Eating Around Sydney

Food Courts

Many departmental stores have modern and international food courts with various choices of food - most popular I have seen are "Oporto", "MacDonalds", "Subway", Asian food and European food. The stall that served South East Asian foods are usually dishes with rice, noodles and laksa - most of the stall holders speak Cantonese - mostly likely Malaysian Chinese.






Laksa is a Singapore dish - an equivalent of it comes from Malaysia and they called it "Curry Mee". The taste is about the same but with some ingredients that make this a unique Singapore dish. The most famous in Singapore is Katong Laksa - during lunch times, queue lined up waiting to savour this dish and they come from all over Singapore. Hailed as Singapore one of Singapore's national dish.


For Asian food, the ones that I had tasted at food courts in Sydney did not taste good - like Laksa, Wan ton noodles or Char Sui (BBQ pork) noodles. Can you imagine paying A$10.50 (about S$13.65) for Char Sui noodles at a food court for lunch which you can get for S$3.00 in Singapore? The noodles had bits of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots (ahem...rarely seen in authentic char sui noodle) and the BBQ pork was not succulent. If they had open a stall in Singapore - they won't last a month. That is why Singapore is a food paradise - good and affordable food and lots of variety.

But I heard the food court in Sydney Chinatown is good - I will visit it the next time I am in Sydney.


I will stick to Australian type of good - like sandwiches, rolls, burgers, fish and chips the next time. The fish and chips I tried was good much better than the ones I had tasted anywhere in Asia.

Restaurants I tried:-

Beppi's Ristorante @ 21 Yurong Street, East Sydney - $$$ - Italian cuisine - this restaurant dates back to 1956 and the ambiance does bring back memories of old Italy that you watch in movies. They have very attentive and knowledgeable waiters that brings the raw vegetables and sea food to the table and explain professionally so that you can make a good choice of your dish. I can't speak Italian so that really helps explain some of the entree on the menu.

Nick's Seafood Restaurant @ Cockle Bay Wharf - $$$$ - Seafood - the food is very good and fresh - worth a visit if you are going to taste authentic char-grilled Australian seafood.

Sydney in the Fall

G'day mate...It is a beautiful Autumn Sunday in Sydney - very cool at 20-24 degree Celsius. I took the taxi to the Hilton Sydney Hotel and that has always been my mode of transport in Australia - very expensive but I had no choice - and I think it is about 1 notch less expensive than taking a taxi in Tokyo within the whole Asia Pacific. About 45 minutes from Sydney airport to the City centre - it cost me A$37.30 (about S$48.49). The exhange rate to Singapore dollar is now S$ 1.30 to A$1.00. - it used to be 1:1, 3 years ago. About the same distance from my home to Singapore Changi airport cost me S$17.60. That is about 2.5 times - Wow!

Hotel: Hilton Sydney Hotel @ 488 George Street

Background: I have stayed here about 8 years ago - previously a tourist oriented hotel - quite old and run down.

My room

Hotel Review: Very modern renovated with 2 entrances from George Street and Pitt Street. The Lobby with high ceilings - staff very professional and the best part - I was upgraded to Executive Floor. Due to my early check-in, my room was not ready - so I had a good breakfast at the Executive Lounge on the 36th floor. The view from 36th floor was awesome especially on a clear sunny day. The only drawback I had during my stay is that my luggage took more than an 1hr to reach my room - upset cannot describe the mood I was in. Hilton Sydney apologized in a personal note with a bottle of wine - it was an unexpected gesture and this definitely put them in my good book. I will surely come back to his hotel again. The hotel decor uses a mix of mirrors, glass and lighting to make the room look very posh, cosy and comfortable.

In the evening, I went to Darling Harbour and watch the latest movie "300" at iMax theatre. "300" is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valour and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy. The screen at iMax theatre is huge, the 1st few minutes it took quite a while for me to get use to - after that the movie was fantastic but not recommend for kids especially all the blood and gore. The movie is rate M15+ but some idiots brought young children to watch - it is really not suitable.

Korea: Married Couples' Day

It is good that Korea is taking a constructive effort to celebrate marriage. May 21 has been designated as married couples' day. The Korean Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs on 24th April 2007 declared May 21 as the day to celebrate marriage - the root of family.

It states that "Modern Society is suffering from broken families because of divorce. It is important to celebrate marriages as it is a big part in not only an individual's life, but also in society.

The date is fixed by law and the date 21 stands for "two (2) become one (1)."

