Anniversary Degustation: The NEW Sage

As usual, we celebrate this memorable date at our favourite fine-dining restaurant, The Sage. It has moved to the new place at Mohamed Sultan, just the opposite where they used to be. The new Sage has modern and stylish feel, yet the ol’ personal warmth service standard remains –which is why it gets our highest vote for best fine dining place in Singapore.

To Manfred and I, The Sage is more than excellent food quality, romantic ambience and warmth personalized service. It is where our first love momento begins, from our first date to our first anniversary, and to marriage proposal. The Sage is a special place for both of us.

This anniversary, Manfred treats me to the new Degustation Menu, which is fairly reasonable priced for six-course dinner of four appetizers, one main and dessert. Kimberly had too arranged for every course to be crustaceans-free and shells-free as I’m still under diet restrictions. Nevertheless, it was a very thoughtful gesture of her.

Let's proceed to the menu for the evening :)

Complimentary hors d'oeuvre

This interesting dish is made of squashed tomatoes combined with onion and lime juice, topped with caviar. It gives off refreshing taste with subtle hint of spice and lime.. Perfect as hors d'oeuvre..

Gravlax of ocean trout with citrus marinade on vine ripe tomato foam,

fennel marmalade and tapioca pearls scented with orange essence

The fresh raw trout tastes sweet with no sign of fishy smell. The yellow jelly on top of the trout is the tapioca pearls blends with orange essence, and the white foam on the left is the tomato foam, which tastes quite bland.. Mix these three together and you get sweet smooth orange scented taste lingering in your mouth.. *mmmm... a fluffy french-sashimi appetizer..

Carpaccio of US naturally raised, grain fed and hormone free beef tenderloin

with jellied horseradish consomme and air dried Wagyu,

Arugula leaves and shaved Parmigianno Reggiano

Imagine Wagyu beef carpaccio with marble score of 10, then you know how this dish would taste! The jellied horseradish consomme was surprisingly tasty and blends well with the smooth texture of Wagyu beef.. Two words for this dish: IT MELTS!!

Seared scallop on Belgium endive au gratin with avruga caviar,
Normandy sauce and Parmigianno Reggiano lace

I purposely took a closeup of this dish so that you can look for yourself the amount of caviar that they put on that huge scallop!! Definitely not stingy for an appetizer! This dish was SUPERB.. It had fragrant smell when it arrived on our table, and oh boy how glad we were that the taste matched the smell! Manfred liked it so much that he wanted a main course version of this for our next visit! Memorable dish indeed!

Pan-seared duck foie gras on pear and walnut chuney,
Muscat poached fig with spiced port wine glaze

I always love foie gras here -it's pan-seared until crisp on the outer, yet it's soft on the bite.. Needless to say, they are very generous with the portion as well. The port-sweetened fig compliments the foie gras very well, leaving taste of sweetness lingering in your mouth.. Definitely an interesting experience..

Charcoal grilled Kurobuta pork loin with orange marmalade on slow cooked terrine of

pork cheek topped with tomato fondue and aioli, white bean mousseline and basil pesto

I am more of a beef person, so I seldom order pork loin for my main. Didn't really expect much of the dish initially, yet this dish gave me a new revolution of pork loin dish, or to be exact Kurobuta pork loin.. :p

It is the finer version of chinese roasted pork, with elegant dish presentation.. The pork cheek was soft and tender as it is slow cooked, but I still prefer the charcoal grilled pork loin.. The white bean mousse was smooth and neutralized the porky taste. So you can enjoy the dish with porky-free feeling! Overall, this is a wonderful dish to order for a change!

Chocolate souffle with Amaretto ice cream and vanilla bean custard

Hot choco liquid + vanilla custard + icy cold amaretto ice cream = SUPERB DESSERT!!
Do I still have to explain more?

This time round, Kimberly had prepared an anniversary gift from The Sage for us!! Blessed with favor and abundance from God indeed!! (We were already full to the max during the Kurobuta course!)

