Hock Sin Kee Tze Char @ Alexandra Village Food Centre

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 18-07-2013

Category : Local Singapore Food

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I got to know about Hock Sin Kee Tze Char Stall at Alexandra Village Food Centre from the Channel 5 TV series – Makan Places Lost & Found hosted by Gurmit Singh, co-hosted by Hossan Leong.

Hock Sin Kee was originally from the Old Margaret Drive Hawker Centre. Hossan Leong’s turf when he was younger.

Hock Sin Kee Tze Char Stall at Alexandra Village Food Centre is run by an old couple & I had their salted fish fried rice previously which left me very satisfied.

What really amazed me was the sweet & sour pork with rice that my colleague ordered. She said that the uncle actually prepared the dish from scratch!! Are you scratching your heads? =P

When I say from scratch, what I meant is that the pork was still pink in colour when the uncle started preparing the sweet & sour pork dish. Everyone at the table was impressed on the freshness of the sweet & sour pork upon hearing this.

So I decided to try out the sweet & sour pork with rice ($5) this time round. And true enough, I saw the uncle whip out strips of pinkish pork right in front of my eyes.

Frankly speaking, I’m not an expert on how good sweet & sour pork is as I seldom order this dish. Hence to be fair, I can’t really comment much except that the uncle gave quite a generous portion and it was really fresh.

Personally I was a little disappointed that the sweet & sour pork wasn’t crunchy/crispy which I thought was the norm for sweet & sour pork. Is it not? Oh well, my colleague did say it was nice the last time she had it. So I’ll stick with her verdict 🙂

Alexandra Village Food Centre (View in Google Maps)
120 Bukit Merah Lane 1
Singapore 150120



Pasir Panjang Food Centre

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 17-07-2013

Category : Local Singapore Food

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Now our new default lunch venue is Pasir Panjang Food Centre in the spirit of having a highly efficient lunch transaction =P Pasir Panjang Food Centre is better known for their array of BBQ Seafood stalls that operates in the evening. I used to come here for cheap & super delicious BBQ stingray & BBQ fish until my favourite stall closed down. Life was not the same ever since…*sniff*

Haha…ok ok, enough drama. I was surprised that they actually have quite a wide range of Singapore Local Food choices in the afternoon and it was fairly crowded with queues forming after noon.

There’s nasi padang, nasi lemak, rojak, porridge, thai food, curry rice, hokkien prawn noodles, healthy char kway teow, fishball noodles, bak chor mee, chicken rice & the mixed vegetables rice I had today.

I noticed that queues usually form in front of the curry rice & mixed vegetables rice stalls. I’ve tried the curry rice previously and was unimpressed with their curry gravy. Their dao pok (dark porous soft beancurd absorbing rich soy sauce based gravy) was very nice though. Sorry, forgot to take photo.

I’ve also tried the bak chor mee and it was fairly average. I had high expectations due to the accorlades displayed at the stall. I’ll most probably not eat it again too.

So I returned to the mixed vegetables rice stall again today which was running low on options as we were slightly late today, 1230pm. My usual options are no longer available so I decided to try their sotong/squid which was printed on their signboard.

And of course the sotong was absolutely delicious which was why I blogged about it. The sauce is very rich and slightly spicy. It goes very well with my porridge. The sotong is very tender and chewy. The texture was just nice. The ordinary looking cauliflowers invoked the “Reminds me of home cooked food” feelings. Nice! I’ve found new dishes that I liked. Happy! 🙂

I mentioned healthy char kway tiao earlier right. Someone ordered that to our greatest surprise. Can you see that little green at the bottom of the char kway tiao? The default healthy char kway tiao was meant to be completely covered with greens.

This plate of “healthy” char kway tiao was modified to remove the sea of greens with extra cockles, eggs & beansprouts. The feedback was “Not bad” with the modification haha…so depending on whether you want the healthy or the original char kway tiao, just let the hawker know 😉

Note: I noticed that many patrons of the mixed vegetables rice stall order their whole steamed fish. I’ve even heard folks saying they’re ok to wait for the fish to be ready so I guess the fish should be quite good.

Pasir Panjang Food Centre (View in Google Maps)
121 Pasir Panjang Road
Singapore 118543



Carousel – Royal Plaza on Scotts

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 15-07-2013

Category : Buffet, International

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffet time is always guilty time. When we go for buffet, we’ll have a tendency to want to consume as much as possible to make the money worth. Or at the very least try a bit of everything. Yet buffet is always a good place to linger around and/or to cater to different audiences with varying dietary preferences & restrictions.

