Orchard Road, Head Freeze & Japanese BBQ

Ended up watching some freakish horror movie last night until about 2 am called The Haunting Of Connecticut...still slept like a baby until 10.30 though! Pottered around for ages, taking full advantage of the weekend then off shopping in Orchard Road which is the shopping mecca of Singapore. I'm not that into shopping particularly but Orchard Road is such a pleasure in comparison to Oxford Street (mind you, what isn't?!). It's massive, like a boulevard in Paris, with some of the most presigious names in fashion. The Gucci shop is enourmous; you feel like you've spent a grand just looking at the building.

Of course, we were ravenous as usual and so headed straight for one of the food courts below the shops. Even in this street, the prices are still dead cheap. The Kopitian Food Hall is slightly anaesthetic in comparison to some of the food courts but that is no bad thing. We did the usual wandering 'round in circles staring at the pictures of food on the front of each stall, pointing with awe at some and pointing in disbelief at some of the others. I don't think I'm ever going to find the idea of Pig Organ Soup that appealing even if it's flippin lush! We settled on 1 dish of Crispy Pork Belly and noodles and 1 of Roast Duck and noodles. While I was waiting, Caroline went off in search of a cold drink to have with lunch. She eventually appeared after waiting an age while a woman hand-squeezed the ingredients for our fruit-based drinkies. Mine was lime-based and pretty subtle - nice and refreshing. Caroline's drink was insane; it was orangey coloured with 2 sour cherries in it, a lot of ice and about 25 spoons of sugar in it. Strangely addictive it was too. I took a real blast on the straw only to give myself "Head-Freeze". Strangers to this condition have obviously never tried sucking a Maccy D's Milkshake through a straw without waiting for it to melt properly. It's quite painful.

Avoided medical treatment for Head Freeze by sitting with a pained expression for about a minute and then going shopping. Aim today was shorts and pair of jesus-creepers for me. For Caroline it was probably a whole load of jewels, gold and shoes like most girls. I decided not to ask - it's easier not to know. Luckily she only got a pair of flipflops, a scalfy thing, some trousers, a couple of tops & some trainers. I managed 2 pairs of shorts but for love nor money I could not buy any shoes. It seems that my size 11 clod-hoppers are a little bigger than the average Chinese person.

That evening we had planned to go to a Japanese BBQ so, by golly we went there. We were told there was a good one 'round the corner from us and there was. There was also another one. As we were not sure which one was the good one, we opted for the one with the most outside seating. You see, we've become slighty acclimatised to the heat. The over air-conditioning of places is too much of a reminder of the winter we've left behind.
I was slightly dubious at first as to the whole concept of the Japanese BBQ at Gyu-Kaku, UE Square. You buy your meat but then you BBQ it yourself...surely a mistake? When I go to a restaurant I want someone to cook it for me, especially as I have a history of ruining good steaks with overcooking. We were "persuaded" to go for some Wagyu beef (i was twisting my own arm behind my back), lamb neck, salmon wrapped in foil with a marinade and a side salad of spinach with an incredible sesame dressing. The waiter offered to barbeque the first lot for us which was, quite frankly, the least he could have done....but then, like the succulent Wagyu beef, I melted... and actually really got into it! Like most blokes and barbeques I couldn't wait to get me hands on the tongs and cook up some serious meat.
This was of course washed down with obligatory jugs of Asahi beer which went down rather too quickly. I was very content. That was until I was given the bill. In Singapore eating terms it was very pricey for what it was. By London standards it was also very pricey! But...Wagyu is Wagyu, and it is good. It just comes at a price.

Next time I'm forgoing the salad and beer and I'm just gonna to have a Wagyu Sirloin. I'll wait 'til my steak-eating partner @baconchop comes to town in September to find out though.