What else is there to do in Zagreb other than the Segway City Tour (read about it here)? Well, most of the sights are pretty much covered in the tour so here's the next best thing to do. Coffee-People-Watching. 

You can do that pretty much anywhere in Zagreb but the best place to do it is along the cobbled stones of Tkalčićeva Street. This is where everyone hangs out in during the lunch hour, late afternoons/evenings. 

The area is full of restaurants, cafés and boutiques. Just walk around and pick a caffe bar that suits you whenever you are tired. I think for the Croatians, it was watching this Asian couple walk up and down the street. The main bulk of tourists are Europeans and there are very few Asians touring the place. At some towns we were the only Chinese around. It was oddly comfortable being an obvious stranger in a foreign land though. I guess that's because Croatians are extremely friendly. 

Anyway, the cafes and restaurants remain open till the late hours of the night. Perfect excuse to just lounge around the whole day. :)) But in my opinion, the cafe that cannot be missed when you are in Zagreb is Eli's Caffe. This is the best coffee that i've tried in Zagreb. SO SO GOOD. 

I love how smooth and fragrant the drinks are. It all boils down to the preparation- from the roasting to the brewing. Eli's Cafe is the first specialty coffee roastery in the whole of Croatia. The beans are then prepared and brewed by 3 times Croatian Barista Champion Nick Orosi. Gosh i love this dude. He's really funny in the sarcastic way and of course really good at his coffee. He reminds me Nick Miller in New Girl! They even look alike. -Major girl crush- 

According to him, his is the only job that makes people happy everyday, all day, all year round. I couldn't agree more. Yes i'm a caffeine addict. :P According to S, the other job would be selling ice cream, but it only works in a tropical climate like ours. Well S eats ice cream even in winter time! Such the dessert monster.    

So yea, i told S that i'd marry someone who can make me perfect coffee every morning when i wake. I think the way i gushed over Nick may prompt S to take up a barista course in the near future. :P But honestly, wouldn't you wanna wake up to the aroma of coffee beans every morning? Anyway, do head over to Eli's cafe if you are in the area. I guarantee you a great caffeine experience. :))  

Eli’s Caffé 

Ilica 63, HR - 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Tel: +385 (0)91 4555 608

Weekdays: 8am - 7pm

Sat: 8am - 4pm

Sun: 9am - 2pm

Just attended Jason Mraz's 'Tour is a 4 letter word' concert, 29 June, at The Meadows, Gardens by the Bay. The Meadows is Singapore’s largest outdoor garden concert venue. An estimated 10000 people attended his concert! Corrinne May just held her concert the following night at the same location.

No fanciful set, no costume changes, no gyrating hot bodies a la Lady Gaga but definitely a more real concert experience. Just great music, by the people who live it, for the people who love it. Gotta love JM for being a real artiste- one who respects the audience (he started on the dot at 8pm) and he just performed the entire night, song after song. 2h 20mins of awesome tunes from past albums and the new one. Love love love. Favorites like I'm Yours, Mr Curiosity, Bella Luna were belted. Guest starring Corinne May who did Lucky with Jason.

Glad that we got the tickets! Went early at 6pm and we were right in front and could actually see his facial expression and watch him play the whole night.

Only downside would be the crowd control issue after the concert. There are only 2 exits and it took us an hour to get out of the place. A total of 1h 20mins was required to get back to our car at Marina Bay Sands. :/ Thank god everyone was orderly but the wait was crazy. Management definitely needs to do something about this.

So here, enjoy this song from Mraz. "I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough.."

As promised, here is part 2 of my invited media tasting by Irvin's Live Seafood House.

LeBan HK Café just began operation last month (June 2012) and is located just beside Irvin's at 2 Jalan Leban. The food served is very different from the parent restaurant. LeBan focuses on the Hong Kong Cafe style of simple snacks and dishes. I would consider this to be quite the perfect supper hangout because they open till 2am daily! The place was packed by the time we finished dinner at 10pm! Very popular with the Thomson crowd i must say and it's obviously for a good reason.

