Ministry of Beats Vol. 1 - Dinner

18th January 2010

Was invited by my friend Sharon to cover this soft opening of Lounge@Royal Oak, Hills Shopping Mall. Was thrilled to cover another event again~ =)

The other bloggers and photographers

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MENU FOR THE NIGHT

Cakes

First the cakes were brought out and we wasted no time taking pictures of it. Cupcakes and layer cakes for everyone!

Baked by Ms Heather's Speaking Roses which is just opposite the bar, situated inside the mall itself.

Let me introduce the lovely cakes....

+ Cookies +

The diamond-shaped Spicy Spring Onion lives up to its name. Upon biting and tasting the crumbs u can taste the spiciness in it. It tastes salty to me too, but its okay cos i like salty stuff ^^

Then i tried the tear-shaped Almond Golden Leaves. Right amount of sweetness and i love the almond pieces.

I think both cookies are baked very well. *thumbs up*

~ Cupcake pastries ~

I like these cupcakes. The icing on top isn't too sweet (compared to ones i've eaten in the past) and the pastry itself is just the right amount of softness. Looks very cute too~

- Layer cakes -

The chocolate cakes isn't too sweet, which is nice and the chocolate flavour is retained. However i wish it could be more chocolatey though, but that's me and my chocolate cake fetishes =P

The layered chocolate & cheese cakes are quite ok, but i think still can be improved with stronger flavours as i felt i couldn't taste much cheese/choc in it.

The way the layered cakes is presented looks like a radioactive signal doesn't it? >.<

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Drinks

The main course for the night would be beer(after all, its a pub!) but orange juices are available too. I was very 'guai' for the night; i chose to drink Green Tea instead =)

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Food

: Satay :

This is the beef satay, which i didn't try as i don't eat beef. =)

Lamb satay!! I love lambs >.< It was cooked pretty well, juicy and tender enough. Top-notch!

And the main courses are rolled out...

-o Lamb chop o-

Certainly my most favourite in western cuisine, i was very eager to try it. It was served with baked potato, salad and sum broccolis. Not bad! Quite healthy as opposed to the normal lamb chops served with fries & baked beans and buns. =)

= Steak =

Unfortunately as i do not eat beef i didn't try this. But i can eat the fries, no problem~ =P I think they put some mint dressing on the salad? Because i remember taking some fries and i tasted mint O.o but it was nice, i like it =)

* Salad *

Broccolis and carrot. What's not to like?

They did a great job for the lamb...it was cooked just right, tender and as such easy to cut and chew on. Here's for u to see the texture of the meat....full marks for meat texture. =D

My cupcake <3

***

Alright, let's take a look at the bar's interior~

When i first step in from the outside i saw this quote on the wall, and i thought it's pretty neat to put such a quote in the interior. Nice quote too btw~

If you turn to ur left there's a staircase up to the lounge upstairs.

Here's how the area looks like.

I like these seats. Comfortable and i wonder if curtain can be let loose and the seat be covered and 'privatised'. LOL. Dang forgot to ask =.=""

Another quote! Found at the top of the stairs. Nice~!

So this is the bar counter, viewed from the upstairs lounge. The green part is actually beer bottles, which is cool! The countertop has a nice curvy shape. Order your drinks here~

The countertop is actually decorated by our not-for-use-anymore 1 cent coins. Talk about recycling! =D

Walk further in and u'll see the other entrance/exit of the pub, and this shelf of wines to the right side. Can u see me in the picture? =P

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Speaking Roses

Ms Heathere's shop. A nice lady who took me to her shop and introduced me around. =)

The logo is surrounded by "I Love You" phrases in different languages. Awesome!! The place is brimming with positive energy already~ =)

***

Official Pass

When we were settled with our dinner, the pub owner, Mr Ronald came out and gave us passes to his upcoming event at the bar, the Ministry of Beats Vol. 1, which is a percussions event. So excited to hear this! Because i love percussions ^^ Not only that, we were given 5 free passes each so we could bring 5 friends of our own. One free bottle of beer for everyone with a pass! =D

Note: Thanks to Sharon for information on the cakes and the names of the cookies. Pictures are taken using her Canon EOS 40D except for the very first picture. Thanks. And many apologies for the late post...

More pictures on my DeviantArt.

Start of a New Year.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye, 2009 ended. And WHAT A YEAR it has been. Full of ups and downs, lessons and opportunities, and not to forget meeting new people and places. =)

Let's get on quickly to what i did before i went dragging on too much again @.@

*

I had to work that night too. By that time i was already posted to the outlet in Spring, so i was not at King's Centre again. I was looking forward to another firework celebration and countdown in Spring that nite.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any. @.@ Apparently i was mislead....and what a bummer. NO COUNTDOWN?!?! So boring...i straightaway turned emo. *lol*

And then Sharon's text came in. Countdown at her workplace: Jase's Tea Room. =)

After work i was picked up by Sharon and Peter and we went over, calling our friends as we went along. In the end only Bryan and Kathleen showed up and joined us, who's already seated with Sharon's dancing friends, Hui Ming & Jia Mei~

***

Kath's Strawberry tea. Peter was her butler for the day. =P It has a very nice scent~

Chun-chun 12am we cheered and popped stuff. The kid was very happy for sum reason. ;)

Masks....i still keep mine..wheee~~~

We stayed there till nearly 2am i think. In the car on the way home, me and Kathleen formed our own 'band' and were trying hard to sell our 'music' using our new toy, the plastic toy trumpet/horn (what do u call that again?? HAIZ.). OMG we both went totally crazy blowing the damn thing!! Sharon couldnt stop laughing! =P

It was a night to remember. Kath, next time, we bring our trumpet and blow again. Huahaha~



*****

2009 is a year when i learnt alot. About life, love, friendship and work. I experienced many firsts...first time karaoke, first time sisha, first time took a pic with DSLR, first time didn't sleep at all for 40hrs(still a personal record), first time attend concert (Greenfest!), first time blog abt event, first time plan bday for friends, first boatride across river, first time clubbing, first time had hard liquor, first time lasertag, first time play drums and guitar, first time group photoshoot, first time dealing with exhibition stuff, first time staying overnight at a beach resort with friends, and many more....

First time someone really opened my heart, which before i thought is locked forever.

And because of that, first time had my heart broken & scarred too. That was one of the firsts of bad things that happened. First time lost my phone. First time had food poisoning sooo bad, i swear i was near to death. Felt SO awful. First time quarrel so much with sumone. First time felt what isolation and classification of people thru stupid judgements feels like. And many more.

But the heartbroken thing...i dun think its a bad thing. Everyone has to go thru it right? A blessing in disguise perhaps. SUmting that makes me learn and be opened to opportunities...

But what's happened was already in the past. A period of time which i shouldnt dwell on too much, for we all had to move forward. To grow. To learn. To survive.

Learnt what it feels like to like sumone. Learnt to let go. Learnt to accept. Learnt to think more openly. Learnt to be more careful. Learnt to be more alert. Learnt to be think faster. Learnt ALOT about life...

All in all, i grew as a person. Even thought the downs are there, but hey, they were there to help us learn and be stronger. It is the downs that made the ups more worthy. Despite everything that's happened, the things i did, the things i could've done when i was supposed to, I am still grateful and lucky i met there wonderful ppl who came into my life. Really happy i met these people who changed my life one way or another.

I wonder if i changed sumone's life though?


Note: drafted on 01/01/10.