DBS Marina Regatta 2014

It was a well spent Sunday with the mates. Nadiah wanted to attend the Asia Cosplay Meet, which was held at Marina Bay, in conjunction with DBS Marina Regatta 2014. I totally had no idea it was a DBS event until I saw the venue banners and balloons. The response was good despite the bad weather. 

Oh and there were Dragon Boat races too with paddlers from Singapore and other regions like Thailand, Indonesia etc. After watching the race, I was so tempted to join a Dragon Boat club,hahahas!

I was supposed to meet the duo at 1.30pm at Bayfront station. I arrived early so I was just hanging around (and no, I so do not look suspicious!). I entered the washroom and there was a female, who cosplayed as a male character, doing the final touch up for her make up. I did a double take at the toilet sign to ensure that I entered the correct washroom because she was so good until I mistaken her as a guy. 

I resumed my wait outside and I came across 3 guys who were in cosplay outfits. One of them caught my eyes because (no, he isn't handsome!) he was cosplaying as Trafalgar Law, one of my favourite characters in One Piece!

Anyhow, Nadiah arrived and suddenly there were no more cosplayers in sight. Nicholas was the last to arrive. Tsk, 2 ladies waiting for a guy, buay pai seh (not embarrassed), hahahas! Because it was raining, we decided to head off to Bugis via Downtown line to have lunch. 3 starved beings' first Downtown line encounter.

We decided to dine at LeNu Taiwan Beef Noodle Bar where they served noodles in authentic beef broth. You can choose the types of noodles (ranging from thin, broad to rice noodles) and the soup bases (Authentic Braised Beef Soup, Braised Beef Soup with Pickled Cabbage and Hot & Spicy Braised Beef Soup). 

And yes, they offered different parts of beef so beef experts can decide which to choose. As for me, I eat simple. As long as less fats and more meat, I am satisfied:)

The foodies!

I ordered Noodles in Braised Beef Soup (A1)-broad noodles in Authentic Braised Beef Soup.

At first I couldn't make up my mind between Hot & Spicy and Authentic but I decided to go ahead with authentic because this is their specialty right?

To my (everyone's, in fact) horror, this doesn't comes with meat. Apparently I was so wrapped up with reading the English words that I failed to see the 2 Chinese words that states 'no meat'. It was such a joke at that point of time that Nadiah and Nic can't stop laughing at me.

Anyhow, time to review.

I love their noodles, they are chewy and springly. I love chewy food hence the noodles scored points but the soup was really disappointing. It was tasteless. I don't know if it was because the entire dish doesn't have meat so the taste wasn't as strong as the others but if I were to go back to dine, I won't order this.

So do take note of what you are ordering (READ carefully!) or you will end up like me, eating noodles in tasteless soup.

Nic ordered Braised Beef Shank Noodles (A3)- Broad noodles in Authentic Braised Beef Soup.

I tried his beef and broth and both were so good! The soup has a stronger taste, compared to mine and it was way tastier, definitely. The beef slices are thick and meaty with fats in between. Thumbs up for it! But the downside is that one part of the noodles were lumped together. If the chef had prepared it properly, it would have been a great dish!

Nadiah's Noodles with Chicken Chop in Tomato Soup No Beef (A9)- Broad noodles.

At first both Nic and I were criticising her: "Come to a beef specialty restaurant but you ordered chicken??? Ironic much?" 

Even she herself agreed but she was so tempted by how good the dish looked in the picture. Well, at the very least she had chicken meat. She ended up making fun of me again, the one with the meatless dish. 

"Come to a beef restaurant but never eat beef." 

Sigh. Which is more ironic, I wonder.

Anyhow, this dish is not bad! The tomato soup is very rich and thick and the chicken slices are crispy! If you are a die-hard chicken-cum-tomato fan, this is the dish for you!

At first I thought this was the chilli sauce for the beef but it turns out to be the dipping sauce. My verdict? I think it taste weird, somehow like a mixture of bean paste or something and it is slightly salty. There weren't any spicy or sweet aftertaste. I didn't enjoy it so I left it untouched.

After a very fulfilling lunch, we headed back down to Bayfront for the event. God granted us a very nice after-weather and we managed to enjoy the rest of the event without worrying about the rain. Thank God!

And the Dragon Boat races were resumed, kudos to God once again!

"MEET THE FINEST COSPLAYERS IN ASIA!  

DBS Marina Regatta is proud to host the Biggest Cosplay Competition in Asia at the Marina Bay this year on 17 & 18 May. 

Cosplay is an activity where fans of animation, comics and games dress up as characters from these works. This year, the best Cosplay teams from nine Asian countries will compete for the title of the "Finest Cosplayers in Asia" at the DBS Marina Regatta 2014!

Come meet the challengers from Singapore, Korea, China, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand, and grab a photo opportunity.

Don't miss this opportunity to see them all up-close and personal at the Asia Cosplay Meet GrandWalk and Parade as well!"

 This is my first ever cosplay event that I have attended and I was so excited because you really see different people cosplaying different anime characters. The atmosphere was good-photographers clicking away, cosplayers posing coolly, everyone's cheering etc. There was an ongoing international competition and Korea and Japan were one of those countries that took part.

Recognise this anime? It is Digimon Frontier! Guess what? They were the Singapore Representatives!

Representatives of Indonesia! But I have no idea what anime this is though the bald-headed character look kind of familiar...

And And And I honestly have no idea who this guy is. Apparently he was the VIP for the cosplay event and there was a queue (for real?YES, no kidding!) formed to give him namecards and to take photos with him. Some fans went to the extend of hugging him, some looked like they will start crying him a river anytime from just talking, standing or breathing in the same air as him. He can even correct some of their camera position/angle for taking photos! 

Seriously, who is he? 

He was later taken to a tent to sign autograph for more fans. Now I am even more confused. One thing for sure, he is a professional cosplayer but I just have no idea who.

And that pretty much sums up my Sunday.
Next cosplay event will be in June. Stay tuned!:)