Havent been to this place for a long time. Came back first day and I really miss Singapore food. So, HW and I decided to have teochew porridge for lunch. Had my favourite steam promfret, fried egg and broiled vegetables. Simple and very nice. Great place for teochew food.
Contact : Lilian Lee, 74 amoy street, +65 6423 4477
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Teochew Restuarant Huat Kee 22 Aug 06
California 6-21 Aug Part II
After the Grand Canyon, we headed for Las Vegas. Amazing place with all the casinos located on one strip.
- Mandalay Bay - free monorail in front of Excalibur. Have a Shark Reef Aquarium
- Luxor - 30 storey pyramid. Blue Man Shows
- MGM - free lion exhibit
- New York, New York - took the Manhattan Express Rollercoaster. Squeezed my balls when the vehicle took the first plunge.
- Monte Carlo - Las Vegas met French Riviera. Min bet usd$100 here.
- Bellagio - free water fountain show in front of hotel. from 3pm t0 midnight at every half hour interval.
- Paris - mini Effel Tower
- Imperial Palace - 2oo vehicles on display in a historic car musuem
- Caesars Palace - Roman and Greek Gods in prob world's famous hotel and casino. Celine Dion has a theater just for her to perform. Elton John is the standby guy.
- Venetian - Madame Tussauds
- Sahara - speed roller coaster
- Stratosphere - tallest building west of the Mississippi River (114 storeys).
- Hard Rock hotel - nothing new
The Forum Shops and LV Factory Outlet World are great places for shopping.
Deserts to Mountains - we left LV to head for the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Nevada. We stayed at the shores of the beautiful Bass Lake, the gateway to Yosemite National Park.
The park is magnificent with it famous rock formations of Eli Capitan and Half Dome. Cycled through the trails but it was a bit dangerous bcos it doesnt have brakes on the handles but on the pedal.... so we cut short the cycling to take the free shuttle bus instead.
From Bass Lake, we proceeded on to San Fran Bay - city tour includes the golden gate bridge, north beach, golden gate park and Haight Ashbury, hippie central.
I really like the weather in San Francisco - bright and sunny and the temperature is around 17-18 deg celsius. People were running along the streets during noon. I would have done the same if I stay there. The breeze was cooling and fantastic climate to run in.
- Coit tower - looked like a fire nozzle but fantastic views
- Lombard Street - world crookedest street.
- Fisherman's Wharf pier 39 - the Cannery, Anchorage and Ghiradelli Sq Shopping Centers. Best clam chowder I ever had and the dungeness crabs were fantastic. They were like Hokkaido crabs but it was a steal at US$25.
- Haight and Ashbury - Relive 1967 when the "Summer of Love" and "Flower Power" ruled the street. A place during the hippee era of 60s.
- Alamo Square - best view of this famous "Painted Ladies" houses with the skyline in the background. Nice houses but not stunning.
- Chinatown - one whole stretch of shophouses. Second largest chinatown in US after NY.
- North Beach - little "Italy" with a no of Italian restuarants and bistros on Columbus street.
- Union Square - SF's best shopping. Niketown, Macy's, Virgin Mega Records and Planet hollywood. Victoria's secrets occupying a whole floor within a building. The whole place is bustling with activites.
- Union Street -the Rodeo Drive of SF. 250 specialty shops and resturants.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
California 6-21 Aug Part I
2 weeks just passed by like that. It just felt as if I am preparing for my holidays now. Anyway, it was totally enjoyable.
Took a direct flight straight to LA. SQ has always been my favourite carrier. Well, besides the standard pretty air stewardess, there's always the flight entertainment system and the better service. It was also the first time I sat on the executive economy class. Very roomy and it was a very smooth ride all the way to LA. Caught 3 movies on the way there.
I stayed at Anaheim which is about an hour away from LA into Airport. Took the super shuttle which only costs me US$15 instead of US$80 for a cab ride.
