Today happens to be a pretty blue day for me. The third renovation project on my block in the past 6 months had just started 2 units away from my place, and apparently another neighbor 2 units in the other direction had sold their place too… so yet more construction coming our way it seems.
Obviously the construction noise did nothing for the 8 lectures of pharmacotherapy I had to plow through, so I self-evicted myself to the AMK library where the racket wasn’t going to drill the therapeutic options out of my head. Distracted, however, I ventured to the books section and borrowed three books to nourish my infertile mind this long weekend once I’m done with this week’s tests and assignments.
Another delight was dinner at a very understated, simple, humble kopitiam at AMK central. Mom and I visited Aston’s. You may call it the heartland-wannabe-steakhouse for all you want but I call this the real DEAL. Like a really GOOD deal. As opposed to a rip-off at other fancy places in town, one of which doesn’t know how a medium steak is done. So it’s not your wagyu or filet mignon… doesn’t matter. I love my hardy new york striploin…that’s how I figure I’m eating a steak! Potato salad well coated with dressing and generous amounts of beans, for under $30 for 2 diners.
Oh yes, that includes beer for two as well. Good ol’ Singha. When I ordered Singha from the kopi-soh, she was visibly stunned for awhile. “你要 Singha?” “你要 Singha beer??” “你要喝酒??!?!”*with very pronounced astonishment* My Mom and I broke out in guffaws and Mom explained to her that I was, in fact, above 21 years of age. But we figured the reason for her bewilderment was because this friendly kopi-soh must never have had a lady order beer in the kopitiam…and Singha beer, no less. There were more appropriate options, I guess, for a 20+ female in my semblance. Maybe Heineken would not have surprised her that much. Anyway, the Singha was cheap, and HUGE. $5 for a 630ml bottle. When it was delivered to our table we were controlling our chuckle…all of a sudden I felt like some uncle discussing the weather with a good old friend. As my dear gong-gong would have. (maybe I inherited that good spirit from him)
But really, isn’t this our version of a neighborhood bar in any other Western city? A place to get good and inexpensive comfort food, kick back with a glass of beer, catch the latest news or sports (just soccer for us, here) on tv, and talk shop with our pals or the waiter. In fact, the endearing kopi-soh lingered around to watch me pour my own beer, which was oddly funny. She told us Singha was the cheapest beer they had (hurray!) and gave props to us for being able to down the very bitter tasting liquid…though we assured her it was probably the lightest of all beers (and hence, my preference for it).
It was a really nice dinner though, all things considered. Glad to know there’s a convenient and inexpensive alternative, and may I add, very local way, to get the same chill-out vibe I had in the many pubs and bars of our Western counterparts.
