$5 Ramen - Hiro

On a budget but craving for delicious, authentic ramen? Hiro is the place for you! Situated in a small little coffeeshop at Kovan, Hiro serves authentic ramen at only $5 per bowl! Apart from ramen, they also have other Japanese food available such as Japanese curry rice and gyoza! They are definitely different from the usual kopitiam/food court Japanese store ramen and much more authentic.

Photo credits to hungrygowhere.com

I ordered the Tonkatsu ramen on their signboard. Despite being only $5, they were generous with their servings which included one full half-boiled egg and several peaces of meat. Serving is probably just a little less than those served at restaurants, but definitely worth the $5 and filling enough!

Mmmm~

They didn't have spicy ramen option available which was kind of disappointing for me, but they had the chili powder available which managed to spice up the ramen a bit. Hehe~ XD The meat was super delicious to me as it was salty enough which simply makes you crave for more of it. :x The half-boiled egg was not bad and was cooked just right, but I would say it is not as authentic as those found in Japan. I'm not too sure how to say it, but Japan's half-boiled egg is more orange, while the ones served at Hiro was the normal yellow yolk. The ones in Japan also had a salty kind of taste to it. 

Nonetheless, I'm very satisfied with the meal! Will definitely go back to try out different flavours next time!

Happy~!

Hiro is just a walking distance from Kovan MRT.

Address: 203 Hougang Street 21

Opening hours: 11.30am - 9pm daily, except for Tuesdays

Try it out ne~

Monster Curry! Rawr~

Had a long day at *SCAPE today for dance practice. Was super hungry after using -so much- energy from dancing... The group of us headed to have Monster Curry to satisfy my monster appetite! XD

Monster Curry is located at Food Republic at 313 Somerset. It's on the 5th floor. Lazy me usually take the lift up so once you exit from the lobby, it should be right in front of you haha. It's situated at the corner but the sign is pretty big so you should be able to see it!

Prices are pretty reasonable considering the portion they give. I am able to finish the whole plate by myself but some of my friends (girls with small stomachs) find it too much for them. So if you are one of those with a small stomach, I would recommend sharing one portion with a fellow friend.

The menu!

My standard order is the Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry. Haha yes, I do love curry and cheese. :x They have a pretty good variety available, which includes natto curry. ._.'' Personally I hate natto. The smell, the taste, the texture. Urghhh................ x.x But two of my natto crazy friends ordered it... According to my friend, the curry is a little thick, but despite that, you can still taste the natto. And yeah, of course they enjoyed their natto. Will never be able to understand their love for natto but... anyways! Here's my dinner!

Oh! You can choose the level of spiciness as well! Love it cos I love to go on spicy challenges. Hehe. Today I challenged myself with 3 Flame (Very Hot).

Which level would you dare challenge?

The level of spiciness is actually controlled by the amount of chili sauce they add into your curry. Depending on the person serving you, some of them would draw the sauce on your curry in nice cute flames. However, today I wasn't so lucky so the person serving me just swirled the chilli on. Hahaha.

3 Flame!!!

The combination of cheese and curry is really to die for. LOL. Now that I think of it, I really do love cheesexcurry. When I was in Japan, we visited the cup noodle museum and was able to create our own cup noodles. I chose curry base and added cheese as one of my toppings. XD Cheese and curry banzai~

Look at the cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

Honestly, I was almost defeated by 3 flame. Probably because I was very full halfway through already. BUT! I still managed to finish it! Challenge completed! Will try 4 flame next time. XD I can still feel my stomach burning... after 3hrs. ^^''

Now I challenge YOU! ;D

Free Ice Cream?!

Yaaaaaahooooooooi~~~~!!!

Look of the day!

A week back after filming my Ai Kotoba dance cover, my friends and I were lucky to get a free ice cream voucher each! It was given out by some DJs. When I went up to take the free voucher, the DJ noticed my usa-chan stockings and literally announced to the whole world through the mic... I was so embarassed cos everyone was staring at my thighs. -_- Honestly I wasn't too sure what they were promoting... but it was the usa-chan that attracted me to them. XD

Usa-chan peace!

We were not hungry that day so we decided to have the free ice cream today after we filmed another upcoming dance cover! The feeling of having free ice cream after a tiring day of dancing/filming is simply awesome.

Yay!!

The free ice cream is by Marble Slab Creamery. They have a wide variety of flavours and mix-ins available! We were literally spoilt for choices.

 So many flavours!!

