Astons and The Assembly Ground @ The Cathay

Yum yum, time for some food again hehe....

It just makes me really happy whenever I blog about food, and I don't know why.

Hope this post makes you happy too...

This was right after my exams, decided to meet up with the "Relative".

Glad to have this always-on friend who never says no whenever I asked for a meet up even if it's a weekday and she has classes in the morning in the following day. Thankiuuu so much for accompanying me in my post-exam food therapy. Both of us pretty much just kept on chatting and chatting, complaining every now and then haha, but it was great to catch up. 

We've decided to spend the night with a nice dinner and a soothing cup of coffee at The Cathay. 

Oh well it's almost two years since I came to SG but it was my first time going to Astons, the affordable western restaurant that almost everyone in SG knows about. Yeah I know I'm so Suagu in SG haha

Mushroom Soup -- S$3.50

Crispy Fried Fish -- S$10.50

Mac n Cheese and Pasta Salad as sides

Black Pepper Chicken -- S$9.90

Mac n Cheese and Coleslaw as sides

Tender and juicy, with the mild charred flavor 

The sauce was okay...well I guess the chicken is good enough on its own.

Mac and cheese is super yummy, the macaroni just slides down your throat bringing that smooth and cheesy flavor along haha   

Astons

2 Handy Road
The Cathay Building #04-03/04
Singapore 229233

Tel: 6887 5889

Operating Hours: Open Daily
11.30am - 10pm (Sun - Thurs)
11.30am - 11pm (Fri, Sat & Eve of PH)

Check out Aston's website for the full list of outlets, including the one in NUS which is much cheaper for students!

http://www.astons.com.sg/locations.php?

After the super filling dinner, continued our chatting session at a more laidback and cozy setting:

The Assembly Ground. Just like the name says, the cafe looks kinda like some underground workshop with bright spotlights, steel pipes and wires, and hanging light bulbs. Right next to the Cafe is actually The Assembly Store which is the physical store of the online men's fashion store of the same name. http://www.theassemblystore.com/

The coffee and cakes here are not exactly awesome, but I love the ambience here. 

Lychee Martini Slice -- S$8.50

Love the mild and soothing sweetness from Lychee but I can't tell whether there's Martini or not.

There bits of lychee in the cream and it goes well with the moist and slightly fudgey cake. 

Love this mildly sweet dessert. 

Flat White -- S$ 5.50

The coffee flavor was abit too mild but the texture was quite smooth

Green Tea Latte -- S$ 8.50 (in first photo) 

Beautiful Latte art :) . 

I actually like the sofa's color LOL it's really an odd shade of green but somehow it just looks so cool. 

The Assembly Ground

@ The Cathay

2 Handy Road #01-21

Singapore 229233

Opening hours:

Monday - Friday: 11:00 to 22:00
Saturday - Sunday: 10:00 to 22:00

Chilling out with this girl...

Was hanging out at one of the residences nearby

Couldn't let go of a chance to take a photo coz I haven't took a decent photo in dunno how many weeks, thanks to the mugging period. 

Fuhhhh....can't believe I have less than 3 weeks till my holidays end :(
Need to update more often!! See you again soon!

Learn and Appreciate: National Museum of Singapore

Photo sharing!

Just some shots taken while visiting National Museum of Singapore NMS

I have always been grateful to whoever came up with the idea of museum, it makes learning easier really, especially for people like me who can barely scan one page of book. Let alone history texts. A good museum would be one that presents knowledge in the most understandable form, I think so far Sasana Kijang was my favorite (okay not that I went to many museums), but National Museum of Singapore also has its plus points!

Too bad I wasn't able to visit their permanent exhibitions as they are under renovation. But the SG700 special exhibition was great enough for a glance at SG's long history. Of course, you might argue with me that, isn't SG's history and MY's history pretty much the same, but this exhibition has an emphasis on transformation, which I think has a rather different history from Msia's. It's something worth learning. 

  

We paid S$3 for the admission of SG700, other exhibition halls are free to enter.
Right before the entrance of SG700, there's a exhibition area that presents and explains archaeology history in Singapore, showing all kinds of tools used in excavation and examples of artifacts found. That small area is already interesting enough to take up quite some time to go through. So I suggest, please go to the museum in the morning, or at least right after lunch time. Or else you wont have enough time to visit and explore all exhibitions in detail.

