EAT N SHOP TO MY HEART'S CONTENT

RANDOM FOOD POSTS

2009-11-01T00:43:03Z

Ah Yat Tian Xia (阿一天下)

Our 1st time here. Cow n I both had this set but we picked 2 dif types of rice dishes.
Verdict: value for money. im not expecting East Ocean kind of quality given tt EO's
set meals per pax can range for $70+ to $140+ ( those we tried ).

Erm, perhaps they cld use pick another kind of serving bowl? this 1 looks real el
cheapo IMO.

Abalone Rice with Soy Sauce. Quite an OK dish. Lovely accompanying dip sauce.

Baked abalone with fried rice. I Dun fancy the burnt bits, so i promptly scraped them
away. The gravy was a lil bland, fried rice was really forgettable.

Dishes come in 2 choices: with or w/o abalone

Similarly, Desserts also come in 2 choices: with or w/o bird's nest.

Hubs ordered 2 with bird's nest. But i muz say they're exorbitant. these 2 bowls cost
him $30, but they come in huge portion. Deserts were not bad :)

AKASHI @ VIVOCITY

FINALLY!!!! FINALLY!!! i hv the appetite to indulge in sashimi!!!
Poor hubs had to acc me to Akashi 3xs within 1 wk juz to satisfy my craving for
it *LOL* The waitresses asked how come we had not patronized them for so
many mths. Well........ i had to explain tt i puking my guts out for 4 mths, now tt
MS had subsided, its time to 'PARTEEE'!!! heheheehe
Juz some random pix....

We hv a habit or ordering the same stuff over n over again. V unadventurous pple.

Hub's Wakatori + my Nigiri Soba set. I love the soba here!!!

This lil bugger was air flown fr Jap n reached the restaurant the very day. So its
uber fresh!!!

ISAKI SASHIMI. $52 for this plate, but i can assure u its the freshest ive ever had!
Excuse me for saying this.... we once had a $100+ sashimi platter at some upscale hotel jap restaurant n the quality doesnt even come near to AKASHI's!

Salmon Belly $25. We've always ordered the normal salmon sashimi, so we decided
to try their salmon belly which cost $5 more. Suffice to say, after the 1st bite ( tog with lots of wahhh, yummmmm, hmmmmm ), we'll be ordering salmon belly in future.
It juz isnt the same :P

Scallop Sashimi. This 1 is dif.... v al dente and... its actually sweet!

The remnants fr the scallop sashimi. V crunchy, but i dare not put the blackish stuff
into my mouth

THE LINE ( SHANGRI-LA )

Maybe Cow n I are getting on in years, we no longer find buffets tt enticing. But tt
doesnt mean we've totally stopped going for them :P
The Line is a place where we'll head to at least twice a yr cos of the variety.
Oh, i didnt even realise they stopped issuing Shang Dollars since mths back....

Oysters---- too heavy handed with the salt. It was Marine Harvest Nite, yet the oysters were hardly 'exciting'

Thankfully, the rest of the dishes were not bad at all

ETNA ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Carrot + Tomato Soup. Love their soups.

Crab Meat Salad. Serving portion was so big, we were almost stuffed by the time
our mains arrived

We also ordered Risotto alla Marinara & Norma Pizza. Sorry no pix of these as
i was too hungry by then to rem to snap away :P

PU TIEN @ TAMPINES MALL

my folks r fans of this restaurant. Waitress asked if we wanted
to try their HAIRY CRABS since its in season now.... at $38 each,
they're pricey, not to mention, DARN SMALL.... but hubs ordered
2 to try.

2 waitresses spent almost 5 mins preparing the 2 plates below.
Not an easy job fr wat i witnessed. tts y im not into crabs.... i
like fuss free food :P

INTERNATIONAL A CAPPELLA FESTIVAL 14 -18OCT

2009-10-09T10:11:49Z

INTERNATIONAL A CAPPELLA FESTIVAL 14 -18OCT

The A Cappella Society would like to invite you to our International A Cappella Festival for 2009.

The Festival will take place at the Esplanade Recital Studio and The Arts House Chamber. It will be spread over a period of 5 days, beginning on the 14th of October 2009 and ending on the 18th of October 2009.

The International A Cappella Festival will showcase performances from 4 different foreign groups compromising of Permanent Fish from Japan, Rock 4 from The Netherlands, MayTree from Korea and Tux from The Philippines. This year’s line up of a cappella teams features a variety of musical styles with rock music from Queen, Police & Sting by Rock 4 (Netherlands), Pop from Permanent Fish (Japan), Korean Pop from MayTree and the golden oldies and familiar favorites from Tux (Philippines). Further details at http://www.a-cappella.org.sg/events/festival/info.pdf

Tickets are sold at the A Cappella Society, and are available by booking form http://www.a-cappella.org.sg/events/festival/booking.pdf

www.a-cappella.org.sg

EAST OCEAN TEOCHEW RESTAURANT AGAIN

2009-10-03T00:33:37Z

Our 2nd time in a week.... hubs rec some gd news at work, n wanted
a mini celebration. Initially wanted the family to come along, but my
mom had oledi made plans, my dad wanted to catch his fave show,
Kiddo refused to leave the house, so? its juz a dinner date for the
2 of us.

