The girlfriend's pals were gracious enough to let me in on their gathering at The Pump Room. So we got there early to get ourselves a table.
For the uninitiated, The Pump Room is a microbrewery and bistro. So we ordered our beers and sides first while we waited for the rest to arrive. We were ushered to a table and presented the menu. I took my time to look through the menu for something that might inspire me...
Beer
Personally, I prefer dark beers whenever come to a beer place. I have this preconception that dark beers from a place specializing in beers would offer something interesting. Plus dark beers usually meant more dimensions in terms of the flavor, which would be better experience compared the fizzy, foamy, bitter and pale stuff.
I settled for their Scottish ale, a dark beer with a nice taste of roasted malt. It goes down slightly more bitter at first, but ends sweetly.
Sides
Our appetite was growing as we waited for the others. So we decided to order some sides to keep our mouths occupied. I was disappointed that there wasn't anything like buffalo wings on the finger food menu. The best they could muster were a few potato-based sides and garlic bread. The rest of the table did set their eyes on something else...
Creamy Mashed Potato was pretty good. I did wish there was some bacon crisps mixed into it. Would have been a great combination of textures.
Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms with herbs was nice too. Although it was on the salty side. The chunky garlic was a nice touch which I liked.Still waiting, I decided to entertain myself and the "early-birds" with my camera...
More of the interior
And the fascinating "optic fibre" lighting which changes color...
Service
We were rather taken aback when we realized that the staff had failed to inform us about their special offers for their brewed beers. We thought fine, since we never asked.Then we got really annoyed that many of the wait staff were selective of who they wanted to serve. There was this group of Caucasians that took the table in front of us and were given a VIP treatment while the other tables like mine were conveniently neglected and ignored. I then realized the wait staff were consistently tipped by that table for every item served. Talk about spoil market!
But I guess I shouldn't harp on that. I mean, there are other stuff to be peeved by. Like the wait staff's snail-like and begrudging response times for plain water. It seems like they convenient forget your requests. Not like we won't order other stuff, right?
Main Courses
I found the Linguine with Prawns, Mussels, Scallops and Squid Aglio Olio style was pleasantly spicy with black peppercorns. The seafood was fresh done just right, with the exception of the mussels which were really raw. I think it is because we are so used to the well-cooked mussels in chilli.
One can hardly go wrong with The Pump Room's Special Steak Burger with Salad and Chips. But it does lack the necessary punch to live up to its "Special" status.Beer-Battered Pacific Dory with Chips, Tartare Sauce and Mesclun Saladwas nothing special, though the chips were pretty good.
My order was the Hickory smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs in Special Beer Marinade. It was a rather standard and ordinary quality. nothing to shout about.
The verdict for mains collectively would be somewhere between mediocre and average.DessertsThe plan had been to stay to catch the live band perform. So we needed to "buy ourselves some more time" in the form of desserts.
The Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream was fantastic! The warm, thick chocolate pudding was probably oven toasted to achieve a crispy outer crust with a slightly charred taste. Every mouthful of the thick melted chocolate and the crispy crust was a luxurious experience.
Soft Centered Pavlova with Tropical Fruits and Passionfruit Curd was a light, zesty dessert thanks to the fruits involved at the sides. Pretty enjoyable if you just love the sugar. Personally, I found it a little too sweet, but nevertheless, it had a good mix of textures to be experienced with every little bit placed into the mouth.
There is a sudden realization that one can't really go wrong with a Cheese Platter. With very distinctive textures and tastes, it will instantly turn one into a cheese connoisseur.
By the time we wipe off everything on the plates, the band started their act. Plenty of 80's and 90's music to dance the night away.
Last but not least, the toilet was pretty decent, a good thing to have with all the booze going around.
After reading so much about Island Creamery from blogs and hearing people talk about it in forum, finally I went to check the place out yesterday. Rushed down to meet a group of bloggers at Serene Centre after a quicky at Games Convention over at Suntec.