Hong Kong cafes are famous for their thick toasts but there's the option of a Crispy Butter Bun with Condensed Milk (S$4.00). The buns were nicely toasted all around which gives it that nice brown crust and the delightful crunch with each bite. Ok now i feel like having some condensed milk toast!! Argh.. should never write about food at night!

Savoury French Toast Bites with Ice Cream (S$4.90). This is one of my favorites at LeBan! Deep fried breaded cubes served with a scoop of New Zealand Natural ice cream. Immediate stamp of approval! See those awesome black specks of vanilla beans? Oooh yea. I love the pillowy texture of the bread and how it soaks up the creamy vanilla. Perfect combination of hot and cold. There's quite a selection of ice cream flavors- Choc Fudge Brownie, Cookies n Cream, Vanilla Classic, Green Tea, Boysenberry Dream, Mango Sorbet and Strawberry Surprise. Greedy me asked for more ice cream to go with the bread cubes. 

Potato with Corned Beef Hash and Egg (S$5.50) is that sort of simple home cooked dishes that goes extremely well with porridge. I've never had Corned Beef before this. We usually do luncheon meat at home. :P So anyway when it was served, i thought it's the black carrot cake at the hawker centers. Doesn't it look like that? This is quite a savory dish and it doesn't taste bad but definitely not something that i'd order on its own. 

Seafood Baked Rice in Cream Sauce (S$9.80). The prawns were plump and crunchy but i think they could be a little more generous with the seafood. Though i must say that we should set our expectations right with the price as well. I like that it's fried rice instead of plain rice so that it's more savory. The cream base is a little bland but there's a nice light hint of corn in the sauce (which i love). Cheese lovers would love this one. Tomato base is also available.

Sizzling Crispy Noodles with Jumbo Prawns (S$8.50) from Leban. I love my Crispy Seafood Egg Noodles but this is not that. If you love the Sweet and Sour Pork sauce, you'd love this one but i didn't like it. The sauce was really overpowering and sweet for my liking. Melissa finished the whole thing though! While the noodles are really crispy, it felt too airy and lacked in the texture aspect. 

You can give the Cheese Fries a miss as well. There wasn't enough sauce on ours and the fries were a little stale (perhaps all that food photography spoiled it). I thought it was too dry and the cheese hardened too quickly.

The Sun Fried Ice Cream (S$4.00) is a must eat over here. Huge fried breaded ice cream topped with chocolate rice, hot on the outside, cold on the inside. I like how there is a mix of textures. Again, quality ice cream from NZ Natural is used here. You get to choose from a selection of Vanilla, Cookies n cream, Green Tea and Choc Fudge Brownie. The green tea flavored one wasn't very intense though. I think the Japanese does it better.

Another great dessert to have is the Affogato (S$4.80). I'm not sure about the coffee beans used here but the creamy ice cream really helped in making this a smooth dessert. My original plan was to have 1 by myself but the everyone decided to share it. :( Should have asked for another one. Loved this dessert. And that's Derrick sneakily finishing off the dessert! HOR! 

Food: 4/5 Most of the dishes that we tried were good. Should have ordered my usual instant noodles though. That's like my must eat at HK cafes.

Another discount special for my readers!
Quote "Funky Food" when making payment and be entitled to 10% discount at Leban HK Cafe. Available from now till end July 2012. Ngom ngom ngom!

LeBan HK Cafe
2 Jalan Leban, Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 577547
Daily: 4pm- 2am
Tel: +65 6257 8801

Was invited by the awesome folks at Irvin's Live Seafood House for a tasting so i rounded up the foodies Sgfoodonfoot, CelestialDelish, Melicacy and Alexis to join me on a tasting tour. I love eating with friends because there would be a greater variety and there're always people to finish the food! ;)

Some of you will know about Irvin's Live Seafood House. It was formerly known as Irvin's Seafood Cze Char and was located at River Valley Road. You may recognize it as the restaurant with the HUGE crab signage. Sounds familiar now? If you were wondering where they have moved to, they are now at the Upper Thomson area, 4 Jalan Leban (since Dec 2011). This is the bigger and better version with air-conditioning and 2 VIP Rooms for private dinners (reservation required, no additional cost. 8pax or more). They have also gone into the HK cafe business with the opening of LeBan HK Cafe (just next door) in June 2012. More on that later.

