Buffet time at Botanic Gardens

We haven't been blogging of late primarily because we haven't been going on any fresh budget dates. We've been busy preparing for our wedding album photoshoot, planning for our upcoming wedding, and eating at Sumo House a lot. Ms Budget really likes the udon there.

Today Mr Budget is sitting in the photo studio, waiting for the make-up artist to finish painting... er... decorating... er... making Ms Budget more beautiful that she normally is, and since most guys don't wear make-up, there's really nothing much for Mr Budget to do except fiddle around with his phone.

For our wedding photoshoot, one of the places we are going to is the Botanic Gardens. One of the things that we, Budget Couple, like to do is the unusual. There doesn't seem like there's anything unusual about having our wedding photos taken at the Botanic Gardens, but for us, all our locations have special meaning for us.

We have spent many a Sunday afternoon visiting the Botanic Gardens to feed the animals that live in Swan Lake. The man-made lake is home to two pairs of swans that are really fun to watch. They swim round and round the lake, looking out for people who like to feed them.

One of the first times we went, Ms Budget was wearing a green dress and the swans quickly came swimming up to her. We think it's because they mistook her for a giant lettuce.

We quickly found out what the swans eat - leafy vegetables like spinach and cai xin - and what they don't eat - bread and alfafa sprouts. The fish that live in the lake, however, eat almost anything, including whatever the picky swans don't. But when hungry, the swans will eat anything that they are given. They are hungriest on weekdays, and most picky on weekends. That's because on weekends, parents like to bring their children to the Botanic Gardens to feed the swans. It's a cheap and fun activity for the whole family.

Once, while we were leaving the Gardens, we came across a father bringing his child to the Swan Lake. The child was carrying a whole loaf of bread - the kind with extra slices. We laughed ourselves silly about it, and then asked the father if they were going to feed the swans. He nodded, saying, "It's buffet time."

The water in Swan Lake is murky, not clear, so we can't really see what lives in the water. But we do know that there is at least one giant fish in there. Once, some mynahs flew over the water, and somewhere in the middle, a giant fish jumped out of the water at the poor bird. It made a huge splash but caught no bird. There are also smaller flying fish in there and some can jump about half a metre above the water surface.

Swan Lake is located towards the entrance closest to Gleneagles Hospital, where Holland Road meets Napier Road. If you're driving, you will probably need to park near the Visitors Centre, which is about 10 minutes' walk from the Swan Lake. There might be a closer one, but we're not sure because we don't drive. We normally take public transport and stop along Napier Road, just after the American Embassy.

What to bring:
If you're intending to spend an afternoon there, bring a groundsheet and pack a picnic basket to bring along. Otherwise, just bring along a bottle of water, full or empty it doesn't matter as the Gardens have water fountains for you to fill up. Alternatively, you can bring coins to purchase drinks at the vending machines. It can get really hot there in the afternoons.

Try to avoid buying your drinks from the refreshment stall near the Ginger Garden, as these are quite expensive. If you're there and are thirsty, search for the water fountain near the toilets just behind the Orchid Garden souvenir shop.

Also, if you're a shutterbug, bring along your camera. There's plenty of subjects, not to mention each other, to take photos of. We especially like to observe the huge variety of dogs that pet owners bring here for a walk. We don't have the camera at the moment though...

What to do:
The Gardens are huge. It takes 25 minutes of fast walking to get from one end to the other. Take your time to explore. The Evolution Garden, and the Ginger Garden are two places to start. Or you can just hang out at Swan Lake and people-watch.

Cheap authentic Japanese food - Wasabi Tei

If Sumo House has "the cheapest Japanese food in town", then Wasabi Tei must have the cheapest authentic Japanese food in town.

Located on the fifth floor of Far East Plaza, in a tiny shop that seats only 16 persons (and that's already a squeeze), a typical visit to this place during meal time will see a wait in a queue lasting at least half an hour. The trick, we've found, is to come outside of regular meal hours. For example, when we came at 3.30pm one Saturday, an hour before they closed for a break, we had to wait only five minutes to get a seat.

