My Trip to Singapore: Kim Gary Hongkong Cafe

My Aunt treated me to this restaurant chain at ION Orchard right after visiting dentist. It was pretty new I think, since I didn't see this 367 days ago. The owner was an actor, she told me.

I ordered set A which consisted of Stone Grilled Pork Chop Rice and Cream Soup. For the drink, I ordered warm almond tea.

As it was lunch time then, the restaurant was flooded with people. The waiters and waitresses rushed everywhere for the service. They were shorthanded for this amount of customers. Nevertheless, they were fast thought. Also, since it was crowded and people were willing to queue, I supposed it must be delicious right?

Not long later, my food arrived. Well, it was the cream soup first. Shouldn't it be the almond tea first? Haha... I carefully scoop the soup and insert it into my mouth, as I thought it might be scalding hot. Turned out, it was nothing near hot at all, in fact it was almost like room temperature. Never mind, as the taste is not disappointing. It is creamy yet light, so it might be okay for some that can't tolerate food that are too rich.]

Then, my almond tea came. The smell invited me to try it no later. It taste sweet. Very sweet indeed. Too sweet for my liking.

Last, was my grilled rice. Yum yum yum~ The sizzling rice sounds and the smell was comforting(?). Hahaha... It was extra and very hot, which is how it should be *mix mix mix*. I had difficulty eating it, due to the extreme heat. It would took me forever to finish it, so my Aunt asked for a bowl for me to eat with.

The taste was not bad or very great. The pork chop was dry and very tough. I had hard time chewing and swallowing it.

The rice continued sizzling till I finished them all. There is also a condiment for you to mix in, though it taste better without. Ingredients are fresh. I don't know how to describe the taste. It taste Hong Kong LOL. Sweet, salty and slightly spicy (not spicy for me though) all blended well. The tastiest part is the burnt rice. Crispy and fragrant~ *crunch crunch nom nom*

Never mind, there was nothing to complain though. Good food, good environtment, good service and free food :p. What's more to ask? Hohoho~ Thank you so much for the (hearty and expensive) meal, Aunt~ :D

Oh, and the last thing. I don't know if it was just me or that Hong Kong restaurants are sprouting everywhere in Singapore.

In case you are wondering there's no picture, it was because my phone's battery was flat at the time.

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You Are Elegant

You are creative and good with your hands. You are naturally an artist. You pride yourself on having excellent taste in music, movies, and food. You are detailed oriented - even the smallest things don't escape your eye. Good at facts and figures, you excel at logical and mathematical tasks.

The Little Cake Test

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My Trip to Singapore: Why I Love It Here

This is home~ Truly~

Hahaha... Singapore, where it is the closest foreign country near my hometown—too close, in fact. Travelling back and forth frequently is not something unusual here—not me, I can't afford it. This little gem, a city-state that resides in SEA where arguably is the most powerful country there. A multi-cultural state where both east and west meet. Just what is the special things it offered, to be adored so much by many people?—notably, Indonesian :p

Here are some of my OPINIONS of why I love it here:

1. Public transportation at the comfort of your door. The bus and MRT systems all very well integrated, thus travelling is made convenient and not to mention it is comfortable.

2. Pedestrian-friendly. The part that I really love here is the fact that you practically can walk or bike to anywhere you want without having to worry about being knocked by cars or competing walking space with them. The pavements are wide and most of it comes with lots of trees and shades.

3. Green. Trees, grasses, flowers and shrubs are everywhere. This city is filled with green colour, unlike most major cities that comes with the grey colour. Singapore is not dubbed as 'Garden City' for nothing.

4. Pollution free. You don't need to compromise your health in order to live in a city.

5. Clean. Who doesn't love clean space? Anyone? No unsightly trash or spits that ruined the scenery, or be ready to pay.

6. Safe. With its low-crime rate, it is unusual for women to walk alone at the night, or leaving your things or shop with being stolen-I gotta admit that, now, more crime happens as more people resides this island.

