Everytime I’ve been cooking for friends, I’ve improved my kit. So far, other than my knives and miscellaneous gear like my Muji swivel peeler or Microplane, I’ve bought myself a Japanese plastic mandoline as well as an iSi Cream Whipper and a nice little Sievert Handyjet blowtorch. Every new piece of kit, I find myself constantly using, thinking about process after process and how I could play around with stuff. Of course, I don’t have the benefit of doing this super regularly due to cost constraints but it’s mostly really about opportunities. It’s kinda senseless for me to make up a batch of durian foam just on a whim. Although that sounds awesome. A durian meringue that gets blasted with a torch and garnished with frozen durian slices.

Anyway. There’s plenty more kit I wanna kop. Most of it out of reach at present. Like a Pacojet or a Thermomix or a proper piece of sous vide kit like something from Polyscience. Plus a vacuum sealer to go with that too or their Anti Griddle that freezes instead of heats. I’m also dying for a nice coffee machine and a Kitchenaid.

There’s some stuff that’s just a little out of reach, like an Excalibur dehydrator or maybe a small deep fryer. Or maybe a rice cooker x sous vide magic setup with a fish pump. That last one’s probably very doable.

I’d also love some old school kit as well, like a nice terrine mould or an array of dessert moulds, from logs to pyramids to cylinders or whatever. A solid block of cedar for BBQs, a BBQ, a pizza stone, a nice iron cast wok, one of those Japanese pickling container things…

Or maybe I should just get that little fun kit for spherifications. It’s like $30 from Amazon.

But probably, I’m gonna run with Polyscience’s Smoking Gun. An interesting bit of kit that basically infuses food with smoked flavors without needing any heat.

Whilst I’m probably gonna cop a ToJ wallet, I really appreciate the design sensibility in the stuff MAKR puts out. Their One wallet is just a simple little card case made out of top quality leather but with the opening cut in such a way as to “mimic the natural position of thumb and forefinger when removing cards”.

The Angle wallet is similar, a card case wallet with the top corner lopped off. The detail being if you apply pressure to the curved side, it makes it easy to fan out your cards and pick the right one.

This subtlety is what takes their stuff to the next level. The style of wallet is also unconventional. At present, they don’t make anything with billfolds or card slots. Just bare space and quality leather. Ok they do have the Two wallet, which has 2 sides and a long wallet which has something like card slots but it’s nothing like what you normally expect. Check out their signature Flap Wallet in Horween Ox Blood Chromexcel.

I never thought a workwear style could be minimal.

This guy handmakes some purdy cool lookin’ tools that double as keychains as well as knives and other shit that make you feel like Predator or sumthin’. I can’t count the number of times I’ve actually needed a bottle opener/spanner thingamajig at work. I love the minimal and futurist styling of the stuff and the fact that it’s made outta quality metal by one person and that it’s not overtly expensive, between US$50 to US$80 after shipping. Moar here.

These babies juz came in right when I popped home. Hehe. All I can say is OMG I can hear bass again. Maybe a good thing my old etys died on me. The much sturdier looking cable will hopefully last longer than the previous too.

Woody Allen doesn’t just make comedies. Interiors is a serious, sombre look at the disintegration of an upper middle class family in New York. It is slow, austere and really goddamn sad. There is never any excess showing of emotion. In fact, all the characters hide everything, behind facades, under their behaviour and beneath their words. Color is so significant in the film. 99% of it is beige and grey or black and bits of white. (So me right now!) There’s only one character that is a counterpoint to everything else in the film, a sore thumb that markedly provides the contrast element as well as some semblance of humanity and sanity. Then there’s the lighting, always in the shadows. Anytime light is allowed, it feels like it’s showing you something you don’t want to see. Otherwise the characters live amongst the cobwebs, afraid of facing real life like vampires brooding at the rising sun. It’s so gloomy and difficult and wordy I had so much trouble at the start. But once it all started falling into place, I was sucked in until the end, a quiet whisper like death coming in the night. I didn’t even know it had ended.

