The Royal Mail and Mad about Sucre

So I turned 27 not so recently and had a delicious birthday dinner with Stef at The Royal Mail followed by desserts at Mad about Sucre. It was a fantastic night with loads of delicious food and desserts, and fantastic company. Thanks for the treat and for all the laughs! I will always remember how you told me about breathing at the meeting hahaha.

UPDATE: Omg, I just found out that the Royal Mail is closed?! Sigh but still, am going to post this to keep this night as part of my memories.

The menu at the Royal Mail below.

Fresh raw oysters as amuse bouche. So juicy and yums.

The Roasted Whole Chicken was a little small (for some reason we were expecting a bigger chicken?) but good. It was a little dry at parts but overall still a nice roasted chicken.

The Miso Black Cod was SO GOOD. Smooth fatty cod with bonito flakes and a light creamy sauce. The Miso Black Cod is a must order! We also had a side of straight cut chips with truffle mayonnaise which was pretty good. 

Took a train to Outram and walked to Keong Saik for Mad about Sucre. This place was so very pretty! Cute little golden trays dangled from the ceiling with colourful cake boxes stacked up high. The display counter was a bright glass case illuminated with white light and dainty little cakes sat in the counter waiting to be picked. The service at Mad about Sucre was flawless. The staff introduced each cake patiently and told us the highlights of each cake. They also had tea pairing so we could have a tea blend for each cake we chose.

We had the Luna de Miel (blood orange, french spring blossom honey and sponge) and the San Domingue (chocolate, rum and biscuit). Luna de Miel was light and sweet with a delicious blood orange layer in the middle. San Dom was heavier and more robust with the thick flavour of chocolate and rum. The tea blend went perfectly well with the cakes!

I truly had a great night :)

The Royal Mail
Ascott Raffles Place Singapore, 2 Finlayson Green
+65 6509 3589 

Mad about Sucre
27 Teo Hong Road
6221 3969

Mad for Garlic, Suntec

This was so bad that I think it deserved a one sentence review so here goes. The Lobster Cream Pasta ($23.50) was expensive with lobster meat about the size of braised peanuts and pasta limp with a heavy tasteless cream sauce while the Grilled Chicken and Mushroom Risotto ($23.50) was like soft mushy rice with anorexic dry chicken and some mushrooms. 

The end. 

USA (New York City) Itinerary - Day 2: Russ and Daughters, Dominique Ansel Bakery, 9/11 Memorial, Chalk Point Kitchen, Walking Tour, Brooklyn

Russ and Daughters for breakfast. Too yummy smoked salmon with bagel, tomatoes, capers and onions! It was a very cold morning and we hurried into Russ and Daughters to wait for our table in the warmth. Very friendly and cheerful lady at the counter. What a nice start to the day!

127 Orchard St New York, NY 10002

Stef and King collected their cronuts from Dominique Ansel Bakery super early in the morning (thank you!). I did not even know about the cronut craze until Stef told me about it and I am so so grateful that they made reservations for both the March and April flavours! The March flavour (Pineapple and Matcha) was delicious! We ate them in City Hall Park under bare trees and along quiet pavements in the park. You have no idea how much I miss those cronuts ahhhhh.

We walked to the 9/11 Memorial and followed the crowd to the fountains. The air hung heavy and solemn in this place. There were no giggling teenagers running around happily, no happy jump shots. Everyone was respectful and quiet. There was a lone red rose around the fountain and it felt so... lonely.

We were late for our reservation at Chalk Point Kitchen but managed to get a table after a short wait at the door. It is a rustic farm-to-table restaurant in Soho, serving delicious food. I love the tender juicy chicken, the runny poached eggs and the kale and apple salad! This is a good place to check out if you are in the Soho area.

527 Broome St, New York, NY 10013

We did a Walking Tour after lunch around Soho, Little Italy, Nolita, and Chinatown. It is interesting to follow a guide to hear about the historical significance of various buildings, beautiful details about certain architecture and to learn more about the downtown areas. That said, it was a mini shock when our guide announced to the group that we were from Shanghai as we entered Chinatown, despite us telling her earlier than we were from Singapore. Thereafter, she asked us to translate the name of a shop which was written in Chinese characters!

