Skinny Pizza [What a Crack] - Uniquely Good Pizzas @ Raffles City Shopping Centre, City Hall, Singapore

After that expensive meal at Pizzeria Mozza a year ago, i figured i might as well stick to the usual Pizza Hut pizzas that provide better satisfaction at lower cost.

Therefore, i wasn't that enthusiastic in the few occasions that Jenny suggested having our irregular meet up at Skinny Pizza; in my opinion, there are many other types of food worth trying besides the round, flat bread.

My conviction remained staunch until Vannie told me she managed to secure these Skinny Pizza vouchers at half price! I am a discount whore when it comes to food!

The number of filled up tables wasn't assuring when we arrived at its branch at Raffles City Shopping Centre. Of course, i have to remember that this particular shopping centre had a super high density of food outlets and it was a fact that we arrived after the usually busy lunch hours [it was 3.30pm].

My eyes lit up with both curiousity and nostalgia when i saw this - a weird cucumber mocktail served in a traditional metal cup that was used in many households twenty years ago!

Kampong Glam

Ordering Kampong Glam, as the cucumber mocktail was known, was a right choice! It was refreshingly thirst quenching and was one of the better drinks i had in ages.

Riverside Raspberry Julep

Despite its bombastic name, this beverage tasted just like a disappointingly normal lychee drink i could have in any dessert stall at a hawker centre.

Sides

On the grounds that a typical side (French fries and other finger food etc) in Skinny Pizza would set us back by S$6 to S$7, we decided to fully utilise the standing promotion of S$15 for any three sides!

Sweet potato nibblets, a 25-centimeter long sausage and truffle fries were our selection. And damn were we grateful to the recommendation on the menu (tagged as Skinny Favourite).

The nibblets, peppered with sugar crystals, were super addictive whereas the sausage was deliciously juicy. Normal fries can never be compared to truffle fries, which leave a pungent, strong tasting wasabi-like sensation in your mouth but yet secretly enticing for a truly fries lover.

Now coming to the stars of the day; pizzas!

Squid Ink Pizza

Highly recommended by foodies, i had never known squid ink can be used as the main ingredient for the base of a pizza!

Freshness aside, it was a generous spread of squid (suspected to have been grilled to perfection beforehand) on the pizza and rarely could we have something that actually looked better than the picture on the menu.

Skinniest, crispiest and crackiest base is Skinny Pizza's food philosophy. And they are not kidding on what they believe in! The base was indeed the skinniest, crispiest and crackiest i ever have although i would have better enjoyed a base with more "bite".

Wild Truffle Mushroom Pizza

A must order for all mushroom lovers.

According to the menu's description, it was topped with roasted mushrooms, garlic, truffle oil and fresh parmesan cheese. Given its dark colour, it is not difficult to guess what kind of mushroom was used in the preparation of this pizza.

Most of us are aware that mushrooms have a naturally earthy flavour. However, the use of expensive truffle oil further enhanced the earthiness, making this pizza extremely yummicilious for a mushroom lover like myself.

Warm Chocolate Toffee Cake

Don't ask me how the three of us can stomach this after all the food indulgence above.

Truthfully, it was as sinful and as rich as it looked in the photograph. I am not so much a chocolate lover and thought a scoop of vanilla ice cream by the side would complete this dessert.

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I totally enjoyed the pizzas in Skinny Pizza that day even though, as mentioned previously, my only disagreement is with the almost bite-less base.

The management seems to be aware of that and have recently introduced "pizza with a fatter body"! *poster taken from Skinny Pizza website*

Location

252 North Bridge Road

#B1-63/64 Raffles City Shopping Centre

(Above City Hall MRT Station)

Reservation

Please call 6333-5069

Price

Kampong Glam - S$6

Riverside Raspberry Julep - S$6

3 Sides - S$15

Squid Ink Pizza - S$23

Wild Truffle Mushroom Pizza - S$23

Warm Chocolate Toffee Cake - S$9.50

Subject to GST and Service Charge.

