Celebrated my grandma's birthday at Jumbo over the weekend. As usual, the place is packed up and down, outside and inside!
Having read the reviews on other Jumbo outlets, I had all the dishes I want to order prepared prior to the dinner. And thank goodness the dishes didn't disappoint. Except for one - the black pepper crab.
The crabs were all very fresh and juicy. We were given the bigger ones since we had 16 at the table. Ordered Chili Crabs and the black pepper crab. Chili Crab was fabulous - gravy was tasty, not too sweet nor too spicy. Just nice and goes very well with the fried mini man tou. However the black pepper crab was too saltish. Not too most for our liking.
Other dishes ordered include... Scallop yam rings - very yummy! Crispy baby squid - crispy and nice Abalone, sea-cucumber and mushroom with broccoli Cereal prawn - love the cereal! fresh prawns! Salted egg prawn - it was gone before I could taste it! Steam fish - at $110 the fish was very fresh and juicy Shredded chicken ee-mee Honeydew Sago dessert
Overall the food was good and the serving size was just enough for 16 of us. The service could have been better. Being seated at the corner on the upper level, with an almost dying air-con and a bright orange light, it was a little warm through the dinner.
Total bill came up to about $650, with 10% discount off from the Jumbo card, we paid slightly more than $580 for the dinner. Price wise is reasonable.
No photo/video for this because everyone was hungry and the lighting was really very bad for photography. Must remember to ask for a white-light lighted table the next time.
Was planning to have dinner at Amirah's neighbor stall, but was told it was already fully booked for that night. In order not to stay hungry for too long, we decided to give Amirah a try. The place was already packed with customers when we arrived as it was time to break fast.
We quickly ordered our food and thought the food would be served quickly. Well, our drinks did come almost immediately after our orders. But the rest took too long to come.
We ordered Hummus and Moutabel which are served with baskets of pita bread. The dishes were served cold but it took so long! The taste isn't as good as those I'd tasted few nights before at its neighbor's stall. But still not bad. The Moutabel lacked the texture that I wanted, perhaps their onion/garlic was over chopped. The pita bread served was not very good too. Some was either too tough or too soft.
Also ordered the mixed grill main course as seen in the photo. The meat were all rather tough to chew, was rather blunt and lacks in flavor. This only passable imo.
Overall the food is still considered as acceptable. Will probably not return for a next round due to the long waiting time and not so flavorful dishes.
(This review might seem a little unfair as I had a better experience few days before this nearby. Go give it a try and judge it yourself.) :)
Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) is the first museum in the region to present a broad yet integrated perspective of pan-Asian cultures and civilisations. The Museum's collection centres on the material cultures of the different groups originating from China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia.
I was privileged to have been able to join a guided tour by one of the curators at ACM. If you're planning a visit to the museum, I strongly recommend to join the guided tours by the volunteers.
The visit to the museum had been quite an experience for me. Before the tour, I thought museums are rather boring. But when I participated in the tour and had a better understanding of the history and stories behind the things around the museum, it was quite a discovery adventure.
If you've never been into the Asian Civilisations Museum before, why not spend a day there exploring? If you would like to really absorb all the content there, I would suggest you split your visits to a few trips. If not, you might just get too tired after exploring and absorbing just one section of the museum. As the curator suggested, don't go to the museum and wants to see everything there in one visit. One should find a focus for that day and just spend enough time to complete touring that section for that day.
Oh by the way, if you are unable to join the guided tours, there's always the self-guided tour guides around the museum to help you. There are many computer guides around where they can share the interesting things within their section.
Attached is a video compilation of few things I saw at ACM. And find out about a cute and interesting cup and listen to the curator share why the cup is interesting! :)
You can also read more about the interesting finds I saw during my tour around the museum at my blog.
Fig and Olive is one of the few halal certified restaurant in Singapore. This place is nicely renovated and clean. A nice place for gatherings and events.
I went there twice, once for a meal and the other for an event. The food I had on my first trip was not that good except for the fries... Marinara Pasta @ $15.90 Not one of the better but still passable pasta. The sauce was served a little dry and the seafood tasted dry too.
