Food.

Food is all those substances which, submitted to the action of the stomach, can be assimilated or changed into life by digestion, and can thus repair the losses which the human body suffers through the act of living.

The Physiology of Taste, Billat-Savarin.

Ramen Champion at Iluma - Ikkousha

I was in town today for work and met a fellow legal eagle I hadn't met for months (he has a 2 month old daughter now!). Because I wanted ramen, he suggested we go to Ramen Champion, somewhere I'd never heard of before! Ramen Champion is a "Marche-concept" restaurant where there are 6 different ramen stalls in one large restaurant and at the entrance, one is given a card where one's purchase is recorded. Payment is made at the exit based on the card.

At my friend's recommendation, I had Ikkousha's version of Hakata Ajitama Ramen, which he said was the most popular of the 6 ramen stalls here. The lady at the stall persuaded me to opt for the ramen bowl which had 7 slices of fatty pork meat and cost a hefty SGD17+ a bowl (regular version). The Slog Reviews: 6/10. The broth was so darn salty that finishing the soup base was not possible, and I was thankful to have my cup of bubble tea which I'd bought earlier with me to clean out my mouth between each bite. The noodles were firm and springy, no complaints but the meat had loads of fat, and being soaked in salty broth did nothing to improve the taste of the meat. I wouldn't go back to this stall again.

My friend on the other hand chose Bario, because he was starving. I understood what he meant when he carried his bowl of ramen to the table - a veritable mountain of ramen indeed! I think I'll try Bario the next time I go back!

When I complained to him about the saltiness of the Ikkousha ramen, he said I should try the Sappora Ramen because that had corn in it and would be sweeter.

Going to Ramen Champion today makes me wish I still had a job in town - just so I could savor the better fare instead of the stuff that passes for lunch in the boondocks. :D

Address: 201 Victoria Street Bugis Iluma #04-08/09/10 S(188607).

Operating Hours: 11.30am to 10.30pm

Te: +65 6238 1011

Sunday Brunch at Ku De Ta at Marina Bay Sands

Ku De Ta is one of my sister's favorite places to be and to dine (if that word can be used given how very little she eats to preserve that figure which has been on the covers of magazines). So naturally, to celebrate my mother's birthday this year, we found ourselves having Sunday brunch at the restaurant. And at a window table indoors to boot, given how last minute the reservations were. But that's my sister we are talking about - given how she is a frequent diner there, and how last Xmas she and her Mister racked up more than SGD700 on Xmas dinner for the 2 of them alone....

Anyway. Ku De Ta for brunch buffet cost SGD68++ per pax. Which was not overly priced given the view, the ambiance, the "name" of the place, and the quality of the food. This was an ala carate menu buffet which meant that one could order the dishes one wanted of their (somewhat limited) menu. In the mean time, there was a spread laid out for desserts, cold cuts and cheese and bread, as well as mushrooms and soba which one could part-take of freely. The menu had black angus beef but at 1pm, they had run out of beef which made me most upset. I mean, what kind of buffet runs out of a dish, and they had less than 15 dishes on the brunch menu! So we made do with the oysters, foie gras, chicken teriyaki, yellowfin tuna steak, prawn skewers, tempura, fried rice, all of which were rather limited in portion-size wise. There was also the breakfast menu one could order a chicken steak from, or crumpets even with eggs. Milkshakes like banana something, lychee with coconut milk, coffee (latte, mocha) and tea were also available in unlimited quantities.

I wish I could say it was impressive but it wasn't. The foie gras was of course done well, but how much of the extremely rich tasting liver one can realistically down is limited. The chicken teriyaki was burnt, the oysters took a long time coming although they were fresh (we had to ask 3 times), and my mum thought her fried rice was better than the one at Ku De Ta. The prawn skewers were unimpressive, and so were the eggplant and tempura dishes.

The dessert spread was pretty good and there was a fair selection of unique chocolate desserts all of which tasted delicious, like the balls which had a hint of banana. My mum thought I'd taken this plate below to share with the rest of the table, but no mdm, I finished all of it on my own,

And at the end of 3 hours of eating (the buffet brunch is from 10 to 3pm), I was so stuffed I could not open my eyes. It was raining outside and the aircon was slightly chilly so I took out my burberry cashmere shawl which is as soft, rich and fluffy as, well, I don't know, and wrapped it around myself...and almost dozed off. The rest carried on with their lattes and mocha shakes.

And I resisted going outside to take photos (since I'd been twice already) but my mother was insistent. Since it was her birthday, I had no choice but to walk around with the rest of the tourists and snap pictures which are probably duplicated a million times on facebook. The weather was pretty awful today and we got off the rooftop just before it started pouring really heavily.

