Another Sunday

Mag and Viv got up bright and early that morning and headed off for some geocaching on the White Cloud Mountain. The rest of us decided to take it a little easier...

Our day started with a strill along the river bank over to the concert hall and modern art gallery on the island where I live.


Perfect weather for it. Haven't seen weather like this in such a long time.

There are quite a few pieces outside the gallery so there was no need to even to go in. Just enjoying the outdoors was perfect.

Is that a cat giving birth to Ed?

We persuaded Su to do a little posing with these working women...


... Ed of course needed little persuasion to practise some of the moves he's been using for Mag's specialty shots.

We had some pastry and coffee at the French deli next to the concert hall and then headed out to...


... yes! 四海一家, apparently the largest buffet in Asia. Max and Russell joined us for this excursion. Gosh, the crowd we had to fight through to just get the seats we had reservation for... you'd think we were getting it free! Unfortunately, no photos were really allowed inside of the food etc. The intrepid Janes cut it really fine by turning up just before the buffet was closed. So we had to bring a whole bunch of food to lay on the table before they arrived.

All said and done, the fare was only soso. Definitely value for money though. Nevertheless, I won't be back in a hurry.

Food Again

We had the chance to try some truly local fare at one of the sites in KaiPing. This was the only restaurant in the AAAA rated Li Yuan (立园). The tofu was excellent. It was only when we were leaving that we realised that they had added a layer of fish paste before frying them. Even those who were not keen on rice enjoyed the claypot rice with eel (黄鳝).

Weekend Recce

Finally managed to get out to 上下九 (a pedestrian street with older buildings converted to shops) this Saturday. Street food and old restaurants served as a wonderful diversion for our morning.

陶陶居 is over a hundred years old apparently but has been taken over by new owners. However, the ambience was good (old time, loud and sharing tables). I loved the food. Taste was excellent, my favourite char siew pau in the city.

This street leads all the way to the 'antique' street. Lovely walk through older constructions...

Lotus Mountain

On Sunday, we hired an MPV and headed out to 莲花山 or Lotus Mountain. The huge temple on the top of the hill houses the most number of Guanyin statues in the world, at least that's what the write-up says.

Of course the kids had the most fun. A bubble gun each and they were in heaven.

This is also where the largest statue of 观音 may be found, completely plated in gold. We walked around the large grounds of the temple but did not explore the rest of the hill...

...because it was already lunch time. 番禺 (Pan Yu) was nearby and spur of the moment decision was to try the largest buffet in Asia. Alas, that was not to be without a reservation.


渔民新村 stepped up to provide sustenance to the weary travellers.

Family Visit

The family visited me over the Deepavali weekend. First stop was obviously for some local cuisine. I had booked a private room for the eight of us. Minimum spending required was about S$100. Who'd have thought that after ordering more than eight dishes, I couldn't make up the amount...



That evening, we went on a river cruise that took us down the Pearl River. The weather had cooled down and a light sweater was actually required. This country does not stinge on the lighting required to make an evening cruise interesting. As as the countdown to the Olympics continue, various signs are visible to remind us of the impending event.

Back to Food

It had to happen sooner or later... I mean me blogging about food. 俊田会 is a multi-cuisine (except maybe Indian) restaurant in a mall. It's huge and service was so-so since it was so busy on Saturday. It's still a wonder to me how these massive restaurants are always full. Food was pretty good though.

Farewell Begins

Thank you CW & S for the wonderful meal. I was really bloated when I left. I think I've put on another 2 kgs in the last week.

Another Binge

Dinner at Vienna. Value for money for sure! All the seafood you could ask for. Not the best quality but we really enjoyed it. Especially some of the soups.

Ed joined us halfway through but managed to catch up as far as stuffing our faces went.

Interesting dessert. Looked better than it tasted though. The inside tasted like the durian cakes you can buy, a bit artificial for my taste and the yam was a bit hard. Nevertheless, we left quite satisfied indeed.

Home-Schooled

Ed hosted us on Saturday night. Not that he's not already an excellent chef in his own right, with some advice from his mom, a delectable feast was guaranteed. And from the bar, mojitos, Croatian wine and Champagne were served.

Yumms the word!

Lunch Anyone?

Not many choices outside of the hotels. We had read about some multicuisine restaurants but we were not ready to try it. Safe bet? Indian. We settled on Quality Restaurant, which turned out to have branches in other cities.

The lamb dish was delicious and I'm sure it was the 'sweet meats" that added to it. The dal and chicken were up to par, all in all a very satisfying meal.

Starting Out

We dropped Ed off at the airport started out bright an early Tuesday morning. The 300 odd kms would take us at least 6 hours. Every time I had headed off in the direction of Mysore in the past, we'd make a stop at Kamat. Kah Hoe introduced this restaurant to me. Didn't realise it was a chain though.

Perfect place for a great South Indian breakfast of idli and wada. The great thing about wadas in India? They are so crispy on the outside, unlike anything I've ever had back home. Rustic ambience adds so much to it.

More?

It had started to rain by the time we made our way to Olive. Nothing like being ushered into the restaurant under umbrellas. We sat indoors and it was a pity not to be able feel a bit of the damp air or hear the rain. As usual, the food was excellent and so were the cocktails. Of course I recommended the tea-smoked duck breast. We then passed round the three main courses of orechiette, risotto and lamb. By comparison, dessert became a let down. I was dining with people that made better tiramisu...

Next day was a work day. So Su and Ed went gallivanting on their own and we only met for lunch at Sunny's. Another restaurant where the favourites will never let you down. Su enjoyed her seabass; it was amazing watching her lovingly pick the bones clean.

It's All About The Company

Taj tried to launch a Hi-Tea at Mynt on Saturdays. Despite all the promises, alas they did not live up to it. Where were the scones and clotted cream? Anywhere, we did our own thing and managed to enjoy it anyway.

First Impressions

I decided that Su's first meal in India should be Indian. So before she even had a chance to breath, I whipped her and Ed off to Dakshin at the ITC Sheraton. I have always loved the ambience at this hotel with it's throw-back charm. The Pavilion with it's massive glass conservatory look and the Indian with modern paintings on the wall and Indian ornate bells hung in the corners.

I always loved the thalli there. I had forgotten about the banana pancake that they served as a starter. It was excellent! I decided to order extra lady fish. It was lovely but it only served to fill us up even more.

...and the chutneys and pickles which Su loved. Needless to say, lunch was a roaring success.

Food! Glorious Food!

You asked for it, you get it - food pictures. Ed celebrated his birthday a few days in advance in this very nice restaurant called Whitebait & Kale. It's location at Camden Medical Centre should not be a cause for concern but it certainly prompted some of us to attempt some lame jokes.

The ambience was great; the air conditioning could have been better though. I had stuffed my faced in the afternoon at the Ellenborugh Market Cafe and so was unfortunately indisposed to sampling any of the cuisine. But I did manage to dip my fork into a few of those excellent looking desserts.

I will have to come back another time to satisfy my greed.

Bountiful Harvest

The Chias went on a short trip to Singapore and look what they brought back for us last Sunday. Familiar favourites all. Quite a few of the Singaloreans were not in town, so the more for the rest of us who were.