Teas and Cakes

Or at least these are the top two essentials on my personal list of "Favourites".

I had not heard of "Swee Heng" until I saw one of my friends from my FB list post up photos of their delectable looking rainbow cake (rainbow cake fan here so). That, and she first chanced upon the rainbow cake being featured on this article which basically lists out the cheap food in Singapore which you can get with just S$2.

Honestly, rainbow cake for just S$2? Are you kidding me? The one above which I got from Dean & DeLuca (Orchard Central and also through a friend's recommendation too) is about S$6 - S$7? Nicely layered and each layer have their own unique taste (the ocean blue layer was bleh though). The cake could do with less cream though, because I ended up scraping off all of the top layer (the table next to me, comprising of three very chic-looking girls, all followed suit to their order of rainbow cake, scraping off the scarily thick top layer of cream like I did with the butter knife we were all provided with).

And I think NOM cafe (also via ANOTHER friend's recommendation, yes, I know, I have quite a number of food connoisseurs on my list ha) also offers rainbow cake in chocolate and sea salt caramel coatings as well? I noticed that it's a common sight that most of their customers who post up on Instagram the rainbow cake variants with these two coatings, could hardly finish them in the end.

Personally, when I was there, I noticed they had another variant which was just plain rainbow cake with a chocolate sponge cake layer, asides from the other two formidable looking ones (the size of the plain variant was like, Goliath verses the Giants sorta comparison). I didn't order the plain one when I was there because I wanted to try out their main dishes on my first visit. Will give it a shot when I'm there the next time, but that what I should so affectionately term as, the "original flavoured" rainbow cake also cost around S$5 or so per slice?

According to Swee Heng's official site, they don't have any branches in Central yet, but I managed to sift out two areas (most of their branches are like situated in the West) which are relatively easier for me in terms of transportation - Boon Keng and Potong Pasir.

Amongst the two, I picked Boon Keng because I figured I might not get too lost for this location (considering the advised directions indicate that it's pretty near to Boon Keng MRT station). Yes, in case you're wondering, I'm speaking from the point of view of a person who is consistently geographically challenged (in other words, don't trust me with a map, if you get my drift).

I don't often go around exploring Boon Keng (although the other cafe which I want to try out - Bloomsbury Bakers is just around the area), however, as I remembered quite clearly that this Boon Keng branch is "along Bendemeer Road", I decided to just take a leap of faith and allowed my feet to lead me to the Bendemeer Road exit (Exit B).

Lo and behold, the first thing I caught sight of was the bakery. Hubs was like, "You didn't get lost did you?" when I called him afterwards.

Nope, I didn't. It was by pure luck that I got the direction right the first time (now I know how to get there, YAY!!!).

It's along a stretch of neighbourhood stalls, mini foodcourts (there's a stall selling handmade Nonya sweetmeats made on-the-spot) and I think there's a UOB branch there too?

Another thing I noted was that the shops here have all put on their Chinese New Year best. Whoever wanna get angbaos ("red packets" which are traditionally given by elders to the young ones for good luck in the new year) and decorations with the new sheep designs, you can pop over to pick them up when you're free. S$2 for 3 packets of angbaos and 80 cents for 1 packet anyone???

The first thing in the bakery which caught my attention was their cake display. Amongst the Tiramisu and what nots, they only had two small blocks of rainbow cake left. Like, really? It was only 1pm plus and there's only TWO left???

Apparently, the article wasn't kidding when they stated that the rainbow cake could be purchased at around S$2. Well, it was S$3, at least that's the price displayed when I saw it.

I had to be quick to grab one of the remaining two, in case anyone else comes along to snap both up. That and I snuck an equally quick shot of the bakery afterwards (was a bit "paiseh" aka "embarassed" when the three lady assistants were like looking suspiciously at my direction), so that whoever else here wanna grab some good cakes and breads, you know where to find the place.

The rainbow cake didn't come in anything remotely fancy, even Swee Heng's plastic bag looked rather humble and traditionally designed.

Open the unassuming plastic cover and one can't help but take a closer look at the even layers in the colours of a pastel rainbow, with thin layers of plain white cream sandwiched between each colour (the purple layer right at the bottom is the thinnest). Even the topmost chocolate layer imprinted with the subtle waves was comfortably thin as well.

