Italian Fine Dining

Having seen a promotion at The Lighthouse, we decided to give it a try, especially when we haven’t really tried out Italian fine dining. So just one day after we touchdown, we went on a date =)

Located right at the top of Fullerton Hotel, we were greeted with friendly staff, who offered us foccacia bread, much to my delight. I really cannot explain now much I love the bread, especially with the black olive dip! =)

While I know that they do not serve normal ice water, we had to settle with a bottle of sparkling water each. And little did we know that it cost $10 each! But then again, for that kind of money, it was really quite nice tasting. Much better than the one that we both tried out when we were at Hong Kong. That was really nasty…

Anyway, the 2nd picture on the right was a complimentary starter from the restaurant while we waited for our dishes. It was another nice tasting dish. I forgot its name, but I do remember that it has salmon in it.

Our starters are as follows:

Left: Buffalo mozzarella with candied tomato petals, green beans and caprese sauce
Right: Wagyu beef carpaccio with basil, anchovies dressing, parmiagiano cheese and mixed salad.

One point to note was that the wagyu beef was really lovely! It was like an explosion of taste within your mouth.

Our main course:

Left: Butternut squash tortelloni with light parmigiano cheese and thyme fondue, and crispy pancetta
Right: Drum wheat spaghetti, tomato sauce with fresh ligurian basil

The star of course was the tortelloni, which gotten many good reviews from others despite being so small =)

Our desert for the day: Pink guava sorbet with mixed fruits

At the end of the day, we were very satisfied customers who had a very sumptuous meal. Nevermind the fact that with fine dining, the servings then to be small, we were actually pretty full from the whole experience. I believe it must have been teh sparkling water and all that foccacia bread! =P

Bangkok Moments (IV)

17-20 July 2009

It’s more shopping madness, as we scrambled for any last minute items.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there wasn’t much, hence allowing us for more photo madness =)

Our last day was actually more of a foodie experience. Having heard of the R Burger that is due to open in Ion Orchard, we thought that we would like to try it out in Bangkok first, where it was first discovered by the Singapore actor who decided to open the franchise here back home.

And so R Burger it was for lunch, as we were treated to burgers with man-tou bread instead of our usual burger bread. And I must say, it was really nice!! Dinner on the other hand is A&W, as we had our root beer float. I never knew vanilla ice cream tasted so nice…

But what I felt overall was the most memorable of the last day was the fact that we actually caught a movie in Bangkok! Harry Potter it was, and by sheer luck or misfortune, we actually chose the theatre that was like our very own GV Gold class. With comfortable osim like cushion chairs, silk-like blankets and a pillow, we were very much indulged (minus a funny musky smell that was plaguing us from who knows where). It was really quite an experience especially when we had to stand before the screening of the movie as all cinemas would play the national anthem of Thailand.

Not bad I would say for this year’s trip to Bangkok =)

Bangkok Moments (III)

17-20 July 2009

Here are some pictures of the exterior of the hotel to kick start this entry…

I just simply love the way they furnish the place.

It makes me feel like I’m in Bali =)

Anyway, our plan for the 3rd day was to spend it at Chatuchuk Weekend Market. We only stayed there for about 1 hour only last year, because we were ill prepared for the hot weather. This time round, we thought that we were better prepared, only to know that we ended up staying for about one hour plus only! The weather once again was not at all friendly, and adding on to that fact, we just did not have much to purchase, and hence left pretty quickly too…

As a result, our aimless walk led us instead to Asia’s largest aquarium, Siam Ocean World, (of which we ended up spending quite some time there).

It is interesting how we did not see this attraction last year when we were there. And now, in less than half a year, Siam Paragon has another tourist attraction.

One thing to note is that the attraction does feature a fair bit of weird sea creatures, something which I do not see elsewhere. But I do feel that it tries to have a bit of everything, even cave creatures from the Amazon…

More photos! =)

I just love the refraction of the waters in these pictures =)

As part of our admission tickets, we were entitled to a glass bottom boat ride. Interesting as it may seem, it is actually a very short ride around the aquarium. And one has to purchase prawns to feed the fishes or even sharks if you were lucky.

