Sam's Strawberry Corner - My Favorite Noodle Restaurant in Bandung

Sam's Strawberry Corner has always been one of my favorite restaurant in Bandung. It's located on Jalan Dago (near to Sheraton Bandung Hotel). I know this place from my Malaysian friend who tried the noodles during his visit to Bandung and I became a fan of this restaurant after my first visit.

They started this as a cafe in Bandung 14 years ago which sells fresh Strawberry Juice. And they has expanded their business through franchising and have some outlets in Jakarta now. I have been once to the outlet in Karawaci. 

They are famous for their home made noodles (we call it bakmi or mie in Indonesia) and their fresh strawberry juice. For the noodles itself, they have 2 types... salty and sweet (they called it yamin). I personally like the sweet one. It's sweet because they use sweet sauce (we call it kecap in Indonesia). Both types of noodles comes with shredded chicken. And you can add meatbals (we call it bakso in Indonesia), dumpling (we call it pangsit in Indonesia), beef tripe (we call it babat in Indonesia), chicken feed (we call it ceker in Indonesia), or the combination of them. The price for the noodle is from Rp. 22.000,- to Rp. 50,000,- depends on the topping you would like to add. 

For the strawberry juice, you can have it either with milk or without milk. The one with milk is the one which color is more pinkish than another one. The price for a glass of stawberry juice is Rp. 17.000,-. They also have strawberry juice with lychee which is quite popular too but I personally haven't tried it.

Other than that, they also serve some other Bandung's famous dish like siomay and batagor. Batagor is abbreviation from Bakso Tahu Goreng (fried meatball and tofu). Batagor is actually fried type of siomay. And both of them are served with peanut souce and sweet souce (kecap). For this time round we ordered batagor. You can order by peace and the price for 1 peace is Rp. 10.000,-.

Details :

Sam's Strawberry Corner

Bandung

Jalan Dago 315

Bandung

Karawaci

Ruko Del Espana Jalan Kalimantan No. 53

Lippo Karawaci Utara (Belakang Hypermart)

Phone : +62 21 55768672

PS : They actually have more outlets but I have only been to those 2 outles above

Holiday Inn Resort Batam - A Great Family Hotel for Family Getaway!

As a Platinum IHG Member, I received The Big Win Challenges from IHG. It's customized offer for IHG Member so each member have different challenges from others. I managed to complete all of the challenges except the last challenge which is to stay at designated IHG Resorts and one of it is Batam. As I have to complete the challenges by 31st Dec 2013, I decided to go to Batam on the last weekend of 2013. 

I booked a 1 Bedroom Suite Queen Bed Non-Smoking Room for 1 night. The room is a little bit old but it is very spacious (60 sqm) with separate living room (with another TV) and dining room as well as private balcony. The bathroom is big too!

If you plan to stay here, you better arrange a hotel transfer in advanced because the queue at the immigration is quite long, so it's good if you have the hotel staff to assist you as soon as your ferry arrived at Batam Ferry Terminal. And the hotel transfer is free (vs taxi which is quite expensive in Batam!!). The journey from Sekupang Ferry Terminal to the hotel takes you about 15-20 mins.

The hotel is quite full so you may not be able to check in early. But you can just enjoy the hotel facilities or you can just take free shuttle to Nagoya Hill Mall. They have few timing :

- From Hotel to Nagoya Hill Mall : 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm

- From Nagoya Hill Mall to Hotel : 2.45pm, 5.45pm, 8.45pm

Free Shuttle Bus from Hotel to Nagoya Hill Mall and Vice Versa

The hotel is very big!! They have 4 restaurants including Chinese, Japanese, and Thai Restaurant. They also have sports lounge, games room (with Wii and billiard table), KTV Bar, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis court, gym, and famous Tee Tree Spa. As we went for the Spa at Eska, we didn't try the spa here. But we will definitely come back and try the spa here! 

The breakfast was good too! As we only stayed here one night and we were out for the whole day for massage, shopping, and eating seafood, we didn't really much time to explore the hotel. But I really enjoyed staying at this hotel mostly because of the hotel staff is nice and friendly! 

Details

Holiday Inn Resort Batam

Waterfront City, Batam

Indonesia 29422

Phone : +62 778 381 333 

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice - A Recommended Chicken Rice Restaurant in Singapore!

This is my favorite Chicken Rice Restaurant in Singapore! I used to come here very often when they were still at Novena Ville. But today was my first time trying the new one at United Square. It's located at the first floor of United Square and it's outside the mall so you have to walked out from the mall. They also have other branches at Marina Square, Makansutra (Gluttons Bay) and Katong.

