Lost in Singapore's Universal Studios

January 17, 2015

This was when the Pope was visiting the Philippines. It was a good thing that the Pope was on his way to Tacloban that morning so our flight need not be cancelled.

We stayed at YMCA at One Orchard Road which was near the Dhoby Ghaut station. Since I didn't file for leave on January 20, 2015, I have to maximize my stay at Singapore. I have been to this country 5 years back when Universal Studios was just about to open. That's why we had to plan our itinerary in a way where we could visit USS, Legoland and Hello Kitty Town on the 18th and 19th since my flight back was at the early morning of the 20th.

In the evening, we went to Lucky Plaza to have our dollars/pesos exchanged to SGD, hoped that we could book an all-in trip to Hello Kitty Town and Legoland the next day, as well as Universal Studios for the 19th. Unfortunately, the all-in trip to Malaysia was more expensive than we expected so we ended up buying tickets to Universal Studios to be consumed on the 18th. We just hoped that we would be able to book a cheaper Malaysia tour via the hotel's partner tour agency. After canvassing for tours, we headed to the food court for dinner. I was surprised when there was a Jollibee food stall. My 3-yr. old niece didn't like the roasted pork that was bought for her so she ate the noodles ordered by my uncle and fries from Jollibee.

January 18, 2015
 

Universal Studios rotating globe landmark

Candy trees

We had a buffet breakfast at the hotel and we booked the Legoland tour at the lobby. We were advised that 30 ringgit will be enough to pay for the cab going to Hello Kitty Town. And then, we went on our way to Universal Studios.

I was traveling with senior citizens and a child, so I've decided to explore Universal Studios on my own. I thought it was a huge theme park that's impossible to finish within the day. Surprisingly, you could finish it in half with time to spare to tour around Sentosa.

Since I decided to go around the park alone, I thought that I was brave enough to try all the rides. I was really looking forward to trying The Revenge of the Mummy coaster ride.

I spent time with my family at the Madagascar Zone and arranged to meet up at that zone for lunch. So off I went to zone Far Far Away and tried the Enchanted Airways-a junior roller coaster. I was not used to riding alone, let alone I was at the rear end, so even when I tried to control myself from screaming, I did it anyway. After that, I proceeded to the Shrek 4d Adventure. As soon as I was picking a place to sit, lo and behold!, I saw my uncle, aunt, and dad. We enjoyed the show and after that, I immediately went to the Ancient Egypt zone to avoid the long lines to my most awaited ride. Warning! This ride is not for the fainthearted.

Revenge of the Mummy ride entrance

 

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee mascots

When I got there, it puzzled me why small bags should be left inside a locker while it was permitted at Enchanted Airways. I panicked at the thought that I have to pay for the locker rental. I was so relieved that it was free and you would only be charged if you leave your things there for more than 45 minutes. Their self-service locker registration was really cool. After that, I proceeded to the entrance and was delighted that they have lines for single riders. I imagined that I'll be riding alone but it dawned on me that single riders were fillers for empty seats. Alas, I was seated. This is it! The time I've been waiting for! The ride started and later on I realized that I had underestimated the term 'high-speed'; I almost fell from my seat! That ride had used up all the bravery I've stored up for the other rides. I didn't have the heart for riding alone another coaster ride so I went on ahead to spend the rest of my time taking pictures at the Ancient Egypt and Sci-Fi zones before walking back to Madagascar zone to meet my family for lunch. While waiting for them, I rode the merry-go-round and took pictures with the Madagascar Penguin mascots and the Hippo mascot.

We had lunch near the Jurassic Park zone and proceeded to queue at the Canopy Ride right after eating. I enjoyed that ride even when I was seated at the back, and again, I screamed my heart out. After watching the street show, eating a big cotton candy and a big slice of pizza, and after buying souvenirs, we headed out and decided to spend the remaining time at Palawan beach.

Overall, I enjoyed my Universal Studios Singapore tour. Sorry for the misleading title. I was not really lost. Peace!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

3-yr old niece: "Auntie, you like to draw with me? I'm huggable, I'm squishy, come right over here."

Merry Christmas to everyone and have a blessed year ahead!

