Breather by Robertson Quay

There're some things we like about this weekend breather here at Robertson Quay.

There're some things that we don't. 

I can't say that they affected our stay here entirely. 

But I'll say that I'll reconsider, and recalibrate, if someone throws forth the suggestion to breathe here again. 

Robertson Quay is not an awkward place.

Popular among expatriates and locals, the zone holds some of the most desired addresses this side of town. 

It might due her proximity to the River. 

It might be due to the fact that she lies just on the outskirts of the Downtown Core and so you get the best of both worlds. 

From Robertson Quay it's possible to walk to (the restaurants of) Clarke Quay and Boat Quay in thirty minutes (faster if you're on a bike). It's also possible to get to Great World City shopping mall in fifteen. The distance to Orchard- if you go by Clemenceau Avenue and River Valley Road- isn't that far either, and if you go by Havelock Road you'll reach the areas of Tiong Bahru, Outram, Henderson and Queenstown in no time. 

She's rather central- this place- by car and bike, but perhaps a little bit different if you- like me- prefer public transport. 

Because there's no MRT in the area, and the nearest bus stop is about ten minutes away on either side. 

The closest supermarket is at Great World City, and whilst that basically means you have to manage your grocery shopping, it's not so big of a deal if you're merely on a weekend breather. 

That is, if you haven't brought a grill and intend to have a self-cooked dinner of sorts there. 

It didn't matter so much to me that the nearest supermarket was a distance away.

But it did matter to me that little fridge in the room wasn't chill enough to chill even a can of Coke had I purchased one from the convenience store downstairs. 

That being said, I liked the room.

Especially the staircase.

Because the heartlander me takes a fancy to loft rooms and staircases and I wouldn't mind having a proper stint in one. 

M Social is known for her loft rooms. 

It's the kind of space where you go if you want to take a breather, celebrate a birthday, or just chill out with a couple of friends. 

I'm not sure if most rooms in M Social have their beds on the ground floor and the TV, sofa area upstairs, but my room was.

Didn't make much of a difference, save for a lot of careful carrying up and down the (unfamiliar) flight of stairs.

I liked how the bed was close to the windows though. 

Even with the blinds partially open I could look up through the tall glass to the sky outside. 

I don't think I closed the curtains the entire time when I was there either.

Our breather this weekend at Robertson Quay included a casual walk along the river to Clarke Quay where we had an early dinner at one of our favorite Thai food places- SOI 47.

I've probably taken pictures of these dishes before, but no harm done, I took them again.

There's very little that can beat a dish of green curry beef (with rice), fried spring rolls and sweet tasting Moo Ping. 

We didn't explore very much the area after that, even though we did check out parts of Robertson Walk, and some of the little streets behind. 

There was more walking the next day, I'm glad to say. 

It's, after all, not in my psyche to not explore the surroundings of an area, no matter which area it is there. 

Next morning after breakfast we walked about the area a little bit, looking across the river waters to a hotel opposite, as well as the bridge one has to cross in order to get to the Havelock Road side. 

I loved how the shadows of trees played across the little patches of grass near the pavements. 

I also loved seeing doggies big and small on their morning walks with their pawrents. 

They were obedient- most of them- never mind their breed- save maybe for one shihtzu who decided it a good thing to make friends with a toy poodle and barked in an albeit friendly way. 

The sight of all these dogs made our alfresco breakfast a more interesting one. 

The food's not too bad, by the way. 

One doesn't get elaborate offerings, but there're scrambled eggs, there's a omelet making robot somewhere in the restaurant, and you've got the usual servings of sausage, bacon, hash browns, cheese, cold cuts, salad, fruits, toast, cereal, yogurt, milk, butter and jam.

There were dim sum offerings too. 

I know I took a bit of scrambled egg, some dragonfruit, a little pastry, some siew mais, and a single pancake with butter. 

I think I helped myself to some cheese and hash browns too.

Later that afternoon we headed across another bridge- this one with a most unusual name that I cannot remember- and entered the estate of Jalan Kukoh- which, in actual fact, lies just across the river high atop a hill and which necessitates a climb. 

I'm not sure if I can say we had a great time there but we saw certain things, got a couple of mozzie bites (unfortunately) and grasped a little bit of understanding there. 

