This is the 2nd time I went to a Kbox KTV and my impression was not so good. Customer service was bad as almost all of the crews gave us black face and rather rude when talking to us.
Though the free flow of nuts and the ktv system is a lure, I wo't bother going there if the customer service is not good. Crews keep peeping in and came in to tell you your time is up even before you started singing the last song. The person even stood outside and wait for us to sing finish the last song so that he can see that we are leaving. Definitely not a good value for money considering the price is more expensive than other KTVs like Party World.
My mum brought me here to get my new hair do recently. Although I've known the owner more than 12 years ago, I've only let her do my hair when I was back in Secondary school. But my mum has been faithfully following her, from Toa Payoh to Sengkang and now to Kovan. She calls her the 金剪刀. And I totally understand why...
Once she got her scissors out from her bags of many many scissors, her fingers and hands just did magic. No comb no clips no fuss! She just pull, divide and cut. I was speechless. But when she was done cutting, I feel so light on my head and it looks natural and nice.
I spent 5hours there to cut, highlight and perm my hair. And I'd witnessed so many wonders by her that day. As there were only she and her other colleague, she had to turn down alot of customers that day. Everyone went to look just for us. And I can see the trust these customers have of her. They just sat and let her do her magic. I'm impressed.
The shop doesn't look at all glam nor well done, its simple and cosy. Its the hairdressers that made a difference. I'm happy with the result of my new look and the price is reasonable. I'll sure be going back for all future cuts and such.
Nearest mrt station is Kovan. This shop is located nearer to OCBC/Standard Chartered bank, further away from Heartland Mall.
The national stadium was opened in July 1973 and was officially closed in 30 June 2007. Come this March 2008, it will be torn down to make way for a modern sports hub to be ready by 2011. The new sports Hub will have a 55,000 seating capacity, a sporting arena that can seat 3000 people, a 6000 seater aquatic center, commercial space and even a hotel.
It is a pity that such a structure almost 35 years old has to make way for a newer facility driven by the need to modernize whatever is old. Perhaps there should be no room for sentimentality here as land space in Singapore is scarce and every inch is measured not in meters but in dollars.
The national stadium is a historical monument in itself as it symbolizes a growing nations "investment" in sports at a time when such an investment would be deemed unnecessary, risky and of lesser importance. Yet the man behind this push, Mr Othman Wok did not stop at pushing ahead with this idea. One year after independence in 1966, the first pile was driven in Kallang Park to make way for the construction of the National Stadium.
Perhaps the National Stadium should have been preserved as part of the conservation projects by the National Heritage Board or made into an icon of historical significance to a then developing country. Instead come March 2008, it will be bull-dozered to the ground. What is left of it will be memories and pictures. Perhaps this is a practical thing to do in land scarce Singapore.
But imagine visiting Rome and seeing pictures of the Colosseum instead of the real thing. Being able to touch and feel the pillars of the Colosseum "brings" a person "back" into time to feel the history of the country and its people. Imagine stepping to China and seeing pictures of the great wall instead of walking on it, or seeing pictures of the statue of liberty instead of climbing up its stairs. Yes perhaps the national stadium is not of the same level of historical significance as these structures, but it will be after 200 years (and if it is still standing)! If we start tearing everything down after 30 years there will be nothing left that is more than 30 years. :)
Every nation has pieces of history still intact. I wonder what will be left in Singapore that speaks of the people who live in the growing up years of 1960-90s a hundred years from now. Perhaps nothing much but stone slabs of the Old National Stadium showcased in the National Museum or the Sports Museum in the new sports hub.
History is being eaten away in favor of a new complex that will perhaps be more expensive to maintain and that can potentially attract more dollars. In any large scale projects to be done, the cost benefit analysis must prove positive. So i guess in this case the benefits outweigh the cost and the cost is history.
Take this as a tribute to a historical structure that has many "firsts" for the people in Singapore and that will soon only be seen in pictures and videos.
Tucked in a quiet corner of Shaw Leisure Gallery is a little surprise called Tom's Palette which sells home-made ice cream.
When curious me entered their premises for the first time, I was greeted by sincere counter staff who are really proud of their little ice cream parlour and their flavours. That pretty scared me away, plus I had no intention for ice cream that day.
So a few hours ago, I decided to go for it. I stepped in to the ice cream parlour, got greeted by the rather sweet lady boss (I think), tasted the Oreo Cheesecake flavour, which was good, but settled for their Pisang Honey Walnut and Horlicks flavours in a small cup. You get to taste 2 flavours in a small cup at no extra charge and each cup is $2.80, which is considerably cheaper than other ice cream places. I thought it is a good tactic, to create a sense of value that the customer can taste 2 flavours for the price of one. It definitely helps those who can't decide between flavour 1 and flavour 2.
