Non.Stop.Museum.Hops!

So just so you know, I don't spend all my free time at cafes being a munching monstah. Though, that's definitely something I enjoy doing. But really, all the previous posts have been condensed from visits over a period of say...4 months? :P Terrible, I know, but the time I give myself to edit/go through folders of photos is pretty pathetic. But there's just so much to do...!! Which is why I can never understand it when friends/classmates say they feel bored during the holidays. Seriously?? I would never utter those two words in the same sentence. If I do, gimme a go wake-up-call slapppp. 


Anyway, here are some photos from what I remember to be a really great afternoon spent museum hopping with Donald. :D The National Museum had a pretty awesome exhibition over the past few months that just ended in Feb - entitled, Dreams and Reality: Masterpieces of Painting, Drawing and Photography, it featured lots of well-known works from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and I do think that a lot of people ended up going to check it out.
Man, who is that cool studious dude? :) I just had to take a photo and spend the rest of the day with him LOL. So I didn't quite take a lot of photos of the paintings I liked (because ermm I did that with my iPhone)(but seriously, what do people do with the photos they've taken of the paintings they liked in a museum?? It's not like they can really print it out or remember to show it off? Unless they post in on their blog hmmm..!) but I did take some photos of the little bits and bobs that were happening inside. Live sketching workshop going on! Though I think it was more of a bring your own art materials and do whatever you want session, with live model provided. I really like how there was a rest area within the exhibition space itself. Ohh before I forget, a couple of things that I think make for a really good exhibit: 
1. The total amount of time taken for a reasonably normal human being to get through it should be about 1 hour, maximum. Anything more than that is plain cruel because who wants to be made to feel like a total spaz for not being able to absorb all the goodness from beautiful artworks? Besides, I DO think that I remember reading from somewhere that a person's attention span for a certain activities lasts only a maximum of 40 mins after which is really dips to abysmal levels. (No idea why schools never adhere to such research and insist of having classes that drag on for hours and hours.) - On a side note, that is also why I really don't like the Louvre. It's incredible and all but... before I even start going through the first exhibit I'm already filled with fatigue/dread at the thought of not being able to complete even a fraction of the exhibitions even if I devote an entire day to it!! BAHH. 
2. There should be comprehensive explanations about each piece of art, in terms that a layman would understand. I always think it would be so great if there could be an explanation for WHY the artist even came up with that drawing/sculpture in the first place because that's really the main question in my mind. What inspired the artist? Why on earth did he/she decide to do this?? And really, I actually quite relish reading the "Kids'" explanations sometimes because it really is a lot simpler to understand and there are often certain pretty wacky details they point out to kids that they don't do for the Adult explanation. Wonder why huh. 
3. There should be resting points. 
4. Photography should be allowed. :D To allow for people to at least prove they've been there so that they can show off to their friends. And besides, if they don't understand what they're seeing and they need to wait for friends, they can at least snap away.

So back to the exhibition. Pretty timeline! Something I liked even more outside at the main lobby of the museum entrance. These little things were the ones holding up the balloons in the previous photo.  

skirt: Fancy French Cologne, top: The Everyday Life Store (TELS), necklace and flats: Tangs Studio  

 What I wore museum hopping. I have realized that on hot days, maxi skirts can't be beat!

Next, we went on over to SAM at 8Q, or if that isn't cool sounding enough, 8QSAM, which is really the extension of the Singapore Art Museum, located at 8 Queen Street. Kinda meh once its name has been demystified eh? ;p But really, it was my FAVORITE museum of the day! All its exhibits pretty much fulfilled ALL the criteria I listed above for what makes a good museum exhibit. It's actually quite a small museum but it's rather quirky in terms of its color (I'm all for superficial details like this) and it showcases exhibits mainly by local artists of much smaller scale. When we were there, there were quite a few by Singaporean performance artist Amanda Heng, under the title of "Speak To Me, Walk With Me". One that I quite enjoyed had photos of her donning the Singapore Airlines attire visiting places/parts of Singapore oft-forgotten/fast vanishing.

