3 big reasons to support them, first being that they are also a social enterprise hiring the deaf/hard of hearing folks! Secondly, when you order your drink from the screen, you'll have a bear paw serve you the drink - no human interactions required. Lastly, they have some really unique and local flavours which is not your typical bubble tea style. I was kindly sent a few cups by their PR, and let me review them for you below!

 I went to Chef Shen's latest venture, the OG Lemak stall at Newton Food Centre today. Filmed a vlog too! The OG Lemak was $7.90 and the Chicken Rendang was $9.90. There's also beef rendang and vegge rendang. A little pricey compared to typical nasi lemak, BUT totally worth it! Try it for yourself, and get the chicken rendang if you had to choose.

It's just near the SafeEntry entrance from the carpark, on the right.

YAY dining out is once again allowed, albeit for only up to 5 fully vaccinated individuals! I was so bummed when dining out was forbidden, allowed again, then forbidden again due to the KTV cluster up till 18 August. But the government relaxed it again halfway through for vaccinated people, so here we are (even though I am only fully vaccinated on the 20th). 

What I had just before the lockdown though, was the seafood dinner buffet at Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel Merchant Court, and let me tell you, I was so pleasantly surprised by first, the quality, then of course the value. We had the seafood bucket version in July but for August, their ala carte dinner buffet is priced at just $72 for adults and $36 for children. That's such a great deal for all the fresh seafood and quality food cooked ala minute for you, freeflow (except the seafood bucket). 

 So it's been almost 4 weeks since my previous Moderna jab and I finally got my second jab on Friday, 6 August! A lot has happened since.. including a revert back to Phase 2HA with no dining out AGAIN. But the good news is that from 11 August, up to 5 fully vaccinated people can gather and dine out, and unvaccinated people can dine up to 2 at coffeeshops/hawker centres. So my dining out status will be reinstated from 20 August onwards and I can't wait. 

Here's my vaccination vlog part 2.. apologies if its not dramatic or anything since I didn't suffer much of any side effects as well, thankfully. I had given myself the entire weekend to die from it but it only really took me Saturday. Anyway here's the vlog. Hope this helps!

People who know me know that I'm a big fan of sustainable products and I try to avoid single-use plastic whenever possible. However, I have to admit, sometimes I feel quite frustrated when here I am trying to not take straws or bags... and then the pandemic hit and millions of disposable masks, test kits and PPE are being used and discarded after 1 use. Also not to mention the disposable containers to takeaway food. All of which goes straight to the incinerator and landfill (which we are lucky to have!). Aaanyway. That's just a small rant. I find that it's really on the big corporations and governments to treat this plastic problem like the crisis it is. 

Regardless, I try to do my part because individual action still counts if everyone does it together. So when I heard about a Singaporean startup called Eco Soaps set up by a retired pharmacist homemaker - I was definitely intrigued to find out more. I met up with the founder, June, who told me how she got fed up with carrying bottles of detergent and soap one day nd had the idea to make her own eco-friendly versions and passed me the products to try.

And here it is in the empty foaming bottle that June passed me as well! The liquid hand soap was shimmery for some reason and looked so pretty. I had added two drops of pure lavender essential oil in there too (which June also gave), which made hand washing a mini aromatherapy session every time. This hand soap is great because I just need one pump and the foam spreads out. When I wash with water, there's this very clean feeling (not like some mall toilets' bright pink hand soap which feels slick and has a strong chemical smell even after lots of water - I'm sure you know what I'm talking about). So now I tend to wash my hands more regularly in the day even when I'm at home working, because I can get that aromatherapy + clean feeling AND I can rest my face on my hands without having bacteria transferring. You can get the Eco Soaps soap flakes here (it's also my top pick!)

She also shared some scented and unscented paraben and chlorine-free laundry sheets that she brought in from the UK by a brand called Simple Living Eco. I have seen these in videos by people who go on long camping trips and instead of lugging heavy detergent liquid around, they use these in pots of hot water (and clothes). And even in cities I think these are a great idea to stock at the washing area and not have to buy those really harsh laundry detergent powder/liquid and throw away the bags and bulky containers all the time. I'd imagine this to be a great laundry solution (ha!) for people with sensitive skin and allergies. You can buy the laundry sheets here.

Lastly, the dish washing bar is another wonderful creation. Have you ever felt like your hands are very dry after washing the dishes? That's one of the reasons why I hate doing that chore. With this dish washing bar, it's a super effective yet gentle way to get the dishes squeaky clean WITHOUT having to ingest those chemicals which could be left behind if not rinsed well.