Geraldine Page plays Eve, the character for whom the title is referring. She’s an interior designer who’s gone off the edge after her husband announces a trial separation. She’s got severe OCD, wanting to direct everything in her life, orchestrating, like a puppet master handling her children. She’s also suicidal, thinking that life is no longer worth living because it seems like it’s outta control. It’s devastating her 3 daughters and her poor husband who just want to get on but cannot find the release. The tenuous relationships between these characters seem to be creaking severely and it’s clear that everything’s gonna fall apart. All around each person, things don’t seem to be going right. Every interaction and plot element seems to point at the failure of this family. Why I don’t really know but it just is. It’s pretty bleak but pretty, if you like the cold, barrenness of life as I do. God, I hope I don’t become Eve.

It’s tough to get through the dialogue. I reckon much of it sounds somewhat pretentious but it’s necessary in depicting the characters and their self-absorbed “problems”, most of which are their own doing. Their dysfunction seems to rip everything apart and they almost seem to revel in being tortured and depressed. It’s almost nauseating to watch. Their on screen emotional turmoil is so disturbingly quiet and calm on the surface, but inside, it’s all asunder. Yet, I kept wondering why, why, why. Why put me through this near pointless exercise in a study of human emotions or lack thereof? A vacancy flailing at something but I’m not sure what.

I think the steez is uber though. Check out Eve in an awesome “ice gray” suit thing and then later in repose, prepped for death. If you look closely, there’s black tape sealing the gaps in the windows, all part of her plan to die by gas inhalation. Everything about her suggests she’s some sort of mournful soul that’s waiting for the grim reaper to take her. The excessive neatness of her hair, kept long in a bun and with a side parting made me think of the early Shakers, who happen to relate directly to her occupation. The last pic is the final scene, a closeup with each sister entering from the sides, all facing the right, wondering what to make of themselves now that they’re finally free.

Some of my friends back in Singapore have come together in the name of design, national pride and awesomeness. Singapore Souvenirs is an exhibition held as part of the Singapore Design Festival 2009. It’s going to be held at the Old City Hall from the 20th to 30th of November, with an opening party on the 21st. The exhibition shows off some designs of products that are envisioned as souvenirs from our tiny island nation. The fact that my mates made/created/invented/dreamed them up makes me mad proud of em. So if you’re free and have something to do, you should drop that and go to the exhibition.

A lot of the stuff shows off their sense of humour and thought as well as a uniquely Singaporean perspective on things. There’s not too much Singaporean designed stuff, and much of it tends to ape whatever we can find in the West or Japan, not that that’s intrinsically bad, but just that it’s a pity our own local culture doesn’t see quite as much light. My mates though, do their darndest to shed a little bit and hopefully it’s a spark that will burn brighter in the future.

Hans’ gold plated fruitbowl, Fruitbowl Lah has been around for a while now and certainly deserves more merit than it gets. It subverts the idea of luxury and style by taking a ubiquitous plastic fruit bowl and coating it in gold, taking a pedestrian Singaporean object and turning it into something important. Which is kind of like the thread of the exhibition, taking something commonplace and everyday but giving it light and giving it life, and as a result of which, asking the question of just what Singapore design or Singapore culture should be.

This theme is replicated with Winston’s Coffeeshop Ashtrays. An avid smoker, he probably came up with the idea over 20 packs of menthol lights. In coffeeshops round Singapore, you always see these decrepit looking empty tins that once contained condensed milk. Their labels have been ripped off and sometimes a lid is a made with raffia string on the top and it’s used as a cheapass ashtray instead, containing the ashes of a million stinko fags and some gross and hell brown water, fermented from the juices of leftover char kway teow. This “local design” came about because of the frugality and cleverness of Singaporean coffeshop owners and it took a mad smoker to see it. So he gets it made outta ceramic, taking it to a whole new level, celebrating the small timey-ness of Singapore, a tiny island nation that prides itself on being resourceful.

