Our home

Finally we will get to have a place of our own.... Hooray!!!

Being a lazy pig and crowd lover, i still like to stay with my in-laws but the thought of having our own little space, leaving aside the household chores and monthly expenses, makes me excited....

Corp Challenge 2009

Here's the annual corp challenge again....

Didnt manage to run last year as I was carrying a ball..... this year i can finally participate in the run. Bot this pair of super cute socks for colleagues from taiwan and i made all of them wear this for the run.

My lucky number but didnt strike 4D over the weekend..... Luckily i never buy hehe

We walked all the way to the starting line as the bus which was supposed to ferry us there was full. We sweat before we reach the starting line.... Saw singa the lion along the way and took some cute pics which makes us look like childish students.

Initially I planned to run and walk through the 5.6 km but got tempted by taya to take shortcut when she called me just as I was around the finishing point so in the end i only run abt 1km and walk 1km, reach the finishing line in my fastest timing 25 mins. =)

The food in the hospitality tent was not fantastic but the drinks was not too bad, there is Brewerks beer and wine. I took one out of the tent to offer to Di who was also there for the run sponsored by her company, it makes her colleagues so envy of her. hehe.....

I will try to train and go for the complete 5.6 km run next year.

What a fall??

I simply cannot believe that i still will fall down stupidly at this age??? Went to Jan's place and fell while climbing down the stairs as i was smsing hehe

Although it is my oversight, I will still want to complain.... why did HDB build another two more steps after the flight of staircase?????

BE and MIL were stunned at the moment they saw me fall. The first thing that came to my mind was... is there anyone else who saw that? It was so embarrassing.

MCQ at the arcade

Hei is going to Japan to work so we arranged for a meet up before i leave for taiwan for holiday and she leaves for Japan. Di took leave as well but she meets us later as she is the oink oink in the group.

We are still early for dinner so decided to check out the arcade... We feel a little out of place but still enjoy the whole process... miss those young days but we are not super old now either hehe.... We played House of dead, basketball, mario daytona...

I chose Yoshi, Di chose ??? funny cat??? and Hei chose luigi. We played twice and the results is still the same but the one who won the first prize has no driving license...

It was really fun and i bet i will miss the times spent as MCQ together. =/

Tampop0 again!!!

Once i fancy the place, i will tend to go there super often..... went to tampop0 recently for JC meeting with mich and daffi.

Mich and daff shared ramen, tonkotsu and some sides while i have the 'selfish' sushi set for $43.

There is this conveyor belt in the restaurant which i think is interesting but super silly. It is not like the usual sushi shop where there are diff selection food on it for consumers to pick, it is for sushi platter to be delivered to your desk by the conveyor belt instead.

I saw my platter and was super excited but it somehow got stuck and then miss the exit and my platter went one round again... Feels a little sian as it will lose 10 mins worth of freshness but when the food arrives near my table again, it got me excited as it has all my favourites...

There is tamago, uni, roe, unagi, otoro, chutoro, scallops and others which i dont know what they are. I LOVE the uni and tuna!!!!

Home-cooked grilled fish set

I love to cook but BE always dont want me to cook as he thinks it is too troublesome to buy, prepare, cook and most imptly wash the dishes after cooking...

One fine day, we wanted to go to the supermarket to buy some veggies to cook porridge for the little one so we decided to buy food and cook our own dinner.

Grilled fish set
Ingredients:
For the baked potato - potato, butter, sour cream, bacon bits
For the veges - broccoli, carrot, salt, oil
For the side dish - bacon, asparagus
For the fish - fish, italian seasoning, lemon juice, pepper, salt

For the baked potato - poke the potato with fork so that it can be cooked faster, wrap it with aluminium foil before baking in oven. Once done, cut a cross, add butter, sour cream and bacon bits.

For the veges - blanch broccoli and carrot in hot water with salt and oil

For the side dish - blanch the asparagus and roll it with bacon. Bake it till cook.

For the fish - marinate the fish by adding salt, lemon juice, italian seasoning and pepper. Wrap it with aluminium foil and bake it.

T@mpopo

Wanted to go out for a meal but hate crowd so decided to head to Liang Court as i loved shopping at the jap supermarket even though the stuffs there are expensive. Decided to check out the jap restaurant which Hei once mentioned to me...

We had Black pig shabu shabu ramen, Black pig tonkotsu ramen... the pork is super tender....

And also the highlight for the day........... Otoro sashimi!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wanted to try that after watching a HK serial which focus on japanese cuisine.

It costs $55 for 5 pcs of otoro and $45 for chutoro...

Whats the difference?

Otoro is the premium part of tuna belly that usually does not get a price on any sushi house menu. Otoro is they best part of the tuna. Because otoro is from the belly of the tuna it is fatty. Otoro is light pink in color, sometimes almost white, and creamy looking. Otoro will leave behind a swirl of oil on the surface, and when it hits your pallet, it will melt. The fattiest portion of the tuna, found on the underside of the fish.

chutoro is the belly area of the tuna along the side of the fish between the Akami and the Otoro. Often preferred because it is fatty but not as fatty as Otoro.

Yummy! It tastes like meat instead of fish but i am glad i tried that but dont think i will eat it again unless i am in Japan. =)

Home-cooked Valentine's Day Meal

BE likes Abalone rice so i decided to cook Heart-shaped Abalone Rice for our V-day.



Ingredients required: Abalone, broccoli, carrots, parsley, pepper, corn starch, salt, oil, rice



Cut Abalone into heart shape

Cut carrots into heart shape and blanch the carrot and broccoli with hot water, a little salt and oil

Place the rice,broccoli, carrot and abalone into a claypot. Heat up the abalone gravy together with cornstarch mixed with water to the desired mixture. Pour the gravy over and add some pepper to taste.....

Here's the yummy Thai village lookalike heart shaped abalone rice.... Yummy!!!!!!!!1

Lion in the office

It is an annual routine during CNY to see lion dance in the office to bring luck to the company and i will always buy the lucky number which is display at the lobby but always never strike 4D. =)

Eyelash extension........

Tried to put on fake eyelashes previously for a dinner but it doesnt turn out to be nice due to lack of skill and practice so decided to go for eyelash extension at Mi11y's at Far East Plaza to save the trouble...

Here's the results.....

Given that i still cannot wear contact lense that often, this eyelash extension is giving me a little of a problem when i wear my spectacles my lashes is now longer than the width between my specs and my eye so i have to tilt my specs abit and this makes me look as if i got long sightedness.... Haha

On the first night, i got awoken by the fake eyelashes as it kind of pokes my eyes till i tear a little. I feel as if i never wash away my make up when i sleep.

Final verdict - i will not do it again unless necessary as it is creating more uncomfort to me but will have to endureat least after CNY since i paid $75 for this pair of eyelashes.

I am Back.......

I realised that i have not been updating my bloggy for slightly more than a month.... Now i am a full time babysitter for a week - itinery for the day will be wake up, bathe bb, eat breakfast watch tv, wash bottles and clothes, eat lunch watch tv, play with bb, surf net while bb nap, eat dinner and watch tv, family bonding time then play psp before i sleep..... the next day starts again =) Well i dont mind this kind of life but it lacks alot of communication coz no one at home to talk to me and it is difficult for me to go out also... anyway seeing him smile makes my day so no more grumbling.

My eyes have been getting better -- i hope, feeling a little lazy to visit the doc again but will go for daily contact lenses now even though it is more expensive. Will go for lasix after 30 as recommended by J's family eye doc friend. Have been reading abt this Dr Lee from Gleneag1es ever since it is recommended by colleagues - rather renowned and my lao ban going to check it out in Jan so shall see her reviews.

Going for my eyelash extension, massage and shopping with MCQ at Orchard this thurs so as to give myself a break before leave ends.... Have been watching nu ren wo zui da till i tempted to give my eyelash a new look.

Next leave will be in March-- going Taiwan for a short trip with BE and bro.... thanks Ting for her super comprehensive itinery. But before that, feel super sian coz i need to work on CNY Chu er when it is my first CNY with new addition.

Thats all for now!

Frosted Glass Eyes

Have been wearing spectacles all these while as my eyes got infected - super teary when there is sunlight, sticky and red especially at night, blurry.... Didnt know the seriousness till i went to visit an eye specialist at SNEC. The lady doc is very young and pretty but super irritating as she sounds as if she is reprimanding me throughout the consulation and makes me pissed off but i have to accept the fact that it is for my own good and i really didnt take care of my eyes properly.

Doc: "what kind of contact lense you wear?"

Me: "Monthly"

Doc: "Can you imagine wearing a dirty panty for a month???"

She used a sophiscated machine to check on my cornea as said that it now looks like a frosted glass... so i can no longer wear contact lense till she says so. haizzz she gave me 3 days MC unexpectedly as she wants me to be on hourly eye drip and a sticky eye gel which will make my eyesight blur.

Eyes are super important! i will take good care of it now =/

Cleopatra

I just straighten and cut my fringe and feel that i look like the one in the pic..... not really comfortable with this new look as it looks really flat and a little weird but have to bear with it since I paid for it.

7yrs2mths anniversary

Took time off to spend the day together, this 14th we had dinner at Blue L0bster along Franke1 ave, it doesnt look nice from the outside but its interior deco is definitely much better. There are small little cubicles for ppl to have their private corner. We are the only customer throughout the dinner, it is so quiet till BE saw Ratatouille =)

I ordered New Zealand oysters... it was not too bad... Come to think of it, the irritants or MCQ suggested to go NZ in 2 yrs time to visit Ah Gu then we can eat tonnes of oysters there but just wonder if we will ever go??

I had today's special as my main course, it is lobster thermidor as recommended by the waiter. Not really sure whats thermidor and if the method of cooking is really nice but decided to go for it instead of having it steamed or fried or grilled. Then when my food arrived and after consuming, i think it is a wise choice - cooking lobster meat with a cream sauce, put into a lobster shell, sprinkled with cheese, and browned. I love it! It costs only $39.95 on a Tuesday but $59 on other days so i feel that it is rather worthwhile. I might want to go back again on Wed to try their today's special Foie Gras at $14.95.

BE as usual is not very adventurous as he is not a fan of seafood but dont mind fish and chips so he had his not as yummy main course.

They use papers as their table mat and provided crayons so we drew on it to commemorate this special day.


Then played tic-tac-toe and BE introduced me to 3D tic-tac-toe which requires more analytical thinking.

Gymnast of the Year

Went to my auntie place one day and discovered the little talent in my niece who is 9 mths old... She is super flexible and did that all by herself while drinking milk.. super cute!!!

Guess what i have for breakfast today???

Yucks whats this ugly looking thingy??? my breakfast???

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*** Da Tang***

It is foie gras with lettuce and toasted bread.

Looks good isnt it?? All thanks to bro who bot this piece of ugly looking thingy yesterday and make this for my breakfast today. It is really good to have a gourmet chef at home.. yum yum =)

Reunion of MCQ and Birthday plus Farewell Dinner for Moo Moo

Hei is finally back from Japan and this is the first time the three of us meet up and celebrate the reunion of MCQ.

Met them at Orchard and have lunch as Aj1sen then do some shopping at taka and wisma before heading to Far East Plaza for some more shopping... As we walk, Ah Di finds that the poster along Orchard MRT looks nice so I got the two of them to take a pic as if they are tourist... As much as Hei finds it ackward doing so, she decided to play along? hehe

After shopping for about 4 hours, we were all tired and went to Cane1e for high tea....

As i know before hand that we are going there for dessert, i went to check out Junie's blog to see whats yummy there and i had Salty Caramel and Hazelnut macarons and nougatine crepe.... Ah Di had strawberry tart and Hei had 66% chocolate ice cream.

Out of all, I prefer the Salty caramel macaron but still find it a little expensive for its size and i miss those that i had in Switzerland. As for the nougatine crepe, it is not too bad but a little too sweet for my liking. Ah Di likes the tart as the strawberry is v fresh and both Di and Hei likes the ice cream as they are fans of chocolate (not too sweet but rich in taste).

After that, we head down to Vivo for Ah Gu's birthday celebration plus farewell dinner at Seren1ty restaurant as he is going back to NZ to further his studies. Here's what we got for him... a customised party hat to go with the dinner.

We got a bucket of rose beer created with raspberry and wheat beer, i took a small sip and find that it tastes not too bad with rose after taste.

We ordered quite a bit of stuffs - mushroom soup, hoi sin tapas, prawn salad, calamari, etc... Out of all, i like their cod fish which is their hot fav as recommended by Di. The birthday boy gets a birthday song sang by the solo singer who is performing at the restaurant, a complimentary cocktail and a present which i think it is so nice of them......

During the dinner, we discover a secret!!!!! after i being the kaypo asking around. Mr Anything had proposed!!!!! Hooray!!!! MCQ bomb him with alot of questions after our discovery... Feel so happy for him Congrats!

Next, we head to A1tivo as recommended by El but it is closed for renovations so we pop by The Jewel box for a drink before heading home.... Like the place as it has a nice Singap0re night view but it is a little warm to be super romantic.

Didnt manage to take a nice view of the scenery as we are not sitted by the side....... Anyway we had a fun time catching up... Next meetup will be during ZY's wedding bah....

Toast to more happy anni years......

Have been granted my shopping wish on anni day so went shopping for almost 6 hours before stopping by Cane1e for dinner plus dessert....



Was attracted to this place by their colourful window decorations plus i simply love macarons nowadays but the price is a little exp for its size.... We had ham & cheese baked rice and smoked salmon crepe. I will say that the food is not too bad and they are rather generous in the ingredients with the serving just nice to fill our stomach.

We had jupiter as our dessert... yummy simply love chocolate man... it has caramel and nougatine in it.

