Blokus Challenge

In Pitstop Cafe, we constantly try to mingle with fellow pitstoppers..

like I said before, 'we ain't mind incurring cost, so as long you folks have fun'..


though it don't cost a thing for em' to lose, this folks are still serious to the core yoh..

So there you go, the Blokus Challenge is invented to foster interaction between fellow pitstoppers, as well as provide a little incentive to keep you always smiling..


kimoki obviously trying to defend Pitstop cafe's reputation, but opponents know his weakness and has sent a decoy

How does it work?

Blokus is a 4 player game where you try to place as many tiles on the grid board as possible, while trying to block you oppenent, preventing them from expanding their territory. As such, this game is simple to learn and yet has myriads of possibilities and styles of playing.


As the game progress, the tension keeps increasing.. her thought of the free ice cream is slowly melting and diminishing


Kimoki just so smug all the time, someone ought to just shoot him in the head

In Pitstop cafe, you can always ask for the Blokus challenge, just find 2 players and challenge any other two of the pitstop crew! The survivng champ gets a free scoop of New Zealand Natural ice cream!!!


No ice cream? it's ok..they still had fun!

Pitstop Cafe, come as strangers leave as friends

kimoki

Pitstop Hollyhood AKA 'Ho Li Hood'

Its kinda outdated news... but yea.. once again, Pitstop cafe was patronised by another one of those quasi-celebrities.

Blogging nowsaday, big word man... some people can blog until get endorsements while other can blog until go to jail.

Pitstop Cafe, with our one of a kind blogging network, seeks to establish connection and interaction with our fellow pitstoppers even beyond the confines of the cafe.

As such, many folks who acknowledge their passion in blogging also have come to identify Pitstop cafe as THE PLACE for likeminded people to congregate.

Pitstop cafe was fortunate to have the patronage of cowboy caleb and more recently, a Quasi-food celebrity who was featured on the papers....


Of Demi-Chef and Semi-Bloggers

She is none other than Cheryl, who had previously featured us on eyesight magazine and more recently an entry on her blog 'the baker who cooks'. With her reputation for being a true blue epicure, she has directed and recommended many folks who has the taste buds for good food..

So dispelling the myth that 'all boardgames cafe has tasteless food', Pitstop cafe certainly has kept to our philosopy of bringing total entertainment and community spirit to one and all..

One would always have sufficient games, better than average food, sincere coffee and branded ice cream..

we ain't no mind increasing cost, so as long as you folks get good stuffs.

And good stuffs are only found in Pitstop cafe..


see? horns start to grow in Pitstop cafe

Pitstop cafe, good stuffs, even better service..

kimoki

The Green Monster

More often than not, doing business is like a love-hate relationship. You love it but yet you hate it for causing you all kinda crap..

Sometimes you hate it, but you are forced to love it... one can never be truly satisfied or contented.. Afterall, business is all about balancing between priorities and compromises.

True blue Pitstoppers will know that Pitstop cafe is an everchanging environment, an epitome of what it takes to work under limited resources and aggressive competitors...

As such, Pitstop cafe is always striving to improve and upgrade ourselves, in ways that we can best balance between efficient input and productive output.

Take for example, this crap.. The green curtain, shower curtain whatever..was installed because we realise that we have been losing lotsa cool air as well as electricity because there are lotsa lobang which the air can escape through..

The serving window, the entrance, the balcony, the toilet and what have you.. The auntie from downstairs have been caught many times searting right infront of our damn entrance free riding the air...


Bought from IKEA..yes, it's that place...$19 only

Having learnt that precious lesson, the next time is to overcome this obstacle..

Of course, we had suggestions such as installing a glass door, air curtain.. now, both of this are good suggestions but they are sooo.. expensive and require intensive installation process...

Lo and behold, I tried to save money and bought this little gimmick instead.. a curtain which minimises air leakage while at the same time suits the color scheme of the cafe..


it was too damn long, so I snipped off part of it and pasted it here... so to prevent oily smells from entering the room

Of course, such cheap crap always come under scrutiny..no one was please with it, some says it looks like those cold storage while some say its redundant.. Most importantly, Astromum just hate it..

She complained that the 'frillies' gets in her way when she is serving food out of the window. She also complained that the 'frillies' made the kitchen very warm and thus cuased her to see 'frillies'

I replied, 'so any better suggestions for the cost of $19?'

