Set Dinner @ Prego

I wanted to use my FAR birthday voucher where I could either get a bottle of house wine or a cake at any of the dining establishments in the group, so I decided on Prego. JK and I ordered the set dinner which seemed pretty decent. Also we just had pizza and pasta over at Prego a couple of weeks earlier and wanted something different. We chose the same starter (prosciutto with greens and toast and olives) as it seemed more interesting than the soup. I am not really a big fan of prosciutto but this was not too bad. The toast was excellent - crispy and light - and the olives were yummy.

I chose the paella with saffron, seafood and meat. Maybe I was so used to paella in a skillet that when it came served on the plate, I felt it tasted and looked more like a risotto. It was a bit wet, like risotto. But it was still good. I liked it.

JK had the beef medallions which were served with mash and jus. The beef was tender and full of flavor. Very nice!

We had the same dessert (or was there only one choice? I couldn't remember now) - ginger/cinnamon tasting ice cream over pistachio with buttery shortbread crust and strawberries and custard, poached pears and raspberry sauce. Pretty nice though I preferred the strawberries and crust more than the others.

It was quite a long dinner as we wanted to unwind and chill over 2 bottles of white wine. We were there from 730pm till close to midnight. Sometimes we just need to savor our meal and fill it with good conversation and company.

Royal Doulton Candles

I love candles and I "discovered" candles from Royal Doulton from Isetan Scotts though they have been there for about 2 years now. Well, I hardly check out Level 4 usually :p The scents were not overpowering and I decided to try everything by getting the votive candles (or candelinas - 14 or 16 hour burn) and got the ceramic candle holder free. Nice :) Royal Doulton candles actually contained essential oils making it aromatherapy candles.

The scents are:

Energize - A fresh lively citrus blend of lime with the essential oils of bergamot and lemon.
Lavender - pure french lavender

Meditation - An exotic essential oil fusion of cinnamon bark, cardamom, orange, teak, lime, ylang ylang, bergamot, clove leaf, patchouli, peru balsam, clove bud, black peper, nutmeg, coriander, labdunum, benzzoin resinoid, and lemon

Relaxation - Enjoy a soothing breeze from a lily of valley garden blended with white star jasmine and the essential oils of rosewood and copaiba balsam.

Romance - An intimate blend of honey, musk and woody amber, lifted with jasmine and orange pure essential oils.

Weekender - A beautiful bright sunshine citrus, with the floral notes of jasmine blossom and the essential oils of lemon, orange, bergamot & camphor.

I have tried Weekender and it smelled so good. Throw was not too bad either. I like all the scents except for maybe Meditation.

Breakfast @ Oscar's (Conrad Centennial)

We went down for breakfast around 9am and it was already packed with diners. We managed to get a table inside Oscar's. Other breakfast locations were at the pool area or the lobby lounge. Fruits to start the day. The pineapple looked so sad. We were served orange juice and coffee hot from the flask. Nice. Reminded me of Angsana where coffee was also served in a flask.

Onto the proper food. I only liked the hash brown and samosa. The tom yam fried rice and noodles were cold! And this is coming from a person who like her food in room temperature or semi-cold.

The omelette was average as I preferred it to be less wet. The toast went well with the butter and strawberry jam. Comfort food.

More toast and croissant since the hot stuff didn't appeal to me much. Nutella! Yummy, especially with the crunchy peanut butter. There were also waffles and ice cream and congee and soup and cheese platter and salads but I didn't take those. Only the ice cream to go with the toast and congee.

Birthday Lunch @ Greenhouse (Ritz Carlton)

After calling and checking with so many places to make sure they are not serving Valentine's Day set meals, I finally decided on the Greenhouse at Ritz Carlton for the birthday lunch. It is always a challenge to find a restaurant which is serving the usual food instead of specials. As usual, we started late so we only had about 90mins or less of buffet time :p And we found out Greenhouse did not replenish certain items at all. Boo :( I didn't get to have the very nice mushroom soup with truffle oil. Raw oysters were not served for lunch too. But there were clams, mussels and prawns.
At least there were sashimi, so I was happy. Lots of salmon for me - raw and smoked.

2nd plate - butter chicken was good and the garlic butter prawns. Better than the cold prawns.

No more ee-fu noodles, replaced by the char kway teow which was so-so. The tart was nice and the har gow was filled with sweet plump shrimps. The skin was a bit dry from sitting too long in the steamer.

Dessert time! Back to basics - chocolate and strawberry ice cream with almond flakes. The strawberry ice cream had bits of real strawberries in it. Nice!

Dessert plate to share with whoever wanted a bite :p Creme brulee was nice.

