Wednesday 14 November 2012

Lion City’s ‘Get Out of the Box’ Blogger Challenge Plus Dinner At MEDZS

Last Friday, I attended a bloggers get together event which was organized by Brand Cellar on behalf of Lion City (parent company of Gold Kili and Frezfruta) to kick off a "two weeks blogger challenge". For this fun contest, bloggers are to come out with creative ways to incorporate Gold Kili and Frezfruta products in their daily life as well as complete a list of easy tasks such as include sharing creative photos or recipes of the coffees and bread share it over social medias such as blog, facebook and twitter.

The bloggers meetup was held at MEDZS which is located at Millenia Walk and while waiting for the everyone to arrive, there were also some Gold Kili and Frezfruta products for us to sample and take photos with.

Believe me, eating cream crackers with Frezfruta Kaya/Jam can be really addicting and you won't just stop with one or two pieces.

Briefing by Ms Joanne from Brand Cellar on the event topic for "Lion City Blogger 14-Day Challenge" before the dinner starts.


DINNER AT MEDZS, MILLENIA WALK


Above shown were our main courses at Medzs during the event and some of these Mediterranean cuisines really taste good base on the flavour and aromatic spices used. Since there are 3 of us at the same table, we decided to order 3 different types appetizer and main course to share among ourselves. 

Before the dishes, we have some Mocktail Of The Day such as:-  Morning Glory (Essence of Lemon Grass with Lime, Grenadine and Cherry), Lemon and Lime Bitters (Freshly Squeezed Lemon and Lime with Refreshing Taste of Sweet, Sour and Bitter) and Orange Blast (mixture of Fresh Orange and Cranberry Juice with a Twist of Soda).

Personally I don't really fancy any of those mocktails above as I find it way too "strong taste" for my preference.


{Appetizer} Home-made Cured Salmon Bruschetta with Pesto is one of my favourite appetizer for that night. The smoked salmon is served with crusty bread together with some flavorsome pesto to enhance the taste and texture leaving bursting flavour in your mouth.


{Appetizer} Spanish Omelette "Tortilla" with Aioli Dip is soft and nicely done without being overcooked and I love the Aioli Dip (garlic sauce) which has a light and refreshing taste from the lemon and garlic which is quiet similar to Hollandaise sauce.

{Appetizer} Classic Caesar Salad on the other hand seems to lack of some flavour which was quiet "tasteless" despite of some chunks of unknown hidden in between the greens which might be either anchovy, capers or black olive (did not really check as we were busy with the photoshoots, eating and chatting). But I think I still prefer my Caesar Salad with added Chicken.


{Main Course} Charcoal Grilled Baby Sea Bream with Aubergine Gratin, Mashed Potato and Watercress Salad. Certain part of the fish was rather a bit dry but overall it still taste quiet decent and  I love the accompany Aubergine Gratin and Mashed Potato.

{Main Course} Moroccan Beef and Caramelized Apple Stew Tajine with Couscous comes with two different flavour in a dish. The Couscous is perfumed with sweet rose scented caramelized onion which gives it a lift on the plain couscous. On the other hand, the Moroccan Beef Stew was tender but the taste of the spices was a bit too "over powder" towards our liking which ends out this dish being our least favourite for that night.

{Main Course} Braised Cook Chicken Paella with Chorizo and Saffron earns the most votes from our table as we love the texture of the rice which is not too mushy and overall the flavour of the dish is well balance with the spices and ingredients used.

At the Bloggers' event each of us also received a Mystery hamper with some Gold Kili (Kopi Kosong, Double Shot White Coffee and Double Shot White Milk Tea) and Frezfruta (Strawberry Jam, Apple and Blueberry Jam plus Kaya) products to assist us to accomplished the assigned task for the "Lion City Blogger 14 days Challenge".



MY DAILY NEEDS TO PERK MY DAY


I must confess, I am a coffee lover who loves "Black Coffee" especially those without sugar or less sugar content. And over the years I have tried many different brands of instant coffee products and I have narrow my choices to only 3 favourite brands including Gold Kili as one of it.

Can you spot the "Smiley Face" from the beverages?
Honestly speaking I used to drink my daily "Kopi O" from another brand till I tried Gold Kili, Kopi-O with 35% Less Sugar which taste just as good as those coffee served in coffee shop which use grind coffee powder. On top of it, their Double-Shot White Milk Tea is also superb, smooth and fragrant which is not too sweet for my liking. For my personal preference I love to add in a slice or two of Ginger to enhance the taste which is pretty similar to Teh Halia (ginger milk tea).

