SAFRA Radio VIP Brunch at Cornerstone

Two Sundays ago,

I woke up bright and early for something special: brunch with a bunch of really amazing people!

Does this limo cab offer any clues?

If you didn't already guess it right, you should be at least close to the right answer.. Yes! I had the opportunity to meet and enjoy a Sunday brunch with some of the most fabulous on-air and not to forget online personalities on our little island! Whoop! ;)

10.30am is rather early, to be honest. But I was pretty excited for this event, really! And thankfully I was chauffeured there by a comfortable limo cab too, hehe.

I was one of the first few to reach Corner Stone, a comfortable bistro located inside Bishan Park!

Hard to miss these two huge banners.

Guess who was the very first person I saw inside Corner Stone?
It was none other than Jamie Yeo! D:

And this friendly lady waved to me so enthusiastically while I was still outside and about to enter the bistro that for a moment, I was wondering who it was, before I entered and realised belated and a lil starstruck-edly that it was Jamie Yeo herself!

Come on guys if you belong in the same era as me you can't not be familiar with Jamie, she's honestly one of the very few radio DJs I can even recognise! :)))

Took an opportunity to grab a quick photo with Jamie before the other people arrived woohoo. And Jamie was SO friendly! ^.^

The food started coming in once everyone got all settled down. I could have eaten so much more but unfortunately or fortunately, the food was served in little bite-sized canapés. Haha.

Parma ham

Tomato

Mini beef slices

Grilled squid

Smoked salmon with sour cream biscotti thingy

Roast pork

Sausages

Squid ink pasta

Lobster pasta

There was a gorgeous spread of sweets and desserts, and everyone couldn't stop raving about the earl grey chocolate cake!

I had a little surprise when I bumped into an old friend at the event.. Who's none other than Jia Ming, now a DJ with Jia 883FM! It was so nice to catch up with him and know that he's now doing great as a DJ! 

Lina and Jia Ming host a daily Monday to Friday show on Jia 883FM from 4-8PM, and a Jia Ming hosts a Saturday show from 2-6pm!

And a selfie with the obliging Jamie!

Jamie hosts the Power Breakfast Show on weekday mornings 6-10am with Sonja and Jason, on Power 98FM!

It was a pretty entertaining morning as all the DJs came up to host various segments, with some really funny games, too. Thank goodness I wasn't called up to play the games though, I'm really bad at this kind of thing hahahaa.

With some of the Nuffnang bloggers! :)

Jess, Mel and myself, photobombed by Juli at the back LOL

Tricia, Evonne and I with Jia Ming!

This photo is super win! Nine people in a selfie and I believe Val's arm can fit in even more people OMG her arm is just crazy long! Spot the lone DJ in a sea of bloggers. Haha!

Folks, you get a chance to win a VIP Brunch Experience too, with your favourite DJ!

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Date: Saturday 3rd May 2014

Time: 10am - 12.30pm

Venue: Corner Stone (Bishan Park 2, 1380 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1)

Tell me which DJ you would love to meet at the VIP Brunch Experience and why (by leaving a comment on this blog post) 

At the end of your entry, include your: 

1. Name 

2. Birthdate (Day/Month/Year) 

3. Email Addresss 

4. Contact Number 

 *Winners will be announced on Power 98 and Jia88.3 Facebook pages and notified by SAFRA Radio

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Random: I spotted SUPER cute dogs on the way out of Bishan Park, can't believe that one on the left is a chihuahua?! It looks like a miniature corgi, tooooo cute! Awwwwww.

Also, have you joined my give-away for a 2-night stay at Sofitel So Bangkok yet? Just a few days more to the participation deadline! 

Toodles, til the next update! 

xoxo

Brunch at Common Man Coffee Roasters

Life has been hectic, but there's no stopping me when it comes to food and cafe-hopping!

Common Man Coffee Roasters has been on my to-visit list for some time now, and so I finally got the opportunity to visit, and at the same time arrange a meeting to confirm our wedding photographer! :D

I seriously haven't been doing much about the upcoming wedding at all, and my wedding planners and styling team and even my bridal studio are asking me when I'm free to start discussing stuff with them :( Shucks. Obviously not a Bride-zilla (yet) cos right now I'm just too pre-occupied with other more pressing matters -.-

But anyway.. YAYYYY! We've decided upon our actual day wedding photographer so that's one thing settled!

Back to brunch at Common Man Coffee Roasters, it's located along Martin Road and I find it pretty inaccessible without a means of your own transport :/

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Common Man Coffee Roasters

#01-00, 22 Martin Rd

Singapore 239058

Tel: +65 6836 4695

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I do like the interior decor of Common Man Coffee Roasters, which has a very rustic air with lots of wood accents.

