A Yummy Singapore Sunrise…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

After all the excitement in The Netherlands with World Cup Football, I can now return you to your virtual tour of the calmer shores of Singapore.

I could use a virtual holiday myself now as the heart stopping suspense of our matches has worn us all down.

This particular morning it was very humid indeed, the jet jag factor had us out of bed very early in the morning still,  but on the plus side ,we had the advantage of being able to breakfast quietly on the restaurant balcony at dawn, watching the sun rise over the palm trees.

It’s at least 30 C so initially I had trouble with the air being so heavy and damp that the camera lens kept slowly fogging up …

…moving to a table that was further under the balcony canopy took care of most of that and the air got less misty as the sun gained height.

We meet our Singaporean friend again  soonest, so a quick tropical breakfast is in order because she has plans to take us to some more amazing places today…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Siloso Beach Pizzeria menu, the tropical taste of georgous…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You might not have thought it from the last two posts,
http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/new-35/

and

http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/new-40/

but Pizza wasn’t the only thing on the menu here…

It would be remiss of me not to show you the rest of the meal….

Darn it if I can’t find my little notebook with my notes of what’s what… but never mind.. it was yummy…

Reviewing these places when we travel as a service to others of what to expect (and a reminder to us for future trips)  is a tough job, sigh, but I suppose someone’s gotta do it LOL.

Don’t just take my word for it, take a look…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

It’s hot, and humid, so we all opt for a Cold One….  of Water that is…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Fed, watered and happy we wander down the beach back to our hotel… no parking problems, no transport issues, just a small walk and flop into bed, how excellent is that?

Very excellent indeed. Paying  extra to stay out here on Sentosa  is soooo worth it.

A Pizza tested by Fire and coming out a WINNER!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’m still taking photos of our pizza being made… there were too many to fit into yesterdays post:
http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/new-35/

Our location is: Siloso beach on Sentosa Island in Singapore.

In yesterdays post I covered the initial steps in preparing the pizza and in today’s post I’m looking at how you cook a pizza in a pizza oven. (something I’ve never seen up close before now)

At the pizzeria there is traditional style pizza oven, with a gas burner to keep the temperature up high. (Wow,wow, wow,  I wish I had one of these at home!!! Sadly my minuscule galley kitchen is already severely cramped, so dream on, dream on…)

Usually I could take or leave pizza, it’s really not my favourite meal at all, and I think that the old style mega thick crusts of my youth had something to do with that. As an adult I discovered thin crust pizza and started to enjoy pizza’s a bit more… but these? Well the  crust is really thin, in fact it bubbles up in places a bit like a pompadom  and whilst I don’t know what’s in the crust,  it tastes brilliant!

They burn something( I see only ash so I’m not certain what it was to start off with) inside and the bottom stone is clearly very hot, the pizza is put inside and almost instantly you can see bubbles starting to form in the crust from the heated stone underneath.

(getting photos of fire and the inside of the oven  is an art-form in itself, I’ll do my best, but the sun has set outside and the  camera flash is already working hard here, so please bear with me on the quality of the photos).

First start with a HOT pizza oven:

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In goes my pizza…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You see small bubbles starting to form in the crust within seconds…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

They get bigger…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The chef waits a short while and then carefully, every now and again he uses the shovel to turn the pizza around so that it keeps on the hottest part of the plate and cooks evenly.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The bubbles get bigger as it cooks, you can actually see the dough rising a cooking as you watch…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Then it is eased out of the oven to be cut up…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

And plated up…. YUM!!!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The taller chef in the photo below is the one who offered to pay for my pizza out of his own pocket if I didn’t like it.. his money is safe, these pizza’s ROCK!!! Well done Gentlemen, My compliments!!! (this includes the third chef who’s in the photos series but who I didn’t get a portrait shot of).

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(They aren’t looking at the camera properly because my Singaporean friend is standing  to the left of me being very cheeky and she’s distracting them LOL)

Not only do I get a excellent pizza that I can highly recommend, and  an insight into how they are made, but I also get a very personal Singaporean customer experience, which all adds up to one thing: No future visit to Singapore will be complete without a visit here for a Pizza!!!!

Step-by-Step Pizza, Siloso Beach style…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

It’s getting late, we are hungry and we  settle ourselves into the beach restaurant in Siloso Beach on Singapore’s Sentosa Island. Now.. last time I was here (two years ago) we came to this same place on our last night and I had a kind of pizza that I’ve never had before  in my life.. wow it was good.

