小幸运

有时忙了，累了，真的会理所当然的忘记。

与你相遇，真的好幸运。

不是因为你陪我淋雨，也不是因为你为我有对抗世界的决定。

而是因为无论发生什么事，默默守在我身旁的是你。

:)

Oriole Coffee and Bar at Capitol Piazza

We decided to catch up over lunch at Oriole Coffee and Bar which was wonderfully peaceful and quiet. My last visit to Oriole was at their Somerset outlet for brunch and I thought I would give their new outlet a try. Ordered the Capellini Crab meat, which was capellini with crab meat served in aglio olio style. The original price of the capellini was $26 but I got it at a discount thanks to the lunch set which came with a coffee. I had my usual flat white which did a perfect job of waking me up after my heavy lunch. The Capellini Crabmeat was good, al dente pasta, lightly tossed in olive oil, and a generous heap of crab meat! I am used to having my crab meat pasta in tomato sauce and this aglio olio styled crab meat pasta was such a refreshing change. Coffee at Oriole was also really good, not too acidic, and just nice for me.

I liked Oriole at Capitol Piazza so much that I returned a few weeks later on a lazy Saturday afternoon for some me time over a cup of flat white and a Milan Kundera. The boyfriend was away for a work trip that weekend and I took the time off to run some errands before settling down in Oriole for my peaceful me time. I enjoyed my afternoon there, mostly because it was quiet and empty, and I did not feel pressured to leave. This is a perfect spot to do some quiet reading on a weekend!

Capitol Piazza

#02-20

63846495

Pasarbella, Suntec City

I have been a fan of Pasarbella at Grandstand for a while. When I was strolling through Suntec City with the boyfriend a while back and saw Pasarbella tucked in a quiet area, I was so excited to try it! So the boyfriend and I came by after work to explore the new Pasarbella.

The concept is somewhat similar to the one in Grandstand, i.e. many little stores lining the walls with tables and chairs randomly arranged in the centre. There is more variety in the Pasarbella Grandstand though with shops selling stuff like beer, aromatherapy oils and party items, while the Pasarbella Suntec City operated mostly like a high-end food court.

We tried the Wolf Burger and I had the Pork Gochujang Burger ($9.90) which came with a pork patty siting in the bun with kimchi, cucumber, and gochujang (a bean paste sauce). The burger was very interesting and it was the first time I had korean sauce in my burger! The pork patty was a little on the thin side though which was kind of disappointing since I was totally expecting a thick juicy patty with that price. 

We also ordered the Kimchi Cheese Fries ($8). Cheese, sour cream and kimchi sauce went pretty well with the fries. This was very addictive though and I kept returning for more fries and soon found  out that I finished most of it (oops). 

On another day, before the boyfriend flew off for his work trip, he picked me up from work and we drove to Suntec City for a quick lunch. We had Cajun on Wheels this time and picked the Mixed Seafood Box. You could choose either 1 or 2 sides, and pick your sauce. I went with truffle fries as my side and cajun sauce. There were prawns, mussels, fish, baked potatoes and sweet corn in the Mixed Seafood Box and the seafood was very fresh. Sadly, the cajun sauce lacked a punch which meant that the seafood was not as tasty as it could be. I would much prefer the Louisiana styled seafood in Boiler. 

Pasarbella Suntec is undoubtedly more accessible as compared to Pasarbella Grandstand but it lacked all the points which made the latter attractive. It was not laid back (I sensed many hurried souls around this place thanks to the largely office crowd on the weekdays that I visited), felt like an upmarket food court with nothing exceptionally interesting, and was really pretty boring. Give me Pasarbella Grandstand anytime, please!

Pasarbella Suntec City

$01-455 

USA (Orlando - Bahamas) Itinerary Day 8 - Keke's Breakfast Cafe, Royal Caribbean Cruise to Bahamas

BAHAMAS! It was pure happiness on the Royal Caribbean Cruise to Bahamas. A relaxing contrast to the hustle and bustle in New York City and the theme parks in Orlando. We were blessed with perfect weather on the cruise, good food, a well-equipped gym, poolside fun, and lots of opportunities to relax on the Bahamas islands. 

We started Day 8 with breakfast at Keke's in Orlando which was so hearty and delicious. Stef found this place through some random Googling and we drove over for our breakfast before our long drive to Port Canaveral. The portions were huge, we totally over-ordered, but we managed to finish most of it! Truly an American breakfast.

After more than an hour drive along the highway, we reached Port Canaveral, returned the rental car, and checked into the Royal Caribbean Cruise (Enchantment of the Seas).

We figured we would hardly be in the room (which certainly turned out to be true) so we picked the cheapest room category without windows. The room was small, but it was clean and tidy so it was good for us. 

After checking into our rooms, we went to the top deck to enjoy the sun, the strong sea breeze, and the clear blue cloudless sky. I felt so insanely happy at that moment.

As the afternoon wore on, the blustering wind turned chilly so Zg and I decided to hide indoors in the gym which had such a splendid view. I cycled on the stationary bike overlooking the endless sea and watched as the sun edged into the horizon.

After washing up, we headed to the main Dining Room for our dinner at our allocated time slot. The three-course dinner was served in a formal setting and we were seated with an American family. We soon realised that we would sit with them at the same table for all our dinners on the cruise. It was interesting and we had a chat with them while waiting for our food to be served. Food was great, way better than what I expected, but I had trouble finishing all three courses. Frankly, the Asian appetite cannot rival the American. 

