Gardenia's birthday party in making Part VI

OB gave me a birthday Buffet Lunch Treat at Carousel @ Royal Plaza on Scotts. I think that it's a good deal for that many varieties during lunch.And I went crazy over the dessert's corner, although I did curb myself on the warning of OB

Ohhhh... Macaron! And many other delicate biscuits on sale...

1st round to warm up our tummies.

I thought this was some olive oil for dipping bread for starters. It's actually shoyu sauce which was mixed with seaweed.

Some cold meat and fried food.

Let's get started! I think we had at most 3 rounds or so before we surrendered.

But not for desserts, at least not for me.

Clockwise from top: Lotus paste bun, desserts in shot glasses, and bread pudding with vanilla ice-cream.

On the right side, top-down: mango cake/mousse, strawberry mousse and choc cake.

Bottom: Panna Cotta

Shot glass from top and clockwise: Pistachio, Choc with mango/ kiwi, and strawberry.

We couldn't stand the smell of this dessert, neither the taste. It smells like perspiration after a good work-out session?!

OB likes this, and she's surprised by the dessert too.

I love strawberry, but the ice-cream served here tasted as if it's made out of those pre-mix box.

I tried the fondue for the 1st time and was not fascinated by it at all. After all, I'm not a chocoholic... except I do give in to Macadamia White Choc cookie at Subway.. Always!

I think this has a tint of banana flavour??

What do we do when we're filled up to our necks and left with bits and pieces?

An art piece!

We were too full to continue sitting our asses at the restaurant. We decided to walk around Orchard and bumped into fashion catwalk event at Paragon.

We decided to get ourselves drinks at the Jason's market and at the same time do some groceries window-shopping.

And I met my long-lost relatives! Besides that, we were absorbed at the bright fresh-looking seafood in the Japanese packaging at the Japanese food produce section.

We then walked to Wheelock for some caffeine boost, but ordered us Snapples @ Coffee Bean instead. All those food and walking kinda tire us out. But too much resting get us no where...

We continued our aimless journey Wheelock to Tanglin Mall before I saw the Botanic Gardens.

I admitted to OB that I haven't gone in before in my all my 20+ years. So we hopped on for a green walk and fresh air. It was a very short walk; 20mins?

I would love to have this at my area.

As the sun set, it also signalled to us to move on to our last stop for the day.

Quarubar @ Dempsey Road is a cosy bistro/ bar, that we resided till the end of the evening.

I like the black and white theme, the high ceiling and the classic black chandelier...

My 1st drink of the Blue Coral reminded me of the one served at Hyatt's lounge. I prefer the latter version.

OB and her Pineapple Beer Concoction. It has pineapple taste of course!

Sausages platter for our dinner. There are 4 varieties here... I especially like the spicy one.

Round 2: OB's red wine concoction.

Mine was a Appletini. I regretted my choice, after knowing the inclusion of vodka. I still had the hungover from Dragonfly the previous weekend.

The band was playing jazz, and to us, it was like out-of-tune music to our ears. What interest us was the musicians that formed the band thou. A cool smart long-hair guitarist, a newbie saxophonist and a drunken guitarist with oily hair and couldn't stand straight.

Halfway through, we got bored and walked around Dempsey looking for interesting hangouts.

We came upon this massage cum spa salon located on top of a restaurant. It is a really cool place to relax and the ambience is kinda suitable for the urban chic.

Before we headed back to Quarubar, we stepped in this grocery store cum bistro that sells organic produce and foreign exports that are pretty interesting.

We'll definitely make a point to go back Dempsey in another few months... mayb we'll be surprised by new changes again?!

Gardenia's birthday party in making Part IV

It's the actual day of my birthday. I took the day off from work to celebrate with Pig. I suggested Japanese (again?!) buffet, and I asked OB (friend) where to go for affordable and good ones. She had suggested Minori @ UE Square, Hanabi @ Odeon Towers or Ikoi @ Hotel Miramar. Alas, I decided on Hanabi since the reviews looked better, and it'll go easy on Pig's pocket too.

When I called the restaurant that afternoon, they were left with 2 seats at the sushi bar. I grabbed instantly, since OB mentioned too that it would be easier to order your sashimi from the chef himself.

The menu has more than we hoped for.

Old chef and his apprentice.

As usual, Pig started feasting on sashimi 1st.

I thought I ordered Yasai Tempura, but due to miscom with the waitress, it came stir-fry vege instead.

There was no Cha Soba so we had the Buckwheat Noodles instead. I prefer the former still.

Soft-shell crab was enjoyable, accompanied by the orange mayo sauce.

Teppanyaki: Chicken, mushrooms and fish.

I've forgotten the name of this fish. Pig described that it is filled entirely of eggs and it is very crunchy. Ehhh... not my liking thou.

It was their 3rd Anniversary? So customers are able to purchase the half lobster at a special price. Very yummy!

Finally, Yasai Tempura! But even Sakae Sushi beats them down.

Stir-fry beef with onions.

Top: Mackeral. Bottom: Salmon

Overall, I think it's suitable for those who want cheap and ok Japanese Buffet, so that they can wiped Hanabi dry! The sashimi isn't as fresh, and the food ordinary.

Well, we're not those die-hard buffet fanatic to linger around to let our stomachs lay on the table, especially when there's no reason to do so. We moved off to J Bar @ M Hotel for a drink before we ended the night.

There was the occasional live band, which I find not that bad. Pig wasn't agreeable on that thou. The music played by the DJ was more to R&B and Reggae. Our favourites.

Not to worry, Pig is a trained drinker and ex-bar man

Maybe I should just stick to beer. Ordered a house white wine on the 2nd go, but I was turned off by the taste. I've to admit I've no affinity with wines.