Mascarpone and cream cheese cake with compote of
strawberries and nougat, caramel sauce and chocolate sorbet

Best cheescake I have tried so far! The cheescake was smooth and soft, with no cheesy taste. Basically you can eat a lot and still don't feel sick of it! Very wonderfully made cheesecake.. Good job Chef Jusman! :)

End the whole meal with beautiful tea set of English milk tea.. *satiated

Two happy loving customers :)

Happy anniversary my dear.. *muackz!

Tragedy to Opportunity

A good article I found to enlighten all of you on the current situation.. It's now up to you to turn tragedy into opportunity!!

Extracted from Adam Khoo: Why I Love Market Crashes and You Should Too!

The US market indexes like the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have plunged more than 25% from its highs! Once revered ‘indestructible’ financial giants like AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearn, and Merrill Lynch have come crashing down. Citigroup that once traded at $50, is now down to $13. Lehman Brothers than was once $90 is now bankrupt. Merrill Lynch that was once $80, is now $20. AIG that was once $80, is now $2. Global corporate layoffs have started with HP slashing 24,000 jobs worldwide.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index is down MORE than 30%. UOB, once at $24, is now at $15. Capitaland, from $8 is now $3+. Property prices are down 10%-20% from a year ago. Singapore has declared herself facing another 'technical recession'

While many people are panicking and fear can be smelt in the air, Far-sighted Entrepreneurs and Investors like myself are LOVING IT! (not that we ate any McDonalds’s burgers)

So Why Do I Love These Downturns?

I may sound crazy, but most people do not realize that economic slowdowns and financial crisis are where fortunes are really made.

It was the last two crashes of 1998 and 2002 that gave me the opportunity to make my first $1.5 million; by buying into great stocks at huge discounts and turning an $8,000 investment into a $30m a year business. It was the recession that allowed me to hire so may great people at such low salaries, take up a 12,000 square foot office in the heart of CBD at just $4 per square foot. It was during the crashes, when NOBODY wanted to own stocks that I bought great blue chip stocks at 50%-80% discounts below their true value. It was during the last downturn that I bought my Semi-D at $1.6m, which is now worth $3m!

Now…it is ALL HAPPENING AGAIN!!!! In fact, this crisis is turning out to be even more severe that the previous two. For those of you who know how to take advantage of this will become the next group of new millionaires once the market turns around.

How Do You Take Advantage of This?

Remember that history ALWAYS repeats itself. After every bull run (rally), there will be a pullback/correction/crash (which is what is happening now). After every crash, it will be followed by the next rally/bullrun. In other words, the market will ALWAYS RECOVER and GO EVEN HIGHER!

However, NOT ALL stocks will recover. The weak and fundamentally damaged stocks may never recover. The secret is to learn and start buying up the fundamentally strongest stocks when they are cheap & NOBODY wants them (during the downturn). When the market turns around, they are the ones will recover even stronger and make you your fortune.

Let me give you a free tip here. Before the crisis, there were Five Big Investment Banks in the US: Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Bear Sterns and JP Morgan. Now that Lehman (bankrupt), Merrill (bought over By Bank of America) and Bear Sterns (bought by JP Morgan) are gone, guess who is going to benefit and become even stronger after the crisis… the survivors! i.e Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

You need to identify the strong companies from the lousy ones and to buy them up cheap, when the whole market is fearful. When the market turns eventually, they will reap handsome profits from putting their money on the strong horses.

“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when 0thers are fearful”
-Warren Buffett, World’s Richest Man

Cost of Spinal Injury

I was just calculating the total cost of my medical bills from 24th Sep 2007 to-date

• Before hospitalization: $ 2,498.30
• During hospitalization: $ 33,471.81
• After hospitalization: $ 252.90
• ------------------------------------
• Total costs: $ 36,223.01

Total insurance claims

• Accidental medical: $ 3,000.00
• Hospitalization: $ 26,350.00
• Post-hospitalization: $ 252.90
• 6days hospital income: $ 2,850.00
• 2mths of indemnity: $ 3,375.00
• ------------------------------------
• Total claims: $ 35,827.90

So, I'm left with $ 395.11 to settle, which I can use my Medisave ;)


The above hospital expenses settlement is based on Healthshield Gold Plan A, instead of Prestige. Reason being: my upgrade was done in 1st Oct 2007, while the accident happened on 24th Sept 2007. The 7 days difference costs me my hospital income and weekly indemnity!

