The trainers here are the most pushy ones amongst all their outlets. Everytime I come here for a workout, there would be at least 1 trainer who would approach me to ask me to sign up for personal training, TRX classes etc. I always decline politely but it is getting on my nerves how I cant seem to get a decent workout without being disrupted every single time. I just got a call from a lady from the same branch asking me if I want to try out a free pass as well as get a body analysis done. I had to remind her to please update their database as I am already an existing member plus have already completed my body analysis text. It is really really annoying! It is a good gym with plenty of choices of classes and full flexibility of outlets to choose from but this is still something that irks me although I understand that these guys survive on commission.
This outlet of Swensen's cafe is where I hang out with my friend during my student days.... I really love the old location which is a lone building just facing the MRT Station Plateform. I could remember the days of tucking into the EARTHQUAKE while watching the people waiting for the train on the plateform, sweat on their brows, thirsty and fanning themselves on a hot day. The view was fabulous.... many couples love to sit near the ceiling to floor window panes enjoying the sun while feeling the coolness of the air-conditioning and do the lovey dovey thingee hoping nobody will see them, HELLO its the MRT PLATEFORM opposite... I love it! at that time, Swensen's had their own hut, own escalator and even restroom.. How cool is that!!! Now.. they have shifted to the basement of the new annex of Jurong Point which I feel is too open, too noisy and dangerous..... because I always wonder.... what would drop on my head when i seat outside.. The so called outdoor seat is right smack in the middle of 3 levels of emptyness. Yes you still get the natural sunlight and the cool airconditioning and also the sneeze of somebody upstairs coupled by some dirt off some kid's shoes while they scrap their feet on the safety barracade above.
So much for my vivid imaginations, you can always opt to seat inside which is gloomy and not appealing. Well the food is as good... but the Ice-Cream is the obvious best.. Ice-cream is what they are good at. Always check out the Sundae menu, the signature BANANA SPLIT, my favourites are the GOLD RUSH-coffee and chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge whip cream and everything nice. The Sticky Chewy Chocolate is one of the POTENT ones.... So chocolately.. even charley from the Chocolate Factory cannot handle.... My ALL TIME FAVOURITE... THE ever good, ever yummy, ever fattening, ever satisfying COLT TOWER.... I love it because i think it has a good balance of everything I like. Chocolate ice-cream with vanilla ice-cream... and layers of chcolate fudge, caramel, whip cream, fresh banana, almonds and many good memories......
The Banana Crumble and the Apple Crumple are also superbly yummy... Imagine this... the smell of slightly burnt butterscotch sauce coupled with the sizzling sound of the skillet with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream melting away atop your crispy crumble.... All the extra calories is WORTH IT......
One must not forget to order some french fries with your ice-cream.... On top of that special discount you get on your fries.. I personally find that its the best combination.... Savoury and Sweet........ Simply Perfect!!!!
I myself had just had a late lunch at Fig & Olive at the Vivocity branch yesterday. I guess the 1 for 1 main courses are pretty worth it. The portion was good and they have a good variety of chicken, fish and pasta to choose from. I would agree that the service was not much, but i guess they made up for it by their very reasonably priced promotions.
We had a Maghribi Chicken w Olive Rice
which is Herbs grilled chicken with Mediterranean style sauce served with olive rice and fresh greens ($16.10) and a Chicken Pesto Carbonara which is a
Herb grilled chicken topped with tomato sauce and melted cheese, potato cilantro and served with choice pasta carbonara ($16.10). Both dishes are yummy. The Maghribi Chicken has got an exotic spanish sauce and I simply love the herbed infused taste to it, coupled with a colourful heap of vegetables which is tantalizing to me. The olive rice in comparison is not so yummy, i perfer it a little softer with more olives as it does appear to be too dry and hard.
The chicken pesto carbonara is great too, melted cheese and tomato sauce goes well with the grilled chicken and i would say a great dish to share with children as it is not too spicy yet has got everything a kid loves.
Service I should say could be better and was better last time. Perhaps there is a change in management, however i kinda feel that the service industry in Singapore is somewhat underperformed... I won't use the word deteriorated because it was not really good before. Rather our culture has been transformed. Service standards has been improving vastly globally and people's expectations for service has been soaring, time for yourself is limited, stress is high, patience is like a thinly spread butter on an already dried up toast, money is like 'Now you see it Now its GONE!'
