Halloween Horror Nights 5

The region's most iconic Halloween experience is back, again. I've seen Halloween Horror Nights change throughout the years, and with each year the experience just gets better with more effects, and of course more scare factor. This year, be prepared to be immerse yourself in localised haunted houses. With themes revolving around HDBs, the MRT and Hungry Ghosts, Singaporeans would be able to easily relate with the costumes and themes.

The aftermath of the Bood Moon will feature 4 haunted houses and 3 scare zones at the park this year. Of which, one of the scare zones (conTERMINATED) feel some sort more of like a haunted house. Be prepared to walk through paths you have never seen before from previous years, including the most anticipated first-ever dark house (yes, completely dark), Tunnel People.

Collaborating with a local franchise, True Singapore Ghost Stories, The MRT will feature an underground train station built at a Malay burial site. Be prepared to walk through train doors that might close on you anytime, leaving you surrounded by Toyols and Pontianaks.

The Hell House, a must-go in our opinion, ranks one of the scariest this year. Be greeted by Paper Servants of the Effigy House and be prepared to run out perspiring as you feel the heat (yes, they really mean it) because everything in the house is made to be burnt as offerings. There's also a Hungry Ghost Trail just beside, in case you think it is not scary enough.

If going on the MRT and through a Hell House is not enough, the Siloso Gateway Block 50 with flesh-eating zombies is bound to leave you running. Not forgetting, they also included water effects, which we won't disclose too much because we don't want to spoil the fun. Walking through void decks and HDB corridors never felt more daunting and scary before, and might just change your mindset after this once.

Lastly, Tunnel People is one that you should think twice, or even thrice before heading in. We hear some people tried walking alone, and turned back after a few seconds. The whole passageway is pitch black, you won't be seeing anything. But well, if you do, you should start running. Feel your way around, because honestly that's what we did, and we were glad we made it out in one piece. Perhaps if you are feeling brave, you can opt to walk alone?

Around the park will also feature scare zones - The Invaders, conTERMINATED and Hungry Ghosts, leaving you running all over, we promise. Don't say we didn't warn, enter the houses and walk the trails at your own risk and be careful not to bump into the offerings on the floor at Hungry Ghosts. Certain main rides and attractions will also be open during the event.

Tickets are priced at SGD 68 for ordinary entry, or you have the option to top up to get an express pass, which is highly recommended. You can also opt for a Frequent Fear Pass (as if getting scared once isn't enough) - the pass allows you to multiple entries on different nights. Halloween Horror Nights 4 runs from 2 October to 31 October 2015. More information can be found on their website www.halloweenhorrornights.com.sg.

Nichology readers enjoy a discounted price when tickets are purchased at http://bit.ly/HHN5-Nichology.


This was an invited media session.

Mid Autumn 2015

With Mid Autumn fast approaching and the mooncake frenzy getting to everyone, i figured this was the most apt time to recommend a few mooncakes we tasted this year, some of which wow-ed us away with the most unique flavours like Soursop, to flavours that you would have least expected like rose. 

Man Fu Yuan, InterContinental Singapore

The Tea Collection - Revolving around tea, the snowskin mooncake collection at Man Fu Yuan InterContinental this year flaunts flavours such as Earl Grey and Baileys Truffle, Japanese Matcha, Oolong with Black Sesame and Rose with Pistachio.

The Earl Grey and Baileys is one to not miss if you love your alcohol-infused mooncakes - the Baileys taste is distinct, and the mooncake has a molten chocolate ball center. The Rose with Pistachio is a bit like having a garden in your mouth, with an aromatic rose flavour that lingers after your first bite. It also comes with a limited edition box that doubles up as storage at home.

Order at singapore.intercontinental.com/mooncakes.

Peach Blossoms, Marina Mandarin Singapore

Citrusy Good - Light on the palate and perfect as an 'after-meal' indulgence, the Yuzu Mini Snowskin from Peach Blossoms at Marina Mandarin this year boasts a generous serving of citrus yuzu and velvety smooth white lotus paste encased within a dewy snowskin.

The bits of yuzu in the mooncake is prominent, and it adds another dimension packing sweet-sour notes. Snowskin wise, we actually think that was has one of the best. Did we also mention the blush-looking colour that looks very soothing to the eyes?

Order at http://www.meritushotels.com/marina-mandarin-singapore/mid-autumn-festival

Xin Cuisine, Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium

A Mix of Everything - Expect colours, colours and more colours from Xin Cuisine this year. Their mooncake collection flaunts an array of flavours from a very unique Peranakan Durian that has snowskin made with Buttery Pea, to alcohol flavours like Coffee White Lotus with Rum & Raisin Chocolate and Soursop and Chocolate Crunch that's refreshingly good. With so many flavours and colours in a box, you are bound to be spoilt for choice.

