Adventure on the Legend of the Seas - Part I: Presenting my cruise mates!

Are you curious of what I did on the cruise? I had a quick pre-departure blog post here earlier this month. Here's Part 1 of the 5 posts I will be preparing, to tell you about the adventure on Legend of the Seas, a cruise by Royal Caribbean International.

These posts are also part of a competition I am entering. If you think I deserve to win the the Grand Prize which is a cruise 7D5N Western Mediterranean Fly-Cruise onboard Liberty of the Seas, please visit http://contest.omy.sg/royal-caribbean/ and vote for me! If you have time, visit that site daily and vote! You stand to win prizes too!

*** Presenting the 10 bloggers ***

Instead of the 'same' group photo that we all took, I have chosen these three photos that I like.

There were 10 of us who went on board the Legend of the Seas, 4 gentlemen and 6 gorgeous and vivacious ladies. Most of us have blogs of different genre, we have different writing styles, different dress style and our age varies too! Some are more than 10 years younger than the rest!

But we all have a similar passion. The passion to take photos like there's no tomorrow. We take photos as if we were paparazzi! It's all about clicks. Camera clicks. If there's any cause for animosity is the brands of camera. Canon vs Nikon vs Sony vs Pentax!




If you are going out with a group of photographers and videographers, you know you can stop hiding behind a nickname. You shake hands with each other, introduce yourself and the reply will be the same. So, you are Keropokman, nice to meet you, then cameras come out and click away. Oops, I think I just got you on camera.

So be it. This is like a semi "coming out" post! That's me on the most left.

Beside me, adjusting his tie, is Darren. He's my stateroom-mate. Probably the most outgoing guy in the whole group. Always posing for photos, the exact opposite of me, always hiding from the cameras! In fact he's the guy that won the Urban Homme, Urban Icon Challenge.  His blog is "Celebrate Life Lah" at http://celebratelah.wordpress.com/

The one with 'darlie' smile is Eunice. She's a travel blogger and gets to travel round the world. Check out her blog if you are planning to go for a holiday. When I read her blog, I wish I have enough leave and money to travel! Oh, both of us share the same birthday! She blogs at the Singapore Travel Blog : http://travelerfolio.com/

Next to Eunice is Catherine of Camemberu. I am sure if you read my blog, you would probably be reading hers too. She's the winner of the 2010 Singapore Best Food Blog. She has this flair with words. You would love her writing. (When you play "words with friends", watch out! I have 2 on-going games on my iPhone with her, and I have to wreck my brains playing with her!) She blogs at http://www.camemberu.com/

Calvin Timothy is an fun young chap to hang out with. You feel so much younger when he's around! Oh yes, he's also a fellow food blogger. We know him as Calvin Timo. Other than Catherine, Calvin's the other person I have met in person before. Yup, we meet at food outings! He blogs at http://calvintimo.com/

Yiliang is a person that when you speak to him, you feel sincerity and warmth! He's a very talented photographer and he blogs in Chinese. To read his blog with my 'lousy' Chinese, I have to use a translator website! He walks, he snaps and he blogs at http://yiliang-room.blogspot.com/






Now for the rest of the ladies. Doesn't this photo looks like a rich tycoon with his ladies?

Beside Eunice is Mui Yee. She blogs in Chinese like Yiliang and coincidentally, we were in the same group during the half day preview! I was most impressed when we were folding towel sculptures. She has this helpful nature and suddenly spoke fluent Japanese with Japanese tourist beside us. She was translating the instructions on the fly! She blogs at http://www.wretch.cc/blog/muiee

Cherie might look familiar to you if you watch Singapore TV. She was on Wonder Chef 2! (我要当食神) You can watch one of the episode online here. She cooks and blogs at: http://cherielee.wordpress.com/

Right in the middle, the tycoon is Alvin, from omy!

The lady in red is Estelle. We nickname her Bikini girl! She loves the sun and sea an loves her bikinis! She blogs at: http://loveyouwrongtime.wordpress.com/

Christine is one of the finalist of the Best Modeling Blog at the Singapore Blog Awards. She is also one of the bikini girls. She blogs and have bikinis on sale at http://chrispytinetoo.blogspot.com/

I must admit I was so busy before the cruise, I did not check out everyone before going! It's only after the trip, that I am reading their blogs! They are proving to be addictive!




Oh wait, two more handsome guys. Jack the omy videographer and Weiding the cameraman and producer. If you want to see their work, go to: http://project.omy.sg/royal-caribbean/20101216_legend-of-the-seas.html There are 3 videos on that page, you can see the 4 food bloggers video that has been loaded.

