USA 2015

Charles River

Better late than never. This post recapitulates the links to the various posts that I have written on my trip to Boston, Nahant and New York City last year, in 2015. It was a trip that was beyond my imagination. I had not thought of visiting Boston until early 2015. I am thankful for the opportunity to visit a part of USA to learn about song-writing and to learn about a different culture.

Ambivalence and resolution: The journey to the United States, 20 Jun - 5 Jul 2015
Travelling tips: From Singapore to Boston
21 Jun 2015: Arriving in Boston on Summer Solstice
22 Jun 2015: Breakfast at Hostelling International Boston
22 Jun 2015 and etc: Thinking Cup
22 Jun 2015: Faneuil Hall and beyond
22 Jun 2015: Old North Church
22 Jun 2015: The Daily Catch
22 Jun 2015: Along the Freedom Trail
22 Jun 2015: Dinner at Giacomo's
22 Jun 2015: Mike's Pastry, possibly Boston's most popular pastry shop
22 Jun 2015: Boston Common and Boston Public Garden
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
23 Jun 2015: German food at Jacob Wirth
24 Jun 2015: Breakfast from Mac Donalds
24 Jun 2015: The search for Algiers Coffee House
24 Jun 2015: Official Harvard Tour
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a guided tour of it
24 Jun 2015: Hatch Shell and the Charles River
24 Jun 2015: One of the Super Duck Tours
24 Jun 2015: Dinner at the Union Oyster House
24 Jun 2015: My final night in Boston for the month of June 2015
25 Jun 2015: A visit to Boston Public Library and beyond
25 Jun 2015: Boston Pizza Kitchen
25 Jun 2015: The journey to Lynn and Oceanview Bed and Breakfast
25 Jun 2015: A visit to Rockport
25 Jun 2015: Fresh seafood dinner from Roy Moore Lobster Company
25 Jun 2015: A quick stopover at Salem
26 Jun 2015: A morning in Lynn
26 - 28 Jun 2015: A weekend learning songwriting
26 - 28 Jun 2016: Beautiful Nahant
Lincoln's Landing at Swampscott
29 Jun 2015: Express bus to Boston and James Hook and Co
Leaving Boston for New York
29 Jun 2015: Reached New York City
Getting around New York City with a MetroCard
29 Jun 2015: HI New York City
30 Jun 2015: Jerry's Grand Tour
1 Jul 2015: Metropolitan Museum of Art
1 Jul 2015: Gimme Coffee
2 Jul 2015: abraco
2 Jul 2015: Washington Square Park and more
2 Jul 2015: A Visit to United Nations Headquarters
2 Jul 2015: Carnegie Hall and a missed chance
2 Jul 2015: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
2 Jul 2015: Dinner at Fluffy's Cafe
2 Jul 2015: A stroll about Columbia University
3 Jul 2015: Plowshares Coffee Bloomingdale
3 Jul 2015: Absolute Bagels and Lox
3 Jul 2015: A short visit to The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine
3 Jul 2015: Top of the Rock Observation Deck and Rockefeller Centre
3 Jul 2015: Shake Shack in Madison Square Park
3 Jul 2015: Bye New York City

At Boston. Giacomo's

Ferry ride to Staten Island.

22 June 2015: Dinner at Giacomo's

Giacomo's at the North End of Boston.

22 June 2015, I had one of the most lovely dinners while I was in Boston. Delicious food with the lovely company of a good friend, Emz, makes the dinner at the chosen Giacomo's restaurant one of the best dinners that I have had while I was in Boston.

If not for my friend's recommendations, I would surely have missed Giacomo's. It opens for business daily at around the late afternoon. The place has limited seats and it usually take the existing customers who were already seated about an hour to finish their meals. So when my friend said that there were times she had queued quite a long while to have a meal at Giacomo's, she was stating the facts. My friend and I arrived at Giacomo's slightly after 5 p.m. and to our pleasant surprise, we waited for less than 10 minutes before we were ushered our seats in this cosy and friendly restaurant.

