Flor Patisserie, Duxton Hill

If you happen to stay around Tanjong Pagar area in Singapore (check out the 10 best hotels in Tanjong Pagar) either for business or pleasure and you are looking for a quaint cafe to relax for a while around 8-ish in the evening, well, you can probably only come to Flor Patisserie in Duxton Hill. It happened to us before, we just had our dinner at Violet Herbs in Tras Link and we wanted to continue our talk in a cafe. But somehow most cafes located in Tanjong Pagar close at 6PM. Even on Saturday. Thankfully, Flor Patisserie opens until 10PM. And to cut story short, here is where we spent the rest of the night talking about our lives. Hahaha.

There are a lot of paintings sold at Flor Patisserie. The paintings though...all depicts human and somehow I feel like we are being watched while we are eating and drinking. Oh well, it's all in your mind...it's all in your mind...

Our companion for the long chat that night. From top left clockwise, a cup of hot cocoa, a glass of blueberry latte, a maple cheese tart, and a slice of strawberry souffle. The blueberry latte does not taste sweet but I can't really feel the taste of the coffee. The effect that night though...shows that it is indeed a latte because I could not sleep until 2AM. 

We were engrossed in deep chat up to the point we did not remember to take individual shot of the cakes that we ordered. Oh well, thanks goodness for Google. Flor Patisserie has various flavors for its cheesetarts. There are original, maple, and green tea. The lady behind the counter recommended maple cheese tart so we ordered one for sharing. The maple filling can be tasted without being too sweet. Overall a nice cheese tart to eat. 

The Strawberry Souffle taste pretty much similar to its sister, Strawberry Shortcake. The sponges taste fluffy and light (just like any Japanese cakes). The berries are kinda sour so you should eat them together with the cake and cream. If you like Japanese version of cakes, you will enjoy this cake. 

When we reached Flor Patisserie around 8+, the remaining cakes at the display counter are limited so if you'd like to see more choices, make sure you come earlier during the day as they are very popular amongst the local. 

Som Tam, a Hidden Thai Restaurant at Orchard Central

I seriously envy those people who keep going for staycation but at the same, don't feel like spending money on staycation in Singapore. Hahaha. Oh for you who don't know the concept of staycation, it's basically spending the night in the hotel which is located in the city where you are residing. A lot of people in Singapore loves this activity (especially those with small kids who are too small for travelling). This include my friend from high school who now has a one-year-old son. It happens that this week she's staycationing at the newest hip hotel on top of Orchard Gateway, Hotel Jen. No wonder, she can easily ask me out to meet her at Som Tam, which is located a stone away at the next-door Orchard Central (fyi, she seldom asks me out since giving birth, like ever!).

As a good friend who is happened to be hungry, I met her demand to meet at Som Tam, which is located pretty hidden actually right at the corner where Kiseki is located. Som Tam is like the Thai version of Xin Wang HK Cafe. It sells a variety of food from burger to pasta to traditional Thai food. The taste of the food is dominated by favorite Thai flavor like tom yam and basil though. 

When you are eating in a Thai restaurant, an order of Thai Milk Tea is deemed necessary. Even though I know this drink is gonna be so sweet. 

Both of us are a fan of green curry and this shows up in our food order that night. I ordered Green Curry Pasta which looks like Green Curry Noodle but you substitute the noodle with spaghetti instead. The pasta comes with a lot of vegetables and chicken (thankfully). 

While my friend ordered Green Curry Chicken which is served with a bowl of white rice. The portion of the green curry chicken is pretty big. The green curry taste is quite nice and we enjoyed Som Tam's rendition of the green curry in both the soup form and the pasta form. 

Whenever two girls are meeting for dinner, a dessert is bound to happen. From the review that I read online about Som Tam, it seems that a lot of diners are raving about the dessert item called the "After You" toast. Apparently "After You" toast is very famous in Bangkok. I've never taste the real one in Bangkok but once the toast arrived at our table...err, to be honest with you, the dessert does not look pretty, presentation-wise. The interesting part about this dessert is that you can select the gelato with those fancy flavour such as green curry, Thai tea, sticky rice or Thai basil with choco chip. We were pretty adventurous and ordered Thai basil with choco chip. I don't know how to explain but the whole combination is just well...either you like it or you hate it or you are just confused. I am confused indeed. Hahaha.

