Tea Time at Cake Spade @ Orchid Hotel

Cake Spade caught my attention because of its unique name, close to a certain branded name for fashion. So when I heard positive reviews from a friend, I decided I had to try it soon. Located at 1 Tras Link #01-06, Orchid Hotel, Singapore 078867, the number for this rustic little bakery cafe is 6444 4868.

When I entered the bakery cafe, there were so many delectable beauties that caught my eye and I did not know where to start, even though I knew which were their signature cakes from various reviews I had read up on. Well pardon the very reflective photos, but that was just how ... reflective it was.

Anyway, from the array of rich brownies to an assortment of flavored cheese cakes to tarts, I was at a loss wondering what I should eat.

Eventually, I went with their recommended Strawberry Tofu Cheese Cake (SGD$5.90)- at first bite, this delicate beauty was flavorful and simply tantalizing. The strawberries were rich in its natural flavor, and the cool layer of sweet jelly supporting it was a lovely combination; the tofu cheese cake was soft and light in texture as well as taste. At the bottom, the digestive-biscuit base was rather crumbly though its crunchy, gentle sweetness complemented the cake rather well. Not bad indeed, this beauty.

My other indulgence was the utterly pretty and irresistable Chocolate Blackout Cake (SGD$5.90). The first bite was brought two words to mind - "too rich". The chocolatey taste was sweet, thick and sticky. It tasted more like mudpie than a fluffy slice of sponge cake - maybe it was the moistness of the ganache?

It melted rather fast anyway - albeit the fact that I was at alfresco table and the heat was sweltering. This was 15 minutes' effort, mind you! Even for someone with sweet tooth and am able to take rather rich stuff, I had to mull through this cake but still did not manage to finish it.

I had a small cup of Cuppuccino (SGD$3.80) to wash the sweet cakes down with - a tiny, bitter cup of my favorite coffee of all times.

Overall, quite a delightful experience, and I spent a total of SGD$15.60 in all. Nope, to be fair there wasn't sugar overload that clouded my judgment, but all I can comment is that I've tasted better cakes, such as at Flor Patisserie or SweetSpot Bakery etc.

Brunch at District 10 Bar & Restaurant

I went to District 10 Bar & Restaurant for drinks vaguely before they moved to the new address, when they were still situated at Newton area. Today, I re-visited for brunch at their new location at 81 Clemenceau Avenue #01-15 / 16 / 17 UE Square Shopping Mall, Singqapore 239917 and the number to dial is 6738 4788.

The interior of District 10 Bar & Restaurant is sleek, contemporary and of rustic European design, complete with exquisite wood furniture of eco-friendly nature. The cosy, relaxed ambience brings comfort to diners but unfortunately the inside is fully-reserved.

Hence, we decided to sit by the lovely and breezy open-concept bar area, outdoors. It was spacious and I felt more exhilarated somehow, able to do people watching and enjoying the kiss of morning sun while wondering why I waste some Sundays lazing in bed. Anyway, we placed our orders.

Having drank and nursing a slight hangover this morning, a large glass of Freshly-Squeezed Orange Juice (SGD$9.00) was the perfect antidote.

Celine*, on the other hand, went for a Cuppuccino (SGD$6.00). I guess Australian bars / cafes aren't huge on coffee art but that was fine - what's important was that the coffee was aromatic and served as a perfect caffeine boost for a great, sunny Sunday morning.

My Fried Eggs with bacon, mushrooms, roasted tomato, hash brown, vegetables and chicken chipolata sausage (SGD$14.00) was served first. I like eggs for brunch as I believe them to be nutritious - fried or not. Morever, the combination of egg-yolks smeared over my bread slice, tucked in with sauteed mushrooms and sourish tomatoes or crispy hash browns, was simply irresistable. The taste was overwhelmingly delicious, my idea of a perfect brunch.

Celine* had the Creamy Scrambled Eggs (SGD$14.00) version of my breakfast - served with muffin, oriental mushrooms, hash brown and roasted tomatoes as well. Another sumptuous brunch of differentiating textures and tastes, hers was more unique with the acquired flavor of spring onion in the egg, giving it an interesting boost of aroma.

We concluded our hearty brunches - a happy start to the last day of the weekend, each spending around SGD$20.00 here.

Birthdays and Significance for me

Overview
The day that we come into existence on Earth, wherever we have been born into, what family and circumstances we have been tossed in, and whichever forms we may take, it is a birth. Every year on the anniversary of our birth, that becomes our birthday / birthdate.