First thing that came to mind upon entering the small shop at the corner of Serene Centre was, "Hmm... another one with photo wall, just like pitstop." The big wall opposite the counter was covered with photos taken by the customers of Island Creamery. They have a portable photo printer where you can use to print your photos on the spot, scribble your names and what not on the photo and have a piece of the wall for your group. This is a very nice way to fill-up blank spaces on the wall as it added colors to the place with all the photos. This might also be one of the pulling factor that draws customers to return to see if they can spot their photos again few months later at the same spot or if any friends they know visited the place too.
So what can you find other than the photo wall at Island Creamery? Ice-cream of course! And in many interesting flavors too. One of the other attraction is the many local taste flavored ice-creams available. Find Teh Tarik, Pulua Hitum, Chendol, Apple Pie, Holick, Milo and many other flavors that'll make you want to try them all.
My group bought 4 tubs for $8 each and shared. Flavors are Nutella, ReversO, Burnt Caramel and Teh Tarik. I tried them all and concluded that other than the unique flavors and taste, that tasted just the way they should, there's really nothing much to rave about. The ice-cream is too creamery for my liking. And they are very sweet too. I had to drink 2 gulps of water after each scope (small scope) of ice-cream.
My bf bought a scope (at $2.50) of the berry mixed flavor to try. We both felt that this one tasted slightly better as the sourness from berries somehow lessen the sweet taste of the ice cream. And you can taste the berries and had to crew on it.
There're other better ice creams out there. If I were to return to Island Creamery, it would either be for another gathering or someone invited me there for free ice-cream. Other than that, I'll probably not return for the ice cream.
Challenger is a popular chain with a few stores around Singapore. They sell computers, computer peripherals, mobile phones, televisions, etc.
Dropped by today to get a webcam for my sister. They have quite a selection there from those "branded" ones to the lesser known ones. Needless to say there's a range of prices to suit your budget.
I found what I needed then proceeded to look for Data transfer cables... I went over and saw a whole rack of it... I didn't see the kind that I needed and asked the salesperson about it. He then pointed to the same rack I had just walked from. He made no move to walk over and show me which one.
Thinking that I might have remembered wrongly, i just took one that said data transfer... and consulted him again (I walked over to where he was) then he said... 'ya ya this is the one." I explained my purpose to him again and he just nodded his head. Then I explained how I used to see that there was a box thingy... then he gave a puzzled expression, walked away without saying anything and consulted a lady nearby. The lady replied loudly, "no stock no stock"
I very nearly bought the wrong thing because he refused to listen properly and had poor product knowledge.
This outlet is not as well stocked as the rest as it's much smaller... it also seemed like it had more LCD TVs then computer stuff...
Kobayashi is a small fast food outlet tucked away on the second level of Eastpoint Shopping Mall (near the lift lobby).
It serves up cheap Jap food (priced between $5-$14). They have plenty of one dish meals and some bento sets, along with ala-carte side orders. Their system is really like a fast food restaurant where you have to go to the counter, order and get your food immediately.
Food we ordered Chicken Katsudon (Fried chicken with rice and egg) Chicken Katsu Ramen (Fried chicken with noodles in soup) Beef Ramen (Beef with noodles in soup) Ice Green Tea
The Chicken Katsu was very crisp and tasty. The rice was soft and slightly sticky, as what is expected of Jap food. As for the Chicken Katsu Ramen, the noodles was fine. But the serving was small so my companion ordered a Beef Ramen after finishing his first bowl. They had more people then and the food became nasty. The ramen in the second bowl was overcooked and all stuck together... The beef was almost non-existent.
We paid about $20 and finished our food in under 20 minutes. It was ok but not really value for money. Good alternative if you're sick of Macs or BK...
Finally I got to try the donuts at Donut Factory. Passed by the one at Raffles City so many times but the queue is longer than the MRT train. When I saw that there's a seperate queue for this outlet at Suntec, I was delighted!
There's a mini cafe within Donut Factory where you can sit and enjoy a cup of tea with your donut. They also has pretty interesting donut dishes. Can't recall the name, but there's one that is served with a scope of ice-cream (like how others do it on brownies) and one that comes like a sandwich with something in between and comes in a bento box with side salad. Didn't try these, maybe next time when I passed by it again.