This is what the shop looks like from the outside:

You're looking at the full width of the shop. It's that tiny.

The interior setting is a U-shaped bar counter where sashimi is taken from the freezer on display (only because the shop is so small), sliced before your eyes and served in generous portions.

Manned by only one serving lady and one authentically Japanese chef, who incidentally are so confident in the quality and price of food they serve that they do not bother giving you a smile when they take your order. Not that they are stuck up or anything, but they do tend to look quite intimidating if we should dare to change our order. We didn't even dare to take a photo in their presence, so this was a quick snap of Ms Budget's salmon sashimi.

Seats are so valuable in this place that they charge you $2 just for sitting there. Of course that comes with japanese tea, a soft drink or mineral water, but you must order a dish.

A plate of salmon (or assorted) sashimi costs $15. If you're going for something more filling, such as a meal that includes rice, you can try the $10 teriyaki grilled salmon or $9 grilled mackerel. Mr Budget has tried the latter two (he's not a fan of raw food like Ms Budget is!), and he says that he kind of feels like a cow after eating the huge pile of veggies that come with it. That's not to say the fish is small or anything. He wishes he had a photo of it to show you.

Ms Budget who has had both thinks that the sashimi served at Ministry Of Food (MOF) in AMK Hub is better, but she thinks the grilled fish is fantastic!

The outlet also has pricier dishes for those with more expensive tastes, but that's not us, otherwise we wouldn't be blogging about this no GST, no service charge, budget date. Payment by cash only though, so make sure you bring enough.

Wasabi Tei is located at:

Far East Plaza, #05-70

It is easiest to find if you go up the lift that faces Scotts Road.

Opening hours:

Mon-Fri: 12.00nn-3.00pm and 5.30pm-9.30pm

Sat: 12.00nn-4.30pm and 5.30pm-9.30pm

Closed on Sundays and public holidays

Where to go for cheap and good pasta

A friend of ours, Regina, recommended to us this place at Liang Court called Saizeriya. We wanted to blog about this earlier, but we couldn't find the photos till now.

First of all, where's Liang Court? It's not a place that we've visited before, so we had to find a way to get there. Fortunately, Mr Budget has a direct bus to the place, which is along River Valley Road, at Clarke Quay, just beside the Singapore River.

Our first impression of the building was a reminder of a shopping mall we visited during our holiday in Bangkok earlier this year. That shopping mall was called... The Mall. Liang Court reminded us of it, because its architecture is really old-school.

Even the building interior is old-school. We remember there is an exit to a carpark inside the building, and the walls are covered with the little brown square tiles from the 1980s. It's a nostalgic building, and our parents speak fondly of it... they probably used to go there for their dates!

Today Liang Court looks like any other shopping mall, except emptier. We're told that this place gets really crowded on weekends, especially with families. Lots of parents bring their kids here. Maybe for that nostalgic feeling. The impression we got on walking around the first level was, "Here got cheap food meh???" But yes, there is, as we are about to share with you.

Regardless of whether you're coming to Saizeriya on a weekday or a weekend, be prepared to queue. The queue is not normally that long, at least not on a weekday night, but of course the larger the group, the longer the wait.

Once inside, don't expect to have a romantic date. Save it for later, because Saizeriya is a really noisy place. Most of the time, you have to shout to make yourself heard, which is something Mr Budget really dislikes. But don't worry, the food more than makes up for that.

Saizeriya is a Japanese-Italian budget restaurant. This means that you're going to get some strange combinations. But the prices at this place are quite unlike other restaurants. Pizzas here cost somewhere between $7-9. We haven't tried these yet, so we shall not comment on it. Friends who like six escargot find the $5.58 price a steal.

Steaks (actually patties) come at $8. They come with a fried egg, a few potato wedges, and some veggies. But where else can you get a scrumptious rib-steak for $13.38? Yes, the prices are weird.

