Monday, November 10, 2008

Restaurant New Seaview, PJ Section 21, the Coffee Shop I Grew Up With

A bit of insight into my simple life....I realise my posts are usually about seemingly expensive restaurants, but as I was telling AWOL, (A WHIFF OF LEMONGRASS), I eat at kopitiams almost everyday, and I always forget to bring a camera, because it's like a routine meal. Whereas when I go to proper restaurants, I make a conscious effort I guess.

Anyway, I happened to have my trusty old Lumix on me on Sunday. Every Sunday after church, (when we go, that is), we usually end up eating in some coffee shop or other. Those in the radar are usually Nam Chuan in Lucky Gardens, the other one further down the road, with the pork ball noodles, a corner coffee shop in old town, same row as UOB Bank, Harmonica in New Town, and SEAVIEW in section 21, in between section 14 and Paramount Gardens.

Now, this place has a special place in my cholesterol filled heart, because, in my childhood, when many of you were not born, or even a dirty thought in your father's head, we used to come here on some weekends. Not after church, because I come from a heathen family. I remember there used to be a chee cheong fun stall at the corner, and ...well, that's about all I remember. Those days, as kids, we weren't allowed to pick anything we wanted. You just ate what was given to you. And for some reason, we were brought up not to opt for chee soi, (noodles in soup), or eat the vegetables that came along with it (because they never wash), OR order drinks.

After years of therapy, I have managed to overcome all those unsurmountable obstacles, and am glad to announce that I am free of those childhood shackles, and liberally order soupy noodles and drinks, and eat the vegetables. And I give the kids a free hand in their orders, which results in the poor wife having to walk the entire breadth and length of the kopitiam to fulfill their orders. Why do I not do it? Ah, ssssh, she doesnt read this, but my little secret is this. Offer to drop them off first, and then go and park. And take longer than necessary to park, so that by the time you've arrived, they're all seated, and tranquilised with their drink and orders all taken.

Sometimes, it doesn't work, and after parking, they're still waiting for a table. Argh, I hate situations like that.

Anyway, this was our order for the day last Sunday.

Kid no 3 ordered this CKT. Taste wise it was good, but I found it a bit on the oily side. I mean, there's oily CKT and there's OILY CKT. However, they are very generous with their LIU, and there were at least 3 prawns, and lots of see hum. No, the kids dont eat see hum (cockles), I do.

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My current favourite at this place is now the Hakka Mee. I have managed to convert Kid no 1 & 2 to follow in my tastes, which drastically reduced the walking time for wife, since she could now order for THREE at the one stall. Kid No 1 opted for the soup version, which I didn't bother photographing. The noodles are nice and crunchy, and the gravy not overpowering, but subtle yet imparting wonderful flavour. The mince pork that accompanies the noodles make it a match made in heaven.

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Just when I have my camera with me, wife has to order something uninteresting, like yong tau foo, and without much variety either. Smack forehead.

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For now, kid no 4 can just mooch off her siblings, but the time will come when she will demand her own portion. We try to inculcate independence, and she can feed herself quite well ever since she was two, two & half. We'll have to talk about the Swiss Finishing School for Ladies later on I suppose. A bit hard to hook a rich husband when you have noodles hanging off your mouth.

The other stuff that is really good here is the pork noodles. There's always a long queue. And they always have innards, which are my favourite.

On a separate note, I've been memed AGAIN, by mysimplefood. This one is titled SEVEN THINGS YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT ME. What's with SEVEN? Argh, that's six too many facts for me to reveal.

1. I cannot go to bed unless I've washed my feet.

2. I have a COLD showever every morning. ie, NO HOT WATER.

3. I have been taking a cup of disgusting oatbran in the morning for the last 4 years or so. Now I'm used to it. It's just oatbran and water, and its revolting.

4. I do not sleep with aircond, as a general rule, as I am but a simple guy, with very kampunglike needs.

[CAUTION: DO NOT READ THIS PARA IF EASILY GROSSED OUT]
5. On one occasion, at an undisclosed government location, I had a massive stomach ache. I ran to the nearest toilet, and PRRRAAAAAPPPPPPP, managed to unload on time. Then I look around, and of COURSE, there's NO TOILET paper, (that's no surprise), and to my horror, NO WATER either. I had to look into my wallet, and LO AND BEHOLD, found an old MAS ticket. (those with the red carbon sheets)...... Phew.

6. I used to teach english part time at Robert Lam English Language Centre.

7. I used to be a part time model for men's underwear. ..............err...not. I used to be a part time copywriter at a small ad agency.

However, as I had just tagged others in the THINGS IN MY WALLET MEME recently, I shall not do so this time, for fear of kena scolding. Hope you dun mind, mysimplefood!






