Dinner @ All Seasons Restaurant, Times Square

Had dinner with some family friends yesterday evening at All Seasons Restaurant in Times Square. My mom suggested that we go Seri Kemayan Restaurant at Batu Satu but I insisted on All Seasons Restaurant despite it didn’t gave me the best impression in terms of their food taste on my first visit. They deserved a second chance since a friend of mine commented that the food served there was nice. So, we had the largest table in the entire restaurant and ordered food that could basically feed about 10 persons when there were only the 8 of us. 6 adults and 2 kids. The waitress asked if we are okay that the all dishes come in medium portion? It’s either that they overestimated their medium portion or that’s their standard portion for medium.

Let’s start with the food pictures. (Most of the pictures were taken at a rather bad angle coz I don’t want to keep our guest to waiting for me to be done with food photography)

1. Century Egg Steamed Taofu (B$16.00)

Taofu is what we called bean curd in Chinese. Instead of the usual local bean curd that you could get from the wet market, they used those packaged silken bean curd which is easily available at any supermarket in town. Honestly speaking, I am not a big fan of century eggs. As a matter of fact, I don’t really like them. I don’t dislike them but just not keen about them. My mom wanted to order Claypot Tofu with Salted Fish but I disagreed. We had it previously and it was too salty and oily for my liking. However, Century Egg Steamed Taofu is not bad at all. As a matter of fact, it’s quite nice. The combination was pretty fresh and they blend in perfectly.

2. Signature Curry Fish Fillet (B$36.00)

If you are a not a spicy eater, I wouldn’t recommend this dish unless you specifically requested the waitress for the dish to be less spicy than it should be. The amount of fried bean curds were generous with side ingredients of eggplants and lady fingers. The fish fillets however weren’t that much and I think that they weren’t that smooth. Perhaps it’s not dory fish that they used. I think I ate more of their fried bean curds than the fish fillets itself. Hahaha … The broth was thick and flavorful but the downside is that it was quite oily. But nevertheless, the curry broth is good to go with your rice.

3. Stir Fried Soft Shell Crab with Salted Eggs (B$36.00)

This was the main highlight of yesterday dinner. When I first dined at All Seasons Restaurant, I wanted to have this but my mom who is always prone to ulcers breakout refused. Hahaha … Since my mom was the one hosting the dinner with family friends for the yesterday’s dinner, I decided to seize the opportunity and ordered it. Price may be on the steep side but it’s definitely worth every penny. This dish was well liked in both blog reviews and Instagram. The soft shell crabs were deep fried coated with salted egg yolks. They were extremely crunchy. If you are looking for crab flesh, don’t bother. There is not much crab flesh, maybe a little.

4. Fish Maw Soup (B$30.00)

Wondering why my soup is dark in color? I would always add in black vinegar in most of my soups, that’s if the soup has a thick broth. This tasted pretty good. As a matter of fact, I think it’s the best fish maw soup that I have ever tried in Brunei. Their ingredients were generous. They also used shiitake needle mushrooms. What I liked is that they don’t put in frozen peas.

5. Fried Hong Kong Kailan (B$16.00)

Do you know what intrigued me to order this? We would normally have Stir Fried Kailan the normal way. The other day when I was at work, a colleague of mine cooked Kailan exactly the same way as illustrated on the picture above. The leaves were chopped thinly and deep fried. Unfortunately, the way All Seasons Restaurant cooked it doesn’t live up to my expectation. The fried leaves were a little bit too dry. But the stems were boiled properly and they weren’t hard.

Overall, the dinner yesterday was of satisfactory. Food was served pretty quick and food quality was a lot better than I remembered. No wonder my friend still recommends me the place despite I told him my experience with their food. My first experience wasn’t anything near horrible, but they are too salty and oily for my liking.

All Seasons Restaurant
Unit F7, First Floor,
Times Square,
Kampung Jaya Setia,
Brunei Darussalam.
Tel: +673-2338068

My Birthday Wishlist?

Surprisingly, I don’t have a birthday wishlist this year until Andrea, Patrick and Alan popped me with the question. For the past one year, my birthday gifts had been in monetary form. Hahaha … Alan always complained that it’s hard to look for my birthday gift as he thinks that I am a pretty high maintenance person. Most of the gifts that I received were not things that I need. So, when Alan got tired of thinking what to get me for my past few birthdays, I suggested to him that he could always buy me Parkson Gift Vouchers.

Some people may not like this idea. Some people appreciate the efforts that their friends put through in choosing the right gifts. But that’s not the case if you received gifts that you don’t even need or you have no whatsoever idea of what the thing is. Alan himself doesn’t really like it when both Andrea and I bought him Parkson Gift Vouchers few years back. But seriously, we really don’t know what to get him back then. I resorted to buying Alan formal collared shirts after that little incident.

So as usual, the three of them – Alan, Patrick and Andrea asked me what I want for my birthday this year and they will try to fulfill my wishes. So, I gave them a list of things that I want. Hahaha … Don’t worry, they are not anything expensive or fancy. Just some skincare products which could easily be found at Sasa or Watsons in Singapore.

