Return Visit to Quayside Isle

[Media Invite]

How time flies, it was already 6mths since our first visit to Quayside Isle @ Sentosa Cove and you can read more about the visit here. This time we are happy to be back again to check out the two newest F&B establishments there.

The very first place we went to was Joe & the Juice (#01-09). It felt more like a café and I would imagine that armed with a cup of coffee, reading a nice novel with full view of the marina would be really relaxing. And yes, they do sell coffee despite the brand name. Well it is coffee juice, no? Oh, the décor is really nice and cozy and you will be able to find many Instagram-able spots too.

To be absolutely honest, I am not a veggie person. In fact, I will usually pick out the tiniest bit from my meals, if possible. So it came as a horror to me when I read the list of ingredients for their juice mixes. Celery, carrot and beetroots are like okay…. But spinach, bell pepper and ginger? That is really eye-opening for me.

The sandwiches are yummy too!

So we started off with the easy on the palette drinks like “Hell Of A Nerve” - (Apple, Eldeflower & Banana) and “Pick Me Up” – (Raspberry, Banana & Apple) before moving on to the veggies. The fruit-based mixes were all great-tasting, with the first having more texture (more filling) while the second had a tangy taste from the raspberry. “Veggie Focus” – (Celery, Carrot & Apple) was the first veggie-mix we tried, and the first drink the kiddos rejected. No matter how you try to mask the smell of celery, it will still be there. I tasted it, and although I HATED celeries, the taste was still manageable for and it tasted surprisingly SWEET! I was fully expecting the kiddos to reject “Prince Of Green” – (Spinach, Pineapple & Apple) as well but Stacci actually loved it and gulped it down with gusto! I eyed the juicer squeezing some brownish liquid into the mixes and immediately thought it was sugar syrup. I asked, and was told by the proud staff that it was olive oil that will help in the absorption of nutrients and not syrup!

Stacci really enjoyed her "Prince of Green"!

After the "detoxifying" session, we were escorted to Greenwood Fish Market (#01-04/05) that was just a couple of steps away. The recently opened 4,100sgft restaurant seats 150 comfortably and is the biggest restaurant at Quayside Isle now. It's called Greenwood because their first restaurant started from Greenwood Avenue 13 years back and this is their first venture out. And doesn't it feel just right, for it to be moving closer to the sea?

It was the first time I am introduced to the different types of oysters by the knowledgeable Mr Alan Lee from the restaurant. And OMFG... to think that I only knew about oysters coming in big and small sizes before this visit. This is the place to try out the different live oysters from different parts of the world. Just check out the list!

Oyster Ceviche (Gillardeau Oysters) with Soya & Ginger Broth and Oyster Natural (Senteniles Irish)

A bunch of others that both Steffi and myself downed with joy.

We tried the starters, Hot Smoked Salmon on Manouri & Honey Cheese Spread on Brioche Toast and Hot Smoked Mackerel & Smashed Eggs with Avocado on Brioche Toast with the fish meat were all smoked in-house with apple wood from California. I personally preferred the salmon over the mackerel coz I am not a fan of avocados. It had the right level of smokiness that is not overpowering, and the honey cheese spread added to the sweetness!

Pan Seared John Dory on Sea Lavender, with Truffle & Ponzu Butter Sauce had me googling how the fish and the plant looked like. The flesh was firm and tasted great with the truffle, so unlike the cheap and tasteless pacific / cream dory that melts in your mouth. It was my first time tasting the leaves of the Sea Lavender too, and I learnt that these flowering plants actually thrive along sandy beaches and are naturally salty! No added salt the boss said. Now you know about this place, you know where to Find Dory ya?

This is poor Dory, John Dory that it.

We were treated to some Salted Egg Yoke Pasta with Prawn Stock & Sautéed Wild Prawns, something that the chef was experimenting. We know how Singaporean loves everything coated with salted egg yoke so this would really be a no-brainer. It turned out that the sauce dried a too fast in the cool restaurant, and I would have preferred a stronger flavour and more curry leaves perhaps? In any case I am sure they will be refining the dish before putting it on the menu!

After a hearty meal, we had a walk around the restaurant and the kids was able to watch the chefs hard at work in the kitchen, through the glass panels. This is not only a restaurant, but a market that sells seafood and other stuff such as caviar and specialty greens as well. Not only content with fresh seafood, they even bake European bread in their own bakery! Lots of booze too, beers and wines for the alcoholics who wanna chill out by the quayside!

The open kitchen that you can see the chefs cooking up a storm!

A wide selection of fresh fish fillets.

There are shellfishes as well!

Seafood can't get any fresher than this!

