The Countryside Cafe | Dunlop Street

The Countryside Cafe has been around for 7 years and I can't believe we were lucky enough to stumble upon such a charming place. This place was 3 mins walk from where we were staying in Little India. Charles wanted a drink, so we went to the nearest place we could find. Beers were pretty cheap from SGD6 a glass. Backpackers and their regulars were seen enjoying a glass or two.

Checked out the reviews on Tripadvisor and plenty of tourists loved hanging out at the cafe. Perhaps I should say, pub by night, breakfast bar by day. The owner mentioned that they are the only ones who serve western breakfast in Little India. Perhaps there were too many foreigners that the demand was there.

The Countryside Cafe @ Singapore

The GM Diet | Day 5 - Lean Beef & Vege

I've already accepted the fact that I won't be losing any weight because today is Day 5 and I am still weighing the same. I guess I'll just take this diet plan to detox my body and restarting it so that I'll be healthier. To date I've been sleeping soundly and waking up at 10AM everyday without any difficulty which is a plus.

Weighing at 50kg in the morning. (none lost from Day 4)

11AM - Oh hello, beef. I made pan fried beef with olive oil and added a little salt and pepper to taste along with baked broccoli because I had leftover from the previous schedule where I skipped it. Ate everything and savored every taste of it because it was so good!

7PM - 1 bowl of soup.

11PM - 1 cup lemon water.

The GM Diet | Day 4 - Bananas (6) & Milk (3)

Well, I woke up feeling really excited to weigh myself but I soon got pretty disappointed when I weighed the same. NOTHING has changed. 3 days of constant fruits and vege, yet I am still at 50kg. BUMMED. At this point I am not even sure if I should go head with another 4 more days of this intensive diet. Today is the worst actually. Just Bananas and Milk. Sigh.

Weighing at 50kg in the morning. (none lost from Day 3)

10AM - 2 bananas & 1 glass of low fat milk.

12PM - 1 bowl of Wonder Soup and 1 cup of English Breakfast Tea.

Went out to Publika. Finally, a breath of fresh air and sun. I've been cooked up at home ever since the diet because I didn't need to eat out or didn't have any reason to go out. Today, I went to check out CAFFA (Coffee and Art Fringe Festival 2013) at Publika and the smell of coffee aroma was hypnotizing. Did I take even a sip? NOPE I didn't. Still going strong with this diet.

3PM - 2 bananas.

5PM - 1 banana and 1 glass of milk.

7PM - 1 bowl of soup and 1 bowl of watermelon.

11PM - 1 banana and 1 glass of milk.

Well, not the best day for me. I am absolutely demotivated. One minute I was keen on continuing with the diet and the next I really thought of giving up. Didn't help that it was the weekend and everywhere I went had food signs. Sigh. At least I am looking forward to the beef tomorrow.

PasarBella | The Grandstand

Built with passion, the founders of PasarBella have always dreamt of opening a place to provide a one-stop food and lifestyle experience, all under the same roof.

With over 30,000 square feet of market space housing more than 30 unique stalls from around the world serving up coffee, meat, seafood, cheese meals, pastries, wine, beer and so much more.

"The quaint stalls, exotic aromas and festivities are sure to enchant everyone." - PasarBella

Oh, yes indeed! What a warm and glorious place for food and drinks!

If you're planning to take a trip down to PasarBella, do note that most of the shops close at 7pm. When we arrived, it was about 8pm and we didn't have a clue of their business hours. Most of the shops were closed which was a surprise to us seeing that it was a Saturday. However, enough stalls were open for us to get a glimpse of the place and its' wonders.

Had these for SGD8 a slice and it was super yummy! The skin was extremely crunchy and the meat, oh-so-tender! Highly recommended for you to try this.

Then we stopped for some meat cuts. Wanted to try what they have. Pork slices, roasted chicken and grilled beef with fried battered bananas which I thought tasted like sweet potatoes. Well, I am really not sure if it is this shop that gave us three diarrhea the next day. I kinda suspected that it is because of how raw the beef was and I only took a little which explained why I only needed to go to the toilet a few times compared to the other two. BUT I could be wrong and it could be the burger we ate for dinner which I'll be talking about next.

I was told about this place by a very close friend of mine and I am super glad that she did. I absolutely loved the place and its' charm. I'll definitely go back there again if I'm heading down to Singapore. So much more to see!

PasarBella @ Singapore

The GM Diet | Day 3 - Unlimited fruits & Unlimited non-starchy vege

Weighing at 50kg in the morning. (none lost from Day 2)

11AM - 1/2 bowl of Wonder Soup and 1 cup of English Breakfast from Ahmad Tea. I fell in love with their tea when I first drank it at Ante. Soon after I decided to stock up on their English Breakfast because I love the taste compared to all others. You can find a box at Ben's Grocer in Publika for RM4+? Can't really remember the price.

130PM - Baked asparagus and 1 bowl of watermelon.

4PM - Baked broccoli and 1 bowl of watermelon.

6PM - 1/2 pomelo. So my mom bought me a huge pomelo the other day when she was back from Cameron's and I had no idea it takes a few strong men to cut that thing up. Well yeah, I had it before but I had my mom to cut it for me and this was my first time wrestling with that thing. LOL.

830PM - Instead of stir fry, I boiled the bak choys and topped with oyster sauce. So yummy! Was suppose to eat broccoli as well but I didn't want to cos I wasn't hungry. 1 bowl of watermelon.