Taste-wise? Let's just say I felt like running into the sunset with tears streaming out from my eyes...

I'm kidding.

However, that description might just be very close to how I felt about the taste.

It.is.AWESOME.

Traditional cake lovers, you will die for the taste of this seemingly big portion (the square ain't very small in the first place) of a rainbow cake. The sponge layers are soft and fluffy, buttery with the right amount, though each layer tastes the same. The thin layer of bittersweet chocolate balances out the whole cake, along with the white cream layers which are just mildly sweetened.

It tastes just like the trad cakes I like to buy from my old neighbourhood whenever I pop by there to "visit" my doctor (my family doc's clinic's just right next to it). I thought I would never find such taste anywhere again, until well, Swee Heng just nails it.

I think I might just pick one up for my friend (the one who recommended me NOM cafe) when I visit her at the airport (her workplace heh) the next time.

So while I was happily nomming on Swee Heng's deliciously awesome rainbow cake, I just had to make myself a cup of the new tea I had acquired just recently.

Remember I mentioned in one of my previous posts to guess the next tea I would be featuring?

Ta-da! Unveiling the "Azteca d-Oro" from Gryphon! I got to know of it through the small tiny brochure introducing their selected range of Rooibos which came with my first box of Gryphon tea - "Pearl of the Orient".

Speaking of which, I was never a lover of Gryphon's range of teas until a friend introduced me to her personal favourite - the delightfully sweet "Pearl of the Orient" (Jasmine Pearl Green Tea with Moroccan Rose Oil). Subsequently, I bought another Gryphon blend - the rather strange but pleasant tasting "Nymph of the Nile" (Organic White Peony Tea with Persian Rose and Egyptian Basil). My friend, on the other hand, didn't like this blend and calls it more to be an "acquired taste".

While both the "Pearl of the Orient" and "Nymph of the Nile" could be found at Cold Storage and selected Fairprice Finest branches, this "Azteca d-Oro" could only be found at Kovan's Fairprice Finest (just when I was tempted to get my friend to order it straight from Gryphon's official site).

"Azteca d-Oro" -  a mixture of Rooibos with Madagascan Cacao and Caramel, where this honey-gold elixir of a tea tastes just like the light but delicious Halpea brand of tea one of my friends gave to me (apparently, his colleague brought it back from his India trip and had it put in the office without anyone touching it for a long time after that), but with a strong and earthy spiced chocolate and caramel hint to it.

And if you're wondering about the cup, yes, I got it from my neighbourhood's Japan Home for S$5.90. There were two patterns for this tall off-white ceramic cup - sketched dark navy blue strips emblazoned with a ship's helm in the same colour and sketched salmon pink strips with the romanticism of Paris.

Needless to say, I picked the less gaudy dark navy blue one. That, and I like pirates. Arr-matey! HA!

I bought a new cup because the ceramic mugs at home are either dark navy blue or bright mandarin orange on their insides, which makes it difficult for me to illustrate properly the colours of the teas I'm reviewing.

This new tall ceramic cup is not only off-white on the inside (easier to see the tea colours), but also comes along with a dainty spoon and a wooden cup cover.

Aight, I guess I'll stop here for tonight. Event tomorrow! Need to rise and shine early!

Ciao peeps! Good night and next time! HA!

Scents and the "Seventh Son"

We never have had the habit of putting scents in our car, except for once, where we bought some lavender scented one for its curiously designed bottle (designers by training, so).

So it kinda came as a pleasant surprise for me when one of our close friends bought a Yankee Candle's Car Jar - Balsam and Cedar for us. Although, we joked at first on whether it was because she found our car needed something to smell nice, since it is a fact that we are rather, ahem, tardy on the interior maintenance of our car.

To be honest, I am never a fan of scents and perfumes. Although yes, I did put on Davidoff's Cool Water for a time (because that's the only one from duty-free shops which doesn't smell like, literally, a walking toilet), until my skin got a little bit too sensitive for it. Hubs ain't a fan of typical cologne either because, yes, "walking toilet". And that malodorous odour of cologne mixed with sweat? Ugh, just ugh.

