Dinner at Tonkotsu Kazan Ramen Restaurant (豚骨火山)

10 Sinaran Drive #02-68 / 69 Novena Square 2, Singapore 307506

Tel: 6397 6636

Wanting something soupy for dinner that night, The Beau and I headed for ramen, since the "volcano ramen" concept seemed interesting, and this was one of the restaurants at Novena Square 2 that was not crowded on a Saturday evening.

It was a small and non-discreet little Japanese restaurant with rather friendly and jovial service crew. The setting was simple but richly infused with authentic Japanese decor.

The ceiling (which I discovered by accident) was a masterpiece of its own, filled with photographs of vintage movie / music stars.

The condiments on the table were interesting as well, though I'd only touched the chilli flakes (yes, flakes and not powder).

I had wanted to try this "volcano" style of dining, but we ended up ordering stuff that did not come with the "self cooking" feature. It looked fun though.

To start off, I had a glass of Umeshu (SGD$6.00) - sweet and soothing, though I'd always prefer the stronger Choya if there is one on the menu (oh, and the plum).

For appetizer, we shared a plate of Karaage (SGD$5.00) - Japanese fried chicken. It was dry and crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside without fatty meat. I liked it immensely for the latter alone, and it was not greasy. The Beau thought it was a tad too salty though - I didn't think so, but that I'd only had one piece.

For mains, I had the Chashyu Karamiso Ramen (SGD$15.00) with kimchi and flavored egg.  It was supposed to be spicy, but it wasn't, though the soup was tasty. I don't get why we were given three halves of the flavored egg, but anyway eaten with the spicy kimchi, it was good. The pork slices were tender, firm and thick - very lovely to chew. The noodles looked springy / hard but were actually rather soft - I would prefer the doneness a little more taut.

The Beau had the Hot Stone Curry Fried Rice (SGD$7.00) - which he had to constantly stir so the rice would not stick to the pot. The rice was rather crispy, and the curry was good - the taste was distinctive without being overly spicy. The pork slices on top of the fried rice were rather tender as well. The portion was just nice, making it a rather fulfilling meal.

Drinks at The Screening Room / La Terraza Rooftop Bar @ Ann Siang Hill

12 Ann Siang Road, Singapore 069692

Tel: 6221 2194

Having passed by The Screening Room  so many times, and yet I still didn't know how interesting it could be. There's a restaurant, a pub, a movie theater all in one, featuring movies by Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and other classics such as "Casablanca". French movies are also available, so one just needs to get a drink and immerse themselves in the shows.

That night, we didn't get to watch any flicks because that area was reserved for an event, hence we went up to the roof-top bar, La Terraza. So, no "food meets film" experience for me as yet (except if you count Golden Village's Gold Class theaters).

I was kind of hesitant at first, when I saw this kind of steps, and I was in high heels. But eventually, I managed to teether my way up.

The rooftop bar area was not big, and it was filled with merry drinkers chilling out on this cool evening - drinks, music and the tantalizing smells of hot food filled the air.

Tiny colored lights are strewn around the place, giving it a festive sheen of light, yet dimmed to a romantic and mysterious ambience.

We had beers by the breeze. Well, I seldom take beer, really, but since I was having sore throat and beer is known to be "cooling", I took it. This is a lovely place, and I wouldn't mind heading back to try its palatable-looking food as well as catch some old movies.

Intriguing Indonesia - Batam Day Trip

After the initial trip to Batam, I headed in again, to check out some possibility of business ventures. So I also took the opportunity to shop around a little, a mini day trip on Sunday. I started the long day with a hot green tea latte from Starbucks, while waiting at the now-familiar ferry terminal to board the ferry.

We finally got going, and reached Batam Island in about 45 minutes, me napping onboard. I was kind of miffed at the Batam customs at Sekupang Terminal because the officers had me seconded in a room - the passport did not have validity of at least 6 months, but it applications was underway, and I'd just been overseas two days ago with no problem at all. So I had to pay SGD$50.00 or turn back to Singapore - I chose to pay... what could I do?

We dropped by the Maha Vihara Duta Maitrya Buddhist Temple -  that was supposed to be the biggest in Southeast Asia.

Then we dropped by Diana Homemade Layers Cake - it was literally someone's household, where we sampled and ordered whether we wanted the Kueh Lapis with prunes or without. At SGD$29.00 per KG, I wouldnt say it was pricey. Quite nice-  not too sweet, light in texture.

People enjoy buying these dried snacks at Batam, so we also popped by to see if there was anything to get. We just got some Emping Chips (the crispy bitter chips), some fishballs and Jackfruit chips.

Then it was seafood lunch - seashells, calamari, baby lobsters, chilli crab, fish, soup, rice, and Kangkong vegetables with fruit platters and coconut juice.

There was some cultural show - we watched since I'd missed it the last visit. Rather impressive, for a small village's standard - fires, glass eating, dance. The main point was the donations which probably formed part of their daily wage, so I didnt mind.

