Chalk

After a very strict non nonsense 8am by the flickering tree, and clerking uro, rushed in a fast bf of the usual Mr bean ice cream and pancake, and an equally quick neuro surg tut (with the high d iatrogenic cn3!), and free yums fish and chicken by the deans, and more fish from the sci canteen, after the long uro tut (really admire prof heng's stamina.....and brain bank), marc and i discussed a bit more on p CA following which I hurried to meet Clare.

Picked her from Acid Bar and we headed to Mount Emily to try Chalk (01-03, 11 Mount Sophia )which Dedrick has been egging me to try.

Its a rather quiet place, and we loved the corner seat by the shelves, and even the al fresco seats overlooking Dhoby Gaut was gorgeous. This place opens late, with the last order at 1030pm. We sat till past 11 pm, with no pressure on the staff, really nice of them.

D recommended the daily specials, of which we had 2 of them. The service here is excellent - tho we in an isolated section of the room, they never failed to check on us to make sure we're alright, topping up our water even tho they left the glass water bottle on our table. And, when we asked for the daily specials, the waitress actually brought the HUGE chalk board over ! rofl.

The AWESOME bread is free flow, and has got to be the best i've had in a while. The olive bread especially, it was crusty and perfectly baked. Served with butter and olive oil with vinegar, but best when dipped into the soup below.

Seafood bisque - within which lied a prawn, a mussel, and small bits of scallop. This has a well rounded rich seafood flavour, and still manages to be slightly creamy.

Calamari confit - of which it has been soaked in oil for 3 days, explaining its extreme smoothness. This has definitely got an oriental twist to it especially the vegetables in the middle, soaked in a cheese sauce.

Beef stew was the waitress's personal favourite - if not would have gone for the veal. This is comfort food, and it really reminds me of Grandma's stew actually - kudos to gran for fantastic food self learnt!

I loved the ambience and Clare's company, with her stories about the horrors of grocery shopping and the safety of East London, and her wonderful guy in her life. All prices here are nett on the menu.

Wanted to carry on in Timbre at Old School but the female singer that night was rather ghastly so we explored the compound a fair bit - from ergonomic chairs to media firms, that place is a enclave of creativity. We zipped out to City hall, where I left the car behind Raffles Hotel and we walked to New Asia Bar (Swissotel) meeting Winnie on the way (whom Clare was supposed to meet on nye). She loves the east coast panel while my favourite was the Boat Quay side, and the view of the water front and the floating wishing spheres was amazing - retract my statement of how hideous it was (actually, it still is, in the day.)

Had a mini countdown with Vivian Tan (heavily pregnant but very pretty!!) practising for the actual event... This is at the Esplanade outdoor amphitheatre. From afar we were wondering why there were djs on the decks!

Innocently, we thought that each sphere was lighted up on its own (and the balls were actually violet, appearing blue now =/) My favourite colour has gotta be yellow, cos they all look like floating popcorn!

But its not!! Very powerful lights shine upon them! From our little countdown corner.

This was on our way to One Fullerton - where we met Qian and frens who queued like crazy (seriously!) and sadly Starbucks was closed so we actually sat at the Japanese bar which was closed (on the chained bar seats, and eventually the comfy rattan sofas, with the Moet and Chandon bottle in front of us. Loved her stories about the biz ppl she's reading up on - from the no1 Pork Chop seller to how the finance world works. On our way to the second Starbucks under the Fullerton bridge, we got a bit wet from the cleaning...the 2 starbucks are in such close proximity!! (whilst she was reporting strength heh)

Anyway, the crowds at Butter was just..insane! We went in at 230 am (not queuing, of cos =P) and as it was, Fash was packed to the brims - there was r&b aplenty (guess to make up for those who dun attend the other room) and some retro and rock. Miss the trance and house quite a bit =P

And there is a table in the lady's podium at the r&b room!! Very strange...

Love how we can pick up from where we left...Enjoy London more for me, Clare! You'll be missed...