Sarnie's

Full weekend round plus an AST tutorial meant breakkie with miss pek post tutorial :) finally went to try Sarnie's (Telok Ayer Street) - australian slang for sandwiches. They have a weekend menu of eggs and such, none of those regular sandwiches on weekends. And I heard evening nights they offer specials... It's a must to come back !

Granola to share as usual, and it's home made and swimming in honey and berries:)

Omelette with cheese onions and mushrooms. Well done and not too oily , on a piece of rye bread.

Pek had beans on toast, with a fried egg.

Amazing coffee too, with a buzz similar to those cafés in Australia. Shopped a bit and got tempted by those python shoes down the street..

Can't wait for the next date here !

Assembly coffee

W and I met at Assembly coffee ( Evans lodge) after my post take rounds were done.. Intending to fuel for a study date.. Xx only ended at 3 pm :(

Granola and Greek yogurt.. The granola in a glass cup is über cute ! Not to mention the hazelnuts ++ with granola- my favorite ;)

The anaemic quiche with spinach and chicken ham.. I would prefer a hearty and piping hot portion :p

Had a long black- you would like the coffee here if you like acidic, fruity tones. Lounged awhile before hitting the books at Guthrie. Am grateful for the study companion.. Breezily awesome !!

Cedele dinner

It was a Monday, when J was on passive call and cos of the fantastic short list and mon being in lieu of post take sat, Mr S gave me an early day off after the round up and the excuse for not being in tum board. Called mommy who said she'll join me later in evening so i headed home for a nap before hitting town with her. Needed to pick up a present from agnes b, my gbunchen flip flops, and drop my follie's at the mandarin gallery shop to repair. Lotsa excuses to be in town!! Tho Short was not temped at my invites for cake cos her call was just too shack. To be let off at post call timing when you're not on call is prob the best feeling in the world and I've got J and Mr S to thank for that!

We headed to Paragon first to dump the car, then to Mandarin Gallery, when we revised our xmas memory that m liked a drum bag at one of the shops-which is not available anymore!! And so we had to head to the other end of Orchard to its other branch at Borders - where we found the navy blue (gorgeous python skin) and the tanned skin. To my surprise, she liked the former. And then we headed to Ion but then back again to initially try for dinner at Sun with Moon but as always it was crowded so we headed to Cedele (Level 3, Wheelock Place) for dinner.

Mommy had the grilled beef and mushrooms. She was a big fan of her choice. 6 slices of medium done beef with lotsa greens.

I had the big breakfast - overeasy eggs with sauteed mushrooms and toast. Finally I got to try Overeasy Eggs. It simply means, eggs cooked on both sides. Simple, but couple that with crisp toast and buttered mushrooms - it was comfort food on a rainy day!

Having that corner seat with Mom and peering out of the window onto the streets (and that sore thumb of an aparment building) is really a moment to cherish!! And even better, when we discovered the bread bar - we initially ordered an extra beef stew - but our mains came before it (it just didnt appear at all) so we cancelled it. Then, we realise the bread bar was for the soup, and if we had no soup (though technically, its through no fault of ours), we had to top up one buck for the bread. Mom and I didnt mind at all cos 1. we ate lotsa bread 2. the bread was so damn good 3. we def ate more than a buck's worth. Nutty and seedy bread is really really yummy with soft melted butter!!

Headed back to Taka to pick up my slippers then to Kino to pick up a stick book (very tempted to start reading bunny suicides- its just so morbid) and some pen refills. Buying pens (and getting to use new ones, not those free drug company ones which i used in med +++) is once again, quite therapeutic. So is icecream loading, which mom picked up on our way home.

Kith Cafe

Wild Berries and Cornflake milkshake
Big breakfast - toast, scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes, chicken and mushrooms

Toasties - Tuna, Chedder, Green apple

Sweet Brioche - with yoghurt and strawberries

A sunday I had to work meant I missed a chance to go out with Grans but it turned out just fine cos I had a perfect Sunday brunch lounging at Kith Cafe (Watermark @ Robertson Quay) with Wansze.

