A place of great hawker food, popular and well known among Singaporeans, this is Old Airport Road Hawker Centre, one of my favourite Singapore hawker centre, serving different local Singapore food dishes. It’s been a while since I  went there for my meals and it was fun to have a food outing there with fellow bloggers, Nellie, Daphne, Sue, Amanda and Keropokman, some of them were meeting each other for the first time !

Met at Dakota MRT Station, took a short walk over to Old Airport Road Market, as I always affectionately call her ! Found a table to fit all of us and off we went, finding a dish each to order and share with all. There were a few famous local dishes at Old Airport Road Market, and one of them is the Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow, although there were more local dishes that I like a lot, I will keep it for Must Try Food Reviews in the future !

We had satay, BBQ chicken wings, char kway teow, oyster omelette, BBQ Stingray, LaLa and fish soup. For the 6 of us, it’s a quite an amount of food and at the end of the food outing, we were full from eating all these wonderful food. Chatting, eating and relaxing the evening away in the last week of December, it was great !

Old Airport Road Hawker Centre has lots of great local Singapore food, do visit there and check it out !

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Being in a cosmopolitan modern city like Singapore, a melting pot of different cultures and races, settling down here over many years,it gradually transformed into a food haven whereby Singaporeans love their food. One of my favourite cuisine is definitely Thailand food and I love their unique spiciness along with their sour and sweet sauces. Therefore, I was thrilled when we were traveling up to Thailand recently and it was a great feast to taste and savor authentic local Thai food. Let me guide you through some of the delicious and wonderful Thai food that I tasted during my recent holiday there.

Phad Thai

My all time favourite Thai dish! I don’t know why, it just taste so much nicer there in Thailand!

Ice Milk Tea

The fragrance and taste are so much nicer than the ones in Singapore and ordering it from the push cart in the their village town, the experience is priceless.

Steamed Fish

Freshly steamed fish with a variety of ingredients and spices, lime, chili, limerick, giving this freshly cooked fish a tender sweet loving taste.

We were also introduced by Sue to this wonderful restaurant known as Somboon Seafood in Bangkok, it’s Sue’s favourite restaurant and they serve interesting and delicious dishes. When we were at Somboon Seafood, the restaurant was packed with huge crowds and busy dining tables, a testimonial to the fame, reputation and standards of the dishes served in Somboon Seafood. Let me introduce to you, my dear readers, their trademark dish ~

Original Fried Curry Crab

Do not be deceived by their looks or gravy, have a taste when you are there! It’s simply awesome and superb! They are really special! These are the the details for Somboon Seafood Restaurant, if you are planning to go there, remember to make a reservation in advance! The branch we went to is the Bantadthong Branch! Do check out their website for more details!

Bantadthong Branch

895/6-21 Soi Chula 8, Bantadthong Rd.,
Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel. 02-216-4203-5
Fax. 02-216-7999

Happy eating and enjoying Thailand food! Enjoy my other Thailand food photos!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Located in the heart of the upcoming Marina Bay Financial Centre District, facing a panoramic view of the beautiful Marina Bay, nearby to event grounds for Marina Bay events, there is a gem for food lovers to enjoy awesome hospitality, cuisine and ambience at Verve Pizza Bar.

Before going into the food, let me introduce Verve Pizza Bar, their motto is “Simple Things Done Right” and it’s all about their passion, influenced by passionate people and doing their things very passionately. An alfresco dinning by the Marina Bay, their handmade Italian pizzas are very delicious and it is a MUST TRY! Service staff are very courteous and friendly, giving us a very warm and friends/family feeling when we were dining there with fellow bloggers/social media folks on a beautiful Saturday after our sailing around the Marina Bay on the Audi Ultra Maxi Yacht with the Singapore F1 GP 2011 going on nearby !

For their delicious food, here’s our menu that we (most of us) tasted (information {what we ordered} below kindly provided by Juliana Tan, Menu information kindly provided by Karen of Verve Pizza Bar)

- Verve’s Calamari with Garlic Creme

- Potato Wedges with Chilli Crab dip

- Selection of authentic Italian thin-crust pizza (Enzo Peking duck, Altobello Spicy Beef, Mancini BBQ Chicken, Capricciosa ham & artichokes – from $21-$26 per 12 ” pizza)

- Selection of gelato ($6 per scoop) – Forrest Berries Sorbet, Decadent Chocolate, Lime Sorbet, Chocolate Baileys, Hazelnut, Pistacchio & Green Almond, Vanilla Cognac, Cookies & Cream

**Cocktails: Appletinis (made with fresh granny smith apples!)

$18 each (Happy hour 5 -7pm EVERYDAY half price beers & cocktails + FREE PIZZA)

- Their Calamari is very fresh and it’s very crunchy!! Great starter to share with your friends!!

- For their gelato, it’s a dream to see so many gelato selections available and I had the opportunity to taste a few of them, I love the Chocolate Baileys and I would be planning to return for more gelato, might need to make a few trips!

- Their pizzas are very special, they are of thin-crust, their dough is freshly produced everyday. Therefore, you can feel the freshness and fragrance of freshly hand made pizzas, living up to their motto of “Simple Things Done Right” with lots of passion, along with their warmth, heart and soul into making of their delicious pizzas, you can definitely feel it in them, absolutely gorgeous!

A photojournalist with a taste bud for photographing the local food and cuisine of the countries that I visited, I would make it a feature for my future travel food photography collection, capturing as many local food photographs, for memories, sharing and review! For this Elly Kelong fishing trip, our main food dishes were from Trikora (Elly) Kelong and Tanjung Pinang.

One particular dish that caught my attention was their Bak Kut Teh that we tasted at Tanjung Pinang, take a look at the photograph below and observe the meat ingredients first ~

What do you see ? Their bak kut teh is cooked very differently from our Singapore’s Teochew or Hokkien style. This is herbal and similar to the ones you would taste in Kuala Lumpur and what makes it different is the meat parts! There is only 1 pork rib and the rest are different parts of the pig, liver, tendon, kidney, meat slices and some other parts that I wasn’t able to identify and name it! Even though it looks more like a mixed pork meat parts soup with bak kut teh soup base flavour, it rocks!

