P.S. Cafe

Location: 28B Harding Rd., Dempsey Hill, Singapore
Cuisine: International
Hours: SUN (9:30am-12am); MON-THU (11:30am-12am); FRI (11:30am-2am); SAT (9:30am-2am)
Phone: (+65) 6479 3343
Website: www.pscafe.sg
Prices: $40/person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 10
Service: 9
Value: 7
Environment: 8

Frequency: Unique

I got back to the hotel around 5:30pm to check in with my friends. Laura was going to meet me at 6:30pm for dinner. Wing was caught up at work and wouldn't be able to meet, so we set a date for breakfast tomorrow. That allowed me to meet with Laura without the pressure of leaving early. She also got held up at work, which let me get organized, wash up, edit photos and do a few blog posts. We met around 7:45pm when she took me outside of the city area to Dempsey Hill... a nice find only a local would know about.

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This was a special dinner because it would be the first time we spent more than an hour together! We had a quick meeting in NY in June and then a couple of days ago. PS Cafe was a nice setting because it was outside of the city. That alone made it a relaxing atmosphere. The lighting was calm and the environment was clean. Decorations were simple, but classy.

In one of our Google Talk chats, we were talking about wagyu burgers (kobe beef). Laura remembered that and the fact that I never had one. So she chose PS Cafe. After all the years, I finally got to try one out. I had a hard time shelling out for one in NYC because they cost around $50. In Singapore, it was just $28 ($22 US). It was a nice, big burger with spinach, melted cheese, crispy onions and special sauce. All of the ingredients enhanced the taste without interfering with the beef patty. With the first bite, I could already tell the difference between wagyu and conventional. I only ate there once, but just based on that meal, I gave this place a 10... my second in the same day. That will never happen again, I'm sure!

J. Co Donuts & Coffee

Location: Raffles City, Singapore
Cuisine: Singaporean, Snacks
Website: www.jcodonuts.com
Prices: $4/person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: 8
Environment: 8

Frequency: Unique

I had already done a bunch of walking by the time I was at Raffles City, so I earned myself the snack that I passed up on Day 1... the green tea donut at J.Co. There were so many interesting flavors, but the green tea was the one that caught my eye the first time. There was a Mrs. Green Tea, with a nice, glossy green glaze and a Mr. Green Tea with crusted almonds. I went for the Mr. The person at the register said "only one?" I guess most people order by the dozen, but I was just there to eat one and go. I then grabbed a coffee, which was oddly located at a separate register. They threw in a free donut with the coffee... not sure if that was normal, a promo or the guy sensed I was a new customer. The donuts were great... not heavy like the ones I'm used to, but nice and fluffy. They were also very fresh and still a little warm.

Bugis-Raffles Shopping

After lunch, the rest of the group headed over to Orchard/Somerset for shopping. I spoke with Emily earlier in the morning over MagicJack and she mentioned that she was looking for a certain old Casio watch that was cheaper in Singapore. Based on my memory of the first day, I knew we passed by several watch stores in Bugis Junction and Iluma. So I headed there to quickly retrace my steps from Day 1. There was no luck in either, so I went over to Raffles City and an underground mall called City Link. Out of all of those, I only found 2 places with a similar, but not exact model. It turned out to be a new model based on the classic Emily was looking for.

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It started getting close to the end of the work day, so I had to get back to the hotel to call Wing and Laura. I headed back to the hotel and decided to make a quick stop to this hidden shopping area right across the street from Victoria Hotel. I found 2 places that had the watch. The US price is $40, so I was looking for something from $20-30 US. The first store I came across had it at $55 SG and only willing to go down to $50 ($39.53 US). The second place had it at $50 and after a lot of talking offered me $35 ($27.67). That was the true value because they let me walk away from it. I went back after a few minutes to get it.

Another achievement completed! Shopping normally bores me unless I have a goal.

