Dining With Jewelle

One of the thing that we like about Singapore (as tourist) is getting basic stuffs and food is not a problem at all.

As you know, we went to Singapore a few weeks ago. On the first night after we arrived and as soon as we checked into our room, my husband went for a walk to find the nearest 7-11 convenience shop.

At 10 p.m.

In less than 30 mins, he came back with some magazines and packets of food.

In 30 mins!

Apparently, our hotel was connected to another hotel called Allson Hotel on Victoria Street via the second floor and outside this other hotel was a 7-11 store on one side and a food court on the other side.

Because this food court was so close by, we regularly bought food from here for tea time snacks and the one Indian food stall there served dishes that suits my taste bud - even Eu loved their Garlic Naan bread (even though she hates garlic). My husband also bought me Bak Kut Teh from one of the stall here but it was terrible - all I could taste was white pepper.

This place seemed to be packed every night and I like the Four Faced Buddha altar that is in front of the food court - which on this trip we saw two.

The only time when we actually went there to eat was on Easter Sunday after Church. The place was empty and some of the stalls were closed as this is a 24 hours joint and I supposed, those are the night time operators.

The stall that we picked specialises in "Specialty Noodle" which my husband ordered. But we didn't see what was so special about it except that it came with huge fish balls. I ordered the "Laksa" and I thought it was good but my husband thought the coconut milk overpowered the rest of the taste.


This place also have dim sum stall and one stall looks like it serves the full range of a typical Chinese restaurant. I don't know if I overlooked it, but I didn't see any stall that sell chicken rice or herbal soup here.

I have a very Asian palate when it comes to tea time.

Although I do enjoy the idea of scones, brownies and such pastries to go with hot coffee, I would take banana fritters or goreng pisang any time over them.

Back in Sabah, we have our dinner late at usually after 7 pm. That is why, we would always have some heavy tea and my mother would sometimes fry local cakes and everyone would usually be munching on these snacks as we chat or watch whatever is on TV around 4 pm.

But the thing about being in a Chinese family is that our dinner time is early. So in Brunei, we very rarely have heavy tea except perhaps some biscuits or fruits.

So one afternoon, as we made our way to the beach, we dropped by a local store for some ice creams. When I noticed that the next door snack stalls were frying some goreng pisang, I immediately bought some. But the girls have taken their father's taste and I ended up eating this bag all by myself.

By the way, after I read some forwarded emails about hawkers who allegedly coated their goreng pisang with melted plastics, I'm not sure about buying anymore soon.

*During my Christmas 2007 trip home to Sabah*

One of my favorite destination for shopping in KK is the City Mall which is along the Kolombong-Penampang highway, which means that it's out of downtown KK.

But don't think that makes it jam-free. I was told that during certain times of the day, it is better to go through the city rather than use this highway! However this area is usually alright on mid day and being less than 5km from my house, of course I had to visit it for some shopping expeditions...

So a few clothing items later, we hit one of the eatery here.

My sister didn't recommend the City Mall Food Court and judging from the smell that was coming out of the place as we walked by, I think they have slight ventilation issues and you know what that means to your clothes.

Instead we went to another one of those chain-restaurant called the Olde Station KopiTiam, located on the ground floor.


When it comes to eating outside without the kids, it means only one thing : Spicy Food!

And once I spotted the word "curry mee" of course, I couldn't pay attention to whatever else they have in their menu! So curry mee was what I had while sis Caneeliea had the "nasi lemak" - which she said was super spicy.


When we were there the place was busy but we I waited until everyone left I took these pictures.

One funny thing I noticed about this place was that they adopted the customer greeting style you'd usually get at Japanese restaurants and it was a boisterous "Hello!" and "Bye!" by all the staffs to any incoming and leaving customers.

Of all the malls in Bandar Seri Begawan, my favorite is Yayasan only because the best book store - for my kind of book needs - is there.

The only problem with Yayasan was that we didn't like the food court and the Indian and fast-food restaurants are a no-go when we're with the kids.

However, we found the perfect eatery for us last weekend, inside Yayasan no less! This place used to be where the Delifrance and now it is FoodZone.


My husband's tom yam mee hoon was super-spicy and my chicken curry was really scrumptious. And Eu had no complaints about her fried noodle.

We were actually very impressed.

The staffs were friendly and helpful - of course, how could they not pay attention to us when the kids kept flirting with them. While making a lot of noise.

In fact, I don't even have to worry about taking pictures of places as I now have an assistant photographer. This shot was taken by Eu - I only had to edit a man on one side who was not on his most flattering angle. The waitresses were more than pleased to pose for her.

© Eu Tan

No issue about going to Yayasan for lunch for us anymore - except perhaps the fact that it's becoming too crowded with non-shoppers-and-heavy-smokers. But that's just me.