Dinner at SONS Singapore @ Raffles Place [Sponsored]

20 Cross Street #01-19, China Square Central, Singapore 048422

Tel: 6221 3937

Website: http://www.sons.com.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sons.singapore

SONS Singapore is a beautiful modern Italian restaurant located at trendy China Square Central, serving up classic, honest Italian fare and a multitude of drinks including cocktails, wines and beers. The decor is a beautiful shade of Egyptian blue, dimly-illuminated to give it a romantically-soothing vibe; the black and white tiled floors keep it suspended in time.  Service is pretty friendly and warm, consistent during peak and non-peak periods.

We started with 2 glasses of Prosecco while waiting for our food to be served. Did I mention that the drinks here are all on Happy Hour starting from 6.00pm onwards, every evening? That means, drinks go for less than SGD$10.00, and one can drink all night long!

The first course was a Pasta with Porcini Mushrooms dish, prepared al-dente. The pasta was flavorful, a blend of umami and very mild spiciness.

For mains, the Wagyu Beef Cheeks with Roast Peppers (SGD$28.00) was a good-sized portion, but we felt it was not as tender as how beef cheeks typically are. Taste was good, but texture was a little tough.

The Sea Bass was served with grilled vegetables; crispy skin flanking white flesh grilled to a near tenderness.

Glasses of Rose Wine and Cosmopolitan cocktail accompanied the mains wile we slowly wined and dined.

Finally, Tiramisu (SGD$12.00) served elegantly in a glass, bittersweet decadence melting beautifully in the palate; bits of chocolate chips added crunch to the beautiful dessert. This was by far the best of the night.

Glasses of Lychee Martini concluded an evening of date night - thank you SONS Singapore for the lovely evening.

Drinks at Starker Bistro @ Bukit Timah

4 Hill View Rise, #01-02 Hillv2, Singapore 667979

Tel: 6336 8550

Website: http://www.starkergroup.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarkerSingapore

Starker Group specialises in fresh beer and delicious Western cuisine. They have many outlets in Singapore from Tanjong Pagar Centre to Holland Village to Bukit Timah to JEM to Katong Square to Punggol. We visited the one at Hillv2, Bukit Timah, for proximity reasons.

Service was super attentive in the afternoon when the bistro was dead quiet. I liked the ambiance of brick walls and dim lighting, giving the place a vintage charm.

*Zachery had the Starker Aromatic Beer (SGD$16.90) - a light beer with fruity, floral and herbals notes. The pale golden-yellow hue was lovely, leaving a crisp and sweet aftertaste in the mouth.

I was torn between grabbing a Beer or Lychee Martini, and the answer came to me literally - Starker Lychee Beer (SGD$16.90), giving me the best of both worlds. This beer was also a beautiful shade of gold, sweet-flavoured with aromatic of Belgium Lychee, and a faint muskiness; very smooth and easy on the palate.

Happy drinks made for happy us, looking forward to seconds here at Starker Bistro, perhaps coupled with some light bites to go along with the delicious beers.

Lunch at Curry Times Restaurant @ Westgate Jurong

3 Gateway Drive #02-08 Westgate, Singapore 608532

Tel: 6369 9609

Website: http://www.currytimes.com.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CurryTimes

Curry Times Restaurant is an eatery by the famous Old Chang Kee Curry Puff Group. To be honest I had never been too interested as I felt that paying close to SGD$10.00 for curry rice was rather pricey, until something caught my eye recently.

So I headed to the closest outlet to me, taking in the retro decor such that makes it so dear to Singapore. The service crew's uniform is Cheongsam, totally bringing us back to the 60s.

I ordered the current specialty which is Salted Egg Curry Chicken Rice (SGD$10.80), it came with an Iced Winter Melon Tea which was refreshing and a good pairing with the curry.

The Salted Egg Curry Rice was dry with little gravy, but it would make sense, given the salted egg mixture. Surprising it complemented the spiciness of the curry very well, and I even bit into 2 halves of a salted egg yolk (nice!). Chunky tender chicken, curry leaves, chilli padi and a huge piece of lettuce made up the rest of the dish, served with white rice separately on the side.

Eat it while it's hot, if not it could get a little overwhelming. I also felt that if they has included some potato in the curry it would have been just perfect, but overall I quite enjoyed this dish.

