Train to Busan Movie Review

Spoiler ahead! 

Please don't read on if you don't want to know about the movie details yet... (And if you haven't watch the movie, you might not be able to relate to the below too.)

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In Summary

The title says it all, the ultimate destination is to Busan and via train. But no...it's not that simple. Because the journey to Busan is filled with zombies (main obstacles) and human selfish and selfless acts.

The trailer gave a deja vu of the movie World War Z. But the zombies rely more on the human-zombie actors than the special effect. The part where the zombies piled up within the train cabin is like World War Z style.

Being a zombie film fans, the trailer got me so interested that I finally step foot into the theater after so many titles failed to do so.

The movie setting started from a regular office, to a normal home to the train and train station. The main lead who is a super busy workaholic who bought his daughter the same presents twice and wanted to make up to his daughter. So he took time off to accompany his daughter to take the train to Busan to meet up with his wife which turned out to be their last journey together.

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What I think stood out most is the totality of the story line and one action can lead to a positive/negative outcome.

In the movie, the main actor didn't want to save anyone but his daughter. When the couple (pregnant lady and husband) saved his daughter and the main actor, the main actor become a selfless person and managed to put on his heroic spirit and save the homeless man.
But what goes around comes around. They were met with a group of survivors who was all for themselves and refused to let the remaining survivors (with possible infection) to go enter their carriage. (Which is like the beginning scene where the main actor closed the door on the couple.)

But yet because of this selfish survivors' act, it triggered the old lady to open the door for the zombies (as a retribution to the selfish guys.)

Towards the end of the movie, the main actor was bitten and turned to zombie by that very selfish guy. (Once again, the main actor originally was a selfish man, and is similar to that of the selfish man. And in the end he got bitten by this selfish man? Ironic?)

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Just a thought

Sad that almost the entire main cast was gone by the end. They could have had more than just 2 survivors although this is way better than the norm 1 person survivor in other movies.

Surprisingly there were no stabbing of brains/cutting off the heads as compared to other zombie movies. Good and bad. They fought hard with their fist, which could be a bit far-stretch since zombie can bite just any parts of the body.

But definitely give them thumbs up for the idea that the zombies is blind when in dark place and react only to noise. In other zombie movies, they were attracted to bright lights/fire instead.

Question is... if the homeless man knew that it was possible to blind the zombie with his cloth, why they didn't thought about just covering their vision to avoid being seen?

Anyway, words had it that there will be a sequel and the husband of the pregnant lady will be returning (as a zombie) for the sequel!! Looking forward to the sequel!! 

Korean Drama Review Beautiful Gong Shim

Cast ^[1]

Namgoong Min as Ahn Dan-tae / Seok Joon-pyo

Bang Minah (Girl's Day) as Gong Shim

On Joo-wan as Seok Joon-soo

Seo Hyo-rim as Gong Mi

Initially it was titled as "Yasoowa Minyeo" ("The Beast and The Beauty") but subsequently changed to Beautiful Gong Shim.

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Girl's Day Minah as Gong Shim

When I looked at the title, I wondered if the story will be more focused on the female lead. I like Minah a lot, but this is a heavy responsibility. Almost towards the middle of the drama, it was obvious the focus was onto the 2 brothers than Gong Shim. (I really like Minah but) it's undeniable that the 2 brothers' story line was more exciting to watch. 

This isn't Minah first film. Previously, she had a lead role in the movie "Holly" and also acted in other movies. More recently, she appeared in the drama "The Savage Family" but Beautiful Gong Shim marked her first lead role in drama.

I came to know as Minah as part of Girl's Day and she always looked beautiful on stage apart from being a very good vocalist.

When I first saw Gong Shim (with her wig), I wasn't used to her appearance. In the beginning, it felt distant. After 2 or 3 episode down the road, the wig helped much more than I thought. It made me forgot about Girl's Day Minah and looked at Minah as Gong Shim. I really looked forward for her future films!!

