Christmas is right round the corner, although it’s a time of giving, don’t forget to pamper yourself too! Featuring my Christmas nails, done at 3D Nails. I've always leave the shop in awe at my beautifully hand-drawn nails. After a beauty event at Etude House, I've realised it looks easier than actually doing it. The precision and steady hands, hands down to Janet who drew these on my nails. Totally worth the hour or two sitting there! A plus point about what I like getting my nails done at 3D Nails is that they uses vitamin-infused gel polish (primer, base and top coat), so that your nails won’t be damaged or frail from excessive usage of chemicals from gel manicures.

The highlight of my nails would be on my thumbs, with Santa Clause on the left and a Penguin on the right. If you are interested in my nail’s design set, it is also available at $35.

Otherwise, there are other designs available this Christmas above at a reasonable price of S25/set. Don’t say I bo jio, right now there is a gel manicure promotion going at $30 + free return soak off. Furthermore, if you quote ‘Nikki’ there is a 10% off all services.

Delifrance has also introduced a new array of pastries, Almond Croissant | $4.50 - presenting a new spin on its signature French croissant, which produce a honeycomb like interior and that is a testament to the bakers's artisanal finesse. The Almond Croissant is topped with generous amount of crispy almond flakes and snow powder. 

The three new crumbly with a golden-brown crust tarts includes Lemon Tart | $4.50 - loving the tangy and zest flavours from the combination of lemon juice, lemon curb and thin layer of white chocolate. Chocolate Tart | $4.50 - filled with Belgian chocolate, with a glazed top layer and a ganache cream of 64% chocolate content at the bottom layer. Almond Pear Tart | $3.80 - chockfull of pear slices married with almond cream, followed by sprinkling almond flakes and confectionery sugar over the top. The tart is slightly different because it is made with piquant ground almonds. Undoubtedly, my pick would be the lemon tart!

Not forgetting Delifrance's classic Madeleine, Chocolate Madeleines and Blueberry Madeleines | $4.80/each (6 pieces in a box) - expanded so that you will be spoiled for choices with two additional flavours. The shell-shaped have crisp exteriors and yet extremely moist interior. My choice would be the chocolate ones.

Note that the Tarts are NOT available at Great World City and Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 outlets. The rest are available at all outlets.

This season, Delifrance celebrates the festive by introducing a smorgasbord of French specials and signatures prepared by master bakers, patissiers and chefs. Not a fan of cooking or just don’t want to make a mess in the kitchen? You can now bring home these beautifully decorated dishes such as Traditional Roast Turkey | $90 (5.4kg) - a classic Christmas focus on every Christmas table. The juicy turkey is stuffed with flavourful chestnut and marinated with Cajun spice. Savour it with cranberry sauce and chicken gravy. 

Another classic dish served during Christmas, Honey Glazed Chicken Ham | $50 (2kg) - a succulent chicken ham baked to golden brown and glazed with honey, served with tangy pineapple sauce. Roasted New Zealand Striploin Beef | $68 (2kg) - cured with Chef’s seasoning and topped with pepper sauce for the extra sizzle to the season. The beef is served slightly pink in the centre.

Christmas can’t do without a log cake, Delifrance got it cover with a variety of 3 log cakes to choose from and all weights at 1kg. Indulge in Delifrance signature, Joy of Delifrance | $60 - this log cake is made with pillowy chocolate sponge layered with 100% Valrohna Fine French Chocolate. It is known for its velvety texture and the smiley log face that the children fancy. As it is 100% Valrohna I expected it to be slightly bitter, but it isn’t.

Never judge a book by its cover with White Chocolate and Raspberry | $48 - sweet white chocolate sponge combined with the thick tangy raspberry coulis. It may look simple but it's pleasing on the palette, no wonder it’s the crowd pleaser during the tasting session. Matcha Azuki | $48 - as the name define it, this is a Japanese inspired matcha-enriched sponge roll with sweet Azuki beans. Sadly, the Azuki beans weren’t distinctive enough.

