January 2013

You can never take too many pictures of pancakes

Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2013

You can never take too many pictures of pancakes, especially when they are...

Rainbow pancakes!!

I meet the very gorgeous Alexis for some brunch at Nook - D.I.Y. House of Pancakes, which opened last year in August along Upper Bukit Timah Road. We were supposed to eat pancakes before I left for Europe, but couldn't due to circumstances, so I'm glad we finally made the trip down!

Nook's value proposition is that it has this unique D.I.Y pancake concept that allows you to cook your own pancakes in all kinds of funny shapes and colours. Alexis and I decide to give it a miss because I've seen those D.I.Y. pancake pictures and they mostly look flat, not delicious, and not pretty at all. Plus, it's double, almost triple the price. Why would you want to pay double to have to cook your own food, and it looks horrendous??

We choose the much prettier and, really, more value-for-money options.

We try the Red Velvet Pancakes ($10.00++). Three layers of bright red, sugar-coated, cream cheese-stuffed pancakes arrive, beautifully presented. It's sinfully sweet and filling, almost heavy. The pancakes are a bit smaller than expected, but enough for brunch!

Ah, the crowd pleaser - they're actually called The Unicorn's Essence ($12.00++) but the name makes me cringe, so i'm just going to call them Rainbow Pancakes.

Delightfully pretty, each layer of the pancake is of a different flavour. The strongest ones I find are the strawberry flavoured one (second from the bottom) and the chocolate flavoured one (at the bottom). But they all taste pretty good when you eat them at the same time, like this:

Oh yeah, drizzle on the maple syrup.

For the price you pay for these pancakes, I would say that Nook is a pretty affordable brunch option compared to many others offerings out there. And really, the pancakes are just an excellent opportunity for you to whip out your phones and go crazy instagramming.

Nook's D.I.Y. House of Pancakes
Bukit Timah, 21 Lorong Kilat
#01-03, Singapore 598123
You have to walk up Lorong Kilat from the main road, and turn right at the first turning to Sun Court.

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Friday, 12pm-10pm
Saturday, 10am -10pm
Sunday, 10am -7pm

If you go to Nook because you puked rainbows when you saw my photos, do tag me on instagram @luxmondi, or hashtag me at #luxmondi!

Travelogue: London - Chinatown

Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013

I don't think any Asian can pass through London without making a stop in Chinatown for some hearty Chinese food. It's so amusing how all the Chinese restaurants in Europe have such stereotypical Asian names, like "Golden Dragon", or "Imperial City", or "The Great Wall".

Pretty much all my worries of traveling alone with Justin for a whole month have already been put at ease, in fact, I really do love the amount of quality time we are having together this trip! But I'm also glad that we manage to meet friends in London to kind of spice up the mix, if you know what I mean!

Hello Michelle, Linette, Daryl and Joanne!

I think the duck at Four Seasons is pretty legendary - we order two huge plates! Or 2 ducks I believe. And as if that's not enough, we also get roast pork, char siew and fried noodles. This is called "Justin style" ordering: Meat, meat and more MEAT!

Doing as Asians do!

Bah, my eyes are shut here but Justin looks so happy with all the duck there is that I had to put this picture up!

Amazingly, we finish EVERYTHING. We really ate to our stomach's content! The total bill rounded up to about £16.00 per person for the 6 of us, which is pretty decent by London standards. I may be going out on a limb here to say that Four Season's duck is better than most of the duck we get here in Singapore. Although, it possibly is because of the fact that we are far away from home and the familiar taste of duck is enough to make you feel so content that your stomach rumbles with satisfaction.

Night Lights

Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2013

I wish my camera battery hadn't died, but this was too epic a night to not to blog about. Os with a man bag. Psycho Jess. Psycho Jess throwing a toilet paper roll at my head. Bad tequila. The curious lady in the winter jacket feeding us "TCM". Shnumber. Sometimes you just need a mid-week night out to pick you up before you deal with the rest of the week.

Travelogue: London - Portobello Diaries

Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2013

Portobello Market is a very popular market around the famous Notting Hill area. I must say I looked forward to it very much, but was rather disappointed by how pricey it was. Much less of a flea and more of a vintage and antique market. I did enjoy looking at the lovely sweaters and fur coats, and the whole area itself is very pretty, dotted by pale, pastel coloured houses. Surprisingly, it was Justin who bought something first - a pair of leather boots! I got a pair of scarves as a takeaway gift, though they really weren't that cheap either. We also bought paté for our upcoming Christmas party - the organic kind that has to be eaten in three days. It really was a bargain - 3 big jars for just £10! However, the winning point of the day was... our crepes! I can't begin to say how delightful it is to stand there in the cold, eating a freshly cooked, chocolate filled, banana stuffed crepe together. It's just about the only time I can every bring Justin vintage shopping, when it's cold out and there's the promise of crepes!

Travelogue: London - Burger & Lobster

Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2013

We finally hit London - it signifies the halfway mark of our trip, and in a way, a welcomed rest stop for 9 whole days after all the hectic traveling. Our first stop after settling down? Burger & Lobster!

Burger & Lobster is a must go to when in London - I know this because basically anyone who was in London this winter has put some sort of picture of them eating here on Facebook, and this is why!

There isn't a menu, because there's only 3 items you can pick, which the waitress rattles off for us: burger, lobster, or lobster roll. Obviously, we choose the lobster, because where else can you get one entire mega lobster for just £20???

Ok, so there also is a £30 pound option for the lobster which Justin ordered, and as you can see, it is visibly much larger than my £20 one. Oh yes, and we are wearing adult bibs.

Let's take a closer look!

It's massive. It's fresh. It's perfectly grilled. The sauce is a garlic butter concoction which is so good we have to ask for more. Oh, and the salad and fries on the side are delicious too. We go into a lobster eating frenzy, using the adorable (albeit useless) lobster claw-shaped claw to crack open the too-big-to-be-true lobster claws and dig out the juicy meat. Oh, yes, I said claw three times in one sentence.

Mmm. Succulent flesh.

... and the wreckage.

It's very filling, but looking at the pictures again, I totally wouldn't mind taking on the 30 pounder now.

So yes, Burger & Lobster definitely lives up, if not, surpasses expectations. Great value for great food. Service was on the ball, and the restaurant was large, so even though it was crowded, we got seated quickly enough (they don't take reservations).

The branch we went through was in Soho, London, but they also have branches in Mayfair and Farringdon. If you're in London, definitely save some space in your tummies because you HAVE to try what they have at Burger & Lobster!

Craft Day

Posted on Friday, January 18, 2013

Before I left for Europe, Melissa and I decided to have a Craft Day! We loved the floral creations by the lovely K is for Kani, but no way did we have US$70 lying around to spend on hairbands. Hence, we decided to venture out and make our own versions, at a fraction of the cost! The process took all of maybe 15 minutess. I used false flowers which I pulled off from their stalks, and tied them onto a simple toothed comb hairband with flower wire, and ta-dah! We had hairbands. It really was that simple.

If you are interested in making your own floral headbands, I suggest heading down to Daiso to get your supplies because the flowers there are really cheap. I've never noticed before, but false flowers are really expensive outside - close to $8 per stalk at places like Spotlight and Ikea! But at Daiso, it's only $2, so it definitely was more worth it. Now the next question is, what project should we undertake next?