Review of PDRN Skin Renewal Therapy by Renaza @ Palais Renaissance

390 Orchard Road #03-10 / 11 Palais Renaissance, Singapore 238871

Tel: 6235 3343

Website: http://www.renaza.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/renazasg

PDRN is one of the newest trends in beauty sector, a breakthrough technology that goes under the surface of the skin to treat it effectively- within minimum downtime. PDRN stands for Polydeoxyriboneuclotide, a substance harvested from Salmon DNA.  It is a powerful natural healing ingredient, and helps our skin in terms of wound healing, anti-inflammatory as well as promotes cell growth and regeneration.

I visited Renaza Wellness Lifestyle Lab at its other outlet, at Marina Bay Link Mall for a Collagen Facial (review here). I am glad to be back at Renaza to try the PDRN Booster (SGD$600.00); it's Orchard outlet is even more spacious and lovely.

Unlike Rejuran Treatment (review here) which injects PDRN directly into the skin, and can only be done by certified doctors, PDRN Renewal Treatment here uses a different method to administer the same 2ml of serum into the skin. This special serum comprises PDRN, hyaluronic acid, glutathione and peptides - powerful ingredients to heal and improve skin conditions.  Let's see how it works.

First, my skin was cleansed by the therapist, followed by a Honey and Almond Scrub that smelled really delectable. This would remove all impurities for better absorption of the treatment.

Then a Collagen Hydrating Mask was spread over my face for about 10 to 15 minutes, to prepare my skin for the treatment. The mask had a strangely aromatic smell that reminded me of sandalwood.

The Epicells Booster machine was rolled in. This uses air pressure forming a substantial jet wave to deliver the PDRN serum at 450m/s.  The high pressure opens pores to deliver the active constituents of micro-molecules deep into the skin through atomization. The therapist tested the jet out on my shoulder first, to ensure I was okay with the jet of pressure that would "smack" the serum into my skin. Then she covered my ears (because machine was a little noisy) and eyes.

Treatment commenced, jets of serum went "piak-piak" onto my face, felt like I was flicking it (mild prick but not painful). I was only afraid the strong jets would hit my eyes but the therapist was very meticulous with her work. She increased the speed of the jets delivery when I was comfortable enough.

The Epicells Booster Treatment serves to stimulate collagen production, regenerate cells, minimizing flaws (spots, scars, acne, wrinkles etc), brightens skin, lighten pigmentation, lifts skin, clears pores and sebum. That's a lot of benefits in one short 30 minutes procedure!

Half my face was done first, to show me the difference. After a total of 1,000 shots fired, treatment was completed.

My skin was hydrated, brighter and pores looked tighter. The differences between this PDRN Skin Renewal Therapy and Rejuran are that (1) this has very minimal downtime (2) hence, can be done on a weekly basis while Rejuran' s on month-long intervals (3) results are gentler than Rejuran (4) can be performed by aestheticians and beauticians  (5) less costly than Rejuran treatments.

All in all, I rather enjoyed the experience a d the way it makes my skin feel. Thank you Renaza Wellness Lifestyle Lab!

Dinner at Springleaf Prata @ Bukit Timah [Revisit]

396 Upper Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 678048

Tel: 6493 2404 / 9711 6159

Website: http://www.springleafprataplace.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/realspringleafprataplace

Time to revisit Springleaf Prata Place (review here) for some good roti prata and Indian cuisine, before we make the move all the way to the other end of Singapore. The restaurant was quite empty during late afternoon, and nothing has changed much since our last visit, which we tried some of their specialty pratas.

This time round, we tried their new Coin Prata Set (SGD$7.50), comprising 5 pieces of crispy coin prata (diameter is the size of a Milo tin lid), Masala Chicken and Teh Tarik.  If you do not want the set, you can just order the Coin Prata at SGD$3.00 for 5 pieces. They were crispy, and tasted good even if eaten on their own.

The Masala Chicken was utterly succulent, sitting in a rich, fiery pool of gravy of ground spices. This paired very well with the Prata, and I believe would also go well with Bryani dish.

The Hubs also had a Plain Prata, with its crispy edges and fluffy interior. He enjoyed it very much with the restaurant's Chicken Curry.

I chose an Egg Prata - a huge prata that was somehow crispy (the egg pratas I ate were usually softer). This prata bore the a faint eggy aroma that invoked hunger, and I enjoyed this very much with the restaurant's Fish Curry.

To complete my meal and ward off that spiciness from the curries, I always order a Mango Lassi when I am at the Indian restaurants. These mango-flavored yogurt drinks work wonders for countering spiciness, and aids digestion!