Asia, australia, Blogger, cake delivery singapore, Food, Photography

Cake Delivery Singapore: Build-Your-Own Cake

The quality of the cake is the first thing you notice when you indulge on the freshly baked cakes by Cake Delivery Singapore. Handcrafted by the skilled team of pastry chefs using the most premium ingredients, every delicious bite of the consistently delectable sweet treats will bound to delight you.

Ideal for small to large corporate events and sweet surprise to your loved ones, a perfect choice especially during this Covid-19 season, Cake Delivery Singapore creates a new level of indulgence with the most popular and best rated cake delivery service in Singapore.

Homemade with love, Cake Delivery Singapore bakes indulgent and mouthwatering cakes for all occasions, macarons, madeleines, muffins, tarts and more which you can select here.

But hey, with a wide range of flavours, choosing one is just half the fun! How about the idea to Build-Your-Own Cake by mixing and matching the flavours? For this delivery, we chose these options:

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– Mao Shan Wang Choco cake x2
– Choco fudge
– Choco ganache
– Chocolate rainbow
– Rainbow cake
– Bubblegum Cake x2
– Yuzu Osmanthus x2
– Carrot Cake
– PB&J Cake

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One of our favourite and made with natural and preservative-free food colourings, luffy rainbow sponge cake will make you feel like you’re munching on a cloud.
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All elegant, chic and festive. Aren’t we all looking forward to Christmas? This chocolate ganache cake is the ultimate in chocolate luxury and decadence, and it couldn’t be easier to make.

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This bold, bright party cake features layers of flavours sandwiched between fluffy bubblegum buttercream. Akin to the rainbow cake, it will just add more fun to your little ones!

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Sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, milk and more. Loving them but mind the hassle of baking and decorating? If you love good sprinkling of inspiration for your next celebration, just a click here will bring you to the right place to feel the festival vibe around the year – straight to your door. Only from Cake Delivery Singapore today!

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All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

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Covid-19, Diary of a Foodster, Eat, Food, Kids Activities, Parenting, Pizza Delivery Singapore, The Idea Box

Pizza Delivery Singapore Review – Handcrafted Pizzas For Delivery

It is all well known that Italy is the place where pizzas originated. Imagine savouring the traditional Italian-styled pizza that comes with toasty crust with charred spots, accompanied by fluffy dough that is moist and stretchy, not to mentioned toppings that are cooked through and piping hot, is just too tempting to reject.

Instead of dining out, how about getting it delivered right at your doorstep? Thanks to Pizza Delivery Singapore, an upscale fast-casual concept that serves up artisan-style pizzas and pastas made on demand, they have made dining experience more satisfying than ever.

 What is so convenient of Pizza Delivery SG is that you can get to choose your delivery date and preferred time slot. All we need to do is to make a selection, place an order, and make payment, piping hot pizzas will be delivered to us.

For our pizza indulgence, we picked the following selections:

Pizza

(1) Seafood Pizza | 9″ Medium Pizza | Thick Crust Pizza

As seafood is one of our favourite food, the seafood pizza certainly satisfy our taste buds. It comes with a combination of juicy prawns, tuna chunks, fresh tender squid and succulent scallops drenched in mozzarella cheese and extra virgin olive oil.

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(2) Mistocarne Pizza | 9″ Medium Pizza | Thick Crust Pizza

Mistocarne Pizza comes with toppings of pork pepperoni, beef bolognese and chicken breast, topped with extra virgin olive oil and a ton of mozzarella cheese.

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(3) La Amatriciana Pizza | 9″ Medium Pizza | Thick Crust Pizza

Next on our order is the La Amatriciana Pizza, which comes with tangy tomato sauce, streaky bacon, sliced yellow onions, red chilli, mozzarella cheese, and garnished with fresh parsley. It was fine for adults like us but do sound out to your kiddos if they do not consume chilli!

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(4) Hawaiian Pizza | 9″ Medium Pizza | Thick Crust Pizza

Needless to say, Hawaiian Pizza is one of our all-time favourite. Tender chicken ham slices, classic Italian tomato sauce, juicy chicken breast, capsicum peppers, mozzarella cheese and topped with succulent pineapple chunks would certainly warm the cockles of everyone’s heart!

