Hello there :-)
I happen to find myself sounding more and more unsatisfied with my own life on this blog and maybe that's what I truly feel about it but that's unacceptable, because I know that despite all the negativity that has been happening, there's been lovely things that I should be appreciative and thankful for. I should never, ever let the cloud of darkness overshadow glimpses of the rainbow, because that'd be a pity.
Recently, I have been feeling an increasing sense of loneliness and suffocation within my school campus and on Monday (27 October), it hit me pretty hard - I had about five hours to kill before going for service and yet I didn't have anyone to spend the time with. Normally I'd be okay being alone because I'm not one who thrives on company but at that point of time, I just let the weight of that feeling come crashing down on me and I sat blankly at the darker, more secluded side of the ever-busy school canteen. Just then, I received a text from Emily saying "yappie", followed by another one with "you at bishan??" and while Emily is the queen of being late and doesn't really have much affinity with time, she could not have gotten this timing more right. We ended up heading to Somerset completely unplanned and spontaneously, and decided to try the new "in-thing", the Honey Creme Stall - in fact, it was only their second day of opening, so we jumped on the bandwagon pretty early, I must say.
Organic Cotton Candy Affogato ($6.20), which neither of us ordered - this was someone else's and it's probably the most Instagram-worthy one, due to its video value of watching the cotton candy melt as a shot of coffee is poured over it.
We reached Honey Creme at around 4pm and it was a weekday, so the queue wasn't that long - at first we mistook the taxi queue for the Honey Creme queue and were pretty put off, but when we realized that the ice cream stall's queue was even shorter than that of the taxi's, we readily got in line to try the new fad on the block. We queued for around 10 minutes, 15 minutes tops and the line moved pretty fast.
I got Popcorn ($5.50) and Emily got the Honeycomb ($5.90)
I would say that the ice cream is honestly quite normal - it tastes a lot like McDonald's vanilla soft serve, just a tad milkier and it wasn't mind blowing, though I liked how it wasn't too sweet, which really brings out the unique toppings they put on the ice cream. That's really the only plus point - that these aren't usual toppings you'll find on ice cream and I suppose the honeycomb one was the signature item and it wasn't bad. In fact, finding a whole piece of honeycomb on your ice cream is a novel idea, and it's quite exciting to break it down and have it with every mouthful of soft serve. I must admit though, that I'm not a big fan of honey - in fact I really detest it so when I tried Emily's ice cream it tasted just like honey to me in a caramelized solid form. It somehow had a very natural taste/ vibe to it and I felt like Winnie the Pooh for a moment. Those who like honey might find this pairing quite exciting.
My Popcorn ice cream was quite aesthetically pleasing, with caramel sauce drizzled around the cup and on top of my ice cream. They were extremely generous with the caramel popcorn as well, with the ice cream girls daintily putting on each piece one by one and a handful at the bottom of the cup. I like popcorn, I like caramel and I like ice cream, so having all these things combined made me quite happy. Comparing their popcorn to Garretts', my favourite popcorn store which is also walking distance from Honey Creme, I suppose there's a reason why Honey Creme is an ice cream store and not a popcorn one. But it's not that bad, I would say it's above average though it would have been good if it was more crispier/ tasted fresher. Then again, they don't have a popcorn popping machine on site so that'd be a challenge. Would I eat this again? Maybe, but probably not especially for its price- it's just a nice, new idea but it isn't fantastic taste-wise. Oh, and the ice cream cups are actually really small.
It was very satisfying though, to have gotten seats within the Honey Creme store itself. Based on my approximate count, they have a seating capacity of around twelve people (yes it's small) by somehow, Emily and I managed to snag our own table with two chairs, right beside the water dispenser so it was quite comfortable for us, and we also got to people watch, with an endless stream of people queueing beside us as we ate. If one's a fan of kpop, they'd be glad to know that this store plays kpop music, probably trying to bring a small piece of its origins to the local crowd, as this whole honeycomb ice cream fad came from South Korea, though this particular chain is actually from Taiwan.
Emily's company was invaluable though, and I appreciate it so much. Being from different junior colleges, talking to her makes me feel a lot more relaxed and the things we talk about would probably never arise in a conversation I have with the people from my own school, and that makes me feel incredible, to know that there's someone I can turn to that I won't find myself talking about specific school/ academic things about. The friendship that we have is truly special and while we only get to meet each other for say, three times a year, four if we're lucky, I feel so comfortable every time I'm with her. The perspective she has on life is very different from mine and we have contrasting personalities (though we are quite similar in a variety of other ways) which adds a bit of excitement in our friendship. For that, and for her, I am infinitely blessed.
It was also kind of cool that I somehow brought my DSLR that day even though I didn't exactly have plans with anyone. Again, the notion that I am psychic when I am with Emily has been proved once again. I am blessed, I should be more appreciative of the things and friendships I do have, and I should be happy.
Note to self: goal to accomplish after Project Work ends - to catch up with friends who mean something to me one on one, to discover myself, and to engage in solitude.