twiinklex ❤

Bad decisions make good stories. And I always have a good story.

twiinklex.com
Browsing:

Tag: review

Henri Charpentier @ Dempsy Hill

Lunch with my cousins Pam and Diana two Thursdays ago (July 2). They let me choose between Dulcet & Studio and Henri Charpentier so I picked the latter because it looked sooo pretty from pictures online. The exterior was so pink and welcoming while the inside was so atas hahaha.

We are going to try Dulcet & Studio this Wednesday 😀

It’s the kind of place I wouldn’t mind sitting at for the whole day to chill. We were there from noon to about 5pm, swapping stories about travelling, our families, the past etc. Really nice (and rare) to have such a day of doing nothing but relaxing.

Henri Charpentier tomato egg sandwich

Some egg and tomato sandwich thing

Henri Charpentier caesar salad

Caesar salad

Skillet Herbed Chicken on Honey Glazed Sauce which was pretty good

Henri Charpentier chocolatine

Chocolatine. Nothing to shout about.

Henri Charpentier strawberry shortcake

Strawberry shortcake. Sooo light, soft and fluffy!! I couldn’t get enough of this.

Henri Charpentier iced royal milk tea

Royal Iced Milk Tea which is really ordinary and diluted. So not worth my $10.

Henri Charpentier Financiers Madeleines

Also got a box of Henri Charpentier’s signature Les Financiers and Les Madeleines for my family.

Les Financiers

$22 for 8 pieces but you can buy it for $2.90 per piece onwards. Not cheap but really delicious! They have loads more of other pretty pastries that you can bring home.

Les Madeleines

Okay actually the food there is mostly overpriced and the place itself is quite inaccessible. But the ambience is really lovely and that alone makes me want to come back to try the rest of the desserts, because that’s what they are famous for.

I can’t believe I was there and I didn’t try the Crepe Suzette (we had normal crepes and that’s all it was… normal) or the Dome!!! They look really popular but I was too full for more.

It’s a super photogenic place so you have the perfect excuse to get all dressed up and take a whole load of pictures. Why not try out the popular bohemian look? There are so many sophisticated outfits that you can create from Zalora’s products.

Love such dresses that I can effortlessly throw on and still look good + feel comfortable in.

Choose from a wide range of boots, wedges, pumps and sandals to go with your outfit.

And don’t forget to complete the look with a bag or some accessories 😉

Oh and look what my cousin Diana sent me. Guess who?!

Ok actually part of the reason why my cousins asked me out for lunch was because they were so worried after reading my blog. Which is why I disabled sharing the last few blog posts on Facebook.

I seem to be making people worry a lot lately. Heard that my colleagues had been so worried over the whole thing that someone actually suggested an intervention (luckily they dropped the idea lol)??? They are the only ones who know the whole story.

But doesn’t matter, it’s a closed chapter now. Sadly, I just have a habit of re-reading old books that I really like. Just because it’s over doesn’t mean I am over it. But don’t worry, I know I will be okay. One day I will be happy again and look back on how dumb this is but for now, it’s hard to control how I feel.

browsing books gif

Logically, I really know everything including the cliche stuff like time heals everything / you deserve better / plenty of other fish in the sea etc. I know all of that already… just like how I knew from Day 1 it was all only going to end in tears (mine). From beginning to end, I was never delusional nor was I working towards the fairytale ending. Not even once.

For every single thing I did or decision I made throughout, whether good or bad, I had my own reasons. Out of all the many things I feel, guilt and regret aren’t even on the list. That’s all people need to know.


Batam weekend getaway

Been to Batam twice, earlier at end-July (with mum) and last weekend (mum and bro). Both times I joined a tour from StreetDeal but I’m thinking of going Free & Easy the next time, now that I’ve seen enough sights and know where I like shopping best.

Last time I posted a selfie on my blog was in December O_O so here you go. Pre-purple hair. Not a fan of selfies these days because I think I look better last time… hahaha.

batam selfie

Very early in the morning at 7am+ while waiting to board the ferry *yawn*. Not helped by the fact that I stayed up till very late to read fanfiction 😀

We were on the tour bus at Batam time 9am+ and I told my mum, “It’s 9am and I want lunch.”

 batam chocolate house

From the first trip but both times we visited the same places (no idea how I missed the hair dye the first time!). This was at the Chocolate House. Also visited factory outlets for clothes, layer cake (kueh lapis) bakery, Batik shop, dry markets, dry goods stores (so much keropok :P) and more.