7. Almost no need for umbrella. Need me to explain?

8. FOOD!!! Last but not least, your stomach will be spoiled with wide choice of local delicacy here. Instead of going to the famous restaurant chain, you actually will find the best tasting food at independently run restaurant, coffee shop and ultimately the modest stall at hawker centres.

Of course, there's perfect country on this world. Like every country there, this state also has its own trials. Those are the reasons why I love Singapore—if only no. 1-7 are also applied to my country. What's yours?

You Are Plucky and Brave

You enjoy variety and new challenges. You're always looking to shake things up a bit. You are deeply emotional. You are a very soulful person, and at times you're downright fiery. When you want to get your way, you're assertive and gusty. You are a good actor, even when you're not feeling brave. You are easily excited and inspired. You are engaged with the world in many different ways.

The Train Oracle

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Happy 68th Birthday to Indonesia

You have stand up by yourself for more than a jubilee year. You silently witness every moments of grief, tears, and blood for centuries. Corruption, poverty, injustice, and many other absurdity still resides in this land. The path to the bright future may seems dim and long, but, rest assured that, we all will be here with you, fighting for it.

Everybody around the world see the strong growth of this country, which means more prosperity here. Yet, did anyone see that despite of these, the inflation is sky-high?

We used to be proud of our natural resources both from land and sea, but do you know that almost none of them belong to us now?

Don't you feel hypocrite that you throw rubbish everywhere yet you put all the blame on government when the flood arrives, dear people?

Water and electricity shortage is the norm, as well as the lack of well-planned urban planning, infrastructure and facilities is a big problem now and then.

How long do you want to sit on your ass and corrupt every little penny, oh the 'almighty' official up there?

Our environment is degrading to the critical point which will going to cause more problems ahead, everyone~

Beneath this beautiful country, there's still so much sorrow in it. Do you notice that?

Despite all the bad things, there are far too many good things also. <3

Happy 68th Birthday Indonesia! Even though it's still a third-world country with all kind of problems with both of its governments and people, I still love you! Every countries also went through this stage before emerging to the top, so let's do our best! Learn the good from other countries, and implements it here! Together, we can built this nation for the better! I still want to believe the great future ahead! I love Indonesia and proud to be one!

You Are Independence

A lofty answer for a 4th of July quiz, but you're a lofty type of person. You are quite idealistic. You have many things that you believe in, and independence is at the top of your list. You love being self-reliant. You need to have the freedom to do whatever you want in your life. You make your own decisions. Sometimes you happily follow the crowd, and sometimes you stand your ground. The most important thing is that it's up to you to choose. So this 4th of July, you may eagerly engage in all the festivities. Or you may sit it all out. Whatever you feel like. No matter what you choose, you'll be smiling a little at the thought of others boisterously celebrating freedom.

What Part of the 4th of July Are You?

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My Trip to Singapore: Summary Note

The highlight of events and lessons I learnt while on trip to Singapore:

1. Stayed there from Friday, 26th July 2013 till Thursday, 1st August 2013—new record!
2. Visited 3 medical destinations—unplanned and full of surprises.
3. Was given discount by Dr. Lee and Dr. Lim—I can't never thank them enough.
4. Barely surviving—medical treatments are EXPENSIVE!!—new record of money spent (Y^Y)
5. Had almost all kinds of food at IKEA cafe—went there twice with different people.
6. Tried a lot of new food—Thai Express, Men Men Don Don, Sakae Sushi, etc—treated by cousins, Aunts, etc.
7. Ran myself into debt—for medical treatment, not splurging—from boy cousin.
8. Reunion with my girl friends <3
9. Got to know many new fun loving friends—miss you all!
10. Was asked "Do you still have money? Need any help?" A LOT, literally from almost everyone I knew.
11. Enjoyed lot of attractions—treated by boy cousin.
12. Tried the famous liquor ice cream at Udders Novena—I'd love it more if it was totally soaked in liquor.
13. Fully inspired after enjoying S.E.A Aquarium at Sentosa—treated by boy cousin again.
14. Travelled without camera—fully enjoyed and savoured every moment—I dare you!
15. Got a free necklace from a generous lady at K-Street Bugis Street—Thanks!—I'm such a cheapo.
16. Got a free replacement for my bag's zipper handler (I don't know what it's called)  from the kind guy shop assistant at ZINC Bags Bugis Street—I'm grateful.
17. Received my first—and last—birthday gifts from two of my beloved cousins.
18. Swam at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex—super cheap with very clean shower rooms and pool—can Indonesia be like this? (T^T)
19. I need not to fork out a single cents (except for the transportation) or even doing anything—he's a total gentleman—when going out with my boy cousin—I'm greatly in debt to you (YvY)
20. Visited my girl cousin campus at Kaplan@Wilkie Edge—This is more of a mall than a campus XD
21. Spent almost all of my outing with girl cousin—my trip wouldn't be so wonderful without you! >< And thank you so much for sacrificing so much time, energy and money for me <3
22. Watched cinema at here for the first time—so expensive (Y^Y)
23. Didn't visit Marina Bay Sands and National Library this year—I love books (but lack of $$$)—I super love the book collections at Singapore library.
24. Eat a lot of home-cooked food—thank you so much, Aunt!
25. Being the poorest tourist in Singapore—I'm pretty sure about this.