Everyone almost had the 'frillies' stuffed in their mouth..


seriously I hate it too..but that's the catch with working under constraints.. you are forced to think

Now, the moral of the story is not about whose idea is more 'frilly'.. but rather.... from this incident i realised that...

The frillies are too green..

It should be a tone darker...or maybe they should have some kinda designs, or perhaps come with different stripes.. preferably green, orange and red... even better, maybe should come with a sensor so that when you approach it the frillies will leave up for you to pass through..

Hey I got another idea.. how bout making it like those oil clog paper.. when you brush your face through it, it will automatically suck your face dry?

Yah lah..that's the whole point..maybe IKEA can have some kinda suggestion paper to improve their product..or even like give a bulk discount if people buy 10 frillies and above...

maybe they should even have a display room showing '101 ways of using frillies'..


Astromum is waiting for the day to rip these off her kitchen walls

oh by the way, what was I talking about?

Pitstop cafe, stay focus in whatever you do and say

Kimoki

Reflections of Straits Times feature...

A short summary of my previous reflection:

"It's really heartwarming to see Pitstop Cafe increasingly gaining interest with the media..and we ensure that with praise comes profit.. oops, I mean imProvements.. yes, improvements to live up to your expectations"-Sunday July 02

It was yet another pleasant surprise for me to see yet another article about us. Still in its infancy stage, it is really quite something for Pitstop cafe to really catch the media's attention. Nothing to brag about, just felt encouraged that our efforts is starting to rip off... i mean pay off..

So here you are..


how bout "more youths having more balls"?

You see ah... this article not bad lah.. put such a big picture of me, mu and the cafe.. still strategically allow us to post with boardgames and our one of its kind 'Grafitti wall'.. This Photo folk can really take some nice pictures.. I remembered her telling us to show some 'quirky pose' to reflect the energy of this cafe.

wah..not bad... heard that if pay for such an advertisement, will cost about 10 grand..

Aiayh...Mu always look so photogenic... suppose to throw cards, but can't see her cards..she still look so natural..the smile also so natural.... some more, she look like she is so comfortable.. hey halo..she never put make up on ok... still can look like that..

but wait a minute. look at her right arm..what the heck did she bend it to that direction? Is she singing chinese opera (Da Xi)?

wait til you think that's weird... read on.. I think mine is the worse...

Hair

What's wrong with that hair man? I dun recall stylin such crap..make me look like a geek..boardgame geek..

Face

Damn weird leh.. why my face so red..maciam i make big money everyday eat birdnest ..so friggin' red!!! ok lah ok lah..maybe I just blushing..

the smile also part of the face.. the smile abit cheesy leh.. yah lah..i know i got big mouth..but that picture make me look like an over zealous fish!

Hand Movement
i was suppose to throw the cards, i had wanted to leave the throwing to Mu while I just grab the cards like Shuang Tian Zhi Zun (the unbeatables) ..wah..but then turn out like that.. the hand maciam like dunno stick out for what...the fingers also cannot even see..like Phantom fingers sia...

Attire

k lah k lah..i confess lah..i did bring a change of clothes for the photoshoot..but I tot they have the decency to take upper body.. Aiyah..in the end reveal my lower body also..sian leh..can see all the leg hair..si bei low morale..

Cafe

Just before you think it's fun taking all these pictures... we took like how many shots before they chose this.. got one wit me slamming Mu, got another one playing tug of war.. throw cards right? fun hor...

The two glam king and queen was sweeping the floor and picking up the cards after the photo folk left..

Pitstop cafe, we also got photo shoot in our cafe!

Kimoki

No Wifi

customer: Harlo, like to check if you guys have Wifi?

kimoki: Nope, we don't have Wifi at the moment

customer: Ok thanks, see you guys later

mumu: Eh what is Wifi? Sound very familiar, hmmm....

astroboy: Maybe we should do Wifi, nice leh!

kimoki: Wifi very expensive leh!

mumu: Eh what is Wifi, tell me, tell me. mumu wants to know!

kimoki: na na na we will not tell you...

mumu stand there, think, think and think, using up all her mushroom juices...

mumu: haha i know already! Wifi stands for Wine & Fine dining right!

astroboy and kimoki, totally amazed...