Newton Hawker Center

Location: Newton, Singapore
Cuisine: Singaporean, Seafood
Prices: $18-20/person
Credit Cards: Cash only

Food: 10
Service: 10
Value: 8
Environment: 6

Frequency: Unique

Today is the last full day of our stay in Singapore and we still hadn't eaten the famous chili crab yet. So that was to goal of the day. We headed to Newton based on Emily and one of the mall guard's recommendation. Newton is known as one of the more expensive hawker centers, but with chili crabs readily available. We took the SMRT a few stops over. There was a park and overpass we needed to cross in light drizzle. Once we got to the roof covered hawker center, a heavy downpour came. A minute later and we would have been soaked. Most food stands were scheduled to open at 3pm, but there were a few that already had chili crab. We browsed around until we found the right one with everything we wanted. We ended up getting a chili crab, pepper crab, stingray and cereal prawns. It was tempting to add more to the list, but we figured we would order those 4 first and then see how we feel after.

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Topping the previous day, this became the best meal of the trip by far. At the end of our meal, there were piles of bones and shell at the middle of the table. Looking at the whole hawker center, our table looked like the end of a Thanksgiving feast compared to other local tables that had 2 plates. For more details on the dishes, see the Picasa album. This was not only the best meal of the trip so far, but probably one of the best I've ever had, earning the rare 10 mark.

The stand we chose had great service. All the people running it were super friendly. They explained all of the dishes to us and served right to our table, which was on the other side of the stand. Though prices were much higher than other meals we had, they were still very low compared to the NY equivalent of the same dishes. And this was the real thing, not some fake workaround. I'm not sure of the breakdown, but the 2 crabs were $28 each and the total receipt was $88 (less than $70 US). So that leaves $32 for both the stingray and cereal prawns.

The environment was fairly clean for a hawker center... probably around the same level as a fast food place. Bathrooms were pretty good actually.

Only halfway through the day and I was already fully satisfied!

Singapore Day 2

We woke up to heavy rains on the second day and were deciding what to do. The forecast for both today and tomorrow are scattered thunderstorms, so it probably didn't matter. If we didn't make an effort to head out, we'd be in Bugis for the entire trip! So today was the day we'd head for Sentosa. We were told by the locals that it's cheesy and not worth going to, but we decided to see it just to see it. We just weren't planning on spending the entire day there. We headed out about 11am. It was only drizzling at the time, so we made it over to Raffles St. without getting too wet. Then we got a cab to Vivo City for just $7.

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Vivo City
Vivo City is a shopping area just outside of Sentosa and the last chance to get cheap food before entering the touristy island. Laura had recommended a bunch of things to get at the Vivo City food court and we knocked off quite a few of the items. Our lunch consisted of Hainanese chicken, pork sandwiches, fishball soup and sugar cane juice. This meal topped the first day's lunch as the best meal of the trip. It was raining hard after we ate, so we hung out in Vivo City for about another hour just browsing shops. The regular mall shops were very American along with the prices. So I didn't end up buying anything. There were tons of phone and tablet accessories, but nothing wildly exotic that I couldn't find online. There were many interesting food stands throughout the mall, but I was too full to get anything else.

Sentosa
After the rain died down, we took the boardwalk over to Sentosa. It was a scenic route that allowed me to take nice pictures along the way. Sentosa was just what we expected... pretty much a touristy amusement park, but still worth visiting for a few hours just to get some pictures and say we were there.

Marina Bay Sands
We left Sentosa around 4:30pm, checked back at the hotel and then headed off to Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The others had gone there the night before while I was with Wing. Apparently, you have to go on the $50 tour in order to go up to the famous roof deck. Even then, they don't allow you go go in the infinity pool unless you're a guest. We just stayed on the outside, which already provided some interesting camera shots.