Look at all the nuts. Just look.

And yes, they do their magic on a frozen marble slab! Their add-ons are called "mix-ins" instead of "toppings" because they mix them into the ice cream instead of just sprinkling it on top!

"Once your desired flavor has been selected, the magic begins. We scoop the ice cream onto a frozen marble slab, where your choice of fruits, nuts and candies, known as Marble Slab Creamery "mixins," will be skillfully blended in with the ice cream, then finally piled high on the delectable waffle cone of your choosing."

 After staring at all the different choices available, here is our choices!

Left, Salted Caramel. Middle, Double Dark Chocolate. Right, Thai Milk Tea.

Mine was the dbl dark chocolate with sliced almonds!

Love the combination of the dark chocolate with almonds! ^_^ Nomnomnom~

                                            

After the free ice cream treat, we headed to Hoshino Cafe! Yes, we are weird people who eat our dessert before our main meal. LOL. Don't judge! :x I've gone to Hoshino Cafe 3 times so far and all 3 times I ordered the same thing... Curry Baked Rice!

The curry baked rice had CHEESE in it too!! Which made it doubly awesome. :3 Hehe.

Yummy!

Oh and one thing I like about Hoshino Cafe is that they provide baskets for you to put your bags in! How thoughtful right? Every other F&B outlet should learn from them!!

Just throw in all your barang barang!

My legs are aching from today's filming for our new dance cover. T_T Hopefully can get the editing done soon! Lazy me does things too slowly. x.x Gomen....

Well, till my next food adventure! ;D

Standing Sushi Bar

In Japan, standing bars are popular, whereby customers go in, order their food and consume them while standing. That is probably where Standing Sushi Bar got their name from. However, don't worry! Seats are still provided at the restaurant where you can enjoy your food comfortably.

What attracted to me to the small little branch situated at Queen Street? Their weeknight promotions!

  Extracted from standingsushibar.com

They offer different promotions on different nights so choose the one that is most suitable for you! Not really a sashimi lover myself, I decided to go on Wednesday night!

Wednesday promotion: 50% off rolls and handrolls!

Here's what I had for the night!

Kappa Maki for $2 after discount!

Spicy Tuna for $4! I originally thought it was cooked... but it came raw. T_T

I orderd TWO softshell crab handrolls! Each handroll is only $3.

Of course, not forgetting desserts! Since I didn't get to eat -much- non-raw food, I decided it was okay for me to pamper myself a bit with some desserts. Hehe. Look at the pretty presentation!

Matcha Cheesecake, $7.90. It was still pretty frozen, which made it taste like ice cream! Yumm~

Regarding the waiting time to be seated, I didn't have to wait at all. There was a crowd, but not much of a queue. On other days where their sashimi is on discount, though, a queue is expected. So if you're going down on a sashimi discount day, try to go earlier!

I believe I would enjoy the place better if I loved sashimi. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the discounts haha! Left the place saving $16! Oh the discount thrills~

My review:
Food 3/5
Service 3/5
Price 4/5 (can be a bit pricey without discount)

Standing Sushi Bar is actually located conveniently outside Exit A of Bras Basah MRT. However, I got pretty lost because the address stated "Singapore Art Museum". So I was wondering like a lost dog around the main building of the musuem... until I realized it was at the 8Q@SAM side. Do take note if you are not very good at directions like me... OTL

Check them out!
Website: http://standingsushibar.com/
Address:
8 Queen Street
#01-03, Singapore Art Museum
Singapore 188535
Operating hours:
Lunch 12pm-2pm
Dinner 6pm-10pm

Swop for a Cause!

Woke up today at 6am to put on make up for work. x.x Didn't help with the fact that I slept at 3am+ last night due to a really bad tummyache! D: But I'm still alive, so all is well. Hehe.

Tired~

Anyway, I went to East Coast Park to work today! My job was quite simple. I just had to cycle a bicycle with an advertisement attached at the back. Silly me didn't take a picture but once official pictures are up I'll share them with you guys! I had to put on make up because they were also taking pictures to put up on their website. Thus, I had to look presentable. XD It was tiring... but well, I can earn money and lose weight at the same time! Round 2 tomorrow~

After my work in the morning, I headed down to Scape for Swop for a Cause! Swop for a Cause is a charity event whereby you can bring down at least 5 good condition items, pay $5 and swop them for something else you like! Alternatively, you can pay $15 and get 5 items without exchanging anything. The money goes to disadvantaged women! The event is held in conjunction with International Women's Day (8th March).