Pitstop Cafe, we don't do wine & fine dinning

astroboy

Reflections of a Coffee feature..

It's really heartwarming to see Pitstop Cafe increasingly gaining interest with the media..

From personal blogs to magazines then to the papers, sometimes I really wonder how a 'no name, nobody cafe' can slowly sink into people's mind and even inspire people to write good reviews about us.

Of course, with the fair share of good reviews, I must admit that there are certain not so good ones about us as well. That reminds me of those times when we were accused of being bitter, jealous, narrow minded and what have you... well, as I always say one must have the confidence to accept praise as well as the balls to accept criticisms.

Nevertheless, we were very fortunate to be picked by the Chinese News Paper Lian He Zao Bao and the Pitstop crews were embarrased by the excellently wriiten review about our place as well as our coffee. This, in the words of Astromum, ' head not so big, wear until such a big hat'.


this is the number of 'hats' we wore for the day

Now, that's the thing about appearing as editorial reviews and not as advertisements. There is certain credibility especially if the source comes from a highly reputable press. And no doubts, Pitstop Cafe was swarmed by coffee geeks who were anticipating to try our coffee.

Being the only one who was the most free to practice on the coffee machine everyday, the task of maintaining the reputation of our coffee was thrown squarely on my shoulders... eh..i think hands lah..not shoulders..

I was so stress, especially when some folks try to peer over the counter and see what I was doing to their coffee. Some even freaked me out as they looked like true coffee connosears...aiyah..dunno how to spell connoisseur lah...

I must admit that we are really not experts in coffee, ain't know much about theories or coffee roasting. But truth is, we do take special effort (also special courses) to make that cup of coffee of yours truly distinctive. The method of frothing milk, the technique of doing latte art, the details paid to doing those mocha art in your cappuccinno are definately stuffs I must admit that are definately better that those mass consumed and commercialised coffee..


Astroboy obviously happy with his latte art called 'Astrology'

So having said all that, I must really extend our great appreciation to all the fellow bloggers and other media folks who dare to put those caps and hats onto us (regardless the size). This has been our constant motivation, and we ensure that with praise comes profit.. oops, I mean imProvements.. yes, improvements to live up to your expectations,

improvements to make Pitstoppers Proud to be Pitstoppers.

Pitstop cafe, check out Monday Straits Times Home Section

Kimoki

Let me say thank you!

Ok, i maybe a bit back dated but i just recently found out that Singapore has got a F in a courtesy test. It doesn't seem to reflect that well for us. Actually i don't think it is a big deal.

It is just a matter of how the headlines are written. For example look at the recent headline:

Household income up; bottom third's wages down

See it sound much nicer right? So instead of just saying we got 'F' for courtesy we just need a better headline such as:

Four million smiles; despite 'F' for courtesy

See it sound nicer now right? Anyway what's wrong in getting 'F' for courtesy? 'F' isn't too bad a grade right? F for F***ing well done!

The problem appears to be that folks don't really like to say thank you. One folk even reply saying "Can't you see i am busy smsing?". We should be more understanding. Perhaps he was busy voting for his favourite Singapore Idol. That is important cos if you can't sing, those votes helps.

Sometimes it could also be the fact that Singaporean don't really like to express themselves. That can be solve easily; just setup a Thank you corner. But remember to say thank you, you first need to apply for permit.

Damm i sibei smart right!

Luckily at Pitstop Cafe, most of the folks are damm fantastic. You serve them ice water, they say thank you. You serve them soup, they say thank you. You serve them main course, they say thank you. They are always so nice and supportive

You guys are marvellous! A big THANK YOU for all you supportive Pitstoppers

On our side, we try our best to be nice folks too. Before they reach the cafe, we greet them with the loudest out-of-tune trademarked "Welcome!". Of course you can't miss out saying a nice thank you when they pay their bills. :)

I think the problem could be they pick the wrong place for the survey. If they choose Pitstop Cafe, then our Pitstoppers sure get A! It just like last night, i was in the taxi queue with a group of tourist at Boat Quay waiting for the cab. I waited from 2.15 am till 3.30 am to get a cab back home. If there is a survey done on our world class transport system last night, the result is obvious...

F, F***ing well done!

astroboy, thank you for reading this entry

Road to Entrepreneurship (Settlers of Catan Version)

Life is like boardgames, and boardgames can tell how a person manages his/her life...

