Le Chocolat Cafe

Spending the whole weekend with my bumpy is becoming a regular thing to do.
Sometimes it does suck not to have him around always, but at the same time, you learn to cherish each other more, especially during the weekend when you just want to spend every moment.
You rather not waste time on other things which can be accomplish during the weekdays.
And better still, you also don't want to waste time on arguments or setbacks which waste time.
Bumpy's current favorite words is 'where got time?!'

To admit, it isn't easy being together with an army boy.
You wait for Friday to come each weekend and you scream in agony if the boy gets confinement or guard duty on the weekend.
Other times on the weekdays, you wait for 9.30pm onwards to come, stare aimlessly at the phone just waiting for the most important call of the day.
And suddenly, the rest of the matter can wait when the call comes in. After all, it's just for that one hour (or more or less) that you get to speak to him for the whole day. That you get to rant to him about things that bother you, annoy you, satisfy you, please you or anything that happened in the day. And in exchange, you hear about his day, how his training went, how was his e-learning and his awesome meals in camp. You learn to be positive for him, encouraging and supporting his journey.
In a way, both sides learn to be understanding and more supportive.

Anyway onto today's post. I met my bumpy at Serangoon mrt before we headed down to Chinatown for lunch. Today we did a mixture of hawker food and cafe finding.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival draws near, Chinatown is brightly and colourful decorated with lanterns.
Stringed across the road, the colourful lanterns will definitely captured your attention once you're in Chinatown area.
Now makes me wonder how it would look like at night when the lights are on.
Oh well, another three weeks later I would be walking under the block with Bumpy and at the end of the night, we would play with candles and burn the lanterns. Muahahah!
Of course not forgetting to eat mooncakes and have tea to go with it.

Outside Chinatown mrt, just the main tourist street, there lies another attraction. The lanterns are hand painted by students of different primary schools and they are proudly displayed for everyone to admire and snap pictures of.
The two pictures were kind of a monkey-see-monkey-do action. I saw another pair of photographer taking from that angle, and well, armature me decided to follow suit.

Decrease the exposure for these shot since I'm directly below the sun. It's either that or I would be taking a far too bright picture.
And surprisingly it turned out well, not too bad.
Improving in my photography taking. Time to be using my camera more often for pictures already since my phone is about to retire from pictures taking.
Moving into lunch, today Bumpy introduce me to a really nice place for roasted meat. And just nice the timing where I am in need of protein.
It's a store near People's Park Complex. Just around that area is the main hawker centre nearby, you just can't miss it 'cause of the amount of people stopping there to buy food.

The char siew is like the best I have eaten. A good balance between the meat and the fatness. Juicy stuff.
And the roast pork is crispy and crunchy at the top, with a good flavour of meat. Even the roast duck was like food-orgasm. Hahah!
The only downside of this store; the price. For a plate to feed both of us, it costed $19.20.
I'll say it's pricey for a hawker food, but tasting the meat, somehow it seemed sort of worth it. You got to admit that at times good food doesn't come cheap.

After that we headed off to find our dessert place. Heard about it from my friend that this cafe served rainbow cake as well, so it's a rainbow hunt to find it.
At the same time, we were finding a steak place to have after Bumpy' outfield.

Located at Club Hotel, we found our dessert place!
We ordered two types of desserts; the famous rainbow cake and brownie with ice cream.

From the first appearance, the rainbow cake looks sweet. Especially with the chocolate coated and dripping chocolate down.
At the second glance, it does have the six layers of a rainbow cake. However I wasn't satisfied with the design. The cake layer were unfortunately unevenly baked, with some layers being thinner or thicker than the others. And the stacking of the cake was also uneven. To top it off, it had a 'generous' serving of cream at the top.
To be honest, I hate cream on cakes. It put me off instantly and I would literally try my best to scoop the cream off if possible.
With this, I just felt that it was too much creamy and the cake was just disappointing for me. At the last part, I decided to scoop away all the cream before finally having the last few bites without the overload of creamy-ness.

The thick layer of cream both at the top and side. Together with the uneven layers.

The first bite.
For the second dessert, we had the brownie with ice cream.
Mainly we chose that dessert 'cause of the size of the brownie. I mean that thing is huge. It's like the size of my palm and usually we don't see brownie in that size. Hahah.

