Zouk, one of the most famous clubbing spots in Singapore and one of the best places to go to if you are too young and still wish to experience what the clubbing scene woo ha is all about.
I've only ever been to the place once and it was during the CNY celebrations a couple of years ago. What i can say is that the place is dark, dangy and lacks a certain finesse which should be the order of the day.
Drinks were hellishly expensive and the crowd consisted of little girls and army boys. And on that fateful day, the army boys outnumbered girls by 10 to 1. It was a scene to behold.
The positive notes would be that the songs were rather connectable and there were lots of people on the dance floor. Some were doing synchronised dances on the floor as well which was rather interesting but otherwise, i really don't see the draw for people to actually patronize the place.
Maybe i'm just a bar person but Zouk is just not for me.
Dim sum frenzy or just a simple case of food loving brought 8 people together to celebrate Bobo's birthday one fine day. And we're pretty much determined to try all dim sum offerings at least once to have a feel for the best dim sum Singapore can offer. Thus far, we lag behind Hong Kong in terms of quality and value for money but hopefully one day, we'll find something that is at least on par. On a side note, Happy Belated Birthday Bobo! Sorry we turned your birthday into a blogging session but hey, thats what we do. Cheers!
The restaurant is sparsely decorated with a nice view of the CBD district if you can get the window seat. It is highly recommended to call in advance to book your seats so that you can get the window view. Otherwise, the location is unexciting and rather bland.
Cordyceps and Cucumber ($3) - When i saw this appetizer, it took my appetite away literally. Looking at the little worms on a plate with cucumbers are enough to scare many away. However, it proved quite harmless once you take the first leap to try it. Both the Cordyceps and the cucumber are sourish and surprisingly crunchy which was rather interesting.
Egg Tarts ($10.40 for 8) - Mini egg tarts they are called and mini egg tarts they are. Thin, flaky and crusty, the egg tarts actually lacked much taste which more or less disqualifies it from an order in future. At $1.30 a piece, "expensive" is the final verdict for this item.
Char Siew Pastry ($7.80 for 6) - The char siew pastry is sweet and succulent but came across as too sweet for me. The crust is also crispy and flaky which seems to be the main impression from the restaurants pastries but they lacked the same buttery fragrance from Yan Ting's pastries. Decent but could be better.
Xo Carrot Cake ($8) - The XO carrot cake here had a nice fragrance about it and was not oily but the portion size was extremely small and some felt that it was too salty.
Yolk Cream Bun ($9.60) - The yolk cream bun turned out rather well with a watery layer on the inside accompanied by firm custard yolk. The watery yolk flows out once broken open and emits a strong yolk taste once it is popped into your mouth. We did find the bun to be too thick and they could have stuffed the bun with more custard though. All in all, i wouldn't mind ordering this again.
Prawn and Pork Rice Roll ($4.50 each) - The rice roll came in 2 flavors, the BBQ pork flavor and the prawn stuffings. Both of the stuffings were rather inadequate in my opinion as we ended tasting more rice roll then the stuffings. That would have been acceptable if the rice roll was good but even that failed to live up to the test as the rice roll turned out a tad too thick and difficult to break.
Siew Mai ($11.20 for 7) - There's a general dispute on this particular dish because it was supposed to be pork dumplings. However, it turned out to taste very much like Har Gao due to the overwhelming presence of the prawn which is clearly visible here. That is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether you can accept its taste. For what its worth, the prawns were big, fresh, crunchy and succulent enough to be praised but it definitely doesn't taste like siew mai so take your chances and decide yourself.
Century Egg Porridge ($15.20 for 4) - The century porridge is simply too salty to warrant a taste. In fact, the porridge itself lacked much taste apart from the aforementioned saltiness. Skip this if you are here.
Xiao Long Bao ($9.10 for 7) - Xiao Long Bao's are a mixed bag to most as there will be discrepancies on accounts depending on preferences. However, most of us agreed that the XLB here was rather disappointing due to the thick skin and rather simple soup within. Its saving grace lie in the fact that the pork scent within was mild instead of being too strong in others which we've tasted before.
BBQ Pork Bun ($7.20) - The BBQ pork bun was sweet as this seems to be the characteristic of the restaurant. My main complaint on this only lie in the thick fluffiness of the bun which some liked but isn't to my taste.
Shrimp Dumplings ($12.80 for 8) - The Prawn dumplings were done rather well and were bigger then average. Within each dumpling is at least 2 prawns worth of meat and all were crunchy, succulent and fresh enough to be recommended. Try this.
BBQ Pork Rib ($49 for 7) - The meal rounded off with a go at the BBQ pork ribs introduced by FZ. In all fairness, the ribs were done rather well, crispy on the outside and succulently juicy on the inside. The BBQ sauce is sweet but acceptably so and the ribs exude a satisfying aroma. My gripe is that the serving size is not uniform as some ended up with bigger portions while others got much smaller servings. Otherwise, this is pretty good.
The bill came up to $178.20 for 8 people which is manageable but felt too expensive as it wasn't very satisfying.
The experience is generally ok apart from the fact that the meal was served with irritating speed once ordered. The service from the waitress was terrible and she had a black face throughout which didn't help matters. The food was average but price wise is redeemed since it wasn't too expensive to begin with.
Carrefour has to be one of the better supermarkets around if not the best. Its main competitors will be home grown NTUC Fairprice and Giant which have slowly caught up to the fact that big supermarkets with huge selections are more or less the craze nowadays.