Criss-cut fries was fried right and tasted crispy. The serving was quite big and I recommend to share it with few other friends. Unless you're having it on your own.
Food for the event was better than my first meal there. The variety was good and the overall taste and flavor was much better.
I may return to give them another chance since the two visits gave quite a big difference in quality.
Anyone else tried the place? What's your thoughts?
This is almost like a storeroom but very well kept and organised. ViewPoint Trading & Collectibles is one shop that you cannot miss when you're at China Square Central.
Housed with many vintage collectibles, ranging from vintage toys, furnitures, black vinyl records and player, to awesome items that you can hardly (or never) find in the modern days. The shop though not very big, is very well organised and maintained. Items are placed in groups and display in a way that is easy to spot interesting things among the clutter of collectibles.
If you're looking for unique decor for your house, this is a great place to go if you're into the retro and vintage stuff.
This almost-annual event (been happening for 4 years I think. The first one for me was in 2005) happens at the Singapore River. Thousands of people gathered at the floating platform, along the river, around Esplanade, on the bridge, at the Merlion Park, One Fullerton and everywhere possible to catch a glimpse of the display!
Some people even went to "chop" their place as early as 6pm! (Fireworks starts around 9pm!) Those who went later were either caught in the massive traffic jam or human jam. Despite the congestion and all, everyone was in high spirit to catch the firework display.
This year, there were 2 nights of display. First by the team from France and on Saturday night, by the team from Korea. These teams are both award-winning teams! No wonder everyone had their jaws wide open for the entire 15-20 minutes display.
Those who paid for the tickets to watch the display at the floating platform probably have a better understanding of the entire show as it was accompanied by synchronize music. For the rest of us, we had to imagine the music in our head while the fireworks was firing in the sky.
If you'd missed it, I've attached a short clip of the display by French team.
Anyone else went? Share your experience here! Especially if you've got photos taken!
Straits Kitchen, located at Grand Hyatt hotel, has the best of local cuisine in a contemporary market place setting. This is the place to go if you want to eat-all-you-can of the variety of food in one sitting. However I feel that the taste and quality of food is not the best you can have in Singapore. But that's almost true for all buffets right? So no complain there. The choice of food available should make up to it. Some of them are pretty decent and some of us had more than 1 serving!
One thing that I must mention is the excellent service and very attentive service staff! They clear the empty plates fast and when they see that someone is using their hands to eat (crabs and prawns), they'll bring a bowl of water with lemon for that person without having for us to ask! Each section of the place is managed by a few service staff. Hence they're able to provide the attention needed at each table. This truly enhances our dining experience at Straits Kitchen! 5 stars for their service!
Have past by this little cafe tuck at the corner of Marina Square several times. Over the weekend, we decided to give it a try.
As we weren't that hungry, and it was already pretty late, we decided to have some finger food. Ordered half dozen of NZ Greenlip Mussels and a Seafood Basket.
You can choose how you want your mussels to be done. We settled with White wine and garlic. This half dozen mussels was pretty alright. The wine was relatively mild and could taste more of the garlic than the wine.
The Seafood Basket took quite awhile to come. We were shocked to see it served in a bucket instead of the usual basket. There was a piece of fish, 2 prawns, 2 scallops, 2 fish nuggets and bunch of fries. All quite well battered and fried. Except for the prawns, which we both felt was too tiny and too much batter. Fish was crispy and crunch. Like the texture of the way it was cooked.
Overall quite a nice and simple meal. The place is pretty cool at night, we the lightings hanging from the ceiling of Marina Square and cosy ambience of Fin Cafe. (Check out the attached video and you'll know what I mean.) :)
And well, looks like they've started charging GST already! Its hard to survive without this these days.
It's been long since I stepped into Marche. Sad that the 2 other outlets are no longer in business and this one at Vivo gets packed almost everytime I was there. Good thing we were there on a Monday and was still early for dinner crowd. Managed to get in without queuing.
The place was smaller than we expected, and it looks very cramp with all the decorations and furnishing inside. But it does gives the traditional market-like feel but yet still homely.
