Seed Writes....: January 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

A short visit to the Singapore Motor Show 2015

With only 1 hour to spare, I had a short visit to the Singapore Motor Show 2015. There was a huge crowd on the late Saturday afternoon. From what I understood, the entry ticket was cheaper this year than the previous year. Naturally, there were more people willing to fork out the $6 for the visit. I was looking for super cars to photograph but end up with all the race girls photos ( excuse! )

As there were a few lady models / race girls whom I knew them at the show, I stopped to chat with them. In the end, I have to stop as their bosses don't seems to be too pleased. I guessed I have to move on. Here are the photos taken of girls at the show.

Hopeful with these photos, someone may invite me to be the official photographer / blogger for a bigger and better car show.

Movie Review : Meet Miss Anxiety 《我的早更女友》

Meet Miss Anxiety 《我的早更女友》

故事大纲

四年前，戚嘉的大学男友刘翀执意要去北京工作，可戚嘉舍不得离开故乡。毕业之日她向刘翀求婚，却遭当众拒绝，她与刘翀的爱情也在此刻停止。毕业后戚嘉满怀热情的生活，并“捡”回无家可归的大学校友袁晓鸥一起合租。刘翀去北京后音讯全无，载满思念的信也有去无回，戚嘉变得意志消沉日日买醉。两年后刘翀的结婚请柬让戚嘉痛不欲生，寻死不得后她在闺蜜林舒儿和袁晓鸥的陪同下赶赴北京抢婚。但当刘翀发现面纱下的新娘是戚嘉时，他再一次拒绝了戚嘉的求婚。遭受感情创伤的戚嘉也被诊断出“早更”，在室友袁晓鸥帮她“疗伤”击退更年期的日子里，两颗孤独的心逐渐向彼此靠拢。漫长四年的相处，袁晓鸥对戚嘉不离不弃，戚嘉也因他重拾起对爱情的信念。

导演：郭在容

主演：周迅、佟大为、钟汉良、张梓琳

类型：喜剧/爱情

片长：98分钟

SYNOPSIS

Four years ago, Qi Jia’s beloved college boyfriend Liu Chong plans to work in Beijing, while Qi rather stays in her hometown city. At their graduation ceremony, Qi proposes to Liu in the public, only to be rejected immediately - that was the end of their love story.

After their graduation, Qi was so passionate toward her new life and approved the ‘flat-share’ request by her schoolmate, Yuan Xiao’ou who was homeless at that time. Qi had never heard from Liu Chong after then until she got his wedding invitation two years later, she was devastated….

Director ：Jae-young Kwak

Cast ：Zhou Xun, Tong Dawei, Han-Liang Chung, Zhang Zilin

Genre ：Comedy/Romance

Duration ：98 mins

Trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufqXGEEa8wM&feature=youtu.be

Review :

Coming from the Korean director of fame comedy movie "My Sassy Girl", KWAK Jae-young, it will be a fun and enjoyable romantic comedy. Well, that’s what the Korean director is good at. It is that kind of show that make your heart feel good from the start to the end and of course, a happy ending. That’s probably the known secret ingredient of a romantic comedy.

If the fame Korean director still does not convince you to watch the movie, let the box office taking convince you whole-heartily. When it was released on December 5, 2014 in China, and by December 20, 2014, the film had earned ¥139.17 million at the Chinese box office. Not bad for a romantic comedy.

How it ends, well, if you just cannot wait, go for the first day of the screening in the cinema near you. That is on February 5, 2015. Have an early Valentine celebration (February 14, 2015) with your girlfriend or boyfriend or even ex-gf or bf (now husband and wife), by watching this fun filled movie.

The main actress, Zhou Xun, one of the hottest Chinese actresses today truly live up to her reputation while the main actor, Tong Dawei, a seasoned actor add the extra sparkle into the movie. In fact, I think he worked very hard since his character required him to help, cheer-up and take care of Zhou Xu who was depressed with her premature menopause syndrome.

At times, there are touching moments where Tong Dawei would plan everything to ensure the care of Zhou Xun. It is only when you truly love a person; you will be able to sacrifice so much for the person. At the end of the movie, the director decided to let the cat out of the bag by flashing some of the scenes of Tong Dawei. What did he do? Watch it and you will know the answer.

Ratings:

In my opinion, good movie always come with a twist. There is no twist but the director decided to explain what Tong Dawei did earlier in the movie by showing some of the scenes at the end. In a way, it is to get the audience understand the true meaning of love and sacrifices. Watch it together with your love ones and feel good. I shall rate it 4/5 stars.

