If you like exotic items in your living area or unique handmade accessories, otherwise eco-friendly stationary to jot down bits of life then you must get something from the TREASURES OF NEPAL .
Like the name suggest, they carry a good range of treasures from nepal and mostly eco friendly and environmentally loving. Keepa, a Nepalese and owner of this business hand picked all of these beautiful items, mostly from the hands of the maker themselves. Yes handmade they mostly are and materials used were Yak Bones from their daily meat domestic meals for beautiful and carved and polished accessories in various colours and design.
Note books and other paper products like lamp shades with intriguing designs were made mostly of the pulp of an ever growing shrub that is abundant in the high mountain and other lovely treasures such as crafted wooden boxes that contained some special holistic incense that is sure to calm every nerve and make you feel relaxed.
We were intrigued by her selections and her items were definitely unique, most of all for a good cause to support the villages back at this laid back country. So we contribute to eco friendly earthly measures, the villages back in Nepal and to our rustic fashion sense. Its a win win win... Guess I can pick a few more items to stock up for birthdays :)
Its a good deal at $1.60 per plate. Yes you heard me right and yes I had quite a bad experience especially at the Cathay outlet yet this outlet at Yew Tee Point made my finger cramped up with the THUMBS UP!
The salmon sashimi was generous in slices. Usually 3 slices but were pretty thick and juicy. The california maki rolls were stuffed with yummy fillings, seaweed crispy and ingredients used fresh. Service was good and homely and we the moment we sat down we couldn't help but whacked a few plates of these superb sashimi.
If you love lobster salad like I do, then you will fall in love with their lobster salad gunkan. The belt moved pretty fast and was filled with plates after plates of well portioned makis, gunkan and sashimi. Even the pickled ginger was super yummy. It was an extremely good experience with plenty of choices.
The portion was really good and worth the money on top of that, you get to select from the IPAD mini other stuffs that is not on the belt. The seats were clean and service was prompt and friendly. Seats were in the form of booths and we were served into a 4 seater booth during lunch hours when there was only 2 of us. It was an excellent experience and we are sure to go back. Everything was good and the food was just too fantabulous *SLURP!* SUPER DUPER affordable..
It was a public holiday lunch at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant with the family; A much vaunted restaurant where we usually purchase our supply of deep fried fish skin from (only available during Chinese New Year). And after so many years, we finally got down to trying their dim sum.
Situated on the fifth floor of the upclass Ngee Ann City at Orchard Road, East Ocean had a large crowd of people milling outside, waiting for a table. Thankfully we had reservations but even then, we had to get in line to approach the wait staff for our table. The place was rather noisy which definitely isn't great for conversation.
Crispy Roasted Pork Belly - Sporting a crackling crisp skin and a good fat to meat ratio, the roasted pork belly did seem a little wobbly and lacked finesse. But still pretty good in my humble opinion.
Steamed Har Gao - Crunchy prawns enveloped in relatively thin, translucent skin. Pretty decent as well.
Steamed BBQ Pork Rice Rolls - The cheong fun was average; Relatively thin skin but lacked silkiness. Chunks of BBQ pork evident.
Steamed Siew Mai - Topped with a smattering of roe and a green pea, the siew mai didn't overwhelm with its porkiness, probably due to the low fatty meat ratio.
Pan Fried Carrot Cake - The pan fried carrot cake was awfully soft and mushy; Almost gross. No wonders it didn't have many takers.
Steamed Carrot Cake - Now the steamed rendition came out slightly better. Soft sans the silkiness with the topping of dried shrimp, dried sausages, onion etc failing to boost the inherently bland flavours. Palatable but not great.
Mini Steamed Glutinous Rice - Great consistency in the rice but sorely lacking in flavour. Need I say more?
Deep Fried Beancurd Skin - The beancurd skin wasn't crisp enough and the prawn paste lacked flavour. Starting to see the trend?
Deep Fried Silver Fish With Salt - This dish was a serious joke. The layer of flour amassed around a single silver fish was so dense that all I could taste was flour. I certainly didn't order deep fried flour!
Century Egg Congee - Starchy yet flavourful, the porridge had bits of meat and a rather generous serving of century egg. Pretty nice considering how terrible the previous few items were.
Steamed Custard Bun - This was probably one of the best dishes that afternoon; Runny custard that wasn't cloyingly sweet with a hint of egg yolk sediment. Only gripe I had was that the salty contrast wasn't evident enough.
