hey hei, chocolate ice cream

Lately, I had my wisdom tooth extracted (cost me enough to get an iPad!) and was a semi-solid diet. For a couple of days, meals were of porridge, yogurt, oatmeal and, unavoidably, ice cream.

Speaking of ice cream, I had this incredibly delicious chocolate-flavoured one, called "hei" (黑), by Awfully Chocolate.  It is a super premium dark chocolate ice cream made with natural ingredients.

According to the website, it contains a blend of our Awfully Chocolate's own chocolate and Belgian dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids), real eggs, fresh milk and pure cream. And because of the low air content in the ice cream, it's very rich and dense, and it has less sugar than most other premium ice creams.

True to its word, joy is in hei and it's better if you get a few more people to share the pint ($11.60, also comes in Single and Double scoop servings at $3.80 and $6.20 respectively) with you because, once you start, you may find it hard to stop. With low sugar content, you can easily smell the fragrance and enjoy the rich taste of the chocolate. This is unlike those which are so sweet you can hardly taste the chocolate. hei is definitely the best and most serious chocolate ice cream I've ever had, and the calories are well worth it.

Address: 10 outlets in Singapore, including ION Orchard, Star Vista, VivoCity and Jurong Point
For a full list, visit http://www.awfullychocolate.com/singapore/storelocations.php
Rating: Will be back!

It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas and happy happy holidays. Say Hello to Santa!

As much as I didn't want to eat this cute thing, it was an awesome fruit cake from Shangri-La Hotel.

Those Kisses are so lovely

It's been quite a while since a music moved my heart at the very first time I hear it. I kind of miss this feeling -- sort of a first love kind of feeling -- and was overjoyed when I fortuitously heard the track Those Kisses by The Fisherman Three while I caught the short film "The Ticket". 

This beautiful track is so surreal and poignant, so much so it brings back the bittersweet mood you experience while listening to Augustana's Boston. I prowled the Net in search for the lyrics to no avail, so I decided to listen (and of course enjoy) the words and below is what I caught. Pardon me for any errors!

The Fishermen Three - Those Kisses

I got past through a thousand desserts

And come upon a mountain stream

I was blinded for a thousand sunsets

Then open my eyes to see

My angels coming closer

I feel her breath on me

Lipstick in the mirror

Blowing kisses in a dream

And though your kisses are blowing us away
And here they take us is where we’re gonna stay

Oh inside the darkness, all over the land

I can’t see anything but I can feel your hand

Send me a sparrow, show a little flame

Anything to help you make it home again

The sand was white as moonlight

As I woke from the beautiful dream

Oh if I could only see you

But there’s a dessert in between

I’m tracking a trail of petals

The night, it is alive

The wind keeps twisting and turning

But somehow I will arrive

And though your kisses are blowing us away

And where they take us is where we’re gonna stay

Oh inside the darkness, all over the land

I can’t see anything but I can feel your hand

Send me a sparrow, show a little flame

Anything to help you make it home again

 

A Room with a Meal

I decided to pop by the recently-opened Alexandra Retail Centre and found that they offer a wide range of F&B for the busy office crowd. It was evening time when I was there so it there wasn't too much of on-the-go white collared people. Hence, I could take my pick on where to dine (instead of opting for the place with the shortest/no queue.

Eventually, my friend and I settled on Room Coffee. Bar. It is a little quaint-looking cafe located at the heart of the mall so you can't miss it.

The menu is pretty comprehensive, with selections ranging from sandwiches to burgers to pastas.

Since there was a 1-for-1 pasta promotion, we decided to give them a try. We ordered a Spaghetti Aglio Olio ($8) with prawns (meaning an additional $5), and Spaghetti Bolognese ($13). Both of them were served in a pretty powl (plate-cum-bowl). Interesting presentation I must say but the taste was to be seen, I mean, tasted.

Generally, the pasta didn't taste as good as they looked. However, I must say that they are pretty generous with the portions.

The Aglio Olio came with 5 prawns, which were crunchy but felt somehow artificial. The pasta was a teeny weeny too tougher than I'd like it to be.

Many a time, the minced meat in the sauce comes in pathetic portions but not this one. There was a heap of chicken--probably half the amount of pasta so I thought that was cool. While the texture was fine, unfortunately, I felt that the amount of salt was enough the make someone with hypertension do a double take. 

Room Coffee.Bar also serves an array of desserts which looked decent, such as carrot cake, red velvet cake and muffin. There's also a great range of coffee and tea, of which I tried the Organic Chamomile by Taylors of Harrogate and was incredibly satisfied.

