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 ;)

Spring Oasis – First-Class Health and Wellness Medical Spa

ABBEY: Once in while you have to give yourself a treat. For me and Wilma, we used to give ourselves a massage. We looked into online deals and we found an hour of body massage for 45sgd at Spring Oasis. It was on the 13th floor of The Forum at Orchard. 

Please take note that this is not your regular spa clinic. No music, no perfume oils or candles. The place is white well-lit just like a medical clinic. I was asked to change clothes and lay down. Then the massage began. The therapist focused on my back and I slept in no time. I just woke up when I felt I'm being tapped. 

It was good; I felt rejuvenated and my back muscles was relieved of stress. They got relaxed. 

WILL: If you saw some of our posts last June in our blogs you will saw a gray bandage on my left hand. I was sprained and it hurts every time that part hit by a cool breeze. My body screamed for kneading but due to tight schedule, we only booked for it on 24^th of July.

We were immediately served when we got at their place. I was asked to take off my clothes, hmmm.. no shower? I lay on my stomach. The masseuse asked me what part of my body is really painful. I raised my left hand and she started the massage from my neck down, to left arm down to my left wrist. While doing it, she explaied how painful it would be but she promised that after that session I will be relieved.

She lightly touched my whole back and ask if there is part that is in pain, I replied I do not have. She told that my muscles at the lower back were so stiff, then she pressed them using her elbow. I breathed heavily to relax screaming pressed muscle at the back. With her elbow she massage my buttocks. I think for a long 10 minutes she is there, reaching every veins of it. (after that session the numbness in my butt that I feel every day due to long day of sitting was gone).

She reached to my legs and on my tears now is on the verge of falling out from my eyes. It is really painful every time her elbow reached a muscle that I think I never knew existed in my body! And I also thought that maybe I have no more energy to walk myself home.

The session was finished minutes after an hour. I get up and I felt so light. Rejuvenated. Renewed!

They tell us the truth! They are not a spa, they are MEDISPA.

Very good experience! Very Recommendable!  You can reach them at 583 Orchard Road #13-01 Forum Tel: 67334108

Victoria Theatre & Concert Hall - 19 & 20 July 2014 Open House

ABBEY: After four years, Victoria theatre opened its doors again to the public. We attended the open house last July 19. 

The way how the old pieces and new structure was integrated gave a good impression to the visitors. Pieces of the back of the chairs were used to build a new artwork, the Rubik's cube. The old timbers were used in the walls of the theatre. 

Our ears heard good music that gave us shivers when the Philharmonic Youth Wind orchestra played Circus of Venice as well as Carpenters medley. The richness of Chinese culture was shown on the dance numbers of Dance Ensemble Singapore. 

I hope I'll be able to watch plays here in the future.

WILL: Lay the red carpet!!! Oldest and prestigious Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is now open! After a massive and meticulous renovation, she welcomes her visitors both local and tourists for a free shows and guided tours. Are you also there to take part of tomorrow's history?

We arrived for almost 5pm and immediately queue for Philharmonic Youth Wind. Abbey and I are so blessed to be sated on the 2nd floor, first row of the concert hall. When the kids started to play, goosebumps all over! The serene and very pacifying music came out from their wind instruments. The crowd cannot get enough and requested for a song. A roar of clapping hands is the way we say thank you and good job musicians. :) 

We ran to get inside the Theatre. Oh, now I wish that I am downstairs and more nearer to the dancing kids. Gracefully they interpret the song and made us really happy. 

The whole building is so great, magnificent. So white..so pure. Thanks VCH. Can't wait for plays and concerts to be held in your place.

Stewords Riverboat - Marina South Pier

ABBEY: It's better late than never :) Due to miscommunication Stewords Riverboat restaurant still gave us the discounted price of their baby back ribs for 15sgd only. We went there two days after their festive 15th year anniversary.

We were warmly welcomed by their staff and led us to our table which is directly opposite of the one we had on our first visit. We were given the menu and reminded that for us the price would still be 15. Two orders of baby back ribs please, tea, and unlimited soda :)

A couple of minutes later, the drinks arrived, then the large plates of pork delight. It comes with fries and house salad. It was so delicious. So soft that the pork is peeling from the bone almost instantly. The sauce is not too spicy nor too sweet. I think I sipped up to four glasses of Coke :) 'Twas a good, romantic dinner.

WILL: Looking for a place to impress your date? A place that you can look over the horizon while the sunshine gave way to a romantic darkness of sky, a place where you can be pacified by waves of the sea while eating a dinner.. do not look any further, its just a bus (bus no. 402 or 400) away from the business district of Singapore. Last thursday, 17/7, we say hello again to Stewords Riverboat.

It's their 15th year anniversary and this time we are there to checkout their baby back ribs. Again, thanks to Daryl,  for extending the discounted price for us. 

I felt the warm welcome of the people of this restaurants. Showed us our seat and immediate ordered for the meat we are longing for almost a week. 

They served their $15($22++ U.P.) baby back ribs with salad and french fries. I do not know what is tge dressing they topped at the salad but its seems so special, the fries is extra crispy. The moment of truth (shocks drooling again just thinking of it, haha!), no effort at all when slicing the meat to get off from the bones. The meat is so tender and juicy. The sauce is so perfect that compliments well to the meat.

Thanks Stewords Riverboat. This is very recommendable. We will see you again for sure :)

BBQ Chicken Singapore - Best of the Best Quality

ABBEY: First of all, I stand corrected, it's not barbecue chicken, it is BBQ Chicken (Best of the Best Quality). All fried chicken are cooked in olive oil. We won 100 sgd voucher and we shared half of the winnnings to our Nanay and Tatay and the other half for us :).

We visited their branch at Tiong Bahru Plaza. 

On the first visit we ordered the Olive+Grilled family combo. It comprises of 7 pieces of chicken (olive luxury, korean traditional charbroiled chicken, Jamaican Jerk Spice BBQ and Hot Hot drum), a set of cheezy fries and coleslaw, and 4 drinks. I took the challenge of having Hot Hot Drum. It has 2 chillis on their menu. And definitely the drumsticks are hot. I managed the spiciness though with the help of my soda. We also topped up with olive rice. It was delicious and tasty.

The next visit is on the same branch and we "take away" the order. We got BBQ wings, Teri Soya wings, Paris chicken, oriental honey chilli chicken and Hot Hot drums again. It was "poultry" picnic :) we enjoyed the savory and delicious chicken. I liked Teri Soya and Hot Hot drums the most.

WILL: Korean wave hit the whole world. Well not just for their blockbuster dramas but they also slammed their neighbouring countries with their fantastic flavored chickens. 

BBQ Chicken run up to the lines of food chains who offers different varieties of chix. My blessed husband won a $100.00 voucher. To share the blessing, we asked our parents' housemate to go with us for a Fathers' Day Celebration. We dined in at Tiong Bahru Plaza branch. We redeemed the first $50 and the second was just used after 2 weeks.

I bet for Hot Hot Drum flavour you will need some extra air and water. Haha. I love it. Next flavour I like is Paris Chicken. Love love love! Hey, they are using olive oil so guilt free on their fried chickens, fries and rice. 

Oh, I forgot, the Korean Pop Group 2NE1 promotes this food chain. If you are a fan, do check this out.