Barnacles - Good seafood all round

Got to enjoy a mid-week holiday this week. It's Vesak Day today and we started off the lazy morning heading to Vivo City for an early lunch with Lin and RY. Unfortunately, they were running late so we headed to Food Republic on our own. This place is probably the prettiest food court in Singapore and with its good range of stalls was packed as usual even though it was not even noon yet. Jin had a hard time choosing between bak kut teh, kuey chap and claypot laksa. He finally decided on the famous Depot Road claypot laksa ($6.90 a bowl) and was very very happy with his yummy choice.

Having tried most of the stalls here, I opted for something new which was the Korean beef bibimbap at $8. It was surprisingly good (I am always a bit wary about Korean food court stalls since they typically fall short on authenticity) with lots of veg topped with a fried egg. Stomachs full, we met up with our MIA lunch buddies to watch Shrek the 3rd, which btw, was corny and def a dvd movie (what else to expect from a Hollywood sequel) :p

Ended a rather easy-going day with a lovely dinner at the newly opened 2 month old Barnacles restaurant located at Rasa Sentosa Hotel. Jin read reviews about it 2 weeks ago and decided to give us both a nice treat to celebrate since that we did not have plans to get out of Spore (which incidentally felt kinda weird as we are almost always away over long weekends / public holidays)

The restaurant is located on the edge of Silso beach with views of the sea and container ships in a distance. The weather tonight was pretty cool after the rain and very pleasant. We got a table in the alfresco area outside and munched through a fresh bread basket while deciding what to order. The menu was relatively simple so we did not take too long. Appetizer was the 'ying yang' which was a combination plattter of 4 good sized mayo prawns and deep fried baby squid. The prawns were good (wished they had wasabied the mayo though :) but the squids were wayy too baby and Jumbo's version definitely tops this one.

Next came our mains - Jin choose the mixed grilled platter which came with servings of beef, lamb and 1 tiger prawn accompanied with mushroom sauce, salad and fries. I have to say for $38, it was very generous, good value and all 3 meats were pretty nicely done. I kept eyeing the beef which Jin generously shared 3 bites with me :)

My choice of main was the grilled seafood skewer which came with 2 portions of salmon, 1 red snapper and 2 prawns. The salmon was a bit bland but the prawns were excellently marinated and the snapper grilled just right, tender and tasty. My only gripe is that the kitchen had not properly cleaned up the prawn - something one would have expected an establishment like this to have paid more attention to!

We were too stuffed for dessert - Our total bill came up to slighty below $100 and with great service, lovely views - Barnacles is really worth checking out and I can already foresee us coming back :) The nice service staff even helped us redeem back our $2 Sentosa entrance fee which you get back for every $28 spent.

Good grief - S$20 prawns at hawker centre

Got a nasty shock during dinner at Newton Circus on Sunday night when Jun ordered 8 tiger prawns and we were served with a bill of S$160!!! That's S$20 a prawn which boils down to S$5 a bite..and trust me, it's definitely not worth S$5 a bite! I mean, I would pay $5 for one chocolate but for a chew size bite of a prawn?? and at a hot local hawker centre too :p

Here's a link to IZ's post for the full details and pictures of the small sized tiger prawns.

Lesson learnt - don't ever order from the prawn uncle who wears a cap hovering around the newton circus open air section..(actually, to be fair, the guy wasn't an uncle yet la..:) Good point to note though - one of the island's best maggi mee goreng can be found here - Din's muslim stall serves a mean and yummy maggi mee goreng with beef bits and 1 sunny side-up egg for just S$3.

Jin's dad's 67th bday...

Last weekend, we headed back to KL for a quick trip to surprise Jin's dad as it was his birthday..made mom my partner in crime..she splendidly pulled off the whole plan without arousing suspicion of any kind :). We arranged to meet at Boathouse restaurant and surprised dad after he sat down..heehee.

The food at Boathouse was wayyy below expectations and rather expensive. Thankfully the service was at the very least - good.

Met up with the usual KL gang for dinner at Mrs Reed's Delicious cafe - see how big Nicky and Ethan have grown!

Next morning, to satisfy Jin's bak kut teh (BKT) craving, the group gamely accommodated and Keat introduced us to a shop in the outbacks of Sungei Way. Here's the big bowl of BKT we all shared. Yum!

It's May? US trip - vegas, san diego, LA

How time flies...i just realised that I hv not updated my blog since March!..gulp..my new role is really eating up into all my spare time for blogging :(. anyway, it's time for a quick update..to start things of, this is a quick recap of my recent US trip - got to go 'cos of the award nomination for one of the campaigns wee hoon and I worked on last year! Spent 4 lovely days in San Diego - perfect weather, food and fun. Above pix shows the glorious sunset that greeted me on Day 1.

Prior to the event at San Diego, I also spent the weekend in Vegas. Pic above shows the wonderful display of flowers at the Bellagio hotel. Did not gamble much so fortunately, only lost $10 :P..but it was fun to watch others gamble and win some :)

The HP Circle Awards - was a bit sad not to have won it but then again, was up against the HP board scandal nominee :p..Here I am at the awards night with the HP China team.

La Jolla resort and spa - the luxurious venue where the Circle awards event was held and where I stayed for 3 nights. There were some cute bunnies running wild in the premise and tons of roses blooming..very pretty!

Managed to find time for a quick run the on the day of the awards..it was much needed work out after all the rich cheesy food! The hotel's quite near the beach and following the running map provided by the hotel, I found myself seeing amazing views..Jin and my retirement plan should definitely include getting a home here! :)

And of course, no visit to San Diego is complete without a visit to La Jolla town area. This is my 3rd visit here and I am still captivated by the scenery and great weather. I got to feed the seagulls, see the seals and eat my lunch while people and sea watching.

Before heading home, managed to spend a day in LA to catch the musical "Wicked"..amazing stage props, OK singing. Also, redid the usual tourist stuff..walk of fame and rubbing tails with tigger :)

Finally, no post is complete without at least showing some pictures of the rich, gargantuan american food we overindulged in..urgh! easily put on 5% fat percentage..gonna definitely have to stay off burgers and cheese for the next few weeks!!