Tried to take an aerial shot for the toast but...nope, still not pretty. I guess Som Tam should improve the way they present this dessert seriously. 

After Dinner Chat at The Providore, Mandarin Gallery

There is something about Orchard Road. Every tourists who come to Singapore will surely visit this stretch of road to do some shopping. There are several friends of mine who purposely waiting for great flight deals just to come to Singapore (fyi, Qatar Airways often have flight deals to Singapore) and do some shopping at Orchard Road. For us who are working in Singapore, Orchard Road also has some weird effect on us. Whenever we are meeting in Orchard Road, we don't feel like going home so early. Okay, either the effect can come either from Orchard Road or our house in Singapore. LOL.

Anyway, if you are looking for a place to have a nice chat when it is already 9PM in Orchard Road, you can visit The Providore at Mandarin Gallery as they close quit late (either 10 or 11PM if I'm not wrong). The Providore is a nice place to have a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.

Even though we came quite late the selection of the cakes is still plenty. Good for us, although we usually ended up ordering the same few type of cakes.

The atmosphere at the Providore was pretty quiet as we came on a Sunday night. Some tourists are spotted enjoying their cup of coffee too. If you like to stay in Orchard Road (and don't mind paying more), you should stay the night at Mandarin Orchard because the location is very strategic and it has direct link to Mandarin Gallery. 

As I said earlier, we only stick to those few flavor of cakes and chocolate never fails us, so yeah, it's a chocolate cake night for both of us. To be exact, the triple chocolate cake. Yum! 

The Providore is located at level 2 of Mandarin Gallery. If you are looking for a quiet place to relax and enjoy your coffee and cake, you can visit them. The Provider also provides main courses too so if you are super hungry, you can consider having your main meal here. 

Superheroes Cake Date at DC Comics Superheroes Cafe, Marina Bay Sands

During one of my friend's visit to Singapore, the first thing that she wanted to try is the DC Comics Superheroes Cafe at Marina Bay Sands because her son would love it. And the place is just so convenient from her chosen accommodation, Marina Bay Sands (the ultimate choice for most Indonesians who come to Singapore, somehow). In her defence, she managed to get a good deal for her stay at Marina Bay Sands because she booked it for low-season dates. Hmm, not sure how true it is, I guess we must keep on opening our eyes for such deal.

Back to DC Comics Superheroes Cafe, I've visited the cafe before for the Batman black burger but this time my friend and I wanted to try their cakes and coffee. The themed ones of course. You can see the cake selection over the counter. 

If you want to buy a unique birthday cake for special someone, you can give them the Superman Fondant Cake. 

I seriously don't understand the hype about rainbow cake because I can't really appreciate the taste. It looks nice and pretty, yes I agree but taste-wise...hmm, all I can taste is sugar and coloring. 

It comes with Superman emblem though so from photography point-of-view, this is one awesome cake to buy. Hahaha. 

The coffees, meanwhile, taste better than the rainbow cake. My friend ordered a glass of latte and it comes with Batman sign on top. I wish Batman can take a day off and sip coffee with us here. 

If he's busy, maybe Superman can come in his place, instead? Since my cup of mocha shows a strong support to his signature sign? (But the cookie shows Batman sign, omg, such a betrayal). XD

The price of the food sold at DC Comics Superheroes Cafe is (no-need-to-be-surprised) downright expensive. I suppose we are helping the cafe pay for their rental. Really. On the fun side, the boy enjoys reading the comic on the wall and eating the Batman cookies. XD

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: How to Go to the Ninjatown, Kyoto?

Thank goodness we are staying near to Kyoto Station so that it's easy to travel from one station to another station. In fact, our hotel, Ibis Styles Kyoto Station, is located right across Kyoto Station. Super convenient indeed. Since we are in Kyoto, we were pretty curious about one of the tourist attractions in Kyoto named Toei Kyoto Studio Park (or also widely known as Ninjatown). The nearest station to Ninjatown is Uzumasa Station. It is within reasonable walking distance from Uzumasa Station (10 minutes of leisure walk).

Uzumasa is actually a quiet neighbourhood. The train station is not big and once you step out from it, you can feel the vibe of Japanese neighbourhood where children are playing while their mothers are chatting (and watching them too). Another thing about Japan, a parking lot can look so pristinely neat in Japan. 

