The Cube

This was actually taken when flight took off from Singapore

I had about 2 weeks holidays just before Christmas to a week after new year - one of those mandatory leave. I started off with Luang Prabang, then KL followed with short stops in Alor Setar and Penang. Singapore was my last stop before I fly back to Melbourne. One of the main reasons was because there isn't many direct flights to and out of KL. Malaysia Airlines was too expensive, Air Asia wasn't cheap either plus they have now move to Avalon Airport which I am trying to avoid. Expensive and far isn't a tempting choice. I departed Singapore on Scoot and have some time to visit my friends in Singapore, which means food!


Dian Xiao Er
I landed in Singapore just in time for dinner on a Thursday night. To save time my friend travelled closer to the airport and we had dinner at Tampines One. For some reason I read Tampines as Tam-pines but it is actually Tam-pi-nes (the pi is not pronounced as π).

Herbal roast duck

Sambal squid and petai

Baby kailan

I think this is house made tofu

If memory doesn't fail me this is likely tian ji

Killiney Kopitiam
This time Moo moo cow brought me to the first Killiney Kopitiam on 67 Killiney Road, Singapore. The shop front existed since 1919 but the koptiam was only named as Killiney in 1993. The shop setting in this shop is still very traditional feel with hanging fans, wooden stool and white tiles wall.

Kaya toast with soft boiled egg. Curry chicken and roti canai at the back

French toast!

Crave
Lunch was at Crave to have some Malay style nasi lemak. Umm... I prefer Malaysian's nasi lemak, maybe my taste bud is trained so...


I had the kuning fish set and moo moo cow had the chicken wing set. Add on squid and spicy thai otah to try.


Heytea
Bubble tea is taking the world by storm. This one is from China and popular for their cheese tea. We shared the grapefruit boom tea.



Fishball noodles at neighbourhood food court
This was my breakfast... hahaha. No photos of dinner the night before but it was zichar at another neighbourhood food court. Hehe.



I am truly blessed with amazing friends. They took made an effort to spent time with me, not only that they paid for my meals too.


Side note: Please remember to carry your passport if you are shopping for tourist tax refund! ... I forgot :(

That gave me 2 dinners, 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and many snacks opportunities.

First dinner:
- Zichar (as what it is called in Singapore) or 煮炒 which means stir fry dishes at Toa Payoh Food Court.
We (4 pax) shared fish curry, a tofu dish and soup
- Ice-cream dessert at Double Scoops.


Breakfast
Simple breakfast at Toast Box - we shared toasted bread and steamed bread, half boiled egg and drinks.


First walk
Henderson Waves



The weather was mostly cloudy with some drizzling rain at some point, so it make it less hot.


Lunch
Unfortunately I had to skip lunch as I was not feeling well. :(

Second walk
Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Sands Bay area, armed with milk tea.






Dinner
 - Chilli crab at Jumbo Seafood. We went to the branch near Clarke Quay.
 - Frozen yogurt as dessert from Llaollao



Third walk
Paid respect to the Merlion, after all I was in Singapore.

 

1 long walk plus 2 shorter ones, maybe would have compensated the my meals. Lol


Side note: Must remember to pick up my left behind hoodie in Singapore if I go back again...

M = morning, A = afternoon, E = evening

Dinner was at Toa Payoh Market & Food Centre (I think that's the correct name) with friends. I didn't take any picture of the food. Dessert was tau fu fah. Yumm.

Breakfast the next day was at Toast Box.

Clockwise from top left: Peanut butter toast, nasi lemak, half boiled egg with earlier toast, mee siam

We went about to do some shopping/errand done and had I♥TaiMei as mid morning tea. Little P has been raving about food in I♥TaiMei so the longest time. Her favourite set is 小S (Xiao S) which comprises of popcorn chicken + sweet potato fries and a drink.

Main star - pop corn chicken, fries on top and bottom mushroom

Despite having a drink that goes with our meal, Moo Moo Cow recommended that we should try this yummy lava cake from Chocolate Origin. :)
We went to the branch in Bugis Junction.


