the roads are getting nearer

Monday, March 20, 2006

` Monday, March 20, 2006

Last Saturday was what I would declare a “full-on action” day. (try not to perv at that one-liner if you could), jam-packed with activities which included a dress tailoring session, shopping and 4 disparate meal and drinking sessions! One of my mates have decided to answer the government’s call for lesser lonely hearts (oh yes, and add one more to the bridal roster, eversince I stumbled upon a significant one-liner in the blog of hers. Heh.). Of course, hearty congratulations to all indeed! Red packet provisions will have to be conservatively accrued for in the next few years or so.

So it was off to Simpang Bedok for lunch after getting measurements at the seamstress (fingers crossed, let’s hope the dress turns out to be just what I’d imagine). Had settled for nasi briyani after not-so-subtle touting and hard-sell at one of the coffee shops. Turned out to be pretty satisfying, had the sun been kinder on the heat and the humidity that seemed to constantly permeate the air. Finished the meal with a large cup of iced teh tarik. Good stuff.

I have definitely tried avoiding a visit to Zara for the past 2 months, knowing full well that the credit card would be put into action on a per-visit basis. Resistance was inevitably futile on that day, so we made our way to the Great World city outlet, a perennial favourite of mine for some inexplicable reason. The frivolous side of me emerged as I surrendered to a black chiffon dress, knowing full well that there were 5 other evening dresses collecting dust back home.

Bearing chi-chi ladies-of-leisure aspirations, we headed to Fosters – The English Rose Cafe in Holland Village for late afternoon tea. For $9.50 per person, you get a hefty 2 scones, banana bread and sandwiches plus a cup of tea. It was lovely, if not for the weather playing its heat trick on us again when we sat at the al fresco area. Definitely worth a re-visit and recommended for chilling out on lazy weekend afternoons. On a cool day of course, otherwise the café interior looked pretty inviting with its couches and English architecture.

After getting stuffed with too much pastry and tea, the next destination was Corduroy & Finch at Bukit Timah Road. There was such a buzz generated from this place in the media that it was suggested as a gathering place for the ex-Syco alumni. Despite having an ambience reminiscent of a bustling Australian café-restaurant (quite similar in concept to Whitebait & Kale at Camden Centre), I concur with Whiskeysprite that the food was definitely over-rated. The mushroom linguini with white whine sauce was rather flat in taste and the pasta was undercooked. Similar comments were made round the table, although it was indeed a good idea to check out the hype. If you’re still curious, make sure you have semi-deep pockets and a car to take you there.

Next stop: 1 Rochester. There was a recent write-up in 8 Days on the new wine and dine setups in the far west (where my office happens to be situated) and this was the new drinking establishment that was being raved about. The only downside was that it no longer took reservations and it was quite a bummer to have driven all the way to Buona Vista only to be told that there was a long waiting list of people to be seated before us. I gave my 3 thumbs up based on a preliminary rekkie of the place. Hopefully, there’ll be available tables on the next visit.

So off we went to Little Bali at Gillman Village for sloshing vacancies. Thankfully, we were lucky this time round. However, it was noticeable that the place seemed filled to the brim with an extremely young (read: university / Zouk-ish) patronage (and hence the conclusion drawn that the ‘mature’ crowd had moved on to Rochester for obvious reasons). Makes me wonder how much allowances the kids were getting these days to be making the trip to these out-of-town hangout places.

Of course, I was absolutely knackered the day after and opted for an extended sleep-in.

ARGH and it’s back to dreary ol' Monday again!!!

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