24 Oct 2012

[Restaurant week] Roadhouse & Marugoto Shokudou

Food review

Hey, I'm back with another food-related post.
Some of you might have probably seen Leo and my intensive instagram spamming 3 weeks ago (yup time flies). This is my first time participating in restaurant week and it's thanks to Lianne's recommendation and our kiasu-ism that we managed to make our reservations on the restaurantweek.sg before booking was opened to public. :3 

So just a little background, Restaurant week is a semiannual event that attracts both top restaurants/cafes and foodies to indulge in the food culture in various eateries. For me, it's just an excuse to head over to new places to try out their special food menus without feeling too guilty about being a glutton. Only 4 out of 48 weeks per year that we get to enjoy 3-course lunch/dinner at a discounted rate! The usual standard promotion pricing for lunch and dinner is $25++ and $35++ respectively. Anyway, the next restaurant week is gonna be in March, 2013! I've subscribed to their newsletter already, you should too! :)

Roadhouse
Blk 13, #01-07 Dempsey Road
Opens 10.30am - 10pm from Mon - Fri and 
9am to 10pm on Sat & Sun

American-style 50-seater dining place that serves burgers, sandwiches, pizzas and grilled meat. 

Haven't tried their eggs benny, but it's recommended on various food blogs/websites. ;)

A table for 6 for those who prefer fresh air!

Indoor contemporary interior design. Cozy and warmly-lit lighting.

Wall of Fame for those who can finish a 1kg Terminator burger!
Same concept as New York New York - if you can devour the $48 5-wagyu-patty burger and its sides within 20min, you can eat 霸王餐! ;)

My ever-so-sweet date of the night. 

Restaurant week menu.

Ordered ourselves a glass of Choc milkshake as we're slaves of chocolates and milkshakes. :3
My review: Normal choc milk blended, nothing special except for the price. :/ 

Shrimps Tostadas
with avocado, mango salsa, tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese and tertilla chips!
My review: Very spicy! Crispy crepes. 


Bacon and Chicken Poppers with Jalapeno peppers and Rosemany jus. 
My review: Love this appetizer over the shrimp one cos it's juicy and savory (and not spicy). ^^

Leonard and I ordered the same main course - The Big Apple Burger
with a thick 170g Josper Wagyu patty grilled to perfect tenderness sandwiched between homemade buns seasoned with olive oil. The grilled green apple mixed with cinnamon, caramelized onions and sundried tomatoes taste interesting but honestly mild sweetness for main course, not my cup of tea. 

Once Leo and I popped the crispy fries, we couldn't stop. 
Coleslaw was quite dry, not my type cos I like the watery and chilled type like KFC's. 

If I am to return to Roadhouse, I'm going back for the Truffle mayonnaise!
How innovative! They just made it more sinful though. 
By the way, we had to pay for this separately (not included in the dinner menu) , but rest assure cos it's not even expensive. :)

What you guys have been waiting for! Desserts!
We ordered both the dessert options on the menu as both of their names look too good to resist.
I swear their chocolate mousse is one of the richest I've tasted. I mean sometimes people do get sick of the chocolate taste if the chocolate content is too high, but this mousse tastes refreshingly yummylicious. 

Sticky date pudding with their homemade butterscotch ice cream! 
Sugar overload i promise you. The first time I tried this dessert was at Prive at Keppel Bay
and the bf and I fell in love with it immediately! Another reason why we had chosen Roadhouse was because  we already saw what was on the dessert menu. ;) 

Chop chop bringing you to the 2nd and final restaurant that we visited this restaurant week.


Marugoto Shokudo
Broadway Plaza #01-07


K sorry, ootd first. 
Sheer floral blouse in jade paired with my Bugis street pink floral shorts! 

Rare, but this shot was requested by Leo's mum. Keke.

It does seem like a family restaurant as we were welcomed by a relatively mature couple, very neatly dressed who were giving instructions to the younger servers. The restaurant is well-lit (good for photo-taking) and has plenty of authentic-looking Japanese decoration all around. And yes they have a special sashimi counter as well like how the buffet places have a sashimi counter. 

Restaurant week dinner menu, which I think is very value for money because instead of the usual 3 courses, our appetizers make up 3 dishes already. 

Hot green tea for a start.

Yup, my fetish to take photos of tissue and serviettes. 

Assorted appetizer starting with 

Deep fried Smelt. Interesting as Leo's mum was telling us how expensive this tiny eggy fishie is.
Millions of roes inside the minute tummy. Fried to the right level of crispiness. (Y)

Can see the eggies? :3 My love for eggs is indiscriminate. 

Miso cheese.
The biscuit was a bit lao hong, but I'm not sure if it's the way they planned to serve it. Very cute though.

