serangoon nex Archives - A Winsome Life

Our Review of the Dish:
The Salmon Sashimi was quite pricey but it was well worth it because of its thickness and freshness. Surprisingly, it complemented the Hoegaarden Beer pretty well.

Chawanmushi

Our Review of the Dish:
Chawanmushi is nothing new and it tasted rather ordinary, very much like steamed eggs. The only disappointment was that the Chawanmushi was served cold.

Cheesy Chicken Cutlet with Waffles Fries and Coleslaw

Our Review of the Dish:
Just by looking at the picture alone, you could see that the portion is really huge! Not only that, the chicken cutlet was of the right texture and was also very flavourful. The waffle fries and coleslaw that went along with the chicken cutlet was extremely satisfying for the stomach and it definitely whets up one’s appetite.

Spicy Chicken with Corn and Salad

Our Review of the Dish:
Well, this dish fell slightly below our expectations. The presentation of the dish was fantastic but when it comes to the taste, it was slightly disappointing because the spiciness of the chicken weren’t spicy enough. In fact, the taste of the supposedly spicy sauce was more of sweet, sour, and spicy; unlike the sambal spiciness that we expected.

Matcha Ice-Cream with Red Bean, Dumplings & Mochi and a Glass of Iced-Tea

Our Review of the Dish:
The Matcha Ice-Cream with the Red Bean and Dumplings were a very good way to end the satisfying dinner on a high note. However, we felt that the Mochi was a tad too sticky for our liking because we had quite a hard time removing the stuck Mochi in our teeth.

Our Overall Dining Experience:
Well, we had quite a bit of mixed feelings when it comes to the food because there were some dishes that were above our expectations while there were some that didn’t. The service was as usual, tip-top, and we have always enjoyed dining at LENAS Restaurant. The price was rather reasonable and we will definitely recommend LENAS Restaurant if you’re looking for a good place to chill-out and have a great meal with a bunch of friends. We will definitely return to LENAS Restaurant to tryout some of their other dishes!
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Wedding Diary 2 [2013 Movie Review]

The Wedding Diary 2 was released exactly during Valentine’s Day and I treated Baby to the movie right after our fabulous dinner at LENAS Restaurant [just as you have read above].

Movie Plot [as extracted from Shaw’s Website]:
Soon after marriage, Weijie and Zhixin face pressure to conceive. When it finally happens, amidst preparations for the Full-month celebration of the new family member, Zhixin’s dad Colin’s business meets with investment failures and he suffers a stroke as a result. Zhixin has to step up to take over Colin’s business.

Between ensuring that her mum Alison does not have a mental breakdown and tending to her young family, Zhixin has to run the company and deal with insubordination from the veterans. It pains Weijie to see Zhixin under such stress and he quits his job to be a stay-home dad.

Over in Penang, Weijie’s dad Ah Sai heeds Colin’s advice and expands his humble salted-fish business. As his workload increases and he shuttles between Singapore and Penang, the harmonious family starts to disintegrate.

Meanwhile, Alison is taken aback by the sudden appearance of Reese, who claims to be Colin’s illegitimate daughter. Zhixin cannot come to terms with having a half-sister and even suspects Reese of seducing Weijie. At the same time, Weijie faces much pressure being a stay-home dad taking care of Tou Tou. There is talk that he is living off his wife and the couple ends up in a big quarrel.

Amidst all these problems, one day, both Reese and baby Tou Tou disappear! Has Reese anything to do with baby Tou Tou’s disappearance? Will the couple overcome their differences?

Our Review of the Movie:
Personally, we found the movie quite humourous but at the same time, we also felt that it lacked the element of surprise. The plot was rather predictable and we probably had quite high an expectation of the movie that we probably felt that it didn’t match up to The Wedding Diary 1. Nevertheless, the movie touched on a topic that is rather close to our hearts and it is worth catching if you have the spare cash and time.

Here’s a photo of Aniu and Elanne Kwong when we saw them doing their movie promotion at KSL City Square, Johor Bahru.

