MASONS

I chanced upon Masons on one of the blogger's photo and since then I had been wanting to come, simply because it's too pretty. So last Friday, I dated Huifan, Lynda and Diane to come and try it out with me. But Lynda could not stop complaining of the location. Haha! But that of course was not my main concern. Masons is actually located diagonally opposite my work place. =)

Purposely dressed in black and white just for the place.

I wanted a picture with the restaurant name resting on these little pebbles. So pretty!

Calamari: While we were waiting for Diane, we got really hungry so we ordered an appetizer to share and the calamari turned out to be pretty good -- crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside, and actually pretty good on their own without the garlic cream sauce.

Diane finally appeared at 8pm.

Happy hour from 4pm to 7pm

We ordered the beef steak with fries for the main course but it was such a disappointment. Firstly they did not gave us steak knife so the cutting of the meat was an ordeal. Secondly, the cut of the meat was too thick that even though mine was medium well, I had to keep chewing to break the meat down. Thirdly because the knife they offered wasn't serrated, every cut I made on the beef caused the blood to ooze out. Yikes!

Of course I did not finish my food.

Dessert was mediocre as well. The brownie was not warm enough and the texture was actually hard on the outside and very spongy on the inside. Definitely not the way I like it to be.

Lastly, who on earth eats cream brulee with some sourish jam on the side and a piece of bread-like thingy.

Verdict:

It's definitely a 5/5 for the pretty decoration and ambience but that was the only draw for us. 

What actually keeps customers coming back is good food and good service at good prices. 

Sadly the food at Masons barely made the mark.

This is a place that I will not return.

Masons

8 Lock Road

Call: +65 6694 2216



Hai Di Lao - Mala SteamBoat

Hai Di Lao - Mala Steamboat

Finally, we were here to try the Famous Hai Di Lao which had created a lot of hype recently. Hearing so much good review about this place, especially on their service and free manicure provided during your waiting time, makes me wanted to visit this place more. But Hai Di Lao do not accept reservation after 6pm, which is quite impossible for me to go before 6pm.

Thanks to Lynette who went there to chop the slot for us at 7pm, despite reaching at 6 plus and placed reservation for 7pm, there is a long queue ahead of her. We finally got our seat around 8.30pm. It's a long wait despite it was a weekday night. The business is brisking good.

Forget about the free manicure as there is only one manicurist serving the large crowd. At the waiting area, there is free snacks, drinks and fruits provided. The pop corn is really nice, we had quite a few serving of the pop corn. By the time, we got our seat we were quite overdosed with the pop corn.

The free snacks provided during the wait, unlimited top up...

While we are waiting, we browse the menu and was shocked to see this....

If you think the queue is so freaking long because the restaurant is small, you are wrong..cause the restaurant is huge. This is only part of the restaurant. (Sorry for the blur photo)

We had chosen the black chicken and Mala broth...the broth is really GOOD!!! Seldom, when I eat Mala pot I can drink the broth as they are either too spicy or too salty. The Mala soup here is just right..yumz..definitely one of the best Mala Soup in Singapore. ($20)

Unlike other steamboat eatery, Hai Di Lao charges $4 per pax for sauces. It include fruits, peanuts and pickles as well. The fruits is the same as what we ate outside at the waiting area which is free there.

All Patrons of Hai Di Lao are provided with an apron to keep your clothes clean. They also provide bands for ladies to tie their hair, zip lock bag for handphone and spectacle cloth for those who are wearing glasses.

Dumpling ($8), the dumpling was in a very cute shape and it taste good..

Chinese Cabbage $4

Black Pork $12 & Sliced Fish $12

Assorted Meat Paste $22

US Beef Slice $18...I prefer the black pork more...

 Crispy Meat $10

Mushroom platter

Fish ball $8

Dan Dan Mian $4 ...the dan dan mian is delicious the peanut and chili oil is very fragrant

Hot & Spicy Rice Noodle ($4), it was average

Fried Rice $6 , it was average as well

Handmade noodle $3 per strand (1 strand equals to one small bowl) , it was really "handmade noodle" the Shifu will come to your table and perform his "La Mian" skill, while performing he would also pretend to hit you with his noodle....very interactive. Thou the noodle is nothing special that taste like our normal ban mian but $3 for this entertaining act ...I think is well worth it!

