Friday, February 10, 2012

TGIF - Happy Hour at Cuppage Center!

Even though I'm not gainfully employed, I still welcome the weekend with the same fervor. After all, it allows me to take a break from my to do list. Here's a snapshot from our happy hour at Cuppage Center from last Friday! 


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Hawker Fare - Pork Congee

Had delicious pork congee with egg for lunch. Congee had a very smooth texture... yum yum! Congee is more often referred to as "porridge" in Singapore.

Drink was refreshing sugar cane juice with a slice of lemon!

Location: Hawker Center near Clementi MRT

PORK CONGEE

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Coffee Shop Fare - Tissue Prata and Teh Tarik

Simple breakfast fare - Prata and Teh! Everyone knows about the regular and plain roti prata, but less people order the tissue prata. Tissue prata is light and fluffy, sugary on the inside, great for a snack or dessert!

Teh Tarik (Malay term) translated means "pulled tea". Teh Tarik can be a little sweet, especially to the Western palate, due to the condensed milk in the drink. "Pulling" or transferring the drink between 2 containers helps to create the bubbles/froth at the top of the drink. If you would like coffee, order "Kopi Tarik" instead!

Location: Al Azhar Restaurant, Cheong Chin Nam Road, opposite Beauty World

TISSUE PRATA

Monday, February 6, 2012

Scenes from Pre-Thaipusam

Thaipusam is a festival celebrated by Tamil Hindus. Thaipusam festival this year falls on February 7th, however we managed to catch the pre-celebration Silver Chariot procession. If you would like to find out more about Thaipusam, check this out. Here are our pics...

          

Location: Keong Saik Road, Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple, Singapore

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Batam - The Nitty Gritty

Here's a post about the nitty gritty details of our short Batam getaway.


Our Short Getaway to Batam

Anxious to getaway from our hectic lifestyle in Singapore, we took a short trip to Batam this past weekend. Batam is part of a string of islands in the Riau Archipelago, belonging to Indonesia. Truthfully, unless you are a golf enthusiast or perhaps you are really into shopping for super cheap stuff (clothes, electronics, household appliances etc.) at the Batam mega malls, there is really not much else to do on the island. So, we set our expectations on a spa only getaway and booked a night at the number one hotel in Batam on TripAdvisor - Tempat Senang, and we were pleasantly surprised.

To help get us into RELAX mode

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Hawker Fare - Malay Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is one of Singapore's famous delicacies. However, the traditional chicken rice can sometimes be a bit oily to taste. Why not try the Malay Chicken Rice instead... tastes just as good and probably a little healthier!

Location: Near Bukit Batok MRT

Malay Chicken Rice

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Merlion - A Photo Essay


Almost synonymous with Singapore itself, the half-fish, half-lion Merlion is no doubt a well-known icon. If you would like to learn more about the Merlion, click here. Enjoy these pictures!

Lego Merlion at Vivocity

Friday, January 20, 2012

Hawker Fare - Fried Carrot Cake

Fried Carrot Cake is my favorite hawker food. Period. 

Black Fried Carrot Cake

Monday, January 16, 2012

Our Mini Vacation to Phuket - The Nitty Gritty

Here's a post on all the nitty gritty - costs and other details for our Phuket trip. 


Friday, January 13, 2012

Our Mini Vacation to Phuket - Day 3

Day 3 was reserved for good times at the beach. We went at about 11am to lay out on our towels. If you want a front row beach chair, go early (at about 9am) or all your would be left with is a view of other sunbathers! It was a lazy day, we laid on the beach for an hour or so, and then retreated to the pool area. When we headed out for lunch, we took a quick walk to explore Karon village and aside from the usual tourist shops and restaurants, we didn't find anything else of much interest. 

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel to rest our afternoon and yes, you guessed it -- Law & Order Marathon! Right before dinner, we took a nice long walk on the beach as we watched the sun sink over the horizon. Yet another successful sunset beach walk on a vacation!

          

After dinner, we got some pancakes from Mr. Pancake. Featured here -- Banana Chocolate and Nutella Pancakes!! Prices were reasonable too! Only about ~THB50 per pancake!

         

A peaceful and generally sunny beach vacation. We head back to Singapore the next day with fond memories of Green Curry Chicken Pizza and Nutella Pancakes! Goodbye Phuket! 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Our Mini Vacation to Phuket - Day 2

Still somewhat jetlagged from our cross-pacific travels the week before, we awoke early on the second day and headed downstairs to check out the complimentary breakfast. This was a new experience for DBB. It was a huge spread of Asian and "Western" food - including soup noodles, fried rice, pancakes, cereal, juices, bread and our favorite -- the omelette station! To me, this was another typical buffet meal at a  beachside resort in Asia -- it is what you would expect for a buffet breakfast while holidaying in Asia. 

After breakfast, we awaited our only activity of the day - a day long sailing/snorkeling excursion to Coral Island. We had booked a trip with Sweet Dreamers, a tour company we found on TripAdvisor. While there are larger boats/companies out there, we opted for this company as we were looking to go on a sailing boat and we wanted to travel in a smaller group (max size is 6pm). The excursion that we signed up for was the Day Trip to Coral Island


OUR BOAT FOR THE DAY

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Our Mini Vacation to Phuket - Day 1

We caught an early Wednesday morning flight to Phuket and arrived late morning. Clearing immigration was a piece of cake. We found an ATM at the terminal to withdraw some Thai Baht for our trip. Then we proceeded to hunt for our hotel airport transfer. We have read many horror stories about pre-arranged transport not working out and I was praying fervently that we would soon spot our driver. When we eventually emerged outside of the airport, there was a great crowd of people, mainly drivers waiting to pick up their passengers. We spotted a man holding a sign with our names on it and when DBB pointed at the sign, the man gestured for us to follow him to a van that had the words "Karon Sea Sands Resort" neatly emblazoned on its side. We were on our last leg of the journey to the beach!

After an hour's ride, we arrived at Karon Sea Sands Resort and check in was very smooth. We got there at 12pm, but they let us check in early without us having to mention anything. Whilst checking in, as we slowly tuned our ears to Thai English and look over payment details, we were also served a welcome drink and handed a cold towel. The drink was a shot of watermelon juice, it was very refreshing. We were even provided a complimentary beach bag at check in! After checking in, we headed straight for our hotel room and we were impressed by what we found.

Deluxe Room at Karon Sea Sands Resort

Friday, January 6, 2012

Dreaming about Phuket

After a few days in Singapore, we decided that we needed a mini vacation (already)! Mainly because I have spent the last few days helping my mom spring clean our apartment ahead of Chinese New Year, I need a good vacation where I just lie around doing nothing. For DBB, he would like to start exploring Southeast Asia and get a trip in before he starts working again!

We chose Phuket as we wanted a beach destination, cheap air tickets and a hotel with a good pool, air-conditioning and within walking distance of nearby restaurants. To be close to the beach and restaurants is a must for us as we have decided that for our first trip of 2012, we are not yet adventurous enough to bargain with tuk tuk drivers. 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Our First Days in Singapore

The first week in Singapore was relatively uneventful and passed in a blur. We battled our jetlag, unpacked and settled into living with the parents. While living in Singapore will be an adjustment for both of us,  eating in Singapore comes easy to us and will always be very enjoyable. Here are our food highlights from the first week ...