ABBEY: After we attended Startup Token Asia 2017, we had dinner. And we wanted to tick off another item from our “To Dine” list so we headed to Ramen Keisuke Lobster King at Clarke Quay. I got their fluffy omelet rice (SGD 10.8). My my rice was covered with runny omelet and gravy. Every spoonful is rich in flavor and creamy. Hard boiled eggs and soy bean sprouts are complimentary but be cautios with your cholesterol level.
We also happened to meet one of our friends.
Ramen Keisuke Lobster KingLobster Broth Ramen Special
Ramen Keisuke Lobster King Fluffy Omelet Rice
Ramen Keisuke Lobster King Hard Egg and Bean Sprout Eat All You Can
Ramen Keisuke Lobster King Clarke Quay
Ramen Keisuke Lobster King - Menu
Ramen Keisuke Lobster King - Menu
WILL: That night, after attending the StartupToken Meetup at Clarke Quay, we had our dinner at Ramen Keisuke Lobster King.
It is like, we flew to Japan! The attentive waiters are wearing kimonos, the samurai is just in front of us, a hiant bell will get your attention instantly and the wooden fixtures.
I definitely enjoyed their complimentary eat-all-you-can bean sprout. I mixed it with mayonnaise and the taste is superb.
On my main expensive dish, the Lobster Broth Ramen Special ($21.90), by only sipping the hot soup I felt so full and I am sorry to say I can't taste the lobster in there. Haha. The noodles are just fine and all in all, I didn't fid it "Special".
I am more keen with their fluffy omelette rice ($10.80). The egg is velvety. Perfect!
If you are tipsy, you can drop by here before heading home, they have a midnight promotions. :)
ABBEY: From time to time we also try new chips while watching TV series. Here are some of them:
Popcorners This has the texture of popcorn but in a form or triangular chip. Taste like popcorn but your mind will be confused with the appearance. We tried their cheesy Jalapeño and it was good.
Thins
If you’re looking for sour-cream or salt flavor chips aside from Ruffles and Lays, this is a good alternative. The chips are thin as the name implies. Easy to chew and has the burnt taste.
Bluebird Sea Salt
Cold Storage is the only grocery we see that this is being sold. It is nice to go back to the basics of potato chips. Slices of potato with salt. Good partner with soda.
Way Better Snack
These tortilla chips might be way better compared to others because of their flavors. We tried their sweet chilli flavor and simply spicy sriracha. Those are new flavors for our taste buds and definitely buy them again.
Rgies Iloilo
This sweet treat is from one of the provinces of the Philippines, Iloilo. These are butterscotch squares which have brownies texture. They come in varieties like with almonds, coffee, cashew, dates, mango bits and chocooats but I like the mango bits most.
Delisio Bluebird Sea Salt Cooked with Sunflower Oil
Popcorners
Way Better Snacks
Thins - Snack Brands Australia
Rgies Butterscotch Square:
WILL: My love for chips is fading as there only few varieties available at ShengShiong store and they cost tons of money. Anyways that is better for our health and pocket. Haha. But Abbey jolted back my affair with chips when he always bring something new from FairPrice Changi Business Park branch or other stores. Thins: This became one in my fave list. Even it is so thin (as it was named) the flavour was packed in every chip. My favorite is their sour cream and chives. Yup! It is like you dipped it in the real thing. Bluebird Delisio Sea Salt: Can you imagine, a simple salt can make your taste buds celebrate a feast? Simplicity is the best thing the can offer. This is only available at Cold Storage and always out of stock. Popcorners: He knew that I love popcorn, he surprised me with a bag of this chips. Creative! Popcorn turned into a flat crispy chips! Clap! Clap! Clap! The taste reminds me of my childhood. Remember the cheap popcorn at your local store? Yes! This is the taste. But of course more crunchy. Way Better's Simply So Sweet Chili: Yes! It bites! Haha. The sting of spiciness is there and the "healthy" feeling will justify your guilt haha. The chips has this grainy texture to support that claim. Classic! Rgies Butterscotch Square: Beware! This is addictive! haha! Thanks Kuya Dexter and Ate Cai for this delicacy from your hometown. Not too sweet and chewy. You will crave for more. My fave is the mango bits and original.