The Hamburg steak and pork, priced at $7.98 is mucho yummy too! We shared this and we shared a pasta. We don't have a photo of the Hamburg steak and pork, but we have one of the Hamburg steak:

Hamburg steak


Ms Budget ordered a seafood chowder soup ($2.98), which wasn't very nice, but the grilled spicy sausages, five of them, which came with four potato wedges (haha!) were pretty good. If you're feeling thirsty, there's a free-flow drink bar at $2.58, but we thought that was not worth it - how much were we going to drink anyway? So we had plain water which was free.

Our main course was pasta, which is usually about $10-13 at other restaurants. Saizeriya gives you pasta at about $5-7, which is about food court price. The difference is, the pasta here is absolutely yummy!

We had the spaghetii 'tarako' sauce with pollack roe, which was $5.68, and oh so yummy! Another time, Mr Budget had the spaghetti carbonara, which he frequently uses as a taste test to measure the standard of pasta at a restaurant. This dish, which cost him $7.18, passed with flying colours.

Spaghetti carbonara

Like all restaurants, there's GST and service charge, and a really great dinner for us amounted to... $19.60. The portions were just nice. Though they look small at first glance, the meals here are pretty filling, and you don't find yourself overstuffed.

As mentioned above, Liang Court is located at Clarke Quay, so a romantic walk alongside the Singapore River is in store for you when you leave the place. You'd probably have to walk it if you're heading for the NEL anyway.

Saizeriya is located at:
Liang Court, #02-22

Because it's crowded, what you can do is to call 6337 9001 for reservation. It's open from 11.00am-10.00pm daily.

Next week, we tell you how to have a meal for two at Cafe Cartel for $10.

An afternoon in Chinatown + Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

Recently, we have been challenged by our church community magazine to plan a date for $10 or less. Not to show off, but Ms Budget said that was too easy because we go for such dates rather frequently; we enjoy them!

Case in point: Last week we went for two such dates (and apologies for not updating this blog last week!)

On Sunday, we went to Chinatown. Now Chinatown is a fascinating place, if you haven't been there before or in a long time. Sure, Chinese New Year is a great time to visit Chinatown to soak up the atmosphere, but the place is knee-deep in culture and other oddities on any other day of the year too!

Chinatown itself is well-known for finding great bargains and cheap food. But here at our Budget Couple blog, we look for more than great savings; we also look for good deals, especially when it comes to food. A friend said that the cheapest food anywhere in Singapore is still hawker centre, but not every hawker centre with cheap food serves good food.

Over in Chinatown, we went to a place recommended by Ms Budget's colleague, and we're going to share it with you now.

Along Smith Street, off New Bridge Road, directly opposite Chinatown Complex, you will find a row of shop houses. At one of these shop houses there is a branch of the famous Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice.

The address is: 56 Smith Street.

What's so good about this? For one thing, it's only $2 per plate. Of course the shop also sells other dishes, such as oyster sauce vegetables, chicken feet, etc, but all these come at $3 or more. You want a good deal? Stick to the standard plate of chicken rice.

What's more, ordering the $2 plate of chicken rice gives you a medium-sized bowl of soup that comes free, together with a Mentos breath mint. This is to counter the smell of garlic which will inevitably emanate from you after chowing down your chicken rice with dark soya sauce and mashed garlic.

But! We don't recommend their drinks. Save it for a $3 coconut that you can both share. Unfortunately, we forgot the address of the place...

We won't tell you where else in Chinatown to go, because everywhere is great fun just walking around and seeing everything that is there. Instead, we'll show you just some of what we came across:

Here, two uncles are selling photocopies (and some originals) of personalities and photographs of Singapore in the 1950s.

Two old ladies chatting as they display their metal jewellery for sale.

A man examines a piece of jewellery... perhaps to buy for his wife?


An older uncle trying to sell a middle-aged uncle some trinkets.

