Pique Nique

More and more brunch places are springing up in Singapore and as I love eating and is keen on checking them out one by one, I decided to write up a few posts to give my personal view on each one of them!

Pique Nique (pronounced 'pic-nic'), which has taking over the space once occupied by McDonald's in the Takashimaya's basement in Ngee Ann city, is a New York-style bakery-cum-bistro.

It is set up by award-winning pastry chef Pang Kok Keong,who was the executive pastry chef behind restaurant group Les Amis' Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie chain. After leaving Canele, the chef founded new restaurant group Sugar Daddy and has went on to start up two shops with different concepts: a French patisserie Antoinette and of cos, American-style bakery Pique Nique.

What you will find in Pique Nique are all-day-breakfast items such as eggs cooked any style, pancakes, salads, burgers and hot dogs. The bakery also have cupcakes, waffles, cakes and sundaes.


When we arrived at 11.30am on Saturday morning, we were rather surprised to see that there were not many people in the shop - we were one of the three tables occupied and we wondered if the food was bad. But as we stayed on, the crowd began to grow and by the time we leave at about 12.30pm, the place was full.


Prices are quite reasonable,ranging from $7.50 for two-eggs breakfast to $13 for a beef burger.
We ordered the egg benedict, which was served on a toasted crispy piece of bread. It was decent, although the hollandaise was a bit too sour.

I liked the toasted sesame bun of the burger but the lettuce was too huge and the raw taste of green vegetable was a little overwhelming. Oh but I love the fries! Thick (lots of potato), and rather tasty with a dash of powdered spices on them.


The waffle (with caramelized bananas, chocolate sauce and a scoop of malted milk ice cream) was thick and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside - reminds me of A&W waffles IN THE PAST (which was my favourite). But you have to eat it real quick as it soaks up the moisture from the ice cream and turns soggy rather quickly.
They also have a retail area just outside the cafe selling cakes and pastries and it looks really attractive with all the colourful displays.

All in all, although the food is not fantastic (but acceptably good), and with its reasonable prices and chic and casual setting, I think its a good place to meet up with friends for some brunch/snacks. Definitely worth trying.

Amara Santuary Resort

This weekend was a relaxing one spent at Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa with my girls from work.
We were choosing between the four main resorts in Sentosa (not Resorts World Sentosa) - Capella (opened April 2009), Rasa Sentosa resort (which has just reopened in January 2011 after a $62m renovation), The Sentosa Resort & Spa and Amara Sanctuary. Decided to go for Amara as Capella and Rasa is too expensive (>$500 a night) and I have already been to The Sentosa Resort & Spa thrice.

Checking in was not a pleasant experience. They had given us 2 single beds and we requested for a king bed as there were more than two of us. They asked how many people were checking in and said there are extra charges for more than 2 people. Mind you - our rates did not include breakfast and I am not asking for an extra bed so I really don't understand what the extra charge is for. They also claimed that they are fully booked and do not have any king beds available - BUT told us 5 mins later that they have checked us into a room with king bed (?!). Anyway we did not pay extra in the end cos we just said there will be two of us. Duh right?

So we went to our room and started unpacking. And guess what, these Caucasian couple used their key and managed to open the door to our room! How can anyone have access to our room? The housekeeping staff then came in and asked if we went to the right room (?! again.) And about an hour later, when we returned from outside, our room key could not be open the door to our room.. (?! x 3)

We concluded that we have found a hotel with service worse than MBS (ok, MBS get mixed reviews for its service really, so even if some lucky people got good service, there is still room for improvement).

Anyway the room was nothing to rave about, maybe worthy of a four star rating, but definitely inferior to The Sentosa Resort & Spa.

Deluxe room

Toilet

Infinity pool and jacuzzi pool at the roof top
(a little small but helps that there aren't many people)

A hotel retreat would not be considered one if we did not have breakfast there so paid and had the buffet breakfast ($28++ per pax) at Shutters.
The restaurant was not very big but enough to cater to the guest capacity.
Food variety is not wide - consisting of a cold dish section (salad greens, smoked salmon, ham, etc), cereal+breads+pastries+fruits corner, oriental breakfast items (porridge, udon soup, dim sum), american breakfast items (baked beans, bacon, hash brown, sausages and the usual egg station), and local delights (char kway teow, roti prata) but the quality is reasonable. A surprise would be the fresh fruit juice station where you can order you choice of juice freshly squeezed on the spot.

Due to its close proximity to RWS, we also headed went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We ordered the usuals - jumbo combo (an appertizer platter of Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders) and hard rock nachos and it was like any other Hard Rock cafes which I have been to (New York and Beijing).

