Saturday, March 31, 2012

Trilogy: Let the "REAL" hunger games begin!

As you can see from the title, this post is part of a trilogy! The first was getting a "mission" to explore cineleisure for the different lifestyle activities you can engage in. You can read TEAM SHUTTER's post HERE if you haven't! After we managed to complete the "mission" and getting the tickets to the gala premiere of the Hunger Games, perhaps it's time for us to reward ourselves with good dinner? I remembered as we were exploring Cineleisure the previous time, we past by quite a number of restaurants and food outlets! (We ate at the food court that day though, trying to save $$! LOL)

I was given the privilege to choose where we should eat, and being a fast food person...

I quickly narrowed down the fast food restaurants! KFC and BURGER KING! TROLOLOLOL

Joyce's immediate action was like "NO NO NO, NO FAST FOOD!" LOL

She was like saying, "One glance at Cineleisure and there are so many restaurants, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE FAST FOOD?! Can we have something better?" Well, true enough. One look at the above photo and i spotted 9 different food outlets including a food court, minus-ing the 2 fast food, there's still 7 of them!

Looking through the directory, i realised there's actually a lot of restaurants to choose from. With so many choices, there's bound to be one restaurant that would satisfy our hungry stomach! Those who prefer Chinese/HK style, there's the Xin Wang Hong Kong cafe at level 2. Those craving for Pastas and pizzas can head to Pastamania, also at level 2. Those who prefer a wide variety of ingredients and like to cook it their own way can choose to eat at Seoul Garden Hot Pot located at B1. Wanton Mee lovers can head to Graffiti Cafe at B1 too. These are just a few examples to name (:

While going up the escalator to level 2, i spotted Shokudo Japanese Coffee House so i randomly asked Joyce, "Have you tried this Shokudo place before?" She was like, "It's there long time ago but i never really had the chance to step in and try their food. Their pasta looks really nice though." Well, the next thing we know...

We were inside Shokudo. We shall have our dinner here!
I was looking through the Menu and i was spoilt for choice! There were Burgers, Sushi, Pastas, Pizza, Rosti and a wide range of desserts to choose from! But what i really need at first was a cool refreshing drink to quench my thirst.

I ordered the Lychee float ($5.80)and was quite surprise at the taste! The drink was some kind of sparkling lychee drink and as the word "float" suggests, the drink is topped with a scoop of lychee ice cream. It was indeed very refreshing! Joyce ordered the highly recommended Milk Macha Float ($5.80) and according to her, it was superb and worth it. Her drink was also topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! (Well, I'm not a green tea person so i didn't try her drink :P)

Happy us satisfied with our drink while waiting for our dishes to arrive!

The first dish that arrived was the Plain Rosti ($5.80) that i ordered. The last time i had Rosti was at Marche and i was craving for it every since so i thought it would be a good appetizer before our main course! I wasn't disappointed at all, it was well pan fried and every mouthful was heavenly. Rosti with other ingredients (Price range from $5.80 to $11.80)

The 2nd dish was Joyce's main course - The highly recommended Hotate and Mentaiko Pasta ($16.80) Joyce wanted something like yet filling and she couldn't resist ordering anything with Mentaiko, which is cod roe, not forgetting the Hotate, which is scallop. She commented that this dish was so flavorful that she didn't bother to add any cheese powder or chili flakes to enhance the taste! Other pastas were also available, price ranges from $12.80 to $16.80 (:
Here comes my main course! I ordered the Teriyaki Chicken Cheese Burger ($8.80 only!) which comes with fries and veggies. I love the combination of cheese, egg and the chicken all in the bun. Every bite was delightful as the teriyaki wasn't too oily or hard to chew. The portion was also HUGE. I definitely felt very full after finishing the dish. *bloated*

Last but not least, we couldn't resist ordering the Ultra thin crust Teriyaki Chicken Cheese Pizza ($10.80) I ordered it because i saw the other table having it and it really looks good. I was not wrong! The pizza is divided into 8 parts and each has a thick chunk of teriyaki chicken on it! Not forgetting the cheese and also a sprinkle of Japanese chili powder!

How could a meal end without desserts! We were seriously seriously spoilt for choice. Every one of their dessert seem nice, especially their fresh waffle with gelato ice cream but since both of us were quite full. We decided to order the refreshing Mango Kakigori ($6.80) which is Mango slush ice topped with Konnyaku jelly. IT WAS REALLY HUGEEEEE!