We planned for Mimolette (and wans booked on Sat) but doh perfect 10 being perfect 10 it was booked for a private event prob a wedding. And cos Wans had to meet a friend at Great World we decided to meet at Robertson Quay. She came to pick me up(already feeling very bored!! at 11am !!) and we left for Robertson, parking at Watermark right next to a Lambo and Porche no less ;P

We managed to find the cafe by a little corner in the Watermark Condo and found the corridor to be bustling with people digging into their very delicious looking breakfast sets. We chose aircon over ventilation (for the interiors were very poorly ventilated and we came out smelling of our own food and toast and eggs) . There're only two tables inside - there's a long high bar table (of which, many single customers perched themselves atop to enjoy their good food in blissful solitude ;)), and the lower bench seats which had lotsa European/Japanese mags stuffed beneath to browse. Plenty of hippies around the alfresco area facing the river; some people just chilling with a book. Extremely chill vibe love love it.

All the items were on the blackboard for you to browse; there were breakfast sets/sandwiches/toasties/milkshakes/teas and coffees galore.#

Started off with a very yummy Wild Berries and Cornflakes milkshake - the drink sounded like a blended breakfast in itself - its a little like nestum in yoghurt. Very yummy especially in the initial sips when the cornflakes was still crunchy before it soaked up all the moisture from the milkshake. Kels will be proud of me for choosing this drink! Wansze had her coffee fix. Shall bring her to Shots for our next brunch date (maybe Mimolette first......heh).

Big breakfast - we substituted certain items and ended up yummy toast (really chewy breads), scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes (with speckles of pepper), chicken and mushroom. Wished there were more of the creamy scrambled eggs! It was a splendid spread.

Toasties next - Tuna, Chedder and Green apple; I half thought the green apple would be in the toastie but it was actually a side - this reminds me plenty of the resus dog aunties yummy toasties.

We ended off with the Brioche with Strawberry in Yoghurt. The sweet bread had a super yummy crust and fluffy interior, perfect for dipping into the yoghurt. Dipping bread into yoghurt is the first for me and might be a start to a new habit;) for now the habit is to dip my daily kaya toast into eggs.

Wansze was piping full of stories of t3 and full of anticipation to return back to gs ;) miss her loads too and wished we had better fate in getting similar hospital postings! She gave me a lift to great world (on her way to watch a movie) and i just browsed at GWC before taking the shuttle to orchard to pick up number2s of bakuman and les gouttes. Am seriously contemplating getting the kino card alr since im starting on numerous series(es) of mangas. So far my stack of other novels are awaiting, and The Passage too (reading it in bits).

Kith Cafe has been the start of my NUMEROUS brunches at Robertson Quay. Get the breakfast ball rolling ;)

Coffee Bean

Today was a crash course on shorts - cardio/respi/neuro/abdo and subsequently porridge lunch at kpt before short cases around all the different stations around nni/clinics - saw p neuro, optic atrophy (visual acuity+rapd!), spastic gait, pes cavus sec to polio, it was a really enlightening session, which I wished they had organised for us earlier.

Marc and I went to see more after that, but it was not high yield (esp after what we saw earlier!), and subsequently the SN told us about the incident and discouraged us from further seeing...

I was totally craving eggs so I went to Coffee Bean (Velocity) to get this smoked salmon scrambled eggs breakfast set (comes with an iced tea) . This is super yummz esp if you like your eggs creamy, and today there was lotsa smoked salmon chunks. Even the bread was toasty and warm, it was really delicious to eat with the laden mayonaise and cream seeping out from the scrambled eggs. Now I feel like eating this everyday (along with Macs' Eggs McMuffin). I totally love the idea of all day breakfasts at Coffee Bean.

I had to linger around here longer before picking mom and sis from ps...this is prob the most exposed Coffee Beans around I think.

What we eat when we're studying. Check out those DARK CHOCOLATE Kit Kat Bites and Maltesers!! Thal down.

Hatched, Coffee Nations

Morning started off with powerpacked neuros back to back from stroke to gbs to pd ( where it was too obvious why we didnt have the presentation =( ) and latest obsession with the thosai at housemen's, rounded off with insane ideas on bowel prep for buffets (irrigation and catheterization, manual bladder wash out) to laters after butterfingers and reese's about lunching getting full after suntanning (K will win hands down and I'll just wither and decompose =P). After Dr RT's pckd (poor disturbed soul) and Dr T's on his pet topic and another interesting tof and a long convos with my dad's colleague I was off to meet James, with a dead phone and troubling ppl on the way.