Burrata cream filled fresh mozzarella ball over sliced tomatoes with basil and extra virgin oil.

The people at Giacomo's who were serving the customers seemed to have the gifts of engaging in conversations with customers and making us feel welcomed. One of the waiters was very thoughtful to help us place the napkins on our lap when he noticed we were to eat lobsters. He even passed up a device to break the shell of the lobsters when he noticed we needed some help with that.

This is a no-frills restaurant that offers a range of Italian dishes that is delicious and yet thoughtful in prices for the budget-conscious guests. While there is often a line spotted right outside Giacomo's, After enjoying a delicious dinner at Giacomo's, I can fully appreciate why my friend had said that the food at Giacomo's is worth queuing for! A number of the guests ordered take-away at Giacomo's.

Half Lobster, clams, mussels over linguine, served with giacomo on the left.
Fruiti Di Mari on the right.

For the appetizer, my friend and I ordered Burrata cream filled fresh mozzarella ball over sliced tomatoes with basil and extra virgin oil. It was Giacomo's Appetizer Special. A unique dish for me because it was my first time eating such an interesting dish. It was tasty too. For a price of USD$11, it was considered value-for-money given the taste of it and the fresh ingredients that were used.

We also ordered the Fruiti Di Mari. This is a pasta that is served with shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, calamari. We chose the scampi sauce to go along with this pasta dish. The scampi is essentially a garlic-based sauce. It went very well with the seafood and it was a pleasure to soak sour dough in the scampi sauce. This dish is simply delicious.

We also ordered a dish with half lobster, clams, mussels over linguine, served with giacomo. This is delicious and the giacomo sauce was very rich in texture and went well with the lobster. I realized that Boston is a place to enjoy seafood!

My lesson learnt: Trust our friend's recommendations especially if they are more familiar with a foreign place than we are. Thanks Emz!

Giacomo's.

Please take note that Giacomo's accepts cash only.

355 Hanover Street
Boston, MA 02113
USA
Tel: +1 617 523 9026

22 June 2015: The Daily Catch

The Daily Catch.

After a visit to Christ Church in the city of Boston, also known as the Old North Church, my friend and I were deciding on our plans for lunch.

Initially the plan was to walk our way back to Boston's Downtown. In general, many of the good eating places in the North End opens for businesses in the evenings. Then again, since we were in the North End, we looked about for a suitable venue for lunch and were quite prepared that if we did not succeed, the backup plan would be to walk to Boston's Downtown.

Fried Calamari. One of the best fried calamari I have yet.

Thanks to my friend, Emz, who was attentive to food reviews in Boston, we decided it would be a great idea to have our lunch at The Daily Catch.  Along the Hanover Street, there are a lot of well-established restaurants and cafes that serve delicious food. The Daily Catch was one of the restaurants in the North End of Boston that was on the recommended list of restaurants on Insight Guides, Step by Step: Boston, by Simon Richmond.

The Daily Catch is an eating place that specializes in Sicilian seafood and pasta. The seafood here are fresh and tasty. This place serves tasty calamari of a texture that seems just right - not too tough and not too soft. In a way, fried calamari seemed to be a niche that The Daily Catch has so nicely filled. It was no wonder that I had initially mistaken the name of this lovely eating place to be Calamari Cafe. I would say that the calamari dishes from The Daily Catch are delicious. One of our orders was the fried calamari. The squid was freshly prepared and when I chewed on the fried calamari, the taste of the seawater seemed to linger in my palate. 

Monkfish Marsalla.

We also ordered a Monkfish Marsalla. The sweetness in flavour of the Marsalla wine went very well with the pasta, mushroom and the monkfish. Lunch was memorable with the company of a good friend and delicious food. Many thanks to my friend for her recommendations. I could have missed The Daily Catch if not for her suggestions.

This is an eating place that I will recommend my friends who visit Boston. Please expect a queue as The Daily Catch is pretty popular with the locals as well as the tourists. I suppose happy people at The Daily Catch serves tasty food?

The Daily Catch.
A cosy and humble place that serves delicious food.

