots danced in front of my eyes and my mind blanked on several occasions. I quickly severed my connection of the spell to stop any further draining of my energy. I held on to a low branch for support, recovering from the sudden loss of energy.
Giddy with exhaustion, I used all my remaining strength and charged through the last few trees. The sound of crashing water was louder than ever. Rays of sunlight blinded me as I reached the edge of the clearing. As I squinted to see what was ahead of me, a voice rumbled in my mind, ‘Greetings, young one. We have been waiting for you. You do not have to follow the map now; swim across and through the waterfall. There you will find what you seek.’
‘Swim through –‘ I asked aloud but caught myself as I realized what was ahead. Water cascaded from above and crashed down on the sparking pool below. The pebbles beneath the clear water were visible, accentuating the pool’s allure. I waded through the pool till my feet could no longer feel the stones nudging them, then I started to swim, enjoying every moment of it. The ice-cold water sharpened my senses, and I could not remember a time when I felt more alive. When I was directly below the waterfall, I dived underneath and peered into the depths of the water. Marine life unlike anything I’d seen before glowed and shimmered at the bottom of the pool, and tiny fish which casted and reflected light from their the little bodies surrounded me, their eyes glowing orange in colour.
I gasped for air as my head broke the surface of the pool, and I found myself in a cave lighted with strange glowing crystals. This was it, the Cave of Dreams. Finally.
I got of the pool and onto the cold stone floor. Water droplets from my dripping body made strange echoes as they touched the ground. I was not alone for sure. Bats were swooping about, their wings fluttering like papyrus in the wind. Mice squeaked and scuttled across the stone floor, their soft feet pattering like light raindrops. There were signs of life everywhere as I made my way, with the help of the warm glow of the crystals.
ReplyDeleteI halted in front of a giant panel. There were strange stones which looked like buttons and many levers and lights flashing on and off. The panel glowed and a moving image blurred before it sharpened into focus.
‘I am Dave, and in my time it is 2012, whereas you are living in the time of 1405. Your people need our technology in order to regain peace, and to do that you will have to travel through time into my world. I know you must be very confused right now but everything will be explained to you in due course. Now sit tight, close your eyes and let the real magic begin!’ The face on the panel spoke.
Indeed, I was confused. What sorcery was at work here? However there was no time for questions as the whole place started shaking. Dust and rocks started to fall as the cave started to collapse. I sheltered my head and dived for cover.
The last thing I heard was ‘Initiating sequence, five..four..three…two’
And all was silent.
Section B
ReplyDeleteFood Review- Sakae Sushi and Man Zhu Cafe
It was time to find a great spot for dinner. Surveying my surroundings, I saw a short queue lined up in front of the famous local Japanese restaurant, Sakae Sushi. Deciding against fighting the dinner crowd, I waited in line for my seat.
It was not long before I was comfortably seated in a green cushioned seat and a menu placed in front of me. There was an iPad at the side which could be used to place orders and a dispenser for hot water (or to make green tea). Different tones of green were used to colour the place, and surprisingly there was no music playing in the background. The atmosphere however was far from awkward as customers laughed and chatted and there was always the noise of the kitchen.
To say that the service was substandard would be a little harsh, but it indeed was stressful to get the waiter’s attention. Perhaps the recruitment advertisement on the iPad should be in the form of distributive pamphlets to be more effective. The used green tea sachets were not cleared from the table despite them saying that the table was ready.
I ordered a Salmon Ikura for the price of $12.99, a pretty steep price in my opinion for a bowl of only five slices of salmon and rice with lettuce and decorated with clownfish eggs (Masago).
The dish came in a record time which few restaurants could match, a time of five minutes (understandable since there was not much to prepare anyway). I tucked in and cut myself a small piece of fresh-looking salmon and ate it with the vinegar soaked Japanese rice. The rice expertly complemented the taste of the salmon and also left a pleasant aftertaste in the mouth. The fish eggs were really juicy and the insides literally squirted in different directions when I bit into them.
Eyeing the sushi on the conveyor belt, I decided to try out some dishes. First was Epi Kani Maki, a set of four pieces of sushi made of breaded prawn, cheese and snow crabsticks. The breaded prawn hidden within the seaweed folds actually dominated the whole piece of sushi when I tasted it. The cheese was sweet and the crabstick lightly flavoured and tasty. Both ingredients blended in well with the breaded prawn, whose subtle but surprisingly strong flavor filled my mouth as soon as I tasted it.
Next was the Ika Geso, a new dish featured on the menu. It is a set of two sushi, this time made of squid tentacles and mayonnaise. An unlikely combination, I was amazed at the interesting burst of flavor which came from the sushi. The fresh and cold squid tentacles tasted very good with the equally cold mayonnaise and they mixed very comfortably. Certainly very innovative!
Let’s compare Sakae Sushi to Man Zhu Café, a spacious restaurant situated in Chinese Swimming Club.
The high ceilings, light brown décor and cosy lighting gave off a ‘Zen’ feel, and the interior of the kitchen was also visible via giant glass panels, thus diners can actually see their food being prepared as they waited. I ordered Oven Roast Pork, a new dish on the menu which cost $8.50. The waiter was quick to take my order and their professionalism really impressed me. The food came around 10 minutes later, garnished with onions and salad. Five slices of pork were lavishly covered in mushroom sauce and the whole dish looked pretty much like a masterpiece. Well, I was not to be disappointed as I bit into the roast pork. The seemingly dry piece of meat was delicious when I had sauce with it, and the fragrance and taste was attributed to the flavor of the meat and not because of excess salt. It was an enjoyable meal, with reasonable prices and a luxurious environment for dining. The price range as well as service (and the atmosphere) I felt were much better than that of Sakae Sushi, and there was no compromise on the quality of the food. Certainly a wonderful experience and would be back for more!
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DeleteA1) review of 2 poems
Delete1) Wilfred Owen’s poem about the Second World War, Dulce Et Decorum Est differs greatly from the poem, “Mushrooms” written by Sylvia Plath. Dulce Et Decorum Est shows that dying for one’s country can be a very ugly and horrible thing. In the poem, Owen uses many devices to allow readers to imagine how war is like in real life. Imagery is used throughout the poem. The first one used is a simile. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” This allows the readers to imagine a group of people hunched over, just like beggars. Another example is “flound’ring like a man on fire or lime.” The soldier described has been poisoned by green chlorine gas, but he looks as though he is running around trying to put out a fire on himself. The simile illustrates the suffering of the man and his hopelessness. Unlike Owen’s poem about the World War, “Mushrooms” by Sylvia Plath merges several ideas such as the Cold War and the atom bomb, but it revolves around the main theme of the rise of Woman’s rights with “We are shelves, we are tables”, emphasizing the view held by men in society when women were seen as purely domestic objects. The wide use of literary devices such as metaphors and similes has made her poem an interesting read, with readers able to “feel” her poem. The mushroom metaphor is likened to the pregnancy of a woman and also the victims of the Cold War. While she is still at an early stage of pregnancy, she and her baby are “invisible”, slipping past the society unnoticed. An ominous feeling is created through the mood of the poem. A foreboding sense of the repeated line “So many of us! So many of us!” shows the multitude of people, be it the numerous victims of the Cold War or women all over the world who are all ready to stand up for themselves. Towards the end of the poem, the lines “Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot’s in the door” assure that the women or victims of the Cold War will prevail in the end.
On the whole, when comparing both poems, there are a few similarities such as the wide use of imagery and the very much alike themes, one about the truths of war and the other about the rise of women around the world. However, the difference would be that Sylvia Plath’s “Mushrooms” is written in the first person perspective, with words like “we” and “our”, while Owen’s poem is written in the first and third person perspective.
Sara Yong of 1B/12: A1) Review of Poems
ReplyDeleteA1) The 2 poems that I am reviewing are A Person, A Paper, A Promise by Dr. Earl Reum and Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost.
The overall tone of both unseen narrators of the poems is similar, being sad and pessimistic each due to a different form of loss. However, while the narrator of Nothing Gold Can Stay expresses sorrow and “grief” because of the loss of beauty in nature, the narrator of A Person, A Paper, A Promise comes off as accepting and even nonchalant regarding the suicide of the young main character by ending the poem as abruptly as the character ended his life. I find this to be a very realistic, albeit cynical, portrayal of the insignificance of a single human life lost, especially with Dr. Earl Reum’s foreshadowing of the character’s life going in a downward spiral with each repeating stanza, leading the reader to anticipate that his story will not have a good ending. In contrast, Robert Frost’s poem includes the sadness and mourning that follows loss, making the poem feel complete. However, Dr. Earl Reum’s cutting off of the final fourth stanza was definitely an advantage, as it mirrored the child’s sudden ending of his life. I also liked how the author did not explicitly state that the child committed suicide and instead had it implied, giving the poem an element of mystery and the unknown.
For both poems, I enjoyed each distinct rhythm and pattern. In A Person, A Paper, A Promise, there is no rhyming pattern, but every stanza is a repetition. I felt that this matched how the main character went about the routines of his daily life throughout his childhood. Additionally, this pattern allows the reader to make comparisons and note the changes that happened in the people, things and events of the character’s short life. In Nothing Gold Can Stay, the poem flows easily with four pairs of rhyming couplets. Of the two authors, Robert Frost made use of many significant literary devices. While in A Person, A Paper, A Promise, it is evident that the loss is of a person, in Nothing Gold Can Stay, Robert Frost raised the severity and impact of the loss of beauty by using personification and identifying “nature” as “her”, a human and capable of “hold[ing]” objects, in this case her initial vibrancy. He also made use of vivid imagery to depict the beauty and freshness of nature that is lost to time. For example, he uses alliteration in describing how nature’s first “green is gold”, and how it is “Her hardest hue to hold.”
Overall, I feel that both poems were beautifully written. Dr. Earl Reum captured more accurately the everyday occurrence that is loss, while Robert Frost’s writing was a little more hopeful, and helped me see the need to slow down and appreciate simple things like beauty before they are gone.
Sara Yong of 1B/12: B1) Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB1) The 2 Restaurants are Hatched at 26 Evans Road and The Marmalade Pantry at ION Orchard which I visited on 9th December 2012 and 21st December 2012 respectively.
Western food on both menus was abundant. Firstly, as the name suggests, most dishes served at Hatched are of eggs. This sounds repetitive and limiting, but I was impressed with the variety of cooked eggs on the menu, from boiled, poached, fried and scrambled to dishes that were not eggs at all, humorously categorized as “Friends of Eggs” on the menu.
I made it a point to order egg-based dishes and selected the Sir Eggs Benedict at $12. It was a small portion, but there is an option on the menu to have a larger portion of two eggs at $18. While the ham, muffin bread and mashed potatoes were good, the tastiest part of the dish goes to the poached egg itself. Topped with slightly tangy Hollandaise sauce, the Sir Benedict is not to be missed.
A friend ordered the Papillote for $14, which consisted of smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on toast. The salmon, while not the best she had tasted, was a salty counterpart to the fluffy yet firm eggs.
Taking a break from eggs, we ordered a “friend” of theirs, too. The Bacon Rap at $12 was simple but delicious. It was definitely a guilty pleasure, with fried bacon wraps stuffed with and oozing cheese.
On the other hand, The Marmalade Pantry’s menu was a wide range of Western dishes, but what they recommended were cakes and pastries. Firstly, the Salmon Soba at $26 was excellent. The salmon was baked to perfection that it melted in my mouth. It is no exaggeration to say this was the best baked salmon I have eaten.
However, my friends were not as impressed with their food: Pork Lasagna at $24, Mushroom Risotto at $22 and Ling Scallops at $24. The main issue was that the food was pricy. With costliness, our expectations were high. Even with the salmon, the portion was tiny and not worth the money.
Moving on to dessert, I was anticipating the Sea Salt Caramel Cheesecake and it did not disappoint, being thick, rich and creamy in texture. It was worth the $8; and was so good that we purchased three slices.
Overall, the food at both restaurants was scrumptious, but I lean in favour of Hatched. The Marmalade Pantry is a typical Western restaurant, while at Hatched, most of what they do is eggs, and hence, they are guaranteed to do them well.
As for service, both restaurants were hosting a full house when I visited. The wait is not long for either, both at 15 minutes. The staff at Hatched is significantly faster with the serving of food. With no additional GST or service charge added to the bill, Hatched also scores another point. Despite being a lot less accessible than The Marmalade Pantry in ION Orchard, the journey to Botanic Gardens MRT station and a ride in a taxi is definitely worth it for a visit to Hatched. Both restaurants satisfied not just my hunger, but also my taste buds.
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ReplyDeleteChua Kai Shyan of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteA1) Review of Poems
“(love song, with two goldfish)” by Grace Chua
“Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death” by Roger McGough
The poem “(love song, with two goldfish)” by Grace Chua is about a love struck goldfish depicting the relationship between him and his lover. The poem encompasses the usage of quirky puns and alliterations, making it have an ironic and light-hearted tone in contrast to a very sombre issue (“He wishes she would sing, not much, just the scales“ & “Bounded by round walls she makes fish eyes and kissy lips at him”). Similar to Roger McGough’s “Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death”, which is about a man wishing to die not like a saint but like a rock star, both poems are about negative issues -- heartbreak and death, which are expressed in light-hearted tones, giving readers a sense of conflicting emotions. The tone of “Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death” is rather witty, and brings about emotions of playfulness and happiness (‘Or when I'm 104 and banned from the Cavern [nightclub]’ & ‘my mistress catching me in bed with her daughter’).
Unlike the poem “(love song, with two goldfish)”, the usages of punctuations in “Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death” are distinctly different. “(love song, with two goldfish)” has an obvious usage of brackets, similar to a goldfish bowl. Each stanza talks about something entirely different from each other, and the stanzas are hence “trapped in different bowls” by the usage of brackets. For the last stanza in particular, the line: “and he could not give” encompasses the real usage of brackets, unlike how all the other brackets have been used throughout the poem. In “Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death”, the poem lacks full-stops and commas, unlike many other poems. It gives the poem a more breathless pace and adds on to the theme of living a wild life, and the writer’s satisfaction of “breaking the rules”.
Looking at the choice of words used in both poems, both authors chose to make use of simple and easily understandable words. In “(love song, with two goldfish)”, the choice of simple words could further add on to the idea of the simplicity of common goldfishes. Goldfishes are common animals, and are never seen as such a big deal, similar to the idea of the whole poem, which seems to revolve around two simple commoners in the streets, who are trapped within their mediocrity.
Overall, both poems are a delightful yet simple read which can be related to by many.
Chua Kai Shyan of 1B/12:
ReplyDeleteB2) a Review of 2 Restaurants
The 2 Restaurants are Hatched at Evans Road and The Garden Slug at Telok Kurau which I visited on 17th Nov 2012 and 7th Dec 2012 respectively.
Located at Evans Lodge (previously known as Eusoffe College), Hatched is an egg-inspired, all-day breakfast restaurant. Their famous variety of eggs -- poached, baked, scrambled, fried, and more, has won them many fans coming back for more and even a place in Singapore's top ten breakfast places. Upon arrival, I would not have expected Hatched to be crowded since it seemed so serene and peaceful, and so off the beaten track. Situated in an old and rather deserted building amidst greenery, the restaurant’s exterior gives of an ‘old school’ look. However, its interior is designed with such loud, playful quirkiness, definitely a cheerful warm atmosphere to enjoy any meal in. Colourful chalk drawings and cute cartoon characters fill the walls and are even used in the menu’s design. And what makes anyone’s experience at Hatched even better, is the mouth-watering American-styled all-day breakfast food. One of the more famous dishes is the ‘Sir Benedict’, and it is no ordinary dish. Combining poached eggs with hollandaise sauce and crispy bacon strips into one fantastic dish, no one can resist the temptation when eggs meet bacon. Service was pretty satisfactory, with helpful and friendly staff and quick service. However I would still consider the dishes to be rather pricey. Overall, Hatched is definitely an ideal place to go with a group of friends or a companion for coffee and a lazy breakfast/brunch, or simply just to satisfy any breakfast food cravings!
The Garden Slug is nothing like what its quirky name suggests. In fact, it’s the total opposite of how people perceive garden slugs to be! Being known to many as somewhat of an indie café, The Garden Slug is located at Telok Kurau, and serves up a wide variety of homely comfort Western food at reasonable prices. Following its motto: “eat drink don’t think!” The Garden Slug provides a relaxed yet exciting experience for food lovers and also offers a rather extensive variety of exclusive creations. Designed with a simple and humble layout, this restaurant gives off a rather homely ambience and a wonderful, peaceful dining experience for anyone who loves good food. Service was prompt, welcoming and friendly, with polite and helpful waiters who welcomed feedback. One of the dishes on their menu which stood out the most to me was the Ugly Salmon Cakes, a mouth-watering dish consisting of savoury salmon patties and hand-mashed potatoes, a perfect dish to share with friends and family. Imperfectly shaped, yet deliciously hot, these Ugly Salmon Cakes are hand-moulded, pan-grilled, and drizzled with a light sauce of fresh lemon juice and butter, enough to make it into many of Singapore’s must-try list. Overall, the quiet, hidden niche atmosphere of The Garden Slug makes it a great restaurant for casual dining. With monthly specials and so many unique Garden Slug creations awaiting a try, this restaurant is definitely worth another visit!
In conclusion, I would still recommend The Garden Slug over Hatched. The portions served at The Garden Slug are huge and fairly value-for-money, which makes it great for sharing, unlike dishes served at Hatched, which had slightly more top end prices and was very limiting for those who don’t eat meat. Still, Hatched has a wonderful eye-catching restaurant concept which makes it seem more appealing than The Garden Slug. Both restaurants have provided me a great dining experience and I would love to return to dine there again!
Mak Wai Min of 1A/12: A1) A review of 2 poems
ReplyDelete1.) My Mother Loves Me- Gwee Li Sui
2.)Innoncence - Jona
Read 2 novels/plays/poems and write a 300 to 500 word- review comparing various aspects of the novels. (e.g. The writer’s handling of themes/character/portrayals/literary techniques/plot devices)
‘My Mother Loves Me’ is a poem I’ve read in my lower secondary days and left a huge impact on me till today. It is written by Gwee Li Sui in a child’s perspective of his/her mother. ‘The kids in school/Call me Kiasu’, Li Sui cleverly uses humorous words such as ‘kiasu’ to show how ridiculous his mother was and used Singlish to make the sentence structure more comical and engages the readers more, especially Singaporeans. Furthermore, the poem is ironic compared to its title, ‘My Mother Loves Me’. This usage of dark humour straddles between the fine line of humour and tragedy of the child in the poem. The constant repetition of ‘Mother, Mother’ shows the frustration that the child has for his/her mother. His choice of words is simple that any primary school kid would be able to read and understand yet impactful as it greatly shows the child’s lack of freedom and his/her loss of childhood. His poem also greatly reflects on today’s fast paced and overly competitive society where almost everyone is result-oriented.
‘Innocence’ on the other hand, is a sweet poem written from a mother’s perspective. Those are the sincere words from a mother to her baby child when she was just born. ‘I wish I could keep you, /Under my wing./ Shield your eyes, /From everything.” This line clearly shows the affection the mother has for her child and how protective the mother was towards her child.
Unlike Li Sui, Jona did not make use of syllables and rhythm to help make her poem catchy. Jona’s poem also lacked paragraphing which made her poem messier and harder to read as compared to Li Sui. However, her choice of words such as, ‘joy’, ‘bliss’, ‘heartache’, ‘shelter’ and ‘wing’ made the poem feel very sincere and touching at the same time. Her words were also not as simple as Li Sui and appealed equally to everyone unlike Li Sui whose poem appealed more to Singaporeans or people who knows Singlish.
Both poems, ‘Innocence’ and ‘My Mother Loves Me’, are poems depicting motherly love. Though ‘My Mother Loves Me’ shows how strict and restrictive the mother was, it was actually trying to show how protective and loving the mother, wanting to bring the best out of her child so that he/she would have a bright future. Of course, this was done in a different way as compared to the mother in ‘Innocence’. Readers who read ‘My Mother Loves Me’ first would have the first impression that the mother was oppressive and uncaring. However, after they read ‘Innocence’, they would understand the pain that the Mother goes through just for the child and would start to feel that the child in ‘My Mother Loves Me’ is an ingrate who was unappreciative of his mother. Though these two poems are contrasting on the surface, but actually they both prove one similar point-Our Mother Loves Us
Mak Wai Min (1A'12)
ReplyDeleteB2) A review of 2 restaurants
1.) Kim Gary Restaurant
2.) Old Hong Kong
The thought of steaming hot custard buns, ‘xiao long bao’ and the tender roasted duck is sufficient to make my mouth water. Among many of the Hong Kong restaurants that I’ve dined at, my top two picks are Kim Gary Restaurant and Old Hong Kong.
