Food: Springleaf Prata @ The Rail Mall

Prata turned 'hipster' aka Plaster Blaster

Prata is like every Singaporean's staple food. Don't know what to eat for breakfast? There's prata. Wanna have supper but not macs? There's prata. Prata comes in many forms too, tissue prata, egg prata, prata kosong or even instant prata (you can cook them at home to satisfy your cravings anytime). And then there's pratas cousins like murtabak, thosai and the long lost nephew chapati and naan.

New outlet at The Rail Mall

Today was one of the night we need something after work to fill our tummies before bed. Along the route home, we passed by Railway Mall and since there were some eateries open, we thought we could have a look. Must be like magic or something because there it was - Springleaf Prata!

Packed with late night supper goers

Bandung $1.50, Model priceless (lol)

The place was packed even at 11+pm, mostly with groups of youngsters (us included :p) We weren't sure what to eat because the menu wasn't descriptive and there wasn't any pictures. Therefore, we head to our reliable Foursquare and Instagram for pictures and hopefully some recommendations.

DRINKS LIST

SPECIALS

One of the things mostly instagram-ed was their Plaster Blaster. It is basically a prata with 2 pieces of turkey ham, topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce. Think eggs benedict but prata version.

The mayonnaise probably looks unappetising here but damn everything was perfect.
Plaster Blaster $5

We also came at a time whereby they were doing some photography shots of their menu to help visual customers like us who needs pictures to make our meal choices. Hehe. The guys were helpful and recommended Plaster Blaster as something that would be suitable for supper if we were to share between us both. Their murtaburger or umami-50 would be too much for such a late night meal. 

Poking the poached egg.

The prata was good. Hollandaise sauce is surprisingly perfect. I forgot to mention, their plaster blaster comes with the usual serving of curry! Their curry is fragrant and chunky which we both really liked.

Served with curry

Overall, we spent $6.50 for our prata and bandung. Price wise it is definitely affordable and we will indeed come visit again to try out their other specials :) last order is at 11.30pm (they close at 12) so it's an ideal supper place *thumbs up*

Lots of parking space outside the shop

Overall it was a good supper session. Service is good and place is lively. Not to forget that The Rail Mall is a nostalgic place to visit in Singapore. In the day, you could climb up the railway track if you're feeling adventurous ;)

It's also nice to see something like prata turned 'hipster' and different, but prata in all definitions is always good. We'll definitely visit again to try out their other Specials! :)

:B Prata Monsters for tonight

Springleaf Prata Place
The Rail Mall
396 Upper Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 678040

Opening hours: 7am till midnight
Last order at 11.30pm

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Exploration: Jurong River

Highlights of our trip

Hi everyone! It's another Exploration post - we will share a place which requires you to get up on your feet and jump right in into an adventure :D

This time round, we're bringing you to Jurong River. Located in between Singapore Straits and Jurong Lake Park, the Jurong River can also be seen from AYE.

The star indicates the 'entrance' from which we entered from.

Walking to the entrance is not a hassle from my home in Teban Gardens, so it will be as easy if you're here in the neighbourhood.

The entrance

With my family, so excited!

Be prepared to walk through some tall grass and soft, muddy ground.

The path was better maintained than I last remembered.

Do remember to use your CALAMINE LOTION if you're worried about mosquitoes.

My auntie and cousins were already there when we reached and they have set up a fire to chase off the mosquitoes away + to cook whatever catch we managed to get.

Setting up the fire

When we reached at around 2.30pm,it was high tide so we couldn't go further in to dig for clams. You can always check out the high/low tide timings HERE.

The tide information for that day. H indicates High Tide and L indicates Low Tide.

High Tide - Suitable for fly-fishing or netting.

My mum and brother tried their hand at netting. Me too actually, but I was totally noob about it. lol

The surprising thing was that my cousins found some oysters. These shellfish can be found clinging to rocks and you can pry them off slowly. The important thing is to watch out for those barnacles (!!) those things are horrible and they can easily cut your hands.

Of course these are not the best grade of oysters and the only way I would suggest to eat them is by really making sure they are fully cooked. I managed to find one oyster of my own and it was the smallest! (Bottom right pic)

Shucking and cooking the oysters.

Playing in the water

After a few hours, we could see that the tide was slowly going back down. We managed to find some clams which most we cooked straight and ate over there. :D

Lol. My mum posing, this is possible during low tide.

Low tide: Best for digging for clams, finding oysters and netting. My sister found the biggest clam!

These clams are also known as lala and they have a slight sweet taste.

The yellow canoe is good for resting.
Also, as written on the tree: Please Keep This Area Clean :)

It was close to 6pm so we made our way back home. Us siblings would have loved to stay longer as we started to find more clams since the tide was getting lower. The netting didn't go so well so it probably would be better in low tide as well.

The journey back home was as beautiful (From top left clockwise: Flowers creeping on fences, Containers and machineries on both sides, Spot the bird!, Going back where we came from)

Into the dustbin they go.

Also, my jogging shoes were totally gone by the time I reached home! Okay these were quite old (at least 5 years old) so there wasn't any hard feelings for me to part with them. Also, do wear old clothings which you wouldn't mind getting a bit dirty.

One last wefie before we head back home

It was really a fun and fruitful experience and great for family bonding. My parents have already started planning on their next visit and I would also love to go again when it is low tide. 