We walked through the Civic Center on our way to Brooklyn Bridge and saw various courthouses. "The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government." True that. 

I had SO MUCH FUN walking across Brooklyn Bridge. It was such an amazing experience, especially when we turned around to check out the Manhattan skyline which receded into the distance with each step we took towards Brooklyn. We bought ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (the boyfriend and I had Vanilla and Chocolate Chunk) which turned out to be not that great an idea because it was positively freezing by then. The sun was beginning to set and we braved the cold to Brooklyn Bridge Park to watch the sun setting beside the Manhattan skyline. My hands were trembling so badly that many of my pictures were out of focus. When we were too cold to think, we stumbled to Luke's Lobster and bought a lobster roll to share! The lobster roll was so delicious! It was so good that Zg and I had another one on our last day. 

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory: The Corners of Old Fulton and Water Street Brooklyn, New York 11201

Luke's Lobster: 11 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, United States

It was getting dark and the streets emptied out. We went on to the DUMBO area and found Washington Street where we captured the picture below. Empire State building in the arch of the Manhattan Bridge. The good thing about empty streets is that you can plant yourself right in the middle and take a picture without being cursed at. 

A light snow drifted down and the temperature dropped steadily. All of us were shivering madly by then and when we could not stand being outdoors any longer, we ran into Shake Shack and ordered some yummy burgers! If you can only have one cheat day in New York, devote your cheat day to Shake Shack. It is definitely worth it. I had the Shrooms Burger (crisp-fried portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheeses, topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce) with cheese fries and was so awed by them! I have no idea how they managed to fry the portobello mushroom to perfection yet sealing the juice within. How did that happen?! Must be magic. Stef, King and Zg had variation of their beef burgers and said their burgers were good too!

1 Old Fulton St Brooklyn, NY 11201

We stumbled out of Shake Shack when we were ready to brave the cold and willed ourselves to battle the strong wind and snow to the subway station. I was never that happy to see a subway station before!

Read on about Day 1, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15!

2016

Years seemed to fly by at the speed of light but 2015 had miraculously mastered the skill of flying by faster than the speed of light. I had a conversation recently when I referred to an event which I insisted took place "a few months ago" which, in reality, took place in late 2014. I can only surmise that 2015 was such a great year that time passed so quickly. The alternative would be that my memory is failing me and I am losing track of time but hey, I am always allowed to pretend that age is not catching up with my brain. 

2015 was filled with many opportunities, new experiences, lessons learnt, family, my sweet boyfriend, old and new friends, and lots of happy moments. 2015 saw me picking up yoga at Yoga Movement after years of doing pilates from Youtube videos (my package has since ended and I have decided that I am returning to youtube videos because, well, youtube is free!), travelling to New York, Orlando and Bahamas with some of my favourite people, spending family time in Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai, keeping up with the tradition of travelling with friends I made with Zg, and pigging out often in Singapore with friends.

2015 was probably the year when I got to know the most new people since I started work. The team has morphed over the year and familiar faces were quickly replaced by new ones. I lost a comrade who I depended heavily in 2013 and 2014 and who always had my back in difficult times in the office. But I gained many new friends over the year who taught me a lot and who helped me in many ways. I am thankful to have the opportunity to work with all these smart and motivated people even if we end up stealing each other's soft toys on a daily basis. I am also thankful for friends outside the team (but still in the work context) who keep me grounded and sane, who teach me so much about life in general, and for being friends.

My old friends, ah, what could I have done without the few of you. Thank you for all the love and friendship over the year, chasing new food places, sharing the joys and pains of life, chatting about books, and always filling me in about your lives.

On the relationship-front, thank you dear boyfriend for being patient, kind and sweet, and for always waiting for me at Funan when I had to send that last email or when my meeting ended late. I feel embarrassed just thinking about all the times you had to wait for me oops.