batam golden prawn restaurant

Seafood lunch at Golden Prawn 933 restaurant as part of the tour. Food wasn’t that great (probably because we came as a tour group and not regular guests) but I ate a lot to get my worth anyway. But okay la… you pay what you get.

batam golden prawn 933

Same menu both times:

– White rice (my favourite lol)
– Corn and egg soup (more starch than soup)
– Kang kong in sambal chilli (the only nice thing)
– Fish fried in sweet sauce (over-fried)
– Fried sotong (very hard and chewy)
– Baby lobster (like really baby… mostly shells and no meat)
– Crab in curry sauce with vermicelli (prefer SG’s chilli crab sauce)
– Gong-gong

Continued the tour by visiting the aforementioned shops and it was all pretty boring until the final stop. Which is also my favourite and what I’ve been waiting for – shopping at Batam City Square!

All the bags and shoes are from the same store (except the polka dot and purple thing at the top which are foldable bags at 3 for $10). I LOVE THAT STORE because everything is so dirt-cheap and nice (the first thing no longer applies to Singapore and it’s starting to be the same for the other)!!

Paid about S$70 for all of these I think 😀

Visited the Hypermart and bought many bottles of green tea (honey, melon, peach, lychee, etc) which cost only 40 cents each! Then went to takeaway dinner before making our way back to the hotel.

We stayed at Nagoya One Hotel previously and at Nagoya Mansion this time. Both are about the same, with hot water, wifi, TV and other basics. Clean, comfy too. The latter is pricier but you’ll see why later.

 ayam penyet batam city square

Best ayam penyet ever!!! From a stall inside Batam City Square Mall and the tour guide recommended it to us. Only at $1.60 and it comes with those cucumber, cabbage, tau gua, tempeh, fried chicken and rice. SO FREAKING YUM.

Bro when I opened my pack: Why your rice got tissue inside?
Me: That’s not tissue, it’s cabbage.
Mum when bro opened his pack: So gross, why you put tissue on your rice?

Best part was the chilli as it was really spicy (which is really saying something in my case). I love how chilli in Indonesia is legitimately spicy everywhere, even the ones at fast food restaurants.

Anyway this was like heaven and I kept saying I wish I’d bought an extra pack. We had also bought mee soto and fried mee goreng from BFC which we shared. So good.

Ayam penyet from our previous trip which was passable but nowhere as amazing.

Showered, watched TV, read and bed time. Woke up for breakfast the next day and it’s the reason why our stay at this hotel was pricier than the last.

nagoya mansion breakfast

Ok damn annoying forgot to further resize photos before collaging so they look blurred. But anyway –

What a luxurious spread!!! There was also a salad bar, egg station, drinks station and more that I didn’t photograph. I usually don’t opt for hotel breakfast when overseas because there’s so much local food outside so maybe this was why I got so excited… hahahaha.

nagoya mansion hotel breakfast

Loaded up my plate like a pig 😀 my stay at the previous hotel only served eggs, sausages and bread for breakfast. Not sure if it’s always like that or because it was fasting month then.

nagoya mansion breakfast

nagoya mansion batam

nagoya mansion hotel breakfast

More of a carbs and meat person so I didn’t really eat the pastries. Quite a variety though!

nagoya breakfast

My brother’s salad… *pulling a face*

batam hotel breakfast

I only wanted to eat the butter actually. Butter is god.

batam hotel breakfast

Was so full that I simply went back upstairs for a lie-down right after. I guess this is what they mean by a food coma. I might have even napped but I can’t remember.

Walked to Nagoya One shopping mall afterwards. It was said to be a 10-minute walk but they just have meant Indonesia’s pace of life as we Singaporeans reached there in 5 minutes.

Loads of shops but didn’t buy much because BCS still has better prices. Checked out and left for the ferry terminal. There’s another mall just beside where we left our luggage and continued to shop.

batam A&W

Chilled at A&W and binged some more 😀

batam A&W fried chicken

batam A&ampW root beer float

These three photos are all from my first trip.

batam A&W chicken meal

This is from my second trip… one regular fried chicken and one Spicy Aroma chicken. Prefer the taste of the original but I liked how spicy it actually is (never found the ones in SG spicy, regardless of KFC or wherever and whichever recipe)!

batam coffee donut

Batam is really a good place for short getaways ^^

No idea my post would be this long even though it was an overnight stay… can you understand why I have yet to blog about Bangkok (2013), Taiwan and Phuket yet? Going to Bangkok and Hong Kong in November, can’t wait!!