Singapore Night Festival 2014

ABBEY: Going to Singapore Night Festival is one of the ways you can unwind after a week's work. All performances are free and the stage covers from National Museum, SMU, up to Armenian Street. 

Light installations were also exhibited so please pay attention and make sure to catch the images "on the trees". The "light" gowns are a little creepy. They're like headless brides roaming around the Armenian Church. 

Maybe the main feature of the festival is the Earth Harp created and played by William Close. The artist mounted the strings of his harp into the facade of National Museum making it a part of the gigantic instrument. It was great to hear a rendition of Johan Sebastian Bach's Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee from the 9th Symphony. 

We waited for the 7 Sopranos but it seems there is a change in the schedule so we listened to Sounds of Siren wherein the Anna Fernandez's rendition of At Last is remarkable. "We want you back"

WILL: Before they expanded the venue until City Hall, now they constricted the place but packed it with great performances. Hooray to Singapore Night Festival 2014. Free film screening, museum open house and the best is local and foreign performers around the area. This is a yearly event that we are waiting. No excuse not to go. Why? It was scheduled for 2 consecutive weekends. Haha!

Around 6:40PM we already secured a place at the National Museum’s front lawn. ZingO is worth the wait. We saw a very disciplined Chinese Drum Scene. Right after dramatic drums, Earth Harp came to life. William Close, an inventor of many music instruments played it magnificently. Jamming of ZingO and William’s band made my blood rushing! And we decided to stay till midnight.

Stunning lights are everywhere, we took some photos of the trees formed a 3D ancient faces.

For the first time, Armenian Church joined the event. They housed the full-length dresses glowing in the dark areas of the church’s lawn. Haunted! Scary! I asked Abbey to go off immediately. Haha.

Back in front of National Museum, we waited for about 30minutes for 7Sopranos. I enjoyed their music. They make me dance! Oh, sorry, not only me but also other audiences. We clapped and raised our hands!

Till next year Bras Basah Bugis Precinct. Keep on surprising us!

ROTI - Alka's Kitchen (Asian Fusion & Vegan Restaurant)

ABBEY: First we got free mini wraps delivered by Chef Alka herself to advertise her roti prata on offices. Next we got a 7-dollar voucher. So we visited their place at West Coast Plaza. 

Since I got hooked on chicken tikka, I ordered the big serving; 8-inch chicken tikka roti wrap. The wrap is crunchy, chicken is delicious and vegetables are fresh. A can of Thumbs Up soda completed the meal. 

Room of improvement would be if the staff can smile more and receive the guests warmly.

WILL: Do yo like an Indian version  of Subway? Better check out Roti Alka's Kitchen at B1 of West Coast plaza. 

Another discovery! I saw them when they threw an announcement in facebook for free wraps on their first anniversary. I hope we can go but yes, we were trapped to our usual toil. And the good Chef Alka broadcasted free wraps with free delivery to our respective offices. Never wasted a second, I phoned them and booked for 30pcs. OMG! The delivered more than that and even our drivers have the chance to taste it too. 

Abbey got a  free $7 voucher, we redeemed it at their branch and that I the correct way to order their wraps.

1. Choose the wrap.

2. Sauce

3. Extras

4. Fillings

5. Salad

6. Make it a meal by adding few dollars.

I had the Mixed Grilled Wrap. It tasted the same when it first my tastebuds. Haha! Lovely!

A very nice experience.

Sizzling Bangus(Milk Fish) Sisig Recipe

1 large milkfish (fried, deboned, and shredded)

1 large red onion (diced)

1/4 cup ginger (chopped finely)

1/4 cup scallions

1 large chilli

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 pc calamansi

Melt butter in a pan. Once done, sauté onion and then ginger.

Put the milkfish, them scallions and chilli.

Sauté for a few more minutes and add the mayonaisse.

Heat the sizzling plate and add butter to it.

Pour in the milkfish and garnish with calamansi.

VERDICT

WILL: Monotonous. That is a word that will describe our weekly food list. Lately we are trying to new food to tickle our tastebuds. Weekly, I vowed that there should be something new. Last week, I cooked the meatball wrap, this week it is Abbey's turn.

