Shahi Maharani

Hi!!!

Here you have three absolutely vain & unrelated pictures of myself to start my post with, just because I especially liked how my hair looked yesterday. Yay for good hair days.

So, on to real business. If you've been following my blog for as long as I'm hoping you have (lol), you'll know I have a passion for indian food.

I absolutely LOVE indian food.... I've blogged about it so many times! But I won't settle for just roti prata and any curry, I'm always on a mission to find quality indian cuisine offered in Singapore. It's sad how misunderstood indian food is in Singapore, many people I know don't like it because they think it's "dirty / smelly"... they say they don't think the food has been cooked cleanly in their kitchens. I think that's a silly, silly stigma, because most of the hawker centres selling Chinese food in Singapore have appalling standards of food preparation hygiene, and yet we eat it everyday without complaints... Well the only complain I have is that my farts are especially deadly whenever I have indian food. LOL. But hey, eating gorgonzola cheese (italian) and caesar salad (general western) makes me gas a lot too so it's not just limited to indian food, it really depends.

The point of my post today is to share with you guys my current FAVORITE indian restaurant in Singapore!!! I've gotten a lot of questions before asking about my old favorite indian place but it closed down in recent months to poor business :( It was called Mumtaz Mahal, located at Far East Plaza, and I was so gutted when they shut down. It's now replaced by some nasi lemak or indonesian food place.I thought my butter chicken days were officially over.... every other place I've tried just isn't quite the same. Like I said before, good indian restaurants in Singapore are DAMN difficult to find and I'm so glad to have chanced upon this one accidentally one fine evening, it's our go-to for our indian fix these days, and is a lovely venue to have dinner for any occasion (if you can find indian food kakis that is, for me when I find a buddy who likes indian food I CLING ONTO THEM FOR DEAR LIFE I'm never letting you out of my sight dear friend). This place is new to Sam & I, but I'm sure it's been around for actually quite some time, it gets very popular during dinner time we have noticed :)


So.. here are some pictures from the amazing dinner we had a few days ago!! My weight-management physician (you'll find out more about her soon) will not be pleased, omg. Don't tell her about this.





Bottom right, the star dish: Butter Chicken (not sure what they call it in their menu, they always have different varying names for it depending on the restaurant but just ask for butter chicken)

This is sooooooooooo ridiculously gooodddd wtf. It's the best butter chicken I have EVER had and I've had many, trust me!!! Even the super pricey, famed & popular indian restaurant in Perth called 9 Mary's that I went to didn't match up to this (and that place was quite fabulous indeed)

The sauce is relatively sweet, not too spicy or salty to be considered "curry", it's very creamy and quite mild in terms of spiciness. The chicken was well marinated and tender through. Most butter chicken dishes have a decent-enough sauce, but the chicken itself is blah - too dry and plain on the inside. But this one had such an authentic taste!!! It's an explosion of flavors in your mouth. It goes so well with...







Naan bread!

My favorite here is the garlic naan. Now, I normally prefer butter naan, but this place does the garlic naan better and has won me over :) Garlicky while not being too overpowering or "spicy". It's definitely not the best I've tired, but it is nice enough. Fluffy centers and crispy exteriors make it the perfect sponge for soaking up all that much sauce that comes with most indian main dishes.







This.... this. This is Sam's favorite, and he says he will come back to Shahi Maharani (wow what a mouthful) again and again, JUST for this.

It's a sizzling hot plate (hence the blur foggy picture, it was still sizzling and smoking away) with a ton of different ingredients. You probably can't tell properly, but from my memory, the platter comes with 2 largeeee succulent tandoori prawns (TO DIE FOR), fish tikka pieces, tandoori chickens and 2 kebabs. On a bed of onions / shallots that had the time to get all caramelized, browned and lovely. I love.

If you're not too big on indian food and don't know where to start, get this platter & share. Their portions are actually relatively large, Sam and I more than over-ordered, but we rarely give ourselves an indian meal treat these days, so we jump at every opportunity. It makes us really happy. I adore how it arrives at our table still sizzling and smoking..... anything on a hot plate instantly makes it yummier, like drinking soup from a stone bowl, or noodles in a claypot!!!







This last dish we ordered that night is the lamb korma. It's tender mutton pieces drenched in a rich curry, medium spiced. Sorry you can't see much from the picture, lol, it's all drenched in sauce. (which is why it's sooo good!) Someone I used to know commented that she doesn't like indian food because there's too many spices & flavors going on, she doesn't know what she's putting into her mouth at the end of the day and whether they use ingredients (such as meats) that aren't as fresh and mask it up with a thick curry flavor. You'll have no problem with the "smelly mutton smell" (as chinese people in Singapore call it) here.