There’s also plenty other stuff and peeps that deserve mentions as well, from Jieyu & Winston’s Kueh Tutu eraser to John’s Singlish Notebook to Tze’s expectedly more cerebral treatises on stamps and money, or Joe’s kinda political Kenaban chewing gum magnets, Fuxing’s 3D Postcards and Edwin’s SG Wallpaper and a helluva lot more. It’s a little arty, a little designy, a little rebellious and quite a lot of tongue in cheek. Just wish I coulda been in Singapore to see it all in the flesh.

Good stuffs guys! Keeps it up.

It’s that time of the year when my banged up Sony Ericsson looks like it needs an overhaul. Well, I usually swop phones like once every 2-3 years unlike most other peeps and only if I see something passable. Which is usually a Sony Ericsson cos I can’t use Japan only phones and Blackberries and iPhones are overpriced and way too ubiquitous. So I willingly choose to struggle with slow as crap OSes and whatever other problems my phones tend to have.

I’ve always been a Sony fan ever since Walkmen came out, it’s like the one branch of techy Jap mecha style design I actually like. Good thing they’ve decided to launch a whole slew of new, sleek phones. The Aino is compatible with the PS3, able to run media off it as well as act as a remote on/off switch. Not much point and I haven’t got a PS3 but I might be able to screw a friend over or something. The Satio is the top end entertainment phone but I really don’t need all the extra megapixels and etc. The X2 is the next level Xperia smartphone which I like cos it’s got the full qwerty keyboard. I’ve been spoiled by my current phone that also has one. There’s also a few other new ones but they don’t really interest me aesthetically but suffice to say, there’s another walkman/youth type phone and a next next level smartphone.

The Aino comes with a dock and looks like sex, but it’s a slider. Which is not really me. I’ll have to feel it in person and hopefully there’s no ugly exposed screws and they paid some attention to what it looks like opened up,

The Satio looks good too, especially the 3 wavy buttons on the bottom/right depending on your orientation. But I’m not keen to splash 1k on extra functions I don’t need. Why don’t people make phones that just call and message anyway?

The X2 though, with it’s full keyboard side slider design makes me a hypocrite cos I really don’t need a smartphone right now but I’d love a phone with a full keyboard.

In summary, I’d like Naoto Fukasawa to work with Sony Ericsson and make me a cubey type, tactile little clamshell phone with no camera, no extraneous functionality beyond the classic concept of a mobile phone. See Nokia 8250/Startac etc. Hmm maybe I should just get an old phone.

I want a cool camera that is smallish and shoots good. I’ve narrowed things down to 2. The first is the gold standard for prosumer compacts, the Panasonic LX-3. The second is its latest challenger, the Canon S90. Bear in mind the former is over a year old. The latter came out in August this year.

Looks wise, the S90 wins for me. Clean, cute, simple, old schoolish and smaller. The LX-3 though, you can attach the Ricoh LC 1 lens cover and suddenly, it becomes super awesome. Check out the video!

Performance wise, they’re both prosumer compacts. Both come with exceptionally bright and fast lenses that go down to f2.0. The LX-3 comes with a super wide angle, 24mm lens. Which makes it very unique. The S90 though, has greater range, 28-105mm compared to 24-60mm on the LX-3. The S90’s sensor is slightly smaller than the LX-3’s but I’ll assume the difference is negligible for my purposes. Apparently, the S90 reduces more noise but loses detail whilst the LX-3 is noisier but more detailed. Macro mode wise, which is the main reason why I would want a new camera, the LX-3 wins hands down with its 1cm macro focusing. That’s just insane. The S90 is 5cm in comparison. The S90 comes with 3.8x optical versus the LX-3’s 2.5x zoom. But I don’t think it really bothers me. I want to shoot up close, not from faraway and then zoom in.

