Sunday 4th March 2012

SINGAPORE - DAY SIX
This morning we went to a hawker centre for breakfast. We lined up at separate stalls to get different dishes to share.


Yew Char Kueh, Shui Kueh and Black Carrot Cake


Fishball Soup


Congee!


Noodle Soup

We spent the day walking around, building our appetites back up again for...dinner!




OCTAPAS
Clarke Quay, Singapore
We actually wanted to have chilli crab at the Jumbo Restaurant at Clarke Quay but the restaurant was full and we didn't want to wait for a seat. Instead, we walked around the quay and tried to find somewhere else enticing to eat.

We settled on this 'Octapas' restaurant because we enjoy tapas and it would mean we could share lots of little dishes!

The first thing to strike us as odd was the fact that being a restaurant offering Spanish cuisine, they were playing Celine Dion music. I love Celine Dion, but 'My Heart Will Go On' was making us feel depressed when we were trying to psych ourselves up for a second awesome night out in a row. We already felt that last night's shenanigans were going to be hard to beat, but this music was not helping to lift our enthusiasm for the night ahead. We asked the waitstaff to play some upbeat Spanish music. They did comply but the music was too soft and the whole place lacked that ambience that usually accompanies a tapas bar.

We ordered several tapas dishes to start.


Beef & Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce


Sauteed Shrimp in Garlic & Olive Oil - Spicy!


Sauteed Mushrooms in Sherry & Garlic


Grilled Octopus with Paprika & Olive Oil on sliced Potatoes


Greek Salad with Fetta & Balsamico
The salad was not a Greek Salad! It was a garden salad with olives.


Chicken Breast with Paprika & Peppers


Grilled Squid with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction


The Valencia Paella:
chorizo, pork, chicken, mussels, squid, shrimp and fish

The food was overpriced and of average quality. I think the highlight dish for me was the squid! Juice, tender pieces!


After dinner, we met up with Benoit and Ivy and had some drinks in a nearby pub. A bit of dancing...a bit of singing...

Time for supper! I steered two very tipsy and tired girls with me by taxi to the twenty-four hour hawker centre at Newton. Since we didn't have chilli crab for dinner, I was determined to not leave Singapore without eating it! It just wouldn't be right.


I selected my live crab and not-so-live prawns.


While Yenno and Shallen crashed into bed, I set up my supper on the coffee table and nibbled away at it. The stall owner even threw in some mantao for me!


Garlic Prawns


Singapore Chilli Crab

Saturday 3rd March 2012

SINGAPORE - DAY FIVE
This morning I checked into the Intercontinental Hotel at Bugis with Shallen and Yenno. I've really been looking forward to this GIRLS WEEKEND! What better way to kickstart it than to head over to Sentosa and enjoy the Spa Botanica day spa!

After our relaxing massage treatments, we wandered over to the restaurant and sat by the pool. Befitting the tropical setting, it began to drizzle and we felt our stresses melt away. I love the healthy, organic food that the restaurant offers. Perfect to compliment our day spa treatments!

They served us fresh, warm bread rolls with a yoghurt dip. Yum!

I had the Scallops entree.

For my mains I had the Pasta with roasted vegetables.

Shallen and Yenno had the pizzas.

After saying good bye to one of my favourite places in Singapore, we drove across the bridge to Vivo City for some shopping and an afternoon snack at Food Republic.

Hainanese Chicken Rice!
Prior to leaving Perth, we'd made reservations for dinner at one of Singapore's many restaurants for a night of wining and dining. Yenno did the difficult task of narrowing our choices down to about three restaurants and we picked this place because of the name...and I liked the look of their website!

the White Rabbit
39C Harding Road, Singapore

The place looked absolutely charming! It used to be a church or chapel and they've refurbished the entire place to turn it into a gorgeous French restaurant. The tables and booths were widely spaced so you're not bumping shoulders with patrons from the next table. The waiters were also able to walk around freely and the service was what you would expect from a fine dining restaurant. I love the service in Singapore restaurants!!

We started with a round of cocktails!/center>

Fresh bread rolls and butter!

I couldn't decide what I wanted for entree. Two things I love to eat in a French restaurant are - foie gras I love the most and escargot comes in at second because I don't think there is anywhere in Perth that does it so I eat it in Singapore when I can. However, tonight I saw that they had steak tartare on the menu and I have always wanted to try it! Soooo...I ordered two entrees!

Steak Tartare
seasoned and served raw, soft quail eggs, petite mesclun, frites

 O. M. G. I love love loved this! The meat was so delicious...I do have a thing for raw meat! I didn't realise the quail eggs were encased within the meat so when I sliced through with my knife, a little squirt of egg yolk went over the front of my dress!

Escargots à la Bourguignonne
garlic parsley butter, toast
I was soooo looking forward to eating escargot tonight! Except when the dish arrived, I had a flashback to the giant snail we had seen at Spa Botanica earlier in the day when we went for our day spa treatments and I was instantly horrified at the thought of eating these snails! I had to wrap each piece with a bit of the bread or the chips that came with my steak tartare. I got through them all!

Shallen had the Beef Consommé
oxtail and mushroom tortellini

Yenno had the Lobster Bisque
poached lobster, butternut squash purée

For our mains...

Yenno had the Stuffed Boneless Quail
foie gras, mushroom duxelle, roasted asparagus, morel sauce

Shallen had the Black Olive Sea Bass
tapenade crust, haricots verts, sauce vierge
We had to ask the waiter what 'haricots verts' was....it's green beans!

I couldn't resist the Tournedos Rossini
filet mignon, seared foie gras, shaved black truffle, pomme purée,
spring vegetables, truffle sauce

 

*DROOL* The steak was oh so so soooo tender and cooked to perfection - medium rare. The potato mash was awesome! The broccolini still had a crunch to them for that texture. And I savoured my little piece of foie gras resting on the top of the steak.

Heaven on a plate.
I barely had room for dessert but whenever I see brulee on the menu, I have to order it!

The White Rabbit Crème Brûlée
with summer berries

Shallen had the Chocolate Fondant Cake
vanilla ice cream, summer berries

Yenno ordered the Crêpes Suzette and the manager personally flambéed them for her =P

Oh my, after a huge and ultra-satisfying dinner, we headed off to the New Asia bar at the Swissotel for drinks and dancing!

Friday 2nd March 2012

SINGAPORE - DAY FOUR

I had a gorgeous roll (with butter) from Four Leaves Bakery for breakfast.

My cousin took us out for a proper breakfast!
Rice Flour Roll

Shui Kueh

For brunch, my cousin took me to this gorgeous cafe called Antoinette.
I don't have much of a sweet tooth nowadays and didn't want to eat any of these gorgeous cakes, but I loved the colours and the decor of the place. Rochelle Adonis has nothing on this place!

We shared the Spaghetti Marinara.

Washed down with a coffee at a local cafe.

I caught up with Benoit and Ivy and we started our afternoon of snacking with Yakitori!

Then we went to Din Tai Fung for some dumplings!

Love watching the chefs bustling around in the transparent
kitchen to prepare all the little morsels of gastronomy!

We wandered around in the basement food level of Takashimaya - food heaven!

Octopus tentacles for sale!

Lenards Chicken products have even made their way into the deli section!
Check out the price for an enchilada - $5.50 each - ouch!

My cousin picked me up in the early evening and we had a snack.

We caught up with the cousins at Resorts World on Sentosa
and had dinner in the Malaysian Food Street food court.

I waited in line for about twenty minutes for the Fried Kuay Teow.
Worth the wait!