Beso Cucina Vinoteka

Pardon my ignorance, but up to the day when Jake and I had a lunch date at Beso, I always thought tapas meant tapa--as in, beef tapa. I've been weirded out by people who liked to hang out at wine and tapas bars and kept thinking: Why would anyone drink wine with tapa? So yes, Jake had a good laugh when I learned something new that day as soon as I laid eyes on the menu and saw the tapas selection. For the equally ignorant, tapas are appetizers or small side dishes usually served with wine or drinks.

We actually went here thanks to Deal Grocer coupons gifted to Jake from his Tito Carlo and Tita Bernz. The timing was perfect because we were looking to try out the new restaurants at Bonifacio High Street Central. (I almost forgot to blog about Nolita and our so-so moment at Slice.) But back to Beso, the deal included a three-course set of appetizers, main course, and dessert. Upon seeing the sister companies, I knew we were in good hands because we love the food at Draft.

For starters, they served grilled sardines sprinkled with rock salt, lemon, and parsley. I want to ask my mom to re-create this dish at home since it's perfect merienda food. I can imagine this dish would be perfect with wine or cocktails.

Next, we had the spiced pork meatballs in tomato sauce. We particularly liked this dish for the paprika and coriander flavors. It was a nice twist to an otherwise common dish.

One of my favorites: the ox tail and white bean fabada on fideo and olive oil. There was something so tasty about this pasta that I want to go back and order it again. I can't put my finger on it but I was definitely impressed. 

Jake and I also ordered an additional dish which wasn't part of the deal set: the Beso paella. Hands down, this was one of the best-tasting paellas I've had. It was generously filled with seafood and Jake and I had to fight for the chorizos. We're definitely heading back for this! Too good to forget and definitely worth the price!

The deal also included Crema Catalana or their version of creme brulee. Nothing note-worthy, but an otherwise great end to a satisfying lunch date. We were too full by then, and I had Sonja's cupcakes in mind for a proper dessert.

Can't wait for our next Beso date! I'm looking forward to ordering wine with our tapas next time!

Malacca's Jonker Street and chicken rice balls

I managed to do some research before heading to Malacca and found out that the best street to visit was Jonker Street where you can find funky souvenirs and the famous Hoe Kee chicken rice balls restaurant. We went there after walking around Dutch square and the surrounding heritage area just in time for dinner. From the square, it's easy to spot Jonker--just look for the triangular rotunda with the dragon and look for the street sign.

It began to rain as soon as we set foot at Jonker so we ran from one place to another. It was quite fun to look for shelter inside the souvenir shops since they had interesting knick knacks.

Save for the fermented spicy shrimp vinegar mix I bought at the Melaka Sentral, we bought most of our souvenirs here at Jonker Gallery. Malacca's known for the spices magnet--as in they use real spices such as cinnamon, star anise, and even coffee beans to place inside the katya mini-bags. They smell really good! 

My sister and I gave up on our futile search for the famous pineapple tarts and ended up getting soaked to the bones while walking around Jonker. The only good thing that came from the torrential downpour was the fact that the notoriously crowded Hoe Kee Chicken Rice had a table available for us! I read online that you have to wait at least an hour to get a table, but thanks to the rain, the long line of locals and tourists were nada, although the place was still packed when we went in. Talk about good timing!

Being a self-proclaimed foodie, I made sure to research where to eat the best chicken rice balls in Malacca and this place came highly recommended and on top of almost all lists. I can understand why: the Hainanese was superb and cheap! They have set meals for huge groups and we only paid RM 70 or Php 980 for our group of eight for the whole meal including our drinks. We even had a hard time trying to eat all the chicken and rice balls!

Basically, Malaysia's version of Singapore's Hainanese chicken rice is to serve the rice in little glutinous balls. The chicken has the same recipe as with Singapore. Our auntie waitress (but I think she partly owns the place or is the head waitress since she bossed everyone around), was a very sweet lady who demonstrated how to eat the rice balls and mix the perfect amount of ginger, hot sauce, and soy for the chicken. She was very keen to have us experience it the right way and gleefully observed our reactions while we ate. She even gave us a discount for the final bill since I ran out of Malaysian ringgits. I loved her!

Behold the chicken rice balls! It's really more than enough for eight people, I tell you.

