A week ago i had dinner at Sakura in Toa Payoh. I never knew if the restaurant in the past offered Japanese food only, but it now offers buffet that serves a variety of food, ranging from cantonese dim sum to sushi to chinese cuisine, and the other usual stuff which you get at a buffet. The sheer variety of food does not quite square with the name of the restaurant, but this doesn't matter. In the fiercely competitive restaurant scene, anything goes so long as it brings in the business. If you are the kind who likes variety and don't nit-pick on quality, Sakura's buffet is quite value for money indeed.
Going by what i saw when i was there, it is quite obvious that the restaurant has set its sights on heartlander families; whole clans seem to be there, what with screaming kids, grandparents and parents busy getting food and feeding their restless kids at the same time. (Coincidentally, i found out the next day from Kenneth that he had brought his family and his parents and in-laws to the branch at Science Centre the same night. I was rather surprised.) Indeed, most Singaporeans seem more than willing to splurge on the occasional buffet, reflecting somewhat the kiasu trait of the (stereo)typical Singaporean - eager to snag the best deal and get the most.
And the restaurant is eager to bring in as many customers in a night as possible, judging by its sparse layout and nondescript but plentiful number of tables that are in close proximity. Not that customers would mind or even notice - the array of food would keep them distracted and pleased. This isn't a place to seek comfort and privacy; the main activity is eating - eating the spread of food which you paid to get as much of as you desire - and other considerations are merely secondary.
I am not particularly enamoured of buffets. In part because my appetite has seemingly shrunk over the years and i don't eat as much as before (sign of getting older?). So the variety and amount of food at buffets don't really appeal to me, and i see no need to spend so much to enjoy the freedom to choose from a variety. Quite the contrary, i prefer my meals simple. Just the other day my friend chose to eat the Marriott buffet for his birthday lunch. I did not join him but shared the cost of his meal with two other friends who went with him. As i told my friend, i just can't justify paying $45 for a lunch - not because i don't eat a lot, but because it is highly imprudent to do so (i ain't earning my own salary). Moreover, this group of friends have a penchant for eating buffets, because one or two of them think that instead of paying 20 over bucks at a normal restaurant for a meal, one might as well pay the same amount or slightly more to enjoy the variety that a buffet affords. I don't buy that logic. Yet, coincidentally, on the following Friday i went for (another) sushi buffet with three friends at suki sushi, at the cost of about $24 per person. I didn't mind because the main purpose was to meet a friend who's going back to Australia for good. But the restaurant staff would be glad to know that i didn't eat more than what i paid for - two plates of sushi (the cheapest priced plate), one chawanmushi and two glasses of orange juice are all that i had. Nowhere does that come close to even ten bucks.
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I didn't set out to write about the Sakura buffet, or buffets in general, but somehow i obviously ended up doing so. Actually i wanted to say i enjoyed myself that night and in particular i am inspired to make a few observations about my quiet friend, teoks. But more on him later. The meeting was fun and i was a happier person at the end of it not only because tam, jo, jules and teoks were great company, but also because i had just relieved myself of a week of painful anxiety. The outcome of that anxious anticipation for a week wasn't pretty, but it comforted me in that i was finally spared the agony of making fateful predictions and scenarios. I did not for a moment doubt that the outcome would have been otherwise, even if friends had been reassuring. Now that the dust has sort of settled, the fateful anticipating has turned into something equally bad. It's as if the fuller picture has now finally emerged - and that's the scary part.
Anyway, the usual stuff transpired over our meeting at Sakura and at Mac's later. jo fed us with a lot of gossipy news from which more conversation topics spinned off. tam's presence was guarantee that there would be plenty of laughter: her spontaneity and the gaiety she exudes are infectious and always liven the mood; so are her gestures and occasional outbursts of laughter, which never fail to amuse all of us. Then there's her teases and comments, delivered in a somewhat understated manner and sometimes in an almost furtive voice, hilarious and funny. I sometimes couldn't catch what she or jo was saying, and before i knew it, my impairment was made a joke.
teoks is always the quiet one, and because he's bashful and so silent, he's an easy target of our jokes. He's smart and knows what we are getting at, but sometimes all he does is grimace and smile knowingly, while his gaze, registering a mix of futile protest and resignation, falls on somewhere. Often, in the midst of our chatting i would peer at him just to have a feel of how he's taking our conversations. Sometimes his facial expression remains straight, at other times it relaxes into a knowing smile and quiet laughter. I don't think he feels uncomfortable with us, but he's incredibly reticent and speaks most of the time only when we exhort him or ask questions related to him. Even then, he makes very terse responses, no doubt because we are often more teasing than asking a proper question. He is of course by nature a shy person and man of few words, but one can't help but wonder sometimes - as jo later said to me also - whether he's like that when hanging out with his other friends. I believe when he's with his bunch of army pals he's certainly more prone to talking. Us - we are such a raucously noisy bunch that's just the opposite of his personality. Besides, i can understand that the girls sometimes talk about stuff that us boys aren't interested in. So we sit back and be an observer instead of a participator.
In writing however, teoks is a different person. His wit is evident and he always makes clever ripostes to our remarks (in email). If only he's as comfortable conversing socially as he is in writing, i've no doubt he would be a funny and popular chap with girls. On the other hand, he's made big strides since those good 'ol jc days. Where once he was a reclusive hermit, he's now more actively involved in social and school activities than any of us. When we learnt that he's now learning a certain kind of dance, we were quite in awe and truly impressed. He must have felt embarrassed to tell us - for he must have known that the jokes would come fast, which they did - as he seemed reluctant to speak at first. I can only imagine that he must be much more comfortable talking with his friends who are learning dancing together (coz dancing with and in a group is a very social kind of activity that requires communication). Not that i am casting doubts on the strength of the friendship, but as a good friend one would have preferred that he's comfortable speaking with us and willing to open up more, just as one wouldn't feel inhibited around one's good friends. But, of course, there's much i am assuming here.
I just remembered: today is the 6th and the other lawyer (not yet) amongst us is coming back to S'pore. Another feast beckons. (:
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