Loving Ding Tai Fung Always

I was so inspired to blog about Ding Tai Fung after watching a travelogue on them. Being one of the world's busiest restaurants, there is no doubt about it why they are still tops.

Our weekly family affair in DTF. 

Girls love everything in DTF. To be frank, though we ate it almost weekly, but we didn't get sick of the food. Standards had been well maintained throughout the years. 

I started eating in DTF since their first inception in 2005. Perhaps prenatal education works for me. Both my girls are ardents fans of DTF. 

Here are some of my favourite must-try of delicacies from DTF:

A simple appetiser with bean sprouts, glass noodles and other mixed vegetables is so addictive and delicious. 

Egg Omelette Fried Rice is always so good. The golden rice grains are evenly coated with the egg.  

A recent discovery: Chilli Crab with Pork bun. The skin was light and fluffy. Tasty!

The famous delicacy, Xiao Long Bao or Pork Dumplings. They may look like normal dumplings, but the efforts spend perfecting the dumplings, size, texture, taste are incredible especially with the shredded ginger and vinegar.

All the flour is weighed and should not be more than 5 grams each. Every dumpling should be folded 18 times to achieve almost same sizes. That is so amazing right?

Next time when you are in DTF, do take some time to taste, appreciate the efforts the chefs put in to prepare the delicious dishes. 

DTF is located in major malls around Singapore. Do check out their website for more details.

www.dingtaifung.com.sg

Beauty on the go with Koplina Jelly

 

True beauty comes from within. I always believe what we eat will show on our face too.

Recently I was into the Koplina Jelly. They had 2 different flavours; peach and rose.

Peach jelly comes with Hyaluronic Acid and collagen.  Hyaluronic Acid helps the skin to retain moisture and reduces the appearance of wrinkles. Just 1g of Hyaluronic Acid can retain as much as 6,000ml of water. Collagen will keep the skin and supple.

Rose jelly with Placenta, Collagen and Royal Jelly. Using Pig's placenta which helps to regulate hormones, replenish depleted iron level and boost energy levels; also prevents blemishes and wrinkles. The Royal Jelly will fight the effects of aging and boosting immune system.

 

It is packed in strips, so convenient to bring it around. In bags, pockets as a snack for that teatime instead of the sinful cakes.

See the jelly.

 

 Initially I was a bit reluctant to try as I didn't really like to eat jelly. I took the courage to try, since it had a history of good track records for the past 30 years. It was not very sweet, the jelly was actually quite tasty. Easy to eat. Yummy. It was really beauty on the go. 

So happy to have found a beauty snack. For me I always have either nuts, raisins or bak kwa (omg) ,so terrible me! Time to kickstart a healthy lifestyle to regain my radiance from within. 

Check out their new promotion now: Buy 7 for the price of 6. 

Koplina Jelly is available online at www.koplina.com or any Pink Parlour or Senze Salus stores in Singapore.

Pink Parlour is located at: East Coast, Far East Plaza, Marina Square, Nex & Orchard Central 

Tel: +65 6100 7465

Senze Salus is located at: Scotts and Millennia Walk

Tel: +65 6836 9168

Join in the Koplina Jelly Club now;-)

 

Kan Pai Saturday

 

I was brimming with joy when I received the invite to try out the new buffet menu from En Japanese Dining Bar on a Saturday. This is their latest concept outlet, located in the heartlands of  Bukit Timah.

 

Mixed sashimi salad with the radish sauce to whet your appetite for more dishes to come:-)

 

A mix of Yakitori. They were barbequed with the right heat and time. Tasted great.

 

 

The snow crabs were lightly boiled. An option to eat it on its own or add to the Shabu Shabu.

 

 Yippee! Couldn't resist the beef!

 

 That was a lot of protein intake for the weekend.

 

 Sushi was superb too, with fresh catch daily. You can be sure of quality food in En Japanese Dining.

 

 

Cold Sake from the Gekkeikan Kasen. It was very easy to drink. Ideal for people like me who gets red after drinks. I didn't get red at all drinking this!

 

 A traditional Okinawa dish, highly recommended by Chef Uto Kazuto. A stir mix of bitter gourd, beancurd and luncheon meat with eggs. We were surprised"What is luncheon meat doing in a Japanese dish?" Looked like a dish from the Mixed Vegetable rice stall. Oops.

 

 Reason was this dish originated from the US troops. They just mixed what they could find, and that's it. Luncheon Meat was part of their ration. This combination somehow became a great hit and made it to the Okinawa Traditional Dish list.

 

Personally I loved these grilled scallops. Usually scallops tasted bland on their own. However, chef chose to add Mentai Sauce to them. It was simply out of the world. 

