Just got back last Sunday on a family holiday to Bintan Island, Indonesia. We stayed at the 5-star Bintan Lagoon Resort (Jalan Indera Segara, Bintan Utara, Lagoi, Riau, Indonesia). The hotel is largely open-air, and I was surprised that it was actually quite cool even under the hot climate. I had a delux sea-view room. The room was very nicely appointed. My parents had a superior room which is not as well equipped and furnished. The superior room did not come with toothbrushes, shaving kits, slippers, and sleeping mat, all of which were found in the delux room.

The staff service is friendly throughout.

Just got back last Sunday from a family holiday at Bintan Island, Riau, Indonesia.

Had alumni lunch at Indochine Waterfront (1 Empress Place, #01-03, Singapore) yesterday with visiting UW Math Dean Tom Coleman. It was great to meet friends that I haven't seen for sometime and to make new connections. But the food was something else .. ordinary .. very ordinary. We left it to the recommendation of the captain, which brought us a appetizer platter, deep fried softshell crab, pepper beef, seafood curry, and stirfried vegetables. I couldn't say much more about the food except that it did not impress. We felt we would have better spent our money at the nearby Fullerton Hotel.

Dad saw a review of Dempsey's Hut (130E Minden Road, Singapore) in the papers and decided to check it out, so we went for lunch there last Saturday afternoon. I must say this is an over-rated place both for its ambience, food, and service.

Dempsey's Hut is located behind what used to be the old club house for the Tanglin Golf Course. As the area is undergoing some major construction, the air is extremely dusty. All the tables and chairs are dusty and one wonders about the amount of microparticles that are landing in whatever you are eating. My car was coated in a layer of dust after only 1 hour of lunch.

We ordered the supposedly famous curry chicken with french loaf. The amount was miserable for what they charge -- S$8.50 per bowl. You can get them for less than half the price at hawker centres! The bread was thin and breaks easily, making it difficult to dip into the curry.

Service was very unprofessional and slow. The served curry with plates. When I asked them for bowls, they claimed they don't have any. But I saw two diners drinking soup out of soup bowls! Only when I insisted did they go get the soup bowls, and very reluctantly. On the way to bringing us the soup bowls, the waitress was playing with another colleague, who seemed like the boss. And this was when we were all waiting for the bowls to start eating! Best part is, Dempsey's Hut had the cheek to charge us 10% service charge for non-existent service!

My verdict: Avoid this place at all cost.

Celebrated XQ's birthday over dinner at Equinox The Restaurant (Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road, Singapore 178882) two days ago. There was some mismanagement of our reservation. I was told over the phone that I would have a table by the window at 8:30pm. But when we reached the restaurant, we were told that the restaurant cannot guarantee a window table by 8:30pm. I was mad of course, but fortunatley we did get one at the end.

The menu is more limited than I expected. We started with some cocktails. For dinner, XQ had a pumpkin puree soup and a yuzu marinated cod, while I had a grilled rib eye. The food is generally quite good, but the view stole the show. The night view of Singapore from the top of Swissotel was simply spectacular.

A surprise came at the end of our dinner when the waiter brought a complimentary birthday cake and took a polaroid picture of us.

The price per person is about S$100.

Had dinner with SM at Sushi Jiro (695 East Coast Road, Singapore 459059) last week. I picked this Japanese restaurant for two reasons: 1) SM was rushing for his flight back to Jakarta so it is better to avoid getting into the traffic jam on East Coast Parkway by eating nearer the airport, and 2) I wanted to try a new restaurant.

We had mixed sashimi, grilled cod, softshell crab handroll, california roll, and fried chicken. I find the food only average although the price is very high (more expensive that what some hotel restaurants charge). On the evening we were there, we were the only ones in the entire restaurant. This shows how popular the restaurant is.

I recommend giving this place a miss, on their high price-to-value ratio. There are other better Japanese restaurants around to spend your money on!

Our dinner for two came to S$123.