Shokudo (Streets of Japan) Heeren

This place is relatively new, but I'm one of the last to try it. My frens had been to the Raffles City Outlet and most of them felt "the food is ok / normal".

I tried the new Heeren basement outlet last Sunday. We had a pretty good experience. It was a late Sunday night -9pm, no crowds. No queue. They closed at 11pm. So we still had plenty of time for dinner. The western set meals looked promising and value for money. But hubby wanted something light.



Yakitori $2.80 - $3.80 each : Prawn and bacon (Yummy), Pork and asparagus (ok), scallops (cold. fishy)


Steamed rice in bamboo container with salmon $4.80 - light and tasty


Sukiyaki beef $9.80 - good.


Two satisfied patrons. The matcha latte ($3.20) was cheaper than Starbucks and Ochacha version but it was too sweet. Also, I missed out the Dessert stall until much later. Nevermind, next time! I'll be back..

Nite out at Clarke Quay

Met up with gfs on a Saturday night at Clarke Quay for dinner. Saw this new restaurant that looked promising and with reasonably priced dinner sets (ard $20), so we gave it a try.

Unfortunately not all dinner sets were created equal in value. The dinner sets we ordered were $20 each, but only the pork cutlet rice set was worth the price. For $20, you get a big piece of black pork cutlet that is nicely fried, miso soup and 2 sides. My Curry Udon set tasted ok, but $20 for sushi and a bowl of plain curry udon....


Pork Cutlet Rice Set


Curry Udon set with sushi


Tempura udon with sushi




After dinner, we went to look for desserts and Nectarie was recommended. I have tried their cakes before but have no impression of it (which means they are not 'WOW' cakes). Still, the cakes looked tempting enough to give it a second try.



Our drinks and desserts are served. Unfortunately, the cakes did not live up to expectations.



Milk chocolate cake with amaretto. Couldnt taste any almond liqueur at all.


Double chocolate cake - ok. I have tasted more chocolatey cakes.


Mango and soursop cake - disappointing. Cake is dry and bland.


Red wine pear strudel - the only star item.

Basically their cakes tasted dry and hard. Have they been on display for too long? The location is good though. We got to people watch there. The service was alright, but the place has lots of "restrictions", they do not serve ice-water (so you have to buy expensive overpriced drinks), and they dun even want to refil your hot water for tea pots (the excuse being the tea leaves are not strong enough for a second brew).

Countdown to 2009

Got off on a bad start because I had work to rush and OT til 3pm when it was half day for us. Last one to leave the office. Din eat lunch. Felt abit pathetic. Thankfully things got better

Hubby's fren invited us to join them at Icon Condominium. So we went to look-see. Nice view, lovely jaccuzis. Too bad I din bring my swim wear.

The outdoor gym with a view



A sample of the many outdoor jaccuzis with a view

We had dinner at a coffeeshop nearby. Ordered alot of zichar food which turned out to be good. And since there were 8 of us, we only paid $11 per pax for 7-8 dishes.

After that hubby and I went to Clarke Quay to find a place for countdown. Fashion Bar was one of the rare few establishments with no cover charge, so we chose the place.

We got there early to 'chope' seat first. Ordered Strawberry Margarita and Long Island Tea while waiting for Zhen and Teck.




Zhen n Teck came about 2 hours later and we got into party swing...



Assorted Platter ($40) - chicken rings, sotong balls, chicken wings, top shell, honey baby squids and fish fillets.




Cheers and Happy New Year to all!

Luxurious Food

Unfortunately, Beluga Caviar, truffles, saffron and kobe beef are quite out of my reach. My idea of luxurious food is more of things that my parents would think the price is ridiculous , yet it is affordable.

Was walking around Esplanade the other day and I came across the old V-tea room. They changed the name to Cookie Museum, but it doesnt look like a 'museum' to me. Not a fitting name. Anyway, the sales assistant demonstrated such good service that instead of me trying cookies for fun, I ended up buying 3 tins at one go. Each tin cost $35 - $38.. Fancy paying so much for just flour..





This is the hokkaido winterland cookies. Each cookie is consistently made with a seaweed, and 1-2 macadamia and sprinkled with wasabi seasoning . Spicy. Interesting. Addictive.

Bag talk

This is my collection.. not alot compared to two of my other gfs. Limited brands too. My other gfs have Dior/Chanel/Fendi/Tod. And they have bigger bags.


So how does each brand compared with the rest? My ranking list:

Nicest bag to carry: Prada - becos it's soft and the satin fabric feels smooth against the skin and because its less structured, so its very roomy. Oldest bag: the red Prada dates back to 1998.


Nicest bag design for general use: Louis Vuitton bags look good anytime, all the time with whatever you are wearing.






Most fragile bag: Bottega. All leather, with suede lining. Everything about it spells 'careful'. The soft buttery leather, the light pink colour, the inner lining. But it is also the bag with the most luxurious feel.

Most low maintenance bag: Definitely Coach. Because its also the cheapest.

Hmm... Gucci got no ranking... That makes it the least distinctive bag? For this design I chose, it deserves the Most Youthful looking bag rank.


Future plans: Despite the fragility of Bottega bags, I still hope to get a Bottega Clutch. And ever since i saw their deep purple collection, I cant get it out of my mind, getting obsessed with purple.. On my recent trip to Jakarta, Bottega was having a sale at Changi Airport. Saw a nice purple clutch.. but there was only 30% discount and the price tag was a whopping $2230 after discount (with no GST).. alas... pretty much out of my reach.. Other than BV, LV is always a good buy. Thinking of a roomier one like the Galliera PM in Damier Azur canvas.



P/s: Zhen, that's my real 2009 fantasy - to fly to Paris n buy LV, and to buy that purple BV clutch at 60% discount :P