Singapore 2016 (Part 1)

Hi! It has been a few days since I last blogged (not that I blogged often lately). LOL! I just came home from Singapore yesterday afternoon around 2:30PM. Both inbound and outbound flights were full. But thankfully, I still managed to get front aisle seats.

When I was younger, I preferred window seat so I could watch the sky view from my window pane. But over the past few years, I preferred aisle seat so that I could go to the washroom easily. And most importantly, I could leave the aircraft faster after it landed.

Anyways, this post will cover on my Singapore trip. I am unlikely to do separate blog entries of the cafes which I had visited while in Singapore as I don’t think I have the time and mood to write. So, I might as well cut myself some loose and do it all at once.

After coming out from the aircraft, first thing to do is definitely joining the queue for Immigration clearance. I chose the lane which has the least Chinese tourists. Immigration clearance usually takes longer when it comes to Chinese tourists.

The Immigration Officer who checked my passport had to look at my face twice to verify. The picture on my passport was a lot different compared to my current facial feature. Not that I underwent plastic surgery or what. But I lose a lot of fats on my face and so did my double chin. The Immigration Officer said: “You loose a lot of weight” before stamping on my passport. LOL!

Upon immigration clearance, I went to the designated belt to collect my luggage. Thank goodness my luggage was already on the belt when I arrived. Hence, it didn’t take long on the luggage part. Looked for Belt 34 to find a Changi Recommends kiosk for the collection of my prepaid MRT Card as well as my rental pocket wifi device.

This is Changi Recommends kiosk. This one is located at T2 Arrival Hall, opposite Belt 34. You can find them at selected places in T1, T2 and T3. I got mine from T2 as that was where RBA flight lands and takes off.

I bought these from Changi Recommends for S$12 each. I only bought one in the first place but Patrick said he wanted one too. According to him, some places offer special promotion if you pay with FlashPay.

This was the pocket wifi which I rented from Changi Recommends for S$10 per day. The charge starts on the day you collect and until the day you returned the device. Say you collect on 09/04/2016 and return on 12/04/2016, the chargeable rate will be S$40.

A deposit of S$200 in the form of authorization hold of credit card will be required. So, do make sure you have a credit card with you as they do not accept debit card for authorization hold.

Click here if you want to know about this Singapore WiFi Router Rental.

The staff at Changi Recommends apologetically told me that they ran out of pocket wifi so he had to collect from another terminal. Waiting time was approximately 15 minutes. So, I used the waiting time to take selfie. Loves how my camera managed to “beautify” my skin so well.

Patrick picked me up from the airport and we headed to the hotel for check in. Sister flight from Shanghai was delayed for two hours as there was some military training on the sky. She only arrived around 6PM. So, Patrick and I headed out for lunch without her.

Lunch was supposedly at Wild Honey, Mandarin Gallery. No reservation was made beforehand and average waiting time was 30 to 45 minutes. Both of us were starving at the time and we decided not to wait and went ahead with Tonkatsu by Ma Maison.

TONKATSU BY MA MAISON, MANDARIN GALLERY
333A Orchard Road, #02-35/36 Mandarin Gallery, Singapore 238897

Katsu Don | S$21.80

Deep fried pork loin topped with egg and special soy sauce

Up close view of my Katsu Don. If you ask me if I liked what I ordered, I am gonna say I preferred Patrick’s lunch over mine. This pork loin of mine has a taste which I didn’t like. I consumed less pork since 9 months ago when I started dieting.

I gave half of my Katsu Don to Patrick as the portion was too big for me. I wasn’t even halfway through when I felt full. What’s so special about Tonkatsu by Ma Maison is that there is free flow of Miso soup and cabbage salad.

Chicken Katsu Set | S$21.80

Deep fried tender chicken cutlet

Like mine, Patrick’s lunch also came with shredded cabbage salad and miso soup. As for the rice, you can choose between white or brown rice. The chicken cutlet was extremely juicy and tender but fattening!

It rained when we came out from Mandarin Gallery. Hence, we used the underground bypass to get into ION Orchard from Takashimaya. Patrick wanted to go for dessert at Llao Llao but I was too full from lunch. And furthermore, frozen yogurt is not my cup of tea anyways. So, I told him to wait until Sister comes. Sister is a big fan of frozen yogurt.

Sister headed straight to the hotel by taxi from Changi International Airport. I had made a reservation with CreatureS for Saturday afternoon for their Durian Cake. As Sister flight was delayed, I had no choice but to cancel the reservation.

SHUFFLE BISTRO BAR
3D River Valley Road, #02-03, Clarke Quay, Singapore 179023

Dinner was at this place called Shuffle Bistro Bar. Andrea and Patrick brought me there when I visited them both few years ago. What’s so special about the place is that they have live band performances on every Monday to Saturday evening. For your information, they are close on every Sunday. The place could be very crowded on weekends. So, do make your reservation beforehand to avoid disappointment.

