Selfish Gene Cafe

A big bigggg fav cafe of mine now is Selfish Gene Cafe at Duxton Hill. I would probably consider this one of the top 3 cafes I've been to thus far in terms of ambience (another one being The Plain which is literally a stone's throw away from Selfish Gene!) Pretty amazing how the two cafes are in such close proximity. You could literally go into one for lunch and then hop over and be at the other in less than 5 seconds. Well, let's support BOTH because they are both equally wonderful and deserve to be around a looong time. Absolutely delicious lemon meringue tart! I looove any dessert with lemon curd and this one had a great creamy lemon curd filling on top of  a buttery shortbread style tart complete with a well placed whiff of meringue. Any place with some legit latte art like this gets a definite thumbs up from me. A pile of magazines for perusal.   
What's so nice about this place? I may not have been able to capture the layout of the place that well but it's cosy, intimate and well-lit courtesy of the sky light that comes through from an airwell in the centre of the shophouse. The service is great (they do that cheery WELCOME chorus but not in a grating manner that Uniqlo/Pasta de Waraku employees are sometimes prone to doing ;p) and they let you sit there with your coffee and dessert, basking in very slight sunshine in air-conditioned comfort. I've read that they serve a great Roast Beef Sandwich that tends to run out really quickly in the day so... give it a try if you're there! 

 
 Blazer: shop in Taiwan, Top: Uniqlo, Pants: Rockstar by Soon Lee, Necklace: Mikkat Market   

On a side note, I recently bought a chunky (I suppose, somewhat statement) necklace from the online store, Mikkat Market and I'm absolutely looooooving it. :) I haven't quite gotten the hang of wearing chunky beaded necklaces Anthropologie style but anything gold/silver is definitely easier to match in my opinion.

 

Selfish Gene Cafe 
40 Craig Road 089678 

And if you're wondering what's up with the name, it's because the chef heading the cafe is named Gene Mok and he's seeeelfish because he simply won't serve to others what he wouldn't eat himself. I don't mind people who are selfish in this way. ;p And if you're curious about this bit of information, it's all there on a chalk board/poster hanging in the cafe.

Tiong Bahru: Dripz Bakery Cafe

A short walk away from the relative bustle of Yong Siak St lies Dripz Bakery Cafe, which (like most other neighborhood gems) is tucked away along an otherwise quiet and nondescript Tiong Poh Road. It's a bit of a walk from the main road or the nearby mrt station but pick an afternoon with good weather/after the rain and it's a pleasant enough stroll to enjoy. I still think that the biggest impediment to discovering places in SG is the absurdly hot weather but...sometimes it's really worth it to just soldier on! 
This cafe has, to me, a more pared down feel compared to The Orange Thimble (also a short walk away) but it's got a good selection of drinks and probably even wider array of desserts to choose from.

Dripz Bakery Cafe 

82 Tiong Poh Road, 

#01-05, 

Singapore 160082 

I suppose the one good thing about this place is that it's got a bit of a heartland vibe to it such that you'll want to take your entire family to it for a relaxing afternoon of cakes/pastries/tarts- you name it, without having to worry about dressing up (as you might sometimes do with certain cafes/restaurants that have a bit more of a luxurious air to 'em). I didn't get to try very much apart from the blueberry tart because I'd eaten a super heavy lunch before that but go on a relatively empty stomach because there are SO many cakes to choose from!

Tiong Bahru: Strangelets

Third installment here of the Tiong Bahru series! Though who's really counting? 
There's not a lot I can say about this store but mainly because I'm not good enough with words. Bottom line is - This. Store. Is. Totally. Worth. A. Visit! Strangelets is a design store that's just next door to Books Actually and opposite from 40 Hands cafe at Yong Siak St in Tiong Bahru and while I'm not entirely sure of the definition of a 'design store', if anything, this place would fulfill my notions of that term. It's full of unique pieces that have been thoughtfully and artfully displayed around the store for an aesthetically pleasing/camera-friendly view. Ranging from apparel, accessories (gorgeous bags galore!), notebooks, cutlery, home accessories... you name it.

Stickers to decorate your switches with! :D Seriously, who would think of that? (If I had to hazard a guess it would be the Japanese. Those geniuses do have a knack for designing beautiful things that are absolutely unnecessary.)

