Pearl & Jade Necklace

Natural Freshwater seed pearls in white (natural colour) & blue (dyed) with a removeable butterfly Jade pendant.

Philadelphia Fish & Chips

I have learnt from my many jaunts to American Restaurant chains that "Philadelphia" means coating in a layer of melted cheese. Is this your experience as well? For example Philadelphia Steak Sandwich has a layer of melted cheese in there. Philadelphia Fish & Chips is fish wrapped in a layer of cheese before it is dipped in batter & deep-fried, etc

Pixiu Jade Necklace

Made another Jade necklace today with the Pixiu carving I got from Shanghai.

FRAUD =(

Made my first major eBAY sale today only to realize later in the day it's just another fraud case *sign*

At a time when the spa I frequent has closed down illegally too. Hope they get the owner Lia Meyrina. She shut down her facebook page when news broke late this week, suspicious right ;)

Anyway, I will be filing a claim next week against them. Looks like it might be a class action suit with over 200 registered claims so far. The government should bar permanent residents and foreigners from setting up shop here. These individuals with no commitment to our country can just close up and go home. Even the landlord & staff were not informed.

My Birthday!!!

It's my Birthday today!!!

iL Lido Cafeteria

The cheaper cousin of il Lido. Deco leaves much to be desired except for the beautiful lamps hanging on the ceiling. The interior decorator must have spent the whole budget on these lamps leaving nothing else for the other furnishings.

Prices are very affordable at approx $10 for starters and $15 - $25 for mains. I read online that their thin crust pizza and pasta are amongst their better offerings. I have to say the fried shrimp is pretty tasteless. No flavour of the ocean, sweetness of the meat or tang of spices.

Luckily, the minute steak turned out flavourful. Freshly minced herbs and garlic sauce that is drizzled onto the 1 inch thick steak and crispy fries atop a bed of shredded lettuce....refreshing to the taste buds...yumm.

XO Herbal Steamboat

My favourite steamboat joint. Old HK Street Restaurant's XO Herbal Steamboat at Balestier Road. The queues start early so come early or make a reservation. They also have XO crab beehoon, XO fish beehoon in milky soup. Their Zhi Char is also not bad.

The stock is so rich you can drink it on it's own like double boiled herbal soup. Extra shots of XO or booster of herbs can be added on for $2-$5. They start you off on a set (pic above) so you don't have to think about it. Thereafter, you can order additional portions of whatever you want.

The meat & seafood are fresh, so no worries here. Reminds me of the claypot sharksfin soup in Thailand.

We usually order some cooked items to have while waiting for the steamboat to boil. Cuttlefish with sambal kangkong is good, so is their Ha Chong Kai (fried prawn paste chicken).