The weather last weekend was extremely hot! Could this be the start of the hottest months in Singapore? If so, that means we will constantly be in need of something that'll keep us refreshed amidst the scorching heat. Timely, the newly opened Cold Stone Creamery along Orchard Rd offers the right companion. The ice cream house is packed with mouthwatering choices of shakes, smoothies, cakes and ice cream. My family sampled some last weekend, and we were delighted with just the right gusto.

This interactive menu board will tell you how to make your order.

Cheesecake Fantasy - a combination of cheesecake ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, blueberries and strawberries

Banana Caramel Crunch - a combination of French vanilla ice cream, roasted almonds, banana and caramel

There's actually one more reason to celebrate this day apart from Mother's Day. It's my blog's 4th year anniversary!! It's been four years of sumptuous blogging experience and it's really amazing to be counting on the days of Our Taste of Life from the past, to present and the future. I am thankful to all the people who have shared with my foodie journey on this humble abode. Your continued support keeps me going and dreaming for something bigger and better for Our Taste of Life.

To celebrate Mother's Day, we perused a number of Singapore blog posts and the book Singapore's Best Restaurants 2011 to find a place to dine. We've narrowed down our choices to Aquamarine of Marina Mandarin Hotel, The Line of Shangrila Hotel and the Dining Room of Sheraton Towers. We received a lot of not so good reviews from colleagues and friends on The Line, so we immediately dropped it off the list. So off we went to our first choice at Aquamarine. Apparently, the restaurant was well known for staging a nice seafood on ice spread and that's the primary reason why we put it on first option. Lo and behold, beyond dismayed and disappointed we were when we saw what's on offer for the Mother's Day Buffet. The seafood on ice selection was nowhere to be found. Choices are generally limited. Hence, we didn't have second thoughts from backing out. We headed instead to the Sheraton Towers since I've already tried it once and I know that they serve cold seafood there.

The best tasting beef noodles that I had so far was that of Taiwan's Din Tai Fung. It was so good that consuming it is synonymous to a gustatory oblivion. Before you even know it, you're already down to your last slurp. Personally, my preference for a great tasting Beef Noodles be it stewed or braised goes for the rich, juicy, fatty and flavoursome type. In addition, soft and succulent beef chunks is prime. It's the heart and soul of this dish ergo, it should be as heavenly as possible. Fresh from my disappointment of Crystal Jade Kitchen's Beef Stew Dry Noodles, I was prompted to find another version that might be worth another attempt to try.

Fortunately, my quest found its success in one of Food Republic's stalls in 313 Somerset. The chewy -thick texture of the noodles gave an enjoyable nibble. The mixture of herbs and spices used (fried shallots, spring onion, coriander, celery) complemented each other. In short, everything in the dish (the soup, noodles, flavors and beef) is a complete delight to the palate. I'm sure I'll be coming back for more.

Who wouldn't be lured by these mouthwatering selections of Fruit Tarts? Though merely just a display from the glass shelf, it's already way too hard to resist. With Singapore having a relatively low threshold for sweets, finding a place that serves delightful treats is synonymous to unearthing a treasure. Thus, sampling Fruit Paradise's repertoire of elaborately decorated tarts is a drooling experience to be had.

Every slice of this pastry creation consists of three layers of refreshing mélange of flavors from the natural taste of fruits, handmade cream and pastry base. Appeal wise, it's definitely sublime. Down to the taste, it bears simplicity. The melding of all gustatory sensations from the three layers is just enough to satisfy a typical craving for a tea break. Some lip-smacking choices are the following:

Mango Banana

Mixed Berries Chocolate

We recently spent our holyweek vacation in the Philippines. Since we have very limited time to spread among the places and sights we want to visit, we made sure that Tagaytay topped our list. We did miss the homey ambiance and relaxing weather in this scenic place. (How I wish we could stay longer). Since it's almost past lunch time when we arrived there, we immediately thought of Buon Giorno for a place to dine. It was in 2007 when I first tried this Italian restaurant. Back then, it's increasingly getting popular for its good food. Now fast forward to 2011, I was not too sure of the level of satisfaction it brought me upon dining. Some of the foods lost its appeal particularly the pastas. Fortunately, the salad and pizza still delivered well.



New York Pizza

When I first saw the mouthwatering food photo shots of Todai's offering (the new international seafood restaurant in Marina Bay Sands) from the news paper, I know from that instance that I was more than allured to visit the place. After a few visits from the other restaurants featuring seafood buffet such as Mandarin Oriental's Melt The World Cafe and Ritz Carlton's Green House and still left half-way satisfied, I am definitely on a hunt for something better. Hence, it was really good news when I heard about Todai's opening.

Todai in Singapore is the first franchise established in South East Asia. And it's addition to the Singapore food scene is undoubtedly another luscious gastronomic serving to the already spoiled Singapore diners. This up-scale "all you can eat" seafood and sushi restaurant offers a wide repertoire of scrumptious dishes. From the appetizers to the main course and desserts, the selection is really enormous albeit less if I would compare it to Marina Bay Sands Hotel's - The Rise Restaurant. Quality wise, the appetizer section and the sushi counter are your best bet to try. Some sushis are explosive and robust in taste dimensions. For the cold seafood choices, the snow crab legs and oysters are the stars of the whole feast. In the dessert area, the notable ones are the creme brulee and the free flow korean strawberries. Most of the sweets have mild sweetness level thus, generally enjoyable down to the throat. The fire oven pizzas are also good to munch. What is even more pleasing in this buffet set up is the inclusion of the free drinks. Yes, drinks are likewise included in the buffet. Among the choices are fruit juices, softdrinks, teas and the popular UCC coffee. There are really so much more to talk about on this dining experience but overall, I must agree on what was written on its paper mat, dining at Todai is simply impeccable. The S$58++ price tag for the lunch buffet goes a long way. Incidentally, they also claim a "no MSG" pride as well as Sushi Rice HACCP program and Sushi Holding Time approval from the US. On the whole though, it's still inferior to The Rise Restaurant. The later still tops the list of my best buffets in the island.