Its the 1st time we're trying this $144++ Per Pax set ..... also added
a plate of Foie Gras.... We both had this set, except, i upgraded my
'noodles' to lobster noodles instead of the crab noodles ( top up $10 ).
Had a craving for lobsters u see :P

1st dish: The usual Stone bowl braised SF soup ( u can see the
                pix fr the numerous East Ocean entries )

2nd dish: Whole Abalone.... i very much preferred the half portion
                Abalone which i had on the previous visit. That was so much
                more tender as compared to this one.

3rd dish: Choice of Bamboo Clams or Fried Baby Lobsters with Pepper/Salt
               I chose the latter.

4th Dish: My Lobster noodles, his Crab E-fu noodles

5th dish: Bird's Nest in Almond Cream

Sad to say, the Foie Gras didnt live up to my expectations

The sweet onion was redundant as the taste simply doesnt blend with the foie gras.
I still prefer those fr New Majestic Restaurant or Ember... this one simply Cannot
Make It.

NUTRITIOUS ABALONE SET

2009-10-01T00:10:11Z

Since Lei Gardens at Chijmes is undergoing reno, Cow decided
to head to another of his fave Chinese restaurant for dinner.
Chick refused to leave the house as she was watching her fave
cartoon :(

Whenever we're at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant, we'll almost
always go for their set meals.... i hate to order food, so does Cow.

He decided on their $122++ Per Pax Nutritious Abalone Set.
1st time we're trying this set, tho 3 out of their 5 dishes
can be found in other sets as well.

All pix by my new Samsung Omnia HD ( ok i nid to experiment on the
sharpness part of the cam :P )

Got really sick of their stone bowl braised SF soup, so this egg white clear
SF soup was a plesant change. Tasty yet light on the tastebuds, where
u can enjoy the truly enjoy the taste of the SF

We've tried Bamboo clams here on our numerous visits, but this time round, it was the best we've ever had. The clam was al dente and sweet!

Its the 1st time im eating such a big abalone. Looks can be deceiving fr the pix *LOL* but its huge ( even tho its only half a portion )!!! I took a long time eating this.... cant rem how many 'head' this abalone was, but boy was it tender and succulent. Cow saw how much i enjoyed it, n offered to pass some of his to me... i told him Nah, any more of it i'll feel jelart :P

The Lobster earned the same accolade as the Bamboo Clam

After i was done with the noodles, i was so stuffed, i had to skip the Bird's Nest Almond Cream dessert. I tabao-d back.

CLAYPOT FUN ( BY JUMBO SEAFOOD )

2009-09-30T22:18:04Z

It was our 1st time at Claypot Fun. Be prepared to wait at least
15 mins ( according to manager ) for yr claypot orders. We
waited almost 20-25 mins for ours during dinner time. We were
waiting in anticipation for ours to arrive after catching whiffs of
the fragrant rice fr tables ard us.

We ordered 2 types of Claypot :
Frog Legs and Salted Fish+ Minced Pork.

Its supposed to come in 2 separate claypots, but a waitress
informed us that we can combine the 2 into 1 bigger pot and
there's a savings of $2.

Also ordered a salted duck and old cucumber soup.

Muz say the food was yummy!!! My fussy girl wolfed down a bowl of rice!!!
The portion of rice you see here can feed abt 3-4 pple.

I made a boo-boo when the rice arrived. I looked ard the table for
dark soy sauce but all i saw was this watery sauce which i cant make
out wat it was ( im used to eating claypot with dark soy
sauce ). I asked a waiter n was told they dun hv it here... they actually hv a SPECIAL sauce to go along with the rice ( which was that watery sauce ).

Hubby promptly poured some of tt 'special' sauce over the rice, n i muz say
IT WENT PERFECTLY with the rice!! sesame oil +watever is in it enhanced
the taste of the fragrant rice

The soups were boiled to perfection too :)

Am glad the fussy one inside agreed with the food too *grin*

BYEBYE INNOV8, HELLO OMNIA

2009-09-27T01:49:43Z

Omnia II, Omnia PRO(3 models!!), Omnia Lite, Omnia HD

U can actually see the transparent shield fr the pix below. It's supposed
to make yr phone scratch/nick-proof.

Other than paying $38 for the Invisible Shield, I told the Pro not to wrap
the touch screen with it. I wanted a matte/anti-glare screen protector, so
i paid an extra $22 for this screen protector. I was charged $15 for
workmanship. I had to leave Omnia HD with the Pro for 1 hr while he
fixed the 'armour' for it. Im doing this for peace of mind... I dun treat
my phones nor bags well, so this is the least i cld do for it :P

Muz thank the Cow for this gift *hee*

Read bt Omnia HD's review HERE

CHECK OUT THIS NEW WEBSITE FOR CLASSY ELEGANT ACCESSORIES

2009-09-26T00:26:27Z

A very good friend of mine recently started an online blog selling
accessories. All accessories are lovingly handmade using fine
quality materials and Swarovski crystals. Do check out her ELEGANT
designs over at:

http://classyurbangirl.wordpress.com/

She offers customisation too!

