Avo Rosemary Chicken @ The Soup Spoon Union (Raffles City)

Not sure what to eat when you are with friends or when you can't decide where to go, head down to The Soup Union where you could have a variety of western choices - from soups to burgers, to salad, to grills. 

Today, I think I chose a healthy food - Avo Rosemary Chicken but (cheat days) topped with french fries. Well, healthy it would be, as it was a little bland but still acceptable for me. Could have done more to the serving of the avocado spread and more sriracha aioli dressing! 

Address:

Raffles City Shopping Centre Basement 1 Unit 61

Fuunji | 風雲児 @ Shinjuku, Japan

Our first meal in Japan, Tokyo after checking in. Did some research for recommended food at Shinjuku and Fuunji appeared. I had never tried tsukemen before and therefore, here we went. 

Fuunji, a small and unnoticeable Ramen shop hidden on a quiet street near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. 

We were there before dinner time and there was already a queue. 

Outside the shop

There are only bar counter seats and well, the queue was all the way right to the end. Not the best experience to enjoy the ramen as you will feel the "pressure" behind you. But, nonetheless, it was still an experience. 

Just queue

Order was made through the vending machine. Not much of a choice but well, i guessed we did not do much research and thus, we went on to order 2 different Ramen to try.

Food Ticket

Here we went after getting a seat. Passed the food ticket to the staff and waited for our food. This is tsukemen - cold noodles are served separately from the soup. Dip the noodle into the soup and once the noodles soak up the flavors of the soup, slurp away. The broth was really great. 

After you finished the noodles, if your stomach still have room, grab one of the kettles on the counter and pour hot water into your bowl and drink the remaining soup. That's what we observed what the locals did and follow. Must try!!!

tsukemen - cold noodles are served separately from the soup

If you are not game for the Tsukemen, try the other dish which is the Tokusei Ramen. Needless to say, Japan Ramen is yumz...!

Tokusei Ramen

Address:

2-14-3, YoyogiShinjukuTokyo

High Tea at The Landing Point (The Fullerton Bay Hotel)

A splendid afternoon spent over a traditional English Afternoon Tea with the buddies. 

We took the seats inside the building to enjoy the aircon while having a great view. (the weather was too hot to bear). An open concept where anyone and everyone could walk past. Nonetheless, it was still a nice place to immerse in.

Come, enjoy a (flask) cup of nice tea to start the afternoon tea session.

Choose from a list of tea or coffee

The afternoon tea was served on a three-tier stand and it made every food item on it look so delicate and yummy. 

A range of pastry from sweet to savory, from English to local, from cakes to pastry to sandwiches made me full by the time I had the last few bites. A sip of tea goes pretty well with the food while chatting and catching up with each other's life. 

Did i mention, they also some free-flow food items at the side which you can have many servings in the event that you simply love it or you have a great appetite! 

Our tiers of happiness

A nice place and great food for gathering and chatting over a cup of tea!

Address:

The Landing Point

The Fullerton Bay Hotel

80 Collyer Quay

Singapore 049326

Modern Asian Fusion food @ Froth Singapore

We had always wanted to visit Froth for the longest time but was never able to find a time for it. Located at the CBD, it was never a convenient place for us to meet up since we don't work there, neither do we live near there. 

Finally, one fine Saturday, today, we decided to make it there after visiting the National Gallery. A short walk from Raffles Place MRT and there we went. 

Truffle Fries was never out of sight on the table when we sighted it on the food menu. And here we eat:

Truffle fries

What's for soup - Duck Kut Teh. Sounds special that we ordered to try. The broth tasted similar to the traditional Bak Kut Teh but the red dates used made it a little sweeter. Topped with a churro-look-alike yu tiao makes the presentation of the dish looks nice! Drink it while it's warm!

Duck Kut Teh 

My main dish was the Seafood Tom Yum Risotto. The tom yum taste was not very strong which made the main a nice one to start with. The creamy and tom-yummy rice was complemented with the  grilled prawns, flower clams and squid. Not stingy with the quality of the seafood made this dish a must-order! A satisfying dish !

Seafood Tom Yum Risotto 

Like I always say or agree to it, our stomach always has a special and dedicated compartment for desserts. Ending off the dinner with Taro Waffles topped with a scope of Earl Grey ice cream. The waffles were dense, and the earl grey ice cream was not overly sweet which, well, rounded up the fantastic dinner for us. 

Taro Waffle topped with Earl Grey Ice cream

A nice and quiet place for some nice catch up with friends.

