We spent our last few hours in Singapore with my good friend Kenneth. I haven't seen this guy for months and we used to hang out every weekend in Manila before he left for Singapore and Vietnam eventually.
He treated us in Pepper Lunch and the taste is pretty consistent with the branches in the Philippines. Afterwards it was our turn to treat him and since both of us were recovering from tooth related problems, we ended up at Andersen's Ice Cream in AMK Hub.
Andersen's was named after Hans Christian Andersen, the famous danish writer responsible for The Little Mermaid. I liked the ambiance of their AMK Hub branch where the lighting was bright and balances out the bery cold air conditioner of the mall. Since the temperature was a little higher in their space, hence you will crave more for ice cream.
Kenneth ordered two scoops of Ice Cream--Vanilla and Belgian chocolate chip (6.50 SGD). The way they served the ice cream was so appetizing.
Marlon and I decided to share one of Andersen's Creation, the Pouring Puffs (12 SGD). These consist of very soft cream puffs with rich custard inside, 2 scoops of ice cream of your choice (mint chocolate chip and macadamia), and some chocolate sauce. I loved how soft these puffs are and I was able to manage eating these without any pain. I love mint ice cream and I loved how it was just subtle flavor in Andersen's yet it still binds the whole ice cream. The other flavors that we had, all have the right amount of sweetness to it.
The place was conducive for catching up and sharing more stories. I would add Andersen's to my list of must eats when I'm in Singapore. They currently have 11 branches.
Andersen's Ice Cream is located in AMK Hub, Ang Mo Kio Singapore.
No trip to Singapore would be complete without trying a classic breakfast at a Hawker or Kopitiam. Before spending the day in Universal Studios, we stopped over at Kopitiam in Vivo City for some breakfast.
We had the kaya toast set (2SGD) which comes with your kaya toast with butter, 2 soft boiled eggs and a cup of kopi or tea. I opted for kopi C (which comes with condensed milk).
Make sure to add a little bit of soy sauce and some pepper on your soft boiled eggs to enhance the taste.
I've always liked kaya toast where the mild sweetness of the kaya complements the salt from the butter and enhances the flavor of the bread.
Kopitiam is located at the basement Food Court in Vivo City Singapore.
It's been a while since I wrote about anything and had to do a little bit more backtracking. After being too tired from work, I finally found the time to write about Universal Studios Singapore.
At first Marlon didn't want to go and had to beg that this is one reason I'm going back to Singapore (main reason was watching Wicked). Day Fem was able to get two complementary peak passes we only had to buy one more for 74 SGD.
After we went in, I was transported to my dreamland. It reminded me of days where I really wanted to be a film editor and missing making short films back in college. I had to take pictures of almost all the movie characters we met inside the park from Beetlejuice, Frankenstein and Rick O'Connell. Too bad we missed Po from Kung Fu Panda.
I loved the rides inside the park and had this urge to ride all of them. I had to make sure these were not thrill rides otherwise Marlon and Day Fem wouldn't go in. So I tried out Madagascar with them and the Shrek 4D. We were in a surprise with that one. Marlon tried one of the Roller coasters (Enchanted Airways) in Far Far Away and swore he will never do it again.
I tried all of the thrill rides I could find Canopy Flyer in the Lost World, Revenge of the Mummy in Ancient Egypt, and Battlestar Galactica Human vs Cylon in Sci Fi City. I liked the Cylon one better, the one with your feet just hanging and you had to go upside-down.
Our favorite was the newly launched Transformers The Ride. I won't ruin what's in store for you in this ride but we rode it 4 times and Marlon loved it.
Food inside the park was not bad either. You have to find the ones that are cheap though as some of the items inside can be very expensive. We had lunch at Gloria's snack shack in Madagascar. We ordered the Chicken cutlet set and the Grilled Salmon set (12 SGD) which came with rice, steamed vegetables, coleslaw, Drinks and Some sort of Jello dessert. We also added chicken nuggets (9 SGD) which came in a lunch box that you can take home. The food was good but I didn't like the Jello.
At 6pm, they had the parade within the park. I found this very short. I think they should have more impressive floats and more characters to parade and interact with everyone.
I had a great day in Universal Studios Singapore. Try Lights, Camera, Action in New York to see how they do some of the effects and this is hosted by Steven Spielberg. Make sure to get some breakfast in Vivo City before coming into the park to save a bit on expenses. It can get really packed and might rain in the afternoon so better try all the outdoor rides in the morning.
Universal Studios Singapore is in Resorts World Sentosa.
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.
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.
