Valentine's Day 2015 & Bar Hopping

Valentine's Day this year was a somewhat exciting affair, being our first time celebrating this since we've started work. Work has been busy, to say the least, and we barely had time to plan this occasion. While I do think that Vday is, and has always been, a really commercial affair, it's still a good reason for a celebration once in awhile (: Have to say a hugeeeee THANK YOU to my sweetheart for planning such an incredible programme in such a short notice. This day was nothing short of spectacular and spending time together was the best part of it ^^

I honestly didn't expect much of a Vday celebration, because everywhere is so expensive!! But it was a good thing we celebrated it a day earlier too, since that gave us more options besides all the Valentine's Day set meals which are exorbitantly priced x.x He brought me to Bistro Soori for dinner! Which was a real surprise to me :') I was so excited!!!

After dinner, we went on our first ever bar hopping in Singapore! ^^ not that we do this often elsewhere, but we did have a chance to go on a Pub Crawl in Prague which was a really interesting experience! I guess we never really got over all those memories we had on exchange :') GOSH. I miss Europe so much!!!! The feeling of nostalgia and longing whenever I look at the map of Europe...ahh. 

Okay, anyway. First stop was Operation Dagger. This is literally the coolest bar in Singapore I've ever stepped into. Firstly, it's underground, and it has the most obscure entrance ever. It's actually really near where Kki used to be at Ann Siang Hill (it has since moved to SOTA). It's a sort of hipster cocktail bar, which sounded really interesting! When we stepped it, my breath caught for a moment, because it felt like we'd stepped into a world outside Singapore. This is a bar that really really made me feel like I was back in Europe!!! I need to stop swooning. Haha. The whole feel of it, slightly dark, mysterious, gosh. The walls were lined with bottles that looked like lab chemicals, without any labels on them. Wow.

 It was lucky that we were there early (around 9pm) because the place was pretty empty then! The drinks menu was rather limited, unfortunately, but one of the drinks immediately caught my eye. The Hot & Cold ($25) was a drink that was literally such - the base is a cold potion of pineapple and lavender (which was soooo tasty btw), and it was topped with a thick foamy layer of something like a coconut condensed milk. You're supposed to drink it all together and the flavours blended together perfectly!

The other drink we got was Snow ($25), which was a bit of a miss for us. It tasted a tad strange, possibly due to the unsweetened yogurt, though I enjoyed the occasional bouts of yuzu in between mouthfuls. 

We got a bowl of kale crisps ($7) to go along as well. Yummy! A healthier alternative to potato chips I guess?

Drinks at this bar were really pricey imo. Especially since they came in really tiny glasses, and we couldn't really taste the alcohol. Hmmm. For the ambience, I guess it is still worth a try though! And a bonus is that their prices are nett. After 10pm, people started packing into the bar and the small space got pretty crowded! Seems like the fact that they're underground hasn't stopped their name from spreading ;)

Operation Dagger

 7 Ann Siang Hill

Tue-Sun 6pm-late

I obviously don't have much of a nightlife since I never knew Ann Siang Hill looked like that at night!!!! It was fascinating. Haha I swear that night I didn't feel like I was in Singapore at all. This was amazing! It was really fun just walking around the area and people-watching, although staying around wasn't really my thing :p

Instead, we headed off to somewhere more spacious, with a view of my favourite place ^^ Southbridge is a rooftop oyster bar on the 5th floor of a buildling at boat quay. A pity we were too full to stomach any oysters by then! We had a fun time choosing from the extensive drinks menu though! Compared to Operation Dagger, the cocktails here were more reasonably priced. And they sounded really interesting! Unfortunately the alcohol flavour was yet again a disappointment. I ordered Sex on the Quay ($18) which was an earl grey-infused vodka based drink, but I couldn't taste any of the earl grey nor the vodka. It kinda just tasted like mango juice..haha. Oh well. We opted for wine for our second drink in the end, just to be safe haha. It was really nice chilling up there on the rooftop though :)) We were lucky to get pretty decent seats, even though it was packed when we reached! People started leaving at 11ish though, and we then had lots of space to ourselves ^^ 

Southbridge

80 Boat Quay, Level 5

Mon-Sun 5pm-12mn

I had a really amazing night! Thank you for everything, love :') I'm so blessed to have you <3

Melbourne Photo Diary (:

It's been a month since I got back from Melbourne, and the nostalgia is still there :') I miss it so so much!

