Gong Xi Fa Cai! (Day 1)

Happy New Year everyone!!

Decided to drop a short post while waiting for my hair to dry. I usually sleep with wet hair but since I've dyed my hair purple, I'm trying to take care of it while it lasts. My heart sinks every time I shower because I'm bleeding really pretty purple. :(

Posted this as my ootd on instagram and Tyn asked 'how much?'. 

Hahaha only thing I'm missing is a handkerchief...

Wore my red 'cheong sam' today that I got from Bugis the other day when I was shopping with Neo and Joy. It's honestly not very flattering if you have a stomach. The material's too thin and soft, but what can I expect when this only costs $25. Moreover it had a low back and I totally forgot about it. Dug through my closet and managed to find a pair of nu-bra. (That is losing its adhesiveness... Thank god dress was tight to hold them in place) Gotta buy more of those as it comes really handy for dresses like these. 

Momsy in the car. 

Selfies in the car are the best due to natural sunlight hehehoho

Spent the first day of the lunar new year with my maternal family. Had lunch at the gramps and took pictures with my cousins. Everyone knows I love being the photographer and capture moments on occasions like these.

Cousins are all growing up so fast ):

Aunt and baby Wynn.

Smiley boy was unwell today so he wasn't quite himself ):

This sums up my day 1 of visiting. Ended the night by cabbing all the way to Bukit Timah at 230am just to meet Sheryl Rach and Tyn because I missed them loads. Co-dependency is pretty serious in our friendship, you've no idea...

Hopefully I get to gamble tomorrow with my paternal cousins ):
What is new year without gambling a little??!


xx

- A

Marc's 13th // Dinner at Pepperoni Pizzaria

Hazelnut Chocolate Cake - 

My poor bro bough his own birthday cake cuz all of us are so busy. My mom paid for it though.

Aunt has the flair for decorating the dinner table as well as her house 

CNY macarons from Canele + Canapés from Delifrance

Celebrated my brother's 13th birthday last weekend at my aunt's place, can't believe he turned 13 this year and just started Secondary School. A whole new environment, but still pretty nearby our place. 

He always tells me about how much he hates his Primary school, his teachers and classmates. I always told him it'll get better and told him to look forward to Secondary school's life as that is where real friendships are formed. I hope he gets what I mean and enjoys secondary school as much as I did. 

Brother's voice became deeper and no one can get used to it. 

Hahaha, I wished I had a video of him when he's young. Can't remember how he sounded last time.

Momster and the broski!!

Dinner at Pepperoni

Has pizza and pasta cravings the other day and Stella, Sheryl and I decided to drive to Siglap for dinner.

Calamari

Vongole

Prosciutto + Mushroom + Rocket leaves 

Tiramisu

Had a really good meal there. Everything was soooo goood. 

Best part of the meal was definitely dessert. They have one of the best tiramisus there. Mmmmm. 

xx

- A

The Final 24 Hours

photo from the last meals project.com

Stumbled upon this Facebook link about inmates' last meal requests before being sent for execution. It was a campaign for people to sign a petition to stop practicing execution as a punishment by law as there were many who were proved innocent many years after they have been executed. Thus, this man started photographing wrongfully executed inmates in the States.

This practice seem to be very significant, for anyone who is facing death. You are what you eat - whatever you request for signifies you. (If you put a lot of thought into it)

After reading that link, I started researching on documentaries on Last Meals in prison and I found this video which gives us a glimpse of the last 24 hours of the convict's life and the protocols taken, before being executed.

With these, it got me thinking about what I would actually want to have before I die, which I haven't thought of it and I'm pretty flexible when it comes to food...

What would your last meal be?

xx

- A

Anne's Food for Thought #4 - Wheeler's Yard & Mu Parlour

Wheeler's Yard - The Bicycle Artilier

28 Lorong Ampas

The back of the cafe beside a stretch of private houses/old office buildings

Found this hidden gem in Balestier the other day. Had no idea this existed till Sheryl told me about it. 

Loved its ambience as well as its decor - very interesting concept!

The entrance

Collection of bicycles that are on sale.

Inside of the cafe

On their menu, they serve espresso coffee as well as various sandwiches, pasta and finger food.

We decided to go for the Beef Sandwich as well as the Aglio Olio.

Beef Sandwich

Aglio Olio (extra spicy pls!)

Before heading to Wheeler's Yard, our expectations for their food weren't very high, given the reviews by customers who been there before. We went there with the intention of checking out how pretty the place is. Therefore, we weren't quite disappointed by the food. (I was extremely hungry too as I didn't have time to eat in school)

 I didnt try the coffee though, I will never risk drinking coffee as I will be tossing in bed the whole night. (Caffeine effect can last up to 12 hours for me)

I'm not sure when this place started, but when we were there, we overheard (the boss or the manager) that they were planning to improve the place here and there. So I'll definitely keep my eye on this one and go back there again when they improve their food menu.

Mu Parlour

16A Lorong Mambong

Beautifully decorated interior!!