Website

http://www.skinnypizza.com.sg/

Desserts @ Shokudo Japanese Coffee House [Bugis Junction]

Although we had a filling dinner, there was no hesitation to order desserts to lengthen our stay at Shokudo. Frankly, we were too comfortable to shift to another location despite the appearance of those irritating flies!

Azuki Cheesecake with Macha Ice Cream

Green Tea (known Macha) ice cream is my least favourite ice cream of all times for one basic reason; bitterness. And as expected, i didn't like the cold topping very much.

I was equally miffed with the red bean cheesecake, a combi that should have tasted not too bad. I guess i took issue with the lackluster concentration of cheese content which was barely noticeable.

Original Tofu Cheese Cake

This tofu cheesecake tasted marginally better although i would prefer the common yet "harder" cheesecake over this gooey version anytime.

Maron Shiratama Kakigori

Singaporeans would likely associate this with ice kacang, an all time favourite local dessert. It was not too far off, except for the use of green tea syrup, mochi and chestnuts.

It was, thankfully, the saving grace for Shokudo's desserts!

The initial bitterness was rapidly covered by the pleasant sweetness of sugar syrup and i especially enjoyed the squiggle mochi and nutty maron (chestnuts). One small suggestion: please use freshly roasted chestnuts!

Bugis Village, right opposite Bugis Junction, has quite a few stalls selling them.

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Location

200 Victoria Street,

#01-53, Bugis Junction

Price

Original Tofu Cheese Cake - S$4.80

Azuki Cheesecake with Macha Ice Cream - S$7.80

Maron Shiratama Kakigori - S$7.80

Subject to GST and Service Charge.

Complimentary lemon-infused water upon request.

Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery (莲山双林寺) [aka Twin Grove of the Lotus Mountain Temple] @ Toa Payoh, Singapore

It's been a long time since i last blogged on temples; a topic that is generally not well received by the younger generation. Nonetheless, i always find temples interesting even though i may not know much on its history, architecture etc.

Given my limited knowledge, i am going to tag this under pictorial post where facts and figures may not be accurate and sometimes based purely on assumptions (to a lesser extent, nonsensical imagination).

Main gateway to the temple's compound. There are actually two styles of architecture in play here; from Fujian and Guangdong provinces respectively even though there exists distinction even between towns/cities in the province.

Fierce looking door knob - most of you may not be aware that this common door feature is not a lion! Known as Jiaotu, the ninth child of the awe-inspiring Dragon, this dragon's offspring is particularly averse to disturbance.

Half moon pond (半月池) right opposite the main entrance. Unlike most ponds in temples, this one has neither fish nor tortoise due to its use of chemical to treat the water.

Despite the lack of live animals, it still manages to attract crowds with the installation of this bell; Chinese believes the wish will come true if you hit the bell with a coin as you recite the wish. The louder the bell sounds, the higher your chance

Even I could not resist giving it a try! Wishing for the grand prize in TOTO so that i could travel around the world with my family!!

Hall of Celestial Kings (天王殿) - where you can find the four religious (not musical) kings of the Buddhist world. These armoured kings were depicted in the 1986 Chinese drama serial, Journey to the West and i fondly remember the magical weapon used by each King in order to subdue the monkey king.

Dotted the compound behind the 天王殿 are pots and pots of plants in many varieties; some are even specially cultivated to meet the aesthetic goal of bonsai.

This beauty, known as Shui Mei (or water plum) was a favourite feature in the garden of the kampong house i resided in my childhood.

Due to its downward looking white flowers, i have always thought the plant looks sad; as if it is waiting for someone to cheer it up. Melodramatic? Maybe.

Mahavira Hall (大雄宝殿) is one of the main halls for any Chinese monastery where key Buddha figures (like Sakyamuni) are worshipped.

Many people offer their prayers here and befitting its status, this is also the main hall where monks chant the Buddhist scriptures.

