Xin Peng Chinese Restaurant (鑫鹏菜馆) @ Yishun [Singapore]

For someone who has been complaining almost relentlessly that we have too many eateries selling China cuisine; I have to admit that even my palate has now shifted slightly, with pretty regular visits.

Aside from A Kitchen at Yishun Junction 9, and Xiang Xiang Chinese Cuisine, my family, was also obsessed with the dishes from Xin Peng Chinese Restaurant; more my elder sister's family who will visit like once every one or two weeks! 

Even I have patronized three times and thought I should give it a proper review this round; with orders of my favorite dishes, and meat skewers that I found irresistible with a bottle of Chinese beer. Without further ado, let's begin.

Shandong Fried Dumplings - 12 pieces for just S$6.00?! I understand that those who hail from Northern China can totally rely on dumplings instead of rice as main meals, without the need for side dishes.

And they didn't disappoint with their thin skin, generous meat filling that was both delicious and satisfying with thick cuts of ginger soaked in vinegar! 

3-Type Vegetables - more saucy than expected and while I am no stranger to 地三鲜; this version wasn't the one I prefer. The one etched deeply in my memory, that was the best so far, would be the one from Xiang Yan (品香筵餐馆), which has, unfortunately, closed permanently. 

Braised Pork Casserole - I adore braised pork belly and ordered this on a whim, even though my family and I had never tried it before in our past visits. 

More orangey than their usually dark soy-sauce shade, the infusion of the braiseness was significantly weak, without the sweetness I am more accustomed to. Granted the meat was tender with a layer of almost melty fat but the crunchy cauliflower appealed to me better. 

Sichuan Pepper Chicken - my first encounter with Xin Peng Chinese Restaurant was when my elder sister tabao the 辣子鸡, and I can totally understand why it is a favorite among diners! 

In addition to a lavish portion that had a high meat ratio (some restaurants have more dried chilli than meat), I love the little nuggets of meat with a crispy batter and personally also enjoy the lightly fried sliced garlic and peanuts that were perfect with my bottle of cold beer! 

Sweet and Sour Pork - 辣子鸡 might be the first dish from Xin Peng Chinese Restaurant that caught my attention, yet the must-order in my opinion would be this 锅包肉!

Lightly crisp on the outside, each large piece was caramelized with a light vinegarish sourness; they were so unforgettably good that the need for dieting was absolutely abandoned. Thank god I have many people to share this with me!

Kids will likely be captivated by this! 

p.s. good as a snack too; sinful though.

 

Mixed Meat Skewers - a range of skewers comprising of pork, beef, mutton, chicken, and mushrooms. It didn't help that it's a minimum of three sticks per meat (p.s. I confirmed with the staff).

Now, I did like the mutton which had juicy pieces of fats in between its meat and the pork was quite soft and tender; however, as far as skewers go, the ones from A Kitchen were better tasting, and slightly cheaper too! 

=====

Tried some of the dishes I had before, and experienced a few new ones. My recommendation for new customers would be the Shandong Fried Dumplings, Sichuan Pepper Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork!

Address

292 Yishun Street 22, #01-271,

East Courtyard, Singapore 760292

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Shandong Fried Dumpling - S$6.00

3-Type Vegetables - S$11.50

Sichuan Pepper Chicken - S$13.50

Braised Pork Casserole - S$15.90

Sweet and Sour Pork - S$15.90

Mutton Skewers - S$3.90 (for 3)

Beef Skewers - S$3.90 (for 3)

Pork Skewers - S$3.50 (for 3)

Chicken Skewers - S$3.50 (for 3)

Mushroom Skewers - S$3.50 (for 3) 

(NETT)

Shin Sei Green Waterway (新盛綠川水岸廊道) @ Taichung City in Taiwan

Once a canal that's now converted into a relaxing oasis, Shin Sei Green Waterway felt detached from the bustle flanked by two busy streets called Luchuan East Street and Luchuan West Street.

Formerly known as the Xinsheng River, it was said to be heavily polluted until a revitalization project changed it into an ecological park! Frankly, I didn't keep a lookout back in 2014, when I first visited Taichung City.

Knowing Taiwan, there would not be any lack of creativity to make this waterway stand out, with decorative features that eliminates or reduces the boredom one might experience with yet another park.

Maybe due to the cool weather or maybe due to the timing; I did notice that the waterway was well-used by residents, and not a white elephant as with the case in some places. However, users appeared to be non-Taiwanese. 

Turned out the waterway was near to ASEAN Square, which was popular with migrants from Southeast Asian countries! Gosh, I didn't know about it and this explained why there were so many eateries selling ASEAN cuisines in the area.

More photos!

Water was so clean that I could vividly see the fishes swimming! 

How come our Singapore River can't have such clarity?! 

According to the above, 24,000 tons of sewage were treated daily and one filtration method used to clean them was the use of stones / pebbles! 

Shhhh, someone was already sleeping at the underground passage alongside the waterway. Looked like a homeless chap although I am more surprised that he was sleeping so early; it's only about 5.13pm! 

Was it the sunset or was it the environment? I was alone (Alex decided to rest in the hotel room) yet I was totally at peace here as I walked along the 422-meter pavement alongside the waterway.

With the sound of cascading mini-waterfalls. 

Information panels were also placed to explain more about waterway and its importance for flood control, without any English text. Now, I am okay with reading Chinese characters but some terminology is literally lost on me. 

Look at all the fishes! 

For a moment, I thought this was a real tortoise.

Turned out to be decorative.

No more pavement.

Yet the flowers by the slopes flanking the waterway still managed to cheer me up. There's just something about the vividness in flowers that had that magical reach to soothe the soul.

And what bird was this?! Let's use Google Image. Okay, supposed to be a black-crowned Night Heron and it's supposedly quite common in Singapore too. Damn, I am obviously not that observant.

Loving the designed manhole covers!

Why don't we have something like this in Singapore. 

=====

Address

In between Luchuan East and West Streets,

Central District, Taichung City, Taiwan

Map

As above.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)