As I was playing the game, Settlers of Catan (an award winning game), I realised how relevant the game's theme is to our road to entrepreneurship.

Indeed, life is like a game.. a boardgame at Pitstop cafe..

Finding a place, is one of the most critical decision one have to make. Balancing between maximising output while minimising input. Resource management and planning is definately integral to the initial sourcing of location.


maciam the whole place for you to relax and choose.. maciam the whole world only you...

For us, with minimum expertise and experience, we decide to start small and not be too ambitious. People always ask,' Boat quay all pubs, not suitable lah!'

For us, we think that accessibility is priority.. that's why enclaves such as Siglap, Holland V, Bukit Timah are out of the objectives. We want to make Pitstop cafe, a real Pitstop where you can really just Pitstop en route to your destination. Who the heck makes a Pitstop at Tuas? So there you are.. located near Raffles place MRT interchange, where we can reach out to people from all parts of Singapore..


the moment you put your settlement, its now turn for other people to put theirs. I always call this, 'everyone wanna get a piece of shit

Now, competition is inevitable. whether you call it collaboration or synergy. Business is always about the survival of the fittest. Just like a Settlers of Catan, everybody's goal is to achieve the 10 victory points. Some achieve it graciously, while others achieve it more aggressively and perhaps some achieve it unscrupulously..

For Pitstop cafe, we acknowledge our bottlenecks and limitations. We don't seek for Global Domination or Commercialism. Maintaining competitiveness to us, means to constantly know consumer's wants and make sure they get value for their buck.


some players, go for big scale projects.. cities after cities


they got all kinda proposal, maybe even got bank loan ready, this is what I call Largest army

To be honest, we are really freaked to jump into this potential industry with other giants who have more money, more experience, more name, more balls than us. Even more so, the demise of the previous two boardgames cafe seem to serve as a warning to us to keep out of the game.

You see, thats life.. and that's boardgame.. the bigger the pie, the more people there are who wanna share it. While those already with the pie, they wanna eat more of it...

At Pitstop cafe, we don't serve Pies.

Our famed black pepper sauce, featured Mochaccino and New Zealand Ice cream is more filling and delicious than any pies you tried in your life.

At Pitstop cafe, we will be contented with the share of pie that can make us full.. Binge eating is not good for health.


While some try to reach out to all corners of the world, building roads after roads, small settlement after settlement..


this is what I call small pockets of development, but add together to have large influence. Longest Road indeed

But still, doing business is just like boardgames. In the end, the weakest gets ousted out, while the strongest keeps populating.

Poeple ask, 'go and advertise lah, give flyers blah blah blah'...Here at Pitstop cafe, we don't believe in advertising. So we never advertise, the people who has reviewed us are those who truly like our place or give us face. Word of Mouth, that's it.. you will only be able to find this place thru word of mouth...


Sometimes when other players are too strong, you find yourself trapped and unable to break free

You see, business is also about espionage, it is also about battling and it is also about stealing. More often than not, we get funny folks who tries abit of industry espionage.. Cameo as customers, tryin to find out more and in some instances, they come with the objective of putting us down and criticizing us. Whatever it is, we played along with them. We still gave them the best of our service, take pictures for them, let them draw on our wall and even passed them our namecard and asked them to 'bring back more friends'.

In a game, such things are inevitable. I admit that I have my fair share of it as well. (especially before we started) But whatever it is, do it graciously. Here at Pitstop cafe, we are sincere in our service, don't betray our trust.


the robber just smacks right in, prevent you from production and even steals your resources

But I must admit that as much as Business is about planning and opportunities, luck definately is an essential factor. Sometimes, you just can't get the things you planned for, and sometimes things just screwed up on you. Flodding toilets, aircon breakdown, electricity shut down and what have you?

If it's not your day, it's not your day..

But at Pitstop cafe, we try to persevere despite shit that happens. We are waiting for our lucky break.. and thanks to those that gave us chances, Ministry of Information, Communication and Arts, Lime Magazine, Zao Bao, Cowboy Caleb and many other more who helped us in one way or another.


this kinda dice roll, really very low probability..si bei sian, everytime people roll for resource, I get nothing

Business is all about timing, you might have the resource but no chance to implement it or you might have the ideas but no resource to concretised it. That's why you see, business is really so multi faceted, so many variables. Unlike the business projects I did in school or even the Geography term paper I write which is so idealistic and even overly critical. In business, one just have to be realistic and responsive to the everchanging environment.

