Day trip at Orchard Road Singapore- logistics and sights

It's that time of the year again! The festive season is just around the corner. Despite living in/next to Singapore for a third of my life, I have never visited Orchard Road during Christmas. It's definitely worth the visit.

We drove down from kuantan to jb, parked our car at my Aunty's house. Grabbed causeway link to Tuas second link from Giant Nusa Bestari. Check their website for route timetable and stops. Service is frequent and cheap at RM5 per person.

We cleared the Malaysian immigration in a jiffy. One can then catch any causeway link buses (which are plenty) to the Singapore second link arrival hall. It's extremely crowded as we happened to arrive together with buses of tourists. Instead of giving out arrival cards, they were hidden in a corner and only given upon request. 

Waited for slightly more than an hour to clear the custom. Equally horrendous traffic going into the CIQ building but exiting to Jurong East MRT was smooth. One can choose to board any causeway link buses depending on your desired destination and fee paid.

From Jurong East MRT, we hopped onto the green line all the way to Bedok where we will be staying over at our aunt's place. That's about an hour of training. Because of the delay during immigration clearance, we bumped into the after work traffic. Ended up sitting on the MRT floor with baby Bing fast asleep. After a simple dinner, we called it a day.

This is the SMRT map. Very well planned and easily accessible. Remember to get an ‌Ezlink card cost SGD5 each. It expires after 5 years but can be exchanged and renewed at SGD3.

Convenient- for the stretch of Orchard Road itself, one can get off the Somerset station to reach 313 Somerset/orchard central.Get off at Orchard road if you want to get to Ion Orchard. Easy peasy.

Christmas decoration outside Orchard Central.

Learn how to Love by Post. Get some freebies and a chance to dine for free after some serious Christmas shopping.

We walked from somerset station to orchard station to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere. Will talk about food outing at Orchard in the next post.

The whole stretch of Christmas lights along the road.

White themed Christmas village at Ngee Ann city. Lots of food booths to celebrate this Christmas while enjoying the performance on stage from 3pm onwards everyday.

Baby Bing loves the reindeer hat- crafted by daddy and mommy at the kids play station.

Get on the sleigh to join Santa in this season of gifting just outside Orchard Gateway.

Not sure about what to buy? Don't worry, Orchard Road has this covered. Ultimate tips about gifts for him or her.

Counting down to Christmas!

Wishing tree. May your wish comes true this Christmas.

Just can't get enough taking photos of the Christmas deco.

Our trip back to Malaysia was much smoother and faster even though we could not go through the Autogate because baby Bing was with us. The only change was taking causeway link at Queens Street instead and getting off at JB central due to scheduled train service on Sunday.

Stay tuned to read about our foodie adventure at Orchard Road!

Mini reunion @Senibong cove JB

Yay! Finally get to go on a holiday again. This time round we want to visit family and friends from Johore and Singapore area. First stop is meeting up with our uni mate at Senibong Cove in JB.

Photo courtesy of Google

Senibong Cove
N-01, Blok N, Pinggiran Senibong
No. 1 Persiaran Senibong
Teluk Senibong
81750 Masai, Johor
Malaysia

Our first time here. It's an integrated residential area with multiple dining options from Chinese, Japanese to western.

Now, Senibong Cove also has their own private jetty for yatch lovers. Hoping I can afford one sometime in the future :p

Fairly romantic ambience. We were lucky enough that the rain had stopped so we could enjoy our dinner alfresco.

The restaurants are located just by the piers and one can enjoy the scenic skyline while dining. The kids had fun running along the corridor and getting to know each other.

Delicious 8 seafood restaurant

6, Persiaran Senibong
Opens daily from 12pm to 12am
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/delicious8seafood/

We arrived slightly earlier comparing to the dinner crowd so food was served fairly quick.

A tofu dish is essential when you have toddlers dining together. This is their 2 way tofu. One side with deep fried plain tofu dressed with Thai sweet chilli sauce; the other fried seafood tofu with a generous mayonnaise topping. Just lightly seasoned and we like it that way because baby Bing doesn't like strong flavors.

Stir fry long beans with minced chicken. And there I naively think that we only get this type of long bean at Bukit Tinggi area in Pahang.

Stir fry pork with onions and capsicums. Meat is tender, juicy and just cooked. Just hope the portion could be bigger though. Beautifully plated and decorated with fresh flowers.

Prawn curry. Fresh and juicy. Goes really well with the fried buns. And this strongly resembles coconut prawn curry in kuantan! Rice ended up soaked in the curry sauce because it's that yummy.

After dinner, we decided to fill out our dessert stomach.

Vanilla Bean Coffee & Patisserie
G-08, BLOK B, PANGSAPURI PINGGIRAN AIR, 2, Persiaran Senibong
Opens daily 9am-10pm
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/my.vanillabean/

We were there from 8 to 9pm. What's great is that it's not crowded and they are kids friendly. Look at the boxes of toys they sourced from IKEA.

Yummy croissant on display.

Tempting banana cake slices in the glass container.

The chocolate banana tart tastes as appealing as the one on display. 

Would be better if the chocolate can be stronger in flavor and bananas more ripe and sweet. The dusting makes the tart looks so Christmassy.

Classic cheesecake. It is as classic as it looks. The cheese is light textured and not so heavy.

Have a sip of cappuccino to wake up the senses! There's no such thing as no coffee after dinner in fear of insomnia for coffee lovers.

Or else have a glass of iced chocolate if you don't feel like having coffee.

Even better try this rich butter scotch hot chocolate. So creamy that you will finish every drop and ask for more.

These two eateries are unique in different ways but we will definitely come back again especially for gatherings and for the ambience. Just the price range is on the expensive side.

We rate it 7.5/10!

The online shopping craze continues with Lazada

I have always been a fan of online shopping. Since my student days, I have been actively buying from eBay in Australia. It's been at least a good 7 years I have been buying from lazada and even the postman knows me quite well by now.

My very first online shopping was small electronic items such as ear phones and USB cables. At that point online shopping wasn't that popular and widely known yet. The delivery was fast and items were received in great conditions.

Subsequently, I started to buy more expensive items. From household products to baby diapers, lazada has lots to offer. For the past few years, I have been getting my new mobile phones from lazada as well.

Online shopping provides lots of convenience. Due to the nature of my work, I pretty much have to do everything on the go. I also love the ability to compare prices between sellers and to read the reviews for items I haven't had time to research about.

For the Online Revolution sales that started since 11 November till 14 December, I have already ordered for these 5 items. And within 3 working days, I have already received 4 out of 5 of the items. In pristine condition. All after a few mouse clicks.

Hurry up before the sales ends!

A weekend getaway at Kampung Beserah

You are right. Kampung Beserah is where one of the Astro's Chinese New Year movie  五虎 was filmed.

Heap Yee trading

A1, Kampung Pantai, 26100 Kuantan

09-544 7290

https://g.co/kgs/sHWQvu

Source from Google

This is where the locals like to get their freshest dried seafood products from. This includes
-anchovies
-dried shrimps
-dried oysters
-dried scallops
-dried squid (in whole/strips)
-the famous kuantan salted fish 梅香咸鱼 (unfortunately none on display)

The classic freezer with all the goodies inside to preserve freshness.

The owner sorting out various sizes of anchovies in trays.

Assorted dried crackers for frying later.

Daddy Ryan bonding with baby Bing by the beach. We were lucky because at low tide, we could walk all the way down the gentle slope of the beach and let the waves carressed our feet.

Rows of fishing boats back bringing the best produce. There's a proper market to sell all these in the village instead of makeshift wet market in the past.
-loads of fish, squids, prawns, crabs

This is why I love kuantan. Being able to combine city living with plenty of chances to experience the nature, good food and kind people :)

Cheap and good western food @ Uncle Don's PJ

When you see a huge crowd, you know that you have walked into the right restaurant. Uncle Don is located in the heart of the city of gourmet SS2. 

This is how homey the place looks.

Look at the menu and price list! Incredibly cheap. It's almost half of the usual price in this part of the world.

So what's the taste? I would say on par with most of its counterparts. This grilled pork chop is served with a generous portion. The outside grilled to slight charness but the inside is still juicy and just cooked.

The thin crust pizza is indeed cripsy with a generous amount of minced chicken and capsicums. Topped with wonderfully densed mozzarella, one just couldn't stop eating more.

The Buffalo wings are BBQed to perfection. Just caramelised skin but the meat is so tender and juicy. Dipped in their signature chilli sauce, it complements the chicken wings so well.

We really enjoyed the food at Uncle Don's. Also love how every guest is greeted once walked into the shop. Will definitely revisit.

Our verdict 8.5/10!

Uncle Don's
183, Jalan SS 2/24, SS 2, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Open everyday 12PM–1AM

THE under the bridge ba kut teh @ Seng Huat Ba Kut Teh

Everyone knows about Seng Huat Ba Kut Teh (BKT). Even those who are not familiar with the name will also Google for it.

We haven't had the chance to stop by this place by quite some years actually. Since I had some errands to run in Klang, we woke up early for some real herbal pork soup goodness.

Look at the crowd and queue at 9am! No wonder there's no more BKT at lunch time.

This all where all these awesome food is being prepared. The constantly boiling soup instantly wakes up my appetite.

We were lucky to get a table almost straightaway though. Straight to business! Started with a hot pot of jasmine tea.

We had to share our table with another two lovely elderly ladies because there were just too many people waiting. After half an hour, the food finally arrived.

It's definitely up to the expectations! If you like herbal soup, this soup is definitely for you. And one can have as much as possible because it's not salty and not loaded with MSG. The pork is tender and juicy despite hours and hours of cooking. We ordered for femur and spare ribs because these are the less fatty parts.

I love how their tofu is like. Immersed in the same aromatic soup but not too overpowered by the soup. Similarly for the eggs. Vegetables just blanched to perfection.

All these only for RM48!
Therefore we rate it 9/10! Will surely visit again if we pass by klang.

Restoran Seng Huat Bak Kut Teh No.9, Jalan Besar, 41000 KLANG Selangor Daru Ehsan, Malaysia Phone: 012-309 8303 / 012-385 5154 open daily from: 7.30am - 12.30pm, 5.30pm - 8.30pm.

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