Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Singapore Report - Food pictures galore and my very first giveaway

Hello everyone!

I have been absent from my blog for quite sometime but I am so deliriously happy to be back in Singapore. It's damn good to be home! I had forgotten about the heat and how densely packed this little island can be, but nothing beats eating Mum's cooking after being away from home for nearly 2 years as well as being in the company of my family again! The highlight has got to be meeting my baby nephew Tristan for the first time, I am constantly amazed by how cute and smart he is, he has everyone in the family eating out of his hands.

To share some of the joy, I am pleased to announce this blog's very first giveaway together with Chickdowntown.com. Some of you might have read about this website before from other previous blog giveaways and Chickdowntown is known for stocking trendy items such as the coveted scarves from Sir Alistair Rai and BB Dakota Clothing. I will pick one reader's comment on this post as the winner and this person stands to get the BB Dakota Battalion jacket in black:


I love the gold braided details and marching-band vibe of this jacket! It can be worn over pants or dresses and would be a fun signature piece to have for Fall. I am sorry to announce that this giveaway is only limited to readers in the US however :( Check out Chickdowntown's Twitter page as well as their Facebook page to be kept up to date on their latest finds and promotions!
This contest is open till Saturday, 1st August 2009, midnight PST and all US-based comments up to this deadline will be considered.

Now to offer everyone a peek into a day of my life when I am in Singapore, these are photos from when I was out for lunch together with my sister. We choose to hang out at Orchard Road, which is a well-known shopping belt in Singapore. Lunch was at Sakae Sushi, which is a successful Singaporean conveyor-belt sushi franchise store that has taken off in Asia.
sakae sushi singaporesakae sushi wheelock place


We picked the branch at Wheelock Place which is located at the start of Orchard Road. To me, Wheelock Place unofficially marks the start of Orchard Road and we fueled up for the day as we attempted to tackle the shops and malls ahead of us:
croquette and agedashi tofu

Potato croquette and agedashi tofu - deep fried and so unhealthy but I love it! I tell myself that anything tofu can't be thaaaaaat bad!

octopus sushi

Octopus sushi - this was my first time trying it..apparently my sister is a fan. I am very partial to seafood and I enjoyed this one immensely. It really tastes better than it looks! ;)

sashimi and soft shell crab handroll

Salmon sashimi and soft-shell crab handroll - perennial favourites, give me wasabi and I am a happy camper. And why can't all crab shells be soft? One thing I hate about eating crab is having to crack open its shell, so the soft shell crab suits my lazy self just fine!

chawanmushi

Chawanmushi - a steamed egg dish flavored with toppings like mushroom and fish cake. It's comfort food, done Japanese style, to me.

After lunch, it was off to do a bit of shopping!

orchard road ion orchard

This picture shows the start of Orchard Road itself. The building in the picture on the right is ION Orchard, which just opened last week. I haven't been there to check out the place yet, but I guess it will host the usual mix of designer boutiques and mid-range brands that Orchard Road malls is known for, despite its hype :S

Stopped by Topshop and M)phosis, which is a chain of clothing stores in Singapore.
topshop m)phosis

For those who are visiting Singapore, I urge you to check M)phosis out, it stocks interesting, asymmetrical drapey pieces in a limited colour palette consisting of black, white, pink, grey and yellow. The prices are reasonable and I always pick up a few pieces whenever I visit. Not this time though, as I am on a student's budget ;) Topshop didn't yield anything interesting for me too, I'm not sure if that's due to my mentality of a self-imposed shopping ban or just that there aren't anything interesting in the stores lately.

But we did stumble across a food festival when we were at Ngee Ann City (a shopping mall in Orchard Road).
takashiyama food festival

This mall frequently holds events in its atrium and I guess we were lucky that it was a food festival that day! (Translation: lots of yummy sampling and delightful sights and smells to be had!)

Cute Japanese candy in all their colourful packaging:
jap candy

The selection was mind-boggling especially since I had to make-do with the limited selection in US!

Hong Kong street food!
hong kong food

Food on a stick is just great for walking around and eating..some of the food sold included pig intestines, cow's stomach, pig's skin and the usual fried chicken, fishballs and cuttlefish balls. The pastry counter on the right had me salivating, I have such a soft spot for Cantonese pastries.. it was a visual feast!

A dorayaki machine in action:
dorayaki machine

Dorayaki is a type of Japanese pancake with a sweet red bean filling in the middle. I love to eat it with a cup of strong green tea, because the taste of tea balances the sweetness of the red bean paste. But I didn't get any that day because of.....

ICE CREAM!
udders ice cream stall

Straight from Singapore's very own ice-cream factory, Udders. There are a host of weird and wonderful flavours at the stall. Wonderful because they have decadent toe-curling liqueur flavors like orange-choc bitters, amaretto black and lychee martini! Weird (to some) because they also carry local flavors such as durians (Mao Shan Wang and D24) and cempedak which I found to be the highlights of their ice-cream selection. Personally, I loved loved loved the Mao Shan Wang(貓山王)flavour, so much so that my sis and I purchased a tub home after sampling what Udders had to offer:
udders durian ice cream

Mao Shan Wang is considered an extremely high-quality durian cultivar in South East Asia. I realize that durians can be a controversial fruit to some. Some people love it, while some people just hate it with a passion. Me? I belong in the first group! Hey, I grew up in Singapore and I can never understand Singaporeans who do not love durians. That's like a Frenchman who doesn't love cheese!

