Dunkin' Donuts Opens In Singapore

As most of you would have known by now, I've a FREAKING HUGE DD fan... If you don't, read this, this and this.
Before I begin, I'm going to do a disclaimer first. My post might be offensive to some, but as a FREAKING HUGE DD fan, I have my expectations of how a DD donut should taste like. I can still remember how DD donuts tasted like and how they melted in my mouth although it was more than a decade I've last ate them in Singapore and more than a year since I last ate them in the US. Not that I do not trust franchisees, but since eating the REAL MCCOY in the US, my expectations of how a DD should taste like are damn high. If a DD doesn't taste like a DD, then I, in my honest opinion, think that it doesn't do justice to the brand.

So, imagine THE HUGE ANTICIPATION that overwhelmed me when I saw a recruitment ad on The New Paper a few weeks back for the store in Singapore. And, imagine THE EXCITEMENT that overwhelmed me when I saw tstar's plurk about a DD store at ION a few hours ago. Once I finished work, I really walked damn freaking fast down from Heeren to get my favourite donuts!

But I can tell you that I am FUCKING SORELY DISAPPOINTED!!!
1) The REAL MCCOY in the US lets me choose my combination of munchkins. Here, all packed in a box of 20.
2) Where are the cake donuts? Look at THE REAL MCCOY's menu. For a moment, I thought I stepped into J. Co. Mind you, J. Co. is my favourite brand of bread-texture donuts. But, DD is a US franchise, so gimme back those flavours it had before it disappeared from our shores more than a decade back.
3) Thank goodness they have some jelly and kreme filled ones. But these fillings, sadly, don't taste like the REAL MCCOY. Just a tad flat... Flat never mind, the fillings of the REAL MCCOY literally FILLED the donut, sadly, this doesn't.
4) The dough, although I know it will not be as soft as J. Co., doesn't have the "oomph" of the REAL MCCOY. My mum tried the SG-made DD donuts more than a decade back, and it's actually kinda her fault for getting me hooked onto DD, feeding me with them almost weekly when I was younger. Trying this now, the comparision of her facial expression when she tried this and when she tried the REAL MCCOY is priceless. One was "HEAVENLY WOW", the other, a mix of "huh-er-eww". And she agreed with me when I said that it doesn't taste like what DD tasted like more than a decade ago in Singapore and what we had in the US.
5) No tags telling us what the flavours of the donuts are. Already shocked to see unfamiliar-looking flavoured icing donuts, I was looking at the small little holes in the filled ones and figuring out if that is strawberry or some other kinda berry.

But, still being a FREAKING HUGE SUCKER for DD, I'm going to return in a few weeks time to check out the flavours again. Going to give it the benefit of the doubt that whatever's on the REAL MCCOY's menu and wasn't there in the store were all sold out...

Remembering Frank McCourt

In recent years, some movie screenplays have been published as books, but like some others, the book existed first before it was made into a movie. In the case of the highly-acclaimed movie, Angela Ashes, the "book version" existed before the movie.

Written by Frank McCourt, the book talked about his life in Ireland, his almost-always drunk dad and how poor they were during the days of the Depression. I'm not a very avid reader, but I could say I've read quite a few books and Angela Ashes was one I cried and laughed with.
His 2nd book was 'Tis. He talked about his life when he came back to America (he went back to Ireland during the Depression) and about his youth.
3rd book was Teacher Man, which sadly, I didn't have the time to finish, and I first picked the book up in August 06!

I'm not a very "literature" person, and I can't really describe or go at length why I like his writing. But when I start reading his books, I find it hard to pause or put the book down. I would read and flip the pages, almost addicted. Which is partly the reason why I have not finished Teacher Man till now.

May God bless his family...

I Have To Start Blogging...

To save my blog from dying into oblivion (haha), I've thought of a plan to push/motivate/force (choose which one you like) myself to blog more often...

1) Everything will be done in drafts.
There are times when on the bus, or when I'm about to sleep, I would go, "shit, I forgot to blog about it!" And many times, these are things which I find that are important to my life and things which I wana record down, so when I'm old, senile and having dementia, my kids and my grandchildren can tell me, "Mum/Granny, these are things that happened in your life"

2) Finding those bits of time to blog.
When I have a draft or points that I wana blog about, I will find bits of time to blog. Say, during lunch, after work, during weekends. And when the entries are fully done up, I'd publish it. Yes, it might take days or even weeks before a blog post is up, but better then now right? Ever since I started work, I think I'm like averaging one post a month lor...

3) Get a notebook. Or probably a data plan for my phone.
Yes, I think it would be good to start drafting on my notebook or have a data plan n start typing away on my phone, on the way to and fro work. Well, not that I don't have a "note" function on my phone and then email it to myself which will cost my 5 cents each. hahhaha... Let's see which works better and cheaper...

4) Actually keeping to this plan of mine....
Sometimes I procrastinate... so... yah... Let's see how this works out ah?

Happy Birthday Ping.sg!

I haven't blogged for more than a month and since I'm too full from the buffet dinner earlier on, I might as well type a little while waiting for the food to go down. haha...

Anyways, Happy Birthday Ping! I might as well do it now cos I know I most probably will not have to time to blog again within the next few days or even weeks. And also since Ping's birth is there and about these few days. heheh

Time really really flies. Ping.sg has already been around for 3 years. Last year, I did up this post, talking about my 1st year with Ping. Now, a few weeks shy of being a member of Ping for 2 years, I must admit I haven't been as active as I was in the past and there's a whole new group of "regulars" on the shoutbox now. haha...

Of course, I wish Ping and Ping Daddy aka janitor aka boss aka Uzyn a wonderful and smooth 4th year! Happy Birthday!