Strawberry shortcake (also not replenished) was light and spongey. The grand marnier cake was equally rich and delicious with a hint of liquor and dark chocolate.

The ice cream bar was actually a cake on a stick - cake lolly. I believed it was orange flavored cake. Pretty good actually. The chocolates were good as usual.

Another year older. Cake was with compliments from Greenhouse. We were so stuffed by then. So we just took a picture of it lit with candle and me in it. We even forgot to take a group picture.

Close up of the cake. We asked for it to be packed to take away. I tried it the next day and it was just average (or maybe I was overdosed on sugar by then). Mango cake if I remembered correctly. The dessert buffet was much better.

And this was how it was packed. I took the picture after a couple of bites. For once I dumped the cake without finishing it. Maybe it was not meant to be kept overnight. But what a way for Ritz Carlton to actually box up a cake in a plastic container. It was quite unexpected for a 6-star hotel.

Tatsuya @ Goodwood Park Hotel

Tatsuya has moved from Park Hotel in Orchard (formerly Crown Prince Hotel) to Goodwood Park Hotel and since I would be in town during lunch time, we decided to head there for the set lunch bentos.

The place is still a cozy little place but looked much brighter than over at Park Hotel. Reservations is definitely needed and call early to get a table. We dined by the sushi counter and it was equally good too as you get to see the chefs in action.
I was undecided about what to have and in the end ordered the sashimi unajyo set (same as previously) as I wanted a bit of everything. The sashimi was very fresh and the chawanmushi was smooth. Tempura was coated with a light batter and fried crispy, not soggy at all. The unagi was pretty ok but I didn't particularly like the regular rice. I have been having Japanese food almost everyday and I much preferred sushi rice now, with the vinegared sweet taste.

TT ordered the sashimi set which looked real good too, especially since it came with sushi rice. I could have forgo the unagi and just order this. Next time...

Oh....and the service was good too. I received an sms a couple of days later from Tatsuya thanking me for patronizing the restaurant and hope to see me again. This little touch of customer service certainly did make me remember the restaurant better. Maybe this is why it is always so crowded with regular customers.

Location

Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant

Goodwood Park Hotel

(next to the main lobby, outside, towards FEP direction)

Tel: 6887 4598

Ajitei scallop ramen and clams

I was in the mood for something soupy and decided to head to Ajitei after swimming for the scallop ramen. It was still good. Sweet scallops and al dente ramen. The egg was so-so. I think I much prefer the stewed egg for ramen.

There was a promotion on clams and I decided to order the steamed clams in sake. It was soooo gooood! The sake was not too strong, so it was nice for those who were not into alcohol. The clams were tender and sweet and juicy. It was quite a big portion, enough to share. There were probably over 20 clams in the pot. So yummy!

The Queen & Mangosteen

I do like The Queen & Mangosteen over at Vivocity for pub grub. It opened not too long ago and ST and I went there during the 2nd day of CNY. As it was in the afternoon, we decided to just sit outdoors to enjoy the view.

I ordered the veggie burger (can't remember the actual name now) which contained cheese, avocado and portobello mushroom and came with a side of fries and salad. It was not too bad though I got a bit full midway through it.

Then we saw other customers who ordered the mini burgers and those looked real good! 3 mini beef burgers which were thick and looked juicy with a bucket of fries. Nice! I would try that next time.

Nice place with decent food and a selection of Brit drinks. Good for those who miss England and needed a dose of that.

Location
The Queen & Mangosteen
#01-106 Vivocity
Singapore
Tel: 6376 9380

YSL Y-Mail Zip-Around Wallet

I have always been attracted to the Y-Mail range from YSL. In fact, it is the only range which I like as it is kitschy, quirky cute to me. Killing time before watching the movie at 930pm, I went into YSL to check out the wallets.

I was surprised to see the Y-Mail wallet still available as I always thought it was a limited edition range when it was released last year or so. Apparently it is now part of the regular collection, which is good (unless the price goes up every season) :p

It is in my radar while I search for a replacement wallet. Yes, I am on the wallet hunt again, but this time I am looking at the continental wallet. The only style I will use for everyday use. I like that it has 12 card-slots as I need that many card slots. I have waaaay too many cards :p

Anyway, I will still look around and see what else will catch my eye.

C & C from CC (Conrad Centennial)

The doorbell rang just when I was running the bath in Conrad Centennial. Celest opened the door and in came the hotel staff with a tray of champagne and chocolates. A nice thoughtful gesture on Conrad's part to send up the champagne and chocolates for my birthday, and make it more memorable. What was amazing was their timing. I wondered how they knew I would be in the room. Was it because we just borrowed the DVDs from the in-house library collection and they guessed we would still be in the room? Cos the rest of the girls departed just shortly before we borrowed the DVDs.

