jan anne

Cafe Hopping III: BZZZZZZ carrot cake

NEXT STOP!: Bee’s Cake

Another thing on Sugar that we bought was a slice of carrot cake. By carrot cake I mean the real cake and not like the Chinese one that is fried with chili? Just to be clear.

Bee’s Cake is a humble shop not too far from Seragoon MRT (or NEX mall), you can just walk actually about 15 mins. Or you can take a bus too. Or a taxi. It specializes in mainly three flavours of cake and occasionally makes cookies for events/seasons. (e.g. Butter cookies for Christmas). Otherwise they do cater to customized orders as well.

The place is pretty cramp inside, with a small table to eat in but one would rather take-away and eat it in the comfort of your home.

Now the cake itself (Bee’s Carrot Cake– $4.50, got it on Sugar for $1.) is really pretty good! I have not eaten many carrot cakes but this was a good one. The cream is also not too sweet like some sort of gross icing. (Hahah.) Would’ve loved to try the Country Apple Cake and the Chocolate Praline though, because the shop owner did say that all three cakes were good sellers.

Bee’s Cake
520 Upper Serangoon Road
Singapore 534537
9742 3872
http://www.bees-cake.com

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Cafe Hopping III: L’etoile Cafe breakfasttt

dine, drink, food

Hey everyone and anyone! This is such a late post so I do apologize, but I have been very busy these past few days. Nevertheless, I can finally put this up.

5TH DECEMBER 2014:

Welcome to another day of food with me 😉 This time my food buddy and I headed down to Farrer Park to start off the day. When you go out through exit C you will be welcomed by Mr. Rooster of FOOD STREET! Looks like there are a lot of cafes and restaurants here but that’t not where we were heading.

(So I was kinda stupid and walked to the right thinking that the only crossing was at the end of the street but if you go to your left, the crossing is right there.)

Pretty trees anyways. Photo op~

After the trees (or if you came from the left crossing walk towards your right), you should see Owen Road. Just keeeep walking, and walking and walking– the cafe is unit 160.

If you’re on the right side of the road you should see P. Bistro which is like unit 140+ or 150+, so it’s pretty near.

Finally you should reach, L’etoile Cafe! Our first cafe of the day.

The cafe actually has two floors so we went to check out the upper floor. I have to say that the decor is really cute and I love the rustic feel, it’s super homey. And despite being an open window floor there is AIRCONDITIONING AND FREE WIFI. The cafe is a French inspired Japanese cafe so there’s Japanese books and cute anime characters around.

Love these murals!

Ordered a cappuccino and yeah I was disappointed they didn’t make me a panda ;( but it tasted good haha. Good cup of coffee! ($4.50*)

We came to this cafe not only due to their good reviews but also because we bought something on the Sugar app– Eggs Benedict ($14.90*) just for $8+++ such a great deal. I love that app.

It was a great breakfast because I am super fond of salads (yay) and liked the hollandaise sauce on the eggs. Although the toast was slightly too hard for my liking, difficult to cut through, I still liked the pairing of eggs toast and fresh salad with a good cup of coffee.

*Oh but the down side is that there service charge on top of the prices which are inclusive of GST.

L’etoile Cafe
160 Owen Rd
Singapore 218953
Opening hours
Mon to Fri: 11am – 10pm
Sat to Sun, Public Holiday: 9am – 10pm
62982872
http://letoile.com.sg/

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fArt tArtz Cafe @EXPO

dessert, dine, drink, food

Headed over here for Breakfast before work started at SITEX the other day. I didn’t know the EXPO had a place like this.

When we arrived they were just opening so we had to wait about 15 minutes before the food came.

We ordered the oreo nutella mud tart (usually it’s $5.50 i think but we got it at $2-3 with the sugar app) and the strawberry cream jar thing. ($6.80) I love that both desserts were not too sweet. The nutella was balanced by the cream inside so it was not as sweet. Then the strawberry one was with fresh cream and probably graham crumbs. A simple dessert but very cute presentation!! Even the tray, the utensils and the furniture.

