Went to Jumbo Seafood Restaurant at their flagship restaurant at East Coast Park to celebrate the parents' birthday early (thanks to my bro who'll be overseas for a month). The last time I ever ate at Jumbo was at their Riverside Walk branch about 5 years ago.

I am thoroughly amused by their bibs and it's great because we all know how messy Chilli Crabs can be. They provide gloves too but hey...we're Singaporeans...where's the fun in eating crabs without the sauce all over your fingers and licking it off?

We ordered the Baby Squid which were fried and tossed with a sticky sweet and savoury sauce. I haven't had this in ages and it brought back happy childhood food memories.

Above is the famous Singapore Chilli Crab, 'invented' by Punggol Seafood Restaurant but made further famous by Jumbo. Below is another famous fish by both seafood restaurants - Mee Goreng. It's traditionally a Malay dish but in both Punggol and Jumbo, this dish has a slight Chinese Singaporean take on it and of course, they dressed it up with expensive seafood such as scallops, prawns and squid.

Firstly, the Chilli Crab sauce and the sauce used to fry the Mee Goreng tasted strangely similar. Hmm...I wouldn't be surprised if they were really the same. Not that I'm complaining because it really does taste good. We did order a steamed crab, steamed fish and stir-fried vegetables but as my hands were too dirty from the Chilli Crabs...no photos taken.

However, when I tasted the Chilli Crab on its own, I was no longer surprised that Jumbo lost this dish to Gordon Ramsay during Singtel's Hawker Heroes challenge in 2013. The sauce tasted different from the one that I had at the Riverside Walk branch. It lacked that wok-flavour that most Chinese chefs attain when they're at that level. The punch from the chilli was lacking (although it was present in the Mee Goreng) and it tasted as if they replaced fresh ingredients such as lime/lemon juice for store bought UHT version or the tau cheo (fermented soy beans) that they used were not of the highest grade.

It's still good...but not as great as it used to be. No wonder some ex-colleagues of mine prefer Long Beach/ Melben/ No Signboard/ Palm Beach for their Chilli Crab fix. Hmm...maybe it's time for me to flex my cooking muscles and go Into Chef Mode and try cooking this dish at home!

Most people think of Singapore as a concrete jungle that is in the tropics, with beaches concentrated mainly at East Coast, Changi and Sentosa. There are a lot of smaller islands away from Singapore mainland that's worth exploring in a day trip; simply gather a group of friends and rent a yacht for the day. It costs around $1,200 to rent one for the day but there are quite a few Groupon/All Deals Asia deals that go for about $500 for a day. That works out to be about $50/pax and that's relatively affordable. Of course, there are some alternatives which I will mention later.

That's the yacht that we went on, thanks to Moon who won a trip from a Facebook contest held by the Neo Group. There were a total of 15 of us and we catered food from Neo Group (as part of the T&Cs) but if you rented from other companies, they usually allow you to bring your own food and some even have portable BBQ sets and you simply bring the raw foods.

We started our journey from the marina of ONE°15 Marina Club onboard PromiseOne. It was a very nice and sunny day but yet windy too! Glad that the weather cooperated with us to give us this lovely day to go yachting!

Other possible places to set off from are: Raffles Marina (that's in Tuas) and Keppel Island. Really depends on where you rent the yacht from.

I'm so happy that I finally managed to wear my Kate Spade Saturday sunglasses...on a Saturday no less!

We set off towards Lazarus Island, which is further south from Sentosa and this is the first island that I'm going to introduce.

Lazarus Island (the one with the pin) is one of the 8 islets south of Sentosa and it is connected to St. John's Island by a concrete bridge. Some smaller islands are now part of an extension of Lazarus Island thanks to the Singapore Tourism Board's plans in 2000 to develop it after Sentosa. So...better go and visit it before STB fully develops it and it turns from an unspoilt treasure into a manicured replica of it's larger sister.

Some boats choose to dock near the beach and some kayak to shore but the water was a little choppy so we decided to dock at the calmer lagoon where the proper jetty is located.

I liked the idea of using corals and seashells into the pavements. Quite rustic and environmentally friendly, no?

One of the locals

Walking towards the beach with almost nobody in sight

How difficult is it to get a toddler to be in a selfie with you? Apparently, very difficult. Especially if said kid is more interested in playing with the sand and wondering where his father is walking to.