Catering to the audience that no longer finds small supermarkets sufficient, Carrefour attempts to be an all in one department store with everything thrown in for good measure. Spanning 2 levels of Suntec, Carrefour provides everything from computers, to electronics, televsions, washing machines, food, wines, clothes and even cutting tools.
The brands and selection there is also excellent, having many that will be hard pressed to find in places outside of Carrefour.
Apart from that, the Japanese food selection there is mind boggling and fresh which more or less satisfies many people's hunger for the coveted culinary experience.
Above a certain limit of purchases, Carrefour also provides delivery services and from what i've heard from my relatives, their service thus far has been impeccable with only minor hitches here and there.
All in all, i'd say Carrefour is an excellent place to shop to find that elusive ingredient or wine.
The downside will be the premium prices they charge for most of their items so weigh your choices properly before committing.
The daily paper and holy grail of information. At least in Singapore, The Straits Times paper has been around for a rather long time, pretty much as old as Singapore itself. Now, this wouldn't be a big deal if the paper has not evolved throughout the years and basically, despite the information revolution and the internet, The Straits Times remains as relevant as ever.
The paper itself is seperated into multiple sections for easy reading. This basically seperates the paper into sections with Asean news, world news, Singapore, leisure and classifieds. All in all, its a wonderfully simple segregation which ultimately works well.
In particular interest to me will be the Money section, Life and the classifieds which more or less qualifies under the "actionable" category as opposed to the other sections which are mainly for information only.
Despite talks of the internet evolving the world into a paperless society, the Straits Times perservered and remains as ever, a necessity when having a nice cup of coffee in the morning.
Opened by lifestyle and entrepreneur guru Michel Lu, Superfamous is located right smack in the heart of the CBD. Fully realised as a chic and trendy eating place, the restaurant is open to the elements in an al fresco setting before transforming into a bar in the evening. Even during the heat of the afternoon, the restaurant is generally cooling and suitable for patronizing even then. Lets go to the food to see how it fares then.
Apple and Orange Juice - Authentic juice best describes these 2 juices. In that i mean that they were both sour and depending on your tolerance to sour stuff, can either be a blessing or a curse. For me, i have a low tolerance to them and thus, it was a rather difficult experience to finish them. In all fairness though, they tasted very true to form.
Blue Swimmer Crab Caesar Salad ($13) - Crab meat, deep fried bread, salad, cheese flakes, boiled eggs and bacon bits. This simple looking salad was made very nicely indeed. The crab meat was fresh and sweet while the salad itself was crunchy to a fault. I particularly liked the boiled egg for no other reason then i love boiled eggs in a salad and the cheese lent a light salty taste to the dish. A great start to a meal.
Wild Mushroom Soup With Truffle Oil ($8) - The mushroom bits can be easily seen and the soup seems to be a grinded home made version of the mushroom soup which reminds me of the rendition at Eden Cafe. Taste wise, it was also quite similar with the mushroom bits providing texture to the soup and the truffle oil softening it somewhat. A little pepper did wonders for the soup as well. Worth a try.
Linguine with Seared Tiger Prawns in Tomato Chili Sauce ($16) -Spicy, tangy and a little sweet. The linguine was done al dente with the tiger prawns arranged at the top with the sauce and tomatoes. The prawns were reasonably big and crunchy but could have done with more. As i don't take much spicy stuff, i left this to my colleague to enjoy. What i gather was that it was not spicy enough but was good.
SuperFamous Wagyu Burger With Caramelized Onions, Fries and Salad ($23) - This original burger came looking delicious and the taste test revealed that it is delicious. Wagyu beef is mashed well with chunky bits to add variety to the texture while the caramelized onions gave the burger an overall sweet finish. The beef was also juicy and it was evident in each bite that the meat was fresh. The only gripe is that i couldn't tell if it was Wagyu or normal beef since it was mashed up.
SuperFamous Foie Gras Wagyu Burger ($32) - This was what i came to try. The foie gras wagyu beef burger. I have a tendency to go for artery clogging and heart stopping menu items and thus this was the choice of the day. Sadly, although the beef was nicely mashed as the SuperFamous burger, the foie gras did not manage to bring a different experience to the meal. The foie gras came at a respectable size with cheese meltings with it. It was also done nicely and taken on its own, it could have sufficed but when paired with the burger, it just feels like something is still missing. Maybe i held too high an expectation for this burger because otherwise, its pretty darn good. The wedges are the same for both, well done, not too oily and piping hot.
Sticky Date Pudding With Honey, Fig and Butterscotch Ice Cream ($8.50) - Recommended by the nice waitress of the restaurant, the sticky date pudding is a must try. Needless to say, this is the star of the day. Looking like glutinous rice, the warm sticky date is sweet and packs a punch in its aroma. Taken on its own, it would have overwhelmed but when paired with the honey fig and butterscotch ice cream, the taste was incredible. The waitress said that no visit is complete till you've had this as dessert and i totally agree. Try this!
Royal Chocolate Mousse With Crunchy Feulletine Base ($8.50) - The chocolate mousse on the other hand was rather lackluster as it was bitter and lacked any other taste. I did enjoy the crunchy base but it still doesn't warrant a second order.
Peppermint Green Tea (complimentary) - Finally, after all the rich food i've had, the waitress once again recommended the peppermint green tea to aid digestion and i'm so grateful she did. Its fabulous. The tea is absolutely fragrant and cooling which is wonderful for the current weather and for washing done all the oil from the burgers before. If any drink should be ordered here, this is it.
