Been traveling and eating so much these years that I've decided to pen down all these experiences (digitally). Singapore is a small country and the only way to expand my experiences on the cultures, lifestyles, food and behaviours of different ethnics is to travel to all parts of the world. Instagram @lynnechua_
Remember the post on Zhi Char Gem in Toa Payoh I posted back in December 2013? The answer is probably no. Well, that was my sincere review when One Ocean Seafood Restaurant was located in Toa Payoh (TPY), before it was sold to a new management team in 2015. The change included the main chef, which is the most important factor of a restaurant. I have read some reviews on Facebook after they changed their management team and gosh, the new management team at TPY seemed to be doing a bad job, damaging the good old reputation of One Ocean Seafood though they added a 'New' in front of the old name - New One Ocean Seafood Restaurant 新天翼海鲜....but who will notice that?!
Good news is, the old management team has re-opened the real One Ocean Seafood Restaurant at Mandai Connection! What? Mandai?! Previously I already complained about the "ulu" (secluded) TPY industrial location and now they opened their new restaurant in Mandai??!! Good news for people staying in the North-West, bad news for me who stays in the North-East as I need 30min to get there by car.
One Ocean Seafood Restaurant 天翼海鲜
New Location: 7 Mandai Link #01-06, Mandai Connection, Singapore 728653 Moved from Block 1002, Toa Payoh Industrial Park, #01-1407 Singapore 319074 (behind Toa Payoh Lorong 8)
Opening Hours: Daily 11:00 am -10:30 pm
Contact: +65 6256 3973
Email: one_ocean1002@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.oneocean.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/One-Ocean-Seafood-401499773290483/
There are five different bus services 160, 170, 178, 960 and 961 between Kranji MRT to Mandai Connection, 5 stops away from Kranji MRT station. Car park, with ample spaces, is also available at Mandai Connection.
Credits: gothere.sg
Upon reaching Mandai Connection, I observed that there are two different spaces - One Ocean Seafood Restaurant and the other half is a coffee shop under Ocean Group.
One Ocean Seafood Restaurant (No signboard in place yet)
Coffee shop on the right side of the restaurant, managed by Ocean Group
Bagus Yong Tau Foo (Halal) and Drink Stall
The coffeeshop on the right opens in the day for the industrial workers at the area, while the restaurant opens till 10.30pm.
Interior of One Ocean Seafood Restaurant
The new restaurant is slightly smaller in comparison with its previous space at TPY. I was glad to see familiar faces of the old management team and the manager who can speak Cantonese, which my grandma favours as he is very courteous and patient. One more good thing is that drinks will be in the same bill so you don't have to pay separately again (drink stall was managed by another owner in the old location).
Menu (using the old menu from TPY as the new one is not ready yet, will update when new menu is available on my future visit)
We ordered five different dishes for the five of us, including blackcurrant pork chop, red spotted grouper and salted egg fish skin. Read my previous blog post for other good dishes recommendation with pictures!
Red Spotted Grouper 红斑鱼, Yummy and Fresh! - Recommended
Salted Egg Fried Fish Skin 咸蛋炸鱼皮
Feasting with my family
The restaurant was pretty empty when we were there at their first week of opening as they hadn't started advertising. Hopefully they will gain back the old customers and attract new customers in the new area. The food standard was the same as before, of course I'm comparing this to the days before they changed management. Trust me!! I wasn't paid to do any food/travel blog posts as I do it for my own personal interest. Thus, there will not be such thing as 'Quote LynneChua for a X% discount'. Hahaha. Give it a try and let me know how it is. If it's bad, I will probably go for a taste-bud checkup. =p
Can't wait to go back to taste my favorite Teriyaki Beef Cubes, Yang Chew Fried Rice, Roasted Duck with Yam (YUM YUM) and 黑胡椒鹿肉 Black Pepper Venison. Not forgetting the awesome 辣椒螃蟹 Chilli Crab with fried buns!!
Our accommodation did not provide free breakfast, thus we had oats and milk we got from Coles supermarket at Katoomba yesterday. It was full of tourists when we got to the Three Sisters in the morning! =O A totally different scene as compared to last evening.
The parking space near the Three Sisters area was so expensive that we decided to park a few streets down, where parking is free. The weather was good and not as humid as Singapore, walking was therefore not an issue!
Super in love with all these pretty purple flowers that is so common in Blue Mountains!
Many households have 'em pretty purple flowers while we walked towards Three Sisters
Three Sisters
Address: 23-31 Echo Point Rd, Katoomba NSW 2780, Australia
So today we gonna make our way to one of the Three Sisters taking the path we didn't take yesterday. It was a short 7-8 min walk from the starting point to the lookout space where the Giant Stairway is located.
Onward to the Three Sisters
There was a "queue" to the Giant Stairway on the left of the lookout. Reason? Giant Stairway is a tight 2-way staircase with really steep steps, 80m down.
Queue on the left
Here we go
Down down down
Almost there
BF "Sit there, I take photo for you"; Stranger with camo shorts "..."
Staring into the beautiful view in front of me, next to one of the Three Sisters
Climbed-back-up-the-steep-Giant-Stairway face
Lovely flowers
Back to where we parked; opening the doors to let the air flow through
Time for lunch! Ranked #3 in TripAdvisor, 15min wait at Yellow Deli was not too bad though it's already 2pm. There were heaters placed at the waiting area outside the restaurant so that you won't freeze when the chilly wind blows.
