Monday, October 27, 2008

An Orlando Incident

Last Thursday morning, I woke up bright and early to prepare for my shuttle bus ride to Orlando Airport in Florida. Although my ride was scheduled to be at 630 in the morning, I was up and about, ringing for the reception at 530am.

A sleepy boy emerged from a room. I bet he was sleeping on his job.

Boy: Right, you are all set to go.
Me: Yes, I have a question.
Boy: Go ahead.
Me: I'll like to walk to Walgreens outside because I have an hour to spare.
Boy: Walgreens? Are you kidding?
Me: No. I would like to ask how long it will take.
Boy: I don't know, man. Maybe 20 minutes or more.
Me: Is it safe to walk out?
Boy: Well, I won't recommend you to do it.
Me: Why? Is it unsafe? *Imagines gun-toting thugs*
Boy: Well, tis' not that it is unsafe. It's just 530am. And for Walgreens?

With that, I made up my mind. I love Walgreens. If there are no gun-toting thugs, I will go for a morning brisk walk to Walgreens for a last minute shopping jaunt then.

However, as I breezily strolled through the quiet open spaces of Orlando, suddenly, from afar ...



That must be what the reception boy was warning me against.

A Boston Lobster mascot.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Saturday Delights

Last Saturday, we decided to try out the semi-buffet at the Equinox. It costs SGD49.90+++. We arrived relatively early at 12 noon sharp and was promptly rewarded with a window seating with the most breath-taking view.






Forget Singapore Flyer, I say. Go to the Equinox buffet and you can feast both your tummy and eyes.


F has become quite the buffet connoiseur after we tried out several buffets in Singapore. (More reviews about other buffets another time). The Equinox semi-buffet comprises mainly of salads, appetizers, soups and desserts. You get to choose a main course for SGD10 each.



The spread was applaudable although I think the chefs were too fanciful in their attempts to make exquisite fusion food. The lime jelly with alaskan crab was rather odd, and a watermelon cube stuffed with wasabi prawn was just plain weird. There was however, a good spread of seafood like fresh oysters, crabs, prawns and mussels. Sushi and sashmi galore. I felt the salmon sashimi had a weird smell, though.
I had Black Cod for my mains and F had Sirloin Steak. I was already sastiated from my 3 helpings of appetizers. Oh, there is Foie Gras too, if you are a fan. Anyway, I generously offered F my main course and he proceeded to lap up all the food in a matter of minutes.





Finally, Desserts! We made 5 trips to the dessert table, mostly to the ice cream/sorbet section.



The first trip was to sample all the desserts available from bread and butter pudding, to apricot crumble, to some chinese kueh. F will taste each dessert, then proceed to "neutralize" his taste buds with fruits before tasting the next. Mmmm.



With the Raffles Gourmet Card where one dines for free, we spent SGD88 in all. If you do not want any mains, you can shave off $20 from the bill. As usual, since F is a caucasian, whenever we are served water, it is NEVER tap water but always some expensive bottle of fanciful mineral masquerading as water. Our bottle of FIJI water cost SGD15.50.

All in all, I would recommend the dining experience because of the excellent, excellent view. What's more, that is a spread of exquisite food to feed you as you marvel.

After lunch, it was time for some adventure! Enough of eating. It is payback time as we pay to get eaten up.

Fish food!


The Kenko Wellness spa offered the service of fish nibbling away your dead skin cells. There were 3 tanks of fish available: Small, Medium and Large. Being the cowards we are, we ventured safely into the tank of tiny fishies.



Here, fishy fishy. Big Fish Food for you. F noted that the fish were swimming happily towards him and that he could almost hear them cheer "YAY! FOOD!"





It was a ticklish sensation but bearable. It was also surreal looking at the fish swarming around your feet, kissing them. I decided I have gathered enough experience to graduate to the tank of big fishies.



The big fish look like they are capable of sucking off your toe. The sensation was more ticklish and you can discern each individual nibbling, sucking sensation more distinctly. F gave up after a while because the sensation was simply too much and downgraded back to the tank of tiny fishies.

I didn't feel my feet was any smoother after the 15-minute experience. It could be purely psychological. Who knows?

Friday, October 17, 2008

Have You Seen Her?


Ollie was born in 2006 and the details of her birth are articulated here. Unfortunately, Ollie was brought out for her second excursion of her life and probably left in an SBS feeder bus that plies the route in Jurong West. If anyone spot Ollie, kindly inform me! We miss her crooked beak, spindly legs and all.