Real Life Story! Beware!

10:00:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Well, this incident happened to my bf's parents. You see, they bought this membership club at Sentosa years way way back. Every month, they got to pay some kind of maintenance fee. All these sum up to 5 digit figures.

Recently, this club, let's call it Club A, had sold off its premises and everything to a buyer, Club B. Members of Club A thought, WOW so good, got new club & facilites liao! Thoughts and Reality are really 2 different things, especially when it involved some shrewd businessman.

The mgmt of Club A had sold off everything to Club B. However as Club B had not received any membership fee from the existing Club A members, the mgmt of Club B had revised the maintenance fee from $50 to $250 per month. That's not all. The existing members also need to pay a nominal fee to remain as a member of the new Club. It's like paying membership fee all over again.

In other words, Club A mgmt had abandoned its members without providing any compensation (e.g buy back the membership from its members before selling away) and just MIA.

Apparently, the existing members now have only 2 options:

(A) Forget about the whole investment, just take it that the money has been flushed down the toilet bowl

(B) Continue to dump money into the new Club. However, once bitten twice shy. Ya never know when the new Club will just abandon its members and sell off to somebody else.

Both options are not favourable to the existing members. Yet, the members are at a losing end as no compensation can be sought from both Club A & Club B. In the T&C, the maintenance fee is at the discretion of the Club A. Whereas Club B had already paid a sum to the Club A mgmt, it has no obligation to "take care" of the orphans aka existing members from Club A.

Frustrating right? It sounds so morally wrong for Club A mgmt to just leave like that, yet the law has ironically protected them from any liability. So is the law helping the innocent or just the smart players? I guess it's a lesson learnt. My bf's parents had bought the membership, thinking that it should be a good investment. If there is no use for it, maybe can sell off when the value has increased.

Even though most membership is usually transferable, but the issue is where is the avenue to find a new buyer for your membership?? If you cant find someone to buy from you, where's the value of the membership?

Especially in this case, they got to pay $300 ($50 x 12 mth) every year. What do they get? Just free stay for 2 rooms in the resort for 3 days every year. Worth it? I leave you to judge
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This is all the faults of those cunning businessman!! HUMPT! #@$%!$&

Anyway, this will be discussed in Channel 8, 前线追踪, 10.30pm this friday. Repeated telecast on next tue 1.30pm. Tune in if you are interested...

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Dim Sum!

12:01:00 AM Unknown 0 Comments

I always love dim sum, but simply dunno where to find places that sell dim sum at later hours. They are either close too early or the varieties are too limited ( e.g. those in food court).

Do you have the same craving?? >.<

Keke.. no worry!! I happened to see this stall promoted on one of the TV programs, and since it relatively near my place, I decided to check this out lor. What's more, the stall is in coffee-shop so must be cheap lah!



This is the stall lor... Hong Kong Zhai Tim Sum



My orders! All for $8. 3o!


I like this dish best out of the four! The dish is made up of chinese mushroom as the base, the yellow triangles been egg yolk, white triangles been egg white, and " fa cai" embracing the sides. Creative rite? And definitely pretty! When you bite into it, the mushroom will even ooze out juice or soup base like. The healtier choice!


This is actually "ha gao" aka prawn dumpling, in wasabi skin dressing. Another creative & pretty invention.. Hee. The wasabi skin is not too spicy ( I dun take spicy food lor), just enough to excite your taste bud.


The dim sum selection that I am most particular --> "Cha Shao Bao" aka barbeque pork bun. Why ar? As they say ( whoever they are??), the most difficult cuisine to master is those that are the most simple ones. To me, cha shao bao is the most basic dim sum, so in order for the stall to be good, the cha shao bao must be good, at the minimum! Haha. Anyway, as the picture showed, the skin is fluffy soft, just like flower petals opening up, revealing the "pollen" aka the barbeque pork bits... Oops, I'm exaggerating too much! ;p I think it's my photography skill that is good! Hohoho.. but then, the cha shao bao here is not too bad lah!