Please take note that only cash is accepted at The Daily Catch.

The Daily Catch

323 Hanover Street

Boston, MA 02113

Tel: +1 617 523 8567

http://thedailycatch.com

22 June 2015 and etc: Thinking Cup

Espresso in the cup at the front. Thinking Cup.

About less than 10 minutes walk away from Hostelling International Boston is a cafe named Thinking Cup. It is known to serve the well-praised Sumptown Coffee, which is said to use the finest coffee beans from around the world.

On the morning of 22 Jun 2015, while I was visiting Boston, I met up with one of my friends, Emz. On our way to explore the Freedom Trail of Boston, I noticed that we were walking along Tremont Street. My recollection reminded me that there was a cafe worthy of a visit that was located there. As the name of this blog-post suggested, the cafe was the Thinking Cup.

Many thanks to Emz for a treat to espresso. The espresso there was well-balanced and has a fruity and citrus flavour. The ambience was cosy and enjoyable. It took us a while to find a table for two at the morning peak hours yet it was overall a good place to catch up with friends and to enjoy specialty coffee and other beverages. Pastries, sandwiches and other breakfast options are also available from the Thinking Cup.

Thinking Cup.

The Thinking Cup. 165 Tremont Cup.

Thinking Cup was so conveniently located nearby HI Boston that on one other occasions, I went there too to give myself treats to espresso beverages.

Affogato, from Thinking Cup.

At the time of publishing, Thinking Cup has two other branches in Boston. One in North End of Boston and the other in Back Bay. While I was exploring the North End with my friend, Emz, we were pleasantly greeted by the outlet of Thinking Cup at the North End.

Thinking Cup.
North End.
236 Hanover Street, Boston, MA, USA.

I felt thankful for the precious moments to catch up with one of my friends. Many thanks to Emz for her generous treat to espresso. I also appreciate the dedication that went into creating flavoursome cups of espresso beverages at the Thinking Cup. I felt enriched by a good cup of espresso at the Thinking Cup.

Thinking Cup
165 Tremont St
Tel: 617-482-5566
http://www.thinkingcup.com
Nearest T-station: Chinatown

Ambivalence and resolution: The journey to the United States, 20 Jun - 5 Jul 2015

The flight to Dubai.

Is it a common human experience to encounter ambivalence? Was there a time in your life you had the thought of travelling to some place on Earth, yet there were concerns that have made you think twice before travelling?

I have had the ambivalent experience whether to travel to Boston, Massachusetts to attend a music seminar which I know will be enriching. The decision to travel to the United States, specifically Massachusetts, began with ambivalence. To go or not to.

The process of resolving the ambivalence involve asking myself the following questions:
1) What is the best possible outcome?
2) What is the worst possible outcome?
3) What is the most likely outcome?
4) How can I make this travel plan a reasonably favourable experience?
5) How do I manage the potential risks and costs involved in going for the trip?
6) What will be my opportunity cost if I do not go?

In the end, the outcome was clearly stated in the title of this post. I decided to make a trip across the miles to Boston, Massachusetts to attend the music seminar.

Along the way, one of my friends learnt about my visit to Boston, Massachusetts. She was aware of my interests in viewing fine arts and urged me to consider making a visit to New York City. The proposal she gave was for me to visit some of the best fine arts galleries in the wold, that are located in New York City. New York City was about five hours bus journey from Boston. It will be cost-effective to include a trip to New York City together with the trip to Massachusetts than to travel specially to New York City on another separate trip some time in the future. I was eventually convinced by her suggestions and I am thankful she gave me the suggestions.

So on the night of 20 Jun 2015, I arrived at Changi International Airport to wait for the past midnight flight to Boston. While I was not expecting any friend or family to see me off at the airport, I was nevertheless touched by one of my friends, SH, who came to the airport to pass me thoughtful gifts and to see me off for the trip. We caught up over tea and snacks at the airport. Many thanks to SH for her thoughtfulness and kindness.