 

The never go wrong Tempura Prawns.  Big succulent prawns fried to perfection.

 

Quail eggs with Yakitori Sauce. Yums.

 

Another Chef Recommendation for carbs. It is similar to the Chinese Mui-Fan. However, the rice were stirred fried before adding on the crab sauce for the finishing touch. It was not oily, very easy to eat. Rice grains were not soggy since the sauce was put at the side. I managed to take a few mouthfuls.

 

Price is reasonable for shabu shabu and a 100+ items to choose from the buffet!

I will be back!

 

 

Check out En Dining Bar Premium Buffet Menu. Late night funk and soul with a unique blend of Okinawa folk and boss nova will entertain while you enjoy your meal.

 

En Japanese Dining Bar @ Alocassia

383 Bukit Timah Road

#01-01 Alocassia Apartments

Singapore 259727

Tel: +65 6235 0080

 

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Sunday: 6pm to 11pm

Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays: 12pm - 3pm

 

Peeps, I am giving away some vouchers for Complimentary Beef Capaccio or Maguro Tatki. Redemption is valid for a spending of $30 at the outlet. Come on, email me right now at: oinkeebabe@gmail.com.

 

To thank you my readers, please kindly quote "blogger Oinkeebabe" to get 10% off buffet or ala carte dining. This is valid for the whole month of April 2014.

 

  

  

No more Blue Monday

Monday has always been declared as a blue day. This particular Monday was an awesome day to me. Yes my hub and I was officially off from work.

Decided to pop into Jones the Grocer at dempsey hill. Never had the chance to try their breakfast before.

I chose the Egg Benedict with muffin and spinach. 

It was simply a match in heaven. The eggs blend in perfectly with the spinach, ham and muffin. I love it especially the spinach. They were not soggy and the texture was just right. Portion was not overwhelmed. For such food quality, I would be glad to splurge SGD$20 on this set.

Hub picked the Jones the Grocer big breakfast. The combination was a good mix of eggs (you can choose how to cook them), bacon, sausages, mushrooms, spinach and sundried tomatoes (my favourite). 

With so much goodies added together, SGD$24 for the set was quite a steal. 

See this happy face of mine! 

We would definitely pop by again soon for a hearty breakfast. Most likely on a weekday; I heard from the staff, weekends are really packed. Best part about the place, we could also buy the ingredients and cook it at home too. There was also free wifi and parking in dempsey was free!

Check out Jones the Grocer

Blk 9 Dempsey Hill #01-12

Singapore 247697

Tel: +65 6476 1512

Luxurious Hair Pampering with EKS

Been a while since I last blogged. Been so swarmed with work and the festivities till it took a toll on me. Today I would like to share with you on a new Hair Treatment I tried that helped me ease my itchy scalp problem. 

 

Can  you imagine marine algae can do wonders to our hair too? Algae is defined as a simple, non-flowering, and typically aquatic plant of a large assemblage that includes the seaweeds and many single-celled forms. Algae contain chlorophyll but lack true stems, roots, leaves, and vascular tissue. In EKS Spa, EKS Talassotherapy is formulated from special activemuds which is a combination of Univeral Algae powder with Aromacological Essences. Aromacological Essences is a mix of essential oils specific for scalp related problems like excessive sebum, dandruff, sensitivity and hair fall.

My scalp felt so cool during the treatment process. Really woke me up after a hard day's at work. Felt so rejuvenated after the entire session.

Hair was significantly soft and manageable. The itch on the scalp had eased. Some fizziness on the hair had diminished too.

Happy with my lovely blown-dry locks. It looked as if i did rebonding but the last and only time i did a steam bond was in Feb 2013! Amazing my hair still looked straight after the regular trims.

Hence ladies, remember regular TLC to your hair is essential to keep it in tip top condition. Can you visualise a pretty face with a head of dried leaves?

Check out the EKS Spa Treatment at Black Hair Salon. They are located at: 

180 Bencoolen Street, The Bencoolen, #01-28 Singapore 189646

Per treatment takes about 90 mins and it costs SGD$140. Bundled packages are available.

 

Triumph in the Skies

In less than three weeks, Singapore will be having the mega aviation event of the year, the Singapore Airshow. Happening once every two years, aviation enthusiats like myself will be rushing down to Changi Exhibition Centre. 

My love for such events started way back in 2008, when my friend asked me to join them for the inaugural airshow. For someone like me who hated the sun, naturally refused but was convinced to go. I finally realised the attraction. Coming up close with the amazing Real Planes! They were so huge and there were so many of them. Truly enjoyed the aerobatic displays of the black knights! I am so proud of our homegrown talents.

Excitedly looking forward to the 'inverted wrap', 'inverted helix' & 'twist and shout" never before done by a F16-fighter. 