Girls' lunch out at Kichitora

December 20, 2014

There were a few girls in our batch at my second job - 4, to be exact -  so I initiated the invite to have a lunch date with them at Kichitora at Megamall. This is going to be a short entry since all of us ordered the same ramen - Paitan Ramen Zenbu No Se.

Gyoza

Went well with the dipping sauce. I liked it. I think it will be good with rice. ^_^ 

Gyoza - 150php

Paitan Ramen Zenbu No Se

It has a really rich, flavorful broth. Without the lava egg, you can have the ramen at 360php. With a generous splash of spicy sesame oil, this will definitely fill your tummy.
Note: It's a really large bowl.

Paitan Ramen Zenbu No Se - 420php

Chicken Karaage

Really tender. I think the part used here was the thigh. I think it'll also be great with rice. 

Chicken Karaage - 150php

I've managed to finish my ramen (except the soup) and my colleagues managed to eat half of theirs. So you can imagine my eating capacity is the same as a boy's. Hahaha! Just kidding. Anyway, I can't say if it was better than the other ramen establishments since I have only tried 2 ramen restaurants aside from this. Bottom line, it was a filling experience.

More Curry Please..Onwards to Izumi Curry!

November 22, 2014

I've been wanting to try this for the longest time. I'm fond of curries and I'm really curious on how different is the Japanese curry from the other curries. Finally, I had a chance (and the fund) to purchase two vouchers from CashCashPinoy. I bought one US Pork/Chicken Katsu Plate voucher for my date and one US Pork/Chicken Katsu Curry Meal voucher for me.

 

The Restaurant

Izumi Curry and Grill is located at the 5F The Podium. I didn't get the chance to take a photo of the interiors. It's a cozy place and could easily seat 25 guests. The servers were attentive and accommodating. Sidestory: I printed the two vouchers in one paper to save mother earth, only to find out that they should've been printed on separate sheets. I almost panicked--I thought they wouldn't honor my vouchers. End of sidestory.

The Food

Note: My date and I preferred to have pork. The iced tea included with our meal was just your typical lemon iced tea. If you explore their menu, they also offer saké.

US Pork/Chicken Katsu Plate

This includes the Pork Katsu and a side salad, a bowl of rice, and 5 pcs. of gyoza. This is your typical katsu. The gyoza was a little on the salty side. There's no need to dip it in any kind of sauce. 

US Pork/Chicken Katsu Curry Meal

US Pork Katsu Curry - Front

Ta~dah! The one I've been waiting for. I asked some people on what do Japanese curries taste like, and they say that it's usually sweet. So when I had my first bite, it was really unexpectedly spicy! Haha! But it was a savory kind of spicy and I loved it! It's not like the straightforward spiciness that you get when you eat chili sauce with your dimsum, it's a bit hard to explain but there were a lot of flavors in that curry. I liked the way they filled the plate with curry sauce.

US Pork Katsu Curry - Back

Side salad

This meal includes a hefty serving of the salad. With regards to serving size, they didn't disappoint. I'm not really a fan of salads, especially the ones with cucumber(like the one below). But I really loved the dressing and I don't typically waste food so I ate it anyway.

This ends our delicious meal! Thanks for reading!

Fine dining dinner date at House of Wagyu Stonegrill

October 11, 2014

This fine dining dinner was made possible through one of the deals from CashCashPinoy worth 1500php++. The deal includes the following: 350 grams of Wagyu Top Sirloin Grade 9 good for 2 persons + Soup of the Day + French Bread & Butter + Vegetables & Potatoes. How big is a 350-gram of sirloin? Let's say it really is enough for 2.

The Restaurant

Table setting

House of Wagyu StoneGrill is located at the top floor of the Podium and has an inconspicuous location. It is almost blocked in view by the cinema ticket counter. I honestly thought that it was still closed since the restaurant had dim lighting and aside from the employees, there was no one else dining. It was also intimidating because I'm only wearing jeans, a t-shirt and flats without any care for accessories. I really thank the employees for not giving us the deprecating look and provided us with exemplary service.
House of Wagyu StoneGrill also sells their frozen wagyu steaks.

The Food



The soup was served together with the basket of french bread. I'm not a fan of soups and breads since they fill up my tummy even before the main course arrives. But then, I was taught not to waste food and I paid good money for this so I have to eat it.

