Shui Gong Chinese Restaurant

M and I went for our weekly golf practice this morning at Hanoi Club's driving range. It was a rather sunny day and the range was crowded. Luckily, we got ourselves a shady spot to practise. We hit 100 balls each but the practice session didn't go as well as I would like. Guess I am still far from being a decent player. Sigh X100.

The driving range in a sunny morning

M was rather sweet today and suggested lunching at Hanoi Club so that I didn't have to whip up something at home. Typically, Sundays are our "dine-at-home" days with me being the chef. :) I happily agreed and we decided to try the Chinese Restaurant at Hanoi Club, called Shui Gong Restaurant.

The entrance of Shui Gong

The restaurant, located at the 2nd floor, was not very crowded when we arrived. We had a window seat where we enjoyed the refreshing view by the lake.

The view by the window

The chef of the restaurant was very friendly and recommended us the "Special of the Day", which was fishball kway teow soup. (While this is a common dish in all Singapore hawker centres, it is rarely found in Hanoi.) It took me less than 3 seconds to decide to try the fish ball kway teow soup. M succumbed as well and chose the dry version. :)

I was pleasantly surprised when the dish was served. The kway teow (it's actually "pho" or Vietnamese rice noodles) soup came with an assortment of fish balls, pork balls, prawn, crab meat and pork slices. The soup was slightly bland to me initially but after adding some soya sauce, it turned out quite good. M's dried kway teow version was very much to his liking and he commented it tasted like "bak chor mee". The chef later explained that he didn't add too much salt or soya sauce when preparing as he was afraid some customers might want it healthier. I thought that was really considerate.

My fish ball kway teow soup

We decided to order desserts and I tried the red bean soup while M had his usual herbal jelly. The chef recommended the lotus paste pancake which I was soooo tempted! But we were both quite full already so we decided to give it a miss.

My red bean soup - not the usual fare

My red bean soup was very good and tasted different from those sold in Singapore! Besides red bean paste, there were other ingredients like sesame, coconut milk and finely ground peanuts (I think). A rather unique combination which won my heart. The soup wasn't too sweet so it made me less guilty about the sugar count (as mentioned in my earlier entry, I am striving towards a sugar-"less" diet).

For someone like me who misses local Singaporean fare greatly, the dishes served here are comfort food as the taste is good yet authentic (the chef is a Malaysian). So I would definitely come here again, especially since it's so near to my house. And the lotus paste pancake will be on my order list the next time. :)

Shui Gong Chinese Restaurant
(located within Hanoi Club)
76 Yen Phu, Tay Ho, Hanoi

Romancing Italy 4 - Flourishing Florence

We left beautiful Venice early in the morning and headed to our next destination, Florence via train. The ride took about 2.5 hours and was pretty comfortable.

A view from the train...

First Day in Firenze

We were starving when we arrived at Santa Maria Novella station in Florence but we had to find our hotel, Anna's Hotel, to put down our luggage before exploring the city. The hotel was very near the station but we took a while to find it as the map provided via the Internet was not very helpful. The exterior of the hotel looked really old but the owner, Anna, was very friendly and helpful.

We had lunch at a trattoria called Mario which, according to our guide book, served cheap and good food. It certainly lived up to the recommendation. It was very crowded when we arrived and we had to share a table with 4 other customers (it was the norm there). I ordered a salad while M ordered a potato ravioli. The ravioli was so good that we placed a second fusilli order which turned out equally delicious! We paid less than 20 euros for the meal. Good food at great price, what else could I ask for?

See the long queue outside Mario? I wasn't kidding...

Local Market
Near Mario was a market in Firenze and we popped in to take a look. The market was amazingly clean and I was so tempted to buy the fresh fruit produce there. Of course, I resisted because it would be strange holding a packet of peaches while visiting museums. :(

This is the exterior of the market. Looks like a museum right?

See the fresh meat section? Spotlessly clean.. Impressive...

You can find grocery stores (above) in the market too.