Baked BBQ Pork Bun - Think polo bun (菠萝包) with BBQ pork. Crusty, semi sweet top with bits of BBQ pork filling. Pretty decent but would have appreciated more pork and a little more viscosity in the filling.
Steamed Custard Layered Cake - I've never had this at a dim sum restaurant before and honestly, I found it rather insipid. Dry layers of cake sandwiching dried, overly sweet custard that just made me give up after my third mouthful.
Baked BBQ Pork Pie - Though the BBQ pork filling was chunky, it could have done with a little more gooeyness (as with the BBQ pork bun) whilst a little more butter would have helped the pastry.
Mini Egg Tart - The egg tarts showcased a flaky pastry with a smooth and semi sweet custard center. A pity the pastry just wasn't buttery enough. Still a decent eat nonetheless.
5 of us racked up a bill of about $142, which isn't too expensive given the quantity of food we had. Compare that however, to the quality of food that Wah Lok offers at a similar price point and the result is clear; East Ocean just doesn't measure up. There are more misses than hits and I'll probably just stop by for my yearly fish skin purchases, nothing more.
A little shop with many surprises. Hand picked and curated by the owner of the shop herself, I was pretty amazed by the items i found from her little collection.
The thing that caught my eye was the 'FROZEN' themed hair clips. Unlike the usual I've seen, the prints were less complicated in pretty baby colours. Toddlers clothes were so cute, i wish i had a baby of age to be dressed in. Service was good and with much jolly laughters. Love the apparels and accessories that goes with them.
Exquisite collection in great materials and beautiful clean looking designs. Love the simplicity, love the passion and love the great smiles.
I had an off day so popped by for an early lunch at Three Buns @ Potato Head Folk, apparently the latest and greatest F&B joint, fresh off the beaches of Bali.
Housed in the iconic, former Tong Ah Building (東亞) along Keong Saik Road, Three Buns @ Potato Head Folk offers takeaway and alfresco dining on the ground floor, table service on the second and a cocktail bar on the third. The kitchen is also located on the ground floor so you can pretty much have a good view of the workings if you choose to sit along the passageway.
Dining alone, I didn't quite fancy any table service and wanted a look at the kitchen hence I made myself comfortable on one of the tiny wooden bar chairs along the passageway. On hindsight, that probably wasn't a great decision as passers-by kept bumping into me due to the rather narrow path. And lets not forget about the afternoon humidity and heat.
Naughty Fries - Naughty fries. How catchy. Instead of the usual rectangular shaped strips of fries, these came in wide, thinly shaved pieces and topped with the likes of Parmesan, spiced Bearnaise, shallots, parsley, chopped spring onions and a smattering of mildly spicy hot beef chilli. Apart from the rather interesting Asian twist to an otherwise Western dish, it was essentially Carl's Junior's chilli beef fries with a little more finesse; Fresher tasting with a slightly spicier kick. $9 gets you a sharing portion for 2pax.
Baby Huey - A thick and juicy but mildly overcooked 150g beef patty topped with melted cheese, lettuce, spiced mayo, pickles and 'Notorious T.O.M Sauce' (whatever that means). Served up between two soft and fluffy buns (like the one's from Triple O's), this was one pretty good burger. I personally liked the mild tanginess of the of the whole burger and the crunchiness provided by the pickles. An abundance of sauce made for a very messy burger but it was all good. I'm definitely trying out the double patty burger on my next visit!
A rather sweaty but filling lunch cost me about $37, which seriously isn't cheap by any standards for a burger, fries and an iced coffee (which incidentally tastes like the $1 ones at a local coffeeshop. But don't quote me on that as I know nuts about coffee). No service charge was levied because it was pretty much self serve but I assume a 10% service charge would be tagged on if you were to sit on the second floor. The burger alone is worth a revisit though!
I can't help it, I was shocked and disappointed. Why wasn't it like before?
Parklane Zha Yun Tun mee house is one time so famous for its deep fried Meat dumplings that we had to queue for hours to get a seat during lunch time. I thought it was still so however the queue had thinned down pretty much.
So while we wonder in and grabbed ourselves a lavish 4 seater, we secretly giggled at our good luck and not being chided by the staff. The items on the menu were plentiful and we ordered chicken feat noodles and my favourite porkchop rice.