Address:

No.2 Finlayson Green

Ascott Raffles Place Singapore

Singapore 049247

[Closed] Dim Sum at Tak Po (Smith Street)

Family day at Tak Po Dim Sum to enjoy some niceeeee food.

Best to savour the Dim sum when they were piping hot - no time for individual shots. Overall, the Dim Sum here tasted great.

a table full of Dim Sum

 The frog leg porridge served in the claypot was delicious.

Claypot of gems

Tak Po Dim Sum Restaurant
42 Smith Street
Singapore 058954

G7 Sin Ma Live Seafood Restaurant

After a nearby hike, we came to this place to enjoy the fruitful "exercise" day. 

We ordered the Dry Chilli Bullfrog (Buy 3 get 2 free) and sambal Kang Kong to share. 

Hot bubbling clay pots of yummmz and smooth porridge was great to enjoy after a long walk. Satisfying tender bullfrog meat together with the nice gravy and top them on a spoon of porridge really sealed it off. 

ymmmmz

With the downtown line, it is easy to get to this place.

G7 Sinma Live Bull Frog Claypot Porridge G7新馬活田鸡粥
No.5 Cheong Chin Nam Road
Singapore 599730

8 E!IGHT korean bbq @ Clark Quay Central

Come, the 3rd time at this wonderful Korean BBQ place. Choose from the 8 flavours of Mangalitza Hog and wait to be served.

we only managed 4!

The service crew will help to bbq and cut the meat into bite size for us to indulge in. Kimchi and bean sprouts are served unlimited to go with the bbq meat. Well, they shared the same sizzling plate. Next to the bbq, we ordered a tofu stew. It was nice too.

sizzling pots of satisfactions 

Will I be back? Definitely.

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-79//90
Singapore 059817

Boracay Day 5 - Ariel's point

Another checked for my travel bucket list today! Today was the most 'adventurous' day for us. Time for some height and get wet!

The Ariel's point is one of the highlight of the trip. Okay, nothing fanciful for the trip but you get to leap off the cliff and dunk into the sea. Can't get to do this in Singapore, for sure. 

We pre-arranged the trip with the Ariel's point personnel. The day started before 10am where we had to gather at Ariel's House (Whote Beach Station 1) for a pre-trip briefing. This is to safeguard our safety.

After which, we took the boat out to our destination. The service was real good and they provide water and beer (yes, if you want, you can beer all day) throughout the day. The boat ride took about 40 minutes and there we reached. 

Okay, while we had to pluck up our courage to do the 5 meters jump, there were fellow tourists who took the plunge at the 15 meters. Kudos to them, for sure. 

There we stood to do our jump. I'm glad I did both the 5 & 8 meters dip and okay, leave the 15 metres for my next trip there!

Cliff dive plank @ Ariel's Point

Besides cliff dive, you can also do other activities like suntanning, kayaking, snorkelling or just swim and relax!

A buffet lunch was included in the 2,000 pesos cost. 

The other activities

The day ended at around 5pm and well, it's our last night at this beautiful island. Have another look at how the sunset paints the background for the night.

Sunset, yet again!

Time for our last dinner and it's time for seafood at 'I love my backyard'. This restaurant is situated in the centre of D'mall. Not very hard to find but believe it, it is very hard to get a table. We tried once but could not get a table immediately. So this time round, we waited for half an hour before we had our butt seated at this restaurant. Great dinner to end off the day and to round up the trip.

Seafood platter @ I love my backyard

I will be back, Boracay!

Boracay Day 4 - Spider House

Another amazing weather to start off another beautiful day.Today, there is no itinerary. We have nothing in mind and we just wanted to go with the flow. So well, enjoy the moment, and my photos. 

White Beach

Okay, there was one place in mind - Spider House. Wanted to go there to relax for the afternoon and to enjoy the sunset. Heard that the sunset looked great there.

Spider House

The fantastic view of the sunset. I simply loved it! No photoshop, no human intervention. The place just looked amazing and well, I have to say, even better in real life!

Sunset!

Boracay Day 3 - Island Hopping to Crystal Cove, Puka Beach

The island hopping trip starts at 10am. So we headed to the beach to people watch after our breakfast. 

The colour combination is really great. Blue sky blended with the sea water. Simply amazing to just relax by the beach and doing nothing. This is also another interesting part of travelling. 

Here we went, start of our island hopping day!

