Doggiestyle Cafe @ Pet Safari Vivo City

It has being a few months since I last step into Vivo City Level 3 where Daiso and Imperial Restaurant are. Previously we used to hang around "The Pet Safari" (which is just beside Daiso) during most of our weekends as my boy loves those cute little hamsters, dogs, fishes and etc over there.

Last week, after our usual shopping at Daiso we decided to pop-by our favourite Pet Safari to take a look at some hamster toys for our pet. Along the shop entrance we were attracted to this small cafe selling all kinds of mini snacks which at first glance I thought it was a newly open cafe in the pet shop.

Look at all these cute donuts, muffins, pies, tarts and etc. I am sure you would be delighted to have some for tea-break but upon closer look I realised that all these are not meant for human consumed. These yummy looking goodies are made especially for pet owners to purchase for their beloved pet dog(s). To my surprised they even have custom made birthday cake for pet too. So if you are thinking of what to get for your pet dog perhaps you can drop by the Doggiestyle Cafe for a look at their range.

The Pet Safari

1 Harbour Front Walk
VivoCity
#03-05 and #03-05A
Telephone: 6376 9508
Website: http://www.petloverscentre.com

New Hobby @ Lower Peirce Reservoir

Last weekend we have a great time catching up with our new hobby at the Lower Peirce Reservoir together with some of the families there. Despite of the cloudy weather and passing-shower when we arrived, we still have a great warm-up session observing others and put it to practise on how to find, lure and catch our very first pet Yabby.

"Lower Peirce Reservoir - 贝雅士蓄水池下段" is one of the oldest reservoirs in Singapore. It is located near the MacRitchie Reservoir and the Upper Peirce Reservoir which is near Upper Thomson Road.

During most weekends or public holiday, the park will be filled with family with kids or love ones to set up picnics as well as to enjoy the scenery or walking trails through the rainforest for some exciting encounters with the amazing wildlife. Last weekend was our 2nd vist to this park and we saw most of the families are enjoying their family time catching little shrimps, crabs or fish with the kids.

As we did not get to spend more time like the rest of those families who enjoys this new prawning hobby due to the passing by shower on Saturday evening, we decided to go back again on Sunday. This round we managed to get very close encounter with those park monkey who are over friendly that they even snatched away our prawning baits.

This is a very interesting hobby that requires "Patience", "Time" and "Co-ordination Skills" where you use just simple bait like "Bread" to attract these little smart Yabby.

On the 1st day we only managed to caught one Yabby as we are still very new with the tactic to handle and lure these yabbies compare to the rest of the expert there. But on Sunday, as we are more prepared we managed to caught 3 and my boy really enjoys every moment of this new hobby. And before going home, we also spotted two huge Yabby which is around palm size with big claws but too bad we are not skillful enough to catch it.

Beautiful sunset that you might not have a chance to see often during your daily busy working days so perhaps sometime life will be more meaningful if you can spare some time, stop your pace, lift up your head and enjoy those beautiful sunset that is created by God.

Since we have a total of four yabbies now, we decided to buy a big container and stone shelter for these new pets. I guess sometime it's good to have some easy to handle pet for the kids to take up self responsibility on keeping these cute buddies.

Other than those yabbies above  we also have another cute little pet hamster known as "Milo" which is given to us by our neighbour. She is a very gentle and intelligence pet that is always amused us with her cute acts.

For more photos on our New Hobby @ Lower Peirce Reservoir, you can refer to the link HERE at Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page.

Kite Festival 2010 @ Marina Bay

Last Saturday, after our monthly food outing at Cafe De Hong Kong, we had a great time of kite flying session at Marina Barrage. Although we have being there for a few times, but this is the very first time we have hands-on flying kite together with so many kite lovers there.

For your information, the once a year Kite Festival is back again this year which is on this coming weekend, 18th & 19th September 2010. This year event is held at The Promontory @ Marina Bay, where you can find more details on the map and information HERE.

But if you can't make it on either of the two dates shown above, you can always drop-by the Marina Barrage and join those kite lovers and enjoy the beautiful sight of the kites flying in the sky. You can access to the barrage by public transport bus 400 or shuttle service by the barrage itself near Marina Bay MRT station.