***
RGies Delicacies
(A) Kamantigue Street, Gran Plains Subdivision Jaro, Jaro, Iloilo City, 5000 Iloilo, Philippines
(T) +63 33 329 5606
FairPice Finest
(A) Changi City Point #B1-08/09/10/11
(T) 6444 1472
Cold Storage
(A) 1 Sengkang Square #B1-25, Compass One Shopping Centre
ABBEY: It’s very rare that we visit Mustafa as that is way too far from home. You need to plan going there. I insisted that we go there as I tasted a muruku and my colleague told me that it was from Mustafa. Then our quest began. Mustafa is full of knick-knacks and there are items that we wanted to try. So aside from the muruku, we also got the following:
1. bhakarwadi - this maybe called the Indian counterpart of Combos. I didn’t read the label thoroughly so I got mini version of the snack.
2. A bottle of camel’s milk - this has a strong ghee-milk taste
3. Snickers chocolate drink - yes, this exists. Have you ever wonder what if the middle chocolate in the bar got liquified? Try it then you’ll know.
4. Mars protein shake - taste like my usual protein shake. Not too sweet that is overwhelming.
5. Almond milk - we mixed our almond milk to our smoothie to give it a nutty taste.
Mustafa Centre Singapore - Snickers Shake
Mustafa Centre Singapore - Camelicious Camel Milk
WILL: We roam around and got fascinated with not so familiar food around the shelves of Mustafa. We bought some for us to taste. Camelicious' Camel Milk, this the most expensive milk I ever have. It costs us S$6.40 for 250mL. Abbey doesn’t like it, but I do. The richness of milk is there. It seems that I am drinking it right after extracting it out of the camel. Buttery and creamy. Yum. It reminds me of my childhood chocolate drink -- Magnolia Chocolate that was stored in a 1L glass. You will long for the extra sweetness but Snickers Shake won't give you that. Haha. Almond Milk was blended with our smoothies, it goes well with the fruits. The taste alone? A sting of almond.
We will visit Mustafa again and that is for sure. Looking forward to see more new and exciting food.
Cut the squids into strips and soak in water; minimum of 4 hours
Drain them but save the water as it is part of the ingredients.
Squid batter:
Mix potato starch, all-purpose flour, squid water and egg. Mix together until batter is smooth.
Sprinkle a generous amount of all-purpose flour to the squid so the batter will adhere to it better.
Heat oil and do a double fry. This will make the squid very crispy.
VERDICT WILL: Abbey is on the mood for creating dishes he watched in Youtube channel of Maangchi. Thanks again idol Maangchi! He requested dried squid from Papa Ros and it became an instant hit for us! Again, the double fry works very well with this. Crispy and succulent! Great with rice or a substitute for your pica-pica on your alcoholic session with friends. This is amazing. Fry it.