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Namgoong Min as Ahn Dan Tae

It was really a wise choice to cast Namgoong Min as the male lead. Having acted in so many villain character for his previous films, this is the first time he shed off the fearful and scary side of him and showed the audience a complete different self.

The nature of Ahn Dan Tae is a bright and cheeky guy and Namgoong Min portrayed him well with his flexible acting skill. At some points of the show, I was reminded of him in "We Got Married".  Namgoong Min certainly looked comfortable in his role.

When the storyline moved on to where Ahn Dan Tae was trying to uncover the truth behind Joon Pyo's kidnapping, the transition in his emotion was well portrayed.

When he sobbed upon seeing Gong Shim's home-cook food for him, its really a superb acting!

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Beautiful Gong Shim [3]

About the story
The trailer portrayed how Gong Shim's older sister, Gong Mi, is always the focus of the family and getting the best of everything while Gong Shim is having a terrible life.

Gong Shim ^[2]

The drama started off with a brief idea how things are not going towards Gong Shim's way and she let out her frustration on her family and how they looked down upon her. She was looked down upon, but not mistreated by her family. She had to give up/give in on things for the sake of her family. She had a complete family, who was greedy for the rich but they cared for her. The bad luck and hardships Gong Shim encountered seemed to lead her to positive rewards.

Gifted in arts, Gong Shim is pretty skilled in many areas from her various part time jobs especially her character seemed to portray her as a keen and fast learner. All she really need is luck.

Although Gong Mi's despicable acts caused Gong Shim to lose out on opportunities to be closer with Joon Soo, Gong Shim eventually realize it was Ahn Dan Tae she had feelings for.
And Gong Shim became the key to help Ahn Dae Tae neutralize his pain with her smile and her sweet love.


Ahn Dan Tae ^[2]

Ahn Dae Tae's foster dad went MIA and he, himself, was framed when young. All that cultivated him to become strike to become a better man and better of all, a lawyer. It was a tough life for anyone. But he had the will to remain positive and fight for what he believe in.

An overly cheerful acting or one who is too reserve will make the character lost its balance. Namgoong Min's acting certainly give a boost to the character's will.

However, if not for the few scenes of him at the court, it would really make forgot about his lawyer profession and remembered him as a relief chauffeur.

Unlike other dramas where the secret goes down with one person and that one person only, Ahn Dae Tae had the best person to back him up upon confirming his identity, his Grandma.

There were certainly some parts towards the end of the drama the story plot felt heavy at heart but the sweet love between Ahn Dae Tae and Gong Shim quickly balanced it off.

Throughout the drama, it was clear that Ahn Dae Tae is good at analyzing, but when he almost got the wrong person, Seok Joon Soo, in trouble, it was difficult not to get mad.


Seok Joon Soo^[2]

Seok Joon Soo seemed to be the most pitiful character of all. I wonder how he hasn't gone bad or crack with all the negative aura from his Grandma.

Despite being the most sought after bachelor, he somehow had eyes on Gong Shim. Even after he was rejected and found out Gong Shim liked Ahn Dae Tae, he still had eyes on Gong Shim only.

Hopefully the drama gave him another partner as Gong Shim had eyes on Ahn Dan Tae. 

Unless the scriptwriter decided to end the drama with an open ended ending?






Gong Mi ^[2]

Gong Mi took on the family's debt and wanted a better life. While the family gave in to her demands, Gong Mi seemed to be never satisfied with what she have.

Although one can sympathize her situation, having to provide for the family, it seemed she is never satisfied with what she have and what she can get with her current self.

Her despicable acts towards Gong Shim seemed like envy and jealousy.

Fortunately, these acts in the drama were kept to a minimal. We know there is bound to be karma and for her, it having to hide her family almost throughout the show.

If only she was less self-conscious, she won't have the pressure to hide and fear.



The Gong's family ^[4]

What a pity the storyline of both fathers (Gong Mi/Gong Shim's father and Joon Soo's father) came in so late.

I had a good laugh when they met up for the karaoke session. It's a filler in between the main storyline but yet totally worth the time.

