Gail's Generation

Thursday, 31 July 2014

How long has it been since you last watched or attended something artsy-fartsy in Singapore?

When have I....

Ah yes. I attended the Singin' In The Rain musical in Korea at Chungmuro Art Hall just slightly over a month ago! Sounds totally cultured right. The name of the theatre sounds like it originated from the Joseon era or something. Though don't quote me on that.

Anyway. Back to the local scene. I confess I do not have much artistic talent, especially painting and drawing, having garnered an impressive F9 in Art in secondary two and never looked back ever since.

Hence, I was a tad apprehensive when I was invited to the opening of an Ode to Art exhibition last Friday evening. To be honest, I was like "oh man art" when I first arrived at the location. I like art, but I don't think I can fully appreciate its value, simply because I am terrible at it.

Some background before we speed to the paintings: In light of the nation's upcoming birthday, five young artists from The Little Arts Academy came together to present this "Our People, Our Home" art exhibition. They are supported by Ode to Art Gallery and Business Times Budding Artists Fund (BT BAF).

Budding young artists. I applaud them for challenging societal norms of going in the direction of being a lawyer, doctor, dentist, blah blah, and instead heading to explore and expand the local cultural scene. Bravo!

Too many words, let's head on to the pictures.

Tan Wen Hao: Lost Time Memory

Fernandez Leong: Tradition

Kang Joosoon: Unrecognized

Jay Ho Ming Jie: Puppy Love

Charles Tan Chong Hui: Mooncake

(and yes I made them all pose for my pictures hehe)

Except the first boy; he was resolute in his stance that he does not know how to smile for pictures. I had to become the artistic one by taking his side profile then.

What do you guys think of these paintings? They all have a story behind them, which you can pretty much guess from their titles. (Mooncake though...... you don't say).

I really liked the first one, Lost Time Memory, because if you look closely, the lens of the camera shows a woman. Someone asked Wen Hao what it meant, and he said "oh, it's just my granddad taking photo of my grandma."

Cue the awwwwwwws. Sweet.

Y'know what's impressive? They're all in their teens still, except the girl. Mere sixteen year olds. What was I doing when I was sixteen?

Oh yes, failing my art.

You can view these paintings at the Ode to Art Platform at:

252, North Bridge Road
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Raffles Convention Centre 4th floor

They are available for sale too.

OH JUST GOT NEWS THAT ONE PIECE IS ALREADY SOLD. All proceeds to charity.

xoxo,
G.

Friday, 18 July 2014

HI GUYS I'M BACK!

I know I've been away for quite some time and didn't blog. This has resulted in half-snide, half-joking comments such as:

"Gail you got blog uh!"

"You are a blogger uh?"

"You HAVE a blog??"

Some friends I have huh.

So to put things simply, I was having waaaay too much fun in Korea for my exchange, and hence the blog slipped my mind. /whispers/ I had places to visit and travel, school work to complete, and shopping to do. I had to make the best of my Korean dream, didn't I?

In any case, I'm back (have been for three weeks actually), and I'm back to blogging. Yes I shall be posting about Korea soon, when I get solid blocks of free time. Expect a long post for that :)

I am grateful to Brand Cellar for still remembering me as a blogger, and I received an invitation for a media tasting for Medzs two nights ago. This time, they're unveiling their latest Asian Kitchen to cater to our ever-changing but always rooted taste buds.

The latest addition to Medzs @ Millennia Walk offers popular dishes with Asian Flavours with prices that start at S$7.90. How affordable! No seriously, I think Macs is more expensive than this lor.

First up: Crispy Fish Skin with Superior Broth ($7.90)

Damn yummy. It's everything you imagine fried fish skin to be. The broth is pretty awesome too, though a tad salty if you eat it both together.

Verdict: 9/10

Next up: Braised Tiger Prawn with Superior Broth & Pumpkin and Golden Mantou ($18.90)

Tastes a lot like chilli crab to me. With salted egg yolk. Hahaha though it specifically says "pumpkin" in the ingredients.

Verdict: 10/10, must try. Ditto for the mantous.

Next up: Wok Fried Chilli Flower Crab with Golden Mantou ($23.90)

Not too bad. Might not be zichar standards, but good enough considering this is a Mediterranean restaurant. Only trouble is, I didn't eat the crabs too clean because y'know, atas setting and bloggers all around so cannot be unglam right.

Verdict: 7/10

Next up: Seafood Mee Goreng ($12.90)

Authentic taste of the mee goreng is there. Abit spicy though. Mussels and sotong are chewy and quite fresh.

Verdict: 8/10

Next up: Roasted Crispy Chicken ($9.80)

Meat inside was tender while skin was crispy. I thought it was pretty well seasoned too. Except I stupidly said "Wah taste like KFC" and got judged all round the table by resentful blogger eyes. Oh well, I suppose it's tons better than KFC then /grins.

Verdict: 7/10

Next up: Soy Braised Beef Brisket ($9.80)

Sorry, I know my photo turned out pretty badly. For some reason I couldn't quite capture a proper shot of this. The soupy broth was really nice and herbal-ly. Unfortunately, the general consensus of the beef was that it is an "acquired taste". The herb taste is pretty strong. Not for the faint-hearted. And definitely a no for non-beef lovers.

Verdict: 6/10

Next up: "Kampung Style" Seafood Fried Rice

Look at the ikan billis please. I loveeee ikan billis. And it's so crunchy and perfectly salted. Coupled with the fresh seafood, I think this is a yes.

Verdict: 9/10

And with that I conclude the dishes from the Asian Kitchen. Overall I think it is a good effort from Medzs, in trying to incorporate more styles from the East. Worth a visit, especially since the prices are so affordable too!

We had other dishes too, though they're not under Asian Kitchen.