These don't really sum up my journey though. Haha... I definitely will come again to this little city state, as usual. Well, next year, I shall use my own money—hopefully I can earn enough!

Your Travel Personality Is: The Adventurer

For you, travel is how you learn about the world. And you like to learn the stuff that's not in guidebooks. You truly have wanderlust. When you're not traveling, you're dreaming about where you'll go next. And your travels are truly legendary - they leave you with stories you'll be telling for the rest of your life!

What's Your Travel Personality?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

My Trip to Singapore: Toast Box

One of the most popular and classic choice of breakfast. Slices of bread toasted to the perfect texture and crust, be it eaten alone or with spread and accompanied with beverages of your choice. Just thinking it makes you drool, doesn't it? Of course, who doesn't love toast? It's the lover of everyone's stomach! Me either!

My personal favourite spread is kaya, a coconut jam spread originated from Malay culture. It is made from sugar, egg, coconut milk and optional pandan leaves. The secret of a good kaya is having no wheat flour and colouring or other nasty chemicals as the ingredients. Home-made fresh kaya taste the best.

Last year, an Aunt brought me to this famous chain coffee shop before sending my home at Harbour Front Ferry Terminal. I ordered their signature traditional kaya toast.

Once bitten, the freshly toasted warm bread with perfect texture blended flawlessly with the kaya and cold butter between, seductively melt in my mouth. Love at first taste.

"It tasted like heaven!" Auntie ordered more for me to eat at the ferry right away after I complimented the taste. Thank you so much, Auntie!

This kaya toast is what that makes me looking forward to come back to Singapore when at Jakarta. Finally, I get to taste it again this year. Unfortunately, it's not what I expected.

I had it at around 2-3 different chain of Toast Box, and none of them taste as good.

I told few people I knew about it, and their reply was "No kaya toast in coffee shop chain taste good anymore." Oh well, since it is franchise, no wonder if their quality suffered as well. But, probably the one located at Harbour Front Ferry Terminal is still as good, tight? As it's far, I didn't go there.

I only hope that Toast Box will pay more attention to their quality despite the fast growth. It's part of BreadTalk family, so I believe that they will do something about it. Best wishes to you! :)

You Are Content

You aren't afraid to take responsibility for your actions - or place the blame on whoever deserves it. People see you as both genuine and spontaneous. You are the real deal. You want to experience the world without judgment. You are totally open to experiences. You have a deep desire to play by your own rules and do things on your own terms. You can't be fenced in.

What Does Your Toast Say About You?

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

My Trip to Singapore: Mt Elizabeth Hospital

This year, my trip to Singapore is filled with many medical 'destinations'. My Aunt was hospitalized, so I came to visit her.

What I can say is... I'm not sure whether this is hospital or hotel. It's so luxury. O_O

When my Aunt decided to sleep, she asked me to go around this hospital or shopping malls nearby. So, I decided to tour around the hospital.