Japanese tomatoes. 

The balanced taste of fried fish, cheese and refreshing vege gives a perfect kickstart to our dinner which we were eager for then. 

Oh yes, not to forget, sashimi! Fresh! :)

It was the first time I tried the Yellowtail. Springy and chewy, especially at the red sides. 
Thumbs up. 

Generous list of appetizers. 
Chawanmushi! Cutest bowl to keep the steamed eggs i swear. :D

Huge shrimp right at the centre sprinkled with ginormous salmon roes which burst in your mouth.
The steamed egg is slightly watery, but I have no problem with that. (Y)

Leo's mum chose the seafood hotpot, Yosenabe, just for the variety of taste that night as both of us wanted to order the same dish. We couldn't stop helping ourselves with the soup base! Awesome!


Mixed hot plate with assortment of 
Teriyaki chicken, Wagyu beef and Hamburg steak served with the corn and asparagus..

I'd unquestionably prefer the wagyu beef.
Top quality cow really, the meat is so tender and soft that it melts in the mouth. 

Leonard is THE copycat here. lol.

Dessert course! Leo got the Matcha ice cream. Nothing very special except for the red bean paste. 

I got the Strawberry tofu cheesecake
Super interesting. It's like they mixed tofu and cheese syrup together to come up with the fusion-taste cake. 
Small serving light dessert to end the 3-course dinner, as well as restaurant week. 

The eatery is too pretty to not take pictures of/with! 




Funny that we didn't notice that they own a REAL (and collared) 招财猫 right at their door. 

Actually I'm not too sure if it belongs to them, but it's quite a fat fluffy one. It was cleaning itself when we snap some pics of the cutie. Keke. 

Alrights, apologies for the lack of flowery writing. I'm not cut out for describing the awesomeness of food anyway. Hope you guys like the pictures though. Do watch out for the next restaurant week next year in March! :)


If you haven't seen my latest cover, it's Skyscraper by Demi Lovato. Well, i guess my blog readers would probably have seen this video since it's on autoplay. :p Here's the HD version with a bigger widget!
Enjoy~



Hearts, 
ZiweiSandy


P/s: I'll try to record a new Chinese cover as soon as I finish some important work on my lab experiment. ;) Chinese songs are my forte! So keep a lookout ya! 
21 Oct 2012

[Ziwei's new cover] Skyscraper by Demi Lovato

Hey guys.

Long time nvr update on my list of cover collection already!
REALLY REALLY GLAD TO SQUEEZE SOME TIME OUT TO SING! ^.^v


Anyway, this time i've chosen the song
[SKYSCRAPER]
by Demi Lovato.

-Video is embedded below-

I love her original version cos she has brought out the intense emotions of sorrow so perfectly!
Lovato's voice is relatively husky and low-pitched, but her techniques are really remarkable, as I can tell from her use of diaphragm to produce the airy husky voice even at the high pitched parts of the song!
Well, i guess one of my many problems is definitely my lack of rich emotions, which if i could unleash them in my voice and the songs, i'll definitely sound twice/thrice/quadruple better at least.

For my rendition, I've decided on the acoustic version as I kinda want to take it easy on myself. :/
This song is NOT EASY to master. I was struggling while producing this cover even though the acoustic version is supposed to be slightly easier to cover. Another reason for choosing this song is that I want to dedicate it to many people YET AGAIN. Haha.

1. Leonard - 
Bee, thanks for always being the first one to listen to my lousy draft-ones and giving me the layman truthful comments for me to work on my draft 2. I love u for always being so supportive throughout this unprofitable project of mine to you, i.e. sharing on facebook and retweeting my work. Loves! <3

2. Marcus - 
As always, you're the greatest inspiration and motivation I have to continue pursuing this endeavour. Not that I'm a goddamn good singer now, but at least I've made progress and achieve a few past-1000 views on my  youtube channel. >50% of my achievement is thanks to you. :)

3. Jiali aka Jael -
I guess your situation now is very aptly narrated between the lines of the song. I hope that you can become stronger than you can imagine yourself to be just like how the song depicts a woman to become independent again like a skyscraper. We all know some guys out there don't deserve their balls if they can find excuses to hurt someone who love them wholeheartedly. He'll get his retribution.

4. Brad and Melody - 
"Fame is overrated" Brad, you inspired me to continue pursuing my passion and taught me to consciously stop myself from being distracted by other unnecessary but inevitable temptations. Salute at you for your inclining success at your career. Melody is a rare gem; beautiful, sexy, bubbly, independent and passionate. Brad, you've got great taste. Mel, i love how we can clique instantly. HAHA! ;) Regards for your r/s to soar higher than the skyscraper! x

5. Jiajun -
Do you guys know I have a little Sec 1 bro who has recently been following my footsteps? Super cute didi has his own youtube channel spammed with his covers on Taylor Swift songs. Studies first still, but I'm so glad that we've got common passion. Will impart to you what I learn from my personal music project. Love ya! :):)

6. My powerpsych girls, Bestbrosforlife, bestie Lianne and bf Jo, Misc RV bball buddies, encouraging friends like Xiner, David, Wenjie, Wingkee, Val and Kelly, Nic -
I'll sing for you guys. Forever.

