London Duck by Fei Siong @ Northpoint City in Yishun [Singapore]

Supposedly famous, branded overseas restaurants brought into Singapore sometimes do not have a happy ending in this little red dot and while taste is subjective; my major grouse is often on the exorbitant pricing here. 

For London Duck by Fei Siong (which i presume to be a standalone brand by Fei Siong rather than the joint venture it has with Akashi by the brand of London Fat Duck), i have heard it was expensive which would be fine if i am ever going to just try it once (for the sake of it) but my sister tried and complained it was disgustingly fat! 

I didn't even bother to check it out until a friend commented over lunch at The Chop House that he often had cravings for London Duck! Curiosity got to me and i finally checked out its often-quiet branch at Northpoint City.

Remember, it's not really a full-fledged restaurant where waiters / waitresses take your order at the table and serve the food to you; you order from the cashier, pay, take your cutlery (and sauce / chilli) and wait for your food. 

Look out for the number on the television screen and once the number you have on your receipt corresponds with the one on the screen, it's time to get your butt out of the seat to collect your food.

This is actually my second visit since the first one was mainly to determine if it would be worth my time to review on my blog (since i still have plenty of backlogs from my Phuket and Langkawi trips).

Char Siew - in my first visit, i ordered a small serving of char siew for a bit of variety just in case the roasted duck failed to impress me. For S$6.80, i thought the portion was relatively decent. 

Furthermore, the taste was way better than expected; it had a thin, outer crust of caramelisation that wasn't overly charred and sweet yet there were two layers of fats in between that totally brought out the juicy texture! 

Sad to say, the second time i had the char siew; there weren't that layers of fats in between the meat and without them, the texture was much drier and to be frank, i didn't enjoy them despite pinning high hopes; to the extent that i told my parents it was a must-order dish. 

London Roasted Duck - the one plate per person order i had on my first time wasn't sufficient for me to savour the roasted duck meat and i purposely order half a duck this time! 

The amount of meat should be enough for the three of us.

Remember to take the sour plum sauce as it goes perfectly with the roast duck! Having said that, nothing beats the homemade sour plum sauce i had at Restoran Sin Keong Kee in Kulai, Malaysia. 

So what did i really like about the roasted duck at London Duck (by the way, the ducks came from Ireland, not London)? It was meaty, succulent and while the skin wasn't the crispy type i like; there was a unique taste that i found to be totally captivating even though i couldn't pinpoint what it was! The meat was good on its own even without the sour plum sauce! 

Honestly, i didn't find the duck meat to be fatty until i got towards the end. I usually would just ignore and swallow the whole piece but this time, being older, i am more conscious and remove the gelatin part before putting it in my mouth.

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A fantastic roast duck meal, no doubt, with both my parents enjoying the dinner. I bet London Duck by Fei Siong would be top on our list for the next few months! 

Location

930 Yishun Avenue 2, #B1-103/104, 

Northpoint City South Wing, 

Singapore 769098

Menu

As above. 

Pricing

Char Siew (Small) - S$6.80 

London Roasted Duck (Half) - S$26.00

Rice - S$1.00 a plate

(Inclusive of GST)

The Eyes in The Sky - Above Singapore in July 2018

It kind of caught me by surprise that i have yet to publish a specific post on the eyes in the sky for Singapore although i believe you can see quite a number of pictures on the first and last day of my travel itineraries to other countries.

The above was a typical picture after the plane departs from Singapore's Changi International Airport since there are only two runways at the moment; you can see the naval base with a number of docked landing ship tanks and frigate. 

As Singapore is the intersection of a busy shipping route, there are always loads of ships "parked" in her waters. It can be quite a sight when the ships start to release their red flares on New Year's Day.

Cloud in the shape of a dog-head or a dragon-head? 

I am leaving it to your imagination! 

Photos of the terminal 5 that's under development with a targeted completion year that's like 12 years later and with an area larger than the combined terminals of 1, 2 and 3! Gosh, i would be 50 years old by then! :(

The breathtaking view of Singapore's unique HDB flats from the sky, where almost 80% of Singaporeans live in! The particular town in view was Punggol, with Sengkang further inland, and you can also see the Serangoon Tidal Gates on the bottom left of the picture. 

Jeju Kitchen - Volcano Fried Rice & Others @ Northpoint City [Yishun, Singapore] #jejukitchen_ #volcanofriedrice

The most memorable segment of my travel to South Korea was the visit to Jeju Island. Hence, when the Jeju Kitchen opened for business at Northpoint City with the above eye-catching sculpture, i was drawn and it didn't take us long to arrange for a family meal there, without the picky kids! 

Located on basement two near Kopitiam food court, Jeju Kitchen took over the premises from a bakery shop and claimed to serve iconic dishes from Jeju like the Volcano Fried Rice. 

To be truthful, i don't even know there's a volcano fried rice when i was in Jeju! From memory, the few renowned dishes i found online then were the black pig (had it at Hwaro Hyang Restaurant) and abalone porridge! 

