Long long time ago

The empty pool

The empty cinema

On Saturday, I did something I've not been doing for a really long time. I went for a quick 10 laps at the swimming pool on the 7th floor since the weather was holding up and it was not rainy. I was surprised that the pool was empty, it was rather cool as the sky was overcast with dark clouds. As I was finishing my 10 laps, a group of uncles appeared and I quickly got up and left the pool to them.

We rested a lot during the day and decided to go to the cinema to catch Wonder Woman 1984. The last movie we watched was many months ago in February and I guess this will be the only two movies for us this year. The cinema looked empty when we got in, in fact we hardly saw anyone on our way to the cinema as we booked a 12.20am movie. There were actually two other couples but we did enjoy a lot of space to ourselves. 

My first and only blood donation this year

 

Snapped a few photos since the opposite seats were empty

Finally! 

I've been trying to donate blood earlier this year even before COVID officially hit us. I was even obsessed with it and went 3 times in a row once my deferral period was over. Anyway, I was deferred all 3 times due to low iron count, it even went as low as 10++ and my deferment got longer and longer and I gave up. 

I stopped my digestive acid medication and booked an appt online a few days ago. Bloodbank usually have low blood level in December as half the country is overseas but this year its different, they even told us there's no hurry to donate as blood level in the country is healthy. As I have a pending endoscopy coming up and will not be able to donate for a few months after that, I decided to go ahead. Anyway, I was not having high hopes of passing the iron count test but at least I try.

My stomach was queasy after fire ramen dinner last night and I know I have to eat something and not exhaust myself before the donation to increase my iron count during the prick. I decided to put off taking the medication till the blood donation trip, but I was breaking wind the whole night and ran to the toilet first thing in the morning. I was glad I didnt put on weight after the the ramen dinner as I had a lot of carbs yesterday, I also ate kway chap (including the kway) for lunch. I did not have much appetite and made myself the golden keto smoothie (with tumeric ginger cinnamon etc) and that was a mistake even though it was quite delicious. Once I alighted from the MRT, I had to find a clean toilet in PS and apparently, I was having diarrhea and losing water.

Surprisingly, I was able to pass the iron test by 0.1g/dl and found myself waiting on one of the beds in the donation room. The crowd control inside the bloodbank was quite good compared to pre-COVID period when people were crowding and rushing down to donate then. There was no queue as I've made my appt online and I breezed through the stations quite fast. There was a short wait on the bed as there were only 3-4 nurses working in the donation room. The one attending to me was young and I was worried as I have tiny veins and usually only those very experienced nurses were able to find it. As expected, the thick needle went under my skin and went around a few times before she gave up and asked a older nurse for help, thankfully my blood flowed well after that. 

I was unwell right up till dinner due to the diarrhea, took my meds and dinner and slept super early even though it's Friday. This is my first and only time donating blood this year even though I made so many trips down to different HSA branches (I even tried Outram once) and I hope next year my blood donation journey will be smoother. 

Yearly meetup with the JPY-Z ladies

The vinegar drink and starters

Our very colourful starters and salad

My very big portion main course

The star shaped pizza with cream crust was really good

The mandatory wefie

 

I think the photos say it all. We always meet up yearly around November (Z's birthday) and sometimes June too when we are able to coordinate the time. I'm glad the girls I met the first few years of teaching are still in touch with me and we can catch up yearly.

This year, we met up at Sufood, its all vegetarian but the menu was more of fusion western fare and not what we expected of traditional vegetarian food. We met up on a Friday afternoon at Raffles City but it was quite crowded with shoppers and the restaurant was actually full at lunch time. We had the 8 course lunch set meal and the price was really affordable with big portion, most of us couldnt finish our main course. I would totally recommend friends to try out Sufood again. 

New things I tried this December

Beautiful eyes

I've been wanting to do eye lash extensions for quite some time now and finally I'm bored enough to try it this year (since we cant travel). I went to a home based salon that my friend P had tried and she also recommended doing the eyebrow embroidery so I did it as well. Anyway, its two different home based salons in Sembawang and I'm really satisfied with the eyebrow embroidery as my eye brows are always messy and thick, I havent been trimming them since the wedding years ago. 

Now that we have to keep the masks on for months ahead, at least I can make my masked up face look better with these done. Just for the record, the eye lash extensions was $45 for the 3D look and the eyebrow embroidery is $182 with one free touch up. 

 

Staycation #9 & #10 at MBS

After checking out from Park Royal Pickering, we only stayed at home for a night before checking into MBS again. For our last two staycation at MBS this year, we had dinner at Lavo and Oscar's. I did not take any photos at Oscar's though as I was fighting another war with my tummy that night. 

