Wandering Fel

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It has been ages since the last time I travelled and I barely remember the existence of this blog. I figured it will be a waste to let the blog die so I am back with some domestic travel story in the tiny island called Singapore.

I would not even bother to visit touristy places in Singapore if not for the Singapore Rediscovery Voucher which was given away by the Government last year. But since we have the voucher, my bf and I decided to go to theme park since we both like theme park. There is only one theme park in Singapore, the Universal Studios Singapore so off we go to Sentosa Island.

First thing first, you have to wear your masks whenever you are inside Universal Studios Singapore no matter whether you are indoor or outdoor. It can get a bit stuffy and the mask will get kind of damp if you scream into it while riding roller coasters, so it's always better to bring some spares.

Going to Universal Studios Singapore during pandemic

The operating hours of the park has also changed from pre-pandemic era. The theme park is now closed from Monday to Wednesday O_O! It opens from 12PM - 7PM on Thursday - Saturday and 10AM - 5PM on Sunday. I am used to wake up earlier and reach Vivo City by 10AM in the olden days so this comes a bit as a surprise. We reached the park after our lunch about 1PM-ish and there were not many visitors yet in the park. You can even act like you are the owner of the street in Hollywood.

Kinda miss the street performers at this area where there was usually parade being held before pandemic. I wonder what happened to all those performers, they are probably back at their own original countries. You can still take pictures with the characters from Minion, Shrek and Sesame Street at certain timings.

There are apparently some operational changes to the rides in Universal Studios Singapore too. Most of the major rides (e.g. Madagascar, Revenge of the Mummy and Transformers) are only operational from 2PM onwards. If you reach before 2PM, it's probably a good time to start with the red roller coaster (Human) as it is only operational from 12PM - 3PM. The blue roller coaster (Cylon) is only operational from 4PM onwards. As expected, the waiting time for Revenge of the Mummy and Battle Star Galactica is 50 - 60 mins as most of the park visitors are queuing there.

Madagascar ride at Universal Studios Singapore

It can get very hot and humid wearing mask all the time inside Universal Studios Singapore, so when you feel like getting some cool air, you can always check out the stores. The merchandises from Gudetama and Minion are not bad, I even got myself a Minion's t-shirt. Do note that some of the food courts are closed too (e.g. the food court at Jurassic Park) so food option is kinda limited inside the park.

Universal Studios Singapore souvenir store

Minion at the Universal Studios Singapore

While it is probably not the ideal way to enjoy theme park, I do enjoy not having to squeeze with others so much during the ride. But since there will be relaxation of safe distancing, I wonder if there won't be distancing required in the park. Well, you gotta enjoy the present moment while it counts I suppose.

8D Osaka Kobe Foodie Trip: From airport to Shinsaibashi

Train ticket office at Kansai International Airport Osaka

If you are booking your flight from Singapore to Osaka at pretty last minute (like one month before), your best choice of flights which are non-budget are probably either provided by Cathay Airways (transit at Hong Kong) or Garuda Indonesia (transit at Jakarta). Since BF and I are kinda cheapo, we decided to book our flight with Garuda Indonesia since it’s cheaper by 100 SGD and that kind of money can be used to eat yummy food or buy a lot of gacha in Japan. After 8 hours journey, we have finally landed at Kansai International Airport (KIX).

I did not see any major changes to the airport with exception of welcome party by Super Mario and his friends. But BF said Mario has been there since last year so I suppose it’s probably nothing new if you often visits Osaka. The next thing that we need to settle after immigration is definitely our train ticket to the city. BF has booked the train ticket from KIX to Namba Airport online but you still need to make your way to the train station counter to exchange your booking confirmation to train ticket. Upon booking the train ticket, you do not have to book any particular timing since you can choose which time is the earliest train that you can take upon collecting your train ticket at the counter. Thankfully, there is still ample time to reach the train platform upon collecting our tickets, so we did not have to do mad dash there.

The train ride to Namba Station was quite fast around 30 minutes-ish. At Namba Station, we had to transfer to the subway line in order to reach Shinsaibashi subway station, where our hotel is located. In the midst of transferring, I spotted a bakery which sells cute breads shaped in animal head oh my. BF said to get the bread while we were still there. Otherwise, there may be no second chance hahaha. So yeah, I got the dog bread and it’s filled with custard. Obviously, I just gotta had to take picture of it first.

When you pick a hotel, it’s very important to check if there’s any convenience store near the hotel. There’s 7-11 right opposite our hotel, Best Western Fino Shinsaibashi Osaka so I suppose we know where to get our staple of onigiri. Yumz.

