Boon Lay POWER Nasi Lemak = May Just be the ONE

Hello Earth,

Surprise, surprise as this post is another blog on Nasi Lemak, I am somewhat on a personal mission to try to track down the BEST nasi lemak that money can buy and Singapore got to offer, because life can be so fragile and life can be too short.

Also if you have wondered why I have gone Missing-In-Action (MIA) for so long, beside the regular business travels, I was too on a expected suicide mission to test my patience and went on a "stress-oliday" with none other than my two (2) mothers.

Mothers, are somebody that you will love to hate and hate to love, for they must have been born on a different planet and therefore have different expectations, needs and wants which as a "filial" child like myself hope to provide and fulfill and if this sounds like mission impossible, it is indeed thus I have promised myself to be kind to ME and in my wildest dream will I ever want to attempt this again.

Wikipedia describes mothers as:
A mother (or mum/mom) is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that united with a sperm which grew into a child.Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally acceptable definition for the term.

Hey, do not judge me just yet, for I do love my mothers most of the time.

Okay I am lying now, I think I am only capable of loving them only "maybe" some times, and may lord have mercy on me if I do not DARE or even remotely attempt to bring them out on another holiday anytime soon.

So what's will make one feel good about oneself and be happy to be alive, it must be FOOD, and it need not be made of the best or most expensive ingredient in the world, but comfort food that make one be filled with joy and warms one's heart.
 
Me and my running slut just finished our 15 KM run in Macritchie Reservoir which I must have took like FOREVER or it did felt like forever at least, for trail run is nothing like a road run for you will only see endless of tress, monkeys, more tress and more monkeys, no hot babes and no hot nothing, for your eyes is set on no more than 1 meters in fear that you will hit a big rock or lose your footing and end up being Tarzan with NO Jane to... 

I will leave that sentence incomplete for your imagination to run wild for a second, a minute, an hour, a day, or even a lifetime.

Run "FAT" Forest Run

It was slightly past 9pm and I was at this location - Blk 221B Boon Lay Place, #01-106 Boon Lay Place Food Centre.

It was a Sunday, and the parking was "FREE", thanks to Dr Tan Cheng Bock

Parking for free, nothing in Singapore is free anymore, everything is worth some $$$, so I was happy for a while, until I saw this.

9pm Singapore Time and the queue is this long

I mean, it was 9pm on a Sunday night, I have just finished a painful 15km trail run so I reckoned that I have a valid reason, but what excuses do these people have to be eating so late?

It then struck me, do we Singaporeans or Human Beings need a reason for doing what we do, especially when it comes to food, I doubt it.

So the race of patience begins and we waited and waited, it was after a world record of sort that took approximately 45 minutes before we reached the front and saw THIS.

Every food critic man ever known in Singapore, must has have been here

Even our dearly beloved Makansutra which in my view is the most Overrated, Un-creditable and Un-honest food critic that Singapore has seen till date is here with a rating of 3 bowls with 5 chopsticks and a rating of "die die must try".

Seriously, die die must try, did the owner not "reward" you enough for you to rate them "Divine" or make it to your infamous Makansutra "Tasteless" legends.

Now now, don't get me wrong again, I love YOU "SeeToh", however do console a doctor for I highly suspect that your taste bud must be damaged during all your food adventures for you to say what you said and rate what you "blindly" rated.

Then, I saw this... which somewhat make me happy and somewhat sad.

Look at the varieties... this is so WRONG and RIGHT at the same time

Happy, cos the food looks and smell great.

Sad, cos isn't this suppose to be POWER Nasi Lemak only or is this a economic rice stall?

How many choices do we need?

Look, there's more...


It was suppose to be only Nasi Lemak, didn't know that with POWER, you are entitled to so much more.


However, how many POWER nasi lemak stalls do you know that has its own website as well.


Don't believe me?


See http://powernasilemak.biz/


They are truly a reflection of what Singapore of today is and probably will continue to further evolve into what tomorrow will become.