Just outside the restuarant

Complimentary starters

The awesome view after sunset

Many people taking photos at the deck

LAVO is also on the 57th floor of MBS like Spago, but it was at Tower 1 and Cie La Vi is another restaurant at Tower 3 (which we did not manage to book this year). These restaurants take full advantage of the height and good view on the top of MBS and setting up their roof top bar/restaurants there. Honestly, before this bout of staycation, I did not notice there were three different restaurants. 

Our booking at LAVO was at 6.30pm but we went down slightly earlier as we were quite hungry. Unlike Spago fine dining setting, this was more casual american italian place. I have to say the setting was casual but the service was really good and the view was superb so I dont mind visiting again. It is also a good place just to get a drink with friends at sunset. 

It was warm when we just arrived as the sun was setting, there were a couple of girls drinking on the deck but most people were sitting indoors to avoid the glaring sun. As time got closer to 7pm, it got cooler and more people gathered on the deck to view the magnificent sunset. There were many people taking photos as well, so we finished our food and went out to snap some pictures. 

Staycation #8 Last day at Park Royal Collection Pickering

P looked happy with his food

 

The rice made the difference for P

The spread

On the last day, we went down to Lime restaurant for breakfast and the service there was really better than in the lounge. For our hotel package, we were entitled to late checkout at 4pm, so it was just a day of more napping and nuahing and watching Netflix since its staycation and my stomach was still giving me issues. In the end, we checked out at 1.30pm as P was expecting a parcel to arrive at home and I also decided that it was time for me to see a GP to treat my digestive issue. 

There was a short queue at checkout as the process was not as fast and painfree as the keydrop at MBS. Anyway, we charged our dinner at Lime to the room so we also had to do a proper checkout at the counter. 

Staycation #8 of 2020 (P's birthday staycation) Day 2 (29th November 2020)

View from the window seats at the lounge

Breakfast affair was quite meh

As mentioned in the previous post, the service at the lounge was nothing to shout about. When we went down for breakfast on Day 2, they still looked flustered and under-staffed. We requested for seats at the windows and let's just say we finally managed to sit down after some hoo-haa but it left a bad taste in our mouth. There was free-flow champagne for breakfast and it was a plus point, but most of the times the staff were also too busy to really serve us well. As for the food, it was quite meh and looked like something I can cook. 

To be honest, I loved the scones

We went back to the room after breakfast to nuah and nap and watch netflix till it was time to go to the lounge for afternoon tea again. Actually we were not that hungry after the late breakfast, but just wanted to make our $$ worth since we paid excess for the lounge access. If we did not book dinner, actually we could have our dinner there as well, but that would be quite boring. 

I had a bad time with my tummy during the staycation, especially after the previous day hairy crab dinner. I had been suffering from the gassy and queasy stomach on and off since September so that it has been a few months already. I planned to visit the GP once the staycation is over and get some medication or treatment done over the hols as it was getting quite bad and I'm breaking wind and burping very often. Sometimes, I felt so bloated that it was really quite uncomfortable, on top of the embarrassment of breaking wind so often. I've been having a poor digestive system for years, getting diarrhoea and colic at times but it was never as bad as this. Anyway, I'm adding on this part to the staycation as that was the peak of the discomfort and I spent a lot of time crouching in bed. 

The unique corridor of our hotel

P loved the mashed potatoes

Honey glazed ham was nice too

Could not resist the laksa

For dinner that night, we had a table at Lime restaurant as there was a 30% discount for the hotel F&B. Honestly my stomach was like having a major typhoon that whole staycation and I did not have an appetite for a buffet dinner, but we just went ahead since we already have a booking. The price was considered reasonable after the discount even though we could have save more if we just had dinner at the lounge. The spread was so so but the service was good at Lime and we made up our mind to visit again for breakfast next morning. The classic Singapore style laksa is always on the menu of international buffet at these hotels and I could not resist it even though spicy food was not good for the current state of my tummy. I've stopped drinking frizzy soda and iced water as much as possible. 

Walking around the area

The Singapore River

We had a nice long walk around Boat Quay and Clarke Quay area after that and it helped to ease off some of the pain I felt in my tummy. Exercise and walks are always good as the movement helped me to get rid of the air. Once again, we always explore the area around MBS but not this part of the Singapore River so its was quite nice for a change. 

Staycation #8 of 2020 (P's birthday staycation) Day 1 (28th November 2020)

This is the first staycation of this year which did not happen in MBS and it's also our first and only one we stayed for two nights. I've planned this so that we can celebrate P's birthday in a nice hotel room and I decided to splurge a little to get the signature room for the two nights so that we can have lounge access.