Given the food, good service and some wonderful items. This place is somewhere i could return to and recommend to my friends. I'd return for the dessert and tea any day and as for the burgers, i wouldn't mind clogging myself again but first of all, its time to shed what i've gained from this visit. Do give it a try if you are in the vicinity.
Had the good fortune to be treated once again by my nice boss when it was Secretaries Day. I'm not a secretary but i tagged along and shamelessly got myself a free meal. Ahhh....its the little things in life that make life beautiful doesn't it? Thanks boss!
Started in 1997, Siam kitchen is committed to bringing authentic Thai cuisine to Singapore without compromising the taste and quality of the transition. After 11 years, has their food been palatable for the majority of Singaporeans or are they going down the slippery slope marking the end?
Crackers - As with most meals, an appetizer begins the day and this time, its a bowl of crackers. Vegetable crackers if i'm not mistaken. Light, crispy and fragrant, it managed to set the mood for the meal to come. In fact, it was good enough for us to get it refilled at least once but maybe we're just cracker people.
Salad, Fish cake and Chicken Wings - Whilst waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, we went ahead to get ourselves a few ala carte items which you see above. Surprisingly, the best items turned out to be the salad of which i've forgotten the actual name. Either way, the salad was drenched in the usual sourish and sweet sauce that thai food is known for and the cold "cucumber?" and other items made for a refreshing and interesting taste. The wings were hot and tender while the fish cake was rather lackluster.
Buffet Lunch Set with free flow ice lemon tea($15.90 1.99) - The buffet spread came with a multitude of items which you will get to have at one go. These include, thai spicy squid salad, lemongrass chicken wings, prawn balls, tom yum prawn soup, thai fish cake, green curry chicken, chicken satay, fish fillet in yellow curry, sweet and sour prawn, beef massaman in dry curry, minced chicken in chili and basil, tofu in oyster sauce, baby kailan with garlic and mushroom, fried kangkong and pineapple rice. In all respects, that is a pretty big variety and everything is done ala carte. The catch is that they'll serve everything once and after that, you'll get to re order whatever else you wish to have seconds of. The tom yum is more sourish then spicy while the green curry had an overdose of coconut milk which isn't to my taste nor waistline. The only item good enough to mention was the chicken wing and thats at a discounted size from the actual ones that could be obtained from the ala carte menu. Still, the other items weren't all bad per se, just not up to the standard i would like. And anyway, its a buffet so this is more or less expected.
The above items were had by my colleagues who opted for the ala carte menu instead of the buffet. All of the guo tiao items received positive feedback which more or less confirms that the ala carte served much better food. The red ruby however, had too much coconut milk and was exceedingly salty, yep, salty is the word. The mango and glutinous rice also turned up too salty but was balanced by the mango and the ice cream in the end. Maybe thats how the authentic items tasted like in Thailand?
In terms of value for money, the buffet is generous and definitely filling enough although quality is compromised somewhat. The desserts and a few other items really felt like there was excess salt added which was quite disconcerting. Otherwise, the service was pretty good and no additional rules were enforced when the buffet customers and the ala carte customers sat together which i took to be a good sign. It wasn't terrible and the ala carte items definitely got better reviews.
After reading lots of great reviews on Komachi over at hardwarezone forums (yeah, salon reviews on an IT forum), I decided to give it a try. Guess I was in a crazy mood, as I usually don't get expensive haircuts. I also wanted to see what magic they could do to my hair for the high price they charge. Usually it's $65, but for first timers, there is a 20% discount which means I have to pay only $52. Still expensive!
My stylist was Mr. Maeda San. The service standard is excellent. The long hair wash and head massage was exactly what I needed to relax my mind. The shampoo used was some kind of milk shampoo, which smells absolutely heavenly! I was tempted to buy a bottle home. Fortunately, they are not pushy with their products, unlike many other salons.
As for the haircut, given my short hair length, it's needless to say that there is nothing magical he could do about it. It turns out to be rather normal, what I could get with my usual $18 haircut.
Conversing with the stylists can be tricky, as all of them are Japanese. Most of the time, I have difficulty making out anything other than "ne".
They are currently in the process of moving from Liat Towers to Liang Court. So this entry might need updating when they eventually move over, which I believe will be in June.
Had a chance to gather around for a meal with the Yebbers on a fine Saturday to commemorate a rather interesting event which i will not go into specifics. Either way, the meal is free and i've always wanted to dine in Laguna Country Club for no apparent reason other then its a country club. So here we are and this is what we had. As i didn't pay for this meal, i'll only give my take on the food quality and service.
Laguna country club hosts a variety of golf tournaments throughout the year, including big name events like the Singapore Masters and the Women's Open nary a year ago. The location is scenic with lush green pastures and an air of luxury that extends beyond the greens and into the eating places housed within. Pine Valley is a relaxed, open and well air conditioned place for the inhabitants and club members and also a good place to reside for a nice chat as its sparsely populated even during the lunch hours.
Shark's Fin Soup with Fish Maw, Chicken and Mushrooms - Shark's fin soup is one of those dishes that i associate with wedding dinners and extremely wealthy individuals. This will likely fall into the latter category. The soup itself is quite starchy and has a really generous helping of ingredients, shark's fin and fish maw. Taken on its own, there's a sweet taste that emanates from the healthy does of crab and mushrooms in the mix but otherwise, tastes bland as most shark's fin soup tastes. Vinegar and pepper definitely ups the taste and texture department in this case.
