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

Missing In Action

We haven't updated this blog because the Blogger WYSIWYG editor is missing. We are waiting for Blogger to sort out this terribly inconvenient problem.

Our next post, however, will tell you how to find cheap authentic Japanese food in Singapore. Stay tuned!

How to have a meal for two at $10 in Cafe Cartel

Cafe Cartel has always been the place that we like to go to when we want to eat in a restaurant but don't want to spend much. We go here when we're on a tight budget yet want a nice place to eat. Why? Because Cafe Cartel gives free flow of bread and water. :D

But who wants to eat just bread and water, right? There are a few dishes that Cafe Cartel is known for - pan-fried linguine, St. Louis pork ribs, and pan-fried macaroni. When we're in more of a spending mood, Mr Budget loves to go for the pan-fried linguine, but don't try the pan-fried macaroni until you note the description which says that it is fried in Cartel's secret sambal sauce. Ms Budget didn't see it the first time she ordered it, and it was a hot experience for her.

So anyway, the first time we did the Budget Cartel date, it was with the Super Chic'n Wing Zings... basically fried chicken wings. We ordered one of this ($5.80) and a soup of the day ($3.80). That brought us to $11.20 (inclusive of GST and service charge).

Two Sundays ago, we found something on the table when we arrived:


It was 8.45pm when we got seated, so we dallied around till 9.05pm (just to be safe) before making our order. It says 50% off all snackers and coffee drinks, right? But who wants to order coffee at after 9.00pm when we have work the next morning?

Here's what we ordered:

The Super Chic'n Wing Zings

(usual price $5.80, now $2.90)

and... dah-dah-dum! the Supreme Platter: a combination of breaded fish, calamari, scallops, chicken nuggets, cheddar crisp potatoes, served with Chef's special sauce and tartar sauce.

(usual price $11.50, now $5.75)

We topped up the meal with bread and water. The staff were only too eager for us to help finish the leftover bread, otherwise they'd have to throw it away, so no need to feel paiseh.

Free flow of bread, with butter

The water expands the bread in your stomach, so if you want to feel fuller, just eat more bread and drink more water.

That brought our total to $10.15 (with GST and service charge).

Our receipt for $10.15

Now you know. You can try various combinations of snackers for variety and, if you have any other after-9pm offers to share, let us know!

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.

Jumble Sale 8-14 July

It's here again! Mr Budget's favourite jumble sale!

Ever since Mr Budget chanced across this jumble sale while emerging from a World Youth Day meeting at the Catholic Archdiocesan Youth Centre (2 Lorong Low Koon) about a year ago, he's been hooked to it. This will be his 3rd jumble sale at the centre, and his 5th to 7th visits!

The jumble sale lasts for a week and all proceeds go to the centre. You can find almost anything in the entire hall reserved for this sale. Clothes will be grouped into various piles in the centre, and will probably go for about $2 an item. Most small items are priced at $2, while the larger the item, the higher the price. Still, you can pick up a luggage bag for $6, or a refrigerator for $50.

The pre-sale will be on Tuesday, 7th July. This is a good time to get best picks of items. The last day, 14th July, will be the time for great deals. Items will be sold really cheaply. The last time, Mr Budget spent 2 hours shopping in there, and came away with 3 kg of clothes (for $3) and a haversack for $2.

However, do note that the sale is on from 8.00am to 4.00pm daily during this period, so if you have to work, well, try to get to it on the weekends then. If you have old stuff to give away, you can also bring it to this jumble sale, where it will be resold next time round.

We Like Chicken Rice

Last week, we wrote about the Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice we ate in Chinatown for $2. That was on Sunday. The following day, we were both on leave because it was our monthiversary - we've been celebrating on the 15th of every month since we went steady as a couple 39 months ago.

We went for a day trip to Changi Beach. The original plan was to go there for a picnic, but Ms Budget wanted to eat the Changi Village Nasi Lemak, so we modified our plans. When we reached there, we found that the nasi lemak stall opens only at 6pm. >_<

So we decided to go someplace else. At Blk 5 - the long block of holiday flats opposite beside Changi Village Hotel - there is a row of pubs, a kopitiam, and a few cafes and food stalls. One of them is... you guess it! a branch of Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice. Again for $2!

So we had that for lunch. There are a few small differences. This one doesn't give Mentos sweets, but you can help yourself to as much free soup as you want - we had three medium-sized bowls. Basically we took the soup until we were too paiseh (embarrassed) to take more! Hee hee!

We spent the afternoon on the beach, digging in the sand, building sand hills (castles were too much of a hassle), walking along the water, looking for seashells, and people-watching. We also drew stuff in the mushy sand... or was it mushy stuff in the sand?

As it was the school holidays when we went, there were a number of teenagers there. It was actually surprising to find so many people there. We thought that people would prefer to go to East Coast Park. But then again, the sand at Changi Beach is so much nicer.

There was also the option of going for the Changi Beach Boardwalk, which is a 1.2 km coastal boardwalk with scenic views of the sea and Pulau Ubin, but we've been for this before in one of our earlier dates, so we didn't go this time.

When evening came, we headed back to Changi Village to get our nasi lemak. The yummy yummy nasi lemak. We've never tasted such delicious ikan kuning (the small crispy fish that usually comes with nasi lemak) and of course the rice and chilli. Mr Budget doesn't normally eat chilli, but he usually makes an exception for nasi lemak and fried hokkien mee.

That's all for this week. Next week, we'll tell you where to get yummy pasta for $7, and pizzas for $9.

Speaking of pizzas, we had Skinny Pizza at Suntec City last night. Not good. It's not cheap, and not worth the price. Neither is it filling. It's our first and last time there.