Impressions Bridge - Connecting Hoi An Memories Land @ Vietnam

The Impressions Bridge in Hoi An isn't your usual public bridge like An Hoi Bridge, as you need to pay an entrance fee just to step onto it, given its connection to Hoi An Memories Land, a cultural theme park!

For us, the fees were already covered in our purchases of the Hoi An Memories Show, which also included a boat ride and also admission to the theme park. A very worth it deal and one of the highlights for us in Hoi An.

From this angle, you might have assumed this would be in the image of maybe the skeletal outline for the head of an extinct mammoth. Truth is much further than that as from afar, it's in the shape of a crescent moon! 

Heritage old town basking in the rays of the setting sun. Sadly, the sunset that day wasn't as spectacular as in one we encountered while transferring from Danang to Hoi An on day one of our trip to Central Vietnam.

Completed in 2022, this bridge also featured the transparent flooring that's quite popular nowadays among tourists. For someone who is afraid of heights, I am just glad they didn't make the whole segment transparent! 

That didn't stop me from attempting to overcome my fear! For someone who is imaginative, I can't imagine if the glass suddenly breaks and I will drop all the way down. 

Golden arch of the bridge; my understanding is that there's a set of operating hours for the bridge and it's only open from late afternoon till night, mainly to cater to Hoi An Memories Show that takes place nightly.

As you can see from the photographs so far, the bridge was adorned with ever changing LED lights, and shined brightly from far. Another name given to this bridge is moonlight, an appropriate name when night falls and this rises from above the water of Thu Bon River.

Hoi An Memories Land and this left side view gave you a teaser of the massive set used for Hoi An Memories Show. Till now, I still tell my friends how impressed I was with the show! 

Right side view; aside from being a theme park, Hoi An Memories Land has a hotel component but it wouldn't have been suitable for Alex and I since we prefer to stay in town, where the vibe would be a lot more crowded and noisier.

LED tube looks like a spine! 

Coming to the end of the 125-meter long Impressions Bridge, where the fun of Hoi An Memories Land beckons! It's like a mishmash of culture, with elements of old and new. Click here! 

With the ending of the show, the bridge was even more stunning although most visitors were mostly in a rush to cross over where buses and boats await them. Same for us but I can't resist taking more photographs.

For reference! 

Being the daredevil when it comes to height, Alex has no qualm walking across the transparent segment. Having said that, I believe I am much braver when it comes to other aspects!

Hoi An Ancient Town at night; it might look quiet but truth was; this section of the old town is at the east side whereas the more happening part of the town is located at the west, about 1.5 kilometers away.

I am guessing it's a bit hard to visualize since the photographs shown so far were more close-ups of the bridge. Here's one showing the bridge in its entirety; on nights when the river water was calm, the reflection would literally complete the image of a crescent moon. 

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Location

Next to Hoi An Memories Land

Map

As above.

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Zhup Zhup (formerly One Prawn & Co) @ Macpherson in Singapore #michelin

When the Greatest Kon told us he went back to the same eatery twice within a week, it got me curious as the food must have been unforgettably good! And so, here we were at the non-air-conditioned Zhup Zhup, formerly known as One Prawn & Co.

An awardee of highly acclaimed Michelin bib gourmand, their signature would be the prawn noodle, said to be "inspired by the flavours of Penang prawn noodles and Japanese ramen broth".

Time: 8.20 pm and there was still a queue!

p.s. the eatery closes at 9.00 pm. 

Thankfully, we managed to secure a table in less than ten minutes. 

Always nice to see tissue being provided, for free!

After placing our orders (with recommendations from the Greatest Kon), the service staff proceeded to put saucers of chilli on our table; each serving a different purpose! One was for the hokkien mee, three were for the ngoh hiang tasting platter and another three were for prawn noodle. Wasn't that an overkill!? 

Everything was served in one go! 

Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings - side dish said to be a crowd favorite! I have high standards for prawn paste fried chicken as there were just so many good ones around in Singapore.

Significant prawn paste taste - checked. Batter was crispy and not as thin as some of its competitors - checked. I wouldn't say these mid joints were the best but they would not disappoint those having deep fried prawn paste chicken for the first time! 

Ngoh Hiang Tasting Platter - my expression said it all when the Greatest Kon insisted we must order this. Why would we be adding more carbohydrates when the signature dish should be the prawn noodle?! To be fair, we went for the smaller portion which was sufficient for 1-2 persons. 

To be honest, the items were not bad although I was most happy with their prawn cracker which was like an ultra thick, oversized papadum! The dealbreaker, however, was another item, which was classified as a companion, rather than an ingredient. 

The chilli. It was the perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, enhanced with a dollop of grainy paste that could have been grated garlic; terribly amazing, to the extent I would love to get my hand on its recipe! I bet this chilli would go well with any deep fried food!

Claypot Hokkien Mee - piping hot hokkien mee! While the signature dish was prawn noodle, its chef recommendation on the menu proved too hard to resist, especially for a lover of hokkien mee! And I figured I could still steal some prawn noodle soup from Alex later. 

