Posted on: 5th of November 2008 | Under: Palate Pleaser
My all-time favorite drink at Starbucks is Toffee Nut Latte, and I find that it’s such a bummer that it’s only available during the Christmas season. The rest of the year, I always order a cup of caramel machiatto and ask for hazelnut syrup instead of the usual vanilla. I learned it from a nice barrista who shared the tip with me several years ago. It almost tastes like Toffee Nut Latte, and I love it.
Either way, I am still one of those who perk up when I know that the Red Cup Season is near. Yesterday officially started the season, so I rushed out to finally have my favorite fix. Seeing the red menu board and the barristas in their red polo shirts was as much of a treat than having coffee itself.
Toffee Nut Latte, I missed you! I enjoyed an hour in my comfy seat reading my book, munching on my Floss from Bread Talk and sipping my cup of goodness. <3
Unfortunately, Singapore doesn’t have the Starbucks Planner gimmick like in Manila, so I guess I’ll have to break my yearly tradition of collecting stickers to get one or two (I collected three back in 2006!) planners. But I’m not too concerned about it, because from the photos Venice shared in her blog, it’s not as inviting as I hoped. I’ll probably just get another Moleskine planner for 2009.
On other news, my brother and his partner are going country hopping (no Outer Banks rentals though) for two and a half weeks, and they’re flying into Singapore tomorrow for three days. =) I’m excited to see them, and excited to get my goodies too! Haha! I’ll share what I made him bring me in my next post. =)
Posted on: 21st of October 2008 | Under: Palate Pleaser
I’m always in search for quiet little coffee shops in Singapore where I can relax and read a book. I love my Starbucks, but sometimes it’s good to have something different. I’ve also been looking for something similar to the wonderful BoNa Coffee back in Manila (I blogged about my wonderful experience here last month), and finally I have: Pacific Coffee Company. They have stores all over China, Hong Kong, and quite a few in Singapore too.
Okay, so it’s not as small and intimate as BoNa Coffee shops, but it still has the coziness that I’ve been searching for. The lovely interior (they have comfy couches and cute decors of over sized books and lamps) is so inviting, that one cannot just simply pass by without wanting to go in. Equipped with their espresso machines and other coffee paraphernalia, they have a wide variety of treats on their menu.
Posted on: 20th of October 2008 | Under: Palate Pleaser
What’s an anniversary date with no dessert, right? Right. So, after our dinner at Equinox Restaurant, we walked all the way to Esplanade to have our toothsome fix. The 10 minute walk (or was it 15?) did us good, because as full as we were from our belly bulging meal, we were hungry again by the time we reached our destination: Max Brenner.
Ah yes, Max Brenner: The famous dessert haven for chocolate lovers like me. With its tag line “Chocolate by the Bald Man,” I was expecting to see cleanly shaved waiters bustling from one table to another, just like back in Manila. But as soon as we entered, my excitement dwindled down to plain disappointment. What?!? No hunky bald men servers? Boo!!! Instead, the staff was composed of young waiters, in probably their early twenties, and an older guy who looked like the owner. They were all dressed casually, in their own and separate style of jeans and t-shirts, with no hint of uniformity whatsoever. We could only pick out the servers from the customers, because they were the only ones up on their feet. Other than that, it would’ve been impossible to spot them.
Posted on: 19th of October 2008 | Under: Life & Love, Palate Pleaser
We love food, and as a couple we enjoy trying out new places to dine. Every year, on the day of our anniversary (except for our first year, because we were technically not together for two days then — long story), we like to dress up and treat ourselves to a romantic dinner. On our second anniversary, we had a two-day celebration where we had dinner at MyLK, Greenbelt 2, followed by lunch at Conti’s the following day. On our third year, we had dinner at Vivere Skyline in Alabang, which I blogged about here. And on our fourth anniversary last year, we had a scrumptious meal at Le Souffle, at the Fort.
For the past years, we celebrated in different restaurants in Manila, but this year however is the first time we spent it in Singapore, our new home (well technically it’s only new to me, because JR has been here for over a year).
We chose to have our dinner at the Equinox Restaurant, and boy, did we make the right choice! Situated on the 70th floor of Swissôtel The Stamford, the restaurant with its three-storey high windows gave us a spectacular view of the city. When JR reserved our table a couple of days before, we were disappointed when told that all window seating were already full for the night. But when we arrived that evening, we were lucky enough to be able to grab one of the tables for an extra charge of SGD20. Not bad, because it was wonderful being able to sit next to this view:
Posted on: 9th of October 2008 | Under: Palate Pleaser
Fish and chips and vinegar,
Vinegar, vinegar,
Fish and chips and vinegar,
Pepper, pepper, pepper, salt.
I enjoy finding and trying out new places to eat (I should really detox and maybe try out a colon cleanse for all the belly abuse!), and I admit that I’ve done very little of that since I moved to Singapore. Last Saturday was a treat, because JR and I had lunch with two of his band mates after their interview one block away.
Our pit stop: Fishermen’s Wharf along New Bridge Road (right in front of Central Mall/Clarke Quay MRT). I was ecstatic to try it out. I spotted its front sign from across the street just a few hours earlier, and made JR promise that we come back to dine there one day. He had already tried the food there before, and gave a pretty positive feedback, which is why I happily agreed when Alvin (their band’s singer) suggested the place for lunch that very same day.
Posted on: 3rd of October 2008 | Under: Palate Pleaser
Oh yes, this is going to be another food post. I did mention that flying back to Manila meant a lot of food tripping, didn’t I? Get ready to take out your exercise mats (or maybe an alli diet pill?), because following are several photos of our last proper meal in Manila.
Monday, September 29, 2008 (4:00pm): It was JR’s mom’s Birthday, and since our flight back to SIngapore was scheduled later in the evening, we decided to celebrate it over an early dinner at Greenbelt.
We had several restaurants in mind: Bubba Gump, Fish & Co., just to name a few, but we had to rule those out, because Mark, JR’s younger brother, is allergic to seafood. Italian food was also not an option, because they just had pasta over lunch at their house. After checking out the other restaurants in Greenbelt 3 and not finding anything we fancied, Japanese food was finally agreed on. We walked to Greenbelt 5 for a belly-bursting meal at John and Yoko.
Anna. 25. 
