I remember feeling so extremely sick from the lack of rest that evening, even blinking made me want to throw up. And it was late like 10 pm? So we settled on porridge nearby. Isn't the best porridge still imo, but it's good enough and does what it needs to do: warm me up, fill my belly, ease that queasiness. Comfort food 101.

As if laksa and rojak for lunch wasn't enough, we had to have dessert too. Ok, my bad cause I insisted that since we were in the area, we might as well? Had seen someone share this durian cake on Facebook and I had to have it. No regrets!

Was surprised to find the cafe completely empty the whole time we were there. And it was lunch hour too, 12 to 1ish by the time we left. Really hope they get more publicity and patronage! The restaurant itself was very pretty, nice use of bronze decor. The fusion menu sounded very good though we were too full and only managed a durian cake. Next time! (:

The durian cake lived up to my expectations. Neat even layers of durian paste and genoise sponge, one of the harder sponges to get right as its naturally leavened with eggs whisked over a bain-marie (think close-textured scrambled eggs). But they did an excellent job with it. The sponge was light, delicate with an open structure. And the not-too-sweet Chantilly cream frosting and durian paste between the sponge layers added the right amount of moisture. The best part for me really was the solid chunks of mao shan wang. Although they could do with a stronger durian flavour but now I'm just nitpicking. Might as well have the fruit itself if I'm gonna ask for it to taste absolutely like durian and not a cake lol.

The tea I had was an oolong blend recommended by the waitress called The Moon Represents My Heart, super cute name. Which I thought really cleansed my palate well, no lingering durianness at all. Really recommend this tea for anyone having the durian cake, think it's quite refreshing, especially after something heavy like durian cake.

With the success of the durian cake, I'm really excited to revisit, this time with an empty stomach to try the mains and other desserts.

KIV for my next visit: 1) Miso Cod and Ulam Onigiri - Oven-roasted miso cod, belachan assam herb rice balls; 2) Zhu Burger - Pork patty marinated with XO Cognac, topped with cheese, caramelised onions, mesclun salad, and tomato; 3) Babi Pongteh - Slow-cooked pork belly in tao jio and assam gravy, served with fresh green chilli and French baguette; 4) 5-Spice Roast Pork and Rice Broth - Slow-roasted pork belly, served with wolfberry rice broth; 5) Creatures Chocolate Cake - Espresso chocolate sponge served with coconut ice-cream + home-made salted caramel + pink Himalayan sea salt; 6) Orh Nee Cake - Genoise sponge + orh nee paste + ginkgo nuts + coconut cream.

Side note: I'm quite tempted to buy the tea. Googled and found out that they're this Singaporean tea company called ETTE!

Nothing screams childhood more than rojak for me. So it's not rojak served in a plastic bag with satay sticks from a rojak man on a motorbike. But still pretty legit.

The you tiao's extremely extremely crispy despite all that sauce. Other liaos include pineapple, cucumber and bangkuang. The amount of sauce too is just right and it tastes pretty on point. It's really appetising in fact, to think I had a large bowl of laksa right before.

Pro tip: Ask for more you tiaos!

Location: Jin Shui Kopitiam, the same kopitiam that houses the famous Sungei Road Laksa.

I love all types of Singaporean laksa, from the savoury fluid style to the sweeter, more viscous eat-with-just-a-spoon Katong laksa. This one's like if the two types mated and had a baby.. My absolute favourite.

Went for the large bowl today cause I was starving and for $1 more (total $4), it really was much more than the small bowl I'd usually get. Halfway through and I thought I wouldn't be able to finish but still I ate every bit (and even downed a homemade ice lemon tea and shared a plate of rojak, I've got a separate post on this).

The chap's on the fluid side and very savoury with a perfect hint of sweetness. Good amount of hei bi too. And the chilli's pretty awesome. I usually discard the chilli that comes with laksa but not at this place. Those of you who like it spicy, you might wanna ask for more (it's like a 1 on the spicy scale for me). And because I don't take ham, my bowl of heaven only came with fishcake (not that I'm complaining cause I love fishcake). No prawns here, just fishcake and/or ham. Noodle's chu mi fen and cut up so you only need a spoon. Yes, all of you lazy people, this is for you.

Side note: Not sure if the homemade ice lemon tea the drink stall serves is made with concentrate and I really don't like concentrate but it tastes pretty decent. And with all hot soupy foods in Singapore, dress light even when having at night/on a cold day.

Maybe the cold I've caught has affected my sense of taste or something, but this really wasn't very good. And the bibimbap the man ordered was served lukewarm despite the whole "hot stone" concept they're selling. Even the stone bowl was not hot..

So back to my chicken. The chicken itself was dry and tough, way overcooked. And I'm still weirded out by how pink it was? The rice inside was moist but lacking flavour. Wasn't a lot of rice either. Chicken though, was huge. If this were any ordinary soup, I would've said it's not bad, average maybe? But this is samgyetang. And when I order samgyetang, I expect to taste ginseng. So where the hell was my ginseng???