Another dish is the deep fried calamari that was served to us at Elly Kelong, it’s crispy, not too oily, crunchy, chewy, tasty and delicious! It was very nice and became addictive!

Hope you enjoyed looking at the different food that we tasted in Bintan!!

 

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

This is my 4th time attending, attending an ice cream festival here in Singapore, known as the Ben & Jerry Chunk Fest 2011, a time to taste different ice cream varieties from USA that are not available for the Singapore market. Looking back at the past 3 years, I remember Ben & Jerry Chunk Fest being held at various locations.

2008 – Fort Canning

2009 – Marina Barrage

2010 – Marina Promontory 

This year 2011, it’s held at the Marina Promontory, a good location overlooking the Marina Bay and it’s not too far away from Raffles Place MRT station. Ben & Jerry Chunk Fest is another great event for social media networking, asking the bloggers/social media/tweeples to gather, eat ice cream, relax and chit chat.

Ben & Jerry Chunk Fest 2011 is not just about eating Ben & Jerry ice cream flavours that are not available in Singapore, that’s many other booths set up to support local social causes and local businesses. Local rock bands were playing on the stage, providing live music entertainment, there were games for the crowds to play with and against each other, that’s also the booth for the mini-Vermonster, the cousin to the annual giant ice cream eating event at Ben & Jerry Chunk Fest whereby teams of 4 people form together to ferociously gobble down many scoops of Ben & Jerry Ice Cream in a big tub at the fastest time. This competition is always fun to watch and enjoy for the rest of the spectators while we are eating our Ben & Jerry ice cream.

A good time to catch up with friends from the social media/blog community, Philip, Serene, Daphne, Sue and Noel, met Catherine for the first time. I got myself 3 different scoops of Ben & Jerry Ice Cream, chit chat and relaxing time there in the late afternoon. Till then, I shall once a while pop into Ben & Jerry outlets in Singapore to satisfy my craving for the exotic/unavailable Ben & Jerry Ice Cream!

Verve Pizza Bar, the 4th restaurant opened by Verve Holdings, an awesome dining place (with great views of the modern cosmopolitan Marina Bay) for authentic Italian Pizza and homemade Gelato! My first visit there was on 24th September 2011 and we were hosted by Rob and Karen, along with their wonderful, friendly and hardworking staff of Verve Pizza Bar, to a great dining experience with my friends, the beautiful memories and experiences written down here! Their motto is “Simple Things Done Right” and they definitely live up to their motto with their delicious authentic Italian Pizzas and Homemade Gelato!

On 1st December 2011, I was kindly and honoured to be invited by Rob and Karen, and through Marina Bay Singapore, to be part of their official opening event for Verve Pizza Bar at Marina Bay City Gallery. Rob and Karen are great hosts, very hospitable and friendly, a hallmark of Verve Pizza Bar and these traits can be seen across all their staff. Verve Pizza Bar is a great venue with awesome landscape views of Marina Bay, excellent authentic Italian Pizzas that I still can’t get enough of and of coures, homemade Gelato that is simply irresistible.

There’s a great list of authentic Italian Pizzas, you have to visit Verve Pizza Bar and try all of them! Do check out their list of pizzas here on their website! Oh yes, you must try their Homemade Gelato!! Do check out their list of Homemade Gelato here on their website! During the official opening event, we had a great time tasting the various authentic Italian Pizzas that the friendly staff of Verve Pizza Bar were serving out to us guests there!

Here’s some useful information for all my readers!

Do you remember these Old Trades, Food and Services ?

Street Barbers

Cobblers

Born in the late 70s, growing up in the 80s as a young kid, I still can remember the above Old Trades, Food and Services, even though I didn’t go to the fortune teller when I was a kid and didn’t get to taste the ice ball, I can see the cobblers and kachang puteh sellers around Singapore. One of my best memories was the kachang puteh seller at the Old Cathay Cinema when it was just a 2 stories cinema (it is now the Cathay Cineleisure Cineplex) and I would love to buy the sweet kachang puteh from him!

Fortune Tellers

Singapore’s National Heritage Board organised a Heritage Event, known as Heritage Along Footpaths, bringing us back in time and history, to re-introduce trades that were once common in Singapore. This would definitely suits the older generation because it would invoke many of their memories – childhood, teenager, growing up years and suits the younger and middle generation too, sharing the memories that their seniors/forefathers had last time

Ice-ball Sellers

Heritage Along Footpaths was held on 2 weekends, 3rd and 4th December and 10th and 11th December 2011, from 10am to 5pm, at 2 locations : The Singapore Art Museum and Stamford Arts Centre (along the mural wall facing Middle Road). I went to the Singapore Art Museum and I had a great nostalgic time there, eating my kachang puteh, tasting ice ball for the first time in my life! Well, I didn’t get my shoes repaired by the cobbler or got my fortune told by the fortune tellers, nevertheless, it was great to see them back again, even for a while.

 Kachang Puteh Sellers

Our Singapore’s Heritage Along Footpaths, will you remember them ? Will they survive in this fast changing cosmopolitan modern city living ? How can our future generations remember what is their forefathers time like ? I sincerely hope that they will be able to survive and continue on, even though the challenges today just make it very difficult. For a start, let’s all start to spread the word and continue the story telling, of our heritage, culture and history to our current young and future generations.

A globetrotter, extraordinary, very friendly and heartwarming person, a world wide famous travel icon, none other than Mr Ian Wright himself. With a resounding success in Invite Mr Wright season 1 with TLC, it’s now Invite Mr Wright 2, the first season of Mr Wright took Ian visiting different countries and culture, enjoying a very interesting and awesome travel experiences that he shared with us faithfully through the eyes of his hosts, their family and friends.