ABBEY: This year The Carvery (Park Hotel Alexandra) is offering Spanish-themed dishes from 4th December until 1st January the following year. It boasts of their US Black Angus Prime Rib, spit-roasted chicken wih orange and rosemary and pork belly porchetta. December 9 came and we tried it. Oh yes. The meats are succulent. I got a chat with the chef and told me that the chicken is the hardest one to make. But definitely the best in flavor. I ate them without any sauce. The fats and the juices will make you go for more. Partner it with red wine and it’s a feast. They also have salads, soups, mushrooms, beef stew, pork chorizos, and salmon. Four of us dined in but we paid for 3 pax only :)
WILL: The best way to catch up with friends is through food and to break the usual buffet dinner, we went for The Carvery at Park Hotel Alexandra. What's the difference with others? By its name, they specialiazed with grilled meat. Yey! They have lamb, chicken, and the crispy pork? Wowoweee! The crispy skin and melts-in-your-mouth fats.. Oh my body, please forgive me as I have committed a sin for that night. Haha. The grilled meat is perfect to be partnered with a wine so we ordered a bottle and it helped to push the meat in our tummies. Haha. Next on my fave list is their salmon. The white sauce is thick enough to amplify the taste of natural oils of salmon. Next, pork chorizo. Do you know how expensive the chorizo in Singapore? I indulged on it haha! They have variety of cheese too. Pizza was cooked with old-fashioned fire oven. It gives a natural scent of burn. Yum! For desserts, sad to say there is no ice cream. Log cakes are there to fill-up your sugar needs. The place is quite private and romantic. The lighting creates a romantic feel too. I am not surprised many couples are dining at The Carvery. One more thing. Citibank have a promotion: 50% off on second guest. We were all shocked to know that we saved a lot that time. Thanks The Carvery. Thanks Citibank.
ABBEY: We went for a quick getaway, a 45-minute ride from Singapore, to Turi Beach (Batam) with our Papa Boy. This is for relaxation and rejuvenation.
Tirta Room:
Before we can get into our room, we need to “hike” and it is good for our hearts to get pumped up :) The outside is like a kampung (bahay kubo) but with the usual amenities of hotel room inside (air conditioner, bathroom tile floor, comfy bed). It also has a veranda but the sea view is being blocked by trees. The phone was not working at first but got replaced. And we called several times for the coffee, tea and cups to be replenished. I hope they can provide it with the same number of guests in the room. Maybe the room was not used for quite sometime as I can still see dust in the head lamp, table and chair. Make sure to lock the doors as mosquitoes can enter the room. They also provide mosquito spray and lotion.
Tamang Sari
This is where we had our buffet lunch when we arrived and breakfast the next day.
200 INR per person for lunch and it was a Japanese and Chinese cuisine that day. I indulged myself with fried calamari, roasted chicken and sweet and sour fish fillets.
The breakfast is complimentary and I had sunny side up, toast, egg salad, cold cuts, congee and laksa.
Nogusaya
We had teppanyaki for dinner at Nogusaya. I got chicken breast and the chef really showcased his art of cooking. While waiting for the main course, we were served with appetizer and soup. Cooking the food in front of you is really entertaining. The chef lit my chicken on fire :)
With a splash of soy sauce and a little chunk of butter, my chicken along with the veggies were full of flavor.
T Spa
This is where we planned our Papa to have relaxation; with a couple of spa treatments.
Our tour package includes a 45-minute full body massage but we upgraded to an hour and then we coupled it with foot reflexology. I slept for both :)
WILL: Our goal for Papa's visit is to bore him. Haha! This is for him to take sleep as many as he can. Well, our schedule is perfect as Abbey will take care of morning galas, he will take a rest on afternoon, then on evenings I am in-charge for him to walk around the city. But what about the weekend? This is his third time in Singapore and we decided to go to one of the nearest foreign island, Batam, Indonesia. The staff of Turi Beach Resort took an extra mile to open up (even they are full) on our urgent booking. Their 'chat' button on their website works wonderfully as our communication was instantaneous and our booking was confirmed on that same hour. We bought a Fave voucher for only $99.00 2D1N each. It includes the buffet