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Singapore Nightlife and Food (Oct 2007)

Boring periods in between business meetings in Singapore brought me to lots of nice places to eat and party and eat...

[Dinner] Tonkichi Japanese Restaurant -- mostly Katsu on the menu. Tried Salmon Teriyaki Ju (on Rice) and it is delicious, though abit expensive for the quantity. There are also some curry and udon dishes which I haven't tried. Fried softshell crab is ok, becomes very delicious with vinegar sauce. The best part is the dessert -- Mochi Ice Cream! Menu: http://www.pokkafood.com.sg/tonkichi/ Location: 350 Orchard Road, Level 4 Isetan Scotts, Shaw House, Singapore.

[Dinner] No Signboard Seafood Restaurant -- Turns KFC into Finger-Licking Crap. After touching their crabs I wanted to eat everything by hand! Chili Crab, White (or is it Black?) Pepper Crab, Crispy Cereal Prawn, Sambal Kangkong, and a mountain of Buns and Fried Rice! Also mixes well with a cold glass of Tiger Beer! There are still a lot of special dishes that I want to try here. Website and Menu: http://nosignboardseafood.com/ Location: 414 Geylang Road, Singapore or in Vivo City (see other branches in website)

[Dinner] Bungalow Tapas Bar & Grill - Wagyu Beef, Salmon, Gambas, and more Wagyu Beef. The outdoor ambiance at night is ok especially during cold months. Food here is good for sharing, making it easy for people to talk (the team for this project I'm working on went for dinner as a group for the first time here and it was ok). Website: http://www.bungalowtapas.com Location: 101 Thomson Road, United Square, Singapore

[Lunch] Wee Nam Kee (Hainanese Chicken Rice) -- is the place in Singapore they say that has really good Hainanese Chicken Rice. Yes it tastes so good and it's very well complemented by chili sauce and the ginger sauce. The only thing I found strange is that some pieces had blood on them but they didn't seem to care. I only ate the well-cooked parts though. Location: 275 Thomson Road #01-05 Novena Ville, Singapore

[Dinner] Swensen's -- This is supposed to be an Ice Cream bar (ala Icebergs) but the food is thankfully good. Swensen's used to be my favorite, I am just not sure why but when I tasted it again it wasn't as magical. The Crayfish Pasta is still my favorite there, and the rest goes to the American stuff (burgers, fries, platters, etc). Website and Menu: http://www.swensens.com.sg Location: Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road, Singapore

[Nightlife] Ministry of Sound (MOS), Singapore -- it was midweek when we got here. Not too many people at 9pm, but the crowd starts growing at midnight. They had several rooms with different themes... 70s, 80s, House, Hiphop/R&B and maybe some few others. There was one song when they let out all the foam and bubbles (just one shot?), it was fun! You'll just need to ask around to get here. Website: http://www.ministryofsound.com.sg/ Location: Block C, the Cannery, River Valley Road, Clarke Quay, Singapore.

[Nightlife] Saint James Power Station -- Movida, Bellini Room, and Gallery Bar are just some of the few. SJPS is a 70,000 square feet collection of bars making it larger than MOS. This is the ultimate in Singapore nightlife (for now), with guests of all races, wide variety of party music, and an option to take part as spectator (2nd floor rooms). Website: http://www.stjamespowerstation.com Location: 3 Sentosa Gateway (near Vivo City), Singapore.

[Dinner] Kuishin-bo -- Authentic Japanese Buffet Restaurant. I like their giant crab legs (they have more meat than a whole alimasag) and beef teppanyaki which is always newly cooked (upon order). Every dish here is better than Saisaki in my opinion and they say a lot of people come to Suntec just for this. You even have to make advanced bookings to get inside on full days. Oh, and by the way, drinks are free flowing too. Website: http://kuishinbo.com.sg/ Location: 3 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City Tower 1.

[Breakfast/Lunch] Carousel at Royal Plaza on Scotts -- the free breakfast that comes with my hotel stay. It's one of the few hotels I know that has a breakfast set that shows they understand what regulars want -- the usual basic stuff + a good variety of dishes to make every breakfast taste different. I think RP can beat the 5 star hotels when it comes to this area. Lunch is also great, I can't remember the dishes because they were just too many. Website: http://royalplaza.com.sg/carousel.php Location: Scotts Road, Singapore.

[Dinner] The Tapas Tree -- Tapas again, this time we had Paella Valenciana (chorizo, chicken, mussels, squid, shrimps, fish, vegetables, and eggs). We also got the usual chorizo and gambas. Their Caldereta de Vaca con Patatas is my absolute favorite here. They also have a trio playing nice songs in Spanish (sometimes sounds familiar like when you hear Tagalog versions of English songs that never got played on TV) Website: http://www.thetapastree.com Location: Clarke Quay, Block 3D, River Valley Road.

[Nightlife] C Clinic -- Somewhere in Clarke Quay... I found this unusual place where 1) people are seated on silver wheelchairs, 2) in between seats there are hospital dividers, and 3) some drinks are served like dextrose bottles. I got seated under operating room lights and get a sense of both cool and weird.

[Nightlife] Hed Kandi Bar -- Somewhere in Clarke Quay ... nice lights, posters, and TV flicks ... but where is the crowd?!?!

Jumbo is not yet on the list... hmm...

Post more when I'm back :)

Ilog Maria Honeybee Farms (Silang, Cavite)

I've heard of this place before but never got here or barely knew what was in there except for honeybees until today. I drove home from Tagaytay via the Coastal Road route (Aguinaldo Highway) and saw this road sign marked Ilog Maria somewhere near Km47 (this is about 7km from the Tagaytay Rotonda)... I turned that way and went past a 700m dirt road, several cows, lots of grass, little houses, and surprisingly, not a single bee was in sight.

At the end of the road there is a store resembling a half-completed house where you can park in front, and then a fenced, 2 long lines of about 15 white boxes (beehives) each on one side of it. A sign on the store reads "No Blowing of Horns"... yes, the busy bees are serious about very silent and conducive working environments. The air is fresh outside, not even the cow gases made it here.

I got inside the store and saw all these ladies (about a dozen of them at that time) with nice wooden baskets, picking up stuff and sticking them at their noses then putting them back. The next lady would do exactly the same. I also did the same, getting that nose-to-nose effect (without having to use the basket of course). The soaps smell really good, even those with added scents like carrot, cinnamon, eucalyptus, ginger, lavander, milk, rosemary, and spearmint. They also got a selection of oils, gift packs, coffee, candles, shampoo, bath salts, toothpaste all made with honey!

On another side of the store there were kids playing near the beehive display (live bees!) I got close and took a shot, careful not to knock it off.


... and then at the back side (the structure that looks like a hat on the first picture) there's a small museum (Museo Sa Ilog) which I think is only set up whenever there are organized tours to this location. A quick look at the tour packages makes me want to come back and hear the buzz about the bees.

Now I have stuff to bring home aside from the usual Collette's :) Mum liked the soap, and I tried the honeybee throat spray -- it worked! My weeklong sore throat is gone!

For more information check out http://www.ilogmaria.com/. All product catalogues, maps, contact details, are also on the website.