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My girlfriend's birthday turned out to be a brilliant excuse to go to a nice place for dinner. Its been 8 months since PS Cafe first opened its Dempsey Road branch and perhaps no longer the it place it was back in January. Back then it was probably the most talked about place because of the brilliant premises which housed the cafe. Its a lovely old building that has been restored superbly. With two facades dominated by top to bottom glass windows, its a lovely sight, whether in the day or at night.

Seating is separated into the smaller lounge/bar area, the indoor dining area and the outdoors. The furniture is certainly of the moment, a touch of retro flair in terms of upholstery, mixed with more modern forms. They aren't all the same chairs either. Each chair was different and the variety seems to allow each customer some individuality. Overall, the decor has a certain level of sophistication but an intrinsically informal atmosphere. Indeed, you really do feel like you're in some friend's super posh pad and not some stuffy place. Heck, even the waiter sat next to me and took my order.

Onto the food! I had a mushroom, beef and bacon ragout and iced longan tea whilst my girlfriend had a mint lime soda and the grilled catch, which happened to be trout (above). I found one mushroom in my ragout and couldn't really feel much bacon but it was decent without being overly spectacular. The trout was super tender and just fell away. Instead of dessert, we had an order of fries which I found interesting. Chopped roughly and served with two dipping sauces, it was a nice take on a simple classic.

Verdict? Well, its a really lovely place. The house is set in the midst of a tropical landscape. You wonder why it took so long for someone to think up this concept. Food wise, I think I can easily find better for the price you're paying. It was OK but nothing much to shout about. Its really all about the ambience. A lot of blogs I'd read said the service was choppy or even terrible. I think when you go someplace new (which it was when most blogs kao pei-ed about it) you have to expect a certain level of unprepared-ness. Now, 8 months plus later, it seems to have settled and I found the service to be just fine, friendly and pretty informal. I'd recommend this as a nice place to come with friends and have a drink. I probably would skip dinner here unless they do something more but drinks are a very good idea. Just soak in the modern tropical feel of it. Get a table indoors though. I had a spider in my hair and ants on my arm.

PS Cafe 28B Harding Road, Tel: 6479-3343

Last season's Singapore Idol was pretty decent TV fare and I thought the winner was ok. This season just makes me cringe. I managed to watch most of the 4 piano shows and even the results shows. Its so easy to pick out those going through, given the poor quality of singing across the board. Even the decent ones weren't great. Some were so awful I turned the TV off. At times, I felt tormented and hung on just to hear some vindication from the judges. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just my TV or my ears playing tricks on me.

The results shows are horrible as well. I watched 2, whilst waiting for the World Cup to start. Recycling the same songs and having two hosts desperately trying to squeeze out suspense like water from a grain of sand. And why do we even need an extra, squeaky host?

Perhaps the poor singing has to do with the youth and nerves of the participants but the bland "lines" they say before and after performances make me think about the rigidity of Singapore's education system. I feel like they spent more time rehearsing how to say "And I hope you'll vote for me, Singapore!" (cue big smile, wink, waves) in front of a mirror than practising their singing. There were a few retorts though. But, saying things like "I don't suck dammit!" just comes off rude when in fact they do suck. As much as vacuum cleaners in fact.

I don't profess to be some expert singing coach or whatever. I was in a choir before so I know what singing is like and how difficult it can be. I also don't expect the wannabes to be amazing knock your socks off singers. I merely expect them to be half decent. If you counted the number of flat notes there were, you could level Bukit Timah. And despite the fact most of them are so young and are styled relatively fashionably, the music on offer really sounded old fashioned and boring.

I think I'd be somewhat embarrased by this season's quality if I were a judge or organiser. I think I'd have skipped to the top 4 and not waste time, weed out the rest. Like Ken Lim put it to the bunch coming back for the wildcard show, "some of you are only here for the numbers".

I'd rather have Careless Whisperer as one of the "top" 12 because its about the same. Watch if you're into teen dramas, although I think other crappy productions on channel 5 might be better in that department.

Its a pity. We've got people like Stefanie, Tanya et al flying the flag and most bands in Singapore may not have amazing singers but musically, they're competent to say the least. I don't feel like washing my head after listening to them. So I'm just sad, as a music lover, to see that this is the best we can come up with in a singing competition I don't expect much of. Sing-a-poor iDull.

You know that word of mouth thing, where one thing passes to another and sometimes it comes right back at you?

superfuture is a site I visit from time to time. First knew about it back in the early part of this century after frequent visits to various graphic design newsfeeds. It has a main section dedicated to Singapore now and it certainly makes sense to me given the raft of shops I've seen popping up in recent times. I remember a couple of months back, when I had a chat with a friend of a friend, who owns homespun, a tidy little shop tucked away in the artier district of Singapore, near the Asian Civilizations museum. Normally, all you'll find would be tourists and kids on school tours but they have been getting some press. So here I am to spread the word even more. Other than some funky retro furniture by said friend, you can also find products from all over South East Asia, Local Brand tees, jewelry, recycled product lamps and more.

Back to superfuture. There's only one map for Singapore, unsurprisingly. We are still a tiny dot on the map after all. There's also a link to a satellite image via Google Maps and you'll see what I mean. Still, the density of shopping means there are separate areas to visit, with Orchard getting the most hits. Its just rather poignant to see a word like Kim Seng as a section itself, dedicated to Zouk.

