After a long day of shopping for gadgets and sweeping through the shops in Orchard road, we stopped over at Food Opera at Ion Orchard for dinner.
Marlon had his usual noodles. I decided to have some dimsum and headed over to Luk Yu Restaurant and Teahouse. While ordering, something caught my eye in their display and reminded me of the cua pao I order with my family back in Iloilo.
I can't help myself so I got an order of braised slice pork with herbs (8 SGD). One serving has 4 thick slices of very tender braised pork and 4 pieces of steamed buns. Marlon got too curious when I kept raving about it in every bite. Seasoning was just right and the juices ooze out of the buns in every bite. Even the bun itself felt just right. I gave him a slice and 1 bun and he loved it too.
We couldn't get over it that we ordered another one for take out to bring home to Day Fem. We ended up having these for breakfast too.
This is blog worthy because every time we see this in other places after this meal, we ordered the same thing but nothing came close to Luk Yu's version. So when tired from your shopping spree along Orchard road, try to drop by Luk Yu for these buns. I swear they worth it.
Luk Yu is located at Food Opera, B4 Ion Orchard, Orchard Rd Singapore.
A Singapore trip will never be complete without a chicken rice meal. Before heading out to Sim Lim for Marlon's Gadget Day, we were at North Bridge road near City Hall and Bugis where two streets boasting the best chicken rice at the red dot are located.
Feel free if you would like to explore the shops at Seah st and Purvis st. Since I tried Sin Swee Kee back in 2004 along Seah St, we decided to explore Purvis st this time and chose the first shop we saw, Hai Ji due to hunger. Since there were a lot of people lining up in this hole in the wall stall, we decided that food must be really good with all the people ordering different kinds of roast and veggies for lunch.
We both had a quarter of Chicken that comes with rice. I stuck with the original steamed version while Marlon had the roasted one. Each chicken rice set cost 4 SGD.
They drizzled a little bit of oil and light soy sauce to add more flavor to the chicken. The chicken was tender and clean tasting too. Of course in Singapore they will give you a whole pot of condiments (chili, ginger and thickened dark soy sauce) where you can get as much as you want. The rice itself had a beautiful aroma and you can really taste the chicken and ginger flavor that was used to boil whole chickens.
We got a serving of mixed veggies with glass noodles (2 SGD) to balance out our meal. The veggies still had some crunch to it which I loves. Marlon liked the idea of adding a small amount of glass noodles.
We just ordered 2 cokes as my Singlish was not so good and to avoid more confusion from auntie.
Hai Ji is a good place to get your authentic chicken rice to complete your trip. Don't expect any five star service around here. Make sure you are attentive to locate a vacant table at lunch hour as many people dine here. Yet the taste of the food will make up for all these and I would say is a must visit to this place.
Hai Ji is located at Purvis st. Singapore.
Despite non-stop eating in Singapore, dinner is always a must even when full from lunch. On one of our days in Singapore we stopped by KPT Kopitiam in Hougang before heading home. As it was still CNY, not all of the stalls were open. Marlon and I both decided to try the Wang Wang Fish Soup and Laksa stall.
They offer different kinds of soup with different varieties of what you can have in your soup.
Marlon ordered the Fish soup with rice (5 SGD). The broth was very light with tender slices of fish and tofu. The serving bowl was very generous as well.
I was a little bit more adventurous and I ordered the Fish Tom Yum soup (6 SGD). If you are wondering why we both had fish, its because the other seafood are out of stock. The broth has a good play of spicy and sour and would tease my taste buds in every spoonful. As I have low tolerance with spice, I had a glass of iced tea tarek to wash it down.
If your are in the area, this is a really good stop for fish soup. KPT Kopitiam is in Blk 401 Hougang Ave 10 Singapore. To get here, take the purple line and alight at Hougang. In Hougang Sentral bus station, take bus 47 and stop at Blk 401. In Hougang there is another hawker center you might consider at Blk 644 Hougang ave 8. You can find good muah chee and fish ball soup and mee in that area. It is right beside Xinmin school. Take bus 47 from Hougang Sentral and alight at Blk 623.
Looking for a place to eat in Singapore on Chinese New Year is a challenge. As we were going around the whole day, only a few restaurants were open. It was a good thing that Makansutra was open. Bad news--everyone was there.
Makan basically means to eat in Malay.
