ON BOARD THE GIANT WHEEL!
Hehe... Just celebrated Ms 甜甜圈小姐 aka Ms Donut's birthday recently.
According to Donut and our co-organiser, Peanut, our theme this time is to imitate one member of our group for a day in terms of dressing and habits etc. Loser had to do a forfeit as usual, while winner will received a 'mystery gift' from Ms Donut at the end of the day.
Our randomly assigned roles were:
1) Rong to imitate Donut
2) Donut to imitate Peanut
3) Peanut to imitate Coconut
4) Coconut to imitate Groundnut
5) Groundnut to imitate me
And finally, i have to imitate Rong. Not fair... It's so obvious they intentionally assigned me Rong to make fun of me. Were they expecting me to wear fake eye lashes and wig? Ha... And given that Donut's birthday was like, almost straight after my last paper, i don't really have ample time to prepare anything. At least i have reasons to be excused. Ok. I know i seem to be making all kinda excuses for myself. At least i did try my best to match up to the theme in the end hor! 害我又要'牺牲色相' just to imitate Rong. But it's Ms Donut's birthday afterall. Bo bian must give her face. She better be touch by what i did loh. Wahahaa...
We went to 'Just Noodles' at Suntec City Fountain Terrace for our dinner, as recommended by Groundnut. That restaurant is seriously a weird place because it seems to serve chinese food like herbal chicken(???), Thai food like Tom Yum noodle soup as well as korean and Japanese food. O_o Set meal even comes with free flow of drinks and ice-cream, just like eating buffet. Really everything 'bao gar liao'. Haha...
(Left to Right) Peanut, our 'star of the night', Groundnut
Me and Coconut
Unfortunately, one member of our group is missing that night as she fell sick. That's right. She's none other than the 百变女王(suddenly i realised this nick suits her) - Rong. Incidentally, she is also the same person i am supposed to imitate. At least she won't be able to pass judgment on me if i did not meet her standard. Ha...
Donut, in a bid to imitate Peanut, decided to bring along a small bear since Peanut normally carries some kinda of soft toy inside her bag.
Donut also hung a piggy toy on her bag to role-play Peanut. She even tried to hide it from view in case her friends bumped into her by chance. So funny... All in all, we felt that she passed the test though Peanut 'sort of' refused to acknowledge that she's like what Donut portrayed her as. Ha...
The 'mystery gift' from Donut - Famous Amos Cookies :)
I ordered the soft-shell crab set meal because i THINK Rong likes to eat soft-shell crab. So I was trying to imitate her habit. Hee... Hopefully i was right since she's not there to approve or disagree with me. Actually i have been having a crab craving for some time already. Believe it or not, i saw crabs appearing on almost every tv program lately. Maybe my craving has grown so strong that i was stimulated into thinking all food are crabs! Haha...
Our next destination - The Singapore Flyer! Donut said she wanted to try it out on her birthday. Just as well since i have never been there before either. Finally i get the chance to experience it :)
I think the Flyer looks nicer at night, with the dynamic display of light and changing colour
We had to arrive 30 minutes (though we never really did that) before our ride for some standard security checks. Felt as though we were going to the airport. Ha... Before our ride, we also had to pass through a 'checkpoint' to take a group shot, using a green screen as the backdrop. When we went to collect our souvenir photo after our ride, we realized that it was actually a picture of us superimposed inside the capsule. It costs $15 and looks quite fake. So we decided not to purchase it.
Incoming capsule. *Excited*
Noticing there wasn't much people boarding, probably because we reached there around 9pm on a sunday night, we asked the usher for a private capsule - Yes, just the 5 of us. And we were granted that request! So Cool!!!! Heard that a private capsule costs $1500 per rotation. But we only paid the normal price, with an additional 20% card discount too. Woo hoo!!!! *Jumps around happily*
A man-made rainforest at the base of the Singapore Flyer station which we did not explore.
Ready to move out!
On board my first 'virgin flight'. Wahahaa...
Photo Session!
Pink!
Purple!
Red!
