Chisozanmai at Central - I will be back!! =)

my review on... CHISOZANMAI!

I've been wanting to review on this restaurant for some time, but I put it aside as I was busy with my travels.
Anyway, this buffet is one you should head to !  I think it's really a run for your money if you crave fresh sashimi and the nice thing is the view and  If you love restaurants with great natural lighting, this is the place, which is really ideal if you want to take some food pics :)

It's located on the second floor of the Central at Clarke Quay and it can fit 200 pax. So if you have a company buffet out there, this place is big!

I really liked their raw salmon and I do have to recommend their matcha tofu to all matcha lovers out there. It's such a treat for the tongue! They also serve soba, rice, tempura, nabe(soup) in this giant pot which contains scallops and big prawns. Do note that they do replenish the soup with more ingredients every 15-20 minutes as I was told so don't be disappointed if you find nothing in there.

Also, you may wish to add a few more dollar for free flow of drinks and it includes soft drinks , fountain drinks such as Sjora,  Iced Peach Tea, and Coffee/  Green Tea.

Desert wise, the variety was lacking. saw about 5 types of cakes but they;ve got a soft serve ice cream machine there which was good enough for me after all that sashimi.

Although this restaurant doesn't offer that much choices,  it's price-friendly.  I paid about $24 per head and I did get to whack the sashimi ! :) This place is also not too crowded for dinner on weekdays (Y)





Oh tofu and sashimi, I will be back for you!

Modelling I Models

I Models Holdings

Recently, I was scouted by one of I Model’s staff while walking along the streets of Bugis. I was scouted by them before a few years back but had no genuine interest in modeling back then. They wanted to tie me down for 2 years to a contract which I rejected. So this time, the opportunity came knocking on my door and I seized it by booking an appointment with them to find out more. I came down to their office at Orchard Central Level 5 and I was quite happy with their offer. It is $690 for 3 outfit changes, while the marketing and Composite Card fees are waived since I was invited.  Those who walked-in usually paid $2500 extra for these. Anyways, I thought $690 was a little steep (I’m a student) and Sky, the consultant I had been speaking with, offered me $390 for 1 outfit change.

Hmm, I’m still thinking hard about it. I do have an interest in modelling but I am afraid this might just not work out for me. 

Any comments out here? 

Momiji Japanese Buffet Restaurant

I just had a sleepless night all because of a buffet.
Trust me, I totally had no idea that I would end up having that for dinner until the bf suggested that we should eat some SNOW CRABS. My bf brought me to the Momiji Japanese Buffet Restaurant at City Square mall.

The spread was amazing! We had edamame, sushi, at least 5 different types of hot pot nabes, tempura,  fresh sashimi, fresh seafood including sotong, clams, prawns & scallops.

They even have over 20 made-on-the-spot items including the nabes I sound as though I am scolding a bad word. My favourites were the scallops with oyster mushroom (which was really SHIOK because they added tonnes of chilli padi to it) and also the super large scallops cooked with tofu. 

Beverage wise, their spread was really good too. They had 4 types of  Japanese drinks imported  from Kyoto: yuzu, ocha, matcha iced fuji apple tea, as well as fountain drinks. The best part? They even had FREE FLOW OF BEER (6.30-7.30PM) Too bad,  I don't drink a lot.

Another awesome part about this buffet has got to be the Häagen Daz ice cream. There are 4 different flavours to choose from: macadamia nut ( my fav) , rum and raisin, green tea and chocolate! You could even have it in a cone or a bowl. I am an ice cream lover so I had 3 rounds of it and I had fun being an ice cream scooper for a day, lol. They also had other desserts like cheesecakes, and chocolate fondue fountain. Fresh fruits were also available.

 Service wise, I was sceptical about it initially. I wanted the window seat as I wanted to see what's in the condo opposite the mall. I'm know I'm such a kaypoh, right? hehe. Despite the restaurant being so big and empty on a weekday,  they didn't want to let me change to a window seat initially , insisting that those were for 6 pax or more. But when I pointed out that there was a table for 4 unoccupied, the staff agreed.They also said they didn't have lemons for me to dip my seafood in but another staff kindly returned with sliced ones. Apart from some lapses, everything else was good and I would come back again!

Cheers
Took some pics using my spare phone so please don't expect pics to be sharp :/


Their imported drinks from Kyoto which were super thick and concentrated!
 Yuzu and Matcha were my fav!


Their deep fried items including tempura





Made-on-the-spot items!
Beef with mushrooms and large Scallop with toufu


Free Flow for an hour !



