Wheelers Yard

Hi all! It's been so long since my last post! GOSH! LOL. Guess you can tell I'm thrilled to be back to one of my favourite activities :)

Just came back from a holiday in Seoul, so I'm still feeling recharged even though I have gone back to work since 1 April. Thought I better share about my virgin trip to Wheelers Yard before I get backlogged by work (meh).

XF kindly brought GT and me to Wheelers Yard (near Balestier) today although she's been there numerous times. It's so challenging to get there if you do not drive (or cycle :P) - we met at Novena, took Bus 21 (or 131) outside IRAS building (opposite Novena Square) and walked into an industrial park before we got there! And on a rainy day - heard Singapore has not been raining since I went Seoul, so it's been about 2 weeks... and well, it had to rain today. Phew.

Not sure if it was worth the travel. Haha. But definitely a nice place to hang out if you want to avoid the crowd. Literally because unlike many cafes, Wheelers Yard is very very very spacious! See  below pictures if you don't believe me :P



We had our brunch indoors because GT wanted it. LOL. Our next-door neighbours at Wheelers Yard.



One of the private corners. Good if you are just there for a drink. But we preferred the high table so we can eat in comfort.



The long communal tables were separated by the bicycles to create small private tables - thought it was such a good idea! 



The bicycle theme is very strong in Wheelers Yard. I'm sure the bicycle enthusiasts will love it here! We saw a few with their bicycles today :)



Cappuccino! With biscuits from the past :)



My BIG Breakfast. So full! Our neighbours had the cheese fries and fish and chips etc - they look good too!



After brunch, we moved to the outdoors. Really spacious right? :P



And the bicycle shop...

The structure in the warehouse has been left intact, I think. Adds to the charm of the space. See the high ceiling? Such a spacious café...



Last but not least, the facade and its infamous blue gate. LOL. Heard it is a photo spot! :P

It's amazing to see the café slowly fill up as we had our brunch on a rainy day. Guess it has its charm. It's worth checking out if you have not been there, especially if you have great company or you just want some quiet time alone, away from the city buzz...

PS: Cannot seem to locate the website so I reckon there isn't one. But if you Google, you will find many bloggers talking about it, with the address and what not....

Kith again

Happy Lunar New Year! Can't believe that we have moved so quickly from 2013 to 2014, and now from the Year of the Snake to that of the Horse!! And I cannot believe that it's been close to a month since I lasted blogged!!!

Well, life goes on as normal. No vacation so far in 2014. Will be going to Seoul in March so I'm pretty excited about it although I have been there a few times :) Happy to celebrate an old friend's birthday in January at Kith Park Mall.



Didn't know Kith has expanded its outdoor seating area - business must be good! :P Breezy evening... with lots of buzz in the background due to the Thaipusam festivity. Still quite chillax.



Calamari. Hard to go wrong with this starter.



Smoked Salmon Pizza. Our friends ordered 1 pizza each - almost impossible to finish for girls to finish one on their own! I helped out with 1 slice each, so better to share. LOL.



Parma Ham Pizza - Nice! Preferred this over the Smoked Salmon. The taste was more balanced, I think.



My choice of Carbonara pasta . Safe choice as I was recovering from cough :) Found it a bit too savoury after a while...



Marina pasta for the birthday girl - customised from tomato base to aglio aglio. Tasted a bit like Fried Hokkien Mee. Haha. 

Always happy to visit Kith :P Check out the following for some of my Kith times...
- Kith@Quayside Isle
- Ice Honey Milk Latte

Hatched @ Holland Village

My first blog of the year is about brunch at Hatched and I thought Hatched sounds like a good start - everything starts afresh from Day 1 :)
Have heard about the many nice cafes in Holland Village but this is my first brunch experience there - partly because Holland Village is a bit out of the way. Now that the Circle Line is up and running (for a while), I definitely want to explore this area more :)

We got a window seat on level 2 and it was really nice to just gaze out into this quiet part of Holland Village. Another café, Park, is in view - want to brunch there soon! :)

Quite a cosy set-up.... but like a lot of cafes, tables are to tables, if you know what I mean?

GT chose to have peppermint tea while I got a Flat White. The coffee is ok only. May not be worth a trip if you only want to go there for coffee...

Our brunch - looked like a worthy spread for New Year Day, ya? :P Hatched offers a wide variety of eggs, so we were really spoilt for choice. Thanks for the treat, GT! HAHA.