Here at Pitstop Cafe, we try not to have grand plans or empty promises. Whatever we can do, we do our best for you. So do be gentle on us when we have anything which is inadequate. Tell us! so we can improve...


either get the same resources everytime, and no one wann trade with me


or too many different resources, but in low quantity, also quite hard to deploy

Lastly, on our road to entrepreurship, we had faced many conflicts and issues. Both in terms of business and personal. Jealousy, bitterness, difference in mentality, difference in working style and many many more.

This is a process where I learned not just about doing business, but also about how I treat and manage people and feelings. I also can tell who are my true friends and who are the ones who have deviated due to one reason or another.

Sometimes, I ask myself, 'why did I bother throwing myself into all these shit?' well, I guess moving out of my comfort zone has not been a smooth process. But it has nevertheless, been rewarding and enlightening. I am still walking this path, and I hope that in time to come, there will be more and more people walking this road with me...

The Pitstoppers, folks who wanna make genuine friends, strong ties.. not just folks who claimed, 'I know the boss, so can get discount' but rather folks who feels that 'I know the boss and he is my friend'.

This is Pitstop Cafe, explore, discover and settle here...


oi, hello! still got these development cards! Don't just think of expanding leh, cards like this can be useful too!

Pitstop cafe, we don't serve pies

Kimoki

Diet Coke and Mentos

It was an interesting Sunday. The Lianhe Zaobao did a really nice half-page feature on our cafe. As the focus was on coffee, we were surprised to see many new faces coming in just for coffee! Will blog more about this later.

Anyway, i read an article in the Sunday Times on the interesting reaction of coke with mentos and decided to experiement with it in our nice little balcony...


Just a small gush...

Pretty disappointed, was expecting something better. But then again it is amazing to see such a fast reaction from just mixing mentos with coke. From the experiment, i wonder if drinking coke and eating mentos will cause extra farting. LOL

Anyway here how's the professionals do it...


Damm, isn't that cool!

Really kudos to these folks for having the creativity as well as the patience to accomplish this. That is something we can learn from!

Pitstop Cafe, always trying out fun stuff!

astroboy

Yeah i pass my IPPT!

Overheard during my IPPT...

Unfit Guy: Eh brother you very fit leh, got train siboh?

Fit Guy: Not really lar, just go for dragonboat training only lar

Unfit Guy: Wah, dragonboat training! No wonder so fit. I also do dragonboat related activities leh, but i not fit leh...

Fit Guy: What dragonboat activities???

Unfit Guy: I eat ba zhang (dumpling)...

Damm funny especially when those 2 folks talk in hokkien...

astroboy, heng those jetboots are still working pretty fine...

He was a good man....

JVC

March 2000- June 2006

Speaking of Pitstop Orbituaries, it is very unfortunate for the death of a member.

A Kin so close to us,

a friend who is there for us constantly,

a loyal partner who stick to his line of duty even at the last moments.

Our dearest JVC HI-FI system has finally moved on to a world not of our own.

May his eternal memories be with us always as we always remembered its finest moments, its glories and its accolades.

----------Post Script---------------

it was really odd that at its last dying breathe, JVC did many crazy stunts. It started jumping channels and suddenly blast a huge amplitude of sounds.

My goodness, all the Pitstoppers were truly freaked. The last straw came when without warning it blasted a stream of mandarin songs from 95.8FM, you should have seen the bewildered look on everyone's face. As i was just standing beside it, many thought that I was the one who played the channel.

I could only see their face full of exasperation and hatred... (what's wrong with 95.8FM anyway?)

Seeing the truly disturbed Pitstoppers, I have to perform what is best for the situation..

It was cruel, but I have to..

I pulled the cord and let JVC to rest.

The rest was silence.

Truly silent.

But don't worry, there's still music at Pitstop cafe. We have a new member..

And don't worry, he is english educated.