Our perfect timing to snag a table at Hoe Kee Chicken Rice was actually the highlight of the Malacca trip for me. The culture heritage area is nice if you're into architecture and history. However, Malaysia can still improve their tourism in terms of cleanliness and transportation. Imagine my surprise when it started to flood on our way back to Dutch Square from Jonker. Good thing I'm from the good ol' city of Malabon and had no qualms about wading into the ankle-deep water just to hail a cab. On our way back to Melaka Sentral bus terminal, our cabbie refused to use the meter and charged us RM20 or Php 300 for the ten-minute ride. His cab was also EXTREMELY dirty and smelly. I couldn't wait to head back to the squeaky clean and systematic Singapura at the end of the day. I'll definitely go back for Jonker Street, though! 

Malacca: The heritage walk

On my second trip to Singapore, I convinced my travel mates (i.e. my mom, sister, cousin, and mom's amiga with her kids) to take a day trip to Malaysia's world heritage site, Malacca--or more accurately spelled as Melaka. There's not much to do in Singapore after all, so we took the bus from City Plaza at Geylang Road for the 5-hour trip to Malacca.

I have always thought of Singapore's Geylang area as a red district, no thanks to online reviews, but seeing these heritage structures totally made me change my mind. It's a quiet, peaceful residential area where locals are friendly enough to give you directions. I had a nice friendly conversation with a student who was nice enough to walk us to the nearest bus stop after we missed the last train to Clarke Quay on our way home. Way to go, Singaporeans!

To head to Malacca, we took the Delima Bus leaving City Plaza at 8:30 am. The one-way tickets to Malaysia cost us SGD 21.00 each or roughly Php 700. We opted to buy the tickets from Malaysia to Singapore upon arrival at the Malacca bus terminal since I read reviews that it's cheaper there by half. Compared to the SGD 21 for our morning trip, we got our tickets to Singapore at SGD 9 from the Malacca terminal.

Since SG cabs are notoriously expensive, we chose to commute to City Plaza from our place since it's easy to head there coming from Clarke Quay or Orchard Road. We took the MTR and got off at Paya Lebar station and took the exit A. From there, just look around and you won't miss the tall orange City Plaza building which is accessible in less than a five-minute walk. 

The bus left on time and our driver also strictly observed the 20-minute waiting time at the Singapore and Malaysia immigration halls. We panicked a lot no thanks to the long lines and added confusion of rushing to the nearest immigration counter, but managed to head back to our bus at every stop point. 

After five long hours on the road with a boring landscape, we finally arrived at the Malacca bus terminal! From there we took the bus going to the Malacca cultural heritage area and proceeded to walk around the place. It reminded me of Intramuros, actually. From the bus terminal, it's about a ten-minute ride towards Dutch Square or heritage area. It's hard to miss, since the place is surrounded by pinkish red buildings.

Here we are in front of the Christ Church built in 1753. This centuries old church at Dutch Square is the oldest Protestant church in Malacca. Across the church is the Tan Beng Swee clock tower built in 1886. It's also the jumping point for most walking tours and there are trishaws that offer rides towards the top of the hill going to St. Paul's Ruins. We opted to walk!

And the view was worth it! It's an uphill climb which involves a lot of stairs, so make sure you're up for it. 

It's also tempting to ride the flowered trishaws with loud pop music blaring from the speakers. It's best to haggle for the price since most of the drivers will easily lower prices if you attempt to walk away.

Unlike Macau's Ruins of St. Paul, this church still has intact walls and you can go inside to take some photos. It's a nice structure from the outside and there's an exhilarating view of Melaka town from the top since it is literally on top of a hill. In fact, I had to cling to the sloping grass bank to take this wide photo or risk falling off the hill.

Inside, there are wide and tall doorways and stone carvings that are fascinating to look at and observe. There is no roof so it might be a bit of a hassle to come here when it's raining. This church was originally built in 1521 and still has a Dutch cemetery behind the structure.

Walking down from the hill, we found the A Famosa ruins or in English, The Famous. Apparently, it is one of the oldest European architectures in Asia and served as a fortress for the Portugese during their settlement in Malacca.

Despite the added challenge of dodging crazy fast trishaws, it's fun to walk around Melaka and we were able to explore the city in an hour. I love the fact that it has these pink-red buildings everywhere! 

The best part of our trip to Melaka was Jonker Street and the chicken rice balls which deserves a separate entry. :-)