Singapore Arts, Beauty and Inspirations Male Blogger

Still not knowing how to pronounce "Don Quijote", titled after the chivalric main character of a fictional Spanish novel, I recalled my dining experience I had at Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant which was located at Dempsey.

Don Quijote is an authentic Spanish restaurant in Singapore, not only acclaimed for their tapas and traditionally made Spanish fare, but also for their selection of alcohol. The owner has been to Spain for at least 10 times (and counting up) ever since the resturant has started 12 years ago. Every photographs framed up in his resturant were taken by him. 

The dishes served here were basically non-region specific dishes and I started off with a glass of Virgin Sangria ($10.00/glass), a non-alcohol version of Sangria Tinto (red) ($14.50/glass). It was a refreshing and light drink with fruit cubes in it.

Spicy Calamari ($16.00) was my addiction as it was rather fresh, great texture, nicely grilled with spicyiness just right for me. I had to skip the ‘Live’ Gambas al Ajillo ($18.00) due to allergy, yet the sight and fragrance of nicely brown chopped garlic loaded on top of the large sea prawns was so alluring.

I had an instant liking to the Croquetas con Jamón ($16.00) after my first bite on its non-oily, yet crisp shell with velvety smooth potato and ham filling. Definitely a great snack to go with alcohol.

The Secreto Iberico a la Plancha ($26.00) was Iberian pork grilled to what we called ''medium rare'' in steak. It was slightly chewy and perfectly safe to consume despite the ''medium rare'' state since these ''clean'' pigs ate only grass and acorns.

Another highlight which I regret to take a decent picture of was the Rabo de Toro - Ox-tail stew ($36.00). The same recipe for the past 12 years and a great comfort food. The meat was so tender that it readily fell off the bone. I could not help grabbing bread and dipping it into the rich savoury stew!

Cutting off the gimmicky plate breaking session during the serving of the Asado de Cochinillo Espanol as probably only the more tourisy resturants does that. The ½ Oven-roasted spanish suckling pig was served with really crispy skin and tender flesh as well. I would love to stuff myself silly with this dish.

Chuletón de Buey ($18/100gm (total - $324)) was the charcoal-flame-grilled bone-in tomahawk rib-steak weighing 1.8kg that day which wowed everyone with its grandeur size while ''bone-in''. My image was already deboned and sliced neatly, revealing the medium rare flesh. 

As for the carbs, both Paella Valenciana w ‘live’ Boston Lobster and Fideuá Negra w ‘live’ Boston Lobster ($65 (large) + $79 (w lobster)) were brimming with umami, probably the carbs had well absorbed the flavors of the seafood.  

Last but not least, the desserts served were Bomba de Chocolate -Warm-chocolate ‘lava’ cake ($19.00) and Churros with chocolate sauce ($16.00). Both desserts use Blanxart artisanal chocolate imported from Barcelona. Being a hardcore chocolate lover myself, I enjoyed how the chocolate wasn't overly sweet nor 'gelat'.

Trying out less common cuisines such as the Spanish fare from Don Quijote would always be an interesting experience for me. Although dining indoors tend to be more cosy, having it al fresco with alcohol and snacks would be a great way to chill too!

Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant

Dempsey
Block 7 Dempsey Road, #01-02
Singapore 249671
Tel: (+65) 6476 2811

Website: http://www.don-quijote-restaurants.com/

It wasn't my first time taking a cruise to no-where but definitely the rare few travel related post on this blog. Recently I have the habit to blog about things straight to the point and not type a whole load of grandma story, knowing that nowadays people tend to view images more than reading a chunk of text. Am I right?

It was a weekend cruise which sets off at Marina Cruise Centre at about 7.30pm instead of 7pm due to delay. Throughout the cruise trip, I did not manage to take much pictures except a couple of selfies, knowing that my mum can't take good photos.

Typical of cruise trips, the population of senior citizens on board was approximately about 65%? 25% were families with mainly young children while 10% belongs to the others category. Most rooms had a balcony which could be seen from one of the videos I have uploaded below, at the same time featuring my room for the 2 nights. The beds were higher than normal, extremely cosy and my mum and I had 2 fluffy pillows each!

I did not really explore the cruise ship much as most of the time we were feasting, me in the room watching countless movies which I had previously missed and well, waiting for the food to digest. The food were mostly buffet style, not say that fantastic but decent. Had watched one free performance since the other performances need to pay. I think most people from the older generation were pretty much occupied with the jackpot machines and I did witnessed an auction on board a cruise of the first time in my life.

I probably would not want to go for another cruise trip anytime soon. I find the experience getting more boring as compared to last time when I was much younger and the mere thought of going for a cruise trip and indulging on food the entire day excites me. Don't get me wrong as who knows I might have a sudden urge to go on another cruise staycay in time to come?