You don't really have to use your GPS to locate Ninjatown because there are a lot of signs showing you the right direction to take to Ninjatown. Once you see the railway, you just need to walk further down and you will reach Ninjatown shortly. 

After walking a few blocks, you will reach the entrance of Ninjatown. We shamelessly asked the entrance guard to help us taking picture here. Hahaha please pardon us the tourists, guard-san. 

An adult ticket to Ninjatown costs 2,200 Japanese Yen. I've realized that we need to pay quite a high fee to enter any kind of attractions in Japan. U_U.

Since we have paid that much, I must utilise all the chances to take pictures with the Ninja(s) hidden all around the studio park. Some don't really hide that well I suppose. LOL.

Ninjatown has a map of the studio park in English. Go grab one as it will come in handy when you got lost inside the studio park. It will also help you plan your way inside the studio park too. 

Be prepared for a lot of ninja(s) photos in the next post. #shurikensayhello

Violet Herbs, Tanjong Pagar

This year, I will be celebrating my birthday by vacationing. Yeay! Sadly, I won't be able to celebrate it together with my bestie because she's going to travel with her sister at the same time. So after reading the online review on Violet Herbs, the so-called affordable fine dining place in Tanjong Pagar area, we decided to give it a try for my pre-birthday dinner (Are we allowed to celebrate birthday in advance, btw?). The restaurant is located along the shophouses at Tras Street in Tanjong Pagar. I seldom go to this area and the area turns out to be quite hipster. There are a lot of pubs and restaurants which open at night offering both casual and fine dining. If you are looking for a hotel to spend the night in this area, you may consider staying at Orchid Hotel or Amara Hotel as both hotels are located pretty nearby. 

The older I've become, I prefer a quiet little celebration with those closest people that I love. I guess you really lose interest in celebrating birthday with a bang since you are getting...older too. Anyway, we decided to go the pasta route and we ordered one pasta each. A complimentary appetiser is provided on the house. It looks quite interesting on the plate. The green cream is actually butter (which I initially thought was wasabi). The ball which looks like medium-sized potato is actually toasted bread while the gooey thing on the spoon is raw salmon in tartar sauce. The taste of the appetiser is not bad and the bread is served warm, right after toasting. Yum! 

When the first plate of pasta came to our table, we were kinda confused because we did not remember ordering something black to come with our pasta. Turns out this is the rendition of Violet Herbs of Carbonara pasta. The black crackers are made from squid ink. The crackers taste not bad but you must eat them fast because they become soggy in a short time. The carbonara are in the al-dente side and it taste so-so for me. 

The next pasta is called Angel Hair Pasta and it is served with a generous amount of sakura ebi. I wish Violet Herbs can be more generous with their pasta portion. The concept of fine dining is always tricky for me, is the portion supposed to be small? 

Portion aside, this Angel Hair Pasta served by Violet Herbs taste very nice. The spiciness level is just right without being too overwhelming and the texture of the pasta is on the chewy side, which I like. 

If you'd like to go for their main course, their miso cod is getting a lot of good raving from diners. So you can probably go for that. Make sure to take a walk around Duxton area after your dinner to enjoy the rest of the night. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Arashiyama Delicacies, Kyoto

What should you do if you are getting hungry in Arashiyama? Look for the nearest food stall of course. Arashiyama is thankfully filled with a lot of food stall here and there, especially along the main street. If you don't know which stall to choose from, the easiest hint is to follow the queue line. This stall has a line so we were pretty much lured by curiosity. Hahaha. 

The stall sells pretty extensive menu despite its size. For colder days, you can buy hot sweet sake or hot ginger lemon. Both drinks are sold at 300 JPY. 

If you are looking for snacks, the stall also have it. The dango (re: green Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochi) looks pretty good *drool*.

There are so many variety of snacks offered by the snack stall, I had difficulty choosing one...

...and ended up with a cone of soft served ice cream. We ordered the four-in-one ice cream so that we could taste all the flavours offered by the stall. Talk about being greedy...hehe. The ice cream flavours are pretty interested. The bottom one is vanilla (hidden beneath the cone), matcha (green tea), sesame and sweet potato. The only flavor that I have never tried before is the sweet potato and wow, it tastes yummy. To be honest, everything in Japan tastes yummy except wasabi because I don't really like the sting feeling that I got when tasting wasabi. Hahaha.