If they had shown more of the fathers' interaction than the mothers'...

But who would forget the scene where Gong Mi/Gong Shim's mother threw Joon Soo's mother.. It was epic!

On the whole, the chemistry of the entire casts was great. It would definitely be fun if they could show more of the behind the scenes footage!

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Source: 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautiful_Gong_Shim
[2] http://la18.tv/ko/korean-prog/pretty-ugly/
[3] http://www.koreandrama.org/beautiful-gong-shim/
[4] http://www.dramabeans.com/2016/05/namgoong-min-minah-are-all-smiles-for-beautiful-gong-shim/

Foodie Times: McDonald New Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger with Salt & Pepper Crab flavored Twister Fries and Banana Pie

Cost: $9 

- Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger 

- Salt & Pepper Crab flavored Twister Fries 

- Banana Pie 

- Coke 

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger (Burger Bread View)

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger (Salted Egg Yolk View)

By the time I get to eat it, the salted egg yolk was a bit dried up. The taste of the salted egg yolk was still surprisingly obvious (as I had the Manhattan Salted Egg Yolk Dory Fish and the salted egg yolk paste was quite flat). Chicken was crispy, plenty of vegetable, bread was bread. After the first few bites, I found it a bit too plain and I added in the MacDonald's Garlic Chilli Sauce. Although it tasted better but the salted egg yolk was covered up by the chilli. For those who prefer salted egg yolk, don't add in other sauce.

Salt & Pepper Crab flavoured Twister Fries 

Sorry, no photo as I was too focus on the burger and the banana pie. 

The twister fries always make my day (unless I got a packet of real cold or soggy fries)  I always give this a thumbsup. Just the lady who packed my meal forgot to give me the shaker bag so I can only dip the Fries with Salt & Pepper Crab powder instead of 'coating them'.  With the powder, the twister fries original taste was further enhanced. 

Banana Pie

For those who thought the banana pie is something towards our local snack, fried banana pisang goreng, please DON'T!

When I took the first bite, the crust, just like the apple pie, was crispy but the filling... Pardon my limited taste for banana but I thought it doesn't seemed like the pisang goreng banana taste. It's is nice fragrant and with small chunks of banana, BUT it is not what I have expected. 

I would choose to have the apple pie instead.

Go for the burger and the twister fries!!

Movie Reviews: Annabelle 2014

Cast^[1]
Annabelle Wallis as Mia Form
Ward Horton as John Form
Tony Amendola as Father Perez
Alfre Woodard as Evelyn
Kerry O'Malley as Sharon Higgins
Brian Howe as Pete Higgins

Eric Ladin as Detective Clarkin
Ivar Brogger as Dr. Burgher
Gabriel Bateman as Robert
Shiloh Nelson as Nancy
Tree O'Toole as Thin Woman; Annabelle Higgins
Keira Daniels as 7-year-old Annabelle Higgins
Robin Pearson Rose as the Mother
Morganna May as Debbie
Christopher Shaw as Fuller

Israel Baldecañas as Demonic figure

My Synopsis:
A family who went through a terrible incident while awaiting for their baby's arrival. Wanting a change in their environment after their baby arrival, the family thought everything is over but only to encounter further mysterious/frightening events which led to a person's death.

My review:
The movie tells the tale of the doll's origin, how it was possessed by the spirit and the haunting before it ended up with the next victim's hand. The audio effects were scary enough to make me lowered down my speakers' volume while some of the haunting moments freaked me out.

I have thought the story was from actual events but only to find information stating about this movie being inspired by Annabelle, the real doll. Annabelle, existed in real life but the actual doll was less creepy looking (so yes, it's not the same as shown/used in the movie.)

At the end of the movie, I would have thought it could also be a psychology problem with the female lead character, Mia. Although there were many occurrences, but it seemed to be encountered mostly by Mia and the haunting/events could be explained in the scientific point of view OR the supernatural point of view.

For example:

The sewing machine
The sewing machine was on in the middle of the night. Could be power trip, could be the doll's mischief act.