Their ice cream is definitely one of the better ones I've tasted. Rich in flavour and really smooth texture, slightly creamier than the Japanese ice creams. I really enjoyed their Horlicks flavour which I believe had extra amounts of the ingredient to pack the extra punch. The Pisang Honey Walnut though only managed to leave a mild impression with a weak banana flavour. But at least they were generous with the walnuts.
Anyway, overheard a conversation between the staff and a customer, there was apparently a batch of cockles flavoured ice cream... see-hum ice cream? Ice cream mai hum? mai hum, mai hum, hai hum...
If you do remember, I had ravaged MOF for their lousy food and lack of variety in an earlier review. Somehow and for some reason, somebody did give a damn (I am assuming this) about that bad review, or maybe the management was really not proud of what they had to offer at the Marina Square branch. And since they couldn't "re-brand" their stupidest name in the world, they probably thought it would be the best move to concentrate on selling their good stuff. Which is probably the only best thing that came out of MOF, by the way.
Simply said, the Girlfriend and I loved that just-you-and-me moment with the Macha Sundae (seen in picture). For S$6, you get soft-serve ice-cream with a scoop of their very good green tea red bean ice-cream and a whole lot of other toppings like green tea sauce, cereal, jelly, azuki red bean, peaches, waffle, watermelon wedges and cherry. We thought it was a very good deal if compared to places like Ben & Jerry's or Häagen-Dazs.
On another occasion, I tried the item with their green tea ice-cream, rice dumplings and red bean paste (which they claim to use red beans imported from Japan). The rich flavour from the green tea ice-cream was really pleasant and the rice dumplings were chewy with just the right texture. The red bean paste was unfortunately still a little too sweet to my liking. But overall, it was an enjoyable takeaway dessert.
The menu has also been bumped up, which only means more choices and that's a good thing. Do give the items recommended in the menu a try, you may just be pleasantly surprised too.
On a totally unrelated note, I was at Balestier Road briefly during the weekend and came across a rather fascinating traditional bakery. Any other interesting stuff that I should look out for in that area?
This is one of the rare prata places that only prepares your food upon your order. No more cold and stale prata kosong and prata telur. Plus the portions are larger than the usual prata places.
There's really nothing to complain here. It's pleasantly old school from the century old shop space to the food they serve and the price they charge (i.e. really cheap).
This is THE place for prata!
Must Tries: any prata is good
Do note that your "breakfast pratas" are not available during their peak hours. For those who are willing, go there in the morning.
The restaurant chain decided on a different approach here. You don't queue up to order any more. At this outlet, the crew comes to take your orders and serve you. At the same price too.
The place is spacious and well-lit. Talking about lighting, they have really innovative lampshades made of bottles of soft drinks. According to the staff, they are alcoholic and available for order at $7.50 a bottle.
I won't talk about the food here as the quality is pretty much the same everywhere.
It's much like settlers' cafe where you get a place to play games together. The food is just ok though. But you go there to have a good time in your friends' company. The fun is from all the interesting games which means anything other than Monopoly, Risk, Cluedo, Scrabble, Mad Magazine, etc. And boring friends equates boring time there. Best to go in groups large enough to be hauled up for illegal gathering (which means 5 or more). We had 14.
This place is like a copy of Azabu Sabo, except more expensive. Nothing really inspiring here. I had to forced myself to order something out of the menu after going through it for a about ten times because the items were either uninspiring to look at and/or they were overpriced.
Desserts were ok as it was not so sweet, but that section of the menu lacked variety.
To make things worse, the service is blur and slow.
I did not enjoy my time there and I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone... Well, maybe my enemies, if I have any.
1=SGD 0.0587
This is the 2nd time I went to a Kbox KTV and my impression was not so good. Customer service was bad as almost all of the crews gave us black face and rather rude when talking to us.
Though the free flow of nuts and the ktv system is a lure, I wo't bother going there if the customer service is not good. Crews keep peeping in and came in to tell you your time is up even before you started singing the last song. The person even stood outside and wait for us to sing finish the last song so that he can see that we are leaving. Definitely not a good value for money considering the price is more expensive than other KTVs like Party World.
Rating given:
"The Golden Scissors Hand"
My mum brought me here to get my new hair do recently. Although I've known the owner more than 12 years ago, I've only let her do my hair when I was back in Secondary school. But my mum has been faithfully following her, from Toa Payoh to Sengkang and now to Kovan. She calls her the 金剪刀. And I totally understand why...
