eevon.sg

We love picnics! Not sure what’s in store for us at Victoria Peak but we figured that it would be quite romantic to have a picnic at Hong Kong’s highest point.

So we went shopping first at a local supermarket right opposite our hostel at Paterson Street.

Oh look at this cute Christmas cheese I found! I like roundish stuff!

Mm there was alot of cooked food in the supermarket. Sweet! We were spoilt for choice.

Yes that’s alot of random stuff. Haha. After getting our food we made our way to The Peak! This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong. Definitely has to be on your list of must see Hong Kong attractions!

Well Victoria Peak is situated on Hong Kong Island. From Causeway Bay, we took the MTR to Hong Kong MTR Station which is adjacent to Central Station. Then we walked through the Central Station and exited at J2. After that we had to walk towards Peak Tram Terminus on Garden Road. Sounds complicated but it’s actually quite easy. Transportation in Hong Kong is as advanced as Singapore. Don’t worry about getting lost.

Wow then we saw this huge crowd when we were approaching our destination. The Peak Tram. We purchased single journey tickets because we were thinking of getting down via bus.

While queuing, we felt like munching something. So we had Jack & Jill’s Roasted Sausage Flavour, Mongkok Style potato chips! Very innovative of them to come up with such distinct flavoured chips. Do get a packet of this goodie at any 7-11 stores in Hong Kong (they are just around every corner). You will not be disappointed.

After almost 30 minutes! We made it to the platform. Here’s a pic of some kids sulking because their parents didn’t get them any Mongkok Style chips. lol.

BTW This tram ride to the peak is one of Hong Kong’s oldest forms of transportation! In fact, its funicular railway first went into operation in 1888. Super retro tram!

OMG the way up was super steep. And couldn’t took any nice shots. This is what I got.

It was pretty scary to look at the reverse direction as the tram heads up to Hong Kong’s highest point. But I must agree that the Tram ride alone is spectacularly breathtaking. A mere seven minute journey can give so much pleasure.

When we reached the top, it was super cold and we were hungry! Quickly scouted for a good spot to have our picnic. Ok found it.

Here!

Mr.Ong said that can of hot dogs reminds of his army days. What? DK said he had Horlicks Malties during army too and now there’s canned hot dogs too? I was expecting army food to be awful and sucky. Haha.

Anyway it turned out to be pretty romantic to picnic under a street lamp with such a beautiful view of Hong Kong! Most of the crowd were all at the Upper Peak Tram station building which has restaurants offering fine dining. Hm. If you don’t mind the cold wind and hard sitting surface, you can try picnic-ing here too next time. After a few days in Hong Kong we wanted to get some private time away from the madding crowd.

I guess this picnic was a special highlight of our entire trip in Hong Kong. We enjoyed a leisurely picnic with some wine and spent quality time chatting, watching Hong Kong from a bird’s-eye view. It was really wise of us to bring along 2 bottles of wine. Not those normal size one lah. You know those mini bottles? lol. Should grab a few of these if you’re planning a picnic at The Peak. It really warmed us from the chilly winds. But do make sure you are wearing enough layers during the winter. It can really get pretty cold and windy up there!

Hong Kong is particularly enchanting at night.

Especially when it’s just me, him and Hong Kong.

Sunday was a good night because I went to the night race with 2 dear dudes. ? and bro! Lets start with a pic of the cute F1 balloon.

So the plan was Baby parked his car at Harbourfront. Then we took the mrt to Clarke Quay!

Eh guess what? Hooters, ‘The Fun American Neighbourhood Restaurant’ had a branch at Clarke Quay? Didn’t know that and Adam Sandler came straight to my mind when I saw that restaurant. WAH I actually remembered that movie he starred in 10 years ago! Anyone remember Big Daddy? I remembered watching it with sis and we were laughing our heads off. 10 years. OMG 10 years. My random memory never fails to amaze me.

Tsk. Clarke Quay is really quite beautiful. Right? Shall drop by more often for drinks.

It was a 15 minutes wait in queue to get across Singapore river on the free river taxi ride. The river taxi was not bad. we passed many Singapore’s famous landmarks. My favourite would be the Asian Civilization Museum! oh and the Fullerton Hotel. Lovely.

So the beautiful flyer greeted us along with screeching vroooms that sounded like bees humming in louder magnitudes as we alighted at Marina Bay dock.

Upon landing on the border of the F1 race track, we need to pass through tight security checks and guess what! They confiscated our goodies from Candy Empire! Geez. The security guy placed our yellow bag at a corner and said it will be left there at our own risk.

