Mummy date (:
Dear Saturday having boy-friendless but spending quality time with my wonder woman and we decided to cafe-hopped at Tiong Bahru estate. But before that, a kick-start of my weekend by visiting the dentist to take out my stitches that was left behind for 2 weeks. So happy to be able to eat and chew properly without any disturbance. The whole session was quick and we have plenty of time to travel down to east-west area for a good brunch.
Brunch at this seriously super 'ulu' cafe, well hidden somewhere in Tiong Bahru. Is it just me or cafes are usually located far off in some isolated places? I spotted Books Actually, Open Door Policy, Flock cafe and etc at that street alone.
Tucked away in a hidden quiet corner at Tiong Bahru, which was one of the first public housing estates in Singapore, 40 Hands certainly stood out among the old buildings being a modern and trendy looking cafe, which would appeal to students and young professionals alike. For first-timers around that area, you might need to navigate your way around the rows of vintage shophouses. It is highly recommended for its coffee.
Upon entering forty hands, it was packed (dont be fooled by the picture above) Given the small size and narrow layout of the cafe, its seating capacity just could not cope with the demands from its popularity. Mum and I were rather lucky and managed to get our seats pretty soon and the I began my obsessed with photo-taking, starting snapping away at the cute little things all around the cafe.
Service was actually inconvenient as you have to order at the counter and pay there and they will give you a stick with a number so they can locate you to deliver your coffee. This is why they waived off service charge and GST.
The brunch menu which I was eyeing. It is only available from Fridays from 8am to 3pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 8am to 5.30pm. I wished that they would extend it to all day brunch instead!
Hot chocolate ($6)
Mum loved her hot chocolate, but we both thought the chocolate cake was too rich.
Truffle fries ($9)
Talk about unpretentious setting of this cafe, look at how the fries were served. Haven't seen such bowls around for a long time. However, I could barely taste the truffle oil in them truffle fries. They were crispy but ordinary. They weren’t really the best I had but who really cares. You can’t go wrong with truffles. It’s a safe ingredient to prepare with.
Eggs Benedict ($16)
Poached eggs with steak and spicy potatoes
It's not that I want to complain or anything but the dish is cold. One of the last things which make any Egg Ben's undelectable is to serve poached eggs which are left cold on standing. Even the steak slices which they used were hard and not warmed up. It was a tad disappointment for this dish especially when the supposedly-called hollandaise sauce drizzled over the poached eggs doesn't taste like one. The yellow runny sauce tasted very much like pure egg yolk.
Though the food was kinda disappointment but overall, I find their prices are rather reasonable when compared with the rest within the vicinity and they do not charge for service only GST here. So I wouldn’t mind dropping by here for their sandwiches but if they’re gonna make me a permanent regular here then they better do something about their brunch.
Forty Hands
78 Yong Siak Street #01-12
Singapore 163078
Tel: +65 6225 8545
After Brunch, Mum and I explored the whole stretch of street to take down all the cafes at the nearby area. Can't wait to bring my friends/ boyfriend or anyone here for a good brunch and catch up session.
By the way, I kept asking Mum to take a good shot of me whenever we go and I think she did pretty well as a beginner. HAHA, the photos came out can be compared to my Man's skills? But I guess she got annoyed when I kept asking her to retake again. Oh well, practice makes perfect Mum!
The pictures above were all her hard work, should give her around of applause to her uh. Hehehe.
Next was to cab down to Bugis to do some shopping for my grad night dinner which is coming up in 2 days time. Oh boy, it was so last minute shopping that I have to make a fast decision and to settle everything by today. Thank god for a good shopping mall like Bugis junction with accompanied of Illuma and Bugis street, I managed to get a full set in a shorter time. It wasn't cheap though but hopefully its presentable for 'The great Gatsby' theme. Why did they choose such challenging theme for this year? *CRY*
The night before, siblings and I surprised Mum with a Prada wallet as her Mother's day gift. The funniest thing was she thought that this wallet was non-authentic and couldn't believe me when I told her its real. I even showed her the authenticity card for servicing and polishing. So when she checked the wallet thoroughly, she realised that the zip was a little tough to open so I brought her down to Marina Bay sand outlet for servicing. Cracking a joke with me, she persisted to ask the assistant if the wallet is authentic or not. This woman trying to make me malu in the public.
We’re walking around The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and we’re thinking “how the heck do people afford anything in this entire shopping complex?”. Everywhere we turn: VERSACE, Burberry, Dior, Emporio Armani, CHANEL, BVLGARI, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Victoria’s Secret, and every single watch boutique you can dream of, not to mention a fair few ridiculously expensive and imposing restaurants.
After a long hour of walk since morning, both of our legs were so worn out that we decided to hunt for a place to sit down and have high tea. Initially, we wanted to settle down at High society but the dessert there are so miniature and expensive. In the end, we had our high tea at TWG.
We also had a pot of Moroccan Mint Tea ($11) that accompanied our high tea. You can seriously find any and every kind of tea on their extensive list. If you are a true tea lover and are willing to fork out some good money, you should make a trip to one of the many TWG Tea branches located in Singapore. Its also a best way to cleanse away all the junk food that you have eaten for the past few days.
The macarons were delightful in every way. With eight of them, it was hard to choose a winner.
- Napoleon Tea & Caramel (amazing caramel taste, strong flavours)
- Earl Grey Fortune & Chocolate (a thick chocolate ganache that was too strong in my opinion; the subtle hint of Earl Grey was almost completely drowned out.
- Moroccan Mint Tea (wonderful, subtle mint flavour with a creamy, milky shell),
- Lemon Bush Tea (like a lemon cream biscuit, tangy and sweet, powerful lemony taste),
To you,
I'm always at a loss when it comes to giving gifts. Forever not knowing what to get! Especially gifts to my you- you have practically everything that you need, and the things the things that you want are out of my budget.
So this year, I decided to give you something really pretty, useful and affordable! Something that you will like and use lah, if not it is also good enough to "recycle" as gifts for someone else. So a Prada wallet came into my mind and hope you like it (: As I just started working, I couldn't bring you to a posh restaurant, all I could was to bring you to small cafes and it felt really warmth when you said that “你又陪到我就好‘.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, THE BEST SUPER-HEROINE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.
And of course, because it’s Mother’s Day, here’s a photo of mom & I!
Till then.
