Top Ten Dream Vacation Spots

I need some daydreaming. I have decided to compile a list of my ultimate top 10 places to visit.

In no particular order:

• Maldives (W Hotel or Banyan Tree)
• Mauritius
• Spain
• Seychelles
• Portugal
• Greece
• Italy
• Peru
• Austria
• Belgium

There are so many more places to visit but these shall do for now :)

Footworks @ Orchard

I rarely blog about foot reflexology places as not many places in Singapore impressed me. Those in Orchard i.e. Lucky Plaza, Orchard Plaza etc looked dodgy and are usually simple set up with no ambience whatsoever. Hardly a place to relax and the prices are usually high since they cater more to the tourists, particularly the Japanese tourists. Those in Chinatown while cheaper, looked equally dodgy too.

Despite that, I used to go to one such place in Lucky Plaza (ChoChoSan) as the foot reflexologist who massaged my feet was good and I followed her wherever she was. The last I knew she was working at The Foot Place at Orchard Plaza with her sister (yes, I got to know the people pretty well. I tend to know service staff, particularly those who rendered good service :p).

Imagine my surprise when I saw her working at Footworks @ Orchard in International Building.

I quite like Footworks as the place strived to create an atmosphere designed to enhance the experience. Like in a spa, the receptionist will ask for your pressure preference before assigning a therapist to you. A nice touch is the use of disposable slippers after you leave your shoes on the rack by the door.

Soft music plays in the background with flat screen tv broadcasting the new (Channel News Asia). Headsets are available at each ergonimcally designed chair to listen to the tv. There is a small screen which can slide back if you are with friends or forward to maintain your privacy. The place is bright and professional.

Your feet are soaked in a herbal foot bath before the treatment commences. The guy did a great job in massaging my feet. It was really good. The session ended with an arm, shoulders and back massage. It was likely the best foot reflexology I ever had so far.

Unfortunately it did not come cheap. $45 for 45 minutes of bliss. This was definitely one of the most expensive foot massage I ever had.

Location:
Footworks @ Orchard
#01-04/06 International Building
Tel: 6737 3555
www.footworks.com.sg

Other outlets are at Valley Point and Cold Storage Jelita.

Marutama Ramen

The real lunch I had on Thursday with Davis. Yup, I was saving my stomach for ramen, hence the light brunch at Pasta de Waraku earlier.

I first tried it earlier this year when Adam was in town. The yaki char siu was to die for then and I had been raving and drooling over the melt in your mouth meat with the crispy sides. The ramen which I topped up with the pork belly was not too bad. The pork belly was too meaty and porky for my liking.

This time I ordered the spicy chicken broth ramen with the egg. The egg was really good, now I understand why it was highly-raved. The egg was not the usual hard-boiled egg ala those served in Ajisen. Instead the egg had a 3/4 soft runny yolk (not too runny) and soft hard boiled egg white. It was real yummy though a bit salty but it went well with the ramen.

The yaki char siu which I loved the other time. Unfortunately I don't like it now. Maybe because the slices were thicker and thus not as soft as previously. Definitely no melt in your mouth quality to it. It was still soft but just different.

The price went up too. It used to be 5 thin slices for $5 (?) but now it cost $6 for 4 thicker slices. Over all, the ramen was not bad. Can be a bit pricey since you pay extra for additional add-ons to the basic bowl ($12) in either spicy chicken or chicken broth. I like that there is a jug of water on each table so you can top up your glass. There is also a container of fried garlic to add into the ramen. I didn't particularly like that. Not really a garlic fan :p

Marutama Ramen
6 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-90
The Central
Tel: 6534-8090

Sephora Birthday Gift (and I can't get it!)

Sephora actually has a birthday gift waiting for me but I can't retrieve it since I am in Singapore now. Arrrgghh! I do love the gift - it's bath product! I can either get it at the store itself or if I order online. Unfortunately I don't think Sephora ships internationally or accepts international credit card even if I can order via Vpost?

