Guess Butterfly Sandals

I finally bought the Guess sandals after eyeing them for so many weeks. I first noticed the high heels version with a strappy buckle across the ankle. I think the color caught my attention - metallic greenish blue with butterflies. Unfortunately Guess heels are always too spindly narrow and high for me. I have a fear of toppling over or spraining my ankles whenever I wear high heels (3" or more).

Then I saw the lower heels version (about 1") which is less dressy but equally pretty and in the same colors - greenish blue, pink and silver. Again, I was contemplating them and finally I bought them on Wednesday night.

After much deliberation between the pink and green/blue, I decided on the pink as both Tanny and the SA said they looked much better on me. Plus the pink will be easier to match. The kicker was it was the last pair! (well at least at Paragon outlet) So I can't afford to wait another 2 weeks for the Great Singapore Sale (GSS), which I am sure there will be some form of discount then.
Close up of the butterflies, and they are purple! Yay, my fave colors too :) Still contemplating on the greenish blue, maybe I will get them if they have deep discounts on that during the GSS :p

The metallic pink reminded me of the pink bag I bought from Che Che previously and the metallic pink actually flaked off from the bag. I sure hope this won't happen for the sandals.

Shashlik Restaurant

I finally get to go to Shashlik Restaurant after hearing so much about it. Tucked away on the 6th floor of Far East Shopping Centre, Shashlik is an institution. An icon which manage to survive to this day. It is quite amazing how the restaurant which supposedly serves Russian food is still around (it has been around for over 40 years or more), especially when so many restaurants have come and go in the last 40 years.

Helmed by Hainanese chefs who learnt how to cook western dishes from other white chefs, they decided to set up their own restaurant. Well known for its borscht soup, steak, shashlik beef, escargots and baked alaska, it has its followers as it is perpetually full. Reservations are recommended for all times.
We shared the borscht soup topped with sour cream which was so yummilicious! The last time I tried borscht soup was way back in the early 90s at the Russian restaurant in Serangoon Gardens and that was so awful I never tried borscht soup anymore, until now. Definitely no regret about ordering this. The sour cream added a new dimension to the soup which was filled with chunks of vegetables and pieces of beef in a tomato based soup. Too bad I already finished the bun else I would dip it in the soup too. The bun reminded me of those you get on SIA but way much softer and was served warm :p
The table decor. The place was oldish, most people described it as being stuck in the 70s. It was basic but filled with a sense of history and charm.
We also shared 1/2 dozen oyster mornay. This was not that great. The oysters were cooked and baked till the sauce browned. Would have tried the escargots if I knew that was the specialty. All I knew was the soup and steak :p
We asked the waitress for recommendations and she recommended the Shashlik beef which was beef fillet served on a skewer. The other option was the steak with mushroom sauce which we decided to get. The steak was medium rare and it was awesome! I have never tasted such nice steak before. Each bite was tender and was not rubbery or tough at all. Plus for a medium rare steak, it was not bloody. I usually ordered medium well as I didn't like the bloody juice. The meat was pink in the centre but no bloody juice or none that I could see and there was no bloody taste at all. The sides were ok but the highlight was the steak.

I read the other reviews and it seemed like it is also well known for its bad or non-existant service. Hmmm....we went there on a Wednesday night and the service was adequate. While they do not chit chat with you, they certainly do top up the water without us having to ask. And they readily and willingly recommend dishes when asked. In fact, I thought the service was pretty ok. It was not a full house but it was about 80% full. Even then, we were not made to feel like we have to vacate asap once we finished out mains. We didn't get to try the Baked Alaska as they do not serve it on Wednesday and Friday. Bummer. Then again, it will ordering for the sake of ordering. We are not that big a fan of it but it is hard to find Baked Alaska now.

Location:
Shashlik Restaurant

#06-19 Far East Shopping Centre

545 Orchard Road

+65 6732 6401

Daily noon-3pm, 6.30-10.30pm

True Blue Cuisine

We went to True Blue Cuisine at its new location along Armenian Street, right next to the Substation and a few doors away from the newly opened Peranakan Museum.


True Blue Cuisine tries to re-create the Peranakan (Straits Chinese - Chinese who intermarry with the indigeneous people in the old days i.e. Malay - also known as Babas (men) and Nonyas (women) - sometimes spelled as Nyonyas) home in the restaurant. The owner is a Peranakan and learnt how to cook Peranakan food from his grandmother or mother (I can't remember), so most or all of the pictures, crockery, etc on display belong to his family.