Boarding the Flyer at night can be very tricky. Since the Flyer is constantly moving, i think even with a tripod and a digital SLR camera, it will take someone with very good photography skills to capture a good shot of the night scene. Too bad i only got a normal digicam to navigate with and test which settings can get the best picture. Even an antishake function doesnt help much either. Sigh... Still, it's better than nothing. Another downside is that it is too dark to see far away landscapes and greenary. Probably we will be able to see more things during the day but it is definitely more romantic and 'Wowwww...' at night lah. 有好有坏. Maybe i should take a day-time ride next time to experience the best of both worlds. Hee...
The I.R construction site is a bit of an eyesore right now. But i think the view from the Flyer will be fantastic once everything is completed. Wait till year 2010 bah...
The Fullerton Hotel stands proud and mighty in the distance...
A bird’s eye view of the city area. I think at this point of time, we were at or almost reaching the highest point of the Flyer. There was even an annoucement to inform us so.
Can even see Ritz Carlton famous bathtub window from here. Hmm... I wonder what if there are people who bring binocular on board the Flyer and cheekily peek through the window? And what if just so happen that someone is bathing without drawing the window blinds cos they assume nobody can see them from far? Ya... I know i think too much. Ha... But anything is possible right.
Say 'Cheese'!!!
To emphasize the shiok-ness of having our private cabin :)
Cam-whoring by myself. Hee...
To sum up, the whole Singapore Flyer thing was a new experience for me. The ride was smooth, as in i can't feel that it's moving yet at different point of time, i realised the scenaries kept changing. The ironic part of the ride was that i realized i was too busy snapping pictures that i forgot to enjoy the view. I even took a video which i accidently deleted to clear up my memory space. Arrgh!!!! So the 30 minutes passed quite fast for me. At the same time, we announced the loser of our role-playing game inside the Flyer. Ha... And it's none other than
.
.
.
.
.
.
Groundnut!
Yes, she had to do a forfeit once again(lst time was during Rong's 'Reveal-Yourself' birthday theme) as we felt that she failed to imitate me. Poor thing... Ha. The main reason being i don't normally wear polo shirt and i certainly don't wear FBT shorts (though i do wear shorts occasionally). But this time round her forfeit was easy. We decided to let her off by asking her to sing a birthday song for Donut inside the cabin.
After all the fun, we decided to explore around the vicinity of the Singapore Flyer. Ok. Actually it was me who suggested the idea because i was excited to see some Halloween decorations and helium balloon pumpkins there. Just nice it was the last day before they removed it. So the gals had to tahan my madness and went along with me for more phototaking session. Wahahaa...
Delighted to see a smiley (evil smile?) pumpkin balloon there :)
Peanut tried to do a disgusting act by helping the pumpkin balloon to 'dig it's nose' (-_-"') 
This pumpkin balloon simply looked too depressing. Maybe because Halloween was over? Ha...
Found a surprise in my camera when i reached home. Wonder which kuku took these two pictures when i was busy taking pictures for others. Hmm... If my hunch is right, i believe a certain Ms P..... looks the most likely suspect.
Whoaaaaaa!!!! This was the giant pumpkin balloon which caught my attention and got me excited. According to the brochure, it is the biggest helium balloon pumpkin in the world! See how big it is compared to us.
We noticed this huge candy cane pole and decided to lug it back for our X'mas party.
Just kidding of course! Hee...
Before we called it a night, Groundnut brought us to the balcony rooftop garden near Esplanade for the 'surprise' we prepared for Donut (though i think maybe she already knew it. Ha...)