Peking Duck - The beauty of the Peking Duck dish is undeniable. Order a whole duck and you'll get to eat it in a variety of ways for the skin and the meat. The only things standing between you and the dish is the knowledge of whether the duck skin is marinated and roasted well. In this case, the skin is quite fatty and crispy enough to warrant a try. The marinate feels non existant and the normal pancake is too dry. The egg version salvaged the situation though. The meat was cooked in black pepper and turned out surprisingly good. It was moist, succulent and sweet. It also helped that the portion size was rather big.
Wasabi Mayonnaise Prawns - Wasabi Mayonnaise prawns, a signature dish of the Tung Lok group, this version turned out too dry for me. The batter and frying process seemed to have been overdone which left the prawns tasting hard and dry instead of crunchy and juicy. No matter, the wasabi mayonnaise was mixed well and provided a small kick in the right direction since it was rather mild and easily acceptable.
Steamed Batang - This fish was huge. Simple steamed fish can be good as long as the fish itself was fresh and the process of cooking was not overdone. Sad to say however, the fish was overcooked and thus caused the meat to loss some of its sweetness which could have made it better. For what its worth, what is good is that the meat is plentiful, fresh and went well with the salty and sourish stock accompanying the dish.
Dried Chili Fried Prawns - Somehow, i don't think the restaurant handles prawns well. This dish was decent but the taste resides only within the portion of the shell. This means that once deshelled, which is a necessary procedure unless you are lazy like me, the prawn itself is rather bland. Otherwise, the spicy and fragrant dried chili is something spice lovers will easily take to.
Beancurd with Spinach - Finally, some greens. The spinach turned out too old and had the "greenish" taste which accompanies greens not cleaned properly. Although a tad salty, the spinach with all its flaws, ultimately tasted better then the beancurd atop it, which came across as being totally tasteless.
Fried Ee Fu Noodles - By the time this dish appeared, we'd pretty much been stuffed like a duck awaiting slaughter. So the taste buds have deteriorated to the point i couldn't taste much. Nonetheless, the noodles were fragrant and had some bacon bits strewn around it. It was also springy and soft enough to be bitten off which is always a good sign.
Almonds, Sea Coconut, Pine Apple and Longan Cocktail - The dessert is rather simple but definitely gets the job done. I like the almond which was very soft and strong (i'm biased because i love almond). Everything else was just detail though. The other good thing was that the sweetness was just right, thus it didn't overwhelm.
First of all, thank you for the meal boss, i probably couldn't afford having such a huge sumptuous meal all on my lonesome. The view was good, location is quiet, food is decent and the portions were huge. I'd say the place was pretty good but i still don't know how much it cost so thats an open topic. Based on the food alone, i would probably like to have the shark's fin again, Peking duck however, is still better at Hai Tien lo.
Pitting itself against the likes of Borders and Popular book store. Kino emerged and created its own niche by positioning itself as a place where you can practically find everything you require in the shop.
Spanning almost an entire section of Ngee Ann City, Kino has a selection that rivals and even supersedes most Singapore bookstores. Its collection ranges from fiction, non fiction, magazines, Japanese books, travelling books, cooking, photography, children's books, self improvement, religious, philosophy, business etc etc. In simple terms, basically, theres a huge selection and it just keeps getting bigger.
The reason i patronize the place is because of the ease in locating a few select books which are elusive elsewhere. For example, the Sandman comics, Alastair Reynold novels, Philosophy arguments and traveling books. Its "ease" that is the key word here. Because "price" is definitely a little on the high side.
No matter, the place is comfortable for book junkies like myself to spend entire days just standing around, reading and buying that elusive title for pleasure. A good place for a good read.
Buses buses buses. Where in the world would we be without them? They ferry us to work and ferry us home. Comes at a pretty regular timing and gets the job done. Now, there are even more reasons to take the bus since the price of oil is increasing like the end of the world is coming and the gov is helping out by imposing more fines on an already crowded road so that buses now have the power of the right of way during peak hours. So we should all switch to using buses and ditch our cars......or should we?
Now, i'll take my stand and say my answer is no. I'll be basing my idea on the bus service 27 that goes from Hougang to Changi Airport and back.
Reasons are as follows:
1: Buses do not come at regular intervals. We've heard this countless times and the morning working adult population who needs to get to work at a certain time have definitely felt this. Regardless of the implementations of rules and fines, buses simply still come late. Of course, we've seen the compaign they ran about "unseen reasons" behind the lateness but honestly, poor planning is as much a factor. 27 is not a new service, in fact, its been ongoing for 8 years at least and still no improvement is seen. Buses are still packed and still late.
2: Buses with huge traffic do not get upgrade to double decks. Same problem, bad planning. 27 has a big enough traffic to at least warrant a double deck bus for its services. This kills 2 birds with one stone since it'll allow people to board faster with its bigger capacity and thus will not delay the bus journey. However, till now, it is still not done. The reasoning continues to elude me as to why there's no upgrade.
3: Space is simply not sufficient and squeezing with a whole bunch of people simply isn't a great feeling. Especially since i'm paying close to $2 to go on a journey to work, at least i expect a little space to breathe and hopefully sit down. Somehow, paying to be packed like sardines does not entice me one bit.
4: With company comes inconsiderate people and to keep it short, they irritate the hell out of me.
In its defense, i do not blame the bus drivers although sometimes, i do need to. (Try being 30 minutes late for an important meeting because the driver insists on driving 30km/h on an EMPTY road and you'll get the idea). Otherwise, they are not to blame. The planning department is the problem. They need to wake up and smell the thorns. We're all a part of the system, make life better for us all eh?