I adored the ultra thin crust, the topping was perfect and whilst my stomach called it quits at one, my taste buds wanted more,…. and more… and more.

If you knew how completely and utterly unexcited I can be at the mention of Pizza for dinner,  then yes, it is a shock, this was me saying “wow” to a pizza!

This trip, we already know that we would be coming back here, and not on the last day… so I read the menu and a frown appears… oops, just which of these did I order last time that I liked so much?? I thought I would remember the name, but agh, I don’t.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

My Singaporean friend and I go into the kitchen/bar area of the restaurant to have a chat to the chef.

There, we find not one, but several chefs, all friendly and helpful. One in particular tells me with a big smile that if he makes me something I don’t honestly love, he will personally pay for it out of his own pocket.. Wow ! I’m impressed!

My friend and I explain that we are Fanatic Foodies and get chatting about  the menu…

Naturally I have my camera in hand  as we chat and what happens next is that I get permission to photograph a step-by-step lesson on how our meal is being made.

Do I say No to an opportunity like that? …of course not!

For the following photos to make sense, you need to know that we went back the next day, at a sightly earlier time.

We chatted again to the staff, some of whom had been working the day before and were delighted that we were back so soon and I got a second set of shots of the same process… from a slightly different angle and with more daylight in the background.

I’ll  do this in several parts because there are too many photos for one thread…

I have taken the best shots of both nights and mixed them together to give you the best idea of the process.. so don’t freak out if the Chef in the picture keeps inextricably changing size, shape and face. I assure you that you aren’t loosing your mind LOL.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Too many photos for one thread… but never fear… more tomorrow !

Get a beachfull of this!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We decide to have dinner at one of the restaurants on the beach just a short distance from our hotel in Singapore, the Rasa Sentosa, on Sentosa Island.

We went there once last trip and they totally won me over by making a Pizza that I actually liked… no, more than that, .. that I actually loved.

All we have to do is to walk past the hotel pool, thought the garden, past a small parking area and voila, we are on Siloso Beach.

Plus points for us are:

The Restaurant is about 5 minutes walk away so Himself can have a beer or a glass of wine with the meal, we don’t have far to lug the kids back when they are tired later, there is a kid play area on the sand just meters from our table, and the Pizza’s are great!

Winning combination?   You bet!

It’s already quite late in the day as we head out… so the sun is starting to set, as in all places close to the equator, the sun sets very rapidly indeed, but of course the temperature stays around 33 C so no problems with being cold after dark here.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

There is a main building that houses the kitchen, bar and a small seating area, and then a large tented/umbrella area outside where most of the diners sit. (Question: How big does an umbrella have to get before it’s considered a tent?)

Outside that there are a few more tables and then on the sand some children’s outdoor play furniture… a playhouse, slide etc.

Last trip we were here it was busier, and we sat as close to the play area as possible, the sky was blue and there were some scattered clouds around.

All of a sudden a dark cloud passed over and a short but torrential tropical cloudburst ensued, leaving us laughingly  running for cover under the tent. So here’s a hint, if you ever get to visit her, watch out for small but threatening clouds, they rain down not cats and dogs, but swimming-pools of water.

Let’s have a look around…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A Picture tells a Thousand Words…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are still doing the tour around Fort Siloso in Singapore on Sentosa Island.

I love the history on display here and really wanted to carry on walking to the Yellow Zone  but the kids are getting past tired and one wants a nap and the other wants to play in the swimming pool back at the hotel.

Nap kid thinks again and decides that he wants the swimming pool option too.

I’m half way between being full of energy and being tired.. you know, when you go and go and go and you are sure that  you don’t feel tired at all, but the moment you stop it all catches up with you.

I have to remember that not only are we battling the unaccustomed heat but also the timezone difference since we are still running a bit on New Zealand time, so it’s probably best  not to try and push to get the Yellow Zone seen today.

We will be here again  in the future so plenty time to see Fort Siloso in smaller bits.

The tunnel complex is quite big and many sections have been fitted out so that you can get an idea of how the space was used, the kind of equipment they had and the events that took place here.

The history buff in me really likes this kind of thing… and if I were alone I think I would  happily push on, but  the rest of the family have voted and we can’t realistically see everything in one visit.

Here are a heap of photos from the Red and Blue Zones  that didn’t fit into my previous posts….

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

.. and again, our cute little trolley bus…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

For the Kids we find a Welcome and Unexpected…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

If you have kids and are looking around Fort Siloso  on Sentosa Island in Singapore, then it’s good to know where you can take a break to keep them happy.