30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uhh.. I wished I didn't read that 5th line... :S

Tummythoz said...

All things fine & dandy until item 5. *shiver*

Precious Pea said...

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But one small MAS ticket enuff to wipe ar??

Anonymous said...

I like your strategy on avoiding the extra exercise. In addition to that, you could leave early, on the pretext of getting your car so that you can pick them up right in front of the kedai kopi, leaving your wife stranded with the bill.

The pic of the little one is just too adorable. No need swiss finishing school la. A man should appreciate a woman who genuinely loves her food.

Wah a copywriter...don't pray pray! And an english teacher. I am in awe.

Anonymous said...

fbb...shame shame...did you put in the 5th line just to stop your blog readers from tagging you on these endless questions??

and poor mei mei...hope she won't traumatized by this picture when she's grown and knows how to pose.

fatboybakes said...

chuishia, aiya, otherwise i got nothing else to share about myself ma... how you know the pic is of who?

AWOL, i see a week in HCMC hasn't made ur tongue any less sarky. yay.

precious pea, got a few sheets ma. this was the old domestic flight one, smaller than the international.

tummythoz, i thought the toilet bit might have appealed to you ma.

jason, guffaw, the youth of today are just too SEE MUN.

Ciki said...

"Offer to drop them off first, and then go and park...And take longer than necessary to park"

Wallau , damn crafty ah u.. lol:P

MAS ticket eh? at least its the soft one huh. What about now, with the e-tickets that one prints out on office paper... try and wipe your a** with A4 paper and see how... gives new feeling to with word 'paper cut':P

HairyBerry said...

hey, i share Note 3 as well! but am taking Quaker kosong lar, instead of oatbran. cheaper mah..haha! revolting, yes. but glucose still got some sweetness mah. what quantum of solace hor? haha!

[CAUTION: GROSS PARA AHEAD]
on Note 5, unless you were wearing a G-string or an expensive pair of Calvin Klein, shouldn't you use your underwear to wipe instead? that's the reason why ppl should buy cheap, comfy underwear, me thinks..hehehe...i learnt this in school cos there always run out of both paper and water...

oh, btw, lovely food! i love the variety of food at kopitiams! :)

Unknown said...

Seaview. Love their pork noodles. My sis and I always wonder if our family is the only family in town where the bowl of noodles that we order actually goes one rotation round the table, meaning everyone gets to sample. As an unwritten rule of thumb, if one orders Curry Laksa..everyone gets to sample, but one gets the lion share. Usually, there's a side order of an extra bowl or two just to fill us up. Hmm..After all, caring is sharing. No?

Hmmm...

Rebecca Saw said...

ahh..tried reading this post yest but browser kept saying it can't find the page. Finally get to read it today!

Heh, I used to do that too..I like to go into a shop and straightaway get to sit down!
Ohh..they have Hakka mee? Must go try!
Eh..that bowl of oatbran is good for your cholesterol filled heart, no? *grin*

Anonymous said...

TNG, haha, u have me on rss ah? i accidentally pressed post when all i did was upload pics yesterday.
heh heh, the oatbran dont seem to be working...

unka, quite common what, the passing of food in coffee shop. i love the pork noodles there. i wish we had more ppl for variety.

hairy berry, hahaha, yerrrrr...... then? what do you do with the undies? flush it down ah?

ciki, hahah, yeah, A4 size...well, actually probably more absorbent la....

Argus Lou said...

Eh, not shy ke? Waving your Lumix around your kopitiam food?
Aitelyu, floggers nowadays...

Oh, I can see the charred bits on the CKT. No need to hobble off for magnifying glass. Almost died at the supermarket the other day when I saw frozen cockles (Herzmuscheln) from France and since they were going to expire that day, they were discounted by 50 percent. Orignal price was CHF20 (RM60) a kg, shells and all.

I can book for your daughter a place at the Institut Montana (finishing school), want ah? Only RM900,000 a year. ;-)

Simon Seow said...

Ah, having an old MAS ticket in the wallet do come handy.

fatboybakes said...

argus, heh heh, lumix very small ma, so not shy la. those big big cameras, yeah, i WOULD be embarrassed man. institut montana has two zeroes too many.

simon, aitelyu, you never know!!!! but only applies if you are in government buildings la.... i think most private buildings wont be that bad these days. ......

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

hahaha when ciki told me abt this post, i knew i had to come here n reply!

but u knw..not only r MAS tickets useful..i think old receipts are useful too!

then again, after a bomb, 1 MAS ticket enough to wipe ar??

Raynebow said...

