My folks were in town recently and Mom wanted to eat crabs, so we all trooped over to Ang Mo Kio for seafood. Earl went ahead and reached the place at 5:45 PM. He was in line for an hour and 15 minutes before getting a table at 7 PM (they don't take reservations during weekends). When we arrived a few minutes later, the place was packed and the line outside was quite long.

We ended up ordering three kinds of crab so that we could maximize our visit. You could choose between a large or a small crab, but since only four of us were eating (Earl is allergic to crustaceans), we decided on the smaller sized ones and we ended up bringing leftovers home.

First up, we ordered the Mushroom, Abalone Mushroom, Bailing Mushroom with Veg (SGD 15) (above left) that looked nothing like the one on the menu (above right). We asked if we were given the right dish, and the server confirmed that it was correct. Okay, if you say so...

The Salted-Egg Pork Ribs (SGD 15) was recommended by a friend, though I prefer the prawn version which I had during a previous visit to the restaurant.

The Diced Chicken with Cashew Nut (SGD 15) was good, but I really liked the Fried Mantous (SGD 4) which are usually used for dipping into the crab sauce.

I've had the Creamy Butter Crab (above left) before and I wanted them to try it. It's a bit spicy (for me anyway), but it was better than the Crab Fried Bee Hoon (above right). We should have tried the Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup instead which I heard they're famous for.

The unanimous favourite was the White Pepper Crab. The three crabs cost us SGD 159.50 without 7% GST and our total bill including five orders of plain rice was SGD 238.10. Pretty reasonable compared to Jumbo where our bill was SGD 365+ for just three dishes with rice and drinks for three people but without crabs.

This place is definitely worth going to especially if you like crabs at pocket friendly prices.

Formula 1 Singapore

I've never been interested in automobiles - I've never even wanted to own one. So when it comes to vehicles repeatedly going around in circles, I really don't see the point. But my sister is a fan of Formula 1, thus I dutifully went with her last Friday to the night race here in Singapore.

Katrina originally wanted to go during the Saturday or Sunday walkabout, but since I was not interested in F1, Rihanna or the Killers, I said that we'll go on the cheapest day which is Friday, the practice run.

You can hear the race from miles away, but the experience of seeing the action up close with the roar of the cars blasting in our ears, sent shivers down my spine and I must say that even I got excited!

I still don't care who won, but we're planning to go again next year this time either on Saturday or Sunday depending on the musician performing after the race.

S.E.A. Aquarium

The company that Earl works for recently hosted Family Day over at S.E.A. Aquarium in Sentosa. It's listed in the Guinness World Records as the "world’s largest aquarium."

I've been to other aquariums before so I wasn't expecting much, but I must admit it was interesting. The only problem was the crowd - despite being a weekday, there were tons of people so it was a bit of a squeeze just to get to the front and take pictures. Maybe going in the afternoon would be a better idea?

Sambo Kojin

My parents treated us to lunch at their SM Southmall branch. At the weekday lunch price of Php 549, it's a better option than Yabu next door which charges the same amount for just one dish.

The marinated meat section was a hit along with their sushi and maki options - the rice used was really good so there wasn't a maki or sushi I met that I didn't like!

Not so great were the katsu and the furai, but their cooked Korean menu options were not bad (at least the few that I tried).

Dessert wasn't bad either, though not spectacular which was okay since I was too full by the end of it to appreciate flavoured mousse.

This is now definitely on my list of places to come back to the next time we're in Manila.

Sweet Bella Cafe

After the rather lacklustre lunch at 1521, we decided to move to Sweet Bella Cafe across the street for dessert.

A friend treated us so I was not able to take note of the prices, but here are the descriptions as taken from their Facebook page:

Mi Camille

Belgian milk chocolate mousse layered with hazelnut praline and french biscuit on almond praline crust.

Strawberry Cheesecake

New York style cheesecake with a hint of lemon topped with fresh strawberries.

Chocolata

Moist chocolate cake layered with rich ganache topped with chocolate glass.

We liked all of them! It fittingly provided a sweet ending and saved the day.

1521

Earl and I were in Manila two weeks ago for a short vacation and met up with friends at 1521 in Burgos Circle.

They recommended that we order the Talong Mo Kay Tulfo (Php 280) which is basically fried eggplant stuffed with sisig. We decided to order two of these which was a mistake. Most of us concluded that this dish is more eggplant than it is sisig. We should have tried something else.

We also got the Pinakbet-ter Than Best (Php 245) - definitely not the best pinakbet we've ever had. We've had better elsewhere so we felt that for a simple dish of mixed vegetables sautéed in local anchovies, pork and prawns, this was overpriced.

Lastly, we had the Sinigang na Lechon Kawali (Php 325). This sounded promising since tamarind soup is a favourite of Earl's and it's mixed with fried pork belly which I love. Sadly, this too was disappointing as the tamarind soup was way too sour.

Unless the meal were free, we won't be coming back anytime soon since we can get better food elsewhere at prices much lower than what they are charging.