My whirlwind Honeymoon trip to France!

May 10th, 2013 365days2play

Hey everybody! I’m typing this while flying 10 thousand metres over the Middle East as we speak (although you’ll only read it after I’ve arrived in Singapore)!  I hope you’ve been following me on Twitter and Instagram while I’ve been away. I’ve just returned back from my honeymoon to Luxembourg, Germany and France with the Partner and I’m raring to tell you all about it. It’s going to be a colossal amount of writing that I will be doing in the upcoming days so I hope you will come back to read all about it!

Kloster Hornbach

Kloster Hornbach in Germany

The trip was a total of 14 days, with 2 days spent in Luxembourg, 1 day in Germany and the rest in France! However, because we spent quite a lot of our time in the Alsace region, I would say that for the bulk of our holiday, we were viewing German style architecture rather than French! How’s that for a holiday, killing 2 birds with 1 stone? The linguistic skills of the Europeans amaze me no end. The people of Luxembourg are required to study 3 languages in school (French, German and Luxemborgish) and while in the Alsace region, most signs are in German as well as French. Thanks to the Partner who is a walking history book, I had a crash course on why the situation is such.

Calf's head at Four Seasons Hotel Le Cinq Restaurant

Calf’s head at Four Seasons Hotel Le Cinq Restaurant

This was a very well rounded holiday for us. We had luxurious hotel stays, we had stylish city bits, with the mandatory museum visits. We also had the country bits, where I cycled through a vineyard for the 1st time in my life. Visited a castle high on a hill (amongst several other castles we visited too), visited Versailles, the most opulent palace in France. Food wise, we savoured fine dining dinners as well as gorged on great food served up at affordable French cafes. For this, I have to thank the generosity of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) who kindly sponsored my hotel stays and dinners in Luxembourg and the French countryside, and Citadines of the Ascott Group and Hotel Tremoille for my stay in Paris. A shout out too to Four Seasons Paris who gave me the opportunity to experience fine dining in a palatial looking 5 star hotel.

Cycling near Chateau D'Isenbourg

Cycling in the vineyard next to our Chateau D’Isenbourg

In terms of transportation, we traversed the country by train as well as by driving a rented car on the right (wrong) side of the road. We slogged it out using the Metro system in Paris. We did it all! It was the most amazing holiday I have had and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Here’s a quick summary of where we were on each of the days Winking smile

Day 1 – 2 : Luxembourg – The Albert Premier (SLH)

Day 3 : Strasbourg, France – Château de I’Ile (SLH)

Day 4 : Hornbach, Germany – Kloster Hornbach (SLH)

Day 5 : Rouffach, Alsace – Château D’Isenbourg (SLH)

Day 6 : Colmar, Alsace – Hostellerie Marechal (SLH)

Day 7 – 8 : Burgundy – Château de Gilly (SLH)

Day 9 : Lyon – Cour des Loges (SLH)

Day 10 : Paris – Citadines Suites Louvre Paris

Day 11 : Paris – Hôtel Le Bellechasse (SLH)

Day 12 – 13 : Paris – Hôtel de La Trémoille

I will be covering each and every single one of these hotels as well as things to do around the area. Watch this space!

No Comments »

Tim Ho Wan 添好運 Singapore

May 8th, 2013 365days2play

*Media Invite*

At this point in time, I guess just about any lover of dim sum would have heard of the opening of Tim Ho Wan in Singapore. For the uninitiated, Tim Ho Wan is a Michelin Starred dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong. Since it’s opening on 10 April 2013 in Singapore, if you’ve been in the Plaza Sing / Atrium area, you would undoubtedly have seen the snaking queues of eager customers awaiting their turn to try out Tim Ho Wan’s legendary dim sum. I was lucky to be able to avoid having to line up for my food, however I have heard that the average waiting time is 2 hours, and at one point it got so bad that the queue was even closed to more customers.

So the big question is, is Tim Ho Wan worth the 2 hour wait? Actually, I think no restaurant is worth a 2 hour wait. There is so much good food available in Singapore that to have to “work” for your food invariably means having even higher expectations on the food. There comes a tipping point where it is physically impossible for the quality and taste of the food to exceed expectations. In my opinion, the 2 hour wait is only for people who have a curiosity itch to suppress, and scratch it they must.

I have never been to the Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong. And to be frank, I am a little disappointed with the dim sum served at the media tasting. I found quite a number of the dishes exceedingly ordinary, especially when taking into account the price charged. But to be fair, there were some dim sum items that were great too.

So, should you find yourself having a table there, here are my recommendations as to what is worth ordering at Tim Ho Wan.

