The Daily Scoop

GT was telling me about this very nice ice cream place in Holland Village so we decided to walk there after Lee's Taiwanese (see Lee's Taiwanese) at the Star Vista. And I discovered Chip Bee Gardens that seems to be another nice place to chill on days off... Before that, here goes The Daily Scoop :P



Amazed that the place was really crowded! It seems that besides ice latte and ice cappuccino, Singaporeans indulge in their ice-cream too! Quite a cosy place in spite of the chatters around us ;-)

 

Many flavours to choose from... My choice: Cherry Brandy! GT's choice: Avocado!



GT told me that the Beer flavour is good but it was not available that day. So I thought I will try something infused with alcohol. Cherry Brandy was ok - a nice balance of cherry and brandy :) Imagine bitter-sweet!



Cute name card. There's a branch at Sunset Way too.

If you are in Holland Village, you can check out Chip Bee Gardens. It's opposite the building where Cold Storage is and you just need to cross the road and walk right in where the landed estate is. Saw a few Italian restaurants too, so I might be going back to check them out.

 

Come to think of it, I have been visiting Holland Village more frequently since last year - because my previous job located was on the Circle Line and I found it a chore to travel to Orchard after work. Many thanks to my understanding friends who are always willing to meet up with me at Holland Village :) Chip Bee Gardens is definitely another reason to return. For an idea of what is there, you can read this guide by Lady Iron Chef Chip.

Lee's Taiwanese

I  have been to the Star Vista a few times since it opened, and have always enjoyed its quiet ambiance and food galore. With the Circle Line, this is a nice place to hang out and you can venture out to One-North or Rochester Mall if you prefer more hidden outlets like Jimmy Monkey at the former and Starbucks next to the latter.

Was there again in mid March to meet GT for dinner and we decided to try the Taiwanese food at Lee's Taiwanese as we heard some good reviews about it. Glad we did!

A peek at Lee's Taiwanese - a lot of orange lights so I blame them for making the food look less delicious than they really are! Must compliment the service staff who  gave us some great recommendations.  



Pan-fried dumplings. Nice in a healthy way. My friend  love the vinegar with ginger which brought the  overall experience of eating this dish to a new level :) Sometimes, we cannot deny that condiments are important!



Pork Belly Bun. This is really yummy, I thought. Quite special as it has peanut and pickled vegetables  that went very well with the pork belly which was also lean. Must try!

And we washed everything down with the red milk tea which was on promotion at SGD 2 that day.  We usually drink green milk tea so the stronger red tea was a refreshing change. 

Our dinner cost about SGD25 - reasonable considering the aircon restaurant setting and that we were really full at the end of it. If you are craving for Taiwanese food and happen to be at the Star Vista, do try Lee's Taiwanese :) If you want to find out more, blogs like Miss Tham Chiak and Great New Places have also shared their thoughts about the restaurant. Heh.

It's surreal - I am blogging about my Taiwan trips in 2008 and 2012 in my wordpress blog ilovelongvacation so do check them out if you would like!

Drips Cafe

Hey! It's been a while since I updated this blog - have been sharing  my travel tales in my wordpress blog though. Well, I have time to explore my neighborhood (Redhill + Tiong Bahru) these days. It's been  good, I must say :)

Tiong Bahru Park, which I passed after a swim at the Delta Swimming Pool near Redhill train station. Spring is coming! :)   It was such a luxury to swim on a weekday afternoon - I felt so so good after the leisurely swim with less than 10 people sharing the pool :) Definitely going back again soon. And the playground with swings (rare in Singapore now) still exist in this park after so many years - I am so so going back to try to swing :)

From Redhill, I walked to Tiong Bahru which has changed so much. There are many chic cafes and shops in the area now. I decided to try Drips, having already tried Tiong Bahru Bakery just down the road last year. 

It was a great choice, I must say. Not as crowded and as noisy. And I did not feel awkward enjoying  my tea break alone at all. Felt simply at home with the simple decors.

