HOLLAND V ADVENTURES.

Met up with some of the 35/12 bunch yesterday at Holland V for what was originally supposed to be a quick lunch, but turned into 5 hours of us visiting practically every cafe in the vicinity. 

We started off at d'Good Cafe. I was pretty turned off at first by the pungent smell of cheese and the mixture of the savoury, sweet and coffee smells. The kitchen was right next to the coffee machines and the dessert stands, and the place was pretty cramped, so that explains it. Devin couldn't stand it HAHA.

Most of us ordered pastas, except Sok who ordered French Toast. I had the Meatball Marinara which really wasn't all that fantastic. The flavour of the sauce was mild and didn't give me the kick I was looking for in the dish, but the portion of meatballs that it had was definitely very generous. It made the dish worth the $15.50 I paid. Someone celebrating a birthday next to us had a humongous jug of what looked like iced chocolate or something, which looked extremely tempting to say the least.

In search of some good coffee after our meal we popped by T Time (I'm not sure if that's the correct name or spelling), but it didn't have a table for 5. We moved on to Craft Bakery Cafe and managed to find seats there. The thing that first striked me was the halloween deco, which was really on point. The entire place was covered in orange cotton (to make it seem like spider webs), and other halloween-y things that really put it's customers (or myself at least) in the halloween spirit. The cotton was pretty annoying though, it kept sticking to me!

Some of the cakes were also given a Halloween-twist, especially the Sea-Salt Caramel cake you see below. I thought the dessert display looked really appetising, but I was too full to try anything. I went with my usual, an iced Bailey's latte. It's one of the only flavoured coffees I've had where both the tastes of the coffee and the flavouring (in this case the alcohol) are equally strong, and where you get the essence of the drink with a single sip. The others got a couple of coffees too.

We then tried some churros from churrosity, which was pretty so-so. Sorry, don't have any pictures of that to show ya. We had two large cups, with chocolate and dulce de leche (a South American confection made with sweetened milk) toppings. Yes, I googled it.

Looking for a place to just chill we ended up at The Daily Scoop across the road. Devin first introduced me to the place, where they have excellent coconut ice cream, and a lot of varied flavours to choose from. Plus they had free flow of water, which is what most of us had. Hehe. Sok got herself a scoop of Lychee Martini while Dan Ling went with avocado.

I really didn't expect to have visited that many places in one afternoon, but well, we did. And now I am officially broke and can't wait to get my pay this month. Super satisfied though. Signing off!

BACK TO ONE MAN.

Headed back to One Man yesterday for some breakfast this time, and the experience really reinforced my love for the cafe. While Habitat was full (as usual), and there was a 40 minute waiting time, One Man was really professional. You see, they have an automated system where you make your booking when you reach the place, and they give you a call when your table is ready. Plus, it took a mere 10 minutes before I was called. AWESOME.

After much deliberation I decided to have their brioche french toast with salted caramel, caramelised bananas and fresh cream, which tasted like heaven. The bread was perfectly soft, and the other ingredients added the perfect level of sweetness to balance the dish, and yet give it fantastic flavour. I need to have it again. I got myself a mocha as well. Mum went with a croissant with butter and jam and a cappuccino - her favourite, while Sanchay went with his typical chocolate filled order with pain au chocolate and a cup of ice chocolate to accompany it. 

While waiting for our orders to arrive I couldn't help but admire the range of colourful cakes they had on display. They all looked so goooood! Seriously though. The fact that the cakes had really unique and interesting flavours made it even more enticing but we were too full after our breakfast to get anything. Speaking of breakfast, the portions were just right, and everything was considerably cheap, so for those of you on a tight budget but who still want quality, try One Man. 

Getting back to the cakes, the ones on display were the root beer chocolate cake with a pistachio topping, rose with raspberry buttercream and if I remember correctly, a salted caramel cake as well.

Don't they look absolutely stunning? I'm so thankful that the place is so close to home, too bad it closes just before I end work. Sigh. Be back soon, One Man! Check ya later.

HABITAT COFFEE.

I honestly cannot believe how long it took me to try this amazing cafe that's so near to my home. It's literally a 10 minute walk away. I've been to quite a few cafes around the island, but always ended up giving Habitat a miss for some reason. I mean yeah, I have tried to go there before but I always ended up on the waiting list for at least a good 15 minutes, and by that time my friends and I would have found another spot to chillax at.

Since I got some well-deserved time off I decided I'd pop over with a friend of mine this afternoon, and for the first time, I wasn't put on a waiting list. We got the last two seats.

My friend ordered the Big Ben (part of their all day breakfast menu), while I just ordered some coffee - a hazelnut flavoured one. The coffee was pretty darn good to be perfectly honest. The only complaint I had was that it did take quite a while for our orders to arrive, but the waiter explained that it was because there was something wrong with the beans and they wanted to make sure it was just right before serving it to me. Very professional. You can tell the staff are not just there for your money, they're pretty dedicated.

I should probably give whoever's reading this a warning that their all day breakfast isn't served all day. It's only available till 5.30. That was one of the reasons why I didn't get to try Habitat once.

We then decided to share an Oreo cheesecake, which was also excellent. It was the best cheesecake I had had in a while, with the texture of the cream cheese being just right, and the ratio of the cheese to the cookie being just nice as well. It was definitely worth the calories that I had tried so hard to burn off over the past few days. I had juice for lunch yesterday. JUICE. While ordering the cake I took a few pictures of their dessert display and stuff. I really love the ambience and the atmospheres that cafes have. It's hard to explain but it's just great. The slow, jazzy music, the chatter of the people, the yellow lighting and the strong smell of freshly brewed coffee makes it feel so cosy.

Now that I've confirmed the awesomeness of the coffee and the dessert I shall be heading back there soon for more! For those of you who haven't tried it, it is a stop you mustn't miss while you're on your cafe-hopping adventures.

CELEBRATING SANCHAY'S 13TH.

I can't believe my little brother's already a teenager! I know he's 13, but I still treat him and imagine him as my little baby brother. Anyway, we basically spent last weekend celebrating the beginning of his teenage years. The thing is, it was really difficult to find something fun or interesting to do since he's such a simple guy. The most interesting cake he's ever asked for was a gumball one. His other cakes ranged from a toothbrush cake to a bone cake, and this year, just a small hazelnut cake covered in white fondant. Yup. He's one of those kids that you'd get a really cool toy for but would just play with the box.

Like every year, we started the day off with breakfast in bed for him.

He wanted to have a simple italian lunch. He's really picky, and only likes the simplest and plainest things when it comes to cuisine, so there wasn't really a point taking him to a fancy restaurant elsewhere. Where did we end up going? Pastamania in Junction 8. We then went to catch the Maze Runner, which was a surprisingly intense movie to be honest. Mum couldn't take it HAHA.

Another thing he really wanted for his birthday was a slurpee. A SLURPEE. Look how happy he was.

For dinner we went somewhere a little more fancy (the Mandarin Orchard Hotel) for some chicken rice. $27 was rather expensive for a plate of chicken rice but I thought it was totally worth it. The amount of food that was on the plate combined with the fresh, yummy and succulent chicken and their unique chilli paste more than made up for the price. Definitely a must try sometime.

The day ended with the tradition of cutting the cake at home. 

Here's to many exciting years of teenage-hood, bum!