Check out the creamy, luscious scoops of yellow goodness:
mao_san_wang udders ice cream

Last spoonful, good to the very last aromatic mouthful:
mao san wang ice cream

The taste is hard to pin down in words, but it's wonderfully complex with layers of sweetness, creaminess combined with the milkiness of ice-cream. For any adventurous foodie who happens to be in Singapore, this ice-cream is a must-try. Heck, for those who truly dare, go for the actual fruit itself!

P.S. I will be replying to all my emails and comments shortly! Sorry for the delay, but I guess you can say that I was in a food coma! ;)

22 comments:

SOMETHING PICASSO said...

Durians smell so odd to me, but apparently the taste is to die for. I can not get over all the good food in this post; it makes my mouth water!

Ooh and could I get entered into the contest, ty.

thesomethingpicasso@gmail.com

diane said...

Such an exciting post! It was like having a personal tour to all of the fun places.
I agree with you about TopShop, and most stores in general these days. I keep waiting to see something that blows me away, but not trendy.
There's nothing like really well made ice cream. Your photo and description are wonderful.
Kisses to you and your family (Especially Tristan). xo d

Girl Interrupted said...

OMG! I need to move to Singapore!!!! All that glorious food!!

It looks like a wonderful place, some really interesting architecture, and it was lovely to see the pics of the mall with all the different stalls. So lively and colourful.

Really glad you're having such a great time :) keep the wonderful pics coming

HeadOverHeelz said...

Hi Rebecca, its nice to be home yeah! I was drooling over the Mao Shan Wang flavor ice-cream.
U know what i was going to ask u to post some snapshots of Orchard Rd and i was anxiously wanted to see the interior of ION as i was quite impressed by the exterior buildling's structure. Is it confirmed that H&M will be opening their 1st store there?
Oh,I really love the jacket, is the Chickdowntown give away only applicable for US citizens?
I look forward to more updates from u! :)

Fashion Is Poison said...

my oh my. heaven on earth!

throuthehaze said...

that ice cream looks soo good! please count me in for the giveaway!
throuthehaze at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Hi Rebecca,

It's so great to see your latest post!

I eat sushi nearly everyday so i am hungry for that salmon sashimi! :)

Have a great time hun!

Annaxx

http://cocktailoffashion.co.uk

Egle Z. said...

oooooooh! food! never tried durian, so I have no idea about it. But sushi looks amazing and i am always willing to try some crazy seafood stuff. Thanks for the gorgeous mouth-watering pics!

Hanh, Life-in-Travel said...

you absolutely had fabulous time there. it's great!!

I love love sushi!!! and that look yummm...shopping after eating is the best...


Hanh,

Pas Comme Des Enfants said...

it's great to see that you're enjoying home! I'm going to head down to Udders this weekend after looking at all that ice-cream!
-Hairin

Unknown said...

Rebecca hun,

I have been missing your posts! Hope you are having a great time and will be nice to see updates!

Annax

http://cocktailoffashion.co.uk

Brigadeiro said...

Ooh, I have yet to visit Singapore, but I've heard so much about its Chilli Crab dish! :) Personally I cannot stand durian, but hubby loves it! He's originally from Malaysia, from a small town renowned for its durians! Some people drive over from Singapore just to buy some, haha!
xx

WJ said...

Just found your blog and you are too cute! This post makes me want to visit Singapore again, the food is so cheap but so yummy...I'm getting hungry just looking at the photos. And not to mention last time I went I pretty much bought out the whole M)phosis store...

Sheela said...

chanced upon your blog!
which part of cali are you in.
i'm singaporean studying in california, would love to be in touch

xxs

Jessica said...

You have gotten me so excited for my Singapore trip with this post!!! Not long to go now....!

I am going to have to see if I can hunt down that icecreamy treat!

Nini's Style said...

Singapore has great shopping. I'm planning to go there next year. The foods look so yummy ;-).
Love the band jacket.
xoxo
Nini

L in progress said...

so jealous,would love to visit singapore sometime soon!
looks like you had fun!!!
xx
L.

What Was I Thinking? said...

Hi, I just discovered your blog today! I love all your lovely photos you posted.

<3 Christine
What Was I Thinking?

Hanh, Life-in-Travel said...

Awesome place!!!

love durian!!!

and sushi!!


Hanh,

Rohini said...

The food looks delish! :)

Xx

THE DIVINITUS said...

dear Rebecca...

... WHEN YOU BE BACK TO BLOGGING????
HUH? ...
:)

Villa Bisono said...

WOW...I love suchi and ur pics make me wanna go grab some now, ofcourse it probably won't be as great as the pics u showing us from Singapore. It seemed like you had a wonderful time there!

Muahhz,
Maury
http://www.heightsoffashion.typepad.com/