Discomfort.

Discomfort.
Disbelief.
Dejection.

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.

A long and rainy night

A good friend whom I've known for a long time departed Singapore last night, uprooting his family with him to one of my favourite cities in the world where he came from.

Farewells are such horrid affairs, especially when the time draws near towards dusk and rain pelters down for hours on end. I was stuck in traffic and realised the time to departure was an hour away.

Despite the many many farewell get-togethers we had over the past 2 weeks, the many many pep talks we had, the many beers and arguments we fought over, the tinge of melancholic sadness crept in at the hour. Indeed, nothing in life prepares you except for reality when it hits.

I made a hurried call on my handsfree, and I was happy to hear a sober controlled voice at the end of the line. I reminded him not to smoke or drink in excess, to get a new phone line ( no, incoming calls are NOT free on your Spore line, stupid! ) and remember the words of wisdom rained upon him. I parted with I will miss him and will see him soon.

The drive in the rain seemed very long that day. Deep in me, I truly truly hope he and his family will be happy over in Melbourne. I truly truly hope he will work really hard to make this happen. And I know all of us here will remember to celebrate his 50th Bday in 2 years time.

Au revoir, mon ami.

Touring Singapore on Foot

8 hours 6 destinations

Tom's Palette at Shaw Tower
The ice cream flavours we had ( all large of course.. )
Salted Egg Yolk + Salted Caramel Cheesecake
Chocolate Sorbet + Brown Sugar
Chocolate stout + Chai Tea Latte

I Love TaiMei at Queen St
Good concept, strong branding. Better than Shih Lin.
Check out how they named their items on the menu. (Selina, Ella, Hebe etc )

Fried Chicken - Ella
Sweet potato sticks
Fried tofu fries
甜不辣

lots of bubble tea!

Porn's
Sexy. Thai. Food. 

Pornsak was manning the cashier. I like him. Down to earth , obliging and endearing. Looks good in pink. Hahaha.
We were lucky. Reservations run 2 weeks in advance. When we reached, we sat down on the last table available. After that was a long long long queue of diners.



Took a stroll to Sultan Gate and explored the Arab St area. Haji Lane was hip and happening. Blu Jaz is a nice haunt to soak in the atmosphere. There was also a nostalgic old world toy store that sold things from the 60s and 70s.

See the stuff from 60s-80s? Love the fridge.

Haji Lane

Barstories

We settled at this random bar.

Furniture was for sale, very nice. It felt like we were in someone's home.

Cocktails were fresh and delicious and not at all stingy with the alcohol yumyum!

I love the long wooden bar, soft lighting, quirky layout and the mural of the huge octopus on the wall.  Felt like I was in someone's home. Service was great too. Toilet was quirky, open air - clean and a little kinky. Haha, what's not to like about the place?
Love one of the chairs already. I wanna bring it home for $1400.
Pity my iphone didnt take good shots.



Artichoke
Reminiscent of a quaint little getaway. Clean, unpretentious and a lovely menu. What else to complete an outing but familiar friends like Heineken and San Miguel?

They gave us all goody bags of gummy candy when we left. Of course we ate them immediately!

We were the last customers and they were so nice.

Chomp Chomp
At midnight it was good to fill the tummies with Hokkien Mee, popiah, Kueh Pie tee, Fish soup and carrot cake. Ooohhhhh..... yummy.


It was a day of city walkabout. We parked at Shaw and did the tour on foot. It felt good to rediscover Singapore this way. Fortunately the weather held up.

From Beach Road, we went through Seah St, to Liang Seah St, Iluma, Queen st, Arab St , Haji Lane, to Middle Road and back to Beach Road. Ooh what a cute little bunch of tourists.

I must bring my camera next time.

ps// all photos taken by MissyG on her wonderful G11