Curiously enough there wasn't very much that we did after, but we walked along the road towards Great World City and had a marvelous time in the newly renovated supermarket there. 

I don't know if we'll be back to the Robertson Quay area (or to this hotel) for a while. 

Maybe we will, maybe we won't.

Or maybe we'll check out some of the other hotel properties in the area over there. 

Lok Lok

I used to not understand what the charms of Lok Lok were. 

That is, until my friend suggested we go to this place called AK Zai Lok Lok along Outram Road. 

At first (in my usual fashion) I was a tad reluctant- like, why.. and was it worth traveling all the way there just for a couple of skewered sticks reminiscent of eating satay?

But they had a good deal, my friend said, so alrighty, we went. 

You know what?

I've now completely changed my mind.

Not only that, for someone who doesn't usually have cravings of any kind, I've actually come to crave for those deep-fried, soup=dunked food skewered on wooden sticks too. 

It's a little surprising.

Because, honestly, it's not quite the food that I am craving for. 

Instead it is the experience that I wish to have- having been somewhat too spaced out the very first time I was there.

I was so out of it that I didn't get to take a good look at the ingredients in the chiller stacked up on the trays in their skewered wooden sticks,.

I also didn't think about what food I should take to dunk into my pot of tom yum soup already bubbling at the table. 

Fortunately my dining companion was as enthusiastic as could be, and instructed me to not do anything but "just watch the pot, watch the sticks in the pot, and eat" 

So I did.

Well, I tried.

I kept one eye on the sticks in the pot, arranging them in a criss-cross way so that they wouldn't sink and fall into the soup. 

I also tried paying attention to what I was eating, practicing the art of mindfulness so that I would at least know what I was putting inside my mouth. 

My friend, in charge of getting our food from the chiller, divided everything into two portions. 

One portion we placed in the soup. 

The other we gave to the kitchen to fry. 

I can't really recall which were the skewers we let boil in the soup, but if I'm not wrong, I think there were sweet corn, some vegetables, cheese tofu, some of the usual hotpot stuff, and mushrooms. 

Then for the fried stuff we had the luncheon meat, the little ham slices, the chicken nuggets, and the thinly sliced brinjals.

Think we did the same with the sausages too.

One thing about this meal that held special charm for me was the sauces. 

I actually remember them better than I do the food. 

Maybe because there wasn't just the satay peanut dipping sauce that's traditionally served with Lok Lok.

There was also the Thai sweet chili and an infused mentaiko mayonnaise too.

I took a fancy to the mayonnaise.

It went so well with everything- the bacon-wrapped thingy, the luncheon meat, the cheese tofu, the nuggets (of course) and even the tom yum-soaked brinjals which strong spice I'd wrongly assumed would've overwhelmed everything. 

All in all we had a very lovely dinner. 

I got to reminisce a little about the Lok Lok that I'd once had a long time ago at a dimly-lit street stall up in Penang. 

I had fun. 

And yep, it is this very same fun that I'm wanting to go back for the very next time. 

All Kinds of Coffees

 So I decided to do a bit of a crazy thing one day and decided to take stock of all the instant coffees that The Parents and I had either bought for each other, or exchanged with one another. 

It was quite a feat- there were several bags of them here, there, everywhere in the house, but it wasn't unpleasant, and eventually I decided to put them in a mood board sort of thing if only for the aesthetics, and the memory of it. 

It's interesting how nearly every stick of coffee here tells of a person's likes, dislikes and maybe even character and personality. 

Too often we overlook the habits and belongings of the day to day in favor of words and expressions, when actually, what a person eats or drinks or wears or uses can tell a lot about them. 

It's up to us to notice. 

Like how it's clear from this mood board that rich-tasting coffees have a place in our household. 

From the Super White Coffees to the Ah Huat White Coffee, from the Old Town White Coffee to the Super Rich and the Moccana Rich, there are a fair bit of these thick, sweet coffees in our coffee mugs. 

Not that the Nescafe 3-in-1 isn't in the household.

It is, and it is a staple that is drunk almost every day, albeit at different times of the day. 

It's not just the familiar instant coffees that speak to The Parents and I. 

There're also the Starbucks coffees, and very special they are too, in particular the Toffee Nut Latte, because that's out only at Christmas time (our favorite season), and only two years ago did it debut on the shelves of our supermarkets Cold Storage and NTUC. 

