3 Days 2 Nights Staycation @ Parkroyal Collection Pickering + What to Eat Around Chinatown, Boat Quay Area

"Shall we do a staycation?" Gotta love the impromptu suggestion and the quick reflexes of the foodie gang. Within the next few days, it became a reality and bookings were made (non-refundable somemore!) and we waited for the appointed weekend. 

First staycay in our new norm era.

Day 1 - Check In, Lunch @ Hong Lim Market and Dinner @ Clarke Quay

Parkroyal Collection Pickering

lobby

The room was not ready and the staff said he would come look for me when it is. "How would you know where I'd be?" I asked. He simply smiled.

waiting for room and for fellow staycationers

Okay lah, I didn't roam very far and was guai guai seated at the lobby area so it was rather easy for the staff to find me afterwards. The wait was about 15 minutes for the room to be ready.

feeling excited

Urban Room 28 m²/301 ft²

bed

water

Eco bottle @ $20

care pack

I really liked that the hotel that cares enough about their guests to provide care packs in the room.

coffee or tea?

make coffee with this

brewed coffee

bathroom

amenities

this smells really good btw

A coffee press was provided in the room to make coffee. But I find that the clean-up after that was a hassle! Would have preferred Nespresso machine.

I thought the room was pretty cool till a small roach was spotted on its carpet, crawling. Okie.... Called the hotel frontdesk and informed them of the situation, with the now dead roach inside the bin. She was rather flustered and asked if I would like to change room but likely have to wait since they are expecting a high turn-out that weekend. Thought about it for a second and informed her it is fine so she advised that I should call the frontdesk again to get housekeeping to clean the room thoroughly. 

Left the room for lunch and it was not possible to get hold of the front desk via phone. Went down to the lobby and saw long queues awaiting check-in. Spoke to one of the staff and informed him of the roach incident and requested for housekeeping. He said he will assist.

When I went back to the room, discovered that the only area that had been re-cleaned was the window area (as the pillows at the ledge have shifted) and outside the bathroom area as the tissue holder had been moved and they forgot to put back the tissue box. Other than that, nothing seemed to have been cleaned any further. Understandably, it was peak hours for housekeeping. Thankfully, no other incident happened thereafter.

It was raining on Day 1 of our staycay but we still braved the rain to have lunch at Hong Lim Market which is just like next door.

Read more about our Hong Lim Market food hunt here. After which, we rested for a few hours before our appointed dinner meet up.

lazing in bed on a rainy day

Later that evening, the rain stopped with an overcast and we took the chances to walk towards Boat Quay to try the newly opened Hand in Hand Shandong Restaurant. As Georgetown Tze Char was nearby, we went over to have after dinner drinks and snacks.

alfresco dining view

Asahi Black @$12 per pint

Penang Thai Style Squid @$15

Rendang Crab @$15 per crab (promo price, UP $28)

Black Pepper Crab @$15 per crab (promo price, UP $28)

Sambal BBQ Stingray @15

Really liked the food from George Town Tze Char and hence the revisit to enjoy the favourites as well as dishes that we did not try on the previous visit. My top 3 favourites now would be the Penang Thai Style Squid, Black Pepper Crab and Beef Rendang. 

night view from the hotel

Day 2 - Breakfast @ Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Teabreak with Donki Haul and Dinner @ Lime Restaurant

Luckily, the next morning it wasn't raining but the ground was a tad wet.

good morning

view from the 12th floor

We enjoyed the leisurely morning stroll to the brunch destination and here are some photo of the sights.

Read about what we ate at Chinatown Complex Food Centre here. With the leftover soya sauce chicken in one hand, we went to 100 AM to take a break. Hmmm, I meant...a break from eating. Haha!

Strolled for a short while and decided we were thirsty. Stopped by Happy Cup to have some iced tea.

store front

Sun Moon Lake Tea from Happy Cup

And, we dabao'ed food from Donki to have it as snack later on. 

aburi salmon from Donki

swordfish sashimi from Donki

bonding over food and drinks

Here is the link to our dinner experience at Lime Restaurant, the onsite restaurant of the hotel.

Not surprising, I was so so full after the buffet. Thanks to fellow foodies, I got to taste a bit of everything.

good night

I liked that hotels like Parkroyal has wine glasses in the room. So useful.