Kim Gary is one of my common lunch areas after school especially when I would meet up with my mother for a quick meal. The Kim Gary Outlet at Tampines 1 opened a few years back together with the grand opening of Tampines 1. Its design is very modernised and yet provides a warm subtle feeling to its customers.
When my dad is in a good mood, he would drive my whole family towards Katong area for their delicious food there. That includes the Old Hong Kong East Coast Outlet. Old Hong Kong has more than 500 different type of traditional Chinese food for customers to choose from and will never get tired of the menu. Old Hong Kong, unlike Kim Gary, is designed in a more traditional way whereby its seats are similar to those back in the early 1900s. They also made sure their setup were similar to that of a typical ‘street’ back in olden Hong Kong days. and is indeed unique. Kim Gary on the other hand has couches and is blasting the latest music hits.
During my trip, waiters and waitresses from Old Hong Kong were clad in neat white uniforms. However, no one was stationed at the entrance to welcome the customers in. Worse still, all their staff did not seem to be local and had difficulties understanding English. Thankfully my family knows how to speak Chinese if not conversing with the waitress would be our main course for the day. Other than that, their service was still acceptable. Kim Gary on the other hand had waiters and waitresses who were like ‘civil servants’- ready to serve ‘24/7’. As most of the staff are local, conversing with them was definitely a piece of cake. Occasionally, the waitresses would joke around with my mother and made small talks. Overall, I felt that Kim Gary’s service was fantastic and much better when compare to Old Hong Kong.
Whenever I patronise Old Hong Kong, I would never fail to order their pineapple bun, more commonly known as ‘Bo Luo Pao’, as well as their custard buns. The sweet crunchy outer coating of the pineapple bun followed by the inner salty butter filling was like a match from heaven and the taste lingers on your taste buds, leaving you an unforgettable ‘memory’. Old Hong Kong also provides a wide assortment of many other traditional Chinese cuisines and is definitely paradise for people who love Chinese cuisine. However, do check out the prices before you order as their food tend to be quite pricey. Kim Gary on the other hand offers more affordable food, as they constantly have lunch, tea break and dinner promotions. Their food is a mixture of western and eastern cuisine. I would always order their French Toast or Noodles with Sze Chuan vegetable and Luncheon Meat. Their food is still acceptable, but not comparable to Old Hong Kong’s traditional Chinese food. Therefore, for the aspect on taste, Old Hong Kong would be better than Kim Gary-if you are willing to pay the price.
Both restaurants were clean and no bugs were in sight. The staffs were quick to clear the used bowls and plates and no litter could be found on the floor. That probably explains the Cleanliness grade A sign.
As a student with limited amount of pocket money, Kim Gary would be a more preferable choice for me. However, if you are willing to pamper yourself, why not treat yourself to Old Hong Kong for more unique and traditional Chinese cuisine?
Shen Yaxuan of 1C/12: A review comparing two novels
ReplyDeleteA1) The two novels I read are Pride and Prejudice and Alice in Wonderlands.
Review:
Pride and Prejudice which was written by Jane Austen in 1796 and this was a book about love, reputation and arrogance. Elizabeth Bennet is born in a family of five daughters and in a ball; she meets Mr Darcy and his friend Mr Bingley who is taken with Elisabeth’s sister, Jane and spends much of the evening dancing with her. But Darcy is less pleased with the evening and haughtily refuses to dance with Elizabeth, which makes everyone view him as arrogant and obnoxious. He stops Mr Bingley to be in touch with Jane because he thinks the romance is not serious which causes the fury of Elizabeth. Mr Darcy gradually finds himself get in love with Elizabeth but the latter has a lot of misunderstandings with him due to several reasons. After a lot of events, they are finally together and so are Jane and Mr Bingley.
Alice in wonderlands is a fairy tale written by Lewis Carroll and it was published in 1865 and it soon became a hit all over the world. It tells a story of a girl named “Alice” followed a rabbit into a rabbit hole and entered “wonderland” and she had an exciting and amazing experience there and in the end, she found that all was her dream.
There are a lot of differences between these two books besides the contents and authors. In terms of themes, Pride and Prejudice emphasizes on love, reputation and class. Jane Austen drew a picture of people’s attitudes and opinions towards marriages in 18th century. People were quite realistic and women can only gain positions through marriages. Their lives depend on men. But Alice in Wonderland, at first, is supposed to be children’s friction. It shows people the inevitable loss of childhood innocence and the puzzles and difficulties people may meet in life.
As for language, due to the period when Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice, she used a lot of archaism and outdated words such as “shew off” and a lot of long and complicated sentence, even during characters’ dialogues such as “ ‘From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.’” On the other hand, the language in Alice in Wonderland is precise and easy to understand. What is more, there are several nonsenses and short poems to make the story more interesting such as “Curiouser and curiouser!” and “Alice’s right foot, Esq. Hearthrug, near the fender,(with Alice’s love).”
Comparing to Pride and Prejudice, I found Alice in Wonderland more interesting as the plots were more attractive and the language was easier to understand. In all, both books are quite enjoyable and I was fascinated by the language they use to portray the characters and create the plots.
Shen Yaxuan of 1C/12:B2 a Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB2) The two Restaurants are Dallas and Taipei Steamboats which I visited on November 23rd and December 21st respectively.
Review:
During the holiday, I went to several restaurants with my family and my friends and there were two of them which were more memorable to me comparing with the others.
The first restaurant is named Dallas. It is a western-style restaurant and it serves steaks, salad, fruits and other western food. I went there with my family and each of us ordered a steak which tasted quite nice and flavourful. Fruits, drinks and salads were for free. Each restaurant must have its own specialities to attract customers and in Dallas, one of the specialities is called Flame Steak. The way why it is special is there was brandy covering the steak when it was served to the customer and the brandy would only be lightened just before the customer was ready to eat.
The second restaurant, in contrast, is a traditional Chinese restaurant which its name is Taipei Steamboats. We went there to spend the winter solstice. The way to eat the steamboats is different from the traditional way which is all the people sit around one big steamboat and take the food from the big steamboat. But in Taipei Steamboats, everyone has his own little steamboat and they can choose the ingredients of the steamboats. This new means of eating steamboat is healthier and more convenient.
Besides the dishes are distinct, these two restaurants stand for two different cultures in some way. Dallas is quite quiet and playing classic music while people in Taipei Steamboats always talk loud because Chinese people like a warm atmosphere when they are eating the hot steamboats, especially on the day of winter solstice which is as important as Chinese New Year in some places of China. What is more, in Dallas, we have our own dishes but in Taipei Steamboats, we only have our own steamboats and share the ingredients offered such as lamp chops, bean curd and so on.
I had a great time in both restaurants as the food and service were quite satisfactory and impressing even though there were a lot of differences between these two restaurants.
A1) review of 2 restaurants
ReplyDeleteThe 2 restaurants that I visited would be Warung Made’s (pronounced as “mah dei”) in Bali and Din Tai Fung in Singapore. The fast-paced lifestyle in Singapore is the exact opposite of Bali’s relaxing way of life. Due to the hectic lifestyle in Singapore, food services are usually very fast and efficient to meet the customers’ demands. Rule number one for restaurants and eateries in Singapore is simple and what many people look for. Do not let the customer wait for too long. Of course, the quality of the food must be up to standard. However, that would not be the case for most restaurants in Bali. In Bali, it is more likely that the customer would be stressed out waiting, rather than the cook. Preparation of food can take up to an hour. The only good thing is that the food is prepared with heart, unlike in Singapore. The amount of effort put in can be seen from the presentation of the food and its taste. One look and it is evident that the meal was prepared carefully, garnished to make it look nice. The proportion of food prepared is also very generous, unlike in Singapore. At Din Tai Fung, although the quality of the food is not bad, the food proportion there was very little and the price was rather expensive. At Warung Made’s, the price of the food was less costly, more tasty and larger in proportion. The only thing that was bad about that restaurant was the long time taken to prepare the food. In Singapore, food is normally prepared very fast so that the customer is not held up waiting for their meal. Efficiency is one of the most important factors in the restaurants in Singapore. In Bali, the people lead carefree lifestyles, so they take their time to do things, so the service there is rather slow.
Carol leng of 1B/12 A2)
ReplyDeletePrologue
I was inspired by the genre psychological thriller to write this short story. Two stories, each entitled “Never Woke Up” and “Pretty little World” particularly generated the interest in me to come up with this story. “The Princess Room” mixes the elements of these two stories together.
In “Never Woke up” the main character, an unnamed girl, has a dream in which she is chased by a fairy who turns into a beast, however she is trapped in an eternal limbo within her dream and is unable to wake up. “Never Woke up” is the spark to the most crucial part of “The Princess Room”, the dream in which Christine has at the end, where the shadows are actually the embodiment of death, while the flower Christine holds represent her life. The shadows tearing apart of the flower reveal that Christine’s death is near, and the sudden pause and the bright light show the transition into the afterlife. However like “Never Woke Up”, Christine is unable to reach the afterlife, because she has fallen into a comatose state.
The story “Pretty little World”, however, deals with the topic of insanity, where Vienna, the main character, sees silhouettes of people walking and talking, entertaining her. She is admitted into an asylum where she is constantly interrupted by “monsters”, who are actually the doctors and the story ends off with her killing them (“dyeing them in a pretty red”) because “interrupting me is a badness which cannot be accepted in my pretty world.” Vienna’s silhouettes are the trigger behind the idea of Christine’s shadows and hallucinations.
The names of medical equipment have also been translated as animals or monsters in “The Princess Room”. For example, the medical ventilator, the Bird 7 respirator is seen to Christine as the “Monster Bird”, and the tubes, which hook her up, are considered as “snakes” that coil around her body. The dragon, is actually a nebulizer with its mask in the shape of a dragon, because many pediatricians use animal shaped masks for children in order to prevent them from resisting against the use of the mask.
The Princess Room
Christine is four years old.
Early this year, Daddy and Mommy gave Christine a surprise.
They gave her a little room and told her that this was going to be her Princess Room.
Christine liked the Princess Room in the morning because Daddy and Mommy are together with her, and all of them would wear white, Christine’s favourite colour. Daddy and Mommy would wear matching hats that look like mushroom caps too, and Christine found it amusing.
Christine liked the Princess Room at night too, because the shadows will start dancing.
Christine thought the shadows were very pretty, with their lithe bodies and dainty little frames prancing around the Princess Room’s door. Christine liked the shadows a lot too, because they told Christine that they would not allow anyone to hurt her.
And she told Mommy and Daddy about how she much she liked the prettiness and they smile. But when they walk out the room, Christine can hear Mommy crying and Daddy hushing her.
Maybe Mommy is touched by the prettiness. Pretty, Christine liked her world to be pretty like them.
The Princess Room cont'd
ReplyDeleteChristine is five years old.
Nothing has changed much, Daddy and Mommy still have the mushroom hats and they wear the blue clothing. But now they have to wear gloves too and Christine hates that, because she cannot feel Daddy’s hands.
Christine is beginning to dislike her Princess Room in the morning because a dragon will go onto her face and breathe smelly mist onto it and make her cry. And she doesn’t like crying because when she cries, Mommy cries too and it makes her unhappy.
But Christine cannot help it.
Daddy tells her there will be nice people who will fix her up. But she does not understand. Why does she need to be fixed? She is not broken.
The shadows are still there too, even in the morning. They tell Christine how much they love her and that Christine belongs with them. Christine is beginning to dislike the shadows because she belongs with Daddy and Mommy, not the shadows
Christine is also beginning to dislike her Princess Room in the night too.
Like all little children, Christine dislikes sleeping. But Christine does not like sleeping in the Princess Room because she is afraid the snakes coiling around her arms and face will constrict her when she is asleep. The snakes already have their teeth buried deep within her skin.
There is also a big grey monster bird with many red eyes beside her bed. The crimson eyes blink every three seconds and it exhales noisily each time Christine breathed. It watched Christine like a hawk, only that it never sleeps.
It made Christine feel frightened.
Christine is beginning to dislike the Princess Room.
Christine is six years old.
There are more snakes biting her now, and the dragon breathes into her face even more. The monster bird has also become noisier.
Christine hates her Princess Room in the morning now, because the number of visitors who come increase, and they tear a lot before they leave. And Christine hates the Princess Room for making them cry. It makes her unhappy
Christine also feels sad because she realizes some things, which are broken, cannot be fixed, although Daddy tells her everything can be fixed.
But Christine knows she cannot be fixed.
Christine hates her Princess Room at night now, because she will have dreams.
And in her dreams, the shadows chase after Christine, because they want to eat her pretty blue flower.
Pretty, Christine thought, the shadows were supposed to be pretty.
But now, they were ugly, ugly and ugly.
And one night, Christine had a dream.
Christine dreamt that the shadows caught her and snatched her flower. Christine screamed, not because they snatched her flower, but because they tore her flower, slowly and painfully.
Christine screamed, and she ran, ran and ran.
Her poor flower was dead. The shadows were chasing her again, and they wanted to engulf her into their teeth and claws. Ugly, Christine thought, the shadows were ugly, ugly, ugly.
Suddenly everything stopped, and the shadows were gone. The silence was so eerie, but at least, the shadows were gone.
Christine saw a bright light, but she could not reach it. She was trapped. She began to feel frightened, so frightened, she even wanted the shadows back.
Christine is seven.
Nothing has changed at all. Her Princess Room remains the same and untouched.
Except, one night, a night, which no one remembers, Christine had a dream, and she never woke up.
-End-
B1) The 2 Restaurants are Swensen’s at Tampines Mall and Japanese food stall at Food Republic at I12 Katong which I visited on 19th November and 20th November respectively.
ReplyDeleteReview:
The all time favourite, Swensen’s, the restaurant always there for you with open arms, whenever you want to indulge in a plethora of ice creams or main courses. Now for Food Republic, offering you the best of Asian Cuisine brought directly from Hawker centers into a restaurant-style dining system.
When I dine there, I constantly tell friends and family “wa bo lui dan ai jia swee swee”, which means “I’m broke but I’m going to eat in style” in Hokkien. It is not very difficult to see why I frequent these two restaurants.
The choices at Swensen’s are frighteningly overwhelming. There are the main courses: baked rice, steaks, pastas and burgers and not forgetting our appetizers: the salads, soups and sides. And to further amaze you, I can name a dozen more dishes because those that I have just mentioned are merely umbrella terms.
But close that jaw for now, because we have not even touched on Swensen’s specialty: Dessert. You can pick from a simple single scoop of pure bliss, to sinful double scoops, generously slathered with dollops of whipped cream atop a waffle or brownie baked to perfection. And the best thing? The choice is just a mere raise of your hand away.
The waiters are fast and alert, beside you before your hand is even back onto the table despite the high tide during lunch hour. The process of ordering is simple and quick, you pick, they record, and they repeat, you nod, they go.
At Food Republic, it is a completely different story. I eat from the Japanese food stall, where the prices of the food are usually rather affordable: a big portion of rice, fish or foul or poultry (depending on your pick) and soup for slightly above five dollars, but usually below ten. My salmon and chicken karage set cost around $7, which was rather reasonable considering the serving.
But the choices fit within an A3 sized menu, with your usual tempuras, beef, chicken or fish, like Salmon and Dory with rice, rice bowls (rice with meat and egg) and lastly ramen.
And unlike Swensen’s, you cannot take your time to make a decision (not like you have much choice anyway), because of the growing queue behind you and the impatient face of the cashier.
B1) Cont'd
ReplyDeleteThe waiting time was delayed too, because the cashier got confused with the orders partly because she could not understand the customers and partly because her language and accent confused the chefs. Not to be racist, but clearly it isn’t a very time saving or viable idea to have a Chinese woman at the counter telling an Indian chef to cook teriyaki chicken in Chinese or telling a Filipino chef to cook a beef rice set which sounds like fish rice set instead. Ordering was definitely something I detested when I went to Food Republic.
But I had a more pleasant experience at Swensen’s. The drinks arrived quite fast, but the waiting time for the main courses were a tad bit too long. But that could be forgiven, because of the crowd.
I ordered the chicken baked rice, which is technically what I order every time I visit. I guess you can already tell the quality of this dish from the multiple times it has brought me back to Swensen’s. The serving is filling, but not bloating, and there is enough meat to compliment the rice without leaving any left over.
Dessert comes shortly after the main course, with just enough time to take a break from the mass that has entered your stomach.
I had something called “Waffle Dream”, which is basically two scoops of vanilla on a waffle with whipped cream- pretty self explanatory. But what never fails to entice me is how the dessert is handled and decorated to look exactly like the image on the menu, perhaps even nicer, brightening your appetite. The ice cream was okay, your average creamy and cold dessert, but there was something about the waffle that mortifies you a bit after you eat more than half. I will not recommend it for people who have small stomachs, because you will run a risk for having what I call “waffle-phobia”.
Food Republic is not lagging behind when it comes to food that is appeasing to the eye either. Despite the long waiting time, your bento set arrives piping hot and nicely arranged, and the food is like a medley of smells and taste playing with your senses. Even before I place my food in my mouth, I am already devouring the colours and scents with a ravenous hunger. And the greatest thing about the food is that you crave for more even after you are done.
Food Republic might have good food at a good price, but in Swensen’s the meal ends with the shell-shocking bill, where you can marvel at the prices of the food that is going through the gut. The GST charges makes the bill look legendary- a high end double digit for two desserts and two main courses (I went there with a friend).
Your wallet becomes an onion in the wake of the aftermath of the bill. Tears will spring to your eyes when emptiness greets you back. But you get what you pay for, so just deal with it!
Phoon Pei Min of 1C/12: A2) Write a short story
ReplyDeletePrologue:
The series of short stories that inspired me to write this story is titled Island Voices. This collection of stories actually bring out and emphasis the many different culture and nature of Singapore’s history and society as a whole. On top of that, themes like love, family, relationship and growing up are highlighted in the various stories which I felt could be related to everyone one of us Singaporeans. As such, I decided to write based on such themes that can be seen in the lives of each one of us.
Story:
She thought it was necessary. Rather, very important for the growing seed in her womb. Her husband felt that she was showing way too much concern for her child’s future. He could understand that it was her first time having a child, but no one has overreacted over something like that, he was positive about that. By the seventh month of her pregnancy, she had cleared out a room for her baby, prepared two shelves, each having three levels and directed that one be put aside for her child’s school books and the other for other books that he could have interest for. At least he must be interested in reading or she will nurture him to develop his love for books.
When Bobby was just a year old, she read to him the story of three little pigs, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Her husband was skeptical, “He’s not going to understand a word you say. Let him play. That’s what he would want to.” She would only shake her head and reply, “You’ll just spoil him. If I don’t cultivate him to start reading at a young age, what would become of him? He’ll be deprived of good knowledge and will lose out. Trust me.” She kept all the toys that her husband, family and relatives gave to Bobby but she left him a tumbler that she bought from Chinatown, hoping that her baby would learn the important principle of “never giving up when you fall”. On second thoughts, she would never let her son fail, not once, not a chance. She has lived the past one year dreaming and hoping that her “sun” would do her proud every single moment of her life.
By the third and the last year in kindergarten, Bobby, unlike most of the other boys in pre- school, was quiet, shy and intelligent. He was showered with praises by many teachers and other parents envied his ability to score good grades. She encourage her husband to move the family nearer to one of the top schools in Singapore, hoping to secure a position for little Bobby in that school. On top of that, she worked part time as a parent volunteer there to boost her chance of getting Bobby enrolled in the best school. Her husband found the latter redundant, “I think what you’ve done is entirely superfluous. You’re just wasting your time. I’m sure our Bobby will get into your desired school.” Only to find her nagging at him, “We can’t take any chances. You know that many parents are vying all the seats in that school. We must have him studying in that place no matter what. In addition, we have already moved house and I don’t want all these hassle to go to a waste.”
Bobby started to live out his mother’s dream. His mother’s aspirations were his. Her dreams his. Her ambitions were his goals. During civic lesson, when asked about his ambition, Bobby answered, “Doctor. My mother said…” His mother has drafted her plan for her son. Get a scholarship, be a doctor. It was ingrained in him. “How about you? Your ambition?” the teacher interrupted. For the first time, he was speechless. His ambition? His mother had never asked him this question. Or rather, he had never thought of it before.
Phoon Pei Min of 1C/12: B2) A review of 2 restaurants
ReplyDeleteThe 2 Restaurants are Red House Seafood Restaurant at East Coast Parkway and Jumbo Seafood Restaurant at Clarke Quay which I visited on 11 Nov 2012 and 23 Dec 2012 respectively.
Review:
While both restaurants do serve rather good seafood, especially the crabs, I would say that Jumbo Seafood Restaurant has a relatively good ambience. In the evening, my family and I could get a lovely view of the sea and at the same time enjoy the gentle breeze when we’re sitting outside of the restaurant.
