I’ve been wanting to do up this post since 2 months ago, but I’ve been bombarded by so much good food and work that I haven’t had the time to do this! This review has an exclusive blog story about how we celebrated Benny’s 26th birthday and a review of the few places we’ve been to on that day!
Some of you may have know that I had been planning for these 2 days since 1.5 months before the day. Since his birthday was on a Sunday, I decided to make it a 2-day celebration, and it was a very stressful 1.5 months to not blurt out everything to him, cause I tell him everything. Hahaha!
I planned for a 2D1N staycation at Studio M, cause we haven’t had proper alone time for the longest while. I just thought that spending time with me would be the best present he could get. Hahaha! My skin as thick as elephant, I know. I intended this as a surprise, however, as the days got closer, I realized that it would be difficult for me to keep it a surprise because he has to fetch me there on his bike right, and I have to get him to pack his clothes.. BUT I managed to keep it a secret until the day itself when he picked me up from Liang Court. That’s a huge win ok?
He picked me up from Liang Court because he had to work on Saturday morning and I was thankful for that cause that bought me more time for this:
It was so last minute because the 40+ photos I’ve ordered to print only arrived on Friday night, and I’ve to get all of these ready by Saturday morning. Thank goodness I’ve been religiously writing little notes to him everyday since the day I started planning for this weekend to get the book filled! Here are some snippets of my very beautiful drawing:
Surprise #1
So thankfully I finished up whatever that’s left just before he arrived, and we headed off to Studio M! It took us about 10 minutes to queue for our check in, and even though we arrived after the check in time of 2pm, they still haven’t got a room ready for us, and they promised to call us when it’s ready in an hour or so. BUT UNTIL 4plus 5, THEY STILL HAVEN’T CALLED. I PAY SO MUCH TO STAY IN THE ROOM AND NOT WAIT UNTIL SO LATE OK? (Yes, I still remember even after 3 months, cause I’m a grudge bearing bitch).
Since we had to wait, we decided to grab us some lunch at Five & Dime! The place of our “first date”, kinda!
Flashback: The First Date
Omg, this is so awkward but I remember every single moment spent with this boy and thinking about it just makes me beam so widely. The first time we met and spent time together was actually unplanned, so this was our first planned meeting. The annoying boy signed up for the same 10km run so that he could run with me, and I was so annoyed because, omg I’d be so gross and unglam, with my dying pig face during the run because I was so unfit then. And I really thought he’s the hottest guy I knew, and still is the hottest guy I know right now. So it’s gonna be a horrible run, with me trying to not die and look glam, while running with this dude who runs marathons.
Let me make my worries clearer to you guys (damn it I got carried away stalking my own Facebook):
VS.
How to compare? He’s like the ridiculously photogenic guy. Seriously who looks so good running a marathon?
To cut the long story short, we finished, I hit my 10km PB of 51 minutes, and I was as unglam as a dog. Yet, during the run, I looked at him from behind and I was so smitten, and so happy that I finally found someone who would push me over my limits and make me better.
After which, he brought me to Five and Dime, because I’ve once mentioned to him about how much I wanted to try the Golden Custard Lava Cake from there! Guys who pay attention to details like this… HAHAHA!
The Place
Five and Dime is inconveniently located along River Valley Road. Even though it has a bus stop located right opposite it, I haven’t had the chance to locate the buses that go there, and so it’s still inconvenient to me. Both times we were there, we had to walk for about a good 10 minutes to get there.
The eatery has a nice clean exterior, adopting a white and black theme. Whitewashed walls and black fonts, with clear windows spanning the shopfront. Its interior was cosy, with a wooden bar table, brick walls, pastel colored furniture and a huge blackboard with its dessert menu on it. Beware of the chalk board because both times, we succumbed to ordering desserts because we happened to read the menu while having our meals. Hahaha! I love the windows and clear glass doors especially, because it lets in natural light in the day, giving you good quality food pictures.
The Food
We were here twice, and in case you didn’t know, they have different menus offering Brunch food on weekends, Lunch and Dinner! Click here for the menu!
The first time we were there, we were being presented with their dinner menu. I was initially drawn to the Braised Pork Belly ($22), however they were sold out for the day. (This day was also the start of our unlucky food hunts because it seems like the food I want to order would be unavailable when I’m visiting with him! HAHA!). I ordered The Burger ($23) instead, while the boy (wait, he wasn’t my boy then, he was still that guy) ordered the famous Mentaiko Pasta ($18)! We knew we were both made for each other when we decided on ordering 2 desserts cause we have such sweet tooth! We had an Eton Mess ($12), simply because it sounded exotic, and a Vanilla almond cake with ice cream, on the house!
