Food!!! Dim sum for supper!!!

I have always wanted to try the famous dim sum restaurant Swee Choon after reading the reviews... This is probably my second time eating dim sum, I had my first dim sum experience in Sydney...
Blog link here: Sydney 2012 Day 2 Part 1

Not really a dim sum eater cuz Im allergic to prawns which means that 60% of the dishes I wont be able to eat.. =( anyway my next target is to eat dim sum at Hong Kong (I have been to hong kong but did not eat the dim sum... epic fail I know)!!!

Last friday after napping till 10pm, I woke up feeling hungry and decided its time to try the dim sum!!! Therefore me and Ben headed off to Swee Choon (Ben was with me at Sydney too haha)

Me with a "just wakeup" face feeling very hungry.... 

The menu list was really extensive... ranging from steamed dim sum to chinese la mian, however I knew what I wanted to order after reading all the reviews hahaha (I always make it a point to read reviews before trying out a new restaurant)

Warning: Food pics coming up!!! 

First up, some cold chicken with chilli oil... Ben liked it but I think its just pure spicy and not salty enough... (should have tried the drunken chicken!)

Their famous xiao long bao... I personally liked it, the skin is not very thick and the soup inside is nice...

This dish is a novelty dish... its called mee sua kueh.. one of the highly recommended dish... not really fantastic though (not a fan of mee sua to start with) 

Next up, my fav dish! looking like any ordinary steam bun... but no its not ordinary at all!!!

Its a custard bun with flowing custard which melts in your mouth! something to die for...

Sichuan chili oil wonton... which Ben ate 1 and I could only take photo of 3 =(  

The egg tart was a disappointment, the egg part is not soft, the pastry is too thick...

Lastly, the red bean pancake which me and Ben enjoyed the most...

Overall, the food isnt really fantastic, good place to chill with friends at night... We spent around SGD16 per person... which is quite cheap i guess

My top 3 fav dishes:
1) Red bean pancake

2) Custard bun

3) Xiao long bao

Swee choon restaurant 

183/ 185/ 187/ 189/ 191 Jalan Besar
Singapore 208882

Opening hours: 6pm to 6am, closed on tuesday

Supposedly very crowded according to other reviews, but when we reach around 1am, we were able to find a seat instantly...

Thats all for this post folks!

XoXo

Australian Outback Spectacular 2012

When my parents came over to brisbane for my graduation in July last year (haha i know this post is super outdated)... I decided to bring them to experience the australian outback without the need to travel inland and of course under the comfort of air conditioning... I brought them to watch the Australian outback spectacular, which is situated very near to movie world and is accessible by train and bus... Managed to drag Hazel along with me hehe

The venue is super cool, it looks like a big horse barn and most importantly we get free cowboy hats to wear!!! ok I know I overreacted but how often you get to wear a cowboy hat... look at the crowd... cowboy hats everywhere! =D

We were left at the holding area, where you can shop for souvenirs and take photo with the horses and sheepdogs... but me and hazel were busy camwhoring away with our cowboy hats... Anyway hazel was wearing the hat the wrong side... only noticed after reviewing the photos hahaha

And what is Australian outback without country music right? All you need is a cowboy and an acoustic guitar to light that cowboy spirit...

Soon it's time to enter the theatre for the real outback spectacular... we are not allowed to take any photos in the theatre but still managed to sneak a few pictures of the 3 course meal served. I love the experience dining with horses, sheeps, cows, dogs running past your dining table, other than the fact that the dust and sand might fly into your food... but once in a while we need to blend in with nature haha (yes, by allowing sand into your digestive systems =D)

Here are the food pictures... shall not comment anything about the food... afterall being able to see live animals performing tricks is already fascinating enough (Im a crazy animal lover...)

Appetizer... 

Main course...

Dessert...

Australian Outback Spectacular is really a very different experience... my parents enjoyed it, so did I... Wanna learn horse riding one day!!! =D

XoXo NyappyJiA

Sydney 2012 Day 3 Part 2

Previous posts:

Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 1

Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 2

Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 3

Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 4

Sydney 2012 Day 2 Part 1

Sydney 2012 Day 2 Part 2
Sydney 2012 Day 3 Part 1

Its been a long time since I last blogged, have been rly busy or no motivation to blog at all... Will try my best to finish my Sydney and Melbourne trip... Ganbatte!!!

From the Jenolan Caves to the next destination is another long journey... Was busy sleeping in the car so did not take much photos haha...
Next destination is a town nearby for lunch! We went past this stretch of road with tall trees, isnt it pretty?

At first the plan was to go some famous asian cuisine restaurant to eat, however it was not open when we arrive, so we ended up at this thai restaurant... Its fully operated by locals there... They were having some live performance at that time...

Below are some dishes that we ordered...

After lunch, we had to rush to the next destination as we were running late... The next destination is the scenic railway. Its a famous tourist attraction with 2 cable cars, a railway and a walk way. As the sun sets at around 5 plus in winter, we had little time to spare... 

