Sushi Tei @ Bedok Point

Hubby and I couldnt make up our minds on what to have for our last dinner in 2013, so we decided to stick to the usual staple Japanese food :) We went to Bedok Point's Sushi Tei rather than Bedok Mall as the new mall was super congested with people!

With the new competition coming from Bedok Mall, Bedok Point has become much quieter even during dinner peak hours. But the advantage is that service is prompt and you won't have to wait too long for your food to arrive.

We ordered the following:

• Sashimi Salad (SGD$9)
• Chawanmushi (SGD$8.40)
• Kaisen Kaminabe - Seafood paper steamboat (SGD$16.80)
• Salmon Yoridori - assorted sushi (SGD$11)
• California Handroll (SGD$3.80)

Everything tasted good and as per what you would expect in a Japanese restaurant - Fresh sashimi and tasty soup. However, there is nothing much to shout about - probably just the salmon yoridori which we thought was quite affordable as there were 10 pieces of sushi for $11 only, of which 1 contained salmon roe.

Pictures as follows:

Total damage for the dinner was SGD$57.65 (inclusive of 10% service charge and 7% GST). Still considered quite ok for a decent, quality Japanese dinner.

Score

Ambience: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Service: 6.5/10 (feels monotonous and robotic, no personal touch)
Price: 7/10
Accessibility: 7/10
Overall Experience: 7/10

Contact

Website: http://www.sushitei.com/
Address: 799 New Upper Changi Road #02-05/09, Bedok Point Singapore 467351
Opening hours: 11.30am to 10.00pm daily

Blood Donation @ Dhoby Gaut MRT Station

I always wanted to donate blood but I was held back by the fear of blood drawing from my veins and the pain from the insertion of the huge straw in my arm. Till the day my mom was hospitalised and had blood transfusion from 3 packets of blood. Whoever the kind souls were, I sincerely appreciate your kind gestures of donating those 3 packets of blood.

I decided to take the plunge and contribute back (to the blood bank). So I bravely made my first step into HSA (Health Science Authority) near SGH (Singapore General Hospital) to make my first blood donation. Since then, I have donated blood successfully for 4 times. There were times when I was rejected due to low blood count and thus, I was unable to hit my target of minimum 3 blood donations in a year. A normal person can only donate blood after a 3-months window.

This year, I wanted to end the year more meaningfully and so, I made a trip to the blood donation centre at Dhoby Gaut MRT station. This has got to be the most convenient blood centre amongst all the blood centres (or banks) available as it was located within a central MRT station. For the benefit of those who want to contribute back to society and yet fear the pain or are unsure of what to expect during a blood donation, I hope the following will help to clarify the procedures better.

Firstly, all blood donors will have to complete a survey form. This also applies to those who have already donated before as the information may be outdated. Subsequently, you will receive a queue number to await your turn to see the doctor. The doctor will go through all the questions in the form through an interview and ensure that you are of healthy weight.

Once you have seen the doctor, you will proceed to the next station to check your blood count. The nurse will use a small device to prick your middle finger and draw blood sample. This process is not painful. (In fact, the ENTIRE blood donation process is not painful at all) The nurse will inform you if you have sufficient blood count and are able to proceed with blood donation.

If you are able to donate blood, you will then proceed to the blood donation area where you need to lie on a bed and stay relaxed. Another nurse will inject anaesthesia into the arm which the blood will be drawn prior to the insertion of the thick needle (for drawing blood). After waiting for 2-3mins, the nurse will begin the blood donation by inserting the thick needle into your arm. Do not panic as this is entirely done without any pain due to the anaesthesia! The process will be complete in about 15mins after about 440ml of blood is drawn into a packet.

After the blood donation stops, the nurse will bandage your arm with a bandage color of your choice. You will have to leave the bandage on for the next 2 hours and not carry heavy things for the next 24 hours to prevent bruising. You will also receive a packet of iron pills and an appointment card with the next date you can donate blood. And it's all over! As simple as that! For those who are curious how the scar from the blood donation looks like, please refer to the picture below. It's not scary at all, looks just like an insect bite. 

I hope this post dispels all myths about blood donation on how scary and painful it is. Please do your part and donate blood if you can!!!

My EZ-Link Mobile

For the longest time in my life, I always thought EZ-Link was THE card. I didn't even know the existence of EZ-Link. So when Nets Flashpay popped up, I thought EZ-Link had a change of name. And when My EZ-Link Mobile was launched, it further confused my knowledge of transport stored value cards in Singapore (there are just too many cards!!!!)

