Cool Concerts: The Philharmonic Winds Goes Pop! 2015

We love music and going to concerts. Ever since the first time we went to The Philharmonic Winds' concert a few years back on 16 Dec 2012, which was also the same 'The Philharmonic Winds Goes Pop' series, we started liking their Facebook page and even went to their concert in 2014 titled 'Circle of Life - A Night of Musicals'.

This time round, it was also the 'The Philharmonic Winds Goes Pop' series, which featured Singapore's very own musician/composers and Cultural Medallion winners Dick Lee and Dr Liang Wern Fook, as well as Xinyao veterans like Pan Ying and Hong Shao Xuan. Since my mother likes Pan Ying, we brought my parents along to watch this concert.

Taken from: https://www.esplanade.com/events/2015/the-philharmonic-winds-goes-pop

The empty stage before the concert started.

In the first half, we were treated to the really 'POP' music that was so prominent on its concert title and banner. The orchestra performed pop songs from various countries such as South Korea, Japan (they played 'Koisuru Fortune Cookie by AKB48), Taiwan ('王妃' by 萧敬腾, and others) etc. There was also a solo saxophone performance by the orchestra's very own Ang Yi Xiang. We did not know who he was but he should be pro enough to be given a solo performance of his own. And indeed it was.

The second half of the concert featured Xinyao pieces performed by the orchestra and had Xinyao singers Pan Ying and Hong Shao Xuan singing some famous Xinyao songs. Although some of the younger audiences in the theatre most probably do not know of some of those songs, we could tell that they really were captivated by the beautiful voices and soothing music. Later on, Dick Lee emerged with performances of his most iconic songs 'Home' and 'Life Story'. As the concert reached the climatic finale, he also made the audience sing along with him to the tune of 'Rasa Sayang'.

An excellent concert to kick off the Christmas season! Following two encores, the show finally ended with an 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey. A wonderful performance with a star-studded list of guest performers. We excitedly look forward to the next concert that The Philharmonic Winds will bring us.

Read More

Foodie Review: Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons @ Bugis Village

If you haven't tried one of the several chains of ramen restaurants under the "Keisuke" brand, you must have been living under a rock. It was also not our first time visiting Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons at Bugis Village. And what a mouthful for a restaurant name. Well...there is a reason for this. The menu for this restaurant consists of ramen named after the four seasons. This time round, I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen Autumn ($12.90), while Momo Dear ordered Tonkotsu Ramen King with her favourite Japanese soft-boiled egg ($15.90).

What's so special about this chain of ramen restaurants is that they provide extra side dishes on the house. These include hard-boiled eggs and beansprouts. These were really one of the tastiest beansprouts I ever had! And it's free! Also, you can even try grinding some sesame seeds to be added to your ramen for that extra aroma and flavour. All of these are of no extra charge. That's super awesome right?

You can have all these for free!

Another thing to mention is that you would be given a piece of order slip to determine which ramen you want out of the 5 choices available: spring, summer, autumn, winter and king. Then there are other options like whether you want any toppings such as seaweed, flavoured egg or special (meaning all toppings). Then next you can choose the various intensities of the taste of the soup (light, normal, strong), the chicken oil used (less oil, normal, more oil) and the noodle texture (hard, normal, soft), depending on your preference. Lastly you can choose whether you want spring onion, pork chashu or black fungus. With all these preferences depending on what you choose, you can customize a very unique taste of ramen for your enjoyment.

The Tonkotsu Ramen Autumn I had had the rich and thick flavour of tonkotsu (pig bones) and you could tell that they had spent many hours to prepare that broth for our enjoyment. The aroma that permeated the air around us added to the wonderful experience. I usually opt for spring onions to give that extra onion-y flavour to enhance the overall taste of the broth.

Tonkotsu Ramen Autumn $12.90

Tonkontsu King with Egg ($15.90)

Both Dear and I had been to this outlet before and we would definitely visit many more times since we both loved the ramen we had so far. However, we both felt that amongst all their branches, Keisuke Tokyo @ Suntec City was by far the most memorable one. And most of the time, Japanese ramen won't go wrong. But of course there are some which we told ourselves never to go back again. That's a minority of course.

Website: http://keisuke.sg/menu/fourseasons/index

Opening Hours
11:30am-2:30pm
5:00-10:30pm

Address:
158 Rochor Road
Bugis Village
Singapore 188433

Tel: 6333 5740
Fax: 6333 5704

Read More

Foodie Review: Hoshino Coffee @ Plaza Singapura

Although this Japanese restaurant had been around for quite some time, we had not tried visiting it even having walked past it several times. We finally decided to walk in and give it a try on this day. Though we were second in the queue, we waited for a very long time. We could clearly see there were quite a few empty tables, but the staff did not usher us in. After 10 minutes, the family in front of us were seated. When we were first in the queue, Momo Dear asked one of the staff who walked past us many times if we could take any of the empty tables but were told they were not ready to sit us down yet. What!? After about another 10 minutes or so, we were finally given a table...

