Blissfully delighted with Somersby at Bliss House

Somersby cider has made its way to Singapore! Available in 35 countries around the world,it has not only gain notoriety as a popular alternative to beer and wine but also making its first culinary appearance with Bliss House themed restaurant. The lack of artificial sweeteners and preservatives made it possible for Chef Dennis Ong to devise a menu that diversifies its usage from salads,to succulent meats and desserts, leaving no stones unturned. With an invitation to Bliss House restaurant at Clarke Quay,I could not wait to try out the apple-cider infused dishes!


Bliss House restaurant has its white roses,faux grass,white tables with large windows that lit up the entire room. It feels like an indoor garden with a dining option!


Long Yishu,the manager of the restaurant explained that they have concocted three cocktails fused with Somersby Apple Cider which will complement the food served in the restaurant.


"Somersby is the perfect complement to gin; mixed together they form the perfect balance of flavours. The new drinks we have created are unique and perfect for recreating at home." Learning the tricks of the trade from Akihiro Eguchi, the Diageo World Class Singapore’s Champion, Long Yishu created three blissful cocktails for the restaurant.


Chef Dennis Ong W.K is a self-trained chef with a passion for cooking. Learning the fundamentals of Italian cuisine from the Italian chefs that he had worked with,he went on to work for Saint Pierre, Senso, Michealangelo and Le Amis Group. With a picnic setting,he went on to create light-hearted dish with the fruity apple cider.


Somersby Refreshing Ploughman Salad
Fresh mesclun salad with cheddar cheese,cherry tomatoes,olive and Japanese cucumbers tossed lightly in Somersby Apple Cider Vinaigrette.


Somersby Decadent Foie Gras
A gastronomical indulgence,this pan-seared foie gras is drizzled with Somersby Apple Cider reduction and lemon butter,served with puff pastry and arugula (rocket salad). The puff pastry however,broke off too easily. Words cannot describe how delicious this is and together with the setting,I feel as though I am in the Garden of Eden.


No,this blog post will not go on without a picture of me. HAHA! Well,what I am holding on to is Somersby Apple cider,celery puree and gin. Also known as Bubbly Bliss,the bubbly fizz of the apple cider and grapefruit helps to open up my appetite for the next dish.


Somersby Pasta-Fantastica
Rigatoni pasta with assorted greens and minced pork infused with Somersby Apple Cider. Personally,I feel that this is an average dish. Nothing special about the pasta of course,but I do surprisingly enjoy the greens and minced pork.


Can't miss out the Somersby Apple Cider. The three cocktails are presented right in front of us. The pink one is also known as Sweet Ruby Bliss,pomegranate and gin with a poached apple garnish.


Somersby Pasta-Fantastica
Somersby Apple cider,gin and grapefruit. This is perhaps my favourite among the rest. Very refreshing for the afternoon.

Somersby Three Little Pigs
What a comical name for this dish. When HP first said that he cannot wait to try this dish,I leaned over and asked him what pig is he talking about. He took out the menu and pointed to it. I looked at it and laughed out loud. So this is our 'three little pigs':

The trio pan roasted pork tenderloin with roasted capscum, onion confit and prosciutto blanket asparagus with Somersby Apple Cider sauce. Learning the art of cooking and its theories from my old school,I love to observe the complements of a dish. This dish has perfect complement of sweet,savoury and salty.


I do very much enjoy the sweetness of the toasted capsicum (top). How strange,for someone a carnivore like me to enjoy capsicum! I did enjoy its sweetness before sinking me teeth into the pork tenderloin. A delicious combination indeed. Next would be the prosciutto blanket asparagus (centre) and onion confit at the bottom. I did not really like them two though.


To wrap up the lunch,we were served with a Blissful Somersby Finish. Poached pear in Somersby Apple Cider topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to sweeten our taste buds. I love the sesame cracker because it's flavorful with (goes without saying) sesame! It is so deliciously sweet with apple cider with and vanilla ice cream. But I'm not a fan of vanilla ice cream so as soon as my sesame cracker finished,I stop eating the dessert.


Bubbly blissful,bubble delightful! Somersby Apple Cider,made with real apples. No preservatives or artificial flavouring!


Happy to see everyone again and I'm so happy that Nadnut still remember me! =D I had a lovely time at Bliss House restaurant would definitely be back to visit,be it for birthday or a date!

I'm gonna wrap this post up with a picture of ME!

Everyone asked why I kept smiling throughout the event. Well,I'm happy of course! Very happy because... They gave everyone a picnic basket of apples and apple cider! How perfect,for I was going to a picnic after lunch. A very unique experience with a great memorabilia from Bliss House Restaurant!

