So we did. And a rather expensive and unremarkable affair it turned out to be. Good enough food but definitely overpriced given the quality and type of food served. I'll tell you how much the meal above turned out to be - RM111 - and the only item not shown is my longan drink which cost RM5. The nasi lemak was RM15+, the nasi bojari RM 22.90, kangkong (small) RM14.50 and the plate of assam prawns (large) was RM 37.50.
It was more than enough food for the both of us, and the food was decent enough without being extraordinary BUT I would definitely not recommend this restaurant to my fellow countrymen given the prices, unremarkable service and interior decor, and the type of food served.
My CEB had flown in on a Fri afternoon and was starving because he hadn't had a chance to grab a bite before his flight. However, the prices on the menu certainly gave pause to his appetite. And mine as well. As it was one of the rare times I was feeling healthy, I ordered the black cod from the teppenyaki menu. It came done excellently but the portion wasn't very much for RM50.
I also ordered a plate of shitake mushrooms from the teppenyaki menu for us to share and that was amore reasonably priced at RM17. I would definitely recommend this delicious dish with its crisp garlic chips at the side.
My CEB ordered the gyu katsu curry which he proclaimed delicious after a few mouthfuls. This again was reasonably priced (as compared to the rest of the menu) at just RM60. Even with the complimentary green tea (free flow), the bill for dinner came up to almost RM160. I don't think I'll be in a hurry to go back to Iketeru until I have deeper pockets!
From a websearch of the restaurant, it seems that Iketeru is one of the more famous Japanese restaurants in KL, and indeed the quality of each dish we had testifies to that. Do not expect quantity though (even for the buffets where each order means just enough and not in excess).I finally got to watch the whole movie after buying the DVD eons ago. The book was widely popular in the bookstores then, and the movie came out shortly after but I hadn't made an effort to get either. Until my beloved ex-boss told me that she thought of me when she was reading the book, and recommended that I read it too.
So because my CEB wasn’t home early last night, I took the opportunity to pop the DVD in the player and catch the movie on my own. (My CEB hates this sort of movies). Briefly, JR’s character leaves her first marriage, a husband who loves her, to find herself. She then gets together with an aspiring actor, with whom she was wildly infatuated with, and then desperately and unhappily out of love. She goes to Italy to find herself, to do nothing but enjoy life. And then to India for spirituality and finally to Bali where she finds love again.
And I could relate to each of her relationships. Probably that is why my beloved ex-boss who knows me so well, thought of me when she read the book.
There is a scene where JR’s character said “The only thing more impossible than staying was leaving” as she realized the extent of her discontent and unhappiness with her husband and her marriage. Despite all the wonderful memories that they had, and the home they created together. And despite how much the husband still loved her as was evident when he refused to sign the divorce papers “I’ll wait for you…all I want is you”.
It reminded me of how I felt when I left men who had loved me– a combination of feeling just awful and guilty but still saying goodbye. Not to be true to myself, not to find myself, not just because I didn’t love them anymore, but because staying another day was unbearable and no matter how hard I tried and looked, I couldn’t see a future with them. The idea of waking up, coming home to, sleeping with them every single day and night of the rest of my life had become so abhorrent that I felt physically ill, mentally broken, spiritually desolate.
But like JR’s character, I need time to forgive myself. I doubt they have fully forgiven me either. Or rather, I know they have not forgiven or forgotten me. Esp the one whom I doubted loved me. It breaks my heart now to realize that all I do for my CEB out of love now, is what he had done for me all the time. And which I had thought as calculated acts to win my heart. Only now do I realize how very much effort he made, and how very much he had loved and cherished me. Something I could not ever reciprocate.
And if you asked me now, even without my CEB, what would I do with this realization, my answer would still be the same – I could never go back to a ruined relationship. You only cut your fingers picking up the broken pieces.
So, I want to end this post with a quote from the movie. "To have broken heart means you have tried for something.” I hope this comforts you as it had comforted me in some strange way.
