Food Escapade: Hippopotamus (Steaks and Grill)

We went to hippopotamus as a treat to commemorate my boyfriend's passing of his first phase of training at his new camp. I also had a groupon voucher for this case and we had the liberty to order a main course each. Unless you feel exceptionally hungry that day, I suggest you not order any starters or appetizers because you will be given a small loaf of sour dough bread, some butter and a dish of their own made seasoned and unsalted potato chips.

Hippopotamus @Marina Square

Eating the sour dough bread was a new experience. Make no mistake that this sour dough bread is not like the sour dough bread that McDonalds have. This is the real deal. Though it was hard on the outside, it was soft and fluffy on the inside. It isn't as hard as a baguette though. The butter was smooth and delicious and not too salty too. The chips were seasoned but the taste of the seasoning couldn't come out as there wasn't much salt in it at all. If you add a small dash of salt, the flavour will come bursting though. It also has a slightly smokey taste that gives it a wonderful flavour. I got to say, the chips were fantastically crisp even when they place their chips in a large container that is not air tight. I believe their chips are made fresh just before every meal time of the day. Yum!

After I waited for about 15 minutes or so after enjoying the starters they gave, our main course came. I ordered a beef skewer so that I could sample a lot of different cuts of beef from them. My skewer had an array of sirloin, rump, skirt and hanger sample portions. Don't be fooled into thinking the meal is not a lot for these skewers actually make up one thick slab of steak. I chose the bearnaise sauce to go with my steak. The sauce is a combination of herbs and butter. Yummy indeed. My boyfriend took the liberty to order the tenderloin "chateaubriand" and he chose a rockfort cheese sauce to go with his steak.

 I got to say I had the liberty to experience so many cuts of the beef in one meal. That way, I know which is the best cut that suits my taste. For me, I would think the hanger cut was the most tastiest cut. It had just the right amount of fat to meat ratio for me and it was the most stunningly juicy mouth of beef that I ate that day. The bearnaise sauce was a delicious compliment for any cuts but for the hanger, I could eat it without the sauce. Just the taste and the juiciness is enough to satisfy me. For the skirt, I would say it is a tad chewier than the rest and was a little on the too much chewy. The rump was a little dryer than I thought it would be so it made good use for the bearnaise sauce. Lastly was the sirloin which boast its tender strip of fat mixed with the meat, but, I still think the taste cannot beat that of the hanger. The meal came with one side dish for me and I chose the potato gratin. The flavour was nice and was finished with a tad too salty cheese. Overall, I think it was a good steak meal at an affordable price.

My boyfriend ordered the tenderloin "chateaubriand" complete with the rockfort cheese sauce, green beans and potato gratin. The tenderloin was like a ball so I didn't expect the steak to be cooked the same throughout due to the irregularity. It was true that some parts had more done-ness than the rest of the steak. But overall, I think my boyfriend enjoyed his steak truly. The rockfort cheese sauce proved to be too much of a sauce for anything save the potato chips. They give the potato chips a cheesy flavour. The sauce should not be trifled with and because it is made with a blue cheese based, the flavour can be too overwhelming for some people. Even we felt that it flavour overpowered the steak. We finished the meal and stayed awhile after to chat and digest out meal. It was sure a full house but we saw no queue outside. Looks like the next time I'm heading there, the hanger steak will be my choice.

Verdict

Ambience - Great

Food - Excellent

Cost - $35 per pax

Overall - Must Try! Great place for steaks on a budget.

Address

6 Raffles Boulevard, #01-204/205,

Marina Square, Singapore 039594.

http://www.hippopotamus.com.sg/index.html

Opening Hours

11 30am to 10 30pm

AudioFlies: JBL J55 on ear headphones review

These pair of cans are the new headphones I have bought myself just in time before my Klipsch started to die out on one side. When I find the time and the receipt to claim my warranty I will fix my Klipsch. So, ion the mean time, I have the luxury of listening to the J55.

JBL is an old brand that made Hi-Fi sets and home theater systems back in the 1990s. Later in the 2000s, JBL started with their own making of speakers for the computers and other media and while other companies such as Denon and Sennheisers continued their advancement in developing their portable headphones and earphones, JBL didn't follow suit. Recently however, the company was acquired by Harman. Together with Harman's expertise in making portable speakers and headphones, JBL once again got into making these amazing headphones.