Amidst the staff shouting orders in authentic china mandarin at one another and shuffling around, its obvious the number of staffs is just crowding up the small shop yet space was so precious that we almost had to seat down back to back.
Our food arrived in a short while and the zha yun tun did not taste as surprisingly nice as always did. This time round, too floury, oily and burnt with little filling. I was pretty disappointed. The chicken leg noodle arrived with the noodles pretty acceptingly well-done and braised chicken leg cooked but not soft. My pork chop rice was a downer... its just a super thin slice of pale pork, overcooked hard on plenty of white rice with a little braised sauce. I was devastated, blaming myself for the obvious wrong choice of cafe and wrong choice of food.
While i cursed away, i still tried to finish up my food as this is not exactly cheap to just walk away. So the meal ended with me being too emo! Perhaps i just did not choose the yummy stuffs and I find it too EX!!!
If you are looking for excellent, made with non synthetic ingredients that is gentle to your skin, than these passionately handcrafted skincare are just what you need to fight the polluted air of city living.
We were surprised to find such excellently created merchandises on sale at the Mega Flea 11 and was even more thrilled to hear the story of how the idea of whipping up a wholesome and nourishing range of skin protecting creams and lotions came about. It is the desire of one who seemed to have never-ending sensitivity problems with off the rack skin care products that turned frustration into creativity energy and the determination to bring to her friends ultimately good, natural and organic skin nourishing products.
Our favourite, would have to be the scrubs which we didn't manage to try as it might get a little too messy, however the ingredients were fabulous. Natural sugar with grapeseed oil and we even spotted elderberry extracts. Elderberry extracts are one of the rare and expensive ingredients used in skin care products yet its extremely good towards inflammation and we loved the fact that we found it in the scrub that would mean it could go deep underneath those inflamed scabs and treat wounds naturally.
The texture for the body butter is silky smooth with a good dose of shea butter with no water added. Nourishing yet not sticky and slithered on with a light fragrance. We also enjoyed the body lotions and the hand cremes, they are not highly perfumed yet the natural smell of the oils used were pretty pleasant and humbling.
They were priced extremely economically as compared to products on par and had a shelf life of 1 year which is pretty good for a non-synthetic product. We loved the packaging and the passion involved in creation. Lovely range and we hope to see more.
Such products are hardly found anywhere unless you make it yourself.
It was a Saturday afternoon and we wanted some lunch. Pepper Steakhouse seemed to offer a rather decent lunch proposal on a weekend so we settled for it.
Located at a corner of Great World City, Pepper Steakhouse sported a sombre interior with dark leather bound seats and wooden tables. The place was empty when we walked in but started filling up when the clock struck noon.
Soup of The Day - A tad runny but at least the mushroom taste was still apparent. The accompanying slice of toast was bland and the grill marks were apparently just for show.
Pork Loin - The pork loin honestly looked gorgeous but the old adage holds true; Appearances can be deceiving. Spotting a weirdly soft texture (I had expected something tougher with more bite), the pork was topped with a layer of mushroom and melted cheese. All were bland and could do with a little more salt or flavour.
Sirloin - Done medium as per my request, the sirloin was a tad too salty for my liking and a tad soft as well. Having said that, the sweetness of the meat was sufficiently evident and all in all, a pretty decent piece of steak.
Tiramisu - The tiramisu's sponge to mascarpone ratio was largely skewed in favour of the mascarpone and a teetotaler's version at that. The coffee taste was apparent but the mascarpone wasn't rich enough. Still a decent eat.
Sticky Date Pudding - Not many places serve sticky date pudding so I usually make it a point to order one if I spot it on the menu. Topped with chocolate sauce, Pepper's rendition of this classic English dessert was palatable at best; The pudding wasn't spongy enough while coming across as a little too dry and dense and lacking the oomph factor. Maybe a scoop of ice cream would have done it good.
Weekend lunch was relatively cheap for the quantity and variety of food, at about $22/head. However quality of food hovered around the average mark though service was acceptable. I don't suppose I will be back again but I guess it might be a cheaper alternative amongst the higher end options at Great World City.
The Mega Flea series of tradeshow bazaars seemed always to surprise me. It amazes me because what seemed like a repeat of a similar event could have such interesting vendors all the time and merchandises so varied that I was excited because i found some really interesting stuffs.
