slurp*burp is a new column on cruzteng.com, where I’ll be uploading pics of things I ate and liked. The frequency will very much depend on how often I dine out.

I’m also considering doing thrash*this*trash to feature all the yucky food I had. We’ll see.

A couple of reasons… I now have a better camera on my phone, which makes it a lot easier to capture images of my meals. And I’ve realised how powerful food blogs are, after the Food Blogger with many friends in the correct places vs Restaurant with embarrassingly bad PR skills drama.

However, I’m not positioning myself to be an actual food blogger, so I won’t be doing lengthy reviews on the taste, price, ambience, etc. And I certainly won’t be answering your questions on exact location and opening hours. I’m Cruz Teng, not your online helpdesk. There’s Google. And there’re the real food blogs.

The Garden Slug is a cosy place at Telok Kurau. The pasta and pizza we had was mediocre, but the wagyu beef burger was a real winner. And the chicken wings were good too.

If you happen to drop by, would you please consider tipping the friendly service staff an extra dollar? We only realized that they didn’t include a service charge after we left the place. 10 or 20 of you should be enough to make up for that. Hahaha.

I’m still deeply disturbed from the conversation on Sunday night.

I MUST put things right.

We still have a lot of work to do…

I really don’t know what to say.

My response in green.

People on Twitter reacted swiftly. So I told my friend to look at the replies.

It was only appropriate to re-watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the flight. I was going to Hokkaidō, Home of Shiroi Koibito!

You see that logo at every turn and every corner.

It isn’t merely a factory ok? It’s like a castle.

Just like how Charlie Bucket loves his chocolates, my life isn’t complete without Shiroi Koibito, and perhaps a pilgrimage to the Park. There was no Willy Wonka by my side. And the Oompa-Loompas were substituted with cute Japanese girls who handed out a complimentary piece of that divine white chocolate biscuit to each visitor.

I don’t dream of inheriting the Park. Can I work there, perhaps? The quality control department needs someone with discerning taste buds like mine! Hahaha. And I promise to be good. I won’t turn into a giant blueberry or get thrown down the rubbish chute by intelligent squirrels.

Just this image alone makes me very very very excited.

Above pic from Wikipedia.

The people behind Shiroi Koibito are brilliant. You put an EXCLUSIVE stamp on your product instantly when you refuse to set up sales counters overseas. Is that why Bengawan Solo declined franchise opportunities despite an insane volume of pandan cakes sold annually?

I’m not a fan of beer, but I am (usually) fascinated with marketing tales. It’s rather interesting to look at the packaging decisions and advertising gimmicks done over the years.

Did you know that Sapporo had a branch right here? That was during the Japanese occupation, when we were renamed Syonan-to.

I didn’t find out why they had a single star in their logo. The bar at the museum was a perfect setting for some communist gathering, in my humble opinion.

I caved on the last day, after repeatedly seeing print and banner ads for a week.

I still prefer my Shiroi Koibito.

I probably should have done some videos of the food, but I was too eager to eat. Blame those gluttony genes.

The first raw fish I ever had was probably salmon sashimi. Very soon, I learnt that salmon sashimi = cheap sashimi, and the Japanese actually eat salmon in other ways. Hello to the expensive TUNA BELLY SASHIMI.

I had been mumbling about the daily crab and salmon intake, when we were finally brought to this BBQ restaurant. KOBE BEEF!

Ah… The tenderness of the beef, the rich texture and taste. I finally understand why people on culinary television shows can gush with so much emotion.

It’s the best beef I ever had. I’m beginning to tear as I’m typing this.