The only reason why I think the Canon would be good is because it also comes with a control ring. In fact, it’s got 2 control rings, one customizable to whatever you want. Kinda like a DSLR, which you can set to make it change various functions, from aperture to focus to ISO etc. Pretty nifty, even if it smells like a gimmick.

I’m still leaning towards the LX-3. Price wise, at the moment, they’re pretty similar. I reckon the LX-3 would cost me a little bit less after I fix a Ricoh LC1 on it and ultimately, it seems more like the camera that I want for my purposes, even if I think the Canon looks much better. It’s also got a hot shoe and you can get a super wide macro lens for it. Which seems to have made my mind up I guess. God, am I actually sacrificing form for function? Well, I suppose I could get the Leica D-Lux 4, which is basically slightly improved over the LX-3, just in a much sleeker and sexier body. It also fits the Ricoh thingy! HAHAHA, best of both worlds! Pity, it’s about $400 more than the other 2!

So my Objectified DVD just got in the mail like 3 days ago and last night was a time when I could muster the strength to watch it. Its just been one late night with an early start after another so whatever. So right, the film. It’s nice, I suppose. Gary Hustwit is really good at noticing these little details that attach the viewer to humanity at large in relation to the context of the film. He also focuses on very quaint, yet poignant, statements and ideas that address the behemoth that is design, or more precisely industrial design.

There’s plenty of stars from the design world featured here, from the Bondi bum attitude of Marc Newson to the sagely Dieter Rams or the childlike Naoto Fukasawa, it’s definitely interesting if you’re a designer fanboy like I am. I dunno why but I reckon I just admire the philosophies that each individual has. You can say all you want about each one but they’re all where they are today because they think different than you or me.

I appreciate that the film is one that provides a good amount of insight into the design process and all its trials and tribulations. The film takes the viewer from idea conception and generation through to the solutions, then the refinement processes and the eventual outcome and also the ramifications of what they have done. You get to see Jonathan Ive compare an aluminum blank to the finished keyboard cover piece on the Macbook Pro (unibody version) and how designing it wasn’t so much designing the keyboard cover but the processes involved to make it possible. Or the team at IDEO generating completely random and silly ideas for a toothbrush/oral care concept. Or Smart design take out a box full of foam models that eventually led to the OXO good grips peeler. Or Naoto Fukasawa talk about why he put facets on a handphone because of a memory of peeling potatoes as a child. It’s like memories of uni revisited. Hello long nights in the studio! I so do not miss you.

For most people, I think design still remains far removed but I think it should stay that way. Like most of the designers in the film, I too believe design shouldn’t even be seen. Like Apple’s monitors where they try to remove everything and leave you with the screen or the indicator lights that only appear when they need to. You could argue that in the former, nobody really cares or maybe it’s an evil Apple plot to mind control humanity into slavery in Steve Jobs future robotic utopia but it’s really about attention to detail. Great designers make stuff nobody even notices and take for granted. They just do what they’re intended for. You can’t please everyone though. Between the money men and raving teenagers or cranky people. It’s a tough life being a tastemaker.

I’ve always obsessed over the material world, from having the biggest brand whatever to the most hyped this or the legendary XXX designed that. And when I hear Dieter Rams right at the end talking about how design will be more about survival in the future, I almost feel a pinch of hypocrisy in myself. But sorry, I remain indignant that I am a materialistic bigot that thinks he has better taste than everyone else. Rams excluded. Have you seen his pad? It is the shiznit. And his accent and mannerisms. MY GOD! So German! So Kunst! So cold. Just like his coffee maker. Yes I miss his coffee maker. Even if I much prefer expresso coffee, that Braun makes me wish I were drinking drip. I guess I always feel more for the object than for the activity. The tangible, material world rather than the experienctial, emotional one. I must be part German maybe. No. I’m way too humorous.

