THE CHILI CHALLENGE

During our many adventures in Singapore, one thing we've always wanted to try (and by "we" I mean "me") is LAGNAA'S CHILI CHALLENGE.

Lagnaa is our favorite Indian restaurant here in Singapore. Located deep within Little India, this place has quickly become one of our hangouts thanks to its amazing food, friendly staff and decent prices. We've been there numerous times, taken the COOKING CLASS there and celebrated events with friends and family (yes, Mario, Gina and Chad have been there). One thing we haven't tried though is their monthly Chili Challenge.

You see, every month they bring in some special chilis from Indian to make some spicy Masalas and if you finish the dish you get your name on a board and the praise of all who witness the feat but there are rules:

1. You must finish everything including all of the gravy
2. You cannot drink anything once you start eating the dish
3. you cannot swap to another dish once you start eating, the only other thing you can eat is rice & naan
4. No sweating, slurring, sniffling or tearing up once you start eating

Last night, we ended up at Lagnaa's for James' Birthday party and most of us were all up for the chili challenge. I went for the Level 6 Chili while James went for the Level 7... we both did not make it.

While extremely tasty, the Level 6 Chicken Masala was a spice inferno that would not diminish, my mouth, throat and stomach were no match for the awesome powers of the Indian Chili. James got through two-thirds of his while I only managed a third. As spicefans, we were pretty disappointed with our performances but took comfort in the fact that only one guy in the entire restaurant (which was full) managed to eat a Level 6, then a Level 7 and as we were leaving, he was getting a Level 8 cooked for him. Crazyman or a Spice God? We didn't stick around to find out.

This adventure coupled with my LEVEL 10 HOTWINGS NIGHT has made me realize that it's time for me to throw in the towel. My days of trying to conquer the ultimate in spiciness are over, I just can't do it anymore. I can't take it, my body can't take it and my stomach can't take it. I will always love spicy food but my quest for crazy spiciness is at an end.

Thanks for the memories Chili Challenge.

The Adventure of Gio's Foot

Today Gio called home and asked me to meet him at the hospital as he was concerned about his foot. Wait. I should give a little history here first...

Thursday morning Gio woke up and was barely able to put any weight on his left foot, as his ankle was very swollen and painful. Now, we have no idea if he twisted it during the day, which he does not remember doing, or if he slept on it strange and hurt it during the night, which he has done before (by the way, it is difficult to show the appropriate amount of sympathy when someone hurts themselves in their sleep). So he went off to work. Thursday afternoon he visited 3 different doctors to try to gleen more information on his injury. None of the docs actually touched his ankle but all pronounced it to be sprained and recommended RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). However, no one was able to help with the compression aspect, as no doctors kept bandages in stock, he needed to go to the pharmacy. Anyway we get supplies to wrap his foot and ankle and spent the weekend primarily on the couch. Over the weekend the pain seemed to shift from the outer ankle into his foot and became worse at work this morning thereby leading to the trip to the hospital.

Gio tells me to meet him at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. OK. Knowing the cabbies here, and that you usually need to be prepared with at least 3 different ways of explaining where you need to go, I proceeded to do a google search for the hospitals address. What I found were these directions:

Mount Elizabeth Hospital is located near Jalan Lada Puteh; near Mount Elizabath; near Jalan Kayu Manis; near Jalan Jintan; near Jalan Elok; Mount Elizabeth Hospital is geographically located at latitude (1.3053 degrees) 1° 18' 19" North of the Equator and longitude (103.8354 degrees) 103° 50' 7" East of the Prime Meridian on the Map of Singapore or JB.

The locations related to Mount Elizabeth Hospital are represented by the path the bullet takes from the muzzle of the gun to the target and may not be nearest by road. For example, Mount Elizabeth Hospital is located 0.1 kilometre from Richmond Park. Mount Elizabeth Hospital is located 0.1 kilometre from Elizabeth Towers. Mount Elizabeth Hospital is located 0.2 kilometre from The Esquire. Mount Elizabeth Hospital is located 0.2 kilometre from Somerset Compass Residences. Mount Elizabeth Hospital is located 0.2 kilometre from Tong Building.

Wow... helpful. Hey Uncle, just take me along the path of the bullet!

Anyway, I met Gio at the Hospital and he was on the phone to HR figuring out the puzzle of what doctor/GP/specialist to visit with his insurance coverage. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, we went to a GP to get a referral for the Orthopedic Doctor. The GP didn't even touch the foot, just asked a few standard questions and then sent us back to the 16th floor of the hospital. There we waited for 30 minutes until Gio went in to see the doctor, two minutes later he came back and had to go back down to the first floor to get xrays. It was at this time that I realized I was getting into one of my "lack-of-food moods" so I had to eat so while Gio got the xrays, I went to grab a quick bite and as it turned out, no need to rush as Gio was 45 minutes waiting for his turn.

