Keyaki at Pan Pacific Singapore has recently introduced a new okonomi concept kaiseki weekend brunch. This 'as you like it' concept to kaiseki dining allows diners to customize their 8 course meal from the traditional Japanese formal dining format. With 5 options available for each course, the only problem I foresee is the indecisiveness on your choice of dishes and that to me, is always a happy problem.

The meal starts with Kobachi (a light amuse bouche) and Sashimi to waken your palette.

Our Kobachi options were delightful. I can never say no to a freshly made tamago and the layered Unagi omelette had the right firmness and sweetness. The Seared beef with ponzu sauce comes recommended too.

Sashimi was fresh, buttery and sweet. Hotate was unavailable when we visited. The Amaebi sweet prawn was big and juicy. I usually do not order raw prawns but i would certainly do this again. 

Once the digestive enzymes are activated, hot dishes such as Yakimono (grilled dishes) and Teppanyaki were served.

The Cod Teriyaki was fatty (and that's expected and demanded of this fish) and we ate so fast we practically inhaled the fish. 

One could not go wrong with the fresh prawn with bacon which was smoky, salty and sweet all at once. Another option to go for would be the pan fried pork with ginger.

Other dishes included Chicken Soup and White Bait wrapped in Beancurd Skin.

 

The Nimono course is simmered in Keyaki's homemade dashi stock. The Agedashi tofu batter was thin and hence did not turn too stodgy unlike many failed ones that I've had. The soft chawanmushi custard was yuzu flavored this season and acted well as a mid menu palate cleanser.

The Agemono deep fried course presented the usual tempura dishes. We had tempura prawns, fish and a delicate soft shell crab. 

For Teppanyaki, I'd highly recommend the beef. I could certainly do more with that fried garlic slices. 

To conclude, the Shokuji main course. I was surprised at the sushi rice of my California roll. Sushi is an art imo and it takes dedication to produce good sushi so I typically don't expect much from Japanese restaurants which do not specialize in it. However, the rice at Keyaki was pearly, sticky and well flavored. I was tempted to order another roll even though I was way stuffed. 

The buckwheat soba noodles were amazing too and should not be missed. We loved the firm texture and intense flavors, and the elegant presentation of the noodles. 

Desserts failed to impress however with a rather icy ice cream (red bean/green tea). The sessional fruits were local seasonal fruits, which was sorely disappointing. Perhaps the traditional zanzai (red bean soup) would be better. Keyaki should add a warabi mochi to the mix imo. 

Overall, a good meal at Keyaki. Our tummies were satisfied and not exploding (which is a good thing). I loved the ambience as well and adored the zen rock garden just outside the restaurant. Great place to bring the folks for a relaxing lunch. It's $75/pax and $125/pax should you go for the boozy option of unlimited sake, champagne, selected red and white wines and beer.

Keyaki

7 Raffles Boulevard Singapore 039595

Level 4, Pan Pacific Singapore

Tel: +65 6826 8240

Weekend brunch (and PH): 11.30am - 2.30pm

Through Her Eyes

Learn to be completely be with yourself. Let there be no distractions. Let the waves of thoughts overwhelm you. Let them crash and hit into you. Take the mess, the pain, the confusion. Because after, there will be stillness. Because there will be peace and calm. After. 

When was the last time you sat down and did nothing. What was the last time you were completely with yourself?

XOXO
Travelerintransit

Unmanageable hair is the bane of my life. The weather in nyc is great for hair with body due to the lack of humidity, however, that also made my hair really dry. Ok fine I think it was also because I was experimenting with a different shampoo.

So it got to a point where it was almost impossible to run my fingers through my wet hair during yoga class. Geesh it was horrible. 

A trip to Silkcut was absolutely necessary to my well being. And Wendy recommended the Kerasilk Keratin Treatment by Goldwell.

I'm sure you girls know that Keratin treatment is the god of all hair treatment and it can tame any unruly bed of hair. Goodbye Mr Grizzly Frizzly Fuzly Bear.

We started with a wash followed by the treatment.

The treatment consists glyoxylic acid and soothing ingredients ie keratin and silk proteins. The scent is amazing with fruity notes. The treatment creates new keratin bonds and stabilizes the new hair shape for up to 5 months.

