Island Cafe : Spread The Word

It's a real pity not many shoppers know about Island Cafe; which is tucked away on the top of Tangs Shopping Centre. Honestly, it is comparable if not better than some eateries are over-hyped by print/visual media or food blogs.

On Monday, Neo, Jo & myself 'pontang-ed' a talk half-way and headed straight to Orchard for shopping! Three of us had the same objective - get birthday presents for our friends. Already then, I knew where to bring them for dinner. Knowing neoneo's love for spicy food and variety - Island Cafe seemed like the perfect choice. The place was filled with mainly rattens, bamboos and plenty of wood - very resorty and relaxed feel... can get a lil too comfy (neo neo was feeling kinda sleepy! haha)

As expected, the gluttons i.e us ordered a shit load of food. Black Pepper Crab Tung Hoon for me, Indo Fried Rice (which comes with Satay, Chili Chicken, Achar & Keropok) for Neo, Chicken Bryani for Jo and one Asian Platter (Fried Chicken Wing, Spring Rolls, Wantons, Satays) & one bowl of Tom Yum Soup to share. I loved my Crab Tung Hoon lar! It had the wok-fried taste..and everything in there just tasted so right *slurps* I am salivating as I am typing!! Neo's main was pretty incredible as well - sambal fried rice was oohh lala and chili chicken was tender and sauce shiok~ Jo's one was not too bad either.. but I still liked mine n neo's better. Hee. Tom yum soup lacked the fiery oomph and was slightly diluted..but passable.

Although the dishes are not authentic, the food tastes good! To me, that's good enough. Plus it doesn't hurt that Island Cafe is generous with their portions...truly a cafe that delivers; this place gets my thumbs up!

*Island Cafe
Level 4, Tangs Shopping Centre,
Orchard Road
Tel: 6737 5500

The 2 day Getaway

Blown out sun, sugar fine beigey sand, gently swaying palm trees, 340m of "alleviation" - gunung-bintan style, tranquilizing french massage, thirst-quenching fruit smoothies & sedap indonesian cuisine; soto, curry, durian, indomie :)

Oh and a warped, tanless me.

Happy Stepday!

Attendees: Step, Neo, TX, Jo, Serene & myself

Second birthday celebration this month, this time is for the sweet and lovely step! TX suggested Sushi Tei (Serangoon Garden Branch) which was a change from the usual. Very zen looking place with moderate food. The best dish for me that night (wed) gotta be the Phoenix Roll (above pic) because it had two of my fave ingredients i.e Unagi & Avacado. Chicken cutlet with Cha soba (my main) was erm, blah. Chicken cutlet was tough and the noodles/sauce seemed to be lacking texture and flavour. Nonetheless the celebration was still a success! This time round, our gang decided to play smart and get small pieces of cakes instead so we dun end up over eating!

Not to overeat? Like real!! Right after dinner, we headed to this COOL place (pun intended) called Ice3cafe (pronounced as Ice Cube). Rejoice all sweet tooth alcoholics! This COOL place serves Magic Potion aka ice cream with liquor, their specialty! The liquors (over 10 kinds) come in test tube supported by a wooden stand which comes in three shapes. The ice cream on the other hand are 100% home-made! Isn't that COOL or what? hee. One complain tho.. the sofa is a little too soft making it slightly uncomfortable for the big butt me.

Credits: David Goh

*Ice3Cafe
11 Kensington Park Road,
Serangoon Garden Estate
Singapore 557263
67452708

Happy Budday!