A huge box of chocolates! 24 pieces. I was already so full of sweet stuff that I could barely eat more chocolates. So I only took one (till now there were lots left and I still only had one). Will bring the box of chocolates to the office to share.

Since I was going to soak in the bath, I decided to do the cliche thing. A glass of bubbly, a piece of chocolate and a book. A coincidence I was reading "Seduce Me" by Carly Phillips but how apt, huh? :p You can spy the signature Conrad rubber ducky in the background (no, I didn't use it) and the bath salts. I used my own - Rose bath tablet from Muji. A light rosy scent. Nice.

Thank you, Conrad, for the champagne and chocolates.

Another Year Older

It has been a busy weekend with birthday celebrations. Lots of feasting and good company :)

Friday - Feb 13
Lunch at Shima, Goodwood Park
Massage at Ayuthaya Spa, Pan Pacific Orchard
Dinner at KHA, HortPark

Saturday - Feb 14
Check in at Conrad Centennial
Lunch at Greenhouse, Ritz Carlton
Dark knuts: Avenue Quantum, Victoria Theatre
Dinner at coffeeshop next to Concorde

Sunday - Feb 15
Breakfast at Oscars, Conrad Centennial
Late lunch/dinner at Cedele, Millenia Walk

Wow! I didn't realize I went to 4 different hotels over the weekend.

Kudos to UPS

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from UPS informing me that the latest shipment from VS has arrived and checking with me on the actual cost charged by VS, and the GST which was applicable. It ended the email asking me to verify and confirm the GST charge before they pay Singapore Customs on my behalf.

That was a drastic change from their previous way of paying applicable GST on customers' behalf without verifying the actual cost charged by the shipper. I had blogged about UPS bad service when UPS paid GST where none was applicable and what they did to recover consumer confidence.

With this current practice of letting me know in advance, it is really good as I get to check the amount is correct, and I will also know when to expect the parcel. UPS is really very prompt. After I sent the confirmation email and got an acknowledgement from a "live" person (not those generic automated email), the parcel was sent to my place the following day. So all in all, it took about a week to receive my goods from VS (from ordering to receiving - shipping itself took about 4-5 days inclusive of GST payment confirmation).

I am not sure if this is a new practice from UPS for all customers or just for me. After all, I did recommend they should let me know in advance when I was communicating my previous dissatisfaction with them. Whatever it is, UPS has gained a happy customer and now I am not so hesitant to place order which will exceed or near the GST-free cap on goods.

Greenwood Fish Bistro

I have heard lots about Greenwood Fish Bistro & Market and I finally made my way there last week as friends wanted oysters. On Tuesday it has a oysters promotion where each oyster is only $1 with order of a main course. Warm holey slices of bread - very nice! We asked for more bread as it was just sooooo good.

First order of oysters - 18 oysters for 3 persons (6 each) to start us off. They were from various places and very fresh.

Picture taking before digging into the bread and oysters. The double J comedy duo was back to entertain us :p

The 2nd order of oysters - I had 4 more to make it 10 for me. The others had a dozen total. The 2nd batch was more salty, not sure why.

S & J ordered the black cod (aka seabass at Greenwood). It was very good, not that into the cinnamon poached pear though. The mashed was nice too.

The house fish and chips which the other J ordered. It was supposed to be delicious as D always ordered this when she went there for dinner.

I was wavering between the fish and chips and the pasta when the pasta won. Seafood fettucine and it was excellent. Real creamy and plenty of seafood, especially the squid. The squid was just right, not rubbery chewy at all. This was comparable to the seafood fettucine I loved in Canada. It was best to share this as it got too jelak/creamy for me after a while. Good thing the double J were around to polish my food, just like old times. The garburators are back :p

Hedgehogs from Purdy's

The entire Chinese New Year period has been very busy, filled with catching up with old friends and relatives. People who flew in from other countries. So I spent the 1st week meeting friends from Canada and Australia. The 2nd week was a work week, so it was spilt between work and usual routine and family and friends.

A friend's parents came in from Vancouver too and so I got a little present :) Purdy's! I love love love Purdy's Chocolates hedgehogs. Actually when Brussels was still around, I prefer Brussels' hedgehogs but Purdy's nut-coated ice cream bar.

The 10 little milk chocolate hedgehogs in a triangle box. Yummy!

So cute! The hedgehogs nesting in their little space. I used to have hedgehogs bedroom slippers too. Wonder what happened to them now :p

The truffle inside is made from gianduja (hazelnut), giving a taste similar to nutella. A hedgehog a week will be a nice treat.