Anyway, I suggested either the new roast meats place by La Petit but cos James couldnt find its location online (think its ?Cluny court) but anyway the other place was Hatched (Evans Lodge, 26 Evans Road#01-06), and was somewhere in between tt, sgh, and where we live. Its next to the 24 hours The Prata Place (which was for once, closed in time for Hari Raya Haji!!). And we were wondering who actually stays at Evans Lodge. The Wine Company was next door and was quite lively, with the crowd enjoying the pre-long weekend.

Ordered Poached eggs- one with salmon and the other with corn wagyu beef. And the reason why we have one of each here is cos we requested so! =) My's with potato with onions and a big bunch of salad which James refused to eat so I had a garden to myself...

His with mash potatoes - anyway, we thought that the corn wagyu beef was a little too hard for our liking. But otherwise it was alright, not that mind-blowing- the English muffin was a little too soggy for my liking, love my bread a little more toasty. Somehow J and I always end up at Eggs places like the previous time at Choupinette (boy was it long ago, right after his eopt at tt).

Had to pick mommy (darn that dead phone gotta koop his mrsa infested phone) so after that we then first headed to be wowed by the halloween like lights before trying KPO (crowded with supercars) and trying Laurent's at Robertsons (closing - and forgot coupons !!) and then we landed at Blujazz at Haji Lane (no live music) and FINALLY The Coffee Nations (17 Haji Lane). Here at Hari Raya Haji heh, how appropriate.....ly lame. Anyway, its super happening, this little cove - had trouble squeezing in between a red Carrera and J was more concerned about it than the one behind =P Smoke pipes everywhere, the sweet aroma is real compelling.

Anyway, must say that this place is a great place to hang out till late(till 1am!) Some people were even boardgaming/carding and its really homely, with signature brews to boast. The owners source coffee beans all over the world and bring in only the best. Was supposed to chill here with K/chong but somehow think this place is a little too far flung!

And the service here is super attentive - they even asked if we wanted water before we started ordering - this despite the fact that the selling point is their drinks and coffee. Excellent service man. Will return to try the Beef Lovers' special (meatballs and sausages!!) and their finger food platter, and of cos their really interesting drinks (spotted some with orange , others with whiskey etc)

Affogato - vanilla in expresso with caramel sauce. It was too tiny a scoop of icecream amidst a really strong bitter brew! But J was sensitized by his whittakers dark choc so this was no challenge. I dun know why I cant power up even with my obsession with soy lattes.

Chocolate lava- this in turn, has a double serving of icecream. No lava in this, but J really liked the texture of this - he feels they got it just right, slightly moist but chocolatey nonetheless. I think I like my brownie grossly drenched in sauce, and as wet and nutty as possible..

We also ordered a signature brew - the Chocolate Rum coffee - no decaff drinks here so we just had this. J is super sensitive to coffee (tachycardia comes almost stat) so we thought the alcohol will negate the coffee effects. This was served with a cinnamon stick - and J gamely used it as a straw when I asked him to....heh. I did it with my Chilli Chocolate Mocha at Oriole previously.

Eventually I did a Macs thing (overturn my ice cream cone into my apple pie = instant Macs apple crumble - which S used to think was rather disturbing and disgusting to watch!! ), and I drenched the remaining expresso in my affogato into the cake. Then eventually I added the Chocolate Rum drink. Final straw, I crushed up the complimentary cookie with the coffee into the affogato cup, added some chocolate rum coffee and added some brownie and it sent me to Food for Thought heaven for a while - the chocolate/expresso/marshmallow brownie there is FRIGGIN AWESOME!!

Anyway, on the way back it was quite philosophical before our usual unwind and chill in the car before zooming home (not before sensible him knocked some sense into flighty self....heh. Reinforcing the lack of plans and mood swings:topics). NO WORK NO SCHOOL! =) Happy Hari Raya everyone!

Hong Kong: Quickie Brekkie at Australia Dairy Company

Australia Dairy Company is one of the quickest place to have your breakfast. The queues are long for the place is really popular but the turnover rate is rapid... So true to the nature to this place, this entry shall be a chopchop one too!

