Weekend Quickie Guide to Singapore

Playing host to an old high school friend who had migrated to Australia with her family eons ago, we did some activities which to me were quite normal, everyday-type affairs.. but to my friend were novelties and cravings-satisfiers.  It's true what they say - you only learn to appreciate things when you no longer have access to them.

First up on her list of cravings - sweet popcorn at the movies.  Now this is definitely something we take for granted.  Whilst us spoilt Singaporeans get a choice of sweet or salted popcorn (or even mixed if you liked!) at the cinema, some other countries, like Australia, only serve salted popcorn.  I've been informed that you can pay a premium for a caramelized version, but those are supposedly tooooo sweet.  Yup, our sweet popcorn is not too sweet, not too tasteless.. it's juuuuuuust nice. ;)  Come to think of it, I think it's the same situation in the U.S.. only salted popcorn available.  Sweet popcorn in hand, we caught Pacific Rim at GV VivoCity since we planned to go into Sentosa later.  It was somewhat enjoyable, but I couldn't help but wonder.. With all that technology powering the Jaegers, couldn't they have added some jetpacks to enable them to fly?  Kinda sad that they have to be air-dropped by helicopters.  I mean, even the Kaijus evolved to be able to fly...

Post-movie, we headed in to Sentosa with the aim of going for a short bike ride.  From the Sentosa Express' Beach Station, we took a short walk to the GoGreen bicycle kiosk (currently located past the beach eateries at this point of writing, but we were informed it would be merging with the GoGreen Segway kiosk just beside the Beach Station next month, so cyclists need no longer take that long walk back to the station after returning your rides. Great idea!).  The staff at the kiosk were really friendly and helpful, and having read up about the hybrid bicycles online, we decided to give those a whirl.  With the rental price being only $3 more than the normal bipedal bikes, of course you should spring for the one with a power boost, unless you're a purist and want to workout those guns.

Tanjong Beach, Sentosa

Never having ridden a hybrid bike before, this experience was a really fun one.  Not to be mistaken that the bike is going to do all the work for you - you still have to pedal before the bike motor gives you the extra boost.  The harder you pedal, the bigger the boost.  No pedal = no move / no boost.  Seriously, you guys have gotta give it a try!  With the extra help, you can easily zip up and down the beach line comfortably in an hour.  Our route was: Kiosk > Palawan Beach > Tanjong Beach > Palawan Beach > Siloso Beach > Kiosk.

Yay to Hybrid Bicycles!

Dinner was a sumptuous seafood feast at House of Seafood, Yio Chu Kang branch.  Do make a reservation before hand to avoid disappointment.  Must-haves: Salted Egg Crab, Fried Mantou, Steamed Bamboo Clam with Minced Garlic.  Cleanse your palate with a pot of Chinese or Chrysanthemum Tea to share.  We had 2 crabs, 6 mantou, 3 clams, a small sliced-fish dish - spent about SGD$80 per pax.  Compared to more mainstream seafood chains, I think this was pretty solid for what had to eat.  Good serving portions as well.  Left the restaurant VERY STUFFED. ;)

Salted Egg Crab

The next day, we met up with another high school friend to have breakfast at a hawker centre near our houses.  In the North-East area, I think the hawker at Kovan (nearest MRT: Kovan MRT on the North-East Line) houses a very large and decent variety of yummy hawker eats.  It's been donkey years since I've last woken up that early to have breakfast at a hawker, and I was pretty surprised at the long hello-kitty queues formed in front of several stalls already.  Singaporeans are really all about the food.  Breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner, supper.. We eat 24/7, really.

On our table:  Mee-pok, chwee kueh, you-tiao (fried dough fritters), fried carrot cake, soya bean drink, kopi-o siew dai and teh.

Hawker food which I take for granted, my friend craved so badly.. Wonder if I'll crave these too if I'm ever away from SG for an extended period of time.  I think I survived 1 month+ in the U.S. without craving local food.. not sure how I'd fare longer than that.  I think I'm not too big on local eats and can satiate my hunger well with other stuff.. but then again, we'll never know till we get there, will we?