Saboten Ebi Katsu Promotion

Saboten Restaurant has an ongoing Promotion from now till August 2014.

Saboten is one of my favorite restaurants in T1 and for that matter, one of my favorite tonkatsu restaurant in Singapore. And from now till end of August 2014, they are having a special Ebi Katsu Promotion.

As with all set meals, the set comes with free flow of cabbage, rice and miso soup. Eat as much as you want - if only you can stomach it.

I had ordered the Ebi Katsu Tenderloin Set and as expected, the tenderloin was well fried and still tender to the bite.

The Ebi Katsu was light and moist - the breadcrumbs gave a nice crunch but the prawns were firm to the bite and rather sweet - well done!

And now for a look at my Lange 1815 Chrono on top of the bed of cabbage.

Another winning combo for Saboten. Head down to Saboten T1 to enjoy the promo. For more on Saboten, please read my other blog post.

Mr. Range - Story of The Singapore Lange Connoisseurs Lunch

The Singapore Lange Connoisseurs Lunch was hosted by Michelle and her dedicated team from Lange Singapore. And the lunch was hosted at Yakitori Enmaru at Ion.

Like they say, some things are lost in translation. For example the name… Mr. Lange became Mr. Range.

I thought it was cute so I took a wrist shot of my companions… venture a guess whose wrists/watches these are?

And then my Range 1 on a Lange stand...

Seated beside me is the owners of a Rose Gold Black Dial Datograph. My preferred combination for the Datograph. Some call it the Dufour Datograph or the Dufourgraph. I absolutely love this watch. Just waiting for the right time when it is available and at the right price. Although it is not a Limited Edition piece, the RGBD version is rather rare.

And perhaps the oldest Lange at the gathering that afternoon. A Lange pocket watch with an enamel dial. Serial number has it dated back to 1908.

And before I forget why we were there, here is the food! Peter ordered the Chirashi sushi.

Larry had the ginger pork.

Terence had the beef. Understand the beef is tender and well cooked.

Kee Siew and I had the yakitori. Good stuff since this is after all a Yakitori restaurant.

And the band of brothers! Chap kor anyone?

Brothers in arms. I love the 1815 - slim and elegant.

And before we knew it, lunch was over and we headed down to the Ion Boutique. Couldn't resist so I asked for all the brothers to lay down their watches…a million dollar tray. Well almost.

A different look at the watches on display.

A trio of Datograph - how often you see so many versions of the Datograph. For a moment, we had more variety than the boutique.

And the highlight of the tray must be the Lange 1 Tourbillon. One can only dream of owning such a rare beauty. So I admire only...

Many thanks again to the team from A. Lange & Sohne. Hope we can do another one real soon. In the meantime, I continue to dream about the Lange 1 Tourbillon and search for the RGBD Datograph.

Pasarbella GTG - Monster Time!

The gang got together for another meal and to share our hobby for watches. This time around, we ended up in Turf City Pasarbella Mara Shabu Restaurant.

The Shabu Shabu Restaurant is at the far end of Pasarbella.

They had arranged their table to accommodate us 20 pax ensuring we have a nice cosy and private corner.

First up was the Spanish Suckling Pig seen here still in the oven...

The Spanish Suckling Pig is from another stall in Pasarbella and the Argentinian chef told us he had oven baked it just in time for our GTG at 6.30pm.

The shabu shabu came in three soup base - mara (numbing spicy), shabu and sukiyaki. Featured here is the sukiyaki.

And the mara and shabu comes in a ying-yang pot. Meat consists of beef, chicken, pork shoulder, pork belly, tofu etc. My favorite was the udon noodles cooked in the mara soup base - thanks to Larry who discovered this combo.

Dinner started promptly at 6.45pm… too hungry to wait for everyone so since this was a buffet, go help yourselves!

Guys chatting over food and drinks.

Plenty of food to go around and plenty of conversation - guys catching up.

Theme was simple - any Seiko and any watch that tells time differently. So we had a few Seiko Monsters including a Snow Monster, two very interesting Hautlence Jumping hours and many more interesting pieces. Table shot of watches on display.

How often does one see two Hautlence coming together?

