Monday 31 December 2012

New Year's eve - Matte about Shimmers

Sorry that I didn't wish everyone merry christmas previously, I was busy studying for my driving final theory test...age is really catching up on me and studying is not as easy as last time. My brain just does not register what I've read! Anyway I've passed!

I hope everyday had an enjoyable christmas last week, at least a good rest if you do not celebrate ya? I had a great christmas eve dinner with my darlings, especially when Ros (the host, she always so hospitable) cooked personally for us! Yummy! 


 You should see the way she made tempura..so PRO! She attended tempura cooking class and she made her teacher proud, the tempura turned out to be exactly like restaurant standard, no doubt about it. She also made a big bowl of salad (sprinkled with breadcrumbs somemore!), fried bee hoon and bought roasted chicken.

Shiok...and of course, we drank alot of apple cider, ice wine and moscato, together with Jovin's great fruit pie from Fruit Paradise (stupid me went there empty handed!)..my christmas dinner can never be better than this, seeing friends being healthy and being there for me. I wish them all healthy and happy always. Same goes to you :)

So, we have survived the doomsday last week, Christmas, and now it's New Year. Seems like human species still have a long way to go before the real doomsday arrives. What have you accomplished this year? Let's not talk about what we have lost or NOT accomplished, it will be very depressing. So any plans for the coming year? Tour, buy a car or flat, make babies, change new job?

My plans are normally quite spontaneous..like one day I saw Yamaha flute was on sale! I just bought it and started taking flute lesson at Elite music school...hahaha...or the boating lessons were on Groupon, I also bought it and forced myself to drive a boat over the weekends, totally soaked and exhausted..BUT I had fun and I finally able to read music notes, play Danny Boy, understand marine jargon and berth a boat! Too bad, a skipper should not be someone who get seasick easily...which is me.

This year, the only thing I can think of accomplishing is to get a driving lesson. Ya ya...I know most of you have it already, but it's quite a big deal to me because it's time to judge myself how good am I in learning at my 30s. I know I'm not bright, so I worked harder than other kids in class, but now, I need to work EXTRA hard because of my age..

Hmm..and then what? I also want to have better skin, better figure, smoother hair..hahaha...earn more money, go to more restaurants and places so that I can share with you, get a better point and shoot camera...all very materialistic right?

See! I've even colored my nails for christmas and new year, very vain right?! Forgot to share with you..(Guys can go and watch tv now) Anyway I'm NOT a pro in coloring my nails, I'm just those who save money in manicure but still want colored nails. I'm sure you can do better than me..
Christmas nail colors I put on was Juicy Cocktail gradation nail colors that I bought from Qoo10 (formerly GMarket), it comes in 3 colors, pale purple, purple and dark purple..what I like is the purple and dark purple are shimmery and they are cheap. I bought it at less than $10 but the delivery took about 3-4 weeks.


New Year nail color (now) I put on is OPI's Shorts Story and China Glaze's Matte Magic (top coat) that I bought from Tammy, she's super friendly and efficient. Most importantly, she's a trustable seller and the brands she carries are authentic and affordable too. If you get from normal manicure shop, they sell OPI at $21 or metro at $16. Tammy sells them at about $10 - $12, depending on the brand and color, and deliver to you within a week!

I know I'm too old for hot pink (but I still want to have it), so I mattify it with China Glaze's Matte Magic. It gives my nails a matte finish and dries the coatings faster than normal top coat.

Hope you can have the chance to play with matte top coat, it is indeed very unique and so far, it is not common yet. I know it is fashionable now to do pokka dots, but I'm too lazy to do it :p

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

xoxo

Friday 28 December 2012

California Pizza Kitchen

Have been more than half a year since I had a pizza. If I had a choice, I will always go for California Pizza Kitchen conveniently located at Orchard Forum the shopping mall. It was recommended 8 years ago by my BFF that it has interesting pizzas and good salads. From then on, I couldn't find any pizza place that has the same pizza - Peking duck pizza.



This restaurant used to have 2 floors but recently they gave up the basement unit. So now all the customers crowd at level 1 unit, which have alfresco seats. Despite that, their food standard and services (and of course the prices) have not dropped. The backgroud music was too loud and fast though, imagine adding in all the customers' chattering and laughters..it gives me migraine if I stayed too long. If you like gathering, this place is great but do come early as there are limited tables.

