Beauty in the Pot - Is it worth it?

Beauty in the pot has been around for a while now, and it is only recently that I decided to try. Super lagger I am. 

Time limit

I called the Jewel outlet to make a booking for dinner at 6pm. Apparently, there have a time limit of 75 minutes for 2 pax, and 90 minutes for more than 2 pax. Is it really feasible to implement a time limit on a steamboat session which is not buffet style? But you will be glad to know that they did not chase us away or even remind us of the time. Of course, this is provided that you order enough food. 

Weekday crowd

It was a Monday, and the restaurant was still quite filled with people. If the safe distancing rules were removed, the place would be livelier. As we were ushered to the table, I noticed that the condiment corner was closed off. This is probably for hygiene purpose in our fight against covid19. 

For hygiene purpose as well, we were given Zappy food contact wipes to clean the surface of our utensils. There are also the ziploc bags for storing of our handphones, which I did not use, but cheapo-ly brought it back. The tablet was also given a wipe before we used it for ordering of the food. 

The choice of soup

The selection of soup base here is pretty good. 

Of course, we ought to try the soup that they are known for - Beauty Collagen Broth. More collagen, more beautiful. We also ordered the coconut soup, herbal drunken chicken and vegetarian mushroom. My two personally favorite are the collagen soup and the coconut broth. 

Their collagen soup is creamy but not overwhelming. The coconut base is sweet and quite interesting as a hot soup. I actually prefer both of these at the beginning before all the ingredients changed its taste. And I only liked the mushroom soup after all the ingredients were added in. 

The type of dishes

The food selection is great. The staff would state the amount of time needed to cook the dishes to perfection when they serve it to the table. Of course, you really must have a photographic memory to remember it all. Which reminds me, the staff have to memorize all those timings as part of their job. Wow.

I do not really know the difference among all the meat we ordered, I just eat. We did not really purchase the premium meats but they taste pretty delicious as well. Cook according to the seconds advised by the staff, and you will get a nice and tender piece. 

One of the popular dish is the fried bean curd skin. Just 3 seconds and it is ready for consumption. The skin will absorb the soup, and maintain some of the crispiness. Dip it in a little longer and the beancurd skin will soak up more broth goodness. It really depends on your preference. I think it taste best with the collagen soup. 

The noodle wise, we did not like the la mian. It does not absorb any of the soup's taste, which makes it rather plain tasting. 

The sauces

At $4 per pax, you get your unlimited sauces and side dishes. With the condiment area closed, their sauces are pre-mixed and you may not like that certain combination. For example, usually we like the original peanut sauce, but their mixture has something else which makes it taste like dan dan mian sauce. Their spicy signature sauce and special thai mixture are not bad. 

The drinks

I ordered a hot drink, their flower tea, which comes in a pot. It is a good option to whet the appetite. We also tried their luohanguo and plum juice, and I must say that both drinks taste more authentic than Haidilao's. Free flow too. 

To end off the meal, we had a nice platter of fruits and iced pomelo dessert, which they reminded us it was inclusive when we wanted to reject. The service is generally quite good. They would come by every now and then to top up soup, drinks, help with cooking the noodles and etc. 

The entire concept is similar to Haidilao. But if given a choice, I would pick Beauty in the pot over Haidilao simply because I have favourite soups here. And also for the more authentic drinks available. 

Verdict: Worth the occasional indulgence. 

Wakodo Lebens Milk - For pregnant and lactating mum

I have thought that I would never be able to drink powdered maternity milk because I hated the smell of it. Formula milk for babies always smell horrible to me as well. 

And then I was introduced to Wakodo Lebens Mom's milk.

Back in November 2019 when holding events was still possible, I signed up for the "Ultimate Guide to preparing for pregnancy and baby" seminar organised by SuperMom. For $7 per couple to attend the seminar and to receive a goodie bag worth $50 after that, this sounds like a pretty good deal. I was only 8 weeks then, and a mummy with the smallest tummy there. 

There were several partners during the event, and one of them was Wakodo Singapore. They let us sample their original milk and milk mixed with mango, both chilled. I felt that the taste was acceptable at that point, and that the idea to blend in mango to the milk is just awesome. 