The Good
Potability
These earphones are not the type of gigantic earphones (Like the J88) that seem like the type of cans to stay at home because carrying it around will not only be ridiculous but also inconvenient. It is firstly comfortable and though it sits on the ears, the soft foam and soft leather does a great job to cushion the ears. It is comfortable and when tested with my boyfriend, he couldn't hear any sound leaks from the outside. Good news! People on the outside won't hear what you are listening to. Conscious people all can put to rest their worries that their music might affect others. Also, the earphones come with a neat design which allows for your earphones to be folded inwards so that it takes up lesser space, making it the real portable earphones.

Design
The design of the headphones includes two brush aluminium plates that covers both sides of the cans making it a close back headphones. This probably contributes as to why the outside world cannot hear your music. Also, there is a metal band on the top to reinforce the plastic band so that it doesn't break so easily and is lodged inside the plastic band so that only a portion of it can be seen.

Sound Quality
These pair of cans do pretty well in terms of the lows and the highs. Though it doesn't fair too well on the mids, it is generally acceptable for its price. These cans probably need some sort of internal equalizer to boost the bass because a low driver cannot boost an impressive bass for the headphones. I got to say however after the equalizer, there was significant increase in the bass for the cans. It not only boast a powerful bass, it is also balanced and has a stunning sound stage. Almost every instrument from Adele's Skyfall can be heard while her voice was warm and simply stunning but at the same time, it was overpowering. If you use together with a amateur amplifier, you would most probably get a much better sound response from these cans. Overall, I would say these cans are the most worth for its pricing. It generally is priced at around SGD 150. For its build quality and its design, I don't think you can ask for more.

The Bad
Design
As I have said before, the design is stunning and beautiful. However I have one fault with these earphone design. That is the lack of an L shaped audio jack for your device which makes the placing of my phone in my pocket uncomfortable especially so when I am bending down.

Sound Quality
These pair of headphones have rather bad mids in exchange for its heavy bass. The bass is not overpowering so luckily, that means not much of the mids was sacrificed to achieve such a bass response. These headphones were not build for extreme audiophile usage such as for a concert hall effect, therefore its sound stage would not be able to beat the Sennheisers Momentum. However, for its price again, I would like to stress that it has an impressive sound stage and can still differentiate up to 5 instruments at one time provided the song hardly has an overpowering bass. Due to its high impedance of 32 Ohms, these pair of cans require a equalizer or an amplifier. If you are on a tight budget, I would recommend you to get a Fiio Fujima E06 which costs anywhere from SGD$35 onwards. If you have no intention of buying an amplifier, I suggest you use your pre-installed equalizer in your phone/device or if your device doesn't come with one (like my HTC one V), you can install Rocket Player which in my opinion has a decent programming without much glitches and also boast a good companion for these headphones. Also, this player can also play FLAC or lossless music file format which will ensure you only hear the best!

Overall Verdict
I would only suggest these headphones for people who like design, comfort and leather ear phones. Budding audiophiles interested in R&B, Jazz or Pop music will be suitable for this pair of cans. For symphonic and classical music lovers however, I am afraid that the sound stage of these cans will only stand to disappoint you. If you would like to purchase these headphones at a discount of SGD100(excluding delivery fees), email me at clarevoiyant_backpack@hotmail.sg with your

• Name
• Mailing address
• Contact Number
• Meeting point for cash and carry
• Colour. White, Black or Orange

Please note that the headphones sold at a discount will not have a warranty. Also, delivery is only available when convenient. Cash and Carry preferred. Colours  for selection only available when stock is available. I will not be liable for any missing mail. Please contact me if you have any queries.

Food Escapade: Tea Breaks @ DeConti

Notice how I placed an "s" at the end of the "tea break" because we actually had a few tea breaks or coffee breaks there. DeConti recently set-up an outlet at the Tampines 1 shopping center and has proven a popular place for many even though there were strong rivals near it such as the coffee bean and tea leaf just a level upstairs, another CBTL at century square about 200 meters away and a Starbucks at Tampines Mall just 150 meters away. It is successful to the extend that we always have a hard time finding for seats and we got to say the sitting area is rather small. For such a great place for coffee and gelato, surely more seating would be necessary. I am sure they have seating capacity of roughly 20-30 pax at most. That means many people are driven away just by the sight of the packed coffee house. Of course, the aroma of coffee would likely draw you back to the place only to be dismayed by the lack of seats. Fear not however, you just have to wait for awhile most of the time before you get a sit there. Besides, the staff there seem to be very friendly and I am sure they would most willingly help you to get a seat.

Deconti Store front @ Tampines 1

The Store front showing the different size cups for different types of beverages you order.

On our first trip there, we used a groupon voucher that enabled us to get 12 dollars worth of coffee and gelato. We happened to choose the same item as our first ever trail of deconti and had two affrogato. It is essentially vanilla gelato drowned in espresso. Since DeConti is good for their coffee and gelato as stated on their logo, why not have both combined together? So here, we present the Affrogato.