We decided to choose our role-play winner here. Ya, i 'sort of' won. Ha... Everyone felt Donut is biased because she knows i love Famous Amos cookies. So the result must be 'internally fixed' and the prize 'bought for me'. Lol... At least i did try my best ok. I even purposely wore a purple earrings that day cos Rong likes purple (actually me too). See how much effort i put in. Lol... Somemore it's not easy for me to try dressing sexily like Rong leh. Imagine squeezing and boarding the peak hour train from my area aka '2nd Little India' wearing that flimsy piece of cloth. Ha... Not that i am trying to be racist but it's really very scary to walk pass that area everytime i gotta board the train. I believe most West-terners, especially women will understand how i feel. Eh... Suddenly, i sound as though i am very desperate to justify my win and proved Donut's innocence at the same time. All these just for a packet of Famous Amos cookies -_-'"
The 'surprise' we prepared for Donut. Yup, it's none other than her namesake, donuts from J.CO. '一人一份， 感情不散' Wahahaa...
A happy-looking birthday gal :)
Posted by 大路痴
@ 8:55 PM
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Saturday, November 15, 2008
CAFE SWISS
Finally the exams are over. Yeah!!!
Feast time! :)
To celebrate the occasion, bb treated me to a nice dinner at a restaurant in Rochester Park last week. Though i have heard of that place before, it was actually the first time i went there (yaya, i know i am a mountain turtle). For a moment, i thought i was back at Dempsey Hill, as the restaurants there are similarly surrounded by beautiful luscious greenery, enchanting ambience with subtle lighting. Too bad i was so drained after my last paper that i did not even have the energy to smile or took any pictures :(
After a week of proper rest, bb decided to treat me to a better meal this week and shun bian reward himself for passing his Redhat exam (finally!). We decided to go to the Jaan restaurant at Swissotel The Stamford but unfortunately it was fully booked. So disappointing :( Oh well... Guess maybe next time. In the end, we decided to settle for another restaurant there - Cafe Swiss, which serves traditional swiss and european cuisine. To be honest, i did not know much about Swiss food. The only time i tried one was at Swiss Culture, Suntec City. I can't even remember what i ordered that time. Ha... Hence, my knowledge of things related to Swiss is limited to only cheese, chocolate, watch and my Swiss friend. Lol...
After going for a quick drink at Ink Club Bar, we went for our dinner at Cafe Swiss. It was not exactly fully packed, probably cos we went there quite late (almost 9pm).
The first thing i noticed about the restaurant was the high ceiling and the spacious dining area. It is also tastefully decorated with some dangling lights to add some elegance to the place. As the restaurant is tucked in a private corner away from the crowd, i was glad that at least we can have a proper conversation without straining our voice. Most importantly, we can eat in peace! :)
The waiter brought us to a corner table by the window :) Though we had a rather nice view of the city, i think it will be much better off without those stupid poles and bars obstructing the view. On the positive side, a partially obstructed view is still better than staring at plain white walls. Ha...
We decided to go for the international dinner buffet. I was pleasantly surprised to see barley vegetable soup on one of the the buffet stations. Normally, barley is served as a drink. This is the first time i actually tried barley vegetable soup. Interesting combination but it had a sweet savoury taste. Not too bad. Somehow reminds me of this oatmeal cereal brand which i used to eat when i was a kid.
On one of the stations, we noticed a basket of bread with several varieties to choose from. Therefore, we randomly picked some breads to sample. A pity it was not warm :( The saving grace is other than the usual butter, they have 3 different types of cheese for us to go along with the bread (i am a cheese fan!). One other station was dedicated to this baked salmon in pastry served by a chef. This again reminds me of something. Unlike some hotel buffets where there will be a chef carving station serving meats like chicken, pork, roasted beef or turkey etc,
Cafe Swiss seem to be lacking a station dedicated to this section. Maybe it's just not the Swiss thing or the Swiss only like salmon? Ha... The pasta station doesn't looked appetizing, so i skipped that. As for the jap section, they also served items like sashimi and mussels etc, other than the usual sushi roll.
I alway have a thing for seafood, especially prawns. Thankfully, both the prawns in the jap and main section were fresh and succulent. And the best part is that they already de-shelled it. Ya, i am not ashame to admit that i like eating prawns but i hate peeling the shells. Same goes for crabs but they don't have it there. If only... (i wish!). The sausage was flavourful and tasty, probably infused with some special spices or herbs to to add some kicks to our tastebuds.