Orchard Street
Jiselle wanted to get a preview of shopping for tomorrow, so we headed to Orchard Street after MBS. We had dinner at another Food Republic, this time at the top floor of a Somerset mall. The food stands were similar, but we got a chance to try more different things. I went for Wing's recommendation on the oyster omelet. This is something available in NY, but tastes better in Singapore. After dinner, we checked out the shops in the same building. It was more of the same for me... lots of accessories, nothing that special... no interesting gift items. I made note of the SMRT stop in case we got lost. We then headed out. Jiselle went to H&M while the rest of us went to Courts, Singapore's famous electronics/appliance store. They had a great selection of computer equipment. The prices weren't that good though... about the same as US, but with the tax break. I just wasn't looking for anything, but got to try out the ASUS U36 laptop I always wanted (I didn't end up getting this because my office already provided me with a Macbook Pro).

So that was another complete day where we covered a lot of ground in a short period of time

Singapore Day 1

The Phone
After walking around, we returned to the hotel. I called Laura first, but the phone kept ringing and didn't go to voicemail. Then I dialed Wing's number and it gave me some kind of alert tone instead of a ring. Fortunately, Victoria Hotel had free call AND wi-fi. I was able to get Laura on Whatsapp and she gave me a different number. It turned out that I was getting the errors because I was dialing the country code, 65. After that, I was able to call both Laura and Wing. I even made plans with both on the same night!

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Bugis Junction
Since it was already past noon, we didn't want to venture to one of the hawker centers for lunch. We just went over to Bugis Junction. I walked around first to see which stands were Singaporean because there were a lot of different Asian cuisines there. I narrowed it down to 3... a curry place, satay and chicken rice. I went for the curry in the end because they had a combo plate that offered the most items in a single meal. Jerick got a custom curry combo. Ifore got the Hainanese chicken and Jiselle some satay. Together, we covered a lot of the native dishes on the first meal. We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the shops and stands and grabbing snacks here and there.

Marina Bay
We got back to the hotel around 5:30pm. I always had to make sure I got back towards the end of the work day so I could make calls to Wing and Laura. I was set to meet Wing first, but got a nap in there since it was already a long day. When I got his call, I grabbed my bag and ran to the lobby. I was still sleeping even though I was walking! I even forgot to hand him the gift I got for him in NY. So that means I'll have to meet him again later in the week! From the hotel, we walked over to Raffles City, another mall with food court in the basement. We sat down at a local coffee place. I was wide awake shortly after that! Then we headed over to the Marina Bay where we took a river cruise... a shorter version of NYC's Circle Line tour. It was the perfect thing to do with my short stay here. I also had a good hour to catch up with Wing, who I have not seen since graduation in 1997!


Iluma
I got back to the hotel just before 9pm so I could catch Laura after dance class. I was able to wash up and change before she got to Bugis. We met around 9:30 for bubble tea and snack at Iluma. Like our NY meeting this Summer, this was just a short one, but I was happy to see her and catch up on the past 4 months. Iluma was just about to close for the night, but yet no one rushed us out of the cafe upstairs... very different than NYC!

What an amazingly complete day starting from 3am up to 11pm! I already got to see a lot on the first day. I already met up with both Wing and Laura! I guess that's the advantage of a red-eye flight... no time wasted. I am tired though!

Off to Singapore

This was the start of a very long day as we headed out to the airport at around 3:30am. On the way, we had breakfast at Jollibee... my second time there in 3 days already and my first breakfast meal. I wasn't sure what to order until I saw the sausage, egg and pandesal sandwich. It's basically the Filipino version of McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffin w/ Cheese. It had a similar taste, but with the enhancement of pandesal.