Movie Trailer:

Stay tuned to more updates from us!

God bless!

Valentine’s Day Surprise for My Baby

By delta February 14, 2013

Valentine’s Day is today and having planned for this very day three weeks ago, I am really happy that my effort is going to be paid off today. By the way, in case you’re wondering, this Blog Entry has been scheduled to be published at this time such that Baby doesn’t know that it is all a surprise. 🙂
Well, I have been thinking of doing something personalised for Baby and because I made a Heart-Shaped Swiss Roll Cake last December, I decided to bake her a Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chiffon Cake for this Valentine’s Day.

This was the Heart-Shaped Swiss Roll Cake that I made last December. Not sure if anybody wants the recipe but I will probably blog about it when I have the time.

From Heart Shaped Swiss Roll Cake 2012

& this is the Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chiffon Cake that I made to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Baby.

Again, I’m not very sure whether I would want to blog about how I made the Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chiffon Cake and I will probably do so if there are tons of people asking me for the recipe.

Besides the Surprise Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chiffon Cake, Baby and I are having our Valentine’s Day Dinner at LENAS [Serangoon NeX] and a Bottle of our favourite Moscato D’Asti to go along with our dinner. So romantic right?! [hehe]. If you’re wondering why we chose to go to LENAS, it’s because we absolutely loved the place, the food, and the people.

We have blogged about LENAS before so you can check out our review via the following link: https://awinsomelife.org/2011/08/18/lenas-restaurant-nex/

Also, we have blogged about our favourite bottle of Moscato D’Asti by G.D Vajra and you can find out more about it via the following link: https://awinsomelife.org/2012/12/02/we-have-a-bottle-of-moscato-dasti-g-d-vajra-to-giveaway/

What’s Valentine’s Day without gifts right? So during the third day of Chinese New Year [while Baby was still sleeping soundly in bed], I headed over to Raffles’ Cards n Such to buy NICI’s Jolly Mah Sheep Bride and Groom.

I’m pretty sure she will love this gift a lot because we have a whole lot of NICI Plush Toys in my room! This is our current collection of NICI’s Jolly Mah [their Sheep Community]. They are really cute and we have even named them!

By the way, the NICI Jolly Mah Sheep Bride and Groom was the one and only pair that was available at Raffles’ Cards n Such and I am really glad that I gotten it just in time for this occasion! They have a whole range of other NICI products too and this is perhaps the best place to hunt for NICI’s Plush Toys!

Well, I’m pretty sure Valentine’s Day will be a blast and since this Blog Entry is a surprise as well, here’s my declaration of love for her:

Dearest Baby,

thank you for all the sacrifices that you’ve made. From the first day I met you, I knew that you were the one for me. Having gone through so much in our relationship over the last two years, I really do treasure and cherish the time that we spend together. I still remember those days when I was still in Officer Cadet School [OCS] during National Service [NS] and how you would always come over to my place to prepare with me, the cyalume sticks and dummy grenades that I need for my outfield training. In every milestones of my life, whether its NS, OCS, or ORD; you were there with me and I really appreciate having you in my life.

You have taught and shown me what “it is more blessed to give than to receive” means and because of you, I have also learnt the importance of finance management. Well, on this Valentine’s Day, I hope that you like what I have prepared for you and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you, every single day, every single minute. Happy Valentine’s Day! Love you!

With Much Love,
dEaRdEaR

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Well, I hope this isn’t mushy for all you readers.

On a separate note, 3 of our Winsomelifers should be receiving the Sticky Ties tomorrow on Valentine’s Day and we really enjoyed organising the giveaway that was proudly sponsored by Sticky Ties. In case you’re wondering what Sticky Ties are, check out our blog entry about Sticky Ties via the following link: https://awinsomelife.org/2012/12/28/stay-sticky-with-sticky-ties/

Last but not the least, we are currently giving away one Toast Box Voucher worth SGD $5 to TWO lucky winners. All you have to do is just answer some simple questions via the following link: https://awinsomelife.org/current-blog-giveaway/

Stay tuned to more updates from us!

