Travel – Page 6 – thekua.com@rest

Luck of the Irish

August 29, 2006 Patrick Travel

Long weekends caused by bank holidays always tend to lead to expensive flights and hotels as demand pushes the costs up. Thankfully I scored a relatively cheap flight with Ryanair to Dublin. Ironically Dublin consistently ranks in the top 20 most expensive in the world, this year coming in at number 18. I only spent two days there despite the long weekend since I found the hotel exorbitantly expensive but I think I still got a good feel for the city in this short time.

On my first day I joined a tour that ended up in Glendalough (Valley of the Two Lakes) where we took in some marvellously spectacular scenery. The rolling green hills and a herd of sheep blocking off the path for our bus reminded me a lot of my time on the south island of New Zealand. The tour also stopped along the way at the town of Avoca (also known as Ballykissangel for the BBC series set and shot in this town).

After getting back from the tour we joined the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl, a comical trip around town with a group of actors recalling famous quotes and interesting stories from a number of the most famous writers raised in Dublin. Not particularly expensive and not technically a real pub crawl, it’s a fun and entertaining way to see parts of Dublin. People we spoke to also highly recommended the alternative musical pub crawl (it’s funny how most things in Dublin have to do with drinking).

We ended up in some club just south of the infamous and overly touristy Temple Bar area and stayed until closing (which is surprisingly early at 2 or 3am). I found Irish people probably the friendliest out of the places I have been too, with both girls and guys likely to start or continue a conversation. At the end of the night though, I also found the Irish the loudest and some of them the most aggressive I’ve seen. The numerous broken bottles and aftermath of rubbish in the streets the next day only emphasises this observation.

Though I struggled to wake early I still managed to get around to most of the sights in Dublin. The city is great for pedestrians with pretty much most of them all within walking distance. I visited Trinity College, home to the Book of Kells but I couldn’t wait out the long queues for such a quick trip. A short trip away is the Dublin Castle that was full of impressive sand sculptures and the Dublin City Hall just near that.

Overall I found the city of Dublin extremely warm and welcoming and although it didn’t seem overly dangerous, I noticed quite a number of dodgy people simply walking the streets, even during the day.

You can see more of the pictures here.

Back in London

August 21, 2006 Patrick Travel, UK Life

I arrived back in London on Sunday, after an entire but expected day’s worth of travelling from Australia. The flight to Singapore went extremely smoothly, made even faster by the on-demand entertainment system – the first time I’ve ever flown with one. I watched the movie Thank You For Smoking as well most of the second series of the great English series, The Office.

The flight from Singapore to London was a little less enjoyable after sitting next to one of those people that overflow into your personal space every way possible (out reaching legs, over stretching elbows, not to mention the countless number of times he unintentional pressed buttons on my remote with his elbow) but at least I had a window seat to which I could lean to and get some sleep. The trip went uneventfully and disappointingly this British Airways craft lacked the much more preferred on-demand system I had on the previous Qantas flight.

London, like most times, welcomed the flight with overcast skies and gentle rain but the arrival and proceeding through the usual immigration points went smoothly. My new project is a .Net one and I’m already enjoying with a great bunch of people.

ToriQ

August 19, 2006 Patrick Food, Travel

Countless numbers of shopping centres fill Orchard Road and, from observing all the various construction, is a trend that will probably continue for some time. Amongst all the huge number of stores, food stops along the way offer the shopper a brief reprise to their endless frenzy.

I stumbled across one small food stop I thought worth blogging about, a small store called ToriQ. ToriQ is a store specialising in Japanese Yakitori, a semi-equivalent to the Malaysia Satay stick. One employee is always busy grilling away little hunks of meat and sometimes assorted vegetables skewered onto little sticks that provide a very portable and relatively healthy snack.

ToriQ is not very large with the insides only big enough for the all the employees grilling and serving and a few stools encouraging very brief stays. A big glass panel separates the customers from the grilling section but the entire cooking process is very visible, at least guaranteeing a certain level of quality.

The menu is not overly complex – you order various types of skewers with the option of the better value “packs” providing rice and a drink as well. Most of the grilled skewers are dunked into a warm sauce (my guess is teriyaki) and then put into the various bags or packages. The cheapest sticks are the chicken sticks at only S$0.90 each and the most expensive being the Unagi (eel) ones at S$2.00.

Details: ToriQ
Found On: I think it was at the bottom floor of Tang’s Shopping Complex on Orchard Road
Highlights: Freshly grilled meat and vegetables provide a healthier alternative to all the stalls serving fried variations. Pretty good value for money as well.
Improvements: More seating for patrons.
The Kua Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Singaporean Chilli Crab at Roland Restaurant

August 17, 2006 Patrick Food, Restaurants, Travel

Before I left for my trip, a friend of mine told me one must-do for a real visitor is a trip out to the east coast of Singapore and indulge in the famous Singaporean Chilli Crab. Thankfully the east coast is not too far from the city, and because it’s generally devoid of the more popular tourist attractions, is more filled with locals riding bikes and rollerblading along the paths on the “beach”-front. A quick survey of the area showed me that plenty of places appear to serve the famous crab but I decided on going to Roland’s Restaurant that came recommended by the Lonely Planet.