Los Angeles
- Visited Chinatown - pretty run down and quite a no of market stalls selling clothing and tourist items. I had my lunch at a Tim sum restaurant there and goodness, it was such a nightmare. The siew mai were stuffed with meat and it was such a torture trying to finish up the few items I ordered. Food was oily and full of meat. What an insult to Chinese Tim sum!!
- Beverly Hills - strolled up and down Rodeo Drive and Melrose's place. There are a couple of luxurious boutiques and prices are generally quite ok. Makes no sense bcos I don't go for branded goods anyway. Bought some running shirts and shorts at Niketown. A guy came up to me on Rodeo and asked me for change to buy a burger. I was surprised at how well dressed he is and yet, he asked for money. But then, California is one of the states with generous welfare for the poor - daily soup kitchens and clothing for the poor.
- Hollywood - Walked down Hollywood Blvd. I took a cab to man's Chinese Theatre where the hands and footprints of American screen idols are cemented in cement. There's a new shopping centre but the side buildings are a bit run down and dilapidated. Thought there wasn't much to see.
- Sunset Blvd - most happening places to pick up gals. They have a couple of nice looking restaurants but the bars looked sleazy and run down to me. Didn't stay long after grabbing a couple of gin tonics.
Anaheim
- Disneyland - opened in 1955. 4 different parts - Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland and Tomorrowland - each with their own rides, shops and restaurants.
- Disney's California adventure - right next to Disneyland. Newest theme park which opened in 2001. There are rides, shows and attractions. Divided into different parts like Sunshine Plaza, Golden state, Paradise Pier and Hollywood Pictures Backlot.
- Downtown Disney - a lot of shops, theatres and restaurants. Had dinner at a Mexican place and goodness, the portions are so huge that I couldn't even finish half.
Newport Beach at Orange Country
- Just dropped by. Nice place to shop, roller blade, eat, drink and relax on the beach. Nice sea waves for surfing.
I joined up the tour at Holiday Inn, Manchester Ave in Anaheim and from here, my trip began.
Started off with a short ride from LA to San Diego along the Pacific Coast. We headed for Tijuana, Mexico for shopping and lunch. Just a small Mexico town. Surprised me that there are a couple of strips clubs along the stretch and they open during lunch hours. Else, nothing much to do really. Went down to San Diego across Coronado Bridge with great views of the skyline. Took a 1hr cruise along the harbor. It is also the docking site for the US Navy. Saw 3 impressive aircraft carriers and quite a no of warships, including destroyers and supplier ships. Had a short tour in the city itself that includes downtown, Gaslamp Quarter and Balboa Park.
Started off the next day with the morning at the Seaworld. There are quite a couple of shows with the killer whales, seals and the dolphins. It was fun watching. And there was even a mini cirque du soleil performance at one of the shows. The park is big with a couple of theme rides and major exhibits like the shark sections, freshwater aquariums and polar bear stations. Took me about 6hrs to finish it. Headed off to the Mission Beach in the afternoon for a good suntan and a swim. Typical beach scene with a lot of bikinis, rollerbladers and people trying tattoos on the sidewalks. For dinner, I went down to the lively Gaslamp Quarter. There are a lot of choices for dinner and nightlife.
After San Diego, the next day was spent travelling to the cacti filled Sonoran desert of Pheonix. Full of changing scenery through Cleveland National Forest, Anza Borrego Dessert and the Imperial Sand Dunes. Settled at the end of the day at the beautiful resort town of Scottsdale. The heat was unbearable... with 40 deg celsius and it smacked me right on the face when I alight from the bus. It was like sauna in the nature. Had an easy dinner with some of the fellow travelers and did a bit of shopping.