Attendees: Bud, Cheryl, Elvin, Joyce & myself

Had a pre-bday celebration for Bud last Saturday evening. Our initial plan to go Eng Seng's Very Pepper Crabs was changed to No Signboard Seafood Restaurant @ Geylang because they had more variety so to speak. Our orders - White Pepper Crab, Butter Crab, Cereal Prawns & Scallop with Seasonal Vegetables & la la (I think!?) Good thing about this place is you can order 1 crab per flavour unlike Eng Seng where you have to order 2 crabs per flavour at least. But somehow when we were eating the white pepper & butter crabs, there were no ooohhs no ahhhs and worst thing.. my mind was crying out loud for Eng Seng's crab! How I miss the crabbies there. Sob! Nevermind, I'm sure there'll be a next time. But I'm really thankful for those who managed to turn up, enjoyed the company v much! Thinking back, the last time at No Signboard Restaurant was also with Bud/Cheryl/Elvin - almost 1 year plus back.

May I just add that the bud's bday chocolate cake was super-moisty-chocolately-fudgey-sinfulicious-goodness?? Mama Mia!!! If I didn't have to watch that waist line of mine (which by the way is disappearing), I would have gone for seconds or even thirds! Arghhhh! This to die for choc cake is from famous Choc.A.Bloc which happens to be a stone's throw away from where I live (Yay!). Usually they require orders three days in advance, but lucky they baked extras that day phew! Di, listen up I am so gonna get this for you on your next bday! *slurps*

*Choc.A.Bloc
Blk 86 Bedok North St 4 #01-179
Singapore 460086
Tel : 64466096
Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays

Leslie Kee is one superstar

Joe Nakamura (below Andy Hui) is so hot!!

"Superstars" is a life-work project by local celeb photographer, Leslie Kee which took around 1.5 years to complete. For this photo-book, Leslie got about 300 Asian artistes to pose with proceeds going towards helping the victims of the 2004 Tsunami. MDA has banned the book in Singapore because of some "full-nudity photos of males" photos, disappointing many. If MDA are able to lift a long-standing ban on the popular US women's magazine Cosmopolitan, why not this? Time to loosen the apron strings men, afterall this is not pornography, this is ART! Well the good news is some photos from the project are currently being exhibited at National Museum, including special appearance of Singapore local artists.

Jo, Tx & myself had made arrangement to catch the photography exhibit yesterday afternoon. Somehow it did not start very well for either of us. Firstly I stupidly entered the ERP gantry four times, then I parked at the wrong carpark which resulted a 15 minute walk uphill to reach my destination. TX was 'conned' into buying a small box of mix candies at $30!! For the name of charity. Just as she thought one good deed will beget another, she found both her feet submerged in mud on her way to the museum! And poor Jo had to wait an entire hour for us. :x

A minimalist approach; no fancy backdrops using mainly basic colours (e.g white, black, brown,blue & lotsa skin), it was evident the attraction was the "Superstars" themselves and nothing else. Its pretty awesome to see the 'other side' of some of the artistes, very interesting. Pity that the exhibition space was quite small, compared to the ones held in Tokyo and HK which featured more of his works. Within 20 minutes, we were done with the exhibits. Had to admit I was slightly disappointed, not of his works of course. Do drop by if any of you have the time, its still worth the trip. :)

More photos of the project can be viewed here.

*SUPERSTARS Exhibition
National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road
27 Apr - 4 May 07
10am - 6pm
Admission - Free

200 Pounds Beauty

If you think that 200 Pounds Beauty is going to be like Nutty Professor or Norbit, you are very wrong! Based on the Japanese manga by Suzuki Yumiko, Hanna (Kim A-jung) is a plus sized gal blessed with a stunning voice. Not being able to fulfil her dreams as pop star , she becomes a cover singer for the talentless Ammy and moonlights as a chatline / phone sex partner. After a turmoil of emotional upheavals which includes being humiliated infront of her one sided love aka Ammy's record producer Sang-Joong (Very charming -> Joo Jin-mo), she disappears for a year and becomes the new Jenny; through the help of plastic surgery.