A good piece of brownie I'll say. Not too chocolatey and with the addition of nuts inside, it's not bad.
Decent should be the right word.

The food listed are priced before GST and service charged. A quiet place for weekend brunch or cakes eating.
Though service is a little slow despite that there wasn't much crowd when we were there. Pretty much less initiative staffs.

Le Chocolat Cafe
Club Hotel, 28 Ann Siang Hill
Mon - Sun 07:00 to 20:00

My Bumpy all booked into camp and I won't be seeing him for 18 days. It sound like confinement period all over again. Only that this time we know we're getting better at it, and that after his outfield, we will spam the weekend with each other.
Till then, we will wait another 18 days to compare skin colours and see much darker he will get.
Then again, who ever said love is easy?

River Safari

9th of April marks one of my busiest day.
From meeting up with my training buddies in the morning for a good run, and what's next after a good workout is a good breakfast.
Really lucky to have started this running routine and now finding more people to join in. Here to my new year resolution getting strike off.
It's always those random text from a good friend that says 'want to run tomorrow?'. And it just hit off from there.

After that it was a rush home to grab a shower and a quick lunch, before running out of the house again. Another driving session and today I'm learning about slopes, how to drive off from a slope. Still a little wobbly on that part, but with more practice, I'm sure I will get it right.

Finally I'm off to my final destination, which is the main topic of this post.
Visiting Singapore's newest attraction - River Safari.
'River Safari is the newest addition to Wildlife Reserves Singapore’s portfolio of award-winning parks. Nestled between Singapore’s two award-winning wildlife parks – Singapore Zoo and Night Safari – River Safari offers an unforgettable adventure inspired by eight of the world’s most iconic rivers. This $160-million attraction features state-of-the-art exhibit design, Southeast Asia's largest panda exhibit as well as the world's largest freshwater aquarium. Housing one of the world’s largest collections of freshwater fauna, the park features over 5,000 animals representing over 500 species. And that includes Singapore’s resident giant pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia.'

And just right in front is the super long queue for Ben&Jerry's Free Cone Day! Wanted to get one cone before heading into the River Safari, but my aunt & uncle weren't interested in waiting for me to get that one cone.

If you visit the attraction now, for an adult ticket, it would be $25, student would be $23 and senior citizen is $12.50. It's still awesome to be a senior citizen.
The adult ticket is a $10 discount, mainly because the river cruise attraction isn't fully opened, which mean about 1/3 of the park isn't fully open to the public. Although it also mean that you get less for what you paid for, but then again, I definitely would visit it again once the park is fully opened and operating.
And perhaps the next time with friends. Hopefully they would open in July, though I'm still guessing they would open it by June for the every students on holidays to visit the attraction.

Venture through the Mississippi River and get a rare inside-look at the home of the beavers. Go nose-to-snout with the rare Mississippi paddlefish and primitive alligator gar.

And there it is, the cute adorable, fast-swimming beaver. At first I thought it was an otter, but once I read the description and see the cute swimming creature, it was definitely a beaver.
If only I could see it in action chewing the pieces of wood. The cute little fellow was busy in the water doing laps and making me chase after it for a picture.
Unfortunately one thing I notice about the attraction, is the reflection on the background. Maybe it's my camera setting as well, but I couldn't get nice pictures with my camera that day, perhaps to decrease the exposure.

Here are the paddlefishes.

The River Nile is about 6,670 km (4,160 miles) in length and is the longest river in Africa and in the world. Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through Egypt. 
In Egypt, the River Nile creates a fertile green valley across the desert. It was by the banks of the river that one of the oldest civilizations in the world began. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the soil to produce food for themselves and their animals.

'From one African river to another, flow down to the River Nile where the sharp-toothed tigerfish and the many-finned birchir reside. When you find yourself at the temple facade by the Ganges River, watch out for the crocodilian Indian gharial resting by the sandy shore. Here, you’ll also see the peculiar-looking softshell turtle and the goonch catfish. Head south of the Pacific Ocean to Australia’s Murray River to meet the barramundi, the Australian lungfish, the robber crab, and the Murray cod – Australia’s largest freshwater fish – which can reach 1.8 metres in length.''

By far, the only animal that I love taking picture of, pretty much it doesn't move.
Just that it doesn't face me either. Lol.
It's still a wonder how Singapore does it, moving the animals from one part of the country to another. Although at times you do have to pity the poor animals who get moved from their home country and stay in a foreign land, entertaining us (somewhat, if they stop showing us their butt) and smiling (okay, not exactly smiling) for the pictures.

