Dining With Jewelle

While in Singapore, I noticed a lot of girls who sported tattoos on their body. However, I’m not expert enough to judge whether they are real or stick on as I do know that there are authentic looking sticker type tattoos being sold in the market these days.

This is certainly a culture that is gaining popularity especially in among girls. Personally I think they do look kind of cool and there are some funky and interesting motif that I’ve seen on people. Given a choice, minus the pain and the very permanent factor, I think I would be tempted to get one, maybe a small Chinese characters that symbolises happiness like those sported by many celebrities.

I’m not that fond of animal tattoos though and I think having pictures of wild animals such as dragons or tigers (which are common motif) on ones body are quite disturbing.

So if you’re interested to learn more on tattoos and especially on the kind of motif you can have, check out the site RankMyTattoos.

One thing about travelling with kids is that eating is no longer a case of whatever and whenever.

Meal time is fixed and the menu can’t be too adventurous (Eu complains on the slightest taste of pepper!). And trying to eat at restaurants with two toddlers can be a test of patience with one kid fond of climbing out of her high chair (Qi) and one kid fond of playing drums with the chopsticks/singing with gusto/exaggerated chatting (Eu).

That is why when we contemplated having dinner down at the Hotel Cafe, my response was, if eating in, then eat in the room! After all, you might as well eat in peace without having to worry about looking less than glamourous!

So hubby had no choice but to try the Furama Hotel’s Beef Tenderloin in the room after both the kids were asleep. I was disappointed that their Chicken Curry Madras and Bak Kut Teh as listed in the menu were no longer available and nothing else caught my fancy.

But the beef was surprisingly good. It was thick and big and at the requested medium rare, it was done perfectly. It was about $20+ I think.

There is one show on TV where individuals who went through all kinds of cosmetic surgeries like rhinoplasty nose job are featured.

Although I know that it’s actually a good thing to have a technology where we can improve on how we look like, I do find this kind of surgery frightening. But I was amazed to learn that nose surgery or rhinoplasty was actually the most popular kind of cosmetic surgery in the States in 2003!

And I thoughts it’s us Asians with our flat noses or wide nostrils who have more to complain!

But in case you are piqued by the thought that you can re-sculpture your nose, do remember that that perfect nose in your mind might not be simply be a case of going under the the surgeon’s knife. Apparently, this procedure does not suit everybody and I think the biggest turn off is that you’d have to endure weeks of swelling and bruising of the face before you can see the result.

So, maybe you should just be thankful that you do have a nose and learn to happy with what you have!

One advantage of staying in the Chinatown area is that food is available everywhere. The first night that we arrived, we had a late dinner at the People’s Park Complex food court and I had my first boneless chicken rice. I was too hungry and tired to take any picture then!

The second night after a tiring day at the Zoo, we stayed in Chinatown and this time had dinner at another nearby food court just besides OG Plaza. Hubby immediately sat at this stall that displayed some roast duck and I went round nearly the whole area looking for my Singaporean must-have. Tonic soups!

Happily I found one stall that was aptly named “Tonic Soup” and got myself a lotus root soup with rice. No nice picture of this but it was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s!

Hubby also ordered a plate of chili crab which was supposedly one of Singaporean dish must-have, besides their Hainanese Chicken Rice. It was quite expensive too, $20 for a plate of only ONE crab! It was so-so to me, I think hubby can cooked better tasting crab dish than that.

The place was busy and hot and we were sweating profusely, what more with my hot soup! But I was satisfied with my soup so nothing else matters!

Not all men are like Michael Jordan and can sport a bald head and still look hot. Unless is it a reaction from medical treatment, hair loss shouldn’t be something that anyone needs to “accept”. But resorting to wearing a wig does not work for all too, unless you can tell yourself that nobody else knows that that thick lovely thatch of hair is not your own! Wearing a headscarf can work but wouldn’t it be better if you can actually regain your own natural hair?