Ahh... i miss that pork noodles - they call the stall "Apollo Chee Yook Fun"... and i always ordered kah liu - with extra pig kidneys! Since moving away fr tat area, I hv not been back there for a long time.
Hey, like Nic, i oso down a cup of unpalatable oat+water every morning - someone told me tat's good for bones/joints... i dun hv much prob with cholesterol anyways, lol!

aka Pureglutton

fatboybakes said...

hi pure glutton, no more the fish pic ah? seen u around many blogs, thanks for dropping by. ah, obviously seaviews pork noodles are quite famous. lucky you, no cholesterol prob.

nipples, the objective is just to get clean enough to get you to civilsation, ...obviously you're never get to get very clean with that unabsorbent paper la. ..... GUFFAWWWW. these days receipts are mainly on thermal paper, LAGI la, completely impervious... unabsorbent.

wmw said...

There should be a post of "Things You Can Wipe Your A** With!" and let your readers run wild with their comments! hahaha...

fatboybakes said...

hmmm, wmw, offhand, i can think of :
1. leaves...some are quite absorbent. not daun keladi though.
2. pampers (but do not flush down the toilet)
3. certain kinds of money...not the plastic type, or coins. bank of hell notes would be good
4. cotton wool
5. those wet towels in packets in restaurants...if i carried a handbag, i'd make sure i had one on me all the time
6. coffee filters
7. name cards
........hmmm, cant think of anymore. sleepy after lunch, brain grinding to a halt...

Precious Pea said...

Actually FBB, I got one more to add...

8. Your hand!!!!

Hahaha...what is so difficult of using hand?? can always wash it later , no? Hahahahahahahha!

Rebecca Saw said...

Yup, I got you on RSS. Oh, so thats what happened..
Oh my god, this post really got everyone worked up with the comments! Prob one of the most interesting post of all time!

fatboybakes said...

precious pea, my situation was there was no water, so cant even wash hand...

nomad, yalar, now i feel so bad, coz its one of the few posts with a pic of my little girl...and the conversation has just gone down the toilet....hahahahha, we have mysimplefood to blame for her meme.

sc said...

the hakka mee here is delicious! hahaha and your meme sure is entertaining.. we share the same habit no 1, I Need to wash my feet before i go to bed too..

Argus Lou said...

I keep coming back here unwittingly like a gruesome crime scene.

Firstly, I feel for your cute little girl. Maybe she's planning on putting you in a decrepit old folk's home already - if you don't fork out for her Swiss education.

Secondly, using business cards is a darn good idea - especially if you despise the person who pressed it on you.

Finally, now you know why women carry handbags - they're full of things you might need, you'd never know, including toilet paper and wet wipes. Non-violent handbag snatchers are mostly guys with a need to explode, methinks.

UnkaLeong said...

Agree with hairy. Underwear has my vote. You could even rip it up and save some for later. You never know...

Anonymous said...

Unka - what do you mean rip it up and save some for later?? Rip up a soiled underwear?? And then keep the rest in your wallet for future emergencies??? :D

Y'know, there is a reason why #5 remained unknown til today.. Come to think of it, if you prrrraaaaapppp-ed it all out, it should be relatively clean wat. Isn't it usually the sticky toothpaste-y ones that leave 'traces'??

Abt #1, I believe you can get bad dreams if you go to bed with dirty feet. Really.

Eh, that CCF looks familiar.. :D

Mmmmm.. fish cake and mince pork noodle. That's Friday lunch!

I oso take Quaker kosong (oats and hot water) every morning. Keeps me going from the time I get up at 5:30am to after I drop off hubby and kids (about 8:30). Then I will sit down for a nice leisurely breakfast. Does wonders for the bowels.

fatboybakes said...

GFAD, does it get bright very early in AD? 5.30? that's even before our muezzin call for dawn prayer, and i am probably in my deepest sleep cycle at that hour. on weekends i dont take oats, because oats to me are a sign of suffering, and synonymous with weekdays.
8.30, the time u are free, is about the time i arise from slumber.

re dirty feet, i'm a bit ocd...even if i've washed, and happen to need to walk to the kitchen, for eg, i'd need to wash again...


i really dunno about these flers who use underwear to wipe... do they flush it? throw it? gosh.

HairyBerry said...

flushing oso can (quite unethical lar, of course) or just throw it in one of the nearest tong sampah and cabut lar....

imagine if you have no plastic bag in hand and just an LV paper bag with a brand new $$$$ bag inside...guess the paper bag has to go with the soiled undies lar...hahaha!

PureGlutton said...

Hehe, thanks for noticing me :-) I've been dropping by your blog a lot wor.
My fish pic is still here...;-)

Unknown said...

hehehe.. horrible experince NO.5
well intersting blog.
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