In the main dining hall. Along one side of the room are booths. There is a smaller room which has about 4-6 tables in there. The place is pretty homely and doesn't feel like a typical restaurant.
Appetizers of prawn crackers and love letters. I didn't get to see the bill so I am not sure if these are complimentary. It was quite a nice touch to have the love letters. Both were very nice and certainly different from the usual peanuts or pickles.

My fave peranakan dish - ayam buah keluak. This is the first place I know which serves so many buah keluaks (black candlenuts). At least 5 buah keluaks, but not so many pieces of chicken. The gravy was good and the paste inside the nuts was addictive. I liked it.
This was a salad recommended by the staff. I don't remember if it was banana flower salad or what. It was surprisingly good. Very refreshing with a soft tart and sweet dressing and crunchy veggies bits. Interesting and must try.
Another recommended dish by the staff - sambal pomfret. The fish has been filleted so you don't have to bother with the bones at all. The fish was fresh and had none of the fishy smell or taste.
The staple kang kong belachan with shrimps. Pretty standard fare. Nothing to wow about.
Complimentary red date longan tea which was nice. Not too sweet.

Total bill for the meal came to about $114. I have read other reviews online that True Blue was on the high side (which I agree when compared to other peranakan restaurants) and that they tend to have extra charges for the water (tap), napkins, sambal, love letters, etc.

Having been to a few peranakan restaurants, I think True Blue has a nice homely atmosphere which is missing from the other restaurants, so you are also kinda paying to see the antique furniture and heirlooms of a peranakan family. Think of it as dining in a pseudo museum where the food is actually good.

Location:
True Blue Cuisine

47-49 Armenian Street

+65 6440 4548

Daily 11.30am-3pm & 6pm-10pm

Shore Restaurant

I love looking out at sea and watching the twinkling lights of the ships in the distance which are waiting to enter Singapore. It reminded me of growing up in Marine Parade area. It was a lovely night, with a light breeze cooling the air.
Shore Restaurant - a little gem way out in Changi area. I didn't even know it exist :p We managed to get a table right by the railing on the sand so we had a fantastic view. We ordered BBQ food and chose our seafood.
Our food minus the stingray which took some time. I like the crispy ikan bilis and peanuts which were served as appy.

Baby kailan in oyster sauce I think. It was good. Fresh and crunchy.
BBQ prawns with some sauce. Lol. I was bad, I didn't take note of what was ordered. The prawn was sweet and pretty big.
Squid fried with garlic. This was really nice, not rubbery at all.
Sambal stingray. Yummy. Lots of meat for this stingray.
Our food with the table number - 81 :p Very nice meal for 3 of us. Portions were good too. I didn't really get to see the bill or the menu, so I have no idea about the total cost. It was a treat from a friend who is a regular customer there:)

I really love this place for its rustic and unpretentious food and location. Fantastic place to chill and enjoy the night breeze and view. Also an awesome place for fans of planes as you will hear the Airbus, Boeing and other planes whizzed by overhead. It does make conversations a bit hard to flow though. Nice for kids too as they can play with the sand and look at planes.

Location:
Shore Restaurant

11 Changi Coast Walk

(SAF Yacht Club area or something)

bills food

I finally bought it! My very first Bill Granger cook book. Yes, I know everyone raves about Nigella Lawson or Jamie Oliver, but this book has come highly recommended by my gfs. So truly, I really prefer to trust my gfs who have used his recipes before and felt they were easy to follow and the food turned out well.

So yes, I bought it yesterday at Borders. I could only find 2 of his books - bills food and open kitchen. I initially wanted to buy in Canada but I couldn't find it when I was there. It was probably because Bill Granger is an Aussie self-taught chef. He has 3 restaurants called bills in Sydney area.

Flipping through the book, the recipes look easy to follow with clear instructions. He even gave little tips at the top too. I am hoping to try all the recipes in there. Very often, I buy recipe books and only use 1 or 2 recipes in there. So maybe I should try 1 recipe per week.

I am looking forward to the scones, corn fritters, french toast with fresh berry sauce, mandarin and almond cake, saffron rice with prawns, poached chicken with soba noodles salad in soy dressing and lots more.

Some recipes are also available in his website.

Shape Run - 9593

Maybe I did something crazy or what, but I actually signed up for the Shape Run 2008 today. I was reading about it in a friend's blog and this will be her 2nd run. Shape Run has been around for 4 years now.

It seemed like the registration fee has gone up? In 2007, it was $20 for the run, $30 for the run + 6 months subscription to Shape. Now it is $30 for the run, $40 for the run + 6 months subscription.