Service was quick in both the Red House and Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. Staffs in both restaurants were attentive and helpful. But in the Red House Restaurant the manager, Sunny, actually made the experience very enjoyable for my whole family. As we were first- time customers, he took the time to patiently introduce us the various crabs that the restaurant offers. On top of that, he recommended the type of crab that was more popular among the consumers. The food came in at a rather fast pace of about 5 minutes. One thing in particular that my whole family didn’t quite enjoy at the Jumbo Restaurant was that we were given 90 minutes to finish eating. Because of that, my family didn’t have much luxury of sitting down comfortably and enjoying the meal.
In terms of food, the crabs were the highlights. The crab in red house restaurant were much bigger than Jumbo. The one we ate at the Red house weigh more than 1.5kg and on top of that, condiments added were just right. It was not as strong as the crab my family ate at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant that actually covers the real taste of the crab slightly. I felt that Jumbo Seafood Restaurant’s food contains a little too much seasoning, covering up the natural taste of the organic food. Even the seafood fried rice our family ate tasted slightly saltier.
All in all, I felt that the Red House Restaurant is better than Jumbo Seafood Restaurant as a whole, based on my experience in both places.
1. Read 2novels and write a 300-500 words review comparing various aspects of the novels(Writer’s handling of themes/character portrayals/literary techniques/plot devices)
ReplyDeleteTwo world acclaimed novels, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, written by J.K. Rowling and the third installation of the twilight saga, Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer, are both action-packed and are both good reads. These two books revolve around the supernatural, Werewolves and vampires in Eclipse and magic in Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows, are centered on the main character, Harry Potter and his friend’s search for horcrux which when destroyed, can vanquish the villain, Voldemort. In Eclipse, it’s about a group of vampires making their way to the Cullen’s house, seeking to destroy Bella. In Harry Potter, as the series progresses, the characters realise their weaknesses and strengths whereas in Twilight, the characters do not really reach an epiphany; It’s just a love story about Bella and Edward and the trials and tribulations that they face. One thing interesting about Harry Potter, is the irony that Snape, thought to be the biggest villain, was actually the hero. This was also only revealed in the last instalment of Harry potter. The characters of Harry Potter are more relatable to readers because they are not all perfect, unlike the characters of Twilight. Harry Potter weakness is that he does not allow his friends to help him, for fear of them endangering their lives. However, Edward Cullen of the Twilight saga, was portrayed as not having any weaknesses and perfect just because he was a vampire. Even Bella, who was considered to have a lot of weaknesses, was perfect after she got turned into a vampire in the last instalment of the series. Both books are a good read and are quite different in nature. Go for Eclipse if you’re looking for a sappy love story with a little action and Harry Potter for action. All in all, both are good books when one is in need for entertainment.
2. Visit 2restaurants and write a 300word review comparing your experiences(food and service)
The two restaurants I visited are Texas chicken in NEX and a Korean barbeque restaurant located opposite Bugis Junction. Texas chicken, a fast food restaurant that served fried chicken, was fast and efficient when serving out the food. It was around $7+ for a meal and the shop also had a washing corner, which was very convenient to many of the customers. However, the seats in Texas chicken were cramp and this was quite inconvenient when you had to carry the tray of food to your seat and worry about getting knocked because of the many people sitting around. The food at Texas chicken was very oily, which was quite a turn-off because in comparison to other fast food outlets which sold fried chicken, like KFC, their chicken are significantly less oily. However, Fried chicken from Texas is very crunchy, and can be quite nice, if you pardon the oil. The other restaurant that I went to was a Korean barbeque buffet restaurant, located right opposite Bugis junction. It was a buffet so we could order whatever we wanted, all for the price of $20+. However, we had to barbeque the food ourselves or we could cook them in a soup which was with an additional $1. The service that they provided was good. There was somebody stationed at the door at all times, waiting to sit the customers, minimising the waiting time. Also, during the barbeque, an employee of the restaurant helped us to barbeque because she could tell that we were having some trouble. The employees of the restaurant were quick to respond when the customers wanted something. The food was nice but some seafood like crab was not very fresh. Mochi was also served free of charge when we got seated. However, ice could have been replenished faster in the ice box and the restaurant was a bit hot, more air conditioners could have been installed too. All in all, the Korean barbeque restaurant had better food and service but both restaurants lacked in ambience.
-Samantha lye
Tay Shi Ying of 1A/12: A1) a review of 2 novels
ReplyDeleteKEEPING SECRETS, written by Alyson Noel
This is one of those interesting storybooks that I have read so far. This book consists of 2 stories altogether and the author chose to narrate the story using first person narrative. I like how both stories include cliffhangers that make me worry for the characters’ well being, as well as to feel depressed for them at various moments. The author’s style of writing depicts a very clear cut and interactive tone. I feel like I’m reading someone’s diary, instead of a storybook and the author’s choice of words very much appeal to me. This therefore makes her story enjoyable to read. Also, this book narrates teenage-hood and I guess that is probably the reason that makes the events happening even more relatable to me. The storyline of both stories have a twist to their endings and Alyson Noel has writen her book in such an incredible way that I can totally picture the characters involved in the various scenes like a movie screening through my head. This is probably because of the clever use of speeches between characters, and also the inclusion of literary devices such as personification. As the book title suggests (keeping secrets), I really know how it is like to keep really burdensome secrets that you just feel like sharing with someone to reduce that emotional burden, but you simply cant do so.
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES, written by Eduardo Sacheri , translated by John Cullen
There is built in excitement to the plots because it is very unexpected, which therefore makes it very anticipating for readers to read on. The author definitely has a flair for the English language because his style of writing totally complements the type of mood that he is trying to put across to readers. His ideas are straight-cut, but described in a more sophisticated manner as compared to the previous book (Keeping Secrets). Keeping Secrets takes on a more casual and interactive tone while this book has a mysterious tone hidden behind almost every particular sentence. However, one thing that I dislike about the book is that there is a lot of repetition of information, which I think can be reduced in terms of how detailed the content is. Nevertheless, this is yet another brilliant novel that stimulates one’s brain and personal emotions, such that there are some hidden meaning that I have to infer a lot. Given the fact that the sentences are very long most of the time, I needed to adjust to this unique yet powerful way of interpreting events happening in the story. The narrator also decided to narrate the story from a third person perspective, along with a first person recount. It may seem confusing at first but slowly, I realized how intelligent the author is as it takes quite some wit to weave the two perspectives into one story, making sure it flows coherently. Using such a method can be rather risky because the author may be easily confused too. Yet, if turns out to be successful, the book can be much more fun to read as compared to Keeping Secrets.
However, Keeping Secrets has a storyline that is much more entertaining to me. As a teenage reader, I can better empathise the situation of the characters in the book. On the other hand, The Secret in their Eyes is a very informative book and I have definitely learnt much more about Argentina’s legal system as well, whereby corruption is a huge and worrying problem, even up to date. Personally, I have yet to fully developed the skill of being able to understand and enjoy literacy books, especially when the author uses more sophisticated words to convey a simple idea. This probably explains why I take a longer time to read The secret in their eyes and hence, I prefer the book Keeping Secrets to The secret in their eyes.
B1) a review of 2 restaurants
ReplyDeleteTuscan Italian Dinner @ Florence during Europe trip
This can be considered as one of the best dinner experience I have ever had. There is a special style when dining in European countries because there are at least a minimum of 3 courses provided for diners. First being served up the table would be the appetizers, which included salami, cheese, crostini (toasted bread with different toppings), bruschetta, carpaccio (sliced cold cuts), slices of lean pork, beef and ham. At first, when all delicacies were served on the table, everyone expression were rather taken aback because the variety of food was simply overwhelming. The lean beef and ham tasted really weird and not to my appetite. Strangely, the cheese that we eat in Singapore is tasty and does make a wonderful combination when eaten with bread for breakfast. However, the cheese in Europe is no ordinary cheese. The Europeans really love to eat cheese, which have a really strong and pungent smell that I can hardly stand. But as a matter of showing courtesy, I had no choice but to put up with the over-bearing smell, and no sooner, I found myself getting used to the smell already. Next up was the first course that served Pici(handmade pasta) and spaghetti. The first course was simply delicious and I even asked for a second helping because it tasted like local western food that we get to eat in Singapore. It was indeed satisfactory and the pasta was exceptionally good, perhaps due to the fact that it was handmade and the specialty dishes of these western countries. Never did it occur to me that there still was a second course, with black pepper grilled steak, insalata(salad) and French fries, all served in one plate. Wow… It was a really huge serving and my whole family was already filling really full from the first course. Now I really regretted taking a second helping of spaghetti because somehow, I had to finish the second course or it would be really rude. The second course was not that appetizing because the steak was not tender enough and it was a pain to chew it. However, the French fries and salad deserved thumbs up! Nevertheless, the restaurant’s service totally deserved compliments because the Italians were so friendly that they emitted a kind of warmth and happiness to serve us food. I could feel their sincerity and delightfulness in serving us and that made me enjoy my dinner even more. Also, there was a guy who was playing the piano while everyone was dining. What made this exceptionally special was that he knew we were Chinese and he specially dedicated a chinese hokkien song to us! Everyone laughed and cheered him on by giving him our loudest claps after the song. Even the other Italian diners joined in the happy atmosphere by clapping and smiling. Never have I felt such warmth and happiness from a simple dinner and therefore, I feel that the Italians are really friendly and that made the Tuscan dinner really memorable.
B1) Cont'd
ReplyDeleteChinese restaurant in Milan:
I didn’t really enjoy the experience of this Chinese dinner as compared to the Tuscan dinner. Having been in Europe for so many days and eating like spaghetti and grilled fish/chicken/beef almost every meal, I got really tired of those food and finally in the sixth day, we had a Chinese lunch! I was really excited and looking forward to it. Indeed, the food was really tasty, perhaps due to the fact that I have been craving for it for long, but mainly because it didn’t tasted weird and had Singapore taste to it as well. However, the atmosphere was really noisy in the restaurant because of other tourists, which were mainly from China. There was a lot of commotion going on and I personally do not like it when people produce too much noise while eating. In comparison to the Tuscan dinner, that dinner was not exactly peaceful but at least the atmosphere had warmth and friendliness to it. It was as if everyone were long lost friends that had gathered for a nice meal together. The waiters and waitresses were not exactly friendly or smiley but they just carried out their task properly. The food arrived really fast and I think that is another satisfactory thing about dining here. My overall rating for this restaurant would be around average because I think service has a really important part to play in dining businesses and that waiters should express interest in their jobs by putting on frequent smiles and go beyond the limits of just delivering a simple dish of food to their customer’s table.
A1) The 2 novels that I read were "Thieves Like Us" and "Epic" by authors Stephen Cole and Conor Kostick respectively.
ReplyDeleteAlthough based on different genres, both stories by authors Stephen Cole and Conor Kostick of novels “Thieves Like Us” and “Epic” respectively tend to display similar characteristics in their styles of writing. A third person perspective is often used, with an alternating perspective from one character to another. A main character is always evident in both novels, however, allowing myself to have a clearer picture of the story as the plot progresses. The main character is mostly what the plot revolves around and without them the novel would be baseless, having no foundation. For a story to be captivating, the plot would have to be constructed well with the help of characters such as protagonists and antagonists. Both novels did not fail to deliver this, with the author focusing on the conflict between the two parties. The more heated the conflict, the higher the climax goes, making the story more interesting.
As both novels take on an unrealistic view that is solely based on the authors’ imagination of the plot, such as a futuristic world and a crime organisation, the themes have to be as simple as possible, so that the story does not become too unrealistic. In both cases, the authors handled this very well and the plot turned out very orderly, having a climax, twists and even cliffhangers, allowing the reader to have the urge to carry on reading to find out how the plot progresses.
Although similar in many ways, both novels also have much difference in the authors’ style of writing. For instance, the introduction of the characters and how they are portrayed throughout the book is different. In “Epic”, the characters are not dwelled on so much apart from the main character, having no change in their roles throughout. However for “Thieves Like Us”, Stephen Cole focuses a lot on each and every one of his characters, even leaving cliffhangers as to whether the character is actually a protagonist or antagonist. This I believe is a great way to captivate the reader even more. On the other hand, more imagination and creativity can be seen the Conor’s style of writing as compared to that of Cole. It helps the reader to expand his/her level of imagination, thinking of how one thing in the story would seem in real life, making the reader step out of his/her comfort zone.
Both novels have similar traits in some ways and also differs in the style of writing in many others. Each has its own pros and cons but in all, much knowledge could be garnered from reading them.
B2) The 2 restaurants that I visited were Swensens at Parkway Parade and Macdonalds Jurong on the 22nd of December and 13th November 2012 respectively.
ReplyDeleteBeing 2 very well known restaurants across Singapore, with MacDonalds as a fast food chain and Swensens as an ice cream parlor, the customer service must surely be up to standard. Macdonalds, like any other fast food restaurant would require that the customer line up to order their food from the counter before proceeding with the payment once the order has been finalized. Swensens on the other hand, with waiters at the customers’ service would attend to the needs of the customer, such as myself. With the presence of friendly waiters, the meal would be much more enjoyable as all one was required to do was to lift his/her hand for any assistance. This would allow them to sit comfortably in their places instead of going through the hassle of getting in line and having to wait for their turn.
However, on this one occasion when I visited a particular Macdonalds restaurant at Jurong, standing by itself in the middle of a park, the service given to my family was much different. As we were in a big group of around 20 people, the manager personally came out and handed to us menus of the different food items that they had. This was a surprise as it was definitely the first time we were treated as such in a fast food restaurant. This shows that the staff at macdonalds had the initiative and good customer service to be able to do as stated, as not only will it be a benefit for us, but also to them. If we had lined up as we usually did, the queue would then be clogged up due to our large order that they expected.
Although the customer service at Swensens showed nothing new, at least it was still keeping up its standard of training their staff to exude good customer service such as by being polite and taking care of their customers needs.
As such, since both restaurants have different ways of serving their customers, each one has its positive remark and that I have received good customer service from both.
Lian Kay Xin of 1C/12:
ReplyDeleteA1) Both novels have totally different settings from what we experience in the world today. In the book “Z for Zachariah”, it was about how a girl survived after a Nuclear War which affected her neighbourhood and her family. The other dystopic novel was “Brave New World”, which told the story of how life would turn out to be when technology was abused to maximise consumerism and happiness.
In the first novel, the writer revealed a lot about the characters from the perspective of the girl in the story. What she felt, what she thought, were all made obvious by her interaction with another man in the novel. Being the only person left in the valley, her anxiety and excitement was clearly portrayed when she learnt that a man had come to her valley. Her confusion about whether he was a good man was really intense. Her feelings were so real, even I tasted the fear towards the end of the novel. In the second novel, the writer described his characters in a straightforward manner, writing exactly what they liked or disliked, their behaviour and how they would react to a certain situation. I thought that the personality traits in the characters were consistent and no matter how they changed, they still fall back on it.
The plot of “Z for Zachariah” had a little twist towards the end and I was quite taken aback. The author wrote the novel in the form of a diary and it was quite interesting to read it like that. Lots of metaphors were also used to describe the things around the girl. The girl kept bringing up the past in her diary, which informed the reader about her background. I felt that this way of writing the novel kept the reader wanting to go on to find out what’s next. “Brave New World” had a lot of foreshadowing and irony throughout the novel, which kept the reader entertained and anxious to read on.
On the whole, I felt that both writers had done a commendable job in writing their story, It felt very real reading those, especially “Z for Zachariah”. In the “Brave New World”, the writer had come up with numerous interesting ways of how technology could be used, and also modified some of those which are already existing. All in all, it was intriguing to read these 2 novels. The descriptions inside the novels were fantastic and as I read, I could picture the scene in my head.
B2) The two restaurants are Tony Roma’s at Sussex Street, Sydney, and Idle at Demsey Hill which I visited on 19/11/12 and 22/11/12 respectively.
ReplyDeleteIt was my first time in a Tony Roma’s restaurant outside of Singapore. I was greeted by the never-disappointing Baby Back and the mouth-watering Grilled Corn. It was also my first time at Idle@Demsey and I was pleasantly surprised with the delicious food and excellent service. The food at both restaurants were distinctive in its own style and taste. Tony Roma’s sells American food and is famous for its Ribs. The Baby Back there was nicer than Singapore’s, be it the taste, texture or sauce used. The corn was buttery and the aroma it gives off is simply too tempting for one to resist. The food in Idle was Italian and the Mushroom Spaghetti was the best one I have eaten so far. The chicken and the beef were tender and juicy. If I really have to make a choice, I would say that the food in Tony Roma’s was more satisfying.
The service in both restaurants were better than average, but I would like to especially commend the service at Idle. It was my birthday when I had dinner with my family there. When the waiter knew about it, he requested for the live band to sing a birthday song for me. Also, they had been very friendly and concerned about us too, asking occasionally if we still needed anything else. The service in Tony Roma’s was not bad too, with the waiter and waitresses smiling away and attending to our requests.
The ambience in Tony Roma’s was calming and the decorations were beautiful, giving one a cosy feeling. However, it was a little warm and stuffy inside, and it would have been much better if the temperature was a little lower. The ambience in Idle was good as being located at a quieter part of Singapore, the live band really lifted the spirits of everyone with the songs they sing upon request. Also, the advertisements on the television inside the restaurant about their food were successful as it kept my family and I waiting excitedly for the first dish to arrive. On the whole, the experiences in both restaurants were rather positive, with both good food and service.
Oliver Cheok of 1B/12:
ReplyDeleteA1) The two novels that I am choosing to write my review on are Looking For Alaska by John Green as well as The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger, two of my favorite books ever.
Review:
Looking For Alaska, the 2006 Michael L Printz Award winning book, is a book in which the author, John Green, portrays Miles Halter, a fatalistic teenager and his path to maturity. Likewise, The Catcher In the Rye by JD Salinger, winner of multiple prizes, in my opinion depicts a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield his pessimistic worldview and his journey to adulthood.
The one thing that struck me when I reevaluated and compared these books, which I had read years apart, was the numerous similarities between the main characters, Miles Halter and Holden Caulfield.
First of all, both main characters start the novel seeing the world in dark light. Miles Halter is a fatalistic teenager obsessed with last dying words, the new kid at a boarding school in Ohio, having left his old school as a friendless outcast. As such, he expects nothing more in his new school. As he put it ‘Things never go like how they do in your head.” Similarly, Holden Caulfield constantly makes remarks criticizing the world around him making out that the world is against him and that one thing or another is phony.
Both characters yearn for affection. Holden wants a relationship like that he had with Jane, thus going on a date with Sally Hayes, whom he admits is phony, resulting in him insulting her. Miles, on the other hand, is simply too afraid of rejection, which explains his ecstasy when Alaska starts showing interest in him.
In this aspect both characters are very different, Miles embraces Alaska and holds her close but Holden refuses to make a connection. Subliminally, Holden uses this as a form of protection from getting hurt, as we see Miles getting hurt when Alaska dies. At the end of the novel, Miles comes to believe it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all while Holden believes the opposite.
Both teenagers are molding their own view on life. Miles wants to find out whether the ‘labyrinth of suffering’ is life or death, or as Shakespeare put it ‘To be, or not to be’. The question that Holden is dealing with however, is whether or not to resign to maturity or cling to being childlike, although he is insistent that the answer is to fight adulthood.
In his own way, each teenager is dealing with loss; Miles with the loss of Alaska, and Holden with the loss of adolescence and immaturity. The end of each novel tells us the conclusions that either character reached. My interpretation of Miles’ essay on philosophy is that he realizes that death is an essential part of life and that our days are only numbered to make them that much more precious. Holden starts the novel with childish illusions and his two days alone in Manhattan serve to break those illusions, though he still desperately clings to them. In this, and all other aspects, both books act as bildungsromans, chronicling the inevitable path to adulthood that each teenager will have to take.
All in all however, Looking For Alaska is definitely the better read because one can more easily relate to the main character and it will definitely leave the reader thirsting for more!
Oliver Cheok of 1B/12:
ReplyDeleteB2) The two restaurants are La Croix in Barcelona, Spain as well as Chan Café, also situated in Barcelona Spain, which I visited on the 19th and 24th of December respectively.
Review:
I may not be a great man in a great many aspects, but when it comes to food, boy can I eat! The case is especially true when delicious food presents itself. The two restaurants in question can both be considered to be unorthodox in the sense that you would not exactly expect to find something from their culinary genre in Spain. Let me explain.
La Croix is a French restaurant that was owned by an Asian family. And as if that was not enough, it was situated in Spain! I guess you could call that irony. On the other hand, Chan Café is a mainstream Spanish cuisine restaurant. Well, it would have been if not for the fact that the restaurant was run by an Indian family. I could go on and on about globalization and how the whole world is shrinking but I am sure that none of you foodies out there would be interested in any of that. Am I right? Regardless, on with the review!