The drawing
Like what John mentioned, it could be the kid's drawing for fun but it could be the work of the spirit/devil.

Storage level
At the storage level: the dim lights, the trolley and the demon, no one came to her rescue and her injuries was cured immediately? So did it actually happened or just in her mind?

The Symbol
Mia contacted the sheriff for the evidences and recognized the symbol. On that fateful day when she was stabbed, before she passed out, she could have subconsciously saw the symbol and imprinted in her memory.

The Sacrifice 
At the end, the result of the person's death didn't solve the doll's demand too. It could have either been picked up by someone else (although it might seemed weird to pick up the doll from a dead perso's side) or  ran away on its own.

I think it kind of let the audience decide which to believe, the scientific way or the supernatural existence.

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[1] Cast Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annabelle_(film)

Official Link to Annabelle the Movie
Read more about the actual Annabelle doll here 

Short Getaway 4D3N Penang Day 1 - SG > PG

Due to our impromptu arrangement, it wasn't a budget trip. Priority towards comfort vs cost + easier location to shopping area.

Travelled via Tiger Air, the Friday Afternoon flight and returned on Tuesday Afternoon flight proved to be less budget especially we only had 1 * 20kg check-in 20kg luggage.

Accommodation: St Giles Wembley Hotel Stay 4D3N 

Room Type: Superior King Room (without breakfast) - $314.82

The good thing to fly to Penang is the time spent. It was roughly 1hr + flight so despite not the seats weren't comfy, just endured a while, enjoy the view and we reached Penang.

An afternoon flight, we reached Penang around 3pm. Got a taxi through the taxi counter (admin charges applied), we got to the hotel just in time to check in.

The hotel room was clean, neat and good location to the shopping mall but not linked directly as compared to Hotel Jen, which is just directly opposite our hotel. Spacious room with TV, cupboard, safe, luggage area, electric flask, full sets of toiletries, hair blower and iron. No bath tub and that is fine for me.

I wasn't able to get a room with great view despite high floor as we booked too last minute. We also couldn't get a non-smoking room. I won't recommend staying at the smoking room because the smell lingers despite the hotel staff assured us it won't. Even deodorized the room with air freshener, but didn't help much as the smell still lingered. We switched off the aircon for a while to reduce the smell.

The hotel's swimming pool

We headed straight to Parkson 1st Avenue, followed by Prangin Mall and Komtar Shopping Mall. (all by foot) as the 3 shopping mall are just next to each other. 

We wandered around the shopping mall and came across this stall and really nice chendol. Highly recommended. The coconut base was light and mild sweetness that kept me wanting for more while the chendol was soft, plenty and nice to bite in.

As we only had half a day's time after we reached Penang, we only managed to explore the nearby shopping malls and settled for earlier dinner at one of the cafe in the shopping mall.

Fast food outlets, snacks (sushi and finger food) stores and bakery were all within the shopping mall.

Before we head back to hotel, we went to a bakery to grab some buns (there were time sales discount) for supper/breakfast. 

Night view view from our room.

Foodie Times: Yong Tau Foo (Food to try in Singapore)

One of the food to recommend and commonly found in almost every food court/hawker centre would be Yong Tau Foo.

Have it for a heavy breakfast or lunch or dinner, it's a "any time can eat" choice. There is a wide variety of ingredients from fried to non fried, vegetables, beancurd stuffed with fish/seafood fillings, ngoh hiang, fishball, tofu, hotdog, etc etc

Basically the stall will have the food laid nicely at their front counter/rack. With a bowl and a tong, just grab the ingredients (usually I stopped at their minimum number of pieces needed to ordered). I always ordered it with yellow noodle without any soup or gravy and add on a lot of sweet sauce. But at times when I craved for hot and spicy, I will go for curry/laksa base. 

Previously, the stalls I visited would scald the ingredients in hot water. The fried items turned soggy after that. But nowadays, the fried items are separated from the non-fried ones. And some stalls actually re-fried those fried items. 