So sometimes when we meet some bad services or bad food or bad attitude, we just remind ourselves.... of the many hungry children in Africa and start planning in your mind how you are going to review this restaurant......
Finally tried this - have been curious about this one. Armed with a $10 voucher which can be used with minimum spending of $50 before taxes, me and my friend trooped down on a Sat evening to find it surprisingly not full.
Tomato soup ($5.80) - surprisingly, not too bad! I've never been inclined towards tomato soup as they've always been sourish and nothing else. But this was quite light and had bits of tomatoes in it which provided a bite. Salmon Caparccio ($8.80) - Good! Fresh slices of salmon with diced onions and dressed with some sesame oil thingy.
Curry katsu udon ($15.80) - Average unfortunately, with the katsu already soggy when served. and the meat very tough to bite into. Not worth the price for me.
Hokkai curry ramen ($15.80) - This fared a bit better and ramen went well with the curry soup. The scallops and salmon in it made it a better value choice than the katsu udon.
Service leaves much to be desired with all very young staff acting clueless. I asked for a Heineken and was met with a confused slow drawl repeating "Hein....e...ken?".
I find some items overpriced and suspect people are here because they are curious more than wanting to eat good food. Prob will not return.
I had the luck to be given their member card, the Granton card, as the buyer of the card didnt want to go so I made a booking for 2pax on a Friday night to try out the 1-4-1 main course and also redeem the bottle of wine which the card entitles me to.
Layers of sliced eggplant filled with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil ($12.90) - this was really really good. The eggplant was in generous slices and not overcooked, the fillings were all good, and it came sort of in a tomato base which mixed very well with the melted cheese. I miss this already! (there's an option to have this as your main for $19)
Grilled green shell lobster with extra virgin olive oil served with pasta ($39.90) - the lobster was surprisingly of a good size and came with baked cheese on top - simple and nice! The pasta serving was almost too generous as a 'side' and came perfectly al dente but was overly doused in cracked pepper for me. Still good though, just that I needed plenty of water to go with it. Oven baked black cod crusted with herbs and served with garden greens ($36.90) - I had a bite of the black cod and it was firm and fresh without the need for any over-seasoning. Redeemed white wine - came chilled and was refreshingly fruity and extremely easy to drink.
Service was poor as the place was obviously understaffed for a Fri evening although the seating capacity was not big. Staff hurried to take orders, pour wine, serve, and present bills and sometimes can be quite curt. Most of the crowd had the Granton card too and were obviously enjoying the deal as I was. Guests were turned away or asked to wait starting from about 8pm onwards so make reservations if you plan to come.
The prices reflected were after the 1-4-1 so it will obviously be alot pricier if you're dining without the Granton card.
Pardon me for the very dark photos - blame my iphone and the fact that I felt camera flashes there didnt do very well for the almost too cosy atmosphere.
Was scouting for a nice place for a leisure high tea with friends and decided to take a shot at 10Scotts since I've never been there before (Goodwood was full and just recently been to Rose Veranda too).
10Scotts replaces the previous Scotts Lounge and what a welcome refurbishment it was. The dark and moody place was replaced by warm lightings and cosy furniture. The middle buffet area is set up to resemble a someone's kitchen which I thought was a cute touch.
The ambience was super cosy and was bustling with people but chit-chatting doesnt get drowned out. They have library seats (big sofa / cushion) on top of the normal dining tables which makes for more choices. They also have a private room that can sit maybe 14 in one long table.
The high tea is $48 without champagne; $78 with champagne. I liked that the items on the tray are all refillable and also have a mini buffet line to bulk up your choices.
On the 2-tier tray:
Egg mayo roll / salmon & cucumber roll - cucumber sandwich was quite classically nice and the salmon nice too, but the best was the egg mayo sandwich roll was very soft and the blend of mayo just nice and not too salty.
Curry puff - A little oily but the short crust pastry was stuffed with potatoes and (cant remember if there was chicken in it) and tasty. But 1 is enough.
Crab cake - read too much about it which may have led me to feeling a little disappointed. Nice and crispy and chokeful of crab meat but it was slightly bland for me.
Vietnamese spring roll - Disappointingly soggy rice skin and vege sticks not crispy.
