The Southern Ridges

A new Park & Garden attraction in Singapore, The Southern Ridges is a total 9km chain of green, open spaces spanning hills of Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Hill Park before ending at West Coast Beach Park.

Being one of the best spots in Singapore to catch panoramic views of the city, harbour and the Southern Islands, i was elated that amid the fast expanding of our shopping and commercial belt, the greening and parks development of our city was not overlooked.

Location map of Southern Ridges.

We started our hike from the Alexandra Arch bridge and Forest Walk of Telok Blangah Hill Park through the elevated steel walkway, there's also the interesting earth trail for cyclists at ground level.

Meandering through Telok Blangah Hill Park, we finally arrived at Henderson Waves - Singapore's highest pedestrian bridge that spans Henderson Road to connect Telok Blangah Hill to Mount Faber.

The Henderson Waves is a MUST visit of the Southern Ridges; at a height of 36m, it provides bird's eye views of the city, shady and windy spot for rest from our long hike. The cool and cloudy weather makes it possible for our brief short lazing around on the comfortably designed wooden benches...

Continuing our hike beyond the cable car station at the Jewel Box on Mount Faber, we were on the trail of Marang that would lead us down to the Harbourfront MRT Station.

The Marang Trail of pebbly steps is by no means an easy feat for the elderly. Going downwards is manageable but the route up is no joke.

Overall, trail of the Southern Ridges which make up of parts with steep slopes and flight of steps would not be recommended for wheelchair bounded individual, accessibility for the handicap needs much improvement as yet.

And finally, resting for our sore and aching muscles at Vivocity Republic Food Court while slurping on icy coconut milk rich Chendol ($2), with a request for the extra icing :)

Peppermint Tea

Cup of Dilmah Ceylon tea usually begins my Saturday morning these days, and since my Flu days last month, i've developed a liking to adding Peppermint leaves to my tea. It seems to ease my Flu discomfort somewhat.

Plucked fresh from my sister garden, the leaves after rinsing were immediately ready for use.

The plant itself does not require much attention, it loves the sun and flourishes with daily watering.

Crushing the dry, browned leaves in our palms would leave you that refreshing Peppermint scent for hours...

White Coffee Corner

We had our tea-break at Margaret Drive Hawker Centre after picking up some promotional can food from the nearby NTUC.

A surprisingly good coffee at this old food stall that had charmed me since i first had it weeks back. I had therefore made it a point for a return.

On the contrary, its kaya toast was just of average standard. But aching for some bite, Ric wanted to try its Tuna sandwich toast ($1.50).

It was a worthy order of cool, creamy Tuna spread with chopped bits of onions and celery, sandwiched between thin warm toasted bread.

Still, my reason for coming back here again would be for its smooth, milky and aromatic White Coffee ($1). Maybe a try of their Latte and Cappuccino next time, soon.

An economical and satisfying tea-break that warms your heart.

As according to Ric, be prepared to get a rejection of your order during meal peak hours when they could not cope with the many orders for coffee & toast :)

Andersen's of Denmark

I am gaining weight and waistline; just couldn't get enough of sweet desserts, cakes, cheese, chocolates and ice-cream.

So how can i resist when i saw the GSS 2 weeks promotion notice at Andersen's ice-cream that offers a Regular Double at $5.40 (up $6). A good excuse to pig in!

My glutton choice of Macadamia Nuts and Belgium Chocolate... rich and creamy as any good ice-cream should be.

But still, my first position remains Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs.

Yotei/ Genki Japanese Dining

Named after Mount Yotei of 1,898m elevation in Hokkaido (Japan), the previous Genki Sushi Franchise had a change of hands in management followed by its rebranding as "Yotei".

Didn't know if there's any change in the menu as this was my first visit to its Marina Square branch. Missing the frowning face logo of Genki though...

Auburi Salmon Salad ($13.80++)

Was utterly disappointed with the salad dish we had today. The Salmon piece was thin in longitudinal strip, totally deviated from that illustrated in its menu. Salty tasting salad dip was used instead of our commonly accustomed sweet-sour Japanese salad sauce.

A total let-down and we're quite sure the salmon itself was wrongly prepared as hint of fishiness could be sensed.

Anago Don ($13.50++)

Opted for the Anago (salt-water eels) instead of Unagi (freshwater eels) for a change. Instead of preparing it by kabayaki as in Unagi, the Anago was poached and lightly grilled, giving it an aromatic char-burned taste.

The Anago melts immediately once in our mouth. The texture is much finer and lighter than that of the Unagi. It also tasted less rich and oily than Unagi.

Our first try and we like it; great for Ric who doesn't 'touch' Unagi.

Chawanmushi ($6++)

Though the Chawanmushi was deliciously prepared in rich broth with many ingredients such as scallop, prawns, chicken pieces and mushrooms that goes into it, $6 for a cup still feels a lavishness to have as it was such an ordinary Japanese fare.

A must order here would be the deep fried Salmon Skin ($4), its crispiness makes everybody sits up :) Enjoyable to have; we ordered its Salmon Skin Handroll ($2).

Still we would not be hurrying back; guess we've out-grown conveyor-belt sushi chains, the break-through concept of serving food displayed on rotating platform that had successfully introduced Japanese food to the general public years back.

Oven-Baked Portobello Mushroom

Mum been forever urging me to post this recipe on my blog as many housewives had enquired her about her way of cooking Portobello Mushrooms whenever they saw her making purchase of it.

So here it is:


Finely chopped Ginger, Garlic, Red Chilli, green herbs - Coriander with Oyster sauce, Sesame oil, Sugar, Pepper. Mix it well before pouring it over the Mushrooms.

With layers of the assortments of mushrooms wrapped in aluminum foil, oven baked at 250 degrees for 30 mins. There you have it!

Juices oozing as we bite into the fat, thick piece of browned mushrooms...!