Queueing to get in even inside...

You can order a breakfast set like above - my came with fresh hot milk. Warm thick toast and scrambled creamy eggs. Mm.

Basically from the time you sit down and if you order rightaway you get your food in 10 seconds, down it, and get out. Its amazing how orderly the whole routine runs for each customer and you can imagine the minimal service and attention you get. You have to be loud to be heard, you share tables if your group is too small, and your plate gets taken away almost after the last morsel is eaten.

Kels had a set with macaroni and ham.

Kelly's milk tea

My warm milk which i...

dunk buttered toast in....It was most decadent, soaking buttered toast in warm milk!

Of cos we had to end off with dessert so we ordered a steamed egg and this turned out much too much like custard for our liking.

The steamed milk was a little like the version in Yee Shun's. Tastes extremely homemade, and has this aftertaste of powdered milk but we loved it.

All the bowls of steamed ____ to be eaten!

The Flying Pan, Hong Kong

If anything is missing in Singapore, it is the lack of western breakfasts places, let alone 24 hours breakfast all day all night places such as the Flying Pan (Central, Hong Kong). We woke up so very late that my our first meal of the day (technically, our breakfast) was at 530pm.

Its got a bar counter, and is a small, intimate eatery. When night falls, the lights dim and candles are lit on all the tables.

Not alcohol, its healthy cranberry juice and grapefruit juice.

Rancheroo eggs - grilled flour tortilla topped with melted cheese refried beans potatoes 2 sunny side up eggs salsa sour cream jalepenos;

how yummy does that sound...everything Mexican everything I like!

Philly- steak Omelette with onions and cream cheese, wheat toast

Sides - spiced apples, tomato soup

How often do you find chunks of steak in your omelette? You can even have an egg-white omelette (with additional $ of cos) here. There are many many permutations of omelettes you can have here, and we're glad we chose this meaty, cheesy one here.

The other highlight was the Spiced Apples - they were prob soaked in cinammon or something, it was absolutely wonderful when you put the spiced apples on the toast and then top it up with....

....the very delicious Cinammon sugar (in the shaker) and Maple syrup (on the right). On the left is Blueberry syrup.

Spiced Apple + Wheat Toast + cinammon sugar + maple syrup = J & K 's homemade apple pie!

It was so delicious we almost immediately went on our supermarket hunt (we're always in the supermarkets) to find cinnamon sugar (failed to, though, sadly) and maple syrup (found! it comes with 2 hole sizes: tiny and tinier (you can never have enough maple syrup)

(oh and kelly, today when i went to Phoon Huat to buy ingredients for my first homemade cheesecake(!!) i saw many many types of maple syrup! )

Challa French Toast

We ordered a single side of this to try... With the exception of a sprinkling of powdered sugar atop the toast and the maple syrup bottle to add at our liberty, we're inclined to think the other Chachantengs might have better french toast. We can never get enough of that slab of melting butter atop the toast!

And soon I'm gonna blog about a Kaya French Toast we tried at Stanley Beach, Hong Kong. Kaya toast made better by frying it, how decadent (and greasy!) can that be! Watch this space.

Cheese crepe

Again we ordered a single order of this to try.

This crepe is soft and filled with cream cheese - simple but good. Yoghurt smoothie - peanut butter with banana

Yeah you got me right: what were we thinking?! Yoghurt, peanut butter, banana??? It tastes as confusing as it sounds. Well....we chose this cos the Milkshake which had peanut butter had no banana....oh well...at least we've found the weirdest drink ever...

Graze, Laurent Bernard Chocolateir, FREE Frolick!, Marina Barrage

A recent fetish for breakfast food brought me to Graze (4 Rochester Park Tel: 6775 9000 ) with the girls on a Sunday morning.. Yes I am an early bird now I've finally kicked the nasty nocturnal habit and it feels great to kick start a day with a mighty big breakfast especially with the fantastic company of my closest friends.

Graze offers brunch only on Sundays and they serve modern Australian food. Their popular barbeque menu is also available during lunch on Sundays - although I hardly saw anyone eating that - everyone was tucking into the yummy brunch food.
I booked an indoor seat but we realised its much nicer to dine al fresco..there are no mosquitoes and we actually sat under a tree (which has low lying leaves - and we are all very tall). We were very scared throughout the whole meal that the leaves and branches will fall all over the food but luckily it didnt.