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(5) Bolognese Pizza | 9″ Medium Pizza | Thick Crust Pizza

Cheese galore and Small M’s loving it 🙂

Spiced beef bolognese simmered in tang tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil and a ton of mozzarella cheese.

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(6) Beef Salami Pizza | 9″ Medium Pizza | Thick Crust Pizza

Beef Salami Pizza in tangy tomato sauce with briny olives, mozzarella cheese topped extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil. Meat lovers would be spoiled for choices.

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Photos of above pizzas are credited to Owari Photography

Traditional Italian Pasta

(1) Spaghetti Al Granchio

This is Big and Small M’s favourite. They are always hankering for tomato cream sauce pasta and this came at the best time. We like this order for the fact that the prawns are fresh and not too small and it was very filling for 2 kiddos to share with each other.

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(2) Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Chicken Alfredo Pasta below comes with a creamy pasta sauce with tender slices of lean protein, white wine, shittake mushrooms, grounded black pepper and finely chopped parsley.

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Side Dishes

(1) Crispy Chicken Wings

These crispy chicken wings are exactly crispy and not too oily. Packed with the perfect crunch and sticky sweetness, we savoured them all at one go!

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(2) Beefy Meatball | 8 Pieces

Juicy beefy meatballs baked in tangy Italian Arrabbiata sauce and topped with cheddar cheese.

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(3) Honey Mustard Prawn | 6 Pieces

Simple, delicious and fabulously crunchy. We would recommend honey mustard prawns to go together with any pizza order!

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Pizza Delivery is currently running a promotion of BUY 1 FREE 1 of any medium or large pizzas. Hey, it promises delivery within an hour and offers free delivery when you order above S$60. Planning for your next family meals? Try ordering from Pizza Delivery Singapore!

Pizza Delivery:

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Best in Singapore:

Facebook | Instagram | Website

Thank you Best in Singapore for the recommendation. You can check out their websiteFacebook and Instagram to find out what are the best products and services in Singapore.

Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next blog post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

China, Diary of a Foodster, Dongmen Food Street, Eat, Food, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, The Idea Box, Vacation

Shenzhen Travelogue – (Part 3): What to eat and explore in Dongmen Food Street

What a way to ring in the Lunar New Year with the outbreak of coronavirus, which was bit disheartening. However, we made it back to Singapore before the outbreak came a month later. Despite this, one can’t deny that Shenzhen, adjacent to Hong Kong on the Mainland China border, is an affordable, convenient and fun destination to travel.

Airbnb

Shenzhen’s imposing urban sprawl and cloud-piercing towers can make it an overwhelming destination at first look. Accommodation in Shenzhen is much cheaper than Guangzhou and this Airbnb stay came at half the cost. We were pleasantly surprised that we found this gem which was so much better than our stay in Guangzhou.

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Nevermind that we have yet to explore every corner of this loft apartment. Small M is definitely contented with the interiors.

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The local school is located next to our building and it is not surprising to hear the children clamouring during their breaks.

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The loft unit is expansive and does not compromise when it comes to comfort.

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Dongmen 东门 food street is the place to satisfy your food cravings

Dong Men (东门, which translates into East Gate) is a large labyrinth of shops selling not just clothings and apparels but also delectable food. If you are taking the train, alight at Laojie station and exit D.

Image Credit - Travel China Guide

You will pass by a shopping street before arriving at the food street.

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We were bombarded with lots of street food options the moment we stepped into this place.

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Eat to your heart’s desire. Shenzhen’s local cuisine in the form of beef sticks, stinky tofu, grilled squid, takoyaki, and, for the adventurous, shellfish.

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Pork blood jelly is abundantly popular in Chinese cooking. It was widely sold during our younger days but has since been banned in Singapore due to food hygiene.

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Grilled Skewered Squid stuffed with meat fillings.

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A popular street snack in Asia. Stinky tofu (chou do fu) that has been fermented and smells like it has gone bad. Do you dare to eat it?

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Everyone is no stranger to Taipei Shilin Night Market 士林夜市, one of the largest and most popular night markets in Taiwan. 蚵仔煎 oyster omelette is found here too.

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We know that Tiger Sugar 老虎堂 has garnered a large fanbase in Taiwan and Hong Kong. This is how Tiger Sugar get its name – the moment when dark brown sugar syrup interacts with the thick milk in the cup. Getting a hold of it in Shenzhen without waiting in a long queue is certainly a bonus!