Bliss House Theme Restaurant
#03-21
The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
Singapore 059817
Website : http://www.blisshouse.com.sg/

Bangkok Trip with my family

It has been some time since I last updated this space but I have been really busy with ballet and school. And I am also preparing for guzheng competition that is coming up in August! Though I have yet to my preparations,I am really excited about going to Hong Kong! Yes,it is held in Hong Kong! Anyways,I am going to blog about my family trip to Bangkok last month.

We last minutely book a flight with Scoot,it cost us about $350 per pax. It's a to and fro flight,but I guess it's costly because we book less than a week before departure. Nevertheless...

Bangkok,here we go!


Flight ticket. It's holidays,and my guess is that there are a lot of people flying to Bangkok too because there's a long queue at the immigration counter!


In my humble opinion,I do not think anyone should take this offer unless you're taking a 24 hours flight. However,much to my surprise,Scoot has got very comfortable seats for a budget airline. The seat is not stiff and upright,and I have plenty of leg room. It does really live up to its name with Singapore Airlines as its parent company! It is an airline that I would consider taking to nearby countries.

After the 3 hours flight,we finally arrived at the Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) and took a MRT to our hotel. It is pretty fast but it is not located right at the door step of our hotel. We had to lug our luggage and walk a short distance.


My brother walking around the room and packing stuff before we go out for dinner.

I stayed at P2 Boutique Hotel because it's located near Platinum Fashion Mall and I trust them for its cleanliness,spacious rooms and king size bed! Muahahaha,I LOVE rolling in the bed.

Having been here before,I know that there are some street food nearby but I never knew exactly what do they sell. After taking a walk around,I come to a conclusion: the Thais must love veggies a lot,something that I don't like! Gosh,so many stall sells food that includes a lot of veggies. My mom on the other hand love veg so there's no problem at all.

We finally settled for this. A very.. Authentic thai-ish taste. It's not spicy nor oily and the pork is very chewy. Yums!


Had light breakfast too. Not very nice. As expected. Their breakfast isn't very nice and the other food you can trust is their cereal and milk. That can't go wrong.


We made our way to Chatuchak. It's a weekend market and I am glad to make it there because there's plenty to buy. We took a taxi there and it cost us about 150Baht. Unfortunately,I feel like I'm in an oven while I'm at Chatuchak. You have no choice but crave for a soda for such a warm day.


My mom,brother and I. We shopped from morning till mid-afternoon. Though the stuff there is somewhat repetitive,you can't finish walking the whole Chatuchak because it's simply too big! Plus it's so friggin hot inside. I can't help walking into some shops with air-con even though there's nothing to buy from them.


Heck,there's even a section that caters to animals. There are many puppies there for sale,and it's very cheap I think. I did not ask about the price though. The very unfortunate thing is that most of them looked very tired and hot,they just lie there snoozing away. The stall owners would keep picking them up to get them moving in order to attract customers. You see the squirrels above,I do feel sad for them somehow because it's really very hot,about 33 degree Celsius.


HARROW! Hehe,it was way too hot and tiring so I tied up my hair. We took a cab back to MBK,shopped at Naraya and lugged some stuff for Li Ling. I know that there's a manicure shop somewhere upstairs and it's cheap! A pretty set of nails will cost about SGD$10-$20,way lesser than Singapore.


I wanted to do this owl manicure in orange for 350Baht( but when I asked how long they would take,they said one hour! The weather is too hot and I don't want my family to wait too long,so I opt to go for the ribbon design I did last time. Partially because it's cute,and they only take half an hour. Walked upstairs and I repaired my iPhone 4S screen for only SGD$50!

We also went nearby to Erawan Shrine (four-face Buddha) to pray. Quite crowded but I guess everyone just wants to pray for their own peace. Said to be very powerful and answers all wishes,I do hope that He grant my wishes too :) At first it very confusing how to pray,but I saw how people did it and followed them. Very smoky too,and hot.


It was in the evening when we wanted to go back to our hotel,so decided to take a tuktuk from MBK to our hotel even though it's a walkable distance. My mom and brother wanted the authentic tuktuk experience but I know I wouldn't like it cause they always try to rip us off. Heck,while waiting at the traffic light,the two tuktuks with tourists behind us were still haggling about the price! It is usually agreed upon before taking the Tuktuk,otherwise you will get get ripped off.

But it doesn't mean the tuktuk wouldn't take you elsewhere and blackmail you for more money. Like this one we were on,we agreed on the price and boarded his tuk tuk. But while waiting for the traffic,he suddenly asked for more money. None of my family members replied and I'm just glad that he didn't bring us anywhere else. After we arrived at our hotel,I just paid him the amount we agreed on and walked away without turning back. He didn't pursue anyway,he knew. What an experience.



