Titanic in 3D

I'm one of those who never tire of watching a good movie over and over and say what you want but Titanic isn't just a good movie, it's a great movie in my book. I loved it when it was first released and I still do.

However, while I love the movie, I'm not a die hard fanatic so I don't have the special edition DVDs and I haven't downloaded the movie and stored it in my hard disk and I haven't seen it in such a long time.

When I saw the trailer for the first time in the theater a week back, I got all excited. I had a whiff of nostalgia and I remembered watching it with my family and having a really great cinematic experience.

Having the chance to watch it on the big screen again is something that I wouldn't pass up. Frankly, I don't care much for 3D but if there's one movie that deserves to be 3D-ified, it's this. I can just imagine how majestic Titanic will look.

With invites from Omy, we headed to Plaza Singapura last night for the special preview.

Both a critical and commercial success, the hype surrounding it and it's very famous theme song had a bit of a negative effect. People started to feel that need to distance themselves from the hype. Up to now, check your Twitter timeline once it's finally re-released and you're sure to see a lot of negative jabs at the movie but I refused to be sucked in. As soon as the lights dimmed, I sat back and allowed myself to experience the wonderful journey that it truly is again.

I suggest everyone go to the theaters on April 5, leave your inhibitions out the door and see the movie again as if you're seeing it for the first time.

Potion Bistro & Bar, Nostalgia Hotel

I was able to catch the tail end of Restaurant Week last weekend with Analyn and Em-J. I chose Potion for Saturday lunch because I was curious about it, I actually thought that the restaurant specializes on molecular gastronomy. I tried reading about it online but not much has been written about it so we didn't really know what to expect.

Potion is the in house restaurant of Nostalgia hotel in Tiong Bahru. I haven't been there so I was looking for a tall hotel. Analyn whipped out her phone to help us out, it turns out that we've already passed the place twice.



Adding to our confusion, we saw that the restaurant is outdoors but the entire place is being hosed down. Chairs were all turned over and moved to the side, workers were all over, wet and dirty.

We decided to enter the hotel and we were asked by their gracious front desk staff if it's alright for us to have lunch inside instead. This is actually a blessing since it was too hot outside.

The place is a bit cramped, I felt that they can do with a couple less chairs but it really wasn't a problem since we were the only ones dining in at that time.





Here's the special menu:



I ordered a lychee drink to cool me off a bit which was really refreshing.



We started with potato soup which was good.



Analyn had the chicken for her main dish while I had the salmon. The serving was pretty filling, not what I was expecting. I loved their mashed potato, I haven't been a fan but I nearly finished my heaping serving. The asparagus was also good. Sadly, the salmon was overcooked, a little burnt and dry but the sauce made up for it.



Dessert was pear gelato which I was expecting to be served in a martini glass. When we were finally served with it, we were surprised and delighted. The effort in the preparation was not lost on us. The pear flavored and shaped ice cream was dipped in chocolate. It's center resembling the pit was a dark chocolate bonbon and the protruding stem, mint chocolate.





They sure know how to end a meal.

Restaurant Week special price: $25++, $4.50 for the drink.
All photos taken with my phone.

Citrus Hotel, Johor Bahru

Citrus Hotel is located just across City Square. Its location is perfect if you're looking at a place near immigration which is exactly what Em-J wanted. From City Square, exit out of the office side of the building near McDonald's and cross the street.





The area reminded me a bit of Chinatown in Manila, there are outside eateries just nearby and some stores at the checkpoint are open till 11pm if you find yourself hungry late at night.

I arrived at the hotel at 3pm and they asked me to wait while they are checking me in.



The lobby looked like a simple boutique hotel and wifi was pretty strong. (I realize later that it might not have been the hotel's wifi that I've been using since theirs is password protected.)

I followed up with them 10 minutes after but they're still not done. Weird cause there's only one group checking in before me and there are, at that time, 2 front desk staff there.

After a 45-minute wait, this is what the lobby looked like, lots of people waiting for what should be a simple check in procedure. I would totally understand this if I came for an early check-in but I didn't.



I was finally given my room and I headed straight to the elevators which would fit about 4 average adults. The hallway smelled faintly of rice sacks as if you're in a warehouse.

The family room was very spacious which was a surprise.





It did look a bit bare with just the minimums. A couple of beds, a desk and a TV, right behind the wall is a pretty big wardrobe with a mirror for a door which was nice. I also noticed that the floor by the foot of the bed is uneven.



The bathroom looked like a bathroom from someone's flat but the good thing about it is that it's quite spacious. Just don't forget to switch on the heater from outside before taking your shower. What I particularly didn't like about it is that the bathroom door has no lock.





While it comes with free wifi, don't get your hopes up, it was almost non-existent. We called the front desk several times and we were given a username with a number from 1 - 30. We had to try each one to see what would work and when it did connect, it didn't stick.

It also comes with free breakfast at the cafe on the 2nd floor.







