Taiwanese Food - Formosa Delights (清香馆) @ West Coast Plaza

Taiwan is one place i would love to go and at the same time, a place i would hate to visit. From feedback received by friends, it is a food paradise and i don't want to get any fatter!

But nothing can stop me from having Taiwanese food in Singapore! And that's exactly what i did the week before; lunch at Formosa Delights with my colleagues from School of Business.

Truthfully, i would not even consider stepping foot into a Taiwanese restaurant unless it offers smelly tofu. To me, smelly tofu should be the signature of any Taiwanese food outlet and the lack of it simply implies the place is not worth my money.

Formosa Delights sadly doesn't sell smelly tofu although it came recommended from a fellow colleague. Oh well, it's always good to try out new places to enhance my sympathetic taste buds.

Xiao Long Bao

(小笼包)

Let's begin with the classic xiao long bao; albeit a classic from Shanghai, not Taiwan.

Bad stuff first - the filling was too mushy, lacking a satisfying bite to it, the skin was thick and the important oily soup that was supposed to burst out upon touch failed to fulfill its mission. The ginger and vinegar saved the dish though.

Red Bean Pancake

(豆沙锅饼)

Another classic! Wait, i think this originates from Shanghai too!

Once again, the dough was too thick and lacked the nice sounding crunch that should have resulted from every bite. The only good thing was that the red bean filling was not diabetically sweet!

Stewed Meat Rice

(滷肉飯)

This should be an authentic Taiwanese food. As the Great Kon had mentioned to me, there is nothing healthy about this dish but the taste is simply amazing.

Kon is right - the fat content of the meat was easily over 75%! And he was equally correct on the taste; it was sinfully delicious and entirely worth the spike in my cholesterol level.

Note - please mix thoroughly for the best eating experience!

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Location

154, West Coast Road,

#B1-53, West Coast Plaza

Price

Xiao Long Bao (8 pcs) - S$7.00

Red Bean Pancake - S$5.00

Stewed Meat Rice - S$5.50

Subject to GST. No Service Charge

Singapore Cable Car Museum [Asia's First Cable Car Museum] @ Sentosa Island, Singapore

I chanced upon the Singapore Cable Car Museum purely by coincidence; dad wanted to use the washroom after alighting at Sentosa cable car station.

Honestly, i doubt many people know the existence of such an interesting museum in Singapore. Even wikipedia, the source for much unverifiable knowledge, doesn't provide any information on it!

With a history spanning almost 38 years, this little museum hosts memorable information on the only cable car system in Singapore. Sentosa Island back in the 1980s was very inaccessible with only two modes of transportation; ferry or cable car.

In the 1970s, it cost S$6.50 per adult for a two-way ticket from Mount Faber (MF) station to Sentosa (SEN) station via World Trade Centre (WTC - which is the current Harbourfront) station. Now, the same trip would set me back by S$26.00! Inflation sucks!

To the untrained eye, the cable car cabins appeared to have remained unchanged over the years until its last revamp. However, they have already reached the 4th generation known as jewel cable car cabin! The above is the first generation.

This is the second generation cabin which featured automatic doors.

Controls for the cable car station - obviously from the 70s or 80s computer technology.

Third generation cabin with design that had departed from the traditional box-shaped outline.

The world's only life sized cable car cabin made up of Lego blocks! With the opening of Legoland across the causeway, its proclamation is in jeopardy!

With the implementation of the 3rd generation cabin, Singapore also launched its very first luxury VIP cabin.

Compared to the wooden or metal seats, the leather upholstery of the VIP cabin looked extremely comfy! If you are in the mood, you may even utilised the inbuilt CD player for some classical music.

When Singaporeans, particularly those born before the 1980s, talk about cable car, there was one incident that frequently popped out in their conversation; the horrifying accident in 1983 where seven passengers were killed.

Unhappy incidents aside, you can also find memorabilia sold in Singapore Cable Car retail shops over 38 years. And if you wish to buy some souvenirs featuring the current generation cabin, a retail outlet is located right before you exit the museum!

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Notwithstanding the short time we spent there (i was rushing for Sentosa Flowers 2012), this nostalgic visit still managed to jot many good old memories, especially for dad (whose first visit was before the birth of my elder sister)!

Location

Enter Sentosa Cable Car station, turn left and walk all the way till you see a light of staircase going down. The cable car museum is located at the bottom of the staircase.

Admission

Free - no one checked for tickets when i was there.

Addition Information

For my daytime ride on Singapore cable car, please click HERE.

Breakfast Buffet @ Bintan Cabana Beach Resort

On one hand, i wasn't looking forward to breakfast at Bintan Cabana. On the other hand, it was a good lunch at the same resort the day before despite the pathetic variety and i do hope it would be the same with breakfast.

I wasn't disappointed! There were the usual eggs, toast, corn flakes, buns, porridge, nasi lemak and befitting its Indonesian heritage, there were mee reubus and even gado gado.

This healthy bee hoon goreng was a top favourite since it tasted very flavourful yet contained very little oil. It's amazing how such simple stuff can taste so great!

Even this corn ball tasted better than the others i tried before; there was an obvious corn flavour and the middle was moist, not dry!

My favourite had to be this purple jelly with fruit cocktail that wasn't too sweet and exuded a mild, comfortable fragrance as i stuff it in my mouth.

Put it this way - i cannot resist having multiple helpings!

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For my review on Bintan Cabana Beach Resort, please click HERE.

The Last Day of Chinese New Year - Counting Ang Pow Money (红包钱)!

