dinner buffet at Marriott cafe

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normally we have this tradition with one group of friends that we will have an annual kushinbo dinner... but because Kushinbo prices had jet up so high ($70 for weekend dinner buffet), we decided to look for cheaper alternatives.... while we were searching online, I came across this UOB card 1 for 1 dining deal for Marriott cafe... the usual price for weekend dinner buffet is $80++, after 1 for 1 will be $48/pax which is still cheaper than kushinbo so we decided to give it a go =) since they had limited slots allocated for 1 for 1 customers, we had to make reservation almost 1 month ahead.... so do make reservation early...... without further ado, lets start with photos!!!

Marriott cafe

inside the restaurant

dining ware

variety of ham

seafood

some cooked food

dessert!!!

ice cream

more dessert & fruits

cooked meat

paella & offal

bread selection

salad corner

sushi/sashimi

the ambiance of the place is not too bad, there is enough space in between the tables so you wont feel very cramp & wont be disturbed when talking..... the high ceiling also give the place a grander look which also makes it feel more spacious...... as for the food wise, i think on the first glance, the food selection seem quite good.... first thing that caught my eye was the seafood section... i took a look at the online menu beforehand & i knew that they serve lobster & crab legs!!! so those 2 things were my main target =) i was also surprised that they served cooked food in le creuset cooking ware..... really  fancy..... next, let me share some of the food i ate...

seafood

cheese & some sides

more seafood

dessert

of cause those were not all the food that I have eaten but pretty much sum up what I like to eat.... SEAFOOD!!! the lobster claws were GREAT!!! juicy, quite sweet & best thing was that they were de-shelled!!! so you can pretty much just bite off the chunky meat!!!! think i ate like 10 pieces of lobster claws..... crab wise was a little disappointing, i prefer kushinbo for that.... for those who love oyster, marriott cafe is the place for you.... I am not an oyster fan so i just gotten one piece to try & woooo, it tasted really fresh wor.....

for the cooked meat section, i only gotten pork knuckle since i dont really like roast beef & i dont take mutton.... perhaps i am more of a chinese roast pork fan, i didnt like the pork knuckle there, it was too salty.... i tried abit of other food section & they were ok, not really fantastic to me.... BUT BUT BUT their dessert selection really worth mentioning.... quite a wide variety i would say, there was a selection just for chocolate desserts.... like chocolate tart, chocolate cake, chocolate moouse, etc but i forgotten to take picture of that.....

in conclusion, i think marriott cafe had quite a nice spread of food which i believed will be suitable for majority of the population.... price wise is definitely abit steep but with the 1 for 1 promotion then i think is quite worthwhile to try especially when you want to chill out with friends =)

first day of renovation - plaster wall

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since we dont intend to do anything major, we didnt engage a contractor/interior designer so we basically took over the contractor job..... initially i thought everything is going to be simple but it turned out much more troublesome than i imagined ..... moral of the story is, unless you really doing just painting or fixing up the lights (without shifting any light points or additional power point), those really simple things, it is still easier to engage a contractor/designer.... cause you will spend so much time just to liase with the different groups of people & have to try to fit into their schedule... but anyhow, today we FINALLY start the first day of renovation!!!!

since our place already came with flooring & aircon so that's 2 big things off the load.... for today we started by layering the floor with cardboard, of cause we engaged people to do that.... it is very IMPORTANT to cover your flooring cause DONT expect those workers to be careful.... they will just throw their equipment around & if you need to do drilling & painting, the debris/paint will dirty your floor... so always REMEMBER to COVER THE FLOOR!!!! the next thing we did was the plaster wall inside master bedroom.... the irritating about flats nowadays is that, they dont come with nice flat walls... there are always some concave area, you wont get 4 pieces of nice flat wall....

concave wall

  this is what i meant... those bloody concave area actually create alot of trouble especially when you have superstitious parents.... in fengshui term, it is best to have smooth, flat walls so any concave/convex area, you need to flatten them out.... this is especially so if there is an empty area behind your bed...... cause the wall is like your 靠山 , so you dont want to have "missing support".... so to solve this problem, mama suggest to fill up the gap with plaster board since it is the cheapest option other than building cabinets in that area....

plaster wall + "shelves"

tada!!! the final product..... for those pro, they will be able to finish one small area in a day... what they did is actually cover up the area with plaster board, at the same time put in some horizontal board to act as shelves.... rather than just filling up the whole area & you lose all the space, by incorporating the shelves, it will give you extra space to keep your things =)

painted plaster wall

sorry for the awkward angle.... but the idea is that after painting over the area & you wont be able to tell the difference... you will thought that is the original design for the wall =)

we also seal up the 2 holes for bomb shelter...... i know technically you not supposed to seal up the place but it will look neater without the protrusion..... you will need to keep the metal plates so that you can put it back when you need to sell the house in future...