Other sweet treats like Festive Eclairs | $8 (4 pieces in a box) - made from choux dough and is available in Chocolate, Coffee, Vanilla and Rose flavours. Also, Season’s Macarons | $20 (8 pieces in a box) - comes in colours of the merry seasons, Peppermint and Raspberry flavours. They could go light with the colouring though. 

All the above are available for ordering at www.delifrance.com.sg. Self collection will be made available till 3 January 2016, 11am or 5pm. The last day for Christmas Day collection is on 21 December 2015, 3pm.

Not having a party at home? No worries, you can celebrate Christmas at their outlets with Santa Roasted Half Spring Chicken | $14.90 - tender chicken marinated with Chef’s secret recipe and topped it off with a moreish rosemary sauce. Alternatively, Santa Baked Chicken Roulade | $13.90 - baked chicken tight rolled with spinach chicken moose.

Do visit www.delifrance.com.sg/outlets for the list of outlets.

Masizzim (ma-see-sim) is yet another Korean food concept brought to you by K Food Holdings, also the folks behind Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory in Singapore. Masizzim can be translated to delicious stew in Korean and they serve a variety of traditional and modern Korean dishes in hearty portions. What distinguish them from other Korean restaurants would be their signature stews, Beef Rib Stew, Pork Rib Stew and Spicy Chicken Stew.

Jiu Mao Jiu is situated at the corner near PoMo Shopping Mall (Kaplan) lift lobby. I've always walked pass this spot when I head for class but I have no idea they serve the unique Pagoda Steamboat that comes in 4-tier buffet consisting of (from top) steamer, warmer, BBQ hotplate and two soup base. Buffet is available at $25/person (minimum 2 to dine), exclusive of soup base. Besides the ingredients from the shelves, the Buffet includes 2 live flower crabs, 2 big prawns per person, a choice of yang zhou or egg fried rice, and one can drink.

Right now, you can enjoy 20% off when you dine with 3 other friends! Do call and make a reservation at 63380463 as the seating capacity isn't huge. 

As a Sze Chuan restaurant, you can’t miss the Sze Chuan dishes such as Spicy Diced Chicken (辣子鸡), Chicken Hotpot (鸡公煲) and Ma La Xiang Guo (麻辣香锅).

Here’s how you can create your own Ma La Xiang Guo (麻辣香锅):

1. Pick your ingredients (from the same shelves for the steamboat)

2. Choose your method of Stir Fry

            - Spicy (dry)

            - Steamboat

            - Stir-fry with Garlic

3. Choose your spiciness level from standard, medium, spicy and extra spicy.

4. Proceed to the cashier to weight your ingredients

5. Choose your carbohydrates of either rice or noodles.

6. Choose your drinks

            - Herbal tea

            - Flower tea

            - Chinese tea

            - Soft drinks

7. Payment to be done at the cashier and retain the receipt for queue number

8. Wait for your queue number to be called and collect your food at the counter

PoMo Shopping Mall, 1 Selegie Road, #01-16, Singapore 188306

Opening Hours:

Daily 10am - 10pm

www.facebook.com/jmjhotpot

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Singapore has recently became the bustling pot for Korean frenzy, and I’m referring to the endless franchise stores. One of the newer hypes located at the basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre, Andong Zzimdak (安东찜닭). They have more than 65 stores in Korea and you might have actually seen this in the heart of Seoul, Myeongdong.

Brought to you by the same folks that brought in Yoogane in Singapore. Andong Zzimdak specialises in Andong jjimdak, a dish that originated in Gyeongsangbukdo, Andong, and jjim means a Korean steamed or boiled dish + dak means chicken. There you have it, a dish made with chicken, various vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, marinated in ganjang (Korean soy sauce) based sauce and simmered to perfection. Andong jjimdak is often enjoyed by many and is served in big portion that are meant for sharing.