Beware: Identify Theft

For a frequent traveller rushing through crowded airports, hotels and other public places make ideal targets for ID thieves on the prowl for personal information.

"How do you prevent it from happening to you?" This is a growing problem and the bad news is that you really cannot prevent it but there are simple steps that you can take to minimize your risk and protect yourself when you are on the road.

Dump your debit card

You should never use a debit card when you travel, use credit card instead. Because debit card purchases are deducted from a checking account at the time they're made, which means that the cash has been siphoned out of your account before you are able to dispute fradulent charges.

Put your wallet on a diet

Never bring along your NRIC/Identity Card when you travel - your passport is good enough. In Singapore, your NRIC is used as identity in most places and thus it is important to keep it at home. Your driver's license would be necessary if you are intending to drive overseas and your identification needs to be verified.

Make copies, and keep them safe

If your wallet is stolen, you will need to get into action immediately. Travellers should photocopy the front and backs of their credit cards, driver's license, and passport, and leave them home with someone you trust. This is because with one phone call, you'll have all the information you need to start cancelling accounts. It is also wise not to bring so many credit cards in your wallet, and if only one is stolen you might not remember which one. Recommend to bring not more than four and keep one in your suit case so that you are able to pay for the hotel and get your yourself home.

Secure your data

You would not believe the amount of personal data that people carry around unsecured on their notebook, mobile phone or Blackberrys. You need to ensure that any sensitive information is password-protected and encrypted. Simply put, an intruder should not be able to get pass the opening screen without a password - that is the basic.

Look out when you log in

Travellers should use caution when logging into wireless networks, to verify that they are secure, and even then, to use them with caution. Some useful firewall and security softwares that Travellers should have on their notebook. If you are doing sensitive data transfer like on-line purchases or banking transactions ensure that the data transfer is encrypted using SSL (secure socket layer) - the small lock icon on the bottom right hand corner.

Take caution at the hotel

Hotels don's really run background checks on all employees, and a hotel room is a wonderful place to collect information. If you are leaving the room, ensure that your notebook is in the safe, along with your passport and all valuables. Travellers sometimes pay their bills and do their banking while they're on the road. You don't want financial statements and sensitive information getting into the wrong hands. This is also one reason I normally stay in good class hotels when I am on business - these hotels has a reputation to uphold and it's secure.

Watch what you are doing

Sometimes when we are travelling with colleaques and comparing notes - it is important to note that no sensitive information or comparing with the competitors be discussed. Business travellers are sometimes oblivious to their surroundings and they have got only business on their minds - thus they are much more vulnerable when distracted. It is important to get a business meeting room in the hotel for confidential discussion rather than in the open hotel foyer.

What to do when you suspect you are a victim of identity theft?

• Establish a fraud alert
• Call your respective country credit reporting agency and ask them to tag your account with a fraud alert. This will flag your file so that creditors must contact you before extending credit.
• Contact card issuers and bank. Explain your situation and then ask them to cancel your accounts and issue new cards with different account number.
• Call the policeNotify authorities in both your home city and the place where the theft occured. Sometimes, reporting to the police in the place where the theft occured can be difficult due to language barriers.

Resources:

Equifax

Identity Theft Resource Center

Identity Theft Prevention and Survival

Business Traveler magazine April 2007

Seoul Tower @ Nam San - One of place to vist

The Famous Seoul Tower

Some Korean words are similar to Mandarin language - Nam San in Korean means South Mountain - sounds similar to Mandarin as South Mountain.

  View from the cable car

At the cable car station on top of Namsan

Cherry Blossom in Seoul

Cherry Blossom in Seoul

This time of the year is the best season to visit Korea as the temperature is very nice at 15-28 degrees celsius and the Cherry blossoms are in full splendor. It was an awesome sight to behold.

Cherry blossoms lined the roads

Mr. Ko get blown by Cherry blossom wind

Korean Curry and Seeing Green

A Game of Badminton

During lunch, my friends at LG Group decided to have a game of badminton which was fine by me since I have not played it for quite a while. They are very good - playing it every day during lunch time. We spent about 30 minutes trashing the shuttlecock and had a good work out.


LG Canteen

Then we took a slow walk back to LG building to their canteen for lunch. The lunch at the canteen was very systematic - at the entrance we had to choose one of 2 menus for the day and then walk left for menu A OR right for menu B. Once I made my choice I walked up to the counter, queued for for lunch, took a tray, put all the small side dishes and then your choice main course.

Korean Curry

Today's menu choice was Korean Curry or some soupy dish - I chose the Korean curry and I was not disappointed - it tasted good. Walk up the cashier and hand-in my coupon given to me by my LG friends.

