Zeng Fu Cai

"Steamboat" or "hotpot" is a popular Chinese cuisine in Singapore. Zheng Fu Cai at 100 Beach Road, #01-41 Shaw Tower, claims to serve authentic Chongqing hotpot. This was our first visit and it did not disappoint.

Although we don't exactly fancy steamboat, the restaurant's comfortable air-conditioned and clean environment was a draw. The huge sign at its door that says "all-you-can-eat at only S$17.80 per pax" was enough to tempt you as you walk past the restaurant in a humid and busy day. Choices were varied and quality was good compared to many other similar "steamboat" eateries around the beach road areas. The place serves three types of soups - herbal broth, spicy broth and chicken broth. Herbal broth and chicken broth filled each side of our pot. We ate to our hearts content that evening.

Shutters Restaurant

Shutters at Amara Santuary Resort, Sentosa, serves fusion food, in a modern resort setting, much like everything else in the resort. This was where we had all our 3-course lunches during the 3-day management retreat. Servings came in tiny portions that left our stomachs yearning for more food after each meal. Main course was either fish or chicken, for every meal. I had fish, fish and chicken in that order.

On the first day, appetizer consisted of one (yes, one) pan-seared scallop served with chinese-style garlic and onion sauce, one oyster tempura, and preserved papaya, served on a rectangular porcelain tile.

Put simply, it was simple food decorated elaborately. Can't fool a gourmet like me, though. I was hardly impressed. I had cod fish for my main course. Apart from its freshness, there was nothing special about the chinese-style fermented bean sauce that came with it. Lunch on the second day was equally dismal. The snapper tasted healthy, but the creamy mushroom sauce was such a mismatch.

Appetizer was miserably simple, with just one prawn in tartar sauce served in a small piece of lettuce, accompanied by a sweet serving of cooked raspberry. Chocolate mouse cake as dessert was far too easy. Nothing to shout about.

Amara Sanctuary Resort, Sentosa Island

This is my 1st management retreat but the company's 2nd at Sentosa Island. The rest of the management team had their inaugural retreat in January this year. Amara Sanctuary Resort is a fairly new establishment in the Island, about 1 year old. It has a modern resort theme, with tall glass panels, wood paneled walls, marble floored staircase that rises majestically across a double volume space, luscious wool carpet in the conference rooms, earth-toned marble flooring in the bathrooms and simple modern lines. Amara Sanctuary Resort is perched on a hill slope, just off the Sentosa Gateway, facing the World Resort theme park, and across Vivocity. I like this wooden door, with hazel nut colored laminate wood, and mirror-finished door handle. One can see Nigel and Glen's reflections on them. The resort has a relaxed outdoor, covered by a luscious blanket of tropical flora and fauna. I managed to catch a glimpse of a few peacocks in the vicinity before the sun set. These birds are the mascots for the resort. They are so used to having humans around them that they were oblivious to my photo taking. The reception lobby and its hotel rooms are in a separate building, away from the conference rooms and ballrooms. We had to shuttle between the two buildings every day. It is considered a boutique-style resort hotel with limited number of rooms. Occupancy during the last weekend was all right, but not full. Many of my colleagues believe that this hotel will face tough competition from the neighbouring world resort hotel and theme parks when they open in 2010. But until that day comes, Amara Santuary Resort is still a pretty good choice for a weekend getaway from the bustling Singapore CBD.

The hotel rooms are standard-looking 5-star quality. The white sheets are comfortable enough for my liking - soft, smooth, and not cutting into my delicate flesh. Generous use of wood panelling in the room, with natural materials throughout.

Modern Terrace

This re-built intermediate terrace along Watten Road looked like a Semi-D. The owner is an architect in his 40s, and he designed this house. The old dwelling was a traditional inter-terrace that was torn down to make way for this swanky modern minimalist house. Yan and I took a peep at the house the other day when we drove past Watten Estate. We were rather impressed with the effect; it's basically an illusion of a Semi-D. To circumvent the constraints of an inter-terrace house, the owner-architect had cleverly positioned the void areas to create an opening on one side of the house that's linked to the neighbouring unit.

Using this trick, the inter-terrace now has a 3-sided opening, much like a Semi-D. The drawback of such a design is a reduction in usable floor area. Overall, this is an innovative design. Something that I have not seen being done on an intermediate terrace before.

