My Labor Day Special

It's been a splendid day! There's nothing better in spending a P.H than with your good buddy and having some girly fun. In my case, it was with Gigi (previously known as "CC"). Our program for the day? Checking out the newly opened jap concept mall, "Central" and a major pig-out session first at "Parsley & Cream" for tea and then over to Marutama Ramen (the Ramen place that seems to be on everyone's lips lately, go check out the review at Chubby Hubby's site: http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/yummy-ramen-in-singapore/) for dinner. So there you have it, 2 hot sexy mamas strutting their stuff downtown at Central.

Central the Mall: 2.5 tiaras out of 5
- Not fully operational, not all of the shop spaces have been taken up.
- Concept of the mall seems like to be a complete maze.
- Type of shops, i.e. clothes and shoes: Sorely disappointing. Not classy and upmarket as i hoped that it would. In anycase, Gigi and I bought ourselves each a nice chic and cheap pair of shoes from Charles & Keith. Rather surprising i thought, given the reviews about the "Jap type design and concept stores" that i read about, I thought we would be ploughing through the 'other' shops as opposed to a local outfit.. OH Well...
- The only plus point about the mall was cost of the parking. S$2.10 for approx 3 hrs...
My Last note: Give this mall a couple of months more to get fully operational. Things may just change for the better.

Marutama Ramen: 4 tiaras out of 5
Since both Gi and i couldn't make it to lunch at Marutama, we decided to have dinner there instead. Being the kiasu Singaporeans that we are, we both flew over to the restaurant approx 10 mins before they were open. Thinking we were going to be the first 2 dumbos to wait in line, we actually saw 4 others already in the queue. "Is this place really that fantastic", i thought to myself. Actually Gi and I were glad that we were there early, because in just a moment of minutes, there were at least about 10 others lined up behind us.

Service was prompt and food arrived fairly quickly. I had the spicy chicken broth soup with Char siew and seasoned egg, while Gi had the house special broth that was made with 7 different types of nuts with the seasoned pork belly. Both soups were very thick and tasty with the thinner than usual ramen, that sports a consistent texture throughout. Very jappo al-dante i thought... Both meats were cooked to perfection, nicely seasoned and the sort that melts in your mouth. With such quality of food and paying such close attention to every single condiment of food, it's a no wonder peeps keep coming back for more. There's not even a great variety on the menu! The only miss about the food to me was that i found it to be rather salty. That said, i really don't mind going back there again.

A recommended restaurant for a date?
- Most certainly. Good food and ambiance, what more can a girl/guy ask for? :)

~ Lara ~