Yesterday was the last day of festive celebration for Chinese New Year (CNY). Unlike most people who could not wait to tear open their red packets, i would endure until the 15th day of CNY.

The reasons are simple - red packets are meant to be blessings from givers and to compare how much (S$2, S$10, S$50 etc) is tucked tightly in the ang pow given by individuals is simply disrespectful.

Therefore, i decided a few years back to keep the red packets unopened until the end of CNY. Given my fleeting memory, it's quite impossible for me to remember who gave what.

I am actually more interested in the design of these good luck packets. Like the above that shows a festive scene of innocent happiness amongst children.

This one came from DBS, the biggest bank in Singapore. It's customary for banks to freely issue new packs of red packets to customers during this period since they are the biggest holder of wealth. Customers, on their part, put the banks' goodwill on the competitive platform by judging which bank offers the best design and vice versa.

Even shopping centres have recently jumped onto the bandwagon of giving new red packets to customers who spend a minimum sum with their retailers! I was reminded numerous times by dearest mommy whenever she knew i am going for shopping.

Anyway, my total collection from red packets stands at S$463 this dragon year! It may seem like a yearly windfall but i have been trained since young to return the main bulk to my parents.

In the past, my mom will deposit the money into my savings bank account although nowadays, i would give it back as i understand that their expenses on red packets can be astonishing!

On a lighter note, the last day of CNY also means i can finally resolve an irritation - plucking and shaving my unsightly stubble!

Yi Jia South Village Seafood Restaurant (一家南村海鲜) - Epic Salted Egg Crab @ 550-552 Macpherson Road

On 29 December 2011, a fellow foodie proclaimed on facebook to have tasted the best salted egg crab in Singapore.

Given my latest affection with crabs cooked in this style, i knew it would be a matter of time before i stepped into Yi Jia South Village seafood restaurant!

Exactly a month after his posting, on the 7th day of Chinese New Year, my family gathered in Yi Jia's Macpherson branch to celebrate 人日; the day when humans are supposedly created and typically viewed by Chinese as the birthday for everyone.

Its main branch in Toa Payoh Lorong 7 was featured in the popular TV show on Channel 8: Sizzling Woks (煮炒来了) and the three featured dishes garnered a really good review - with one scoring full marks!

These three dishes were therefore a must-order.

But before that, let's begin with lo hei to usher in a prosperous, fortunate Dragon Year! This salad dish (发财鱼生) has become so synonymous with Chinese New Year that many of us could have had this more than five times over the fifteen days of festive celebration.

Jovyn was curious - it's her very first encounter with such an action-filled, noisy way of eating.

Strawberry Chicken

草莓酥鸡

In normal circumstances, you would never find me ordering any weird combination when it comes to food. However, there are always exceptions to this rule; for example, it was featured on national television!

Remember yam yam; the elongated crunchy biscuits with a side section filled with cream for you to dip in? The delish strawberry cream of Yam Yam came to mind when i took a bite!

Personally, i can accept this innovative twist and was in fact surprised that such a combi can turn out to be pretty good.

Garlic Pork Ribs

蒜子排骨

Another TV-featured dish - this was less palatable than the guinness stout pork ribs, honey pork ribs etc that i totally enjoyed. Indeed there was a gentle garlic sensation but i don't see why this would stand out from the others.

Beancurd with Chai Po

家乡自制豆腐

Most things taste great with preserved radish (known as chai po in Hokkien) - you can give me a bowl of porridge with a plate of freshly fried chai po and i am guaranteed to be satisfied.

The same goes for this homemade beancurd topped with a generous amount of oily preserved radish. There's nothing out of ordinary about this dish although none of us has any complaint either.

Honeydew Prawns with Thousand Island Dressing

千岛蜜瓜虾球

Simply put - the display was a pretty sight and my expectation was high since this was given a full score on national television by the hosts and a local celebrity chef!

Cavin LOVES it!!!

The prawns balls were essentially 100% mashed up fresh prawns encased in a solid flour mix but what's most interesting (and of course the most delicious) was the tangy thousand island dressing (mixed with the fruity essence of honeydew) covering each of them.

Chilli Crab

辣椒螃蟹

This was in fact one of the better chilli crabs in Singapore that managed to satisfy the fragrance, spiciness and shiokness criteria. There's a problem though; the fried buns to go with the chilli crabs were disappointing.

Salted Egg Crab

咸蛋螃蟹

My main purpose of visit.

As you can see, the crab was devoid of any noticeable liquid on the surface. To the uninitiated, this could jolly well be a bigger version of softshell crab.

But this was way more awesome! As i chomped down the crustacean's shell, i could not help noticing the crusts breaking into powder form that, once came into contact with your taste buds, resulted in an optimal balance of both sweetness and saltiness.

Despite being fried, the crab meat remained moist, sweet and succulent!

Epic would be a damn suitable word to describe this dish. C'mon, the concoction is addictive enough for me to bite off the main casing and chew it like a softshell crab!

Sorry Uncle Leong; this salted egg crab was unfortunately a notch better than yours. Of course, this is MY opinion.

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Location

550-552, Macpherson Road

Map

Look above

Reservation

6747-8263

Price

Strawberry Chicken (M) - S$14

Garlic Pork Ribs (M) - S$14

Beancurd with Chai Po - S$11

Honeydew Prawns w 1000 Island (L) - S$32

Chilli and Salted Egg Crabs - S$67.20 in total

NO GST and NO Service Charge!