Address: 460 Alexandra Road #01-18, PSA Building (Alexandra Retail Centre)
Rating: Worth one try

A cafe for dogs and humans. Yay.

After much procrastination, our family finally made a trip down to Doggiestyle Cafe at Serangoon's nexhttp://www.nex.com.sg/   shopping mall to give it a try. In this cafe, both human beings and doggies are allowed to co-exist and have a great meal together, something that's usually confined to just the home.

Located at the rooftop (I wonder if the pun on 'roof' was intended), we had to take a special pets lift to get to the cafe. It was empty when we stepped in. Once inside, we unleashed the 2 doggies to let them roam around. They looked happy. One would think that a cafe for dogs wouldn't serve nice food for human beings but we were so wrong. The Western-styled dishes were great and the serving was big enough to feed a..husky? What's more, they came with interesting names.

Our doggies had a Doggie Yogurt Ice-cream ($3.90) and they looked super delighted to eat it. A human being who took a lick of it looked delighted too =P Yes, human beings can eat this too.

The human beings had a sumptuous meal too, consisting piping hot Oven-baked Potato ($7.90). There were 4 pieces of half-cut potatoes topped with cheese and bacon bits. This is special as I had expected something like those you see in Western restaurants -- cut and opened in the middle and smeared with sour cream. This is certainly worth a try.

We also had a Chicken Caesar Salad ($8.90) which came with a generous serving of chicken thigh (yea, you know how most chicken caesar salad is pathetic with their chicken). The grilled chicken was succulent and vegetables were fresh and crunchy. 

The other dishes we tried were BBQ Chihuahua ($12.90), which is actually a pair of hot dogs..I wondered why they didn't name the dish BBQ dachshund. Heehee. But rest assured that the hot dog was made of pork and not dog meat *shudder*. We also shared a Maltese Mushroom & Chicken pasta ($12.90), named so probably because of its white colour.

Then there was also a plate of Frenchie Fish & Chips ($12.90). Why Frenchie, I do not know, cos the fish doesn't look like a dog in anyway. What's important is that it tastes good too. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. And it comes with tasty criss cut fries too. 

Speaking of Frenchie, this reminds me of the bulldog we saw in the cafe, which was incredibly friendly but it gave me quite a scare when it leapt up to the empty seat next to mine and tried to lick my food. LOL. Be prepared for such incidents. Generally speaking, dogs owners are very friendly people so feel free to talk to them and ask them more about their pets and I'm sure they are more than willing to share their anecdotes.

Before we left, we got the doggies a box of Beef Pasta ($7.90) for their dinner later in the day.

Is this place worth going? Certainly, and I'll be back for more doggie food..for the dogs, of course.

Address: 23 Serangoon Central nex #04R-72 (Rooftop) Singapore 556083
Rating: Will be back!

5 ways to increase your productivity in your mornings..and get that extra zzz...

Do you lug yourself out of the bed every morning for work? And then scramble for time to do the 101 tasks we have every morning? Here's some tips to accumulate more time for that extra boost of beauty sleep.

1. Face and mouth go together

While rinsing your mouth with mouthwash, wash your face. By doing one after the other, you're effectively wasting time! I suggest pouring the mouthwash into your mouth before applying your cleanser on your face as the reverse feels icky -- the cleanser could easily get into your mouth.

Time saved: 2 mins

2. Don't dry up your time
Instead of laying around waiting for your moisturiser or liquid foundation to dry, do something productive. For me, while waiting for my moisturiser to dry, I'll prepare my breakfast. Once it's dry, I'll apply liquid foundation, and before slapping on the other stuff, I use the time to pick my outfit.

Time saved: 8 min

3. Pack in time
Pack your bag the night before so that you don't waste time gathering your stuff, and worse, feel stressed and flustered as time runs out.

Time saved: 5 mins

4. Enjoy your breakfast - ditch the papers
This is one task I believe should be truly enjoyed. Don't read newspapers while eating breakfast 'cos you may end up eating slower and worse, choke on your food (especially if you see news like bus strikes). Read the papers while waiting for the bus or train..suggest not ON the bus or train (see point 5 below).

Time saved: 15 mins

5. Find time in a tight space
Trains and bus might be too packed for you to read the papers. Also, it's inconsiderate to take up twice the space you require by opening up your arms. Hence, do something productive that requires less space -- check or reply your emails or Facebook messages while travelling -- you can easily keep your arms to your torso when using your smart device.

Time saved: 10 mins

Total time saved: 40 mins

By making little changes to your mornings, you can easily find 40 mins more of sleep!