Once she got her scissors out from her bags of many many scissors, her fingers and hands just did magic. No comb no clips no fuss! She just pull, divide and cut. I was speechless. But when she was done cutting, I feel so light on my head and it looks natural and nice.
I spent 5hours there to cut, highlight and perm my hair. And I'd witnessed so many wonders by her that day. As there were only she and her other colleague, she had to turn down alot of customers that day. Everyone went to look just for us. And I can see the trust these customers have of her. They just sat and let her do her magic. I'm impressed.
The shop doesn't look at all glam nor well done, its simple and cosy. Its the hairdressers that made a difference. I'm happy with the result of my new look and the price is reasonable. I'll sure be going back for all future cuts and such.
Nearest mrt station is Kovan. This shop is located nearer to OCBC/Standard Chartered bank, further away from Heartland Mall.
Rating given:
The national stadium was opened in July 1973 and was officially closed in 30 June 2007. Come this March 2008, it will be torn down to make way for a modern sports hub to be ready by 2011. The new sports Hub will have a 55,000 seating capacity, a sporting arena that can seat 3000 people, a 6000 seater aquatic center, commercial space and even a hotel.
It is a pity that such a structure almost 35 years old has to make way for a newer facility driven by the need to modernize whatever is old. Perhaps there should be no room for sentimentality here as land space in Singapore is scarce and every inch is measured not in meters but in dollars.
The national stadium is a historical monument in itself as it symbolizes a growing nations "investment" in sports at a time when such an investment would be deemed unnecessary, risky and of lesser importance. Yet the man behind this push, Mr Othman Wok did not stop at pushing ahead with this idea. One year after independence in 1966, the first pile was driven in Kallang Park to make way for the construction of the National Stadium.
Perhaps the National Stadium should have been preserved as part of the conservation projects by the National Heritage Board or made into an icon of historical significance to a then developing country. Instead come March 2008, it will be bull-dozered to the ground. What is left of it will be memories and pictures. Perhaps this is a practical thing to do in land scarce Singapore.
But imagine visiting Rome and seeing pictures of the Colosseum instead of the real thing. Being able to touch and feel the pillars of the Colosseum "brings" a person "back" into time to feel the history of the country and its people. Imagine stepping to China and seeing pictures of the great wall instead of walking on it, or seeing pictures of the statue of liberty instead of climbing up its stairs. Yes perhaps the national stadium is not of the same level of historical significance as these structures, but it will be after 200 years (and if it is still standing)! If we start tearing everything down after 30 years there will be nothing left that is more than 30 years. :)
Every nation has pieces of history still intact. I wonder what will be left in Singapore that speaks of the people who live in the growing up years of 1960-90s a hundred years from now. Perhaps nothing much but stone slabs of the Old National Stadium showcased in the National Museum or the Sports Museum in the new sports hub.
History is being eaten away in favor of a new complex that will perhaps be more expensive to maintain and that can potentially attract more dollars. In any large scale projects to be done, the cost benefit analysis must prove positive. So i guess in this case the benefits outweigh the cost and the cost is history.
Take this as a tribute to a historical structure that has many "firsts" for the people in Singapore and that will soon only be seen in pictures and videos.
Rating given:
Good Ice Cream is Fresh Home-made Ice Cream
Tucked in a quiet corner of Shaw Leisure Gallery is a little surprise called Tom's Palette which sells home-made ice cream.
When curious me entered their premises for the first time, I was greeted by sincere counter staff who are really proud of their little ice cream parlour and their flavours. That pretty scared me away, plus I had no intention for ice cream that day.
So a few hours ago, I decided to go for it. I stepped in to the ice cream parlour, got greeted by the rather sweet lady boss (I think), tasted the Oreo Cheesecake flavour, which was good, but settled for their Pisang Honey Walnut and Horlicks flavours in a small cup. You get to taste 2 flavours in a small cup at no extra charge and each cup is $2.80, which is considerably cheaper than other ice cream places. I thought it is a good tactic, to create a sense of value that the customer can taste 2 flavours for the price of one. It definitely helps those who can't decide between flavour 1 and flavour 2.
Their ice cream is definitely one of the better ones I've tasted. Rich in flavour and really smooth texture, slightly creamier than the Japanese ice creams. I really enjoyed their Horlicks flavour which I believe had extra amounts of the ingredient to pack the extra punch. The Pisang Honey Walnut though only managed to leave a mild impression with a weak banana flavour. But at least they were generous with the walnuts.
