Keyaki Restaurant, Pan Pacific Hotel (Tel: 6336-8111)

July 28, 2007: It was my first night-out after close to one month of being confined to the hospital and the home. There were several other reasons for celebrating as well, one of which is, I am finally in the last stage of recovery.

I was thrilled when I was told the venue would be Keyaki in Pan Pacific Hotel. It was the first Japanese restaurant in Singapore that left some really good impressions on me more than a decade ago. I have returned over the years - and have never once complained about any drop in its standard.* (Please note the end of this entry).

I met the person who took down my reservation for the first time. He didn't introduce himself as Shigeki James Sekiya. He just greeted me with an "Irrasshyaimase", then led me to my seat. It was a small table, and I said that I was going to sit on the chair outside facing the garden; but alas he didn't know how to pull out the chair for a lady guest. What a shame. He's learnt English, without mastering its culture.

Keyaki has a serene traditional Japanese garden-it is probably the only restaurant of its kind. I love the garden as much as the food.

As always before any meal there, I'd walk around the garden and do some deep-inhaling. It's all part of "defeating dengue" and there was no mossy around.

Very quickly a starter was served. I took a look at the menu; the current promotion is foie gras. Foie gras on grilled hotate was the first registered.

When 'A' finally found a parking lot, he made his way to the table. I told him to take the Miyabi Kaiseki (SGD 90/ person). Surprisingly Keyaki allows sharing at the table. That's very nice- I couldn't imagine small eaters would be able to complete the kaiseki. The waitress made some recommendations for me: fried rice, hamaguri (clam) soup and foie gras. As the hamaguri (clam) were gone, dobin mushi seemed to be the perfect substitute.

I knew that I'd feel a little 'tormented' having to abstain from beer and wine-- for the sake of my liver--another challenge of dengue patients. Luckily the kampachi was excellent-both in the way it was served and its taste even without drinks.

It was accompanied by the julienned fresh mountain yam- what a bore, you might think, chewing on taro strips when you're going haute cuisine. The yam turned out incredibly light, refreshing, juicy and accompanied with quality seaweed-- a true delight in its own right.

The dobin mushi was a refreshing hot teapot of seafood and bamboo shoot, aromatized with some golden drips of sweet and sour lime goodness.

Before I could finish it, I was surprised by the sight of the foie gras, prettily served on a scallop shell. Beneath the layer of goodness, there were the succulent meat of fresh scallops--all tasted too good to be true.

Then the prawn and tempura arrived; they were superbly light as well. The truly divine dish of the night was the skewered beef with vegetables (gyuuniku no kushiyaki). I surprised myself by loving it immediately -- I was never a meat-lover. Lightly charred on the outside, sweet juices gushed out from its rare tender core. This succulent beef might just make any vegetarian break his oath. I finally understood why the teppanyaki table was always full at the restaurant. I won't mind becoming a carnivore for those beef!

The fried rice came in the correct amount- an aromatic grainy bowl. Though simple, its flavour was robust.

There was the vinegared cucumber with wakame seaweed and eel to cool everything down. There were quite a bit of eel embedded in the mound of seaweed and cucumber that loosened to fill half the bowl. I could taste very good-quality rice vinegar in it and couldn't bear to waste a single drop of it.

A good dessert would definitely bring the meal to a memorable end. I chose a simple fruit platter which came with simply the most heavenly papaya.

The green tea ice-cream added another perfect finishing note.

I felt extremely energized and soothed by the meal. The feeling of having overeaten was absent; and I was sure I felt much healthier.

The budget for one person is SGD100 a person (7-percent GST inclusive). It's well-worth the splurge. Even if the 'service' manager is just an average usher and the service compares poorly with family restaurant, Donguri, Japan Association, the chefs shine.

I am looking for the next excuse to return.

* I did return later in November 2007, but the sashimi, sushi and the beef kebabs tasted very different. Until now, I haven't gone back there for a review. I would, I guess, to give it the benefit of the doubt.

My Trip to Vietnam; Vietnamese Food

It's been a while since my last entry. I was in Vietnam from June 19, 2007, and came back to Singapore with dengue fever close to a month later. I caused anxiety to rise at Tan Tock Seng Hospital when I said that I'd just returned from Vietnam. Being very experienced in dealing with SARS, they confined me to an isolated, classless ward, Ward 82. There, I was put under observation for two days while they carried out thorough investigation. At the same time, I was being treated like a princess by the most of the nurses, food delivery staff and cleaners. It's hard to word the happiness of being home.