The last part of Siam Ocean World was the 4D movie. There, the Boy was very much amused non-stop by all the screams of the lady tourists due to the spraying of water in our faces, and the hitting of our limbs with a thin wire located at the bottom of our chair. Such ebil-ness, haha… =)

Bangkok Moments (II)

17-2o July 2009

Our morning breakfast was at the hotel’s restaurant. The food there was not bad. Overall, they changed their menu every day while we were there, and had a good variety of food, drinks and even fruits.

And right beside the restaurant was a very pretty swimming pool! =) One can even choose to sit inside or outside the restaurant  by the pool for your meal.

After breakfast, off we went for our river tour, accompanied by an English speaking tour guide and our very own private transport.

Behold, my sleepy chipmunk face…

The trip was fairly interesting. We were brought around the river where we get to view temples and the living conditions of the people who lived in raised homes just above the river, by the river.

One of the stops we encountered was a fish farm, where we had to pay an amount to purchase bread to fish the fishes. Being the budget cheapo people that we were, we declined. But of course, that did not stop the kids from getting their own bread and feeding the fishes, much to their delight. Besides, the fishes were really huge! I’m guessing that they were at least half a metre long. Must be from all the feeding from tourists like us…

We continue to throng through the rows of houses before we got to our very last stop for the day, a reptile park. As usual, one would need to pay for the entrance fee. No surprise that we chose not to enter, as we settle for a nice quiet spot for some photo taking and chit chat =)

That pretty much concludes our river tour. Initially we thought that we would be heading to the floating market, but we were very much mistaken. Still, I guess we did not mind it, for it gave us some insight into how some of the Thais live in their country.

After the river tour, we were brought around some tourist shops like those selling jewellery, handicrafts etc, hoping that we would purchase something. No surprises again as we declined most shops, though we did come across another tailor – James Fashion International. The Boy was very much tempted to try it out. But given the fact that he had already tailored 2 pants and 4 shirts, he decided to give it a miss, though not forgetting to take down the details so that he could try out this tailor in future =)

After the tour ended, we went on for more shopping at Central World and the outdoor markets. Dinner was at MK Trendi again for steamboat. This time round, we did not scrimp as we had a sumptuous meal. Yummy! =)

And when we returned to our hotel that night, we were greeted with a very nice surprise…

Tadah!! His shirt and pants from Pinky Tailor is in!
And he looks sooo good in it =)

Bangkok Moments (I)

17-20 July 2009

With all the flu scare going around, I’m so glad that I was still able to travel to Bangkok with the Boy after planning for one for so long. This time, he got to bunk in over at my place, giving us more time to snooze before heading out very early in the morning for our flight.

An empty airport, a rare sight indeed for me.

After a quick 2 hour flight, of which I managed to nap a fair bit, we were there, in Bangkok, all ready for our shopping trip!

With us being too early to check in into our service apartment hotel Centre Point Petchburi, we were all set for our very first activty just across the street – shopping at Platinum Mall!! No photos for that as I was really busy weaving in and out of the pathways in search for any good bargain.

And after that, it was on to tailoring! The Boy found out from his friends that Bangkok is a good place to tailor anything for it is much cheaper than making suits in Singapore. As such, our first stop was Savile Row, located near to Rose Hotel. There, he made 3 shirts and 1 pants. But as if that was not enough, he went on to another tailor, Pinky Tailor, where he tailored 1 more pants and 1 shirt. If I were to compare the 2, I would say that I prefer the latter, for they were much more open with their pricing, something which I appreciate.

But before you know it, it was already late, as we retired earlier for the day. Why you might ask? Well, that’s because when we first landed at the airport, we were greeted by a concierge who said that as part of some promotion, we were entitled to one of three free half day tours. All we had to do was to pay 250 baht per person as part of government tax. So we decided to just give it a try, especially when we chose the Chao Phraya River tour, of which starts 7.30am in the morning! =)