Bus Ride Sights: Bugis to AMK

I had not planned on taking this bus. 

But somehow, in the bright of the afternoon light, I had mistaken 130 for 33 (don't ask me how) and instead of traveling down Victoria Street towards Old Airport Road, I found myself in the vicinity of Maude Road, Kitchener Road and Serangoon Road. 

There are no pictures from the bus here. 

Because all through the journey from Syed Alwi Road, Maude Road and Serangoon Road, I was busy googling for alternative routes that would take me home, yet not take up too much effort, or too much time. 

I gave up somewhere at the bus stop after Tessensohn Road and decided to just go with the flow. 

There was nothing for it. 

After all it looked like the bus was heading towards Central Singapore, far from my intended destination of Southeast.

From this bus stop next to the big (cricket) field, the bus went down towards Balestier Road. 

Again there're very few pictures that I took here- save, maybe for this bus stop right outside one of the newly renovated malls, this little street upon which the coffee shop housing Balestier Bak Kut Teh stands, and the corner junction of Mandalay Road. 

I wish I could remember what the yellow building is. 

It looks important.

Unfortunately I don't, and Google Maps doesn't seem to say.

There are no more pictures of the view outside my bus window after this. 

Which, now that I think about it, is quite a pity, because the bus actually went through one of the most interesting (and seldom mentioned) housing estates this part of the country. 

Maybe one day when I get enough heart, and time, I'll take the same bus to that particular housing estate again. 

I'll be really interested to know why it's called Sector A, and I'll want to grab a few shots before the lights go down. 

Until then, well, there're other pictures of Ang Mo Kio Central where the bus reached its end destination,  and I'm pretty sure nearly all Singaporeans appreciate the sight of a 25-storey point block seen from the ground, and the sight of an above ground MRT station seen from across the road.

A Familiar View

You know, it is remarkably appropriate that I should have been here on the upper floors of the National Library Building during the afternoon on the day when I, over the phone, narrated to Someone events that had happened on that very same day, in another place, at another time. 

I hadn't planned to be here. 

But the bus that we took from Upper Thomson Road came to this area, and so me and my friend, we got down. 

I'm glad we did.

Because this place- the Library- and her surroundings- were, in more ways than one, significant to the person I shall henceforth address as Mr. Radioman.

That being said, the Library that Mr. Radioman remembers most isn't this one here- it's too new- but he would have been familiar with the one that used to stand at the foot of Fort Canning close to Armenian Street along Stamford Road.

That was the one with an S11 food court in front. 

That was the one with the red bricks and grey painted walls that you entered by accessing a long flight of stairs.

Whether or not Mr. Radioman went to that library often, I don't know, but there was a season when he would head there on Friday evenings with worksheets and exercise book in hand for Chinese spelling with his child. Sometimes the spelling was difficult. Other times it wasn't. And if they finished early, Mr. Radioman would get a vanilla ice cream cone from the McDonalds at the YMCA next door. 

Perhaps this (new) library doesn't mean as much to Mr. Radioman as it did the old one, but the surroundings of this location certainly are of significance to him as well. 

Like the building at the far end of Middle Road along Selegie that he once said had structures on its roof manufactured, and installed by his father's company. 

At the far end of Middle Road on Selegie is a building that he once said had structures that were manufactured, and installed by his father's company. 

It was something he was, and still is, very proud of. 

Another place that he has memories of lies not too far from this particular building. 

This was a place where he'd come every weekend, attend weekly sessions, and go for annual camps.

It was a place where he had friends, companionship and interaction beyond his home, his family and his work.

It was a very hopeful time.

I don't know now if those memories are as fond as others hope they would be, but they're there.

And they won't be erased away.

Mr. Radioman has plenty of stories about his time at this place.

But he has even more stories about his time at the Suntec City/Marina Bay area, where, at a certain point in his life, he found a purpose worth waking up at 6am on a Sunday for.

Never in his life (save for work) had he woken up this early, and so eagerly on a Sunday morning.

But this purpose spoke deeply to his spirit, and to his soul. 

He found himself feeling more enthusiastic about life, about his relationships, and what else life had to offer. 

