Phuket Sep 2013 - Part I, Pullman Phuket Arcadia

Last weekend (Fri to Sun), hubby and I sneaked off to Phuket (without the little rascal) for a private getaway! We needed a restful and quiet weekend to ourselves doing nothing. The decision was rather last minute, we booked our air tickets only on Wednesday night, and confirmed the property we wanted to stay on Thursday night.

Initially we wanted to go Koh Samui (one of our favourite islands in Thailand) but the airfare is simply crazy $1400 for 2 to go! We could fly to Japan with for the same price! Ticket to Phuket is much reasonable $500 for 2 to go.

Now, the crucial part is the property. Both of us are very picky when it comes to selecting THE property to stay for any holidays, it is so important it could make or break our entire holiday. Woah, so serious huh? Ok, it depends on the objectives too but we are the sort who do a lot of research and read reviews first before making decisions.

The very first time we went Phuket was 10 years ago, where we stayed at a family resort in Patong Beach, and second time just last year to Club Med Phuket. Well, let's just say we did not like staying in big size family resorts; would prefer small-mid size or boutique hotels/resorts, unless the little rascal comes along and we needed more family-friendly facilities to cater to his needs.

For this getaway, we wanted a newer property with contemporary/elegant/chic architecture and furnishings, serene and quiet surroundings, ocean view, not too far from the airport and naturally a reasonable budget is important as well.

There must be hundreds of properties on Phuket! We narrowed down to those nearer to the airport, Mai Khao, Naiyang, Naithon and the furthest we want to go is Bang Tao. Hubby found the property that we thought fit our criteria - Pullman Phuket Arcadia located at Naithon Beach. It's a new property which just opened in Feb this year and the price listed on hotels.com is irresistible, about $500 nett for 2 nights, inclusive of breakfast and free wifi! Hey, I think we are good to go!

And I must say this is the one of the few properties where I fell in love with at first sight and already thinking of going back! The photos taken are mostly during day time as my camera couldn't present night photos very well. The property looks really charming at night with warm glow of orange lights dotting the hill and illuminating the dark surroundings.

We touched down in Phuket at about 7pm, and took a cab which took about only 10 mins to reach Pullman. The property is built next to the beach and perched on a cliff overlooking the Andaman Sea.

Entrance to the property. Security is tight giving guests the assurance.

Road leading to the lobby.

Bridge and stairways leading to the lobby/reception.

View from the bridge.

This area is not opened to guests yet.

Reception area. Check-in was swift and the staff were very hospitable and friendly. One of the front office staff showed us around the lobby area and even ushered us to our rooms after the check-in.

Plenty of cushy sofas and armchairs for guests to lounge around at the lobby area.

Check out the rocking chairs, very comfortable. I could fall asleep in one of those.

Love the colour combination of the furnishings, light-coloured wood with pastel shades of purple, brown, green. Soothing and relaxing tones.

A bar area at the lobby, not sure if it's opened yet.

Oh, and these enclave lofts overlooking the ocean!

Perfect for a few friends to hang around the night.

So beautiful I couldn't resist taking photo after photo.

The pool area is lovely too!

Check out the partially sunken deck chairs. Perfect way to cool down in this hot tropical weather.

Infinity pool overlooking the Andaman sea.

View from edge of the infinity pool.

Another area for guests to hang out.

More deck chairs

 

Poolside bar for guests to order light snacks and drinks.

Poolside bar for guests to order light snacks and drinks.

One of the restaurants, Vero Italian Restaurant. Pity we didn't dine here for this trip.

Vero Italian Restaurant.

Alfresco dining.

Lovely view for alfresco dining.

There's also a kid's club with some video games, toys and activities, drop-off service available for kids aged 4 and up.

Library area for guests.

 

Mini gym.

 

Apparently some parts of the property is not ready yet, like another 2 swimming pools, one specially for children. Hmmm, when that's ready, maybe bring along the little rascal? Well, holding on to that thought for now.

 

 

Are you in love with the property yet?

 

Next up, our room! Stay tuned!

Hokkaido Desserts Workshop by Chef Aki Watanabe

HELLO I'M BACK!

Woah, it's good to be back blogging again. Penning my thoughts in cyberspace and wondering who are the people who read my blog? LOL. I have so many backlogs that I don't know where to start. I think I'll just do it randomly whichever way I fancy :p

Ok first up, the Hokkaido Desserts Workshop by Chef Aki Watanabe at Shermay's Cooking School a week ago. I've never been to Hokkaido YET (will be going in November, yippeeee!) but I've heard so much about the abundant produce in Hokkaido, how sweet and fresh everything is. So I signed up for the class immediately when it was published in the school's website.