SNOW CRAB LEGS
The legs were not that filled entirely with meat, but still they were FRESH nonetheless



They also had mochi, but I was too full by then and I only could stomach ice cream




Haagen Daz to end off my lovely buffet

Singapore Airlines SQ11 - on board the A380

Hello!


Today I shall review the SQ11 flight I took from LAX - NRT- SIN on board the Airbus A380 on Economy Class.

LAX - NRT
I boarded this flight at Los Angeles (LAX) on 16th July and arrived at Tokyo (NRT) the following day. It was about an 11 hr flight. I was hoping for an empty flight so that I could stretch out and have a good sleep.

It was about 70% full and I was lucky to have an empty seat beside me to put my handbag.  I had the aisle seat, which was a good thing cos getting to the loo was so much easier.  The leg room was fine for me (i'm 5 ft 4 ). I could recline the seat, adjust the "wings" of my head rest. They also provided a blanket and a pillow for every seat. I usually try to make myself more comfortable by placing another pillow/ towel/jacket behind my back.

There was good variety of shows on the in-flight entertainment system, and had watched Olympus has Fallen and Cirque du Soleil (I was a tad sad watching this after news broke that one of its cast,Sarah, had died recently during her performance in Las Vegas )

Food wise, I chose Japanese cuisine throughout the flight. I was served Soba and this was my first time using a pair of chopsticks on a flight! The flight attendants also pampered us with  Haagen Daz ice cream (in a tub) after each meal. We could choose between chocolate and vanilla. They also provided complimentary drinks, and I really liked their Orange Spritzer (essentially orange juice and sprite). A steward offered me to try their Campari Orange. Their aperatif  (campari) was simply too bitter for my liking and I gave up after a sip. They also served snacks like tuna sandwich and peanuts on board.

 During the flight, I was asked to take their survey and I gave them lots of suggestions. Thankfully, there weren't any air pockets or terrible turbulence.

Overall, I felt the SQ A380 flight to NRT was pleasant .9/10

At Narita Airport
We disembarked the plane at Narita Airport. During our 1.5 hr transit, I went to the FaSoLa duty free shops to look for the Issaye Miyake BaoBao Bag. I saw several Fa So La shops in the terminal buildings, or what they call "Satellites",which were interconnected. Every satellite has a few FaSoLa shops selling different items and it took me about 20 minutes till I found the one with the BaoBao. When I saw the shelf, everything was gone, except for the pouches which cost about 100 sgd. ok so , too bad no more bags. I went off to hunt for Japanese Snacks! Tokyo Banana, Chocolat blanc et langue de chat ( French for white chocolate and flat cookie) , Ginza Strawberry Cake, Half Moon Crêpes, I bought them all! I almost bought Royce from another shop but I had too much to carry by then.

NRT- SIN
On the next leg of the journey to SG, another group of cabin crew served us. This time, the service was a little more robotic... no expressions from the stewardess, unlike those on the earlier flight. I felt that she was serving on autopilot. But, I do understand that everyone has those days They missed a couple of my orders for drinks but it's ok, I understand that they have lots of orders too..

Occupancy wise, this flight was more packed than the first leg. I was still assigned to the same seat and this time, I had a new neighbour! Thankfully, she was a nice person too. That meant that I could fall asleep in peace before we arrive in Singapore

The food came and I chose Japanese once again. The Haagen Daz ice cream they served came in one flavour- vanilla. I also noticed that the ice cream was made in Japan.

Ahh , the time comes when you need to relive yourself. At least, their toilets were rather clean and pleasant.  As usual, soap, moisturiser and warm water was available. If you forget to bring your toothbrush set, don't sigh,  they normally have a few in the drawers in the lavatory. If you are a lady and you freak out because you just realised there's some blood, you don't need to scream cos there're sanitary pads in another drawer.

It was another 7 hours on the plane before we finally reached SG safely. Home sweet home!

Overall, a decent flight 7/10

BUT, if I had to compare this to the Qantas flight from SIN- SYD which I took 3 years ago, I think SQ has lost out a little. I remember the Qantas flight I took from Singapore to Sydney in 2010.

On the Qantas A380, I simply liked:
a) how I could go the Q bar at the back to help myself to snacks whenever I was hungry or felt like munching on something.
b) how I could go to the upper deck to check it out!
c) how the cabin lights were lavender as it was really soothing :)

Nonetheless, I am really thankful for a safe flight back.