It's a very fruitful trip for everyone of us and Rey really enjoys himself. Look he can even fly the kite himself without any of our help despite with a little setback that he encounter.

These are two of the lovely sunset and night photos that I have captured. Admiring the Singapore Flyer at opposite end instead of boarding it and look far to the Barrage.

Love this "Postcard" layout photo, even though it might look slightly darker on the buildings. Must brush up on my night mode photo shoot skill now. For more photos of our kite flying trip, you can refer HERE.

Chef Daniel's Kitchen @ Iluma

Chef Daniel's Kitchen, a newly setup rooftop restaurant located at the Sky Garden (level 7) of lluma at Bugis offers a very valuable Set Lunch @ S$10.50 Nett which includes soup of the day, main course, dessert of the day and a drink.

Recently we just had a small foodie gathering at this restaurant and these are some of the Set Lunch that we have tried. We decided to order different varities so that we each can get a chance to try out more of their dishes.

With Rey around, I decided to pick this "Prawn And Crab Meat Burger" as my main course because usually most of the kids love fast food such as burger and fries. We are glad that this seafood burger taste great with its yummy seafood patty that is moist and juicy. One add-on point is the fries that comes along with the burger is still hot and crispy while served.

The Soup of the Day was "Cream of Corn Soup", which was decent enough to go with the warm freshly baked herbal bread that was served together with the soup. But flavour of the corn soup was pretty mild so don’t expect those kind of really thick and creamy soup that is full of corn kernels in it.

Kai's choice was this "Unagi Cooked in Katsu Sauce". For me I guess I won't try a Japanese dish in a fusion restaurant unless it is highly recommended. But this bowl of unagi don should be able to fill up your tummy without much complains.

Lobsterpaints like to give their "Tonkatsu Don" a try which she finds that perhaps the authentic Japanese restaurant might served a better taste of this as the pork cutlet was rather tough and dry.

Alvin choice's was this "Grilled Chicken" which we think the portion was rather small for those with huge appetites.

Misstamchiak left with a choice of Spaghetti that served with Pan-fried Dory fillet. This might be a great choice for those who love tomato sauce base spaghetti. The pan-fried dory fillet taste great and is suitable for those who wants a combination of fish and pasta together.

The Dessert of the Day was a joke that made us all have a good laugh. Before serving, I check with the waitress on the dessert and was told that it would be mango cake. But later when the dessert came, it is a two-layer cake with "pink & light yellow" colour so we are wondering where is the "Mango cake". The more we taste the dessert the more it taste and look like raspberry. So Lobsterpaints, Alvin and I decided to verify with another waitress again and finally we got the correct name:- "Raspberry Mousse Cake". This raspberry mousse cake is served with some tangerine sauce and the texture is kind of soft and moist with slight sour taste due to the berries. But overall it might be considered as a light and refreshing dessert that is not too heavily infused with cheese or cream.

Overall Chef Daniel's kitchen presents contemporary east-meets-west blend of cuisines that satisfy your taste buds as well as sight. And another good point is, this restaurant is located away from the crowds that make it a quite and peaceful place for meal with contrast between serenity of the nature and busy city area.

In the month of August, in order to celebrate the Singapore's 45th Birthday, Chef Daniel's Kitchen is also having a 15% for their National Day Special Menu.


Chef Daniel's Kitchen
201 Victoria Street
Iluma @ Bugis
#07-04/05/06
Singapore 188067
Telephone: 6509 9888
Website: http://www.tornado-ent.com/

Operating Hours:
Mondays to Sundays
11.30am to 10.30pm

Hort Park - The Gardening Hub

"HortPark - 园艺园林" is a 23-hectare park located in the South-Western part of Singapore. It is also serves as a park connector that allows visitors to travel around Kent Ridge Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Mount Faber Park with ease and convenience through the elevated walkways and connecting bridges.

Near the entrance of the park on the right hand side you will find the Lifestyle Corner which is sponsored by Ikea which will probably be your first stop upon arrival at HortPark. Further in, you will see a patch of green grass which enhance the surrounding view of the nearby cafe.