I think it’s nice to have a film like this. That appreciates the under-appreciated and the maniacal few that decided that they wanna be designers. I think the next film Mr. Hustwit tackles should be a food one. Where he puts his keen eye for detail real up close and personal (you can actually see the lines the lathe makes when it carves out the objectified logo on a piece of white polycarb!) and people can get really hungry. He could do a few of the Michelin starred peeps and then some of the old school guys and some weirdos or whatever. Or maybe a fashion one with the Antwerp 6 at a roundtable sharing jokes or Dolce & Gabbana & Bruno hello?

Rose Bay is about 10 or 15 minutes from the city, away from the hustle and bustle and the hoons but it doesn’t display too much opulence despite its reputation as a well to do neighborhood. It’s understated, until you realize that those houses are actually really massive and there’s quite a lot of boats on the water. Still, you don’t notice it.

Pier sits atop an actual pier, jutting out onto Rose Bay itself. Glass lining either side, it’s incredibly subtle and elegant. On first glance, you wouldn’t think it’s necessarily home to a 3 hat diner. No you have to notice the idea behind how it’s sited and how it’s designed around the location itself. You’re dining almost out on the water, with a view that’s nondescript and perhaps unspectacular. You’re not going to see the opera house bathed in the glow of the city lights. It’s just a rather tranquil, minimalist approach to a restaurant. You feel like you’re almost on the water, but you’re completely dry. At once caught in some wonderful intermediary between land and sea, natural and man made.

Which is Pier from start to finish, every minutiae, every detail, every nuance. Some people won’t get it at all. They want the fireworks and the pizazz and the big bangs and the foams and the sperificacions and service that sucks up or whatever. No. Pier is for the people who appreciate the simple, underappreciated things in life. The delicate lightness of being. A certain refined sense of life beyond the ordinary brusqueness with which we approach things.

I suppose my opinion is clouded by several factors. One. I’ve just graduated culinary college and my parents came over for a visit. Two. I didn’t pay a cent HHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Three. I love seafood. Four. I’m into this quiet, suppressed expressionist vibe right now. Even then, you’d have to be really thick to not appreciate the flavors and the beauty on the plate.

I’m greeted by the waitstaff by name, a pleasant little surprise despite the obviousness of the situation. It shows I was expected and that they care. We sit at the table and get some still water whilst we browse the menu. As we eat, the restaurant fills up half full. Yet, they purposely keep all the customers on one side of the long room, allowing the other side to retain an unspoiled view of the boats on the bay awash in the light of the setting sun. Like a fading vesper hinting at what was to come.

We opted for the 8 course degu. With matching wines. Plus 6 oysters each. 3 rock, 3 coffin bay. Plus coffee. Damages were insane. Yet, it felt completely worth it. It was, I must confess, the best meal I have had to this point in my life. I sincerely hope it will not be the best ever. I know there is even better. Yet, I still feel Pier deserves its place in the culinary world as something beautiful and something I can truly appreciate. It’s so me. The fact that it’s seafood, the delicate nature, the thoughtfulness, the attention to detail… It’s no mind altering experience but it’s what a really awesome restaurant should be.

We start with oysters. I devour them before I remember to pull my camera. I went from left to right, rock then coffin then rock and so on. Starting au naturel, then adding lemon then mignonette at the end. They’re superbly fresh. But they’re also just oysters. I want moar!!!

First course was a canape straight from Thomas Keller. King salmon tartare with capers sitting on a cone made of wonton skin. The variation being the wonton skin swopped for the tuile in Keller’s original. The fish is fresh, you can tell with each firm little bite, despite the fact that it’s tiny little cubes. The capers lend this saltiness that is intended. As a palate opener and not as a dish in its own right. I realize this only after the meal. The ultra crisp wonton skin also adds to that effect as the gustatory actions are driven into work and attention. One side detail were the holders for these. Ours came in a set of three, whilst the people dining at other tables had a holder specifically designed for 2 cones because they were a couple. Another group had 2 sets of 2. If it were a holder with 4 cones, they’d have to pass it around, which would be silly.