Another favourite food of mine - mushrooms. In fact, i like all types of mushrooms, be it button, portobello, enoki, shiitake or even the mushroom in super mario (just joking! Ha..). But this dish here tasted alright. Nothing spectacular. The trout, also known as a type of freshwater fish was good though. It has that wonderful melt-in-the-mouth sensation. The texture was creamy and smooth. Hmm~ Delicious!
In contrast, i don't really like the lamb meat. The main reason is because i have a lamb/mutton-phobia ever since i tried one many years back in Genting. Strangely, i used to like it before that incident. Somehow, the gamey smell that day just turns me off and i have a phobia ever since. bb assured me that the one at Cafe Swiss was not mutton but lamb. Hence, it wont have that gamey smell. So he 'conveniently' put a piece on my plate to try it out. Guess what? He was wrong! Oh man... The smell was still too overpowering for me that i nearly fainted, i mean puked. Arrgh!
Out of curiosity, i googled to find out what causes that gamey smell and found this:
"As the diet of sheep and goats has been known to include any type of plant, and because they get more exercise than most domestic animals, their meat is usually more muscular and of a darker hue due to excellent blood circulation. This exercise and subsequent circulation make it necessary for these highly used muscles to be fed a broader spectrum of nutrients taken from the diverse diet, thus the meat gets a gamier flavor and odor. "
Hmm.. Interesting!
Dessert time - I don't know what this shooter consisted of since there wasn't any name tag on the counter. Turns out it was some kinda chocolate mousse topped with apricot chunks, i think. It had a mixed aftertaste of slight bitterness and sweetness from the chocolate and apricots respectively. Quite refreshing, so i gobbled it up. Hee...
Not sure what this was either. So i took it just for fun. Ha... Not as good as the chocolate mousse. In fact, i don't really like it cos it tasted sourish. I think the sourness came from the raspberry chunks at the top and maybe kiwi purée at the bottom. The dessert section also served chocolate mousse cake, which was rich and thick. It was yummy actually. Unfortunately, i was too full by then to eat the whole piece. They also served carrot cake, not those type we normally see in the hawker centre of course, but those western type of carrot cake. Quite special, though i can't remember how it tasted like cos i only took a small bite. Forgot to take any photos here.
Ice-cream time! They had 4 flavours there - chocolate mint, lemon & lime, raspberry and banana that came with diy toppings. The only flavour that interest me was the chocolate mint but sadly, all we saw was an almost empty tray. But still, we managed to scoop the last few bits from it. The lemon & lime ice-cream was just as expected, very sour. Ha.. I took the raspberry just to add colours to my bowl cos i realised all the ice-creams are yellow, even the chocolate mint. Weird. Usually i am fine with sour stuff. But the combination of sourness from the raspberry and lemon & lime ice-cream made me cringed so much that i decided to stop eating it.
Last but not least, the moment that I always look forward to with the greatest anticipation before rounding up my meal.
Chocolate fondue! I am just crazy over chocolate! Wahahaa... Again, the choices of dips here were miserable. We could only choose from one type of marshmallow and one type of fruit - strawberry. Yup, that's it. So much for the 'highlight' of my meal... -_-"' It would certainly be more inviting if there are more varieties of cut fruits such as apple,honeydew etc.
On a final note, we felt that the price was a tad too pricey (approx. $100 for 2 pax before discount), considering the limited range of food on offer. I wonder was it because we arrived there quite late and hence they did not replenish some of the food that ran out? Maybe we should have gone there earlier. In any case, it is still a decent and relaxing place to dine in and hang out, BUT only when there is discount.
I am looking forward to more buffets in the near future. Though i have been to quite a few hotel buffets and high teas in the past, the one i actually crave the most is The Line international buffet at Shangri La Hotel. Heard many raves about it and it is well known as the mother-of-all-buffets. How true is that i do not know yet till i try it out myself. But very ex lah... I'm sooooo broke now :'( Anyone wants to treat me? Ha...
I love buffets! :)
Posted by 大路痴
@ 3:24 PM
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