Baystreet 21
Was at Baystreet 21 in IMM for dinner last Sunday and as usual the place was filled to the brim with diners and bustling waiters. The place was so noisy you couldn't even hear what the person sitting opposite you was saying!! But besides the unfavorbable dining ambience (of course regulars who prioritise quality of food over ambience wouldn't mind the noise), the food was great as usual. We ordered their Asam Fish Head Curry, Green Curry and Fish & Chips. The Asam Fish has a more sour-ish taste to it than spiciness. The fish meat was also very fresh and tender.
The Green Curry though not as tasty and original as the ones in Thaliand, was still comparable to some offered in Singapore, such as Lerk Thai in opposite Bugis Junction. However, their's was not spicy at all, and therefore, suitable for people who would want to try one of Thailand's "Not-to-be-missed" Delicacies, minus the tongue-burning factor. Those who have tried the original Thai Green Curry across national borders could tell that Baystreet's green curry missed out some herbs that looked like green peas.
Half devoured by me >.<
My final verdit for Baystreet 21 by far would be a 7/10. What about yours?
Posted by: *-- 朋 友 --*
Snorkeling Fiesta~
Woohoo... came back last week from a 6D5N trip to Phuket & Krabi that was extremely revitalizing and "horizon-broadening". Though it's not THE shopping paradise, like Bangkok, it is definitely THE place for "sun, sand & sea" lovers, and those high on biophilia. *LOL* I snorkeled for the 1st time in my life!! And I predict that I will be back in Krabi for a 2nd snorkel! =) Though it can't be compared to the great barrier reefs in terms of diversity in the marine community, the marine life in the waters of Krabi will never fail to amaze tourists who visited the snorkeling spots arranged by the tour agents. It costed us 1,150 baht (about SGD 50) for a 9am - 4pm tour that brought us to 3 islands, namely Phi Phi Island (Mahya Beach on Koh Phi Phi Lee), Monkey Island & Bamboo island. The package includes a free lunch buffet at Koh Phi Phi. We also went to see the Viking Cave where bird's nests were collected. You could see wooden stilts all over the cave and 1 would wonder the danger of this occupation. But well, at least they get to drink bird's nest like water everyday. HAHA..
The Bamboo Island is the best snorkeling spot of all, mainly due to the fact that the marine fish there were so much fatter! Hahaa... And I managed to spot a lobster hidding in a cave amongst the corals. Its antennae are about 30 cm in length for both sides together. It's not the brownish black or greenish brown lobsters that one will see in the normal chinese restaurants, but it had white antennae, and the body was blue.. Amazing... A more common and smaller fish were swimming all around us and 'bit' my friends (but not me). Only bit me once when I was in close proximity of my friends. Weird!!? Saw a couple of clown fish and tailed a beautiful silverish blue fish with strips of turquoise and green.. At certain angles when the scales caught the sunlight, and refracted it off its body, the fish looked so angelic with a wondrous mixture of colors. Too bad I didn't have an underwater camera :( I managed to catch a glimpse of a school of fish, which were greyish in color.. They were feeding in a group, pecking at bits of food on the corals. Led my friends in search of this school, and one even mischievously dived down to disperse them. *LOL*
Most of the time I was snorkeling alone, especially at Bamboo Island. At one point, my mind began to run wild, wondering if there were water snakes or piranhas lurking around in the deep waters of the sea, hiding in some dark corners of caves or coral reefs waiting to sink their teeth on unsuspecting 'snorkelers'. Was kinda freaked out for awhile as not many people were snorkeling at the area where I was and those ugly sea urchins beneath weren't any help to calm my nerves. They were heaps of them sprouting out from all over the places!! Ewww.....
But after awhile I managed to suppress this thought, rationalized that this area should be a safe spot for tourists since they have been patronised by people for many years and no fatal accidents seemed to have happened. Finally I would like to warn all who intend to snorkel in the future to put tonnes of sunblock lotion, and I really mean lotsa of it, before going on the tour. Bring along an entire bottle to re-apply during the trip. Or else you'll end up looking like a boiled lobster. And the pain from the sunburn will last for at least a week!!
I would also like to take the chance to recommend the hotel that I stayed at in Krabi. It is called the Krabi La Playa Resort (www.krabilaplaya.com) which is along the Ao Nang Beach. We paid about SGD 80 per night for a twin sharing room. And if I am not wrong, you could get a room with your private pool and jacuzzi for an additional SGD 40 per night. We were lucky to get the Pool-side Deluxe room for a day, and we made sure that we made full use of the pool and jacuzzi before we were demoted the next day! Sobz.... The pool bar was just outside our balcony!! How cool can it be?!? My friends were joking about ordering refreshments from our balcony. *LOL*
We also visited Krabi town, where cheap roadside food stalls congregated there. It is alittle like Bugis Street, but those were foodstalls instead of clothes stalls, and is more conjested.
In Phuket, we stayed in the Karon Princess for 2D2N, which is along the Karon Beach... DUH... This beach has pretty huge waves. It was larger than the ones at Patong Beach, though the latter has clearer seawater. Karon Beach's waves actually knocked me off my feet a couple of times, and I wasn't knee-deep in the waters!! So you can imagine how strong the waves are. Moving further into the sea, the waves could bring you a meter up from sea bed. It was like a thrill ride in theme parks! The first time when I was caught by the wave and pushed underwater, I swallowed so much seawater and my nostrils felt like it was filled with salt... yuckie... I had to go back to our beach chairs to gulp down water to clear my windpipes.. "-_- After that I was more seasoned and made sure that I closed my eyes, pinched my nose and closed my mouth tight on seeing a wave coming. Next time I would bring goggles!! Such a waste that I can't see the waves engulf me...
