Togi (22 Apr)

Korean food at Chinatown area (11 Mosque St, Tel: 6221 0830) recommended by my good neighbour Mavis Goh and so we went together with Uncle Derek who wanted to eat too.

Don't expect lavish decoration nor 5-star hotel service. It's not a very big restaurant, furniture is rather simple too. But there's something we couldn't stand - the sharp and loud screeching sound from dragging the chairs! The place was noisy enough with conversation from diners! Something surprised us further; the staff actually dragged out their big rubbish bin all the way from inside the kitchen to out of the restaurant right through the narrow pathway while customers were still dining.. wah liao.. cannot make it hahah!!

Free flow of side dishes.

Saba - crispy! A must order if you go!

Cuttlefish, which I think might have been overcooked cos they were so tough! Keep chewing to slim down your jaw line if you like hahah!

Beef I think. Quite juicy.. not too bad lah..

Seafood pancake which I love it too! Another must-order item! Uncle Derek finished all while I only had 2 pcs haha!

Ginseng chicken soup - so-so to me.. soup can be replenished FOC, not chicken of course!

Hilton KL Rocks! (19 Mar)

I went KL for a conference and I was staying at Trader's Hotel. Decided that we should extend one more night on the final day of my conference and so we hotel hopped to Hilton Central KL (with hubby in case you wonder..). It didn't cost us an arm and leg cos we got it at RM300 per night inclusive of breakfast. Very good rate right??? Heheh!! How we got the deal? Cannot tell you hahahah!! ;p We only stayed for a night and regretted not staying for two instead.. hehe.. Hope the promotion comes round again!

The only "disadvantage"to staying at Hilton Sentral is that it is in the outskirt of the KL city centre. There are also no shopping centres within close proximity. The nearest is Mega Mall, which is about 15min taxi ride away. The other reason why we chose Hilton was also because we were going to take Air Asia flight back to Singapore. So, Hilton was a convenient hotel as we could hop on a coach from the KL Sentral which is a stone's throw away from the hotel.

Speaking of Air Asia! Another long story but in summary, it wasn't a pleasant experience. We will (probably) never go on Air Asia again! Why "probably"? Cos we each received RM200 voucher from the unpleasant incident, and has to be used within three months... We have yet to decide if we want to use the voucher.

View from our room.

The luxurious comfy king-size bed.

Another view of the room with the tea/coffee facilities beside it.

The TV and working desk. Unfortunately, the TV reception wasn't working well but we didn't call the technician cos it was just a night stay. I did feedback on the form and received from the management an email acknowledging the areas of feedback I've given. First time ever! Certainly a nice touch of excellent customer service!

Closer view of the tea/coffee making facilities.

The bathroom.

Spot the rectangular screen on the left. It's a mini-TV screen, so you'll never miss your favourite TV programme while brushing your teeth. It can be turned around and you can watch it while bathing from the standing shower too!! Hahaha!!

Very comprehensive Evelyn & Crabtree vanity items.

Breakfast venue. That's the fruits and fruit juice stall. You can order freshly squeezed juices of the day. On the day we had breakfast, we could choose to have either one of these; apples, carrots or celery, or all three! Absolutely a healthy way to start the day!

Another view of breakfast venue

More breakfast items. The range and quality were unbeatable!

Variety of yoghurt available.

What you will get on your table.

They also have on each table a "health chart" which you can refer to according to the food you will be consuming. There's a mini chart accompanying each food type they serve which will tell you if the food was of "High/Low Energy", "High/Low Carbohydrates", "High Fibre" etc. Perfect for the health-conscious!

Hilton KL Rocks! Super duper highly recommended!

Staycation @ Conrad Hotel Singapore (12 Feb)

Our birthdays this year happened to fall on the first day of the Lunar New Year.. so boring! Ha! So, we decided to celebrate it just before the new year and do a staycation @ Conrad Hotel Singapore. According to hubby, the room rate was about S$150/night inclusive breakfast.

We also asked our CDD gang friends to join us for dinner then have fun in the room. We didn't tell them the occasion of course, but they know!! Hahaha!! They brought cakes as well as red wine and sang us birthday song in the room hhaha! Speaking of which, ZH, where are the photos we took???

View from our room - overseeing Suntec Convention and Mandarin Oriental

Pool view from our room

The little bear and welcome fruits in the room. Wasn't sure if the soft toy was complimentary so didn't take it haha!

View of room with working desk and don't-know-how-many-inch TV. I should have taken a photo of the TV remote control - very high-class one ok?!!!

Our king-size bed. Super comfy!

The tea/coffee making facilities

Very spacious toilet! Comes with digital weighing machine hehe...

The room rate we paid included breakfast but strangely, instead of hosting breakfast at the usual dining venues, they set the seating area in their ballroom instead...

... while the food were served outside the ballroom. So strange...

Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant, East Coast Park (6 Feb)

Went cycling @ East Coast Park and then dinner at this Korean restaurant.

