Seafood Paradise @ The Singapore Flyer

One Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves at the Singapore Flyer. Not because we wanted to go there. I was trying to go to Marina Barrage but headed in the wrong direction & found ourselves right at the Singapore Flyer. But we did something else instead, to find out, read my next post.

Since we were there, we decided to have lunch at Seafood Paradise, a sister restaurant of Taste Paradise. I'd always gotten not just good but outstanding food & service when I'm at one of their outlets. This was no exception. We arrived at noon explaining that we needed to be done by 12.40. No problem. No questions asked. They delivered.

Considering how good the food & service was, I was surprised at how empty the place was - for Sunday lunch. What a shame. Looking at the pictures, you're going to think this is going to be expensive but no.

The ubiquitous seafood tank but theirs were done beautifully. Did you see that Alaskan king crab ?

Because we were in a hurry, I ordered the set menu & this was what we got for $50+ which was more than enough for 3A1C.

Chicken Feet & Conch Soup
which we loved

This is one of my favorite vegetable dishes of all time
Spinach with 3 types of eggs - eggs, salted eggs & century eggs

Prawn balls with salted egg yolk

There was one more dish I forgot to take a photo off - fried fish fillets which was originally fish head curry on the menu but for the sake of our out of town guest, I changed it to stir fried fish fillet instead.

Good value for money.

Seafood Paradise @ Singapore Flyer
30 Raffles Avenue #01-01
Singapore Flyer

I didn't go there to shop

Since we were on the topics of shops, I thought I'd mention Ion Orchard. For my overseas friends, it's the latest addition to our fleet of shopping malls along Orchard Road.

I must be the one of the last person in Singapore to go there. I didn't go there to shop (okay well maybe to Uniqlo) but I really wanted to check out the building.

It is one amazing structure. I love the design right down to the entrance to the MRT station.

The water sprouts which are even more beautiful at night.

Urban People

Nutmeg

I love especially the design of the retail shops.

Especially the Louis Vuitton's wave like wall
Gorgeous !

Wanderlust

I'm not a big shopper which is why you won't read a lot about shops or shopping on this blog. But once in a while, I'll come across something that piqued my interest. For example the huge National Geographic Shop in Vivocity.

I love travelling.

From as long as I can remember, it has always been my passion. I love exploring cities, off the beaten track exotic destinations, discovering music, food & culture but mostly I love travelling alone. I can't remember how it started but it's extremely empowering. After you've done it once, you never look back. I don't wait for friends to join me, I just decide on a place, pack my bags & I'm off.

The irony is that the moment I stopped working when I have more time to travel, I actually didn't travel as much. Part of the reason being that I had a baby, I'm sure all you mothers out there know what I mean. Even then, we managed - strapped her into her car seat & we were off.

Anyway back to the shop. To be honest, I wasn't interested in their merchandise - safari jackets are not my thing but the shop evoked such a sense of wanderlust, I found myself loitering in the shop for longer than I'd expected.

Who would have thought that National Geographic would have a retail shop ?

The real real reason we're back

I blogged about how this was the real reason we moved back. Well, that wasn't entirely true. The real real reason we're back is because of my mother's soups. I'm surprised I have not bragged about them yet.

My mum's Cantonese so soups are a must for every meal. I'm going to create a category called Mum's soups.

So this is another Cantonese classic - 3 types of *carrots* with pork bones & corn. The 3 types of carrots are carrots, radish & the green one (sorry I don't know the English name) plus the usual suspects like chinese ham & dried scallops. The trick is not to put too much water else it would dilute the taste.

Watch this space for more soups.

Just to say I've been there, done that

Geez I never thought I'd get those Bali posts out of the way. For some reason, they took forever. As a result, there's a bottle neck. I have a gazillion entries waiting to be posted so here goes.

X is a big F1 fan. When we were living in France, he would set his alarm clock to wake up to watch the Asian races & now that we're living Asia, he would stay up late to watch the European races.

But I'm not. I'll watch it on TV & I get what's going on & I know who's who but you won't find me waking up in the middle of the night to watch F1. So why was I so psyched about going to watch the night race in Singapore ? Yup I was the one who surfed ebay for tickets.

Unless you're prepared to pay S$8000 for the deluxe paddock tickets, the best place to watch the race is still on TV. But I love the *atmosphere* - I enjoy a football tailgate party, eating a hotdog in Yankee stadium....& I had to do it at least once.

Blink & it's gone

After a quick survey amongst my friends, everybody recommended the walkabout tickets & since X wouldn't want to miss the action, we decided the best course of action would be to go on Saturday to catch the qualifying rounds.

Reality check - unless you have a professional camera & lens, you are not going to be able to take any decent shots of the cars going at 300 km/h at night. But everybody is patient enough to try & try again.

These cars were way easier to capture

We walked around & being novices that we were, didn't know where to go, ended up hanging out at the Padang & quite happily watching the action from the big screen.