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We are feeling peckish and these local seafood looked really appetising!

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This plate of flower crabs and big prawns cost about SGD$17.

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This tiny pizza store is probably Shenzhen’s best kept treasure. We were initially sceptical of the pizza’s quality as it only cost SGD$2.

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But the queue did not cease and we saw how the pizza were freshly made and baked in front of you.

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It comes with a solid-looking crust and glistening cheese and tastes great.

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We find ourselves back in the queue for a second order even before we finished eating the pizza!

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Also, we settled for this piping-hot grilled fish which this is sure to satisfy any fish-lovers cravings. It looked really damn good. The fish is first grilled before allowing it to poach over a fire in a rich broth alongside other ingredients such as vegetables and an assortment of other aromatics. A big NO to chilli for the kids.

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Hungry for more? You should visit Shenzhen one day!

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Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Black Sesame Paste, Canton Tower, Chimelong Paradise, China, Diary of a Foodster, Eat, Food, Katong Kids Inc, Photography, Playground, Ruxuan Seafood Congee, Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street

Guangzhou Travelogue – (Part 3): Chimelong Paradise, Canton Tower, Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street Black Sesame Paste and Ruxuan Seafood Congee

Wrapping up our stay in Guangzhou. Today we brought Big and Small M to Guangzhou Chimelong (长隆) Paradise which is one of Guangzhou’s top tourist attraction.

Chimelong Paradise

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We chose a weekday to avoid the crowd and it was a good move!

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The park wasn’t the scale of Disneyland and we thought the some of the rides were too kiddish for us. To maximise our time, we took repeated rides for some of the thrilling stations.

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And they had fun!

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We thought if you’re not hard up to visit an amusement park, probably you can give it a miss. It cost about SGD50 per pax which is quite pricey for the quality of the rides inside.

Guangzhou Chimelong Tourist Resort is mainly composed of Chimelong Paradise, the Xiangjiang Safari Park, the Water Park, the International Circus, the Crocopark, and the Golf Center.

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Canton Tower

The Canton Tower stands at the intersection of Guangzhou’s new urban central and the Pearl River scenery zone. It is the tallest TV tower in the world with a total height of 600m. The bubble tram on top of the tower is a must do as you will experience the best views of the city from there.

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Having a meal at Canton Tower!

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Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street

On our last night, we explored the other side of Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street and found one of the best black sesame paste (芝麻糊).

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Zhi ma hu is grounded black sesame seeds made into a sweet pasty dessert. Drawing onlookers.

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Customers can mix different flavours into the same bowl without charging extra price.

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The street is filled with many eateries…

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We love this place! The street is vibrant, cool and happening. Well worth a visit when in Guangzhou.

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Ruxuan Seafood Congee

This restaurant is famous for the seafood congee served in clay pot. Ruxuan is a Guangzhou based chain, and serves Cantonese congee and other Guangdong style dishes.

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We had one of the best meals here in Guangzhou before leaving for Shenzhen.

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Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Baiyun Mountain, Beijing Road, Blogger, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, China, Food, Growing Up, Guangzhou, Guangzhou Pearl River, Shopping, Singapore, Singapore blogs, Singapore Parent Blogger, Singapore Travel Blog, The Idea Box, Travel, Travel Blog, Vacation

Guangzhou Travelogue – (Part 2): Baima Clothing Wholesale Market, Beijing Road, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, Baiyun Mountain and Pearl River

Guangzhou is safe and suitable for family to travel. We visited the bustling Baima wholesale market and the items were, but not overly cheap.

Baima Clothing Wholesale Market

This wholesale market is located at the Guangzhou Railway Station. You will know it’s the right place when you see people lugging big plastic bags of clothing.

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The whole place was made up of various buildings/malls and basically they are selling clothings and accessories at wholesale prices.

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With such a big crowd, food stalls will inevitably exist to cater to the hunger pangs.

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We felt the weather at 22 degree was warm but still, the locals were out in their thick coats.

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Try shopping in the wholesale markets and find good bargains. New stock arrivals…a common sight.

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The prices are marked up when quoted to you so spend your time bargaining in your shopping spree.