I choosen this dish simply because it is too cute! It looks actually like a carrot, but it's not! Dun believe? Take a look at this....


Seriously, I dunno what it is... It seems to be sweet starchy skin wrapping carrot strips filling. Hmm, verdict => It doesnt look as tasty as its look. But then, this is recommended in the TV program tot.. Well, see who you believe lor.. TV program or me... =p

Btw, the stall closes shop at 10pm! GREAT if you wan sth light for dinner or supper lor... ^_^

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Blk 151, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5
Opp YCK Secondary School , near Mayflower Pri School
Click here for map!

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~*~ My Dream Car ~*~

10:21:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Saw this car at J8 Carpark when I went lunch today. SO KAWAII!! >.<

Everything is Hello Kitty : The bonnet, the doors, the car roof, the car plate ( where to get huh??), the steering wheel, the headrest, the gear etc etc.. There's even a big Hello Kitty sitting at the back seat... SCREAM GALS!!

SOB, I wan! But whatever Hello Kitty stuff I put inside the car, daddy will remove them. Well, come to think of it, a 55 year OLD man driving a NISSAN car ( typical family car which meant old man car, no offence to Nissan drivers hor =p) full of Hello Kitty stuff do seem WEIRD. HOHOHO... Anyway, the car only left with 1 pathetic Hello Kitty tissue box & Belt Cushion... Far from what I wish lor..

I know this entry has nothing to do with having fun... BUT THEN, IT'S HELLO KITTY WAH...

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Basil Alcove ... Yes! Again!

11:33:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

As promised, here are the pictures for my Valentine's Day meal at Basil Alcove! Dun drool ar!


Mozzarella Fritta

Deep-Fried Fresh Mozarella Cheese with Alfafa Sprouts and Peach Dip

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This was really a starter to begin with. Meaning really tiny portion as we were supposed to share this. The sprouts may seem like raw grass on some yellowish shit. Hoho, mind my language =p. But then, the peach dip was really fruity sweet, and I gulped the whole plate with or without the sprouts.

Cozze Gratinate

Baked Mussels served with Pesto and Herbed Gin

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Just like I dun really fancy oysters, mussels ( which are same family as oysters??) are definitely not my first choice of food. Nevertheless, the chef did a good job in masking the weird weird taste. And to my delight, the portion had increased! Yeah! The picture showed the portion for 1 diner.

Cavolfiore Fritto

Deep-fried Cauliflower & Duck Liver pate

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I dun understand why goose liver is expensive. But I guess that was why the chef changed it to duck liver pate instead! Same mah, all came from birds... Smart choice! Anyway, the duck liver pate tasted a bit salty on its own, but it blended well with the deep-fried cauliflower, which was kinda tasteless. So I guess that was why the combination bah!

Oh! The waitress bery cute, she actually reminded us to share this... Hoho.. Confusing huh, why were some dishes been shared, and some not?


Fungi Essences

Assorted Mushrooms Double Boiled with Asian Herbs

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OoooOO.. This was nice! I loved herbal soup! And the presentation was cute oso. But a pity, the portion was too small! I finished everything in one gulp lor.... =( But then, I supposed to be demure in a V-Day dinner hor? Was that why the portion was small, so that I dun appeared to be like a piggy in front of my beau? Oh my! Such thoughful gesture, and I 顾负 the chef by still eating like a glutton.. SOB >.<~~~


Pasta al Curtoccio

Baked Seafood Pasta Served in a Wrap

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Finally, something more filling! You thought only pasta right? I mean that wat I thought lah, torn the wrapper open, only saw pasta & more pasta...... until

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.

.

.

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This little squid popped up! ^_^



Pineapple Sherbert

Served with Raisin and Blackberry Compote

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This was really sour man! Anyway, it served its main purpose --> To clear all the taste in your bud for the main course!!!


Surf

Lobster Baked with Spinach Cream Gruyere and Sundried Tomato Pesto

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Lobster was fresh lor. It "dropped" out from its shell with just a little tug. Surprise, surprise! Below the lobster, there was spinach ( my fav vege!)...