There are four types of jjimdaks and we choose the Boneless Jjimdak | $49.90 for Medium (shares 2-3pax) | $59.90 for Large (shares 3-4pax) - this is an alternative to their signature, the original ones with bones. This plate of goodness is filled with tender and boneless chicken thigh meat, carrot, potatoes and thick chewy sweet potato noodles, and marinated in spicy ganjang (Korean soy sauce) based sauce. Dokboki (rice cake) was an additional toppings at $3.90. You could also order additional noodles or steamed rice. It would really taste so much yummier if it was in hot pot style keeping it hot, especially it'll take time to finish savouring this big plate and the food turns cold after a while.

Although jjimdak are generally spicy, we don’t think it’s spicy at all, spicy lovers should probably go for Maya Jjimdak (spiciest with three chilli symbols whereas the rest are just with one chilli symbol).

We had Mini Seafood Pancake | $9.90 for the side dish. This is unlike the usual Korean pancake I was expecting as this was made locally in-house, and due to space constraint mini ones would be more ideal. It tasted more like Thai fishcake to me, not complaining as I like them and it goes with the dip too. 

Raffles City Shopping Centre, 252 North Bridge Road, #B1-44F, Singapore 179103

Opening Hours:

Daily: 11:30am - 10pm (L.O. 9.15pm)

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Hatter’s Street is derived from an inspired vision of the Mad Hatter, norms are not what you will see within the culinary journey itself. The gastronomic drive is characterised by comfort food revolving around Asia culinary traditions versus the implementation of avant-garde techniques.

Credits to TheShiokBook dining guide which allows me to save while dining at my favourite places. The voucher of 25% off total bill was utilised and I saved $6.80! For more info, read here or visit their website!

Hatter Street

Block 212, Hougang Street 21, #01-333, Singapore 530212

Opening Hours:

Daily: 1pm - 10pm

www.facebook.com/HatterStreet/

District 10 is proudly owned by a local F&B brand, Bonta Group. Landed on the grounds of the newly revamped Suntec City Tower Two, house the latest outlet of District 10 - highlighting on dry-aging food concept. Bringing you a 1,800 square-foot restaurant, completes with a European meat showcase and chiller for its dry-aged meat, a bespoke butcher’s block for its cleaver-ready cuts and a fully functional show kitchen for its charcoal-grill cooking.

Indoor where all the actions are carried out with a cozy 30-seater dining space for its gourmet loyalists or choose the spacious 60-seater alfresco bar with synchronized tole featuring logs in Suntec City and a series of movable and scalable cabana-like broad-seat open houses – definitely a first in Suntec City.

An example of such meat meant for charcoal-grill would be the 45 Days Dry Aged Corn Fed US Prime Traditional Fiorentina Steak | S$22 per 100g (minimum order of 800g). It looks raw but it doesn't taste anything raw, it brings out the soft and tender texture with so much flavour packed within the meat. Unquestionably my favourite as compared to 45 Days Home Dry Aged Corn Fed US Prime OP Rib | $20 per 100g (minimum order of 500g), where the meat is slightly tougher. Both are grilled to perfection with salt, pepper, herbs and extra virgin olive oil. The crispy skin-crust is crackling to a savory superiority. 

Last but not least, the mouth-watering desserts awaits! Bitter Chocolate and Marshmallow Fluff with Caramelized Banana | $14, Double Espresso Panna Cotta with Vanilla Sauce | $12 - this is one coffee dessert on point. The espresso aroma fills the panna cotta, can be a little overwhelming for non-coffee drinkers. Leaving the best for the last, Profiterole Filled with Chestnut and Served with Warm Chocolate Sauce | $12 - I just love the way how the French calls it, Chou à la Crème. It tasted as pretty as it looked, but thought the chestnut filling could be a tad more distinctive.

..Hosted Meal..