Jewel Box

Since I posted about my picnic, I just thought that I should post about my dinner at Jewel Box way back in December 2012. Basically, Jewel is definitely a lovely place to be for romantic dates. The foods there are really pricey so if you are on a tight budget, there are other romantic restaurants to dine at =) Remember to click on the pictures to get a larger view =) If you are just interested in viewing all the pictures you may head straight here.

[ Jewel Box ]

Since it was quite some time ago, I really can't remember all the food names and prices but basically we ordered 2 different sets - two 3-course set, one 4-course set and a main dish for four people. The ambience was really nice, it's setting is much like a European classy restaurant where the furnishings were of aristocratic taste. The chairs at the far end of the room is more splendid than the tables nearer to the door, and at the side you can view the beautiful harbor. The best time to enjoy the view is truly at sunset where the lights shine in and lights up the room reflecting the wine glasses and cookery - absolutely romantic.

Service is another great aspect of coming all the way up Mount Faber to dine. Their Service is excellent, the waiters were polite and very attentive. They would, as most fine dining restaurants do, have one waiter for your table where he will attend to your every needs when possible.

As I have mentioned, the food is quite pricey, and truth to be told, I didn't like some of the food, but well, that's my opinion =) Also, as stated above, we have a 4-course meal, 3-course meal, and a main dish. It was really sad for my brother because they served accordingly with each course, meaning he had to wait through 5 courses before he got to eat. Plus I didn't help much by having 5-course, taking photos and slowly tasting each bite =p

Starting with the 3-course: The starter was some salmon and bread. I hated it. It tastes just like a block of hard butter with salmon paste mixed together with it, and eating it with the bread wasn't much of a salvation. Followed by the next course - pumpkin soup I believe. The soup was really tasty, slightly sour and yet sweet at the same time. I liked the soup, wiped it clean! Then the main dish was some meat cuts which I am unable to recall, but it was pretty good and quite tasty. Finally the dessert was really nice ( I can't remember what it was ) then the coffee arrived.

The 4-course: The starter was a salad with prawns this one was pretty good, the prawns tasted fresh. I had the same soup as well. My appetizer was a duck dish. Out of all the dishes that night, I loved this the best. The duck had a toufu like texture with strong duck essences, I mean there were tiny meat pieces scattered around but the jellylike toufu had that delicious duck smell. It may sound kind-of put off now but it really tastes good. And my main dish was steak - medium-well. It was really nice as well, but the portion was * ahem * too little! I'm just kidding, portion's alright because I was tasting around the other foods. And finally the dessert for me had a sour taste, not bad but really too much to eat after so many courses and tasting. And of course coffee

And my brother's main dish was steak also medium-well, his steak taste the same as mine except different sauce and tougher than my steak. And we had ordered extra drinks - for me was tropical fruits because I wasn't allowed to drink alcohol - I was the one driving that day ='( And my brother had the hot Chocolate. Speaking of which, the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted was in Spain or Italy where the chocolate was pure flowing chocolate, ahhh .. Truly wonderful though extremely sweet.

Ciao ~

Andrea Trinity =)

Canopy walk to Habour Front Mrt

Different from my usual food posts, today I am going to talk about my picnic trip on a special date for me. If you are just looking for photos and not reading this 'composition' then head over to my photobucket for more pictures! =) If you are interested in my Journey on 26.01.13 Saturday, let's embark on my trip!

First of all, we left at around 9.40 am and finished our Journey at around 4.15 pm. Our route was to start from the Canopy walk and make our way all the way to Vivo city [ Harbour Front MRT station ] where we stopped for our picnic at Hort Park.

[ Entire Trail Map - Click to Enlarge ]

The way to head there for us was really complex because we wanted to start from the Canopy walk which is not easily accessible by bus nor train. And the nearest bus stop we found was on South Buona Vista Road. The only bus number that went there was 200, which leads up to Kent Ridge Park where you can start of the Canopy walk via Vigilante Drive. To arrive at this bus stop, you will alight at the Kent Ridge MRT station from the circle line and take exit B ( I am not sure if I remembered correctly but it should put Science Park ) to bus stop 2 - You will not need to cross the road to take bus 200 and its three stops away to lamppost 30. If you exit from the MRT station at Kent Ridge and see NUH, then turn around and go the opposite way because the bus stop to get to the bus 200 is on the other side. Apologies for the kiddie drawn map ;p