Come on and join in for a fun-filled day on 15th and 16th Feb. Tickets are available at Sistic. Adults:$22, Child (3-12):$9, per day per entry.

All tickets are inclusive of complimentary shuttle buses from Singapore Expo.

Loving the cute Captain Leo. Looking forward to his appearance in the show. Yeah. 

I am so inspired again to be female pilot like Amelie Earhart who was the first to flew over the Alantic Ocean at age 31. Perhaps......one day.....

A red hair for the festive season

A fine head of hair adds beauty to a face. Finally got my hair coloured by chief stylist, Raymond. I really left it to him to make the decision. My only request was no bleaching to my locks please.

In the end, he did highlights with a darker base colour for me. 

The hilarious looking me

The result was a good mix of copper and red highlights with a darker base colour. It had been a while since i last had highlights done. 

A KMS treatment was done to ensure my hair would not look dry and brittle after the chemical colouring.

Kudos to their creativity. I had beautiful coloured healthy hair for the festive season. Huat arh (meaning let's prosper)!

Why not pay them a visit at: 

Black Hair Salon

180 Bencoolen Street 

The Bencoolen (opp Bugis OG)

#01-28

Singapore 189646

Tel: 6835 9976

M is for Magnum

Desserts is when Stressed spelt backwards. We cannot buy happiness but we can definitely buy Ice-cream.

Finally made it to the Magnum Pop-Up Pleasure Store. This time they shifted it to Raffles City.

The whole cafe was immaculately decorated with limited magnum pops around the store. The menu was a showcase of interesting desserts from the magnum ice-cream.

Loved the crystalised magnum...hmmm

We ordered the Lava Molten and Venice in a Jar. 

The jar came with rum alcohol, chocolate and vanilla ice-cream. Tasted aka tiramisu. It came with a stick of vanilla Magnum which was always superb.

The molten lava cakes were a bit disappointing as they were not fluffy enough. Chocolate were too sticky. Overall it was acceptable. 

While checking out the great selection of toppings, the staff shared with me, peoplr would order Chilly Flakes with Magnum. OMG! One impossible combi! I will never imagine myself eating chilli ice-cream!

I love the way they decorated this cozy cafe; kind of a nice concept. It was quite a good place to chill on a lazy weekend to catch up with friends. 

The Magnum Pleasure Store will be at Raffles City till 3 Feb 2014. Wonder where will be the pop-up store be going? 

Collagen Lifting Facial by SkinLab

It was always a pleasure to be back in Skinlab; welcoming smiles from the lovely effective and affordable treatments.

 

I was going to try out their hydrating facial with collagen.

Happily anticipating my beauty therapist for the evening.

She did a thorough cleansing for my face; followed by a painless extraction (I didn't teared while she was doing it). Thereafter she did a Rose infused cold mask which smelled really heavenly. A therapeutic 10 minute shoulder massage helped me flex my stiff shoulder muscles. 

All done, looking refreshed with no makeup. Glad I still looked presentable not scarily looking haha.

Skin felt taut and hydrated after the treatment. All products used during the facial were from Skinlab. They proved to be mild enough for my super sensitive skin, no bumps spotted after my treatment.

Following day after the facial. Makeup stayed matte for the entire day. I looked fresh and radiant. 

At the promotional $38, it was a worthy find. Using quality products and therapists, you may want to check them out soon.

SkinLab Medical Spa is located in 

#04-04 Wheelock Place Tel: 6235 3246 and #03-33 Plaza Singapura Tel: 6336 1106.

The search for the Perfect Hair

Hair will make or break your entire look. Find the right hairstylist and you can have the most perfect hair. I totally agree with that.  Hair is a woman's richest ornament.  Can you imagine waking up with a bad hair, it will really spoil your entire day.

 

The perfect hairstylist is akin to finding the right man, someone whom you can trust and gives in to your whims and fancy.

 

Finally found the salon that I had patronized since fifteen years ago. Founders Anthony and Raymond started the salon from a little corner in a HDB void deck to a popular bespoke salon in Bencoolen; named Black Hair Salon.

 

The young enterprising guys, together with a team of dedicated stylists make Black Hair Salon a popular understated salon among the different age groups.

 

 

Enjoying my regular scalp and hair treatment in Black Hair Salon.

 

The Team from Black Hair Salon 

 

More posts will be coming up on the new exciting services by Black Hair Salon. I will also showcase my hairstyles done by Black Hair Salon over the years.

 

Check them out on at: 180 Bencoolen Street The Bencoolen #01-28 Singapore 189646

Tel: +65 6835 9976

Facebook: blackhairsalon@hotmail.sg
Instagram: blackhairsalon

Till then, stay tune. Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year peeps.