Five minutes later, we are back on the 16th and the doctor looks at the xrays, no broken bones but potential ligament damage is a concern, so we have to wait for the swelling to come down before he's sure. No athletic activity for a week, Gio laughs, I shake my head... of all the comments, no athletic activity... he's still going to do his sit-ups and arms though :-)

Crisis averted and RICE is still in full effect, at least its not broken!

THE CHAD

And just like that three weeks is done. CHAD FORBZ has come and gone from Singapore in a whirlwind of tourism, food and photography.

He arrived on December 27th and spent two days here before Michelle and he went to BALI for NEW YEARS and a few days of sightseeing. I should of been there as well, alas Passport Issues that you've read about elsewhere on this blog kept me from joining in on the fun. Anyways, Bali is beautiful and just seeing the pics from their trip makes me want to go again as there is still so much to see for both Michelle and I, we will be back.

But once they did return, Chad still had almost half his trip left to explore Singapore so we made sure he saw everything: Orchard Road, Holland Village, Dempsey Hill, the Zoo, the Night Safari, Chinatown, Little India, the Esplanade, the Arab Quarter and the Quays.We also tried to keep him busy with: Cooking Classes in Little India and swinging through the Treetops Adventures.

We also made sure he tried to eat as much as possible which was difficult do to his amazing array of allergies but he did well. We made sure he tried Chili Crab, Black Pepper Chicken, Mee Goreng, Satays, Soup Dumplings, Japanese BBQ, Nestum Prawns, Barking Chicken, Ice Cream Balls, Tango Wings and Prata Dogs! Chad was also kind enough to cook two nights where he made his famous Banana Chicken Curry and Bird Eye Chili Tofu Stirfry.

He also got to meet and hang out with our friends here in Singapore, the two biggest nights being Friday Nights where we did Mexican Dinner & the Indian Dance Club and then last night where we indulged in the full Singaporean Seafood Dinner and then the Sake Bar.

All in all I think Chad had a good time and we were very glad to have him here. I wish I could have seen more of him and spent more time with him but anytime is better than no time at all. I hope he enjoyed it here as much as we enjoyed having him. Safe flight home brother!

Check out some pics from our adventures with CHAD

THE WONDER YEARS

GIO'S 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2009

STAR TREK

• I mean c'mon, this is what a reboot should be. I watched it twice in the theaters, twice on a plane and multiple times on DVD, it never gets old. Spock punches Kirk! Vulcan obliterated! The green-skinned girl! Surly Bones! Great space battles and more lens flares than you can shake a stick at! Well done JJ Abrams! This is popcorn entertainment at it's best.

DISTRICT 9

• Wow! Low budget sci-fi kicks ass with District 9, great story, great FX, and a great score by my buddy Clint Shorter, seriously, give it a listen!

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

• Tarantino rocks the WWII genre in this uber-entertaining look at the men who brought down Hitler. Very well done and very entertaining.

THE HANGOVER

• The Rain Man Blackjack scene is a killer, the wedding photos are a killer, the whole movie is killer. Best comedy of the year!

ZOMBIELAND

• The Bill Murray cameo alone makes this a watcher but the slick style, the opening credits and the constant referral to "the rules" make this a welcome addition to the Zombie Genre.

TAKEN

• Best Liam Neeson movie ever! I loved it, Michelle loved it, my parents loved it. That says a lot since we all like different types of movies but can all get behind a man who will do anything to find his daughter.

DRAG ME TO HELL

• Sam Raimi returns to low-budget horror with a bang. The only thing missing from this flick is a Bruce Campbell cameo!

UP

• Pixar does it again! Squirrel!!!

AVATAR

• Despite the unoriginal story, the animation & FX are absolutely astounding. The film is shockingly engaging and that makes you forget you've seen this story before in another form. It has to be seen in 3D and I will watch it again!

WATCHMEN

• Most people hated it and yes, it did have its issues but for me, Zak Snyder took the legendary, unfilmable comic book and made an entertaining and visual feast of a film. A little long & a little wordy but for this comic fan, it's a job well done!

WHAT I MISSED OR HAVEN'T SEEN YET DUE TO LIVING IN SINGAPORE:

• THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, THE HURT LOCKER, ANVIL, UP IN THE AIR, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, THE INFORMANT, BRUNO, MOON, PRECIOUS, THE ROAD