The Slog Reviews: Not going back to Ku De Ta anytime soon for the brunch buffet. Although the place was packed (mostly with tourists), and some felt that it was not expensive given the quality of food, I know of an even better place to drop one's dollar and feel satisfied, as one should when going for an all-out-pig-out.

Xu in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam - 1 of the best fine dining experience I've ever had

It is 8pm and I am still stuffed from the buffet brunch at Ku De Ta. I'll write about that later but first, let me share this absolutely fabulous dining experience I had in Ho Chi Minh. I'd walked past the restaurant on the way to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner the day before, and the simplicity of the menu outside, the glimpse of the interior, and 2 Japanese girls carrying a map and scurrying in, caught my attention. So, the next night, we were back for dinner at Xu. The first level is the bar area which appears to be highly popular among the local folks and expats. Men and women can choose to sit at the bar, high bar tables or sprawl in comfy couches. The dining however, is on the second floor which looks like this. We did not have reservations (duh) but the sincerity (and not menace, I hope) written all over our faces got us in. Don't be fooled by the empty tables - the tables filled up really quickly by 7.30pm.

The servers spoke pretty good English and were helpful and friendly. Upon their recommendation, I ordered the fresh spring roll filled with ribeye. Now, my mother dislikes eating beef and when I mentioned that to the server, he was quick to check with the kitchen and offer to have the spring rolls filled with shrimp instead. However, given that the cost was VND200,000 still, I thought we should still stick with the ribeye.

When the dish was served, truth be told, I was aghast at the size of the portions. SGD12+ for just one spring roll which was sliced into 4 pieces. Yes yes, I know, fine dining, not pig out session but still. But the moment I bit into the spring roll, and the juices of the perfectly done ribeye flooded my mouth mixed with the accompanying greens within the roll, I was in gastronomy heaven. I kid you not. The right doneness, the right portions in each quarter, the sweetness and succulence of the meat, of the entire roll...even my mother said there wasn't any trace of "beefiness" at all. Yet it was still beef to a beef lover, and 1 of the best I ever had...in a spring roll at that!

The next dish is my mum's favourite out of all we had for dinner. Lemongrass skewered seabass. It sounds deceptively simple, and if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have ordered seabass at all because that is a cheap fish. And one that I have caught so many times, F.O.C. So why would I spend VND300K (SGD 18+) on a fish dish in Vietnam.

But..and I mean a huge but here...thank God I had my mother with me. Because the chef in the kitchen worked a miracle with the fish. No, not the Jesus kind of miracle by multiplying the fish. In fact, the opposite. I thought with the price tag on the dish, we would get a whole fish at the least, even if it was a small one. But wrong. Just 4 portions of fish. No kidding. For SGD20, I could get 4 whole seabasses in the market/fish pond.

The sweet onions, coconut milk and mushrooms accompanying the fish were so delicious that I wiped the plate clean. I don't care if those were there to beautify the dish because...they were so  delicious. And the fish, when I say the chef worked a miracle, I meant it. He managed to turn this ordinary-tasting fish, into pure chunks of heavenly sweetness and flavor. And I mean flavor, the kind that bursts in your mouth and makes you think that if the world were to end with this fish dish in your mouth, you have absolutely no regrets. It is THAT good.

Out of deference to my mother again, I ordered the chicken roulade. Out of all the meat, chicken is at the bottom of my list but my mother loves chicken so...Anyway, when the dish was served, I was pretty immune now to the appalling portions. Again, for VND250 (SGD15+), the food was beautifully presented but so, so, so, limited in quantity. Esp when viewed by a glutton.

Now, the puree that accompanied the chicken which was more than ordinary slices/cuts of chicken somehow enhanced the experience of eating the chicken meat which appeared to be wrap around some sort of center. I am sorry I can't describe this dish better but believe me when I say the chicken was the most tender I've ever had.

Up next, coconut braised pork belly. Hey, all I am going to say is that...have you watched Masterchef? Because this dining experience made me feel like....wow, so this is what the really good food in life must taste like. I haven't been eating grass my entire life, and had the good fortune to eat at pretty pricey places both in Singapore and overseas (esp when travelling for work with the "Higher Beings"), but nothing I've eaten so far has moved me as much as the food in Xu. So. Order the pork belly (but only after you had the seabass which is still more awesome)

And surprisingly despite the little portions of everything, I was quite full by the end of the main courses. I suspect it has to do with the fact I ordered morning glory to go with the one bowl of rice that we shared. This was the only dish that didn't have me waxing lyricals because the entire dish was all stems. For VND60,000, I think we should have at least some green leaves!

We had room to spare for dessert and thankfully the server warned us the portions would be really small. I had no idea how small till dessert was served. Now, each dessert cost between USD 75cents to USD2, so we figured we could order 4 and share, so that we could try more. The coconut che (in the shotglass at the end) was ordinary, the durian one failed to impress in anyway, and the pandan pannacotta was just passable. The only one slightly more interesting was the sugar and cinnamon soursop parcel which was recommended by the server.