We've tried more dishes on other dates that aren't listed here because I didn't manage to take a picture of those, but literally everything we tried on the menu ranged from good to very good. Otherwise I wouldn't bother to make a blog post out of this, I'm generally a very lazy blogger, LOL. Note that this is, in no way, a sponsored post. I wish it was though... my life would be complete. I love my own cooking, but I can't cook indian food. The recipes are too traditional & complicated and how large a spice rack would I have to own?!








Food quality aside, this place is fast turning into one of our top restaurants in Singapore because of it's wonderful service and ambience. Restaurant set up is very cozy, nicely decorated and is posh enough to be considered a "nice dinner" but not too posh that it's pretentious or that you'd feel uncomfortable if you wore casual clothing. The waiters are friendly & all speak decent english, quick to fill up your water glass when it's emptying, they're happy to give you suggestions based on your own preferences and most of all, they want to make sure you have a good time. We are always checked up upon and asked, "how is the food?" with a smile. In Singapore, it is SO SO SO SO rare to find GOOD QUALITY SERVICE in our restaurants. Professional and friendly waiters are honestly a near-extinct species here. Why the hell am I paying 10% of my total bill for service tax when I haven't received good service at all? So when I find a restaurant with good service, such as the Fish & Co at Changi Airport and this one, it's like a dream come true. 

Oh, I must also mention that they have a live band - indian singers singing indian songs!! (well duh I sound stupid - if not indian singers singing chinese songs meh) Very cool experience, and the vibe we get from this place is great, we never fail to leave smiling and patting our tummies (and rolling out the front door)






See: me entering, before food is served..... see again: me exiting, food in ma belly.


Pricing wise, it's towards the high side, but totally worth the money. If you're on a budget, mentally prepare yourself before entering. Our dinner above costed us about $100 SGD - for 2 naan breads, 1 lamb korma, 1 butter chicken, and 1 platter to share. That's a lot of food we had to ourselves though.. probably about 3-4 person's worth, so technically you could almost halve that amount for a meal for 2, if you wanted to. But since I've started cooking regularly, I really haven't been dining out that much, and I'm happy to indulge in quality food & service once in awhile. If the price totally puts you off, they also have a lunch buffet, it's more affordable and it's all-you-can-eat so knock yourself out. I haven't tried it personally but reviews online say it's pretty good. Thing about buffet food is.... the quality is almost always never as good as ala carte items. Well it's your choice to make!

Shahi Maharani North Indian Restaurant
252 North Bridge Road, #03-21B Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: 6235 8840
Food quality: 4/5
Service / Ambience: 4/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Most suitable for: Families, lovers of Indian cuisine, adventurous foodies who want to try something different!

Sam & Jess, signing off! (it was actually his idea to blog about this place since I gushed about it so much)

We're going on a sponsored trip for the next 3 days - woopie!!! Will be back with a blog post about it afterwards. I can't wait for this well-deserved break, even if it's going to be a short getaway nearby.


xoxo,
Jess

Ombre hair - brown, pink, red, purple!!!

Today's picture spam is going to be of my new (well not so new now but new enough for people who haven't seen it yet!) hairstyle - ombre dyed hair!!!! Ombre hair is sort of like a gradient effect where the hair color changes as you get further down to the ends. :)

It's not quite the same as "dip dye" hair, which normally implies only one solid color at the ends of your hair, or "balayage" which is more like highlights. Ombre is a whole new type of awesome, with differing layers of color shades on your hair. I spontaneously decided to color my hair ombre one night, because, well.. I couldn't decide if I wanted to stay with Safe But Classy Brown, go with Crazy Ass Purple Hair or attempt a Fiery Red. So.... what the heck. I thought I'd get all of that and more, for the fickle minded narcissist in me.

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Here's what it looks like!!!



...Pretty awesome ayyy?

I used my iPhone camera so it didn't capture the colors quite so accurately, especially the top part where it appears black, it's more like an auburn brown sort of color actually. So it's not as harsh looking as it appears to be. The pink / red / purple is THAT intense, though!! At least, it was when I first dyed it, right now the purple is less obvious and the reddish tones are more dominant.







Somethin' like this (ignore my teddy jammies!), but it all depends on what sort of lighting you're looking at me in, and which part of my hair you're staring at.








Other times, it's just full on bright, neon pink.... I LOVE IT!!!!

