Sun Asian Bistro @ National University of Singapore (NUS)

I have always wanted to blog about this restaurant but as luck had it, forgetting to bring the camera is a frequent occurrence.

Thankfully, i had the chance to patronise this place on a non working day (Saturday) due to the Singapore Forum on Politics. The DSLR usually accompanies me on weekends.

Without further ado, the dishes.

Fish N Chips

Alex had this. It was normal (a bit over fried) and did not scream of anything unique or unusual. I guess the fish and chips in Le Muria has elevated our expectation of this common dish.

The coleslaw salad was more memorable; cold, crunchy, fresh and tasty!

Apricot Chicken

Lockie boy ordered this. The batter was too thick and it had its lucky stars to thank that the sweet sauce enhanced the taste tremendously! 

The only apricot inkling i had came from the sauce, which i initially thought was made from lemon! 

Sambal Fried Rice

Even though the KonMan drank loads of water after having this dish (blinking alert on MSG), i found it to be very palatable (maybe due to MSG) with only a slight sambal sensation.

Chilli lovers will be greatly disappointed i believe.

Prawn Aglio Olio

Different from the typical plain, un-sauced aglio olio i know, the one in Sun Bistro used the typical spaghetti tomato sauce as its base. I am not complaining because i do enjoy this variation.

Equally commendable was the really fresh prawns (love their crunchiness) and the stir fried mushrooms!

Chancellory's Symphony

I had to pick up a passenger (Ms SaNeVa) before this dish arrived. When i returned, it was already cold... with an altered taste. Ms Tan owes me one!

First recommended by Mrs Diane Lai eons ago, i remembered the rich, creamy chocolate oozing out from the piping hot souffle!

Sinful indeed (then).

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Price

Fish N Chips - S$12.90

Apricot Chicken - S$14.90

Sambal Fried Rice - S$6.90

Prawn Aglio Oglio - S$14.90

Chancellory's Symphony - S$7.90

10% Service Charge but no GST.

Peanuts and wet towels charged separately.

Location

Within NUS Staff Club

30, Lower Kent Ridge Road

Additional Information

Not open on Sunday!!

(佛牙寺) Buddha Tooth Relic Temple @ Chinatown, Singapore

I had the opportunity (again) to visit the above mentioned temple today while waiting for Alex to finish gambling his money away at the newest casino in Singapore, the Marina Bay Sands.

To set the record straight, he lost S$1,100!

Please thank him for his contribution to Singapore's economy.

Coming back to this beautiful temple (design was from the Tang Dynasty era), it was my 3rd visit since its inception. Alone with my Nikon D5000, i took my time to walk through the four levels and rooftop.

I am not going to bore you with my naive understanding of Buddhism but i strongly recommend interested individuals to visit the temple for its wide array of Buddhist artifacts, statues, artworks, peaceful surrounding (at least for the upper levels) and attractive architecture.

First Floor

The Front Hall

The Back Hall

Offering for the Bodhisattvas

I saw this in Bangkok before, in Wat Pho.

The kids will love to donate just by hearing the ching-ching-ching.

Lining the walls of the halls were smaller sized Buddha statues. For the supposedly good fortune of yourself or your family, you can sponsor the tiny ones for a token (no idea how much though).

Mezzanine

Overlooking the first floor, this floor had some pretty good information on prominent local and and foreign monks. There was also an ancestral hall with unnamed tablets.

A prayer session was going on at the first floor!

Second Floor

I missed this floor!!!

How to get there ah?!?!?

Third Floor

The Buddhist Cultural Museum relates the life of Buddha and the spread of Buddhism. With a superb collection of artifacts from the Buddhist world, this museum was actually quite impressive.

A baby elephant and a monkey prostrating to a two meters high statue. 

Footprint of Buddha. For its meaning and symbolism, please click here.

Isn't this the highly revered emerald Buddha from Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok?!?! Must be a replica even though no information was available in the gallery.

My favourite artifact is this.

From far, it looked as if the statue was relaxing mid-air!

At the back, there is a Sacred Buddha Relics (舍利) Chamber. The best i can do was to take a picture of the entrance since no photography is allowed. For pictures, please click here.