Pitstop cafe, the wonder never ceases

Kimoki

Pitstop Celebrities

Noticed that most cafes like to put Pictures of Celebrities on their walls as a kinda 'quality assurance' that it has has been 'tried and tested'.

here at Pitstop Cafe, every folk is a celebrity, every folk looks happy on the pic, every folk has been and done that..Well, of course there are also some folks who are INDEED celebrities and they seemed to receive more attention then other folks.. In terms of looks, boops whatever..


I remembered chatting with him and his friend one whole afternoon about politics and fashion industry, they were the first to order machiatto

Today, I chanced upon a magazine and realised that one of our customers is being featured as one of Singapore's 'prominent fashion designers'.. So, I immediately tell MuMu, 'hey! why dun we just cut out the article and put their face beside it?'

so I have this idea, why not if you folks are featured anywhere.. be it winning a pageant, or winning toto or maybe even wanted by the police.. do let us know, so we can attach that article to your picture in Pitstop cafe, promote you, as well as tell the other folks that Pitstop cafe is a place where happening people can be found!!!


one of those that i met in some pageant. He is one helluva metrosexual, but really a nice guy though. Mr personality indeed

yer know, you don't have to be Fiona Xie or James Gomez to tell the world that you enjoyed Pitstop cafe. All we want is for fellow Pitstoppers know more about other fellow Pitstoppers, their achievements, their looks, their boo.. (no, I didn't say that).. So we can all feel proud of this place.

So come on! keep those features comin'... we love to know that this place is a place for stars to pitstop as well!

Pitstop Cafe, the ideas never end

kimoki

Teach yourself Scattergories in 5 minutes

Scattergories is a really nice game and is in fact one of the favourites among those who love word games. Perhaps you can try this game among yourselves right now while you are reading this!

It is a pleasure to have our 2 lovely Pitstoppers to show you how to play this game!


2 sweet girls, Joy and Gwen!

The first thing you do is to come out with a list of 12 different categories. For example, you could have like things found in the kitchen, different type of desserts, hobbies and sports, blah blah blah.


Of course at Pitstop Cafe, we have the game so you get to choose from many different list


Joy has picked the list to start off the challenge

Ok so once you have the list ready, make sure everyone playing has a copy of the list as well. With a paper and pen, we are all set to go.


Throw the dice to decide the letter to use

See that is the fun part of playing at Pitstop Cafe. Everything is prepared for you. Anyway no big problem, you can randomly think of a letter and let everyone know the letter. Once that is done, start a 3 minute countdown. Everyone is supposed to write down an item in each of the category using the choosen letter as the first letter in the word.




deep in thoughts...

It is always interesting to watch groups playing this game. Everyone seems to be sitting for their exams. With the clock ticking in the background, it is funny seeing how everyone scrambled to find a suitable word for the category.


At the end of 3 mintues, it is scoring time

Ok here is the interesting part on the scoring. You get points only for words that no other player used. For example the letter is "B" and the category is things found in a party. If 1 or more player has the same word, e.g. "balloon", then no one gets any point for it. You only get points if your word is the unique one among the group.

Try it, it is more difficult then it seems!


i wonder who is the winner for this round?

If you like this game, you can try it with your friends. Better still why not drop by Pitstop Cafe and had a good time playing it while having great food and yummy ice cream.

Special thanks to these 2 great Pitstoppers, Gwen and Joy for all the nice poses!

Pitstop Cafe, bringing you fun no matter where you are!

astroboy

Excuse me, are you a model?

The first day of ICT is always interesting. This time round, i have my younger brother to join in with me. This is his first in camp training. It is nice cause everything can share. Can share shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste, underwear, etc.. Ok forget about the underwear part....

Anyway my bro had pretty long hair and i was pretty sure he was not going to get away with it. He still yaya ask me, "Eh, i say i am a part-time model, need to have long hair. Maybe i get to keep my hair?".

"Ok you can try", i said on the cab to the camp.

Upon reaching the camp, the first thing we saw was the barber, with a long line of "aspiring models". We went through the hair check and of course our "part-time model" lan lan also have to go for the haircut. I had a great laugh!

Using only shaver, the barber performed his work which my brother had to pay a bloody $5 for it. Looking at the line of heads, i think he is having a damm good day!

Things are pretty relax on the first day but the sai gang will come soon in the next few days. My brother turns out to be my section commander while i am his 2IC. Hopefully he would not take the chance to tekkan me.

