Ramen @ Keisuke Tokyo (Parco Marina Bay)

In celebration of Mr Kon's birthday, the gang of four had an original plan to try Tavolo in Parco Marina Bay.

The zero-diner statistics scared us so much we threw that plan away and had our dinner at Keisuke Tokyo (a ramen restaurant) instead.

Situated on the 3rd level called "Itadakimasu", this area has gained quite a following for Japanese cuisine lovers!

There wasn't a queue outside Keisuke although less than twenty steps away was another ramen restaurant with at least 12 persons patiently waiting outside!

WTF!!!

Our hearts were not swayed for defection to that eatery..... not after seeing the numerous newspaper articles pasted at Keisuke's entrance (note: we did not read the articles though)!

Stepping into the restaurant, we were taken by surprise how classy it was! Not exactly the typical Japanese decor we expected!

Unlike most restaurants, they did not fully maximise the space to have more tables, hence resulting in a likeable clutter-free zone i prefer!

As we were not feeling that hungry, we had only the following:

Ebi Mayonnaise

Not impressive since i felt that the wasabi mayonnaise prawns from Seafood Paradise were much more delicious. At S$6.00 for 4 pieces, it was however a damn good steal!

Crab Stock Ramen

with Prawn Wanton

It's no secret i am a big fan of crabs!

This dish had only a slight hint of "crabby" flavour and as Kon aptly described; just like the thick, dark-sauced lor mee!!! Look at the noodles; the same type as the lor mee right?!!

I am no fan of lor mee.

The only consolation was the piece of pork that literally melted in my mouth!

Prawn Stock Ramen Special

with All Toppings

Served in a bowl that looked like a spaceship chair, the original broth came thick and savoury! I especially enjoyed the noodles!

The use of prawn stock may deviates from the usual pork stock used in most ramen restaurants but in Singapore where prawn stock is heavily used in soupy prawn noodles (hae mee), it does not come as a refreshing taste for most Singaporeans (like me).

The greenish pickle thingies were damn crunchy and a great side to have for every loud slurping of soup+noodles! 

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Location

9, Raffles Boulevard,

Millenia Walk, P3-02,

Parco Marina Bay.

(Not to be confused with Parco Bugis Junction or Marina Bay Sands)

Price

Ebi Mayonnaise - S$6.00

Crab Ramen + Wanton - S$18.80

Prawn Ramen Special (Original) - S$19.00

Subject to 10% Service Charge and 7% GST. Free flow of plain water upon request.

Additional Information 

Food aside, service was fantastic, fabulous and many other similar words you can find in thesaurus.com!

In a nutshell, it was one of the best service i ever had in Singapore!!

Seeing that four persons ordered only two dishes, they took the initiative to provide us with four sets of peach-shaped plates, bowls and chopsticks!

There were other examples but nothing beats experiencing it yourself! Don't you think so? :)

Fish Spa @ Kenko

Walking past this fish spa operation while on our way to Marina Square from Millenia Walk, the group of four was, for a moment, taken aback by the size of the fishes feasting on the feet submerged in the tanks!!

My feet had been pampered before by this group of fishes named aptly as doctor fish but the fishes that ate my crunchy dead skin then were way much smaller!

Knowing the ticklish torture these fishes can inflict on certain sensitive individuals, it was hence a surprise when the Kon couple agreed to try it out!!

At S$10 for 10 minutes, the place was comfortably big with a peaceful, relaxing environment that seems to wait for the squirmish screams that follow whenever a beginner (note: Kon and Van) steps in.  

With three areas segregated by the size of the doctor fish, the water was warm and provided a soothing respite for the long neglected feet and thighs.

Without knowing the above, we plunged our feet into the tank with the biggest of them all!!!

The initiation was obviously not easy with all of us lifting our feet out of the water in less than 30 seconds!!!

Regardless of the size, these water creatures must be famished!!!!!

We used to have this joke that the number of fishes that congregate on a person correlates with the smelliness level and hence condition (as in bad condition) of the feet and thighs.

I attracted the most fishes yesterday.

=_=|||

Evidence shows otherwise; Alex was the one!!!

Ms Tan is the only person who has a phobia of these fishes, terming them as piranhas! The best she did is to have (at most) her heels in water!!!

We came out with a theory that where Van is concerned, she can eat fish but the fish bloody hell cannot touch her! Hahaha.

By the time we got used (in fact, i was enjoying it) to the nibbling, the 10 minutes were up!

There is no doubt we are hooked to this alternative biological treatment and will most likely try it again!

For basic information on the benefits of fish spa, look above!

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Location
6 Raffles Boulevard 
#01-230/231
[Marina Square]

Satay @ Satay Solo

Mutton and Satay Lovers Beware!

After living for more than 30 years in Singapore, the best mutton satay has finally been found!!!! 

A strong believer of fate, finding this stall was indeed a fateful occurrence since my original intention was to try the stall next door! That service was too slow and my limited patience forced me to try Satay Solo!

The sticks of sweet reddish meat were barbequed at just the right duration resulting in the meat being tender, full of juice and, charred bits only constituted a small proportion externally!  

My craving is so intense now that i am willing to travel from Yishun to Bedok just to have a stick ten sticks twenty sticks of mutton satay!!!!

Argh!!! Nevermind, it's a public holiday tomorrow!! Singapore's National Day!!!

Happy Birthday Singapore!!!!

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Location

Bedok Corner Food Centre

Stall No 9!

Price

50 cents per stick!!! Expensive in my opinion but totally worth it!

