Singapore Good Cafe: NineThirty By Awfully Chocolate

I've never been much of a fan of the local food in Singapore. But when it comes to cafes and its Western/ fusion food - I do like them lots!

And so that brings me to this lovely cafe - NineThirty by Awfully Chocolate.

This cafe is located in the heart of Joo Chiat and do strikes out well. It's white exterior with big windows, all around this corner lot is probably one of the reason.

And I chanced this place last December. From the outside looking in, I could already sense the Christmas mood, and so I booked a table for my family for the next day.

As it was Christmas season, the selection were catered to that. There were ham, lamb, turkey and served with very good looking vegetables!

The food is above average. Yummy and served beautifully.

But while the mains are tasty, Awfully Chocolate is probably more known for what else - it's chocolates!

There's such a wide selection of chocolate stuff - from chocolate pies to truffles, brownies and more. And that's where if you come in a small group.. you might just get a lil disappointed.. cos you can't try them all!

So what can you do? Well, come back of course. Which I did my next trip. Well you can say - just for the chocolates this time!!

So well, I've tried a fair bit of its chocolate food here - and so far, all have been good!

This is now one of my favorite cafes in Singapore - and will probably come here again my next trip! And I do suggest you to drop by too.. well if you are in Joo Chiat.

But if you are not, well.. just visit any of their Awfully Chocolate outlets around the island. You will miss the mains but will get to eat em awfully good chocolates!!

NineThirty Contact
368 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427613
(+65) 6345 8212

KL Nice Cafe: O'Coffee Club

What do you look for in a cafe? If you are like me - wanting a comfy ambience with good views from the inside, yummy desserts and nice food.. well then O'Coffee Club might be a right choice.

Like many places, I came to this cafe by chance. Well, the rather strategic location at the outside of Fahrenheit88 Mall, and being opposite Pavilion makes this a hard to miss place.

Personally, I love hanging out here. I love sitting on one of their sofas - which are all beside glass walls overlooking outside. This gives a nice view of the busy Bukit Bintang, and at some seats - overseeing the KL Twin Towers.

The to come for food here is probably the desserts - the ice cream cakes, to be exact. It's a big portion but on "greedy" days, I can finish it all.

That plus the views are one big pull factors for me.. in fact it can be the only reasons why I come here.

Though I must say, they do have a decently good selection of drinks - quite a unique range.

Then there is their starters and mains. I love the soup. It's so good and tasty.

Of the many mains they serve, I fancy their lobster spaghetti because it's a ill more unique. The rest of their dishes are okay or slightly above ok. But like I mentioned, I'm here not so much for the main dishes :)

Well, if you are visiting KL, and you are in no hurry in your trip.. O'Coffee Club might just be a good place to sit back and chill.. and that applies too if you are a local. Go for the desserts! :)

*I like this cafe much that I actually shot my webseries Summer Love: KL! here! 

Visit KL!

I'm joining a Travel Video competition - My Destination's Biggest, Baddest, Bucket List to be exact!

There are a few tasks given, and one of them is to produce a video about any destination. Not traveling anywhere at this point of time, I decided to do a video where I'm living right now... Kuala Lumpur, also fondly known as KL!

I took a good few hours doing the shoot, covering some iconic landmarks (how can I miss the Twin Towers right?), the KL train station (which I love its architecture much) and also the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. These places are always my awe - till today!

Btw, I also went on a "shopping walk" at Petaling Street aka Chinatown. And uncovered some stuff - like fresh flowers and err... teddy bears! :)

These are the places that I've featured in the Summer Love: KL! series. But this time round, it's more narration and not a story :)

In the video, I have also covered some popular dishes - that one shouldn't miss when in KL. Amongst them - the top 3 dishes most Malaysians eat every other wee.. the Nasi Lemak, Teh Tarik, Roti Canai and. And since I was at Chinatown - I also took a shot at the popular Wan Tan Mee there!

Well, here is the video below. For you KL-ites, you will see familiar stuff - in a different angle I hope. For non KL residents, welcome to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia... truly Asia!!



Pls vote for my entry! QuaChee's My Destination Entry. 

Smartphone Review: SCSL Switch Pluto

I've recently been loaned an Android base phone for review. This may seem as a surprise for some knowing how well I do enjoy using the Apple iPhone (and it's other products).

But the geek part in me has always been open to other technology especially so the Android platform.

And so when I was passed the new SCSL smartphone model - the Switch Pluto Mi 406, I was rather open to test it out.

Well, this is my 1st time testing out an Android phone. And so my review will be based on me as an iPhone user, trying out this Android device.

