Food Review #4 - L'Espresso Cafe Weekday High Tea

The two besties and I took leave on one weekday afternoon to go for High Tea buffet. We were glad we chose L'Espresso. Their service was impeccable and the food was delightful. The ambience was relaxed, it was just a good way to chill.

We arrived at 2pm sharp and were asked to order two drinks. We then proceeded to the food counters.

This was what I came back with for my first plate of food. I really have to say that, every item on this plate was delicious. Some were normal, whereas there were some spectacular ones.

The lobster salad sandwich was really something. The lobster was normal but it was the bread (oh the bread!) that had me going back for seconds and thirds. The bread was soft, light and fluffy. Almost melt-in-your-mouth. 

The little tart in the middle was a tuna nicoise tart. I really liked this one, coz it combined tuna nicoise and quail egg! :D what's not to like?

The two croissants were really decent fare. Filling and satisfying. Some people may feel that it's silly to pay so much just to eat ham and cheese croissants or tuna croissants, but for me, sometimes the simple things can be quite awesome too.

The smoked salmon with caviar canape was really good. We had thirds and fourths. What was nice was the combination of the salty smoked salmon, with a light, refreshing pink colour cream beneath the salmon. The soft texture of the salmon and cream, combined with the crunchy bread was really great.

Picture above: more bread! Tori Karaage, which had too much fats and not enough meat. Swedish meatballs (I preferred Ikea's). Some sausage with pastry thing which was normal. Guinness beef stew, one of its signatures. The beef was tender and went well with the accompanying bread. Scones, also one of L'Espresso's signature. In fact, it's more famous than the beef stew. Together with the clotted cream, it did taste quite nice. Perhaps I am not a big fan of scones in general. I did enjoy it but one was more than enough for me. 

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! I wanna eat it again. :(

Desserts! I love strawberry shortcakes! This was nice! Light and fluffy and not too dense. Tiramisu was normal, not bad too. Also quite light. Hehe. I didn't try the other desserts coz I was too full by then lol. Even after we sat there until 5.30pm, I still felt a little green from all that food. The dessert selection was quite comprehensive though, there was creme brulee and fresh fruits and other tarts/cakes/chocolate mousse whatever. Hahaha I don't really have a very sweet tooth. :P

We paid $158 for 3 of us, and I would definitely go back again, if my girlfriends want to. For the price, it may be a little pricey but quite worth the whole pleasant experience. :)

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Ambience: 4/5

Value-for-money: 3.5/5

Food Review #3 - Canopy Garden Dining & Bar

Yesterday hubs and I (actually he) had a craving for breakfast...at about 2pm in the afternoon lol.

We wanted to go to Bishan Park the day before but didn't, so we decided to make a trip down to Bishan Park this time round. Wanted to go try GRUB, but it closed at 2.30pm so we headed to Canopy Garden Dining and Bar which is open all day.

Upon reaching there, we were pleasantly surprised as we were led to this outdoor but cool and sheltered area. There are patrons around who bring their pets (mainly dogs) along so if you're terrified of dogs this may not be the best place for you. Me, I'm a huge dog lover. Which explained why I got scratched by a gigantic Golden Retriever who was so friendly and full of love. :)

The restaurant is a nice chill out place. We saw couples, friends and families just sitting around, chatting and relaxing. There were quite a lot of patrons but everybody was just chilling that the atmosphere was relaxed and quite nice, really.

So the hubs had a craving for breakfast...but he ordered Crab Aglio Olio instead. Whereas me, I always love breakfasts, especially one that has bacon and sauteed mushrooms.

Crab Aglio Olio ($19)

I know right? It looks good doesn't it? Unfortunately, I didn't really like it very much, and neither did hubs because he took one bite and looked at me with puppy eyes and asked if we could exchange. LOL. We did finish the whole thing coz we were so hungry.

I like my Aglio Olio to be as basic as possible, perhaps that's why this didn't quite hit the spot. It had too much herbs and not enough garlic and pepper. I like my Aglio Olios with a bit of Oomph. It wasn't not nice, just not memorable. I probably wouldn't order it again the next time I'm there.

Grilled Breakfast ($18)

The breakfast, however was good! I loved every bit of the breakfast! :) Simple and wholesome. The scrambled eggs were done perfectly!