Green Tea Latte

I had it twice here in Seoul - once @ illy's and another @ a cafe called "my home". I very much like the taste. I love all kinds of tea and not much of a coffee drinker. The Green Tea latte is built just like a regular latte - with freshly steamed milk. They are flavored with matcha, which is powdered green tea, a splash of melon-flavored syrup. I think for some it is an acquired taste.

Bar-B-Que Korean style

Bul-Gal-Bi (Korean BBQ Beef ribs)

Everytime I visit Seoul, I must make my 'pilgrimage' to a Korean BBQ restaurant. This is one of my favourite dishes when I am in Seoul. I have discovered that I cannot find a similiar Korean type Bul-Gal-bi in Singapore or around Asia. On this trip, I had twice Korean BBQ for dinner.


Galbi literally means "rib" in Korean. Prepared typically from beef short ribs these succulent ribs are cut to cook fast without the toughness you'd get otherwise. It can be seasoned or unseasoned, and in the seasoned variety, the ribs are marinated in a sauce made from fruit juice (generally Asian pear juice), rice wine, soy sauce, garlic, sesame seed oil and sugar.


When cooked on a grill, the meat is usually cut in thin slices across the bones. This permits the marinade to penetrate the meat faster, allows the meat to cook more quickly, and makes it easier to eat the finished dish with chopsticks.

Galbi is generally served in restaurants known as "galbi houses", and the meat is cooked right at customers' tables on grills set in the tables. Generally I have noticed for Galbi because of the ribs, the waitress will cook the meat and then cut it up into small pieces to be easily picked up by the chopsticks. It is typically served with generous servings of lettuce, perilla, or other leafy vegetables used to wrap the meat, which is then dipped in ssamjang, a sauce made of fermented bean curd and red pepper paste. It is often accompanied by many side dishes called Banchan and the most popular is Kimchi. In Korea, galbi is also a popular picnic food, and many people have portable gas or charcoal stoves for cooking it outside.

Recommended restaurants:

• There is a very good Korea BBQ restaurant about 10 minutes walking distance from Renaissance Seoul Hotel. The beef is very fresh and noticeably not frozen like many cheaper Korean BBQ restaurant. Dinner for 3 persons cost about Won188,000 (about US$202) and it is expensive. $$$$
• Gecko Terrace (www.geckoterrace.com) - $$ - @ 128-5 Itaewon-dong - a nice pub cum restaurant - crowded mostly with non-Koreans

Seoul - Alcohol Consumption on the rise!

Koreans are drinking more alcohol - Today, it was reported that Koreans drank 80 million litres more alcoholic beverages last year compared to 2005. I know they are good drinkers but wow! 80 million litres - that is a lot of alcoholic beverages.

Each adult drank an aveage 80 bottles of beer, 72 bottles of soju and 1.7 bottles of whiskey according to the Korean National Tax Service. The volume of alcoholic beverages produced last year amounted to 3.16 billion litres, rising by 80 million liters from 2005. Also alcohol production in Korea is on the rise since 2002 except in 2005 when it fell by 92 million litres from the previous year.

It was stated that the increase in alcohol production is partly attributed to the rising number of female drinkers and the increasing number of beverages with low alcohol content being introduced to the market.

What is Soju?

Soju (소주) is an alcoholic beverage with origins in Korea. The main ingredient is rice, almost always in combination with other ingredients such as wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca (called dangmil in Korean). Soju is clear in color and typically varies in alcohol content from about 20% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common.



If you get a good bottle of Soju it taste very nice and sweet but the 'kick' will come after a number of shots. You don't realise that the alcohol content is around 20-40% much more than drinking beer. You need to pace yourself when drinking with the Koreans because Soju to them is like 'water', otherwise you will find yourself literally under the table. A good brand is Jinro brand of Soju. Most Koreans will knock it down straight either cold or warm.

Seoul - arriving on SQ latest plane

SQ new plane - The first thing that struck me when entering the cabin of Singapore Airlines SQ 16 to Seoul was the ultra freshness of the cabin - it gives you a good feeling that this plane is "youthful". Just like getting into your brand new car - you can smell the newness oozing out from under the seats. The spaciousness of this spanking new plane is just awesome. It's the latest Boeing 777-300ER and it was nice - Boeing calls it the largest long-range twin-engine jetliner. Even the bath rooms are well thought out, with full length mirrors and well placed lights to make it look posh.