And...after having the 4 desserts, we ordered another 4 because frankly, a teaspoonful for 2 pax isn't quite going to cut it. The chocolate brownie with ice cream was a waste of money, the white chocolate custard was good, chocolate kumquat truffle was boring and I forget what the last one is. But you should get the drift by now - desserts at XU...not fab. Main courses...Fab.

The Slog Reviews: Don't, please don't miss out dining at Xu if you are ever in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh...and especially if you are staying in District 1! If I ever have to (touch wood) go back to that city, you can be sure that I'll definitely be back for more of the good stuff.

One Bite Puff from Taste Better at Jusco Bukit Indah

Thankfully the husband is away from SG on a work trip today (and for a week ~ yes brilliant marriage life we have with us spending half a month apart, when I travel and he travels the same month).

My mum had absolutely insisted on buying for her daughter (despite spending most of the car ride taking photos on her cellphone of my bulges sigh) a box of durian puffs at a shop that we just happened to pass by. It was the herd mentality - the sight of the queue there had her making a beeline for the shop despite my telling her that I did not NEED a durian puff. (At the time of writing this sentence, I have eaten all the puffs :( ).

Now, this picture below was taken right before I'd started eating - you will note that the box is full of the 6 puffs (cost RM8 for the entire box). I didn't notice what was written on the lid but I really should have heeded the suggestion there, despite the stupid smiley face at the end.

Firstly, I'd told my mum it would not be good just from the look of the puffs because the outer crusts looked so hard and slightly brown, nothing like those durian puffs which melts in the mouth from our good old 717. The crusts were hard for a reason - to contain the durian goo within which was lacking in substance...very thin and watery, not a paste at all, or real durian meat for that matter

Hence, the advice on the box to put the entire puff in one's mouth. Because half a bite would result in the same disaster that I had - durian goo flowing down my chin, on my chest, on my nightgown...after I'd bathed. However, the puffs are so large that it is a challenge putting the entire puff in one's mouth...and I assure you with all my eating, I do NOT have a small mouth. So figure. And the thick crust just tastes horrid and doughy. Combine that with the lousy durian goo (I can't make myself write paste as it isn't), you have a right sh*t puff.

There is a reason why the brand is called Taste Better. The sh*t puffs really need to taste better because after eating the entire box of puffs and having 3 puffs burst on/all over me (not that I didn't learn my lesson but I could not fit the puff in at a go), the aftertaste in my mouth is not one of durian but a strangely bitter one of lousy crusts

La Jolie Hotel & Spa in Vietnam Ho Chi MInh

Excuse the appearance of the bed. I snapped the picture when we were leaving because I could not be arsed to do so when checking into the hotel. Travelling with two large suitcases, having to tip the bellboy, and having to move from Sheraton to a well, more affordable one kind of quells the happy-camera button.

Given that I'd arranged for day tours (Cu Chi Tunnel, Ho Chi Minh City Tour) for the next 2 days, there wasn't much point staying on at Sheraton Hotel at USD250++ a night. I'd checked Agoda's reviews and La Jolie had received so many positive comments that it made sense to book a room there for about SGD80 a night.

 

La Jolie is a new hotel and the taxi driver (airport cab) could not find the hotel. We went around a few times till we found the tall skinny building next to some sort of an Indian restaurant, and 2 traffic lights away from Sheraton. The staff were friendly and spoke good English but what I really disliked about the hotel was that they were insistent on keeping our passports unless we gave them USD20 as deposit. I definitely wasn't comfortable letting them hold on to our travel documents overnight and shelled out the USD20.

However, other than that, and the taxi incident, which I shall write about later, I have nothing but good things to say about the cleanliness and condition of the hotel. The room (we were upgraded to a suite on the 6th floor which had an awesome river view) was all in white, clean and spacious enough with free wifi. There was even a bathtub (not just a shower), bathing robes and a safe in the room with 2 bottles of complimentary water.

As for the breakfast, I thought it was really excellent for the price we were paying. There were eggs and pho to be had (by ordering), as well as dessert like coconut jelly which I ate without restraint, soup, porridge, fried noodles, fried rice...and the staff provided excellent service throughout. The environment as per the pic below was clean and comfortable. In fact, I would go so far as to say that other than the drinks available (or lack of), La Jolie's breakfast spread gave me almost as much satisfaction as the buffet breakfast I'd been having at Sheraton.

