2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix - Pit Lane Experience

ABBEY: What if you're given a chance to see the garages of Formula 1 cars? Would you forfeit it? I almost did. Good thing we got a final reminder letter that I won a pair of ticket for the event. And it must be redeemed online on that day only. It is not that I ignored the congratulatory mail, but it was in the spam inbox. We registered hurriedly and got our tickets. 

The event is on the eve of 2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix. We entered Gate 1 at 7:30PM and just in time the party kicked off. Performers from around the world render their acts; live bands, buskers like human topiaries and Invisible Man, and the "drummer boys" (Wicked Aura). It was nostalgia; we're in the same zone last 2012 and there we were again.

At quarter past nine, the walk commenced. We were in Turn 1. The view is spectacular. Now I know why the ticket price is premium. You can have good snaps on this place. Then we came to the garages and pit. The mechanics are busy with the preparation for practice session the next day. We even saw some team practicing their routine in changing the tires.

From the Red Bull, Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel emerged. Just like his car, he was too fast to avoid being mugged by shutterbugs. He did signed some autographs and pose for snap, but lightning-quick giving me a blur picture of him :) We also took snaps on the starting point and then headed home.

WILL: Tuesday night while doing my routine of checking emails, my eyes got bigger when I saw a congratulatory email from Singapore F1. Gosh we won a pair of ticket for Thursday Pit Lane experience. Gosh, we are so blessed! Haha! 

F1 revving engines is addictive. I like racing and the risk that comes with it, the adrenaline and the energy. So when Abbey and I decided not to go for this year, we are quite sad but we need to stand our decision. Even though we do not bought any ticket for 2015 race, Singapore F1 still gave us a chance to feel the F1 fever.

We queued around 7PM watched the performances of Carlos Castano, Fungkimunkees and listen to the beat of Wicked Aura and take some photos with The Living Topiary. Thousands of people were chilling, drinking and merry making before the gate to the Pit Stop finally opens its doors to the public.

When I stepped to the track, our Fan Zone memories came back to me. When I can get to see again F1 from the Fan Stand? Huhu! Anyways, we walked and checked one by one the Pit Stop of every cars. And for a bonus, Sebastian Vettel came out from nowhere, say hi to the fans and run out from the crowd. Haha!

Thanks again Singapore F1 for this. Hopefully next year you got a better performers at Padang stage..  

JBM Coffee & Dining (Modern European Restaurant) - One Raffles Place Mall

ABBEY: Just like in life, in the corporate world, people come and go. One of my colleague and friend is migrating to NZ and we decided to meet at JBM Coffee and Dining (One Raffles Place).

They are offering one-for-one deal for their pastas, wine, and chicken. We ordered Golden Hen; half-spring chicken, cooked in garlic, potatoes and butter. It's a big serving but I managed to finish it all by myself. The meat is soft and tasty. The garlic juice blends with thin butter sauce which made it more flavourful. It costs 23SGD but was made half because of the promo.

WILL: Looking for a French Cuisine that will not break your bank? Head over to JBM Coffee and Dining at One Raffles Place Mall.

We were there to celebrate one of the main event in our friend’s life. For a dinner, we reserved a table via pm on their facebook page. Yeah! You read it right, they accepting reservations from their page. A mini get-together of Oracle Data Administrators. So cool!

We ordered their promotion of 1-for-1 Golden Hen (U.P. $23). It’s true! It’s a Golden Hen but she was already cooked so she won’t lay golden eggs, haha!, but she is there to fuel-up our empty stomach. The buttery flavour aroma made my stomach to grumble even further, but we need to wait for one more colleague for us to start.

So when she came, I picked urgently my fork and savour on my half chicken. The taste is so yummy. Every inch of it is so tender. But the sad truth is you need to consume it as fast as you can before the butter freeze in front of you.

This is a night of reminiscing, merriment and goodbyes. Till next time Aiz. See you in New Zealand.

Chicken Fajitas Recipe

Fajitas wrap:

Tostillas

Bell peppers cut into strips ( yellow, green, and red)

- this will give good appearance as well

Sour cream

Salsa

1 large onion cut into strips

Chicken marinade:

Chicken breasts (1/2 inch thick)

Cumin

Chilli powder

Jalapeno

1 lime

Cilantro (finely chopped)

Mix all the ingredients for marinate in a bowl and put the chicken. It can be marinated overnight for better taste.

To cook it, put a tablespoon of oil in a pan and some salt in the chicken. When the oil began to smoke, put the chicken in the pan and let it be seared for 2-3 minutes on each side.The trick is to wrap the chicken in aluminum foil after cooking until ready to serve. The chicken will continue to cook with the heat and all the moisture will be locked inside.