The film discusses some real issues like insecurities of plus sized people, how beauties get their way in society, attitude towards plastic surgery in a light hearted and humourous manner.The strongest message that comes out of it is not to blinded by success at the expense of kinship and friendship. Although this movie does not have an award winning script, I loved the movie nonetheless. A number of issues mentioned above were close to my heart and certain parts of it managed to elicit soppy tears from the emotional me. Sniff. Kim A-jung & Joo Jin-mo did a good job, also not forgetting the other characters. The music in the film was awesome, some of which were sang by Kim A-jung herself! I particularly liked "Dance with my daddy" by Alex (Clazziquai) for personal reasons..will be loading the songs into my mobile real soon!

Go watch the movie! One thing for sure, you won't hate it.

Rain, I'm coming!

Jia recently worked up quite an appetite for Korean cuisine, thanks to the many Korean dramas she has been faithfully following. She insisted I try this truly authentic Korean restaurant with her and so I was like "Why not?". Anything that brings me closer to Rain's roots!

At the extremely well-lit and spacious Ju Shin Jung (west coast branch), we were warmly welcomed by the manager. 15 minutes of intensive menu reading and we finally decided on what they were famous for - Korean Charcoal BBQ! Mushroom, Bulgogi Boneless Chicken Leg & Sliced Sirloin! In addition, we ordered Yuk Gae Jang (Spicy Beef & Vegetable Soup) and also Yidong Makguli (Rice wine @ 50% off) to share. I was pretty confident of finishing our meal (considering the experience I have had in Seoul Garden) until the waitress started to fill our table with close to 15 side dishes. Wau lau... siao liao how to finish!? It was all too late when we wanted to cancel our beef soup order, sigh. No choice, just eat lor.

I wouldn't go into each and every of the sides but those worth mentioning include 1) Big headed beansprout 2) Vinegared seaweed 3) Spicy Anchovies (Ikan Billis) 4) Kim Chi 5 & 6) ) Seasoned Tofu & Sweet Corn Kernels both which I had lotsa trouble picking with the metal chopsticks (stupid me did not realise they provided spoon until towards the end of the meal) Sigh.

The Yuk Gae Jang wasn't as spicy as I hoped for but the soup was still packed with sweetness of veggies and beef! Not forgetting the slurpifying Korean vermicelli in the soup! The mushrooms would have been a favourite among the mushroom fans. They were fresh and unseasoned, one could easily taste the original juices of the mushrooms, especially the white button mushroom. But I still like mine with butter. My top choice for the night would have to be Bulgogi Beef - Marinated to shiokness, it gets two thumbs up!! Bulgogi Chicken was actually quite tender & tasty but we were both too bloated to experience the goodness of my all time favourite meat. There was quite abit of left-over so being the typical cheapskate Singaporean, I asked for a plastic container to 'ta bao' (pack back) home! Don't waste mah, the food very expensive you know? The waiter also handed us a plastic bag to place the container, how thoughtful!

Other highlights of the meal include:

• Complimentary iced-cinnamon flavoured dessert drink & heart shaped watermelon slices - what a nice way to end the meal!
• Deceiving "white coins" sitting mysteriously on a plate - When added with water, it magically expands and transforms to a wet towel! Amazing!

*Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ

27 West Coast Highway #01-18/19
YESS Centre 1F S117867
64640872

1018 East Coast Parkway #02-01
Rain Tree Cove S449877
64479279

Lunch 12pm-2:30pm / Dinner 6pm-11pm

Relac one Bedok Corner~

My grandma's leg has been acting up lately, making it quite inconvenient for her to move around. So being the good grand child I am, I offered to send her home after her usual 'hobby'. Another of ah ma's friend also tagged along for the car ride so we thought why not we have dinner together?

Four of us, including my mum, arrived at Bedok Corner Food Centre; a place where my dad used to frequently bring my mum & me for dinner..long before it was renovated. The upgraded Malay Village influenced Food Centre now has 30 over stalls arranged around a central courtyard to reflect kampung-style community living.

