Hello Everyone,
Baby and I recently dined at the Hot Tomato Cafe and Grill which is situated at Serangoon NeX Shopping Mall and here’s our review:
What We Ordered:
Baby ordered the Dory Fish Set Meal and I ordered the Roasted Chicken Set Meal. And by the way, each set meal comes with a bowl of Mushroom Soup and a glass of lemon tea.
Quality of Food:
In terms of portion size, both our set meals were just right. The mushroom soup was served piping hot and it was flavourful, just the way I like the temperature of soups to be. The lemon tea was usual, nothing out of the ordinary. For just the mushroom soup and lemon tea, it cost us $3.50
 |
| From Hot Grill Tomato |
 |
| From Hot Grill Tomato |
The dory fish was served with salad by the side and spaghetti aglio olio as starch. Well, the tartar sauce was tangy in taste and the spaghetti aglio olio was cooked al-dente [meaning firm to the bite]. The dory fish was cooked just right but nothing extraordinary to mention here.
 |
| From Hot Grill Tomato |
As for the roasted chicken, I was pretty disappointed because the chicken tasted really plain and the meat was quite soggy. In fact, I requested for more brown sauce just so that I can eat the roasted chicken with ease. But to be honest, even the brown sauce wasn’t that fantastic as it lacks flavour and is way too starchy to the point that it coagulates easily. All isn’t that bad though, I liked the salad for its tangy taste.
 |
| From Hot Grill Tomato |
The Service Experience:
I must say, the service rendered by the service staffs were outstanding. The service staffs were really prompt in serving us and were also very courteous.
Our Overall Dining Experience:
Seriously, I think this would perhaps be our first and last dining experience at Hot Tomato Cafe and Grill. Even though the service was fantastic, the quality of the food was simply below expectations. In total, we spend $29.20 for a dinner like this and we felt that it was way too pricey especially when the quality of the food does not match up to its value. So, we would probably not recommend Hot Tomato Cafe and Grill.
Stay tuned for more updates from us!
God bless!
Hello Everyone,
a few months back when I was just chilling at Baby’s house, we caught this Taiwan Drama Serial called the “Office Girls“. Honestly, ever since I caught the first few episodes of Office Girls on Starhub Cable TV, I found myself addicted to watching the drama serial and I just could not wait for new episodes to be released. And for those of you whom know me really well, I haven’t really been watching the TV ever since I completed my GCE ‘O’ Levels. So, thanks to Baby, I found myself addicted to TV once again and honestly, TV is actually quite a good source of entertainment, information, and education!
So anyway, Office Girls is a Taiwan Drama Serial and as far as I know, only Starhub Cable TV broadcasts this show in Singapore. [thank God for Starhub Cable TV]. And just in case you are wondering what the genre of this drama serial is, it is a romance-comedy kinda drama serial consisting of 25 episodes in total. Filming for this show started in July 2011 and the show was broadcasted in August 2011. Anyways, the last episode of the drama serial was broadcasted in February 2012 in Taiwan and hence, the show is relatively quite recent and new. [Starhub is now showing the 22nd episode I think]
Now, the reason why I am “promoting” this drama serial [no, I don't get any commission or fees from this] is because I felt that this show is really worth catching. Though the serial is only 25 episodes in total, the storyline of the show is quite solid and it is also pretty balanced in the sense that you will feel satisfied having caught this show. In fact, while watching this show, I found myself portraying all sorts of emotions like happiness, sadness, jealousy, and even anger at times. So, I must really applaud the actors, director, and crews for putting up such a fantastic drama serial because it really does bring the audience on a emotional roller-coaster ride. And… the actors are all so yandao and chio!
And by the way, they even have a dedicated website <– for the show and even a facebook page <– to connect with fans! That’s really ultra cool because you know what, the reason why Singapore drama serials cannot make it is because they lost touch and don’t connect with the audience! More often than not, Singapore drama serials are often “propagandas” and contain some messages that… … [you know I know can already]. Hence, I really really admire Taiwan for its contemporary pop culture that is so unlike Singapore!