Traditions and Milestones
With every year that passes by, our age goes up by one numerical figure as well. There would be celebrations like parties held at home or at cafes / McDonalds; there would be  photo studio shots to commemorate every stage of our lives, or there would be cosy celebrations at home with loved ones over cakes and a mini feast.

There are presents and gifts in all manners or forms, which may form some of the best parts of their birthdays for some people.

Each age brings us closer to something, and each stage is a marker of how much we have grown, went through and attained. We started attended schools, we started dating, we started working - we were waiting for the date in order to be able to watch a certain genre of movies at the theaters or be allowed into certain clubs or to be given certain tasks within certain religious groups.

Being an Aries

Photo source: http://forum.matngu12chomsao.com/threads/wallpaper-cho-bach-duong.4802/page-2

Arians are of the fiery signs and thus are passionate, energetic, gregarious, versatile, creative and independent. Hmmm... while I posess most of the above, unfortunately I also posess some of the negative traits such as being a little insensitive at times, and the famous Aries temper, as well being a little impulsive in the single-mindedness to attain something fast.

Some famous celebrities under the same star signs are Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Jackie Chan, Lady Gaga, Leonardo Da Vinci, Reese Witherspoon, Keira Knightley, Emma Watson, Kirsten Stewart, Aretha Franklin and Robert Frost etc.

Celebrations / Significance in the Past
In the past, my birthday was a very huge event to me.

It was the day I felt most special, and I liked it that people remembered my birthdays. I even reminded good friends when they forgot to at least send me a well-wish.

There were the gifts to look forward to, the surprises which I anticipated lovingly, the holiday trips that I knew I was entitled to etc. And of course the partying wherein I would be the Belle of the Ball, and everyone toasted me, made me drink shots and celebrated for the "Birthday Girl".

It did not matter who were the well-wishers or who gave me gifts, I savoured them all greedily. I thanked everyone who wished me happy birthday on social media platforms, including friends of friends whom I've never met or knew of their existence.

I mean, they were being sweet, so I should bask in the extra attention and their well-wishes, no?

My Recent Birthday Celebrations
In the recent two years and counting, though, I prefer toned-down, initimate meals or mini soirees with just the close friends in my life.

I don't need huge parties where half the attendees are strangers (partners of friends' friends, or table-crashers around the clubs) singing birthday songs for me, and half the time they probably didn't know who I was except the one sponsoring the food and drinks. Haha.

I don't need hundreds of wall posts on my social media platforms to remind acquaintances of my birthdate, or strangers wishing me happy birthday, perhaps typing the words out of convenience or diplomacy.  Which is why I have also chosen to hide my date of birth display on social media platforms.

I don't need loads of presents and surprises to show me how much my friends love or treasure me. These days with hectic lives, when they care enough to remember and ask me out just for a treat or drink, it means alot. Hell, *Freya and *N even forgot to wish me happy birthday until now, but I'm not disappointed - because I know that they are friends who have shown their friendship + worthiness are way, way beyond what a forgotten wish was worth.

So the family members started with first round of celebration for me, as was customary.

I have enough friends in reality, collected over the years from different walks of life, to share the special occasion with me in quiet, initimate and fun meals over catching-up at the same time. From the beginning of the month until now, I have been meeting up with friends over dinners and drinks as part of the celebratory process. These are people who genuinely care that I am happy with the gifts or treats, and people I know will still be in my life to spend another 10, 20 birthdays with me hopefully, as I them.

Maybe it's a sign of growing old, or the fact that you are able to buy whatever gifts anyone else could ever give you - that makes one start to look deeper. Start to appreciate and treasure gifts that are beyond material worth, things that money can never buy.

In retrospect, these people in my life, are the most precious, and best presents I could ever hope to receive ever. You know who you are, thank you my gifts!

Taking a Tour of Crest Secondary School

Crest Secondary School, a very new (2-year old) school is located at 562 Jurong East Street 24, Singapore 609561, is Singapore's first specialised school for Normal Technical students. They offer a very different approach to teaching and grooming the students and have facilities within the school premises itself that we had never expected.

When one steps into the huge and spacious building, we see very normal but essential facilities as follows:

Multi-purpose hall where students hold their assembly sessions and are encouraged to
do more public speaking

Small class size of 1 Teacher to 20 students so that more attention and focus could
be given to each individual student

The workshop for what is similar to Design & Technology learning / training

School canteen where students go for staggered recess breaks and enjoy different
 kinds of cuisine available

Large and well-kept football field that is open to public as well

Lovely garden where students may be required to do gardening as penalty for wrongdoings - why not? Can keep fit as well as a learning experience not available in most parts of Singapore

Now this is where the tour gets interesting.

