Nana's Green Tea. 星期天適合放空

一個孤獨但悠閒非凡的星期天午後。早上在上帝的殿靜心敬拜，這一天只適合放緩的步調。

以前讀書的時候，我又搞這個、又搞那個的，大家看我很忙。我自己也曾這樣認為，大概人生最活力、最輝煌的一段，就該在17、18的年華。但今年我28，才發現人生是不斷晉級。就算下一步你走進低谷或某種歲月流逝的警報，經歷的功課只讓我們成長。 我至今的這大概三分一輩子里（憑空的狹義估算），從來都沒像現階段這麼忙過。忙，就是那種腦袋必須一直轉，轉到有點漲的狀態——腦袋的功率極限在不斷地被挑戰與衝破。但，這绝对是一種刻盡本分的充实感 :)

回到那孤單但悠閒非凡的星期天，於是我需要一個放空沉澱、讓腦袋停止機械式運作的時間。於是我隨機地被“Green Tea”二字吸引到了Nana's Green Tea。Hoji Choco Latte，瓷器里碳烤的綠茶，順滑的奶，加上我很愛的巧克力——這是幸福的獨處。悠哉閑哉的能量足夠維持一整天。

但老實說，食物還真是一般。

Nana's Green Tea

The Atrium @ Orchard Plaza, Plaza Singapura, 60B Orchard Road, #03-80/82, Singapore 238891   |   (65) 6684 4312   |   Mon to Sun 11am - 10pm

Paris Baguette. Loving the Brunch

First saw Paris Baguette in Korea, dotting all over Seoul. So it did look familiar to me when I first spotted Paris Baguette in Wisma Atria months ago. But it was not until a post of nice pretty pieces of cakes and sandwiches by my Aunt on Facebook that I gravitated towards Paris Baguette for the first time. Not specially for cakes or pastries this time, but just a quick dinner!

Having sighted the big round fluffy brioche on the neighbouring table that made me drool, we opted for the Scrambled Egg Brioche Brunch. It was great! The brioche was buttery, soft and fluffy, topped with fresh, juicy scrambled egg. And the portion was big. Two of us shared the single serve, which was definitely filling enough, for both of us.

I know it's extraordinary to be at Paris Baguette without any of those love-at-first-sight little cakes. Well, the brunch choices did look very very appealing too. So we would just leave cakes and sandwiches for the next time!

Paris Baguette

Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, 435 Orchard Road, #02-48 / 53, Singapore 238877   
(65) 6836 2010   |   Mon to Sun 10am - 10pm

Cakes of Love. Happy Fathers' Day

A weekend of cake baking. Ah, it had been a while since I had last baked. This time, for two great fathers on the Fathers' Day and my cell group leader for his birthday. Just so happened that all fell at the same weekend and I was back at my sweet home with an oven. For sure I did not have deft fingers. So the cakes were perfectly imperfect with little roughness and casualness. The sincerity counts I guess :) 

Ha! Although I caught a cool and chill glint in my Lao Ba's eyes when he was forced to take the cake, I was so blessed to wish him 'Happy Fathers' Day, Lao Ba!'. Love you.

Flor Patisserie. Japanese Pastries at the Quaint Slope

As a full-time office worker, enjoying a piece of Japanese-inspired French pastry in the middle of a weekday afternoon is definitely the rare relaxing event that's worth a few moments of serious indulgence. It was a weekday on leave for such rare chance to happen. Went to Flor Patisserie, by Chef Yamashita, for a pampering sweet treat. I like the marriage of the little cozy Japanese cake shop and the quaint Duxton Hill. Ah, just the perfect ambience for a tea. 'Flor' is a Portuguese word for flower, and is pronounced as 'fu-ro-ru' in Japanese. I think It's only when you pronounce it as "fu-ro-ru" that you've tuned your taste bud right for the Japanese craftsmanship :) I love Flor's (fu-ro-ru's) Strawberry Soufflé. Cream-cheese cake baked the soufflé way, it's cheesy yet light, fluffy and soft, topped with the little refreshing heap of strawberries. I'll bet I'll be able to bake this well some day! Ha~