God bless!

A Meow Time at Pet Safari (Serangoon NeX)

By delta September 4, 2012

Hello Everyone,
just last weekend after Church, Baby and I were at Serangoon NeX to check out some laptop deals at Challenger, Courts, and NewStead, and while doing so, we decided to pay Pet Safari a visit as we wanted to look at the dogs they are selling.

However, instead of looking at dogs, we spent the majority of our time meowing away with the cats that were up for adoption. There were so many people that were also meowing together with us and seriously, the cats and kittens were just so adorable.

Well, whether you’re a fan of cats or not, the following photos will just make you go “awwwww”.

This little kitten here is rather hyperactive and it likes to meow alot. Here’s one of the volunteer from the Cat Welfare Society trying to put on a shirt for the kitten.

Here’s Baby carrying the little kitten that was rather reluctant to have its picture taken.

Cute expressions from the little kitten.

It’s extremely difficult to get the little kitten to stand still and look at the camera.

and when the little kitten does look at the camera, he always give a “what you want” expression.

This is another little kitten that we found really cute.

In fact, it likes to climb onto people’s shoulder and it is real gentle.

Well, besides the little kittens, we also saw some big cats too. This cat was really so princess-like and it is extremely clean. It’s also gentle too.

This Siamese cat was found abandoned and was up for adoption.

Just look at all the adorable cats that were up for adoption.

Here’s some close-up shots of the cats. Look at all those sleepy faces.

This is a rather sweet photo of the cat resting its head on another cat.

I personally like this cat alot but when we were there, it was rather reserved and quiet [maybe it doesn’t feel comfortable in an environment full of people].

Check out the huge crowd of people at the cat adoption fair!

Here are some of the volunteers from the Cat Welfare Society

And this “ang moh” decided to adopt one of the little kittens home. Isn’t that sweet?

So anyways, it was our first time checking out a cat adoption fair and it was definitely a heart-melting experience when we heard stories of how the cats suffered from abuse, abandonment, and a whole lot of other stories that not many people may care about. Hence, this is one of the reasons why I am actually putting up a blog post about this cat adoption fair that took place last Sunday.

How the Cat Welfare Society Came About [extracted from Cat Welfare Society’s website]?

In July 1999, a newspaper in Singapore published a report about 5 kittens being burned alive in a box. Outraged by this and other senseless acts of cruelty towards innocent animals occurring in Singapore everyday, a few friends got together and decided to help other harmless stray cats and kittens.

This was how the Cat Welfare Society began. They felt that having a Society would give them a more effective and stronger voice for the cats who have the right to be represented accurately and humanely, and the right to be free of pain, fear and suffering.

The Cat Welfare Society was officially approved and registered on 23 October 1999. It was registered as a charity in June 2004.

What Cat Welfare Society Does [extracted from Cat Welfare Society’s website]?

“Saving lives through sterilisation”

The only way to help alleviate suffering and to stop so many cats being killed is to go to the root cause of the problem — which is that of too many cats being born. In order to do this, Cat Welfare Society believe firmly in the need to focus on sterilisation.

To put it simply, the fewer cats born, the fewer cats suffer and die.

When Cat Welfare Society first came into operation, records showed that 13,000 community cats were put down every year. This equated to 35 cats killed every single day. The Cat Welfare Society found that this could not be allowed to go on and joined the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in its effort to incentivise and encourage people to sterilise community cats.

The Cat Welfare Society is also active in coordinating the sterilisation efforts of volunteers under the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA)’s sterilisation programme from 1998 to 2004, implemented after its study confirmed the benefits of sterilisation as an effective means of community cat population control.

Sterilisation as a recognised practice continues to this day. As a result, the number of cats being put down has fallen to an average of 10,000 cats per year in the last decade. In 2010, that number was at an all-time low of 5000.

