Good Ol'Times

Seems like I have been away for long time even though its been only 2 weeks. Spent a week in Singapore when M was in town and the old gang met up. Great thing about good friends is that the bond is always there despite distance and irregular contact.

We picked up from where we left off and you could not tell we hardly see each other. After several loud conversations and pilates performances, baby T was woken up and it was time for us to leave or be thrown out.

That night we went dancing, and it has been a while since I done that. Z and I were jumping up and down to the song "Ï gotta a feeling" by BEP. It was fun but think I got stitches from all that.

We then had too much to eat at Sin Hoy Sai along Tiong Bahru road. Who ordered the oysters?!?! By the time I hit the sack, it was 3am. I had to wake up in 4 hours and against all odds, I managed too. My mum thought I was mad.

At that hour in the morning, plus the lack of sleep and a pounding headache, it was not a pretty sight. When I got to the Marina Bay golf club at 7am, A told me sheepishly that the course was full we had to wait til 10.30am to tee off ! I went ballistic but there was only 2 choices, suck it up and go home or suck it up and wait.

It cost me $25 to get a cab from Jurong to Marina, the ERP alone was $8, it was outrageous. Going home would mean I woke up for nothing so we waited.

It was well worth it though. The city skyline from the course was spectacular. You could see the Singapore Eye, the casino towers and the CBD.


The course alone was very tough, with bunkers so deep, they built stairs for you to climb into.


It was very well managed so the fairways were beautifully manicured and apparently, marshalls will fine those who do not have good golf etiquette on course. Very Singaporean.

When we finished the game at 2.30pm, I was blackened and fried. The weather that day was merciless but it burnt up all the alcohol in my system.

I left straight after the game and headed to my sister's place. Suffering from lack of sleep, sunburn and bit of stomach issues, I complained to my sister but she had no sympathy. All your own fault, she said. She of course hasn't been sleeping since G was born. Wrong person to complain to.

It was a fun night though and I wouldn't have it any other way. Great to have M join us even though she would have rather stayed in with her sane family.

On this trip, due to the lack of time, I was unable to visit 25 degrees celsius at Ann Siang. This is Singapore's first bookshop dedicated to cookbooks and they house a cafe, bar and test kitchen.

Every month they select a recipe from a cookbook at random and make that dish according to the book. Patrons are invited to taste the dish in the cafe and to decide for ourselves if the book is worth its salt. Great idea I say.

I did try a restaurant in ION that I liked, its called Asian Kitchen. The cuisine is traditional Taiwanese and prices are really reasonable. My mum and I had 3 dishes there for less than $40 bucks including drinks.

We ordered the roast duck in plum sauce but you could have it in 3 other sauce choices. The small portion which was generous for 2, came up to only $11.70.

The photos are from here.

Long beans with salted egg.


Roast duck

The roast duck skin is not as crispy as Yung Kee in HK but the meat was very flavourful and the sauce delish.

A few days later, my whole family went for lunch to celebrate baby G's first month birthday. My sister has been couped up at home for 30 days and was grateful to get out. They booked a table at Cherry Garden in Mandarin Oriental hotel for a dim sum lunch.


Dim sum orders was unlimited at $55 per person and the food was excellent. We ordered the roast duck as well and it was really fleshy and had a great smoky taste.


The restaurant was elegant and quiet, great place for dim sum. Think the baby enjoyed it too since she was happily snoozing away while we stuffed our faces. CNY lunch there perhaps?