Singapore and KL 2008 Holiday Day 10

Home Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

9:42PM - 19828 steps (14.276 km) walked.

Starbucks - Bugis Junction

The morning started off with breakfast at the local Starbucks. I decided to go for an Ugly Curry Puff, with a Venti Iced Vanilla Latte. The curry puff had some bite to it but the pastry was not as good as Old Chang Kee.

After breakfast, we headed towards Ang Mo Kio to catch the bus to the zoo. At Ang Mo Kio, we took a deal to go directly to the zoo, which we took and I thought our kidneys would be removed.... We saw some animals and then went for lunch.

KFC - Singapore Zoo

I thought I'd have a little bit more than last night's dinner, so I went for the 3 piece meal. I decided to go for 1 original and 2 crispy. Again, the same conclusions as last night.

 

Ben & Jerry's - Singapore Zoo

After we were finished at the zoo, I decided to have an icecream from the Ben and Jerry's outside of the zoo. The previous icecream at Suntec was way better and the same price.

 

Jollibean - Bishan Junction 8

Feeling a little peckish and thirsty, I had a "fresh" soy bean from Jollibean. It wasn't that sweet as from a can but was refreshing.

 

Sticky Rice stall - Bishan Junction 8

I decided upon the hokkien style glutinous rice, which contained a salted duck egg yolk. It wasn't bad, but I much prefer the sticky rice with duck egg yolk in Perth. But at $2.40, it was nice and cheap.

 

Newton Circus

After shopping at Bishan, we headed towards Newton Circus. Here, CB and I shared some kang kong and stingray. It wasn't as hot as Lau Pau Sat but was still good to eat. I also had a sugar cane drink and a cendol which was nice and refreshing.

Durian from Bugis Street Markets

Trundling down the markets this evening, we came across some top grade durian. At $22, it was a bit steep, but all 7 pieces were pungent and creamy. I had 3 and 3 was just about right.

Singapore and KL 2008 Holiday Day 9

Home Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

12:15AM - 16072 steps (11.571km) walked.

Starbucks - Raffles City

The day started off later than usual as we were meeting up with some relatives for lunch. Having about half an hour to spare before the arranged meeting time, we headed to Starbucks to grab a drink for the long walk through C!tyLink mall. I got a grande vanilla iced latte, which was nice but not vanilla-ery at all.

We arrived at 11AM to find the place opening at 12PM. We waited around for an hour, our relatives coming at around 11:40. After Yuki Yaki opened, we started grabbing food from the fridges to put onto our grills and hotpots.

Yuki Yaki - Marina Square

The range at Yuki Yaki was definitely smaller than last time, with the most missed item being the salmon. I had a selection of meats, but mostly chicken, and also decided to go for some vegetables to up my greens intake. I also tried to poach an egg in the stock pot in a soup ladle to fail (the egg stuck to the ladle). The fish paste filled chillies were great.

 

After lunch, we headed with the rellies to the bowling alley, where we played two games. I bowled a crapola 93 and then cracked a 162!

Swensens - Marina Square

Not having dessert at Yuki Yaki, we headed to Swensens after bowling. I had a Coit Tower which hit the spot really well. Gaz hit a regular earthquake, not quite as big as the giant earthquake I ate a couple of trips back.

 

KFC - Toa Payoh

After Swensens, we headed to Toa Payoh and went around the markets for a little before heading to my cousin's place. Wanting to order in, we tried to order KFC, but some things (like 2 piece feeds) were not on the home delivery menu and so we went down instead. I opted for a 2 piece feed, with a side of cheesey fries. The cheesey fries were a heart-attack in chip format, whilst the 2 piece feed (crispy version) was similar to the Australian version. The coleslaw was more sweet and the potato whip was different, but the chicken was closer to the Australian version than I've ever had before.

Singapore and KL 2008 Holiday Day 8

Home Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

11:45PM - 16876 steps (12.222 km) walked

J. Co Donuts - Bugis Junction

Today's adventure started off with donuts and coffee at J. Co Donuts. I went for two glazzed donuts and a cappuccino. These donuts were wonderful and soft, but a bit sickly sweet at the end.

After breakfast, we headed off to Woodlands to do a little shop and then have lunch.

Chicken Rice Stall - Woodlands Point

Today I decided to try the congee at the Chicken Rice stall. It wasn't bad, but was not as good as home. The porridge was a little salty but apart from that, it was OK.

After lunch, we headed to the supermarket to buy more fruit and went to visit my uncle and his family in Yishun. We were served a heap of food including papaya, jackfruit, grapes, red bean soup, moon cake etc. We stayed for nearly 4 hours and then headed off to City Hall to get to the Singapore Flyer. The ride and view was OK, but I probably wouldn't do it again. We got a good view of the racetrack whilst on the ride though.

Popeyes Chicken - Singapore Flyer

Mum and Dad went on about Popeyes Chicken when they came back from the US, so when I saw the store here tonight, I knew I had to try some. They don't sell single pieces of chicken (unlike KFC in Australia), so I had to order a 2 piece combo, much alike a 2 piece feed. The chips were like seasoned fries from McCains, and the chicken was comparable to KFC Hot and Spicy. I also got a "biscuit", but I like to call it a scone, as they even give you jam. All in all, it was OK, but very alike KFC.

Hawker food court near The Espanade

Whilst the others ate their dinner, I opted for char kway teow and a coconut. Both were mediocre. The noodles had no wok hei, whilst the coconut water was pretty bland and room temperature. The coconut flesh was pretty bland too.. I thought it would be like coconut milk or desiccated coconut.

After dinner, we headed back towards C!tyLink Mall and headed to Starbucks for a drink.

