Friday Afternoon – Tea and Cheesecakes

It’s Friday afternoon again, thought I’d feature this lovely little hang-out at Ann Siang Hill, ideal for a lazy Sat/Sun afternoon or just one of those afternoons off.

Grab this off this LOVELY blog Sitting Wishing Eating. Wanted to do a post myself, but felt the pictures taken here captured the ambience perfectly.

K-Ki, No 7 Ann Siang Hill

 I’m very bad at names. Pardon me if I have to ask your name twice. Someone told me about “K-ki” but I totally couldn’t remember who told me about this place.

 To my understanding, K-Ki, which meant cakes in Japanese.

 

No. 7 Ann Siang. This is  a stretch of road that I pass by often from my office to Ann Siang Hill. I always secretly hope that someone would take over that shop and change it into food eatery. Well, my secret wish came true. The folks from K-ki and The Little drom shop have used that premises for themselves. 

 

I love their minimalist Japanese interior design. The use of the large glass windows and the spacious interiors, coupled with the wooden furnishing gives the place a cosy and minimalist look.  I’m not an expert in architecture but I love the vibes of the place. It’s good to stop by, grab a drink and have a piece of cake. 

 

Well, the Little Drom Shop have lots of very nice knick-knacks items as well. Do check them out. 

 

K-Ki serves a variety of cakes with names like Antoinette, Café Dumo, Souffle Cheesecake. All their cakes are freshly baked by the owner themselves. Their cakes are slightly pricey ($5-$8) but they tasted pretty good. 

 

I like it that there’s a person/story to share for every piece of cake. 

My instinct tells me that the folks at K-Ki will probably need to have more tables and chairs to cater for more. : ) 

K-ki and The Little Drom Store

 

No. 7 Ann Siang Hill

*Tentative Opening Hours:

Mon-Wed, and Sunday - 11am – 9pm

Thurs – 11am – 7pm

Sat – 11am – 4pm

*Occasional Mondays are close for production.

+6225 6650

K-Ki Website

K-Ki Facebook Page

I’ve uploaded a map to indicate the location of k-ki.  Follow the White directional arrow! And you will see K-ki!

The Dying Art of Lacemaking

Read more on the Etsy blog.

This video makes me want to go to Cyprus. Tradition is so underrated sometimes. Read more about Lefkara lace here.

By the Sea

Beach holidays tend to look the same. Sun, sand, sea, tanning lotion, rinse and repeat. Nonetheless, they are always much needed, especially when you hold a highly stressful day job.

Here’s a rather effective formula for recharging, recently tried and tested in Phuket in the Land of Smiles.

Step 1: Get yourself to a beach.

Step 2: Make sure you are prostrate most of the time (so that you can really relax), whether it’s on a beach towel or a deck chair. Ice cold beer optional, but highly recommended.

Step 3: Take a nap while you work on your tan. Remember to slather on your sunscreen beforehand! Rinse and repeat until satisfied.

Step 4: One can’t lie on the beach at all times of the day so do what we Singaporeans do best – eat! Go out on a limb and try the local food. Sometimes you can hit a gold mine, like beef noodles and Thai iced tea by the roadside.

Step 5: With your stomach full and your body rested, it’s time for some exploring. Take a jaunt to neighbouring beaches and islands, such as the beautiful Ma Ya Bay, of The Beach fame, here in Phuket. With sand so white your eyes hurt and waters so clear and blue that it puts the sky to shame, Ma Ya Bay is a short speedboat ride away, approximately 45 minutes away from Phuket Island.

Step 6: A day tour like that typically takes the entire day. By the time you get back it’s already evening and time to make dinner and night plans! What’s a trip to an island without a taste of the local seafood dishes? I don’t know about you, but seafood Thai-style sends me to food heaven. You can see below the carnage that was unleashed upon the poor fishies and prawns. Burp.