Now...this is what I love most about Lazarus Island - the beach! The sand is super fine and soft, the water cold and not a lot of people on the beach. There aren't any stores selling drinks so please remember to pack your own food and water. This spot is perfect for a short picnic and dip into the sea. Bring a tent if you want some respite from the sun but some people were quite creative and made make-shift tents with their beach towels.

I'm planning to come back another day just to Lazarus Island to picnic, swim, maybe kayak and just chillax. Remember to bring loads of sunblock and check out the weather forecast before your trip!

After our lunch and island exploration, we headed off to Kusu Island. The island isn't very convenient for pleasure boats because the jetty is more suited for the larger boats. So, if you want to visit Kusu, I suggest taking the regular chartered ferries from HarbourFront terminal (about S$15 for adults and operated by Singapore Island Cruise).

If you want to hang out with turtles, wild monkeys, insects and be in a nice park with almost no beach. Kusu Island is super crowded during the 9th lunar month (around October) so please check in advance whether pilgrims will be making their way down to the temples there first. If you're one of the pilgrims...then...erm...you should know when is the best time to visit. If you're like me and hate crowds, avoid the 100,000 devotees and make your trip to Kusu Island during other months.

Thanks to the STB plans, Kusu Island is starting to look very manicured and there are a lot of 'huts' for people to sit and picnic. The temple on the lower grounds look a bit HDB-ish too. Despite its park-like appearance, overnight camping is not allowed on the grounds. Thank goodness for this because as it is, it is a bit irritating that the government is capitalising on the religious activities and tourism aspect. Shouldn't the actual island dwellers have some say?

Kusu literally means turtle and legend has it that a giant turtle turned into the island in order to save 2 shipwrecked sailors. Thus, turtles are considered to be something semi-sacred on this island and all of us were very excited to see our first giant turtle at the wishing well! There were many other turtles in the shallow sea bed.

The temple keeps terrapins too! There's a small pool within the temple for these terrapins to swim or just lie down.

A lot of people throw coins into the wishing well, thinking that it'll fulfil their wishes while donating to the temple. However, the late temple caretaker, Madam Sim, said in an interview in 2007 that it's actually owned by Sentosa ergo the government. Hence, none of the money collected goes to the temple.

Another government initiated modernisation is the building of this food centre which is very empty on normal days. I reckon that it's only filled during the 9th lunar month where devotees make their annual pilgrimage.

There are 2 religious sites on Kusu Island. The first one that you see when you arrive is the Dua Pek Gong (pronunciation in Hokkein) temple.

The 2nd religious site is the Kusu Kramat which is up on the hill. 152 steps. Ok...I gave a miss because I was thirsty. I guess I should've done the trip considering that this was my first visit to Kusu. Oops.

If you're not visiting Kusu for religious reasons, there's nature to just enjoy:

The resident monkeys are wild so beware. Don't feed them nor approach them because they're not friendly. Good thing is that they're not as spoilt as those on the mainland so they do not know that your bags contain food etc. However, please do not train and encourage such behaviour. Keep your food secured.

Since Kusu is originally a reef island, there is a small lagoon where some tourists enjoy sunbathing but honestly, the beach at Lazarus Island is a lot nicer.

I really enjoyed my day of island hopping and being on a yacht because it's rare for us to see the city from this view:

More trips await me! Uh oh...I need to find people who share similar interests...I can't afford to go out on a yacht trip to these islands all by myself.

 

With my ever-growing nail polish collection, I knew that I needed a new home for them. They no longer can fit in its previous home, the tool box/ first aid kit box. So...me being crafy me, just HAD to assemble a set of turntable drawers when I spotted this in Spotlight. I also just HAD to decorate it ala scrapbook style. After doing it up and putting in all my polishes and what-nots, guess what? It's still not enough!! I don't have a lot of space left to add new polishes! Cool thing though is that I've categorised my polishes my colour and type now. This set of drawers was also the impetus to make me clean and organise my desk. Threw out 4 bags of rubbish and it's still not ideal. I still have TOO much stuff. I still need to organise my drawers and wardrobe....gah...too much work! Anyway, these drawers are now on my desk and I can easily work on my nails whenever I want! :)

The hunt for good food seems to be a favourite past time of Singaporeans and my family.  We wanted to go to Piedra Negro at Beach Road/Haji Lane but it was closed.  Hungry, we decided to explore the cafes and restaurants near Arab Street instead.  We chanced upon Beirut Grill and decided to give it a try, especially when we found out that it was given a 4 star rating on Trip Adviser.