Fourth Floor

Again, the strict "no photo taking allowed" policy as this is the main floor housing the most sacred treasure for the temple; the Buddha Tooth. The environment was serene and the floorings at the sides were elevated, allowing devotees to have a quiet time reciting the Buddhist sutras.

The magnificent main chamber was adorned with so many golden items like golden lanterns, pure gold tiles and of course, the pure gold stupa storing the tooth relic.

Seeing is believing!

Go and take a look yourself!

Rooftop

Want a nice place to read your book?

This is it!

In the middle of the rooftop is a Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, housing a huge prayer wheel in the middle. 

The prayer wheel! I saw this when i was in Yunnan two years back, in this Tibetans populated area called Shangri-La. The one there was much bigger and to surround it, you need more than fifteen persons!

Cases of Buddha statue that made up the 10,000 Buddhas for the rooftop! Of course, you can pay for yourself or your family to be part of it.

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Location

288, South Bridge Road

Within Chinatown

Price

Free admission!!

Donations welcome though.

Additional Information

The building is disabled friendly to cater for the pious elderly!

Side track a bit ah. Don't you think this sink (for the toilet) looks like an alms bowl used by the monks?

Last picture!

Golden Nur Nasi Briyani Special @ Golden Shoe Hawker Centre

It's been a long time since i met up with my sister for lunch and it was decided, after much procrasination that i should get a breather from the heavy, stressful workload recently!

Joyce (my sister) is super picky in food and she is seldom satisfied with my recommendations (i am such a sympathetic foodie). So when she recommended a particular nasi briyani in Golden Shoe Hawker Centre, my expectations spiked.

Queues usually symbolise good food and though there were around 6-7 persons in the line, service was fast and a plate of nasi briyani was brought to my presence by the maid of the house (Joyce) in no time!

On a closer look, i finally understood the "special" component for this dish; it was a mixture of nasi briyani and ayam penyet!!

The combination was pretty tasty with the tumeric fragrance from the curry soaked basmatic rice complementing the ever sinful deep fried chicken.

To perfect the dish, work must be done on the acar. It was too bland and i believe the nonya acar (with its distinctive grounded peanuts element) will be a better substitute.

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Location

Level 2, Unit 2 (#02-02)

Golden Shoe Hawker Centre

Price

$4.00 per plate!

Fruit Paradise Fruit Tart Shop and Cafe @ Vivocity

Singapore is a fruit paradise with the importation of fruits from all over the world. In 2007 alone, we import an impressive 358,177 tonnes of fruits (refer here)!

We are, however, talking about another fruit paradise, a cafe that specialises in selling fruit tarts.

From memory, those cute and small fruit tarts we were given for a relative or colleague's baby full month celebration should be the standard, normal dimension. Fruit Paradise introduces a bigger version that i thought has minimal differences from the many fruit cakes for sale in neighbourhood bakeries.

There's one BIG difference though.

The amount of fruit (or fruits depending on what you order) within a single slice of cake tart was amazing! But again, price counts. An S$8.00/slice cake has to have more ingredients than a S$3.80/slice one!  

Thankfully, the servings were pretty big too!!

Okay, there's another BIG difference; the taste.

Before commenting on that, i admit that the delicious display of numerous fake tarts looked so enticing; my saliva was excreting at a faster pace before i even ordered.

Coming back, my preference is with the fruit cakes (or tarts) from the neighbourhood bakeries.

One major issue i had was with the cream (or mousse). It was too rich, too generous and all i felt eventually was the oily layer down my throat. I like my cake to be sweeter and have more bite in the middle; a longer breather amidst all the creamery. 

Maybe i should try the other tarts (we had mango, chocolate banana and caramel banana) to have a fairer comparison but there's only so much our stomachs can hold.

The saviour for this cafe was no doubt its beef rice (forgot its official name).  

You know the feeling when you eat a very simple dish with not much garnishing, very simple ingredients and yet it warms your heart (and your stomach of course)?

It's that kind of feeling i had while having this dish. 

This beef rice will be the strongest reason for me to patronise this cafe again.  

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Location

Look Above

Price

A typical slice of fruit tart will set you back by around S$7 plus to S$8 plus. A set meal will be more economical.

For roughly S$16 plus, you get a slice of fruit tart, drinks (Italian Soda, coffee etc) and in our case, a plate of beef rice.

GST (7%) and service charge (10%) have not been added.