To-gather Cafe @ Bedok North Street 4

I had a gathering with my secondary school buddies last Sunday.  Due to our hectic schedule, we only got together to meet up twice this year, excluding our secondary school 20th year mass reunion.  We could only lament that time really flies, another year had passed by so fast.  As all of us stay in the East, with 3 of them staying in Bedok, we decided to meet up at To-gather Cafe, which is strategically located at Bedok heartland.

 I called in to make reservation for 5 of us as I had seen queues outside the cafe on two occasions when I was around the area with my hubby. 

 You could request for post-it from them to do some doodle or write some motivational quotes and stick them to a designated part of the wall.

One of my friends decided to bring her two kids along and fortuately, there was a small play corner (just behind our table) for them while the five of us had our food and conversations over the small cozy table at one end of the cafe.

Like many other cafes, we had to go over to the counter to order and pay for our food first.  No service charge and GST here.

 My friends ordered a plate of Mexican Quesadilla ($6.50) to share - Tortilla with grilled chicken slices, sautee mixed bell peppers, mozzarella cheese and fresh tomato salsa.

 Roasted Hazelnut Latte ($4.40)

 I was the only one ordering a main as the rest of them had lunch already.  I ordered Grilled Pandan Chicken Chop, served with light coconut sauce, pineapple salsa, fries and salad.  ($8.90)  The chicken chop was tender and for this price tag, I got nothing to complain.

 I had been warned by my cousin and friends that their Matcha Lava Cake was very sweet.  However, I wanted to try for myself as I thought this was one of their signatures, after looking at so many of their matcha lava cakes on instagram.  True enough, the matcha  was really far too sweet.  My friend and I couldn't finish it off!  :(

Overall, I find the cafe a nice cozy place to chill with friends.  We spent two and a half hours at the cafe catching up and spending quality time with one another.  Looking forward to our next meet-up. Another cafe?  Probably.

To-gather Cafe

84 Bedok North Street 4,
# 01-25 / 27,
Singapore 460084.

Opening Hours:
Sunday - Thursday : 11am - 10pm
Friday - Saturday : 11am - 11pm
First Order - 11.30am / Last Order - 9.15pm
- Closed on Mondays -

For reservation:
+65 6445 1011
Website:  http://www.togathercafe.com.sg/

Refuel Cafe @ Bedok Reservoir Road

I have not really visited many cafes in Singapore as many of them are located quite far from where I am staying and are not very accessible.  I am glad that recently, there are a few cafes making their way into the heartland of Singapore and being an Easterner, I will like to explore some of the cafes in Bedok and Changi area first.  As it was the start of the holiday for me yesterday ie no need to report to work, I decided to make a trip to Bedok Reservoir on my own to have my brunch at Refuel Cafe.

 Refuel Cafe is located at this block.

 Located below the void deck.

 The cafe was not really very big and the seats were almost all filled up by lunch-time.  I saw a few parents bringing their children who were dressed in school uniform (probably they just took their PSLE results) to have their meal here.

 All prices shown on the menu are the Nett prices.  The cafe doesn't charge GST and Service Charge.

 I ordered a small cup of Latte ($4.50).

 Interesting design of the magazine rack.

 As the cafe has the theme of petrol station, you can find "props" like the barrels below, signages related to petrol kiosks here.

The cafe served All-Day breakfast and I ordered their recommended "Full Tank" aka "Big Breakfast" 

which had bratwurst, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, toast, tomatoes, potatoes & salad all served on one plate.  ($13.90)  Of course, I loved the mushrooms best and followed by the lightly toasted bread which was soft.  The scrambled eggs was too creamy for my like as I prefer it to have a bit more texture.

After my meal, I spent some time walking around the neighbourhood.  Near to the cafe, there is this birds shop that caught my eyes.  Do check it out if you are around the area.