Overall: I think Hai Di Lau service is really remarkable. It really set a new standard for the local restaurant service standard. The waitress is very attentive, our drinks is constantly fill up. The waitor and waitress is very efficient despite the restaurant being very busy. I would really like to come back again but the long queue is making me think twice & thrice. Hopefully, they will start accepting reservation soon.

Total Damage  for 6 : $237.75

Rating : 4.5/ 5

Hai Di Lao

Add: 3D River Valley Road #02-02 Clarke Quay S(179023)

Tel : 63378626

(They operate till 3am)

Grub @ Bishan Park

I heard raving reviews about GRUB and had always wanted to give it a try but as the place do not take reservation and is perpetually crowded, I've been procrastinating. But this morning's rainy weather presented the perfect opportunity as I reckoned that people would opt to stay indoors and snooze in bed rather than head to GRUB for breakie.

We arrived at GRUB at 10ish and boy was I wrong! GRUB wasn't empty at all! But thank goodness we were seated quite quickly. We even had the choice of an indoor or outdoor table.

I received plenty of stares for wearing my rubber boots out today, but seriously, aren't rubber boots made for raining days?

:: The Outfit::

Top: Pacha Ibiza (From Spain)

Bottom: Mango

Boots: DKNY

Bag: Sophie Hulme

Mr Guan: Oh dear what should I order? I am spoilt for choice.

Beer in the morning is madness!!

Double madness!

Latte $4.50

Crispy fish burger $14

Cheeese Burger $14

Total damage : $67

GRUB

510 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 569983

6459 5743

Bishan Park

The sun came out after the heavy rain and it was time to move on to the next destination of the day.

The Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (simplified Chinese: 孙中山南洋纪念馆; traditional Chinese: 孫中山南洋紀念館; pinyin: Sūn Zhōngshān Nányáng Jìniàn Guǎn), also known as Wan Qing Yuan (simplified Chinese: 晚晴园; traditional Chinese: 晚晴園; pinyin: Wǎn Qíng Yuán), and formerly as Sun Yat Sen Villa (simplified Chinese: 孙中山故居; traditional Chinese: 孫中山故居; pinyin: Sūn Zhōngshān Gùjū), is a two-storey colonial style villa in Balestier, Singapore. The villa is now a museum commemorating Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China, who visited Singapore nine times between 1900 and 1911. (from Wikipedia)

The villa was designed in 1900 and built in 1901 by a businessman named Boey Chuan Poh, and named Bin Chan House, a name that he also gave to a racehorse that he owned. The house was sold in 1902 to Lim Ah Liang. The building was constructed in a classical colonial style and featured ornate arched windows and doors, eaves decorated with floral patterns, and movable louvred windows.

In 1905, the villa was bought by the rubber magnate Teo Eng Hock — great-granduncle of Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean — from a timber merchant for his mother, Tan Poh Neo, as a place of retirement. In July 1905, Sun Yat-sen met Teo Eng Hock, Tan Chor Lam and Lim Nee Soon through his close friend, Yau Lit, when he was on his way to Europe from Japan. In 1906, when Sun returned to Singapore, Teo offered Wan Qing Yuan for use as the Tongmenghui's headquarters in Southeast Asia. Wan Qing Yuan became the centre for the planning of numerous uprisings and fundraising activities leading to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. Three uprisings - Chaozhou Uprising (May 1907), Zhennanguan Uprising (December 1907) and Hekou Uprising (April 1908) - were planned at Wan Qing Yuan. According to the former Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Yeo, the flag of the Republic of China was sewn in the Sun Yat Sen Villa by Teo and his wife, Tan Sok Jee.

Teo Eng Hock sold Wan Qing Yuan in August 1910 and the villa changed ownership many times until it was bought in 1937 by a group of six leading Chinese businessmen in Singapore, namely Lee Kong Chian, Tan Ean Kiam, Lee Chin Tian, Chew Hean Swee, Lee Chor Seng and Yeo Kiat Tiow. In the following year, they donated the villa to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (now the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SCCCI).

After the establishment of the Republic of China, the Chinese Nationalist Government funded the refurbishment of Wan Qing Yuan and turned it into a Memorial Hall in 1940. At the same time, they gathered information and artefacts related to Sun Yat Sen from overseas Chinese communities and opened the hall to the public in 1940. (from Wikipedia)

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

12 Tai Gin Road, Singapore 327874

10am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday

Closed on Mondays

Free admission will be provided to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) all year round to the permanent galleries so there is no reason why should you miss this gallery!