Hope you liked this post. Thank you to my family, my auntie and cousins for being there. Wouldn;t be possible without you all! :)

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Shopping: New2U Thrift Shop

Thrift shopping at a good cost.

Hi everyone!

Thrift shopping is a more cost-saving way to get you the items you need PLUS it's like a treasure hunt - You'll never know what you might find!

Over in Waterloo Street, New2U Thrift Shop has been established since 2000. The shop is managed entirely by volunteers.

96 Waterloo Street

We had breakfast over at Harbourfront Bagus before heading over to the thrift shop. It opens on Weekdays from 10.30am to 2.30pm, so we had some time to kill after ending our night shift.

I had Yong Tau Foo for breakfast :p

The place was easy to find and accessible. We dropped off at Bras Basah MRT and it was about an 8 minutes of walk over.

The feeling of accomplishment when we found the Thrift Shop!

The building is what you would call 'rustic'

New2U 'sells' pre-loved items such as clothes, shoes, accessories, household items, decorative items, books, CDs, etc. Basically it's the place where you can find almost everything you have at home and more.

The special thing about thrift-shopping here is that, all the items are donated by people like all of us and the proceeds will go towards beneficiaries such as the Star Shelter and various SCWO Initiatives.

The shoes here are mostly for ladies.

Neatly arranged and organised racks of clothing.

The clothes section is the most extensive. You'll find everything sorted according to tops, dresses, jackets, pants and jeans.

Also, the items are sorted for Men or Women, so you can find everything easily. Here, you'll be able to find brands such as River Island, Banana Republic, Mango, Zara and other branded clothing for prices going as low as $1.

This guy keeps going on about Germany - He was so pleased when he found this travel guide book. :P

If shopping for clothing is not your type, you'll find preloved books, toys, and even jewellery here as well. We spent most of our time over at the Books and CDs section.

Who else remembers Feeding Frenzy? Such a good game! :D

Overall, it was an interesting place to visit and buy some stuffs. At the same time, it will help others in need, so why not? :) If thrift shopping or treasure hunting is your thing, or you would simply like to get some items as props for a dress up party (do people still do that?), this is definitely the place to go!

I think this is so cute!

Time moves in another dimension here and before long, we realised that it is already noon. I didn't manage to take much photos of the household items and toys as the room is quite filled up with people.

The SG50 Sale was on when we visited.

PLUS!! For every last 2 working days of the month, everything will go for HALF its price! If you're a student, you can also enjoy 1/2 price off items on every Tuesday. (This excludes books, toys and jewellery)

Pardon our sleepy eyes. Thanks to them for introducing me and the rest of us to this place!

If you're interested to volunteer or wish donate any of your items, find out more over HERE.

New2U Thrift Shop

96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967

Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 10.30am - 2.30pm

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Activity: Singapore Night Festival 2015

The Anooki Celebrate Singapore

By now everyone would probably have known about the currently ongoing yearly night festival. This is the 8th time this event of arts is held in Singapore.The Night Fest will be held for 2 consecutive weekends - 21st & 22nd Aug and the week after, 28th and 29th August.

The guides and pamphlets provide detailed information on the art installments plus lets you know what's going on for the night!

Grab your handy dandy guide books/pamphlets because they're super useful! You can also view or print the online version via their website HERE.

We tried out Momolato's Australian Mango sorbet popsicle. Refreshing!

I brought my sisters for the first week's exhibitions. We did arrive quite late into the night (9++pm) at Bras Basah MRT Station and by then, a throng of crowd had already gathered to watch some performance in front of the Singapore Art Museum. We gave it a pass since there were too many people.

Mirror bombs - So bling bling

The first arts showcase we went to was at the Chapel in SAM. The place was so mesmerising. Lots of people were taking selfies under these lights and from my pic, you could see that most of them were mesmerised by them. LOL

Project Dreamcatchers 2015 illustrates what it's like to live with chronic illness.

The entrance to Project Dreamcatchers was lovely and different as we were guided by a trail of blue paper planes.

Wall of paper planes with was popular for selfies.

Secret Message

We Are Family.

My favourite installment from The Learning Gallery - Once Upon This Island was The Hidden Dimension II. It's a video/animation of a family going about their daily habits until they were interrupted by something which made them all stop at the same time in different parts of the house. You gotta catch the dad taking potato chips out of his mouth as the video loops backwards. XD

Some of my favourite scenes from 'Cabinet'

Titled 'Cabinet', this is one of my favourites. There were these rows of what seem like lockers with holes and light in them. Upon a peek into these holes, there were very detailed scenes. Everyone of them shows an entirely different world. 

'No More Tears Mr Lee' was made with 8000 plastic bottle shampoo caps, a nice play of Johnson's baby products.

Love the handcut design [HDB Corridor - Faster apply for your pie in the sky]

We surrrender! Kidding.

One of the most instagram-ed photo/video are of The Anooki! - these hyper Inuits running across our National Museum. I managed to get my instagram-worthy video as well :p

Our exploration was limited to SAM as we wanted to catch the last train home :) It was something new for my sisters 

Don't worry if you missed it last week. You can drop by again this Friday or Saturday for Week 2's performances. Click here to check out Week 2 highlights!

The museums are also open till late (up till 1am for most) so it will be something different than your usual late night hangouts :) There are also activities, light installations, shows and concerts! For me, I'll definitely be coming again this weekend as I still havent finish exploring and seeing everything. Heh :D

See you all there!

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