Basillica di Santa Croce
Our first tourist attraction for the day was Basillica di Santa Croce, located at Piazza di Santa Croce. The plaza used to be the execution ground for heretics (gasps) but has now become a bustling shopping place lined with various gift shops. This church is famous because the floor is paved with tombstones of famous Florentines of the past 500 years. When we arrived, the church was partially under renovation so we were not able to enjoy the grand interior decor, much to my disappointment. But I felt a sense of respect as I walked along the tombstones of many great people, e.g Donatello and Michelangelo.

Exterior of Sante Croce

Tombstone of Michelangelo

Tombstone of Donatello

The stained glass window inside Sante Croce

Duomo
From Santa Croce, we headed to the famous Florence's Duomo. The cathedral's tiered pink, white and green marble facade was certainly eye-catching from far. The building of the cathedral began in 1296 and took close to 150 years to complete. Inside the Duomo, one can find beautiful frescoes and stained glass windows by famous artistes, such as Donatello and Paolo Uccello.

Florence's Duomo and Campanile

Beautiful stained glass windows...

The amazing ceiling fresco...

Feeling adventurous, we decided to climb up the Campanile (total of 414 steps) to take a look at the view from the top. When we reached the top (finally), my legs were aching slightly but the view was terrific! You could see the entire Firenze city from here and enjoy the cool breeze that perked one up easily.

Top of the world!

After climbing 414 steps... the breath taking view...

The evidence is here!

Bapistry
Next to the Duomo was the bapistry, one of the oldest buildings in Florence, which was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The bapistry was famous for its gilded bronze doors, with the ten panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament.

The famous bronze doors

When we completed our Duomo visit, it was close to evening so we decided to head to another recommended trattoria for dinner. As we were there early, we got our seats fairly quickly. One thing which bothered me was the restaurants typically open at 7.30pm or 8pm which was far too late for me. I prefer an early dinner at around 6pm. Anyway, I tried the famous bread pudding and bean soup while M had his spaghetti alio. Both dishes turned out ok. We were so full after one dish that we couldn't order the main course (note: both the soup and spaghetti were considered starters), much to the dismay of the waitress. We ended our first day tour around Firenze with a slow walk back to the hotel, enjoying the sight along the way.

Second Day at Firenze
Our second day began very early. We woke up at 7am, had a quick breakfast before heading to the Uffizi Gallery. This gallery houses the world's single greatest collection of Italian and Florentine art pieces and is a "must-see" place for all who visit Firenze. To my dismay, there was already a long queue formed when we arrived and we had to wait for close to 2 hours before we finally got in.

While I was impressed by the various masterpieces displayed in the gallery, I must say the organisation of the museum was quite disappointing. The rooms were fairly cramped and I thought the paintings were "cluttered" together. But I was glad to be able to boast of seeing the real drawings of Da Vinci's Annunciazione, Michelangelo's Tondo Doni (depicting the Holy Family) and Raphael's Leo X. The pictures seemed so real that they literally "leaped" out to you as you stepped in. Even an art idiot like me could enjoy the pieces, despite a total lack of understanding, so you can imagine how good these artists were.

We completed our Uffizi tour in around 2 hours and by then, it was close to lunch-time. We decided to explore the trattorias in a different side of the town and started off a long walk again. It was a beautiful sunny day and I enjoyed the sights along the way, taking pictures at the same time.

Walking along the river...

Beautiful sights that you see...

We walked past the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, one of the places we wanted to visit. We did not go there eventually because strangely, the ticket office did not sells tickets for the Boboli Gardens. You MUST buy a combined ticket that includes an exihibition that we were both not interested in. So I ended up taking pictures of the exterior only. Sigh.. it was really a pity we couldn't get in. I really couldn't understand how things worked in Italy.

The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens

We had a quick lunch at the trattoria but it was quite unsatisfying for M. We ordered a pate which turned out to be bread served with chicken liver. I absolutely hated it and refused to eat another bite. My soup was so-so while M didn't enjoy his food either. So we decided to check out another trattoria located not far away.. and guess what we found? We actually stumbled upon a UNESCO Heritage Site in Firenze! The amazing thing was this was not mentioned in any of the five guide books that we read. Isn't this strange?

Surprise! We stumbled on a UNESCO site.. which is...

This!

I didn't eat much for the second meal but ordered a cappucino while M had another helping of fusilli. After our (second) lunch, we took a walk along Ponte Vecchio, another famous sight in Florence. The bridge, filled with shops selling gifts and food, was the only bridge not blown up by the Nazis in 1944.

