Oreo Cheesecake @ McCafe (Tampines)

Last post was on Jan 2. It's Feb 14 today.

I AM SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING FOR SUCH A LONG TIME!!!

Oh, and a Happy Valentine's Day.

Anyway, haven't got a proper chance to go cheesecake-hunting ever since my school started (yesh, I am still an undergraduate), but i grabbed hold of every single opportunity to get close to a cheesecake whenever possible!

Hence i was at this "restaurant" called............MACDONALD'S! Well, the Tampines branch, right opposite the CPF building, if you ask. It's always packed with students of Anglican High, sometimes Tampines JC, or some other school located within the 5km range.

And everytime I was there, the display of cheesecakes at McCafe beckoned me. Well, the variety's quite limited since Macdonald's "bestseller" weren't the cheesecakes. Still, they had my fav: OREO CHEESECAKE (OCC)!!

Bought it at $4.95. Regretted it at the instant i sank my teeth into that thing. Let me tell you why.













Service

The counter staff was actually rather polite!!! For a cafe of a fast-food restaurant!! God knows how much they're paid. If it were me, getting such pathetic sum of money for my salary, I wouldn't even want to open my mouth to thank the customers for patronising us. But this counter staff -forgot to take note of the name- smiled politely, informed me of the price of the OCC even though the price has been displayed (only idiots will not be able to see it), took the money with both hands and sent me off with a "have a nice day!"

Ambience

What ambience can you get from the most reputed fast-food restaurant in Singapore!? Patronisers do not go there for the ambience or service. We go there for the speed of the delivery of the food, and the price (I do notice that rate of price increment is a lot faster that the rate of food-quality improvement) !

The Cheesecake Itself

















Not a single hint of cheese. Is it even a cheesecake!? Even the crust failed my expectations. Bland. The cake? What's that? It was bland bland bland!! Was it meant for the elderly!? At least they made the effort to make the OCC LOOK like an OCC. And it looked good. But it didn't taste good at all. It's the first time i ate an OCC and couldn't finish it simply because I didn't like it.














$4.95 for something like this?! I am sorry but even the Sundae Pie at Burger King's (selling at $2.75, almost half the price of the OCC, but tastes A HELL LOT BETTER) can be called a delicacy if they consider that THING as a cheesecake.


Conclusion of the Oreo Cheesecake


CHEESECAKE


There is no redeeming attribute of the cheesecake itself. NONE.

Caesars @ Liang Seah St

Let's temporarily divert our focus from our beloved cheesecakes for now, and think of what we can indulge in! Mmmmm.........how about some frozen magaritas and cocktails?

Well, my new-found drinking kaki and I just finished catching "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" at Iluma's Film Garde, and we decided to have some chilling out done at Caesars: Pub.Wine.Oysters Bar (no they don't serve oysters)!

I knew that I didn't have the stomach for beer that night, so I opted for a Strawberry Frozen Magarita ($15) for starters!

Strawberry
Frozen
Magarita












Yes, it's a sweet drink. Yes, alcoholics out there are screaming, "this is just a fruit smoothie for goodness' sake!" SO WHAT? I LIKE SWEET DRINKS.

And so they blended ice, real strawberries (had some seeds stuck in between my molars), some tequila and whatever they need to make the drink look fabulously red :)















And as always, they popped the cherry! I mean, they diligently placed a cherry on top to complete the RED look!

Berries
Love














Next up, my friend continued having her pint of Erdinger (there's a 15% discount!) while I called for another called Berries Love ($16)! A considerably healthy alcoholic drink, as compared to the other cocktails since it contains almost all the berries we can think of - hence it's literally a dose of antioxidants and alcohol packed in a cocktail glass :)

Yum yum, Sweet sweet...

By the way, did I forget to mention that the service is great? Friendly waitresses, sunny smiles, and they know their stuff! Not forgetting that the bar itself is a great place to chill, being equipped with a pool table on the inside. Outside along the walkway, wide rattan seats and low tables are provided for patrons to have a fag, watch people while talking about anything under the sun and have some nicely-chilled Erdinger beer.

I would rate this bar a CHEESECAKE :D

Coffee Club

A few days back, an acquaintance of mine bought a New York Cheesecake from the Coffee Club!! Now I am guessing that he got it from the branch at Hotel Rendezvous. Excited, I opened the box.......


Taste and Texture















Tadah!! There's the NYC!!

