Spizza @ Balmoral Plaza

Located at Balmoral Plaza, Bukit Timah Road. This outlet is at the corner. Many a times, we turned away because the place was crowded. Tried our luck again on a weekday about 730pm, and it was pretty relaxed.

Sat at its alfresco area where we enjoyed the evening breeze.

outdoor area

Already knew what my dining companion would order and true enough, we had pizza Isabella (parma ham with rocket leaves). Still remembered my first Spizza ala delivery and she ordered this for us as well. A perennial favourite.

For starters, had the calamari.

deep fried calamari @$13++

The spicy 'Pizzaiolo' dip was well...really wasn't spicy. Not at all. It was just tangy. Calamari was tender and the batter was barely seasoned. Liked the big round pieces of the calamari.

For drinks, one shall not resist a 1-for-1 on sparkling wine; Italian prosecco. Quite enjoyable this prosecco. Tiny bubbles and easy to drink.

Val d'Oca Prosecco

Liked the loads of rocket leaves. Pizza crust was not too thick, and best eaten (for me anyways!) folded with the ingredients all rolled up. Salty with some chewyness. Goes quite well with the dry prosecco. Medium sized pizza is 10 inch while large pizza is 12 inch width.

(M) Isabella @$20++

For desserts, we tried the tiramisu. Not too sweet.

tiramisu @$8.50++

Staff were friendly and generous. Gave us enough space between service, hence the overall mood was pretty relaxed.

Expect to pay about $35 per pax for a meal.

There is a credit card promotion for AMEX Platinum, so do enquire as it gives a discount off the total bill (excluding alcoholic drinks).

Tanabata Festival (七夕) @ Liang Court River Valley

Celebrated once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month, Tanabata is also known as Japanese Star Festival, where two star-crossed lovers separated by the milky way, reunite. The festival was imported to Japan by Empress Kōken (孝謙天皇) and it gained popularity till date. In Japan, people will write on strips of paper and wish for good fortune during this day.

And for the very first time, Liang Court is bringing this cultural festival to Singapore!

Tanabata

At Liang Court, now we too can write our wishes on Tanzaku strips, and hang them on bamboo branches. Hopefully, the celestial lovers could make them come true!

write your wishes

may your wish be granted

For kids, there are fun traditional games specifically shipped in for Japanese Summer Fair by Meidi-Ya Supermarket. For example, Yoyo Fishing, Ball Scooping and 1000 Strings.

mini carnival games area

scoop tiny balls instead of guppies

try your luck with 1000 strings

There's also a showcase of Saga Prefecture rice and vegetables. Saga-gyu I've heard, so today am acquainted with Sagabiyori rice and greens.

Sagabiyori rice

mochi tools

carrots, cabbage (はくさい)

kabocha (カボチャ)

Other than that, there is also a booth by Be Movement Singapore, a social enterprise that amongst others, publishes books and hold fairs to raise awareness of social causes from a global perspective. 

Be Movement's Japan Issue

trinkets handmade by elderly and low income families

If you're at the main Atrium, don't forget to drop by Katana-e Kicho 刀絵帰蝶 by Ms Nalu Miyamoto. She uses the Katana, precision cutting blades, to create intrincate and detailed paper art.

Katanae Art Display and Demonstration by Ms Nalu Miyamoto

Had a chance to chat with Miyamoto-san, and she shared that her creations have background stories, for example Japanese folklore like the Crane Wife (Tsuru Nyōbō).

Tsuru Nyōbō 鶴女房

Like a painting, am appreciative to the fact that the paper pattern was carved out, bit by bit by hand using the small sword. Its final form is such a beauty.

delicate yet with a sense of strength

If you're shopping at Liang Court and spends above $100, then don't miss the opportunity to redeem a Miyamoto-san's creation, while stocks last! She will be in town till 10 July only.

どうもありがとうございました、すきです！

And if you're spending $150 and above ($250 for Meidi-Ya and Audio House) There's also an exclusive couple-set pillows to redeem till 10 Aug.This week's design till 10 July is Cosmic Love.

reuniting on Tanabata

Remember Liang Court Signature Food Trail? Well, it's back!

food trail

Get your coupons for just $40, and use it on Mondays to Thursdays to enjoy a pre-set first meal, and then choose the remaining of the 2 sets from any of the 25 participating outlets. Oh, there's a free beer from Thirsty - Craft Beer Shop, plus choose one quick bite out of 5 choices. Wow.

food trail coupon

Not forgetting, 7 July is also Machicon date. Buy tickets here.

To end the evening, here's a bottle of Thatchers Green Goblin (@$9.70) from Thirsty.

cheers

Tonkotsu Kazan Ramen 豚骨火山ラーメン @ Novena Square 2

Located at Level 2 of Novena Square 2. This is one tiny shop.Went during weekday lunch hour and the shop was full but lucky for us, still managed to get a table for 4, fairly quickly.

shop front

tomato based soup volcano ramen

Decided on lunch items rather quickly too. For 4 pax, we ordered 2 volcano ramens and a side order of gyoza.

complimentary hard-boiled eggs (while stocks last!)

Liked the shop decor. Even the ceiling are decorated.

cosy interior

Gyoza was served piping hot. Tiny morsels of minced meat. Spied some gyozas on other table, that were..a little burnt.

yaki gyoza @$5++

When the service crew placed beakers of ramen soup on the table, that's when one knows the volcano is impending!

tomato based (front) and miso (back) based broth

At this juncture, the table space is not enough for the presentation of two volcano ramens!

waiting

time's up!