Monday morning rush in Melbourne

I love Melbourne for its markets and homeware stores, its florists and fresh produce. I could have gone on a completely crazy buying spree, but the only thing stopping me (fortunately or unfortunately) was my lack of luggage space. I'm so gonna fly there with 30kg luggage allowance the next time I go. Haha I could start stocking up items for my future home perhaps? :P

Went on a wine tour with Sam and that was definitely one of the highlights of our trip ^^ This was at the Domaine Chandon winery, which is related to Moet & Chandon! 

Those gorgeous rolling green fields behind us :') Sam was just commenting on how the vineyards here look so pretty! Greener and lusher than those we visited in Tuscany. Perhaps it's because of the different seasons, or the mood we were in. But we really had an awesome time during this wine tour ^^ Gotta admit it was a little too much in the end. I had almost enough to drink by lunchtime :x 

Love this photo of us :))) 

WE NEED TO TAKE MORE PHOTOS. 

I'm having this inner conflict about taking photos nowadays. Always want to capture all these beautiful moments together on camera, so that I can look back at those days :') And we should always take more photos when we still look young and fresh, right? Haha. But Sam just isn't a fan of taking photos -.- and sometimes the act of photo taking just interrupts the moment that should be enjoyed at that point. Am I making any sense? 

One of the best lunches we had was during the wine tour at Rochford Winery. That wagyu beef cheek with mashed sweet potato bathed in red wine jus was to die for!

We sat on the green grass, shared a cup of gelato and soaked in the afternoon sun (:

I really appreciated the time I had for myself in Melbourne. It was a good balance, spending time with Sam and other people, and also having a break to just wander alone. I took the safer route so that  I wouldn't get lost, along the Yarra River. And it is so picturesque :') It would have been wonderful walking along that stretch with Sam too. But alone, I had the chance to fully soak in the beauty of my surroundings and enjoy the sights and smells. This feeling of space, even in the city is so incredible, and is one thing I really wish Singapore had. 

Thankful for the late sunsets there :) This was at 7.30pm and the sun hadn't even started setting. So glad for the long days which gave me extra time to explore all these places.

Full of awe as I stood at the magnificent Shrine of Remembrance :') It's much nicer when it's empty haha.

Watched the sun go down over the Melbourne cityscape (: 

Yet another experience of travelling together and we're improving each time! Hehh ^^ 

Anti:dote Afternoon Tea

Our server arrives at our table and gingerly places a pretty chest of drawers on the side table. We feast our eyes on the smorgasbord of sweet treats that take centre stage atop the chest. As we open up each drawer, involuntary oohs and ahhs escape from us as we reveal each layer of goodies. 

Haven't gone for high tea in quite a long while (not that I make it a habit), and since I was on leave on a weekday, decided to give this a go! I've been seeing photographs of Anti:dote's chest of drawers on instagram, and I absolutely couldn't resist it. You have a choice between three sets - Antidote, Oriental and Royal - all of which are the same, except for a difference in appetiser. The Antidote & Oriental sets are priced at $38, while the Royal set is more expensive at $75 as it includes a glass of champagne. All the sets come with a choice of tea or coffee as well! 

I was really impressed with the tea selection presented to us - you can choose any tea that costs up to $11, or top up if you would like a more expensive option. We went for Holiday in Paris and White Silk Tea, both of which are white tea blends. LOVED THEM. 

The Antidote set is a must-order for its Black Truffle Scrambled Eggs appetiser. Just look at that truffle perched on top of the egg!!!!! The presentation of the dish already won me over. Dip the crisp toast soldiers into the scrambled egg perfumed with the aroma of truffle and it is soooo delectable. 

For the oriental set, you get a trio of dimsum: Shrimp har gow, chive dumpling and scallop siew mai. These were done beautifully as well! 