Monday, I am so excited to go home to judge his sisig. After a spoonful of it, it is a 2 thumbs up! Very good alternative for pork.

Thanks Chef Abbey. You are the BEST! 

Walk for Our Children 2014 by Singapore Children's Society

ABBEY: Well, honestly, I cannot run a marathon. Not just yet. Good thing, we got aware of this program of Singapore Children Society "Walk for our Children". The event was held at West Coast's Grand Lawn from 8:30AM to 2PM last Aug 17. It was graced by Mr. Chan Chun Sing. 

The walk is 3km long and we managed to finish it. I know it is not quite a feat but a start for me and my wife. Mini fair with games and food booths were setup for kids and adults alike to enjoy.

WILL: I am very sad that Abbey's firm didn’t participate on Hair for Hope 2014. So to relinquish the disappointment, I look for an event that hubby and I can participate with. We stumbled upon the Singapore Children’s Society.

They have a 3km leisure walk at West Coast park; free registration. No second thought, we signed up. Anyway, it is my dream to participate in any run here in Singapore and this is a good start. Do the walk first before the run, haha!

We do some zumba for warm up, courtesy of Herbalife group and by 8AM, the walk was started. I love walking hand in hand with my husband. In 3km, we talked about his career, our dream apartments and planning for some holidays.

When we were about to reach the finish line, I saw the kites already flying and people swarming the booths. 

It is fun-filled morning. Oh, please visit their website, you can make a donation or be a volunteer to learn more about their advocacy. 

Till next year guys :)

Meatball Wrap Recipe

6 prata

500g ground pork

1 cup minced potato

2 onions

1 garlic

1 green bell pepper

1 can tomato paste

2 beaten eggs

lettuce

Mix the pork, minced potato and the beaten eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide into 24 and roll into balls. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the meatballs for 10 minutes until golden.

On the same oil add the chopped onions and garlic. Pour the tomato paste in and add 2 cups of water. Put the sliced green bell pepper let it simmer for 5 minutes. Put the meatballs in and cook it further for 10 minutes.

Fry the prata according to pack instructions.

Spoon the meatballs over the prata and lettuce. Fold up and serve.

VERDICT ABBEY: Dogmas, dogmas everywhere. As puto is to dinuguan or tuyo is to champorado or kaya toast is to soft boiled egg. Why not spaghetti meatball to a wrap? Enyg?! Try it. Lay out a prata on to a plate, put lettuce, then your meatballs. Make sure you put sauce in each and every bite. It's gonna get messy but it's worth it. 

GRUB - Café, Breakfast & Brunch Restaurant at Bishan Park Singapore

ABBEY: Grub is one of the restaurant that gives you a relaxing view. Set inside Bishan Park, you will get refreshed with the lush greens in the pond and trees. 

Be patient as there will be lot of people like you who wants to taste their food. Once there, no need to queue. Just leave your number and they will call you once your table is ready. Enjoy walking on the park as you wait. I got their Grub Cheeseburger for 13 SGD along with fries. We take away the order as I needed some sleep after a night's shift. 

The burgers are heavy which means they're big. At home, we confirmed it. They're huge. The taste? The patty is delicious, smells good and flavourful. Nothing special about the fries but a good partner to the burger.

WILL: Grub set a giveaway on their facebook page last 26^th of July. This is for the lucky 20 people to taste for free their 49^thSingapore’s birthday offering.. the special edition of Chilli Crabcake Burger. Yes! Abbey is lucky and blessed! He won! Due to hectic schedule, we went there on the last day to claim the voucher, 10^th of August, Sunday. Gosh, the place was full and people keep on coming to key-in their handphone number to be queued. Then we decided to take-away our orders. After 25minutes, we got on our hand burgers and fries, then we headed back home.

We ate it for our late dinner, around 10PM. We re-heat it but the freshness of crabcake is still intact. They say it is spicy, but not for me! Haha! Maybe they did not put enough chilli sauce to my sweet crab burger. But the taste is still awesome.