The latter is the reason why we came to Carousel Buffet @ Royal Plaza on Scotts in Orchard. It’s halal and seems to have a pretty good review online. My 1st impression was really good as we were ushered into a grandly decorated room with exquisite table setting, tall chairs & chandelier lightings. I felt very pampered.

Taking a walk around the buffet that’s spread around the restaurant, there’s quite a good variety and no, I can’t eat a little of everything as my stomach will burst.

My favourite section, the desserts & cakes section looks very appealing as well. For this section, I did try a bit of everything. I liked everything except for the desserts in cups.

The other items I liked were the Baby Squids (I went for 2nd helping), Pan Seared Sea Bass & Sauteed Prawns with Chilli Sauce. *slurp* The raw salmon I took in my 1st plate was too raw/fishy for me. I almost couldn’t finish eating it.

In my humble opinion, Carousel Buffet @ Royal Plaza on Scotts in Orchard is a really nice place with a huge spread that will guarantee that there’s something for everyone. The food’s pretty good too, depending on what you choose to put on your plate 😉

Carousel – Royal Plaza on Scotts (View in Google Maps)
25 Scotts Rd
Singapore 228220
+65 6589 7799, +65 6589 7745
carousel@royalplaza.com.sg
www.carouselbuffet.com.sg

Open Daily
Breakfast: 6am – 10am
Lunch: 12pm – 2pm
High Tea: 3:30pm – 5:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm – 10:30pm

Seating Capacity – 200 persons



I Am Legend (Will Smith) Alternate Ending

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 14-07-2013

Category : English Movies

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s interesting, the things we can find on the Internet. While browsing for the official trailer of the movie I Am Legend directed by Francis Lawrence, starring Will Smith, I chanced upon an alternate ending in YouTube. I shared it with my hubby and asked “Which ending do you prefer?”

He said that the alternate ending is a 大团圆 big reunion happy ending where both the human & infected species get to survive and co-exist. While the original ending is more “explosive” 🙂

What do you think?

This is by WarnerBrosOnline which included some “Making of” I Am Legend scenes:

And this was another video I found with the “full alternate ending”:



老火汤 Lao Huo Tang @ JEM

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 12-07-2013

Category : Chinese

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It was my turn to decide what’s for dinner and I’m vexed as usual. Since our ultimate destination is Defu Furniture @ Bt Batok, my mind was tracing along the route there to review the available options. So I thought why not JEM, the newest & 3rd largest suburban mall, that recently drew a lot of attention in the press?

As we were approaching JEM, my goodness, the people crossing the overhead bridge was enough to turn me off. Nevermind that, inside JEM itself, most of the restaurants already have queues forming outside and we need to be at Defu Furniture before it closes!

After speed- walking around, we settled at老火汤 Lao Huo Tang, a restaurant specialising in herbal soups that has no queue. It was my 1st time eating at this herbal soup place that has sprung up at many places. My hubby commented that we should try soups that are not commonly found at other branches as the prices here are more expensive so we went with Ginseng Chicken Soup that’s good for 2 pax, a seafood hor fun with egg gravy & spinach with century egg.

老火汤 Lao Huo Tang’s Spinach with Century Egg was served first and my 1st thought was “It’s so watery.” My hubby replied “It’s because their eggs are separated from the gravy.” This Spinach with Century Eggs was very different from what we envision the dish to be. It’s so 清淡bland. Healthier version? Dislike. I won’t order this again.

Next was Seafood Hor Fun. This dish saved our impression of老火汤 Lao Huo Tang @ JEM. The Hor Fun has the 锅气 (Wok He in Cantonese). Taste of the wok & fire in English? The gravy is also thick and nice. Delicious!!

And here comes the star of the evening. 老火汤 Lao Huo Tang’s atas Ginseng Chicken Soup. Check out the floating pieces of fish maw. I like. Unfortunately the liking part stops here. Drinking the soup, I forgot what we ordered. “How come I can’t taste anything distinctive?” There was no ginseng taste and no traces of ginseng at the base of the soup too. The soup just taste…sweet. Disappointed. Especially when it’s not cheap.

Honestly, my eyes popped at the bill. My hubby asked if I will come back again, “Most probably not. Maybe only for the Seafood Hor Fun.”

Note: My hubby mentioned that he has tried the other soups at other branches of 老火汤 Lao Huo Tang before and they are pretty decent.

老火汤 Lao Huo Tang @ JEM (View in Google Maps)
50 Jurong Gateway
#03-23 JEM
Singapore 608549
+65 6734 7933



I Am Legend starring Will Smith

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 10-07-2013

Category : English Movies

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Since I started my first movie review by talking about Hancock starring Will Smith, I thought that I might as well continue writing about Will Smith’s movies.

