Mom's Birthday 2011

For Mom's birthday this year, she picked Marriott Cafe at the newest hotel in town, Marriott Hotel Resorts World. The Lunch Buffet spread was filled with our favorites: Japanese, Chinese, steak, lambchops, lechon, and a wide selection of desserts. Mom's birthday was extra special because she's with her new apo, Baby A. However, we missed my brother N's family.

Marina Bay Sands

We make it a point to play in casinos whenever we have the opportunity to be in one. We really don't expect to win but we believe that it is part of the fun to try, especially when Singaporeans have to pay SGD100 just to get into one, while we get in for free. And we get to have bottomless coffee, tea and bottled water. Plus, it was a good place to rest our aching feet. Lots of seats inside. Yes, we didn't really expect to win, but we did. For betting SGD6, we won SGD40 for a return of 567%, not bad isn't it? Especially if it buys us two tickets to the Marina Bay Sands Skypark!




Finally the weather clears after waiting for half an hour. Do not attempt to go up if it's raining, you won't see a thing! They don't allow umbrellas by the way.

Swimming at the infinity pool is only for hotel guests.

Of course, we had to go to The Shoppes! A lot of the shops were still closed but it was huge. By the way, shops close at 12 midnight. Maybe they want to make sure they are open when lucky winners from the casino collect their winnings. Who says Singapore nightlife is boring?

More Food Tripping in Singapore

Marina Bay Sands deserves an entry of its own, but since we ate at the casino's Tong Dim Noodle House, I've included our visit here. While it was impossible to have lunch on New Year's Day in the hotel and mall restaurants, this restaurant inside the casino was only half full. Maybe because locals would have to pay SGD100 just to go into the casino. The hakaw was one of the best we have tasted. For Hainanese Chicken Rice, Prawn Noodles, Hakaw and Coke Zero at SGD24, it was also very reasonable. The place was also worthy of several photo ops, as it was really nice.



Our friends EB and TB treated us to Ze Yeane in Redhill serving delicious Cantonese food. The restaurant is owned (?) and run by a former chef of the Raffles hotel. We feasted on the fish cakes, spring rolls and one of the restaurant's specialties, the chicken with herbs inside cooked in a special brown sauce.

Breakfast at Hilton's Checkers Coffee Shop was one of our vacation's highlights. You all know that I am a breakfast lover, but a deprived one because all I can manage for breakfast at home are crackers. The buffet spread had different dimsum, bacon, made-to-order omelettes, bacon, ham , sausages, congee, indian food, and all kinds of fruits and juices. You can even have several fruits combined for juice. Here I am with a sleepy but happy smile:

Auntie CM and Uncle G brought us to Pow Sing Restaurant in Seranggoon Gardens. It is known for its Hainanese Chicken Rice, said to be better than Wee Nam Kee's, and we know why. It 's chicken was very tasty, juicy and tender. We also loved all the dishes especially the chili prawns and the fish curry.

As always, we enjoyed Singapore's food so much, our excuse--- we got to exercise by walking a lot!

New Year in Singapore

Except for last year, E and I have found ourselves out of the country on New Year's for the past few years . This year, it was Singapore, because of some expiring Kris Flyer miles.

We went on the first SQ flight at 8:10 AM, but not without having our free breakfast at the Miascor Lounge (an American Express Platinum privilege, so if you have the card, you are entitled to this).


Our first choice for accommodation was the Mandarin Orchard because of its location, but it was already fully booked by the time we decided on the trip, so we ended up at Hilton Singapore, still along Orchard Road but further up near the Scotts Road intersection. Aside from the cheaper rates, Hilton also has a better selection for its Breakfast Buffet.

Also, for shoppers, the Hilton Shopping Gallery has the only Balenciaga and Mulberry boutiques in Singapore. For those with kids, Hilton is right beside Forum where Toys R Us is located.

Dinner at Amici

This was taken around three weeks ago when our friend RW was in Manila for a short visit. We were at Amici at the SM Megamall Atrium. I was NIP (not-in-photo) because I was the photographer!

Girls' Christmas Get Together

For this year's get- together, we decided on the new Ayala Triangle Park where there was a Lights and Sounds Show during the holiday season. Dinner was at Kanin Club. Though we started out early, the most popular restaurant, Wee Nam Kee, was already full. Nevermind, we definitely enjoyed our Seafood Kare-Kare, Crispy Dinuguan, Crispy Liempo, and all dishes we ordered at Kanin Club.

Walked to JV and DV's condo for the traditional gift-giving. Merry Christmas and a Joyful New Year, my dear friends!

Christmas Eve Baby

Everyone, please welcome the newest member of the family, Baby A --- first baby of my sister T and BIL JC! She's adorable, isn't she? We gladly spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the Asian Hospital to welcome her:-) We love you Baby A!

BIL Plays for the US

My Brother-in-Law was invited by his alma mater, the Manhattan School of Music, to play for them and their special guests, and my sister, being his personal assistant had to be there too. Plus, not so coincidentally, my Mom was in New York for her friends' grand reunion. Thus, there they were, enjoying New York on this particular day. BIL also played at the James Madison University in Virginia.

New Life in Toronto

My brother and family are finally settled in Toronto and we're so happy and so proud of them. My brother has found work, my niece S is in school, and my sister-in-law is managing the home so well. We heard that she now makes juicy burgers. Of course, there are some things that haven't changed: going to malls on weekends. Looking forward to visiting next year!

50 Years of Friendship

My Mom and her dear friends had a grand reunion in New York. How's that for celebrating 50 years of friendship? What an inspiration indeed! Would love to have this too, many years from now, with my dearest friends.

Food Trip in Singapore

One of the things we always look forward to on holidays is the opportunity to dine and sample different dishes. This holiday was filled with several dining opportunities as well as meet friends and family based in Singapore:

I always looked forward to the daily breakfast at Triple Three at the Mandarin Orchard, especially smoked salmon and the dimsum:
This was dessert at McCafe with TS and GS after a delicious dinner of tapas at a Spanish restaurant. Forgot to take photos at the restaurant and only remembered when we were having dessert. It was my first time in a McCafe:

This was after-dinner drinks at 313@Somerset, one of Singapore's newest malls:

Afternoon tea with high school friend FB and wife T at The TCC, Millenia Walk. Loved my peppermint coffee!

Lunch at Asian Kitchen, serving Taiwanese street food. This was at Ion Orchard, again one of Singapore's newest malls.
One of the highlights of staying at the Mandarin Orchard was Chatterbox's Chicken Rice, said to be one of the best in Singapore. We also enjoyed their Chicken curry and their prawn noodle dish:

Mandarin Orchard Singapore

We decided to spend the long weekend in Singapore. Since this was the first time we were going out of the country after my retirement, we made it extra special by staying at the Mandarin Orchard. Located right in the middle of Orchard Road and beside Ngee Ann City, it was the best hotel to stay in Singapore. Although so short, the long weekend was so memorable. More pictures later. Am having problems uploading pictures!