Because it was my off day.

It's been a while since I last had fun during my off day. One reason was because I used to have my offs after my night shifts, which I don't really consider offs. Another was because ten hour shifts a day was pretty much taking its toll on me now. So I usually just rest during my offs. Lastly, I was trying to avoid shopping malls because I really spent a lot during the first week of the month for clothes. In short, I already exceeded my monthly budget. So being tired, having limited budget and basically no time were the reasons I was just resting on my off days.

But hey, I did not do that during my previous off. Well, I was away from work for two days so yeah. But I was using my public holiday leave on the first day when I just slept and almost got sick. So the second day was my off technically. And I spent it quite efficiently.

Brown ankle boots, red shorts, skin color tank top, gray knitted loose top, and a black and white tote bag. I couldn't get any more comfortable with these clothing on a day when the whether is pretty much unpredictable.

First stop: Lucky Plaza for Filipino food. I have been craving for my home cuisines for a while now, especially something with pork. And so I walked all the way to Lucky plaza for a set of pork dishes and a cup of rice. Pork Sinigang (pork in tamarind soup) and Lechon Kawali (deep fried prok belly) were the ones that I ordered.

I tried the store that my friend told me about - Lutong Pinoy in the basement level of Lucky Plaza. I was partly expecting something really good but it was just so-so. Had I ordered something else it might have been different perhaps. But then again, this friend who told me about the store was someone who loves all kinds of food. She always says that something is delicious even if others, myself included, don't agree with her. She knew about this and I always tel her about it. And there was no offense intended here.

Second stop: Stranger's Reunion. Finally! I've been wanting to go to this cafe for the longest time. I froze my cafe hunting for some months due to the 'healthy' lifestyle that I have been trying. At least, I managed to put it on today's schedule.

The cafe has this really nice ambiance besides that fact that it was very crowded. I like the food and coffee and their service. Actually, the service staff are all nice and friendly and accommodating. I stayed for about two hours, read two chapters of Life, Interrupted book, and finished two cups of cappuccino. There must be something with number two eh?

So after having my lunch and afternoon coffee, I went for a long walk from Kampong Bahru Road all the way to Temasek Boulevard. It's the same at Outram Park to Esplanade stations. Far? Well, the only places that were far for me here in Singapore were the seaside west - Tuas -  and seaside east - Punggol. And maybe Woodlands as well. But if you're used to hours worth of road trips, then these so-called far places here were nothing for you.

And I took a stroll along Neil Road, Cantonment and Tanjong Pagar and Robinsons Road. It was pretty fun to discover cafes that I have not even found online. Now, my list just got longer.

I am not sure whether this Church was in operation or not but it looked pretty abandoned to me. Anyway, the contrast of old buildings against a clear blue sky just never failed to get my attention. The ever so picturesque buildings usually has that clear blue sky background.

And yep, I just loved old, vintage, and rustic buildings. Definitely.

In this photo, I already reached the Collyer Quay Road or Fullerton Road. How the sun shine through skyscrapers to the ground was just astonishing to me. I love shadows as well that's probably why I like sunshine.

I was walking along this bridge so I can get to Suntec City. I just felt like taking a panorama shot of this place thinking that 'This is what was mostly known of Singapore.'

And as I was passing by Esplanade, there were decorated discs floating in the pond-slash-fountain. And being my artistic self, this creation just gave me a good idea of what to do with my non-functional discs back in Philippines. 

And I don't have pictures of what I did at Suntec but I can just simply state it: Window Shopping. Period.

It's quite funny though that I walked the long distance from Kampong Bahru Road to Temasek Boulevard but I took a train from Esplanade to Bras Basah which was just a station apart. Oh well, my feet and legs were probably tired by then.

And minutes after arriving home, I got a call from my friend who invited me out to have dinner or dessert with them. And so I went. I met with them at Nex Mall at Serangoon, in the Japanese restaurant where our other friend was on shift at that time. And we ordered cakes for dessert. It was my cheat day anyway, but I really ate a lot even for a single cheat day.