The only thing i hope is that somehow i can miraculously get in shape overnight and clear my IPPT tomorrow, hopefully with a 200 bucks bonus....

astroboy, those damm jet boots better be working...

Aunties in Lost Cities

This saturday, astromum was at the cafe helping out the Pitstop crew. Astroaunt drop by the cafe to find astromum for some sisterly chit chat as well.

Since they are around and rather bored, i decided to teach them the game of Lost Cities. Lost cities is a 2 player card game. Each player has a set of cards and base on proper management of their cards in the hands, they are suppose to start expeditions and gain points for their expeditions. The "expeditions" are actually set of cards layout in a sequential order.

At first i thought it might be quite tough to teach and get them to understand the rules. Explaining the rules in hokkien isn't tougher than i imagine and it feel damm weird. Terms like expeditions, investments cards are hard to translate too.

I was surprise they catch on the rules quite fast. Then i remember...these 2 folks are gamers too! Their usual saturday gathering at my grandpa place consists of "boardgaming" sessions too. They did rounds and rounds of mahjong.

Lost cities comparatively, is a piece of cake to them!


Looking at the way they shuffle card, you know they are pro!


Astromum is definitely taking the game seriously


Astroaunt is having a good lead in the game. Look at the 2 long "expeditions" at her side!


Her smile says it all

Astroaunt kill mum in a couple of games but astromum isn't too bad. She retaliated and manage to win back a few games in the end too. It was really interesting to see two "aunties" enjoying eurogames and employing concepts and strategies learn from their experience in tai dee and mahjong.




Don't play play, they know how to strategize too!

Both of them enjoyed the game though they lamented about missing the nice sensation of rubbing against the bigger ivory tiles...

Astromum & Astroaunt, they are gamers too!

astroboy

Finally Settled the Settlers of Catan

I have to say I have never played or knew the game Settlers of Catan till this week. Despite being such a well-known game, neither eve and i know exactly how to play the game. I am not sure why, despite hearing people saying how good the game is, i was not really keen to learn it.

Of course this change when Mark drop by this week. Mark, being a hardcore gamer, taught us how to play the game. It is certainly a great opportunity to learn from him instead of going through the rulebook yourself.


i think he look good with his "new" hairstyle!

It was quite a good game though i think it is slightly over hype as there are many other games that are just as fun as this.

In this game, you get resources like wood, bricks, sheep, ore and wheat based on the location of your settlements on a tiled map. The distribution of the resource depends on the value of 2 dice. With the resources, you trade with others and expand on your settlements, get points and win....

I like the game because of the interesting interactions with other players through trading of resources. As for strategy, i feel that it is abit light on strategy and more on luck (depend on dice throw but again you can "plan" based on the probability of rolling certain numbers).

On the whole i think it is quite a fun game. Got to try a few more sessions to see if the game grew on me. Currently i still love Puerto Rico.

Anyway really glad to learn another game so that i can now recommend to other gamers. Thanks Mark!

astroboy, i also gamer hor

Alvin, Simon, Theodore!

Little MuMu loves the Chipmunks.. yoh remember the cartoon of 3 singing chipmunks?

Updated with a nice video thanks to a link provided by a reader



If the above does not work, click here

In tribute to these nostalgic characters, Pitstop cafe has featured our own version of the chipmunks


she wants to be Theodore, you know, the green one?

Here in Pitstop cafe, these 3 little sacks bear the colours of the 3 chipmunks and they possess goodies up for grabs!!


the 3 l'il sacks so named Alvin, Simon and Theodore

Now these goodies are yours for the taking with a minimum of $30 purchase at Pitstop cafe..

How does it work? with $30 in a single bill, you'll be entitled to the Simon bag (Blue), prizes ranges from a free drink to a free photo shoot at Pitstop cafe!!

With $60 in a single bill, you get to grab goodies from the Theodore bag (Green), these prizes range from double scoop sundae to a free meal at Pitstop Cafe!!


Alvin, being the star of the chipmunks is definately the bag with the best goodies

Now, With just $100 in a single bill, you'll be entitled to the Alvin Bag (Red), with yummy goodies such as 15% discount to a free gaming package worth $32!!! It is definately a reason to say 'we love the chipmunks and Pitstop cafe!'


imagine getting a fast forward package worth $32! You can come back with your friends and enjoy games with drinks and food for free!!

