Author: Beatrice

Spa VI @ Aleenta, Hua Hin

Published by Beatrice

As part of our room package, Aleenta @ Hua Hin gave us a free 30 min massage voucher to enjoy massage in their inhouse spa – Spa VI. We of course went to redeem it with a Thai massage. The spa is relatively small, and is on the 3rd floor, right above the breakfast area. There is a indoor aircon or outdoor al fresco option. The view from the outdoor massage room is simply spectacular – opening up to the view of sea and crashing waves. However, it was a warm and humid day, so we opted for the indoor aircon option. But the view was still good through the glass, and the waves are so strong, this spa didn’t need “background music” – the sound of real waves was the background music as we enjoyed the free massage. After Maya Ubud Spa, this would be the next most relaxing spa I have been to. Highly recommend for spa junkies in for the experience, especially if you have been trekking in the National Park, like …

Let’s Sea Beach Restaurant @ Hua Hin

Published by Beatrice

We were searching for good food in Hua Hin town, and after reading Asia-city recommendation, we decided to try out Let’ Sea Restaurant, which is part of Let’s Sea Resort. An al-fresco restaurant, Let’s Sea is a fusion cuisine restaurant including nostalgic Thai favorites, and its cuisine is inspired by memories from family dining moments and childhood memories. The first thing that struck me about Let’s Sea is the immediate view of the sea from our cushiony couch seats indoor. There are also a few seats outdoor with similar amazing views. The servers were friendly, and were helpful in recommending dishes. The overall ambience met its objective of being a very relaxing restaurant on the beach. From the snacks and nibble section, we tried the Grilled Sirloin with a Spicy “Jaew” Sauce (350 baht). Juicy, tender with a hint of Thai from the sauce, this was my very favourite dish! For the mains, we shared the Pad Thai with Tiger Prawn (320 baht). This was the best presentation of Pad Thai I have ever seen in any …

Pranberry Restaurant @ Hua Hin

Published by Beatrice

Pranberry Restaurant, which is just opposite Aleenta Resort and Spa @ Hua Hin, caught my eye because of its interesting logo and interior. From the outside, I could see that the whole restaurant is set in sand though the restaurant is relatively inland. I checked out their Facebook to learn that Pranberry is only open on weekends and I am so glad we got to try because I would say Pranberry is the most delicious meal I had in Hua Hin! Pum, one of the owners of Pranberry, was very friendly and informative. She explained that Pranberry is only open on weekends because all the partners are actually working full time in Bangkok. They opened Pranberry (which sounds like Pranburi, the district Hua Hin is in) as a passion to serve fresh and good food. So they drive up every Friday or Saturday and take turns to open the restaurant. Sometimes they start driving from Bangkok at 10am, but only reach Hua Hin at 5pm (the drive should only take 3 hours) because they stop …

The Garden Slug @ Telok Kurau

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We have been to Garden Slug a few times on weekends to bring my dog along for a ride and meal. I love the simple, no frills decor of this 7 year old cafe, and the fact that fluffie can have a meal with us! TGS Mixed Grill – Platter of Ribeye Steak strips, Lamb Loin, Bratwurst, Real Mash™ & salad ($39.80) for 2 to share. Very JUICYYYYYYYYY Lamb without the gamey aftertaste! Pan-seared Dory Fillet ($18.90) – Fresh fish and salad, with sweet mash potatoes I will definitely be back for great freshness and food value, especially when I want to bring fluffie out! Forgive the camera phone shots as it was hard to shoot with fluffie moving around! — The Garden Slug Address: 55 Lorong L Telok Kurau, #01-59/61 Bright Centre, Singapore 425500 Phone: 86888575 Email: justask@thegardenslug.com Operating Hours: Mon – Tue: 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm Wed – Thu: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm Fri – Sun: 9:00 am – 10:00 pm

bvilla @ Seminyak, Bali

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bvilla was a surprise find when I went to Bali in 2009 with Miss L. We were originally staying in another resort, and went to the spa at bvilla+spa, and we loved it so much, we ended up cancelling our resort and moving to bvilla! The manager of bvilla was very friendly and decided to show us around the estate and opened up a 2-room villa to show us. bvilla is really built for the modern. They have villas ranging from one to five-bedrooms, with decor that is very modern with a slight Balinese touch. It is also very conveniently located at Seminyak, near to many restaurants, cafes, shops and art galleries. Like I mentioned, we were so convinced we went back to our resort to cancel the last night stay to move our last night in Bali to experience bvilla stay for ourselves in the 1 bedroom villa at bvilla+seaside. bvilla has 3 different properties – bvilla+spa, bvilla+pool, and bvilla+seaside, and since we already seen bvilla+spa, we decided to try the seaside one! The most amazing experience …