Goodbye, for long gone are the days where it was so much simpler and people were less demanding.




  




I personally like to stick to the basic, so I ordered myself a plate of Nasi Lemak but this time with a little twist

My Version of POWER Nasi Lemak

It was past 10pm, and after 45 minutes of waiting, I think I deserve to reward myself with an additional Dòu gān "Chinese Tofu" but more or less I have kept it simple like how it should be.

Another surprise, did you know that their ikan bilis is not part of their chicken wing nasi lemak set, its like having hokkien mee without prawns or the sotong, like chicken rice without the chicken, like prata without its curry.

Yes, I too went ALAMAK!!!@!(!@!@*)@)!*@)!!@+!#U#!_@!

What did our beloved ikan bilis did wrong to deserve being demoted to becoming an optional item?

Ponder one's mind, doesn't it.

Time to say our goodbye and till next time, remember I love my Mothers and I love SeeToh.

Verdict Out of Five (5*):

1. Quality of Food: 3.5 (Good enough to be Nasi Lemak, lack a little bit of power)
2. Ambiances: 2.5 (Hawker style, lighting could be better if you insist)
3. Audiences: 3.0 (Everyone who love Nasi Lemak raise your hands)
4. Price: 3.0 (Price is reasonable)
5. Services: 2.5 (Self Services, and 45 minutes late)
6. Hygiene: 2.5 (Not the cleanest place to dine, but it will have to do)

My overall rating is 3.0*, and yes, it is worth a try and not die die must try but will I travel all the way there for nasi lemak only again, mmm, probably not since they do have an outlet in the North as well which is just as good and definitely, do not need me to require me to wait 45 minutes. 

Quote of the post: "For you were part of me"

Nasi Lemak Kukus + Power Burger = An Almost Familar Taste

Greeting readers,

This is another posting that is long overdue but as you may have guessed, I am living off my luggage, airports and hotels which seems almost home for me over these past few weeks.

So here I am, finally almost living and having some well deserved time for my missy, my runs, my bike, my PS3, and also some to myself.

Which reminded me of this somewhat famous quoted from former Coca Cola CEO Bryan Dyson who served from 1986 to 1991: 

I can't agree or argue with Bryan Dyson and thus my new or renewed motto will/shall/must be:

"Give Life @ Chance"

For it will only make prefect senses, that beside wanting to be a top performing employee of a "K" company, I too want to be a loving husband to my wife, a grateful son to my parents including my in-laws. and a true friend to my bitches buddies who have been with me for the last 10 to 20 years and still counting, fortunately or unfortunately.

I want to be me and more to the people around me. : ) or at least that is my intention at least.

So enough said about me, myself and I, let's us go on to our favourite past time, needs and wants "FOOD" and for this post, I have decided to blog about Nasi Lemak which has been one of my long time love, longer than my wife at least.

Some quick facts about Nasi Lemak:

Nasi lemak is a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and "pandan" leaf commonly found in this parts of the region and is normally sold at hawker food centres in Singapore and roadside stalls in Malaysia, and it often comes wrapped in banana leaves, newspaper or brown paper,and it could be served on a plate. Nasi lemak kukus means "steamed nasi lemak" is another name given to nasi lemak served with steamed rice.

From my UNreliable source, I decided to check out this not too new or established eatery "NasI Lemak KUKUS" located at 908 Upper Thomson Road Singapore 787111, with its own website at www.nasilemakkukus.com which you may want to check it out for more details.

I was too early or am I too late (Opening Hour: 6pm to 3am daily)

FYI, this area to my best knowledge used to be more famous known for the Ampang Yong Tau Foo which I will blogged in the coming days/weeks/years but somewhat of late, this area is slowly becoming a popular food street, which I must confess that I do frequent quite regularly as well.

So if you are seeking for my personal autograph, you may want to try your luck "THERE" sometime, someday, and by the way, it will be SG$50 per piece of not bigger than 500mm by 300mm per sheet and I can sort of guarantee that this will be worthlessful in 50++ years time.