At the doorstep to La Croix, my family and I were immediately graciously greeted by a waiter who tried to converse with my father in Mandarin. Personally, I am strictly monolingual. My father however, is fluent in Mandarin; only not the sort of Chinese that this gentleman was speaking. I was to later learn that the waiter was speaking Mandarin in a Spanish accent!
Anyway, we were ushered to our tables soon after ordering, a plate of what I believe was the tiniest sandwich I had ever seen was brought to the table and set right in front of me. I had ordered what I believed to have been a burger. The portion size was absolutely terrible! Not to mention the ‘meal’ took over half an hour to arrive. What can I say, reduce the portion size by half, double the price, give it an exotic name and provide tiny napkins and you have got yourself a gourmet French meal mister!
On the other hand, my visit to the Chan Café proved to be much more satisfying. I was eating on my own on this occasion. This time there was no doorman to usher me to a table, no pretentious tablecloths and candlesticks and most importantly, no overpriced, undersized meals! In short, it was everything a meal is supposed to be.
I ordered myself what I can only describe as heaven on a plate. It was absolutely sublime. It was assorted meats ‘pan’, which is a type of traditional sandwich in Spain made with baguette bread. The warm meat lying on the baguette, toasted slightly to a golden brown tasted heavenly on my tongue, especially when treated to the picturesque view of a gothic-looking cathedral opposite the road. I felt like crying when I had finished eating this work of art. And then I consoled myself by ordering and devouring two more such sandwiches.
All in all, if the reader has any sense whatsoever, it must be pretty obvious that the clear choice of restaurant between La Croix, the pretentious tiny-meal restaurant and Chan Café, the unorthodox Spanish-Chinese slice of heaven is definitely the latter. It almost makes me feel like hopping on a plane just to have one more sandwich. Or twelve more sandwiches. That works too.
A1) The 2 poems are Dusk by Aaron Lee Soon Young and Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
ReplyDeleteReview:
Dusk is a poem that gives off a mysterious yet not dark, solemn yet not glum vibe. It is as the title suggests, a description of the “magical hour between the day and night”. It brings the reader’s attention to this time of the day where most people have no knowledge of or are not interested in, simply because it is not safe to go out during this time or it is time to recharge our bodies. Solitude, on the other hand, is depressing as it compares companionship and loneliness, one line after another. The emotions of the author are clearly expressed through this poem and it is clear that the author has gone through or is going through “narrow aisles of pain” when writing it. Both poem use relatively simple words but the authors are able to put them to good use. When reading dusk, it is as though the words are painting pictures right in front of you. The author’s use of personification and imagery attributes a lot to this. Examples such as “before the window of / dawn / cracks open” and “as each street-lamp / oasis of light / passes by” provide readers with many ideas, evoke images and allow us to experience the emotion of the scene as well. For solitude, the author uses contrasting adjectives such as “rejoice”, “laugh” as compared to “grieve” and “weep”. Even without reading the title, one is able to tell that even though the author is describing the advantages one would have when they choose the road that attract company, they are really nothing but superficial relationships. Most people would “shrink from voicing care” when one needs help.
I applaud the author for writing Solitude, as it took me 2 lines to find the poem interesting. The theme of the poem was evident and I love how she manages to contrast the content into two extremes, and yet the emotions that one gets is the same. It is a deep and insightful poem that is sadly true about the relationships we are having now. However, having said that, I do not agree with every word that the author wrote as there are some people who would go through your sadness with you. There may not be many but having one such friend is like finding a treasure. Dusk does not evoke as much emotions but I do like the change of tone in the poem from calm to something more thrilling. I am greatly intrigued with the phrase “there will be time / enough / for you and I to speak”. This may be the purpose of his poem, which is a message that he wants to convey to someone else.
Overall, I enjoyed both poems and appreciate the writers for letting me gain a new insight. I was able to feel for them and they allowed me to get into their world.
B1) The 2 Restaurants are Triple 3 at Mandarin Orchard Hotel and Canton Paradise at 112 Katong which I visited on 1st December and 15th December respectively.
ReplyDeleteReview:
Going to Triple 3 and Canton Paradise, one can expect to have different experiences. Triple 3 was an international buffet that offered Japanese and Western dishes while Chinese cuisine was the main focus for Canton Paradise. Triple 3 had a quieter ambience and those who wanted a quiet but pleasant meal would greatly appreciate it, while Canton Paradise was more family oriented and this is a time where families and friends can let go and bond together through food. Both had food that was mouth-watering and delicious but also some which were unimpressive and forgettable. The seafood from Triple 3 was fresh and savoury, not to mention the Teppanyaki which was outstanding. From Canton Paradise, the Sichuan spicy soup was as good as the original while the custard bun was surprisingly sweet and tasty.
The service from both restaurants was also exceptional. The waitresses were friendly and polite. The waitresses from Triple 3 took customers a tour around the whole buffet and introduced the food that they offered that day. They were highly efficient when we needed any help or make changes to the food. In particular, the chef agreed to make a new sushi set as some of my family members could not eat wasabi. In Canton Paradise, the waiting time for the food was short despite it being very crowded and the food arrived one after another, making sure that no one had to wait for the next dish to arrive. Along the way, there were some miscommunications between the waitresses as they had delivered the wrong item, but it was quickly resolved.
Both restaurants may be different in their choice of food and ambience but they delivered when it came to their speciality and a good service to top it all gives customers a very pleasant and enjoyable meal.
A1) Comparing 2 Poems
ReplyDelete1) Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
2) Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
Both ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ and ‘Fire and Ice’ by Robert Frost are short poems, however, despite their length, they are able to reach out to people and bring out the importance of their messages.
In ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’, Robert Frost makes use of nature, ‘Nature's first green is gold/ Her hardest hue to hold/ Her early leaf's a flower/ But only so an hour’, which everyone can notice and learn about, to describe how the gold in our lives never last for eternity. He also cleverly weaved in the story of Eden, where everything was perfect and calm if the rules were being followed, but it was human nature that made it crumble. In this eight-line poem, he managed to convey and convince readers that it is only natural for ‘gold’ not to last for eternity, that the happiness and glory in our lives fade away, allowing readers to reflect whether they have treasured those important and brief moments in their lives.
In ‘Fire and Ice’, Robert Frost uses the two stark different objects as symbols of desire and hate. By this, he means that the world will come to an end because of desire and hate, and that we humans are the one destroying our own world, not the natural disasters that bring about the literal fire and ice. He also adds some irony by saying that if the world were to end twice, the first would be caused by fire, and the second by ice – capturing the readers’ attention and telling them the world ending by freezing is more of a joke than reality, bringing out the fact that the world will be destroyed by passion and love.
The two poems, both written by the same poet, uses simple English, there is hardly any word that any English speaker would not know the meaning of, but the meaning and message of the poems are very impactful and strong. The two poems also use symbolism – with the colour gold in nature representing happiness and glory in ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ and fire and ice representing desire and hate in ‘Fire and Ice’. Although both poems give out a certain message and direction for the readers, it also leaves some space for the readers to think about and consider changing their mindset towards live.
B1)
ReplyDelete1) 1 Market by Chef Wan (Plaza Singapura)
2) Window on the Park Café Restaurant (Holiday Inn Parkview)
The two restaurants I visited are 1 Market by Chef Wan in Plaza Singapura and Window on the Park Café Restaurant in Holiday Inn Parkview on 17/12/2012 and 24/12/2012 respectively.
Both restaurants are buffet style, and the prices of both are quite similar (around $40 per person). It was my first time at both restaurants and I think both restaurants are good in very different ways.
While 1 Market by Chef Wan is a very big restaurant with many cooking stations, Window on the Park is a very cosy and small restaurant with only one cooking station for pasta. Because of its size, 1 Market had an advantage over the variety of food – from Singaporean, to Indonesian, to Japanese and Western. On the other hand, Window on the Park only served mostly Western with a pasta station and a small spread of Japanese sushi. 1 Market also gave a wider range of drinks as it had a drink machines beside the eating area with more than 10 choices of drinks, while Window on the Park only served Coke and Sprite apart from the usual coffee, tea and water.
Comparing the two in terms of ambience, 1 Market was slightly more crowded and noisy, and had more big groups of company gatherings than small groups of families; however Window on the Park was quieter and calmer.
Although both restaurants featured good service, the Window on the Park provided more efficient service, especially in the clearing of plates, which the 1 Market lacked in despite their number of staff working as waiters/waitresses.
Since both restaurants served different ranges of main dishes, I will only compare the desserts that the restaurants provided.
Something in common that both restaurants served was Waffles. Both restaurants provided ice cream, however 1 Market only served one flavour – Vanilla, while Window on the Park gave a range from chocolate to strawberry and coffee. The 1 Market Waffle lacked in the texture of the waffle, it was rather rough and was not crispy enough to match with the softness of the ice cream, however, Window on the Park served Waffles that were crispy on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside, complementing the texture of the ice cream they served.
All in all, both restaurant are distinct and have their own positive/negative factors, but it is sure a must visit to both to try their different types of food!
A1) a Review of two poems
ReplyDeleteThe two poems are Sleep-stealer and The Champa Flower, extracted from Rabindranath Tagore’s collection of poems The Crescent Moon. Details can be found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/tagore/cresmoon/cm08.htm, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/tagore/cresmoon/cm17.htm
Review: Two poems that I read are Sleep-stealer and The Champa Flower. There are many similarities and differences between them. As The Crescent Moon is a collection of poems on children and childhood which is Tagore’s own experience, it mainly represents the love in children’s lives. Both of the two poems show the faith in humanity as well as the love between mothers and children. In The Champa Flower, the child wants to do something for his mother. Supposing to be a flower, he hopes to protect his mother’s eyes by “fling his wee little shadow on to the page of her book, just where she was reading”. However, he is also very naughty that he would not tell his mother where he had been. This portrays a naïve child with imaginative thoughts. In Sleep-stealer, the mother wishes her baby to have a good sleep. Finding that the baby is still travelling the room over on all fours after the mother came back from work, she felt that there must be a ‘sleep-stealer’ and she “would raid her nest and see where she boards all her stolen sleep, plunder it all and carry it home”. This portrays a worried mother as well as shows the beauty of nature by describing the scenery of where the sleep-stealer lives. As for literary techniques, Tagore uses metaphor and personification for both two poems. In Sleep-stealer, the writer assumes that there exists a stealer with magic and wings; in the jungle, “the crane stood grave and still in the swamp; in the meanwhile the sleep-stealer came, snatching sleep from baby’s eyes, and flew away”. In The Champa Flower, as a flower, the writer “shook in the wind with laughter and danced upon the newly budded leaves”.
B2) a Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteThe 2 restaurants are Dio Café and Chubby Lamb Hotpot Restaurant in China which I visited on 21st Nov. and 14th Dec. respectively.
Review: Dio Café is a western restaurant providing western food mostly while Chubby Lamb Hotpot Restaurant is a famous Chinese restaurant providing lamb hotpot. As western restaurant usually has a tranquil environment so that people can chat or talk about business while eating dinner or drinking coffee, Dio Café has a dark-green-based decoration style. There are many small boxes as well as swing chairs with a seating capacity of less than four to provide people a more comfortable and private zoon. There is even a pianist performing piano songs to make the Café more warm and kind. However, for Chinese restaurant, it is quite different. People love to stay together, talk loudly and drink bear while eating. Thus Chubby Lamb Hotpot Restaurant has a rather clamant environment. The colour is very bright inside. There are many round tables with a seating capacity of more than six. There are even some gers in the restaurant being as boxes; a whole family can have dinner inside enjoying a rather quiet and private time. Dio Café provides mostly western food such as spaghetti, beefsteak and salad while Chubby Lamb hotpot restaurant provides hotpot with meat (mainly lamb), vegetables and noodles. Besides, people in Chubby Lamb hotpot restaurant must poach the fresh food themselves. Waiters in both restaurants will take food for you. However, waiters in Dio Café are more friendly and responsible comparing with those in Chubby Lamb hotpot restaurant.
A1)Comparing two poems
ReplyDeleteThe two poems that I have read are “A Tear and a Smile” by Khalil Gibran and “The Road not Taken” by Robert Frost.
One major difference between the two poems would be the way that the poets bring out their main ideas. In the poem “A Tear and a Smile”, the poet stated at the beginning paragraph that “I would not exchange the sorrows… To flow from my every part turn into laughter” and “I would rather that my life remain a tear and a smile”, which showed his attitude towards the up-and-downs in life a clear and certain way. With each sentence in the form of “A tear… A smile…”, the poet created a sharp comparison between “tear” and “smile” and each of their meaning to him. After expressing his own feelings, the poet chose flowers, waters of the sea as well as the clouds to make analogy, further proving his point, which stated at the beginning, that life is about “A tear and a smile”.
However, in the poem “The Road not Taken” starts with a portray of the two roads and the poet’s hesitation of which path to go. The poet described his thoughts and made the decision that he “marked the first for another day.” Until here, the second last paragraph, the poet has not clearly shown his main idea. But in the last sentence, he gave us a tinge of hint that “…I took the one less travelled by,/ And that has made all the difference.” to illustrate his proud of his bravery of being an explorer and a pioneer.
The two poems also have different literal styles. “A Tear and a Smile” has a very clear structure. The use of parallelism could be seen throughout the whole poem: each of the three analogies is in the same format and end with related interpretation of “a tear and a smile”. “The life of a flower is longing and fulfilment./ A tear and a smile” would be an example. In contrast, “The Road not Taken” is more free in structure and it is more of a narrative tone. However, differs from the first poem, this poem is more particular about rhyme, like the first paragraph which ends with “wood”, “both”, “stood”, “could” and “undergrowth”. This is not an obvious feature of the poem “A Tear and a Smile”, however.
These two poems are both about the poets’ understanding and philosophy of life, but they give me totally different feelings in terms of contents. From “A Tear and A smile”, I feel the sense of peace and beauty in the poets’ mind. For “The Road Not Taken”, I feel the struggle and uncertainty that the poet faced when making his choice.
B1)Comparing two restaurants
ReplyDeleteThe two restaurants that I visited were “Cuisine Town” and “Ji Zhi Dao” Korean Cuisine, both located in Nanchang, Jiangxi province in China.
Being in the campus of a university, the environment of “Cuisine Town” was quiet and clean with simple decoration. Initially, it aimed to provide food of good quality to the experts or VIPs in the school. However, more and more people outside the school go to this restaurant due to the recommendation from friends who went to this restaurant. As a result, most of the consumers have known the employees of the restaurant quite well, so the service was in a casual way and waiters did not have to wear uniforms. Also, the service was quick basically.
For “Ji Zhi Dao” Korean Cuisine restaurant, it is in the middles of a busy small street near a junior college and a university. About 80 percentages of the consumers are students, so the price of each dish of food is not very expensive. For example, one service of beef rice cost S$3. Judging from the interior decoration, it could be a good place to go if you want to date someone when it is not so crowded because it created a romantic and relax atmosphere with the use of purple and light yellow colour. However, I went to this restaurant at noon when many students went there for lunch. It was basically offering self-service: I was asked to write down things that I wanted by myself. As the restaurant was quite crowded at that time, waiters were also very busy and I waited for about 15 minutes for my portion. There was a child who looked like about 5 years old helped to serve.
As for the experience of tasting the food, the specialty in “Cuisine Town” restaurant was “Southern Jiangxi Cuisine”. I ordered tofu, fried fish and fried duck, which all had the common feature of spicy and a bit salty. The condiments were chili, garlic and a bit of wine or beer but hardly any spices were used. Also, there was other food under the category of “Nanchang Local Food” provided.
As a Korean restaurant, “Ji Zhi Dao” offered Korean food as well as other kind of food. I ordered Bibimbap with chicken and vegetable, a kind of special Korean dish served in a huge bowl. It looked colourful and beautiful on the menu. But when the dish came to me, there were only small pieces of chicken, cucumber and carrot and rice in the huge bowl. I was quite disappointing as I did not know how to describe that kind of taste – not spicy or sweet or anything. There was probably no source or any condiments as I could only taste the cucumber and carrot and rice if I had closed my eyes. It tasted just too plain and it was the kind of flavour that would make me lose my appetite. I also ordered milk cucumber juice, which I found was a good mixture of the favour of cucumber, milk and sugar as it had a light smell of vegetable and was not so sweet at the same time, but I could still feel the rich taste of milk.
In conclusion, I would recommend a friend to go to “Cuisine Town” if he likes spicy food or some special Chinese food. For “Ji Zhi Dao”, it could probably be a good place for you if you want to have a cup of drink in a lazy Sunday afternoon.
A1) Two books. Both by Ian Rankin. “Tooth and Nail” and “The Black Book”
ReplyDeleteImagination inducing. By painting vivid pictures of Scotland and the thinking of the main protagonist of Edgar Award Nominee Ian Rankin’s most famous character Inspector John Rebus, Ranking creates a solid base upon which his series of Rebus novels rely upon. This base allows readers to envision the land from which Rebus comes from, his daily life and his way of thinking. The reader is provided with an image of who and where but the details of John’s life are weaved into the story line in a manner that makes it all too easy to make the book become a movie in one’s head. Many say the good books do so, but I believe that great books allow readers to envision their own interpretation of the scenery and the story. Rankin does this superbly in his Rebus novels making each novel a worthwhile read even if the storyline is below par. His novels were a real pleasure to read as they always set me thinking. “Who is this character? Why does Rebus hate him so much?” and weaves images into my mind with great detail and as I found out with some help from Google, with great accruracy too.
Between the two books that I read, The Black Book is significantly better in terms of the story line. Tooth and Nail seems to get lost in the gore and in the James Bond-esque sex scene between Rebus and a co worker. The Black Book is like a good perfume, balancing various emotions and auras to produce a wonderful fragrance that proceeds to create many more emotions after the first sniff. Tooth and Nail is cut from the same cloth but the way the events are represented do not have the same impact and thus does not invoke as many thoughts as the black book. Rankin uses simple descriptions to recreate a complex masterpiece of scenery and crime. Rebus’ supporting cast of criminals and fellow coppers are each given a unique personality. Some are recovering from recent injuries tenderly and cautiously, some are searching for help and companionship but instead get lost in the troubled land of sex, drugs and booze but all seem to share a tendency to posess secrets that are brutally exposed as Rebus sets about cleaning up the mess made by the criminals. His fellow cops meanwhile either love Rebus or hate him and aptly so. The man is not even for a moment portrayed as once who is willing to cede for others. He does what he wants to do.
The man himself, Inspector John Rebus, is a Scottish man scarred by disastrous relationships, troubled times in the SAS and his own failures in his job is an enthralling character who captivates the reader with a mix of aggression, arrogance and secretiveness. Rankin doesn’t spell out the links between multiple characters and their storylines in the book but it becomes increasingly evident as time goes by. Of the books that I read, the common writing style was to have one main antagonist and a storyline which is somehow correlated to other side stories and individuals who appear in the series of Rebus novels. Rebus himself seems to be attempting to portray himself to his colleagues as a man who is more than capable of being a lone wolf. He has an aura of confidence which papers over a broken and damaged character, hurt by family members and broken by the job that puts money on the table for him. His colleagues seem to lack trust in him but whatever small bit of trust they place in him, Rebus more than repays by solving cases with great aplomb. He seeks success in all that he does and never gives up in some of his endeavours.
Rankin succeeds in providing superb tartan noir that brilliantly recreates a typical, gruff Scottish man in his homeland. His writing style makes me think of a man who is juggling various objects and keeps on adding to what he is juggling before providing a climatic ending to the show. Rebus meanwhile intrigues me with his complex character whilst keeping me engrossed in his battle against the Scottish underworld. The Inspector Rebus series is one which I definitely intend to revisit.
A. two novels
ReplyDelete1984 and animal farm, two of George Orwell’s finest work, astonished and inspired me just like they did for millions of people over decades. 1984 depicted a society tyrannized by the Party with its totalitarian ruling. Tyrannical government enforces oppressive surveillance, public mind control and even persecutes independent thinking as thought crime. The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is an outer party member, who works for ministry of truth, which is ironically responsible for propaganda and revising history. However, Winston secretly detests the party and dreams rebellion against the Party. In 1984, George Orwell described how Winston from a person with independent mind, a minority, is remolded into one of the integrated masses. This transformation is more terrifying than the physical torture. Animal farm has similar theme, which is dystopia. While in animal farm, George Orwell described the uprising of animals in a farm where the animals were enlightened by the senior pig, old major. He and his animalism, advocates a farm that run by animals themselves, dreamt of the parasitic human could be expelled. The animals successfully won their revolution, but as power demanded pig Napoleon get into the stage, animal farm has been controlled by dictatorship and the maxim of animalism “all animals are equal” also turned into “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others.” George Orwell is intended animal farm as a satire of Russia revolution. Both novels are political allegory. 1984 further elaborates on politics principles, while animal farm has a more interesting story. There is such slogan in 1984 says, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.” This might sounds absurd to readers at first sight, but in the novel, George Orwell had made it perfectly correct and the ideology of totalitarianism is revealed fully in 1984. In animal farm, the plot is clearer. The development of plot is smooth and intriguing. After reading every chapter, I can’t wait for knowing what will happen in next chapter. The plot of 1984 is also attractive, but it’s more about the development of thoughts of the protagonist, and it’s more philosophical. Character portrayal wise, animal farm did better for its intended reflection of real politicians. As novels, I prefer animal farm.