The vendor told us that some sample will be given in the goodie bag after the seminar and we all thought it would be in packets form. But one whole large tin of milk powder was given to us! (and also along with all these amazing gifts!)

After trying it again, I find the milk quite pleasant.

The taste of Wakodo milk is quite similar to that of low fat fresh milk. It is light, not that sweet and not overly creamy. I prefer to drink it warm instead of cold as it really helped with comforting my stomach from the heartburn that was constantly there in my later pregnancy. 

The powder blends easily with water as well, and rarely do I find any clumps left over. 

I also like how the milk container is designed. The lid is bent at half point, and there is a little flap there to scrap the milk powder flat. And whatever extra milk powder will drop right back into the tin nicely. No mess. 

This milk is made in Japan, which is a bonus point for me haha. Japan products are generally quite a quality buy isn't it?

I am not sure if you can still find this milk at Isetan supermarket but you can purchase it online instead for convenience. I have purchased it from Lazada/Redmart, and Redmart really delivers fast. 

Wakodo is also on Shopee currently, but this milk seems unavailable at the moment. 

Nox - Dining in the Dark Experience

On our 9th anniversary of togetherness, which is also the last day of 2017, my dearest planned an exciting & expensive ($168++ per pax) dinner for the both of us. He wanted it as a surprise for me but somehow it did not really turn out that way.

He said: ‘Dear, there cannot take pictures though.’ And I replied: ‘Oh, Nox is it?’

He had told me about this restuarant long long ago, but since one of his friends posted about Nox on Facebook recently, its name immediately came to me.

I was a little apprehensive at first and asked him whether he thought I would be able to take the dark. All along, I could not stand total darkness in the hotel rooms when we sleep, let alone dining in the dark. He assured me that he was there with me. It was enough for me. 

We arrived 15 minutes prior to our booking at 7pm and was warmly welcomed by the staff. They ushered us to the sofa seats and gave us our choice of welcome drink. I went with sparkling wine, and he went with the mocktail, a mix of chocolate, ginger and some other stuff. The end result turns out quite nice, and the chocolatety taste stands out. To compliment our drinks, we had 2 different  types of welcome snack. One of them was an almond chocolate filled with cheese-like filling. It tastes funny because of the saltiness in a sweet chocolate. On the other hand, the savoury snack is really delicious - should be ebiko + raw salmon + truffles on wanton skin.

There were a total of 3 servings of drinks which will compliment the food we would be eating. I chose to have the cocktail pairing while my bf continued with mocktail. Mocktail is like the only choice if you do not want any alcohol. According to my bf, he booked a special mystery new year package. There are 4 categories - appetizer, mid-course, main-course & dessert. The lady staff briefed us to eat from our 6pm, 9pm, 12pm & 3pm as there will be 4 bowls. Shortly after, we locked our belongings in the locker, visited the restroom and were ready to be ushered up to the second floor.

At the door, we were greeted by our host, Liu. You will see how amazing this whole idea is after you meet your host who would be assisting your table for the whole dinner. Like a train, we put two hands on the shoulders of the person in front (our host together with another couple behind us), and we walked up the stairs. We were told the number of steps, and as it starts to turn really dark, I counted the steps in my heart to keep track. Once on the flat ground, we literally take mini steps forward. Liu guided my bf to his seat first while we all stood there. He guided my hand to my chair before he moved away. The lack of further guidance actually surprised me a little, because I had to figure out whether the chair was pushed in and how to sit down.

He gave us instructions on where our utensils were. Just the very basic were on the table - the spoon and fork on the right, and an empty glass near the middle on the right side as well. The table felt small but adequate, like a square with rounded edges. The area on second floor sounded considerably small as well, maybe 5 couples at a time? Our drinks were served shortly and it was placed right beside the empty glass. Oh, so that glass is just a marker for us to gauge where our actual drink is, and a guide to help us place it back at the exact spot.

Our appetitizers were served in a tray with 4 small square bowls and we were to eat in a clockwise direction. Bf reminded me to feel the bowls first so that I can picture the whole image in my mind. Now how should we eat our food? I really wonder if everyone eats the same way since you cannot really gauge if you lifted any food up. You do not even know what you are lifting up. So we both put the corner of the bowl to our mouths and sweep the food up. This is the safest way.