At S$14, this definitely didn't come cheap even though I would term it as a luxury version with three large prawns and clams (said to be Japanese Asari clams). Furthermore, anything in a claypot appears to have premium pricing.

This would definitely be placed as one of the best hokkien mee I have in Singapore! Full of flavor and thick of smoky wok hei, I also loved that it was moisturized by the prawn broth said to be made from prawn heads and pork bones that were boiled for 23 hours! 

Of course, to be one of the best, you need to have crispy pork lards and the ones here exceeded my expectation by being larger than the usual! In addition, I took delight in the zesty chilli paste! If not for the pricing, I would love to return sooner. 

Supreme Prawn Noodle - one of the reasons why I chose hokkien mee over this was the limited choices for noodles as there were only yellow noodles, kway tiao, thin bee hoon and thick bee hoon, and I prefer mee kia / mee poh. 

Nonetheless, my aim was the soup served in the claypot! I sent a picture of this to my friend and his immediate response was "you are having curry"?! The color was so deceiving and a result of "boiling 18 kilograms of prawn heads and 30 kilograms of pork bones" to get a 100 liters of prawn broth! 

I have never had prawn broth that was so insanely rich, with the full body flavor of prawn heads; that I psychologically felt that I will 101% fail my health check on cholesterol level should I go for screening the next day. At S$6.00 more expensive than prawn noodle, this also came with pork ribs, tobiko prawn balls (love this), lala and sliced pork. 

Noodles wise, both the Greatest Kon and Alex selected yellow noodles, and the black sauce was better than the other one, although I still maintain a gripe about the noodle selection. By the way, drink the soup when it was still hot! 

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Will be back for sure as I am certain my mom will love the food! 

Only thing, I shouldn't tell her the price. 

Address

458 MacPherson Rd, 

Singapore 368176

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings - S$9.00

Ngoh Hiang Tasting Platter - S$8.50

Claypot Hokkien Mee - S$14.00

Supreme Prawn Noodle - S$20.00

(Subject to Service Charge and GST) 

Dickson Nasi Lemak @ Icon Village in Tanjong Pagar [Singapore]

Every few months, I would accompany my mom to Fook Tet Soo Hakka Temple, and it's inevitable that I shall take this opportunity to explore new eateries around the Tanjong Pagar area since the co-giver of my life (other being my dad) is also a foodie! 

In our most recent visit, we walked past Icon Village and chanced upon Dickson Nasi Lemak, which kind of rang a bell at the back of my mind. Wasn't this the famous eatery from Katong?! p.s. recipe was said to be recreated from as nasi lemak restaurant rated the best in Kuala Lumpur! Would that restaurant be Village Park although that's technically in the neighbouring Petaling Jaya? 

Whatever the case, I was adamant to give this a try and the challenge would be to find seats in the small air-conditioned area. I personally think they could possibly add on more tables and chairs in the outdoor space. 

Ordered at the counter and patiently waiting for the pager to ring! I must admit that it's pricey for nasi lemak, with the cheapest, with meat, costing S$8.80, but you have to keep it mind that it's nett. Honestly, The Coconut Club was even more expensive; albeit ambience was a lot nicer and it has a michelin bib gourmand award. 

Wait time was only about six minutes and it's time to collect our Ayam Goreng Berempah (Chicken Leg) nasi lemak set (including a drink) and Chicken Rendang nasi lemak! 

Iced Kopi - my not bad tasting morning beverage even though I did find it a bit watery. Maybe the ice melted rapidly while I was taking photographs.

Ayam Goreng Berempah (Chicken Leg) - all nasi lemak comes with coconut rice, fried egg, cucumber, anchovies and peanuts and specifically for this, a spiced fried whole chicken leg, and sambal chilli.

Juiciness abound for the chicken and the crisp skin was permeated with the iconic berempah (herbs and spices) and while nice, was a tad salty and not as memorable as the chicken at Village Park! What impressed me more was their coconut rice.

Infused with the rich aroma of coconut milk, the rice wasn't overly wet and complemented the crunchy peanuts and the sambal chilli! Speaking of sambal chilli, it was more like a paste, and featured the spicy sweetness I enjoyed, and I loved it even more with the addition of onions for extra texture! 

Interestingly, I actually found the portion of the rice to be too little, and could definitely do with more rice! That's surprisingly coming from a guy who is always on a carbo / starch restricted diet.

Chicken Rendang - visually, I think it was dampened my appetite to have the meat served in a plastic container that looked like it just came out from a microwave, and mind you; this cost S$9.50. To be fair, there were substantial pieces of meat in there.

I have eaten rendang before but never had I have one that featured such an intense lemongrass flavor! For a lemongrass lover, this was something I can definitely accept. What I can't accept was the spiciness! 

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Would I be back? I figured I might although I might baulk at the pricing since I could get something similar across the causeway for a fraction of the price, and there are so many eateries in Tanjong Pagar that I have yet to try! 

Address

12 Gopeng St, #01-89/90, 

Icon Village, Singapore 078877

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Ayam Goreng Berempah (Chicken Leg) Set - S$12.50

Chicken Rendang - S$9.50

(NETT)