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Exploring Block 201 Tampines East

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For people staying in the east, particularly at or near Tampines east, Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats Block 201 also known as Tampines N2 Shopping Street is impressive with its varied offerings. especially food. While not visually stunning, it is afterall a typical housing estate, it is a bustling neighbourhood with blocks and the blocks stretching from Block 201C to E, is a feast to behold with its eateries. Starting with Afghanistan Restaurant located along Tampines Street 23 at Block 201E and just across Tampines East Community Centre (CC), this busy coffeeshop style restaurant with 10 stalls attract morning breakfast goers with its delicious local offerings such as kacang phool, mee soto, nasi lemak and the many kueh or snacks. The kacang phool shown below complete with baguette and a cup coffee is $7. Perfect for breakfast. Tampines N2 Shopping Street At Block 201D at Tampines St. 21, there is a restaurant popular for its briyani, roti prata and murtabak called Saffron...
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Cruise to Bali - On Board Genting Dream Maiden Voyage

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On the 30th of November 2025, Genting Dream Cruise made a 6 days and 5 nights maiden voyage to Bali, Indonesia from Singapore which I booked through travel online portal Klook. I was among more than 3,000 passengers who were part of this maiden voyage. Yea that’s quite a lot of people! Check-in at Marina Bay Cruise Centre (MBCC) even though busy with more than 3,000 pax was relatively smooth. Add another 1,800 staffs or so, so the cruise ship was indeed sailing at full capacity. As check-in was between lunch and dinner, we were greeted by the on-board tea break with snacks and fried noodles and rice at the outdoor dining area. A staff informed me that there were about 4,000 passengers though not sure if the information given was accurate as from googling, the ship capacity is up to 3,400 passengers and 2,000 staffs. The ship looked to be at full capacity but not particularly overwhelming thus a figure of 3,000 and a bit seemed about right. The bottle necks were mostly during disembarka...
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Pandan, Kantan and Blue Pea - from ditches to culinary dishes

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Often referred to as the 'Vanilla of the East', the pandan is a tropical plant easily found in Southeast Asia and of course Singapore. It is an upright, green shrub with woody aerial roots and fan-shaped sprays of blade-like leaves. Traditionally, these leaves were woven into baskets used for cooking rice and meats. Popular local coconut milk rice dish, nasi lemak, has pandan-ish fragrance, with the pandan leaves tied into knots and cooked together with the rice. Putu piring, a Malay snack, also use small pieces of pandan leaves as garnish. And we all know the fluffy and greenish pandan chiffon cake! Wild pandan Botanically called pandanus amarylifolius from the pandanus family, the pandan leaves have been used to flavour or colour desserts such as cakes and sweet beverages. The leaves are pounded and strained (or blended with a little water) to yield flavour and green food dye for kueh, desserts and sweets. Pandan is used with the essences of rose to flavour spicy rice dishe...
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Changi Airport - Fun day out without flying

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Having travelled quite a bit and passing through many airports, we can safely say that Changi Airport is unlike many other airports all over the world. While many airports main function is for passengers to board flights and disembark just like cruise and bus terminals, Changi Airport has transformed itself as a unique destination by itself. People simply go to the airport to eat, watch a free movie or a football game on a bigscreen, enjoy a cool tallest indoor manmade waterfall surrounded by lush gardens, even do a bit grocery shopping, tapau (take away) some food and then head back home. Dinosaurs at Jurassic Mile All without going to transit or airside areas to board a packed plane.You can walk from one terminal to another and to Jewel except for Terminal 4 which is standalone by itself. Some of the foodcourt stalls do sell delicious local fares. With MRT and buses plying to and from Changi Airport, it makes a trip to the airport very convenient. For most people a half day trip to...
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Chinatown - Niu Che Shui - Once bullock water-cart town

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Before the arrival of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1819, a small population of Chinese immigrants had already settled in Singapore, cultivating gambier and pepper. Shortly after establishing Singapore as a free port in 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles instructed Lieutenant Philip Jackson, an engineer, to draw up a master plan dividing the town into four areas for easy administration - the European, Malay, Indian and Chinese ethnic quarters. Between the 19th and mid-20th centuries, millions left their homes in China driven by famine, floods and unrest, and seduced by the hope of a better life elsewhere. They left in masses with many of them made their way to Nanyang , the southern seas. Singapore, in particular, was sought out as a place where one could earn a living. The new arrival is known as Sinkheh , or 'new guest' in Hokkien. That was what the Straits-born Chinese, who had arrived several generations earlier, called these new Chinese immigrants. It became what the newcomers w...
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Mee Rebus and Mee Siam

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Literally "boiled noodles", a delicious dish that can be found in many hawker centres , mee rebus is a popular and tasty Malay culinary creation. It is a simple yet satisfyingly filling dish of the common yellow Hokkien noodles and sweet-spicy flavourful gravy garnished with boiled egg, beansprouts, Chinese celery, green chilli, cubed fried tofu and sprinkled with fried shallot and topped with fresh calamansi. A squeeze of small fresh greenish calamansi lime gives the dish citrusy note, adds tang and brightens up the dish. In Malay calamansi is called limau kasturi. Mee is a Hokkien word for 'noodles' and rebus is a Malay word for 'boiled', thus we can see how different cultures complement and influence each other.The most crucial element in mee rebus is the gravy, which the soul of this deceptively simple dish. Traditionally, it is made from a stock base of dried shrimp, tau cheo (fermented soy bean), fresh herbs and spices, which is thickened with mashe...
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Exploring Johor Bahru (JB) in a day from Singapore

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A favourite pastime of Singaporeans who love going across the causeway to JB in Malaysia for shopping, eating, getting a hair-cut or massage, I hopped into a Transtar cross-border bus that originated from the various terminals of Changi Airport to JB CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine). The bus fare is SGD11 if you start your journey from Changi Airport. The fare gradually goes down to SGD9 from Expo and the stop after that. Return fare is RM13 from JB. Tried using my ezlink card but the machine was down, so paid using cash instead. Well, their ez-link machine does not seem to be working most of the time, so its better to prepare some exact cash, as the drivers do not give change. The ride was comfortable and smooth. During weekdays, getting a seat is not a problem. Transtar bus TS1 service is especially great for those living in the east, or for Malaysian workers working at Changi Airport. Or for travellers needing to go straight to JB after landing at the airport. For those ...
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