Goodwood Park Hotel Durian Fiesta Dessert Buffet

Hello (:

I've been terribly busy and there's barely enough time to do all that needs to be done so I think I'll be more realistic and try to blog once a week instead of the usual two for this semester.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Goodwook Park Hotel for their Durian Fiesta Dessert Buffet and I left feeling full and satiated! (: You must understand that I've been wanting to try this durian buffet for years but somehow I always end up missing this every single year.. until this year! Am so happy that I finally got to try it and it completely met my expectations! (:

We chose to have a 4 course selection ($44.80++) and one durian dessert buffet ($33.80++). The 4 course selection comes with durian dessert buffet too so both of us could enjoy the huge dessert spread! 

The other three courses that came with the four course set were: the gado-gado, which was so-so,

the bak kut teh soup and rice, which was unexpectedly out of this world (I would totally go back just for this!) and 

a plate of char kway teow, which was also pretty good!

I've concluded that The Coffee Lounge serves pretty awesome Asian food and I'd go back again when I feel like having some good quality Asian food in a comfortable setting.

Alright, here's what we had for desserts! Almost everything was wonderful and I can't get enough of the durian desserts plus the bread and butter pudding! Yumyum! So here are some photos of what we had that day:

We obviously haven't poured our tea because we decided to let the tea bag soak in the water for a while longer since we like stronger tea. I also learnt a new thing that day: you can add a slice of lemon to your warm tea to give it a refreshing zingy taste! Oooh. I've never tried it before till that day and I like it very much! (: Shall do that again in future.

Alright that is all for today. It's time for bed (: Goodnight!

Kim's Family

Hello! (:

It's been way too long since I last blogged and frankly I'm a little bothered by it =| I try to comfort myself by telling myself that my Instagram account is well and alive (especially during weekends) but I will definitely come back here (or at least try very hard to) to continue blogging (: It's therapeutic in some ways.. to be able to record the places that I've been to.

So a couple of weeks ago, we decided to go to the nearby Kim's Family Restaurant for lunch and it was as nice as the previous visit because the place wasn't too crowded. This time, we ordered just enough food so we didn't have to try too hard to finish our food, which is great because I don't really like to waste food unless absolutely necessary.

Really love how they serve these appetizers almost immediately upon arrival. One shocking realisation we had that day was that Kim's now charges for these "open food"! All these appetizers, which used to come free, now cost $25! =S Isn't that a lot? Gah. Guess they have to find some way to keep their business alive!

The soft beancurd kimchi soup ($15) was wonderful because though it looks very spicy, it is actually quite alright.. and that, coming from a person who can't really handle spicy food very well, means that the soup's spiciness is really manageable! (: I like that there were huge blocks of soft beancurd in the soup! (: Ate them all up!

Another staple dish that I'll gladly order over and over again is the Chives Pancake ($14). Truth be told, I was first exposed to chives when my family used to go to Chinatown to eat jiao zi at the People's Park Food Centre and I'd always thought that it's an odd vegetable because I can't really figure out how I feel about its taste and texture. I guess it goes well with the starch that makes up most of the pancake and I like how it is cooked this way! (:

The new dish that we tried that day was the Korean Glass Noodles ($15), which at first glance looks like rice vermicelli but it actually isn't because it is slightly thicker and smoother. This dish tastes like another Chinese dish that I know except that there is more noodles than vegetables here, and that the sauce is actually sweet-ish! Glad we got to try this dish! (:

The meal ended with the usual servings of slices of oranges and tiny cups of cinnamon tea (: Kim's is definitely one of my shortlisted restaurants near my home that I wouldn't mind going when I don't wish to travel to town for a meal (:

Alright that is all. Have a great week ahead everyone! (:

Sunday Remix Brunch at The Kitchen Table

Hello!

The weekend is finally here! (:  It has been quite a long & trying week for me and though things weren't completely fine nor did plans fall perfectly into place, I'm thankful for the things that went well and am looking forward to just taking this weekend to do what matters most.

Last weekend, we decided to travel to W Hotel Sentosa to have a very late brunch at The Kitchen Table! It was my first time visiting W Hotel and I was pretty excited to see what it is like. Truth be told, I kind of expected it to be a chi chi type of hotel where people go to be seen and I was a bit afraid that the atmosphere/ feel of The Kitchen Table wouldn't be to my liking but I guess I'll never know till I go so I went ahead (:

Fortunately, the ambience of The Kitchen Table was nothing like I had imagined it to be! It was rather chillax and I felt comfortable dining there (: I appreciated the rather colourful and beach-resort-like interior decoration, high ceilings and natural light coming from outside. I almost wish I was on a beach holiday. 