Popiah - I dont have a preference for popiah so this was alright for me.
Buffet line
Items on offer were duck roll, dim sum, salad, desserts, freshly shaved parma ham and melon, cheese - while the items did bulk up the choices, most were not bad but non had that wow factor.
Service was good and the tea and coffee were all good. But they could have a system to leave at least 1 copy of the menu at each table instead of clearing all of them after each order, which made ordering your 2nd (and onwards) pot of teas a tedious process.
I like this place and would definitely return, although some of the items were misses. While one of my friends commented that the items on the tier was too asian, I welcome the difference. But I still think this place offers strikes a good balance between a tier and a high tea buffet.
Hyatt Gold Passport members can also earn dining points here - a bonus!
UBeau is a nail, face, body salon located in LiangSeah Street just a few steps away from 7/11, a place where great food and bustling wedding gown shops resides.
Huge signboards and serene looking spa pictures grace the pillars at the ground floor near the entrance and while i walk up the narrow stairway, i expect to see a small little haven tucked away in the bustling city life.
When i entered the small glass door, all I could see are nail artists busy buffling away and a few great looking ladies waiting by the small sitting area. For a weekday afternoon, I thought that was good business. As I sat there like nobody's child waiting... suddenly one of the nail artist looked up and asked me... are you who and who... I said.. no... I'm here for BRAZILIAN WAXING.. she said Oooh.... You have her number, please call her....
I was pretty puzzled.... since it is 15 minutes pass my appointment time, isn't she suppose to be here waiting for me already? So I was given a number to call and I was told by the aesthetician that she is on her way up... Another 15 mins crawled by... When she finally arrived, there is no signs of apology or even the slightest embarassment for being late and she just proceeded to explain to me the different prices for the different kinds of waxing available and I opted to pay a little extra for the 3D Wax.. which is suppose to be less painful. While I rejected her much convincing sales pitch on IPL brazilian, I could see disappointment in her eyes, however she proceeded to lead me to the room.
On the other side of the salon, there are 3 rooms and another table, apparently there is another lady sitting at the table offering massage services and an outsourced maintainance guy repairing light bulbs. As the rooms are just half partitioned, I started to feel a little worried as if he is on the ladder, he could basically see everything going on inside. I was let passed into one of the partitioned rooms and Liz the aesthetician just told me to undress my bottom and get on the massage table. I got on the lightly cushioned massage table with a piece of brown paper beneath it and covered myself with the towel provided. I thought to myself, I've been to worse NO FRILLS waxing, so this is still not too bad. However I never thought anything could be worse then my past experiences.
She then started to do the waxing and IT IS SUPER PAINFUL... For a seasoned brazilian waxer.. I would say it hurts way too much. Every blow is like tears shooting out of your eyes..
Firstly, no numbing or antiseptic lotion was applied, all you get is a little powder and your bare skin.
Second, the wax patches applied is too huge, this will cut down time but takes off much of your skin as well. IT HURTS.
Third, in delicate areas she just applied in huge patches left and right stuck together and proceeded to rip them off.
Fourth.. Expect no soothing words.. matter of fact halfway through she picked up her mobile phone and started TALKING WITH HER FRIEND.... Oh GOODNESS......
Five.. Don't expect it to be too clean because after the entire gruesome experience she will not help you remove the stray hairs or any other stuffs stucked there.
Its a mere.. I've finished.... get dressed and come out and pay for it....
On top of that... she asked me if I wanted to buy a package and the price is ridiculous. I could get better service and attitude plus more skillful aesthetician for a cheaper package.
This is unbelievable.... I only can speak for the brazilian waxing.. however i think that the nail parlour part is quite okay as i see alot of happy customers and friendly nail artist. They are most likely under the same company however individually managed.... So please try the other services.. just watch out if you want some waxing done... OUCH!!!!
I am reviewing this after my treatment on Sat 11 Feb and realized that actually I did not get what I paid for on Groupon. The deal I purchased was: "$35 for 90 min Antioxidant Blackberry Body Polish Full Body Massage at Jean Yip Loft in Outram (Worth $249). Ginger Treatment Option Available." but I did not recall any body polish done. I received only a body massage plus the ginger treatment on my tummy.
I did not reconfirm the deal when I passed the voucher to the staff who attended to us because I trusted their staff to be professional, plus Jean Yip has a good reputation, so I did not worry too much.
