Mmm Bacon

 I love bacon, honestly who doesn’t? Certain religions, some silly ones like vegetarians, and vegans, or those that refuse to eat red meat (even though bacon is technically a white meat). But Canadian bacon is a breed of its own. So delicious its like heaven coating your palate as you bite in and enjoy this delectable treat. 

While in Toronto I was able to enjoy some treats I haven’t had in a long time or ever had on some occasions, Canadian bacon was just one of those beloved dishes I haven’t had in a while.  At the Brownstone Café, I was able to have a Gluten Free pizza, that was good, although not spectacular. The pizza was far too doughy (which is a surprise for gluten free) and the portion was ridiculously large with ridiculously little topping.

At heart I love a good cocktail and after reading on the in flight magazine a group of us decided to make a stop at the black hoof cocktail bar. My personal taste profile highlights smokey and strong drinks based primarily around Cognac, whiskey, brandy, bourbon and rye. So here I graced my lips with their Boulevardier.  I enjoyed it, but it was far from the list of my favourite cocktails, the long lingering finish left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

A few days later we decided to indulge in the renowned “Bar chef”.  It is easy to walk by this establishment and not bat an eye as from street view there is little more than a black door and curtained windows. Once inside this speakeasy, the ambiance is beautiful and whispers in your ear of a good time. In a class of its own their house infused bitters, syrups and liquor speak to the dedication to a cocktail. Opting for a seat at the bar we were promptly greeted by the bartender with menus as he returned back to shaking. We chose the bar to watch the artists on their easel and it was certainly worth the experience. Both of us enjoyed our drinks, my self diving into a Symphony #5 which consists of gin, vanilla cognac, dill bitters, rosemary syrup, a chartreuse rinse and a orange blossom spritz.  

Keen on Crepe

 This week has been rather slow. This has had me seek out new sights to see.  

The standard gym and pool started out my day. I am starting to get a mocha brown colour to my skin. My mother agency back home has advised me not to get too dark. I still see myself as quite pale. This would be about a beginning of June skin colour for me. Certainly no August after the beach. I am being extra careful of course not to burn by either limiting my sun time or throwing on some sunscreen. I am sure that there will eventually be a burn in the exact middle of my back as I can’t quite reach there. I need to find an assistant.

After spotting an ad on the side column of facebook I discovered that there is a place that sells gluten free crepe in Singapore. Hell yeah. This now became time to compare to the incredible one I had after my hike in Canmore with Todd, Amber and Christina. I hopped on the train and set out.  Facebook ads actually work.

I 2 foot jumped onto and off the train. Keeping in good spirits I am always smiling in awe, I have that bounce to my step, and I am always looking to have fun. The new beats I have been listening to on my iPod keep me thoroughly upbeat. I sauntered around town after finding my way to the surface in search of  Keen on Crepe. This was an interesting time of day at many watering holes. Happy hour is usually buy 1 get 1. So you can get 2 beer for 12 bucks instead of 1 for 12. I haven’t taken advantage of this yet though. 

I ordered myself a thai chicken buckwheat crepe. Added the spicy hummus and had it made super (extra tomato and chicken), alongside that I had a cup of tea. The crepe was a little dry and crumbly. But it was pretty good, I would have another one for sure. I sat in the nicely air conditioned building enjoying my crepe and enjoying my book.

Before heading home for the evening, I had to stop by the Fair Price and pick up some apples and some peanut butter. As usual I spent close to an hour touring the grocery store. I find these places so interesting. I always discover new things. For example in my supreme ingredient reading skills I discovered that fish balls actually have no flour in. This  is going to allow me to give some more hawker food a shot.

They have these signs at many of the MRT stations. Very positive I like it. 

The evening was still young so I headed back to the gym and did some Insane abs and kicked my butt.

