Dreams and Reality

I think it will now be a yearly thing for me and Marlon to go out of the country in January. We ended up in Singapore during Chinese new year. After so much effort trying to get to Vivo City on CNY, we felt that it would be best that we leave the place to avoid the crowd going to Sentosa.

We found ourselves in the City Hall area with Carla, my friend Jox' sister currently based in Singapore. Before the trip we found out that there will be an exhibit of some paintings from Musee d Orsay Paris. Marlon, being artistic and all was so excited to be able to view works by Van Gogh, Manet, Rousseau and more.

We were lucky that it was open house due to the holidays and we got in for free. Regular tickets to the exhibit is at 12 SGD and if you're using your HSBC credit card you get 50% off. 


After several blocks from the City Hall MRT station, we finally got to the Singapore National Museum. I admit that I liked how the preserved the facade of the museum and it was all modern inside. Going into the exhibit, was done in an orderly fashion. Sometimes I wish we can be orderly and disciplined in Manila also by knowing to fall in line.

Food and drinks were not allowed inside but we can take photos as long as we turn off the flash. Since it was open house, many people were there but everybody had their chance to view the paintings and take pictures. Here are some of the works inside. I don't know all the titles and artists in most of them.

Of course there was a whole wall dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night over the Rhone. This was his less popular starry night painting. I honestly have no idea what to look for in a painting but the thickness of the oil he used plus the strokes and blending of colors simply amazed me. Although many considered Van Gogh to be ahead of his time with the things he chose to paint.

On our way to Bugis, we say this sculpture at the Singapore Arts Museum.

It was a great experience for the three of us and we had a blast on the first day of the year of the dragon. 
The exhibit was run from October 26 2011-February 5 2012.

Vikings

Before 2011 was about to end, we were posted with a challenge from our new boss, Mark. Well...challenge accepted and the reward was dinner at Vikings.

The buffet line offers a lot of choices with different stations. They have the meat grill and carving station, seafood grill, appetizers, salad station, seafood, chinese, japanese, italian, drinks and desserts.

I started off with the appetizers that offers selections from different cuisines. I had the braised duck, steamed vegetables, century eggs, jellyfish, meatballs, ham and salmon gravlax. The appetizers indeed offered a good start for my dinner.

Up next is a wide selection of sushi from different makis and sashimi. I only got a little bit of tuna and salmon plus around 2 types of makis. The sashimi was fresh and you even get the tune from a freshly cut fish that is included in the display. I think there was too much rice on the maki though. 

After sushi, I didn't have any pictures of my plate as i chose to just gobble up my food. I have pictures of the different selections though. What I liked best was the rib eye steak. It was worth lining up in the grill. The baked oysters were not bad too as well as some of the japanese food. 

What disappointed me was the seafood grill and the desserts. I did not like the rock lobster I had requested to be grilled. It looked dry and a little bit dirty with a bad taste. The dessert selection did not seam that appetizing. I opted to just go for the frozen yoghurt. They have puto bumbong though and ice cream. The puto bumbong was very good and is a better option for dessert.

Instead of going to the drinks selection right away, try heading towards the bar near the dessert section and see what is their drink for the day. I had ripe mango shake and it was better that I had something fresh instead.

Another tip, try making reservations when you plan to dine here. There was a very long outside and some of the waiters keep asking us to give up our other table even if some of our team mates were already on their way. 

Vikings had some hits and misses and I think they can improve on some areas. It is still good value for the 1099 PHP that you will pay for a weekend dinner. Some of the food are already comparable to some hotel buffets. I really wish they could come up with better desserts. I would still go back to Vikings. Will have to work out again before I see myself in another buffet.

Another Trip to Tatoy's

I can't leave Iloilo without eating at Tatoy's. I just can't. We always order our usual. I'm feeling a little bit tired now to even think of what to write about these but here are the pictures from our last visit. I was with my Mom and Choking.

 Native Lechon Manok is a specialty at Tatoy's. Make sure you order this. You can request them to get you the munga (hen) that is still being roasted. Chicken will be very tender, juicy and tasty.

You can also ask for free soup. They will serve you a clear fish broth in a cup.

You may check out my other Tatoy's entry at Tatoy's Manokan and Seafood