Magical Evening @ Cuca Flavor Restaurant, Jimbaran, Bali

It's been so long, since I have had actual time-out as a Mom. And we are talking time-out in a foreign land here! It has been a very trying of late, so many things going on in the background. What should I do with the evening that was miraculously gifted to me courtesy of a very dear friend (where the kid was spending a sleepover at)... With some very quick homework done a few hours to dinner time, Cuca Flavor was decided upon for dinner. The concept? Tapas style food given an artistic fine-dining updo while maintaining the traditional flavors of local Indonesian cooking.

Roasted Pork Buns @ IDR60K

Honey glazed BBQ pork held together with soft pancake bun. Utterly delicious.

Tea Time @ Arteastiq Mandarin Gallery

I believe Arteastiq had it's humble beginnings sometime in 2010-ish, when it once shared the current space in Mandarin Gallery with a furniture store called MARXX. And from what I gathered from reading some past online reviews, the Arteastiq as we now come to know (art jamming with F&B) came out on it's own in 2011-ish, and has now grown to 2 outlets (one in the original Mandarin Gallery location and another in Plaza Singapura). They are known to be the place to go to for a quiet respite in chaotic downtown Orchard, somewhat tai-tai-ish, if I may say so. Arteastiq serves quite a good range of teas, beautiful food in a serene space, and for those with a penchant for art, you can unleash your inner Da Vinci in their art studio section of each outlet. We've done art jamming twice, will do a write-up on that soon enough! But for now, let's talk food. Haha

Afternoon Tea set @ $48++, enough for 2 not-so-hungry people

RaRa And Reddy Goes To Movie In Park

There is just something about the great outdoors. Being outside, amongst the greens, clean fresh air. coupled with beautiful weather, add in some food and drinks, a picnic blanket, some pillows, a movie and a gorgeous sunset... and we've got a winner! Singapore Botanic Gardens was given the honor of being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site after being inscribed in Germany on 4th July 2015. How exciting is that, to have our very own gem of a park being one the only three Botanic Gardens listed as a heritage site (the other 2 being Kew Gardens in England and Padua Gardens in Italy). Our Botanic Gardens plays host to an array of events and activities all year round, ranging from free concerts, movie screenings, tours, walks.. There is always something for almost everyone. And lucky us, we managed to catch a movie screening during the March holiday this year,  Our very first movie in the park! Yay!

Perfect setting!

Sarnie Fix @ Park Bench Deli

There is nothing ordinary about the sarnies you get here. Everything seem to have gone for a "makeover", elevated to another level, gone from hmm-ok, to hmm-this-is-awesome. Opened not too long ago in 2015, this is a collaborative effort of Chef Ming (from the famed Lolla), Chef Andre Soen (The Cajun Kings) and business partner Aamir Ghani. No boring humdrum stuff here, expect amped up versions of humble everyday favourites. The menu might not too expansive, but hey, we believe that if you're gona sell just one thing, then you better be sure to make it so good you wouldn't have to sell anything else.

Grilled Cheese and Kong Bak Banh Mi

Andsoforth We Went! - The Picnic Edition

Stumbled upon an ad on Facebook, "The Picnic" it said, and indoor some more! There is no menu, no details of location, we are to book ourselves tickets, keep a look out for an "initiation" via SMS, follow instructions to the location of event (with clues provided), arrive at destination, have fun and oh, "keep The Secret between you (us) and us (Andsoforth)". Like OMG, so intriguing! Macam Amazing Race kinda feel! Psyched by the idea of a potential wild goose chase (considering my inability to navigate let alone read maps) and the mysterious makan session, I gamely paid for 2 tickets. And waited, and received, and found, and arrived, and ate, and had so much fun! Here's what went down..

Oh, just a tiny note, The Picnic was one of the many pop-up style events that Andsoforth has organized. The Picnic was sometime in Feb 2016, ya, procrastination took over unfortunately, bah (hence the They are now currently running another themed makan cum theater cum entertainment show entitled "The Spy, The Thug, His Wife, Her Lover". Tickets going for $88 per pop, check out their website for more details ya!

Our picnic basket for the afternoon (picnic basket did not come along, pity!)