Dining With Jewelle

I know that for us here in Asia, poker is usually the game to have during certain functions (like a wake) and most certainly during the gaming (or rather, the gambling) time of the year, Chinese New Year. But do you know that you could also play it alone in the convenience of your home with no need for a single card?

Yes folks, online poker. There is such a thing!

For the benefit amongst us who are not familiar with this kind of thing, online poker is basically means playing poker with your computer. Imagine, having a game or two anytime the mood strikes you? Pretty convenient, don’t you think? Even if you insist on playing with real people, you can do that too or even compete in tournaments with players around the world!

So if you enjoy poker games, you cannot miss checking out the extensive information and resources that you can get from the MacPoker Online site.

This site is great to help you decide which are the best online poker sites that you can join. You might not realize it but there are probably hundreds of poker site and if you didn’t know better, you could end up with a spyware-infected computer.

These guys are really good. You could tell that they are very thorough in their reviews and they certainly cover all the major aspects of a site that anyone, pro or beginner, would want or should know.

So when they recommend the Pacific Poker as one of the best online poker site, you definitely have to check this site out. In a nutshell, this site is great especially for beginner or occasional players with their “no download quick play” feature. This also means that you could run this game with every platform, Mac, Linux or Windows.

However, they also highly recommend the Full Tilt for those who enjoys fantastic graphics. Not only that, amateur players can have a chance to play with professional players in regular games here, which is apparently not a common feature with the other sites. You know what they say, play with the pro and you will surely improve your game.

But it is Poker Star that is as rated by them, “has and always will be the best online poker room of all“. They also raved about the ability to personalized your presence with your own image.

Before you start playing a game, don’t miss out their list of poker bonus and casino bonus where the folks of MacPoker Online has diligently prepared for the players convenience. After all, if you could get some real cash before you even play, why ever not!

No English? Not a problem. MacPoker Online is also available in nine other languages including German!

During out trip to Sentosa Island during our Singapore trip a week ago, we dropped by the Rasa Sentosa Resort for lunch since we just finished touring the Underwater World and it was on the next block.

Silly us, we didn’t know that the restaurant was at the beach front and so we struggled uphill towards the main entrance of the resort (which was 5 floors up!)

Hubby spotted a Mini parked at the front and being car-crazy, insisted that I snap it up (luckily it wasn’t a Ferrari or he’d be drooling all over it already!). FYI, the Mini is sold for $100K-$140K in Singapore (I know, for that TINY car?! I often wondered myself). In Brunei, we don’t get it new but my walking-car-encyclopedia said that we get second hands from Singapore and is sold on the market here for around $40K. Still so (ridiculously) expensive, even for Brunei car market standard!

The hotel foyer wasn’t that impressive. It was in fact very dim. But since we were in a hurry for lunch, didn’t have time to look see and headed straight for the Barnacles, their main restaurant which as I said was on the beach front. We had to go down 5 floors (by lift of course!) and walked a long long way around the huge swimming pool under the hot sun as it was at the far end of the area.

When we reached the Barnacles, it was still empty as most of the hotel guests were still at the pool (at noon time, imagine! I don’t know why they needed tan so bad).

We sat besides the window and it was a quite interesting to see the many ships that plied the area.

I was surprised that their menu was very limited. In fact, they have less than 10 main dish! It’s all western fare and the only thing that interest me was the lamb rack while hubby had the surf and turf, seafood and meat combo.

My lamb was very good. In fact even Eu kept asking for a piece that with that kind of portion, I was not even half full. This is the kind of western food that to me is a waste of time. Looks so pretty but with so little portion, what’s the point? Asian food for me any time!

The do have kids menu but there was no rice dishes and Eu is not the spaghetti eating kid. So I gambled with the chicken nugget as she is partial to fried chicken (skin - one of the rare trait that she takes after me!). It didn’t look appetizing and Eu nearly choked when she took a scoop (with my back turned) of the mayonnaise, thinking it was butter (yes, she loves butter).

That was the only smarter dining place we went to in Singapore as with 2 kids, you just want to eat quickly and leave!

I read a press statement recently on how more and more vacationers chose to stay in private villas or vacation homes rather than the impersonal environment of hotels. I definitely feel the same. Not only is there more privacy, it’s also convenient when travelling with a bigger group as everybody can stay together.