Chef Yap Kim Fatt was in charge of our meal for the night. He's the mastermind behind many awesome dishes we had and the most delicious of all had to be the Salted Egg Crab!

This is an OMG awesome special recipe by Chef Yap That golden custardy liquid is packed with a generous amount of salted egg. It's even yummy when it's cold! I was just drinking the gravy. Love the creamy and buttery viscous sauce. Irvin sells the sauce for $12/box that is made fresh upon order. This is a MUST BUY. Just imagine cooking any ingredient in this. -Melts- 

We also had the Belachan Crab which was stir fried with a fragrant blend of shallots, shrimps, chili and curry leaves. I liked the crunchy bits but the crab didn't absorb much of the taste and the meat was a tad dry. Definitely pales in comparison to the Salted Egg Crab!

Salted Egg Crab - $23.90 (S), $33.90 (M), $48 (per 1kg)
Balachan Crab - $19.90 (S), $29.90 (M), $48 (Per 1kg)
Small and medium size crabs are charge fixed prices while large crabs are charged by weight. Irvin offers both Indonesian and Sri Lankan crabs. I find that the crabs are skinnier as compared to the typical Sri Lankan ones that i absolutely adore.

We were all swooning over the Salted Egg Yam Chips (S$9.80). This is a crowd pleaser and way better than cheese nachos! The sliced yam chips are of the right thickness and when coated with the rich salted egg sauce, it's just heavenly! Chili padi is added to add but i hardly tasted the spice. Warning: this is very addictive.

Another highly recommended dish is the Red Tilapia with Special Sauce (S$32). 

This is on their Special menu; it's not listed! But yes, you can order this! I am not a fish fan but this has wowed me over. I love the light and refreshing bean paste with chili sauce which is very similar to the Thai chili sauce. There are plenty of crunchy bits in the red sticky sweet gravy, which i suspect to be minced fruits and garlic. I could not expect the refreshing and juicy taste otherwise.

Another favorite is the Damn Good Pork [$12.80 (S) $18.80 (L)] 

It is really DAMN GOOD. The crispy battered pork ribs was well marinated and the centre was tender and juicy. Accompanied with the savory butter sauce and some chili padi and curry leaves to lift the taste, all we could say was 'damn good' again and again. This is Irvin's favorite dish too! There is the Chicken alternative, the plain ol Butter Chicken [S$15.80 (S), S$20.80 (L)] which was equally good.

We also had the Claypot Pumpkin Prawns [S$13.80 (S), $22.80 (L)]

Prawns coated with a generous amount of pumpkin sauce, served in claypot. This is slightly sweeter and starchier. Didn't really like this. The prawns were dry and a little shriveled in their shells. 

Anyway by then, our taste buds were a little confused. Everything tasted pretty much of salted egg yolk. They even look like the same sauce! I suppose that's because the base sauce is the butter sauce and then the other variants like salted egg or pumpkin and cream is added in for differentiation. It got a bit boring after a while since everything tasted pretty much the same. :/

The Hot Plate Tofu with Special Minced Pork (S$12.80) wasn't anything fantastic. The tofu is the supermarket white tofu which is fried on the outside. I think this is passable.

Irvin's also does a lunch and dinner buffet too with a DIY steamboat section for dinner but personally i would just go for the seafood dishes. :)

Food: 4/5 Stick with my recommendations and order some staples to fill you up. Can't go wrong with that. 

Atmosphere: 3.5/5 The main dining area is simply furnished and functional. If you want more comfort, i highly recommend the VIP rooms.

Special offer for my dear readers!
From now till the end of July 2012, simply quote "Singapore's Most Handsome Restaurant" at the cashier and be entitled to 10% discount at Irvin's! Enjoy!!

Irvin's Live Seafood House
4 Jalan Leban, Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 577548
Tel: +65 6836 5020
Daily: 11am - 11pm

What is your memory of Singapore say 20 years ago? I remember things were a lot simpler then. Happiness was eating 10 cents (SERIOUSLY??) curry potatoes in a plastic bag from my Primary school canteen. Eating the rainbow Paddlepop change colours with my sis and watching our popsicle change colours. Trading stickers with my girlfriends and silently comparing whose stickers are prettier. I think i still keep them somewhere. Kinda miss the carefree days as a kid. 