"Select your own" style, with sweet sauce and yellow noodle 

"Select your own" style, with sweet sauce and yellow noodle 

Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee 高記釀豆腐面

A pre-selected set which comes with kangkong

How to order: 

1. Pick the ingredients you want from their display counter into the bowl. There is a minimum number of item for a certain price. After the minimum number of item is met, additional pricing will be added (based each additional item)

2. Choose base:
-> Spicy Gravy (curry/laksa dependent on the stall),
-> (Non-spicy) Hakka Gravy (only selected stall offer this),
-> Clear Soup based or
-> Plain (they either fried the ingredients or scald it with hot water)

3. Choose noodle/rice (dependent on the stall also):
-> Huang Mian (Yellow noodle)
-> You Mian (Thin Yellow noodle)
-> Guo Tiao (flat rice noodles)
-> Mi Fen/Bee Hoon (Rice vermicelli - thin)
-> Cu Mi Fen (Rice vermicell - thick)
-> Plain white rice
-> Plain (without any noodle)

Condiments to go along:

1. Sweet Sauce - I always go for this. Don't be mistaken, this is NOT ketchup. Although it is sweet, it is totally different taste (apart from being sweet) from ketchup.

2. Chili Sauce - This is for the majority of the people I know... But there are some who actually liked to mix both sauces together (a scoop of sweet sauce and a scoop of chili sauce)

3. Sesame oil/seeds - Make it smell nicer with a tablespoon amount of sesame oil or go for a less oily version with sesame seeds.

For Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee 高記釀豆腐面, just select a set from their menu. The dish's ingredients is pre-fixed. For the condiments to go along, it would be the same as normal stalls.

Easy Cold Tofu (kewpie sesame sauce and bonkita flakes)

Easy Cold Tofu

Ingredients (Serving for 1)

150g (1/2 of a 300g) silken tofu

20g of bonkita flakes

Kewpie Sesame Sauce

1. Open the packet of silken tofu and slice in the middle. 

2. Remove half of it and drain the water

3. Place on serving plate

4. Place bonkita flakes on top of tofu

 5. Pour desired amount of Kewpie Sesame Sauce on top.

Bonkita flakes

Kewpie Sesame Sauce 

Note:

> Tofu tasted better if served cold

> For better visual, reverse sequence 4 with 5 but the bonkita flakes will fly off the plate.

> Kewpie is the brand. Can go for other brand's Sesame Sauce.

> Add spring onions for better visual 

Foodie Times: Non Entrée Desserts

Taste: 5 out of 5. 

- Chocolate Avalanche: Presentation was so beautiful and cute. When I cut a portion of the cake, a smooth running chocolate started to ooze into the glass ball below. Quickly took a snapshot, I pushed the cake and biscuit down into the glass ball to eat it together with the ice cream. The chocolate was warm and concentrated with a well-balance sweetness and goes very well with the orange tangy ice cream. The biscuit that remained crispy even when soaked in the chocolate and ice cream. The only thing I need to complain is... It's NOT ENOUGH for me! It's just so nice to eat.

Service: -  Friendly and fast. Didn't take long for the dessert to be served. Waitress was very detail. For every dessert, she personally gave the instructions from how we can get a better photo to the steps for eating the dessert.

Location: Located at the Rangoon road, it is still a distance from Farrer Park MRT. Look up for the buses which can bring you to nearest bus stop with approx. 2 minutes walk to the shop. Here's the link to their Facebook.

Price: $13.90++ for the Chocolate Avalanche.

Nano Block - Owl in the making

Foodie Times: Snacking!! Churros Churros Churros

Started with my craving for churros.. It was difficult to find in the past and I could only find them at selected cinema popcorn store. It seems to be in trend now! So here I come...

Churros 101 

(The 2 images on the right side from the top of the picture)

- Cream Cheese Churro

- Dark Chocolate Churro

Taste: 4.5 out of 5. 