It had that thin layer of plastic-like "outer-skin" at the top of the cake, which gave it a real glossy and inviting look. Was it made of egg-white or something? Englighten me.

As for the cake itself, it was smooth and rather fluffy for a cheesecake! Not as thick as the previous cheesecakes i've tried though....

















The crust was rather good, with its colour of dark brown being a strong and delightful contrast against the pale yellow of the cake itself. And it tasted as good as it looked!!

Conclusion for the New York Cheesecake

CHEESECAKE

Well since I don't have any idea about how much it costs and that the cake was a takeaway, hence being unable to gauge the level of service catered AND the ambience of the place itself! Hence I can only talk about the cake itself.......which is rather good by itself :)

But there is that inkling that if I got news of its price, I would hold back the urge to have a second try of that cheesecake! I am just a penniless student in the end.....!

Fish & Co @ Ion Orchard

One day, my friends and I went to Ion Orchard, in desperate search of food! And finally we settled on FISH & CO! And it's been a long while since i've had my dose of cheesecake :(















And i saw this: STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI COLOSSAL - Rich and creamy new york style cheesecake swirled with pureed fresh strawberries and a hint of lime juice all nestled in a graham cracker crust.

Sounds inviting, since there wasn't any other cheesecakes around! And I understand the limited variety due to the fact that F&C prides itself in selling fish and other seafood, not desserts :)















Being in the "pink-ish" mood, I ordered a glass of Pink Passion ($5.50) as well! Pink pink~ The drink didn't taste as sweet as it looked, though.

Service

Service was great!

The waitress who tended to our table very politely introduced herself and very nicely informed us to get her when we need her. And she did all these with a BIG SMILE! So hard to find in Stingy-pore~

One important thing to mention, was when my cup of Pink Passion slipped out my hands and suddenly we see pink liquid everywhere on the table! Before I could look up and ask for assistance, i saw one (out of the 3 female waitresses) getting serviettes and a plate to help "scoop" up the drink before it leaked anywhere else besides my poor friend's jeans. Very efficient, given that there were quite a number of tables occupied! Soon the supervisor came over and helped clean up the mess and very naturally offered to get me a new PP!! How nice!! Two thumbs up instead of one!!

Cheesecake Taste and Texture















And let's look at the cheesecake itself.

For a restaurant serving seafood platters and fish&chips, their effort in producing a Strawberry Cheesecake is commendable!

On the first bite, there's the familiar texture of a normal new york cheesecake, on the thick side and quite smooth! Soon the tongue starts to get hit by the tangy taste of how strawberry and lime complements each other.... It's sour but not the type that makes you cringe. It's a sour-sweet feeling :D

So there were bits and pieces of strawberries..... But not as much as what they depicted on the menu :( I happen to like strawberries!!

Oh and the graham cracker crust. Absolutely my favourite part of the cheesecake or any cake that has a crust :) Might be considered insufficient for someone as greedy as me!

Price















$6.95 for a cheesecake like this? I say Nay. Sorry, but NAY. What's more for me to say??
I have not even included GST and service charges!! Well the service was worth it :D

Conclusion for the Strawberry Daiquiri Colossal

CHEESECAKE

I'll only come back for this cheesecake when I feel rich and EASILY satisfied.

Tis the Season to be Cheesy~

No ovens at home? Craving for some cheesecake?? Well I am!!

So here comes the CHEESECAKEGAL TO THE RESCUE!!


















No Bake Cheesecake!!

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust
3 packages softened Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/8 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar


Directions:

1. Blend the cream cheese, whipping cream, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla and powdered sugar thoroughly with an electric mixer.

2. Spoon into graham cracker crust. Chill for 4-6 hours before serving.

*************

And that's kinda.................all?
Yep that's all!! So you just need the ingredients, your hands, the electric mixer, some brain cells to follow instructions and something to HOLD the cake when it's done!!!

You don't need an oven. I promise. And I don't have one in the first place, that's why I eat cheesecakes OUTSIDE :( Will someone buy me one so that i can keep baking??

And the recipe has been taken from a website called MomsWhoThink :)

And here's some creative baking suggestions from an amateur like me:

1. if you cant get the graham cracker crust, you can actually make your own by going to this website called eHow.com!! OR you can just buy a real HUGE COOKIE that you can pour your cheesecake mixture on :)

I know, i refer to websites a lot for instructions.....but hey, i am not in the position to GIVE instructions, the most i can do is filter the information online and DIRECT readers to the appropriate places where they are certainly qualified to tell you what to do!!!