Will Smith has starred in several movies which I enjoy like Hancock, I Am Legend, I Robot, Enemy of the State, The Pursuit Of Happyness, Wild Wild West & of course Men In Black.

Let me talk about I Am Legend in this blog post 1st. I Am Legend is an apocalyptic science fiction movie directed by Francis Lawrence depicting Will Smith as the last survivor until Alice Braga & Charlie Tahan appeared to rescue him towards the later part of the movie.

Will Smith plays a military scientist – Robert Neville who decided to stay in ground zero in order to find a cure for the miracle-cancer-cure turned zombie-creating virus. His wife & daughter died in a helicopter crash while fleeing, leaving him with his family dog – Sam for companionship.

The movie started by showing Will Smith going about his daily routine of gathering resources and chit chatting with mannequins & the train of events leading to the apocalypse. His daily routine also includes going to a grounded naval ship for golf & to wait for survivors.

All these were disrupted when he laid a trap to capture an infected female for his experiments which seems to infuriate the alpha male who modeled Will Smith in laying a trap for him. Sam was sacrificed in the battle process and Will Smith went on a mindless suicide revenge mission thereafter, abandoning all hope and ideals to find a cure for mankind.

On that fateful night, he was rescued by 2 survivors who brought him back to his hideout and inadvertently lead the infected species to launch an attack the following night.

How does it end? Why not watch the movie and find out yourself 🙂

Personally I like how the movie intertwines the present and the past, slowly revealing pieces of the puzzle. It’s a zombie movie with a twist. Plus the struggle, dilemma, desperation & hope depicted in the movie. And of course the outstanding performance from Will Smith and his loyal dog.



搵到食 126 Eating House Dim Sum

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 09-07-2013

Category : Dim Sum, Supper

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was first introduced to 搵到食 126 Eating House for Dim Sum in Geylang by my “boss” since my university days and I loved it! The dim sum is cheap & good with a huge variety to choose from. They have even expanded to include 煮炒 Tze Cha dishes since the 1st time I ate there.

搵到食 126 Eating House is also opened 24 hours everyday (closed on alternate Tuesdays) which makes it a great supper option.

The downside is that the environment is very rowdy. 1st of all, it’s in Geylang where parking can be a challenge and well, Geylang is the red light district of Singapore. Within搵到食 126 Eating House, the tables are set to be close to each other to maximize space and it’s not conducive to linger for long to chit chat. No reservations too.

So if you’re ok with the above, 搵到食 126 Eating House is a great place to come for great food at affordable prices. Friends & family whom I’ve brought to 搵到食 126 Eating House gave it the thumbs up. With many returning for more.

The advantage of eating here with different groups of people is they’ll tend to order differently. On my latest trip here, I got to try out some dishes which I’ll never order. And I was blown away!

Our meal started with a 煮炒 Tze Cha dish – 海鲜伊面 Seafood Ee Mian. Oh my god, don’t let its looks deceive you. It’s delicious!

Next was the 咖哩鸡粉肠 Curry Chicken Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Roll) which I was very skeptical of. I don’t usually order curry dishes outside as none can compare with my grandmother’s curry. This dish really makes my day. The curry was AWESOME!! It’s really thick and comes really close to my grandmother’s curry. It’s a MUST TRY if you’re a curry person.

The 蒸芋头糕 – Steam Yam Cake was really soft & tender with a good flavor and my relative keeps saying it’s really good 🙂

The 生鱼片粥 – Sliced Fish Porridge & 葱油饼 – Fried Spring Onion Cake also received the thumbs up. The 葱油饼 – Fried Spring Onion Cake may looks over fried however it doesn’t has the oil taste.

Besides the food, their drinks are also very good. 酸甘水 – Lime Juice is very flavourful/thick and got the nods of approval. My 菊花茶 – Chrysanthemum Tea is very refreshing too with the hint of Chrysanthemum & not overly sweet.

Oh yes, if you are a chilli person, please note that 搵到食 126 Eating House Dim Sum’s chilli cannot make it and they only have that one kind of chilli (yes, I asked for alternatives). So if you cannot do without chilli, my advice will be to bring your own chilli. Other than that, everything else was great! Yum Yum *slurp*

Note: Queuing/Waiting for seats is a norm rather than an exception especially during meal times.

搵到食 126 Eating House (View in Google Maps)
No. 126 Sims Ave (Towards Bedok)
Between Geylang Lor 15 & Geylang Lor 17
Singapore 387449
Tel: +65 6746 4757, +65 6745 4869

24 hours (Close on Alternate Tuesday)



Hancock starring Will Smith

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 07-07-2013

Category : English Movies

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

While noting down the operating hours of Wild Honey from their website, I noticed that their PR contact’s last name is Hancock which reminded me of the “superhero movie” Hancock directed by Peter Berg, starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron & Eddie Marsan.