I never thought I'd be mad enough to dye my hair these sort of colors, especially not all at once, but I don't regret it. My mother thinks I'm nuts, but I think it's fabulous, and so does everyone else, because the first thing people say when they see me nowadays is "Wa. Your hair!!!" or "I LOVE your hair!"

Thank you, thank you! ^.^









This is after a few showers. I try not to wash my hair often these days... it makes me sad every time I see purple and red dye on my towels. :( It's like washing my money away, lol. I used to need daily shampooing (I get itchy scalp!) but now I limit myself to 3 washes per week. Was so worried about the colors bleeding out too fast, but it's been a coupla weeks now and it's still looking quite good except less purply (I'll go for more purple next time I think)










The only real problem I have with my hair is that it's so much harder to match outfits now! This is me in black, feeling strangely gothic. I don't like the vibe it gives off.

I tend to like really bright colored stuff. Bright handbags, bright clothes... and having bright hair to go along with it all just looks plain stupid, to be honest. If I pile on too much color, it screams "trying too hard"... but if I wear something plain-ish like solid colored lace dresses, which I have a lot of, I look like a misfit out of place. So I've had to readjust my wardrobe style a little bit. Black just doesn't look quite right, I come across as a rebellious 14 year old of sorts. It makes me look younger.. sort of?! Nobody past 25 years old would do this sort of coloring to their hair, right?











Proof: Goth #1






And Goth #2!

Yikes.... so not me!!!! 










Slowly, I discovered that bright-ish tones like peach, coral, and oranges look the best with my hair.... and preferably with minimalistic accessories, because my hair is statement enough already. (or maybe I'm just not bold enough) Wearing neon yellow, bright red, solid white or black? Ugh. Just no. Pity, I have a lot of those in my closet.











I also found out that light make up seems to go well with this look. (sorry if this post is incredibly self-absorbed and shallow LOL and forget what I said about minimalistic accessories)









With no make up (except eyebrows drawn) and out of bed hair. If I don't comb my hair almost everyday I'd look positively crazy and lion-like (like Bellatrix Lestrange)












Something like this. LOL. Yes, I actually went out with hair like that... I'm not sure what I was thinking, and why my tresses just couldn't be tamed. I'm amazed that despite bleaching my hair twice (to get the "base" for the bright colors - my dark colored hair is so stubborn) and having to dye the red-purple part ALSO twice, it's really not very damaged. It's still smooth to the touch, not as much as before, but it could have been a lot worse. I've seen people with natural hair without any coloring in worse conditions, so I'm happy with the outcome. It might have to do with the $100 treatment I spent on it directly after coloring, though. Felt pretty much like grass before that.











Coupled with my soblingit'llblindyoureyes hello kitty phone cover, I don't know who can take me seriously any more. B i m b o and bimbo was her name o! (this song just popped into my head)























Now that my ombre hair's gradually fading away.. I'm considering which color to risk next! The usual brown, jet black, that fiery red I wanted to try or just stick with my ombreness for another "season"?

















Dunno about you but I think my vote is most likely going for this one!!!!!!!!! :D ♥ ♥ ♥




Hair can make such a positive influence on your life. (this is real talk don't laugh at me for sounding like a bimbo!) 






If you have boring hair that's always limp, discolored at the roots or boring looking, you'll FEEL boring. Just looking at yourself is boring. But because hair can totally change the way you look, putting in effort into styling your hair will eventually change your mind set into wanting to dress in nicer clothes and to present yourself in a nicer image as well. Change of hairstyle, change of person. Personally I've noticed that people are a lot more animated when they talk to me these days. Perhaps it's just my imagination but more people (and strangers!) have been chatting me up (not necessarily guys, it's girls in fact, first they ask me about my hair then they ask me about other random stuff). Maybe bright hair gives them the impression that I'm 1) fun / interesting / outgoing so that prompts them to do so.


Any how, I like it. I like how I can have all my favorite colors for hair on my one head. 






I'm glad I dyed my hair ombre ;)




xoxo,
Jess

Seventeen Magazine

Lookie! I'm on July's issue of Seventeen Magazine!!! You'll find me in their "Beauty" section, sharing some make up tips.



How??? Do I look funny? I think I look a mixture of both old and youthful. (?!?) I think red lips add an instant 6 years of age on me, but I still have young-ish features at the end of the day.... so in other words, I'm confusing to look at. I think I'm one of those people you could never accurately guess their age. I look much older with make up but when you take it all off I actually look like 17, hah. Not that much older than the 20 years old that I am currently, but still. I know this because when I go out without make up, the taxi uncles ask me which secondary school I'm in (-_-) and when I'm all dressed up, they ask me which company I work for.