Pls contact classyurbangirl@gmail.com to make a purchase or
customise pieces.

KIEHL's

2009-09-20T10:19:22Z

After using L'Occitane pdts for 2 yrs ( n after completing my 2nd Loyalty card ), i decided to jump ship to Kiehl's. I think its better to rotate the brands after some time as results had stagnated by now.....

It didnt take much convincing to try Kiehl's as they were having a promo....
They juz had to dangle any tote bags and im sold *lol* (Most cosmetic comps hv done away with tote bags in their GWPS... i used to collect Stila's, Lancome's)

Price fr L to R: $89/$58/$38 ( Coriander Body Scrub was a GWP.. full size! )

Samples....

I was looking for a facial scrub.... Kiehl's had 2 pdts. 1 was the Skin Texturizing scrub, the other was some pineapple scrub. I was told their Skin Texturizing treatment was the most pop scrub.
I tried it juz now..... it was fragrance-free, and reminded me so much of MAC's microabrasion scrub which i had used b4. MAC's scrub was denser but Kiehl's version was milled more finely than MAC's. Im not sure if cos im experiencing hormonal changes rite now, but the scrub
stung my skin quite a fair bit..... it says to use thrice weekly... but methinks i'll juz stick to once or twice per wk. Skin was smoother, but i'll need more time to test this pdt out.

Im currently using Clinique's Toner 2. Kiehl's Rare Earth toner contains lesser alcohol than Clinique's. Skin feels comfortable and cool after usage. Hope it curbs my kwali face well :)

LEI GARDENS @ CHIJMES CLOSED FOR RENO

2009-09-19T01:32:10Z

Cow decided to bring us there for makan 2 days b4 they close for reno... will prob
reopen in early Dec. Heard their head chef @ Chijmes will be stationed at their
branch in Orchard during this period.

Chicky loves the food here.... she proclaimed I LOVE THIS RESTAURANT a couple
of times during the meal *lol*

Hubs ordered Chicken Sharksfin Soup ( can yield 4 bowls ). Chicky loved the soup,
she had 1.5 bowls of it... She donated the fins to Papa cos she doesnt know how
to chew the thingie

Deep Fried Silverfish is another fave dish of hers

The Siew York is seriously TDF!!

Hubs n I each had a plate of Goose Web+ Abalone and Kurobuta Pork

Never thought Kiddo wld like Kurobuta Pork... she took a tiny bite and decided
to hijack my whole plate *lol*

1 Portion of Fried Rice yields 3 bowls. Kiddo and Papa are fried Rice lovers....
She's fussy abt the taste and has 'rejected' quite a number of fried rice fr
dif places...... She Sapu the whole bowl over at Lei Gardens *wink*

I had Gui Lin Gao while hubs went for
Mango Sago. Kiddo was busy finishing up her plate of silverfish to even notice we were
having desserts.

AUG/SEPT UPDATES

2009-09-08T23:08:17Z

Dear folks, I apologise for the lack of updates recently, been
busy .... real busy these days..... so here's a quick update of
what i've been up to lately....

Been to Ah Yat Seafood @ Turf Club twice and ordered these.
Cant go ( really ) wrong if u stick to seafood choices.

Peking Duck + the rest of the duck. The skin was crispy, but the accompanying
dip was BLAH.

My fave Pa Tin fish!!! I gobbled up the fatty bits and boy were they delish

Eggplant with minced meat. Not too bad.

Cereal Prawns. Love the fact tt the cereals didnt overpower the taste of the
fresh prawns.

Fresh South African Abalone. Absolutely my fave.

Bamboo Clams. On par with East Ocean's version.

Drunken Prawns

Deep fried Sea Mantis sprinkled with some kind of salt. I like this betta than
Crayfish. Meat was tender and smoother.

Sea Bass ( Teochew style )

Chicken

The best red bean pancake ive ever had.... check out the generous amt
of sesame on it!

One fine day, we wanted to dine @ LEI Gardens ( Chjmes ) but were there
way too early. so we had some snacks at this Pizza place in front of Lei
Gardens, n then went over when they opened. Naturally, we were quite
full by the time we entered Lei's. I actually 4got 2 bring my hp out... so
these pix were taken with hub's HTC TouchPro 2.

Buddha Jumps over the wall. Lei's Promo of the mth... @ $39.90 each. We each had 1 bowl.

also included a small abalone.

Hubby also ordered an E-Fu noodle... 4got to snap a pix... but it was good!

Finally, the captain recommended tt we try this new dessert.
Dragonfruit with Mango Pudding. really refreshing i muz say.

TASTE PARADISE @ ION

TRIO PLATTER: Peking Duck/Wasabi Prawn/ Foie Gras. We each ordered a plate of this

Stone bowl Sharksfin @ $68 per bowl. We each ordered one. Comes in $38 and $88 per bowl too.

EGGPLANT WITH MINCED PORK. Lovely

VENISON... WEIRD TASTING

Hubs ordered a plate of fried rice... yields 3 bowls... FORGETTABLE

Thankfully, their desserts are promising.

Mango Sago with vanilla ice-cream
Avocado with walnut ice-cream.

Be warned... quite a small serving despite the looks...