At the airport, I was advised by Emirates' staff that the flight I had booked was rather full and I have the option of changing to another flight that will stop by Colombo before heading to Dubai for a connection flight to Boston. Ordinarily, I would prefer not to have unnecessary stop-over. I prefer to reduce the frequency of unnecessary plane take-offs and landings. Out of the ordinary, I decided to go with the flow that night.

Setting off for Dubai before taking a connection flight to Boston.

On the plane, the usually introverted me showed my more sociable self. I started a conversations with the two gentlemen seated at the same row. I learnt that they had used to work in Singapore and they loved living in Singapore. Their compliments reminded me to appreciate the positive aspects of Singapore. Before we parted ways at Dubai International Airport, these two gentlemen (who were colleagues to each other) pointed me to the general directions where I could catch the connection flight.

So it seemed, my journey to the United States started on a positive note, with a theme revolving around friendship and kindness. While it was my very first time travelling to the United States and I was doing so alone, I felt thankful that there were people who looked out for me. Travelling solo, I was reminded, was an adventure to embrace uncertainties yet learn to trust ourselves and the kindness in humanity.

If you are curious to find out more, please stay tune.

Laksania, for Hearty Food made with Love

I had a memorable birthday treat to a delicious meal at Laksania a day before my birthday thanks to one of my very kind and generous friends, Belinda. We had an enjoyable dinner at one of the Laksania outlets located at Bugis+ at 201 Victoria Street.

It was my very first time dining at Laksania. What makes Laksania special is that it serves an innovative menu of dishes that are based on the flavourful herb that is commonly known in Singapore as the laksa leaf. I took a quick glance at the menu. Other than serving variants of laksa from South East Asia, Laksania also serves fusion dishes like Laksa Lasagna and Laksa Burgers at Laksania.

My friend and I ordered a regular bowl of Kelantan Laksa, a regular plate of Laksa Goreng and a serving of Chicken Satay (3 pcs) to share.

Kelantan Laksa.

The Kelantan Laksa is served with thick rice noodles and generous amounts of mackerel fish meat. For $4.90 for a regular serving of it, I think it was pretty reasonable priced considering that it is being served in a restaurant setting. As I ate it, I could tell that the food was made with care and love. The Kelantan laksa is not spicy and has a taste that is mildly gingerly with the fragrance of laksa leaf. Home-made fresh chilli paste was served on the side to compliment the Kelantan Laksa. I later learnt that the spices and herbs used at Laksania are free from preservatives. I am willing to come back for more Kelantan Laksa at Laksania in the near future. It is an interesting and novel alternative to the more common Singapore Laksa that we can more easily find in our tropical home-town of Singapore. I thought the Kelantan Laksa was pretty yummy and could be upgraded as one of the "Must Try!" items in the menu. Check this out if you prefer a mild yet novel type of laksa.

Laksa Goreng is one of the innovative dishes is served at Laksania. A plate of regular Laksa Goreng costs $4.90 excluding GST. My friend commented that it reminded her of the taste of Char Kway Teow. Then again, I beg to differ. This dish has a flavourful and distinctive laksa-leaf taste. In fact, it tasted like Singapore Laksa that is fried and served dried!

The menu suggested that the Chicken Satay is one of the "Must-Try!" dishes. It was priced at $4.20 for a serving of three pieces of satay. I was happy with it. I could not figure out yet what makes it so tasty. Could anyone care to enlighten please? Perhaps it was the way that the chicken meat was marinated with herbs which include the laksa leaf? The non-spicy yet flavoursome laksa cream sauce that was served on the side with the chicken satay made this dish completely delicious.

For our beverages, I ordered the hot lemon-grass tea ($3.00 per glass) while my friend ordered the iced lemon-grass tea ($3.50 per glass). Each sip of hot lemon-grass tea tasted heavenly. I learnt that the lemon-grass tea was freshly prepared using hand-pounded lemon-grass and pandan leaves. The hot lemon-grass tea is a hearty and healing beverage to consider when dining at Laksania.

In summary, I have enjoyed the dinner at Laksania that evening. I was left with the experience that Laksania is one of the places in Singapore to enjoy delicious and quality laksa in a restaurant setting. The food there is considered value-for-money.