My favourites from the high tea set included the prosciutto/onion jam/aged cheddar sandwich, chocolate tart, rum baba, lemon basil pound cake and scones. The lemon curd that came with the scones....OMG. It was so good!!! I wished I could have mopped up every bit of it. And while the texture of the scones wasn't anywhere near the standards that I've tried in the UK, but flavour-wise, I really liked them! The ginger scone in particular was really interesting. 

Anti:dote

Level 1, Fairmont Hotel

Tel.: +65 6431 5315

High tea: Daily 3pm-5pm

Dean & Deluca

I had a rather 'productive' foodie weekend a couple of weeks back, ticking off a bunch of items on my eating list which have been there for the longest time!! (: Always happy when I go around eating good food. Yay! 

Finally tried Dean & Deluca, which has been in Singapore since forever. I'd actually been wanting to come here since it first set foot on our sunny shores, and yet I didn't. There are just way to many restaurants/cafes in Singapore to keep up with. Thankful for my accommodating boyfriend & family who get dragged around by me to check out my new foodie craze ;) Wouldn't life be so boring without food? Hehe. Anyway, so excited about Dean & Deluca, which turned out really spectacular! The prices are pretty steep though :/ But I felt that the portions justified it. 

I'll start with my Brioche French Toast ($18) first because it took the cake for me! At $18, it's probably one of the pricier french toasts around, but when you see the size of it, it's definitely WORTH IT. Two people could share it comfortably and have enough to eat. I certainly couldn't finish it myself. Cue three thick, fluffy slices of brioche, lightly toasted to produce crisp edges, drowned (literally) in a gooey, sweet salted caramel sauce, topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, salted caramel bananas and an assortment of berries. This was a food coma, sugar rush-inducing, recipe-for-diabetes concoction that killed me afterwards, but it was so so good. I recommend sharing like I did though, because the sweetness can get overwhelming.

The American Country Breakfast ($22) was a hearty spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, greens, grilled cherry tomatoes, hash brown and a slice of multigrain toast. I really liked how the scrambled eggs were done, or perhaps I've just missed eating it.

The Eggs Iberico ($22) were a tad disappointing appearance-wise, since there was a really appetising photograph of it on the menu. The taste was fab, nevertheless - I guess it couldn't go too wrong with the smooth jamon iberico which was the perfect complement to the poached eggs and sautéed mushrooms.

Mummy ordered the Portobello Cheese burger ($20) which surprisingly turned out to be rather meaty, with a thick beef patty. It was juicy and delicious, and we especially loved the perfectly crisp fries which came laced with a generous truffle flavour.

The Marinated Salmon & Mozzarella Quiche ($12) was possibly the only let-down we had. It was a small slice and we wished they could have heated it up more as the mildly warm temperature did little to bring out the flavours of the quiche. Also felt the veggie taste was a tad too strong, which over-shadowed the salmon. 

The cakes on display looked totally drool-worthy!! We were completely stuffed that day, but we'll definitely be back to try them! 

Dean & Deluca 

Orchard Central #04-23/24

Mon-Fri 11am-10pm

Sat & Sun 10am-10pm

August

So, I got an extra two months of summer, and it's come to an end. Bittersweet feelings about this new threshold that I'm going to cross. I'm actually kinda excited to be learning new things, especially since it seems quite pertinent to my life, which is definitely beneficial for my self-improvement, and could potentially help me to help others as well. Yet, I'm dreading leaving behind the comfortable life I've been enjoying for the past 23 years, and going on to this new stage, which only promises to be more challenging than I can ever imagine. August was filled with many happy moments though :) Perhaps it was that feeling that I won't be having much free time soon, and so I grasped all chances to catch up with people, some of whom I haven't seen in awhile. 