The way that we took gave our starting a steep uphill climb; we were quite tired by the time we reached the park's path that leads to the Canopy Walk. Have no fear fellow trekkers, all the trails have numerous signs to help you place yourself on your map. Most of the time we were walking along some strange road and paths that makes no sense but just further up ahead will be signs, I do believe you won't be able to get lost so easily unless well, if you do then there is always the map applications on your phones to lead you back somewhere! =D

Before starting on the Canopy Walk, we had to go through Kent Ridge Park which is pretty nice, vegetation totally surrounds you. This would definitely be a place to take a nice stroll away from the bustling city where you can feel the wind blowing your face and much sheltered from the sun. Maybe we were pretty early but it was really quiet and peaceful there; other then the sounds of the trees creaking, grasshoppers singing and the occasional birds' call.

The canopy lets you have a nice view just over trees where you may spot monkeys and pretty birds ( we didn't spot any monkeys though =( ) What you will mostly see will be the secondary trees, and to complete this trail only take around 5 minutes. People in wheelchairs would also come here to sightsee and enjoy the company of others.

Next is the Floral walk and Hort park, this place is basically more of a learning place where there are many different plants and flowers to see. You will need to visit the many 'little houses' of plants of which some are hosted by companies that promotes agriculture. Yet again, maybe we were really early ( 11 plus to Noon ) but there weren't many people around the this part of the park. Some of the showcases seem to be in the process of revamp but other then that it was a quiet place. We found a nice cosy spot to have our picnic. Be warned though, some spots have a very strong smell of manure. After our picnic, when you walk further up, there will be a restaurant and cafe, here will be a bit more nosier ( there was a children's party that day ) where you may use the restrooms and refill your bottles.

[ Dor Beetle ]
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk

Oh and there was this one part on the way to the restaurants where there were bushes to our right. Because my partner was carrying the camera at that time and I was staring at the trees to our left that I didn't noticed there were many beetles¿ that were flying about. So when I turned back to ask him something he screamed a little and jumped back, and I got a fright and jumped back too and saw the HUGE bluish-black beetle¿ flew past me. He told me it hit the camera lens as it flew past and gave him a scare, thought it was some bee as it was HUGE. It looked something like this: I do not take credit for this picture

Being so quiet and quite empty you can get up to some naughty woohoo in such a lovely place. But I'm just kidding, though Singapore need to increase the birth-rate, there is no need to get up to such things in the public eyes ( Though papers and magazine has said that these sort of activities boosts birth rate ;p )

Walking straight up onto Alexandra Arch, which I heard is much nicer at night when the lights come on. Well ... it wasn't really pretty in the morning that day. Following on is the Forest Walk, I don't have much to say here because it was so quiet, we couldn’t find any birds at all, it was just exercising our foods off. Then after was the Hilltop walk which unfortunately we didn't explore because my partner at that time wasn't very keen on climbing up with our heavy bags and back down.

Then came Henderson Waves, I would say that Henderson Waves in my mind looks really pretty at night and the most beautiful when it's sunset where the light will reflect the light off its concave interior that would make it rather breathtaking. But in the afternoon, it was just another place to seek shelter from the glaring sun.

I do not take credit for this picture
http://irishprincess365.blogspot.sg/

A really funny thing happened before we walked on Henderson Waves. I was really thirsty because I was already falling sick, so I wanted a sports drink to cool down my throat rather then to drink my homemade Iced-lemon Tea. Therefore I placed my bags down to take out my money, when something bit me, I looked down calmly at first to see a huge red ant on my feet at the end of my socks and shoe tongue and it bit me again. I screamed and shook my leg really hard screaming for my partner to get it off, my bag flew off the log and I stop to see if it got thrown off but it bite onto me to hold on. My partner was in total shock that he didn't help me at first but in the end he killed the ant after flicking it off me. At that time I was totally freaking out and very embarrassed, but I find it so funny after that incident.

Finally we proceeded on to Faber walk, here was really confusing because there weren't as many signs as before but it was really fun being scared of the insects and huge spiders ( I hate those the most ). We took the cold and dark routes that eventually lead us to Jewel Box! So we rested there and ate our special cakes that was given to us by my Sweet Dear Mother =) But it was really fun, took funny videos and pictures. Jewel Box is a really neat place to have romantic dinners but at a high cost.