B. Two restaurant
During the holidays,I've personally visited two restaurants, Ma Maison at the Central and Brotzeit at the Star Vista.
These two restaurants specialize in different cuisines and both of them are finely prepared. Ma Masion is a restaurant that offers unique Japanese-style Western cuisine. Dishes such as the squid ink spaghetti and hamburger steak are their signatures.In contrast, Brotzeit serves authentic German food. Their pork knuckle was carefully toasted to give max gustatory pleasure.Sausages and German salads also have an authentic taste.
The service provided in both restaurants are good and polite.However, Ma Masion offers a more unique way of paying bill. The customers would receive a old-fashioned key when calling for bill and they need to bring the key to the service counter and the stuff there will help you produce the bill.That was an interesting experience for me.
Huang Guandi of 1A/12: A 1) Two poems of Tagore
ReplyDeleteThe poems I read are The Further Bank and The Last Bargain which are from Rabindranath Tagore’s collection Crescent Moon. The Further Bank portrayed a child’s pure and naïve wish of being a boatman on a small river and staying with his mother. The Last Bargain is a poem that expressed a worker’s experiences and choices in four transactions. Several differences of the two poems are about general scenery, writing sight and main purpose. The first poem has a single and complete portrait of a certain place which is a peaceful small village, but the second one does not describe certain location but several changing scenes. The Further Bank was written in a child’s sight because the poet supposed himself to be a kid. But in The Last Bargain, the “I” in poem became a worker. The most important difference of the two poems is that The Further Bank’s language style is neat but simple and clear like a true boy’s talking. This poem did not emphasize a main idea or theme. It is more like a pure expression of some wishes and thoughts of a small boy. However, The Last Bargain clearly told Tagore’s pursuit of being free. He said, “But his power counted for nought, and he went away in his chariot,” when he met the king with sword. He said, “He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away,” when he refused an old man’s money. He said, “Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the dark,” when he saw the fair maid who wanted to hire him by her smile. He turned down the temptation of power, money and beauty and finally became free in the last bargain with a boy of nothing. Tagore did not want to be the slave of the first three things and pursued mental freedom. The two poems also have some common characteristics such as they were both written in separated sections with key sentences at the end of every section, they both emphasized a significant specificity of pure and innocence of children, and they both told poet’s wish of free and peaceful life.
Huang Guandi of 1A/12: B 1) Two restaurants I visited
ReplyDeleteThe two restaurants are Welcoming Restaurant (WR) at Hongdu North Avenue and Hunan Beef Rice-Flour (HBRF) which I visited on 14th Dec and 19th Dec respectively. These two restaurants are very characteristic in food style and taste because one of them has typical Southern-Jiangxi food while the other is the perspective of Hunan’s eating habits. Generally WR has more options in menu than the other because WR is a composite restaurant with hot and cold dishes but HBRF only focus on rice-flour and noodles. WR provides various food materials such as many kinds of potherbs and poultries. To my surprise, its greatest specificity is that the cook can make dishes of many different styles using the same material. The simplest vegetable can be boiled, fried, used as attached material in big dishes, or stewed in soup. Meat such as duck even has almost ten methods to be cooked. It is a very impressive creativity and imagination in food making. HBRF does not have that variety in food, but it has lifted its cooking of rice-flour and noodles to the top level. In its classic beef noodle, the beef is very fresh and soft but completely cooked, not like the raw fresh meat in western food. It is spicy but does not disgustingly fire people’s tongue. Noddle is not boiled with beef in a same pot. The beef pot has some ginger pieces and parsley leaves in it. I believe no one can make a better beef noodle than that.
As for the service, HBRF is a very small eating place which belongs to a single person, not a company or corporate chain. The person needs to be the cook and the table cleaner at the same time. Only some of his family members are helping him collect and count money. However, WR as a true-called restaurant has more assistants and waiters. Obviously HBRF’s service is not as good and complete as WR’s, but in fact I did not feel more uncomfortable eating in HBRF. All in all, food quality for a restaurant is always the most important part.
Joy Lee (1A)
ReplyDeleteA1) Princess Academy to River Secrets
Both books talked about the main character finding their self worth in their society and because they found out what they were good at, they were able to save those around them. This is a common theme in Shannon Hale’s books as she never fails to include this theme of self-identity in all her books, showing the growth of the character. This theme is especially close to the hearts of many teens as they go through a stage of building their self-identification.
However, I liked River Secrets more than Princess Academy because the plot was more interesting, suspenseful and magical.
At the start of River Secrets, Hale tasked Razo to solve the mystery of the burnt bodies. This sparked of my detective instinct as I followed Razo, discovering more burnt bodies as we scouted around together. The book kept me in my toes as Razo found more burnt bodies as the day of the voting for or against war draws near. Talone wanted to call off Razo’s mission of finding the culprit of the burnt bodies as Tiran was likely to vote for going to war again.
The suspense was killing me when Razo thought that Ledel, Tiran’s troop leader, was a fire burner but was disproved by Enna and Dasha that he was not like Enna. Hale made me believed that Ledel was a fire burner and let out the obvious evidence that he was not a fire burner that made me crave to know the real culprit. The mysterious culprit of the burnt bodies was only revealed when Razo and Dasha were caught by Ledel when they were scouting around. Fortunately, Enna and Finn arrived in the nick of time before Razo was about to be burnt by Ledel’s men. Enna and Dasha combined their gifts of fire and water respectively to fight the newly-taught Tiran burners, adding in the element of fantasy with characters having elemental powers. The mystery finally unfolds where the burnt bodies were actually Tiran soldiers that were learning fire-speaking but burnt themselves to death instead. Ledel wanted to use this to spark another war between Bayern and Tiran. This twist of events was unexpected as Hale tricked me into thinking that there is a powerful fire burner just like Enna instead of the unsuspecting Tiran soldiers that burnt themselves because they did not learn fire-speaking correctly.
As compared to River Secrets, Princess Academy did not have the suspense and action that I hoped for. At the high point, the bandits kidnapped the girls at the academy and Miri narrowly escaping death with her kidnapper. Hale focused more on bringing out the Academy girls’ feelings in the climax rather than the suspense of what is to come. I empathize with the girls and in turn made me worried for the girls which compensated a little for the lack of suspense in the climax.
Joy Lee (1A)
ReplyDeleteB1) Pizza Hut's Hawaiian Pizza to 12 inch Pizza Records
I am comparing Pizza hut’s Hawaiian pizza to V hotel’s duck pizza, an all time favourite pizza verses a fusion pizza.
12 inch Pizza Records is located at V hotel in Lavender. It is set up by the Timbre Group. The Timbre franchise offers their specialty, Duck Pizza in a faux disc menu. The roasted duck was complimented with a special sauce, Hoisin Sauce, instead of the normal tomato sauce. Crispy fried popiah strips were scattered generously on top, going well with the richly-flavoured duck and some garnishing to balance the sweet sauce and roasted duck. The signature pizza at 12-inch Pizza Records was not a disappointment if you are one that loves exotic pizzas. The fried popiah strips gave the pizza the extra crispy texture.
As compared to the adventurous duck pizza, Pizza Hut’s Hawaiian pizza was a choice that could not go wrong. The pizza has retained the juiciness of the pineapple which complements the saltiness of the mozzarella cheese and ham. And all the toppings were still piping hot, especially the cheese that melts in your mouth. It definitely did not disappoint the Hawaiian pizza lovers with the generous portion of toppings.
Pizza hut’s Hawaiian pizza is thick pan pizza that is the total opposite of the 12 inch pizza. What I liked about Pizza Hut’s pizza is that the bread is baked perfectly with a golden brown crispy outer layer while maintaining the soft and white inner layer. 12 inch pizzas are known for their thin crust, with a biscuit texture.
Overall, I still choose Pizza hut’s Hawaiian pizza over 12 inch Pizza Records any day because I prefer Hawaiian pizza to the funky roasted duck pizza. And I prefer thick pan pizza to skinny pizza because I like the taste of bread. However, I am still game for more interesting fusion pizzas as an alternative to my all time favourite pizza, when Hawaiian Pizza gets too boring for me.
B1) The 2 Restaurants are 4 Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant at Joo Chiat Road at and The Café Cartel at 907 East Coast Road on 3/12/2012 and 22/12/2012 respectively. The most obvious difference between the two restaurants was that The Café Cartel was a chain of restaurants and was much larger in scale, as compared 4 Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant which only has one branch, and this definitely affected the food, service as well as overall feel of the two restaurants. I personally preferred the ambiance of 4 Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant, as it had a more homely feel due to the dim lights and cozy space. My family was greeted by warm smiles the moment we stepped in, which was already a good start to any dining experience. We were attended to immediately, and the waitress proved to be very well versed as she rattled of a list of their recommended dishes when we inquired. The Café Cartel sadly proved to be less satisfactory in service. Due to going there at the peak period, the atmosphere was rather cold, both in the literal and figurative sense, the service was rather slow and we had to signal a few times before my friends and I got the waiter’s attention. What was heartening though was the waiter’s politeness and enthusiasm in serving us.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how good a restaurant’s service is, without mouthwatering cuisine it wouldn't be on our “Recommended” foodie list. Having been to Taiwan recently and tasted authentic Taiwan food, we had high expectations for the dishes from 4 Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant. Luckily, the food was though not exceeding, but meeting our expectations. We ordered Minced Pork Rice, Chicken and Mushroom Mee Sua and XL Chicken Cutlet, dishes which we had often in Taiwan, as well as a unique dish – Olive Fried Rice, a recommendation by the waitress. In addition, each of us ordered a cup of Bubble Tea, the defining drink of Taiwan which has already made its way to the Singapore shores. The Bubble Tea came in large glasses, more than enough for two people to share. It was certainly refreshing but the tea had an overpowering taste for Honey Red Tea and Jasmine Green Tea, and given the choice again I would rather opt for the Bubble Milk Tea, which had just the right mix of milk and tea. An overall favourite was the Minced Pork Rice, as we were given generous helpings of flavourful Minced Pork, and ironically this used to be a poor man’s dish in Taiwan! Cafe Cartel didn't fare too badly for their food as well. We had Pan Fried Linguine, St Louis Pork Ribs and Fish and Chips. Both the Pan Fried Linguine and Fish and Chips have their pros, and it was not too oily and the fish was light and crispy. However, what was most impressive was the St Louis Pork Ribs. The meat was juicy and tender and our choice of Honey Glazed Sauce complimented the ribs perfectly.
Shawn Ho Cheng Ying of CG 1C/12
ReplyDeleteA1) A review of 2 Novels (The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell) (WARNING: SPOILERS):
Two famous novels of the 20th Century. One, the quintessential 'Great American Novel', ironically being arguably one of the most famous criticisms of American society and the idea of the 'American Dream'. The other, a classic depiction of an totalitarian dystopia, to the extent that referring to something as 'Orwellian' is a synonym for that something being authoritarian. As I got down to read these books, I focused on understanding the ways that the authors handled the themes and the characters in them. Comparing this would be the main focus of my short review.
Both books are very dependent on the context behind the time period when these books were published. The Great Gatsby was written during the 'Roaring Twenties', when the American economy was experiencing unprecedented growth and the 'American Dream' seemed very much alive. In contrast, Nineteen Eighty-Four was written towards the ending days of the Second World War, where it became increasingly apparent that a cold war would emerge between the capitalist West that was weakened by the devastating impact the war had on their economies and the increasingly influential Soviet bloc. Both authors dealt with very pessimistic themes, Fitzgerald with what he perceived to be the decline of social mores due to the greedy pursuit of wealth that came about in the aforementioned 'Roaring Twenties', and Orwell with what he perceived to be governments taking away basic rights of the people, including the right for an individual to think for him or herself. Both authors take great pains to explore the themes, especially through their characters.
In the Great Gatsby, many times the wealthy were depicted as either being full of themselves, viewing themselves to be of higher social standing than others, and having to flaunt their own wealth to differentiate themselves from the poor. Most of them are also depicted as being of questionable moral standing. The wealthy character Tom Buchanan drinks alcohol regularly during parties despite the ban on sale of alcohol at the time, and is in an affair without the knowledge of his wife Daisy. Interestingly, the titular character, the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, appears to be an exception, despite his wealth being obtained via illegal means, including the selling of alcoholic drinks, Gatsby is depicted as being upright, sober, and a very moral and determined person, qualities that allow people to empathise with him. His dream of being with Daisy leads him to pursue wealth, and that ultimately led to his downfall,when he realises that his dream could not be realised. This allows the reader to understand what Fitzgerald viewed the 'American Dream' as having become – a materialistic pursuit, full of greed and leading to the decay of morality in America.
In Nineteen-Eighty-Four, the Oceanian government, effectively the Inner Party, prevents people from expressing their thoughts by limiting their outlets of expression of emotions, from limiting the vocabulary of the English language to such an extent that there no longer exists words for the expression of ideas, to retrospectively 'changing' the events of history such that it leads to the vindication of the Party, to the excessive surveillance of the educated Outer Party members. The protagonist, Winston Smith, who works for the Party as an Outer Party member, can be empathised by the readers as he attempts to rebel, and ultimately fails and is brainwashed, and this allows readers to realise the dangers of authoritarian governments, as George Orwell wanted to show.
Ultimately, what makes these novels classics is how the writers created characters that were easy to empathise with, and through that, deal with the pessimistic themes and make them palatable to even the most optimistic of people.
B1) The 2 Restaurants are Outback Steakhouse at Millennia Walk and Zhi Char Stall at Tampines Round Market (Block 137) which I visited on 16th December and 22nd December respectively.
DeleteAs my family and I entered the Australian-themed steakhouse, I noted that the ambience definitely seemed like that of a pub of some sorts. I took a seat and after careful consideration, I ordered a 6oz steak lunch set that comes along with a side (I got mashed potatoes), the soup of the day (basil tomato soup with other vegetables), and a drink (I got some iced lemon tea). My mother got the pork chop set which came along with fries that she was kind enough to share with me, and my father got the same set as me, except that he ordered baked potato instead as his side dish. As I awaited the soup, we treated ourselves to some sweet bread that looks like a brown baguette but is definitely softer. I expected a crusty outside that would make a mess of my shirt, but thankfully that was not the case.
The basil soup was definitely tasty, it left an after-taste that I thoroughly enjoyed, and in all honesty, I felt was the highlight of my meal there. Not that the other dishes were any bad, but the soup was just that good! After I finished my soup, I had to wait a while before the main dishes were served, so I had to wait the time off by drinking my lemon tea (which was clearly brewed, so that's a plus).
Finally the main dishes arrived. I had my steak done medium as I preferred it, but it seemed a tad too pink for my liking. Still, it was not too bad, and the mashed potatoes that had herbs and other ingredients stuffed into it, definitely was a good side dish to have my steak with. The fries that my mother so generously shared with me were crispy and very tasty, and all the food left me pretty full. Or at least full enough for half the remaining afternoon.
Time-warp to 6 days later. The Zhi Char stall that I went to was somewhere I've been to since I was a child, but I still come back for more now and then. My parents ordered the usual fare, 3 dishes and one soup, often what is traditionally considered to be a complete meal for a Chinese dinner. First dish to come up was the soup, with egg, minced meat and vegetables, followed by sambal kangkong and the rice. This was followed up with some tofu with gravy and anchovies and coffee pork ribs.
The dishes were like the perfect match to the rice, the gravy mixing well with every single scoop of rice and the sambal kangkong amplifying the taste with a fiery kick. Each bite of the pork ribs was delightful (and fattening) and the soup cleared the throat with a satisfying after-taste. That, to me, is what makes a good zhi char meal.
Now, it may seem unfair to compare a steakhouse with a zhi char stall, and in a way it is like comparing apples to oranges. Even so, people have their preferences between apples and oranges (I personally prefer oranges). Now, there's no doubt, both meals were very satisfying, but if I had to make a choice food-wise, I'd pick the zhi char store, just because of the many years I have grown to love that very zhi char stall. Ambience-wise, you might think that the air-conditioned steakhouse would win out. I beg to differ. The very essence of eating at a hawker centre is the atmosphere, the smells of different food stalls preparing different dishes, it creates an effect that a restaurant couldn't boast. Still, a nicely decorated, air-conditioned restraint feels nice to be in, especially if you just entered facing the scorching sun. Service-wise, the steakhouse wins out because of the professionalism of the staff. Overall, I would lean towards the Zhi Char stall as being better and definitely worth a visit, but I would also recommend the Outback Steakhouse. Especially if they serve the basil soup. Now that is good.
The 2 series of novels that I have read are "Harry Potter" and "The Codex Alera". Both novels tell the story of small boys who are raised far away from their true path in life, their true destiny. They are raised not knowing the true purpose and nature of their birth. In "Harry Potter", the story tells of a boy who is raised without parental love, care and concern. When he turns eleven, he has to face the truth that he is a wizard, and later learns that he has to lead the entire wizarding world against the Dark Lord Voldemort. Along the way, the challenges he has to face come in the form of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, and even in the form of the rest of the wizarding world that refused to place their trust and faith in him. "Codex Alera" tells of Gaius Octavian, who was raised in a steadholt, far away from the city of Alera and away from his destiny as heir to the House of Gaius and rightful successor to the throne of Alera. When he learns about his birth, he assumes the role of the Princeps to the throne and proves his worth by leading his soldiers successfully against the first wave of Vord, and also by making peace with the Marat and the Canim, two clans who used to be enemies of Alera. I recommend these two series of novels as they will make a good read.
ReplyDeleteI have modified a part of the novel to include Octavian(Tavi)'s possible feelings of insecurity and inability to kill. I adapted these two themes from William Golding's "Lord of the Flies", seeing that Tavi is a young adult as well.
Tavi stood on the crumbling wall, the last defence that the old, ruined Canim city had, staring out into the open, but his eyes unseeing, his mind blank and oblivious to the surrounding clatter of hooves and the clash of steel and claws. His blood was pounding in his head and he was desperately praying that this battered old Canim city would hold out against those invincible Vord. How odd, he thought. Just about a year ago, he would have raised his sword against the Canim, seeing as they were the enemy. Now, however … He suppressed a smile as he thought what Kitai would say. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Nowadays, he was more accustomed to making peace treaties and agreements with the Canim than waging war on them, to the extent that he was becoming slightly Canish himself, his actions and body language becoming feline-like. He shuddered at the thought that even an Aleran-Marat-Canim alliance stood merely the chance that they themselves stood at the moment.
ReplyDeleteHis line of thought was broken for a moment as he whirled around and held out his sword to block a deadly slash from one of the Queen Vord. Tavi struggled to keep his mind free of thoughts, seeing as the Queen Vord would “hear” it all. He brought down his sword in a mighty blow that meted out a fatal injury to the mighty Vord Queen. Tavi took a step back and slashed his sword menacingly to mask the insecurity and revulsion that he felt. The Vord Queen looked so…human, that Tavi nearly apologised for hurting her. He was revulsed at what he had done. Here he was, given his young age, drawing blood and taking lives of other creatures. This happened every time. And every time he convinced himself that he would soon get accustomed to these feelings that come with war.
“That’s right, you should feel bad for doing this to a fellow living creature,” came a drawling voice to his right. Tavi parried a blow from the Vord Queen through sheer reflex and saw that she was getting to her feet. He steeled himself, and told himself, “This is for Alera, and this is my duty to my people, as Gaius Octavian!” He thrust forward his weapon, which pierced the steely armour worn by his foe. The Vord Queen fell to the ground, coughing blood and clutching her bleeding wound as the last of her life left her. Tavi immediately saw the effects of killing the leader of the Vord, as the other Vord all stood blankly, anticipating orders from their queen, but in vain. They all fell, one by one, as Aleran, Marat and Canim warriors stood shoulder to shoulder, wielding their mighty swords. Tavi realised, though, that these warriors wielded something stronger than steel, sharper than the blades of their swords. They were spurred forward by their own wills, by the strength that comes with the responsibility of protecting their people, sacrificing their lives if need be.
At that moment, Tavi felt a warm, soft, comforting hand on his shoulder. Kitai. And he knew, at that moment, that she was thinking the same thing as him, and that she was proud of him. Proud of her "chala”.
Arjit Pandey of 1C/12: A2) The Percy Jackson series
ReplyDeleteA2) The series of book, which I read was the Percy Jackson series. I read the first book was read in January 2012 and the last 4 books were read in November 2012.
