2011

Welcome to the new year!

This year I shall
- spend more time with family
- spend more time with friends
- go for more outings with my dogs
- go for more yoga classes

2010 has passed and I have passed my iconic year rather peacefully. Many many years ago I was happy to live to that age - and the year 2010 has passed. For the rest of my time, it really is a bonus to be here, and I will be grateful for each day, each month, each year that passes; for each friend, each moment we share; and for each need, each luxury I am given.

One day when I pass on, I know my friends will be there, and they will drink to celebrate the wonderful times we have shared together. Cheers. To Life. To Love. To Friends. Happy New Year!

Coffee

Hidden away at Bt Timah Road lies Papa Palheta - a very quaint owner-operator set up that retails coffee beans. The place is great, service wonderful and coffee excellent.

Coffee is served free, but there is a tip jar where you pay what you feel is deserving. A guide of $4 per coffee is recommended. The idea is that you taste the coffee and buy the beans. The guy at the bar is careful in explaining what goes behind each coffee brew and how coffee by itself tastes different depending on beans and roasts. He imports and roasts the beans at the store and retails around $13-$14 per 250gm.

I ordered a double shot latte, no sugar. Gosh! It was sweet, fragrant and uplifting all at once. For double shot, no hint of bitterness but pure smooth sweet, yes, sweet coffee. Just pure coffee at its best. Milk was foamed perfectly too.

They serve drip coffee too but I'm a fan of expresso, so found the drip coffee a tad too light but still flavourful. Maybe its the effect of having the drip after the expresso. I never knew coffee could be so tasty! I mean each bean had its own character and taste.

This place makes me wanna go back again!

I hope this place thrives with its system of tip as you like for coffee. The cost of running the coffee bar without charging for coffee may not always work well in Singapore. But the idea is wonderful and I salute the owner for coming up with such a wonderful idea and place. I now know where to get the best beans.