Social Media Dining

It was the usual lunch ordeal: where to eat. My feet brought me to Marina Square. I was to dine alone – it was either Carl’s Jr or Saizeriya. There were a few people on queue at Saizeriya so I went ahead to Carl’s Jr. They have a limited promotion on a sourdough sandwich which was a dollar more than the usual lunch box special so I might as well try it out. I went to sit on the usual lone-diner’s corner near the soda fountain and the condiments and wait for my order to be served. I took a quick snap of my meal and show it my sisters on Whatsapp. Just because.

This was that meal. sandwich, fries and Sjora

This is it as posted on their facebook page

While eating, something petty caught my attention which seems like a little commotion to my peripheral vision. There were these two dudes standing up taking pictures of their meal too. For me they seem like they are examining a crime scene: arranging their food, taking photos. Re-arrange it again and again, snap some more. That took a while so I was just dumbfounded. Are these people "influencers"? There’s nothing fancy about it, just ordinary fast food. As I was alone, I was just there observing (and judging) these dudes. After the meticulously done photo op of the burgers, they proceeded to eat. They did eat, but of course they were on their phones the whole time. They barely talked to each other, almost none actually except when they were both done eating. They were very much immersed on their phones, probably posting pictures of their fast food and interacting to people online or maybe looking at other  people's posts too.

The Best Tasting Chocolate Ever

The best tasting chocolate I have tasted so far would be Venchi, an Italian brand. We have learned about this brand because a former officemate bought some as omiyage for his officemates in Microsoft in Germany. Kat is buying some too - this must tasted good. We found a store in Venice so we also bought ours.

We bought this for ourselves then a smaller box for the family back home

It has been more than a year now but I still have some chocolate from that box of chocolates. I just love it. Luckily here in Singapore there's a Venchi store in Takashimaya. What's more, they also have gelato.

The gelato taste good as well,also pricey but that's the price to pay to get something that would taste like the real thing. It is just like that wen you know what the real deal should taste like. You just got to find that authentic thing. If my venchi stash would run out I bet I would be buying it here even though is very far from the price we paid for the same thing in Italy. 

Kobe Beef Experience

We were in Japan for 10 days armed with a 7-day JR Pass. We did Hiroshima  and did not a proper meal there. We find ourselves shopping at a Mitsui Outlet in Kobe. I want Kobe Beef. We are at Kobe anyway. We might as well have a taste of the world-famous meat.

We found this place but dinner rate have the set meal at around 10000 Yen. I was ready to splurge but the guys thought otherwise. We have the JR Pass so can go back to Kobe the next day for a better rate. We can also try looking for a better Kobe beef place to go back the net day. Lunch rates would be more reasonable. That night we ate at Matsuya instead. 

Quick stop here before going to lunch

The next day we did a quick visit at the Osaka Castle then went the Kobe Beef Place we found online: Steak Land.

Welcome to Kobe

You know the place is good when you see people on queue. We waited there more than thirty minutes. Good thing I have my umbrella. It is lunch time and the sun is high. There are other steak places in the area but this one is where the queue is. We have to try this one.

When we were inside, and the chef is preparing our food, they asked me why am I not taking picture. My answer is simple. I will just enjoy my meal. They're taking pictures anyway. I will just look at them later - or grab some for this blog. I was sitting at the end so they make me take their photos anyway.

Here is Carlo's picture of the meat

You have to order your steak medium rare - the perfect steak.  This is like teppanyaki, not the big steak cuts but still, it was awesome. The best cuts of meat I have ever eaten. The garlic chips are also to die for. This meal cost us less than 4000 Yen, so quite a leap from the price from the night before. If ever I come back to Japan, I would love to come back here.

Korea Trip in Winter

My sister asked us to come with her to Korea. Minsan lang naman, so we went. We have no itinerary whatsoever. We went there before and we have a clear list in mind which places we should go to. We had a good itinerary before, very detailed. When you get to some places you it will just hit you that this might be not worth your time. So this time we’ll just go to places where we think is good to be there again. We also booked the same Guesthouse. We had a good time there before, it would be good to be back, we hope.

Arriving at the airport, first thing to do of course is to get Korean currency. Just enough for the Limousine fare, T-Money, food for the night, and the pocket wifi rental.  T-Money on the airport was sold out. We just bought bus tickets. We got to the Airport Limousine Bus #6011 alright but I got us off early by one stop. I forgot there was a stop at Changdeokgung.
That night, we eat our first Korean food at Insadong outside Jongno 3-ga, the same place we have our dinner the last time we were there. It feels very Seoul-y to eat on these tents. We also hit the nearby 7Eleven to stock on water and breakfast for the next day.

The next day, we went to Meongdong. We had just enough money to buy T-money and top up. My old blog entry tells me that the best rate money changer is outside Hoehyeon Station. When we got there, the money changer place is not there anymore. We walked inside Namdaemun to find a money changer. It was still early and the shops are still opening. We found one and the rate is good. We also ate the first odeng store we found outside. 