breakfast, hotel transfer, 2-way ferry, 20% discount on food and services and 45-minute massage. Great deal right? When we arrived at the hotel at 8, the conceirge informed us that our room will be ready at 10. We didn’t waste time waiting, we took advantage that there are not so many people at their famous boardwalk. Papa Ros took a 'lover's photo'. Haha! When we got to our room, we booked for 11am maasage, we topped up S$10 to be 60min whole body massage. The massage is not that good. It missed the spots of my aching back. Then, we gave another try for foot reflexology. Oh my! 3/10. I will suggest thay you go for another spa. We have our buffet lunch and breakfast at Tamang Sari The food is delicious and I love their fried squid! Totally! But the choices is not that much. After lunch we were back to our room to catch a nap. Two hours nap and we were back on our feet to take dinner. For dinner, we entertained ourselves and fill up our tummy at Nogusaya. Our first time to have this kind of dining 'show'. Haha. I am thinking why we were served with a meagre amount? Omg! Haha! When the chef was serving the second plate I am already full. (Ang bigat sa tyan, shocks!) After dinner, we enjoyed the ocean breeze, there's couch available at the shore and marvel the huge amount of water in front of us with live music at the background. People are dancing, clapping and merrymaking! What a delightful thing to see. After breakfast, with bare feet, we caught waves. Hehe. Papa Ros enjoyed the water zumba too! Eat, sleep and laugh. That is what we did at Turi Beach Resort. Oh! Forgot to describe our room. It has two twin bed and a veranda. I love the wooden flooring and wooden walls, so oldie! It seems dusty and not used for a long time but the sheets are clean. No unnecessary smells or feel. We ordered extra water and gave it to us without extra charge. The staffs our warm and welcoming. This is a trip I can't erase in my memory. Thanks Papa Ros for spending your precious time with us. :)
***
Turi Beach Resort (4-star hotel)
(W) http://www.turibeach.com/
(A) Jalan Hang Lekiu, Nongsa, Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29465, Indonesia
ABBEY: Wilma’s colleague told her that she should try to eat kimchi instant noodle soup. She was told it was delicious. We bought it and then cooked. It didn’t satisfy her cravings for spicy noodles.
I got leftover over kimchi so I decided to check how to cook kimchi noodle soup. Here it is:
5 shiitake mushrooms (thin slices)
1 cup chopped kimchi (save the juice)
1 cup kimchi juice
chicken stock or cubes
red pepper flakes
sesame oil
sugar
cooked noodles
chopped green onions
Stir fry shiitake mushrooms then add the kimchi.
Put in kimchi juice, chicken stock, red pepper flakes, sugar and sesame oil.
The amount of each ingredients depends on your preference.
We like it spicy, sweet and sour.
Rinse the noodles and put in a bowl.
Pour broth over the noodles, top with green onions and serve.
Quick and Easy Kimchi Noodle Soup
VERDICT WILL: One of my colleagues suggested that I should try the Kimchi Instant Noodle. On that cue, we bought a set and cooked one pack. Excitement fades when I never really tasted he kimchi. Not a hint of kimchi taste and you can have some sightings of small portion of fermented cabbages. Ok enough on that. Haha. Abbey, again, surprised me. Another list for him to make. Haha. He served that to me when I was sick and oh my! I'll tell you... KIMCHI SOUP IT IS! Creamy, sour and a kick of real kimchi. I can live eating this for a week! Bet?! Imagine a nutritious kimchi, fresh mushrooms, gyoza and bouncy noodles on your bowl?! Bye diet. Give me another bowl! Haha! Thanks Maangchi for teaching billions of people cooking Korean Dishes! My husband and I adores you a lot!
Abbey: Wilma told me one day that she wanted to have banana pudding. I looked for restaurants or cafe offering this but sadly the only restaurant who sells it is already closed. And the Magnolia Bakery in US is too far. So I made it.
For best results, do this 3 days before the occasion or event.
Here’s how.
Ingredients:
1 can of condensed milk
1 1/2 cup of ice cold water
3 cups of heavy cream (thickened cream)
1 packet of Jell-O instant vanilla pudding
1 box Nilla wafers
4 cups or 4 large ripe banana.
Combine water and condensed milk and mix for 1 minute.
Add the instant vanilla pudding and mix for 2 minutes.
Put the mixture in a container and have it settled in fridge for 30 minutes.
While waiting slice the bananas to small pieces.
Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks are formed.
Fold the pudding into the cream.