Because it was about 2.20pm when we reached there, we weren't quite so hungry any more and decided to order dim sum. But Lao Beijing doesn't have a dim sum menu at all. So we ordered the Xiao Long Bao which came in a basket of 8 for about SGD12. The Slog Reviews: No complaints at all about the quality or quantity. The skin was soft but firm, as was the meat but it isn't an exceptionally tasty dish.
We also decided to order another "dim-sum" like dish which was some bamboo shoots wrapped in the same skin as the xiao long bao. The Slog Reviews: These were far less tender and a bit dry compared to the xiao long bao dish. And, they were more expensive too. Definitely would not recommend this dish below over the xiao long baos!
My CEB was in the mood for toufu and he ordered the hot plate spicy beancurd with seafood which turned out to be a most excellent choice. The small scallops and shrimps in the dish went very well with the soft fresh quivering cubes of toufu, and the sauce was too die far. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. Definitely would recommend this dish to anyone going to Lao Beijing!
1 of my ex-suitors had brought me to Lao Beijing for its duck dish and so I thought the braised duck would be a good choice but alas. It was the furthest thing from good. The Slog Reviews: 1/10. This half a duck below which cost SGD19 was a pure waste of money and was not only pathetic in quantity but quality. The meat was tough and tasteless, the skin too dry and the sauce horrible. To tell you the truth, I was embarrassed for Lao Beijing that a restaurant of its standing would actually serve such an awful tasting dish! 
I would recommend the pork trotters dish instead which we had the last time (See pic below) - it was a million times better than the duck dish above! 
We ended the meal with a plate of red bean sesame pancake per the pic below. Like the prior experience, it was very good and devoured quickly by both my CEB and my mother. :)
I would have really liked the mango and coconut mousse dessert that we had the last time but my CEB claims to hate mango and so we gave this dessert a miss. Which is a mistake because I actually have a craving for the same, just by looking at the picture below. The mango inside was sweet and soft and the crisp flaky coconut on the outside was a perfect complement. 
Address:
Velocity@Novena Square
#02-11/12
238 Thomson Road
Singapore 307683
Tel : +65 6358 4466
Anyway because I was busy on my BB trying to postpone my telecon call, I left it to my CEB to select the dishes and place our order. We started with a medium sized bowl of shark fin soup, the cost of which was about SGD90. As per the picture below, the size of the shark fin in the soup was rather sizable and the texture was amazingly soft and chewy against the mushy texture of the soup.
I have to confess that although the bowl of soup was meant to be shared, my CEB gave me the lion's share of the shark fin. This is the last time I will be eating shark fin though. Even though I am an avid angler, I don't like fishing for sport and thinking about the inhumane way sharks are killed just for their fins, which are in fact tasteless, makes me quite ill. So while I am grateful for my CEB's generosity this time, no more shark fin. The pic below marks the last bowl of shark fin I will be ordering.
My CEB also ordered a plate of roast duck breast at my request. The Slog Reviews: 10/10. This must be one of the best duck meat dishes I've ever had! The sauce was nothing to shout about, being too tangy but the meat...the meat! How tender and soft it was with just the right amount of seasoning and fats. A must try for all duck meat lovers!
My CEB had a strange craving for beancurd in XO sauce which turned out to be a really good choice because it was a simple dish yet tasty enough because of the sauce. 
I think the bill for just these 3 dishes came up to about S$140 and it was worth every cent!
My CEB being the more easy going of us two was happy enough with Le Meridien because of its decent enough room and location. Being connected to KL Sentral (via the taxi area of the top most floor of KL Sentral building) means that it is really easy to get about KL if one is dependent on public transport. It cost just RM13 for us to take a cab from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang (one has to buy a ticket at the budget taxi counter at Bukt Bintang), and less than RM2 each to take a train from KL Sentral to KLCC. There is also the option of walking about 10mins to the LRT station from KL Sentral to take the LRT around the Bukit Bintang area.
Since it couldn't be the case that my CEB wanted his (insert pet name) to keel over early, I figured out that it was my CEB's way of showing me some love :) As I said, he is King Unromantic, so little gestures like this one are all the more meaningful.
