Food for Thought: Dian Xiao Er

We have eaten here at Dian Xiao Er many times before.  Yet, we never seem to get tired of its signature dish - herbal roast duck.  It comes with different herbal flavours but our favourite is the Angelica which is known for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stagnation. The roast duck is done such that the skin is crisp while the meat remains tender.  As soon as you bite into a morsel of the duck meat, you will experience an explosion of herbal goodness.  This is what we keep coming back for.

Angelica Herbal Roast Duck

The last time we dined here was on Father's Day with our god-son Boon Yang and daughter-in-law, San Kyi. We settled for the Classic Menu which offered 6 dishes.  The first dish served was of course the Herbal Roast Duck.

Following this, came the stir-fried lotus roots with macadamia nuts.  This is a very well executed dish without being too greasy.  Some may find the dish too bland but its level of tastiness was just nice for us.  The dish is a masterful mixture of thinly sliced lotus roots, celery, roasted macadamia nuts, gingko nuts, water chestnut and fresh sweet pea pods.

Lotus Root Stir-fried with Macadamia Nuts

Another dish which we never fail to order whenever we dine here is the deep-fried silver cod fish. Again the fish is deep-fried to a light crisp but without the greasiness.  It is then drizzled with a very light superior soya sauce and topped with whole deep-fried cloves of garlic.  The fish sits on a bed of evenly cut scallions.  This dish scored very high marks with us.

Deep-fried Silver Cod Fish

The next dish was sauteed broccoli with scallops.  The scallops were lightly seared, leaving the shellfish light and fluffy; not overcooked as is normally the case in many places. I would have liked it better if the broccoli was blanched a little longer to give it a softer texture.

Sauteed Broccoli Scallops 

A dish that went down rather well with darling wife was the home-cooked chicken in Chinese wine. The flavour of ginger was over-powering, in my humble opinion, making it the perfect dish for ginger lovers.

Chicken in Chinese Wine

The last dish in the set menu was the pumpkin crabmeat soup.  I find the soup too thick and rich.  But those who go for the healthier choice, would love this dish.

Pumpkin crabmeat soup

The dining experience at Dian Xiao Er was, overall, good and satisfying.  They have managed to remain in the race in spite of many new comers in the scene mainly because the standard of food here has been consistently good
.

Dian Xiao Er
23 Serangoon Central
#02-09/10 Nex
Singapore 553083

Ambiance:    7/10
Service:         7/10
Food:             8.5/10
Pricing:         $$
Recommendation: Herbal Roast Duck (choice of 3 herbal flavours), Deep-fried Silver Cod Fish, Stir-fried lotus roots with macadamia nuts, 

People and Places: Villa Sentosa

To get to this tiny museum house, tucked in a corner of Kampong Morten, you have to cross the Kg Morten Bridge from the city side.  Once you have crossed to the other side of the river, make a left turn and your destination is on your right hand side.

Jambatan Kg Morten

This tiny museum is actually a 'lived in' traditional Malaysian house that showcases how a typical Malay family lives. A visit offers an interesting look back to a hundred years of history and a glimpse into what it was like to live as a (presumably wealthy) Malay, some 50 years ago.

The 'lived in' dapur or kitchen

The current owner of the house is the granddaughter of the original owner of the house. She (or one of the 5 occupants) will show you around the whole house, with great pride.  

The museum is replete with antique furniture, many of which resemble old peranakan pieces. 

We were pleasantly surprised by interesting old decorations and paraphenalia that popped out of unexpected corners throughout the house.  For me and darling wife, it was interesting to browse through all the ornaments and trinkets they have collected over the years, which are on display throughout the various rooms.

If you should visit this museum, don't forget to pose for photographs with the Malay bride and groom 'bersanding' chairs.  

For us, the highlight of the tour has to be hitting the antique gong three times and making a wish.   Ibrahim, a member of the family who showed us around, reminded us to visit again when our wishes were fulfilled.

While there is no admission fee to the museum, a small donation is solicited, at the end of the tour.


Villa Sentosa
Lorong Tun Mamat 1
Kampung Morten
Melaka 75300, Malaysia

People and Places: The Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route

The Murodo Snow Corridor is an internationally well known mountain sightseeing destination.The corridor road is flanked on both sides by massive walls of snow reaching up to 20 meters in height. It is a wondrous sight to behold!



But getting to the Snow Corridor is by no means, easy.  Private vehicle is banned from the roads between the two main connecting points on the route. All visitors will have to use a series of transportation mode including trolley buses, cable cars and ropeways.  And once you are on the corridor, there will be lots of walking too. So wear good and comfortable walking shoes preferably non-slip.

Once you arrive at the Murodo Station, be prepared to enter a jam-packed building. Everyone who is on the Alpine Route, gravitates here as it is the entry point for the snow corridor.  If it is any consolation, it offers all the amenities that you would expect including ticketing booths for several connections, cafes, takeaways, a full menu restaurant, viewing decks, toilet facilities etc. 

When we were there, we had to jostle with visitors from all over the world particularly tour groups  from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and China and queue patiently for designated photo spots . 

Murodo-daira has one of the heaviest snowfalls in the world.  The snow reaches approximately seven meters (23 ft) on average! In particular, the snow mantle at Otani, a five-minute walk from Murodo Station, sometimes gets more than 20 meters (65.6 ft) because of snowdrifts. 

The highest point of the Alpine Route is near to 3,000m overlooking the 'roof of Japan'.  The snow corridor's highest point is 2,390m with an average day time temperature of below 10. On the day we visited, the temperature was  -6 degree celsius.