I found it really meaningful and fun at the same time so I brought down 5 of my impulsive buys. Most of them I never worn before! I paid $5 to the cashier and off I went to search for items I like. The event area is pretty small. About 5 tables placed in a circle. The items were separated into accessories, cosmetics, tops, bottoms and dresses to ease your search. There were so many clothes I felt like an auntie flipping through all of them! Hehe.

Auntie Suzume!

I couldn't find any clothes that I liked (I'm quite picky with clothes)... Oh actually I did find a pair of shorts which looked cute, but there was a stain at the corner so I decided not to go for it. :\ People! When you swop your items, do make sure that they are in good condition! Meaning no stains, no rusts, no yellowing (I did see a yellow men's top, urgh). Anyway, here is my loot!

1 top, 1 belt and 3 bracelets!

 Got this top for my mum! Really good quality!

 Cute belt! Quality not very good and have some defects, but still wearable!

Kawaii bracelet! Loving the little bow in the center!

Blue and pink bracelet! I couldn't decide which colour to get so I just got both. XD

As I was one of the first 100 to participate in the event, I was given a goodie bag!

Nail package voucher, make-up sponge and Essential conditioner~

A $50 photography discount voucher by Wow Productions was also given. But I only realised it when I was about to keep the paper bag away so it isn't included in the picture. :x

So there you have it! All these goodies in exchage for just $5 and 5 items which you do not want! Swop for a Cause is still going on tomorrow so you can go check it out! I'm tempted to go tomorrow again. XD Will see if my mum is interested! :D

After Swop for a Cause, I took a short walk around the flea stalls at Scape. Within 10min, I bought stuff. D; All my pay gone... T.T Gu... But I bought value-for-money stuff! :x

1m micro-USB charger for my Samsung SIII (my original charger is spoiled, so this is a necessity!)

Hair accessories! All of these at only $8!!

I found the hair accessories an awesome steal! The Neko hairband was only $4 and the other 3 were at 3 for $4! I felt a bit cheated on the bunny rubber bands though. Because they looked like the same colour at the booth but when I got home, I realised they were different colours... ): Haha, but they're still cute and cheap so it's alright! ^_^

Hai hai~ I had an awesome #foreveralone date with myself today. :3 Remember to go for Swop for a Cause!! Like their Facebook page to look out for exclusive updates!

Ja ne~

Irodori Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Irodori Japanese Restaurant is situated at Level 3 of Riverview Hotel. It is a all-you-can-eat a-la carte Japanese buffet restaurant serving a variety of Japanese food.



Being a huge fan of Japanese food, the moment I saw the menu, I was overwhelmed by the long list of food! The food on their menu are all written in Japanese romaji and an english description is written in brackets beside of it. Since it was a buffet restaurant, my relatives and I just ordered whatever we fancied on the menu!



We were served with complimentary dishes. One of it was a grilled prawn topped with mayonnaise and fish roe. Although I am not a huge fan of fish roe, I still enjoyed the dish!



This restaurant is most suitable for sashimi lovers! They have a great variety of sashimi available and you can order as much as you want without any additional charges! The fish slices came fresh and were cut in huge slices. Definitely mouth watering!



Proportion for the sashimi was generous! For those who do not enjoy the rawness of sashimi, fret not! Irodori has many other items you can order! One of my favourite item was the handroll!



The soft shell crab was delicious! Sometimes buffet restaurants serve really small portions and cut their ingredients here and there. However, at Irodori, the ingredients were not only "Oishii" (delicious), but the proportions were also just right! One thing about Irodori is that when you order an item, they will serve according to the number of people at the table. Of course, if you think it is too much, you can also specify how much of the item you would like and they will cater it to you! Here is the grilled salmon we ordered with 4 pieces of salmon for 4 people at the table.



I have definitely enjoyed my experience at Irodori Japanese Restaurant. I would recommend it to all Japanese food loving people out there! It's worth a visit!

Website: www.irodorijapaneserestaurant.com.sg
Business hours:
LUNCH - 11:30am to 2:30pm
DINNER - 6:00pm to 10:30pm
Reservation is preferred: 6737 2002
Price:
ADULT - S$35++
CHILD (below 10 years old) - S$22++

My review:
Food - 4/5
Price - 4.5/5 (VERY worth it for the sashimi!)
Service - 3.5/5 (Had some orders that didn't come and some wrong orders)

Do give it a try!