I couldn't eat the first three days at the hospital. But I had not eaten since July 8, the day I left for Sa Dec. I felt like throwing up every ten minutes after my first three days of fever. My temperature remained at least 38 degree Celcius at hospital for the first few days. In Vietnam, it was much higher, and it started with many hours of splitting headaches.

I toured the Mekong tributaries of Tien Giang and Hau Giang. On my first trip I visited My Tho, Vinh Long, Sa Dec, Can Tho, Vinh Chau and Soc Trang (in former Cissbassac). I went there on a rented car- just me and the driver, a wacky Vietnamese who understands Mandarin and is able to sing in Mandarin as well. His name read as Zhang Tiancai, meaning 'a talent' in Mandarin. Despite his attempts to control my schedule along the way such as restricting my meeting time, I was not disappointed with the trip as I gathered a wealth of information on what I wanted to find out. Most places, fortunately, left pleasant memories; I only felt constrained by time.

I returned to Ho Chi Minh City and rested for two days before booking my bus/air ticket for the next bagpacking trip along Hau Giang. The places I wanted to visit were Ha Tien and Rach Gia; and across in the ocean, Phu Quoc (all in the former Transbasaac area under the French).

I spent a day/night in Rach Gia,three days/two nights in Ha Tien and a day/night in Phu Quoc. This bagpacking trip was fun and unexpectedly productive despite the heavy monsoon. Except for the owner of Khach San Lang Du (Rach Gia) and his friend, a motorbike-taxi driver who asked for SGD5 for an-hour-and-a-half waiting, I met only nice people. The owner of Lang Du Inn was just too business-like and cold. His inn reflects his character as well. It's actually a common six-storey Vietnamese house that is long, narrow and quite dark. It's clean, but very poorly designed. Standing just by the sea, the winds howled throughout night and the windows rattled; the shower/toilet becomes wet after a shower, but it is inside the room and has no windows. The walls of the toilet are up to three quarters the height of the room walls. Overall the room is very dark and moist with countless mossies hovering around. I'd to leave the noisy fan and wall lights turned on throughout the night. The pillows were hard and high- the typical Vietnamese pillows-and I surely missed my British down feather pillows back home. In fact throughout trip, I hardly had any good night sleep. I only slept very well on my first four nights at Windsor Plaza Hotel - a hospitable five-star hotel- rare in HCM city. In some towns that I visited, I had no choice of lodges; there were two-star or one-star hotels. Even if conferred with stars, these hotels may be no-star hotels by international standards. I can only conclude that I've been spoilt by good living in Singapore.

On July 4, despite Mai Linh taxi's failure to pick me up at 4 am at KS Hai Yen in Ha Tien, I reached Rach Gia on time to go to Phu Quoc, just thanks to the driving skills of the next Mai Linh driver at 5:45 am. Thank heavens, the sea wasn't stormy like it was two days ago.

Despite Phu Quoc being a touristy destination, there was absolutely no foreigner on my speedboat, Super Dong, which left the coast of Rach Gia at 8 am. I guessed there must be better boats for foreign tourists wharfed somewhere.

Phu Quoc, in reality, is quite different from what it appears in pictures. It is still undeveloped - if one is to compare it with Bali, Langkawi, Mauritius or Koh Samui. The ambience of a resort island has yet to be achieved.

I booked a little hut in The Tropicana (US 38/night). The mozzies were waiting for me there as well. Although the hotel is owned by a French-Viet kieu, the furnishing does not reflect anything stylish. It is certainly not like what you see in Langkawi or Ubud, Bali. So don't head for Phuc Quoc yet; if you have to, don't settle for anything less than La Verandah (USD 80 ~ per night).

Despite the stormy weather and the village setting, I'd met some really nice people there. In fact, my second motorbike driver was very hardworking. He sped me to all the places that I needed to see before the heavy rain poured down. We were drenched anyway in the end, but I was thankful to him. I could have met someone who did the least but threatened that I give him all my money-this was a real possibility.

It was at the second last of the four places I visited that I got the Aedes-assault. They were very colorful, I remember. One of them even looked like a small jet-black butterfly. I was too busy chatting to be frightened by the varied looks of this aggressive swarm... On hindsight, they looked outrageous- absolutely un-mosquito like. Too colorful, too fast, too many wings...