Speaking of trinkets, there are tons of stuff there. What caught Mr Budget's attention were some old coins and dollar notes. There were the old S$1 coins - the silverish ones, not the gold ones we have now, and dollar notes having the same serial numbers or special numbers that people might want to buy. But why would we pay $3 for a coin marked $1, and that is no longer in use?

Hence, look around, but you don't have to buy anything. You will want to, though. What you will definitely need is a cap or sunshade, and carry around a bottle of water, because the heat these days is a real scorcher.

At the end of the afternoon, after much walking around, we recommend hopping onto the North East Line, and taking the train a couple of stops to Dhoby Ghaut for... you guessed it! A foot massage at TT Quick Massage!

Next week: Another $10 date, this time in a relatively secluded place!

Traditional Thai Massage @ Dhoby Xchange

When we went to Bangkok recently, we each got a fabulous hour-long traditional Thai massage for 250 baht, which is roughly equivalent to S$10. Where in Singapore can you find a traditional Thai massage for that kind of money?

We have one favourite place. It's called TT Quick Massage. ('TT' stands for 'Traditional Thai'.) A quick massage here costs just $10 but lasts for only for 10 minutes. It's a great place to drop by after a long day at the office hunched up in front of the computer. It's perfect if a massage is just what you're looking for without having to blow your budget or don't want to go to a sleazy one offering 'additional' services.

Speaking of services, TT Quick Massage offers the following:

- Shoulder & Back Massage
- Head Massage
- Foot Massage
- Spots Massage (which we think means massage at certain spots only)

In addition, there are some promotional packages to consider. There's the basic package which offers 5+1 massage services for $50. We happened to drop by on Mother's Day earlier this month when they were having a special 5+2 package for $50. Of course we got it.

There's more! Recommend a friend to buy a package, and you get a free massage as well. So if you're going there, and you sign up for a $50 package, drop us an email with the name you used, and we can get a free massage with the next package we get. You rub our back, and we'll keep rubbing yours by sharing with you these great budget tips!

How to get there:
TT Quick Massage is located at Dhoby Xchange, #B1-34 of Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. There's a strip of shops just above the exit of the North-South line in the station.

Next week, we'll share with you some of the other places to check out in Dhoby Xchange that will keep you coming back!

Fried Chicken Buffet @ Dallas Chicken & Ribs

One weekday when the both of us had some free time, we took the opportunity to try out something we had heard of some time ago. Over in Chinatown, there is a place called Dallas Chicken & Ribs which has a fried chicken buffet for $10 from 3.00pm-6.00pm, presumably because it's slow at this time of day.

As we stepped inside the nearly empty restaurant, we were greeted pleasantly by one of the staff. Looking around, we noticed a framed kalimah in the corner, revealing Dallas' to be owned by a Muslim. The 'kalimah' literally means 'the phrase' and is central to the belief of Muslims. 'The phrase' is: There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is Allah's Messenger. So do expect Halal food when you come here.

The menu looks like a fast-food restaurant, only much cheaper. But what we came for was the fried chicken buffet which serves chicken thigh, breast, wing, nuggets, and fries. The fries are the thick kind, not the skinny ones you find in McDonald's. Each customer also gets one free drink (use sparingly) and one rolo or burger which can contain chicken or fish. We stayed away from this because bread takes up space. Incidentally, the chicken rolo is nothing but pieces of chicken wrapped in a roti prata.

Buffet customers need to take note that you may not get what you order, because the buffet is subject to availability. Hence, we didn't get the chicken wings we ordered, but we could order anything else. We settled for 5 chicken breasts, 1 thighs, 3 drumsticks, 6 nuggets, and 2 packets of fries. Granted the fries are potato and hence not really worth the space, they're pretty yummy and we figured we needed a break from all that chicken.

If the oil is too much for you (it's deep-fried chicken after all), try going for the chicken breast as it doesn't absorb so much oil. All in all, this meal will be healthier than a KFC meal as the chicken served doesn't contain so much fat, and the portions served aren't dripping with oil. But it's only going to be as healthy as any deep-fried chicken meal.

