Enjoying The Herbal Bak Ku Teh (肉骨茶) @ Leong Kee Klang Bak Ku Teh [梁记(巴生)肉骨茶]

Lovers of Bak Ku Teh (肉骨茶) are always split when it comes their preferences for the best Bak Ku Teh; Singapore versus Malaysia. The arguments can get really political, aggressive and at times, personal.

Not that i am keen to be drawn to this long standing debate but i personally prefer the herbal bak ku teh (aka Malaysia's style) versus the pepper bak ku teh (Singapore's style). No detailed reason as it is, like what i mentioned, a simple preference.

Therefore, when the Gang of Four walked past this herbal scented shop that proudly proclaims its Klang origin (the place in Malaysia that is famous for its bak ku teh) and sells nothing but bak ku teh, we had to make a temporary stop.

Business should be good enough for them to take over the shop next door for additional dining space! Fingers crossed though just in case. It's always good to have lower expectations than higher ones.

Contrary to most Bak Ku Teh (BKT) in Singapore that are cooked in a big pot and served in porcelain/plastic bowls, the ones in Leong Kee are dished out in scalding hot claypots.

Insane order after a full meal at a Swedish cafe: two claypots filled with BKT and two extra sides for two persons!

Pork Ribs Bak Ku Teh (Original)

I am just going to touch on one because the other was filled with disgusting internal organs. Gosh, who can even stomach stuff like that!? Definitely not me!

Five pieces of tender pork ribs were 'found' and i was satisfied with the herbal infusion. The meat easily fell off the bones, making them easier to be devoured!

Soup is of pertinent importance to any BKT! As you can see, herbal BKT is usually darker in colour than the peppery version. Taste wise, it tasted strong in the sweet herbal aspect although the feeling it gave was contradictory thin. It's only upon the addition of soy sauce that the taste became marginally better!

One and only complaint i had was on the thick residue lying at the bottom of the claypot!

Braised Tau Pok (豆薄)

No like. It's like fried beancurd in soy sauce. Give me deep fried smelly tofu anytime!

Salted Vegetables

My desired style must be salty (obviously), sweet and crunchy. This one in Leong Kee only met the first criterion. Need i say more? :P

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Shall be back when weather in Singapore turns cooler!

Location

321, Beach Road.

(Corner Shop bordering Sultan Gate and Beach Road)

Price

Pork Ribs BKT - S$5.50 each

Braised Tau Pok - S$0.50 per pax

Salted Vegetables - S$0.50 per pax

No GST and no Service Charge

Additional Information

For my review on Singapore's very own Founder Bak Ku Teh, please click the following link; http://cavinteo.blogspot.com/2009/02/gastronomic-weekend-beside-usual.html

Life-Sized Statue along Joo Chiat Place

While driving along Joo Chiat Place, Ms SaNeVa suddenly exclaimed that there's something in one of the houses lining the road. The image of a ghost immediately came to my mind although the bright sunlight continued to shine on us!

Knowing my penchant for the paranormal, I had to walk back in order to get a fuller picture of what Ms Tan actually meant!

At first look, the house seems a bit displaced from the luxury bungalows and heritage houses common in that area.

Look closer and you can find a life sized statue (actually half of it) in the compound!

I am no expert but this statue was wearing a Malay attire and the man that inspires this stone effigy must be of a higher social standing (maybe a datuk or a member of the royalty?) due to the kris and numerous badges on him!

Do you know of any additional information on it? Well, there's one thing i know for sure; this statue must have given many motorists and pedestrians a good scare, late at night!

Far Far Away Zone @ Universal Studios Singapore (USS)

With the Shrek series being my most favourite animated movies, I was really anticipating my visit to the land of far far away back in March.

Key attraction was definitely the 40-meter tall far far away castle; the first of its kind in the world! Deep in my heart though, I would love to see with my own eyes the Disney castles! Castles of those classic fairy tales remain etched in my 31 year old memory.

A real water moat surrounds half the castle. It's missing something.... Oh, a crocodile!! Will incur too high maintenance? Get some piranhas then!

I always have the naive impression that access is granted for the castles' vantage point (towers etc) of all theme parks. You know; the feeling of seeing the buzz of your 'country'; just like what the king will do every morning.

Of course i am wrong! At least for far far away castle in Singapore. :(

The most i can do, as a visitor, was to enter this castle to catch Shrek 4-D Adventure!

Contrary to the bright and sunny weather outside, the interior felt pretty dark and gloomy. Walls were generally sparse with only a few paintings of King Harold and/or Queen Lillian. Well, at least it's air-conditioned!

Waiting to go into the theatre to catch the 4-D show. Mom enjoyed it tremendously; especially the part on jumping spiders! Hahaha, she was screaming with disgust lor.

Baby ogres on cups shaped like an ogre's head. My favourite juveniles are unfortunately the dronkeys! These hybrid offerings of Donkey and Dragon are too adorable!

Fairy Godmother Potion's Shop is a souvenir shop, a juice shop and it includes a kid's ride. I was expecting some really weird liquid concoctions that used lizard's eggs, dog's fur, bat's droppings etc. Count your blessings as none of them existed in the outlet.

This is the Magic Potion Ride for kids!!! Shouldn't Ferris wheel of this size be banished to those temporary fun fairs? Even the Cadbury Wheel at Downtown East is bigger! Like WAAAAAAY bigger.

The opening scene for the first instalment of the animated film was at Shrek's swamp house. A real life replica was built in USS and it's a total waste of space. Taking up a considerably big space and no entry to see Shrek's messy bachelor pad, it's of no surprise that people practically walked pass this white elephant.