This is the band performing on that evening. They sang mostly English songs on the first quarter of the evening but Chinese songs for the requested ones. For your information, live band performance only starts at 8PM.

Selfie of Sister and I. My camera focused on her face but not mine. Ended up my face was being blurry. LOL! Guess my camera wasn’t on Portrait setup but Macro at the time. LOL!

Lemon Lime Bitters | S$15

Angostura Bitter, Lime Cordial & Sprite

Sister ordered this in the first place but I exchanged mine for hers as I did not like the strong taste of rum in my Pina Colada. Guess I am not a cocktail drinker afterall. LOL! Mocktail drinks are more my cup of tea. LOL!

Pina Colada | S$16

Rum, Malibu, Coconut Cream & Pineapple Juice

Ceasar Salad | S$10

Romaine lettuce tossed with homemade dressing topped with egg, Parmigiana cheese and crispy bacon 

There were croutons in the salad too! This portion of Cesar Salad was good for two and the dressing serving was too generous! We should have requested for no dressing, or at least dressing in a separate platter.

Sauteed Mushrooms | S$8

Fresh button mushrooms with garlic and white wine

For those who like button mushrooms, you will definitely like this. Both Sister and I enjoyed this dish. If you do not like the taste of white wine, fret not! The taste of white wine is completely non-existent for me. I am no wine drinker so I would say this dish is completely safe if you are allergic to alcohols.

Beer Battered Fish & Chip | S$18

Deep fried dory fillet with waffle fries, garden greens and tartar sauce

Both Sister and I enjoyed this too and she had more of this than me. We liked it that the dory fillet was juicy and tender. According to Sister, this was far better than the well known Fish & Chips she had in the UK.

Shuffle Wings | S$14

Deep fried chicken wings marinated with Asian herbs and spices

We were full to the brim way before this was being served to us. In conclusion, we ordered too much for two. Albeit this being one of the highly recommended dishes at Shuffle Bistro Bar, we find this average tasting only. Think we should have gone for the Honey Wings instead.

Click here for a full version of Shuffle Bistro Bar food menu.

We headed to Kbox Cathay Cineleisure for a karaoke session after dinner. It was three hours per session but we did not make full use of the three hours and left the venue like 2.5 hours later. We were both knackered and decided to return to hotel to rest.

LOLA’S CAFE
5 Simon Road, Singapore 545893

Met up with both Andrea and Patrick the next day for a whole day outing. The four of us met up at Paya Lebar MRT Station and took the subway together to Kovan MRT Station for breakfast at Lola’s Cafe.

We had only intended to start our day outing at 12PM in the first place. But when Andrea saw my planned food itinerary, she told me that she was interested to try Lola’s Cafe too. So, we met up earlier just to try Lola’s Cafe.

We arrived Lola’s Cafe like fifteen minutes past 10 and the cafe was half crowded. Thankfully, there was a table vacant which could fit just nice for four! If we had arrived slightly later, we would have to wait for tables.

Cappuccino | S$5
Flat White | S$5
Latte | S$5
Piccolo Latte | S$4

Our choices of beverages for breakfast. I ordered a Latte for myself which I find the coffee taste to be lacking but too milky for my liking. The cafe smelled so heavenly of coffee beans when you stepped in. But surprisingly, the taste of coffee in their caffeinated drinks ain’t strong at all.

Lola’s Full Works | S$17

Honey baked ham, honey bacon, pork sausage, sweet cherry tomato confit, scrambled eggs, toasted rye bread, garden salad & balsamic dressing

Sister and I shared this as we do not want to stuff ourselves crazy since we are heading to Wheeler’s Yard for lunch later. Sister finds this breakfast spread to be slightly expensive given the portion.

I loved how sweet the sweet cherry tomatoes confit were. They were extremely juicy and sweet! The baked ham and bacon were sweet too as they were glazed with honey. Pork sausage was one of the best which I had tried by far. Scrambled eggs were so so for me. It tasted bland but milky. But it was one thing which wasn’t sweet on the platter. However, we were being given toasted white bread instead of rye bread. Hmm …

Breakfast Butter Croissant | S$15

Butter croissant, scrambled eggs, pork ham, honey bacon, cheddar cheese, honey mayo, garden salad and balsamic dressing

Both Andrea and Patrick ordered the same breakfast dish. It looks and sounds good too! Sister and I did not go for this as the portion seems small for two. And furthermore, we are not so into croissant at the moment. Andrea and Patrick both seem happy with their breakfast choice. And I saw that majority patrons went for this breakfast dish too!

How to get to Lola’s Cafe:
Alight at Kovan MRT Station and walk to Exit B. Walk straight to the traffic junction of Upper Seragoon Road. Cross the road and walk to destination. Approximately 3 to 5 minutes of walking distance depending on how fast you walk.

