Sunday, August 9, 2015

Skirt, W Hotel

Happy Jubilee Birthday, Singapore! When 7th Aug was declared as a public holiday, I had a strong urge to jet off to another country since we'll get 4 days off. However, we decided to stay behind and celebrate our homeland's 50th birthday in true blue SG spirit. Since we are celebrating the nation's birthday, I thought it would be nice if I can finish up on Kaiwei's birthday celebration at Skirt, W Hotel as I'm a year too late in documenting this *grins*
 
Our dinner venue, Skirt. Located at W hotel, this was one of the best restaurants in Singapore for good quality steaks. I've pledged my loyalty to Morton's, nevertheless I'm always game to try out new steakhouses. Leecher called weeks in advance to secure a table and also to inform them that we will be having a birthday celebration. 
We were shown to our table at a secluded corner, though on hindsight we should have requested for the booth seats since they looked so comfortable. If you're looking for a long dinner at Skirt, strongly recommended to request for booth seats.
We ordered a bottle of sparkling water as we pondered over the food choices. Subsequently, they opened another bottle, without checking with us first if we would like another bottle. I certainly don't mind paying for it, but I would appreciate that we were informed beforehand instead of knowing it through the bill. 
Love the copper pans! If I had a chance to renovate the kitchen again, I'll incorporate this into the design (provided Leecher doesn't kill me first), tsk tsk.  
Tai tai training part #2 (^^)
Bread promptly arrived at the table once our orders were placed. Boy, the bread was so tasty that we had to resist ourselves from filling our hungry stomachs with it. Nonetheless, we did requested for 2nd serving halfway through our course.
Red wine to go with our steaks. 
The cow symbol embossed on the table mat. 

Getting engrossed with ceiling decorations that I almost forgot to look through the menu. They kinda reminded me of the kinetic rain sculpture at Changi Airport, except that this stayed fixed instead of moving. 
I think we had the 4-course meal and some ala carte for sharing. I couldn't find the exact menu online anymore, so this is really based on my memory. We had Asaparagus, Mushroom Textures and Beef Carpaccio with raspberry and confit egg yolk. The starters wowed us over, so it was off to a good start!
 
Check out Yanni's very pro DSLR! My Olympus paled in comparison, lol.  
Next, lobster bisque served with garlic cream and torched petuna ocean trout served with cauliflower and radish.
 
Both Kaiwei and Leecher gave 2 thumbs up for lobster bisque. Initially I thought the garlic cream would be too overwhelming but it was just nice. As for ocean trout, it was just ordinary.
Before the main dishes are served, you'll be presented with two tiny bottles. The bottle of the left is for the steak (which will be served later) while greenish transparent bottle is a drink that helps to cleanse your palette.
Bottoms up!

Truffle fries for sharing before we embarked on our carnivore journey. 
Black Market Sirloin with braised lentils and celeriac, together with full blood wagyu grain fed, Blackmore MS9+. We had to send Kaiwei's steak back to the kitchen for it wasn't cooked the way it was supposed to be as Kaiwei had asked for medium rare but it came out medium. They changed the plate for us, but it wasn't the type of mistake that you'll expect from a restaurant that specialize in steak.
Grainy pic taken with iPhone 5S :(
Lemon Meringue Pie served with tea sorbet and Banouffe Pie with torched banana. 
Even the waiter had a hard time with my point-and-shot camera.
The birthday boy with his cake. While others have complimented greatly on Skirt for their excellent service, I beg to differ. It is no doubt that they provide service, but it was normal at best. When we made the reservation, Leecher had already indicated that it was for a birthday celebration. We reminded them again on the birthday celebration when we arrived at the restaurant (when birthday boy went to park the car). When desserts were served, there was still no sight of the birthday cake. I thought that they might have waited till we finished desserts before they served the cake. After we finished desserts and they cleared our plates, still no sight of the cake. Leecher had to walk away to remind them and you know what, they forgotten about it! Despite 2 checks - once during reservation and another one when we arrived, they forgot about it? This is not acceptable!   
A parting shot at the carpark of W Hotel with Yanni :) Check out her long legs, lol! I look like a dwarf next to her. Anyway, I doubt I'll return to Skirt anytime soon after this unpleasant episode. There is a reason why I pledge my loyalty to Morton. 
Skirt, W Hotel
Sentosa Cove, 21 Ocean Way
Singapore 098374
Tel: 65 6808 7278    

Friday, July 31, 2015

Relaxing Day at Capella, Sentosa

Kaiwei and Yanni had a staycation at Capella and they graciously invited us over to check out the resort/room before adjourning to W hotel for dinner. As we drove into the driveway of Capella, I felt as if I was transported into a different country even though in reality, we were still in Singapore. Yanni & I began our self-declared tai-tai training for this day, lol! First,  we headed over to the tea lounge for afternoon high tea. 
With our partners, Leecher & Kaiwei. While the wives dreamt of being tai-tai, they also aspire to be man-tai, lol!
Afternoon tea began its roots back in England, in the year 1840. The traditional afternoon tea consisted of a selection of dainty sandwiches, scones served with clotted cream, preserves, cakes and pastries served on delicate chinaware.
We chilled out at the lounge for a couple of hours eating our fill of sandwiches, cakes and cookies. They even served moon cakes, as Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching. We then headed to the pool for a quick swim. The pools weren't great for swimming - more of hanging out. A Taiwanese couple was making out in the pool, even though there were kids playing around them. We decided to call it a day but the guys had something else in mind. 
The guys decided to check out the beach! We followed the path and walked downhill before seeing a side door that leads to the beach. Since Yanni & I had already "washed up", we sat at the beach while the boys headed out for a swim in the sea. 
After the boys had their fun, we went back to freshen up before heading out for dinner. This dinner was to celebrate Kaiwei's birthday! I brought my new lens along and I was still adjusting to the new focal length of this lens. 
Quick pic with Yanni before the lift door closed, lol! #cheapthrill. I will be blogging about the dinner at Skirt, W Hotel in the next entry, so keep a lookout for it!
Capella Singapore
1 The Knolls | Sentosa Island, Singapore 098297
General Inquiries: +65 6377 8888
Local Reservations: +65 6591 5000 

Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Geographer Cafe

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We completed round #1 with a table lined with hawker food at Jonker Street. Our tummies were highly satisfied, hence we searched for a place to begin round #2 - either desserts or drinks. We walked around, half shopping while keeping a lookout for a suitable place to chill. At a corner, we spotted Geographer Cafe and promptly got a table.
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See how crowded the place was! It was purely by sheer luck that we even managed to get a table. Thankfully the 4 of us were petite enough to fit into a tiny table which was meant for two. A cafe by day and a bar by night, head to Geographer for a meal during day time and chill out with a drink or two at night.
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A pint of Horgaarden (RM$21) for cooling down. Normally I'll order half pint but the weather was so hot and humid so I headed for full pint instead. 
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 Fling joined me for hoegaarden too. While surfing the net about Hoegaarden, I came across that they produce Hoegaarden Rosee - a pinkish beer made of wheat with a slight tinge of raspberry. So pretty, I should buy some to try next time.
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Across the table, Qian & Miao ordered Geographer's Delight (RM$25) which was one of their specialty cocktail.
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No selfie stick and Qian became the defacto welfie "hand" since she has the longest hand, lol!
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The live band was really good, so we sat there listening to music while chit-chatting. While the band took a break, we were entertained by music coming from Ringo's Bar, which is located directly opposite Geographer Cafe. I heard Ringo, the owner of the bar, does his own music which was a mixture of Canto R&R, English and Mandarin. You'll see uncles and aunties dancing to his music and/or joining in his singing. It was a wonderful end to the night!
Geographer Cafe
83, Jalan Hang Jebat
75200 Malacca, Malaysia
Tel: +60 6281 6813
Opening Hours: 10am till 1am (Mon - Sat), 8am till 1am (Sun)
 Read our Malacca adventures here:

Saturday, July 11, 2015

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Conquering Jonker Street

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Before we switch over to gloomy Monday again, I'm back with another Malacca entry and also updated 4 other K-dramas under the list *pats back for being so hardworking over the weekend but ignoring the pile of to-be-ironed laundry, heh* Hunger pangs hit us as night approached. We headed over to Jonker street, which came alive during evening as the entire street will be lined with vendors paddling their goods. 
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We were so hungry that we literally ran to the first food stall and bought 2 mini durian puffs to calm the tummies before they started to protest in union. One bite and it was gone. Nevertheless, nothing fancy to shout about as the durian filling was more watery than creamy.
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Deep fried squid which was so yummy; best for sharing. We roamed the street with snacks in hand while taking in the sights. There were a lot of stalls selling cheap accessories, especially earrings. Qian started to rope everyone in to buy so we can hit the quota, lol! 
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Towards a corner of Jonker street, there is a food street selling lots of hawker food - zi char, noodles, fried kway teow etc. We managed to grab a table, ordered lots of food from various stalls and ate to our hearts' content.
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Besides the above, we also ordered spicy lala and stingray. We asked for extra chilli but the end product was still not-so-spicy, much to our disappointment. Nevertheless, it was quite satisfying to see the table filled up with food and us polishing it clean a couple of minutes later. #eatingmachinesontheloose
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Let's eat & grow fat together, Jitches! 
Jonker Street
Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia
 Read our Malacca adventures here:

Friday, July 3, 2015

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Snacks & Pastries in Malacca

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We have officially stepped into the 2nd half of the year. I blame the laziness in me that I have not been updating regularly last month. We started June with a long weekend and before long, July arrived at our doorstep :( We were also busy with engagements during the June weekends, thus I'm really looking forward to a slacking weekend soon to clear some of the backlogs that I have accumulated :) 
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After our meal of asam laksa @ Jonker 88, we combed the streets armed with the to-buy list from our parents. Mummy Fling had instructed Fling to buy some pastries - which was like a hybrid between mooncake and 老婆饼. We almost ransacked the shop before the owner said that they do this via special orders. Immediately, Fling placed an order of 100 pieces of the hybrid biscuit, ready for collection the next day. 
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Old-school mama shop that brought back fond memories! I spotted a lot of childhood snacks that I wanna lug home. But .... must practice constraint, the weighing machine figures don't lie.
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My nose caught a whiff of freshly baked goodies emerging out from the oven. Instantly, my resounding resolution just crumbled to the ground :( Since good things are meant to be shared, I decided to psycho persuade the sisters to hand over their wallets, heh. 
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We continued our adventure after a quick stop back to our room to drop off the goodies. This time round, we headed to Mahkota Parade & Dataran Pahlawan for more shopping. It was really humid in Malacca, so imagine the cold gush of air that greeted us as we stepped foot inside this shopping mall. What's even better than air-con? A wide variety of gelatos that looked so inviting #takemymoney
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3 flavours - mango, chocolate and peppermint - for sharing. A single scoop filled up the entire cup, which was way too much for us, lol! Our best combined effort only saw us finishing the chocolate, reducing mango by 75% and peppermint by half.
Gelato Fruity
Lot No. B-43B, LG Floor Dataran Pahlawan
Jalan Merdeka, Bandar Hilir, 75000 Melaka
Opening Hours: 10am till 10pm
Tel: +60 6281 8059
 Read our Malacca adventures here:
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