Basil King - Basil Pork with Double Egg @ Chong Pang in Yishun [Singapore]

Pad Kaprow is a Thai dish that I fell in love with after trying a good one at Mix Chatuchak in Bangkok; to the extent I even purposely travelled to Ekkamai to check out the highly rated Phed Mark. 

We don't have to travel so far anymore as there's now a chain of Basil King stalls dotted all over our little red dot! As of November 2025, there were 17 branches for you to choose from in Singapore! 

Even though there were four types of basil meat (pork, beef, chicken and prawns), procrastination didn't hit and I went with the most classic meat; pork basil it shall be. After payment, collect your "pager" and wait patiently for your food.

While the basil with meat would be the signature, I can't help noticing that Phed Mark had set a standard for Thai basil dishes nowadays; the addition of a sunny side up with crisp, almost burnt edges! 

Moo Ping - Aside from the basil dishes, there were also spring roll and moo ping as side orders; of course I would choose moo ping! The grilled pork here tasted pretty good (not porky) although texture was hard, making me wonder if it was freshly cooked on the same day. 

Basil Pork - after a frustrating wait of 15 minutes, I placed this beautiful plate on my table right in front of the stall; just the visual of the double fried eggs was a battle half won. Let's dig in! 

The eggs might not be as perfect as the ones from Phed Mark but they were still impressive; commanding gooey raw yolks that soaked the dry rice, with a crisp base that made me go ohhhh with every bite. 

Again compared to Phed Mark, the basil pork was nicer here with the chef being real generous with the serving of minced pork! However, the basil flavor was a tad weak and I think I should have gone with the 3rd level of spiciness; the second level I asked for did result in sweat but a higher level might have been more shiok! 

=====

Address

Block 101 Yishun Ave 5, 

#01-101, BK Eating House, 

Singapore 760101

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Moo Ping - S$1.90

Basil Pork (Double Egg) - S$7.90

阿鳳浮水虱目魚羹 - Milkfish Thick Soup @ Tainan in Taiwan

Over 4,400 reviewers and a high review score of 4.3 on Google Maps made my eyes sparkle and although I am not big on thick soup; the word milkfish enticed us to give it a try. p.s. my favorite fish is cod, and milkfish is a close second. 

Shop was surprisingly quiet but I had to be mindful that it was way past the morning breakfast peak (it opened from 7am) and the lunch crowd had yet to descend at 10.50am.

Milkfish Thick Soup - we were not looking for something heavy and only went with the above. Plain looking, unexciting with thin strips of raw ginger, vinegar and chopped coriander leaves providing the colors.

Took a sip and the texture and taste reminded me so much of shark's fin soup! Milkfish was literally fishballs, and judging from the inconsistent shape; likely handmade. I am not a fan of fishballs but this mikfishballs I would heartily accept; tasted sweeter with bites of milkfish within! 

Loving it and finish everything up in no time! 

A much less cruel "shark's fins" soup. 

=====

Address

59, Bao An Road, 

West Central District,

Tainan City, Taiwan

Map

As above.

Pricing

Milkfish Thick Soup - NT$70

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)

Baked Chestnuts from Panda Chan Snack @ Plaza Singapura

Some friends know I can get quite obsessed with chestnuts, especially those roasted ones! Hence, when my family waxed lyrical about the chestnuts from Panda Chan Snack; I decided to check out its branch at Plaza Singapura.

Said to be organic, and hailed from the best chestnut producing area in China (from Yanshan Mountain in Hebei Province), the chestnuts here were said to be bigger than the ones I was more accustomed to. 

Inhouse oven to bake the chestnuts, which were stored at below freezing point in order to preserve their freshness. Guess how low? Minus 38 degrees celcius! 

I am not willing to wait and opted for the ready ones; said to be still warm. 

Small box containing 300 grams of chestnut, that cost me a pricey S$8.10. With good reviews from my family, I guess it would still be worth a shot. What's the worst that could happy? Just a blog review lamenting my disappointment.