In fact you would have seen two Seiko with enamel dial but alas, someone fell sick but I have this wonderful shot of the watch.

Then of course the Monsters… and the Tunas

And probably the Monster of the Night - The Snow Monster...

And another Seiko - the Laurel

Then comes the unusual pieces… Jumping hours, Regulateur Dials, Dead Beat Seconds, Carousel/Tourbillon, Double Split Chrono, Single Handed... Can you spot the Goldpfeil Vincent Calabrese?

First, a rather rare Swatch Diaphane One carousel watch.

And a two week old Habring Pilot DBS.

A single handed Luch from Belarus

A not so often seen IWC pocket watch

A Lange Double Split Chrono

And a PuristPro watch

The gang stayed on chatting while others were busy exploring the watches.

And all too soon it was already ten at night. Three and a half hours of great conversation around food and watches - what more can you ask for?

Lange Pocket Watch - A 1908 Gem

The things one find in a hidden store somewhere in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong. I like walking into these small shops not expecting anything but coming out impressed by what you find. Such is the story of my Lange pocket watch.

I was waiting for a friend to pick me up at the Hotel Nikko along Mody Road and I thought since I had another half an hour that I would walk into one of the shopping centers to explore. Perched on the 2nd floor and one corner of the shopping centre (can't remember the name) was this shop displaying several vintage watches. The owner saw me standing at the window display and buzzed me in. What first caught my eyes was a fully dis-assembled Lange & Sohne pocket watch movement.

Pristine condition and definitely well kept. Wilson, the shop owner told me the case was sent for polishing. I expressed my interest and left my contact. A few weeks later as promised, Wilson sent me an email and told me the pocket watch was ready and that he wanted to sell it. I sought the advice of Manfred in AL&S HK and he told me it looked authentic - good enough for me. So I bought it!

I had a friend Stefan pick it up and he brought it back for me. And wow! What a beauty! The enamel dial is in pristine condition. Slightly aged but in great condition. The Louis-XV hands are also in good condition considering the age.

The case as Wilson had explained was well restored and polished to the point of brand new. The rose gold case was restored to its former glory. Unblemished and without engraving. Its a double hunter case.

And the movement, well it is in great condition. The movement measures 41mm and is what they consider a "flat design".

I had sent the pictures to the Lange Manufactory and applied for its archive papers. Based on the serial number, Lange says the watch was sold to a company (presumably retailer) in Frankfurt in 1908. Certificate says it is a Calibre 41 movement & the manufacturer is A. Lange & Sohne, Glashutte.

Thanks to my good friend Prof Harry Tan for for this image.

So the next time you have time on your hands, take a walk into one of those old shopping centers in Hong Kong. You may not know what you will find.

Treasure Trove in Hong Kong - Lange & Sohne Pocket Watch

The things you find in an old shop in Hong Kong East Tsim Sha Tsui.

Some things are just meant to be - if it is yours, it is yours. And I thank Wilson for selling that to me. Enjoy a sketch of the pocket watch.

Full story to come. Also thanks to Manfred of AL&S who provided me with advice on the authenticity of the watch.

Feature of The Month - A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Chronograph

My fascination with mechanical hand wound movement was pique when I saw the back of the Lange chronograph - many say they would wear the movement side if it were possible. I fully agree. That is why this watch is The Feature of the Month.

The House of Lange is German engineering at its best. I have always admired the brand, technical expertise and the range of watches they have. I yearned for one of their beauties and when I finally got my hands on one, a sense of accomplishment. Here's my favorite Lange piece. The 1815 Chronograph.

Many thanks to my friend Professor Harry Tan who took these pictures at one of our get-togethers. Over drinks, dinner and a nice cigar came these pictures. This white gold beauty has been discontinued and a newer version of the 1815 chrono has been introduced.

And now for the movement side.

I was contemplating between the rose gold black dial version versus the white gold silver dial version and settled for the latter because of the beautiful blued hands.

Taken at the same dinner was a photo shoot courtesy of Prof Harry Tan. Take a look at the poster of some of the collectors and see if you recognize any of them.

The year end dinner was held at CHIJMES, Chef de Tables.