Flor Patisserie

2 Duxton Hill, #01-01, Singapore 089588   |   (65) 6223 8628

Mon to Sat 10:30am - 7:30pm   |   Sun 10:30am - 6:30pm

出差香港. 隨便走走的私人星期一

到香港真蠻多次的，但這還是第一次駐扎荃灣。荃灣，乍聼之下肯定也不陌生，因爲港鉄荃灣綫的終站荃灣，就是荃灣。哈。幾天都必須待在荃灣一個小山丘上的俱樂部，我只爭取了一天下山“入世”的時間。 短短8個小時，搭港鉄直奔灣仔、銅鑼灣、中環。“買東西、吃東西、買東西、吃東西”的時間表已靠想象鋪排好。

早餐沒吃便下山，直達灣仔先以潮苑的手打魚圓和牛肉餅暖胃，再來金鳳冰奶茶順喉。金鳳菠蘿油向來是我至愛，但單凴我一人實在啃不了那麽多。

潮苑和金鳳對街，是每次在香港時都想一逛的“玩具街”。隨意玩賞小檔攤上的商品、挑選幾個模型車給寶貝外甥Ethan、一些有趣的文具和小玩意給侄女玥瑤、比新加坡便宜許多的鋼彈模型給Y、再為自己感受一下熙來攘往。




本想到銅鑼灣的住好啲G.O.D隨便走走，不想已不復再。過橋米綫、榮記車仔面和太興奶茶我也無胃消受。時間催逼下，我很快轉戰中環。抱著還是別太浪費食物的信念，我意識性地遺忘蘭芳園和九記牛腩，決定專心逛逛就好。

我享受大步大步、帶點漫無目的瀟灑步伐。雖然沒買什麽，但為這個休假于香港的星期一塞滿了很多快樂。

Seoul. Mananim 마나님. Amazing Bibimbap and Fantastic Pasta

I was very inspired by my recent dining at Manna Story to share this months-ago experience. This was an amazingly fantastic eating experience with Amazing Bibimbap and Fantastic Pasta in Seoul, at the beautiful Samcheong-dong (삼청동, 三清洞) area.

We were brought to Mananim 마나님 by one of our very friendly and amiable Korean business associates, Kim, who knows where all the good foods are. To me, as only a foreigner to the place, Mananim seemed quite hidden location-wise, and I was not sure how well-known it was to the local, but it was indeed very impressive for its unique and healthy Korean home-style foods which were prepared with lots of fresh organic ingredients.



Apart from the real good food, the lady owner of Mananim, who was also the main and only chef of Mananim, was one of the stars in the cozy eatery too. She's a very true-to-herself person and seriously dedicated to good food in her own way. She self-made all the sauces, cheeses and pickles in her shop, and didn't like to be disturbed at all when she did her work. Kim, mischievously walking around in the tiny restaurant and disturbing her with questions, got lectured! That was indeed a very funny one.



I must say, as a pigheaded fan of bibimbap, having the chance to try the Amazing Bibimbap (방실 비빔밥) once in my lifetime left me with no regret. It was so special, so different, so healthy, yet so delectable. Not to say the Fantastic Pasta (수제치즈  파스타) so rich with the home-made cheese --- the most refreshing creamy cheese I've ever had. Forgive me if I am a bit seized with exaggerating. I am writing this based on memory and this is the exact impression that the combination of Amazing and Fantastic left me with.

Mananim 마나님

서울특별시 종로구 안국동 17-1    |   17-1, Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul   |   (82) 2 3675 8688

新山. Just Want Cafe. 堅持原味

我不喝咖啡，除非提神需要。例如10年前的大學時代，不上課又逃tutorial的，考前一天臨時灌個兩三杯也是要的。又如10年後的今天，工作腦筋轉得比較慢，若要趕上deadline，偶爾選個吉日灌個一兩杯，也不能少。

不喝歸不喝。喜歡cafe寫意的氛圍，我特意去愛上熱可可、熱奶茶。嚮往的就是自我滯留在閒適的空間裏發發呆、打打字、看看人，蹉跎一下。

在新山Permas隨機發現這個咖啡館，隨性坐了一下。喜歡它的吧臺，放空的視線偶爾聚焦在咖啡師傅或冰滴咖啡或咖啡豆或奶泡上，臨近欣賞又置身事外——愜意。工作臺後他們喊著店長的，我私自確定是一位鑾中生。讓我再努力回想一下，下回也許能開口相認。

我對咖啡沒有研究、沒有獨鍾，但還認得一點咖啡香，也對Just Want  Cafe營造出的舒服而專業的感覺有一些認同。誰說這不是一個讓你流露一點閒情雅志的地方？

Just Want Cafe

#0G-04, Blk A, Permas Mall, No.3 Jln Permas Utara, Bdr Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru 
(60) 7 3806 630   |   Mon to Sun 12pm - 9pm

Manna Story. Creates Korean Dining Culture

I've always been a fan of Korean food. Although most of those that I had in Korea are quite incomparable, I frequented Korean eateries in Singapore still. In fact I have only been to a few of them, yet I luckily find some of them authentically good.

