ABBEY: Another restaurant to satisfy your steak cravings but not break the bank. I got medium-well hanger steak with sides of potato tartiflette (premium version of potato with cheese), corn and chimichurri sauce.
My beef is tender and juicy; no tough part. And the corn kernels almost fall off the cob. As for the potato, it is blanketed by melted gruyere cheese. Adjacent to the restaurant is their butchery. Pick your choices of meat and take them home.
HUBER’S BUTCHERY THE BISTRO: CHEAP WITH A QUALITY STEAK IN SINGAPORE
WILL:Steak is one of the intimidating foods to eat. There are rules on how to cook the meat itself and etiquettes to follow while eating in a steakhouse. Well, that breaks your comfort zone if you are always prompted to dine in a fast food chain. Right? But here comes Huber’s Bistro located few steps away from Singapore Botanic Gardens.
The Bistro's aura is friendly and accommodating. Not too casual but not too fancy either. It is like a diner ambiance that staffs are willing to go beyond to serve you and know you better. So how’s the steak? It is flavourful and definitely not came from a frozen meat. It is tender, milky and juicy! The price? Starts at $24! It is like you are buying a raw meat of 200grams.
They have their own butchery that might explain their affordable pricing for the steaks. Ha! This is our favourite place for steaks right now! Visit them whenever you are Singapore Botanic Gardens
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HUBER’S BUTCHERY THE BISTRO
(W) https://www.hubers.com.sg
(H) Monday: Closed on all Mondays / Tuesday – Friday: 11.00am to 10.00pm / Saturday, Sunday & public holidays: 9.30am to 10.00pm
The staff picked us up from Da Nang. At Hoi An, we only stayed at Shining Riverside Hotel and Spa for 4D3N. Our room is one of the largest with bathtub and some kind of sala. It is overlooking the hotel’s pool, rice paddies and a waterway connecting to Thu Bon River. Breakfast can be buffet or ala carte depending on the volume of guests. We had our fill of fried rice and pho. The spa is under renovation so they recommended us which spa we can try. Vi, Ai and Thuan ensured our stay is great and we have memorable experience.
Rice Paddy Cafe
It’s our plan to get a taste of different Vietnamese coffees and our hotel recommended us this cafe at Paddy Boutique House. The place is along the highway but across rice paddies hence the name. We tried their egg coffee. Unlike the other egg coffees, their egg is separated with the coffee. To eat it, you scoop the egg and dip the spoon in the coffee and into your mouth. You can sweeten the coffee with condensed milk. That is how you get your caffeine fixed.
Ylang-Ylang
We went for long walks during our stay at Hoi An to feel the vibe and observe the culture. Definitely muscle aches will be the aftermath. So we went (meaning they picked us up from the hotel and vice versa) to Ylang Ylang Spa. It was almost closing time but they still accommodated us. We were given tea and foot bath and led us to our room. The masseuse hit all the correct spots specially in back and foot. I think I slept after they cracked my back. Next thing I know I was refreshed but still want to get more sleep. One more cup of tea and off to our hotel.
Ban Mi
For our Banh Mi the experience we had it from Banh Mi Queen and Banh Mi Phuong. Both have melts-in-your-mouth barbecue pork, fresh herbs and pate tucked in charcoal-grilled, crunchy baguette. The Banh Mi Queen sandwich has an intimidating chili sauce but I can handle the heat. With sandwich this delicious we can finish three each in one sitting. I hope they can make Banh Mi in a whole baguette. Haha.
Memories of Hoi An
This attraction is already in our list going to Vietnam and our hotel recommended it also. You will be picked up, by boat, at Hoi An Ancient Town. And you will cross the colorful Moon Bridge to get to the island. Once there, you will be greeted by fountain, lights and mini shows for you to enjoy. Our ticket included our dinner which is Vietnamese chicken rice and crispy pancake.
The highlight of the evening is Hoi An Memories Show. The audience will be in a grandstand and the performers will be in an outdoor platform. The lighting and staging techniques are great and they really showcased an engaging story of Hoi An beginnings. Better to be in high seats to get a good view. What a show to cap the night.
Tuong Taylor Suit
Going to Vietnam is my chance to have a bespoke suit. Question is which shop would you get it? We looked for reviews and our choice is Tuong Taylor. Once we got eye contact with Liza and Lara we were hooked. Haha. They offer the services but not that pushy to the point that you feel you’re being scammed. They do it with finesse and have the yes attitude. You will be guided from the color, texture, measurements, until the final fitting and delivery of the suits within 48 hours. We got 3 suits for less than USD 800. I can say that I really look great with them. Pogi!