I know there are 2 options to the voucher as below: 90 min Antioxidant Blackberry Polish Full Body Massage or 75 min Special Healing Ginger Remedy Full Body Massage.
When I asked the staff, I was informed that my treatment was for 90mins which had to mean the one with the antioxidant, isnt it?
Although the massage was generally quite good, it did not mean the staff can shortchange me like this. I am disappointed at this how they can inform that the treatment is 90mins but instead did the 2nd option and hoping we won't find out.
I already emailed to the loft - let's see what happens.
Tried this for a late lunch with family before they left to go back to China and it was not a bad choice after all! 4 adults and 1 baby had the following:
Penang hokkien prawn mee ($6.20) - traditional yellow noodles simmered to perfection with succulent big prawns, pork ribs, fish cake, bean sprouts, and kang kong in special prawn-based soup made from our chef's secret recipe - for all its hype, I expected more. I expected the stock to be no short than excellent but I was actually a bit disappointed as it was nice but really an 'okay-nice' level. The prawns were big, and so was the pork ribs.
Premium seafood fried koay teow ($9.90) - our popular penang fried koay teow with added prawns, squids and cockles - nothing premium about this I felt, and with only 4 small prawns, I wonder what the normal version is like. Tasty though but a tad oily.
Grilled Stingray ($7.90) - succulent stingray grilled with special homemade sauce - very small portion for the price but thankfully it was grilled just nice and the sauce slightly spicy which was very appetizing. Grilled sotong ($6.90) - grilled tender sotong cooked in tasty special sauce that is chef's own creation! - fresh sotong but they could have been more grilled. The sauce was alright too.
Service was nothing to complain about, and the prices are really good too for a pre-departure hawker meal. The aircondition and the comfort more than made up for the price difference compared to a hawker centre. Would return to try their other things.
I have only tried Global Kitchen for a buffet breakfast many years ago and was excited when I saw that Citibank had a 1-4-1 buffet dinner that comes with free flow of Tiger beer (original price is $88 for 1 adult). So me and a girlfriend had a shot at it on the 7th day of CNY.
The place was rather quiet for a Sunday evening except for a handful of groups and the occasional hotel guests seeking a quiet and quick dining fix.
The buffet spread was how I remembered it to be: small. A quick walk around the spread but nothing really exciting.
Cold seafood - only 3 kinds: prawns, mussels, and oysters. Prawns were fresh and mussels alright. I didnt taste the oysters though.
Sashimi - only salmon which was nice, especially when tossed in the DIY Yu Sheng.
Appetizers - Squid salad, crab meat salad, mushroom salad, roasted vegetables, cold cuts, sushi etc. The squid salad looked promising but was overly salty, the crab meat salad salty too, the mushroom salad and roasted vegetables were oily and overcooked, and the sushi dry.
Mains -mostly Chinese to my disappointment, almost like a high-end zichar selection. Fried rice, fried noodles, vegetables with mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, beef fillets, lamb something. All very forgettable. The only western items were the roasted potatoes which were undercooked and ribeye which I didnt try. They also had a chicken rice station too.
Pasta station - you could have your choice of penne or spaghetti with either alio olio, cream, or tomato. My penne alio olio was bland and overcooked.
Hot soup - Soup Kambing and cream of cauliflower both of which I didnt try.
Hot noodles station - it was prawn mee that night and you can take your pick of condiments and blanch it with noodles. The stock was quite nice and the most memorable food item of the evening.
Indian food - the chicken tikka has been left out for so long it had turned absolutely dry.
Desserts - A decent selection of cakes and the one that made an impression was the small square of opera. The hot local dessert was Tao Suan and they had ice cream too but 2 boring flavours of chocolate and vanilla.
Dim Sum - Lobster and scallop dumplings both of which were dry after being left out for so long.
The stations I didnt try was salads and breads but I reckon no loss.
I had expected more given Pan Pac's reputation as a 5-star hotel. The variety and quality of the food leaves much to be desired - it almost feels like not much thought had been put into it. For $88 per person, some may argue that I was paying for the free flow of beer, but the buffet without beer is still $48 which is not worth it if you consider the high ratio of local dishes and boring selection.