Along the walk you will discovered a lot of interesting theme gardens with their unique setup that attract visitors attention. For example:- The Recycling Garden which is a place for recycling ideas in gardening where it display how those old and defunct items can find a second life as re-usable decorative items in the garden. Or you can explore the Fantasy Garden that consists of characters from "The Wizard of Oz" if you and your family are Fans of them. For those who love aroma therapy perhaps you would like to infused yourself in the Herb and Spice Garden.

Floral Walk is a welcoming gateway to HortPark where it consists a lot of beautiful walkaway that is full of different varieties of exotic flowers. I guess it will be great to sit under a shady tree and have a cup of tea/coffee together with good storybook for a great sunday morning/afternoon past time.

Towards the end of the walk at the HortPark , you’ll see about six glasshouses that serve as research stations for the upcoming Gardens at the Bay. Inside the glasshouses you will see a lot of potted plants that is store in the air conditioning rooms.

There is a link way gate at the rear end of the park right after the glasshouses with a pathway leading you up towards Kent Ridge park where the tree top canopy walk resides.

While walking backward to the main entrance of the Hort Park, we discover the HortMart that enable visitors to shop for all kinds of gardening-related products and potted plants. It is also a one-stop garden center that aims to provide a comprehensive shopping experience for visitors.

Look at all these beautiful potted plants and herbs which you can choose and bring it home from the HortMart at a reasonable price. Hort Park open daily from 6.00am to 10.00pm and there it is NO Admission Fee too :) So maybe you can consider to pop by with your kids or love one one of these day during June school holiday.

A Day At The Cathay Shopping Mall

Recently I received an email from Nuffnang regarding this "The Cathay Blogging Contest" which starts from 02 February 2010 – 14 February 2010. And the main purpose of this contest is to blog about how you plan/spend a day at Cathay shopping mall. Since mum and I was on the way around Somerset area to run some errands, we decided to head our way up to Cathay Mall and have a look. So far, I have not being to the new Cathay building ever since the closures of the old building in 2000.

We took the MRT from Somerset station and arrived at Dhoby Guat. From there, you can take "Exit A" which will brings you to The Cathay, Wesley Methodist Church, Singapore Management University, Hotel Rendezvous and etc. And at the entrance of the MRT station along the main road, you are able to see "Cathay Shopping Mall" just right across the road near the traffic junction.

While walking towards the Cathay Mall, mum started to share with me some of her childhood stories and those days when she was helping her uncle to sell peanuts outside the building during her teenage days. So imagine she had seen so much changes of this building from her era till now.......

Since we reached about 10.30am, most of the shops are still not opening. In this case, we decided to explore the basement area which seems to be like a food paradise....... (Being a food blogger, it's very nature for me to hunt for "FOOD" stores in the mall as my 1st propriety). As usual, mum can't do without her morning coffee time at her favourite hangout, "Ya Kun" which located at #B1-23 that is in between the traditional handmade noodles store called "Mian Mian Ju Dao - 面面俱到 " and "New York Pizza".

At a glance, there are about 10 different Food stalls located at the basement area which provides wide varieties of choices from Asian, Western to Japanese cuisine or even light meal for those who wants to cut down on calories. While looking around, I saw the menu from "The Indulge" which known for it's fusion of Asian spices/herbs together with western ingredients and flavours. And from the menu, those photos of the dishes look really good and appealing. Maybe one of these day, I shall bring my foodie friends along to give it a try.......

Em.... Just a minor reminder, in order to avoid disappointment, most of the food stores there opens from around 10.30 or 11.00am onwards unless you wants to pop-by Ya Kun for breakfast which they opens around 10.00am.

After morning tea, we went up to level 1 of the mall which gives us a very refreshing outlook compare to the old building that is still vivid in our memories. Since Chinese New Year is around the corner, the mall is also decorated with special Chinese New Year decoration in order to bring out the atmosphere.

Cathay mall consists of 7 level of food, retails and entertainments outlets and on level 1 you can find some boutiques, optical shop, information counter, ATM machine and etc.

