Singapore: St. Regis

St. Regis conjures up images of grande old dames, the iconic Brooke Astor in particular. So their hotels have never been top of my list of places to stay, with the exception perhaps of St Regis in San Francisco. When EO suggested I check into the St Regis in Singapore, I protested, "but it's on the wrong end of Orchard Road!" By wrong end, I meant that it wasn't next to my usual stomping grounds -- Borders, Sky Pilates, Starbucks and a block away from Pure Yoga and Kinokuniya -- which Four Seasons happens to be. I was in for a pleasant surprise though.

St. Regis opened in Singapore at the end of December last year, so it is still in soft-opening phase. The entrance lobby is a bit sparse, even more so than Four Seasons in Hong Kong. The decor of the rooms, however, has the restrained plushness of an old world hotel given a 21st century face lift. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, but the best part is the bathroom. There's the stand-alone tub with a television built into the wall on one end (it wasn't working though) and the thoughtful detail of having anti-fog mirrors in the shower. I love anti-fog mirrors. That, along with Toto heated toilet seats and heated towel racks and floors should be mandatory features in all ski hotels. And there was plenty of counter space between the two vanities.

I didn't get a chance to check out any of the F&B outlets, but I did get to enjoy a morning poolside latté and orange juice with a copy of Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Haruki Murakami's short story collection. It was a good thing I had the book, because the pool was a disappointment. It is tiny and can barely accommodate two lap swimmers at a time. Murakami's stories, on the other hand, are very engaging. And I've always admired writers who could turn out a good short story; it takes ingenuity, skill and a discipline with words. While I never got beyond the first few pages of Kafka on the Shore, when I scanned the titles on the display table at the airport bookstore, I was the drawn to the book's cover (so it's not always bad to judge a book by its cover). I guess I was still in my Japanese mood.



St. Regis staff are competent and helpful, but they probably need a bit more time before they are at a level to deliver service that leaves an impression. I had left a scarf in the room after checking out. It is quite a regular occurrence that I leave things behind and to me it's a bit of a litmus test as to how good a hotel is. A bad hotel never finds what I left behind. A good hotel finds it when I call and can arrange to send it back to me. A superb hotel would be one that just sends it back to me before I even realize I've lost it. By that definition, I've yet to stay at a superb hotel. After a couple days of phone calls, my scarf has arrived.

Tokyo Update

Mount Fuji in the distance.

It took me days to finally get into the habit of standing on the left side of an escalator in Tokyo, must have been going up and down all 15 floors of Takashimaya that finally got it to stick. Back in Hong Kong, I found myself, once again, standing on the wrong side of the escalator, Tokyo left instead of Hong Kong right. Funny how the mind adapts.

The tastebuds too have adapted. Every once in a great while, I have a meal that just blows me away and reminds me what really good food is about. There was the tempura at Kyoto's Tenyu that made me realize Hong Kong tempura is like the chop suey version of Chinese food. So I've stopped eating tempura. But for me, the mark of a really good chef is one that gets me liking something that I had previously disliked. Alain Passard turned an ordinary quail's egg into a moment of ecstasy. Thomas Keller got me excited about pea soup. This trip, it was sushi chef Nakamura-san who took my bar for sushi and raised it the height of a Shinjuku skyscraper. Nakamura-san used to work at Kyubei in Ginza before opening up his own shop. Kanesada is a small, little sushi restaurant in an alley around the corner from Tokyo Midtown's orangé bar/restaurant. I knew I would be in for a treat when MH told me it was H-san's pick.

Nakamura-san with a huge scallop, which he served up in thin, Ruffle-like, slices.

I rarely like lean, red tuna, but the pieces of akami that Nakamura-san served up along side the chu-toro and o-toro blew me away. The flavourful meat just melted in my mouth. Normally, I'm not a fan of clam either, but the pieces that were served up were unbelievably sweet. The highlight, however, was the abalone. Nakamura only had one abalone left and he had saved it especially for H-san. Although he showed us the abalone early on in the evening, it was not served until H-san arrived. It was absolutely delicious, freshly sweet and crunchy in texture.

I followed up this wonderful sushi meal with a meal at Chiaki in Tsukiji fish market. Owner Ogawa Koichi actually has a popular manga loosely-based on his life as a fish wholesaler. This summer, there will also be a movie.

Ogawa-san checking out one of the Macbook Airs.

It reminded me a bit of the Pike Place Fish phenomenon. The dinner was organized by HH who happened to be in town from SF (it was another one of those facebook moments). For me, it was more memorable for the company (a lot of Sony, google, Apple-related people as well as the author of a popular self-help book on saying the right things to different people), because the special of the day happened to be oysters. And unfortunately, I am seriously allergic to oysters. What sashimi and cooked fish I did have was delicious though. Throughout dinner, I had been fairly quiet, struggling to decipher bits of Japanese conversations that were happening around me. The moment the gadgets came out, eye.fi and Sony Rolly, conversation became easier. But the real communication breakthrough moment came when "Chicken Little" (so named because he bears an uncanny resemblance to the animated movie character by the same name) pulled out a brown Inter-Office envelope from his bag. He didn't even have to open the envelope for me to let out a squeal of delight, "Air!" Mac-love, it seems, is a universal language.

Playing with food...and Air: it's as thin as one of my fave white chocolate cookie sandwiches from Hokkaido!

Speaking of love, I was a bit beffudled by the signs advertising "White Day" on 14 March. Was this the Japanese version of Valentine's Day, I asked MM. If Valentine's Day is a Hallmark conspiracy, explained MM, then White Day is the snack industry's conspiracy. In Japan, girls give guys snacks on Valentine's Day. A month later, on White Day, guys are supposed to return the favour in double. Imagine receiving two dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts!


