Seafood With Peter Kuruvita

You like seafood?
Check. Replies "I luv seafood!" or "maybe if it is of good quality".

You like Peter Kuruvita?
Who's that you ask? Hesitant to check? He's a chef. That much you can guess right?

Chef Peter Kuruvita

What is his specialty?
Seafood, definitely.

Seafood!!!

What is his experience?
He has been creating modern dishes with a strong seafood focus and great reputation at award-winning restaurant ‘Flying Fish Restaurant & Bar’. He is more than just a well-known chef in Australia, he is also a restaurateur, TV presenter, author and restaurant consultant. His love and passion for cooking was cultivated by whipping up dishes behind the closed doors of his grandmother’s traditional kitchen back in Sri Lanka.

Is he in Singapore? When and where can I catch him cooking up a storm?
Ah, you have finally asked the important question. He is now at W Hotel Singapore, Sentosa Cove at the kitchen table till 7th November, every Friday and Saturday 6 to 11pm.

Starting this 13th and 14th March, you may meet the Sri Lanka borne Australian culinary superstar in person on as he shows you how to consume seafood by using sustainable ingredients.Yes, you are probably not interested in how sustainable the ingredients are but how awesome they taste, so I am telling you now to be prepared to dazzle your palate with an unforgettable gastronomic experience as Celebrity Chef, Peter Kuruvita raises the bar in the way you “seafood” with delectable new renditions of the catch.

So what kind of seafood do I get to taste? 
If it is the same variety of seafood you get to taste at other places, I won't be writing this now would I? /Plays introductory music and does drum rolls. Introducing specially curated dishes both rich in culture and taste, there are: the majestic Ambul Thial of Kingfish, King Tiger Prawn Tortellini, Modern Prawn Kottu, lightly garnished with roasted coconut shards, garlic chips and peanut, and Modern Wattalapaan, served with spiced coconut cream, rich in flavour yet light and creamy. In short, there is something for every palate.

What are those dishes? No photographs for me to see?
Unfortunately, I don't have photographs. So let your imagination do the work and know that your photographs will be the first photographs on Instagram. Instagram them at @WSingapore or Tweet at @W_Singapore: #SeafoodfromtheHeart. I know you want to share your awesome food photos with everyone else. You know you want to, so make your reservations at  +65 6808 7268 or thekitchentable.singapore@whotels.com now!

Price: S$85++ per person
For more information, visit http://www.wsingaporesentosacove.com/peterkuruvit

Think You Know All There Is to Know About Singapore? I Challenge You!

If you think you know all there is to know about Singapore, I challenge you to go on the Diverse-City Trails which is a collaboration between Ben & Jerry's and The Thought Collective.

Each trail is 1.5hr and costs $25. They run from 16 March till 16 September 2015.
Locations: 1) Little India 2) Toa Payoh 3) Jalan Besar

Is it your ordinary heritage trail? What is there to expect? I think it will be boring, why should I pay to go on such a trail? I am sure these are the questions running through your head because if it was me, I would be asking myself these too. What you don't know is that this is no heritage trail.

Each of the trails will expose us to different issues and allow us to experience something new, something we might have heard in theory but never experienced firsthand. Their aim is to engage the public on a deeper level with current issues affecting Singapore in the hope of inspiring change and action while having fun and ice-cream. Yes, ice-cream! The trail ends with participants having the chance to try out Ben & Jerry's new flavour called the 'Nice Kacang!', a mixture of peanut butter ice cream, chocolate nougats, fudge chunks topped with sweet and salty pretzel swirls.

Let me share with you my experience on the trail at Toa Payoh. At the core of it was the issue of the relationship in a community.

We walked to a few residential blocks in the area and we learned about the architectural design of the HDB flats there. This particular one was a typical L-shaped one but due to its 'programming', social cohesion was something that was more difficult to encourage.

The corridors were narrow which made it difficult for neighbours to hang out at. While there was a park downstairs, it was considered too intrusive and was barely used.

This walkway was known as the Road To Hell. 

We learned about how the boundaries between private space and public space mattered in fostering cohesion in a community and between neighbours. There were many thought provoking questions raised. Would you live in a neighbourhood where everyone had requests or offers? Requests meant that they required a service and offers meant they were willing to offer something. Interestingly, relationships all begin with such a transaction of meeting a need with a service. 

If you think a HDB block of requests would turn you off, what about a block of unsent requests? It means that you know they require help but they do not ask for it. This is certainly scary. We all know that there exists income inequality in Singapore but have you seen this for yourself firsthand? People staying in rented flats with little means to support themselves. A scene you will never forget once witnessed. Your heart just goes out to them. One person can do so little but imagine if the community rises up and actively takes steps to help such a block of residents.

Of course, there were much more examples raised but sharing everything here will spoil the fun. I certainly learned a lot from this short trip and if anything, it made me open my eyes to the things we normally don't observe. Has the HDB community become one where everyone closes their eyes to the things others do with the 'it's not my business' mindset or is it one whereby social cohesion exists and neighbours are willing to offer help?

I hope this article has caused you to think a little more and if you would like to experience all I have felt firsthand, do consider purchasing your tickets via trails.thethoughtcollective.com.sg. Early bird tickets for the first 300 signups will cost only $20.

Revisit The Retro Years at the The Great World Cabaret

Gona do something new with this post. It shall be a photo-story, so let's see what you can interpret from these photographs. From what I learned recently, art is not just a one way tool, it is meant to be a form of communication. Everyone interprets things differently and this also applies to these photographs.

Perhaps just a heads up, this is a performance about the retro years back in the 1800s where Bo Bo Cha Cha and songs such as 玫瑰玫瑰我爱你 were popular.

For more details on the cast, the plot and the details check out http://theinfluencermedia.com/2015/02/18/dance-to-the-beat-of-bo-bo-cha-cha-with-the-great-world-cabaret/

That's us!

How was your trip down memory lane? Not your memory? Ok, then it might not be your generation. I would love to hear what you understood from my photographs, feel free to leave comments. Hope you have enjoyed the photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them.