Dibs

Easter Saturday post rounds/brunch at hoopla/queensway and intended run at sentosa, met n at Dibs, Duxton hill for dinner. Innovative and daring, the food here is worth coming back for ( for the oxtail and the cerviche which I should bring J to )

Marrow butter- this was all cream and fat and was fantastic on toast. With bonito flakes for an extra oomph. 

Crab cakes in a bisque- we mopped up the bisque with the bread, 'nuff said ! 

Lamb short ribs - charred the way I liked it.

Deconstructed strawberry shortcake- n's favorite part was the toasted marshmallow. Bits and pieces all over the plate for us to mix and match. 

This place spins awesome music by the way. House tracks remixed, top that up with shochus ( we tried the strawberry milk, ginger, yuzu and plum ) we were two happy troopers;)

Violet oons kitchen

Celebrated jas birthday here on a Wednesday, two days after the actual, at Violet oons kitchen (Bukit Timah Road). Modern take on peranakan cuisine - think pasta and pizza with a twist. She still does serve the traditional dishes like the ayam buah keluak and curry chicken.

My favorite tahu goreng in a longitudinal presentation. I think I do miss eating teloh goreng!

Meatless meatballs- prob my favorite of the night 

Curry chicken with jala - the latter being a stringy potato pancake. Curry was über thick and lemak mmm.

Pita bread with chilli crab dip and ayam buah keluak dip. My favorite part was prob just the bread ( which I dipped in the curry)

Tapioca cake - über good with gula Melaka.

Bread and butter pudding with whiskey - not my cup of tea but the girls seemed to like it.

Nice drizzly night having dinner with loved ones, bliss ! Happy birthday jas!

The Fabulous Baker Boy

Wow ! Am a big fan of The Fabulous Baker Boy at The Foothills, Fort canning park. Visited a vintage sale at Bacchanalia at the masons club (actually thought we could brunch there but they only had bar food for the boys!) then browsed furniture and lomocameras at Armenian, before we headed here.

It has a huge terrace for al fresco dining - groups of friends and families here, even a group of cosplay girls- made for quite interesting people watching. We perched on the stools looking out to the road facing Clarke Quay ( only 4 seats here, seems like its only meant for 2 couples at a time). 

This big breakkie has got to be the best ever. Pure joy with eggs, brioche, beef bacon, mushrooms all together in one mouthful!!

The Guiness beef pie was a little sinewy - the beef. Was spying on the pumpkin goat cheese salad at my neighbour's.

Visited the public flea market at the MICA building after - loads of art galleries and even an art gallery dedicated to Singa lion and all his friends ( who are now extinct, by the way). Was quite happy to see Oriole there so I could get my mocha  fix ( fab didn't serve mocha cos they were purist lol)

We were so impressed with fab baker boy we bought cakes to Js house for dinner - the carrot cake and red velvet was huge , generous , and most delicious. Highly recommended!!

Carpenter and cook

Goodbye to those protected, carefree days, scudwork and menial tabling. Hello to more expectations and accountability and team management and decision making. How apt it is to enjoy these last moments in a vintage eatery like Carpenter and Cook in Lorong Kilat and say good bye to history ( with my favoritest resfren) and with the farewell at Rice table (oh my, the price must have doubled since I ate there though the sayur lodeh and the fried egg tofu is still as good as ever). Helloyellorego.

By the way, the cakes here rock. The banoffee pie had the most wonderful, lightest cream in the right proportions to the base and bananas, and the salted caramel chocolate tart was very balanced too. Mmm. Just don't come here thinking you can eat big eggs and big breakfasts. It's for dainty girls to have tea and cake... Though I most certainly do not belong to that demographic( though I don't mind idling away that way ...)

Artistry

Art gallery cum cafe serving Liberty coffee, we love the ambience here, feeling very at home with the folks here playing very good hosts. They are just starting their sandwich menu so no actual physical one ( they just rattle it off) so we had a roast beef sandwich - the ciabatta was amazingly airy and crisp, roast beef tasted awesome with the cranberry jam.