I wish I could give a better/more insightful commentary about this but... I remember Donald explaining a lot of it to me in detail. Sometimes it's good to go museum hopping with a well-read Lit student. ;p

Another really awesome installation featured piles of beansprouts on tables and I THINK it was supposed to symbolize a focal point around which women of the house would gather to peel beansprouts and have conversation. I just thought it was pretty darn cool. :P LASTLY, we traipsed over to the actual Singapore Art Museum for a short bit to check out an exhibition featuring the works of artist Hyung Koo Kang. I'd not heard of this artist before but after seeing his work, I'm seriously AMAZED. I thought that his works were some sort of digitally modified and magnified works based on paintings of these artists (all of which were his muses, e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh) but NO - they are actually his own paintings. Isn't it insane?? Doesn't it look like some sort of digitally enhanced image of a painting? I can't believe what a genius this guy is! Btw, anytime I look at a picture of Van Gogh, I'm reminded of an episode of Modern Family when Luke held up a picture of V.G and said to Phil, "doesn't it remind you of Uncle Mitchell gone crazy?" HEH.  Apparently he chose to paint these artists because they'd all gone through a period of struggle in their artistic career (a.k.a. they were all pretty crazy and tortured perfectionisits) which he could identify with. Which makes me feel... kinda worried for artists everywhere. What sort of angst must they be going through their entire life in the name of creating something good enough for themselves? 


So just incase you were wondering, the 3 places we went to were: 1.The National Museum, 2.The Singapore Art Museum and 3.8QSAM, the smaller offshoot of the Singapore Art Museum. All of which are totally worth checking out! :D I definitely recommend 8QSAM because Food for Thought (nice cafe!) is right outside. You have to think about your tummy when you go on outings like these.

Tiong Bahru: Open Door Policy

Probably the most telling of how far along in its gentrification efforts Tiong Bahru has become, Open Door Policy is the latest culinary venture of Singapore's Spa Espirit Group that aims to bring fine dining to the neighborhood at more affordable prices. (All this is seriously just googling heh. Just thought I'd give a bit of overview incase you were too lazy to google yourself ;p) It's next door to Books Actually and while I'd heard from a few people that the food was pretty decent albeit overpriced, I really wanted to try it out for myself. So finally, Donald and I headed over there one day for a late lunch. I suppose that was a wise choice because there was hardly a crowd at all and we were able to get seated really quickly. A couple of features I really like? The brick walls on the side and the glass-roofed sky light. We decided to be adventurous and tried two main courses: 
1. Wild Mushroom risotto with truffle crumbs 
 2. Pan Seared Sea Bass with Artichoke, Potatoes and Rocket Salad. 
So since I'm not a seasoned food critic nor do I claim to represent anyone else's taste in food but my own, I must say that the mushroom risotto was not the best risotto that I've had. I tend to like risotto that's lighter both in texture and flavor and this one was rather heavy in terms of consistency and the truffle flavor. I always feel that truffle works best in minimal amounts; just enough to make it tantalizing. Too much and it loses its effect. The sea bass was decent though. I remember it being soft on the inside with really hot and crispy skin on the outside. Nonetheless it was rather salty, but with the risotto it worked out alright.
 

 

 dress: Fancy French Cologne, necklace: Mikkat Market, bag: Urban Outfitters  

And because there isn't much flexibility in the day-to-day school/work dress code I have to contend with, I focus all my energy in having fun dressing up for the weekends when there's time for restaurant-going/cafe-visiting. :) I first saw this dress on one of my favorite online stores (ok, I do have many!), Fancy French Cologne, and it struck me immediately as a dress I loved because of the zany print that really only made me think of one word - Vintage. :D My sis thinks I look old (and from her tone of voice I could only presume she meant Granny-old) but I suppose fashion is all a matter of perspective isn't it? Oh and having at least a layer of thick skin. So to match what I thought was a more vintage feel of the dress, I pulled out an old Urban Outfitters handbag that I'd bought quite a while back. 

Open Door Policy 19 Yong Siak St 

Singapore 168650 

Just to sum up Open Door Policy -- I think based on that first experience I can only say the food is decent but it IS somewhat overpriced. So do go if you're willing to splurge because the ambience is great and you'd definitely enjoy being in that restaurant.

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.