Last but not least, we completed the Marang trail where there were many insects. I stopped to take photos when suddenly my partner waved the bag at me and told me to run but I was shocked and scared that I just squat down and covered my head, he kept waving it on top of me and asked me to move then I quickly run to one side and he followed after me. It was after then that he told me there was a wasp following me but I didn't run - because I thought he was telling the bug to run =.=" so silly of me. And finally we reached vivo city where we freshened up and caught a movie =)

Thank you for reading this whole terrible long post of mine, but I just thought it would be fun to share my trip with you guys and hope that you may have as much fun as I did. In case you find it hard to get the maps of the different trails, you may download it below in pdf - sorry iPhone users. It is all the trails combined in one pdf by the National Parks Singapore.

Map

Ciao ~
Andrea Trinity =)

Coffee Club @ Paragon

Lunch at Coffee Club again! I love going to the Coffee Club at Paragon because it's not very crowded on weekdays and sometimes, we get to hear soothing live performances which is held on the ground floor.

Today we had the Spiced Beef with Crisp Bread, this was a pretty nice side. It's quite little in serving but really good. The beef is tender and the sauce is quite sweet and not salty. Though this is quite pricey being S$12.00. We also had the Black Pepper Duck Linguine which is really good for S$16.20! This is the second time we ordered this, but it is quite filling because of the sauce. The sauce is a pepper-ish mushroom sauce.

The Spiced Beef Pizza for S$12.50 was quite nice as well, thin crust bread in a regular but smaller then pan pizza portion.The beef here were chunky and tender. The crust was pretty thin which makes it not as heavy. I tried their newly introduced cold coffee, the Iced Strawberry Chocolate Latte at S$7.50. This was a total disappointment. It tastes just like a regular iced latte with chocolate inside, the strawberry taste was so slight that I barely missed it. There was a few chunks of coffee jelly inside as well. It was nothing special.

And lastly we tried their cakes! really strange choices for today since our mains were something we had before. First up - Green Tea Wasabi S$7.20, was really spicy. The chocolate was completely gone, and I could feel the wasabi feeling coming up through my nose. It was an interesting experience but it would be something I would not be trying again. Next is their Lemon Basil for S$7.20. This cake is quite sour for sour fans our there, the interior is just sponge and some sweet jam to even out the sourness - which is not effective. The basil, unfortunately, I could not taste it at all.

But all-in-all, I still like going to coffee club so I have no qualms about that. Just don't order the Wasabi  cake unless you are out for a cake tasting adventure!

Ciao ~Andrea Trinity =)

Mignon

Hi all! So yesterday I went to Ngee Ann City to have dinner and I finally settled down at Mignon which is located at Takashimaya basement 2 =) It's at the Gourmet Dining area where there are a couple of small area for different style of food, though most of them were Japanese. Well anyway, they were having this set promotion where the selected dished will turn into a set with a soup-of-the-day and a drink for slightly cheaper cost. Since this is still part of Takashimaya, there is still the GST to be mindful of.

I ordered the Boneless Chicken with wrust, with it came my soup ( creamy clam soup ) and mountain dew for S$13.90. The dish was pretty good I'll have to say, it wasn't German sausage though. The sauce that accompanied my chicken was creamy mushroom sauce. The sauce was really nice in my opinion. It did not have that really heavy creamy taste of butter, AND the mushroom in it were nice big slices that were well made. The sausage was nothing special to comment on, quite regular as a side.

Penguin for that night ordered the Australian Sirloin Roasted peppercorn set for S$16.90. To be quite honest, I was pretty disappointed with it. The steak was asked to be medium-well. I found the steak to be a little tough then what I expected and not tasty at all. It did not have much flavouring and there was just too little sauce for it. It was pretty thick as well, I guess that must be why it didn't adsorb much of the flavouring. I think you will be able to find much better steak at Hot Tomato which costs roughly the same price.

But I had a fun time that day because I finally went shopping for myself! And any food isn't that bad when you are with great company - I think ;p I also would not be going back there unless someone wants to try the food there.

Ciao ~

Andrea Trinity =)

Canelé patisserie

HI~

A short post about Canelé because we headed down there after a really heavy lunch. We had the 'Le Royale', 'All about Chocolate' and 'La Pomme Verte'. Where each is accompanied by a pot of tea. The 'Velvet Earl Gery', 'Rosy Pink' and 'Cookie Rooibois'.

Le Royale at S$7.48 and Velvet Earl Grey at S$6. Basically this is like the usual choice for most people because a slightly light chocolate cake - pretty and well made, with a combination of strong Earl Grey to soothe your tastes buds! A rather safe choice by my mother where you could never go wrong.