While i ordered Or Luak , Satay & Jiu Hre Eng Cai, mum was in the queue for the famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee for more than half an hour. The wait for so long that the gramps couldn't tahan their hunger and started without us. When we came back with the noodles, we also saw popiahs and sugarcane 'juice' on our tables, courtesy of Ah ma & her friend. Overload of food yet again! Sigh. I decide to forgo the also famous Ye Lai Xiang's Cheng Tng because there're already sugarcane drinks. The sugarcane drink was overly sweet. Obviously the S21 owner had dliuted the original sugarcane juice and replaced a portion of it with sugar water yet still claim them to be "Sugarcane Juice" instead of "Sugarcane Water".

This crispy type Or Luak was just so-so for me. I personally favoured the gooey-more-potato-starch type rather the crispy type. Having to taste it only 20 minutes later, the crisp was already losing its 'power'. The mild chili dip also lacked the fire. My mum and the golden agers didn't think much of this as well. But the good thing is this stall is halal and the oysters' size are tad above average.

On the other hand, the chicken & mutton satays were very well marinated and barbequed. Unlike other stalls I've tasted, the chicken satays were tender and juicy. Peanut sauce dip was sedap and of the right consistency! Nicely done! Pity the stall helper wasn't helpful when my mum wanted to da bao (pack back) those satays we couldn't finish.

Despite this stall not using the traditional opeh leaves, the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee still delivers! This version is the wet and dark kind which uses thinner bee hoon (not like the usual laksa thick bee hoon). Noodles are not soggy and flavourful with prawn stock. Sambal chili was not overwhelming, just the way I like it and also prawns were fresh. It would have been perfect with some crunchy pork lard but too bad this stall is one of the vendors supporting healthier eating by Health Promotion Board (HPB). Good news for the health conscious! This stall actually is one of my dad's fave!! Fyi, the couple has been in this business for quite some time, way before the food centre was listed for the upgrading programme. Uncle looks paler now and also has slightly swollen legs (must be due to long hours of standing!) Business is so good that he hardly has any time for toilet and smoke breaks. Must take care of your health leh, Uncle!

Jiu Hre Eng Cai was a little disappointing; the wow factor had somewhat disappeared since I ate it years ago. This overpriced, not value for money dish pales in comparison to the one at 16 Bedok South. For $5 a plate, the servings of cuttlefish, tau pok, cucumber and pineapples were quite pathetic. The elderlies also had a tough time chewing the hard tau pok and cuttlefish. :x.

*Bedok (Corner) Food Centre
Opposite Bedok Camp
Junction of Upper East Coast Road & Bedok Road
Open from 12pm till late

Jiu Hre Eng Cai (Cuttlefish Kang Kong)
Ye Lai Xiang - Stall 31
Or Luak (Oyster Omelette)
Halal Green Signboard - Stall 02
Satay (Meat Kebabs)
Two stalls to the left of Or Luak Stall - Stall 04
Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Big-Prawn-Pic-with-words'Prawn-Mee' Signboard - Stall 29

No Frills Hotel Rooms from RM9.99!

Sounds unbelieveable doesn't it!? RM9.99 approximately S$5.00 for a night!? Woot amazing...that's even cheaper than 2 hours transit at Hotel 81!!

Tune Hotels.com will surely be a hit among backpackers and whoever who needs a place to do their thing. Yeeks! We all probably know for sure that the hotel rates are not always going to be RM9.99! Duh.. how to earn money if prices are @ RM9.99 all the time! The prices are largely dependent on time of booking, availability and demand. From the random tests I have done on the site, the price ranges from about RM18 - RM74...still a very good bargain I say!

However, don't expect too much from the hotel - afterall its a NO FRILLS hotel! The hotel rates do not cover facilities such as air-conditioning, towels, toiletries minibar, sofas, hotel kitchen, swimming pool but at least there's five star king koil bed to sleep on!!