I suppose this store would be perfect for someone who is: 
 -looking to add some unique finishing touches to his/her abode 
 -looking to spice up his/her wardrobe with that key investment piece (trust me, those bags in there are gorgeous but they also cost an arm/leg if you're a normal person who's not pooping money) 
 -looking to spend some time in a quiet, intimate store looking at beautiful items (just this last point is usually enough for me)



Oh and one of the best parts? Propaganda  Popaganda Popsicles! Totally outrageously expensive for a popsicle BUT in my defense, I was super thirsty and how can you resist trying one of these for the first (and possibly last) time in your life? 

Strangelets

7 Yong Siak Street

Singapore 168644

Mon-Fri 11am to 8pm, Sat-Sun 10am to 8pm

Plain Vanilla

One place to go to if you have sweet tooth craving is Plain Vanilla Bakery at Holland Village. Only a recent discovery, I made a little trip there after a lunch at Provence bakery (also for the first time!) with my two crazy lovebird friends Collin and Feifan. I think we made for an interesting trio there because while I was the one busy snapping photos, FF was in her bubble looking around at the various cupcakes on display and Collin was knee-deep in a conversation with the owner about her recently opened enterprise (among other details which he was able to pry out with some *ahem* hidden charm). 
 
It's a fairly new bakery, having only opened late last year, but I do think (and hope!) it's going to be around for a long time. :) It's located on the 2nd floor at the row of shophouses opposite from Haagen Daaz and actually shares the floor space with a hair salon, so don't give up looking or be confused if you don't see a big sign pointing up to it. Actually, there IS a sign on the 2nd floor window but I only happened to notice it when I was in the store, Antipodean, right across the street from it. 
 
Left: Beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers to spruce up the interior of the tiny space! (Sadly, it IS tiny and there's no room for sitting down to eat their cupcakes so it's all take-away there. Hopefully one day they'll be able to expand into a larger bakery with seating space because they'd be a supremely popular one for sure. I can just imagine a ton of people coming in for tea and sitting,chatting,having a ball of a slow afternoon munching on soft, delishhh-cious cupcakes. 
Right: MMM lots of potential ingredients on display! Funny how they didn't make use of any of them in the cupcakes? Perhaps it really IS just a clever way of filling up space.
So we each took away quite a few and I remember taking flavors such as Lime, Vanilla, Milk Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Hazelnut... And ok hands down, all were REALLY GOOD. The cupcakes were soft and tasty and the cream cheese on top was not too sugary/excessive in quantity. The kind that you simply stuff into your mouth without really thinking about how unhealthy it probably is. 

Collin managed to find out a little about how this bakery was started up from the friendly female owner and in a nutshell, it's really a product of quite a big career switch (from Law to this!) and if you ask the owner (who's very sweet and friendly), I'm sure she'd tell you the same thing/more. Apparently the key to succeeding or at least getting your feet off the ground in a big career change like this is to work hard and have very supportive friends and family. Which is heartening, really. Because why shouldn't anyone have the chance to pursue something else in their life that they're really passionate about? Besides, I cling on to success stories like these a great deal because well, I'm hoping to at least try something different than the current career path I'm going on...for a few years at least... hopefully. If only real life started at 40 and we had all that time to work in different career fields/study and learn whatever we wanted before having to really decide on a job to settle down with and be serious about. Of course, in that ideal world, everyone would be rich and there would be no unhappiness in the world. Still wishing. 

Plain Vanilla 

34A Lorong Mambong

Holland Village

Singapore 277691

Here's their website and here's their facebook page!

Oh and before I forget, Collin managed to talk his way into getting a free peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie. Seriously, I need to learn some of those conversational skills! He reminds me of my grandma (dearest Ahpo <3) in that aspect. A conversation with anyone, anytime, anyplace. That cookie was BIG and FLAT and CHEWY and HOT and UMMMMMZ. So if you're lucky to be there when it's baked, maybe you can try your luck at getting one too. Or maybe they'll be selling more than just cupcakes then? :D

Tiong Bahru: The Orange Thimble

Presenting the next part of this mini-series of Tiong Bahru triapses - The Orange Thimble! :) It's definitely a cafe I would go back to over and over again mainly for two things - 1. the atmosphere and 2. the desserts. I love how Tiong Bahru's transiting from an old sleepy area to one with a lot more activity going on in it what with the presence of cafes and stores (I like how Books Actually, 40 Hands and Strangelets are collectively known as the Holy Trinity of Tiong Bahru now lolll). It's such a nice place to take a leisurely stroll around especially when the weather's not stiflingly hot. The Orange Thimble is actually a bit of a walk down from the more well known Yong Siak Street where the aforementioned 3 stores are but it's really near Tiong Bahru Market so that might be an easier way to approach it for the first visit.