Pho with lemongrass chicken and spring rolls

Lately, I’ve been kinda cutting my budget on food because of the upcoming Japan trip (and its associated expenses). So whenever I hang out with my friend (or even boyfriend), we tried to choose something costs less than SGD 20. Good thing is my friend just came back from her Taiwan trip and hence, she does not mind having meal which does not cost a bomb. However, she wanted to go for grocery at Fairprice so we had to choose somewhere which has Fairprice and near her house in the west. Thankfully, I noticed that Clementi Mall has So Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant which sells a rather reasonably priced Vietnamese food like pho (Vietnamese noodle) and rice.

I prefer dry pho to the soup version I’m not sure why. Probably it’s because the sauce (which is on the sweet rather than spicy side) goes better with the spring rolls, the chicken and the noodle when they are dry. But then again, this is probably just tastebud preference which differ from one person to another. I don’t know. So Pho’s rendition of noodle with lemongrass chicken and spring rolls taste pretty good and look at how much veggies they throw on this bowl of noodle. The noodle is pretty a lot for me and I kinda regretted eating too much of it because I ended up a bit too full for my liking. Hahaha.

Oh right, this is actually the first photo of Piggy Brown which I asked my friend to help me buy from Line Friends store in Taiwan. Actually the fake version is way way way cheaper (and you can find them in Bugis Junction) but the real one is of course, better done and cuteeerrr. With the price I’m paying for this bag charm/ my meal companion, I do expect a very good quality made Piggy Brown of course. The real version costs me around SGD 20 omg. I’m so tempted to buy fake Foxy Brown at SGD 6 but I suppose maybe next time. XD

Right, back to the noodle (I’m so easily distracted, really). Price-wise it’s pretty wallet-friendly because it’s less than SGD 20 even after tax and service charge. So yeah, I’m quite happy with this meal. I should probably eat more at hawker centre on weekdays for this wallet-dieting regime that I’m currently living with. Unti next time!

Rendang mac and cheese from Arbite Singapore

It has been raining so often in Singapore, I’m kinda reluctant to make a trip outside shopping malls. Hahaha such excuse I know. But one Saturday, bae and I decided to have a little adventure to Serangoon Gardens where the famous Chomp Chomp Food Centre is located. It was not easy to reach Serangoon Garden because you have to take bus trip from Serangoon MRT station and go few stops away until you reach the bus stop at the centre of Serangoon Gardens area.

This neighbourhood has a few restaurants, cafes, a hawker centre and even a shopping mall (albeit small but it has some restaurants and cafes too). I could not really decide what to eat initiatlly but bae said the quality of food at Chomp Chomp may not be as good as what have been registered in his memory (not sure how long ago). So we decided to go for dinner at Arbite. The decision came quick because it started to drizzle as soon as we alighted from the bus.

The dinner crowd has not really formed at Arbite around 6.40-ish so we did not have to wait for a table. What perks my curiosity upon checking Arbite’s menu is the fact that they have this dish called Rendang Mac & Cheese. I know how a regular Mac & Cheese taste and I’m not sure if the local twist of putting rendang (hmm, it’s some kind of spicy meat dish, usually beef) in mac & cheese will work. However, since I have not tried this rendition of mac and cheese before and I’m always up for challenge as long as it’s not disgusting or too raw for my liking, I decided to order it. Bae has decided to order something less peculiar, Pork Chop.

The rendang mac and cheese surprisingly taste pretty good although it becomes a bit too much upon a few bites, bae has to help finishing at least the meat pieces. Arbite is pretty generous with the amount of meat they throw inside the mac and cheese, really. It comes with a small side of greens (which I suddenly forgot what’s it called). Bae’s pork chop taste good too and since it did not make him super-full, he has enough tummy space to spare to help me eat waffle and ice cream from our next stop, Little Wimbly Lu. After all, we had travelled all the way here, it’s such a waste not to try as many things as possible, right?

Waiting for my coffee at Mellower Coffee

Citrus tart and chai latte from Mellower Coffee

Sweet rain coffee from Mellower Coffee Bugis

It has been raining lately in Singapore so it seems to be a good time to hide yourself in a cafe while looking at the wet window (if you are able to secure the seats near the window though). One of the cafes in Singapore which gives you the chance to do that is Mellower Coffee. The cafe actually has two locations in Singapore, one in Bugis and one in Tanjong Pagar area. I went to the the one in Bugis because bae said it’s bigger and we may have some peace sitting at the level 2 of the cafe. Level one of the cafe is so crowded, I initiatlly thought we had no chance to secure any seats/ table in Mellower Coffee. But turns out there are more seats at level 2 of the cafe. Phew.

Mellower Coffee is well, as its name says, well-known for its fancy coffee rendition but I can’t sleep at night if I drink coffee around 7PM so I let bae to choose their fancy creation, Sweet Little Rain (SGD 9.80) while I’m settling for a cup of hot chai latte (SGD 6). I wanted my chai latte to be cold because the cold cup is nice for photography purpose but Mellower Coffee only serves it hot. Oh well, hot latte is more suitable in the cool days of this tropical island anyway. We also ordered citrus cake which I forgot costs how much (maybe SGD 7-ish?), cakes are not cheap in Singapore sadly.