Synopsis of Office Girls [from Wikipedia by the way]:
Sheng Xin Ren (Alice Ko) is 25 years old this year, and is a low-level staff in the sales department of Jing Shi Department Store, and has worked there nearly for 4 years.
Qin Zi Qi (Roy Chiu), 28, is son of a wealthy family who just graduated from MBA in USA and returns to Taiwan. His father Qin Mu Bai (Shen Meng Sheng/???) is the chairman of Jing Shi Department Store.
Zi Qi initially thought after his studies, his father will give him the rights to operate the Jing Shi Department Store. However, his father tells him that if he wants to take over the company, he must passes the test to work as low level staff in the sales department for 1 year, and obey the 5 rules, if he breaches any of the rules, he better be prepared to find another job.
As a result, Zi Qi comes to Jing Shi Department Store as an assistant in the sales department. In these 365 days, he not just only receive a low salary, but he will have to also accept the deployment of other staffs. He can no longer mixes around with friends, cannot drive his car, cannot shop for branded items and cannot afford to dine in a fine restaurant he also has to endure the crowded public transport everyday. His colleagues regard him as an odd job labor and often look down on him but they do not know his real identity.
At first, Zi Qi disagrees with Xin Ren who is responsible to bring him on the job, and despises her “Office Survival Guide” theory, but the “Grassroots Life Saving Theory” has managed to save him for a few times. Finally, Zi Qi got used to a normal live and after solving several major things in cooperation with Xin Ren, he also began to enjoy working in the sales department.
In order to arouse his own son’s morale who is smart but not intelligent, Mu Bai hires the person-in-charge of a well-known boutique agency Yu Cheng Feng (James Wen) as the general manager, and wants his son to battle with him. Cheng Feng’s handsome looks and his serious and responsible leadership style, made him popular not long after he joined Jing Shi Department Store, becoming the ideal prince charming in the minds of the female employees. Will Qi Zi who is jealous works harder due to the external stimulus effort?
After long time together, Qi Zi finds that he is falling in love with Xin Ren. As he realizes, Cheng Feng who he has always seen as a competitor has also began to pursue Xin Ren.
A 15 mins preview of Episode 1 of Office Girls:
One of the theme songs of Office Girls:
Well, if you really want to catch this show but do not have Starhub Cable TV, you can always find it on Youtube! Enjoy!
Stay tuned for more updates from us!
God Bless!
Hello Everyone,
we sincerely apologise if you haven’t seen any new entries this week as we are in the midst of revamping A Winsome Life and as well as restructuring the whole site. As many of you would have known, A Winsome Life is not just a blog but also a social enterprise that provides marketing services such as printing, events organising, and graphics designing. With effect from today, A Winsome Life would no longer be providing marketing services but would instead reposition itself as a lifestyle and entertainment blog.
Well, what about the marketing services that we used to provide? We regret to inform you that we have moved on to bigger projects that are currently in the pipelines and we hope that you would continue to give your unwavering support to us. We are really indeed thankful for the many opportunities that were offered to us in the last few years and it has been an honour serving everyone of our clients.
What are the projects currently in the pipelines?
With A Winsome Life solely a lifestyle and entertainment blog, we would be establishing and owning two other business entities over the next 2-4 years; one of which is an Online Store and the other a Cafe located somewhere in Singapore. As the details of the business entities are confidential, we apologise that we cannot release any details yet but we might drop some hints in our blog posts on A Winsome Life.
Performance of A Winsome Life
A Winsome Life was started less than a year ago and was initially hosted on WordPress’s site. In December 2011, we decided to host A Winsome Life on our own domain and since then, we have not regretted making the move as we have seen a spike in the number of visitors coming to our blog. In Dec 2011, we saw 1367 visitors, and in Jan 2012, Feb 2012, and March 2012, we saw 2062, 3575, and 3073 visitors respectively [as of 28th March 2012 @ 2300 hours]. In total, we have welcomed a total of 10,077 visitors over a span of 4 months. This could only be made possible because of the constant support that we have received from family members, friends, and even friends of friends. We really want to thank you for this and we hope that you would continue to give us your feedback so that we can remain relevant in the blogosphere.