Why 50++ years you may ask, I say go and ask Mr Lee Kuan Yew who has quoted that the average Singaporean should have a longer life expectancy of more than age of 85 years old, if only everyone thinks like him and live like him.

I personally doubt it, but if he is correct, I will exactly be of 85 years old in 50 years time, so YOU may be holding to a living legend signature if he is by any way correct at all, and if I am famous by then.

Having said the above, another news caught my attention which was that Central Provident Fund is raising the minimum sum to S$139,000 AGAIN for its member turning 55 years old between July 1 this year and June 30 next year.

Firstly, I do not recalled myself voluntarily signing up to be a "MEMBER", but heck was I given a choice, NO... HELL NO BS NO NANA NO @!(*!@(#!!@3!@3!2, unless I was to give my citizenship which I am seriously thinking but more about that at another time.

Which bring me to another point, didn't our the National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam recently declared that a household with a S$1,000 income can afford an HDB flat.

Let's work up a simple maths sum which I am sure a primary school children can also do.


Say that Mr. BS $1000 Gross Salary of which $200 (20%) + $160 (16%) are contribution to CPF by the person and employers respectively. 

Assuming that Mr. BS started working at a age of 20 and will be contributing $360 a month, with a assumption that he does not increase his wage thus no increase in CPF contribution, he will then need an estimated of 386 months which roughly work up to around 32 years to meet the minimum requirement, that is also given that Mr. BS's 100% of his CPF is not deducted for housing loan, inflation, medisave, special accounts or other matters.

Is this even possible? 

I am worried for our future as Singaporeans, and to believe that the Men In White (MIW) will listen to its people as proclaimed from its last GE as nothing but the truth, my response is simply "You MIW are full of BULL SHIT and can kiss my ASS".

For YOU "MIW" needs to understand that the $$$ in CPF are "OUR MONEY", not yours, not your mother, not your father, not your uncle, not your aunty, not your cousin, not your mistress, not your whatever and YOU need not worry about how we spend it when we reach 55 or 65 years old for we  are not 2 years old kids that needs to be given a monthly allowance, it is OUR MONEY if you miss me the first time round, OUR MONEY BITCH. 


I sincerely hope you get the point and be a people's government who cares of the well being of its people and not only about $$$, else Singapore of the future will be like a hotel where people check in and check out when we have done our business, having say that, isn't Singapore becoming just one.

Where food meets the hungry & maybe lonely souls

Anyhow back to happier things, this is how NasI Lemak KUKUS look like on the outside and by now, you will know that my heart always has a soft spot for old school setup such as this, for a simple reason that people generally seems friendlier in this type of environment as compared to some posh restaurant where you would have the privilege to pay 10% services tax and of course, get little to NIL services.

Fact of Life, did you know that me and missy have ran not once but twice from our house to NasI Lemak just to eat and take a taxi back home, you don't believe me ?

See below screen shot captured from my GPS watch.

Running through mountain and lake, just to eat Nasi Lemak & Power Burger

So what's so nice that would make me run not once but twice?

For one, this is an unique eatery beside having an old school kampong feel, one is expected to take his/her own rice + dishes to one's content, very much like a buffet but the only difference being that you have one go at it, except for the rice.

As you see below, I am not a Kiasu Singaporean just yet, so I take normal portion of rice enough to feel myself, but if I have 10 kids and living off a $1000 monthly salary, this may be the ideal place to dine till they chase me out.

Presenting the NasI Lemak

The rice to me is the main attraction, for it is nicely cooked in traditional way, which may be the result where each individual rice accounted for itself + having a nice pandan leaf aroma and flavor to it, like it deserved to have.

A mentioned the rice is FREE FLOW as long as you pay $1.00 per person, no one should complain about it, since the days where you can get chicken rice for a mere $1.50 or $2.00 are just fond memories and long gone with the winds.