This is a clear indication of the effectiveness of current strategies in stabilising and reducing the stray population. This is especially observable when volunteers, town councils and management committees work together to uphold the integrity of the sterilisation programme in their estates. Through this continued collaboration, the community cat population are brought down even further and as a result, fewer cats are sent to be culled.

“Saving lives through enriching more minds”

The Cat Welfare Society builds on their strength in numbers to cultivate a robust community outreach movement to reach more people with the message of responsibility and tolerance. Many caregivers and volunteers are already part of this grassroots movement to educate their neighbours and fellow residents as well as to help their community resolve issues related to community and pet cats.

The Cat Welfare Society believes that it takes a community to resolve a community issue and only by making a human connection can a culture of peer pressure and encouragement be created that can effectively change mindsets.

Well, if you’re a cat lover and you want to play your part in seeing lesser cats culled, you can either become a member of Cat Welfare Society, volunteer your time as a volunteer, or donate to Cat Welfare Society. In fact, I’m considering one of these few things that I’ve listed to play my part in the community. Will you? To find out more about the Cat Welfare Society and its initiatives, programmes, and upcoming events, do check out their website at http://www.catwelfare.org/

Every living thing [cats, dogs, animals, etc.] deserves a chance to live and not suffer from abuse. So, do your part by showing kindness to animals.

Stay tuned to more updates from us!

God bless!

Paradise Inn @ GreenwichV

By delta July 5, 2012

Hello Everyone,
today, I will be blogging [in detail] about my dining experience at Paradise Inn @ GreenwichV.

Personally, I have frequented Paradise Inn [Serangoon NeX and GreenwichV] a couple of times but I haven’t got the chance to really blog about my dining experience there except for a short write-up during the GreenwichV Blogger’s Amazing Race.

So, here’s how my dining experience went.

The dinner at GreenwichV Paradise Inn was planned for quite sometime already and it was hosted by Baby’s sister, Jasmine. When we were there, many tables have already been reserved so it is strongly recommended that you make a reservation in advance, especially if you are planning to dine in big groups. What I really like about the Paradise Inn Outlet at GreenwichV is the Alfresco dining area because it is quite scenic given the green surroundings. Even the dining wares have a certain elegance and class to it.

The brand of dining wares they used are known as Luzerne [similar to the ones that even five-stars hotels use]

Well, for appetisers, we were served a small dish of braised peanuts and I don’t really have any comments on it because I personally felt that the taste was quite standard.

Besides chewing the peanuts while waiting for our dishes, we got so bored that we decided to take photos of ourselves.

As always, when I eat, I always look very “buay song” until…

I find something better to do [like checking out Facebook] when waiting for my food.

The photographer of the day is none other than Baby herself!

Baby with her Sister.

Promoting Paradise Inn’s Rather Classy Menu.

Here are the 11 dishes of food that we ordered for a table of 6 people.

Seafood Fried Rice [with Roe]

Wasabi-Mayonnaise Prawns [personally, I find this dish rather unique and I quite like the Wasabi-Mayonnaise. However, comparing this with the Salted Egg Prawns, I would prefer the Salted Egg Prawns.]

Salted-Egg Prawns [I highly recommend this dish if you are looking for something that is unique in taste.]

Stewed Dong Po Pork [this dish was quite flavourful but is also quite fattening too.]

Boiled Apple Pork Soup [I’m not sure if its apple or pear that they boil that made the soup slightly sweet in taste.]

Crisp-Fried Shrimp Paste Chicken [this is one of their specialties but to be honest, I find it quite salty for my liking.]

Steamed Cod Fish with Sauce [this is absolutely quite a healthy dish and it is highly recommended to those who fancy Cod Fish.]

Hot Plate Tofu with Minced Pork and Mushroom [quite average I would say.]

Cai Xin [vegetables were slightly tough to chew and looks rather green.]

Fried Ngoh Hiang [fried to perfection and is easy to chew on. Very flavourful and goes well with the sweet sauce.]

Fried Noodles [not really that fantastic but it’s still edible.]