We ended our day to another place which brings alittle sadness.... hope she is happy up there....
http://elizxin.blogspot.com/2008/05/why.html

Our Honeymoon Album

With the motivation to give this present to BE on our wedding anniversary, i have finally completed our honeymoon album after procrasinating for a year. Spent a few nights sorting out thousands of pictures, developing it, doing up the card indicating the itinery for each day and slotting in the pics. Here's the final product - two albums with 400 pics.

First Year Wedding Anniversary

Dinner ends with a toast to happiness for the rest of our life and more anniversaries to go.............

Sh1ma @ Goodwood Park

Met up with Ah Gu as he is flying off to NZ to study soon and we went to Sh1ma @ Goodwood Park for lunch, recommended by bro and mummy...

Teppanyaki Buffet Lunch @ $39.90++

Appetiser - Prawn tempura, shisamo tempura, salmon sashimi, california handroll

Main course - Beef, chicken, salmon, oyster, mixed vege, garlic rice, steamed rice, miso soup

Dessert - Fresh fruit, coffee, tea

I had quite a few servings of sashimi as it is really fresh. Other than that, i also like shisamo (doesnt have the v fishy taste), oyster (big and fresh) and beef (tender and kind of melt in your mouth).

Had a great time chatting with Gu, time flies, alot of ppl has changed and lost contact , glad that we still keep memories of the past and still maintain our bro-sis-ship since secondary sch till now. All the best to his new life as a student...

Bad Hair Wash experience at Tw1ster

Have been wanting to cut my hair for a long time as it is getting a little messy so I went to Tw1ster (under M0nsoon hair house and co-owned by a few artistes) for a hair cut as it is near my place...

The moment i stepped in, i saw this recept who doesnt even have a slight smile on her face and she led me to my seat. Then the shampoo boy came, he didnt even bother to say hi or inform me that he is washing my hair and he started doing so. Halfway through, he went away to get more water or shampoo and left my hair dripping wet. He tried to give me a massage but it seems to be trying to pull my hair off instead and after a few times, i decided to voice my concerns to him and tell him that it is PAINFUL!! Next is the washing time, i got water splash on my face and as he needs to wash off the shampoo at the back of my head, he lifted my head and got it hanging in mid-air for quite some time and i have to hold it there. I tried to bear with it as he might be new and dont want to ruin his job there but my tolerance level went off when he blew my hair with a dryer. He nearly scald my scalp as he is blowing at that particular section for too long and it is really HOT. Then he brushed my hair as if he is using the hair brush to hit my head instead. He clipped on so many clips on my hair while blowing which makes it look more MESSY than before. I didnt lose my temper but just tell him that it was painful and hot but he still did it the wrong way. When it was almost done, he left my fringe hanging in front of my face while he went to look for the hair stylist to cut my hair which makes me look like a crazy woman. It was an EXTREMELY BAD experience.

Luckily the hair stylist made the situation better as she gave me good advice on how my hair should be cut and how to take care of my hair etc... As much as i dont want to, I told the hair stylist while paying that the hair wash is HORRIBLE hoping to let them realise that this guy needs alot more practice and to let go my frustrations.

My Reward

Took a day off from my obligation and went Ru5tic N1rvana for a trial massage...Tried out the Jamu massage and steam bath, it was good as it really reduces the water content in my body. Even though i told myself not to succumb to their persuasion as they will really push you to purchase their package, in the end i got one. hehe

Went shopping and watch Wall-E after that... The show is nice even though there is no dialogue for the first half of the movie but i nearly doze off towards the end as the story line is a little too long plus the fact that it is near my sleeping time.

Had Chin-Mei-Chin for breakfast the next day... This place looks like an old coffee shop located along East Coast Road and it serves nice kaya toast as they make the bread themselves. Yum yum!!! Simply love it and prefers this to other toast....

Next, we travelled all the way to Woodlands... BE got to know from his colleague that this place sells super fresh and cheap sashimi, so he specially brought me there to buy as he knew that i had cravings for months. For the amount which we are paying, we are getting about four folds more sashimi as compared to that bought in supermarket or restaurant. It is SUPER DUPER CHEAP AND FRESH!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

So fortunate to be at home watching the Olympics games... Managed to catch the live telecast of the match between Korea and Singapore which was super duper exciting till i skipped my nap session, kept on pestering my mama who was sleeping to wake up to watch with me and shout out loud till i disturb the little one who was sound asleep as well...

First match was won by Feng, didnt really know her existence till today but i wasnt concentrating on the match as i was a little tight up with tidying up the room.

More excited abt the second match as it will be played by Li, world's no 6, whom i know but she lost. The opponent is really good as she really has excellent defending and chopping skills making the balls spin and Li impatient.

Next is the doubles and this is also the first time i realised the presence of Wang who has a rather funny chinese name which the commentator find it hard to pronounce. The team won this round making it 2-1.

Wang played the fourth match, not really impressed by it even though she is world's no 7....

The last and most crucial match played by Feng and WE WON after so many years and are able to clinch either the Silver (most likely) or Gold!!!!!!! Was so worried that it will be like 4 years ago whereby we lost the semifinals, trying to clinch for a bronze but got 4th in the end.

So proud of them especially Feng who managed to win 2 matches out of 3!

Cravings.......

Have been restricted to consume alot of food for months, in particularly this month till i start to come out with a list of things which i will love to eat when the restricted period is over....

1. Sashimi
2. Oyster
3. Medium cooked beef
4. Coke
5. Crabs especially butter crabby from Seafood Paradise
6. Stingray
7. Shellfish such as lala, gonggong

Countdown.. 6 more days to go

Birthday celebration with Irritants

Celebrated my birthday with the irritants on Tuesday as Lau Pa Sat, luckily i chose this place as i was late for an hour due to work. So happy to see them again as we hardly have group meetings recently due to one another's tight schedule. The last time i saw them was months back where we had mahjong session at ah di's house. I think the next time i will see them will be when the balloon bursts. =)

Ah Di, thanks for organising and to those who remember..... For those who dont remember, no worries lah i wont blame you for that hehe =) I will forgive those who are honest... and maybe those who are not but overseas??? Muhahahahah

A little sweet gift from Di, brownies from The Brownie Factory and colourful macarons from Baker's Inn to brighten up the brownie. The pic looks so nice hor?

Ramen Sant0uka @ Central

Met up with my primary school friends, Hui and Ting, for my birthday celebration and we went to Central for dinner as i want to try out Sant0uka Ramen which Hui felt that it is better than M1haru.... It is a rather small place besides B1lly B0mbers and the place is packed so we have to wait for about 15 mins for a table.

I had Tokusen Toroniku in Shio soup base, this is known to be the best as read from other food blogs as the pork is super tender which i agree. But not sure if i had too much ramen recently, i dont really find it that fantastic.

Hui had Char Siew Shio Ramen as she finds me a little too salty for her taste... As Ting is super late, we finished our food when she reached and given that she is not a ramen fan, we went elsewhere for her dinner and desserts.

We ordered the egg as our Ramen does not come with it, this costs us $1 each and from the looks of it, it is NOT nice at all as it is fully cooked.

We ordered gyoza as our side dish, nothing spectacular... Wanted to eat something else on top of this but apparently their main focus is Ramen, so there is not much side dishes nor desserts...

Thanks Hui for the treat and both of you for the gifts bought for me during your Taiwan trip!

Tanjobi Omedetou

There is only one day in a year other than xmas and new yr when you will get tonnes of messages over night... Woke up early in the morning even though i am on leave and saw 7 unread messages on my phone, followed up by those phone calls and msgs throughout the day. Thanks to all for remembering =)

Had my birthday celebration with cousins last week and here's that i have got from them.... Assorted birthday cakes from Goodwood park and capitaland vouchers coz they have no idea what to get for me.

Colleagues also celebrated my bdae for me and from the pic, you can know how old i am this year =) oh mine, three more years i will hit the 30s. I was given the choice to chose my own cake so i got myself a Passion Fruit Meringue from Pattisier which i simply love and all thanks to taya for making the way down to Ann Siang to collect it.

Last yr, i told them that it was my last birthday year being single and this year they were telling me that this is my last birthday before a new addition. Times really flies.

BE bot me this for my bdae present as i have always wanted a white watch to wear for my weekends and he also planned the itinery for this special day.

We went to Orchard in the afternoon to do some more shopping before i become too clumsy and had Pepper lunch for lunch - i simply love their beef steak (previously known as Shimofuri beef) as it is tender even after having it well-done as it has marble fats in the meat.

Then we went around shopping at DFS, Scotts Isetan, Taka for my diaper bag... When we were at Agnes B, Junie appeared and gave me a surprise shout, it was so loud that most of the ppl in the shop knew that it was my bdae. It was such a sweet touch as she managed to get BE's mobile and liaise with him to find out my whereabouts so that she can appear in front of me with Hokkaido eclairs. As it is still early for her appt, she joined us for shopping and tea at a cafe in Taka (Royal something...) Never really notice the existence of this place which is just besides Burberry level 2.

BE specially made dinner appt at Gr@ze located at Rochester Park as it is known to have nice ambience.

Outside
Inside

Love the outside but given the humid weather condition, we had a seat inside with aircon instead. Their service is recommendable as i was given a pillow to support my back which is so thoughtful of them. Before deciding on what to eat, we were asked if we will like to have sparkling or still water so we had still water instead still water which costs us $9 *ouch*. For dinner, I chose an entree of duck liver pate and wild mushroom risotto and BE had crispy hand-rolled pork hock. Both of us didnt find the food fantastic, not sure if this is bcoz we went there with a full stomach? or it is really not nice? We decided to give their dessert a try and chose Chocolate Creme Brulee which is not too bad but a little too sweet for his liking.

Our verdict - super nice ambience only and this is how I spend my special day..........

世上只有妈妈好

Have you ever wonder why we can be so rude or inpatient to our parents especially our dear mother even though we know that they are so dear to us and they are really doing things for our own good?

-------> Coz we are taking them for granted

I always know that i have a very good, patient, no temper mama but she is just a little blur blur and silly. Given her virtues, we tend to bully her as we know that she will not scold us back or be angry but she will definitely be hurt and sad as she is a 容易受伤的女人 just like me. She will keep her anger and sadness to herself and maybe weep when no one is around. Sometimes i really feel rather remorseful seeing her like that..... Anyway this hardly happens nowadays as i know that being a mother is not easy and I tend to treasure her more. Plus the fact that I dont stay with them anymore, I love and miss her more.

For all the wednesday dinners she is preparing for us, i know that she is a perfect mama always put others before her - thinking of what to cook for me and BE so as to ensure that it suits our taste and we will have enough food. Our meal will always come with at least 3 main dishes with a soup and desserts or snacks after meal.

Recently i was complaining to her of the washing for baby clothes and she asked me to bring all over for her to wash which i find the statement super sweet and touching. How will i bear to see her doing all these chores for me when it shld be my turn to take it up?

I also chat with Junie abt it and she has the same sentiments as well.... Guess all mamas are rather poor thing....

Bottomline - we must learn to treasure them before we regret.

Junie's super belated birthday

Junie's birthday was early this month but didnt manage to catch up with her for celebration till today.... Was cracking my brains about what to get for her??? Since we will be meeting at Gallery hotel to have Miharu ramen, i suddenly recall tat there is this nice looking chocolate place at Central ---- Gobi so i check out their website. They have alot of mouth-watering pictures on their website and i decided to make a trip there before dinner.

Here's what i have gotten for her - a 12pcs box

From the left - Dark Angel, Smell the Rose, Sweet Something, Cupid, Love Boat, Opera

Even though this is for her bdae present, she is nice enough to share some with me, we had the dark angel (nice not-to-sweet chocolate cake), Sweet Nothing (i love this as the strawberry is fresh and it blends well with the macarons), Cupid (cannot really figure out what is this but guess it might be cheese cream with some flavouring?), Opera (not bad) and the mini macarons (nothing to wow about but nice).... In the end, she had only 7 left to bring home to enjoy hehe thanks Junie.

Actually meeting up with her is more of catching up as we have endless things to talk about so food for this time round is not the main focus. Anyway here's what we had...

Pork Belly which looks so oily and yucky but it doesnt taste like what it seems perhaps bcoz i am a fat lover.

Gyoza - nothing special but not bad as well.



Junie had cold ramen as recommended by her colleague as it has a more QQ feeling which i agree but she also tried to explain that it has a very "mee" taste which i am still trying to understand hehe


I had the Tonkotsu Ramen, something diff from the previous time but i cannot rem the differences between the two. Frankly speaking, didnt find it as nice as the first time i had their ramen maybe bcoz i have too little soup and too much mee and ingredients so in the end, my soupy mee becomes mee-gia dry (maybe becoz Junie took a couple of slurp as she prefers mine to hers hehe).

Then we waited at Gallery hotel till BE picks us up while we chat and chat again.....

Euro2008

Didnt really know that i can be soccer frantic till recently.... think partially is for the fun of it and partially trying to earn some milk powder money haha but in the end, i didnt make any as the dark horses win for most of the times.

Stayed up late for the Italy vs Romania with BE's friends drinking at home and tot Italy will win but they got a draw instead. There shld be one additional goal for Italy just before the half time but somehow or another the referee think otherwise and said it is an offside. haizzzz super irritating.... Anyway I got a laugh out of this match as the players in the same team bump onto each other with their head and caused one to be sent out due to his injuries and the other one to have a big plaster on his forehead. haha

The very first thing i will do each morning is to switch on teletext to check out the scores... I tot Portugal will win Germany but in the end, Germany defeated Portugal with 3-2. What happened? No more Christiano Ronaldo who earns GBP 20,000 per week with abt SGD 1000 per hour if i got the figures correct.