Our hotel room with modern wood finishing

Big bathing area with bathtub

The view from outside our door

Exterior of Park Royal Collection on the Pickering

The hotel is renowned for its green efforts 

I chose Park Royal Collection on the Pickering as it had good reviews when the Milelion stayed and there was also a promotion for the hotel many weeks ago. We were both actually looking forward to the staycation as there were posts on the social media about the magnificent exterior of the hotel. I also planned and booked dinner for the two nights even though we could eat at the lounge the whole day. Check in on Saturday at 2pm was quick and a breeze as they've added counters on the second floor to ease the human traffic. We saw the hotel's efforts in green initiatives as the bottles of the water in the room were in glass bottles, there were lots of plants everywhere and the outside of our room was actually non-aircon and overlooking the HDB flats in the area. 

The tea at the lounge from 2pm-4pm

The sunset view when we were going out for dinner

After we settled down in the room, we went to Hong Lim Park just opposite the hotel as P wanted to get some good shots of the exterior from some distance. We visited the pool at Level 6 and then headed to the lounge to have our tea. 

It is inevitable that we'll compare the rooms of MBS with Park Royal Pickering. We kind of miss the nice view from MBS rooms as usually we stay on much higher floors with awesome view. Park Royal Pickering rooms are very modern and well furnished but it is not as spacious, though the saving grace was the bathtub that we have in the room thanks the hotel upgrading us to a more spacious signature room. As for the pool, I've booked sessions for all three days but P find it quite meh as it's just on the 6th floor and its quite small compared to MBS pool and our pool at home. So after visiting the pool level on the first day, we did not go there at all. After staying for two days, I was a little disappointed that we did not enjoy our stay as much as expected and I guess we'll just wait for MBS to give us more free stays in 2021 instead of splurging on staycations as FOC is always better lol. 

Another qualms we had was the crowd and poor service at the lounge. The first time we went up, we had to wait a little for seats as the lounge was quite crowded and the few staff looked busy and flustered. It was quite disappointing as the food at the lounge was not bad but we could not really recommend it due to the poor service. The next day's breakfast at the lounge was the same again and we decided to have our breakfast at Lime restaurant instead on our last day, which was really much better. Milelion had very good reviews at the hotel and the lounge though, I guess he stayed there when it just reopened for booking and it was on a weekday.

Took this picture due to the mural

Dinner at the Yan restaurant (National Gallery)

Prawns with salted egg sauce

We've been craving for this

The yummy hairy crabs!

Our walk back to the hotel 

After tea, we had some time to take a short nap before heading out for dinner. P's birthday is always during the hairy crab season and 5 years ago we first tasted it for mum's birthday. That same year, we also booked dinner at some hotel to have another round of hairy crab and it has been 5 years since we tasted the delicacy. P was craving for it so I researched and booked dinner at Yan restaurant, which is walking distance from the hotel. It was a nice walk from our hotel to the restaurant at National Gallery as the surroundings is what we have not explored before. 

Usually hairy crab is served by cantonese chinese restaurant,  its quite rare for us to step into a chinese restaurant other than DTF. The steaming time of the crab took 40 min so there was a lot of waiting. We ordered a portion of hairy crab soup and that was served first, then the spinach with three eggs and prawns came next. P always eat everything with rice but the fried rice took super long to turn up, even though the steamed crab eventually came. I suspected they cook or serve it according to chinese course dinner sequence, as the mains like rice and noodles always come last, right before desserts. We prefer to eat everything at one go like zichar style instead of having a course dinner so we reminded them quite a few times to serve the rice. I was on the verge of getting quite impatient as the other dishes were all getting cold when the rice finally came. In overall, I would say the food quality is really good as the seafood are really fresh and of good quality, and the hairy crab was sooooooo good. The highlight of eating the hairy crab was devouring the roe and it was really a treat. They also served us some ginger tea to neutralise the taste after the dinner. It was not cheap to enjoy hairy crab and the damage for the dinner came up to $350 for both of us, we brought back the leftovers prawn and fried rice to the hotel room as its a sin to waste the expensive food. 

P was suddenly quite particular about cake cutting at midnight and I was totally unprepared for that. I remembered two years ago I just arrive back from Japan and he did not seem as bothered about it though I surprised him with candles on some tokyo bananas. We had to get a small cake from 7-11 on our way back and I was really thinking hard how I could get hold of a candle and lighter. We managed to get a candle from Lime restaurant and I called the reception at 11.45pm to borrow a lighter but they claimed they do not have one at the hotel and suggested that we get one from 7-11. Finally P told me to just download the candle apps on my phone and use it instead.  