patch work for bomb shelter

 once you seal up the hole then you will have a nice smooth wall.... i know some people will just cover that hole with a clock but that will restrict your clock choices..... so i think it's nicer to seal up the holes IF you are doing other plaster wall work =)

birthday celebration

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happy bday to myself =) for the first time on my birthday, i had an ice cream cake!!! yeah!!!! i told hubby before that I havent tasted an ice cream birthday cake before & to my surprise, he gotten one for my birthday!!!! he was being quite secretive about it & i totally didnt expect it till he showed up in lab with the cake =)

bunny cake!!!

interior of the ice cream cake

he gotten the cake from baskin robbins..... & it's even in the shape of a bunny!!! yeah!!! (fyi: cause i love bunny =p) actually aside from the pink colouring and longer ears, i felt the cake had more of a bear face.... but who cares, is a lovely cake gotten by hubby =) i apologize for the gross dissection of the cake but basically is a chocolate ice cream cake with pink cream..... quite nice i would say =)

then for dinner, hubby made a reservation at jamie italian.... we tried that restaurant before but we would like to try the pasta since italian food = PASTA!!! & its one of jamie's specialty..... 

chive & garlic fries

mushroom risotto & some tomato based penne

as usual, the fries quantity was quite pathetic... i think the amount of fries equal to Mcdonald's small fries but it charged like $7++.... for main course, hubby gotten mushroom risotto & i gotten some tomato base penne..... pasta was quite nice but I love to have more mozzarella on top.... for risotto, the smell is pretty good, taste also quite fragrant BUT TOO SALTY!!!! we believed the extra salty taste came from the olive oil..... on the whole, the food there was not bad but choices abit too limited for us so i dont think we will frequent the place anytime soon.....

again... lets end off the post with the lovely roses from hubby =)

review: Hotel rendezvous wedding banquet (dinner)

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went to hubby's friend wedding dinner at hotel rendezvous today... i was actually quite excited since we considered holding our wedding there but couldnt get hold of the banquet staff so had to forgo it....

Location: pretty convenient i guess since is located in dhoby ghaut, about 10-15 min walk from mrt (depending the exit)... but since there isnt no shelter along the way, getting there on a rainy day will be quite tough...

Ambience: i would say is average... the hotel doesnt look very grand from outside but the interior is still quite ok... the ballroom is situated on second floor but the reception area is pretty tight... will be quite a squeeze if you have too many guests mingling there....

ballroom

the ballroom itself looks quite nice but sadly there is a pillar in front so view will be slightly compromised.... for that size, i dont think you should have more than 20 tables.... the couple had 20-21 tables if i didnt remember wrongly and the space in between each table was quite tight......

Food: some of the dishes were not too bad

menu

i think the choice of food was pretty standard.... for those who love to eat shark's fin, i guess this is one of the hotel choice for you since not many hotels still serve shark fin nowadays...

Service: ok lo, you can tell most of them were students doing part time job so they are still green....

Price: $1257++ per table for sun dinner... i think for the quality, this price is too expensive

Conclusion: the overall experience was ok but if you are really paying so much for the dinner, i would say not worth it.... unless you gotten a much cheaper deal, i dont think this should be your hotel choice, at least not top choice for me....

lightings @ balestier road

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one of the things that you will need to buy in bulk will be lighting.... for a new flats, you will need about 10 lights of varying sizes depending on the unit size..... my mama actually went around almost the whole of SG to scout for lights last year when she renovated the home & her conclusion is that Balestier road has the most number of lighting stores.... she recommends 2 stores based on the variety of lights available & reasonable prices = chan huat & lighting centre

1. chan huat
343/343A Balestier road, S(329775)
Tel: 6256 1141

bus stop at - after pegu road

 
we took bus 145 from bugis mrt station & drop off at the stop - after pegu road.... the bus stop is at this 333 bak kut teh shop.... once you get off the bus, turn right & walk in front, cross the small road, walk another 20m or so & you will reach the shop

chan huat store at level 1

lighting at second floor

this store has 2 levels, ground floor it sells accessories like bulbs, led panels & etc.... the lighting is on second floor.... since i cant take photo inside the store, i cant post photos here.... I would say the store really has quite a large variety of lights... i go for simple lighting so average price will be $100/piece (including LED panel) which i think is quite a reasonable price.... the store also does free delivery for purchase above $600