The movie will be showing in cinema on 05 February 2015.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Best Ramen of 2015 emerged from the Ramen Champion Tasting Competition 2015

Ramen have been a very popular Japanese food in Singapore. Ramen Champion Singapore was started in July 2011 which bring in reputable ramen brands to Singapore. The 2015 Ramen Champion Tasting Competition event was held at Bugis+ which was to celebrate Ramen Champion’s evolution since its inception in 2011.

Besides the first outlet at Bugis+, there are two other outlets of Ramen Champion. One at Changi Airport T3 and the other one at Great World City. There are a total of 6 Ramen brands which include a new brand, Tonkotsu Ikkyu joining in 2015.

The new brand Tonkotsu Ikkyu was created by Ramen chef and producer of Ramen Champion Singapore, Chef Koji Tashiro. He is known as “Son of Ramen God”. He is the disciple of “Ramen God” Kazuo Yamagishi, the legendary Ramen chef credited for inventing the wildly popular Tsukemen or dipping noodles.

The event started with a Japanese traditional drums performance. You can feel the energy and excitement of the drummers during this short but high energy performance. This is followed by a sweet Japanese lady compere together with the Chef Koji Tashiro, translating every words of what Chef says.

The panel of judges were a mixed group from our local Singapore top chefs, chief editor of BITES etc. In the tasting competition, we were given a voting card which we will be submitting at the end of the tasting competition.

There are six brands and each dish out one Ramen dish. Here are the Ramen.

(1) Ramen Brand : Menya Ryu, Ramen : Sapporo Miso Special Ramen. The original flavour come from the capital of Ramen in Japan, Sapporo, Hokkaido. A minimum of 7 hours spent for making the broth. The Chef, Melvin Yeo uses 3 kinds of Miso which is just like the traditional miso ramen of Sapporo. My Opinion : It has a rich, tasty and thick soup. The meat is tender. The half boiled egg is soft and juicy. This is definitely one of my favourite Ramen.

(2) Ramen Brand : Buta God, Ramen : God Ramen. Buta God specialises in port ramen. Chef Mamoru Kana create a perfect combination of the slightly sweet Tonkotsu broth with sliced marinated pork belly and proached egg. My Opinion : You can feel the softness and yet the tasty sliced pork belly. The soup was really nice. This is my favourite and I voted on this Ramen.

(3) Ramen Brand : Riki, Ramen : RIKI Chashumen. The brand was established in Tokyo. Very popular with men in Japan. It’s broth boiled for more than 8 hours, achieving a perfect milky-white broth. Riki means Energy Boost. My Opinion : The soup is a bit saltish but it still tasty. The meat is well done. Still this is not my favourite ramen.

(4) Ramen Brand : Menban Yamagishi Kazuo, Ramen : Original Tsukemen This is the legendary ramen chef, Kazuo Yamagishi who created this wildly popular Tsukemen, or dipping noodles. My Opinion : This is a ramen that is very different from the rest. The noodles are dipped into the soup for every mouthful of noodles. Quite interesting. In fact, it is quite nice. Should give it a try.

(5) Ramen Brand : Shodai Koji, Ramen : Triple Chashu Ramen. Chef Koji Takano is trained in Hokkaido, Yokohama, Tokyo, Australia and Singapore. He is the disciple of Chef Koji Tashiro. The uniqueness of this dish is that you can enjoy three kinds of meats. It is based on Yokohama-style ramen. It combines the elements of new generation with the traditional ones. My Opinion : For a meat eater like me, I really appreciate this ramen with three different kind of meat. It seems rather generous with it’s ingredients.

(6) Ramen Brand : Tonkotsu Ikkyu, Ramen : Special Tonkotsu Ramen. The ramen is created by Chef Koji Tashiro, disciple of Ramen God Kazuo Yamagishi. Eric Tsang, a Hong Kong celebrity and producer of Ramen Champion Hong Kong have request the chef to create this Ramen. The topping of cha shu which is pork collar is cooked in the western sous vide style and that the soup base comes in four vibrant colours and flavours. Finally, this ramen emerge as the grand winner. My Opinion : In my opinion, the soup is salty. I would prefer something less salty. Overall presentation is good. The meat is tender.

It is an experience to witness and be part of a Japanese culture of eating ramen in a competition. With more of such competitions, I believe the level of creativity and quality of ramen will greatly be improved.