The menu at Common Man Coffee Roasters isn't extensive, but it took a long time to decide what I wanted to have, because the food all sounded really good! Haha. Breakfast is served all day, which is a plus point! I hate missing breakfast hours.

The obligatory flat-lay shot.

A shot of expresso that's accompanied with.. a miniature bottle of soda? To dilute the expresso if it's too "gao"! The coffee at Common Man Coffee Roasters is apparently highly raved, but since I'm not a coffee connoisseur, I'll have to take other people's word for it!

The hot chocolate that YZ ordered: very thick, rich and chocolatey.

Organic Eggs Benedict ($24) that came with braised ox cheek, this was mine! I loved the tender ox cheek and I enjoyed the dish but it was quite heavy on the hollandaise and egg yolk, which was a bit too much after awhile.

French Toast ($18): This was good! The toast was just the right amount of soft and fluffy. It tasted especially delicious with the ice cream and berries compote!

Pulled Pork Bun ($24) that reminded me of bakwa because it had a sort of savoury sweet marination. The crunchy coleslaw and cucumber accompanied the pulled pork and bun well! The pulled pork was also well-cooked and wasn't tough nor stringy.

I prefer the French Toast over the similar Common Man Pancakes ($19) cos anything tastes better with ice cream haha and also I found the pancake batter too dense for my liking. I prefer fluffy pancakes and one of my favourites is the one at Habitat Coffee.


Churros with chocolate sauce ($12), I've been craving for churros but haven't yet found one that I really like (in Singapore, I mean)! So far, close contenders are Max Brenner's, which is a hit-and-miss sometimes, and the one at Grub! Common Man Coffee Roasters' version is okay, but nothing to rave about. Too doughy and soft for me, I prefer it with a thicker and crispier crust.

SO rare that I can get the boy out for brunch, believe me. He's not a huge fan of expensive eggs and toast. Heheh.

Overall verdict for Common Man Coffee Roasters, I wouldn't go back to the place again just for a meal, because it is really quite pricey. Dollar to dollar, I very much prefer the food at Symmetry, which although is equally expensive, but I feel is more worth the moolah! The bill for four came up to like $120? I felt like we were paying more for the ambience than the food itself.

Ron's long arm makes for a great four-person selfie! Oh yes, if you're wondering why Evonne was there, it's because she's actually the person who introduced Ron to me, because Ron was her wedding photographer as well! :D

I've so glad to have confirmed Ron as our AD photographer, and very excited too, because Ron's works are really exquisite! He has had years of experience and even shot for celebrities (like 黑人 and 范范?! Wah the wedding photos got Lee Hom, I swoon) and famous personalities! Deciding on a wedding photographer to me is one of the most important aspects of the wedding planning, because the photos are the captured memories that'll stay with you for a lifetime, and it would be terrible if they weren't well-taken :( I'm secretly very worried and afraid of all the candid photo taking because I actually feel quite awkward in front of the cameras and I have the worst kind of candid expressions.

But I am sure that Ron will do an amazing job, and I hope I'll look damn chio on my wedding day. *fingers crossed* What I really like about Ron's works that I've seen is that he manages to capture the moments so well, a lot of raw emotions and "feel"!

Ron's photography website: EYEDEAS Photography!
Or look for EYEDEAS Photography on Facebook here.

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Headed to Salon Vim to get my hair pampered with the Keratase treatment: I do it regularly at least 1-2 times a month to maintain my healthy tresses. It is really a must to take care of your hair especially if you subject it to frequent chemical services like I do.

There are different booster caps for different purposes, like for colour protection, or strengthening!

Super love for the soft and nourished locks after treatment! I also touched up the colour: check out those feathery purple and violet highlights at the ends of my hair!

Outfit of the day, dressed entirely in Dorothy Perkins from head to toe :)
Even the pretty clutch and silver heels are from DP as well

A close up of the details. Purple is obviously one of my favourite colours :D

If you've been missing my updates, do look for me on Dayre and Instagram, which I try to update with a little something everyday! I also apologise that there has been quite a number of advertorials here of late.. Sometimes all the ads come at one go and I have to adhere to the client's timeline :( I still try to keep all posts (advertorials or not) relevant and interesting! :D

Working on my next BKK post with the super give-away.. Wait for it!!

xoxo

Brunch at Canopy with the furkids!

Happy national day weekend, folks!

Teehee, I'm still on abit of a post-proposal high.. So hopefully everyone bears with me hahaha because I've been posting mushy and lovey-dovey stuff these few days while still soaking in the newfound bliss :P Thank you so much for everyone who's congratulated me in person and offered your heartfelt blessings, or left a comment or message via Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp and my blog, I feel extremely blessed by all your well-wishes and congratulations!

Coincidentally, it also happened to be YZ and my 6th anniversary last Tuesday, just 3 days after my birthday! Six years sounds like such a long time! It's hard to believe how fast the six years have gone by.

