Dimsum – Anne Goes to Places

Singapore, Day 3: Chinatown & Platform 1094

Went to YUM CHA CHINATOWN as recommended by our friends in SG. I only had the patience to take pictures of the first few dim sum we ordered.

We also visited PLATFORM 1094, which is a famous Harry Potter-themed café that offers dessert and drinks (including alcohol-based).

APRIL 23, 2017

Last day in SG started early! Went to YUM CHA CHINATOWN as recommended by our friends in SG. I only had the patience to take pictures of the first few dim sum we ordered…

Everything was just so good!!! I felt like I kept eating during this day… I went back to the hotel to meet up with my best friend since we were going to spend the whole day together. I accompanied her for lunch then we took a cab going to PLATFORM 1094, which is a famous Harry Potter-themed café.

K and I shared the dessert and drinks because we wanted to try a lot. Of course, we had to order Mr. Lich’s Flaming Brew but we were quite disappointed with the “flaming” effect… Natadtad tuloy ng cinnamon yung drink! Can’t remember the names of our other orders. We liked their cake though.

Short trip to Haji Lane is up next. 🙂

Singapore, Day 2: Universal Studios

Since there were four of us, we decided to just take a cab going to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS SINGAPORE instead of the train. We got a bit lost when we were trying to look for the entrance to USS but still managed to find it thanks to the help of friendly Singaporeans. We bought our USS ticket online because we also availed the Express Pass, which saved us time.

APRIL 22, 2017

KT and I woke up early to eat the famous kaya toast at YA KUN KAYA TOAST. Good thing there was a branch near the hotel so we didn’t have to hurry or spend for transportation. We were supposed to meet J and K at USS but it was a coincidence that they also planned to eat kaya toast in the same branch so we ended up meeting earlier.

Since there were four of us, we decided to just take a cab going to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS SINGAPORE instead of the train. We got a bit lost when we were trying to look for the entrance to USS but still managed to find it thanks to the help of friendly Singaporeans. We bought our USS ticket online because we also availed the Express Pass, which saved us time.

We first went to Lights, Camera, Action!, where we got to experience the setting of a Category 5 hurricane in New York City. We were not allowed to take photos but this one was a good attraction. Next stop was Transformers The Ride: The Ultimate Battle, which is very similar to the Amazing Spiderman ride in USJ.

Continuing the tradition of taking a selfie after every ride

Our first extreme ride (and probably the only one haha!) was Battlestar Galactica: Human vs Cylon. It was K’s first time to ride a rollercoaster and we were not sure if he enjoyed it, but at least the other rollercoasters we rode that day seemed like a piece of cake to him. All of us rode Human but K and I backed out in Cylon. Haha!

Just a few meters away from this ride, we could already see Egypt theme in the next portion of the theme park.

We rode the Revenge of the Mummy, which reminded me of Disneyland’s Space Mountain in Tokyo and HK. J recommended this because she liked this ride in Universal Studios LA but she was quite disappointed (and us as well) with the effects – supposed to feel the insects crawling on our skin but we only felt water splashes. ☹ We still went for another ride after using our Express Pass because the waiting time wasn’t that long… but we forgot the time limit in our lockers! We didn’t have any money with us so we waited for the fellow tourists to claim their belongings. Good thing fellow Pinoys came so we borrowed money from them to open our lockers. Lesson learned!

Dinosaur era was the next theme we encountered. We went to Jurassic Park: Rapids Adventure and had a lot of fun getting splashed. I braced myself in case there was a surprise drop towards the end but thankfully didn’t happen. Raincoats were available for purchase but we decided to just let the hot weather dry us. Tipid tipid din pag may time.

We had our late lunch in the area – laksa and dinosaur nuggets for me and KT.

No picture because we forgot – but we also ride Canopy Flyer to help us dry our clothes. Haha! Far Far Away land was the next stop…

We rode Puss in Boots’ Giant Journey which is a rollercoaster ride for kids. It was part of the Express Pass so might as well use it as much as we can.

We participated in the Shrek 4D(?), which we did not enjoy as much. The introduction part was just too long that it became boring. The 4D part was okay though. We also attended [Puss in Boots live] and had fun with the interactions.

Our last stop was Waterworld, which is based on Nicholas Cage’s sci-fi film. No idea about the movie but it is apparently popular according to my mom. It was the last show for the day and it was crazy how it was very humid at 5PM… so we decided to sit in the SOAK ZONE. Yes, we really wanted to get soaked with lots of water! Intense ng init!

They had an awesome huge set and prior to the start of the show, some of the cast engaged the audience by asking each side to mimic their cheers. They also splashed some people with lots of water! Couldn’t upload the video here but the whole show was freaking great, particularly the stunts and effects! Hands down one of the best theme park shows we have watched.

We rode Enchanted Airways before going to Madagascar, the last portion of USS we have yet to explore. We didn’t ride any attraction but we bought cold desserts… both mango and strawberry were just okay. ☹ There were fruit bits that were too sour for our taste.

After eating dessert, KT went back to Battlestar Galactica to ride Cylon again. The rest of us decided to just wait for her and when she came back, she told a funny story on how her seatmate (big male person) told her after the ride that he couldn’t scream because she was laughing and having fun the whole time.

We left USS and took a cab going to LAU PA SAT for dinner. KT and I got the same food and shared some portions – dim sum from Bao Luo Wan Xiang and duck noodles which I forgot from which stall. We enjoyed the food and everything was incredibly affordable.

All in all, a fun day for the four of us despite the very humid weather. ❤

Singapore, Day 1: National Gallery

We decided to go to NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE based on C’s recommendation. The place was absolutely huge and we most likely saw thousands of artworks.

We spent the whole morning going around the whole gallery. My friends know that I am not a big fan of art but here are some of the artworks that I really liked:

APRIL 20-21, 2017

Last April, I was one of the people in our team who got the opportunity to attend a training in SG for a new proprietary tool. It was just a one-day event so my teammates and I decided to extend our stay.

Not gonna narrate anymore what happened during the training but the highlight that day was our dinner in JUMBO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT. We all wanted to try the famous chili crab and C helped us get a reservation in the Dempsey Hill branch.

The staff attending to us informed us that the crabs they had that night were just “small” so we decided to order 1 chili crab per person. She looked in disbelief but we were not sure if we just imagined it…

Since the crab would take about 30 minutes to cook, we ordered cereal prawns and fried rice because we were already hungry.

After a lot of kwento, our chili crab finally arrived… Lo and behold! We were not imagining the look of disbelief in the staff who took our order. Their “small” crab turned out to be good for 2 people. LOL! Good thing we were still quite hungry so we were able to finish everything. We even paired the chili crab with fried mantou and what made it really yummy was when we dipped the bread in the chili crab sauce. YUM!!! Super busog dinner!

Next day was our free day and we decided to go to NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE based on C’s recommendation. The place was absolutely huge and we most likely saw thousands of artworks.

We spent the whole morning going around the whole gallery. My friends know that I am not a big fan of art but here are some of the artworks that I really liked:

Expense of Spirit in a Waste of Shame by Suzanne Victor – artwork made after SG government decided to stop funding performance art in 1994

Flowers on Four Panels by Ju Lian – 1903

Merapi, Eruption by Day / Night by Raden Saleh

Boschbrand (Forest Fire) by Raden Saleh – 1849

Fishpond in Malabon by Fernando Cueto Amorsolo – 1942

Some more pictures I took during our trip in the gallery:

We had lunch at Din Tai Fung afterwards – menu is somewhat similar to PH branches but a few of the unique items were the century egg and roasted duck in wrapper.