For your information, Lola’s Cafe is closed on every Monday. Click here if you wish to have a full view of their menu.

Andrea, Patrick, Sister & I outside Lola’s Cafe while figuring out how we should head to our next destination after breakfast session at Lola’s Cafe.

WHEELER’S YARD
28 Lor Ampas, Singapore 328781

Mandatory shot at Wheeler’s Yard!

A paparazzi shot by Sister. LOL! What I made out from this picture was that my hair color was extremely dark in color in comparison to Andrea’s. A lot of my friends had commented that my hair color was a lot darker than usual. Well, I colored it black few months ago when my hair started to go unhealthy brown color.

Got this picture as my recent profile picture for a few social media platforms. It is not my most natural look but it is better than nothing. Loved how my legs looked “skinny” here in the picture albeit it’s not so skinny in real life. LOL!

Wheeler’s Yard does not charge service charge on top of your total bill. Hence, everything is self-service from placing order to collection. You will be given menu, proceed to Cashier counter to place order and then you will be given this buzzer like in the above picture. When your food are ready, this buzzer will vibrate. Go to the collection counter to collect your food.

Did a flat-lay picture for these foods. Not exactly artistic in look but it will do. LOL!

Shrooms Aglio Olio | S$17.90

Sauteed assorted mushrooms, tossed with garlic, chili flakes, cherry tomatoes, parsley & white wine

Sister and I ordered this to share as she had also ordered a dessert. The portion was big for two given if you are not in starving state. You can choose either spaghetti or fusilli for pasta choice. I chose spaghetti because I thought Aglio Olio goes well with either spaghetti or linguine. This is only my preference and it is not experimentally proven yet. LOL!

Love this pasta as it has what I love in one dish! It may be a little bit spicy for those who doesn’t take much spicy food. And slightly greasy for me too. All in all, this was a good pasta dish.

Apple Crumble with Ice Cream | S$9 & Mocha | S$6

Homemade Buttermilk Waffle | S$13.90

Served with vanilla ice-cream, banana slices, caramel sauce and walnut pieces

Andrea & I

Patrick, Andrea & I. This was our first group picture together since three years ago, which was the time when I visited them in Singapore before this.

After lunch at Wheeler’s Yard, the four of us took Uber to VivoCity for some shopping spree though we came out without much apart from bulging tummies. LOL! The four of us shopped together in the first one hour and went separate ways on the second. I did not buy much from VivoCity apart from an umbrella from Esprit.

LLAO LLAO
HarbourFront Walk #02-133, VivoCity Singapore 098585

By 4:30PM, all four of us were tired from all the walking and thinking of finding a place to sit down to rest our legs. Sister was craving for a good cup of frozen yogurt. So, we suggested Llao Llao since Patrick had been talking about Llao Llao the day before.

Instead of being pronounced as lao-lao, it was pronounced as yao-yao. Not sure how accurate it was but that was what Andrea told us when Patrick kept on calling it lao-lao. I wonder if Llao-Llao is coming to Brunei anytime soon.

We chose medium size which could accommodate three toppings. Could not decide what to choose for toppings and ended up with dark chocolate sauce and two portions of strawberries.

The dark chocolate sauce was good! Best paired with both strawberries and frozen yogurt. However, the texture of the froyo was more like sorbet to me. All in all, it was good even for someone like me who is not keen about froyo.

BROTZEIT
1 HarbourFront Walk #01-149/151, VivoCity Singapore 098585

While we were digging into our froyo in hand, we were discussing about where to go for dinner. Can’t seem to decide so we narrowed down by cuisine choice. There were Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, German and so on. Sister chose German and VivoCity happened to have Brotzeit. So, we had an early dinner at 5PM since we are meeting King for dessert later on.

Nurnberger | S$18

Pork sausages with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut

My first taste of sauerkraut was few years ago when Andrea and Patrick brought me to Magma German Wine Bistro on my first Singapore visit. I did not like the taste at all. But surprisingly, this sauerkraut from Brotzeit was not bad and I kind of liked it.

The texture of the mashed potatoes was smooth but not the creamy kind. The pork sausages were good but I stopped myself with one piece only. It was only Patrick, Sister and I who ate the pork sausages.

Kasespatzle | S$22

Bavarian homemade Spatzle with assorted melted cheese and crispy onion rings

Andrea’s choice of dinner to gain some pounds. I only had about two bites of this as I did not like the melted cheese. The pasta was cooked al dente, This was just not my cup of tea as it was kinda sickening when you had too much.

Rosti | S$5

Patrick’s choice of dinner. Nothing to shout about this platter of Rosti. I think I preferred the Rosti from Marche more than this. One thing for sure, it was too oily for my liking.

I think I am gonna stop for now as it is taking me days getting here and I am not even done yet. I will continue the rest on some other days. Hope you are not falling asleep as you read on.