Anyway, i was trying to take a picture of a whole lobster, but I realised the tail was not the head's tail, bec different direction totally. So this picture was taken with my lobster's head and my bf's lobster's tail. Aiya, why was I explaining this??? * Bleah*



Just when we finished our lobster and waiting for our beef to arrive, ALAS! a sewage truck came instead... -__-" Heng, we were not eating at that time, otherwise really phewed lor. And the truck stayed there for almost 5 - 10 mins... I almost died of not breathing!!! What to do, wanna save money mah.. so eating at "roadside" lor...

Hmm, I'm trying to "protect" the identify of these lovers who had happened to be inside the photo.. If you happened to be one of them, pardon me for my poor drawing... Btw, the guy was supposed to be in tear of happiness, shuan ar! =p


Turf

Seared Tenderloin on Tri Coloured Pepper Coulis with Pickled Fennel

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The chef was really generous. Meaning the lobster and beef we dun share, we had 1 portion each! One portion of the beef include 2 huge patty. "TAN DUI LA" ( earn it, hoho) !! The beef was grilled to perfection, a bit red but without blood oozing out...


Tiramisu

Tiramisu the Pick me up Dessert of all time

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Finally, we reached the end of our 9 course dinnner, excluding coffee & tea => Dessert! This was okay, but I find the sponge cake portion a bit hard, it dint really melt with the mascarpone cheese. I still prefer prego's!

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If ya noticed, the pictures were kinda dark because we had been eating from 7pm to 10pm. Service was a bit slow, and I actually saw 2 couples eating chocolates while waiting.. But in terms of value wise, it was really good! All of the above, cost $118 NETT per couple.. Where to find?

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THE ANSWER IS OBVIOUS!

BASIL ALCOVE (Western)
Venue: 190 Middle Road #01-07 Fortune Centre Singapore 188979 Contact: 63361318 / 90267300

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My Valentine Menu

7:30:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Yeah! I'm going back Basil Alcove for Valentine's Day! Just got the menu from them today, so let's take a look:

Mozzarella Fritta
Deep-Fried Fresh Mozarella Cheese with Alfafa Sprouts and Peach Dip

Cozze Gratinate
Baked Mussels served with Pesto and Herbed Gin

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Cavolfiore Fritto
Deep-fried Cauliflower & Duck Liver pate

Fungi Essences
Assorted Mushrooms Double Boiled with Asian Herbs

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Pasta al Curtoccio
Baked Seafood Pasta Served in a Wrap

**********

Pineapple Sherbert
Served with Raisin and Blackberry Compote

**********

Surf
Lobster Baked with Spinach Cream Gruyere and Sundried Tomato Pesto

&

Turf
Seared Tenderloin on Tri Coloured Pepper Coulis with Pickled Fennel

**********

Tiramisu
Tiramisu the Pick me up Dessert of all time


Coffee Or Tea

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A total of 9 course dinner at a price of $118 per couple! I have a memorable experience when I went for their Xmas Dinner 2 yrs ago. Hopefully, the standard remains good! So look forward for the pictures upload! ^_^

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You think you r rabbit? ( " Chop carrot" )

10:29:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments


My colleague sent me this.. Really Killer man! Yong Tau Foo for $19.20????? Each item cost nearly a dollar each... Faintz sia!

5 Big Fishball cost $3.50 --> The fishball got as big as a volleyball mah? Unless the fishballs were superb bouncy, can play ping pong one ar.. owise the price was crazy!

1 Crispy Prawn Cake cost $3.20 --> It was lobster or prawn?? The price alone can buy me a big bowl of PRAWN NOODLE with more than ONE PRAWN... keke

1 Crispy Tau Ke cost $3.00 --> What was dat?? It sound like bean sprout in hokkien.. Hoho. Btw, I spotted one more item with exactly the same name at the bottom, just below the "Noodle", but only cost $0.60?? Hmm.. how come the same item can have different pricing de??

Even yucky stuff like brinjal & bittergourd cost almost a dollar! Phew!

