Singapore 2013: In a Sea of Red in Chinatown

Note: this is the 2nd post I wrote from my Singapore trip last January 2013. A continuation of this. 

When I first came to Singapore, I wasn't able to visit Chinatown being as it was a ninja SG visit. So naturally on my 2nd visit there, Chinatown was on my must-visit list. The festivities of the upcoming lunar new year made the experience more fun as the whole Chinatown seemed to be emitting an aura of excitement and joy.

It's super easy to get to Chinatown since there is a direct MRT station that serves this district. Just get on North East Line (or purple line which is easier to remember) and get off at Chinatown station. 

These scenes greeted me when I stepped out from the underground train.

I've never seen so much red in my entire life until that day. Everywhere, items in red colors are being sold. Charms, clothes, souvenirs, etc. They have it.

Amidst all the Chinese hullabaloo I spotted a familiar face.

Why it's Tintin the beloved French journalist/snoop character that Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (using the pen name Hergé) created! Hee.

Tintin and Snowy

It's Captain Haddock!

I just had to take a photo with him.

Almost real life Tintin and Snowy figures.

At the end of Temple Street you can find, eh ano pa eh di, temples!

Sri Mariamman Temple

I also saw this giant snake-like lanterns. It turns out, snake pala talaga sya since it's gonna be year of the Snake soon! Unfortunately, I didn't see the head part :(

In between Temple and Smith Street.

Smith Street is also best known as the food street in Chinatown. In here, restaurants and hawker stalls line the whole street where tourists and locals alike can satisfy their cravings for some authentic Chinese dishes.

This is somewhere along Pagoda Street where many hostels can be found (and ongoing constructions for soon to open hostels!).

From there, I walked all the way to Sago Lane where the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum can be found.

This temple was built to house the, you got it, tooth relic of Buddha which was believed to have been found in a collapsed stupa in Myanmar in the 80's. I wonder how it found its way in Singapore hmm.

The blinding goldness of buddhas inside.

I didn't go inside and instead spent my time sitting and contemplating on the temple floor haha. I people watched, looked at all the tourists that took tons of pictures of the temple in contrast to locals who goes straight into lighting their incenses before offering prayers. It was really nice.

Then I went back to Smith Street again where I met my friend Diane. The lanterns have been lit, making it  dramatically beautiful!

Dried leg hams, anyone?

We ate dinner in the middle of Smith Street.

Satay and rice reminiscent of Cebu's puso. Sorry. ours win by a great margin.

Drat. I forgot the name of this. Anyone?

My lovely date that night who took all my giddy photos, after we got tricked/ripped off into buying various mochis and candy for a steep, steep price hahaha. Thanks, Diane!

Ba Noi's: The Fresh Flavors of Vietnam

Ahoy, a new restaurant just popped out in our really, really cool neighborhood! The original one located in Perea Street in Legazpi Village, Makati closed down I think a month ago hence, the great move. Hey, their loss our gain. :)

Romy, Ten and I tried Ba Noi's last Friday to find out what's it like which coincidentally, also happens to be the eve before my birthday. pre-birthday lunch na kumbaga (maisingit lang).

Here's a photo of the restaurant's interior. I like the touch of bamboo blinds on their window that effectively blocks the heat from the sun.

Ba Noi's table setting. Love the chopsticks!

This Goi Cuon order came first. It was a pretty simple combination of lettuce, shrimp and rice vermicelli rolled in (glutinous) rice paper.

Dip 'em in peanut sauce and it becomes even better. I'm glad it doesn't include that odd herb(?!) in fresh spring rolls we've eaten in Ho Chi Minh. It was also included in their pho noodles kaya medyo naumay ako ng slight because of that. But I still love their pho, hands down. Walang katulad.

The  Bún Chả Giò Thịt Nướng came next. Funny thing is, I was slightly - slight lang naman haha - disappointed when we saw that it did not include soup in it. Dried noodles pala kasi ang naorder ko haha. But it's alright, the chef recommends it and I don't say no to their recommendations.

Indeed, this turns out to be a really good dish! The noodles are already tasty on their own and the spring rolls, oh the spring rolls! I can eat those everyday of my life.