Like countless others before me, I have a bit of a fixation on that lamp that looks like it's been yanked off the top of a taxi. AND, I also just HAD to take a shot of this right outside their doorsteps. It's little things like these that really do make a difference to the entire feel of the place. You just feel like you're on the threshold of an enterprise that is at the very least, more creative in their approach to their business. PLUS, it definitely comes in handy in terms of publicity through social media because I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother with an iPhone and Instagram is going to be snapping a photo of this, hash-tagging it/GPS-locating it on their phones and spreading it like wildfire one Instagrammer at a time. :P Choices choices... If I'm not wrong, we had the English Breakfast Burger which was not spectacular, to be honest. I've read other reviews too and based on the other entrees we ate as well, I'd say this place is not someplace you'd want to go to purely for food. (Remember the two things I mentioned at the start!) But perhaps in the near future they'll be updating and improving their main menu. Something worth trying though would be this chocolate cake of theirs! :) Can't remember the exact name but it's something like a thick delicious nutella tart. This, I had a hard time resisting and it was yummmmmy. But then again, nutella-anything would be delish.  Left: Blueberry Cheesecake! 
Right: Couldn't resist taking a photo of this - its the Guy-Girl sign on the bathroom door.
Left: Pretty good latte art here. 
Right: In accordance with their mantra - "where art meets cafe" - there's a small 'art gallery' deeper inside the cafe closer to its backyard which features photographs and works by local artists.

 

Skirt: Fancy French Cologne, Top: Ruche, shoes: ModCloth 

(I do like my glasses! Most versatile accessory yet) 

To sum things up in 3 words - Warm, homely, relaxed. A great place to go to for an afternoon coffee and dessert with friends. 

The Orange Thimble 

56 Eng Hoon Street, #01-68, Singapore 160056 

Their website --> HERE 

Hmm at the moment this blog seems to revolve solely around cafes and... more cafes! O_O but it should become more varied. There are so many things I would like to blog about (all the great magazines and books that I've come across recently for one) but... all the SG cafes to get through first. Singapore's just getting more and more fun to explore in my opinion :) with a ton of new cafes sprouting all the time. Perhaps they've already been there all along but we've just not noticed them. 

a supper story

Two posts in one night! :D I know, I'm shocked too. But since I had the photos done already, I decided to just post 'this one real quick. 


I'm not familiar with supper places in SG in general because I hardly ever have supper... and mostly it's just random prata/Indian food places on the rare occasion that I go for supper as a group since it's mainly Indian restaurants that have the entrepreneurial smarts and diligence to work on late into the night. Why can't more restaurants open till late?? 


There was one night when Donald and I were STARVING after a whole afternoon of museum hopping. (It's funny how you can go about doing something the entire afternoon without feeling the least bit hungry then when it turns 9pm, all of a sudden you're famished.) We wanted to go for some Bak Kut Teh at Clarke Quay area because it was a place he'd known about and we drove there all excited and dizzy from hunger. We could see the restaurant (bright and OPEN) across the road as we passed by on the opposite side and went on to make a U-turn in order to park the car. Between the time it took for us to drive to the carpark, park the car, and walk to the restaurant...it had CLOSED. And that was 10pm. -__- Sob. 


Thank goodness for my sister's bf who knows the local food scene like the back of his hand, he recommended we try out this Bak Kut Teh place at Havelock Road that's open till really late at night. I was sooooo hungry that by the time we got there and saw that it was open, I wanted to collapse and kiss the ground with relief! Nothing like a steaming hot meal of Bak Kut Teh at night when you really need it.


So here's introducing: 

Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh at Havelock Road.

 

MMM and one of the best things? Free pieces of you tiao! 

 


 Yah Hwa Bak Kut Teh Eating House 
593 Havelock Road
#01-01/02 Isetan Office Building 
Closed on Mon
Sunday 11:00 am - 10:00pm
Tues and Thurs 11:00am - 2:00am
Wed, Fri, Sat 11:00am - 3:00am

Can't emphasis how delicious the stuff here was. And another plus point was that service was extremely fast. Good food, quick service when you're starved. What more can you ask for? 