And thanks to this cafe concept of theirs, they have a seperate counter for cafe or takeaway. But you can only buy max. of 2 donuts. So everyone in the queue bought 2 donuts each.
Now, the donuts, I've to say, there's really nothing that great about them. The dough taste like the one at Dippin Donut (used to be Vinco Donut). We tried the Hazelnut Milk Chocolate, Mint Dark Chocolate, Strawberry White Chocolate and the Glazed (which is reserved for my breakfast tmr).
The first we bit into was the Strawberry White Chocolate, it's too sweet for our liking. The strawberry tasted more like sugar cream and blended with the sweet white chocolate, its overpowering! Try it if you have a super sweet tooth, if not, try others. Hazelnut one was alright. The nut makes it crunchy and kind of compilment the soft dough. I like the Mint Dark Chocolate. Not too sweet and the mint taste is refreshing.
Overall, the donuts was just so-so. I guess its the variety available that attracted the long long queue. And also maybe due to the way they price the donuts. The more you buy, the cheaper you pay. So everyone also buy more. And when everyone infront of you buys more, the longer you got to wait for more to be baked. Even with the many staff, about 6 in the kitchen baking donuts, the queue was still long (but not as long as the one at Raffles City.) But if you aren't buying in boxes, join the cafe queue. It's faster.
************ Updated 19 October 2007 ************
Was at Suntec for dinner this day and passed by donut factory to check out the queue, and to our delightness, the queue was bearable. So we joined the queue and were served in less than 10mins. Great work! There were 2 staff taking turn to pack customers' orders and 1 cashier for the main donut queue. There were also 12 others working non-stop in the kitchen. Amazing team they have.
This time I get to buy all the flavors that I want to try. Yap, looking at the photos, I got almost all those that's yummilicious! The Double Chocolate is to die for! The filling tasted like Nutella and the chocolate melts in your mouth. Gives a great satisfaction when you bite into it. So relax... (yes choc helps one relaxes.)
I don't know what made me buy 4 of the Spicy Donuts, but I kinda regretted. It's nice, but not the flavor that I would like a second helping of. It's made up of nacho cheese I think. Guess I prefer sweet donuts.
Now, I know which are the flavors I'll get when I go back again. The Double Choc, Mint Dark Choc, Apple Cinnamon and Rasberry Dark Chco. And for the wide variety that I like, I'm increasing my rating from 3 stars to 5 stars. (Also cos of the many other donuts which I've tasted so far. Other than those that's yet to have arrived in SG. Psss... I heard some pretty good ones coming next year... Yeah!)
Being beautiful has never been easier with Benefit!
Chanced upon Benefit from their website and found it at CK Tangs. I just couldn't resist myself, the packaging is so cool! I told myself I just need to get them! After understanding about the various products from the lady, I bought dr.feelgood and some-kind-a-gorgeous. These two items burnt a $120 big hole in my wallet!
After using it for more than a month now, I must say, I simply love them! The powder is so light and you don't feel like wearing make-up at all! I used to hate wearing make-up, so when I say I loveeee Benefit, I truely mean it! I don't think I'll be using any other brands anymore.
Also bought their popular blusher, Dandelion online. And I simply love love love it too! Am waiting to buy more. In fact, I want all!
I have been a Starhub MaxOnline user for many years too. Let's see...at least 7 years? It has been serving me really well, and it's so nice of them to increase their plans' bandwidth for free (then again, it could be that they are holding back their speed and giving us bit by bit).
I'm on the cheapest plan, mainly because I'm the only person at home using it. I don't know if upgrading my plan will help, but whenever I try SingNet at my friends' home, it feels faster. I believe it's the ping time. The same reason why online gamers swear by SingNet. But when it comes to downloading, Starhub seems to excel with really fast speeds.
All in all, I am a satisfied customer. But I do hope they will reduce their pricing. I admit I've been tempted several times to hop to SingNet due to their lower prices.
Sasa is a store known to many Singapore women. It has a wide variety of beauty products, cosmetics and fragrances. :) One stop for your beauty needs.
