♥19 Little House of Dreams

Little House of Dreams (Singapore. Clarke Quay. Clarke Quay Central)

 First came across this brand when I saw a picture of its Public Garden Flea stall on a blog 2 years back.

The presentation of the cakes looked so pretty so I decided to head down to the flea @ 111 Somerset to try their jar cakes.

Since then, I have never got round to visiting its actual store until recently.

Their permanent store is located at the basement of Clarke Quay Central mall. (Just above Clarke Quay MRT)

True to their style, the shop was very prettily decorated, with pastel furniture and flowers. Definitely hits a soft spot as my kind of cafe (:

The store was pretty quiet when I went on a Saturday afternoon (as with most of the mall actually), so i was able to enjoy the peace and quiet as the sole dine-in customer. (:

 Most of their cakes were sold out when i went at 3pm (probably because it was the eve of Mother's Day)

Strawberry Blanc Cupcake $3.50

A vanilla strawberry base with icing on the top and sprinkled with hearts.

Was kind of disappointed that they only served their cupcakes on paper plates ):

not as nice to take photos with. hahhaa

The texture of the cupcake was a little different form the usual spongy texture, the cupcake has a chewier texture, like that of kueh. Could be the type of flour they used. 

The flavour of the base was not too bad and there were real strawberry pieces inside, but felt it could do with a bit more strawberry. 

The icing was a tad too sweet and a bit grainy/sandy. 

Overall, felt that the cupcakes here were just so-so.

Love their dessert-themed witty phrases table placards(?) (:

 Their workshop area, plus shelves stocked with partyware and baking/home decor items for purchase. Love the pink and blue cake stands and jars! (which are out of my budget ):)

The bright,cheery floral arrangements on the side tables add life and colour to the store (:

The shop also sells some cards and some really cutely decorated  cookies ($3.50)

Bought a cloud cookie for Mother's day. (: 

♥ Loved

Whimsical, pastel-themed decor!

The cheery flower arrangements

Little House of Dreams

Mon-Thu, Sun: 11:00am -8:00pm

Fri, Sat: 11:00am -9:00pm

6 Eu Tong Sen Street

The Central #B1-27E

Singapore 059817

Around Singapore - Campervan galore at Orchard Central

After dinner at TripleOne Somerset, decided to walk around Orchard Central since it has been a long time since I last walked around that area. 

Was delightfully surprised to see a whole fleet of candy-coloured, prettily decorated campervans turned into stalls as part of Orchard Central's "Summertime in the Park @ OC" promotion (: 

Decided not to miss the chance to take all the lovely photos of this creative endeavour by Orchard Central. Definitely have to give them a thumbs up for thinking of more creative ways to attract more shoppers to their mall.

(Orchard Central has always seemed a bit quiet as compared to the neighbouring 313 Somerset, and many of the shops there have come and gone, but have always admired them for retaining their mix of lesser-known brands instead of defaulting to all the big brands like some other malls along Orchard.)

 This first campervan is the designated photozone for people like me (haha), with a bench and a swing for shoppers to pose with the colourful vans in the backdrop. (:

 This campervan was my favourite! The bold blue and red stripes really made it "pop" and of course, who would be able to resist the funky-coloured food posters. Cotton candy anyone? (:

 Maximising every inch of space (including the bonnet). hahaa (:

Check it out!

Summertime in the Park @OC 

29 May - 9 July 2015

♥ 18 East Manhatten Bakery Cafe

East Manhattan Bakery Cafe (Singapore. Lorong Kilat)

Decided to head to Lorong Kilat after reading about it being (yet another) upcoming cafe hotspot. Remembered that i used to go there a long time ago to eat curry fish head at one of the coffee shops. Hahah. But times have changed and the row of shophouses consists of mostly cafes (of which Carpenter and Cook was probably the first cafe here that made this the next IT place) and a handful of korean restaurants.

Came on a Friday night for some dinner and walked past East Manhattan. Popped in for a look and the menu looked good and the staff seemed nice. However, eventually decided to have something more substantial - Korean BBQ at Kim's family restaurant (which has quite a tasty and reasonably priced BBQ set).

Decided to come back on the following Saturday for brunch/lunch. When we walked past, one of the staff immediately came up to me and asked "lunch?" and started to try to convince us to go there for lunch. So my first impression was "is this cafe that bad that they have to start convincing people to come?". But my worries were unfounded as we were very satisfied with the food and the service.

Manhattan All day breakfast S$16.80

The all-day breakfast was pretty good with the combination of food complementing each other. Was expecting the smoked salmon to be slightly salty. But it wasn't. The eggs Benedict was also well done (:

Slice of cake of choice, tea  + S$7.50

Chose the Apple Cranberry Cheesecake after a long deliberation. There were just too many choices but the staff were really helpful (and honest) when they told me not to choose the rainbow cheesecake as it mostly just looked good but the taste was very ordinary. 

The Apple Cranberry Cheesecake was very delicious and unique (: The cheesecake was of the dense rich type and the apples and cranberries were juicy and mixed in generously.

The staff was also very nice to provide us 3 teacups for us to share the tea and even helped us to refill it with hot water (:

Aglio Olio Prawn S$16.80

One of the better Aglio Olios i have tried, the taste is really infused into the pasta and the prawns were fresh and juicy 

Carbonara ( not on the menu)

Pastas are usually our go-to order at cafes so initially decided on the 2 pastas on the menu aglio olio prawn and aglio olio shrooms. The staff was really helpful when he noticed that this 2 were pretty similiar and suggested that they could whip up a carbonara instead. (: thumbs up for that!

 Downside : service was quite slow, considering we were only 1 of 2 tables occupied and the other table were already halfway through their meal. The food took about 20 -25 mins to come.

Also, the service staff seemed a bit new and forgot to give us our cutlery. Had to ask once for a teaspoons and sugar for our tea and again after that for the cutlery of our mains. Other than that, the service as very good, the staff were really friendly and warm and helpful in helping us to choose.

*Update:
went back to eat there again with a friend on that Friday, and the staff there was like 'hey! you're back!" haha. so thumbs up for remembering their customers (:

Ordered the Aglio Olio prawn again and the salmon quinoa. The Aglio Olio was a little bland this time but the salmon quinoa was pretty good.

 All in all, I would say East Manhattan Bakery Cafe is a pretty good cafe in that is food is genuinely good and the staff were very personable and helpful (: Definitely would recommend this cafe if you are looking for a cafe  which serves good food and not just one where you "pay-for-the ambiance"

 East Manhattan Bakery Cafe

19 Lorong Kilat #01-03

Singapore 598120

Opening Hours:

Mon: Closed

Tue – Thu: 10am – 9pm

Fri: 10am – 10pm

Sat: 9am – 10pm

Sun: 9am – 7pm

Prices are NETT (: No GST and service charge (:

Cuteness overload ♥ fuzzy doggies

Redeemed vouchers from Takashimaya in exchange for loyalty points. Was supposed to use it for something practical (ie bag/shoes) but as usual, ended up at the gift section. (:

 Headed to the Gund section (have become a Gund fan ever since I bought the cute and VERY VERY soft frog)

 

These two fuzzy dogs caught my eye immediately (:

Thought of one of my "kids" who recently took a liking for soft toys and thought it would be the perfect birthday gift for him (:

 Gund Fuzzy Dog and Fuzzy Spotted Dog $19.90 each

 Fresh and clean after a good wash (:

♥