December shenanigans when we cant travel

 

Our cosy home with xmas tree

I should say xmas is our favourite season as we're usually overseas and having our little adventure. This year, we bought a little xmas tree to light up our home and bring us some xmas cheer even though we can't travel. 

We meet at the Patio for D's birthday

Since we entered Phase 1 after post CB period, there is a restriction during gatherings and we are not allowed to sit at a table or hang out with more than 5 people. Since there are more than 8 people in our close-kitted group, we had to either meet twice or sit at separate tables and pretend not to know one another. My birthday in March was the last time all of us could gather and sit together, enjoying HDL. During CB when it was not safe to go out, we celebrated birthdays using online apps like HouseParty. 

Anyway, it was D's birthday last week and it was the first time we were all not overseas, so we met up at a ulu coffee-shop like place to have a meal. It was not the best arrangement as we had to sit at two separate tables (we were lucky to get it side by side) and tried to keep to the strict rules and not get caught. That was the best we could do for now. 

Staycation #7 of 2020 (Dinner at Spago)

Two days ago, we were back in MBS again. Most of the times, we stayed in Tower 3 and in Deluxe rooms and this time we were allotted a Premiere Room in Tower 1. It came with a nice bathtub and very spacious sofa area overlooking the city.

The spacious room

P had the time to soak in the bathtub

I was busy with meetings and stuff the whole day while P went off earlier to check in and enjoyed his time soaking in the bathtub. This time round, we tried out the roof top bar on the 57th floor in Tower 2 for dinner, just to experience something different. Spago is actually the regular breakfast place for people staying in MBS, but we always had our stays without breakfast included. Spago is also under Wolfgang Puck so the decor and menu were quite similar, although CUT is the one with one michelin star and specialising in steak. 

The set menu (3 course dinner)

View outside (Cant see this when inside the restaurant)

Complimentary starters like CUT

P's first course was grilled octopus which was super tender

My first course was a huge piece of grilled eggplant

We gave wagyu a chance

My main course was crispy scale sea bass

Souffle with sorbet and cream

As it was fine dining and P was dressed rather casually in his sports berms, the staff at the reception had to check if we are allowed into the restaurant. They seemed to be quite okay about it but P went back to get changed since we were just staying in the hotel.

The menu was rather simple, just like CUT, there was a choice of 3 course set meal or ala carte menu with almost the same dishes. Of course, the set dinner was much more worth the bucks as it cost almost the same to order just the main course on its own. In my previous post, we did mention that the steak at CUT was not up to our expectations. We decided that we have to give it another try and order Wagyu this time, since the previous time we only had sirloin. Somehow I was in a steak eating mood after Sen of Japan. The 3 course set dinner cost $65++ but there were quite a few options for each course that we could order with top up prices and of course the Wagyu steak was one of those. It cost a whopping $150 whether ala carte or part of a set menu and we decided to just go for it. 

As like CUT, they served up a dish of bread and atas butter and these were warm and delicious. We were trying not to eat too much of those as it filled up our stomach and we couldnt finish the steak the previous time. They also offered some warm puff with mushroom fillings and we slowly finished some of those as the food took quite sometime to arrive.

The first course were served and it was presented in fine dining artistic way like some artwork. P topped up additional $10 for the grilled octopus and it was really tender and nice. It went well with my grilled eggplant. Finally, the main course was served and I have to say wagyu steak at Sen of Japan was definitely better and cheaper. The doneness at Spago was quite okay but it was just not as fatty and tasty as what we were expecting, especially since this is the most expensive steak we have ever had. My crispy skin sea bass was not too bad though. 

P always order rice and mashed potatoes for his steak so our server asked the kitchen to get us some complimentary rice and we ordered this dish call pommes aligot which is basically cheesy mashed potatoes. The dish was not bad but it was super duper cheesy and the cheese was overpowering the potatoes taste so it got quite 'jelak' after awhile.

They served up dessert with candle for P as we mentioned we were celebrating his birthday. Both of us got the standard souffle dessert without topping up for alternative choice. The souffle came out piping hot, it looked like a brown sugar cake but it was very soft once we dig our spoons into it. It goes well with the cream and ice cream sorbet that came along with it. It's nice but also get a bit 'jelak-y' after awhile. I would say the dessert option at CUT was better.

Our bill came up to $300 and I think if we were to go back Spago, the 3 course dinner was okay for the set meal price to enjoy some fine dining. I wouldnt top up or try the steak again, we'll just stick to other dishes for the ambience and great service. When I first sat down, the main wait staff asked me if I wanted still water or sparkling and for the whole night we were expecting charges for the still water as it was served out of VOSS (P even ask them for the bottle). To our surprise, it was complimentary.