Cups N Canvas

Located in Dhoby Ghaut area along Selegie Road is a rather artsy cafe named Cups N Canvas. Well as the name implies, it combines coffee and canvas art it the same space where they are located.

The cafe is usually separated into two areas, one for food and drinks and the other for the art courses it provides. There, you are able to see art pieces created by people who go there for courses such as painting, printmaking and drawing. However, on days where no courses are held, the whole area turns in to a cafe.

I sat in front of the counter and this is the view I get. The place is set in warm lighting, giving a rather cosy feeling. There is also an alfresco area however I didn't manage to take a look at it as it was raining on the day I went.

The cafe provides a variety of food including cakes, pasta, sandwiches, and breakfast sets.

The sandwich (ciabatta) that my friend ordered. 

Breakfast Canvas

As you can see, the breakfast canvas is a spread. It includes a bratwurst sausage, eggs, roasted potatoes, mushrooms, grilled cherry tomatoes, mesclun, toast. Everything was so good i cleared the whole dish . I especially liked the sauteed mushrooms. 

For drinks, my friend and I ordered two beverages that we have not seen before anywhere else...

Cucumber Mint Tea

I'm not especially a fan of cucumber, neither am I a fan of mint. However, this drink was really refreshing, especially on a hot day. and the taste of cucumber and mint is well balanced. 

Sweet Potato Latte

And of course, how could I not order their sweet potato latte? It's not easy to find such a drink in Singapore and frankly speaking, I don't know where else in Singapore offers this. I was quite surprised when it came because of its colour. It may seem quite artificial but after tasting it, you would know it's genuine. I could taste sweet potato bits in it and hence giving the drink a little more texture. It is also not too sweet and I would say I enjoyed it a lot. A drink that I would definitely recommend. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. It is a really nice place to catch up with one or two friends over nice food and drinks. The cafe is usually not crowded and I like that it is not noisy as well. If you are interested in canvas art, do check out their art courses as well!

Cups N Canvas

139 Selegie Road

Singapore 188309

Operating Hours:

Tues to Thurs: 10:30am to 10:00pm

Fri to Sat: 10:30am to 11:00pm

Sun: 10:00am to 8:00pm

Closed on Mondays

The Little Prince Cafe @ Somme Road

I suppose many of you are familiar with the story of The Little Prince. I, for one, haven't actually read the book yet, but I kind of know the story or at least the more memorable parts. This trip to the cafe made me want to get the book and really read it. :)

So anyway, this place was recommended by a friend, who brought me here. Before coming I actually did some research, reading other people's reviews on what they recommend here and stuff. Of course there were mixed opinions. Afterall, everybody thinks differently.

This place is tucked in a small corner of Farrer Park, near a condominium, but it is easily by the brightly lit interior of the cafe. The cafe is not very big, just one storey (don't be fooled by the hand-drawn staircase on the wall). But it is a very cosy place.

The first thing you notice when you approach the cafe would be the decor. Guess what, they are all hand-drawn by the owner. Also, everywhere in the cafe, you will see different versions of The Little Prince, in all kinds of languages. Feel free to take one down to read. (Of course return it back to the original place after that). At the counter there are also stuffed toys of the famous elephant-eating snake and other memorable characters. 

The menu is also interestingly presented above the counter. So, my three other friends and I decided to each order a drink and share some food.

I ordered a hot rose latte, since a rose latte isn't very common around. It came in a glass cup as shown above. The first sip of the rose latte comes to me as a very interesting taste. Although this cup has two shots of coffee (according to the owner, all coffee drinks on their menu has two shots of coffee), it is not as bitter as I think it would be. The bitterness is probably downplayed by the milk and the rose component. This is good for those who don't want to add sugar, but don't wish to drink coffee that is too bitter as well. A friend ordered the iced version, and she said it tastes kind of like bandung. I guess the rose taste comes out more in the iced version. There is also the non-caffeinated version of rose latte available as well.

Another interesting drink available in the cafe would be this iced rambutan tea. There are whole rambutans in the drink, and the sugar syrup comes in a small beaker by the side. This drink is refreshing and I would recommend it on a hot day. 

Foodwise, we did order quite a lot of things. First up, would be this savoury seaweed scone. (I can't really remember the exact name sorry ><). There's only two types scones they provide, one is the original raisin scone and one is this savoury seaweed scone. We decided to try this as it is the first time we encounter a savoury scone. Guess what, we ended up ordering a second one. This is recommended to be eaten hot otherwise the cheese inside would harden again causing difficulty eating the scone as it would be very hard to cut.

