Reviews
Cheap things to do in Singapore : food
The population of Singapore has a very high standard of living and is often called “Switzerland of Asia”. In 2009, Singapore recorded the highest concentration of millionaires to total population reported ahead of Hong Kong, Switzerland, Qatar and Kuwait. Its technology and its strategic position on the globe and multiculturalism makes it a wonderful mix of what is best from the orient and occident.
Singapore is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. But it’s not always easy to find fun activities that are not too expensive. That is why I prepared a list of things to do for fun in Singapore without breaking the bank. Believe me there are lot of things to do; just not enough time or money.
A first major cultural activity in Singapore is eating. Singapore is a food paradise.
You can find all styles of cuisine: Indian, Malay, French, Italian, Chinese, Korean … In a wide selection of places to eat at all prices in different ambience and atmosphere
Here’s a short list of some places I have visited
A family restaurant with a rustic bistro European style, located at Bukit Timah on Turf Club Road. It offers a bit of greenery and countryside in the city. Its solid wood tables and chairs are surrounded by a perfect outdoor terrace overlooking an equestrian centre. There are small animals farm to entertain children. A good way to relax on a sunny weekend afternoon. We can afford a steak and a Belgian beer for a little more than $ 20, pizza on wood fires and cheese platter can also be enjoyed. A little fancy, but not too pretentious.
(100 Turf Club Road, Singapore 287992, tel: +65 6877-1191 www.picotin.com.sg)
Australian delicatessen cafe located in Dempsey Hill; a greenery area. Very popular for brunch on Sunday afternoon. There was a long queue before we entered; the service was ordinary, but for a small taste of countryside and good coffee it’s worth a visit. A bit pretentious for what I enjoyed. A perfect place for the “Desperate Housewives” to drowned their sorrows in champagne and blue cheese.
(Block 9 #01_12 Dempsey Road, Singapore 64761512, Singapore +65 64761512)
It’s not just the Swedish furniture that is popular. On Sunday evening s and practically every day of the week, hundreds of expatriates and Singaporeans come fill their bellies in the cafeteria of the giant of kit furniture. Get the Swedish meatballs, smoked salmon, Arctic shrimps or the giant chicken wings. The luxury school cafeteria is a self service casual dining. It’s just hard to deal with the queue and even more difficult to find an available table to eat. Remember the $ 1 hotdogs at the first floor to help you wait until your furniture is ready.
Another Japanese restaurant with a nice rotating conveyor. It’s quite harder to resist the temptation than many other similar restaurants. The sushi is fresh with a nice yummy presentation. The menu offers a wide selection and it’s hard to choose among sukiyaki, assorted sushi and luxury ramen (Udon). The food is varied and satisfying; the place quiet and comfortable while service is courteous. For less than $ 25 it was a hard time to go home with a full tummy; do you have a wheelchair?
In the sushi techno series, Sakae Sushi is a trendy restaurant group that tries to integrate technology with healthy eating. The sushi conveyor, which offers different choices of assorted sushi on coloured plates, ranging from $ 2.00 to $ 6.00. The choice is not very large and the sushi are not very artistic, without personality and we doubt sometimes of the freshness. There is also a computer at your table to place your orders. Do not click too much, because the bill is increasing quickly. The “a la carte menu” includes some nice surprises. There is also a buffet, but I’m not too sure it deserves the title of being the best sushi in town.
It is an “all you can eat” rotary hotpot, you can design your own hotpot from a soup base by choosing from nearly 60 ingredients, which passes under your noses. Here are some thing I have noticed : the drinks are not included, the tables and counters are a bit squeezy. Uncontrolled children can make your dinner a bit rock’n'roll, each plate contains only 4 slices of meat, you must make a twin tower of plate before eating. The only pro was their tasty homemade sauce, but it is not the sauce that made the whole buffet.
Korean BBQ “all you can eat” buffet $ 25 per person all included in the evening. I love to fill-up myself there a few times a month. The place is pretty big yet cosy; we have our own grill and our own hotpot. You choose your soup and run to grab the nice 10 varieties of marinated meat such as chicken teriyaki. There are also shrimp, fish, squid, vegetables, salads, sausage and more. As if that was not enough for you , they have got pasta, chicken general tao and a lot weird Asian dessert. Despite its gigantic size, the buffet stays safe, clean and fun. Ventilation could be improved, don’t go to a date after having a meal here because your smell will attract more hungry cats than lovely ones.
http://www.seoulgarden.com.sg/
An Indian restaurant in “Little India” where you can enjoy a good traditional curry meal. The portions are generous and spiced to perfection. Everything is served on a banana leaf with our choice of rice and vegetables in a creamy sauce. You can even eat with your hands if you want to perfect the experience thoroughly. It’s not just for tourists; there are many Singaporeans and Indian folks who share huge tables where a dozen guests could be seated. The menu is impressive and it is hard to choose. The service is a little messy. Take plenty of dishes and share them with a beer is even better!
