You can't buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream and that's kind of the same thing. Went Ben & Jerry's the other day to get the Mix & Match of Triple Caramel, Chocolate Therapy and Phish Food and they were really awesome.

However, the chiller probably ran into some problems and they didn't tell us honestly, my ice cream started to melt after awhile and I had to complete these sinful indulgence within minutes after purchasing. 

The place had some Halloween decorations in preparation of the upcoming festival. It's pretty cool but ain't scary about it. I think that's the idea.

Happiness doesn't come cheap this time round, it's $20.

If you are staying in the West and love Vietnamese food, you can rejoice because So Pho, a humble-looking eatery serving Vietnamese food is located conveniently at the basement of JEM which is just beside Jurong East Mrt Station.

It is not common to see Vietnamese eateries around so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try out So Pho.Banh Xeo $9.80
vietnamese pancake with minced meat and seafood
I really love the Banh Xeo that I had eaten at the World Street Food Congress but So Pho's version paled in comparison. The edges were crisp and the pancake was filled with minced meat, shrimps and beansprouts. However, the batter was not as fragrant as the one I tried and it lacked that something which I can't put a word to. It was quite a disappointment.Curry Chicken Set $9.90
The curry chicken set comes with a bowl of curry chicken, rice and a sunny-side up. The curry chicken was not spicy. I would honestly prefer my chinese curry to this. The chicken meat had a consistency of slight redness and one could also tell there was discolouration around the joints. It was quite unsightly and it did not make us want to have more of it. The sunny side up was perfectly displayed. When I poked my fork into the yolk, it burst beautifully. The salad at the side was nothing worth mentioning.Pho Ga $8.80
It comes with some raw beansprouts served separately which added a crunchy texture to the bowl of noodles. I got the chicken noodle soup instead of the beef because I do not like the heavy taste of cooked beef. The soup broth was sweet and delightfully tasty. It was clear and not oily too. There were plenty of chicken meat in it too. The amount of rice noodles in it was just right, not too much nor little. This is worth a try!Rice paper rolls wrapped with prawns and lemongrass chicken $4.50
As much as I would love to, I could not appreciate the taste of it. It was really dry and bland and hard to take a second bite because the taste was not enticing at all.

I've come to a conclusion that my tastebuds are not a fan of vietnamese food, except the delicious but really oily Banh Xeo I had some time ago. If you do not like Vietnamese food, you can give this a miss.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://rachelays.blogspot.com

Had been meaning to try out Hippopotamus for the longest time, after reading about and seeing an outlet in Paris a couple of years back. And so we dropped by for an early dinner on a Saturday evening. Apparently the eatery's selling point is its wide range of beef cuts at affordable prices. Honestly, I am not too hung up on the variety of cuts because I am not picky but I do like the sound of affordable.

Because the restaurant is located along a rather quiet stretch on the ground floor of Marina Square Shopping Mall, it offers an "al fresco" dining area alongside the pedestrian walkway as well as seating in the inner chambers which offer more privacy. Exposed brick walls with red, square lights complete the cafe like setup.

Complimentary Chips - This was served alongside a basket of dry, hard and mildly sourish bread (skip it!). No surprise the chips were the first to go - crisp and a great way to start off.

US Pork Chops - A very flavourful and well grilled piece of pork that threatened to put alot of "western" restaurants to shame.A pity the meat was a little too dry and tough for my liking. Also, some of the accompanying fries came a little too charred as well. Tenderloin "Chateaubriand" - The crème de la crème of the cuts and the tenderest of them all, the Chateaubriand tenderloin (Chateaubriand is actually a recipe involving a particular thick cut of beef) was a little overcooked to medium well, contrary to my request for medium rare. Nonetheless, it was still tender with nuances of bovine flavour seeping through with every bite. I would have liked the flavours to be more pronounced though. Served alongside 2 sides of your choice.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake - Coming across as a little dense and dry and tasting overwhelmingly of chocolate with a nuance of hazelnut, the cake had tiny crumbs of hazelnut etched atop and sat in a shallow pool of vanilla cream. Brownies, anyone?

With a 50% discount courtesy of my palate card, dinner was relatively inexpensive at about $34 for 2 pax. I know it's not a fair comparison but at this price point (50% off) and quality, it beats the likes of Astons or any other budget steak house hands down in my humble opinion. However, take the discount away and the value ratio decreases quite a bit. Service was decent but could be a little more attentive (my glass of water was never refilled). All in all, a place I would only return with the 50% off.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2013/08/hippopotamus-restaurant-grill.html

Being an east sider, I like the explore food around katong area. Batter Fluffy Flaps is a relatively new restaurant (only 1 yr old). I always find the interior of the shop very cute and one day I decided to dine in there.They have very cute menu! Looks like a nursery book. menu instructions are clear on how to order your pancakes.love the decoration of the shops! so cute.We ordered truffle fries as our side. To my disappointment, I could hardly taste the truffle oil. Some of the fries just taste like normal mcdonald fries. more truffle oil should be used!My main, 2 pancakes with scrambled eggs, hotdogs, bacon and ham. The sides are nice, specially the hotdog. However, nothing is fantastic about the pancakes. I find that even Mcdonald pancakes are nicer.

Fu Ming Cooked Food sells traditional carrot cake (both black and white) just like the old-timers like -it supposedly has the authentic taste of old times. They also sell bakzhang at amazingly cheap prices of $1 (I kid you not, these are normal-sized glutinous rice dumplings with ample filling!!)The Bak Zhang is really tasty -there is chestnut in the filling (which is a nice touch), as well as braised meat. We were pleasantly surprised by how it was really fragrant and tasty -and how the ratio of rice to filling was just nice. We would recommend that you heat it up before eating though, because the rice is reaaaallly sticky and when eaten cold there's a slight difference to the whole texture of it. At only $1 it's a real steal!!Personally, this carrot cake isn't what I would go back to eat. I understand fully that this is the 'old-timer' taste that everyone's raving about but perhaps it's just not my generation to appreciate this particular flavour. While the dark sauce had a complex, sweet flavour to it, the chunks of carrot cake were large, oily squares that barely had enough egg to coat them ): I enjoy carrot cake with a good amount of egg in it, and I appreciate when the carrot cake is held together nicely. This one proved to be isolated, oily (dark sauce coated nevertheless!) squares though.

This plate cost $3, but there is the $2.50 option if you wish for a slightly smaller portion. If you're searching for an authentic flavour of the old times, this may just hit the spot, but if your ideal carrot cake is eggy and well-held together in smaller squares, you may want to give this a pass and try their bakzhang instead. The bakzhang is a real gem find!