Got engaged and turned a year older!

Wow, so fast time has passed.

It's been almost one year since I have last blogged due to a lot of stuff happening.

My boyfriend proposed to me at Resorts World Hotel Micheal last year in October 2014. It was completely unexpected.. so unexpected to the point that no photos were taken other than the photo of the engagement ring itself.

 But that was in October. Let's focus on now. So on Friday it was my birthday and he took me to Platypus Kitchen in Bugis Junction for my birthday dinner. I wanted to go there because I heard they have revamped their menu.

We ordered one dinner set and their signature Crustacean Bowl.

The dinner set came with their lobster bisque consisting of potatoes, actual lobster chunk and cheese. What do we think of it? Well we literally licked the bowl when we finished it because it was so delicious!

Lobster Bisque

 As a part of the dinner set, the main course is the truffles mac and cheese. LOOK AT THE TRUFFLES. You can't go wrong with cheese and truffles, I tell ya! The fiance loved it so much he wolfed it down so quickly.

Truffles Mac & Cheese

 My main course which I ordered ala-carte was their much raved about Crustacean Bowl. It consists of lobster, umi (sea urchin), cavier, honey and cheese with japanese rice. My verdict? I LOVE IT. The harmony of ingredients were so orgasmic. The saltiness of the cavier complements the sweet honeyed lobster/umi meat and the cheese adds a touch of creaminess to the entire dish. My fiance who is usually biased towards his beloved mac and cheese actually proclaimed that this dish is so good he should have ordered it instead of the mac and cheese.

The legendary Crustacean Bowl

 The final dish, my impromptu birthday cake. The TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE. Look at how pretty it is. Such a waste to eat it. But to be honest, out of all the dish, this tasted pretty..... alright. I guess because we had too much awesome ingredients before this and you can't go wrong with chocolate.

The total cost for the two of us was about $67+ (we ordered a drink too) which was pretty good considering the quality of the ingredients! This place is definitely a must try if you are on a 'budget' but you are craving for 'atas' food like caviar, lobsters and truffles.

Having Thai food like royalty and a sweet ending on a Friday night

Met up with my polytechnic friends after work last Friday and we had Thai food at Yhingthai Palace (Address: 36 Purvis St, Singapore 188613) which one of them, swears by.

We arrived at 7pm and were promptly seated. My first thought when we entered the place was "OMG, so noisy."

Though the place looks quite classy, the noise was unbearable. Maybe it's because of three tables of relatives or friends who kept shouting and talking at the top of their voices from where they were seated.

That aside, I have read many reviews about the place and the first thing I ordered based on what I have researched on was the mango salad ($15).

It came like that. The salad itself with fried chicken strips at the side. Not very healthy I guess thanks to the chicken strips, but I'm not complaining.. hehe. Now let's dissect it and see how it tastes on its own. 

First up, the mango salad. Warning, if you are not into spicy food, avoid this dish at all cost. Why? Because the sauce they put in it.. it's a little bit sadistic to me, when you first bite into it, it's like a bit sourish and a little bit spicy? THEN after you swallow it, the real spiciness of the salad kicks in. My friends and I were left panting for water. Luckily, I ordered the jasmine tea ($3.80) which is refillable.

Otherwise, the ingredients were very, very fresh. The french beans and cabbage were crunchy. I like.

Next up was the chicken strips. To be honest, it's fried chicken strips. It tastes like those taiwanese street food. Which is ok. Nothing much to shout about as you can easily go to Bugis Village and get it. I'm suspecting it came with the salad so the strips can 'dull' the spiciness of the mango salad. 

Another recommendation was the stuffed chicken wing ($3.50 per piece, minimum two)... stuffed with chicken meat (duh) and mushrooms. Here's another warning. Wait for it to cool down first. I guess I was so excited to try it because my mouth was still on fire from the mango salad (the chicken strips ran out cause we were sharing it amongst our group), I almost burnt the roof of my mouth when I took a bite.

When it finally did cool down, I got to taste it and it tasted alright to me. Maybe it's because my mouth was already numb from the spiciness of the mango salad? The mushroom stuffed in it was like a slice of mushroom. This dish is not exactly as memorable as the mango salad.. but definitely worth a try.

