I’m getting tired of being asked a certain question: Where did you buy that dress?
Recently, I’ve been asked that a fair bit. And recently, my answer has tended to be the same: Pluck, a little boutique along Singapore’s tiny Haji Lane that sells both new and vintage dresses and accessories.
It’s an answer I hate to give because most of the people asking have been my American friends. And with Pluck, well, it isn’t exactly close enough for them to pop in for a quick browse. (As an immediate gratification kind of person, this kind of thing just will not do for me.)
I recently discovered a bit of good news, however — Pluck just started selling online and yes, it delivers overseas as well. So I’m writing about this here so that a) people can stop asking me where I buy my dresses and b) well … a) pretty much covered it.
How does this relate to food? Not as tangentially as you’d think.
Pluck also sells ice-cream and dessert. While I heartily recommend the pear riesling and lychee martini ice-creams, it’s been the little crunchy and sweet nibbly bits that co-owner Aisah sends out with tea and coffee that have piqued my interest.
When I bit into one recently, I immediately thought of the little cookies that mums would set out as snacks for visitors or after-school treats when I was a child.
Now, I’ve known Aisah more than a decade, since our halcyon days as high school-mates. She always had a great eye, so I was unsurprised to see that she grew up to open a boutique that’s sort of Domino magazine meets Sex and The City.
(Photo credit: Eudon Yap)
Her vintage dresses — which I have been buying by the armload — generally range in price from Singapore $68 to $79 (U.S. $47 to $55). And many have been plucked from the old closets of housewives in Malaysia, Korea and Japan.
(Note: even though we’re friends, I don’t get any freebies — in case you were wondering.)
What I’ve been most surprised to discover about the store is that Aisah occasionally bakes some of the little sweets that she sets out.
As modern Singaporean women, we’d always prided ourselves in focusing more on our careers and social lives than slaving away in the kitchen like our grandmothers were forced to. In our 30s, however, a desire to cook and bake has crept in. And Aisah’s pretty darn good at it.
Of course, when I sampled Aisah’s cornflake clusters, I immediately asked for the recipe. After some clucking about how “It’s so easy!!” she generously obliged.
So, here’s Aisah’s little recipe for honey-cornflake bites. And, here’s to growing up and becoming truly modern women.
Aisah’s Honey-Cornflake Bites Recipe
250g cornflakes, toasted and cooled
125g butter, melted
80g confectioner’s sugar
50g honey
Mix confectioner’s sugar and honey into the melted butter. Pour and mix over toasted cornflakes. Put mixture into little paper cups and bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 300 degrees F or 150 degrees C.
Serve with tea or coffee after the cornflake cups have cooled.
Pluck, 31/33 Haji Lane, Tel.: 6396 4048, http://www.pluck.com.sg/index.php
