The Scarlet Hotel is located along Ann Siang Road, its a boutique hotel opposite the once-bustling ChinaTown area. Today, we are visiting The Scarlet cos I have been so curious about this boutique hotel ^^' and Desire is one of the top restaurants in SG.
Taken from opposite road: The Scarlet, very beautiful architecture.
Some seats outside their first level restaurant - Desire.
Desire has got purple, red and some other colors of lights that rotate about every 5-10mins.
The deco is bold and contrasting in colors.
The waitress served us some bread and butter while waiting. The bread was not bad and that's all I remember.
Asparagus with egg and truffles $34 . K wanted to try this appetiser cos it has been featured before and besides, this dish has got truffle oil and truffle shavings.
You are supposed to mix the poached egg with the rest of the items in the plate to get the best flavour. However, despite paying $34 for this dish..there were no traces of truffle flavour which K said was supposed to be like garlic o.O?
K had some white wine to complement his meal, he doesn't like red wine.
While waiting for the main course to arrive, I started posing with his glass.
"Cheers!" and then, I noticed something is not quite right in this pic ~_~
So hence, the retake. Cheers pple!
My main course, Kurobuta Pork $40 (Chef's Recommendation). To be truthful, the crispy skin reminds me of Crystal Jade's roasted pork. No doubt this dish was tender and flavourful, it did not impress me.
K's Guinea Fowl $42. K failed to recall the taste of this dish LOL~? The brown sauce was chocolate.
Total damage was over $100, I would recommend that you visit St. Julien or even Pasta Brava for a better experience. Seriously, we didn't know what is the main focus/style of dishes that Desire aims to serve. Fusion? Western? Oh my...
I have personally been to Nirai Kanai for a few times be it Tanglin Shopping Centre or their recent newly opened branch at Liang Court. This time we are here at Liang Court to try out their new dinner sets which I say..is a pretty good deal =)
Nirai Kanai @ Liang Court has a totally different feel from the other branch at Tanglin Shopping Centre. My dad once commented "Its just built out of wooden planks picked from junk yards!"
The above is the front door of Nirai Kanai @ Liang Court.
The interior~ Each table is separated by the wooden planks which makes each table more private although you may still hear what other tables are chatting about.
K at the table, this is a 2 person table / cubicle.
For first timers, I would recommend that you try this set which has almost everything that screams OKINAWAN FOOD and this goes for $20+++ only. *Drinks not included*
The champuru, bittergourd with egg and slices of meat comes in a generous portion and 3 slices of fatty tuna sashimi *slurp* Sorry for the blur pics, cos I was shaking from hunger. Another must try food from Okinawa is pork belly, soft tender meat and fats that melt in your mouth~
Another okinawan special, the peanut beancurd. This is heavy flavoured stuff, which is unique to okinawa. A full size item would have cost $8, in this set they actually give you half size ~!
My set which consists of a bonito flavoured fried rice, a full size pork belly noodle soup with pork ribs and peanut beancurd.
The pork belly noodles were great and its also one of the must tries here. After finishing the pork belly noodles, I actually had no more room for the rice -_-'' So the next morning, K had fried rice for his breakfast. Hee~
Bonito flavoured fried rice, which was good even for next day's consumption according to K.
Both the sets came with desserts and mine was okinawan donut. Crispy fragrant sweet stuff like our fried butterfly dough.
And K's dessert was 1 scoop purple sweet potato ice cream, which was fantastic and most of all not too sweet. =)
I am really glad that Nirai Kanai has adapted their menu to include sets throughout the day and also different discount offers (like thursday was 50% off sashimi) for the week. If you have not tried Okinawan food, drop by Nirai Kanai for a refreshing experience not found in SG Japanese food scene.
This post contains some of the shots we managed to capture when the cats were feeling sleepy..
Let's start with Mama Cat, Crookie..
Evening hours..Crookie sits high on the stone bench and starts dozing off
Slowly her eyes blinks at slower frequency and...
The most lazy/sleepy kitten of the 3..Zaizai!
On K's office bag..it seems to be a comfortable haven for Zaizai and LuiLui.
On K's lap.. Its pretty weird that Zaizai and LuiLui became lap cats suddenly overnight but K was more than happy to have them laying on his lap.
Zaizai and LuiLui both on K's lap..falling asleep ~_~ Its very warm when you have two furry cats resting on you.
Zaizai falling asleep soon. Normallyafter a meal, Zaizai will curl up in a comfortable corner and start closing his eyes.
Zaizai lying on a gunny sack located near the mama shop at the void deck. He really knows where to get a comfortable nap =D
The rare pic of LuiLui falling asleep. She's one hyperactive and curious kitten *Once, she even chased a shuttlecock in play*
LuiLui on K's lap..she's a gentle kitty w.o her claws hehe~
And last but not least, buibin~
Buibin is the hardest kitten to capture cos he's not a lap cat and he's wary of HANDS.
I tiptoed to get this picture >_>
Buibin lying closer to us..but still NO HANDS pls.
Taken on 11th July night, we placed a metal plate for the kittens to eat their wet food. The last kitten to finish is Buibin. He got frightened towards the last part of the video by a newspaper moved by the wind *so cute*
About 1.5mths old in this video:
Taken on 17th July morning, we captured the picture from a distance cos the kittens are still not comfortable when we are near.
Taken on 18th July, night time..finally I saw the kittens suckling =) 3 black tails bobbing as they suckle >_< 
Taken on 12th August, LuiLui tries to suckle but Crookie seems to be weaning them off.