Where’s Invite Mr Wright traveling to and what is Ian going to do in the countries that he’s visiting ? In Season 2, Ian is traveling to Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam, with each country giving her own distinct and unique travel experiences. During the media event, the guests were given a sneak preview of some photographs taken by Ian during his filming along with his first hands on experiences during the travels!

Here’ some snippets for you all, my readers, you have to follow and watch Invite Mr Wright Season 2 on TLC Channel !

- Okinawa, Japan ~ Football Team Mascot

- Sumatra, Indonesia ~ Orang Utans, Conservation & Green Turtles

- Darwin, Australia ~ Aussie Outback Living & Aussie Culture

- Sapa, Vietnam ~ Hill Tribes

- Rumtek Monastery, India ~ Learning how much there is to being a monk

- Singapore ~ With Celebrity Chef Justin Quek

The event was held at Marina Bay Sands, the menu was very special and unique because it was prepared by celebrity chef Justin Quek (who is also part of the Invite Mr Wright 2 travel program – Singapore location), inspired by the iconic extraordinary traveler Ian Wright !

Here’s the Menu prepared by Celebrity Chef Justin Quek, inspired by Ian Wright travels !

- Herbal Beef Broth, Fresh Asian Herbs, in Chinese tea cup

- Soft Shell Crabs Tempura and mango salad

- Slow Cooked Nordic Salmon

- Angus Beef

- Duo of Dessert

The menu was really very delicious and awesome, simply wonderful, love the cooking and presentation, you can feel and taste the inspiration behind the travels, with fusion of different cooking styles from different cultures and countries around the world !! Check out more photos here on my Flickr collection !!

Ian was funny and friendly during the event, he wasn’t just introducing and sharing about his Invite Mr Wright 2 travel stories, he was also walking around, mingling with guests and taking photos with the guests (who are also his fans too), chatting and cracking jokes, having a great time there! Invite Mr Wright 2 is coming soon to the channel near you !! Invite Mr Wright (Season 2) will premiere every Thursday at 10pm on TLC, starting March 29, stay tuned and follow Mr Wright for his fun and exciting travel adventures !!

Thanks to Canon Singapore and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Singapore for the invitation !

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

In the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District at the Raffles Place area at the mouth of the Singapore River, a luxury hotel, the Fullerton Hotel Singapore stands tall and proud of her heritage and history. Inside the Fullerton Hotel, there is a restaurant known as the Town Restaurant, serving a wide variety of delicious flavours and cuisines, both local and international.

I was recently invited by Fullerton Hotel and Marina Bay Division of Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to enjoy a food journey transported from the heart of India to the Town Restaurant. The Town Restaurant is now having “A Tasty Passage to India” dinner buffet and there are many unique Indian cuisines and dishes being served at the Town Restaurant. This special Indian dinner buffet was in partnership with Taj Palace New Delhi and Jet Airways to bring a gastronomical experience into the heart of India’s cuisine and cooking.

There are many classic Indian dishes being served at the Town Restaurant, it is a beautiful restaurant with great ambience and hospitality. Do take your time to slowly taste and savour all the Indian dishes available there during the buffet. In addition to the Indian cuisines, you can also enjoy Town Restaurant’s popular selection of seafood on ice, pastas and many more delicious dishes on their buffet line.

Town Restaurant’s “A Tasty Passage to India” dinner buffet brings the heart of Indian cooking and cuisine, the authentic exotic flavours and tastes to our doorstep at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore. Here are some information on The Town Restaurant’s “A Tasty Passage to India” dinner buffet -

Prices : $52 per adult and $26 per child (6 to 12 years old)

** Prices are subject to service charge and prevailing government taxes ** 

Dates : 20th July 2012 to 31st July 2012

Time : 6pm to 10pm at Town Restaurant

For Reservations : Please contact (65) 6877 8128 OR drop them an email at town@fullertonhotel.com

It’s a great idea to bring in international authentic cuisines from other parts of the world to Singapore and it’s a great experience to taste them too right here in Singapore at the Fullerton Hotel! Do call them, make a reservation and enjoy “A Tasty Passage to India” dinner buffet! I would like to sincerely thank The Fullerton Hotel Singapore and Marina Bay Division of URA for the invitation to the delicious “A tasty Passage to India” dinner buffet and their warm hospitality! For more food photos of “A Tasty Passage to India” dinner buffet, you can find them here on my Flickr !

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

An evening of fun, filled with chatting, sharing my fireworks photography tips and lots of food. This was the outing that we held recently for University of Queensland Alumni Association of Singapore (UQAAS) on 4th August 2012 at the Marina Bay area, between the Marina Promontory and Marina Bay City Gallery. I decided to organise a small outing for my alumni and I chose the National Day Parade (NDP) 2012 preview rehearsal to conduct a fireworks photography tips session and the hardworking UQAAS Ex-Co organised the food eating segment after that.

While some of us set up our equipment for the fireworks, the rest were relaxing, chatting away and enjoying the weekend atmosphere around the Marina Bay, watching the rehearsal performance by the Singapore State Flag flypast and the fighter jets performing above the Marina Bay skyline. I had a enjoyable time chatting away while waiting in between the performances at Marina Bay, sharing my photography adventures, the fireworks photography tips and ideas on how I can conduct other photography related events in the future for UQAAS. Oh yes, do check out my Fireworks collection here on Flickr! This was a great experience for me too, teaching and sharing my photography tips that I gained/learned over the years to friends, will help me too. In any forms of training and learning, if you are able to share/teach what you have learned or your expertise to others, you can improve better!