Interested to get your hands on another icon of Jeju Island; the dol hareubang (grandfather stone statue)? The keychain form was available for sale (S$10 each) at the cashier counter of Jeju Kitchen.

Anyway, let's get started on food! 

Stir Fried Bulgogi Beef - with options of either spicy or non-spicy, we went with the spicy version which was a delight to have for their juiciness! However, it's better to order a bowl of rice to balance the sweetness. 

Grilled Pork Jowl - i actually searched for the definition of jowl a few moments ago as i was typing out this review since i didn't know its meaning. The texture and taste were familiar to my senses and i thought they were similar to the pork cheeks i had at Ramen Santouka!  

Turned out jowl is "the cheek of a pig used as meat"! Rather impressed with myself for being able to recall something that i had over 8 years ago! Whatever the case, the meat at Jeju Kitchen were more tender and tastier (thanks to the teriyaki-like sauce) with charred bits that gave the meat a slight oomph as you chew it further.  

Grilled Squid - this was S$14.80 and i only knew it cost so much now as i was looking through the receipt for the purpose of this review. Cut me some slack as i was late for the dinner and my family had already ordered. 

Okay tasting with a failed rubbery texture for its body; the grilled squid performed slightly better when i got to the crunchier legs. Wouldn't likely to have this in the future; more worth my money to spend it on Squid Boy at KSL Mall in JB.  

Seafood Army Stew - I am not a big fan of army stew and thought it was priced way too high in Singapore when there are so many other delicious (and cheaper) Korean dishes for us to check out. 

Aside from loving fish, mom loves soupy stuff and since there were six of us; my sister figured it would be good for sharing. I didn't raise any objection but my eyes blinked when it was placed on our table. That's quite a lot of seafood; clams, baby octopuses, scallops and the strange looking Korea sweet prawns! 

I actually enjoyed the food and broth; latter of which wasn't as spicy as i expected. It was more tomato like (could be due to the baked beans) and there's a subtle cheesiness to the flavour. Having said that, i bet some of you might find the broth a tad too bland. 

Joyce attempting to finish up the last morsel on the pan! 

Volcano Fried Rice - i tried not to have any rice dishes at night but when you see a serving of volcano fried rice on almost every table; it's hard to resist the temptation! Therefore, let me present to you the volcano fried rice that came with pork, kimchi rice (you can opt for bulgogi rice) and without the cheese (as mom isn't a big fan).

Glad i ordered this as it was utterly good! The kimchi fried rice was moist and so appetising while the pork was yummy and complemented the rice perfectly with the smooth egg surrounding them. I would in fact go back to Jeju Kitchen just for the volcano fried rice! 

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Location

930 Yishun Ave 2, 

#B2-09/11 Northpoint City, 

Singapore 769098

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/jejukitchen.sg/

Order List

As above.

Pricing

Stir Fried Bulgogi Beef - S$10.80

Grilled Pork Jowl - S$8.80

Grilled Squid - S$14.80

Seafood Army Stew - S$35.80

Volcano Fried Rice - S$10.80

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Incident at Similan Islands [Thailand] - My Dad Almost Drowned

Our guide from SeaStars Andaman warned us about swimming towards the rocks of Similan Island No 5 and 6 as there could be sharp edges. Being rebellious runs in my blood; furthermore, i knew from my numerous snorkeling excursions that the rocks are the place to find more marine life and i have always been mindful of where i step on.

What i didn't realise was that my dad was right behind me (as shown in the above pic)! Even though he taught me how to swim; i don't think he had swum for a long time and might not be that experienced when it comes to open seas. 

To run the long story short, he couldn't manage and as a weak swimmer myself (without a life jacket), i knew i wouldn't have the strength and stamina to pull him back and had to swim back (quickly) to ask for help! Thankfully, Alex was nearby and his lifesaving instinct kicked in immediately to assist my father! 

He was obviously shaken from the episode and had to endure my nagging as well that he should have donned the life jacket. On second thought, i am to be blamed for not insisting he did. That's not all; his attempts to climb the slippery rock resulted in blood flowing from his toe and this time, it's the heroine to the rescue; Sheda, our guide. 

The boat was equipped with first aid kit and she sprang to action upon hearing my dad was injured; bringing out the basic yet essential medical stuff.

She proceeded to clean the wound, apply disinfectant and apply pressure to stop the bleeding for his ring toe. Throughout the process, she was assuring and didn't even attempt to rebuke us; which i appreciated as i was already feeling lousy to have almost caused the death of my father.

All nicely done up! Didn't know my dad has such long index toe! 

From this incident, there are two learning points; firstly, always don your life jacket, especially if the water is too deep! Secondly, buy and bring along a pair of snorkeling shoes! You can get them from Decathlon Singapore. 

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What else i did in Phuket? 

Check out my 5-day Phuket itinerary here!