If you are not a fan of snowskin, their classic baked flavours include the Assorted Nuts with Osmanthus Honey, packed with a lot of crunch and texture, as well as the Xin's Signature Mini Egg Custard with Egg Yolk, topped with gold dust on top - simple, elegant and delicious.

Order by email at xin.sinhi@ihg.com or call +65 6731 7131.

With so many places hopping onto the bandwagon of the mooncake season, your best bet will be to follow what you think is deserving of a try. I mean, it's a once in a year affair, and you wouldn't want to live the next few months thinking about why you missed out on it. Remember, make the calories work for you.

Old Hong Kong: Old is NOT Gold

While i should be finishing up bits and pieces of my assignments that's due pretty soon, i thought that taking some time (perhaps a couple of minutes) to pen this down wouldn't hurt. How long has it been since i raged about bad food? Well, not so often because to me - experiences with bad food just isn't worthy of my time to be penned and shared. But then you have bad service, which really is pretty much worse than bad food, in my opinion.

Old Hong Kong - a restaurant at Square 2, just right above Novena MRT. We (my friends and i) decided to pop by for some dim sum on a weekday, only to have our lunch and appetite spoilt by not-so-delicious food and horrendous service. You know how dim sum places always have a paper for you to tick and order what you want? To me, it's perfect - because the waiters have almost a 0% chance of getting your order wrong. So we ordered, and our food came one by one (a bit slow but i'll pass on this because i'm not that demanding). And then halfway through the meal, we started to realise that they mixed up not one, two but THREE of our orders.

The pink sheet (double-sided) were what we personally filled in and ordered. Looking about it, i even made the effort to circle the items i ordered so that it would be more visible for their old and probably half-blind staff, with cataracts in both eyes maybe. Whatever happened to my Pan-Fried Shrimp Rolls which was never entered in their system? Maybe i did forget to circle it after putting a "1" down, but as a waiter isn't it your job to come up to me to confirm again if i did order it?

And then there was the Steamed Flour Rolls with Barbecued Pork which i ordered 2 portions. Instead, they keyed in Steamed Flour Rolls with Shrimp. And when it was served and i told them to rectify the mistake, the waiter shrugged me off and rolled her eyes. Remind me again, why am i paying for service charge?

That's not all because there was also the Steamed Egg Yolk Custard Buns which i marked as "2". Guess what? I'm not sure if the number "2" looks like a "1" because they decided to key in just 1. Pretty sure 1 is their favourite number, even though their service and food is no where near being number 1. The irony is that we saw a huge signage outside the restaurant which read that they are the "top 5" best in Singapore. Erm, perhaps this is the time to add a "1", so that it becomes top 51?

And then there was this. What is this you ask? A dissected spring roll, of which it was stated as "Deep-Fried Shredded Smoked Duck Breast Spring Rolls" on their menu. The first time it was served to us (made a mistake by not taking a picture of it the first time round), the spring rolls were filled with nothing but cabbage and turnips. So we asked to speak to the manager, and she shrugged us off by taking our plate away without a word of apology. When we asked if we could cancel the order (because trust me, we were expecting the same shit to be served and yes, we were right), she firmly said no, and insisted that we had to have a new portion since we ordered it.

Fine by me, but when it came the second time round, all i saw was pittance of what looked like leftover duck meat from their peking duck that may have came from the chute. And of course, again, 90% lettuce, turnips and maybe a bit more mushrooms. Are you kidding me?

And here's the best part. When i called for the bill, i told the manager how dissatisfied we were with the service (mix-up of orders) and that specific spring roll dish (by the way, the Sweet Red Bean Cream tasted like diluted crap as well), she replied me sarcastically with two words - "hao, hao". Which by the way means, "good, good" when translated from Chinese. No joke. And while we were on our way out, the waitress that was responsible for all the mistakes gave us a 'tsk'. Well done, i applaud her for her bravery.

We left the place swearing to never come back again. I would hesitantly put up with sucky attitude from places with good food, but when your food is barely near the mediocre benchmark and your service is shit - it just spells disaster. And if you are reading this while sitting in the restaurant hoping this "review" will help you decide what to order - may all the luck be with you.



Old Hong Kong
10 Sinaran Drive
Square 2, #02-80
Singapore 307506
www.oldhongkong.com.sg

This was deliberately posted as a negative review.