We had enough of excitement so we kept it simple and just went for a simple meal together, and I decided on brunch at Bishan Park 10 minutes away from my home, so that I could bring the furkids out for a rare excursion!

Have you met my two furkids? If you haven't, say hello to shaggy QQ, a miniature Yorkshire terrier and Baby, our overgrown chihuahua (also affectionately known as Ah Fat!)

You have no idea how much they loooove going out "gai-gai", so much that Baby tried to squeeze into QQ's pet carrier, which is way too tiny for her! The only bag that Baby can fit into nicely is my Gucci canvas tote bag which is huge! So in there she went :D

The two furkids all ready for their trip to Bishan Park! Hehe.

I love Bishan Park for being so dog-friendly, apart from the enclosed dog run, many of the food places in Bishan Park are also pet-friendly, such as Grub, and Canopy, which is where we were headed on this day!

Parked at the car park and Canopy is the very first establishment you'll see when you walk into the park!

These two were super excited to roam about! Look at their adorable little faces hehe.

Canopy Garden Dining and Bar was quiet and serene on a Tuesday afternoon, and we opted for a table outdoors as we had the furkids with us!

We got a spot right under a fan, and thankfully the weather was pretty cool because of the slight shower of rain earlier in the morning.

YZ posing with fat Baby! Baby look super happy and adorable! She's about 7 years old by the way, and used to be really hyperactive when she was younger. But now she's extremely lazy and looks like a walking roll of ham LOL.

We ordered the classic Eggs Benedict and Mushroom Pasta in Truffle Cream for our mains. The prices are fairly decent and affordable, but unfortunately the service was very slow and it took us almost 10 minutes to catch the attention of one of the waiters to get our orders taken, even though the restaurant wasn't crowded at all. Quite a turnoff, especially for hungry folks ;(

As for the food, presentation was quite lackluster as well, with seemingly no attention paid to details. Taste-wise, it doesn't compare to some of my favourite brunch places such as Antoinette or Choupinette or even Grub, which is just a short distance away, and could be a better option in future. 

The pasta had a rich and fragrant flavor that was well-infused with truffle, but could do with a more generous portion of mushrooms, I felt. I would also have preferred the sauce to be thicker as well.

Similarly, I felt that the Eggs Benedict were passable, but nothing to shout about. The poached eggs were done nicely, at the least, though the hollandaise sauce and ham were just on the verge of acceptable. I've had worse, to be sure. (Speaking of bad eggs benny, never order the ones at L'etoile! They were so badly cooked and tasteless I didn't even want to finish them!)

It was YZ's first time trying Eggs Benny (I'm inducting him into the brunch cult a tad late, but better late than never!) and he actually enjoyed them alot!

To end off the meal with something for our sweet tooth, we ordered the sticky date pudding! One of my favourite desserts anywhere, and the sticky date pudding at Canopy came with a rich gula melaka caramel sauce that was yum yum! 

Again, I prefer my sticky date pudding at Marmalade Pantry or Halia anytime, but if I were craving for a quick fix, this would still satiate the taste buds :)

We still enjoyed our meal, because of the chill ambience amongst the greens, and with the company of our two adorable and curious pooches!

Look at both of them both greedily licking their lips in this picture.. Haha! Super cute the two of them!

And picture spam of my two little dogs! We placed them on a chair initially but were told later that it's not allowed lol.

These two little dears are such a joy and never fail to put a smile on my face with their antics! They were having a really good time outside, and were sniffing around inquisitively and eliciting smiles from the staff and customers are nearby tables! Just look at their happy little faces :D

Love this shot with both of them smiling away with their tongues out!

They got tired of the over-enthusiasm after awhile. Hahaha.

Fatty looking so smiley hehe.

Happy 6th anniversary, love! And may there be many more to come!

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Canopy Garden Dining & Bar 

Bishan Park II, 1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 

Phone 65561533 

Hours 

Restaurant: Weekdays - 9am till late Weekends - 8am till late 

Bar: Everyday - 5pm till late 

Last order: 

Sunday to Thursday : 10pm Friday / Saturay / Eve & 

Festive Days & PH : 10.30pm

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Canopy's abit of a hit and miss for me. I love the location and ambience, as well as the fact that it's pet-friendly, but the mediocre service and food doesn't compel me to want to go back again. For a similar price, Grub is also nearby my place and serves better food :) 

Still had a lovely time nonetheless with my little furkids!

Anyways, hoping that everyone has a fab National Day weekend, and pop by thevelvetdolls.sg for our National Day promotion: you get 10% off all in-stock purchases above $50!

Be back soon to share many more entries, for instance, my gorgeous new hair color by Salon Vim, and the pictures from my birthday/engagement night :*)

Take care y'all and enjoy the long weekend!!!

xoxo