2009 was an exciting year where I survived an internship at Hill & Knowlton, ROM-ed, graduated from NUS and joined 24seven! There’s no better way than to end this marvelous decade with a lucky invitation to a yacht party!
Thanks to Cablenazi’s client, Ensco (the largest offshore jack-up oil and gas well drilling corporation), we boarded the Harbour Queen on New Year’s Eve at Marina Keppel Bay and celebrated the coming of 2010 with a bunch of happy people! I fell in love with this place instantaneously. Wouldn’t you?
Before long, the Harbour Queen left Keppel Bay and went island sailing! It cruised passed Marina area, Sentosa, Kusu Island and St.John Island. Ah the warm sun, blue water and a good breeze were so indulging . Wine was free flow on board!
Back in the cabin, we camwhored with funky hats! Haha Yes funky. Although not as funky as those I saw at the Hat-py Party, it was enough to keep us entertained. Hehe.
The vessel was circling Marina area, Sentosa, Kusu Island and St.John Island the entire time while waiting for the spectacular fireworks display at Marina to go off at the stroke of midnight. Unknowingly we spent close to 7 hours on the yacht. The initial waves of excitement kinda drowned as I felt a little dizzy and drowsy from the rocky-rolly motion of the craft.
Ah should had taken some anti-seasickness or nausea capsules before coming. But it’s too late. I had to take a short snooze and thankfully, the uncomfortable sensations disappear after that. Was only told later that I should go outside where fresh air could blow on my face and keep my eyes directed to a fixed shore or horizon, where possible to prevent seasickness.
When I woke up, the peeps were having fun with glow sticks and the beer funnel.
FYI the act of is using a funnel to rapidly consume a large amount of liquid, most commonly beer is referred to as Bonging a Beer! lol. That’s Dean.
Anyway the party continues with rock and roll and great music! There was plenty of space for guests to twist and grind to the music. Some dance moves were super hilarious! Check these cool moves out!
Finally the moment everyone was waiting for has arrived. Minutes before midnight, we scurry up the upper deck and anticipated the fireworks display. Poof! Bang! Kaboom! We had a blast watching fireworks explode across Marina Bay! Beautiful! Singapore’s night sky turned magical in glittery shades of green, red, blue, purple and gold!
In retrospect, I still can’t believe a decade has gone. 2010 seems like a loooong way from 2000 when I was still in secondary 2! Though I cant turn back time, I can’t help but wonder if I could have spent the last decade in better ways. Perhaps, I should had set my priorities and goals right and be more focused in getting to it. Oh well! the passing of a decade feels like a wake up call as much as a fresh start. I shall look forward to the new year and new decade with anticipation and optimism!
Cheers to 2010! May it be another decade filled with fun, joy and love!
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Cablenazi is a Lead Electrical Engineer/going-t0-be Project Engineer in February at KeppelFels. He’s a lucky boy to have such fun-loving, appreciative clients.
Hey Ensco, you need any social media help?
Pa insisted to grab lunch here when we were at Malacca 2 weeks ago. Well, he and ma dined here once with a few of their friends. But all they could remember was how yummy the food was. Yeah they even forgot the name of the restaurant! The only clue we had was roughly how the shop front looked like. Nevertheless, pa’s persistence to hunt down this restaurant tells me that lunch is going to be very good.
Thank goodness Bro got one of his university mate who happened to be around the area to help. His task was to bring us to an unidentified nyonya restaurant located next to a half-shop selling cendol and local snacks. He’s a very smart lad. He found Restoran Nyonya Suan in less than 10 minutes.
Everyone was HUNGRY! Our orders were taken to the kitchen even before our seats turned warm. Our first dish, the Assam Fish (RM30) was served in less than 15 minutes. Goodness. Spicy tamarind fish never tasted so good. I love my white rice with dishes like this! The fish was very fresh and was accompanied ladies fingers, eggplants, onions and tomatoes. I really love the tangy spicy gravy that had a slight creamy taste of coconut milk. It was more sourish than spicy and that really perks up the dish. It went so well with the steamed white rice that all of us got extra serving of rice.
Then we had the Ayam Rendang (RM9) which was awesome! This Nyonya flavoured chicken was hot, spicy, sweet and had a distinct coconut flavour! This dish was so good my tastebuds are still dancing with joy. Do you now that Rendang is a dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia ? Apparently Nyonya cooking in the South (Malacca and Singapore) has an Indonesian influence. Thus, the Nyonya food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk and traditional Malay spices. That explains the richly pep up chicken chunks that had thoroughly absorbed the spicy condiments. Ah fusion food at its best.
Ma loovess sotong/squid so we got the Sotong Kunyit (RM10). Other than the kunyit/tumeric, the dish was laced with lots of fresh aromatic herbs that made the scrumptious dry sauce. My guess, the sotong was stir fried with a blend of chilies, shallots, lemongrass and belachan (dried shrimp paste). Nonetheless, the main ingredient, turmeric did gave an essential earthiness to the dish and I can taste a tinge of lime which left a pleasing soft citrus tang. Mm delicious!
The Telur Dadar Cincalok (RM8) was probably the only dish there I couldn’t appreciate. Though the addition of Cincalok (fermented small shrimps usually served as a condiment together with chillis, shallots and lime juice) gave the typical omelette an exotic twist, I thought that it was a tad too salty.
My favourite! Brinjals! That’s the Terung Sambal Cili (RM8). Mouthwatering. I love the combination of sambal prawn on top of brinjals. These purple delights carried a peculiar pungent-spicy taste when accompanied by fragrant curry and fiery sambal. Am really puzzled why Cablenazi hates this tasty vegetable so much. Tsk Tsk Tsk
Oh one thing you must must must get here is the nyonya cendol, shaved ice with tiny green starch noodles, red beans and syrup! Mmm the taste of fresh coconut and gula Melaka/palm sugar charmed me and by the way a bowl cost RM2 only!
A trip to Malacca is nothing without a bowl of cendol. It’s a excellent choice to quench your thirst after all that well-seasoned Nyonya food.
Pss you know, thanks to MediaCorp mass advertisement of peranakan culture, I used to secretly thought that Peranakan cuisine is overrated. Not anymore. The peranakan lunch I had at Restoran Nyonya Suan has exceeded my expectation.
Dear Gilbert Nyam, I will be back.
Restoran Nyonya Suan
No G12 & G14, Jalan PM 3,
Plaza Mahkota, Bandar Hilir,
75000 Melaka.
Tel: 06- 286 4252