In addition, we would like to take this opportunity to thank OMY.SG and Nuffnang for inviting us time and time again to numerous events, movies, and restaurants. Also, we want to thank the various organisations whom graciously hosted us and for giving us the privilege to give constructive feedback on their service efficiency and product quality. We also want to make special mention that this whole site would not have been possible if not for the service and help rendered by Vodien.
Below is a screenshot of A Winsome Life’s stats.
Last but not the least, we want to thank God for giving us the honour to serve Him in the marketplace.
Stay tuned for more updates from us!
God Bless!
Hello Everyone,
two weeks ago, Baby and I embarked on our keep-fit exercise regime and we actually blogged about our experience at the Sengkang Swimming Complex. So what is this keep-fit exercise regime all about? Well, as Baby and I want to lead a healthy lifestyle and shed some weight, we decided to take part/participate in a sports-related activity once every two weeks on a weekend.
So for this week, we actually planned a hiking trip from MacRitchie Reservoir Park to the HSBC Tree Top Walk! This is going to be one long blog entry so we hope you would read the entire entry and enjoy the wonderful photos that we have taken. Truly, this was one experience that we will never forget because we have had the opportunity to see the more rustic side of Singapore!
If you are planning to do a hike like ours, here’s some items that you might want to prepare:-
Clothings:
Dress as light and comfortable as you can. Baby and I wore a dri-fit light coloured shirt and shorts! As for footwear, sports shoes/combat boots is highly recommended!
Things to Pack:
A 1.5L water bottle filled with water, a basic first aid kit [containing antiseptic cream, bandages, and plasters], insect repellent, a camera, and a maglite torch light [optional].
For our hike, we actually chose Route 3 [its 10.3 KM long and took us about 3 hours to complete] because we wanted a trail that is challenging! Click here <– for a map of the MacRitchie Trails
Photos of our pre-hike to the starting point of our trail!
5KM to HSBC Tree Top Walk! [sounds and looks easy ah but really, it's not!]
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
On the phone with my dad before the hike…[he asked if I was having lunch at home. lol]
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
No, we haven’t even did 10.5KM yet. This is just for show.
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
A beautiful scenic photo taken by Baby
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Cub scouts participating in an event known as the International Water Day!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
The monkeys were really close to us. [machiam like going on a Safari like that]
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
and eh, these two monkeys gave us a “free show” [by literally making love in public!]
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Participants of the International Water Day
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
And so… the real deal begins. After walking for about close to 1KM, we reached the starting point of our hike!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
As we were walking, Baby took some really beautiful photos of Mother Nature
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Here’s something to note! If you are planning to go on this hike, I highly recommend that you don’t attempt this alone [although you do see many people doing so] because the stretch is long and secluded [remember the case where a lady jogger was raped and killed?]. So yes, I would suggest that you attempt this hike with a few friends. Also, I would suggest that you bring along a maglite torch for defensive reasons. In the event that you don’t have any weapon on hand, you could use the stones and bricks you find along the way as weapons too! [though I hope that nothing nasty would happen to any of you who are going for this hike]
3.9KM Away!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
The route that leads to Petai Trail! We actually just walked a little of the trail to explore and see what’s there.
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
and so… we chanced upon this small mini lake!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
finally, we are 1/4 away from the HSBC Tree Top Walk!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Can you imagine?! From MacRitchie Reservoir to Singapore Island Country Club? Must be a pretty long distance huh!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
A unique leaf that we saw! On this side, you see that it’s white in colour, but on the other side, it’s green in colour!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Stony path along the way up to the HSBC Tree Top Walk!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
I have to mention this, I actually thought the way up to the HSBC Tree Top Walk was going to be a breeze but it proved me otherwise. The road up was extremely steep and long! So, it took us quite a while to go all the way up. Look at my fat butt here trying to conquer this seemingly long and never-ending steep road!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
And finally, we have reached the HSBC Tree Top Walk!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
By the way, the HSBC Tree Top Walk is 250M in length and 25M in height! So ah… it was quite a scary but exhilarating experience for me!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
I was actually trying to force myself to smile.