Lastly, we had our 6th Wedding Anni dinner back at Meritus Mandarin...
where it all began.... Mandarin will always hold a special place in our
hearts as its were we had our wedding dinner.... its undergoing extensive
renos.... n sad to say... had lost some of its old world charm....

I didnt hv much appetite that day, so i told hubby let's juz hv a simple meal..
other than Chatterbox's chix rice... we also ordered this Coconut Ice cream.
Not Bad at all! It was a simple meal, but i had already gotten the best best best gift AGAIN ( not my LV Melrose Avenue :P ) ... so life is sweet :)

Bought a top fr New Look @ ION

Kiddo's Stuff from Pumpkin Patch Kids

Hubs got me a new pair of Papillios after i spotted this...

THE CRAZE CONTINUES

2009-08-13T09:51:30Z

Juz cos i cldnt find a nice pair of Birkies ... i settled for these

ATTACK of the BUNNIES!!!

getting the rite size is the tricky part. Sometimes im a 41.... sometimes
42.... but in this case, i 'upgraded' and became a 43 *gulps*

http://eatshopbemerry.livejournal.com/191896.html   1

http://eatshopbemerry.livejournal.com/175983.html 2

http://eatshopbemerry.livejournal.com/105571.html   3

http://eatshopbemerry.livejournal.com/95404.html   2

http://eatshopbemerry.livejournal.com/66338.html 4

OMG!!! i tot i had 13 pairs in total.... turns out i've got
14 *gulps*

IVAN HENG & TEAM & PERFORMERS ROCKS!!!

2009-08-09T14:26:15Z

Thanks for giving us such a happening NDP this yr....
I have not watched the Parade on tv for years..... but this yr,
i was glued to the screen rite till the end......
Bravo....Bravo.... Bravo!

MR BONES

2009-08-09T01:37:18Z

Brought kiddo to ION last wk and when we walked past KIEHL's...

Chick:  ( excitedly ) MAMA, LOOK!!! A SKELETON!!!
Moi   :   yah i know....
Chick:   How come there's a Skeleton in the shop?
Moi   :   ( how to explain to a 4.5 YO tt it's their mascot? BUT b4 i cld explain... )
Chick:   Mama, I know why already.
Moi   :   Huh? really? WHY?
Chick:   Bcos somebody DIE here and become like that!!!
Moi   :   ( quickly drags her away b4 i die of embarrassment )

2 WEEKS IN SUMMARY

2009-08-07T21:42:45Z

redeemed a voucher fr 4ever21 and
i only paid $10 for this dress!!! my best buy this mth :)

pants for work

Batwing Top fr WAREHOUSE. New arrival this wk. Im into colours this
wk, and i juz cldnt take my eyes off the splashes of colours!

2 Tops for TOPSHOP. Havent bot anything of TS for eons..... was
extremely happy to score these 2 :)

Did a spa mani-pedi fr LADY FINGER @ Tampines 1. They were having
an opening promo..... UP $110, i paid only $77.

Used an OPI colour called AN AFFAIR IN RED SQUARE. this is currently
my FAVE colour, having ousted my long time fave, I'm not really a Waitress

My 3rd visit to Etude House.

finally got hold of the O2 mask..... it comes in a rather big tub, for
some1 like me who masks ( in huge amts ) regularly, i think this can
prolly last me for 4-6 mths!

I once saw 'dramatic' effects of the mask online.... so i decided to
test it out....

BEFORE PIX

applied mask only on the right portion.

5 mins later ...... I tried it on my face too, the 'bleaching' effect
isnt as dramatic as it was on the back of my palm. Skin looks
fairer after masking while it seemed to hv shrunk my pores
a lil. I still prefer the Sheet Mask which they only give out as
samples... i gave feedback to the SA tt they shd hv this as their
perm item....

After 1 min, the cream starts to 'bubble'.
You'l feel a slight biting sensation which goes away after 1-2 mins or so.
Do not leave it on longer than 3 mins.

Very moisturising

Love the minty feel...
it does plump lips up a lil

Free samples

FOOD TALK!!!

My fave Bah Chor Mee fr XING JI @ Fengshan Food Centre.

Brought my parents to Tunglok Signatures @ VIVO for lunch...

Ordered this menu @ $45 per pax

Wonder why the staff always rem my girl cos everytime we step into the restaurants
after a hiatus, they'll go, '' WHERE'S YR GIRL? NEVER COME TODAY? ''

Ans: that particular day, KongKong n PorPor took her for a walk while both Hubs n I went in to CHOPE a table 1st *HEE*

AOBA @ ION ORCHARD. our 1st time here.

See the meagre portion of the Saba? told hubs never to order this again. Besides,
tastewise, there was nothing fantastic abt it

SHIO SEAFOOD RAMEN. this was goooooood!! Even my picky girl loved it!!

SHIO NERA RAMEN. Helper said it was yummy.

Potato/Chix Croquette. Not bad. In fact i prefer this to Watami's

EBI MAYO. average dish

WATAMI @ ION ORCHARD

Sashimi Mori 5. Uber fresh selection as usual

Cream Croquette. I wasnt impressed by this

Sashimi Ramen... This is my fave dish!!! I liked it better w/o the kimchi, so
i removed it... The cold ramen is so refreshing!!