The gelato here was on the sweet side but the good thing about the affrogato was that the espresso shot was bitter due to the extra dark roast variety of beans that they use. So, the sweetness of the gelato complimented the bitterness of the espresso. The affrogato here is based on the standard ratio which promises three generous scoops of vanilla gelato coupled with a shot of espresso. Too much for you to handle? You can always order a smaller version which is typically half of this. The is the medium order which costs SGD$ 6.20. Not too pricey for 3 scoops of gelato and a shot of espresso. Actually, I think it's a great deal since one scoop of gelato costs 4.90.

Affrogato. 3 Scoops of vanilla gelato and a shot of espresso.

If you have trouble comprehending the menu, you can ask the staff or the cashier who are all more than happy to explain to you each and every of your queries (and even in detail) - from our own experience. Just don't blame me if you are stuck in a long explanation from the cashier for your query.

The second time we went there, we used the last of our vouchers. I had a cappuccino as always while my boyfriend ordered the dark chocolate coffee which is essentially a layer of melted dark chocolate, a shot of espresso and then finished with a layer of milk froth and dusted with cocoa powder.

This drink is a little of a weird combination. Firstly, the drink itself had a cold and warm mixture. The base is probably the dark chocolate gelato which later proved to be over powering to even taste the espresso shot. All I tasted was the chocolate not to say it is bad but coffee lovers probably wouldn't like this drink a lot. Chocolate lovers would like this drink especially if one need a coffee boost but don't like to drink a cup of cappuccino. This would awake the inner you that loves chocolate. Try it and you'll understand. It's kind of like a chocolate gelato affrogato.

Just today, after spending the last voucher, we sat down and both ordered a cappuccino each. At just 5.5 for a medium cup, it was decently priced. Though it would be better if I had added 70 cents for either a hazelnut, chocolate or pistachio gelato into my cappuccino. Overall, we enjoyed our experience there and that explains why we keep going back there (also because it is conviniently situated around the east area which we stay at).

Verdict

Ambience - Good

Food - Great!

Cost - $5-7 per pax

Overall - Must Try!

Address

10 Tampines Central 1, #02-K2

Tampines 1, Singapore 529536.

http://decontisg.blogspot.sg/

Opening Hours

9am till mall closing time

Food Escapade: Tea Break @ Han'is Cafe and Bakery

Walking around the Douby Ghaut area after a movie at the Grand Cathay, we walked towards the Selegie area so that we could find a place to have tea and coffee. So we found a cafe that is connected to the Hans that we all are used to. Since I was around 3-5, I was living at the Hougang area and every single weekend, I would follow my parents to Hougang Mall and eat at Hans (which is still there beside McDonalds). Eating at Hans is nostalgic. Though I would say Hans and Hanis is totally different. For an obvious difference, Hanis has two types of coffee. There is the espresso machine for those who prefer their coffee expresso style and rich in flavor. There are of course those who still would prefer the coffee-shop styled sock coffee or otherwise known as Kopi. Either way, you can get both here. Including the usual spread of local and western fare. I got to add that here at Hanis, there is a much greater choice of cakes for the sweet tooth. For those who love their cakes and still want to keep their pockets without holes, should mark this place as a staple for cheaper cakes that don't taste anything like its price.

I ordered a raspberry and earl grey cake that proved a little to messy to take out the plastic that covered the cake. It costed roughly SGD$ 3 but I can't remember exactly its price. It was a little on the sweet side but it had infusion of earl grey which was amazing.

My boyfriend ordered a cappuccino and surprisingly it was supplied by illy. I got to say, it was the smoothest coffee I've ever tasted and I could have the coffee even without sugar. I have to add I am not a coffee lover as I love tea more. However, I did like that coffee. Bottomline: try the coffee. It's only SGD$ 4.5 too for a cappuccino.

For anyone who would love to visit this quiet place, which we managed to find a quiet corner for ourselves, the address is as below.

Add

:

8 Wilkie Road Wilkie Edge #01-22/23/24
Singapore 228095

Tel

:

+65 63381903

Awards and Accreditations:Halal

AudioFlies: Klipsch S4 review

I got the Klipsch a year ago when the new S4 was launched out. As a tactic to clear out the old versions of S4s, they launched a one-for-one deal for the old version which was priced at SGD$ 148 if I remember correctly. That figures to about slightly more than SGD$70 for a earphone that does pretty well based on reviews prior. It has won some reviews including the c net editor's choice and also DL choice awards for earpiece. 