Why the sudden recollection of the old days? Well, i was prompted by the Singapore Memory Food Trail Project in which Mr Brown, Mr Miyagi and ieatishootipost participated in. The 3 heavyweight in the Singapore blogosphere went around on a 24h eatscapade and at the same time interviewed the hawkers and people to 'collect' their memories of Singapore in the past. Was following them on twitter #sgMemory and hence that got me thinking about my best memories of Singapore.

I contributed some of my memories of Singapore and of course lotsa food memories using the #sgfoodmemory hashtag. The guys actually took my Rice Dumpling suggestion (Kim Choo Ba Zhang) and went there for lunch! Was then invited for the durian feast with these 3 cool dudes at the end of the night. Whee!

We had the D24, Mao Shan Wang, XO durian, D2(not nice) and 666 'flavors'. I think i still love D24. The other tweeters said that 666 was good too but i didn't get a chance to try it. Highlight of the night was of course eating durians and chatting with Singapore's favorite bloggers. Didn't get a chance to interact with Dr Leslie Tay or Mr Miyagi but Mr Brown was hilarious. He eats durians with spoon and chopsticks.

@mrbrown: i'm very good at my chopsticks skills

@mrbrown happily posing for his durian shot

This has got to be one of my best #sgfoodmemory. First time eating durians at an open air stall (i usually have them at home. It's not so unglam. :P) and what more with awesome company! Thanks once again to the Singapore Memory Project for having me!

While looking through the tweets, i wondered if there's more to Singapore than just the food (since most of the people were tweeting about food). We are indeed a food nation but i'm sure there's more right.. How about real relationships with people around us? It just seems that we have lost the real connection. Anyway, my coursemates Justin Zhuang, Sam Kang Li and Samuel He are so inspiring. The 3 of them have been contributing to/creating the Singapore Story in their own ways. Check out their works yea?

Justin Zhuang on the lost playrounds of Sg

What is Singapore to you? What are your memories? The Singapore Memory Project (SMP), wants to collect your story. All these memories would be used to tell the Singapore Story to our future generation in 2015. which was started in 2011 to collect, preserve and provide access to Singapore’s knowledge materials, so as to tell the Singapore Story to our future generation. I think it's the coolest thing ever. Head on over to their Facebook page for updates on new events as well.

Putien is a chain restaurant that specializes in the Hing Wa cuisine in Singapore. Prior to their beginning, i have never heard of the Hing Wa people, despite them residing in my "hometown" Fujian and around in the Putian and Xianyou area. I would say it's a refreshing concept in our Chinese food dining culture here in Singapore since when we talk about Cze Char (hawker food), it's usually Cantonese.

Chinese food to me is well.. Chinese food. I am really clueless about the specific cuisines. Can you blame me really? Singapore's food establishments have this habit of incorporating a few dishes from each cuisine despite them claiming themselves to be a specialist in a particular cuisine. Brings me to the point of how unaware we are of our forefather's history (i'm absolutely guilty of that). Anyway..

So what is the Hing Wa cuisine? Well, this tongue thinks it's home cooked food that employs simple ingredients with very light seasoning. Most of the dishes that i have tasted are more towards the bland side but it kinda feels like a healthy meal?

Drunken Cockles (S$5.90). I'm not a cockles fan because i think they are unhealthy but these are perfectly cooked and the simple garnish of chili padi, minced garlic, spring onion and light soy makes this a very appetizing starter. Only pity is that it's very small!

Braised Homemade Beancurd (S$5.90). Mum thought it was going to be that sort beancurd toufu but it turned out to be tau pok. I believe i can easily get this at the Teochew Porridge stalls at a lower price. Tiny portion again.

Deep Fried Tenggiri Fish (S$4.90/pc) aka mackerel. Deep fried till it's crispy but the meat remained moist and firm. This is served with a home made dip which is like a fish sauce. MEH. Just stick to their chili (2nd pic from top), it really packs a punch. Lovely. This is more like a home cooked dish. My mama does her with a ginger Maggi sauce. Yums.