Cakes - some made in house like this awesome red velvet cake with coconut frills ( kels you will love this ! ) and pies courtesy of window sills pies- the chocolate mint one tasted vaguely of lemon curd and they very kindly gave us an amazing sea salt banana chocolate cake - that did us in it was amazingly smooth and dense. Loved the bits of sea salt.

Picked up accessories from Soon Lee - and one for kels too ;)

Off to dinner with J's gran!

Akashi, Starbucks Rochester

Codfish set

Chiraishi set

Lunch at Akashi Paragon is worth the savings instead of dinner cos for exactly the same set at different times of the day its cheaper..plus there was zero crowd. Prob the default jap choice for town food now for mummy and me... Today's more of a pre recee trip prior to my jan ny trip to prep up for woodsbury

Choc lava

Apple Crumble cheesecake

At Starbucks Rochester with J fiddling with the white light settings so that my cheesecake doesnt appear more yellow then it actually is...

Alfresco balcony settings is quite the chill out here at Rochester starbucks, in a colonial bungalow. Loving it.

2am dessert bar

Basil White Chocolate with sea grapes (the cute greenish weed like stringy thing), coconut mousse, Passionfruit. Think I enjoyed the coconut mousse most!

Chocolate mousse, Evian water, Raspberry sorbet. Core of caramel was quite a surprise! ;)

Man U vs Liverpool meant missing out on the massage/ramen/walas and I ended up at cel and fly's 4th stop at 2am dessert bar (Holland Village). Cel's intense tiramisu craving gave in to chocolate mousse instead, gladly so. And her new found grey c ipad cover...gorgeous indeed. Chose bar seats over sofa seats (perils of skirts), white and dark chocolate. Misst you, M. Should pass you your Coach soon!

Baguette, Twelve Inch Records.

Monday is always best to start with an outing - Met C.O in the am when cheang's gastro c came then when the shuttle looked empty towards Bugis we wanted to take it but by the time slow cheang crawled there it was full and we had to head towards Novena!

So here we were at Baguette- a Viet-inspired deli (Level 2, Square 2) . They sell baguette sandwiches, rice and noodles( at room temperature haha)... Love the crisp airy baguette bread. Very crusty esp nice after getting it toasted. Mine was Tuna baguette and I loved the chilli sauce and the strips of veggies within.

Was very drained out that day and needed a upsized yuan yang to get me thru that day... after delivering the usual milk tea and choc/cran/cheese to dear kels who had a terrible call..again we misst the bus trying to buy gong cha and the queue..exploded!

Hurried to Twelve Inch Records (V Hotel, Lavender). Got lost cos was getting the cake from Chocz.. the tanjong rhu road so doesnt lead to town...it goes all the way to the marina bay golf course only. Found my way really illegally towards V Hotel - thank goodness it has a huge signage. Taking the fireman's lift up to level 4.

When i arrived I had the last bits of the beef. They name all their pizzas after the names of the local bands (I guess the bands either inspired the flavours or they suggested the flavours).

Lamb and Black pepper crab. The lamb was laden with papadum. The crust was crisp and was my favourite part; too bad it was real flat and exposed so it turned cold very fast. Cheese was not steamin' like in Pizza huts ads
Egg and Duck. This crust was like a prata dough, I liked it too. I just like crust and its edges (just like how I like all the edges of the bread). The egg was like the crispy layer of a fried egg.


We actually ordered so much we managed to piece together another whole pizza to dabao. didnt photograph that picture of art;)

Cheese fries.

Chocolate hazelnut truffle cake from Chocz. (Basement 1, Kallang Leisure Park) They loved the dark choc mousse and hazelnuts which seem to be drowned in alcohol. Macaroons kept getting bounced off each other!

Long chat till midnight wondering what happened this year and what we will converse about at this point next year. What a year it has been, woman.

Buyan, Marmalade Pantry at the Stables

Cheese sticks - Buyan

Salmon soup - Buyan

Cheese and mushrooms -Buyan

Double black out cake - PS cafe, Ann Siang Hill

Above and Beyond

Marmalade Pantry - Crabmeat Caesar salad

Marmalade pantry - Burger

Us against the world.