The in flight entertainment is much better and more user friendly. I always look forward to the movies on board my flight because I do not have time to go to the movies with 3 kids in tow and work...nah. With the headsets on - I have my privacy and the latest movies to keep me occupied throughout the journey. I managed to squeeze two movies in the 5hrs+ flight to Seoul - James Bond "Casino Royale" and "The Pursuit of Happiness" - both worth the watch. The only drawback on this new plane is the starting up of the engine - it is so noisy but once in the air - it became quieter. It would be cool if SQ added noise reduction to the headsets because the screens are now bigger and sharper, better user interface but the noise from the engine is still too loud thus affecting the total joy of a complete in flight entertainment. You have to put the volume to maximum to achieve audibility.

The 'cattle' class seating is no longer like before. This plane economy class seats are much bigger and also had RJ45 and USB port. The USB port is meant for office productivity software to upload and edit - using word, presentation, spreadsheet and file sharing. I did not bother as I saw no real use for it. SQ improving on their in-flight entertainment is a real plus for me as I travel a lot and that really takes the boredom out. My friend flew from Germany to meet me in Seoul on Laufthansa airlines and they do not have individual screens - I would be bored to death.

Arrival at Incheon airport is a breeze - I have been through Seoul at least 40 times and everytime I use the Limosine bus services that takes me directly to my designated Hotel.

Hotel Review:

Hotel: Renaissance Seoul Hotel @ 676 Yeoksam-dong Gangnam-gu

Comments: I have stayed at this hotel many times and feel very comfortable and safe. A 5-star and a very good class business hotel that offers broadband internet access, provides me all the amenities. Around the hotel there is a 7-eleven store and many good restuarants. My business partners like it because it is very central and convenient. All the staff speaks good English and very helpful. The Limosine bus stops just outside the hotel.

Kuala Lumpur - Fatty Crab

The flight into KLIA was brief just 50 minutes from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur - the best part was the fast and efficient KLIA express train from the airport straight into KL Sentral - cost me RM$ 35. From Sentral I catched the taxi to Federal Hotel . I usually stayed at Hilton Kuala Lumpur or Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur - both are 5-star beautifully designed hotels. Both have porters that will take your lugguage from the Sentral train station to the reception.

Hotel Review:

Hotel: Federal Hotel @ 35 Jalan Bukit Bintang

Pros: The Federal Hotel is very near the main shopping area of Bukit Bintang.

Cons: The hotel building looks old and badly needs a renovation. The reception was impersonal and this would be my last stay ever at that hotel until the hotel renovate or upgrade - the only reason I stayed there was because of my customer was located at Jalan Pudu - just a 10 minutes walk to their office.

There is a musky and stale air in the room - the furnishings was just basic and old - no broadband internet access in the room - the wash basin was even cracked -luckily it was just for one night. Even my room card key was worn out and broken - much afraid that when I slot into the door I would not be able to pull the card key out. I think it was not wise to use plastic wrappings for the iron board - the iron board wrappings starts to melt when you place the iron on the ironing board. Most hotels I stayed in uses cloth as their iron board wrapping - it is very strange to use plastic.

Food Review: I like to try different cuisines each time I visit KL and it is always good food,

• Jade Garden Restaurant - $$ - located at Blue Boy Mansion @ Jalan Bukit Bintang -this is a herbal restaurant that serves real good chicken brew for all cures - their detailed menu describes each dishes and it's medicinal purposes. The main herbal dishes are served individually and cost about RM$ 9 and above.
• Pangkor Fish Head Curry - $$$ - located @ 59, SS 24/8, Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya - serves very delicious Fish head curry - we had a small dish of Fish Head curry about RM$ 26.
• Madam Kwan Restaurant - $$$ - located @ Suria KLCC - Peranakan food - very tasty and good - highly recommended
• House of Sundanese - $$$ - located @ Suria KLCC - Indonesian food - part of the same restaurant chain as in Singapore
• Bangsar Seagood restaurant - $$ - located @ 1 Bangsar, No 63, Jalan Ara, Bangsar Baru - Seagood - recommend to try the Butter Crab
  
• Fatty Crab Restaurant- $$ - Highly receommended - located @ Mines Resort - (Fatty Crab Restaurant has a branch also opposite Pangkor Fish Head Curry @ PJ) - the crabs are Malaysian local crabs and are small compared to Sri Lankan crabs which Singaporeans are used to - but they are deliciously cooked. Differently done called sweet, sour spicy crab. The bread used are not 'man tou' but toasted sliced bread which you can then dipped into the crab sauce.

malaysia food