My only gripe about the place was the service. Service was really not fantastic. First of all, they gave me a fork and a spoon for the breakfast. No knife. Second, we ordered a toast basket that came with butter and jam but no butter knife. Third, the waiters were kind of snobby (ok this may be the paranoid me speaking) but I felt that one of them was particularly rude. Like he was at the bar doing his stuff, but when we ordered stuff or called for service he turned around and stared at us kind of like thinking we can't afford to eat there. I don't know man haha probably just me >_< Or maybe it's because we were in singlet and shorts and slippers lol coz we wanted a leisurely afternoon cycling session.

All in all, I would go back just for the food and relaxing atmosphere.

Food: 3.5/5
Service: 2.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Value-for-money: 3/5

Canopy Garden Dining
Bishan Park II
Tel: 6556 1533

The power of thoughts

Ever since the altercation I had with the girls at work since February, we've been on non-talking terms (basically it's them against me) since then. So it's been almost half a year of being quiet at the workplace. I am not normally a quiet person, though I feel that I can be either an extrovert or an introvert. So now's the time the introvert comes out more frequently than before.

All these while, I felt that I was being ostracised and unfairly treated. I mean, honestly I didn't even do anything to warrant all these cold shoulders and juvenile behaviour. Nonetheless, I've been kinda unhappy for a whole 6 months. I mean, after all, how happy can you be when you know the girls at work hate your guts?

So for the past few months, I've been keeping a lookout for a job. On and off, there would come periods of time when I would be so angsty and frustrated that I'd send out 10 job applications in a day. When people asked, I would say that I am unhappy at work.

This morning at work, something just came into my mind. Nothing even sparked it off. It was a random, sudden pop-into-your-head kind of thing. The revelation came in a more complicated manner/sentence/thought, but it can be summed up in three words

I DON'T CARE

And it's true. I really don't! What they think of me, what they say about me. I won't go so far as to say it doesn't affect me. Of course it does, I'd have to be cold-blooded not to be affected. But it no longer has an impact on my happiness. I feel like God has given me freedom over the hold Satan had on me. It's almost like Satan trapped me into being unhappy, grouchy when I have so much in my life to be thankful for. And also a job that honestly ain't too bad. 

It's so liberating to know that you can choose to be happy. It is a CHOICE, within our grasp. It is simply a matter of seeing things differently, making a conscious decision to think about things in another manner. Now I feel less unsettled at work and more at peace with myself actually. They can think what they want or say what they want, because honestly, those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. :)

Food Review #2 - Shin Kushiya

Last week I went to Shin Kushiya at Jem for dinner. Even on a weekday night, the queue was quite unbelievable. In fact, I'd say that applied to all restaurants in Jem. Fortunately, I waited only about 10 minutes for my table.

B came shortly after and we started ordering. The food did take quite a while to come. B was really excited coz she came the week before and fell in love with the grilled sweet potatoes and grilled corn.

Honestly, perhaps B raised my expectations way too high, but I was expecting the sweet potato to be more flavourful than THAT. It was hopelessly dry and even though B insisted they put sea salt on the skin, I could barely taste it. It was bland and not as fragrant as I had hoped.

The corn on the other hand, was nicely grilled, with a little bit of soy sauce and was juicy and really yums. I would reorder the corn again, but not the sweet potato.

LOL I gave it such a low-class name as beef platter. Actually it's called Gyu Veg Platter, which stands for beef-vegetables-platter. The combination of beef and vegetables was surprisingly delicious, with both complementing one another. However, again, there were some hits and some misses. The beef with asparagus (top skewer) missed because the asparagus was all dried up. I can't remember what the second skewer was (not memorable) but I love love love the third and fifth skewers! Third skewer's tomatoes were juicy and paired with the thin beef, it was a dream! Fifth was a hit too because roasted mushrooms just taste so good. Fourth skewer was just beef cubes but it wasn't too bad, just not outstanding.

