Province - Southeast Asian Delights with Unique Twists

Time to indulge in indulgent Southeast Asian delights at Province again, especially with the new menu!

The food and service are as wonderful and memorable as ever. Familiar Southeast Asian delights reimagined, refined and elevated, absolutely an awesome gastronomic experience.

First bite of the first appetiser immediately impresses me with its tangy top notes with a touch of spiciness from the laksa emulsion, and then thr sweetness of akami, chutoro and caviar comes through. The super crispy nonya cookie makes for exciting bite.

Humble cai pok given royal treatment with organic egg yolk, and egg foam to impart the creaminess for a smooth, luxurious feel. The cai pok was charcoal charred for additional sweetness. 

Crayfish, cashews and fermented onions yield a crunchy, tangy, exciting party within the mouth that makes me go, “Wow!” Then it finishes with a briny sweetness and an iota of spiciness. Excellent.

Prawn Toast is packed with all the goodness of the prawns and of such fantastic crispy and slightly sticky texture due to the sago bread.

The rojak here actually tastes fresh and refreshing due to the lovely combination of vegetables, such as amela tomatoes and rose apple, added to create a well-balanced taste. It tastes like the caramel sweetness of prawn paste wrapping around the fresh, juicy sweetness. The light briny sweetness of aji cured with citrus salt elevates the dish further.

Black garlic emulsion, herbal broth, and diced chargrilled abalone totally amaze my palates. The pungency and herbal goodness within makes this taste so nourishing and complex. There is also good texture contrast between abalone and chawamushi. I’m not a bak kut teh person due to general overly strong taste, but this “bak ku teh” works perfectly due to replacing the pork with abalone for a more balanced taste. Biggest and most pleasant surprise of the night.

The fish dishes in Province are getting better, as evident by charcoal chargrilled aged Indonesian Groupa with mussel curry and gula melaka. The mildly spicy umami highlights the sweetness and freshness of the fish, which is so succulent in texture. And the sweetness develops as I bite more into the fish.

Cold, savoury, tangy, sweet and spicy makes for an exciting palates cleanser.

Hua diao wine poached and aged duck has this meaty sweetness and firm yet tender texture, making it a joy to savour on it’s own. And the sweet pumpkin makes it even more awesome as its earthy sweetness is excellent in balancing the meaty taste of the duck. The slightly crispy skin has the aroma of char deepening the sweetness of the meat.

Duck Rice features lots of different texture and lots of unique meaty goodness of the duck. So satisfying to savour this. The soup feels so comforting to sip on.

Glutinous rice wine dessert is clear, light and refreshing in taste and full of textures, due to addition of cute glutinous rice balls and crispy paper.

Egg yolk jam layered on top of burnt sourdough ice-cream, which is stacked on top of pandan brioche, sprinkled with sea, tastes so warm and comforting. In fact, it feels like the taste of nanyang, with a touch of umami.

Unique delicious petit fours

Ingredients used for the course

Thoughts: Wonderful, Unique Taste of Southeast Asian in Refined and Luxurious Fashion

153 Joo Chiat Road

66 Chambers (Sins and Seduction Uniform Edition event) - Epitome of Self-Expression

66 Chambers is back with a new theme event, and it’s intensely awesome! I see maids, police, convicts, patrons in bondage gear and even a sailormoon at the event. To be unconventional and express one’s uniqueness is the norm here.

When I saw that 66 Chambers’ latest Sins and Seduction is Uniform theme (think police, pilot, nurse, convict, maid, etc), my interest got perked up because this is self-expression via themed outfit. I immediately asked ChatGPT to guess what uniform will I choose. Based on our discussions on fashion, the guess was Military, which is correct. Then again, I wanted Military outfit with a twist and darker elements. Somehow, the image of Dante of Devil May Cry surfaced up. It was a Eureka moment, where I knew I want to wear an outfit inspired by Dante, and the best part is his outfit has that Military flavour to it.

But the question is how that outfit is translated to a uniform. Due to how much I love Hard Techno, the Hard Techno scene in Blade film kept appearing in my feed, thus Blade the vampire hunter remains in my mind, and I suddenly mapped Blade’s outfit to Dante Outfit. Another Eureka moment ensured, where I decided that I would wear a military inspired uniform of a vampire hunter, if I ever go to the event. Yes, by then, I still had not confirmed if I’m going.