From the main corridor road, there are side trekking trails that offer gorgeous view of the surrounding mountain ranges.

We took the short ride on the Highland Bus to Midagahara for a short stopover. The altitude is lower and we got to see more vegetation along its slopes.

Just as we got off the bus, it started snowing lightly for a brief moment.

And this is the road leading to the Migahadara Resort Hotel.

One last stroll through the Snow Corridor before heading back to Kurobe.

People and Places: The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route - Kurobe Dam

The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, completed in 1971, connects Shinano Omachi with Toyama.  The section between Ogizawa and Tateyama Station is closed to private vehicles but is well linked by various forms of transportation.  

We left Matsumoto early in the morning and headed to Ogizawa.  We arrived at Ogizawa to catch the first departure on the Kanden Tunnel Trolley Bus which was  to bring direct to Kurobe Dam.  The unique electrically powered trolley-bus is officially classified as a railway line, although it resembles more of a bus.  It took a mere 16 minutes to complete the 6.1km journey.

The Kanden Trolley Bus

Taken at Kurobe Dam early in the morning when we first arrived.

Kurobe Dam is Japan's largest dam.  It was an engineering feat considering that it's construction began in 1956 (post-war Japan).  A novel turned film Kurobe no Taiyō (The Sun of Kurobe), recounts the drama of the project's construction. The main attraction for us, however, were the views of the surrounding mountains and the lake formed by the dam.

From Kurobe, we took the Kurobe cable-car and changed at Kurobedaira to the Tateyama Ropeway to Daikanbo.  From here, the Tateyama Trolley Bus transported us to Murodo, entry way to the famous Murodo Snow Corridor.

The Kurobe Cable Car is the only underground cable car system in Japan.

Tateyama Ropeway

The cable car of the Tateyama Ropeway is one of the most unique in the world. This is the only cable car in Japan without pylons along its span. It is like a “moving observatory” giving a full panoramic view of the surrounding nature.  Even though the ride was short, we enjoyed the stunning view.

From Daikanbo we board the Tateyama Trolley Bus to Murodo, our destination for the day. This system boasts the highest altitude trolley bus in Japan, at 2450m. The bus runs inside a tunnel, piercing through the heart of Mt Tateyama (3015m). Like the Kanden Trolly Bus, it is powered by electricity, so the bus does not produce any exhaust fume and is environmentally friendly.  

Tateyama Trolley Bus

Food for Thought: Beng Thin Hoon Kee

Having eaten at several popular Hokkien restaurants in Singapore over the years, somehow, Beng Thin Hoon Kee remains my top favourite.

Its long history dates back many years to the last century.  It was founded by Mr Lim Yew Hoon, a migrant worker from China, way back in 1949.  The restaurant originally operated out of a shop house on Hokkien Street.  It relocated to their present premises in OCBC Centre in 1979. 

A meal at Beng Thin must most certainly begin with a serving of their signature Cold Duck Salad, which consists of thinly shredded duck with jellyfish placed atop a neat display of honey dew, cucumber, cantaloupe and mango strips. The waitress will toss the salad at the table after drizzling the mixture with a tangy honey plum sauce dressing.  It is a very refreshing appetizer.

Cold Duck Salad

Beng Thin's crispy roast chicken served with prawn crackers and cinnamon salt, is another favourite of mine. The skin is crispy while the meat inside, remains tender and moist. Those in my age group, will remember this dish as a 'must have' for wedding banquets in the 60s and 70s. 

Crispy Roast Chicken

Their sharks fins soup is also very popular with repeat customers, especially those who have been patronising the restaurant since its early days.  For the younger generation who support the 'stop killing sharks' movement, an alternative choice would be the fish maw with crabmeat soup.  Served in small individual porcelain bowls, you will be surprised at the amount of goodies that is packed in there. 

Fish Maw and Crabmeat Soup

Then there is the obligatory Hokkien dishes which would include the ever popular ngoh hiang hae chor (meat rolls with prawn balls), oyster omelette and kong bak pau, all of which are very good.  In fact, most food bloggers give their oyster omelette very high ratings.

Prawn Balls with Meat Rolls

For vegetables, my choice is always the mustard green in crabmeat sauce. The fresh leaves of the mustard green are cooked to just the right texture, making sure it is not too hard and crisp.  The best part about the sauce is that it has a generous amount of freshly picked crab meat (not the frozen stuff) in it.

Mustard Green in Crabmeat Sauce

On one of our visits there, the chef included in the set menu a novel dish - cod slices in a batter of salted egg yolk.  Thankfully, the salted egg batter didn't leave too heavy an after-taste.

Codfish Slices in Salted Egg Batter

Another one of the restaurant's signature dishes is its Hokkien Noodle in dark sauce. The chef uses a home-made stock made from prawn and lard.   No wonder the noodle has a very smooth texture that leaves you wanting more.  Many of their clients have vouched this to be the best Hokkien Noodle in any Singapore restaurant.

Fried Hokkien Mee

One can't possibly go wrong with a restaurant like Beng Thin Hoon Kee that has been patronised by families that span over more than two generations, in most cases.  For many Hokkien families, Beng Thin is a household name.


Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant
65 Chulia Street, #05-02 OCBC Centre
Singapore 049513

Ambiance:    6/10
Service:         8/10
Food:             8.5/10
Pricing:         $$
Recommendation: Cold Duck Salad, Fish Maw and Crabmeat Soup, Mustard Green in Crabmeat Sauce, Crispy Roast Chicken, Fried Hokkien Noodle