We also ordered a smoked salmon bread. (the vegetables are outside because one of us didn't like to have the vegetables in. haha) The sauce they put in the sandwich tastes a bit like honey mustard, but it has a tinge of wasabi. Very interesting, and nice. Personally, I love the bread as well.

Time for cakes! We ordered four types, here are two of them. The one on the left is the strawberry marshmallow cake that is highly recommended by many. I love it too as it is not too sweet, and the texture is just nice. There are even bits of marshmellow within the cake. The one on the right is the chocolate truffle/fudge(?) cake. For chocolate lovers, this is highly recommended.

Another of their bestseller is this strawberry swiss roll. It comes in two per serving because it is actually mini. The texture is very smooth, and it is not too sweet as well. The group of us really loved this.

A less common flavour for cakes would be this avocado cake. To me, the taste of avocado doesn't come immediately as you eat it, but more of an aftertaste. As an avocado lover I like how fragrant it is when you eat it. (fragrant as in not the smell but the taste xD) However I suggest that if you want to try, you should share it with someone as the taste might be a bit to overwhelming for one person to finish the whole slice.

Overall, the food is nice and I really love the atmosphere. I love that all things link to The Little Prince - even the plates they provide for sharing food:

It's a nice place to sit down and just chill, taking a break away from all the hectic lifestyle. :)

Lastly a quote for everyone, although it is not very clear in the picture, here it is:

~ Slow down and enjoy something small ~

Shots Cafe @ Ann Siang Hill

8 Ann Siang Hill 
Singapore 069788

Located at Ann Siang Hill, with another branch down at Club Street, Shots Cafe is a place that doesn't just provide food and drinks, but a place to showcase talent as well. Currently there's a instaArtist exhibition going on in the cafe, where instagram photos are printed and pasted on the walls of the cafe.

As a fan of flavoured coffee, I ordered one that caught my eye - Tiramisu Latte.

The coffee came in such a cup, which I thought was quite cute. And, it didn't disappoint me. I could really taste the Tiramisu in the coffee, but at the same time, the bitterness still managed to come out. However, it might be a little too sweet for some people.

My friend ordered Hazelnut Latte, which was perfectly to her liking and she enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't that sweet, but the flavour wasn't overwhelmed by the bitterness.

Furthermore, this place has a quiet environment, with appropriate background music. It is brightly lit, and the dark coloured furniture kind of gave it a relatively posh feeling. The staff was friendly, and provided very good service. I really liked this place a lot.

The Plain

50 Craig Road #01-01 Singapore

Just down the corridor where Selfish Gene Cafe is located, there lies another cafe - The Plain. As I entered the cafe, I was greeted by the friendly staff which also kindly made recommendations when I asked for it. The cafe made use of orange lighting to create a dimly lit, but warm ambience. The coffee fragrance filled the whole place, making me really looking forward to trying their coffee. This place offers espresso based coffee, and does not do drips.

menu

There's a dessert trolley located inside the cafe, holding cakes and pastries not on the menu. I was too full though, at that time to order food so I only ordered beverages instead.

My friend ordered a regular latte, with a pretty coffee art presented to us.

As for me, I decided to go for something I had never tried before - Iced Generra. It is basically coffee, but the special thing is it has a tinge of orange taste in it. Quite interesting, having a zesty feeling with coffee. To be honest, my first sip reminded me of the Van Houten orange chocolate. What surprised me more was that as I finished the drink, I found that there's orange peel inside. No wonder there zesty taste was quite strong, but not overwhelming till it covered the taste of the coffee.

Overall, this place is very welcoming, but it does get a bit noisy sometimes. Hence for those that prefer a quieter environment, this would not be as ideal.

Selfish Gene Cafe

As summer 2013 starts, and I begin a new journey out of school, I start engaging in another activity - cafe hopping. Cafes have always interest me because of their drinks. Not just coffee, others too but mainly, coffee. I do admit that I do not know much about coffee, but just the taste alone makes me love drinking it.

I have visited several cafes, but just didn't have the time to write about them. So starting from now, here are my cafe hopping experiences.

40 craig road
singapore 089678

This is one of the three cafes that I visited today. Heard much about it so here I am, to see what it has to offer.

My friend and I ordered a smoked salmon sandwich, iced chai tea latte, iced matcha latte and a banana cake.

The sandwich wasn't to much of my liking as the bread was quite hard. We were given knife and fork, but it wasn't easy to cut the sandwich. However the smoked salmon was really nice. Kind of makes up for it. 

Iced matcha latte. It just taste of powder, and doesn't really have an authentic matcha taste. It also tastes kind of diluted. An average drink. Nothing to rave about.