Refuel Cafe
Blk 744, Bedok Reservoir Road, #01-3029,
Singapore 470744
http://www.refuel.sg/
Tel : 6448 0015
Operating hours:
Mon - Sun: 11am to 10pm
(Closed on Tues)

5D4N Free and Easy Bangkok Trip - Air Tickets/ Accomodation/ Itinerary + Entertainer App!

Finally, it is the start of the year end holiday for me.  This time, I will just be going for a short trip to Bangkok with hubby during the December holidays.  

Air Tickets:

We had booked our air tickets through www.zuji.com and decided to take SQ flight as the ticket cost only $330 per pax, including all taxes, service fee etc and also 30kg luggage each.  We were surprised that the SQ tickets cost lower than budget airlines and we were really happy to get such a good deal during the December peak period!  :)   

Accomodation:

Next up, we need to decide on the accomodation.  At first, hubby suggested going back to the same hotel that we had stayed in our previous trip - Pathumwan Princess Hotel.  We had very good experience there and it was linked to MBK and accessible to many shopping malls.  However, I recalled that The Entertainer App that I have also includes 1-for-1 hotel room stay.  As such, I decided to check it up and emailed a few of the participating hotels such as Banyan Tree, Sofitel, Grand Millenium etc in the Entertainer App to confirm the pricing for our 4 nights stay.  Finally, we decided on Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit as they allow us to redeem two coupons from the App and we need to pay only around $460 (Instead of $920) for 4-night stay which is another super good deal for a 5-star luxurious hotel!  Hope I can lay my hand on the 2015 Entertainer App soon!

Money Exchange Rate:

I went to Lucky Plaza #01-37 (Rabi Trading)  to change my Thai Baht.  Rate was good at 24.85.

Itinerary: 

Our previous trip to Bangkok was 2 years ago and we covered quite a number of places.  This time, I decided to visit a few new places that we had not visited before.  Here are some of the possible options and the directions to these places that I got from some blogs:

Asiatique The Riverfront: - Take the BTS to Saphan Taksin station and follow the crowd by walking towards the river. Look out for the sign to Asiatique Shuttle Boat and be prepared for a long queue for this free shuttle service!   

 Asiatique The Riverfront: 2194, Charoenkrung 72-74 Rd, Wat Phraya Krai, Bang Kho Laem, Bangkok 10120 Thailand 

Purr Cat Café:  Take exit 1 from Thong Lo BTS station, right turn at the first lane and walk all the way in till you see the cat cafe on your left. Roughly about 11 minutes to reach the cafe from the BTS station.  (**Hubby may not want to come here... Heehee...)

 Chatuchak Market:  The weekend market is open on Saturdays and Sundays, 09:00 – 18:00, and Fridays 18:00 – 24:00.  Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok

Art in Paradise Bangkok: Ratchadapisek Road, Din Daeng, Bangkok, Thailand 10400

Sanrio Hello Kitty House Cafe BKK @ Siam Square One

UNICORN CAFÉ:  Sathorn Soi 8 Bangkok, Thailand

Nearest:  BTS Chong Nonsi

Siam Paragon – After You Café 

J-Avenue Soi Thonglor 13, Sukhumvit 55 Road

Bangkok, Thailand 10110 

Other branches located throughout the city  

Mon-Sun 10:00AM-12:00AM  

Shibuya toast is the cafe's signature item

Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun)   - Sunset

158 Wang Doem Road | Wat Arun, Bang Kok Yai (Take the boat to Pier Tha Tien and then take the ferry to cross the river), Bangkok 10600, Thailand

Erawan Museum

99/9 Moo 1 Bangmuangmai | Samut Prakan, Bangkok 10270, Thailand

BTS to Bearing Station and taxi to Erawan Musuem, about 90-110 baht. Better bring one of the photo of 3 head big elephant and show taxi driver cause some taxi driver don't know where is Erawan Museum. Pay entrance fee (400 baht per person) and can pray and start explore. 

Chocolate Ville

351, Khan Na Yao, Bangkok 10230, Thailand

Maeklong Railway Market

Private transport company located under the Second Stage Expresswayflyover that can take us to Maeklong Railway Market! The trip from Victory Monument to Maeklong Railway Market takes approximately 90 minutes and cost 70 baht per person.