Teppan Bou Gyoza. I love this Jap Wo-Tie!!!

Crunchy and fragrant, this is so satisfying.... i din dare to use the chilli oil
which came along....

Hubs ordered the Seafood Doria. Baked Tomato Rice with Cheese and Seafood.
I was expecting sth quite heavy.... this turned out light and not jelart at all.

MY BEST MEAL OF THE WEEK? @ LEI GARDEN

The sweet guy knew how miserable i was as i was plagued by headaches
this week, so he took me out for a good meal @ Lei Garden yest .....

He ordered this set for 2....

Enjoyed every dish.... Lei Garden doesnt disappoint again, except i was
expecting a better quality Long Jing Tea....
Bill came up to $300, quite pricey but it was seriously good eating.
The Abalone was better than Ah Yat's version.

MY WEEK IN SUMMARY

2009-07-26T01:19:13Z

Not much updates recently, except i shopped and
dined out a lil.....

WATSONS

My fave eyeliner...
this is another LE item... lets see, K-Palette had introd this in Pink, Silver,
Black and now Platinum?

Picked up another 2 masks... ( i love trying sheet masks ) bcos of its
attractive packaging... verdict? I tot the Pearl mask was betta. Pores
seemed to hv shrunk .... however, i wont be repurchasing it as i hated
the smell. I NEED TO HEAD DOWN TO ETUDE HOUSE AGAIN!!!!
lets hope my O2 mask has arrived.

FOREVER 21

used to be 1 of my fave haunts, but for the past yr, nothing
attracted me ( i guess i was too hooked on Warehouse ) till
this wk... A visit to WH, TS, Zara yielded zilch purchases, so
i decided to pop into Forever 21 as the window displays
looked promising...... I walked out with 4 tops *HEE*

i do not own
any lace tops ( i think? ) but this was too pretty to pass up on.

XIN BA LI PRAWN MEE ( aka Beach Rd Prawn Mee's pricier cousin )

XBL's pricing, Top bowl: $8.80.   Bottom bowl: $12.80

We had prawn mee at both old and new outlets within the same wk.
B4 XBL was 'born', i rem eating prawns as huge as the ones in the
pix above ( the $12.80 bowl ), but they cost only $10.80 per bowl in
the old shop.  I did observe tt the prawns served in their Jumbo Bowl
(old shop ) now are smaller and not as juicy as the ones ive eaten over
@ the new shop. If thats the case, then i dun mind paying $2 more per
bowl so tt i can sink my teeth into fatter/juicier prawns while dining in comfort.

The lure of the old shop? U can pick n choose the ngoh hiang u want plus u get to be
served the 'sweet' sauce.... over at XBL, they only serve the chilli sauce....

IL LIDO
since i hv the 1-for-1 dining promo voucher fr Her World, decided to make full
use of it.....

Besides this, also added 2 soups...

we went for Atlantic Cod instead of Veal.

Food was good ( tho not as exciting as our 1st visit )  but thankfully we had the 1-for-1 voucher... i dun think it
was worth forking out $120++ per pax for wat we had ( + we ordered
2 additional soups )

1st visit:    http://eatshopbemerry.livejournal.com/55306.html

DIM SUM @ NO SIGNBOARD SEAFOOD
i was a lil surprised tt the seafood place actually served dim sum
fr 11-5pm.... n since we were in time, so why not?

a mini art gallery within the restaurant

Steamed prawn dumpling.

Siew Mai, Steamed Carrot Cake and Xiao Long Bao

Sharksfin dumpling soup. Excellent soup but was let down by the
ultra thick dumpling skin. Yucks, i hate thick thick dumpling skin.

panfried chives+meat bun.

Chee Cheong Fun.... ok, another disappointing dish... 'thick thick skin'

Seafood Porridge--- Fresh ingredients... but rather bland tasting porridge.

Ginseng Jelly. Refreshing dessert.

Quite good + the portion was huge!!

The XLB was really outstanding.... methinks tastes betta than DTF's version,
with rich tasting soup :) did enjoy most of the dim sum :)

SHO TEPPAN @ ION Basement 3

The salmon sashimi is cut thickly and it tastes sweet!! Almost on par with Akashi's version which we like.

I ordered the Marbled Pork Set. On the menu, it was stated tt we get to choose if
we want it in Sukiyaki sauce served with egg OR Shabu shabu served with Ponzu
and Sesame Sauce. I was told they only serve the set in Sukiyaki Sauce when i
ordered. The sauce was poured into the pan and heated. I dip the meat in
the sauce, then dip into the egg mixture. The egg mixture not only cools the
meat, it also adds flavour to the meat.... I love this!

Hubby ordered the Chicken Rice.... He had to beat the egg in, sprinkle some pepper and TaDa!

Bill for food orders + 2 cans of Mountain Dew came up to $42... v reasonably priced.

