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Sport & Recreation
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1=SGD 0.0587
Had intended to try out HK Kim Gary at Vivo City, but threw the idea out of the window when we saw the ridiculously long queue. Actually there were long queues at most, if not all of the food outlets at Vivo City. Pure madness. So we drove to Orchard and after wandering aimlessly for a bit, settled for Lei Garden at Orchard Shopping Centre. The lift opens up to the reception area of Lei Garden and first looks, it hardly resembled a Chinese restaurant, with the exception of the wooden chairs. The brick linings in the walls were very evident and the low ceiling finished with wooden frames gave the whole place a very cottage feel. Add on a couple of Christmas decorations and lights and viola, you have a very pretty cottage dining area.
Since we got there at about 9pm, alot of stuff were sold out, like the soup of the day and the smoked duck. So we had to settle for some recommendations by the captain. Namely, Double Boiled Fish's Bone with "Tian Ma", Deep Fried Prawns Coated with Salted Egg Yolk and Stewed Chicken with Young Ginger in Honey Sauce. We rounded up the meal with Durian Pudding and Glutinous Rice Balls with sesame filling.
Lei Garden is well known for its double boiled soups and I never fail to order at least a serving every time I patronise. As such, I had high expectations for the Double Boiled Fish's Bone with "Tian Ma" and it didn't disappoint. The soup was sweet and light with a hint of rawness. However, I did get a little sick of drinking the soup after the first bowl mainly because the slight fishy taste made me queasy. So too much of a good thing isn't always good. Just a little nugget of information, this soup is supposed to relieve dizziness and calm the mind. How true? I have no idea.
The Deep Fried Prawns Coated with Salted Egg Yolk was a delicacy in the making. The egg yolk gave the prawns a slight salty taste and the flavours were evident throughout. The prawns were also very fresh and biting into one is akin to eating Cereal Prawns - You just pop the whole thing into your mouth and enjoy the crunching sounds. However, I say that this dish is a delicacy still in the making because there is room for improvement. For one, the frying batter was uneven. Some prawns had more batter on the front, some had more on the back. This made the overall taste non homogeneous, with some parts being saltier than others.
The Stewed Chicken with Young Ginger in Honey Sauce sounded interesting, but it was no more than Sweet and Sour Chicken, at least that was what it tasted like. Yes, the chicken meat was definitely more tender than the usual stuff you get outside and the sauce was decidedly lighter and less pronounced than the normal ones outside that threaten to overpower the taste of everything else. I liked this dish and so did my gf. Funny that there was no ginger taste though.
Desserts have never really been a forte for Lei Garden and their desserts speak for themselves. My Durian Pudding tasted rather artificial although there were significant chunks of Durian meat in it. The Gelatine was in excess and gave the pudding a very creamy yet mashed up texture. My gf's Glutinous Rice Balls with sesame filling was rather tasteless. The rice balls were coated with ground peanuts, which made them fragrant. However, the sesame filling could do with more flavour.
Dinner blew us away at about $110/-. We certainly didn't expect the bill to be so high, especially since our dishes weren't exactly expensive stuff. Nevertheless, the food quality is there and it is certainly quite refined. No one said good food comes cheap right? Service was good as well, so that kind of eased the pain when I saw the bill.
See all my pictures here.
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Personally bought some clothes from them.
Pros:
Clothes are in-stock and in good quality. Reaction fast, emails came like within 1 day of queries or ordering. Very accommodating as they allow bank transfer by various banks and even when I used UOB bank to transfer to their DBS and took 3 days, they are fine with it. (Do inform them first) Clothes are unique and shown big on the blogshop together with the descriptions. Pleasing blog design makes browsing through loads of photos easy on the eye. There is also a discount area where they sell over stocks at big discounts.
Cons:
Too many photos makes loading slow. Lack of categorization of clothes hence got to look through all the items to find what you wanted. A tad expensive though their items are mostly unique. Clothes are sold out at fast speed so I have to go and browse through fast whenever I receive their update notification.