After sitting down, we then picked items from the menu which looked the most interesting. I ordered the Tomato Omu, which consisted of an omelette on top of some tomato rice, with some rather unique tomato sauce, prawns, broccoli and some cheese bits. It was a really unique combination and in fact, quite tasty!

The logo of Hoshino Coffee.

Tomato Omu (top view)

Tomato Omu served with fresh prawns and cauliflower. ($15)

Momo Dear ordered something even more interesting. It is an Omu Soufflé. The fluffy and bouncy egg soufflé felt as though it was jelly when we tried shaking the whole plate. And the moment we cut a slit in the soufflé, cheesy egg white started oozing out. It felt like opening a present, making one wonder what is inside. The rice seems to be the same tomato rice used in my dish.

Omu Soufflé ($15.80)

Since the name of the restaurant is Hoshino Coffee, it would most probably mean coffee is its specialty. We ordered a Cafe Latté to see whether it was really a specialty. Dear loved the taste while I found it to be too bitter.

Cafe Latté ($7)

Plenty of empty seats but long queue at the entrance.

Display of their mouth-watering dishes

And here's Hoshino Coffee in Kanji (Japanese Chinese Characters)- 星乃珈琲店.

The service could have been better. We also noticed many empty tables while there was a long queue outside. We couldn't understand why the customers were not ushered to the empty tables much earlier. The food was fascinating and certainly worth trying, but the service, in our opinion, require improvement.

Website (Japanese): http://www.hoshinocoffee.com/
Website (English): http://www.hoshinocoffee.com.sg/m/index.html

Opening Hours
Mon - Fri: 11:30am-10pm
Sat, Sun, PH: 10am-10pm

Address:
68 Orchard Road
#03-84, Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839

Tel: 6338 3277

Read More

Foodie Review: Jinjja Chicken @ Bugis Village

Who doesn't love fast-food? And who doesn't love Korean culture? And what about chicken wings? Fried chicken wings? Combine all of these and you get Jinjja Chicken! We were at Bugis Junction as usual when we heard some loud noises. It was a promoter for the newly-opened Korean fast-food joint, using a loudhailer and promoting the opening of its flagship store at Bugis Village, just across the road from Bugis Junction. Being curious cats, we decided to check it out. There was a 1-for-1 opening special, so being kiasu Singaporeans, we decided to settle lunch there.

One can easily spot this very striking signboard from across the road.

There was a pretty long queue when we went in, and hardly any seats left. We proceeded to queue for our food, and decided to order the 6-piece mixed chicken wings set (Jinjja Wings) meal, which comes with fries, which you can choose either seasalt or sesame seaweed flavour, and a drink at $9.90. You can opt for the tteokbokki fries by topping up another $1. Since Momo Dear loves Jjajang Myeon ($7.50), we ordered that as the 1-for-1 offer. There were other items on the menu such as the common Bibimbap or Bibimmyeon, and even a Kimchi Tofu Burger. You can also order Jinjja whole chickens instead of wings. These items, of course, would be a meal for another day.

Lunch for the day consists of jjajangmyeon, sesame seaweed fries, 6-piece soy garlic and yangnyeom chicken wings and a Minute Maid orange juice.

For the chicken wings, we ordered the 6-piece mixed set. Meaning 3 pieces of soy garlic flavour, and 3 pieces of yangnyeom flavour. The soy garlic flavoured chicken wings taste salty, of course. The thick sauce covering the chicken wing smells heavenly, especially for a garlic-lover like me. Dear says it's better than those of 4Fingers. I think they're quite similar though. We'll need to do a PK on these two different brands to find out lol. For the spicy flavoured version, it's not extremely hot, yet spicy enough for spicy food lovers like me to enjoy it thoroughly. We both love the spicy version.

These chicken wings are so wonderfully seasoned you'll crave for more.

As for the fries, it's actually just french fries sprinkled with lots of sesame seaweed powder. There's a lot of powder remaining in the container after we finished the fries. Not for the healthy-conscious. Well, fast food ain't for the health-conscious anyway lol.

Seaweed seaweed fries. You can actually see the tiny bits of seaweed.

The jjajangmyeon, Dear's favourite, pales in comparison to the one we had in Seoul. Of course you can't compare it this way, since this is a fast food joint whose specialties are chicken wings. There were some cucumber bits, potatoes, green peas and onions in the gravy. But there's no meat at all. Not worth the $7.50 to be honest.

Dear can't wait to tuck into the jjajangmyeon.