Some strawberry drink we ordered.
The Burger ($23++): Pork and beef patty, with veggies and a sunny side up, served with a side of shoestring fries! A rather ordinary burger, which wasn’t too impressive!
Mentaiko Pasta ($18++): A must order when you’re here. Enough said. I loved the mentaiko cream sauce, which was a good amount of savory. The pasta was also springy and it was an absolute delight to have.
Spiced Eton Mess ($12++): I just stole this from his instagram cause I realized that I didn’t have a picture of it. What is an Eton Mess? It consists of strawberries with spiced meringue in brulee sauce. It just sounds foreign to us, and so we decided to have it. It was pretty okay, but I’m not a fan of meringue, so I’m not too crazy over it!
Vanilla Almond cake with ice cream: I can’t remember why this was on the house, probably because they forgot our order or something, but free food usually tastes better than it really is. Hahaha! I was really attracted to this dish because it’s so adorable. You would like this if you are a fan of almonds!
Oh and I forgot to mention that, we missed the last portion of the Golden Custard Lava Cake by just one order, and we didn’t get it in the end..
On our second visit, that is on the eve of his birthday, we were lucky enough to catch their brunch menu! I wanted to try the Braised Pork Belly Sandwich, which was served with a side of sweet potato fries, and without a doubt, it was sold out. So, I ordered the Mentaiko Pasta ($18++) instead, while MY boy had the Eggs Benny ($18++). We also had 2 desserts this time round, the GOLDEN CUSTARD LAVA CAKE ($12++) and a Milo Panna Cotta ($8++).
Eggs Benny ($18++): Poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce, served on a brioche with wagyu slices, with a side of potatoes and fruit salad! I’ve eaten so many brunch food that none of the Eggs Benedict can impress me anymore. Hahaha! If you’re fan of Eggs Benny, then this would be a good rendition of it! Mentaiko Pasta ($18++): It was still as good as I remembered. The only con to it? One serving is definitely not enough.. Golden Custard Lava Cake ($12++): We finally meet after 6 months… And I was so excited to meet it. LIKE OMG. When it was served in the dimsum straw basket to our table, I nearly died of hyperventilation.
LOOK AT THAT LIQUID GOLD OOZING OUT. GOODNESS. But frankly speaking, very frankly, it’s just really novelty. Hahaha! I don’t crave for it ever since having it. It’s just chocolate with the custard filling. I would still very much prefer a Liu Sha Bao to any of these twists to the original dish. But this is a good try! Got to try it at least once if you guys are there! Milo Panna Cotta ($8++): It’s basically like jelly stuff with sticky milo stuff. I was too overwhelmed with the lava cake that I actually neglected this. It’s pretty good a dish, worth a try!
So we ate till 4 plus 5, and Studio M still hasn’t called us. How horrible right? We then decided to take a stroll back to the place to wait for our check in. Meanwhile, I was busy on my phone planning with his friends about the surprise to spring him tonight! I initially wanted them to come up to our room to have a little party with pizzas and all, but they all had work, and the timing did not quite work out. It was such a stressful lunch actually. Hahaha!
We finally checked into our room, and realized that the hotel forgot to inform us that it was ready. I want to rage at them, but nah, I shall be nice for once. We then spent our afternoon/evening snoozing on the bed, while enjoying some movies on the TV. The room was really small, as you guys would have heard before, but it’s a loft design, which was what attracted me to it in the first place. I forgot to get pictures of the place, and partly because I thought it was difficult to actually get the full view of the room since it’s so high and small. I got the Premier Loft, instead of the Studio Loft, because of the fact that the bed was on the Mezzanine (higher level), rather than the ground floor, which I thought would be cooler and more cosy. Basically, just cheap thrill. Hahaha!
The only picture I took from the bed:
Yeah, so you can see how high the bed was, and how messy I am, while the boy is a very neat boy. Every time I throw my things anyhowly, I would find it neatly arranged the next time I see it.
Surprise 2!
Since we had a really late lunch, the boy was lazing on the bed watching some food truck cook off, while I was trying to get him out for dinner earlier so his friends could come later, but we only left the room at 9 plus, so his friends and I made a spontaneous change of plan to surprise him at the Bak Kut Teh place, when they started streaming in by batches, which was quite funny to watch.
It’s a pity that we didn’t take a photo together, but I’m glad that the surprise worked!
& this was what we had for 2 people, cause I said I was craving for meat. We are such gluttons, but that’s also why I love him!
This is it for Day 1, and I’ll see when I’ll have the motivation to write one up for Day 2, which would include the review for Spuds and Aprons at Mount Faber!