Plus I still have some samples available for me too since I have exceeded the min. purchase based on my previous buys when in Canada/USA. Still, and I really would love to try the Vanilla Cupcake bath and shower bubbles too. I tried the Tangerine Grapefruit shower gel and that was fab!

Pasta de Waraku

I had a light brunch on Thursday with JC at Pasta de Waraku at Central. He has never tried Japanese-influenced Italian food before and was keen to sample it before he left for Canada. It was a tough choice for me to decide on what to have as the selection was so wide.

Too many pastas available, in cream sauce, tomato based and even wafu/wari sauce (made with bonito base). He tried the eel and egg with spaghetti in wari sauce.

I decided to have the side dish of salmon and cheese, and also the set lunch as I wanted to try the carbonara waraku style. JC said he would polish off whatever I couldn't finish (just like back in school :p)

Salad, bread & butter and corn soup. The bread was untouched, salad nibbled a little and soup was finished. I liked the corn soup as it had real corn kernels in it and was just right.

The salmon and cheese with a small side of salad and dip. This was really nice. The cheese was not overpowering. I shared with JC (rather, he took one to try while I finished the rest.) Lol.

Carbonara waraku style with fettuccine. It came with bacon and egg yolk. It was not too bad. I had about 4 forkful before I passed the rest to JC to finish. I think I very much prefer his order of the eel and egg in wari sauce. Somehow it was tastier from the 1 forkful I tried.

Location:
Pasta de Waraku @ Central
6 Eu Tong Seng Street #02-82/83
Tel: +65 6534-8085

Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar

Davis and I tried out the new Japanese eatery at the basement of Raffles City called Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar on Tuesday after my Bikram Yoga session. The concept is similar to Marche, where you are given a card to swipe your orders at various counters. You also get a wooden token to reserve the table of your choice.

The place is fairly big with even a kids' area near the cashiers/exit. The tables and stools are lower and there were some games on the tables to occupy the children too. That is a neat idea.

I didn't bring my camera so the pictures were taken from my phone. Quality is not that great.

I decided to try the bbq eel rice in bamboo pot after reading rave about it in the papers. Also tried the beef in hot pot after seeing another person having it. When in doubt, look at what others are ordering too :p

The beef hot pot. The beef was very tender and reminded me of the beef in Yoshinoya beef bowl. There were potatoes and bean vermicelli and onions in the broth. It went well with the bbq eel rice.
Very blurry pic of the bbq eel rice. The portion was small as the dish was not deep. There were only 3 pieces of the bbq eel and 3-4 pieces of seasoned mushrooms. I liked this! The rice was really infused with the bamboo fragrance and had a woody taste. The mushrooms were very tasty too, I liked the sweet taste.

This was the highlight for me. I initially wanted to try the crepe but after seeing the final products of other customers' orders, I was not impressed. I prefer crepe to be a bit crispy not soggy soft. Then I was looking to see if they serve the typical dessert of green tea ice cream with red bean. Nope, not available. So I decided to order the homemade cheesecake which was also highly raved in the papers.

That was fantastic! The cheesecake was not too sweet or cheesey at all. It was so light and soft. The berry drizzle on top complemented the cheesecake. The crust was crumbly and a bit too sweet for me, but over all, that was the best dish :)

Location:
Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar
Raffles City Basement 1.

Birthday Celebration

(you know you are no longer in your teens when a group of you can no longer finish a small birthday cake :p)

It was a whole day of celebration yesterday, waking up to a flurry of smses and phonecalls from friends and relatives with well wishes.

I met JC for lunch at Pasta at Waruku at Central. I had the side dish and soup and some pasta as I would be meeting another friend for ramen. He polished off the rest of my food as usual, just like he used to do when we were in school :p I missed having guy friends who will help to finish my food. Lol.

After that I met my ex-colleagues (S and V) for coffee at Starbucks, just to catch up. I just had an orange juice but it was good.