Nevertheless, I decided to read up further to find out more. So, EZ-Link is a company! While Nets is its competitor in the payment industry. So naturally enough, My EZ-Link Mobile does not read Nets Flashpay cards (so pls, before you criticise a product, do some homework before you start cursing the whole world why the app can't read your Nets Flashpay cards)

Back to the story, EZ-Link recently launched a Google Android application for EZ-Link card users to tap their cards on their smartphones. How cool is that! By doing that, you will be able to check your latest card balance and most of all, top up directly through your phones! Gone are the days where you gotta queue up to top up your EZ-Link cards through add value machines at the MRT stations. Now you can do so anytime and anywhere! Ok not EVERYWHERE yet cos apparently users are advised not to top up on bus journeys for whatever reasons.

My EZ-Link Mobile is free for download through Google Play store and only compatible with certain types of smartphones. Apart from the NFC function, you will need to make sure that your phones are loaded with the compatible firmware for your model. And if it does not work for you, come on, with so many models of phones out there, there is definitely no one perfect solution for ALL right? Give them a break. Singaporeans simply have to criticise at EVERYTHING.

Anyway, clearly, the app worked for me so I bear no grudges to begin with. My top up transaction was seamless and fast, so I cant understand why there are so many negative reviews on Google Play store. Do note that there is a top up fee of $0.30 per transaction which is waived if you are using MasterCard credit card. The screenshots below speak for themselves:

I was so excited to use the app that I dug out all my EZ-Link cards and tried to tap using the app. And they all work! Well, the app may not be perfect yet, but it's definitely a good start. I would highly recommend users to try out the app while there are no charges imposed for topping up yet.

Download from Google Play here!

Saveur @ Far East Plaza

My piggy friend and I met today for some ladies' time together. And it so happened that both of us were not working today while the rest of the world was. After much deliberation, we decided on the well-known French cuisine called Saveur located at Far East Plaza.

I have heard many raves about this French cuisine which was touted to be the most affordable French cuisine in Singapore. I tried to visit this restaurant on a weekday for dinner but was turned off by the long queue. Fortunately, today was our lucky day as we managed to find seats quickly. Despite that, the whole restaurant was quite packed and I spotted a short queue forming up at the entrance of the restaurant after we were seated.

I have tried French fine dining at some of the top restaurants in Singapore (Eg. Au Petit Salut), but never once have I seen such affordable French food anywhere else! With this type of affordable pricing, I'm even more motivated to try more dishes on the menu. My friend and I decided on the following menu items for our lunch:

Starters:
Mushroom Cappuccino (aka mushroom soup)
Saveur's Pasta (A signature of Saveur's, pasta tossed with chilli oil, fine-chopped Japanese konbu & sakura ebi with minced pork sauce)
Foie Gras (Pan-seared duck liver served with creamy lentils & pickled pearl onion)

Mains: 
Duck (Duck leg confit, homemade mashed potato, sauteed shitake mushroom, orange segments & orange infused natural jus)
Fish (Pan-seared sea bass, saute potato with crabmeat, french beans & caper vinagrette)
(Both the mains are the recommended dishes of Saveur!)

Desserts:
Chocolate and Hazelnut (Chocolate mousse with crushed hazelnuts, broken raspberries, roasted rice pugffs, chocolate tuile & praline)

Mushroom Soup and Pasta

Mains: Duck and Fish

Foie Gras and Chocolate Mousse

My comments: I really enjoyed the food! 

The mushroom soup was very different from the usual mushroom soup where you would expect bits of mushroom in the soup. Over here, the mushroom soup was presented in a coffee cup coated with a layer of foam (just like a cup of cappuccino). The soup was smooth and tasted rich in mushroom. However, I would have preferred mushroom bits in the soup though. The pasta was just nice - slightly spicy and not too oily. Both the dishes only cost SGD$4.90 each!

The highlight of the meal would have to be the fish (in my opinion). The fish was fresh and juicy. However, the fish skin was too tough to be chewed so I did not take it. My friend preferred the duck meat though and it was her second time ordering the duck. I tried a portion of her duck and it was really fragrant and tasty - not too tough. I also enjoyed the foie gras as it had to be the most affordable piece of foie gras I ever took and it was those that melted in your mouth. Best thing of all: the mains cost less than SGD$15 each! The foie gras was only $7.90 which would have cost probably 3-4 times more elsewhere!?

Last on the table was the (really sinful) dessert. For a price of SGD$7.90, the portion we received was super huge and we did not manage to finish everything! It was big enough for 3-4 persons (ladies' portion) to share after such a heavy lunch. I wish I still had enough space in my tummy to finish up the chocolate mousse, but as much as I wanted to, the sweetness was kinda overwhelming and I had to gobble down few cups of plain water to counter it.

Both my friend and I enjoyed the lunch at Saveur. Despite the crowd, our food was served really quickly and we were impressed with their speed of preparing food and yet served with quality. The staff there were relatively attentive to the customers and I found the service to be alright for the price we were paying. The overall damage of the lunch was only slightly over SGD$60! Will definitely bring my hubby here one day!