2. lighting centre
400 Balestier Road, #01-28/38 Balestier Plaza, S(329802)
Tel: 6560 5300

another big lighting store in the area which is actually located opposite of chan huat....

lighting centre, view from chan huat

pioneer bak kut teh

after you came out from chan huat, in front of you will be the pioneer bak kut teh store... there is a bridge just outside the store, cross over & you will reach lighting centre

entrance to lighting centre

lighting centre also has a wide variety of lights but personally i prefer chan huat designs.... after looking through the whole store, i only like one of the lights.... but this store sell swaroski lights so if you want fancy lighting, this is the place for you...


of cause there are many lighting stores along balestier road, do check out several stores before you make your decision.... my personally observation is that for those stores located on level one, they tend to sell lighting at a higher price, probably due to higher rental.... so do visit stores on higher levels & you may be pleasantly surprise =)

checking for defects

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I am sure most people will not be foreign with the word "defects" due to the large amount of new flats in the market... so today just want to share some of things we need to take note when inspecting defects for your new units....

1. check the tiles/flooring
i believed this is the most important things to take note of ..... for tiles, you really have to check through every single piece by knocking on all sides with an heavy object... for me, i used the handle of a screwdriver.... i know it sounds crazy to check through every tiles but believe me, is worth the effort... I am sure you guys had seen videos of cracking & crumbling tiles for some BTO flats, so do your due diligence..... for DBSS, the bedrooms will be covered with laminate flooring.... in this case, you dont need to knock on the individual pieces.... BUT check for any uneven layering or damaged laminate....

2. doors + handles
all flats will come with main door which is fire proof = you cant change the door even if you dont like the colour/design/whatever... but do check for cracks or dents ....as for handles check if there are any rusts & the locks are working properly

3. windows
most of the time, windows should be fine since they are installed by HDB but do your own checks

4.drainage
 this include all your sinks, toilets & drainage system..... for sinks & toilets, check if there are any cracks or leakage.... to check the drainage system, you need to pour down a pail of water(at one go) & monitor if the water will be drain off quickly or the water will regurgitate back.... sometimes the workers may just pour down remaining sands or rubbish down the drain, resulting in clog... same goes for toilet....

i guess these are the 4 important things which you need to check once you gotten the house keys... do rectify all the defects before you start your own renovation or else the service center people push the responsibility & claim that your own contractor damaged the items.....

my new flat!!!!

tada!!! FINALLY i received my house key last week!!!! after waiting for like 3months plus... lots of frustrating things happened during these 3 months but i shall elaborate on that in another post.... today i shall share some pictures of the unit..... so yup, i gotten the trivelis 4 room unit.... i know i mentioned in earlier post that i gave up the idea on trivelis but due to the limited supply of resales in my preferred area, we decided to go ahead with the best option at that moment..... prior to making the deposits, me & mama went down to survey the area several times & we even knocked on other residents doors, hoping to get some idea about the place & possibility of viewing their units... thankfully we managed to find several kind souls who let us into their flats & even shared their experience..... from what we gathered, the trivelis units are not as bad as what as publicized by the media... of cause the size issue is true, all the units (3, 4 & 5 rooms) are smaller than the usual BTO size and i would say this is the major downside about this estate.... the other issue about water pipes in service yard is also true, those bloody pipes are really obstructing the place... but based on feedback, other than these 2 issues, most residents are happy with their units.... hence, after much consideration, we decided to go ahead & get one of the remaining 4 room units..... without further ado, lets share the photos...

living/dining area

kitchen

service yard & the notorious sewage pipes

water heater

balcony

view from balcony

view from another side

hallway towards bedrooms

bomb shelter

bedroom 1

bedroom 2

master bedroom

common toilet

master bedroom toilet

yup, this is the current conditions of the unit.... the place looks bigger on picture but in actual fact, the unit is really small.... 80sqm for a 4 room flat... my god.... it really makes me wonder if the developer based  their designs on HK units.... super tiny..... the aircon ledge is even bigger than your kitchen, like what kind of logic is this!?!?!?!? service yard is like size of a table?!?!!??! so yes, the size issue is a real problem.... but there are only 2 of us at the moment, so the place is still big enough for us.... as for workmanship, i would say most of the things were acceptable except for wardrobes.... there are no division or boards inside, it uses this pole system... really an eye opener.... i shall post the picture next time & i bet all of you will be amazed...... depressing things aside, we finally gotten our own home!!!! next step will be doing some simple renovation before shifting in.... so i hope to share some renovation tips along the way =)