lessons given and lessons learnt

Mirch Masala, an Indian restaurant just opposite Balabushka in Shinsaibashi, was reviewed in Kansai Scene this month. Lured by the promise of curry, naan, salad and a drink for only 680 yen (ridiculously cheap!) WITH free curry and naan refills (gasp), a bunch of us headed there for lunch today.

I’d just read the review this morning in the office, and pointed out to some of them that is was in KS. i also wanted to comment on the opening sentence of the review, in which the author sounded like a complete nob (my friend’s words, not mine). I might be quoting the latter half slightly wrongly, but he essentially stated that “I am qualified to tell the difference between Indian food and really good Indian food” – after spending all of 6 months in India.

it was a good thing i held my tongue on how arrogant the author sounded – it turned that he was part of the other group dining there, and that the publishers had gotten his byline completely wrong.

sometimes silence does pay off.

(by the way, if you visit Mirch Masala, please stop the owner from refilling your naan and curry if you dont want anymore. We didnt manage to stop him giving us extra naan, and i’m still FULL 8 hours after having had lunch.)

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2,370,000 yen – that’s how much funerals in japan cost. That’s about 10 months worth of a JET’s salary, and more than 3 times the cost of a funeral in the US. I wonder how much Chinese funerals cost, cos they’re not cheap either.

Read more about interesting stuff on Japan at Japan Probe, a website with articles and lots of videos. I particularly like the video of this adorable security guard cat which reminded me of the cat in my secondary school, as well as the dramatic music in this video on racoons damaging national heritage sites.

* * *

someone posted a facebook link to this article titled “40 Singapore foods we can’t live without”.

the usage of “foods” makes me uncomfortable; food to me is an uncountable noun and thus should only appear in the singular. besides, “foods” sounds so awkward too – someone please enlighten me on the usage of it.

i believe, also, that the title should at least have read “Singaporean foods”, since it’s not China food, Japan food, America food or Italy food. Perhaps it’s because a prior article featured “40 Hong Kong foods we can’t live without”, but that’s okay only because there isn’t a word to describe things coming from Hong Kong.

How can sub-editors possibly miss that?

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finally, as an act of public service, let me address one of my pet peeves – that of “with regards to” and “with regard to”.

please, please, please realise that you ONLY ever say “with regard to” – there is no ‘s’! so it’s “with regard to your letter”, “with regard to that point”, “with regard to what you said” and so on.

and if you’re reading, i beg you to also spread the word that the ‘s’ is, in all cases but one, UNNECESSARY and hurtful to the eye. you can say “in regards to”, but it’s very definitely only “with regard to”.

the only exception is when that phrase is used in a very different context with a completely different meaning – when you’re sending your regards to someone, like “with regards to your parents, love Jim”. that is the ONLY time the ‘s’ should ever appear in the phrase “with regard to”.

お願いします！