UPDATE
I must say something about the A380.  After SQ317 had to make an emergency landing due to decompression, I told all my facebook friends not to take this jumbo jet anymore! Here's a tell tale sign that this jet isn't very safe. One of my friends was flying back on the super liner and during the flight, there was a noise coming from one the exit doors. Cabin crew placed pillows and blankets to dampen the vibrations in a bid to reduce the noise throughout the flight. Glad he landed safely. BUT, the constant vibrations are making the doors wear and tear faster. The bewildering question in my head now is, why isn't Airbus recalling their A380s ??  After what has happened to SQ317, don't they want to mod their faulty doors before one of them actually comes off?  Shouldn't safety be no. 1 priority over operations cost? My advice: skip taking the A380 for now.

Here are some video clips and articles for further illustration

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279416/My-terror-27-000ft-Jet-door-blew-open-crew-plugged-gap-blankets-says-Briton.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ7CoGl9hTM
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/39-leaky-39-a380-door-eyed-singapore-airlines-064430709--finance.html

it's better in the USA

Hello there!

I'm back from the land of the Weird, the Wacky and the Wonderful ..... the USA!!

USA totally lives up to the 3 Ws and  I will be back for more!!

Some of the places I visited were San Francisco, New York City and the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Las Vegas, Los Angeles. I am so returning to the States for Alaska !

I really miss their 99c stores, where i can find amazing deals! It's just 1 dollar for 10 hangers! or how about 1 dollar for a bottle of Jergens Soap! or 1 dollar for a pair of decent sunnies! One thing annoys me however. their prices exclude state taxes. But then  again, their tax is is pretty low, like 7-10 % depending on which state you're in. The reason I'm annoyed is the fact that I end up paying more than what I thought I have to. Regardless, I think standard of living is cheaper there! Seriously. Where can you get a hanger for ten cents in Singapore? Not even Daiso sells it that cheaply. It's no wonder I have to end up folding all my 1000 pieces of  clothes!

Another thing I miss is their drivers. I totally love driving along their highways. The drivers are so considerate. The moment they see you getting behind them on the express lane, they 'siam' immediately for you. When you're jaywalking across the road, the drivers will stop 10 meters away from you! seriously. they're damn polite. miss that so much about american drivers. maybe not for NY drivers but elsewhere is pretty good though.

I also miss SALSA! thank god I can get it from Carl's Jr. And oh my , I love their greens which are so fresh and they dump one whole pile of it on your plate. I've seen that at the Cheesecake Factory, Junior's etc.. If you go to Five Guys, you can even help yourself to peanuts while waiting for your food or while you're eating your food. What are they stingy with then ? I can't even think of any. Even their drinks are usually refillable for free, although I don't take more than 2 rounds cos too much soft drinks makes me burp a lot anyway.

Oh i love their 90 days return policy. If you buy something and you don't like it, refund it! yeah, that's what i call satisfaction fully guaranteed. Applies only to certain stores like Walmart and Target though and you cant  do that for electronic games / copyrighted stuff.

Like a typical Singaporean, I love shopping. so where is the best place to shop? Factory outlets definitely.
If you like to save a lot more, look out for this magic word --  'clearance'. Shop at the clearance racks cos they still have lotsss of stuff to clear, so much so that you can still get the sizes and designs you like. Half of my steals are from clearance racks/ shelves. The other half of them are entitled to coupon discounts, sometimes. It's always good to see whats on sale before checking out each store cos there're so many stores to cover I suggest heading to the info counter of each outlet mall to get your visitor's discount booklet.
Some recommended places to shop in Las Vegas :
Town Square (it's really children-friendly. Go  if the weather is good),
FashionShow Mall (it's huge . great for all weathers),
Las Vegas  Factory Outlet - North ( get more branded stuff here than the South. Go if weather is good )
Boulevard Mall ( they have 3 major dept stores there, and 4-5 telco stores)

People wise, I have not personally met any racist person who has out-rightly cursed or sworn at me. It was different for my fellow Asian friend though. But generally, they treated me better than what I had expected and I feel there are more friendly and welcoming people than racists ones. of course there are people who would smoke on buses,  and do weird things. Just ignore them and they wont touch you.


I'm going back. I;m going to see Alaska and the Northern Lights.
I just need to save

MACCHA HOUSE

WOOO!!  I LOVE GREEN TEA!! I LOVE MACCHA HOUSE

181 Orchard Road

#B1-40 Orchard Central

MATCHA ICE CREAM 

Jess and I tried their Matcha ice cream and WE LOVE IT!! 
It's just $2.90 for thick green tea ice cream served either in a cup or cone. 
Or you could have it with vanilla too 
Plus, you get a place to sit and savour the goodness. 
MMMmmm
Need I say more? 

