Lobster & Seafood Buffet at Pan Pacific Hotel

If you have an OCBC Credit Card it would be worth ur while to check out the Lobster and Seafood Buffet at the Global Kitchen Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore. Why? Because the card holder gets to dine for free! The buffet costs $58+++ and with this promo it's definitely a great deal especially for couples.

So let's get down to business -the lobster feast. When we first walked in we were initially disappointed at the size of the buffet. Thought it was really small for a hotel buffet. But we didnt realise that the dessert was placed far away frm the main food righy by the entrance. Very weird configuration. The cold spread was also placed in a semi enclosed room thus deceptively making tge buffet spread look small.

It indeed was a lobster buffet. Chunks of shelled and deshelled lobster meat was cooked in various different ways. There was Chilli and Ginger Lobster, Tempura Lobster,Cheese Lobster, Thai Curry Lobster...there was also a cold seafood station with mussels on the shell, crayfish (slipper lobster), prawns in the shell, and smoked salmon and a couple of cold cut meats. There was also some forgettable sushi and lame salad bar. There was also a pasta station cooked for you on the spot which we didnt try, a sad looking noodle soup station and a mixed asian station that featured prawn masala, rendang and mixed seafood curry.

The various different lobster dishes were quite good. Even when I wa filled to the brim I was still wishing I could've gone back for more. The cold seafood wad actually good too. The prawns were decent size and were fresh and firm, the slipper lobsters were also big and meaty. Only wished they had oysters and sashimi. One of the best dishes was the Lobster Bisque, it was creamy and very flavourful. You could really taste the lobster essence. Dessert was also nicely presented, all in small bites - even the egg tarts and lemon meringue pie was in two bites.

The only thing that ruined the night was the annoying old angmoh guy sitting behind us with his young asian wife (not trying to discriminate just trying to set the scene here) who made the stupidest comments and rudeness to the service staff. He first asked why there were no oysters. So he was told cos it wad a lobster buffet night. He then carries on to himself and just keeps uttering 'unbelievable' to who knows who. Then a while later he speaks to the manager and says "look lobster lobster lobster. Dont u think you guys went overboard with the lobster?!" At that point i could've screamed at him. Anyway lucky for us they didnt stay long and we were left to enjoy the rest of our meal. I absolutely hate arrogant obnoxious people who are rude to ppl just because they think they're above them!

Anyway, so if u do want to try it, it's only available for friday & saturday dinners. The rest of the nights are seafood buffet minus lobster.

Ps. I wanted to take more photos but my phone was being hijacked by the little one.

Universal Studios Singapore Preview Night Experience

When Resorts World announced that they would sell $10 preview tickets for USS (Universal Studios Singapore), we couldn't be anymore excited and of course we went there the first day of ticket sales to ensure we wouldn't miss out (typical Singaporeans). A lot of ppl wonder why we would go to the park when you can't go on the rides during the preview. But hey it's only $10 and you get a free combo meal of your choice! We took it as a night out to dinner. And we were excited to be able to see what they had to offer and to take photos of the park.

The park didn't dissapoint. From the first time we stepped up to the gates we were greeted with warm and friendly smiles. This was not the type of customer service we in Singapore are accustomed to. The staff there seemed genuinely happy to work there! Why wouldn't they, I personally think it would be a great place to work.

As soon as we stepped inside Hollywood Boulevard we saw 3 characters walking around getting ready to take photos with park goers - saw Beetlejuice (honestly why would anyone want to take photos with him and he was the only one without a 'guide'), Marilyn Monroe, and Kungfu Panda.

Most people would know that the park is quite tiny compared to the other Universal Parks around the world. But they managed to pack in as much stuff as they could possibly fit in every nook and cranny so that everywhere you look there's always something to see and take a photo of. It doesn't take long to walk around the whole park, but even as we walked such a short time we had sore feet afterwards! It will be interesting to see how the park will manage when they open for full attendance. Are we gonna have to walk elbow to elbow with people?

Food in the park is fantastic. There's a ton of options. From Halal to Chinese to Indian to Western to quick bites from carts you'll never run out of options. It really doesn't compare to the parks in Gold Coast. Not only is the food really expensive at the Gold Coast theme parks, but there's also not much choices. It's pretty much the typical Burgers & Fries, Fish/Chicken & Chips. But at USS you can get Chicken Rice, Laksa, Rendang Rice, Hot Dog Set, New York Pizza, American Burger & Fries, Nasi Briyani and more! We couldn't decide what to eat, I really wanted to try the New York Pizza, I could smell it down New York land. And I was also tempted to try the Chicken Caesar Wrap with Waffle Fries, Drink and Ice Cream cone from Far Far Away Land. But since we were with my MIL, hubby opted to have us eat at Discovery Food Court at The Lost World land which served Chicken Rice and Nasi Rendang. The portions were generous and the taste was excellent! The Nasi Rendang is definitely value for money. There were big chunks of tender beef, pickles, a bowl of curry vegetable (or Lontong without the rice cakes) and your choice of dessert (greenbean soup or sago) and choice of drink.