Some blow drying and straightening to seal the treatment in.

As usual, always entertained by the Silkcut peeps while patiently waiting for my hair to be ready.

Last step was the Sealing Serum to lock in all that goodness. I also made sure i started on the Kerasilk aftercare shampoo and conditioner ($40 each) to maintain the silky soft hair. 

Here's the after result! I also did my touch up of my hair color (ash) and a trip to get rid of all those horrible dried up ends. :) We were darn amazed by how the purple highlights from my color treatment are still staying on my hair. Loving it though!

Quote "Ms Skinnyfat" and get a 10% off the Keratin Hair Treatment. Walk-ins not included and for first time clients only. Silkcut Salon is located in the fringe of Tiong Bahru and just a few shops away from the newly opened The Tastemaker Store.

Thanks to Wendy for working her magic as usual!

Silkcut Salon

22 Havelock Road #01-693, Singapore 160022
Tel: +65 6275 6108
Weekdays: 11am - 8pm
Weekends and PH: 11am - 7pm

Traders Hotel has rebranded itself to Hotel Jen and you can expect things to shake up a bit in the coming months. Renovation work is in the pipeline and will start in Nov 2014. After which, Traders Hotel will transform into the young, hip, fun and vibrant Hotel Jen, just like its sister branch at Orchard Gateway. 

Z and i checked out Cafe Biz' weekend brunch with the rebranding of Hotel Jen. Even though the interior felt pretty much the same as the old Traders', the vibe is certainly lighter and more fun. Even the food offering seemed to cater to the hipper younger crowd too and that certainly sat well with our tummies.

Cheese from the Cheese Ark. What i liked- The milky Aarewasser 5 mths raw cow's milk cheese from Switzerland, the salty Bitto Storico 3 year raw cow and goat milk hard cheese from Italy and the mild Bleu Du Pic 2 mths raw goat's milk cheese from France. FYI, I can take strong tasting, pungent and savory cheeses so you may hate the ones I like.

The Foie Gras and Apple Terrine spreads like butter on toast. I was wishing for croissants but only found toasted baguettes. Do not give the artisan butter spreads a miss. I couldn't stop eating the butter. Yes.. BUTTER. Yummy prosciutto as well. 

Well sashimi is the standard at buffets. We thought the fish was pretty fresh. Actually the sashimi was better than the chilled seafood. I remembered that i liked the prawns the best when i dined at Cafe Biz the last time. The other seafood were so so. The lobster was on the bland side and a little chewy.  

The Western spread was alright. I thought the herb crusted lamb was done very nicely, even better than the beef roast. 

We were lucky to have Hotel Jen's GM cook us a mean mushroom risotto. It was yummy! 

The Asian selection fared ok too. There's Indian food which Z thought was flavored nicely. The naans however were dry and crispy. Boo. 

I found myself slurping a bowl of congee with the homey preserved ingredients. You can make it a teochew porridge buffet if you wish. 

The roast duck was juicy and savory. Wai ling, the marcomms manager was raving about the suckling pig that they have. The chicken rice is also rather tasty. Other asian dishes included Penang Laksa and Prawn Noodles. 

The dessert spread was insane but the only thing that i finished (and wanted seconds of) was the Durian Swiss Roll. The durians were from Batu Pahat, Malaysia!  

Back to Hotel Jen. I hope they'll do well with their new concept and i really liked the Orchard Gateway location which is superbly located in the heart of Orchard Road and right above the train station (Somerset). Rooms look cosy and bright and they offer free WIFI everywhere in the hotel and also PressReader access to over 2,500 online newspapers and magazines. All rooms have a full-size executive writing desk too so it makes for a good business hotel too.

Hotel Jen Singapore (Formerly Traders Hotel) 

1A Cuscaden Road, Singapore 249716
Tel: +65 6738 2222

277 Orchard Road, Singapore 238858

Tel: +65 6708 8888

When it comes to beach destinations, most would consider Maldives for a luxurious and decadent getaway ie expensive or Bali and Phuket for something affordable and accessible ie touristy. Well, for somewhere that has the best of both worlds, I recommend Boracay, Philippines.