We hang around the place for a while and we eventually got free cakes to reduce 'wastage'. That was actually the best part. And by the way, the name of the restaurant was Green Pumpkin Cafe and the pastries were pretty good. Visit the place at the basement 1 of Nex Mall.

And after our free dessert at Serangoon, we went to Little India and Haji Lane for a chill drinking and shisha session.

And one of the guys brought us to a hidden rooftop bar at Little India. The picture above was taken in that place. I didn't managed to get the name of the place but it was pretty good for a peaceful night out with your buddies.

Then we walked all the way to Haji Lane for another round of booze and some cancer-causing activity.  The place was pretty crowded even for a Wednesday night, when I always thought that every one would actually be partying at Clarke Quay.

And the night just went on like that. We drink. We smoke. We talk. And we actually had a pretty good time talking about movies, a little of the past that I've never heard of, some issues, fun facts, and current events. I don't know why, but sometimes when you're having a good time with people, you talk about sensible things, sometimes weird topics. I still remember the time that I was having dessert with another girl friend of mine and we were talking about the end of the world. Yeah, it wasn't a your usual girl bonding topic over dessert but it just happened.

My day wasn't exactly crazy and exhausting but it was fun. Half of the day was for myself, another half was bonding with friends. It was just a good balance. Most importantly, I had fun which was what I needed for a day off.

Note:
Zsofi Tapas Bar (Rooftop bar)
68 Dunlop Street Singapore 209396
Tel: +65 6297 5875

Stranger's Reunion Cafe
33/35/37 Kampong Bahru Road Singapore 169355
Tel: +65 6222 4869

Green Pumpkin Cafe
23 Serangoon Central #B1-K1 Nex Singapore 556083
Tel: +65 6634 7990

Marina Bay

The Casper-like experience

This set, together with some taken at Chinatown, was the temporarily last shoot together with my photography buddy-slash-father dear friend. As the saying goes, goodbyes only mean I will miss you until we meet again. And I pretty much enjoyed the crazy emo shots that we did.

For more photos of Marina Bay Singapore click this >> Flickr

Line of LIGHTS

South Bridge Road lantern decorations and cars passing by

Singapore's Mid-Autumn festival was already over (or was it?). But before the season ended and the decorations taken down, my friend and I managed to capture some of its last moments in Chinatown.

Late Spring

Red Tulips. 

A fully-bloomed yellow tulips.

All Photos were taken using Canon 60D.

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Check out my other blogs too - Wordpress and Tumblr. Follow me on twitter @callecat for personal updates. And look at my photo collection Tears of Iris.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware Coffee Bar

25.04.2013

Back in my college days, just a few years ago, I came up with the idea of a 'coffee bar'. I was a frequent customer of a chained coffee shop near my university and I would go there with friends after school hours. We usually visit on the evening and leave a little past midnight. My addiction to ice-blended coffee, or frapuccino, during those days led me to the idea of a coffee bar.

Not long after I came up with that idea, a game application in a social networking site I am suscribed to appeared under the name of Coffee Bar. That quite frustrated me that I didn't even try that game app. Now, a few years after that, I came across a real coffee bar. This time, I was excited to see it for myself.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware Coffee Bar was recommended to me by an acquaintance who was experienced with coffee matters. The name was misleading and so was the establishment itself. Despite having a 'hardware' in its name, the place was actually a cafe. And, no, they are not selling nails, woods and any kinds of harware stuff for merchandise.

The name, as I heard, came from the fact that the area was known for hardware stores. It was like a tribute to the place. True enough that there were 'Seng Huat'-named hardwares nearby.

Design . As I've said earlier, the establishment façade would not suggest that  it was a cafe. Passing by there without knowledge would probably make you ignore the place thinking it was one of those hardwares.

The cafe exterior was so plain that it appears to be closed from across the street. There was a wooden signage big enough to see from afar saying 'Chye Seng Huat Hardware' with a design like that of a common store's. From the outside, there would really be no suggestion that coffee brewing is happening behind the walls.

I was confused at first too until I saw a lady come out from the unconspicuous sidedoor. Then, I tried to see through the small glass panels in the window. It seems to be busy inside and so I decided to enter.