Pu Tien is famous for the Hing Wa Bee Hoon and other noodle staples. The Pu Tien Mee Sua (S$6.90 for small, good for 1 or 2pax) is made using Longevity noodles which are handmade using traditional methods. As a result, the thin vermicelli doesn't turn soggy when cooked. The recipe is supposedly unique to Pu Tien but i think it's not that hard to recreate. The hardest part would probably be the milky broth, which is cooked from pork ribs and bones.   

Pu Tien Lor Mee (S$7.90 for small, good for 1 or 2pax) is as shown. This is my individual portion. Mum thinks that this dish is nothing special. Definitely doesn't resemble the black lor mee. Chewy noodles cooked with pork belly, prawn and clam braised in a luscious seafood and pork gravy. Again, this is a homey dish. 

Spinach with Salted Egg and Century in Supreme stock (S$12.90) is one of my favorites. The Chinese spinach is stir-fried on high heat then stewed in stock of century egg and salted egg. Very rich and tasty gravy which is not overpowered by the salted egg yolk. It's almost like a light broth. I sure did spoon up the sauce like it's soup.

Deep Fried Duck with Yam (S$15.90) was quite a delight. I love yam and this is the first time i've seen it done with duck. The light and crispy crust gives way to a smooth yam paste that envelops the duck meat on the interior. I thought it would be nicer to have some chunks of yam though. The meat however, was on the bland side. 

Pu Tien Sweet and Sour Pork with Lychees (S$11.90) is one of my all time favorites here. Deep fried pork in a crispy light batter. The sauce that coats the meat is of the right level of sweetness and the Lychee lightens up the dish with its refreshing juices. 

Food: 4/5 I think the food is perfect for people who want a quality home cooked meal and something different from the typical Cantonese Cze Char. "Putien is awesome for me because they somehow can make things i hate, to be nice," says my colleague. I have to agree with that. 

Ambience: 3.5/5 Comfortable dining. This is more heartland comfort rather than high end restaurant. 

Service: 3.5/5 Service is a little slow because it really gets crowded. It was weird that our mains were served last and we had to wait a long time for the lor mee to arrive (and that was the last dish). 

Would i return? Maybe i would for a simple lunch. The elders in my family weren't impressed with the food though. They thought it to be too simple for restaurant standards and definitely expensive for the portions served. We still prefer the hawker Cze Char. I can't help but think that my mama can cook better than this. I'm biased. :P

There is currently a Summer Menu that Pu Tien has just rolled out. A variety of in season fruits and produce, as well as "cool" ingredients are used to chase away the summer heat. There is a DBS/POSB 10% discount off any Summer menu dishes till 31 July 2012. 

Pu Tien
23 Serangoon Central, #02-18/19
Nex Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6634 7833
Daily: 11.30am-3pm, 5.30pm-10pm
High-Tea: 2.30pm-5pm (Fri-Sun & PH)

Other Outlets
City Square Mall
Jurong Point
Kitchener Road
Marina Square
Parkway Parade
Resorts World Sentosa
Tampines Mall
VivoCity

What is the number 1 thing to do in Zagreb, Croatia? Is it visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art or The Cathedral of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary? Could it be checking out the sculptures at the Mirogoj cemetery? Or perhaps having a picnic in Maksimir Park? Well well.. You could do all of that and end up rushing from one end of the city to the other on public transport and foot and end up killing yourself at the end of the day.

I'm an easily bored traveler with ADHD. Churches, old buildings and museums kinda look the same after a while (I call this the European traveler fatigue). The only things that get me going through them is 1. the entrance fee and 2. the effort it took me to get there. Of course there are certain attractions that i MUST SEE but i'd rather spend the time chilling out and exploring back alleys than running around taking pictures just to show that i've been to a particular city/country. That kinda takes the joy away from traveling don't you think? 

So here is my recommendation! Number 1 thing to do in Zagreb is..... (drumroll...)

Segway City Tour! 

