Harbour Bay, Batam

This is the first time that I am staying over at Batam, so I spent abit of time researching places to stay and where to find good food based on other's reviews and recommendations.

So after quite extensive research, I selected the Harbour Bay Amir Hotel, which is supposed to be decent and good value for money. I was not disappointed. I took the Wavemaster Ferry from Singapore's Harbourfront direct to Harbour Bay in Batam, a journey that took around 40 minutes. And I must say that the ferries were very on time. Upon arrival, I found that the hotel was located just outside of the ferry terminal. You can walk there in less than 5 minutes (just cross 2 roads and you are there).

It was a pleasant hotel, with a reasonably sized lobby and a huge cafe where breakfast is served daily from 6am to 9am. The staff were friendly and getting them to call me a taxi was a breeze. The room they gave me was on the 8th storey with a sea view. I could actually see Singapore in the distance (can even identify the 3 towers of MBS). The superior room is quite big and the king-sized bed was really king size. Only complaint that I have is that the attached bathroom is rather small and the toiletries provided could have been better.

Having paid a promotional price of only SGD35 for each room night, it was a real bargain. The stay comes with daily breakfast for 2, free wired broadband internet access, cable TV and mineral water. Although breakfast was nothing special, but it was adequate with toast and pineapple jam, hot coffee/tea, cereals with milk, chicken porridge, fresh fruits, keropok, and hot dishes like fried noodles/rice, omelettes etc. And the best thing about it, is that the Harbour Bay Mall is just next to the hotel. Quite a few eateries there for a quick meal or just relax over coffee. There is even a Carrefour supermarket and the Wavemaster Ferry check-in counter within the mall. So convenient.

Also near the area is the Seafood Centre which is just next to the Ferry Terminal. Here you can find several restaurants serving all kinds of seafood, which is quite popular with the locals as well as tourists. You can choose to sit by the seaside which is open air and enjoy the gentle sea breeze while having pepper crab, steamed prawns, curry fish head and otak-otak. Quite enjoyable.

Around the same area, about a 10 to 15 minutes slow walk down the road, you will find the Jodoh Pasar centred around the Johoh Centre. This area comes alive at night where you can find lots of street hawkers and a night market selling all kinds of stuff from clothes to shoes to toys and fashion accessories. Definitely a happening place, although a friend of mine told me to be extra careful as there had been many snatch theft cases there. So do keep your valuables at the hotel before you visit Jodoh Pasar.

  

Unfortunately I had a very filling seafood dinner before I found Jodoh Pasar. Otherwise I would have surely tried all the interesting local fare there. But in the end, I could not resist the durian. I had to have my durian fix even though I was rather full still. The kampong durian was not bad at all.
   

Old Favourites of Mine

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and my family and I decided to go for Sunday Brunch. After some thought, I decided to bring them to an old favourite of mine, the famous kway chap stall at the corner coffeeshop at the junction of MacPherson Road and MacPherson Lane.

This stall run by an old man, has been around for as long as I can remember. I was first brought there in 1999 by my colleagues, and since then, I have brought many friends there. Although I used to frequent the place regularly before, it has been quite awhile since I was last there. Nothing has changed.

The food was still very good and everything looks very appetizing. The braised duck is tender, the big and small intestines are soft and tender too, and the gravy has a slight herbal taste to it. I especially like the deep fried pig intestines, crispy and yet still remains succulent and juicy.

The bowl of kway always makes me hungry. Soupy and the kway slices are thin and does not stick together. The gravy added to the top smells very tempting.

It was a wonderful brunch, although the wait was rather long even though there was not much of a crowd when we first arrived at 11am. By 11:30am, the place was quite packed and the wait would be much longer I am sure.

And to top it off, after the meal, we drove to Highland Centre along Yio Kang Road, near the junction with Upper Serangoon Road, and bought my favourite durian puffs from the 717 Cakerie.

You have to taste them to believe how good they are. Filled generously with real durain flesh, these puffs are absolutely delicious. And the way to eat them is to put the whole puff into your mouth at one go. Believe me, you will not regret it.
     