The ingredients are quite different from other jjajangmyeon though .

It was a pretty enjoyable experience visiting this fast-food joint on its first day of opening. With the Korean MTVs playing on the TV monitors on its ceilings, it really is a hip and trendy new hang-out for everyone. We will definitely patronize again to try the other items on the menu.

Website: http://www.jinjjachicken.com/

Opening Hours
Sun - Thu: 11am-10pm
Fri - Sat: 11am-11:30pm

Address:
249 Victoria Street
Singapore 188034
(Bugis Village, opposite Bugis Junction)

Read More

Foodie Review: Gyuu+ Yakiniku Grill @ Emporium Shokuhin, Marina Square

Situated next to the escalators, you can't miss this high-end restaurant selling premium meats such as the Miyazaki beef. Gyuu means "cow" in Japanese. It is rightfully so that it is the place to go to for premium beef, as well as other meats such as pork and chicken. As the name suggests, the "+" in the name also means that it serves premium beef, higher than the grades you find served in normal restaurants.

The front counter of Gyuu+ Yakiniku Grill.

Some trivial (found at this website): Miyazaki Beef comes from Japanese Black cattle produced and fattened in Miyazaki Prefecture and is Grade 4 or above in the meat quality grading standards set by the Japan Meat Grading Association.

We made a reservation earlier in the day and got a table right next to the entrance. The table consists of a grill right in the middle, and it is equipped with a tablet for browsing through its menu easily and well as making orders. Each of us were equipped with metal tongs, which is designed to rest on the table, without allowing the part that touches meat to touch the table.

Grills and metal tongs, the essential equipment for grilling your meat.

A tablet for easy browsing and ordering of items.

Since there was an opening special in which the Miyazaki Chopped cubes were going for $23 instead of $28, we ordered that, of course. We also chose the Jo Karubi at a whooping $38 a set, one of the most expensive items in the menu. We love pork too, so we chose the Pork Shoulder set ($13). It was really good so we ordered another pork shoulder set, but we opted for the Shoulder Shio set ($13), which offers the pork shoulders lightly seasoned with some special salt. To balance the meal, we ordered an Eringi Mushroom set ($7). White rice costs $3 a bowl. We ordered some water as well, which the waiter mentioned it was free, but ended up on the bill as $0.50 a cup. ZZzz..

A5 Miyazaki Jo Karubi $38

Miyazaki Chopped (cubes) on promotion for $23, which normally costs $28.

Pork Shoulder $13.

Eringi Mushroom $7

The beautiful marbling of the meat is a trademark of high quality beef.

Can't wait to sink our teeth into these.

No seasoning needed. The fats have dissolved into oil, giving the meat a heavenly but not too oily taste.

Itadakimasu!

The tablet makes it very convenient to order the items you need.

The quality of the food, especially the beef, definitely matched their price tags. The succulent beef also need no extra seasoning, nor to be dipped in the sauce provided. However, dapping a tiny bit of salt, which was provided together with the sauce, further enhances the flavour of the meat. The meat was quite tender and as you chew on it, the juice just spread in your mouth, tingling your tongue as you enjoy the whole experience. Since it was such expensive meat, I actually chew it slowly, enjoying every morsel of it.

The Jo Karubi ($38) was definitely the most enjoyable item we ordered. You won't get to enjoy this heavenly taste in cheaper beef you find in normal menus. Every bite releases the fats stored in the very marbling you see in the meat and it mixes really well with the meat itself, giving it the wonderful aroma when it starts to cook on the grill.

The Miyazaki cubes ($23, on promotion) were also quite good as well, but I would choose to pay more to enjoy the Jo Karubi.

Pork-lovers should also go for the Pork Shoulders ($13) and the salted version, Shoulder Shio ($13). These items offer a different taste to the tastebuds, and were very flavourful as well. The salted version offered an even better taste, or you could actually dap the non-salted version with a bit of the salt provided yourself.

The Erinji Mushrooms ($7) were pretty much unneeded. But we tried it anyway.

Overall it was a real treat to our taste buds, and the taste just lingers in your mouth, making you wanting to visit again. Don't expect to fill your stomachs on these since it is more of taste and quality over quantity.