Ice Latte + Carrot Cheese Cake + Magazine = Heavenly afternoon! Try it one day (one weekday) if you can. I know it's tough for working people. So I''m gonna enjoy it while I can. 

Very nice Carrot Cheese Cake. See the carrot? Healthy texture! 

If you want to know more about Tiong Bahru, check out my wordpress entry on my neighbourhood or check it out personally :) I know you will like it as much as I do. Am thinking of going back soon to fika at the other cafes...perhaps after another swim...

当我们一起治疗疲惫

近年，新加坡掀起了Brunch （早午餐）和 Cafe （咖啡馆）风潮。

早就听闻达士敦和中峇鲁一带添了不少提供早午餐，西式点心，咖啡与茶的好去处。但是懒惰的我一直提不起经去哪儿逛逛。直到去年末从瑞典(Sweden) 斯德哥尔摩 (Stockholm)染上了Fika的瘾回新后， 就开始泡本地的咖啡馆。Fika 指的是瑞典语的喝茶喝咖啡休息时间！

不久前和友人去了达士敦路的Group Therapy， 先是Brunch 然后 Fika。 在一盘盘早餐与一杯杯咖啡和茶的陪伴下，治疗了一周的疲惫，度过了悠闲的周末。



Group Therapy 位于一家意大利餐厅的楼上，要从旁边的小楼梯上去。一打开咖啡馆的大门，就可以看到忙碌的柜台服务员和亲切的服务生。一眼过去，咖啡馆布置简单舒适。



 从我们的靠窗位置，可以看到达士敦的新旧面貌 - 旧店屋和新组屋。那天是雨天，坐在窗户边看细雨， 边吃早餐的感觉，好舒服！



先来一杯 Piccolo Latte - 很顺口，甜苦适中！可惜几口就喝完了，真想点多以杯。



鸡肉蘑菇派 (Chicken & Mushroom) 的味道清香。饱满的内陷（有汤汁哦！）配上口感象酥饼的外皮恰到好处。我喜欢生菜沙拉里加了摩洛哥粟米饭 (couscous) ， 口感不错。



早午餐特餐 (Croque Madame - Brunch Special)听起来浪漫，看起来很丰富。 荷包蛋和火腿起司土司让友人一直喊饱！




餐后， 我点了茶南铁(Chai Tea Latte)， 友人点了荔枝红茶(Lychee Tea)。雨一直下，体贴的服务生一直为茶加热水，一点也没有要赶我们走的意思 （还真不好意思呢！）。就这样，喝茶喝咖啡， 聊天聊地， 在 Group Therapy 度过了四小时的休息时间。

Marching on - FebruarIED

Following yesterday's post on how I JanuarIED, here's how I FebruarIED :P

Joined a Love Hunt race on the first day of February. Think I blogged about it earlier - click here for the story!

Took this while waiting for the race to start. My S3 camera's self portrait feature has been cranky these days, hence this ártistic' shot. Please don't die on me! :(

 

 



Found during more spring cleaning. T-shirts of the good old days. Time to say goodbye to them! All have turned yellow with age. Not before some pictures for keepsake :l

Getting ready for Chinese New Year. Blogged already - click here! :)

 

Me in Cheongsam bought from Beijing last year on the first day of the Snake Year! Still getting ang baos from relatives - a bit weird. But well, it's still Happy Lunar New Year!:)

 

Birthday staycation with the girls in Angsana Bintan :) Lovely beach.
 

Champagne and Cake! Thanks, girls :) Will press more about this staycation in my wordpress soon - ilovelongvacation, so check it!

Glad to celebrate my XXth Birthday with Mama PY! Happy Birthday!



Birthday cake from the family! Napoleon Ice Cream cake from Swensens - hmmm...



Attended Social Media Marketing course at National University Singapore, ISS. Great to see NUS Business School again after so many years! And it was an interesting course...learnt a lot...