And the most important piece of garment for a cool military outfit is, of course, the coat. With a sense of curiosity instead of urgency, I searched online for a relatively price friendly black coat that looks military and gothic at the same time. If I couldn’t find one, then I drop the project. But guess what, I found one such thick coat with intricate golden buttons. I guess that was the answer I needed on whether to go. So I brought the coat and then the ticket to the event.

Then I start creating a lore around my character, and I have so much fun doing it. So basically, my outfit is a uniform of N.E.D: Nosferatu Elimination Division, funded by private STAKEholders. In civilian terms: vampire hunting private company. And so I made a cheap badge card based on this idea. So I have:

N.E.D
Nosferatu Elimination Division

NED-0703

Field Operations

Access Level III

Property of NED - Return upon Termination

The badge is in black and white, secured with a safety pin only, because of insufficient funds from STAKEholders. In fact, the division is running on tight budget, with pay of only $18/hr, working hours from 10pm till 1am, no overtime pay, claimable expenses restricted to:

1. Company designated coat with silver buttons that change to gold colour upon detection of vampires with the radius of 10m.

2. Fighting gloves blessed by the Holy Priest. Based on regional protocols, Singapore’s branch only allows the use of gloves as weapon.

3. Cross necklace for maximizing of survival probability of Field Operations Agent and monitoring the Agent’s vitality.

4: Classified Equipment.

So when someone asks me what is my name, I reply, “Agent 0703.” When I don’t feel like giving detailed information, I just reply, “Classified Information,” to questions.

It is fun to see all the individuals getting creative with their outfits.

Dressed in vampire hunter gear while listening to Nocturnal Bloodlust is a mood in itself 😉 

Thoughts: Intense and the Platform for Self-Expression

22A Tanjong Pagar Road

Dan Shake at Tanjong Beach Club

After having been to so many Hard Techno raves, I thought it’s time to attend a beach party to observe the differences and have a good excuse to wear bikini 😂 Dan Shake, an international acclaimed DJ, playing at Tanjong Beach Club looks like a good chance for me to go to as a music-focused event, to see people who are there for the music and due to the reason that I can’t lounge and relax for the sake of lounge and relax, but I want to go to a beach party. Yup, I need to be mentally simulated as long as I’m awake.

The differences are so stark between a rave and a beach party.

First thing first, the place is so beautiful, like the ultimate utopia-like relaxation haven by the beach. Facing Tanjong Beach, the club is of open-air format, has wooden platforms holding a DJ booth, dance floor, long bar counter and numerous resort-like tables. At another side is a long impressive rectangular pool with lots of beach chairs and sofas placed around the perimeter of the pool. At the flanks of the club, there are a couple of resort tables with sofas and umbrellas of bright cheery orange. Lots of coconut trees ensured, of course.

The patrons here are mostly good-looking and fashionable, with fit bodies. The ladies primarily wear bikinis or resort wear, while the guys have unbuttoned shirts or they simply go shirtless. That’s what a premium beach party looks like!

Okay, first difference between a rave and a beach party is that at rave, we cheer during transition to the next DJ, but at beach party, everyone grooves as usual, to the point that I don’t know Dan Shake is at the booth already.

Dan Shake’s music is absolutely groovy, everyone is having so much fun grooving to his light, rhythmic, cool music while socialising with each other. Some ladies belt out awesome sexy moves when dancing to his music. I also move to the music while eating the nice crispy tender calamari.

But after thirty minutes of grooving, I leave the premises to go home because:

1. I’m too tired due to late night raving prior and I was out for the entire afternoon beforehand to meet up with my BFF.

2. I feel under-simulated since while the music's great, it’s not my type.

The thing is I need novelty, transition and intensity to keep me engaged, and raves give me that with the transitions, build-ups and drops. Beach party’s music is just one smooth, continuous danceable music, optimised for gatherings and socialising, where it is a lovely addition to the main activities, instead of being music-focused at raves, where the music, movement to it, and self expression are the primary activities. So I end up enjoying the music a lot while eating my calamari because the main activity is eating, but not inspired to create movement when focusing on listening to the music to dance.