Anyway, overheard a conversation between the staff and a customer, there was apparently a batch of cockles flavoured ice cream... see-hum ice cream? Ice cream mai hum? mai hum, mai hum, hai hum...
Must Tries: Go taste each of them yourself lah.
Rating given:
They Finally Got It Right!
If you do remember, I had ravaged MOF for their lousy food and lack of variety in an earlier review. Somehow and for some reason, somebody did give a damn (I am assuming this) about that bad review, or maybe the management was really not proud of what they had to offer at the Marina Square branch. And since they couldn't "re-brand" their stupidest name in the world, they probably thought it would be the best move to concentrate on selling their good stuff. Which is probably the only best thing that came out of MOF, by the way.
Simply said, the Girlfriend and I loved that just-you-and-me moment with the Macha Sundae (seen in picture). For S$6, you get soft-serve ice-cream with a scoop of their very good green tea red bean ice-cream and a whole lot of other toppings like green tea sauce, cereal, jelly, azuki red bean, peaches, waffle, watermelon wedges and cherry. We thought it was a very good deal if compared to places like Ben & Jerry's or Häagen-Dazs.
On another occasion, I tried the item with their green tea ice-cream, rice dumplings and red bean paste (which they claim to use red beans imported from Japan). The rich flavour from the green tea ice-cream was really pleasant and the rice dumplings were chewy with just the right texture. The red bean paste was unfortunately still a little too sweet to my liking. But overall, it was an enjoyable takeaway dessert.
The menu has also been bumped up, which only means more choices and that's a good thing. Do give the items recommended in the menu a try, you may just be pleasantly surprised too.
On a totally unrelated note, I was at Balestier Road briefly during the weekend and came across a rather fascinating traditional bakery. Any other interesting stuff that I should look out for in that area?
Must Tries: Their ice-cream, of course
Rating given:
Everything is made on order and extra large
This is one of the rare prata places that only prepares your food upon your order. No more cold and stale prata kosong and prata telur. Plus the portions are larger than the usual prata places.
There's really nothing to complain here.
It's pleasantly old school from the century old shop space to the food they serve and the price they charge (i.e. really cheap).
This is THE place for prata!
Must Tries: any prata is good
Do note that your "breakfast pratas" are not available during their peak hours. For those who are willing, go there in the morning.
Rating given:
You order from your table here
The restaurant chain decided on a different approach here. You don't queue up to order any more. At this outlet, the crew comes to take your orders and serve you. At the same price too.
The place is spacious and well-lit. Talking about lighting, they have really innovative lampshades made of bottles of soft drinks. According to the staff, they are alcoholic and available for order at $7.50 a bottle.
I won't talk about the food here as the quality is pretty much the same everywhere.
Rating given:
The Most Authentic Rebranded Ya Kun in Singapore
I'm giving this place the highest ratings because of the following reasons:
- You pay $1.20 for kopi-peng here when branches everywhere else charges $1.80 (You mean ice is 60 cents?)
- You have those really authentic old tables.
- Service is surprisingly fast despite the generally older staff.
- It doesn't look like other Ya Kun branches.
- I think this is the only Ka Yun that toast the bread over a real charcoal fire.
- It is amazing to see men sitting out in the open with their long sleeve shirts and ties drinking hot coffee without breaking a sweat.
- It is amazing to see ladies sitting out in the open with their thick war paint drinking hot coffee without breaking a sweat.
- It is somewhat of a cool experience to be shouted at by the busy old staff running around.
- You get to shout across the place without being rowdy.
- On yeah, I did I mention the coffee, kaya toast and eggs seem to be always perfect?
Rating given:
Have your illegal gathering and not get caught!
It's much like settlers' cafe where you get a place to play games together. The food is just ok though. But you go there to have a good time in your friends' company. The fun is from all the interesting games which means anything other than Monopoly, Risk, Cluedo, Scrabble, Mad Magazine, etc. And boring friends equates boring time there. Best to go in groups large enough to be hauled up for illegal gathering (which means 5 or more). We had 14.
See what happened at http://kormmandos.multiply.com/photos/album/116
Rating given:
Yawn~
This place is like a copy of Azabu Sabo, except more expensive.
Nothing really inspiring here. I had to forced myself to order something out of the menu after going through it for a about ten times because the items were either uninspiring to look at and/or they were overpriced.
Desserts were ok as it was not so sweet, but that section of the menu lacked variety.
To make things worse, the service is blur and slow.
I did not enjoy my time there and I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone... Well, maybe my enemies, if I have any.
Rating given: