5 day 4 nights in Belgium

When you think of holiday destinations in Europe, popular cities that springs to mind are like London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Rome... how about Belgium and its lovely cities? This was the exact train of thoughts I had when I planned my recent trip. The original plan was Paris and Barcelona but I did a last minute switch to Belgium after getting tempted by the sights and food on some travel guides. As a result, I spent 5 days and 4 nights in Belgium where I visited 4 Belgian cities.

Brussels

        

There's really nothing much that intrigues me in Brussels besides eating. Located at the city centre near the Grand Place, there're rows and rows of chocolate shops. Most of them offers free tasting so you can pig your fill before buying some chocolate souvenirs home. The range of chocolates in Brussels totally blew me away. Every shop I go, I almost wished I could buy the entire shop and I don't even like candies.

Another must eat in Brussels is Belgian Waffles. There's long streaks of queue for all the good ones so be mentally prepared to wait. Maison Dandoy comes highly recommended prior to my trip. Despite promising myself I'll try it, I gave up queuing. The waffle in the photo is a Brussels waffle with dark chocolate sauce from The Waffle Factory. They also have a queue but thankfully it moves much faster.

Aside from the snacks, there's the famous Manneken Pis which is a classic must take monument. It's impossible to not know who he is. That guy is literally everywhere ranging from chocolate models to even the peeing on the sink where I wash my hands at one of the restaurants I dined at. What is less known however is Zinneke Pis and Jeanneke Pis. These two are Manneken Pis's dog and sister. You might want to take photos with all 3 monuments if you need a walking activity after all the eating. There's also a comic strip wall nearby but it's so pathetic, I don't want to feature it here. 

Another traditional Belgian food is meatballs and I encourage you to try some. We went to Balls & Glory to check out their meatballs. I don't take beef and most meatballs are made up of veal and pork. Balls & Glory serves up meatballs of other flavours like pork, chicken and vegetarian. They are really good and worth the calories! I enjoyed the sides very much too! 

We also discovered an unexpected pasta place. Vain Pot's tip to finding good food is to see if they have 4.5 stars or more on TripAdvisor. On this instance, it worked excellently. Pasta Divina is the best thing that happened on my holiday. The pastas are so heavenly, I am filled with deepest regret I didn't have time to eat them again. This is the first time I felt an immense urge to ask the table next to me to let me take a bite of their pasta because I simply wanted to try the entire menu. 

Mussels, another classic Belgian food not to be missed. To try authentic Belgian mussels with fries, it's best to visit Le Zinneke where they serve up mussels cooked in as many different ways as you can possibly imagine. I'd like to warn Asians though that they seem a bit discriminatory. We felt that the service for us was terribly slow and other tables were served multiple times before we had any service at all. I'm glad to try the mussels once but I don't want to go back and get frustrated again. 

Ghent

Ghent is known as Belgium's best kept secret. It's a historic city with lots of architectural beauty from the commissioned murals that totally left me mesmerized. I totally enjoyed my day there and it's my favourite place in Belgium. Walking around Ghent has a calming effect on the mind because everything just looks so pretty and ancient. 

While at Ghent, you can visit the Gravensteen Castle which carries a dark history. Personally, I think castles are better appreciated outside rather than the inside. If you have been to castles before, you might wish to skip going in. If not, it's pretty worth the money. 

I'll strongly recommend the canal boat ride while in Ghent. This is especially the case if you love taking photos as some sights are out of reach without the boat ride. I've been on a couple of boat rides this trip and I must attest that the ride in Ghent is the most value for money. The sights are spectacular and taking in the multitude of historic architecture can totally take your mind away from stress. 

As we were in Ghent on a Sunday, most shops are closed. Gust however is a highly rated brunch place that lives up to their hype. The brunch menu we tried was fantastic! Worth the visit when in Ghent. 

Brugge

Brugge is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Belgium. It is known for its preserved buildings and cobbled streets. Brugge attained most of its touristy fame from being listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site. Walking around the city, you can get really awed by the amazing preservation of the ancient buildings. People still live in such houses today??? 

I was quite determined to try as much local delights of Belgium as possible. The lunch in Brugge took place in a restaurant serving authentic Belgian delicacies. I'm glad I tried the eel in green sauce where the eel tasted so fresh and tender, and I was impressed the kitchen came out and gave us more eel half way into the meal. Wow! The mussels and fritez were equally awesome. You can taste the freshness of the mussels and it's not rubbery to eat at all. I highly recommend Restaurant De Koeste when in Brugge to try their local dishes. 

Another fantastic place I dined at was De Bocarme. It has a unique underground cellar decorated setting and the restaurant is family owned. I was impressed by the impeccable service despite they only have 3 people operating the place. It's a wonderful ambiance and you can see each table enjoying their food and wine. As it was Vain Pot's birthday, I'm very impressed with the management for successfully producing a cake with sparkles at my early morning request. Seriously, finding a birthday cake in Belgium is probably the biggest challenge this trip...

Personally, I found Brugge a little too touristy for my liking. There's so many souvenir shops, I lost count how many we entered. Besides that, the cobblestone streets and standard historic design of their buildings left me bored later in the day. One thing you can try is the horse carriage tours. They look fun and it's probably worth the memory. Having said that, I couldn't take the stench of the horses so had to pass. 

Dinant

Dinant is another under discovered city of Belgium. The number of tourists visiting is really a handful and it's such a pleasure posing for nice photography without masses of people in your photo. Really, it's quite a joy to be here for photography aficionados like me. 

One of the attraction in Dinant is the Grotte La Merveilleuse. The cave tour was quite satisfying as it was my first ever visit to a cave. That said, the guide had limited English so you can only catch key words and the bulk of the tour was conducted in French. Dinant is located in a French speaking Belgian community. I simply busied myself snapping photos. By the way, the end of the cave requires you to climb 150 steps to exit so be in comfortable shoes for your own sake.

Aside from the caves, there's the Charles De Gaulle Bridge where saxophones of different designs and nationality line the bridge. Dinant is also known as the Saxophone City because it's the hometown to the inventor of the Saxophone. 

Another key highlight of Dinant is the Citadel of Dinant where I took the shortest cable car ride up. You can also climb 420 steps up the stairs if you want some exercise. The view here is taken on top the Citadel where you get to tour its historic war site. 

On top of the wonderful time I had taking photos, I would like to highlight my particular joy in my Speculoos ice cream cone. I simply love the sweetness of this flavour and associate speculoos with Belgium so much. It's such a fattening indulgence but I don't care, it's happy food. You can buy it from Leonidas in Dinant. The food choices in Dinant is truly limited and that's the biggest drawback of the place so please plan your meals outside of Dinant. 

I found Dinant to be a beautiful quiet town that really satisfy a one day trip. I went camera crazy there and so did Vain Pot. She got plentiful of display photos there. 

To sum up my 5 day 4 nights Belgium trip, it's more than satisfying. I enjoyed my stay and still miss the pastas at Pasta Divina. I even joked to Vain Pot we could make another day trip to Brussels simply to satisfy our food cravings and shop for chocolate. Ghent is my favourite place and I highly recommend everyone who visits Belgium to take a peek at this beautiful city. I really would love to be back during Christmas 😍... 

Spagtacular - Newly Opened Fusion Pasta in Clark Quay

I visited Spagtacular with a bunch of friends at the invitation of a friend who just opened his pasta cafe.

Spagtacular takes the spot of the now defunct Babao Desserts. They carry a edgy concept with interesting graffiti wall designs and other artworks as part of their decor.

As of now, Spagtacular is in a soft launch and I give credit to their gradual improvements. I've actually dropped by unannounced during their pre-soft launch and the food back then left me hungry and unsatisfied.

You can imagine how impressed I was with their version 2 dishes on my second visit. Talking to the founders, you will learn that the team is figuring out their way as they run the business. What's note-worthy is how open they are to feedback and the food quality really improved tremendously.

Their full menu isn't out, this visit, the light bites we managed to try were the Mini Har Cheong Gai ($10) and Truffle Fries ($10). Personally, I feel there's very little wrong a competent cafe can go with light bites. The ones at Spagtacular definitely were acceptable. If anything, I hope the final menu has a wider selection.

Spagtacular carries classics like the Traditional Carbonara ($10) and Classic Bolognese ($13). Both were adequately flavoured if you mix well before dining. The pastas were cooked till al dente and taste favours those who like their food very heavy and robust in flavour. It worked very well for me.

Here's a glimpse of some of the menu you would be potentially selecting:

Chilli Crab ($15)

Their chilli crab is really suitable for people who loves their chilli fiery spicy. Among my experience having chilli crab pasta, this is one packs a lot more fire than the usual sweet spicy chilli crab sauce most cafe leans towards. Another thumbs up I noted was the generous portion and ingredients which is considered a big steal at their price point.