After that 5 day trek in Nepal, I've officially concluded that I'm no trekking material. I've got absolutely no interest in it! Everytime mummy asks me to go, I can't bring myself to do it. Oops :P Only friends like these are able to drag me on another hike :P Thankfully Singapore's terrain is so much more friendly, which made it pretty much a breeze! The chats we had along the way, the spectacular view from the MacRitchie Treetop, hilarious encounters with wild monkeys and ending off with an ice cream waffles treat (which negated all our exercise for the day :P) made the whole experience so fun ^^ 

Blur pic :(

But so so happy to meet up with this girl again!! Literally my longest friend ever :) We've known each other since we were kids! But haven't caught up for probably like 10 years or something. When we met, we basically caught up and updated each other on our entire lives since before time immemorial xD So glad that we still had so much to talk about (and so much in common!) even though we hadn't met for years.

Back to SMU to return our graduation gowns! And we went for Alumni Day together which turned out to be pretty blah. Haha the "free-flow champagne" turned out to be quite cui....we didn't even drink much of it in the end! But glad for the opportunity to catch up with the dearest superheroes ^^ Always such a joy to meet up with them! :))

JC Class Gathering! 

Have to say that it was quite a success actually ^^ Look at the number of people who turned up! Haha and we are all still the same after all these years. It's quite hilarious actually ;) 

Gathering with the hopers to celebrate Shan's birthday! :)) And we finally had the chance to meet her other half hehe. Whee always happy when the family grows ^^ And I'm so glad that so far managed to meet up with these important groups of friends at least once a month even though most of us have started working!

Met XT for lunch one of the days too! (: Hehe glad that we had a chance to catch up after meeting again during the class gathering.

Birthdays are always such a great opportunity to meet up!! :) Celebrated SK's birthday early since she had an off day then. Sad that quite a number of people couldn't make it :( Sam included mehhh. Poor boy was ill that day. But we still had fun with our cosy gathering nonetheless! And because I didn't have work (yet...) so totally had no time pressure and could chill very happily in their company :) Had two birthday cakes for SK, one with compliments from the restaurant! Haha turns out that their cake was wayyy better than the one we bought. Oops! If you see this SK, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! <3 

And finally! Sooo happy that we managed to catch Linwei in that super short period of time that she was back! ^^ Wheeeee. Tablemates reunited (: Hehe IJ friends are friends for life :') So thankful that even though Linwei only comes back once a year, and we usually only manage to meet her once, but we still always make it a point to do so :) please continue to come back!!!! We miss you!!

Ate a lot of good food this past week too. So happy that I managed to tick off quite a number of places on my foodie list! YAY!!! Satisfied :D And now, RW here I come.

Twenty-three

Another year older, another year wiser :) 

This year is going to be one with so many changes - with graduation, starting work, and who knows what else? - and along with it, more experiences. This year's birthday was different, somewhat. I always make a big deal out of my own birthday, and god knows how difficult that makes things for Sam :P hahaha. I always unintentionally spoil his surprises, whoops! I'm also the one planning the entire celebration with the family (actually it's just food, haha cos I'm the foodie here right?) and I get to choose whatever I want to eat. Yay! (greedy me :P) It's never a birth-DAY for me, but rather a birth-WEEK. Hahaha. 

This year I don't know whether it's just that I can't be bothered (growing old? :O) or maybe I've mellowed, but I didn't think much about my birthday coming up as I would usually do. I like to think it's the latter ;) Perhaps with stuff going on at home and everyone just getting settled into their jobs, I didn't really expect them to have time to celebrate my birthday with me. But they did :) And it was not so much of a "celebration" but more like just a get-together with everyone and it was great! :)) I guess when you haven't seen each other in what-seems-like ages, every gathering is a celebration in itself :) Just spending time with these people makes me feel so so lucky that I have them in my life <3

Met up with the hopers finally! Since the longest time. I chose this picture because Scott insists that it looks better (probably more like because he looks better, while I look huge because I'm in the front), but since he organised this dinner and we didn't get to celebrate his birthday, so shall give it to him ;) hehe. So many things going on that are so exciting!!! Liying's first day of work, me & Mel being future colleagues (yayyy!) and both Scott & Shan's exciting news ^^ Thanks so much for dinnering on a Thursday night when most of you have work the next day! :) 