The famous Ponte Vecchio from far

Can you read this?

A glimpse of the Uffizi Gallery

Capturing the Piazza della Signoria

We completed all the sights that we wanted to see (excluding the Boboli Gardens) by late afternoon on the second day. It was impossible to go to Sienna then as it was too late so we decided to while our time away at an Internet cafe. I had preferred a more "eventful" day but we faced constraints beyond our control, like queues and strange ticketing practices. But I guess it's good to enjoy a break after a few days of hectic rush.

we rested at our hotel for a (long) while before heading off for an early dinner. I asked Anna to recommend a nice eatery near our hotel and she suggested "Due G", 5 minutes' walk away. It turned out to be a very good recommendation! I had a good helping of potato ravioli while M had fried chicken. The waitress recommended a plate of vegetables which I readily agreed, only to find out later that it was a plate of mixed vegetable tempura! Though I disliked fried stuff, the vegetables turned out to be quite yummy (I was to regret it later because I fell sick subsequently). I also ordered the famous Firenze dessert i.e. biscotti with dessert wine. M found it normal but I thought the biscuits dipped in sweet wine were very special. This was a place that I would definitely recommend to other friends visiting Florence.

The trattoria recommended by Anna: Due G

We went back to our hotel for an early rest before our final destination to Rome the next morning.

After Thought
Florence was a decent place to visit but I found it less exciting compared to Venice. The Uffizi Gallery was the main highlight but I guess my lack of art appreciation made it "more ordinary" than it should have been. My main grouse would be the long queues that I encountered almost every where in Florence. While the food was cheaper and better compared to Venice, I still give Venice "thumbs UP" in terms of its tourist infrastructure and unique city appeal.

Romancing Italy 3 - Vanishing Venice

It's been a long time since I updated on my Italy trip but better late than never. :) Venice was our second stop right after Milan. It turned out to be the prettiest of the four cities that I visited in Italy, with water, sea and gondolas.

Arriving on the 1st day
The moment we got off the train, we headed straight to take the vaporetto ( a river bus) to our hotel at Rialto. What greeted us was scenic views of beautiful architecture above the Grand Canal. I have read that Venice is "sinking" and it did seem true as the water level was reaching the door steps of some buildings. Nevertheless, it was still a magnificent sight. I mean, taking a boat along the river was already quite romantic. Can you imagine doing it throughout the entire city? :)

The water taxi - a super expensive form of transport

A romantic ride along the river...

We managed to find our hotel, Lanterna di Marco Polo, pretty soon due to M's superb navigation skills. It's a small family-run hotel with a even smaller bathroom. But I quite liked it because it's clean and cosy. Believe me, it's very easy to get lost in Venice. The road signs are confusing and sometimes, you can't even see the names of the streets!

We had lunch at a small cafeteria before we started exploring around Venice, on foot. It's the best and cheapest way to get around and you get to see many sights that you would miss if you took the water taxi. I was quite excited when I saw a notice on the "Singapore Pavillion" in Venice and immediately took a picture! Isn't it cool that your fellow Singaporeans get to perform in this enchanting city?

The Singapore Pavillion


The place of performance

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute
One of the interesting museums that we visited was Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute. It's a pity that the dome was under renovation when we visited so that kind of spoilt its otherwise majestic outlook. This church was built in the 17th century in honour of Virgin Mary, who was believed to have delivered the city from an outbreak of plague.

The entrance to Santa Maria Church

Doges' Palace
We decided to complete our tour for the first day at Venice with a visit to the Palazza Ducale or Doges' Palace. This building used to house the Republic's government and prisons! Gasps! I could never imagine a Presidential Palace and prison in the same compound!

I was slightly disappointed by the interior decor of the Doges' Palace as it was not as grand as I had expected. We walked through the "Paper Door", "Giants' Staircase", "Hall of the Four Doors" etc but they did not leave a deep impression on me. One place that I remember vividly was strangely, the Ponte del Sospiri or "Bridge of Sighs". This bridge was so named because it led the way to the dungeons and prisoners would sigh as they crossed the bridge.