Service was generally prompt and friendly. Although there was an occasion when the waiter brought a bill which was meant for another table to our table, he discovered the mistake promptly with our promptings, and gladly sent the bill to the right table subsequently.

Laksania offers a range of interesting food that could cater to people with specific dietary requirements. It is a halal-certified food establishment serving quality laksa and other dishes. For the vegans, Laksania serves the Vegetarian Laksa that is suitable for vegans.

I have a lot of respect for the team at Laksania who takes pride in serving hearty food made with love and service from the heart. What impressed me more is that Laksania is a social enterprise that aims to create opportunities to provide employment for people with disabilities and for people from marginalised groups. Employment enables the people to earn a living using their own efforts. I think employment also gives these people the sense of achievement and belongingness to the community.

The next time you are nearby a Laksania outlet and crave for laksa-leaf inspired dishes, consider the option of walking yourself into the outlet to enjoy the food. Your patronage will not only reward you with hearty food that is made with love and served with pride, it will support Laksania in fulfilling its social mission to help persons with disabilities to earn a living using their own efforts so that they can become financially self-reliant eventually. A win-win situation for all.

***
Laksania
http://www.laksania.com

Bugis+
201 Victoria Street
#04-04
Singapore 188067

JEM
50 Jurong Gateway Road
#03-09
Singapore 608549

Note:
Laksania is a halal-certified restaurant.
Other than dine-in, take-away is available for most of the food except the Laksa Hotpot.

***
Updates: Also read Catherine Ling's Laksania serves hope and fabulous laksa

Teach a Life, for Life

  

One of my friends, Eileen Chai, is writing a book entitled Teach a Life, for Life, and producing an original song that is live looped on violin with vocals Enjoy the Ride. Both the book and the song will be launched in June 2014.

This book and song project is intended to inspire people to discover their strengths and overcome difficulties, to encourage the young ones to understand the meaning of resilience, commitment and friendship, in their life journey, and to motivate people to embrace challenges as there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

The process of publishing the book will require editorial work, illustration of cover, book formatting, printing, binding, distribution and promotion. To produce the song, funds will be needed for recording, editing, mixing and mastering. If the cause of this project moves you and you would like to make a pledge towards a part of the funding of this project, please refer to these URL links for more information: 

http://www.eileenchai.com/crowdfund

http://www.pozible.com/project/179822

Simple American in Singapore, Part 2.

The Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. Stall #02-17.

(continued from Simple American in Singapore.)

After a very short weekend in Singapore, Simple American and his missus returned yet again to the garden city of Singapore. Given the short duration of their time in Singapore, what would leave them with positive memories to reminisce many years later? 

Our visit to a hawker centre

Enjoying treats to good food at one of our popular hawker centres came to my mind! The dictionary's definition for the word "hawker" is "a person who travels from place to place selling goods" (source: The Free Dictionary). Based on this definition, we would have expected a hawker to be someone who peddles from places to places to sell goods. However, in today's Singapore, the word "hawkers" commonly refer to people who sell food or goods in purpose-built facilities called hawker centres.

It is intriguing for me to read about the history of hawker centres in Singapore. In the days of my parents' childhood, street hawking was very common. Many people were travelling from streets to streets selling goods and services. However, one of the problems created by street hawking was poor sanitation. This posed to be a threat to public health. To improve the situation, between 1968 and 1969, there was an island-wide registration of street hawkers being carried out. From 1971 to 1986, the government constructed purpose-built facilities called the hawker centres to house these hawkers. These hawker centres providing marketing and eating facilities for residents of the public housing estates.

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee stall. Stall #02-17.
Photo by Simple American.

My pick for our overseas friends was the Hong Lim Food Centre and Market at Blk 531A Upper Cross Street. It was situated in the heart of Singapore's Chinatown and was reasonably nearby the hotel that my friends were staying. My key recommendation was the Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. For S$3 per plate, the stall serves an outstanding plate of delicious Kway Teow Mee, also known affectionately as Char Kway Teow.