Next is the Croatia vs Turkey match... in terms of skills and the scores from previous matches, the former is so much better but think they are simply unlucky as most of the "expected" goals either hit the pole or got saved by the goal keeper. This match is the most exciting one which i have seen as they score a goal each at the very last minute of extra time and leads to penalty kickoff with turkey going into semis. I managed to watch the exciting last bit as i was awoken by BE who tried to cover me with blanket.

So from now on, only "pure" watching....

Swisscafe at Raffles City

Finally got a chance to meet up with Michie and Daffy.... after a previous aeroplane session due to work =) This time round, i manage to meet them but was late as usual... but it is not my fault. They wanted to see me in the balloon state before it got deflated next mth haha.

They walked ard and decided to go for this Swisscafe located in Raffles City. This place looks nice with the high ceiling and cosy ambience.

Here's the menu - we can go for either an appetiser with main course or dessert with main course @ $33 or an appetiser with main course and dessert @ $45. We had a hard time deciding what to eat especially for me as i try to stay away from those with liquor.

Me and michie had snails.... escargots with toast.... it is really yummy and the toast is good as well. Didnt really like bread but i can say that the toast blends well with the garlic sauce from the escargots. Definitely nicer than the French Stall with a much better presentation.

As for main course, i choose Tenderloin with mashed potatoes - really tender and fresh.

Michie had veal (baby cow) with cream sauce and rosti. Tender young cow but gets a little sick with the cream sauce at the end of her meal with a little too salty rosti which i think it tastes more like hashbrowns.

Daffy had veal as well but hers is veal rolled with bacon and some other ingredients with red wine sauce and rissoto to accompany her meal. Prefer hers to Michie's one as i simply love Rissoto (western style muay fan)

Daffy didnt had appettiser as she chose a dessert instead - Toberlone chocolate cheese cake. Looks yummy and tastes good also...

Had a great time catching up with them... i love such gatherings but given the change in status, work and family, it is really difficult to schedule a perfect time for everybody. After dinner, Michie was nice to send me home even though i no longer stay in the NE after picking up her "slightly" tipsy hubby.

Popeyes @ Sing@pore Flyer

Have been a fan of popeyes chicken since ah di introduced to me few years back when i had my first bite at airport terminal outlet.... but the place is a little out of the way unless we are going overseas or to fetch or send someone off.

One day, we realised that there is another outlet at Sing@pore Flyer... yuppie felt so happy so we decided to mark it down as one of our dinner venue. Dint really find the flyer spectacular especially after being on Londoneye as the cabin looks so insignificant and not really equivalent to the size of the wheeler however you will have a different feeling when you step onto the flyer building and have a full view of the flyer from the bottom, it looks not too bad after all.

The inside of the building is the Yakult forest, which is in lined to what our country is known for - clean and green... At the basement, there is another outlet for Seafood Paradise which is one of my fav seafood place with the creamy crabs.

But we chose this for dinner instead as this is what we are here for... We ordered the combo set of chicken and prawns and i prefer this place to the airport's as it is not so cramped and most imptly, it serves maple syrup as it goes well with the biscuit but the service was a little too slow.

Sapporo Ramen Miharu at Gallery Hotel

Had a busy week at work and feeling a little down recently so BE decided to bring me for something good after we knock off on Friday so i chose Sapporo Ramen Miharu as taya and Don have been telling me to check this place out given that i still miss Ramen which i had at Osaka.

We decided to take a stroll along the river from Liang Court to Gallery hotel, this place really brings back memories... Had a stay during our 5th yr anniversary, at that time, BE was still an undergrad hehe.

Miharu is situated at a little corner outside the hotel and there isnt any obvious signage showing that we got the correct place but it is really packed. It has a little resemblance of those authentic ramen shop in Japan and we chose the counter seats to add on to the feel. There were quite a couple of Japanese in the shop and we can hear the slurping sound from their consumption of ramen, this is to symbolise that the food tastes good!

The menu looks good and i had Miso Tonkotsu Special Blended Miso Pork Flavoured Ramen @ $13 while BE had Tokusen Tonshio Special Pork Flavoured blended with Salt @ @ $12.50.

Miso Tonkotsu Special Blended Miso Pork Flavoured Ramen

Tokusen Tonshio Special Pork Flavoured blended with Salt

My soup tastes SOOOOO yummy as the broth is thick, BE's one is not too bad either but it has a more salty look and taste given that it is blended with salt. I simply love it and this is definitely the next Ramen place till now to be comparable to those which we had in Japan. I am loving it and we finish all the ramen and soup and felt a little thirsty after that, most prob due to the MSG??? but it is still nice. I will want to go there again!!!

The always Kiddy Irritants

Hei was back for a week to visit her mummy who just went for her retina op... apologies for mistaking it as rectum as i couldnt really hear you well while communicating with your overseas line and hope ur mama is better.

Managed to arrange an Irritants meet up for steamboat dinner at Bugis and we had almost 10 attendees.... There are only the three of us who are females and frequently go out in the gang so we use our initials and term ourselves M.C.Q. With 'Q' in Japan for the past one year, we hardly have time together. Now given that she is back for a short while, we really had a happy time relinquishing the stupid moments... See how we play with ice cream and the ugly teeth which we have. haha

The gang is really sweet and protective given my current change in size as they will make sure that there is someone on my left, right, front and back when i cross the road, shout when there is stairs or water making me feel so princessy. Hehe =)

Why????

Have been encountering so many real life stories in life recently which left me thinking why mankind only treasure more when they are about to lose it and why god create man and yet let them suffer with illness???

A very rich lady who is very nice and amiable with no airs at all is suddenly diagnosed of stomach cancer. No one expect this when she complains that she always experience stomachache, the first thing which comes to their mind is she must have been eating the wrong stuffs. She went for an op earlier and took out a part of large intestine to test but wasnt able to find anything wrong even though she was in a well known hospital, so they just gave her some pills and then monitor her condition. After some time, she suffered from severe stomachache again and this time round, her family decided to go to another hospital and got her those renowned doctors and it was then she is only left with 6-9 mths of life. Everyone in the family including close friends were affected and the only way out is to do chemotheraphy and hope it can prolong her life but she is in ICU after the chemo dosage increase.

The once chirpy and fun-loving husband who always spend his nights entertaining his clients and went home drunk now looks so tired and sad. He said this to me -"My wife can enjoy life now and go traveling with me given that she already has grandchildren but....... Seeing her in such pain really hurts me, i just wonder why heaven wants to do this to her when she did nothing wrong. How i rest well when she is not sleeping besides me now but in the hospital suffering. I dont mind the money spent as long as she can recover. If ever that we discover earlier during her initial hospital stay, things will not be like this."

His words really sound like those in drama series but this is really the thoughts and feelings of any family members who have ever encounter this.

I always believe in this and have this in all my phone welcome message to act as a form of reminder

Treasure every little moments....

Steps to eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

BE got Reese's Peanut Butter Cup from his colleague who went overseas and he was super excited that he got this and sms me to tell me his plan on how we should eat it.

Step 1 : Go home and watch 50 First Dates, his fav movie which he has watched for over 10 times and I have watched about 5 times before and after marriage.

Step 2 :Must watch till Adam Sandler says "I had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup....."

Step 3 : I can then open up and eat it.....

Wedding Dinner at Marina Mandarin

Was invited to my dear friend's big day on Labour Day... Why she chose this day???? coz his hubby's family all got married on 1st May... rather unique reason and all of them might celebrate their anniversary together next time. Almost all my NUS kakis got married except one who is still waiting for the HDB balloting. =)

Was impressed by the refurnised look of the ballroom especially the food, we got ourselves a menu each right in front of us instead of having one to share around.

As usual the wedding started off with the couple march in and then serving of food. They chose to arrange for the waiters to dance with the music first before serving so all of them walked in with the cold dish and then head to the stage to do a small dance which looks rather cute, this is the second time i saw this arrangement at wedding dinner.

Couple's second march in with bubbles... looks very fairy-like isnt it? Frankly speaking, i almost cannot recognise the bride as she looks so different from normal days without much make up and hardly wear skirt and be so lady like hehe

Before we left for the day, here's our last dish - mango sago with HUGE ice cream...

Myanmar Cuisine

Myanmar cuisine is never in my consideration but we had it when we were too hungry walking along peninsular...

Went thru the menu and find that the food is similar to thai's but the ingredients in it is different. I chose kuay teow with seafood (to be on the safe side) and BE had this potato with peas rice with fried chicken and this comes with the soup of the day. My food was pretty similar to phad thai but BE's one is like sticky rice with super dry chicken and the soup tastes like "long kou" water.....

Haha this is indeed an experience for us but we doubt we will go there again.....

A Relaxing Day out.....

Got two days off from work. decide to pamper myself on a weekday with lesser crowd.

Woke up as usual as the inbuilt alarm clock just simply cannot switch off during off days, ordered MacDelivery as it was raining cats and dogs. We had McGriddles, something which we always wanted to try while listening to radio advert to work everyday. It was not too bad but will get a little sick after finishing the whole burger as it is both sweet and salty, a combi of hotcakes and big breakfast. After breakfast, we took a short nap, not wanting to waste the perfect sleep-inducing weather.

It is time to wake up for our spa appointment at holland V, managed to book a last minute appointment the day before... $138 for two with 60 mins aromatheraphy massage and 30 mins heat rub for BE and 90 mins prenatal massage for me. It is rather comfy and relaxing as i had been experiencing backache during the third trimester. However i will still prefer those 'bones-breaking' massage such as thai or swedish. As for BE, poor him had to endure the heat from the hot stones which he dont find it enjoyable at all.

Opposite the spa is my fav jap bread shop where i bot the mini choc croissant bread, bread stuffed with thick and yummy choco cream, milk bread, curry bread.... it tastes super nice and has a really soft texture.

Walked down the street wanting to have a cup of coffee at a cafe, chose NYDC but the place was simply stinking as the ventilator was not working well so we decided to chose something else and we found this.....

This is similar to ice cre@m chef at East Coast Road, with a bigger variety of ice cream and toppings. I had caramel and ferrero mixed with graham crackers while BE had his long-wanted bubble gum and strawberry mixed with nerds.

As we were still early for dinner, we shopped ard Holland V and didnt find any interesting places. Next, we head down to Little India to The French Stall, a place which we always pass by and wanted to try. Service was a little bad as we went there slightly earlier than their official opening hours. Anyway it reminded us of France where we had escargots after viewing Effiel Tower.

Here's what we ordered.... French Onion soup and Escargots with herb and butter as starters. Was a little surprised to see how the escargots was being served as i expect it to come with the shell. The soup tastes good especially with the two bread topped with cheese.

Our Main course - Pork chop with gratin potato and Beef with fried potato - doesnt look impressive and taste so-so.

Dessert - Chocolate souffle and dark chocolate cake... average for both.........

We were most impressed with the soup and happy that we finally checked it out this place. Not sure if we will go again but definitely not in near future.

Thats the end of our relaxing day..... It is still off day tomorrow but it will be spent with mama instead.

Old Town White Cafe @ East Coast

Discover this place through friend's recommendations... It is located at East Coast previous Big Splash or the known Playground now... Heard that it is opened by J@ck Neo and guess who we saw??? Zheng Gep1ing and wife, both of them really look very good in real person.

Have been this place for many times and always have Ipoh Hor Fun - the malaysia style which is soupy in nature instead of the normal dry one. I like it as the hor fun is very soft but the taste of it varies each time i am there....

After spreading the news to colleagues, some went down to check it out and saw other local artistes there and there is also one day whereby it is closed for filming for I not stupid... Good place to chill out especially after a walk at East Coast or family outing on Sunday.

Bangkok Trip Itinery..... 14 to 17 March 2008

14 Mar
It is actually our 6mths wedding anniversary/ 6yrs 7mths courtship anni during our day of departure to Bangkok... felt so excited for the whole shopping trip. =) The two guys were simply bored while waiting for me to finish my previous posting in the transit so we decided to head off to the departure gate @ 1040 Sin time.

Took this airline and was so disappointed with the current standard now... BE was commenting on one who looks like a ghost, at the same time, the air stewardess walked passed him.. Hehe not sure if she heard him.

Played my favourite childhood game onboard, make me so tempted to purchase a nintendo.... didnt manage to finish it as there were too many announcements and interuptions.

Reached Bangkok around noon time and we went straight to our hotel - Hotel Residence Rajtaevee along Phetchaburi Road. It took us an hour to reach there due to the extremely bad traffic condition and the blur blur taxi driver who took the wrong route. Luckily bro was there to guide him along as he is the bangkok guru who speaks relatively good Thai. This hotel is not extremely very big and posh but i would say that it is value for money as we only paid about $25 per night each. It is more of a spa hotel which only caters to a small number of customers as it is only 5 storeys high with one lift. The venue is relatively convenient as it is in btw pratunam and Mah Boon Khrong.

After resting and unpacking, we head out to Big C to check our bro's new creation. BE got a little tempted but after some thoughts, he decided not to go for it. Walked down to Siam Square area as BE, as usual, wanted to purchase shot glasses, fridge magnet and teddy bear from Hard Rock Cafe as souvenirs whenever he visit the country.

Our latest collection on the left - Bangkok bear with boxing gloves.

Ate A&W for early dinner, BE was so happy to have his Root beer float and ice cream waffle once again and then walked down to MBK. Bro had a real shock as i nearly fainted while shopping at the stuffy Plaza 29. This is something which i least expect and luckily for the following days, i dont have such symptoms again as both BE and bro will keep on asking me to drink water and rest making sure that i dont overwalk.

