The one-less-Black Widow meetup last Wednesday turned out to be rather fruitful when we tried out a 3-week-old baby ice cream shop on Jalan Dhoby.

The Ice-Cream Project (TIP), a business run by an ice-cream passionate is situated right smack in the middle of Jalan Dhoby, just opposite IT Roo Cafe. The shop lot doesn't have a huge signboard for you to notice it, just plainly-painted dark grey (colour hex #202020). Do not fret though! There is cute swing from our childhood days and a striking green carpet (fake grass) under it which aids in finding the shop :)

Parking would be more of a hassle during daylight as the roads are narrow and not many parking lots are available. Many people like to dine around that area, resulting in no parking. What Char likes to do is to park at the post office and walk from there. At night, there'd be a better chance of scoring yourself a parking lot on Jalan Dhoby.

The swing isn't just for nice, it's usable too ;)

 

thumbs up for the creativity!

The tiny chairs/stools are rather uncomfortable cz the width of the metal bars are too close, making my butt hurt. It would be suitable for kids, but not grown ups.. Hopefully they get those replaced with other kinds of short stools. Noting the fact that they want the old school and vintagey look, I remember when I was a kid, my grandma had a wooden short stool that we would sit on outside the house. So that's one idea :) Orrrr...smaller cable wheels! Ah hah!

each cable wheel table can fit 2-3 people

Let's talk ice-cream since that was what the shop is named after and also because our goal that day was to try out their ice-cream.

The ice-creams are made on the spot as you place your order. How is that possible? By using liquid nitrogen, of course! This method isn't a new discovery, in fact it has been used since the 18th century. It is however, still rather new in Malaysia...with only one other ice-cream maker I know of which uses this method too- Oh My Gas in Kuala Lumpur.

Basically, liquid nitrogen is super cold that when poured into the mixture, it freezes into ice cream in a tremendously short period of time. This method produces smooth and fine ice-creams as it is free from crystallization from the rapid freezing process.

the young boss who was donning a red Thai pants that day made Char feel like he's her friend haha (she loves Thai pants)

I've never had milk-flavoured ice cream ever, so I decided to give it a shot. He said this flavour is for those who love milk or else the taste would be strong for them, technically not for the faint-hearted haha I don't particularly love milk, but I do like it and drink it every morning so I wasn't intimidated by the remark made.

My verdict is....I really really liked it! It smells strongly of milk powder and tastes of it too. Although growing up, Sustagen's chocolate milk always won my side, I really enjoyed om nom noming my milk ice-cream :D I'd list this flavour on the must-try list if there was one cz it's not very often you find ice-cream in milk flavour AND taste this good. As a result of the no-crystallization, the ice-cream was seamlessly smooth and soft that I enjoyed scraping it into a flawless dome surface as I ate haha

so good, can't waste even a drop of melted ice-cream

Char had what's called Brownies & Cream, a nice twist given to the regular Cookies & Cream. She loved her ice-cream and said she would definitely pay them a visit again because of their ice-creams. The generous huge chunks of brownies blended into the ice-cream was delicious and played a big part in flavouring the ice-cream!

I had a spoonful of it, but couldn't really make up the taste because the milk ice-cream was overpowering. I took another small scoop once the milk flavour has toned down a little and found that the brownie chunks was yummy, rich and the best part- chewy :D

milk // brownies & cream (RM10)

Overall, the ice-creams were up to expectations and let's hope they come up with more unique flavours for the menu.

Upon leaving TIP, we noticed a notice (NOTICEPTION :O). A shout out to those looking for a job, here's one to consider! TIP is looking for people to join their team, requirements as stated on the notice (card)board. Note that the pay will be low, which is why I didn't consider it haha I'd say TIP would make a good place to gain experience in ice-cream making and basic F&B services besides smelling the sweet smell of milk for 12 hours a day XD Give it a try if you need something to fill your time with :)

Hey, lovelies!

     Three of us finally got to meet up for the first time after about two months of an unnecessarily-dragged-out first semester exams. It was nice to finally goof around with my girls, since my exams were over on the first week of December, when their exams were just nearing. Anyway, we hung out at this brand new cleverly-named hipster coffee place, Faculty of Caffeine which is along Jalan Trus in town. The location of this new joint isn't difficult at all to find, as it stands out like a sore thumb along Jalan Trus with it's classic matte black exterior. A start contrast from the pastel-painted shoplots on the same row, so don't worry, it's hard to miss! 

     The interior isn't too claustrophobic, considering it was revamped from a quaint little 16th century town shophouse to this nouveau hipster cafe with a catchy relatable name. Founded by a medical student and an interior designer, two young coffee-enthusiast friends, who finds inspiration in art, design, food and daily fixes of coffee. With the name, Faculty of Caffeine, I was actually really happy that I didn't see a chalkboard on a wall and that the decor didn't scream 'FACULTY' in my face 'cause please, I don't want to be reminded of school when I came for coffee talk with my girls, do I? haha I'd describe the interior design of the place very subtle and versatile, with a few cleverly-chosen themed hints here and there. The Snellen Eye Chart lighting caught my eye the most, and the few acrylic-on-wood paintings on the walls, which I then found out that they painted them themselves! 

     Aside from the chilled-out and artsy atmosphere, I particularly like the classic selection of coffee and some special brews of their own. One of which is called Fine Tune, which was what I had twice in a week. Yup, I'm a fan! There are also some nice teas and chocolate drinks to cater to you non-coffee-drinkers. If you're a breakfast/brunch kind of person, you will absolutely love the array of sandwiches and gourmet breakfast they have here! I personally recommend their Generous Breakfast, as well, they aren't lying when they named it the Generous Breakfast. Gup got the garlicky bread topped with cheese and mushroom on the side, and I think the garlic spread was a little too overwhelming. She did let the owner know though, so hopefully they toned down on their generosity on that part. Haha Nay tried their Caesar Salad since she wasn't too hungry and overall, she liked it. Would have truly enjoyed it more if they added chicken strips and perhaps, one less shake of salt?

     This faculty opens every single day from 11am to 10am, 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. So, go get your coffee fix at this joint soon! Oh and the most important thing you might wanna know is that for parking your Porche, what you might wanna do is park it in Plaza Seni for RM3.00 per entry and save on going round JB town over and over to find that one parking lot. So, if you want to save on that RM3.00, make sure you're wearing your lucky red underwear that day! haha

Faculty of Caffeine

106, Jalan Trus

80000 Johor Bahru

opposite Galleria (Kotaraya), next to Plaza Seni

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Hello best friends!

Gosh, it's 2014 already?

Where in the world did 2013 go?

I think I can undoubtedly speak for us three, that 2013 has been what I like to call, 

the full package

It came and gone with its fair amount of happy triumphs,

crazy times and failed trials,

virtual hugs and late-night Google hangouts,

relationship and life counselling sessions on Whatsapp, 

impromptu supper and deep conversations,

all of which strengthened and lifted our friendship to another level

and I feel these girls bring out the best version of me.

Truthfully, if last January some one told me all of that was to unfold,

I wouldn't have believed you

But at the same time, I'm glad I didn't know.

So, here's to you, 2014.

To all the joys, drawbacks, and the unknown

To unexpected adventures, self-discovery and new memories

To forgetting the what ifs and embracing the what will be

To staying in the moment

To going after that crazy goal and not looking back

To achieving our wild dreams and striking more off the bucket list

To loving like never before

and to becoming a better version of ourselves

Bring it on, 2014!

(P/S: Oh and here's also to blogging more regularly on the 3BW blog :P)

Happy New Year!