Today was the first day in MONTHS that bB has been able to skip the concealer, after battling sudden persistent problem skin. Not sure what happened there but my skin went absolute apeshit for a while. Probably from stress I’m guessing.
Hello, skin. I haven’t seen you in a while. Boy am I glad you are back. <3
x o x o
bB
Found a coupla peektures taken a while ago. Thought I’d better post them before they get too obsolete. With my ADD, years may pass before I realise! Or maybe I’d forget completely that I even had them!
This was when I first got my Black MPP. <3
It has been awesome having an MPP to wear cross-body, but I am toying with the idea of folding the strap shorter like I did with all my MPPs. It is still the best way that works for me, I reckon.
But I might wait till I take Black MPP out on my travels before I decide. Give it a bit of field time. I might change my mind!
x o x o
bB
Just before Valentine’s Day, bB had a sudden craving for macarons from ET Artisan Sweets again. It’s kinda funny how the mind stores memories of how the previous ones tasted, compares it with subsequent shoppes, and decides to like them more thereafter.
That said, this only applies to certain flavours though!
Green tea…
Summerberry <3
These were the only flavours left for the day, but bB wasn’t complaining. The Summeryberry ones are my absolute favourites, followed by Yuzu (hopefully bB will be able to nab some Yuzu the next time).
bB has come to appreciate the robustness of these macarons, with very consistent shells and very generous fillings.
The shells have a slight chewy texture. Each macaron is very substantial and satisfying to bite into. For bB, the sweetness of the Summerberry was perfect.
Green tea was very nice and probably the least sweet of all the flavours.
The green tea flavour was very distinct. Awesome for green tea fans. bB is neutral on this. Not a fan nor a hater. But it was awesome how the buttercream made the macaron super creamy and decadent.
ET Artisan Sweets is now in second place, after Darcis.
Previous reports on ET Artisan Sweets:
**The Macaron Scribbles** : ET Artisan Sweet #1
**The Macaron Scribbles** : ET Artisan Sweet #2
**The Macaron Scribbles** : ET Artisan Sweet #3
x o x o
bB
Dear Love Bonito,
If you are going to make clothes for XS people, please do not make the size equivalent to S, and S sized clothes equivalent to M, etc. If you wish to make XS, then jolly well make them XS! Okay? People who complain that the XS is too small, are obviously not even XS. If they can’t fit into XS, then get S!
Sorry for the rant. This might be a sign to stop buying clothes online. Grrr.
I love izakayas. To me, izakayas mean Japanese plum wine and tonnes of nommy Japanese snacks to go with. So when Sui suggested a night out at an izakaya, I happily agreed.
We started off with a carpaccio dish… It wasn’t bad. The prawn sashimi was very fresh and creamy, as were the salmon. The white fish was so-so.
Followed by gyu tataki… This would have been better if the beef slices were a little less chewy.
Square chicken meatballs with yuzu sauce (if they are square, should they be known as meatcubes?). Very interesting taste, not too bad.
My favourite dish at any sumiyaki or izakaya, grilled okra wrapped in bacon. Not the best I have had (which is at Kazu Sumiyaki), but is always good anyway.
I love mentai-ko (spicy fish roe) but never had it in its original form until now… I liked it, although some bits were so salty that it was actually bitter.
Agedashi tofu as an attempt to eat a little healthy something… Pretty good, smooth and hearty.
Onigiri in clear soup which really filled us up… The roasted rice added awesome aroma to this. This was quite good even though we got really stuffed.
And the last dish, grilled mushroom wrapped in bacon with mentai-ko cheese sauce. This one wasn’t good at all. The other dishes were not too bad but this one was quite terrible. The bacon was burnt and hard instead of crispy.
We then took a walk over the bridge, stopping for a few minutes to listen to a live band performing, and admiring the Merlion which I haven’t seen since that whole shebang where it was trapped in a makeshift hotel so people could pay to sleep with it.
Wanted a popsicle but they were closed. :(
We then settled at Overeasy for a coupla interesting cocktails. Mine was the one with the meringue. We were confused over how it should be consumed…
We also devoured a blooberry waffle between us. It was an extremely satisfying night of food, drink and chitchat!
Tomo Izakaya @ Esplanade
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-09 Esplanade Mall
Singapore 039802
6333 0012
x o x o
bB
While out running errands yesterday, bB had a bit of fun browsing in one of her favourite stationery stores in town.
Liked this recipe book very much. May go back for it next week…
Loved this bunny! Tempted to buy it for Vickie.
bB loves food themed stationery and cards. There was a whole bunch of them on sale, so I stocked up on pretty things to send to my awesome friends.
And how cute are these characters from this theme, the Sentimental Circus!
Bought a few sheets of stickers! <3
The rest of the loot…
Loves it all! I should take peektures of the stuff I brought back from Japan a coupla years ago too. <3
Orchard Central #06-01/02/03
181 Orchard Road
Singapore 238896
6838 0820
x o x o
bB
Ladies and gentlemen, we may have hit macaron jackpot. <3
After our satisfying lunch at Imperial Treasure, bB was excited to continue her macaron hunt. Darcis was the next shoppe up for scrutiny.
Nice little shoppe, but I must say the service staff were rather poorly trained. Monosyllabic when asked questions about the macarons, and did not inform me that they were out of boxes. I only found out when they plonked my order of five macarons on the counter in a clear plastic bag. No carrier was offered either, until I had to ask for one.
Cyclamen Mini Pompon would have been a good match today. :) Anyway, I digress…
And we have our first outdoor entry for **The Macaron Scribbles**! It was lovely to sit out there by the water, chomping on macarons!
These five were the only flavours left for the day, so bB bought one of each.
Passion Chocolate, Raspberry, Strawberry Poppy, Vanilla, Pistachio.
For Mac’s first macaron, he picked the Raspberry. It was a good choice because it was the best of the lot.
Biting into it was a very pleasant moment. I didn’t expect it to be so delightfully chewy. This was almost as good as Laduree! The raspberry flavour was perfect, tart and sweet in the right balance. bB loved this!
Next up was Pistachio.
It was quite lovely. Subtle flavours, not too sweet, generous amount of filling.
Mac had to go for a meeting so bB brought the remainder home to devour greedily on her own. :D
Strawberry Poppy was a vibrant burst of colour. It’s a pity the sizes of the shells were not consistent.
Same gorgeous, chewy texture. It would have been even better if the strawberry flavour was stronger. I think this needs a second taste test to verify again.
Vanilla was quite good too. Very mild flavour and same great texture. I would have loved a creamier taste but it was good anyway. Will gladly eat one again.
Passion Chocolate was a surprise. bB isn’t a big fan of anything too chocolaty but this one was really smooth. The passion fruit shell was a nice tart balance for the rich chocolate. I can see chocolate fans enjoying this one.
So Darcis is quite awesome! bB is very pleased with this discovery. There are more flavours listed on the site so maybe bB has to visit them earlier to nab them before they sell out!
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
#01-38
2 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore 018972
x o x o
bB
Had lunch today with Mac at Imperial Treasure, Marina Bay Sands. It was good to catch up after so many years! :)
We could look down into the casino from here. Very interesting!
The food at this outlet is Teochew style while the usual outlets I have been to with Kate were Cantonese style. This resulted in some differences in the dishes.
The roast pork was the same though. As awesome as ever.
I wanted plain congee, which they did not have. The waiter recommended oyster congee. It was nice but I still prefer Cantonese style congee I think.
The deep-fried squid was also slightly different. The batter was lighter and the seasoning was saltier with a little spice. It was pretty good.
And a serving of roast duck. Divine.
Mac wanted a coupla dim sum dishes. Non-negotiable, he said. LOL!
I thought the meat dumplings were average while the prawn dumplings were good with very fresh prawn fillings.
And lastly, mango pudding for dessert. Which was rather good, I must say. I could tell it was made with fresh mango.
As usual, Imperial Treasure served up excellent food. Mac was happy enough to say he would take his parents there one day. Service was warm and prompt. The crazy high ceilings give this outlet a rather palatial vibe, with rich finishes and luxurious booths to sit in. The interior is definitely a touch classier than the other outlets.
http://www.imperialtreasure.com
x o x o
bB
During happier days, Mr Bb brought a box of macarons back from NYC for bB, from Macaron Parlour.
This box of macarons suffered a lot just to get to Singapore, including an overnight stay in Japan when Mr Bb’s flight got cancelled and he was stranded there overnight.
So by the time they got to Singapore, they were in quite a state… We flipped them over so they looked nicer in the peektures but most of them were cracked.
They would have been worse off if Macaron Parlour hadn’t packed them in such a good box.
He was curious about what the big deal was about macarons. So we ate a few right away…
On hindsight, we probably should have let them rest for a while, maybe a day or two. They were way too dehydrated over the long journey home and became kinda crunchy and weird. Or maybe transporting them for so many hours may not have been a good idea.
After a day or two in the fridge, bB tried a couple more.
Caramel Fleur de Sel and Red Velvet.
Wow. It was so much better after recovering some moisture! bB quite enjoyed this one. It was better than the salted caramel macarons from Jewels and ET.
The Red Velvet was slightly dry but quite yummy as well. I could see the potential of these being absolutely scrumptious if I had eaten them in NYC.
Passion fruit turned out to be really dry despite having had more time in the fridge.
And lastly, it was the famous Candied Bacon with Maple Cream Cheese.
I have to say that this one was AWESOME. This blows everything out the water. I could have an entire box of just this one flavour alone. And if I go to NYC, you bet I will be buying exactly a whole box of Candied Bacon with Maple Cream Cheese.
So because it wouldn’t be fair to judge the other flavours as they didn’t seem to have travelled so well, I still think Macaron Parlour is an awesome little shoppe run by two amazing people. Thank you so much to Simon for getting the macarons to Mr Bb in time at the office and for the correspondence! I would lovelovelove to visit you guys in person one day and have an accurate taste test of your macarons!
It looks like bB is gonna need to travel just to eat macarons! :)
x o x o
bB
Not every friend will share your problems. Some will only share your joy.
x o x o
bB