An urn for incense sticks? Nope even though i have no idea what purpose this intricately designed cauldron serves.

Outside altar for spirits. Temples are said to be abodes for the wandering spirits at night and this could explain why most temples are closed when sun sets.

Tired? Have a good rest on these big blocks of expensive looking stones!

A sheltered walkway. Compared to Guang Ming Shan, another big monastery in Singapore, Shuang Lin monastery has much lesser crowd and this was taken on a weekend!

Dead tree trunk? Think again!!! It's a bloody stone sculpture! So misleading right?! My fingernails almost broke when i attempted to scrape off the realistic looking tree bark!

The three-storey high buildings stand out from the rest for two reasons; the height and the modest design. I was trying to find the stairway to the upper level for this bell tower but wasn't successful.

Most of the rooms are occupied and in this case, it houses the statue of Guan Yu (known as the God of War). This is weird as i thought Guan Yu should be listed under Taoism instead of Buddhism. Nevertheless, many Chinese families, like mine, practice both religions vehemently.

My favourite food area! According to mom, vegetarian food were served for free on certain days in the past. This supposedly meritorious deed is customary for most, if not all Buddhist monasteries.

It would be interesting to know the reason for the long gash in the huge ass drum. A matter of long term usage, abuse or something valuable that had always remained hidden until then?

Sleeping Buddha - nothing much on this statue which is far smaller than its counterpart in Wat Po, Bangkok. However, the hall that houses the statue has paintings on its walls narrating the origins and important history of this century old monastery.

Side section of the main temple compound that contains ancestral tablets. As you can see, restoration is ongoing for this national monument gazetted by the country in 1980.

East door - Chinese buildings always adhere to the basic theory of Chinese geomancy; front the south and back the north. By the way, HDB buildings don't really obey to this feng shui rule.

Mini lotus pond in a stone! on't you think the stone has the appearance of a pig or rat? The snout is quite noticeable in this picture.

Guan Yin Dian (观音殿) - a separate building from the main temple. Guanyin, a bodhisattva famed for her mercy and compassion, is at times even more popular than Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.

Spacious worship hall where you can get some peace and quiet. Strangely, this place exudes a very calm atmosphere and i could find myself drawn to it as i stepped into the area.

In addition to the gigantic thousand-arm Guan Yin statue, you can also find golden casts of the legendary eighteen arhats (十八羅漢).

Very close proximity to the nearby Toa Payoh HDB flats! 

Like many temples, you can purchase the lanterns for a nominal fee and hang it up for blessings. As i mentioned before, we don't know if it works but the most important question is; WHAT IF it works?

From memory, i think the Guan Yin Dian is newly built and the same goes for the pagoda!

Known as Dragon Light Pagoda (龙光宝塔), it is a replica of an 800 year old pagoda in Fujian. Damn, can't we have something original? Like maybe merlions decorating the pagoda instead of dragons?!

Golden Buddha statues, on the second, fourth and sixth levels, providing a distinctive colour contrast from the mainly grey pagoda.

Lone worshipper circling the pagoda while reciting the sutras.

Little bells on this tiered tower that tinkles with joy whenever the wind blows. Of course, we also believe that a spirit is in the vicinity whenever a bell rings without any air movement.

The pagoda as seen from the compound outside the Hall of Celestial Kings. It is also not hard to spot the pagoda from the bordering Pan Island Expressway (PIE).

An example of the temple's artwork which is undergoing restoration; pieces of porcelain making up the flower petals.

Visitors to Shuang Lin monastery normally enter from the main entrance and many are unaware that there are a few entrances. This one is located next to Block 195, which has a multiple storey carpark for motorists.

Before i end the post (finally), i would like to show you this dazzling stunner!

Seductive pinkish red flowers that appeared somewhat sacrilegious in this holy realm! But i like!!!  

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Location

Please click HERE.

Map Of Monastery

As above.

Additional Information

For the main monastery website, please visit

http://www.shuanglin.sg/