I alighted from Imbiah Cable Car Station at Sentosa, just 2 stations away from Vivocity and navigated my way over to Le Meridien Singapore, Sentosa. It was so random that my mum had to book a staycation when I would rather rot at home during that weekend.

Le Meridien Singapore, Sentosa looked more like a heritage landmark than a hotel and I took an awkward shot of the merlion looking as if it was decapitated above. The scotching heat was already swallowing me up as I made my way into the room which my mum had already checked into. The room look rather cosy and we had an amazing view of neighbouring constructions going on, with 2 tall cranes in sight. I guess it felt more conducive when the curtains remained closed up through the stay.

I wasn't really in the mood to walk around exploring Sentosa that day, except travelling to Vivocity for dinner and having Starbucks while lazing in the room that night. The pool looked rather shallow and was quite empty most of the time. I actually brought my trunks but it just felt awkward to swim with parents around. My mum did felt the same way as well.

Anyway, my only consolation was the bathtub in the toilet where I soaked for probably an hour or more? Half of the time I was climbing in and out of it, setting my camera's timer for portraits which I used for my artistic edits posted on my instagram @dessertingbeauty. 

As I checked up on the hotel that night, I was stunned by the beautiful photography shown on the webpage. Images can indeed be decieving to a certain extent I would say. 

It was a short day trip to Johor Bahru, settling my lunch with the famous curry fish head just walking distance from Johor Bahru City Square. It was followed up with me over buying the famous wood-fired oven banana cakes from Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory.

After a bit of shopping about, my friend wanted a foot massage and we decided to walk in to Javanese Massage located at M2-23 for one. Unfortunately, the slots were fully taken and our alternative plan was to try the full body massage instead. 

I am usually not the type that would be keen for massages and that day was no exception. The interior of House Of Traditional Javanese Massage was dim and had a rustic atmosphere from rattan and bamboo furnishing. Soon, we were led into a large room, segmented into smaller ones by flimsy looking partitions. After changing into my disposable underwear, the massager assigned to me started applying oil before proceeding on with the massage. In my personal opinion, the overall experience was perhaps mediocre as the pressure was not quite on point. I somehow did not exactly feel recharged or could feel an improvement in my well being. 

The cost of the Traditioanl Foot Reflexology (30mins) is RM48 while an hour would be RM55 for non members. The Traditional Javanese Full Body Massage (60 mins) is RM79, 90 mins would be RM116 and 120 mins is RM153 for non members. They also have other services such as Aromatic Javanese Full Body Massage, Body Scrubs, Shoulder Massage as well as Pre-natal Body Massage.

I have been to Yunomori Onsen and Spa a couple of times so far after my first visit and I do enjoy dipping in alternating pools. Remembering the first time yuzu bath was launched, I did see a couple of yuzus in netting floating about in the water. The more recent relaunch of the yuzu bath got me and a couple of my other onsen buddies questioning where did all the yuzus had gone to. Physically since nothing was seen floating on the surface and even the fragrance of the yuzu was no where to be detected.

At least I still felt that the yuzu one was better than the sakura pool during a period of time. Besides the romantic pinkish red water, I doubt I could remember smelling any sakura scent. Anyway, going to onsen with buddies definitely makes a difference to my enjoyment as occational chit chat would kill some boredom since being alone is super boring.

I felt super dumb at one point of time when I actually locked my locker key in the locker itself and I had to seek help from the kind staff. I bet they were trying hard not to laugh. How the hell was I that absent minded that day!?

I would always enjoy taking selfies while wearing yukata since it is not often that I could wear them right? I even enjoyed taking a short nap in the resting room located through the doorway at the end of the cafe after soaking in the pool for over an hour to two. The dim lights, cozy sofa-like beds with blankets and comfortable cushions could easily bring a tired being to dream land.

More visits with buddies to Yunomori Onsen and Spa in future!

I made my way to ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre while the heavy downpour added on to my depressing travel journey due to its location. My goal that night was to go cashless, meaning that I would only be using paylah from my mobile application to pay for my dinner.

The food centre was more like a ghost centre as more than half has already shut its shutters for the night. This place obviously caters to the lunch office crowd around the district. I wandered around trying to catch hold of the QR code stickers seen pasted on walls of hawker stalls. 

Despite the fact that some stalls had their QR code stickers on their walls which allows payment made via paylah, I still got quite a couple of rejections. I finally got a glimmer of hope as I made my way to one last stall, persuading the aunty that I wanted to make my payment through paylah. 

Like typical older generation folks, she was really skeptical about accepting cashless payment as I whipped out my mobile instead of cash. I had a bit of resistance from her as she kept questioning me, afraid that I would run away without paying. Throughout the payment process, I showed her the screen of my mobile, making sure that I had keyed in the correct amount to be paid and letting her see the green tick symbol before she finally stopped grumbling.

Cashless payment through paylah definitely was a hassle free solution, provided that these hawkers are willing to accept the new change in their lives towards digitalization. DBS is constantly working on it right now!