Do the layers in a pan: wafers, banana, cream-pudding mixture then repeat.
Put in fridge and serve after.
VERDICT WILL: I have a problem with food. I have this behaviour to crave and be addicted for some type of food in a certain time. Haha. Abbey solved my latest issue in life. How to get the Magnolia Bakery's Famous Banana Pudding. On the day he made the it, it taste 'meh'. But when we let to sit the pudding for 2 days. Gosh! The banana and wafer sinked-in together in a rhythm that my tastebuds shouts for joy. Haha! Nice description right? Creamy, not that sweet, tasty and adorably perfect. Colleagues got to tried it too! And they loved Abbey even more. Haha Thanks Abbey for making us happy! Continue to distressing yourself by creating this kind of delicious food.
ABBEY: Before departing from Indonesia, we had lunch at Matahari Cafe; one of the places to dine at Nongsapura Ferry Terminal. I got Nasi Lemak. Nothing extraordinary and almost the same taste of Nasi Lemaks I had in Singapore. But the chili is better than the one in Turi Beach resort. The whole restaurant is smoking area so be ready to be a second-hand smoker :)
Matahari Cafe (Nongsapura Ferry Terminal) Fish Curry
Matahari Cafe (Nongsapura Ferry Terminal) Drinks Menu
Matahari Cafe (Nongsapura Ferry Terminal) Menu
Matahari Cafe (Nongsapura Ferry Terminal) Menu
WILL: This is the only restaurant in Nongsapura Pier. This is where we took our last meal on that trip, a lunch. I ordered fish curry and to wash it down I requested for hot red velvet. I expect too much on their red velvet. Frustration sank in when I felt the powdery substance in my drinks. Argh! Lucky enough, my fish curry met my "spicy" level. The curry is not that creamy on the photo but it is delicious. I looked on to Abbey for him to order me a cola and he finished my hot red velvet. Haha! Be warned! This is smoking cafe!
***
Matahari Cafe
(A) Jl. Hang Lekiu, Sambau, batam, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau (Nongsapura Ferry Terminal)
ABBEY: This is the ferry service we had when we went to Batam. We were at Tanah Merah Ferry terminal as early as 6AM for our 8AM-departure. One hour passed, Batam Fast office opened and we got our tickets. The ferry is clean and spacious. They even got charging ports :) We departed Singapore and arrived in Indonesia on time. But that is not the case homeward bound. We only got to board the ferry an hour after the supposed time of departure. We sat in the upper deck on a cafe-like setting. The engine even died few minutes after we left the port. Batam Fast became Batam “Slow”. Still a good experience and I enjoyed the ride.
Batam Fast Ferry
Tanah Merah - Nongsapura - Tanah Merah
To Turi Beach Resort
WILL: Now, for second time, we visited Tanah Merah to board Batam Fast. Yes! There are ferries in here bound to Batam. I am shocked too! I thought this port is exclusive for Bintan-goers only. It is cleaner and organized than the one in Harboufront. I am expecting that the Batam Fast will be having a cafe inside, but it didn't have. Anyway, it doesn't matter as our travel time doesn’t exceed for an hour. The ferry is clean. Seats are comfortably good. There are three (3) lavatory and the floor is all wet and no tissue is available for your use. Bound back to Singapore, from Nongsapura Ferry Terminal, we seated at second floor and the seat portrays like to be in cafe. There is a table for you to dine. I am not sure if they offer food. I sleep on the entire journey. I am so glad that the ocean is calm and I didn't get too dizzy. Or maybe the captain is knowledgeable on his forte! Thanks Batam Fast! Till our next trip!
ABBEY: Ok, their flying soba really made me look at the video twice wondering how the soba hangs from the chopsticks and the sticks are in midair. We headed to Hana Restaurant (The Forum) to see and eat the real deal. I got Flying Cha Soba for SGD18. It comes with 2 flavour-rich dipping sauces and a plate of Spam maki. I thought the serving is small but it totally filled my tummy. And that is lunchtime :) The restaurant also serves desserts and has a bar.