By the time we finished breakfast and got on all of the ridiculous lines in the Philippines airport, we were already boarding the Tiger Airways flight to Singapore. It was my first time flying the budget airline and it's very different than the US ones. While JetBlue is cheap, it doesn't cut down on any of its services. In fact, it actually has more than many non-budget lines. Tiger Airways is truly budget. The plane is basic with no technology. There's no complimentary service at all... not even a free pack of nuts or drink. We were warned that the flight would be turbulent. While most airlines try to avoid turbulence, especially if known beforehand, Tiger Airways flies right through it. A good portion of the flight was rocky for a long period of time. I probably got 1 hour of sleep out of the 3 as I got through a movie and part of a TV episode.

We landed on time and were ready to proceed with the plan. The travel agent at Mandarin Vacations suggested we travel by train to the hotel to avoid a ~$40 airport limo fare. We first took a shuttle bus to Changi Airport, the main airport. From there, we caught the SMRT EW (East-West) line and got to Bugis (EW12) shortly. The first train we were on was relatively empty as they were mostly airport passengers. When we transferred, the next train was packed with rush hour commuters. At EW12 (stop names are logically numbered), we looked at the map and exited. Just a few blocks away, although it felt longer because of our luggage) was the Victoria Hotel.

Jerick stayed back to rest while the rest of us scouted the area near the hotel. We browsed some restaurants across the street and then came across Bugis Junction, a mall/marketplace/food court. We were pretty sure that our first meal would be in that area. We headed back to the hotel to get Jerick and I also had to figure out how to make phone calls.

Related: Changi Airport, SMRT, Victoria Hotel, Bugis Junction

C2 Classic Cuisine

Location: Greenhills, San Juan, Philippines
Cuisine: Filipino
Hours: DAILY (10am-9pm)
Phone: 723 2347
Website: www.facebook.com/C2.Philippines
Prices: $10/person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: 7
Environment: 7

Frequency: Unique

For my last meal before the side trip to Singapore, I went with Ifore, Jiselle and Uncle Charlie to a local non-chain Filipino restaurant. C2 Classic Cuisine is a restaurant run by Center for Culinary Arts Manila, specializing in traditional Filipino food. We didn't order anything out of the ordinary... just the usual stuff people order in any Filipino restaurant like adobo, bangus and kare-kare. The food was good, but I thought the presentation was a little weird. It was the first time I saw kare-kare with the sauce served separately. The adobo was the same.

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The place was pretty clean, but it may have been because we were there early on a slow Sunday night. Our flight was set for 6am, so it meant we needed to wake up at around 3am. Dinner was at 5:30 and I went to sleep at around 9pm.

Edwin & Barbie

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Philippines Day 1

The flight yesterday was pretty uncomfortable and I had a hard time sleeping. Out of the 20 hours in the air, I probably only slept 2-3 total. That probably helped with jet lag a bit because I woke up at 6am today... my normal time for a weekday.

Jollibee
Jollibee, my main food goal in the Philippines has never come on the first day of my trip. I've even missed it on some trips, but it was crossed off right away this time around. My parents when with aunts and uncles to a nearby Chinese restaurant while I went with Ifore and Jiselle to Jollibee. I had my usual champ burger, but this time tried the popular Chicken Joy... finally.

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Greenhills Mall
After Jollibee, we walked around Greenhills Mall, which is an Asian style mall with shops and flea market-like stands. I had no idea what to buy, but there were a lot of t-shirt stands filled with Angry Birds products. Since everything is unofficial, the prices were several times cheaper than licensed items in the US. I just browsed and didn't buy anything yet. This will be a last minute thing if I find nothing else on the trip.

Razon's
After the mall, we dropped Jiselle off and then went to Razon's, another place that's on my list for dessert. When I came here the first time, the chain was relatively new in Metro Manila. Everything was pretty much consistent this time... same menu... same halo-halo. Even the table arrangement was the same.

Marriott Cafe
With this trip in October, planned well over a year ago, there's no way I could make a second trip in the same year in December for Alvin and Cheryl's wedding. So the first dinner of my trip was reserved for Alvin's family. I got a chance to meet Cheryl for the first time. We all spent a good 5 hours catching up and playing with Nadine.