We ordered the appetiser platter ($22++) which consists of hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, spring roll and another eggplant thing.  Haha...sorry...bad memory.  The platter comes with 2 pieces of pita and you can order another serving of pita for $4.

My mum ordered the Seafood Platter to share and it has grilled prawns (HUGE), fried calamari that were tossed with a special sauce, pan fried fish, rice and a bell pepper salad.  The calamari was yum and the rice was very fragrant.  The fish was too salty and it was very soft too.  My bro asked whether it was cooked because the texture of the fish was a little unusually soft.  My reply is that it was soaked in brine so even if it wasn't cooked thoroughly, it's still edible.

Another platter that we ordered was the mixed grill, which had chicken, lamb, olive rice and grilled onions and peppers. I wasn't impressed with this platter.  The meats were so-so while the lamb was pungent, despite all the spices. 

Although they're called platters, the seafood and mixed grill platters seem to be more suited for 1 or 2 females with smaller stomachs.  The food wasn't WOW but it is good enough to deserve a second visit. 

Like their Haji Lane cousins, Beirut Grill does have shishas and they also have another floor named the "Magic Carpet" where potions of alcohol are served.  You will feel as if you're not in Singapore as there were a lot more foreigners in the restaurant than Singaporeans.  Interesting place...will visit again with my gluttonous friends!

P.S. Address can be found in the first photo.

Just watch this till the very end.  Whoever said that Singaporeans aren't creative need to watch this.  I love the ending.  Super!  Now...maybe I should talk to my boss about hiring this guy to do our vids...hmm....

I'm home!!! Missed me? LOL.

Yes, I'm back from my 2 week vacation in the US and I will be blogging about it once I've unpacked my luggage, uploaded all the photos etc.

I will be post-dating my blog entries on my vacation and it'll be in US day/time so please scroll down to read my 'latest' postings. :)

Cheers!

The school that I am working in has organised a Hari Raya Decorations competition and each department is supposed to decorate as a team...but I ended up decorating my department alone! Boohoo...! Well, if there are any prizes, I am getting it. =P

The rules state that we're supposed to send in 3 photos but there is NO way that we could send 3 standalone pics...so...here's what I did:

The rules didn't state that we HAD to send in 3 standalone photos, right? Hiak hiak hiak....

Anyways...may the best department win!! Aiy...I'm not too fussed about winning/ losing. I can't wait for Sept to be over!! Sep is a keeerrrazy month for me. I just celebrated my parents' anniversary last night (will blog about it soon), had to come in early today to do a conference call with the US, am meeting Sing for drinks later tonight (yay...my sister from another set of parents is back!!), have YET to take pics of my dress choices to get votes, will be meeting customers to pass them their Samantha Vega bags (woohoo~ they're here!!), celebrating Moon's birthday this weekend, school's official opening and open house the week after Hari Raya and THAT cousin's wedding on 29th (coincides with Open House)....somebody, clone me!!

Ok...shall get out of my office and take a thawing walk. I'm freezing....brrrr....my office is like a freezer while my room oscillates between a furnace and a proper room. Ugh. I'm going to get sick soon.

Hi Folks!

As you prolly already know, I'm now home in Singapore!! Wee~~~ It's great to be back although I am melting and my skin seems to be producing too much oil...darn the weather.

Anyhows, Happy Birthday Singapore!! I think its great that we're 44 yrs old and going strong! Fantastic birthday party where Shell gave 44cents off per litre of petrol from 4-5pm (causing tons of traffic jams all over Singapore) and the Science Centre had tickets at $4.40 for the whole day!

Speaking of these deals...thanks to Z who has been so patient! I will be mailing you your purchased ladies boxer shorts tomorrow! I will also be getting on your repair YL...apologies for that. EW - I will be sending you your earrings and the payment form soon.

Thank you for supporting Oct 1983 and I do feel truly blessed that I do have sales!!