Japanese Food Craving

Just like a lot of Singaporean, we will go around Singapore to find nice food. The places which we go varies, depending on occasion.

As it was Mr Teddy's birthday, we had something better last Saturday. Wanted to had Teppei at Orchid Hotel. However, it was fully book till September! Must try out Teppei soon!

We had Hakumai instead. Hakumai is situated at International Plaza, #01-50A.

Hakumai is definitely one of the better Japanese restaurant we had tried till date. And in term of pricing, it is manageable. The set menu range from $26 - $40. It is very reasonable given the quality of the food. 

Our total damage was $210 for 2 pax. And half the damage was due to the 720ml of Sake that we ordered. Otherwise, our spending would have been $100+ for 2 set of bento, 1 yellow tail sushi and 1 sweet prawn sashimi. The sashimi was awesome. it is so sweet and fresh. Mr Teddy love it to the max. 

I ordered a Sukiyaki Gozen. It consist of a Sukiyaki soup with vegetable, raw beef (cooked it in the sukiyaki soup when it boils), truffle sauce chawanmishi, salmon sashimi, rice and fruit. The sukiyaki gozen is marvelous. 

Firstly, the salmon sashimi was awesome. It was thick and sweet. A lot of Japanese restaurant bento set will have the salmon sashimi. But till date, no one can beat this. It was generous and thick.

Second, the truffle sauce chawanmushi is unique. Chawanmushi is a very common dish in Japanese cuisine. However, this is my first time tasting chawanmushi with truffle sauce. The top layer is actually the truffle sauce and the bottom is the chawanmushi. It tasted unique and well-balance.   

Lastly, the beef is so tender and sweet. Cook the beef in the sukiyaki soup and deep the beef into the egg before eating. Oh my good, it is heaven. It is sweet and tender. Awesome. A must try dishes.

Road Trip in Australia - Glenelg and Barossa Valley

Driving is the best way to see Australia. Not only does road tripping allow you to see Australia vast natural splendors, but it also offers a very cost effective way to explore Australia’s most significant sights and attractions.

Adelaide is our starting point. We pick up the car from the airport and hit the road.

Glenelg
Had a one night stay at Glenelg, Atlantic Motor Inn. The drive from Adelaide Airport to Atlantic Motor Inn is relatively short, a less than 15 min drive (7.8 km). Atlantic Motor Inn is a 3.5 star motor inn. From the exterior, it looks kind of old. However, the interior is very clean and well maintained.

Glenelg is a beautiful and peaceful town. Atlantic Motor Inn is situated at strategic location in Glenelg, just a five minutes walk to Holdfast Marina and The Beachhouse. Holdfast Marina is a great place to enjoy Glenelg's magnificent sunsets. It is also the departure point for the dolphin sailing tours. The sandy white beach is perfect for chilling, surf, snorkeling or scuba dive.

Just minutes away from Harbour Town, there are a massive range of shops on Jetty Road. The number of cafes and shopping are unlimited. There are food and dining, banking and finance, healthcare, major supermarket such as Coles, florist etc. All that you need can be found in the town. We enjoy having breakfast and take a scroll at the beach. 

Barossa Valley

We took a drive to Barossa from Glenelg for a half day tour. The journey from Glenelg to Barossa is approximately 85km, About a 1 hour drive. In every town of Australia, you will be able to find a visitor center. You can get the map from the visitor center before setting off. That is the beauty of Australia. It is definitely a tourist friendly country to visit.

Barossa valley is renowned for food and wine. A long the way, you will see a lot of grapes plantation. It is such a beauty. There are tones of winery you can visit and have a taste of their wine. For a wine lover like us, this a a perfect place to hangout. We went into quite a number of winery and had the a few wine tasting. It is awesome. It is cheap also. Some of the winery has very unique wine name as well. 

Why do you need Travel Insurance

Whenever I book an air ticket from an airline or travel agent, upon checkout I will be asked if I would like to add on travel insurance. I am sure that this is uncommon to a lot of you. But how often would you buy than? Especially when you are traveling to neighboring countries.

A few years back, when I travel to neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Phuket etc, I will not buy travel insurance. I do not see the need in buying travel insurance because the travel period is short. However, in the recent years, I will buy travel insurance wherever I travel to. The main reason is to have a peace of mind.

Travel insurance gives us a peace of mind for our holiday to the following:
1, Trip Cancellation and Interruption
Travel insurance reimburses you non-refundable travel costs if your trip is cancelled or seriously delayed due to a natural disaster, illness, or the carrier goes out of business.

2. Emergency medical
When you're traveling abroad it is important to stay covered in case of accidents.

3. Terrorism
In some of the travel insurance, the coverage includes terrorism as well. Many policies only cover you for your trip if an act of terrorism occurs in the specific country you're traveling to or from. And they set limits on how close an attack has to be to your destination before it goes into effect. You generally must buy the policy before violence erupts to be covered. But almost all policies will not cover any losses caused by war or threat of war.

4. Travel company gets into default/ shut down
In some of the travel insurance, the policy covers the incident such as the recent case of a popular travel agency, 5 Stars Travel Agency, abruptly shut down over night.

In order to give myself a peace of mind, I will strongly advice everyone to buy travel insurance,

Staycation at Swissotel (The Most Memorable Staycation)

One day, while I was busy hugging the toilet bowl due to food poisoning, a friend invited Mr Teddy and I for a staycation on 30th July. I accepted the invite without hesitation. However, never did I expect that it was a plan.

On 30th July, I went for a high tea session in the afternoon with my buddies before heading for the staycation at Swissotel The Stamford. The high tea session was a good one as it has been such a long time where we three girls can gather to chill. It feel as if we were back to the schooling days. We choose Antidote at Fairmont Singapore for our high tea session. It was our first time there. I would say the the food is alright. Nothing too fantastic. However, I must say that they do have a wide range of TWG tea and of course it taste awesome.

After the high tea, my friends insist of shopping around Raffles City. At around 8pm, finally they decided to heads up to the hotel. And to my surprise, the room was located at 44th floor. It was a nice gesture from Swissotel The Stamford due to Mr Teddy "plan". When I entered the room, the walk way was lighted up with candles and there are balloons in the room. That's where I realised something fishy. When my friend pull open the balcony curtain, there I saw the words Marry Me.

Mr Teddy secretly walk out of the balcony! And yes, this staycation is a proposal plan. I was too shocked and totally taken by surprise. Never did I expect that Mr Teddy will do such a thing! Mr Teddy is a shy person. But for once, he invited my good friends and even decor the room with balloons. Mr Teddy hates balloon. But he did it. 

The staycation is the most memorable one as it mark a different stage of our life. For the past 6 months, we were stress over work, over house over a lot of things. At times, there might even be uncertainties. It takes a lot to overcome all this. I really appreciate what Mr Teddy has done for me. 

Thanks to Swissotel The Stamford, we get the chance to enjoy the night view comfortably in our room.