Bà Liễu Mẹ - Local Sesame Cake as Food Souvenirs @ Da Nang in Vietnam

Would you actively seek out local food snacks / souvenirs when you are overseas? I used to but realize that more than 75% of the time; the food doesn't appeal to my palates at all. 

Nevertheless, I would occasionally get tempted by the social media feeds and this was the reason why I walked all the way to this local store said to be operational since 1945; another twenty years to a full century! 

The moment I stepped in, I thought I had entered a tea shop. Maybe because we were too early (at 10am), it seemed like everything was still not ready to accept any customers. 

Known to be famous for their sesame cakes, I noticed that there were coconut cookies for sale too. This was quite similar to the ones we tried at La Charm Hoi An Hotel & Spa, which I thought was very nice! I am a bit apprehensive about the sesame cakes though. 

Looking around for a sample, I found it on the wooden table! Took a bite and no, not like my cup of tea. It tasted like this snack we can find in Singapore, soft with a coconut sweetness and coated with sesame seeds. 

While I didn't like it, I figured the older generation wouldn't mind and purchased a few boxes at 55,000 dong a box. Throwing in some coconut biscuits too, priced at 30,000 dong a pack. Go try if there are samplings, and decide if you should buy any! 

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Address

26 Lê Đình Dương, Phước Ninh, 

Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Una Una - Unagi Hitsumabushi @ Bugis + in Singapore

My mom loves seafood and while crab is her favorite; I can still remember the first time I brought her to check out unagi hitsumabushi at Man Man and her repeated praises on how good the food was! 

Since then, we had checked out a few unagi restaurants and today, I shall review the one we just went to last Saturday; Una Una located on level 5 of Bugis +. 

It's just so disturbing to see live eels in front of us! I gathered that most Asian, Chinese especially, prefer to have live tanks where they are assured that the food they are going to order would be the freshest! 

We were the first customers; hence the seemingly lack of customers, which was apparent for the rest of the eateries located on the same level. Anyway, Una Una claimed to be the most affordable Unagi Speciality Restaurant in town" - let's see!

Unagi Hitsumabushi - the nagoya style of eating unagi that I am obsessed with and given that it's been quite a while since my last unagi hitsumabushi, in August 2024 at Penang; I opted for the largest serving! 

The bowl was overflowing with the charcoal grilled unagi! Now, it's not my first time having Hitsumabushi and I knew exactly what to do.

For those who don't, please follow the above. If not, you wouldn't be able to truly appreciate the existence of dashi, wasabi, seaweed and spring onions.

I went straight with the second step; segmented a part of unagi and rice, mixed in with a dash of wasabi, seaweed and spring onions and took a huge spoonful. Satisfying! 

Best way to eat hitsumabushi was with the dashi broth! It just had that miraculous effect in intensifying the delicious flavour of grilled unagi, with its nice, sweet marinade that made me relish every mouthful, and awaiting for the next one. 

It was too much unagi, but hey; I am not complaining! As you can see from the photograph, the unagi was chunky and although you don't get the much loved crisp edges from unagi at Man Man, this was good enough for the price, without being mind-blowing.

And I cleaned up almost everything!

Not a fan of the seaweed soup though. 

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Address

201 Victoria Street, 

#05-02/03, Bugis +,

Singapore 188067

Map

As above.

Pricing

Unagi Hitsumabushi (Large) -  S$25.80

(Subject to Service Charge and GST)

Central Village Bangkok Luxury Outlet near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand

I guess many people would have heard of this outlet mall near Suvarnabhumi Airport but like me, would wonder why they build it so close to the airport when many tourists would have stayed at downtown Bangkok, and have absolutely no time to check it out!

Well, my attempt required me to arrive way in advance to store my luggage (payable and we used Bellugg) at the airport, and take a GRAB over to Central Village Bangkok Luxury Outlet mall that was about 11 kilometers away. 

The journey felt quite long, maybe about 20-30 minutes although it looked really near on Google Maps, like just about a kilometer from the southern end of Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Our visit was in July 2024, and we chanced upon the Greatest Grand Sale! While outlet malls generally offer products at a discount, having might discounts / offers wouldn't hurt! 

Before checking out the outlet mall with over 170 stores (said to be the biggest in Thailand), the first thing we needed to do was to placate our tummy! Let's have lunch at the Food Village within the open air outlet shopping mall. 

And of course a drink.

Singaporean's favorite milk tea.

I didn't realize there were quite a number of restaurants; our famished tummies had muddied our train of thoughts. If I had known, I might have opted for Bar-B-Q Plaza! Or maybe not since I would have taken a longer time to finish the meal, and there's still a flight to catch!

Activities to keep your young kids occupied.

For the carousel, a minimum spending of 500 baht would be required, although it operates daily, there were only four time slots! Shouldn't it be daily based on mall's operating hours? 

A wood theme playground; nowadays kids have it so good, but I had to admit that at least in Singapore, the drive for stellar academic results is of serious concern! 

Inspired by Thai architecture with clusters of nine villages (royal, clay, weaver, wooden, metal, brick, porcelain, texture and goldsmith), can you guess which is which from the above photographs?

I can't decipher; for me, I am more a visual person and things like the above (rainbow passage similar to the one at Chatuchak Weekend Market, and a metal sculpture of a stunningly beautiful fighting fish) would make my visit more memorable. 

Photographs taken at the shopfront for some of the branded stores. In addition to the lack of time, I don't have the patience to check out every single store within Central Village; hence, let's be strategic!

Love seeing discount posters like the above! However, I would have to grapple with my level of wants. When it comes to branded goods, needs would not be a consideration.

For some of the shops, I would just peep from outside to decide if it would be worth for us to step in. I am not a shopaholic so my way of shopping is grab and go, and I hate being put in a position where I spend time deliberating! 

For the luggage, I did make an effort as I had been on a lookout for a piece of luggage, of reputable brand, that weighed as low as possible, with a price tag that wouldn't burn a hole in my pocket! 

I was so tempted to get the sleeveless tee as it only cost 149 baht! 

That's less than S$6 apiece! And they were not of plain, solid color design.

Swarovski crystals; they always forced me to step in. 

If only they sell piggy banks, of pig shape, made of crystals. 

Instead of buy 1, get 1 free, it's buy 1, get 2 free!

Such a great deal, but I am not a fan of pink pather.

Keen footwear; I am aiming to get a pair or two, provided there were additional discounts. Since there weren't any, I shall hold my purchases. 

We allocated the most time at HOKA! Friends would know both Alex and I will only go for HOKA brand when it comes to running shoes, and I kid you not; we have about six pairs at home and Alex has the tendency to "stock" up whenever there is an irresistible deal! Yes, he bought two pairs. 

Oh my gosh, a dog and cart service!

You wouldn't never see this in Singapore!

And parking lots, reserved only for super cars. This would have resulted in a lot of talks about pandering to the rich in Singapore. Oh well, different countries, different workings.

Time to rush back to Suvarnabhumi Airport! 

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Address

98, 98/1 Suvarnabhumi 3 Rd, Bang Chalong, 

Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan 10540, Thailand

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.centralvillageoutlet.com/en/home

Floor Directory

As above.