See the notice: "... kindly nurture our fragile business,..." how very original

The spread of the dishes available for selection, are somewhat a surprise which I personally feel is good and bad at the same time.

You take as much, You pay as much

Good, cos one will get a large selection.


Bad, cos nasi lemak should never be meant to operate as an economic rice stall and if I were to do it, I would stick to the original nasi lemak dishes and do the utmost to prefect the dishes rather, but one's man meat is another man's poison thus you will need to be the judge of your own.



So beside the rice, you may ask if I like any of the other dishes I have tried?



Since my early childhood, a POWER nasi lemak is mandatory to have good juicy deep fried tasting chicken wings, good poached eggs in sunny side up style, and crispy ikan bilis with/without peanuts as minimum requirement.




Unfortunately, my take for their other dishes are at most average and only passable, if I was to be brutally honest.

 

There is just one more thing that irks me, it is the PRICE, it is not definitely the cheapest in town, for a plate of nasi lemak as shown above will set you back by an average S$6 to 7 dollars and we are talking about rice + 3 to 4 dishes (Meat + Veg), which need to be more realistic but on the same token, somehow, somewhat I do not blame them for that, given the number of "local" helpers that they have in the stall which is a rare sight to begin with.

This is something they will need to sort out, as I do honestly think a 3 to 4 men/women team shall be sufficient, but what do I know, since I only specializes in eating and cannot cook if my life depended on it, except of course if you considering cooking instant noodles as one of life saving skill.

Nevertheless, how many nasi lemak eatery do you know that has a mission statement, don't believe me, see the next pic to be WAH !@!  

CONSISTENTLY without a doubt they are... however BEST, is very debatable

Did you also know that they also sells BURGERS anyone who knows me will know that I am a BIG FAN for BURGERS and will order a BURGER any day, any where and any how. 

Beside, they were not only serving normal regular cheese burgers, but nonetheless 

"POWER BURGER"

POWER.. or NO POWER ?

Was it powerful like power rangers?

Mmm... before I answered, its always a pleasant sight to see a kid waiting eagerly to get her hands on BURGER, I say she has potentials.

Waiting and waiting some more

However, I must admit the mak cik (aunty) in-charge of this counter was a tad too slow, but hey, this is not a fast food joint, so do not expect instant burgers, for good burger takes time to make, and not to mention this is POWER BURGER, therefore it is only normal that it shall take a longer time since its need POWER.

This is how its started.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

So was it POWER?

I must admit, it was close to a good RAMLY BURGER "A Malaysian burger created by Ramly Moknin", that I have had so far, if can only be better if they have spend some time to create their own burger sauce and use buns that are NOT straight out of a sunshine package.

Or am I being too demanding? 

Before you judge me, consider this, this POWER BURGER is S$3.50 dollars as it stands, a dollar shy of a McDonald value meal that's also come with fries and a drink. 

So can I be demanding now?

Oh, before I forget, Step 4... EAT IT and enjoy Life.

 

Thanks for being part of my food journey and till next time.

 

"EAT, SLEEP, LAX" 

 

Verdict Out of Five (5*) For Nasi Lemak:

1. Quality of Food: 2.5 (Just another decent meal)
2. Ambiances: 3.0 (Old school, Love it!)
3. Audiences: 3.5 (Mostly locals, thus give the feeling of old Singapore)
4. Price: 1.0 (A tad pricey and probably on the expensive side)
5. Services: 2.5 (Self Services)
6. Hygiene: 4.0 (Clean, yes it is)

Verdict Out of Five (5*) For Power Burger:

1. Quality of Food: 3.5 (Need more POWER)
2. Ambiances: Same as above
3. Audiences: Same as above
4. Price: Same as above
5. Services: Same as above
6. Hygiene: Same as above

My overall rating is 2.5*, it is worth a try and definitely a place that one can visit on a regular basis as long you do not mind paying a little more than usual.   

Quote of the post: "I made mistakes, therefore I am PREFECT"