I used to think that it's super uncool to ride on a Segway and it's meant for old foggies but this is SO FUN. This is probably the fastest and breeziest way to visit most of the attractions in the city. It's not boring because you only spend a couple of minutes at each site and there is a local guide to transfer bite size bits of history (the more interesting parts). Absolutely effortless. I highly recommend this if you visit Zagreb. Heck. I'd do this at every city i visit. 

If you are interested, read on. Here is how you get your tickets. 

Central and Eastern Europe is pretty much misunderstood by the typical Singaporean. When people heard that I was going to Croatia, questions that inevitably popped up were - “Is it safe?” “Do they have proper roads?” “What are you gonna eat? Peasant food?” “Is the water drinkable?” "Don't die there please."

Well... I came back in one piece. In fact, I came back a bigger piece because the food was awesome and I had a ball of a time. 

One of the best meals in my life. That's me mopping up the last bits of my shrimps dish.

S marveled at how this is one of the rare times that i actually finished all of my food without being forced to. 

And seriously people, Croatia is a developed country just without all that huge commercial brands and overly touristy stuff. AND we felt much safer here than in the typical crime ridden European countries like Spain, Paris, Greece and Italy or London. We walked around late at night and had no issues at all.

I suppose that is just the “Paranoid Singaporean” syndrome kicking in. The distrust and wariness we have of all things foreign and strange. I’m not saying it’s not good; we have only our upbringing and artificially safe environment to blame for that. But sometimes you just got to live a little, be a little trusting even when gut reaction tells you to pick up your slippers and run in the opposite direction. 

So anyway, it was 1 awesome trip to Croatia. 11 days. Left footprints in 6 countries. Transited in 2 countries, Qatar (Doha) and Hungary (Budapest), visited 3 countries, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and threw in a pit stop in Bosnia. 

View from Dubrovnik Old Town.

The stops went like this. Singapore-Doha-Budapest- [Croatia] Zagreb- [Slovenia] Ljubijana (day trip)- [Croatia] Plitvice National Parks- Zadar- Sibenik(day trip)- Split- Hvar & Pakleni Island (day trip)- [Bosnia] (beach stop)- Dubrovnik- [Montenegro] Sveti Stefan & Kotor- [Croatia] Lokrum Island- Zagreb- [Singapore]. It seems like a crazy packed to the brim kinda holiday but it wasn't. We had lots of time to chill out at caffe bars, chase waterfalls, sunbathe with a bunch of naturalists, catch sunsets, do nothing at all. 

Chilling out at Buza- Bar on a Cliff in Dubrovnik 

What's cool is that we didn't break the bank for the trip. Well i never break the bank unless there's shopping involved. Here's a breakdown of how much we spent.

Air ticket-approx SGD1.7k (Qatar Airways)

Travel expenses (food, accommodation, car rental, sights)- 1000 Euros each. We had a range of meals from budget to high end but 1 good meal a day is guaranteed (by good i don't mean it has to be expensive). 40-50Euros would get you 2 mains, 2 starters and drinks. 

Accommodation- Mid range apartments and 1 4* Hotel (which wasn't fantastic). 70-100Euros/night

Currency- Croatian Kunas. Bring Euros for currency exchange in Croatia (that's if Euro is still in use then). Current exchange rate 1Euro:1.613SGD. S$1: 4.5KN approx. You do the math.

Our lovely apartment in Zadar. Huge and rustic with Wifi, AC, Satellite TV and Jacuzzi shower.

The best time to visit Croatia is probably early to mid June. Get a golden tan. Swim in the cool sapphire Adriatic sea. Party hard at cross country festivals. Trek under the shade of vast green canopies. Hop on and off ferries with efficient summer schedules. Avoid high season prices and 3am parties at overbooked hotels.

My very own swimming pool in Bosnia.

I'm really glad that we went on this trip before too many Asians and Singaporeans hit the beautiful Adriatic coast and before it's marred by all the cut throat tourism and scams. We were practically the only Asians/Singaporeans in some towns.

Sunset at the top of Dubrovnik at our secret spot

Croatia has got to be one of my favorite countries at the moment (because i will never stop exploring cool places). Travel to Croatia, will you?