Random Babblings

I am shifting....

2008-10-19T18:00:00.003+08:00

This blog is moving to this new addy!

www.j0annesim.wordpress.com

It's time to embrace new changes!

Bookmark it and visit me there! :)

I could have been in Paris today...

2008-10-18T23:03:00.005+08:00

Sigh..today would be the day that I would have been in Paris taking in the French sites and sounds, indulging in all that sinful shopping, French cusine and lovely wine. (BIG) SIGH!

Anyways, coming back to reality! This came in early Friday morning to cheer me up! :) No guesses who it would come from.. Mister B of course!!! He is actually very sweet. After 'enlightening' me on why I shouldn't be whining over something really, really small and despite me giving him a little 'attitude', he still hung in there and sent this sweet floral blooms to cheer me up. I finally straightened out my thinking of course with encouragement from B and friends.

Also, in celebration of my 'Happy Friday', I dragged Princess Min -who probably is the only friend with a flexi working schedule - down to Mortons for some good ol' Martinis!! Actually, its those steak sandwiches that we are eyeing more so than the martinis.. haha! Mortons, famed for its steak sandwiches as well as surprisingly low-priced Martinis, is a must-go when you are feeling stressed up at work! Nothing alcohol can't fix is what you need for a quick perk-me-up! :) I would strongly advise that you go there at 5pm sharp. It gets really crowded thereafter and you maybe turned away if they do not have enough standing area to accomodate you.

After having two and a half martinis, we decided to call it a night at 7pm, we headed off for dinner at Space by Humble House at Esplanade Mall. Space is really the more affordable alternative to Humble House. It boasts a modest menu with great 1-dish meals for patrons on the go. I especially liked the claypot rice ($12)! It's a simple dish, no great ingredients to shout about, but I really love the broth for its comfort food for the soul. Princess Min ordered the seafood laksa ($12). I must say the laksa is great value for money. It's got oysters, prawns and scallops. No doubt, its more expensive than your local hawker fare, but hey, you are not going to be short-changed with the amount of seafood they have given you as well.

And guess what is the best part? Space is now having a promo with American Express credit cards! Buy 1-get-1 free deal! :) With such a deal like this, how can we not be happy?? Moreover, its now the time to tighten our belts so suss out those great deals and be sure to utilise them to the fullest!

Today, I just spent the afternoon with cousin, helping out at a birthday party organised by one of her friends. My task? Being a balloon sculptor! Haha, I just learnt some tricks and my reportoire is still very limited. So far, I can only make sword, field mouse, sausage dog and poodle. Today, I learnt how to make a rabbit and girraffe. But my fave is still the field mouse! Business wasn't that brisk as the children were more interested in screaming in the swimming pool then playing games. Hahaha... kids!

2008-10-16T21:22:00.004+08:00

I need to feng-shui my place and I need it QUICK!!!

I feel that my luck has been down of late.. first, it was the nemesis@work! After giving me grief and being so nasty over the phone, I actually physically bumped into n@wk this morning in the same elevator box. In between managing my bagful of laundry, 2 cups of teh, I actually managed to knock into n@wk who almost immediately 'TSK' me and threw me a look of disgust. Just my luck I guess.. I hope it doesn signal the start of a horrible day.

Anyway, I am pretty sure it did! Cos thereafter, my 'worstest worstest' nightmare came true! I now have to face my monthly nightmare almost everyday from next week onwards. Sigh.. its' not a pretty sight at work today as I tried hard to fight the sparkly droplets from falling. I know I am sounding like a child who appears to be throwing a fit.. but honestly, if you only knew the pain I have to go through, its to me my greatest fear! Sigh...

But, I will try my very best to embrace this nightmare.. I have to at least give it a shot right? Who knows, maybe with time, my nightmare may not be that bad after all.. So I am giving myself today to mope and whine.. tomorrow, I try harder to accept and embrace new challenges..

Longing for another cookie...

2008-10-15T20:38:00.005+08:00

I discovered the Cookie Museum thanks to recommendation from Cat. Cousin and I went there once to have dessert and were bowled over by the premium collection of exquisite cookies.

Pamper yourself with a lovely brewed pot of tea and sample the delightful bite-sized cookies as the lovely sales coordinator patiently explains what ingredients go into the scrumptious and yummy cookies.