2. don't you find the cheesecake mixture a little too plain for your liking? Add some raisins! Chocolate chips! Bits and pieces of strawberries!! Pecans! (Even though i hate nuts....I feel obliged to mention the "goodness" of those things, for the greater good of everybody else) Or if you feel that the cheesecake isn't fattening enough, whip some cream and coat the cake with those white stuff!!

Now that's a new way to celebrating Christmas!! Have a Cheesy Christmas!!!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Property in Singapore

Note: I am diverting slightly away from my cheesecake quest due to unforeseen circumstances that i am gaining weight from eating those delicious embodiments of sin. But it's just a matter of time!!

As for now..
Let's talk about investing. Specifically, investing in property in Singapore!!

What are the financial instruments available for us to have an alternate source of income besides our 9-5 job?? Let's list them! For the average Singaporean, he/she will have access to: fixed deposits, bonds, stocks, loans (you can leverage on your investment, but this is not encouraged) and also....PROPERTY!

From deposits, you get interest income.

From stocks, you basically get dividend income.

From loans, you make capital gains if your investment is successful.

And from property, you get rental income. Or if you see it as an asset for buy-and-sell, then you gain capital from the successful sale of it!

But if you see your house as a shelter over your head, please don't consider trading it!

And let's look at me.

I have been staying in Singapore HDB ever since i came out of my mother's womb! And i am very happy staying in HDB. It's convenient and not as squeezed up as the modern condominiums you see around you. Really!! Condominium units are really shrinking in every way, besides the price.



And what are the benefits of living in HDB apartments?

Well, for one......there are two things that your creditors basically cannot lay a finger on. Your CPF savings, and your HDB flat. Why? Logically speaking, it is because of the government's protectiveness over us. It is to ensure that we have a safety net to fall back on when we're down and out: as long as we have a roof over our heads!

How is it possible that creditors cannot touch our HDB apartments??

Under the Housing & Development Act Chpt 129, S50(1) No flat, house or other building which has been sold by the Board under the provisions of this Part shall be sold, leased, mortgaged or disposed of without the prior written consent of the Board.

So even if you want to use your apartment as a collateral, you have to go through HDB themselves first.

And under S51(1), No lien by deposit of the title deeds, as security for a debt, of any flat, house or other building that has been sold by the Board under the provisions of this Part shall be capable of being created in favour of any person and no caveat in support of any such lien by deposit shall be capable of being registered under the provisions of the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269) or the Land Titles Act (Cap. 157).

This means that you cannot offer the title deeds of your HDB property as a form of security, NO MATTER WHAT.

Well of course, if you fail to complete paying for your flat, HDB will take it back and sell it off :)

And let's look at one of the online portals where you can get to know the latest prices and information regarding the property market in Singapore! And that's ST701!



For sellers, you can place ads upon registering with them for FREE.

For buyers, you are able to look for ads posted which are further categorised into: Condo, Landed, HDB/HUDC and Commercial! Then you can specify the preferred location and price range, hence saving yourself lots of time and effort!! Isn't that extremely convenient??

But if you're not intent on buying or selling apartments, you might want to keep yourself abreast of the market itself and develop ideas (which can make more than a quick buck) in order to have an extra conversation topic which can make you look more updated and very insightful!! Won't that be a literal chick magnet??

Besides, in order to educate Singaporeans and other site visitors, ST701 has posted guides and articles for us to browse through in order to protect us from missing any important detail such as creating a budget for the flat, knowing what are the requirements when we intend to use our CPF savings to buy an apartment, etc etc!!

Isn't that everything in a package? That's ALL-IN-ONE!!

Interested to know more about Singapore Property? Click on the link!




Did I happen to bore you guys? No I didn't!

Looking Out for Cheesecake Dates

Do you find yourself going out to eat alone? Doesn't that feel lonely and a little pathetic at times?

Well I do feel lonely and pathetic. Especially when I'm going out to have cheesecake.

So is there anybody who will accompany me for cheesecake outings? Guys and girls are welcomed, I would like to make more friends as well. We can talk about the weather, the stock market, the fashion trends, etc :) Or we can just eat our cheesecakes and keep quiet. Up to you!

Do I sound desperate for a date? Woops.