1=SGD 0.0587
Zouk, one of the most famous clubbing spots in Singapore and one of the best places to go to if you are too young and still wish to experience what the clubbing scene woo ha is all about.
I've only ever been to the place once and it was during the CNY celebrations a couple of years ago. What i can say is that the place is dark, dangy and lacks a certain finesse which should be the order of the day.
Drinks were hellishly expensive and the crowd consisted of little girls and army boys. And on that fateful day, the army boys outnumbered girls by 10 to 1. It was a scene to behold.
The positive notes would be that the songs were rather connectable and there were lots of people on the dance floor. Some were doing synchronised dances on the floor as well which was rather interesting but otherwise, i really don't see the draw for people to actually patronize the place.
Maybe i'm just a bar person but Zouk is just not for me.
Rating given:
Dim sum frenzy or just a simple case of food loving brought 8 people together to celebrate Bobo's birthday one fine day. And we're pretty much determined to try all dim sum offerings at least once to have a feel for the best dim sum Singapore can offer. Thus far, we lag behind Hong Kong in terms of quality and value for money but hopefully one day, we'll find something that is at least on par. On a side note, Happy Belated Birthday Bobo! Sorry we turned your birthday into a blogging session but hey, thats what we do. Cheers!
The restaurant is sparsely decorated with a nice view of the CBD district if you can get the window seat. It is highly recommended to call in advance to book your seats so that you can get the window view. Otherwise, the location is unexciting and rather bland.
Cordyceps and Cucumber ($3) - When i saw this appetizer, it took my appetite away literally. Looking at the little worms on a plate with cucumbers are enough to scare many away. However, it proved quite harmless once you take the first leap to try it. Both the Cordyceps and the cucumber are sourish and surprisingly crunchy which was rather interesting.
Egg Tarts ($10.40 for 8) - Mini egg tarts they are called and mini egg tarts they are. Thin, flaky and crusty, the egg tarts actually lacked much taste which more or less disqualifies it from an order in future. At $1.30 a piece, "expensive" is the final verdict for this item.
Char Siew Pastry ($7.80 for 6) - The char siew pastry is sweet and succulent but came across as too sweet for me. The crust is also crispy and flaky which seems to be the main impression from the restaurants pastries but they lacked the same buttery fragrance from Yan Ting's pastries. Decent but could be better.
Xo Carrot Cake ($8) - The XO carrot cake here had a nice fragrance about it and was not oily but the portion size was extremely small and some felt that it was too salty.
Yolk Cream Bun ($9.60) - The yolk cream bun turned out rather well with a watery layer on the inside accompanied by firm custard yolk. The watery yolk flows out once broken open and emits a strong yolk taste once it is popped into your mouth. We did find the bun to be too thick and they could have stuffed the bun with more custard though. All in all, i wouldn't mind ordering this again.
Prawn and Pork Rice Roll ($4.50 each) - The rice roll came in 2 flavors, the BBQ pork flavor and the prawn stuffings. Both of the stuffings were rather inadequate in my opinion as we ended tasting more rice roll then the stuffings. That would have been acceptable if the rice roll was good but even that failed to live up to the test as the rice roll turned out a tad too thick and difficult to break.
Siew Mai ($11.20 for 7) - There's a general dispute on this particular dish because it was supposed to be pork dumplings. However, it turned out to taste very much like Har Gao due to the overwhelming presence of the prawn which is clearly visible here. That is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether you can accept its taste. For what its worth, the prawns were big, fresh, crunchy and succulent enough to be praised but it definitely doesn't taste like siew mai so take your chances and decide yourself.
Century Egg Porridge ($15.20 for 4) - The century porridge is simply too salty to warrant a taste. In fact, the porridge itself lacked much taste apart from the aforementioned saltiness. Skip this if you are here.
Xiao Long Bao ($9.10 for 7) - Xiao Long Bao's are a mixed bag to most as there will be discrepancies on accounts depending on preferences. However, most of us agreed that the XLB here was rather disappointing due to the thick skin and rather simple soup within. Its saving grace lie in the fact that the pork scent within was mild instead of being too strong in others which we've tasted before.
BBQ Pork Bun ($7.20) - The BBQ pork bun was sweet as this seems to be the characteristic of the restaurant. My main complaint on this only lie in the thick fluffiness of the bun which some liked but isn't to my taste.
Shrimp Dumplings ($12.80 for 8) - The Prawn dumplings were done rather well and were bigger then average. Within each dumpling is at least 2 prawns worth of meat and all were crunchy, succulent and fresh enough to be recommended. Try this.
BBQ Pork Rib ($49 for 7) - The meal rounded off with a go at the BBQ pork ribs introduced by FZ. In all fairness, the ribs were done rather well, crispy on the outside and succulently juicy on the inside. The BBQ sauce is sweet but acceptably so and the ribs exude a satisfying aroma. My gripe is that the serving size is not uniform as some ended up with bigger portions while others got much smaller servings. Otherwise, this is pretty good.
The bill came up to $178.20 for 8 people which is manageable but felt too expensive as it wasn't very satisfying.
The experience is generally ok apart from the fact that the meal was served with irritating speed once ordered. The service from the waitress was terrible and she had a black face throughout which didn't help matters. The food was average but price wise is redeemed since it wasn't too expensive to begin with.
Rating given:
Carrefour has to be one of the better supermarkets around if not the best. Its main competitors will be home grown NTUC Fairprice and Giant which have slowly caught up to the fact that big supermarkets with huge selections are more or less the craze nowadays.