My Favourite Meal in Manila

I have been craving for it since end of June, and was searching for it in Mandaue, Cebu and Manila. Every time I found it, I was either travelling on a bus or a taxi and could not stop.

However, this time round, I made a special point to go to this famous and highly recommended little restaurant to have my craving satisfied.

This is Lydia's Lechon, a small non-airconditioned restaurant located near the Baclaran Church. It was quite crowded and we were lucky to find a table for ourselves. The decoration was simple, with lots of photographs of pigs hanging on the walls. But what captured my total attention was the window at the shop front.

This is lechon baboy, what I have been searching for. I finally come face to face with it. A whole roasted pig. Huge. Golden brown and looks so crispy and delicious.

And I was not disappointed. The skin was crispy and thin and not greasy. The meat was succulent, tender with little or not fat at all. And the gravy that came with the dish was just right to bring out the sweetness of the meat. Unlike the small suckling pigs we get back home, the lechon had lots of meat. It was not dry and tough. Simply heavenly as it melts in the mouth.

 

 We also ordered a variety of other dishes from the counter. We had the BBQ Whole Squid, which came with a delicious say sauce dip. The squid was not too dry and tough and had the spongy, chewy texture that I like.

My friend ordered the Kare Kare, which was a dish of stewed innards including cow stomach, pork knuckles and vegetables. I found it too gooey and abit bland.

We also ordered the stuffed crab shell. There was alot of crab meat stuffed into the shell and it was baked till golden brown. However, I found the meat abit dry and fortunately the dish came with a slightly spicy sauce. It was also abit too salty for my liking, but good value for money.

I could not resist ordering the Lumpia, which is actually like a Chinese spring roll filled with radish, carrot and turnip strips. It came with a spcied vinegar dip and chilli sauce. One of my favourite snacks.

All in all, this was my favourite meal in Manila. I will definitely go back there again the next time I am in Manila. I cannot forget the thrill of tasting the lechon. Finally my craving was somewhat satisfied, although not sufficiently. I want more!
     

Chinese Cooking in Manila

Previously when I was in Manila, I noticed many Chinese restaurants and fastfood joints. Owing to my eagerness to try Filipino street food, I did not get the chance to try some of these Chinese food.

This time round, I made it a point to try out some of the Chinese cooking in Manila. Some were surprisingly quite good, while others disappointed.

 Stewed chicken feet

  Fried radish cakes                         Chicken dumpling noodles

 Stewed curry beef brisket noodles

One of the better ones was North Park Next Door Noodles Restaurant on Makati Avenue. Needless to say, the noodle dishes were quite good. They even have a choice of different types of noodles such as Hong Kong noodles, Canton noodles, etc. The dim sum was also not too bad and the surprise was the char siew pao. The size of the pao was like that of your palm. Huge. And it is served with a small dish of char siew gravy, which I found out is the norm in Manila.

 Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet

 Curry Chicken Hot Pot                       Hot Shrimp Fruit Salad

We tried the Cifu Restaurant in Malate for dinner one evening. This was quite a disappointment. The only dish we found quite tasty was the Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet. The gravy was tangy and not too sweet and very appetizing. The other dishes we ordered turned out really bad. The curry chicken hot pot was just chicken cuts cooked in a gooey brown starch. Not spicy and very bland. The hot shrimp salad was worse. There was so much mayonnaise that you could not even see what you were eating.

 Shabu Shabu Set for 2 persons

 Pork Asado Pao                                    Fried Cuapao

At David's Tea House along Makati Avenue, we tried the Shabu Shabu. It turned out to be quite good. Good value for money. For 680 pesos, we got a combination of chicken soup and satay soup, with a huge plate of wagyu beef, meat balls, sotong balls, sea cucumber, beancurd skin, toufu, fresh prawns, chicken meat, tanghoon and vegetables enough for 2 persons. Especially good was the Fried Cuapao which were actually deep fried mantou. Had a wonderful lunch.