ION

2009-07-21T13:42:45Z

After i settled some stuff @ Iras, i hopped over to
Cow's workplace as it was abt time for him to knock-off.
This fella suggested ION (again) ... im not tt keen cos
1) he had already bot me my bag 2) massive jams.
Actually i was more concerned of the latter reason.
He told me to hv faith... n guess wat? it was a breeze
travelling to Ion and we got a lot once we entered the
car park! how lucky :P

The mall is huge, but i tot the exterior looked more
impressive..... the Food Hall in B4 isnt ready..erm,
food hall as in food court? not too sure bt tt...

Anyway, we wandered abt in B3 and decided to hv
dinner @

http://www.watami.com.hk/eng/index.php

WATAMI, JAPANESE CASUAL RESTAURANT.

there were some Japanese among their wait staff.
We were served by 1 of them.... she was so bubbly!
We chose some items but was told tt bcos it was
their opening today, they had run out of many
ingredients???!!!??? Anyway, we ordered

LYCHEE-SHU ROCK and PLUM LIQUEUR WITH SODA

SASHIMI PLATTER. we were totally impressed by the quality.. its
been quite a while since we tasted such fresh sashimi selection...
stars of the dish? the scallops, sweet prawns, surf clam

Wasabi came in a cute lil basket

ISHIYAKI KAISEN GARLIC RICE ( stone pot rice with seafood
n garlic ). The rice burnt quickly, so we had to scoop it out of the
stone bowl asap.... At 1st glance, i baulked at the simplicity of the
dish... Rice looked plain, ingredients looked as if they were added
on top... but i was proven wrong after my 1st bite.. it was flavourful!

WAFU PIZZA ( Japanese Pizza with Teriyaki Chicken )
& Cassis Orange Cocktail

Another really simple looking dish.... but look at the crispy thin crust!
ok, i admit they were really stingy with the chix

SHIRATAMA CREAM ANMITSU (green tea ice-cream with red
bean & dumplings )
& MANGO & ICHIGO DAIFUKU ( Mango n strawberry rice cake )
The skin of the Daifuku tasted like mochi. I like the skin but the
amalgamation of tastes juz didnt work for me.... u can find
strawberry/mango/redbean/cake bits..... weird.... totally weird for
me.

Total cost of dinner: $75 ( including taxes ) which we tot was v
reasonable. Can't wait to try other dishes....

Didnt hv time to explore the place.. but i did manage to snap
a pix of the Miu Miu store.... Bright Lights, Big City :P

MY WEEK IN SUMMARY

2009-07-18T13:30:30Z

TAMPINES ONE
had dinner @ Manpuku. After our disappointing 1st visit, we decided to give this
place another try.... hmmm, wat can i say, the Seafood Omu rice was mediocre,
Cow's ramen broth was way way too salty for consumption ( he merely gobbled up
the springy noodles w/o drinking the soup. Ingredients were fresh i must say ).
The only redemption pt was the Sashimi Platter. Only the freshest cut.

SAKE INN --- Cow was thrilled to see the wines in this wholesale store. He quickly
                       called me n told me to meet him there ( i was elsewhere ).
                       SAs assured us that prices are lower than Jap restaurants and some
                       wine can only be found here.

While Cow went straight for wines, i went for Teas.

When i saw the word SAKURA, i was sold. The Purple boxes cost $9 or $10
whereas the green box went for $ 8.

Each sachet contains 2-3 sakura buds soaked in wine. V pungent on the
1st whiff...

For my 750ml bottle, i added 2 sachets. After adding hot water,
the tea smells fragrant with only a hint of the wine. Tastes
a teeny weeny bit salty, but it takes some time getting used to.
erm, i dun think i will be repurchasing after i finish my 2 boxes.

I tot this was alright.

comes in a tea bag

Got this long skirt fr CLICK

ORCHARD CENTRAL--- 1 of the new kids on the block

Dinner at Botejyu

Pumpkin Croquette--- amazingly crispy on the outside, with a fluffy
inner filling.

Moonlight Okos

Seafood Okos. The Okos here tastes a wee bit betta than wat they serve in
Manpuku. Hmmmm, Hmmmm, Hmmmm.

View fr our table. Cool rite? Eat and Watch THIS

This indoor rock climbing facility is quite an ingenious idea... methinks its the 1st
here?

View of Centrepoint fr Orchard Central

Bot 2 items fr shops there.

Dinner with Helper/Kiddo/Cow @ Sushi Tei ( BIG SPLASH ).

Little girl is into fried rice these days... Gd to share my food with her.. she helps me control
my diet *LOL*

Top fr VIVIE. got to wear a cami inside tho.

Thanks to a tip-off fr my pal Jules, i made my way down to Tangs and
got these... buy 2 refills and get the 3rd free!!! Woahhhhh, savings of $65!!!
INIFINITE replaces their Perfect Forever ( which i had been using ).
Im utterly impressed with this powder.... 1) Great Oil-Controlling Properties
2) This 'smooth operator' ( texture i mean :P ) is 'magical'... it covers my
pores really well.... aids me to fake good skin *LOL*

For perfect forever, im using #20. Infinite doesnt hv #20. Instead, SA said
im a #40 now.

SHU UEMURA TOKYO KAMON GIRLS.

