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Sport & Recreation
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1=SGD 0.0587
Finally a decent chill out place in Hougang!
The former Bliss cafe premise is now more crowded with people wanting to try Willin Low's new venture and of course this being the first ever proper hang out place in Hougang area made it even more popular.
They have a surprisingly big seating comprising of indoors (which is seldom the first choice), the 'patio' which is more lounge-y and on the same level as where the bar is. Then there's the ever popular pondside seats on a wooden deck complete with very efficient fans which makes sitting there bearable even on a hot day.
Before I went, I've already heard of the wildly popular lychee beer which is so popular that it is currently sold out until end of the month according to the staff. Oh well.
Timmerman's Strawberry ($10) - supposedly the popular option to try. But not nice! It taste like a very sweet cider and gets cloyingly sweet after a few mouthfuls.
Erdinger draft ($12 for 1pint) - fresh from the tap but it could have been better chilled.
Chicken wings ($4.90) - Nice but beware of the seemingly innocent dip which gives its kick quite soon.
Giant Sausages ($12.90) - Nice! 2 giant pork sausages nicely grilled served with your choice of mushroom sauce, black pepper, or mayo. The mashed potato was not too bad and the shredded cabbage was fresh and crunchy. The side of fries was shoe string and served hot but could have been less salty.
Chicken Chop ($13.80) - Chicken was tender but came with a whole sheet of skin. The rest of the sides are the same.
Chendol ($6.20) - I didnt have this but everyone I've seen ordered this says its nice.
Service was slipshot and the staff team seem to be sometimes forgetful, ignorant, and doesnt make the effort to look up from their ipads order system to spot people waving their hands to ask for service. Be prepared to face bad service on weekends.
That being said, I will still return as this is the only decent place around for me. Prices are reasonable too.
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Got persuaded by a friend to try out their herbal steam therapy at the Ang Mo Kio branch. To quote the website, its "a traditional Chinese method that combines the modalities of steam therapy, infra-red radiation and Chinese herbs. It helps
to improve your blood circulation and allows for maximal absorption of the essential goodness of the medicine herbs". Wow.
And so we went but booked prior just to be safe. Most of the people sitting there was for the chinese doctor and we could go in almost immediately.
We both picked the slimming ones which is basic $20 $3 for the packet of (slimming) herbs.
The place was sparsely decked out and its actually individual steam chambers separated by curtains. No frills procedures: draw the curtains, take off everything, wear the disposable underwear, then sit into the chamber. The only part of your body that's exposed is your head so if you sit next to your friend its still possible to chat. The lady was also being very professional about things and gave us a towel and tried her best to make sure that we weren't uncomfortable.
The session is supposed to be for 20mins but after 15mins I could feel myself wanting to get out. It is VERY VERY hot. Plus you breathless just like in a sauna. But sweating buckets from that actually feels quite good.
You can stop the session anytime u feel unwell, and it being our 1st time, the lady stayed with us all the way and chatted to us to distract us. She said for return customers she doesnt do that.
You dry off with a towel after that, get dressed, then an area with basic plastic chairs is available for you to rest, as your heart rate will still be high. Water is also available as you'll be parched.
I seriously dont know if the extra $3 for the slimming herbs works but you actually feel very refreshed after that and I quite liked the feeling! You'll also smell of herbs and of lemongress and ginger more so no real nasty smell.
However, I feel the $20 is an indulgence although you do feel good. They have a package of course but only makes it out to being slightly cheaper per session.
Am unsure about a return visit.
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I was curious enough to buy a voucher for one of their weight vapourizer treatment at $46 for 1 session so made a booking at the NEX outlet for a Mon evening.
The staff at the reception didnt seem very professional at receiving customers and asked me to sit in a room, asked for my voucher, then brought it back to ask what certain words on the voucher means. Huh?
I was then brought o change to start the treatments and the stuff explained very briefly to me the procedures, which is as follow
- 15mins to improve blood circulation by lying on a bed with and a 'blanket' which looks like a giant blood pressure machine over your middle section (tummy and abs). It squeezes you then releases, then repeats for the next 15mins. I felt a little heat at the end of it but nothing else.
- 15mins to lie on a "vibrating" bed but I found out the bed doesnt really vibrate but more similar to shaking vigorously, and I didnt feel any real effects. There were heat emitted from the cover of the bed but they didnt explain what that does.
- 20mins for steam room. It an individual steam chamber and half glass window. I was supposed to be in there for 20mins and there was a timer which runs down from 20 to 0 mins. All throughout I can hear some staff who were free sitting outside and talking / bitching about the politics of the work which I thought was not very professional. After 20mins the steamer beeped and I heard someone walk over, and instead of opening the door, I heard her re-set the timer and walked off again, without checking if anyone (me) was inside! I pushed the door slightly ajar and asked them 'This should already be done, no?' and they responded in shock. One of them walked over, opened the door fully, and in front of me, turned her head to say to her colleagues "I didnt know anyone was inside!". Another said "I thought she had gone out!". All right in front of me. Then they started asking each other whose customer am I, and looked around looking confused. They finally got to their senses enough to ask me to sit down to rest while I guess they figure out who I belong to.
