McDonald Birthday Party

I am sure many of us loves McDonald from it's Hotcake to Big Breakfast or Double Cheese Burger to Filet-O-Fish Meals.  No matter which is your choice there is always something for everyone in the family. My kid loves their McChicken and Chicken McNugget meals which often comes with hot and yummy fries plus a regular drink.

Since McDonald is one of his favourite meals, we decided to hold a McDonald Birthday Party for him last weekend to celebrate his Birthday.

Upon discussing with the staff in-charged of the party, we were told that the McDonald's Party included things like:-
~ Choice of Happy Meal (Cheeseburger or Chicken McNuggets)
~ McDonald Design Party invitations cards (minimum 12 pieces)
~ Exclusive gift for birthday child
~ Gifts for invited guests
~ Game prizes
~ MINIMUM booking for 12 children per party package

*A deposit of S$14.40 (non-refundable) which is also known as the surcharge is required upon confirmation of booking

And as you see from the list above, McDonald required at least a MINIMUM of 12 children for the party package so even though if your invited kids are less 12 pax you still have to pay for the 12 sets of Happy Meal at S$9.00 (including surcharge) per child which is about S$108.00. I find this criteria is NOT flexible for those who do not meet the minimum requirement of 12 kids, perhaps they could allow/consider some swap or combination of kid and adult meals for some situation.

For your information, in order to bring in Birthday cake to the Party the cake has to be ordered from one of these Halal certificated bakeries shown above.  So when you are hosting a McDonald party for your kid(s) or friend, remember to double-check with the staff in-charged.

Since my boy is old enough to write his own invitation cards, I leave the task for him to in-charge of his invited guests list.

As an Angry Birds, Green Piggy fans my boy decided to use green piggy themed design tags for the guests to write their names for the lucky draw.

These are some food stuffs and stationary that we prepared as lucky draw gifts as well as goodie bags of sweets and chocolates for the guests. 

Upon arrival of the Birthday kid and invited guests, the staffs in-charged would assigned the sitting arrangement for the kids and get them to write down their name on the party hat in order to address and recognise them while serving the meals later.

All Happy Meals for the party comes with choice of either Cheeseburger or 4 pieces Chicken McNuggets together with a regular drink (coke, milo, ribena or milk) and side (cup corn or fries). While the kids are having their meal, the serving staffs at Yishun Safar McDonald are very patience and helpful by taking the imitative to make sure that all the invited kids and host are well taken care of.

15 minutes later, everyone almost settled down with their food orders and the kids also started to mingle among themselves with fun, laughter and food. 

After the meal, the serving staffs do a quick clear up and get ready to gather the kids around to participate some simple games for about 15 minutes before cutting the Birthday Cake.

Although the games might be simple due to the space constraint, but the kids definitely have a great time among themselves.

The last 10 - 15 minutes of the party are usually reserved for photos taking and cake cutting where everyone would gather around for Birthday songs and group photos with the birthday kid.

Angry Birds Space designed cake from Polar Puffs And Cakes Pte Ltd which is one of the bakery in their suggested Halal bakeries list shown above. 

Invited Guests received extra gifts like McDonald themed pencil, drinking straw and etc on top of the usual Happy Meal toy.

Birthday child received an Exclusive Birthday gift on top of the items in the Happy Meal goodie bag.

This is the actual Birthday Cake which my boy requested and I managed to order and custom made by Wai Fong from Fong's Kitchen Journal and if you are interested you could also read more about how she assemble this cake at her post HERE.

As you can see above, this is a 3-layer Chocolate Sponge with Dark Chocolate Ganache filling because my boy only loves chocolate cake but due to his favourite King Pig is green in colour we have to cover the chocolate cake with green coloured butter cream. Overall the sponge cake is fluffy and the ganche is great too but just that perhaps a little bit too sweet on the fillings.

Lastly we would like to thank everyone who came and joined us for the party last weekend. Thanks for all your lovely gifts and thoughts. Hope everyone of you have fun!