Shu collaborated with manga illustrator Moyoco Anno for this range
of collectibles. She used Purple Wisteria for this Brightening Cleansing Oil.
Even tho i still hv half a bottle of High Perfce Balancing Oil to go, i cldnt
pass up on this. The Brightening Cleansing Oil is $20 more than their
normal oils

Finally.... T-shirts fr Fila.... i like the rhinestones, so i bot 3 at a go *hee*

CONVERSATION WITH THE COW

2009-07-16T08:51:20Z

Labbit:   dear, thanks for the early pressie.
Cow  :    better to buy the bag earlier since it was launched only 1 wk+ ago. By the
              time we get it end of Aug, it wld hv been an 'OLD' bag.
              ( quite 'considerate' for him to think like this *LOL* )

Labbit:   Im liking it more n more each day.
Cow  :    Actually can still consider Lady Dior u know... when i get my
             end of the year bonus.
Labbit:   *melts* no lah, im already very happy with this bag
               (pssst: its the most exp bag ive owned so far)

Im touched by the thought. Really. im gonna be a Good Aunty for the
rest of the yr *LOLOL*

MY LV MELROSE AVENUE

2009-07-15T12:33:13Z

MY 6TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY PRESENT

2009-07-12T14:30:20Z

hubs suggested going to ION this evening to recce the place. Hmmm,
i told him the only store tt's open is LV... Dior isnt ( im eyeing
Lady Dior u see *hee* ). He said then let's go take a look at LV!

Parked at Wheelock as ION's car park isnt open to public yet.
Q'd for 20 mins ( yes, the SA at LV Edinburgh didnt believe me when
i told him we hv to Q to get in over here ). While we were in the Q,
hubby spied a bag.... coincidentally, we were both eyeing the same
bag..... when we finally got in, i asked to see IT ... and ALMA in
Silver or Pewter??

Alma was much cheaper than IT... but hubs said IT looked nicer on
me.... took 20 mins deliberating on my choice....

FINALLY

MEET IT .... VERNIS .... MELROSE AVENUE.... IN .... AMARANTE

Told hubby that our wedding anni is next mth, but da guy said its fine to buy
the gift in advance *hee*

taken sans flash.

with some flash

taken with a strong flash

The bag is really dusty ( vernis attracts dust n fingerprints!!??!!) ..... thank gdness it came with a cloth. Must say Amarante is a fingerprint magnet.... my Pomme doesnt even attract tt many fingerprints.

This bag can fit A4 sized documents

Melrose weighs heavier than Trevi even tho Trevi is stuffed with my
stuff...

seems hard for me to deviate fr structured bags ya? oh yes, Zips are
a MUST for me...

Am grateful for this generous gift :) Thanks Cow!

1 WEEK IN SUMMARY

2009-07-10T23:08:33Z

Our food outings this week....

THAI ACCENT @ VIVOCITY

Assorted platter. Not too bad, but not v exciting either

Green Curry. It doesn't come with a bowl of rice, so we had to add on
a bowl for $1.50. Generous portion + flavourful. Extremely satisfying

Seafood Coconut Rice. I could smell the fragrant rice once it arrived.
Hubby enjoyed this dish tremendously

Tom Yum Soup. Spicy and Sourish beyond imagination. I cld only manage
a few spoonfuls. Well, hubs says its a great nasal decongestant *LOL*
Ingredients were uber fresh.

CHARCOAL

We always return for their set dinner which we think is a steal @ $21.90 per pax.
Quality and Quantity wise, we think its value for money

I enjoyed all the dishes except for the desserts. The jelly and cake were
tasteles and unexcitin *yawn*

Hubs will always order wine when we're here... we get to try dif wines
at relatively cheap prices.

We tried DRAMBUIE and COINTREAU.

Hubs has this habit of whipping out his phone and searching online
whenever we try sth new. Muz say this Scottish Liqueur is heady!

EAST OCEAN TEOWCHEW RESTAURANT

Our most exp meal of the week @ $133 per pax. This set
had been ard for ages but its the 1st time we're trying it.
Erm, and it's the 1st time we're trying their 'above $100' sets.
Hubs was deliberating btn this and a $195 per pax set.
Hubs asked which set i prefer... i chose the cheaper set
why? cos for $195 per pax, i'd rather try out IGGY's :P

Their signature stone bowl

Kurobuta.

Fresh Abalone fr South Africa ( left ) and Dried Abalone fr Japan ( right ).
Also tried goose web for the 1st time.... i def enjoyed it more than chicken
feet.

Lobster noodles. I had nitially expected a much smaller lobster but was
surprised it turned out bigger. The al dente noodles, coupled with a light buttery sauce was a winner. Thoroughly enjoyed this dish

Hashimi in thick almond cream. I enjoyed this dessert.

must say that we ate reasonably well this week, hope my conservative cow will be adventurous enuf to try out new places in the coming weeks *hee*

ETUDE HOUSE PART 2

2009-07-05T00:43:42Z

The 1st visit to Etude House piqued my curiosity about the brand.
Due to time constraint on Friday, I only managed to buy few items.
When i got home, i found myself thinking abt what i had missed out
so i asked hubby if he was willing to drop by Plaza Sing
again yest and the sweet guy agreed readily.