Tim Ho Wan - Deep Fried Bean Curd Skin Roll with Shrimp (4)

Read more »

1 Comment »

Pet friendly Sun Ray Cafe

May 7th, 2013 365days2play

If you’re living in the Serangoon area, you may be delighted to know that Sun Ray Cafe there welcomes furry guests. Although I presently do not own a dog or a cat, I can well sympathise with pet owners who find it really difficult to travel around with their pets in Singapore, much less find a place to dine with them. While I was in France last week, I was amazed to know that dogs are pretty much allowed anywhere! In the TGV train ride from Lyon to Paris, a dog was snoozing on the train table diagonally from me! No need to leash your dog or hide it in a doggie carrier! I don’t think we’ll be seeing that fairly soon in Singapore, but at least the pet-cafe scene seems to be hotting up.

Sunray Cafe - (27)

Sunray Cafe - (33)

A doggie perusing the daily specials while propping up the owner’s iPad.

Dave Lim (1)

At first glance, Sun Ray Cafe may not look like the typical place to get good 3rd wave coffee. After all, when the place was furnished a few years ago, Sun Ray’s focus was more on food. Now that they’ve gotten the food aspect on cruise control, their next goal is to get the word out that great coffee can be synonymous with Sun Ray Cafe.

In terms of certifications, they have it all as you can see from the picture above. That’s Dave Lim, the owner of Sun Ray Cafe.

Sunray Cafe - Cafe Latte $4

Sunray Cafe - Latte Art (2)

Read more »

No Comments »

Where to get New Zealand products in Singapore

May 4th, 2013 365days2play

When the Partner heard that I had to produce an article relating to New Zealand food in Singapore, he actually volunteered to pen the post, for the 1st time in the entire life of this blog! Well I don’t see why he shouldn’t, being that he’s a Kiwi himself! Alas, the enthusiasm lasted but 2 and a half paragraphs. Still, it’s a good start nonetheless. I’ll try to rope him in more often in future!!

*****

New Zealand Fair collage

Want great New Zealand food but can’t afford to fly there? Or perhaps you’ve been there and miss the scrumptious kiwi Potato Chips and thirst quenching refreshing NZ beer? Well the great news is that from now until 12 May 2013, all 47 Cold Storage outlets have stocked over 80 products from Aotearoa, (Maori name for New Zealand and loosely translated as the Land of the Long White Cloud). In fact, we’ve just returned from our honeymoon in Europe and will be rushing down to Cold Storage tomorrow to stock up on NZ goodies which we would otherwise only be able to lay our hands on when we visit New Zealand once a year.

New Zealand is blessed with rich agricultural land and pristine waters, which in turn produces a wide selection of tasty and natural produce. Seasonal fruits are a highlight with the likes of fresh blueberries which are high in antioxidants, and sugar pears that are naturally sweet and often used in baking and desserts. Don’t miss the avocado dips that are made from fresh avocado, and can be spread on toast or serve in salads and wraps.

Cold Storage New Zealand Fair (11)

Wine lovers should take the opportunity to try the affordable varietals from the Tiki Estate range, Single Vineyard range, and Tiki Koro Central Otago Pinot Noir

image

Matson’s beers are 100% natural brewed

Kiwis are  passionate about their food just like Singaporeans and they take pride in producing world class tasty food with a proven reputation for freshness and quality. Some may know that NZ has a well earned reputation for wine but their beers are just as good and new to Singapore is Matson’s beers. Made by natural brewing with all locally sourced raw materials the beers come in 3 varieties: Lager, Pilsner and Classic Draught. Having tried these myself I would say that the beers are crisp and clean but with a refreshing unique taste. So if you’re tired of drinking the same old beers served here in Singapore then head on down and get a “Pick & Mix”, where you can select an assortment of varieties.

Read more »

No Comments »

Quick guide to Luxembourg

April 22nd, 2013 365days2play

Greetings everyone! I’m currently touring Europe with the Partner for our Honeymoon. Specifically, we will be travelling mostly in France, with 2 days spent in Luxembourg and one lovely day in Germany. Even though we are spending only 1 official day in Germany, the strange thing is that because we will be doing some travelling in the Alsace region of France, it still feels like we are in Germany! The architecture of the buildings here are very German, as this place was under German rule for many years.

I’m currently in Germany as I write this, and we have already covered Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Luxembourg is a lovely country, and very small just like Singapore. Its population is just over 500k, and I was told that 150k people travel into Luxembourg on a daily basis just for work!

What amazes me the most is that citizens of Luxembourg are required to learn 3 languages, ie French, German and Luxembourgish. And we complain about having to learn Mandarin… In fact, in my 4 days in Europe so far, all the people I have met know at least a bit of English. I was hoping to be able to use my extremely limited French and German vocabulary, but because the people I have had to speak to have a better command of English (even if it is very bad), than my command of French and German, that it’s just more efficient to speak in English.

Anyway, here are some quick pictures of Luxembourg City. Will try to write more in the next few days while the holiday mood is still strong! Oh one more thing, I would like to give a shout out to Small Luxury Hotels of the World as they are sponsoring my stay in Europe! Smile Smile

Grand Ducal Palace Luxembourg

Luxembourg - The Grund (2)

The Grund

Luxembourg City (1)

There’s always a McDonald’s in every city for the homesick…

Read more »

No Comments »
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...