 Check out this vlog I did in Chinese today when I went to visit the King of Fried Rice stall at Blk 407 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10! Hope you can go try, it was really delicious.

Bummed that dining has been restricted back to 2 pax from 5, just one week after the restrictions were lifted? Well, you're not the only one! However, I'm still thankful that dining out for 2 pax are allowed because I did honestly fall into a bad funk when it was just takeaway-only. That's why we were so glad when dining in opened up and me and a good friend Ling got to go to Siri House at Dempsey Hill once again this time to try their new Weekend Brunch menu! Readers of this blog might know that I'm a fan of SIRI House and Head Chef Leo Pang's dishes, having been back a couple of times with friends after tasting! As usual, the restaurant amidst the lush greenery of Dempsey was just a joy to be in.

We started off with the affordably priced $12 summer cocktails - the Summertime Madness (S$12) was my pick since I love a good aperol spritz in the perpetual summer we live in. There's calamansi with Seedlip Garden, and aperol with soda water. Sooo good - it was light and slightly sourish, perfect to start off a meal with.  Ling ordered the Ayurveda (S$12) which had curry leaf infused vermouth, blended with rum, cucumber juice and lime soda. More sour than mine but you could definitely taste the curry leaf notes. Super intriguing!

I'll recommend the Seedlip Grove (S$14) instead. It's kombucha made with fermented rooisbos tea with fresh ginger flower, a dash of lime and honey plus Seedlip Grove. It's also garnished with a weird-looking strawberry which was pickled in brine (sugar, vinegar and water) and fermented for 2 weeks. 4/5

Overall, I think SIRI House's weekend brunch did not disappoint with its unique blend of comfort food and surprising twists. It's not your typical eggs-ben and waffle type brunch, but one that's more sophisticated yet easy to enjoy. I'd highly recommend anyone looking for a weekend brunch cafe in Singapore to come by SIRI House instead!

🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if nearby
💁 Bookmark this ✔️

SIRI House
Weekend brunch Saturday/Sundays 11.30am to 2.30pm
(all day till end of July).
Closed on Mondays
94871552
Reserve on Chope.co

Thanks Natasha and SIRI House for the kind invite!

 I finally had time to get my COVID-19 vaccine recently, and I documented the jab on video in case anyone is wondering what it is like (as I did, watching quite a few tiktoks and YouTube videos). But most of them don't show the needle going in so I wanted to film that. It is also after all, a momentous occasion both for myself and the country! 

By the way I experienced only arm soreness after the jab with ZERO fatigue, headaches, muscle ache or anything. So I guess my immune system is like.. nah. Not worth. Let's see how it is for jab 2, happening in August.

Here's my first Moderna vaccination vlog taken on Friday 9 July 2021 at 8.30pm, Kebun Bahru Community Centre.

There's a new bubble tea brand in Singapore and it's No. 17 ! OK, no it's not the 17th brand to set up shop here, but it does seem like the bubble tea scene is still going strong here. N17 bubble tea is a homegrown brand, and of course I #supportlocal. Anyway I checked out the branch at AMK Central today and tried their Toffeenut Latte with n17 signature tea jelly which was awesome. And it's 0% sugar! I heard from my cousin that if you order certain items (she ordered delivery), you can't change the sugar level of the syrup which might be already very sweet in the first place, so just be wary! Mine was fine - and the cup is very sturdy and definitely reusable.

Here's the no.17tea menu. If you buy more than 1 cup, you get this super nice clear reusable plastic carrier. I like how they have Uji Matcha, because I love matcha! Will have to try it next time. 

Hope you found this no.17 bubble tea menu useful!

What a time to be alive. Honestly, if you travelled back in 30 years and told people we will be eating meat made from plants and it will taste almost indistinguishable - they might scoff at you. But today, that's a reality with many plant-based meat players in the market. And Arlene is one of them! Headquartered in Dubai, the ready-to-eat plant based cuisine was co-founded by Helene Raudaschl who was inspired by her son's flexitarian diet. I myself experimented heavily in being a flexitarian in 2020. It was a worthwhile experiment - I drastically cut down my consumption of meat in that year - but I've stopped since then, though my meat consumption was also not what it used to be. So I'm glad another option exist! These ready-to-eat meals can be found in Cold Storage in Singapore, online from Maxzi or in vegan bistro Green Common Singapore, which I blogged about as well.