I ordered the full Classic Caesar salad at $14.90, half salad is also available at $9.50. Their salad always worked up my appetite with their crispy Romaine leaves topped with shaved parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs, and the dressing is so light. You can choose to add grilled chicken breast, sauteed salmon or grilled shrimp at a price.

And then, here came my Peking Duck pizza (at $21.90)! Yum...

The ginger Hoison sauce made the whole pizza tasted like the traditional peking duck in chinese restaurant, just that now you eat with pizza crust. Beside the sauce that goes so well with roasted duck breast, mozzarella cheese and shiitake mushrooms, they sprinkled crispy wontons (skin) and leek on top of the pizza with love.....goodness...how to resist?

So if you happen to shop at orchard and want to grab a pizza, do pop by California Pizza Kitchen and give their pizza a try.

So here are my views:
Ambience 3/5
Food 3.5/5
Service 4/5
Price Reasonable

The address of California Pizza Kitchen is:
Forum the Shopping Mall
583 Orchard Road, #01-23
Singapore, 238884
Mall is located next to the Hilton Hotel
Tel: +65 6836 0110

Check out their website:
www.cpk.com/locations/singapore-forum

Monday 24 December 2012

Singapore Zoo with Panda!

You may think that I'm crazy but I visit the zoo more than 3 times a year. I know some locals have not visited in many many years, but I tell you, Singapore Zoo is the best zoo that I've visited compared to other countries. The admission fee is only $20 and the panda viewing ticket costs an extra $5 on top of the zoo ticket. If you are an OCBC credit card holder, you will get 5% discount (which is $1 off). NTUC credit card holder has more discount. Call me auntie if you want, but I will always ask for discounts.

You can take bus 138 at Ang Mo Kio Mrt to reach the Zoo. When we were about to queue for the bus, we saw a board with panda on it, saying that the viewing of panda had been fully booked. I called up the number stated on the board to confirm and the person who picked up my call said it was true, by the time we reached there, we will never make it to see the panda. It is a first come first serve basis, so even if we go to the zoo early in the morning, we may or may not be able to see them.

Being a sturbborn Singaporean, I still went up the bus and head my way to the zoo. Fingercrossed. 



We headed straight to the ticket queue (super long!) and we saw that we still have chance to see the pandas! So moral of the story, do not give up. 


 Can you imagine I reached there at 12pm but the earliest slot to see the pandas was 4.40pm. Oh goodness...how do we spend the rest of the day when I've seen the animals upteen times already?

So we decided to walk around in the zoo like it's our first visit...








Finally! It's 4.20pm! I hurry my way to queue for the panda viewing with my tickets! Woohoo! The weather was so warm but it doesn't spoil our excitment. When it was our turn, we were released to walk through part of the River Safari (opening soon next year), we passed by alot of fish tanks and I can smell the new paint. Some tanks already have water in it, nice and clear...I will definitely visit River Safari once it is opened!

And then...we were brought to another place to queue again.....We were informed not to get too excited and make loud noises in the exhibition because it will make the panda very stressed up. And so we walked in.

The exhibition is built like a dome (something like Gardens by the Bay) and it is air conditioned. It was like we have walked into a cool little garden. We walked passed the lab and food making room where the keepers used to prepare the pandas' food. I thought they only eat bamboo shoots but apparently they are fed with some other food so that they get all the nutrients they need that bamboo shoots do not provide sufficiently. Alot of work right...

And then.....we met Jia Jia, the female panda. She was quite shy, always hid behind and wanted to go back to her room on top of the stairs. I think she knew she's going to knock off soon..

We walked on to see Kai Kai, the male panda. He was pacing around also, very restless but at some point, he poised to let everyone take his pictures. Very professional.

After about 10-15mins, we were asked to leave so that the next batch of visitors can come in. We walked passed the souvenior store (where I bought Kai Kai and Jia Jia glow in the dark keychains at $4.90 each) and then to Mama Panda Kitchen.

While my friend went to the toilet, I check the restaurant out. The place was decorated in china theme, red lanturns, and full of pandas' pictures..

Then something on the menu struck me...... Panda Bao! They are actually made of lotus paste and nicely steamed..so cute! I bought them but can't bear to eat them...each cost about $2.90.

Out of the restaurant, we saw nice scenery, abit kampong style. This will be part of the River Safari..so peaceful. we sat there for a moment to enjoy the breeze.

Finally, we decided to call it a day. It was really nice to see that the pandas are well taken care of. I hope they will bear some Singaporean panda babies so that Singapore can get to keep them forever and send the parents back to China.....for retirement...hehe..