1=SGD 0.0587
The trainers here are the most pushy ones amongst all their outlets. Everytime I come here for a workout, there would be at least 1 trainer who would approach me to ask me to sign up for personal training, TRX classes etc. I always decline politely but it is getting on my nerves how I cant seem to get a decent workout without being disrupted every single time. I just got a call from a lady from the same branch asking me if I want to try out a free pass as well as get a body analysis done. I had to remind her to please update their database as I am already an existing member plus have already completed my body analysis text. It is really really annoying! It is a good gym with plenty of choices of classes and full flexibility of outlets to choose from but this is still something that irks me although I understand that these guys survive on commission.
Rating given:
This outlet of Swensen's cafe is where I hang out with my friend during my student days.... I really love the old location which is a lone building just facing the MRT Station Plateform. I could remember the days of tucking into the EARTHQUAKE while watching the people waiting for the train on the plateform, sweat on their brows, thirsty and fanning themselves on a hot day. The view was fabulous.... many couples love to sit near the ceiling to floor window panes enjoying the sun while feeling the coolness of the air-conditioning and do the lovey dovey thingee hoping nobody will see them, HELLO its the MRT PLATEFORM opposite... I love it! at that time, Swensen's had their own hut, own escalator and even restroom.. How cool is that!!! Now.. they have shifted to the basement of the new annex of Jurong Point which I feel is too open, too noisy and dangerous..... because I always wonder.... what would drop on my head when i seat outside.. The so called outdoor seat is right smack in the middle of 3 levels of emptyness. Yes you still get the natural sunlight and the cool airconditioning and also the sneeze of somebody upstairs coupled by some dirt off some kid's shoes while they scrap their feet on the safety barracade above.
So much for my vivid imaginations, you can always opt to seat inside which is gloomy and not appealing. Well the food is as good... but the Ice-Cream is the obvious best.. Ice-cream is what they are good at. Always check out the Sundae menu, the signature BANANA SPLIT, my favourites are the GOLD RUSH-coffee and chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge whip cream and everything nice. The Sticky Chewy Chocolate is one of the POTENT ones.... So chocolately.. even charley from the Chocolate Factory cannot handle.... My ALL TIME FAVOURITE... THE ever good, ever yummy, ever fattening, ever satisfying COLT TOWER.... I love it because i think it has a good balance of everything I like. Chocolate ice-cream with vanilla ice-cream... and layers of chcolate fudge, caramel, whip cream, fresh banana, almonds and many good memories......
The Banana Crumble and the Apple Crumple are also superbly yummy... Imagine this... the smell of slightly burnt butterscotch sauce coupled with the sizzling sound of the skillet with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream melting away atop your crispy crumble.... All the extra calories is WORTH IT......
One must not forget to order some french fries with your ice-cream.... On top of that special discount you get on your fries.. I personally find that its the best combination.... Savoury and Sweet........ Simply Perfect!!!!
Rating given:
I myself had just had a late lunch at Fig & Olive at the Vivocity branch yesterday. I guess the 1 for 1 main courses are pretty worth it. The portion was good and they have a good variety of chicken, fish and pasta to choose from. I would agree that the service was not much, but i guess they made up for it by their very reasonably priced promotions.
We had a Maghribi Chicken w Olive Rice
which is Herbs grilled chicken with Mediterranean style sauce served with olive rice and fresh greens ($16.10) and a Chicken Pesto Carbonara which is a
Herb grilled chicken topped with tomato sauce and melted cheese, potato cilantro and served with choice pasta carbonara ($16.10). Both dishes are yummy. The Maghribi Chicken has got an exotic spanish sauce and I simply love the herbed infused taste to it, coupled with a colourful heap of vegetables which is tantalizing to me. The olive rice in comparison is not so yummy, i perfer it a little softer with more olives as it does appear to be too dry and hard.
The chicken pesto carbonara is great too, melted cheese and tomato sauce goes well with the grilled chicken and i would say a great dish to share with children as it is not too spicy yet has got everything a kid loves.
Service I should say could be better and was better last time. Perhaps there is a change in management, however i kinda feel that the service industry in Singapore is somewhat underperformed... I won't use the word deteriorated because it was not really good before. Rather our culture has been transformed. Service standards has been improving vastly globally and people's expectations for service has been soaring, time for yourself is limited, stress is high, patience is like a thinly spread butter on an already dried up toast, money is like 'Now you see it Now its GONE!'
So sometimes when we meet some bad services or bad food or bad attitude, we just remind ourselves.... of the many hungry children in Africa and start planning in your mind how you are going to review this restaurant......
Rating given:
Finally tried this - have been curious about this one. Armed with a $10 voucher which can be used with minimum spending of $50 before taxes, me and my friend trooped down on a Sat evening to find it surprisingly not full.
Tomato soup ($5.80) - surprisingly, not too bad! I've never been inclined towards tomato soup as they've always been sourish and nothing else. But this was quite light and had bits of tomatoes in it which provided a bite.
Salmon Caparccio ($8.80) - Good! Fresh slices of salmon with diced onions and dressed with some sesame oil thingy.
Curry katsu udon ($15.80) - Average unfortunately, with the katsu already soggy when served. and the meat very tough to bite into. Not worth the price for me.
Hokkai curry ramen ($15.80) - This fared a bit better and ramen went well with the curry soup. The scallops and salmon in it made it a better value choice than the katsu udon.
Service leaves much to be desired with all very young staff acting clueless. I asked for a Heineken and was met with a confused slow drawl repeating "Hein....e...ken?".
I find some items overpriced and suspect people are here because they are curious more than wanting to eat good food. Prob will not return.
Rating given:
I had the luck to be given their member card, the Granton card, as the buyer of the card didnt want to go so I made a booking for 2pax on a Friday night to try out the 1-4-1 main course and also redeem the bottle of wine which the card entitles me to.
Layers of sliced eggplant filled with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil ($12.90) - this was really really good. The eggplant was in generous slices and not overcooked, the fillings were all good, and it came sort of in a tomato base which mixed very well with the melted cheese. I miss this already! (there's an option to have this as your main for $19)
Grilled green shell lobster with extra virgin olive oil served with pasta ($39.90) - the lobster was surprisingly of a good size and came with baked cheese on top - simple and nice! The pasta serving was almost too generous as a 'side' and came perfectly al dente but was overly doused in cracked pepper for me. Still good though, just that I needed plenty of water to go with it.
Oven baked black cod crusted with herbs and served with garden greens ($36.90) - I had a bite of the black cod and it was firm and fresh without the need for any over-seasoning.
Redeemed white wine - came chilled and was refreshingly fruity and extremely easy to drink.
Service was poor as the place was obviously understaffed for a Fri evening although the seating capacity was not big. Staff hurried to take orders, pour wine, serve, and present bills and sometimes can be quite curt. Most of the crowd had the Granton card too and were obviously enjoying the deal as I was. Guests were turned away or asked to wait starting from about 8pm onwards so make reservations if you plan to come.
The prices reflected were after the 1-4-1 so it will obviously be alot pricier if you're dining without the Granton card.
Pardon me for the very dark photos - blame my iphone and the fact that I felt camera flashes there didnt do very well for the almost too cosy atmosphere.
Rating given:
Was scouting for a nice place for a leisure high tea with friends and decided to take a shot at 10Scotts since I've never been there before (Goodwood was full and just recently been to Rose Veranda too).
10Scotts replaces the previous Scotts Lounge and what a welcome refurbishment it was. The dark and moody place was replaced by warm lightings and cosy furniture. The middle buffet area is set up to resemble a someone's kitchen which I thought was a cute touch.
The ambience was super cosy and was bustling with people but chit-chatting doesnt get drowned out. They have library seats (big sofa / cushion) on top of the normal dining tables which makes for more choices. They also have a private room that can sit maybe 14 in one long table.
The high tea is $48 without champagne; $78 with champagne. I liked that the items on the tray are all refillable and also have a mini buffet line to bulk up your choices.
On the 2-tier tray:
Egg mayo roll / salmon & cucumber roll - cucumber sandwich was quite classically nice and the salmon nice too, but the best was the egg mayo sandwich roll was very soft and the blend of mayo just nice and not too salty.
Curry puff - A little oily but the short crust pastry was stuffed with potatoes and (cant remember if there was chicken in it) and tasty. But 1 is enough.
Crab cake - read too much about it which may have led me to feeling a little disappointed. Nice and crispy and chokeful of crab meat but it was slightly bland for me.
Vietnamese spring roll - Disappointingly soggy rice skin and vege sticks not crispy.