The first one was an easy guess, a salad with walnuts and some other ingredients. We started each bowl together and had fun guessing what we were both eating. I recall now that my bf had asked Liu this question: ‘Do we eat with a spoon or fork?’ Hahaha. Liu said he preferred the spoon. We used the spoon throughout, and the fork was useless. It was fairly easy to know whether you finished the food, just put your spoon at the corners to feel it. Since we were eating the same dishes, we did not have to share. Only for the drinks part, you have to communicate properly to pass the glass to each other or just ask the other person to take from the original position of the glass. By the time we were done with the appetitizers, we were more or less used to the dark. At some point, I was just closing my eyes while eating because it made no difference.

We were quite full after our main courses. There are 4 kinds of appetizer, 2 types of mid-course, 4 different mains and 4 variety of desserts! By the time I finished my 2nd drink, I was already a little high. They do not serve water unless you buy the mineral water. We felt for each other in the dark and it was quite an interesting experience. The comfort of just purely feeling his hands and face. Generally, you would only go for such dining experience with someone close. At some point after the main courses, my nose was very blocked. And I was very sniffy. It was probably due to the effects of alcohol as well. One of the host was really nice and passed me some serviettes twice, once on the table, once on my hand. It felt a little panicky when I could not see and breathe properly at the same time. I felt the need to see light. 

Desserts were served and the dessert spoon was passed to my hand directly. Before I closed my grip, the spoon slipped off my hand! It shocked me a bit, like NOOO I would not be able to find my spoon by myself. Anyway, I was talking to the air that my spoon dropped. If I am not wrong, the same guide that passed me the serviettes passed me a new spoon after. I made sure I held on tight this time.

After desserts, Liu checked with us whether we were ready to leave or do we want to sit longer. Once you are ready to see the light again, he will guide you the same way down the steps. As the path will gradually be lit as you walk down the steps, it was not so difficult to adapt to the full light downstairs. In fact, the first storey is also dimly lit, with the atmosphere of a relaxing pub.

It was now time to see what we had eaten! At this point after we have been overwhelmed with the different types of food, we have already forgetten some parts of the food experience. It seems so foreign when we looked at the nice food display in the little bowls. Are you sure we ate that? Does it really look so beautiful before we digged in? We guessed correctly for some of the dishes. Did not remember how the venison tasted like. The scrambled egg appetizer is really good, with some pieces of raw tasting food. Turned out to be uni, the sea urchin. I thought I would never eat it again after the smelly first experience of uni at Sushi Express. There was this root vegetable which we have never heard before and it is quite yummy like potatoes. My favourite is the cod fish with edamame. I love codfish to the max.

We asked for some iced cool water. After the glasses of cocktail, I felt dehydrated. See the difference in my eyes after the drinks on the right. And more desserts were served! The tart chocolate was super good and crispy.

This dining experience was unique and it was awesome we tried it together. It was kind of an intimate experience when you cannot see but only feel your partner through your sense of touch. And the voice, it seems to resonate more clearly in your head. On a personal level, it made me appreciate the power of my sight even more. The visuals make everything a lot better, even the taste of food seems to be enhanced. While the food at Nox is delectable, it still felt like something was lacking. We could not 100% tell what we were eating based on just the smell and taste.
 

Due to the fact that we were so focused on guessing the dish, our conversation revolved around the food rather than a good quality discussion of sorts. There were also various sounds made by the hosts to let the other hosts know about their position in the dark. One of them sounded like a duck, and it got us a little confused at first. Not sure if it is a sound device or their actual voice. Also got knocked into/ brushed against slightly a few times, which can cause a mini shock since it was in total darkness.
 

Overall, I would say that this might not be the best romantic dining experience but I definitely think it is the kind of adventurous dining that everyone should try once.

The Marina Bay Sands Staycation

Marina Bay Sands staycation has finally came true!

MBS seems to have become one of the tourist attractions in Singapore. Yes indeed, the architectural design of the hotel is unique and that infinity pool provides the instagram-worthy background for phototaking. I had high expectations on the room and service as well. It is, after all, quite an expensive hotel!
 