Biggest surprise of all was my "lunch with Sam" at Potato Head Folk! This was the surprise that I spoiled for him haha. And well, luckily I just conceded to go along with his plan (haha otherwise he'll get all stressed againnnn) even though I was almost ready to back out of lunch because it was so late already!!! Otherwise he'll have to drag me kicking and screaming to this place (haha kidding). And when we reached, I headed right to a two-person table before I looked ahead just slightly and got the hugest shock of my life!! :O AWW MAN :'))) Haha I couldn't stop blabbering with shock. These guys are the sweetest :)) Totally reminded me of how they surprised me at Marina Barrage like what, 3 years ago? Omg how time flies!!!! And look how far we've come since then :) THANK YOU SO MUCH <3<3<3 love y'all :') and if only Rachel was here! Just missing her to make this picture complete :) The decor of Potato Head Folk made such a great backdrop for this photo! Review will be up in a few days ^^

And YAYYYYY, they bought me exactly what I needed!! And the colour is too gorgeous. So ME. I love it! ^^ And whee I can finally get rid of my old ugly pair of slippers. Gotta thank Sam for his elaborate plan of helping to get me to the gathering and for the present idea! ;) *mwacksssss* thanks a million baby :') 

Even the exterior of Potato Head Folk looks so nice!!! We just had to grab a random stranger and ask him to take a photo for us :p 

Hee <3 And for the rest of that day, we enjoyed some really nice couple time, finally! :) This boy has been so busy with work. Which is not a bad thing, since it seems like he enjoys it! :)) Really glad that it turned out well for him <3 But also, really enjoy the times when he can put his work aside and we can have a dateeeee! We spent most of the day lazing around and chatting actually, since we hadn't had the chance to sit around and talk for the longest time! And we had dinner at Jamie's Italian ^^ One year after this place opened in Singapore, I was so excited to try it!!! I dined there last year when I was in York too :) And being so greedy as usual, I ordered quite a lot of food :P Sorry for the bad photos - I don't think you can actually see how they really look like, sigh. The lighting was just too dim. But the food was pretty good! Hehe luckily I did all my research before, and knew what to order. Their menu changes quite a bit though, so some stuff I wanted wasn't available. 

Jamie's Walnut Salad ($9.50)

This looks like an absolute mess! :'( I'm really sad okay. I couldn't even save these pictures with iPhoto. I ordered this salad because of how pretty and colourful it looked in a photo, but sigh, can't see anything here. You can take a look at the photo here instead. For $9.50, this portion of salad was tiny. It was really really little!!! And I could barely find any walnuts in it?! While it was tasty, especially with the aged balsamic dressing, I felt that it really wasn't any value for money. Thankfully, all the other dishes were really generously portioned. 

I've heard nothing but praise for the 30-day matured prime rib, but that was just too expensive for us. Instead, Sam opted for the 220g Rump Steak ($28.50), and it turned out to be pretty good too! It was a really juicy and flavourful slab marinated in its own juices - and was that a hint of red wine I tasted?  Albeit a tad tough (perhaps because it was on the skinny side), the taste fully made up for it. 

I went for the really sinful-sounding Jamie's Italian Signature Porchetta ($35). Think slow cooked pork belly that was delightfully tender, filled with a stuffing made of herbs, garlic and spices. I loved how well cooked the pork belly was (so so soft), and the cacophony of flavours that the stuffing lent to it. Halfway into the dish, I found it a bit too flavourful though, especially with the equally savoury fennel crackling on the side. Perhaps more pork and less stuffing would have been a better balance. 

It was hilarious how Sam & I had the exact same reservations about ordering Jool's Favourite Sicilian Tuna Fusilli ($14/$21) because of our bad experience of pasta in Sicily :P This dish came highly recommended in all the reviews I read though! And we were really pleasantly surprised by it! The spicy tuna sauce was a refreshing contrast from the meaty main courses we'd ordered and helped to cleanse our palate in between dishes. We ordered the tasting portion and felt that it was quite a lot already! 