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A friend of mine recommended this brand of ice cream to me. He said he simply love the Ferrero flavor. Being curious, I decided to give it a try.
Disappointed! I ordered Rum and Raisin and Dark Choc with M&Ms. Well, I'm not sure whether it was the blend but it does not taste appetizing at all. The taste was well... under the line... not up to it.... or the Chinese explanation : 不到味
Cold Rock wins, by having unique ice cream toppings, flavor and giving customers the thrill of watching their ice cream being blended (ouch) however, blending makes the ice cream flavors mixed up and sometimes cancel out each other. Further, blended ice cream does not look good at all. (As per my photo)
For ice cream of that pricing, I will rather go to Hagaan Daz right opposite or Scoopz which up till now is my favorite.
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I found the fillings of the Paus rather normal, but the Da Bao didn't have ginger inside, which I personally prefer because I simply dislike ginger. The Pau skin was soft and not too thick, with lots of bite. Its really a cut above the rest. Little wonder about the long queues. Try it!
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Went to my friend's wedding dinner at Hilton Grand Ballroom.
Never went there before and was thinking the place, food and class should be very impressive. However, we are quite disappointed as the food was so so. The only item on the menu I liked was the 佛提飘香or whatever that was one of the photos. Crispy outer rim of yam and well cooked vegetables in the center.
There was nothing special about the decoration of the ballroom and the place was quite cramped.
As for service, I won't be able to give a fair comment as we were served by someone new. The person keep mixing up our drinks order like my neighbor wanted white wine and the person gave him red wine. Another wanted Sprite and I wanted no drinks but I was given the Sprite and she wasn't given anything. Other things like spraying me with coke while he served my husband's drinks.
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Pros:
Beautifully decorated with big screens, nice stage and crystal chandeliers. Service crew are polite and react fast to request. Service crew is 1 per 2 table. Food is above average, ingredients fresh and unique in terms of menu. Their fish dishes are delicious. Very suitable for family dinner outing and wedding dinner. Ballroom and restaurant are pillar-less and size is customizable by their sound proof wall panel according to the size of your event. Sound system is great though you will need to bring your laptop for the wedding dinner as their computer is only use for their own lighting. Open to negotiation. Clean environment.
Cons:
Difficult for planning and communication if you are the type who needs to take charge of your wedding dinner. The restaurant goes by the "last minute" policy and the lady boss Suzanna encourages people not to check things with them too early a date. Questions asked and things decided are not taken down. There is nobody assigned to our event and instead whoever is available will do it. (I had to explain myself so many times) Small bridal room for brides to do make up in.
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Pros:
Flower bouquets and gifts are categorized by flower type, budget range and occasions. Pictures of bouquets are large and sharp hence its easier to choose what you would like to purchase. Fast and efficient customer service which reply your email and orders withing 24 hours. Wide range of flowers, gifts and plants to choose from and many of them are designed to be something unique. They even provide a summary of the meaning of the flowers as well as the number of flowers chosen. I ordered some for a friend's birthday and it was received on time. So far, I'm very satisfied with their services.
Con:
Colour of website should be of neutral colour and not dull pink. Hence colour of the flowers are unable to show out well in the pictures.
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Its been a while since I last stepped into Tao's, with my last visit being about one and a half years ago. Since I was in the vicinity, I couldn't resist dropping by to renew my acquaintance with this small humble eatery.
Occupying a space big enough for about 50 pax at the basement of Paradiz Centre, Tao's retains its clean lines and bright lighting to give the wholesome family dining feel. Tao's dining concept is rather different as the menu is fixed and you get to choose a dish for each course. There are 7 courses in total for dinner (I believe its 6 for lunch) but choices are rather limited.
Mushroom & Cheese Gratin and Toasted Bread - I personally like the gratin quite a bit, tasty yet not nausea inducing. It did come across as a little more watery this time round but portion size seemed to have grown slightly. When eaten with the lightly toasted bread, the combination really got me craving for more.