Classic Al Funghi ($10)

This pasta is another steal given how value for money it is. Unlike some of the plain pastas where you need to top up cash to add ingredients, this one packs a lot of mushroom and the mushroom creaminess is well infused into the pasta. I predict this dish will be a hit among mushroom lovers.

Mummy's Assam ($15)

The first thing I noticed about the Mummy's Assam is the gigantic slab of fish that comes with the dish. There's no mention of it in the copywriting of the menu and the only indication of it was the small fish graphic on the side. I felt this is selling the dish short. The Mummy's Assam will be another hit among spicy lovers when it's adequately tossed before dining. The flavour packed sauce usually sinks to the bottom. I rarely see assam pastas in Singapore, so this will be one of the dishes I'll order if I want to try something new.

Pasta El Pesto ($10)

I was just mentioning about dishes you only get it plain unless you pay more. This is one of them. The flavouring of good pesto is difficult to achieve but I'm impressed they got the flavours pretty on point. Again, I stress to toss well if not you'll be left feeling unimpressed with the initial bites and craving for more towards the end. This is the kind of awesome meals someone on budget working in CBD would like when they join their friends at cafes. Unless.. your friends are the kind that split the bill equally regardless of what you eat!

The Golden Egg ($12)

My personal favourite for the day is the salted egg pasta with lots of chunky chicken and a fried chicken skin. To begin with, salted egg pastas are difficult to find. To find one where the flavours are so robust is even harder. Yes, the salted egg sauce is so generous every bite sends alarm bells to my cholesterol levels. Food indulgence wise, this is heaven for salted egg lovers. The ingredients are very generous and for $12 in Clark Quay, it makes you wonder how much other cafes are marking up.

As a whole, my second visit to Spagtacular has left me very excited about their full launch. This according to the co-founder is happening next month. I'm so looking forward to their full spectrum of menu given the promising pastas I've tried. Oh visitors can also take group, individual, instagram worthy display pic with their artistic photo wall display. It's designed by art students and even the unpainted corners at the side of some walls are apparently art.

Spagtacular
54 South Bridge Road, 058685

(This is not a sponsored article, I paid for my food!)

10 Most Instagrammable Shots To Take In London

Every trip I make to London, I get questioned why do you like London so much? Essentially, after being like a tourist for the first trip, London resembles Singapore a lot apart from the weather. I compiled 10 instagrammable places you can actually visit to make your holiday less touristy, more differentiated and definitely memorable.

1. Brown Hart Gardens

Brown Hart Gardens is actually a residential estate and there's nothing much you can do there except take this photo. It's one of my favourite photos in my collection because of its picturesque appearance. You know for sure you are in Europe with this postcard-like image. If you are sporting enough, you can convert your photos into post cards and write cute letters to your friends as a souvenir when you return from holiday.

2. Cereal Killer Cafe

This photo was taken before I bought my Olympus PEN 8 that's why the photo quality will look inferior to the rest of the images. Cereal Killer Cafe has beds in their cafe. How often do you find beds in cafes? The cereals at the cafe are worth trying out too. The article on the food is here.

3. Elan Cafe

Elan Cafe has more than one flower wall which you can take cool photos with. This heart shape wall is just one of them. They have one more flower wall inside with 2 seats available with the words "Coffee is the new black" but there'll be a long line to dine at that table. One more thing to note, the food is awesome but the service will make you feel like they want you gone in a hurry. You have been warned! *For a higher chance to dine in peace, go on weekdays especially if you are on holiday.

4. Leake Street Tunnel 

Not sure if you would consider Leake Street Tunnel to be a tourist attraction. As of now, it's still largely under discovered. Leake Street Tunnel is basically an enclosed tunnel with lots of graffiti art on their walls. The artwork is really impressive and nice. You can take poser shots, jump shots or simply admire the extensive artwork that covers the entire tunnel.

5. Little Venice

Walking along little Venice of London (Maida Vale) is truly enjoyable. The view by the riverside with beautiful boats is somewhat therapeutic. Ever since I started to take more interest in photography, the number of nice photos I can take from this little place can be really extensive too. One thing to note, the sun can be rather annoying in the summer especially when you wish to take evening shots and the sun refuse to set.

6. National History Museum 

This is a tourist attraction. I included it in because of the amazing architecture the National History Museum has. The whale fossil hanging from the ceiling has been a talking point between people who have visited this place. It's a classic. I'm not an arts person and I feel this photo can tempt me to come here simply because of its majestic appearance. 

