Halal Mon Chinese Beef Roti (酥小蒙牛肉饼) @Westgate in Jurong East [Singapore]

The initial lunch venue was supposed to be clementi but the carpark was so full; we decided to travel further to Westgate instead, and opting for the food junction food court where there would be more variety for us to choose from. 

I circled all the stalls once and decided to go with something interesting; the Mon Chinese Beef Roti! Halal certified, I recall it was like a new food fad amongst our Muslim friends, even though it looked suspiciously like roujiamo. 

Handmade daily in an open kitchen, it's a spectacular show, done with speed and efficiency using a precise 28-step process, to draw your eyeballs. 

What I didn't notice, however, were the small prints on the simple menu which had only two items; chicken roti and beef roti. Small prints indicated that the preparation time would take 25 minutes, cooking another 15 minutes and each piece serves two! 

Thankfully, my wait was only about ten minutes as there wasn't much of a queue. And what I got was a piping hot serving of mon chinese beef roti! 

Frankly, I felt that serving two was a bit of pushing it. Although it was a tad thick, there was that impression that this was like a fried till crispy donut, albeit without the hole in the middle.

Some had mentioned in their reviews that the texture of the roti was similar to roti prata, which I agree to a certain extent, except that it was crispier, flakier without being as oily as expected. Flavour wise, it lacked the unmistakably prata taste.

Honestly, I presume this would be more similar to roujiamo, also from China, where there would likely be a strong dose of cumin. Not in this case as the onions swarmed the taste buds, complemented with the juicy minced beef that had a peppery and strong beefy flavour I found enticing! 

I thought this would be just nice for my stomach but it was a bit too much at this point. Well, it didn't stop me from ordering pancake shortly after. p.s. there's always a separate stomach for desserts.

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Address

3 Gateway Drive, #B1-29,

Stall 1, Food Junction, Westgate,

Singapore 608532

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Beef Roti - S$5.00

Walk Outside 黄山观云度假村 (Huangshan Guanyun Hotel)

One of the advantages of being old is that it will get increasingly hard for us to sleep in, and this meant waking up earlier and when you are stuck in a hotel in the middle of nowhere; you would still attempt to explore the surroundings.

The above was exactly what we did at Huangshan Guanyun Hotel, on a misty morning, coupled with a nice, cool climate, and a surrounding that felt peaceful.

Not to also mention that the flock of ducks did provide some light entertainment for us. If I die, I would love to be reincarnated as a duck living at this hotel, where I can freely explore. Not sure if I would be food or not though.

Some village houses that don't seem to belong to the hotel but there didn't seem to be many around. Even though the houses look welcoming, I am not prepared to be slapped with a crime for trespassing. 

Large pen for poultry! Just a thought; the poultry should be quite scared of the cold? How do they regulate their temperature given that they thrive quite well in the tropics too?

The never-ending road and given the mistiness, it could very well lead to the fictional town of silent hill. Boy, I wouldn't dare to walk or even drive along this stretch at night. It would have given me the creeps and constant goosebumps! 

Daytime it was.

And a photo we shall take.

The fields were actually filled with rapeseed flowers, which would be one of the most common sights when you travel to the countryside of China; common yet breathtakingly beautiful especially when they covered a large plot of land.

Even though they might look like large clusters of blooms from afar, the rapeseed flowers are actually quite small. The flowers were on top of the plants; hence, giving the illusion that they were large swathes of yellow until you get closer.

As the board indicated, this area is part of the Yixian International Rural Tourism Resort that spanned 35 square kilometers and embodied huizhou culture. What's the most famous attraction in Yixian? It has to be Hongcun; a 900-year old village that's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

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Click HERE for our 8 Days Huangshan, Tunxi, Yixian, Wuyuan, Mount Qiyun, Thousand-Island Lake, Hangzhou Tour Package to China via CTC Travel Agency

The Cruise Down Xin'An River at Huangshan City in Anhui Province [China]

The coach ride from Lakeside Ancient Village to the above tourist centre was so short; we could have just endured the drizzle and walk there ourselves without the need to keep our brollies! 

Okay, I need to eat my words as I just checked the map, and realized it was more than a kilometer away; a distance my elderly tour mates are not likely to cover without any complaint. 

Whatever the case, we shall be taking a cruise along Xin'An River; a vital waterway in the past, we shall be boarding the traditional-looking Chinese boat and covering just a short section of the 365-kilometer long river.

Unlike most boats, this was like a huge living room, making it easy for me to take a group photograph! With large window panes, it's also easier to take in the sights although the lack of windows meant it can get quite stuffy. 

There's also a second level for better ventilation and relaxing in the river breeze! Problem was, the drizzle was relentless and getting wet would have been so uncomfortable! Down to the first level. 

Dad with the China flag. 

Start of our cruise. Given how important this river was in ancient times, connecting the region to the Qiantang River in the northeast, I expected a lot of movements but river traffic was literally non-existent. Maybe easier and cheaper to take the roads. 

So, my eyes were drawn to the activities along the riverbanks. Like the pumping of river water, and the line of anglers waiting for their catch in the rain. 

Going to the front of the vessel, where the colors of the photographs turned out to be more vibrant. Nowadays, I don't bring along my bulky DSLR, and photographs taking using mobile phones can be quite hard to amend, I feel.

Cruising past the Lakeside Ancient Village we visited less than an hour ago and passing by the 111-meter long Huizhou Cultural Wall. It actually looked impressive from the above angle, although the buildings behind kind of spoilt it. Oh well, the juxtapositioning of both modern and historical. 

What I didn't know then was that the boat was travelling towards the Tunxi Old Street, one of the major attractions at Huangshan City, and pretty near where we would be staying for the night that day.

Going underneath the Pedestrian Guanguang Suo Bridge (人行观光索桥); honestly, this was one of the worst name ever since it just meant pedestrian scenic bridge, which could be given to any of the millions of bridges in China. 

It was spring but temperature remained pretty low.

And someone was swimming in the river! Respect max.

I thought we were continuing down the river, maybe to Tunxi Old Street but no, the boat made a u-turn. Distance it covered was maybe only about three kilometers! 

Well, the whole lot of us weren't complaining since it was pretty boring in the boat, and with the rain making it impossible to go up to the second deck; most of our tour mates appeared bored, with a few of them taking a snooze. 

You can roughly imagine with the above video. 

Bypassing the Lakeside Ancient Village again. 

Aside from the Lakeside Ancient Village and the Huizhou Cultural Wall, another highlight along the river would be the King Sun's Pavilion (孙王阁) on the right, on top of a hill. The history of the pavilion goes back to the Ming Dynasty but the original structure was destroyed in 1958, and this 18-meter replacement was completed in 2012. Sadly, no opportunity to climb up. 

Message with a very communist propaganda vibe but it actually meant "the world's beauty, and the beauty is Huangshan", playing homage to the province's most famous attraction.

About to reach the same terminal we departed from.

Chinese inscription on the cliffside; translating as the great scenery of Xin An! Well, I found it quite puzzling as you don't really need to have words to describe the scenery when you are there to experience it for real. 

And we were still continuing our way!

So, maybe a longer distance covered, I presume?

Remember my earlier sentence when I mentioned that boat traffic on the river was like non-existence for a historically vital waterway. Turned out a dam was built along the Xin'An river and that actually removed the practicality of having boats around to transport goods! 

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Click HERE for our 8 Days Huangshan, Tunxi, Yixian, Wuyuan, Mount Qiyun, Thousand-Island Lake, Hangzhou Tour Package to China via CTC Travel Agency