Final Hours in Singapore

Our last afternoon in Singapore was pretty much just chillin’ out 🙂  Took a leisurely walk back to Peewee and Andy’s place after seeing the fantastic Titanic Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum 🙂

But before we head back, we had our last meal in Indochine, also one of the Baumans’ favorite restaurants in Singapore 🙂

They served Asian Cuisine, but more of Vietnamese.  Time for some healthy food! 🙂

Trying to choose my dish 🙂 Let’s go for some beef! 🙂

Beef with rice noodles or Beef Vermicelli. Delicious! 🙂

Beside Indochine was another museum featuring The Tang Shipwreck and Patterns of Trade.  Would love to go here next time!

Another cheap thrill!!! 🙂 While walking home, we spotted this Ice Cream Sandwich cart! 🙂

In fairness, for only a dollar, you get this ice cream sandwich!

Literally an ice cream bar inside a slice of rainbow colored bread! Enjoyed this very much!  And the Dizon siblings as well 🙂

Can you see the birds in the trees??? So cool 🙂 I just don't want to get pooped on. Although they say it's lucky! So... I guess it's okay to get pooped on. Hehe!

One last round of drinks with the Baumans before heading to the airport! 😦

The Baumans planning their meals for the week. And the Dizons, well, just getting ready to go home 🙂

Mr. DJ! Playing the perfect sounds for this lovely Sunday afternoon.

Singapore is made up of tunnels 🙂

And that my friends, ends my series of blog posts about Singapore.  It was such an enjoyable trip and even if it has been almost two months since our Singapore vacation extravaganza, I still look back at these photos and remember how much fun it was.  To be with my husband, brother and Peewee and Andrew for a few days of just pigging out, seeing new things and not thinking of work is something I wish I could do more often in my life 🙂

Stormtrooper ready to fly home 🙂

My dinner in the plane 🙂

Freezing in the plane!!!  But still managed to take one last photo of the end of our mini vacation 🙂  Couldn’t wait to see our little man and give him his presents from Singapore! (Got him a Star Wars Tie Fighter.  He went nuts!)

So until the next trip… When will that be, I wonder??? 🙂

Ion. Ippudo. I Like.

I love food courts, especially when you’re with a group and can’t decide where everyone wants to eat.  We heard about this good food court inside ION, a mall in Singapore.  So Andy took us there for dinner after we saw the very long waiting line in Ippudo.

I really liked it here 🙂 There were so many choices but I wanted to eat something Singaporean.  So after surveying the food court, I ended up trying this Singaporean noodle dish that looked very similar to Thailand’s Pad Thai.

Just a few simple ingredients.

I noticed Singaporean chefs like to smile for the camera 🙂

Ordered the Fried Kway Teow which is stir-fried ricecake strips. Yummy 🙂

Chris chose barbeque chicken from the Indonesian stall.

Dante chose this "sinigang"-like dish called "bak kut teh" which means meat bone tea. It consists of pork ribs in a broth of herbs and spices.

And Andy had some good ol' chicken rice.

The next day, Peewee had finally arrived in Singapore from a work trip! 🙂  My first agenda for the day  (I think the guys had breakfast somewhere while I was asleep?!) was lunch in Ippudo for some ramen! Woohoo!  I finally get to try the famous Ippudo Ramen! 🙂

Kissing not allowed, Peewee and Andy!!! hehehe 🙂

There is always a waiting line at Ippudo.  Thank God, it wasn’t as long as the night before.  We didn’t have to wait that long for a table.  Maybe a fifteen to twenty minute wait?  I didn’t really notice since we were busy catching up with Peewee 🙂

While waiting at the bar for a table.

Don't we look like a band?! LOL!

Love this photo taken by Peewee 🙂

Come on, people! Eat faster! Hehe

Finally at our table.

Tofu for starters.

Gyoza! My favorite 🙂

Yummy pork buns 🙂

And here's my Ippudo Ramen 🙂

That was one yummy bowl of Ramen! 🙂

Oh look who we bumped into?! Lyan and his cute daughter, Dharma 🙂

Two good meals in two good places 🙂  You haven’t disappointed me yet, Singapoh! 🙂

Haji Lane

Whenever Dante and I travel, we love going to places that are out of the way with little boutiques and shops rather than going to the malls.  So Dante researched online and discovered Haji Lane in Singapore.  Haji Lane is a charming little place with shophouses, independent fashion labels and Middle Eastern Cafes.  Here’s an overview of what’s in Haji Lane 🙂

Haji Lane's narrow streets lined up with shophouses 🙂

So many cute and colorful cafes in Haji Lane 🙂

Peewee, Dante, Andy and Chris enjoying our little walk around Haji Lane.

Picture-picture! 🙂

One more-one more! 🙂

Check out these decorated mailboxes.  So tempted to pimp my mom’s mailbox! 🙂

The Troopers are everywhere.

Arab Street is just next to Haji Lane. We didn't get to explore much of Arab Street though. Some shops were closed.

Entering a shophouse 🙂

Peewee rockin' the Hello Kitty glasses! 🙂

The ring I purchased 🙂

Out of all the cafes in Haji Lane, we ended up in a familiar place, Tutti Frutti Frozen Yoghurt.