Popiah - I dont have a preference for popiah so this was alright for me.
Buffet line
Items on offer were duck roll, dim sum, salad, desserts, freshly shaved parma ham and melon, cheese - while the items did bulk up the choices, most were not bad but non had that wow factor.
Service was good and the tea and coffee were all good. But they could have a system to leave at least 1 copy of the menu at each table instead of clearing all of them after each order, which made ordering your 2nd (and onwards) pot of teas a tedious process.
I like this place and would definitely return, although some of the items were misses. While one of my friends commented that the items on the tier was too asian, I welcome the difference. But I still think this place offers strikes a good balance between a tier and a high tea buffet.
Hyatt Gold Passport members can also earn dining points here - a bonus!
Rating given:
UBeau is a nail, face, body salon located in LiangSeah Street just a few steps away from 7/11, a place where great food and bustling wedding gown shops resides.
Huge signboards and serene looking spa pictures grace the pillars at the ground floor near the entrance and while i walk up the narrow stairway, i expect to see a small little haven tucked away in the bustling city life.
When i entered the small glass door, all I could see are nail artists busy buffling away and a few great looking ladies waiting by the small sitting area. For a weekday afternoon, I thought that was good business. As I sat there like nobody's child waiting... suddenly one of the nail artist looked up and asked me... are you who and who... I said.. no... I'm here for BRAZILIAN WAXING.. she said Oooh.... You have her number, please call her....
I was pretty puzzled.... since it is 15 minutes pass my appointment time, isn't she suppose to be here waiting for me already? So I was given a number to call and I was told by the aesthetician that she is on her way up... Another 15 mins crawled by... When she finally arrived, there is no signs of apology or even the slightest embarassment for being late and she just proceeded to explain to me the different prices for the different kinds of waxing available and I opted to pay a little extra for the 3D Wax.. which is suppose to be less painful. While I rejected her much convincing sales pitch on IPL brazilian, I could see disappointment in her eyes, however she proceeded to lead me to the room.
On the other side of the salon, there are 3 rooms and another table, apparently there is another lady sitting at the table offering massage services and an outsourced maintainance guy repairing light bulbs. As the rooms are just half partitioned, I started to feel a little worried as if he is on the ladder, he could basically see everything going on inside. I was let passed into one of the partitioned rooms and Liz the aesthetician just told me to undress my bottom and get on the massage table. I got on the lightly cushioned massage table with a piece of brown paper beneath it and covered myself with the towel provided. I thought to myself, I've been to worse NO FRILLS waxing, so this is still not too bad. However I never thought anything could be worse then my past experiences.
She then started to do the waxing and IT IS SUPER PAINFUL... For a seasoned brazilian waxer.. I would say it hurts way too much. Every blow is like tears shooting out of your eyes..
Firstly, no numbing or antiseptic lotion was applied, all you get is a little powder and your bare skin.
Second, the wax patches applied is too huge, this will cut down time but takes off much of your skin as well. IT HURTS.
Third, in delicate areas she just applied in huge patches left and right stuck together and proceeded to rip them off.
Fourth.. Expect no soothing words.. matter of fact halfway through she picked up her mobile phone and started TALKING WITH HER FRIEND.... Oh GOODNESS......
Five.. Don't expect it to be too clean because after the entire gruesome experience she will not help you remove the stray hairs or any other stuffs stucked there.
Its a mere.. I've finished.... get dressed and come out and pay for it....
On top of that... she asked me if I wanted to buy a package and the price is ridiculous. I could get better service and attitude plus more skillful aesthetician for a cheaper package.
This is unbelievable.... I only can speak for the brazilian waxing.. however i think that the nail parlour part is quite okay as i see alot of happy customers and friendly nail artist. They are most likely under the same company however individually managed.... So please try the other services.. just watch out if you want some waxing done... OUCH!!!!
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I am reviewing this after my treatment on Sat 11 Feb and realized that actually I did not get what I paid for on Groupon. The deal I purchased was: "$35 for 90 min Antioxidant Blackberry Body Polish Full Body Massage at Jean Yip Loft in Outram (Worth $249). Ginger Treatment Option Available." but I did not recall any body polish done. I received only a body massage plus the ginger treatment on my tummy.