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 Address: No.16, Zhannan Road, Yuexiu District; close to Guangzhou Railway Station
 Opening Hours: 8:30 – 17:30
 How to Get There:
1. Take metro line 2 and line 5, and get off at Guangzhou Railway Station.
2. Take bus Business Line 1, 2, 3 and bus line 5, 238, 290, 301a, 518, 543, Gaofeng Rapid line 25, Night 88, and get off at Zhannan Road Station. Then walk to the north for about 250 meters (260 yd).

Beijing Lu Pedestrian Street

Beijing Road is located in the center of Guangzhou and is probably the busiest street. The whole stretch is about 1.5km so can imagine there are so many attractions to explore.

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Not even peak hour but look at the crowd!

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Big and Small M trying out the Christmas special soft-serve.

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Eating is an important part of Chinese culture. The street foods sold by the operators were better than we expected. Not only they are clean, super yummy as well!

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But street food is the way to go and to satisfy the taste buds.

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1. Take metro line 6, and get off at Beijing Road Station. Leave from Exit B.
2. Take metro line 1 or line 2, and get off at Gongyuanqian Station, and leave from Exit D and then walk to east for about 800 meters (880 yd).
3. Take City Sightseeing Bus Ancient City Line and Xiguan Style Line and get off at Beijing Road Station.
4. Take bus line 10, 183, 190, 1, 219, 3, 541, 544, 66, B8, Night 1, Night 32, Night 36, Night 39, Night 69, Night 8, and get off at Beijing Road Intersection Station.

Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall or Chen Clan Academy is an academic temple in Guangzhou, China, built by the 72 Chen clans for their juniors’ accommodation and preparation for the imperial examinations in 1894 in Qing Dynasty.

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It is situated near to our Airbnb so it is a must-go attraction. We are not big fans of museums so didn’t spend much time there. However, the wood carvings and paintings are examples of super workmanship and certainly present an eye-opener to tourists.

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But it does offer good spots for photo-taking.

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Had our lunch here at this restaurant near to the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall.

 

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While the rest of the dishes were so-so, the steamed fish was fantastic.

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Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain

Baiyun Mountain (also known as “white cloud mountain”) offers spectacular views.

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You can either choose to walk/hike, take a buggy ride or cable car. We chose the latter.

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We spent half a day at Baiyun Mountain not because of enjoying ourselves but time wasted in taking the buggy rides at different points to reach the cable car station. You have to alight from the buggy at one point and queue up again to buy tickets to hop onto another buggy.

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Our advice is to take the cable car from the ground instead of going up the Baiyun Mountain to find the cable car station.

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Opposite the Baiyun Cableway is a food street.

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Freshly made Guangzhou-style rice rolls.

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Chee cheong fun or rice noodle roll. The stuffing of the salty rice noodle roll mainly includes pork, beef, shrimp meat and pork liver.

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A walk in the neighbourhood after our dinner.

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Guangzhou Pearl River

One can not be considered to have visited Guangzhou if he hasn’t cruised the scenic Pearl River. We wanted to try the river cruise where during the ride we could catch attractions such as Haiyin Bridge, Canton Tower and such but too bad we didn’t make it in time.

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But still, walking around the Pearl River wasn’t that bad either.

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What a beautiful Guangzhou.

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Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Blue Seal Ice Park, Eat, Education, Food, Japan, Katong Kids Inc, Kids Activities, Kokusaidori, Okinawa, Orion Happy Park, The Idea Box, Travel, Travel Blog, Traveler Wifi, Urasoe Park, Vacation, Wifi Router

Okinawa Travelogue – (Part 6): Urasoe Park, Blue Seal Ice Park, Orion Happy Park and Kokusaidori Yataimura

The Urasoe Park has arguably the longest slide in Okinawa. Every kid who visited the place will definitely fall in love with the amazing slide that takes about over a minute to complete.

Urasoe Park

The speed was limited by rollers and we wished we could go faster. But nevermind, the fun part could not be taken away.

It does look fun and thrilling. Something that we can’t find back at home but a word of warning that too long a slide could hurt the buttocks.

Just a short drive up from Urasoe Park is another playground where kids can indulge in flying foxes and long slide, again!

