Entree Kibbles: October 2025

Sunday, October 12, 2025

1-Alfaro - Modern Italian Rooftop Restaurant (La Torre) & Bar (La Luna) @ Labrador Tower in Singapore

I truly like rooftop bars and restaurants, for a very simple reason; I wouldn't have to pay extra for the view provided the building is tall enough and offers a breathtaking panorama!

Hence, when I heard of 1-Alfaro, a rooftop restaurant and bar, at Labrador Tower, I suggested it as a venue for a birthday dinner for a friend! p.s. it helped that the tower was near where I worked, just a few train stations away.

To get to 1-Alfaro, you have to first go through the main lobby of Labrador Tower. While it might appear that all lift lobbies required special access, you have to go to the far left.

A special lift lift shall bring us up to the topmost floor; level 34.

How tall is Labrador Tower? 183 meters!

Interior of the indoor restaurant wing - La Torre.

Photographs taken at night when we left.

Outdoor shall be the outdoor bar known as La Luna. Correct me if I am wrong but it looked more like an extension of the restaurant, and for people who love outdoor, non-air-conditioned seating.

Not for me as I love air-conditioning in hot and humid Singapore. I could tolerate the humidity at night when temperature is cooler, but the sun had yet to set. Sadly, only outdoor seating was available; so, suck thumb.

Nevertheless; let's be positive as it was a cloudy day and there was a light breeze! Furthermore, it's hard not to marvel at the impressive landscape, facing the busy Singapore Straits, where more than a thousand ships pass through everyday!

With an unblocked view, it was mental therapy for the tired soul. And just in case you are wondering if access is granted only for diners of 1-Alfaro; it's not! The 34th floor can be accessed by anyone, and at no cost, from what I see.

Beer - it's a Monday evening and with all the blues that came with the start of the week, a glass of draft beer would be necessary to cheer me up! Gosh, I am turning into a habitual beer drinker; nowadays quite common to be one glass a day!

Classic Cocktail - a Margarita for the birthday boy but I stole a sip. Well, I am no cocktail connoisseur and prefer the bitterness from beer nowadays.

La Luna Twist - I was wondering what flatbread was and totally didn't expect pieces of wrap with just a dip! But, the dip was a clear winner for the bland flatbread; it's like a perfect combination of tomato puree and onions! Sweet yet sour. Yummy for sure.

Wagyu Fat Potato - like cuts of thick potatoes, and likely fried in beef fat. Not bad tasting but S$16, you can give this a miss. For me, a plate of truffle fries would have been more appealing.

Fried Lasagna - I love lasagna and this was ordered due to curiosity on my end! Ingredients included beef, mozzarella cheese, parmesan tomatoes, basil and bagnetto rosso; latter of which I have no idea what it was.

Whatever the case, it was unforgettably palatable! Cheesy with bites of minced beef, these five pieces of fried lasagna would be well-like by lasagna lovers, with only one complaint. Each piece was just too tiny!

And you need to dip it in the onion-tomato dip!

Sedap max!

Spring Chicken - said to be renowned for its rich flavour and tender texture, this nicely named French Savel Cornfed Spring Chicken "Galletto" was just normal.

Bolognese Pasta - said to be house-made tagliatelle, this was like atas mee pok, with an earthly flavour. Taste wise, acceptable. Look, I am not into authenticity so don't count on me should you be into flavors from Italy. I have never been there too.

Seafood Stew - this should be a safe dish, I feel, and the broth was indeed intensely rich with the flavours of crustacean, and prawns were fresh! Clams had sand in them (lucky I didn't break any teeth), fish was mushy and bread was too chewy for my liking!

With nightfall, visibility dropped and the little battery operated light on our table was switched on for some visibility. I am glad we ordered our food earlier as I wouldn't be able to see what we had. And it would be bad for phone photography too!

Night view in Singapore remained spectacular. With all the light pollution we have on mainland Singapore, I can understand why Singaporeans can't see much stars.

We were lucky to catch glimpses of the full moon that day!

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Would I be back? The food was nothing to shout about although the view was nice, the atmosphere was relaxed. I have more of a beef with the unacceptable service of 1-Alfaro, with the exception of one gentleman. The rest were either haughty, unfriendly or a combination of both.

When you have outdoor seating, it's important for any dining establishment to ensure someone is stationed there at all times. I had to go in to the restaurant twice to have my order taken! I was pretty pissed off by the obvious lack of service, and decided to go elsewhere for desserts.