10/10 for their ice cream!




RICE BOWL

Oh, but before that,  we tried their rice bowls. We ordered the salmon and avocado, as well as the salmon and ikura( tuna).  It is $12.90 per bowl. 

The presentation of the food was neat and simple. The rice, meat and salad were all in one bowl and I liked that the soup came in a cup. But,  the salmon and tuna , though fresh, were a little too warm. They should have been colder  but we were eating them at room temperature which was weird.  When we told the staff about it, she checked with the chef and said the rice had warmed them up. Nonetheless, the avocado was fresh and soup was good. Oh by the way, if you dread fresh onions, you might wanna request that they serve the salad separately from the rice.  It's really strong and was a little too overwhelming.

 7/10 for their rice sets 



What a downer, but I'll still be back for their green tea and ice cream!  =)

SPAGEDDIES

SPAGEDDIES

181 Orchard Road

#04-01 Orchard Central

Tel: 67387798Fax: 67388773

My petit ami ( boyfriend ) and I just had our dinner at Spageddies at the Orchard Central outlet which is just beside SG Flight Simulator. We ordered:

1) Crayfish and Tenderloin Pasta

2) Wild Mushroom Soup

3) Half Loaf Bread

First, I must say that I came here because I wanted to use my voucher as it is expiring soon. It was given to me by Orchard Central as a birthday gift, along with a few other great vouchers like Love n Show, Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Chrysalis and an Orchard Central Voucher. No minimum spend for all these vouchers which is great because most of these free vouchers are useless to me because of their T&Cs. Thank You OC for the presents! Btw, You’re still one of my favourite malls in Singapore especially when I need some peace and quiet while I’m in town.

Oh yes, so as for the food, the main course was good. I loved the pasta which was cooked aglio olio style even though it was a tad too peppery for my bf.  The beef was served medium rare with mushroom sauce, and the crayfish was fresh and had a good tomato based sauce. The soup was pretty standard but the bread- half a loaf of toasted baguette- was different. It was served with fried garlic on a side plate instead of fresh garlic paste. That’s a first. And you can tell that the oil used was fresh.

The ambience was decent but I would have preferred to sit outside if not for the rain. It looks more charming out there.

 Staffs who served us were pretty friendly, efficient and alert. It took just 5-10 minutes before the soup came, but they should have served it together with the bread and the garlic instead of serving separately.

Place was not too packed at the time we were there (i.e. 6 pm ) but a queue formed when we left. 

Overall, a decent restaurant. 7/10 

cheers :) 

Sukin

Hello everyone!

Recently, I've been shopping quite a bit and I've decided to do some reviews!

I have been looking around for organic stuff in Singapore as I am more aware of some of the awful chemical most commercial products use such as parabens-methylparaen, propylparaben.  But I also want to do the switch because I find that besides being better for my body, I am giving back to the earth in some way by using organic products :) The use of man-made chemicals as beauty products does cause quite a lot of damage to the earth and our bodies and thus I would like to give my support to companies and brands which are trying hard to save the earth through the use of sustainable farming. By going organic and natural , the use of pesticides is reduced significantly and natural eco-systems are in place. Going organic is such a beautiful thing.  Some people who inspired me to go organic are my sister , Mirander Kerr ( owner of Kora Organics) , Ms Lara Jay (my uni prof who  survived cancer! whoo hooo! ) 

I am usually on the look out for new organic brands in the market- be it food, beauty products,  toiletries etc... and inaddition, I 'll be doing write ups on other topics too such as FOOOD, RESTAURANTS , FACIALS ... so  you can follow my blog for some updates!

Well, I shall begin reviewing SUKIN'S PRODUCT RANGE
If you walk into any Watsons outlet, you notice that their bottles are different.  I believe they  are made dark for a reason- to prevent sunlight from destroying the ingredients. As stated on their bottles, Sukin is Australian made and owned and it claims to be 100% Vegan, 100% Carbon Neutral and contains none of the following:
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) ,  Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES) , Synthetic fragrances, Animal Derivatives, Harsh Detergents, Propylene Glycol, Artificial colours, Triethanolamine, mineral oils EDTA, parabens.

So I bought some of them to try (since Watsons seling them at a nice discount ) and here are my findings...