Next up was the fried yam cakes. Personally, I hate yam but my friend persuaded me to try it. So I did and to be my surprise, I liked it. Maybe it's because it went quite well with the sweet sauce that came with it? I'll definitely recommend trying this dish.

We also ordered tom yum soup which is $7 per bowl. It is clear tom yum soup and the taste is perfect. Not too sour nor was it too spicy. The balance to me felt right. Ingredients were also fresh. A must try.

We also had springrolls which is also priced per piece with minimum two pieces per order. I didn't try that as I am generally not a fan of spring rolls.

 Pineapple rice came next and I tell you it is one of the best pineapple rice I have ever tried in Singapore. I felt the rice was not too oily, the pineapple was sweet and the prawns were fresh. Some pineapple rice I tried were too oily or the pineapple was too sour, if not too hard, or the prawns just tasted weird. This was good. The ingredients all compliment each other. A must try.

This is the olive fried rice. We played safe and mixed the rice without the chilli and boy oh boy, it was good. Another must try. Everything was fresh and complimented each other well.

Total bill for the five of us was about $180+ including our drinks.

As mentioned earlier, the place was too crowded so we decided to scoot to another location for desserts.

We chanced upon Your Very Treatz, at 420 North Bridge Road, North Bridge Centre, 01-06. Exactly opposite the National Library. First thing we noticed about this place was how quiet it is which is exactly what we wanted as the previous venue was so noisy that one of my friends complained that she felt she was going deaf. 

Second thing was the menu, the desserts and drinks are CHEAP. 

Cakes start from $2.80 a piece. Of course, I don't mean a HUGE slice for $2.80 a piece. It's more of from a sample size. The bigger ones costs more. As we were stuffed from our thai meal, we decided to try the mini cakes. 

We ordered the chocolate mousse which costs $3.80. To be honest, I personally feel that the cake is ok. Nothing particularly special. But I can't complain much because of the price I paid for it.

My friend had the fruit tea which is $5.80. It came like this with a small piece of cookie. Pretty cute. I stole a sip from her cup and it tasted heavenly despite the fact that it came without the sugar. Worth a try. 

Overall, I'll definitely recommend this place as it's a great place to just chill and catch up with friends over desserts and drinks. 

A nice way to end a Friday night with my polytechnic friends. :) 

Good times at Waterloo Times

Family took me to this place located at Waterloo Center near a food court. Entering this place was quite an experience as it's a relatively small shop. I'm guess they can seat like 20-25 people? 

 We ordered the salad which looks pretty decent. If my memory serves me right it costs below $10 which is not too shabby considering the portion served.

 I ordered their steak and first thing's first, the taste.. of it was cooked just about right. Medium well.. as I have asked for. The black pepper sauce (the orange sauce) was exquisite. It had a creamy taste with a mild peppery aftertaste. Definitely something different.

 It came with the mashed potato served separately and I must say.. it is addictive and you can tell it is made fresh. Not like some places where the mashed potatoes are made from the powdered packets.

 My mom had the salmon aglio olio. LOOK AT IT.

 My dad had the lamb chops..

 And the seafood pasta.

 We had strawberry shortcake which costs $6.

 Close up of the adorable ladybug biscuit.

 And the chocolate tart which is also $6.

Definitely a place worth coming back to as the food is delicious and the price is pretty alright! 

Blk 261 Waterloo Street
#01-24 Waterloo Center

Singapore 180261

Virgin Entry: Equarius Hotel Ocean Suites stay and Sam Leong's Forest lunch.

Hello, I've been intending to start a new blog again as my iPhone and Instagram have been flooded with photos of the places I have been dining at and I am more than happy to share where I have been to. I mean good things always have to be shared right? So.... I finally got my lazy bum to start writing something. 

This staycation took place around the 4th of August 2013. My boyfriend's family booked the Ocean Suite at Equarius Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa just for one night. If you are wondering, WHY one night? Well.. it may be because it costs a bomb? (Around SGD 1500 a night) So a night was good enough for me. 

So why is it called the Ocean Suite? Because it is located at the other end of the S.E.A Oceanarium. We had to go to Equarius Hotel where a hotel buggy drove us into the.......... underground carpark. Yes, you heard me right, the underground carpark of Equarius Hotel. Then the buggy stops right outside Cat Coral's Ocean Restuarant. Adjacent to it is the entrance to the Ocean Suites.