Score

Ambience: 6/10 (crowded and noisy, unlike typical French restaurants)
Taste: 8/10 (will give 9/10 for the fish!)
Service: 7/10
Price: 7/10
Accessibility: 8.5/10
Overall Experience: 7.3/10

Contact

Website: http://www.saveur.sg/
Address: 14 Scotts Road , Far East Plaza, #01-07B (Outside FEP building)
Opening hours: Mon to Sat 11.30am - 9.30pm, Sun 11.30am - 9pm

Batterworks @ Everton Park

Was at Duxton for a meeting and came across a nice cafe hidden amongst the old Duxton estate. So my team and I decided to "eat snake" at the cafe. It was the first time there for us, but all of us really enjoyed the pastries there!

Wide selection of tea available!

The best on the menu was a pie called "Dead Mud Pie". I don't really fancy super sweet stuff and I usually limit myself to only a few types of sweet stuff (Eg. Cheese cake), but the mud pie was super duper nice! The photo below did not do justice to the warm, dark chocolate oozing out of the cake. 2 thumbs up!

Carrot cake, Cheese cake and Mudpie+Vanilla ice cream

When we stepped out of the shop, we noticed a coffee place just next to the shop. Apparently, this coffee place is highly raved by many people. As we already had an overdose of sweetness, I will try the coffee the next time I'm there again!

Nylon

Score

Ambience: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Service: 7.5/10
Price: 7/10
Accessibility: 7.5/10
Overall Experience: 7.4/10

Contact

 

Website: http://www.batter-works.com/
Address: Blk 4 Everton Park, #01-42 Singapore 080004
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 0900 to 1900, Sat 0900 - 1800, Sun 1100 - 1800 (Closed on Tues)

Fredo Galaxy @ Commonwealth

My hubby decided to give me a small surprise by bringing me to a "secret" dessert place. Being a fan of cheesecake, this is definitely a surprise I'm looking forward to uncovering.

During the journey, several images popped up in my mind - delicious cheesecake, nice cup of tea, small round dining tables, al-fresco cafe feel. My dream bubble was burst when we finally arrived at Fredo Galaxy. This was nothing like I imagined. It was a small neighbourhood shop, relatively unnoticeable for new visitors. There wasn't even a proper dining area for visitors to chill. Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to trying out the desserts.

There was a wide variety of pastries and cakes available in Fredo Galaxy, but we decided to buy home the following for a start:

I was too excited just looking at the cakes till I forgot to take note of their names hehe. Apart from the above, we also ordered an egg tart to share on our journey home. It was really delicious! A pity I didn't take a picture of it before I gobbled it down (Will make a mental note to do so in future!) The prices aint cheap though - I think the one with lots of berries cos $7.50 for a piece.

The cakes and pastries are definitely nice enough for us to visit them again. However, given its inaccessibility (we took some time to locate the shop), I guess our future visits will depend on whether we are nearby (in the West).

Score

Ambience: 7/10
Taste: 9/10
Service: 6.5/10
Price: 7/10
Accessibility: 6/10
Overall Experience: 7.1/10

Contact

Address: Blk 46-3 Commonwealth Drive #01-388
Opening hours: Mon, Wed to Sat - 8.30am - 8pm
Sun - 8.30am - 6pm

Vineyard @ Hortpark

It's the festive season again and all my colleagues were in holiday mood. Thus, my department decided to lunch at a slightly upmarket restaurant (that was just located next to my office building) and celebrate Christmas.

We dined at Vineyard, a nice French restaurant tucked within the greenery of Hortpark along Alexandra Road. It was less than 10mins walk from my office building at Alexandra Technopark. There was an ongoing lunch promotion which all of us picked:

Set Lunch Menu

2 course $28++ / 3 course $35++
House Pour Wine at $8++ per glass

Lunch set promotion!

I ordered a 3-course lunch set as I always thought Western lunches are small in portion and not filling:

Starters: Caesar Salad
Main: Poulet Roti
Dessert: Textured Fruit Salad

Overall, lunch was good but as I'm never a fan of fine dining, I guess I can never fully appreciate such meals as well. The salad was pretty appetising. The chicken was nice, but I kinda got sick of the taste after halfway through the course. The meal ended with super sweet dessert and a nice cup of coffee (which was not inclusive in the meal).

Will I come back again? I guess not. With the amount of money splurged on the meal, I guess I can easily spend the same amount on a Momiji Japanese buffet dinner. Thankfully, the meal was on my generous boss who gave us a Christmas treat :) But given the  atmosphere and romantic setting, I would recommend this place for couples who are looking for a nice, quiet place for dinner.

Score

Ambience: 9/10
Taste: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Price: 7/10
Accessibility: 6/10
Overall Experience: 7.6/10

Contact

Address: 33 Hyderabad Road, #02-02, Singapore 110578
Phone no: 6479 7977
Website: http://www.vineyardhortpark.com.sg/
Click here to make reservation online