Went back hotel to meet bro's friend who is working in Kanchanaburi as he is joining us for a break over the weekend. As the traffic condition was bad, we decided not to travel to Yao Wa Rat (Chinatown) or Rachada so we walked down to one of the roadside restaurant for our late dinner - ate Tom Yum soup, Kailan with roast pork, chicken with mango and chilli, grilled prawns and my favourite Mango glutinuous rice, BE had Chang while bro had Singha to end the meal. While walking back, we saw an Elephant???? along the small lane.... BE tot he was so drunk to see that haha Actually this is a typical scene in Bangkok as they will use them to beg from others.

15 Mar
Chatuchak here we go.... this is the weekend market which most people will go if they dont mind the hot humid weather. Went through the lanes one by one each and bot some stuffs, lesser than my expectations as the things were not as cheap as before. My favourite spot to look look see see - pets corner! See the cute little puppies, there were so many of them in each cage which is so squeezy and given the hot weather, all of them look so tired and lazy.

Too tired to go anywhere else for lunch so we went back hotel to wash up and at the same time, bot some food near hotel. The grilled chicken stall is still there since the last time i went bangkok in 2007. Finally got permission from them to grab a stick to fill my hunger haha.. Also bot shrimp wanton soup from 7 eleven, it is tasty given the amount of MSG in it.

It is dinner time, we took a cab to Chinatown T&K Seafood - ordered steamed fish with lemon grass, oyster egg, charcoal cockles, prawn fritters, vegetables and beer.... Given my current condition, i have to stay away from my fav oysters and cockles but i will love to try it the next time.... Was too full to have bird nest for dessert so i gave it a miss.

The monopoly in Bangkok selling the local delicacies --- Lin Zhi Yuan

As the night is till young, we went to the nearby Sanpanpoo - local flea market. It was super crowded with locals and we basically walked and walked without purchasing anything as the stuffs there are not fanciful and of low quality.

16 Mar
Walked to the nearby Pratunam whole sale market and Pratunam shopping centre after breakfast till mid noon. Next to Siam Paragon for lunch at the food court, ate yummy but salty beef noodles and cooling but sweet Ice Thai Tea and then to do my own shopping.. Poor BE slept at the sofa while waiting for me for 2 hours. Bought the mango glutinuous rice before heading back but felt that it is not as nice as the roadside stall.

BE went back hotel to put down all the stuffs which we bought while i waited at Platinum for our next round of shopping. I simply loved this place as it is air conditioned and cheap and i managed to buy almost 10 dresses, accessories, etc.... Shopped till about 8 and grabbed the shrimp wanton soup again from 7 eleven to fill my stomach while waiting for bro. Had a short nap and rest as our legs were both aching terribly.

In the end, bro didnt manage to join us so we went dinner with his friend. Had limited selection as the place is closing so we had baked fish stuffed with herbs, mixed veges and fried pork.

17 Mar

Last day in Bangkok so we woke up especially early to go MBK to do our last min shopping. While my manicure for $12 within 45 mins, the guys went shopping.... Went back hotel to pack up and then travel down to airport.... another one hour ride as there is traffic jam once again.

Had our expensive meal at the airport before boarding the plane.... Phad Thai and Beef Noodles....

Home Sweet Home.........

At the airport - going to bangkok yupppieeee

Always need to use the airport free internet access to post one entry before leaving for a holiday... Felt so excited and could not sleep well last night haha woke up at 3am with smiles on my face. Brought a big suitcase so that it can contain all my purchases, i hope.....

Will blog more when i am back to post on the must go places to go in bangkok... Good luck to my legs =)

Bangkok - Here I come......

Yuppie finally i can go for another holiday.... Wanted to go for a short trip in March and chose Bintan initially coz i have never been there at all... Did all the research and planning then cousins and colleague tempt me by asking me to write them a list of places to go in Bangkok. Then finally after consulting BE, we decided to go Bangkok, together with my second bro (the di tuo snake there), where i can do a little of my shopping, manicure, eat good food, etc.

Felt so excited that i can take a short break before colleague go on his one month long reservist starting from end March, cannot imagine how i am going to survive those days. Anyway, the first few things that came up my mind for this trip are the cheap and yummy mango glutinuous rice and the grilled chicken along the roadside (i think i can only drool this time round as i was told not to eat road side food). Haha anyway going to plan my itinery later, reading up forum to check out if there is any new places which i should not miss, so that i can fully utilise my time there and yet not tire myself out.

Must go place will be Chatuchak (not sure if this is close liao coz there is plans to close down this place since last year), Suan Lum night market, MBK, Emporium or Siam Paragon, etc.........

Ren Ri - Happy Birthday!

CNY Chu Seven is also known as Ren Ri, symbolising everyone's birthday. Here comes the annual CNY dinner at Suntec City organised by Fo Ya Shi, holding about near to 400 tables. Reaching there around the same time with MP Ma and took the same elevator as him which makes me and BE looks as if we are part of his entourage and be in a little of the limelight. The event started off with singing National Anthem and the Buddhism song, followed by saying prayers by many monks.

All the devotees will hold on to their fa gao which costs $2888 to take a pic with the Reverend, monks and MPs on stage.

Thereafter the show started with having 8 lions and 2 dragons on stage as the first performance before our vegetarian dinner starts. We had vege yu sheng together at the same time with other tables, the emcees shout out the blessings which comes with fire works each time they finish their lucky phrase.

Here comes the star of the year - Mr Mouse holding the banner indicating "feng yi zu shi"...... FIL and his business partner bid at an enormous amount, which makes my jaw drop when the emcees count to three.

Gong Hei Fatt Choy!!!!!!!

Happy New Year to everybody...

Got this funny message early in the morning of chu yi and was thinking who is Mr Teo whom i will be expecting at my house. Haha it is actually Teo 4D, Teo Big Sweep, Teo Toto.... =)

First year giving ang bao felt so excited and confused at the same time as different red packet covers have different denominations so have to mark down correctly so as to avoid giving the wrong one out. Now it is finally my turn to wish people "kuai gao zhang da", "xue ye jing bu"..... As it is my first year, we still manage to get quite a number of red packets in return... Yuppie!

The Not-to-missed annual family portrait taken during chu yi with new members... Everyone has big smiles on their face as we all were saying tomato ("fan chie") in chinese while taking the picture. Why??? my aunt says the picture will turn out nicer when u say these words during photo taking.... Haha try this out on urself and see if it works

Bumble Bee vs Spiderman

Godson is now one year old so we bought him this photo package from Kidspictures @ Forum to mark his first year. This place really takes nice and cute baby pictures.... but too bad i didnt manage to be there during the photo taking as i was late.... Anyway manage to take a few pictures of this cute little boy

Godson in his Bumble Bee outfit with a pair of little wings behind him, he looks super cute in this especially when he call out "Papa.....", "Bao Bao....", "Mum Mum...." with a higher pitch towards the last few words. This makes him the center of attraction while walking down Orchard. He learn super fast - now he can stand and walk.

On his birthday celebration, he changed to his spider man outfit... BE with his phone trying to attract his attention so that he can carry him, godson ignored his attempts and did the action of listening to the phone.

Monthly anniversary day

It is the time of the month for our monthly anni celebration, we have been together for 6yrs 5mths - promised to have a mini celebration each month to commemorate this day...

Went to this korean charcoal BBQ restaurant along East Coast Park, the deco of the place doesnt look v authentic, it looks more like a Chinese restaurant with alot of MIC working there. This is the first time both of us felt that MIC can provide very good service at this place as compared to others which we have encountered before.

As long as we order two main dish, we will be entitled to the numerous side dishes..... Most of them are cold sour veges with different types of marination.

We ordered Wagyu beef and ginseng marinated pork. From the pic, the beef looks more appetising and worthwhile as it is thinly sliced served in a bigger plate. After tasting the real product, the pork is so much nicer due to the marination..

We felt so full after having a few servings of selected side dishes, meat and rice so BE came out with his gibberish... He asked me not to eat to much else baby will come out to have small smal mini eyes like rain, then he acted and termed himself heavy rain coz of his bigger size....

New Year Celebration with the Irritants

Chalet... "Are you sure or not? So old still go chalet?"

This is the comment which i get when i told them that i am going chalet to celebrate New Year with the irritants. Celebrating New Year together there has become more or less our annual event. It is during this time where all of us can gather together to play and countdown for the new year.

Didnt know Ah Bye can be so creative, he drew us in his bloggy. Let me introduce... Most of us resembles his drawing, i am so glad that i am no longer the green ugly creature which he drew me as initially.

On 30th Dec, we had potluck and all of us are supposed to bring or cook something for dinner. Here's what we had, luckily no one got diarrhoea the next day. =)

On31st Dec, we had BBQ... trying hard to come out with new bbq combi - bacon wrapped with mushrooms, wrapped wth asparagus, wrapped with chicken, fried mushrooms, shitake mushrooms with butter, etc.... Sounds fattening and overdose of mushrooms. We countdown together with others, popped champagne, do our yum seng, then back to mahjong and Xbox.

Everyone slept at 5am and woke up late on the first day of 2008 except Wild Boar and his gf... Guess where they go? They went market to buy ingredients to cook breakfast for us... Wow tts super sweet of him, i shall give him one plus!


Got everyone ready after breakfast to stroll down to Downtown east from aloha loyang, got craving for Ben & Jerry's...... Here's Ah Gu with Gu.
Went back chalet for the last round of mahjong before heading home...... Have to work the next day unlike Japanese. =(

Fish Leong Concert

All thanks for Di for her free tickets to watch Fish concert, as much as i like her, i wont spend the money to watch as i felt that it is like a sing together karaoke session.... All thanks to hei for giving up her tix for my bro =)

Went shopping with hei, di and zozo prior to concert looking around for new year clothes and also chill out at the same time with hei as she came back specially all the way for Japan to spend the new yr chalet with us.

We reached the Indoor Stadium with no excitement, maybe becoz we didnt pay for it or the crowd is too dead. I must comment that her stage deco is nicest among all other artistes which i had watched, so as to compliment her sentiment songs.

I find her stage props a little cliché.. When she sang her new song with some French words in her lyrics, an Effiel Tower appears. A boat came into picture when she sang another song haha it is so funny.

I got more excited when i saw her special guest - Ah Shin and screamed like crazy especially when he looks so cute and cool while singing wen rou, BE's fav karaoke song. Di commented that this is what we consider a concert - to make audience feel so high and anticipated.

Went for ba chor mee after concert as we all did not had dinner before this.... yummy!

Cafe Del Mar

YX is back from HK for her short festive stay at her homeland, bringing along yummy Krispy Kreme for me.. so sweet!!! (both the donuts and her thoughts) So the cow, sheep and bear decided to meet up for a pre Christmas lunch at Cafe Del Mar located near Sentosa Siloso Beach.

The weather was not doing us good as it rained while we were searching for the place, walking down the beach with our wet shoes and one umbrella for three to share.

Nice and cosy place for a Friday night, away from the office crowd... We had a seat outdoors just besides the pool. Along it is the bar for swimmers to order their drinks, i cannot imagine drunkards who drank and vomit in the pool.. yucks sounds disgusting. If you notice, guests can actually climb up to the top of the bar to hang out, it looks comfy with those cushion seats.

We ordered crab bisque, scallop appetiser, roast chicken with risotto, salmon with veges, creme brulee and pistachio cheesecake. I enjoy the conversation more than the food, three animals hanging out discussing or more of complaining about life.

I saw the sign part II

Didnt know that people can be so sensitive to plus and minus.... some are unsure till they saw the comments posted by Hei and Meow. When i received calls or sms from friends, i knew that their first statement will be "Oh my god, is it true?"

Have been busy recently with work, didnt have much time at home so havent got the time to blog till now and create another blog specially for the one

I saw the sign........

Have you ever wonder how a plus or minus can easily change your life and vision towards future? I thought it was a plus, then a minus and then confirm it is a plus in the end.... =)

Mazazu Crepe in Singapore

Mazazu Crepe has arrived in Singapore.....

My ex-colleague went all the way to Japan to get this franchise launched in Singapore, she did all the work such as sourcing for suppliers and shop, liaising with the Japanese owner, arranging for renovations, etc. It is never easy being a businesswoman but it is definitely a happy thing for her as she finally got her wish fulfilled.

Mazazu Crepe is located at Suntec City near to the Tasty Treatz corner opposite Carrefour. I only got to see the empty shop when i went with her months back, havent been there to check it out the crepe coz work has been rather hectic recently. Hopefully i can pop by this Sat for her official opening and post some yummy crepe pics here.

Spread the word around if you are food lovers....
***Junie, something new to try for your food blog

Sumptuous Hokkaido Meal.... Oiishi

Christmas is coming soon and it is time to shop for pressies... Got a free ride from bro's friend, i call him jimmy curtain coz he is the one who did our curtains =), to orchard with okasan and bro and met TT there... Okasan wanted to check out the Mongolian buffet at Park Mall but we decide to go Sushi Tei instead as it is nearer.

Having my bro who is a food gourmet around, here's what we had ordered - Phoenix Roll, Sashimi platter, Hokkaido crab, lobster sashimi, sweet potato and the lobster miso soup...


This is the first time i had lobster sashimi, it makes me so sinful as the lobster will still move its feelers while we are enjoying the yummy and succulent flesh. eeeeee......

After meal, we went on separate ways as okasan wanted to take some christmas pics and she kept on reiterating that when we were young, they will always bring us to orchard and take christmas pics so now it is our turn to repay her haha

Fish Spa

No more cuticles and dead skin =)

All thanks to BE's colleague who introduce him to this place.

On a lovely sunday, we head towards to the west to Sungei Tengah for our new experience...

These fishes are known as nibble fish who will eat away diseased skin area and at the same time, inject Dithranol which will normalise the skin.