Breakfast was a simple affair but I have to point out that the service was superb. The people from the front desk should learn a thing or two from the waitstaff there.

Overall, while there are minor inconveniences, it's a good enough place to stay at.

Magnum Mania

When Magnum was made available in Manila two weeks ago, my Twitter timeline was flooded with Magnum mentions. It was a huge success, so much so that it has already sparked a little negativity on Facebook.

It made me suddenly crave the expensive bars of creamy goodness. I originally didn't pay much attention to Magnum because there are Cadbury ice cream bars available.



I had a change of heart when I saw the ad below and I've been hooked.



Heist, Benicio del Toro, Bryan Singer and a gold ice cream bar, what's not to like?



When I finally found the time, I headed to the grocery and a new flavor caught my eye. Limoncello!



Except for lemonades, it hurts my throat, I love everything with lemon and this lemon liqueur flavored bar that tasted a bit of candies is not an exception.



The Irish Cream flavored ones are also good.



A 6-piece mini costs about $10 (330pesos) which amounts to 55pesos for one mini bar.

Last Sunday, my friends saw this new flavor, the deadliest so far.



2 caramel layers, 2 chocolate coating and ice cream.



One bar is about a 5km run. This flavor I won't ever have again, if I can help it.



A 4-bar box costs $15 (495 pesos), about 120 pesos per bar.

Seeing how pricey the ice cream bars, we got all excited when we saw the Magnum bars in Malaysia being sold cheap at about MYR10 ($4.34, 143pesos) for a 3-bar box!



We had the Chocolate Truffle since it's not being sold here. It did taste a bit like our Pinipig crunch but a good buy nonetheless.

Manhattan Fish Market

Between the two famous fish and chips fastfood chain, I prefer The Manhattan Fish Market more. We received discount coupons through the mail which prodded us to head there one weeknight for dinner.

We had the clear soup for starters, it tastes better than it looks with lots of seafood chunks: a few pieces of prawns, shredded crab, and squid. It was a little too salty but I liked it.



We were then served the gorgeous platter below good enough for 3 but seriously, I can finish everything in one sitting.



The meal that we ordered comes with sodas but we wanted to try out their drinks that looked enticing. I had the lemon mint while Em-J had the Gummi Bear drink. Mine was very refreshing but at $4.50 each, I'd be better off by having slurpee at 7-11.





We'd be eating here more often if not for the really really long queue and their poor seating service. I'd like to stress that while there are lots of people who come here to dine, the poorly managed queue is the root cause of the horrible waiting time.

At 6:00pm, we were first in line and we were sat after about a 20-minute wait. There was an entire area that they closed off to the public even with the queue starting to snake.



By the time we finished dinner, the queue looked really uncontrollable. The couple below was able to sit after more than 30 minutes of wait and it was saddening how you can see their frustration mounting. What could have been an enjoyable dinner has already been marred even before they started eating.


What's worse is how the employ a lot of staff but it seems to us that most of them were just chatting or going around in circles. See how no one is permanently stationed in front to ensure that the waiting guests are promptly attended to.






And the waiting doesn't end there, orders also take a lot of time before it gets served. While we were queueing one time, we were informed by their staff that orders will take a 30-minute wait not including the waiting in line. It seems to me that they were deterring the people from eating there, we ended up leaving and having dinner elsewhere.

Instead of having someone tell people how long waiting will still be, why not ask that someone to hand out menus and take their orders. Not having a table to attach the orders to is easily remedied by asking for the customer's name. I really hope the service improves soon because their food is quite good.

My Social Strand

I just created my own social strand and it looked pretty interesting. Create your own strand here.

Weekend in Singapore

Rhommel finally decided to pay us a visit from Manila last weekend. I picked him up at the airport last Saturday. He had a really really minor altercation with immigration which caused him to be among the last few to exit out. We were both hungry but he didn't want to go to Aston's or anything familiar so we ended up at the food court.





Since we both lacked sleep, we didn't have the energy to continue exploring so we both went home and slept. What a weekend!

At around 4, when Em-J got back from work, we all got ready and headed out to Orchard. We ran into Analyn and we shared Em-J's Bonchon chickens. He insisted on eating first before heading to dinner.



Eco was also having a delayed birthday celebration so we met up with them at Outram Park. Sadly, the restaurant was closed so we ended back up in Somerset at Brotzeit.







Eco was very generous and we had a feast! I particularly liked the camembert cheese with cranberry sauce and the schnitzels. The boneless all meat pork knuckle, I was not particularly fond of. I found that it lacked a bit of flavor.





We then went to Starbucks at Yishun to have coffee while waiting for Hugo's screening.



The next day, we woke up late, just in time to get to Marina Bay to catch Wicked with Stu. We then spent time exploring the vicinity while waiting for Makansutra to open at 6.







Eating there was Rhommel's only request so we ordered some of our favorites and surprisingly, we were able to finish everything off.



Surely where there are lots of eating, it's bound to be a fun weekend and it sure was.