The lovely folks from UQAAS Ex-Co were also busy networking and sharing with fellow alumnus on their upcoming events and activities they would be organising or events that UQAAS would be supporting and participating at Australian Alumni Singapore (AAS) or University of Queensland (UQ) initiative events. Do check them out for more details of events! After capturing and watching the NDP 2012 Preview Rehearsal fireworks, we packed up and headed towards 7 Storey Restaurant for lots of good food, located at the Marina Barrage, we had the Hainanese chicken rice, Hainanese pork chop, charcoal steamboat. While eating, it was relaxing and chatting way, sharing stories of our UQ study and living experiences and not to forget sharing about our favourite topic at the dinning table – Food !

Since we ate quite a lot of nice delicious food, we didn’t go home immediately after that. Instead, we walked around the dam, enjoying the evening stroll and beautiful Marina Bay skyline, taking (touristy) group photos. Yes, lots of fun taking touristy shots though! Looking ahead, more UQAAS activities coming up, when would I be organising another photography event? I am still in the process of planning something, thinking of a theme, maybe local Singapore hawker food photography touring ? I also have to check on the timing and schedule of the other events to ensure no clashes with the other UQAAS events too.

Thanks to my UQAAS alumnus friends for coming down, taking photographs, chatting, sharing of our UQ study/living days and food of course!

Sabio By The Sea, a beautiful restaurant located in a great location, filled with warm hospitality and nice ambience. It is a Grill Restaurant and Tapas Bar located in Sentosa Cove. Sabio By The Sea is the 8^th Restaurant concept opened by Deliciae Hospitality Management in Singapore.

The original Sabio on Duxton inspires Sabio By The Sea; the Spanish concept of dining is now applied and brought to the sea. They prepared some of the best Spanish dishes such as grilled meats and fishes together with Tapas, in a laid back, cosy, spacious and airy location in Sentosa Cove, surrounded by the marina, yachts, pleasure boats and the beautiful Sentosa Cove residences. Inside the Sabio By The Sea, you would be dazzled by artistic artworks and masterpieces of both traditional and modern pieces. Traditional Spanish design features are combined with contemporary elements. The artworks on the walls have the same painted traditional Catalan tiles and hand carving inspired by a 200 years old bar in Seville.

The menu available at Sabio By The Sea is really exquisite and extensive, for the full menu; please click here for the link to their Facebook Page! During our enjoyable time at Sabio By The Sea, we were treated to their All Day Weekend Brunch, an awesome selection that would leave you wanting to come back for more Brunch and trying out their full list of exquisite dishes on their menu.

What did we have for the Brunch at Sabio By The Sea? Here’s the list –

- El Pulpo – Grilled Octopus leg, “Viola” Mash Potato, Sauce Paprika

- El Cerdo – Herbs Marinated Pig Shoulder Served With Sauted Potatos

- Grilled Ribeye (120g), Chachouka, Fried Egg And Grilled Mushrooms

- Grilled Olive Bread Stuff With Manchego Cheese And Serano Ham, Baby Spinach Salad

- Chachouka With Chorizo Sausage, Two Fried Eggs, Toasted Brioche And Green Salad

- Fluffy Omelette, Roasted Potatoes , Manchego Cheese, Serano Ham, Basil And Grilled Cherry Tomatoes

- Churros – Crunchy fried dough Spanish doughnut

- Espuma de turron – Spanish Nougat Mousse

- Piña asada – Roasted marinated pineapple served with vanilla ice cream

- House ‘s Signature Dessert – Pastel de Mantequilla Salada

- Carmelo Lava – Salty Butter Caramel Lava Cake

What I can say about the Spanish dishes above is – You have to visit Sabio By The Sea and try it out for yourself! Bring your family and friends there for a weekend Brunch! I shall let my photos speak for the wonderful Spanish dishes at Sabio By The Sea, do check them out here on my Flickr!

During our Brunch tasting session, Chef Damien Le Bihan, Group Executive Chef of Deliciae Hospitality Management Group came out and chatted with us for a while, answering our queries although we were too happily enjoying his wonderful dishes that not many of us asked much questions! Chef Bruno Menard of La Cantine and &Made also dropped by and chatted with all of us there! We were indeed very honoured with two famous Chefs at our Brunch tasting session!

Everyone of us there had a great time there, the food was lovely and delicious. The atmosphere was relaxing, ambience was awesome and we had great views of the marina, great weather. The whole group of us, friends from the social media circle and networks, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, chatting, networking and making new friends too! Inside this group, we were all camera crazy and we all went a bit like paparazzi, taking photos of Chef Damien, Chef Bruno and Ms Helene (Marketing and PR Director).

If you love a weekend Brunch with your family and friends, Sabio By The Sea is the food destination for you! For more information on Sabio By The Sea, do check out the information below –

Website and Links

Sabio By The Sea website

Sabio By The Sea Facebook Page

ADDRESS

31 Ocean Way

#01-02

Singapore 098395

(Next to W Hotel Singapore)

DIRECTIONS

From Beach Station

Sentosa Bus 3 to Sentosa Cove Arrival Plaza from Beach Station

(Every 30mins daily from 8am to 10.30pm)

From Harbourfront Interchange

Sentosa Cove Shuttle Bus from Harbourfront Bus Terminal to Sentosa Cove Arrival Plaza (more information here)

Operation: 7.30 am to 10 pm daily

ISLAND ENTRANCE FEES

By Car

Admission to Sentosa is at $2 during lunch (12 to 2PM) and dinner (after 5PM) on weekdays

OPENING HOURS

Open Daily

Monday to Thursday 12PM to 10PM

Friday 12PM to 12AM

Saturday 10AM to 12AM

Sunday 10AM to 10PM

CONTACT

Phone number: 6690 7568

Email: SBTS@sabio.sg

CHEF

Group Executive Chef Damien Le Bihan

RESTAURANT MANAGER

Laurent Tracol

This food tasting event would not be possible without the organization and coordination by Belinda and hosted by Sabio By The Sea. Both of them organized this great food-tasting event for us to taste and enjoy and I would like to say a very Big Thank you for organizing and hosting us with your warmest hospitality and delicious Spanish Tapas and dishes! I would also like to Thank Ms Helene Denaiffe, Marketing and PR Director for providing us with the information above and hosting us during our Brunch tasting session at Sabio By The Sea!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Coca-Cola, one of the most iconic and distinctive brand in the world, it’s also the most loved brand in the world today! I am a Coca-Cola fan, loved the beverage and the history of Coca-Cola collectibles, interesting and unique. Recently, I was invited by Ogilvy Public Relations for a casual meet with Ted Ryan, Director of Heritage Communications over a breakfast session at the Shangri-La Hotel, I was delighted and accepted the invitation.