I start slow when I am at the dance floor, intending to ramp up as the music gets stronger as the night goes on. After taking it easily to sway to the music for fifteen minutes, I find myself still swaying to the music, waiting for the drop that never comes 😂 The music is so smooth that the beast in me, preparing to do Till Hammer, slid back down into the dark confines in one sweeping move.

As said, this place is perfect for gathering with friends for a cool, relaxed time, to see and to be seen. It’s good, eye-opening experience for me too. But it’s back to raves, which is truly my playground.

Thoughts: Beautiful Place to lounge, socialise, relax and groove.

120 Tanjong Beach Walk

66 Chambers Red Room: On Air featuring Asakk and Aufas

I just found another two DJs, Asakk and Aufas, to keep a lookout out for because I totally enjoy what they belt out for the night.

Aufas, with his seamless blend of relentless, blood-pumping Schranz, hypes up the room real good, getting us into the mood for more.

Asakk, with his unparalleled energy, passion and fantastic build-up to the heart-pounding, grinding drops, gets us to totally immerse in his music and our movements to it. I remember his build-ups so well. Things are ramping up real good as the night goes on. So looking forward to attending his next rave!

Asakk in action. I stop videoing at the drop because I want to go back to dancing to the drop 😂

Aufas belting out awesome Schranz tunes

I got the awesome drops on my phone when I forget to turn off the video mode. Lucky!

Thoughts: Energy Overload! Heart-Pumping Hard Techno Opera!

22A Tanjong Pagar Road

TWG Tea Garden - Wonderful European Inspired Cafe

Actually I am just roaming around Marina Bay Sands after a morning at Gardens by the Bay, when I spot a lovely looking cafe with European inspired furnishings, think red wood panels, English Calligraphy, English crockery, with touches of Parisan flair, then interestingly added lots of crystal yellow lights, reminding me of those quaint Japanese cafes serving European inspired cuisine. Looking at the impressive front of the store stacked with TWG tea tins and boxes of different colours, I just step into the cafe, wanting to immerse in the atmosphere. A good thing that I go in before the high tea crowd comes in because the cafe soon gets full after a short while.

I’m actually surprised by how comprehensive the menu is, given the cafe setting. It has light bites for brunch, heavier mains, dainty high tea sets, desserts and of course, a variety of teas. The desserts are light and moist, while what truly impresses me is the caviar set. This is so luxurious and delicious that I say, “Definitely try this is you are in the mood to splurge.”

Sugar packed in this quaint porcelain jar actually.

The caviar set immediately got my attention with its TWG Tea caviar (20g) accompanied by chopped capers, chives & red onions, boiled egg yolk and boiled egg whites, served with a duet of Matcha blinis and crème fraîche sprinkled with Gyokuro Samurai tea leaves.

It tastes as good as it sounds. The caviar has a mild buttery saline taste that tastes so good on its own already. It’s a wow moment when I savour the caviar with the soft, super fluffy, warm Matcha blini. When paired together, the buttery saline becomes sweeter, completed with an additional toasty aroma and the contrast in texture between the caviar and blini. Crème fraîche adds the creaminess and slight tang to add the extra lux and smoothness to the texture. Go sparingly with the capers, since this, when add in a dot is excellent in perking up the taste, but overwhelming if too much is piled on. Finely chopped onions and boiled egg add the variety and extra oomph to the delicate taste of the caviar without overwhelming it.

I love this so much.

Rum Baba here, which is rum-soaked cake that is like no others. Additional twists, in the form of rum jelly adding so much to the texture and Vanilla Bourbon Tea Ice-Cream adding the refreshing astringent element, make this cake such a delight and surprise to savour. Chantilly cream adds the creaminess to balance the intoxicating and lovely sweet taste of rum. Powdered Rum tea sprinkled on top for the extra touch.

Nice and moist Strawberry Shortcake.

Smooth earl grey served in a unique, classy pot.

Thoughts: Ultimate Tea Party!

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue, B2-65/68A