Address

1 Pasir Panjang Rd, #34-00,

Labrador Tower, Singapore 118479

(Next to Labrador Park MRT Station)

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.1-alfaro.sg/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Classic Cocktail - S$28.00 (1 for 1)

Twin Beer - S$25.00 (Happy Hour)

La Luna Twist - S$12.00

Fried Lasagna - S$16.00

Wagyu Fat Potato - S$16.00

Spring Chicken - S$28.00

Bolognese Pasta - S$28.00

Seafood Stew - S$32.00

(Subject to Service Charge and GST)

Kaohsiung Light Rail @ Taiwan

Light rail systems in Singapore don't have a good reputation, given their repeatedly breakdowns and high cost that make everyone wonder why we can't just invest in more public buses to navigate the existing roads instead.

But the Kaohsiung Light Rail seemed different as it was more like a tram system with tracks on ground and even accompanied with grass that I wondered if they were fake in the first place!

Operational since 2017 "over a length of 22.1 kilometers" and with 38 stations that formed an inner loop within Kaohsiung City, it had a daily ridership of about 10,000, which is way lower than Singapore's Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (LRT), averaging about 64,000.

According to Wikipedia, each car is "34 meters (112 ft) in length, and are able to transport a total of 250 passengers (seated, and standing)". In comparison, each car for Bukit Panjang LRT is "12.8 meters long and has a capacity of 105 passengers".

Unlike Singapore's LRT, there was no barrier to the tracks and that to us was flabbergasting as it gave rise to a heightened safety risk. This reminded me of Hanoi Train Street, which had seen quite a few injuries.

I am not worried about the Taiwanese, known for their consideration. civic and civil mindedness but it's always the foreigners, who would not know better. And to make things worse, the trains are driverless for Kaohsiung Light Rail.

The trains glided so smoothly along the tracks! I didn't manage to take Kaohsiung Light Rail in my recent trip but I would look forward to doing so in my next trip, which I hope would be very soon!

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Website

https://www.krtc.com.tw/eng/KLRT/

Click HERE for the Summarized Itinerary for Our 8 Days 7 Nights See Iconic Taiwan Anew Tour Package via Chan Brothers

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Hamasen Railway Cultural Park (哈瑪星鐵道園區) and Penglai Area of The Pier2 Art Center @ Kaohsiung City in Taiwan

I didn't know how big The Pier2 Art Center was and totally assumed the stretch beyond this 30-meter wide road would be, simply, an extension of the popular attraction.

However, it featured the same kind of warehouses and there was a corresponding , that was literally one of a couple; the other being a .

As with the rest of Pier2, be entertained by the many quirky artwork on display; like the , the and an innovative futuristic machine made from spare parts of numerous machineries.

Conversion of abandoned warehouses into areas of activities, including as art exhibition halls, which totally wouldn't appeal to arts idiots like me.

This kind would be fun and more appealing; pity I wasn't in the mood to get sweaty. Gosh, I felt old. Anyway, it cost more than S$10 for 30 minutes for the ; time better spent relaxing and without looking like a goondu in the eyes of non-players.

was closed on Tuesdays! While I am not a train fanatic, my nephew is and I thought a few pictures of the interior would entice him to persuade his mum to bring him to Taiwan!

There were like mini train tracks all over the place and I am guessing a cutesy little train would chug along the trains every half an hour or something. To train fans, imagine having such a humongous train circuit running from indoors to outdoors; that would have been a dream for many.

What's a dilapidated building doing here?! That's the beauty; having something absolutely out of place, with trees growing out of its broken walls, amidst all the restored structures! I love.

It's a toilet by the way.

Next up was a scene that blew my mind away! An expansive space, like a humongous field, with numerous train tracks running through it and dotted with artworks in sync with the environment! Grass was a bit brown.

An impressive , providing much shade in the Railway Cultural Park. A piece of trivia; banyan trees are considered sacred in Buddhism.

Like a scene from an , this was repurposed as a swing! This would have looked even more eye-popping if installed on top of a hill!

Ridiculously large piece of luggage,on wheels, with metal pieces stitched up to look like patched up leather. You definitely need a giant to move it.

Uncomfortable furniture, fit for giants again.

History of this area; Hamasen is actually Japanese for "" and was a major "hub for railway and ocean cargo" given its proximity to a port that can park 40 below-10,000-tonne ships during world war 2. It was badly bombed during the war though.

While the tracks were no longer in use, there was still a service track for Kaohsiung Light Rail and an underground MRT station for the . The old station was also maintained and now known as .