Being a Coca-Cola fan, I was always fascinated to know the secret formula of the Coca-Cola drink, loved their bottle designs and their collectibles. It was a great informal session with Ted, whereby he shared a lot about his Coca-Cola heritage work, traveling around the world and meeting with Coca-Cola fans. This was also a time to know more about the Coca-Cola brand name, history and timeline, the title is “The Story of The Most LOVED Brand on the planet“. From this casual session, I got to know more about Coca-Cola through the interesting quiz with attractive Coca-Cola gifts as prizes! Besides Coca-Cola, I learned about the other beverages under Coca-Cola, do check out Coca-Cola Singapore website and you can see the various beverages under Coca-Cola! During the sharing, Ted shared about the history and heritage of Coca-Cola in Singapore and it goes a long way back to 1936, check out this link for more details!

There was also a charity auction during the casual meet, some of the Coca-Cola collectibles were auctioned off and bid by the guests. For the Coca-Cola collectors, it was definitely something that would love to add to their own private collection! While I did not buy or bid for any Coca-Cola collectibles, I would definitely be looking out for them when I travel overseas! During my travel to Japan in 2004, I can still recall walking into a shop in Harajuku, Tokyo, showcasing/selling Coca-Cola collectibles and nothing else!

Mr Ted Ryan with a Coca-Cola collectible

It’s pretty amazing and fascinating to learn and know more about the branding and reputation of the Coca-Cola brand name worldwide. Here are some useful Coca-Cola links that you might be interested in to find out more about Coca-Cola

- Coca-Cola Facebook Page

- Coca-Cola Singapore

- Coca-Cola Singapore Twitter

Photograph Courtesy of Renhao

Photograph Courtesy of Renhao

I would be scouting and looking around for interesting Coca-Cola collectibles around the world and slowly add them to my small humble collection (consisting of a few Coca-Cola glasses).

One of Singaporeans favourite morning breakfast set is our local kopi, kaya toast with half boiled eggs, eating it in our kopitiam with a newspaper to accompany us. While the kopitiams today in Singapore have changed a lot, there were a few rustic and nostalgic kopitiams in Singapore that did not change with the modern times.

Tong Ah Kopitiam, is one of those few rustic and nostalgic kopitiams that is still remaining in Singapore today. I went there a few times, located in the rustic Keong Saik Road, Chinatown area. Although I don’t go there regularly, I loved their kopi and kaya toast, the taste and authenticity of our favourite local kopi, the fragrance and freshness of the kaya toast. The ambience, retro designs, decoration and interior are in an era of olden Singapore that not many of us know about today.

With this post, Tong Ah Kopitiam will not be at its iconic building location anymore, with their last day of operation on 14^th July 2013 at 10pm. I got wind of the information/news earlier from a Facebook Group – Old Places, from a posting by Royston Tan, one of Singapore’s film maker, whose works Old Places and Old Romances, inspired me to photograph and document the remaining Old Places in Singapore before they were gone through my Old Places photographs, writing and sharing. While it was a business decision by the landlord to take back the Tong Ah Kopitiam floor space, it must be very heart wrenching for Tong Ah Kopitiam and they were a part of Singapore’s growing up years.

As the curtains draw down on the iconic Tong Ah Kopitiam, it is Singapore’s loss that they have to move out away from that iconic building. However, I am glad that they are still going to continue operating their business at a few units down the road, at 35 Keong Saik Road. Tong Ah Kopitiam is one of our many Hawker Heroes, traditional yet still as charming and attractive for the young and old. Let’s keep our awesome and delicious local food heritage and culture flying high and proud, not just in Singapore, to the rest of the world too!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

A charming, elegant and classic lounge place, filled with Old School/Old World charm and nostalgia, with an extensive list of beverages to choose from, wines, spirits and speciality cocktails and 22 types of Champagnes. Your wonderful beverages list is accompanied by delicious small bites that will make you come back for more of them. The ambience and settings of this lounge, is very cosy and very relaxing, it is a great place to bring your friends for a great time to relax, chat and catch up over drinks and delicious small bites. Let me introduce, The Vintage Room, to all of you!

The Vintage Room is a new concept by Deliciae Hospitality Management in Singapore, located in the Duxton Hill area. The style, ambience and concept suits Duxton Hill area history, architecture and surroundings. I visited The Vintage Room recently with a group of friends from the social media scene, it was a great place and time to catch up with them since our last outing at Sabio By The Sea, also under Deliciae Hospitality Management. Each of us tasted different drinks from The Vintage Room, do check out their list of drinks menu! Small bites were served and we all had a great time with the dishes there! The photographs of the small bites that we had at when we were at The Vintage Room can be seen here on my Flickr set! Let me share with you some of my favourite small bites from The Vintage Room-

- Mousse au Chocolat (Dark Chocolate Mousse)

- The “Vintage” Monsieur

- Mix of Cold Cuts (with Bayonne Ham, Pate de Campagne, Duck Rillettes, Andouille De Vire, Saucisson Sec) 

We were honoured to be invited and hosted by Ms Helene Denaiffe, Marketing and PR Director, and Ms Lee Peishan, Marketing and PR Executive of Deliciae Hospitality Management for the visit to The Vintage Room! It was also great to meet Chef Damien Le Bihan, Group Executive Chef of Deliciae Hospitality Management Group and Chef Bruno Menard again! Thank you very much for the warm hospitality and inviting us down!