I read about the Nu Ren products retailing at Sasa and went there over on Monday to see if I can get my hands on the chilli hot slimming gel etc.
I walked in to a shop with 3 assistants and no other customers. It was a Monday afternoon after all. Quite awed and distracted by the array of things I proceeded to browse every shelf. This store is much smaller than the others though thus have less items.
After some time, I realised that no one has tended to me. I then remembered about my slimming gel and turned around to get the attention of the staff since I couldn't see it anywhere. The staff saw me wave but turned away! I had thought that I was imagining things so I milled around again till I saw that another staff was facing my direction and i waved... and she turned to talk to her colleague!
Ambience - cosy with warm lighting, suitable for couples/ families and large groups.
Staff - Warm, friendly, alert and have initiative
Food - Lip-smackingly delicious (list of food ordered below)
Time taken to serve - Super speed
Prices - reasonable
******************************
My companion and I had an hour planned to have dinner at Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) yesterday. Thinking that 1 hour was sufficient, we strolled to MFM only to be confronted by a queue (on a weekday?!!) Sigh... we panicked for a bit as we had a movie in an hour. But the staff assured us that there was enough time so we lined up. We were pleasantly surprised when they handed everyone in the queue a menu so that the process of ordering will be sped up.
Amazingly we were seated in 10 minutes and had our orders taken immediately.
Our Order 2 Soups of the day - Cream of Mushroom Garlic Bread Fried Country Mushrooms Garlic Lemon Mussels Manhattan Fish & Chips Mango Juice
Seeing a full restaurant we were afraid that our food would take some time... but the soup arrived before we could whip out our camera! The soup was fine. Not diluted like some places I know. Just nice for a cream soup but it does not have additional ingredients. The garlic bread which was served just minutes after the soup was great. It was done with real garlic not just the butter kind you find at NTUC. Very tasty indeed.
The Mushrooms and Mussels came next, just 3 minutes after the bread. The Mussels came in a creamy sauce and was served with more bread for us to dip in the sauce. The mussels were fresh and the sauce was just right. Not overly creamy. The highlight was the mushrooms. At first glance, they weren't very much to look at... fried little things... but when you bite down... the mushrooms were SO JUICY! It was amazing! I love mushrooms and would definitely order them if they were available everywhere i go and this is by far the most delicious mushroom dish I've ever tasted. A Must-Order!
Then came our Fish and Chips... One look and I knew it would be good. The light batter melted in my mouth thus wasn't too thick. The fish was a light pink with great texture and no fishy smell. The fries were well seasoned, not just with salt but some other spice which I couldn't make out. And they were the thick sort which I love and were not covered in oil. A great deal at $9.90 really.
Throughout the meal, our iced water was constantly topped up and when we finally managed to whip out our camera, one of the servers magically appeared to offer to take the picture for us. They had smiles on their faces throughout despite being so busy. It was a fantastic experience.
We paid $52 for the two of us (we ordered a lot le), got out of the restaurant in 35 minutes (in good time for our movie).
** My companion was full of praises for this place and mind you he would normally reject 9 out of 10 new places we try. :) Don't I deserve something for such a fantastic review written? hehe
Sakuraya Fish Mart located at the basement in the "new" section at the far end near Coffee Bean. It's a small shop selling authentic Japanese products and fresh food. There is a small seating area for about 15 people at the back of the shop.
Here you can find the usual sashimi fare and some premium sushi. My companion and I had fresh salmon picked and then the staff sliced it for us. We also ordered California Maki and Handroll, some miso soup and Ocha. The miso soup was not too diluted and tasted just right. The Maki and Handroll was acceptable. The salmon was very fresh and just the way we liked it.
There were also native Japanese dining there, and I always believe that if you find native Japanese at a particular Jap Joint then the place must be fantastic. And it was good. Although not as good as some of the joints you find at Taka but it's also not as expensive. The two of us paid $30 for our food which was reasonable for its quality. Recommended.
1=SGD 0.0587
I took many pictures of the food and the interior and it is a better experience to read this review with pictures at http://kormmandos.multiply.com/reviews/item/48.