In fact, our breakfast experience was so good that we decided to utilize the 30% discount coupon the staff gave us upon checking in to have dinner at the restaurant (the same place we had breakfast). We ordered spring rolls, since these are a Vietnamese staple, but the spring rolls turned out to be fried spring rolls and not the fresh ones. Therefore, be very careful when you order spring rolls in Vietnam - always ask if fresh, or fried, if not clearly specified. In any case, the fried spring rolls were decent enough - not swoon-worthy or even close. Despite being a tad too oily for my liking, the spring rolls were crunchy and quite tasty, especially with the dip.

We also each had a bowl of pho. Unfortunately unlike the pho for breakfast, the beef in the dish while plentiful, was either cooked too long or was just plain tough. Not very appetizing. I would strongly suggest against ordering pho as a main course from the menu (unless during breakfast).

Overall, I would definitely rate La Jolie Hotel very highly in terms of service, location, food and condition of the room. Definitely value for money in every way given its current hotel rate. However, the hotel needs to stop holding on to travellers' passports in exchange for a monetary deposit. I hardly think there is any law that mandates that and if this is a policy the hotel has, it definitely is a huge turn off.

Also, the hotel called a taxi for me from off the streets at VND160,000 to take me to the domestic airport. I paid that amount to the hotel staff but when I asked the driver at the airport to give me a receipt (for my travel claims), he wrote that he only received VND130,000. I am definitely not too thrilled about the hotel keeping VND30,000 for doing nothing except sending a staff to flag down a cab passing by which I could have done. That doesn't smack of an honest way of earning money.

Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh City

I've been to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) a couple of times but never knew that there was a hard rock cafe there despite staying at the District 1 area hotels like Park Hyatt, and hotels at the Riverside like The Majestic. I always thought that the Hard Rock Cafes would be centrally located or at least in a popular district with visible presence. However, it took a 15 min slow walk from my hotel (Sheraton) to get to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner as the restaurant was located at/next door to Intercontinental Hotel (a 6 min walk from Park Hyatt). Click here for the address. Because we got there about 6+pm, there was some rehearsal going on for a show that night and it was really really loud. The server informed us that if we wanted to stay until the show started, we would have to pay for tickets for the show. I told her that given the noise level, I could not wait to be out of the place fast enough. Snap. The manager was at my side in all of 5 mins explaining that the rehearsal would be over soon and we could get to enjoying our meal without our eardrums throbbing.

We started with the Jumbo Combo: This consisted of the Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders. The dish came with 4 different sauces for mixing and matching, 1 of which was Blue Cheese. Presentation of the dish was good, impressive, and portions large enough for 3-4 pax. The server suggested that this dish was enough for 2 for the evening, (hint: I should not order any more). But hey, I am Stuff-Thy-Face-If-Stressed-When-Travelling-For-Work. So after demolishing most of the smoked chicken wings, onion rings and chicken tenders, and leaving most of the potato skin behind because it was so hard and not worth me wasting any calories on, I waved the server over and to her horror (Are you SURE? *high pitched tone), ordered the Smokehouse Trio Combo (slightly more expensive (almost VND400K) than the Jumbo Starter which was about VND320,000+).

Smoked chicken, smoked ribs and smoked pulled pork. The ribs were so good that it had me licking my fingers and wishing that I'd ordered all ribs instead. The chicken tasted like well, chicken...and I was so so incredibly stuffed that the taste of the pulled pork did not register much. I think it tasted porky even though it was coated with heaps of some sticky thick sauce. Needless to say, to the smug triumph of the server behind us, we had to ask for bags to take away the fries, and the other half of the Jumbo Combo. Note: I managed to down the entire glass of milkshake before leaving as a final gesture of defiance.

As you can tell from the picture above, the ambiance at Ho Chi Minh's Hard Rock Cafe is really very nice with all those pretty red lanterns at the bar. The servers speak reasonably good English and on a Thursday evening, the restaurant appeared to be popular with expats (no local folks here) and other tourists. I really like Hard Rock Cafe. The atmosphere and servers there (from USA to Ho Chi Minh) somehow make me feel welcome and less alone when I am travelling for work.

Oh and of course, I had to get my HRC fridge magnet. For some strange reason, they did not have the guitar-shaped magnet so I had to make do with this one. And the Love All Serve All bit is missing too. Oh well. I'm not sure if this is true but the guy manning the cashier told me that there would be a Hard Rock Cafe in Hanoi sometime in 2012. I'm so not going to back Hanoi ever if I can help it (more posts on that later) so despite preferring to always buy my own magnets from places I have been, I'll have to get my colleagues to send the guitar-shaped magnet to SG. I bet it'll have a picture of Halong Bay!

Paitan Ramen at Men-Ichi Ramen Restaurant

Coincidentally, the day after eating at Nantstuttei Ramen Restaurant, I had a dinner appointment with a friend at Jurong Point. And guess what we had? Yeah, ramen.

