I met S, my excolleague for an afternoon of girly time after I was done with the gym with M. We decided on Ion as I go the the California Fitness and Ngee ann city and it's convenient enough. It was about 2 by the time we met up, and we walked around the mall for a bit and decided it was time for tea, so I suggested Paul's as I love their fruit tarts and tea. We hiked through wisma, which was full of people, and half way through, we saw this exhibition. Firstly I saw many kids dressed in the formal wear of Anglo Chinese School (International) and found it kind of odd. When I was still in school that was reserved for formal occasions like founder's day or graduation. Turns out, the school had sponsored part of the exhibition in support of habitat for humanity. Back in Year 5 I remember we slept in a cardboard box in a field for a night to understand what the homeless go through everyday and I was well pleased to see that the school was still continue to partner with Habitat for Humanity to raise funds and awareness to help homeless people.

We stopped and decided to play our part and each paid for a brick in which the proceeds go to materials for building new homes.

It was quite fun just colouring and chatting and I thought that was a very engaging idea as opposed to just getting people to donate $2 and then just walk away. By the time we were done and left to go to Paul's, there was an extremely long line outside so we decided to head to Jone's the Grocers instead. We were both famished by then and decided on the Egg Benedict and the french toast topped with berries. I love the combination of smoke salmon, avocados, with the prefect poached egg topped with hollandaise sauce on top of an english muffin.  

We decided that we would share each dish so it meant one serving of eggs benedict and 2 slices of french toast for both of us, which was the best idea ever! I love having both savoury and sweet elements in a meal.

The berries were very fresh and the cream was also light, and not overly stodgy. It was perfect with the maple syrup drizzled over it ^^

Perfect way to end the day out with S!

I chanced upon La Ristrettos while I was in walking around Novena Medical centre. ( I do enjoy spending time in the garden on the 8th floor there!) The previous cafe had relocated and this new coffee joint had popped out so I made a mental note to bring a friend and try the coffee someday. I'm not much of a coffee person, but I love the smell of coffee.

I finally had the opportunity to try it out as I had a day off work and a friend happened to be free to so we decided to do tea. One of the main things I liked about the cafe was how small and quiet it was. I dislike places where you have to jostle with the crowd for a seat, wait forever for the waiter to take your order and then for an eternity for your drink to come.

We spent a few minutes discussing how well decorated the place is. " Oh look at the bottles of tea!" "Such a pretty Christmas tree that blends in so well with the decor!" "It looks out into the garden!" before settling in our seats and then proceeding to pore over the menu.I really liked how the menu was so well organised and the idea of using a clipboard means only specific pages need to be changed, instead of the whole menu (if it's a binded book!)

I'm not much of a coffee drinker due to my allergies to caffeine, so I decided to go for the ice mocha. It is basically a glass of milk with a scoop of chocolate gelato and a shot of espresso. (Not the best idea for people who are allergic to caffeine, but I guess YOLO). I like how it wasn't too sweet like how most mochas are, and the freshly brewed espresso mixed with the milk and ice cream was such a nice concoction, perfect tea time drink! I could only get through half a glass before my head started pounding but it was worth it!

My friend ordered a cappuccino and we were duly impressed with the pretty flower art that the barista created. The quiet ambiance allowed us to talk while enjoying our drinks, a perfect way to spend a Wednesday afternoon, away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

I liked how they served us glasses of water alongside the drinks we ordered without us even requesting for water. Attention to detail really does make a big difference in ones experience at an F&B outlet and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon spent at La Ristrettos!