Prologue: The Percy Jackson series was written in first person. The usage of ‘I’ subconsciously made me feel like I was part of the adventures, journeys and world of Percy Jackson, a Greek Demigod, who is a son of Poseidon (the Sea God) and a mortal woman (Sally Jackson). The Author of the books (Rick Riordan) also managed to make the character more realistic and relatable by giving Percy imperfections, such as ADHD and Dyslexia. His failures and inabilities throughout the five books allowed the readers to be more engaged with the story and the character. As a reader, when I was reading the books, I started feeling as though these incidents were a real recount of what had happened. This feeling was only possible because of great details and links formed between real world incidents and the incidents of the book. Riordan’s style of writing allowed me to learn more about writing effectively.
Short Story:
ReplyDeleteLaura’s eyelids snapped open. Her vision was nothing more than a blur and her eyes hurt because of the white light shining down at her mercilessly. She felt drained and a burning sensation ran across the left side of her lifeless body. Laura was unable to move even a finger without experiencing unbearable pain. When her vision sharpened, she decided to try to look around without moving her head. Pearl white walls and a mess of equipment, which was alien to her, surrounded her. To her right, there was a tubing connecting a bottle filled with a colourless liquid to what she felt was her right wrist. To her left, there was a machine displaying spikes at timely intervals. It too had cords sticking out of it, but Laura could not sense where it was attached. Even though Laura could not make sense out of the complex machinery surrounding her, it did not take a genius to figure out that she was in a hospital. She could hear a muffled noise of a crowd outside, whom she believed, were related to the others who were affected by the same accident that she was involved in. At the thought of that incident, she shut her eyes as tears formed and rolled down her temple to the pillow sheet, turning that spot from white to grey.
It was a Tuesday morning of the 11th of July. Laura was pacing around her father’s car, a brick-red Suzuki Swift parked outside their flat. “Hurry up papa! We’re going to miss the train!” She called out to her father who was huddling out of the elevator with two suitcases, one in each hand. Behind him, was Laura’s mother carrying Laura’s younger brother.
“We won’t be late, dear. Take your bag and put it in the car first. I will come in a while.” Laura’s father handed her a suitcase that was put it in the car immediately. She waved to her mum and her younger brother and sat in the rear seat of the car. Her father kissed her mother and brother and brisk walked to the car, afraid that his daughter might start complaining again.
“Time to go.” He said as he turned the keys to rev the engine and drove off. Laura was visiting her paternal grandparents in New Delhi with her father. It was the first time that she was going to board a train and that too at the busy platform of Mumbai Station, which as far as she knew, was one of the busiest in India.
As expected, when they arrived at the station, it was filled with scores of rushing and impatient people. They squeezed through the crowd with great difficulty. Laura’s father had to ensure that their luggage did not get stolen and that Laura was not lost in the crowd. She sensed the difficulty for her father and decided to hurry to the train without stopping to get distracted. Her hand slipped out of her father’s hand and she hurried to one of the train’s car. “Laura! Stop! Wait for me!” Laura’s father exclaimed.
“Hurry papa!” She said as she turned to face her father. Suddenly, a bright light shone and she felt extreme heat envelope her and a deafening sound knocked her out cold. She could have been sure that it was bomb detonating. But everything happened so quickly, that the next thing she knew, she was on the hospital bed.
When Laura snapped out of her flashback, she saw her mother, who was carrying her younger brother in her arms. “Where is –“ Laura stopped when she noticed that her mum started tearing and pressed her hands against her face.
Soon enough, Laura’s mother broke the news that her father had been killed by another bomb blast at the same location. No one knew exactly how he had been killed because no one saw. But that day, Laura and her mother wept for hours, while her confused younger brother looked around the room, trying to figure out what was happening.
Arjit Pandey of 1C/12: B2) A Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB2) The 2 Restaurants are The Manhattan Fish Market and Sushi Tei at Bedok Point and Downtown East respectively which I visited on 22nd December and 19th November respectively.
Review: As the name suggests, the Manhattan Fish Market specializes in seafood dishes, which are tantalizing to the taste buds. When I first entered the restaurant, I was put off by the cramped spaces as the tables and chairs were placed quite close to one another. This was also the case for the Sushi Tei restaurant in Downtown East, even though it was larger in size. In fact, I had to wait for a reasonable amount of time even before I was shown to my seat because the queue for the restaurant was quite long and the restaurant was packed with hungry stomachs. But I would not blame that on the services of the restaurant, of course. In terms of services, I believe that the service of the Manhattan Fish Market was better than Sushi Tei. However, generally, the services of both the restaurants were rather good. The waiters in the Manhattan Fish Market seemed to be more responsive and friendlier as compared to those at Sushi Tei. This was perhaps because Sushi Tei is largely based on self-service (getting your food yourself), while the Manhattan Fish Market was not. So, on the whole, I appreciated the service at the Fish Market more than that at Sushi Tei. With regards to food, it was a close contest. The fish from the Manhattan Fish Market was simply amazing and it made me crave for more when I reached home. It seemed to be cooked very well and was very juicy. The large variety of sushi in Sushi Tei made it hard to choose which to try. I ended up trying quite a few number of sushi, which all tasted so different, yet so good. The sushi at Sushi Tei was also slightly more delicious when compared to the fish at the Manhattan Fish Market. So, both restaurants were worth the visit and while the Manhattan Fish Market’s service was better, Sushi Tei’s food was more palatable
A1) The two poems which I've read are “Gypsies” by John Clare and “The Vagabond” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Both poems deal with people that live outside of society and lead a wandering life. However, the poems differ greatly in the tone as well as the theme of solitude. “Gypsies” take on a more solemn tone, and the poet has sympathy for the gypsies and the solitary lifestyle from the rest of society, “a quiet, pilfering, unprotected race”. Personification is also used to paint a clearer picture of the loneliness of the gypsies. “The snow falls deep; the forest lies alone”. In the first line of the poem, Clare already sets the setting of the gypsies’ whereabouts to be in the middle of a forest, where it is only them and the wilderness. Unlike “The Vagabond”, in which Stevenson celebrates the life of vagabonds with an enthusiastic tone, “There’s the life for a man like me,/ There’s the life for ever.” Solitude here is much welcomed to the extent of wanting it to last. To complement the tone, rhyming is also used in every stanza, with words such as “love” and “above”, and “field” and “yield”, in the alternating lines, to make the poem catchy and cheerful.
ReplyDeleteAnother comparison point between the two poems would be the portrayal of hardships and the attitude towards it. The hardships of the gypsies are well illustrated, using words such as “tainted mutton” and “squalid camp”, to show the poor living conditions for the gypsies all alone in the cold. Even the “half wasted dog” who is craving for food, can’t have any as “none a bit can spare”. The gypsies have no better alternatives for food, and they have to scrimp and save every morsel of meat. Even proper meals don’t come easy, and life is a struggle to them and they are barely making through each day. “The Vagabond” acknowledges the hardships in the life he leads, “biting the blue finger”. During autumn, when the weather starts turning cold, the vagabond doesn’t only have trouble keeping warm, but also his meals starts being a problem. “white as meal the frosty field”. The whole field is covered snow and the crops are unable to grow, and one source of the vagabond’s food becomes unavailable. However, his spirit can be seen as despite all the hardships, the vagabond refuses to be deterred. “Not to autumn will I yield,/ Not to winter even!” He faces each challenge head on.
Aleysa Shaeba John
ReplyDeleteSection A
The two novels that I decided to review are ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R. Tolkien and ‘Black Swan Green’ by David Mitchell. These two novels are very different. The former is a fantasy novel written in the nineties while the latter is a contemporary novel. However, both stories are character driven. The Hobbit is about Bilbo Baggins, the eponymous Hobbit, who decides to embark on a quest to help Thorin Oakenshield and company regain their homeland from a vicious dragon. Black Swan Green is about a teenage boy, Jason Taylor and covers thirteen months of his life.
As the Hobbit was originally a children’s book, it is easier to read than Black Swan Green. The style of writing is smooth and flows well, and it is easier to read. Black Swan Green is also more or less smoothly written, however it contains many emphatic sentences, the meaning of which is difficult to deduce. Furthermore, the Hobbit is a more fulfilling read as there is a quest which is eventually completed. Black Swan Green, in my opinion does not give you the same sense of satisfaction upon finishing it, as the climax is not as exciting as one might have hoped.
However, the themes of the respective stories come across very clearly in both instances. In The Hobbit, the themes of bravery, loyalty and friendship are clearly illustrated in the relationship that the dwarves have with each other, and with Bilbo. The theme of mercy and moral courage also comes across when Bilbo decides to spare the creature Gollum’s life, an act that would go on to have significant consequences in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, of which the Hobbit was a predecessor. Black Swan Green is a coming of age story. One theme that stands out in this book is social segregation. The author illustrates this through the way the boys in the society interact. The way they are addressed is also telling in which ‘class’ the boys belong to. The author illustrates this potentially deep theme in simple ways by using a group of schoolboys and girls to get his point across.
Both books offer a different reading experience. The authors have handled the content of their story well and have written books which can make an impact on people, although for very different reasons.
Section B
ReplyDeleteThe 2 restaurants I visited were Barossa and Wall Street Bistro, on November 12, 2012 and 24 December 2012. I preferred the latter, both in terms of food and service.
Barossa is a restaurant located in Esplanade and it serves fairly standard Western food such as rib eye stakes and pasta. Wall Street Bistro is located in Siglap and it too has a similar menu. My experience at Barossa was a fairly average one. The food was rather steeply priced and I did not think that the quality of the food tallied with the high prices. The service was also average. However, I felt that the staff could have been friendlier and should have been more precise with their orders. For instance, the pasta that I ordered was cooked al dente and I was not informed that I had a choice between having my pasta cooked al dente or well done. The food was served in large portions, perhaps to cater to its mainly Western clientele, who are used to having bigger meals than what is usually served in restaurants in Singapore.
Barossa, however, pales in comparison to Wall Street Bistro. Even though it is located in a slightly out of the way area, it is well worth the journey. As we went there on Christmas Eve, there was a special Christmas menu, which was delicious. The owner himself came to our table and told us exactly what and how much to order. He was spot on as the amount of food was exactly enough for my parents and I. He even customized the size of some of the dishes so that the amount of food would not be excessive! When the food arrived, he personally served it to us, which is unusual in Singapore restaurants. The food itself was of the highest quality, and the prices are reasonable as well. I would thoroughly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for high quality dining without having to go into central Singapore.
Section A (Short story):
ReplyDeleteA very unlucky man
The old man sat on his rocking chair, eyes focused outside the window. It was, as usual, all fun and joy outside – children playing with skipping rope, mothers and fathers having a stroll, teens skating, playing basketball.
His deeply wrinkled face displayed no emotion. His eyes, once a stunning blue, had faded to that of a sad grey. Arms, once muscled, strong and controlled, now bagged at it’s lack of use.
His house was a gloomy place.
The front garden held the smell of rotting flowers.
Creepers crawled around the chipping walls.
Doors covered with rust.
Once upon a time, this house was all love and laughter, like all houses.
Once upon a time.
The ghost of a smile crept onto his aged face as he remembers the happier times, lighting up his lifeless eyes by just a bit.
He made his way to the kitchen. It was time for his medicine.
He pushed back his rocking chair.
The rocking chair did not move.
Something must have caught there, he thought. The old man bent down and grappled at it.
It was a roll of film.
The old man peered at it suspiciously. How did it get in here?
Nobody ever visits my house.
The supposedly still film suddenly began to quiver, the tiny boxes within it transforming into colourful little pixels.
They then split themselves into sections, arranging themselves systematically. In a steady rhythm. The old man’s eyes followed the pixels as they scurried around the box.
He squinted, searched for his glasses and slapped them onto his face, hurting his nose in the hurry.
What he saw was a young boy.
A very young boy, about five or six, bouncing a red ball. The boy’s body was in tune to the bouncing, chin bobbing up and down, lips quivering at each bounce, eyes tracing the movements of the ball. Even his smile was in tune to it – baring uneven white teeth.
The old man smiled. It was him – him when he was seven years old. Him when he got his first toy.
He was so pleased then, wasn’t he?
However, he lost his toy a week later. A bigger boy snatched it away from him.
Right then the picture started arranging itself again. He was slightly older, perhaps about eleven or twelve. This time the boy was walking up a stage, a very small, very old-fashioned stage. The boy received a prize – a box of crayons.
The old man smiled again. He got first in his whole level for Maths, he remembered, but sadly he had to drop out of primary school two months later. The Germans bombed where he lived. He lost his mother and brother like that.
The box started to rearrange itself again.
It was him holding a woman’s hand. She was beautiful – gold eyes, brown hair, a slightly freckled face.
She was his wife.
His beloved. The only woman he ever loved.
She passed away five years after their marriage because of an epidemic. He wanted to commit suicide, but he dreamt of her the very night she died.
She told him to live on, to be happy, to remarry.
Of course he never did.
This time the old man wept.
The old man was angry. In his rage he tore the film with whatever strength he had. God hates me, he thought, God must hate me.
I was a good man. I took care of my parents. I cared for my siblings. I was a good husband. I still love my wife.
Whatever did I do to deserve God’s hatred?
He wept and wept and wept.
The old man started to choke. He could not catch his breath. He could not stop his tears. His lungs felt as though it was being torn apart. His heart beat faster and faster. His hands and feet began shaking uncontrollably.
“Old Man living in run-down house at Bermuda Street discovered dead. Cause of Death: A broken heart. Police suspect foul play, but no evidence in sight.”
Ng Ning of 1C/12
ReplyDeleteB1)The two restaurants are: Kenny Rogers Roasters and Sushi King at Jusco Malaysia, which I visited on 24th December 2012.
I dined at Kenny Rogers Roasters in the morning when the restaurant had just opened. It wasn’t a pleasant dining experience. Despite the fact that Christmas is just a day away, the restaurant wasn’t nicely decently decorated, and the surroundings were very boring. The lack of a Christmas ambience made me become quite doubtful and skeptical about their service. Sure enough, the waiter who served us looked rather sleepy and sluggish. The radio was playing heavy metal music, which did not quite suit the atmosphere of a restaurant. I think they should at least play some Christmas carols. I ordered a plate of Sunshine Sandwich Toast with fresh fruit salad, but it ended up with Coleslaw which wasn’t fresh and didn’t taste of special sauce at all. The toast looked toasted but it was neither hot nor crispy.
Later in the evening, I had dinner at Sushi King. Compared to Kenny Rogers Roasters, it was nicely decorated, giving customers a comfortable festive feel once they stepped into the restaurant. The waitresses were bubbly and very helpful and they made an effort to repeat and confirm our orders before leaving. They seemed more devoted in their job than the waiter at Kenny Rogers Roasters. It wasn’t long before our dishes were served. I thought that was quite efficient and quick of them. My dish was Zaru Ramen with cold roasted sesame sauce. I thought that the sesame sauce tasted really nice and without it the ramen would be extremely plain and hard to eat. It is a dish that is really worth trying. The waitresses were always walking around so they are easily available when we have a request. The green tea was constantly refilled. The service here is comparable to the service I received in Japan. I left this restaurant, satisfied and pleased with the service and food.
The two novels I read are: A wrinkle in Time (science fiction) by Madeleine L’Engle and The Alchemist (fantasy fiction) by Paulo Coelho.
ReplyDeleteA wrinkle in Time opened up an idea of the "Tesseract" - aka, the fifth dimension, in which a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points. What is, then? Read the book and find out. However, this book is not just about ideas of science and math, there was also love.
The characters were so real - Meg, Charles Wallace, Calvin O'Keefe, each having different strengths and weaknesses, just like us humans. I could identify with every one of them, I felt Meg's panic, Charles's pride and Calvin's joy. It was a beautiful tale which played the idea of time very well, thus inspiring me to write "A very unlucky man".
The Alchemist, meanwhile, was an equally lovely story about a young man named Santiago. His love of his life - Fatimah inspired me to insert a woman in "A very unlucky man". Theme of the story? It was mainly about finding one's destiny. Therefore, I moulded my story into that of a man who could not find his destiny due to too many losses- resulting in the death of a broken heart.
A1) The two novels read were The Sister Diaries (TSD) by Karen Quinn and Nevermore by Kelly Creagh.
ReplyDeleteThough both books have completely different plots, they have a common theme –Love. “Nevermore” is a book about love between two teenagers who are awfully different while “The Sister Diaries (TSD)” revolves around familial love; between three sisters who are left to decode their famous mother’s will and work things out together.
In “Nevermore”, main characters, Isobel Lanley and Varen Nethers, live extremely different lives until they get paired together for an English project. Isobel Lanley appears to be your typical popular cheerleader – blonde and pretty, with a good-looking football playing boyfriend, a shot at Cheerleading Nationals and a circle of tight-knit friends. Varen Nethers is, on the opposite side of the spectrum, your typical goth kid, complete with dyed black hair, pale skin, a morose wardrobe and an imposing “stay away” attitude. Never did they think they would encounter speaking to each other, let alone falling in love!
In “TSD”, it’s the complete opposite. Three sisters, Amanda, Laura and Serena, never thought they’d be enemies! Daughters of Sunny Moon; they are good-looking, well-educated and sought after by almost every man alive. After their mother’s death, they are left with her will which does not distribute her belongings and $20,000,000 property equally amongst the sisters. This leads to much spite and chaos between the trio who were once the best of friends.
Both authors use extremely good vocabulary to express the feelings and thoughts of their well-crafted characters. Their diction is funny and interesting and every page leads on to a more crazy and suspenseful one. The thing which differentiates a good book from a better book, to me, is the author’s ability to create original characters or go against stereotypes, which I think Kelly Creagh did beautifully. Instead of being mean and nasty like normal gorgeous cheerleaders are expected to be, Isobel is sweet, loving and caring. I liked seeing her as a different kind of heroine; the kind who will get herself into trouble but persevere to get herself out of it without any help. Author, Creagh, also made Isobel chase after Varen though normally, the hero would go after the heroine. This made the book unique and memorable because it was not something that many authors would do. This swap of roles made the story more realistic and hilarious.
Karen Quinn also based the appearance of her characters on stereotypes but proved them wrong via their unique personalities. She teaches life-lessons through the actions and decisions of certain characters, something which “Nevermore” failed to do. As a reader, such lessons enable us to see the importance of certain chapters or areas of the book and help us appreciate it more.
Though both books were extremely enjoyable, I would recommend “TSD” over “Nevermore” simply because “TSD” is something I could read again and again, however “Nevermore” is followed up by sequels, so re-reading it wouldn’t be fun.
Both authors use good grammar, funny incidents and some profanities here and there just to spice up their books and I would definitely read more of these author’s books in the future.
B1) The two restaurants I visited were in Thailand, “Banana Leaf” in Silom Complex and “Fifth Avenue” in MBK Shopping Centre.
ReplyDeleteThailand is famous for its traditional spicy Thai food and I was lucky enough to try some out during my vacation in the beautiful country.
I ordered Thai food in both restaurants and there was quite a huge difference in the service and quality of the food. I enjoyed my dining experience in both restaurants, but “Fifth Avenue” provided shorter waiting time, more variety and better food.
The waiters in “Banana Leaf” were efficient, however, they were not proficient in speaking English, which made it difficult to order dishes and communicate with them. My father had a more difficult time because being vegan, he needed them to follow strict dietary restrictions (no meat or egg), however due to the language barrier, he found meat in his food and could not enjoy his meal.
Opposite to this, in “Fifth Avenue”, chefs spoke adequate English and did not take more than 5 minutes to provide us with our food. Also, they recommended specialities and even made special dishes to cater to my father’s needs. The staff at “Fifth Avenue” were a little nosier, but that just added on to the hustle and bustle of the restaurant and hearing them speak Thai made me more interested. Also, they openly showcased their cooking styles, so as to entertain their customers during their waiting time. I felt that this was unique and certainly made my stay at the restaurant more enjoyable.
Overall, the food quality was also better in “Fifth Avenue”, including the quantity and presentation of the food.
I enjoyed eating at both the restaurants, but would rate “Banana Leaf” with 3.5 stars and “Fifth Avenue” with 4.5 stars.
B2) The two restaurants that I visited was in Australia and Singapore, named Transport Public Bar and Aston’s Prime Steak House respectively.
ReplyDeleteI take the chance on my holiday to Australia to sample their home-reared angus beef. In interest I tried a middle grade $39 porterhouse steak (300g) at Transport Public Bar, Melbourne, to compare it to a Singaporean equivalent, savoured at Aston’s Prime Steak House. In this battle of tastes, I compare the two restaraunts under two main criteria, namely: food and service. A pre-meal research on both eateries have showed that they both serve Australian grain fed angus porterhouses, giving the Transport Public Bar a home-ground advantage.