Lunch was at 4 Fingers. I was surprised that I couldn't find any photo in my stash, I remembered taking a shot or two. Was suppose to meet up with a friend and had tea but he stood me up and I ended up hovering at Orchard station for over an hour, carrying some stuff that I wanted to pass to him. The stash of things included a bottle of wine, thinking back, or obviously I wasn't thinking or I would've just open and had many sips. LOL. This followed with dinner at Sakae Sushi with another friend at Junction 8 branch. No photo on this one.

My last meal before departing from Singapore was at a 三盅两件 (sān zhōng liǎng jiàn), according to it's own website as Soup Restaurant. Little P's favourite dish from this restaurant was Samsui Ginger Chicken (below).


Fairly obvious that I wasn't any food blogger cos I just dived in to all other food, so no photos. Grin.

First meal in Malaysia, at Nyonya Colours in Gardens.

Clockwise from top left: Cucur udang, curry noodles,  nasi lemak, nasi kunyit, cendol

These were the only one I didn't eat, we just bought them on behalf of a friend. At Big Apple Donuts & Coffee. They used to do durian doughnuts called Duren Duren but somehow not available when we were there.


One of the food that is always on my to-eat list is Portuguese Grilled Seafood - we usually ordered stingray, a vege dish (usually some beans) and either squid or clams. I picked clams this round.


Of course, there were many more meals but I didn't take photos of all but here are a few more notable ones.

Three Cup Chicken @ Ki Ki Taiwan Cuisine, KLCC

Fat Boy's Wimpy Burger @ Avenue K

Durian Pancake from Sumptuous Desserts

 One of my favourite food and must-eat is this banana leaf wrapped nasi lemak.



Side note: Maybe I should make my own banana leaf nasi lemak? But where to find banana leaf eh?

There was a Elephant Parade in Singapore when I was there end of last year. There were heaps and heaps of them. Of course, I have not seen all of them, just a handful. Some were really cute though :)

I have every intention to visit the Hendersons Wave Bridge when I was in Singapore. However the weather wasn't too kind for outdoor activities, and we had to can it. As compensation, there was an evening without rain, and I get to see Marina Bay Sands ^_^

I didn't enter the casino though.. and that was the first time I learned that Singaporean citizens and permanent residents have to pay to enter the casino. Hmm..









Side note: online shopping is hazardous...

The 2 weeks to Singapore and back home were mostly on food. I had a couple of lists - errands to run, things to buy and one on food to eat. The food to eat list consists of food that I craved for over the time, I can't find them in Sydney or those that available but just does not taste the same. Unfortunately with my very amateur-ish skills, I just couldn't get the taste right.

Little P and Moo Moo Gal were most hospitable, housed me, planned my itinerary, brought me around the city and to eat in their midst of moving. Especially, silly crazy me strolled in Singapore with S$50 to spend for 2 full days.

The Supper
You read that right. The flight I took was a little delayed and by the time I picked up my luggage and passed Immigration, it was closed to 1am. Little P and Moo Moo Gal was already frolicking in the airport waiting for me. It appeared that they sat at one of those benches looking over the gates, just like cinemas seating facing the screen waiting for me and I strolled out from another gate.

As all of us were hungry, yes at 1am and I had both the meals offered on flight, we nicely walked in to TCC (The Coffee Connoisseur) for supper.


Deluxe Snack Platter


Hearty Breakfast with Eggs & Shrooms

We also ordered a Shrooms Bite, of mushroom and cheese which surprisingly not found in my photos collection. Must've jumped at the food and forgot to take a pic... though I thought I did grab a picture. Shrug. On top of the 3, we also placed an order for a pasta meal but it took way too long and we decided to cancel the meal as sleepiness crept in on us all. According to the waitress, they ran out of pasta sauce and need to make it from scratch, hence the wait. Shrug. The food was ok but the wait was a little too long.