There is quite a lot of food to eat at Sunday Remix Brunch as both The Kitchen Table and Skirt are opened for this brunch. We went for the non-alcoholic brunch which costs $108++/pax and it came with free flow soft drinks/ juices/ tea/ coffee (: 

Here are some photos of the food we had that day:  

 I wasn't in a tea/ coffee mood so I requested for hot chocolate and they served it to me! (: (: (: It was good! 

On the whole, the food is relatively good and I think it is definitely more worth it if you like meat and seafood (: I really loved some of the items in their dessert section (e.g. brownie, their fruit cup, the chocolate fondue) but the rest were okay-good for me.

One of the nicest things that happened after our long brunch was that we went for a relatively long walk around the area and I was quite fascinated by the fact that an entire neighbourhood has been created at that little corner of tiny Sentosa. I felt like I was walking in the set of Stepford Wives! It was great to be able to take in new sights (of places and things that I'll never dream of owning in my life) and it felt like I was once again discovering new places in Singapore. Really miss those more-carefree days where I could go on self-organised excursions every other week.

Alright that's all for today (: Have a good rest of the weekend! (:

Cupcakes from Charlotte Grace

A box of cute and yummy cupcakes to ease everyone back to school (: Life's always more bearable with some sugar and love.

Babi Guling Ibu Oka (Ubud, Bali)

Good morning (: 

I finally slept in today and am feeling a lot less cranky, which is good because school is starting tomorrow! Oh well. The past week has been quite a busy week but I don't feel like it has been much somehow.. maybe it's the constant movement, the flitting about to do this and that, and to meet he and she and they.. and all this movement just gets to me because I feel like I'm doing a million and one things yet nothing substantial at all. I guess I have today to be by myself and just take things slow before the madness kicks in tomorrow. 

Since I'm still reminiscing the good and golden days in Bali, I have decided to post the photos taken at a "must go" place in Ubud - Ibu Oka. This eatery serves awesome roasted pig, according to my trusty travel companion! haha Coincidentally, we bumped into friends unexpectedly outside Ibu Oka and they concurred that the roasted pig was nothing short of fantastic! 

So here are a few photos to share our experience: 

Their original eatery was under renovation so they relocated to this place that looks like a temple.

The tables are low (knee-height) and we had to sit on the mat to eat. There were many flies and it was quite warm but I liked the experience (: Felt like it was something Balinese that I should try.

Simple and plain menu. The entire menu is filled with variations of roasted pork dishes so there's plenty to choose from! (: Ibu Oka a place for meat lovers so if you, like me, do not eat meat then it's probably advisable for you to get something before/ after visiting this place. 

The view of this eatery from where I was sitting at. There were many caged birds and many other diners who were just chilling and taking their time to chat and eat. 

The two big coconuts containing coconut juice that wasn't sweet =S I think I prefer young coconuts cos they have nice and soft white flesh whereas these are completely bare! The young coconuts also tend to contain sweeter coconut juice.

And this was what we came here for! I know it doesn't look like much really because it's all a heap but it made my companion really happy to have this cheap & affordable dish! (: I think it costs about SGD$4? Sorry I can't remember the exact price but I know it was comparable to food court prices. Extremely worth it! (:


Alright so that's all for now (: I hope to continue updating this space even after term starts! Term 3 is going to be nutty for me so I will do all I can to take things in my stride and stay sane (: Happy Sunday! (:

Sardine

Hello!

I've been cooped up indoors since I came back at the start of the week due to the hazy weather. The last time I experienced such weather was when I was in P5 - and I can still remember my PE lessons being cancelled and my right eye getting infected =( I have very sensitive eyes and they get irritated easily so what happened when I was P5 was that my eyes got itchy and swollen to the point there was yellow sticky pus-like things coming out from it =( It was horrible. So to prevent my eyes from becoming irritated, I will be good and stay indoors though I really miss being mobile and being outdoors.

Anyhow, I shall cheer up by posting photos of THE BEST meal I had in Bali, where I went for a holiday last week (: Before I went to Bali, I did research on where to go and what to eat, and there was one particular review which said that Sardine is a "MUST GO", especially for their very affordable lunch sets. There were many other reviews that sang in the same tune as this very first one so of course I knew I had to give it a go.

We visited Sardine on a weekend afternoon for lunch, which might explain why their set lunch was not on offer but it was okay - set lunch or not, I just wanted to visit this much raved-about place.

A cute little NYDC-looking dog greeted us at the front of the restaurant! This poor dog was leashed to the tree and had to seek shelter in the shade! The temperature that day was 34deg, much like what Sg was before it became all hazy. I really pity this docile and sweet-looking dog! :(

Their lovely setting. I think the colours go very well. The overall vibe is relaxed and chill, not at all chi chi and pretentious (well at least I didn't feel it). Just what we needed on a weekend afternoon (: 

A paddy field faces the restaurant so you get to enjoy greenery while dining (: There were some tourists who walked all the way to take photo under this hut but it was way too hot for me to walk in the sun so I used my camera and zoomed in to take this shot =P

Our first glasses of drinks. I realised that it's a terrible idea to order ice-blended in the sweltering heat because the ice melts way too quickly and it becomes this yucky liquid that's not nice to drink at all! =( Being a slow drinker, I suffered the fate of having to drink some of this yucky liquid till I could take it no more and ordered - you guessed it - sprite! (: Sprite never fails me!