Lesson learnt: Always ask for the price before order! Coz the same item you can get at any hawker center might cost you a bomb elsewhere!!!

Btw, anyone tried this stall at Food Republic Vivo City before? Hehe...

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Takaya Bistro [Closed]

3:04:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Latest Update in November 2008!

This resturant closed down already. See, I told you, it was not nice...oops


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Wanted to go for cheap - & - lotza varieties makan place, and so I went to try out this Japanese buffet. It was a saturday nite and, oddly quiet though. Nvm that, I was thinking, perhaps it was due to the not- so- accessible location ( Upper Thomson Rd) or perhaps because it was drizzling?



Price Board
Buffet Menu
The varieties looked okay, from one glance. So we wasted no time and started ordering. The art of buffet eating was to order quick and fast!! Order the more expensive stuff first and if ya tummy still have some left-over, then ya can order the rest... hee

Salmon Sashimi

Chunky salmon sashimi. Great for sashimi - lovers! Yet the chef decided to dice the salmon rather than slice, odd maner of presentation I would say. But the fishes were fresh enuff. Make worth your penny by ordering this!

Saba

One of my fav dish. The meat was sweet and firm, in the manner I like it. The presentation might not be good.. but trust me, it was really one of the better choice here liao.. =p

Cold Soba

Green Peas

Chawanmushi

Yakiniku ( Pan-Fried Beef)
This was surprisingly good. The teriyaki sauce was just nice. The beef was thinly sliced and tender. Must order this!


Yakitori ( Chicken Skewers)
Fried Assortment: Shitake, Hotate, Ebi

Well, I was expecting Tempura Ebi when I ordered this. Take a look at the buffet menu again... hmm, they had Ebi ( Fried Prawn) AND Ebi Fry ( Fried Prawn). Which was my order?? Arghhh.. dunno leh! But who cares! The prawns taste okay, lightly salted. But I dun really like the batter for the scallop. It was not crispy enuff, in fact it taste too much flour. So I removed the batter and just ate the scallop inside.... Hoho


Agedashi Tofu

Potato Salad

Tempura Squid Ring


Argh!! The same batter I guess?? The batter was too thick and the squid was too little! If you look at it cross-sectionally, it would be something like this.....





Soft Shell Crab


Grilled Swordfish

I dun really like this. Hmm, taste like super rubbery eel? I dunno, it dint taste like fish to me at all. Call me mountain turtle, but I neber ate swordfish before. So I was not too sure whether it was the fish itself that was yucky, or the manner it was being cooked here.. Dun believe me, try at your own risk! Humpt!

California Handroll

Ebi Handroll

Fruits

This was one of the best dish!! Haha.. water melon was superb sweet and it was served in a big portion!

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Food, I think it was just okay ( meaning okay to give it a miss). Well except for a few like Yakiniku, Saba and Sashimi. It would make worth the price if ya just keep ordering these few dishes. The batter fries were a no-no for me, coz the batter was yucky. The rest, hmm... like sakae sushi standard bah. The advantage here was becuase it was a buffet style, so ya can order anything you like without the need to do a mental calculation of the total bill.. keke. Or perhaps ya just wanna stuff urself silly, and make sure ya do, otherwise quality of food is not worth the money.

Anyway, I made a wrong calculation. In HGW, it showed that there was a 20% when using HSBC. So I happily tot that my bill would be 23+ , less 20%. ALAS!! When payment time, then I was informed discount not applicable for buffet!! Faintz sia... I paid like $25 per pax in the end... SOB SOB. Personally, I think it was not worth the price...

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TAKAYA BISTRO

Venue: 244B Upper Thomson Road, Thomson Garden Estate

Tel: 6455 3625 / 9832

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P.S Ah-ha, u tot I forgot to put my rating, arent you? NAH!!! I just felt that it was not some place I would recommend so I am leaving out the rating ( meaning it fall below my minimum rating score). AGAIN, THIS WAS MY BLOG, SO MY OPINIONS>>> DUN QUOTE ME. =p

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