The girlfriend's pals were gracious enough to let me in on their gathering at The Pump Room. So we got there early to get ourselves a table.
For the uninitiated, The Pump Room is a microbrewery and bistro. So we ordered our beers and sides first while we waited for the rest to arrive. We were ushered to a table and presented the menu. I took my time to look through the menu for something that might inspire me...
Beer
Personally, I prefer dark beers whenever come to a beer place. I have this preconception that dark beers from a place specializing in beers would offer something interesting. Plus dark beers usually meant more dimensions in terms of the flavor, which would be better experience compared the fizzy, foamy, bitter and pale stuff.
I settled for their Scottish ale, a dark beer with a nice taste of roasted malt. It goes down slightly more bitter at first, but ends sweetly.
Sides
Our appetite was growing as we waited for the others. So we decided to order some sides to keep our mouths occupied. I was disappointed that there wasn't anything like buffalo wings on the finger food menu. The best they could muster were a few potato-based sides and garlic bread. The rest of the table did set their eyes on something else...
Creamy Mashed Potato was pretty good. I did wish there was some bacon crisps mixed into it. Would have been a great combination of textures.
Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms with herbs was nice too. Although it was on the salty side. The chunky garlic was a nice touch which I liked.Still waiting, I decided to entertain myself and the "early-birds" with my camera...
More of the interior
And the fascinating "optic fibre" lighting which changes color...
Service
We were rather taken aback when we realized that the staff had failed to inform us about their special offers for their brewed beers. We thought fine, since we never asked.Then we got really annoyed that many of the wait staff were selective of who they wanted to serve. There was this group of Caucasians that took the table in front of us and were given a VIP treatment while the other tables like mine were conveniently neglected and ignored. I then realized the wait staff were consistently tipped by that table for every item served. Talk about spoil market!
But I guess I shouldn't harp on that. I mean, there are other stuff to be peeved by. Like the wait staff's snail-like and begrudging response times for plain water. It seems like they convenient forget your requests. Not like we won't order other stuff, right?
Main Courses
I found the Linguine with Prawns, Mussels, Scallops and Squid Aglio Olio style was pleasantly spicy with black peppercorns. The seafood was fresh done just right, with the exception of the mussels which were really raw. I think it is because we are so used to the well-cooked mussels in chilli.
One can hardly go wrong with The Pump Room's Special Steak Burger with Salad and Chips. But it does lack the necessary punch to live up to its "Special" status.Beer-Battered Pacific Dory with Chips, Tartare Sauce and Mesclun Saladwas nothing special, though the chips were pretty good.
My order was the Hickory smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs in Special Beer Marinade. It was a rather standard and ordinary quality. nothing to shout about.
The verdict for mains collectively would be somewhere between mediocre and average.DessertsThe plan had been to stay to catch the live band perform. So we needed to "buy ourselves some more time" in the form of desserts.
The Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream was fantastic! The warm, thick chocolate pudding was probably oven toasted to achieve a crispy outer crust with a slightly charred taste. Every mouthful of the thick melted chocolate and the crispy crust was a luxurious experience.
Soft Centered Pavlova with Tropical Fruits and Passionfruit Curd was a light, zesty dessert thanks to the fruits involved at the sides. Pretty enjoyable if you just love the sugar. Personally, I found it a little too sweet, but nevertheless, it had a good mix of textures to be experienced with every little bit placed into the mouth.
There is a sudden realization that one can't really go wrong with a Cheese Platter. With very distinctive textures and tastes, it will instantly turn one into a cheese connoisseur.
By the time we wipe off everything on the plates, the band started their act. Plenty of 80's and 90's music to dance the night away.
Last but not least, the toilet was pretty decent, a good thing to have with all the booze going around.
Rating given:
Yes, its creamery. But is there more to it?
After reading so much about Island Creamery from blogs and hearing people talk about it in forum, finally I went to check the place out yesterday. Rushed down to meet a group of bloggers at Serene Centre after a quicky at Games Convention over at Suntec.