Australia goes down one star as I encounter the first let down in service. In comparison to Singapore’s efficient serve time, Australia suffers from a lack of waiters (although having an overpopulated bartending workforce) and a ridiculously long wait time before the food is served. This is, however, compensated by the comparatively friendlier service. Patrons of the Bar are allowed to walk in and choose their own spaces and seats to settle down, saving the hassle of having to wait for a waiter to source for a vacant seat and sit you down, like in Aston’s. Also, all the staff in Transport greet their customers with a permanent smile, and with a little continuous and non-disturbing chatter, lightens the atmosphere in the restaurant. This gives the air a refreshing and relaxing feel.
Next, the most important aspect—food. The first cut of the beef gives the first impression. The Australian chef obviously did a good job, flaunting a perfectly medium rare steak, whereas Aston’s beef came out a little overdone. This provides a softer and more succulent texture to Transport’s beef. One aspect of food that is rarely considered is the water they serve. As odd as it might sound, Transport’s lemon-sprigged water actually gave a little more acid which complimented the porterhouse’s heavy and fatty flavor. Transport is now in poll position in terms of food. Now, a clash of the flavours. The Bar served its beef with a sweet sautéed onion sauce while Aston’s came with a classic mushroom gravy. Both are splendid sauces that go well with beef and enhancing its taste. For Transport’s beef, the spice of onions blended well with the black pepper seasoning to give it a unique and balanced taste. T Aston’s porterhouse, was a little too salty with the mushroom sauce and salt&pepper seasoning. With all this factors, Australia flaunts a big win over Singapore.
Considering that both restaurants serve exactly the same type and grade of beef, Singapore has lost out in both food and service which gives Transport Public Bar my earnest recommendation for meat-lovers out there who are on holiday to Melbourne.
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ReplyDeleteA3) The two poems that I read are The Raven and Dulce Et Decorum Est. The Raven can be found at http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/poe/raven.html and Dulce can be found at http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html
ReplyDeleteThe former speaks of a man bereft of love who hallucinates after losing his loved one. The latter tells of a worn and cynical soldier who fought in war and warns of the lie of a Latin saying.
For the general structure of the poems, The Raven is written in mostly trochaic octameter, with an inconsistent rhyme scheme, while Dulce is written loosely in an iambic pentameter, with an ABAB rhyme scheme.The Raven, notable for its melodic and dramatic qualities, contrasts with Dulce, which subtly partitioned into four parts. Both poems demonstrate effective use of rhymes and repetition to emphasize a particular feeling felt by the character. For example, the repetition of “nothing more” at the end of stanzas in The Raven translates the loneliness experienced by the writer, while in Dulce the repeat of “drowning” in the second stanza brings out the shock and horror experienced by the soldier as he watched the scene. Both poems also uses onomatopoeia to engage the reader’s imagination of the scene being portrayed, such as “rapping” and “tapping” in the first stanza of The Raven along with a description of the type of rapping and tapping being one “on my (the author) chamber door”, developing the sound aspect of the scene. In line 7 of Dulce, “hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind” describes the “hooting” or in other words the rumbling of the guns behind the soldiers trudging back to camp, giving the reader the impression of a deafening battleground.
From an objective point of view, the story of the raven could seem like a weary, lonely, love-sick, old man talking to himself. However, Poe was magnificent in making use of this simple scene to serve his purpose. The character in the poem at first experiences a quiet and tranquil night forged by his silent worrying and exhaustion. Then, Poe uses the entry of the raven and its catch-phrase, “nevermore” as a cause for the character’s self-reproaching dialogue with himself, developing the sentiments Poe is trying to let the reader feel. For Dulce, however, Owen splits his poem into four parts with the first three explicating different aspects of the war, namely: the state of the war-worn soldiers, the gas attack, and the scene of the dead soldiers. Owen makes use of vivid descriptions of the horrifying scenes, capitalising on the element of terror to shock and scare the reader into understanding his message. Within the poem, he also makes use of the poem The last part of his poem is Wilfred Owen’s personal warning, the message behind the entire poem, “The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori,” or “ it is sweet and right to die for your own country”. With this line, Owen condemns war and the propaganda set out by governments who seek war. It is only through the revelation of the last part that the reader fully understands the message brought out by the poem and this is an interesting plot device used by Owen.
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ReplyDeleteB2) Swensen's vs Jerry's at Jalan Kayu
ReplyDeleteSwensen’s has long been the default choice for many families looking to dine at a simple western restaurant. The general ease in finding a restaurant nearby, the great tasting desserts and their wonderful milkshakes have all earned the chain its status. The reason why I do not point out any of the main courses amongst the reasons for people to head to Swensen’s is simple. Their main courses are often below par. It seems as though the company got caught up in attempts to expand and thus doesn’t have too many properly trained chefs in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter what doneness of meat I ask for, my steak often arrives at my table as either an uncooked slab of beef or with a doneness approaching well done. A restaurant that sells western food and yet cant even cook a steak properly is a disappointing site. On top of this, the menu seems to be on a general decline. Their new dishes aren’t enticing. In all honesty if I really wanted Char Kway Teow, I wouldn’t be going to Swensen’s. I would much rather go to a hawker centre for that. Plus at least in a hawker centre I can rest assured it will be properly cooked. The staff are relatively friendly though some of them seem to have a very cold stance towards customers by preferring not to interact too much with the customers. The saving grace for the restaurant is its desserts. Their ice creams and milkshakes are wonderful ways to end off a meal and some even consider it worthwhile to drop by at the restaurant just to end off their meal. Their starters are good too with the traditional favourites of fries and calamaris being well executed whilst my personal favourite would the cheesy mussels. It’s a shame that the main courses on offer are so weak when the supporting cast is punching well above its weight by being the main draws to the restaurant. Recent events have shown however that its about time Swensen’s got itself sorted as the competition, as ever, is heating up.
In terms of head to head competition, the clearest contender would be Aston’s a similar western restaurant that has garnered popularity and is now common all around the island state. But, there are still other western food places that are more than noteworthy, with Jerry’s at Jalan Kayu springing to mind. Jerry’s is a little corner store down the famous row of stores at Jalan Kayu. Though the street is known more for its pratas and prawn noodles, Jerry’s has also been leaving a mark on those who visit the area. A diverse menu offering various forms of food from seafood to beef and pork with an “Authentic American Taste” being the key selling point. The food lives up to expectations. Steaks are juicy and flavourful, seafood is well spiced and properly cooked with the pork also being an attractive option. Jerry’s seems to do the reverse of Swensen’s. It has a stellar set of main courses but its starters and desserts often feel negligible. Of course this has something to do with the larger than usual portions being served that seem to leave no space for any dessert but that is still nota great excuse to not have anything particularly worth mentioning. The store is famous for its five level soft spiciness for its Buffalo Wings as well as its pulled pork offerings. Food is meticulously cooked over long periods of the day such as 6 hours even just to ensure the meat has a soft and juicy feel whilst maintaining its “just pull form the bone qualities. The staff at Jerry’s are friendly and welcoming. They are also quite willing to take part in simple chit chat whilst waiting for the food to arrive.
Jerry’s doesn’t have the presence of Swensen’s but does pick up the gauntlet in terms of its food and service which trump the Swensen’s chain with ease. Swensen’s is still a good place for a simple meal or two, but if one does have the time and doesn’t mind travelling to Jalan Kayu, they won’t regret their choice.
Samantha Ng of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteA1: Read 2 novels OR 2 poems and write a 300 to 500-word review comparing various aspects of the novels (e.g. the writer’s handling of themes/ character portrayals/ literary techniques/ plot devices).
Two poems will be compared.
1. Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
2. A Soldier by Robert Frost
Both poems are similarly relatively short, simplistic and yet deep poems composed by renowned American poet, Robert Lee Frost.
The poem “Fire and Ice” reveals Robert Frost’s view on what will ultimately bring destruction to our society. He uses symbolism in his poem, using fire to symbolize desire and ice to symbolize hatred. His usage of this symbolism portrays that perhaps, it is not natural disasters that will destroy us, but humans ourselves who will bring an end to our world. The poem is deep in that though he says that desire that can be linked to the presence of love in our lives is strong enough to be more destructive than hatred, but yet, it can also be used to eliminate the hatred presence in our lives, since fire is able to destroy ice.
The poem “A Soldier” illustrates a soldier who has been sacrificed in war, left laying on the ground, forgotten and unappreciated for his sacrifice. Robert Frost uses metaphors such as referring “him” as a “fallen lance”. A lot of imagery is present in this poem where the dead soldier is compared to a lance, left there to rust. Though through this, his pessimistic view towards human kind also shines through when he implies through his poem how people fail to see the important things in life and how people forget about what other individuals have sacrificed for them.
There are many points where readers can pick out Frost’s personal style in the poems. In both poems, there is a rather pessimistic view towards life imposed. Such as in “Fire and Ice”, he states how Fire can be compared to desire and Ice to hatred, and these are both destructive to our society. In “A Soldier” revolves around the topic of soldiers who have been sacrificed during war. Another similarity present in both poems is the use of rhyming that enabled the poems to be smoother flowing and also more impactful on the readers. He tactically rhymes words like “fire” and “desire”, “mark” and “arc”.
Samantha Ng of 1B/12
ReplyDeleteB1: Visit 2 restaurants and write a 300-word review comparing your experience (of the food and service).
1. Marriott Café located in Singapore Marriott Hotel.
2. Sakura Charcoal Grilled & Shabu Shabu Restaurant located at Marina Country Club.
The first restaurant I visited was Sakura Charcoal Grilled & Shabu Shabu Restaurant. My family had been in the area and was looking for somewhere to have dinner at and decided on the restaurant. I had previously been to other Sakura Buffet Restaurants and found their food to be rather satisfying, so I was pretty excited about trying out their Charcoal Grill and Shabu Shabu. However, upon entering the restaurant, I found that the ambience was not as good as I had hoped for. It was really warm due to the presence of the charcoal grills. The waiters were efficient in answering questions. A good thing about the restaurant was that there was a huge array of food to choose from, though mainly Japanese and Oriental style food. Though, I found that the food did taste pretty bland, and could barely finish the food that I had taken. I was disappointed when I saw the desserts that were being served. It looked a tad unhygienic and messy, and in overall, not very inviting.
I visited the second restaurant, the Marriott Café on Christmas’ eve with my family. It was not my first time having dinner there and I was really pumped, as my previous experience was really good. The restaurant had a special Christmas Buffet and that was what my family had. The restaurant had this really calming and inviting feel to it, with jazz music softly playing in the background. A smartly dressed waiter led us to our seats and once settled down, we set out to pick out our own food. Though it was a Christmas buffet, there were not only Christmas treats offered, but also Oriental dishes. There was so much food to choose from that I had a hard time deciding which dish to pick first. The food was kept heated and the restaurant was spick-and-span! What I really enjoyed was the Durian Puffs, and that’s really something as I am no exactly a huge fan of Durian food products. They had a chef heating it up on the spot for you and there was always a queue for that particular dish. The restaurant certainly did meet my expectation.
Both restaurants certainly do have their different fortes, though for myself, I’d definitely say that the Marriott Café is a much better choice for one to have a nice meal at.
Anish Kyle Adipudi 1A/12
ReplyDeleteSection A(1)
"The Hunger Games" and "Heroes of Olympus: Mark of Athena"
“The Hunger Games” is a story that takes place in the country of Panem which is ruled by the ruthless and dominating Capitol. Every year, one boy and one girl between the age of 12 and 18 is randomly chosen from the 12 districts of Panem to fight to the death. This event is known as the Hunger Games.
“The Mark of Athena” is the third book of the “Heroes of Olympus” series. It features a world where the Greek and Roman Gods are real. In this book, protagonist Percy Jackson, a son of the sea God Poseidon, is finally reunited with his girlfriend Annabeth after being moved from the Greek camp to the Roman one. Now, Percy and his six other demigod friends must work together to fulfill a dangerous prophecy while Annabeth has to follow the Mark of Athena to retrieve an item the Romans stole from the Greeks long ago.
The setting for the Hunger Games did seem a bit strange throughout the book as the date and year was not properly established throughout the book. At the beginning, District 12 is described as the poorest district where majority of the people live in poverty and the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, uses primitive weapons, such as a bow and arrows, and traps to hunt small animals. In contrast, at the Capitol, there are high-rise buildings, people are well fed and they use futuristic technology. The Mark of Athena, on the other hand, was clearly set in the present, allowing readers to follow through easily.
In terms of the plot, both novels are gripping and hard to put down. The Hunger Games really makes the reader want to find out how Katniss Everdeen will survive throughout the Games while there are bloodthirsty competitors who are hungry for more than just their own survival. The Mark of Athena managed to bring in even more action by adding mythical characters to the story. With danger lurking in every corner, the reader is left wanting to find out which legend will appear next.
One of the common themes in the novels is romance. The romance in The Mark of Athena was again much better depicted than in The Hunger Games. It was always very clear Percy and Annabeth were a couple. However, in the Hunger games it was all very complicated. Peeta, the male competitor from District 12, said he loved Katniss for a very long time but when she questioned him about it, he said it was to gain pity. So, whenever there was romance between the two later on, it was very confusing whether it was true or false.
Anish Kyle Adipudi 1A/12
ReplyDeleteSection B(1)
"Nando's" and "Jai Thai"
These two restaurants are really different in terms of many aspects. Nando’s is a restaurant for chicken-lovers and is renowned for their tantalizing peri peri sauce. Jai Thai is a restaurant that contains the most delicious yet cheapest Thai food in the neighbourhood.
Nando’s is a restaurant that cooks their food western style. They take great pains in cooking their chicken to perfection as each piece of chicken is marinated in a special sauce for 24 hours. They also allow their customers to choose their level of spiciness, which allows them to have fun deciding how adventurous they want to be. On the other hand, Jai Thai focuses on all Thai food, which includes vegetarian, unlike Nando’s. Also unlike most other restaurants, the waiters do not take your orders for you. The customers have to write down for themselves exactly what they would like to have. Even though some may find this tedious to do, it is a very good system as it reduces the errors made since the customers do not have to communicate with the waiters orally.
In terms of food, both restaurants served great food but Jai Thai catered to a wider range of customers as compared to Nando’s. By Nando’s specializing in a more specific type of food, they face a greater risk than Jai Thai. If their secret recipe chicken fails, then their entire restaurant has failed. However, if one of Jai Thai’s dishes fails, they might still be able to succeed as they can still rely on their other dishes to bring in customers. Fortunately, the chicken is a great hit and it keeps bringing people back for more. The specificity of Nando’s also inevitably limits their menu as they have to create different dishes based on one core ingredient for their main course.
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ReplyDeleteAn Seok Hyun 1C/12 A1) The little prince
ReplyDeleteThe book review is about the book The Little Prince by Antoine de saint exupery.
As humans grow up, we forget the little pleasures in life and the joy of childhood. We start to have much more things to worry about: Money, work and family. The little prince, which is disguised as a children’s book is a simple book which reminds us of our childhood and its pleasures. The book begins with the narrator attempting to fix his plane which has crash landed in the Sahara Desert. While doing so, he meets a strange little boy who demands that the narrator draw a sheep for him. The narrator is just an average adult who is obsessed about “work” and the Little Prince is a very mysterious boy and portrays an innocent childlike image. The prince slowly starts to reveal his story to the narrator about his home, a small asteroid with little volcanoes and a beautiful rose. He travels through many other different planets meeting up with different adults that he will never be able to understand. On Earth, he meets a fox who teaches him how to "tame" him and helps the prince better understand his rose.
It is a very beautiful book as even though it seems like a children's book with its watercolour paintings and simple vocabulary, the simplicity of this book brings you back to your childhood and makes you feel nostalgic. The book is almost magical in a sense that when you read the book, it is able to bring a smile on your face and also makes you feel jubilant.This classic novella is a truly great book with a deep meaning which appeals to everyone, regardless of age. The book does not use any complex vocabulary as it is a very simple book, however the appearance of the Little prince is somehow able to make the reader smile and happy as they look back to their childhood years.
An Seok Hyun 1C/12 A1) Of Mice and Men
The book review is about Of Mice and Men a book by John Steinbeck.
The book starts with two labourers in the period of the great depression, Lennie and George. Lennie is the guardian of George as George, despite his giant stature, is mentally challenged. The two best friends share this simple dream that one day, they will make enough money to buy a farm and tend to rabbits and live an ordinary life. They are seen running away from their previous employer at the beginning as George was accused of raping a girl. In their new employment, they meet new people and they also meet their doom, where it shows that their dream was never meant to be.
This book highlights the beautiful friendship George and Lennie shares. Lennie, a smart, uneducated man never leaves George behind even though George proves to be more of a dead weight throughout the story. The story starts very hopeful with a beautiful friendship in a period of hardship. However, in the end, the story ends tragically, where Lennie is forced to kill George. The final chapters show their cruel fate shattering their dreams and it makes the readers very emotional. The book leaves a very large impact on the readers as the story talks about a dream that was never meant to be. This book is very straight forward and is also a very simple book, however, it is very touching and this book emphasizes strongly on friendship and loyalty.This book by Steinbeck is undoubtedly one of the best classic literature books ever written.
Both of these books are great masterpieces and are also surprisingly straightforward and simple. I would emphasize again that the beauty of these two books lie in their simplicity.
An Seok Hyun B1) Restaurant review of Al Forno's and Brotzeit.
ReplyDeleteI visited Al Forno's at East Coast Road on Sunday. The ambience of the restaurant was great as it was very quiet and there were not so many people in the restaurant. The interior of the restaurant was very simple and also looked quite traditional. There was old fashioned fire stove at the corner of the restaurant where they baked the Pizzas. They price range of the food is around $25 dollars for pastas and their pizzas. We ordered a Spaghetti Cicale, a tomato based spaghetti with crayfish. It tasted great as all their tomatoes and cheese from Italy. We also ordered a Panzarotti (something very close to a ravioli but bigger) with a cream base. It tasted great but after a while, it tasted very creamy and I couldn't really take it anymore. The best dish was the Pizza with parma ham.There was a thick layer of mozarella cheese beneath the ham and the thin fluffy crust of the pizza tasted delicious. The food tasted very "clean" and the food wasn't oily at all. However, there were waiters who were slacking around and took 10 minutes to give the bill. Apart from the waiters, everything was great.
My family visited Brotzeit at City Hall for some German food. The ambience is totally different from Al Forno's as it was noisy and it was more of a place where people would come to drink a mug of Pilsner. We ordered a Pork Leg, schnitzels, variety of german sausages which came with mashed potatoes and some wheat bread. The wheat bread was pretty bad because it was so bland and hard... However, the Pork leg tasted awesome with its crispy skin. The schnitzels tasted great too. The sausages were like any other german sausages i have eaten before but the mashed potatoes went very well with them. The food was decent but it is definitely not a place for people who are looking to have a quiet meal. We also went around the period of Oktoberfest so there were more people around too...
Both restaurants were great but the service at Brotzeit was better as the waiters/waitresses were more efficient and they served the food faster than they did at Al Forno's. However,I cannot really compare the food because they are two very different cuisines.
Section B
ReplyDeleteKFC VS Subway
The two fast food restaurants I visited were Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Subway. I was quite busy during the holidays as I was preparing for my retest and did not have time to go out, so I went to the fast food restaurants nearby my house.
Both restaurants had their similarities - they were fast food restaurants. However, subway focuses on a more healthy menu consisting largely of vegetables and slices of meat sandwiched in double slices of bread. Subway also prepares their food in a much healthier way - they do not deep fry. The only 'cooking device' you see in a Subway restaurant is an oven. For Kentucky fried chicken, however, you can smell the chicken sizzling in thick oil from afar. As the name suggests, KFC serves chicken as it's main menu, with little or no fresh vegetables as a side dish (perhaps just a sad little bit of cole slaw). Despite the guilt, I enjoyed the chicken very much - crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. I ended up having my hands smeared with thick oil in the end whilst ripping the meat off the drumstick. Eating subway was much more guilt-free - I chose the Veggie Delight sandwich instead of the usual Cold Cut Trio Sandwich, immersing myself in the luxury of eating veggies and bread in the most delightful way ever.
Both fast food restaurants had very polite staff, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Subway a tad higher than that of KFC. That is because the Subway restaurant I went to employed very, very enthusiastic staff who greet you with an exceptionally loud voice ("Hi Mam! Hi Miss!") before you even place your order. The KFC restaurant I went to, however, do not have such enthusiastic staff. They would greet you with a polite smile and then ask you for your order - no small talk, business first. Meanwhile, both restaurants were extremely clean and tidy, thus allowing the customers to have a comfortable place to enjoy their delicious meal.
Overall, I preferred Subway because of my health issues - both restaurants are definitely excellent and of high standard, but I would like a more guilt-free, less weight gaining meal for the sake of maintaining a nice waistline.