Yay this place was added into my list of (a handful) favourite dessert places! So glad I managed to find another apart from having 3 Inch Sin, which is just a few shops away. (Did a review about it on my livejournal before and its the best place for chocolate desserts)

Away from the crowd in Holland Village, this is a nice place to have tea and talk over desserts. 

FWHOOAAAAA

Lemon Meringue Tart - One of the best I've tried so far

Passionfruit Opera

The Lemon Meringue Tart one of the best lemon tarts that I have tried so far.

Usually lemon curd would overpower the taste of the tart but everything was so well-balanced here. Lemon curd was tangy and sweet, tart was flavourful and slightly salty and the meringue... HOW DID THEY MAKE IT SO GOOEY AND FLUFFY?! 

For meringue haters like Sheryl and Stella, who hesitated to order this because it has meringue (altho they love lemon tart), said that they actually enjoyed the meringue.

The Passionfruit Opera was not bad, just that the we were too distracted by the goodness of the lemon tart that we didn't quite appreciate this as much. I thought the taste of passionfruit was too faint tho, maybe because I love passionfruit and I would have loved more of it.

However, I wished they served teas in pots instead of a cup (that's not refillable either), and I thought it wasn't worth it.

Nice place, good ambience, would go back there again anytime. :)


Sigh that's it for today. Got a test tmrw and I've got to continue studying. :(
xx

- A

Everything that drowns me, makes me wanna fly.

Brunch at Department of Caffeine

Headed down to Duxton Road after school today with the girls for our weekly brunch date before school starts getting busier.

Known for its many restaurants, cafes and even bakeries, Duxton Road is definitely gaining popularity. Being there for the first time today, we got lost around the area as we had no idea where the cafe was located at. Aside from getting sweaty pits from walking back and forth the area, we got to discover various other places that we would like to come back to visit.

By the time we found our way, it was about 12 plus in the noon and lunch time crowd was expected. Though D.O.C was full but the waiting line for tables was short, we managed to get a table in less than 10 minutes.

Hahaha I hope she got a good shot.

Though there was limited space due to the crowd and it was pretty awkward that we had to squeeze through a lot of people just to get to the loo (someone's seat was right outside the toilet), it was made up by its service and food. Staff were friendly and helpful and the food served was delicious and worth the price.

Pulled Pork Burger

Salmon Scrambled Eggs

Buttermilk Waffles + Banana Rum Ice Cream

Like many reviews on the net, their buttermilk waffles are not to be missed!! Super delish. However, not recommended for those who hate cinnamon as its present in their waffles. (I don't get how can anyone hate cinnamon though...)

#ootd - Wore my denim skorts i bought from Bangkok and Superga that I got for x'mas from Sheryl. I call this pair of skorts the 'Lilypad' because of the flair at the bottom. It looks really awkward to wear without ironing them down. 

Anyway, I also found this cute little bookstore named Littered with Books around Duxton and I wanna visit that place with Sheryl soon. It is decorated in a way that it gives people a 'homely' feel. Looks interesting just from outside.

Out of all randomness, nearby Duxton, there were so many pigeons around this particular grass patch. I hate pigeons and by looking at these pigeons makes me wanna scratch myself. 

That's all for the day. Assignments are already piling up... 6 more weeks, I can do this.
Also, I need to start clearing my cupboard to prepare for the flea doing on Sunday!! 

xx

- A

Happy 2014!

Brunch at Maison Ikkoku Cafe

I was literally trying to pack my bag so that the mess doesn't show LOL.

Salmon Avocado Ciabatta

Maple Cheesecake & Red Velvet Nutella

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL!!
I just got my first Macbook Retina! Which explains my sudden motivation to blog. I have a LiveJournal where I treat it as my food diary but I realised it isn't easy to keep it updated given my busy schedule from school and work, resulting in the lack of time to visit nice brunch places hahaha.
So as part of my new new year resolution, instead of documenting only food, I wanna document happenings throughout the year, so that I can read it 10-50 years down the road, just like how I revisit my old blogs that I kept when I was in Secondary School and laugh at myself so bad.

Went shopping at Bugis yesterday with Joy and Neo and I've already shopped for my CNY outfits. When I was looking for cheong sams to buy, both of them didn't think it was a good idea to be wasting money on a dress that I will only wear once, just like all my other cheong sams... (But I don't think its auspicious to be rewearing cheong sams every year!!)

Although not many have the tradition in their family to wear cheongsams, I am trying to influence my friends to wear it this year. I think its fun to embrace our oriental roots once in a while and CNY is such an appropriate time to do that. Moreover, its not every day you can wear racial costumes out of the house and we don't get to celebrate Racial Harmony Day anymore (because we don't need an occasion to reinforce the importance of racial harmony), so why not right!

I'm looking forward to a number of upcoming events alr - Stella's 21st Birthday Party, CNY and Family trip to Malacca!
I know school just started and it's gonna be a busy term, but I'm gonna work hard. Towards my holiday.


Till next time! x

-A