The ambience here is great for a Sunday breakfast ! Very relaxing sitting in the rattan chairs in the courtyard amongst the plants and water features. I feel like I am having breakfast in someone's house...overseas! Yes, the huge influx of expats is inevitable..

We were served complimentary toast with marmalade and butter.. It was thick toast and there was some variety in the bread- white and multigrain (although it wasnt very nutty). The marmalade was very good though, a very slight lemony taste.

The cast iron pan $18

Bratwurst sausage, Smoked bacon, mushroom, tomato, baked beans, country potato, plum chilli salsa

I didn't eat the meats, but this breakfast fry up is not as massive as it sounds.. very protein loaded and quite an oily feast - I especially liked the mushrooms.

Cinnamon raisin french toast $13

drizzled with maple syrup

simon johnson double cream

This was FANTASTIC! It was Eliza's and my favourite dish ! The french toast was crisp and the cinnamon taste was really permeating through the bread - divine with the slightly sweet double cream and the bits of raisins. You don't even need to add much maple syrup. I would return for this.

Banana pancakes $13

smothered in grilled bananas, walnuts and redcurrant syrup

with icecream

I thought the pancakes were rather floury and they crumble quite easily.. They are cinammon flavoured I think - certainly not banana flavoured. All these adjectives in front of pancakes are SO misleading! Like I thought the Coconut pancakes at Jones meant the coconut permeated the pancakes but it seems like in both cases they were not what they seemed! And all of us thought the redcurrant syrup was butterscotch and Jasmine and I drowned our pancakes in the syrup because it tasted so good. I prefer the fluffier pancakes at Rider's Cafe though.

Simply eggs benedict $16

with smoked salmon and spinach

There is a classic version and I figure that must be the version with the ham since Eggs Benedict always come with ham. But here, there is the option of smoked salmon and spinach instead. I always look forward to poached eggs (cos I cant seem to get it right at home) and I simply cant resist this whenever I have breakfast outside! This is good, it is like a combination of what I had at Rider's Cafe (spinach) and Choupinette (smoked salmon). I cant find any fault in this - everything is perfectly done from the egg to the smoked salmon, muffin and the Hollandaise sauce, although I still prefer the Eggs Royal at Choupinette if given a choice.
Ooh awesome runny egg yolk.
All our yummy food! (too bad about the half eaten cast iron pan!)
The mystery of the sweet tinge of strawberry-lime in your iced water solved.

For those nocturnals who don't believe in waking up for breakfast (I am reformed but I might not stay so for long =P), the last order is at 2.30pm. Reservations are recommended esp for al fresco seating.

And of cos desserts are a must with the girls and we went to Laurent's Cafe & Chocolate Bar (5B Portsdown Road #01-02 Wessex Village Square)

We were able to spy in the kitchen (and take all the photographs we want) because we sat at the common courtyard (shared with Pietrasanta) right inside and again it was another al fresco affair...

But it was worth the sweltering effort cos it is so interesting watching the chef at work! Eventually Mr Bernard (no this photograph is not of him the photophobic creature, of cos - he is not balding - yet) did appear and oh my the stuff he made were really droolicoius..

Though it was sweltering hot (the area is not as nicely ventilated as Graze's) - the music was really good - it is like those from a gramophone and again chilling here feels like being in someone else's home away from home. And no, the cafe didnt play that old English music - there was art exhibition going on and that was where the music was coming from. Again it was another interesting sight watching the patrons waltz in and out and a very curious group of children seemingly having an art lesson in the midst of it all..

Although the oil from the canvas was quite smelly, we were so zen that we hardly noticed.

Pleasure $9.80

Of cos good desserts played a big part in the zen-ness I finally got to try the Pleasure cake and oh my, it was really good! Layers of milk chocolate with the crisp hazelnut layer - easily collapsible but heck, the mess is so delicious. The top layer was really quite soft though - goes to show how hot the weather was to melt the chocolate layer so quick .

Chocolate tart, $6.50

I blogged about this before and would gladly blog about it again because thin as it is, the tart is awesome nonetheless - layers of chocolate and hazelnut chocolate on a flaky base - I was careful not to let the raspberry sauce contaminate the cocoa goodness though..

