Singapore Part 2

Uploading the photos makes me hungry. Each meal is associated with an incident or a memory. Food bonds people.

1) Qiu Lian Ban Mien.



For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of ban mien. The good old days of 3 girls sharing 2 gigantic bowls of handmade noodles are still fresh in my mind. Friends bonded over the noodles, jokes made, teasing began and we always leave with a full stomach.

I'm a big fan of the soup base and will often finish the soup before the noodles. Well, actually, I don't usually have the stomach space to eat the noodles because I'm full from the soup! Ok fine, and I like to add 2 portions of chili. YUM. The generous amount of fried anchovies, mince meat and vegetables helped too.

For S$3.50 a bowl, it's good value for money for sure. Hey gang, when is our next ban mien meeting?

Qiu Lian Ban Mien
S11 Food Court
Bishan Street 13


2) Thye Hong Hokkien Mee



My mother and I decided to go on a shopping trip and ended up at Wisma Atria, Orchard. Food republic is my favorite food court now. I really dig their old style decor. About 2 years ago, I heard about this famous fried hokkien mee stall but each time I was at the foodcourt, the queue turned me off. Surprisingly, the queue was pretty short that day and we quickly ordered a plate to share. We ordered poh piah as well since it was located next door.

The poh piah was nothing to shout about. Mediocre. The hokkien mee, well, that is another story. My mother was actually not feeling well and did not have much appetite. Not the case for this meal though. I barely finished biting my portion of poh piah when I realised that more than 1/2 of the plate of hokkien mee was gone!! Mum then gave me a sheepish smile and said.... "It's really tasty!"

So that's the verdict for u. =)

3) Wei Heong Yuen Dessert Store



I miss my grandma. I bet if I enter her into the "cutest grandma" contest, she will win first prize.

One of my things I look forward to always is to head out with her. Our favorite hangout? Chinatown of course! From browsing gold jewelery to visiting herb shops, we always have a ball of a time.

Grandma's favorite dessert is a bowl of almond paste. Smooth stuff. I decided to try Or Nee or yam paste, as I have never tasted store bought one before (despite making it previously). Well, I think the almond paste still wins hands down. I find store bought Or Nee abit too oily for my liking.

The water chestnut cake is another specialty of the store. It's not too sweet and I do like the crunchy texture of the chestnuts. Really good for cooling down after a long and hot walk. I attempted this before but failed. Tasting that made me want to try again.

The highlight for me though was their Cantonese rice dumplings. It's HUGE! Look at the filling! Oh boy, i counted 3-4 mini mushrooms and at least 3 roasted chestnuts inside too. Not to mention the tender pork meat... arghhhhhh.... I want some now!


4) Indochine Empress Place




Oh alright. What's a trip without drinks right? AR and I wanted to check out a band that was playing at Indochine, hence we organized drinks with the lovely Peggy, Ruth and Rane.

The food suxs. Enough said.

However, the drinks were ok. Alright, so Peggy's order was horrible but the rest were fine! I can't remember what we ordered though (alcohol dulls memory) but the highlight wasn't the drinks or food really. It was the music and chilling out that we did that mattered.

And the photos.. ah..we took LOTs of photos that night.

5) Pasta Waraku



I heard so much about this fusion place and did not even bat an eyelid when my friends suggested we dine there.

I think the idea is fantastic. What can go wrong with jap sauce and pasta right? I had the unagi and egg which was fantastic. The chicken was nice too. The carbonara was a little too... creamy! Ok, maybe it's just me. The only thing was that I felt that the pasta was a tad overcooked.

I can't say the same for their gratin though. Essentially, it's just baked pasta! The prawn tasted rubbery as well. According to Peggy, the gratin tasted nicer at the Marina square branch. hmm...


Pasta Waraku
The Central
Clarky Quay



Coming up next:

Part 3- the goodbyes!