Location, Environment & Atmosphere Well, the atmosphere was one that is laced with excitement, while coming up from the escalators, you could already spot signs leading you to the flea and as you approach the entrance, be greeted by some partners with booths and contest. Be a winner before you actually enter the flea hall. Globby's instagram contest was one that was fun while you could take a pic with the cute props with the Mapwerkz team at the Gumtree background while enjoying a yummy cup of ice cream with compliments from Gumtree.
The hall was well air-circulated and tables neatly arranged in columns with ample spaces at each lane for shoppers to crowd and move around. The entire atmosphere was filled with excitement, while you could hear one vendor explaining their merchandises and another customer asking for a discount. Haggling and laughters was pretty ample here and vendors were relaxed even when the crowd builds to a traffic jam around some booths.
Merchandises and Vendors I was really surprised to meet a few really interesting booths and as I do not want the review to sound like my grandfather's bedtime story, I would keep my lengthy descriptions to the #TMFM11 Post event article..
I found these exceptionally good handmade skincare products (Passionately Handcrafted) which is made of extremely good ingredients such as a concoction of natural oils (eg. grapeseed) and for the scrub i found elderberry extract which is a pretty rare ingredient to be used and somewhat an expensive one. Another booth across the hall promoted to me handmade soap from Ipoh with a history of more than 3 generations (Sabunim) that are made with pure coconut oil and can laterally rejuvenate your skin. The power of pure coconut oil is simply amazing and friendly to sensitive skin.
(The dorsal effect) is another interesting booth. Passionate with a clear and concise goal in mind, the team offers eco-tours to the island Lombok, off Bali, Indonesia, offering business to laid back fishermans so that they do not need to kill endangered sharks just to make ends meet.
(ISported) a newly designed app also made their debut at this flea, offering free downloads with wristbands for your favourite world cup teams. The app is intelligent enough to tell you where you can go nearby, be it a pub or McDonalds to watch football leagues without causing a fight at home.
Preloved Stores Fashion has always been a big hit for fleas but this time round I spotted more preloved booths with eager and friendly, trendily dressed ladies selling their preloved fashionable stuffs. Love their vibe and the easy going attitudes. What more, i found not only clothes and beautiful dresses and accessories, books and household items were also selling off fast. One such booth is made up of intelligent team of Malay family when their items were lovely and well organised, they even brought along a mic and speaker to boost their presence. Love the teamwork and the fun element they brought to the flea.
It was extremely enjoyable and out of so many fleas, this one got me into the buying mood and most items that I got were such good bargain, i was practically holding on to me cheesy grin the whole time i was shopping. Featuring many trendy and useful stuffs.. this is one of those memorable fleas for me and of course more stuffs to give away to make way for even more beautiful stuffs... LOVED THE EXPERIENCE and WILL COME BACK FOR MORE!
If you enjoy korean style fried chicken you should really pop by Kko Kko Nara at Tanjong Pagar. Walking distance from the MRT and the main road, this outlet is usually packed with diners during dinner hours, so please remember to make your reservations.
We were there on a weekday evening, good thing our friends arrived earlier and chopped us some seats. When i arrived which is slightly before 7pm, there was already a queue outside and well parking is pretty ample by the 2 sides of the road, so if you drive its pretty convenient.
This long restaurant has got pretty nice booth seats for a group size of about 4-6. Well cushioned and ventilated. I spyed our neighbours having Korean BBQ meat, however our good friend suggested a fried chicken party as their Fried Chicken are suppose to be super duper yummilicious. We thus started to order the various flavors and of course some korean wine to go with the meat.
The Original was crispy, tasty and juicy. Our good friend loved it so much that she ate almost half the chicken ($20 for half a chicken).
The garlic and soya sauce is my favourite, love the salty sauce and though my friends commented too savoury, it was just right for me. ($25 for half a chicken)
The spicy was a tad too spicy... I only had a small middle part of the wing and couldn't take it anymore... I was worried my lips would grow to sausage size.
I was surprised they had the lunch menu in which the chicken portions are about 20% cheaper than the dinner prices. Well, take away is the same price with GST and Service Charge but the package was nicely packed with side dishes accompanying salad and cold dish packed separately including a complimentary can of coke, not forgetting forks and serviettes.
1=SGD 0.0587
If you like exotic items in your living area or unique handmade accessories, otherwise eco-friendly stationary to jot down bits of life then you must get something from the TREASURES OF NEPAL .
