first night

27 November 2010. We got to Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA3) in time for a late lunch. There are many more food choices there now, especially on the second floor before paying the terminal fee and the last security check. Could use some more improvement still, but for now, this airport is adequate.

Angel hair aglio olio and pizza margherita from that Italian place on the second floor.

We love Airphil Express-- mainly because we got really cheap seats. The flight was pretty smooth, and I conked out for most of it.

Sunsets viewed from airplane windows are the best.

We arrived at Changi past 8pm. Oh, what a nice nice nice airport. Dorothy, you're not in the Third World anymore.

Our very own Mercedes Benz to pick us up.

We were delighted to be back in Singapore. First stop, Mandarin Orchard to drop off our bags. After checking in, we went outdoors and just immersed ourselves in Christmas tropicale... Giddy us!

Hello, Orchard Road!

Hello, Emporio Armani!

Hello, Gucci!

We managed to get into Takashimaya's basement before they closed for the night. At the bottom of the escalator, there was a new doughnut place which had a mad long line.

Made a note to try this out another day.

This is Steph's (silent H) old faithful in Singapore-- fish ball noodle soup. Actually, I had never tried it before and I found it quite yummy. The broth had a clean flavor, the noodles were the perfect texture, and the fish balls and fish cakes were not fishy at all. I would have put more chili, though.

The biggest, bounciest fish balls ever.

This lemon-lemongrass drink tasted of ginger. Not bad if you like ginger tea.

I wanted to have a bowl of the fabulous lobster laksa at Chatterbox, but by the time we got back to the hotel, it was already out of stock. I ordered the seafood hor fun instead (recommended by the chatty Chatterbox waiter), while Steph had dessert. Both were too expensive to be so mediocre, but it was too late to scrounge up some food outside. I ignored the food hall at Takashimaya because I was saving myself for the lobster laksa, but I was foiled!

The fish filets in the seafood hor fun were stellar. Everything else in the bowl was so-so lah.

Mango pudding with berries. Count the berries.

It was past midnight when we finally entered our room for the first time. We briefly went over our plans for the next day and went to sleep.

soup, salad, sandwich

We were in Suntec City Mall in Singapore, and I was hungry. Sometimes, when you're not looking, you find something really great. This is my favorite fast food restaurant right now.

Souperlicious: My new happy place.

Actually, I'm not sure if I should be blogging about Souperlicious because I wanted to keep it all to myself. As soon as I saw the menu board, I knew that I was in for a treat. I love colorful picture menus!

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

I wanted to eat everything, but after ten minutes of going over the endless permutations in my mind-- Regular soup with small salad, or regular salad with small soup? What about the sandwiches? Should I go for a traditional soup like mushroom, or something unusual from the vegetarian options? I should order soup because their name is Souperlicious, right? But what about those SANDWICHES? Wait, they have wraps? And pasta, too? Arghhh!-- I gave myself a mental slap on the face, and decided on a regular mushroom soup and a small Caesar salad.

A classic Caesar done well is still everyone's favorite salad.

A bowl of warm mushroom soup = LOVE.

Verdict: This was one of the best mushroom soups I've ever had. Granted, it probably came out of a can, but they really made an effort to make it hearty and tasty. It's full of chopped mushroom bits, and it was creamy but not milky. The chopped parsley, although an unnaturally uniform bright green, was a nice touch. The soup felt like a great big hug.

The Caesar salad was surprisingly excellent, for a fast food salad. The vegetables were very fresh and crisp, and the dressing was just right and didn't overwhelm them. The tiny tomato provided a sweet and juicy interlude.

I want to eat here everyday.

You know what really amazed me? My food looked (almost) like their pictures. Truth in advertising!

the search for the best chili crab

When in Singapore, one must eat the OTHER national dish, chili crab. But what if one's dining companions don't eat crab at all? One must soldier on.

Jumbo's award-winning crab.

We had Sunday lunch at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant so that I could tick chili crab off my list. Our order-taker was a skinny Chinese girl.

Me: We want an order of chili crab, please.
Order-taker: How many?
Me: Oh, just one.
Order-taker: One kilo, izzit?
Me: No, no. Do you have anything smaller? I'm the only one eating it, you see.
Order-taker (looks at me seriously): I can finish one kilo by myself.

