Shiok Food Truck

Katong laksa

So just got back from eating at a Singaporean food truck.  pretty sweet.  i'm not too familiar with singaporean food, other than those dry noodles and chicken+rice.  As I come from the land of food trucks, I'm used to the good old burritos and taco trucks.  Occasionally, I'll venture out and grab something from those 'cool' trucks, but i'm quite against those.  Reasoning? it's a bit sacrilegious.  Food trucks are supposed to be for the working class that serves basic food that can be cooked on a grill or fryer; be it burgers, tacos, etc.. As a way to bring hot fresh food to the people for low prices, food trucks are pretty functional.  That being said, I'm sure you've noticed the trend of these 'cool' trucks popping up in the past couple years: chinese buns trucks, french food trucks... etc.   Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of all types of food, but the one thing that I can't stand are the 'cool' food truck prices.  They are absurd!  As you may know, food truck portions are already sub-par, but the extra added cost for novelty just adds insult to the cuisine.  The worst offenders (in my opinion) are the fusion food trucks: eg. korean burrito trucks, curry burrito trucks, etc...  good food, but not worth it.

Anyways, enough ranting for the moment, I'm here to write about Shiok.  This Singaporean food truck was worth checking out.  Singapore, itself, is not a large area and food trucks don't really have a place in a country with food stands around every corner.  So I was a bit skeptical in the beginning, but then again, south east asian food is generally made in a small kitchen so I wasn't detered.  

Audra Morrice, masterchef finalist

I got the katong laksa.  It's similar to regular laksa with chicken, a prawn, etc,. but the noticable thing was that this laksa was pretty viscous and spicy (both rated as excellent on my checklist of laksa requirements).  The size portion wasn't very large, but for six bucks, it did alright for a small lunch.  Now six bucks for a bit of food in sydney isn't too bad (despite the portion size), but this was the wining factor in my book.  In addition, the recipe came from Audra Morrice (who was present at the food truck as well,.. probably should have snapped a picture).  She was a finalist on the show Masterchef Australia and, that being said, I was pretty keen on trying the food (just to see if tv chefs can really back up their fame).  It was heavy in ingredients, flavorful with seafood and the amount of spices were flattering.  A bit of line contrasted nicely with the coconut milk base and chillies.  and although the chicken was a touch dry, it was quite satisfying on a hot day (which it was) and hit the spot.  Also, the noodles in this laksa were made shorter and thus increased the absorption factor which added to the flavor to spoonful ratio; subtle difference = big change in enjoyability (the new vocab word for the day).  All in all, I'd give it a 7/10.  would try again, but would probably need to order more food. 

Soundwave

Well, Well, Well.  So you've coming crawling back, looking for a read in the midst of your workweek; that said, welcome back.  So, lets kick this off with the BANG!  Soundwave is the festival that is quite a big deal.  To start off, its a music festival; genre: METAL/PUNK.  yep, that's right, my music preferences knows no bounds.    Secondly, i bought these tickets months and months ago..  Last, and most importantly, this marks the one-year anniversary of me moving into the house (which I currently reside). 

AWWWW YEAH

As Metal isn't usually at the top of my playlist, I've had to prepare and prepare I did.  For months and months I've listened to the different genres (yes there are different types of metal) and found i was particular to the power metal.  

to get a better understanding of metal, i suggest watching this

There were tons and tons of bands and once the timetable came out, I had to plan my attack accordingly.  Oh yeah, also of note: the venue of Soundwave was Olympic Park.  Yeah, remember when Sydney held the Olympics, yeah.. anyways.  First stop: Red Fang, a bit of stoner rock (which is a bit heavy, and not too bad). Second stop: Dragonforce.  (imo, one of the best power metal bands EVER)  Think high vocals and awesome fast guitars. I made my way up to the front and got it ON!!.  IT WAS AWESOME.  Next stop: Pucifer, which was the special guest (cause the lead singer is also in the band Perfect Circle, also playing).  After that, we went to the big stage: Kyuss Lives.  I like the Queens of the Stone Age, and the guitarist is also in Kyuss, but after they split (drama), Kyuss Lives was formed.  Next up: Stone Sour, alternative metal (not too keen, but I was tired and didn't want to move).  Then: SLAYER,  awww yeah. well, SLAYER is a bit heavy for me, but it was great to see one of the big 4: SLAYER, Megadeath, Anthrax and Metalica (i'll come back to that later).  After this: A Perfect Circle, alternative metal/rock... mmm wasn't too keen on that either.  At this time, I made it inside the D-barrier to get more of the experience..  Anyways, next up was: Linkin Park .  Yeah, a bit more punk than metal.  I was actually surprised with their performance, not too bad despite the Windows '98 screensaver backdrop.  How do I know there are still some hardcore Linkin Park fans? someone had to get carried out on a stretcher... which made me worry about the headliner: Metallica.  AWWWW YEAH 10X..  I was pumped, excited, etc.etc.   It was GREAT!!  for 2h15m, they pumped out a set that could only be described as PHENOMENAL. The lights, pyrotechnics, EVERYTHING>  It's everything that I dreamed it would be.   Some dude even snuck in a flare and started waving it around (just glad he didn't throw it).

 Anyways, it was a long long day with awesome awesome music and friends.  One year ago, I didn't think I'd have gone to Soundwave, but it's been quite a year and this weekend was a great way to start off the semester  (oh yeah, happy birthday bec).  As this is my last semester of my program, you could say these will be the last set of chapters in the trilogy that is my blog.   That being said, I hope you guys carry on reading and i'll see you next week.