SUKIN Body Wash 

 If you're looking for something free of parabens, sulphates, silicones and free all those chemicals you can find in commercial products, this bottle is for you! This earth-friendly bottle packed with natural goodness is simply one of my favourite soaps around because it doesn't dry out my skin ( I have pretty dry skin)  and  I love the smell of it. It is light scented . I've been using this at least once a day. I use about 3 pumps or about 10 ml  of it for my body so I'm hoping it can last a good 100 washes or 3 months at least. This gets a 9/10 

SUKIN Shampoo   

This is another earth-friendly product. In fact the entire SUKIN range is free of harsh chemicals
One thing about this shampoo is that you might find it a little harder to lather on and it feels thick and concentrated. I'm not so sure why but I'm guessing they didn't add that much water. Nonetheless, it was not that bad, I could still lather on and get the shampoo to cover my entire scalp eventually. After rinsing it off, my hair doesn't feel all that squeaky clean but it's still feels fine. I 'll rate it a 7/10  

SUKIN Nourishing Conditioner

This conditioner works great on my hair. I love the smell of it too.  

 There are just so many benefits of using this product. You are actually helping the earth by using less harmful chemicals, because when the conditioner is washed off, it goes into the sewage and into the sea, the marine animals are not left to suffer. Besides saving the earth, you're saving yourself. Why? by using less harmful chemicals on your body, your skin absorbs less of those nasty stuff. This gets a 9/10  

SUKIN Hydrating Mist Toner – Alcohol and Paraben Free
( 125ml / 4.23 fl.oz US)
This toner comes in a spray bottle so you can get the toner sprayed directly onto your face.  Now that saves you from using and buying cotton pads ! (Y) The smell is very rosey and it reminds me of the rosewater they use at eyebrow threading shops. Love it! 
This gets a 9/10. The only thing is that you have to use it within 6 months of opening.  
Anyway I'll type out the ingredients list since the bottle is just infront of me :)

Ingredients: Aqua, Rosa Damascena, Flower Water(Rose) ,Glycerin, Chamomilla Recutita( Matricaria) Flower extract (Chamomile), Phenoxyethanol, Citric Acid.

SUKIN Facial Moisturiser – Paraben Free ( 125ml / 4.23 fl.oz US)
This Moisturiser helps with my dry skin . I use it day and night. I usually sleep in an air-conditioned room so I'm quite concerned that my skin dries out faster. But, this moisturiser prevents my skin from drying out throughout the night. Texture wise, this is not the lightest moisturiser though but it doesn't stick onto my face that much. Hence, I don't know it's there till I touch it. It comes in a pump bottle rather than a squeeze bottle so it's a little hard to travel around with it.  9/10 

Ingredients: Aqua,Aloe,Sesame Seed Oil,Cetaryl Alcohol, Glycerin, Rose Hip, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Jojoba Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Vitamin E , Horsetail, Burdock Nettle, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Tangerine Peel Oil, Mandarin Orange Peel Oil, Lavender Oil, Vanilla Extract, Grapefruit Seed, Linalool*, Limonene *

*Natural Components Of Essential Oils 

Use within 6 months of opening

If you have your organic products to share,  let me know what you think :) 

Birkenstocks/ Papillios/ That German Brand / Birks

Birkenstock/ Papillio/ Birki’s

Birkenstock is a German shoe brand which has been around for over 200 years ( they were founded in 1774) and I believe Papillio, Birki’s  Beluga all fall under the same company. Well, let’s just call them Birks for simplicity reason.  Each of these brands seem to have a different target market. i.e. Birkenstock has the classic, solid-coloured designs,  Papillio seems to have very feminine designs and Birki's seem to be catered to kids/ families. Regardless, their stuff is one of a kind. I mean most of my shoes give me blisters whenever I have to break into them. BUT Birks are exceptions. I NEVER had a blister wearing Birks(Y) The only thing that’s just a tad uncomfortable is their cork bed which you’ll have to mould by wearing them often. So as you wear them, it gets softer and more comfortable though they may be very stiff when you first try them on. If it doesn’t get any softer, then it’s prolly  a fake. (haha kidding) but I swear my birks are the best shoes in my shoe cabinet. They are really easy to match and I wear them almost every day either with jeans, skirts or shorts.

Anyway, Ii just found out that it is no cheaper getting them in Germany cos they are about the same prices : | One pair retails for at least $90-$200 in Singapore. Well, I have some good news! 

If you are keen to get a pair, I’m selling them at great prices starting from $50 for a pair of Madrid (the one-strap sandal) I have them in various colours and sizes ranging from size 34- 43. Email me for more info thepluralofjoy@gmail.com :) 

Cheers !