Service was great but they do take a while to serve and we found ourselves nodding away at the table from the lack of sleep so we returned back to our rooms after dinner to repay our immense sleep debt.

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15

Bao Makers and AEIOU cafe, Lavender

Dinner after work with Stef! Picked Bao Makers from the Entertainer App and met at the cozy little restaurant one night after work. The place was not too crowded on a weekday night even though we came in without reservations. Settled down in a corner table and started flipping through the menu excitedly. 

Truffle fries ($5 as an extra to the bao). I could smell the fragrance of truffle oil from the bowl of truffle fries across the aisle without even looking in that direction. It was really so fragrant! I would highly suggest this as a side to the baos. We also had the house salad ($2) as a side to add some veggies into our meal. 

Chilli Crab Bao ($5.80 each). They were very generous with the crab meat - just look at all the crab meat stuffed into the bao! The weird thing about this dish which we found out pretty soon was the bowl of chilli sauce. The depth of the bowl meant that it was virtually impossible to dip my bao into the chilli sauce. I just cannot fit the bao into the bowl to reach the sauce at the bottom. We resorted to pouring the sauce out of the bowl onto our bao (and dripping it everywhere) and using our fork to smear the sauce evenly on our bao.

Salted Egg Shrimp ($5.80 each). As usual, I love everything salted egg so this was a winner for me! I love the juicy crunchy prawns and that thick savoury salted egg sauce.

We left Bao Makers and headed to AEIOU around the corner. There are loads of cafes in this area and I have tried most of them but I have never tried AEIOU before. It was a very interesting cafe and I totally could not tell that it was a cafe from the exterior. Housed in what looked like a hardware shop, AEIOU was quiet, peaceful and serene when we entered. There was a small cake counter at the front with shelves selling various merchandise. The tables and stools were all different! Some tables were traditional wrought iron tables with a glass top (like this one) and others resembled an old-fashioned sewing machine! Very interesting. We had a tiramisu which was served in a Grey Goose bottle and a pot of green tea. 

Both Bao Makers and AEIOU Cafe are easily accessible from Lavender MRT. 

Was a great evening catching up on life, work, and all sorts of random things in general. Till the next dinner! :)

The Bao Makers

78 Horne Road 

Monday to Friday                    12pm to 10pm

Saturday/Public Holidays        11am to 10pm

Sunday                                     11am to 6pm

Phone: 6291 2330

Aeiou Cafe

111 King George's Ave, 208559

Phone:6291 2698

USA (Orlando) Itinerary Day 7 - Disney Magic Kingdom

Slept in a little more today so we only reached Magic Kingdom at about 8 am or 9 am. The car park was huge and we had to take a tram to the monorail station before hopping on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. The place was crazy crowded with kids and families but the experience was still magical. Disney always has the power to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Fastpass at Magic Kingdom worked differently from Tokyo's and Hong Kong's Disneyland. In Magic Kingdom, you could make Fastpass reservations online prior to arriving at the park and making more reservations after you arrive at the park. With the Fastpass system, we managed to ride on almost all the rides at Magic Kingdom with reasonable waiting times.

But frankly, rides were not the highlight at Magic Kingdom for me. I was there for the feeling of being a child all over again, looking at grand castles, delightful parades and beautiful fireworks.

Cinderella Castle.

An ice cream in the shape of a Mickey Mouse was exactly what we needed to counter the heat.

Rapunzel Castle.

Festival of Fantasy Parade! I LOVED IT.

Fireworks at the Wishes Night-time Spectacular. I love the fireworks but the reality of watching the show was much more challenging. We were squashed in front of the Cinderella Castle with tonnes of people and when the show ended, everybody wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. It was almost frightening. People were shoving, pushing, fighting their way out of the square and when I stopped to look at the map at the side of the square, I was scolded unceremoniously (to which I pretended I did not know English and continued looking at the map HAHA. Perks of being Asian). Someone needs to tell me where all these people are rushing to. 

But still, it was a magical day and a magical night. For each time I am at Disney, I must remember that all these beautiful things started with a mouse. 

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15

Artichoke

This one is a major throwback to last year's Christmas oops!

Our usual Christmas gathering was at Artichoke this year. It is heartening to meet these folks every now and then amidst our busy schedules. It is not easy setting aside a date where all (or most) of us are free and it is always fun to meet up, have a good laugh, and spend the evening with friends I had known for more than a decade. 

Spent the day walking around Bugis with the boyfriend and reached Artichoke early before the restaurant opened so I sat outside and snapped some pictures of the nice outdoor area. We sat indoors though, because we were not too fond of the warm humid weather outdoors. 

We started the meal with hummus ($8), babaganoush ($8) which was smoked egg plant, yoghurt and pomegranate, and ebiko ($8) which was fish roe dip with cherry tomatoes and shrimp. The dips went well with the pita bread.

Housemade Feta Burrata ($24) - creamy salty cheese, bread, dirty tomato salad. This was not bad but not really my kind of thing, I guess.

Kuku Sabzi ($20) - persian egg fritata with cheese, spinach, coriander and pomegranate. Another interesting dish!

Char-grilled Pork belly ($28). This was the bomb for me! Well-marinated, juicy chunks of tender pork belly.

Smoked chicken maryland ($30). This was not bad but definitely not as good as the pork belly!

Washing everything down with a bottle of Little Creatures, lots of laughter and catching up about life was a great way to spend Saturday night. Till the next time!

161 Middle Road Singapore 188978

63366949