The core business of Wheat Baumkuchen is still their Baumkuchens. Baumkuchen is a type of layered cake origin from Germany. It is literally translated as "tree cake" because of the rings formed from the different layers of the cake. Baumkuchen was later introduced in Japan and became popular.

For the plain Baumkuchens, we shared the Green Tea and Classic Original flavours. Actually Baumkuchen resembles Kueh Lapis. another type of layered cake that is popular in South East Asia. However Baumkuchen has a firmer texture and at least at Wheat Baumkuchen there are different flavours to cater for different palates.

I thought it was very innovative and creative of Wheat Baumkuchen to transform the traditional Baumkuchen into a modern delicacy with different toppings like similar to the cupcakes. These injection of modern elements into a traditional snack definitely will help to capture the taste buds of the new generations.

Whenever I am down at Orchard Road, I would have difficulty deciding where to go for lunch/dinner mainly because of the crowd and price. Last weekend I was at Orchard Road shopping for Christmas gifts and I happened to walk passed this interesting Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice restaurant on the fifth floor of Far East Plaza.

The restaurant is rather small with a narrow walkway. Do expect to share tables with others and sitting shoulder to shoulder with other customers.

The restaurant serves both the Boiled Chicken and Roasted Chicken. I had the Boiled Chicken which was tender and came with a thin layer of jelly like skin. The skin was not as fat compared to some I have eaten though. The chicken meat also seems whiter in colour. Not captured in the picture, was the chicken rice. It is lighter in fragrant and not oily.

Known as the Curry King with over 1,275 Japanese Curry outlets globally, CoCo Ichibanya Curry House with 30 years of experience, finally open its first outlet in Singapore. There was a long queue when I went down to check out the place. I have to wait for about half an hour. The place is quite small, my advice is not to go with a big group.

Do not be overwhelmed by the extensive menu. Ordering is pretty simple here. Just follow the 4 simple steps,

1. Choice the Curry. Select the curry from the menu.
2. Select the quantity of rice.
3. Spice adjustment level
4. Select Toppings

Japanese Curry usually lacked the piquancy of Indian Curry but not for the curry at CoCo Ichibanya. I can taste the familiar spices of Indian curry in the Pork Cutlet Curry with Cheese. The combination of Mozzarella and curry lifted the savouriness of the dish. The pork cutlet breaded crust was crispy but the meat was a bit tough. A little personal disappointment is the used of long grain rice instead of Japanese rice.

The Omelette Hasded Beef Curry is served with vegetable curry which is not hot. It actually had a tad tangy taste. With the perfect runny omelette wrapping around the rice, it was a beautiful dish both in taste and sight.

Arteastiq located at the heart of Orchard at Mandarin Gallery, is a posh chill out tea lounge where customers can relax with friends or rest their tiring feet after a day of shopping at Orchard. Arteastiq has a fascinating range of special, alcoholic, dessert and fruit tea sets and an assortment of “teasers” (savouries) and desserts (premium gelato, cakes and scones) to go along in a luxurious and relaxing setting. Arteastiq offers an unique tea experience with its modern lounge and designer furniture by Marxx.

For a start, my partner and I tried the Dessert Tea which was an unique and interesting combination of tea and ice cream. We had the French Rose Tea with Champagne Vanilla Gelato and Oolong Tea with Lychee Martini Gelato. The Dessert Tea definitely won our hearts with the innovative and refreshing concept.

The Dessert Tea also comes with a small cup of the tea. I thought that was a nice warm touch to taste the true flavour of the freshly brewed tea's quality.

The Double Teasery came with 6 mini bites and cold cuts. On the top plate, there were the Signature Crispy Wraps and Apple Cake. The Crispy Wraps with Chicken Breast was an unique creation using Roti Prata to wrap a choice of your filling. The plain looking Apple Cake was surprisingly moist and flavourful. On the other Double Teasery, we tried the Crispy Wraps with Roasted Beef and Orange Cake. Both were excellent too.

On the lower plate, we have the Atlantic Smoked Salmon, Smoked Turkey Ham, Crabmeat Salad served with volvant, Spicy Jumbo Topshell with Chilled Mango Achar. The pinkish Atlantic Smoked Salmon rich savoury, buttery taste was very enjoyable but lacked the smokey flavour. Among all, the Crabmeat Salad served with volvant was our favourite. We would gladly substitute some of the other bites for more of it.

After finishing all the lovely food, for the second round of tea we went for the hot fruit tea. I had the Lychee Fruit Tea while my partner had the Pear Fruit Tea. It was a real enjoyment sipping a cup of tea in a cozy contemporary Europe ambient. At Arteastiq, each pot of tea is brewed separately on the spot with the freshest ingredients to assure quality. Hence, do be patient. Sit back, relax or browse the magazines that are readily available.

Shi Wei Tian's story traced back to the owner's (Ryan) vision to recreate his grandma recipes. To ensure the kitchen wok up authentic Malaysian dishes, a Malaysian chef was hired to lead the kitchen.

A pipping hot Malaysian style Claypot KL Bak Kut Teh was perfect for the cold and rainy day. The pork ribs came in small chopped pieces with the meat coming off the bone easily. The herbal soup Bak Kut Teh also came with innards and golden mushrooms.

This is my first time having Char Tar Beehoon (Burnt Beehoon) and I didn't know what to expect. Apparently Char Tar Beehoon is a popular dish in Malaysia. The beehoon was soft and tasty but lacked the crispy crust that held the beehoon together.

Thumbs up to the Signature Tofu that the Chef makes everyday. The Tofu was very smooth and melted in the mouth. Topped with deep fried golden mushrooms, it gave the dish a contrast texture that was delightful to be eaten alone or together with the Tofu.

I usually avoid having prawns when I dine outside to avoid dirtying my hands peeling the prawn shells. Not to worry when you have the Garlic Steamed Prawns at Shi Wei Tian. The steamed prawns were split into halves and topped with both fresh and deep fried garlic. The prawns were very fresh and the meat came of the shells with ease.

The luxurious Imperial Treasure Pot came with abundant of ingredients stewed in claypot. There were prawns, shitake mushroom, fish slices, fish maw, broccoli, sea cucumbers and scallops. It was a great dish full of rich flavours.

This dish is not available on the menu and only regulars knew about it. Nasi Pattaya is a simple fried rice dish wrapped with omelette. Isn't the smiling face drawn by tomato sauce cute? The dish may look simple but it takes great effort making the perfect omelette to wrap the fried rice.

Unfortunately I did not get to try their specialty, Cereal Paste Crab. I had the Claypot Crab Tanghoon instead which was a bit disappointing. Although the crab meat was firm and juicy, the Tanghoon was bland failing to absorb the crab's rich flavours.

Every week the Chef will create a new dish and the Crispy Pork Rib Drumlets was one of his new creations previous week. The Pork Rib Drumlet is first deep fried to perfection and then braised with in house special sauce to bring out its full flavours. The 2 cooking methods gave the pork rib an unique texture which tantalize the taste buds.

This week the Chef created the 3 Treasure Sea Cucumber Wrap. The whole sea cucumber is stuffed with generous serving of succulent mushrooms, fresh sliced pork and nutritious carrot steamed with in house special sauce to create this gem. This exclusive creation melted in the mouth and burst with flavours.For dessert, there were the all time local favourites such as Chendol and Ice Kachang. For some childhood memories, there is the traditional Ice Ball. My favourite was the Chendol. Its appearance was also rather unique with generous amount of gula melaka and coconut milk.