Day 3 - Breakfast (In-room Dining) and Check-Out

Decided for Free & Easy on our last day at the hotel.

brewed coffee

in-room menu

Tried their in-room dining service and ordered breakfast. Pretty efficient and the food arrived in about 20-25 minutes.

guess what I ordered?

Two-eggs - the way you want it @$22++

Was your guess correct? Yeah, I like to have eggs in the morning for breakfast and scrambled is my usual way I'd like it. The hash brown though tiny was adequate and it was nicely crisp on its outer. The bacon, was unfortunately not crispy but its saltiness and greasiness complements the wholesome unseasoned milky eggs. Chipolata for the proteins. Baked beans I loved them on the bread. Tomato as the customary quota for vege? Hahaha.

Check-out process was fast as there weren't many guests checking in on a Monday as compared to the days before.

Overall, Parkroyal Collection Pickering has a good on-site restaurant; Lime Restaurant of which I enjoyed the buffet there. Sleep quality was good and the Urban room was spacious. The toiletries provided was really nice too. 

Parkroyal Collection Pickering

Address: 3 Upper Pickering St, Singapore 058289

Contact: 6809 8888

Website: https://www.panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pr-pickering.html

Exploring Chinatown Eats Part 2 @ Chinatown Complex Food Centre

"Let's go eat Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken!" and that was how we ended unanimously with our brunch location. It was a 15 minutes walk from Parkroyal Collection Pickering. As it was raining the day before, we were glad to have better weather on the day we want to walkabout.

Chinatown Point

thank you for your hard work

lets explore Chinatown

Ann Chin Popiah

Duo Ji

We visited on a Sunday morning, smack right during breakfast time and popular stalls like The 1950s Coffee were having crazily long queues. Our table were at a far corner, and observed that most elderly seated there had this coffee with the same logo so we decided to get the same.

coffee from Tou Shou Di 

our morning fuel

Thank you Ivan for getting the chee cheong fun and the roasted meats. Thank you Hence for getting the soy sauce chicken, and thank you Tracy for getting the traditional wa kuih and drinks.

Roasted Pork Belly and Char Siew (mixture of lean and half-half ratio meat) from Fatty Ox

The char siew from Fatty Ox even when fatty, had a rather firm mouthfeel. I loved the caramelised bits on the char siew and the crackling from the pork belly.

Ann Chin Popiah @$1.60 per roll

Ann Chin Popiah was listed in 2019 Singapore Michelin Guide and has been around for ages. Packed with ingredients and tasted healthy. Inexpensive as I have encountered neighbourhood popiah stall in coffeeshops with a $2 price tag.

kopi from Tou Shou Di

The coffee from Tou Shou Di stall was likeable. Traditional coffee and 'gao' enough (and warm enough) but I think can reduce on the sweetness slightly.

It is extremely rare to come across a stall selling 碗粿, so we bought one to try. Soft, gelatinous with slightly sweetish savoury sauce that's still mild. Best eaten when still warm and with chili.

碗粿 (wa kuih)

chee cheong fun from Duo Ji

yam cake from Duo Ji

Am not sure if there are others like us who eats roasted meat and soy sauce chicken in the mornings...but I'm a fan of Maria's Signature Soy Sauce Chicken. It is so tender so good! Tried it twice and twice it delivered consistently good quality. I thought the HK Styled version was drier hence, strongly recommend the signature soy sauce chicken. The braised beancurd is pretty well done and the choice of water tofu is good with all the savoury lovely sauce.

Ma Li Ya Signature Soy Sauce Chicken @$10 for half chicken

  

Hong Kong Style Soy Sauce Chicken @$7 for half chicken

Signature Braised Beancurd @$1 per piece 

We saved the HK Style Soya Sauce chicken for teabreak, with wine. The adventure continues in next article. Watch out for the next blog post!

Fatty Ox HK Kitchen

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-84, Singapore 050335

 安珍 Ann Chin Popiah

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-112, Singapore 050335

头手弟 (Tou Shou Di)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-114, Singapore 050335

阿公碗粿 (Ah Kong Wa Kuih)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-116, Singapore 050335

玛俐亚处女鸡 (Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-176, Singapore 050335

多记 (Duo Ji)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-216, Singapore 050335