At this time, we were reading all these tweets from Manila about Magnum and just had to try it. Good thing, there was a 7-11 next to Tutti Frutti 🙂

I really liked the vibe of Haji Lane 🙂 Very hip and eclectic, perfect place for hipsters like my husband. Hahaha! 🙂

We’re off to see the Wizard!

I was never a fan of the Wizard of Oz.  In fact, I have never seen the movie. Haha! I know, I know.  I was just more of The Sound of Music kind of girl rather than Oz when I was growing up.  I did see the movie, The Wiz, starring Michael Jackson.  But that was it 🙂  So I really didn’t know what to expect.  I just heard a lot of people say that Wicked was worth watching.  So, we all decided to watch since they were in Singapore 🙂

Wicked was being shown at the theater in Marina Bay Sands.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel across the street 🙂 I would love to stay here someday!

They have a skating rink???

I really loved how the mall of Marina Bay Sands looked.  It was like an airport! Love the ceilings and how grand it was! So many shops, fine dining restaurants and cafes.

This place is huge! 🙂

How cool are the see-through elevators! 🙂

Getting pretty excited to watch Wicked.

Awesome costumes! 🙂

Inside the lobby of the theater. Just bought some popcorn and water for the show 🙂

The Wicked Stage. Ok, Mr. Usher, I'm putting away my camera now. So this was all I took from inside the theater. hehe 🙂

OMG.  All I can say is BRAVO.  I found myself loving these two witches.  It was an awesome and touching musical.  I couldn’t stop singing the songs for days, up until today actually.  Fabulous show! And the Australian cast that came to Singapore was fantastic! Very comparable to the original cast, starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth! 🙂  Check out their performance at the Tony Awards!  This is my favorite song in the whole musical, Defying Gravity.  I do hope Wicked comes to Manila.  You all must know the true story about the witches of Oz 🙂

Before I end this entry, I would just like to share a few lines from one of my favorite songs from Wicked.  If only I knew this song years ago, I would have made this the song our wedding march. haha! Just kidding, Dants 🙂

“Something has changed within me… Something is not the same… I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game.  Too late for second-guessing.  Too late to go back to sleep.  It’s time to trust my instincts.  Close my eyes and leap!  It’s time to try defying gravity.  I think I’ll try defying gravity and you can’t pull me down!”  – Elphaba

Have a great week everyone! 🙂

Handsomely Good Food at Irvin’s

First night in Singapore.  An awesome dinner at Irvin’s.  This is the favorite restaurant of Peewee and Andy in Singapore.  And after this night, it was mine, too!

This used to be so near their place.  But they transferred to a new location.  A bit further but so worth the trip! 🙂  They are now located at 4 Jalan Leban, Upper Thomson Rd, Singapore 577548.

Lyan, another friend based in Singapore, joined us for dinner! 🙂 He's the one in red walking out of Irvin's 🙂

Love their tag line... "Handsomely Good Food". So true!

Salted Egg Potato. Ayayay! Soooo good. Never tasted anything like it!

Beside the potato chips is the salted egg eggplant. Double ayayay! Also got the asparagus sambal.

Kang Kong Sambal

Chicken Rice

Claypot Pumpkin Prawns. OMG. It's pumpkin prawn heaven! This was the favorite. The sauce is perfect with chicken rice. Oh the sauce... so creamy! Ayayay!

Black Pepper Crab

Chili Crab

Buns perfect to dip into the sauce of the Chili Crab 🙂

Outside is where they keep the live crabs! 🙂

I was so tempted to buy a pail of this divine salted egg sauce. But it had to be refrigerated so it might not have made it to Manila. Boohoo! Someone please try to replicate this sauce!!!

A well-fed cat 🙂

This was my favorite meal during our trip.  The staff were so nice and friendly to us as well.  Excellent food and service!  We wanted to eat there again but there was just no more time!  I will just dream about the pumpkin prawns and salted egg potatoes.  The Food Fighters will definitely be back, Irvin’s! Thank you for an awesome dinner! 🙂

And the Singapore adventure begins…

Flying to Singapore with no itinerary! 🙂  The plan was to eat and eat and eat.  There will be no such thing as diet this weekend! Bring it on, Singapore! Show us what you got 🙂

At the airport, we got some hotdog sandwiches wrapped in whole wheat buns for breakfast.

Duty Free goodies for Andy.

Airplane food for lunch. Not bad at all! Improving 🙂 I chose chicken over fish.

Almost landing in Singapore. Dante by the window seat 🙂

And we're here! No problems finding a cab in Singapore 🙂

Welcome to Singapore indeed. Rain, rain go away, come again some other day, please?!

Before anything else, we wanted some coffee and a light snack before heading over to Orchard Road 🙂 Close to the Bauman’s Shophouse is an Indian Restaurant that is open 24 hours.

Waiting for the rain to stop.

There were always a lot of diners here at Al Alfrose any time of the day 🙂

Nice and breezy weather. Chris still on airplane mode!

Dante's gift to his sister, Peewee 🙂

Hot coffee with cream and sugar.