Talking to my cousin about it and she mentioned that the first year was the best when Shape organized it as everything was messy and less organized. It was best because the gifts were much better and the Nike tee did not have the words "Shape Run 20xx" on it, so you can wear it out without people knowing you got it by participating in the run. Plus the tees were an assortment of old Nike stock so everyone wore different tees.

Now, everyone will have the same tee with the words "Shape Run 2008" on it. I quite like this green so it is ok. Last year was an orange tee. Apparently the tee sizes run small, unfortunately being #9593 (I thought 8000 was the maximum number of participants), means only size L was left. I hope it will fit ok for me.

Now I am no runner, so it is a case of what the hell am I doing? Going for a run? I am a walker, so yes, I shall be walking the 5km. The route seemed do-able. From Padang down to Shenton Way, round Prince Edward Road and then back up again to Fullerton area. It seemed like walking down from Tanglin Mall to Orchard and to City Hall and up again? I hope 2 hours will be sufficient for me to complete the walk. Lol. My friend finished the 5km run in around 34mins and was #261 in completing it. Maybe I got inspired too after meeting a whole lot of people in Vancouver who are also into marathons and hikes and triathlons and anything sporty.

So I have like 3 months to prepare for the Shape Run happening on 20 July. There are still about 1000 spaces left for those who are keen to sign up :) Please, please sign up so I can have some company while walking. Lol.

The Drawing Room @ St. Regis

We popped down to St. Regis for tea, just tea, no food as we were stuffed from Hediard last Saturday. St Regis, under Starwood brand of hotels and resorts, is marketed as a 6-star hotel, in the same league (or higher) than Ritz Carlton Millenia in Singapore.

Each guest room will have a butler to serve the guests, plus the use of a Bentley (not sure if that is complimentary or at a fee) to drive them around. But I do know the rooms start at S$600 per night.

The soft launch was in end December/early January (can't remember now) and the official opening was in April. I am not sure about now, but when we were there, the menus were not ready yet. Yup, no menu for us to order at all. How could that be? Especially for a 6-star hotel. How did guests order since January?

The wait staff was apologetic when she informed us there was no menu as they were being printed then. Maybe there was a revision to the existing menu? But still, that was virtually unheard of. Then we thought maybe it was only for the menu for The Drawing Room (we didn't want to have the usual high tea spread so we were seated at the lobby area instead of the area next to the windows), so we asked for a look at the high tea spread menu, and that was not available too! When we asked how do other guests order, she said it was a verbal listing of what they have.

Good thing we were only having tea, imagine if they got really indecisive customers? It was helpful that she actually took out the tins of tea leaves available for us to select from. That was actually a very good idea as you can also get a sniff of the actual tea leaves instead of just reading a description on the menu. The drawback of not having a menu was that you have no idea of the price. So the best way would be to expect an exorbitant amount for your drink so you won't be too shocked when the bill arrived :p

I had iced tea while my friends had the hot tea of what, I had no idea. Can't remember now. But I do love the china. They looked so fine and delicate and pretty and elegant. In fact, I like it much better than the Wedgwood china served at Rose Veranda, Shangri-La. The almond shortbread cookies served went very well with the tea too. VL commented that was the same cookies served at Sheraton she had tea over there. Ooh, and I adored the sugar cubes. They were not exactly in cubes but squarish with a square hole in the center. It was something different.

Service was excellent, with the wait staff constantly topping up the cups with tea. Oh, they even offered us the papers and magazines to read while enjoying the tea. One thing to note was that if you like your tea to be boiling hot, you would need to indicate that when you order. The tea served was hot, but not boiling hot. There was a pianist playing popular music which could get loud. I didn't really like that as it was a bit loud for private conversations. I would much prefer if they play soft music or at least classical pieces if hotels or dining establishments wanted live music as background music. The music should not drown guests' conversations.

The cost was not too bad as I was mentally expecting around $20 for the drink. Lol. It was $12++ for the tea. I have no idea if that is the usual price in a hotel?

Maybe I will go to St. Regis to try the afternoon tea many months later when the teething problems have been settled. So far, I have not really heard good reviews of St. Regis. Event organizers were also left gnashing at their knuckles due to the poor support rendered from the staff.

Location:
St. Regis Singapore
29 Tanglin Road · Singapore 247911 · Singapore
Phone: (65) 6506 6888

Cedele @ Wheelock Place

I had a late lunch there today as I wanted to buy freshly baked bagels and bread. I asked if I could order the bagel and orange cranberry loaf from the bakery side first while waiting for my table and then pay for everything together. The staff said it was not a problem.