Website: http://www.emporiumshokuhin.com.sg/gyuu.html

Address:
6 Raffles Boulevard #01-18 Marina Square
Singapore 039594

Opening hours:
11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 10pm

Reservations:
Call: 6224 3433

Read More

Travel Blog: Club Med Bintan Island Resort Stay 2015 Souvenirs, 地中海俱乐部民丹岛度假村纪念品, 19 Jul 15

Did we mention we bought these symbolic T-shirts from Club Med Bintan Island Resort? We did that just before we left the resort. The souvenir shop in the resort sold all kinds of merchandise, from T-shirts, to towels, and bags and accessories. We bought these T-shirts since they had the words "Bintan Island", which would remind us that we had been to this resort, but it also had the numbers "45". The "45" symbolizes the 45th anniversary, which happened back in 1995. The T-shirts were so popular, even more popular than the 50th anniversary T-shirts, that they decided to continue printing "45" T-shirts. There is also an "88" version. It is used because "8" is an auspicious number for Asian countries. And auspicious things come in pairs as well, according to Chinese beliefs. Therefore the T-shirts with "45" and "88" were born, and continue to be sold throughout Asian Club Med Resorts.

Front

Back

For a list of the accommodation available for booking in Bintan Island via Agoda.com, click here.
For a list of the resorts available for booking in Bintan Island via Agoda.com, click here.

Links to our Club Med Bintan Island Resort Stay 2015

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Read More

Travel Blog: Club Med Bintan Island Resort Stay 2015 Day 3, 地中海俱乐部民丹岛之旅第三天, 19 Jul 15

Club Med Bintan Island Resort Stay Day 3: 19 July 2015, Sunday
地中海俱乐部民丹岛之旅第三天：7月19日2015年, 星期天

The third and last day of our stay at Club Med Bintan Island Resort was a Sunday. What do you do on Sundays? Sleep in of course! But then again, there was a whole spread of breakfast waiting for us. We got up just a little bit later than the day before and took a stroll along the beach, listening to the waves and enjoying the cool morning breeze.

We then went to the Terrace restaurant, just like for the past few meals. We piled up our plates with noodles, eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausages and got milk and fruits to go along. A satisfying breakfast.

Momo's breakfast.

Orange's breakfast.

After breakfast, we came across a bocce ball or pétanque court near the main building and decided to give it a try. We had never played this game before and found it quite interesting. However we got bored of it quickly and decided to head towards the beach once again.

It really is a giant version of gor lee (marbles).

Who could have made these mini balls of sand all over the beach?

It is almost like crop circles made of sand.

After the leisurely stroll at the beach, we went to the main building to make some check out procedures. The Korean GO who did the Gangnam Style dance in the previous night was manning the counter. After that, we went to the archery range to enjoy our last activity at the resort. Seemed like I had not lost my touch. Archery is a sport that tests your hand-eye coordination, breathing technique, and of course the strength of your arms. And with that last activity, we proceeded to the Terrace for the final time for our last meal in Club Med Bintan Island Resort. Sounds sad...

Momo Dear taking a picture with Mr. Gangnam Style.

Haven't played archery for quite some time.

There were many exotic dishes handcrafted by the master chefs of Terrace restaurant. It was like fine dining and buffet all at once. The desserts were once again hard to resist. Who could resist such beautiful and tasty-looking dishes and desserts?

Had some prata, pasta, rice.

Thai Squid Salad

Minced Duck and Coriander Salad

Last chance to eat lots of meat before we head home.

This should be the last top up.

Plenty of desserts still await us...

And many more...

It's better to have some fruits.

And ice-cream!

We made our last exploration around the resort right after lunch. We found the children's playrooms and other activity areas. This Club Med resort is really family-oriented and well suited for families with many kids. They do not have to worry about not being able to enjoy themselves because they have to look after their kids, simply because your kids will be taken care of by the GOs and get to participate in all kinds of activities catered specially for kids of their age. There is the Petit Club (for toddlers 2 to 3), Mini Club (ages 4 to 10) and Kids Club (ages 4 to 17). What's best is kids under 4 stay for free! We will certainly return to Club Med again with our little ones next time.

A children's playroom.

A mini stage for the kids to do some performance it seems.

These rooms cater to kids of different ages for some activities.

There is even a playground.

Kids are divided into Kids Club, Mini Club and Petit Club, based on their age.

And soon, the inevitable had to happen. It's time to leave! Once again, the GOs lined up the entrance all the way to our coach and gave us a warm sending off. After we boarded our coach, the GOs also lined the path a distance from the building entrance, where finally the village chief, Jessie, stood right at the end to wave us goodbye. Now that's VIP treatment.

The GOs giving us a warm sending off.

And their signature wave again.

The village chief, Jessie, stands at the very end to wave us goodbye.

It was a short trip back to the ferry point, where we took the ferry back to Singapore with unwilling hearts. But we know for sure we would definitely return to this wonderful resort again in the near future. Thank you Club Med Bintan Island for your warm hospitality!

For a list of the accommodation available for booking in Bintan Island via Agoda.com, click here.
For a list of the resorts available for booking in Bintan Island via Agoda.com, click here.

Links to our Club Med Bintan Island Resort Stay 2015

Day 1
Day 2
Souvenirs

Read More