- Cinnamon Churros: Realized there was a difference in length (it was longer than the churros with fillings). Better to have a drink to go along for this. It made me felt thirsty because of the sweetness and the oil/heat. Texture is a bit overcooked (quite dark color)

- Dark Chocolate Churro & Cream Cheese Churros: My last purchase for the Dark Chocolate Churros was a disappointing less than 20cm in length. Not sure if it's supposed to be that length or I was shortchanged. The first time I tried the same thing, it was way LONGER. Anyway, I still recommend to go for the churros with fillings. Better in taste and keep you going for more. I prefer the cream cheese than the dark chocolate.

Service: -  Order over their counter. (Just some nagging : The first time I was there, we were misled by the collection queue for the ordering queue. The collection point sign was blocked by the people where half of those in the collection queue are customers thinking it was the ordering queue. The ordering point/queue was blocked by their congratulation flower stands. But now that the area is unblock, no one will be mislead)

Location: Located at the 3rd floor of Bugis+, walkable from Bugis Junction (linked to Bugis MRT)

Price: $3+~ $6+/churros (depending on the type of churro ordered)

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Back Alley Bites

(The last images at the bottom right corner of the picture)

- Cinnamon Churros with Chocolate Dip

Taste: 4 out of 5. Served with chocolate sauce (can be changed from a few selection), it must be due to me still recovering from a bad cold and cough, the churros felt too "heaty" and not well cooked inside. I poured the entire chocolate sauce in to try to finish it. I read from their facebook and it was all good reviews. I should just revisit but till then, this will be my verdict for now. 

Service:  -  Order over their counter. (I remembered that day the store was almost running out of everything. And although it was a simple order, make and collect, the male cashier seemed to be a bit impatient with few customers.)

Location: The one I had was at Bukit Batok Pasar Malam.

Cost: Approx $4+

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Jimmy's Seaside Fries 

(The 2 images on the left side of the picture)

- Churros with Chocolate Dip

Taste: 3.5 out of 5. Had to pay for the chocolate dip and I regretted getting a dip. It was too sweet for me and the churros was too oily. With every bite, I could feel the oil on my lips and also, there seemed to be an extra flavor...of chicken or something savory...just not churros only. Wonder if the oil was shared with their other fried items.

Service: - Order over the kiosk counter 

Location: Located at the 1st floor of IMM, walkable from Jurong East MRT station.

Price: Approx $5 

Easy Ice Cream

Following the recipe from here

Ingredients
2 cups Whole Cream or Heavy Whipping cream (16 fl oz)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (about 14 oz)

Steps
1. Blend everything together for around 4 minutes till mixture is thick and creamy.
2. Place in freezer container and refrigerate as desire.

Optional
For flavors, add in your desired toppings before step 2 and mixed well.

For Biscuits Flavors
Oreo Flavor
1. Crush the desired amount (maybe 8 Oreo for every 1/3 portion of the mixture. DON'T make it too finely crush, try to have it as big chunks of it).
2. Scoop the required mixture amount and fold in the crushed Oreo.

For Coffee/Tea Flavors
Tea Leaves/Coffee Powder
1. The amount of tea leaves (maybe 2 tablespoons/6 tea bags of tea leaves for every 1/3 portion of the mixture) or a pack of instant coffee powder for every 1/3 portion of the mixture
2. Scoop the required mixture amount and place on a pot.
3. Warm the pot over low heat and when pot is slightly heated, add in the tea leaves or coffee
powder.
4. Infuse the tea leaves or coffee powder till the taste is to your liking and remove from heat.
5. Remove any solid residue in mixture.
6a. (Optional) Leave to cool for around 15-30 mins (till steam is not visible from mixture)
6b. Refrigerate mixture in freezer.

For Fruity Flavors
Fruity Flavor
1. Use a tablespoon of the artificial flavor essence and cut the desired amount of fruit bits into cubes.
2. Scoop the required mixture amount and fold in both the fruit bits and the essence.

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Outcome
I tried making the Oreo and Tea flavors.