Besides the usual academic curriculum, students undergo vocational training as well - for the first 2 years they have to take all 4 types - Facility, Mechanical, Hospitality and Retail.  From Secondary 3 onwards, they will choose to specialise in their preferred vocation and focus on in-depth learning in that sector. This makes for a more fun, engaging and conducive learning environment for those who are not academically-inclined.

Facility

Lessons and workshops in a very real environment consisting of tubs, pipes, cisterns at toilets etc, for students to learn how to work the pipes.


Mechanical

This is where the students are taught and trained to repair / fix tyres and vehicle parts.


Hospitality

This subject has two very interesting components - a restaurant where they learn to do everything from cooking, baking to servicing and making mocktails / beverages. Look at the pretty setting - how could students not feel excited at learning to excel here? And they even have an industrial kitchen, completely resplendent of what's in restaurants out there, preparing students for the real deal.

Partnering with a prestigious hotel group in Singapore, the other component of this subject deals with hotel management. Here they learn how to upkeep the hotel rooms and front-desk duties - another very useful skill to posess in this bustling industry.


Retail

Here we are, the partnership with Giant Hypermart and Home Fix store - real retail outlets within the school grounds for students to facilitate learning. Besides being taught how to manage a store, like cashiering, stock taking, storeman tasks etc, basic arithmetric lessons (problem-based learning) are conducted herein as well.

Crest Secondary School offers an alternate way of learning for a select group of students. They have an open house coming up in November 2014, so parents and students who are interested may attend to get a feel of the school.

In the meantime, do check out their website for more information and a better understanding:
http://www.crestsec.edu.sg/

Special thanks for permission granted for photography and allowing me to write this piece on an interesting education institution as this.

Dinner at Vanilla Bar & Cafe

Tucked away in a quaint shophouse along CBD area, Vanilla Bar & Cafe caught my attention because of its beautiful interior decor and famous Vanilla Dirt Cake. Its exact location is at 3 Boon Tat Street #01-01, Singapore 069612 and the number to dial is 6423 0366.

As the name goes, the shop is furnished in a pretty, uncluttered style full of whiteness and resplendent of Zen-style serenity. The most distinctive point was the sweet vanilla scent that fills the cafe the moment one steps in - this scent immediately brings to mind delicious thoughts and the jazz music transforms one into another time. Catering to professionals as well as cafe hoppers, Vanilla Bar & Cafe serves as a spot for brunch and coffee in the daytime, and a dinner + drinks respite in the evenings.

The Beau and I ordered an assortment of items from the usual menu and the special menu. The first item, for sharing, was the Boston Lobster Bisque topped with ebikko (SGD$10.90). While not exceedingly thick or creamy, this soup was strongly infused with the sapid sweetness of lobster, and there was a tinge of spiciness so we did not need to add pepper on our own. There were chunks of lobster swimming around in the soup - fresh, tender pieces of lobster so what more could we ask for?

The Mains were served shortly. I had a sandwich - Ciabatta Panini with Norwegian Smoked Salmon & Egg Mayo (SGD$9.50).  I enjoyed the crispy quality of the fluffy bread, as well as the buttery sumptuousness of the egg-mayo and saltish flavor of the tender smoked salmon. I was only a little put off by the tiny celery cubes within - supposed to add flavor / fresh crispiness I suppose? But I could've done without it. The side salad was fine - fresh and lush.

The Green Curry Pasta with Chicken and Mushroom (SGD$17.90) was from the special menu. It looked plain but trust me, the first bite made it impossible to stop till the plate was empty. The gravy was green curry literally - very tasty with hints of spiciness, and the pasta was so smooth one could slurp it in literally. The mushroom slices were juicy and added a distinctive flavor, as well as the tender chicken slices which added texture to the pasta dish. 

Time for desserts! We finally got to try the Vanilla Dirt Cake (SGD$9.50) - a beautiful dessert served in a tiny flower pot which I couldnt believe was edible at first. It was smaller than I had anticipated since this item always appear rather huge in photos on blogs or social media platforms. The pot and flower were not edible, so we dug into the "soil" portion of this dessert - an entire layer of Oreo crumbs that went very well with the thick, rich vanilla pudding that formed the base. The cold vanilla pudding was amazing and tasted like ice-cream but did not melt, so we slowly savoured it.

