Have been trying some new stuff of late. New not meaning anything adventurous or novel, meaning getting my butt out of my house and going out to do something different, other than reading, sleeping, facebooking and playing mahjong.
Some time back, I tried out one of the massage place at Thomson and it's pretty nice to have someone kneading the kinks out of your muscles. The only disadvantage is that you could fully feel your muscles protesting after that because they are so over-used!
Before our public transport system decided to charge according to distance, putting out the claim that fares will be cheaper (ya, right!), me and bf decided to randomly take the Circle Line to somewhere. So we attempted to explore the stations that we would otherwise not think twice about - Nicoll Highway and Stadium Stations.
Not fantastic though.
At Nicoll Highway Station, we were probably the only one who got off the train. I bet those people in the train were thinking what the hell were we doing there. And we realised that within the vicinity of the station, there is probably only Golden Mile that is worth taking a look. We gave up and hopped onto the next train and went to Stadium station.
When we got there, it was drizzling and we didn't want to go to Kallang Leisurepark. So we just peeked out of the station and went back downstairs to take the train elsewhere.
So we stopped trying to be funny and got off at Bras Basah. Walking around, we chanced upon the National Day Rehearsal! And we were right behind the cannons! So cool! Ok, I'm on the verge of sounding very bimbotic but I was really quite excited. We then stood around for about an hour or more and caught the firing of the cannons and the display of military vehicles. Oh, and we caught the flying segment too. All the parts that I like about the National Day Parade! Sorry to the performers but I really don't care about the second half of the Parade, other than the fireworks.
I got quite sick for a while and soon after, I'm up and running again!
Tried a few new eating places with relatively positive experiences.
Met the girls yesterday and we went to Applebee's at Triple One Somerset. They did their steak pretty well (they had to, for the price) and service was good too. The service staff were attentive to details and friendly. Xpr found something that didn't belong in her dish and she feedback to the manager, resulting in her dish being cancelled off the bill. That is what service is.
Subsequently, we went to
a cafe/pub-like place Oriole Cafe and Bar at Discovery Walk at 313@Somerset
(I swear I tried to find out the name of the cafe but after poring through Google sites, it seems that it is the 'cafe-that-should-not-be-named'. Can't find nuts!). Anyway, kutu and pr ordered some
picollo latte which is supposedly famous and made by the Singapore's National Barista Champion, or his protege, or his head barista (at least, according to the ieatishoot blog). We were contemplating if we should force kutu to order the chili chocolate mocha, which probably sounds more interesting than it taste? Anyway, I ordered my usual cappuccino instead.
Hmm, I'm not sure that I like their coffee though. Maybe I should try something else the next time we go but the picollo latte and cappuccino, maybe not. So, the alleged famous picollo latte taste like soya sauce in my opinion!! Yes, I'm dead serious. Even after they added sugar, I could still taste that soya sauce-like taste. The coffee wasn't strong enough for me and I think the
crema probably is the culprit of the soya sauce-like taste. But hey, the story of the Oriole place is pretty intriguing, as in they are fellow coffee-lovers so I'm going to give them a few more chances.
Moving on!
Went to Cafe Ti Amo along Thomson Road for dinner today. Had actually wanted to try out Cheeky Chocolates but didn't realise that it had been replaced by this new cafe place. Well, the menu wasn't extremely extensive and choices were pretty limited. However, food was not too bad. I had the mushroom soup, chicken chop with mushroom sauce, tiramisu and coffee.
The mushroom soup was surprisingly good. It was creamy enough with large chunks of mushroom floating inside. There were no chunky flour-like thing that are usually present in creamy mushroom soups. The only complaint I have for the soup is that it is a tad too salty.
The chicken chop was quite tender and the mushroom sauce also have relatively big pieces of sliced button mushrooms in it. There were a truckload of baked beans which I left untouched. And of course, fries and salad. Fries were tasting a little weird. Probably the oil. But at least it was crunchy. Oh, and the chili and tomato sauces tasted a little funky too. I am guessing that their customer flow is not enough to keep the sauces fresh. Tiramisu was brought out from a display case, explaining its dry texture and lack of creaminess. No hint of alcohol too. Coffee was normal though.
Ok, long enough post to satisfy myself. My only regret is the lack of photos. After bringing my camera for servicing, I haven't used it since. Don't know why but somehow don't feel like using it. :(
But looking on the bright side, my dad who is going Shanghai later this month says that he wants to buy a better camera to bring over. His Samsung camera is terrible because it's battery life is probably equivalent to the attention span of a baby (lack of a better analogy). And guess what, he said that he was thinking of giving me the new camera after that, and he will pay half of it! Yay!