Catering to the audience that no longer finds small supermarkets sufficient, Carrefour attempts to be an all in one department store with everything thrown in for good measure. Spanning 2 levels of Suntec, Carrefour provides everything from computers, to electronics, televsions, washing machines, food, wines, clothes and even cutting tools.
The brands and selection there is also excellent, having many that will be hard pressed to find in places outside of Carrefour.
Apart from that, the Japanese food selection there is mind boggling and fresh which more or less satisfies many people's hunger for the coveted culinary experience.
Above a certain limit of purchases, Carrefour also provides delivery services and from what i've heard from my relatives, their service thus far has been impeccable with only minor hitches here and there.
All in all, i'd say Carrefour is an excellent place to shop to find that elusive ingredient or wine.
The downside will be the premium prices they charge for most of their items so weigh your choices properly before committing.
Rating given:
The daily paper and holy grail of information. At least in Singapore, The Straits Times paper has been around for a rather long time, pretty much as old as Singapore itself. Now, this wouldn't be a big deal if the paper has not evolved throughout the years and basically, despite the information revolution and the internet, The Straits Times remains as relevant as ever.
The paper itself is seperated into multiple sections for easy reading. This basically seperates the paper into sections with Asean news, world news, Singapore, leisure and classifieds. All in all, its a wonderfully simple segregation which ultimately works well.
In particular interest to me will be the Money section, Life and the classifieds which more or less qualifies under the "actionable" category as opposed to the other sections which are mainly for information only.
Despite talks of the internet evolving the world into a paperless society, the Straits Times perservered and remains as ever, a necessity when having a nice cup of coffee in the morning.
Well done.
Rating given:
Opened by lifestyle and entrepreneur guru Michel Lu, Superfamous is located right smack in the heart of the CBD. Fully realised as a chic and trendy eating place, the restaurant is open to the elements in an al fresco setting before transforming into a bar in the evening. Even during the heat of the afternoon, the restaurant is generally cooling and suitable for patronizing even then. Lets go to the food to see how it fares then.
Apple and Orange Juice - Authentic juice best describes these 2 juices. In that i mean that they were both sour and depending on your tolerance to sour stuff, can either be a blessing or a curse. For me, i have a low tolerance to them and thus, it was a rather difficult experience to finish them. In all fairness though, they tasted very true to form.
Blue Swimmer Crab Caesar Salad ($13) - Crab meat, deep fried bread, salad, cheese flakes, boiled eggs and bacon bits. This simple looking salad was made very nicely indeed. The crab meat was fresh and sweet while the salad itself was crunchy to a fault. I particularly liked the boiled egg for no other reason then i love boiled eggs in a salad and the cheese lent a light salty taste to the dish. A great start to a meal.
Wild Mushroom Soup With Truffle Oil ($8) - The mushroom bits can be easily seen and the soup seems to be a grinded home made version of the mushroom soup which reminds me of the rendition at Eden Cafe. Taste wise, it was also quite similar with the mushroom bits providing texture to the soup and the truffle oil softening it somewhat. A little pepper did wonders for the soup as well. Worth a try.
Linguine with Seared Tiger Prawns in Tomato Chili Sauce ($16) -Spicy, tangy and a little sweet. The linguine was done al dente with the tiger prawns arranged at the top with the sauce and tomatoes. The prawns were reasonably big and crunchy but could have done with more. As i don't take much spicy stuff, i left this to my colleague to enjoy. What i gather was that it was not spicy enough but was good.
SuperFamous Wagyu Burger With Caramelized Onions, Fries and Salad ($23) - This original burger came looking delicious and the taste test revealed that it is delicious. Wagyu beef is mashed well with chunky bits to add variety to the texture while the caramelized onions gave the burger an overall sweet finish. The beef was also juicy and it was evident in each bite that the meat was fresh. The only gripe is that i couldn't tell if it was Wagyu or normal beef since it was mashed up.
SuperFamous Foie Gras Wagyu Burger ($32) - This was what i came to try. The foie gras wagyu beef burger. I have a tendency to go for artery clogging and heart stopping menu items and thus this was the choice of the day. Sadly, although the beef was nicely mashed as the SuperFamous burger, the foie gras did not manage to bring a different experience to the meal. The foie gras came at a respectable size with cheese meltings with it. It was also done nicely and taken on its own, it could have sufficed but when paired with the burger, it just feels like something is still missing. Maybe i held too high an expectation for this burger because otherwise, its pretty darn good. The wedges are the same for both, well done, not too oily and piping hot.
Sticky Date Pudding With Honey, Fig and Butterscotch Ice Cream ($8.50) - Recommended by the nice waitress of the restaurant, the sticky date pudding is a must try. Needless to say, this is the star of the day. Looking like glutinous rice, the warm sticky date is sweet and packs a punch in its aroma. Taken on its own, it would have overwhelmed but when paired with the honey fig and butterscotch ice cream, the taste was incredible. The waitress said that no visit is complete till you've had this as dessert and i totally agree. Try this!
Royal Chocolate Mousse With Crunchy Feulletine Base ($8.50) - The chocolate mousse on the other hand was rather lackluster as it was bitter and lacked any other taste. I did enjoy the crunchy base but it still doesn't warrant a second order.
Peppermint Green Tea (complimentary) - Finally, after all the rich food i've had, the waitress once again recommended the peppermint green tea to aid digestion and i'm so grateful she did. Its fabulous. The tea is absolutely fragrant and cooling which is wonderful for the current weather and for washing done all the oil from the burgers before. If any drink should be ordered here, this is it.