There is a playground at the back of the complex and it’s ideal for recharging children’s batteries and letting them let off a little steam.

At the side of the Red Zone on the Fort Tour, there is a covered staircase that leads up the hill,  past several massive gun  placements and at the end, you will find the playground.

Since we have come further up the hill, we are now in the odd position of being level with the very top of Rasa Hotel on the other side of the hill.

The gray concrete in the photo is the back of the Rasa’s sign on to  top of the hotel, the white, the uppermost level of rooms on the back side of the hotel.

Siloso Beach is on the left hand side in the distance.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We stop for a while because the kids are loving a run around and checking out all the play equipment.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I wait under a shade shelter where a water fountain is very welcomingly  positioned and we can refill our water bottles. There are  ceiling fans in the small shelter too, a nice touch as it’s sweltering up here and we, the unacclimatized  are wilting a little.

The kids play for about 15 minutes before the heat becomes too much for them too… and  then we start back down the hill to wait for the trolley bus.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Checking out Sentosa’s Fort Siloso Blue Zone

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We’ve just left the Red Zone of Sentosa Island’s Fort Siloso.

Set at the far end of the island it was intended to be the primary point of Singapore’s defense and because of that,  the defensive  area now known as the “Blue Zone” was built.

The Blue Zone is a tunnel and gun tunnel complex that leads to the gun tower on the point.

Sadly there was a major flaw with the plan, it assumed that attack would come in from of the gun positions… from the sea.

Instead the attack came from behind, overland, and the massive guns positioned here were simply facing the wrong way to impede any advance, so Singapore was effectively left defenseless.

Today the guns and gun towers look out on container ships, queuing up to offload in the busy harbour port.

We take a look around…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A model of the hill and the gun tower…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The gun tower in person…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The British capitulate…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The positions are later reversed…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In the shop I buy some magnets for my collection…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

As we wait for the trolley bus…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Entering the Red Zone…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are busy doing the tour of Fort Siloso, on the island of Sentosa  in Singapore.

The little trolley bus lets us of at the Red Zone, where we enter an exhibition that describes how the events of the second world war unfolded.

Singapore, under it’s English colonial masters assumed that invasion could only come from the seas, so they set their guns facing southwards  and seawards, with disastrous results.

The Japanese instead marched along the Malaya Peninsula and invaded Singapore from the North, catching the British unawares and starting a long and painful three and a half year occupation.

Prisoners of war were kept on Sentosa, in cramped conditions, but conditions for the Singaporean people on the main island were  also harsh, often violent,  with ill treatment and strict rationing making life very difficult  indeed.

Ration cards for bread and rice are on display… along with numerous photos, artifacts and audio clips to give the viewer an idea of the feel of the events at the time.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The displays show us how the various battles in the region were fought , their impact on life in Singapore and how the balance of power changed with the bombing of Hiroshima and the eventual capitulation of the Japanese.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All Aboard the trolley bus for Singapore’s Sentosa’s Fort Siloso

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The best thing about being on Sentosa Island is that one of the local sights is almost literally right on our doorstep.

Fort Siloso is just a short bus journey away from our hotel, I have been there in 1988 but there has been a very dramatic overhaul and renovation of the  fort since then and I could barely find anything I recognizable now left over from those days.

Certainly the monorail is long gone,  and the old area with the big fountains, as is the man standing outside the tunnels with a massive python snake…  you could have your photo taken with the snake around your neck for a fee.

I declined the offer, did the tunnel tour, and when I came out I was again accosted by the snake man… but this time the price for the photo was half of what was quoted when I went in. I wasn’t tempted by the discount at all.

Thankfully no big snakes this tour…  back then I was visiting alone, this time I’m with my family and we are more intent on looking around the various exhibits, and later the tunnels.

This entire part of the island has been totally renovated, there are now information boards and shady places to wait for the little bus that takes you from zone to zone…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Wikipedia tells us:

“Fort Siloso (Chinese: 西乐索炮台) is the sole restored coastal gun battery from the twelve such batteries which made up “Fortress Singapore” at the start of World War II. “Siloso” comes from the word “Seloso”, a Filipino word meaning “jealous person.”

The Fort is situated on the resort island of Sentosa, restored as a museum and open to the public.”

We board the little trolley bus that takes you around the Red, Yellow and Blue zones that the fort has been divided up into, climb aboard and lets take a look around…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We get on the trolleybus and head out to see the various zones in more detail…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)