Singapore - Part III

(Taiga with his Dinosaur - a drink popularly seen on menus in Singapore nowadays.  It is actually Milo with lots of undissolved Milo powder at the top.)

What did we do in Singapore?  We ate, and ate, and ate.

Shopping trips were punctuated by eating/resting at restaurants, meet-ups with friends were always inevitably around good food, christmas was celebrated with the family xmas party (an annual event at my parents place) where lots of good food was to be had, new years was celebrated by more good food and then there were those restaurants that we had to go to because they are my favourites.  All within 15 days!

Kai and Taiga ate a lot!  They are good eaters already in Tokyo, but they were pretty unstoppable in Singapore.  They absolutely loved the food there, Chinese food in particular.  They discovered har kau and siew mai (OK, we have that here in Japan for yum cha also but it absolutely does not taste the same).  Kai additionally just had to eat all noodles he saw.  Here he is stealing my bro's noodles and my bro pretending to be angry!  (I am sure he was secretly happy to be sharing with Kai.)

I am a Crystal Jade fan.  We went to Crystal Jade Kitchen and the ultra-fancy Crystal Jade restaurant at Paragon.  Crystal Jade is a must-go-to even after all these years.  I could go to Crystal Jade every day of my trip back home if I had to.  Another must-go to is The Big O at Wheelock Place.  Their desserts are excellent (pineapple upside-down cake being my favourite, but their durian cakes and various chocolate cakes are very good too).  We had lunch there this time round and it is now definitely a must-go-to place for food too.  The portions are huge too, which is nice.  I used to like the DKNY cafe too  - the best pastrami sandwiches, cheap Coke out of a can, marshmallow brownies, magazines provided, tranquil atmosphere away from the madding crowd but with good people watching.  They have however closed down the cafe.  Outside of town area, Jumbo Seafood is another regular haunt.  I just discovered that Jumbo Seafood is now in Tokyo!  Will check that out one day although I suppose it will not be as good as back home. 

This time round, we had a celebratory dinner with friends at Min Jiang (Szechuan cuisine), but the one at Dempsey Hill.  (A little family history here for the benefit of Kai and Taiga when they read this later in life.)  My family has a little connection with Goodwood Park Hotel so growing up, we frequented the Min Jiang at Goodwood Park.  Many family celebrations/family meet-ups (with uncles, aunties and cousins) were there.   I was keen to check out the new (to me, that is) Min Jiang and Dempsey Hill.  Dempsey Hill is off the beaten track but that area has been gorgeously re-done.  It is a cluster of colonial bungalows set in lush greenery.  All the bungalows there have now been converted to fancy restaurants, many with outdoor seating.  The menu was pretty much the same as the one at Goodwood Park, and the food fine as usual.  

So back to my friends - the celebration is of their recent wedding!  We could not come back for the big event due to work/kids etc.  I have known the husband (of the newly weds) since my London days.  (I was reminded by another friend from my London days that our London days is almost 20 years ago - yikes!!!)  As luck would have it, at the last minute, I managed to leave my kids with my sis.  So that meant a very adult dinner with wine and uninterrupted conversation.  I can count on 1 hand the number of times Tomo and I have experienced this together since we had kids.  This is only the second time I have met his wife, but I think we all got on just fine and enjoyed the company.   

(Photos of Dempsey Hill to be inserted later.)