This restaurant is supposedly a bit of an institution for this dish but at first glance appeared to me as mostly a big tourist trap with their big neon signs claiming they invented the now famous “Singaporean Chilli Crab” dish. Thankfully the insides of the restaurant look no different from any other Chinese restaurant and I was relieved to see the absence of the tourist groups that I imagined being driven here. Instead, a large number of locals filled a number of the other tables and appeared to be enjoying their lunch.

Leafing through their menu, I admit that a number of their other dishes looked enticing but since I had come for the crab I didn’t want to waste what appetite I had on other fillers, so I simply ordered the Sri-Lankan crab with Chilli Sauce. While the restaurant prepared the crab, attendants automatically give you pickles and fill up your tea, though they will bill you for both items at the end of your meal.

The crab arrived in a decent amount of time along with a finger bowl, a plate seating a crab hammer and crab cracker (though I’m not sure that’s what they’re properly named), and two pieces of fried bread to help soak all the sauce.

I looked incredibly spoilt with a whole crab to myself but I will admit I cared not since I had not indulged for some time and the crab looked extremely tasty smothered in its crimson red sauce. I found the chilli sauce not especially hot but had enough kick that complemented the delicately sweet flesh of the crab. The sauce also appeared to contain a variation of scrambled egg (as if there wasn’t enough protein in the dish!) continuing to heighten the entire dish by giving it a velvety smooth texture.

As with eating shelled crab of any sort, it took me a while to get through the entire crab. I was fortunate enough that the attendants gave me a spoon and fork though I found chopsticks quite useful for pulling out the stringy flesh out of hard to reach places. Surprisingly I found the bread a great accompaniment for soaking up the sauce and eaten with the crab but two pieces was enough when I had a whole crab to myself.

Details: Roland Restaurant
Found On: Block 89, Parade Central #06-750 Singapore 440089
Contactable On: +65 6440 8205
Highlights: Not excessively touristy and at least a quality place that you can really get messy without walking out like you had just eaten crab. Lots of other interesting things on the menu
Improvements: This restaurant does charge for everything (pickles you don’t eat or ask for, the wet towel you use at the end) and admiteddly you can easily eat this national dish at other places for cheaper.
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10

Tapping into the Wealth of Travel Information

August 15, 2006 Patrick Food, Travel

Visiting countries and indulging in their unique cuisine is always a great way to get an insight into their culture, particularly in those in which it plays a central role. The hard thing about visiting a new place is finding all the hidden gems away from the big tourist traps, and getting into the real finds. Luckily the world of blogging is making this much easier with numerous foodies focused solely on sharing their experience with different restaurants and just food in general. I wanted to say my thanks to the following bloggers who really helped me out on this trip:

Eating Japanese in Singapore

August 14, 2006 Patrick Food, Restaurants, Travel

After an exhausting day of walking all over Singapore and ending up at one end of Orchard Road, I thought I’d head over to Nagano, a Japanese restaurant this time pointed out by Aroma Cookery. Though I walked to Valley Point Shopping Centre, you can circumvent the hills and lengthy walk by a taxi if you want. You will find the Valley Point Shopping Centre at the bottom of a large residential building that appears what I imagine the rest of suburb Singapore to look like away from the crowded touristy streets.

Nagano appears to be quite authentic from the traditional hanging banner at its entrance as well as the standard ‘irrashaimase’ (Welcome to my place!) greeting that staff shouts at you as you enter. This restaurant has a large number of tables, most of which were empty this night but probably because I was having dinner very late. I found staff extremely attentive, continually topping up the complimentary tea as I perused the menu offering a wide variety of great sushi and standard Japanese meals.

In the end I ordered the Katsu Curry Set accompanied by my latest most favourite type of sushi, the Unagi (Eel) one. The sushi arrived first, presented very nicely and accompanied by the standard pickled ginger, wasabi paste and soy sauce. As you can see from the picture, the eel refreshingly overshadowed the rice (the first time I’ve seen that) and was deliciously moist and saucy. If not for the oncoming meal I most definitely could have consumed more of this.

It wasn’t too long before the Katsu Curry set arrived and came on a platter including a Miso soup and a small fruit bowl. The soup was delicious, and filled with cubes of tofu, but I took surprise to the curry actually sitting next to the katsu for once. It at least guaranteed a crispy cutlet. The curry sauce was a little bit more watery than what I am used to but was still flavoursome and cutlet still juicy.

Nagano is a good restaurant to visit if you’re a local but I’m not sure if it is worth making a trip out of your way as a visitor to the island. The sushi is definitely something I could recommend more of, but I am sure there are better places closer to more popular roads. Though I can’t remember exactly how much I paid (I think it was S$9) I was surprised at how cheap it was.

