Singapore Day 4 : The last breakfast

Sob, it was the last day in Singapore. Not even a full day since our flight was in the afternoon. But we made the most of it foodie wise and had a massive breakfast at Albert Food Court.

I love this food court, so much choice and a kopi stall in every lane! HC and I had a kopi everyday (^__^).

HC’s brother joined us for breakfast. He was still suffering from the aftermath of a bad cold poor guy.

My mum’s roti canai with curry sauce. This looks yummy.

Jo’s second Lek Tao Suan in Singapore. For some reason she developed a craving for this sweet mung bean dessert in Singapore, best eaten with lots of yew char kuey (fried dough sticks) on top. I used to love this dessert as a kid, hmm, maybe I can make this at home!

I don’t know who’s char kway teow this was, was it mine? I think we might have shared this.

I can imagine Jan shaking her head at this photo. Instead of her favourite vegetarian beehoon I bought vegetarian kway teao instead! I miss vegetarian stalls in Singapore.

No prizes for guessing what my dad had for his last meal in Singapore. What else but the famous fishball noodles? We also bought a huge pack of fried carrot cake to share. So good. Gosh, we are such gluttons but what a happy life (^___^)Y. If you haven’t guessed by now, it was a fantastic Singapore holiday.

Singapore Day 2 & 3: Orchard & the Family reunion

I know I haven’t been blogging for a long time. To tell the truth, life is at a low slump now and I just didn’t feel like writing emo posts that I would gag at later. But I’m going on holiday soon, so hopefully things will turn for the better soon

Ok, back to happier times. Day 2 in fun Bugis.

This is Bugis Street early in the morning minus the crowds.

This time we ventured out of Bugis and we went to Orchard the shopping haven. It was Jo and HC’s first time at the ION shopping centre with pretty cool ceilings.

We met up with my parents at Heeren for a Japanese buffet at Kiseki. Hehe, HC was nice enough to pose in front of the sumo mascot for me.

It was a fun shopping day but we were glad to get back to our favourite Albert food court for good local food. Snacks included ondeh-ondeh, popiah and pie tee.

One of our must-eats in Singapore was Mos Burger. It took us a while to find the Mos burger outlet but it was worth it. There’s just something different about the Mos burger.

This was our durian stall throughout the Singapore trip. My father made friends with the Uncle durian seller. His stall was just opposite the hotel. HC stopped by on our way back to the hotel to ask him whether there were any good durians that day for my father.

Day 3 was just all about the family reunion. All the Singaporean relatives gathered at Uncle Richard’s place, some that Jo and I had never seen before. It was a very heartwarming event and I know my parents had a great time catching up with the old folks.

Guess what I had for dinner?

Singapore Day 1 : I love Bugis Street

Yeah, another travel post! I like doing travel posts because it brings me back to the good ol’ holidays. Despite the long weekend, I really really need another holiday, sigh, if only holidays lasted forever.

This is the entrance to Bugis Street. After the intense Kuching trip, it was nice that we could squeeze in a few leisurely days in Singapore before returning to Perth. The best part about this Singapore trip was not staying in Orchard (as we usually do), but staying in Bugis instead! I love Bugis especially Bugis Street and Albert Food Court, it was so nice being out of the tall shopping malls (but the crowds were still there) and eating lots of local food Y(^__^)Y.

The sight and smell of durians hit you the moment you step into Bugis Street. Best of all, it’s the famous Mao Shang Wan durians. Hehe, my father’s eyes lit up when he saw this gorgeous scene that only a true local Malaysian/Singaporean durian lover would appreciate.

Packs and packs of luscious yellow sweet, pungent durian flesh lined neatly in rows. Mao Shang Wan durians btw, are very expensive. My ah pa was contemplating whether to buy these from the vendor, but in the end, we found something better.

Bugis Street with its maze of lanes and little stalls selling goods of all kinds. This was where Jo and I did most of our shopping for clothes and souvenirs.

Couldn’t resist taking a photo of these Maneki Nekos. Don’t worry, Jo didn’t buy any.

Our hotel was conveniently located a few streets away from Bugis Street and the wonderful Albert food court. Every morning we would walk past this building to get to the food court, doesn’t it look interesting? Can you guess what building it is?