They have such a wide selection of cookies- from fresh and fruity flavours to flowery ones. They even localised their flavours and offered a piece of heaven for those far away from our tiny red-dot. Flavours like hee bee hiam, nasi lemak and ikan billis, laksa and d24 offer much relief to the palettes of the home-sick.

What really got me sold was the Papaya and lotus seed cookie. The melt-in-your-mouth cookie had a lovely scent of the papaya fruit coupled with the sweetness of the lotus seed nuts. Yumz.. my mouth is watering thinking of this cookie.

Last Sat, we went a sampling again after dinner at Gluttons Bay. Wanting to savour the papaya cookie again, we were all set to part with our $30 over dollars for that 24 pieces of cookies, only to be told that it's no longer available! Some of their flavours are seasonal and only available for a limited period.

So after trying many flavours from Mango/cranberry, lemon/macadamia nut to madeline rose, the 3 of us finally agreed on the lemon/apple and macadamia nut cookie. Ooh..I feel like having another one with my peppermint tea now...

So visit the one and only Cookie Museum at the Esplanade Mall today and be intrigued with the array of cookies on display!

2008-10-14T22:24:00.004+08:00

You know when you date someone long enough, the question that you get asked as a singleton is 'when are you getting married?' Then after you get married, the very next question people asked is 'so when are you the 2 of you going to have kids?'

When we got married, B and I wanted to have kids almost immediately. Then we moved to Japan and enjoyed our life almost too tremendously.. seeking the slopes and indulging in snow-boarding every other week. We decided to seek the fast-paced life and put babies on hold then.

Now, friends around us are starting to pop babies and with my biological clock fast clicking away, I can't help but feel a little stressed at times. I have friends who are parents. Some have just stayed at home and devoted their lives to looking after their little tots. I often wonder if I can do that. I applaud them just looking after their babies 24/7. Some have even given up any shred of personal time and given their child the unconditional attention all day long. I often wonder whether I can do that, just give everything up. A havoc friend of mine replied 'Hey, if I can do it, you can too!' Then there are the friends who have become (in my opinion) the coolest parents I have seen. They can manage both a career as well as a family (with some help- naturally).

Then there are times that I wonder how B and I will fare as parents. It's difficult to be one and I think its going to be a lifelong affair.. Dunno what got me writing this post, I guess I just been doing some thinking about 'Parenting' in general.. not me being a parent right now.. but just the topic in general.

Ember-licious!

2008-10-13T22:36:00.002+08:00

In celebration of mine and Jenn's birthdays, we decided to bring ourselves out for a nice and quaint quiet dinner. It's kinda sad that the rest of the gals are no longer here to join in the celebrations, but life goes on.

Not knowing where to head, we decided to try Ember at Hotel 1929. We prob were one of the last few people in Singapore to uncover this much-talked and raved about gem. But well, better late than never.

I brought my yummy-licious sparkling Pinot Shiraz purchased at the last OZ trip at Domain Chandon. Ooh, speaking of which, Princess Min is now down under on her much much deserved holiday with her shining Lord in amour. Envy, envy.... :)

Alright, back to the evening.. don't expect a big restaurant! Ember was cosy and quaint, recommend to book in advance as the place does not serve a big crowd. When I saw the menu, I almost wanted to order everything.. haha.. it's just me being greedy!

For starters, we chose the pan-seared foie gras served under a warm bed of enoki mushrooms and the chilled angel hair pasta delightfully accompanied with konbu and abalone to share. What a wonderful start to our dinner. (Sorry, didn't manage to snap the foie gras, we immediately 'attacked' the dish the moment it was served!)

Pegs raved about the ox-tail at Ember, but somehow I couldn't find it out the menu. So either I am blind or this was a secret dish that only people in the know knew. For the mains, Jenn had the miso cod-fish (a house fave by many), whilst I selected the chilean sea-bass served with a warm yuzu-truffle butter sauce and mushrooms. I love, love, love anything yuzu. Having said this, I miss TOKYO and all the yummy YUZU delicacies the city beholds. The fish was perfect! The yuzu flavour wasn't that distinctive, I felt that the truffle overpowered the fresh and citrus flavour of the yuzu. But nevertheless, the fish was soft with its meat melting into my palette.