First thing that came to mind upon entering the small shop at the corner of Serene Centre was, "Hmm... another one with photo wall, just like pitstop." The big wall opposite the counter was covered with photos taken by the customers of Island Creamery. They have a portable photo printer where you can use to print your photos on the spot, scribble your names and what not on the photo and have a piece of the wall for your group. This is a very nice way to fill-up blank spaces on the wall as it added colors to the place with all the photos. This might also be one of the pulling factor that draws customers to return to see if they can spot their photos again few months later at the same spot or if any friends they know visited the place too.
So what can you find other than the photo wall at Island Creamery? Ice-cream of course! And in many interesting flavors too. One of the other attraction is the many local taste flavored ice-creams available. Find Teh Tarik, Pulua Hitum, Chendol, Apple Pie, Holick, Milo and many other flavors that'll make you want to try them all.
My group bought 4 tubs for $8 each and shared. Flavors are Nutella, ReversO, Burnt Caramel and Teh Tarik. I tried them all and concluded that other than the unique flavors and taste, that tasted just the way they should, there's really nothing much to rave about. The ice-cream is too creamery for my liking. And they are very sweet too. I had to drink 2 gulps of water after each scope (small scope) of ice-cream.
My bf bought a scope (at $2.50) of the berry mixed flavor to try. We both felt that this one tasted slightly better as the sourness from berries somehow lessen the sweet taste of the ice cream. And you can taste the berries and had to crew on it.
There're other better ice creams out there. If I were to return to Island Creamery, it would either be for another gathering or someone invited me there for free ice-cream. Other than that, I'll probably not return for the ice cream.
Rating given:
Challenger is a popular chain with a few stores around Singapore. They sell computers, computer peripherals, mobile phones, televisions, etc.
Dropped by today to get a webcam for my sister. They have quite a selection there from those "branded" ones to the lesser known ones. Needless to say there's a range of prices to suit your budget.
I found what I needed then proceeded to look for Data transfer cables... I went over and saw a whole rack of it... I didn't see the kind that I needed and asked the salesperson about it. He then pointed to the same rack I had just walked from. He made no move to walk over and show me which one.
Thinking that I might have remembered wrongly, i just took one that said data transfer... and consulted him again (I walked over to where he was) then he said... 'ya ya this is the one." I explained my purpose to him again and he just nodded his head. Then I explained how I used to see that there was a box thingy... then he gave a puzzled expression, walked away without saying anything and consulted a lady nearby. The lady replied loudly, "no stock no stock"
I very nearly bought the wrong thing because he refused to listen properly and had poor product knowledge.
This outlet is not as well stocked as the rest as it's much smaller... it also seemed like it had more LCD TVs then computer stuff...
Rating given:
Kobayashi is a small fast food outlet tucked away on the second level of Eastpoint Shopping Mall (near the lift lobby).
It serves up cheap Jap food (priced between $5-$14). They have plenty of one dish meals and some bento sets, along with ala-carte side orders. Their system is really like a fast food restaurant where you have to go to the counter, order and get your food immediately.
Food we ordered
Chicken Katsudon (Fried chicken with rice and egg)
Chicken Katsu Ramen (Fried chicken with noodles in soup)
Beef Ramen (Beef with noodles in soup)
Ice Green Tea
The Chicken Katsu was very crisp and tasty. The rice was soft and slightly sticky, as what is expected of Jap food. As for the Chicken Katsu Ramen, the noodles was fine. But the serving was small so my companion ordered a Beef Ramen after finishing his first bowl. They had more people then and the food became nasty. The ramen in the second bowl was overcooked and all stuck together... The beef was almost non-existent.
We paid about $20 and finished our food in under 20 minutes. It was ok but not really value for money. Good alternative if you're sick of Macs or BK...
Rating given:
Finally I got to try the donuts at Donut Factory. Passed by the one at Raffles City so many times but the queue is longer than the MRT train. When I saw that there's a seperate queue for this outlet at Suntec, I was delighted!
There's a mini cafe within Donut Factory where you can sit and enjoy a cup of tea with your donut. They also has pretty interesting donut dishes. Can't recall the name, but there's one that is served with a scope of ice-cream (like how others do it on brownies) and one that comes like a sandwich with something in between and comes in a bento box with side salad. Didn't try these, maybe next time when I passed by it again.