Iced Chocolate

Yi Qian ordered this and I stole a sip - it was rather powdery though and it is really very rich.

Don't waste your money (and calories) on their fruit drinks or fruit teas. Taste very syrupy according to those who ordered.

Porstdown Road is part of the Wessex estate where there are many colonial bungalows and there are many art gallery and eateries. We spent the lazy afternoon just strolling around the rustic area, and chanced upon this patch..We loved the tire hanging from the tree... Yes of cos the thought of who looped the rope through the impossible tree branch did pop up...

Then we wondered into one of the bungalows because we were lured by the fantastic unplugged music..It is amazing how good she is considering she only picked up the guitar 4 months back and she only sings her own music!

We entered through the doors and surprised by the gorgeous black and white films

Every piece is stunning..

The lady who owns these says that black and white film photography lasts forever (not colour) and she develops all these in a dark house within the same bungalow..she has an open house as and when she wishes and at other times she photographs others..

This is my favourite photograph..I love this couple-ish photo of innocence...

Alright..we shall go back to civilisation..we were back to town to get to the Harvey Norman sale..

So we landed at Millenia walk and of cos after changing locations we needed a snack so we landed here at Frolick (level one, Millenia walk)

Peach Flavoured Yoghurt, FREE!

I blogged about it before, but with the Zouk card, it is FREE! Free stuff taste the best sometimes!

Then we wandered into Chocolate Research Facility (Level One, Millenia Walk).. and had more free stuff! We sampled the Peanut butter chocolate and chocolate crunch chocolate..then he dished out more mystery samples and we totally couldnt guess the Mango flavour.

The many many mind boogling flavours - I even saw black sesame and tea flavoured chocolates. Chocolates are between 8-12 bucks per small bar. I'd rather invest in Laurent's, actually.

Again there is another Zouk offer - with every 5 bars there is a discount.

There is a bar here where you can order the brownies or the drinks..

For me, the vibe of this place doesnt make me feel like wolfing down chocolate(unlike Laurents, I could live on the chocolate scent of his cafe). When chocolate becomes as scientific as this, it loses its traditional home made feel don't you think? You lose the sense of who makes your chocolate or what goes into the chocolate.. I guess the contrast is especially obvious since we went to Laurents today and spent most of our time spying through the glass doored kitchen, watching the chef delicately hand make those delicate chocolates.

Went to Candy Empire (Level one, Millenia Walk) for some sweets and this Wonka sweet promised some tingling fun but NO THERE WASNT ANY! Friggin cheated of my $2.50 when I could have gotten Prez sweets at 1 buck instead.

But the colours are so pyschedelic and happyfying and the fruity taste was equally tasty.

Yi Qian had a fried food craving so of cos Jas and I koped some of her fried chicken from Shihlin Taiwan Snacks (Suntec City).. but I was feeling so heaty I needed a soya milk to wash it all down..

Rose Macaron, $1

Then we were on our way back to the Suntec carpark when we passed by the Bakerzin (Suntec City) and I couldnt resist their 1 buck promotion for their macarons! Bought the rose and chocolate ones...

Chocolate Macaron $1

The centre was really dense and chewy but the exterior was not that crispy. I liked the chocolate one much more - the dark chocolate cream was really good! I think it was a rather chocolatey day.

We had enough of civilisation and decided we needed another road trip to nowhere so we tried to go to the Marina Barrage again (our first try was a fail) - this time round, we were luckier cos we spotted the blue signs that led us there - but it was a real merry go round.

The curvaceous walkway up..

It feels like a science centre of sorts esp the exhibits..

Heh Kelly this is the splish-splash pool that the lady was talking about..for your info =)

There are many piers around..

See what I mean by being Science-centre-ish, the curvaceous walkway leads to this field and there was a big Solar panel here..

If you look carefully both signs say keep off the grass but one says newly laid and the other still maturing...looked pretty much the same to us laymen (no pun intended)

Best to come in the evening, its wonderful watching the city lights come on and the transition to darkness.

Dark. And tired... it was fun getting lost with the right company (and a petrol-loaded car). Thanks mountains I never have enough of you all! =)