We also went to Tanjong Beach Club, a bar and cafe located at Tanjong Beach, a quieter corner of the Sentosa beachfront. It was a great chill out place for the night as there are plenty of sun beds to relax on and the crowd is more sparse as compared to the day. Nonetheless, there is more to be desired on the cocktails that were served.

Vietnamese food - Lemongrass Bistro

Last night before I went to bed, I was thinking about food - this Vietnamese restaurant which I have visited twice, once in 2009 and once in 2010, in Colorado Springs.

It was the best Vietnamese food that I have ever had!

Lemongrass bistro
6840 N Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, USA

Hanoi Chicken Wings - in hot and spicy sauce
The sauce is sweet and spicy - similar to the rodeo wings served in swensons but the batter used to fry the wings is thicker, the sauce is tastier and hence this is overall better!

Grilled pork spring rolls
Nowhere have i eaten Vietnamese spring rolls served with such generous amount of grilled pork. Despite the amount of meat there is, as it is wrapped with vermicelli and lettuce in steamed rice paper, it was still light and refreshing.

Chicken pho
(just for info, pho is pronounced as 'fur', not 'foe', with a descending tone)
served with Vietnamese basil, lime and bean sprouts


Grilled pork bun
consisting of old rice vermicelli mixed with fresh vegetables and topped with hot barbecued pork. Served with nuoc cham sauce — light, lowfat, healthy and cool.

Fried hor fun
A slightly sweet version of char kway teow

As Ah C eats here every other week when he was studying in C Springs, he was pretty good friends with the owners, who are native Vietnamese. They are really friendly and sweet and I had such a great time eating there!

I might be going back to C Springs again during thankgiving break and i am excited! Its funny but I am looking forward to eating at Lemongrass Bistro more than skiing!I love Vietnamese cuisine and I wished we had some better ones in Singapore.. =/

Sky On 57

I have tried several celebrity chef restaurants in MBS and I think all are reasonably good!

This includes
1. DB Bistro Moderne: By celebrity chef Daniel Boulud. Contemporary, seasonally inspired French cuisine. A branch to the original restaurants based in New York. (~$60 for 2 courses)
2. Osteria Mozza: By celebrity chef Mario Batali. Generally serving Italian dishes including pasta, meat and seafood main courses, with the menu based on the chefs’ culinary adventures in New York, Bologna, and the entire Italian ‘boot'. (~$60/pax for 2 courses)
3. Pizzeria Mozza: By celebrity chef Mario Batali. Casual dining popular for its ample offerings of salumi and pizza. (~$40/pax)

Of cos there are the higher range ones like Waku Ghin (Modern Japanese/European), Guy Savoy (Nouvelle cuisine "French "new" cuisine), CUT (steak house featuring the finest prime beef ) and Santi (Mediterranean/Spainish) which can easily cost $200-$300 per person , and is currently not affordable enough for me to deem the meal worthy.

Anyway last Tuesday Vivi came back to MBS to have lunch with us so we decided to head to Sky on 57 (by celeb chef Justin Quek), which showcases a delectable array of Modern Asian Cuisine (using premium ingredients, refined techniques and served with a hearty dose of Asian hospitality as per the website). We had the set lunch which costs $48++ per person for 3 courses including an appetizer, a soup and a choice of main course.

No photos, but i must mention the pieces of bread that were being served before our orders arrived. Especially like the sun-dried tomato one! I had two!

Appetizer: Poached organic eggs, Jerusalem artichoke purée, duck foie gras emulsion

We also had the foie gras xiao long bao (no photo, oops) which was delicious - just imagine the juices of foie gras instead of pork flowing out of the xiao long bao when you bite into it... yumsss.

Soup: Bak Kut Teh (infused with a drizzle of whiskey as it is being served at the table, to "bring the level of fragance up another level)

Main course: Roasted Sakura chicken breast in ginseng and wolfberries veloute
(i decided to have chicken because I have been having a lot of red meat and decide to go for a healthier option - not a decision i regret because the chicken was so flavourful!)

The other three girls had the oven-roasted Maori Lake’s natural beef rib eye, field’s mushrooms and herbs jus. (if you love beef, i will definitely recommend you try the steak, because it is always so perfectly done here.)

Black black black... we are boring dressers!


Anyway it was great catching up and we had a wonderful meal!

True friends do not judge

its been three months since i am apart from Ah C (again) and when I am see him in September, it would have been five months! So i am really looking forward to moving over and spending the next one year (and many more!) with him.

That being said, I am thankful for all the great friends who have been by my side when Ah C was not around. Thank you for meeting every now and then even though we are separated by distance, have taken different paths in our lives, have new friends and our own lives to live.

These people, to me, are genuinely true friends, friends who are genuinely happy for me when they learn that i am joining Ah C in the States. They are the ones who understand the long distance relationship which i have gone through for the last few years and how important it is to me that I am finally able to join him. They are not the ones who just looks at the surface of things and start judging my choice.

