Then we went on to Far East Plaza, & paid homage to a certain legendary shop which spends a third of its shop space on the entrance, & another third on a "gallery". The entrance is a gap between two black forbidding walls, much like you're entering a cinema, or a high-class club. Then you have to turn left & walk in a little, before reaching a gallery with some pictures on the wall. All the walls are pitch black with some mood lighting. then you finally emerge into the "shop", where you see the clothes & some bags on display. Local collectors of Head Porter bags would make a regular customer of this shop. There was certainly some air of exclusivity & high-end-ness in this shop. The price of the bags in the display windows is marked with those individual lettering pieces, much like the kind you see in DFS, or in upmarket boutiques. Overall, however, the black walls had the obvious look of partition walls, & the setting is not as polished or well-kept. 2 medium Head Porter handbags were on display, $180 & $220 each. Wow. A sling bag would definitely hit the range of above 400. So unknowingly have I fallen into the chase for branded fashion. How can this range of products even be mentioned in the same thread, or even in the same forum, as Zinc bags? In a forum thread I read for bag recommendations, someone actually dissed the suggestion of Zinc bags & instead offered this. To dismiss those common bags using this upmarket name? Some people are so obvious in trying to show off their self-perceived taste & blindness in chasing fashion.
Ok, so it's strongly decided & agreed upon, that considerations for such upmarket goods shall never be mentioned upon ever again. I have also lived with this little lie that I like to tell myself: branded goods are expensive because they are made of durable & better material. Deuter & Crumpler bags are certainly made of non-compromising materials & offer some limited lifetime warranty, but what if I told you something similar could be bought for at a much less price? I guess the same goes for Nike; its innovative technologies may not be anymore comfortable & performance-enhancing than what they have made you believe in.
Without seeing anything interesting, we went to the adjacent Scotts Picnic Food Court for our dinner. The reputation of the beef noodles stall has spread mainly by word of mouth, & it is a regular favourite among many, although I have yet to see it front the pages of food guides or newspaper reviews.
Beef Noodles & Beef Meatball Soup.
Beef Noodles in thick gravy.The soup is tasty, the thick rice noodles in gravy is tasty, the beef dipped in their Chilli sauce is tasty. I need to say no more than to ask you to try it for yourself, as usual.
It is of course with great disappointment that I have received news of the closure of Scotts Shopping Centre, along with Singapore's 1st Food Court, the Picnic @ Scotts. It is famous for its overwhelming number of customers during peak dining hours, as the basement is often packed full, with as much people standing around waiting for seats as the people eating. The food court now boasts common franchise offerings like Pastamania, exotic fare like Korean cuisine, & restaurants like Crystal Jade & Ajisen Noodles. It is my favourite haunt in Orchard Road where cheap food is scarce & food courts kept closing down (until someone finally had the guts to open Food Culture). I can understand how on Singapore's most expensive land, no sane property management would want to throw his precious commercial retail space into food courts.
So here is farewell to Picnic @ Scotts, another victim of the never-ending property war in Orchard. It will remain open until after Christmas, though. The beef noodle stall owner has yet to find an alternative location, but when she does, they will most probably put out a notice in the papers.
We will always remember you.
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