The good
Design
The design of the earbuds have to be the best buying point for the Klipsch S4. Not only the S4 however uses the "egg-shaped" earbuds. The rest of the Klipsch products also uses these fantastic earbuds. They are great for kids who find their parents nagging a bore and would simply like a break from it. I tell you from experience that the sound isolation is so good that you cant even hear shouting just a meter away from you if you have these earbuds on. It's great to know that only Klipsch can use these earbuds that are uniquely shaped to fit the ear completely and block out ambient noise. Also, I would like the add that it gives a very comfortable fit.

Build Quality

Quality wise, the earpiece has a rather decent to good built quality. I bought the white model and though I thought it would get dirty easily, it seemed as though it was out to prove me wrong. The sides of the earpiece is chromed and laser embossed with the brand name.Overall, I would say they did a pretty decent job on making the earpiece itself.

Sound Quality
Sound wise, the Klipsch S4 does pretty good on the lows. It scores in its ability to drive up low powered devices such as the ipod and smart phones and still give the listener the punchy bass it promised. The highs are pretty decent for the price. The earpriece on the overall sound quality seems pretty much the same as the aJays Three in terms of sound profile. However, it does have its edge for its ability to drive punchier bass and still not distort the highs for the pop songs and top 40 songs listeners. I think it's a great earpiece for the casual listeners who don't intend to use the earpiece for long times at one go because they are not good for keeping sound pressure due to the nature of the earbuds.

The bad
Sound Quality
Sound wise, the earpiece has some flaws including the fact that they are so isolated. Don't get me wrong, being ambient noise isolated is a good thing but there are also bad things which include not being aware of the surroundings and the fact that it creates too much sound pressure such that I can only stand the music at 50-60% volume for only 40 minutes at max at one go. After that, your ears will feel fatigue. This is because of its enclosed design that is designed to block out ambient noises. As such, the sound stage in this earpiece is compromised as well. It does only decently for the highs and mids as it sacrifices mostly for its punchier than usual bass. I would say if you want to buy a Beats by Dr. Dre, then the Klipsch S4 would be a better choice for you for its price and its performance for the bass.

Design

If you are looking for a tangle free cable in the Klipsch, you will be dissapointed that it doesn't come with it. However, they made an improvement in the new model which features not only tangle free cables but also sweat proof cables in the new sports edition of the Klipsch S4i.

The connector is also the one that is sticking out so users of the L-shaped connector previously would find it annoying to have a connector sticking out of your pocket. Plus, it only serves to add on to the chances of it spoiling because the design allows for the cable to rub against other things especially if you are the messy type (like me) to throw he phone and all into the bag. This probably isn't for you.

Durability
I would like to add that the Klipsch S4 is also a durable earpiece despite the flaws in its design including non-tangle free cables and the normal audio jack connector. However, it undergone a washing cycle in the washine machine accidentally. Again, just like the aJays Three, it survived relatively unharmed. It seems as though I love to check for durability of my earpieces by throwing them into the washing machine. But trust me, I do not intedn it to be a consistent way to test for durability. It just happens as an accident. 

My overall Verdict
The earpiece might be on the higher side in price for its poor quality in its highs and lows but pop songs and bass lovers will beg to differ. But hey, to each his own. I personally prefer warm and more balanced music so the Klipsch S4 won't be in the top list of heavily recommended earpiece and especially not recommended for beginner to budding audiophiles. I would say that to all punchy bass lovers, buy this earpiece. You will love it!

Interestingly, I also tried out the X7 and the X10 which will be discussed in the following post: Comparisons: S4 vs X7 vs X10. Peace out and till we meet again! :)

AudioFlies: aJays-Three Review

I got the a-Jays three almost 3 years ago when it first emerged in the market. At that time, the earpiece had the most fantastic box in the market. Rubberized box that had an annoying open mechanism that required you to use a pen or anything sharp to poke the hole to open the box. That aside, the box was clearly the main attraction and I would think the company spent quite a lot of R&D on the box because it fitted  quite a lot of items in it including a airplane adapter, a duo plug adapter so you can share music on your single device, 3 pairs of extra ear buds of different sizes so you can get a real good fit, a carrying case which was hard covered, the earpiece itself and the warranty card. Fitting all that into one box was definitely tricky but they did a fantastic job of that. Also, my box became an ant's next later because it was so sealed up and only had one entrance (the hole to poke the box and open it).

The good
One good thing about the aJays would be the fact that they included the airplane adapter and the duo plug adapter which is usually only included in expensive earphones and earpiece sets of excess of 150. This pair was only SGD98 when I bought it. My boyfriend had one as well and listening to it, I thought it was an excellent buy.