Like the name suggest, they carry a good range of treasures from nepal and mostly eco friendly and environmentally loving. Keepa, a Nepalese and owner of this business hand picked all of these beautiful items, mostly from the hands of the maker themselves. Yes handmade they mostly are and materials used were Yak Bones from their daily meat domestic meals for beautiful and carved and polished accessories in various colours and design.
Note books and other paper products like lamp shades with intriguing designs were made mostly of the pulp of an ever growing shrub that is abundant in the high mountain and other lovely treasures such as crafted wooden boxes that contained some special holistic incense that is sure to calm every nerve and make you feel relaxed.
We were intrigued by her selections and her items were definitely unique, most of all for a good cause to support the villages back at this laid back country. So we contribute to eco friendly earthly measures, the villages back in Nepal and to our rustic fashion sense. Its a win win win... Guess I can pick a few more items to stock up for birthdays :)
AWESOME!!!
Rating given:
Its a good deal at $1.60 per plate. Yes you heard me right and yes I had quite a bad experience especially at the Cathay outlet yet this outlet at Yew Tee Point made my finger cramped up with the THUMBS UP!
The salmon sashimi was generous in slices. Usually 3 slices but were pretty thick and juicy. The california maki rolls were stuffed with yummy fillings, seaweed crispy and ingredients used fresh. Service was good and homely and we the moment we sat down we couldn't help but whacked a few plates of these superb sashimi.
If you love lobster salad like I do, then you will fall in love with their lobster salad gunkan. The belt moved pretty fast and was filled with plates after plates of well portioned makis, gunkan and sashimi. Even the pickled ginger was super yummy. It was an extremely good experience with plenty of choices.
The portion was really good and worth the money on top of that, you get to select from the IPAD mini other stuffs that is not on the belt. The seats were clean and service was prompt and friendly. Seats were in the form of booths and we were served into a 4 seater booth during lunch hours when there was only 2 of us. It was an excellent experience and we are sure to go back. Everything was good and the food was just too fantabulous *SLURP!* SUPER DUPER affordable..
you made mine day!!!
Rating given:
It was a public holiday lunch at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant with the family; A much vaunted restaurant where we usually purchase our supply of deep fried fish skin from (only available during Chinese New Year). And after so many years, we finally got down to trying their dim sum.
Situated on the fifth floor of the upclass Ngee Ann City at Orchard Road, East Ocean had a large crowd of people milling outside, waiting for a table. Thankfully we had reservations but even then, we had to get in line to approach the wait staff for our table. The place was rather noisy which definitely isn't great for conversation.
Crispy Roasted Pork Belly - Sporting a crackling crisp skin and a good fat to meat ratio, the roasted pork belly did seem a little wobbly and lacked finesse. But still pretty good in my humble opinion.
Steamed Har Gao - Crunchy prawns enveloped in relatively thin, translucent skin. Pretty decent as well.
Steamed BBQ Pork Rice Rolls - The cheong fun was average; Relatively thin skin but lacked silkiness. Chunks of BBQ pork evident.
Steamed Siew Mai - Topped with a smattering of roe and a green pea, the siew mai didn't overwhelm with its porkiness, probably due to the low fatty meat ratio.
Pan Fried Carrot Cake - The pan fried carrot cake was awfully soft and mushy; Almost gross. No wonders it didn't have many takers.
Steamed Carrot Cake - Now the steamed rendition came out slightly better. Soft sans the silkiness with the topping of dried shrimp, dried sausages, onion etc failing to boost the inherently bland flavours. Palatable but not great.
Mini Steamed Glutinous Rice - Great consistency in the rice but sorely lacking in flavour. Need I say more?
Deep Fried Beancurd Skin - The beancurd skin wasn't crisp enough and the prawn paste lacked flavour. Starting to see the trend?
Deep Fried Silver Fish With Salt - This dish was a serious joke. The layer of flour amassed around a single silver fish was so dense that all I could taste was flour. I certainly didn't order deep fried flour!
Century Egg Congee - Starchy yet flavourful, the porridge had bits of meat and a rather generous serving of century egg. Pretty nice considering how terrible the previous few items were.
Steamed Custard Bun - This was probably one of the best dishes that afternoon; Runny custard that wasn't cloyingly sweet with a hint of egg yolk sediment. Only gripe I had was that the salty contrast wasn't evident enough.