Mian Jian Kueh from Granny's Pancake. Hong Lim Food Centre.
Photo by Simple American.

At the Hong Lim Food Centre, we also saw many other wonderful food treats such as the Mian Jian Kueh (pancake), curry puffs, and more. Simple American's missus shared that in her birth country, Mian Jian Kueh were available from the street-hawkers. I felt grateful to our hawkers for serving us with food at reasonable quality, affordable price and with good enough standards of hygiene.

Photo by Simple American.

Exploring South Bridge Road

After a fabulous treat to breakfast with my friends, we explored Chinatown. My original intention was to bring them to the Thian Hock Keng temple. It is one of the most important Hokkien temples in Singapore. Many Chinese immigrants would visit this temple to give thanks to the Goddess of the Sea for their safe voyages. However, due to the interest of time, we only had the opportunity to explore a part of the Chinatown, mainly along the South Bridge Road.

Traditional handmade BBQ pork slices from Kim Joo Guan.
Photo taken by Simple American.

During our stroll along South Bridge Road, our guests got themselves delicious traditional handmade BBQ Pork Slices from Kim Joo Guan's flagship store at 257 South Bridge Road. We also visited the Birds Nest Gallery inside Eu Yan Seng's International Ltd's Corporate Office at 269A South Bridge Road. We caught glimpses of Sri Mariamman Temple (the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore) and the Jamae Mosque. 

Jamae Mosque.  218 South Bridge Road.

Sri Mariamman Temple. 244 South Bridge Road.

Although I was well aware that Simple American and his missus were pretty full from our breakfast, I thought it would be worthwhile to get them a few egg tarts from Tong Heng to sample. Located at 285 South Bridge Road, Tong Heng has earned a good reputation of serving one of the best egg tarts in Singapore. Food that is made with good pride and love somehow tastes delicious.

Tong Heng's egg tart.

Tong Heng.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
Taken by Simple American.

We did not visit the famous Thian Hock Keng temple. We did visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and also explored the adjacent Sago Street. A brief visit to Tai Chong Kok seemed to have brought nostalgic memories to Simple American's missus. For me, it was somehow heart-warming to see moon-cakes even though I confess that I have been consciously not eating moon-cakes so as to keep to a low-sugar diet. The moon-cakes reminded me of the occasional times during my childhood years when we could enjoy the moon-cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Moon-cakes from Tai Chong Kok.
Taken by Simple American.

The coffee treat

Simple American and his missus love having coffee. Simple American's missus spotted the Nanyang Old Coffee at 268 South Bridge Road and they generously gave me a treat to a tasty cup of coffee. There is a humble-sized coffee-museum inside this establishment. Somehow a visit to the coffee-museum further enhanced our brief break for coffee at the Nanyang Old Coffee. 

Lunch at Bras Basah Complex

For our lunch, we visited the Bras Basah Complex's Coffee Express. Simple American and his missus  ordered desserts while yours truly ordered noodles from the Parklane Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle stall. 

After lunch, we spent some time exploring a part of the Bras Basah Complex. I felt that this neighbourhood was quite a convenient and friendly one to live in.

Friendships are strengthened. Memories are created. May Simple American and his missus have a meaningful and memorable visit to the South-East Asia, including Singapore. Other bloggers from Singapore have also brought them to other parts of Singapore for interesting experiences.

Hopefully I did not work Simple American and his missus too hard physically during our adventures about Singapore. I am notorious for travelling long distances on foot during my adventures about Singapore. Whatever it is, may our overseas friends remember fondly, the taste, the smell, the sights and the friendly people of Singapore.

Simple American in Singapore

Breakfast at Chin Mee Chin Confectionery.
This coffee-shop is affectionately known by many as CMC.

One of my blog-friends, Simple American, and his missus, visited Singapore during two of weekends this May. His visit has brought together once again a group of bloggers from Singapore.