After cooking the chicken, add a couple of tablespoon of oil in the same pan and saute bell peppers and onion for a couple of minutes and then set aside

This is optional: heat your sizzling plates.

While waiting, cut the chicken to strips, put it on the plate along with the veggies.

Put some sauce collected in the chicken to the plate for the sizzling effect.

Top with sour cream and salsa.

Heat your tostillas and serve.

VERDICT
WILL: Don't you deny it that you are thinking you can eat that everytime you are seeing a photos of foods while you are surfing the world wide web. Well, I am also guilty of it. So when I saw restaurants like Chili's and Stewords River Boat offering chicken fajitas, I immediately googled for recipe. So here, my greatest man cooked for me. Haha.

Saw him how to do it and it seems easy. But never dare and too lazy to do it on my own. :) The taste is awesome. The aroma filled our home and it is really nice. Lime, sour cream and salsa sauce is really perfect combination. Chicken is so tender.

Try to do this guys.

Gerry’s Grill Restaurant and Bar Singapore (Starhub Centre)

ABBEY: Ate Monette's birthday came and she held her party at Gerry's Grill in Cuppage Road. A table for 20 was reserved. We got sinigang na hipon, tokwa't baboy, barbecue, and their top item Crispy Pata.

The barbecue is delicious; sauce is dripping and each bite is a delight. The meat is tender and flavorful. I liked cripsy pata the most. Though it is a red flag for healthful living, I hope it won't hurt when I indulged with one and half of that :) Very crunchy and it really went well along with their soy sauce. 

A great party indeded; full of stories, laughters, and food.

WILL: Happy Birthday Ate Monnette. She celebrated her 2013 bday at Jollibee Singapore and this 2014 we booked for 20 people at Gerry's Grill located at Starhub Centre. We can't be accommodated indoors so we went for alfresco dining.

Their Sizzling Pusit Ala pobre is so tender. Pork Bbq is so nice that I asked for more sticks of it. I am here to taste their famous crispy pata. Yes it so crispy, yummy and quite spicy. Crispy pata is so nice that I asked April's plate of it to be transferred in front of me and Abbey.

Definitely this is a very recommended place for people here in Singapore to taste the Filipino Cuisines. Check out their websites for their menus and other locations.

Till next birthday celebration Gerry's Grill. Oh, before I forgot, you can pe-order your food, it will save waiting time.

Espasol Recipe (Filipino Rice Cake Originated From Laguna Philippines)

3 cups coconut milk

1 1/2 cups roasted grated coconut

3 cups roasted glutinous rice flour

1/2 cup roasted rice flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Bring the coconut milk to boil. Upon boiling add sugar, mix it until sugar is dissolved. Make sure your stove is in low heat only to avoid the mixture to burn.

Then add the grated coconut and vanilla extract, and let it simmer.

Lastly, add the glutinous rice flour.

This is the hardest part: Mix it until the all ingredients were incorporated well.

Dust a plate with rice flour and put the dough in it and let it cool. Cut it to appropriate size and dip each slice to rice flour to avoid them sticking together.

VERDICT
WILL: Every time my mom goes to Laguna I always asked her to get me some espasol. Of course she never failed to do that. She always bought for me that sweet delicacy from that town. 

Abbey knew me a lot, I am so surprised when having a dinner with his colleagues he asked them if his right shoulder is same size with left. We asked why. He told us that he made espasol for me. 

I taste-test one when we got home and the judgement..terrific! Same as the one in Pansol and Tagaytay that I used to buy. I went to office the following day and shared it to my colleagues. They love it too. 

Thanks Abbey for the continuous surprises.

Coffeemin - Singapore's Time Cafe

ABBEY: From time to time, it would be nice to not go directly home after a day's work. Maybe go to a place with a homey ambiance; as they say a home away from home.

We visited Coffeemin at Clarke Quay. It is a per-hour coffee shop. For 6 SGD an hour, you can enjoy unlimited coffee, sodas, and biscuits. Just present your IC or pay 30SGD which is refundable. 

Upon arrival, we sat down on the couch and started to play Xbox. Oh my, we don't know how to load a game :) After giving up for not knowing what would be the goal of the game we chose, we took over the billiard table. 8-ball? Grace won. 9-ball, I got a bad shot while putting the last ball in the corner pocket. It was fun. Short chit-chat on what are our plans in the future while munching on butter cookies and then we left. 

I'll tell you now, an hour is very short to spend time with your friend and loved ones.

WILL: Aren’t you tired of your usual coffee place? Or you just want to take a sip of unlimited coffee with your friends? Or you just want to spend an hour talking with all of your friends but your home cannot accommodate them all? Coffeeminion is a great place for you to check out.