Baked BBQ Pork Bun - Think polo bun (菠萝包) with BBQ pork. Crusty, semi sweet top with bits of BBQ pork filling. Pretty decent but would have appreciated more pork and a little more viscosity in the filling.
Steamed Custard Layered Cake - I've never had this at a dim sum restaurant before and honestly, I found it rather insipid. Dry layers of cake sandwiching dried, overly sweet custard that just made me give up after my third mouthful.
Baked BBQ Pork Pie - Though the BBQ pork filling was chunky, it could have done with a little more gooeyness (as with the BBQ pork bun) whilst a little more butter would have helped the pastry.
Mini Egg Tart - The egg tarts showcased a flaky pastry with a smooth and semi sweet custard center. A pity the pastry just wasn't buttery enough. Still a decent eat nonetheless.
5 of us racked up a bill of about $142, which isn't too expensive given the quantity of food we had. Compare that however, to the quality of food that Wah Lok offers at a similar price point and the result is clear; East Ocean just doesn't measure up. There are more misses than hits and I'll probably just stop by for my yearly fish skin purchases, nothing more.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
A little shop with many surprises. Hand picked and curated by the owner of the shop herself, I was pretty amazed by the items i found from her little collection.
The thing that caught my eye was the 'FROZEN' themed hair clips. Unlike the usual I've seen, the prints were less complicated in pretty baby colours. Toddlers clothes were so cute, i wish i had a baby of age to be dressed in. Service was good and with much jolly laughters. Love the apparels and accessories that goes with them.
Exquisite collection in great materials and beautiful clean looking designs. Love the simplicity, love the passion and love the great smiles.
Rating given:
I had an off day so popped by for an early lunch at Three Buns @ Potato Head Folk, apparently the latest and greatest F&B joint, fresh off the beaches of Bali.
Housed in the iconic, former Tong Ah Building (東亞) along Keong Saik Road, Three Buns @ Potato Head Folk offers takeaway and alfresco dining on the ground floor, table service on the second and a cocktail bar on the third. The kitchen is also located on the ground floor so you can pretty much have a good view of the workings if you choose to sit along the passageway.
Dining alone, I didn't quite fancy any table service and wanted a look at the kitchen hence I made myself comfortable on one of the tiny wooden bar chairs along the passageway. On hindsight, that probably wasn't a great decision as passers-by kept bumping into me due to the rather narrow path. And lets not forget about the afternoon humidity and heat.
Naughty Fries - Naughty fries. How catchy. Instead of the usual rectangular shaped strips of fries, these came in wide, thinly shaved pieces and topped with the likes of Parmesan, spiced Bearnaise, shallots, parsley, chopped spring onions and a smattering of mildly spicy hot beef chilli. Apart from the rather interesting Asian twist to an otherwise Western dish, it was essentially Carl's Junior's chilli beef fries with a little more finesse; Fresher tasting with a slightly spicier kick. $9 gets you a sharing portion for 2pax.
Baby Huey - A thick and juicy but mildly overcooked 150g beef patty topped with melted cheese, lettuce, spiced mayo, pickles and 'Notorious T.O.M Sauce' (whatever that means). Served up between two soft and fluffy buns (like the one's from Triple O's), this was one pretty good burger. I personally liked the mild tanginess of the of the whole burger and the crunchiness provided by the pickles. An abundance of sauce made for a very messy burger but it was all good. I'm definitely trying out the double patty burger on my next visit!
A rather sweaty but filling lunch cost me about $37, which seriously isn't cheap by any standards for a burger, fries and an iced coffee (which incidentally tastes like the $1 ones at a local coffeeshop. But don't quote me on that as I know nuts about coffee). No service charge was levied because it was pretty much self serve but I assume a 10% service charge would be tagged on if you were to sit on the second floor. The burger alone is worth a revisit though!
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I can't help it, I was shocked and disappointed. Why wasn't it like before?
Parklane Zha Yun Tun mee house is one time so famous for its deep fried Meat dumplings that we had to queue for hours to get a seat during lunch time. I thought it was still so however the queue had thinned down pretty much.
So while we wonder in and grabbed ourselves a lavish 4 seater, we secretly giggled at our good luck and not being chided by the staff. The items on the menu were plentiful and we ordered chicken feat noodles and my favourite porkchop rice.
