Day 1: Cousins' Summer Drive Away

Taking a red eye flight at our age isn't a joke...we had to walk to stay awake, if it helped at all. :))) This summer, we cousins are exploring Hokkaido. We picked up our car at Chitose Airport Poplar Shop and arrived in Sapporo city slightly after lunch.

We took Charlotte and Lydia to Ramen Alley for some comforting bowls of ramen. :) There are many ramen stalls in this alley and we just picked one we fancied. It's called Ichikura.

For corn lovers...

Beer & ramen... :D

I love checking out floral shops wherever we go. :D It makes me happy. 

Our stamina for the first day of our summer vacay puts us to shame!  :))) We checked into a random bookstore for a cuppa. :)

And after which, we went in search of kani (crabs)! We are in Hokkaido afterall! :D

We ended up at Hokkaido Kani Shogun Sapporo Honten.

First, sake... ;)

And finally crabs! :D

We love hotpots! :D Look at all the crabby goodness in one pot. :)))

Crab congee tastes so good!!! 

That's about our first day in Sapporo. :) We didn't seem to do much but filling up our bellies. :)

Details of Hokkaido Kani Shogun Sapporo Honten:
2 Chome-14-6 Minami 4 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 064-0804, Japan
T: +81 11-222-2588
W: http://www.kani-ya.co.jp/shogun/sapporo/

Day 5: Piping Hot Congee Hotpot at Ying Tian Ying Zhou Zhuang (盈田盈粥庄)

There wasn't any sign the rain was gonna stop (it actually got heavier in Shanghai), making it a perfect day for congee hotpot at Ying Tian Ying Zhou Zhuang (盈田盈粥庄).

And becos it was raining, there wasn't the usual long queue at the shop. :))) This is a very local place. *.*

Stuff we had to make our congee flavourful. :)

Yummmmmmmmm.....

Time for full body massage at Green Massage. :)

Details of Ying Tian Ying Zhou Zhuang (盈田盈粥庄):

De Ping Lu No.777, Shanghai, China (Jinqiao)

盈田盈粥庄(德平路店)
德平路777号(近羽山路)

上海浦东新区
T: 021-68567773

Details of Green Massage:
W: http://www.greenmassage.com.cn/

Good Morning 2013! :)

The first morning of 2013 was a glorious one! :) We kickstart the new year with cycling. ;) Singapore has beautiful parks. We just need to take time to explore.

 

 Perhaps one of the prettiest drainages in town!

 

Tina, our cycling buddy

 

Lin's feet must be too stinky for her shoes to bear! :))) Anyway a little bruise does no harm. ;)

 

Our tummies rumbled after a 2 hour cycling session. Some dim sums would be gooood. :) But being last minute people, we did not make any reservation at any dim sum restaurant. Anyway we tried our luck at Imperial Treasure Cantonese Cuisine at Crowne Plaza, thinking it might be less crowded than it's sister branch in Orchard Road. It was full house! *.* Just when I thought we had no chance of savoring dim sums...and was about to walk over to Crystal Jade...the recept stopped us...ooooo...

 

The benefit of being a regular patron is getting a table at a fully packed restaurant especially on days such as 1 Jan. :) Yeah yeah yeah!!!

 

With this spread, why bother cycling? But if we do not cycle, how can we stomach these delactable dim sums? :)

 

Century eggs & pork congee, roasted pork belly, pan fried carrot cake

 

shrimp cheong fun, har gao

 

Teochew dumplings, chive dumplings

 

roast duck vermicilli soup

 

and custard buns :)

 

We finished our dim sums in 1 hour flat! :)  Let's give the table to the next dim sum lovers. :) A blessed 2013 to all!

 

Details of Imperial Treasure Cantonese Cuisine (Crowe Plaza): 

#01-02 Crowne Plaza Hotel

75 Airport Boulevard

T: +65 6681 6679