Thursday, December 11, 2008
It's been a long long time since I last had a decent buffet meal. You can't count normal buffets like Sakura a decent one because it's really a no-frills one to me. To put it in layman terms, it's like the food court version of hawker food. Why would I eat my favourite dry dumpling noodle at some food court near your house when I can get it at Crystal Jade? So whenever a friend or relative decides to have a buffet and they don't want to pay too much per head - it's Sakura we go. Honestly, Sakura itself isn't too cheap either because you cannot be spending 20 plus dollars per meal.
Due to the costs, overseas competitions, inter-hall and inter-faculty games and trainings, quite a few of my friends couldn't make it for this lunch. That's life as a undergraduate or rather, when you start to grow up. Programmes come in fast and packed and it's ironic sometimes when you say you deserve a good break after your last paper. The very next day, you're back in school or at the training ground working your guts out and this could very well go on for the next 1 month or so. This is the very reason why I've avoid joining any sports in school during the holidays. After a long season/semester of sports, I need a off-season or winter break from competitive sports.
Just when we've settled on the suitable hotel, I called to make reservations only to be disappointed by the fact that Carousel was fully booked till the 30th Dec. Obviously Singaporeans are not really affected by the worsening economy or they simply love their food too much to give it up. It's quite sad actually, there's this bridging rich-poor income gap now in Singapore. While many others are out are enjoying their buffet, there's a minority who are struggling to put food on the table. With the help of the internet and a few of my classmates, I called the relevant hotels to find out the costs. The contestants which made the list were Orchard Hotel, Merchant Court and this Japanese Restaurant near Mount Faber which I forgot the name.
The location wasn't too conveniently so the idea was eventually shelved. The price though was pretty decent, around $30.80++ but we hated the idea of paying $8 plus for free flow of soft drinks. I don't even drink much water when I go for a buffet. Merchant Court was eventually eliminated because the lady whom I talked to only offered me seats outside the restaurant ( she did ensured me it was sheltered). However, I didn't pay good money to stay away from the aircon and exposed myself to the Singapore sun. The final decision was very simple and it was a landslide win for Orchard Hotel.
It's been more than 5 years since I last dined at Orchard Hotel. The last time I used to frequent it with my parent and their friends for some late night Taiwanese porridge supper there. As you can imagine, that was very long ago. Nothing much has changed since then, still tucked away in a less bustling part of Orchard. If I'm a tourist in Singapore, I wouldn't mind staying away from the main part of town like Mariott Hotel. After a long day of sightseeing and shopping, I would want to retreat to a cosy and quiet hotel to rest and recharge but that's just me.
It was a good meal with some really fresh seafood and tasty cakes and pastries. What they may lacked in varieties, they more than make up for it with quality in each and every section of food. I mean if you want to compare simple fare like laksa with let's say the one in Sakura, there's no comparison. The gravy here is so nice I felt like having 2 bowls. Seafood was really fresh and the cakes were out of this world. The few varieties of chocolate/blackforest and mango cakes were excellent. A pity that I don't like durians because for every buffet I've attended, durians were the star of the show. Which Singaporean doesn't like durian? Me.
The presence of zm's citibank card helped us to save quite a few bucks (15% off final bill) and we just paid $36 each only. I left to check out the new nike flagship store in Wisma which took over my beloved Topshop. I was reading the papers one day and was stunned to see the demise of topman. Been getting my jeans from them for quite sometime so yeah, it's either back to the tried and tested levis or GAP - something I would like to try. I might just make use of the $50 discount being offered at levis by trading in an old pair of jeans I bought my far east plaza a few years. There's no better way than getting rid of it.
For those who are thinking of doing the same. Well, this offer by levis has been around for some time. Just trade in any brand of jeans to them and they'll deduct $50 off your bill. However, the pair of jeans you're buying must be above $100. It's not something to worry about though because which pair of levis jeans isn't above $100? We're paying good money for quality here.
Will be surfing the net to decide on whether I'll get the red tab 501 straight jeans or something else. Till then, I must save money.