The SG700 exhibition has very good visuals, I love the beautiful and artsy illustrations of historical figures and stories.  Of course there were many historical objects and replicas on display as well, together with audio recordings from people who witnessed the past. But what really made the exhibition level up was all the "scent". Yeap they actually prepared tubes of chemicals that actually give out certain smell which is related to a certain historical period. Yes It's definitely not just pleasant scents like fragrance and spices, but scents that really gives you an idea on what people actually felt at a certain place, certain point of time in history. Spoiler: There's one scent that almost made me throw up. Unforgettable, gotta praise them for recreating that sense of FEAR.  

Yep Now you Know how she get straight As haha

The Syonan-Era Area which was lit up in bright glares of red that resembles bloodshed and fear in darkness. Really love the presentation of this area. 

Loads of replicas of historical materials from the past with English translations. 

The Changi Prison section

Sorry I had to play with the mirrors haha...

Look out for the so-detailed-and-real dioramas!

Dioramas are just so nice to observe, gives you a look to everyone and everything in the picture at one moment of time.  

The museum's interior

2nd exhibition of the day, In Memoriam: Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Displays photos and explains Mr.Lee's achievements

Btw the smart but failed "battleship" telegraph by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew to hint his family about cooking steamboat was on display as well! 

3rd exhibition: The Foundation of Run Run Shaw's Cinema Empire

Another interesting exhibition to get a glimpse of the uprising film industry in Malaysia, Singapore and Asia in the past. There's also 2 screening areas with a few comfy chairs for those who wanna watch classics from the Shaw Brothers studios. 

Love this collage of vintage movie posters

Actually there were 2 more exhibitions that we've visited but I didn't really take any photos. 

After visiting all the exhibitions, I decided that I must take some decent photos at this beautiful colonial era building. The windows, the arches, the window panels, everything looks beautiful! Forgive me, vain session starts now:  

Buddy of the day: it's my dear Shinnee again

Hehe it was right after her finals and we decided we shall go explore somewhere interesting again.

I think only she's willing to go to a museum with me after studying so much for exams, as if we haven't study enough and decided we should read more history...

Will visit here again for their permanent exhibitions

NSM has really put in a lot of efforts in its exhibitions, they are informative, interactive, and interesting. The beautifully restored colonial building with modern features will be a good place to spend a quiet afternoon while taking in knowledge. Besides, learning the history in museum would certainly make you feel grateful of what we have and grateful of the fact our ancestors have to go through all the hard time to bring us this far. 

Find out more on NMS's Website:
http://www.nationalmuseum.sg/NMSPortal/

Extras:

See you next time!

Zen Taiwanese Restaurant @AEON Tebrau

More food....Jiak jiak jiak
Just some blog-worthy photos of desserts and food

they are not filtered for your info...

Zen Taiwanese Restaurant 珍品轩台式馆

Went to this restaurant with an elegant setting in AEON for a quick snack before catching our movies at noon. 

Forgot what's the full name of this
It's called something 烤蛋
Looks like caramel pudding but the texture is much creamier instead of the smooth pudding type. Super delicious aroma of milk and sugar
Thumbs up for this!

their famous Bubble Tea
珍珠奶茶 in both Green Tea and Red Tea version.
It's more expensive than your usual bubble tea and slightly pricier than Cha Time, but hey, look at the portion. And LOL at the vase-like glass
Plus pearl taste somehow better, chewy and mildly sweet

But the milk tea was abit overly sweet

Pan-Fried Dumplings!!
Always my favorite snack

Crunchy and chewy outer layer and juicy and delicious filling inside. Not bad, though nothing special 

With the cousin. I actually like the interior of the restaurant.
Comfy and classy chairs, beautiful lighting, looks like some ladies' gathering spot. I would have thought this place serves afternoon tea. 

Bad hair day :( Looks like a broom haha

珍品轩台式馆 Zen Taiwanese Restaurant

Lot S26, 2nd Floor,Aeon Tebrau City Shopping Centre,

No 1, Jalan Desa Tebrau,Taman DesaTebrau,

81100 Johor Bahru

Tel: 07-352 0980

There's another outlet at AEON Bukit Indah

Makan at 香港仔

Hehe miss ordering loads of food and carrying all these number plate back to our table

Just a small part of what we ordered. Others pretty much vanished before I bother taking a photo

Super yummy otak. Can't get enough. 

and of course best part is with the Granma la!!
Thankiuu Aunt Michelle and Granma for taking care of me eventhough it's just a 2 days stay.