I did not reconfirm the deal when I passed the voucher to the staff who attended to us because I trusted their staff to be professional, plus Jean Yip has a good reputation, so I did not worry too much.
I know there are 2 options to the voucher as below:
90 min Antioxidant Blackberry Polish Full Body Massage or 75 min Special Healing Ginger Remedy Full Body Massage.
When I asked the staff, I was informed that my treatment was for 90mins which had to mean the one with the antioxidant, isnt it?
Although the massage was generally quite good, it did not mean the staff can shortchange me like this. I am disappointed at this how they can inform that the treatment is 90mins but instead did the 2nd option and hoping we won't find out.
I already emailed to the loft - let's see what happens.
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Tried this for a late lunch with family before they left to go back to China and it was not a bad choice after all! 4 adults and 1 baby had the following:
Penang hokkien prawn mee ($6.20) - traditional yellow noodles simmered to perfection with succulent big prawns, pork ribs, fish cake, bean sprouts, and kang kong in special prawn-based soup made from our chef's secret recipe - for all its hype, I expected more. I expected the stock to be no short than excellent but I was actually a bit disappointed as it was nice but really an 'okay-nice' level. The prawns were big, and so was the pork ribs.
Premium seafood fried koay teow ($9.90) - our popular penang fried koay teow with added prawns, squids and cockles - nothing premium about this I felt, and with only 4 small prawns, I wonder what the normal version is like. Tasty though but a tad oily.
Grilled Stingray ($7.90) - succulent stingray grilled with special homemade sauce - very small portion for the price but thankfully it was grilled just nice and the sauce slightly spicy which was very appetizing.
Grilled sotong ($6.90) - grilled tender sotong cooked in tasty special sauce that is chef's own creation! - fresh sotong but they could have been more grilled. The sauce was alright too.
Service was nothing to complain about, and the prices are really good too for a pre-departure hawker meal. The aircondition and the comfort more than made up for the price difference compared to a hawker centre. Would return to try their other things.
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I have only tried Global Kitchen for a buffet breakfast many years ago and was excited when I saw that Citibank had a 1-4-1 buffet dinner that comes with free flow of Tiger beer (original price is $88 for 1 adult). So me and a girlfriend had a shot at it on the 7th day of CNY.
The place was rather quiet for a Sunday evening except for a handful of groups and the occasional hotel guests seeking a quiet and quick dining fix.
The buffet spread was how I remembered it to be: small. A quick walk around the spread but nothing really exciting.
Cold seafood - only 3 kinds: prawns, mussels, and oysters. Prawns were fresh and mussels alright. I didnt taste the oysters though.
Sashimi - only salmon which was nice, especially when tossed in the DIY Yu Sheng.
Appetizers - Squid salad, crab meat salad, mushroom salad, roasted vegetables, cold cuts, sushi etc. The squid salad looked promising but was overly salty, the crab meat salad salty too, the mushroom salad and roasted vegetables were oily and overcooked, and the sushi dry.
Mains -mostly Chinese to my disappointment, almost like a high-end zichar selection. Fried rice, fried noodles, vegetables with mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, beef fillets, lamb something. All very forgettable. The only western items were the roasted potatoes which were undercooked and ribeye which I didnt try. They also had a chicken rice station too.
Pasta station - you could have your choice of penne or spaghetti with either alio olio, cream, or tomato. My penne alio olio was bland and overcooked.
Hot soup - Soup Kambing and cream of cauliflower both of which I didnt try.
Hot noodles station - it was prawn mee that night and you can take your pick of condiments and blanch it with noodles. The stock was quite nice and the most memorable food item of the evening.
Indian food - the chicken tikka has been left out for so long it had turned absolutely dry.
Desserts - A decent selection of cakes and the one that made an impression was the small square of opera. The hot local dessert was Tao Suan and they had ice cream too but 2 boring flavours of chocolate and vanilla.
Dim Sum - Lobster and scallop dumplings both of which were dry after being left out for so long.
The stations I didnt try was salads and breads but I reckon no loss.
I had expected more given Pan Pac's reputation as a 5-star hotel. The variety and quality of the food leaves much to be desired - it almost feels like not much thought had been put into it. For $88 per person, some may argue that I was paying for the free flow of beer, but the buffet without beer is still $48 which is not worth it if you consider the high ratio of local dishes and boring selection.
A disappointment visit.
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