Guangzhou: High Speed Rail, Concert, MO, Michelin Cantonese and More

Worth the $100 billion in construction cost or not, the High Speed Rail did minimize much hassle for travelling from Hong Kong to nearby Chinese cities. Recently we spent a weekend in Guangzhou recently with our train ride taking slightly less than 2 hours from the city center of Hong Kong to the city center of Guangzhou (in the past a similar trip would have been twice as long with more stops in between)

Seroja

Before my trip to Singapore I asked a few friends what would be THE restaurant to visit if I got only one night free to eat - and they all pointed me to Seroja, the new restaurant which got its first Michelin star (plus a Green star) this summer. 

Burnt Ends Re-visited

It was definitely not the same Burnt Ends that we last visited when it's still in its old Chinatown location. What used to be a tight, cozy space with nothing but a long kitchen bar and hole-in-the-wall vibe has been converted into a much larger space slightly off the city center and completed with separate bar and dining areas in the hip neighborhood of Dempsey Hills converted from an old military barracks. 

My First Andaz Stay

Singapore was the first of a few short trips that I made this summer. I haven't been back for a long while (almost 10 years) so there's no surprise that everything has changed, something that I realized when I got out of Havelock MRT station (opened in 2018) right at the doorstep of my favorite Tiong Bahru Market one evening for some long overdue hawker center fare. But then I also found out sadly that one of my favorite Bak Kut Teh shops nearby is closing - so I guess not all changes are for the good. 

Jade at Fullerton

We made our way to the south side one evening to visit the new-ish Fullerton hotel with dinner at one of their restaurants. The setting of the property was perfect for a family staycation with ocean park and water world just steps away with unobstructed sea view featured in most of the guest rooms. Meanwhile, there were plenty of options available as far as food and beverages was concerned, including the Chinese restaurant Jade, the one we tried this time.