11PM - 1 cup lemon water

I felt completely fine today and I didn't have any cravings eventhough I was blogging about food and looking at pictures of food on Facebook. Oh, the best thing was I was eating my bak choy right next to Doug who was eating a packet of chicken rice. I thought I was eating too much actually! Every moment when it was time to have my meal, I found myself thinking to myself, "AGAIN?! but I just ate!" and I wasn't hungry at all. Oh, and I even missed the time by a half hour to an hour. Whereby the first day, I was on the dot with every meal. Talk about change in my diet. LOL.

Not looking forward to tomorrow though. So happened that it is Saturday and all I can take is 8 bananas and 3 glasses of milk. I guess the highlight must be 2 bowls of soup and a cup of tea? Everyday has to have a highlight or else I won't have anything to look forward to right?

Oriole Cafe & Bar | 313 Somerset

We came across this mall by chance. As we were taking the MRT, we noticed that there was a station named Somerset and so happened we walked passed this place and made a detour into the mall to get to the station. As we passed by a construction area that was blocking the entrance of this mall, we realized that this was like the outdoor area of Pavilion where eateries such as Brotzeit was at and we noticed this place on our left called Oriole.

Being on the search for a good cup of coffee in Singapore, we definitely had to sample Oriole's coffee. Charles said that their beans are known to be good. So, we waited to be seated.

Oh, may I add that the hostess was at her very best! I've never seen someone so happy all the time at work and Oriole was packed. She was bubbly and never hesitated even the slightest when Doug asked for sugar. She jumped right where she stood and said, "Let me get that for you!" and she was off. One thing about Singapore that I love is their service industry. You hardly find someone who hates their job. Even when I was in Fullerton Hotel, the cleaner lady in the bathroom smiled politely while holding the door open for me and even when they chat among themselves, they spoke in such joy! I was definitely amazed.

So, back to Oriole Cafe & Bar.

"Conscious coffee. Gratifying global comfort food. Delectable café dining by day, handcrafted cocktails by night - all set to a sublime soundtrack." - Oriole Coffee

One cup of Iced vanilla latte (double shot espresso, cold milk, home - made flavors) for Doug. He loved it! Said it was really fragrant and it reminded him of Thailand's coffee where the coffee was sweet and strong in coffee flavor.

One cup of Iced Cappuccino for me. Love it and the sun was blazing that day so I didn't have a choice but to order a cup of cold coffee but usually I prefer my cappuccino to be hot.

Both cups were SGD5.5 each. Can you believe it! It's super cheap for Singaporeans to leisure in coffee while in Malaysia it's RM10 at least. Am comparing base on earning SGD and MYR.

Charles decided to give their competition coffee a shot. He had Citrus Sin (double ristretto, spiced orange juice, steamed milk) and it came with a slice of orange. The manager of Oriole explained that the coffee is already sweet, infused with orange juice, so he didn't have to add that slice of orange or any sugar. He took a sip and savored the taste. LOL. When you're with Charles, you need to watch his expression when he takes a sip of his coffee. He loves coffee and would go all out just to try something new. Anyway, I tasted it and thought it was rather unique. Something like having chocolate with orange but the taste just went along with the bitterness of the coffee.

Oriole Cafe & Bar @ Singapore

The GM Diet | Day 2 - All non-starchy vege & One potato

Weighing at 50kg in the morning. (lost 1kg)

10AM - 1/2 bowl of Wonder Soup. I was a little bored of the soup yesterday but today, it felt good giving my stomach something warm to hug. 1 small papaya :)

12PM - Baked 2 small Australian potatoes! *happy dance*. So I've finally gotten a taste of solid food and instead of going for that 1 pat of butter to top with my potatoes, I baked it with 1 teaspoon of olive oil (yes, I am that disciplined), added rosemary flakes with a little salt and black pepper. Plus 1 bowl of soup. It felt like it was my birthday! LOL.

3PM - Roasted broccoli and cherry tomatoes. Today's food intake is so much better because I get a taste of different stuff rather than the same soup all the time.

5PM - Baked 1 small Australian potato. I haven't been hungry the whole day which was a plus!

7PM - Baked asparagus and fresh cherry tomatoes.

11PM - 1 cup lemon water.

Today went by so fast I had little time thinking of what to snack on which was great! I wasn't hungry at all throughout the day. Potatoes gave me enough to last the few hours I needed. Highlight of tomorrow, I get to drink tea! :)

Wanderlust | Dickson Road

This is a mini feature on a place I've came across by chance while I was in Singapore. I thought it was really unique and I loved the place, so I decided to just write a little about it. I didn't get to stay there though and I would really love to but their rooms, which are themed by the way, starts from SGD300 to SGD650. Converting the least to Ringgit will be around RM770 a night. Can't afford to, yet.

"Wanderlust is a left-field and totally experimental boutique hotel set to draw madcap voyagers and curious travellers to its doorstep. Located in Little India – a bustling cultural enclave where Indian immigrants once settled, and the building was originally an old school built it 1920s.

With four thematic levels of 29 rooms by award winning Singapore design agencies, each group was given full creative freedom." - Wanderlust

Also, if you're uncertain about a place, always check out Tripadvisor. In this case, read the reviews of Wanderlust here.

Lobby Level – Industrial Glam by Asylum
A juxtaposition of the surrounding’s setting and contemporary design.

Level 2 – Eccentricity by :phunk Studio
Colours everything from the walls to the neon lights and the rainbow corridor leads to a outdoor deck with a customised mosaic-tiled jacuzzi.

Level 3 – Is it just Black and White by DP Architects
Walk across the black corridor and enter into the contrasting white rooms to discover Origami and Pop-Art works.

Level 4 – Creature Comforts by Furious
Get cosy with friendly monsters in each room that presents a different vibe and be assured of a fantasy-filled experience.

If you happen to linger around Little India, do check out Wanderlust along Dickson Road. You're guaranteed to be impressed!

Wanderlust Hotel @ Singapore