There are 3 towers in MBS (which I am sure you would have noticed by its exterior design) and walking from 1 to 3 is quite a distance. As we were at tower 1, we saw that the check-in counter was so crowded with tourists. Thank goodness, the check-in process at tower 3 was smooth.

In no time, we were greeted by our awesome room on level 38. The first thing we hear is the sound of the automatic opening of the curtain. Not sure if ours was faulty, because it sounded loud and weird. We were given room 3802 which is facing the river and the buildings. The first impression of the room was of course how spacious it is. It is designed like a rectangle box, with the toilet in another rectangle box 😆 . There is a sliding door for the whole bathroom, which provides some privacy for non-couples. I kind of like those rooms with glass showers seen through from the bed area but this is a solid wall between the bed and the shower.

The bed is big and comfy. Okay, which hotel's bed isn't comfortable right? The sofa at the side was a good area for our little chill tea session. When not in use by us, our belongings will occupy it. There is also a work table which can be utilized for work purposes or planning of itinerary. It was raining while we both sat on the bed for a heart to heart talk. We watched the rain pour down and wonder when we can go up to the pool!

Eventually, the rain stopped and we went up to level 57. It was all dampy looking up there after the rain and the sky was greyish. From above, we can see the view of the Gardens by the Bay. Our Singapore garden is so beautiful looking from above as well. We entered the pool area by tapping through the gantry via our room cards. Don't try to sneak guests up okay. I think it is too troublesome. MBS infinity pool is really so popular and it is good that they took precaution measures from the start to cope with the the volume of visitors. The pool is quite a long stretch, and even though there were really quite a crowd, there was still adequate space in the pool.

We tapped out and went to the Sky Garden. 6 years ago, also in November, we came up here for a visit. I remember I was more afraid of the height then, but nothing much has changed. The gloomy day was not perfect for photo taking. We went back down to our room to change into our swimming suit and went back up again. First timers, remember to bring along your camera or phones. Best is if  you can have a small bag to store your belongings. Towels are provided for you there. You are lucky if you get the warm towels hmmmm.

We found our spot, right beside the lifeguard, and placed our stuff on the chair in front of the pool. The lifeguard can "help" us to take care of our belongings as well. At first, it feels unsafe to hold the phone in the water. However, you start to get used to it as everyone does that! The purpose of the infinity pool is for phototaking and video-ing! In fact, if you swim in this infinity pool, it will cause inconvenience to others. The pool gives a very serene feeling in the photo. What an awesome experience at the pool!

We headed for dinner at Ippudo at about 7.30pm after our soaking session. I would have said this before in my Japan post, but Ippudo in Japan is way way better. Don't waste your money here. Then we went back at about 8.30pm, wanting to catch the water light show. But then realised it starts at 9pm. As it starts, it just looks small from high above. The show was not spectacular from such a high level, but the view of all the lighted buildings were! I felt so blessed in that moment.

Anyway, we went for our second dip because for MBS pool, you definitely have to go more than once. You already paid so much for the whole package. And I was thinking of taking more photos. At night, there were more people! We managed to find an empty seat nearing the end. I was amazed by the lighting of the pool which resulted in pretty nice photos. At least my face still looks presentable. This shows how planning is really important. They had anticipated the crowd and created the tapping barrier to stop guests from sneaking people up. And they also planned such good lightings for people to take night photos hahaha.

Morning buffet breakfast is one of the things I look forward to in a staycation! We were told to expect the crowd at the restuarant "Rise" and so we woke up at 7am! We did not wait long before we got our seats but when we left at about 9am, the queue has formed!

Anyway, I think the service and all is fine. But the taste of the food is lacking. Their omelete can never beat the Pan Pacific one. That hashbrown as well. I miss them soooooooooo much! Tried a bit of  the vegetarian noodle, and it is really dry and tasteless. On the other hand, I like their selection of meiji yogurt and the availability of a greater variety of fruits. You don't always see longan, jambu and grapes in buffets. Their cranberry and orange juice combination is also fantasticly refreshing!

This is the end of my story 😂.