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Baby smiled until so happy cause she saw how scared I looked!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Look at the green trees!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Phew… we’re finally nearing the exit of the HSBC Tree Top Walk!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Me heaving a sigh of relief that it’s finally over! And eh, the HSBC Tree Top Walk is one-way direction only. Meaning to say, once you have walked across the walkway, you cannot turn back and back out!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Baby posing a victory pose!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
So it was time for us to journey back to MacRitchie Reservoir! And well, to do so, we have to conquer a really long flight of stairs! Now this is what we would call the stairway to heaven!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Some beautiful photos that Baby took while on our way back to MacRitchie Reservoir!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Me looking tired and exhausted!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Baby admiring the breathtaking scenery!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Apparently, MacRitchie Reservoir is also quite a popular place for fishing too! We saw this man whom caught a really huge fish!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
It’s really sad to see people leaving trash behind, especially in a nature reserve! Totally no respect for the environment.
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Stony path once again! [hence the reason why we say it is highly recommended that you wear sports shoes/combat boots to prevent any foot/ankle injuries]. Also, we came across a family of 3 with a baby stroller asking for directions to the HSBC Tree Top Walk! Like ehhh… shouldn’t they have known that it’s going to be a dirt trail and not a road trail? Bringing a baby stroller is DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Oh, and Baby spotted this particular golf ball along the trail. Seriously, the trail is very close to the Singapore Island Country Club where there are golfers doing their golfing, so we are really concerned that golf balls might just come our way. So, do be careful and be wary of your surroundings! Not just that, I was walking very close to a huge monitor lizard without realising it but thankfully, Baby spotted it and shouted at me to avoid it.
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
This family of 3 turtles greeted us when we were on our way back!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Like I say, animals are really upclose and within touchable distance. So, if you encounter monkeys along the way, do not be afraid. Most importantly, DO NOT feed them and DO NOT look at them in the eyes. The whole gin gang might attack you if they sense your fear!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
And yes, you don’t get to see natural sceneries like this everyday in Singapore unless you go to the MacRitchie Reservoir Park!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Finally, on our way back, we saw this cheeky monkey seeking for food and well, it really saddens us that there are irresponsible people who just leave their trash lying around.
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Having completed the entire trail of 10.3KM in about 3 hours, it was time for us to really chill and take a break! The MacRitchie Reservoir Park has a cafe known as the Mushroom and though their prices are slightly on the high side, the portions are extremely huge too!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Chilling with a can of 100 Plus!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
We ordered a bowl of mushroom soup for $3.90 but it was quite worth it because of its huge portion!
 |
| From MacRitchie Hiking 240312 |
Conclusion for the day:
Well, Baby and I really enjoyed ourselves during this hike because not only could we keep fit, but we could also enjoy the beautiful natural sceneries of Singapore that are not commonly seen. Although we have heard of many people whom have went on the HSBC Tree Top Walk, we also know that not many people would want to go on a hike of 10.3 KM like ours but rather choosing the shorter route. By completing this long arduous hike, it gave us a sense of motivation, satisfaction, and accomplishment because we completed the 10.3 KM hike together and have taken away with us amazing photos of Mother Nature! And truly, sometimes we Singaporeans are just so busy with our work that we don’t stop and take a look around at what nature has to offer us but really, why not just take some time off and let nature reinvigorate your inner being?!
In case you are wondering, the photos as shown here are all taken with the iPhone 4GS camera. So, don’t belittle what the iPhone 4GS camera can do.
About MacRitchie Reservoir Park
MacRitchie Reservoir Park serves as a gateway to the nature reserves. It has become a popular spot for nature lovers and exercise enthusiasts. It is also a great place for morning and evening walks or strolls along the water’s edge.
