BKK Work Trip, June 2012: Spa & Heading Home

 

Arrival at Hansar Bangkok

Dinner at Eve

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I had a fun-packed weekend last week (brunch with BFF & JB trip with bro&sis) that I absolutely have to stay home this weekend to finish up the outstanding stuffs. Sister Qian will be rushing me to post up the pics on Facebook & I'll definitely get down to it, I promise! Before I head off to enjoy my weekend, here is the last entry on the BKK trip :) I always looked forward to heading home after a business trip - nothing beats the comfort of home & the familiar scent around the house. This time round, I was looking forward to the end of my meetings, just so I could head to the spa session that came along with my hotel booking.

Back in the hotel after a long morning meeting. Getting ready to check-out. Boy, I sure miss staying in this suite!

 

Luxsa Spa is located on the 7th floor (if I recall correctly). Once the lift doors opened, you will enter into a tranquil environment. The air is infused with scents from lemongrass & aroma candles, making one feel relaxed and at ease.

I was shown to the waiting area while the receptionist searched for my booking. While I'm blogging about this, I did a quick check on their website and noticed that they have removed their free massage session which comes with hotel bookings. I made my booking when they first opened, so it has to be a special soft launch promotion for all their hotel guests.

 "Luxsa" comes from the sanskrit language and means healing health through water. When combined with the ancient Thai healing methods based on the four elements of earth, water, air and fire, this formed the basis of the concept of Luxsa spa. I headed to the treatment room not long after making my choice on the type of treatment I'll like to have. 

The masseur worked her magic on my body and my body felt so relaxed after the 1.5 hours session. After a quick shower, I had to head off for check-out and head for the airport to catch the flight.

The reception is located on the 2nd floor, overlooking the alfesco dining from Eve restaurant. 

I realized that I didn't have the chance to take pictures of the hotel surroundings when I checked in on the first day. While I waited for the driver, I took the chance to snap some pics.

The flight of stairs that leads you to the hotel lobby, located on the 2nd floor. You can take the lift if you wish to :)

 

On the ground floor, there is a large waiting area lined up with sofa where you can wait in comfort while the hotel attenders assist you on getting transportation. 

#selfie before leaving this place :) definitely love my short stay here!

My stomach was growling loudly for it was past 4pm when I had lunch. I have the habit of heading to the usual haunts for food, but once in a while, I'll like a change to break free from "comfort zone". This time round, I headed to Asian Corners, which served a wide variety of food, ranging from chinese to thai to western.

Another work trip documented - there are still a couple more to come ;)

Sunday Brunch: Jewel Cafe

 It's been ages since my last cafe post! With our weekends packed with whats-not, I'm definitely missing the days where we went cafe-hunting :) I have made up my mind to visit at least 2 cafes in a month, hopefully that will materialize! A couple of weeks back, we headed to Jewel Cafe for brunch, together with Kenneth & Meiqin. 

 

with Meiqin outside the cafe :) 

The flagship is located @ Shenton Way, which was near my working place. Strangely, I have yet to set foot at the outlet in Shenton. I was more enticed with the branch located at Rangoon Road. This cafe is located in the quaint neighbourhood of Little India, within walking distance to L'etoile Cafe. Missing the "E" on their signboard though. 

 

When we arrived at 12, the place was packed with customers! Thankfully I made reservations earlier in the week & we were swiftly escorted to the upper level for the table. 

 

 Counters located on both the 1st & 2nd floor respectively.

 

 Food & drinks menu respectively. I was told that they do pretty good coffees, so Leecher went ahead to order their specialty.

 

 Talkative Leecher always have to talk first before placing orders. When the rest of us have already decided what we wanna order, he then begin his journey of flipping through the pages >.<

Brunch is never complete without a cuppa of coffee - well, I substitute mine with hot chocolate! 

 

The smell of truffle oil wafted through the air and reached us before the dish came to the table. Portobello White Mushroom Soup with White Truffles Oil ($9) is a hearty start to our brunch.

Traditional French Onion Soup ($8) - I'm normally not a fan of onion soup, but this version was so tasty that I'm a convert! A generous serving filled with croutons and cheese - I was literally scraping cheese off the bowl towards the end.

Burgers & pastas pretty much sum it all! 

Leecher went for one of their signatures - Umami Prawn Capellini ($22) after seeing it on BFF's blog. Capellini with grilled prawns, crustacean oil topped with Umami "magic" dust.

Another one from the pasta camp - I think this was a National Day specialty - chilli crab spaghetti. This certainly paled in comparison to the one we had @ Halia. It was the sweeter version & the mini man tou were too hard.

On the burger camp, I headed for their OMG burger ($20) served with 2 slices of crispy bacon, juicy patty, luncheon meat, cheddar, lettuce, onion, tomato & topped with sunny side egg. If you are looking for a value-for-money burger, this has to be the one. As usual, I can't finish the burger and the guys had to chip in and do their part. 

Kenneth dear was being health conscious lately & yet, he still went for the beef burger.

Lovely company for brunch :) We went for the healthy way when boss Khim is not around - see, no alcohol on the table!

Interesting rendition of apple crumble - food deconstructed? Nevertheless, I love the crumbles, so addictive :) 

Kenneth busy on the phone.

Till the next brunch date! 

Jewel Cafe & Bar

129 Rangoon Road

Singapore 218407

Tel: 6298 9216

Opening Hours: 9am till 10pm (Tues - Thurs, Sun), 9am till 12 midnight (Fri - Sat). Closed on Mondays

Junior Chefs @ Work II - July edition

不知不觉 we are now in the month of October. October is our wedding anniversary month & we'll be married for almost 2 years! Wow, I hate saying this cliche - but time literally flies. The first year is always special, but I'm putting my bets that Leecher won't even remember our wedding anniversary this year. Let's see if he will prove me wrong :) Anyway, this is the July edition of our cooking adventures. We didn't cook much in July, for I was traveling for work. Leecher didn't want to cook for himself, so he settled his meals either at his parents' place or outside.

Whenever I head home for dinner, I'll always come back with lots of food. Mummy dearest is my personal grocery shopper :) Whenever she heads to the market, she will buy extra portions for us to bring home for our cooking. Sometimes, she will call me to ask if I need to buy any special ingredients from the wet market. The ngoh hiang is courtesy of mummy while Leecher worked his magic on mushroom+vegetables.

 

Leecher's way of stacking spring onion, worthy of a shot! 

My 4th aunt makes the best chili sauce ever! She'll pass me a container for Leecher's cooking whenever I see her & it really whets the appetite! It has become a staple in our fridge, alongside with the usual condiments.

 

Besides dinner, we are also preparing breakfast to bring for work. Leecher's version of home-made salad :) I wasn't a fan of vegetables, so I added in lots of croutons & roasted sunflower seeds to balance the taste.

We came home pretty late one night & these were put together within 15 min. Looks like Leecher is getting the hang of cooking under "pressure" and yet can still deliver :)

Things have gotten busier for us so it was mostly stay-home weekends for the past few weeks. I had to make sure that the fridge is well-stocked with food, so Leecher can continue to exercise his magic :)

Our brunch during one of the lazy weekends - our energy source before we kick start cleaning-house-campaign.

 

Ended the last weekend with soup & stir-fried duck meat with broccoli. 

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May's Edition

June's Edition