GT and me :) The only minus of this window seat is there the service staff refused to take a picture for us due to the lighting. Haha. So we took a Selfie :P Well, GT and I have known each other for a decade (since we were colleagues back in 2003) - wow! For me, it is always tougher to make close friends, especially from work. I am the kind who wants to have a clear line between professional and personal life, where possible. Well, fate has it that GT will be one of those friends whom I have known for work, became close friends, travelled together, kept in touch although we have changed jobs, seen each other gone through various stages of life :) And yes, we seldom meet but when we do, we can catch up easily with each other :)

Papillote - smoked salmon folded over scrambled eggs on toast, topped with sour cream, served with sautéed potatoes! Wanted a change from the usual big breakfast, egg benedict, pancakes so I decided on this - quite happy with my choice :)

GT went for sweet - Sleepover hatched special! Grilled bananas and streaky bacon sandwiched between thick French brioche toast... Sounds yummy, does it? :)

Here's Hatched! Located near one of the exits of Holland Village MRT station, the stretch near Wendy's. There are a few more cafes down the stretch of shop houses and I am so going to explore them :)

Well, I seldom make New Year's resolution. Kind of feel like doing so for 2014 so I have a bit more focus in life. LOL. Think people have this tendency to keep going back to places they have been to and enjoy, so one of my New Year's resolutions is to try new things this year, and to be more specific, I am going to try a NEW café every month :)

Merry Christmas from PS Cafe!

Not sure about you but for me, Christmas gets less happening as I age. Haha. Was a quiet one this year, spent at home packing the room... Not as many gatherings as before too. Only 1 so far at PS Café at Palais Renaissance with decades-old friends. LOL.



Waiting for the girls to arrive... Love the ambiance at this PS Café...

Drinks starters - Ice cappuccino on a sunny day. Tasted very latte though...



Mushroom Wellington and Egg Benedict - the former got rave reviews from everyone!



My Croque Monsieur. Nice too!

And the rest of the others! PS Big Bacon & Egg and Croque Madame... PS could not finish the former - a bit too big, I think :P

And at the heart of our Christmas lunch was the Truffles Shoestring Fries - so hard to go wrong with this order. LOL.



And the gifts exchange after lunch! See everyone trying to take pictures?



TATA!

The BIG exchange! I did not take photos as the gifts unveiled though....

Arty shot :P PS Café was very nice - did not chase us away for making so much noise... always spend like 3 hours there... Haha.

Dessert time - Southern Fudgy Chocolate Pecan Pie! Bitter sweet...

Sticky Date Steamed Pudding. SWEET! :)

Looks like we had a good time, yah? :P Have a great Christmas everyone - there's still Boxing Day and 12 days of Christmas to go. LOL.

The Provision Shop@Everton Park

With all the cafes sprouting up, Everton Park is turning into the next Tiong Bahru! Find it quite funny that I live quite near to both and yet seldom chill at either on weekends. Will perhaps explore more in 2014 (gosh - it's almost the year of 2013!). Anyway, met I for lunch at The Provision Shop at Everton Park last Monday. LOL - glad I did visit Everton Park in 2013 after all!


Was empty when we reached at about 12noon. Was wondering how this café with a down-to-earth feel will survive... And then people started strolling in for lunch. Wow!

 


I's sandwich with corn beef. She said it was good! :)



I had a chicken sandwich. Look at the generous filling! Healthy combination with the side salad. Was very full :)

Lunch cost us $14 each, not exactly cheap for sandwiches (although the portion was generous). But guess the ambiance kind of made up for it :)

12 days to Christmas - #1 Antoinette

Gosh! It's been so long since I last blogged! November flew by - with half of it spent in Taiwan and the other half hard at work before I went on leave and after I came back from leave...

After 2 weekends of wedding feasts in December, am I glad to be able to finally to start the weekend with a brunch! :) Visited Antoinette at 30 Penhas Road (off Lavender Street) with XF and GT - at first I thought it would be difficult to find the place but it's quite easy, really :) Exit B from the MRT station, go past V hotel and then a condominium, turn left when you see Penhas Road and there you find Antoinette!

Some Instagram shots (Rise effect) to share!

Quiet when we reached. Guess people go there for lunch, more than brunch... Very nice ambiance...

Merry Xmas! :) Used the Daiso curlers I got in Taipei for NT39 (less than SGD2) and the girls said I look good. LOL. May I should blog about the stuff I got from the trip...

Christmas goodies look good! Might have gotten the meringue, if I was going straight home... 

What I had! Top: Very nice Antoinette cake and good café latte. The pancakes were ok....

What the girls had. Not bad too...

 

 

Nice place but doesn't give me the feel-at-home vibe...

Been finding it easier to Instagram these days instead of blog, so do follow me @ilovelongvacation :) Maybe I should try Dayre one day, starting in 2014 perhaps? But it feels good to start blogging again :) Have a good weekend, everyone! :)

Shape Run and Tim Ho Wan

What have you been up to in the last week of October? Well, I...

Ran the Shape Run. It was postponed from July to October because of the haze back then. This is my second 10KM of the year and the first was so many months back! 10KM without stopping! Timing is about 1 HR 22 MIN - Well done! :P

Then PY and I decided to try our luck at Tim Ho Wan after the run. Reached before 9am and we got seated in about 10 minutes. So go early if you don't want to queue :) Finally tried the vermicelli roll with pork liver - quite interesting. Try if you are in for something different :)

Come to think of it, it's funny because I went to Tim Ho Wan just last month (read about my first visit!). Fulfilling the prophecy that I keep doing the same things in the same period. Haha