White Beach

As mentioned earlier in my post, this island hopping is a 6-hrs program and it costs 800 peso, including lunch and water. Oh, but it excludes snorkeling fee which costs 20 peso. So if you are not in for snorkeling, you need not pay this fee. So, do take note. 

First stop was at the middle of the sea and it's time to snorkelling. Well, I do not have a waterproof camera and thus, not able to capture any underwater pictures. But do it yourself and you will love the sea creatures! The sea was rather choppy but not too bad as the fishes were lured near us as the crew dropped bread crumbs into the sea. 

You will be given life vest. Do wear it for safety precautions though I saw some tour mates not wearing. 

After snorkeling, we stepped onto the first island - Crystal Cove. A nice place to spend the late morning. Okay - 2 choice once we embarked on the island. Pay to visit the crystal cove or just relax at the beach. I think it costs 100 Peso.

So step in and enjoy the view. We did not manage to visit the Cove 2 as it was high tide. What a waste!

View from Crystal Cove

View from Crystal Cove

Lunch was buffet style and the food was okay.

After Lunch, off we went to Puka Beach. The stay there was quite s short one and sorry no photos as I was a little deterred by the hot weather.

So after Puka Beach stay, off we went to the next snorkeling spot. This spot was not as great as the first one.

Alright. that's about it on our third day at Boracay.

Boracay Day 2 - Parasailing, Joanh's Fruit Shake , Sunset

Woke up to a wonderful day. We started off our day with the Hotel breakfast. There are 5 choices to it and is the usual choice of eggs, either bacon or ham. Salads and drinks are available too. Not those buffet style.. So sit back, relax and wait to be served. 

After the breakfast, we stepped out of the hotel to have the first taste of Boracay's daylight. Wonderful feeling. We headed back to the White beach and started our beach retreat. 

We read and did our research about the activities available on the island. First stop was to look for Diamond Water Sports. We read that it provided good service for parasailing. That was something that we wanted to try for the first time. So headed up towards Station 1 of the beach. It was not long that we stumbled upon some beach tentage, one of which happened to be Diamond Water Sports. At first, we thought we were looking for a shop front and did not really trust what the counter people were saying. We just treated it as touting. And yes, a lot of people were at the beach, trying to sell us their service/activities when we walked past them. Not a single moment was spared. 

So after some persuasion by the crew, we took up parasailing and Sunset Paraw Sailing for the day. It costs us 1,500 peso each for the activities. Not a bad deal, I guess, since he quoted us 1,500 peso for Parasailing alone. 

And after the payment, he led us to the beach. Oh god, that's efficient! Without any preparation and we were to embark on our first activity. I just had a heavy breakfast. But well, that's not a bad timing for the Parasailing as the weather would have been hotter if we were to delay the trip. 

So here we waited for the boat to pick us up to the middle of the sea -

Beautiful beach and water!

So the parachute looked great here against the blue sky. The view up there was fantastic too. Oh did I mentioned, for this trip out to the sea, it would take around 15 minutes. That's just us on this boat, so well, I guess, it was considered a 'private' tour. 

There were 3 crew personnel on board with us. One as the driver and the other 2 to take care of us, giving us instructions, helping us with the safety and of course, as a free lance photographer for us. 

Us, high up into the sky

And we went higher and higher up and before we landed back to the boat, we got a dip into the sea. Well, it was not those sudden drop like a freefall.. The wind was too strong for that. Slowly as we came closer to the boat, they asked if we wanted a dip. Yes, it was a choice. So we went for it. What's not getting wet for sea sports. So be in your swim wear for this!

High up, dip in

And so it ended, in a blink of an eye. Since we were at Station 1, we decided to walk further down to catch the Willy's Rock. Oh well, it looked nice from far but we did not make our way up to it. The algae there was not that pleasant after all.

White Beach Station 1, Willy's Rock

Okay, another highlight in Station 1 is Joanh's Fruit Shake & Snack bar. They say, it serves the best fruit on the island. Well, try it and answer that question for yourself. I had the mango shake and on such hot sunny day, it was really great.

They served the takeaway in a normal mineral water bottle but they 'poked' a hole at the cap to put in the straw. A nice way to bring around the bottle as the circumference is not as big as those plastic cup! Yummy!

Joanh's Fruit Shake & Snack bar, fruit shake

After making a trip to Station 1, we decided to head to Station 3 - reason being, we wanted to book our island hopping snorkelling trip for tomorrow. It was mentioned in some websites that ALLAN BOAT provided good service for this activity. It was noted that the counter is located near Villa De Oro Hotel. So we just headed off, trying to find the Hotel . Okay, once you passed Mcdonald's dessert kiosk, you are about to reach the ALLAN BOAT counter. Just keep a lookout. 