Manna Story at Plaza Singapura is my new favourite. I know that I am slow to have only tried Manna Story for the first time very recently. Creating Korean dining culture --- I think the tagline fits well. I could feel an intense Korean dining atmosphere as I stepped in. Some of the settings are really unique to Korean eating houses.

The menu is simple yet interesting. There are hot plates of bulgogi (literally 'fire meat'), dak galbi (diced chicken in chili paste) and topokki (rice cake). We decided to leave the hot plate for our next patronage. This time, what first caught Y and I was jaengban guksu (literally 'large platter noodle') with a big heap of vegetables. We love veggies! And I have serious cravings for sundubu chigae (hot and spicy tofu stew) or kimchi chigae (kimchi stew) too, so I can never have a meal of Korean food without getting an order of them. At the end, we got a sundubu chigae which struck us with its savoury soup. The meal was just solid.

Manna Story

Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road, #B2-22, Singapore 238839   |   (65) 6238 1245

Mon to Sun 10am - 9pm

出差台中. 四. 老樣咖啡 Old Young Brunch

趁著搭高鉄到桃源再到機場前的空檔，我在這最後的早上偷閑，想飾演一位脖子上挂著相機、悠閒於周日早晨、在cafe隨性坐坐的自由人。上網搜了一下，飯店附近就有一 間蠻特色的咖啡館。

輕快的心加輕快的步履，與飯店只隔了幾條街的大和路上，出現了以老屋改建的“老樣咖啡館 Old Young Brunch”。從網上下載的期待，是一棟黑白建築，加上一台泊在門口的老爺車。但眼前的黑白建築卻少了老爺車陪襯——確實少了點活潑和趣味。

不懂咖啡的我，單點了熱巧克力奶茶；我不為任何拿手或特色餐點而來。 想來靜心感受的，只是在這棟老式日本房舍和悠閒氛圍壓制下而放緩的時間的清新味道。

巧克力奶茶很順、很濃，早上的老房cafe 被我一個人包了場。這是這趟台中悠然自得的句點。

老樣咖啡館 Old Young Brunch

台中市西區大和路17號   |   (886) 4 2301 2881

出差台中. 三. 兩個味道

台中雖短短兩天，同事努力地帶來一些台灣的味道。跟著台中人的口味，讓自己稍稍流連台灣的味道，應該就是地道的體驗吧。例如東興市魯肉義一碗香嫩的魯肉飯便讓我、也讓排隊等著外帶的人龍滿足。我豪氣地沉溺肥肉伴著瘦肉入口既能嚼又能即時化開的感覺。味香肉嫩的一碗足以讓我抛開戒心、再把肥膩的代價置在腦后。

肥肉以外，我其實還是崇尚較健康飲食的。當然健康與否，常常也只求相對下的概念。例如這第一次嘗的台式涼麵——嘉義班長涼麵便是相較肥肉下的健康選擇。這狀似平凡中很夠味的小驚喜：香郁的蒜泥芥末沙拉醬加上清爽的黃瓜絲，撈拌出的是沁人的涼意也是口口濃郁的味道。

出差台中. 二. 亞緻飯店 One Hotel

第一次入住台中亞緻飯店便愛上了。衛生、房設、舒適感、接待等，讓人有欣喜若狂的感覺。最愛淋浴和浴缸間連著一扇可以眺望都市景觀的大窗。二愛容許我“大”字形攤躺的大床。再愛“L”形大型窗景，讓早晨陽光直接打在床上那種溫暖而又讓人活力充沛的感覺。



很認床的我，帶著私人小抱枕助我安穩地睡着。哈，看它躺在大床上、晨光下，很是舒服。

台中雅緻大飯店 One Hotel Taichung

台中市西區英才路532號   |   (886) 4 2303 1234

出差台中. 一. 印象台中

曾經到台南公幹。對我而言，台南是個比較鄉土的地方，就连生意人也給人很樸實的親切感。曾經到台北觀光。但不知怎地，我不太喜歡台北；空氣、節奏、氛圍，讓我有點無所適從。曾經因公逗留台中幾個小時，那次的台中就只是逢甲夜市的臭豆腐。