For my family, I have always been the bratty firstborn, but I am always glad that you guys love me despite my fiery temper, my lack of patience, my love to sleep, my messy room, and my bad habit of rolling around disturbing everybody when I am free but scolding everyone when you guys disturb me HAHA. 

That said, it was not all a bed of roses this year and I met my fair share of 小人. I hope you will find happiness one day and stop sucking on my soul.

On a completely superficial note, 2015 was also the year I started using skincare religiously (I am now putting in the effort to apply moisturizer every night!), mastered the skill of doing a wing-tip for my eyeliner, and purchased my first lip tint which amazingly did not stain my teeth!

May 2016 be a healthy and happy year! :)

Assembly Ground, The Cathay

It is probably the in thing now to have a cafe attached to your boutique and generally just channeling the hipster vibe everywhere. The hipster vibe was definitely there at the Assembly Ground but sigh, the food was truly not up to scratch. We had the Entertainer App (thank god!) so it was one-for-one for the mains. An obligatory hipster picture of an empty chair hurhur.

Truffle Fries ($12) was probably the only thing at Assembly Ground which I found satisfactory but still not fantastic.

The Grilled Portobello Burger ($20) came with portobello, mushroom jerky, cheese and spiced fries. This was extremely sweet for some reason. I was not expecting a sweet burger and was completely caught off guard.

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Pasta ($19) in cream sauce. The cream was very heavy yet bland so I had a very bad pasta dish. I was just fighting to keep the pasta down and I gave up after a while. Also, $19 for a few thin slices of smoked salmon and some diced asparagus was really steep. Thank god for the Entertainer App again.

Nope, not returning. Not even if I have the Entertainer App. 

#01-22 The Cathay

2 Handy Road

Kaiserhaus, Capitol Piazza

Merry Christmas! And here I go with my meek attempt to clear my backlog of drafts. I still haven't written anything new on this blog in possibly 4 to 5 months! Omg. But I will get down to it soon. Hopefully.

The weather was cold and dreary one day and we decided that we needed some comfort food for lunch. Lynda suggested the new Kaiserhaus at Capitol Piazza which served Austrian food and we thought why not and went in. 

Situated opposite the famous Dazzling Cafe, Kaiserhaus is on the second floor so you have to take the escalator up. Not the easiest to find and certainly easy to miss but you are rewarded with a nice view from the balcony when you reach Kaiserhaus.

The decoration at Kaiserhaus is grand and opulent with plush red arm chairs and a dining area bathed in a warm orange hue. The place retained a grand curved staircase which is no doubt a fixture from the old Capitol Theatre. 

I had the set lunch and picked the Fish Skewer as my main. The thick mushroom soup and fresh seafood on the skewer were so good!

We also ordered a Austrian Pork Cheese Sausage ($19.50) to share and it was seriously, the best. I would highly recommend the Pork Sausage when you are at Kaiserhaus. Delicious chewy pork with cheese which oozes out when you cut into the sausage. Omg, this was just too good.

Amanda and I came back another day a few weeks later for yet another comfort lunch and ordered the Crispy Chicken Salad ($19.50) and the Hungarian Paprika Chicken Sauage ($18). The salad is HUGE. Like, I have never ever felt this full sharing a salad with a friend. They are very generous with the greens and check out the large slabs of crispy fried chicken. I would not dare say that this was healthy as a salad but it was definitely yummy. The Chicken Sausage was not as good as the Pork Sausage as the chicken meat tasted quite ordinary but the sweet sauerkraut tasted a lot like salsa!

The soundtrack at Kaiserhaus is prefect. Acoustic covers of popular tracks. I love the vibe at Kaiserhaus, sitting on the balcony, looking down at the steady stream of people filing in and out of Capitol Piazza, sunshine lighting up the place and happy laughter with friends from the office. This is a good place to be.

Address: 17 Stamford Rd, #02-06 and #03-06 Capitol, 178907

Phone:6377 0013

Monday to Sunday: 10:30 am to 12 midnight