 Finally food pictures. My father’s must order in Singapore is fishball noodles. This one was only average and from the food court in Bugis Junction. We had much better fishball noodles the next day.

If my father’s must order in Singapore is fishball noodles, mine is chicken rice! I love love love Singapore Hainan chicken rice. Sigh, I could eat this almost every day, ok, I lied, maybe not every day but every other day.

Supper was the Singapore Hokkien noodles which is cooked with prawn broth for that lovely seafood flavour. My ah ma cooks Hokkien noodles really well actually.

I love chwee kueh which is another must eat for me in Singapore. Sigh, I’m so greedy, I have so many must-eats in Singapore. So that was the end of Day 1 in Singapore. more next time!

Ribbons

Jo and HC were due to arrive today and I was so excited. But I woke up to the most horrible news that they couldn’t travel out of the country due to some visa complications.

(T__________________________________T)

I don’t even know how to describe how I felt. Just …

(T________________________________________T)

Jo’s devastation. My parents and grandparents’ immense disappointment. Poor HC. Jason and Bryan  flying in to Kuching to find just me.Poor poor poor Jo.

I know Gerry, HC and Richard were there to support her and comfort her. They’re going out to Ciao Italia to cheer her up tonight. Thanks guys, I’m really glad you guys are there in her time of need, really means a lot to me.

This holiday really isn’t turning out the way its supposed to be. The best part is being with my Ah Pa and Ah Ma everyday, but it would have been so so so so good if Jo was with us. And HC as well. I don’t know how I’ll be able to show Bryan and Jason around, I hope they won’t be too disappointed with their lone non-driving tour guide who doesn’t know her way around Kuching and has somehow lost her appetite for Kuching food.

It wasn’t such a bad day after all. I went to Kenyalang with my parents. I love Kenyalang. This is where I grew up and this is my childhood.

I met HaiJing at his button shop and bought satin ribbons in many colours for our dresses. I bought Jo a black ribbon to go with her new peach dress which I hope she will wear for our New Year’s Eve dinner.

I had a taste of Sarawak laksa and it is still delicious.

I have stopped drinking my usual Kuching drink of Teh C peng and have switched to kopi which is fragrant and sweet. I heard news that my favourite bakery Fujisan is closing down and hope to grab a ham cheem peng before the last branch goes out of business.

I saw an empty envelope and recognised my sister’s handwriting ‘did Jan send us something?’ It was the cutest card with Jan and Andy’s voice greeting, so lovely and heart warming.

I wish we were all together. But I know we will be some day. (^_^) .

Shop till you Drop

I’m back in Kuching! I haven’t had my first kolo mee yet but I did have fried kolo mee for dinner.

Singapore was really fun, the itinerary ran like this ‘ eat, shop, shop, put down shopping bags in hotel, go out again, eat, shop’.

What did I eat? Chicken rice. And I mean every single day.

I also ate Breadtalk pork floss buns. Every single night. Why can’t they have bread talk in Perth? Why?? Or really good chicken rice, or chwee kueh, or Gindako takoyaki…

Or really fresh sashimi. This sashimi was melt in the mouth good.

For my last meal in Singapore, I requested that we have old fashion kopi with kaya and butter toast and soft boiled eggs. My mum really enjoyed her kopi and said it reminded her of her childhood where her grandmother made her this for breakfast everyday. The kopi-o is as far removed from Velvet flat whites as possible, but  so fragrant and gorgeous in its own way.

It’s so nice to be back in Kuching. One of the first things I did was visit my grandparents which was so nice and yet sad in a way because they’ve grown so so old. My grandmother was delightfully predictable, saying the same things ‘mama ju lao ju eh, lu ju lai ju guang’ (grandmother gets shorter as i grow older, wheras you’re growing taller and taller). She also told me that I could afford to cut off some of my long hair because it ‘eats blood’ which is something she says every year. (^____^).

So far the holiday has been fantastic. But I have a phone interview tomorrow (T___T). The last time I had a phone interview in Kuching, last year there was a thunderstorm and the electricity went out so I had my interview in darkness. Surely it won’t go as badly this year? *fingers cross* Wish me luck ok? Because I really need it!

Ok I shall be good and try and read my notes for the interview tomorrow, goodbye and good night from Kuching!