Waterfront Restaurant, Sydney

Was away for a week to attend a conference in Sydney, Australia. Took the Singapore Airlines SQ A380 direct night flight to Sydney and was whizzed off there in approximately 8 hours. What a great way to fly! Onboard the SQ A380 flight, I was already served like a king with sweet delights like two dosages of delicious magnolia magnum ice-cream, sumptuous dinner and breakfast! The inflight entertainment programme was also very interesting and definitely dated with the latest movies. I watched the “Mama Mia” (the latest summer movie by Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan) / musical by ABBA which was a musical movie about the story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular '70s group ABBA. I was greatly moved and definitely enjoyed every minute of the movie! Never knew Pierce Brosnan could sing!

Sydney was very sunny when I arrived. Had to go to the must-see scenic spots like: Sydney Opera House and Harbourbridge, and to take a few photos as momento.

Dining in Sydney was great and made of the freshest too! The most memorable one in my opinion was at Waterfront Restaurant, Circular Quay. We had a sumptuous feast – ordered the Waterfronts Seafood Platter (costing A$150) which are a succulent selection of lobster, crab, prawns, bugs, oysters, mussles, smoked salmon & market fresh fish served chilled and hot with hand cut fries, dipping sauces and salad... plus complementing the meal with the great white Australian wine! O what more could we ask for! We also ordered the Grilled Wild Barramundi Fish Fillets at A$35 which we thought was quite just average.

Here’s what memories are made of :

Waterfront Restaurant is at 27 Circular Quay West Sydney NSW 200027 Australia Tel : +61 2 9247 3666

Ah Balling Peanut Soup

Got to tell you about my favourite dessert stall - Ah Balling Peanut Soup at Golden Mile Hawker Centre! Ah Balling is the literal translation in Hokkien referring to this sweet dessert of "round shape rice dumplings" served in peanut soup! And if you are at the hawker centre, you probably wont miss this stall as there is persistently a queue for the dessert. Its located among an interesting row of stalls on Level 1 of the hawker Centre - just beside the German Waffles Stall, opposite an Italian pasta stall and diagonally opposite the "Ice Queen Ice-Cream Stall".

Recommended by several food guides and local newspaper, I think I know why its so. This delicious hot dessert consisting of glutinuous rice dumpling in peanut soup is painstakingly boiled for many hours by the stall owner. Its recipe was passed down from family generations with its business established since 1947. No wonder its so yummy sweet and soft! The chewy glutinuous round rice dumplings comes in many different fillings e.g. sesame, peanut, red bean etc and they are all specially made by them. The peanut filling is the recommended one and I understand its specially made using ingredients like sugar and peanuts. The dessert costs S$1.50 per bowl with 4 rice dumplings and only $2 for 6 dumplings. Reasonable and delicious.

If you still have space for some delicious desserts, dont forget to try the Ah Balling Peanut Soup at Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 #01-75 Beach Road Singapore 199583.