Istana Woodneuk • Legendary Palace of Johore Sultan Abu Bakar • Tyersall Park in Singapore

Sarafian Salleh whom many know as Tuah Bugis. His infectious passion for Singapore history is awe inspiring

Few people in Singapore and Johor have heard of Istana Woodneuk until news emerged in 2025 about a land swap agreement between the Singapore government and Regent of Johor, Tunku Ismail (crown prince of Johor).

Former Kam Roasted • Golden Mile Food Centre 立师父烧腊 ☎ 9022 8496

Chef Lup Roasted 立师父烧腊 | 505 Beach Rd, stall B1-56, Singapore 199583 (Golden Mile Food Centre basement level) 🚅 10 minutes walk from Lavender station or Nicoll station ☎ 9022 8496 ⏰ 10am - 3pm (Weds off)

Foodie buddy Marcus alerted me to Chef Lup Roasted a few months ago. Then, he travelled, I travelled, a couple of failed attempts to try Chef Lup, and months went by before I finally got to try his roasts today.

Sungai Kakap Estuary Village Seafood @ Restoran Pantai Indah • Pontianak Day Trip ☎ +62 812 5655 7619

Pantai Indah Kakap Seafood | Jl. Raya Sungai Kakap, RT.03/RW.01, Sungai Kakap, Kec. Sungai Kakap, Kabupaten Kubu Raya, Kalimantan Barat 78381, Indonesia ☎ +62 812 5655 7619  ⏰ 9am - 7pm

Our guide Min brought us to Sungai Kakap fishing village for sightseeing and lunch. It was a very pleasant visit and the seafood lunch was nice too.

The village is located where a tributary of Sungai Kapuas river meets Sungai Kakap river. (The main river running through Pontianak is Sungai Landak, to the north of Sungai Kakap here.)

I recommend Sungai Kakap fishing village for a half day, morning to lunch trip, if you are in Pontianak. The village is just about 1.5 hours drive from downtown Pontianak. There are at least three restaurants here, including Restoran Pantai Indah Kakap where we had our lunch.

Bau Mak Fish Soup • Taste of Home @ Golden Mile Food Centre 寶媽 • 家的味道 ☏ 9007 0161

Bau Mak 寶媽 • 家的味道 | 505 Beach Rd, stall #01-82, Singapore 199583 (stall in Golden Mile Food Centre) 🚅 10 minutes from Lavender station or Nicoll Highway station ☏ 9007 0161 ⏰ 10am - 7pm (Sunday off)

You know whenever I am at Golden Mile Food Centre, I will pop by Kopi More to say hello to kopi boss Lawrence and to get my kopi C kosong fix. 

When there are good new stalls, Lawrence will tip me off to them 😬 🙏

"Go try the fish soup opposite the aboling stall upstairs. Their soup a lot of flavour, not the water type."

Recipes for Good • Intergeneration Collab @ British Hainan Kallang • Charity for Bloom Fund till 25 Oct 2025 📞 9633 8122

British Hainan Heritage Restaurant | 158 Kallang Way, #01-06A, Singapore 349245 🚅 10 minute walk from Geylang Bahru station 📞 9633 8122 ⏰ 11am - 2:30 pm | 5:30am - 9:30 pm

British Hainan restaurant at Kallang Way just launched Recipes for Good to help raise money for The Bloom Fund (which promotes meaningful engagement between old and new generations through art). The Bloom Fund is run by The Rice Company Ltd (TRCL) a non-profit arts and culture charity.

Bakmi Aloi Singkawang Pork Noodle ☏ +62 813 4509 0325

Bakmi Aloi is a variation of Chinese pork noodle found in Indonesia. Here in Kalimantan, the vendors are usually Hakka Chinese, so it's Hakka style pork noodles.

Our local guide Min brought us to a simple restaurant known as Bakmi Aloi Singkawang. I enjoyed the bakmi aloi here a lot.

Firefly Fly Direct btw Senai & Guiyang from Mar 2026 • Door to Guizhou, Chongqing, Chengdu

✍️24 Aug 2025. Starting Mar 2026, Firefly will be flying direct from Senai Airport to Guiyang Airport, capital of China's Guizhou province.

Bubur Mendi Pork Porridge in Singkawang West Kalimantan Indonesia

Our guide Min brought us to Bubur Mendi - I thought we were just going to get some nice rice gruel but this porridge has an interesting, unique twist I soon realised.

It's a type of bubur babi or pork porridge.

Roast Pork Pontianak Bipang Ambawang Babi Panggang ☏ +62 81 1568 2929

Bipang Ambawang Babi Panggang | 50m before Constantine Retreat House, Jl. Trans Kalimantan No.KM 23, Korek, Sungai Ambawang, Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan 78393, Indonesia ☏   +62 81 1568 2929 ⏰ 9am - 9pm

I had until now thought that Bali's babi guling is the only pork dish in Indonesia. This trip to Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island broadened my culinary horizon a bit more - they also have grilled or roasted pork dishes in Kalimantan.

Warung Kopi Asiang Hainanese Kopitiam in Pontianak • Topless Coffee Boss ☏ +62 813 1718 1918

Warung Kopi ASIANG | Jalan Merapi, Benua Melayu Darat, Kec. Pontianak Sel., Kota Pontianak, Kalimantan Barat 78243, Indonesia  ☏  Tel: +62 813 1718 1918 ⏰ 4am - 6pm

When Min our local guide told us about a topless kopitiam, it got some of us excited (better not say all 🤭 ). I kept reminding Min to take us there in case he forgot 😅🤣

But seriously, everywhere I go, I look out for Nanyang style coffee shops (which are often founded by Hainanese Chinese).