All about chocolate at S$7.48 and Rosy Pink at S$6.50. Here is a really thick choice of chocolate cake where within this tiny, stoutly cylinder carries lots of chocolate cream and hidden chocolate balls! Not forgetting the almost pure chocolate and sponge cake as well. So to complement this super sweet and chocolatey combo, my sister has chosen the Rosy Pink flower tea which is light and just barely sweet.

La Pomme Verte at S$7.01 and Cookie Rooibois at S$6. While my mother had the 1:1 balance and my sister had the 2:1 balance, I had the 1:2. My la Pomme Verte though looks like a cute green bomb is actually 70% made out of cream. the base is a rather thin layer of not so crumbly biscuit which was slightly sweet. But my tea was exceptionally strong and very tasty in my opinion. If you aren't such a fan of strong tea, then this might not be to your liking, it's generally bitter, though slightly sweet. I may even suggest you add sugar into it for your second serving where it gets more concentrated.

Well all-in-all, we had a great day and love having high tea with such pretty cakes and well-made tea. That's all for this not-so-short post =)

Ciao~

Andrea Trinity

Skinny Pizza

So today I went to Skinny Pizza with some of my family members and the food there were pretty good. Skinny Pizza serves really thin pizzas which is really crispy and tastes a little like super thin pita. They have some interesting toppings that is rather different from Pizza hut and Dominoes - example English breakfast. Their décor is pretty interesting like the chairs seems to have a fold-able concept and neon lighted sign.

Firstly we had the Truffles Fries for S$7, could taste the truffle slightly, but its gone after you've eaten it with chilli. It is quite expensive for almost plain tasting fries, and practically as thin as regular fries.

In-between our first pizza came - Smoked Turkey Swiss S$27. This pizza is pretty good, the crust is really thin as I have mentioned and the toppings were like salad vegetables, raw onions, cheese, turkey, and blueberry jam. The jam is quite sweet as I would suggest spreading it a little if you have a huge clump on your piece. But other than that, it was a pretty good piece of pizza.

Our last dish was the Ratatouille for S$20. Now I have never tried Ratatouille both on or off a pizza before. And I would have to say that I will not touch ratatouille ever again. But if you are a ratatouille fan, you may want to come down and try this. Ratatouille is basically made up of tomatoes and with garlic, onions, courgette, bell peppers, marjoram and more. But even though we did not enjoy this dish, we did managed to finish half of it between the three of us.

Also we tried their Raspberry mixed drink which tasted like slightly gassy lychee drink but is really nice. It isn't very sweet either.

But with that said, I will be coming back here, just not in the short term, to try their recommended dishes which is the truffle mushroom pizza and their Capellini which I hear is really good. Why we didn't order that in the first place? Well, it's a different crowd with different taste-buds =)

For tea break we went to Canelé ...

Ciao

Andrea Trinity =)

Concorde Hotel - Kim Dae Mun

Hi Everyone!

So today I met my really old friend and we headed for Concorde Hotel. We were going to have dinner at their food court stall called Kim Dae Mun. I have heard quite a bit about this place and thought I would give it a try as well. I should say that I wasn't disappointed. The food here was great and cheaply priced for the portion of the food at least for some items! So tonight's dinner we had the Spicy Chicken set for S$6.50, Spicy Beef soup set for S$6.50 as well, and the spicy rice cakes at S$5. The sets are in the form of soup ( If your main dish is not a soup ), rice, and a side dish ( anchovies  kimchi, pickled cucumber )

They give really generous portions, and I have to say, I really liked the spicy chicken. It was really good as well as the vegetables that goes with it. A really good buy, not absolutely spicy in my opinion though, but enough. The Spicy beef soup was good, but can be improved by being slightly more spicy. But the beef was pretty tender ( Then again it was in thin strips ) but the vegetables it in was great.

I am not a fan of spicy rice cakes, I had them when I was in Korea but it was really filling. But since many were talking about how great this is well, we decided to give it a try. The sauce is pretty good, nice and thick rather then some other places where they seem to dilute it. The rice cakes here seems to be smaller in size as well. But I have to say, I wouldn't get this again, I was really filled up before I could eat more than three. If you aren't a big eater, this would totally count as a full meal rather then a side dish.

Well, it's a really short post because I am quite tired, but I do recommend you to come here to try their food cos it's pretty cheap and good. The lady at the counter was really nice and polite as well. =)

Ciao ~

Andrea Trinity =)