And thanks to this cafe concept of theirs, they have a seperate counter for cafe or takeaway. But you can only buy max. of 2 donuts. So everyone in the queue bought 2 donuts each.
Now, the donuts, I've to say, there's really nothing that great about them. The dough taste like the one at Dippin Donut (used to be Vinco Donut). We tried the Hazelnut Milk Chocolate, Mint Dark Chocolate, Strawberry White Chocolate and the Glazed (which is reserved for my breakfast tmr).
The first we bit into was the Strawberry White Chocolate, it's too sweet for our liking. The strawberry tasted more like sugar cream and blended with the sweet white chocolate, its overpowering! Try it if you have a super sweet tooth, if not, try others. Hazelnut one was alright. The nut makes it crunchy and kind of compilment the soft dough. I like the Mint Dark Chocolate. Not too sweet and the mint taste is refreshing.
Overall, the donuts was just so-so. I guess its the variety available that attracted the long long queue. And also maybe due to the way they price the donuts. The more you buy, the cheaper you pay. So everyone also buy more. And when everyone infront of you buys more, the longer you got to wait for more to be baked. Even with the many staff, about 6 in the kitchen baking donuts, the queue was still long (but not as long as the one at Raffles City.) But if you aren't buying in boxes, join the cafe queue. It's faster.
************ Updated 19 October 2007 ************
Was at Suntec for dinner this day and passed by donut factory to check out the queue, and to our delightness, the queue was bearable. So we joined the queue and were served in less than 10mins. Great work! There were 2 staff taking turn to pack customers' orders and 1 cashier for the main donut queue. There were also 12 others working non-stop in the kitchen. Amazing team they have.
This time I get to buy all the flavors that I want to try. Yap, looking at the photos, I got almost all those that's yummilicious! The Double Chocolate is to die for! The filling tasted like Nutella and the chocolate melts in your mouth. Gives a great satisfaction when you bite into it. So relax... (yes choc helps one relaxes.)
I don't know what made me buy 4 of the Spicy Donuts, but I kinda regretted. It's nice, but not the flavor that I would like a second helping of. It's made up of nacho cheese I think. Guess I prefer sweet donuts.
Now, I know which are the flavors I'll get when I go back again. The Double Choc, Mint Dark Choc, Apple Cinnamon and Rasberry Dark Chco. And for the wide variety that I like, I'm increasing my rating from 3 stars to 5 stars. (Also cos of the many other donuts which I've tasted so far. Other than those that's yet to have arrived in SG. Psss... I heard some pretty good ones coming next year... Yeah!)
Rating given:
Being beautiful has never been easier with Benefit!
Chanced upon Benefit from their website and found it at CK Tangs. I just couldn't resist myself, the packaging is so cool! I told myself I just need to get them! After understanding about the various products from the lady, I bought dr.feelgood and some-kind-a-gorgeous. These two items burnt a $120 big hole in my wallet!
After using it for more than a month now, I must say, I simply love them! The powder is so light and you don't feel like wearing make-up at all! I used to hate wearing make-up, so when I say I loveeee Benefit, I truely mean it! I don't think I'll be using any other brands anymore.
Also bought their popular blusher, Dandelion online. And I simply love love love it too! Am waiting to buy more. In fact, I want all!
Rating given:
I have been a Starhub MaxOnline user for many years too. Let's see...at least 7 years? It has been serving me really well, and it's so nice of them to increase their plans' bandwidth for free (then again, it could be that they are holding back their speed and giving us bit by bit).
I'm on the cheapest plan, mainly because I'm the only person at home using it. I don't know if upgrading my plan will help, but whenever I try SingNet at my friends' home, it feels faster. I believe it's the ping time. The same reason why online gamers swear by SingNet. But when it comes to downloading, Starhub seems to excel with really fast speeds.
All in all, I am a satisfied customer. But I do hope they will reduce their pricing. I admit I've been tempted several times to hop to SingNet due to their lower prices.