Food we ordered...
SweetBread - aka Filled Crossed Bun at $1.50 This is something which I never thought of buying while at Marche in the past. But thanks to bf, now I'll make sure I buy one whenever I'm there. I like the fluffy texture of the bun and the skin (outer layer) of the bun has a sweet taste to it. Makes the bun very enjoyable to eat. But the fillings is very little, filled only 1/8 of the bun. But still I won't mind paying $1.50 for it. Of cos, if they stuff in my fillings, it'll make it just perfect.
Vegetables small plate at $4.90 I loveee mushrooms. And this "buffet" style vegetables stall has great mushrooms. It's tasty and fragrant. We mixed the mushrooms with baby potatoes. Quite nice too. Will want to try the rest of the vegetables the next time.
Crepe Mushroom at $10.90 This one is my most most favorite! Thin crepe freshly made upon order. The fillings is generous and the mixed of vegetables, cheese, sauce and mushrooms is simply delicious! Just thinking of it now makes me drool for more!
Chanced upon this modernly decorated shop while browsing around Marina Square over the weekend. The concept is somewhat similar to inQbox which has been around for awhile already. But Cactus Farm gives me a better impressions. The products on display are very neatly arranged and the entire shop gives a comfortable feel for their customers. The lighting of the shop plays quite an important part too.
The products on display are mostly from indie designers from Singapore. I noticed they do have products imported from overseas. There's this one that caught our attention at the entrance. It's a pair of square slippers. Looks quite interesting. Will sure to draw attention when worn around town. It cost about $40 if I didn't remember wrongly.
A quick check at their website and the rental is only from $8/day. Sounds pretty cheap, but that's only if your products are attractive and good to draw buyers.
If you're an indie designer, you might want to go check out Cactus Farm and look for their G.O.D or B.A.D! They also has got a M.A.D too! Interesting designations for the team. :)
Celebrated my grandma's birthday at Jumbo over the weekend. As usual, the place is packed up and down, outside and inside!
Having read the reviews on other Jumbo outlets, I had all the dishes I want to order prepared prior to the dinner. And thank goodness the dishes didn't disappoint. Except for one - the black pepper crab.
The crabs were all very fresh and juicy. We were given the bigger ones since we had 16 at the table. Ordered Chili Crabs and the black pepper crab. Chili Crab was fabulous - gravy was tasty, not too sweet nor too spicy. Just nice and goes very well with the fried mini man tou. However the black pepper crab was too saltish. Not too most for our liking.
Other dishes ordered include...
Scallop yam rings - very yummy!
Crispy baby squid - crispy and nice
Abalone, sea-cucumber and mushroom with broccoli
Cereal prawn - love the cereal! fresh prawns!
Salted egg prawn - it was gone before I could taste it!
Steam fish - at $110 the fish was very fresh and juicy
Shredded chicken ee-mee
Honeydew Sago dessert
Overall the food was good and the serving size was just enough for 16 of us. The service could have been better. Being seated at the corner on the upper level, with an almost dying air-con and a bright orange light, it was a little warm through the dinner.
Total bill came up to about $650, with 10% discount off from the Jumbo card, we paid slightly more than $580 for the dinner. Price wise is reasonable.
No photo/video for this because everyone was hungry and the lighting was really very bad for photography. Must remember to ask for a white-light lighted table the next time.
Rating given:
Was planning to have dinner at Amirah's neighbor stall, but was told it was already fully booked for that night. In order not to stay hungry for too long, we decided to give Amirah a try. The place was already packed with customers when we arrived as it was time to break fast.
We quickly ordered our food and thought the food would be served quickly. Well, our drinks did come almost immediately after our orders. But the rest took too long to come.
We ordered Hummus and Moutabel which are served with baskets of pita bread. The dishes were served cold but it took so long! The taste isn't as good as those I'd tasted few nights before at its neighbor's stall. But still not bad. The Moutabel lacked the texture that I wanted, perhaps their onion/garlic was over chopped. The pita bread served was not very good too. Some was either too tough or too soft.