On some mornings/evenings, they are more active and that's when you see the 3 kittens playing on the slide. In fact, they do really climb up, slide down over and over again but within long intervals though and Crookie will be sitting somewhere, watching over them.
Can you spot the three of them inside?
Taken on 26th July:
Introducing the 3 kittens, first you see LuiLui(her crook tail) , then Buibin (distinct face) then Zaizai (striped tail)
Taken on 26th July:
The kittens have not become lapcats yet but Buibin has learnt the trick of the "trade", meowing for attention and food. Buibin seems to be the most attached to Mama Cat, crookie in this video. The mewing sounds heard are from Buibin and later on Crookie plays with him for awhile.
Taken on 13th August:
Zaizai and LuiLui on a stone bench after a meal, suddenly they start licking each other. *happens on and off between the 3 kittens + crookie*
Taken on 22th August:
Buibin and LuiLui fighting suddenly while Zaizai is playing with the toilet roll. Its fun watching them chase the toilet roll around but my camera is too lousy to capture all these -.-'
Taken on 25th August(1 month later from 26th July video):
3 kittens at play. First its LuiLui..after awhile she walks away. Buibin and Zaizai takes over and she came back again later -.-''
The cutie pies @ workplace (when they were 2+ mths old - 10th July)
This following post is all about cats. If you like cats, continue on..
The cat(we named her crookie due to her crooked tail >_>'') at my workplace was heavily pregnant till around end May. When we first saw her, she was sitting at the bus stop looking at the crowd, our impression was she's such a gentle cat. Somehow, we got attracted to her and started giving her some food in the morning.
One fine morning(2nd June 08), we went to work and saw her tummy deflated but no kittens were seen and crookie had resumed her normal activities. For nearly 2 months, no kittens were seen..I thought she ate them cos her stomach now had a bulge -.-'
BUT BUT BUT..after returning from 16days trip(taiwan/hk), we saw her and she still recognised us ^^ *I thought she forgot abt us*. While feeding her, I happened to look elsewhere and saw a kitten staring at us! the kittens are alive! Later on this week, we discovered her hiding place was not where we thought it was originally..and the kittens are well hidden inside the bushes.
General Bio Data:-
Mama Cat:
Name: Crookie or Crookie Baobao
Characteristics: Big ears, crooked tail and small mouth.
Character: Behaves like a big kitten when alone with us, responds to "chuk chuk chuk" sounds. Shakes her tail tip when we say "crookie baobao!"
Kitten 1: Pic taken on 10th July 2008
Name: Zaizai
D.O.B: About end of May 2008
Characteristics: Sharp face, slightly crooked tip tail with stripes, furry chest.
Character: Likes to sleep and is a lap cat. Falls asleep instantly when on lap.
Pic taken on 12th Aug 08, Zaizai has a sharper face now.
Kitten 2: Pic above was taken on 10th July 2008. She was too shy to come out until when 2mths old, she suddenly became sociable =D
Name: LuiLui (cantonese word for girl girl)
D.O.B: About end of May 2008
Characteristics: Crooked tail, furry chest, big round eyes.
Character: Likes to claw at anything available, active and is a lap cat. Often sits on her hind legs when playing.
Pic above was taken on 31th July 08.
And this was taken on 3rd Aug 08.Aww~
she has become much more sociable and no longer afraid to come nearer to us.
Kitten 3: Pic taken on 10th July 2008
Name: Buibin
D.O.B: About end of May 2008
Characteristics: Very straight black brown tail, furry face/chest and roundish face/body.
Character: Afraid of humans, very wary of human hands but will rub you when he's hungry. Likes meowing alot too.
Pics taken on 12th Aug 08, buibin has grown thinner in the face =(o.o)= But still afraid of us touching him =(
We saw a review on Menya Shinchan Japanese Noodle Restaurant from Hungrygowhere.com and decided to give it a try. Menya Shinchan is located at Riverside View(Robertson Quay), directly behind a restaurant selling Japanese style Taiwan food, which is pretty deserted. This explains why we only managed to find the place on our second attempt -_-'''
Pic above is the counter seats at Menya Shinchan. The restaurant is pretty small and cozy inside and some tables outside as well.
Pork soup base(heavy) noodles. At Menya Shinchan, you can request for your noodles to be soft /hard. And the noodles are actually hand-made!
Seafood soup base, there's ikan bilis on the top. Although I chose the heavy flavoured seafood soup, it still tastes pretty light to me o.O ..something like ikan bilis flavoured soup.
This is the famous Shinjiro Ramen, costs $13. Comes with lotsa cabbage(stir fried), bean sprouts, some meat and noodles(thicker than those 2 above). The soup for Shinjiro is very thick, unlike those mentioned above. Another thing to note, Shinjiro comes in a large portion, not many guys can finish it.
There's also Madame Shinjiro whereby the portion of noodles is halved, but the rest of the ingredients remains the same. No, you will not be short changed although price is still at $13, Menya Shinchan gives you the choice of apple/grape vinegar or ice cream in place of the 1/2 noodles portion.
Gyoza at $5. The rice paper is yummy~ adds flavour to the gyoza itself.
Firm fillings inside the gyoza.
Currently, I have been to Menya Shinchan for about 2 times and still discovering new favourites from their menu~
Address:
30 Robertson Quay
#01-05 Riverside View
Tel: 6732 0114
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