If you are visiting Arashiyama in spring, the neighborhood is filled with pretty flowers and this does not include only sakura. There is this cute purple flower which I never see before. So lovely!

And a lot of violets too. I seldom see violet in Indonesia and Singapore so it's really nice to meet them here at Arashiyama. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Tenryuji Temple, Kyoto

Tenryuji is the most famous temple in Arashiyama district. It is a world cultural heritage site and hence, a lot of visitors from all around the world make their way to Arashiyama to Tenryuji Temple. If this is your first trip to Japan, you will notice that there are a lot of the red torii gates whenever a temple is nearby. The torii gates symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred. There is a small torii gate on the way to Tenryuji Temple in Arashiyama, too.

If you have not had your lunch yet, you can have a vegetarian Buddhist meal at a restaurant inside Tenryuji Temple called Shingetsu. This restaurant is pretty famous and I have read a lot of review on Tripadvisor about it. 

The area in front of Tenryuji Temple is free to roam about. However, if you would like to enter the temple and the beautiful Hojo garden inside the temple, you have to visit the admission ticket office, which location is shown by the red arrow. 

The admission to Tenryuji Temple and Hojo Garden costs 500 JPY. We did not really have much time to explore so we gave this a miss. If you have chance to explore the temple, you should give it a visit as it's not everyday you can visit the biggest Japanese zen Buddhist temple. 

A section of the temple which I don't really know because my ability to read traditional Chinese character (which is similar to Japanese kanji) is limited. 

The main entrance of Tenryuji Temple. Tenryuji is the head temple of its own school within the Rinzai Zen sect of Japanese Buddhism. It is considered a hard work to preserve the main temple buildings of Tenryuji because history says that Tenryuji's buildings were repeatedly lost in fires and wars over the centuries. Kudos to the Japanese people to restore the temple again and again. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Arashiyama Mountain and River, Kyoto

Arashiyama (re: Mount Arashi) is not only referring to the popular district located in the western part of Kyoto but also referring to the mountain right across Katsura River. Arashiyama is literally translated as Storm Mountain but the mountain looks pretty lushful instead of...I dunno, stormy? Haha. 

If you'd like to take a closer look at the mountain, you need to cross the river via Togetsukyo Bridge. The river at the right and left side of the bridge apparently is named differently. The east of the bridge is named Katsura River while the west of the bridge is called Hozu River. 

Right in the middle of Togetsukyo Bridge, you should see both side of the river as they give you a completely different scenery. The west side shows a riverbank which is flowing through the neighbourhood of Arashiyama. 

While the other side gives you the scenic view of the Arashi Mountain. If only we came a week later, the mountain will be so pretty in pink. Oh well. 

Once we have crossed Togetsukyo Bridge, we have arrived at Arashiyama Park. A lot of people are enjoying a walk in the park especially when the weather is good. Japanese is good at maintaining cleanliness and obviously all parks in Japan will be pristinely clean. 

If you want to visit attractions which are located near to the Arashi mountain, you can take a lot of buses from the bus stop at the main street right beside the park. Iwatayama Monkey Park and Horinji Temple are some of the attractions located at the slope of Arashiyama. 

We did not really have time to go to those attractions, so we walked back to the other side of Togetsukyo Bridge and started our leisure stroll along the neighbourhood. We saw a bunch of sakura flowers tied to the electric pole. It kinda piqued our curiosity. 

There are a lot of papers tied to the branches of the flower. They are probably the paper wishes which the Japanese like to tie to the tree whenever they are making a wish. I'm just guessing though. Hahaha.

If you can't really walk that far, you can always opt to ride the rickshaw instead. The Japanese men who pull the rickshaw are mostly looking quite hot and muscular. I suppose a lot of energy and muscle strength are required to carry that rickshaw plus 2 passengers. The person who pull the rickshaw will also act as tour guide. I notice that most of them are happily explaining about the history of Arashiyama while pulling the rickshaw.

The problem is, I don't think these men can speak fluent English. Most of them who were chatting with the passengers are speaking mainly in Japanese. If you don't understand what they are talking about, at least you can still enjoy the scenery while occasionally take a peek at those muscles pulling your rickshaw. =P