Starbucks - Raffles City

Not feeling like a coffee, I opted for a grande mango and passionfruit frappaccino. It wasn't bad, sweet as usual, but it was cooling and refreshing. The best part was it was free  ;-)

Singapore and KL 2008 Holiday Day 7

Home Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

11:29PM - 22842 steps (16.446km) walked.

Sim Lim Food Court - Sim Lim Square

The day started off with us trying to order carrot cake in the Sim Lim food court mentioned yesterday. There was a language barrier but we eventually got what we wanted.

The carrot cake was nice when a heap of chilli sauce was added. It was a bit greasy and I felt a little funny after eating it, but it was still enjoyed.

After breakfast, we headed to the MRT station to go to HarbourFront. This is where the new Sentosa monorail station is located to get onto Sentosa Island. Upon riding on the monorail, there was a huge construction site on Sentosa where the new resort and casino is going to be. It was huge and I'd like to see how it all pans out next time I'm in Sing.

Subway - Sentosa

After doing the Merlion, Luge and chairlift back, we decided to break for lunch. The guys wanted to eat Subway (as it was air-conditioned, and it was a stinker of a day) so I went for a footlong Subway Melt and a bottle of water. Cost? $11.50 SGD... Pizza was another option (but not air-conditioned) and about the same cost, but I guess the bread and vegetables will probably do me some good. Afterwards, CB and I shared some Subway cookies which went down well.

 

After lunch, we did the Tiger Sky Tower (formerly Carlsberg Sky Tower) and Images of Singapore, where there were tons of ratbags running around and making nuisances of themselves.

New Zealand Natural, The Coffee Bean - Sentosa

After Images of Singapore, we had another break. I had a single scoop of vanilla icecream, which was very nice, but at $4.50 SGD, a tad rich. I also had an Iced Latte from Coffee Bean, courtesy of wagg, who will now buy me a coffee a day for the rest of the trip as I wore matching Hawaiian shorts and shirt to Sentosa. 

 

We made our way to Fort Siloso only to find we were unable to get in unless we paid an $8 entry fee. Opting out of that, we then made our way to the cable cars and went to Mount Faber. This turned out to be a disappointment, as the vantage spots that used to be there are no longer (some construction work was being done there). We then made our way back to the hotel.

After a light freshen up, dinner was next on the agenda.

Pariss International Seafood Buffet - Marina Square

At $45.70 SGD, Pariss used to contain a shedload of different foods to try and pig out on. Tonight, we noticed that they had downsized the offerings substantially, but it still didn't deter us from hitting the food hard. Here's a recap of the plates I had:

7:30PM - Unagi sushi, smoked salmon, grilled Mexican fish.
7:36PM - Smoked salmon, grilled Mexican fish, squid.
7:40PM - Shark fin soup. 
7:46PM - Various dim sum, tempura prawns, chicken wings. 
7:58PM - Crispy chicken, tempura prawns, curry chicken.
7:58PM - BBQ chicken thigh in a sweet chilli sauce.
8:09PM - Dory fillet in a sweet chilli sauce.
8:19PM - Beef steak in a pepper sauce.
8:23PM - Chicken and mutton satay.
8:24PM - Lamb chop.
8:39PM - Durian puff and various cheesecakes.
8:44PM - Marshmallows dipped in chocolate.
8:54PM - Vanilla icecream, peanuts, sprinkles, marshmallows and chocolate sauce.
9:09PM - Vanilla icecream, peanuts, sprinkles and chocolate sauce.

CB and Carley-ah both tried durian unknowingly... they took the durian puffs and ate them. CB wasn't that repulsed by it but Carley-ah said it was like onions, and then screwed up her face once she found out it was durian.

After dinner, we rolled out of Marina Square and headed towards the Merlion, which wasn't too far away. We also got to see some of the race track for the upcoming F1 GP as they were testing out the lighting etc on the streets that were being used. After the others took a whole load of night shots on the foreshore, we eventually retired to the hotel.

Singapore and KL 2008 Holiday Day 6

Home Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

9:27PM - 12536 steps (9.025km) walked.

J. Co Donuts, Old Chang Kee - Bugis Junction

This morning, we went around Bugis Markets to try and find carrot cake or congee for breakfast. Not finding any, we ended up at Bugis Junction where I opted for savoury Old Chang Kee with a coffee from J. Co donuts. Breakfast consisted of a curry puff, sotong wings and seafood gyoza. The cappuccino from J. Co was pretty good.

After a quick shop around for fruit, we headed to Red Hill.

Lunch with relatives

At Red Hill, we went to visit my Dad's aunt. Here we were fed with pandan cake, moon cake, glutinous rice, the oranges and pears we brought and copious amounts of coke.

After visiting for 3 to 3.5 hours, we headed towards Sim Lim as our cousin CK wanted to buy a new camera. After some tough bartering by CB, CK walked out $320 SGD lighter but sporting a new Nikon camera. We had a drink and chat in the Sim Lim food court where we spotted carrot cake. The stall opens at 9:30 so we're sure to give it a try. I had a watermelon juice which was a bit watery.

We stopped by OG for about an hour and then headed off for dinner.

Sakae Teppanyaki - Bugis Junction

At Sakae Teppanyaki, I opted for the Beef Set, which consisted of squid, foie gras, beef, steamed egg and mushrooms, cooked on the teppan grill. It also included rice, miso and some icecream, for the low price of $20. I had green tea which was $0.99.

Whilst it wasn't bad, the food was very garlicky .. everything had garlic in it. Our teppanyaki chef was also not very talkative. I probably wouldn't go back to this place, although I'd like to try other teppanyaki places which have a little more showmanship in their delivery.