Do visit and check out The Vintage Room, it’s definitely a great place to chill out and relax with drinks and food! I have shared details of The Vintage Room and here are the details for The Vintage Room

Website – The Vintage Room

Facebook Page – The Vintage Room 

Address

37 Duxton Hill, Singapore 089614

Tel: 6690 7565

Email: info@thevintageroom.sg

Opening Hours

Tuesday to Thursday from 5pm to 12am
Friday 3pm to 1am
Saturday 5pm to 1 am
Closed on Sunday & Monday

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

World Cup 2014 is now starting to enter into its Round of 16 soon with the final few Group matches going to be played in the next few days. This World Cup 2014 had been exciting and fun, with many goals scored along with some surprises and disappointments! With World Cup 2014 being played in Brazil, the match timings are very late at night around 12am or 4am, moving ahead into Round of 16 and beyond. When the football fanatic fan is going to stay up and watch World Cup 2014 matches, it will be nice to have some food, snack quick bites, delicious and easy to prepare, that can accompany you watching the football action all the way!

Let me introduce CP Foods latest quick bites, ideal for the football fanatic fans! They are easy to cook and can be bought from nearby convenience stores and supermarkets! You can eat the various sausages on its own or you can wrap it up with bread and make into a sandwich! I was recently sent a nice gift of CP Foods latest quick bites to accompany me during World Cup 2014 and here are more information on the various CP Foods latest quick bites offer!

What are the foods that make up CP Foods latest quick bites that you can enjoy World Cup 2014 football action with?

With 10 offerings of tantalizing flavours, the newly-launched CP Foods cold cuts will provide you with the convenience and good taste as you cheer on your favourite teams. They are specially packed in microwavable bags to ease your convenience in food preparation ensuring you catch all the action on screen. The formidable line-up includes

* Individual pictures of CP Foods courtesy of CP Foods Singapore and Vibes Communication  *

Stocking up on these delicious snacks and other trusted CP products is an easy win. CP Jumbo Bologna, Smoked Chicken Cocktail and Pizza Cocktail are sold exclusively at 7-Eleven outlets, while the remaining items are available at major supermarkets islandwide. For more information on CP Foods, you can check out their website and Facebook Page for more information and details of their various food range and varieties!

If you are looking for quick bites and food snacks to keep you and your friends company during World Cup 2014, do check out CP Foods latest quick bites!

* I would like to say Thank You to CP Foods Singapore for this special World Cup quick bites and Vibes Communications for the arrangement!*

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil action is now moving into an exciting stage, group matches had just concluded and the Round of 16 is coming up next! World Cup football is one of the biggest sporting events worldwide and has a enormous following of football fanatic supporters. For us football fans here in Singapore, the live World Cup matches are played during midnight and early morning Singapore time. When we are watching World Cup football matches, we definitely need some food to accompany us throughout the excitement of World Cup football action!

Photo Courtesy of McDonald’s Singapore

McDonald’s is playing a big part in 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, bringing in fun, excitement, passion and food to the football fans in Singapore, through different new and well-loved initiatives! The iconic McDonald’s fry has 12 original street artworks, selected from the works of over 500 professionally well known to newly discovered artists around the world! When you are dining at McDonald’s restaurants, do keep a look out for them! The specially designed fry boxes are also part of McDonald’s mobile app, McDonald’s GOL!, a new innovative augmented reality mobile gaming application that you can enjoy and have fun among your friends while watching Live World Cup football action at selected McDonald’s restaurants (38 of them) and enjoying Brazilian menu flavours concurrently!

When you visit McDonald’s restaurants, there are special new menu items featuring tantalizing Brazilian flavours and they are also available via McDelivery! You have to check out and try the Spicy Brazilian Beef Picante Burger and Sweet Chilli Lime Crispy Chicken Caramba Burger, available from $7.60 for an Extra Value Meal, while stocks last! Beside the two special burgers, there are the refreshing Fiesta Lime McFizz, Samba Spicy Drumlets, hot toasty Copa-Banana Pie and Brasilia green cone! Have them all together to have a Brazilian food experience to accompany you watching 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil! If you ordering McDelivery, there is a chance to win $1,000 in weekly draws! This promotion is applicable for orders made online and via the McDelivery app, at least $20 spent on food and drinks in a single receipt using a local Citibank Visa Card from 5^th June to 16^th July!

There will be a McDonald’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil weekend carnival happening on the 28^th June 2014 at McDonald’s West Coast Park! Customers visiting the weekend carnival can get to watch drum and passita performances, football juggling challenges and futsal competitions! Do bring your children to have fun and enjoy the weekend carnival, there are exciting prizes to be won too!

Have fun watching the rest of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil football action and celebrate it with McDonald’s! For more information, check out McDonald’s Singapore website for more details!

* I would like to thank McDonald’s Singapore and Golin Harris for inviting and hosting us to a fun 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil football carnival weekend! *

The slogan on Keith Crackling Roast menu says it all “The Best Crackling Pork Roast on the Island”. Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce to you, Keith Crackling Roast, a specialist in roast and they are one the best in their business of roasting, if not, the best.

I recently started a personal photography project to take photographs, write and share about fellow friends who are entrepreneurs operating in various businesses and industries. Depending on their type of businesses, I will conceptualise and plan my own unique and personal photojournalistic story telling and approach to showcase their businesses and the entrepreneur themselves. This was something personal that I wanted to do and to give back via my photography.

Keith is a friend that I knew from alumni networking via Australian Alumni Singapore. He’s from Macquarie University while I am from the University of Queensland and we met during networking functions through Jude, a graduate from Macquarie University. I had a taste of Keith Crackling Roast during my University of Queensland Alumni Association of Singapore (UQAAS) AGM and instead of listening; I was guilty of eating a lot of the absolutely delicious Keith Crackling Roast.

