Long Beach, Singapore

It was too dark to see whether Long Beach (the restaurant) was next to a long beach (Changi East Coast). But that's not important. I was there to eat their famous pepper crab.

But before the pepper crab, we'd ordered some other local delicacies. One was deep fried bean curd and squid covered in sesame seeds. All was washed down with a nice pint of Tiger beer.

Then there were these lovely deep fried white baits. Super crunch. Great when washed down with another pint of Tiger beer.

And voila! White Pepper Crab (the crab was of Sri Lankan origin)! Lightly fried and coated with a white pepper sauce. The crab was very fresh (no shrunken meat behind the shells), spicy to the right degree and great with Tiger beer.

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Written On Skin at the Royal Opera

This was the first revival of George Benjamin's Written On Skin. As with contemporary operas, familiarity goes a long way in appreciating the work. In this revival, I found Christopher Purves's The Protector powerful and moving. Barbara Hannigan, who sang Agnès, was superb. The pure and slightly eerie tone of Iestyn Davies as The Boy completed the perfect cast.

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