I officially was all caught up on my favourite tv shows as of 2 days ago and asked my facebook friends for suggestions. Awesome feedback from everyone.  Here is the list:

-       Suits ( thanks matt)

-       How to make it in America (Yui)

-       Hung! (Jenn)

-       The Wire (melodie, but I know the boys liked that show too. Just forgot about it)

-       The League (Vanessa, seconded by Bremner. I started watching this last night, it’s hilarious so far. Love the chirping)

-       It’s always sunny ( suggested by at least 3 or 4 people. I liked the first few episodes, but hated danny devito)

-       Archer (Nina you know my humour so I will trust you on this one)

A kid in a candy store

This is exactly how I felt today.  I had a fantastic sleep yesterday and spent my morning poolside. It was extra sunny today, not a cloud in the sky, which for Singapore is a big change.  I probably spent close to 45 minutes in the water, which has got to be some sort of record for me.

Following that I skyped with mom until I needed to shower and meet up with model friend. Exploring the mall, we searched for a bookstore. After wandering our way down to B4 (that’s right 4^th basement), we discovered that we actually needed to go to floor 3. That’s 7 flights on the escalators. Before that though she wanted to stop by this awesome DC comics store to pick up some merch for friends back home. And that’s when I spotted the Dark Knight. 

Finally making it to the bookstore (it’s Called Prologue), I spotted the fiction section. Under the advice of a very beautiful woman back from Canada (there are a lot of these women in my life J) I found my new book. Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver, it’s the latest James Bond novel. It was a little difficult due to the fact I was looking for a different cover. The one here is white, where as in NA it is black and has a big 007 on it. 

The time rolled in on dinnertime for me and under the discretion of a pointing finger and a picture I tried Beef Kway Teow? I think that’s what it was called. It was beef, peppers, green onions, been sprouts and wide rice noodles. As I was eating this I thought, wow eating out in Singapore is so much easier than in Canada. My model friend commented on how weird I am for eating all the local foods, trying a different dish every opportunity I can.

My day continued to get more exciting when model friend talked about this place that has chocolate. I bought myself a box of the Royce Japanese chocolate. Dark of course, 82% bitter and 94% extra bitter, they came in little 1/3 oz. packages inside a bigger one. Immediately I tried and the chocolate was decadent. Very rich, these chocolates will likely last me until I am done my time in Singapore. This was the candy store part, or was it.

Model friend made my day with this move and made today unforgettable. The garage! Yes the garage! This garage was far more than I could have imagined. She lives in a very wealthy building and the cars in this garage were what dreams are made from. It reminded me very much of that poster in my guidance counselors office. I think they all had one as a requirement. The reasons for higher learning or something like that poster.  

This garage was incredible. Many Rolls Royce, to many BMW, Merc, and Audi to pay attention to. The cars that caught my eye were the incredibly sexy automobiles of the Aston Martin variety.

Audi perhaps? 

Although you can never go wrong with having several Lamborghini in the picture.

Or Ferrari

And one of my all time favourite cars the 911 GT3RS 

Yippee. I was so excited. Here is a YouTube of what I was looking at. Okay here are two videos of it.

After spending at least a couple hours admiring the beauty, model friend showed me the Grocer Jason’s. They had a lot more western things; I figured this would be a good opportunity to familiarize myself with the store. I spotted these.

We all know my never-ending search for gluten free. I had a great chuckle when I saw this. It is always important to acknowledge that just because it lacks gluten, doesn’t make it any healthier than the Choco crisp or other cereals next to it. 

Seeing the cereal reminded me that I didn’t have any left at home. So I continued towards the Tanglin Market only a few blocks away. And then flash, it hit me. Brown Rice Paradise. This is kind of a community natural foods store. I spotted some of my classic favourites and some new products. A picture is worth a thousand words. I was speechless for much of the day so here you go:

And Haley, we totally get ripped off with clif bars at Costco. Blueberry crisp, cookies and crème, brownie, vanilla almond, white chocolate macadamia, not to mention Clif granola bars and many other awesome products.

For a day without work I have to say it was incredibly eventful. I was so excited with everything that happened today. Huge thanks to model friend for showing me a good time, both good company shopping and opening my eyes and dropping my jaw.