Finally managed to went out with kina yesterday before she's leaving for bangkok next week and it was yet another #kinaryl expedition. for the expedition this time round, it was really an eye-opener since i have never visited those places before!
On the night before our expedition, we did some planning and i was looking up on places to explore in Singapore (because we love exploring places #doratheexplorer) and i was telling kina that i felt like i've been living under the rock in my entire life because i never knew places like Gillman Barracks, Seletar airfield and even abandoned kampongs and hostels existed in Singapore. There were too many places we wanted to go within a day and we had a hard time choosing, but in the end we decided to just meet at newton mrt at 12:15pm and explore bukit timah itself (& we planned to get lost).
As early as 9am in the morning on thursday, the weather decided to ruin our plans and rained all the way till noon. I was supposed to wake up at 9, get dressed and ready, leave for the house for an interview at Starbucks and then take a bus all the way to newton mrt. In the end, i woke up at 9:30 and only left the house at 10:40 and went to interview all the way till 12:15. Took a one hour bus ride to tiong bahru mrt (last minute - change of plans). Eventually met the girl at only 1:20pm and we went for lunch at big mama!
Tel: +65 6270 7704
Daily: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 11pm
Tel: +65 6223 8068
Tue to Sun: 11am – 9pm
On the night before our expedition, we did some planning and i was looking up on places to explore in Singapore (because we love exploring places #doratheexplorer) and i was telling kina that i felt like i've been living under the rock in my entire life because i never knew places like Gillman Barracks, Seletar airfield and even abandoned kampongs and hostels existed in Singapore. There were too many places we wanted to go within a day and we had a hard time choosing, but in the end we decided to just meet at newton mrt at 12:15pm and explore bukit timah itself (& we planned to get lost).
As early as 9am in the morning on thursday, the weather decided to ruin our plans and rained all the way till noon. I was supposed to wake up at 9, get dressed and ready, leave for the house for an interview at Starbucks and then take a bus all the way to newton mrt. In the end, i woke up at 9:30 and only left the house at 10:40 and went to interview all the way till 12:15. Took a one hour bus ride to tiong bahru mrt (last minute - change of plans). Eventually met the girl at only 1:20pm and we went for lunch at big mama!
First stop: Big mama
the side dishes which came along with the food! love this part of a korean meal because you get to taste every little bit of each dish.
this was the kimchi pancake we ordered! ate 3/4 of it myself and i loved it.
this was all the food we had on our table! we only ordered the kimchi pancake and a bowl of tofu seafood spicy soup set (which came along with rice). All of these added up to SGD32.00, and we still thought that it would cost us at least 40 bucks.......
didn't really like the soup actually haha
But if you would like to visit Big Mama:
Big Mama
2 Kim Tian RoadTel: +65 6270 7704
Daily: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 11pm
i would recommend you to try the kimchi/seafood pancake here and i definitely wouldn't mind coming here for a second time! The next time i'd try the bestsellers instead.
saw this really clean and classic cafe when we walked over to the other side of tiong bahru - whisk cafe!
Second stop: Whisk cafe
Third stop: Bloesem
also visited this really pretty shop! but didn't manage to get any photos inside because i wasn't sure whether it was allowed. :(
Fourth stop: Tiong Bahru Bakery
this was on our bucket list too! gonna give it a try next time instead since we were too full for any pastries/cakes.
they had this december special menu which i thought was pretty cool.
Fifth stop: The orange thimble
The cafe was so huge though! They had different settings at each corner and the cafe gives a rustic feel at first. At the "backyard", it became kinda unglamorous because of its kitchen and uncleaned glass doors........
We ordered a grapefruit juice for SGD4.50! Pretty refreshing and really fresh.
The not-so-cool side of the cafe :(
Bursting in laughter: in progress
Finding the light to my future. Kidding, i'll never find it hahaha
saw this poster at the back and told her to pose for it HAHA this dude actually looks like osama or some terrorist...........
kina: did they purposely tear the wall to make it look like this??
me: yeah sure.........
(i choose to believe that the walls are just dilapidated on their own)
don't know whether the food there is good because we didn't try any, so i hope to be able to do so next time! the service wasn't exactly good either, but the grapefruit juice was surely refreshing!
The Orange Thimble Cafe
56 Eng Hoon Street #01-68Tel: +65 6223 8068
Tue to Sun: 11am – 9pm
Sixth stop: Drips Bakery Cafe
Just a stop at the cafe for some photo taking and our vlog.
This girl gives the most natural smile. Model material, enough said.
felt that this picture came out really good :-) anyone wants to hire me as a photographer in a modelling/wedding agency?
laughing shots fail 101
i'm an awkward shellfish....................
awkward shellfish #2
still can't pull off the boyfriend jeans look :'''(
what an awkward angle #everythingalsoawkward
Seventh stop: PS cafe
looks like a really posh kind of cafe and i'd definitely try it if i have the chance to!
Eighth stop: Bukit Timah Railway Station
Decided to finally leave tiong bahru after going rounds and not being able to find some of the cafes i wanted to go :( Shall come here next time again to do so!
We took a bus to newton mrt and then another bus at kina's church area to king albert park! we alighted when kina saw the railway tracks.
Initially we didn't know how to get to the tracks because it was above us but we decided to follow the caucasian family ahead of us who were walking past the "no-entry" barrier.
when lost, what should you do? #kinaryl's policy: follow the crowd!
"we're finally here omg!!!!!!"
cheryl's photography masterpiece #2 hehe
ugly shot but the lighting is so good :(
met a photographer, lester, when we were busy taking photos! he was really nice and offered to help us take photos. & he asked whether i could "model" for his project & so i couldn't turn him down! but at least he took a really nice picture of both of us hehe
Ninth stop: Hatched! Holland Village
after struggling to get out of bukit timah and alighting at wrong stops, we decided to go holland village for dinner! i've always thought that holland v would be a cafe-heaven and a really cool place to hang out at but i guess i was wrong, since there weren't as many cafes as expected and there weren't many places to explore :( quite disappointing but at least we only came here when we were in the vicinity, so at least we don't have to make a wasted trip all the way here the next time!
Dinner @ Hatched (clockwise):
- pb & j sandwich: very disappointing! the toast weren't crispy at all and it was so hard to bite/chew the toast itself. The spread was very little too. :(
- Caramelised banana thick french toasts with bacon: this was the best dish out of all we ordered. The caramelised bananas were really good and the french toast wasn't sweet but went well with the maple syrup. Bacon strips aren't really salty either! (Not a fan of bacon because i find them too salty)
- Onion rosti with meatballs: Poor-average standard; the taste of sour cream already put me off from the start and the meatballs were too dry. The rosti wasn't really charred at all and it was no way comparable to marche's! Onion taste was really strong as well :(
I've always had high expectations of Hatched because i thought it would be really good since eggs are literally my favourite (can't live without em) but i've to say that the meal was disappointing overall! Even though the french toasts were nice, it wasn't exceptionally good either. Perhaps the egg dishes would be better, so i would give this place another try at the other franchise at Evans road next time.
Ending my blog post with one of my favourite photos taken yesterday (it's almost 4am now) and also a photo taken by lester. :) Had so much fun taking photos and exploring new places; and i can't wait for our next expedition already!
One of the longest post i've ever posted (with the most photos), so do enjoy!
till then xx