Sweet Little Rain is totally an expensive coffee I would say but it comes with a huge piece of cotton candy. So the idea is to place the cotton candy on top of the piping hot americano so that the cotton candy will melt bit by bit in a form resembling rain. It’s sugary rain and hence, the name “Sweet Little Rain”. You won’t be able to see it clearly without further observation but make sure you don’t put anything underneath the cotton candy for a long time. Otherwise, your things will be “baptised” with sugar. I saved Brown and Cony before that happened of course. I asked bae if the droppings of cotton candy makes his coffee sweeter but it doesn’t seem to be the case unless he takes a bite of cotton candy and sip his coffee immediately afterward. But that beats the concept of this drink!

Moving on, the citrus cake tastes pretty good but the base is a bit tough to break, even with metal fork. Other than the tough base, we kinda enjoyed this tart. My chai latte taste ok, but I still had difficulty to sleep at night despite it should have less caffeine. Bae, who is normally able to sleep under caffeine influence right before bedtime, also told me that he had difficulty sleeping that night. I suppose Mellower Coffee sells pretty strong caffeine fix. Beware if you are weak like me and stick to hot chocolate after 7PM okay.

Christmas cookies from Tachihara Coffee at Millenia Walk

Menu from Tachihara Coffee at Millenia Walk

Iced lavender milk tea from Tachihara Coffee

Hazelnut latte and lavender milk tea from Tachihara Coffee

I did not plan to go Tachihara Coffee at all on Tuesday. My initial plan was to just get a bread for the next day’s breakfast from Pullman Bakery since my bae and I were strolling around Millenia Walk to let our stomach digest the chicken rice that we just had at Wee Nam Kee in Marina Square. However, upon paying for my bread, bae received a 50% coupon for any coffee drink from the next door Tachihara Coffee. The coupon is only valid for that day (unless bae see the words wrongly) and since we had no idea where to continue our date next we decided to just chill and drink something at Tachihara Coffee.

I wanted to have cake too but the only cake available at Tachihara Coffee is a small cup of tiramisu which is stored in the fridge. I suppose I should just have a drink at this quaint little cafe which seems to be share the same owner with Pullman Bakery. Other than drinks and cookies/ some dessert displayed on the table and in the fridge, Tachihara Coffee also sells sandwiches, hot dogs and soups. It’s probably often frequented by office crowd on a weekday but the cafe is pretty quiet on public holiday. And it closes at 8PM too so we only had an hour to enjoy our coffee and tea.

I chose an unusual flavor of tea which I seldom see anywhere else, Ice Lavender Milk Tea (SGD 4.50) while bae chose to use the 50% coupon on his regular Hazelnuts Latte (SGD 4.80). Even without the coupon, I feel that the regular price tag for Tachihara Coffee’s beverages is relatively cheaper than other cafes out there. My lavender milk tea really has a good dose of lavender...I’m guessing syrup because I can taste the lavender flavor pretty strongly in my drink. While it’s probably making my milk tea flowery, I kinda enjoyed the weird combination. And the best part is, I could sleep soundly that night even though I had my milk tea at 7PM to 8PM-ish. It must have been low in caffeine level. Hehe.

Would pop by for quick me-time lunch fix if I can muster my willpower to go all the way to Millenia Walk from where my office is located. Hahaha.

Tsum tsum at Disneystore in Odaiba Japan

8D Avia Japan Tour: Ocean Club Buffet at Odaiba

Ocean Club Buffet at Decks Tokyo Beach Odaiba

Desserts from Odaiba Club Buffet in Odaiba

Night view of Rainbow Bridge Odaiba Japan

The last day of 8D Avia Japan Tour ended in Tokyo with a visit to the ever-crowded Shibuya crossing and Odaiba, a reclamation land located a distance away from downtown Tokyo. I know that Shibuya has always been a popular meeting spot but I was so overwhelmed with the number of people lingering around in front of Shibuya station where Hachiko statue is located on a Sunday. There is street performance there too with a band playing out some music and the noise of the crowd is enough to mumble out the sound of their performance. If you play Persona 5 on Playstation 4, you will be amazed at the details of Shibuya in the game. Because they are exactly the same with probably exception of political speech because it’s not yet election season. Haha.