Wait for the service crew to lift away the cover. Then, we're to stir the soup.

Kazan Karamiso @18++

However, pot #2 did not have the volcano effect at all. Probably wasn't hot enough. Taste wise, all my colleagues were rather happy with the slightly tangy,sweetish spicy tomato paste tonkotsu broth of the Kazan Hinomaru Tomato.

Both noodles had similar ingredients in it, such as onions, and cabbage. Karamiso had pork slices, while Hinomaru had one huge whole tomato, capsicum and chili slices. Hard boiled egg was nice with the hot broth, but they do run out of the eggs at times especially during lunch hour as one of the service crew puts it, "The chefs did not have time to cook more eggs!"

One can add rice into the soup after slurping away the noodles. This, we did. So much carb that day!

with rice

This meal costs about $12 per pax and fed a party of 4.

[Gadgets] Microsoft Surface Pro3 , XBoxOne

Let's talk about tech, this time round.

Fancy an oversized tablet? How does 12 inch sounds to you? How about an i3, i5 or i7^[1] core processor in that set up? Great! It can even replace a laptop. Yes, it definitely can. How about, if it is super slim...like just 9.1mm thin and super lightweight at 800g?


------ (this is about 9mm)

Was at the Microsoft Surface Pro3 Launch Preview recently, and got the chance to preview the said device.

at Red Dot Design Museum

The opening address was by Ms Ngiam Foong Chee, Director of Marketing & Operations, Microsoft Singapore. Again, we hear about connected devices, working anywhere, anytime if once chooses so.

This is where work and play merges. Through technology, others are aware of your online presence. Ultimately, one still has the choice of attending to that work activity or not. 

Then, it was Mr Ian Tan's turn to show us the Surface Pro3. Ian is no stranger to Microsoft hardware business in Singapore.

Mr Ian Tan explaining on Surface Pro3 'infinite angles' Kickstand

From where I was seated, the Surface Pro3 screen looked good. Beautful body in silver Vapor Magnesium casing and for its screen, Surface Pro3 uses ClearType Full HD display.

Surface Pro and Surface Pro3

If one needs to do work on this device, no worries. Just snap on the keyboard via its Surface Pro Type Cover or take out the Surface Pen.

Surface Pro3 with Surface Pen and keyboard

Surface Pro3 is also equipped with two 5MP cameras capable of capturing 1080p HD video. Storage space from 64GB to 512GB, and RAM from 4GB to 8GB. With Windows 8.1 Pro³, it is also capable of running of all Windows software. Price ranging from $1,108 to $2,698, with accessories sold separately.

Pre-order is avaible now at Microsoft Online Store.  Expects to be available for retail before end of August 2014. There is an Education discount where students from certified MOE institutions will enjoy a 10% discount.


Also got a glimpse of Microsoft's next generation console, the Xbox One that day. It is expected to launch in Singapore on 23 September 2014.

entertainment box

Expected retail price is about $739 with Kinect set.

With the Kinect sensor bar, it looked so much more fun with gesture recognition!

gesture recognition

Xbox One's Kinect Sports Rival allows users to create avatars or 'champions' of themselves. Body and facial scanning, and some intelligence in learning some moves of the player sounds like a great great ingredient for semi-realistic virtual fun!

Watch a YouTube video of the avatar building process:



Quite cool. Previous generation of Kinect sensor bar, was not able to detect half-body and apparently with this new one, it can! Nice. Healthcare apps developers, you might want to get your hands on this one.

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[1] 4th generation processors Intel® Core™

Real Food 真食 Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant @ Novena Square 2

Located at B1 of Novena Square 2, this place is usually packed during lunch hour. Not surprisingly as it offers vegetarian and vegan food choices, in a nice ambiance and conveniently located a few steps from the MRT station.

Only grouse? Long wait for the food. But that's ok as the service staff would've forewarned the patrons with regards to waiting time, especially if it is anticipated to exceed 30 minutes.

Order at the counter, make payment and grab a seat and have patience.

cutlery hidden below

Best if one have something to drink first while waiting.

Daylesford Organic
Carbonated Drinks - Lemon Lime & Bitters @$5.90

First time having lemon lime and bitters. Wonder what went into the bitters for this version? According to wiki, the bitters part is handled by Angostora bitters which says it has botanically infused alcoholic stuffs. Ahhh...no wonder it tasted so agreeable!

Moving on the food, I spied lots of office workers having spaghettis, soup noodles and pizza. Looks like those are popular choices. Tried their All Day Breakfast menu of Rise & Shine Breakfast @$9.80.

Rise & Shine - eggs omelette with bell peppers, zuchini, mushrooms, some greens and toasted bread with cheese and tomato

Though the omelette wasn't fluffy, but that's alright. Loaded with ingredients and the bread was good. It was rather filling too!

Also tried the fried dumplings (@$7 for 8 pieces). Rather thin, fried till deep brown but fragrant and tasty because of the minced mushroom fillings. Yums but remember to request for their chili. It's not chili sauce but natural chili paste. Nice.

Unless you're there really early, otherwise the wait for food will likely be about half an hour during weekday lunch time, mainly due to the office crowd.

Expect to spend about $16 ~ $20 per pax for a meal with a drink.