The food was quite good but they didn't come cheap loh... In case you are wondering, they do have buffet but only available from Mon-Thu. So, you can only order ala carte dishes on weekends.

Spacious restaurant with huge seats which can take up to 8 pax per table.



Here comes the appetisers/ side dishes..



More side-dishes; includes green vege, kimchi cabbage, tofu and kimchi carrot/cucumber/squid. All side-dishes re-fillable, FOC.. hehe! They will serve a cold soup (which my friends said tasted like vinegar) and a bowl of onion to each customer as well. I love the raw onions in its sauce. Tasted so delicious when eaten with the meaty stuff!

On the bottom is the Ginseng Chicken Soup - S$20. On the top is Bulgogi (beef with clear glass noodles) which cost S$49!! They will cook the beef for customers.

These were also cooked by the staff at your table and they will help cut the pork belly. Mushrooms at S$10, and 3 slices of pork belly at S$24! I think each of us only ate 2 pcs of mushroom and 2 (cut) pcs of pork belly. My friend said we will not order the beef next time but ask for more pork and chicken.

Another complimentary dish - steamed egg which was quite good!

Generally, the quality of the food is good. Our bill came to $164 for 6 persons. I will return, but perhaps for buffet during weekdays. The ala carte prices are not worth it haha!

Ambush (5 Feb)

Ambush is one of the new restaurants that has opened at Jurong Point. They are located at the old Jurong Point wing; just next to Courts on the 2nd floor. They serve European cuisine including paella, mussels, german sausages etc. I realised there is another restaurant of similar name called Ambush Pasta Bar @ Ngee Ann City which I think they are affiliated.

Anyway, we just had to try if they were authentic haha! Well, it turned out that they were not, compared to others we've tried, for eg. Don Quihote

http://tiramisho.blogspot.com/2009/03/don-quihote-27-mar.html.

From top left (anti-clockwise):
Trio meat (chicken, sausage and fish) paella - S$12.80 (single portion)
Fries which accompanied the mussells (small pot) cooked in white wine - $12

I think the prices are pretty decent. The sausages in the paella tasted quite good. The rice didn't stick to the pot so I think they had cooked it with another pan before it was transferred over. My honest opinion - I wouldn't return unless I have nothing else to eat! ;p

NZ (22 Dec): Auckland

Weather: Sunny

Skipped breakfast and went for the buffet lunch (from 11.30am) at the Observatory, Sky Tower – NZD42/pax. The range was reasonably sufficient but we didn’t think the quality was worth boasting. In fact, we were glad we didn’t choose to do dinner as they served the same type of food but for NZD20/pax more. I wouldn’t recommend dining at the Observatory unless you are desperately dying to get an Auckland city view ;p

Sky Tower

Observatory

Dessert station

Savoury station

Starters/salads station

View from the Obtservatory

Bread served to all tables. Very tasty when warm!

Food..

Foood...

Fooood....

Foooood.....

Desserts.. forgettable

Ice-creams/sorbet

Did some last minute shopping – manuka and kiwi shortbread for colleagues. Sorry friends, there really wasn’t anything unique that I could buy as souvenirs for you all. In any case, I’ve more or less stopped buying souvenirs for friends – very stressful! Hahaa!!

Concluding the trip:
1. Most kiwi service staff was unfriendly, if not rude. Many just gave you a straight face, and were not sincere when they greet people. For this reason, my hubby said he doesn’t like NZ hahah!

2. NZ F&B was very expensive (more so than in Australia)! The cheapest and most decent meal one could get by would be Subway 6-inch “Sub of the Day” which cost NZD3.90. However, only the major cities offered “Sub of the Day”. Any other meal (whether western or asian cuisine) including fastfood cost minimum NZD10! Even a whole roast chicken in the supermarket easily cost an average NZD14!... See More

3. I’ve driven more windy mountainous roads in NZ than in Australia. Driving along their lakes was like driving along Australia's Great Ocean Road.

4. There were more road kills in South Island (mainly rabbits) than in the North Island (kiwis or possums).

5. Though Queenstown was buzzling mainly due to the varied range of activities offered, Auckland would be the best place for one to do shopping. Again, they weren't exactly cheaper than in Singapore.

NZ (21 Dec): Auckland

Weather: Sunny

We board the free shuttle to the factory outlet (20min drive away) and once again, returned empty-handed hahaha!! Frankly, there wasn’t anything particularly cheap that one couldn’t find in Singapore, so it wasn’t really worth carrying them all the way back ;p

Back in the city centre, we took the free City Circuit bus to the Sky City Tower, and made a reservation for buffet lunch on its Observatory. It was a treat for ourselves before we go back Singapore haha!!

Free City Circuit bus

Some Korean pancake stall we found in some alley haaha! Errr... taste like think yet soft roti prata.. filling - cheese, beef and can't remember what else ha! ;p