I think one of the best things about this park is that there's a lot of rides that kids above 92cm can ride on with an adult. Even a mini coaster if they so dare. So I was glad they could cater to their little guests. And best of all, kids under 4 get in for free! :p

So needless to say I was quite impressed with the hospitality and the facilities. Oh and the toilets are aplenty and very clean too. Plenty of merchandise to choose from, some moderately priced some typical theme park prices, but I'll be sure to go back to the Betty Boop store next time. They had the cutest stuff! We will definitely be there opening week!

For complete photos of our experience, click here.

Our 2010 Jakarta trip so far

This trip is basically for us to spend time with my family while Edmund is off at re-service for his army for a few weeks. I can't remember the last time I spent this long in Jakarta, think maybe after I graduated high school in '97?

We came on Tiger Airways. It was our first time on Tiger and we had expected it to be the same as Air Asia that we took to Bali from Jakarta last time. Boy were we wrong. Firstly Tiger departs from Singapore's Budget Terminal, which in itself isn't too bad at all. There's lots of food and a handful of shops inside and a mini playground to keep the kids occupied. It even has a rather large 7-Eleven inside.

The plane ride wasn't that pleasant and I was very disappointed. Slight turbulence aside the space between the seats on the plane was excruciatingly small! It was horrible - I started to feel claustrophobic! Secondly on AirAsia planes the seats were leather seats. And on checking with my folks they said the flights to Singapore from Jakarta are also leather seats. We got jipped! For some reason I'd assumed the other budget airlines would be just like AirAsia - now I understand why Tiger has the cheapest tickets around. I just 'love' how they say "For the convenience of other passengers please do not consume outside food." So...unless i change my mind in the future....I think I'll pass on taking Tiger Airways again to another destination. I'm not trying to be stuck up, I just think comfort is important. Even my parents said Jetstar was still better.

Edmund and a couple of our friends came for the first week. Now it's so quiet without them and Caelyn misses her Daddy so much, keeps asking for him everyday and cried on the first night when she had to sleep.
Now that everybody's gone, Caelyn suddenly had the stomach flu and we've been stuck at home for almost a week now. Strangely enough I actually don't mind staying at home too much! Just great that we went out already to a lot of places in the first week.
So here are the pics so far...

Awesome Food

Great Company

Daddy and Popo and Uncle WK buying snacks.

Interesting Places

Interesting feature. The liquor bottles are upside down.

Very very long indoor slide. Goes down from 7th storey to the ground floor in 7 seconds.

somebody's going down!

'snow' falling down. Interestingly enough it's not soapy.

'Mobile' food vendors beside our car on the road. Pulled by human power! Back in the days, I would actually buy food from these mobile vendors....now my tummy's not so tough.....

Hand painted mural under a bridge advertising for a rice brand.

Hong Kong Holiday 2009 Review Part 3 - Hong Kong Disneyland

So this review is a little late. I didn't realise that I hadn't blogged about it yet. So here goes..

Hong Kong Disneyland far exceeded our expectation. We hear a lot of ppl putting HK Disneyland down - like how small it is and how expensive it is and how the mainlanders makes the whole park worse.

Well yes the park is smaller than the other Disney parks around the world but that doesn't mean there's nothing to do there and I truly believe those who say there's nothing to do there may have visited the park when it first opened prior to the additions of new rides.

And yes it is expensive to visit the park. But hey it's a theme park, give me one theme park that doesn't over charge for everything. And frankly it's still cheaper than the themeparks at Gold Coast, Australia. Foodwise it's also cheaper than the Gold Coast parks.

Mainlanders...yes there's a lot of them, but I was pleasantly surprised not to see any spitting or squatting. Although that last part is probably cos there's a lot of seats around the park. The only bad thing abt the said mainlanders is that they don't know how to line up. They see an empty spot in front of you and they just push right through like they have some kind of homing device attached to them. Wait till they push or stick out an arm across your chest like you're not even there. That's pretty annoying. Other than that most of the park guests were 'well behaved'.

The Christmas decorations and the lights were beautiful. Especially the castle and the fireworks. It's

definitely a great time to go. Just like the other Disney parks, the It's a Small World ride is jazzed up for the festive season. There are also minor differences in the rides in HK to the ones in the parks I've been to. For example the Winnie the Pooh ride here has bumps and bouncing rather than just a smooth ride. And the Jungle Cruise is bigger and more intense. Lion King show is also different - then again maybe it's just been updated.

The hotel there is perfect. There really isn't anything I can complain about it. The buffets were good and I loved how they left little gifts in the room for you to take home like the animal handkerchief towels and hotel slippers that had the mickey mouse logo on it - in adult size and children's size too! At the time there was a special promotion where guests who stay at the hotel get an extra day at the park for free. Don't forget to make a little time to view the hotel gardens as it's quite pretty. Behind Disney Hollywood Hotel there's also a playground and swimming pool.