MacRitchie Reservoir Park now boasts a green two-storey carpark with 300 parking lots. Its upper deck collects rainwater and channels them into a bioswale. Bioswales are landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water.
The reservoir also has an amenities centre equipped with toilets, showering facilities, lockers, drinking fountains and a food kiosk. Our reservoir deck is an ideal venue for warm-ups and for holding events like cross-country. Being a popular venue for water activities, it also has a newly improved pontoon for kayakers and our upgraded canoe shed will be ready by mid-2011.
MacRitchie Reservoir is one of the four reservoirs that bound the nature reserves. Other reservoirs include Lower Peirce Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir and Upper Seletar Reservoir. Serving as water catchment areas, forests surrounding these reservoirs are protected from agriculture activities in order to ensure the quality of water.
About HSBC Tree Top Walk
The HSBC TreeTop Walk (HSBC TTW) is the highlight of several long hiking routes in MacRitchie that brings you through different stages of mature secondary forest. The first of its kind in Singapore and in the region, this free-standing suspension bridge connects the two highest points (Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang) in MacRitchie and offers a bird’s eye view of the community of plants and animals that live in the forest canopy. The total length of the walkway is about 250m and its height from the forest floor varies, with the highest point at 25m.
Besides providing another avenue for nature recreation for Singaporeans, the HSBC TTW also play an important role in forest canopy research, an area many researchers were not able to get into because of lack of access. This bridge will help to facilitate surveys and plant identification work and further our understanding of how forest ecosystems work.
The HSBC TTW was officially launched by the Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Mrs. Lim Hwee Hua, on 5th November 2004. The event also marked the start of another collaboration between NParks and HSBC that will reap benefits for the community. As part of efforts to enhance the HSBC TreeTop Walk as an outdoor classroom to promote an interest and appreciation of the natural sciences, HSBC and NParks established the HSBC-GCF (Garden City Fund) TreeTop Walk Fund to support a host of programmes and activities for conservation, education and outreach. This includes programmes for school children, workshops for teachers, training of nature guides as well as the production of educational materials.
The distance to the entrance of the TreeTop Walk is approximately 4.5 km (1.5 – 2 hour walk) from the MacRitchie Reservoir Park and 2.5 km (45 mins – 1 hr walk) from the carpark at Venus Drive. Therefore, a round trip including the TreeTop Walk is about 7 to 10 km (3-5 hours depending on your walking pace)
Stay tuned for more updates from us!
God Bless!
Hello Everyone,
as Baby and I have been eating too much good food and growing horizontally and not vertically, we decided that it was time that we side aside one weekend to exercise our hearts out and burn some fats! So, to kick off our exercise regime, we decided to go swimming! Since we wanted to make our exercise regime fun, we chose to swim at the Sengkang Swimming Complex as they have a variety of water slides there and moreover, it was located quite near our place too.
The admission fee is $2 for adult and $1 for children on weekends and the rental for a locker to put our personal belonging cost us $0.40 for 2 hours. [quite cheap ah!]
This is the indoor swimming pool! So, be it rain or shine, you could still swim at the indoor pool and avoid the bad weather!
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
By the way, the indoor swimming pool is also a training pool, so the water depth is not that much and is very suitable for amateurs.
Seriously, the Sengkang Swimming Complex is also a really good place for family gatherings and for bringing your kids [if you have any] out to have fun. Just look at the water playground! Even Baby and I were tempted to just have some fun at the water playground.
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
And for the more adventurous and daring ones, make sure you try out the various water slides! I think I’m getting a bit old because when I had a go at the water slides, I screamed like mad and my stomach churned like crazy after the whole experience. But well, I wouldn’t mind going for a few more rounds at the water slides because it was just so exciting and fun!
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
Well… we hope that this short write-up about Sengkang Swimming Complex would get you inspired to do some swimming and also get started on planning your exercise regime!
Yes I’m fat, that’s why exercising is a priority for me now.
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
Baby’s getting slimmer, so exercising for her is not a priority.
 |
| From Sengkang Swimming Complex |
=P
Anyways, stay tuned for more updates from us!
God Bless!