Hot Horlicks drink 🙂 One of my favorite drinks of all time. It reminds me of my childhood and the Horlicks candy tablets, which I can't find anywhere anymore 😦

Ordered a Banana Prata. It's kind of like a crepe filled with crushed bananas with a cup of curry sauce for dipping. Strange combination but it was pretty good! Liked it very much! The texture is similar to a croissant, like a flat croissant 🙂

Here’s their menu of the different kinds of Prata.  Lots to choose from 🙂

Time to hit the malls and survey the goods before dinner! 🙂

HELLO, SINGAPOH!!! 🙂

To be continued…

Black Market No. 2

“Let our rebel yell resonate. We are Blackmarket.”

The day we arrived in Singapore, Dante and I were excited to visit Blackmarket.  This will be the future home of 13 Lucky Monkey in Singapore.

It’s a super cool store that carries a lot of different brands from various designers in Southeast Asia and more 🙂

So chic and hip.  It’s the perfect boutique for the Lucky Monkeys!

We first found out about this boutique through our very good friend and super talented Filipino designer, Gian Romano.  I was one of the lucky ones because Gian designed my beautiful wedding gown.  I just had to share… Below is me wearing my Gian Roman gown. Memories… 🙂

This photo was taken for a wedding feature in Preview Magazine 🙂 Photographed by the very talented, Wawi Navarroza. Makeup by Jigs Mayuga and hair by Ney Guese, very dear friends of mine 🙂

Blackmarket sells accessories, bags, eyewear, shoes, books and other things I’ve never seen anywhere else 🙂

While exploring the store, I spotted this section and I knew right away this was Gian Romano’s collection 🙂

I was so happy to see a familiar name on the labels of these super cool and edgy tops and dresses! 🙂

To all our friends living in Singapore and to those who will be flying there anytime soon, be sure to visit Blackmarket No. 2 at #02-10 Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, Singapore 🙂

Also watch out for 13 Lucky Monkey! Coming soon! 🙂

Peewee and Andy’s Shophouse

Last weekend, Dante, my brother Chris and I flew to Singapore.  We were supposed to watch the Foo Fighters Concert like everyone else from Manila.  Unfortunately, they cancelled the concert because of Dave Grohl’s medical conditions! 😦  Saddened, disappointed and heartbroken by the cancellation, we still pushed through with our Singapore trip.  The only reason we decided to push through was because we were very excited to see Peewee and Andy, Dante’s little sister and her husband 🙂 No concert to see but it was a greater weekend than we all had expected! 🙂

Peewee and Andy on their wedding day framed in their home.

Welcome to Peewee and Andy’s Shophouse in Singapore.  This was our home away from home for the whole weekend 🙂 In their neighbourhood, there are rows of shops, little restaurants and cafes on the ground floor and residential apartments above 🙂 I asked Peewee how they found this place and she said they asked help from a real estate agent.

“But we asked her to choose for us something she hasnt shown any expat client before…when I first went into the stairwell, I was really pissed off. I was wondering how she could expect us to live there…” Peewee explains.

The stairway to Peewee and Andy's Shophouse.

“When the door opened, it was like an oasis! Such a surprise, it was a little gem of a place, with the high ceilings, tiled floors…I loved it and I was already going through the house to see how the furniture fit.” – Peewee

Andy also explained that it was so hard to find an apartment that will fit their furniture because most of the condominium units there are tiny.  They had a king-sized bed and it would not fit in most condominiums that they checked out before they discovered this place.

“Andy and I love Asian furniture, we like ‘Modern Asian’, but more old Asian….we tried to decorate it in a way that was homey and we wanted things we wouldnt be afraid to use or break so most are heavy and sturdy.” – Peewee

Entrance to their work space. This is the room where Chris stayed for the weekend 🙂

Their wifi connection was so fast, these two immediately found their own spot. And I as well 🙂

Dante and Andy busy working. Anytime you're ready, Dants 🙂

Andy and Peewee's cute portraits on the wall.

“It’s a collection of our travels from Dubai, India, Indonesia and Thailand…we are missing Filipino pieces and we are about to do that.” – Peewee

This is the guest room where Dante and I stayed. Love it!!! 🙂

View from the guest room.

“Andy is as much a shopper as I am…we like to spend on one big thing – travel. But when we travel we buy stuff for the house mainly art, decorative stuff, incense and oils (that’s why our house smells like a spa!) and kitchen things.” – Peewee

“One thing that people notice as well is how much plants we have…we have a total of nine now, I think and Andy bought all of them. I think it makes our house more special!” – Peewee

Here are some of Peewee’s works of art 🙂

Thank you so much, Peewee and Andy for welcoming us into your beautiful home! 🙂  We didn’t want to leave anymore. Haha! Ask Chris 🙂 We felt at home.  Inside your place, I actually felt like I was in a beach house in some resort! Hehe

A fridge full of love! 🙂 And super healthy snacks! Haha!

Miss you guys already!  Dante, Chris and I all said that this trip wouldn’t have been fun if you both weren’t there!  Thanks again for everything!  We’ll definitely be back soon with our little man! 🙂  He’s going to love your place! 🙂