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Best Hari Raya Goodies & Cookies 2024 in Singapore With Free Delivery

March 30, 2024 by Bino Leave a Comment

Hari Raya Puasa or Eid al-Fitr this year falls on 10th April 2024. This is the best known holiday for the Islamic community because it marks the end of a month-long fasting from dawn until sunset during Ramadan. This is the time when people visit their families in what is known as balik kampung. In larger countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, people would travel hundreds of miles back to their hometown. In Singapore, it’s a lot simpler, often requiring a bus or MRT ride back to their elders’ homes. By custom, people gather during this time and ask for forgiveness from parents and grandparents.

Gatherings usually involves eating plenty of goodies or kuih raya – whether those given as gifts or those laid out for visitors to sample. Traditional cookies include Kuih Semperit (Custard Butter Cookies), Kuih Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies) and Kuih Makmur (Peanut Cookies) although a lot of creative variations have popped up over the years.

Below you will find a list of some of the more unique hari raya goodies and cookies I have found along with traditional ones. This will be a growing list, with new items and shops listed as the season progresses.

You can also join our newly-launched telegram channel here and receive updates on F&B promotions as well as other flash deals and offers in F&B and travel.

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Sims Vista Market & Food Centre Must Try Food Stalls and Best Eats

March 29, 2024 by Bino Leave a Comment

Sims Vista Market and Food Centre which is located in 49 Sims Place and a few minutes walk from Aljunied MRT Station, has always seemed pretty underrated to me. Size-wise, it is considered quite a big hawker centre with 5 “blocks” translating to at least 10 rows of food stalls. At first glance, the size of this hawker centre seems disproportional to the neighborhood it is serving. A casual visit revealing a number of stalls with limited opening hours and even some totally vacant ones seem to reinforce this observation.

To understand why such a large hawker centre is built in a neighborhood of modest size, it is more apt to derive some perspective on the estate of Sims Drive/Sims Place. It used to be a denser neighborhood than it is today. The area around Sims Drive used to be filled with HDB blocks that have been slowly demolished over the years. Some of the HDB blocks have been replaced with condos, condos under construction or are empty lots now waiting for the next government tender. There are still some of the older HDB blocks that remain inhabited. These were constructed in 1976 – the same year Sims Vista Market and Food Centre was built. It was upgraded in 1976 and underwent its most recent renovation in 2021. I used to be quite bothered by the rather dark environment (even in the day) as well as the number of pigeons flocking to feed on scraps – but these issues were mostly taken cared of after the 2021 renovation.

Sims Vista Market and Food Centre is one of my most frequently visited hawker centers in Singapore so here are my recommendations on where to eat the next time you head down here. The stalls are arranged in no particular order.

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Free Apple iPad or Dyson Air Wrap for NEW UOB Credit Card Holders in Singapore

March 21, 2024 by Bino Leave a Comment

Receive Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 Wifi 64GB (worth S$691.60) or Dyson Air Wrap (worth S$859) or S$350 eCapita voucher when you apply and get approved for a a qualifying UOB credit card as new cardholder (those who have not held a UOB card the past 12 months). Be the first 200 new-to-UOB cardmembers to apply and spend S$1,000 for 2 consecutive months after approval date to qualify. Sign-up through the individual card links below. Promotion starts on 22nd March at 12PM Singapore time and ends on the 31st March 2024 (11:59PM)

The 201st applicant onwards will still receive a S$60 voucher of their choice (i.e. Foodpanda, Grab, eCapita, Sephora)

Until 31st March, each successful applicant will also stand a chance to win a pair of return business class tickets to Japan (worth S$13,144).

Annual fee is waived for the first year for all the cards listed below. UOB usually waives the annual fee for succeeding years as long as you actively use the card but if not, you can always cancel to avoid paying the annual fee.

Note that this offer is valid only if you apply via the below exclusive links (direct application with UOB doesn’t count for the promotion). Why is that so? Singsaver actually acts as an aggregator and partner for UOB cards and from time to time, Singsaver and UOB may jointly fund the gift in order to split the marketing expense between them.

UOB does not usually give attractive gifts for new card sign ups. The current iPad offer is within the higher end for their sign-up reward.

After clicking submit on your credit card application, make sure to take note of your Application Reference Number. You will have to fill out a redemption form (automatically sent to your email once you make a card application) in order to be registered.

Once your card is approved, remember to spend at least S$1000 (can be in multiple transactions) within 2 consecutive months of card approval date in order to receive the reward. You will get an email within 60 to 90 days with instructions on how to claim your gift. If you are looking for ways to spend S$1000 within a month, there’s that time-honored method of buying vouchers from NTUC Fairprice and paying for it with your credit card.

Here are the UOB cards that qualify for the promotion:

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17 Golden Mile Food Centre Best Food Stalls & What to Eat

March 17, 2024 by Bino 1 Comment

Many of Singapore’s old-school hawker centers in the city area were established to resettle pioneer hawkers that used to ply the streets of the older parts of town. One such hawker centre is Golden Mile Food Centre which was built in 1975 to resettle the original hawkers lining nearby Jalan Sultan. Today, Golden Mile Food Centre is a haven for those seeking traditional hawker fare such as claypot rice, grass jelly, chee cheong fun as well as more innovative dishes catered to younger folks. Here, I aim to present some of my favorite stalls.