I had a chat with Jude, who helped me to liaise and linked up with Keith. Soon, my plan kicked into action, with Jude helping me as my photographer assistant and my Creative Director (for food styling and arrangement). Even though there were space constraints around the stall, we managed to get the Keith Crackling Roast shoot transforming into a fun and enjoyable photo shoot of the roast, Keith the entrepreneur and their food outlet.

Keith Crackling Roast, their roast pork and honey roast strips, don’t really need any food reviews at all. You may be asking why? It’s simply so delicious that when you look at the photographs that I shot, you will want to go down and taste it for yourself personally! Yes, it’s really that awesome, delicious and addictive! Once you tasted Keith Crackling Roast, you want to go back for more!

Visit Keith Crackling Roast and try out their roast, you will not regret! The information and details of Keith Crackling Roast are below -

Keith Crackling Roast

Address: Pasar Bella @ The Grandstand, 200 Turf Club Road, #02-37 Singapore 287994

Contact: 91195994

Email: enquiry@keithkin.com

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/roast.host.keith.kin

Opening Hours: Mon to Fri: 1030hrs to 2000hrs, Sat to Sun: 1030hrs to 2030hrs

I would like to thank Keith of Keith Crackling Roast for the time and opportunity to photograph him and his delicious roast food business! There is also friendly mate, Jude for liaising and helping me during the shoot!

Oh, before I forget, you can also order Keith Crackling Roast for your home party event too! Remember to book in advance!

I was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for a week, for a business/work trip recently, while most of my days were dealing with work, I managed to get a day off to rest before returning back home to Singapore. While the initial plan was to visit Taipei before flying back to Singapore, I decided to re-visit Kaohsiung, a destination that I last visited in 1997 and they were good memories! On my working days in Kaohsiung, my rest time in the night was spent on eating local food and resting at my hotel. The food in Kaohsiung is awesome and I am not doing enough justice to the wonderful and delicious Kaohsiung food with my humble collection of Taiwan food photographs!

On my off day, re-igniting the backpacker traveler in me by using the metro subway system, tourist maps and lots of walking, I reckoned that I can get myself to some interesting places. Like my previous Taiwan trip years ago, I was deceived by the tourist map on the locations and distances (I didn’t activate data roaming overseas thus I wasn’t able to use my smartphone). It wasn’t so much about getting lost but more of like, I should have alighted at this subway metro station instead of this station!

I discovered the beautiful Love River, nice place to walk and relax! There are a number of bicycle friendly routes in Kaohsiung and you can cycle along the Love River! There was a location that I wanted to re-visit again and during my rest time at the hotel during the night, I finally found the name of the location, it’s called 西子湾, this was the location that I watched commercial vessels sailing in and out of Kaohsiung harbour in 1997. Before I got myself into this destination, I came out of 西子湾 subway metro station and discovered a train museum beside the entrance of the subway metro station. This was the Takao Railway Museum, I was amazed at how they preserved the railway station, history, trains, train tracks and the train yards. The former railway station and grounds were transformed and preserved into a beautiful garden, for leisure, historical, arts and conservation purposes. Do check out their Facebook Page for more details! The Takao Railway Museum is a good role model and example for our very own Rail Corridor in Singapore (Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and Bukit Timah Railway Station) and how Singapore can go about preserving our railway history, heritage, culture and conservation. I should be making some trips back to Kaohsiung again for business/work trips and would love to explore the Takao Railway Museum again!

After exploring the Takao Railway Museum, I decided to explore and find my way around to my destination, 西子湾. Walking along the coast line, I enjoyed the sea breeze and landscape views of Kaohsiung harbour. When I finally reached 西子湾, it was very different from the time I went in 1997, however, the view of the Kaohsiung Harbour is still the same with commercial vessels sailing in and out! I walked along the 西子湾 esplanade, enjoying the views, sea breeze and watching the sunset. I always enjoyed viewing sunsets in different parts of the world! The views were beautiful and I loved the sea breeze, strong waves hitting the breakwater and enjoying a peaceful time beside the sea. Many beautiful memories of Kaohsiung collected and gathered in my Flickr collection here!

When I return to Kaohsiung for business/work trip again, I hope to have a bit more time and take more photographs and share my travel adventures!

In June 2014, I embarked on two personal photography projects, with the purpose of continuously improving my photography, helping to write and share about fellow friends who are entrepreneurs who are operating in various industries and businesses. I started off with two friends, one was Keith Crackling Roast and the other was in Personal Training/Fitness industry.

For my two friends, I sat down and discuss with them on how I want to go about doing such a joint photography project together. During the process, I learned a lot on brain storming, conceptualising, planning, execution and post project. This wasn’t just for me to learn how to setup lighting and shooting a commercial project. These projects of mine also helped to enhance my own unique style of photojournalism approach and story telling, to showcase their business and the entrepreneur themselves.

Looking back at the journey, photographs and my thoughts/feelings that I wrote in my article post for Keith Crackling Roast in June 2014 and in June 2015, Keith Crackling Roast had opened their second outlet at I12 Katong! Without me knowing it, I grew along with Keith Crackling Roast because the owner Keith is a friend of mine, a fellow entrepreneur too and it’s my personal project that we worked on together.

On 1^st June 2015, I was invited to a private opening event for Keith Crackling Roast second outlet at I12 Katong. It was indeed a great honour to be invited there for the private opening at the auspicious hour in the evening with Keith’s family and friends. The highlight for me at the private opening event was to see my photography works that were born during our joint photography project printed and mounted on the wall and board! The feelings, emotions and euphoria, admiring at the photography artworks that I manage to conceptualise and produce, now printed and displayed at Keith Crackling Roast second outlet at I12 Katong!

There were plans to continue to Part 2 of our joint project, we were throwing out some ideas and concepts together and hope to start Part 2 in the near future! I believe that I can improve on our Part 1 of our joint project and bring it to the next level and beyond!

