SfaUT: Top 5 Posts of ALL Time

Well, actually it has been about 1 and 1/2 years since I started blogging, and I wanted to see if any ‘Unifying Theme’ has popped up.  Also, for anyone who has watched network TV, you eventually get to that episode where the money and/or creativity runs out, and they resort to running a ‘retrospective’ episode of clips cobbled together from previous episodes.  This is the blog post equivalent…

Maybe it is different for other bloggers, but I doubt it: the posts that you really, really like are NOT the ones that get the most hits!  Based on the number of hits, I should create a blog about Rogers or RBC rants, or perhaps a restaurant guide.

The top post, which still receives more hits a day than any other post, is a rant about the high data roaming charges that Rogers bills its customers, which I experienced on my trip to Asia earlier this year.  Apparently this is a common experience with a lot of people, which has led to a lot of traffic to my site.  If you type “rogers data extortion” into Google, my post is the top hit (as of today).

Next, in #2 position, is a post I did about Google.  I was watching Google regularly releasing applications that I am sure others were building their entire business case on, and had a thought:  What is happening to the web start-up industry as a result of Google’s deep pockets, and free applications?  This got picked up by a web aggregator called Ycombinator at the time, and has since been changed to ‘Hacker News’.  Of those >1000 reads, about 80% were in a single day, and has since dropped to zero reads a day!

#3, and deservedly so, is my assertion that Singapore Restaurant is the best restaurant in Ottawa, and why.  It shows up on about page 6 of a Google search on Ottawa’s best restaurant, so it must only be really determined people that find it… or they are using some other search tool.  With 662 views, I hope at least a few of those people actually gave it a try, Abba and Foo deserve the business!

#4 was another fee-based rant:  This time the target was RBC Visa and their overlimit fees.  Since I don’t carry balances on credit cards this was actually a sympathetic-rant for a friend I was helping with some financial counselling.  I actually got quite angry on the phone with the RBC representative and accused them of taking advantage of people that were not financially savvy.  Now I wish I had recorded it, it may have made a good audio clip for the blog.

Finally, to maintain my lack of a ‘Unifying Theme’, the last in my Top 5 list is about an observation I made of how similar Klee Irwin and John Waters look… judge for yourself! This was my second post about Klee, who came to my attention in his hilariously funny infomercials on dual-action cleanse.

It appears that I am STILL Searching for a Unifying Theme…

The BEST Restaurant in Ottawa – (Was) Singapore Restaurant!

Those of you who know me well are probably surprised that it took so long for me to do a post about my favourite restaurant.

To be clear, I have lots of favourites, depending on the occasion, but there is NO restaurant that I go to more often than Singapore. For example, last night I went to ’18’ in The Market (Ottawa) and that was probably the best meal I have had in the city, but that was $130 for a couple, so… I am not doing that once a week!

Singapore restaurant’s location does not lend itself to easy discovery. It is across the street from the Coliseum Cinemas on Carling, but is hidden by an Indian Restaurant. Most people find it by referral, and I think I probably account for about a hundred of those so far.

While the whole menu is awesome, particularly the Curry Shrimp and Black Bean anything, the meal that I have on average once a week, is the Singapore Lakksa. This version of Lakksa is a coconut broth-based curry dish with rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, egg & bean sprouts (which I don’t get because I think beans should really be allowed to live a full life) with the option of either hot sauce on the side, or you can order the meal hot. Only order the Lakksa hot if you are a real fan of hot, because I LOVE hot food, but that is too hot for me!

I mention ‘version’ because, in Singapore and Malaysia, ‘Lakksa’ is a generic term for ‘soup’ so if you have had it before at other restaurants, like ‘Spring Rolls’ in Toronto, you will find that it may be quite different if they based their Lakksa on a different style of Malaysian cooking.

Other big plusses of the Singapore are the reasonable prices, and FAST service. I have a 10 minute drive from my office, but can still do the round trip and have a meal at a relaxed pace within one hour.Take out is also another good option, you can order 15 mins in advance and have it ready for pickup when you get there.Tell Abba that Adrian sent you. 🙂

The Singapore Restaurant

69 Kempster Avenue Ottawa, ON

(613) 820-4119

P.S. The significance of the picture is that Barry actually ate TWO Lakksas. If you have ever eaten ONE you will know how big a feat this is! Apparently only 4 people have done this, and I know two of them (I’m not one of them).

P.P.S. September 9, 2016…  Sadly all good things must come to an end.  Thanks Ah Bah,  Foo & Andrew for so many wonderful meals!  I hope all the client love near the end didn’t take years off your life!!