Rating given:
Sasa is a store known to many Singapore women. It has a wide variety of beauty products, cosmetics and fragrances. :) One stop for your beauty needs.
I read about the Nu Ren products retailing at Sasa and went there over on Monday to see if I can get my hands on the chilli hot slimming gel etc.
I walked in to a shop with 3 assistants and no other customers. It was a Monday afternoon after all. Quite awed and distracted by the array of things I proceeded to browse every shelf. This store is much smaller than the others though thus have less items.
After some time, I realised that no one has tended to me. I then remembered about my slimming gel and turned around to get the attention of the staff since I couldn't see it anywhere. The staff saw me wave but turned away! I had thought that I was imagining things so I milled around again till I saw that another staff was facing my direction and i waved... and she turned to talk to her colleague!
?! I walked out then.
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Manhattan Fish Market at PS
Ambience - cosy with warm lighting, suitable for couples/ families and large groups.
Staff - Warm, friendly, alert and have initiative
Food - Lip-smackingly delicious (list of food ordered below)
Time taken to serve - Super speed
Prices - reasonable
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My companion and I had an hour planned to have dinner at Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) yesterday. Thinking that 1 hour was sufficient, we strolled to MFM only to be confronted by a queue (on a weekday?!!) Sigh... we panicked for a bit as we had a movie in an hour. But the staff assured us that there was enough time so we lined up. We were pleasantly surprised when they handed everyone in the queue a menu so that the process of ordering will be sped up.
Amazingly we were seated in 10 minutes and had our orders taken immediately.
Our Order
2 Soups of the day - Cream of Mushroom
Garlic Bread
Fried Country Mushrooms
Garlic Lemon Mussels
Manhattan Fish & Chips
Mango Juice
Seeing a full restaurant we were afraid that our food would take some time... but the soup arrived before we could whip out our camera! The soup was fine. Not diluted like some places I know. Just nice for a cream soup but it does not have additional ingredients. The garlic bread which was served just minutes after the soup was great. It was done with real garlic not just the butter kind you find at NTUC. Very tasty indeed.
The Mushrooms and Mussels came next, just 3 minutes after the bread. The Mussels came in a creamy sauce and was served with more bread for us to dip in the sauce. The mussels were fresh and the sauce was just right. Not overly creamy. The highlight was the mushrooms. At first glance, they weren't very much to look at... fried little things... but when you bite down... the mushrooms were SO JUICY! It was amazing! I love mushrooms and would definitely order them if they were available everywhere i go and this is by far the most delicious mushroom dish I've ever tasted. A Must-Order!
Then came our Fish and Chips... One look and I knew it would be good. The light batter melted in my mouth thus wasn't too thick. The fish was a light pink with great texture and no fishy smell. The fries were well seasoned, not just with salt but some other spice which I couldn't make out. And they were the thick sort which I love and were not covered in oil. A great deal at $9.90 really.
Throughout the meal, our iced water was constantly topped up and when we finally managed to whip out our camera, one of the servers magically appeared to offer to take the picture for us. They had smiles on their faces throughout despite being so busy. It was a fantastic experience.
We paid $52 for the two of us (we ordered a lot le), got out of the restaurant in 35 minutes (in good time for our movie).
** My companion was full of praises for this place and mind you he would normally reject 9 out of 10 new places we try. :) Don't I deserve something for such a fantastic review written? hehe
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Sakuraya Fish Mart located at the basement in the "new" section at the far end near Coffee Bean. It's a small shop selling authentic Japanese products and fresh food. There is a small seating area for about 15 people at the back of the shop.
Here you can find the usual sashimi fare and some premium sushi. My companion and I had fresh salmon picked and then the staff sliced it for us. We also ordered California Maki and Handroll, some miso soup and Ocha. The miso soup was not too diluted and tasted just right. The Maki and Handroll was acceptable. The salmon was very fresh and just the way we liked it.
There were also native Japanese dining there, and I always believe that if you find native Japanese at a particular Jap Joint then the place must be fantastic. And it was good. Although not as good as some of the joints you find at Taka but it's also not as expensive. The two of us paid $30 for our food which was reasonable for its quality. Recommended.
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