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

Oriole Cafe @ Pan Pacific Service Suites

It's been a while since my last post. Nothing worth blogging about, I guess. LOL.
Until Ali's birthday (belated) celebration last Sun at Oriole Café. Thought it's not as crowded as it was before, probably because there are so many coffee places sprouting up island-wide! But still nice. And nicer, because it is not so crowded. Haha.



Thought I will try the competition coffee - Citrus Sin! Quite interesting - imagine coffee and orange. Bitter-sweet. And strong.

And our various choices for breakfast! we all used to be so excited about big breakfast but now... the fad seems to have faded. So I ordered French toast with bacon (top)!



Sharing the basket of fish and chips which I like! :) Not the usual brunch, I reckon.

So happy belated birthday - and we know the birthday girl is happy! Because it was preparations for her wedding after brunch where we gathered at the groom's place to go through the programme - amazing how much efforts people put into their wedding preparations these days. Well, it's (one of) the biggest events of a lifetime, I guess :) And the 'sisters' also discussed our plans to test the love of the groom (and his brothers) for gate-crashing. Haha. We'll see how things turn out. Till that post! Cheers! :)

Saturday@Tanjong Pagar - Nail, Ramen, Coffee

What a blissful Saturday :) Started on a good note when I left office before 6pm yesterday! What an achievement - quote unquote MQ :) Went for manicure/pedicure at Envy Nail Lounge, ramen at Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King and coffee at Kiasu Espresso...

Envy Nail Lounge

It's been a long time since my last classic manicure/pedicure. Time to give my feet and hands a treat, hence bought this deal ($22) from alldealsasia. Topped up $7 for a spearmint scrub so the one-hour treatment cost $29...

Been a while since my last visit to Tanjong Pagar, and my first time to Peck Seah Street...

Didn't know my slot at 11am was the first and I was early. Shop was not opened yet :/

Quite cosy.



Nice place. Therapists were a bit unfriendly at the beginning (maybe it was too early). However they were not pushy when they tried to promote their package - $38 per session (for 10 sessions).

Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King

 

Decided to try the ramen  at Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King at Orchid Hotel since I am in the area. There was a queue! The teppanyaki restaurant next door seems to be popular too...

 







Tried the original special (with seaweed and egg) - you can choose thickness of soup base, hardness of noodles etc. Order came quickly as I asked for normal for everything.

Free boiled and spicy beansprout to go with the ramen. Plus points for tissue :)

Grind the sesame and add it as a topping to bring out the flavour of the soup...

Didn't try the boiled eggs though - brown ones for low cholesterol and white ones for normal cholesterol.

Close-up. Did enjoyed my lunch - maximum marginal utility :)

No frills shop. Authentic yah?

Nice wall paper :) Going to try the green tea cola next time. Maybe for dinner.



Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King 

Kiasu Espresso

Kiasu Espresso finally! Heard it's good and wanted to visit for a while but was lazy to make a special trip...


Took a 5-minutes walk to Kiasu Espresso at 100 AM.

Quiet on a Saturday morning.

Had a ice cappuccino as it was a hot and humid day. Thought my new manicured nude nails look good with the coffee, I thought :P Coffee was ok. Did enjoyed reading up on Bangkok trip over coffee :)

Here's a peek at my newly pedicured nude nails too! LOL. I love this pair of Vinci sandals I got from City Square JB last year! Picture taken at Neil Road where I saw so many people queuing outside Strangers' Reunion!

Decided to walk home passing by Duxton (perhaps a place to look for my house next year?)  and Neil Road on the way...Still  enjoying my Saturday... Hope you are too...