這次，第一次要短短地下榻台中，想象著和台北應該是相似的，沒甚麼期許。但是，台中市給了我一些驚喜——生活化而有個性；多元，又融合。

兩三天的公差時間，真正在台中市街道上的時間很少，接触的大概只是九牛一毛，但基本印象是色彩的、是舒服的。沒有特別的綠意盎然，但有滿街豐富的色彩和設計，精彩而寫意地融合在一起。

挨著魯肉飯館的可能是室内簡約時尚的意式窯烤披薩餐廳；麻辣熱騰的火鍋館子對角，可能立著獨樹一幟的個性主題Cafe；速度與便利的超商底層，可能藏著時間流速在文字間緩慢下來的二手書店；夜晚臨近午夜的街道上，賣著宵夜的檔口和珍珠奶茶館，還在燈火通明……

這便是這一趟，台中留給我的印象。

Hungry Chimps. Swinging Good Time

I am rather predictable for where I usually hang around. Bugis area is one of my hot spots; my church is there and I attend my oil painting class also there. So my usual food places -- naturally, most of them are in Bugis too. Hungry Chimps is one of the ‘not-bads’ on my convenience list. My church is at one end of Prinsep Street, and Hungry Chimps is just at the other end. 



Not sure about its weekend occupancy rate, I like its weekday dinner hours. It isn’t very occupied, giving a glimpse of relaxing ambience --- not too good for Hungry Chimps I suppose, but good for me :) Main courses are served at S$15 to S$25 nett while desserts ranging from S$8 to S$10 nett (they don’t charge tax or service charges).



This time, I was there as early as 6:20pm after knocking off a meeting nearby. There were only one to two tables occupied. Yuzu Honey Chicken with Sour Cream: Japanese yuzu marinated chicken served with grilled potatoes and bacon sour cream. I was in love with the sour cream.

If I’m not wrong, Volcanic Chocolate Lava Cake is one of their signatures; but I felt like eating a carrot cake. So we had the 4-Tier Specialty Carrot Cake with Fruits. In layers of cream cheese, it was quite palatable but not very impressive or as amazingly soft as described in the menu. After all, another satisfying meal.

Hungry Chimps

64A Prinsep Street, #02-01, Singapore 188667   |   (65) 6338 1389

Mon to Sun 11:30am - 1pm

出差長沙. 三. 好的回憶

中國同事“T總”，新加坡籍，在長沙混了幾年。 菸是他的氧氣，酒是他的開水；他的原則是“不吃草”，但肉吃兩塊、飯吃兩口也就飽了。他堅持自己十幾年前運動員的底子打得好，但我想再好的底，也很難容許他這樣消費自己的身體。勸了幾句，碰上了“硬頸”與自負的固執，也是白費。

每次去長沙，T總會很友善地給你三种下班后娛樂性質的選擇：一洗腳、二KTV、三魅力四射。洗腳洗到睡着和唱悲傷情歌，都是他的嗜好。但這些選擇我光聼都厭了，還不如呆在酒店。

但這次T總不知怎的良心發現，給了我幾個在長沙的新收穫。

第一，他遞來了一碟長沙臭豆腐。油還是油，辣還是辣；黑黑的看起來很不健康——但真的好吃，外脆内多汁。不管是館子裏賣的，還是街上排著長龍的，都好吃。有別于臺灣的臭豆腐，有自成一格的特色；我很老實地說一句，這是我唯一愛上的長沙口味。

第二，就是有一晚他帶我們走了“步行街”。購物不是我的興趣，但是去步行一下，也算是感受過。

再來，他竟然趁送我們到飛機場前的空檔，帶我們到了幾個景點。橘子洲和愛晚亭，確實就只是遊客景點——一個很大的毛澤東的頭像，和一個很平常的亭子。但可以看一眼，也爽。

最後，是我蠻喜歡的“太平老街”。原來長沙還有這麽一條有趣的街道。老磚塊砌起潮流；簡樸中又串流起速度。

離開長沙前，當然在這裡再來點臭豆腐。老街裏的“李四姐正宗”好吃得不得了。