To be honest, I expected this test to be difficult. Difficult as in difficult to understand the functions and buttons. But that isn't true, and navigating was pretty easy. I could find all the icons and programs easily and so is using them.

Even setting up was simple. When i was browsing the web with SIM card put into the phone (ie without 3G), it automatically detected the wifi.

And when I took photos with the photos and wanted to send the photos via email.. the setting up of the gmail was pretty easy too.

This came as a surprise as I've heard of some complaining on the different functions on using some other Android smartphones.

Now apart from the basic apps and phone calling, one of the main features in a phone for me is it's camera. As that's my only camera I have - and I use it a lot in my daily life and travels.

I tested out the camera function - both the rear and front. The rear appeared much better at 5.0 MP. However the picture still seems a lil blur. As for the front camera - the colours seems a lil off. This is a lil letdown as all the other aspects of the phone is pretty impressive.

One of them is that this is a dual SIM card phone.

Owh btw, as for the exterior of the phone, well it does feel a lil plasticky and light.. Well, this is probably most notable when one switches from the heavier iPhone. But I think most android based phones won't feel much the difference. And even so, it's just a matter of time about getting used to after a while.

In conclusion, I believe that the SCSL Mi 406 is comparable to other brands of the similar range, or probably slightly better than them.

To me, if you are looking for a cheap entry into the smart phone, then this is probably a good start. After all it retails for only RM599! So well, nearly every one can smartphone!


*The Switch Pluto Mi406 runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. The internal memory is 4GB ROM, and 512MB RAM. The expansion slot can go up to 32GB.

Guys Manicure And Pedicure.. Too! (At Amante Nail Spa)

I just did a manicure. And pedicure too.

And guess what? It's not my first time.

Omg? What? Really? Seriously, manicure for guys?

Yes. Well 5 years back as one of the finalists for Men's Health Singapore, all of us finalists were given a manicure session.

At that time, the thought of having to manicure felt a lil weird for me. But I saw the results and am pretty impressed.

But even then - I've not stepped into any manicure/ pedicure outlets.. Well not till like just last week when I was invited to review the Amante Nail Spa And Body Care.

This time round, I was up for it. Partly, while not that many guys manicure yet, but it's no more as taboo as 5 years back. And well, secondly I'm no more Mr Shy Guy. Haha!

So there I was on that Saturday morning. All set for my nail session. Together with my BFF - my mum! Well who would enjoy a manicure session more, right? :)

Stepping into the outlet in Puchong felt very comfortable. Like the name suggests - very spa like. The staffs at the counter were friendly and the music they played were soothing.

The sofas were also relaxing - rather plush in fact. Big and cosy. That's how I felt when sitting down.

The first thing I had to do was to soak my legs into a tub.

And while on that, the staff worked on my hands. It wasn't just the fingernails but I also had my "skin wrap" around my hands, and the back of my palm scrubbed.

Tadaa... before, and after the scrub!! So much difference!

The after effect was amazing!

In between, while my hands were wrapped in the heat, the staff did my toes - the basics of using some utensils around the nail to clean off the dirt. And then to clip the extra skin that blocks the nail from having a proper nice clean shape.

She also filed my nails - and that's the part I squirmed. For I have long in grown skin beneath the nails, so that do get a lil tricky for me.

But the staff who was assigned to me was quite a pro, and made sure no pain was done! I'm not sure if the girls ever feel this way too - getting squirmish and all.

Owh the next effect I had was to laugh - a lot! Cos the next thing was to get my feet scrubbed, clearing the dead skin. The staffs were a lil amused.. and giggled along. Ah if only I had filmed that scene!

After my toes were done, the similar steps of cleaning my nails were next.

This sure sounds short, but the whole process took about 2 good hours! Wow! But well the results speaks for itself.

Btw while mine was done, my BFF had one extra. Nail polish and art.

The staffs offered my mum to choose 1 set of pictures she liked - from their nail collection. Which they later painted her toes accordingly after painting her nails.

Well that's usually the end - in a nail spa. Or so we thought. But surprise surprise - we were given an option to try their massage or facial.

Now this is really a full spa!

My mum had the facial while I had the massage - to which I had a pretty good masseur who knows the stressed points. And applied the right pressure accordingly. Well, she did mentioned though that I am a "tough" customer for my built and the firmness of my body (probably due to the gym). So that's why I'm doubly glad with her service.

My all cleaned nails! Hehe!

All in all, Amante really surprised me. I felt very at ease despite being a guy in what assumes to be a female oriented clientele. There was no judgement - but instead a very warm service that was to get the client in a good mood and in the end of the day get a nice good results.


*Note that the massage is only available for couples, and not individual males.

*Amante has a few branches in Malaysia. The full list is available at their Amante Fcebook fanpage.