Cyclicious Saturday?

We were off cycling this Sat again! Where else but Punggol Waterway Park. :)

Our cycling mates ;)

Food is always our source of motivation to cycle. We checked out Hanwoori Korean Restaurant this evening. :)

Hanwoori is opened by two Korean sisters. :)

Pretty wallpaper with verses from Psalm 23.

The flavourful beef short ribs were grilled to perfection. Wrapping them in fresh veg gave them the extra crunch. :)

I can't helping loving this seafood pancakes. The batter was light and filled with squids, prawns and spring onions. :)

Lin wanted Kimchi hotpot which I found average. I was actually craving for Soondubu... :(

Anyway in the kimchi hotpot, there were dumpings, prawns, squids assorted mushrooms, bits of pork, tofu & kimchi. I would heart it more if there are sausages. Sadly, none at all. :( Lin insisted we shared a bowl of rice cos she said kimchi hotpot should be eaten with rice...

Wendy and Tina didn't wanna have too much cos they wanted to save tummy space for desserts. ;) But hey hey, there were lots of side dishes to finish up too! :D

A much needed citron tea! :D

We were happy with the homely dinner! :)

On the left of Hanwoori is Dessert Bowl. :)

It's impossible to miss the shop with the distinctive yellow signages!

Cute model displays in a dessert shop. :)

The standard of the desserts seemed to have drop... *.*

This has gotta be the worst waffle we have eaten. :~( We left it untouched but ate the ice cream and the fruits.

We should have ordered another dish at Hanwoori instead of having desserts. *.* Cyclicious Sat? I guess so, for the dinner at least. :)

Details of Hanwoori:

76 Serangoon Garden Way

T: +65 6283 6339

Details of Dessert Bowl:

80A Serangoon Garden Way

T: 65 6285 1278

Steaming Hot Birthday Dinner for Mom at Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant - Round 2

Big aunty (大姨) wasn't able to make it for the dinner at Chui Huay Lim. So we got her to celebrate mom's actual b'day with us at Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant. It's our favourite steamboat restaurant in Singapore. :)

We were given two private rooms to choose & we chose Wang Shou (萬壽 - million years old). Very fitting for a birthday celebration. :)

We like how we could create our own dips from an array of condiments. :)












































Who's able to resist these deep fried fish skins??? Nom, nom, nom...

Here's what in our pot of steaming goodness:

Creatures from under the sea. :) Sliced fish, shrimps & scallops.

Pork & chive dumplings as well as shrimp dumplings. :) These were really well made. Each dumpling oozed flavourful juices with every bite. :)

And what's steamboat without these gorgeous wagyu beef slices & Kurobuta pork belly slices? :)

Assortment of fish balls, shrimp balls, octopus balls & meat balls as well as silky tofu. :)

We had lots of daikons, winter melons, Chinese cabbage & assorted mushrooms too. :)

For carbos, we opted for Cixi noodles & octopus paste noodles (it's the one which you had to squeeze the noodle out from the bag).

The traditional pork bone soup with all the other treats smelt so good! :) Steamboat dinner is actually a busy affair as you have to "work" for your food. There's a server on stand by but nothing beats doing it yourself. :)))

Dessert was birthday dumplings for the birthday girl. We praise God for another year of blessings for mom & many many more to come. :)

Details of Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant:

2 Orchard Turn
#04-09/10 ION Orchard 

Singapore 238801

T: +65  6636 9339
W: http://www.imperialtreasure.com/

Unwind at Banyan Tree Lijiang

We wanna pamper ourselves after days of "hardship" travelling. :))) What was supposed to be 1 day & 1 nite stay at Banyan Tree Lijiang turned into 2 days & 2 nites. All because we shorten our Dali leg.

Our route:

Singapore > Kunming > Luoping > Kunming > Dali > Lijiang > Kunming > Singapore

Resort reception

I like the cloudy feature walls & cylinder lamps with tassels. :)

The resort overlooks the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. :) Depending on its mood, it might not wanna greet its guests. The four of us were pretty fortunate that day! Ha! :)

The iconic traditional Naxi-style pagoda in the resort.

I love the willows sashaying in the wind. :)

After driving 4 hours from Dali to Lijiang, we couldn't really do much except to do dinner at one of Banyan Tree Lijiang's restaurants, Baiyun. Baiyun serves fine Cantonese & Yunnan cuisine.

Alas, it was nothing spectacular at all. Baiyun's signature dish, braised cod fish "Dai" was rather disappointing.

We adjourned to Wen Hai Bar for some cocktails & desserts.

Lol! The music played was Mambo??? Something oriental would be more fitting isn't it?












Let me take you to our pretty home... :)

Lin booked us into a two bedroom jetpool villa. :)

Welcome to our modest home. :)))

The dining room was the most utilized area in the whole villa! :D

We did our breakfast here...

Oh our walnut bread from Bakery 88. Love love love! :D

It went so well with pink salmon mayo & a cup of hot choc! :)

We did a hotpot dinner here... :)

Love the traditional charcoal hotpots! :) But there was too much smoke, it set the fire alarm off! LOL! :))) The poor butler gotta moved it out into the garden before bringing it back in again.

There was too much food for 4! *.*

We tried our very best to finish it...

and wasted our days of healty walking to lose some weight. *.* Aiyayayayayayayya : O

The main living room & our bedrooms overlook the jet pool. :)

Our evening dip...It was 10 plus degree today...& windy...but the water temperature was 38 degee. Nice. :)

It was a pleasure chilling by the deck. :)

See the sky was so blue...

Our bedrooms :)

Lin & my room :)

Our bathroom :)

Nite dip in bubble bath :)

Ann & Tina's room...

and their bathroom :)

Our villa was right at the end of a corner. :) And here're our neighbours. :) There's no swanky cars but buggies. :)))

We applaud Banyan Tree Lijiang's warm & friendly service. However we felt the lack of attention to details wasn't something we expect of a luxury resort. Chipped dining ware at the restaurant didn't set the impression right and so were the hanging television cables  and funny smelling refrigerator in the villa...

Lin & I have now developed a soft spot for luxury resorts vacation in China. We have tried two so far. Banyan Tree Lijiang feels more down to earth & real. While Fuchun Resort Hangzhou exudes a sense of calmness & mystery, taking you into a totally different world. Lin & I were awed by the experience at Fuchun Resort(http://libby-linandkoka.blogspot.com/2011/04/fuchun-resort.html) Unfortunately this wasn't so for Banyan Tree Lijiang. Next to try on our list? Aman Resorts. :)