Anyone knows who is this? Did he appear in Shrek?

Big ass crown in front of the castle! Loads of people were seen taking pictures with the castle and crown as the background. Managed to take this picture when the glaring sun was right in the middle of the sky!

Goldilocks restaurant that was packed with diners at 1pm! There are so many F&B outlets in USS and it's impossible to try all of them in the recent future. Unless (and that's a big unless) i purchase the annual pass!! *cross fingers*

Entry point to Far Far Away from Madgascar zone! Don't think there's any access to the castle's walls as well. Sad..

Touted as a junior roller coaster, the Enchanted Airways was actually quite thrilling. Please do not compare this with Battlestar Galactica; the G-Force from Cyclon and Human was just too scary!

Puss in Boots!!! I was hoping to take pictures with it but sadly, like all costume characters in theme parks, they disappear very fast. =_=

Newspaper vending machine that is purely for decorative purpose!

Time was limited (sister was getting sick due to all the heat) and it was with great regret that I was unable to explore the park further and take in the small little details of many items.

To beat the heat, we escaped to queue up at the Donkey Live show (it's indoor and it's air-conditioned)!

Thinking it will be a stupid, children show, i was amazed by the interactive bantering between the donkey (on the huge screen) and the audience! How did the donkey manage to immediately answer the questions posed by the audience? Definitely not a set up as one of the participants is a family member of a fellow colleague!

Okay, another picture of the far far away castle! It's so difficult to get a "full view"!

Guess this one taken from New York Zone shows a fuller picture.

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For my 1st post (Hollywood Zone), please click HERE.

For my 2nd post (New York Zone), please click HERE.

For my 3rd post (Sci-Fi City Zone), please click HERE.

For my 4th post (Ancient Egypt Zone), please click HERE.

For my 5th post (Lost World Zone), please click HERE.

Buckaroo BBQ & Grill - [Roast Leg of Spring Lamb (and Fish 'N' Chips)]

It was supposed to be the BIG day for me to finally partake on this "Mary Had a Little Lamb" dish from Buckaroo.

That small bite i had a few weeks back remains unforgettable and i know how much i would have enjoyed it if i have the whole plate to no one (yes, no one) but myself!

Alas..... It was mother's day and in place was a special menu that has most of the usual items. Except for my little mary. F**k!!! I am craving for it for so long and i even purposely reached earlier to beat the dinner crowd!!

My mind switched to the "blank" mode for a few seconds while the waiter tried his best to suggest alternatives to beat the disappointment on my face! "Sir, we have another lamb dish called Roast Leg of Spring Lamb. Why don't you try it?"

The ravenous stomach was sending urgent signals to my brain to stay put and before i knew it, i muttered okay. Damn, another example of the mouth that is faster than the brain! Thankfully i don't do that very often with vulgarities.

Roast Leg of Spring Lamb

What caught me by surprise was the amount of meat on this plate!

Slabs of meat on top of one another that numbered at least four, this will be better off shared with a few persons. Alex, unfortunately, is not a big fan of lamb and it will be up to me to finish up everything.

Taste wise, i was blown away by the rosemary and prunes stuffing, in a negative way. The prunes' sweetness more or less covered everything and resulted was a weird flavour that was incompatible to the lamb's gamey taste.

The hungry stomach could not care less and managed to devour most of them! 

What's noteworthy was that i have a deeper impression for the baked chessy potato cup! For someone who generally dislikes potatoes (except for French fries), this was seriously sinful comfort food.

Fish 'N' Chips

I was pondering if i need to touch on this since i did mention its existence in an old post.

Heck with it! Tastes could change over time and it's not a bad thing to re-assess a dish every now and then. Even elections are held every five years for us to review the ruling party's performance for the country and its citizens.

A thick chunk of fried fish that gave a delightful cackle as the knife cut through it. Within the batter was layers of fish meat with full moisture locked in that did not disappoint!

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Location

12B, Andrews Avenue

Price

Roast Leg of Spring Lamb - S$30.00

Fish 'N' Chips - S$19.50

Subject to GST. No Service Charge but there's a 10% surcharge on special occasions (Mother's Day, Valentine's Day), public holidays and even on public holidays.

Additional Information.

For my first post on Buckaroo, please click here

For my second post on Buckaroo, please click here

For my third post on Buckaroo, please click here

For my fourth post on Buckaroo, please click here

Ghosts @ Marina Bay Sands?

Hotels, big and small, are rumoured to have at least one ghost story. It could be a result of a death within the hotel, a horror incident that happened before the hotel's construction or brought in by visitors.

Marina Bay Sands is one of the latest luxury hotels in Singapore; and one of the only two integrated resorts that offers a casino.

As the Chinese believes, it was said that gui-kia (or child spirits aka 鬼仔) have to be kept in such gambling dens in order to suck up as much money as possible from the gamblers.

I bumped into two such apparitions recently! Right along the beautiful waterfront promenade. Are you ready for the pictures..........?

Please click the "Food" under Categories if you know you will be spooked upon seeing these pictures...

==5 seconds==
==4 seconds==
==3 seconds==
==2 seconds==
==1 second==

==0.8 second==
==0.5 second==
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==0.1 second==

These two "things" are not small and regretfully do not deserve the "child" tag. Maybe (just maybe), they were just roaming spirits in search of love and comfort food.

To make my case, don't you all agree that this charbo one looked malnourished?!.

*it's evident by now that i am seriously joking in this nonsensical post! i have yet to catch sight of any ghostly apparitions in MBS.*