So we booked the 6-hrs Island hopping (Puka beach, Crystal Cove visit, 2 snorkelling points, Lunch)....at 800 peso each. Not too bad a deal since it included lunch. So after settling the itinerary for the next day, it was time for Lunch. 

Not knowing what to have, we decided to pop into Smoke Resto that is at an alley in D'mall. It is a local Filipino eatery which serves the local delights. A well hidden small and cozy restaurant and I got an impression that it is somewhere near to Tilapia n’ Chips. This place is really crowded and true enough, it sticks to its shop name. It was rather smoky with an open kitchen concept. 

I ordered the Kao Pad which is actually Chicken, Egg, Mango with rice. The chicken meat was tender and well seasoned. The 'sourness' of the mango added another flavour to this dish. A very nice combination of fruit and meat into a rice bowl. Well, maybe add a little greens will do wonders! Quite a good choice to start off my lunch in Boracay. 

Kao Pad (Chicken, Egg, Mango and Rice) at Smoke Resto

After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel for a quick wash up. After which, we strolled away the D'mall market. Okay, shops were quite standard - Clothes, souvenirs, food. 

We took the 'free' pass to enjoy the Red Coconut beach front facilities. Sat at the beach chairs and well, I stayed in the shade. Could not bear to let my 'burnt' skin get worst. Yes, I got a burnt and I still can't get over it. Why? I applied the sunblock duly. *cried*

So, waited for the sunset and off we went for the Sunset Paraw Sailing. Was really looking forward to sunset. But well, it was a little disappointing for me. I guessed we went out too early and did not really catch a complete sunset. 

The ride was actually quite fast, say 10 minutes and we were back at shore. Oh god! So if you really wanted to view a sunset on the paraw, do it really near to sunset. But here's my view while on it. Or maybe, try to do a sunset parasailing, it seems nice to be up there!

Parasailing in action

The sun I captured, ready to set in minutes....

Sun about to set

And the sunset we viewed on shore... Enjoy!

Girl chasing the sunset?

Couple admiring the beauty

The coconut trees waving to the sun

The sail against the sun as backdrop

What a wonderful view!

Sail right in

Though the view of the sun setting was great, I found peace and serenity looking at the other end of the sky. Splendid view especially with the fluffy clouds. Crowds at the beach were really enjoying their time. Relaxing and well, I guess a self reflection would be great!

Sky at the other end of the sunset

Okay, last view before we headed to dinner!

Can't get enough of it... Good night!

Alight, sunlight down and everyone seemed hungry. Restaurants, cafes and eatery were full of people. We decided to pop into Andok's.  In search of desserts, we just order the half grilled chicken. Juicy meat at affordable price.

@ Andok's - grilled chicken

Okay, we got crazy crepes for desserts but no pictures. Try it out for yourself. Time to head back to Hotel to wash up and rest. Tomorrow will be a day out at sea! Cheers!

The Refinery Singapore @ Jalan Besar

The Refinery Singapore is at an "Industrial" area at Jalan Besar. I google my way but still felt a bit lost when trying to hunt for the place. Wasn't too bad when their address is hugely displayed on the wall of the building. Okay, cannot really spot the name of the shop as it is printed on the OIl barrel container. 

Enough said of the location and name of shop, the service there is great. The service crew would pop by the table to ask if we need to order more drinks, more food. They are not those pushy kind but I think they just wanted us to enjoy our night out. Take note that they do not have service charge but tipping is appreciated. 

Alright, time for some food review. We ordered:

1. Agedashi Tofu ($10)

A 4-piece tofu which is housemade according to the meu. They were crispy on the outside but smooth on the inside. The accompanying dashi stock complemented the whole dish. It was not too salty and good to have after the grilled skewers as it was light and less oily.

2. Dry Ramen ($6)

Dry Bar Chor Mee -kia as proclaimed by my friend. That is the local delight of minced pork with thin yellow noodle. Okay, just share this small bowl with your friends. A couple of bites was fine but not to the whole bowl to myself. It was too oily in my opinion. The pulled char siew was not too bad. 