Along with Detox water: Citrus ($3.80) and Fruity ($4.80) flavoured. I’ll tell you now that it’s just water with whatever you see oranges/berries with mint leaves. Nothing much actually. If you want something with a refreshing taste at least, go for the citrus one. The fruity one doesn’t have much taste and the fruits are hard to get out and eat.

Grilled Hot Wings ($8.50) took slightly longer to arrive but it wasn’t too long either. WOOH. These are hot and spicy I mean look at those chili seeds. But they are very very nice! Hahah despite having the numbing feeling of the spice around my mouth, I wanted more. I definitely recommend this.

fArt tArtz Cafe

Singapore Expo (foyer 2)

1 Expo Drive

#02-04 Singapore 486150

Opening hours

Mon to Thu: 8am – 6pm

Fri to Sun: 8am – 8pm

Email: enquiry@farttartz.com

www.farttartz.com

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Cafe Hopping II: &MADE me so full

dessert, food

For our last stop we stopped by &MADE for more dessert.

Located at Pacific Plaza, it’s just a short walk from Shaw House. It’s at the side next to some bar/cafe/restaurant place but the big ‘&’ signs should make it obvious enough.

Bite off more than you can chew

Again this is a pretty pricey place but we didn’t have to pay a cent because the Sugar app is great. The Dark chocolate sundae originally costs $12 while the Lychee, Raspberry & Rose milkshake costs $9. Holy desserts right? But we bought the sundae for just $2.80 and the milkshake for $1.80. Now that’s what I call a good deal.

All in all, the sundae was so worth coming back to Orchard. Err if you are paying the regular $12 it’s still worth it cuz it taste really good. It reminded me of eating a s’more in a glass hahah. Crunchy choco balls on top of a layer of fresh cream, followed by a layer of chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce and then there’s some chocolate cookie pieces below as well.

The milkshake on the other hand was not my cup of–milk (tea you know ha. ha.) I don’t really like anything rose flavoured so this was not something I really liked. I didn’t hate it. The lychee and raspberry was nice but I just didn’t like the rose in it. I wouldn’t pay $9 for this. If someone knows anything else from this place or the places we’ve visited that we should check out, do leave a comment. As I probably won’t come back to &MADE for their burgers. They seemed pretty empty too…

&MADE Burger Bistro

9 Scotts Road Pacific Plaza
#01-04-06
Singapore 228210
Opening hours
Sun to Thur: 10am – 10pm
Fri to Sat: 10am – 10:30pm
6690 7566
andmade.sg

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Cafe Hopping II: Fix Cafe for main

dine, food

Third stop! Welcome to the Fix Cafe at Toa Payoh.

Not too far from the Toa Payoh swimming complex, this cafe is actually poolside at the Home Team place, after you walk past the Ten Dollar Karaoke. Even though it’s an open cafe, it’s not too hot here so don’t worry too much. The decor is really cool and free flow of water!!!!

Honestly, I find the food here a tad too expensive. But hey you never know if you don’t try.

Order up: One 3-Cheese Penne Gratin dine-in and one set of Donuts with Salted Egg Dip to-go! (no pictures of that unfortunately)

My friend thought that it would be smaller than what we got haha so that’s a good thing. $10 for this is quite worth it though it should probably be $8 instead. It is about 15cm in diameter and we shared it between the two of us. Yes the cheese is very nice and it even has mushrooms and some ham in it. You might need a drink to go with this if not you’ll find it too heaty but otherwise it’s pretty good– though I may not come back for it again. Maybe I’ll try the naanwich? For those who love their cheese, they’ll love this. Seems like a revamped mac & cheese dish.

Fix Cafe
31 Ah Hood Road
#01-06 HomeTeamNS-JOM
6256 1484
Opening hours
9:30am – 10:30pm daily
fix-cafe.com.sg

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Cafe Hopping II: Shrove Tuesday on Tuesday

dessert, food

Second stop of the day: Shrove Tuesday

With the help of Google Maps we found this place pretty easily. It is next to this chicken rice place and there’s a fruit store with a friendly auntie opposite. (hehe)

AHAHA this is such a cute sign.

