Located in the midst of factories and industrial buildings at Kallang Place is a cafe known as the Backstage Cafe. I chanced upon an online review of it when I was searching for cafes near that area, and thought of trying out the place.

I love the spaciousness of the cafe. Most cafes in Singapore are crammed, crowded and have little walking spaces. But this cafe has a very high ceiling, wide walking spaces and because most of its walls are white-washed, it makes the whole space feel even bigger. The industrial design of the cafe fits very well with its environment – The cement floors, brick wall on one side and the exposed ceilings complete the look.

What we didn’t know though was that the day we visited was the first day they reopened after renovation. That actually wouldn’t mean anything except that we waited more than an hour for our food that day. We were subsequently told (upon asking why our food took so long, and seeing that every other table in the cafe were not getting their food either) that their permits for additional chefs were not approved yet. They were thus operating with only 2 chefs for the entire cafe’s orders. To cut the story short, they could not manage the orders and everyone’s orders were delayed. Thankfully, I was not there during my precious one-hour lunch break. Still, one hour of waiting without any prior notification was less than acceptable.

The latte came only 15 minutes after ordering. And this latte had nothing to do with the kitchen’s chefs, so it made me wonder if service was generally slow at this particular cafe.

 

Salad that came with the set lunch was decent though, with fresh, crisp vegetables and thinly-sliced apples.

Soup was not too bad too. Portion was just right.

 

When our food was finally served an hour later, we were famished. The food was very good though, so that slightly made up for it. The kids’ fish & chips was fresh, crispy and delicious. I like the french fries a lot!

Hubby’s chicken compote was yummy, with really finely-mashed mash potatoes that tasted great.

But my fav of all was the Salmon with mango & passion fruit sauce. Thick slice of salmon cooked to perfect on a bed of the wonderful mashed potatoes. I finished it in record time (Also because we were rushing to another event).

 

I would say give it a couple of months before you visit this cafe, just in case they haven’t got their chefs permits sorted out. The food’s pretty good, so I wouldn’t mind visiting it again.

BACKSTAGE CAFE
Address: 158 Kallang Way #01-06
Tel: 6743 6893
Website: http://www.backstage-projects.com
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat 10am to 9pm

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Advertorial

It’s coming to my favorite season of the year again.

Every year when it comes to December, I get into this deliriously happy mood everyday. Especially when the Christmas decorations start coming up on Orchard Road and the malls start playing Christmas carols, the anticipation to Christmas builds up. Christmas to me is a time of celebration, feasting and enjoying quality time with family and friends. It’s the time of the year when I rest from a whole year of hard labor, and party with my loved ones.

The problem is, we are already at the 1st week of December, and I am beginning to freak out a little that I’ve not started on my Christmas shopping! Thankfully, FairPrice will be coming to my rescue this year! Perhaps you don’t know yet, but apart from settling your monthly grocery needs, FairPrice is also a one-stop venue to purchase everything you need for a perfect Christmas party! From ham, turkey, salads, pasta and wines for your Christmas feast, to happy and cheery Christmas decorations and chocolates & toys for the little ones, you will be able to settle your shopping list in just one location! For a really busy mom like me, this is PERFECT! I no longer need to travel to a few places just to get the things I need – Time and money saved!

I have to say that this year’s Christmas catalogue from Fairprice is really cute.

See what I mean? :)

These little elves are FairPrice Xmas’ holiday helpers this year, and apart from the various items available for purchase in the catalogue, you can find great tips from these little elves to help you decide what to buy!

 

I get excited just looking at the photos of these delectable dishes for Christmas! :D My 1st Christmas party will be happening this weekend, and I am so spoilt for choice at what to get for the party! I spotted really interesting dishes such as Earl Grey breast of duck, which FairPrice kindly delivered to me to try as well.

It was my first time trying such a dish, and I must say I was very amazed at how well-infused the earl grey was! Every bite of the duck meat came with a strong aroma of the tea and I love how tender the meat was. That’s pretty amazing because duck meat is usually tough and sometimes has a smell that some people do not like. I can totally foresee that this will be a very popular dish if I bring it to the party!

Don’t you just love all these colorful chocolates and candies?? They are perfect gifts for friends – Everyone loves a sweet treat!

Buying presents for little kids will not be a headache for me this year, because there will be so many for me to choose from!

