Photo by kaoko

My first experience with Royce’ was in ’06, when a friend specially couriered a small unassuming “care package” to me. It unraveled to reveal a slim box of Nama chocolates!

I was hooked from the very first bite, and went on to label them as little pieces of heaven. They truly are! Although some people prefer calling them the Rolls-Royce of chocolate.

Royce’ hails from Hokkaido. As a testimony to the japanese‘s emphasis on excellence, the packaging of Royce’ products is impressive.

When you purchase the candy from their stores, it is accompanied by a cooling dry ice pack and sealed in thick silver packaging. This way, shoppers can continue their spree for hours without worrying about the chocolate melting into a gooey mess!

Each box contains twenty pieces of chocolate blocks covered in fine powdery cacao. It comes with a small plastic spoon.

The 5 main flavors of Nama chocolate are (from left):

• Au Lait
• White
• Champagne
• Mild Cacao
• Bitter

Sometimes, the company also releases seasonal flavors like banana or strawberry.

Royce’ Nama chocolate (Champagne)
SGD15

Having sampled all 5 flavors at the store (yeah, they let you do that), my personal favorite is the scrumptious Champagne. Bitter trails by a close second, and would be favored by chocolate fanatics that crave the really strong and mildly bitter flavor.

The feel of the chocolate on the tongue is creamy and velvety smooth. First you taste the slight bitterness of the cacao powder, then the sweet and rich chocolaty flavor as it quickly melts in the mouth.

There is the tinge of Champagne Pierre Mignon, although it isn’t like those liquor filled chocolate where you get a burst of liquor flavor. That works for me, because I prefer the liquor to not overpower the chocolate flavor.

Photo by alpha_betical

Apart from the Nama chocolates, I heard that the potato chip chocolate is one fast seller too. Yes, that’s right. Chocolate-coated potato chips — two sins in one! As far as snacks go, this may well be the most sinful one! I hesitate to try it as it seems pretty lethal on the throat.

Photo by alpha_betical

To get a taste of Royce’ magnificent candy, pop by one of their concept stores, where Japanese sales attendants would be more than happy to let you sample all five flavors. This store at Ion Orchard boasts a clean, white, almost clinical look, with refrigerators built into the wall.

Photo by chooyutshing

May I also add that Royce’ chocolates is one of the best gifts from the “simple and affordable” category you can get for a friend (without appearing cheap), be it at Christmas, someone’s birthday or just to show that you care.

Enjoy!

Posted by Veron in Food category | candy, chocolate, Ion, Japanese, Ngee Ann City, Orchard Road, Suntec City

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This tree is being displayed at the ground floor of the suntec international convention & exhibition centre. The stuffed toys have all been received in a charity drive.

Can you spot your favorite cartoon character in there?

Obviously, this tree brings much joy to all those around, especially the metta welfare association pre-school children. 3578 stuffed toys have been collected for these kids!

The full set of Hello Kitty and dear daniel stuffed toys forms the middle layer. I remember back in the year 2000 when McDonald’s sold these along with their extra value meals. It sparked a really mad frenzy among Singaporeans to collect these toys! I still have the full set sitting at home somewhere.

In this photo alone, you can already spot several famous cartoon characters. It’s so awesome to see them all together at one place. My favorites are of course the two Care Bears (blue bedtime bear and orange tenderheart bear)!

Have a merry and extra cuddly Christmas!

Posted by Veron in Holidays category | Christmas tree, Suntec City

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At the Suntec City outlet, one of only two in Singapore, guests can opt for cozy booth seats or window seats, where they get to enjoy a view of the mall’s koi pond. With the colorful neon signboards, black and white photographs of classic America, plus the American flag being displayed proudly, you may be forgiven for forgetting that you’re still in Singapore.

Steak & Babyback Ribs Combo Grill
SGD36.90++

Tony roma’s award-winning baby back ribs are world famous and need no further introduction. But even the steaks and other grill will not pale in comparison!

Steak & Chicken Breast Combo Grill
SGD29.90++

It’s a good idea to go for the combo grill. You can have your ribs or steak with something lighter, such as chicken, shrimp or fish. There’s even a combo where you can have both the ribs AND the steak. Each combo comes with two choices of coleslaw, baked potato, mashed potatoes, French fries, ranch style beans, rice or corn on the cob.