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just meekly ordered one kilo of chili crab, all for myself.

Ayayay, the mantou bread. Fried bread is always nice.

Let me just say, it's such a joy to eat with this group of people. We go wherever I want to go, I can pig out on whatever I like, and they'll order stuff and share with me, even though I don't share with them. Lavet!

Here's the other stuff on our table:

Fried cereal prawns. No Signboard's was much better.

Ooh, pork belly. Drool-worthy, but not as ethereal as Hong Kong's.

More pork. This rib was tender, juicy and very tasty.

Kangkong is everyone's default veggie... Great texture, but could use more flavor.

Jumbo has quite a few branches, but we ended up at the one near the river. It was so peaceful, no crowds at all, great weather-- feeling Sunday na Sunday.

The first thing we noticed was the colorful building across the way.

Typical of any Chinese seafood restaurant, they have a display of live critters.

So organised and obsessive-compulsive!

Verdict: Jumbo's chili crab was very good and it's probably better than any version we have in Manila, but I liked No Signboard's sauce better. Jumbo's had more heat, while No Signboard's had more layers of flavor. I wonder how the hawker joints' chili crabs compare to these two? And what about the equally famous black pepper crab? So much food, so little time. 

Should try the fried prawns with salted eggs next time. Sounds perfectly evil.

over the edge

We arrived in Singapore on the evening of 27 November, and our flight out was 9pm on 30 November. I really wanted to visit the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark during sunset, so that we could see both daytime and nighttime views of Singapore, but it was not meant to be. Mornings were nice and sunny, but it just kept raining and raining in the afternoons.

On our last day, we decided to go for it. With passports in hand, we headed towards the biggest thing in Singapore. It makes the rest of the country look like Lilliput. 

You can't miss it-- from anywhere in Singapore, actually.

Being a certified nerd, two weeks before our trip, I watched the Discovery Channel's feature on how they built it, so I was chock-full of trivia and useless information about the place. The taxi dropped us off at Tower 1, the hotel's reception area and check-in counter.

Fantastic engineering and lots and lots of manual labor.

The SkyPark entrance is at Tower 3, so we got to walk through the atrium. Or is it atria? The three towers are connected by this long and massive hallway that is completely weather-tight. I love the fact that there's tons of natural light, and super-cool AC at the same time. Can't survive in Singapore without AC... I wonder if they've ever thought about scenting? (I'm a big fan of scenting commercial spaces now.)

Happy anniversary, you guys!

In general, I like Singaporean architecture--- both old and new. Marina Bay Sands is a lovely graceful structure that's undeniably magnificent, but the interiors were kinda blah. What they need is a (very) gay Filipino artist to go over and zhuzh up the place.

Giant lanterns. Seriously?

Excuse the blurry picture. It's an outdoor sitting area that's accessible from one of the cafés that line the atrium. We all wanted that barrel thingy for our backyards.

The cheapy industrial table ruins the effect. Grrr!

I bought a refrigerator magnet from the hotel gift shop.

Nice addition to my collection.

Bloggers wrote that the queues were very long and that waiting time would average an hour. But since we went in the morning, around 1030am, there was no queue! Actually, I'd noticed that in Singapore, the pace doesn't seem to pick up until after lunch, and that means not many tourists in the mornings, like when we visited the Singapore Flyer and the Singapore Art Museum in February.

No need for passport.

Funny story: When we got to the ticket counter, we saw this scale model of the Marina Bay Sands. Of course, we all wanted pictures of it. We took turns posing, exchanged cameras, smiled and chatted a bit. After everyone in the room had posed with it, some guys came in from the sidelines, picked it up and took it away. Turns out it was meant to be displayed elsewhere, and we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time for some kodakan.

Yez, it really does make the trees on the ground look like tiny green lollipops.

So up the elevator we went, and the first thing we saw when we stepped out was the city's skyline.

The little white dot in the middle is the merlion, hehe!

There's the giant lotus that's supposed to be a museum, the Helix Bridge, Formula 1 grandstand, the floating football field and Esplanade.

The lines make it all look like one gigantic alien organism. The lotus is the eye. Ayeeeee!

The "bow" of the SkyPark (as it's shaped like a ship) points towards the Singapore Flyer and on its starboard side is the pier and open sea.

