Hotpot on Alishan...right time, right place

When it comes to eating hotpot, the best experience I've had, has to be on Alishan in Taiwan. It was freaking cold with temperature below 10°C when we reached there and the first thing we headed for, was a nice boiling mutton hotpot.

It was my first time to Taiwan. Travelled from Taipei, down to central parts of Taiwan and up north again. We even did a NYE countdown at the music concert next to Taipei 101 building!

Took a forest train from Alishan up to Zhu Shan to catch sunrise...but it was too cloudy

The very quiet Fisherman's Wharf...made a mistake by going there on a weekday.
But the Lao Jie nearby had some interesting food

This is taken on Ye Liu where rock formations can be found

The luxurious hotel sitting on the man-made Sun Moon Lake,
was once a country retreat for Chiang Kai Shek

Starbucks found on Jiu Fen, a restored ancient town in the northern part of Taiwan

Looking down from Jiu Fen

Vietnamese food found in a Taiwan night market...looks authentic!

NYE music concert...that's Jolin Tsai on stage

Magnificent lightings & fireworks on every new year eve countdown
at the Taipei 101 (one of the world's tallest building with 101 floors)

Hotpot craze in Vietnam

If you want to setup a F&B here in Vietnam, you'll never go wrong with Hotpot. The Vietnamese simply love their hotpot. Its found everywhere - Vietnamese restaurants, Japanese restaurants, Korean restaurants, Chinese restaurants and even in food courts.

Just went to Chen Restaurant in district 5. It is opened by a Taiwanese, renowned for its mutton hotpot. The broth is nothing to shout about (maybe I ordered the wrong type?) but the fried rice was great!

Lush Bar...the most happening club in HCMC

It has been ages since I went clubbing, especially after I left my last job in Singapore. In HCMC, there is really nothing much to rave about on the clubbing scene here.

Besides the 'Gossip Club' opened by some Singaporeans (looking like it caters to local 'Bengs' & 'Lians' type of crowd, remember Canto in Singapore?) and the 'Apocalypse Now' (very much biased against the local patrons, catering more to 'Ang Mohs' (usually with local 'SPG'-looking girls in their arms), the next most happening club with the right music spins, right mix of crowd, has to be the Lush Bar.

Went there for the first time with my colleagues, brought my sis & her friend along as they were in HCMC. Clubbing is cheap in Vietnam with price of drinks much lower than those in Singapore (mixes in drinks are not as diluted too!)

Managed to sneak a few shots inside the club (was stopped by the security guard several times!)

awfully chocolate cake that's not awful

It has been a long time since I cut a cake on my birthday and I wanted to buy one for both of us. "awfully chocolate" came to my mind but I realised that I'll not have time to collect it on Fri evening.

Actually, my sister had the same thing on her mind too. It was so nice of her to make a trip to Jalan Kuras to buy the cake for me. What a nice surprise! Thank you my dear sister! The cake was not a disappointment but we knew we had better - Lana Cake from Greenwood Avenue. "Choc A Bloc" is probably the next one I'll try.

"The Best Steak Anywhere" ?

Went to Morton's The Steakhouse (as expected) for our birthday dinner last night.

Some steakhouses present raw beef cuts to their customers on chopping boards placed on push carts. Over at Morton's, raw beef cuts, fish, half dead lobster, uncooked veggies, pre-prepared desserts were laid on huge trays for the waiters to present to each table - not sure if this makes menu reading any easier?

Tables reserved for birthday celebrations had a personalised menu each that included a line "Happy Birthday! 18th January 2008" and some confetti scattered all over the table.

Dinner was sumptuous with lobster bisque, filet mignon, wild mushroom, jumbo asparagus & warm chocolate cake with ice-cream. Actually, "The Best Steak Anywhere" is the restaurant's slogan. It was easy to sink my teeth into the beef steak as it felt soft but powdery - not as tender as I expected it to be.

There were candle lights on each table but don't expect the restaurant to be a quiet one like any other fine dining restaurant. It was actually quite noisy and waiters went around to at least 6 tables (including our table) to sing "Happy Birthday". Its amazing that there were so many people sharing the same birthday in a single restaurant!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME !!!

"Another year older, another year wiser" - the usual saying I would use on everyone's birthday. Indeed, after having lived for another year, one ought to be wiser after having learnt another 365 days worth of lessons!

I've taken a day off from work (never believed in working on my birthday) & its gonna be a lazy morning while waiting to catch a flight back to Singapore. Zzz has planned something for our birthday dinner (yes, its his birthday too!) and he's keeping me in suspense about the venue (though I think I have some clues about it).

Days of Auld Lang Syne

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne."

As we welcome the new year of 2008, should the memories of the old days be really left behind?

New year's eve was spent in Saigon, savouring one of the city's best seafood buffet at Riverside Cafe, Renaissance Riverside Hotel and soaking into the atmosphere of new year count down, along the streets of district one.

Advance reservation and pre-payment was required at Riverside Cafe as it was full house. There were international diners, party poppers, loud noices, magic show, live music and most of all...glorious food!

Seafood's my all time favourite. There were additional food items along the buffet line for the occasion at additional cost but I'd prefer the usual spread (at usual price) and much smaller crowd on normal days.

The Notre Dame Cathedral was specially lighted up for the ocassion.

Huge crowd gathering outside the Saigon Opera House

Throngs of people roaming along the streets around the Notre Dame Cathedral, with police diverting traffic and closing off some roads.