I was at the Japanese food street (consisting of Kushin Bo and other Jap restaurants) at Jurong Point and Men-Ichi Ramen caught my eye because it was smallish and I hadn't seen any other outlets before. So I joined the queue (oh, that was a criterion too) and ordered the Paitan Tonkatsu Char Siew Ramen at SGD15.

Paitan (which translates to white soup) ramen is the restaurant's current promotion and the soup is without a doubt, one of the richest and creamiest ramen soup base I've had. The noodles though, of which there wasn't too much of, was pretty ordinary and rather springy like instant noodles instead of authentic ramen noodles.

If you go to the restaurant's website (click here), it states that this Paitan ramen promotion is for a limited period only so if you are into creamy ramen, Jurong Point is the place to go until they open more outlets in the country

Nantsuttei ramen at Parco Marina Bay

When we were just friends, my CEB and I hung out pretty often at Ajisen. It was either dinner there or at Cafe Cartel. Week after week. After watching my CEB down about say, 80 bowls of volcano ramen, we/I decided that it was time for a change. And so one weekend evening while at the Marina Bay belt, we joined the long queue outside Nantsuttei Ramen restaurant.

We were given counter seats so we had a bird's eye view of how the noodles were prepared. And the chefs in the kitchen appeared to be actually Japanese and not locals. I ordered a bowl of the original Nantsuttei Ramen which cost SGD12. The egg cost an additional SGD 1. As you can tell from the picture below, there is unfortunately, only 1 slice of char siew in the bowl of noodles but the entire meal was flavorful with just the right amount of roasted garlic oil that did not leave a greasy film on the lips.

My CEB on the other hand, ordered a bowl of the hot/spicy ramen with a "hotness" level of 4. Apparently, someone actually ordered a bowl with a "hotness" level of 10 before and lived to tell the tale. My CEB however declined to challenge that record claiming he was here to enjoy a meal and not suffer. Oh well, in any case, by the time he was done, he was perspiring but well satiated.

The Slog Reviews: Definitely good authentic ramen with great noodles texture and slurp-worthy soup :)

Address:

9 Raffles Boulevard #P3-06

Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk Singapore
Tel: +65 6337 7166

An extremely popular restaurant in Muar Shee Yan (Xi Yan Lou)

The day after I came back from Hanoi, I persuaded a reluctant CEB to spend the weekend in Muar because I was craving the fish eggs dish from my favorite restaurant there. 

 And so, after a heart-stopping incident at the Singapore causeway (the first fuel check I'd been subject to in 3 years ), we found ourselves in what my CEB termed, the "boring little town". Although it was the school holidays and the wedding season, we managed to snag the last superior room with a queen bed in Streetview hotel, 1 of the newer hotels in Muar.

RM98 nett bought us a decent room which was cozy, clean and reeking of disinfectant. The sheets were clean and there was cable (ESPN but not HBO or Star Movies). The toilet was spacious and though nothing close to fancy, pretty fine- nothing like a hot shower and a working toilet. Oh, and there was also free wifi in the room so after we checked in and once the curtains were drawn against the blazing sun outside, my CEB engaged in a meaningful relationship with a bag of chips while watching Japanese movies on his netbook.

We wanted to go out for an early dinner but the carpark was so full that it was hard to get my car out. And so we decided to take a walk instead to the nearby shopping area consisting of The Store and Wetex Parade. We couldn't find a cineplex so we ended up buying groceries (more chips for my CEB to devour) and having a pretty sucky early dinner at the Sushi King. I have to say that the shopping in Muar is really dismal - forget high-street fashion or large high-end departmental stores. However, if one is into nightlife reminiscent of that of Singapore's in the 80s, Jalan Ali in Muar has quite a few roadside hawkers that sell "Muar Chee" (pun intended) and other sort of foodstuff.

My CEB wanted to go to Shee Yan only the next day (Sunday) but I wasn't having any of that after having put so much mileage on my car to get to Muar just for my fish eggs. I'd made reservations at 8.15pm (the lady informed me that they closed at 9pm) and although we reached the restaurant early about 7.30pm, the restaurant was so popular, so crowded that we ended up sitting outside on the bench waiting for a table until 8.30pm.

Now, the assam fish is the restaurant's specialty with every table ordering this dish, and the other dishes may appear to be very simple and ordinary like fish (eg stingray in curry powder) otah, fish eggs, squid, prawns etc but believe me, the otah is to die for with bits of prawns and fish inside. And the fried fish eggs, don't even get me started on those...

As you can prob already tell from the pic below, going to the restaurant for dinner wasn't quite enough for me and the next day found us both back at the restaurant's doors at its opening hours (11.30am on Sunday). We thought we would be the first but there were about 3 families seated already. 1 of them made the mistake of being a smart mouth to the aunty behind the food counter when picking his dishes, and when it was my turn and he'd gone off, she told me she would give him the blackest fish eggs. Hah. Never offend those who have a say in what goes pass your lips!