By the time we completed our tour, we were both exhausted and decided to have a good dinner before going back to our hotel for an early rest. We managed to find a nice restaurant "Ostaria al Garanghelo" located along San Polo (recommended by Frommers' Guide) where we indulged in a good dinner of bread, pasta, mushroom stew and salad. The prices were expensive, as expected of Venice but the food was reasonably good. That satisfyingly rounded up my first day in Venice. Burp!

Start of our 2nd Day Visit
On our second day, we got up very early to take a look at the market located along Ponte di Rialto. According to the guide books, it was a busy market where we can see stalls selling fresh vegetables, fruits and fish. Perhaps we were there too early (at 7.30am) but we only caught sight of a few stalls unpacking their produce, and not an entire stretch of stores as mentioned. It was quite disappointing as I had planned to purchase some fresh fruits like peaches and nectarines.

Basillica di San Marco
I recovered quickly from my disappointment as our next stop was the famous Basillica di San Marco. As we made our reservation earlier (http://www.alata.it/), we were spared from the "close to 2 hours" long queue! When we entered the Basillica, I was awed by the extensive extravagant interior design! The walls were literally dazzling in gold and marble, with beautiful mosaics coming to life right in front of my eyes (I later learnt that this was nothing compared to the Sistine Chapel).

On our way out of the basillica, we headed up a narrow stairway (it's really steep and small!) to the Galleria, where we saw the 4 original glided bronze horses and the Loggia del Cavalli. I couldn't believe that we had to pay another 3 euros to see the horses though entry to the Galleria did allow us to gain a closer look to the stunning interior of the church.

Campanile
The Campanile is the church's bell tower and was rebuilt in 1902 when the original tower collapsed. The view from the top is known to be spectacular but we didn't go up there as we already caught a great view when we went up the Galleria earlier.

Doges' Palace: used to be a palace is now a dark building...

A side view of the Doges' Palace - a sad place

The bronze horses in the middle of the Basillica are replicas.

The 99m tall Campanile (we didn't go up there!)

Galleria dell' Accademia
We had a quick lunch at a cafe before heading to the Accademia, which was on M's "must-see" list. This place is a definite perfect for one interested in art. Though I am far from being an arty person, I was overwhelmed by the vivid drawings in each room. It did help that we rented an audio guide so we were able to understand some of the key pictures further. One minor complain was that the air-conditioning was down due to the renovation and it made my 2 hours walk a little torturous. Ok, I admit I am a spoilt brat.

The exterior - under construction

The impressive view of Galleria dell' Accademia

Our second day in Venice passed by pretty quickly as we crammed in to visit as many places as we could. In the evening, we decided to head back to Ponte di Rialto to browse through the "bridge-ful" of shops for gifts. M bought a paper weight while I bought two pretty display pieces for my family. Of course, I treated myself to non-stop supply of strawberries along the way.

Thinking Back...
Venice is really a beautiful city. It's a very a pleasant experience to walk around the city: crossing bridges, roaming narrow corners and watching gondola men singing. The gift stalls were colourful, selling a variety of t-shirts and masks! I was so tempted to buy one but decided against it as it looked very fragile. The only drawback of this place was it's really pricey, from hotel stay, transport to food. We really had to watch our budget here. I probably wouldn't go back to Venice for a long back but it brings back sweet memories every time I think about our trip there.

Rainy Days

It has been raining quite heavily in the afternoon the past few days.

M said that this was due to a typhoon nearing Hai Phong, causing heavy downpour in most parts of Hanoi. I am not complaining as this makes the weather much cooler, though the occasional heavy downpour does make me feel lazy in the afternoons.

Can't really see the heavy rain but it was pouring when I took this pic.

Look at the dark gloomy sky...

Enough is Enough

I finally decided today that I have had ENOUGH.

For the past two weeks, I have been indulging myself in different flavours of mooncakes. Green tea, honeydew, white lotus paste, normal lotus paste, coconut, pineapple, you name it, I have tried it. As much as I tried to ration my craving, I always ended up eating more than planned as I have a really BIG sweet tooth. So I resolved yesterday not to touch another piece of mooncake for the rest of the year. I told M about this and he gleefully agreed to support me by heading down to the kitchen to eat my favourite snowskin green tea moon cake IN FRONT OF ME! His rationale was to finish them so that I would not be tempted. Duh.. that's really helpful.