Was kinda worried it will be missing when we return. Bought 2 boxes of Willy Wonka Gobstoppers for sis (I only had 3 free tickets! Sorry babe. Bring you to some upcoming concerts next time) and 2 boxes of Arnott Shapes, Cheese flavour for pa.

Bad idea to go shopping before F1.

Luckily our mood was distracted when we saw this spectacular bend straight after the security check. It was spectacular! OMG we were so freaking near to the track! Can actually feel the ground move whenever a race car zoomed swiftly passed us. Can you see it?

Going…
Going..

And it’s gone!!!! haha. SUPER FAST!

We hurriedly made our way to the flyer! Excitement runs high with the F1 race going on at the background. Yay we are going on the largest ferris wheel in the world!

The capsule changes colour and can you see the nets?? Yup. Just in case naughty kids like fifi/audrey goes suicidal. lol.

How the Marina Bay Circuit looks from the flyer?

Lets zoom in.

Now you see it…

Now you don’t!

Hehe.

Well our capsule wasn’t full and it was very comfy. I didn’t know that it was rotating in a clockwise direction. Each complete trip lasts approximately 30 minutes and we went for 2 rounds!

Oh the flyer is so lovely! See how it changes colours. Blue!

Then peachy! sweet.

haha there were lotsa branding! Esp from Singtel!

Oh Gillette was also running some ads on the flyer TV.

The view on the flyer was fabulous! Really enjoyed the panoramic night view of Singapore’s bright skyline at the peak. Took lotsa shots of the familiar buildings all around me. Ah not sure why but I just have this feeling that it wouldn’t look as nice in the day. Singapore at night is really different. In a positive way.

I guess most of the random lights coming from the skyscrapers were from people who are still working/watching F1 in their offices. Heh. It was kinda obvious from the top that street lightings were inefficiently used. No wonder Singapore is infamous for light pollution. I remember my astronomy tutor mentioning about Singapore street lights being not environmentally friendly. Hmm. More about that next time.

For now, do enjoy my shots of Singapore from the flyer. I had loads of fun taking them. Felt quite refreshed looking at Singapore from the top of a giant observation wheel. Indeed, I’ve never looked at Singapore in such manner. Never thought this part of the island will look so stunning at night.

Brilliant.

As I was busy taking pictures. My two boys were watching the race on the TV in the capsule.

I’ve no idea why whenever I joined them, the screen became…

NO SIGNAL!

Haha. Nevertheless, I must agree that the Singapore flyer has the coolest view and is definately the hottest place to be!

We only had 1 complaint! The organisers ran out of ear-plugs! BAH

whyyyyyy! See lah! Because of that I had to keep doing this the whole time when I was on the ground!

Come to think of it. It seems like I enjoyed the flyer more than the F1 race.

Especially so when I brought home the most interesting compass ever.

A pictorial compass suits me best.

I had a great night!

Thanks ? and bro!
Thanks SG Flyer!
Thanks Ben!
Thanks 24Seven!

Last Wednesday baby wanted “comfort food” and we were near Bugis so decided to get chicken rice at the retro restaurant along Purvis Street.

See how lovely the restaurant looks. On the namecard, it was written that Yet Con is ‘air-conditioned’ since 1940. Must had been a very upscale restaurant back then.

Eh this is a very special restaurant for me! This is where the good folks at Hill & Knowlton brought me on my first day at work! Welcome lunch! So nice right? They even have such team stuff for interns. They are a really wonderful team and I really really miss Debs and Joce! HUGSSSS!

Do you know what it says? I can only recognise some words. I think it’s promoting coffee and wine. Lol.

It was not dinner time yet so we managed to miss the crowd.

Ok. Singapore chicken rice 101.
What do you need when you eat chicken rice?
Thick, dark soy sauce, fresh chilli and pounded ginger!
Normally I’ll mix the chilli and ginger together and trickle the black saucy over the rice!

The chicken is Báij? (??) or “white chicken”. I guess they use younger birds because the meat is so tender. Mmm. It also absorbs the dip really well. Also, the soup was so flavoursome! Baby said this is the kind of food that’ll have him licking his lips in anticipation. As for the rice, it is not too oily. Just right. Mr.Ong chowed down 2 bowls of rice in no time.

Also ordered foo young egg (Chinese: ???) or Chinese omelette. That’s what Voal ordered during my welcome lunch! YUMMY. It’s moist and the chef is really generous with the ingredients. It has so many stuff – eggs, vegetables, meat and seafood all mashed up together. TASTY.

The bill was reasonable. About $15/person. We enjoyed the prompt service by all the uncles and aunties at Yet Con. From what I noticed, all of them are like above 50! The old uncle with white hair at the cashier is really adorable. He has an abacus on the counter but he counts with a paper instead. Hehe.