Food and Everlasting Music

21 June 2008: I had a fantastic birthday. Set lunch at Au Petite Salut at Dempsey Hill, followed by a treat to a one-night only "Air Supply" concert in the evening.

Like many other restaurants at Dempsey Hill, the locality of this restaurant is a sure business head-start. Housed within a modern resort-style bungalow, Au Petite Salut @ Dempsey offers value-for-money French cuisine in a perfect rustic setting. The interior decor is simple but well executed. Its alfresco dining section is inviting. Two glasses of house red wine, and a 3-course meal for two set us back by only S$115 (inclusive of GST and service charges). We were pleasantly surprised.

Food quality here is not bad considering the price tag and ambience. Of course, one cannot compare it to Michelin-star fine dining, but the experience was well worth it. For appetizers, we chose garlic infused grilled escargo, and pan-seared beef slices topped with tuna spread and rocket leaves. They were as delicious as the pictures shown here.

For the main course, we ordered grilled steak served with french fries. The steak was grilled to perfection, very tender and flavor-full.

As for dessert, I ordered creme brulee (a safe choice), while Yan went for the fruit salad. The home-made tangy raspberry ice-cream really packed a punch. A casual lunch crowd. No pompous atmosphere. Every table, both indoor and outdoor was filled throughout lunch hours. Thumbs up for Au Petite Salut@Dempsey.

I was rather apprehensive about attending the "Air Supply" concert initially. Yan had been conditioning my mind for weeks on this prospect. I was worried of being the only "younger" fan. But the concert turned out to be such a surprise in so many ways. Contrary to my belief, there was a good mix of audience, with more than half born in the 80s and 90s, long after most of the Air Supply hits were released.

And it was the younger crowd that sang along and dance to the songs. I was amazed at Russell's flawless live performance given his age. His voice was as solid as his recordings. He belted out those high-pitched songs with such ease as if he has never aged. I learned at the concert that the pair had been together for 33 years, and they are still actively singing together and composing songs for each other. There was an abundant of chemistry and brotherhood between the two.

Russell amazed me with his rendition of "the Power of Love". He is probably the only male recording artist that can pull off a song that was obviously written for a female vocalist. Both of these two grandfathers looked great on stage. Song after song, with powerful vocals and great control. We also learned that Graham is a left-hand guitarist. It was fun watching the two veteran singer-songwriters living out their passion till their old age. That thought alone was inspiring. The concert ended with "All out of Love", the one song that I had been waiting for the entire evening.

It must have been the same for others. What a perfect end to a wonderful evening.

Valentino

Original Italian cuisine in an authentic Italian setting, minus the gimmicks. This is perhaps the reason why Valentino is perennially full, and walk-in dining is an impossibility. Valentino is owned and run by an Italian chef who settled in Singapore a few years ago. On the walls of this restaurant are photos of his family - his Singaporean wife and their child - a clue to how and why he had ended up cooking in Singapore. It's an interesting place. Located within an old shophouse off Rifle Range Road, it could have been easily missed and dismissed. But despite its locality, Valentino has an enviable reputation as one of the best Italian dining place in town. Its cozy interior decor and ambience evokes memories of little Italy.  Home made pasta, top quality olive oil and fresh ingredients. 

As a starter, we each ordered a bowl of seafood soup.  It was thick in seafood flavor with a well-balanced tinge of tomato taste, and an abundance of fresh seafood in it.  

For the main course, I would typically go for spaggetti vongole, and this was what I ordered in my first visit to Valentino. The serving was generous with clams.  

The Smoked Salmon Salad was refreshing and tasty.  

  

"Tropical Bird" By Chef C

This was completed more than a year ago. It was an experimental exercise. I was attempting cubist-style painting. I started with colors in mind, based largely on the limited range I had on hand, and moved from there. The result was a combination of free form and cubist. Somewhat odd, I must admit. Since this initial experiment, I had attempted another piece titled "Mother and Child", which now sit unfinished in our study room at One Balmoral. It is a portrait-style oil painting based on a cover of a book in my collection. Yan has said it is a horrifying image because the child looked still-born. Perhaps that is why I have left it unfinished. I may revitalize the project one day, but until that day comes, it will remain an unfinished piece of work. Painting requires inspiration, and inspiration does not come often enough for me, especially in busy working days like now.