7. Neal's Yard

There's really little you can do at Neal's Yard unless you work at Covent Garden and want to run some errands or grab a quick bite. It's a hidden street amidst the bustling offices in London's working district. Neal's Yard is extremely colourful, hipster and it breathes life into the boring solemn Covent Garden streets. I've got to say though, only make the trip down if you love taking photos.

8. Regent Street

Regent Street is also considered a tourist attraction because it's the Orchard Road of London. It's nevertheless worthy to join my photo collection because the street decoration always changes. I like this particular photo a lot with all the British flags laid out to commemorate events like their National Day, the Queen's Birthday, Prince Harry's Wedding, etc. It wasn't like that when I was here in December where the streets were alight with wonderful Christmas Decorations. 

9. Saint Aymes

The picture says it all. People come here to take beautiful photos for their grams. The purple wisteria decorated at the shop front is a clear winner among cafe-goers. People queue to sit at the front 3 tables outside the cafe and take display photos. The cafe even has to put a time limit for those sitting on these tables. I wrote an article of the food here. *It's best to visit on a weekday afternoon, I managed to grab a table outside without waiting even though I only had an hour to sit. 

10. Sketch

You are staring at probably the most aesthetically pleasing toilet ever. Stepping into the washroom of Sketch, I got somewhat disoriented. It felt like you got transported to some fantasy world dazzled with egg-shaped cubicles and luminated lights. It's really weird to be in a toilet where you can't find the sink but you see chambermaids (with full attire) walking around and lots of people holding up cameras everywhere. Sketch serves fantastic afternoon tea so not to worry, the toilet is really the icing on the cake.  

*I'm still more into food than scenery but I feel it's important to share awesome holiday venues and enjoyable experiences. For a more regular update of my experiences, visit my Instagram.  

Platform 1094 - Singapore's Best Themed Cafe

Whenever we think about thematic cafes in Singapore, Kumoya and Super Heroes cafe comes to my mind. Until recently, these are the two better renditions of themed cafes in Singapore that I've tried. From my own observation, the two common gripes I have with these cafes is either the food quality (premium cafe prices for ordinary substandard food) or the fact that the food isn't sufficiently thematic. 

The visit to Platform 1094 was put off for the longest time due to horror stories of the food quality from friends who have been there. I only decided to take a risk on them because of a friend's birthday and she's a real sucker for Harry Potter. As the name might already given away some hints, Platform 1094 (not Platform 9 3/4), is a wizardry, Harry Potter inspired themed cafe. The founders from Fresh Fruit Labs have proven to be really experts at creating their own version of themed cafes. You can pose for classic Harry Potter Hogwarts robe photos complete with brooms, wands and wizard hats. 

The biggest draw that brought us here was the newly introduced Harry Potter inspired Afternoon Tea set for 2 ($55). The menu includes savouries like bewitching tuna sandwich, potato slyther in bacon with cheddar cheese, avocado salmon weasled with chicken floss on edible magical ladle and turkey bacon quidditch quiche. The sweets menu has rock cake served with cauldron brewed cream cheese dip, owl hootdoo macarons, pumpkin tartlets, rasp-berrypotter & mango-nagail mousse and chocolate frogs. 

The meal even comes with 2 glasses of bubbling green frogs flexi (green tea) and a wand that can change the lights of the accompanying candles when waved. The food is definitely without complaints and thankfully a far cry from the horror stories I've heard. My personal favourite is the owl hootdoo macarons. 

I visited the cafe with 3 very hungry people whose hobby is over-ordering so we also had the opportunity to try some pastas and sides. The crab meat aglio olio $17 was very competently prepared. The pasta had a chilli crab flavoured taste and I enjoyed the tangy spiciness. Definitely above average. 

Another dish we tried was the confit chicken breast with pesto sauce spaghetti ($16). The chicken was tender but a little bit on the dryer side. I found the pesto spaghetti to be decent. 

The truffle fries ($12) was also on point. The truffle aroma and flavour was very distinct, it's probably heaven for those who loves truffle. 

I got to say we had a lot of fun dining at Platform 1094. My Harry Potter fan friend probably had a very memorable birthday. We took lots of dressed up photos, videos of her casting spells with the wand and making the green frogs flexi drink bubble. It's the complete experience a good thematic cafe should have. I'm all for bringing my Harry Potter friends here to impress them. You maximize the experience if you are sporting enough to relive your childhood by dressing up and play. 

Platform 1094

1094 Serangoon Road, S328192