He also grew to appreciate the charms of Suntec City, the waters of Marina Bay, and everything else that was in the world out there. 

It will be some time before he tells me again of his occasional night-time sojourns to Serangoon Road and Mustafa. 

It will also be some time before he tells me of the bus trips he took upcountry, of the really delicious rojak at the hawker center near the bus depot, the nice places he'd been to, and the nice foods he'd had. 

For now, however, there're all the libraries, we'll share out the youtiao, and there's always the  d*** solid bus interchange kopi too.

Carlton City Byes

For some reason which I don't know, and which I can't define even now, this weekend breather seemed to have quite a series of goodbyes. 

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the fact that our room had restful vibes, or that our room looked out towards the sea rather than the city.

But I know- for sure- that it was definitely here that I began saying the real Goodbye. 

This was a breather where I spent a good amount of time curled up on the chair in the room looking out towards the blocks of flats opposite, the island of Pulau Brani in the horizon, and that little slice of sea where between the tall buildings I could see a ship.

I wish I knew whether that section of the ship was the starboard or the bow, but I can't remember which is which, and all I know is that I really wanted to hop onto one and sail away. 

Perhaps that's the charm of staying on a high floor that grants you a view of the dock and the Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal (if that's what it's called)

You get to see a bit of ship.

And you get to see a bit of sea. 

I wasn't expecting that. 

In any case, one gets quite a surprise when exploring the area around the hotel. 

See, Carlton City Hotel sits in a rather unique part of town where, from its position, you actually get to have the best of several worlds. 

On one hand you have the heartland neighborhood of Tanjong Pagar with her housing board flats, her NTUC, her bakeries, her hairdressing shops, and her bubble tea. 

On the other hand there's 100AM Mall right next door where you get a rather interesting combination of Daiso, Don Don Donki and the newly opened MUJI, together with renowned bakeries like Pullman and several others. In the mall too there is a small Starbucks, a souffle pancake place, Ya Kun, another supermarket (Finest, this time), and a couple other restaurants which include Japanese cuisines, Asian cuisines and Chinese cuisines. 

It doesn't apply only to the shopping and the eating though. 

There is the difference between the architecture too, where on one side you have the heritage shop houses of Tanjong Pagar Road and Tras Street, on the other, you have the office buildings of Shenton Way close to Robinson Road and Anson Road.

Further down from these skyscrapers is the road where Bloomberg used to have an office.

Right in front of these buildings stands a building where a long time ago, the Customs & Excise Department had their offices.

And diagonally across that building is a plot of land where the (now demolished) CPF Building used to stand. 

We won't know what happened to the Singer (sewing machine) showroom and training school after the shop houses on Tras Street (or is it Peck Seah Street) got renovated.

We also won't know when exactly the wedding and bridal studios along Tanjong Pagar began. 

They feel like they've been there a very long time ago.

Nevertheless, what with the hawker center in the vicinity, the (famous) fruit stall, the range of Korean BBQ restaurants, and hipster cafes all along this area, this place has become a combination of what defines Singapore in view of her economy, her development, her society, her history, and her both past and present. 

It is in this area that one finds the ability to go chill at the shops of Wallich Tower the same way one attempts to buy bread for breakfast at either Pullman or the heartland bakery across the road. 

And in the same way too one finds the ability to walk up and down the row of heritage shop houses towards Chinatown and then afterwards heading towards the Shenton Way side to take a look at Maxwell Chambers and the old ROV.

We had an interesting breather here at Carlton City Hotel this time round.

I know my friend relished the bath tub.

I, on the other hand, will- at least for some time- hold a distinct memory of the deck chairs by the poolside. 

Because that's where I realized- through a phone call- for the first time- that in this world there are some people for whom the process of Grieving never ends. 

Not because the emotions of Grief don't go away, but because they themselves are made so elated by the responses to Grief that they choose not to let it end.

The hour-long poolside conversation is not the only thing that I'll remember of this weekend breather.

I'll remember the meals we had too.

As you can tell, they were incredibly fun. 

Amongst some of the meals we made using our Little Black Grill were salmon fillets, butterhead lettuce and instant ramen that we had brought from home.  

Not to mention the can of organic butternut squash soup we had the next day, cooked together with spinach, and an extra packet of mushrooms bought from Don Don Donki next door.