A morning along East Coast Road

On their first morning in Singapore, fellow blogger Eastcoastlife took Simple American to the Chin Mee Chin Confectionery at 204 East Coat Road for breakfast. This confectionery is a landmark coffee-shop in that neighbourhood. It is well-known for its kaya, a kind of custard jam.This confectionery roasts its own coffee beans and bakes its own confectionery. It is a lovely place to enjoy a simple yet savoury breakfast. Many thanks to Eastcoastlife and her husband for a generous treat to breakfast.

Breakfast at Chin Mee Chin Confectionery with lovely company.

After breakfast, we visited the Katong Antique House. This is a very beautiful place to find Peranakan related artefacts. I was impressed by the collection of antiques, beaded slippers, porcelain wares and more that were spotted in this shop. The Katong Antique House has an interesting collection that makes it good enough to be considered a mini-museum.

Eastcoastlife has written about our adventures with Simple American and his missus here: Singapore American's Singapore Holiday - RT.

Exploring Singapore

In the afternoon, Simple American, his missus and I explored a part of Singapore.

Merlion. Taken by Simple American.

One of our first stops was the Merlion. This sculpture with a lion's head and the body of a fish was created by Singapore sculptor, Lim Nang Seng, in 1972. Merlion spurts out water from its mouth with great might. My glasses were partially wet with droplets of water from the Merlion's mouth.

The Merlion Park is a good location to catch good glimpses of the nearby Esplanade on the Bay, the Marina Bay Sands, The Fullerton Hotel, and the Singapore Flyer. After the visit to the Merlion Park, we took a stroll about the Esplanade Park. This park is one of the oldest parks in Singapore and many historical landmarks such as the Lim Bo Seng Memorial and the Cenotaph can be found here.

Lunch took place just below the observatory wheel of the Singapore Flyer. We visited the Singapore Food Trail and met up with yet another friend whom Simple American had gotten to know through blogging too. It is fascinating to learn how blogging has connected people of diverse nationalities and backgrounds together.

It is my humble opinion that the Singapore Food Trail is one of the places to enjoy a collective of interesting and delicious local hawker fare. We treated ourselves to the Fried Oyster, the Satay Beehoon, Bak Kut Teh and Popiah. In the company of friends, lunch tasted extremely wonderful.

Sultan Mosque in the background. Taken by Simple American.

Malay Heritage Centre. Taken in Apr 2013.

After lunch, we visited the Kampong Glam district. We walked along Arab street to take a good glance at the various textile shops. That afternoon, we enjoyed the view of the Sultan Mosque from the Bussorah Mall. The Sultan Mosque is regarded as Singapore's principal mosque. I particularly like the architecture of the Sultan Mosque which somehow reminded me of Taj Mahal, doesn't it?

After taking a good glimpse of the Sultan Mosque, we visited the Istana Kampong Glam which is now the Malay Heritage Centre. There is a sense of beauty in symmetry from the Palladian-styled architecture of the Malay Heritage Centre. I imagined that a life living in this building as a member of the royalty would have been dignified and blissful. Won't you think so?

Teh Tarik.

Our visit to Kampong Glam was made complete with a treat to tea at the "No Name Teh Sarabat Stall" at 21 Baghdad Street. This is one of the place in the city area where one could find very tasty tea served in the most no-frills manner. I am deeply grateful to the gentlemen who passionately served good tasting tea at affordable rates at this sarabat stall. They reminded that a life of service may seem simple, yet it can be done with great pride and the attitude of excellence.

The dedicated gentlemen serving tasty tea at 21 Baghdad Street.
Taken by Simple American.

Dinner together
In the evening, various bloggers met up with Simple American and his missus at the Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant (54 Race Course Road). It was a meaningful time to get together with one another. I particularly like the Fish Head Curry from the Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant.

Breakfast on the Beach the next day
The next day, Eastcoastlife planned a special breakfast on the beach for Simple American and his missus.  She and her husband were very thoughtful to buy breakfast from some of the most reputable food stalls along East Coast Road. Many thanks to Eastcoastlife for a memorial experience enjoying breakfast on the beach.

We hope that Simple American and his missus would have positive memories of their visit to Singapore to savour.

To be continued: Simple American in Singapore, Part 2.