After that we went up the mountain, up to Namsam Tower. It was awesome re-creating photos from our first visit.

2012

2017

There were a lot of changes. The area where they put locks on got extended. Up and outside the cable car station, there is now the railings where they can put locks. There’s also a store where you can buy locks and pen and is cheaper compared to the store right outside the tower. It was cold that morning so we tried to eat something. We tried churros con chocolate. 

  

We went down after then went around Meongdong to shop. 

We found Brown!

We ate at this Korean Barbecue place then went around again for a while. We were supposed to go to Gyeongbokgung but then I asked the tourist help guy for directions how to get there fast. He told me that the palace closes at 5PM, it was around 4:30 then and we will not make it. We just stayed there the whole stay. 

Crablets. You dip on on ketchup so, not good

 

A place we can check out next is Cheonggyecheon Stream.I consulted Google Maps how to get there then rode a bus. Too bad we got lost a little. We were on the wrong end of the river and I kinda noticed a little late. There was a lot of walking involved. 

I forgot where this is but it is far from the stream

 We rode another bus to get to the right place. They have this light that changes color now under the bridge.

 

We went back to Angguk via train this time then ate at a McDonald’s outside Angguk Station.  Next day we will do Gapyeong day tour.

The Sia - Zero 7 Connection

We were on our way to dinner to this tendon place in Tanjong Pagar .The place has  only two dishes on the menu: the special and the vegetarian tendon. We ordered the special. There was a long queue outside. The place closes at 10, we arrived around 9:30 but there were still a long queue. Place must serve good food for this much people queuing. To kill time I look at my twitter feed then I saw this:

Comments of course is crazy. Some people does not know that before she was famous, she showed her face. She just do it now just so people will focus on her music, not her looks. One thing I did not know is that before, she used to sing with Zero 7. That made me think if she was the one singing on that one Zero 7 song which has very catchy first lines.

It is indeed her. I had no idea until now. Nice to know.

By the way, this is a picture of the tendon we ate.

It looks OK and very filling. I don't always take picture of food but I had to show this to my sister. e love Tendon Tenya in Shinjuku. This has been the only tendon I have eaten in a long time.

Melaka: Great Photos and Awesome Food

My sister again came to town and she wanted to go to Malaysia. She wanted to see the Petronas Towers. I don’t. That would be a 6 hour trip by bus. I told her that we can do Melaka instead. I haven’t been to the famous Jonker Street but we have climbed Gunung Datuk August last year and Melaka Sentral was where we took the taxi going to the jump-off point.
To get there, I booked Fomecs Boutique Hotel the night before thru Agoda. It cost SGD 76.60 for one night on a weekend. The hotel’s location was on Jonker Street itself. It was a good hotel but it was on the other end of the street. The good places are on the other end. We found some hostels and guest houses on the other end. Next time we come back we might opt to try those.
We would have taken the earliest bus but I got to fetch my sister from the airport very late that night so we got the 8:30 bus. We arrived at Melaka at around 3PM. We proceeded in checking the place out.

We don't have enough Ringgit but there was this cab who agreed to bring us to Klebang beach but on SGD rate. We knew the rate is higher than usual but we still went with it. We spent like 30 minutes on the beach and he waited for us then brought us back to Melaka where we there is a money changer.

We alighted at the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall. In front of it is Mahkota Parade which at first sight looks like a Chelsey Premium outlet.

After we get our ringgit, we continued exploring Melaka with the map that we get from the hotel. Taking note of the foods that we have to taste and the noteworthy places on this heritage site.

Saint Paul's Church above the hill

A'Famosa

This fountain is inside the Megamall

Taste Better Durian Puff

Brands Outlet Store sells good quality T-Shirts 3 for RM50

For dinner my co-worker Rauf mentioned we should try this Seafood place outside of Jonker: Medan Ikan Bakar Muara Sungai Duyung. We ha to hire a cab for it but the food should be worth it. It cost less compared to Singapore. We got a cab, paid for the fare then kept the cab driver's phone number so we can call him again after to fetch us. The food was delicious. It was just difficult to order because we look like locals too. They talk to us in Bahasa and expect us to reply but we don't understand.

We got back at Jonker then hit the night market to see the good stuff. I bought a wooden slippers there for RM15.

The next day, we got up early to eat breakfast before we checkout. Most shops were not opened yet. We were looking to find something Melaka e.g. the name of the shops we found online.

We were hungry and shops are not opened. We end up eating at this place which was opened that time. It is called the Daily Fix Cafe. It is an artsy place but not very hipster. The food was great. The staff were young and on what it looks like may be from some theatre group too.

There were a lot of artsy displays and upstairs was a good place to take more photos.

After breakfast, we checked out then walked some more.

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple

 

One of the inns near the river

In Mahkota Parade, there's this place Nadeje. They have this long queue outside. They serve mille crepe cake. The cake taste just OK. I still prefer Paper Moon I tasted a while back.

We went around the mall for a while then catch a cab going to Melaka Sentral. There I learned that getting reservations for the bus back is also very important because bus schedules get packed too. It is on another blog post.