Singapore Getaway Part 3: Brunch at Wild Honey @ Mandarin Gallery

Part 3

Second Day of Singapore Trip

The next morning, we allowed ourselves to get enough sleep before another long traveling day. Friend helped to reserve a table at Wild Honey at 11.15am for brunch. Hence we decided to wake up just on time for brunch. Relaxing trip. ^_^ I enjoyed a cup of coffee at the terrace, enjoying the view of MBS and Singapore river, before heading out.

This might look familiar as I uploaded before in my preview post. I really miss the nice view.

We headed to Dhoby Gaut MRT station to meet up with my friend. Then, we headed to Somerset MRT station and walked to Mandarin Gallery. This is my first time here and it seems to be a classy place.

Wild Honey -- No Place Like Home. 

This cafe looks really cozy and it is really packed in the morning. Seems like everyone made their reservations beforehand. Luckily we reserved a table too. If I were to walk in, don't think I'll get to try this cafe.

It was full house when we reached there. Waited around 5-10 minutes for our seats. 

The Menu

I ordered a cup of latte and it was quite decent.

Our food. ^_^

Let's take a closer look at each dishes!!

Singapore Getaway Part 2: Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Merlion Park, Chapter 55, Gardens by the Bay, Clarke Quay

Part 2

First Day of Singapore Trip

After exploring Haji Lane, we decided to check out a temple nearby as my friend strongly recommended that. Hence, with the help of google map, we successfully reach the temple -- Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple (观音堂佛祖庙). It is situated at 178 Waterloo Street, and is of significance to the Chinese in Singapore. This temple has existed since 1884 at its present location. When we were there, there are a lot of people praying. 

It was raining when we were walking there. But, the rain can't stop us. 

After that, we decided to walk back to Bugis Junction because the rain gets heavier. Feel so lazy to explore further due to the rain. Our hair got really messy. Hence we had steamed bread at Ya Kun Kaya Toast and went back to hostel to rest for a while. 

Steamed bread at Ya Kun Kaya Toast. It was really good! I would go back for this!

Around 5pm, my friend finished work and we went to explore more places. I haven't been to Singapore for almost 2 decades and hence I need to go to typical tourist spots -- Merlion Park, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens By The Bay, etc etc.....

Panaroma view from Fullerton Bay Hotel. Great view from here.
If we were to have a drink at Lantern bar, it would be soooooo great. 

Sis and me with MBS as background. ^_^

Fountain and MBS. Nice! 

Merlion Park.

Esplanade -- Theatres on the Bay

After walking from Merlion Park to Esplanade, we decided to grab our dinner at Chapter 55, Tiong Bahru. My friend strongly recommend this restaurant as they sell great Italian food. 

We ordered 3 different dishes to try -- Crayfish pasta, Aglio Olio and a Pizza. Personally, I think the Aglio Olio isn't nice. Crayfish pasta is special whereas the pizza is crispy, quite like the texture. 

Crayfish Pasta

Pizza, with lots of olives! 

Seafood Aglio Olio

It rained again while we were having dinner. Luckily the rain stopped after we finished dinner. Thank god! Then we could continue to explore tourist spots -- Gardens By The Bay and Clarke Quay.

Night view at Gardens By The Bay. This is so beautiful! But quite hard to capture a nice photo as it was too dark at night. So I would suggest to go Gardens By The Bay in the morning and also at night. It has different view/feel at different time. 

Singapore Getaway Part 1: Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice & Haji Lane, Bugis

Part 1

First Day of Singapore Trip

Sis and I decided to explore Singapore over the Deepavali long weekend! We booked an early flight from KL to Singapore and hence we had to wake up very early to get to the airport. Due to expensive car park charges in KLIA2, I had decided to park my car at TBS station and take KLIA express to KLIA2. I suppose that would save my petrol and energy.

Took the earliest train from TBS to KLIA2 at 4.45am. First time in TBS and first time waiting for the station to open at midnight. Something new. But if you are travel alone, it is not recommended as the station is very quiet at midnight, especially the walkway from tbs main building to the klia express counter.

We reached KLIA2 at 5.50am and managed to grab breakfast before boarding on our 7.15am flight. ^_^

Breakkie at Subway - our favourite. 

Flying with my usual airline -- AirAsia. Now everyone can fly yeah. 

We arrived at Changi Airport around 8.50am and we spent about an hour in the airport to get to Terminal 3 (where the MRT station is located) and also to get a data SIM card. Would definitely need data to search for routes. Signed up for a SIM Card for $18 for 3 days unlimited data. Honestly it is so much expensive compared to my data plan in Cambodia/Ho Chi Minh. Singapore would be the most expensive country I've ever traveled this year.

