I have not really visited many cafes in Singapore as many of them are located quite far from where I am staying and are not very accessible. I am glad that recently, there are a few cafes making their way into the heartland of Singapore and being an Easterner, I will like to explore some of the cafes in Bedok and Changi area first. As it was the start of the holiday for me yesterday ie no need to report to work, I decided to make a trip to Bedok Reservoir on my own to have my brunch at Refuel Cafe. Refuel Cafe is located at this block. Located below the void deck. The cafe was not really very big and the seats were almost all filled up by lunch-time. I saw a few parents bringing their children who were dressed in school uniform (probably they just took their PSLE results) to have their meal here. All prices shown on the menu are the Nett prices. The cafe doesn't charge GST and Service Charge. I ordered a small cup of Latte ($4.50). Interesting design of the magazine rack. As the cafe has the theme of petrol station, you can find "props" like the barrels below, signages related to petrol kiosks here.The cafe served All-Day breakfast and I ordered their recommended "Full Tank" aka "Big Breakfast" which had bratwurst, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, toast, tomatoes, potatoes & salad all served on one plate. ($13.90) Of course, I loved the mushrooms best and followed by the lightly toasted bread which was soft. The scrambled eggs was too creamy for my like as I prefer it to have a bit more texture.After my meal, I spent some time walking around the neighbourhood. Near to the cafe, there is this birds shop that caught my eyes. Do check it out if you are around the area.

I had a gathering with my secondary school buddies last Sunday. Due to our hectic schedule, we only got together to meet up twice this year, excluding our secondary school 20th year mass reunion. We could only lament that time really flies, another year had passed by so fast. As all of us stay in the East, with 3 of them staying in Bedok, we decided to meet up at To-gather Cafe, which is strategically located at Bedok heartland. I called in to make reservation for 5 of us as I had seen queues outside the cafe on two occasions when I was around the area with my hubby. You could request for post-it from them to do some doodle or write some motivational quotes and stick them to a designated part of the wall.One of my friends decided to bring her two kids along and fortuately, there was a small play corner (just behind our table) for them while the five of us had our food and conversations over the small cozy table at one end of the cafe.Like many other cafes, we had to go over to the counter to order and pay for our food first. No service charge and GST here. My friends ordered a plate of Mexican Quesadilla ($6.50) to share - Tortilla with grilled chicken slices, sautee mixed bell peppers, mozzarella cheese and fresh tomato salsa. Roasted Hazelnut Latte ($4.40) I was the only one ordering a main as the rest of them had lunch already. I ordered Grilled Pandan Chicken Chop, served with light coconut sauce, pineapple salsa, fries and salad. ($8.90) The chicken chop was tender and for this price tag, I got nothing to complain. I had been warned by my cousin and friends that their Matcha Lava Cake was very sweet. However, I wanted to try for myself as I thought this was one of their signatures, after looking at so many of their matcha lava cakes on instagram. True enough, the matcha was really far too sweet. My friend and I couldn't finish it off! Overall, I find the cafe a nice cozy place to chill with friends. We spent two and a half hours at the cafe catching up and spending quality time with one another. Looking forward to our next meet-up. Another cafe? Probably.

My parents wanted to give me my birthday treat in advanced for me as they would be away in Indonesia for their holidays during my birthday. Hubby suggested going to New Ubin Seafood as he had tried their steak before and he said all the food was great.

Hubby made a reservation at 11.30am for 4pax (my brother was in Korea so he couldn't join us) and we reached there slightly earlier when there was no crowd yet. We were given a seat just in front of the water feature on the left.Menu We all ordered lime juices as it was complimentary. Water feature behine us. Fried Mee Special ($12/ S)

We could find many sea of goodness here such as baby squids, clams in a thick gravy and topped with lots of lard. We all loved it very much. US Black Angus Ribeye Steak ($12 per 100g/ min 500g), served with caramelized onions, idaho potato wedges on a wooden platter. Condiments include sea salts, ketchup and wasabi sauce.

Most people visit this restaurant for the steak. This is a must-order!