Tiong Bahru: Books Actually

Ohh it feels like it's been a million years since I've last blogged!! So many things have been happening and in fact, I'm overseas right now, in Seattle! :D Going to be away from SG for just over 2 months and already have tons of photos to share BUT before I do that, I sooo wanna finish up with the SG photos I've taken over the past 2 - 3 months. :p Yeah, all these posts are very much belated but once I get through them, then I shall move on to the Seattle ones! And eventually, the Montreal ones! x) But I know that if I don't make the effort to sieve through and polish up those photos taken in the past few months, I never will. And that self-imposed guilty feeling will just be sitting on me like a huge turtle shell I can't shake off. Hmm, weird analogy. But I'm half sleepy now. 


Anyway, back to what I really intended on talking about. I finally managed to explore a little bit of Tiong Bahru in the past few months and seriously, I'm loving that place! :) I know it's touted as a real gentrified up and coming hipster hangout but remove all these labels and it's just a pleasant place to roam around in in the afternoon, complete with rest points in the form of cafes and quaint little stores to escape the insane humidity that is everyday SG weather. 


So I'll be doing a little "Tiong Bahru Series" of the couple of interesting places there that I'd definitely recommend you check out if you haven't been there yet. Besides, if you're in Singapore you've probably heard of these places already anyway. Just providing some photos as further incentive for you to go there! :) 


First on the list is Books Actually, a well-known independent bookstore that used to be a focal point at Ann Siang Hill but has since moved over to reside along Yiong Siak Street in Tiong Bahru. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't fall in love with it on first glance. It's cosy, packed with a wide variety of books with a good selection of local literature, chock-a-block full of trinkets that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else, and best of all, they don't mind people taking photos! :) I think most first timers in there would inevitably whip out their cameras to take a snap at something as there are so many interesting bits and bobs to enjoy in this place.


  
When I visited last year in November (holy crap, my procrastination has reached a new high. ><), they just so happened to be celebrating their 6th anniversary (what a coincidence huh) so there were cupcakes and snackeroos available. I was heading for the cupcakes but... kitty cat got to them first. :) I believe this cat belongs to the owners but I didn't manage to find out its name. 


 
All sorts of quaint brick-a-bracks for sale! On almost every shelf there's something else aside from books that surprises you. 
And if you venture further into the bookstore, there's a backroom FILLED with an incredible collection of...ALL SORTS OF THINGS. I'm not quite sure how to categorize everything. But there are toys, home decor accessories, vintage cameras, notebooks, stationary, cards, prints, maps...and of course, more esoteric books. 
When was the last time you saw such a giant protractor huh? :) I think the last time I saw one was when I was in primary school... primary 1 perhaps? No more since then! 


 
I thought this bunny here looking out the window at the front of the store was really cute. I think I might get one for myself next time. Strangelets (the store a few doors down) actually sells a few if I remember correctly. I just think it would be so dang fun to have a couple of them at home that switch places every other day. Perfect for screwing with the mind of whoever's staying with you. >:D MUAHA.    

Books Actually

Tiong Bahru Estate 

9 Yiong Siak Street 

On a minor note, Books Actually stocks a lot of books by local authors. I actually found a book of poetry written by my senior, Carol Chan, entitled The World Must Weigh The Same, published by Math Paper Press which is incidentally, the publishing house set up by the owners of Books Actually. I'm in love with the simplicity of the book design and each book is so thin and flat, it's perfect for carrying around in the bag to read anytime. Am one of those very gullible consumers easily influenced by how the products looks. So ahem, do check it out! :) She's such a talented writer and after years of having not seen her, it was so nice to see how she'd taken her writing to the next level. 

P.S. Another bookstore that's wonderful in a similar cosy, welcoming manner is Littered With Books at Duxton Hill. Unfortunately, they don't allow for photos inside (because it's SO DANG GORGEOUS INSIDE everyone will be busy snapping away and no one will buy anything - it seems that's their assumption -.-) but here's their website. I've been there before twice and while I didn't get any books, I did get their custom made canvas tote bag which is DA BEST. Extremely durable and fits a ton of books. Some photos of the place here taken by some blogger who managed to get photos inside!! 


Ok, another update tomorrow! :)