Now just in case, you think its kinda steep..think again.. bring a group of friends and everybody spends the amount you intended to watch a weekend movie..

and you'll be looking forward to dipping into the Chipmunks Bag, definately something for you on your next visit!!



Pitstop cafe, we want you to look forward to your next visit!

kimoki

Yeah its Friday & TGMS

It has really been a challenging time trying to juggle the time to run the cafe.Kimoki and mumu out of town and when they are back, i be off to ICT before jetting off to Washington. Luckily we always have nice folks like astroaunt, astrobro, astrosis as well as kimobro to help us out.

Speaking of resource management, i think astromum is great. Our kitchen though small, it is well equipped with oven, griller, fryer, stove, etc to whip up a variety of dishes.

Though well equipped, when there are many orders coming in, it become a challenge trying to meet all the requirements. Astromum employ a variety of strategies. Orders are serve in priority depending on who order first, some orders are faster to prepare while others maybe more efficient to prepare in a batch, etc

Whether you love astromum or not, she always trys her best to prepare the nicest food for all the Pitstoppers that come to Pitstop Cafe. It doesn't mean that if you don't love her, then your order will be place at the last of the queue and you have to wait till everyone has their food and finish it before you get yours.

Astromum knows that this isn't rocket science, its common sense. All who come to Pitstop Cafe are Pitstoppers and its only right that we try to provide everyone the best service possible within our means. It doesn't matter whether you come from Tanjong Pagar or from Potong Pasir, we will do the best we can to make sure you have more good times at Pitstop Cafe.

By the way if you guys are dropping by today, it will be great cos TGMS (Today Got Mum's Special). Astromum is going to cook a fantastic pot of curry stingray! So if you are in the mood of something hot and spicy, give it a shot! Limited edition only.

Yes, we have new flavors of icecream too, so check them out too! The "Fruit of the Forest" and "Mango Passion Fruit" is too cool to give a miss...

astroboy, mum say not to eat too much peanuts cos she suspects that it may result in deficit of common senses...

I also gamer hor!

Oh yah I missed out something! hehe...so i decided to post another entry!

A group of 4 came to Pitstop. One of them has been here before and brought along her boyfriend and friends. They chose the seats nearest to the games shelves so that they can look at the games available. They were looking so intently at the games that I decided to recommend them a few which i feel are suitable for 4 players. But guess what? They have played most of the games before! And that's why they were searching for so long! So i decided to recommend them something more advanced. But before i could recommend the game i have in mind, they deicded to play Imaginiff which they had not played before.

After completing the game, they were again searching for something interesting to play. So i decided to recommend them... Puerto Rico! I feel that this game is more for advanced gamers... like me... and so i was very happy when they agreed to play. I started setting up and teaching the game excitedly.

Weeloon was very puzzled when he saw me teaching such an advanced game to them.
So he came over and asked, "Eh u sure they know how to play? Why u teach such a complicated game? You know how to teach or not?"

I answered "They are gamers hor.."

I guided them through the rules of the game and left them pretty much to themselves. However at the end of the game, adrian commented something like this "i still dun really understand the game"... heheh.. that's why u don't play Puerto Rice only once!

I hope Mich and friends have enjoyed Puerto Rico. Personally i like the game. It requires more strategy and less luck is involved. In fact, you are the first group that i teach Puerto Rico to! Feel privileged? Do leave a comment if u see this entry okie?!

Pitstop Cafe, we are gamers too

Eve, I also gamer hor!

Secret admirer?

Yeah! This is my virgin entry in the blogging world!

As you all know, kimoki (does kimchi sounds better?? heheh..) and mumu are overseas currently while astroboy has to attend a friend's wedding tonight. Thus i am left alone at Pitstop...

Luckily, astrobro came along. He took time to help out even though he has an exam the next morning... Thanks alot Weeloon!

Just when we thought it is gonna be a quiet wednesday, a group of 6 came along.
I won't mention who they are cos... one of them is a secret admirer of mumu!
Mumu must be very happy to know about it! He was very disappointed when he couldn't see her. (His friends are the ones who told us!!!)

Suddenly a question pops up. "Why don't I have any secret admirers?!!!"
I guess it must be the age gap. I am no longer 18... hai...

I have no mood to write any more...

Eve