Unfortunately it was a problem. It seemed like either the cashier was incompetent or the system was not able to read the order.

The first and second receipt (after 10% discount with a credit card promotion) didn't tally. The service charge and GST were higher on the 2nd receipt than on the 1st. I usually do not check receipt or figure and tend to sign blindly, but this time I happened to look at both receipts and saw the difference.

I asked another staff about it, and he seemed to think I was refering to the promotion discount when I said service charge. I had to repeat it several times I was refering to service charge before he understood. That was when he also really took a look at both receipts, before that he was just giving the usual spiel about how the credit card promotion work.

He agreed that there was a miscalculation and the bread and bagel from the bakery should not have any service charge on it at all (he didn't mention the GST part even though there was a price difference too). I still did not know how he did the calculation but he gave me back $0.25 when the difference for both service charge and GST was $1.06 (yes, not a lot).

So obviously there is some miscalculation somewhere but I didn't really want to bother about it as I just wanted to find out how the bakery and restaurant part differed in the charges. And by right or law (?), they should have reversed my credit card charge and re-charged me again instead of making the difference in cash.

I mean, that is logic. Giving me cash and not doing a reverse means that at the end of the day, the till will show a different amount and not tally with the sales at all. Even at Borders when they need to credit me with cash when they made a mistake, they will input something in the system and print out an acknowledgement form for me to sign on.

Again, the attitude and standard of service staff could really be better in Singapore. It is based on individuals. The company or management can have as many training sessions as possible but if the front line staff is not that keen to serve, nothing will change. Of the 3-5 service staff within the restaurant, only 2 were enthusiastic about their work. The rest were blind to the needs of the customers and it was a full house then. Water was not topped up, hands had to be waved violently to catch the attention of a staff (I saw that at one table). That was why I walked up to the cashier at the front instead to make payment after trying in vain to catch the eye of another wait staff.

This was my 5th visit to Cedele @ Wheelock and each time, it didn't manage to wow me with its service at all. Last visit, they made a mistake with our dessert platter order.

Lesson learnt: check receipts all the time and question any discrepancy found.

Family Day @ Plaza Market Cafe

It was family day last Sunday and we went to Plaza Market Cafe for lunch (brunch for me :p). Our reservation was for 1230pm and we got there around 1215 and the place was closed! There was already many people waiting outside, wondering if the restaurant would open at all as the opening hours stated on the door was 12noon.

Maybe there are still some hiccups to be ironed over when Raffles the Plaza became Fairmont Singapore early this year. I have never really seen Plaza Market Cafe shut its doors since it is usually the place where breakfast is served for hotel guests. Now it doesn't seem like it. I tried calling the restaurant to check it is still open (despite the fact they did call me earlier to re-confirm my reservation) and no one picked up the call. I had to walk over to Cafe Swiss and check with the staff over there. So yes, it seemed like they are only opened at 1230 on the dot on Sunday.

Sunday is local food, not exactly peranakan or international at all. It was an ok spread but I think the dinner or peranakan spread was better.

Brother took this plate for all to share. Errr...the fried stuff is not that great. I'm not a big fan of it.
My plate of appy or my version of appy :p soba was nice, sushi was average to bad. The sandwich thing was interesting - sweet. The green glass was actually avocado juice which I didn't realize till I had half of it. Not really my taste though I love avocado in my sandwich.
Again, my brother's plate. He just loves fried food :p
My main plate - the prawn crackers were really nice. Fried noodles too and the paper wrapped chicken.
I liked the mee siam too, the portion was tiny, just nice for buffet.

Cuttlefish congee. I just adored congee, my comfort food, especially when topped with bawang and spring onions.
Finally, the dessert plate - shared this with sister. The chocolate truffle cake was excellent. Moist and chocolatey. The spoon with pandan creme was good too, especially with the cherry and mandarin orange.
Mango mousse was nice too. Real mango sweetness.
Durian pudding. Very strong durian taste.
My nephew's fave. He had 2 bowls of ice cream. They were from Movenpick. Nice.

Brunch @ Hediard

I had breakfast or rather brunch since it was already 12+ when we really got down to eating last Saturday at Hediard. A small cozy eatery and store specializing in fine French food and luxury gifts, tucked away along Tanglin Road where the row of Tudor Court is.
We managed to get the table by the window (only table by the window as the place is so tiny you can only place 3 tables along 1 side of the wall - window, wall, door) and looking out of the window and sipping your cafe au lait, you could almost imagine yourself in Paris or somewhere :p

The cafe area with around 10 tables or so. Dark wood furniture with red walls. It was pretty crowded with most people streaming in around 1pm or so. Almost full house, I would say. There were many children that day too though it was not a totally kids-friendly place. It is quite a perfect place for a tête à tête, just watching the world goes by.