When I first came here before, I went to the wrong tower. I didn't know that wards are on different tower. I simply hopped into the lift. And I arrived at a deserted floor full of doctors clinics. It was a medical centre tower. As it was Sunday then, there was not a single soul around. I walked around that floor though, to look at the doctors board near the entrance if each of their office. Is it just me, or most doctors in Singapore are graduates from London?

Then I explored only few parts of the hospital at the wards tower as I felt fatigue. At the lobby, there was a service room for international patients. Most of the patients here are foreigner. One the majority is Indonesian. Singapore is a hotspot medical destination for Indonesian. Thus, Indonesian is well-known to be rich there. Nope, I am not one of the wealthy Indonesian.

Last thing I did was sitting on the sofa at the lobby. Behind me was a grand piano covered in red velvet cloth. Really, this place is a hotel, not hospital.

I went back to my Aunt's ward since it was dinner time, where she should be awaken already. The meal-service lady speaks Bahasa fluently, as well as some nurses and doctors. Many of the patients here are Indonesian, that's why.

I looked my Aunt's (and get to taste) dinner and the menu list for tomorrow. I never thought that hospital's food can be such a finely crafted gourmet without all the unhealthy stuffs. Where health and taste meet, this is how food is supposed to be.

From the interior design to the facilities and amenities, this hospital rivals many hotels. Seriously-and not to mention it also comes with $$$.

You Are a Treadmill

You are dedicated, conscientious, and hard working. When you make a plan, you tend to stick to it. You do best with routine and structure. You like to have every hour in the day accounted for if possible. You don't mind hard work, in fact, there's little else that makes you feel more satisfied. You love to chart your progress and see how far you have come. Given enough time, you feel like you can accomplish almost anything. You prefer the known to the unknown in life, even if it's a bit boring. Consistency is important to you. If something works, you tend to stick to it. Life is difficult enough without having to reinvent the wheel.

What Kind of Exercise Equipment Are You?

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

My Trip to Singapore: Vaccination

It all began with a sentence from my cousin, "Tian, do you want get cervical cancer vaccination? Because after we reach some certain age, we can't receive it. Aunt recommended us to this clinic"

I was reluctant at first, because of the $$$. But in the end, I still went for it after receiving the consent from my mother.

When it comes to health, do not save. Investing in health ensures more $$$ saved in the long-term. In my opinion.

After finishing appointment with dentist, I went around to look for the location of this clinic. It is located somewhere near Orchard also. Thanks to Google Map and some pointers from people around, I managed to find it. For people who are not used to walking, it's pretty far.

The mall was not as what I expected. Hahaha... It is older, but is maintained properly.

I went to the designated floor after asking the customer service officer. I arrived in a pretty deserted floor. There was not many people around. From what I saw, this floor is only filled with specialized clinics for various medical disease and s few tuition centres for children. 

* * * * *

The next day, I came here for consultation and vaccination with my cousin after booking for an appointment. Our doctor is Dr. Lim. We chose her because she was the only female doctor there and to make thing less awkward xD.

Before the consulation with Dr. Lim, I was guided by a nurse to fill in a form and recording other informations of my health.

So, I opened the door to the Dr. Lim's consultation room. I was impressed with the sight that greeted me. A lady with fair and clear smooth skin equipped with friendly yet professional smile in her sleek style. Dr. Lim is soooooooo beautiful. Far fron what I thought :p Seriously.

Then, Dr. Lim explained the type of vaccines as well as the type of diseases it fights and many other informations regarding to health.

After choosing the type of vaccine, Dr. Lim offered to call my Mother to explain about the vaccinations. Wow... What a thoughtful service. <3

Your Aura is Blue

Spiritual and calm, you tend to live a quiet but enriching life. You are very giving of yourself. And it's hard for you to let go of relationships. The purpose of your life: showing love to other people Famous blues include: Angelina Jolie, the Dali Lama, Oprah Careers for you to try: Psychic, Peace Corps Volunteer, Counselor

What Color Is Your Aura?

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