When we left the restaurant was 60% full with people eating steamboat and some stir-fry side dishes. Will definately return to try the steamboat.

Note: pictures were taken with Sony Ericsson W890i, Baby’s hp. It’s 3.2 MP. Looks better than the pics I take with my W880i right? Yup. It’s time to upgrade our phones.

Yet Con Chicken Rice & Rest
25 Purvis Street Singapore 188602
Open from 11am-9.30pm
Tel: 63376819

I’ve spent almost 3 days on this album! I’m designing my ROM photo album using Fotohub lifestyle services. I chose FotoJournal because I prefer soft cover and the price is cheaper. If you prefer leatherbound hardcover albums, you can try FotoStory. 

The largest size for Fotojournal is the 8SQ with 30 pages. It will cost around $79.90 for non-members. $10 off for members. I wil go for this. Think about it. It is chic, affordable and practical. All you need is time, effort and style. 

Besides, you can’t complain that it’s ugly because you did it yourself! haha. Consider the amount of pictures in a DIY FotoJournal compared to the thick, heavy, less than 10 pages bridal albums. Ah. value for money and I think I”m very fussy when it comes to personal momentos. Thus, I decide to do it myself!

I just need to download the Free FotoJournal software.

Free noobie software - Creative Photos v_1.7.3.1

With this, I can easily create my personalised album using drag-and-drop photo placement and full text control. It’s extremely simple if you are a whiz with Photoshop. In fact, sometimes, I think it had too little functions ie. why there isn’t a ruler!? why is there only 18 colours choice for picture borders/text colour?

I would recommend you to first photoshop your pictures until you are satisfied with them (the software can’t do much besides making them black&white or sepia).

If you want your album to look professional, go to the library and get some inspiration. Browse some DIY/scrapbooking/photography books to find the feel/style you want for your album.

Here’s a sneakpeak of 8 pages from my ROM album project! 

The front and back cover page

The balloony page!

I must say this album was done with 20% input from the husband. GRrrrr can’t get more help because he is a noobie at designing stuff like this!

Baby's fav

My fave!

OMG. I think I’m obsessed with the details. Keep touching up, making sure pictures are aligned, checking if the borders are in the correct shade etc etc

The more I look at it, the more I think I can improve it. This is a problem when you DIY your own memorable keepsake. Everything must be perrrfect!!!

Ok. Deep breathe.

It looks perfect and I will send it for printing tomorrow and…

I shall not be obsessed. 

I shall not be obsessed.

I shall not be obsessed.

This is where we had baby’s birthday dinner! It’s a small cosy bistro with soft lighting and English country-style furnishing.

See that bunch of people at that corner? They were making alot of noise! OMG! Karen was apologetic and treat us a free dessert when we finished our meal! Lychee sorbet! Nice! We were actually wondering if we should get 2 desserts. But decided to get only one. Happy to get both in the end!

In all, we ordered Soup of the Day ($4.50), Escargot with White Wine Sauce ($8.90), Kurobuta Pork Neck Steak ($26.90), Lamb Shoulder Rack ($28.90) and Caramelised Pear with Vanilla Ice Cream ($8). I would say it was just nice for 2 hungry people.

We shared the soup as the serving was quite big! Comes with nicely done garlic bread.

The soup was darn good. Up next was our appetizer! Escargots with White Wine Sauce! MUST TRY. When it came, we were like “oh quite small ah”. But we were wrong! The serving is perfect for 2! Too much cream sauce will make our tastebuds lazy to taste everything else that comes after.

As you can see the escargots were all big and juicy! Goes well with the white wine sauce. We can actually taste the wine along with the herbs in the creamy white sauce. Perfect dip for the garlic bread.

Baby got himself the Kurobuta Pork Neck Steak! The meat was so tender and flavoursome! It was a boneless, well muscled and very flavorful cut of meat! I can’t get enough of the salad that comes with it. Love rocket leaves with light vinegar dressing!

My main course is the Lamb Shoulder Racks! MMM. TASTY! Surprisingly, there wasn’t much gelatin in the shoulder. It was a little chewy but deeply flavorful, seasoned with herbs. Comes with marsh potatoes and cucumbers+mushrooms salad. Also the mint sauce was specially made by the kitchen! No wonder it tasted quite unique.

As for dessert, the warm caramelized pears paired up brilliantly with the vanilla ice cream. This is a splendid dish to savor.

Lychee sorbet was on the house. We love restaurants that are generous! :)

Bistro One Zero Three serves good food at decent prices! Try

Bistro One Zero Three
103 Pasir Panjang Road
Singapore 118531
Tel: 6476 6373
Tues-Fri 11.30am-3pm/6-9.30pm,
Sat 6-9.30pm only