For parents with young kids like myself, this is great because I can have a kitchen where I could cook my kids meals. For our week-long trip to Singapore last week, I had to bring a mini rice cooker all the way from Brunei in order to cook Qi’s porridge. It was very inconvenient.

So it’s wonderful that there are more companies like the Hawaiian Beach Rentals that service this growing need.

Those of you who are planning a trip to Hawaii should definitely check out the Hawaiian travel packages offered by the Hawaiian Beach Rentals as they have travel packages that covers everything from flights, accommodation to car rentals.

They not only promise value for money packages, they can also customized the package to your vacation need; island hoppings, swimming, romance or surfing. They have accommodations in the thousands and you have plenty of choices, from hotel rooms (if you still prefer these) to beachfront homes to mountainview condos!

I would have to say the Hawaiian Beach Rentals list of villas (how can you resist a villa?!) are so irresistible that I am actually glad I’m not planning a visit to Hawaii yet because, knowing me, I know I’d be stuck in this section alone!

Perhaps I need to talk hubby into considering having our Great American Holidays With The Family as soon as possible while the kids are still young so I could use the “I need a kitchen!” argument and get to stay in VILLAS!

We came across Raku Ninja Restaurant as we were walking along the Singapore CityLink. I was glad to find it because it was past noon and I didn’t pack Qi’s lunch so we were desperate for a place that serves food for her.

Raku Ninja, a Japanese restaurant has a huge menu board at the entrance and I made up my mind the moment I saw that they serve porridge. Despite its Japanese name, they also offer some Chinese and Western food. I was amused that dishes such as green vegetable with oyster sauce are offered as side dishes and priced for less than $4 (I think).

I asked for their fish porridge for Qi with instruction to omit pepper (Singaporeans love their white pepper!) and salt. But I forgot to tell them to skip the MSG and when the porridge came, it was very tasty. But Qi was too hungry to mind the tastier-than-usual porridge (she’s used to naturally flavoured porridge and usually refuses restaurant food).

Hubby ordered their sashimi set which for the quantity and price, was a rip-off if we compare it to what we get at Brunei’s Excapade. However his claypot rice got his thumbs up for taste and portion. I had their pork chops which was okay but I thought it was ridiculously small (but actually just right for $9).

We are usually the one drink family as hubby always have water and I’ll be the one ordering drinks. For this place we had no choice but to order drinks!

The decor was quite elegant, mostly dark tones with plush sofas. When we arrived, the place was blissfully empty and we had the waiter’s full attention.

The service was attentive and quite value for money. If I like Japanese food, I think this would be my kind of place.

I don’t normally spend much on cosmetics and lipsticks can lasts me for years. But the thing about reading women’s magazines is that you do get seduced with pretty cosmetic pictures and brainwashed with all kinds reasons on why you just need to get this foundation or that cleanser.

One of my latest magazine convinced me that I need to get the Dr. FeelGood mattifying balm from Benefit Cosmetics. This brand is however not sold in Brunei (that I know of) and I’ve just missed the opportunity to get it from Singapore.

But brother in law is leaving for the States in a few days time and that meant I can still get it! However, instead of simply ordering it from any other online make-up store, I know I’ll save more by getting it via the CouponChief, my favorite online source for shopping coupons and loads of savings!

In fact, CouponChief just informed me that I can even get free shipping for orders over $65 at the Benefit Cosmetics and that just made me think of all sorts of need-to-get from their store!

That Benetint does look very useful and I could do with another lipstick cum blusher such as the Rush Hour.

What do you know, I just qualify for CouponChief Benefit Cosmetics free shipping!

Now, a few more days till I get brother in law’s address in the States and it’s shopping time!

The last time we went to Singapore, hubby dragged us over to the Smith Street a.k.a Chinatown Food Street for dinner. Although I liked how the buildings around this area looked like, all restored and beautified, the food street itself did not impressed me.

This time around, we stayed in Chinatown so obviously, there is no escaping it and we had dinner there one night when hubby had a craving for fried “kueh tiaw” as he noticed that most food courts did not serve this dish.

Even though Chinese New Year is long over, the red lanterns were still up around this area and it looked so festive and I stop every few minutes taking pictures.