After purchasing the entrance ticket, we only have 1 hour to take explore!!! First up, we decided to try the railway first... The scenic railway is the steepest railway in the world!!! Its 52° incline and is fast!!! Here is me and Shan... even though the railway haven start yet, I can already feel the steepness of it!

Managed to snap a picture while the railway is moving... Im already not on my seat and was clinging onto the metal netting on top... Rly freaks me out... Should have tried the upwards direction first instead of the downwards one...

Once we reach the bottom, we saw the famous three sisters!!!

Here is how the scenic railway look like... and its going upwards... less scary =X

There are some exhibits on mining history along the walkway.... here is the old railway used for mining in the old days... wonder how they survive without the netting above...hmm

Me and Shan all wrapped up lol...

My failed attempt to take photo with the three sisters =( the lighting is so bad 

We can only take photo of it without humans...

A closeup view of it...

The next ride we took is the scenic cableway... which is upwards back to the original place where we took the railway...

As the sky is getting dark and the place is getting misty, we gave up on taking senery photos... =(

Here is Ben, Me and Shan!!!

Last photo taken at the entrance of scenic world!!! According to the guide there, it will snow at night... So we should leave the mountains asap... It was raining when we went to take our car, and before we knew it, the rain turned to ice!!! Thank god we r back in the car  =X

We decided to go to this german bar at the rocks for dinner as it is the last night in Sydney =( ... my friend highly recommended their pork knuckle and pork belly... The place is called Lowenbrau... Here is the website: http://www.lowenbrau.com.au/

There was a live performance and they were singing german folksongs... 

Here is the coke beer I ordered...

Shan's mango beer...

Here comes the pork belly...

Look at the juicy layer of meat under the crispy skin!!!

And of course the pork knuckle!!!

The best I have ever eaten!!! With extremely crispy skin and tender meat, its not oily at all!!! Lowenbrau is definitely a must-try!!!

After dinner, it also marks the last night in Sydney... Next day we will be flying to Melbourne... Stay tuned for more excited places in Melbourne!!!

Sydney 2012 Day 2 Part 2

Previous posts:

Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 1
Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 2
Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 3
Sydney 2012 Day 1 Part 4
Sydney 2012 Day 2 Part 1

Day 2 in Sydney is basically "eat good food" day... Its a super slack day! As there is not much to talk about, I will squeeze the remaining of day 2 into this post...

After eating dim sum, we decided to explore Chinatown...  The first thing that we saw is this street performer... he can play a melody with recycled glass bottles filled with water... Imagine the amount of precision needed to fill the bottle so that the tune will be just right... damn pro right... he must be very free and very patient haha...

The next place we go to is called Paddy's market... it is similar to the Singapore Pasar Malam... just that its indoors...

Most of the stalls sell souvenirs and a lot of them sell the same things... so its advisable to compare prices between the stalls before making your purchase... 

Look at the koala and kangaroo bags... arent they cute?! haha im a kid at heart...

A random blur picture of the stalls...

We continued walking and we end up at the food street at Chinatown... This is the famous entrance to Sydney Chinatown...

And guess what we are here for... Yeap we are here for the famous emperor's puff!!! Its so famous the cake shop have to open a small window beside just to sell this...

Emperor's puff are made fresh and sold instantly.... Although there is a super long queue, the waiting time is not very long as the machine makes the puff pretty fast...

And the best thing of all its not expensive!!!

A photo of us while waiting for our turn...

This is how emperor's puff looks like... it is just like mini taiyaki filled with custard... heavenly if you eat it hot as the custard will be oozing out... definitely a must try!!!.... look at the amount 3 of us buy haha

We even bought swiss rolls from the cake shop... this is how much we miss cakes after staying in Australia long enough... where can you find such cheap cakes in Australia?! yum yum!!!

After chinatown, we went to DFO to do some shopping... and we have no photos!!! too busy shopping...

In the evening we took the train to meet another friend for dinner... Look at how cool the train is... its double decker!!! You get to choose if you want to look up or look down on people... I prefer to look down on people... HAHA just jk...

My friend brought us to a Korean restaurant for dinner... I do not know which restaurant it is or where it is located... as I just follow them blindly >.< therefore please just look at the photos and try to guess where it is hehe >.<

We ordered a sumptuous spread of BBQ set, kimchi hotpot and bibimbap... Shall let the photos describe the food haha...

A group photo of us with a satisfied face haha...

After dinner we decided to walk to the famous Sydney landmark, the Sydney Opera House... Its totally a bad idea... as its very cold at night, we are not properly dressed and worse of all, it is no where near the restaurant!!! Anyway here are the photos that we took on the way...

The busy road in the city even at night...

The rocks... where you can find alot of pubs and bars...

And finally.... the Sydney Opera House... looks nice... but there is no way we can take photo with it at night!!! =(

Shall end this post with a failed attempt to take photo with the opera house >.<

Next up: Blue mountain.... the most exciting day of the whole trip!!!