O' Coffee Club

I left work today with plans to go shopping. But, then both of us were hungry. We just wanted to go to a quite place for dinner and we headed to the coffee club in Holland V.

The place is good & food is delicious, but the service is too late.

I ate the two whole pita pockets & side salad by myself!

Thatz okay but,  Do you notice the fries in the picture ??

I finished them too :-(

And the worst thing is I hadn't even wanted it! I kept talking and eating and didn't realize until the end.  

Forgot about the no fast food thing !!

Even today's workout was not that intense.

May be I should go for a late night walk, just to ease my guilt!

Singapore outings - Pulau Ubin

I have this impression that if you live in Singapore for a couple of years, it is lame if you did not spend a day in Pualu Ubin. So, during the last long weekend, when it was a not-so-sunny day,  I geared up with a set of friends to explore Pulau Ubin. 

The bumboat starts from the Changi ferry terminal in the Changi village. Its a $5 boat ride, return. There ain't any schedule, the boat leaves as and when it gets to 10-12 people. For $2, you can take own bikes to Ubin, on the boat. As you reach the island, you can see many bike rental & surgery (whatever it means) shops. The bike rentals range from 7-20$ for a day's rental.

Did you notice the board in Hindi?

Should I specially mention how glad I felt :-)

The major thing you get to do there is cycling through the blue, black and doube black diamond trails.

The quarries on one side of Ubin are quite a sight and a windy place to catch your breath.

It is worth to lug your cameras and tripods over, as well.

Check the photos here!

Since we live in the west end of Singapore, I had no intentions of going all the way back to Ubin. But, how can I leave Singapore without seeing what the Chek Java Wet lands are?

So, I started forcing the guys to ride to the other end of the Island. We didn't plan to cycle for so long, but we spend a good 4 hours on the bike. We were pretty famished, but had nothing in stock except a couple of calorie bars. There is an old shop-house on the way, where they serve lunch. It was well into the afternoon when we reached there. So, they were out of food. But, their canned beers are cold enough to fuel the cyclists :-) The old uncle is kind enough to give you free biscuits as well.

As we reach the wetlands, there is an information office. You are not allowed to take your bikes after this point. You can just leave it out there with the rest of the bikes and walk the rest of the distance. There is a viewing tower at the start of the wet lands. You can see all the way up to Pulau Tekong from up there. While some of us went up, few guys stayed back and peeled a coconut and finished it.

All over the wetlands, there are thousands of teeny crabs and other tiny little creatures over there, lots of shade to relax.

By the time you reach the Jetty, you would be hungry and tired, but I recommend you to curb your hunger for a little while more with the drinks. As you reach back at Changi, walk a bit further after the car park to the Changi village food court. End the wonderful day with the Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani or the Penyet stall next to it. People! believe me!! it is worth the wait!

I am planning to go all the way back there just for the food ;)

If you aren't that hungry, head to the food court at ECP for Chilli crab, to finish the Singaporean day.

Have you been to Ubin ?

If yes, Let me know how your day was.

I love this picture as a postcard

I took this picture when I was in Detroit during 2010 Autumn.It always feels like a post card to me..

Among seasons, I love Autumn the most !
The auburn colors entice me ..

A few more clicks from the set.

Have a good week, Folks !

TOM N TOMS

A small cafe tucked in the inner streets of the city. On weekends, Tom N Toms is a quiet place for coffee and fresly baked pretzels. People can peacefully get their work done, or catch up with their reading and people like me can enjoy the food and drinks & be content by watching other people ;)
Oh, by the way, we get free wifi there.

Originally from South Korea, their Singaporean outlet is in the Icon building in Gopeng street. We stumbled upon this place on a sunday morning exploration.

The staff says the place gets busy during the week and on evenings.
Coffee is the same as we find in other spots. But I ain't any connoisseur & I was drinking regular cappuccino.
The pretzels are what make the people come back here.They have a hand full of variants. You can have either normal pretzels or stuffed ones.
We chose almond pretzel & wanted caramel on top. The caramel dipping sauce comes as an extra, for a Dollar. The quantity and price is a bit too much to pour on a 5$ pretzel.

Love they way they prepare the pretzles right in front of us.
Try the Cinnamon apple for the sweet tooth!

Motivation

During a lunch hour, we were discussing food, diet and work-out. Eventually the discussion led to the question.

What motivates you to lose weight?

Instantly my pictures when I was in Japan and the time back in India were flashing in front of me. Oh wow ! I liked how I looked those days. I really really wish to be looking like that.
I remember a lot of those clothes stashed in the corner of my wardrobe.
So, yeah.. The goal is set. I wanna start wearing those.
My biggest challenge related to work-outs or Gym is "When to"?
I am not a morning person & Manu finds a zillion interesting things to do every evening! So, decided to hit the gym in the lunch hour. I signed up for the nearest gym (painfully realizing that the monthly fees is expensive than some of my air-tickets!)
So far, it is going on pretty good for me. One month plus & I am already feeling fitter!
Who doesn’t? After the amazing dance moves, body combat and the body pumps :)
Only side effect is, on the days when I take combat classes, I tend to keep punching in the air for the rest of the day!
I am famous for getting hyper-excited after work-outs. As far as I gauge, my productivity has increased for the second half of the day.


What’s your answer ? And how are you achieving it ?
Feel free to share your answers and motivate the rest!