Bangkok Jam

Bangkok! Reminded me of friendly locals, rich culture, good food, warm weather, cheap clothes and nail works..people who went there will love to go back again soon!

And someone dares to open a restaurant called Bangkok Jam! I came across a poster pasted on a pillar of Wheelock Place basement. It only stated the unit number, so I was wondering if it is located in ION or Wheelock Place. I tried my luck at Wheelock and there you have it..

If we entered the restaurant 30 minutes later, we had to queue and starve and drool while watching people drink tom yum...

 New coasters that I almost wanted to bring home..the good guy on my shoulder told me not to..

 The place has black theme, waiters are wearing all black too. At 6-ish pm, the place was almost packed already!

 Colorful menu..love it..

Without hesitating, we ordered Seafood Clear Tom Yum (poh tak talay), Seafood Phad Thai (phad thai talay) and Stir-fried Minced Chicken with Basil (prad kra prow gai). Simple dishes yet traditional and will test the skills of the chef..

While waiting, my migraine was building up by the noise level circulated in the restaurant..it was almost packed (not yet fully packed) but not sure whether it was because of the low ceiling or the interior design that reflected the noises to me..it was no good..I can hear every word from people sitting around the corners, made me abit agitated. So I kept calling the waiters to pour me ice water to calm me down..and you know what? Bangkok Jam bothered to put in apple and strawberry in their ice water! So far I only experienced a piece of lemon or lime but never apple and strawberry..so refreshing..

Another thing I've noticed was the waiters were really patient with us even though they were short handed..great! I love restaurants with polite and patient waiters. They showed the spirit of Bangkok!

While struggling between the torment of noise and the enjoyment of slightly flavored ice water, our food arrived!

Stir-fried Minced Chicken with Basil ($11.90)

This looks sooooo goood right? It was good indeed..the price is slightly steep for bah chor (minced meat) rice if you must compare the ingredients but it is really a skill to be able to bring out the taste of long beans, basil and chicken, unlike other common stir fried food which has no layers of taste. Made me feel that my rice wasn't enough to enjoy the chicken..

 Seafood Clear Tom Yum ($7.90)

Arghh...this Tom Yum...the bowl was small and it was designed with slanted top..so it was not very friendly for lovey dovey who want to share the soup..design of the bowl aside, the Tom Yum was not really clear as you can see from the picture..haha..my "clear standard" is like Thai Express kind of clear..it was not sour or hot enough, just mild with Tom Yum flavour..and the squid tasted muddy..no idea what was wrong..

Seafood Phad Thai ($11.90)

Their Phad Thai passed our standards..not too sweet and really reminded us of Bangkok..Alightly greasy but still alright. You can give it a try. 

Overall, I appreciated the waiters' effort to keep up with the demands, although they made some mistake and added the next table's extra rice into my bill. I will patronize the place again during non-peak hour when there is lesser noise.

Here are my views:

Ambience 2.5/5
Food 3/5
Service 3/5
Price Affordable
Toilet Availability 0/5 (please use Wheelock Place's toilets)

Check out their nice website at http://www.bangkokjam.com.sg/

Next, River Safari soft opening!

xoxo 

Gardens by the Bay (滨海湾花园)

I had been to Gardens by the Bay once with ex-company but I didn't enjoy the trip because it was raining cats and dogs, I couldn't wait to go home. I know I will come back again when I can really enjoy myself. Last month I visited again with my adventurous dad.

Gardens by the Bay opened in 2012, built on reclaimed land. It also appeared in Mega Structure documentary in National Geographic! So proud..it was really a mega plan by extraordinary experts.

There are 3 parts that you can jalan..the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest (admission fee applies but locals have discounts!) and Supertrees. Flower lovers, you will love Flower Dome. There are many beautiful flowers and plants categorized by different parts of the world, most importantly, there is air-con! You can bring a book and sit there all day...people who are allergic to pollen, I think you will faint right at the entrance..hahaha...because there are really aloooot of flowers! Even me, who is not a flower person, became sooo busy taking pictures of each uncommon flower. Let my pictures do all the talking...

 Entrance of flower dome. You can see how the different flowers bloom..

 The famous obscene cactus..hehe

 This is a kind of cactus too!

 梅花

 Cottony plant that we buy during lunar new year.

