on red beans and stuff

My quest for today was to look for a nice new eating place near by the neighborhood.

The motive?

I was getting pretty bored with my so-called ‘favorite’ (read: repeated) meal during weekends and off-campus hours: rice + re-heated rendang, which material (read: the whole rendang actually….hehehe…) I had brought here from my last visit home.

Yes, an alternative would be cooking, but since I had to go out for some grocery shopping, eating outside seemed ideal.

So the quest was set.

Now, above the supermarket were these small shops, which last time I had gone upstairs to look, only had one Thai Restaurant; by which when I got there, I immediately came down, since the price was a bit ‘unreasonable’ for a student who had just moved in that afternoon. And I ended up eating chicken rice somewhere near by that day.

You see, most of the traditional (read: cheap) eating places were closed during Sunday afternoons, and I had noticed this new Japanese restaurant on the second floor of the supermarket, so I decided to try my luck and go there.

When I got there, turns out it was already their off-hours, but the lady inside insisted that they were open, so I went in. I ordered some sushi; a Japanese dish that I feel I can always have 24-7 (frankly I think I’m sort of an outlier for that diminishing marginal utility theory, for you economists out there).

Now the menu list was not very helpful. Usually, in Japanese restaurants, I would always manage to get away looking like an expert due to the nice pictures they have on their menu list, just the type of information that people like me use to the max (even when the dish comes back 10 times smaller than what it seemed like in the picture). And to my discomfort, this time the menu was a plain list.

‘Hmmm…..so this is what? Oh, no….maybe I’ll have that one….Oh, but its that? Okay….let me just have……’ and so on.

Now the lady was very nice explaining everything, and insisting I had this and that (of course it came down to trying to balance out her high-priced-meal suggestions and the dishes that I knew I’d like). Well, I think during this process she sort of figured out that I was either new in the area or a bit of a dumb person; or…. in a brave quest for searching new places? No, I don’t think that crossed her mind, which would leave options 1 and 2 wide open, sigh….

Anyway, the sushi was nice, as always :) which then led me to the idea of having dessert. I wasn’t really sure what to get (frankly the sushi was not enough, but if I had ordered more, I might as well leave my wallet and help them do the cleaning) so noticed some possible options to close the lunch session. I first ordered a Banana Boat (a.k.a. banana split) which was a bit pricey but when she said they didn’t have any left (pfiuhh…) I came back to my second choice, Ginko Nuts (yes, very much cheaper). Now interestingly, this lady (who I assume was the owner) insisted that this second choice was not very nice and had a very strong smell (never in my life did I see a restaurant owner criticize her food…hmmm interesting), so I figured she wanted to keep my ‘option’ within the range of her ‘profit’, and since I wasn’t very sure (and yes, I had that adventurous mission in my mind) so I tried to be brave and went for her suggestion: Green Tea Ice Cream with Red Beans.

‘Red beans? Can I have it with another bean?’

‘No, its supposed to be eaten with Red beans and you can always leave the beans at the side if you don’t like it’

‘Heh? Hmmm….okay then….’
(??)

Well as you can see, Singaporeans are pretty persuasive when they sell you things (yes, I am generalizing because this has not been my first experience in such a situation); especially when they get potential customers who are not very certain (yes, like yours truly :D) plus, I was on a quest right? And quests mean taking risks and trying…..so there I was, ordering something I wasn’t really sure of.

So, the dish came and after I tried it, I can now say I am certain: I don’t like red beans that go with Green Tea Ice Cream. Hey, but I’d never know if I didn’t try right? :)

Then the bill came, and yes, I am now more and more certain those shops up there do not suit student budgets at all. And I shall be the living proof of that if ever my flat mates ask. Well, actually my flat mates cook, and they cook very well in fact.

So maybe my next quest should be learning how to cook :)

We’ll see what happens…. :))

-moenlite-