Today, it was the Saturday that I was scheduled to work. I was supposed to conduct three sessions today, but one of my clients did not turn up. That makes two sessions in total at my office. Later, after noon, I had to make to make a homevisit. Apologies, no other detail could be revealed. Confidentiality is to be observed for whatever that had went on during the sessions.
After the homevisit, I left for Somerset, located within the town area. Met Dinah, Emily and Qiuhui at Music Essentials, located within Meridien Shopping Centre. We were trying to look around for good double basses for the orchestra. The boss was pretty helpful, he showed us to the double basses and allowed us to try on a few.
The boss even gave us a list of the quotations for the double basses. I secretly wish someone would be generous enough to sponsor a Wilhelm Klier double bass for me. The description reads: "Wilhelm Klier basses are made of older tonewoods to achieve a warm, rich sound. These professional instruments feature highly flamed European maple back and ribs, excellent German spruce tops, and a deep-coloured antique varnish. top quality German ebony fingerboards, and brass tuning machines ensure playability and reliability. The Wilheml Klier model is truly a prize instrument to own and play." Whoever wrote this description sure knows how to tempt double bassist like myself. If wishes do come true, may this be one.
Later, we went to McNair Road to attempt to look at a double bass, but it had yet to be set-up. Interestingly, we got to see how the interior of the double bass looks like.
After that, we decided we shall give the two music shops, Gramercy and Synwin a miss.
Later, Qiuhui, the connoisseur of good food among us led the rest of us to Chinatown. We settled for Chinese tea at this place called Tea Chapter. Qiuhui demonstrated for us the art of Chinese tea making. We had rice dumplings at the tea house too. I suppose it was an eye-opener for Dinah and Emily. For me, going to the tea house brought about a sense of nostalgia. It reminded me of the times when I had visited the tea house with some of our friends when I was much much younger.
Art of tea-making. Demonstrated by Qiuhui.
Warming the cups.
Ready to be drank. The cup on the left is meant for one to smell the frangrance of the tea. I remember that the tea would be poured into the cup on the left. Then one is supposed to transfer the tea from the cup on the left to that on the right. One would drink the tea from the cup on the right. But prior to that, one would hold the mouth of the cup on the left close to one's nose to smell the lingering frangrance of the tea.
Rice dumplings.
After the tea house, it was time for dinner. Qiuhui recommended us to try the food at Qun Zhong Eating House which was just very nearby to the Tea Chapter. There was quite a queue outside the Eating House. We waited for about half an hour before we were finally seated. The food was pretty good. We had the minced meat noodles, the Chinese pancake (with lotus paste fillings), the dumplings (commonly referred by the Chinese as "Xiaolong Tangbao") and the fried dumplings (Guotie). Oh, I love the dumplings and the fried dumplings. Very yummy. Try it and you will believe me. Specially thanks to Qiuhui for the recommendations.
Xiaolong Tangbao (Dumplings). Yummy.
Lifting the dumplings with a pair of chopsticks. One of the personnel from the shop (most likely the owner) taught us the art of lifting the dumplings with chopsticks, and the art of eating the dumplings.
Here's the details of the eating house if you should wish to visit it one day:
Address: 21 Neil Road, Singapore 088814
Tel: 62213060
Closed on Wednesdays
Operating hours: 1130-1500, 1730-2130
After the dinner, we departed for home. I had wanted to expend the energy contained in the food that I had ate, so I walked from Neil Road to City Hall MRT Station. That was at least a distance of 8 bus-stops apart, but I had no measuring tape to measure exactly how far I had travelled. Why on earth does my friend, Mystic, say that I measure the Esplanade?
1 comment:
hahaha. THAT measuring tape again!
Post a Comment