Everyone will sit around the pond and soak their legs in for the spa. Not to worry abt contradicting diseases like HK leg from others as there is UV sterilisation. Some ppl still bring their newspaper to read while being treated...

My two feet really attracts alot of fish, so paisei coz the lady besides me only have a few on her feet. I felt ticklish with a bit electric current when the fishes nibbled. Felt so worthwhile but at the same time wonder if i got any skin disease?

Here is BE's feet, attracting relatively lesser fish as compared to me. Dont know if i should feel happy or sad. hehe

This place also allows ppl to catch longkang fish at the side. See how those kids are enjoying themselves especially the one on the left with his mum holding on to his shirt just in case he fell down the pond.

After the fish spa, we went fish viewing.. saw this big luo han and reminds me of my wedding dinner hairstyle.

Trying to understand why goldfish can be so fat till they swim downwards....

Dont you think this arowana resembles a famous star??????

2 month wedding anniversary

A mini celebration every month to mark the special date - we decided to go for something good every month either on the 14th (courtship date) or 15th (wedding date)

We went Shin Kushiya at Suntec City on the second month of being Mr and Mrs Loo... Nice and cosy place with only a few customers.

The menu looks simply attractive with all the yummy yakitori pictures and i cannot stop drooling... i simply love japanese food as the display will always make your stomach growling before you have a taste of it.

We had vege with miso, foie gras with apple, pork roll with golden mushroom, chicken skin, egg quail, meat ball, prawn, beef, chicken, pork, squid, scallop and pork roll..... Out of all, i love the vege most hehe... this is quite a rare sight as i hardly eat vege but this time round, it helps clear the oily and meaty taste in my mouth with the freshness of the carrot, cucumber and lettuce together with the miso and lemon juice...

Funniest names i ever heard

It was Ron's birthday and we had BBQ at long hair Rob's house.... Liquor and laughter is always an inevitable ingredient in the K7 gang. As i was about to doze off, the gang suddenly discussed about the funniest names ppl have.

From Aldr
He was tasked to design a namecard for someone whose name is Xwyn.. No one, including the person's boss, knows how to pronounce this name and his bro, Ben, tot it was meant to be a sample namecard.

From Rob
Rob's friend's HK friend introduced himself as "Epsedy" then when his friend asked how does he spell his name...... His HK friend goes: " Well, it is spelt as A-B-C-D-E....-> Ab-C-De????"

All of us burst into laughted, it is so hilarious. =)

Horrible Paris hotel experience

Being in my line, i hate people who likes to complain and have decided to stop doing so unless necessary... The hotel experience in Paris triggered me to write this email, with no intention to complain and to get any freebies from the company but just to give my feedback as a consumer.

" On the first day, after waiting for quite some time in Altona Hotel, we were told that the hotel is full even though we had paid for it and will need to go to his friend's hotel which looks worse off and pretty sleazy. We have no choice but to agree with the stay after our long train ride.

The hotel staff advised us to move our luggage back to Altona hotel the next day so that we can stay there for the remaining three days. However as it was early and no one had not checked out yet, we were told to leave our luggage at the recept while we went out for sightseeing and they kind of agreed to move our luggage to our room once it is ready.

To our horror, our luggage were still with the recept when we came back at night and it took them a long time to get the person who spoke to us earlier that day as no room has been officially assigned to us. The person offered us a room on the 6th level which we rejected as the lift only service till 5th floor and we have to carry our heavy luggage up the small staircase to the room.

In the end, they unwillingly gave us a 4person room which we only stayed for a night and moved to a 2person room the next day to our own accord. This experience is definitely something which we will not like to encounter during our honeymoon and will appreciate if you could look into this."

It took them a month before they revert saying that they have not gotten any reply from their Inbound supplier so this is what we got in return.... which is redundant to us.

Come to think of it, i have been to 11 countries this year which i didnt realise till i look thru all my pics.

1. Thailand (Bangkok) in Feb with family during CNY
2. Hong Kong in May to catch Sammi's concert with Di
3. Malaysia (JB) periodically
4. Switzerland (Lucerne and Zurich)
5. Austria (Vienna)
6. Lichtenstein
7. France (Paris)
8. Germany (Munich)
9. UK (London)
10. Czech Republic (Prague)
11. Italy (Venice)

Thank you.......

Thank you for attending my wedding especially to those who play an important role in making the day a perfect one.....

Finally got the long awaited pics from the photographer

www.edmundleong.com/soonguaneliz

I will try to load all to a webby coz his URL only consists of main essence of the day

PS... Thanks to Mr Anything for drawing our anime pic.....

Year End Appraisal Time

It is time of the year again for all employees to write their own review and for their managers to gauge their performance for the entire year... Not really looking forward as it will mean that another year has passed. It seems like i do not much to write about myself - does this mean that i didnt perform well or i am not a good promoter for myself???? Time really flies, this is my third review, my third year in the company liao leh....

Anyway today i went back niang jia for dinner, sumptuous home-cooked food on a weekly wednesday, and found that my doggie Scotty is sick so i put a blanket over him to keep him warm. He looks so ke lian....

S@mmi Concert 13 Oct 07

Going for two concerts for the same artiste in less than 6 months - who else can attract me other than S@mmi Cheng, simply love her! Bot the tixs on the first day of sale to watch with Di on the very first Sat i returned from honeymoon... didnt really realise that it costs $170 till tt day i saw the tickets. haha

S@mmi started off with wearing a short wig, blindfolded as described by the media.... and this brings me shouting and screaming for her the moment she stepped onto the stage.

She changed to this long wig with short fringe which i find it nice and this makes me more tempted to cut mine short, something which i always wanted to.

Special guest of honour - Steph Sun.... S@mmi described her as a bamboo when she first met her haha... Steph looks so petite besides S@mmi and lacks in the crowd appeal, quite a few ppl went for toilet break when she started singing all by herself. Maybe becoz the fans they attract are from different era??

The screen then flashed quite a few S@mmi photos taken in the past and i find this picture especially eerie.

The concert ended with my favourite dance medley, followed by her wearing a stylo white suit with low cut front showing her red bra.

No encore as she is down with throat infection, felt a little disappointed and left driving the bluey car with the bluey top and a bluey mood.........

In comparison (2 plus 1 minus)

HK concert

+ more effects in terms of lighting, stage deco

+ more worthwhile as it is cheaper and longer

- dont understand some of their conversation spoken in Cantonese

Singapore concert

+ more homely

+ seats closer to her but

- cannot really see her as i am blocked by super huge lightstick held by her fans infront

I miss blogging....

Finally i get to blog again after fixing the internet in my new room.... Well i have so many things to update. hmmmm what shall i start with??

My new lifestyle........

Still trying to load my things from "niang jia" to my new place, packing and unpacking is no easy task, I still have a suitcase left lying there for me to clear. Washing my own clothes is another chore which i need to learn and get used to, never ever have to worry about when to wash, when to hang and when to keep and iron. Now, i have to set a schedule to do all these and most importantly try not to dye my white clothes black. =)

My wedding videography......

Our video is nicely done up in chapters by Ernest with our studio pics as the DVD cover, got from him through our garden as he stays diagonally behind our place. I can only say that he is GOOD, patient, sincere and dedicated and will definitely recommend to those who are getting married soon. Our face is full of smiles each time we watch the video as he captured all the nice moments - ben being waxed, relatives saying those auspicious blessings with male genitals as one of the word symbolising giving birth to a baby boy next yr, BE's anxious looks during solemnisation, etc...

My studio pics........

Got to know from zozo that our pics are being displayed in the studio as it was shown to our mutual friend who intends to use them as her photographer. They also post our pics on their blog as a form of publicity -> http://chrisling.com/blog/?p=21. Felt so honoured =)

Both of us really miss the times we spent preparing for the wedding.

How i wish.......... =)

A visit to the person i fear most in my life

My tooth chipped when i had lunch a few weeks back, felt so sad and lost my appetite while i was enjoying a lake cruise. Decided to bring myself to the person, whom i fear most since young, when i return to Singapore to get it filled and it took me 2 hours before i get to see him, narrating "The story of my chipped tooth in Prague".

He did a quick check and found another 3 more teeth which requires filling, so this makes it 4 in total. Oh my gosh! I clench my hands together while he did all the drilling and filling, i tried to keep myself occupied thinking of something else and reminded myself to keep breathing. After some time, my saliva flooded near my throat and this triggers the vomitting symptoms which i hate most. I kept myself cool till it is over - my teeth got filled but my pocket got a hole.

Finally back in Singapore

Back from my 16 days of honeymoon covering 7 countries, it is extremely fun but 16 days is more than enough as both of us were totally exhausted with all the sightseeing, shopping etc and most importantly we miss home.

We were so excited when we board the plane flying back Singapore and when we touch down, i became so patriotic and sang to my hubby

'This is home truly where i know i must be....."

Nothing is better than home, we also miss the food as we were so sick of bread, pasta, pizza, scrambled eggs, salads etc and my face kind of become fatter becoz of these food...

We plan our food routine and went to Geylang "Wan dou sek" for Dim sum - order spareribs, chee chong fun, otah, shrimp dumplings, porridge, fu pi roll, chicken feet, sugarcane juice.... Yummy!!!!

I will try to blog on my trip and wedding once i got those pics sorted out....

A Visit to Registry of Marriage

Went ROM to collect our cert yesterday... the last time i went there was for my cousin's solemnisation which was so many years back and this time round, i am there to collect my own cert. Time really flies.....

our queue number - 104 symbolises I love you???

We need to raise our right hand and then read out the oath - we are above 21, not married before, confirm that we came here to collect our cert, etc... so funny Then we took a pic outside the office. Actually i never notice that the ROM logo is showing a man and a woman hugging each other till i upload this pic in my bloggy.


Here's the doc which will certify that we are married on 15 Sept 07 as Mr and Mrs Loo.....

Even though i have a few days of break before the big day, there are so many errands to run and BE is down with cough... i shall try to finish as much as i can before i go for my manicure tomorrow and also hope BE can get well soon.

My Hen's Night

Prior to me and Be having our hen and bachelor night on the same day, we went to the hotel for a mini rehearsal together with our emcees, flower girl, page boy and pianists.

Kids are always kids, it took us some time to train them up to walk down the solemnisation and ballroom aisle - they are either too slow or too fast so my cousin came up with an idea asking them to remember the no of steps before they reach the finishing - 25 steps for the solemnisation and 40 steps for the ballroom.

Here's a pic which i took of them using the dummy flower basket, dummy ring pillow and dummy table stand - Dar..... =)


After the rehearsal, me and BE part our ways for our own program. I went My Secret G@rden to have dinner with my sisters - nice cosy place but limited food selection.

I shared the crayfish and scallop spaghetti with cousin, looks appetising isnt it?? coz the crayfish looks big, taste is so-so only.

Then, we head to MOS for clubbing.... Di, being the devilette in nature, had the devil theme for the party and got me the devil bar and a red hair band as she cun find the devil ears but she rem tt we could get it at the bridge near MOS so we went in search for it before entering the club. To our surprise, it is 3 for $10 so we got one for each. So cute hor???

For some reason, the devil bar cannot be brought into the club as they say it is sharp??? so no choice we have to leave it with them. We went in with our blink blink ears and got many ppl's attention as we were so distinctive and it is obvious that we were there for a hen party. =)

Thanks for the party babes.........

My new creation - ring pillow

I am proud to present my Me-to-You Ring pillow creation with some help from mama to sew up the pillow.

Me-to-You bear is chosen as the ambassador coz this is the first bear BE bot for me abt 6 years ago to keep my mouth shut when he was driving as he finds me distracting. Haha

Di came over to my house to stay over yesterday as we need to catch Vball finals today - her last overnight stay with the single-status me =) Didnt manage to wake up on time as i had a dream and felt that i need more sleep so i laze in bed for another 30 mins.... The female finals was really exciting as both T.N.T and The Red Team are both super good with their spikes. Like Di, my hands felt itchy after watching...

Then, i head to C&C's housewarming... nice gathering as it consists both ops and sales team. Went to mit mama after that and shop at People Park Complex and OG thereafter, felt so tired....

My Wedding Book from Japan

Got wedding gifts from hei all the way from Japan as she cannot make it for my wedding day given that her school semester has started...

In fact, deep down in my heart, i will really wish that she is around as she is one of my best buddy.

Also i will want her to see her wearing dress which she dreads... hehe


Here's a cartoony drawing of how me and BE's lives will be after getting married......


Our happy new life starts.........



Ohayo (good morning), itte kimasu (i am going out), itte rasshai (be careful when you go out), okaeri (I am back), tadaima (Welcome back), oyasumi (night) -> our daily conversation




Both of us will have dinner together...
Itadakimasu (Let's eat)
Douzo (Please)






We will do household chores, watch tv, drink coffee together.....

Watch the stars together at night........

At the end of the book, hei wrote us a very sweet message....

A closeup of the message

I am so sorry that i cannot make it for your wedding. From this moment, you will start your new life... Must jiayou... I will wish you happiness throughout your whole life. Wish you and Guan happiness forever and have lotsa babies.

Hugs and kisses Qiao =)

Meeting with Solemniser

Thanks to BE that we finally got Prof Yu Sh1 M1ng to be our solemniser.

Reasons why we chose him

• Bilingual
• Positive comments posted on bridal forum
• Decent looking
• NUS Prof as both of us studied there

From all the email correspondences, he seems like a man with little words... but after the meeting we had with him today, he is actually someone who is rather chatty... Being the Real Estate Dean/ Vice Dean, we talked about the recent property trends and Joo Chiat - my future home, etc.

After our meeting with him, we went over to meet Prof Wong, BE's Honours year mentor as he was invited to our wedding.... He resembles a chubby version of Xu Guan Wen with a red puffy nose as he is down with flu. Being a life science prof, he is conscious that virus will spread so he really sat very far away from us, worried that he will pass the germs to us. So considerate of him....