I also found a pretty nice black sweater by Polo and together with the coat, the chill here is almost bearable. I say almost because I still can't wait to get back to sunny humid Singapore, nice coat or not. The cold is truely debilitating - one's mind is totally focused on how damn cold it is and how to keep just that little bit warmer. I'm so glad I'm not going for the safari after this trip!
The name of the restaurant sounded pretty awful - like a direct translation of a pretty decent Chinese word/phrase to English without thought to how it would turn out in a different language. And the location of the restaurant, near some large factory building and among a row of shophouses with extremely limited parking (we had to park at the back of the restaurant at the residential area) wasn't the most, well, asthetically pleasing.
My CEB ordered the Hokkien Noodles which turned out to be unlike the yellow/white noodles that we were expecting. While the dish was not easy on the eye - coiled wet worm-like noodles heaped in very dark looking liquid, the aroma wafting from the dish sent both of us digging in without second thoughts. We agreed this dish was yummy - not too salty despite the sauce, but tasty and wet as good hokkien mee should be. I would definitely recommend this dish to folks going to the restaurant.
I was debating between 2 of the chef's recommendation - the Claypot Herbal Mutton or the salted egg crabs. My CEB was pretty firm about not trying the latter, having had an unpleasant experience at another restaurant before with this dish but when the server told us they were out of the mutton soup, my CEB surprised me by ordering a crab cooked in salted egg (My CEB seems to be less fixed in his ways and more open to trying, and to giving in since the EE course).
However, I was informed at the front desk that the next category of rooms - premier rooms - were all fully booked if I wanted a king-sized bed and since nothing beats a large comfy bed when travelling for work, I decided to accept what I had booked, which looked comfortable enough with a nice passage way and spacious room.
However, beyond those windows which had sunlight streaming in (it was about noon when I went up to dump my bags before heading off for another meeting), lay a sight that had me calling room service and asking for the upgrade.
This. A hideous large apartment block right opposite the window. Normally I wouldn't care too much about the view outside the windows because I keep the curtains drawn but I guess I wasn't quite prepared to have to endure this large monstrosity while paying good $ to stay here.
So, when the doorbell rang, I went with 1 of the staff to the premier room which had 2 twin beds and looked exactly similar to the deluxe room I had just left. Except that it was on a slightly higher floor (4 floors up with a common concourse to the other premier/lounge level rooms). I thought that the view would be much better but sadly, it wasn't. Instead, the huge monstrosity was still visible from the windows (although slightly to the left this time). So I lugged everything back down again to the deluxe room which had at least, a big comfy bed. I assure you, everything was exactly the same, even the bathroom.
And the complimentary amenities provided at the mini-bar. Now, I have to confess that this is the first time that I've been in a 4-5 stars hotel that has a box of condoms amongst the snacks. 4 Points by Sheraton in Bangkok also had a box which makes me wonder whether it is just the SPG hotels in the Asia Pac that provide these (the hotel in Indianapolis certainly didn't).
Anyway, disgruntled with the lack of upgrade, ugly view, I decided to go to the club lounge and use the internet instead of using the free wifi in the lobby. I probably could have charged the internet access to my room because I was using it strictly for work (an urgent email) but I figured that I wasn't going to have my company pay this hotel a dime more. So up to the club lounge I went and they did ask for my room number which I gave them but they didn't say very much when I told them I just needed to send an email.
Now, maybe it was the hour which I went up the lounge (about 2pm) but it was relatively empty and other than some cookies and 3 types of juices, it was a far cry from the club lounge of the hotel I had stayed in the night before. The problem sometimes about living too well is that it is relatively hard to adjust to something less, especially when the price difference is just SGD40. Anyway, I had problems accessing the hotel wifi on my computer laptop which had them send up an IT staff who confessed to me it was his second day on the job and he couldn't fix the problem. So I asked to use the 1 available computer in the lounge to send my email but it turned out that the computer was busted. The one other computer was occupied by another guest.