 

Singapore Flyer. Finally! Thanks to YK for the treat.




A 360-degree view of Singapore landscape...

  

 



My homeland has changed so much over the years!

 

Belated Birthday lunch with SP at Oriole Cafe. Food was good. Piccolo coffee was a bit strong. Definitely a nice place to chill on a Monday afternoon :)



Birthday treat from Godiva. Did not expected such generosity. Thanks!



Lunch at Golden Shoe market after meeting a headhunter from Hong Kong at Chevron House.




Lunch was cheap and good - only $3.30 for popiah and lor mee! I miss CBD. Really :

So this was how I FebruarIED. I 'fika' too (think I did blogged about them...will check and blog if I have not). Wanted to give myself a treat for all the job-hunting - definitely need the boost to continue Marching :P

Marching on - JanuarIED

March started off on a positive note for a job hunter like me. Started the day with a trip to the far east of Singapore (took about 90minutes!) for an interview. If not for it, it is most unlikely that I will step into this part of my homeland. Sometimes I find it ironic that people fly for hours to a foreign land and yet do not have the motivation to explore places at home. I plead guilty at times and I definitely want to explore these places during my long vacation (by when it will end, I do not know but I'm marching on in search of that ideal (or near ideal) job :)

It's funny how time seems to slow down in the first 2 months of my long vacation (1 spent in Scandinavia and 1 spent in the quiet year-end job market) and how it seems to fly in the last 2 months! For those of you who have been envying me, job hunting turned out to be a full time job (San pay package!) with its own ups and downs which I shall not (do not want to) elaborate...

So how have I been JanuaryING and FebruaryING? Let's do a stock-take (with the photos taken with my S3). January first,  then February in the next post...

Went to the Asian Civilisation Museum Open House on New Year day.

With YK and our New Year drinks at Clark Quay :)




Fishball noodles after my first interview of the year at Tanjong Pagar Market(by the way, it is now closed for renovation. This was surreal because the stall used to be at Lau Pa Sat and I always had it when I needed some comfort food. I was thinking about it when I chanced upon it. Such is life.

Famous peanut ice kacang at Tanjong Pagar Market.

Went to Johor Bahru City Square with my equally jobless sister and happy to see Xu Liu San from Hong Kong. I miss Hong Kong! 

Hmmm... one more reason to cross the causeway more often :)

Zo cards! Found during spring cleaning.

Watched Le Miserables and found a drawing of it (which I did in secondary school so MANY years back) during spring cleaning. Ah...

Meet up with the girls (some mothers now) from Hall 8!

We had collagen soup at a Japanese restaurant at Plaza Singapura. A bit ironic (see the irony?) :P

  

Went to Tanjong Pagar for a hair cut and ate at the market again! The Nasi Lemak which attracted a long queue I went last time. No queue this time so we ate.

Looking a bit geeky with bangs :P

  

Collected my new lomo camera - Holga 135BC - from Groupon! My new toy I got for myself last christmas (lazy to collect earlier) - also a reward for job hunting so diligently.

At the Changi Airport to pick my brother up from the airport. He's back from Stockholm, back to reality.

I made this card for LMQ's XXth Birthday :)

And we took part in the Green Corridor Run 2013. Different from the usual road runs and marina bay sands views. It's fun - do try it next year!

And on the last day of January 2013, I attended my cousin's wedding (funny how the cousin, younger by so many years, will have to give me an ang bao next year...) ! Happy marriage, MX!

Also attended a 3 days course on Change Management at the HCS (Human Capital School)... I guess I blogged more and twitted more (excited to have more followers now!) Check out my wordpress blog (ilovelongvacation) for pictures of my Scandinavia trip!

Not sure if I achieved too much or too little in January. Guess it was nothing to shout about. I probably could have done some of these even if I was working, I guess. Well, well. This is life and it has to go on, employed or not, like it or not.

I would say January was good. Happy Marching everyone!