Talk about atmosphere - what a great backdrop.

This turned out to be the highlight of the evening for us. Just before the qualifying races started, there was a performance by this group whose name I forgot to note down. They looked like men in white on stilts walking around the picnickers sitting on the lawn.

They then transformed into these huge light bulb creatures & it was an amazing show.



I can now say that I've been there & done that. Next year, am I going back ? Doubt it. Unless it's to go watch this performance again.

Bali - Child friendly activities

Travelling with children is a tricky thing. On the one hand, we need to make sure they are sufficiently occupied. On the other hand, I don't want to end up doing only kiddie stuff. So I always try to do a balance of both. Of course any activities that appeal to both young & old, score big time in my book.

One example are Sundays for children @ Ku De Ta. It wasn't promoted anywhere & when we were there, we thought it was a private party. But every Sunday, Ku De Ta organises children activities & kids get to eat free. Make sure you check first when you are there. If you look closely in the above picture, you will see that there is a small dip pool that is perfect for the little ones ( esp since the sea is too rough to swim ).

On the day we were there, the children were making key chains & hanging note pad. The activity table was filled with ribbons, stars, silk flowers, shells, all kinds of knick knacks for the kids to decorate their hanging note pad. All free.

We then proceeded to pick a key chain & filled it with color. All free.

Then there was a grilling station where they churned out mini burgers, hotdogs & chicken wings. All free.

While the parents can lounge on the sunbed, sip cocktails & eat grilled octopus salad & salad rolls.

I've talked about it before but having a villa with a private pool turned out to be the highlight of our trip.

It's a simple activity but something we both enjoy - picking sea shells. We always pick a bundle for our arts & crafts projects at home.

We found this on Sanur beach. It was alive. Any ideas what it is ?

We saw this on the way to Ubud. According to Komang, the lcoals dye the chicks in various colours to attract the kids. Of course, once they grow up, they lose the plumage & they turn into regular chickens.

Looking at this post, I realised that we didn't indulge in too many kiddie activities. Well, the Girl seemed happy enough. All you Bali veterans out there, what other suggestions do you have ?

Bali - where we stayed

Over the years, I've stayed in various parts of Bali. In my opinion Jimbaran Bay, too isolated. Nusa Dua, even worse. Kuta, too much of a circus. In recent years, I've always looked to stay in or around Seminyak.

Whether it's a good thing or not, one is spoilt for choice in Bali - regardless of the budget. So the best thing is to start with which area you want to stay in & work from there.

Villa Uma Sapna was introduced by my BFF, a regular of Bali. They have a special promotion going on & we paid US$100 for the room which also came with daily in room breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, transport to the airport & a 2 hour spa package for each person.

It's very well located which is not often the case for villas in Bali (some of them so remote that taxi drivers have a hard time finding the place). 3 minutes walk distance to Jalan Oberoi & Jalan Raya Seminyak.

We love the room, the service was great & even though the hotel doesn't have a restaurant, the meals served in the rooms were excellent. While we were there, we decided to spend one night in Ubud so had to check out & then check back in again - breaking our minimum 7 days for the promotion, they graciously said it was okay.


When I made the reservation, I didn't book a room with a pool cos I thought it was more a novelty & that we probably wouldn't make use of it. We were upgraded upon check in & it was the best thing ever.

We used the pool everyday especially now that she can swim (yes ! says the proud maman). It was the perfect size for her & she would jump in eagerly whenever she had a chance.




The only disappointment was the main pool. As you can see, it's not very big & since we like to swim - the fact that we couldn't find a nice beach & that we don't have a decent pool in the hotel was a let down.So even though the little one enjoyed the private pool, her parents didn't get to swim very much.

Our hotel in Ubud was a last minute decision. Since we had reservations for Mozaic (which we subsequently had to cancel, sigh), we thought we might as well stay the night in Ubud. And since we have Komang, the driver with us, I have the luxury of choosing a hotel outside of Ubud town. Most hotels have regular shuttle service to town anyway.

Do not stay in Villa 19. The room was huge but....... humid - so humid that the wall was dripping wet (I kid you not). Which means it was musky. To make matters worse, the air con though working, didn't seem to cool the room down at all. When we complained, the hotel management claimed that they were aware of problems in that room (!) but we did get feedback from other guests that their rooms were humid too. A good thing we stayed for only one night.

Apart from the room, the hotel is the type of place that one would want to stay in Ubud. Done in an elegant Balinese style. It sits on a gorgeous location. Amidst the trees & away from the bustling activity of the town. The villas are scattered around the grounds & are accessible via golf carts.

The infinity pool is beautiful. Lovely setting.

Villa Uma Sapna
Jln Drupardi no 20xx
Basangkasa Seminyak
Bali 80361

The Payogan Villa Resort & Spa
Jln Cocoa 2,
No 77 Bnajar Bunutan
Desa Kedewatan
Ubud 80571