Family Outing: Heading to Pengerang Part Two

 

The month of July was filled with activities, almost every weekend! We went to Pengerang for a day trip with the other family (Part 1 here), attended Yen's baby shower & I flew to London on the same day for a week of conference. Will be attending Kaiwei & Yanni's wedding (both church & dinner) this coming weekend. I know I'm slacking behind on our honeymoon trip, but I'll come to that later, lol! Mental reminder not to blog on 2 travel trips concurrently next time. 

  Back to our Pengerang adventures - it was almost 7.30am before we board the ferry to the destination. We managed to catch the sunrise, something that I have not done in ages! 

The sun rose up slowly, filling up the sky with its bright rays. It's amazing how Mother Nature nv fails to impress me. I have caught sun rise in various places when traveling (scaling up Mt Batur in Bali was one of the most memorable), but seldom in Singapore. Guilty me like to sleep in most weekends, so by the time I'm up, the sun is already up in the sky.

 

As we cruised near the edge of Changi Park Beach, we saw a lot of tents on the grass patches. This park is certainly popular for overnight family picnics! I even spotted a couple of them fishing. 

We traveled with 2 other "strangers" to form the group of 12. These 2 strangers looked like regulars shifting b/w Singapore & Pengerang. One of them was reading her newspaper on board the ferry, while I was praying that the journey will be smooth.

Off we head go, in the direction of Pengerang.

It was certainly interesting trying to identify places as we traveled near the coast line. That goes to show how "bad" we are in geography!
 

This is our friendly captain for the day. Uncle is rather soft-spoken, but always ready for a picture :) 
 

with 小舅, 小舅妈 & mummy-in-law.

The sea was pretty calm, so the first half of the journey was quite smooth. I still remembered I was rather sea-sick on my first trip to Phuket, even though we were traveling on a large ship to Phi Phi island. 

 Soon, the sun rays were upon us and but that didn't stop me from snapping away :)

  

 4D anyone? Just like cars, boats need to be licensed as well - be it for commercial or private. Nice number, but we didn't win any money that night, lol. 

 

Have to head off now, but will be back with another entry on Pengerang soon! Tata :) 

Family Outing: Heading to Pengerang Part One

 

I'm finally back after a rather long hiatus. Was in London over the past week for the annual Sales Conference. Boy, I was so tired after arriving in Singapore on Sat evening that I slept for 14 hours straight after an early dinner! Poor Leecher was left to unpack my bag after I dumped everything on the floor. Well, he only unpacked his presents & left the rest for me to clear up the next morning. Typical Leecher behaviour, hmp! The next couple of weeks will be kinda busy as we are pitching for a big project, so I'll be spending time consolidating the proposal for the pitch *stressed out max* Nevertheless, a couple of weekends back, the other family headed to Pengerang for a day trip. Melvin drafted the itinerary and sent it across to Leecher, extremely efficient! Keith's 小舅 family even headed there a week before to recce the place, in preparation for the outing. The downside: dragging our bodies out of bed at 5am to prepare, meet up at 6.30am. This certainly doesn't gel with me (I love sleeping in on weekends!) but the thought at visiting a new place spurs me on.

 

Clear traffic on Sunday morning! If only everyday is like this, then going to work will be a breeze. 

 

On the way to Changi Point Ferry Terminal. I was gamed for breakfast at Mr Teh Terik, only to realize that we'll only be having breakfast at the other side.

 

When we arrived at 7am, there was already lots of people hanging around. A couple of bikers were all geared up in their suits & mountain bikes. Max capacity of 12 pax per ferry, so best recommended to travel in groups of 12 to "book" the whole ferry. Otherwise, be prepared to wait for 12 pax before you're allowed to board.

 

Surrender your passport at the reception counter first for checking. 

 

Say hello to their resident cat! Very well-maintained and even knows how to pose for the camera :)

With Leecher - we were all feeling sleepy from the early morning, not to mention hungry!

 

With Roger & Eleen, wearing couple polo T-shirt. I didn't see the no-camera sign in the area before Leecher pointed it out to me, opps! So I  乖乖 keep my camera till after immigrations. 

 

Ferries are assigned randomly, so it really depends on your luck if you get a boat with a quiet engine or not. 
 

Changi Beach Park just opposite, one of the oldest coastal parks in Singapore.

 

Onboard the ferry & ready to head off :) 

 

Pengerang, here we come! 

Pique Nique

 

Tucked in a corner of Takashimaya Shopping Centre (where McDonald used to be), is a cafe known as Pique Nique. Pique Nique means "picnic" in french but I was more attracted by the deco, which reminded me of a french cottage. 

 

 Pique Nique is yet another brain-child of Chef Pang. Yes, the same guy behind Antoinette. Well, I must agree that Antoinette is the more famous sibling :) 

 

While Anotonette was decorated in elaborated French pieces, Pique Nique gave a down-to-earth vibe. It almost felt like dining in a French cottage, except that you are looking at people munching on KFC across the walkway. 

 

Leecher spent a long time looking through the menu, hovering b/w pastas and mains. Despite the French deco, Pique Nique serves mostly American comfort food, along the likes of Burgers, Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese etc.

 

I flipped through the menu & already decided on what I wanna have. 

 Chocolate Milkshake ($8). This was extremely rich & thick. In fact, I was full from this drink and couldn't finish my food later, lol! 

We had a "window" seat, looking across KFC.

Leecher sitting on the armchair #likeaboss.

In fact, I would recommend sitting at other tables instead for the arm chair is rather small. I had to squeeze into the arm chair with my bag on the side. Rather uncomfortable experience.

 

 Hot Chilli Meat Fries - Pique Nique's fries with hot chilli meat sauce and home-made cheese sauce ($11).  I feel that this was a tad pricey, given the serving size. In fact, they didn't inform us that my order came with fries. We had to pack the rest of the fries back.

 The Swiss Shrooms Burger - beef patty, sauteed mushroom, Swiss Gruyere cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato ($13.80).

The Roasted Chicken and Mushroom Mac & Cheese - elbow macaroni, mascarpone & gouda cheese, roasted field mushroom & Cajun style roasted chicken leg ($16). This was quite bland, pale in comparison with my fave Mac & Cheese at White Rabbit. Nevertheless, this dish was packed with chicken & mushroom which made it enjoyable. I would recommend to order this for sharing though. 

 

I'm guilty of over-ordering this time round & Leecher had to stuff himself silly (nearly bursting out of his shirt, lol!). As much as I love to order desserts (since its a separate stomach), I didn't want to be greeted with glaring eyes from Leecher.

 

 Grab some goodies on the way out if you fancy. 

There is a supposedly 15% discount when paying by Citibank CC. We were bluffed when the cashier told us this discount is not applicable on eve of Public Holidays & Public Holidays. So, we had to pay the full amount - not that we are complaining, but this is the first time that I've come across credit card discounts not applicable on certain days. Anyone have the same experience before?

Pique Nique

391A Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City Tower A

#B1-01/02, Takashimaya Departmental Store

Singapore 238873

Tel: 6238 6705

Opening Hours: 10am till 9,30pm daily