That was followed by ramen with Davis. I had been thinking about the Yaki Char Siu ever since I tried it a few weeks back with AF. Unfortunately it was not as good as that time, so I doubt I will go back there any time soon. Then it was off to Footworks @ Orchard for foot reflexology. That was really nice. It was one of the best I ever had. Thank you, Davis :) And it was a small world as I met Sumo there, she was the very first one to massage my feet way back in 2000 or something when I first tried it.

We popped by Isetan Scotts and I picked up my P&J voucher (finally here) and bought a loose powder refill (20% birthday discount - I totally forgot about it) and took the bus down to Heeren. It was more walking and my feet were killing me since I was wearing platform heels and I hardly ever wear high heels now. I am so into birkies or flats now.

It was a slow walk to Crystal Cafe at Orchard Grand Court along Killiney Road where we were to meet the rest of the girls for dinner. After so much food, it was a very light dinner - Teochew Porridge Buffet!

I still like Crystal Cafe for the selection and this time there were fried chicken wings. Yummy! Unfortunately they didn't really refill it. So go early. I like the fermented bean curd and steamed peanuts with the sweet potatoes porridge, plus the egg, tau pok, bean curd, mei cai, salted veggies, sweet potatoes leaves, fried fish. Err...I am not really a braised duck or porky person. Lots of pork bellies and even chicken feet too. Dessert was pulot itam (black glutinous rice porridge) with coconut milk and fruits. Just simple food :)

The girls bought champagne sponge cake from Swissbake. That was really very nice! Also lots of goodies - Crabtree & Evelyn soap from Tanny, sweets from Celest & moi. Plus the birthday gifts. Thank you for coming out for dinner, girls. It was a great time catching up.

After dinner, a few of us went on to the Observation Lounge at Meritus Mandarin for a drink. The walk was a killer on my feet. Lesson learnt, no walking if wearing high heels :p

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I will be celebrating it as my birthday instead with my close friends :) One whole day of eating and pampering session.

No flowers this year, enjoy the bouquet from some years back.

Bikram Yoga

I tried hot yoga for the first time at Bikram Yoga. I have heard about it for years but somehow the thought of doing yoga in a heated room didn't really appeal to me, plus each session is 90mins. I can barely get through an hour of hatha yoga. My mind tends to wander and I get bored easily. Body Balance is something I much prefer since it is a blend of yoga, tai-chi and pilates movements.

So why did I go to Bikram? I was getting too bored and I had a free pass, so I decided to just try it. It helped to see a real-life testimony too. The person who gave me the pass has been going to Bikram for just over a year now. She attends a class daily and the result is astounding. Much more toned, fitter and of course the weight loss.

Before going to the class, I researched more on it and the benefits of hot yoga compared to the usual hatha or ashtanga yoga. The testimonials looked fantastic, especially for those whose health got better. I was willing to give it a try as my cervical spine seemed to be acting up recently (e.g. pins and needles on left leg once i sit on the floor, numbness on left arm and a soreness on the left thumb) and I still have yet to find a good chiropractor I can trust in Singapore. I think my C4 and C5 are getting pinched again.

So how did I find Bikram Yoga? It was certainly different. The room was heated to 40C and the mat given was actually a towel mat and regular towel was not allowed in the room to mop up our perspiration (I don't understand this rationale, need to ask why in future). Big bottle of water was a must.

I went at 2pm and it was a small class with only 6 students (I love off-peak hours), hence the instructor could really pay attention to your poses. The stretching poses were fantastic, especially the "half-moon" pose. I could feel myself being stretched and muscles relaxed. It almost felt like getting a massage. The other poses were ok, some were challenging for me, and some were do-able. There were 26 asanas (postures) in Bikram yoga.