My tiny ( 2nd ) haul:

I use this after EH's Cleansing Dream. Cleanses well with a pleasant fragrance

was told by the SA tt this is really pop.
The transparent gel-like patch was cooling to the touch. Did moisturise
my undereye area, but i don't see remarkable results on the 1st try,
unlike the O2 WHITE mask which saw my pores being minimised and
face looked whiter/brighter upon the 1st application!! Too bad it was
OOS, I only got to try the samples. Have placed my name on the waiting
list.

A pretty pink

have not tried this, will review it prob tomorrow

I love the shimmery #1 Pink Beam, so
i got another blusher in Berry Beam

When i was @ EH the 1st time, I tot Pink wld flatter my skin tone better...
to my surprise, It was BERRY which turned out more 'pinkish' on my cheeks.
#1 Pink Beam looked a teeny weeny peachy on me whereas BERRY
looked more natural on me.

My GWP

This O2 mask is fantastic!! Too bad only their sample comes in sheet mask
form.... The actual pdt comes in a jar... n is constantly OOS! got to get my hands
on 1.... i prefer sheet mask anytime but we'll see ....

Also visited STARDUST and got these

A concealer

I stumbled upon this pdt by accident.. i was looking for a concealer,
i only saw the word 'CONCEALER' on the packaging, i obviously
didnt see the word 'INVISIBLE' *LOL*
When i applied it on the back of my hands, i was really impressed
to see the pores doing the disappearing act!! Amazing!! Love
the velvety matte touch.
Quickly grabbed one. Used it yest b4 the application of foundation,
and it really does a gd job of minimising my pores. Am pleased
with the results :)

ETUDE HOUSE PART 1

2009-07-03T12:46:04Z

My tiny haul fr EH

2 Hydro Wrapping Brightening Masks, 1 Mirror, 1 Magic Bubble Peeling, 1 Perfect Cleansing Cream, 1 Tear Drop Powder, 1 Peach Beam Blusher, 1 Natural Jelly Cleasning Puff.

i am currently using Body Shop's soft facial cleasning sponge but this is
even more gentle. Very Q-Q touch

The Bubble Peeling Foam basically is a non-abrasive exfoliating gel.
Tried it once and found tt it does brighten the skin. Word of caution:
the foam dries super quickly, so do make sure u massage it onto skin
asap. The cleasning cream is pretty runny. After rinsing with water,
it did a good job of removing almost 90% of MU. However, i dun like
the emollient feel ....

Wil review this after i try it on tomorrow

TEAR DROP POWDER #1 CRYSTAL WHITE
(according to the SA, #1 is the most pop )

Will try this tomorrow...

My Free Gift

With purchases above $50, u will be given their VIP card which entitles u to 7% discount on future purchases. I chose items which added up to just over $50, paid for them 1st then paid for the remaining items using the VIP card.   I was in a rush, hence i din get to 'scrutinize' their pdts.... But i shd be returning to Plaza Sing this wk again.... Bot a pair of flip flops for the kid, but got to return to exchange for a bigger size *sigh* i didnt know she had big feet juz like us.....  already looking forward to my next visit to EH!

小红楼 RED HOUSE RESTAURANT @ EAST COAST SEAFOOD CENTRE

2009-07-01T13:51:12Z

Bcos of my parents ( who love to feast on crabs, yet refuse
to eat crabs in restaurants as they think its more convenient
eating them @ home ), hubs n I will dine @ these seafood
places and da bao crabs for them. Hubs n I hate crabs,
so we'll avoid crabs at all cost :P

We decided on Red House as it was the closest to the
entrance *LOL*

Dining @ RH brought back fond memories....My parents used to
bring me to Red House when i was a kid....
I do recall there's a Manneken Pis-like water fountain in the
premises. But sadly, RH relocated to the current premises.
They also hv another outlet at Clarke Quay.

The soup was tasty, albeit a lil too sweet for my liking, but prawns were fresh

Abalone slices / Mushroom and Veg. Average dish

Hot plate Venison. Our fave dish!!! We've eaten this dish at
many eateries.... RH's version is ranked top on our list

Seafood You Tiao

Other than wat u see here, we also ordered a jug of shandy... plus tabao
2 packets of fried rice, one 1.2kg chilli crab. Bill came up to $252. A lil pricey
i must say. My dad, the crab lover, says he prefers crabs fr Long Beach
and Red House. As for other dishes, i personally prefer Seafood International.

CHRISTIAN DIOR SPRING/SUMMER MAKEUP

2009-07-01T12:50:35Z

I've been out of the MU loop since May bcos of the new place.
Time flies.... its been 1 month and 2yrs 8 mths since we
rented out our 2nd and 1st place respectively. Im now
officially 'very free' *LOL* hence, i've started visiting MU
counters again.....

I was enamoured with CD's LE eye palette ever since i saw
it last wk, but it was OOS at the particular counter... hence, i
bot a KATE palette instead. I found myself thinking abt CD's
palette so? i decided to try my luck again..... guess wat?
it was meant to be mine as SA said it was the last pc!
*doing a HEEL KICK* :P

soft pink hue with a lovely sheen. V moisturising

Sans flash

Con flash

Rec'd some samples