It's those sexy ladies again!

We meandered up the stairs, to the upper deck where the "lifestyle venue" Ku De Ta is located, as well as the famous infinity pool.

Higher and higher.

More views from the upper deck:

The colonial buildings still manage to stand out amidst the skyscrapers.

The white clamshell-like pavilions are the casino. Passports required.

Dizizit! Now tell me, don't you have to be a bit of an exhibitionist to be swimming here? When you're in the pool, you're part of the tourist attraction.

Looks like bungy swimming, if you know what I mean.

I can't get over how LONG that swimming pool is. Here's a panoramic shot of it, using an iPhone 4. What would take me at least half an hour to set up, a tripod assuming I had a place to put it, and some Photostitching-- It took just a few seconds with the iPhone 4.

Click to enlarge.

There are six outdoor Jacuzzis opposite the pool. Looks like fun, but the view on that side leaves a lot to be desired.

Commercial shipping toes the line in Singapore. Ten-hut! Straight lines!

Marina Bay Sands is a must-visit in Singapore, although I feel that they still need a few more months for it to become a really happening place, when all its restaurants and facilities are finally open. Mario Batali, we're coming for you.

The most interesting part of the building, I believe, is the building itself, but you can't see it when you're in it. I look forward to seeing how Singapore grows around this new and exciting landmark. Definitely, Marina Bay Sands is changing the face of Singapore.

the search for the best HCR

HCR is Hainanese Chicken Rice, and it's the national dish of Singapore.

Typing these words right now is making me nervous. Singaporeans become vicious rabid animals when you ask them where you can get the best HCR-- sometimes you don't even have to ask. They'll volunteer the information in the most insistent manner.

I've tried quite a few, both in Singapore (the last time was in February) and Manila, and I know that I have not made even the slightest dent. I am aware that my life is not long enough to be able to taste all the HCR that every red-blooded Singaporean reckons is the best.

In the end, I had to go with him: The guy. Numero uno. Anthony Bourdain.

Bosing!

Actually, Bourdain got it from a reputable source, the Makanguru himself K. F. Seetoh, and even the food bloggers agree. Tian Tian Hainanase Chicken Rice is worth a visit.

Their "upscale" branch.

The original Tian Tian is still at Maxwell Food Centre at the edge of Chinatown, but ever since good ol' Tony introduced Tian Tian to the world, they started selling enough chicken to warrant a branch on Joo Chiat Road. OK, Joo Chiat for most people is in the middle of nowhere, but it's air-conditioned. They accept reservations and even call you on your mobile to ask if you want to pre-order because they're running out soon.

It's just so nice, isn't it? These people are just. So. Nice.

We wanted to try both the classic white chicken and the dark-skinned roast version.

Tell me the truth. Is your mouth watering right now?

This is the set with the chicken rice and the bowl of soup.

Looking at this makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

We pretended to be good and ordered some vegetables. Garlicky, peppery beans sprinkled with dried microscopic shrimp.

Perfectly cooked, but unfortunately overshadowed by the star, the HCR.

What the hail! Let's order us some pork, too. Hainanese pork chop with that weird delicious gravy and the green peas that don't belong there, but are always there.

Tian Tian's second most famous dish, but still just a fried pork chop.

We washed it down with some drinks that are quintessentially Singapore. Oh, and the servers were wearing red berets.

Barley drink and lemongrass drink. Only in Singapore.

Verdict: The chicken was excellent. You can see and taste the years of craftsmanship that go into each bite. This is what this family does. The pride and goodwill are almost palpable. Eating this lovely chicken, you are glad that their restaurants are doing so well that it looks like you'll be able to keep eating this until your dying day... Owlright!

But, the rice. Oh man, it's a bit of a letdown. All of us at our table felt that it could have been better. It lacked a certain flavor, a punch that would make it memorable. It was just meh.

According to the rules, we have to continue the search. Each component of the HCR meal must be flawless. But for now, for their heavenly chicken and the addicting chili sauce made with fresh calamansi juice, Tian Tian is at the top of my "To-Beat" list.

The other dishes? I'm sure they were good, but I honestly can't remember. Tian Tian is for chicken. Don't be a pig.