The coffee connoisseur (tcc)/ Cedele

I caught The Departed this evening. I thought it was a little draggy in the beginning and my attention started to waver one-third into movie. I guess it didn't help that 'tough cop talk' was unnecessariy excessive. In fact, if you were to give me $10 bucks for every f-word spewed, I would need to engage in the services of a private banker.

Although I still prefer the Hong Kong version (two words: Morse code ), I am glad The Departed wasn't just some fancy bang-bang-doo-dah. It was a novel take on the classic "good-vs-evil" storyline. This time round, the line drawn between good and evil was hairline-thin and when you actually scratch the surface to reveal the inside, you would realise that at the end of the day, people are just looking out for themselves.

Still, I did almost froth when this Chinese guy exploded into Cantonese and if I were totlly ignorant, I would think that he was just fed-up with the service in a dim sum restaurant ... "What the hell is going on?! This cha xiu bao is so rank I wouldn't even fed it to my enemy! I ordered my har gow and siew mai 20 godamm minutes ago and now you tell me the chef can't find the shrimps?! What about my peh dan chok? Do I need to drill 5 bullet holes into someone before it gets served?! "

Watch it for Leonardo Dicaprio and Martin Sheen.

As dark as evil and as pure as innocence...



Almost as if self-fueled by an adrenaline rush, the coffee culture in Singapore is well alive and kicking. Although I know of many who swear by gourmet coffee, how anybody would be willing to part with 6, 7 plus buckaroos for a drink is beyond logic.

Take this cake for instance, TTC's Chocolate Devil's cake costs $4.50 while a drink typically costs around $6 plus $7. HUH??? What's going on? Doesn't the cake require more effort to prepare? Where does the bulk of my coffee money go to? The coffee lords who preside over hordes of child labourers? The chain's global marketing campaigns?

The top layer of mousse was smudgly-good and the bottom layer felt like a moist brownie. Thankfully, the sweetness was abated by the soury tang of the middle-layer raspberry. Oh yes, it is not a good idea to take your time savour this because the mousse turns slightly runny after being exposed to the humidity.



Pavlova from Cedele: Meringue crust topped with whipped cream and kiwis, strawberries, etc.

Apparently, the Pavlova was created as a tribute to the Russian prima ballerina, Anna Matveyevna Pavlova after her 1926 tour of Australia and New Zealand. "She does not dance; she soars as though on wings," said someone. Don't you think it is odd that a dessert was named after a ballerina since we all know that ballerinas don't eat cakes!? That would be like naming some new organic zen tofu dish after Anthony Bourdain. *shudder*

Although Diana loved it, I found it mono-dimensionally sweet. Let me explain: I love desserts and a need to satisfy my sweet tooth has often landed me in compromising situations. But you often find more than one personality in most desserts such as puddings, cakes and ice cream- sometimes chocolatey, at times milky and always sensational. But the pavlova was just sweet, if not teeth-grindingly sweet. It melted into a wisp of nothingness in my mouth and I was unable to shake of the inital saccharine punchline.

It sure is pretty though...