When I left Phu Quoc after a hearty breakfast, I was so tired that I had to lie down at the airport. I was reluctant to return to Ho Chi Minh city, as I do consider it as safe as the locals would like to believe. In fact the Northerners and Central Vietnamese in the hotel in Phu Quoc totally agreed about it. I have to say that the last driver I met for my trip to the outskirts which began on July 8, the first day of my high fever, had the 'coolest' demeanor, but the greatest greed of all. From his accent, I could tell that he came from the North. He demanded a ten US dollar-tip, hinting that 'I was a foreigner' although I'd told him that he need not drive me around as I knew the places well. I was too ill by then to fight with him, and perhaps he knew it. Paying a US ten-dollar tip was perhaps still better than what Bruno, my ex-classmate, surrendered to the armed cyclo-driver in Ho Chi Minh city he met in the late 1990s. I'd say, such drivers are not unheard of in HCM city, as even my friend was conned SGD12 more by a 'cool' taxi-driver. It's just a place that is trying too hard to develop too fast. Just do not book your tours at TNK Travel, and all those smaller tour operators. There are very few big players. But even established operators do not guarantee much good service. The first wacky driver works for a huge, established tour company; overall he must still be considered a great driver, by Vietnamese standard. The worker of the last greedy driver did praise his boss for being a kind man as well. I think he must be kind to his own people, who will normally pay SGD50 less for the same trip, although he would not admit it.

Before I struggled with dengue, I was satisfying my crave for Vietnamese food. But Vietnamese cuisine is not quite as expansive as that of the Japanese or Chinese. The Northern Vietnamese specialties, Central Vietnamese rice cakes and dishes, and the Southern Vietnamese fare altogether can be savoured within less than a week. I only took a few food pictures in this trip because I was saving space for others.

One of the first few dishes I went for was this soursop juice and fresh shrimp roll which I missed very much. I'd this on June 23:


I'd this sour soup (canh chua)for dinner on June 25 at a store called Cay Me (Tamarind)in My Tho, ten minutes from Khach San Cong Doan:

My driver actually refused to take me to dinner. After some persuasion, he finally did, but he invited himself to eat with me.

Throughout my trip, I'd plenty of Hu Tieu (Southern Vietnamese noodle soup with pork). Depending on the cook, Hu Tieu can vary in taste. Just think of a rather salty soup with pork slices, sometimes pork liver in it. It is more boring than the ba cho mee (noodle with minced meat and mushroom) of Singapore, but nutritionally, it is more balanced, thanks to the greens. Here's what I'd for breakfast at Can Tho, the same restaurant that offers farm rats:

For a crash course in Vietnamese food, a buffet dinner at Bong Sen Hotel(Ho Chi Minh City) is ideal. For 150,000 Vietnamese dong (approx. SGD 15), eat till you burst; savour all the Vietnamese favourites with a glass of decent Australian red thrown in free:

Locals rave about this pancake; but you'll know how oily it is when you see them cook it. It resembles the way a Vietnamese would cook his sunny-side up (trung op-la): Heat the pan; throw the egg in and then drown it in oil till it browns at the sides.

I quite like this chain store Pho 24 which can be found all around Ho Chi Minh city. The combo set which comprises a pho (Northern Vietnamese noodle) of your choice with plenty of herbs, Northern Vietnamese spring rolls, a caramel pudding and a delicious iced jasmine tea costs 60,000 dong (approx. SGD 6), but you can't eat this every day:



Being a multicultural Singaporean, my diet demands variety all the time, and I did crave for Japanese food after a while.

On July 6, I went to Diamond Plaza and ordered a soba at what I thought was Japanese food store. The owner was definitely Korean, as evident in what I was being served as well:

There are food courts in the few shopping malls in HCM city now: Diamond Plaza, Thuong Sa Tax; and Eden Shopping Mall. While food courts in Singapore are necessities, in HCM, they are luxurious eat-outs. This Korean Japanese set costs SGD 9.90. I wasn't satisfied. A Korean set meal at the basement of Capital Cinemaplex here is much tastier and certainly cheaper at SGD 6.20.

Some truly good local restaurants will be able to offer value-for-money (the correct price) and a more lasting satisfactory dining experience, such as Quan An Ngon at 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia.

I'd 'Chinese spring rolls', called bo bia in Vietnamese, phonetically resembling popiah in Hokkien. The filling is, of course, simmered radish and peanuts. It is however rolled slimmer and given the boost by beefsteak leaf:

Two noodle dishes, two fresh fruit juices, and two small salads cost 88,000 dong (approx. SGD 9), and the taste is a cut above any modern food courts and many restaurants in HCM city:

There is also a branch in Ha Noi - if you're visiting the north.

Lastly another example to show that I can't stick to a single cuisine. Here's how a western steak is served in Ho Chi Minh city:

I ordered a spaghetti, though, which didn't taste Italian, but it was alright.

I won't be thinking of Vietnamese food for sometime...