Weight Loss – Update #1

Published by Beatrice

After 40 days since my first step to healthy living and sustainable weight loss, I have had a few private queries on my progress. Since I promised to be publicly accountable, I have been to 9 Personal Training sessions, and lost about 3kg. It is still a longgggggggggg way to go from my fitness goals that I set over the next 2 years, but I feel great to be off to a good start in first 40 days despite having to do work travels in between. The small new habits I am have tried to form in last 40 days: 1) Exercising 5x/week – taking total of only 4 hours a week 2x Personal Training, more of resistance trainings (1 hour each) – new 2x Cardio (30 mins each) – already doing last 2 years 1x Pilates class (1 hour each) – already doing last 2 years How I made time for the extra 2 hours of Personal Training was cutting down on social media and TV time. I sometimes catch up on my Social Media …

Momma Kong’s (Crab Shack) @ Mosque Street

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Momma Kong’s (Crab Shack) was founded by the Kong brothers – Edmund and Terence – together with their cousin, who is also my old time friend, JL. Momma Kong’s concept originated from wanting to create food similar to their mom’s great cooking – great local crab delicacies made with fresh ingredients, and no flavour enhancers added! Momma Kong’s décor is also simple, modern and relaxing, great for catching up with friends and family or as a pre-party destination, or watch football as well! They also have Asahi Super Dry on tab now compared to when I first visited, plus they even serve and premium Nikka Whisky, and they have happy hour 1-for-1 if you can go early before 730pm! Crabs wise, they have all the classic favourites – Black Pepper Crab, Red Chilli Crab, Fresh Steamed Crab and Momma Kong’s Signature Crab Bee Hoon Soup. Between 5 of us, we tried the 3 crabs for $110 promotion (2 Pepper Crabs and 1 Chilli Crab) and 1 Crab Bee Hoon Soup. This amazing Momma Kong’s Signature Crab Bee …

Restaurant Ember @ Hotel 1929

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Ember is a small, modern and unpretentious restaurant located in Hotel 1929, which offers Western/Fusion Ember cuisine. Some of my favourite girlies treated me to Ember to my birthday last week. Short to say, FINE quality food, as expected from Chef Sebastian Ng from the Marmalade group’s Pierside Kitchen & Bar and prior experience in Four Seasons Hotel, Raffles Hotel and pasta training at Piedmont Italy as well as training stints at Hotel De Mikuni in Tokyo. Chef Sebastian is known for his pastas, meats and seafood, which reflects in the mains we ordered. So thankful to be treated my friends to fine exquisite food. Definitely not the cheapest meal, but WOW, I enjoyed the exquisiteness and details in every dish. All the dishes were cooked in a way that brought out the natural flavours of the ingredients. Complex yet complementary combination tastes. I heard the set lunches are the best value for money so hope to be back to try it some day! I also like how they tired local Singaporeans on their serving crew which …

Santoro@Hinoki Japanese Restaurant @ China Square Central

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N picked a secret restaurant to bring me on my birthday, and when we reached Santoro@Hinoki, I was like……. wait a minute, this is my friend’s dad’s restaurant! And the head chef, (Santoro) Li Kwok Wing who has 40 years of Japanese cuisine experience, who is my friend’s dad, just won the Washoku World Challenge 2013 Grand Prize on December 8, 2013. His winning dish was “Japanese Pumpkin under Snow” (Secchou Kabochia, 雪中蒸しかぼちゃ) which beat many dishes from chefs around the world! So exciting to have a Singaporean win this global Washoku competition!! The first dish Hubbubu picked was the the Chef’s Recommendation for 2 persons – Tokusen Sashimi 特選刺身盛り合わせ ($110). The sashimi is extremely fresh! Every type of sashimi had its natural sweetness emanating with every bite. The fish slices were so firm, it tasted like meat. Among the platter, my favourites were the explosive flavourful roe and tuna served with vinaigrette and spring onions with such strong natural flavours, it tasted like tuna tartare. With the quality of the sashimi, Santoro@Hinoki has dethroned Chikuwatei as my …

espressoLAB @ Bali Lane

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espressoLAB Bali Lane is now closed. But the same team who ran espressoLAB Bali Lane has set up Three Cups Coffee Co. I am sure the coffee quality still remains 🙂 Three Cups Coffee Co Address: #04-31, 1 Raffles Place, Singapore 048616 Phone: 6438 4108 Operating Hours: Mon – Fri: 8:00 am – 7:30 pm, Sat – Sun: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm Website: http://www.threecups.sg — espressoLAB Singapore is opened by a colleague-friend and his wife, on 14th July 2012, who are both passionate about life, coffee and food. I visited them when they first opened, but they have recently renovated to a hipster feel that blends in the neighbourhood better (and rightly so since they are situated in hippy Kampung Glam and with grungy CAD just at the back), so we went back to check it out as promised! I am really proud they have come so far in 1.5 years and they have received 2 recent awards – 1) Gold Plate Awards 2012 by The Singapore Women’s Weekly – “Get your coffee fix” category, 2) Best …