Come to think of it, how come i never consider inviting my honours mentor, Prof Chia? hehe

Food tasting day

Food tasting is normally held one or two months before actual wedding day but we were a little bit late as we only had ours on 28th Aug which is less than 3 weeks before our big day. Knocked off early so that we could catch up with our hotel coordinator, Sh@mini, before the dinner...... managed to finalise the usage of our bliss stars, table arrangement, program outline, etc... As our solemnisation starts at 6pm, the briefing for our coordinators and emcees will be extremely early @ 3.30pm.
The guest table arrangement will be in gold theme and similar what is shown in the pic below, alternate tables will have their center flower piece in martini glass so as to create a varied effect.

Closer look of the assymmetric table top flower arrangement

We are free to choose from the many napkins designs which they offer and we got alternate designs of tuxedo (center) and the snail looking napkin (extreme left) as the hotel coordinator mention that this looks like a pair....

On the whole, the food was so-so but i prefer the dinner atmosphere which we have this time round as compared to the family dinner which we had last year @ Parkroyal after we told our parents that we are getting married. Thank god that both families can click so well and i hope it can maintain this way forever......

Bleeding financial markets

Woes in US mortgage market is creating a huge volality in financial market, causing share price to plunge down and many people abandoning their investments to safer havens.

Why at this time??????

I have been slogging since the beginning of the month, working 10-13 hours almost everyday till i dont even dare to make appointments with friends after work to give out my invites...... Not enough time to prepare for wedding and still have to work like hell.

Monday soon........... =(

Officially one month before i change my title to Mrs

I am left with a month for my big day and i seem to have so many things undone. Ahhhhhh as much as i like the whole process, this is driving me a little crazy especially when i need to work for long hours recently. Hahaha but i still enjoy it and counting down to see how BE will be sabo by my creative sisters, my parents will put on the veil for me, we walk down the aisle together to sign the papers, etc........

A year since i accepted the ring.....

Time really passes so fast.... i can still vividly remember the whole proposal process and how i announce to my family, friends and colleagues last year.....

I called up my parents who went to watch ge tai as it was the seventh month then and they tried so hard to hear what i am trying to tell them so i shouted on the phone till second pig could hear me from his room...

Phoned all my close friends and told them about it...... the conversation went like this
Me: "Hey i got something to tell you"
Friends: "What? You getting married huh???"
Me: "Hehehe yah lor....."
Friends: "Wow really?? congrats leh hehe"

Went office the next day and then smiled happily to all, then they asked "Why look so happy after celebrating your 5th year anniversary?" Then i showed them my blissful face and then the 'thingy' on my finger...... haha

My busy Saturday.........Out with second pig, banquet florist, prawning

Shopping with bro

I didnt i didnt mention but my BRO is back and will be in Singapore for good... yuppie so happy to see him around. The three little pigs woke up rather early for no reason so we decided to send big pig to the ferry terminal as he needs to go Batam/ Bintan.... Then i pester second pig to Ikea as i need to buy some stuffs for my new room. Thereafter we went to TM to search for pressies as we have so many birthday celebrations to attend - cousin's 21st, niece's birthday, new nephew's 1st month.... We spent the whole morning and reached home abt 3 just nice for me to take a half hour nap before we go out again...Second pig sent me to meet BE then to his friend's birthday party.

Florist shopping with BE
BE and I went to visit the in-house florist for our wedding banquet at Verdun Road near Mustafa Centre. The place was nice with alot of glasswares and lights for us to chose from. Initially we wanted chandelier lights but he showed us another one which is the latest and bigger which has a greater impact as compared and this costs more...... =( We had the discussion for 1.5 hours and this is what we had finalised.... It will be a big hole in our pocket as we didnt factor this to our budget... haizz

For the Grand Ballroom - ivory, lime green and white with Burgundy stage backdrop

• Huge and long lights with ivory seashells, the person is so nice to import another 2 more for our wedding. We had to pay for rental, electrician to fix the lights and additional to cover the original gold stage backdrop to Burgundy.
• Assymentric floral arrangement for all our guest tables. If we were to add hydrangea, our favourite, to each table, this will cost us abt $30 each.... which adds up to be $1800.... ouch!!!
• Tier floral arrangement with candles in the middle of our 20 seater donut table
• 12 pedestrals along the aisle and on the stage, florist has decided to put in hydragea free yuppie.....
  

For the Grand Gallery - burgundy and white

• 9 martini glass with candles at different heights
• side cocktail table with crystal floral arrangement
• red petals on the aisle as we walk in for our solemnisation
• Burgundy floral arrangement near the walkway to the recept.

Prawning with BE, DAR and his sis
After dinner, we went prawning.. it has been the longest time since we prawn hehe. Quite disappointed as we only manage to catch total of 6 prawns in 2 hours but the prawny is much bigger hehe....

A creative invention

Mama got tickets to go parade with godma and brought back this fan which i find it so creative. While using it in the office when the aircon gets alittle warm, i realised that the wording is more than just HAPPY BIRTHDAY...... it is so funny.........

First it goes HAPPY BIRTHDAY and the words will move round and round.......

Then, it has Sing@p0re and moves round and round........

Next, NDP @ M@rina Bay and it goes round and round again.....

Lastly, as the lettering comes out .... I .... Love..... i tot it will be Sing@p0re but it turns out to be the manufacturer brand - AKIR@ hehehe

This is so interesting and i think it can be a good item to use if one wants to propose or convey sweet messages across.... no one will expect it has wordings on it and it can be given as a normal gift when one feels a little hot due to the weather.... When he/she uses it, Surprise!!! with a secret message hehe............

K@zu Sumiyaki Restaurant

As suggested by Xiao Tian Tian, we, together with YX, had their post birthday dinner @ K@zu Sumiyaki Restaurant Cuppage Plaza #04-05. This is also a place highly recommended by Junie.... Didnt really feel that Cuppage will have such nice jappy restaurant, in my impression, it is a sleazy place packed with all those Jap KTV lounge.

The service wasnt that good as we were practically ignored by the waitress even though they sight us at the entrance. We were spolit with choice as there are so many different dishes to chose from. YX just left this important task to me and XTT, then we order and order till the final bill become more and more........

(L-R, top to bottom)

• Cabbage with miso paste? - i am not a fan of vege but this appetiser is really nice with the sauce and it can clear the oily taste in your mouth.
• Umeshu with soda @ $10 - this drink goes well with jappy food.
• Tomato @ $7 / $12 - abit exp for a tomato, nice and juicy.
• Uni with Tofu - nothing spectacular about this dish but the uni is fresh and not stinky.
• Foie Gras - abit oily.
• Shitake mushroom - well-seasoned.
• Botan ebi sashimi- sweet and nice, it took us some time trying to divide two prawns into three portion. After finishing the fresh, the waitress offered to deep-fried the prawn head for us.
• Grilled sotong @ $20 - i like this as it is QQ and yet not too chewy, tastes good with salt.
• Mochi with ??? - dont remember whats with mochi but it gets stuck between the teeth as it is very sticky.
  
  
  
  (L-R, top to bottom)

• Wagyu Beef Sashimi @ $20 - always wanted to try beef sashimi, weird as i am not really used to eating beef raw but not too bad
• Quail egg rolled with pork and asparagus roll - Yummy!
• Corn - too salty but can taste the sweetness in it.
• Chicken wing and chicken skin- dont really like the chicken skin as it is not grilled till crispy, it feels like we are eating the fats.
• Hotate and Gindara- hotate is so-so, Gindara is fantastic - fresh and tender.
• ???- dont remember whats this dish is and it is diff to tell from the pic hehe.
• Deep fried prawn head - this is the dish left from the ebi sashimi, they fried it till it is so crispy.
• Mushroom - another kind of mushroom.
• Chicken heart and pork belly - i love the heart as usual heehee.

(L-R, top to bottom)

• Japanese Wagyu Beef @ $60- there is several choices- Aust, US and Jap but we were only left with Aust and Jap so we chose Jap which is the most exp for a try. The beef really melts in your mouth as it has a little fats in between the meat.
• Grilled Botan Ebi - it is sweet but the fresh is stuck with the shell.
• Sweet potato - initially they cancel our order coz of the quality of the sweet potato. When we were abt to finish our meal and waiting for the dessert, they came back and said that they manage to grill one so we decided to go for it.
• Sesame ice cream with mochi- i prefer this
• Mochi with seaweed - i dont like this as it tastes weird with seaweed.

It is time for the bill and it comes out to be........... didnt really have such expensive meal before but it is definitely a nice place to dine at next time provided if we dont order many takai dishes.... at least now i get to know whats nice to have.

After dinner, XTT wanted to sing KTV but i cannot as i have to work on National Day....... =(

环岛追追追

I need a break after a hectic week at work... Met up with zozo to go Bugis with the intention of looking for a Chibi Anime style artist for my bridal shoots but i cannot find the one which Anything recommends. So, it was a wasted trip. If anyone knows of anybody who can draw such portrait, please let me know hor.

Then we went to Orchard to meet ah Di to shop, it has been a long time since i last step into Orchard on a Saturday hehe. I got myself the blink blink wedding heels from Anna Nucci, another item to check off from my list of "to dos".

As zozo is going to be emcee for the dinner, we went to Tangs to try out some dresses which she can consider to wear on that day... It is either too formal or too simple so she didnt manage to find something she likes. Next we went to PS to check out the guest book at M@de with Love as sweet zozo volunteers to make another one for me as mine lacks the classy look =) thanks thanks

We decided to have dinner at Central, followed up by dessert at the chocolate factory. They wanted to try Marut@ma Ramen but it was already sold out at 930pm, so we had Curry udon at the restaurant besides it. Not too bad but all three of us cannot finish it as the udon is so thick.

Walked all the way to Robertson Walk where all the pubs are located and felt the difference between the past and now... it has become such a nice place to hang out and chill. Will try that one day. As we dont really know the exact location for The Choc0late Factory, it took us quite some time to find it. So happy that we found it in the end as we were so tired after the search..... Didnt manage to take any pics of the nice delicious chocolate cake Chuao, chocolate souffle and chocolate lava cake as no photo-taking is allowed there as advised by the waitress. =(

Had real fun out with these two ladies aka sisters and am so glad that they can click off so well, can pair up and sabo the groom in Sept. =)

BE is away.........

Have been working late hours recently and didnt really have the chance to meet or chat with BE. Felt so tired, sian, irritated and demoralised so he decided to buy me something to cheer me up before he flew off to Shenzhen. Miss him =/

Mi, here i come again.........

Cantodiva S@mmi Cheng is coming to Singapore for her concert on 13 Oct, a few days after i am back from my honeymoon....

Did contemplate if i should go for it since i already watched it in HK but i know tt i will definitely feel extremely sad on the concert day if i chose not to go for it... So i bot the tickets today to go with Di, so happy =) All thanks to CC for her information else i wont be able to purchase the best seats......

I went into office especially early to finish up my morning work so as to go online at 9am sharp to book tickets and we got ourselves PA-1 Row 12 Seat 5-6 if i am not wrong - a hole in my pocket again........

过大礼 on 六月初十六

What is 过大礼?

How my mama explain to my little cousin in simplified terms.....
Groom will come and order the bride so as to book her for the wedding day. Haha

It should be.......
In Chinese culture, an auspicious date is selected to Ti Qin (literally meaning "propose marriage"), where both families will meet to discuss the amount of the bride price demanded, among other things. A couple of weeks before the actual wedding, the ritual of Guo Da Li (literally meaning "performing the rites") takes place (on an auspicious date of course). The groom and a matchmaker will visit the bride's family bearing gifts like wedding cakes, sweetmeats and jewelry as well as the bride price.

Just because our actual wedding is on 八月初五 (only a few days after the seventh month ends), we have to arrange for our 过大礼 to be before seventh month for auspicious reason. Wanted a simplified version but in the end, we bot so many things @ Chinatown. Being a ribbon-lover, i tied all those stuffs with ribbons and paste "Xi" on all of them.

We will get from groom side:
1. pin jing
2. small ang pao as "nappy money" for my mum's effort in bringing me up
3. oranges (even number)
4. cakes
5. two bottles of hard liquor

From the bride's side:
1. Return a partial amount of pin jing
2. Take an even number of oranges out and return the rest
3. Give an angpao for your hubby to buy pants
4. Two bottles of orange juice in return of the hard liquor

From clockwise: lamps, Tam pui with those red dates - 多子多孙, bowls and chopsticks to use when consume tang yuan, face basin with toothpaste and toothbrush, sewing kit to signify that i will be a xian qi liang mu, yan zi - big and small "yuan"

Here's the cakes which i ordered from Choz - looks yummy =)

My two godsisters bought me this as my wedding gift, so sweet of them.... Both of them are still schooling and have to fork out their own savings to buy me this - must be a big hole in their pocket. Hehe

Wedding Invites from Lil-@rt

Finally my wedding invites is ready just in time for my 过大礼 tomorrow. There are two inserts one in Chinese and one in English which will be selectively given to our guests depending on their language knowledge or preference. It took me such a long time tying the ribbon nicely as it is not easy doing so especially with organza material...

The world is so small......

Went to vintage's convocation on friday and unexpectedly we saw so many other people who also graduate at the same time - ZY, Blur Queen, Issac, WJ Junior and Dar.... Had real fun catching up with them and taking pictures there even though we were not the one graduating.

We went ah di's place for mahjong after that, long time never play liao, my hands felt the itch.... The all-time suay kuis (Anything and me) tag team and we won!!! Yppie our luck has finally changed for the better. Then we browsed through all those silly video clips and photos for my montage - really miss those times, must admit we are no longer young liao already in mid twenties =(

This week was a real busy week for me after the photoshoot plus down with viral infection due to cockles so have not been blogging since then...