Nana's Green Tea Cafe At Plaza Singapura

Nana’s Green Tea Cafe is well-known in Japan as the “Japanese Starbucks” amongst a new generation of tea drinkers who are looking for tasty and artistic matcha creations. And on 21st December 2012, the cafe opens it's flagship store at the newly renovated Plaza Singapura which is located near Dhoby Ghaut Mrt Station. For information, other than Green Tea (matcha) beverages, they also offering food items to compliment the beverages and desserts too.

All green tea leaves served in Nana's Green Tea Cafe are imported ONLY from Kyoto (most famous production center of 'Matcha') where the cafe aims at delivering genuine Japanese taste and health to modern consumers. Matcha is a finely ground and powdered green tea which has many health benefits such as controlling high blood pressure, cholesterol, reducing the risk of diabetes, improving mood and alertness, boosting immune system and metabolism, reducing strokes by 21% as well as supporting anti-aging and etc.

Matcha Latte (Hot/Cold) @ S$7.00

I always love the Matcha Latte from Starbucks but now after trying the above I knew I am going to switch my choice to Nana's since both are of similar pricing but taste wise Nana's has a more fragrance and smoothing aftertaste when compared with the rest I tried.

Locomoko Don @ S$15.80

During the tasting we had two rice don and and one cold noodle dish. The first dish that arrived was Locomoko Don which is beef patty (burger) served on warm Japanese rice together with lettuce, cherry tomato, broccoli and a sunny-side egg. The beef patty could be slightly more juicier but overall it still goes well with the warm premium Japanese rice and accompany tomato sauce.

Our tasting portions of the Mini Locomoko Don

Salmon Don @ S$14.80

Next we had Salmon Don which was my favourite among the three tasting dishes. The bowl of Japanese rice was topped with fresh Salmon Sashimi and garnished with Japanese pickled ginger, spring onion, Daikon Cress and a touch of mayonnaise sauce

There is also an accompany sauce which taste similar like a mixture of Japanese Soy Sauce and roasted sesame seeds which goes well with the Salmon Don.

Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon @ $13.80

Lastly we had this Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon which was one their cold noodle dish. The Udon noodles was topped with steamed chicken fillets and garnished with cucumber, cherry tomato and served in Nana’s special sesame sauce.

This is one type of my favourite Japanese cold noodles which soaked in light and fragrance Japanese sesame sauce. The crunchy cucumber strips and tender steamed chicken makes it a prefect dish for hot summer meals. But personally I felt the sesame sauce could have be slightly better if the taste is stronger.

Matcha Shiratama Parfait @ S$11.80

Their new menu also offers a range of delightful dessert creations that are artistic and healthy like the Soft Cream Anmitsu, a soft serve vanilla ice-cream with red bean paste, white mochi and ‘Kanaten’ (traditional Japanese herbal jelly).

As a matcha lover especially on desserts and ice-cream, the Matcha Shiratama Parfait above definitely captured my attention and I really love the texture and taste of their matcha ice cream as well as all the surprises that I could dig out from the parfait. I would re-visit the outlet soon to try out other items on the dessert menu!

NANA'S GREEN TEA CAFE
The Atrium @ Orchard
Plaza Singapura
60B, Orchard Road
#03-80/82
Singapore 238839
Telephone: (65)6684 4312
Site: http://www.facebook.com/NanasGreenTea


Lastly I would like to thank Nana's Green Tea Cafe and Alisa from Publicist PR Consultants for the invite tasting.

Tak Po (德宝 ) Dim Sum Restaurant, Chinatown

Tak Po (德宝 ) Dim Sum Restaurant opens 7 days a week from either morning (weekend and public holidays) or noon (weekdays) 8.00am to 10:30pm where they serves the breakfast, lunch and dinner crowds. The restaurant has an air-conditioned dining area as well as several tables located outside the entrance of the restaurant.

Usually during weekends the place will be packed and you might have to wait for at least 15 minutes or more to get a table. But no worries, as from what I observed while having our dim sum outdoor (indoor fully occupied) the queue seems to be moving fast too. And due to their old Chinese style of Yum Cha concept, you could also spot people from different nationalities as well.