Awkward as I usually am during my first visits, I had no idea where to sit or even place order. At least, I saw people placing order so I queued up.   There was a bar counter in the middle of the cafe and I believe it was in the shape of a water drop. Machine and hand coffee brewing and order taking and a little of dishwashing were happening inside this oddly shaped bar.

There was only a number of seats inside the cafe, surrounding the bar. There were bar stools in the counter and you can watch upclose the hand-brewed coffee making.

One huge mirror was placed in front of the curving end of the bar. And, of course, making use of the space, there was a long table and bar stools below the mirror. Mirrors create an illussion of space thus making the cafe appear bigger. In this case though, I don't think it helped much besides adding aesthetic value and replacing framed artworks with a practical item.

On the left side of the bar was a shelf made of round Iron metals welded together. It was the most unique shelf I've seen in my life. It has a rustic feeling, originality and weirdness in it. It covers almost the entire wall holding the merchandise of the cafe. Once again, they're not nails or such stuff. There were coffee making devices of various kinds.

Small wooden tables were also attached on this side of the wall. The tables were so small that they can only hold a small laptop and your coffee and pastry order. It was good enough for me though.

The other side of the cafe holds a few tables and chairs. There was also a table holding magazines and post cards for art advertisements.

There were also al fresco tables outside the cafe. It was more peaceful there but I couldn't bear with the summer heat. Next to the cafe in the same compound was the coffee roasting facilities a coffee beans store. I didn't check that part since I am not interested in buying coffee beans at the moment.

Coffee and Pastry. The CSHH Coffee Bar was established by Papa Palheta which is one of the best coffee roasters in Singapore. I had enjoyed the ambiance of the cafe and the friendliness of the staff. And the coffee was excellent as I had expected.

I first ordered a cappuccino and had another cup of hand-brewed black coffee. The cappuccino was full-bodied but the foam and milk was not very thick and creamy. Even so, it was delicious. I love the latte art too.

The hand-brewed black coffee was really good as well. It was my first time ordering for a simple black coffee. I believe the beans used were ones from Kenya a the staff told me that it has a fruitty flavor. True enough, the coffee was flavorful but I can't really figure out what it is. I enjoyed half of it as it is, and the other half with milk after I was offered with it.

The chocolate cake was also delicious. It was to my liking although I would prefer it to be more moist. The chocolate was rich and the sponge was not hard. There were also melted chocolate bits inside the sponge that gave it a more chocolatey flavor.

Service. As I've mentioned the staff were all friendly and accommodating. They also try to build rapport with their customers as much as possible which gives the cafe a warm feeling.

The one in the cashier managed to give me suggestion when I ordered for my second round of coffee since there were no queue at that time. They actually try to get me to seat in the bar counter where I can watch the coffee brewing upclose. Unfortunately, I w a more peaceful seat hence sitting opposite that side. I apprraciate the effort in trying to entertain me though.

As per my observations, the staff provides prompt service to the customers. They were also very cheerful and accommodating. They try to address the customers' needs as much as possible. The service was casual but professional. That's what I like about cafes - the service with a casual feel to it.

Whereabouts. Chye Seng Huat Hardware Coffee Bar. 150 Tyrwhitt Road.

The cafe was located in a commercial area for mostly hardware stores. The nearest MRT Stations were Farrer Park (North-East Line) and Lavender (East-West Line). It was actually in between these stations, so it's a good deal of a walk from both stations going to the cafe.

Nearby bus stops were the following:

For Lavender Street: Opposite Pek Chuan Building catering to bus service numbers 13, 67, 133, and 145. Hock Seng Building with the bus numbers just mentioned and 61, 107, 175, 961, 107M and 961C.

For Jalan Besar: Hoa Nam Building with bus service numbers 21, 23, 64, 65, 66, 67, 125, 130, 139, 147, 857.

[All photos were taken using Samsung Galaxy Note II.]

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Check out my other blogs too - Wordpress and Tumblr. Follow me on twitter @callecat for personal updates. And look at my photo collection Tears of Iris.