From a far corner, I was attracted to the interior display of this shop due to a high flying shark which is hanging down from the ceiling. I was amazed by the so called "Hollywood" design which I think will interest my boy if I will to bring him along. Mum also thought that this might be a souvenir outlet or so until we saw the special logo on the name above the door-way showing.... "Billy Bombers" which is a American style restaurant @ #01-11/12.

My last impression of Billy Bombers was about more than 8 years back before my boy was born. And the Bright Red Leather Cushion Seat is still vivid in my memories. Now when I look at this newly decorated outlet it really brings back a lot of my dine-in memories with Billy Bombers......

Around the mall, you will be able to pick up "The Cathay Restaurant" pamphlet on Chinese New Year promotion which consists of a few set of menu for your selection. According to Mum, Cathay Restaurant can be consider at one of the best Chinese Restaurant in Singapore during her era. It is located at #02-01 and the dinning hours are from 11.30am to 11:00pm but the restaurant will close for lunch break/preparation of dinner between 3:00 - 6:00pm. Mum was suggesting perhaps, next round we can come and sample their lunch/dinner menu.

There is another interesting place to hang around on level 2 which is "The Cathay Gallery" that is located at #02-16. Here it showcases the history of the Loke family and their various business interests in Malaysia and Singapore from the mid 1800's till now. The Cathay Gallery is open to the public from Mondays to Saturdays, 12:00pm to 8:00pm, and is closed on Sundays & Public Holidays. Admission is Free, so it will be great to bring along kids to show them the founder and history of the Cathay organisation as well as showing them those olden days cinema seats and tickets. I am sure this will bring back a lot of wonderful memories for the older generation(ie. like me and my mum) or a new experience for the younger one like my boy.

Next while scanning through Level 3, I found this interesting shop known as "Three3Three" which occupy 4 units spaces from #03-04 all the way up to #03-07. Guess it is a trend to use "3" as either shop/building name :) And since, mum was looking for a table lamp for her new house, we decided to explore around the shop. You can find all sort of latest design items available in the store, and mum was keen to come back again with my brother to seek for his opinion on other items that look suitable for the living room.....

And along the same lane, mum's attention was being attracted by a unique display around the corner of the shop called "Forest & Tree" which located at #03-02. At her first glance she still thought it might be a shop that sells kiddy stuffs because of that cute "girl in lamb outfit". But when we went near to the store, we realise that it is actually a lifestyle concept shop that features a nail salon and retails merchandise. After browsing through the store, we both agreed that it's a great place for pampering our nails as well as grabbing some interesting gifts for special occasions.

Out of all the stores in level 3, mum and I was interested in Inahamani @ #03-08/09/10 which provides wellness and beauty from within. This store give us a very peaceful and relax feeling that make us very curious of the services they provided such as hydraulic gym and oxygenated lounge. Mum told me that she will be delighted to book an appointment with them if I were to win the Cathay Blogging Contest :p (have to cross my finger on this)

Level 4 are suitable for kids, Teens and Young Adults where they can spend hours of time in E2Max@The Cathay located from #04-18/19/20 on the latest games and accessories. Or if you need to have some extra workout to burn those accumulated fats during Chinese New Year season, perhaps you can take up a lesson or so at Fitness First @ #04-05 to keep fit.

Em... for young ladies who wants to doll up yourself with pretty dresses, maybe you will be fascinated by this store @ #04-09 known as "Black Alice" which is a Lolita fashion store specializing in selling Gothic and Lolita dresses, clothing, accessories and merchandise.

After exploring around the mall from Basement to Level 4, it's time for us to sit down and have a quick bite. Since we don't really take heavy lunch, we decided to stop by Starbucks @#01-05A for some drinks and cakes. While chatting, I told mum that today I am so happy and honour to have her to do this blog post together with me. And I knew that she is also very excited about it.......

There are still so many stores that we didn't really explore but I am sure Cathay Mall is place that has something prepared for everyone. Do do drop by one of this days with your friends, or family to experience the new Cathay Shopping Mall...... Or perhaps, you might want to join "The Cathay" Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thecathay) to get updated with latest promotions, events, contests & giveaways!