It never ceases to amuse me to see the long line for Krispy Kreme doughnuts each morning.


Schultz should consider re-vamping Starbucks stores around the world along the lines of its Tokyo stores. The Japanese are so good at packaging, even the recycling bins have a certain aesthetic.




Other great meals in Tokyo:
Morimoto XEX for teppanyaki -- Very subtle entrance signage.

Morimoto's signature Toro & caviar appetizer

Matsugen for soba -- E recommended an off-the-menu crabmeat soba salad, which was worthy of a second helping. They have outposts in Honolulu and NYC.
Takashimaya Food Hall -- Can never get enough of this place. It's a study of how beautiful packaging makes everything look so appetizing.

V-day Surprise: LCB Romance on the Today Show

BC at violet.com, a gift-giver's godsend of a website, emailed to tell us that our Little Cream Book: Romance got a mention on last week's Today Show:

Whistler: Nita Lake Lodge

Happy Year of the Rat! Spent the week snowboarding in Whistler, where I was blessed with a couple of stupendous powder days and even two sunny days in a resort known for predominantly cloudy, grey skies. It may sound insane to queue for the gondola at 7:15am, but Fresh Tracks is definitely worth it if it's been snowing the night before. Great boarding aside, we also had a few fine meals at Mountain Club, après and Araxi, but my absolute favourite had to be the late lunch of raclette, crêpe and cider at Crêpe Montagne. I still haven't had a decent meal on the mountain and have come to the conclusion that it probably makes more sense to get on the mountain first thing in the morning, ski until 2pm and then head back to the village for a late lunch. Unfortunately, neither Zen or Rimrock are open for lunch. Otherwise, it would make a great luncheon stop after the scenic Peak to Creekside run.

While I stayed at Pan Pacific Mountainside, which was great for rolling out of bed and onto the slopes (even more convenient than Sundial next door), I was eager to check out the brand-new Nita Lake Lodge in Creekside. Having only opened on 18 January, it's not yet fully up-and-running (the spa and fitness area is still a work-in-progress, and the presidential suites are still being fitted-out), so their introductory rates make this a steal of a stay for the next couple of months (CAD299 for a one-bedroom). The lakeside setting and it's location on the Valley Trail makes Nita Lake Lodge an ideal summer destination. The decor is a streamlined, contemporary take on the classic mountain lodge with dark woods and basalt rock.

(Images courtesy of Nita Lake Lodge)

The lodge is connected to the Mountaineer Train station, which operates a daily train from Vancouver from May to mid-October. While Nita Lake Lodge has thoughtfully-designed one-bedroom suites (heated bathroom floor, sunken bathtubs with views of the lake or mountain), it's not the most ideally-located ski lodge. In terms of convenience to the slopes, it's probably similar to the Four Seasons in Blackcomb. It's a bit of a walk to the Creekside gondola (it's on the other side of the Sea-to-Sky highway), with ski lockers located slopeside at the Creekside Can-Ski shop. It's also a 10-minute drive from the shops and restaurants in Whistler Village, though the lodge does provide complimentary shuttle service. The lodge's clubby bar/lounge has a nice vibe, making it a great place for an après tipple or aperitif.

As for Pan Pacific Mountainside, I had a very comfortable and convenient stay. The housekeeping staff is amazing. Having smoked up the room trying to pan-fry turnip cake without any oil in the morning (the kitchen is fully stocked with utensils, but I had neglected to go grocery shopping), I returned from a day on the slopes to a room that smelled as fresh as it had been before my culinary mishap with the mess in the kitchen all cleared up. The sitting room has a toasty fireplace and, unlike Sundial, there are TVs in both the bedroom and sitting room with a DVD player. The bathroom is not much to rave about though, very standard with just a bathtub and single vanity. I was grateful for the free wifi even though speed was a bit slow at times. I didn't bother venturing into the hotel's Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub for breakfast or even a drink, since there are plenty of more appealing restaurants nearby. Of the two equipment rental shops in the hotel, the Salomon shop has the better equipment.

Can't wait for the Peak-to-Peak gondola opens at the end of this year. The improved connection between the two mountains will make skiing/boarding in Whistler-Blackcomb even harder to resist.

Vancouver: Monte Clark Gallery & Boneta

For the longest time, TB had been telling me to go check out his friend's gallery in Vancouver. For one reason or another, I never got around to it. Finally, I made it to the gallery on Granville and 8th Avenue and met Monte Clark, the owner. Currently on show are photographic collages by Roy Arden. But the most recognisable name on the gallery's roster is Douglas Coupland (author of Generation X, Microsefs, jPod etc.). Because I'm on the lookout for interesting artists to talk about what inspires them about the places they live and work in, I asked MC to recommend a Vancouverite. He immediately suggested Karin Bubas. I hadn't heard of her, but I had been drawn to one of her photographs in his private collection (Guest Bed with Bible from her Ivy House series). There's a strange sense of nostalgia in Bubas' photographs, which I find intriguing. I particularly like her Studies in Landscape and Wardrobe series, where a solitary woman is photographed in rather retro-looking outfits facing away from the camera in a beautiful landscape. There is an other-worldly quality to them, but apparently, all the photos were taken around Vancouver.

After feasting my eyes and soul on art, we headed to Boneta in Gastown (an up-and-coming part of downtown Vancouver that's undergoing some cleaning up) for a dinnertime feast. I had a wonderful bison carpaccio followed by the very popular seared scallops with celeraic ravioli (5 out of our table of 8 ordered this dish!). The restaurant was fitted out with a budget of less than CAD90,000. It's a nice, lofty space, with the exception of it being a bit too loud. We were in "the room", which is a booth in the back corner of the restaurant, which seats 8 just right. Yet, we could still hear the cacaphony from the main dining room. The three partners are all ex-Lumiere staff.