The Yakitori (aka chicken) platter was not too bad too. Chicken balls were nice. Quail eggs were normal. Chicken skewer was normal. The fourth skewer however, tasted odd (mentai paired with chicken is quite weird all in all), and the chicken was too chewy. The chicken wings were great! :)

There are so many skewers on the menu that the best way to try most of it is to order the platters. Unfortunately, there are bound to be some hits and misses along the way. All in all, I would say the dinner experience was quite good and enjoyable with good service. However, for the price range, I would make Shin Kushiya a once-in-a-while place to frequent.

We ordered a sushi as we wanted some rice but the sushi honestly...I could do without. They charged $6.80 each for the sweet potato and corn. I find the food slightly overpriced coz I really didn't feel that I ate $18.00 worth of anything on that Gyu Veg Platter but oh well. The Mentai Yaki Onigiri was grilled rice...but it tasted just the way it should..burnt.

Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3/5
Value for money: 2.5/5

Shin Kushiya @ JEM
Tel; 6339 0322

My Wedding Journey #3 - Preparations

So it bugs me that the shop assistant at the bridal studio kept asking me to lose a bit of weight in order for me to fit into the beautiful dresses. Unfortunately for me, I have a pear-shaped body. My upper body can fit a Small size but hips would fit M, and lately L. So I'm determined to lose weight. Have been watching what I eat for the past few days, not so much counting calories though I do have a rough idea. I want to recommend an app known as MyFitnessPal. I love this app because it has a scanner function. You can scan the food labels and it'll show you the calories, sugar etc. Now I know my daily morning coffee has 192 calories. :)

So my target is to try to consume less than 1200 calories everyday. In addition, except for my morning coffee, I'm cutting down on my sugar intake (which isn't hard coz I ain't got a sweet tooth). I don't usually like chocolates or cakes so that's not an issue. My biggest sugar problem would be soft drinks I guess. Cutting down on that as well though!

I've been swimming, not regularly but at least some workout is better than nothing. Even if I don't lose weight, I can at least tone my arms and legs (and hopefully, butt too). Anyway, swimming for 45 mins burns about 300 calories, so means as long as I eat less than 1200 calories on my swimming days, effectively I still lose weight! I haven't been weighing myself and am not planning to do so - fear of the unknown haha. So I'll just go to the bridal studio on the day I do my photoshoot (which is about a month away) and pray I can squeeze into those dresses.

In the meantime, I went for my trial make up the other day and hubs said I looked dull. I think it was the lighting in the place but I personally also felt that I didn't look radiant enough (like all brides should!). The makeup artist (MUA for short) commented my T-zone is very dry. She recommended me to use the watermelon mask and white chocolate mask from Skin Food. Unfortunately, both these masks have been discontinued because they have a new range of mask sheets.

So now I have been applying Laneige water sleeping pack once every 2-3 days and using facial mask sheets in between. I wonder whether there's such a thing as over-masking lol. Anyway my brightening mask 2 days ago made my face itch a little. I do have to admit that my skin texture is smoother than before. Now I just have to find ways to lift my face (non-cosmetic ways! No botox!) and minimize those crater pores. :)

I will update here if any of the products I tried are any good!

Food Review #1 - Melt - The World Cafe

Yesterday was hubs' birthday! I brought him to Melt - The World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental. I had high hopes, having read on a few bloggers' blogs that Melt is one of the best buffets in Singapore. I think they raised my hopes wayyyy too high.

To me, first of all, a buffet has to have HUGE variety, especially when you're charging that kind of price tag. It costs $108++ for an adult (free flow non-alcoholic drinks) and $158++ for the alcoholic one. So if I'm gonna pay $108++ for a meal, the selection of food available better make me happy, or otherwise, better be of good quality.

Melt, unfortunately, fell short of both quality and quantity. The only food items worth mentioning were the Alaskan crab legs and the foie gras (which I don't eat but the hubs swooned over them). The sashimi was fresh but they only served tuna(maguro), salmon(sake) and something else (hamachi?), which in my opinion, was quite a humble selection.

Oysters were fresh but not shucked properly, and not replenished quickly. Lobster was a tad too dry. BBQ section was the WORST. I was so deeply disappointed at the paltry selection of meats. Honestly, it was disappointing beyond belief. The BBQ section only had beef, chicken breast, kebabs of squid and salmon, prawns, mini burger and satay. Friends who were with us commented that the satay was not bad. Hubs and I had the beef and well all I can say is, go for it, if you like the taste of charred meat (which I know, surprisingly, some people do). It was a tad too charred for my liking, I could practically taste the grill. The beef's doneness was also not consistent.