Seventeen Magazine did a feature on bloggers showing how to do certain make up looks for under $30, and I actually went out and bought Daiso cosmetics solely for this shoot... At first, I was totally apprehensive of applying something so cheap on my face. After, I was shocked / impressed to discover Daiso's $2 eyeshadow is actually really pigmented, wtf?!?! It comes in like 3 or 4 different colors too! Highlighter, neutral shades, etc. How do they create such awesome products at such a low price seriously? If you've been skeptical of their products, don't be. I used their facial mask & facial cleanser before and totally loved the results for the price I paid.



Thanks Melody for roping me in on this photo shoot, and of course Seventeen Mag for the pics. Even for the rather ghastly completely-barefaced photo of me that I didn't showcase here. They directed my make up style (I did it all by myself - no make up artist on set as this is meant to be a DIY thing) so it's not what I'm normally used to, but I still like it. I prefer to use a softer pink on my lips and draw thicker eyebrows, but I guess this will do. My nose looks so big though! Why photog you never liquify for me??? T_T

If you'd like to look at what (affordable!) products I used to achieve that "look", or the ones Valerie of dweam.com used (we were featured together), pick up a copy of July's Seventeen Magazine. It's only $3. So affordable, no wonder it was my favorite magazine to buy when I was still in high school and looking at magazines. You can own a hard copy of my face for only $3... Not bad what. LOL

xoxo,
Jess

Harry Potter Exhibition

When someone first asked me on Formspring whether I was going for the Harry Potter Exhibition (a few months ago?) I had no idea what they were talking about.

I didn't even know they had an exhibition, and that it was coming to Singapore! I'm kind of (very) slow when it comes to these sort of things. Last year I even had no idea that Taylor Swift was coming to Singapore till about 3 days beforehand? *facepalm*

I made a mental note to check the exhibition out when it's opened. Then, a week ago, my mother rang me up and told me she had Harry Potter tickets for me & Samto see the exhibition before it was open to the public. WOOPIE-DOO!!!!!!!! I srsly love you Marina Bay Sands. You are the best hotel in Singapore :D And I love you too mummy!






Outfit of the day - mum was back from her USA trip and brought home lots of gifts, as usual. This floral A&F dress and magenta-ish pink Kate Spade bag was some of them! ♥ ♥






Sam and I literally bouncing up & down with excitement before the exhibition preview. I'm so glad I got him to love Harry Potter as well!







Make up of the day~







Had dinner with the fam at Mozza Pizzeria. I actually like their appetizers & desserts there way more than their pizzas.





Dessert!! Anything salted caramel (on the left) is yummo.




Gobbled everything up hastily, before running (yes running, the only time I ever run is for Harry Potter, Taylor Swift or when a butterfly is behind me) to the exhibition area, at the Art Science Museum.







The Art Science Museum was situated in a very nice place where you got a fantastic view of the city skyline.







Thanks for the directions.











My face, the whole night. Alternating between :D and :'DDDDDDD








Getting in line.. there were HORDES and hordes of people! Even on the preview night when it's meant to be a private event. I can't imagine on the first day of public opening - must have been swarming with eager fans!!!

As I looked around I saw a lot of elderly people, most yabbering away in mandarin or various dialects. I thought to myself, "What are all these old people doing here?!?"... Then I realized they were only here because it was a free invitation for all paiza members of MBS.. @___@

Imagine the die hard fans that could be in their place!! It's so typical Singaporean style to go for anything free, even when they don't necessarily want or need it. A good number of them looked bored out of their brains. If you think HP is boring, go home!! Boo!!!!







Only a few steps away from the exhibition weeeeeeee






I zoomed off before Sam could take another proper picture. LOL













The first artefact I saw - the Flying Ford Anglia!!!!!! It was SO COOL seeing all the movie props that the stars used right in front of you. It's like they brought movie magic to Singapore! It hits home that the movies are in actual fact... just editing and acting on film. With specially designed fake props. They're not real. :( But I know I'm not the only one who wished magic was real.










I loved replaying the scenes inside my head as I examined the various items!









Why thank you for standing outside the exhibit to greet us, you three. *giggles* You shouldn't have.... 












Cool water vapour misty projection effect thingy.









....And here we begin a journey of discovery.








At the start of the exhibit, you're given a brief introduction of the Harry Potter movies, then a kid gets randomly picked out from the crowd to get sorted by the sorting hat!!! When they were asking for volunteers to get sorted, my hand shot straight up, along with the rest of the kids.