http://www.thebananaleafapolo.com/
Upon entering, you are literally immersed in a countryside Swiss market atmosphere. The decor is full of nice little gem for eyes and stomach. Many Small theme booths scattered around offer fresh ingredients and chefs to prepare our food in front of our eyes. We need only to present a smart card, that was given to us before seating, to the chef who adds the value of the selected food to it. There is a wide selection of food for all tastes. Grills, pizza, paella, pancakes, salad bar and more …A good place to visit if you want to eat acceptable quality Western food quickly. Remember that your smart card will be hungry as you were on your wallet
(VivoCity Mall, 313@Somerset)
After discovering the new Nex mall without a positive first impression. We decided to hit a good steak, a little break from rice and noodles ; our daily meal. We presented ourselves at Jack’s Place; the room was almost empty, the staff assigned us a table quickly. The menu offers mostly New Zealand steak, chicken, seafood , in other words a steak house for middle-class family. The service is fast but sometimes slow, because with 8 employees and 14 customers we are far from being having a deficit of human resources. The view from our table overlooks the roof garden and water games for children. We ordered a filet mignon steak and a special jack combo with soup, dessert and coffee. The soup arrived quickly; even a little too quickly, it’s a rather ordinary soup, the garlic bread instead is appreciated, I can not even remember what was in the soup. Maybe all left behind 
The steaks arrived, they are thick and juicy to near perfection, it melts in your mouth. The tenderloin is offered dry without any sauce so I ask for the sauce and I can finally appreciate the true value of the meat. The portion of vegetables is small, the potato is saved by the sour cream and bacon. We cannot say the same of the neon green peas. The dessert is a fairly ordinary kind of jello with bits of fruit. A Good Overall, especially for its beef quality, service fast enough and comfortable tables. I’m glad to have tried the Jack Place. There is still much room for improvement for accompaniments. Remember Jack , a good steak with well accompanies is hard to beat. For about U.S. $ 50, it is not bad, but it needs a bit of add-on and glamour to be worth all pennies invested.
(Nex mall serangoon)
The “coffee shop” is the common kitchen of most Singaporeans. They can be found in most residential areas on the first floor of residential blocks. They are mostly open area site and looks like cafeterias. People go there for lunch about 13:00 or 18:00 to socialize with family, friend, co-worker or student. You can eat a decent selection of dishes from all Asian cuisines for around $ 5. Hainanese chicken rice, Peking duck, salmon, Japanese, Malay soup, Indian chicken curry, and Korean BBQ are always represented in the different places. Hard to find a place to sit down and choose the dish that will fill us from the wide variety of yummy choice.
http://www.mangovine.net/images/uploads/bishan-coffee-shop.jpg
This is also a very popular place to eat in the lion city. The main difference with the Coffee Shop is that the place is mainly located in the shopping malls, it’s well decorated, spacious and air-conditioned. The dishes are generally the same as the coffee shop but with more choices and a little more expensive. Between $ 5 and $ 8, it remains the best place to eat cheap in Singapore and especially around Orchard Road.
Trekking and elephant in laos
I woke up still wasted from the BBQ and world cup evening party. i was thirsthy and i pay the price now. I took a chance to ask my new American and Netherlands friends to cut my hair with vulgar office scissors. Happy with the work of my friends and supported by their satisfaction smile, I will go to sleep slowly to be sure to not fall the stairs. I open my eyes, oh no! the Clock project myself out of bed quickly, I barely have time to drink a coffee for going to Tiger Trails office before taxi-truck to leave. I arrived just in time, 8 h 30 for departure. They take other clients at their hotel and were left for 30 minutes on a dusty country road to Ban Xieng Lom. The village where the éléphant Village is established at the edge of Nam Khan River.
The place is simply beautiful, the architecture of buildings is a mixture of modern, exotic wood and Lao traditional. Rest areas located across the river are an invitation to a delicious meal with a superb view over the river and surrounding mountains. Everything is prepared at the restaurant located just asides.
This project helps to preserve the elephants and give jobs to people from poor villages of the area. It offers a home, some healty meal and veterinary care to all its residents. In fact, it’s a good way to discover the elephants, mountains, wildlife and nature of northern Laos while helping a team dedicated to developing sustainable solutions for the elephants and the surrounding communities.
A “briefing” before departure and text panels introduce us to the present reality and tumultuous past of elephants in Laos. The place has nine elephants, including a younger, we can ride after a small basic courses. The people are friendly and passionate about their craft. The place is well kept and elephants evolve in an environment tailored to their well-being. It’s impressive to see such big beasts dress to obey as such small humans.
we awaits the return of the other members of my group from their elephant trekking that takes about an hour through the jungle and ends with a bath in the river with elephant.