All geared up for Above and Beyond (thanks alot, Matt!! back door man!) we headed to the Duxton area for dinner - I wanted to try either Sabio or Buyan (Qian recommended Buyan's casual restaurant) and since Chongs tried Sabio before we headed to Buyan (Duxton Hill) for dinner. Buyan is a Russian restaurant and has areas for fine dining , casual dining , and the bar. We dined at the casual dining area which is at level 1. Level 2 is the fine dining area. Attracts a predominantly foreign crowd - mostly by the bar having drinks. Surprised the waiter and eventually the boss for not ordering any drinks. Apparently they do have good non alcoholic drinks as well.

We started off with the cheese sticks - half expecting it to be the thick mozarella kind- but no, it was like strips of unadulterated cheese! It was uber long and fun to eat cos it was so chewy and salty. Very savoury and I guess very good together with drinks.

We also had the salmon soup - lotsa carrots within, this was clear, comfort soup.

Also ordered the cheese mushrooms- oily and succulent with a layer of cheese atop. the favourite of J's!

Didnt take a picture of their signature dish - The plov. It was a rice dish with tender slices of lamb within and tasted between a hybrid of bryani and risotto - herbed and spiced, fluffed up grains. very interesting to eat.

We then headed to the Ann Siang area looking for desserts and ended up at PS cafe (Ann Siang Hill)- they were closing but were okay to take desserts. Drowning in the double black out cake - why cant the proportion of ice cream to cake be greater?? love love the ginormous cakes.

To Above and Beyond - parked outside for the night (turned out to be a great idea), and met M before he brought us in through the back, stampless. haha. Was still okay to get around though - Velvet was closed for renovations. Hung around members which was uber uber crowded, and got really sleepy despite! redbull (thanks M....) and took turns asleep at the bend. Then again at the car (no more re-entries through the back :( ).Until 5am when we had enough with the knocks (and unlocked...) and headed to my place to sleep over. Plans for bf at 530am were postponed cos we concussed till brunch time - Headed to Marmalade Pantry at the stables.

Oh boy it was crowded! indoors was definitely full, alfresco was out cos it was drizzling so we were sent to the area facing the carpark (and trees) with the balloon kids. We loved the balloons( i loved the bomb) and the balloon man very politely asked if we wanted any. I shoulda taken the bomb! Ordered the crabmeat caesar salad and the burger. I actually preferred the salad. The burger's patty was really nothing much to shout about.

Then headed to town to shop around Cine/Mandarin Gallery in our shirt/shorts combo until she realised at the very end that gasp! she left her credit card behind at the Stables! It marks the end of the night to day adventure. really misst this spontaenity so so much! age!

Zoukout day

Booked a room at MBS which we hardly got to use - checked in late at 530pm meant that we couldnt get a fantastic view (and of the wrong side too, level6!) but heck, the pool (overcrowded with kids with a tiny adults section;( ) and the lovely empty gym (best in the am and during the check out lull period) and the hot pool at Banyan tree was worth it. Plus we got to check out late so Chongs could actually come back during her rounds to find me (and not dump me like in Bali!)

Witnessed the full moon at the hot pool (which kinda belonged to us and was a treat away from the cold, crowded lap pool), before J told me of the eclipse which we caught in our room. (cant catch much on camera). J caught the red eclipse on film. Send me!

The best foods of the night was not photographed unfortunately. The truffle fries by the MBS pool (Chong's dream to document all our truffle fries with this being the one with the best view!), and the best meal of my life at the Zoukout booth. Unforgettable.

Getting high on calories pre zoukout at Java Detour (Marina Bay Sands). Opens till late on weekends (or is it 24 hours?) Strawberry shortcake for her and Chocolate rum raisin for me, and black and white mochas for us both. Finished up the creamy bits for her, while the raisins did do me in...hehe. Drown my desserts in alcohol, anytime.

Pre Armin was the best meal of my life, after her 3 drinks and my 1 and enough of arena a, we headed to the booths - the seafood chowder had a tomato base but the huge chunk of fish in rice was seriously the BEST meal of my life. Warm and fuzzy. It was catered by Eatzi. Mmm.Telling Chongs I should eat it again, in a different setting and it'll prob not be the best anymore. Right food at the right place at the right time.