The next morning, I took a hot ball ride across the incredible Sonoran Desert and then had breakfast in the middle of the desert. It was quite a fun idea from the hotair balloon company. Popped champagne and breakfast. haha... but american champagne is a bit gassy for me. Left Pheonix for the red rock country for Sedona. The brilliantly hued sandstone are carved by sea and wind into cliffs and rugged spires. Took a jeep ride into the country side. This place is where the Wild Wild West Movies in the 50s and 60s are made. Moved on the the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
The next day was spent at the Grand Canyon. Took a helicopter ride in the morning. It was spectacular at over 1.6km deep and averaging 16km wide. Went hiking in the afternoon. Luckily, there were free shuttle busses along... bcos the whole trail is like more than 20km along the edge of the cliffs. Looking down the cliffs will make the knees wobble. Think the no of people who dropped off, committed suicide or getting murdered is like 60-100 cases. Thought of hiking down to the bottom of Grand Canyon but then thought better of it. There was a New Yorker gal who ran 3.15 hours for the marathon, got lost and died of dehydration hiking down the trail. The sunset was also beautiful at 7.21pm in the evening.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Ristorante Da Valentino 5 Aug 06
It was out of the blue when a good friend, Nelson, and I decided to do dinner on Saturday before I go off for my 2 weeks vacation. Called Rist Valentino on Wednesday and I am surprised or rather amused that the place was fully booked on Saturday night. Haggled a bit before Mr Valentino himself allowed me a reservation for 3 on the weekend's evening.
I still remembered it was a waterpolo mate, Dave, who introduced me to the restaurant in this cozy neighbourhood. I really like the linguine with the black squid ink sauce.
This evening started off great with Joyce, Nelson's wife, announcing that she is expecting. I was really happy for them and Joyce looks great. I don't know why but mothers-to-be have this very nice and pink glow on their faces. I got to know Joyce when I joined them for a tour in Beijing back in April this yr. She was a senior of mine in NUS Chem Engin faculty (grad in 97).
We had the porcini mushrooms, ham and melon and calamari fritti for appetitizers. Shared the spaghetti with lobster and pink sauce, linguine in black squid ink sauce and spaghetti with squid ink and crabmeat sauce. Top it up with a bottle of Italian white. The food was goooood...
I can't really complain - great news from Joyce and good food. So happy for the couple!
Ristorante Da Valentino
11 Jalan Bingka (off Rifle Range Road)
Tel: 6462 0555
Friday, August 04, 2006
Trios Leo's Birthday Party 3 Aug 06
Trios Leo's Birthday Party at Imperial Treasure in Great World City.
This was the first time I joined the birthday celebration for 3 frds in the wine group. It is supposed to be the highlight of the group every year whereby everyone will bring a good bottle of wine for the dinner. Altogether, we have 17 people for this dinner. It was fun to see all making the efforts to attend the event. Guessed I had to skip my conference call to attend it. And haha, it was quite embarassing to turn up last for the dinner.
Altogether, we have 19 bottles for the evening dinner. Royce had also generously contributed a bottle of Penfold grange in his absence. Will have loved for him to join us from tokyo. Had asked Andy to help me bring a 1985 la mission haut-brion (Graves, left bank).
- laurent-perrier grand siecle champagne (magnum)
- 2002 marc morey, batard-montrachet
- 1970 ducru-beaucaillou, st julien
- 1991 henri bonneau, chateauneuf cuvee marie beurrier
- 2002 maume, mazis-chambertin
- 1986 gressier grand poujeaux, moulis
- 1996 penfolds grange
- 1996 leflaive, batard-montrachet (magnum)
- 2000 ramonet, bienvenue-batard-montrachet
- 1964 figeac, st emilion (magnum)
- 1988 meo-camuzet, vosne-romanee les brulees
- 1988 leroy, romanee-st-vivant
- 1985 vega-sicilia, ribera del duero
- 1995 comte de vogue, bonnes-mares (magnum)
- 1985 la mission haut-brion, pessac-leognan
- 2000 leoville-barton, st. julien (magnum)
- 1997 masseto
- 2003 hestan vineyard cab sauv, napa valley
- 2003 terra di lavoro (magnum)
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