I, on the other hand, enjoyed one of the best fish eggs dishes which had me closing my eyes in sheer ecstasy at the sweetness and fluffiness of the fish eggs. If I could pack away some of the fish eggs, the way I did with the otah, I certainly would have! But because I can't, you can bet that I am going back to this little heaven on earth as many times as I can!

Oh, and on the way back at the Malaysia side of the causeway about 3+pm, there was a Grassland bus trying to cut into the middle lane from the right lane. And the car behind it and in front of me kept applying the horn to force it to move. It didn't. And so this ah beng with badly dyed yellow hair stuck at his head out and yelled "Oy! (Insert Vulgarities)" at the bus, before turning around to look at me and mouthing what appeared to be reassurances that he would get the bus out of the way. And then he turned right back to yelling "Oy oy" at the bus and after a fashion, the bus did move off. And the Ah Beng turned around and gave me the most beatific smile I'd ever seen before putting his dyed head back in the car and going off. I laughed so hard I cried.

------------------------

Address of Shee Yan Restaurant (Xi Yan Lou)

30 and 31 Jalan Pesta Baru 1

Pusat Perniagaan Pesta Baru

Jln Bakri 84000 Muar, Johor

Tel: 06-953 9014

From Five Stars to No Star

The second last time I was in Vietnam,we went, as my friend The Slug so aptly put it, from Hyatt (we spent one night at the amazing and exp Park Hyatt at Ho Chi Minh) to hovel (which was some hotel called Dic Star in Vung Tau).

No different this trip. I am in some strangely named hotel which is a hole in the wall in Hanoi. After spending two nights at Sheraton Hanoi. The cost of this room is the cheapest I have ever paid for any hotel room - about SGD13.62, which is less than 1/10th of the cost of 1 night at Sheraton Hanoi. Hah.

However, to my surprise, this hotel isn't too bad. It is heaps better than Sweet Inn Hotel in Langkawi which was until before now, the cheapest hotel I have stayed. For starters, the room is clean, spacious and there is free wifi in the room. All for just SGD13.62 a night - thank you booking.com for the wonderful 50% flash deal.

I am running a low grade fever from walking in the rain the past few days though - the last time I was in Hanoi, it was blazing hot and I called this place Hanoi Hell. The past few days though it has been raining non stop here and that is just another form of hell. Imagine lugging the heavy suitcases in the rain and not being able to take any nice photos. Ugh. I can't wait to be home.

Thai Odyssey - the best massage in JB

I never used to like massages but my first boyfriend was a fan of massages. I would go shopping while he had a massage, especially when we crossed the causeway to City Square where Thai Odyssey is located. My second boyfriend went for massages every week or so too, and I went with him once but the experience was so painful that I swore never to go again.

Well, since last year, age has caught up with a vengeance and I experienced backaches (esp lower backaches) and other body-aches that made me downright uncomfortable. I wasn't incapacitated by any degree but the soreness and sometimes, pain would make grouchy me even more grouchy.

Today was 1 of those days where I awoke with a backache between my shoulder-blades that would not ease up. And remembering how a Traditional Thai massage at Thai Odyssey (the city square outlet) eased the aches I had once before, I made my way to the outlet at KSL city.

Thai Odyssey at KSL City is located at one corner of the 2nd floor near the bridal shops and appears to be dimly lit at the reception area and throughout the entire shop. But the staff were friendly and accommodating even though I walked in without an appointment. I had my feet washed before exchanging my flip flops for their bedroom like sandals. Unlike the outlet at City Square where there are individual rooms with thin walls, privacy for each person here is assured through the use of curtains. Despite the appearance, everything appears to be very clean (From what I can see at least in the dim light), and smells fresh and nice.

I had the 90mins Traditional Thai massage (RM108) because I had more time than usual, and the 60mins massage was just RM20 cheaper. I was at first apprehensive of the masseur's capabilities because this was my first time at Thai Odyssey at KSL City but at first touch, I knew I was in good hands. Somehow she knew exactly which areas hurt the most and needed the most stretching and man, it felt good. And of course, hearing the crack of my spinal cord being manipulated gave me a feeling that I was "fixed" good. I was served a cup of tea at the end and found my flip flops just outside the curtain when I was done.