Elisa Lim of 1C/12. Section A: Book Review
ReplyDeleteThe two books: A Thousand Splendid Suns by author Khaled Hosseini and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I found that both of these books were really good and, while not that overly imaginative, succeeded in portraying the different aspects of society and even the consequences of being a woman are in such societies.
In A thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini tells of a story revolving around the lives of two Afghan women, Laila and Mariam. Both women come from different backgrounds but yet end up living and enduring under the same circumstances - both are married to the same man. While Laila's family strongly emphasized on the importance of education and schools for women, Mariam grew up in an environment whereby she was deemed inferior and unimportant. In a country such as Afghanistan, whereby women are deemed inferior and "second class" citizens, Hosseini was able to portray that there were exceptions to this common belief through certain aspects of Laila's life. Such was shown in the type of background in which she grew up in. Laila's family, unlike Mariam's, stressed on the importance of education and universities for women. I found it really admirable of Hosseini to be able to bring out commonly occurring current affairs such as oppression of people in places such as Afghanistan. In such oppressed environments and societies, women are often denied opportunities to further their education and to marry for love. Both Laila and Mariam share common experiences when it comes to having hope and both suffer circumstances whereby their hopes are crushed. Hosseini portrays Laila and Mariam as women who undergo the same suffering primarily brought about through the physical abuse of their husband Rasheed. Yet despite this, the strength and hope for a better future was what enabled Laila and Mariam to endure such hardships for several years. Towards the end of the story, Mariam intervenes during one of Rasheed's savage physical attacks on Laila and ends up murdering him and taking the blame in order to give Laila a chance for a better future. For that her crime, Mariam was executed. The author Hosseini was able to describe this heartwarming scene very expressively and realistically. He was also able to show how hardships can really strengthen the bonds between two people and the extent through which people are willingly to go to in order to protect the people they care about.
While Pride and Prejudice does not show the exact same themes, Austen was able to show women were oppressed, though she does it in a different way as compared to Hosseini. Pride and Prejudice is told through the eyes of Elizabeth Bennet, an extremely strong-willed woman, who faces issues such as living under the pressure of being required to marry into a wealthy family of social standing in order to satisfy her materialistic mother. She is not as musically or artistically inclined as other women of high social classes were during that period of time and that alone caused others to think her to be more inferior. She does however possess a quick wit and the ability to form her opinions and is unafraid to make those thoughts known to others. Austen was able to illustrate the sign of those times where females were unfairly denied their inheritance of property. This was the case of her father's property which would have passed to her male cousin.
Yet despite both books showing discrimination against women, i found that A Thousand Splendid Suns was still the more touching and also sad story of the two books, as well as my more preferred read. Khaled Hosseini wrote with much feeling and was also able to express the character's horrific experiences through detailed descriptions and powerful language. I could not help being swayed by the story and felt deeply for the characters portrayed.
Elisa Lim of 1C/12: Section B: Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteThe two Restaurants are Soup Restaurant and Subway at Paragon and Kallang Leisure Park respectively which i visited on the 1 December and 4 December respectively.
For Soup Restaurant , it serves mainly Chines food. One of their specialities is their "Hainanese chicken with Ginger Garlic Sauce" which really complements each other in terms of taste and flavor. That dish really was one of my favorites and i found initially found it slightly unbelievable that something so traditionally simple could taste that good. Other signatures included their herbal soups which had ingredients that was able to bring out the flavor in the soup. Other traditional and typical chinese food were also served such as the Poached Baby Spinach cooked with century egg. I thought the service was rather good and efficient as the wait for the arrival of the food was not long. However, i sometimes found it difficult to converse with the waiters in mandarin as mine is not as strong.
Unlike Soup Restaurant, Subway serves an entirely different genre of food. It serves sandwiches and wraps and is more Americanized as compared to the dishes served as Soup Restaurant. I overall liked Subway better as i have also preferred sandwiches for my meals. Also i liked the idea of being able to choose the ingredients and the amount of which i wanted thus this also making it the healthier choice among the two. The bread is toasted and the ingredients, for example, the meat and vegetables tasted and looked fresh. The pricing for Subway is also much cheaper as compared to Soup Kitchen hence making it more appealing to students such as myself. I found that the service was a lot much faster though the standardized portions can at times be a little to small.
Chng Tong Hoe of 1A/12: A1) A Review on 2 Novels
ReplyDeleteA1) The novels I read are The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Volume 1) and The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya (Volume 8) from the Haruhi Suzumiya Series.
REVIEW:
Synopsis: The Haruhi Suzumiya series is about the life of a high school student (nicknamed Kyon), who, with the help of an alien, a time traveller and an esper, has to clean up after the whims of the titular reality warper, without allowing her to find out about her powers.
These two novels both focus on different aspects of the “Haruhi-verse”. Melancholy focuses more on continuing the story while Indignation focuses more on adding depth to the story. In Melancholy, the characters are faced with the imminent destruction of the universe and important characters/information that will reappear relatively frequently are introduced. But in Indignation, the characters are just running around doing “normal” day-to-day activities and the author takes this chance to introduce the side characters we don’t really get to see and little titbits about the main characters.
In Melancholy, the author was able to come up with enough time to not only introduce the other 3 super powered helpers, but also to give them each an event of their own, allowing readers enough time to grow attached to the alien, time traveller and esper. However, in Indignation, instead of occurrences, readers are given a glimpse of their thoughts through the stories that they are writing in the chapter. I for one, found this to be a really interesting and unique way of fleshing out characters. In fact, since this series is narrated by Kyon, the thoughts and motives of the other characters would more or less be “censored” out, but through this method, readers are able to hear the thoughts of other characters “first-hand”.
Translation wise, Indignation was noticeably of lower quality, containing a few paragraphs that didn't really flow well, while Melancholy was generally free of errors. This could be due to the fact that Melancholy was the first novel to be released, so the translators put in more effort for it.
The nice thing about this series is that it has much more illustrations than what a typical novel would, and as such, readers would be able to imagine the scenes better. Comparing the art of the two novels, Indignation's are clearly cleaner and more refined. Of course, it is to be expected of an artist to improve her skills as time goes on. Sadly, the art didn't match the text as well as Melancholy's did. The illustrator drew the characters wearing their uniforms when the text clearly stated that they were wearing home clothes. I suspect that there might have been a miscommunication somewhere between the illustrator and author.
As someone who craves for excitement in life, there would be no doubt that I would choose Melancholy as the better book, given that it was much more eventful and it genuinely had better material. So as to say that the skills of the author didn’t drop over 8 books, but it’s generally impossible for slice-of-life to stand out next to action. Though Indignation was a pleasant experience in its own right, it just wasn’t able to match up to Melancholy.
Claudine Shiau of 1A/12
ReplyDeleteA3) Comparing 2 Novels.
Book title: 1. Radiance by Alyson Noel
2. Faking 19 by Alyson Noel
Written by Alyson Noel, both Radiance & Faking 19 has brought out a teenage perspective of their story, one being after life the other a current life respectively. In both stories, series of events happened to them made them change their characters and attitude, which makes Noel’s novel a cliché one. In the beginning, both characters struggles to find a purpose but only to find out that they are the only ones without a place to go, whereas everyone has a goal in mind. Both Riley Bloom (in Radiance) and Alexandra Sky (in Faking 19) are lost. However, as they continue their paths, help comes along and guide them to the right one. In both novels, a happy ending is used as the conclusion along with a clear explanation of the character’s train of thoughts and themes.
Using much imagery and metaphors, Noel manage to bring out the attitude of various characters in both books especially in Radiance, which creates tension and fear as readers follow along the footsteps of Riley Bloom. The climax and conflict never fails to stirs up emotion of the readers, making them take a side. In Faking 19, Alex reevaluates her friendship with her best friend M and realized that she has been bribed and pushed to uncomfortable positions, and M does not truly care for her. Also, struggling with her senior year, Alex constant anger and blame helps turn her wonderful life to a disaster. Despite Alex’s struggle, Noel also let the readers see M’s side of her story and make us understand M’s actions. Far from a teenage, high school, real life plot, Radiance takes on a new turn. In the afterlife, Riley has to deal with missions as a Soul Catcher, and has to learn to see past her arrogant self. Though faced with different situations, we see both characters having an enlightenment and understanding, which creates an epiphany as a literary technique.
In portraying Riley as an ill-mannered, spoiled, and self-centered 12 year old, Noel sets the idea of such in her 1st chapter of Radiance which is not more than 20 sentences. She starts off as a little girl who doesn’t want to fit in and adapt to the place Here & Now but as she proceeds on to her missions, Riley changes and starts to understand that she has to give Here & Now a chance for her to like it which is portrayed through her actions, such as transferring her energy to her coach Bodhi, thus giving him strength. Through Riley, we also see the different sides of Bodhi. One in which he loves dares and concern about his reputation and looks plus only cares for himself, but on the other hand, is caring, helpful, brave and mature. Similarly, Alex seems to have it all- smart, beautiful, best friends with most popular girl in school. However, she went through a broken family, and is now stuck with failing grades. Alex changes from good student, to a student who skips classes and starts lying. This rebellious 17 year old refuses to get over her and blames on her parents and the people that offered help. However she is not all that bad. She stuck to her values and did thought of giving herself a chance. Alex’s character takes a turn and change steadily which makes the transition very convincing and we see her forgiving herself and be accountable for her own future.
Though it was a quick read, Alyson Noel grasp her idea well and exhibits it very clearly too. Through the thoughts and actions of her characters, ideas such as one’s belief can alter a situation or one’s attitude, a situation cannot be change but one’s reaction to it can, and many others are displayed and conveyed in the most simplistic yet impressionable.
Claudine Shiau TA 1A'12
ReplyDeleteB2) The 2 Restaurants are Pasta Mania at Nex, Serangoon and Swenson’s at Bugis Junction which I visited on 17 Nov 2012 and 20 Dec 2012 respectively.
Review:
The restaurant me and my friends went to was Pasta Mania and Swenson’s. In both restaurant, the waitress and waiters all greeted and welcomed us with a big grin on their face. Their manners made the impression and break the barrier between customer and waiter. They also thanked us after we left. Though it’s the basic manners in every restaurant, such simple gesture makes a lot of difference between a good and a bad restaurant. In Pasta Mania, the food was mainly pasta, baked rice and pizza, the typical Italian dish. I ordered baked rice and it came within a quick 5 minutes, and the food was piping hot. I was surprise by their efficiency and was glad I did not have to wait very long. Following my order was my friends and the Hawaiian pizza was presented right under our noses. The drinks they recommended were uniquely mixed between apple and lime. Every bite and slurp was tempting us to have more, and the taste was appealing. Very soon, we finish our last bit of food and left. In contrast, Swenson’s food is much more western rather than Italian, such as fish and chips, fries, grilled chicken, ice cream and many more. I ordered the grilled chicken while my friends ordered their very own favorite. The waitress offered us water as we waited for our food which took slightly longer than Pasta Mania. However, some sides like fries came very quickly. So we were able to keep ourselves busy by eating fries and playing some games. After some time, the food finally came and we couldn’t wait any longer, so we dig in. my grilled chicken was really tender and the sauce they put was evenly matched up with the chicken. Even though it was a bit spicy, it adds on to the flavor, making my food more enjoyable. After finishing our main course, we decided to share a bowl of dessert and ordered the banana split. The ice cream was all our favorite flavors and sharing such happiness makes the dessert even better. After we ate, we paid the bill but just as we were about to leave, one of the waitress gave us a small log cake as it was nearing Christmas.
Both restaurant services were really great and so was the food, but I preferred Swenson’s as they set a very cozy and heartwarming atmosphere for us to enjoy our food comfortably.
Chng Tong Hoe of 1A/12: B2) A Review of 2 Restaurants
ReplyDeleteB1) The 2 restaurants are Jack’s Place at Marina Square and Pastamania which I visited on 23rd December and January 1st respectively.
Review:
(To make this review as fair as possible, I decided to take a meal consisting of one mushroom soup, a potato side dish, a plate of cream-based pasta and one desert.)
The mushroom soups were bad. Jack’s soup was too bland and I think Pastamania might as well name theirs cheese soup, because that was really how it tasted like.
The potato side dishes fared much better. Jack’s signature bake potato was as wonderful as always. The ingredients complemented each other wonderfully. As for Pastamania’s potato salad, it was just… normal.
As for the pastas, both restaurants failed miserably. Jack’s Place has no idea what it was doing with its Chicken Mushroom Spaghetti. It was a conflicted mess of bland, bitter (capsicum) and sweet (onion). Meanwhile, Pastamania’s Creamy Chicken pasta required me to literally spam salt and cheese to actually make it taste decent.
The Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Cake from Jack’s place was my biggest disappointment. There was just so much mint and so little chocolate. As time went on and the ice cream began to melt, it just got more bitter and bitter. It was a nightmare eating this dish. Pastamania’s Choco Italiano was a joy to eat though. The chocolate was rich and flavourful and the strawberry on top just made everything even more perfect.
Service-wise, Jack’s Place had much nicer people, since the cashier at Pastamania seemed to be a little grouchy when I approached her.
All in all, Jack’s Place seriously needs to fire some people, because I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as bad as this back when I was younger and Pastamania should really remove their weaker dishes from the menu before there are any more casualties. Note to self: only order baked potato at Jack’s Place and nothing more.
Jack’s Place: 3.5/10
Pastamania: 4.5/10
Caleb Chia of 1B/12 : A2) Short Story (PART A) (Story Attached To Part B)
ReplyDeleteThe Tsar's Only Chance
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Prologue
Basically, this short story entitled ‘The Tsar’s Only Chance’ revolves around one of the technologies of the distant future – time travelling. This short story is inspired by two other short stories also on time travelling, entitled ‘The Sound of Thunder’ and ‘The Chronic Argonauts’. In terms of time period, The Tsar’s Only Chance is more similar towards The Chronic Argonauts as both settings are during the same time period roughly, being the early 1900s and the late 1800s respectively. In terms of how the story is told, The Tsar’s Only Chance can be drawn parallel to both the other stories as it sees the story from the perspective of one who is writing the story himself rather than from the perspective of any character in the plot. Between The Chronic Argonauts and The Sound of Thunder, The Tsar’s Only Chance is more towards the Sound of Thunder rather than the latter in the area of writing style as the Chronic Argonauts heavily employs the use of vivid descriptions to enhance the story outlook overall while the Sound of Thunder is much more simple and straightforward in this area compared to the above. But overall, the Tsar’s Only Chance is a fresh concept as minimal elements of its plot and storyline are taken from the other two short stories, with it set in the last years of Tsarist Russia.
Caleb Chia of 1B/12 : A2) Short Story (PART B i))
ReplyDeleteThe Tsar's Only Chance
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Seated on his seat of power, was the Tsar. It was the year 1916; rebellions were rising from everywhere within the Russian Empire, the most powerful being the Bolsheviks who were at the gates of the Tsar’s Winter Palace. Enshrouded in a cloud of anger, confusion and dilemma, the Tsar wondered to himself if he was going to let the Romanov dynasty crumble at his hands. He listened to his advisors reporting to him about the grave situation at hand as he toyed with a dagger at his fingertips, lost in thought. What’s left of the Royal Guard barricaded themselves within the walls of the Winter Palace, fighting a losing battle against the Bolshevik rebels laying siege to the Palace.
“Why did I not crush the Bolsheviks when they were still in the stage of infancy?” the Tsar thought to himself. Supplies were running low and the will of the Royal Guard to fight on was being sapped by the hour, casualties were on the rise, and it seemed that the Bolsheviks are on the verge of ending the reign of the Tsar or are they? At that precise moment, the Chief Scientist of the Royal Courts broke the news to the Tsar. Hidden deep within the Winter Palace, is a new invention, conceived during desperate times to reverse the impending collapse of the Romanov dynasty. It was, on its own, way ahead of its time, being able to travel back into time.
“Yes, my Royal Highness. We can go back into time and crush the Bolsheviks while they have just begun their path towards revolution. Then we can end this madness.” Announced the Chief Scientist. The Tsar spoke not a word, he stood up, and hurled the dagger in his hand towards that portrait hanging on the wall, that of Vladimir Lenin. With a loud thud, the dagger went straight through his inanimate eye and joined the others already hurled into the portrait. With that, the Tsar summoned the best of his remaining soldiers and followed the Chief Scientist down to the Time Machine.
“Conditions can hardly be even better, your Highness. We will now turn back the hands of the clock to 1903 where you will find the Bolsheviks feeble and weak, easy targets for you and your men. When you have completed what you must, step back into the portal and you will return back to this day and age.” With the final instructions relayed, the switch was flipped and in a blink of an eye, the Tsar and his men were gone.
Caleb Chia of 1B/12 : A2) Short Story (Part B ii)
ReplyDeleteThe Tsar's Only Chance
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The hands of the clock were turned back to late 1800s, long before the Bolsheviks had enough strength and support to lay siege to his seat of power in the Winter Palace. The Tsar and his men stepped out of the Portal, and found themselves in the Grand Hall. All the Tsar had to do was to lay down a Royal Decree to persecute and eradicate all opposing political factions, including the Bolsheviks. But they had to be careful, for the slightest change they made in the past can totally change the future. Without squandering the little amount of time they had before the Portal expires and leaving them stuck in the past, the Tsar and his armed entourage sneaked into the Grand Library to compose the decree for the execution of the Bolsheviks. After the task was accomplished and the loose ends tied, the group stepped back in the Portal just before it closed, bringing them back to 1916.
All was calm and serene, or was it? Suddenly, simultaneous explosions rang throughout the vast interior of the Winter Palace. The Tsar went up to the balcony in the Throne Room to see what was going on. The scene before him sent shockwaves through his mind, the city of St. Petersburg was in ruins, and flying atop on the roofs of many was a flag not his own. The Tsar scrutinized the flag; it was mainly blood red, with a peculiar cross like insignia in the middle, surrounded with a white circle.
“It’s the Devil’s swastika!” cried one of his men. The Tsar slumped upon the throne, in a state of shock. As the Germans trotted on Russian soil, each step closer and closer to Moscow, the Romanov Dynasty, inevitably, will too, soon breathe its last.
(A)
ReplyDeleteThe two poems that I chose were People by D.H. Lawrence and The Lesson by Edward Lucie Smith. D.H. Lawrence uses the literary device of imagery to express the theme of people in his poem. D.H. Lawrence paints an image of a person sitting at a distance and watching people walking on the streets. This can be seen in the line, “I like to see them passing and passing and going their own way.” On the other hand, Edward Lucie Smith uses simile and personification. Simile was used to describe the poet’s pride in the line “Pride, like a goldfish, flashes a sudden fin.” Personification was used in the phrase “grief came in”. This paints a picture of the still mood creeping into the whole assembly when the news was announced.
The theme of People by D.H. Lawrence is suggested by the title, which is people. D.H. Lawrence uses a heavy mood to deliver the theme out. “If only they leave me alone” The poet uses strong words like “only” to emphasize that the poet does not like the company of people around him. This poem is mainly about the feeling of people walking at a distance and the company of people. The theme of The Lesson by Edward Lucie Smith is childhood, a sad one that not many can experience. The poet describes himself in a sympathetic way to make the readers take pity on him. For any 10 years old child, he would cry when the principle bluntly opened the poem with “Your father’s gone” however, “It wasn’t grief” was the feeling of the poet when the news of his father’s death was announced. This suggests that the poet was not close to his father, thus not showing any sign of grief when the news was announced. In addition to that, the poet is being bullied in school.
(B)
The two restaurants that I am going to review are the Long Beach Restaurant and Sakae Sushi restaurant. Both restaurants are comparable in terms of their service. Upon reaching the entrance of Long Beach restaurant, there was a few waitresses welcoming us. They brought us to their preferred table right after we entered the restaurant. After which, the waitresses would wait patiently for our order. They even go the extra mile to recommend fresh and good dishes to us. At the same the waitress will ensure that we are all comfortable and that we have our napkins on our laps. The food was delivered fast and the waitresses will take their leave to allow the consumers to fellowship. Yet at any time the consumers need them, the waitresses will always attend to their needs as soon as they can. Sakae Sushi restaurant’s service was not far off. As soon as we step into their restaurants, we were welcomed with smiles and were seated at a table fast. Utensils were all placed on the table and we ordered our dishes through a computer situated at the corner of our table. It was perhaps due to the large number of consumers, the food took awhile to arrive. Considering the different factors of services, I felt Long Beach restaurant was better as it gave the consumers a feeling of home where everything is comfortable; however in Sakae Sushi, the consumers were left to their own to order their food. In terms of the quality of the food, I felt Long Beach restaurant’s cooked live seafood was much better compared the frozen seafood used in Sakae Sushi. Perhaps it was the different kind of food and service culture that appealed to me, but overall, I felt that Long Beach Restaurant deserve a five star for their service!