After getting the SIM card, we went to the MRT station to get the tourist pass. For tourist, please get a tourist pass for MRT/Bus as it is just $20 for 3 days and will save you a lot of trouble worrying about transportation fee. Tap here and there and you can afford to go to the same place twice.

Took MRT from Changi Airport Terminal 3 to Tanah Merah, and changed line to Clarke Quay, where our hostel is located. Our hostel -- 5Footway Inn is located at Boat Quay, which is 5 min walk from Clarke Quay. It has strategic location as it is facing Singapore River and has a few bars around it. We were really hungry that time and decided to go hunt for lunch! 

NEXT STOP: Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice @ Tiong Bahru

Sister saw her friend posted this stall on Instagram and it seems very delicious. Hence, we decided to try it out. With the help of google map, we successfully get to the stall without getting lost. Luckily I bought data SIM card, if not how could I survive without doing any homework beforehand.

How to get to Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice stall? You can either take bus to Tiong Bahru or take MRT to Tiong Bahru station. From MRT station, you need about 10-15 minutes walk to reach the stall. 

Here's the stall! You will get to see a lot of people queuing. 

Just a note: to avoid queue, you can reach there early around 11am. By 12pm, I saw a long queue and there's not enough seats. 

It is of economic rice style. You get to choose what dishes you want.

I read a food blog and they highly recommend pork chop and braised egg. So, I ordered accordingly. I observed the girl in front of me and ordered cabbage and curry chicken too. Guess how much all these cost me? SGD13. 

The pork chop is really nice. This is a MUST ORDER dish if you ever come to try. =D

The curry chicken and the curry they put on the rice are different. You get to eat a few types of curry in one go. It is worth trying I would say. 

NEXT STOP: BUGIS 

After lunch, we decided to have dessert at Ah Chew Dessert near Bugis Junction. Unfortunately, it was closed on that day. SO DISAPPOINTING! The photos of its' desserts look so good. Too bad I can't get to try. We proceed to the other dessert stall opposite Ah Chew Dessert --> Ji De Chi (记得吃). Ordered a mango dessert but it is really disappointing. Small bowl, taste isn't special and it costs me SGD 6. Hopefully I get to try Ah Chew Dessert next time. =) 

NEXT STOP: HAJI LANE

Friend suggested me to check out Haji Lane when I told her I don't know what to do in Bugis. So I used Google Map to navigate me to Haji Lane. Haji Lane is a tiny lane, hidden away in the heart of the Muslim quarter. It is a fashionista's paradise as there are a lot of unique boutiques and bars hidden inside. There is also nice street arts for people like us to shoot photos. Hey wait... you need to wait for your turn to take photo with the street arts. Need a little patience. ^_^

Itinerary: Singapore 3D2N Getaway

Spontaneous trip to Singapore over the long weekend for 3 Days 2 Nights. Singapore may be very normal for other Malaysians, especially those who are staying at southern region. But for me, my last visit was almost 20 years ago, and I hardly remember any detail. So, I've decided to pay a visit to our neighbour country -- Singapore with my sister over the long Deepavali weekend.

Here's a summary of our itinerary (we actually plan when we arrived at Changi Airport, while deciding which tour package to purchase):

Day 1: 

Morning  -- KLIA2 --> CHANGI AIRPORT. Arrived around 8.30am in the morning. We spent some time looking for MRT tourist pass, affordable data plan and also entrance tickets in the airport. Then, we took the MRT to head to Boat Quay (where our hostel is). Left our luggage at 5FootwayInn @ Boat Quay, and then we headed to Tiong Bahru to hunt for food -- Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice for brunch!

Afternoon --  EXPLORE BUGIS AREA. Wanted to try Ah Chew Desserts at Bugis, but sadly it was closed. We tried the other dessert shop opposite Ah Chew Desserts, but it is very disappointing. Then we explored Haji Lane, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple and Bugis Junction. Then, we headed back to 5FootwayInn to rest and get change (because we got wet in the rain). 

Tourist shot at Haji Lane

Evening -- Meet up with bestie and explored Merlion Park, Marina Bay Sands and Garden by the Bay. We had dinner at Tiong Bahru (again!) at Chapter 55, which is a decent restaurant that serves Italian food.

Night -- Walk around Clarke Quay and enjoy the night view. =D

Day 2:
Morning -- Brunch at Wild Honey, Mandarin Gallery

Afternoon -- Stroll along Orchard Road, then headed to Sentosa for S.E.A. Aquarium. 