How I came up to this place? While browsing the Groupon and Deal.Com.Sg I saw a half priced of this. I got a 3 vouchers for $3.00 each per hour. Imagine, you can have your unlimited cappuccino / latte / milo / soda / cookies + play your favourite board games, billiards, books/magazines and Xbox games. Good deal right?

After office, Abbey, Grace and I went there to check them out. The place is serene. There we merrily drank our dose of caffeine, played nine balls, and talked.. talked.. and talked. I love this place. Now me and my colleagues are scheduling a visit in their Suntec City branch.

Thanks Coffemin for this very good homey concept. Oh, please do check out their schedule because they were always hired for private function.

Sentosa Buskers Festival 2014

ABBEY: Another year has passed and Sentosa Buskers Festival is back. We only have one goal; to see Grumpy Queen Vic and have a snap with her. Upon arriving in Beach Station, Les Dudes is already performing. They are one of the wacky duo who does torch juggling, riding unicycle and acrobatics. After their act, I heard a loud whistle that sends a signal of urgency. It was Tuto Tul; a mime calling out his audience. He made his funny head stands and antics with audience participation. The show turned out to be good as the volunteers were game.

After that, we went to Palawan beach to see the "Queen". She was really grumpy :) Even the sound of violin from Singaporean artist Dan cannot put a smile across her face. Maybe because she was placed in the farthest part of the Buskers' Festival area. It would be better to place her in the area near iFly. We were about to leave as our mission was accomplished.

It was a good thing that we stayed. A few minutes later Aerial Manx of Australia started his act. He did lit up a whip and extinguished the flames by striking it. Each sonicboom was matched with a fireball. The sight was awesome. The last act is a dangerous one. So unique that he was logged into Guiness World record. He swallowed a 42-inch sword, did a cartwheel and then backflipped. That's how you end a performance.

WILL: Have you been to any of Sentosa’s Buskers Festival? No? Whyyyy? Tell me why?!

This season, I laughed a lot, my jaw-dropped a lot and I spend a lot for the tips. Haha!

Sentosa squeeze in the performances to the a smaller vicinity of the island, it is a good thing, viewers can jumped in to one act simultaneously. First we saw the Les Dudes from Canada. Unicycle is their forte. Tuto Tul got our attention when he blew his whistle. He is really amazing. He is a mime, clown and a magician. He make his audiences participate on his show.

We ran to The Garden to check out The Grumpy Queen from United Kingdom. Well she is the reason why we chose to go on Monday. Haha! I tried to make her smile, but efforts are futile. She is really a grumpiest off all grumpy queen in the whole wide world.

We were about to go home when we saw Aerial Manx from Australia fixing his stuffs, when I read on the pamphlet that he is a Guinness World Record holder, Winner of Apollo Bay Buskers Competition and performed on almost all of the famous city, we decided to stay, sit and enjoy his antics. Well, a breathtaking, tongue-swallowing and heartbeat-stopper performance Aerial Manx showed to us.

This weekend please visit them at Sentosa.. The State of Fun. Its free but please give some tips to the buskers if you enjoyed their shows. J

dr. Café Coffee Singapore

ABBEY: We visited Dr. Cafe's branch at City Link Mall when we met my college friend, Ryan. 

The thing liked the most is their Dome Chocolate cake. Since it was from the fridge, the twist is that they served it in a lukewarm plate which made the chocolate frosting to melt. The flavor is rich and texture is smooth. Pair it with coffee-of-the-day and you're in for a treat. 

Three slices of cake and three drinks all for 18sgd.

WILL: Dr. Cafe is all over Singapore and I apologize for not visiting them until last 29th of August.

Abbey and I met one of his blockmate and after dinner at Asian Kitchen we went directly to Dr. Cafe for a dose of caffeine.  

Like a child, I ordered 3 cakes. Yes, three. They have this 50% promotion that time and yes I abused that entitlement. I ordered Dome Cake, Blueberry Cheesecake, and Oreo Cheesecake. 

I am so amused when their chocolate cake touched my mouth. So warm and a not-so-sweet chocolate enticed me to dig in for more. Their blueberry cheesecake is awesome. There is something that is ewww to the Oreo Cheesecake, not recommended! 

Go and try their Dome Cake. They have also Plaza Singapura and Star Vista branch. 

Baja Fresh Mexican Grill Singapore

ABBEY: Hungry and you have a big appetite? Well, well, well, I recommend Baja Fresh. 

We visited them after Singapore Night Festival. It was a good thing they extended their store hours. Not aware of what to have, the staff from the counter approached our table and gladly explained their menu.