I have to say that the a-Jays boast a fantastic bass response and have proven to be excellent for lows to mids. That of course means it is fantastic for the people who prefer listening to R&B and pop songs. Also, it has rather low impedance of 16 ohms which makes it excellent on low powered devices such as ipods and iphones (and other phones). With my ipod, it boast a rather heavy bass even with the ipod's low power driver that could not help to power the bass response for my other earphones like the JBL J55 which has a significantly higher impedance of 32 ohms.

The bad
But of course there are some faults to it. One really bad thing about the aJays would be the design of the earpiece itself. It is ridiculously uncomfortable to place in your ears such that it would cause a marking on my ear every time I would put it in for long trips on the public transport. Other than that, the earbuds do a pretty decent job of blocking out the ambient noises from the environment.

That aside, on the performance wise, the aJays havent been excellent on the part of clarity. Most songs sang by female artistes will lead your ears to the death.

Adele, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey among others songs won't be the best songs for you to listen on your aJays due to the fact they make the highs seem a little too sharp to handle. Your ears will bleed from the sharpness. That is probably the only flaw of the aJays. It isn't a versatile earpiece. But, you cannot blame them because they made the bass response excellent and by upping the bass, some clarity is bound to be sacrificed. For it's price, I believe it to be worth it. Though, I must say that my brother owns a aJays one. That earpiece lacks the bass and has enhanced clarity compared to the aJays three. So if you are avid fans of Ellie Gouding, Lily Allen or Dido or the likes of female artistes which boast a powerful high pitch voice, then the aJays one will do fantastic. Not to mention, it is cheaper.

Service and Warranty
The Ajays comes with a two year warranty which I used once. The good thing about the warranty was the fact that it was prompt and even though I didn't register until I needed the warranty, they could still process my warranty claim rather quickly. The service center is located in a factory district in the far ends of serangoon but it was rather accessible for me as I had a rather direct bus from Tampines. The entry to the building wasn't as smooth as I would like. I had to surrender my IC to the guard post and headed for the service center. They were quick with replacement after asking for my problem which I promptly replied that the connector had disconnected. I learnt that because of the old design, this was a rather common problem. They fixed the problem and gave me an updated model in a one-to-one exchange and even gave me extra earbuds. The updated model had an L-shaped plug which meant no more sticking out plug that don't fit nicely into your pockets and significantly lesser chances that the connecting plug would disconnect from the extensive rubbing and abuse.

If anybody needs the address of the aJays service center, it's as stated below. The company doing the service is a third party company that brings in products like aJays and .

 They are located at :

52 Serangoon North Ave 4 #03-01B, AEM Building

Singapore 555 853 They are open from 9.30am – 5.30pm on Mondays to Fridays (Please note that they are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays).

Durability
I would like to add that the aJays three is the most durable earpiece I had gotten so far. It had undergone so much abuse from me and the only thing that gave way was the plug and that was because of a poor design (which they fixed). I have to say, it has a very durable tangle free cable which also meant that if it tangled, it is harder to un-tangle it. However, my 2 years of using them, they only tangled itself 3 times so far. Also, I tend to always stuff the earpiece into my pockets so they had to endure rubbing against my pockets and stuff. And, I have to add this is the most durable earpiece ever because it undergone 2 washes in the washing machine and yet it still worked perfectly without any problems! That, my friend... is prove that this Swedish made earpiece are probably the most durable earpiece ever.

My overall Verdict
This is an excellent buy for Pop and R&B lovers due to the Heavy Bass Impact/Response it has. I do say, that I miss my aJays three because I lost them some time back due to my carelessness. But they were the best built earpiece would clearly be a great first earpiece for all budding audiophiles out there. A word of advice: Don't try using this with screamo/heavy metal music though. Your ears will literally bleed. Overall, my rating is an 8 out of 10. A great buy for its durability and excellent bass response. If you don't mind the slight discomfort in them. The Ajays 5 is a recent release is SGD$128 if I am not wrong and they re-designed the earpiece for better comfort. If you seek comfort, you might want to invest a couple of ten dollars more for the extra comfort.

For those with a lesser budget, you can get the Ajays one which does not boast as good of a bass as the ajays three but is the same in all aspects of design. It however doesn't come with the accessories that come with the Ajays three except for the booklet and the case and extra earbuds. It costs only SGD$58 at any good earphone shops. You can also get them at Isetan.

Word of advice: due to the durability of the product, you might want to photocopy the receipt as it tends to "spoil" only after the 1 and a half year mark and your receipt is most probably faded by then. Have fun experimenting on these earpiece. Peace out!