Tak Po - Assorted Dim Sum Menu

From a glance at the Dim Sum menu above, you can roughly get an idea of what to expect from their list and pen down your orders on their ordering form(s) which would be placed on the table. Return the forms to the serving staff and just wait for about 5 - 10 minutes for your items to come.

Just for your information, there would be Appetizer (usually roasted peanuts) S$1.00 (per plate) and Wet Towel (S$0.30 each) given to each table and if you do not need them you could ask the serving staff to remove and these items will be deducted from your final bills too. And for those who required warm water /ice water there will be a charged of S$0.50 per cup so you might as well go for the Chinese Tea which is refillable at S$1.20 per person.

Siew Mai - 烧卖 (S$2.60)

My dim sum ordering list always included my favourite Siew Mai which I could have the basket of 3  siew mai for my own. The siew mai from Tak Po seems to a bit tough but the overall taste is still good for the price.

Rice Roll With Char Siew - 叉烧肠粉 (S$3.50)

The rice roll is very thin and smooth with fillings such as char siew (BBQ pork) or prawns to choose from. And the accompany sauce also blends well with the rice roll which is not too salty or overpower.

Chicken Feet - 豉椒风爪 (S$3.00)

For some of you, you either get freak out or enjoy this yummy dim sum delicacy which most older generation likes. But the gravy of the chicken feet at Tak Po is rather too thick and the sauce does not have that unique fragrance of my favourite chicken feet from most of the dim sum restaurant like Red Star.

Char Siew Bun - 蠔皇叉燒包 (S$0.90 per bun)

Pan-fried Carrot Cake - 香煎萝卜糕 (S$0.90 per slice)

Very old school kind of carrot cake and it goes well with their sweet and spicy chilli (must request the dried chilli from them).

Egg Tart - 香酥蛋挞 (S$1.10 per tart)

The egg tart has a flaky outer skin that we all love and the filling itself is smooth and wobble, not too sweet too.

Mango Spring Roll - 香芒春卷 (S$3.80)

This mango snack is made using Mango puree wrapped with a layer of nested spring roll wrapper and deep-fried till golden brown. It is served together with some mayonnaise dipping sauce and it is pretty addictive but I find it a bit too oily.

Crispy Yam Dumpling - 酥炸芋角 (S$1.00 per dumpling)

Crispy Yam Dumpling or also known as Woo Kok is one of the dim sum items which consists of delicious moist pork fillings wrapped with mashed yam and deep-fried till golden with a crispy outer layer. Now it is quite hard to find some really tasty yam dumpling so this one at Tak Po is still worth trying.

Tak Po - Assorted Congee and Dishes Menu

There are quite a huge range of Congee as well as side dishes like beancurd or claypot meats which you can order to go with the congee.

Century Egg With Lean Meat Porridge - 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (S$3.50)

Mixed Pork Congee - 猪杂粥 (S$4.00)

We ordered two types of Congee shown above and our favourite is their Mixed Pork Congee which filled with generous amount of ingredients like meatballs, pork liver, lean meat and etc. The porridge is smooth and tasty with the combination of the mixed pork ingredients and my kid love this as compared to the century egg congee above.



TAK POK DIM SUM RESTAURANT
42 Smith Street
(opposite Chinatown Market carpark entrance)
Singapore 058954
Telephone: (65) 6225 0302

Opening Hours:
~ Monday - Friday: 12.00pm - 10.30pm
~ Saturday, Sunday And Public Holiday: 8.00am - 10.30pm

Revisiting Universal Studios With More Rides

About two weeks back we went for our 2nd visit to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) which is located in Resort World Sentosa. And since during our first visit (read more here) we missed out quite a few rides especially the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (under renovation) and TRANSFORMERS The Ride (not ready in operation) we decided to head back again this December holiday to complete all the rides as well as to see the "snowfalls" event specially prepared for Christmas and festive season.

