Author: Melissa | SG Food & Travel

Hi there! I'm a marketer by day and a content creator and blogger by night. I started blogging about my favourite food haunts in 2013 and haven't stopped since. My favourite things in life are: food, travel, and food and travel. If you would like to collaborate, drop me a line at melissa.chue@gmail.com

5 Ways to Travel Savvy with Cashback & Agoda Discounts (Shopback)

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Travel plans can be a stressful affair, especially when it comes to finding accommodation and activities that will satisfy everyone’s tastes. After all, we want nothing but the best when it comes to fulfilling our wanderlust fantasies, don’t we?

Thankfully, with online travel and shopping sites bringing anything and everything to our fingertips, we don’t have to look that far to plan the ultimate getaway, whether it’s a trip halfway around the world or a simple weekend staycation.

And here’s an added bonus: with ShopBack, you get to pick the best of the best from over 500 merchants and earn your money back. Hey, who knew that it was possible to have your cake and eat it?

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Konnichiwa, Kansai! Feeding the Deer @ Nara Park

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While researching my trip to Osaka and Kyoto, I realised that there are many cities in the Kansai region within easy reach of my home base in Osaka – no thanks to Japan’s ultra connected and idiot proof transportation system.

Yes, while the train system looks hellishly complicated at first glance, it’s possible to hop from city to city with one eye closed (the other on your Hyperdia app, of course, but that’s a post for another day). 😉

And so I spent my first proper day in Japan feeding the famous – or infamous, depending on what you’ve heard – sika deer in Nara Park!

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Konnichiwa, Kansai! Gudetama Cafe @ HEP FIVE, Osaka – Sanrio’s Laziest Egg Gets Its Own Cafe

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So… if you’ve noticed, I did not write at all last month, which I’ve never done before as I’ve always intended to keep this blog busy with new reviews, lists and so on since I started. Well, that’s because I was busy planning for my trip to Kansai, Japan!

This trip is a first in many ways for me – the first time I’ve travelled solo for the entire leg, and the first time I abandoned the tried and tested hotels and stayed all by my lonesome in an Airbnb apartment.

I was super duper excited planning my itinerary and looking up all the places I wanted to go (in Sakura season, no less!), and now I’m even more thrilled to share my solo adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun here. Starting with my very first stop  – Gudetama Cafe at HEP FIVE!

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Lethargic, unmotivated, and all around lazy – Gudetama was the perfect embodiment of me physically and mentally given that I started the day right after a red-eye flight. And what better way to celebrate my making it through in one piece than with dinner with everyone’s favourite lazy egg ?

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[MOVED] Angelina @ Capitol Piazza – Historic Parisian Tea House in Singapore

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Update June 2020: Angelina has moved to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. 

There are few things quite as charming as tea houses – the elegant furniture, the relaxed atmosphere, the attentive staff in quaint uniforms. And yes, the food. Let’s not forget the food.

Established in 1903 by Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmayer and named after his daughter in law, Angelina is a Parisian tea house that is renowned for its signature hot chocolate and mont blanc. And just last year, the culinary icon made its way to Singapore, as one of the most highly anticipated F&B openings in the newly refurbished Capitol Piazza.

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As I was pretty impressed at the Valentines Day tasting, I decided to return for my birthday lunch last weekend. It also helped that Angelina was one of the few places open during the Chinese New Year long weekend, which was when my birthday fell this year! #firstworldproblems.

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Animal Themed Manju by Namikoshiken @ Aichi, Nagoya – Too Cute to be Eaten

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If life is like a box of chocolates, cute is a box of these manju from Nagoya.

Founded in 1927, Japanese confectionery Namikoshiken 浪越軒 has been producing tons of traditional sweets – but none of them have come close to winning the Internet over like their animal themed buns!

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When I read about them on RocketNews24, one of my go-to sources for all things Japanese, I absolutely had to get my hands on them. Thanks to a friend who was travelling to Singapore, I managed to snag a 12-pc Handmade Zoo (“Tetzukuri Dobutsuen”) box from their online store on Rakuten!

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[CLOSED] 20F Specialty Coffeehouse @ Foch Road – Lavender’s “New” Clinic Turned Cafe

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Update June 2020: 20F Specialty Coffeehouse has closed.

It’s a known fact that Singapore’s landscape is ever changing – with our thirst for change and progress in a limited land space, it’s not hard to imagine many of our forefathers’ domains disappearing into the tides of time.

So when word got out that a former family-run clinic was being converted into 20F Specialty Coffeehouse, a hipster cafe – with its interior embellishments intact – it no doubt caught the attention of cafe hoppers with a love for the old school. Check out the metal window grills and patterned tiles – typical of the traditional medical centres of old!

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