Not to forget to thank Junie for the belated birthday treat.. muacks!

The V Tea Room aka Cookie Museum

taya introduced this nice, unique and expensive cookie to me - French Butterflies (Rose and Ginger) from The V Tea Room located at esplanade. Nice packaging isnt it?



We went down during lunch break and i grabbed two boxes which cost $28 for 24 pcs cookies as it will soon be known as The Cookie Museum and some of the flavours which they got might be discontinued.


The cookie smells nice with rose scent accompanied with small pieces of rose petals and chewy ginger bits. The combination sounds a bit weird but it really tastes yummy.

Pre-wedding Photoshoot

Reached Emerald Hill early in the morning for our photoshoot. Didnt really feel the excitement until the shoot started. While V1ck1e was helping me with the makeup, BE took some pics which i think the angle which he tried to capture is not too bad...

Here comes my bouquet, i had calla lily and hydrangea, this picture doesnt do justice to the flowers as it looks nicer in actual... i simply love the combi especially hydrangea but it is not lasting so i doubt i can have it for my actual day.


We wanted something which is more of those "mood" and "natural" type - no need to smile alot or look at the camera all the time so in the end, the photoshoot is not as tiring as expected. Time passes very fast as Kelvin made the whole session so comforable. I didnt know BE can look so cool and nice in pics - this makes Kelvin and some of my colleagues commented that he looks a little like Li N@nxing... haha

Here's my gown with the feather hairpiece which i chose to have.... as i think it goes well with my black lacy gown. Zozo said got the "Sammi" effect haha

I must admit i have coordination problem when it comes to left and right... it will take me some time before the instructions reaches my brain to tilt my head left or to look right, this makes me look so comical and retarded.

Both of us at Ritz with the background of office buidings and the construction of IR. We cannot stop ourselves from bursting into laughter when we are required to look at each other face to face - not very used to it even after being together for so many years haha....

Simply love the long staircase at Ritz taken with my long train........

Had a short nap before arriving at this lalang place which BE recommended. Felt a little grouchy with the hot sun... luckily Kelvin was kind enough to ask me to squat down so that he can take the effect of me with those lalang. Last shoot before we end our day......

It is really an unforgetable day and it really makes me feel more like a bride-to-be...... Thanks Kelvin for capturing us in such nice angles and BE for choosing Chr1s L1ng and being the groom-to-be.........

Happy 5yr 11 months anniversary...........

Come to think of it, we have been together for 71 months. =) Didnt go for any special celebration today as both of us have to run errands for our Monday photoshoot.

Today is also Mr Anything and Master Wong's birthday..... Tanjobi Omedeto!!!

-> Started the day by going to check on our auspicious day and time for an chuang, guo da li and to leave the house on wedding day.... and which animal clashes with us on that day etc. This costs us $28 for checking with the chinese almanac shifu as the cost is specifically stated if we are asking about wedding dates

• Leave the house on the wedding day before 9am after the groom gatecrash,
• Avoid Rat and Horse, so my pitiful mama, who is a horse, has to hide away from us when we enter the house. Luckily it will only be a short while.
• Guo Da Li will be on 29th July 1-4pm in order to make it for them to send invitation cards before seventh mth which starts on 13 Aug.

-> Went tailor to pick up BE's shirt at Orchard Towers, hopefully this newly-made wing-tip shirt will better than expected so as to reveal a bit of the sleeve after wearing the jacket.

-> Walked to F@iry's inc to collect our rings with customised vines designs embossed on it. We were worried initially on the final product but it turns to be what we expect.... So happy.... All thanks to designer Evelyn and co-designer BE.

The nice nice packaging

A close up on the design - Champagne Gold for BE and Rose Gold for me


Our wedding date in the interior of the ring

-> Had dinner at Pepper Lunch, i had Shimofuri Beef and BE has pepper chicken rice.... this costs us $25 for fast food? Anyway i can say that the beef is yummy coz there is fats in the meat tt makes it succulent and tender. I simply love any meat with fats or skin haha - like tt how to stay slim and fit for wedding?


-> Next, went Tangs to shop for Lipgloss to touch up during photoshoot and got myself a CD one which i always wanted to have.

-> Moved on to TWP to collect gowns, etc.... On our way there, my fingers got clamped by the car window all thanks to my stupidity as i closed it when my hand was still hanging outside... Ouch!!! Anyway Guess what??? we saw T@y Pinghui and Felici@ Chin just outside the bridal shop... Didnt realise is them when we parked the car but just had the impression that this guy walked like a gay..... He has those attitude face while Felici@ Chin looks pretty and taller than expected. Went in to tell Mel and Vickie and they were as excited as us and went out to peep at them. While we were finalising details, a couple in the bridal shop commented that i have a pretty evening gown... Hmmm i felt so proud of myself as i am the co-designer for tt. =)

-> Visit our godson... He looked so chirpy and is so fun to play with as he is now 6mths. I am actually scared of carrying baby less than 6mths as i am worried that i might break their bones with my clumsiness haha. I like the way he hugs his bolster as it looks so comfortable....

Daily brain workout

Seems to have so many things to do and realistically speaking i am only left with about 4 weekends to send out invites to the elderly before seventh month and 9 weeks more to wedding date. The moment i wake up everyday, my mind will always be thinking whats left not done, whats need to be done this week, on which specific day, whats the priority, who should i call to check or confirm, what are those things which i shld find out more, etc....

My weekend is so precious till i try to squeeze many things in a day....

• Sat - plan to check out the auspicious time, confirm invitation card with Lil-art, collect shirt @ Delfi and gown @ Bukit Pasoh for photoshot on monday, go to tour agency @ Cairnhill, purchase necessities for photoshoot, collect wedding bands @ Delfi, clean up our newly-renovated room, paint the ceiling if required
• Sun - bring mama to Tamp Hokkaido fair, mani and pedi, eyebrow trimming, go Madewithl0ve to purchase some more deco for guest book, buy cotton stuffing for ring pillow, meet irritants for birthday dinner.

BE is having his ICT these two weeks, i hardly get to see him and talk to him. =( He will be going for another one in Aug... dont really understand how the govt plans....

Departure can never be happy =(

Second bro is away again... this time round is slightly different from the past, he is going China to venture into food business. All the best!!!! I hope it will work well so that all his efforts will pay off. Dont really know what to get for him as his present before he left as he has almost everything he needs, so i bot him a Vietnamese recipe book..... wrapped nicely before passing to him. As expected, he is unappreciative on the front but i bet he is touched??? Haha

Just to make sure that he will wake me up before he left at about 4am, i slept in his room near the door way. In the end, mama woke me instead coz bro decided not to disturb my sleep as i need to work the next day. After sending him to the door, i tear while getting to sleep : _ _ _(

Miss the noise he makes when he is at home

Miss the way he makes fun of me

Miss him..............

My Customised Wedding Guest Book

Finally got the time to make my wedding guest book after purchasing the materials from Made-with-L0ve for a week.

Auspicious Date 070707

This date is so popular tt makes 777 couples tie their knot on this special day. My cousin is not one of them as he got solemnise in May but decided to chose this day to hold his wedding dinner. He assigned me to be his camera man using my not so pro new camera. After all those portfolio viewing for my wedding, I acquire a little bit of skills and use those techniques while taking pics for them - slightly tilt the door to take a glimpse of the bride who is having her make up in the room and also use those mirror effect to take dual images. Haha Although the end product still needs a little tuning, the effect is there. =)

For the dinner, i was assigned the recep role... This is the first time i had difficulties assigning the table number as the list is in Chinese. It took me a long time before i can find their names. Worse still, my auntie actually name them as Mr Chen and wife.... which i have no idea if the Mr Chen she is referring to is the same Mr Chen who is standing in front of me waiting for me to give him his table number. Also, there are many people who brought along their kids when my aunt only invite the husband and wife, they dont even bother to inform in advance. In the end, we have to be seated with strangers as those ppl took our seats.

So impressed with this dish as all the tables will be served with a relatively big suckling pig each. Yummy but so sinful......

Before
After

Carniv0re Brazillian Churrasacaria

Always wanted to check out Carniv0re to find out the differences as compared to other Brazilian Churrasacaria restaurants which i tried previously. Went there with colleagues with rather high expectations as it costs more than others and it offers a bigger range of meat. It costs $32++ before 630pm and $39++ thereafter.


Taya, small yan and I reached there earlier and we were not impressed by the meat as it is fully cooked and tough. Most importantly, the pineapple which i am craving for is NOT juicy and nice. To add on our disappointment, it has a limited variety and sauces at the salad bar so we decided to air our views to the manager and requested for pink/ bloody beef.

Dont really like their service as the waiter will tend to skip our table even though we had the placecard showing "SIM, POR FAVOR" with our face expression signalling "Please give me some food". The final verdict... i will never go there again..... will rather go Samba which is cheaper and has nicer pineapple =)

My New Gadget

Can0n Ixus 70 camera - bdae present from BE..... Arigatou =)

Yuppie finally got to change before the GST hike from an old Minolta one which he bot for me years back. We purchased at a very good deal - the salesperson blur blur and gave us an additional 2GB card on top of the package so in the end we got 4GB!

Can use this new gadget to take down happy memories especially pictures of our godson - he is so cute and chirpy, we love his expression especially when he sneezed. Visting him is our recent past time over the weekend as he will always brighten up our day.

A week long of celebration.........

誕生日おめでとう

Had my first celebration @ chalet with relatives .... As my beloved little cousin's birthday is a few days before mine, we celebrated together but her cake was much bigger than mine - she had an Oreo chocolate cake and i got a lychee cake. It seems like size of cake is inversely related to age. =P

Met up with irritants to dine @ MOF and got a slice of cheesecake from Secret Recipe as all of us were so full. Thanks to all for making yourself available to celebrate for me especially sweetie Di for excusing herself to the ladies in the pretext of buying the cake. In fact, those guys are not interested in singing birthday song for me lor. Immediately after they finished singing, they crowd together and continue playing Bye's handheld nintendo. =\ Should ban him from bringing to our next meeting.

On the actual day which is today, Stan bot me breakfast from Mac marking my first happiness of this special day. Xie Xie!!

Had lunch with colleagues @ this Xiao Long Bao place and got a treat from taya. Arigatou!!!! Was so full as we ordered many dishes - Xiao Long Bao, Wo tie, prawn, pork ribs, tofu....

While we were on our way there, Small-yan called KH wishing me Happy Bdae and i saw this reminder on his mobile - Eliz cake @ 5pm.. Haha now i know why i wasnt allow to take leave today. **Tadang** I got a special cake delivery from Awfully Chocolate and it is from YX who is physically in HK. Didnt expect it will be from her who order it online despite her hectic work hours. She is so good in making me believe that she didnt manage to get anything. Babe,"Door Jie Sia" (in cantonese)

The Yummy Chocolate Banana cake

I left early to have dinner with family and BE. When BE arrived.........

SURPRISE! I got a pretty bouquet! He is so あまい ne. I have smiles on my face till now.

Thank you everyone for remembering my birthday and making an effort surprising me and sending birthday wishes over SMS.......... Truly appreciate that!!!

Expectations

Expectations increase with age.

When i was young, dining @ Pizza hut during my sec school days was considered a luxury. But now, i wont choose to have it unless i need some food to be delivered to my doors.

Every now and then, you will hear people commenting that the food they had is not as nice as the last time they tried. Is it really because of the change in how chef cook the meal or it is due to an upgrade of own's taste buds?

As one age, it is not because they dont want to celebrate their birthday with the intention of hiding their age. I think the main reason behind it is they know that as they get older, they will be burdened with more worries so to celebrate or not to celebrate birthdays is no longer as impt as before where life can be as carefree and happy.

日本 から の おみやげ

すばらしいね!!!
Saw an air mail envelope on my desk - Yuppie, it's from heihei. She bot me a lucky charm for the month of my birth and a hair pin when she went Kyoto for her school trip.

It is so sweet to receive your pressie all the way from Japan.

haha this shows that i am not forgotten =)
ありがとう

Bridal Trial Make up!!!

Had a rather gloomy day at work today before leaving early for my trial make up session...... Didnt expect that i will get excited but after the trial, i feel so much happier =) Abt 2 more months before my big day, still struggling with invitation cards, guest list, florist, etc..... I kind of enjoy the whole process even though it makes my weekends more busy.

Vicki did a trial make up which i think it looks pretty ok - heavy make up but not scary. With that on my face, i tried on the gowns and it looks totally different, got Mel to take some pictures of us with BE having his mandarin-collared and tux on. She was so fascinated by the polaroid machine which we brought there as it look so antique.

Next, we picked some accessories for our photoshoot on 16 July - got myself a black feathery hairpiece which matches my gown with black lace and some glittering earrings. Feel like going for something more vogue so that we can look like those cover look models which i always dream of becoming one haha...

After bridal, we went dinner at Washiro jap restaurant located in katong mall followed by dessert @ ice cre@m chefs again... This time round, i had horlicks with maltese while BE had cuppucino with oreo... The ice cream is so rich in taste and so yummy! I am so glad that this new hangout is located near my future home. =)

Ice Cre@m Chefs

After an agonizing dinner @ East Coast Lagoon, BE brought me to this Ice Cream place where he chanced upon while cycling. I simply love it and give this new hangout 5 stars... ***** blink blink blink*****

520 East Coast Road #01-06 (Ocean Park)

Tel: 64466355

Free Parking for customers - Just press the Red button then "0106" at the carpark gantry behind the store

Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday 12-9:30pm

Friday - Saturday & Eve. of PH:12-11:00pm

This place is interesting as you get to choose an unique home-made ice cream flavour with your ideal toppings and the 'chef' will mix it up for you using the cold Chef's Rock.

