majestic hotel, chinatown

not a food post today so much as a conglomeration of photos I couldn’t not take while having a stroll through the majestic hotel. I’ve wanted to visit their namesake chinese restaurant for quite a long time, but an unfortunate combination of inconvenient location and mixed reviews means that I haven’t done it as yet – especially since every time I want dimsum, I essentially mean that I want a salted yolk custard bun. which means I want a damn good one – which brings me to taste paradise.

really a sort of fortunate-but-unfortunate-for-the-majestic cycle.

the lobby of this boutique hotel is filled with a mixture of artsy, new-retro hipster items like coffee books, childhood memorabilia (at a price that seems determined by emotional/nostalgic inflation rather than the national measure), and vintage ware. it makes for one cool display, and rather nice photos.

I foresee that there will come one day when I shall bemoan the demise of all these items, even in hipster shops, and then I guess this post and all the others I have written in opposition to the prevailing singapore-hipsterness will come and bite me on my behind.

the line, town

presumably the best buffet line-up locally, located in the shangri-la hotel. much has already been said about this restaurant on the blogosphere (there are such a great number of singapore food blogs – and I thought london was oversaturated!) so this is a short exposition for if you are a visitor to my blog and not familiar with singapore.

buffets are our local excuse to over-eat, and coupled with our no-lose mentality, they often result in us starving ourselves the morning/day before the buffet meal and then trying to lose ourselves in the food. the goal usually is to eat the equivalent cost of the buffet so as to ‘win’ though let me tell you from experience that the best way to attack a buffet is to eat moderately through the day without starving; if you try to starve your appetite, what usually happens is you end up being very bloated quickly and not able to eat much.

the line-up here includes cold seafood such as prawns, crabs and oysters – I was told lobsters are taken out during dinner time – cooked chinese food such as noodles and meat dishes, an indian counter serving curries and various tandooried ingredients, a dimsum steamer counter, a salad bar, a pizza and pasta bar, as well as a station with roast meats and another for sushi and sashimi. and if that wasn’t enough, the dessert here is usually pretty impressive, including quite a few jellies, cheesecakes, tartlets and a flowing chocolate fountain. I always end up sticking with fruit though.

angel house breakfast, krakow

this isn’t a restaurant review – but I thought I would make a note about the simplicity and beauty of breakfast.

we stayed at angel house (I highly recommend it! but it is five storeys up with no lift so be aware) for our trip in krakow – and it really is sort of like having a bed seat, but done professionally.

breakfast is simple, a bowl of cereal in milk – muesli for me – as well as a slice of local bread with some cheese. it brings so much pleasure to wake up in the morning to know you will be well-fed!