It's our fifth day in Singapore and we are immensly enjoying ourselves. The first, second , third and fourth day were equally unforgettable. After a half a day of aimless wandering around the city, FF and I decided to visit Raffles Hotel for lunch . Raffles Hotel have several restaurants but we already made our choice before stepping into the establishment.
Before coming to Singapore, I made some research and read a few articles from local food blogs, particulary tips on dim sum hunts. I swear I was Chinese in my previous life. What else could explain my love for this dainty foods? It's like a comfort food to me...one of many so I guess I had numerous nationalities before. Hah! Since the Raffle's, Royal China Restaurant got few nice reviews from locals, I decided to check the place out. FF tagged along since he too is starting to be Chinese-nized (?). And so to experience some dim sum indulgence we went to Royal China with full anticipation. Yes..we are shallow and happily so.We get excited at the simpliest of things.
The interior of the hotel is predominantly white with high ceilings, spacious hallways and an old school flair. I'm loving it!
The interior of the restaurant on the contrary is set in cool tiffany blue, it was chic and modern. But we did not come here for that, we came here for the dim sum and dim sums we had.
Left: Deep fried soft shell crabs. First time to have these although I've heard some raves about it.It was decilous and addicting. Just a hint, can't have to much of it.Too rich.
Right: Glutinous Rice with in lutos leaves. The rice was silky and fragrant and the filling's packed with flavor.
Dim sum classics. Left Har Gau, shrimp dumpling enclosed in a thin and delicate skin.
Right: Char Siew Bao ( Barbequed Pork Bun), similar to Filipino's siopaos but with Chinese honey sweet and smokey barbequed meat filling. It's must to every Yum cha!
Right: Baked barbequed pork puff. Filling is similar to the steamed Bao . The flaky puff crust crumbles and melts in the mouth. Liked it better than its steamed bun counterpart.
Left: Chee Cheong Fun ( Rice rolls stuffed with prawns).Juicy!
Right: Deep fried beancurd skin rolls with shrimp. Not reallt my thing, although I liked the sesame seeds. Nice touch.
Left: Crispy Taro roll with scallop. Fried to perfrection. Loved the consistency of the crispy crust and the mashy and sweet taro mass. The scallop was fresh , firm and savory.
Left: Steamed layered cake with salted egg yolk filling. There's no trace of saltiness or eggyness in it, just a subtle hint of custardy goodness.
Right: Mini egg tarts. After trying better ones in Macau, I was not overly impress.
Service was superb if I may add, some of the crew could even read minds, I swear! Way before I could raise my arm and ask something, there they zoom into our table with a ready smile and holding something I am about to ask. More tea, another menu card and etc. That or they are simply trained rather well at anticipating their client's needs. I'm a Harry Potter fan, I still want to go for the mind reading thing. (°_^)
Service was superb if I may add, some of the crew could even read minds, I swear! Way before I could raise my arm and ask something, there they zoom into our table with a ready smile and holding something I am about to ask. More tea, another menu card and etc. That or they are simply trained rather well at anticipating their client's needs. I'm a Harry Potter fan, I still want to go for the mind reading thing. (°_^)
Yes we ate all those food, just the two of us. We were bloated and almost rolled ourselves out of the restaurant. To burn those much-worth-it- dim-sum-calories, we decided to walk it out. What better place to do that than Sentosa?! An untimate tourist attraction that even locals don't get tired of visiting. The place has everything people in all walks of life could enjoy. Aside from posh resort hotels, it has nice restaurants , golf course and beaches, namely: Palawan, Tanjong and Siloso and more numerous attractions. Enough choices for beach goers and people who has nothing better else to do..like us. hehe
Despite of the impending storm, FF and I braved it and stayed on. It drizzled but the rain drops did not linger. Mother Nature decided to be kind to us and to the visitors that day.
View from the other side.
Some beaches are more secluded while other's filled with people. It's your choice where to go.
Left: Something that reminds me of our own Nipa Hut. One major ecthic group in Singapore is Malay, it's not a wonder. Right. If beaches and swimming pool is not enough, you can enjoy surfing with artificial waves.
We then went to Underwater World and Dophin Lagoon. Watch seals and Dolphin perform some tricks then expore the aquarium.
If marine life is not your cup of tea, there are also few other attractions Sentosa offers. Here's one of it, I bet even Mariah Carey would love it. (^_^)
Some non living things...still cute. hehe
And if you haven't got any problem with heights, the Tiger Sky Tower offers a magnificient view of the entire Sentosa Island and more.
Before we know it, 3 and half hours had past since our last food intake! So we looked for a refreshing snack to cool off our smoking heels. We tried some Ice Kachang. A colorful shaved ice dessert. Somehow close to Pinoy Halo halo. I had great expectation . I even had some mango puree drizzled over it. To be honest, I was not blown away. Halo Halo pa rin ako. Ice Kachang meet Halo Halo
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Halo Halo meet ice kachang. Now, Halo Halo say hello to everybody ( Hello!)....Ok before stirring some cultural conflicts up, lets move on.
If you want to take a deeper peek into Singapore culture, this might be for you.
Every cook and crannies was filled with colors. For once dragons don't look so scary.
Mosaic Fountain that reminds me of Gaudi's work.
Of course, it would be impolite to leave the place without saying hello to the Grandfather of the Merlion family. A towering 37 meter high replica of the original statue in the city.
It was getting dark when we left the place. If you intend to visit Singapore, I suggest that you check Sentosa Island out.
In the evening, FF and I went to Clake Quay. This my friends is my favorite place in Singapore. What looks inconspicious at day, comes to life at night. The entire place lights up and is blazing with vibrant colors . It charms and tantalizes visitors and bypassers. Truly a place for party people as it has countless hip bars and nightspots.
Even the bridge was decorated.
The place is packed with restaurants that caters every taste. Asian, American, Mediterranean foods are abundant. From local fare ( Singaporean, Indian; Malay ) to international cuisines. One could really get spoilt with options. Trully a foodaholic's haven!
I felt like I landed in the middle of a fleet of alien spaceships. Let's see some food now,shall we?
Appetizer Platter with satays, spring rolls, fish cakes and some rice puff. Yummeh!
The main dish was finger lickin' good. Huge crispy tiger prawn in some garlic sauce.
I don't know if eyes' playing tricks on me but this prawn's looking suspiciouly like wartsy male genital at a certain angle. LOL
FF and I shared this Mango Pudding with dragon fruit cubes. It was delicious but Philippine mangoes still tasted better.
It took us 30 mins to decide which restaurant to eat. In the end, FF and I opted for some Thai foods. We dined at Renn Thai and was happy with our choice.
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