Given the food, good service and some wonderful items. This place is somewhere i could return to and recommend to my friends. I'd return for the dessert and tea any day and as for the burgers, i wouldn't mind clogging myself again but first of all, its time to shed what i've gained from this visit. Do give it a try if you are in the vicinity.
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Had the good fortune to be treated once again by my nice boss when it was Secretaries Day. I'm not a secretary but i tagged along and shamelessly got myself a free meal. Ahhh....its the little things in life that make life beautiful doesn't it? Thanks boss!
Started in 1997, Siam kitchen is committed to bringing authentic Thai cuisine to Singapore without compromising the taste and quality of the transition. After 11 years, has their food been palatable for the majority of Singaporeans or are they going down the slippery slope marking the end?
Crackers - As with most meals, an appetizer begins the day and this time, its a bowl of crackers. Vegetable crackers if i'm not mistaken. Light, crispy and fragrant, it managed to set the mood for the meal to come. In fact, it was good enough for us to get it refilled at least once but maybe we're just cracker people.
Salad, Fish cake and Chicken Wings - Whilst waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, we went ahead to get ourselves a few ala carte items which you see above. Surprisingly, the best items turned out to be the salad of which i've forgotten the actual name. Either way, the salad was drenched in the usual sourish and sweet sauce that thai food is known for and the cold "cucumber?" and other items made for a refreshing and interesting taste. The wings were hot and tender while the fish cake was rather lackluster.
Buffet Lunch Set with free flow ice lemon tea($15.90 1.99) - The buffet spread came with a multitude of items which you will get to have at one go. These include, thai spicy squid salad, lemongrass chicken wings, prawn balls, tom yum prawn soup, thai fish cake, green curry chicken, chicken satay, fish fillet in yellow curry, sweet and sour prawn, beef massaman in dry curry, minced chicken in chili and basil, tofu in oyster sauce, baby kailan with garlic and mushroom, fried kangkong and pineapple rice.
In all respects, that is a pretty big variety and everything is done ala carte. The catch is that they'll serve everything once and after that, you'll get to re order whatever else you wish to have seconds of. The tom yum is more sourish then spicy while the green curry had an overdose of coconut milk which isn't to my taste nor waistline. The only item good enough to mention was the chicken wing and thats at a discounted size from the actual ones that could be obtained from the ala carte menu. Still, the other items weren't all bad per se, just not up to the standard i would like. And anyway, its a buffet so this is more or less expected.
The above items were had by my colleagues who opted for the ala carte menu instead of the buffet. All of the guo tiao items received positive feedback which more or less confirms that the ala carte served much better food. The red ruby however, had too much coconut milk and was exceedingly salty, yep, salty is the word. The mango and glutinous rice also turned up too salty but was balanced by the mango and the ice cream in the end. Maybe thats how the authentic items tasted like in Thailand?
In terms of value for money, the buffet is generous and definitely filling enough although quality is compromised somewhat. The desserts and a few other items really felt like there was excess salt added which was quite disconcerting. Otherwise, the service was pretty good and no additional rules were enforced when the buffet customers and the ala carte customers sat together which i took to be a good sign. It wasn't terrible and the ala carte items definitely got better reviews.
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After reading lots of great reviews on Komachi over at hardwarezone forums (yeah, salon reviews on an IT forum), I decided to give it a try. Guess I was in a crazy mood, as I usually don't get expensive haircuts. I also wanted to see what magic they could do to my hair for the high price they charge. Usually it's $65, but for first timers, there is a 20% discount which means I have to pay only $52. Still expensive!
My stylist was Mr. Maeda San. The service standard is excellent. The long hair wash and head massage was exactly what I needed to relax my mind. The shampoo used was some kind of milk shampoo, which smells absolutely heavenly! I was tempted to buy a bottle home. Fortunately, they are not pushy with their products, unlike many other salons.
As for the haircut, given my short hair length, it's needless to say that there is nothing magical he could do about it. It turns out to be rather normal, what I could get with my usual $18 haircut.
Conversing with the stylists can be tricky, as all of them are Japanese. Most of the time, I have difficulty making out anything other than "ne".
They are currently in the process of moving from Liat Towers to Liang Court. So this entry might need updating when they eventually move over, which I believe will be in June.
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Had a chance to gather around for a meal with the Yebbers on a fine Saturday to commemorate a rather interesting event which i will not go into specifics. Either way, the meal is free and i've always wanted to dine in Laguna Country Club for no apparent reason other then its a country club. So here we are and this is what we had. As i didn't pay for this meal, i'll only give my take on the food quality and service.
Laguna country club hosts a variety of golf tournaments throughout the year, including big name events like the Singapore Masters and the Women's Open nary a year ago. The location is scenic with lush green pastures and an air of luxury that extends beyond the greens and into the eating places housed within. Pine Valley is a relaxed, open and well air conditioned place for the inhabitants and club members and also a good place to reside for a nice chat as its sparsely populated even during the lunch hours.
Shark's Fin Soup with Fish Maw, Chicken and Mushrooms - Shark's fin soup is one of those dishes that i associate with wedding dinners and extremely wealthy individuals. This will likely fall into the latter category. The soup itself is quite starchy and has a really generous helping of ingredients, shark's fin and fish maw. Taken on its own, there's a sweet taste that emanates from the healthy does of crab and mushrooms in the mix but otherwise, tastes bland as most shark's fin soup tastes. Vinegar and pepper definitely ups the taste and texture department in this case.
