Author: Cheng Nicholas

Lean Bento @ Arcade

It is one thing to see your friend lose 20 kg, and it is yet another to see her open a new Bento Bar – Lean Bento – concept to help others achieve what she has 🙂 First off, I love Lean Bento’s clean and simple Japanese-inspired design which stands out among the shops in the arcade. It is a great use of space to be able to accommodate the CBD lunch crowd! While still maintaining the 500 calories per meal philosophy, using responsibly sourced, pesticide-free and clean ingredients, owners Charles Ng and Dionis Chiua have, after many months of research and experimentation, developed a variety of new tastes, textures and flavors. Being a vegan, I was so glad to hear that Lean Bento serves the Protein Garden ($12.90) – an ultra-low-calorie bento featuring shitake and shimeji mushrooms, sweet baby corn, edamame and chickpea salad, capsicum, wakame salad, cherry tomatoes, multigrain nigiri and home-made shoyu zero-carb shirataki noodles. The meal didn’t fill me up like our regular meal with high carbs but it kept me full for long because of the high fibre content. My favourite …

P Bistro @ Owen Road

P Bistro is a cosy hidden gem near Little India! Simple menu in a cosy space, and I’m really glad for this flexitarian cafe with vegetarian options. We shared the Pomelo Salad for starters and I love this dish! This dish had a generous serving of pomelo, with fresh tomatoes, onions and fried shallots with a refreshing zingy sauce! I would go back to eat this salad as a main. For mains, N had the Beef Bolognise Spaghetti ($18) while I tried the Vegetarian Pasta Fresca ($14). Both were splendidly prepared. The vegetarian pasta with a clear soupy base is one of my favourites in Singapore, rivaled probably only by Original Sin. With the fine quality of food at relatively affordable prices, I am not surprised they already have a second branch at Palais Renaissance! Will be back! P Bistro 42 Owen Road Singapore 218941 Phone: 6392 2333 Opening Hours: Sun – Thu: 11 am – 10 pm, Fri – Sat: 11 am – 11 pm Or Palais Renaissance 390 Orchard Road, #B1-06 Palais Renaissance Singapore 238871 Phone: 6734 9268 Opening Hours: …

Sala Khaoyai (I)

Easily summarized, Sala Khaoyai is one of the best boutique resort experience we ever had! This is our second Sala experience, after Sala Phuket (another amazing experience for another entry), and I am so glad we chose Sala. (Small Tip and Advice is to book early and go on weekdays (Sun/Mon counts) as we got 50% off the rates. P’Chatbodin (Orn), the chief service staff in Sala Khaoyai, is incredibly friendly and helpful. He takes huge ownership to be a great host and is definitely very proud of Khaoyai and Sala Resorts; he is so willing to share all the information about the area and the resort when I told him I am going to feature Sala Khaoyai in my writings. So I learn the Sala hotel chain belongs to the owner of the Central Group. Yup, that big shopping chain in Thailand! The owner first conceptualized Sala Khaoyai as a summer home that he retreats to relax. Eventually, he had so many requests he decided to open a resort, but he kept it to seven rooms …

The Side of Thailand More People Should See

Having worked and lived in Bangkok for a short period of time from 2009-2010, I had the privilege of exploring some of the interesting sites around Bangkok such as Ampawa and Ayutthaya. Among them, Khao Yai left the deepest impression because of the 13 degreesC night (yup, you read it right – it does get so cool especially from Nov-Jan at night), which is very rare cool weather in this part of the world near the equator. I also recalled European looking architecture with vineyards so Khaoyai is a short getaway to feel far from our Asian roots. So when we had a chance 3 weeks ago to plan a short trip over the long weekend, I decided to re-visit Khaoyai and also introduce N to this beautiful province of Thailand. Khaoyai is a beautiful mountaineous province, 2.5 hours drive from Bangkok, and is a popular short weekend getaway spot among Bangkok city folks to switch gears over a slow weekend. For me, I hardly repeat my eating and travel spots as I want to …