Hedgehog for sale

Step 7: Check out the Chao Fah Variety Market, opened only on weekends, opposite Wat Nakha, way over in Phuket Town but just a 20 minute tuk-tuk ride away (don’t forget to bargain!). There you will find stalls that sell counterfeit goods that will do just as well as the real deals, pretty vintage-inspired clothes and accessories, amazing street food and even pets (again, don’t forget to bargain!).

Step 8: If there’s still energy left over to party, check out Margarita, a bar with the worst but most entertaining cover band in the world (out of tune but with lots of enthusiasm) or Seduction, the least sleazy club in Patong and which also has the best music. Be forewarned though, drinks aren’t cheap in tourist-magnet Patong.

Step 9: The next morning, get yourself to another beach. Repeat Steps 1 to 4 till satisfaction is achieved.

Step 10: Embrace the fact that you have to go back to your real life and you should be a happy bunny. Hey, at least you now have beautiful bronzed skin and the memory of a relaxing beach holiday for keeps.

This post is part of the series.

Drenched in Budapest

Now that everyone’s sharing stories from the road, I thought I’d share a funny incident that happened whilst I was touring Budapest, the capital of Hungary, a few years ago with a friend.

For those of you who don’t know, Budapest is really made up of two areas, Buda and Pest. What separates the two is the absolutely scenic River Danube. We were planning to go up Gellért Hill in Buda one evening to get a bird’s eye view of the entire city. However, it was starting to get dark and we could see ominous clouds looming over the horizon. At that moment, I had to make a judgment call – either go up the hill as planned, or call it a day. I chose the latter.

It turned out to be a wise decision on my part, but the day was not over yet. As we proceeded to cross Elizabeth Bridge (one of the many bridges) on foot to return to our hostel in Pest, it started to pour. Like, REALLY, REALLY POUR. A strong gale was gushing from our left, and we had to seek refuge behind one of the beams that made up the suspension bridge. That was the only shelter we had, and there was no place to retreat to. The storm grew stronger by the minute, and the last inch of daylight disappeared, leaving us in nothing but tungsten luminescence. Being seasoned travellers, we did not have any umbrellas/ponchos with us (snigger).

This was not getting anywhere, I thought. So I made another call. “This isn’t working! Let’s get to the other side ASAP!” Thus began the exodus into Pest.

As we were halfway through our journey, I peeked over my shoulder and past the rails of the bridge. What used to be the tranquil River Danube was now a scene from Armageddon (minus the fire and brimstone), with mighty frothy waves that could probably swallow an entire sailboat and send it into oblivion without even flinching (if waves could even flinch in the first place). It was dark, with the sky set ablaze with lightning every now and then. My goodness, it was my first official rendezvous with Death. Alright, I am getting carried away with the descriptive writing.

ANYWAY, we made it to the other side of the river in one piece in the end. The storm abated as if it was mocking us for not staying put. Right then, in the middle of assessing the damage, my friend started laughing.

Why, you might ask? Thanks to the strong winds that were hitting us, I was completely soaked. On my LEFT SIDE. The entire right side of my body was pretty much dry. It was quite a sight I must say, and we stood there laughing for a few good minutes. Wished there were pictures to show you how ridiculous I looked, but our cameras wouldn’t have survived the rain if we tried taking photos. I’ll simply leave it to your imagination.

This post is part of the series.

Best Scone On Earth

I don’t care what people say, but this has got to be the

best scone I’ve ever eaten in my entire life!

Where you say? In Bath, UK. Their hand-made scones are deviously armed with clotted cream and jam and have the ability to kill you and bring you to tastebud heaven. Resistance is futile as soon as you peel through the warm golden crust to reveal its soft fluffy centre. You’d slowly render yourself powerless as the taste of freshly baked scones rushes through your senses like a gushing river. And then you wonder, “Am I dead? Am I alive? Who cares, again! AGAIN!”

Personally, after paying 5 quid for this afternoon tea set (tea of your choice and BEST SCONE EVER), I finally realised why the English rave about scones and tea all throughout history. I am now a convert.

The place is called Hands of Bath Tea Room and can be found at:

1 Abbey Street
Bath
BA1 1NN

This is part of the series.