This was what made the trip worth it. The banana cake, with banana slices and peanut butter on top. Furthermore, it was warmed and the cake was very moist. The texture of the cake really just made up for everything else. A must try in this cafe.

Exploring around School

Decide to explore the area around school these few days and discovered a few nice places.

Went with Shirlynn one night to find a dinner place and chanced upon this restaurant/cafeteria selling lunchbox sets. Erm, train lunchbox sets supposedly. Thought it was quite interesting so we decided to settle our meal here.

The order counter decorated as a ticket counter. So cute.

From the inside of the "train"

And this is my lunchbox! It's actually alot. I can't even finish it. But it is really nice. 

And today, I was searching for cafes online, and found that there's one near our school, so Xinrong and I decided to check it out. 

and here it is: 舊是經典咖啡室

The menu. All the drinks cost 100ntd with a small snack like a bun or crackers. Rather affordable for students.

Their shelves are full of home decor books.

And snoopy figurines!

After waiting for a while, our beverages are finally here!

This is Xinrong's Iced Chocolate Latte

And I decided to try something new - Iced Rose Cafe Latte. A flavour that I have never encountered.

This place certainly didn't let me down. According to Xinrong, the chocolate latte isn't too sweet. And for me, the rose cafe latte really has the subtle fragrance of roses. It is neither too sweet nor too bitter. Just the right amount of taste. Even after the ice has melted, the coffee doesn't taste diluted as well. 

Definitely a cafe that I will go again. 

Korea Day 17 2/9/2012

Last day in Korea. Regina shifted to her dormitory today, so I decided to walk around. Met up with Heasoo again for lunch one last time. I don't know when I will ever see her again. Haha. But I'm sure I will. Wanted to meet up with Eunji unnie too, but our schedules don't match :(

Anyway, we met at Times Square and we went to a Korean restaurant. I tasted cold noodles, Naengmyun for the first time. It is pyeongyang style naengmyun. The taste is not bad, just that I'm not really used to putting so much vinegar.

After that, I went back to Ewha district to find this shop called Kosney. In this shop, they sell all kinds of things, including diaries and stationery that you find on blogshops and cost so much. But in Kosney, the cost much cheaper. I bought a diary to use for the year 2013 and a new pencil case that is on sale.

After that, I went back to Hongdae. As I was exploring hongdae one last time, I saw this cafe.

Coffee Lab. It looked special so I went in to have a look, and take a break. And it is indeed special. They decorate their ceiling with~

Yes. Chairs.

I ordered a Vanilla Latte, and an Oreo cheesecake. This is how my order came:

The vanilla latte is really aromatic. And it is not too sweet, neither too bitter. The balance is just nice. The oreo cheesecake is so creamy. The best thing is, it is not the kind of cream that makes you get sick of it. It makes you want to eat more. And all these for a reasonable price. Like normal cafe prices.

Went back to the guesthouse after this. Well, I shifted to Oasis guesthouse because there's gonna be repairs done on the room for Lavender Story. And guess what, I was treated to dinner by the owner. Like, erm he called in delivery for him and another guest which is a Korean that had been living in Australia. And it was something that I had wanted to try all along! Jjajangmyun! yay. YUMMY. and he opened a bottle of beer for us each. YES. beer again. Lol.

I really thank him for the hospitality. Really. He almost wanted to give me another bottle, but I refused, because I turn red easily from alcohol. Yup. And that was how the day ended.

Korea Day 13 Samcheondong, Insadong 29/8/2012

Regina had her Korean placement test today, so in the meantime, I decided to go and explore the Anguk area. Well, that place is very artsy.

When I came out of Anguk station, I saw this:

The start of the artsy trail haha.

Anyway, I went to the Samcheondong （三清洞）area first. This area is famous for its Hanok style buildings. Bukchon （北村）is also in the area.

Buildings like this can be seen everywhere in the area! There are many cafes in Samcheondong too, and quite a few of them retain such an environment. If you are a cafe lover, I would say this place is a must go, because there are many nice cafes over here.

So as I was walking around, I saw wall murals. You seldom see wall murals in Singapore. Or rather, you don't see them when you walk down streets. These murals are so pretty..

So, after walking for quite a while, I dropped in on this cafe for a break. The cafe is called Cafe Yeon.

This is one of the cafes that retain the hanok style environment. While I was inside, I could really relax. The environment was actually very calming.

After that, I headed Insadong. Insadong was more lively, as it is more of a shopping street. But the shops are more of the craft shops. They sell paintings, handmade fans, etc. Good for getting souvenirs.

There is an area in Insadong called Ssamzigil, which has many many interesting craft shops, unlike the traditional craft shops.

People who are interested in artsy stuff and crafts should come here. I think you will spend the whole day in this place.