Kraze Burger

Just another mindless entry ...

We were craving for burger and fries over the weekend so we went in search for macdonalds. Funnily - we cant seem to find it along nathan road. I am sure there is but we were just too hungry and lazy to look anymore. All we could find were starbucks. In the end, we saw this - Kraze Burgers and went in to try it.

Kraze Burgers is from korea and its also avaliable in Singapore. But never see it ard before and so i googled it to find its location - its at International Plaza @ tanjong pagar. On the website, it says "gourmet fusion burgers with Kraze's special sauces matched with delicious salads, pastas.. including famous chili fries". Reads good doesnt it?

We tried their chef recommendations - the Kraze burger and the chili fries.

Picture looks good but we thought it was rather bland. The beef patty was too thin and weak in flavor. Boring...

Holiday Part 3 - LA

Nothing much to blog about LA. Just few pictures on the food we took.

True Food - a pretty, modern eatery located at Santa Monica. Instead of flowers at the tables, they used catus - i like tat idea and look. The food's good but its the ambience that's better.

Denny's . My must go place for good ole hearty american breakfast! Yumz!

PF Chang's a place to go for chinese food. Funny thing the whole plac is filled with ang mohs, even the waitresses and kitchen staff. We were the only handful asian customers ard.

That sums up our holiday !!

Holiday Part 2 - Vancouver

I dont remember much about Vancouver actually. Between Seattle & Vancouver, i seemed to remember seattle better. But looking thru the pictures, vancouver seemed more interesting

We took a 3hours plus train to Vancouver from Seattle early morning. Its a nice train ride with free wifi on board. If you intend to do the same too, remember to go to the train station early to get the tickets cuz its hassle - First, queue to get physical ticket, then join the second queue to get seat number. Therafter, join the third queue to check in the luggage. Also, bring breakfast cuz there's no cafes at the train station, only coin operated snack machines.

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Granville Island @ Vancouver! i love this place. Its basically a marketplace with fresh foods , eateries and buskers. Take the river taxi over to the 'island' which is like a 5 minutes leisurely ride.

Stanley Park - another major attraction. Its basically this huge nature reserve park. People over that side of the world seem to prefer hanging out at the parks /in nature rather than in malls. The city centre is pretty quiet on weekends and parks are filled with pple. We sighted racoons & squirrels - they are not scared of ppl it seems (there's tyre looking at the squirrel scurry by him)

While browsing at souvenir shops, i keep seeing figures (similar to the picture below on right). Was wondering what's that major attraction and must see. While strolling along stanely park, we finally chanced upon it. Aint much to look at.

Gastown is one of the historical places to visit in vancouver. Basically nice quaint shops lined the cobblestone streets. Quite a nice place to wander around with many souveneir shops. The famous steam clock (bottom right) is a major attraction in gastown - a small tower that emits steam. I would have missed if it not for the throng of crowd busy snapping pictures of it. Gastown is a few blocks away from the unsavory part of town, so be careful not to wander off tracks - we almost did but tyre spotted many dodgy looking pple and we u-turned.

The world trade center - the famous thing about this is the architecture - the building is modeled like a ship with sails.

Whistler moutains. This i enjoied the most in Vancouver. We took a day trip up to the moutains via the coach - took us about 2 hours to get there. Its beautiful & picturesque. Its a ski resort town actually but in the summertime, the slopes become a playground for cyclists. Its prettier and has better vibes than Zermatt in Switzerland.

We had some time to spare, in fact lots since we are not cycling, nor taking the cable car, so we took the ATV thingy - bascially, a 3 hours tour on the atv up into the moutains. Its pretty fun - we sighted a deer and bear.

Trip to vancouver's not complete without good food. We chanced upon this fantastic ramen shop along robson street (robson street is the main shopping street in city centre)

We also tried dim sum at Imperial - it was listed as one of the places to go for chinese food on the guidebook. Its was average only.