They sell cakes, puffs and ice cream but they’re most known for their waffles.

Finally to what we are here for. Waffles. The original price for this is $5 I think but with the Sugar app we bought it for just $1.40 and added $2.50 for the scoop of ice cream.

(The Sugar app is really useful for finding good places to eat at a good cost and best of all it comes with complementary $10 to spend when you register. So the waffle was pretty much free.)

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Great that it was drizzled with chocolate and it went well with the strawberry cream ice cream as well. A bit pricey if you are gonna buy it without the app so yeah get the app and enjoy a great dessert!

Shrove Tuesday
Block 94 Toa Payoh Lorong 4
#01-32 Singapore 310094
Opening Hours

Sunday – Thursday : 10am – 10pm

Friday & Saturday : 10am – 11pm

shrovetuesday.sg

6258 2254

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Cafe Hopping II: One Man Coffee sells PIZZA

dine, drink, food

Hello everyone and anyone! Another cafe hopping day with my food buddy so I’m gonna post this the same way I did for the first.

First stop for the afternoon: One Man Coffee

Another tricky place to find but if you aren’t as unobservant as us I’m sure you will notice the cafe as it has these chairs outside.

Yes, the chairs basically spell it out for you. But of course we walked past it yet again when it was just there………anyways if you are planning to get there look out for the following sign because I think that it is two stores in one.

SO yeah One Man Coffee is together with Crust (which opens 5pm I think). I walked past it thinking it was a different cafe.

As the name suggests, this cafe is quite well known for their coffee so I just had to get myself a latte ($4.50). Admittedly, it tastes pretty good and it’s at a good temperature to start drinking! Nice start to our hopping.

Gashouse Eggs with Bacon Jam ($10)– sounds weird but it is by far one of my favourite foods ever. If bacon could get any better it’s in this bacon jam. YUMMM. It’s bacon with balsamic vinegar, butter and some secret ingredients. The toast has a poached egg in the middle and it is covered with lots of cheese. OMG. That toast is so buttery and the egg and cheese is awesome together. Egg is nice and runny when you cut up the centre.

Next up is the Brioche French Toast with homemade berry jam, fresh cream and candies walnuts. ($10–They have another brioche french toast with caramalized bananas) All I have to say is Can I have more? The homemade jam is great: not too sweet and not too sour. Tastes like a mix between strawberries and raspberries. Eating the toast together with the cream and jam is perfection. I’d love to eat breakfast and coffee there longer but we had to move on.

SO yum yum yum all the way. Please do yourself a favour and check this place out.

One Man Coffee

215R Upper Thomson Rd, 574349

Operating hours

9am – 5pm daily

www.onemancoffee.com.sg

9685 1685

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20 November: Curry from CoCo

dine, food

Level B3 of Somerset 313 actually has some pretty good food. Other than Pie Face which I regretfully did not get to eat enough to blog about, I stumbled upon this place: CoCo Ichibanya. It is a Japanese curry house apparently reputed to be the number 1 Japanese curry house in the world with over 30 years of experience in the field of Japanese food.

Table for two. Ordered the gyoza curry rice for me and the salmon curry rice for my friend. What I found interesting about the menu was that other than the wide range to choose from you can actually cutomize the level of spicyness of the curry and also the amount of rice on your plate! If you’re wondering, we chose the level 1 (normal) spicyness. It did not take long before we got our food which is great since we were both really starving. The curry was sooo good. I hate diluted tasing curry but this was thick and rich with flavour. But just a precaution to those who cant really handle spice, I recommend you opt for level 0 because my friend found level 0 a tad too spicy. For me it was hot but that’s what made it good. It was hot enough but not too hot to numb your tongue. I liked the gyoza better than the salmon because I do love my gyozas, however the salmon was also a delight as it was bigger than I had expected.