The view of the Karon Beach from the front of the Karon Princess Hotel. The same area where we rode the waves.
Disclaimer: The first two photos are from the net and are not my own.
Posted by: Shu Hui
Exams are over...
Exams are officially over and no more books for us anymore! Well, at least not until January.. *lol* I am relieved that the papers are over, however, I am suddenly at a lost of what to do for the holidays. Guess part of me is used to having some assignments to do, report to type, research to be done or facts to be memorised... And yet now, there're nothing of this such!! Okay... I'll stop moaning and get cracking on my first mission!
(1) Plan a list of things to be done for the December holiday
Something is for sure though is that my co-blogger will have to head down Far East Plaza for our second dose of Fried Mars Bars! I've waited long enough for this moment.. We shall meet this week okay friends? ;)
Secondly, we should set a goal for this month, that's to visit at least 3 new makan places.. heheh... and then start livening up our foodie blog. Anyway, I kinda miss indonesian food at Sanur. It's quite good i must say... Let's hold our next Primary school get-together there??!
Which makan place should we head to next?? (^^,)
My dear friend, I've been craving for fried mars bars since our last meeting!! Help!! Please do tell me we could go Far East and eat it soon..... (and this time must remember to take pictures!) We were too hooked uo with eating the sinful dessert to even think of taking a pic of it for this foodie blog! They should have a stall in school! By the ways, any suggestions as to which makan place we should head to next? Maybe you could refer to your makansutra guide book, or probably venture out into the unknowns by ourselves (take the risk?).
Date with Xiao Long Bao
My debut blog-post, please enjoy!
I have been hearing and reading a lot about this petite Dim-Sum, delicately known as Xiao Long Bao but I’ve yet to taste any of them. And finally, on Thursday, my 3 primary school friends decided to bring the ignorant me to meet the delicate princess.
Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao was tucked at one serene corner of Ngee Ann City. The posh outfit, accompanied with elaborate lighting and wooden stilted walls almost made me felt under-dressed. Harried servers, dishing out trays and trays of Dim-Sum and the aroma surrounding us certainly whetted my appetite even more.
The first dish served was the Shanghai Udon. This Japanese noodles was stir-fried with cabbage, mushrooms and thin slices of chicken. For me, I think it’s a tad too oily but for the rest of the girls? All I could say was their chopsticks was never far from the Udon. Haha. The sauce was excellent – dark soya sauce with a bit of oyster sauce I think, explaining for its mixed taste of sweet and slight saltiness. It was excellent. The sauce would go well with plain rice for me!
Next dish up was the long-awaited Xiao Long Bao. Those 4 petite dumplings were snatched up within seconds as everyone tried their hands at tackling the juices that are supposed to squirt out. But, unfortunately for me, the juices was absent, let alone squirt out! Consistency in quality recommended at Crystal Jade! However, the minced pork in it compensated for the initial disappointment – the pork was sweet, juicy and soft. I was never much a meat-eater, but I really love this minced meat! The presentation however was of passable standard. I wished they could have spent more effort on placing the 4 Xiao Long Baos nicely on the mini basket!
Yang Zhou Siew Mai: This dish was ordered by me. I was expecting some juicy meat in the Siew Mai but a surprise awaited me, a pleasant one though. There was no meat, instead glutinous rice was stuffed inside the dumpling – people who swear by Atkins’ diets will probably skip this dish. These carbo-loaded Yang Zhou Siew Mai came with slightly thick skins and chewy glutinous rice. I’m a carbo-lover, so this dish won my heart over at first bite!
Next was the girls’ favourite – dumplings with chilli sauce. The clear chilli sauce is a tad too spicy for me, but the spiciness was very much welcomed by the other girls. The filling comprised of 韭菜 and pork. I think it’s because of the 韭菜 that the filling was not that sweet compared to the Xiao Long Bao. But overall, the chilli sauce and 韭菜 have won these dumplings the most favourite for the entire meal!
The last dish was deep-fried Scallion Pastry. Just in case, some of you are wondering what’s scallion?! Scallion is the young of spring onions =) basically, this pastry stuffed with scallion was deep fried. The outer skin was crispy to crunch, however after 3 bites, I felt like I’m eating a curry puff skin that’s thick and starchy. The skin felt coarse to my throat after I finished a quarter of it. But Shuhui definitely loved the skin, I’ve seen her taking out the scallion and eating the crust. How cute!! Haha..
Alright, that’s about the whole Xiao Long Bao outing. Stay tuned for our next food post okay! :p
LifangCrystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
391 Orchard Road
#04-27
Ngee Ann City
S(238872)
Woohoo.. Foodie food food
Hieya fang, if you're reading this, 'I have created an account for our foodie blog!!' Sorry for doing this before consulting you on the blog title and all, but that can be changed. No Worries! Anywayz, let our first food blog entry be at Xiao Long Bao yah? heheh.... remember to bring your camera ok?! ('cos the resolution for mine is not so good)
See ya on Thursday!! =)
