So, about my Chinese New Year trip to Singapore lets continue.

For Singaporeans Chinese New Year is never complete without Lou Hei so here's my Lou Hei



Was done in Shang Palace








Lou Hei


More wine


Soup


Boston lobster


Abalone


Baked fish


Noodles


Dessert


Finally the traditional Chinese New Year lucky rice cake

Leaving my hotel for breakfast one morning



Queueing for prata


Prata and Chai tau kway stalls side by side



Prata



Chai tau kway (fried turnip cake)

Dinner at Tiong Bahru's Sin Hoi Sai restaurant



Pickled cucumber


Sea snails


Sambal kangkong


Coffee pork ribs


Steamed egg


joot joot


Brands essence frog legs

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel ... 0&si=44594

Thai tourist spot offers touch of Harajuku close to home
Japanese-themed attractions fill gap as COVID blocks travel to popular destination


With Japan among the popular destinations for Thai tourists, Harajuku Thailand has drawn residents unable to travel abroad due to the pandemic. (Photo by Marimi Kishimoto)
MARIMI KISHIMOTO, Nikkei staff writerFebruary 11, 2022 13:44 JST

BANGKOK -- Thai tourist spots that take a cue from Japan's landmark locations have attracted the interest of local residents unable to visit the country because of the pandemic.

One such attraction, Harajuku Thailand, partially opened in December. From Bangkok's city center, it takes an hour's drive through rice paddy country to arrive at the location.

The first thing greeting visitors is a giant statue of a maneki-neko -- a lucky cat waving its paw. Inside the attraction, one can see a building inspired by Tokyo's old Harajuku train station. There is also a Japanese shrine, a statue of the legendary loyal dog Hachiko and a waterway housing koi fish.

A 66-year-old woman decided to visit Harajuku Thailand in the middle of a drive elsewhere.

"I've went to Japan many times because I love sakura blossoms," she said. "This place has captured the atmosphere."

Harajuku Thailand also drew a 13-year-old girl in middle school.

"I found out about it on social media, and I came with a friend," she said, smiling. "I'm having fun taking pictures and walking around."

"Japan is the first travel destination that comes to mind for many Thais," said Kiratiya Sirichaiphatthana, the project director for Harajuku Thailand developer Suwintawong S&C. "When we were discussing concepts for a new attraction, we all agreed on something that will give a taste of Japan to Thais who can't take a trip there because of COVID."

Response from visitors has been positive, according to Kiratiya. Tourist traffic is expected to grow once Harajuku Thailand finalizes its slate of tenants and launches full operations at the end of March.

Japan is a popular tourist destination for Thais. During the pre-pandemic era, Japan ranked third in the number of outbound travelers, statistics from Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports show, behind only Malaysia and Laos.

The Japan National Tourism Organization reports that the country received 1.31 million visitors from Thailand in 2019, a number that soared sevenfold over a decade.

With coronavirus travel restrictions in place, demand is ripe among Thais to experience Japan in some form. At the beach town of Bang Saen near Bangkok, a Thai owner opened a restaurant called Nomisuke Ramen. The location, which faithfully resembles a row of retro Japanese bars and eateries, became popular overnight.

Top Thai convenience store chain 7-Eleven started promoting Japanese-style bento lunches for "those who long for Japan."

In the early 2010s, Thailand saw a proliferation of tourist spots that resemble locations in Europe, such as Venice. The popularity of Japanese-style tourist locations is expected to continue for the foreseeable future as the pandemic limits travel.

I like this noodle shop at Tanglin Halt Market Food Centre


My favourite noodle - meepok dry


Singapore Kway Chap is probably one of my favourite breakfast

And then on the 5th day of Chinese New Year it was time for me to go home. But before I did that I need to do a few things to get into Bangkok:

1. PCR test 72 hours before flight and for this I have to pay S$128 and did it at a clinic in Wheelock Place. This is for boarding and entering Thailand.

2. Apply for ThaiPass - this is done online but before you do this you need to prepare 4 pictures which will be uploaded:
a. Picture of your passport
b. Picture of Vaccination Cert (even better if you separately have a picture of the QR code too to speed up process)
c. Picture of your confirmed booking of a SHA hotel in Thailand for your first and fifth day, the letter from the hotel must also include confirmation of payment for PCR tests on the two days.
d. Picture of your Covid Insurance (min US$50,000)

With the above you will submit in the ThaiPass online platform and then wait. This is free. They say give them 3 days to approve however most of the time they will approve within half a day.

Ok so I left finally and this is the Changi Airport that day, it was quiet as expected.



The lounge laksa was really nice, gin nice too

Ready to go







The journey


My Hindu food onboard


and more gin tonic of course

I arrived at 7pm and the hospital the hotel engaged to do the PCR came at 8.30pm did my PCR and left. I got the result at 1am which means it took only 4 hours, not so bad. I decided to stay till the next day.

Hotel


Dinner provided by hotel


Breakfast the next morning

Seiko Thailand called me earlier to collect a New Year's gift I only recently had time to go collect. what a pleasant surprise.

Made myself a very simple dinner - fish boiled rice (porridge)

Took a piece of Spanish mackerel out of the freezer


Remove the bones and skin


Slice the meat


Put the bones and skin and add some slices of ginger into a pot


Add water and bentoil the content in the pot for 20mins add salt


Cooking


Ready


Let's eat