Singapore - its all about the food.

I have officially eaten too much.  All our trips to gym and Bowen Rd runs and dragon boat practices became useless this past two days in Singapore - a place of 30C+ 'winter', spicy diverse foods and unreliable taxi services.

Once or twice a year I pay a visit to my Asia homeland - Singapore - to visit family, old colleagues from (yikes, 12 years ago!) and friends.  This time around, I was a tourist again, as Stephen's parents also joined us.  Besides Sentosa which is too artificial for me, it was an enjoyable time.  Most importantly the food is incredible.

We went to the new Marina Bay Sands Casino, a gigantic 3 tower complex with a curved ship on top as a rooftop. WOW.  Casino lame, need shoes not sandals (ahem, Stephen) and Macau/Vegas size puts it to shame.  But hotel is amazing and roof top -- WOW -- their pool is an infinity pool overlooking the city and brand new Lotus Shaped Museum.

Then we went to Sentosa island with its small beach, motorized surf waves and shallow beach near the cargo ships - yawn. The best part was the food republic choices at VIVO City mall!! YUMMY prawn mee.  Thereafter we headed to Chinatown, Clarke Quay and Central Market. It was ok and rained a bit.  After a 30 mins break at the hotel, we went to East Coast Seafood Centre.  Its changed so much since I was there 10 years ago (when only Jumbo Seafood was a standalone restaurant on the coast).  Meeting my family with whom I used to live, we enjoyed a chili crab FEAST at Long Island (opting for the saucy option with bread, over the Black Pepper Crab).  THE BEST CRAB I EVER ATE.  Then off to Bedok hawker area for sugar cane juice, iced milo and coffee.  Before Stephen & I met up with Andrea and Paul and their friends at Rabbit Hole in Dempsey Village.

And that was only Saturday!

On Sunday, we SKIPPED breakfast then headed to Grand Hyatt buffet with my Uncle Peter and Auntie Oi Lian.  All you can drink champagne brunch, crab, lobster, sushi, handmade noodles (you watch them roll it), PLUS the Straits Kitchen peranakan satay, butter chicken, beef rendang and na'an.... Holy Crap I was sooo full.  So we headed to Singapore Botanical Gardens' Orchid Garden walk thereafter.  By the evening when I flew back to HK, my stomach still hurt. 

https://picasaweb.google.com/irene.stephen.yang/SingaporeFeb2011#

On the negative side, Singapore's taxi system is horrible.  Firstly its impossible to find a taxi. Secondly there are surcharges all over the place; booking fee, 50% at night, 35% at peak hours, tolls, etc. Too many competing companies. Soooo different from Hong Kong.  Cars seem to make sense there, plus its really HOT to go between MTR stations depending where you need to go.  I also missed my two old friends in person , and didn't make it to my grandma's sisters for a visit this time.  Will have to come back semi-annually as usual...

All in all a great feasting weekend with family!!  As usual, too short. Off to Germany for a conference then Shanghai this week.

Miss you all!  Happy March, and don't forget to pay your RRSP's by today's deadline.

Guangzhou - best & classy dim sum, modern subway, colonial feel... but very much Mainland China

Finally- a new city.  We took a last minute train trip to Guangzhou a few hours away.  By far, its a bigger and more modern, lively metropolis compared to other Guangdong province cities (namely Zhuhai or Shenzhen).  The subway is impeccable and rapidly expanding. People dress better.  The restaurants look old China classic and some are actually clean! Possibly due to them hosting the Asian Games 2010 a few months ago.

But don't get me wrong, this is definitely still Mainland China.... I am starting to like more now.  That said, the train ride is really dirty.

There's a lot of history in Guangzhou area.  Apparently both the Communists (Mao) and the Nationalists (Sun Yat Sen) were based here. The colonial and chinese architecture is lovely, open parks, wide glitzy shopping areas, modern and historical food, etc.  There are 'copies' here and there of Hong Kong, including the waterfront laser show with music each evening.

https://picasaweb.google.com/irene.stephen.yang/Guangzhou#

Smoking in toilets ! Chinese Valentine's Day today

China is full of smokers.  You can smoke everywhere, from hotel lobbies to office buildings to... toilets (disgusting sight when bathroom doors left wide open...and men chit chatting beside urinals smoking).

Also China traders buy everything in Hong Kong - in bulk, for resale, in cash. From healthy baby milk powder (to avoid risky China products) to LV/Gucci real luxury purses to property. 

The food in Shenzhen has improved over the years I must say though.  Quality soups, decent (looking) sushi (i didn't try) and swankier / cleaner hotels than in the past.  Also I tried yinyang (coffee/tea mixed) - decent!

Back in HK ... Jackie recommended a mochi ball filled with mango which was decent! 

Today is the end of CNY and officially Chinese Valentine's Day!
See you all soon!

Sushi on Fire in Taipei is not spicy&hot

I'm really embarrassed.  I've visited Taipei Taiwan at least a few dozen times on business, and this was only my first weekend spent touring here.  Shame on me.  Stephen came mid week as his parents were also in Taipei.  A few 'tourist' observations:
1) Taipei is very very Japanese.  The streets are orderly, all the department stores are Japanese brands, there are tons of sushi joints and MRT subway queues exist.  Except for the Mandarin Chinese language we feel deja-vous from our Japan trip a month ago!  There is also a pedestrian area called Ximendeng, which looks like a mini version of Shibuya crossing in Tokyo...
2) Everything moves slower and closes earlier than Hong Kong. This is good (relaxing) and bad (slow food service).  The restaurants near Grand Hyatt closed by 9:30pm.  According to my friend Jackie people here eat at 6 or 7pm regularly!  Wow normal life.
3) Taiwanese meal food is nice, not too memorable (omelettes is one choice) BUT desserts are fabulous.  I had a tofu hua (do fu fa) in nice syrup with peanuts at Meet Fresh Taipei. The evening prior, Stephen and I had sticky rice in coconut... I like dessert more in Asia (i don't have a sweet tooth for cakes and pies back in North America!!)
4) Fusion food is not sushi.  We headed back to a A-Plus fusion sake bar given other restaurants closed early...and I seriously thought our "Sushi on Fire" salmon roll was spicy salmon.  BOY WERE WE WRONG.  They brought out the roll which looked AMAZING and mouth-watering, and then our waiter proceeded to TORCH our roll!  We were sooo shocked they killed our lovely sashimi on the spot. 
5) Night market street food looks great. Watch your stomach. We met up at Shilin the 2nd day and Stephen's parents came too. Busy.. and the clothes are far separated from the main food area.
6) Mitsui Sushi restaurants have many locations and continues to be really fresh and premium, but also, watch your stomach with the raw shrimps etc.
7) Beitou hot springs area is sadly not as amazing for your skin or senses as outdoor onsen hot springs in Hokkaido (I know, NOT fair).  We climbed around forever looking for I-Tsun (where Sun Yat Sen went) - not luck.  Found a roof top hot spring nearby Thermal Valley... so so.
8) MRT travel is really cheap and fairly extensive.  After a few days - I still haven't spent my ~$10 US
9) Banking system is really domestic; sort of like Canada.  Most of us haven't heard of the banks in Taiwan

Good bye, see you again soon Taiwan - probably in a month!  (This was a nice tourist trip but time for somewhere new next time)