The steak is a slab of perfection. ’nuff said. I’m no fan of steak, but even I can’t resist a few chunks of the tender and juicy meat. Ahh…

Chicken lovers can choose from BBQ chicken or chicken breast. I prefer the healthier choice of chicken breast (eating the former is too much trouble)! It even has the same checkered markings as the steak! The chicken is lightly marinated, so you can savor its natural flavors with little hindrance from heavy sauces. Still, I recommend having it with the garlic chili sauce that you can request for separately.

Calamari Rings
SGD10.90++

The fried calamari rings is another dish of perfection. The calamari is covered in a golden coat of crispy batter and tastes great! It is a staple order for me at each Tony Roma’s meal.

The little bowl of garlic chili dip simply explodes with flavor. It would make practically anything taste good! It’s probably a good thing that it’s not too spicy so you can have a lot of it without burning your tongue. The waitstaff don’t mind getting it for us from the kitchen. For our meal, we had three bowls of it!

Crispy Chicken Tenderloins
SGD9.90++

Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that there’s already so much meat on our table, the crispy chicken tenderloins didn’t fare that well with us. Each piece is a huge chunk of chicken meat that goes well with the honey mustard sauce. It would be a hit with the kids as it’s easy and fun to eat. The portion is rather huge too!

One nice touch is that besides serving guests a warm baguette while waiting for the food to arrive, wet towels are also given. These items are complimentary, a stark contrast to certain Chinese restaurants where you would be paying a dollar for the wet towels and three for the bread.

So tell me, is your mouth watering yet? Because mine is! Already, I’m looking forward to my next Tony Roma’s meal. (Note: if anyone has any spare receipts from the restaurant, please pass them to me! I’d like to become a member.)

Tony Roma’s
Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-007
Singapore 038983
(65) 6337 9055
Service:
www.tonyromas-mms.com

Bus services: 10, 14, 16, 36, 70, 70X, 97, 106, 107X, 111, 133, 162X, 196, 857
Nearest MRT: City Hall

Opening hours:
11:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 10pm (Mon-Thur)
11:30am – 10pm (Fri-Sun)

Posted by Veron in Food category | American, ribs, steaks & grill, Suntec City, Western

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At the Singapore Garden Festival, you would be enchanted by such award-winning garden creations of art from all over the world. Many of the works are pretty stunning!

My most favorite garden design is the one above. Seeking Shangri-La is an imaginative display of the sunken paradise of Shangri-La. The designer has painstakingly created this illusion with the careful choice of plants that resemble aquatic plant life. Simulated water waves cast moving shadows upon the underwater city. It reminds me of the lost civilisation of Atlantis!

An ancient building lies in ruins with just its stone facade. At certain timings, mist would be sprayed into the air, creating a somewhat dreamy or eerie feel in the jungle. Oops, I mean garden.

People living in Singapore do not have the luxury of knowing what it’s like to walk through a wildflower meadow. An exhibit here allows visitors to walk through an indoor meadow filled with little purple flowers! You won’t be able to smell them though, as they are behind glass.

Lose yourself in this elegant spiral display.

One perpetually crowded exhibit is this giant panel of flowers made up to form the most beautiful face the world has ever seen — Marilyn Monroe’s. Made famous by Andy Warhol‘s iconic pop art, the image is instantly recognisable.

Another display that forms the image of a famous person is this. Can you recognise who he is?

A designer from China built a Chinese water village of substantial size. It was modeled after a traditional farmer’s abode in Jiangnan.

From another continent is this display of African grasslands, complete with giraffes!

Flowerbeds with colorful flowers, complemented with equally colorful translucent panels hanging from the ceilings.

Icicles. Or are they really?

I’m not quite sure what these flowers are. But their vivid magenta and purple shades attracted me from afar. The flowers look as though they are dancing!

Now, I’m sure most of you recognise this. It’s a patriotic effort created at the most apt timing for our upcoming national birthday. The crescent moon and stars are decorated with shimmery thread and white orchids.

There were also a couple of efforts to recreate Singapore landmarks, such as a fountain in the shape of the Merlion. It even spurts water from its mouth, just like the real Merlion! There’s also the Singapore Flyer and the Esplanade Theatre. The Esplanade Theatre looks cute!