There is always room for dessert! But we didn't want to appear to be too greedy, so we shared the lemon sorbet mille-feuille served over strawberries. That was the much-needed finishing touch to end this wonderful dinner.

2008-10-13T22:16:00.001+08:00

This is really funny!!!

2008-10-12T21:31:00.004+08:00

I've been told that I have emotional baggage... but don't we all?
Sometimes I just want to express how I feel, but many a times, I surpress my feelings inside...
I am just tired of being pushed away when all I want to do is to ask if you are feeling better...
If this is the way I am being treated, then ok.. I will deal with it and just let life be...
You have times when you are feeling down, so do I...so stop pushing me away
Cos one day, I will really just walk away...

Humans are such complex creatures...

2008-10-11T23:23:00.003+08:00

Was at Mum's auction this afternoon, it's interesting to see how buyers bid for that contested piece of art. B kinda forbade me to buy anymore art pieces for the time being. I guess it's better too especially in times as such!

After the auction, met up with Cousin and dragged her to the Makansutra Glutton's Bay for some bak kut teh hot pot steamboat! Read in 8 days of this bak kut teh steamboat coupled with barbeque and my tastebuds were begging for me to bring them on a test-drive for something new.

For $13, you can select the hot pot and bbq set which allows you to choose a plate of vegetables (remember to pile the stack of veggies way up high) and receive a plate of assorted meats to either bbq or just 'throw' into your steamboat. Must say, the portions are rather huge and good to share amongst 3 people.

All in all, a really good and fun dining experience, though cousins said the soup had a lot of msg in it. I guess I will find out soon if I crave for loads of water before bed.

Just another day

2008-10-10T23:27:00.002+08:00

where we try to avoid the financial blood bath! Not one country in spared from this financial turmoil that has taken the world by major major surprise. What's even more depressing? The Singapore Govt announcing that we are in recession now.. what a depressing way to end the year!

trying

2008-10-09T21:06:00.002+08:00

I am trying very hard these days to keep fit since gaining those extra pounds.. sigh.. its frighteningly scary to look at myself in photos these days!

So, I am trying my very best to go for yoga every week (if possible) and this week, I tried my best to go jogging after work as well. Doesn't seem like alot.. I run around the block and I am breathless already... sure is hard to jog..

2008-10-08T20:40:00.003+08:00

Thought this chart sums up the market sentiments of late...its just DOWNhill all the way... the DOW is just slipping and slipping away! Heading further and further down south. It's really scary..tough times are ahead!! :(

Today markets are all NEGATIVE... can you imagine? Its a global economic CATASTROPHE! Like B so rightly says it.. its the FINANCIAL TSUNAMI that wiped out all markets!

the good, the bad and the ugly...

2008-10-07T21:52:00.003+08:00

Today is a day of reckoning!! I received good news, bad and ugly news!! :( Sobs.. the bad and the ugly news over-powered the good news...

Okie.. the good news first! My shipping at Bloomingdales went through!! And they got the order right too! Phew... was worried that it was going to be the wrong colours that I was going to get...

The BAAAAD news.. there wont' be any trip to anywhere in 7 days time! I can kiss my Pret-a-Paris plans au revoir and sayonara! :( Its really quite depressing especially when its so close! Its a huge disappointment but what to do? Sigh

And the UGLEEE??? Isnt the bad news an ugly enough news already? 'Nuff said for today!

Chez Paul

2008-10-06T21:21:00.004+08:00

Chez Paul comes recommended by Chris (Cat's other half) who used to live in Paris a couple of years. When on a budget, the best thing to really rely on is recommendations from friends and guidebooks (from time to time).

A quaint little restuarant that is located at 13, rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris. I only have 3 days in Paris so will try to make a trip here for dinner.

Otherwise, some of the recommended specialities include Escargots, Porta Foie Gras amongst the other French delightful dishes.

Another 8 more days to go!! Can't wait!

sometimes

2008-10-05T23:01:00.002+08:00

I am truly amazed by the lengths that I would put myself through just to satisfy my shopping fix! I just called the Bloomingdales customer service representatives, almost 'begging' them to verify with the credit card company my details and telling them not to let my items from my shopping bag go. After that, I await by my Mac for that email verification from Bloomingdales telling me that the order is in process. And then, the next morning, I wait again for that final email confirmation to say that the order has been shipped instead of that dreaded 'Oh no.. we can't process your order' email. I am amazed by my shopping insanity at times! Haha...

