I've heard a lot about the place, and when my Mum decided to host my Dad's birthday celebrations there, I thought it would be a good time to try it out. To get a private room at Beijing No. 1 at Marina Bay Sands, you need to spend $3000 and above. We spent $1000, so we got a semi-private room with one other table.

Decor at Beijing No.1 is impressive, no terracotta warriors but it certainly looked regal and imposing, with little touches that helped secure the imperial feel. How about the food? The food paled in comparison to the decor, I expected more subtle flavours and layers, but unfortunately, two dishes in our selection seems to have used the exact same stock, and for the price we were paying, I expected the flavours to be a bit more varied.According to their site, Beijing No. 1 is conceptualised by Master Chef Liu Guozhu, and helmed by Executive Chef Shi Wei Dong, who has over 40 years of experience in the Chinese culinary world.

Beijing No. 1 has good servers but managers who are not as service orientated - it took the manager quite a while to find my reservation, and in the end, I had to point out my mother's name right on the top. Not a complicated name, just Mrs Goh. In his defence, perhaps they are used to writing the names in Chinese. The menu I asked to look at didn't come, so I had to walk over to the counter and pick up a copy.

Ah yes, the food awaits, and they are in the order that they were served, which to me, was strange as the Longevity noodles came out third, after "Peking Duck" and the soup that was more like sauce.

If you would like to try eating at Beijing No.1, its details are as follows:

LOCATION:THE SHOPPES, ATRIUM 2, L2-03

ACCESS VIA THE SHOPPES BAY LEVEL (L1) LIFTS AT UOB AND GRAND COLONNADE NORTH
OPERATING HOURS
LUNCHDAILY

11:30AM  -  2:30PM
DINNER5:30PM  -  10:30PM
TELEPHONE:

+65 6688 7515

Photos follow, with comments on each dish. Click Read More to check them out.
 

Gorgeous views and tasty Korean food at Sarang, Korean for Love... Located at Orchard Central, 7th floor, it is quite the oasis in the heart of the city. I was there on a weekday afternoon, so Justin and I were the only guests.

Getting there was quite confusing as there were so many lifts, but where there is a will, there is a way!

A sampling of the menu...I have never tried Korean Tapas before, so it was quite an experience, Thank you Justin for the meal!

The rice with wheat wine was really tasty...Makgeolli impressed me so much I wanted to order a few more, but it was extremely alcoholic.. Or perhaps it's because I was there at 3pm and it was kind of too early for drinks.

I was still wondering what I drank, so I went to google... Here's the wiki definition!

Makgeolli, also known as "makkoli", "makoli" or "makuly (takju)", is an alcoholic beveragenative to Korea. It is made from a mixture of wheat and rice, which gives it a milky, off-white color, and sweetness.[1] It is made by fermenting a mixture of boiled rice, wheat and water, and is about 6–8% alcohol by volume. Most makgeolli contains rice these days. $5

Terrine of ginseng with chicken was quite unusual. I loved the delicate flavor of the red dates combined with the smooth chicken terrine and the single ginseng right in the middle gave it more "bite". For me, I like the taste of ginseng, so I ate the ginseng, gnawing on it to release its full flavor. $16

Even though you see whole cloves of garlic, it wasn't overpowering as I think the garlic must have been pre cooked before being added to the terrine. The garlic was sweet, reminiscent of baked or steamed garlic, but without the "skin".

Complimentary servings of Kimchi and a spicy unidentified dish was very welcome indeed. I loved the kimchi- it tasted slightly spicy with a lot of crunch and "juice".

Spicy chewy rice cake was really lovely, with a fantastic chewy texture. The sauce, though bright orange, wasn't overly spicy though I reached for my water quite a few times. It was a burst of flavor, with the sweetness of the vegetables still intact. $7

The fish cakes made the dish taste even better, as the saltiness balanced out the sweetness of the sauce beautifully.

My best friend Justin! He gave me a "start work" treat because I started writing for his blog, www.justinlee.sg

Whatever is beneath that beautiful cover must be tasty too, and it really was! Army Stew! With such a name, I had expected much less... I later found out it's what they used to serve to the US army stationed in Korea. That's why there's so much spam!

Tada! Army stew revealed! I was a little concerned that we couldn't finish everything, but we did, it was really really really yummy with the sweet well cooked vegetables and tasty, salty spam! Yumminess to the extreme, highly recommended! $18.80

Quite the experience, just that service staff were terribly inattentive though there were only two of us there. Water was not topped up and we had to wave quite vigorously before any one of the three staff talking at one corner responded. I will be back, for more $5 rice wine though!

Happy Duan Wu Jie! It's dumpling eating day, 5th day of the 5th lunar month, which is today, 12th June 2013! 

I had seen Feng Shui Inn's advertisement for their dumplings, and thought it would be fun to have dumplings there today.

Was I disappointed? Yes I was... with such beautiful photos and good food the last time I visited Feng Shui Inn, I expected the pork in the dumpling to be tender - it was incredibly hard, and it is difficult to believe that they were using Kurobuta pork. Also, for $32++ for one dumpling, I would have expected it to be tastier with more ingredients. More on that later, but here's the dumpling I ordered. 

Kurobuta Pig Trotters Rice Dumpling served with Premium Soy Sauce Dip $32++ per piece
Ingredients: German “Kurobuta” Pig’s Trotter, Japanese Flower Mushroom, Thailand Glutinous Rice and American Yellow Bean

As mentioned in the earlier review, I was going to revisit Ocean after a month to see if service and experience has improved and I was pleasantly surprised.

They DID AWAY with the Buttons! What a relief! The buttons were the worst part of my entire first experience, and when I arrived at Ocean, I was actually dreading to see them, but they were gone. Friendly staff greeted me instead, and I must say, it was an amazing difference that was very welcoming.

Instead of showing you the food first, you must take a look at the amazing view that will keep you company throughout your entire meal. This is the very best part of the entire experience at Ocean. Pure bliss, almost meditative if the restaurant wasn't filled with so many guests. The children who were at Ocean that day were enraptured by the glass panels filled with so much life, and many of them were sitting at the panels, mesmerized. I would sit there too, if I wasn't so hungry.

My friend had a $100 voucher for Feng Shui Inn, so I thought it would be the perfect time to try some of their food. Besides the ala carte chinese food they specialized in , they also had a lovely array of ala carte dim sum. I liked everything that was on the table, so I decided to make a photo gallery of all the photos taken.

The bird nest dumpling in soup was especially tasty, and totally different from what I expected bird nest to taste. It tasted and reminded me of clear shark's fin soup, and the dumpling was bursting with seafood and birds nest.

This is the entrance that will greet you if you are going through the entrance which does not require entry into the Aquarium, and after a bumpy and fun ride on the buggy provided by Resorts World ( Ocean does not have their own dedicated buggy ) you would arrive at this beautiful entrance. Nothing outside will prepare you for the view inside though.

When you step into the restaurant, the first thing that hits you is the sense of being underwater. A huge, unobstructed view of the ocean - underwater, gives you a immense feel of how small we all really are. Beautiful rays swim across while you eat, if you are able to get the table nearest the viewing panel, which is said to be the largest in the world. The view is just awe-inspiring.

Then Reality bit.