Of cos we had to take a nap before this dude rolled in at 5am...

The glorious mess. My glorious mess. What it takes for a hangover.

But I still managed to check out the level 57! Amazingballs I could loop round the MBS/Fullerton stretch daily. In 25minutes.

I actually finished the boy of plays, Victimology in 15 minutes. Very tempting to start reading plays and set my imagination on fire.

And so tempting to try the brunch at Sky 57. Where is the Chongs.

She's back to find me, on a drizzly cold Sunday morning, not so purrfect to check out the Ku De Ta brunch (mainly, alfresco dining)

So we ended up at TWG (Marina Bay Sands), having really healthy food being the extremely soberised folks we are. Tea salad was tops. Would like to have it again if it didnt cost a whopping 29 bucks.

Truffle scrambled eggs also came with prawns and salmon so we were almost same same. Truffle anything makes me order it. Damit. When it becomes available at home maybe i'll stop ordering it outside.

And they supplied us plenty of yellow toast. The yellow is such a mystery.

Burger was a puny little thing, but still tiny anything makes you crave for more. We were this close to stepping into DB for the burger but i yanked her out to follow our original plans for TWG. Many many little coves of TWG sprinkled in MBS though. And a very loud metrosexual comment I had to eat my words cos I actually knew K! Haha.

Shopped till 4 when we both dropped dead and I had to go get my valet coupon. End of the adventure, a year delayed.

Pique Nique, Lucky 13, Oriole

After fri's overnight, met Qian for tea at Pique Nique (Basement 1, Takashimaya) before she flies off to Taiwan next wed! - at first was almost at the Canele at Shaw where we parked but then decided to head further to Taka to check Picnique out. It started drizzling and we had to brave the crowds to get to Taka. Madness. Then I found out I left my phone behind. Sigh well done. Its not the distance back but the crowds!!

Latte - foamy and nice. Checked out the Nespresso's at Tangs and Illy (Fairprice finest at Scotts!) and loved the capsule machines - makes life easier when everything is neater in a capsule. Tempting tempting. Checked it out the day before when I thought it was the Tangs when actually it was the Isetan sale I wanted to check out with Qian -_-

Huge Whoopies fries - with lotsa curry and spice I'm sure Kels would have loved this- quality and quantity wise. Attracted the crowds too who peeped onto us..YQ felt over exposed man..

Sticky date pudding..my first of the day, non alcoholic.

Shopped for Toms, then nearing Far East to check out the gellish nails for her and popped (well my eyes popped) at the J salon for the perm. Amazing balls really !! haha. hope you get a better deal in Taiwan dear!

Walked over back to Shaw to get my phone, amazed for the warning slip that my car was in 2 lots..excuse me, the BM next to mine was not even in his lot and you dare give me a warning sign with nothing for him? horrors.

Headed over to Lucky 13 (Triple One Somerset) to meet the J and J. Jills was the earliest though she texted she was gonna be late and warned me about the tricky way there. Indeed it was lost-inducing but we found it. Opened by Michael Lu its his first venture out and omg love the vibe and the music of this isolated place. Not to mention the food too! Transforms to a clubbish atmosphere on weekends.

Beef burger with Onion Chipotle. Loved the generous sauteed onions, and the crisp fries simply reminds me of the standards of bar food in Bali. Beef was really tender. It was a good burger.

Baked egg with cheese and mushrooms- love anything drowned in cheese, really.

Quesidillas with chicken - I think quesidillas is best eaten with beef innards or mushrooms. This is a really chunky quesidillas cos of the chunks of chicken. Really healthy tasty chunks of grilled chicken.

Headed to Oriole (Pan Pacific Suites). My favouritest place in town for coffee and dessert. 2nd sticky date pudding of the day, alcoholic. Of cos it beats the first Hands and feet down.

Banoffee pie reminds me of Su, somehow. I just love the icecream which occupies much of the dessert (haha) and we gave up towards the end, pouring the flower pot innards onto the sticky date plate.

Jills gave me a lift back to Shaw...I was knocked out flat out dead to the world!! Gosh tiring weekend and I was on call on Sunday - normal call, but somehow the great calls have spoilt me! Extremes!