Tonkotsu Kazan Ramen 豚骨火山ラーメン @ Novena Square 2

Located at Level 2 of Novena Square 2. This is one tiny shop.Went during weekday lunch hour and the shop was full but lucky for us, still managed to get a table for 4, fairly quickly.

shop front

tomato based soup volcano ramen

Decided on lunch items rather quickly too. For 4 pax, we ordered 2 volcano ramens and a side order of gyoza.

complimentary hard-boiled eggs (while stocks last!)

Liked the shop decor. Even the ceiling are decorated.

cosy interior

Gyoza was served piping hot. Tiny morsels of minced meat. Spied some gyozas on other table, that were..a little burnt.

yaki gyoza @$5++

When the service crew placed beakers of ramen soup on the table, that's when one knows the volcano is impending!

tomato based (front) and miso (back) based broth

At this juncture, the table space is not enough for the presentation of two volcano ramens!

waiting

time's up!

Wait for the service crew to lift away the cover. Then, we're to stir the soup.

Kazan Karamiso @18++

However, pot #2 did not have the volcano effect at all. Probably wasn't hot enough. Taste wise, all my colleagues were rather happy with the slightly tangy,sweetish spicy tomato paste tonkotsu broth of the Kazan Hinomaru Tomato.

Both noodles had similar ingredients in it, such as onions, and cabbage. Karamiso had pork slices, while Hinomaru had one huge whole tomato, capsicum and chili slices. Hard boiled egg was nice with the hot broth, but they do run out of the eggs at times especially during lunch hour as one of the service crew puts it, "The chefs did not have time to cook more eggs!"

One can add rice into the soup after slurping away the noodles. This, we did. So much carb that day!

with rice

This meal costs about $12 per pax and fed a party of 4.

[Gadgets] Microsoft Surface Pro3 , XBoxOne

Let's talk about tech, this time round.

Fancy an oversized tablet? How does 12 inch sounds to you? How about an i3, i5 or i7^[1] core processor in that set up? Great! It can even replace a laptop. Yes, it definitely can. How about, if it is super slim...like just 9.1mm thin and super lightweight at 800g?


------ (this is about 9mm)

Was at the Microsoft Surface Pro3 Launch Preview recently, and got the chance to preview the said device.

at Red Dot Design Museum

The opening address was by Ms Ngiam Foong Chee, Director of Marketing & Operations, Microsoft Singapore. Again, we hear about connected devices, working anywhere, anytime if once chooses so.

This is where work and play merges. Through technology, others are aware of your online presence. Ultimately, one still has the choice of attending to that work activity or not. 

Then, it was Mr Ian Tan's turn to show us the Surface Pro3. Ian is no stranger to Microsoft hardware business in Singapore.

Mr Ian Tan explaining on Surface Pro3 'infinite angles' Kickstand

From where I was seated, the Surface Pro3 screen looked good. Beautful body in silver Vapor Magnesium casing and for its screen, Surface Pro3 uses ClearType Full HD display.

Surface Pro and Surface Pro3

If one needs to do work on this device, no worries. Just snap on the keyboard via its Surface Pro Type Cover or take out the Surface Pen.

Surface Pro3 with Surface Pen and keyboard

Surface Pro3 is also equipped with two 5MP cameras capable of capturing 1080p HD video. Storage space from 64GB to 512GB, and RAM from 4GB to 8GB. With Windows 8.1 Pro³, it is also capable of running of all Windows software. Price ranging from $1,108 to $2,698, with accessories sold separately.

Pre-order is avaible now at Microsoft Online Store.  Expects to be available for retail before end of August 2014. There is an Education discount where students from certified MOE institutions will enjoy a 10% discount.


Also got a glimpse of Microsoft's next generation console, the Xbox One that day. It is expected to launch in Singapore on 23 September 2014.

entertainment box

Expected retail price is about $739 with Kinect set.

With the Kinect sensor bar, it looked so much more fun with gesture recognition!

gesture recognition

Xbox One's Kinect Sports Rival allows users to create avatars or 'champions' of themselves. Body and facial scanning, and some intelligence in learning some moves of the player sounds like a great great ingredient for semi-realistic virtual fun!

Watch a YouTube video of the avatar building process:



Quite cool. Previous generation of Kinect sensor bar, was not able to detect half-body and apparently with this new one, it can! Nice. Healthcare apps developers, you might want to get your hands on this one.

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[1] 4th generation processors Intel® Core™

Real Food 真食 Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant @ Novena Square 2

Located at B1 of Novena Square 2, this place is usually packed during lunch hour. Not surprisingly as it offers vegetarian and vegan food choices, in a nice ambiance and conveniently located a few steps from the MRT station.

Only grouse? Long wait for the food. But that's ok as the service staff would've forewarned the patrons with regards to waiting time, especially if it is anticipated to exceed 30 minutes.

Order at the counter, make payment and grab a seat and have patience.

cutlery hidden below

Best if one have something to drink first while waiting.

Daylesford Organic
Carbonated Drinks - Lemon Lime & Bitters @$5.90

First time having lemon lime and bitters. Wonder what went into the bitters for this version? According to wiki, the bitters part is handled by Angostora bitters which says it has botanically infused alcoholic stuffs. Ahhh...no wonder it tasted so agreeable!

Moving on the food, I spied lots of office workers having spaghettis, soup noodles and pizza. Looks like those are popular choices. Tried their All Day Breakfast menu of Rise & Shine Breakfast @$9.80.

Rise & Shine - eggs omelette with bell peppers, zuchini, mushrooms, some greens and toasted bread with cheese and tomato

Though the omelette wasn't fluffy, but that's alright. Loaded with ingredients and the bread was good. It was rather filling too!

Also tried the fried dumplings (@$7 for 8 pieces). Rather thin, fried till deep brown but fragrant and tasty because of the minced mushroom fillings. Yums but remember to request for their chili. It's not chili sauce but natural chili paste. Nice.

Unless you're there really early, otherwise the wait for food will likely be about half an hour during weekday lunch time, mainly due to the office crowd.

Expect to spend about $16 ~ $20 per pax for a meal with a drink.