We then decide to go for Thai massage before dinner and it's about 200Baht each for a full body massage. Heck,there's wifi too! Super shiok to use the internet while someone is pressing your back. I wouldn't say I thoroughly enjoyed it because they kept cracking my back. Maybe because I'm just a bag of bones with no muscles to massage,there's why it's a painful experience for me.


We saw this beauty pageant that's held near the massage place. I wondered if it's a mix of tranny and women contest because there were many contestants that's very feminine! And of course,the extreme left contestants are guys. If it's really a mix,then oops! I hope I didn't offend the ladies by asking if they are men.

BOO! Super relaxed after massage,dinner and now posing with my cute nails!

Let me introduce you to the roadside food that I bought. They were yummy!

There's chicken for 60 baht,about SGD$1.50. Super cheap and big and crispy!

Chicken skin for 40Baht,about $1. Don't go ewww,it's very very crispy!

Last but not least,my favourite: Mango Sticky Rice! It's 60Baht as well and the mango is super sweet!

I was in Bangkok for 3 days and 2 nights,and I had have to these every. Single. Night. So much so that I fell sick for one week after coming back from Bangkok :( After the weekend in Bangkok,it's time to fly home.


Awesome orangey sunset that lit up the whole MRT station.


Hello! I'm batwoman! Hahahahaha!

Head home and spent almost SGD$1,000 at DFS. I can't help it,everyone is trying to max out their alcohol limit purchase at DFS! One of the coolest would be the Johnny Walker XR,which I shall reserve it for a special occasion to open it. The bottle is so cool! Of course,my purchase includes cosmetic products for my mom as well. I think in total my family spent about SGD$1,000/$24,000Baht in Bangkok. I guess the amount simply multiplies when you are with your family. So much more to consider than traveling where you only worry about your expenses and accommodation. I was shocked when my friend said she is changing SGD$10,000 for her family trip to Taiwan but when she calculated for me,it does sounds reasonable,because there's 6 people in the family. I am looking forward to Hong Kong trip in August!

Yoga Workout with the BEST view ever!

Thanks to Jessie,I got a chance to experience Yoga for the very first time. And it's held in one of the flyer capsules! Oh my god,I can't imagine how shiok it would feel to do a one-hour session of yoga in the capsule itself plus the evening sun was fantastic,allowing us to enjoy city view in the fading sunlight.


I can haz a pink yoga mat! YAY! Now I don't need to worry about the cold floor,can everyday at home lay out the mat to stretch. HEHE!


Our Yoga instructors for the evening. They are super flexible,wish I could be that flexible too!


This posture is called Sunbathing on the rock. It requires two people to work together though. "Sacrum to sacrum," our yoga instructors kept reminding us.


This feels okay.

But I feel awkward doing this stance... Plus ballet always taught me to turn out my feet and point my toes to the side. But this one allows me to point to the front. So...

Yoga instructor helping Jessie here,looks like she's enjoying the session as much as I do!

This is pretty difficult for me. I can hear my joints of my spine cackling all the way down! Omg.

To celebrate Mother's Day,Singapore Flyer is holding a Mind Body Spirit Festival from 11 – 12 May 2013,8.30am – 8.30pm. If you wish to do the yoga workshop like what we did,head over to Singapore Flyer's website to purchase your tickets and register at Mind Body Spirit! You will not be able to do a walk-in for the capsule yoga workshop because there is limited capacity. So do remember to register during this period: 10 April – 8 May 2013!

The rooms on the ground level would be able to entertain the walk-in registration. There will be a wide selection of yoga, pilates, zumba and other health workshops at various
venues at the Singapore Flyer complex. Event packs will be handed out to the first 1,000 participants!

To celebrate Mother’s Day, Singapore Flyer has launched a Facebook contest calling upon
the public to put in a dedication to their moms and upload their pictures together for a chance
to win attractive prizes. Every submission will also entitle customers with a promotion code
that gives a 50% discount off High Tea flights during the month of May.

How to play:
“Like” the Singapore Flyer on Facebook to submit an entry of a photo and your caption. Fans may votes for their
favourite entries. Each voter has 3 votes per day. There is no restriction on which entry fans
can vote for.
One winning entry will be awarded the grand prize by Singapore Flyer based on the quality of
photos and captions submitted. The entry with the most votes will be awarded with the most
popular title prize. 3 voters will also be chosen randomly to win a prize.
For more information on the mechanics, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/singaporeflyer/app_351088538335064