Also ordered the mixed grill main course as seen in the photo. The meat were all rather tough to chew, was rather blunt and lacks in flavor. This only passable imo.
Overall the food is still considered as acceptable. Will probably not return for a next round due to the long waiting time and not so flavorful dishes.
(This review might seem a little unfair as I had a better experience few days before this nearby. Go give it a try and judge it yourself.) :)
Rating given:
Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) is the first museum in the region to present a broad yet integrated perspective of pan-Asian cultures and civilisations. The Museum's collection centres on the material cultures of the different groups originating from China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia.
I was privileged to have been able to join a guided tour by one of the curators at ACM. If you're planning a visit to the museum, I strongly recommend to join the guided tours by the volunteers.
The visit to the museum had been quite an experience for me. Before the tour, I thought museums are rather boring. But when I participated in the tour and had a better understanding of the history and stories behind the things around the museum, it was quite a discovery adventure.
If you've never been into the Asian Civilisations Museum before, why not spend a day there exploring? If you would like to really absorb all the content there, I would suggest you split your visits to a few trips. If not, you might just get too tired after exploring and absorbing just one section of the museum. As the curator suggested, don't go to the museum and wants to see everything there in one visit. One should find a focus for that day and just spend enough time to complete touring that section for that day.
Oh by the way, if you are unable to join the guided tours, there's always the self-guided tour guides around the museum to help you. There are many computer guides around where they can share the interesting things within their section.
Attached is a video compilation of few things I saw at ACM. And find out about a cute and interesting cup and listen to the curator share why the cup is interesting! :)
You can also read more about the interesting finds I saw during my tour around the museum at my blog.
Rating given:
Fig and Olive is one of the few halal certified restaurant in Singapore. This place is nicely renovated and clean. A nice place for gatherings and events.
I went there twice, once for a meal and the other for an event. The food I had on my first trip was not that good except for the fries...
Marinara Pasta @ $15.90
Not one of the better but still passable pasta. The sauce was served a little dry and the seafood tasted dry too.
Criss-cut fries was fried right and tasted crispy. The serving was quite big and I recommend to share it with few other friends. Unless you're having it on your own.
Food for the event was better than my first meal there. The variety was good and the overall taste and flavor was much better.
I may return to give them another chance since the two visits gave quite a big difference in quality.
Anyone else tried the place? What's your thoughts?
Rating given:
This is almost like a storeroom but very well kept and organised. ViewPoint Trading & Collectibles is one shop that you cannot miss when you're at China Square Central.
Housed with many vintage collectibles, ranging from vintage toys, furnitures, black vinyl records and player, to awesome items that you can hardly (or never) find in the modern days. The shop though not very big, is very well organised and maintained. Items are placed in groups and display in a way that is easy to spot interesting things among the clutter of collectibles.
If you're looking for unique decor for your house, this is a great place to go if you're into the retro and vintage stuff.
Rating given:
Singapore Fireworks Festival 2008 was awesome!
This almost-annual event (been happening for 4 years I think. The first one for me was in 2005) happens at the Singapore River. Thousands of people gathered at the floating platform, along the river, around Esplanade, on the bridge, at the Merlion Park, One Fullerton and everywhere possible to catch a glimpse of the display!
Some people even went to "chop" their place as early as 6pm! (Fireworks starts around 9pm!) Those who went later were either caught in the massive traffic jam or human jam. Despite the congestion and all, everyone was in high spirit to catch the firework display.
This year, there were 2 nights of display. First by the team from France and on Saturday night, by the team from Korea. These teams are both award-winning teams! No wonder everyone had their jaws wide open for the entire 15-20 minutes display.
Those who paid for the tickets to watch the display at the floating platform probably have a better understanding of the entire show as it was accompanied by synchronize music. For the rest of us, we had to imagine the music in our head while the fireworks was firing in the sky.
If you'd missed it, I've attached a short clip of the display by French team.
Anyone else went? Share your experience here! Especially if you've got photos taken!
Rating given:
Excellent service!
Straits Kitchen, located at Grand Hyatt hotel, has the best of local cuisine in a contemporary market place setting. This is the place to go if you want to eat-all-you-can of the variety of food in one sitting. However I feel that the taste and quality of food is not the best you can have in Singapore. But that's almost true for all buffets right? So no complain there. The choice of food available should make up to it. Some of them are pretty decent and some of us had more than 1 serving!
One thing that I must mention is the excellent service and very attentive service staff! They clear the empty plates fast and when they see that someone is using their hands to eat (crabs and prawns), they'll bring a bowl of water with lemon for that person without having for us to ask! Each section of the place is managed by a few service staff. Hence they're able to provide the attention needed at each table. This truly enhances our dining experience at Straits Kitchen! 5 stars for their service!
Rating given:
Small but cosy cafe.
Have past by this little cafe tuck at the corner of Marina Square several times. Over the weekend, we decided to give it a try.
As we weren't that hungry, and it was already pretty late, we decided to have some finger food. Ordered half dozen of NZ Greenlip Mussels and a Seafood Basket.
You can choose how you want your mussels to be done. We settled with White wine and garlic. This half dozen mussels was pretty alright. The wine was relatively mild and could taste more of the garlic than the wine.
The Seafood Basket took quite awhile to come. We were shocked to see it served in a bucket instead of the usual basket. There was a piece of fish, 2 prawns, 2 scallops, 2 fish nuggets and bunch of fries. All quite well battered and fried. Except for the prawns, which we both felt was too tiny and too much batter. Fish was crispy and crunch. Like the texture of the way it was cooked.
Overall quite a nice and simple meal. The place is pretty cool at night, we the lightings hanging from the ceiling of Marina Square and cosy ambience of Fin Cafe. (Check out the attached video and you'll know what I mean.) :)
And well, looks like they've started charging GST already! Its hard to survive without this these days.
Rating given:
It's been long since I stepped into Marche. Sad that the 2 other outlets are no longer in business and this one at Vivo gets packed almost everytime I was there. Good thing we were there on a Monday and was still early for dinner crowd. Managed to get in without queuing.
The place was smaller than we expected, and it looks very cramp with all the decorations and furnishing inside. But it does gives the traditional market-like feel but yet still homely.
Food we ordered...
SweetBread - aka Filled Crossed Bun at $1.50
This is something which I never thought of buying while at Marche in the past. But thanks to bf, now I'll make sure I buy one whenever I'm there. I like the fluffy texture of the bun and the skin (outer layer) of the bun has a sweet taste to it. Makes the bun very enjoyable to eat. But the fillings is very little, filled only 1/8 of the bun. But still I won't mind paying $1.50 for it. Of cos, if they stuff in my fillings, it'll make it just perfect.
Vegetables small plate at $4.90
I loveee mushrooms. And this "buffet" style vegetables stall has great mushrooms. It's tasty and fragrant. We mixed the mushrooms with baby potatoes. Quite nice too. Will want to try the rest of the vegetables the next time.
Crepe Mushroom at $10.90
This one is my most most favorite! Thin crepe freshly made upon order. The fillings is generous and the mixed of vegetables, cheese, sauce and mushrooms is simply delicious! Just thinking of it now makes me drool for more!
*SLURPS!*
Rating given:
Chanced upon this modernly decorated shop while browsing around Marina Square over the weekend. The concept is somewhat similar to inQbox which has been around for awhile already. But Cactus Farm gives me a better impressions. The products on display are very neatly arranged and the entire shop gives a comfortable feel for their customers. The lighting of the shop plays quite an important part too.
The products on display are mostly from indie designers from Singapore. I noticed they do have products imported from overseas. There's this one that caught our attention at the entrance. It's a pair of square slippers. Looks quite interesting. Will sure to draw attention when worn around town. It cost about $40 if I didn't remember wrongly.
A quick check at their website and the rental is only from $8/day. Sounds pretty cheap, but that's only if your products are attractive and good to draw buyers.
If you're an indie designer, you might want to go check out Cactus Farm and look for their G.O.D or B.A.D! They also has got a M.A.D too! Interesting designations for the team. :)
Rating given: