Earl Klugh

* photo from guitarworld.com

With his light and easy music tracks, Earl Klugh is one of my favorite jazz artists.  I grew up on his music, his instrumental versions of Dance With Me and Could It Be I'm Falling In Love both being on my all time favorite list.  Crisp plucking, interesting collaborations (with top-notch artists like Bob James, Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour, Hubert Laws, Patti Austin, among others), and spirited acoustics that make me close my eyes in wonder and appreciation.  Talk about smooth!

Din Tai Fung (Marina Bay Sands SG)

Dinner at Din Tai Fung at the MBS Mall meant that we had to queue up.  The picture above says it all--people would wait in line to eat at this restaurant.  While the siao long pao is a Shanghainese invention, the Taiwanese and the Singaporeans have raised this to the level of a cutting edge art form.  A whole team of rollers, meat stuffers and steamers scramble like an F1 pit stop team to churn out steamers full of this delicacy.

I liked the dimsum items, and the siao long pao is one of the better commercial ones that I have tasted.  I heard that the chain was invited to set up shop in Manila, but the local meat suppliers couldn't pass the quality requirements.  This is how stringent the chain views its product commitment, a welcome thing to foodies everywhere.  The only drawback to eating here is that they don't accept reservations, which means first-come, first-served!

Boon Tong Kee

The morning stroll around the Gardens by the Bay made us hungry, and by noon, we were headed off to Boon Tong Kee, the famous chicken rice hawker stall.  We were not disappointed, the rice itself is already delicious, tender and piping hot!  The Hainanese chicken is flavorful, and what I particularly like about it is that the chicken skin is full formed and gelatin-like in consistency.  The steamed pompano was very tender and the herbs just lent a perfect blend to the sauce.  I was so happy that I finished off the head, which is the best part and usually reserved for the guests of honor!

The vegetable dish was jazzed up with dried scallops, mushrooms, red eggs and century eggs, and was very good.  I wonder if the local branches (I heard they have one at the SM Mall of Asia and another at the Rockwell Power Plant) have the same caliber of cooking?  Definitely two thumbs up!

Flower Dome

The Flower Dome is the twin sister of the Cloud Forest.  Oh, how I wished that Erika could see all of this, she being the horticulturist of the clan.  While I felt a sense of child-like wonder  at the Cloud Forest, the Flower Dome was the photographer's Mecca, with natural colors of the flora inter-playing with the cold glass and steel of the egg-shaped dome.  It was a very relaxing tour, and this is one place that lovers can go to, just sit around and spend a (most luxurious) day doing absolutely nothing!

Absolutely super relaxing!  I totally admire the commitment of the Singaporean government to recreate the environment for all these plants and flowers to grow properly.  I understand that most of these were shipped in from various places around the world, and that the air-conditioning is kept running round-the-clock, 24/7!

It's like strolling around in France, makes you feel in love... I'm wild again, beguiled again, a simpering, whimpering child again... bewitched, bothered and bewildered, am I!

Cloud Forest

I'm glad I took time to visit the Cloud Forest at the Gardens by the Bay, one of the latest tourist attractions to hit Singapore.  This glass dome is an engineering marvel--the cold doesn't feel like air-conditioning, but comes across more like refrigeration, and the even cool temperature makes you feel that you are actually wandering atop a mountain forest!

The Cloud Walk makes you feel like you are suspended in mid-air.  Even though I don't have a big fear of heights, I looked down and still started feeling woozy!

It's a man-made forest in the middle of the concrete jungle.  If you think about the cost of the whole complex (reportedly to the tune of S$1 Billion), you would wonder if the project made business sense at all!  After some thinking, I figured that while the project itself may be heavily subsidized by the government, tourist attractions like these assure a steady stream of visitors to the city-state, and that alone makes it a worthwhile endeavor.

Fuse

The Orchard Road shopping spree finally ended just before nightfall and upon our return to the hotel, we took some time to unwind at the Fuse bar of the Marina Bay Sands.  Sure brings back memories of hotel hopping with Kong & Gwammy in the late seventies!  A band started to play and while I didn't recognize the songs, they had good vocal spirit to their performance.

Vardi & Migdal

Nicely scented soap from Vardi & Migdal, which I picked up from their store at Wisma Atria along Orchard Road.  The salesman was trying his best to sell me some Dead Sea salt scrubs, but since we have a lot of sea salt in our pantry (a mere P12 a kilo), I couldn't bring myself to buy that! 

Beanstro

A trip to Singapore isn't complete without a visit to Orchard Road.  We spent some time in Takashimaya in Ngee Ann City.  Feeling some "feet-al" stress, we took some time to have a round of cold refreshments at the Beanstro, and I initially thought that it was a new coffee shop until we sat down.  Upon scrutiny, I realized that this was a part of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain, the only difference was that the menu was expanded to include more food and beverage items.

Pollen

This recent trip to Singapore gave me a brief culinary overview of wonderful new places to eat in.  We were treated by our host to Pollen, the Mediterranean fine dining restaurant of the Gardens by the Bay.  Even by Singaporean standards, the pricing was a bit on the high side, my preliminary foie gras mousse alone was S$38 and the accompanying tenderloin was S$78, but the wisps of fine flavors made the meal quite satisfying.

As you can see, the chef made the appetizer like a platter--on the side you can find cheese, strawberry puree, dates, apricots.  My Wagyu tenderloin came with some pesto and parmesan cream on the side.  I liked the way they got my steak done, blackened on the outside yet pink in the middle, exactly the way I ask them to do it.  Temperature however, wasn't that hot, as the meat was probably cooked several minutes before plating.  As expected, the Wagyu was soft, and salted just right.

I liked the casual feel of the restaurant; it was, of course, within the refrigerated Flower Dome.  As  you enter, unmistakable floral scents fill the air, and you just let the charm of the flower gardens soothe your senses.  And I was quite happy that some of the staff were Filipino--you instantly feel relaxed and at home.

Rise

Staying at the Marina Bay Sands is a wonderful experience, being so close to where the action is.  Or maybe better put, where the action spots are--24/7 casino, a fantastic mall with loads of high-end name brands, lots of specialty restaurants, Broadway-style plays and concerts, and the magnificent Gardens by the Bay.  We had our brekky at Rise, the hotel's lobby coffee shop and buffet restaurant.  The have the usual international spread, but the best part about the experience?  The restaurant is manned by a number of Filipino expats, who all make you feel so much at home!

Salvador Dali

The visit to UOB Plaza gave me the opportunity to marvel at Salvador Dali's Homage to Sir Isaac Newton.  This Spanish artist is primarily known as a painter, but I recall reading somewhere that the he was also interested in mathematics and science.  The sculpture to the left is shown with a hole in the torso to (reportedly) signify an "open-heart" and another hole in the head to signify an "open-mind."  Truly fascinating, a philosophy for the benefit of mankind...

Si Chuan Dou Hua

On a recent trip to Singapore, I was lucky to be invited for lunch by some bankers to the Si Chuan Dou Hua Chinese restaurant atop the UOB Plaza (65 storeys up).  I don't know much about teas, but we were treated to a show of tea-pouring (thin streams of piping-hot tea, shot straight into your cup) and lots of good food--dimsum items, braised fish head, stewed mushrooms and stir-fried veggies (sorry no pictures, we were busy talking jargon).  The restaurant is operated by the Pan Pacific group.

From the restaurant, the view of the Singapore skyline is fantastic at noontime--you can see everything for miles and miles around you.  In the bottom picture, you can see the 3 iconic structures of Singapore--the Esplanade (locally referred to as the "Durian"), the Flyer and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.