Peking Duck - The beauty of the Peking Duck dish is undeniable. Order a whole duck and you'll get to eat it in a variety of ways for the skin and the meat. The only things standing between you and the dish is the knowledge of whether the duck skin is marinated and roasted well. In this case, the skin is quite fatty and crispy enough to warrant a try. The marinate feels non existant and the normal pancake is too dry. The egg version salvaged the situation though. The meat was cooked in black pepper and turned out surprisingly good. It was moist, succulent and sweet. It also helped that the portion size was rather big.
Wasabi Mayonnaise Prawns - Wasabi Mayonnaise prawns, a signature dish of the Tung Lok group, this version turned out too dry for me. The batter and frying process seemed to have been overdone which left the prawns tasting hard and dry instead of crunchy and juicy. No matter, the wasabi mayonnaise was mixed well and provided a small kick in the right direction since it was rather mild and easily acceptable.
Steamed Batang - This fish was huge. Simple steamed fish can be good as long as the fish itself was fresh and the process of cooking was not overdone. Sad to say however, the fish was overcooked and thus caused the meat to loss some of its sweetness which could have made it better. For what its worth, what is good is that the meat is plentiful, fresh and went well with the salty and sourish stock accompanying the dish.
Dried Chili Fried Prawns - Somehow, i don't think the restaurant handles prawns well. This dish was decent but the taste resides only within the portion of the shell. This means that once deshelled, which is a necessary procedure unless you are lazy like me, the prawn itself is rather bland. Otherwise, the spicy and fragrant dried chili is something spice lovers will easily take to.
Beancurd with Spinach - Finally, some greens. The spinach turned out too old and had the "greenish" taste which accompanies greens not cleaned properly. Although a tad salty, the spinach with all its flaws, ultimately tasted better then the beancurd atop it, which came across as being totally tasteless.
Fried Ee Fu Noodles - By the time this dish appeared, we'd pretty much been stuffed like a duck awaiting slaughter. So the taste buds have deteriorated to the point i couldn't taste much. Nonetheless, the noodles were fragrant and had some bacon bits strewn around it. It was also springy and soft enough to be bitten off which is always a good sign.
Almonds, Sea Coconut, Pine Apple and Longan Cocktail - The dessert is rather simple but definitely gets the job done. I like the almond which was very soft and strong (i'm biased because i love almond). Everything else was just detail though. The other good thing was that the sweetness was just right, thus it didn't overwhelm.
First of all, thank you for the meal boss, i probably couldn't afford having such a huge sumptuous meal all on my lonesome. The view was good, location is quiet, food is decent and the portions were huge. I'd say the place was pretty good but i still don't know how much it cost so thats an open topic. Based on the food alone, i would probably like to have the shark's fin again, Peking duck however, is still better at Hai Tien lo.
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Kinokuniya is an interesting bookshop of sorts.
Pitting itself against the likes of Borders and Popular book store. Kino emerged and created its own niche by positioning itself as a place where you can practically find everything you require in the shop.
Spanning almost an entire section of Ngee Ann City, Kino has a selection that rivals and even supersedes most Singapore bookstores. Its collection ranges from fiction, non fiction, magazines, Japanese books, travelling books, cooking, photography, children's books, self improvement, religious, philosophy, business etc etc. In simple terms, basically, theres a huge selection and it just keeps getting bigger.
The reason i patronize the place is because of the ease in locating a few select books which are elusive elsewhere. For example, the Sandman comics, Alastair Reynold novels, Philosophy arguments and traveling books. Its "ease" that is the key word here. Because "price" is definitely a little on the high side.
No matter, the place is comfortable for book junkies like myself to spend entire days just standing around, reading and buying that elusive title for pleasure. A good place for a good read.
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Buses buses buses. Where in the world would we be without them?
They ferry us to work and ferry us home. Comes at a pretty regular timing and gets the job done. Now, there are even more reasons to take the bus since the price of oil is increasing like the end of the world is coming and the gov is helping out by imposing more fines on an already crowded road so that buses now have the power of the right of way during peak hours. So we should all switch to using buses and ditch our cars......or should we?
Now, i'll take my stand and say my answer is no. I'll be basing my idea on the bus service 27 that goes from Hougang to Changi Airport and back.
Reasons are as follows:
1: Buses do not come at regular intervals.
We've heard this countless times and the morning working adult population who needs to get to work at a certain time have definitely felt this. Regardless of the implementations of rules and fines, buses simply still come late. Of course, we've seen the compaign they ran about "unseen reasons" behind the lateness but honestly, poor planning is as much a factor. 27 is not a new service, in fact, its been ongoing for 8 years at least and still no improvement is seen. Buses are still packed and still late.
2: Buses with huge traffic do not get upgrade to double decks.
Same problem, bad planning. 27 has a big enough traffic to at least warrant a double deck bus for its services. This kills 2 birds with one stone since it'll allow people to board faster with its bigger capacity and thus will not delay the bus journey. However, till now, it is still not done. The reasoning continues to elude me as to why there's no upgrade.
3: Space is simply not sufficient and squeezing with a whole bunch of people simply isn't a great feeling. Especially since i'm paying close to $2 to go on a journey to work, at least i expect a little space to breathe and hopefully sit down. Somehow, paying to be packed like sardines does not entice me one bit.
4: With company comes inconsiderate people and to keep it short, they irritate the hell out of me.
In its defense, i do not blame the bus drivers although sometimes, i do need to. (Try being 30 minutes late for an important meeting because the driver insists on driving 30km/h on an EMPTY road and you'll get the idea). Otherwise, they are not to blame. The planning department is the problem. They need to wake up and smell the thorns. We're all a part of the system, make life better for us all eh?
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