Price of procrastination: $ 6,620.11

Food for Thoughts

Two invaluable lessons I gained from this experience:

1. take a break; else your body will break you down
2. patience also means that everything has its own time

Seven weeks of recuperating with no work have not been easy for me. But I learned to be patient and I understand that healing is a process that can't be shortened..

Similarly, experience is also a learning process, just like how wisdom is a life-long process.. Sometimes, in life it's not only about doing and doing, but also about waiting and waiting..

Often than not, we're so used to our own busy hectic schedule that we forgot to slow down and recharge. Only after our body stops us that we're then forced to stop. But, it will be totally different then. Recharging your body and recuperating are two different things; and trust me, you wouldn't want to do the second.

Health is still the most precious capital that we have.. So,
my advise to you: learn to rest, put a stop and let the time takes its course

Wang Lee Hom -Music Man

The concert theme Music Man was adopted from superheroes anime -Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Ironman, etc. Reason being, Lee Hom himself likes these superheroes; but what he sees in them is not the super power that they possess, rather the 'human' side of them. He imagined himself as one of the superhero, and that how Music Man was born.

Overall, it was an awesome concert by Lee Hom.. What can I say, fantastic stage design, marvellous talent performance, and clean singing voice! The gorgeous look with muscly build is definitely a PLUS point! Gosh, he's close to perfections -result of continuous hardwork coupled with passion..





Lee Hom's pictures slideshow





Music Man special attack items

Last Hairdo 2008

Dear's and moi's new hairdo

Sweet Roses

Today, my baby gave me a 'surprise' pink rose to cheer me up.. He knows I'm feeling down for being so disabled..



Awwww... so sweettt.. thank you dear.. *muackz!

Spinal Ops

Never in my life had I stayed in hospital, other than the time I first enter this world, so the thought of surgery did scare me. But I know it's time now. No more delaying, the sooner it is the better it gets.

When they pushed me to the surgery room, fear started to haunt me bit by bit.. my body didn't feel like mine anymore. I knew that the moment I entered the room, something inside me will change forever.

The layout of the operation room is exactly the same like what you see in the E.R. bright lights, nurses and doctors in the green uniforms and medical equipments.. The room was breezing cold and bright.. very cold room..

The surgery took 5hours straight. It was a major operations. I had two of my neck discs taken out -one replaced with an artificial disc, while the other one was fused using my hip bone.

First thing I felt when I woke up was nauseous.. due to the anesthetic effect.. then weak.. really weak.. and the next thing I know, I had soft collar on my neck and I was pushed back to my ward..

Pre- and post- surgery look



Still, I feel very much blessed.. During this critical times, I have my family, Manfred and his family, and lots of friends who truly supported me throughout this critical times.

Manfred was continuously taking care of me days and nights while I was in hospital, taking days off from his work. Also, my best buddy Ronald took days off to support me on my first day of surgery and also on the day when I was discharged..





Friends and colleagues who came to give me their well wishes..
Also, overseas friends who called and sms-ed their well wishes..
All of you, THANK YOU!

Osaka: AIA Mini Convention 2008

My first mini convention!! I'm so proud of myself :)

Osaka: Kobe Beef

Day tour to Kobe for only two reasons: shopping and kobe beef gourmet! :)

Kobe Sanda Premium Outlet contains 80-100 of branded outlets at bargain price.. This is where you can find label like Coach, Gucci, Kate Spade, Hugo Boss, Hamilton, Valentino at 35%-80% bargain!




Kobe beef has always been described as soft, chewy and melt in your mouth.. Unfortunately, the one being presented to us has lower marble score, around 8-10.. It's still good though.. The one on the right is proschiuto ham..

Visit to Kobe Farm to have a close-up look on the cows.. *mmm yummy ox-tongue :p