Congratulations to Keith Crackling Roast on the opening of your second outlet at I12 Katong! Wishing you all the best in your business! Huat ah!

This food story that I am telling you today started from a heritage event that I attended in 2014, known as Reliving the Memories of Haw Par Villa, organised by the Singapore Tourism Board, as part of Tourism 50, reminiscing Singapore’s heritage attraction. There was a temporary food village during the event, with many interesting and delicious food stores.

I got the chance to be introduced to one of the stall vendors, selling a food that is very popular among the people there and it is a fruit that I do not eat at all, Durian Crème Brulee. We had a great chat and I am got to know this guy behind the Durian Crème Brulee, today I am glad to call him as a friend, an entrepreneur, a business owner during the period when he grew from his little Durian Crème Brulee to a nice and cosy café/bistro, serving delicious, authentic and staying true to the roots of traditional cuisines yet embracing innovation and experimentation to make local food stands out and even better. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce The Quarters.

The Quarters is located in the heart of the Central Business District, inside Icon Village, near to Tanjong Pagar MRT station. I visited The Quarters on a number of occasions over the period when it was officially opened, it’s not just to support a fellow entrepreneur, I was there to enjoy the different types of delicious cuisines and desserts. The layout, design and ambience are cosy and friendly, it feels good to sit there after my meal and have a chat with the boss/founder of The Quarters, from photography stories, how to do marketing campaigns and the stories about running a business that a business owner can relate and understand.

I had visited The Quarters a number of times since it had opened, tasted a number of their delicious dishes and saw first hand for myself on how The Quarters innovates and improves their food selection choices, presentation, food layout, menu layout, café layout and creating new dishes that attracts my taste buds all the time.

What had I tried and tasted at The Quarters over a period of time (approximately 10months since the opening of The Quarters and the day when this article was written), here’s my list of food dishes that I tasted and enjoyed at The Quarters

• Wafu Beef
• Calamari
• Salted Egg Fries
• The Quarterade (One of my favourite beverages – cooling and refreshing)
• Shiok Burger
• Satay Burger (Singapore’s Best Satay Burger)
• The Last Samurai (Ribeye steak with Teriyaki sauce)
• The Great Escape (One of my favourite fish – Barramundi)
• The Raffles Saga (Classic Fish and Chips)
• Ma Jie’s Indulgence (Best Singapore Chilli Crab Pasta experience)
• Curry Favour (A very interesting and pretty delicious Curry Leaf and Chilli Cream Sauce with Linguine)
• Vanilla Crème Brulee (it’s really nice)
• Durian Crème Brulee (their trademark dish! ** I don’t eat durians thus I just had a little bit taste of it once only! **)
• Affogato
• Wonderffle (waffle fans would love it, Lemongrass, Pandan Ice Cream with Gula Melaka Glaze)

This is not so much of a food review article, it’s a sharing of the various selection of delicious food choices at The Quarters. Whenever I visited The Quarters, I paid for most of my meals. The dishes such as the Great Escape, the Shiok Burger and the Quarterade are some of my favourite food dishes by The Quarters.

There are a few dishes that I would to share more with my readers and followers, that is the (1) Satay Burger, (2) Ma Jie Indulgence – Chilli Crab Pasta, (3) Special Appetiser (food tasting) combination and (4) Wonderffle. Before I proceed writing further, I want to inform my readers that I was invited by The Quarters to come down for a food tasting session and I got to taste the above 4 dishes that I wrote down.

The Satay Burger (Singapore’s Best Satay Burger!)

The Satay Burger is a very special dish created by The Quarters, it’s a spiced Chicken Thigh marinated for 24hours between a crispy and chewy handmade Rice Patty (I like to call it a rice burger). What is a satay dish without the true peanut sauce that accompanies the Satay Burger?

I love the Satay Burger by The Quarters! It may look small, however, it was very filling after I ate it! When I was tasting it, I was thinking of using the fork and knife, however, I decided to be unglamourous, placing the Chicken Thigh patty in between the Rice Patty, transforming it into a Satay Burger. Using my hands and pouring the peanut sauce while I am eating the Satay Burger, the experience is priceless, nothing beats licking off delicious food and sauce from my fingers after that.

The Quarters called the Satay Burger, Singapore’s Best Satay Burger and in my personal humble opinion, it is definitely worthy of its call!

Ma Jie’s Indulgence – Chilli Crab Pasta

It never occur to me how a Chinese Cuisine, like our delicious and popular Chilli Crab is a possible mix and match with Western Cuisine such as Pasta.

The Quarters made it their exception, innovating it to combine them together, calling it the Ma Jie’s Indulgence. This Chilli Crab Pasta is indeed really indulgencing, very delicious and very addictive.

It’s not just because I was invited down to taste this dish, it’s really that wonderful and delicious. Why not come down and taste Ma Jie’s indulgence for yourself?

Special Appetiser (Food Tasting) Combination

This is not available on their menu when you visit The Quarters and it is a specially prepared food tasting platter just for this food tasting session that I attended.

I was preparing to write and introduce my friend’s eating place, The Quarters, since a few months back. Finally I managed to do it together with the food tasting invitation and the accumulation of food photos that I took since the opening of The Quarters.

What makes The Quarters is not just about their delicious and unique selection of food choices, it’s also about the friendship, the challenges that business owners faced (something that I can relate to). The cosy and relaxed ambience makes it a nice place to hang out with friends too.

If you have not visited The Quarters, do visit them! For more information on The Quarters, check them out on the following platforms and networks

• Website
• Facebook Page
• Instagram
• Twitter

If you are looking for delicious and fusion local cuisine, head on down to The Quarters at Icon Village and enjoy their wonderful cuisine in a cosy and friendly ambience.

Thank you The Quarters for the food tasting invitation! Thank you for all the various delicious wonderful cuisines that I got to taste and enjoy!