Checkout the size of the Mango Kakigori, it's like a mountain of ice! Good for sharing :D

Overall, it was a good experience at Shokudo. The staffs were attentive, making sure our orders came out as per requested. (I requested for my burger to not have Mayonnaise, they offer to replace it with other sauces) Topping up our ice water every now and then. Offering good Japanese food and desserts at an affordable price range, I would definitely come back for more! I just realised they operate till really late! How about a midnight snack? LOL

More info on Shokudo:

Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
8 Grange Road, #02-06A/B
Tel: +65-6736 0971

Sunday to Thursday:
11.30am – 2.00am
Last order at 1.15am

Friday, Saturday & Eve of PH
11.30am – 3.00am
Last order at 2.15am


TEAM PHOTO TO END THIS POST!
So what's gonna be the last part of this trilogy?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Transformers Cybertron Con 2012: Which side are you on?

I remember a few weeks ago, i tweeted something like, "Imagine if there's a transformers exhibition whereby they bring all the robots and the real life cars that they used in the movies! It will be so damn cool!" Honestly speaking, any transformers fan would definitely want that to happen right! I would even pay to see them in real life! Imagine taking photos with them, it would be so so cool! I couldn't believe my eyes when i first saw the Transformers Cybertron Con that will be held at our very own RWS and the entry tickets was only 12 bucks! Without knowing what the Cybertron con is all about (?!), i started asking around to see who's also interested in going to the exhibition with me. TROLLOLOL

Starting off this post with a photo of myself!

Met Joyce at Vivocity, had lunch and grabbed a cup of Dark Mocha Frappe before heading over!

HUGE ASS PHOTO OF ME WITH THE OFFICIAL CYBERTRON CON BANNER!

As expected, the queue was super long. We actually had an option to get the tickets from online first, however we wanted to save $2 (POSB card get $2 off!) so we decided to get it on the actual day itself! We joined the queue but after a while, one of the staff told us that we could actually get the tickets from another ticketing counter! (:

To our surprise, there was no queue at the other ticketing counter! HENG AHHHH

Photo with Megatron before entering the exhibition!

Another cool photo behind the Optimus Prime backdrop! Must take more photos, make the $10 ticket (and the $3 admission to Sentosa) more worth it, LOLOL First time entering the ballroom of RWS. Like a mountain tortoise!

It's funny how everyone is willing to wait patiently just to take a photo of a cupboard shaped into a cube with designs on it in the middle of nowhere just because it's all part of the transformers show. Well, i'm also one of them.

This scene greeted us as we entered the exhibition hall!

On display were toys from the very first version of transformers to the current ones in the movies.

These KRe-O transformers are super cute! Too bad they don't sell it individually :(



On display were also showcases of Transformers enthusiast self designed transformers!

One of the main highlight of this Transformers Con - The Optimus Prime!

It was really HUGE. Almost touching the ceiling of the ballroom. How i wish there were more...

Camwhore with the HUGE figure of Optimus Prime! There is actually this structure which you can take the stairs up and take photo with the Optimus Prime and have it printed out at $20. I would say it's not very worth it. Most people just take photos from the bottom, like what i did in this photo over at this link HERE (click to see!) It's free this way, LOL

There's also this Fastest finger contest whereby we have to transformer this to a robot!

The queue to the merchandise area was a 45 mins wait! Joyce and i managed to sneak in through an exit. There was also a long queue at the counter, everyone practically was carrying a few boxes of toys, waiting to pay for it and the thing is, the things there are not cheap! True transformers fans. Even though Optimus prime was the only '3D' model at the exhibition, there were still other autobots and decepticons for us to take photos with. Still not bad lah (:

Bumblebee and... the one on the right looks really familiar, Hmm...

No idea which is which, but i think they are decepticons. LOL

Everyone should know this guy, MEGATRON!!!

Bumblebee again, and Starscream!

I would say, for the price of just $10, this trip to the Transformers Cybertron Convention was worth it. I spent about 3 hours in there browsing at the different displays they had. I wish one day they will really tour around the world with their real robots and cars and stop by Singapore...

So now the question is, which side are you on?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Trilogy: "The Hunger Games Awaits you"

It all started on this day where i was spending my day out, enjoying a cup of Mocha Frappe at one of the McCafe and we have Joyce, at a fashion flea market trying to sniff out the good deals. Everything was peaceful and fine until...

Both of us received an sms at the same time.

"Shutter" is the team name me and Joyce gave ourselves. The shutter in the camera allows light to pass through to capture a permanent image of a scene. We decided to call ourselves "Shutter" because we feel that we are like shutters, gathering info and painting an image through social media like blogs, twitter, FB etc to relay our messages.

Anyway, on that day. Both of us received a "Mission" shown above through our phones, which is to spend a day at Cineleisure! We are to follow the clues given to us which leads us to explore the whole of Cathay Cineleisure Orchard!

So me and Joyce met up at the entrance of Cineleisure and we got our first clue!

WHERE CAN WE GET WEAPONS AND HEALTH PACKS IN CINELEISURE?

With 9 floors and 5 basements and a clue like that, where should we start? According to wikipedia, Cineleisure has 54 stores and services! Health packs and weapons and what's with the "No Mercy" which we must complete in 30 mins?!