For starters, we had scallops and these were done to PERFECTION! Oh man they were just SO good! (: The scallops were fresh, the diced tomatoes and other sauces went very well together and you feel such joy eating it. Almost every table ordered this dish and it is plain to see why. This definitely is a must-try dish!
 

If I'm not wrong, this is their Mediterranean salad, which was also very fresh-tasting. I like how they didn't douse the veggies with too much vinaigrette sauce and that the entire dish wasn't too sour (: It was lovely.

Our seafood and asparagus risotto was probably the only dish which we felt that we could have given a miss because it wasn't spectacular. It was simple, clean-tasting and decent but it wasn't something to rave about. I regretted ordering this only because it took up all my stomach space for desserts and I didn't get to try any of their yummy desserts! =S

The highlight of our meal was definitely this HUGE lobster! haha I have not had such a huge lobster placed in front of me before and when it came, I was SO thankful that we were sharing it else I'd definitely feel overwhelmed! haha I didn't expect it to be this big! Given its size, I had expected the meat to be quite tough but surprisingly, it was quite tender and it was nothing short of what I expect a good lobster to taste like! (:

They even served us brown rice to go with the lobster (all the more we shouldn't have ordered risotto! pffft). We truly appreciated and enjoyed this dish (:

If I were to go back to Sardine again, I'd definitely give the risotto a miss so that I can order a dessert! Their dessert menu looks fabulous and it is a pity that I didn't get to try any. Oh well, at least I'd a fantastic meal at Sardine! (: (: (:

If you are in Seminyak, Bali, you really should head to this place for a meal. Hopefully you'll enjoy the experience and the food as much as we did (:

Alright that's all! Happy weekend everyone (:

Spruce @Fire Station

Hello! (:

Just before we left for Bali, we went to Spruce @Fire Station for a lovely weekend brunch. I had never been to this Spruce outlet before and I had thought that the outlet at Fire Station would be very much like the one at Tanglin - crowded, chatter-filled, bustling with activity - so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to find out that Spruce @Fire Station wasn't very packed (the restaurant was about 5/8 filled) and it wasn't noisy. Phew! (: Guess the high ceilings also helped to give the place a more 'airy' and spacious feel, which much appreciated by someone who's quite claustrophobic like me.

He couldn't resist ordering a macchiato ($4), which came in a tiny cup and with a lion 'drawn' on it! Every time a macchiato appears on the table, I can't help but wonder why anyone would make such a tiny cup of coffee and a split second later, wonder why anyone would even order such a tiny cup of coffee. Alas, I guess it's all about enjoying the taste so if you like it, who really cares about its size and quantity! (: Just order another drink to complement this! (:

Thankfully, I take forever to finish a cup of drink and more often than not, I have trouble finishing a cup of drink on my own (except for SPRITE! ;) but I am getting better at finishing my drink), so people who dine with me can help themselves to my drink (if they aren't saliva conscious of course). That day, I decided to be adventurous and try their popular iced lychee tea ($7) and it tasted really good! (: I usually don't order iced tea but this has made me want to try other recommended iced teas in future (:

I like going to Spruce because I love its large breakfast/ brunch selection (: Their food quality is nothing short of good and I daresay that Spruce is quite a good place to go if you are in the mood for breakfast/ brunch food! I had the Garden Brekkie ($18) that day and the portion was just nice as it didn't fill me up too much and I could save space for dessert! (:

He chose to have the British Brekkie ($19) and it was also good (: I especially love how thick their toasts are! The toast goes well with the eggs (:

Since we were feeling unusually greedy that day, we decided to have two desserts, one of which is the baked ginger date pudding with vanilla ice-cream ($15). I didn't really like this one that much because the pudding wasn't warm! I had thought that it would be warm so that the ice-cream would be a perfect complement. But on the whole it was well made and it's passable.

Their apple pie with vanilla ice-cream ($15) fared better and I think if you only had one choice for dessert, you should opt for this (: They were very generous with the apple slices and you can literally taste chunks of apple slices when you eat this dessert. Would definitely order this again if I have the chance! (:

Alright that's all for now (: Take good care of yourselves and stay indoors, away from the haze! (:

SPRUCE AT FIRE STATION, UPPER BUKIT TIMAH
260 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #01-01, Singapore 588213
T: 6466 5582
Mon – Fri: 11.30am – 12am
Sat, Sun & PH: 9am – 12am
Bar open till late