Changi Airport T3 Arrival Hall
65 Airport Boulevard #01-22 Terminal 3 Arrival Hall
Phone : 6214 0680 Fax : 6214 0386
Business Hours: Daily, PH & PH Eve - 24 Hours

The Breakfast/Brunch
Breakfast (or maybe brunch due to the time we woke up) at Day 1 (yup, a couple of hours of sleep after supper) was at Toa Payoh Food Court.


Singapore Hokkien Mee served with sambal.

In Alor Setar, we sometimes referred Har Mee as Hokkien Mee, and KL, the black stir fry noodles are also called Hokkien Mee. So, this is a totally different variant. In fact, I reminded me of Lam Mee of some sort because of the starchy feel to the gravy.


Oh Chien, the salty version. Fried oyster with egg, also served with sambal. See how Singaporeans and Malaysians are generous with their condiments :P


The famous Soon Heng Rojak

Little P was given the task to queue up at the rojak stall while Moo Moo Gal went round to get the rest of the food. I had the easiest of task, sitting at the table to guard the space :P


Little P's breakfast - slow cooked soup or literally translated as old fire cooked soup. It's like treasures inside a small bowl.


My dose of coffee and Moo Moo Gal's Teh C Peng

Toa Payoh Food Court
Basement 1 Food Court
HDB Hub Toa Payoh Central

Day 2 breakkie was with a friend, a simple cappuccino and bun, nothing special and no picture to show.

Day 3 breakkie was nasi lemak in airport. How I miss having nasi lemak for breakkie! :P



The Lunch
Day 2 lunch was a simple fare. I tried to convince myself that I need the detox after stuffing myself silly the first day I touched down... also that my friend is a vegetarian.


Cobb Salad from Salad Stop, Novena Square

I was introduced to Cobb Salad when I was in SF and this is one salad that I really like. The Cobb Salad from Salad Stop was a little different though, the obvious different was the egg was not served as hard boiled egg. I prefer the one I had in USA though.

Salad Stop
238 Thomson Road, #02-24, Novena Square, Singapore 307683

The Snacks

Ole Ole fries from Best Fries Forever - Salsa get creamed, Spanish style

Best Fries Forever
Raffles City
#B1-55 Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road
Nearest MRT: EW13 City Hall

The one we went was in Raffles City, picking up the fries and to meet up with Little P who was queueing for Buffet Town. I was told reservation was difficult to get too, after all it was Christmas Eve.

Sinful toast with thick coat of kaya + butter from Toast Box. Yumm. I did try to replicate this at Sydney but I think it will taste as good if you spread it with very thick layer :P
Hence, sinful :P



313@Somerset B2
313 Orchard Road, #B2-31/32/33
313@Somerset
S(238895)
Tel 6634 2863
(At least, I think it is this one that we went...)

The Dinner
Dinner at day 1 was at Buffet Town - it was a Christmas Eve dinner. I was ashamed that I didn't prepare enough gifts for all who present. Umm... was even contemplating of hiding in the washroom when it happened..umm




Christmas was around the corner, so we had roast turkey! Yumm..




Prawns, satay, chilli crab with deep fried mantou, sushi, sashimi, Peking duck, fishes, veges, selection of ice cream (the ones pictured was black sesame and ... can't remember), oysters and ginger bread house (we didn't have this) but we had much much more than what was photographed.

Buffet Town
252 North Bridge Road, #B1-44E Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore
Tel: +65 6837 3793

Dinner for day 2 was kolok mee! I so miss kolok mee, but unfortunately it is not the easiest thing to find even in Malaysia, outside of Sarawak. It was served together with a small bowl of soup.
This was found actually in the very upmarket Marina Sands Bay - a stall call Jiaxiang. They literally make you walked all the way across the mall just to get to the food court, which I suspect is the cheapest eatery in the whole shopping mall. :P

It will at least curb the cravings for kolok mee for a while, I suppose. By the way, mind you, it was difficult to get a table, we were there at dinner time. Not sure if it would be much empty outside peak hours.




Side note: Should I travel again for this CNY?