Details: Nagano Japanese Restaurant
Found On: Shop #01-07 Valley Point Shopping Centre, 491 River Valley Road, Singapore
Contactable On: 67332152
Highlights: Authentic Japanese food at great prices. Great service that ensured a continual flow of free steaming hot green tea!
Improvements: Location is a little inconvenient for most visitors, but since it’s a short taxi ride from Orchard Road and taxis are ridiculously cheap, this is not really a big deal.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

Dharma’s Kebabs

August 14, 2006 Patrick Food, Restaurants, Travel

I really indulged it the fact that you can eat out at relatively small prices in Singapore (particularly translated back into the £!) with many decent quality meals in the food court costing about S$3 or £1. It is where the majority of Singaporean people apparently eat in, and though restaurants also abound, they tend to be quite a number of multiple of these prices.

One such restaurant I visited was Dharma’s Kebabs that I first read about on the blog of Nibbles & Scribbles. Fortunately the trek on my first day in Singapore around all the major sight seeing districts landed me right near this area for a rather late and lazy lunch.

Dharma’s Kebabs is located on Boat Quay, a street filled with overly touristy restaurants and bars taking advantage of the dockside views. Fortunately Dharma’s is not so over the top with the glitz and glamour, seemingly not much more than a larger hole-in-the-wall type place. It is associated with the BQ Bar next door, but at least serves decent food. I think they have air conditioned seating upstairs, but their industrial fans literally blew away the unbearable heat and humidity made it quite enjoyable sitting on high chairs next to the water.

Their menu is not overly complex, filled with various types of kebabs and a number of other plates and sharing platters. I ordered the Chicken Tikka plate (S$15) containing chicken tikka, garlic naan, some salad and dipping sauces. The chicken tikka was amazingly juicy and its coating gave it just the right of tang and flavour that went down a treat. The “naan” was more disappointing with a texture closer to flat bread instead of the proper soft tandoor cooked bread I was expecting but was still flavoursome nevertheless. The salad was literally from some other world, with an overly zealous chef really going to work on it with the salt and pepper shakers. The lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes would have been refreshing had it not been covered with a heart-attack inducing amount of salt!

This place serves some awesome foods and I read that the curry fries are supposed to be good. Service from the attendants was good, but then it was a very late lunch and there is always something magical about dining by the water at any time of day.

Details: Dharma’s Kebabs
Found On: 40 Boat Quay, 6236-0980 (Singapore)
Highlights: Great chicken tikka, platters offer seemingly good value
Improvements: Not so much salt!
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

Signing off from Singapore

August 13, 2006 Patrick Travel

I’ve spent the last four days in Signapore roaming all the things there are to do and even getting out to a little part of Malaysia. Most of the things that I ended up doing and seeing could most classified as very ‘touristy’, but in this, probably most westernised of all Asian countries, is very difficult to avoid.

Accommodation is expensive and even all the last minute prices available on the Internet were surprisingly steep. I ended up staying in a hotel in the midst of Little India, and though my room was literally no larger than a walking space around my bed, it was fine for its reasonable price. Staying in Little India was a great experience because it’s definitely less touristy than many other hotel locations around major shopping centres or tourist attractions. The area may impress a visitor during the day, but night time provides a whole new experience as the streets are literally teeming with people eating at the huge number of Indian restaurants, shopping at the various market places or just hanging out having beer or listening to some Bangla-Pop (is that even a real thing?)

As a visitor, I found Singapore very easy to get around with the Mass Rail Transit (MRT) system providing fast air-conditioned transport to major areas, and taxis at extremely reasonable rates when your feet get tired or when you’re too far from a MRT station. Most of the major tourist attractions and areas are very close together making your entire holiday walkable with the only deterrent really being the heat and the humidity acting against you.

One big particular pastime in Singapore I’ve heard people and books rave about is the food, with popular hygienic food courts being the main staple to the majority of the people. Singapore has countless food courts, each filled with numerous stalls each serving distinct cuisines far too numerous to wholly list but include Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Indonesian, Indian. Normally there is at least one stall devoted solely to drinks including fresh fruit juices, and another especially for the refreshing shaved-ice based desserts that I definitely indulged in during the holiday. Numerous restaurants are also scattered around but the food courts offer the best value for money with a single meal typically costing S$3 or £1!

Here is a quick list of all the things I managed to do while I was here in Singapore:

Entered all the temples in the Little India area
Completed a walking tour around the Arab District including a trip to the Sultan Mosque and the Malaysian Cultural Centre, formerly the royal residence
Sauntered down to the Esplanade to see the Merlion and the Durian-shaped buildings that are also the Arts Centre
Caught the MRT and strolled through Eastern Singapore to visit beach in East Coast Park and eat the famous Singapore Chilli Crab
Overindulged in the historical side of Singapore’s Colonial District including a visit to Raffles Hotel and numerous other heritage sites
Walked around the market places in Chinatown
Wore myself out window shopping through at least a dozen of the many, many, many shopping centres along famous (or infamous depending on who’s wallet you’re talking about) Orchard Road
Escaped to the Night Safari (a part of the Singapore Zoo)
Rode a bus into Malaysia’s Johor Bahru and walked around town
Idled away enough time at the very touristy Sentosa Island – a place that seems more like a theme park than anything else though a visit to Underwater World was not bad (but I think Mooloolaba’s one is better)

You can find the photos here.