I am really quite frustrated to myself why we never went there early to avoid the long queue. Their site is very relaxing. A very good way to spend Sunday morning.

Thanks Grub! We will definitely grab again some bites on your shop!

"O"

ABBEY: The Arts House is having a program that reviews a piece of literature which also have a silverscreen version. It's called "But is the book better?". People can register for free passes on the movie. The one we had is about Shakespeare's Othello. A tragedy on the life of Othello made by his friend. 

To be honest I haven't read the book. I definitely will be in dreamland on reading the first page. Good thing that the movie adaptation was made to give a new breath on the masterpiece so it will be learned by the new generation in a different way.

WILL: O is a 2001 film lined with the famous Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello.  

Set in a high school basketball team and focused on Odin. Such focus and fame flamed jealousy, greed, betrayal and lies.. So many lies that lead to murders.

Indeed this is a tragedy. 

Thanks to The Arts House at The Old Parliament of Singapore for the free movie :)

Tim Ho Wan Singapore @ Plaza Singapura

ABBEY: So what's the reason for people queueing on this dim sum restaurant? For one, it is their baked pork bun; a soy-sauced pork delight inside a sweet bun. An order of 3 costs 4.50 SGD. 

I also tried their rice bowl topped with chicken, sausage, and mushroom. Be careful of the metal bowl though to avoid burns. My order is flavorful and delicious. It would be better if they will serve it in large portion. 

I also had a taste of the carrot cake as well as the vegetable dumpling. We ordered free flow of tea. The tea has a unique wood taste; weird but a good twist. 

WILL: Tim Ho Wan is one of the Michelin Star restaurant in Asia . Of course all of the people, including us is so curious what's in store that captured Michelin's attention. After our concert at K Suites in Bugis+, we hailed a taxi to go to Plaza Singapura. 

So lucky that the queue is not so long and the turnover is quite fast. While on waiting for our turn to dine in, we were given an order slip and once we reached our table, not more than 10 minutes we received some of the food and they completed our order for not more than 20mins. 

I have a congee for our very early dinner. Usually I do not eat congee to any store but I had a voice inside me pushed me to have one of it. Well, for $4.20 I got a very tasty congee. Never tasted any like this before. No need of extra condiments. It is just perfect. 

The famous pork bun. What’s with it? A melts-in-your-mouth bun and a Chinese-styled sauced pork. I decided to go for 2 of those. Haha. The carrot cake is simple and even their shrimp and dumpling. 

We will surely come back here for their buns and congee.

K Suites @ Bugis+

ABBEY: One of Pinoy's pastime is doing karaoke. Professional singers, amateurs, and even the out-of-tunes will belt it out when they got hold of the mic. Pinoys are "born" singers. So after my night shift, yes without sleeping, we went to K Suites in level 3 of Bugis+ to have a 3-hour singing engagement with Nadine and Vince. 

We got a promo offered by Groupon at 80SGD. The place is clean, smells good and homey. The sound proofing is good so we can keep our talents to ourselves. Haha. 

While checking the list of songs, we found out the hard truth. We were already old :). Our repertoire consists of Backstreet Boys, Moffats, Westlife, and 98 Degrees. (Wow, all were disbanded). We also got the timeless like Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Beatles. Our singing skills kept up with Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Buble, and Taylor Swift. 

It was a fun afternoon and made sure that we will have this dayout again :)

WILL: Is there a noise drumming inside of your head? Stressed in office or school activities? Burnt out of your monotonous life? Or just want to have fun? Call K Suites  62433113 or 63543113 for reservations.

We got a very good deal at Groupon and managed to booked on our desired time and date. For 3 hours of singing our heart out plus one glass of soda or tea.

We arrived minutes before 12noon and but we were accommodated immediately. As we arrived in our designated room the mic starts to burn as Abbey and VA lined more than 20 songs in snap. Shocks, I think they came here all prepared.

For full 3 hours, we sing, laugh, dance and be merry. 90’s songs is the best!

K Suites, please put some more lights inside each room.

Till next time VA and Nadine ;)