Order as much as you want. If you have time, just sit there until 6.00pm when you can make your last order. Personally we find that we do get gelak after a while. Gelak is a Malay word meaning... er... there's no English equivalent. Nevermind, just get over to Dallas Chicken & Ribs, order a buffet, and eat fried chicken until you can't stand the thought of eating any more fried food. That's gelak.

Dallas Chicken & Ribs is located at 12 Upper Cross Street. It's at the row of shophouses diagonally across the junction from China Square Central, and directly opposite Hong Lim Complex. It's open from 11.00am to 8.00pm but the buffet is available only on weekdays from 3.00pm-6.00pm.

The best day to go on is Friday because, as my Catholic friends always like to say, "Meat tastes best on a Friday."

Closing time deals at Jasons Market Place

Last week, we were in the City Hall area at about 9pm looking for a late dinner. We decided to pop by Chippy only to find that they were closing for the night, so we wandered into Jasons Market Place in the basement of Raffles City. Jasons is a gourmet supermarket, so we weren't really looking for anything budget... which is what makes this experience such a delightful one.

As we passed the salesman in the section that was selling roasted meat, he called out to us, "50% off!" So we thought, "Why not?" We live for good deals.

We pointed to a honey-glazed chicken steak (usually $4.00) and a bratwurst sausage (usually $1.80). Instead of getting a piece each, the salesman stuff two chicken steaks into a paper bag and charged us $2.00. He did the same for the sausages, charging us 90 cents for two.

That's how a good deal turned into a great deal! $2.90 for two chicken steaks and two bratwurst sausages! Yum!

Most supermarkets that sell cooked food tend to try to sell off their stock near closing time. It's a great time to go for The Supermarket Date. Some bakeries such as Delifrance also practise this, offering deals such as 20% off, or 3 buns for $2.00. It's a great time to pick up something to eat... which also makes you think: what do other bakeries do with their food that they cannot sell off in a day? Do they sell it to you the next day?

The Chippy Date

Located in the basement of Raffles City is a British-style fish and chips take-away stall called Chippy. You can find it directly opposite Donut Factory which was once famous for its one-hour long queues. It looks like this:

The Chippy Date is one of the first dates we went on when we started dating. We'd buy a pack of B.B.F. - beer batter fish and chips and, drinks in hand, take a walk to nearby SMU. If it is in the evening, there's a spot next to the pool of water that makes for a pleasant date.

We'd sit there munching away on our yummy fish and chips, or if the mood suits us, a fried sausage and mashed potato, with dessert being a deep fried Mars bar. Gotta give it a try! We actually went on The Chippy Date so often that we got sick of the food after a while and skipped it for several months.

Though it's located next to a busy road, it's relatively peaceful, and there's no need to shout to make yourself heard, unlike other cost-friendly places in the city.

Good for a first date, or anytime you want to talk. We'd sit there until the sky got dark or until we want to go home.

This certainly ranks quite high in our list of budget dates.

Chippy is located at Raffles City, #B1-58. There is another Chippy's outlet at the basement of Far East Plaza, but that doesn't count as The Chippy Date because it doesn't include the walk to SMU.

Menu items ranged from $4-5 each with drinks at $1.50. Normally we'd pop into the nearby Guardian pharmacy to pick up a cheaper drink before we head out. It used to be cheaper. Three years ago, the prices were $3-4. Oh well, cost of living keeps rising in the world's 5th wealthiest country. That's why we have this blog.

Here are the main items on the menu:

1. The Original Cheese Sausage with Mash Potato - $4.00

2. Crispy Calamari (15 Rings) - $4.80

3. Cheesy Curry Chicken (150 grams) with Cheese Sauce - $4.20

4. Beer Batter Style Fish (10 pieces) with Battered Fries - $4.80
(must try! with salt and vinegar)

5. Fried Mars Bar (4 pieces) with Ice Cream - $3.50