The worst pose was the "camel" asana. I felt so nauseous that it was so hard to do the rest of the asanas. Good thing that was the 22nd posture so it was toward the end of the session. It took a while for me to regain my equilibrium. Apparently it is normal to feel light-headed, bad, nausea in Bikram, especially for beginners. The instructor said it was usual to feel bad after the "camel" posture as it was to expel the toxins in the body. Then I felt hungry too. Nauseous and hungry, how bad was that? :p

Well, I survived my 90 mins of Bikram yoga and didn't even realize when the session ended. Hahaha. The last part was the savasana (corpse pose) and though I did hear them say "Namaste", it didn't really occur to me that it was the end. Lol. So I stayed on for another 10mins in savasana to recuperate after the "camel" asana.

Despite the nausea, I felt totally relaxed after the session. But I also felt chilled in the changing room, with the change in temperature. It took me another 10-15 mins of slow drinking of water and getting my heart rate down before I could even contemplate hitting the shower. I loved the shower gel/shampoo Bikram Yoga stocked in the shower. It had a heavenly rainshower head too. Fantastic! It was organic and had no LSL and all that jazz. It was citrusy and contained sweet orange oil, Italian lemon, mandarin and verbena. I could use it on my hair and it didn't dry out at all. Druide is the brand and is from Canada (now I wonder why I never see it in Canada at all or maybe I never pay attention).

Unfortunately I didn't have a good night sleep after that. In fact, I woke up a few times. I wonder if it could be because I didn't go to bed right away? I was tired but I didn't sleep as well as expected.

And now my body is aching all over. Bikram yoga really worked the entire body. Nothing is spared. The 90 mins spent was a real workout.

I am still deciding if I want to sign up for the trial week cos you will see some difference if you go daily for at least 4-5 days? And more if you give 2 months to Bikram.

For more information, see Bikram Yoga Singapore.

Seabreeze Melted

I know I refer to it as the candle from Seattle since I bought it from the area. It is actually from Island Soap & Candle Works. I'm such a blur-queen. I actually burn it on its own without realizing it will melt all over the plate.

I guess I am used to pillar candles which did not drip wax all over and actually burn within the candle. So here is the masterpiece after a few hours of burning. And there I was wondering why this was the fastest candle I ever burn and why the scent was so mild. Hahahaha.

The amazing thing is that the wax melted so nicely I can actually remove them in pieces as per the different sections. Now I wonder if I can salvage some by putting them all into a smaller container so that the wick can burn the wax.

Let's try burning again.

Candles from Thann

I bought candles from Thann today. 3 candles. Unfortunately one was not what I wanted, I didn't check the label as I just assume it was the correct one since it was right behind the tester.

Rose candle
Mon Rose (Lavender and Geranium)
White Flower (Magnolia, Jasmine and Ylang Ylang)

I wanted Blue Flower instead of White Flower :p

I realized I have quite a number of candles lying around in my room. The cranberry from British India and a home-made candle from Seattle in seabreeze.

I need to de-clutter my room and make it more zen like or minimalist. Lol. I am not sure if that is me, but I do like my room to have a spa-like scent :)

Update
Thann will be moving out from Millenia Walk in June as the lease will run out. It will move to ION @ Orchard in January 2008. The spa section has already moved over to Terminal 3 of Singapore Changi Airport on level 3 (opened to non-passengers too).

Thann Sanctuary is one of my favorite spas for a foot massage and body massage. Small and cozy with reasonable prices and none of the pushy hard-sell consultants.

CNY Dinner

We usually have steamboat for the reunion dinner and then to a cousin's place for the 1st day dinner.

I guess the food we had was pretty traditional. It varied. Some years it would be steamboat dinner too, and other years the cooked food.

Dinner was excellent. One of my cousins made the roasted pork which was sublime. I am not a pork person usually as there tend to be a porky taste and I didn't like that. But I was attracted by the roasted skin which was so crispy. Sinful too :p Somehow the marinade and the way it was done didn't impart the porky smell/taste. Tasty and crispy.

The steamed fish was very fresh, likewise for the prawns. The veggies were good (leeks, prawn and asparagus), chicken was tender. The only dish I didn't try was the duck. Usually I am just a seafood and chicken and veggies person. The soup was also very nice (not in pic).