But, close friends being close friends and being one of those who know me well, she knows I'm not into strong scents. Not to mention, she uses this Balsam and Cedar scent mix in her own car as well. The woody smell is calming and pleasing to the olfactory. Unlike the usual scents I come across in scented candles and oils, which have the tendency of stinging and burning at first whiff, this unpretentious emerald mixture gives one the feeling of walking through a tranquil forest at the break of dawn, where the dew hangs heavy in the morning air intertwined with the humble scent of fresh earth.

And according to her, she bought this Yankee Candle Car Jar from a pop-up booth at NEX's Isetan during Christmas, so you know, I thought after Christmas, we can't really find them elsewhere anymore. Just like those pop-up tea booths at Takashimaya B2 during Christmas the year before.

But, how wrong I was and much to my delight when I discovered the small and cosy Yankee Candle shop at Novena Square. Our Balsam and Cedar was shrinking significantly and I thought, maybe it's about time we get a new car jar.

Alas, they didn't have Balsam and Cedar in the car jar version anymore (what I saw was the cardboard and the other round version emblazoned with a bright siam red bird). The very nice shop assistant, sensing my dilemma, took out testers from the two other scents - Vanilla Cupcake and Sun and Sand and asked if I would like to try out either of these two instead.

Initially, I wasn't very keen on the other scents because my friend had told me they were "too sweet" for her. However, after taking a whiff of the Vanilla Cupcake scent, I was agreeable with it because it smells like a well-balanced mixture of my two faves - Butterscotch and Vanilla Ceylon. The jolly shop assistant was quite amused when I told her what it smelt like to me.

Sun and Sand was not really up my alley because it reminds me of those superbly sterilized and tropical scented hotel toilets (and even so, I don't want my car to smell like a toilet so no).

This Vanilla Cupcake car jar is priced at S$9,90 and according to their website, their car jars have a "fragrance life of up to 4 weeks". They have other scents in other equally unique and exquisite forms as well and I have to say it's quite an experience at their store because their variety is awesome and the scents are all so nice.

Perhaps I'll invest in a scented oil burner next because their Midsummer's Night scent has such a nice name but doesn't come in a car jar form, at least not in our local store here.

                            Credits to Collider.com

And, who has been to the movies recently? It's been a long time since we last watched a movie (I think the last one was "Interstellar"?) and well, since our Buddy wants to catch the latest "Seventh Son" movie, we were thinking, "Why not?"

However, you can see us coming out of the theatre afterwards in heated discussion and curses on the excessively weak plot and numerous glaring plot holes. B-grade movie, that's our verdict.

You see, Game of Thrones fans, the first person which comes on screen, I think most of us will recognize him as our favourite "Jon Snow". Cast ain't weak that's for sure (the ones who acted as the witch queen and the witch who protected the city sure are famous faces), but why in the world would they kill him off so early in the movie? I don't think his screen time was that short in "Pompeii" that's for sure.

And the dude who came afterwards, yes, "Seventh son of the seventh son", who is supposedly some special son who has super powers and super human strength.

Or so we thought because the only thing he did was to light up the staff and burn everything. Like, that. Like, ok...

If he the seventh son is like "The Special" because his mum is a witch, then what does that make the rest of his siblings? I mean, they are also imbued with half-witch half-human father genes too right?

And his mum. GOD, you are the witch who stole the Umbra stone from the witch queen ya? Means, you're supposedly quite strong and powerful yes? Why did you just frizzle and die off within a one-hit kill by the witch queen?

Don't, don't even get me started on the witch queen's supposedly epic henchmens. That necro dude just died within one hit? "Elite" assassins who fall like leaves? And that poor dire bear dude who has to be swapped back into human form just to get him to burn properly (this is no WoW where dire bear form gives you more armor...)?

And their head honcho - that supposedly fearful witch queen with seducing abilities (quite like Lorelei with her voice which leads men astray) imbue on her eyes and who can switch to a formidable winged dragon form as and when she pleases? She dies off so easily. WHY.

Underwhelming. And so full of epic fail.

The only character who had so remotely amused me was the spook's ugly servant - Tusk was he? He was the only sorta comic relief throughout the whole movie and his "You just don't die easily do you?" signature stunt was what made me a tad bit tickled at least.

The romance portion was just bleh. Typical witch-turn-turncoat with spook's apprentice love story. Enough with these cliches please.

Otherwise, landscape and background setting is kinda ya, ok. Slightly more impressive than everything else add up together, to say the least.

Would I recommend this movie?

God forbid. No.