2nd course was Carpaccio of John Dory with Tomato, Lime Vinaigrette, Cracked White Pepper and Soft Herbs. I loved the presentation. It led you on to start from the outside, untouched fish to the slices sitting within the dressing, giving the dish a certain evolution of flavor as you went along. It was delightful. I flipped each slice into a tiny little packet and placed it into the orifice. It is deceptively simple. Once in the mouth, you get a full burst of fish and herbs, brought on in no small part with a good dose of sea salt. The John Dory just strong enough to handle the herbs and still dominate in its own right. When I got to the dressing, it simply transgressed to the next level. The lime brightening up the palate and the oil helping the flavors to linger in the mouth just that bit longer. Every single apprehension I had was wiped away. Immediately I realized this was going to be so freakin’ awesome. I suppose it helped immensely that we started with a biggish white. A 2007 Castro Martin Albarino from Rias Baixas in Spain. Peaches and apples. Perfectly complimentary to the dish and so drinkable on its own.

3rd course. Tian of Spanner Crab with Scallop Ceviche, Pea Salad and Pea Jus. This upped the ante. The crab was sweet and tender. Delightful little morsels amplified in flavor with the very similar sweetness from the fresh peas. These were unbelievable. Then you get the textural link, with the crab and the pea jus provided a similar, brushy/hairy feeling at the top of the mouth. The scallop provided contrast with its smooth slickness. Then the matching Sauvignon Blanc gave it just the right acid kick.

4th course. Pan Roasted Scallops with Sauteed Veal Sweetbreads, Shimeji Mushrooms & Cauliflower Tofu. I usually baulk at repeat ingredients but this scallop and the one before felt like alternate universes. This was a course in full texture with increasing flavor. Perfectly roasted scallops just browned on the outside were given a splendid depth from the richness of the sweetbread and the savoryness of the mushroom jus. The cauliflower tofu reflected the scallops even more so and felt similar to the matching wine. Here, the wine matched in terms of viscosity, rather than flavor as the principle. Interesting and incredibly delicious.

5th course. Crispy Skinned Murray Cod wth Caramelised Witlof, Jamon Serrano, Dutch Carrots and Bitter Orange. Iberico would have swamped the fish, overpowering it. The mildly bitter/astringent aspect from the witlof and orange was countered by the fact that they were also sweet. The carrots also provided another sweet accent, only in high contrast crunchy versus creamy puree. The puree itself was beautifully scented with orange. The dish was sublime. A perfect marriage of multiple textures and flavors that seemed like a cohesive whole. Another added extra was the unremarkable pinot noir that lifted the dish all the more. Most whites would not have been able to take on the mantle this dish proffers. This dish exemplifies how well the sommelier works with head chefs Greg Doyle and Grant King.

6th course. This merged the savory and sweet worlds. Roquefort Cheesecake with Pear Gel, Celery, Maple Syrup, Fig and Grissini Sticks. I can’t explain fully why there isn’t a hint of blue in the cheese. Or how the thing was so damn good. Suffice to say that it was so damn good. The orangey dessert wine that went with this was phenom.

7th Course. A light as air Carrot Sponge. Possibly an aerated genoise served with some cream cheese, peanuts and cream cheese frosting. I remember the frosting having a sherbet-esque taste and how the sponge was lighter than souffle. Excuses for the blur photo! As an exercise in lightness, this was perfect, given we were almost at the end and getting full. Yet, despite the near nothingness, it was still full on flavor.

Last and final course. A spectacular finish from Katrina Kanetani. Rum Braised Bananas with Rum Sponge, Coconut Sorbet, Almond Brittle, Cocoa Powder and Tamarind Jelly. Resplendent in its marriage of textures, flavors and presented amazingly. This is one where you need a little bit of everything in one awesome mouthful. This came with a Chenin Blanc but I swiped that mostly with the carrot cake already!

And to finish for good, a cappuccino with some orange marshmallows!

Thanks Mom & Dad!