 Drooping flowers

Nice right?!...now let's see the Cloud Forest. It is actually a man made waterfall with plants planted vertically. Once you walked into the entrance, a majestic breeze just blew my mind away...get ready to be a little bit wet..little bit only la..if your camera is not water resistant, try not to use it under the waterfall.

 Basically you are recommended to go to level 7 first and enjoy your way down.. different level has different theme. Get ready to be educated...

Do you know that the design of the 2 domes enables collection of rain water? The rain water will be used to water the plants in Gardens by the Bay! How thoughtful! Remember everyone, reduce, reuse and recycle. You will delay the side effects of global warming.

After exploring the 2 wonderful domes, you can also consider viewing the garden from top view by purchasing a $5 ticket and go up to one of the supertrees. If you are fearful of height, you can forget about this idea..

 

 Got one smart Caucasian lied under the shadow of supertree, reading a book..

After all the walking, my dad and I sat at the 2nd floor of the lobby between the 2 domes, enjoying the wind and view of marina sea..made me feel lazy and didn't want to leave the place. We appreciate the effort and brainworks to make this place come true. My dad really loves this place, I guess he will pester me to bring him here again when he comes back home again in a few months time.

How to go home from here? You can walk to Bayfront Mrt station or you can cross the overhead bridge to Marina Bay Sands and get a cab..very convenient! If you still haven't been to Gardens by the Bay, do give it a chance to impress you. I heard the night view of the supertrees is amazing too! Reminded me of Avator movie..

Next....Bangkok Jam at Wheelock Place! Staytuned!

xoxo

Paul Bakery

Finally can sit down and update this blog after a sad week. Still grieving though..I guess those who had the same experience of losing loved ones can feel for me. Anyway, let me introduce PAUL BAKERY that sits at Ngee Ann City, Orchard!

Every time I took the escalator and see the Paul, it will remind me of 2 characters: 1. my flute teacher, Paul; 2. the alien in Paul the movie..

Hehe..it's a funny alien who is soo humanized. love it.

Both characters are pleasant to me, so I thought maybe I should give Paul bakery a try. The place was indeed pleasant, seems high class and I expect service to be tip top.

 Inside of the bakery. We chose to sit outside for more privacy and peace.

I normally will order a slightly expensive dish and a normal one to see whether they worth the price. So we ordered Cafe Surprise and Escargot Raisin. 

Cafe Surprise ($12.90). It has Creme Brulee, 1/2 moelleux chocolat slice, and 2 mini macaroons, accompany with a coffee, tea or cappuccino. We added $2 to change the drink into ice chocolate drink. We had specifically asked to change the drink and the waiter had almost a 3minutes conversation with us to explain the additional charges and which cold chocolate drinks we can choose from, but the drink still end up a hot one. Maybe the waiters and waitresses should reduce chatting and increase effort in paying attention to the customers. Anyway I guess they just pour the hot drink into ice and served us because it tasted dilute, I would rather have ice milo at Mac Donalds. Sorry Paul, beside the taste of food, service shows me the standard of your restaurant too.

Their Creme Brulee's caramelized layer was very thick, almost like a piece of sweet instead of something that will melt when you put a spoonful of creme into your mouth. I do not know what the traditional creme brulee is like in France, but this is not to my liking.

Macaroons were alright, nothing fanciful, really mini. 

The  1/2 moelleux chocolat slice, which I think should be the main in the plate, tasted like a plain Jane dark chocolate cake. It can be more wet and spongy, something special. Although it indeed melt in my mouth, it should increase its texture, and not something that makes me thing "is that it?". A renowned French bakery should be more than that.

Escargot Raisin ($2.80). I hope I get the name right because I was quite annoyed by the service and the food that I forgot to take note of the name of this. It looked like the Sultana Croissant in Delifrance (without the cherry in the middle). Paul's Escargot Raisin is full of raisin and is wet enough for me, although it was quite sour because of the overwhelming raisins. Overall, not bad. 

I think people enjoyed more of Paul's bread and sandwiches, and the ambience of the bakery. Will hope to try them out some day. 

Here are my views:

Ambience 3/5
Food 2.5/5
Service 2/5
Price Slightly steep
Toilet Availability 0/5 (please use Ngee Ann City's toilets)

Address:

391 Orchard Road

#03-16/16A/17 Ngee Ann City

Tel: 68365932

Next, Gardens by the Bay! Do stay tuned!

xoxo