If you do go there, I suggest go early to the park and hit Dumbo ride at Fantasyland first or Autopia at Tomorrowland. These two rides always have a 20 minutes wait for them. Winnie the Pooh ride can sometimes have a queue too, so hit that after Dumbo while you're in Fantasyland. Tip number 2, Autopia has two lines which aren't the same. If you have the time, go back in and try them both. If you don't have time then we found the right line is better. Merchandise wise keep your eyes open for purchase with purchase specials. There's also different specials at each store and even the store at the hotel. Also don't miss out on the red HKD100 goodie bags whose values could even exceed HKD300. It's definitely worth it. We got so many good stuff from them.

Hong Kong Holiday 2009 Review Part 2 - Macau

This Hong Kong trip we decided to make a stopover to Macau for 1 day 1 night. We took the ferry from the Kowloon Ferry Terminal there. To get there from our Kimberley Hotel on Kimberley Rd/Nathan Rd we actually walked across Kowloon park which in itself was a great experience. It felt very much like the Central Park of HK. It was serene and there were people doing Tai Chi and practising some folk dancing. And then to our surprise they even had a little bird sanctuary with flamingos! It was great for Caelyn to see them. Then within 10 minutes walk we had reached the other side of the park and arrived at the Ferry terminal.

Ferries to Macau leave about every half an hour. You can buy tickets whenever you're ready to go. It's roughly SGD50 for a return ticket. Not too sure if we got ripped off as the lady was calculating so fast. But I think it's about there if I remember correctly from what my parents told me. Don't worry about rushing for a seat on the ferry too because the seats are allocated. If you go around lunch time, grab a bite to eat at the Kowloon ferry terminal first because there's nothing to eat at the Macau terminal.
Having had a really bad ferry ride experience when we went to Bintan we prayed so hard that this time it wouldn't be the same. But luck wasn't on our side. It was a terribly rocky ride - in part I guess due to the drizzling rain. Tip: if you start to feel sea sick just put your head down horizontally, it helps immensely! The return journey unfortunately was even worse for us. And I put my head down almost immediately and I didn't feel sick at all. My unlucky husband however who had the duty to take care of Caelyn felt worse than I did and he usually doesn't get any motion sickness one. Poor Caelyn too....but we were very lucky she somehow managed to fall asleep on both ways. It was almost like she made herself go to sleep to avoid feeling ill.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn and it was a great hotel. Like most of the hotels in Macau, there is a free Shuttle Bus that takes you to and fro the Ferrry Terminal. The room was wonderful, it was spacious with a huge and ultra comfy bed. Location wise it was ok too, there is several restaurants within the same street. It is situated on a small street though, so there's no view out the window. If we had more time, we would've tried to stroll to the nearby Grand Lisboa Hotel and Wynn resort. I think it would've only been like 20 minutes walk. FYI Grand Lisboa Hotel supposedly has the Longest Buffet Line in Asia...yum yum :) Maybe next time....

From the hotel we took a cab to Senado Square. It's a very pretty picturesque square with the tiled floor and Portuguese style buildings. The rain made it a little inconvenient tho. If you're going there for lunch or dinner, here's a tip, the restaurants are mainly at the front of the square near the fountain. We spent ages walking around the backs trying to find a restaurant but couldn't find any. From Senado Square it is a very short stroll to the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral. We didn't go up to the ruins for a closer look...didn't think it was necessary at the time, but now I wonder what can you see from up there on the other side of the Cathedral?

We felt that when in Macau it's a must to visit The Venetian hotel. So we took a cab from Senado Square. Taxi fares here are not expensive and distances aren't that great. From Senado Square to The Venetian hotel I think it was roughly SGD10. If you really really wanted to save money, I read that you could go to The Sands hotel and casino and take the free shuttle bus from there to The Venetian. As people who've visited the original Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, we felt that the Macau one is small and lacked that 'wow' factor. Or maybe it's cos we've seen it all before? The Venetian is on another island so going there took a bit of time. The whole area where The Venetian is at and Hard Rock Hotel is called City of Dreams. I think they're trying hard to make it like the Las Vegas Strip. But it's not the same at all, for one there's practically nobody walking around from hotel to hotel like they do in Las Vegas. And two, the glitter and glamour is a bit lacking. And that generally is the feeling you get with Macau. It's a Las Vegas wannabe but it's still not quite there yet. At least in Las Vegas there's more to do than gambling.
We were gonna go to Macau Tower, but because the weather was bad, we decided to skip it. It wouldn't be worth paying to go up the tower and not see anything because it was covered in fog as it was that day.

Will we come back again? I suppose we may consider coming back again on a budget airline - bypassing the ferry - if the ticket was cheap and we had a spare few days.
Photo Album: http://reeney.multiply.com/photos/album/119/Hong_Kong_Holiday_2009_Part_2_-_Macau