I got their Taco Platter. Your choice of beef or chicken in soft or crispy taco shells. The platter comes with serving of beans and rice. Thinking that the serving is small, we also ordered a plate of nachos.

Believe me, it's not nachos that they're serving, it is NACHOS. After squeezing the limes, we started to indulge to our Mexican late dinner. The juice of taco fillings oozed out in every bite. Maybe I had more than enough, thus I felt gassy after :) By the way the salad bar is unlimited.

WILL: Singapore Night Festival is a feast for the eyes and stomach. So even very late, we took the opportunity to dine at Baja Fresh Mexican Grill located at 9 Bras Basah Road (near at SOTA).

I ordered Chicken Baja Burritos, Abbey went for Tacos and bravely added up nachos. When the food came to our table and we were shocked of its sizes. I am laughing hard to Abbey for asking for additional nachos. I know we can’t finish it all so we decided to wrap up my burritos and for us to consume on the next day.

Abbey digged in on his tacos while I munched all the bowl of crispy nachos. I enjoyed their nachos because of their complimentary salsa bar. (drooling while writing this. Haha).

For next day, I re-heat the burritos and shared it with hubby. Yummy. The guacamole mixed with yogurt is amazing. For sure we will come back in this restaurant. Maybe we will go at their Marina Bay Sands branch.

Cavalia Singapore at The White Big Top (Marina Bay Sands)

ABBEY: I only see horses doing a performance in a circus show on television. Never seen a live one until last Sunday, 31st of August. It was shown in a large white tent adjacent to The Shoppes (Marina Bay Sands). The show starts at 5:30 but doors were open an hour early. In the tent lobby were Cavalia's merchandise from posters, pendants, plush toys and shirts. Snacks like popcorn, hotdog buns, and nachos were sold as well as drinks like sodas and wine.

Before the show starts, Q & A portion is there. Audience will participate by raising their hands when their answers will be flashed on the screen. I only got one correct answer. Fyi, all the horses are male. All expressed their awe when the first horse came out. No saddles, no strings. Lots of tricks and stunts were displayed. The "horse whisperers" did a great job. One trick that really impressed me is when the trainor guided six horses to jump a hurdle while standing on their backs. Last scene is when the stage was half-filled with ankle-deep water. Running on water, it gave these wonderful creatures more grace while moving.

It is not only horses that were shown but acrobats as well. Backflips, formations and gymnasts stunts were everywhere. All in all the performance is great; so great that it was extended until 28th of September.

WILL: The horses are amazing, their trainers don't even need to spank the stallions for them to obey. It seems that the horses and the men and women at the stage really understood each other. 

They are traveling around the globe and its first stop here in Asia is in The Red Dot and I will be so dumb to let this opportunity pass by. The tickets was sold like pancakes and the show was extended for few more weeks.

31st of August we walked our way in to the big white tent of Cavalia beside The Shoppe. We were greeted by their mechandise; tshirts, stuffed toys and more memorabilias. At 5pm, gate was open and we waited for 15 minutes and a Cavalia quiz starts. It so fun that almost all of the audience participated on it. Fun facts that shocked me that they only have stallions and geldings in show. No mares allowed. Haha

The performance started by a very fast running horse. Gosh! Chills! The stunts, the live musical scoring and of course the horses. It is magical. 

Thanks baby for sparing some of your time to be with me that night. Abbey is so busy! But he can't reject this because I paid for it. Haha!

Seeing is Believing - Unusual Stamps Exhibit at Singapore Philatelic Museum

ABBEY: This year Singapore Night Festival also tap Philatelic Museum to open their doors during the event. 

It showcases rare and odd stamps that were made of wood, volcanic ash, embroidered, plastic and foil. Scented stamps and glow-in-the-dark ones were displayed as well. 

The Superhero exhibit displays the popular heroes of DC comics like Wonderwoman, Batman and my favorite, Superman. Batmobiles across the years were also shown. I too the opportunity to take a snap beside the Superman's life-size bust figure.

WILL: Getting ready for Singapore 2015 World Stamp Exhibition? Philatelic Museum of Singapore is now exhibiting the not our usual stamp. If Abbey is excited on Earth Harp and 7 Sopranos, me.. I can't wait for Philatelic Museum's Open House.

Upon stepping my foot in the building, I immediately rushed Abbey to go to the second floor for us to see some of the rare stamps.

Like a child, I touched, smell and even want to lick for me to taste the flavored stamps. Haha.

Indeed a nice experience. Thanks to Bras Basah Bugis Precinct for letting Philatelic Museum join the Singapore Night Festival.