Evening -- Went to Gardens by the Bay to check out Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. Awesome view! Then, headed back to 313 @ Somerset for some Korean Fried Chicken!

Night -- Check out Orchard Road night view and had a scoop of Ben's & Jerry. Life is so relaxing!

Day 3:
Morning -- Had simple breakfast at 5Footway Inn and then check out. Left our luggage in the hostel and headed to River Safari. It took us around 1 hour 45 minutes traveling time just to reach River Safari from Clarke Quay. Enjoyed watching animals, especially the Panda! Dugong is cute too! =D

Short Getaway to Singapore (live update)

Day 2 in Singapore. 

Morning caffeine dose with Singapore River and MBS as background. Life is so good! Can't wait to explore more of Singapore! :D

Penang: Little Nyonya, Gurney Plaza

If you ever wonder what to eat in Gurney Plaza, you may consider dropping by Little Nyonya, as they serve great Nyonya dishes. Was looking around for a quick dinner with family and decided to try Little Nyonya as it seems promising and grandma would like it. So we ordered a few dishes and desserts too.

Ordered their cendol. It was just okay. 

Banana with Sago and Gula Melaka. This is something special, but a little too sweet. 

Desserts aren't too fancy. But the dishes are good. 

Pong Teh Chicken. This is quite comparable with the one I tasted in Malacca.

Curry prawns. This is my favourite dish of all. 

Fried Otak-Otak with Tofu. Errr..... Can ignore about this. Crispy but the combo doesn't goes well. 

Fried Brinjal served with sambal (?) sauce. This is nice too!

Everything goes well with a bowl of white rice. =) Enjoyable dinner with family here. Definitely fill up with energy to continue shopping!!

Penang: Honey Creme, Gurney Plaza

As a loyal fans of KangXiLaiLe (康熙来了), a Taiwanese talk show, there was one episode talking about awesome dessert in Taiwan. One of the artist recommended Honey Creme, which was newly opened by then in Taiwan. I was so tempted that time as they have whole grain flavour and also popcorn flavour, and of course their main one -- honeycomb ice cream. 

After a while, I saw people posting on social media that Honey Creme is coming to Malaysia! And it is so near, in Penang! *fireworks*

Here's the stall. It is located at the basement, where all the food stalls are. 

It is so hard to choose - multigrain or bestseller? In the end, I go with honey ice cream, as bestseller can't goes wrong. XD And I really want to taste their ice cream to know what's so special about them. One cup will cost you around RM12++.

My honey ice cream in the making. They mixed 2 types of honey in a cup of ice cream. 

Can't wait to try! =P

Tried to take an artistic photo of my ice cream. 

Presenting to you..... Honey Ice Cream. The ice cream is very milky and soft. However, I find the honey too sweet. I would rather have plain soft serve. Maybe honey isn't my type. Shall try multigrain next time, if I ever have the chance. ^_^

Kuala Lumpur: The Owls Cafe

I used to confuse The Owls Cafe at Bukit Jalil with Owls Espresso at SS15. When I saw people posting nice waffle photos on Instagram, I told my sis that I want to try it out. That was months ago. I drove her to SS15 and look at Owls Espresso with a smile on the face. Waffle time! But wait!!! Sister stopped me. She asked if I were looking for the one with nice Rebecca Waffle. Owls Espresso is famous with bingsu, not waffle. That's another owls cafe. Jeng Jeng Jeng~~~ I was disappointed that time as I don't have time to explore further places. Why is there 2 cafes with similar theme? *fainted*

Months later, which was last weekend, I finally make time during my KL trip to try out this cafe. It is located at Bukit Jalil, and Waze successfully guided me to the right spot. =D

The cafe is located upstairs.

When we reached the entrance, we saw people queuing for seats. One... Two... Three.... Three more groups to our turn and we decided to wait. How long can people sit there for waffles right? Positive thinking.... =D And really, after 10 minutes of waiting, its our turn! 

Got their menu and quickly flip to the waffle page. 

Rebecca... Or Midori?? Go for the popular one! So we chose Rebecca waffle. Earl Grey ice cream! Something to look forward to. 

While waiting for our food to be served, I look around the cafe. Noted that this cafe isn't very spacious.

The bar with lots of owls as decoration.

I'm not a fan of owls but they are cute!

Oh! Forget to mention that we also ordered a cup of rose latte to try ^_^ 

It tastes good, but to be honest, I am not a rose person. I still prefer my original latte. =P