Unravelling the precious-es within! 

Of course I can't wait to bite into one! 

Unlike chestnuts from some places, the ones here had an open slit which would make it much easier for us to de-shell! There were vacuum-packed chestnuts that were de-shelled but they usually taste a bit weird, and wet.

The ones from Panda Chan Snack were dry, and that's a plus point. However, I did find that the chestnuts always had remnants stuck to the shells, and that's frustrating for me; like a waste of 'meat' ! 

Sadly, I didn't like what I popped into my mouth; the texture was mushy and taste was too bland, without the earthy chestnut flavor that I was so looking forward to having.

I had another three more and they were all the same, including the "meat" sticking stubbornly to their inner shell. The whole pack was given to my mom and to be fair, she did say they tasted better the next day. 

As the name of the shop suggested, there were plenty of other snacks to choose from, and samplings were provided. I love sampling and before I knew it; my total bill shot beyond S$50! I thought I was disciplined enough to just focus on chestnuts!

Get these roasted cashew nuts and the organic pistachio kernels; they were honestly irresistible! And S$8.70 and S$10.80 per 100 grams, respectively?! Obviously, the price didn't register on me, until I was at the register. Shame on me; given my diploma in marketing! 

=====

Address

68 Orchard Rd, B2-12, 

Plaza Singapura, 

Singapore 238839

Map

As above.

Pricing

Baked Chestnuts - S$8.10 for 300 grams

Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣) @ Kaohsiung City in Taiwan

(Visited in January 2025)

The blazing sun stopped us in our track, underneath the tentage, and I can sense the hesitation from Alex, who had absolutely no interest in checking religious structures. 

But I was unwilling to waste the opportunity; given how far Taiwan was from Singapore, it would at least be a year or two before I would return to check out the Spring and Autumn Pavilions, although I was more curious about the humongous structures of dragon, Guanyin Bodhisattva and her attendants.

So here we went; braving the bright sun!

It was winter; why so hot?! 

Oh, the dragon had a mouth that we can enter too!? This would be similar to the nearby Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔) with one major difference; it was open for entry! 

Let's step in and see what's inside the dragon's body! 

It was surprisingly heavily decorated, with bright, colorful murals depicting deities, gods, and of legends from Buddhism and Taoism, typical of a syncretic religion common even in amongst the Singaporean Chinese. 

Straight path; just a number of staircases going up and down. Not much description for the murals so it might be quite boring for visitors who can't read Chinese, and didn't understand the meaning behind some of the murals.

Chinese angels signifying the end of the passage. The two couplets expressed "favorable wind and timely rain" which was used more for agriculture and "prosperous country and peaceful citizens"; favorable blessings for a country. 

Damn, we came out of the dragon's ass as if we were poop! 

Checking out one of the Spring and Autumn Pavilions which was built in 1953 and featured, two four-storey pagodas! I can't wait to check out the upper floors for better photo taking.

Accessible only for staff! This riled me as the main reason for having pagoda would be to climb up right?! At least for me. Whatever the case, it was a bummer for me. :(

Main attraction would actually be the dragon for sure. According to Wikipedia, there was a local legend  of :Guanyin riding a dragon appeared in the clouds and instructing her followers to build a representation of her between the two pavilions"; hence, the construction. 

The not too far away Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔).

More photographs, and a closer look of Guanyin Bodhisattva and her attendants; two children; girl was called Longnü (dragon girl) and the boy was Shancai (child of wealth). There's also a bird which could have been a condor or eagle, and it was holding on to what appeared to be a pearl necklace. 

A half moon pond said to have hundreds of tortoises.

Maybe too hot; I didn't see that many suntanning. 

I don't know what you call this? A column / totem with a statue of an ancient Chinese general. Was this a reference to the patron deity for the main temple of Spring and Autumn Pavilions, Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War?

=====

Address

No. 36, Liantan Rd, Zuoying District, 

Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 

Map

As above.

Operating Hours

7.00 am till 9.00pm

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)