After seattle, we were craving very badly for chinese food and we went to Hon's. Tyre wanted chinese food so badly that he googled for this. Portions where huge and we finished them all!! Not bad for a hearty meal.

Next stop - LA!

Holiday Part 1 - Seattle

This time, just the two of us - me and tyre. Its been ages since we went on holiday together - just the two of us and no one else. The last "two of us" holiday was like 4years ago - we went to phuket and we were bored of each other by nightfall. Since then, we always holiday with friends.


Anyway, since this time, its just the two of us, for a change - and it was planned by tyre! all by tyre! finally after being together for years, he finally planned a holiday for us!


Here's the big travel plan - Seattle, Vancouver and LA! Yeah.. we love LA so much we are going back again! All in 2 weeks!


Here's Seattle first! First tots of Seattle - Sleepless in Seattle (the movie starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks) and Home of Starbucks!! Overall, Seattle's a really nice place to wander around. We opt to wander around by foot and not driving since we stayed in the city centre.

Pike Place Market - one of the Top 10 places to go in Seattle. Its basically a wet market but sooo bustling with locals, tourists, activities. The flowers sold there are soooo prettty and affordably priced - USD4 for a whole bunch. "they" say must look at the bronze pig while at pike market cuz its symbolic - what a let down, its located at a corner and quite forgettable.

The birthplace of Starbucks is located at Pike Place too! Its just a small shop that's quite easy to miss. Seattle's filled with busy Starbucks joints every other block or so in the city center! And its usually crowded!

Other sights around Seattle like the Seattle Center (top left picture - where u can pay to go up to see the view) , the Olympic Sculpture Park, the pier etc.

We were looking for breakfast and chanced upon this "The Crumpet Shop". Freshly baked ones - tasting somewhat like mufins except more moist. The first time i had crumpet was at HK cousin's place and so i wanted tyre to try it too. His order ham and egg was good but my egg with pesto is a waste of my calories intake.

THE CRAB POT! A MUST GO! its one of my world's best food! Super YUMZ! I drool as i type now. So good we had it twice! Its basically crabs, sausages, potatoes, corn, clams, mussels boiled with special spices, then served in a big pot!. Then they empty the pot onto the table for you to feast on! YUMZ! Dig out the crab meat, dip into melted butter and chew! slurp!!! Its pretty pricey @ about USD68++ for 2 pax but its definitely worth it! Its our best meal for the entire trip!

We took a 15-minute ferry ride to other side of seattle - Aki Beach. Its one of the recommended places to visit. We didnt like it much but it was overall relaxing and quite there. The cafe where we had lunch had interesting sugar sachets - with quotable quotes.

That's all for Seattle. I will always remember THE CRAB POT the most!

Next stop - Vancouver!

Switerland Part 6 - Zurich

Greetings from HK!

Haven logged in for quite a long while and I have so much to blog about stuffs in the past month. Then i realised i haven finished switzerland. So here's it - the last leg of the trip - Zurich.

Nothing much in Zurich other than its a nice pretty city, as like other parts of Switzerland - its all really pretty, nice and clean, but awfully expensive :( Some sights around Zurich...

And , during summertime, they have this flea mart in the heart of the city. I love basking in the bustle of flea mart. And i chanced upon this! - Vintage laces!!! *love love love* to my parents, its a waste of money but to me, its gem!!! Pretties!!!

Our last and most fun meal in Switzerland. Raclett and Fondue! Yumz.

That sums up our whole trip ! :D

Switzerland Part 5 - Lucerne

After 2days of fun in Milan, we returned to Zurichfor the night. The next morning, we were off to Lucerne - most tour groups would go there as part of the tour package.

Lucerne's also pretty and a nice walking city but a bit more crowded. One of the key highlights was to see the Water Tower which was used as a prison, archival library and treasury and also the Chapel Bridge that links it. The 14th century bridge was burnt down in 1993 (sigh.. why ppl do that so such a nice historical bridge?) and repoened in 1994.

Another attraction was the lion monument nested amongs the trees. Its very calming to be there and ppl hang around there with their sandwiches and drinks. The monument's in memory of 800 swiss meceneries who died during the french revolution in 1792. At a closer look, the lion's wounded with a blow of the lance carved in 1821.

Other sights around Lucerne...

Last and final place to explore - Zurich!

Milan!

Milan was like a last minute thing. Mum was chatting with her fren who then suggested we pop by milan since its a short 3 hr train ride away - and so we go!

In comparison to Switzerland, its dirtier, more crowded but cheaper. We did minimal sightseeing - only the Duomo Church (its grand!) and spent rest of the time wandering around shops :D

Switzerland Part 4 - Bern

Bern IS my favourite place to visit in Switzerland! I LOVE Bern!

Bern is the capital of Swiss Confederation and its considered one of the best preserved medieval cities and listed by UNESCO as one of the world's cultural treasures. I LOVE!

Its such a pretty place for walking and strolling along , exploring the alleys and quaint shops, taking a drink from the countless fountains to quench your thirst, great scenery of lakes , moutains and even bears!

I can go on and on about Bern but then i will never finish this post - so i shall let the picture do the talking! Enjoy!

Ooo.. i forgot a bit of interesting history about Bern -You will see bear everywhere - in statue, in flag and even alive in the Bear Pit. Legend has it that when Duke Berchtold V decided to build the city, he swore to name it after the first animal he brought back from th ehunt and the animal turned out to be a bear! Ooo... Dukes, medieval times, castles .. i LOVE!!

Next stop which i equally love - Milan!

Switzerland Part 3 - The Glacier Express

After staying a night in Zermatt, we left in the morning via The Glacier Express. I think this is considered one of the highlights of the trip - you will see pictures of it featured in tour guide and such.

Here's how the train looks like. Full glass top and botom. Its good cuz it gives a good view but its darn sunny - me and mummy we trying desperately to avoid the sun in vain.

Its abt a 7.5hrs trip if you stay the entire ride and its free with the switz pass but have to pay a fee to reserve the seats. There's also option to pay to have a 3 course meal on the train - which we paid for in advance too (if you didnt, you could still order food from the ala carte menu which is slightly more expensive but the food's better). Here's picture of our food - salad, main course & chocolate cake. Lucky i brought my own hard boil egg - most yumy.

We departed Zermatt for the last station @ St. Moritz. On hindsight, we shd have done the other way round. Anyway, the first hour of the trip was very novel and fun and exciting for us. I was busying snapping pictures, drinking my coffee, enjoying the scenery, and crafting away. After that, the ride was just pure torture for me - the ride was windy and long. There was simply nothing to do other than greenery greenery and more greenery.

Other highlights of the ride includes going up the moutains ( i think up to 2000m) and all we see is dark , stark snow covered land. Its pretty!

The finale was this bridge with three arches (nearer to St. Moritz side) - everyone was filled with anticipation just to get a good shot of the bridge. See everyone busy snapping away -but the train moved pretty fast and from the collective groans of the passengers, i think most/all did not get good shots. Anyway, its such a let down for me. I came with high expectations, endured and then all i got was a good 10secs view and anticiaption? Lousy i say.

Was so glad that the ride's over! Seperately, i took some pictures of cuppa tea pouches which i crafted during the trip - so pweeety! I love ! Maybe i should explore doing matching teapots for it.

Switzerland Part 2 - Zermatt

Was glad to have the Swiss pass. I think its about S$400+ for 5 day pass - gives unlimited train rides, local tram rides and also discounts to various attractions. So, quite value for money and must get - beats paying for each ride. The local tram rides costs at least S$3.50 per trip.

Zermatt

Its a pretty small village/town at the foot of the Matterhorn - nice cozy place with not accessible by cars only train.

Sights along the way from Geneva to Zermatt. The train system is sooo efficient and clean and nice. I like! if only the train system from singapore to malaysia was as good...

Arriving in Zermatt and immediatly checking into our apartment. The apartment had no reception, they merely left the keys on the tables with your name tagged to it. Self-service. Pple there must be really trusting to leave their keys lying around. We were so happy to see the kitchen for we can then have our own homecooked food!

Sights around Zermatt. Love the swiss house. So pretty and cottage like. If i had lots of money and land, i would want to build my house cottage style like these.

Purpose of going to zermatt's to see the Matterhorn - a higher peak or something like tat. And we can either view it from the village itself or take the tram up to like 2000m high to admire it at higher lands at same time experience the chiling weather up there. Due to the freezing weather, we stayed up there for only 15 minutes and took the next tram back down.

We then wandered around Zermatt. Its like dead town on Sunday. only a handful of shops are opened. Swiss ppl really value their leisure time. Good for them but bad for me and many other tourists who wanna shop. :P

Next stop: The Glacier Express

Switzerland Part 1

Back from the switzerland trip. First tots on the trip - expensive !!! everything was so expensive. a mac meal costs about S$15.

Anyway, due to lack of frens to 'document' the trip (aka no Lak to blog about it), i will write about it here so i can 'remember' it. Briefly: 2D Geneva, 1D Zermatt, 1D on Train, 1D Berne, 2DMilan, 1D Lucerne and 2D Geneva.

Geneva

We arrived in Zurich early morning and immediately took a 3hr train ride to Geneva. Train ride was comfy with push cart food service. A mere can of coke costs S$5! Anyway, lucky audrey brought snacks from Singapore and Mum got ikan bilis to munch throughout the trip.

Geneva's a pretty city and easy to walk around and felt a bit laid back. The streets are big enough, clean and not way too crowded. We planned to spend 2 days but turns out 1 full day should suffice. Due to the ample time we had, we had to 'ration our sightseeing' to make sure it lasted two days.

The key attractions includes that huge chair with broken leg (UN something), the huge water jet that goes up to 120+metre, the flower clock, 3statues @ the park, flea mart, old town and patek museum (my dad enjoied this the most). Wished i could write down the exact names of these places but i cant remember.

We also visted this church, St Chapelle ( i think that's the name), in the old town. Its a beautiful church and worth the money paying entrance fee to enter the towers - climb the narrow winding steps up where the view is breathtaking!

And 'they' say when in switzerland, the fondue is a must try. There are two type of fondue i learnt - cheese type with bread and oil type with meat (somewhat similar to our chinese steamboat except instead of soup, oil is used). And so we tried. Turned out to be our most expensive and unsatisfying meal for the entire trip. Bummer!

Next stop - Zermatt! The town without cars.

cuppa tea anyone?

experimented with a few new designs for the past few days and results were bad.. one failure after another. failure as in the completed craft was a pain to look at from the shape, size, fabrics etc.


i wanted to give up already ... take a break and start thinking of new designs when i return end of the month. and so i told myself.. ok , one last try, if it fails, it must be crafters block.. no problem.



and so... i have a success!!! Presenting the new cuppa tea zipper pouch!!!!!!

This time, instead of adding interface, i added a layer of soft cushioning to give it a nice soft touch. And added a 'teabag' at the zipper for additional realism - further stitched "tea" just in case its not so obvious.

its soooooo pwetttty!!!! i keep looking and admiring it. have shown it to my sample group - tyre, parents, brothers & sil and they all like it too!! YAY!!!!!

i will make this for the shoppe :D

Lak Cookout!

I love love love it when my frens cook for me/us. So far, there's tea who's the bbq expert, kay the chinese food expert and now, lak the ang moh food expert. me? i nominate myself as the steamboat expert :P

Lak's newfound interest's cooking and she's been cooking up a storm. Always see pictures of her foodies on her facebook and blog but never tasted it. So finally, last friday, we went over to hang out at her place with her foodies. There was pizza, wings and luncheon meat pasta. It was kinda rush for her to cook these cuz she had to work but by 9, we were all ready to dig in ! And my fave were the wings! They were marinated nicely and very juicy! Yumz!! i wanna eat the wings again!!!