Zhong Hua Steamboat (中华火锅,拉面) @ Beach Road (Liang Seah Street)

After that not so satisfying steamboat at Xian De Lai along Liang Seah Street, i was compelled to visit House of Steamboat again!

Alas, luck was not with us!

The restaurant was undergoing some renovations and the very considerate staff actually advised us to come another day as dust was flying all over the place!!

See! Another point for such considerate service!

Anyway, yesterday marked the first time i walked up and down Liang Seah street 3, 4 times in order to source for an alternative steamboat venue!

Eventually we settled for Zhong Hua Steamboat although it was pretty pricey for a lunch steamboat.

Two reasons for selection: One, it has an air-conditioned area and the weather was so hot! Two, other steamboat restaurants were quite empty except for this one.

Pictures!

One thing i like about this place; everything was displayed neatly. Even the sauce bar! However, they could do with some labeling. I thought salt was sugar!

=_=

Almost had acute blood pressure explosion!!

Fresh, leafy greenies! On one hand, I personally thought their vegetables section was limited in their offerings. On the other hand, eating vegetables is so not worth it when we pay buffet price!

These were more appealing for the stomach with golden needles mushrooms (金针菇), abalone mushrooms (鲍菇), apparently very nice corn cobs (Joshua had 4-5 of those) and even Korean rice cakes (uncooked)!

Seafood section! I love a particular fish meat they had! Besides prawns, scallops, crabs etc, cuttlefish was also available to give your soup that special oceanic flavour!

Don't you love balls?

Quite a big variety with the likes of fish balls, prawn balls, mushroom balls, sotong balls, meat balls and even my favourite fuzhou fish balls (the type that squirts out delicious meat juice when you sink your teeth in)!

Awwww. The carnivore in me was so happy to see this! Fresh with no special marination. Yummy!

Fancy some carbohydrates instead?

One couple, Stella and Matt, once taught me to add in ee mian to my steamboat and i have to tell you, it's much better than beehoon or other types of noodles!

Left Section > Thai Tom Yam

Right Section > Korean Kimchi

Left Section > Sichuan Ma La

Right Section > Special Soup

Each soup was so distinctive in their taste and flavour! I hereby proclaimed that these were better soup bases than House of Steamboat and Xian De Lai!

Trays of raw food, constituting only a small proportion of what we had!

Too lazy to cook your own damn meal? Not to worry! Have your take of fried bee hoon, chilli prawns, fried buns and dumplings!

A box of tissue was placed on each table at no charge at all! Compare that with most restaurants that will either charge you 30 cents for a pathetic packet or 40 cents for a pack of wet tissue.

Free flow of drinks!!! Pepsi, 7-up, orange, water chestnut, lime juice and the beloved root beer!!! The ultimate reason why i would patronise Zhong Hua again!

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Location

95, Beach Road,

#01-01, Creative House

(End of Liang Seah Street)

Price

Lunch and Dinner (Monday-Thursday) - S$17.90

Lunch and Dinner (Friday-Sunday and Public Holidays) - S$18.90

Subject to 7% GST and only 3% Service Charge.

Additional Information

For the adventurous, do consider the unique soup bases like local laksa and Singapore satay.

With a small air-conditioned area that may not be able to accommodate a bigger crowd in the evening, you may want to consider the bigger outdoor section.

The famous non-airconditioned Chong Qing Steamboat is located right next door! Hence, Zhong Hua Steamboat is super duper crowded at dinnertime!

Take Note!!

Coin Dozer - for iPhone

Need a game to waste your time more efficiently?

Look no further!

Download Coin Dozer from your Apple App Store now!

You remember the humongous machine in arcades that used to have loads of tokens that could bloody hell be yours to spend if you insert your own token and pray to god that the mechanism can push more tokens into the "drain"?

This iPhone application is based on that money eating machine!

Except you don't need to use any of your hard earned money! Tokens will be generated every minute when you are in the game or every hour otherwise.

Gameplay!

Use the golden coins to push the other coins, tokens and prizes (which will fall down every now and then) down the main drain.

Each prize (umbrellas, bears, dices, diamonds, rings, whistles and yoyos) has four different colors and the completion of each set will activate this collection bonus that makes it easier for you to gain more unique tokens, shorten coins generation etc etc.

Unique tokens can help to increase your coin stash (silver tokens), create coin walls to prevent prizes from falling off the sides (light blue tokens) and sudden coin showers (dark blue tokens).

My personal favourite is this gigantic heavy coin (red tokens) that will cause other tokens to jump (and hopefully fall into the drain).

Strategy!

Don't stack up the tokens! You will find less coins falling into the main drain!!

Each token should be placed in such a way that they are next to each other. This will make it easier for the coins and prizes to knock against each other and eventually fall off the platform for your takings.

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Seriously, coin dozer is a useless game with no beneficial values, no direct goals and achievements, no thought invoking brain activity and purely a waste of precious time!!

The bad thing is, it's highly addictive!!!

The only good thing i can squeeze out of this is that i can proudly declare to my brother in law that i currently have a stash of at least more than 1,100 coins!

C'mon, how pathetic is that?!

Random

I know i should have posted the following picture in STOMP under Motoring Goondus (Singlish for stupid or no brainer i think) but you all know me, i am really not such a person.

At the most, it shall be on my blog!

Just wondering this very moment, you think the Traffic Police (TP) can use this picture to fine the car owner for illegal parking or parking on unauthorised grounds?  

I sure hope so.

He/she deserves it!!