Soup of the Day - Creamy pumpkin soup
Really creamy and it doesn't taste like pumpkin. Our server also topped it with freshly ground pepper. Coupled with the warm, crusty yet soft, french bread with butter, I have found new respect for these two.

Suisse raclette

Suisse Raclette
In addition to our meal, we decided to order one appetizer from their menu for 350php. This is melted cheese with boiled potato, pickled miniature onions, and pickled miniature cucumbers. It was a really expensive appetizer but hey, this was one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" experiences, and we had the money to pay for it, so we ordered it anyway. According to wikipedia, raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss dish, so I don't know if they really used the raclette cheese on this one. I sure hope they did. As for the taste, the cheese was not as salty as the other types of cheese. It is somehow similar to mozzarella. The miniature onions and cucumber? Don't underestimate them. They may be small but they pack a lot of that pickled flavor. They were really sour to the point of disfiguring your face. The baby potatoes are just your typical boiled baby potatoes.

Before they served the steak, they would ask you to wear this bib. For me, it was a mini-apron. Meanwhile, our server asked us if we would like to have our steak divided into two so that we would have separate stones. Honestly, I haven't thought of requesting this since it was alright for me to share. I really appreciate our server for suggesting this so that we would thoroughly enjoy the experience.

Steamed Vegetables and Mashed Potato
Typical steamed vegetables. The mashed potato was okay though I thought it lacked milk/cream/butter/salt. I suppose I should have added some of the leftover butter and some salt to add flavor.

Steamed vegetables and Mashed Potato

Half of the 350-gram grade 9 Wagyu sirloin

Star of the night - Grade 9 Wagyu Sirloin on Stone Grill
Very straightforward. No gravy. Lightly seasoned. Very tender.

Turned once by one of the chefs

For less than a thousand, I really enjoyed eating Wagyu steak for the first time! Hoping to have the budget in the near future to visit them again. Cheers!

Alone at California Pizza Kitchen

October 5, 2014

I went to Trinoma to claim my "reward" for using my credit card. I went alone to minimize my expenses for this day. It was still early for lunch at 11am and the restaurant wasn't busy. Dining in alone in a restaurant is one of the things I've always wanted to try. I knew that it wouldn't be fun, but being the introvert that I am, I wanted to see how I could handle it. It wasn't so bad after you get past that uncomfortable feeling of dining alone. I'd like to thank the server(sorry I didn't get your name) who made me feel at ease during my dining experience.

Some art on the wall and a part of the kitchen

Taking a picture of my glass of water while waiting

Mozzarella sticks @ 150php

Here are my options: 

Pizza

= Regular Untraditional Cheese Pizza - or -

= Regular Sausage and Pepper Pizza - or -

Pasta

= Personal Spaghetti Marinara - or -

= Personal Broccoli Sundried Tomato Fusilli

Since I ate pizza the night before and I'm eating alone, I chose the Pasta category. It was good that I didn't get my hopes up for the fusilli since it was not available at the time. I had no other choice but the marinara. I remembered I liked their mozzarella sticks here, so in addition to my free pasta, I had an order of this at 150php.

Personal spaghetti marinara - free!

I'm not sure if their mozzarella sticks were originally wrapped or battered, but either way, it had the same taste and I still liked the marinara sauce that went with it.

I didn't think that I could finish it by myself so I used the extra plate. The spaghetti was al dente and I liked the cheese shavings on top. I do appreciate sour food but the marinara sauce went past my tolerance level for sourness and that bread on the side was a big help. 

Overall, I underestimated myself - I was able to finish my pasta. I also *surprisingly* had a good time dining alone.

That overrated yema cake

September 1, 2014

I was hearing so much of this yema cake from Quezon province. I got really really curious, so when I was able to buy one for Php270, I was excited to get home. When I got home, I tasted it immediately. To my utter disappointment, it didn't pass my palate. It was far from the yema taste that I expected. A piece of Pastel bread from CDO is waaAAAyyy better than this yema cake. In addition to my disappointment, it was really expensive. The half roll of Dulce de Leche from goldilocks costs barely Php200 and it tasted good. This one was overpriced. It tasted like margarine with cheese. The only good thing about this cake was its chiffon cake. It was soft. So yeah, I won't buy this again.