Ippudo @ Marina Gallery

Had lunch at Ippudo with Wany today.. She had a craving since last year to try the ramen at this restaurant as it was touted the "Best Ramen restaurant in Singapore" by many.

Well, I raised my eyebrows at that bold statement.. as there are many Ramen establishments in Singapore and most of them claim to have the BEST ramen in Singapore.

To many people who have not tasted the original Ramen in Japan, they won't know what is good ramen.. I am not pretentious. It's a fact. Just like eating a local Singapore dish in another country.. it may be good, but it'll never be as good as the original in the original country.

It's all about the ingredients. Even if they are all air-flown in from Japan, it won't be as fresh as eating in Japan.

There are many variations on Ramen.. from Hokkaido to Kyushu to Osaka.. each city has their own flavours. Miso, Shoyu, Pork Broth..

Anyways, I really wanna go to Yokohama's Ramen Musuem! I was staying in a hotel that is 10mins walking distance from it but didn't have the chance to visit cos I was working. :(

Chasyu Rice

Shoyu Ramen

Service was horrible. They rushed us to take our orders and kept hard-selling their stupid sparkling juices and pressured us to order more side dishes. WTF! There wasn't a queue outside as we went around 4pm so why are they in a hurry to chase us away? Moreover, I hate it whenever someone comes in the restaurant and they start yelling "Welcome" in Japanese, trying to out-shout each other to prove that they are welcoming but instead irritating the customers!!

Afterwards we went to Centrepoint for ice-cream at Haagen Daz cos I had a 30% discount coupon from 8days! :)

Shopped at Cold Storage and found out that there's two types of my favourite chocolate, Crunchie!

Made in Australia $1.95 VS Made in UK $2.25

We went to Taka cos Wany wanna go to Kino and on the way up I went to check the prices of the Thomas Sabo charms cos she said the prices went up... and it was true! Prices went up by 20% minimum!! I asked the salesgirl and she cited "Increased labour costs" as a reason and said that the prices went up on 14 July.

WHAT BULLSHIT! Bah. I only have 3 of the charms and planned to buy at least 4 more.. now the prices are so high, I am not sure if I am gonna buy them now.. it's so expensive!! From $119 to $134! From $98 to $113! All the nice ones are super expensive now!