After a long walk from Bugis to Esplanade we had a hard time looking for a table in Makansutra as the place was packed. Makansutra is an al fresco version of Singapore's hawkers. The whole Esplanade was full of life that night with shows by the bay, art exhibits, happy giddy and hungry diinners and everyone checking out the River Hongbao.
Carla and I saved a table as Marlon, Day Fem and Anavee ordered us our gastronomic first night dinner.
We started off with sticks of satay. The marinade penetrated the meat well and it was still juicy and tender. I liked the spicy peanut sauce that complemented it. We were a little bit full hence we did not touch the rice that came with it. The rice was similar to the puso in Cebu but it was placed in plastic instead of coconut leaves.
We also had a plate of fried rice to fill us up further.
On the side we had some garlic kailan. I usually prefer this vegetable dish when I'm in the red dot.
We tried the oyster pancake. It was a hefty serving. I didn't like the oysters that much though. It had a little bit of an after taste.
In my opinion, the star for dinner is the BBQ Sambal Stingray. The meat was tender and the sambal on top gave it a nice kick. It was my first time to eat stingray cooked this way and somehow I get what everyone has been raving about. This is a must try in Singapore.
Makansutra is a good place for lunch or dinner especially for the tourist. Feel free to walk around Esplanade then visit the Marina Bay Sands after a full meal.
P.S. Apologies I wasn't able to get any food price as I was the table guardian.
After several days of begging, I was able to convince Marlon that we go out of the country for our 2nd year anniversary. Even if this is my third time in Singapore, I did not bother revisiting another place since Wicked is playing at Marina Bay Sands.
We booked our Singapore flights with Airphil Express. Everything went smoothly from checking in but we were inside the plane awaiting for take off for about an hour. I think this one is due to Manila Air Traffic. What I liked about the flights to Singapore with Airphil is that we already paid travel tax if booked over the phone (promo price is same with the one online), 15 kilos of free baggage and an option to add more for a minimal fee and the best thing was landing in Changi Terminal 2 even if its a budget airline.
We stayed with Marlon's aunt, Day Fem in Hougang. She got us EZ link cards so paying for our bus fares and MRT went smoothly for the whole trip. We had to top up 3 times though. We were going around that much.
This trip is different from the previous ones since we were there for Chinese New Year. Tip though, try not to go to Sentosa on CNY itself, it is very crowded. After we were at Vivo City for lunch and dropping by Singapore National Museum, we headed over at Makansutra Gluttons Bay (in Esplanade) for some dinner. Aftwerwards, we just checked out the lights at River Hongbao where in they displayed in different signs under the Chinese calendar in lantern format.
The next day, were at Labrador Park for some barbecue with Marlon's relatives. This was a great place to relax during the holidays. The park had wide areas for the playground and for lounging as well. You can reserve a barbecue pit online. There is also a section of the park where you can go fishing as well as a hiking trail. Getting here is easy, just take the Circle line to Labrador then the bus will take you inside the park.
Dining at hawkers is also a must try in Singapore. I'll post more of the food we had. We tried different dishes like fish soup, chicken rice, char kway teow, kaya toast and more. Food at hawker centers are also relatively cheap and yet these are still really good.
Being a shopaholic, Orchard road is a must stop for me since I had to get my stash from H&M. Marlon had his gadget day at Sim Lim square by getting his steel series gaming gear. For purchases over 100 SGD, don't forget to ask the merchant for the GST refund. Otherwise you can't get anything from the airport.
We also enjoyed our day at Marina Bay sands. All our pictures during Wicked day was on the phone only. We went back to MBS to get our MUFC gear. An alternative way to get to MBS from Clarke Quay is by taking the water taxi. We booked a one way trip with Hippo tours for 12 SGD. Its a different experience viewing the city from the river.
We did some last minute shopping at Yew Tee and Ang Mo Kio Hub as well as meeting with our friends too.
Some tips while in Singapore--get an EZ link card, this is very convenient for buses, trains, cabs, 711, McDonalds and more. There are Hawker centers all over, try out the different dishes they offer, I assure you that you will find something you'll like and rave about. Purvis st. and Seah st. have a lot of places that offer exceptionally good chicken rice. These are located near Bugis or City Hall area. The money changer at the ground floor at Sim Lim square offer a good rate. Airport money changers also have good rates.