4 recipes were demo-ed during class:

• Lavender Shio Milk Gelato
• Hokkaido Pumpkin Custard Pudding with Candied Pumpkin Seeds
• Rum Raisin White Chocolate Butter Cream Cookie
• Camembert and Cream Cheese Tart

 

2 bonus recipes, no demo-ed during class:

• Milk and Honey Jam
• Camembert and Cream Cheese Chiffon Cake

Chef Aki demo-ed on how to make a crispy tart case first, followed by the camembert cheese and cream cheese filling. Some prunes were also added into the filling for a tinge of fruity sweetness. And finally topped with sliced camembert cheese.

This Rum Raisin White Chocolate Butter Cookie is a replica of the famous Hokkaido cookie, Shiroi Koibito 白い恋人, except for the addition of rum and raisin.

Everyone was given a generous portion of the cheese tart and butter cookie. Oooh I love the both of them and I'm so going to bake them when I have the time.

The tart base was buttery, light and crispy unlike some tarts I've tried before which were heavy and doughy. The cheese filling was creamy and slightly saltish and well complemented by the sweetness of the prunes. Nice combination!

I love the butter cookies. It's actually a tad different from the original Shiroi Koibito, which was thinner and with more melt-in-the-mouth texture. The texture of this cookie was denser and more crunchy. And the rum raisin white chocolate filling, woah, it was so good!

The Hokkaido pumpkin custard pudding was very unique, made with Hokkaido pumpkin and milk. Very smooth and creamy texture. The candid pumpkin and sesame seeds topping could be eaten on its own, albeit a little too sweet.

But somehow, I'm not a very big fan of custard nor pumpkin, so this was ok only.

 

Oh I love the Lavender Shio Milk Gelato. Made with Hokkaido milk, lavender and sea salt. It's very fragrant (not the soapy kind!), milky with a tinge of saltiness. I love this kind of sweety, salty taste. Now I wish I could just fly to Hokkaido to have a cone of their lavender soft-serve!

 

 

Everyone also received a take-home box with the rum raisin white chocolate butter cookie, camembert and cream cheese chiffon cake and milk & honey jam.

 

The milk & honey jam tastes very similar to condensed milk, but a tad too sweet for me.

 

But I love the camembert and cream cheese chiffon cake, very fluffy and cottony soft with strong notes of cheese. I'm definitely going to try baking this chiffon cake coz I really like baked treats that are not too sweet and with a bit of saltiness.

 

Ok, more recipes to add on to my already very long to-bake list!

Sorry for the MIA... will be back soon!

I know, I've not been blogging for a lonnnnggggg time. It's not that I don't want to, but I simply didn't have the energy nor mood to blog. I have tonnes of stuff to blog about, I didn't even bother to download photos from my camera, not to mention sorting and editing. WTF.

Well, I seem to be suffering from some extreme fatigue or is it just the current routine that's wreaking me apart? Working (6hrs a day excluding travelling time, and someone whom I loathe), chores (no helper, just a part-time helper 3hrs a week), cooking (dinner during weekdays, packed lunch for work on some days), the kiddo (you know, 3.5 year old active BOY), and baking (couple of orders, testing recipes etc). Overall feeling quite frustrated, moody and at times depressed.

But hopefully things will get better in September! Can't wait for the next 2 weeks to fly by. Lots to update!

Stay tuned!

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

2 Saturdays ago, my son's childcare centre had a Futsal event to celebrate Father's Day. Breakfast was provided, but parents were welcomed to bring additional food items to share. So I volunteered to bake some cupcakes.

Thought hard about what flavour of cupcake to bake and decided on Strawberry Cupcakes. Well, I believe most kids like strawberries? Searched the internet for suitable recipes and zoomed down to 3 recipes.

One - Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting by Milk + Honey Café.
Two - Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting by Sprinkles Cupcakes, which is featured in Oprah Show and Martha Stewart
Three - Pink Strawberry Cupcakes with Wedding Cupcake Buttercream by Recipe Girl.

The recipes by Sprinkles and Recipe Girl seem very similar when I re-calculate the base amounts, and they use pureed strawberry; whereas Milk + Honey Café uses strawberry sauce. Although I was quite tempted to try the recipe by Sprinkles since it's supposedly very good (featured by Oprah and Martha Stewart!), I decided to try the one by Milk + Honey Café first. Don't ask me why, just a gut feeling lah, I think maybe due to the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting!

Anyways, I converted the measurements to grams, made some adjustments here and there such as reducing amount of sugar and viola! The lovely and sweet Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting.

