Out and about

 A waaaaaay backdated post

Back in the month of August.

Photos taken by the Husband's Iphone.

Usually with him grumbling in the background about me not having my own camera and always hoarding his phone. 

Petty much! -___-

One day, EP-3, one day! Hmphf!

Hungry Ghosts' Festival.

Love buying those pre-packed all-in-one versions. So convenient!

You can choose the price range you fancy. 

Think ours is S$8/S$10. 

The more expensive the pack is, the more goodies there are inside!

Incense, candles, matchsticks, dried tea leaves, candies, hell notes of all denominations, gold bars, gold & silver coins, 往生紙, clothings (even have shoes & socks) printed on paper for both men & women, and even paper fabric! 

I don't fancy ciggies so I never buy those with cigarettes.

Don't wanna encourage our 'friends' to smoke either. Already dead...time to quit lah, 'friend'!

The Husband sloughed through the night to fold the 21 lotuses.

I think I was busy doing up a launch or something.

Hoping that their sufferings will be lessened, their negative karma will be purified and eventually, be reborn in the Pureland.

On a real random note, I wonder if I burn a paper camera to myself, will I eventually get one? 

Maybe I can bring a photo of Olympus EP-3 to the those offering-makers at Rochor and try my luck. 

Hahaha!

I love showing off Singapore via flags! I'm serious!

So I took out last year's car flag that I bought online to fix on the Husband's car window again. =D

Those mitten-like flags on the car's side mirrors are also very cute!

But I don't know where to buy them.

The Husband said the car flag was dusty and slightly tattered from last year. 

So he sneakily removed it before 31 Aug. =(

Never mind, I will go buy another one next July!

Late-night drives on various days to hunt for food.

My work schedule means sometimes I get to eat dinner at supper time. 

Luckily I live in Singapore, where food is all around and Sims Ave is not that far!

The well-known Rochor soyabean milk & beancurd along Sims Ave.

Opens daily 11am-1am. 

Cool! =D

Kinda interesting that they named themselves Rochor Restaurant.
Oh well, the Portuguese egg tarts are quite good though!
Better than KFC's!

 Tic-tac-toe!
Tough for me to finish a cup of soyabean milk and a tub of soya beancurd.
But I want both!
So I always ask for 2-in-1 ~ soya beancurd in hot soyabean milk & less sugar.
Real nourishing!
You should try it if you have not!

By the way, I really don't find their Chin Chow drink nice.
The vanilla essence is too strong for me. =(

The 24-hour 126 Dim Sum!

I like their dim sum much much more than those at Swee Choon.

Ever tried their 馬來糕? Better than Hoe Kee & Teck Kee too!

One more thing, their barley drink has 冬瓜糖 in it!

You know, those sugar-coated wintermelon strips that you can munch on!

So yummy! 

Very hard to find such barley drink outside, even restaurants. 

Most versions are just the plain barley drink. 

There's those wintermelon strips and barley inside the tub for you to eat too.

Best thing is, if you don't like your drink very sweet like me, you can order one tub of it (their drinks come in round tubs) and hot water.

Spilt the barley drink into 2 containers and pour hot water in both!

I avoid taking cold drinks generally.

Viola! Money saved in the name for better health!

My ratio of hot water to barley drink for 126 is 1:1.

It's really quite sweet for us, because in the hot version, there's no ice cubes to dilute the drink.

The Husband's subordinate was recently diagnosed as diabetic in his early forties, due to late-night drinking of Coca-cola for suppers over the years.

So do watch it, gals!

Hoe Kee Pau, further down Sims Ave.

It's also open for 24 hours, but apart from the occasional taxi uncles, I don't see youths chomping down their supper here, compared to 126 Dim Sum.

Maybe because the variety available here in the wee hours is not as extensive.

Or maybe the feng shui is not as great. =P

Hoe Kee's version of the barley drink is one of the least sweet around.

See! Got real barley at the bottom of the drink!

That proves the drink is not made from powder.

The coffeeshop where Punggol Nasi Lemak is, at Upper Serangon, sells barley drink made from barley powder. 

Discovered it one day when the Husband was there and saw the drinks stall assistant refilling the drink container with a big bag of powder.

Oh man! I don't like powdered barley that is processed!