Lastly, wrapping to 'shape' the body - they used a giant cling wrap to wrap most of me, from upper arms to thighs. When I asked shouldnt some gel / cream be used before the wrapping, the response was oh no need, as the body is still warm from the steam and the wrapping alone will work.
Thankfully they didnt try to hardsell me any packages but I think it was because the staff who received me at the end was new.
The thing is I didnt feel welcomed at all as a customer. Different people directed me from room to room for the different treatments, and I had to ask some of them how long that segment will take because they didnt explain. And forgetting that someone is in the steam room is simply not forgivable - accidents can happen!
Not going to be a return visit for me.
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Ventured here for a family birthday dinner as the concept looks interesting and the price seemed like a deal too good to miss. $30 for a dinner buffet in Orchard area is something worth checking out!
Park Hotel Orchard has somewhat been obscured from the public eye due to its strange positioning - smack behind KnightsBridge and lobby level being on the 4th floor. But perhaps it saved Open House from the usual maddening crowd too.
The buffet is publicized as having 4 live stations and you can eat all you want, but there's actually more stations. Its mostly local food peppered with some ang moh eats, and you order at the station with your table number and they'll bring the food to you, so its almost semi ala carte.
Station 1: roasted meat station - there's char siew, roasted pork, roast duck, and satay. I tried the char siew and they were quite good, very lean with almost no fatty bits, only that the sauce is a little too sweet. The satay was not bad too!
Station 2: noodle station - your choice of sze chuan spicy noodle soup, wantan noodle, laksa, sliced fish noodle, mee siam, mee rebus. I tried the sze chuan and the laksa. The sze chuan one was not really spicy and I felt the soup was too starchy. The lakas tasted a little watered down but still generally okay.
Station 3: dim sum - har gao siew mai, bbq pork buns, radish cake, and glutinous rice - I tried only the glutinous rice but it was not good, like something went bad in it. I hope the others are better!
Station 4: claypot - choice of claypot rice, assam fish, bak kut teh, kung po chicken, braised beef brisket, braised seafood with beancurd - The claypot rice was good and it had the burnt bits which was my favourite; the assam fish was nice with eggplant and ladyfingers thrown in, and the bak kut teh was comfort soup although they only give one piece of meat per claypot.
Station 5: pizza - 4-5 types of pizza ranging from the usual Hawaiian to strange ones like duck lychee pizza (eee). The teriyaki chicken we tried was thin crust and nice, although the sauce is a bit too sweet too.
Station 6: desserts - usual cakes and some kuehs, fruits, red bean soup, ice cream with a selection of ice cream. Nothing that a kid would not like. I only had the ice cream and whatever brand of ice cream it was, their triple chocolate was not bad actually!
On top of that they have a very small section of starters - vege sticks, cold cuts, potato salad but I thought they were very nice to offer that.
Service was surprisingly quick even though its really semi-service more than actual buffet style, but sometime too eager to want to clear your plates. But better than the opposite i guess.
This is not your international buffet and you will not get cold seafood or complicated eats here but for the value it offers (you get 20% with DBS cards), I would say this is quite a nice place to eat at and return to. Plus you do not need to feel like sardines to eat here~
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My boss recommended this place when I said I wanted a light birthday lunch, and how excellent a choice!
The place is decked out like a very old school chinese restaurant, complete with stoned-faced staff and 2 captains in black jackets and sometimes-grouchy faces.
Century Egg Porridge - this came in portions enough for 2pax per order. It was not the best I've tried but good enough for me, although some will find it a bit bland. The captain told us surly that "this one 2 people can eat. SHARE.". Er okay, instructions noted.
Peking Duck Roll - 6 small rolls neatly placed on a plate. The sauce was already part of the roll, and I suspect there were more meat than skin in it but quite tasty!
Chicken Feet - A little too soggy but flavour was good. Also more generous a portion than most places.
Char Siew Puff - very good! Small triangular puffs (which were still warm after leaving it out for a while) made freshly from the kitchen and lean char siew although can be a little too sweet for some people.
Har Gao -bigger sized than alot of places with fresh crunchy prawns, what's not to like?
Siew Mai - big sized too and extremely fresh. I dont usually like these but here, I actually do!
Fried Carrot Cake - Long-shaped ones fried with bean sprouts - a refreshing combi. The cake was superbly browned, not oily, some crispy. and the bean sprouts crunchy. I like!
Chee Chong Fun - thin flour skins complete with lean char siew fillings. Good~
Glutinous rice - it uses a mix of brown and white rice and I know its' supposed to be more healthy but somehow this combi made it lose its sinful taste.
Vegetable roll - this is served chilled and basically just a mix of beansprouts, carrots, beancurd etc, with some sort of plum sauce in them. Quite refreshing but a little soggy for me.
Peanut Mochi - Tasted like it was fresh from the kitchen, with just the right chew and plenty plenty peanuts. The insides are black saseme paste which I liked.
Almost all dishes were good and will definitely return, if I can ignore the service thingy. It was a treat so I don't know how much was each dish but I think it totalled up to about $120?
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Passed by this place so many times on the bus and I remember thinking what a cute signage and possibly a new vegetarian place to explore. So when an vegetarian colleague asked for lunch, it was a good chance to check this place out.
The place can be quite hard to find if you're driving, least to say parking, but easier if you take the bus as it's located right behind the prominent bus stop near Eunos MRT.
The place was empty when we arrived at 12:15pm on a weekday but it slowly filled up around 1pm. The setting presents a very clean cut look with bench chairs and neat tables comfortably spaced out. The menu is a huge signboard behind the counter - you order, take a number, and wait for your burger to be served at the table. A selection of about 5 burgers plus their special (Rendang Burger) and a small selection of sides etc is available.
Smokey BBQ ($6.85 / $10.85 for set) - organic rye bread with wholemeal grains, oven baked mushroom patty, with tomato and alfalfa - the set came in a big mess tin sort of container with the accompanying fries. The bun was not toasted enough and still cold in the middle, the lettuce pieces were almost not green and I had the hard parts of the leaves which I didnt quite like. The alfalfa could have been more too. The patty was the only nice thing in it - very mushroomy and earthy.
Seaweed Fries - golden and fluffy, sprinkled with 100% organic seaweed flakes - its not fluffy at all, but golden yes. Its also the way that the fries are being packed into the side of the container that made it all soggy after a while. No seaweed taste too although the flakes were there. The sauce was also sorely lacking in smokey taste.
Spinach wheatgrass juice - I had the impression that this was freshly made, as its ala carte price was $3.50. Silly me. It was poured out from a dispenser and no taste of either greens - it in fact tasted like a a soft drink.
I think the novelty concept of a veg burger place attracts me more than the food. I had honestly expected much more taste and quality so am a a tad disappointed. But the place is still a good option for vegetarians of course.
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The first thing I tried here was their whoopie pies - it was quite a refreshing taste but its dependent on flavours I realized.
Being strategically located at Taka is a definite bonus, and it attracts curious stares from those who incidentally walk past. Its pinkish and fun ambience is a stark contrast to KFC next door. Chef Pang is the name here and thus the desserts.
All Day Breakfast category - 2Egg breakfast - American Favourite ($7.50) - this has bacon, 2 eggs cooked any style and your choice of english muffin or white toast. I had mine sunny side up and picked english muffin. The eggs were not underdone which I appreciated, the bacon a little too fatty for me, and the muffin quite nice but I suspect over toasted as it was a tad too crunchy for me. Overall it was nice and definitely comfort food but maybe some will baulk at paying this price.
Latte ($5) - Average and the foam was carelessly done, not consistent with my 1st experience although that time, my latte was more of a capp.
Hot iron waffle ($8) - Humongous with a big scoop of ice cream on it. The waffle is actually quite good even when its no longer warm, plus the caramel walnut ice cream is good too although it can be less sweet.
Whoopie Pie ($2.15) - a specialty here, and I think for a good reason. I actually dont know what is the outer bit made but its similar to gingerbread without the ginger taste; the inside is marshmallow fluff. Nice: the traditional chocolate one, the PB&J, and the salty caramel. Not nice: lemon meringue which tasted chemical-ish.
Service is generally okay with its young team but sometimes small things are forgotten like serviettes and some cutleries which are supposed to be in the cutlery bucket on each table. The small seating also means that waiting time can take some time if you're in the queue.
I havent tried the cakes yet but I may for my return visit.
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I was a little hesitant to try after reading the reviews but I went ahead anyway and I am glad I did. The place was already packed at 7pm on a Saturday night, and we were settled in quite quickly in our seats.
The order system is a DIY system where the menu is categorized under 4 different order sheets. You tick the items and indicate the quantity you want and pass it to the staff to process.
But I realized the problem is then sometime you lose track of the items ordered and you dont know even if they dont arrive. Like my pizza which took 2hours before it finally was plonked onto my table. And be prepared to wait as the food takes its own sweet time to arrive even when the place is only half full. It seemed like they wait for a few orders of the same thing to come in and cook it in batches.