We had our steak "Medium Well" and it was so flavoursome and juicy! You could feel my happiness as I chewed each cube of steak in my mouth. A plate of fried rice will also be served to you if you ordered the ribeye steak. It was actually fried with the fats from the beef! You can eat this on its own. My dad doesn't take beef, so we ordered Signature Meat Platter for him to share with mum. It consists of Kurobuta Ribs, Chicken Satays and Smoked Duck Breast. ($50/platter) Hong Kong Kailan Special - prepared in two styles. ($12/ S) Overall, it was a great meal! I am missing the steak, the pork ribs and the hokkien mee now. Hope to visit it again to also try their soft boiled egg with foie gras.New Ubin Seafood

I attended my first OpenRice Food Tasting session at Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar (managed by JP Pepperdine), together with my friend, Sam. Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar had just revamped their whole menu, incorporating both Western and Japanese dishes. Residents nearby can now get to enjoy Japanese cuisine at this location, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

How to get here by public transport? Recommended Route:
- From Sengkang MRT Station, transfer to Sengkang LRT Line.
- Board the Sengkang West Loop LRT and alight at Farmway Station.
- Take a 5 minutes’ walk over to Anchorvale Community Club

We walked down a flight of steep staircase to the basement, nearer to the sports complex side, and saw the restaurant at the end corner.

Sashimi Caesar Salad
($12.80)
Tossed assorted lettuce with caesar dressing, topped with garlic-herb croutons and raw fish. Wasabi sauce was served in a small dipping bowl and you pour the amount of sauce according to your liking. This was quite a refreshing appetizer with all the crunchy lettuce, blended with the raw fish cubes and wasabi sauce. Carbonara Udon
($12.60)
The chef explained to us that this was a fusion dish. The home-made udon was also very different from the thick ones that we normally have. Their vesion of udon was long and much thinner, but still maintained the springy texture. Served in a rich creamy sauce with crispy ham bits and an onsen egg, this was really "oishii"!Kinoko Pizza
Japanese Styled Mushroom Pizza
($12.60)
The pizza texture was like that of soft bread. Eating this pizza, was like eating a piece of bread topped with mushroom, mayo and fish flakes. Would give this a miss the next time.

Unagi Roll
(3 pieces for $12.80)
My friend, Sam requested for unagi roll as during the tasting session, there were a number of beef dishes she couldn't take. I didn't try this but Sam said it was very good. Could tell from the presentation, it looked quite tasty with thick slice of unagi wrapped over avocado/ crabstick and omelette sushi.N.Z Beef Rib
($21.00)
I think this dish should be meant for those with huge appetite. The beef rib was huge and I took a small slice, it was quite tender but the taste was a bit overwhelmed by the sweet BBQ sauce.Beef Shabu Shabu (2 paxs)
($28.60)
This was one of my favourite dishes for the night. I love to swish the meat back and forth in the boiling broth. Do not throw the meat inside the soup for too long otherwise it would become tough and spoil the taste. I took 2 pieces of the sliced beef and cooked them just right, very juicy!Matsu Sushi Moriawase
6 types of sushi ($31)
I tried a salmon roe sushi and a sweet shrimp sushi. The sushi were fresh.After we were done with the above main courses, we proceeded to the outdoor seating for Yakiniku! Why outdoor? The main reason was to prevent the restaurant interior from having the smokey smell and also, to enjoy better ambience doing our grilling outside. We all had fun "BBQ"ing alfesco in the cooling weather.
Pork Belly Yakiniku - Pork belly on Charcoal grill
($12.80 for 1 pax)
Our table got a plate of sliced pork belly. They were thinly sliced and would get overcooked quite easily. I took a few slices of the pork belly and they were rather tough. We were worried that the pork slices were not cooked totally and grilled them for too long and sometimes, we were busy taking photos and forgot to flip them over. Ribeye Yakiniku (BBQ) ($32.80)
The other table had a plate of beef slices and I took one cooked slice from them to try. It was quite a thick slice but the meat was tender and juicy. I would recommend this!

Marble Cheesecake in a chocolate cup - Served with mixed fresh fruits and chocolate sauce
($6.50)
The cheesecake was uniquely presented inside a chocolate cup and it was wiped off by the four of us very fast. The texture of the cheesecake was soft and not too dense. I tried to break the chocolate cup with my fork and spoon but failed. It was very hard and thus, we didn't eat the chocolate cup. I suppose it was meant to just hold the cheesecake inside nicely.

Thank you OpenRice for the invitation and looking forward to more food tasting sessions with them in future!

For more photos and detailed review, pls visit: http://www.ylyn-journal.blogspot.sg/2013/11/openrice-food-tasting-brewbakers.html

Many of you will know that you can find very cheap and reasonably good food at Teban Gardens Food Centre. I had reviewed previously that a bowl of fishball noodles cost only $2. There is one western food stall "Do & Me" located right at the end of the food centre. I decided to give it a try. I placed my order and then was told to go back to collect my food 5 minutes later. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to collect my fish and chips. My food was presented on a very nice white try, with different partitions for the side dishes such as baked beans and coslaw too! I posted this photo on instagram and many people asked me which hawker centre I got this nice presentation of food from. Although the portion of fish was a bit little, but overall taste and presentation wise was good. Reasonable for $6.