Oh, and after the massage, I did not have any bruises whatsoever unlike the times when I tried other massages which were really torture sessions. There was this massage place my CEB brought me to at the recommendation of the wedding studio early this year, and at the end of the session, my back looked like this. The masseur said it was because I had too much heat, and that's utter crap - she was just rough and applied too much pressure. The bruises were so bad that I had trouble sleeping on my back the first night! And when I tried another massage place at KSL's ground level, I had bruises around my shoulders because the lady squeezed so hard there. She said I had too much heat too. What bull. And for those places, the masseurs aren't the shop's employees (unlike Thai Odyssey) but come to do a massage when called for by the shop owner. 

Ugh.I'm not paid in any way to write about Thai Odyssey but I thought I'll share about this great place to those looking for a clean safe pleasant place for a cheap massage in JB / Johor. And unlike those "promotional" massages in Singapore, there is absolutely no selling or promotion by the staff of any massage packages.

You can check them out at this link (click here). They appear to be a well established branch with many outlets throughout Malaysia including KL.

Lee Fun Nam Kee Chicken Rice at Toa Payoh

1 of the places that sells the most delicious and tender soya sauce chicken is Lee Fun Nam Kee Chicken Rice Stall at Toa Payoh, a traffic light or so down from the exit door of Risen Christ church. I've eaten at this place for years, and the staff and quality has not changed one bit. The shop has undergone renovations of course, over the years and from the pic below, is evidently well-lit and clean with about10+ tables in the restaurant, and a counter for takeaways. Other than soya sauce chicken, the stall also sells other types of roast meat and veg dishes but believe it or not, I've never even bothered to try the other dishes because the soya sauce chicken is THAT good.

If there are 2 of us, I'll order half a chicken and a bowl of sui jiao soup. And if there are 4 of us, like there were last Sunday, 1 chicken (See the pic below) is just the right amount for all. And before I forget, the chili that the stall serves is mighty good too (a little sweet), but it is unlikely that one would eat much of it given how mouth-watering the dark sauce that the chicken comes in, is.

The price was pretty reasonable at SGD 30 for the entire chicken (not a very big one though, there were loads of cucumber slices under the chicken meat), and about SGD 10 for 1 big of sui kao (dumpling) soup which had about 10 sui kao. We asked for a couple of refills for the big bowl of soup and the service staff was friendly and prompt in bringing us bowls of steaming fragrant soup. Be warned though that one gets rather thirsty after drinking all the soup.

So, if one is in the mood for great soya sauce chicken, do go to

Lee Fun Nam Kee at Blk 94 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh.

Opening Hours: 11am to 3pm, and 5pm to 9pm

Tel No: 6255 0891

Immortals (2011) Movie

Despite the thrilling and promising trailer for this movie, and the exciting still picture below, I would say that this movie was a huge disappointment compared to the movie "300" (the same director for both movies).

The actors and actresses in "Immortals" were largely unknowns which should have given us a clue how the movie would turn out. And the lead actress was seriously...well, unattractive. If she was eye-candy, then that would have been at least 1 saving grace. The pace of the movie was contrived, the plot thin, and the graphics nothing like those in "300". I watched "300" at least 3 times.

But I would NOT watch this movie again...in fact, if I could go back in time, I would not have wasted the time and money (Even though it was in ringgit) to watch it the first time. To read a good summary of the plot, click here .

What must be the best beef noodles in Singapore

I'd been wanting to write about this place for some time, and blogging about the beef noodles we had at Seremban reminded me that I had yet to.

So. I believe this place sells the best beef noodles in Singapore. The stall is located in the hawker centre opposite Parkway Parade Mall, along the same stretch of stalls as the famous and popular wet fried kway teoh stall.

We always order the dry version which comes with a small bowl of soup. The gravy is extraordinarily delicious and the beef, oh, the beef is so tender and sweet. The best bit is of course, the hawker is pretty generous with the amount of meat given for each bowl he dishes out. Looking at this picture brings back the memory of how absolutely delish this dish is...and easy on the pocket too.

Be warned though that the place does a pretty brisk business - we were disappointed a couple of times when we got there at almost 8pm for the stall was already closing for the day.

Yee Kee Beef Noodles at Seremban

Thanks to the friendly and helpful server at Pasar Besar where we bought more of the famous Empayar Seremban Siew Pau who gave us clear directions (go pass Jusco which will be on your left and at the end of the road where you see a Petronas, turn left), we managed to have some famous Seremban beef noodles while in Seremban. When we got there about 6.20pm, there was only 1 other table occupied at this so-called famous beef noodles stall and I had my misgivings. But it was too late to do anything and so we sat down and looked through the menu which was pretty extensive with set meals (RM 13 for a bowl of noodles, beef ball soup and a drink) and stand alone beef noodle dishes.

The picture below shows the interior of the restaurant. I found it strange too that most of the servers were Malays and not Chinese, given that beef noodles are more of a Chinese dish than Malay dish.

And where we were seated had me facing a mural that covered the entire wall of peaceful grass-eating cows. However, even the cow staring straight out at me did not faze me or my CEB from tucking into the bowls of dry beef noodles, which were served within minutes.