15% Off Choco-Durian Cakes @ Emicakes

For the month of November, Emicakes has launched the Choco-Durian cake which sandwich creamy D24 Durian in between fluffy chocolate sponge and covered with a layer of rich chocolate ganache. And if you order this month you could even get a 15% OFF for the 15-20cm sizes (while stocks last).

Cross Section of the Choco-Durian Cake
As you could see the cake is laced with generous amount of D24 Durian between layers of light chocolate sponge which embraced with smooth and semi-sweet chocolate ganache which makes it a "heavenly" combo for Chocolate and Durian lovers.

Thanks to Janina from Emicakes who sent us this delicious Choco-Durian Cake which combines  two of my most favourite ingredients in one.

{Photo Credits to Emicakes} They even have Choco-Durian Logcake for Christmas too!

The Choco-Durian Cake is available in all Emicakes outlets (location here) and you could either call 6749 6782 or visit their website to place your order.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

The Cocoa Trees Members’ Night

Last Thursday evening, we were invited to attend The Cocoa Trees Members’ Night at it's Raffles City Boutique together with some bloggers and Cocoa Trees club card members. It was indeed a fun night with Chocolate Demo and Samplings plus our first experience with Chocolate Hand Scrub too.

{Chocolate Sampling} At the Chocolate Sampling table there are many assorted chocolate and candies from Kagi, Milka, Bassett's, Valrhona and etc.

{Chocolate Dipping Demo} Look at the strawberries, they look so gorgeous after being transformed from the chocolate dipping demo. It is so fun and creative to decorate your own chocolate coated strawberries, marshmallows or biscuits which makes them not only taste good but look presentable too.

Moreover I find this is a great idea to let kids have fun creating their own chocolate dipping with  fruits/marshmallows using those colourful decor shown above during Birthday party or Christmas event.

{Chef Demo} During the Chef Demo event there are array of Chocolate Desserts such as KägiMisu, The Belgian Gavottes Truffles, Ritter Sport Cocoa Mousse and Droste Trifle Chocolate made by Chef John Sawarto to whet the appetite of all chocolate lovers.

Chef Sawarto demonstrating on how to make the Ritter Spot Cocoa Mousse.

Recipe for Kagi Misu

Recipe for The Belgian Gavottes Truffles

Apart from the "chocolate treats" there is also a mini Chocolate Hand Scrub counter which allows members and guests to enjoy the luxuriating treat of chocolate scrub which is done by professional therapists. From the photo above, you could see even my 8 years old is enjoying himself with the special chocolate treat.

If you are interested to find out more details on Chocolate Hand Scrub or doing manicure/pedicure at the comfort of your own home, you could contact Ms Yani from "Three-N Nails" at nuryanirasid@ymail.com

Light refreshment for the night with Bee Hoon Goreng , Honey Chicken Wings, Steamed Chicken Siew Mai, Steamed Mini Soon Kueh and etc from Deli Hub (by Neo Garden Catering Group).



SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE TREATS


Have a break... Have a Kit Ka! I am sure most of us would have a pack or two in the fridge or office drawer to snack on.

Ritter Sport is one of my boy's favourite chocolate brand and he always go for the "Assorted Minis Gift Pack" or Milk Chocolate.

Kagi Wafer Bar which I always stock-up in the fridge. Love the Dark Chocolate and RUM flavour. Now I could even use them to make Kagi Misu (recipe shown above) for coming festive gathering.

To our surprise, we even found Angry Birds and Green Pig Fruit Gummy which is a good news for Angry Birds fans. While eating these gummy you could also play real-life Angry Birds Game with those shaped-alike Angry Birds, Green Pig, blocks, eggs and etc items that looks similar in the game.

Gavottes is a range of superior French biscuits and cookies and our family love their Dark Chocolate coated Crepes and Earl Grey Tea Butter Cookies.

With the wide varieties of over 40 international renowned brands including Belgian, Hershey's, M And M's, Ritter Sport, Swiss Delice, Toblerone and etc I am sure you would definitely find something that suits your or as a gift for coming Christmas season.

A chocolate party will not be complete without chocolates and goodie bags! So for those who attends the party, a goodie bag filled with International brands chocolates from The Cocoa Trees was given as appreciation gift.

Lastly I would like to thank Cassandra from FOCUS Network Agencies (S) Pte Ltd and The Cocoa Trees for the media invite.

THE COCOA TREES
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-43
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 171903
Telephone: (65)6337 2377

Operating Hours:
10.00am to 10.00pm (daily)


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