Weekends are usually time for me to sleep in and pretty much laze about, but I’ve been trying to get out of the habit of getting out of bed only at noon or worse. So on Saturday, a couple of friends and I decided to go on a walk and we went to the Botanical Gardens. In my many years living in Singapore, I’ve never been to this place where apparently many many locals and tourists alike flock to. What it is really famous for is its orchid garden, which we sadly didn’t have time to visit. That aside, it’s a really pretty place to go to on a weekend morning and just enjoy nature. We also chanced upon a tour at the Healing Garden where the guide introduced many of the plants found in the garden that is beneficial to the body. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the garden was full of pretty flowers. Lovely really.
After all that walking, naturally, we had to go eat, and we ended up at PasarBella again. This is turning out to be one of my favourite spots for weekend brunch. Of course, we had to have the paella again. This time round, we tried the roast chicken and ribs from Charly T’s, mushroom crepe from Le Patio, oysters from Oceans of Seafood, Chicken Cheese hotdog from Huber’s Deli, cakes from a stall next to Tangy Tangerines and beer from The Great Beer Experiment.
Quick thoughts on the food: Chicken was great (tender, flavourful and not dry – loved the BBQ sauce and salsa that came with it), Ribs were forgettable, crepe was chewy, probably due to the fact that they used wholegrain flour (?), loved the Taylor Bay oysters, not too keen on the Coffin Bay ones, which were way too salty and not as plump as the Taylor Bay ones. The chicken cheese hotdog was great, liked it much more than the veal hotdog. Had three slices of cakes – Drunk Cherry (chocolate cake with a cream middle, with alcohol-soaked cherries), liked this, but cake was a little dry without the cream; Pomegranate cake (Vanilla cake with cream, filled and topped with pomegranate), my least favourite cake, liked the burst of pomegranate seeds with each bite though; last and my favourite, Russian Napoleon (pastry layered with cream), not too sweet and just yummy. Also tried peach beer and Wittekerke Rosé beer, which we all liked, thought the peach beer tasted a bit like plum though.
Another first was trying elderflower drink, have seen it tons used in dessert recipes and finally had a chance to try it. Liked it, thought it’s refreshing with a light taste. To me, it tastes nostalgic, like something I had tasted in my childhood, but had forgotten.
After the walking and the eating, we decided to find a foot reflexology place to soothe our aching feet. Trusting google, we walked and walked but alas when we found the shop, we found that there was only one person working – no relief for feet. It wasn’t a wasted trip, however, because we found a little craft beer shop, Brewers’ Craft, right in our little suburban neighbourhood. I ended up buying a 6-pack of assorted beer from Rogue Ales because I was suckered in by the adorable packaging (a little communistesque) and the sound of its Hazelnut Brown Nectar. There were 2 guys in the shop drinking beer, and they proved to be very knowledgeable in beers and suggesting beers to try. Definitely will be back to try the chocolate stouts!
Brewers’ Craft
Blk 354, Clementi Avenue 2,
#01-191
Singapore 120354
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