Finding a place to stay in Hoi An is pretty tricky. Why? There’s a lot of options here. Yet we preferred to stay pretty far from the Old Town area to avoid the evening public noise. We want a totally relaxed vacation and we achieved it. Our hotel room has a huge floor area, a veranda overlooking greenery fields, living area, dresser, king size bed and bathtub. It is a 20-min walk from the Old Town and only S$3.00 if you decide to hail a grab car. Their location is perfect to feel the Hoi An community area. My husband and I were blessed to choose this hotel, the staffs will take into account what you prefer in your meal, they will suggest tours that you might like and they will make you feel that they have known you for a long time. This is a 5-star hotel service and experience. Totally recommended for you to stay. In Shining Riverside Hoi An Boutique and Spa.
Rice Paddy Cafe
I equipped myself for a coffee tasting and Rice Paddy Cafe was well recommended by the manager of Shining. We were glad that we asked because this is one of the best coffee I have ever tried. At first sip, it made me realized that I am slurping one of my favourite Indonesian dessert.. The Ondeh Ondeh. The cafe ambiance laid back, of course, overlooking the rice paddy. In this kind of situation, you will ask and rethink your priorities in life. Enjoying life in its simplicity. Sitting down, people watching with your favourite cup of coffee.
Ylang-Ylang
I am quite particular on massages. It is always deep tissue massage for me and the Ylang-Ylang masseur hit those tensed muscles. I am questioning myself, “How do they know that part of my body needs a massage?”. The masseur keep on kneading every part of tissue until the pain is gone. Amazing skill. Another thing they have done amazingly is the stretching. As what my husband’s comment “Para kaming tinutuping damit”. Haha. They have free hotel pick-up and drop off. S$20 is a steal! Another recommendation from our good hotel! It was booked last minute and we totally love it when they still accepted our schedule.
Ban Mi
Hoi An has the best banh mis and we have tried the top 3. Banh Mi Phurong, Phi Banh Mi and Banh Mi Queen. The winner for me is Phi Banh Mi. It is packed with ingredients, flavour is bursting one by one and half of it is enough for a lunch. Banh Mi Queen has the best chili and Banh Mi Phurong has this light comforting taste but be warned you can finish three banh mis if you ordered this. Haha.
Memories of Hoi An
One of the ways to learn more about history and culture of a certain place is to visit their museums or watch a cultural show and the Hoi An Impression Theme Park got it both for you. The park was built replicating the Old Town and the Memories of Hoi An magnificently told the history of Vietnam’s peaceful meeting place. This is the only cultural show that I have a watched which made me feel so loved. Aaaawww. You will leave the show with light heart and smile on your face. This is one of the MUST to see in Vietnam!
Tuong Tailor
Abbey is dreamming to have a tailored suit for himself. Without a shock, that is expensive here in Singapore and we were delighted that Hoi An is one of the place to get your suit tailored just for you. Another recommendation from our hotel (Shining Riverside Hoi An Boutique and Spa), we went to Tuong Suit and immediately greeted by Lisa and Lara. We asked if they can do a certain design, if we can go for an earlier fitting schedule, of course we haggled! They only have one answer “EASY”. All our requests were swiftly granted. It is a walk in the park transaction. Imagine! We got three suits and a silk top for a price of one here in Singapore!
Stella Maris is our hotel of choice upon landing to Da Nang. They picked us up in the airport and was welcomed warmly upon arrival. The hotel is having that open concept so I was surprised to see our sink outside the washroom. Haha. Breakfast is also provided but I found the meats on the dryer side. They have a bar at the rooftop where the horizon shows the mountains and coast as far as your eye can see.
Boat Tour
Catching a good view of the Dragon Bridge is through the boat tour. For 150k VND, you’ll board the boat while a plate of guava and watermelon is waiting for you. It was breezy and the boat will cruise with music and lights. A cultural show is rendered for more entertainment. The highlight is the Dragon Bridge where it spits fire and water. The attendant gave us another plate of fruits which we truly enjoyed.
Sun World Ba Na Hills
We’re not sure if we’ll be able to go to Ba Na Hills during our trip. The website is not translatable to English so we don’t have any idea what to book. There’s even separate rate for locals and tourists. Good thing Novotel was able to secure us a pair of tickets. The catch is payment should be cash (which we’re low of as we prefer cards). We used Grab to get there. The weather is sunny below and gets foggy once you go up. Almost zero visibility when we took the cable car. Cable car and tram trips are unlimited as this is the only mode of transportation used in the park. The French village will greet you at the top with all the bricks, cobble stones and castles. Be ready to walk as you will cover a lot of ground. But don’t fret, there are food stalls as well as restaurants. There are gardens, temples and tea houses. Perhaps the well-known attraction is the Golden Bridge; in which two large hands are supporting it. It was foggy and rainy during our visit. The weather can change in a snap literally. Be sure you got your boots and raincoats ready. Our last ride is a 4D ride where you will be toured around the world. I got dizzy on that one. Hahaha.
- Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Our second hotel in Da Nang is Novotel. They gladly store our luggages when we go to Ba Na Hills and helped us to purchase the tickets. A birthday greeting in form of a cake greeted us when we entered our Executive Room which is overlooking Han River.
We also had cocktails and canapés at Premier Executive Lounge that came with our booking. I’m able to sample some beers as well. The buffet breakfast the next day is great. I had a couple of servings of barbecue pork, banh mi, and pho. I even made my own bibimbap. The black Vietnamese coffee is intense. I prefer it with condensed milk else I’ll be awake until night.
Sun World Ba Na Hills
Stella Maris Beach Danang Hotel
Novotel Danang Premier Han River
VIETNAM🇻🇳 VISIT DANANG INSTEAD OF HO CHI MINH | TOP 2 NOT TO MISS IN DANANG VIETNAM - THINGS TO DO
WILL: I will never forget the taste of Pho when I visited Ho Chi Minh more than a decade ago. I like to revisit Vietnam but not the city. Gladly I stumbled upon Danang and from that day, I kept my eye on it.
- Stella Maris Beach Danang Hotel
We are on budget (as always haha) and luckily we saw a golden opportunity to spend Abbey’s “Achievement” Points to buy us an experience instead of exchanging it for stuffs like headphones or hair blowers.
We chose to book at Stella Maris Beach Danang. Our upgraded room Deluxe Double Room of Partial Ocean View with Buffet Breakfast costs us not more than S$120. The room is huge and have this unique style of lavatory in front of the closets. The king side bed is comfy, bathroom is clean and toiletries smell pleasantly.
Stella Maris’ breakfast buffet do not offer a lot of options, not vegetarian or Muslim-friendly. But I love their cheese and small version of baguette.
We asked concierge for help to book us a ticket to Ba Na Hills because the website has a glitch that time and only displays Viet language. The concierge seems also lost and confused. We left hotel without a ticket for Ba Na Hills. Overall experience was good for a very affordable hotel in beach front area of Danang! Totally recommended!
- Boat Tour
This is one of my “MUST”. I want to witness the Dragon Bridge’s Fire and Water Show through a boat tour. I do not know what boat to choose from but all I know is the boats were parked in front of Novotel. I purposely didn’t book for a ride due to the unpredictable weather in Danang but ALMIGHTY granted our wish and everything went smoothly.
Our grab driver assisted us to the booking booth and we were happy that we reached just on time for us to watched the show.
A happy first night in Danang!
- Sun World Ba Na Hills
Second “MUST” visit for me in Danang Vietnam is Ba Na Hills. For an Asian that needs to apply visa Ba Na Hills is the closest thing for us to experience France. Novotel helped us to book the tickets with a breeze.
Via Grab, we went to Ba Na Hills. We were challenged to use stairs rather than escalators, I surrendered on the last three flights. It is fun. But I lost. You could try it too. Haha! We spent more or less 20mins inside a cable car with zero visibility. Clouds were all over us.
We were greeted on top with a cool fog! What an amazing feeling. Sun rays, fog, drizzle, rain — you can experience it all in the French Village. Even with what happened, I truly enjoy galavanting in Ba Na Hills. What I truly love is the peaceful Truth Vu Tea Quan tea house on foot of Lin Ung Pagoda and the beautiful French Garden. Experience I won’t forget.
If you wish to have a glimpse of Europe, Ba Na Hills is a must on your Danang Visit.
- Novotel Danang Premier Han River
This is the second hotel and the only hotel we paid on this trip. Since it is Abbey’s birthday, we opted to book for Executive King Room with Terrace and Premier Lounge Access that costs S$192. We were privileged to have an access to The Balcony but we missed the afternoon tea time.
Novotel gave us a complimentary huge premium chocolate cake and we were treated like a VIP. It seems that they know us well. That’s the service!!! Yihheee!
The room is spacious, bed is huge, fluffy and comfortable. They have a relaxing aroma of toiletries and a nice veranda with a river view.
The evening cocktails and canepe have a few selection of alcoholic drinks and pica-picas but I had the best Mojito that night. An exquisite pho and banh mi is present in their breakfast buffet. They also have an array of fruits, cheese and bread.
If you are looking for special treatment, go for Novotel Danang Premier Han River. Staffs there will make you really feel special.
