Jumbo Seafood’s Chili and Pepper Crabs

The Menu

Crabs are my second favorite seafood, with squid being the first. Heck, crabs were my mom’s food craving when I was in her tummy. Anyway, it was the boyfriend’s sister who reminded us to try it out before we say goodbye to our week-long vacation.

On a Friday night, Babe’s Singaporean uncle treated us to dinner at Jumbo Seafood, a seaside restaurant somewhere East Coast that serves one of the best Chili Crabs in Singapore.  We had Chilli and Pepper Crabs, and two more dishes that I absolutely cannot recall (sorry!). The service was super fast! While I would like to think that they have really efficient waitstaff, I can’t help but think that they were moving in full gear because they were closing in less than two hours when they seated us.

I’ll eat these pepper crabs any day!

The three of us happily cleaned and cracked our pepper crabs, which was served first. Seasoned heavily, I liked it a lot. It was spicy but not burning hot. It doesn’t leave you with tongues begging for water, just enough to prick you a little, for lack of a better word.

The Chili Crabs, meanwhile, came with a thick sauce that teetered close to being called a gravy. With that, de-shelling them were messier and ickier. In terms of taste, I found the pepper version more savory. Probably because the Chili Crabs relied on the thick sauce for flavor in contrast to the Pepper Crabs.

Closing time for Jumbo Seafood

Cracking open crab shells for close to two hours, we didn’t notice that we were one of the two groups left in the dining area. The staff managed to quickly stow away the other chairs and tables! Goodness. With that, we just had to leave. Our team of three lost to a five-plate array of Singaporean dishes. Tss.

Sunny Singapore

Walking around Raffles. I forgot what they call this area.

When you’re a Filipino ogling at how nice Singapore is, it’s easy to spew out wishes and could-be’s for the Philippines. Babe and I went to Singapore for a seven-day vacation (as it turned out to be) last week. It was a trip planned months in advance.

Somewhere along Orchard Road

On our first day, I was amazed by the orderliness and cleanliness that abound. But of course, there were certain areas that disproves the fact that Singapore is spotlessly clean. Plastic cups, cigarette butts and whatnot still littered certain alleys and corners. So there goes putting Singapore on the highest pedestal there is in terms of cleanliness.

Manila, manila! We keep coming back to Manila!

Even the whole hullabaloo about smoking being prohibited in public places is dodgy. Spending majority of our time walking around the city and even the outskirts of the city, people were smoking. In public. While walking. What everybody has been raging about seems to be another great advertising strategy. Oh well.

Singapore at night. We passed by two pre-nup shoots here.

Around two to three days after we landed in Singapore, I couldn’t help comparing Singapore to The Truman Show. Remember that Jim Carrey movie? It’s just that everything in that country seems mechanical, perfectly timed. You know exactly what time the next train or bus is arriving. Heck, even restaurants will mildly shoo you away if it’s closing time.

Pasir Ris area. See the identical buildings?

Babe’s Singaporean uncle (he denounced his Filipino citizenship after living for 20 years in Singapore) even mentioned over dinner that he feels locals live in a box. That they’re not as free as what they think. A lot of Babe’s friends we met up with in Singapore even attests to the locals’ favorite hobby–mag-reklamo. It’s true what Babe’s uncle said that the locals don’t know that in their country, they have it better.

Outside this big candy store in Sentosa!

Then again, each country has its own set of negatives. When compared with the Philippines, Singapore will win by a landslide based solely on government performance, public service and transportation efficiency. And that’s not even taking into consideration their respect for the law.

On a brighter note, I found Singapore to be a peaceful country albeit the absence of out-of-control fun or whatever you want to call it. If you’re earning SGD, then it wouldn’t be that bad of a place to live in. But with 1SGD valued at 35-36PHP, it was pretty stressful financially.

A Preview: Singapore

 

Touchdown, Singapore! Will blog about this travel adventure soon as I’m still busy catching up with work I missed during my week-long vacation. More photos to come

 

 

Boracay Newbie!

White sand

Yes, folks. It was my first time in Boracay! Although our first day in the island was almost non-existent because of the bedlam happening in Japan, we managed to let go of our worries the next day and bask in the sunny (sometimes cloudy) sky.

Boracay, baby! (photo by Kenneth Gaerlan)

Three days and two nights in Boracay is not enough, I tell you. Next time I go there, it’ll be at least a four-day affair. On our first night, we walked around the beach. We actually walked from Station 2 to Station 1, which was pretty exhausting. That’s why some of us decided to ride a tricycle back to D’Mall. From there, Babe and I bought a couple of beers and chips for the night. We had a fridge in the room so we were only maximizing the opportunity. LOL.

With Babe

As much as I’d like to post my photos, I can’t yet because I’m waiting for Babe to edit the pictures. Some of the photos you see here, the pretty ones, are taken by Kenneth Gaerlan. You can see which pictures he took because they’re the ones who look so, erm, flawless. As much as I’d love to go reef walking, we didn’t get to do it. We went island hopping and snorkeling though.

Lucky for us, there weren’t as many people yet in the island. We’re guessing school’s not over yet so most of them are stuck in classrooms. LOL. Foreigners abound though. Another added bonus to this trip is the fact that I was with Babe! Need I say more?

By the beach

More details about our Boracay trip will be posted in Finding Manila!