They had two soups, one herbal chicken and one tom yum goong. Nothing fantastic, I suggest saving the stomach space for other stuff. The Indian food selection was also not fantastic. Papadum had a greasy taste to it. You could taste the oil - not exactly pleasant. The cooked food section with meats like bacon and sausages. Er...$108++ for bacon? Really? Even the sauteed mushrooms didn't taste good. I've gone to cheap breakfast places and had so much better. The shepherd's pie was also terrible. The lamb tasted so horribly strong I felt like I was at a sheep farm. Hubs tried the live pasta station and commented that the aglio olio wasn't nice.

The desserts section was slightly more decent, with a fairly large selection of desserts. Nothing fantastic though like before, but there weren't as many screw-ups as all the previous sections. The crepe with homemade vanilla ice cream was nice. The thin hot crepe paired with the cold ice cream was quite a treat.

All in all, for $108++ per person, Hubs and myself as well as our two other good friends were quite disappointed. The couple with us frequents Fullerton more often and he felt that Fullerton's buffet is better (and cheaper too no less). This is probably the first time and last time I stepped into Melt.

My Wedding Journey #2: Destino Bridal Gallery

On Saturday, KC, the hubs and I drove into JB. I was excited because it's gown fitting day. Our appointment is at 3pm so we went in for lunch and tea break haha. When we got there, we were led into a small little area separated from the main area with a thick velvet curtain. The little area had a big sofa and sort of like a stage area with a big mirror. So I have to change on the "stage" then draw the curtains to show the audience.

First thing the assistant does is to take your measurements, because some of the dresses off the racks may not be in your size. So if it's not, then the assistant wouldn't bother to bring them to you for trying. At the beginning, I didn't know what gowns to select so the shop assistant brought me many different styles to try on. Some of the dresses' designs were so "off" that I didn't even want to try them, but she did say I need to try out the different cuttings/styles.

In the end, the hubs came up with a brilliant idea. He asked the assistant to bring in some sample albums, and he selected the gown based on the photos he saw. This way, he could easily look through 40-50 dresses in a flash and select the ones he believes I'll look good in. Though I do suggest that the bride sit down together with him to select. In any case, as he went through the album and selected the gowns accordingly, the assistant would tell you whether the gowns are available in your size.

Anyway, she brought a few of the selected ones in and they were an instant hit. Though I have to say there were some misses as well. It was quite a fun experience and I took about 2 hours plus max. Definitely less than 3 hours. It was fun having 2 good friends there as well to cast their votes. You'll be surprised at how different their tastes are. :)

Tips & Tricks for gown fitting:

1. Bring a nubra - for that cleavage

2. Make sure you are wearing a pair of nude panties or nude safety shorts or better yet, both! - some of the gowns happened to be very revealing, some are the lacy sort. I even had one that flashed my butt and my purple and grey striped panties. That's all fine but one of the friends who went along happened to be the other girl's husband. There were definitely some embarrassing moments.

3. Try not to put on make up. - many of the dresses will be worn from top down. I don't think the assistant will be very happy if you dirty their dresses with make up. Actual day photography is different...

4. If you're planning to bring friends along, bring along friends who you know well and are very comfortable with. - Like I said, there will be embarrassing moments when your body will be discussed in detail. It's best to be comfortable with the people you have with you, otherwise it's just gonna be awkward all around.

5. Look through the albums - I recommend doing it like what the hubs did because indeed, it truly saves time. In addition, unless your husband-to-be is the kind who doesn't really care, it will be good to know what designs both of you like. After discussing, I believe it helps the assistant select/recommend dresses more easily as well.

6. Note the dates - Stupid me went to choose National Day, which happened to be near Hari Raya (think massive jams across the Causeway) and also it is during the Lunar 7th Month aka Hungry Ghosts Festival. Both our mothers gave me grief over the date so we had no choice but to postpone it. Oh well more time for me to lose weight. So if you're Chinese, don't select 7th month unless your parents don't care about such superstitions!

Most important of all, have fun! It's once-in-a-lifetime experience. :)