Anyway, Mooncake Festival (or "Tet Trung Tu") is widely celebrated in Hanoi. The tradition of eating mooncakes, pomelos and snails as well as playing with lanterns is similar to what we do in Singapore. In addition, the quality of the mooncakes made by local hotels are pretty authentic, with my favourite being Sofitel Plaza. The prices are not cheap though, ranging from USD18 - 20 per box for 4 pieces. The most famous local Hanoi mooncake brand is "Kinh Do" but I have yet to try because so far, I have not heard good reviews about it (heard that it's too sweet). Was very tempted to buy one last week but decided to give it a miss in view of my diet plan.

So will I be holding a lantern and walking along the street outside my house tonight? Probably not as it has been raining quite a bit these few days. But I will probably enjoy a cup of tea while watching M sink his teeth into our favourite green tea mooncake laden with 1000 calories plus fats. I am still determined to keep to my promise...

Happy Mooncake Festival! Chuc Mon Trung Tu!

Bread Attempt No. 2 on a Lazy Sunday

Today was another lazy Sunday for me. I didn't go anywhere as I just wanted to laze around at home.

Felt a little lousy in the morning as I was about to prepare toast for M when I saw that the loaf of white bread which I bought for him on Friday had gone mouldy (only 2 days + I had put it in the fridge!). There was only wholemeal bread left which I knew he didn't like but nevertheless, he still ate the sandwich that I prepared happily (I know he was pretending). But I was pleased that I managed to fry bee hoon for him for lunch as finally (God bless!), I bought the correct type of bee hoon! The last few times, I bought tang hoon instead because I couldn't understand the Vietnamese words. :(

While M was practising his golf at Hanoi Golf Club in the afternoon, I decided to make my own bread rolls. Found another recipe on the internet which looked "workable" but reduced the amount of sugar from 105 g to 75 g as I don't like my bread too sweet. Also shaped the rolls in a different way this time and they turned out quite well! Tadah (Look below)! I was quite pleased with my end product and M found it quite tasty too. (*Grins*)

Freshly baked bread rolls out from the oven...

Tomorrow's breakfast! :)

Had wanted to bake fish and cook a simple soup for dinner but realised at 5pm that we had run out of gas. Aargh! M suggested that we order pizza from a nearby restaurant, Al Fresco's, which I agreed. So we ended up having Hawaiian Pizza for dinner. Quite satisfying except that I thought it was too cheesy for me. Still prefer to make my own pizza. :)

A popular pizza eatery in Hanoi, Al Fresco's.

Our dinner!

Today's really not quite an eventful day but the nice aroma of my bread rolls made my day. :)

Bleu de Thuy - International Food

Located along the "Food Street" in Hanoi (Tong Duy Tan), Bleu de Thuy is a quaint and cozy restaurant that serves international cuisine at affordable prices. The service there is quite good, with friendly English-speaking waitresses.

The entrance of the restaurant.

M and I went there today for lunch because we both wanted to "break" my usual Japanese food routine. I ordered a salmon salad while M had a set lunch (main course + dessert) which consisted of pan seared shrimps and chocolate panacotta.

The home-made bread. I couldn't resist a second helping!

My half-eaten salmon salad. Forgot abt the picture earlier as I was hungry. :)

M's chocolate panacotta.

We both liked the bread though I was definitely crazier over it than M. It just tasted so soft and crusty! I enjoyed my salad too as the grilled salmon complemented well with the salad veggies. However, my favourite salad was still the mushroom salad (with duck meat and soba) which I didn't order today because I wanted to try something new. M's pan seared shrimps were quite disappointing too. The portion was small and he found it so-so. But he enjoyed the dessert which I found a little too sweet for my liking.

The salad cost VND 70,000 (around SGD 7) while the set lunch was VND 96,000 (ard SGD 9.60). Overall, I would say that it is value-for-$ though for guys, the portions could be a little too small.

Bleu de Thuy
Bar-Cafe-Restaurant
28, Tong Duy Tan, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Tel: 04-9285900