Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore Botanic Gardens at its present site was founded in 1859 by an Agri-Horticultural Society. Planned as a leisure garden and ornamental park, the Society organised flower shows and horticultural fetes. And over the years, the Gardens is steering on a long term upgrading programme to provide better public facilities and amenities. New attractions, such as the Ginger Garden, Evolution Garden, Coolhouse and the Children's Garden are being added to keep the Gardens relevant as a leading destination.

Upon arriving at the main entrance of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, we managed to chance upon this growing room where they showcase the process of the growing seedlings and also a month exhibition called 'Two Minds, One Theory' which starting from 01st August 2009 - 31st August 2009. (for more details, click here) .

Look at these lovely flowers, even though the weather is kind of gloomy but they still bloom well at sight. It really makes you feel great when looking at them.

This gazebo is a Victorian cast-iron garden shelter. It was built in the 1850s and stood for many years in the grounds of Old Admiralty House in Grange Road. In 1969 it was dismantled and re-erected in the Gardens at the entrance to the Rain Forest. We didn't go anywhere further into the Garden except till the Swan Lake Gazebo where Rey can feed the fishes and turtles in the pond as well as spend sometime admiring the Swans in the lake.

P/s: The information shown here is just roughly about 1/4 or less of the park attractions, for more information, please refer to the park website here.

Takoyaki @ Tsukiji Gindaco

Takoyaki is a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger and green onion. It is then topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and katsuobushi flakes.

Takoyaki Gindaco has come all the way from Japan to Singapore. They has more than 300 stalls all across Japan that served takoyaki ball, yakisoba and macha drinks. So be prepared to wait, as there is always a indefinite queue at the new outlet located in Basement 4, ION Orchard. But lucky today, we managed to get our food in less than 15 minutes despite of the long queue.

Tsukiji Gindaco has many choices of menu in Japan, you can take a look at the link provided (here). We have only one and only favour in Singapore and the Takoyaki are fried till outer crust is golden brown like shown in the picture above.

We ordered the Takoyaki & Macha Drink set which cost S$6.00 rather than the Takoyaki itself which is S$4.80(for 6 dumplings). The cold Japanese Macha drink is great, it's really thick and full of flavour. It is pure green tea without even a hint of sugar. I find that this Macha drink taste best when chill and it's really a great drink to go with these Takoyaki. Do grab a set of this when you drop by ION basement 4.... it's worth queuing if you love Takoyaki.

Modern Peking Duck

Peking Duck is always one of the most popular dish to be ordered in most of the Chinese Restaurant in Singapore. The dish is famous for it's thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners. It is often wrapped with egg crepes, spring onions, and hoisin sauce. But now instead of spending $60+ and above to have 10 over pieces of these Peking Duck parcels served in the restaurants. You can simply get a box of 5 pieces Peking Duck Parcels @ S$6.00 at the ION Basement 4, Food Mall.

Other than the Peking Duck, they also has another Hot item call "The Big Pig" which is the roasted pig cost S$6.00 for 200g and it is served in a box with sweet dark sauce and chilli sauce. Although this is different from the Suckling Pig which taste much better, but it is still worth trying if you love those crispy and crunchy skin........

The store here at ION is owned by the "Toh Family", under the Yan Chuan Roaster brand name whom has been in the roast meats business for more than 30 years. From then news report, the branch can sell up to a maximum of 3 roasted pig a day since opening. Since we are early that day, we managed to capture a photo of the Whole Roasted Pig before being chopped into serving pieces........

And since, it near to lunch hours, the kitchen stuffs are busying slices the Peking Duck skin and wrapped it with the egg crepes and brushed with hoisin sauce.