silk road

Silk Road at Amara Singapore – Provincial Homemade Wheat Noodles and Dumplings (Until 31 May 2017)

April 3, 2017 by Bino Leave a Comment

Silk Road at Amara Singapore is one of the Chinese restaurants I look forward to visiting. I love it because of the added dimension it gives to one’s typical understanding of Chinese cuisine. Beyond your Peking Duck or Dimsum, the food here showcases the vastness of the Middle Kingdom with specialties from lesser known places such as Shaanxi, Ningxia and even Inner Mongolia. Primarily, the venue is known for its Sichuan dishes but I love how they showcase their versatility especially with imaginative Chinese New Year menus.

Recently, Silk Road had me over to sample their mid-year promotion – a selection of dishes made from homemade wheat noodles and dumplings which they are showcasing until 31st May 2017. The dishes I had were all sample portions, with the actual serving portion being around 3x larger.

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The Silk Road Journey Pt4: Shimmering Samarkand

April 28, 2012 by Bino 24 Comments

Just when I thought that Bukhara epitomized all there is to be seen in terms of mosques, madrasas and mausoleums; we venture into another such place – perhaps the most well-known among all the silk road cities – Samarkand.

the majestic registan square of samarkand – one of the most fascinating architectural ensembles I have seen

Unlike the more atmospheric Khiva and the more religious but understated Bukhara, Samarkand differentiates itself in grandeur. Also known as the “jewel of Islamic art,” the city was the capital of Tamerlane’s empire (the man responsible for bringing together the Uzbek identity) in the 14th century. Today, the city has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, credited as a “crossroads of culture” due to its pivotal role in bridging China and the West during the silk road era.

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The Silk Road Journey Pt1: Welcome to Uzbekistan

April 14, 2012 by Bino 20 Comments

Mention the country Uzbekistan and more often than not, one gets a mixed reaction. What is there to see? Why go there? Where is that? These were the most common responses I received when people heard that I was going to Uzbekistan. Ask me my opinions on Uzbekistan 5 years ago and I would probably ask the first two questions as well.

As one of the -Stans (i.e. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, etc), people normally associate it with vast cotton fields, cold, impersonal Soviet architecture and perhaps tall, blonde receptionists all seemingly named Svetlana. In more recent times, Borat came into the picture to portray what is a backward and inaccurate depiction of the -Stans (notably Kazakhstan). Nevertheless, it did put this rarely explored region in the limelight.

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