That's all for now!  Looking forward to the short break!  :)

New Ubin Seafood @ Sin Ming Road

My parents wanted to give me my birthday treat in advanced for me as they would be away in Indonesia for their holidays during my birthday.  Hubby suggested going to New Ubin Seafood as he had tried their steak before and he said all the food was great.

Hubby made a reservation at 11.30am for 4pax (my brother was in Korea so he couldn't join us) and we reached there slightly earlier when there was no crowd yet.  We were given a seat just in front of the water feature on the left.

Menu

 We all ordered lime juices as it was complimentary.

 Water feature behine us.

 Fried Mee Special ($12/ S)

We could find many sea of goodness here such as baby squids, clams in a thick gravy and topped with lots of lard.  We all loved it very much.

 US Black Angus Ribeye Steak ($12 per 100g/ min 500g), served with caramelized onions, idaho potato wedges on a wooden platter.  Condiments include sea salts, ketchup and wasabi sauce. 

Most people visit this restaurant for the steak.  This is a must-order!

We had our steak "Medium Well" and it was so flavoursome and juicy!  You could feel my happiness as I chewed each cube of steak in my mouth. 

 A plate of fried rice will also be served to you if you ordered the ribeye steak.  It was actually fried with the fats from the beef!  You can eat this on its own.

 My dad doesn't take beef, so we ordered Signature Meat Platter for him to share with mum.  It consists of Kurobuta Ribs, Chicken Satays and Smoked Duck Breast.  ($50/platter)   

Hong Kong Kailan Special - prepared in two styles.  ($12/ S)

 Overall, it was a great meal!  I am missing the steak, the pork ribs and the hokkien mee now.  Hope to visit it again to also try their soft boiled egg with foie gras.

Thank you Dad and Mum for the treat!  <3 p="">

New Ubin Seafood

Blk 27, Sin Ming Road, #01-174

Singapore 575680

Tel:  64669558  

11.30am – 2.00pm,

5.30pm – 10.30pm

Website:  http://ubinseafood.com/

Masego Halloween Spa Party @ Jurong Safra

I took part in an instagram giveaway from lifestyle blogger chiamhuiy and won a pair of tickets to Masego Halloween Spa Party at Masego Safari Spa, Jurong Safra.  The ticket entitled us to be treated to an array of spa treats like the “Skull Massage” (10-min rejuvenating head massage), “Tribal Nail Art Manicure”, “Tribal UV Face Painting, “Ear Candling”, and also came with a 60-min Masego’s signature Safari full body massage pass worth $68 (on next appointment).  Other than that, there will be acrobatic performances put up by a dance team flown in from Bali throughout the night!

The tribal dancers tried to scare us as our lift doors opened.  Haha....

The moment we stepped into the entrance, we were served with a Welcome Drink which would "open up our third eye".  

See the skull glasses?  Very unique right?  

After that, we walked in and was quite blur what we should do.  Then a nice lady asked us whether we wanted to do hand paraffin, we said ok of course!  We then immersed our hands into the wax liquid which was quite hot.

We were also entitled to a can of Dester beer each.

Acrobatic performances

We also went for a short 10 mins skull massage cum ear candling.

There were also henna hand painting and tarot reading but these were not included in the ticket.  I suggest they should put up the pricing so as to avoid misunderstandings.  

We went on the last day of the event and were surprised to see a big group of kids around.  The emcee was good and she could engage them in games and other activities.

The kids were all very sporting and liven up the whole place.

We also wore their headgears for some photo shots.

 

Group photo with the tribal dance troupe.

Overall, it was an interesting and very family friendly event, nothing scary at all at this Halloween Party.  We will be back again for our 1-hour body massage.

Masego Safari Spa
SAFRA Jurong
Level 3, Leisure Wing
333 Boon Lay Way
Singapore 649848
Tel: 6790 1661