So if you have not seen the pandas in your life, please go and see them, they are so adorable..but do remember to be prepared to stay until late afternoon as the tickets are sold out really fast. The last visiting slot for panda is 5pm, while the zoo closes at 6pm. Night Safari opens at 7pm, you can visit the night safari too after the day zoo.

Really enjoyed my zoo trip, once again. Bye bye for now.....
xoxo

Thursday 20 December 2012

Menya Musashi

After my gym, we went for a dinner at Menya Musashi at Thomson Plaza. The restaurant looked like they are selling expensive food but after we checked out the menu, the food are actually affordable so we went in.


The restaurant was in a samurai swordsman theme, with all the drawn pictures of brave swordsmen on the wall. Then I realized this restaurant was named after a legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, who was famous for his double sword style.


This restaurant not only has interesting theme, it also has interesting ramen soup base: red, black and white. The signature soup base is white, which was cooked with alot of pork bones, so the soup is creamy and tasty!

We ordered Tokyo Akiba Curry Ramen at $14.90

 Baked Tongari Cheese Rice at $5.90

and Dokko Hotate (Scallop) at $5.90

I thought the cheese baked rice will not be enough for me so I ordered the hotate as my side dish, but I was actually very full after the baked rice (the plate is as big as my palm). The cheese melted into the baked rice and I had to twirl the sticky cheese with my spoon, looked sooooooo tempting..and it tasted as good as it looks. The curry ramen was also very delicious, with shabu shabu beef and thinly sliced onions and the noodle texture is like our chinese chor bee hoon, light and bouncy.

Another special thing that I've noticed, I was seated very near to the kitchen, the chefs inside were always shouting a command or something while they are cooking noodles and the rest of the chefs will follow. So I asked the waiter what was it for. Apparently, when the chef served the noodles, he will make the noise that samurai swordmen made. Don't know whether it is the real reason. Anyway, who cares when the food is tasty, right?

So here are my views:
Ambience 3.5/5
Food 4/5
Service 4/5
Price Reasonable
Toilet availability 0/5 (you can use the Thomson Plaza public toilets though)

Will definitely going back again after my future gym sessions.

The address for the Thomson Plaza branch that I've visited is:
301 Upper Thomson Rd #01-112 Singapore 574408
Tel: 6554 7120

Check out their website at http://www.menyamusashi.com.sg/

xoxo

Sunday 16 December 2012

Enjoy your Sunday!

So fast it's Sunday already....I'm exhausted visiting the zoo and our Pandas. Stay tuned!







Bosses (黑社會)

After the nice trip at the world's largest aquarium, I forced my friend to go to Bosses at Vivocity for hi-tea. I always like La Mian with stewed beef (especially it rains nowadays, soupy food becomes a great comfort food to me) and dim sum there. Besides the food, I love the ambience and the scenery that the restaurant provides. Romance.



Basically Bosses' theme of black adds into the opulence, overlooking the harbour, cable cars, cruise ships and skies....and they played christmas carols in the background. The service there was good too, they even bother to add a slice of lime into our coke. No wonder their coke tasted so much better than other places although it still comes out from the can.
 
We had fried fish skin as appetizers. Looks creepy and inhuman but they are soooo crispy and not fishy at all. We finished the whole plate in a mintue while waiting for our dishes.

Nice soft radish cake made of real radish unlike other restaurants that used factory made radish cake.

 Each of their har kao has 2 prawns inside!


Siew mai also have 1 and half prawns!


We sipped the soup until the last drop and nothing left for the dim sum. I've tried their porridge before previously and it was delicious too. Too bad there were only the 2 of us, otherewise we would have ordered more to try.

I have tiny bitsy problem with finding the toilet though. There were 2 cubicles embedded in the wall at the back of the restaurant, I got to "poke" the wall to find them. However, their tap is embedded under the mirror, making the toilet area sleek and stylish.

So here are my views:
Ambience 4/5
Food 4/5
Service 4/5
Price Reasonable
Toilet availability 2/5

The address of Bosses is 1 Harbourfront Walk, Vivocity #02-156
Tel: 63769740


Operating Hours
Mon - Thu: 10:00 - 22:00 hrs
Fri - Sat: 10:00 - 22:30 hrs
Sun: 10:00 - 22:00 hrs

Will definitely go back there to try their custard buns.

xoxo