Once you've tasted the chicken soup ramen from Marutama Ra-men at Liang Court (second floor), you won't like any other ramen anymore. The meat and the soup just assails the senses. And don't forget to get a half-boiled seasoned egg - it's the tastiest tasty egg I have ever tasted. ;P

Apricot Yogurt = Awesome

Whenever I went to Korea on business trip (three times), I would filch sealed cups of yogurt from my hotel's buffet breakfast, and make off with them in the deep pockets of my trench coat so that I'd have something to snack on later. My favorite flavor was apricot but in all these years that I've gone yogurt-shopping in the Philippines and Thailand and Singapore, I never found one again until today, when I saw this in AMK hub's Fairprice.

It's creamy and dreamy. The best! And it was on sale at less than a buck each if you bought three.

The cheapest yogurt I ever bought was in Thailand, though. It was also good, so I bought a dozen to bring back to the Philippines. Thank goodness none of them burst and spilled all over my clothes in my luggage.

Recipe: Barbeque

Ingredients:

1 kg of meat

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Sprite or any clear cola
1/4 cup calamansi (lime) juice

Preparation:
Mix all the liquid ingredients.
Immerse the meat in the marinade for at least 30 minutes.
Cook the meat over a grill.

Cool Colas - Vanilla Coke & Mountain Dew

My favorite sodas are Vanilla Coke and Mountain Dew with lots and lots of ice. Correction, I don't drink soda with ice but rather, ice with soda.

I love Vanilla Coke because it tastes like Coke float.. you know, Coca Cola with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. Unfortunately is not as easy to find as its plain variant. So far I've seen it sold in only one hawker's stall, at Lau Pa Sat. I used to be able to buy 1.5 liter bottles from the convenience store Cheers but there was one time that I went there and they no longer had it or maybe it was just out of stock at the time. As for grocery stores, Sheng Siong only sells it in cans while Fair Price does not have it at all.

I love Mountain Dew because of its sweet-sour lemon taste. It's not that common, too, but at least it can be found in all grocery stores. And whenever I'm in KFC, I always get it with my favorite oriental chicken salad.

Some hawker stalls don't have it, though, and while usually they just tell me upfront that this is so, one auntie actually gave me Kickapoo Joy Juice, saying that it tasted just like Mountain Dew. Err okay. It doesn't taste like it, by the way. Tastes more like Sprite or 7-Up.

When both cannot be had, I stick with Coca Cola, or if I'm trying to diet, Coke Zero. Their slogan is a lie, by the way. Coke Zero does not taste like the real Coke at all.

Block of Ice...Cream

There are ice cream carts on the streets of Singapore, and they serve ice cream in blocks sandwiched between two wafers. Who needs cones, right?

Recipe: Pork and Bean Sprouts

Ingredients:

250 grams ground pork

300 grams bean sprouts

3 cloves of garlic, minced

cooking oil or butter

salt and seasoning granules

Preparation:

Saute the garlic in cooking oil or butter in a pan.

Brown the ground pork (about 5 minutes).

Toss the bean sprouts into the pan.

Add salt and seasoning granules to taste (about a teaspoon of each should be fine).

Stir for about 3 minutes.

Recipe: Buttered Garlic Mushrooms

Ingredients:

a twist of butter, or just enough to cover the pan when it's melted

6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
a big can of button mushrooms, sliced
a dash of Maggi Sarap seasoning granules

Preparation:
Melt the butter in a pan.
Saute the garlic.
Saute the mushrooms.
Add a dash of seasoning granules.
Stir constantly for about 3 minutes, then serve warm.

Vjandep Pastel

The most popular pastry from Camiguin - fluffy buns oozing with delicious creamy yema (egg and condensed milk) filling. It comes in different flavors as well, but only yema tastes wonderful. I believe there's now a shop in The Fort that sells these.

Baker Boss

This is my favorite picture of food. My boss baked some egg tarts with strawberries and gave us one each. I took a picture of mine before eating it.

Ric & Remy's Biscocho de Zamboanga

My favorite pasalubong from Zamboanga is Ric & Remy's biscocho (toasted bread). People always underestimate it and get taken by surprise at how tasty it is. I'm a bit hurt that they did not believe me when I said so in the first place. Hmp.