Not exactly glamorous here.... but ok given how Singapore is so small.. I guess I can empathize? Upon entering the place, we are greeted by a flight of stairs going up to our left and right in front of us is the bedroom with the ocean view. Before we get to that part, let's talk about what's upstairs first. 

Upstairs is the 'living room' area. Judging by the sounds beyond the wall, I can safely guess that we are located right behind the Adventure Cove. In the living room area, there's a sofa that can be transformed into a queen size bed. When we arrived, there's a plate of Equarius Hotel's sweets on the table for us consisting of two caramel macaroons, white chocolate and milk chocolate almonds. This was a PLUS point because I'm a self-confessed chocoholic. 

   

There's also a bowl of complimentary fruits. 

So my boyfriend, his brother and I went to use the jacuzzi outdoors. There was a iPod port for us to charge and blast our iPod in the living room but it was pretty pointless as we found out the jacuzzi drowns out the music. 

Photo of my boyfriend and I. HAHA So lovey dovey it's kind gross. Sorry for tainting your eyes. 

After that we cleaned up and went downstairs to enjoy the view of the ocean.  One big problem I noticed was that Ocean Suite view is too close to the S.E.A Oceanarium. We can actually see camera lights flashing across us and faintly see the outlines of the Ocean Restaurant to our left. So I guess the tourists across us can see us faintly? Kind of makes you paranoid since you can see their camera lights flashing.. But as mentioned before, Singapore is small, so what to do? The only thing that made this tolerable was that after 6pm, when the S.E.A Oceanarium closes it doors to the public, then it becomes really therapeutic and breathtaking.... we can see the little baby rays swimming close to us.

My boyfriend's brother and father enjoying the close encounters. Though Equarius Hotel is quite far from the main Resorts World cluster, we didn't find that depressing because we ended up staring at the fishes for hours and hours. I even managed to do my yoga routine in front of the window.

And to make things better, we had a tray of chocolates. MORE CHOCOLATES! YAY!

Close ups of the eagle rays and the little school of fishes swimming under them for free food and protection from predators. At 10.30pm, the lights in the oceanarium goes off. It's also a cue for us to go to sleep.

The next morning, my boyfriend and I woke up to this view. If only I can wake up like this EVERY SINGLE DAY! It will be fantabulous! 

And then a school of fishes swam close to the window before we got ready for lunch at Sam Leong's Forest.

I love how his menu have the Autumn/ Winter version. Very creative.

We got a complimentary starter which was really refreshing. It's some kind if cold tomato with iced fruit juice with a leaf of mint on top.. I'll give this 4/5 because it's quite unique but a little sour.. and because it's complimentary, it's serving size is tiny. I ordered the Autumn Set Lunch.

Above: Pan-seared Chicken Breast with herbs and apple salad. Minimal, healthy and delicious. I literally wiped the plate clean with my fork. Rating: 5/5

My main which is the Wok-Fried Japanese Pearl Rice with Squid Ink accompanied with Seared Hokkaido Scallop came next. I found the presentation really interesting. If I didn't know better, I'll think it's some kind of odd birthday cake. The 'candle' stuck above is actually leek. The fried rice.. I suspect the squid ink was infused into it because it didn't stain the fork or my teeth. It wasn't oily and the scallop was perfectly seared. This is definitely a dish I can get addicted to. 5/5 for this!

The last dish which is the Forest Delight.. well, let's just say I was a bit annoyed with the waiter when I was ordering this. I asked him what is the Forest Delight? The waiter told me it was dessert. It took every ounce of self control not to roll my eyes at him. Yes, I know it is DESSERT. I want to know WHAT exactly it is? Anyway, I found out for myself when the dessert was served to me. It's coconut pudding with aloe vera and orange popping candy. Yes, you did not read this wrong. The chef put popping candy into the dessert! I could hear the candy crackling in the coconut husk.

Close up of the dessert. It's good! The sweetness of the aloe vera cubes, combined with the crackling of the candy and the somewhat neutral taste of the coconut pudding makes a pretty good marriage of ingredients. A really interesting taste. Rating: 4/5

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Have to bid farewell to the Ocean Suite. It's definitely an experience worth spending over a thousand for.. after all.. like what teenagers say lately.. YOLO.