Amidst the staff shouting orders in authentic china mandarin at one another and shuffling around, its obvious the number of staffs is just crowding up the small shop yet space was so precious that we almost had to seat down back to back.
Our food arrived in a short while and the zha yun tun did not taste as surprisingly nice as always did. This time round, too floury, oily and burnt with little filling. I was pretty disappointed. The chicken leg noodle arrived with the noodles pretty acceptingly well-done and braised chicken leg cooked but not soft. My pork chop rice was a downer... its just a super thin slice of pale pork, overcooked hard on plenty of white rice with a little braised sauce. I was devastated, blaming myself for the obvious wrong choice of cafe and wrong choice of food.
While i cursed away, i still tried to finish up my food as this is not exactly cheap to just walk away. So the meal ended with me being too emo! Perhaps i just did not choose the yummy stuffs and I find it too EX!!!
Rating given:
If you are looking for excellent, made with non synthetic ingredients that is gentle to your skin, than these passionately handcrafted skincare are just what you need to fight the polluted air of city living.
We were surprised to find such excellently created merchandises on sale at the Mega Flea 11 and was even more thrilled to hear the story of how the idea of whipping up a wholesome and nourishing range of skin protecting creams and lotions came about. It is the desire of one who seemed to have never-ending sensitivity problems with off the rack skin care products that turned frustration into creativity energy and the determination to bring to her friends ultimately good, natural and organic skin nourishing products.
Our favourite, would have to be the scrubs which we didn't manage to try as it might get a little too messy, however the ingredients were fabulous. Natural sugar with grapeseed oil and we even spotted elderberry extracts. Elderberry extracts are one of the rare and expensive ingredients used in skin care products yet its extremely good towards inflammation and we loved the fact that we found it in the scrub that would mean it could go deep underneath those inflamed scabs and treat wounds naturally.
The texture for the body butter is silky smooth with a good dose of shea butter with no water added. Nourishing yet not sticky and slithered on with a light fragrance. We also enjoyed the body lotions and the hand cremes, they are not highly perfumed yet the natural smell of the oils used were pretty pleasant and humbling.
They were priced extremely economically as compared to products on par and had a shelf life of 1 year which is pretty good for a non-synthetic product. We loved the packaging and the passion involved in creation. Lovely range and we hope to see more.
Such products are hardly found anywhere unless you make it yourself.
Rating given:
It was a Saturday afternoon and we wanted some lunch. Pepper Steakhouse seemed to offer a rather decent lunch proposal on a weekend so we settled for it.
Located at a corner of Great World City, Pepper Steakhouse sported a sombre interior with dark leather bound seats and wooden tables. The place was empty when we walked in but started filling up when the clock struck noon.
Soup of The Day - A tad runny but at least the mushroom taste was still apparent. The accompanying slice of toast was bland and the grill marks were apparently just for show.
Pork Loin - The pork loin honestly looked gorgeous but the old adage holds true; Appearances can be deceiving. Spotting a weirdly soft texture (I had expected something tougher with more bite), the pork was topped with a layer of mushroom and melted cheese. All were bland and could do with a little more salt or flavour.
Sirloin - Done medium as per my request, the sirloin was a tad too salty for my liking and a tad soft as well. Having said that, the sweetness of the meat was sufficiently evident and all in all, a pretty decent piece of steak.
Tiramisu - The tiramisu's sponge to mascarpone ratio was largely skewed in favour of the mascarpone and a teetotaler's version at that. The coffee taste was apparent but the mascarpone wasn't rich enough. Still a decent eat.
Sticky Date Pudding - Not many places serve sticky date pudding so I usually make it a point to order one if I spot it on the menu. Topped with chocolate sauce, Pepper's rendition of this classic English dessert was palatable at best; The pudding wasn't spongy enough while coming across as a little too dry and dense and lacking the oomph factor. Maybe a scoop of ice cream would have done it good.
Weekend lunch was relatively cheap for the quantity and variety of food, at about $22/head. However quality of food hovered around the average mark though service was acceptable. I don't suppose I will be back again but I guess it might be a cheaper alternative amongst the higher end options at Great World City.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
The Mega Flea series of tradeshow bazaars seemed always to surprise me. It amazes me because what seemed like a repeat of a similar event could have such interesting vendors all the time and merchandises so varied that I was excited because i found some really interesting stuffs.