After all, hair loss can happen to anyone (God forbids!) and when it does, you’d be thankful to know that it’s not something you just need to “learn to live with“.

We found a gem of a mall in Hougang, which is about 20 mins ride by MRT and nearly 30 mins ride by taxi because it has a library inside.

But the best thing about the Hougang Mall was that they offer FREE strollers for use within the area! We only brought Qi’s stroller from home and so having a mall that lets you have a free stroller is irresistable for me. It was not too busy too.

I actually wanted to catch the children story-telling session at the Cheng San Library but we were too late. We however enjoyed their books collections and bought more books at their Popular BookStore.

We also found that the DeliFrance here offered so much more than the DeliFrance in Brunei ever did! Hubby and I had tea here as it was also time for Qi’s dinner (she eats at 5pm).

I had the bread pudding which was lovely when eaten with coffee as it’s quite sweet. Hubby had their croissant with chicken and soup.

I was thinking of having their eclair but at $2+ per piece, I thought it was a bit too expensive when I’m not even sure if it’s good. When it comes to eclairs, Crisvin in Keningau (of all the places, I know!) use to serve the best (when I used to work in Keningau). My colleagues and I used to haunt Crisvin for their eclairs alone despite their hefty price of RM1 per piece.

In Brunei there used to be a DeliFrance at the Yayasan Mall but it is now some dimsum place and I’m not sure if they re-open elsewhere.

Who has never heard of Juicy Couture clothes, that range of hip and comfortable sportwears and sweats for women, men and kids.

In fact when I was in Singapore recently, I kept an eye for this brand especially their Juicy Kids range. But as you know travelling with kids mean shopping has to be super quick and kept to the minimial. Needless to say, I did not try hard enough and so did not find it anywhere.

Always one for gossip, I was fascinated to read that Gela Nash, one of its founder is actually the wife of John Taylor, Duran-Duran’s bassist, one of my favorite band in the eighties.

Juicy Couture is now owned by the Liz Clairborne Inc but Gela and Pamela Skaist-Levy, the other founder, remained as the co-presidents and creative voices of this brand.

Maybe during my next trip to Singapore, I’d be on the lookout for this brand more especially for their maternity range in preparations for my next pregnancy.

At first I was thinking of trying to make it for the Jungle Breakfast at the Zoo, an al fresco buffet breakfast where you get to eat close to the animal, as per the advertisement in their brochure.

But at $19 hubby said it was too expensive and so we were glad that they do have a regular food court where they offer normal food at reasonable prices.

Being a weekday, there was practically nobody at the restaurant at 10 am, when hubby and I had our brunch (I fed the girls their breakfast earlier at the hotel).

I’m someone who prefers cereal or bread for breakfast and savoury or fried food usually does not tempt me. But the food counter had an tantalizing picture of a laksa and I succumbed to it! Hubby had fish and chips.

My laksa was delicious and it was only $7 (I think). Hubby’s fish and chips was $6, if I’m not wrong. Excellent and cheap food.

As for the advertised “Jungle Breakfast”, there did not seem to be any, probably they are only available on weekends but where we sat, the trees and birds and some small animals were visible.

During lunch time, we were at the proboscis monkey area with a glass window to view them, air-conditioned although it was open air and so Qi had her packed lunch there.

We only had ours after we finished the round of the zoo and it was back at the Restaurants At The Wild. I went back to the food court for a combo of fried mee, rice and sweet sour fish (for Eu). The mee was spicy but she loved the fish.

Hubby tried the Jungle Tandoor, an Indian food court and had himself some mutton and long beans dish.

Despite having no air-conditioners, the high ceilings, louvred walls as well as being surrounded by trees all around really keeps the whole food court area cool and comfortable even in high noon.

Even their toilet has an interesting back to nature concept with bamboo doors and water falling on the side of the toilet.

The Singapore Zoo definitely has one of the best food courts I’ve ever been in.