Although we were already like 90% full by the end of all that food, I still went ahead and got dessert :P After hearing so much about the Epic Brownie ($11.50), I simply couldn't resist! And it certainly lived up to expectations :D  A warm, fudge brownie - this was so sinful and so good. Can't imagine eating it alone though. And I could have done without the almond ice cream. Yucky. But then again, I'm just biased. I would still order the brownie again if I come back.

Despite the fact that this restaurant has been in town for a year, Jamie Oliver's reputation obviously has kept its popularity on high. The restaurant was packed when we were there and I doubt there is any room for walk-ins. Reservations should be made a couple of weeks in advance!

Jamie's Italian
Vivocity #01-167
Tel.: +65 6733 5500
Sun-Thu 12pm-10pm
Fri & Sat 12pm-11pm

Pasarbella

A couple of weekends ago, I spent a large part of my time at Pasarbella. That place fascinates me! So difficult to get to, and sometimes I wonder whether it is worth all the effort, but I really enjoyed my experience there. I've been wanting to head there for the longest time - the thought of a farmers'  market in Singapore just makes me so happy! I love farmers' markets. I visit them (almost obsessively) whenever I am overseas and I always fall in love with all the treasures I pick up at such places. I wish Singapore had more of these. But I guess the fact that we don't even have many farms to speak of means that these are a rarity, which probably also explains why Pasarbella is located in such an obscure place x.x Then again, like I said, I really enjoyed myself there ^^ 

I went there the first time to attend my virgin floral workshop at Poppy Flora Studio :) This year, I embarked on a project to try out floral arranging because I think they look so gorgeous. Lucky for me, I have two huge florists pretty near my house, which makes it quite convenient for me to get flowers. The problem is, they always sell flowers in such huge bunches, and I often don't require quite so many of the same type flower! Plus, flowers are CRAZY EXPENSIVE (haha, and so I have to thank my darling for buying me flowers quite often, because I knowwww) and I would never buy more than 3 varieties of flowers. I feel the pinch every time I buy them. Experimenting with flower arrangements on my own is one thing though. I did perhaps three or four on my own? But I never had any formal instruction in it. I couldn't even tell whether my arrangement looked nice or not! So since I've yet to start work, I decided to do soothing with my time and brush up on this hobby of mine ^^

Arrived at Poppy Flora Studio bright eyed and bushy tailed that morning, all excited for the workshop! It was so wonderful to be surrounded by all those gorgeous blooms :) I liked how the flowers the store carried were moistly seasonal flowers from all over the world - Europe, Africa, the Americas, etc, rather than the typical blooms I got at the florist. It was really interesting to be working  with such diverse varieties which I've never seen before! We were doing bouquets that day, and I picked gorgeous blooms in red, orange and yellow. Everyone exclaimed in delight at how autumn-y my palette was :) 

Well, turns out it really wasn't as easy as putting all the flowers together in a bunch. Obviously. But I had so much trouble with my bouquet that I was honestly quite deflated at the end of it :'( I probably re-did it like 10 times?! And the final result was half my instructor's work. Oh well...felt kinda sad that the final piece of work was not entirely mine >.< But I think it looks lovely anyway :)

We went outdoors for a mini phohoshoot after that and had some cakes to end off. Definitely an experience for my first flower workshop! :) And there is so much more to learn. Apparently bouquets were harder, so perhaps a table arrangement workshop next? I do hope that I'll have the chance to go for another workshop before work starts! 

Came back the very next day to have brunch at Pasarbella! There are so many food stalls around ^^ But the place definitely seems more alive in the afternoon, or at least after 11am. Many stalls weren't ready when we arrived around 10.30am. Tried this scrumptious three-meat dish ($20) that came with pulled pork, roast beef and chicken, plus roasted potatoes on the side. It was yummy! 

I walked past a pie store and the owner was raving to me about the pies there! And so we definitely had to try them ;) Had the pumpkin quiche and beef cheddar pie.

Wish I could have tried the paella, which was HUMONGOUS (even bigger than the one at borough market in London!) but the stall wasn't ready yet on the morning we went :( Such a pity!!! It looked really good though.

Ending off with a last pic of my bouquet ~ :)