We quickly looked through the directory and narrowed down to a few places. Being a frequent gamer, i suddenly thought, "LEFT 4 DEAD"! At the start of the game, the players are required to grab their weapons and health packs! +

Located at Level 9 of Cineleisure is E2MAX! (Note that you have to take the lift all the way up!) This place is the largest gaming haven for the youth and young-at-heart. Offering the latest computer games and video games such as my favourite L4D to DVD movies with seamless arenas all designed to provide a fun and exciting e-gaming environment!

This is definitely the place we are looking for! "No Mercy" is actually the very first campaign in L4D! With Razer mouse and keyboard, plus good sound system, the whole e-gaming experience was definitely enjoyable!

Upon completing the "No Mercy" stage within 30 mins, the next clue instantly popped out on the screen!

Without even reading the words, Joyce knew exactly where to go to get our next clue!

Located at Level 4 is Pocketz which is a pool and billiards arena! If you are bored in town with your friends thinking of how to spend time, you might want to consider playing pool for an hour or two at Pocketz! See who is better at pool!

"15 balls may form a pyramid" and the clue showed an image of the pool balls but the other part of the clue was, "but only GOLD coins can turn them out" Do we need gold coins at Pocketz? We don't have to pay using $1 coins right...?

This is when Joyce thought of another place where there's "balls" and definitely $1 dollar coins are needed in order to bring them out! BASEMENT 1! According to Joyce, Cineleisure basement 1 has one of the widest range of capsule machines that she has seen! Yes! Capsule machines will require $1 coins to turn out the capsules which fits the clue!

According to the clue, i'm supposed to find something related to Shutter and after looking through the whole stretch of capsule machine, i finally found one which i'm quite sure the one we are looking for! It cost 3x $1 coins for a miniature version of a Pentax camera which can be also used to fit on top of a regular DSLR using the horseshoe! See it HERE!

Of course, there's a coin changing machine near by to change your notes to $1 coins!

Now let's hope we are correct so we can get the next clue!

THERE'S A NOTE WHICH IS ALSO OUR CLUE IN THE CAPSULE!

Apparently we are to find this place in Cineleisure where by we can party like rock star, shoot like a sniper and throw like Jeremy Lin (?!) After finding the place, we have to grab a powercard and throw something to get 120 points to enter the Hunger game! Do you have any clue whereby we can do all these activities?! It seem almost impossible! HOW???

Perhaps it's at the Cathay cineplex where all these actions can happen in a movie? It shouldn't be E2Max because a clue was already found there. Let's see... Party like a rock star. We would need mics, guitars and drums. Shoot like a sniper, we would need guns. Throw like Jeremy lin, that would mean Basketball. All these sounds like it can be done at...

That's it! Time zone located at Level 4!

Went to the counter to get our Power card which enables us to reload credits into it to play games!

PARTY LIKE A ROCK STAR! SHOOT LIKE A SNIPER! ALL AT TIME ZONE!

Well, come to think of it. With team effort, it wasn't too difficult scoring 120 points and above!

Have you ever encounter times whereby you got your movie tickets but the movies starts like 45 mins later and you have no idea what to do during that period of time before the movie? What i always do is head to the arcade with my friends! Well, going to Arcade is an option at Cineleisure! Grab your powercard, load in some credits and spend some time with your friends shooting some aliens, race against each other on Daytona or fight against one another on Tekken!

Before we know it, Joyce and i got another SMS:

OH MY TIAN! What a surprise! A pair of tickets to the Gala premiere of Hunger Games!

We made our way to The Cathay to collect our movie tickets! The Hunger Games trailer has been showing for quite awhile and i was soooo looking forward to the movie. Now i get to watch it even before the movie opens in cinema! After an exciting afternoon at Cineleisure, it's now time to reward ourselves, lean back and watch a good movie! :D

THE HUNGER GAMES WAS AWESOME!!!
(By the time you read this post, Hunger Games should be already in cinemas, do catch it!)

Side note: I have a habit of wikipedia-ing on my phone about the movie just 10 mins before the show so that at least i know what's going on in the show, and i realised The Hunger Games is a trilogy! I hope there's gonna be the other 2 sequel in the cinema in the future. I actually bought the book the next day to compare the book and the movie, LOL

Through the exciting mission in Cineleisure, i would say there's actually alot of activities that you can engage in this 9 level building! Other than those we explored for clues, there's even KBOX for superstar wannabes, indoor tanning or waxing at Fabulous Tan, fashion retail shops like Fred Perry, NUM and also not forgetting the 12 movie halls cineplex! :D

As i walked through the Cineleisure, i also noticed that there seem to be quite a number of bistros and food outlets in Cineleisure and since we managed to complete our mission, maybe it's time to treat ourselves to a good meal? ;)