Gyoza Curry Rice

Salmon Curry Rice

A great deal for your money i believe we only spent about $28-$30 total when it came to the bill (inclusive of service charge and GST). If you’re a fan of curry rice like I am you really have to try this out!

CoCo Ichibanya
313 Orchard Road

#B3-25/27 313 SomersetSomerset, Orchard

Operating hours

Mon – Fri: 10am – 10pm

Sat – Sun & PH: 10am – 11pm

63419978

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18 November: 55 above

fotos, skyline

Before heading over to Somerset 313 for our photography workshop my friend and I went to explore ION Sky, an observatory deck in ION Orchard. I for one have not heard of this place before so I was so suprised to find out it was 55 floors above ground level! As you will see from the following pictures I had a great time capturing some amazing shots. I have way more and the link for the gallery is below.

Unfortunately it is an enclosed observatory deck so I had trouble with the glass obstructing my lens and all for certain shots. Although this makes quite a cool effect.

Stalking couples is my second favourite past-time.

Shots anyone?

Glowing onion rings

These other photos are credited to my friend~

So if you want to take a peek to some of the great scenery here in Singapore, check out ION Sky if you’re in the Orchard Road vicinity. What’s best is that it’s freeee. Just go to the highest floor of the mall, find the sistic counter, and the security guard will probably help direct you to the elevator which does to the 55th floor in the corner of ION Art.

ION Sky
2 Orchard Turn ION Orchard
Level 56Singapore 238801
Operating hours
10am-8pm daily

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I got Trapped

escape game, fun

I won’t name this under Cafe hopping but I did do this on the same day. (Shows how much you can do in one day hahah.) After coming from Lavendar we headed over to Bugis which didn’t take long but what took a while was trying to get there FROM BUGIS. Well you can go out by the exit more towards the Raffles Hospital side. Then walk along Victoria Street (you will see this painting on the right) until you reach Jln Pisang turn right into it.

At the end of the road turn left and then into Kandahar Street. ANDDD after a few bars you will eventually reach this door. Welcome to Trapped, one of the many escape room companies in Singapore.

So a little back-story on why we decided to get here. We were still in Windowsill around 2-2:30pm maybe? And with the afternoon left I decided to have an impromptu escape game session. One of my favourite past-times this year. Luckily for us we found out about Trapped where they have a student discount of $14 (non-peak only)!! Considering that usual prices for escape rooms range from $18-$25 (non-peak), that is a really good price. You can walk in but you may not be guaranteed a room so the best you should do is make a reservation online or call them up too. Payment can then be made on site.

Some dos and don’t of the place.

The main lobby is pretty small.When you walk in you’ll be greeted by the front desk and as seen from the photo above there are some lockers where you can place your belongings. Don’t worry if your bag is too big because their seats double as a storage unit as well but of course it would be safer to lock your valuables up in the lockers or just bring a smaller bag.

Now for the moment of truth. 60 minutes. 3 people. 1 room. Time to get cracking. We chose the “Trapped in Hostel” which (unbeknownst to me until we got there) has the LEAST lighting. And when they mean bad lighting. They mean they will turn off pretty much all the lights in the room leaving maybe some creepy yellow fluorescent lighting in a corner and just hand you two torches. (one torch per pair but they round up) It is really quite hard to see. Umm the ambience is pretty creepy with the music and all. No jump scares for you thrill seekers unfortunately (maybe try out the Friday the 13th room–it’s the scariest apparently) but it is quite a brain teaser. Downside is that the room is quite small and there isn’t a lot of mind-blowing discovery in here. Without revealing too much I would say there was a good mixture of game mechanics and not just numbers and numbers to deal with padlocks. (my pet-peeve whenever I go to an escape room) So good on them! In my opinion it was a pretty challenging room, probably on the moderate side of difficulty. I have to admit we went through several brain stumping moments when we had to resort to hints but otherwise we managed to figure it out. I’m looking forward to trying out the other rooms by them because it is an affordable option for those who don’t have the fund for bigger rooms by companies like Xcape Singapore. (I’ll blog about that another time)