Fun, fun and endless fun…

Address: 115-1 Iso, Urasoe, Okinawa 901-2132, Japan

Blue Seal Ice Park

Blue Seal Ice Cream originates in Okinawa and has now branches all over Japan. Beside selling yummy delicious ice cream and Japanese style crepes, we discovered that it allows visitors to join in ice cream making workshop.

The blue seal ice park is where you can experience making your own original popsicle. It’s a popular tourist destination close to Naha-city.

Beside ice cream making, they also provide soft serve for us.

Address: Japan, 〒901-2300 Okinawa, Nakagami District, Kitanakagusuku, アワセ土地区画整理事業区域内4街区

Orion Happy Park

We don’t fancy beer but it is still a good experience to watch how delicious Orion beer is made at Orion Happy Park.

The tour is free and starts every 20 minutes. We get the chance to enter the beer production site to see the manufacturing process.

Beer tasting is part of the take away.

Address: 2 Chome-2-1 Agarie, Nago, Okinawa 905-0021, Japan

Kokusaidori Yataimura

Kokusaidori Yataimura, otherwise known as Kokusai Street Food Village, is the must-go-to place to taste Okinawa’s authentic dishes.

At our final evening in Naha, we walked down the main shopping street Kokusaidori. The Yatai Mura has a nice atmosphere at night with all the lights and lanterns.

Several food outlets offering not too pricy food selections. Array of kanji characters scrawled across chalkboard signs and restaurant menus.

Kokusai Street paved the way for the revitalization of Naha as a cosmopolitan blend of different cultures and backgrounds.

Any reasons to love Okinawa? We found plenty of them.

Address: 3 Chome-11-16,17 Makishi, Naha, Okinawa 900-0013, Japan

Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

China, Food, Growing Up, Harbin, Harbin Flood Control Memorial Tower 哈尔滨防洪纪念塔, Harbin Polar Land, Katong Kids Inc, Photography, Siberian Tiger Park, The Idea Box

Harbin Family Travel – What to do in Winter?

Our visit to Harbin, the renowned ‘Ice City’, located in the south of Heilongjiang Province. This city is favored with beautiful natural scenery and re-living the fond memories of our stay with little ones.

We tried the northeastern Chinese dish, otherwise known as Tie Guo Dun 铁锅顿 at Zhongyang Pedestian Street.

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The ingredients of the stew are simmered to its best in this deep metal pot.

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It will take a while but the finished product is rewarding.

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Zhongyang Pedestrian Street is about 1.5km long and is always filled with festive atmosphere all year round. This is the main street where tourists would never fail to check off their bucket list.

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Harbin means snow, and abundance of it!

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Everywhere is considered a playground for the kids!

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Street food at its best. Don’t forget to try the red sausage (hong chang), bingtang hulu (fruits on a stick, covered in toffee), and the ice cream which never melt during winter.

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The Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom of God or Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin is a former Russian Orthodox church located in the central district of Daoli, Harbin City, Heilongjiang, China.

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Harbin cuisine..

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The average night temperature is -20°C and the kids were just loving it. What a rare opportunity to be soaked in such weather.

We blogged our Harbin trip here.

Harbin 哈尔滨 Travelogue – (Part 1): Holiday Inn Harbin City Centre, Zhongyang Dajie 中央大街, Euro Plaza, Mykal Mall and Saint Sophia Cathedral 圣索菲亚教堂

 

Harbin 哈尔滨 Travelogue – (Part 2): Jiuzhan Park 九站公园, Stalin Park 斯大林公园, Sun Island  (Tai Yang Dao) 太阳岛, Harbin Polar Land, Siberian Tiger Park 哈尔滨东北虎林园, Harbin Flood Control Memorial Tower 哈尔滨防洪纪念塔 and Zhongyang Dajie 中央大街

 

Harbin 哈尔滨 Travelogue – (Part 3): Russian Town, Harbin 哈尔滨植物園, Ji Le Temple 极乐寺, Confucius Temple 哈尔滨文庙 and Teresa Teng Music Restaurant

 

Harbin 哈尔滨 Travelogue – (Part 3): Scoot Off to The Wintriest Harbin with Kids!

 

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All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

Cape Chinen, Diary of a Foodster, Eat, Education, Food, Japan, Okinawa World

Okinawa Travelogue – (Part 4): Cape Chinen, Okinawa World, Gyokusendo Cave and Lieta Nakayama

Okinawa is famous for its capes. We drove up to explore Cape Chinen, a well-known beauty spot in Okinawa which is located in the southern area of the main island of Okinawa.