We takes some supplies and water bottled. We are now ready for Trekk. 30 min by boat on the river where we met fishermen, kids taking a bath, villages with houses of woven bamboo and water buffalo that refresh. A true journey into the ancient past of our society away from our capitalistic and consommation culture.
We finally arrived at the start of our trek. We pass through the main city in this corner of the jungle, a tiny downtown where straw houses alongside the power lines and satellite TV antennas in a perfect symphony of anachronism.
It runs fine trails not too rugged. We enter the heart of the mountains that can be seen from afar on the winding road between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. You can see beautiful mountain scenery, wild rice paddies or women work hard with rudimentary instruments. The trek is a good way to make the big empty, full of culture and stay in shape.
It rises and it rises, it seems to have climbed all the mountains, but not yet another steep slope appears before us. The sun at its zenith makes the climb even more sporty. I come finally to the straw roof shelter. I sit at the table and wait for the other. My jacket was wet as if I had fallen into a river. we had a lunch, is already after noon and I just had a cofee this morning. I just bit into my sandwich and I hear my digestive motor get going. In less than a minute my meal is already gone. Completely burnt up in my digestive system.
We joined a small village, my guide says it has a population of fifty residents. All rudimentary houses with no facilities and services. We see a Hmong takes a shower at the public well and some children said “hello” timidly. We only watch their daily life discreetly from outside their villages to avoid disrupting their activities. We feel a bit guilty to watch them, but as far as we stay respectful everyone wins something.
We continue to the bed of a small river and we encounter water buffalo concealed by a fence in the middle of the jungle. The temperature is stifling. Me and the guide enjoy the large leaves plant to make hats to protect us from sun. What can be more ecological and green?
We stop at a table of traditional wood house on the trail for a snack. A woman runs after his goats in the mountains. A bag of tobacco stand over the table. Sheets of standrad white paper serve as rolling paper. Something tells me that it shouldn’t be healthy. A radio plays in the background. Surely powered by batteries because there is no electricity evidence here. We are walking 30 minutes through the mountain to a Khmu village build at the end of the main trail.
My guide, who is Khmu native give me information on the differences between the Hmong culture and Khmu culture two of the major hill tribe from Laos. He came to study in 1997 in the big city of Luang Prabang. He had to travel five hours in the jungle and two hours car drive before reaching civilization. Approximately 75 families residing in villages. This village is much more organized than the Hmong village we met before. A band council, a residence for guests wanting to stay among them and one general store where can buy get a warm Pepsi and warm beer. People say hello to us timidly while the two couples of my group discuss intensively, the minutes fly and the rain is close to drop on us.
We continue to the river, the rain starts and stops immediately, but the path is now muddy and slippery. My rubber sandals near to project myself directly in the mud. 1 hours of slippery trails through the jungle and burning the rice field to finally reach our boat. Our diver exit from a bamboo house with his guitar and uses it to play us a little song.The boat cross the other side of the river and we’re back at the Elephant Village. The elephants are now in their area for a well deserved rest. Another half hour to go back to my hotel room to shower and sleep tonight will be very appreciated. oh yes! I was going to forget. I was going in the shower I pass in front of a mirror and I perceive that my hairdresser friends do me the worst cancerous haircut. I begin to understand why people looked at me in a funny way to Elephant Village. I owe you one bastards …:)
For more information visit this website:
Tiger Trails
Eléphant Village
Luang Prabang Backpackers Hostels
Oh My Buddha! 5 dollars a night is it really possible?
The answer is yes, located in the center of Luang Prabang in the hometown of the grandparents of the owner smiling Mr. shampoo. This guesthouse offers an unforgettable experience at price defying any competition. This ancestral property filled of history and memory adopts us generously in his daily family atmosphere. His very friendly staff is always available to inform us and make our stay in Luang Prabang and the rest of Southeast Asia most enjoyable. Here, I was really part of the family, share meals, culture and history with wonderful people.
This ex-guide for backpackers and adventure tourists offer all his experience and good English knowledge to our service. The hostel got an ideal location within 10 minutes of walk from the main city attractions like the museum, the many temples, the colorful night market and the Phousi mountain.
This comfortable and quiet place can satisfy most travelers without too many compromises. Do not expect marble floors and Olympic pool, but it many free services and the availability of staff rarely disappoint.
Offer available: 5 rooms with a total of 24 beds, free tours, free pick-up service from the airport or bus station, wireless internet, tour booking and transportation service, Community Family Dinner , Lao traditional cooking classes, bicycle rental and many other services
Even travelers who prefer staying in other places have certainly to visit Mr. shampoo and its residents to take information, take a beer or attend the special event organized regularly.
Reservations can be made from hostel world visit the website http://www.luangprabanghostel.com/ for more information.