You may think that it’s weird to request so many cleansing oils as my birthday gifts. I have given a thought about it too. First, these cleansing oils are hard to find in both Brunei and Sarawak apart from Kuching. But I rarely go Kuching. Second, I don’t want to burden my friends with expensive gifts. Alan could be right, I am pretty high maintenance sometimes. But that’s because I personally think that quality always comes with a price. I would rather spend extra bucks for something that could serves me a few years than something that is cheap but could barely last you for a couple of months.

Lastly, thank you the three of you for asking me what I want this year.

Thanks a lot!

Review: Etude House I Need You! Yogurt Wash-Off Pack

I’ve bought myself a pack of Etude House I Need You! Yogurt Wash-Off Pack yesterday from Etude House, Times Square. A pack of Etude House I Need You! Yogurt Wash-Off Pack comes with four different individual packs with different fruit scents – Strawberry, Apple, Kiwi and Apricot. I’ve previously tried something similar but it’s Laneige Multiberry Yogurt Repair Pack. The smell is exactly the same but of course, Laneige one is pricier but it can last a long time.

So, I tried the Strawberry one yesterday evening. For maximum effect, I would recommend that you properly cleanse your face prior to application. If possible, deep scrub to remove dead cells and clear clogged pores. Prior to application, I removed all my facial dirt with Kanebo Blanchir Superior Oil Cleansing, deep scrub with Etude House Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub and lastly followed by my usual facial cleanser – Clinique Liquid Facial Soap.

The texture of Etude House I Need You! Yogurt Wash-Off Pack is a bit similar like Laneige Multiberry Yogurt Repair Pack. But Laneige one has a much smoother texture. However, the Etude House texture is rougher by a bit. I think it contained some super fine micro beads which you couldn’t see. But both smelled about the same. The consistency is much more runny compared to the Laneige one though. An individual pack can lasts you for about 3 to 4 usages. All you need is a nickel size and gently massage them onto your face. Allow it to rest on your skin for like 5 – 10 minutes to do it’s magic.

Remember to wash off the pack with lukewarm water instead of normal cool tap water. I don’t exactly know why, but most products stated to wash off this and that with lukewarm water. It doesn’t do any harm on your skin anyways. Skin felt tighter and softer after I have washed the pack off.

Pros:
1. Smells delicious!
2. Affordable. (An individual pack can lasts you about 3 to 4 usages)
3. Skin felt tighter and softer after washing off the pack with lukewarm water.

Cons:
None that I could think of.

Price: B$9.90 (Available at any Etude House outlet across Brunei)

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Verdict: I personally do like this product but not as much as I liked Laneige Multiberry Yogurt Repair Pack. Though my skin does feel softer after application, but it’s not as soft as compared to Laneige Multiberry Yogurt Repair Pack. The Laneige one may be tad bit more expensive, but it could last you for a long time. If you are not so into spending that much on Laneige Multiberry Yogurt Repair Pack but would like something equivalent, I would suggest Etude House I Need You! Yogurt Wash-Off Pack.

Repurchase? Maybe not.

Sunday

Went out shopping alone today coz Jia just got back from KL this morning on an early flight. Doubt she wanted to go out when she is still recovering from holiday. Hahaha … I stopped by at Gloria Jean’s Coffees for my daily dose of caffeine for the day. Had a cup of Caramalatte. Couldn’t find any other drink that I wanted. A regular sized Caramelatte is B$5.80, which I think is a little bit expensive compared to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. But it’s fine coz I don’t drink Caramelatte at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. I usually have White Chocolate Dream Latte at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and it’s by far the best drink that I’ve had. Recommended it to a friend previously and he also agreed that it was good. Hahaha …

Caramelatte – B$5.80

Headed over to Excapade Sushi, Times Square for a light lunch. Ordered Gyoza for myself. It’s B$5.00 for 5 pieces, which is B$1.00 per piece. That was expensive! Good thing is that it doesn’t taste bad. Quite juicy and the flavoring is just right. It came with soy sauce for you to dip your Gyoza with.

Went Etude House after lunch and bought myself a pack of I Need You! Yogurt Wash-off Pack and a loose pack of 5 sachets of Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub. A pack of I Need You! Yogurt Wash-off Pack contained 4 other individual small packs with different types of “fruit yogurt” – strawberry, kiwi, apple and apricot. I am gonna try the strawberry one tonight! Hahaha …

Price: B$9.90

Price: B$4.90

Reviews of Etude House Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub had been great so I bought myself 5 sachets to try from Etude House. A normal size box actually contained 24 small pyramid sachets. But I am not sure whether this product would work on my skin, so I decided to play safe instead and bought 5 sachets. A box of 24 sachets is priced at B$18.90 at Etude House but I am pretty sure it will be a lot cheaper in Korea. Sister is going Korea at the end of this month. If the product is good enough, I am gonna ask her to get a box for me.

Till then now! See you soon~~

Guess What I’ve Bought?

If you have been following my Twitter and Instagram, you would’ve known. It’s not anything expensive or special, but something to add into my skincare collection from Skin Food. It’s my second product from Skin Food for the week and month. I got myself a pot of Skin Food Acorn Jelly Mask!

Gonna try this product tonight. If you wanna know what I think about this product, stay tune! I shall review about it when I have seen visible difference that it does to my skin.

Ciao~~