Travel Is Callin'

11/10/2026

Niessing
Chanced upon this German jeweler at Raffles City.
I like wedding rings especially with textures.
I also like colourful statement rings.
Whilst these are not signature pieces from its Spannring series, each has its character.

11/10/2026

01/10/2026

Sep 26 eats

10/09/2026

Wanted to check out one of the Michelin starred restaurants and Restaurant Born’s menu is something I would try.
The staff was helpful prior to booking to provide detailed information and explanation on the items for each dining party. They were also open to replace or modify certain ingredients to accommodate our taste preferences.
I enjoyed the pre course most as a lot of effort were put into each small canapé.
Hawthorn / Sour Plum / Aged Tangerine - childhood memories of cackling candy, refreshing burst of citrus within the red chocolate.
Otoro / Pork Jowl / Caviar - Chinese shaobing but a much nicer flaky crust.
Brioche / Ika / Piquillo
Kanpachi / Burnt Chilli Pesto / Century Quail Egg - so pretty and I love the taste of the hard boiled egg.

We had the 6 course and my favourite was the sweet potato, followed by the crab rice, onion soup.

Garden Vegetables / Kanpachi / Fermented Broth - pretty but too veggie
“Aged” Cow / Oyster / Fried Bao
Onion / Chestnut / Garlic - love how the different profiles matched done soup style
Alaskan King Crab / Crab Roe / Crab Fat
Koshihikari Rice - love the rice more
A4 Wagyu / Wheat Sprouts / Wax Meat
Sweet Potato / Oolong / Sea Salt - such effort in making the sweet potato in various shapes and textures.

Petit Fours
I asked if I could replace sour and bitter as I don’t enjoy pork trotters vinegar and i don’t like dark chocolate. They shared the Chef’s philosophy about life has 酸甜苦辣 and won’t be that bitter. I accepted and enjoyed them as recommended.
I liked the spicy most as I like financier.
Sour - Black Vinegar / Pork
Sweet - Lychee / Rose
Bitter - Porcini / Chocolate
Spicy - Beef Fat / Financier

They brought us a customized jukebox playing ‘happy birthday’ so we can take our time to celebrate 😘

06/09/2026

Pleasantly wowed by the signature Loulouca. I read as tiramisu from the description and would not have ordered it myself as I do not like tiramisu. But I’m glad we did. It has buckwheat and vanilla so can taste the different texture within.
The matcha kaya pistachio was good too. I do not like matcha and being assured it is very light, I ordered it. The Kaya is the strongest taste as it manages to cover the pistachio cream.
Both are good and pairs better with hot tea like pu’jicha, a blend of pu’er and hojicha.
The cacao tasted more usual.
Will be back to try the dinner fruit pastry dessert.

05/09/2026

The layout and window view reminds me of Grand Hyatt Bar. I was told the bar has been around for 5 years.
I was attracted by its blue marble series. Upon checking the menu, it’s part of the Yokohama series. I’m tempted to try the cream soda and calpis.
This round, we opted for the orchard series. These are fruit cocktail and probably the use of Japanese fruits contribute to a steep cocktail price.
We opted for white peach and Kyoto grape.
My, after the bartender blended the fruit, the colours look so appealing. And it’s freshly juiced, not colouring. In fact my white peach mocktail tasted sweeter than the momo dessert I had next door. The Shine Muscat grape with gin and Cointreau did not have heavy alcoholic taste, so maybe I’ll get a cocktail the next round.
We couldn’t help but ordered a side of truffle salt edamame and foie gras monaka, which looked like peanut. Very expensive 2 peanuts though🤭

08/08/2026

80s Taiwanese Vibes
The salty cocoa latte is not bad.
Love the strawberry ceramic cup.

06/08/2026

I’ve always like scalp care treatments in private rooms with comfy chairs. Salon Vim is not bad, except I would welcome more massage.

Can’t help but to try this DIY mochi at Omiyage Fair at Isetan. I would only include the safe toppings like Kinako powder, red bean, brown sugar syrup. I added a little sweet soya sauce which does not suit my palate. Passable.

My impression of Tiffany signature is the Paloma Picasso but they have since introduced a couple of newer collections in the last 2 decades, such as hard wear, lock, T. Lock pendant chain is the most wearer friendly, amongst its range. The white enamel and diamond in rose gold duo combination looks classy too.

I’ve been looking at moon phase watches for a while, had a hiatus. I am not into mother of pearl but when I tried today at Longines, the mother of pearl face with diamond dials and rose gold stainless steel bracelet looks pretty luxe.

Seems like Balenciaga has gone grunge retro for the sneakers. I don’t fancy their thick platforms. I like these shoe laces best.

Spiral staircases seem to be the in look.
Can’t help but to marvel at Burberry Paragon staircase while waiting for the staff to fetch the items. I like their new baby pink colour. The logo design at the back of the light khaki trench looks cool.