We spent probably around 15 - 20 minutes in Shibuya crossing because we wanted to capture a selfie of ourselves crossing the famous 6-way crossing. I suppose only tourist do that so some people (mostly foreigners) photo-bomb our shots. It was fun experience though. After we got tired of crossing the crossings, we made our way to the last stop of our tour that day, Odaiba. The reservartion for our dinner was made at 7PM so we had a bit of free time to explore Odaiba. However, we were advised not to run so far because of the risk getting lost and moreover, the tour guide did not inform us our dinner place so unfortunately, we did not dare to go see Gundam statue. Diver City is located at quite a walking distance from our drop-out point (Aqua City if I’m not mistaken) and it’s not feasible to make my Mum run back-and-forth from Diver City to Aqua City.

I did not really shop much at Aqua City except for a polo t-shirt for my bae from Adidas Originals and Sukiyaki Pringles from the souvenir store at basement level. There is Disney store too so you can get your Disney goodies at Aqua City. At our appointed meeting point, we met up with the tour guides and the rest of the tour participants and made our way to mall called Decks Tokyo Beach to go to Ocean Club Buffet, where our dinner is booked. Buffet in Japan is so interesting because you can see the replica of the food offered in the buffet in front of the restaurant. It seems that Ocean Club Buffet offers international selection of cuisine because I saw all kind of food including Singapore chicken rice. Can you believe that?

There are 2 types of plates being used in Ocean Club Buffet, one has 9 slots while the other has 6 slots. These plates are so cute and at the same time it makes you not to be greedy if you want to have 9 variety of dishes on your plate. Hahaha. I wonder if they purposely use these kind of plates to give the kitchen enough time to cook the dishes. Probably that’s the case since Ocean Club Buffet is mostly filled with group tours. Oh my.

Taste-wise, they are pretty good although some items taste so-so. I love the pasta and the pizza though I don’t know why. Italian-Japanese fusion works well for my tastebud I suppose. If you have your dinner here, make sure to take a quick walk to the balcony area of the restaurant to catch pretty view of Odaiba at night.

8D Avia Japan Tour: Tokyo Skytree and Ueno Park

Cherry blossom viewing at Ueno Park Tokyo

Jim Beam Highball Truck at Ueno Park on weekend

Japanese cemetery on the way to Tokyo Skytree

Cherry blossom viewing near Tokyo Skytree Japan

It’s already November and I haven’t finished documenting my travel log from March. But the good news is we are coming toward the end of the travel log and I’m gonna start a new one in December. After our challenging walk at Nakamise Street, we boarded the tour bus again to go to our next destination Tokyo Skytree and Ueno Park. However, the tour does not book a visit to Tokyo Skytree for us so it’s more like photo stop with Tokyo Skytree as a background. Thankfully I’ve been to Tokyo Skytree before although I did not want to spend $ to go up to the observatory deck since I have been to one at Tokyo Tower. But I feel it’s really a pity not to at least stepping into the tower and take a look around the shopping mall underneath the tower. There’s even a huge Totoro shop there.

Oh well, the tour participants seem to be happy enough to pose with Tokyo Skytree as its background so what can I say. After spending 20 minutes here to take picture, we made our way to where the bus could park and then boarded the bus again to next destination, Ueno Park. The road between these two popular tourist destinations is heavily congested especially since that day was a Sunday. So we were stuck for nearly 30 minutes with Japanese cemetery view from our bus window. We saw that each tomb seems to have names imprinted on the wooden sticks. Our local tour guide explained that usually the tomb consists of a family of 4 so you will see many sticks at the top of one tomb. I suppose they layer the casket on top of each other inside one tomb plot.

Someone asked what if the family is huge, would they be able to be buried together? In this case, the tour guide explained that it is common for a big family to be buried separately or even, cremated. Hmm, I suppose land is also scarce and expensive too here in Japan. Not just in Singapore. Haha.

45 minutes later we finally reached Ueno Park and since back then we were at the last week of sakura season, festivity vibe could still be felt right at the centre of Ueno Park where people have picnic while viewing the sakura tree. In addition, there are many food/ drink stall (which is mostly offering beer I dunno why) and also, street performances because it was Sunday. Not sure if the weekday vibes of Ueno Park is that jolly though. There is no entrance fee to Ueno Park so you can just stroll inside to enjoy the beauty of the park for free. To be honest, I prefer Shinjuku Park to Ueno Park for sakura-viewing but the entrance free to Shinjuku Park is not free and you are not allowed to bring alcohol inside the park. Plus minus I suppose.

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Wandering Fel

Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin, Tokyo Japan

Going to Universal Studios Singapore during pandemic

8D Osaka Kobe Foodie Trip: From airport to Shinsaibashi

8D Osaka Kobe Foodie Trip: The Itinerary

So Pho, Singapore

Arbite, Singapore

Mellower Coffee, Singapore

Tachihara Coffee, Singapore

8D Avia Japan Trip: Ocean Club Buffet at Odaiba

8D Avia Japan Trip: Tokyo Skytree and Ueno Park