KFC Philippines vs Singapore

I miss KFC Philippines's fully loaded meal - a single meal that carried everything I loved about KFC - 1 piece original recipe chicken drenched in gravy, rice covered in gravy, french fries that taste like real potato slices or creamy buttery mashed potatoes with even more gravy, a moist fudge brownie, and a glass of Mountain Dew. Their gravy was so good, they needed to chain their gravy pots to the service tables to prevent people from hogging it on their tables.

KFC Singapore has only the chicken and the dew. Their gravy is no good. Their fries taste just like ordinary french fries. They don't have brownies or even rice. How uncool is that?

Their only saving grace is the oriental chicken salad. It's a mixture of lettuce, red cabbage, crispy noodles, diced tomatoes, corn kernels and bite-sized fried chicken chunks. The combination is good, but what really has me sold on it is the sweet-sour-salty taste of the oriental dressing. It's my favorite salad dressing ever. It's now my KFC staple; either this or a piece of original recipe fried chicken, with Mountain Dew, naturally.

The Best Chicharon Ever

When it comes to chicharon (pork crackling), nothing beats Lapid's.

Lovely Baked Potato

It used to be that the words "baked potato" invoked images of me at my sickbed, punished with eating bland food. That is, till I tried Yes Asian Cafe's baked potato with ham and cheese. Whenever I passed by that cafe outside AMK hub, I always got tempted by their display window of baked spuds till one day I finally gave in. Mother mother I am sick. Gimme a baked potato with ham and cheese very quick.

Red is Real Good

I am a huge fan of yogurt, most especially of frozen yogurt (fro yo). The best one I've come across so far is Red Mango.

The tart frozen yogurt was first introduced in Korea but later became the rave in the United States. Singapore is lucky to have one store located in Suntec City Mall ground floor near Carrefour, inside Tasty Treatz.

I usually just get a small cup at almost S$4 and prefer not to have any toppings as they only get in the way of the yogurt's taste. It comes in different flavors, too, and my favorite is the original one. Not only does it taste "quite nice" but it's actually good for the health too, as the tagline goes: "Red is Real." Real taste. Real Color. Real stuff. For me, it's just real good!

plain strawberry flavor

berry overload

everything on it

Oh My P.osh!

I was in Dhoby Gaut station, hurriedly walking towards the ATM, when a girl gave me a stick with a little bit of brownie stuck to it. I took it distractedly, went on walking, popped the brownie into my mouth, then did an about-face and went back to the girl to buy a couple whole ones of those brownies she had doled out for sampling. Honestly, P.osh brownies are the best damn brownies I've ever tasted in my life, and the price (S$2.80 for a plain brownie and S$3+ for designed ones) is totally worth it.

Did Somebody Say Swensens?

My first time was in Thailand, after Cate had her "where where?" episode. Then I moved to Singapore and discovered that they have many branches here. It was a lot cheaper in Thailand, but then again, what isn't?

thick chocolate milkshake

coit tower

a chocolate parfait of some sort

banana split

rocky road sizzling pan

Tamarind

I've loved tamarind eversince I was a kid. Tamarind in all forms. The raw ones cracked open and dipped in salt. The freshly cooked stuff ladled in clear plastic best eaten by licking off the fingers. The soft candy rolled into balls with a dusting of sugar and sold for 25 cents apiece. The Thai variant mixed with chili.

I love them all except those sweet ones. They've lost the essence of being a tamarind, like, what is the point?

Bukayo

Bukayo is a Filipino sweet made of coconut strips and sugar. When I was a kid, I bought them for 50 cents from Auntie Amparing's store. I think they cost ten times as much now, and Auntie Amparing's store is no more.

Provence Chocolate Wassant

Soft chocolate wassant from Provence, located in Central mall, Clarke Quay. So good, the bakery constantly runs out of them. It's a good thing Chi and her officemates have noted the pattern and know at what exact time they can catch these bad guys.

Recipe: Pork Potapples

Ingredients:

a twist of butter, or just enough to cover the pan when it's melted

3 cloves of garlic, diced

500g of pork sirloin, cut into bite size pieces

1 big red onion, peeled, root end trimmed but left intact, halved through the root, then each half cut into 6 wedges through the root (to help hold them together)

1 medium sized red apple, cored and chopped into wedges

1 big potato, chopped into wedges

3 spoonfuls of concentrated chicken stock mixed with two cups of water

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a pan.