Do note that Golden Mile Food Centre is a standalone hawker center that is different from the Golden Mile Complex at the opposite side of the road. I have been visiting this hawker centre for a couple of years and find that after the closure of Golden Mile Complex, they are now mainly busier during weekends while the patronage is rather light during weekdays.

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Market Street Hawker Centre What to Eat & Best Food

March 13, 2024 by Bino Leave a Comment

Market Street Hawker Centre is a recently reopened food centre in Singapore’s CBD in CapitaSpring. Despite the change in name, many CBD workers still call it “Golden Shoe” – owing from its origins from 1984 up until 2017 when the hawker centre was housed in a relatively low-rise carpark building called Golden Shoe. When that original building was demolished to make way for the construction of CapitaSpring, Market Street Hawker Centre moved to a site just beside Telok Ayer MRT Station where it stood for almost 5 years as the Market Street Interim Hawker Centre.

On 5th April 2022, Market Street Hawker Centre reopened as part of the gleaming CapitaSpring skyscraper with the food centre occupying the 2nd and 3rd floor of the building – just like it did during the Golden Shoe period. The reopened hawker centre houses 56 stalls – the same number it did back then, although some establishments have changed hands.

I have personally been visiting this particular hawker centre since its Golden Shoe days. When the interim market was set up, I had also frequented it due to its proximity to my workplace. When the food centre reopened in 2022, I was pleasantly surprised to find many of my favorite stalls intact despite the many changes over the years.

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Review: VENUE by Sebastian Going Strong at 7 Years With NEW Menu Items & Dishes

March 12, 2024 by Bino Leave a Comment

Longevity is not something that can be said for a majority of the players in the F&B industry these days. For an independent brand to thrive for 7 years is an achievement in itself.

venue by sebastian

Originally launched in 2017, VENUE by Sebastian has been serving contemporary European cuisine in its Downtown Gallery location, outlasting most of its immediate neighbors.

venue by sebastian in downtown gallery

Its chef-owner, Sebastian Ng, is no stranger even to my relatively limited radar of the F&B scene in Singapore. I used to visit Ember (which he helmed) regularly back in the day in Keong Saik and I also checked out VENUE by Sebastian quite a few times within its first 2 years of opening back in 2017 to 2018. Chef Sebastian’s cuisine is hearty, and suits the Asian palate well despite using mostly similar ingredients as what you’d find in other restaurants focusing on European cuisine.

Despite enjoying VENUE by Sebastian, I had not visited for a while so I was thrilled to find that they recently revamped the menu due to their anniversary. They had also recently launched a 3-course dinner menu that starts from S$58++.

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The Perfect Tokyo Itinerary With Must-Sees & Unique Attractions (2024 Updated Travel Guide)

March 11, 2024 by Bino 10 Comments

Tokyo is now one of the most popular destinations in East Asia, especially for Asian travelers. The capital of Japan has benefited in no small part by the weaker Yen and previous moves by the government to ease visa restrictions from visitors of nearby countries. With a population of 13 million people, the metropolis offers a great juxtaposition of the exotic and ultramodern. This is a city of maid cafes, of restaurants run by ninjas and where you can hire professional cuddlers to hug you for a small fee. At the other end of the scale, some parts of the city offer a peek into a more traditional side of Japan.

If you are also heading west, check out this recommended itinerary for Osaka and Kyoto full of lesser-known attractions.

I have visited Tokyo for eight times now and I always end up discovering a lot of new things to do in the city with each visit. Like the previous itineraries I’ve made, here are some suggestions on things to do in Tokyo and I have segregated the activities for first-timers, shopaholics and people seeking for something more unique.

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The Perfect Itinerary for Kaohsiung and Tainan (2024 Update)

March 11, 2024 by Bino 12 Comments

Kaoshiung and Tainan, the main cities in the southern region of Taiwan, have been getting quite a bit of attention lately thanks to government efforts to promote the region to overseas tourists. The historic heart of the island has seen plenty of new hotels as well as redevelopment of existing tourist infrastructure in recent years.

Being slightly more than a 3-hour high speed train ride from Taipei, it makes sense to spend a couple of days in the southern cities. This is after all where Taiwan’s capital used to be. Those who make the effort to come here are ultimately rewarded with a different side to Taiwanese culture. People tend to speak Minnan (Hokkien) here compared to Mandarin and the tropical climate also means plenty of sunshine as compared to the usually dreary weather up north. If you are thinking of visiting Kaohsiung and Tainan and have no idea where to go, this suggested itinerary can hopefully help you.

Tip: If you are heading to Kaohsiung / Tainan by Taiwan’s high speed rail, check out this current promotion where tickets are cheaper for Non-Taiwanese passengers. Limited time only. Book here

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