The food was not so bad for me. What I had:
- Sashimi
- chawamushi
- endamame
- one mouth crab (tiny deep fried crabs)
- tempura
- garlic fried rice
- spaghetti
- grilled mushrooms, ginko nuts, lady fingers
- jap fish cake
- grilled chicken
- miso soup
- chilled soba
- chicken pieces in wasabi mayo
Amongst many. All were not too bad for me, and with the $33 per pax for dinner, it is quite a good deal for me. Plus they have this amazing Yuzu sake at $40 per bottle - terribly addictive when very chilled. They also serve their food in teeny weeny portions, good for small eaters.
I'd probably return but not in the near future as their menu pretty much remains the same. Plus slow service annoys me too. Lets see.
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I must admit that the $10 facial voucher they were dangling at Orchard Central a few weekends ago was too attractive to resist. And so off I went with a friend to the Taka outlet after making sure the salesperson called to book the appointment at the point of our purchase.
I did expect hard selling as $10 is really too cheap but its still annoying to have to sit through it.
We were ushered into a room to wait, and strangely enough, they did things in tiny steps eg. bring us forms, bring us water, collect forms etc all with waiting in between. This wasted half hour of our time, from the supposedly 2.5 total time needed.
Then I was ushered to another room separate from my friend because the room 'only has one scanner and will save time' - but was made to wait again.
2 consultants then came into the room. They did the same scanner to face thingy and started saying oh your skin is dehydrated etc, blackheads etc. They launched almost immediately into their sales talk - since I'm already here why dont i upgrade to a better treamtment. When I said I have no money, they replied that its not expensive, even students can afford it (are they insulting me??!).
They then changed tactic to asking if I want to combine my 2 treatments into one better one, no need to top up any cash (my $10 voucher entitled me to 2x sessions). And they never did explain what's the difference between the 'normal' and the 'better' one. So I said no, I'd like to keep it to 2 sessions.
I think the lady got a bit fed up and said something to the effect of "okay so you obviously just want to come for the $10 promotion right". Why else would I be there, so silly.
I was then ushered to begin my treatment to a big room with partitioned curtains similar to those at hospitals. The air con was freezing and they ask you to change into the facial sort of robe that exposes your shoulders and up. Be prepared to freeze for the rest of the treatment.
I have to be honest and say that the treatment was actually not bad although the therapist did not explain what was being put on my face. Midway through, they said a lady named Esther gave a complimentary upgrade for some collagen thingy and put it on half my face apparently for me to see the effect. After that the therapist asked again if I would like to combine the 2 treatments into 1 to enjoy a detox massage and a detox mask. So smart of them to ask when you are half naked, freezing, and couldnt see them because your eyes are covered with cotton pads. So I said yes, sigh, also to save myself the hassle of returning to endure the sales talk.
The therapist was abit impatient and callous towards the end of the treatment for some reason. When it finally ended and I could feel my toes again, they asked me to acknowledge the treatment and tried to persuade me to sign up for a package again, saying that is is a waste of my time to come without finding out what's the problem with my skin...with the package, they can treat the root of the problems etc. I said no, and they asked 'so why did you buy the voucher since you dont want to find out about your skin?'. -- "Because it was $10" was my reply.
Bottom line is, my skin did feel better after the treatment and all that but goodness it really took me from 4pm to 7pm to step out of the branch. $10 is a superb value for this experience in terms of the skin but the sales talk was just simply annoying.
And I later found out that the therapist that my friend had quoted her $2k for 10 sessions. They must really be mad.
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This was a choice for a family dinner for a celebratory occasion. Picked the Vivo outlet as this has a nice waterside vibe to it and not so crowded too.
A queue had already formed before 5pm on a working Friday evening, probably because of the happy hour prices which makes their beer a rather good deal. Got an alfresco table for our group of 8pax but that turned out to be a miscalculation as the warm weather can make the alfresco sitting a tad uncomfortable.
Hefe Weissbier ($12.50 for 0.5litres) - their lightest beer brewed freshly. Super drinkable and good for ladies!
Onion Soup ($9.50) - Very good, with onion strips in it. Not too watery either.
Garden Salad ($9.50 for S) - Surprisingly fresh and crispy greens, carrots etc with a tangy dressing on the side.
Sausage platter ($32.50) - For 8 sausages, this comes across as a tad pricey for me even though I know they are more pricey then normal sausages. Nice sauerkraut and potato salad though, especially the onion strips on top of it.
Bacon Pizza ($16.50) - Rather big sized but crust was way too hard for me, almost biscuit-like.
Pork knuckle ($36) - Good! I reluctantly took a bite and realized why people have been saying it's nice. Perfectly roasted crunchy skin with the meat not having that sometimes overpowering pork smell. A bit dry though as no sauce is served with it.
Typical Bavarian pretzel ($3.50) - My personal favorite especially when its served warm.
Basket of selected German bread ($5.80) - Ordered a second basket as the bread was so good, even when cold.
Service was nothing to complain about. Have less pics this time as was busy chatting haha~
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