It's been more than a week, and some of us are missing the company of the rest. The 10 of us joked, ate, played together for the few days for most of our waking hours. Although we have gone back to our usual work schedule, we still keep in contact almost daily on our private Facebook group page.

We are reminiscing the various activities we did on board! Enjoying the buffet, dressing up for dinners, enjoyed ordering food to share, rock climbing, folding towel sculptures, going for baking lessons, doing morning exercises, learning how to waltz, doing line dancing, going for excursions to KL and Phuket. There were so many things that we did!

I boarded the Legend of the Seas to meet the 9 legends of blogosphere on the sea! I feel so honoured to have met them.

It's the holiday season and it's December, if you are getting your year end bonus and thinking of going for a holiday, why not book yourself on a Royal Caribbean Cruise? Head over to http://royalcaribbean-asia.com and select and pick an option that might suit your time and budget.

Stay tuned as I bring you stories of what I did on board with the rest.


This post is cross-posted at http://blog.omy.sg/royal-caribbean/2010/12/22/adventure-on-the-legend-of-the-seas-a-royal-caribbean-cruise-part-i/ too.

Kinki Restaurant and Bar @ Customs House (Collyer Quay)

[This was an invited food tasting session, thanks to the folks from FoodNews and Kinki Restaurant and Bar.]

A few nights ago, Camemberu, The Little Teochew, a 1/2 food blog, Momo and I went to sample Kinki Restaurant and Bar's Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve menu. Kinki is one of the newer Japanese food place around and from what I tasted, it would be one that you would grow to like.



They call themselves Urban Japanese. I asked what does that mean? Well, it means it's a casual place, people come here with a more relax mood, everyone is free to talk as loud as they wish. Oh, that resonates with me! When I go out with friends, my friends and I usually get stares from others if we got too excited and talk too loud! No one stares at you here, unless you do something to attract attention. Hmm like stripping down to only bikinis.

Here's the menu that we tasted. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

If you read in the papers last Saturday, everyone's booking restaurants all around the Marina Bay area to catch the fireworks. The newspaper reported that most places are almost at capacity, so hurry and make your reservation (probably at Kinki if you like what you see here).

*** Appetizers ***

Appetizer 1: Foie Gras on Toastlet with Ginger and Yuzu.

Just take a look at that! I don't have foie gras very often, for this whole year, I probably had it 3 times only. This was probably the best I had in 2010. I don't have details where they got it from, but it's so creamy, the texture is a mix of firm ice cream or soft tofu, try to imagine it. The ginger and yuzu balances the whole experience when you put the spoon in your mouth.




If you do not take meat they offer substitutes, Little Teochew had the Tai Carpaccio with truffle dressing and shio konbu instead.

Appetizer 2: Assorted Sashimi. 

If you love sashimi, you would love what they serve here. Their seafood's flown in 4 times a week from Japan! They started earlier this year with only 2 deliveries a week, but due to the great demand, they have increased it to 4 times a week.

So if you crave good and high quality fresh sashimi, come and sit at their sashimi counter.

Appetizer 3: Sushi of Kajiki, Salmon, Hiramasa, Hirame.

Just look at it! I am sure you will like it like we did!

For the whole night, fellow food blogger Little Teochew was so excited! She told us she initially did not want to have any Japanese food after returning from a trip to Japan. She did not want to ruin her perfect memory of eating in Japan. Having mediocre stuff would ruin her memories. But she was glad she came as the quality here is up to par she said.  The rest of us thought it was great too!

Appetizer 4: Soft Shell Crab Maki

It looks pretty doesn't it? With the unusual skin, it taste as nice as it looks. I guess soft shell crab always taste good!

Pork Floss Maki

The pork floss maki has avocado and cheese. The combination is interesting don't you reckon? I have a spot spot for meat floss, so I like this. I even dip my soft shell crab with the pork floss that's all over the plate. ;-)

*** Main Course ***

Choice of:

Ginger Teriyaki of US Prime Beef Ribeye (Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve menu)

US Prime Beef Teriyaki (This photo)

Since the food tasting was done before all of the ingredients for the Christmas menu arrived, the mains we had was a substitute from the a la carte menu.