This is just a small portion of the Fairprice Christmas catalogue, so to find out more of what’s available, get your catalogue here! They are also available at all FairPrice outlets. :)

For your convenience, you can place orders for Christmas Deli items via My FairPrice + app (available on iTunes and Google Play) as well! The good news is that if you choose to place your orders via the app and make payment with OCBC Plus! Visa credit cards, you will receive 10% off your order! Very good deal! :)

By the way, there are several roadshows happening at FairPrice to promote the Christmas offerings. I managed to check the first roadshow last weekend at Bukit Merah Central’s FairPrice, and I love the happy Christmas mood in the air!

Right at the entrance, there were three colorful and pretty Christmas trees that put me right into the mood for Christmas with carols playing in the background as well. It’s easy if you want to replicate this for your house – The trees and all the decorations can be found at FairPrice itself. And may I add – at very attractive prices as well.

     

The roadshow was hosted by YES 93.3 DJ, Xiao Jia Hui, and she played games with the shoppers, gave out prizes as well as share about FairPrice’s Christmas offerings.

Celebrity Chef Eric Teo also did cooking demonstrations for 2 dishes we can prepare for our Christmas feast that got everyone really excited!

If you missed the first roadshow, fret not! A few more are coming up – Be sure to make it for at least one of them!

1) 7 Dec Roadshow @ FairPrice East Point, From 2 – 4 pm
2) 14 Dec Roadshow @ FairPrice City square (#B1-09/10), From 2 – 4 pm
3) 21 Dec Roadshow @ FairPrice Xtra Changi Business Park, From 2 – 4 pm

While shopping at FairPrice, participate in their lucky draws, which aim to reward shoppers with a minimum spending of $30 in one receipt – A total of $100,000 worth of FairPrice gift vouchers to be won!

And for those of you who are interested in the Christmas recipes, download your copy of the Festive Booklet for Christmas from http://whatsupatfairprice.com.sg/wuafp_modules/Christmas/pdf/A5_Festive_Booklet_Combined_Final.pdf . The booklet will contain 8 recipes created by Chef Eric Teo - Learn how to deep fry cod steak with fruit beer, and pan-fry scallops with cranberry cocktail juice with pomelo salsa. For the pastry lovers, you can also learn how to make cheese cake using cheese blocks, Oreo cookies and root beer! Sounds really awesome, isn’t it??

By the way, if you need a step-by-step guide on whipping up these dishes, click on to http://whatsupatfairprice.com.sg/christmas/RecipeGallery/ to watch the video demos! I am really inspired to make some of these dishes because they look so easy!

Thanks to FairPrice, it looks like I am going to have a very hassle-free Christmas shopping and preparation this year! I’m ready for my 5 F’s!

P/S: This is a sponsored advertorial for FairPrice to share about their Christmas promotions. Some of the photographs are provided by FairPrice, but all opinions and comments are mine.

Remember I blogged about Missy Stella’s special launch party earlier on here? This wonderful online shop is finally opening this month!

I’m really excited because I liked what I saw at the launch party –  So many pieces caught my eye! Love their stylish accessories and very classy outfits for everyday wear. I believe many of you ladies out there will love their collection as well!

The truth is, there are SO MANY online shops out there and we are spoilt for choice. But what probably differentiates Missy Stella from the rest of their competitors is that you get really good quality for the price you pay. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had many bad experiences with online purchases. Sometimes the photos on the online shop are misleading, and I don’t receive what I thought I paid for. Other times, either the quality, delivery lead-times or customer service simply cannot make it. That must be the reason why these online shops will forever remain online shops – They wouldn’t dare meet their customers face-to-face with their products on hand! Needless to say, I will never buy from these shops again.

The owners of Missy Stella, on the other hand, are confident about the quality of their product range. When I met them at the launch party, I could see the passion they have in the products they’ve chosen to be included for the shop. I was also happy with the quality of the clothes, bags and accessories I saw at the party. It definitely gave me the confidence to continue purchasing from them when they open in a few weeks’ time. :)

I picked out some of my favorites from their Facebook page – Aren’t they gorgeous?? They are perfect for Christmas & Chinese New Year – woohoo!!

Good news for those who missed the Launch Party last month, there is one more coming up soon! To kick off their new online shop, Missy Stella will be doing a 10-hour Christmas Spree on December 15, 12pm – 10pm at SCAPE Level 4 Studio 3! Be sure to check them out and grab some lovely pieces for Christmas!

GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to the kind folks from Missy Stella, I have a $50 voucher to give away to ONE OF YOU! All you need to do is to complete the following steps to qualify:

1. Like The J Babies FB page, if you have not.
2. Like Missy Stella’s FB page.
3. Share the link for this blog post on your Facebook wall and tag me at Klessis Lee so that I know.

Closing date for giveaway: Wed, 11 December 2013.

 

P/S: This is an advertorial for Missy Stella, but all opinions are mine.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Free attractions for kids are AWESOME. To the delight of parents and kids, a new Children’s Garden will be opening at Gardens by the Bay in Jan 2014, and it’s totally free-of-charge!

The Far East Organization (FEO) Children’s Garden may be offered to members of the public at no fee, but the whole place’s nothing short of amazing. When we popped by for a preview last weekend, the kids had such a great time that we can’t wait to go back again when it officially opens in a month’s time! The preview’s specially arranged for ‘Friends of Gardens’ members, so the members are really in for a treat before the place is open to everyone!

Going by the same vision as Gardens by the Bay, the FEO Children’s Garden is not only fun, but it’s also beautifully decorated and designed with lots of floral arrangements and clever use of elements of the Nature. The Garden’s really beautiful and yet fun for the kids at the same time. I also love it that they have different sections for the younger toddlers below 6 years old, and those older between 6 to 12 years old. Parents with younger toddlers do not need to worry about their kids being pushed around by the older and sometimes, rougher kids. The structures designed for them are smaller and thus safer and more manageable for their age. That is a really thoughtful concept.

FEO Children’s Garden is made up of 4 sections: Adventure Trail, Toddler’s Play, Water Play and Fish Fountain. My kids enjoyed themselves at every one of them.

ADVENTURE TRAIL

At the Adventure Trail, kids can try balancing on horizontal beams, hang from monkey bars, take a quick swirl down their slides and even climb up and down their Treehouse! This is also the biggest section among the four.

This section is actually meant for 6 – 12 years old, so for some of the balancing beams, Jayne had some difficulty completing them. Nevertheless, she was having tons of fun!

Along the way, you will find staff from Gardens by the Bay watching over the kids to make sure that everyone’s playing and having fun safely. For an outdoor playground that’s offered free-of-charge, I thought this was a very nice gesture.

 

Check out the tunnel slides! Made of metal though, so they get pretty hot under the sun. There’s a signage next to the slide warning that they may be hot, so got to careful. We found one slide that was not directly under sunlight exposure, so the girls went several slides down!

You cross a suspension bridge to get to the Treehouse – So fun!

And yes, since this is part of Gardens by the Bay, expect to find really pretty flowers as decorations along the way. :)

The treehouse is a modern architecture of some sorts – Not the traditional one built around a tree. If you observe carefully, you will agree with me that it’s inspired by the SuperTrees, for sure.

 

 

As you can see, even I managed to have some fun on the Treehouse. :P

 

TODDLER’S PLAY

The Toddler’s Play is like a miniature of the Adventure Trail, meant to cater to toddlers between 1 to 6 years old. The structures are so cute and tiny!

WATER PLAY

This might be the kids’ most favorite section because it’s a huge water fountain playground. It also happens to be my favorite because this is an ingenious combination of a musical fountain and a water playground. Lounge chairs are provided near the water play area for parents to sit and wait while the kids go crazy inside the playground. While waiting, I was so entertained by the lovely music pieces and the water fountain ‘performances’. The synchronized water dancing and movements make it a real visual treat for the waiting parents. With the gorgeous Cloud Forest and MBS as the backdrop, I think I found my new fav place to chill at Gardens by the Bay.

Since this is Gardens by the Bay, the theme of the water playground is naturally flowers. The giant orchid buckets splash down water at intervals – A real kid-thriller!

FISH FOUNTAIN

This is a small section of water play area for younger toddlers who might not dare to venture into the water playground. Located just next to the water play area!

 

I’m quite sure every kid will have tons of fun at this new Children’s Garden. I bet you can’t wait for it to be opened in January too, I believe! :) To end off, here is a video clip of the water fountain playground I captured – Just to let you have a feel of how it’s like to have lovely music and pretty water fountain performances happening right before your eyes. :)

Looking forward to the grand opening in Jan 2014! :)