Boracay is about 6 hours away from Singapore (inclusive of flight and land-boat transfer to hotel) which makes it doable for a short getaway. That said, I'd recommend at least a full 4 days for a relaxing trip. The problem with me and beach holidays is that i get bored easily. Thankfully, the accessibility to a host of activities kept us sufficiently occupied. Other than lying on the beach and chilling out, here are some things you could do in Boracay.

Island hopping 

While it may sound like a tourist trap, I quite enjoyed my morning out at sea. We did a private island hopping tour which only costs a wee bit more than the group package. The privacy was certainly worth it as we scooted around in our personal boat plus guide for a good 4-5 hours or so. This would cost about 1600PHP/US$36 per pax.

Do not give Crystal Cove a miss when you are in Boracay. There are caves and coves to be explored and turquoise waters to be admired. I didn't think i'd see such blue in the SEA region (the last time was Croatia!)

Tip: Make sure you get those waterproofed pouches for your camera and phone. We were pretty much soaked just getting to the caves. And here's S before the waves came crashing in and up towards him.

Snorkeling was included as well and the gears were provided for. I find that it's not necessary to dive because you can see the fishes so clearly from the top. Plus snorkeling is way more convenient than diving. That said, diving is pretty affordable in Boracay is about 1600PHP/US$36 per dive.

Whatever you do, DO NOT go Helmet Diving (1500PHP, 30mins). It's kinda lame but included in our itinerary anyway. It was this or banana boat and I rather be bored than be thrown at high speed into the waters. Though the thought of our oxygen supply being cut while underwater. Anyway it was a lame 15mins of our lives feeding fishes and being photographed/videographed while at it. Do not waste your money on this.

Another lame activity (part of the island hopping tour) was fishing. It involved a primitive way of baiting fishes using a 'fishing rod' made out of a string and a plastic bottle. We felt like we were being forced to catch some fishes just to kill time. Thankfully that was just a short filler. 

After swimming with the fishes, we had a seafood lunch by the beach. Nothing fanciful- some satay, soy meat, stewed vegetables etc. The highlight was the steamed/boiled crab.

We didn't expect too much from this sad looking crab. Well I've been too pampered by the flavorful and fancifully cooked crabs in Singapore so this didn't look too appealing to me. That was until we were showed how to eat this crab. Little wooden blocks were provided for the purpose of bludgeoning the crab to pieces Flintstones way. The red amours were cracked, sweet and briny juices spilled, and finally succulent white flesh devoured. Yums!

Kite Surfing. Boracay has really good winds and calm waters at Bulabog Beach and the conditions are ideal for kite surfing. We woke up to pretty kites every morning when we were staying at 7 Stones Boracay Resort. There are many kite surfing schools for your picking and the prices are cheap in the region.

Other water sports such as Stand up Paddling and Kayaking are available too. 

Sunset Sailing is certainly recommended. You can do it on a Paraw, which is a traditional long  sail boat with two outriggers and sails (1000PHP for 2pax, 1h). We lay on the nets right above the waters with our feet just skimming the surface and enjoyed the view of the burning sun. Parasailing is a good option if you're not afraid of heights (2200PHP/pax, 15mins).

Dining and Shopping at White Beach, D'Mall. White Beach is the life of Boracay. Most of the hotels are on the White Beach and there are many dining options ranging from budget meals and fast food to specialty restaurants. 2 restaurants that i'd recommend are CYMA Greek restaurant and Dos Mestizos for some really good Spanish Tapas. Quench your thirst with some yummy fruit shakes at Jonah's Fruit Shake & Snack Bar. Their Mango Shake is must. 

You could also shop for some local produce such as dried mangoes (do not forget them!) and other dried goods.

Scoot around in tuk-tuks to explore parts other than the White Beach. I'd recommend heading over to Shangri-La for an awesome view of Boracay. Go for a spa session, do dinner and drinks after. Better yet, book yourself into one of their fabulous villas. ;) We also had a great 4h session at Mandala Spa Boracay.

Of course, if you're not interested in any of the above, it's perfectly fine to just hang by the beach, or your private pool, get a tan, read a book, do whatever. 

So what would you do on a beach holiday? Share with us!

XOXO

Travelerintransit