We dropped by some place to see the honey-cakes, but no one ordered. The Otak-otak shop beside it was closed, a pity.

It was time for shopping at more factory outlets. I didn't buy anything except for the blue Batik dress (SGD$10.00) which I'd seen the last time round and didn't buy. Just thought could wear it to the beach or brunch or for sleeping, I reckon.

We ventured off the see fruits and local produce instead, and bought a 1.6 kg soursop, some rambutans, snake-skin fruits, mangosteens and 2 small bunches of bananas. I wonder why though - it wasnt like we don't have them in Singapore, and the price wasn't much different. When we asked the friendly little stall-owner to help us get rid of the ants clamoring all over the bananas, we thought he would use a cloth or something. It was rather startling to watch him merely blowing the ants off our bananas! Haha, I guess that's the way of life there.

The final stop was the Batam Ctiy Square (BCS) Mall, where there were lots of clothes, shoes, food stores etc, but nothing caught our fancy. I did enquire about a couple of pairs of heels though (only SGD$30.00) but they didn't have the shoes in my size (4). So our loot was mainly food and fruits, kueh lapis and my batik dress. What a laugh.

Since the damned return ferry wasn't due for another 1.5 hours, we took dinner at the Batam City Centre terminal. After scouring the choices, we decided on Coffee Town. I ordered an Ayam Penyet with tofu set - it was dry and not delicious at all - I have tasted far better ayam penyet in Jakarta, Bali and Singapore. But who's to complain - this set was only SGD$2.30!

We were pissed because they totally missed out on one of the others' dinner order, and could not comprehend what we were saying when we checked on the status, and also they did not apologise or anything at all. The waiters happily sat around whistling, singing and chatting. A stroll after dinner soothed us somewhat - the sea and sunset were lovely - and we wished we'd walked here earlier on so we could've chosen to dine by the sea instead. Too late.

Dinner at CafeBiz @ Traders Hotel / 49th National Day theme

1A Cuscaden Road, Level 1, Traders Hotel, Singapore 249716

Tel: 6831 4374

It was time for dinner with *Sidney again, catching up time. I walked into the dimly lit CafeBiz for their 49th dishes for National Day buffet dinner. Well, it wasnt National Day that I went, but close, and they have the 49 local dishes to commemorate our nation's 49th birthday.

The understated, elegant restaurant was crowded with diners, but the service crew was rather attentive and efficient overall.

There a huge spread of exotic cuisine in this International buffet concept - and I took a walk around trying to decide on what to eat. Tough luck I had to feel under the weather on this day!

The food arrangement was a little messy, in my humble opinion. Anyway, there were Japanese counters, Chinese food counters, fruit counters, seafood counters etc so far, along with some very vintage Singaporean / Chinese kitchenware (old fashioned flask, teapots and mugs etc) adorning the various shelves.

Here's some bread rolls if one prefers the Western way of having bread and sandwiches for dinner.

And the station with coffee, tea or .... yuan yang?

Even the Desserts station is so prettily decorated - comprising of many different types of cakes, tarts, fondue, miniatures in glass jars, herbal jelly (guileng gao) etc. They also have lots of local desserts such as Malay kueh, the Chinese ang ku kueh etc.

Wherein here begins the 49 dishes of local cuisine - Chilli Crab, Chinese vegetables, fried Hokkien mee etc, all labelled with a number and short description.

There are also dimsum items, fried chicken, Nasi Lemak, and Indian dishes such as curry, etc. One is definitely spoilt for choice here.

These two were my favorite stations - one serving us delicious oyster omelet, laksa and prawn noodles, whereas the other serving little fried squids. I like the olden calendar pages listing the name of the dishes.

Having said that, this is the "table mat" informing us of the 49th National day celebration from 8 August to 31 August 2014 here. Love the tiny little icons!

My first plate was some palate teaser of the 49 local items - fried Hokkien noodles with prawns and squids, a portion of the Chilli Crab, a piece of fried squid, Sambal Kangkong and Pig Trotter! All the items were tasty and cooked in flavors of the goodness of authentic local cuisines.

The Prawn Noodles tasting of a scrumptious herbal soup base was my next steal - a warm delight for a cold evening.

How could I not attack the Sashimi counter next? Disappointingly, the sashimi was not very fresh - unlike those with chefs at the counter cutting for us, like 10 @ Claymore and The Line. The Oyster Omelet was another story though - crispy fried egg with lots of juicy oysters. I went back for second helpings but the stock was cleared and I didn't check for refills thereafter.

I was at Desserts next - a tiny Egg Tart, Ang Ku Kueh (red sticky pastry with beanpaste fillings within), Chocolate Fondue stick, a slice of Chocolate Pistachio cake and a slice of Green Tea Cheesecake.

After some tea and water-melon, I was headed for home. The food overall is not bad, and the variety is good. The price per adult should be around $60++