Curry Yogurt Prawn Salad - The prawn salad was a joke really. 3 thin slivers of prawns covering asparagus, cherry tomatoes and golden mushrooms. I could have easily stuffed all 3 into my mouth at one go. It didn't help that the accompanying curry sauce was rather strong and sweet.
Farm Boy Splendor - Having ordered the farm boy splendor on previous occasions, it certainly didn't impress me very much, coming across as very average. On a positive note, the pieces of chicken in it were sizable and the vegetables were relatively fresh.
Cream of Mushroom Soup - A most decent rendition of the humble cream of mushroom, with bits of mushroom in it and obviously not tasting like a straight out of the can variation. It would have been better if it was slightly more coagulated (less watery) though.
Wild Mushrooms - This has to be the only time that I found the wild mushrooms more enjoyable because they didn't taste too wild for me nor were there the irritating little hard bits present, unlike previous occasions. Not that I really fancy it that much still.
Slow Cooked Pork Back Ribs - The pork ribs is Tao's signature dish which has apparently won an award in some competition. The meat was fall of the bone tender but did come across as a tad too sweet, which made me rather sick after a while.
Tao's Oven Roasted Steak - The steak came almost well done although I had asked for medium rare. The presence of excessive tenderizer was also evident as the meat did seem a little too tender by normal standards. Probably the only positive thing about this dish was the gravy, which was a little peppery and relatively tasty.
Creme Brulee - Good Creme Brulees are made from real vanilla beans, not vanilla extract. Tao's rendition was made from the latter. Not that it tasted bad though, just that the layer of sugar atop was too thin and not even hard. Talk about poor execution.
Home Made Chocolate Mousse - Homemade stuff usually entail a certain standard, but the chocolate mousse was just plain weird by any standards. It tasted like a 2 layer cake with the mousse on top and kueh at the bottom. Definitely not for me.
Ice Grass Jelly Mint Tea - An excellent way to end off dinner, with a choice of teas. I personally like the grass jelly mint tea because its sweet and cool with a dash of freshness from the mint.
Prices at Tao's have not gone up since more than a year back, which is really commendable given the rising costs. $61 for 2 set dinners is rather reasonable for the quality and quantity of food if you ask me. Service is excellent and friendly as well. I can't find a reason not to return.
See all my pictures here
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A simply great place to go for a short trip overseas. The best time to go will be mid April where weather is good and crowd is little. Redang is one of the few untainted (comparatively) beach area in the region.
We stayed in Laguna Redang Beach Resort. It's the resort that took over the wooden chalet in the movie 夏日摸摸茶 by Sammi Cheng and Someone (I forgot)
3 days and 2 nights are sufficient for a normal snorkeling/sun-tanning trip. You can opt to extend (if available) if you are learning diving there. Snorkeling equipments are going for RM25 for the 3 days we went there with complimentary trips to beyond Redang beach for snorkel.
One of the places we went to was the Marine Center for the marine life and corals. One of the rules however, is to refrain from bringing any coral/animals/etc back from the Marine Center. This is one of the rules to prevent corrosion of the marine life there.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner were international buffet. The amount of food was so great, there was no need to fight ;D
Besides snorkeling and diving, one can also go for walks on the beach, beach volley-ing, swim in the pool, canoe and pubbing. Other facilities include KTV/Disco and Internet room (was RM10 per hr)
The only negative part of the trip was in the transportation. For us was a 5 hrs trip to KL then 45 mins of plane to Trengganu then 1 hr trip by bus from Trengganu to Jetty and another 1 hr or so to reach Redang. There are other alternatives like a 7hr trip by bus from Singapore to the jetty.
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Pros:
Very cosy and interestingly designed place for a gathering and fun night with friends. Games menu is very well organized and informative as it includes information like a short description and the number of people to play the game. Food is average in taste. Interactive and polite staffs who know their stuffs well enough to ask queries and teach first timers how to go about playing the games.
Cons:
Rather cramped for bigger groups. Limited drink menu and limited space to put food and play game at the same time.
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