Hmmm, my frosting turned out to be very pale pink, probably not enough strawberry sauce added. Overall, the cupcake tasted light, moist and fluffy but the strawberry taste was very subtle. It could be due to the strawberries (not enough sauce added and berries not sweet/flavourful enough). The strawberries I bought tasted quite flat and a little tart in fact. It's not really the strawberry season now, I couldn't get the Korean ones which are slightly sweeter (didn't have time to visit Isetan or Meidi-ya to get the Japanese ones - plus they are very expensive); so I settled for a punnet from either South Africa or US. Not sure why, but usually the ones from South Africa or US don't taste nice although they are big and red and look nice. Or maybe I'm just unlucky.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
(adapted from milk + honey café)

Makes 26 mini cupcakes

Part (1) - Strawberry Sauce

• 250g fresh strawberries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar

1. Remove stems from strawberries and cut the berries into half.
2. Wash and then soak the berries with 2 tbsp of sugar for about 15 minutes.
3. Put the strawberries in a small saucepan and cook under medium low fire with lid on.
4. Cook the berries for about 10 minutes or till they become soft and mushy (monitor closely as the berries might burnt easily due to sugar).
5. Let cool and blend into a puree. I get around 145g of puree. Set aside to cool down before use.

* recommend to increase amount of strawberry sauce to get more flavour. Also, try to get strawberries that are sweet and juicy.

Part (2) - Strawberry Cupcakes

• 165g plain flour (or cake flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 100g strawberry sauce
• 100g milk
• 115g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100g caster sugar
• 50g light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Line cupcake pans with cupcake cases. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Mix milk and strawberry sauce. Set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugars till light and fluffy, about 3-5 mins.
5. Add eggs, one at a time making sure each egg is well incorporated.
6. Add flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches, alternating with the milk/sauce mixture.
7. Mix until just combine, and end with last few folds using spatula.
8. Scoop the batter into the cupcake cases using ice-cream scoop (to get uniform size) about 1/2 full (to get flat cupcakes) or 2/3 to 3/4 full (to get domed cupcakes).
9. Bake for 18-20 mins. Let cool completely before piping the frosting.

 * recommend to increase amount of strawberry sauce to get more flavour.

Part (3) - Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• 195g cream cheese, slightly softened but still cold
• 50g unsalted butter, slightly softened but still cold
• 90g icing sugar, sifted
• 45g strawberry sauce

1. Cream butter and cream cheese till light.
2. Add icing sugar and beat till combined.
3. Gradually add strawberry sauce till combined.
4. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

* recommend to increase amount of strawberry sauce to get more flavour.

 

 

The cupcakes were a great hit nonetheless. And in fact dear son walloped 2 by himself. I'm gonna attempt the Sprinkle's recipe next, but first I have to find some nice and sweet tasting strawberries!

Spa Village, Malacca

Continued from Part I.

How could I not visit Spa Village, the signature of YTL Hotels? After I checked in on Saturday, the first thing I did was to check out the spa and to make reservations. Hubby chided me for not making reservations prior to the trip since the spa is very popular and if I were to miss the chance, I have only myself to blame :(((

Indeed Saturday's fully booked, luckily Sunday morning (before checkout) still available so I quickly made a reservation. Also requested to tour around the spa which the friendly receptionist gladly obliged :)

Spa Village, Malacca entrance and reception. Love the porcelain flooring!

The friendly spa receptionist in nonya sarong kebaya.

Some merchandise on sale.

The relaxation lounge area. All spa customers were invited to relax at the lounge before and after treatment. Love the comfy day bed. Unfortunately the lounge faces the pool and some kids were playing in the pool so not really peaceful and quiet unlike other Spa Village.

Spa treatment room.

This is the spa suite meant for couples.

I booked the signature Nutmeg-Rice Rolling Massage. Warm nutmeg and rice are massaged onto the body to reduce aches and rid wind from the muscles, just what I need to relieve my stiff shoulders and back.

My appointment was about 10am (after breakfast). Was led to the changing room to change into comfy bathrobe then proceeded to the relaxation lounge.

Was served a cold towel, water and an orange?! prior to the treatment. Didn't take the orange, a little weird I thought.

My therapist first started a pre-treatment experience of soothing hair care ritual which included washing, combing and scalp massage. Ahhh, blissful! There's a small TV screen fixed to the ceiling for guests to enjoy during the hair wash but they were showing a very old black and white Malay dance -_-"

 

The pair of wooden comb used by the therapist to comb my hair was gifted to me at the end of the treatment.

After the pre-treatment hair ritual, was led to the spa treatment room where the therapist worked her magic to sooth my stiff muscles. I must compliment the skills of the therapist, and the nutmeg-rice was indeed warming and soothing to the body. I totally love this signature massage!

 

After the treatment, was served a pot of hot Chinese tea and some achar (pickled vegetables).

 

Overall, was really pleased with the spa experience, Spa Village certainly lives up to its name! Not sure when I would visit again, probably some other YTL property for different Spa Village experience.