Since I’ve fed both the girls earlier on and did not have to order food for them, I decided to be adventurous and tried their “Mee Rebus” which is a little spicy. It’s thick but I kind of like it, although I’m not sure I’ll try it ever again. While hubby, faced with so many choices (he walked up and down the streets a few times), finally decided on some fried mee (I think he had forgotten about this fried kueh tiaw craving then!).

I didn’t check out the other stalls but I think they serve mostly Chinese food. The shoplots behind the stalls were mostly Chinese restaurants.

After our simple dinner, we walked through the bazaar and had I been on my own, I’d surely be stuck there for ages as there were just so many interesting things to see. I only managed to get 3 shirts from 1 store and even then my entourage was about to complain

because I took a little too long! Lesson learnt : go shopping alone.

I was not impressed with the Food Street on my first visit and that did not changed much on my second. For one, they did not have my ultimate Singaporean dish, tonic soups.

But it’s worth going to feast your eyes on the restored historical buildings and to stock up on Singapore souvenirs at the bazaars.

While in Singapore, I noticed a lot of girls who sported tattoos on their body. However, I’m not expert enough to judge whether they are real or stick on as I do know that there are authentic looking sticker type tattoos being sold in the market these days.

This is certainly a culture that is gaining popularity especially in among girls. Personally I think they do look kind of cool and there are some funky and interesting motif that I’ve seen on people. Given a choice, minus the pain and the very permanent factor, I think I would be tempted to get one, maybe a small Chinese characters that symbolises happiness like those sported by many celebrities.

I’m not that fond of animal tattoos though and I think having pictures of wild animals such as dragons or tigers (which are common motif) on ones body are quite disturbing.

So if you’re interested to learn more on tattoos and especially on the kind of motif you can have, check out the site RankMyTattoos.

One thing about travelling with kids is that eating is no longer a case of whatever and whenever.

Meal time is fixed and the menu can’t be too adventurous (Eu complains on the slightest taste of pepper!). And trying to eat at restaurants with two toddlers can be a test of patience with one kid fond of climbing out of her high chair (Qi) and one kid fond of playing drums with the chopsticks/singing with gusto/exaggerated chatting (Eu).

That is why when we contemplated having dinner down at the Hotel Cafe, my response was, if eating in, then eat in the room! After all, you might as well eat in peace without having to worry about looking less than glamourous!

So hubby had no choice but to try the Furama Hotel’s Beef Tenderloin in the room after both the kids were asleep. I was disappointed that their Chicken Curry Madras and Bak Kut Teh as listed in the menu were no longer available and nothing else caught my fancy.

But the beef was surprisingly good. It was thick and big and at the requested medium rare, it was done perfectly. It was about $20+ I think.

There is one show on TV where individuals who went through all kinds of cosmetic surgeries like rhinoplasty nose job are featured.

Although I know that it’s actually a good thing to have a technology where we can improve on how we look like, I do find this kind of surgery frightening. But I was amazed to learn that nose surgery or rhinoplasty was actually the most popular kind of cosmetic surgery in the States in 2003!

And I thoughts it’s us Asians with our flat noses or wide nostrils who have more to complain!

But in case you are piqued by the thought that you can re-sculpture your nose, do remember that that perfect nose in your mind might not be simply be a case of going under the the surgeon’s knife. Apparently, this procedure does not suit everybody and I think the biggest turn off is that you’d have to endure weeks of swelling and bruising of the face before you can see the result.

So, maybe you should just be thankful that you do have a nose and learn to happy with what you have!

One advantage of staying in the Chinatown area is that food is available everywhere. The first night that we arrived, we had a late dinner at the People’s Park Complex food court and I had my first boneless chicken rice. I was too hungry and tired to take any picture then!

The second night after a tiring day at the Zoo, we stayed in Chinatown and this time had dinner at another nearby food court just besides OG Plaza. Hubby immediately sat at this stall that displayed some roast duck and I went round nearly the whole area looking for my Singaporean must-have. Tonic soups!

Happily I found one stall that was aptly named “Tonic Soup” and got myself a lotus root soup with rice. No nice picture of this but it was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s!

Hubby also ordered a plate of chili crab which was supposedly one of Singaporean dish must-have, besides their Hainanese Chicken Rice. It was quite expensive too, $20 for a plate of only ONE crab! It was so-so to me, I think hubby can cooked better tasting crab dish than that.

The place was busy and hot and we were sweating profusely, what more with my hot soup! But I was satisfied with my soup so nothing else matters!