Here is a close up picture of the beef noodles. I had the set that came with the soup while my CEB ordered a large bowl of dry beef noodles (there is the option of a regular bowl but my CEB being my CEB....).

I should mention here too that Yee Kee Beef noodle stall sells more than just beef noodles per the poster they had up below. If not for the fact that we had a complimentary buffet dinner waiting for us back at our hotel in Port Dickson, we would have tried the other dishes too.

Or maybe not. Now, if one has limited capacity, one should definitely just order a bowl of their ultra-delicious dry beef noodles. Despite my CEB's resolution not to eat everything (so he would have space in his tummy for the buffet), he finished the entire bowl of beef noodles and even eyed my below. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. We agreed that Seremban beef noodles are indeed the best. The gravy was not too thick or salty but was just the right texture and taste, and the noodles were cooked to soft perfection, sliding down our throats together with the sauce. The seasoning of nuts and sour veg made a perfect complement to the gravy and noodles. The only thing that could do with some improvement was the beef - not that it wasn't tasty or well cooked but this dish would have been perfect if the beef was sliced beef fillet.

I should also mention here that my CEB said that the beef balls were the best he ever had - they were so springy that when he bit down on them, he could feel the sponginess and the soup squirting out of 'em balls.

In any case, I would definitely recommend a visit to this beef noodles stall if one is in Seremban. I don't have the exact address but I took a picture of the road's signboard on our way out and I hope that helps, in addition to the directions at the start of this post.

In search of the famous Seremban Siew Pow

I feel like 1 of those sad characters in stories where there is a race to the finish line and one just makes it in the nick of time...only to find out that the prize one was racing for was given away.

We left Berjaya Times Square at 4.15pm and since Seremban was on the way back, we decided to buy the famous Seremban siew pau. Now, based on my research the night before, I'd read that the best siew pau was from Kee Mei Siew Pau in Seremban. Despite setting my GPS for the address, it was difficult finding the way to the shop as it was off the main road (a road behind the main road) and one had to really look out for the place. (Address: 1849 Jalan Tok Ungku. Contact No: 06-633 6219)

I knew the shop closed at 5pm and after my CEB asking at 2 restaurants for the exact location, we finally found the shop...at exactly 5pm. I pumped my fist in the air with glee when I saw the shop was still open, and with a mouth full of drool in anticipation of the hot siew pau that I would reward myself with, I rushed into the shop.

Only to find that all the siew paus were sold out. Every single epithet I'd learnt, English, Chinese and Hokkien, filled my mouth in place of the warm savory buns. Since I knew better than to spit them out, the lady boss seeing me wordlessly staring at the empty tray where those damn siew paus used to be, suggested that I return the next day at 7am when they opened. She was even prepared to reserve some of those pows for me. But alas, when I told her we were staying at Port Dickson, she agreed it was too far for us just to drive back for the paus.

Since there was nothing to be had but to move on without my pows, we went next to the alternative source: Warong Serembang Siew Pow shop which was located at 1607 Jalan Rasah (Phone number in case you get lost is 06 764 9360).

There were many W-plate cars (KL folks) there and the shop did a pretty brisk business of selling its paus, which thankfully it had in abundance per the pic below. Although I was thankful that we hadn't make a wasted trip to Seremban and we could at least try the paus, I felt a tinge of regret that I couldn't compare these paus to the ones from Kee Mei - the paus that got away.

Anyway, as it was almost dinner time and although we had a complimentary dinner waiting for us back at the hotel, my CEB wanted to go for the Seremban beef noodles and I keyed in the address Pasar Besar into my GPS because that was where the famous 747 beef noodle stall was supposed to be. To our surprise, we ended up instead at another famous Seremban Siew Pau shop. There was a restaurant in the premises but the attraction was the siew paus and being KS Singaporeans, we joined the queue just because we were there.

Well, it turned out that no one knew about the so-called famous Seremban beef noodles at this market and the restaurant most certainly did not sell beef noodles. I even asked if the beef noodle stall was on the second level of the market but the helpers around all replied in the negative. However, one of them did direct us to a beef noodle stall which I shall blog about next.

Oh, and guess what, the siew paus we bought from this famous Seremban Siew Pau shop was exactly the same as the ones we bought from Warong, right down to the packaging. We hadn't realized that at the time we bought the same and so we ended up with 12 Siew Paus.

I ate about 5 in the night and I thought that the crust was nice and flaky , and the meat juicy and tasty despite the pau's rather unappealing appearance. And if you are after the famous Seremban Siew Paus, do eat them when they are piping hot. The ones we got were right from the oven and even in their boxes, filled the car with a wonderful mouth-watering porky fragrance.