JK's choice of breakfast - Eggs Norwegian: poached eggs on toast with Norwegian smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce. It sure does look good. I miss the eggs benedicte from Marmalade Pantry. I was torn between having the eggs benedicte or the breakfast set. In the end, I chose the breakfast set.
I had a choice of coffee, tea and hot chocolate and hot chocolate it was, upon the recommendation of the server. Fantastic chocolate. It was so rich I felt I was drinking a block of melted chocolate bar, very fine chocolate bar that is. It was so smooth and not overly sugary sweet at all. It was a total chocolate meltdown. I added the milk towards the end, and it didn't dilute the thick chocolate at all. The very best hot chocolate I ever had.
My breakfast set in its full glory. The egg and juice came later. So what was in the set? Well, besides the choice of hot beverage, there was the orange juice, a 30gm pot of jam and a 30gm pot of honey with butter to go with the 2 slices of toast. I also got a choice of broiche, croissant and pain au chocolat. Half-boiled egg served in a cup and a saucer of salt to sprinkle for taste.
The pain au chocolat was really really good. Flaky crust with fine chocolate inside. Heaven. The toast was a bit too hard for my liking. It was so hard to bite through and chew, then again I prefer soft food :p

Half-boiled egg. I have not had a half boiled egg sitting in a cup for so long. The egg was cooked to perfection. The yolk was not runny but it was not too hard either. It was just right. Very nicely done.
I couldn't resist and ordered a large macaroon of the day. There were 2 choices - chocolate mint or something caramel. I decided on the chocolate mint. I thought it would be green with chocolate in the center. But pretty presentation nonetheless.
The Hediard is a chocolate. See the "hairy" raspberry. Somehow, chocolate always goes very well with raspberry.
Yummy macaroon. Crispy shell melted into nothing and left with a chewy softness. It was very nice. A bit too much though after the hot chocolate and pain au chocolat but would definitely go well with a pot of tea or coffee.
We decided not to waste the little pots of jam and honey and asked for them to go. They kindly packed them for us. It seemed to be the norm to do that as almost every table has this little red bag on the table to go :p You can also request for a choice of jam. I was initially given apricot but I preferred strawberry and asked for that. My bag was crumpled as it was sitting in my purse for a couple of days being squished.

I would love to go back to Hediard for the set lunch which is available on weekdays only. There are so many other things I want to try - soup, salad, sandwich (3 Ss).

Location:

Hediard Café-Boutique
123-125 Tanglin Road
Phone Booking: +65 6333 6683
Everyday:9am-8pm

www.hediard.com.sg

Capoeira @ Orchard

I happened to chance upon a street performance/demonstration of Capoeira along Orchard Road outside Wheelock Place a few Saturdays back. It was really really cool, watching it live. They were so graceful in executing the moves.

The above blood stain pic served as a reminder of capoeira background. It was developed by slaves in Brazil in a mix of martial arts and dance. There was an accident during the performance where a girl was accidentally kicked in the face by her "opponent" and she bled. I hope she was ok and didn't require any stitches.

This was certainly so much different from when I tried Capoeira at California Fitness 2 years ago. That was also the 1st and last class I went to :p



For more information, you can check out this group's website.

Ayam Panggang

I was at Suntec Food Court and decided to try the Ayam Panggang from one of the stalls there. It was really good as the lady grilled the chicken fresh (not those outlet which just heat up pre-grilled meat). That also meant that it took longer for the dish to be served. I went after the lunch crowd around 230pm but they may do the usual heating up of food to cope with crowd, I am speculating here.

The skin was crispy, the meat was juicy tender that I could cut through with the fork. I ordered a side of veggies too. The rice serving seemed to be quite small? Maybe due to the rice shortage now (higher price of rice).

A delicious simple meal. Grilled chicken, veggies, slice of egg, curry over rice, chili and soup. Pretty good. Apparently this is part of a chain. They have 2 other stores - 1 at Plaza Singapura food court and the other at Tiong Bahru Plaza food court.

I have always like the one at Plaza Singapura, also the one with the longest line ever at all times, but I would say the Suntec City outlet is way better. Maybe because they really took the time to grill the chicken that day when I ordered.