The Yellow Deli
Address: 214 Katoomba St, Katoomba NSW 2780, Australia
Operating Hours: Sun - Thu 10am-10pm, Fri 10am - 3pm; Sat Closed
Contact: +61 2 4782 9744
Website: http://yellowdeli.com/katoomba
I left my name and no. of pax with the staff (in checked shirt above) to join the queue.
Checking out the menu of The Yellow Deli
The Yellow Deli Sandwiches Menu Page
The Yellow Deli Salad, Soup and Desserts Menu Page
The Yellow Deli Drinks and all day Breakfast Menu Page
Ushered into The Yellow Deli and sat next to the fireplace while they prepare our table
Hot Not Choc (AUD 4.50) and Fresh Green Maté (AUD 3)
Hot Not Choc was not my type of Hot Chocolate as caramel was added to the drink. =/ Surprisingly, Fresh Green Maté tea was fragrant and refreshing! Many reviewers were speaking highly of Iced Green Yerba Maté, we should have ordered that instead of Hot Not Choc.
Top view of our lunch at The Yellow Deli
Spinwich (AUD 8.50) - Eggs, Spinach, Parmesan, Cheddar, Hot Pepper Cheese, Onion, Capsicum, Yellow Deli's special sauce on a buttered Egg Roll
Smoked Chicken Sandwich (AUD 11)
Ahhhh the smoked chicken sandwich was SO YUMMY!! It looked like ordinary sandwich but tasted heavenly!! Always read reviews before you visit a famous restaurant/cafe! Thankful for all the helpful reviewers online that made me ordered Smoked Chicken Sandwich. ^^
I had a bite of my BF's Spinwich and it tasted good. My sandwich's better. Heh heh. My boyfriend enjoyed his food too, I guessed my expectation shot up sky high after I tasted my sandwich. *Satisfied*
The concept and interior design of The Yellow Deli is also very unique-vintage. I'd urge you to explore the cafe while you make your way to the washroom (even if you don't need it).
Going up to the second floor
Up on the 2nd floor
In the female's toilet
We had a wonderful experience at The Yellow Deli and I strongly recommend you to visit this cafe if you ever step foot into Katoomba!
*TIP: For free parking, park at nearby supermarkets and walk to The Yellow Deli.
Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens Mount Tomah
Address: Bells Line of Rd, Mount Tomah NSW 2758, Australia
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 9.00 am - 5.30 pm; Sat, Sun and public holidays: 9.30 am - 5.30 pm
Contact: +61 2 4567 3000
Website: https://www.bluemountainsbotanicgarden.com.au/
The Botanic Gardens is an hour drive away from Katoomba. This was actually not in our itinerary but we kinda ran out of things to do in Blue Mountains and started searching online for attractions (especially with free entry) while we were at the cafe. I was glad that we made the journey up to Mount Tomah! Bear in mind that they close at 5.30pm, strictly. I wished we had more time to explore this huge garden.
First bird spotted
Second bird spotted and it's blue!
Cute little blue bird
Peaceful pond
Weather, being cool and not as windy, was very nice to us in the Botanic Gardens. If you love flowers and plants, do make a trip here.
Stylo vehicle (car or motorcycle?!) behind us
Govetts Leap Lookout
Address: Blue Mountains National Park NSW 2570, Australia
Spot the waterfall
Mountains and clouds
After a 15 min hike
It was so windy that the water from the waterfall was blown upwards!! Check out the video I took with my iPhone uploaded on YouTube below:
15 min hike from the carpark
It was raining when we made our way back to the carpark from Cliff Top Track Barrow Lookout. In short, you will get to see waterfall, trees, flowers and steps at Govetts Leap Lookout.
Evans lookout was more interesting than Govetts Leap Lookout. There were gigantic rocks, many many steps down from the gate that led to the Grand Canyon which we did not approach as it was getting dark.
Another place with mountains and clouds
This shot was taken by him.... See how 'straight' the gate is...
Passing by this Boiler House Cafe - The Hydro Majestic everyday, finally we stopped by today, to check out the sunset. Lol.
The sunset was a thin line today as it was TOO CLOUDY. Our two days and nights in Blue Mountains had been truly cloudy. No clear sky with far-out view and no night sky with visible stars. Sigh =/
Our dinner was supposed to be at Station Bar & Woodfired Pizza located at 287 Bathurst Rd, Katoomba NSW 2780, Australia. However, the pizza was sold out by the time we reached. The rating for this pizza place is one of the best in Katoomba. What a pity! We ended up ordering pizza take-away at another busy restaurant named Papadino's Katoomba, with 45min waiting time....so we decided to walk around Katoomba neighbourhood.
Believe it or not, I have never tried Kinder Surprise. Surprising??? I bought one at Coles while we were waiting for our pizza.
I WANT OLAF!
Please be Olaf!
I was so disappointed when it turned out to be Elsa. =( I bet I will be 10x more upset if I were a kid. With a heavy heart, we drove back to Papadino to collect our pizza that we already paid for. As the restaurant was less crowded, we changed our take-away to eat-in and ordered a cuppa hot chocolate.
Papadino's (Medium) at AUD 17.50 and Hot Chocolate at AUD 4
Papadino's - Ham, capsicum, onion, mushroom, olives, anchovies and oregano. The pizza was decent; topping it up with Parmesan cheese and chilli flakes on request made it even better. Many customers were having pasta instead of pizza, you may want to order their pasta instead if you decided to give this place a try.
What a long and fulfilling day in Blue Mountains today! We checked the Health app on our iPhones and it indicated that we walked nearly 18,000 steps! Thanks to all the hikes of course. Gotta leave this lovely place tomorrow morning and we'd also be car-less after. 2 days down, 8 days to go. =)