HAHAH no shame. Of course, they picked the kid in the end. I wish they woulda picked me though, coz the kid actually said he *doesn't* like Harry Potter movies, and has no clue what he was doing there. GASPPP THE BLASPHEMY. I shall try my best not to Crucio you, off to the dungeons you go, the troll can have you!









Harry's clothes. I "jokingly" asked Sam if I could lean over and sniff it. You know, Daniel Radcliffe has worn it before and stuff. He laughed. I wasn't joking... I think.


The exhibition had LOADS of stuff. The actual wands used be the actors, clothes that they wore in famous scenes, even Mandrakes that you could pull out of their pots and when you did, they'd wail & cry!!! They even had quidditch - human style. Quaffles that you can throw with your hand through the hoops! The whole exhibit was extremely engaging and interactive. LOVED it - certainly did not disappoint! I highly recommend everyone who is a fan to go... How can you NOT? Even if you're not a big fan of HP, you should. It's tons of fun. The movie magic reminded me a lot of Universal Studios in Florida - I still haven't been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter yet... :(

Some day.








Gilderoy Lockhart always makes me laugh. He's so silly & fabulous! I didn't manage to snap a lot of pics because there was just too many people crowding around stuff and it was dimly lit. iPhone cameras don't do well in such situations.







Ah, I always had a soft spot for Lupin. I have no care for werewolves, but I did think the way he died was sudden (they all are) and sad :( He was so nice to Harry!









Quidditch robes are sexy. Was really disappointed when I found out the gift shop does not sell robes of any sort, or life-sized adult broomsticks. WHAT?!?!
















Famous Prisoner of Azkaban set.... I HATED that rainbow belt that Hermione wore. So out of character :/

And man, that Hippogriff was huge. I know they're meant to be big, but when I saw it IRL.... I'd bow down to that shit, lol. Intimidating. Malfoy had some balls. (until he goes IT'S KILLED MEH)




...K, I don't wanna spoil too much for people who haven't seen the exhibit yet - so this is all the pictures I'll be posting of the exhibition itself! So what can you expect at the gift shop? Lots of amazing but EXPENSIVE stuff.






Probably the cheapest thing in the souvenir store - chocolate frogs with collectible cards. Ate one, it didn't jump away from me and out the window. Gutted.










BERTIE BOTT'S JELLYBEANS!!! These are wayyy, way awesome. I fed Sam the booger, which he thought tasted like nothing. Then I gave him the rotten egg and he just about barfed in his own mouth. He got pissed off and went to wash out his mouth after that. Hilarious. Great to prank your friends with :D Or to just goof around and make stupid expressions as you chow down on a gross flavor.










I wish they sold love potions but they didn't. They did have a lot of other random stuff though - Hedwig the owl, behind-the-scenes books of the movies, gryffindor scarves, wands of various characters (they say it's an exact replica of what they used in the movies - right down to the same wood!), jewelry that Hermione wore during the Yule Ball (pretty!), etc.


Even the time turner Hermione used, which I thought was awesome. I really liked the Marauder's map as well - super detailed and I admire how it was used in the movies.... but it was $60. For a piece of paper. No doubt it was a map of Hogwarts T___T But there wasn't any moving footprints on it, how to justify the price?









Dunno why everyone thinks that plush toy Hedwig is so cute... I think it's kind of ugly.











We ended up buying a Gryffindor scarf, Harry Potter Wand (FOR ME!), a Slytherin shirt and Snape wand (For Sam. After all this time?.... Always.) and also chocolate frogs + jellybeans. I chose Harry's wand because... (I mean Harry's wand chose me because :P) I don't have a favorite character. I'm not biased towards a certain character.  I figured it'd be best for me to get Harry's wand because he's the main character, what the story revolves around and also Harry's wand looked the most normal to me. The female characters (Luna and Hermione) had wands for sale too, but they looked too girly and boring. I wish they sold Bellatrix's wand - it was spikey and uber cool & evil looking - the best IMO! Voldemort also had an awesome wand but how could I support Voldy?




The wands were $75 each. Gryffindor scarf was $35, Slytherin shirt $40, and jellybeans / chocolate frogs $6 each.

Total damage = $249.









Having a Gryffindor VS Slytherin showdown in the hotel room with your boyfriend feeling TOTALLY like wizards and witches  = Priceless.




If you'd like to immerse yourself into the magical world of Harry Potter: The Exhibition as well, it's going on from

2 June 2012 - 30 September 2012

Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum

By the way, Hogwarts.... I'm still waiting for that acceptance letter.


xoxo,
Jess