Come 01 July, Greenwood Fish Market will also be hosting its 4th World Oyster Festival for the entire month of July where one can get to taste 20 different types of oysters from around the world, in just one location! Make it two locations since it's available at both its outlets.

How to get to Quayside Isle

Free Method - If you wanna save money (like us), you can actually walk into Sentosa via the Boardwalk for free, proceed to the nearest Monorail Station (Waterfront) and take the monorail to Beach Station, walk to the bus interchange and transfer to Bus 3 which takes you to W Hotel beside Quayside Isle. It will cost you $0.

$2 Method - For $2, you can hop onboard the white Sentosa Cove shuttle bus at HarbourFront Bus Interchange directly to Sentosa Cove Village drop-off point. Available daily from 6.15am to 11.30pm at 20-minute intervals during peak hours.

Comfortable Method - Take a Taxi lah duh! Admission charges into the island applies. But it goes by per taxi and during meal times it is only $2 per taxi!

Self-Drive Method  - The following charges applies.

Makura Health and Neck Support Pillow

[Product Review]

My personal preference for a pillow would be those fluffy ones that my head can literally sink into when I lay in them. The worst would be new pillows with synthetic material that needed a long time to get “flattened”. And I can never understand how my dad would sleep on his red “brick-like” hard pillow, because I tried and the pillow height was too high for my neck then.

There are so many different types of pillows available in the market. We have the classics filled with different types of materials such as polyester or feathers, and therapeutic pillows made for better sleeping posture and support. These special pillows may use materials ranging from memory foams, gels to even water. I had never tried any though, because I was used to my trusty old pillow.

Actually a couple of months back, I started getting body aches occasionally but I attributed it to my advancing age. I can feel tensed muscles from my neck down to my back at times, but the worst would be the migraine I get occasionally too. Never really gave much thought to that until ActiveHiveSG sent me a pillow for review, and then it dawned on me that my  pillow may had been the bloody problem.

These transparent and opaque plastic capsules / bits are used to fill  up the pillow.

I wasn’t too keen on changing my old soft and smelly pillow and it ended up in storage for over a week. I was naturally skeptical too when I read about the purported therapeutic properties of the Makura Health and Neck Support Pillow that doesn't use cotton, foam, water, gel or the other usual stuff, but small plastic capsules instead. But I still have to try it out personally and report truthfully due to my blogger professionalism ok? 

My Verdict

I am pleasantly surprised to note that after trying out the pillow for the past two month, I hardly woke up with any aches nowadays, whether I slept facing the left, the right or up! And I indeed felt more refreshed in the morning due to the better quality of sleep I got! The height of the pillow provided just the right level of support for my neck and it can be adjusted based on individual needs just be removing / adding the plastic capsules. And because it is filled with all these hollow capsules, any heat generated also dissipated quickly making the pillow cooling too!    

Even my wife had noted that I hardly complained about aches these days and after knowing that it was largely attributed to my use of the pillow, asked me why only I got to enjoy! So to sum it all up, if you are experiencing aches in the mornings and you have reasons to suspect the cause to be your pillow, this would be IDEAL pillow that I strongly recommend! Save yourself from aches from bad postures!

The Makura Health and Neck Support Pillow retails at $188, available at Active Hive and online at www.activehive.com.sg. Purchase a Makura Health and Neck Support Pillow at 30% off by entering my promo code steven30 and receive TWO complimentary sessions Minus Calories workout as well!

Mister Maker and the Shapes Live on Stage!

[Media Invite]

The three older kids got to catch mister maker and the shapes live on stage in the first time ever last yesterday evening. Familiar catchy tunes kept the atmosphere adrenaline-pumping for the kiddos. There were songs, dance and lots of audience participation.

Steffi stopped him in his tracks for a photo! Lol

I shall be honest, this show is obviously not for adults but to indulge the kiddos and letting them enjoy singing and grooving along with mister maker and the rest of the cast is good enough reason to buy tickets for the remaining shows. But, you really gotta hurry coz the last show will be on Sun, 12 June 2016. Have fun kiddos!

Kiddos went crazy when the Shapes come on! Really amazing!

Rectangle was really funny! 

There were audience participation of course.

All in all, the kiddos had a great evening!

