Yummy food @ Ion & Unpleasant Experience along Orchard Road

Two evenings ago, Hubby and I met Beebee in Orchard and all of us had dinner at the food court at Ion, Food Opera. The only times we popped by Ion before that was during our weekend walkabouts, and the entire food court would be filled with the weekend crowds, so it'd be kinda impossible to have a proper sit-down meal there. But that evening was pretty okay being a work day evening and all, so we managed to get ourselves settled comfortably there for a meal.

The items we ordered tasted pretty yummy, but the prices were indeed a bit steeper than most other food courts. Beebee and I both ordered from the same stall specialising in fish soup and rice dishes -- I had some orange dory fish with side salad and rice and she had the hotplate dory fish with some kinda special spicy sauce and butter rice. Both items cost $6 each, but luckily it was quite fulfilling in terms of both taste and quantity. Hubby had some award-winning Hokkien mee that was selling at $5 for a regular plate -- it tasted so good that Beebee and I kept stealing strands of his noodles away from his plate. Haha.

Then came yesterday evening when I was in Orchard again for some business with a few colleagues and students. After that, I went about trying to get some ideas for Hubby's Christmas gift and ended up at Ion's food hall again to get some takeaway food for my dinner and Hubby's supper.

Bought for Hubby the beef burger with avocado and cheese from R burger, the little burger eatery established by Mediacorp artiste Adam Chen. Unlike normal burger buns, the burgers from his stall all have fillings between those white Chinese bun-like tops and bottoms, which is said to be full of collagen goodness to appeal to the female crowd. Some of his burgers were featured in the latest issue of Her World, which Hubby and I were poring over just last weekend. Couldn't remember which were the hits and which were the misses as stated in the magazine article, so just chose whichever I thought was interesting. Thank goodness Hubby thought it tasted good. :p

For my dinner, I had some takeaway Japanese gyoza that came with some special sauce instead of the normal ginger strips and vinegar, as well as a small bowl of Korean rice cakes that were drowned in some rich kimchi gravy with bits of vegetables here and there. That was the first time I tried Korean rice cakes... expected it to be a little like our local lontong, but the rice came in short but thick rolls and tasted pretty rubbery to me, so I didn't quite fancy that. Loved the gyoza though. :)

Overall, not bad lah...there really is quite a variety of food items over at Ion so shoppers are spoilt for choice. I walked several rounds trying to decide what exactly to buy! :p

Hmmm...speaking of walking, an unpleasant encounter was what I experienced for the first time while walking over to Ion from Ngee Ann City yesterday. Was accosted by two females who acted over-friendly and pleaded with me for some time to do a survey. Told them I could only spare five minutes, and was led all the way to their office on the 18th floor of Ngee Ann City Tower B. On the way up, I was already bewildered and kept asking where they were leading me. Then when we got to the 18th floor and entered their office, one of them just led me to this height and weight machine and wanted to take my measurements! At that point in time, I became more angry than puzzled and told them I didn't agree to be taken all the way here to take whatever measurements and that I only agreed to answer some questions. Then I told the flabbergasted girl that I wasn't even told the objective of whatever they were trying to do. Then the other female appeared again and wanted to pacify me by leading me to a small table and asking me to sit while she explained further. Turned out they were trying to promote some stuff. I refused to listen any longer and simply stood to go. They then showed me to the door after handing me a leaflet. If their intention was to make known their company brand to me, then I think they've achieved their aim, cos I won't ever forget this company and its rude tactics.

That experience left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't think I'm ever inclined to accept any similar request to 'answer a few questions' at all in future. Hmmph! *angry*