I mixed Mrs Smith (green apple with a tinge of cinnamon) with granola and almonds. It has a very refreshing taste, with a good mix of frozen apple bits and crunchy granola. So happy that i got this combi as the more i eat, the higher my utility level.

BE had Chocolate & Hershey with Loackers biscuits, tastes equally yummy but i still prefer mine as the taste is more unique. =)

Thanks for being me there..... I want to go there again and try other combis!!!!

Ice Cream Chefs' Creations (Flavors):
- Beanie Vanilla
Creamy and rich with more than a thousand visually exciting real vanilla seeds/scoop!

- BlueBerries
Made with juicy, fresh and succulent blueberries

- Chocolates & Hersheys
Premium dark cocoa drenched in Hersheys chocolate

- Choc Mint & Hersheys (Out of Stock)
A Minty evolution of our very popular "Chocolate & Hersheys"... Perfect for an after dinner dessert.

- Cuppucinno
Freshly brewed gourmet coffee... just frozen

- Durian Decadence
Hate this fruit? Our ice cream will convert you, Really!

- Green Tea
Matcha? Whatever! Its pure Green Tea made perfect!

- Horlicks
A variation of Horlicks our mums never thought possible.

- Lychees
Refreshing and low fat sherbet, excellent for our hot and sunny climate!

- Mangoes
Refreshing sherbet. Taste Mango like you never before. Low Fat.

- Milk Tea
Better than what you get from Uncle Tan at the 'kopitiam'

- Mrs. Smiths
Chunky green granny smiths in apple ice cream with a hint of cinnamon

- Nutella Delight
Taste frozen Nutella with every lick! Oreo mix-ins with this flavor is a favorite amongst some of our fans.

- Nutty Peanut Butter
So good you'll wanna spread this on your bread!

- Oreos & Cream
Oreos with ice cream or ice cream with Oreos? U decide!

- Peachy Sorbet
So very Peachy. Low Fat.

- Strawberries
Taste real strawberries bits with every bite!

- Watermelony
Light, refreshing and juicy with crunch Watermelon bits. Low Fat.

Buddies = Strangers

Have you ever lose a close friend to your change of thoughts, beliefs or attitude? You can be so close at this point of time, the next moment the two of you behave like strangers?

I have this friend whom i am close with since sec schools. We shared all our secrets, happy and sad moments and spent most of our time together. With this, others term the both of us as close buddies. Unknowingly as we moved on to the next phrase of our lives - our thinking, circle of friends, attitude towards life change. We tried to be as close but the feeling is no longer the same. There might be some misunderstanding here and there but with no arguments, no disagreements, we distanced away from each other. Nothing much is done to salvage this friendship during that time as we were both busy with our own new circle of friends. We lost touch for years but still have the contacts on hand.

One day, one just say hi over msn and starting chatting. We talked about our untreasured friendship and realised how much we have missed out in each other's life. As much as we try to share, our friendship still remains very superficial till now.

It can never be the same as before.

Always treasure before you know that it is no longer there be it friendship or kinship............

Dining @ Per/e N0ire

Belated Birthday Treat for Junie @ Per/e N0ire, this restaurant is recommended by other food bloggers so we decided to give it a try.... Located besides the Cheesecake Place along Siglap area.

We were the only customers when we arrived @ about 7+. This place has a romantic setup with the lights along the walkway, i will much prefer that the promotion poster is not hung up high as it spoilts the whole ambience.

While waiting for Junie to go ladies, i had a brief chat with the waitress telling her that Junie is a food blogger with the intention of tasting her food and posting the reviews in her blog... Haha this makes the waitress so anxious as she is worried that it wont meet our expectations. She got Junie to write down her blog so that they can publicise to other diners... Sorry Junie that i create public awareness without your approval.

We ordered oysters for our appetisers. Their menu shows a variety or origin of oysters but they only have those from France and Canada. I am not sure if there is anything wrong with my taste bud but i cannot really taste the difference except aht the France oysters (bigger ones on the left of the pic) is salty and the Canada ones is sweeter. Frankly speaking, it is difficult for me to decide which is nicer as i am not a oyster expert. To me, it tastes nice as long as it is fresh.

Next we had foie gras with avocado japanese rice as our starters. Being an internal organ lover (sounds disgusting isnt it?), i love this dish. Dont understand what makes it relatively more expensive as compared to chicken liver, as both tastes similar except that foie gras will really melt in your mouth when you eat it. Yummy! Is bird flu the cause of making chicken unwanted and cheaper?

Anyway, here comes our main course for the day - Tenderloin stuffed with oyster wrapped with bacon, flavoured with red wine sauce and the highly recommended Pork rack with mash pumpkin... Personally i will prefer and recommend the pork rack as it is really tender and you can hardly find a pork main course which is as nice elsewhere.

We ended our meal with the dessert - Brownie coated with nuts and Ice cream.

Love chatting over dinner as it is only during this time when we can catch up with friends sharing things which have happened in our life over the years.

Hong Kong Trip 16 - 19 May 2007

The long overdue HK trip itinery =)
On the whole, nothing special as ppl and things there are pretty similar to Singapore’s except the spectacular concert at Hong Kong Coliseum.

Day 1

Depart from Singapore to Hong Kong
Stayed over at Ah Di’s place as we need to wake up at 3+am to catch the flight to HK at 620am. Nearly missed the flight as we were happily surfing net viewing Michie’s bridal pics before departure, by the time we decided to head to the gate, we saw on the TV screen – GATE CLOSED. Wow got a real shock man, the next thing in our mind is RUN……. What an exciting way to start our trip

Reached HK Airport, took Airport Express to HK MTR
Purchased the 3D unlimited which includes two way airport transfer Octopus card @ HKD 300 (with HKD50 refund). The airport transfer is definitely better than Singapore’s as they really cater to tourists. There is a spacious storage space at each cabin so that tourists can keep their luggage there and enjoy the comfortable ride.


Along the way to HK MTR, we saw the tiny tiny housing units in the extremely packed estate. Housing is so expensive there, YX spent about SGD3k each month to rent a flat of 500 square feet located in Central.


Here’s the map showing how near YX’s place is near office, Lan Kwai Fong and H&M.

YX came to pick us up during her lunch hour to her apartment, being located at Mid Soho level means that we had to take either the escalator which only goes down from 8-10am and goes up thereafter till 12am or climb the stairs/ steep slope. After dumping our luggage, we went for lunch. Sad to say, I had a disappointing first meal in HK as I decided to try something special and ordered “Xia Mi Noodles” and it turned out to be Noodles with Shrimp Powder with no sight of prawns…. This costs me HKD 30.

Shopping @ Central, Prince Edward, Mongkok, Yau Ma Tei

- Central (H&M, Li Yuen Street)

After lunch, YX headed back to office while we started our shopping adventure. We went to H&M which created a big hoo ha when it was first opened this year, nothing spectacular about it as it has similar clothing as Topshop. Took us a while to look for Li Yuen Street and it is nothing but a pasar malam street which is worse than Singapore’s. Don’t really understand why it is located at Central?


- Prince Edward (Fa Yuen Street)
Took the MTR to Prince Edward Street and came across many interesting road names (Fa Yuen Street = Garden Street, Sai Yee Street = Wash Clothes Street), perhaps these streets were meant to plant flowers or wash clothes in the olden days.


We spotted Xu Liu Shan and ordered Mango dessert and Steamed egg with Hashima and Bird Nest to share, this only costs us HKD 50 (SGD 10) – so cheap.

As much as we were not hungry especially after the desserts, we bought fish balls to try. I simply loved it as it has a very “springy” or “Q” feel, regretted that I didn’t buy more.


- Mongkok (Ladies Street, Argyle Centre)

Next, we ate Smelly Tofu and Grilled Sotong. Haha we had been eating non-stop, it is really about eating and shopping in HK. Smelly Tofu doesn’t taste that bad but it has a “drain” smell as described by Ah Di.
***See how the lady covered her nose when she walked past the Smelly Tofushop.

Did some shopping at Ladies Street… If you are ever there, here’s some shopping tips if u really like the product - try reducing the cost when you think it is not reasonable as they tend to jack up the price. Ah Di bot two tops of the same kind – one cost HKD 110 at the beginning of the street and the other @ HKD 70 located at the end of the street.

- Yau Ma Tei (Temple Street)
Felt so tired after walking for the whole day and by the time we need a place to dine in, there was limited selection so we went to this restaurant which looks like those places where HK hooligans will gather and negotiate their terms prior to a fight. Met up with Di’s friend, Jean, for a while before we traveled back to the apartment to wash up.

Clubbing @ Heihei Club near Lan Kwai Fong
This club is near Lan Kwai Fong, which is recommended by Jean. I also met up with Euan, my Bournemouth colleague who got relocated to HK. It took us some time to find the place as we missed the big signboard. This place is similar to China Black where it is located on the 3rd floor of the building. Got ourselves free entry as it is their Ladies night on Wednesday. Not as packed as we expect but the place got more crowded near 1am. We went down to check out Sugar and there were only abt less than 50 clubbers there. Got ourselves a free drink before we rest for the day.

Day 2

Breakfast
Has our breakfast @ this Shanghainese restaurant along the street down YX’s apartment, ordered Xiao Long Bao, Dumpling Noodles, Sour and Spicy Noodles… Overall comment – Not Nice.

While eating halfway, the whole pail of soya bean milk spilled all over the floor. Poor us had to lift up our legs and finished the meal.

Tung Chung (Citygate Outlet Mall)
Went Citygate Outlet mall where there are Adidas, Quiksilver, Esprit, Timberland, Nike, etc. We saw Mickey and the Carribbeans along the way as this MTR line also leads to HK Disneyland. We tot we could get some stuffs there but Least expected, there isnt much for us to buy as it is either stock from previous season’s or with limited sizes.

Sightseeing (The Peak, Madam Tussauds Museum)
Bought the combo ticket @ HKD220 which allowed us to take the tram ride to The Peak and Madam Tussauds Museum. The ride was steep, it is about 45degrees upwards.

We spent only about 10 mins at The Peak as there is nothing extremely interesting other than the view from the top and headed off to the Museum.

Took a lot of silly pics with those wax – kissed Aaron Kwok, played piano for Jay Chou, hugged Beckham, etc. Guess who?????

From the top (Clockwise) – Bruce Lee, Cecilia Cheung before pregnancy, Michelle Yeoh, Brad Pitt, Ayumi Hamasaki, ???? (I forgot her name)

From the top (Clockwise) – Twins, Late Zhang Guorong, Late Princess Diana, MM Lee

Avenue of Stars along Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
Made a trip down to Harbourfront to catch the Avenue of Stars – the buildings will light up at 8pm everyday to create a glittery galaxy effect. Those Japanese tourists made it so spectacular as they will shout “Wow” or “Kirei Na” each time a building lit up. Haha

Shopping @ TST (Granville Road, HarbourCity)
Granville Road is known to be a popular shopping area but me and Di didn’t feel so… Reason being those shops were located on the second floor and it can only be accessed via staircase along dark alley which we were not aware of. So, we spent most of the time walking around aimlessly and thinking that there must be something wrong with those ppl’s recommendations. Wasted trip =(

Sweet Dynasty
To make our trip to TST more worthwhile, we went in search of Sweet Dynasty which has physical presences mainly in Japan. This place is decorated in gold which reminds me of those ancient palace. I ordered almond paste with beancurd and some dim sum to share.

Day 3

Shopping @ Wanchai, Causeway Bay

Wanchai (Toys Street)
Went Wanchai Toys Street in search of BE’s long-wanted toy – Xiao Lu Bao… Yeah!!! Finally managed to find it for him as we didn’t see it in Singapore and Japan.

Causeway Bay (Jardine Bazaar, Times Square, Garden Road)
Next, we went Causeway Bay. The first thing we did was to look for Edison Chan’s shop – Juice. It is located at this quiet lane on the second floor with many bricks teddy on its display. The things sold @ Causeway Bay are mainly local designer stuffs which we didn’t feel that it is worth it for the design and material or maybe bcoz we are so used to purchasing those cheap stuffs in Bangkok.

Sammi Concert
See my earlier blog to view the videos for her concert. Here’s a pic to show how big Hong Kong Coliseum is. You will get to see those paparazzis, about 10-20 cameras, taking pics of those artistes who came for Sammi’s concert.


After the concert, we saw ppl selling Sammi’s concert close up pictures with CD Rom which costs only HKD60. We were so excited and wanted to buy but it got snapped up before we could. Felt so sad but at least I got to take a pic of it.


Day 4

Back to Singapore
Before departing to take the airport express, we bot the yummy Krispy Kreme. In total, I got myself 3.5 dozens. A lot of ppl especially those ppl at the check in counter must be thinking that I am crazy to buy so many donuts back home. Haha YX will feel worse as she bot 6 dozens. Anyway, I think this tastes nicer than Donut Factory. How come there is no ppl bringing Krispy Kreme into Singapore?? (Maybe the reason is bcoz it is costly - a mio for each franchise and required to open more than one outlet)

Finally we got to eat nice nice food – Dim Sum at the airport. It was the nicest meal I had in HK, but due to time constraint, didn’t really have much time to enjoy the food slowly.

By the time we checked in, we were left with 20 mins and we dashed to the local delicacies store to grab some lao po bing and Disney store for souvenirs. Sweet Zozo got me the pen on the left while I got myself those on the right for my wedding =)

Dont you think the right one (Chip/ Dale?) looks like BE??? hahahaha

Again, we almost couldnt make it for the flight as we only boarded 5 mins before departure.

Home Sweet Home...................... I love Singapore!