The Orchid Society of Papua New Guinea presented an eye-catching design!

Really, it’s amazing what creativity and imagination can do to transform a regular garden to an awe-inspiring work of art. For a moment there, I forgot I was in an indoor exhibition and lost myself in the garden fiesta.

Another exhibition that bears a similar theme is the Sentosa Flowers show held earlier this year. For now, I shan’t post too many photos as I would encourage all of you to go pay a visit! Do take advantage of the cheaper weekday pricing, check out the gardens and tell me what your favorite is!

Posted by Veron in Singapore category | Suntec City

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Of the numerous times I have circled round the fountain of wealth at Suntec City Mall wondering which restaurant to check out, I never realised there is muthu’s curry! Honestly, I have no idea how I ever missed this. An Indian restaurant there amongst the mostly Chinese and Western eateries is definitely a breath of fresh air, especially for an Indian food lover like myself!

When it comes to the best Indian restaurants in Singapore, tour guides frequently recommend muthu’s curry, as well as banana leaf (both in Little India). Muthu’s was established in 1969, with its fish head curry winning the hearts of many. This Suntec outlet is actually muthu’s second branch.

Since we were a not-so-hungry party of two, we felt that we couldn’t possibly finish the entire fish head curry dish ourselves. (this dish needs no introduction anyway, right?) so, we opted for a couple other dishes instead.

Masala Chicken
SGD4/piece++

Each time I’m at an Indian restaurant, I would make it a point to order masala chicken as long as it’s on the menu. The spicier it is, the better! The masala chicken here isn’t that spicy, having been toned down to suit most taste buds. But it sure doesn’t disappoint! The tender chicken is napped in a thick masala paste that is rich in herbs and spices and bursting with flavor! My only gripe? Too little gravy!

At $4 apiece for the chicken, what you will get isn’t exactly the most generous serving. So when ordering, make sure to err on the side of more! Also ask for more gravy. Otherwise, you may find yourself fighting with your dinner partners for more of this delicious spicy paste to go with your briyani rice!

Goan Fish Curry
SGD10++

For a place with “curry” in its name, we thought we had to have a curry dish. But sadly, the goan fish curry doesn’t score quite as many points as the masala chicken. The portion we got was really small and the fish itself wasn’t that fleshy. Besides, I think I really need more spice in my curry! The curry in this dish is pretty mild, a little bland even, if I dare say. I wonder if this is the same curry that they use in their famed fish head curry?

Masala Tea
SGD3.50++

It’s been a long time since I last had masala tea, or “spicy” tea. I love the way the mixture of spices in the tea give me a kick up the nostrils each time. But somehow, the masala tea here is extremely tame! I barely detected any hint of spice in it. It was a real disappointment!

One thing that I do like about it, though, is that they have included a cinnamon stick as a stirrer. That was cute!

When all has been said, I’m still pretty satisfied after this meal. What can I say? Indian food makes me happy! Looks like I gotta pay a visit to Little India real soon!

Muthu’s Curry
Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard
#B1-056 Singapore 038983
(65) 6835 7707
Service:
www.muthuscurry.com

Posted by Veron in Food category | Indian, Suntec City

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Curious to see how junk materials can be transformed into useful Christmas tree materials? Here are some of the more unique ones from among the 8 finalists. Whether or not they are works of art, I’ll let you decide.

(well technically, this isn’t “Christmas Tree of the Day” anymore. It’s Christmas “trees”, since I’ll be featuring more than one tree today.)

The most colorful of the lot, the “green gift” tree is made from postcards. They have been painstakingly cut and folded into gift boxes, stacked together layer after layer to form a Christmas tree! Perhaps I should start putting my zocards to good use too.

White Christmas! Come to think of it, I have yet to feature a white tree in my 2006 or 2007 series. White Christmas trees are almost always beautiful, especially when they are paired with blue, like this one. Who needs leaves anymore when you’ve got shredded paper?

Old circuit boards have been pieced together to form the “technolotree”. It sure is one hi-tech tree, but it doesn’t look all that Christmasy, does it? Well it’s all done in the name of recycling anyway. Circuit boards! Who would have thought? I applaud the creators for such innovative use of the material.

This is one fork-tastic tree, made from — what else? — plastic forks! I especially like the fact that the star has been made from golden forks too.