Hancock (starred by Will Smith) is the “superhero” of the movie. Why the inverted commas? It’s because even though Hancock “helps” in crime-fighting, he’s a wasted alcoholic who always manages to destroy something in the process of rendering “help”. He does things his way (attitude) with almost no regard to the authorities. Unwelcomed, he’s often boo-ed at the “crime scene”.

Along comes the PR guy Ray Embrey (starred by Jason Bateman) who offers to “repackage” Hancock as a form of gratitude to Hancock for saving his life. Of course things are rough in the beginning and eventually the city welcomed Hancock as their hero.

The key is when Hancock was acquainted with Ray Embrey’s wife Mary (starred by Charlize Theron) who seems to have a hidden past…related to Hancock. Another superhero in hiding or is it much more than that?

This movie has many action sequences and several unexpected plot twists & turns. Of course there will be clichés however I thoroughly enjoyed the movie Hancock as it’s a very different superhero movie that’s more than just one action sequence after another. It’s a movie I’ll gladly re-watch on a lazy afternoon.



Wild Honey All Day Breakfast at Scotts Square

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 06-07-2013

Category : Afternoon Tea, Breakfast

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve always preferred eating breakfast as compared to lunch. I love love love Burger King’s croissan’wich, Long John Silver’s Texas Chicken Breakfast & McDonald’s McMuffins. Opps…all fast food.

So I was naturally curious when I started to see photos of all day breakfast meals at Wild Honey popping up in facebook now & then. And boy do those food photos look yummy-licious! 🙂

Guess what, the farewell lunch for our Partner & Field Business Partner is held at Wild Honey. Yeah!

Since it was lunch and we do need a reservation, our team headed to Wild Honey at Scotts Square which accepts reservation. Wild Honey at Mandarin Gallery does not accept reservations. Luckily a reservation was made as Wild Honey was packed!

Like Paul Singapore, Wild Honey is a really nice place to hang out with a few of your friends on a lazy afternoon. The setting of the restaurant is very comfortable and conducive to just stick around. They also have an outdoor patio facing Royal Plaza On Scotts. Personally I prefer the aircon indoors 😉

I ordered one of Wild Honey’s signature dishes – English Breakfast and the Wild Iced Tea recommended by the server.

The scrambled eggs texture was just nice and the mushrooms were nicely flavoured. The bread (brioche) was fluffy and goes nicely with both the bowl of baked beans and butter. I belong to the old fashioned genre who prefers bread with butter 🙂

Having gone to Paul French Bakery Restaurant who served their own-made butter, I was a little disappointed that Wild Honey provides off-the-shelf butter. Am I getting picky?

Anyway, the only complain I have is that the Cumberland pork sausage was way too salty for my liking and I am a sausage person. The portion was also too much for me to finish. And because I love bread with butter, I stuffed the last chunk of brioche down my throat which tipped the balance from full to stuffed.

As for the Wild Iced Tea, dislike. I will not order it again. A colleague had the Queen Bee which was also recommended by the server. His comment was that the grapefruit overpowered the honey. For your information, Queen Bee is a Honey Mocktail in the menu…

Other than that, our team is generally happy with the food and ambience. All the other breakfast meals received thumbs up, including the Chicken Chop Chop. If you are a mushroom person, do go for Portobello Road. I heard the mmm~ of satisfaction from my colleague who had Portobello Road. She also went on to order more bread for take away.

Many of us say that we will definitely return to Wild Honey. Undoubtedly a sign of approval 🙂

Wild Honey Scotts Square (Accepts Reservations) (View in Google Maps)
6 Scotts Road 3rd floor
Sun – Thu 9am – 9pm
Fri, Sat & Evening of Public Holiday 9am – 10pm
Tel: +65 6636 1816

Wild Honey Mandarin Gallery (Walk in Only) (View in Google Maps)
333a Orchard Road 3rd floor
Sun – Thu 9am – 9pm
Fri, Sat & Evening of Public Holiday 9am – 10pm

www.wildhoney.com.sg



My Lovely Sam Soon Funny NG Scenes

Posted by Soh Cheng | Posted on 06-07-2013

Category : Humour

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

While I was looking for a good trailer to include in my 1st drama review blog post – My Lovely Sam Soon, I came across a couple of funny NG videos which I’ll to share with you.

Hope these brighten up your day 🙂



Previous