Muchos Mexican Bar & Restaurant

Muchos Mexican Bar & Restaurant at the new wing of Plaza Singapura is a cozy watering hole and i could well imagine how charming the place would be by nightfall.

My earliest memory of the vibrant cuisine was at a Mexican restaurant in Westin Stamford some 20 years back and 10 years ago at Margarita's (Faber Drive). So it's been ages since i last indulge in being Mexican; got to improve on that.

I see Mexican food as being fun, healthy and sexy. As a good news for Vegetarians, majority of their food choices can be all greens. Every of their dishes encourage me to be spontaneous; eating heartily with bare hands, in big mouthfuls, heaping on generously with their tangy salsa roja.

In so doing, i thought i was closer to their culture - warm and free spirited! And we had quite a time today.

 Street Food (Taqueria): Tostadas, pan fried Vegetables ($9.90++)

2 pieces tostadas (corn tortilla fried crispy) layered with your choice of fillings (shredded Chicken $11.90 

or grilled Seafood $12.90), refried beans, lettuce, cheese topped with pico de gallo, sour cream and salsa roja.

Street Food (Taqueria): Quesadillas, grilled Beef ($13.90++)

4 wedges of flour tortillas filled with cheese, bell peppers, onions and your choice of fillings 

(grilled Chicken $12.90, Vegetarian $11.90), grilled to perfection.

Main Course: Chimichangas, grilled Chicken ($13.90++)

2 pieces 10" flour tortillas stuffed with your choice of fillings (grilled Beef $15.90 or pan fried Vegetable $11.90) 
and fried till golden brown, topped with melted cheese and jalapeno.

Barbecue Chicken Wings

INGREDIENTS:
7 Chicken Wings
1/4 whole Onion, Diced
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
100ml bottled BBQ Sauce

STEPS:

1. Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Place chicken wings on pan and roast for 20mins.

2. While chicken is roasting, heat a little oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 5 mins, taking care not to burn them. Reduce heat to low. Add in BBQ sauce and allow simmering while the chicken roasts.

3. After 20 mins of roasting, broil the chicken for another 5 mins to get a little color on the wings.

4. Remove chicken wings from oven. Dip each wings into the sauce prepared earlier, submerge completely. Place back onto the pan. After all the chicken is coated, return pan to oven for 5 mins, or until hot and sizzling.

5. Remove from oven. Brush generously with remaining sauce. Allow chicken to sit a few minutes before serving.

Sasatinnie Face Mask

Gold Foil Tightening Mask, 30ml ($8.90, 6pcs per box)

The central air-conditioned unit at my new office is much drier and i am working hard to take care of the facial skin. Let's see if i persevere a weekly face mask routine. This week i have Sasatinnie face mask, from Sasa outlets. Made in Taiwan.

The mask is interesting that it contains gold foil and nano-gold molecules which promises anti-oxidizing power to strengthen moisture-holding, tightening skin and smooths wrinkle. It also has 2 extra ear hooks (on both sides of mask) to further promote the lifting effect.

I find the mask satisfactory. It smells light, and isn't too rich that it becomes uncomfortably sticky. Lots of gold foil wafting in its extra essence; and these are evident on the foil residues that stick to your face after removing the paper. Quite literally "to stick gold on face". But i didn't attach the 2 ear hooks as i thought it looked quite silly. I snipped them and applied them on my arms instead.

In conclusion, if you ain't bothered by heavy face mask, the Korean, the Face Shop which i had on last week was more effective and had a longer lasting effect that was obvious. Sasatinnie is good enough for an average mask that moisturised the skin easily, but without the wows.

Singapore Night Safari Park - isn't how it used to be anymore...

Entrance to Night Safari Park

It's been more than 6 years since i last visited the Singapore Night Safari. The tram ride into the thickly dense rain forest was dark and mysterious while everybody whispered excitingly as the guide introduced us to the animals that came into sight, over a low volume speaker. The tram was small, decorated with little twinkling lights; the roads a little bumpy, yet it was all so real. It was like a prelude to the Africa wildlife!

6 years later, i was sad and indignant by the Night Safari experience.

Amphitheatre for 'Creatures of the Night Show'

On this weekday night, the place was filled to the brim with visitors! And that certainly made us proud as Singaporeans. The show starts and ended that i noted lesser animals involved in the display? It was only later that i realized what might have scares the animals off the show.

Flashlights. Flashes from cameras.

There are people who refuse to take flashes off their cameras. Things got worse when we board the sightseeing tram. The trams were big and long, loaded with rowdy tourists who were trying to compete with the narrating guide; then in many instances, there were stolen flashes here and there. When the guide protests politely, some of these tourists answered back. Oh, what barbarianism!

These misbehaving lots spoil the designed Safari experience. Many other tourists were equally bothered by these crude behaviors. And i ended up feeling sorry for these animals in captivity; and against zoo keeping. It felt helpless that the culture of our small island is changing from a very polite space to one that's much culturally diverse.

Things wane down after 9:30 pm. The trams were now sparsely scheduled with less than half filled seats; flashlight still fires away; broadcast speakers on the tram sounded distinctively loud. I wondered when the lions sleep tonight.

Things would have been perfect without these external factors and changes. And i am missing it.

Capricciosa Pasta & Pizza

Seafood Linguine ($14.90++)

Smoked Salmon Pizza, personal 9" ($9.90++)

How much are you willing to fork out for the Italian foods above?

Today, we found Capricciosa at J-cube who serves some tasty Italian recipe, warm from their open kitchen. The pasta was doused in thick cream sauce, lots of seafood (mussels, clams, calamari) while the fresh dough pizza drips healthy olive oil. It's pretty scrumptious.

Fettuccine with Eggplant & Streaky Beef ($12.90++)

How about their fresh handmade pasta that they boasted, "One bite and you'll know the difference, the texture and taste is out of this world!" Well... it has the look of thick Mee Pok noodles and tasted similar but more doughy than the China handmade Ban Mian. One try of this is just enough.

These were from their weekday set lunch selections that are priced from $5.90 to $14.90, include 1 day soup. We are having an early dinner, and if you could make your order before 5pm; like us, you enjoy the lunch deal for dinner too.

Irish Cream Smoothie

On some days, the summer heat grew unbearably sweltering! 

That made me dream of ice-cream... ... frozen ice-cream.

Without dehydrating ourselves too much with alcohol in this hot weather, i poured Original Baileys onto scoops of Chocolate ice-cream. And Voila! The fusion of bitter alcohol with sweet ice-cream! Superb! I don blend them up; preferred to keep their individual taste separately and my ice-cream still frozen; like how it's like for a cold and hot dessert.

If you like something sophisticated, try the below recipe for an Irish cream smoothie with Vodka! 

INGREDIENTS
90ml Bailey's Irish Cream

3 big scoop(s) Ice Cream Chocolate
30ml Vodka

INSTRUCTIONS
Blend ice-cream until smooth. Add the Vodka and the Baileys while blending. Pour into a large wine glass with whip cream and grated chocolate as garnishes.