Fyi, this no frills concept is by Tony Fernandez, the same man behind AirAsia. Five more hotels are scheduled to open at KL airport, Kota Kinabalu, JB & Penang by end of this year. 30-40 more hotels planned to be open in major cities in SEA, concentrating on destinations where AirAsia flies. (does that mean Singapore too!?)

Rem to bring your own towels and toiletries!

Sawadee-ka!!!

It was mum's day off so we decided to hang out and spend some quality time together. After two hours of furniture viewing @ Furniture Mall, mum was needing some H20 to quench her thirst. I craftily suggested we get it from Golden Mile Complex because I needed to stock up my fave fried crispy soy bean from the Thai Supermarket! Of cos I got my way, mum and myself cannot resist any supermarkets! (ok..maybe except Giant) So there I was all excited and ready to show mum one of my fave supermarkets!

I immediately headed for the basket once we reached the entrance of the supermarket and my mum stared at me. Haha, bet she was expecting nothing more than a bottle of water and fried crispy soy bean. Surely I wasn't. In here, you can get all sorts of intriguing thai products which you can't find elsewhere in sg. An entire shelf dedicated to all types of curry pastes (green/red/yellow) and another just for Tom Yum instant noodles...Woo hoo..totally awesome!! Here are some pictures which I snapped while shopping!

My fave Tom Yum instant noodles so far

Overdose of Curry Pastes


Fishies in yakult like bottles


Power Crispy Shrimp Chili Paste; I add it to almost everything!


Mischief Powder for the mischevious

After paying for our purchases, it was almost time for dinner. I knew exactly where to go, so I led my mum to level 1, Diandin Leluk for dinner. There's no better place to get authentic thai food in sg other than here! Mouth watering food at affordable prices! Forget about Thai Express or Asian Kitchen! Thinking about it makes me drool already. Both of us shared a plate of Pad Thai , Prawn Cake & Seafood Tom Yum Soup. They were all VERY VERY yummilicious! Prawn Cake's da best I've ever tasted; Seafood Tom Yum Soup - potent and absolutely SHIOK! Pad Thai lived up to its standard - my mum loved it so much that she wants to learn how to cook it!

I swear I could eat thai food everyday... I really really wanna come here again and again and again and again....

*Diandin Leluk
Golden Mile Complex
5001 Beach Rd #01-67/68

A shop @ Golden Mile Complex was selling boxing gloves for $45. Sounds like a real bargain and I admit I was so very tempted. Should I or should I not? I don't think I can take the stinky sweaty gloves any longer.. help!

The one and only Hongkong Cafe.

Cha Chan Teng (Tea cafes) are Hong Kongers' version of kopitiams; serving simple cheap comfort food. They are also the latest food trend which has mushroomed lately, somewhat like what the bubble tea craze 6 years back. Singaporeans just don't seem to mind paying $8 or more for a bowl of instant noodles when they get it @ $1 or less @ home! Hmm, i really wonder why.

Over the year or so, I've visited a few Hong Kong Style tea cafes. This newest addition on my list - Hongkong Cafe has my vote! Why?? It is located in the EAST where I live. They have over 250 exciting dishes on the menu to choose from!!! This means I can still go back another 125 times without picking the same item! (if say I order 2 dishes per visit on average!) The food and desserts were pretty tasty in general, (though I haven't had one which totally wowed me). Very casual ambience, suitable for after night hangouts; i like! Move over Tong Shui, Central, Xin Wang and say hello to Hongkong Cafe! I believe this will be one of my fave hangout places after boxing classes with Jia.

Recommends: Anything with Spicy Salt & Pepper in it , Chicken Chop Baked with Pumpkin/Yam Sauce , Almond Cream with glutinous rice , Shanghai Hot & Spicy Soup , Iced Blended Mango Pomelo

Cons: slightly pricier than the rest & hard to find parking during weekends

*Hongkong Cafe
378/380 East Coast Road
Mon to Fri 6pm to 5am
Sat/Sun/P.Holidays 5pm to 5am