3. The Refinery Sampler ($36)

It consists of  4 skewers of  Chicken Thigh, 2 skewers of  “Shiok Bak” (a.k.a roasted pork),  2 of Shishamo and 2 of Shiitake mushrooms. It took quite some time before this plate of sampler reached our table after the order. The Chicken thigh was too salty to my liking. I'm not sure if it was the sauce or the marination. I quite like the "shiok bak' and the Shisahamo. The roasted pork was tender and the shisahamo was great but to my opinion, a little over grilled. The shiitake mushroom was not 'juicy and a little salty. 

4. Seaweed Fries ($12)

What can go wrong with french fries. This reminds me of the seaweed shaker fries that McDonald's's offers from time to time. I guess the special thing to it is the Wasabi Mayo Dip. Not too strong that will choke us but it compliments the fries. 

Agedashi Tofu, Dry Ramen, The Refinery Sampler, Seaweed Fries, Asahi Black Pint

This place serves quite a variety of alcoholic drinks. Non-alcoholic drinks were minimal. For coffee-lovers, sorry, this place does not serve coffee at all. Maybe coffee does not go well with grills? But maybe, who knows, in future, they might offer that. So, just wait and see!

Address:
115 King George’s Ave,
Singapore 208561

Boracay Day 1

I have to say, the trip did not started off smoothly. Tigerairway got delayed by almost 2 hours plus and we did not know it as we did not have to do a counter check in. Oh well, the schedule was a little pretty tight for us as we read that the journey from Kalibo International Airport to Caticlan Jetty Port to Hotel would take us 2 - 3 hours. Thus, with the delay, the flight would reach Kalibo after 4pm and so, by the time we reached Boracay Island, we would have missed the sunset. Oh well, that's life. 

Okay, once we reached the Kalibo International Airport, we took around 30 minutes to clear the customs as there were not many immigration counters in the small airport. Forget about duty free shopping as I did not see much except maybe for a small shop after we cleared the customs. 

Do not feel lost once you got out of the airport. If you have booked your land transfer tickets, that's pretty good as you could head off to look for the concerned company. 

As for us, we decided to purchase ours on the spot as we read that it could be cheaper. Some company really quoted as low as 500 peso per person for the return trip. But it seems too good to be true, that we decided to head to the South West Tour counter. For the official internet price, they quoted 1,225 peso per person for door to door return services, inclusive of bus/ boat/ van/ government fees (environmental fee and terminal fee).  On the spot, they quoted 1,080 peso. Not a lot of discounts, though we mentioned that some friends paid 900 peso for the same service. Well, I guess the plane delay was a good catch for the companies as they knew that we could not afford to delay our trip.

Then there we started our 'road' trip to the jetty. We saw the sun setting and the sky began to turn dark. Not a very good way to start the trip as I felt lost in the darkness. But I have to praise the service of the South West Tour. They had people stationed at every pit stop to ensure that we were on the correct path to the ferry. But do note, if you can carry your own luggage and if you do not wish to have a porter, please hold your luggage close to you and reject any help from anyone. At times, you might think that they were staff of the company, but in actual fact, they were free lance porters who would collect tips from you. 

Alright, after the bus ride, after the ferry ride and the van ride, we finally reached Red Coco Inn Boracay in darkness. A group of friendly staff welcomed us and that was really great. We did the check in, get into the room to rest a bit before hunger strike us. We decided to head outside with the directions from the hotel crew.

Not having our orientation clear and not knowing what to eat, we stumbled upon Tilapia n’ Chips. Well, the name of shop determined my first meal in Boracay - Golden Fried Tilapia. We ordered the set menu for the Golden Fried Tilapia which comes with rice, a side (coleslaw or fries) and chicken noodle soup brownie and a glass of ice lemon tea. All in for 380 peso which was quite a good deal. 

Alight, skip the chicken noodle soup if you do not like pretty salty stuff. The highlight of the meal was simply the Tilapia fish. The service crew was nice and taught us how to make the sauce for the dip. It was simply fish sauce, with lime and chili. Simple, yet nice! The fish was simply awesome, fresh and tender. The meat was really great.

This place, though a little far from the beach, was a clean cozy place with reasonable servings of food. Delicious and inexpensive and well, an added service of WIFI if you really need to share great food with your family and friends back home!

Golden Fried Tilapia with rice and coleslaw

Alight, time to end the day with a short walk by the beach. It was crowded with people and the loud music was great. You can see the beach and the sea as it was dark and the beachfront restaurants make shift their tables and chairs to the beach. Well, tomorrow, we will explore the white beach in day light!

Address:
Located next to Crafts department store, just a few doors down.
Mon - Sun: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Hanoi Day 7

City tour round the Hanoi city before we headed home!