While we were tempted to order another Vanilla Dirt Cake or their famous Molten Chocolate Cake, but changed our minds and tried another item not readily found in other restaurants / cafes - the Durian Creme Brulee. While it does not taste like your typical creme brulee at all, rest assured that this tiny pot of fresh, creamy delight made from D24 or Mao Shan Wang grade durian, is worth every bite. Besides the sweet, unique taste of durian, the top layer is a thin crunchy layer of burnt cinnamon sugar, adding flavor to the pudding-like dessert. 

We spent a total of around SGD$60.00 on this simple but utterly satisfactory meal.

Dinner at Tim Ho Wan Restaurant @ Plaza Singapura

After months of waiting, in the hopes that the crowds would die down gradually, I finally got to eat this Hong Kong style dimsum at Michelin Star Tim Ho Wan located at 68 Orchard Road #01-29A / 52 Plaza Singapura, Singapore 238839. The number to dial is 6251 2000.

Even though there was a long queue filling up all the seats at the waiting area, as well as beyond the queue-line set up, the line moved pretty fast and soon Edwin* and I were ushered to a table. In fact, we already selected the items we wanted on the order form while waiting in liine. The interior of Tim Ho Wan is brightly-lit with a very open dining concept, filled with diners happily digging in over chatter.

The first item was served shortly after we sat down - the Baked Buns with BBQ Pork. In fact, we looked around, nearly every table ordered this signature item. The exterior of the bun was somewhat crumbly and fluffy, and the sweet-salty pork oozing out from the bun's centre was tender and simply lovely.

Next, another item from the Big 4 Heavenly Kinds list - the Pan-fried Carrot Cake - which was crispy on the outside and fine on the inside. The carrot and radish flavors were very prominent here and one could actually find tiny bits of carrot and radish within the pan-fried pastry itself.

We had the Glutinuous Rice Dumpling - it smelled so good when it was being served so *Edwin and I eagerly tore the pandan leaf apart to attack the delicacy. While the dumpling was filled generously with tender pieces of meat and shiitake mushroom, we were a little disappointed that the rice was a tad soggy and the entire dumpling tasted rather bland.

Nonetheless, we moved on next to the Vermicelli Roll with Pig's Liver - basically velvety chee cheong fun with fresh liver within, a unique combination. The vermicelli roll was smooth, and the liver was soft; however the flavor-wise it would have been stronger with shrimps or BBQ pork.

Next, we had the Prawn Dumplings (har gow) - fresh shrimps within melt-in-your-mouth paper-thin rice skins; the entire combination was a bouncy delicacy that danced in one's mouth. Being a shrimps lover, I enjoyed this a lot.

Then we tried something rather unique - Phoenix City Quail Eggs - delicious meat dumplings with tender minced pork fillings and the most scrumptious hard-boiled quail eggs with black sesame seeds atop. Being a lover of quail eggs, this was another item that defnitely captured my attention.

Our next bamboo basket brought about the Chicken Feet with Black Bean sauce - another delicious dish of tender, steamed chicken feet with crispy skin and hints of spiciness that gave the chicken feet an extra tasty boost.

Following that, we savored the Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp. The beancurd skin roll was crunchy, and the bouncy shrimps were very fresh, so this dish was very easy on the tastebuds and left me clamoring for more.

We were served the Pork Dumpling with Shrimps (siew mai) next. They were rather generous with the shrimps - plonking one on top and more within the dumplings. The minced pork was tender and sumptuous, and the unique addition of wolfberries was a plus.

The Beef Balls with Beancurd Skin  was our next indulgence. These gigantic meatballs were tender and the raw flavor of beef was respledent. The touch of beancurd skin was a smooth touch in accompaniment to the chewy beef balls.

Finally, we came to the end of the meal (we were very full!) with these cold squares of pretty delicacy- the Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus Cake. We really liked the delicate flower patterns carved onto small desserts. The sweet and acquired fragrance of osmanthus gave this dessert a very enticing flavor, and the combination with wolfberries was just brilliant. Every mouthful was a cold slice of heaven.

We spent SGD$32.00 each on our fulfilling dimsum dinner. Some items were very lovely, but we had expected the standard to be better. Also, while the service crew provided good service in the midst of hustle & bustle, we thought the food was served too fast. They kept asking if we were ready for dessert to be served even way before we finished the rest of the food- in an attempt to chase us away for other diners or so we'd eat faster (when you eat fast, you get full very quickly) and leave sooner too?

Just my speculation.