Location, Environment & Atmosphere
Well, the atmosphere was one that is laced with excitement, while coming up from the escalators, you could already spot signs leading you to the flea and as you approach the entrance, be greeted by some partners with booths and contest. Be a winner before you actually enter the flea hall. Globby's instagram contest was one that was fun while you could take a pic with the cute props with the Mapwerkz team at the Gumtree background while enjoying a yummy cup of ice cream with compliments from Gumtree.
The hall was well air-circulated and tables neatly arranged in columns with ample spaces at each lane for shoppers to crowd and move around. The entire atmosphere was filled with excitement, while you could hear one vendor explaining their merchandises and another customer asking for a discount. Haggling and laughters was pretty ample here and vendors were relaxed even when the crowd builds to a traffic jam around some booths.
Merchandises and Vendors
I was really surprised to meet a few really interesting booths and as I do not want the review to sound like my grandfather's bedtime story, I would keep my lengthy descriptions to the #TMFM11 Post event article..
I found these exceptionally good handmade skincare products (Passionately Handcrafted) which is made of extremely good ingredients such as a concoction of natural oils (eg. grapeseed) and for the scrub i found elderberry extract which is a pretty rare ingredient to be used and somewhat an expensive one. Another booth across the hall promoted to me handmade soap from Ipoh with a history of more than 3 generations (Sabunim) that are made with pure coconut oil and can laterally rejuvenate your skin. The power of pure coconut oil is simply amazing and friendly to sensitive skin.
(The dorsal effect) is another interesting booth. Passionate with a clear and concise goal in mind, the team offers eco-tours to the island Lombok, off Bali, Indonesia, offering business to laid back fishermans so that they do not need to kill endangered sharks just to make ends meet.
(ISported) a newly designed app also made their debut at this flea, offering free downloads with wristbands for your favourite world cup teams. The app is intelligent enough to tell you where you can go nearby, be it a pub or McDonalds to watch football leagues without causing a fight at home.
Preloved Stores
Fashion has always been a big hit for fleas but this time round I spotted more preloved booths with eager and friendly, trendily dressed ladies selling their preloved fashionable stuffs. Love their vibe and the easy going attitudes. What more, i found not only clothes and beautiful dresses and accessories, books and household items were also selling off fast. One such booth is made up of intelligent team of Malay family when their items were lovely and well organised, they even brought along a mic and speaker to boost their presence. Love the teamwork and the fun element they brought to the flea.
It was extremely enjoyable and out of so many fleas, this one got me into the buying mood and most items that I got were such good bargain, i was practically holding on to me cheesy grin the whole time i was shopping. Featuring many trendy and useful stuffs.. this is one of those memorable fleas for me and of course more stuffs to give away to make way for even more beautiful stuffs... LOVED THE EXPERIENCE and WILL COME BACK FOR MORE!
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If you enjoy korean style fried chicken you should really pop by Kko Kko Nara at Tanjong Pagar. Walking distance from the MRT and the main road, this outlet is usually packed with diners during dinner hours, so please remember to make your reservations.
We were there on a weekday evening, good thing our friends arrived earlier and chopped us some seats. When i arrived which is slightly before 7pm, there was already a queue outside and well parking is pretty ample by the 2 sides of the road, so if you drive its pretty convenient.
This long restaurant has got pretty nice booth seats for a group size of about 4-6. Well cushioned and ventilated. I spyed our neighbours having Korean BBQ meat, however our good friend suggested a fried chicken party as their Fried Chicken are suppose to be super duper yummilicious. We thus started to order the various flavors and of course some korean wine to go with the meat.
The Original was crispy, tasty and juicy. Our good friend loved it so much that she ate almost half the chicken ($20 for half a chicken).
The garlic and soya sauce is my favourite, love the salty sauce and though my friends commented too savoury, it was just right for me. ($25 for half a chicken)
The spicy was a tad too spicy... I only had a small middle part of the wing and couldn't take it anymore... I was worried my lips would grow to sausage size.
I was surprised they had the lunch menu in which the chicken portions are about 20% cheaper than the dinner prices. Well, take away is the same price with GST and Service Charge but the package was nicely packed with side dishes accompanying salad and cold dish packed separately including a complimentary can of coke, not forgetting forks and serviettes.
Now how sweet is that :)
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