wendy's whims
From the monthly archives: July 2011
Friends@Jelita is located a turn away from Sixth Avenue. When I saw a coupon for their set meal at $19.90 (supposedly U.P. $65.80), I bought 2, for the bf and I.
We went there on a Sunday evening and it was only about 30% full. With the coupon promotion I thought that it would’ve been more crowded.
Upon sitting down, we were provided with a “special menu” which was titled “Deal.com.sg Set Meal” or something to that effect. Well… I dunno if it’s just me but that was quite a turn off. I immediately had the feeling that we would be served be some downsized cheapo version of what their normal set meal would be.
The feeling that it was a “deal” immediately vanished; I was simply paying for a set meal that was worth $19.90, not something that was worth $65.80. Maybe I’m naïve but I expected more. Oh well.
We first had bread with balsamic vinegar:
It was okay… not the best I’ve had but not the worst either. The bread was warm, which is good.
Next came a cheese fondue mushroom something:
Basically it was cake textured bread, with white sauce and mushrooms. This is arguably the best dish of the entire set. Bread was nice and dense, mushrooms were flavourful and the white sauce tasted complementary.
However, the next dish was another turn off:
It was their mushroom soup. Granted the soup itself was not bad, but there is just something wrong with drinking soup from a teacup, with a teaspoon. Deduct extra points when you realize that this “creative” serving’s primary purpose is to reduce to amount of soup that they are willing to serve you for their downsized set.
Next came the mains:
Chicken stew and tomato-sauce spaghetti. The stew was quite alright. The sauce went well with the softly mashed potatoes, and the chicken was tender.
The pasta though… not so alright. Well it was edible as most food is, but why so bland? Did they dilute something? Or forget to add something? Was one of the ingredients too expensive for this set meal perhaps? Ha sorry couldn’t resist. Just kidding ok.
Last, we were served with dessert:
Cheesecake. Nice, moist, dense.
In all, it was a decent meal, at a decent place with decent ambience.
$19.90 is actually really quite a deal for the amount of food that was served. If I wasn’t led to believe that the meal originally cost $65.80 (OH COME ON), I might have enjoyed the food a lot more.
You know what they say… with great expectations come great disappointment. Ok actually I dunno who the “they” is. You may quote me for this phrase.
K bai.
Location: Jelita L2
Spent: $20/pax (with promotion)
Won this The Face Shop hamper! :) Not very sure what it’s for but I will find out. :D Hee happy!
Love love love winning things. :P /crosses fingers for luck to continue + thanks to the divine forces above!
I have been using this for about 2 weeks before writing this in case I over/under rate it based in initial impressions.
It was quite an impulse buy. I read the glowing reviews on Makeupalley and felt sooo swayed, albeit cautious, given my recent lousy Shu Uemura experience.
The same afternoon, I went over to Sephora during lunchtime, and the SA was a nice pretty girl who matched me with Shade 117 (noting that my makeup slightly oxidises over the day – which was very considerate for her to ask and note before recommending!). For reference I am a MAC NC15-20.
She applied it on my jawline and I liked how it looked and felt, so I bought it immediately. Hee.
I tried to apply it with a brush initially and while the results were good, I find that applying with my fingers gives the best finish.
Pros
Colour: The shade was an exact match! I haven’t had an exact match since the L’Oreal True Match liquid foundation that I tried in my teens. I broke the bottle, shortly after the shade was discontinued. Ha.
Anyway I dare say this is even better. I cannot tell where my foundation begins or ends, even as I apply makeup in bright light, holding a pocket mirror close to my face. Happy!
Texture: It’s not very liquid, nor very thick. Ah texture is hard to describe but it dries up quite quickly once it is applied so gotta be quick when blending it in!
Coverage: My complexion only has some trouble areas – my nose/cheeks with the large pores, and my freckles. This foundation smooths over the imperfections in a way that it seems that my skin is blemish free naturally. :) It doesn’t make them disappear of course, but they are significantly less visible I would say.
Oh, and I do not need to use any concealer anymore! This covers my dark circles very well.
Staying Power: Godlike. It doesn’t ever come off until you decide to let it come off. It still looks fresh at the end of a long day! The only touch up I do is spritz a hydrating spray over my face during midday, and use a tissue to blot.
I also need to point out that while other foundations make my T-zone oily and make my pores look really large, this stayed fairly matte throughout the day!
Oxidization: I’m so happy that I can say this… I didn’t notice any oxidization! Either the SA matched such a perfect shade that even with oxidization, my makeup still looks fresh, or the product simply does not oxidize. Le sigh.
Cons
Price: I shelled out a cool SGD 75.00 for this, which is very pricey to me!
I have yet to find out how it looks on photos, which is what it was created for, a high definition photo perfect finish! My cousin’s wedding is coming up on the 16th so my chance to find out is coming up real soon! Excited excited.
♥
Update on 17 Aug 2011 (after my cousin’s wedding): Looks fantastic on photos! My skin looked glowy and photoshopped hahaha.
I got my palette!!! Squeal with me everyone!
I overpaid and got it off eBay but it doesn’t matter! I still have it anywayssss. It’s as awesome as I dreamed it to be and the possibilities are really endless.
Will this be the one palette to rule them all? (LOTR reference FYI) Tee hee hee. /giddy with joy
And it’s true what they say. The powders are soft and fine and blend like a dream!
Photo taken from their website because my iPhone captured photos will not do this justice.
I don’t know how to begin except that I love Spruce!
I love the location. Love that it’s tucked away in a corner (quite literally) of Pheonix Park. Sucha hidden find! It’s settled within lush, lush greenery, which makes a perfect backdrop for lazy weekend brunches. At night, the mood is fantastic for dates!
I loved the menu, especially their clam chowder. If I’m suaku so be it, but it was the best clam chowder I’ve had in my life. Period. It’s creamy but not sickeningly rich. The taste is divine, if I may, and it just made me believe in food all over again. The paprika (?) powder added a nice kick to the flavour too!
Their signature pasta, which was in a creamy green sauce, was an enigma. I like how none of the items there were conventional. Their clam chowder was clam chowder but not really. Every dish had some unique spin to it. It wasn’t a trying spin like some fusion food dishes, where they just pair ingredients for the sake of being different when the flavours don’t go together. Here, just tastes like it was the way the dish was meant to be made all along.
(Interjection: Sorry if I sound overly dramatic. I can’t help gushing.)
Y’know how pasta places tend to serve the conventional carbonara/arrabiatta/aglio olio/vongole/pesto dishes? Yep we all know how they taste so there’s zero element of surprise when we take the first mouthful. The only difference is how good the dish is.
It feels nice to be surprised!
The only negative point about this place to me is the price. It easily comes up to $35 per pax. A bit too expensive for me, for a regular meal, but good to spoil myself with once in a while. :)
Location: 320 Tanglin Rd (Pheonix Park)
Spent: $35/pax
rinaz
Hotienyai
Wendy
Jia qi
Jasmine