This year there were more people for dinner :) There were 2 tables, and total 3 rounds for the 1st gen, 2nd gen and 3rd gen people.

Fish & Co @ Wheelock Place

I was actually out and about on the 2nd day of CNY. I was so bored so I went to the gym in the afternoon. Orchard Road was still full of people even though most of the shops were closed for the holidays. I walked all the way from California Fitness Orchard to Wheelock Place as I thought of popping by Borders. After seeing the crowd, I decided to have an early dinner instead :p

Fish & Co was opened, as were The Simple Life, Sakae Sushi and Coffee Bean, Starbucks, Borders Bistro and Dairy Queen. I decided on Fish & Co and had a table by the window. That was nice. Relaxing afternoon to read my book and have a light meal. I didn't order the usual fish in the pan thing as I felt that would be too filling and I was not that hungry.

Soup of the Day - Seafood Chowder. The soup was creamy and full of seafood bits (clams, fish, shrimps) and potatoes and carrots. It got a bit watery at the end, I guess that happened when it was left on its own for too long?

Caesar Salad with Smoked Salmon - the greens were crisp and fresh, the dressing was not overpowering rich, the croutons were crunchy and the smoked salmon was not too salty. Pretty good!

A pan of chips to satisfy my "junk food" craving. I didn't know the chips were lightly spiced, very nice! The chips were not oily or soggy at all, even those at the bottom. They were soft inside and crisp outside.

Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao @ Holland Village

I am never a big fan of Crystal Jade as one of my first experiences dining at a Crystal Jade was an outlet serving Cantonese cuisine. I didn't particularly care for the noodles and congee, maybe because I always had that when living in Canada and there were not many choices for Chinese food or rather, Chinese food is usually Cantonese food over there.

When Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao opened, I quickly became a fan of its Xiao Long Baos (pork dumpling with a tasty broth inside the dumpling) and Zha Jiang La Mian (minced meat noodles). That became my usual dishes whenever I dined there.

I decided to try something else at my last visit with C.

Beef noodles in spicy sauce. I forgot the actual name. The soup was the ma-la type, but luckily it was not that mind-numbing hot or tasteless. The beef slices were tender but there were only a few pieces, the picture showed more :p The noodles that day were not al dente at all, a bit soft and soggy.

I love this! Spicy pork dumplings. I think I love it because of the vinegar in the spicy sauce. The meat was tender and the skin was so soft it just slid down the throat. I would definitely order this again.

Fraiche Soaps and Swizzles

Honeysuckle Swizzle

I chanced upon this website Fraiche (pronounced \'fresh\) which makes soaps and bath bombs aka swizzles with organic ingredients such as goat milk, aloe vera, fruit powder etc. The soaps and swizzles are handmade and have the most tempting names and look so pretty.

I will let the pictures do the talking. I just want to try them all!

Rose soap
Dewy Cactus Flower soap
Toasted Almond soap
Cherrylicious Swizzle

Lavender Fields Swizzle

Prada Bags, Wallet and Shoes

No, I have not gone bonkers on Prada. I was looking at Prada shoes, then while at the shop, I saw a delightful nylon tote (actually looks like LV Neverfull design) in several bright spring colors. At the shop, there were black, pink, fuchsia, turquoise, orange and brown. But I saw online later there was also a purple! I want that :p I can't seem to find the collection name for that or pictures so just imagine the LV Neverfull with a solid color with trimming.

Then while searching online for pics of that tote, I came across the spring colors for the Gauffre. The same design which got me started on my very first designer bag lemming in end 2006 :p I love this turquoise bag. I don't think I saw this color at the store (or if I did, the color didn't look the same as in pic), but then again, after a day of looking at bags, I am quite bagged-out, mind full of information on the various designs and prices.