Instead of barley at the bottom, there's this powdery residue that makes me coughs slightly and have a itchy throat after the drink. 

Qi Ji, the I-don't-know-whether-to-call-it-restaurant-or-food-eatery that sells popiah & nasi lemak etc, has very nice barley drink too.

Not too sweet plus chunks and chunks and chunks of barley for me to chew on until I'm jelat.

By the way, I think that barley drink photo is the nicest photo I've ever taken with the Iphone.

#photographerwannabe

I didn't know that the durian stalls along Sims Ave are opened 24 hours!

There's mineral water and fresh coconut drinks too!

Have to pay, of course

I like durians that are bitter.

Having durians at the above stall cost us S$70+!

Omg, I don't know how the Husband managed to order the 3 most expensive durians, at S$15/kg!

Lucky we had enough cash after dinner.

But still, very heart-pain. =(((

I also live in remorse that I fail to have more durians during their peak season in July.
Feeling so inadequate now.

  

Only consolation, free usage of Premier Deluxe 2-ply tissue paper, which is of 100% pulp dispensed from Kitty-chan box.

But I don't like Hello Kitty nor pink colour.

And isn't wet tissue more useful?

Or maybe they can supply both?

#greedySingaporean

You might not be able to tell from the photos, but it was VERY bright & well-lit at the durian stall.

I tried peeping closely to see which lightbulb brand they used.

Must be very good, since the lights are on for such long hours.

But alas, it was too bright for me to even squint!

Random snapshot from the car.

I think the translations, both English & Chinese, are so clever!

Apart from the hawker haunts, I was so thrilled to discover 2 24-hour hotel cafes!

When I was a kid, a lot of hotel cafes or coffeehouses, as known back then, operated 24 hours.

Now, it's very hard to find such coffeehouses when even swanky 5-star hotels don't do so.

Chatterbox at Mandarin Hotel is not so great for food & ambience anymore too.
It only operates 24 hours on Fridays, Saturdays and public holiday eves.
Normally, it closes at 1am

Cafe Mosiac at Carlton Hotel is located opposite Chijmes & along the same stretch as Bras Basah Complex.

Not only does it operate 24 hours, it has a VERY extensive menu too!

Most hotel places I know have a limited menu after 10pm or so.

But at Carlton, it's the SAME menu throughout!

I like having my meal at the inner area of the cafe and watch the cars or rather, many many late-night cabs drive by.

It's a much more spacious and airy area too.

There's soups, salads, pizza (not-so-nice), sandwiches, pasta (I like!), more Western food, Chinese-style carrot cake (black or white, both are yummy!), curry chicken (a lot of meat! 2 can share.), chicken rice, wanton noodle, fruit juices, creme brulee, panna cotta and a lot more Asian food that I can't recall!

Prices are generally S$18-23+++ for the usual main courses.
I'm not talking about the steaks or baked fish, which are way more expensive.

I like that I can ask for warm breadrolls with butter.
No, not because it's free but it's my all-time favourite food!
Only thing is, their breadrolls are exactly the same as those usually served onboard SQ economy class.
Kinda deja-vu because last time, I eat until I'm scared. Lol.

Granted not everything on the menu is fantastic nor cheap, it's nonetheless relaxing to dine in a nice, quiet cafe that has great air-conditioning and clean toilets for me to brush my teeth afterwards. Haha!

I like their curry chicken!
I would request for more potatoes and less meat though.
The usual portion has like 8 big pieces of chicken. Too much even for the Husband & I to share!

Cafe Mosiac's Black Carrot Cake is really nice!
Those good hawker stalls' standard!

There's easily more than 50 items for you to choose from.
They even have a kids menu! Plus they leave jars of hot water on the table so I don't have to call them for refills so often.
How thoughtful!

P.s. I noticed Cafe Mosiac use different crockery (plain white plates) after midnight.
And the food portion is more too.

Will blog about the other 24-hour hotel cafe next round!

I just read that Iphone 5 is launching in USA around mid Oct.
Does that mean it will be in Singapore in Nov???
Pretty sure it will be before December, so that the big boys can make $$$ from all the X'mas shoppers!
A 8-megapixel camera!! I'm so excited!!!
My first smartphone!

Have a happy Wednesday!!

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu