Superb tonkatsu place near my house...

It's been a good day.

There were many lessons today but it wasn't very tiring. Maybe because they were evenly spaced out through the day. Or maybe because I had enough sleep last night. In any case, it was a good day. Thank you, Lordy.

I wanted to look for a pair of pants similar to the AX office pants I have right now. I love the material and I love the cut. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in finding a similar pair.

After work, I went to Kitasenju to look for the pants and because, I also wanted to visit my fave shop. Lol.

No pants. No new stuff at my fave shop. I was already planning to take the train back home when I saw a sign saying that a certain tonkatsu restau opened in the mall where I was.

Hmm, I debated whether I should go to the place and have dinner there. The first and only time I ate at the said restau was last year when I went to Kyoto. I'm not sure if the restau has several branches in Tokyo or if the branch in Kitasenju is their first branch in Tokyo.

It's a bit pricey. The basic set costs almost Y2000. Sure, the rice, the cabbage, and the miso soup are all refillable. I kinda feel it's still pricey. But I have to say that it is the best miso I've tasted ever! Hehe!

I debated for a bit if I should go for it or if I should just settle for something regular. A few more hundred yen and I could already purchase another pair of Comme des Garcons socks. Lol! In the end, I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner.

It was worth it. To minimize my guilt about finishing the rice, I decided I'll take the train route that entailed a 14-minute walk back to my house. The weather was nice tonight, so I really didn't mind the walk. Haha!

Good dinner places this weekend...

Weekends are usually allotted for searching for and trying out new food places.

Over the weekend, I was able to try two food places for the first time.

First was Long Phung at Joo Chiat. PG Boy and I met up with his best friend since he needed to get some stuff. We agreed to have dinner and drove down to Joo Chiat area.

It was my first time to explore that area. There were quite a number of interesting restaus. However, the one we ended up going for was Long Phung. This was after seeing that there was a queue outside the restau. Hehe! One thing I have learned is that Singaporeans love to queue for good food. Hehe! And when you're in Rome, do as the Romans do.

So PG Boy, his best friend and I joined the queue. Thankfully, we weren't that hungry yet. The service was also quite fast and we didn't have to wait long before we were given a table.

We ordered a variety of dishes - friend rice, pho, fried chicken, shellfish, and of course, spring rolls. We were happy with the dishes and the servings. The price wasn't so bad as well. Will definitely visit this place again.

On Sunday, I met up with Ian and MkSurf8 for some despedida of sorts for Chase who flies back to Manila today. I thought of messaging Rich, Mon and Coly to see if they were free to join. Luckily, they were.

We all met up at Swee Choon in Jalan Besar. Ian has told us about the dim sum place during another dinner. I'm glad he thought of organizing a dinner for Chase at Swee Choon since I was also curious to find out whether the place really is good.

When I reached the place, as expected, there was a queue. Hehe! I got a number for us, but we had to wait til our party was complete before we could be given a table. When everyone finally arrived, it still took a while before we were given a table. Thanks to MkSurf8 and Ian who put pressure on the wait staff, we finally got a table.

The thing about dim sum is that it's easy to be excited by all the dishes and end up ordering a lot. That's sort of what happened. Once the dimsum plates started arriving, that was the time we all realized that we may have ordered a lot. Hehehe.

We did manage to finish almost everything - noodles, fried rice, siew mai, har kow, chive pork dumpling, sticky rice, egg tart, spare rib, sautéed long bean w/minced pork, yam puff, chee cheong fun, and the very deadly salted egg yolk custard bun.

Total bill was about 140++ (about $20 each). Not bad given that we were all stuffed and happy. Haha!

Good dinners this weekend I must say.

Long Phung Vietnamese Restaurant
159 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427436
Neighbourhood: Joo Chiat

Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant
191 Jalan Besar
Singapore 208882
Enquiry Hotline : 62257788
Business Hours :
Monday to Sunday : 6 pm to 6 am
Close on Tuesday

Long Black Cafe at Biopolis...

If you think there aren't that many food places in the Buona Vista/one-north area, you're wrong. Either that or you dun work/live around the area. Hehe!

Even before the new mall Star Vista at Buona Vista, there were already a number of food places worth visiting. I have only been to a few though. Boo!

Earlier today, colleague/once-in-awhile-lunch buddy Bernard and I decided to try a Western restau at the Biopolis.

Prior to this, my usual lunch destination on days I dun pack lunch are either Fusionopolis, JVC or when I'm really lazy, the Tuck Shop at the ground floor of the building.

But since Bernard and I started having lunch, we began exploring the Biopolis area.

I didn't know there were a number of nice food places in the area. One of this is Long Black Cafe.

The restau serves mainly Western food. It's not that expensive. Pasta dishes start at $9. Same goes for the sandwiches. You can top up $3.50 to get the Soup of the Day and a drink. Not bad, eh?!

The serving was just right. The service was quite good (or maybe because we got there at 12.40 already). The food was yum. I had the Chicken Alfredo and I wanted more. Hehe!

Bernard and I agreed we would go back to the place to try out the other dishes on the menu. The burger looks particularly interesting and mouthwatering. Haha!

Long Black Cafe 20 Biopolis Way Centros Block, Singapore, Singapore 138668 6478 9945 http://www.longblack.com.sg