Prada Tessuto Gauffre Satchel in Turquoise (another color is Navy)

Browsing for wallets, I quite like this continental wallet from Prada but in Cream. However, I don't particulary like the 2 metal stud buttons, so we shall see.

Exterior of the Prada Continental Wallet

Inside of the Prada Continental Wallet

Finally the reason for entering the Prada store. I wanted to check out the shoes. This is only 2.5" which is a good height and made of nappa leather. I tried it and the height was fine. But the front is a bit hard, so the balls of feet will get tired after a while. Plus the front shows toe cleavage which I didn't like, so this is out.

The back is pretty with the lace at the back with Prada on it. Subtle.

New Love - Bottega Veneta Campana

I finally went to check out the LV bags which I was lemming for previously. I was seriously disappointed when I saw the Suhali Lockit. The Lockit is too heavy for my liking and I didn't realize the goatskin leather is not soft at all. I don't expect it to be too soft but I didn't know it will be so hard either. I like the structure but the weight is quite a no-no for me as I am a person who tend to carry a lot of things in her bag.

Of the colors I saw, white is still the best. I didn't particularly like the brown (Sienne) or grey (Verone) and blue was never in my plan. I didn't see black but by then I was not that crazy about the Lockit to really want to ask the SA to show me. Then again who knows? A good SA is one who will just bring out all the colors in order to tempt a customer even when a customer did not seem keen.

That is always the #1 "rule" when in retail. The GM in my ex-company always liked to tell the shop staff to encourage the customers to try on the clothes they picked out and to offer them other items to complement the top or bottom the customer has asked to see or offer them in different colors. This is cross/up selling. Sadly, I doubt all the shopfront staff actually do that.

That is really true. Something which you never thought you will like when hanging on the hanger somehow does look different when you are wearing it. Which is why sometimes "see no evil" is good. If you don't see, you don't get tempted. Hahaha.

Anyway, so on we went to check out other bags and finally in Paragon Bottega Veneta, I found a bag I like. Actually I was not even that keen on Bottega as I am not that big a fan on weaved leather. I was more keen on checking out the shoes as I have heard good things about it. But the SA (Joyce) at Paragon was really nice and patient and showed us the bags which my gf was looking at. I took one of the bags to try and dang it! I was hooked by the buttery soft leather (lambskin) and the weight. It was so light. I love it!

My new love - Bottega Veneta Campana in Ebano

So now I am loving the Bottega Veneta Campano in Ebano. I prefer this color as it is not stark black and I am still a simple boring girl who prefers plain bags for work purpose. Too bad the price tag is not simple. Hahahahaha. This is perfect for work even though it is not that structured like the LV Suhali Lockit. It is big enough to dump my stuff and light enough to carry and the color is dark and boring enough too. Since this is a classic piece in a classic color, I have heard that it will never be on sale, so save for it, I must :p

Afternoon Tea @ Four Seasons' The Bar

Another long overdue post. We went to Four Seasons for a kinda farewell thingy before I left for Canada last year. We decided on tea and decided to try The Bar at the Lounge area instead of at One Ninety. I am now pretty into Four Seasons after I organized an event which was held there. The support given by the staff was really good and helped made my job easier. And because of that, I have tried the food/drinks there quite often :p



The afternoon tea was refillable for the food but not for the drink (which is a minus) though they did allow me to change after I finished my hot chocolate (this was at their discretion) so that was nice.

Valrhona Hot Chocolate - you add the chocolate into the milk and stir (I didn't finish mixing it up and there was a thick sludge of chocolate at the bottom)

The tier stand with scones, mini sandwiches and desserts

I like the salmon and the rose macaroon

The cakes I took from the buffet table (only the cakes are from the table) which were oh so good.

Five of us could make it that day :) I just realize the chairs looked like they were from LV Damier Canvas range? ;p

Location:
The Bar, Four Seasons Lounge
190 Orchard Road
Tel: 6734-1110

Upgrade Template

I just upgraded my template on blogspot and realized I have lost some of my non blogspot application. It has been a frustrating morning, finding out the various codes for the apps. Still can't find my code/password/userid for the travelmap thing.