However, due to a glitch, the pictures were deleted and we headed back to the restaurant and dined again. This is after we visited the Holiday Trees display at Orchard.
I had Flying Salted Egg Yolk Udon ($18). It is another flying soba but the staff gave us a dipping sauce with truffle oil. It was so delicious. We even had a salted egg dip. Wow. It was great experience.
Hana Restaurant And Bar Drip Unagi Rice
Hana Restaurant And Bar Flying Salted Egg Yolk Udon
Hana Restaurant And Bar The Alchemist Series Menu
Hana Restaurant And Bar's Menu
Hana Restaurant And Bar's Menu
Hana Restaurant And Bar' Menu
WILL: Our second date in Hana Restaurant and now we were surprise to know that there's another set of new gimmick the team managed to pull off. Tan-na-nannn! The Alchemist Series! Yes! This is the first in the whole wide world! Haha! 'drippin' method is not only for coffee! Ha! After the flying noodles, the team has done this creative idea! Braaavo!!! I am not amazed why your reservation is on fire! So what's the taste? On our first visit, we ordered a Flying Soba with Spam Maki, on our second visit as recommended we went for Flying Salted Egg Yolk! I both enjoyed the noodles. In every bite you will know that it is not your ordinary noodle found in other restaurants. It has a bouncy texture that is fulfilling to my taste. Salted Egg sauce is way too creamy and we loved it. Oh! One Flying Noodle edition can serve two pax. Ok, we go to Alchemist Series. We got Drip Unagi Rice on our table. The water dripped off on the rice bowl is supremely tasty! UMAMI!!!! The Unagi is perfectly cooked! Rice too! Oh my! Filling up your carb tank? We have tried this Kimchi Pork Katsu Fried Rice. And it is real Kimchi! Drooolll! It is indeed a heavy meal. Yes! This is not your ordinary restaurant. If you want to be playful and take an instagrammable photo and video with a delicious food..Visit Hana NOW! :) Thank you Michael for taking good care and greet us always with a smile. Till our next visit!
***
Hana Restaurant And Bar
(F) https://www.facebook.com/pg/HANARest
(H) Daily: 12pm to 2.30pm (lunch) and 6pm to 9.30pm (dinner)
ABBEY: Gardens by the Bay Domes displays wide array of plant exhibitions. Great timing for our Papa Boy, the Flower Dome shows Poinsettia Wishes theme. We went there by 7PM. You can get a great Christmas feel upon entrance. It is cold, the music is playing, and red and green decorations are all over the place. It’s as if you’re taken to a Christmas Wonderland. We took snaps with the Christmas trees, the Nutcrackers, the colorful and beautiful flower and yes with the poinsettias. Don’t forget to look up to catch the “Northern Lights”.
Poinsettia Wishes - Gardens by the Bay
Poinsettia Wishes - Gardens by the Bay
Letters For Santa
Poinsettia Wishes - Gardens by the Bay
Northern Lights
WILL: Papa RS is here to celebrate the birth month of Abbey. Lucky enough, Gardens by the Bay showcases new ornaments inside Flower Dome and it themed as Poinsettia Wishes. Of course, the dome was filled with symbolic holiday designs. Tall, real and fresh Christmas trees are all over the place, an array of Northern Lights glimmers above, and of course the star of that place..Poinsettias! There are red, white and pink varieties. My father-in-law’s face lightened up upon seeing those leaves. He can't help himself but to click his camera here and there. For sure, you can feel the yuletide season in here. Visit the Flower Dome. This design lasts only until 8th January. One more tip! It is more spectacular in evening.
***
POINSETTIA WISHES - GARDENS BY THE BAY
(W) http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg
(H) 10 - 30 Nov 2017 and 2 - 8 Jan 2018: 9.00am - 9.00pm