A happy and fulfilling life holds different definition for different people. Some people are happy having a well-paid job and being able to afford the tangible luxuries in life. Some people's jobs are their passion but it may not be the best-paid job he/she is capable of. Some people give up a better paid job simply because he/she wants more personal time to do things he/she likes. Hence, no one is in the position to judge another person's lifestyle. Ultimately, only you are responsible for the path you choose.

It also appears to me that a person who constantly judge others' life are truly the ones who are not satisfied with what they have, and are truly the unhappy ones.

Singapore VS Texas

After hearing that I am moving to the US with Ah C for one year, the common response was "Won't you be bored there"?

That went through my mind too . All alone there, with husband at work in the day, and all my friends thousands of miles away. But I began to think into detail the differences between my life here in Singapore and the life I would be leading in the States.

Singapore

In Singapore, I wake up at 7.30am (sometimes earlier to throw in some exercises), takes 45minutes to get ready for work and another 45mins-1hour to travel to work. I work from 9am to 6pm, and sometimes later. Considering i leave work at 6.30pm and takes another 45mins - 1hour to travel home. I will reach home at 7.30pm approximately.

There you go. I spend 12 hours a day on some work-related activities. If I spend 8 hours sleeping a day, it means I have 5 hours left each day, which approximately breaks down to:

If I went home after work:
- 0.5 hours showering
- 0.5 hours for dinner
- 2 hours on the internet
- maybe another 1 hour reading a book or stoning

If I went out after work:
- 2 hours have dinner
- 0.5 hours showering
- 2 hours on the internet/reading a book

Texas

I make breakfast
Have breakfast with my husband
Read the papers
Hit the gym
Make lunch
Self-Study Japanese/French
Bake
Read a book
Look for new recipes to try for dinner
Cycle to the supermarket
Make dinner
Have dinner with my husband
Watch a movie in the couch together

12 hours of doing something that I have no passion for. Versus 12 hours of doing things I totally enjoy. Which is more boring?

Sydney in winter

Time passes so quickly, i have been back from Sydney for one week already!
This trip has been wonderful, with lots of good food, good wine and most importantly, good company!

I arrived in Sydney on 13th June and the first two days were spent leisurely in Sydney city.
Dinner together with Ning Ning after her CA exam on the second night :)

The following day, with the arrival of James Tan the boyfriend, we made our way to hunter valley, a 2-hour drive away from the city, and spent 3 days 2 nights there.

First and foremost, i have to thank our driver, the joker, who drove throughout the trip. Without whom we would not have made it to hunter valley. And thank you for the entertainment throughout the trip! So here are a few pictures dedicated to you :D



I hope he doesn't kill me if ning shows him this...

Anyways, upon arrival in Hunter Valley. We checked into our rental holiday home, which has three lovely bedrooms and a cozy living room. (de'Vine - http://www.stayz.com.au/51927)
The couple's retreat

Water bed which i slept in!

Spare room.. if only Ying/Keng were here!

Cozy living room

The scenery at Hunter Valley was beautiful at many times, be it the plants, the wineries or the clear blue sky.

At the wineries




We visited many wineries and discover many fine wine! Here's a list of my recommendation:
1. Chardonnay from McGuigan
2. Noon harvest Merlot from McGuigan
3. Pinot Noir from Hungerford Hills
4. Moscato from Tempus Two
Though none of the sauvignon blanc really made an impression.

I would also like to give special mention to this top notch restaurant in Hunter Valley: Muse (http://www.musedining.com.au/).
Apart from the impeccable and warm service given and quality food, i was also impressed with the details they pay into the meal being served. In all, we received three complimentary dishes served throughout the meal, consisting of an appetizer (served after bread and before our starter), a lime sorbet (served after starter and before main course), and finally a dessert (after our own dessert).


Truly an unforgettable dining experience.

Apart from all the yummy food we had (as can be seen in my facebook album), we also whipped up delicious meals on our own!

Creamy scrambled eggs (ning: pass right?)

Rosti in the making

I also went for a professional barista course (http://www.coffeeschool.com.au/) and learned to make these!
Can you tell the difference between a cappuccino and latte?


Latte art:



Last but not least, I must mention these chocolate fondant cake (from Muse restaurant) and sesame ice cream (from Passion Flower) which i ate. The best i have ever had!!
Distinct crust which oozes out rich creamy fondant chocolate.

Sesame ice cream was so smooth and creamy~

The trip ended on a good note and I really had a great time. But at the same time it was a sad one because Ning will be back in Sg only in late September, after I have left for the States. This means I probably won't see her until another year or so. Ning you better visit! i bring u outlet shopping :D