As usual, first we queue for the Madagascar A Crate Adventure which is a water ride located in the Madagascar zone where you could enjoy the ride watching the adventures of the Madagascar characters like Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria and etc. This ride is first attraction on your left at the end of Hollywood zone.

Inside view of the Madagascar A Crate Adventure boat ride.

Next we head down to Far Far Away castle which showcases lifestyles of the rich and fairy tales and you could also enjoy the Shred 4-D Adventure ride to see, hear and FEEL the action right from your seat such as water, hairy spiders, wind and etc.

Preview of the dungeon entrance where park attendance briefing us on the storyline and ride details.

Waiting for our tun to take the Magic Potion Spin ride which is just outside the exit of the Shrek 4D theater. It was kind of a slow kiddy ride which allows about 2 - 3 person in one carriage.

This Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure is one of the ride that we missed out during our first visit to Universal Studios last year (read more here) due to the renovation and maintenance of this attraction. The queuing time was quite bearable (45 minutes) during that day and we really hope to take this ride since we missed it out last round. And for those who did not bring along any "raincoat" like us, you could actually purchase it with S$3.00 (a bit pricey for a piece of plastic over you) at their vending machines.

However half way through the queuing it started to rain and the ride was suspended due to safety reason. But despite of the rain most of the people still stay put in the queue hoping that the rain would clear up within 30 minutes or so.  Luckily after 30 minutes of observation since there was no thunder or lighting, they decided to open the ride and we get to ride on it even though it was raining. So that was indeed a super fun experience for us to ride this "water ride" on a raining day! Too bad we didn't managed to get a second ride after our WaterWorld show around 8.15pm due to ride maintenance.

The second attractions that we missed out last year was this Transformers ride which was located at the SCI-FI CITY zone that was opened in December 2011.

Due to the raining weather that day, we managed to get our 1st ride in about 30 minutes of queuing time whereas second ride at 5 minutes. The queuing area are well-design which provided guests with background information Transformers and some safety precautions of the ride.

Basically it is a motion rides with turnings, lighting, 3D effects and excitement which you won't want to miss out. And on peak season, you might have to queue up to at least 120 minutes just for the 5 minutes ride.

Transformers Design :- Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime Water Containers

With "Big Bird's Emporium" completed and in operation, Sesame Street fans can now shop for their desire sesame street related items from water bottles, wallet, soft toys, stationery and etc. 

There is also a pushcart outside Loui's NY Pizza Parlor selling Sesame Street related items too!

Soon maybe in 1st quarter of 2013, this Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase ride would be full operation too! Till then most of us are wondering what kind of ride this attraction will provided as it seems quite interesting and full of excitement from some of the Google search.

For this year they have relocated the Christmas tree and stage to NEW YORK zone instead of the usual place which was near the fountain area at Hollywood Zone.  And also for this year they included a daily special snowfalls event which happens on specific timing.

As you could see the snowfalls look wonderful at NEW YORK zone which makes it feel real and more magical as compared to the other zones. Everyone from young to old were so excited when the "snows (foams)" started to fall from the top during the specify timing.

Each snowfalls last about 5 minutes from the varies timing from 1.00pm; 3.00pm; 5.00pm and around 6.45pm daily from November 2012 - 06 January 2013. Just in case of any chances, do check out the timing with the park attendance to avoid disappointment.

A view of Ancient Egypt Zone and Battlestar Galactica (Cylon - Blue Track and Human - Red Track)

Since the park opened till 9.00pm (extension of operating hours due to festive season) during our last visit, we managed to catch the last WaterWorld showtime (7.30pm) before heading to our second Transformers Ride.

Although the weather was not very good (rain and drizzle) during the second half of that day but we did had an enjoyable day completing some of the rides in the rain (with raincoat on) and also the queuing time was shorten by big jump due to the gloomy weather and etc. And since the park opens till 9.00pm that day we really had a great time enjoying at least twice on each rides. Would definitely be back when the new attraction(s) are ready in another year or so.