Back to homespun. In that chat I had with Catherine the owner, she told me that she got put onto superfuture because of a friend, who's part of a collective called FARM, which meets up monthly to show off and discuss design related stuff. Their last meeting was preposterously timed at night on the 10th of June. (Hello? World Cup?) In any case, each ROJAK meeting is a chance for almost anyone to showcase their work, be it photography, art, design, architecture etc and have people talk about it. So anyway, this ex-classmate sends us all an email about FARM and it took me a few days (Hello! World Cup!) to realise that oh its that farm, not the one in Lim Chu Kang.

I suppose a small country like ours, its hard to keep things under wraps and everyone will know in time. Still you have to help push things along the way, so I'll be superultranationalistic and dedicate a section to Singapore myself, with a distinct local flavour so ang mohs reading won't know wtf is going on. 

You know, in the past, Singapore still had its tropical island charms, with a lot of undeveloped areas and beaches. The economy then took hold and what was once forest and sea now became concrete and reclaimed land! So fast forward to the 2000s and it seems we hanker for quieter ideals.

The shopping scene in Singapore has evolved and you see a variety of shops opting out of shopping centres and hence city centres and going to little known alleys, previously home to old shophouses and where few venture. Yet now, they seem to be a hive of activity for the cool cats who prowl along Haji Lane, Club Street and the like.

Now when it comes to chilling out, more people are heading away from the urban areas for a change. It about going to dark, hidden places previously devoid of life. Away with air conditioning and bring on the mosquitoes.

Places like Little Bali have sprouted up. Located somewhat near IKEA, its tucked away from the traffic and set in the midst of trees and foliage. First impressions when I went there recently were good, as they imported lots of stuff from Bali and really tried to make it look Bali-esque, at least my girlfriend thinks so. She would know since she's been to Bali before doing architectural research stuff! In any case, once I stepped in, things went downhill. For a start, they had a Shisha counter and I know its really in to be smoking that shit now but I thought this was little Bali. Then the waiters started to serve and ignorance of the wait staff aside (I put it down to their youth) they were also togged in clothes they pulled out their own drawers. The uniform seemed to be any white top, beige bottom and sandals/slippers. I get it... laidback feel kinda thing, although I felt they seemed more like they worked next to a swimming pool. The menu didn't raise spirits either, with a paltry offering of Indonesian food amongst local fare. At least it tasted pretty ok. What really killed me in the end, was the stickytape they used to stick some decorative wallpaper round a few columns.

But fear not, there's also places for winenuts to go. Wine Network and The Wine Company are two places in the Dempsey road area, off Holland road, where they make good use of the old colonial style houses and offer a good range of wine and some light food as well. Here, the atmosphere isn't as contrived but kind of laid back, yet sophisticated. The wine isn't overly expensive compared to restaurants and they hold wine meetings often.

Located very nearby and almost always fully booked, is PS Cafe. I haven't actually got a place yet cos I'm too lazy to keep calling to see when they have a free spot. Just book in advance if you intend to go to this place, which is touted and bandied about by many people. The food isn't bad either. I'll dump a review when I do get there.

Something has to be going right when you check out cool brands and find they have someone stocking in Singapore. First Freitag and now A.P.C? Yes. You too can be the proud owner of a pair of denim from the French label, which has got long long posts on superfuture. In the world of denim, I think today, the more savvy amongst us have traded in their pre washed, faded and distressed jeans for unwashed, raw denim. So they can do the distressing themselves and make the jeans unique unto them. So its not like blank, plain jeans are in but its the ideology behind the humble piece of clothing. Anyway, in case you want them really dark blue and unadorned, Atelier de Production et Creation's offerings are an excellent choice.

So anyway, Front Row, is yet another in a series of burgeoning small shops in old areas of town selling cool stuff. Located at 5 Ann Siang, its 3 storeys high and the bottom floor is a DEAN & DELUCA's.

Newish store at 29a Seah St. selling clothes, accesories and FREITAG. I found out after checking out the FREITAG mainsite and finding a listing for a Singapore store, went down to check it out and thought it was pretty decentish. Had some nice shoes and almost bought a FREITAG wallet. Now waiting for a fresh batch cos I wasn't convinced with those on offer. The shop is named Actually and its in a refurbished shophouse opposite Bras Brash Complex and next to Raffles Hotel. A nondescript entrance with some playful details on the letterbox on the ground floor. The second floor is the shop itself, with a nice glass window showing off some merch.

At the coincidence of two friends both telling me that it was worth checking out, I got my girlfriend to go along with me to find The Asylum after a failed attempt to have Tian Tian chicken rice from Maxwell market for dinner. The Asylum is this store at 22 Ann Siang Hill in Singapore that sells some pretty cool stuff, from Mihara shoes to Fred Perry polos, design books, magazines and more. It also doubles as a design studio. The decor is decidedly ultra trendy and kooky at the same time, with some humourous stuff all over the place, like little red birds on the white chandelier or a cartoon on the wall declaring the colors of the panties he is privy to from his position.

The name seems to be rather fitting as their website will demonstrate. The pic above is stolen from the Flickr page of one of the artists that decorated the wall at the shop.

*Update. The wall has been repainted! So it no longer looks like this and I expect it to change as well!

Having dinner with my girlfriend one day at the wonderfully remade Wisma Atria, with its delicious Food Republic, I also chanced upon this store covered with white plaster board. Along with the words opening soon was this picture of a man in an orange bellboy's uniform and the word Porter in a serif script.

Yes Porter International is finally opening in Singapore. The fabulous bag company from Japan that's kinda like a more cult Le Sportsaq will finally open its doors at Wisma. Or at least, that's the first store I've picked out. Porter International differs from the Japanese HEADPORTER. Other than sharing the brand name and a few designs, Porter International uses a slightly different logo, has its own designs as well as being cheaper. Its also made for the European, American, Chinese, Singaporean, HK and Taiwanese markets.