The beef was prepared very nicely. The choiced beef had a streak of fat inside, so if you are one who oogle at fatty meat, this would be your choice. I liked the beef except the streak of fats in the middle. It was tender and it because it had been sliced for me, it was easy to eat.

or

Hokkaido Milk Poached White Cod with Crispy Ginger

White cod poached in Hokkaido Milk. Doesn't the name already sound good? Hokkaido milk that's known to be very smooth and creamy was used to poach the cod. The result, cod that tasted buttery! (I tasted Momo's piece of cod)

It comes with meat sauce but if you are not a meat eater, they can omit the meat and serve you something different. The meat sauce is made from miso and pork floss.




This version was the same cod poached in hokkaido milk, but served with balsamic vinegar and truffle oil instead. (if you do not eat meat)



Either main comes with a bowl of steamed rice.

*** Dessert ***

Black Sesame and Mochi Parfait

We ended the meal with a parfait. Black Sesame will be what you will be served if you dine here.
For us, we were given an extra scoop of peach sorbet as pictured above. What a delightful sweet ending to the meal! I love the red azuki beans! The mochi is buried below.

*** Additional Items we had ***

The kind folks at Kinki was feeling generous and decided to treat us to some of the specialties in the a la carte menu.

Foie Gras and Scallop Sushi

Served together with the Sushi for us was the Foie Gras & Scallop Sushi $22 for 2 pieces. Yes, the same creamy foie gras! You will feel pampered eating this!

*** Kinki Style Okonomiyaki ***

The Kinki Style Okonomiyaki ($24) and was quite wonderful too. You can pick up the okonomiyaki like a slice of pizza. I should bring my sis here to try their okonomiyaki here!

Tai Carpaccio with truffle dressing and shio konbu

We were glad they served this to us. The Tai Carpaccio ($30) was what Little Teochew had for starter. It was superb. I am sure you can just pick up slice after slice and don't want to stop.

Momotaro Tomato with ginger sesame dressing

Momotaro tomatoes! They taste good by itself, but with the light ginger sesame dressing, it taste even better! I love it! This costs $16.

*** Roof Top ***

By the way, they have a roof top open. You can have your drinks up here and enjoy the New Year Eve's fireworks!  Even without fireworks, you should come up here for the view! Look at this view of MBS! You can also look into the rooms of the hotel next door!

We saw lots of tiny balls on the water. I am sure the place would look even more beautiful when the lights in the balls are turned on!

Oh, the mixologist prepares great cocktails and mocktails too! I had a drink that was mixed from peaches, apricots, yuzu, blueberry and blackberry. It had no name (yet!) so I called it Kinki Male.




For Christmas and NYE, their menus are priced as follows:
24/12 Christmas Eve 3-course set dinner @ $128++ with a glass of wine
31/12 New Year’s Eve 3-course set dinner @ $168++ with a glass of champagne

Opening hours for both festive nights,
Kitchen opens from 6pm to 11pm (last order for food)
Bar Opens (restaurant and rooftop) from 6pm to 3am


Enjoy!

Kinki Restaurant and Bar
70 Collyer Quay
#02-02 Customs House
Singapore 049323

Tel: +65 6533 3471
Fax: +65 6533 3473

Web: http://www.kinki.com.sg
Email: enquiry@kinki.com.sg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kinkibar
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kinkibar

Frolick @ Holland Village

We were at Holland Village and wondered if we should have frozen yogurt from Frolick or ice cream from The Daily Scoop.

We settled for Frolick, because we were lazy to walk over.
We ordered and sat down at the bench in front of the stall and ate our yogurt while people watching.

*** Cup B, Lychee, Marshmallows ***

We did not see any handsome guys or pretty girls. Our eyes were glued to this cute frozen dessert instead!
I told sis and momo, I am ordering the cup B.

They looked at me with the weirdest stare. What?? What did I say wrong? They also got what I meant by Cup B when they saw the menu board. :-p

That was flavoured cup B. Lychee flavour with marshmallows topping!

*** Cup B, Original, Gummies ***

We also ordered another Cup B with the original flavour. The topping chose for this cup was gummies. The gummies are really really chewy! I liked the yellow gummies!


I preferred the flavoured version whilst the girls preferred the original.
Do you feel like having some now? They have branches all around if you are wondering.


I had mine at:
Frolick - Holland Village
241 Holland Avenue
#01-02
Singapore 278976

Hours: Mon - Thu: 1200 - 2300, Fri and Eve of PH: 1200-0100, Sat and PH (Fri): 1100-0100, Sun & PH (Mon-Thu): 1100-2300

Web: http://www.frolick.com.sg