Now I am getting used to the new format. At the moment, the only feature I like is that finally the "labels" for the posts are on the sidebar.

Shangri La - Rose Veranda

I found a perfect place to kill 6 hours on a weekday afternoon. If you ever found yourself with time to spare or if you just want a nice, comfortable and quiet place to chill during the afternoon, Rose Veranda at Shangri-La is the ideal location.

I was sold by the idea of the 101 varieties of tea at Rose Veranda. I am still searching for my Prince of Wales (tea, that is) ever since I tried it way back in 2000 or so at The Regent. The Prince of Wales tea is described as the "burgundy" of all teas and is absolutely gorgeous. It is a mild tea which doesn't get bitter even after being steeped in hot water for the entire afternoon. It retains its flavor and fragrance. Unfortunately The Regent changed its tea selection a few years back and so I have been searching for the Prince of Wales ever since. I have yet to find it in Singapore. I found a box under Lipton or Twinings but it somehow didn't taste the same.

So I was excited by the 101 choices at Rose Veranda. Alas, despite the many selections, there isn't any Prince of Wales either. But there is a Queen's tea (which I didn't try as I chose the rose petals tea instead :p)

The lunch/tea starts from 12noon till 6pm on weekdays which is really nice as you don't feel rushed at all. You can really have a leisurely lunch or tea, have a natter with girlfriends or just bring along a book and read. The food selection is not as wide as The Line or other buffet places but it is good enough. Face it, you will never be able to really try everything anyway.

I thought the food selection is just nice. Two dessert tables filled with 3-4 cakes, 2 types of scones, some dessert cups, pralines, small chocolate dip for marshmallows and strawberries, cookies, bread and butter pudding, etc.

A small table with Japanese food - 4 types of sushi, salmon sashimi and all sorts of gingers/pickles

The long table with the proper cooked food - just an assortment of salad, cheeses, bread, crackers, dim sum basket (rotating change of items), finger food, starters, mee rebus, naan, corn rice, 2 types of curries, some mains.

Another small table with fresh cream of mushrooms (definitely not out of a can) with a subtle mushroom flavor and not overly creamy jelak taste, roasted pork belly and char siew (the chef will slice for you).

The plus point is the tea. You can actually change the tea and get to try various types and it is refillable for iced tea. I didn't change my tea as I was happy with it and it was a huge pot but my gfs got to try various iced teas.

The table setting with Wedgwood tea set

Japanese counter

My 1st plate (chicken curry, spicy fish fillet, naan, eel with wakame and ginger, vietnamese raw spring roll, cauliflower au gratin and green curry chicken) - the fish is really good

My 2nd plate (ham/cheese sandwich, popiah, mini crabcake with real crabmeat, grilled tomato, sushi, salmon sashimi, duck) - the salmon sashimi and sushi and crabcake are so yummy and fresh
Dessert counter
T's dessert plate (I shared the cakes with her)

My dessert plate - all the mini chocolatey and sweet stuff

Actually I was quite impressed with myself as I definitely ate so much lesser than when I was younger. Hahaha, must be really old age :p Now it is all about sharing the food cos usually you just want a bite or two to try, not necessary to polish off the entire thing.

Things I had which I didn't take pictures of - more salmon sashimi and a couple of sushi, small serving of the mee rebus (not bad, with toppings of quail egg, tau pok, sliced green chilies, coriander), a small serving of the mushroom soup, 1 piece of the roasted pork belly (very crispy skin, really good), 1 scone with jam and clotted cream, taste of the bread and butter pudding and another chocolate dipped strawberry.

There were so many more things which I didn't get to try :p

It is definitely a place I don't mind going again on a weekday, just because I can spend 6 hours there if I want to. Weekends and public holidays will be 2 seatings.

Location
Rose Veranda (Level 2)
Shangri-La Hotel
Tel: 6213-4486