-> For the Oreo flavor, the ice cream was hard. Hard to remove from freezer for a while before I can scoop it out. However, the Oreo I used was too fine/too little. Would recommend to mix in more quantity and have bigger chunks. Gently stirred the Oreo into the mixture

->For the Tea flavor, the ice cream was just right. Easy to scoop but the taste of the milk overpowered the tea. If preferred a stronger tea flavor, maybe had to increase on the quantity of tea leaves but not increasing the amount of water. Would recommend to mix in more quantity and have bigger chunks. Gently stirred the Oreo into the mixture

Foodie Times @ TOBY'S The Dessert Asylum

spicy hot wings

 chicken cordon bleu

 German bratwurst and cheese sausage

 Seek asylum

D'Lover

Taste: 5 out of 5
-> Spicy hot wings (served with garden salad): 6 pcs in total, served with salad. Can choose to have the sauce on the side for your own dipping and we opted for it. Don't worry if you are not a spicy stuff lover because it ain't that spicy. The sauce felt like assam + tomato (Pardon me if it's not assam). But have it plain without any sauce, the freshly cooked/fried wings is good enough as the wings were served hot and crispy but not too oily. With the sauce, it is a new kind of taste which doesn't burnt the tongue or stomach and still give you plenty of space for your mains.

-> German bratwurst and cheese sausage (served with garden salad and choice of fries/rice or potato salad): It's hard to go wrong with this dish and their accompanying sauce brings the German bratwurst to a better level of taste. I can't really describe it. Got to eat it personally to find out.

-> Chicken cordon bleu (served with garden salad and choice of fries/rice or potato salad) - The outer crust is a bit thick but I am guessing because of the sauce, it would be better to be thick than thin or it will be too soggy as time goes by.

-> Seek asylum - Must try this! As much as I liked their sides and main, the dessert made me go WOW! Keep me going for more!! I had tried similar dessert of this but this is the first one that make you feel comfortable on the sweetness. Must be the Baileys Irish Cream (In the picture, I have not poured them so it's not visible)

-> D'Lover: Chanced upon a post in their Facebook about this durian with chocolate dessert and being a durian lover... I made sure I ordered it. This is not on their table menu but at their cake counter. This dessert would be great IF i didn't ordered the "Seek Asylum". Not advisable if you are already feeling very full from the main course because durian + chocolate combi can be very filling for some.

Service: Service is great. We were greeted even before we stepped in. The waiter explained to us on their their ongoing promotions and was very detailed in our orders. One thing to note would be their ipad has the pictures of the dishes. Would be great if we could see those pictures on the table menu. 

Anyway, despite the busy/dinner hours, they took notice of our empty cups and refilled them without us having to request them to. Will love to revisit. Keep up with the good service and good food! 

Location: It's situated in between the location of Jurong East MRT and Clementi MRT. A bus from either MRT station will get you there. 

Cost: $60+ for 2 pax. The dessert is almost the cost of a main but it's worth trying... Better bring a partner along to share cost! :D

Foodie Review: Tea Time @ TWG Tea Salon & Boutique - The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

Taste: 5 out of 5.
-> Tea: I had the usual Earl Grey while my partner went for the 1837 Black Tea. Both tea fragrance smelled great. The tea was smooth and served at the perfect temperature that doesn't burn our tongue.

-> Muffins: I am not a muffin lover but we went for the muffins. The chocolate muffin was towards a brownie texture where the chocolate melts in my mouth. The sweetness is well-balanced. I liked it a lot!! The muffins are served with a small servings of their tea jelly and a whipped cream. I finished off the butter/vanilla muffin with the tea jelly. I would HIGHLY recommend their tea jelly! I liked it so much that I immediately purchased a bottle after my high tea. But it is indeed a pricey item (SGD $19 for a bottle)

Service: 4.5 out of 5. There is only one person who does the ushering. When seated, the waiters were very efficient.

Location: Take the Circle Line and alight at Promenade and head to the basement 2 of The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Cost: $36+ for 2 person. Note for tea time, it is required that each diner must order at least 1 pot of tea/drink. We went for the tea time set (1 pot of tea + 2 muffins/scones) @ $19 and top up with another pot of tea.