This is what it looked like when mixed. We took out all the meat and set them aside on one plate haha.

The Bo Luc Lac was a a lovely surprise for us. More often than not our expectation of meat's tenderness are not met unless it is beautifully presented on  a hot plate for an unfortunately, fancy price. However, when these cube of beefs touched our mouths, the collective expression was "uy, ang lambot"! And it really was. No chewy beef to munch on for minutes.

We also ordered Ca Kho To, a braised catfish cooked in caramel sauce. This is one dish that isn't usually served in other restaurants nor in our own homes so it was a good thing we got to try it at Ba Noi's.

All in all our Ba Noi's experience was great. Each dish we ordered was really good and something we can recommend to our friends and families.

A plus factor: I'm not sure if it's because Ba Noi's is a fairly new-opened restaurant that the owner, Dodjie Violago, also happened to be in the house but for whatever reason we appreciated his gesture of coming to our table and asking how the food was.

PS: We're also avid fans of Borough Comfort Food :)

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Bs Noi's
12 East Capitol Drive,
Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City

2013 Birthday Wish

Dear Papa Jesus,

I won't ask for any material things this coming 11th. Not even my usual socks and postcard wishes. All I'll ask is a good health. Please let me be healthy always. If possible, for as long as I shall live. You know I can't afford to be sick :(

Please and thank you.

Love,
Marye

Day 5: 8 Hours in Macau

Note: This is the last post from our HK-Macau trip from (gasp) a year and a half ago. Here's the link from our 4th day. 

We committed a major boo boo on our last day of our vacation by not booking tickets ahead for our ferry ride going to Macau and our pockets paid dearly for it (ouch). Instead of regular CotaiJet seats, we had to take the first class seats. There were no more available regular tickets that could leave as early as 12 noon, we will be forced to head straight to the airport if we wait for a cheaper ferry.

As a budget traveler, this was definitely not on our plan but a first class ride is never a bad thing. It's like you got bumped a notch higher in the ladder of traveling only it came from your own pocket. lol. Buti na lang we saved so much from our Disneyland tickets, we were able to use it here.

Now off we go inside the catamaran. The funny thing was, JC and I were so impressed with the whole first class thing it felt like stepping into a mansion (haha labo ng analogy ko). There were free food, we had our own table (!?!) and all those jazzy, executive, albeit stiff, looking people on board.

Due to the unexpected delay, our Macau trip turned into an episode of Amazing Race. I gotta say, it's no joke running around (thankfully not in circles) a city you've never been to but then again, experiences like these remind me to keep my calm, that JC and I can always rely on our ability to navigate our way through a foreign city if we let our brains do their thing. And of course, strangers' kindness.

I love Macau because you can get from point A to point B for free if you've done your research well (or asked the right people). True enough, after emerging out from immigration we came across a huge-driveway-turned-parking-lot of hotel buses waiting for us to hop inside. We didn't hesitate, we chose the Venetian Hotel bus.

After 10 minutes, the bus stopped in front of the hotel and this is what we saw inside.

It was only later, after a few shots, that we found out taking photos inside the casino was prohibited. Sheez. Glad to have caught a few before we got busted haha. We have so many kababayans working in Venetian nagulat na lang ako JC was talking in Tagalog with one of the waiters, requesting for drinks. By the way, drinks are everywhere inside the casino and they're for FREE! Pick your choice of refreshment, they have hot teas, bottled waters and orange juices.

These shots were taken outside the Venetian on our way to a free lift to Macau (the main island). The bus was in Galaxy Macau Hotel, next to Venetian but it was quite a distance to walk too. We just asked our way around til we got to the bus stop.

 You just can't miss Macau Tower. After getting down the bus, we started walking again. Sinundan lang namin yung crowd (we weren't able to get a map here) lakad nang lakad until we got to an intersection kung san may hotel na at simbahan. Lumagpas na pala kami sa Senado Square! So yung parang maliit na park na nadaanan namin with so many people lugging their pasalubong bags, yun na pala yun haha.