Verdict: At $24 a bowl (or was it $26?), it's way overpriced for such quality, or the lack thereof. I probably wouldn't return :\

So because I had shared my prata brunch, feeling hungry still (and for the man, sleepy), we went for coffee. Except coffee for me means stuffing me face with some dessert while sipping some of his coffee.

Ahead of everything, a disclaimer: I don't like Llaollao. (No offence to the owners of Llaollao and its fans, just personal preference..) It's much too sweet, too creamy and thick for me. And that's just their froyo. Their sauces only make it worse for me, way too sweet. I like my froyo with a lighter texture; not so sweet so the natural yoghurt flavour still comes through; not creamy, just yoghurty.. Think along the lines of Red Mango, Soghurt and maybe Yami Yoghurt.

So anyway, I know Twenty Grammes is famous for their waffles and I am embarrassed to admit that I have never tried them? Yes, the yin yang one. Twice I've been to the AMK branch and twice I've only had froyo.

But ok. Here's where I'm redeemed. I think? Their froyo is good. Like my kind of good. So good it ranks probably first with Red Mango. This time I went for the less photogenic granola topping but I love granola so that's not enough to stop me for getting granola.

Side note: They also serve decent ice long blacks. I'd suggest sitting outdoors if you're gonna go for the cold stuff like we did cause it's pretty cold inside.

Post-hot yoga starvation always sees that I down the most sinful of foods. This day was no exception. So I dug up this baby from one of those "Top 10 xxx in Singapore" lists floating around the Internet.

21 years I had lived on Upper Thomson and I've always only loved prata from The Roti Prata House. So stepping back on Upper Thomson, for prata that's not The Roti Prata House, I felt like a traitor. You know, like a cheating spouse.

But omg. If adultery really was half as amazing???

No, seriously. I can't believe I've missed this all my life. Like, 21 years I had lived here, where has this been for me? And the 26 years I've been alive, what was that for if not to eat this? Yes, it filled a void I didn't even know existed.

I don't even know if they have regular prata. To be honest, I didn't even look at their menu, just went up and ordered the coin prata I had seen on that article. And for those who didn't know, let me save you the embarrassment which I had gone through. They're really tiny and come as an order of six. So don't try and order like two or something weird like that.

Despite all that confusion, the stall runners were patient and friendly. Prata took just five minutes to be ready. But now I know just how good they are, I might just die waiting to eat them the next time, even for five minutes. They're perfectly crisp and brown on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Perfectly buttered (idk if they use butter but for the lack of a better word..), perfect balance of salty and sweet.. Those of you who don't know better like me and are thinking of sharing, please don't. I regretted every bit of that decision to share from the first bite down to my last of three pratas.

We also got the briyani to share which was good, just that the prata was better. The curry was very salty and sour, but I liked it; went very well with the prata and briyani. The chicken though was cold and not crispy anymore, having been left out for awhile I'd guess. So next time, I'd save that stomach for the prata and skip the rest.

So the obvious question is: which is better? I wish I could say for sure but the truth is I don't know. My brief affair with this new prata (yes, new for me) has left me torn and conflicted. Guess I've just got to have more of both! :D (as if I ever needed an excuse to eat prata..)

Side note: The drink stall serves decent teh si beng. And if you like it not so sweet like me, I'd suggest going siu dai as it's plenty sweet.

Finally racked up an appetite and it's raining. Well not quite, the rain had stopped but still, it's excuse enough for some bkt.

Opted for the herbal version and journeyed across the island to this humble little shop. And when I say humble, I mean humble. Like not air conditioned and without the fancy furniture. But I like it this way anyway.

It was dinnertime and so there was a queue and some wait for our food. We had actually finished a bowl of jelly bee each in that time. Seriously, why aren't more places serving jelly bee?

Really love how generous they are with their red cut chillies, with two to choose from: the large ones and the chilli padi. We got the medium prime ribs to share and also claypot tofu and stir fried kailan. I don't have much to say cause everything was just perfectly delicious.

Pro tip: You tiao's not on the menu but they have it. So if you're like me and prefer ditching the rice and spending those calories on a different type of carb, you tiao's there for you. That said, I had both you tiao and rice this time, that works fine too. Also, dress light if you're prone to sweating.

Was told they're famous for their pancakes and with a generous serving of three fluffy but nicely crusted pancakes and perfectly tangy blueberry compote to cut back all that sweetness (also coming from the heavenly maple butter), they deserve every bit of that fame.

I did savoury this morning, the Country Breakfast. The eggs were perfectly scrambled, the hash was to die for, the ham was all right and the buttermilk biscuit while extremely delicious and golden was under baked inside. Having just marathoned every season of TGBBO, yes, I confirmed it with my finger.

The maple cured bacon side was meh and the cappuccino was only all right too.

Portions are crazy huge, true to their New York origins, so in hindsight, we probably should've shared. We were both so stuffed that we didn't eat again till 6 and that's saying a lot.

Service was slow although the staff were apologetic. There wasn't a queue like everyone before us had warned but that could be because we got there at 8ish..

Verdict: Get there early and go for the pancakes.