Saute the garlic and a wedge of onion.

Lightly fry the pork for about 5 minutes.

Drop in the potatoes, apples and the rest of the onions. Pour in the stock mixture. Let it simmer and stir occasionally, adding salt according to taste.

Turn off the heat after about 5 minutes.

Doubly Delicious

I was in Wheelock Place when I walked past The Big O and its counter of delicious looking cakes. In most other stores, I'd be really confused as to which to buy - cheesecake or chocolate mousse? Here, both of my favorites had been married into one slice - the Big O cheesecake. New York cheesecake topped with smooth chocolate mousse in an Oreo cookie crust - what could be better than that?

When I took my first bite, the words "Oh my God!" escaped from my lips. It was simply the best cake I have ever tasted ever. The cheesecake is creamy, smooth, rich and dense like real cheesecakes are supposed to taste, not light and full of air like some cheap ones do. The mousse has a real chocolate bar taste, not at all just too sweet brown gunk masquerading as chocolate.

The Big O Cheesecake

One slice costs S$6.95 and they had an ongoing promotion - for every slice of cake, you get a drink for free. I got a mocha cappuccino and it was the perfect chaser to the perfect cake.

Best Filipino Food in Singapore

Years ago, if someone asked me what my favorite cuisine was, I'd reply that I wasn't sure, maybe Italian or Chinese and that Mexican food ain't bad, too. That was before I left my country. Now, when someone asks me what my favorite cuisine is, my answer is a resounding "Filipino food!" Thank goodness we got those in Singapore. Here are my faves places to get them.

Jologs

Lucky Plaza 4th floor

This was the first Pinoy restaurant that I tried. They serve all sorts of meals, but I always have the same thing whenever I go there - my favorite tapsilog (tapa, sinangag, itlog) which costs S$6.50. All meals come with drinks that you can refill from a fountain - your choice of Nestea iced tea, Tang's orange juice or water. You can't get any more Pinoy than that.

tapsilog

GP

Lucky Plaza 4th floor

We used to come here when they still had their S$10 lunch buffets which included appetizers, viands, drinks, and dessert. Crispy pata was even included in the buffet. Too bad they don't have that promo anymore as it was a very great deal - all their food tastes great. My favorite is the kilawing tanguige, though, and if I crave for it, I can still go there.

super sulit buffet

my first plateful. my plates are never without kilawin.

Pilipino Cafe

Lucky Plaza 4th floor

It's a small carinderia or cafeteria like place and is really cheap. They have set meals for S$5 that already comes with rice, two viands, and a canned drink. The food tastes good, definitely better than others of its range. My fave choices are the sinigang, kilawing baboy and chicken liver adobo.

S$5 set meal - rice, 2 choice of ulam, 1 drink in can

Kabayan

Lucky Plaza 3rd floor

I wouldn't recommend their meals. They're not bad, but they're not noteworthy either. Pilipino Cafe's viands taste better. However, this store's cassava cake is really good. So it's worth it to drop by here, at least for that. One slice costs S$2. And oh, did you know that Singaporeans don't know what cassava is? They know it as tapioca.

cassava cake

Happy V
Lucky Plaza 2nd floor or Lau Pa Sat, Raffles Place

This used to be known as Jolly V because it's a Jollibee rip-off. Their chicken tastes like chicken joy and their spaghetti is the trademark Pinoy sweet-style one. I wouldn't recommend the burger steak, though. It's nowhere near the real thing. Their value meals average around S$6.

"chicken joy"

sweet-style spaghetti

Mang Kiko's
Lau Pa Sat, Raffle's Place

Their stall looks like the typical lechon manok places in the Philippines, and their food tastes like those too. I love their lechon manok, liempo, and lechon baboy. They only have lechon baboy on Saturday afternoons, though. An order of either one with rice costs around S$6.

lechon manok and liempo

7107 Flavours

Marina Square 2nd floor

This place serves the best Filipino food by far, but we usually reserve it for special occasions because it's a bit pricey, around S$12 an order. Their menu is like Gerry's Grill. My favorites are the ones pictured below. On Friday nights they have live acoustic performances. Feels just like you're at home.

ensaladang mangga

sizzling sisig

inihaw na liempo

leche flan