Passed by lovely little villages.

Cape Chinen

Common to find free parking.

It can get very windy when visiting outdoor attractions in Okinawa.

Visitors can choose to walk further up to enjoy the beauty of nature.

It started to drizzle again and we decided to stay under the shelter.

Make a stop at Cape Chinen Park and observe panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. When comes to the night, it makes a clear spot for stargazing.

Okinawa World

Okinawa World (おきなわワールド) is a touristy theme park about Okinawan culture. The park’s main attractions are a massive natural cave, a craft village and a snake museum.

Okinawa World consists of Kingdom Village, Habu Park and Gyokusendo Cave. Expect to spend about 3 hours to discover the entire attractions.

Much attention was given to the Gyokusendo Cave as we arrived rather late. With a length of about 5km, this is the longest of the many caves in the south of Okinawa Island and the second longest cave in the entire country.

The cave is well-lit and cooling.

A natural museum beautifully carved over 300,000 years. Ceiling of the spears.

The blue fountain.

Within Okinawa World, we also explored the Kingdom Village and tropical orchards.

There are some 450 tropical trees that bear 100 types of fruits like mango, papaya, pineapple and such.

At the Craft Village, take a look on how the locals recycle empty bottles and transform them into charming Ryukyuan glass.

Walk a further in and we saw the Ryukyuan photo museum. Photo-taking in traditional clothing is popular among tourists. Recall that in the past, only royalty and the gentry wore them.

They loved it!

Lastly, the Nanto Brewery opened our eyes to see how they made habu snake liquor.

We had our dinner at the Food Market..

To stroll the tempting displays of food selection is to embrace Okinawa’s food culture.

We really like the way shopping malls put up these cooked food for customers to buy. The best part was the reasonable prices as one can see.

A microwave oven is placed near the cashier for us to warm up the food.

And this was how we settled our hunger pangs.

You need to pay toll fees when driving through Okinawa expressway. In fact, it cost more paying toll fees than petrol during the trip.

How not to make a pit stop when A&W appears.

Big and Small M are fans of American food!

We moved to our second hotel stay at Leita Nakayama. We booked this hotel as it is near to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and not expensive.

It was a pleasant surprise that the hotel room was really big and we didn’t realise.

It comes with 2 bathrooms, 2 toilets, 1 bedroom with 2 beds and a living room. Washing machine, dryer, fridge, microwave oven and cutlery are provided.

This is the beautiful view from the hotel’s balcony.

Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

 

American Village, Car, Diary of a Foodster, Eat, Food, Growing Up, Japan, Okinawa, Shopping, Shuri Castle, Travel, Travel Blog, Traveler Wifi, Tsuboya Pottery District, Umikaji Terrace, Vacation

Okinawa Travelogue – (Part 3): Tsuboya Pottery District, Shuri Castle, Umikaji Terrace and American Village

It is more convenient to travel around Okinawa by driving. It was raining most of the time but we didn’t forgo visiting Tsuboya Pottery District.

Tsuboya Pottery District

Traditional houses with red earthenware roof tiles, accompanied by ceramic studios and stores.

Cute little huts showcasing one-of-a-kind mugs, plates, and pitchers.

Shuri Castle

We visited Shuri Castle on our next stop. Shuri is the name of the former capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Shuri Castle (首里城, Shurijō) served as the residence of the Ryukyu kings for several centuries until Okinawa became a Japanese prefecture in 1879.

The place was huge and expect lots of walking.

The castle interior is very clean and visitors are required to take off their shoes (carriers are provided). Interiors of the Hokuden and Nanden are constructed like modern museums.

A replica of the king’s throne and crown are among the exhibits.

Traditional Japanese dance by the boys.

And we tried the traditional snacks!

The most famous and popular dessert in Okinawa is the Blue Seal Ice Cream.

Big and Small M satisfied their cravings after completing the tour of Shuri castle.

Umikaji Terrace

The Umikaji terrace is situated on a hill below the Senagajima onsen Hotel. This place has the romantic feel as planes flew above us while we sight the beautiful sea view right in front of us.