Anyway, I have so many problems to tackle on really, like pitching, breathing control, diaphragm support, head voice, etc etc.. Have been receiving very helpful and sincere-to-help criticisms which are exactly the type of feedback I was hoping to receive for improvement! Well, being a budget youtube singer who cannot afford to spend any bucks on music lesson, I can only rely on viewers'  feedback. Really not improving at a remarkable speed, but I can feel the experiences accumulating up for better following covers! ^^

Either way, enjoy the cover~ :D
-I suggest you go stop the autoplay music widget on the sidebar and watch this HD quality one here instead!-




Would appreciate if you like it on youtube or share it on facebook/twitter if you find it worth sharing. No obligation tho! :)


For my next cover, do expect a relatively easy Chinese song by 叮当.
I'll note the criticisms and feedback which I've received and attempt to make the next Chinese cover sound better than good. :) You know i'm really serious at this. ;D


Hearts,
ZiweiSandy


P/s: I'm looking for interested friends to collab with! Can be instrumentalist /videographer /singer /sound and music engineer. Leave a comment under the Nuffnangx convo function or send me an email at ziweisandy@gmail.com!
19 Oct 2012

[Special post] My idea of how to enjoy Genting as a celebrity.

We only live once and our youth doesn't wait.

Pragmatism being imperative on one hand, sometimes, dreams are essential to give us sufficient dosage of serotonin and dopamine boost occasionally.



For the benefit of non-psychology students, to put it simply, serotonin and dopamine are basically the happy neurotransmitters that your body releases when you experience joy, ecstasy, euphoria, exhilaration and jubilation. ;p To instigate the generation of those happy chemicals throughout the body, researchers have suggested food like chocolate and milk products. But why rely on external sources when you can feel happy just by thinking of the possibilities of your future?! ;)


As an evangelist of Genting, if I were given an opportunity to enjoy Genting as a celebrity, imma make it the craziest few days not only for me, but for all the shoppers in the mall, thrill seekers at the theme parks and the kingdom of gamblers in the casinos.



In the day time, I'll get my media crew to set up large screens and projectors at various places like the Time Square foyer (where the statue of liberty is) of Genting First World Plaza, at the outdoor themepark, as well as all the casinos in Genting.

While the setup was bring done, being a privileged celebrity, I'll first head over to the Genting Palace restaurant for a many-course dim sum brunch, with a special request for the 12" by 12" Liu Sha Bao (custard bun) to be made, exclusively for me and my crew. #glutton #fatdieme



Lethargy and food coma might possibly kick in after the bingeing session and it calls for full-fledged relaxation at the M Spa and fitness at Genting to conserve and restore energy for the craze in the evening. 


My idea to rock the entire Genting upside down, inside out is a large scale, mountain-wide rock band and dance performance. My ideal stage would be located at the Genting Casino! 

So right in the midst of all the gambling tables, my dance crew and band would do it the flashmob style
like a stepup revolution!! Woots. My serotonin level is overflowing right now. LOL.
It'd be a series of Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Avril Lavigne, Nicki Minaj, etc - all the internationally renowned R&B songs. 10 cameras will be stationed in a manner surrounding the "main stage" zone to capture the havoc spiraling uncontrollably in the casino at different angles to be shot onto the huge screens all around Genting. The scene would resemble a music video coming to life as dancers will be scattered all over among the evening dinner crowd, stirring the atmosphere to its peak.

That 20min of flash mob would seem eternal until Gangnum style, the finale song plays! 
This orgasm moment should by then have gotten the shoppers, gamblers and diners all hyped up that all the Genting dwellers got onto their feet and do the final dance ALTOGETHER! 



We would all celebrate the success of this Genting-scale flashmob by going to one of the Superior Deluxe room at Genting First World Hotel for a house party~ Booze and fellow fun-loving dancers blasting the night away with music. :)


POP!!!!!!

Bubbles maintain! Back into the head please! 
That was my extremely exaggerated dream of how I'd like to enjoy my Genting experience as a celebrity. 
Share yours with me? ;)

Chat with me on the Nuffnangx convo function below. :3
(You can long story cut short cos got word limit :p)

Hearts,
ZiweiSandy


© Ziwei.Sandy. Designed by CJS. Powered by Blogger.