The “face tree” is a tree of many faces. Hundreds of magazine cutouts of faces have been folded and arranged neatly together. Not particularly beautiful, but creative anyhow.

You must have seen this one coming — the aluminum can, one of the most common recycling materials, takes the form of a Christmas tree too. It’s silver and pink! Pretty!

So which is your favorite tree? You can head down to Suntec City Mall (outside the cinema at level 3) to see all 8 trees for yourself. Vote for the tree that you find most elec-tree-fying and you may even win a 10-day holiday for two to istanbul, Turkey! Have fun!

Posted by Veron in Holidays category | Christmas tree, Suntec City

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I was having a particularly gray morning. So my dear friend, fernando, quickly sent a relief package right over to my workplace.

Ta-da! Bitter Nama chocolate from Royce’! An instant pick-me-up! It worked wonders!

Twenty little pieces of heaven! Awww… How very sweet!

Good lord! This chocolate is the best thing I have tasted since that shot of tequila rose on Christmas eve. There’s liquor in this chocolate too! Yummy yum yum. I love it! My gray day suddenly turns colorful.

Thanks mate, for cheering me up. Life is good again. You are my hero!

Posted by Veron in Food category | candy, chocolate, Japanese, Suntec City

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But of course one should always save the best for last, isn’t it? We started off with our main courses. Swiss culture has been around for a number of years. The first time I had their chocolate fondue was back in 2004. That must have been their peak period because within the period of 2004-05, they won the “excellent food award” for a number of choice dishes, including the chicken “zurich-style”.

Chicken ‘Zurich-Style’
SGD16.80+

Yet this was a dish that we found somewhat disappointing. Aesthetically it wasn’t too pleasing, looking simply like creamy chicken in yellow noodles with vegetables strewn carelessly at the side. The chicken slices had been cooked with champignons (button mushrooms) and sautéed in butter and white wine. It was just okay for us. For an award-winning dish, the zurich-style chicken definitely did not excite.

Cod Fish with Saffron Sauce
SGD20.80+

On the other hand, one of their chef’s recommendations, cod fish with saffron sauce was a dish worth talking about. In recent years cod has become the most popular fish in restaurants, toppling favorites such as salmon and dory. Whenever I’m reading a menu, “cod” is one of the keywords I skim for.

I fell in love with Swiss culture’s cod fish the moment I got a taste of it. It was so richly flavored and delicious that I polished it off the plate almost as soon as it came. Best of all, there was no hint of any bone in its soft and tender flesh. The baked potato wedges were a delightfully fun contrast to the rich saffron sauce. An extra dip would have made the dish perfect.

Chocolate Fondue
SGD14.80+

Of course, the nice cod fish wasn’t the reason I chose Swiss culture for dinner. It was the chocolate fondue! Initially we had wanted to order both the cheese fondue AND the chocolate fondue, but then we decided the combo was just too devilishly sinful. The chocolate fondue alone would hike up our calorie intake by an astronomical amount already.

There were four different dippers to go with our chocolate dip — strawberry halves, marshmallows, banana slices and apple chunks. As usual, my favorites were the marshmallows. Like I’ve said before, I don’t exactly fancy having sour fruits to go with my chocolate. Everything has to be sweet, sweet, sweet!

Swiss culture claims that they import their chocolate from Switzerland. I don’t know how true that is, and I don’t care. No matter where it came from, the warm, velvety chocolate tasted like heaven! It was so good I even asked if they would sell me their chocolate fondue set so that I could enjoy my own chocolate fondue at home. DIY fondue sets are readily available at stores, but a good chocolate dip is pretty rare.

One minor thing I noted was that these people are so adept at what they do, they know just the exact amount of chocolate to serve. By the time we finished the last dipper, we had scraped off the last bit of melted chocolate. There wasn’t a chance to get one last spoonful of chocolate in our greedy mouths. The folks at Swiss culture really know how to keep us craving for more!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering if I bought any chocolate fondue set from Swiss culture in the end, the answer is no. They would prefer to keep their chocolate a secret. And I can’t blame them.

Swiss Culture
Suntec City Mall
3 Temasek Boulevard #03-006
Singapore 038983
(65) 6333 5919
Service:

Posted by Veron in Food category | chocolate, dessert, Suntec City, Swiss, Western

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