A tiring climb up the flights of stairs to the peak and discover the beautiful views.

The terrace is close to the beach and the sea waters are generally mild and peaceful for one to explore the area.

The waters of Okinawa are so clear!

Tacos restaurants, ice cream shops and cafes literally packed the terrace.

Greece and Mediterranean vibes, that’s what everyone acclaimed after a visit to the Umikaji Terrace.

Umikaji Terrace

We drove further up north and reached the Mihama American Village, which is a large entertainment complex located in central Okinawa. Actually the American Village is not so fantastic but we supposed it is still a need-to-check-out attraction.

There is this Ramen shop outside the American Village and many diners flock to eat here.

Their ramen was one of the best we ever tried!

Our tasty orders, look at the thick broth.

The most recognizable feature of the American Village is the large Ferris wheel.

The shopping mall is not huge but there is this 100 Yen shop which is a nice store to find good items.

Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Eat, Education, Food, Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters, Growing Up, Japan, Kokusaidori, Okinawa, Photography, Tomari Iyumachi Fish Market

Okinawa Travelogue – (Part 2): Aeon Naha, Kokusaidori Night Street, Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters, Kaigungo Park Playground and Tomari Iyumachi Fish Market

Still on the first day. After a rest, we visited AEON Naha during the evening. The shopping mall is directly-connected to Monorail Koroku Station and this is the view from the monorail station.

What was fascinating was that the residential buildings beside the monorail station looked exactly like Singapore’s HDB flats!

A closer look.

Aeon Naha

A big fan of Aeon malls wouldn’t want to miss exploring them.

We were here to have our dinner at the foodcourt.

The foodcourt was filled with students hanging out here after their school.

The prices were reasonable and the quality of food wasn’t compromise in terms of quality.

This is our favorite section in the Okinawa shopping malls. At certain hours, they may have discounts off the racks, some as much as 50%!

Kokusaidori Night Street

We thought spending one full day in Naha city would be enough. A meaningful visit to Okinawa should involve driving out to discover the attractions which travelling along monorail would not be possible.

When night falls, Kokusaidōri comes alive. Restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and shopping malls will be packed with people.

People thronging the streets and traffic is slow moving, sometimes coming to a complete halt. And it’s good to take a pause and admire the city of Naha.

Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters

On our second day, we picked up our rental car (Toyota Sienta) from the hotel and drove to the Former Japanese Navy Underground HQ, which is about 3km from Mercure Naha. This hybrid car is fuel-efficient and we only filled the petrol twice (~SGD100) throughout 5 days of usage which allowed us to cover about 650km.

The Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters, a 450 meter tunnel complex which was served as an underground headquarters during the Battle of Okinawa was established in 1944.

Best part of our visit here was the underground tunnel.

A reminder of the tragedy of the Battle of Okinawa.

The Chief Commanding Officer’s room.

Kaigungo Park Playground

At the exit of the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters, we get to see the Kaigungo Park playground. Sob sob, it was raining most of the time in Okinawa and the kids were unable to play the slides.

However, we must say Okinawa definitely bring their playgrounds up to another level. Imagine this is where kids can slide for more than a minute and enjoy excitement to the fullest.

Tomari Iyumachi Fish Market

The Tomari Iyumachi Fish Market located at Tomari Fishing Port. It is a medium-sized seafood market with shops selling fresh tuna, salmon, grilled lobster, scallop, unagi, squid and many more.

There is a processing plant screened with glass for viewing. Workers are working hard to bring the freshest catch out for sale.

This is the best and biggest fish market in Okinawa where you can get same-day-fresh seafood and other marine products.

We had our breakfast here.

Freshly grilled and juicy lobsters.

She must be very happy!

Visitors come here for a taste of great Okinawa seafood!

Highly recommended to come here as the prices are reasonable.

As there are lack of sitting places, most of the time people would need to stand eating.

 Tomari Iyumachi is the direct sales fish market in Naha with tuna specialty vendors from the Okinawa Fishing Cooperative and mozuku vendors in addition to wholesalers. The best time to visit Tomari Fish Market is in the morning.

Our gripe was the frequent rain but this has been a great trip so far!

Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

All photos, information and opinions, unless otherwise stated, in this post belong to Katong Kids Inc. Reproducing or copying them for use on third party sites without our written permission are strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.