 

The Mekong River beckons with one of the world’s largest freshwater aquariums, which houses the magnificent Mekong catfish and the giant freshwater stingray. The Mekong catfish can grow up to 2 metres long and the giant freshwater stingray, an awe-inspiring 600 kilogrammes in weight!

Shhhh... Kissing in process.
Caught by my camera.

Another huge tank to put the 'aw' in your mouth.

These gigantic catfish are really magnificent. Although I really couldn't find the stingray in the tank. How hard is it to miss a big stingray swimming in a tank full of catfish, but just no matter how much I search, it was nowhere in sight.

Next, make your way down to the Yangtze River, home of the world’s largest amphibian – the giant salamander. Just around the corner, enter the Giant Panda Forest, home of Kai Kai and Jia Jia. Observe these adorable envoys from China as they roam around their naturalistic habitat. Spot the golden pheasants and red pandas that share this remarkable climate-controlled biodome.

The Red Pandas are definitely the eye-catching, most adorable and my favorite animal to see. Spotted munching on an afternoon snack, the little one refuse to tilt its head up for a smile or to look at the camera.

Finally when it's full and ready to move again, it then meet up with its twin to give us a playful sticking out of tongue. How adorable is that!

I really want to cuddle one on the spot then! Hahah. Still debating what pet I would like to keep next, and whether my parents would allow, especially when the pets that I want to take care of require quite a bit of attention and space.

My most disappointing picture of Kai Kai. First it was there looking at me, and when I adjust my camera to focus on Kai Kai, this is what happened.

IT SHOWED ME ITS EFFING BUTT INSTEAD.

I was just W.T.F. I want to see your cute panda eyes, not the white butt. LOL.

A long time ago, all giant panda were white. 

One day, a hungry leopard attached a cub. A Shepherdess tried to save the cub but was killed by the leopard.

The pandas were very sad. As a custom, they wore black armbands at the funeral. They hugged each other, wept and wiped their eyes with the armbands. 

They covered their ears to block the sound of crying. The armbands blackened their fur and they became black and white.

After that it was time for a short rest at their panda cafe.
In which they were promoting the panda 'pau' aka bun. Just to add humor, at the counter I asked them what is inside bun, is it filled with panda meat. Lol.
But obviously no, it was red bean inside.

The bridge that connect one side of the attraction to the other. And enjoying the view of the river, and spotting any wild creature that might be swimming past. 

How many times during secondary school that we learnt about the Amazon Rainforest and how deforestation is taking place?

 From the river to shore, step into the Squirrel Monkey Forest. Short-furred and adorable, these monkeys are known to be highly intelligent primates that live together in social groups. 

Was kind of trying to take picture of this little fellow chewing on the tree bunk when..

 

It tried to grab my camera to take a self-shot. Freaked me out for that moment.

So here the picture that was snapped instead. Indeed they are fast learners about camera.

The most touching moment when it grabbed my fingers.

Was wondering whether it would like bite me or something, but instead it started pressing my fingers and kind of massage it. Super adorable to the point I was thinking of kidnapping it home as my pet. Lol.

Only thing I didn't want was to pet its head or try to carry it. 

The Amazon Flooded Forest is another must-see ecological showcase. It is an immerse re-creation of the Amazonian rainforest, which gets submerged in up to 15 metres of water every year during the rainy season. Wander into the depths of this multi-level exhibit to witness an amazing underwater habitat for creatures such as the arapaima and the giant river otter.

Just like the S.E.A. Aquarium, they save the best for last.

Sitting in awe and watching the ten dugongs swimming gracefully in the water, occasionally reaching up to the floating platform for some lettuce. 

I feel like I should caption this picture as 'SOON'.

It is said that the oldest dugong is 20 years old, and it's already a grandmother! She has three children and four grandchildren. 

And here I am, being 21 and single. Hmmm. 

After that its off to queue for my Free Cone Day. To think it is my first time eating Ben&Jerry's ice cream. Managed to queue twice and tried their Toffee and Strawberry Cheesecake flavor.

Their lemonade sorbet is so good though upon stealing some from my aunt. Perhaps in future I might purchase a tub but still not worth the price for the ice cream. 

Until, the next free massive day.