Here's a tip. If you're hungry and on a tight budget, all you have to do is hang out in those stores selling jerkies as they give out free slices to anyone. As in anyone kahit di ka bibili (though mahihiya ka naman ng slight haha). If you're lucky at in good mood pa si Kuya tagabigay, you get a big chunk of jerky from him! Meron ding free taste ng mga iba-ibang klase ng biscuits beside the jerky stand. I wish they also had a free taste for those begging-to-be-eaten custards haha.

After our ninja visit at Senado Square and downtown Macau, we headed back to Venetian again to while away our time til our flight comes. We rode another free bus but this time the bus stopped in the hotel in front of Venetian, near Hard Rock Cafe. I think it was nearer than Galaxy (or that's just their route?).

We passed the time exploring Grand Canal Shoppes, admired the singing gondoliers especially the Pinoys whose accent we'd recognize from anywhere. The Venetian was a grand, grand place oozing with extravagance which my brain can't process properly. That's the third world girl in me. No matter how dazzling the place is, I can't help but think why these kind of structures exist when on the other end of the spectrum a lot of people break their backs working all day just to put something into their mouths.

Ang KJ ko lang talaga haha.

Two hours before our flight we boarded a bus that'll take us to the airport. I love LOVE it. Thank you Venetian Hotel for being such a gracious host! char. Thank you for taking care of all our luggage as if we've checked in in the hotel. You're the best! Walang halong char yan.

Macau trip was a whirlwind and I don't want something like that again, ever. So I promised myself, pag nakaluwag-luwag, no matter how many years it might take us, we will return here. Cos we fracken missed St. Paul's Ruins eh ang laki-laki na nun hahaha. We'll also try our luck in casino again, we really think we were winning! Or not.

My TNF Shining Moment!

Excuse this post but I just had to put it here. A few days ago, The North Face instagram account called for a sort of submit-a-great-shot-from-a-race. All you had to do was include the hashtag #gearupgetout. 

The timing couldn't be more perfect because my friends and I just recently joined TNF 100 trail run (Philippine series) in Baguio City. I didn't even run that long a distance but I still submitted a photo, this one below, taken by my fiancé. 

Lo and behold! 3 days after posting that photo in my account (with the hashtag, of course), TNF posted my photo in their instagram!!! Ang haba ng hair ko, yun lang! :))

PS: Photo was taken last April 23 with iPhone 4s. No filter. It pays that that particular area was picture perfect itself.

PPS:

Okaythankyoubye.

Payday Lunch Series: Corazon Filipino-Hispano

I never imagined that the construction that's been going on for a while around Shangri La Mall meant a whole new wing to the original one that we have now. Though most of it were still empty and still smell of faint paint jobs, I'm sure it would be one buzzing and pretty wing to behold. Ano daw??!?

Since it was payday Friday, the payday lunch series is on!!! We excitedly walked from our building to the newest wing of Shangri La in search of a new restaurant to try. We picked Corazon. A Filipino-Spanish fusion restaurant.

The chairs, which looked a lot like candy canes, immediately caught my attention! 

One more for emphasis.

The bar inside Corazon.

Menu.

Their menu cover art is too pretty for words.

Wala lang shot. I took these shots because of the Salvador and the Ortega.

Ciudad Real. Lechon kawali on top of creamy laing. Boom!

I forgot the Spanish name of this baked oyster oops.

Corazon's Paella Negra serves 3-4 persons. That's how big it was! Not to mention delicious.

This dish, too, has escaped me. Basta yung kinilaw na tuna and pork liempo with lots and lots of vinegar, onions and peppers.

Lamb adobo topped with kesong puti. I was never a fan of lambs nor kesong puti, what a great combo :))

I forgot to mention that aside from that day being a payday Friday, it was also a despedida lunch for our friend Xan who, sadly, has to leave (us) for health reasons. *sniff*

Overall, the food did not disappoint. The service was good and I have to hand it to the staff, quick. An observation before I end this post. I'm no interior designer but they surely could've done with a much better lighting design. The dangling lines from the mini spotlights were distracting and you could see na pinilit lang sya. I hope they do something about it for an improved overall vibes di ba. Just thinking out loud :)

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Corazon Hispano Filipino
Shangri-la Plaza Mall
4/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd cor EDSA
Wack Wack, Mandaluyong
(0917) 817-8298