Park & Cafe

I was in Bedok last week. 
It was the first time I saw the Bedok Reservoir and Park. 

I went to To-gather cafe for a quick dinner. It was crowded and I could understand why. The food is value for money and delicious too. The decor is country style, very homely and cosy.

Iced Mango Latte and Passionfruit Breezer

Pork Cordon Bleu

Grilled Pandan Chicken Chop

Mains: 
Grilled Pandan Chicken Chop ($8.90) was tender, the coconut sauce was fragrant but not overpowering and the pineapple salsa gave it a tangy and refreshing twist :) 
Pork Cordon Bleu ($10.90) was juicy and the portion was just right. 
Drinks:
The iced mango latte ($4.90) was really good! I think I can make something like that at home. :)

Brunch @ Grub, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

Brunch at Grub which is situated at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

Grub Breakfast set

French Toast with pork sausage, sour cream and strawberries. YUM!

Kallang River running through the park

I totally enjoyed Grub's version of french toast with the savoury pork sausage, different from the usual sweet version. :) The breakfast set seemed like the usual where you can find in any other eateries, nothing special. :(
A nice slow walk after brunch around the park will help with digestion, provided it is not too hot lol.

Brunch@Beach Culture, Pasir Ris Park

It has been a while since we had brunch. Since the girls' tutor is away on hols, we went to Beach Culture, Pasir Ris Park for brunch. 
Beach Culture is an unpretentious beach dining. When we arrived, a ROM event + wedding lunch was set up. Later heard that the restaurant specialises in ROM events. 

For brunch, Marieann ordered Morning Pancakes ($9.80), both Juliane and her father had Beach Culture Breakfast ($12.80) and I tried the Salmon Fillet ($18.80). We also ordered Culture Wings as appetiser, Chocolate Lava Cake ($8.80) and Apple Crumble with ice cream ($7.80) to share. It was a satisfying brunch for all. :)

Morning Pancakes

Beach Culture Breakfast

Salmon Fillet: it was cooked just right

Culture Wings: Crispy and delicious

Pasir Ris Park is a pleasant surprise: peaceful and quiet. Although it is the weekend, the park was not overly crowded and noisy. There were some people kayaking in a special cordoned off area, less than a handful of families at the beach, and a couple of runners. I only realised much later that there is a mangrove forest nearby. We shall certainly visit the mangrove forest the next time we are there. :)

Pasir Ris Park

I took the girls to Pasir Ris Park as they have never been there. The main intention was to bring them to the beach. However, the weather wasn't too good and we couldn't see much of the beach. :( Maybe another time. We had dinner at Mid Summer Nite Breeze. Marieann had her all-time favourite:  Marinara Spaghetti ($11.80), Juliane ordered a Hawaiian Pizza ($13.80) and I tried the Swedish Meatballs (Chicken) in White Wine Sauce ($11.80) and we also shared Breaded White Button Mushrooms ($7). This is the first time I tried Swedish meatballs and I loved it. :) I haven't had it before because it is usually beef meatballs. The restaurant offered chicken meatballs as an alternative so I just went for it. :) Another dish worth mentioning was the breaded mushrooms. The mushrooms were huge and really fresh. :)

After dinner, we went for a walk around. The girls were thrilled to see two friendly community cats in the park. :) They kept asking if we could bring one of them home lol. Sorry, girls. 

After the cats, the girls were intrigued by the loud croaking that they heard all over the park. However we couldn't see any frogs. By following the sounds, we finally discovered the hiding places of the frogs. The frogs were in the drains! At every drain cover, we could see one to two frogs in the exposed drain portion haha. It was quite funny as the frogs were croaking in sync. :)

Rain, Park and Pottery

We woke up to an overcast morning. My mother's close friends were going to bring us to Yangmingshan National Park. Unfortunately, when the aunt and uncle came to pick us up at 10:30am, it was raining. Nonetheless, we decided to try our luck. The weather might turn for the better by the time we get to Yangmingshan?!

Alas it was still raining when we got to Yangmingshan. It was too wet and slippery to walk around so we only took a photo in front of the flower clock. We also saw from afar great clouds of geothermal steam rushing out of fumaroles of all sizes encrusted with yellow sulphur crystals. The smell was quite bad too, like rotten eggs lol. :P



The aunt and uncle took us to a restaurant at Jhuzihhu (literal translation: Bamboo Lake), Yangmingshan. It is famous for serving dishes with ingredients found in the mountain. There were fried stream fishes, stir-fried vegetables (grown in the wild), steamed chicken (chicken which roamed free in the wild), ... Although all the dishes were simple, they were really fresh and delicious.



After lunch, the rain has gotten heavier and the fog has settled in which made driving on the windy roads of Yangmingshan dangerous. With a quick discussion, plans for the afternoon was changed. We were now going to Yingko's Pottery Street. The girls would be delighted and indeed they were. They tried for the first time pottery making. :) Their masterpieces which take at least two weeks to be ready would be send to my aunt's place so that my mother who is staying on longer can bring them back to Singapore. :)



The girls decorating on their masterpiece.

The aunt and uncle treated us to dinner as well, buffet dinner. After a sumptuous lunch, we were still feeling quite full. But we were no fight for the Taiwanese hospitality lol. The buffet selection was international and there was a wide variety. We sampled a little of everything and it was a great dinner. :)

Thoughts
We went back to the hotel extremely well-fed. Actually we have been over-fed for the past few days and will be so for the next few days too. Anyone know of a good way to lose weight??!!