The queue is quite long although I went there quite late (around 2.30pm). But it was pretty fast, I was just queuing for around 10 mins. As usual, I ordered the famous Roasted Chicken Rice here. I wanted to add the egg but today it was sold out. And I ordered lemon tea for drink. They served the food around 10 mins after you ordered. Quite fast for such a packed restaurant! I really love the rice here as it is so fragrant! And the chicken is so thick yet juicy! And it comes with the sauce! It is so nice!!! If you eat here, don't forget to mix the sauce with black sauce and garlic sauce! This combination of sauce just compliment the rice and chicken very well. The lemon tea is a bit too sweet but I like it!

 

1 portion of Chicken Rice (Rice + Chicken) costs you 4.80 SGD and 1 cup of lemon tea costs you 1.60 SGD. They also charge you for the towel (0.20 SGD each) but you can return to them if you don't use it. I really recommend this place if you are coming to Singapore! :)

Details :

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice

United Square

101 Thomson Road #01-08

Singapore 307591

Phone : +65 6255 6396

Marina Square

6 Raffles Boulevard #04-102b

Singapore 039594

Phone : +65 6333 9830

112 Katong

112 East Coast Road #04-01

Singapore 428802

Phone : +65 6636 3034

Makansutra Glottons Bay (Chicken Rice Stalls only)

8 Raffles Avenue #01-15 Stall E

The Esplanade

Singapore 039802

Lucky Seafood - A Nice and Cheap Seafood Restaurant in Batam

We went for a 2D/1N trip to Batam last weekend. And when you are visiting Batam, you should try their famous seafood. A friend of mine whose parents live there recommended this place. They have live seafood here.

As we were so hungry after walking around Nagoya Hill Mall, we ordered quite a few dishes. We ordered 2 portion of Grilled Fish (1 White Pomfret or Bawal Putih and 1 Rabbitfish or Baronang), 1 portion of Chili Crab, 1 portion of Calamari, 1 portion of Balacan Kangkung, 3 portion of Steam Rice, and juices and tea for drink. The fish are so fresh and they grilled it with the spicy sauce (don't worry it was not that spicy!). It's so nice when you eat with the sweet sauce (kecap manis). And the Chili Crab is sooo yummmyyyy!!! The Balacan Kangkung is a spicy!!! So if you don't like spicy, don't order this!

It costs us around Rp 434,000,- for 3 people. My friend told me that it would cost us more if we eat at Golden Prawn and the taste is much more better here. We really enjoyed the dinner! Thank you for bringing us here!

Details :

Lucky Seafood

Komplek Perumahan Citra Indah Blok A4 No 01

Batam Center (Next to Bank Bukopin, near to Arsikon Batam Centre)

* See Google Maps here or message me if you want to know how to get there! *

IKEA Food Store @ Alexandra Road - A Nice and Affordable Food in Singapore

IKEA Food Store is a self-service restaurant so you have to queue to get your tray, cups & cutlery... get your food... and bring them to cashier. As their price is very affordable, the queue here is always long!!! So if you want to eat here, you better eat earlier or much later when the queue is shorter.

There are 2 IKEA Food Store in Singapore. One is in Tampines and another one is in Alexandra Road. They open daily from 9.30am to 10.30pm (last order at 10pm). If you are planning to eat here, below are some recommendations :

1. Swedish Meatballs
This is my favorite menu here! Based on the report published last year, they sell close to 40,000 meatballs daily!! I can finish 10 pcs Meatballs by myself!! The 10 pcs Meatballs costs you 5.50 SGD while the 15 pcs costs you 8 SGD and 20 pcs costs you 9.50 SGD. They are made from beef and pork and its served with mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberry sauce! It's sooo yummmyyy!!!

2. Chicken Wings
Their best sellers is Chicken Wings! You should try it when you come here! The Chicken Wings costs you 7.50 SGD for 6 pcs. But they have 2 pcs and 4 pcs as well.

3. Daim Cake for Dessert
One of the best dessert I had! It's made with Daim Chocolates and it's not too sweet!

I dont have the picture of both Chicken Wings and Daim Cake the moment as I didn't order it during my last visit but I will come back again and post the pic!

Details :

Ikea Alexandra

317 Alexandra Road,

Singapore 159965

Ikea Tampines

60 Tampines North Drive 2,

Singapore 528764

Phone: +65 6786 6868