Useful Information

Dates: 10 – 12 June 2016
Venue: D’Marquee Downtown East Paris Ris

Performance Times:
Friday 10 June: 6:00pm
Saturday 11 June: 12:00pm, 3:00pm and 5:30pm
Sunday 12 June: 10:30am, 2:00pm and 5:00pm

Ticket Price: From S$35 * Excludes the booking fee of SGD$4 per ticket
Bookings: Book online here, all Sistic outlets or call +65 6348 5555

Shrek the Musical

[Media Review]

The 3 kiddos are fans of the Shrek movies and of course, knew the storyline by heart now. Missing the musical was a definite no-no for the kiddos and thus despite the fact that I was unable to make it for the show, my wife went with the 3 kiddos with my sis-in-law in toll. So conveniently she happened to blog (http://yibaifen.blogspot.sg/) as well and I had her guest blog for us as follows -

The Musical 

Spoiler Alert..? Haha, I try not to reveal too much!

It''s pretty amazing to see the characters coming alive and dancing / singing right before our very eyes. I may be in my thirties but I guess there's always a little kid within every adult. Especially me, heh!

Just before the show started, Leroy actually asked me to swap seats with him because he felt that I had a better view! Eh.. I was just sitting right beside him though.. Haha, faint!

The kids were really captivated and surprisingly, they were so quiet throughout the show.. Except to ask me for water at times! I actually checked on them a few times, thinking they might have dozed off! (Whoa! Are they really the same kids who keep asking me random questions nonstop whenever we watch movies??)

When we were having a short break, Stacci asked me when's Shrek and Fiona going to get married. Haha! And during Fiona's (unsuccessful) wedding with Lord Farquaad, Steffi pointed to the setting (fake) sun and whispered to me, "Ah Mai, you see! The sun is going down! She's going to turn into ogre!"

Backdrops and Props 

Magic??

It did feel like magic! One moment they were in the swamp.. The next moment they could be in the forest.. Or even in the church or castle! Amazed at how fast those were changed and yet still looked so beautiful and magical! Love how they combined projected moving graphics with real life props to create a more realistic yet fantasy-ish feel!

Super love the castle where Fiona stayed! (Suddenly feeling like a small girl again, reliving my old princessy fantasies!)

The Finale

Not gonna be a spoiler here but do stay in your seats for the finale song! You won't regret it!!!

It was a fun night for us adults and the kids indeed!

But I must say, it was also pretty torturous for me.. So many cute characters, so many beautiful backdrops and props.. BUT YET I COULDN'T TAKE PHOTOS / VIDEOS!!

Check out her raving of the theatre here - http://yibaifen.blogspot.sg/2016/06/shrek-musical.html

Useful Information

Performance Times:
Wednesday - Friday 7:30pm
Saturday: 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Sunday: 1:00pm and 6:00pm

Ticket Bookings:
Internet - www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg
Phone - +65 6688 8826
In Person - Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby). For more information please log onto - www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing

Thank you BASE Entertainment for having the family at the musical! 

First Ever SpongeBob Run!

[Event Listing]

©2016 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Created by Stephen Hillenburg. 

"Sooooooo... who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob Squarepants!"

Well well well... I am not particularly fond of running but I knew I had to take part in this first-ever SpongeBob Run in Asia and in Singapore coz the kiddos are fans! It is taking place on Sat, 06 Aug 2016!

Expect lots of photo opportunities with lots of life-size cutout boards of the yellow fellow and friends along the 5km route at Siloso Beach Walk!

There are two categories you can take part in -

• For BASIC (S$49.50 per pax), participants will receive an official event t-shirt, an event medal and a runner’s license. 
• For NORMAL (S$59.50 per pax), in addition to receiving an official event t-shirt, an event medal and a runner’s license, participants will go home with an exclusive SpongeBob Run Singapore plush and drawstring bag.

Don't say bo jio! Get $5 off with my promo code SBXSTEVEN but it is only valid till 04 Aug 2016 hor! 

So if you are sold (like us), hop over and register for the race at the SpongeBob Run Singapore 2016 website at www.sbrun.sg.

We went Boink Boink Boink!

[Media Invite]

The kiddos were invited to the opening of Bounce, the latest indoor trampoline park in town (literally) last week, and had a bouncing good time, almost. Unfortunately for them, they were below the 125cm requirement for X-Park and Olympic-grade trampolines, or else it would have been kickass for them!

 

 

Admission Rules & Prices
 

It is compulsory for all participants to purchase a pair of specially designed BOUNCE Grip socks ($3 / pair) before entry into the adrenaline arenas. The BOUNCE grip socks can be kept for future BOUNCE visits.

 

All participants will also have to sign a waiver before entry into the adrenaline arenas. Participants aged 18 years and below will require parental consent – completion of the form can be done in advanced through an e-service.

Useful Information

Address: #09-01, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard 8 Grange Road Singapore 239695

Website: www.Bounceinc.com.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BounceSG/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bouncesingapore/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BounceincSg

#BOUNCEsingapore