On a separate note, I found the dress to don for my sister's wedding. She has got a lavendar theme so I got a pretty Definition dress that is adorned with the cutest deep purple doves.

Gotta go.. need to head to bed now.. I just hope my phone doesn't ring, cos the nice people at Bloomingdales said they would definitely call my mobile if the order doesn't go through. Sigh..

2008-10-04T18:30:00.007+08:00

Touted as one of the best ways to see Paris, this was recommended by Sista who recently visited the city and went on this Segway tour. You would not need to sweat or fuss over how to get there by foot, just hop on the bike and wheeze away! Best part about this? You don't need to know how to ride a bicycle in order to get round the city of sparkling lights! :)

Wanna know more? Click here to find out more!

lusting and wanting

2008-10-04T16:42:00.002+08:00

I really want these from Marc Jacobs!!! Bloomingdales is having an additional 25% discount off from the sale price but unfortunately I don't even know whether the transaction went through... sigh...Sobs..this is what happens when I am stuck at home for too long!

Presenting

2008-10-01T22:14:00.003+08:00

the very last pictures that I took from the F1 race...

Our grandstand tickets at Turn 3. It wasn't the Sky Suite for the last day but still the atmosphere on ground was a blast! We had the singing waiter to seranade us... those lucky people at the Sky Suites who had free-flows of champagne..HMPH...

And here is my attempt to capture shots of my favourite F1 cars... but with quite little hope! :( The yellow one is Alonso's car. The Maclaren team has one of the sexiest cars in my opinion. Its silver in colour, really sleek! See if you can spot it in any of these pictures.

Dresses worth falling for

2008-10-01T18:03:00.003+08:00

Lookie here! All these pretty dresses that's here to welcome Fall! :)

Here are my picks to dress up my wardrobe!

If you can seem to shake off the blues, then this Saffron floral dress from Oscar de la Renta will help you keep the summer cheers in bay! The mixture of colours on this dress completes the Park Avenue Princess look.

(Left to right)

This pretty Matthew Williamson dress pays tribute to the recently-ended Olympics. Its got stars and gymnasts all rolled into one. What more can you ask for as you don this on for a whimisical and fun night out with the gals!

I am starting to fall in love with Matthew Williamson stuff! This chiffon wrap dress is perfect for my sister's wedding in Nov.

Another floral number from HANNI Y to behold! Rock and chic away with this fun and flirty frock. Coincidentally, I managed to try this frock today but it was too short for me... :(

Woah.. this Phoenix deco print dress from Anna Sui is a stunner! I can imagine chasing the winter chills away with this striking dress.

That's all my picks for the season. Stay tuned for more!

the day I turn 30...

2008-09-30T22:42:00.009+08:00

Another candle to add on my birthday cake as I grow older! It was a quiet celebration of sorts this year. I guess as one grows older, you just want to sit back, relax and be with the people that are close and dear to you.

One of them of course would be B! He came back home for the F1 and of course to celebrate my birthday! :) Here's what we did on the actual day...

Dinner at Les Amis.. I always wanted to go there especially since I've heard the rave reviews of this lovely French restaurant!

The opulent interior decor! Loves the chandelier which B told me that we won't be getting anything soon. Oh well.. but lookie here, your handbag get its very own chair! Wow! :)

Instead of going straight for the Degustation Menu, this evening, we decided to just opt for the ala-carte menu, starting with a bubblicious Rose Champagne (sorry, I can't seem to rotate the picture). B choosing the wine for the evening with his bruised hand.

Amuse bouche, courtesy of the restaurant: breaded mushroom balls that are served piping hot! Next up was the spring roll stuffed with minced meat and served over a warm mushroom sauce.

We decided not to go overboard with the dinner and decided to share our starters. The Wagyu beef was served raw with shaved aged parmesan cheese and white truffles. And no dinner is complete with our favourite foie gras!!

The main course was a duck dish that was prepared in 2 different ways. The first dish saw the duck just served as it is with a red cabbage salad, grilled apple and potato puree. The duck was tender and done just nice. For the second course, the duck was prepared a little differently. It was served ala Japanese style with corn and seasonal Enoki mushrooms. Hmm... yumz is the buzzword for the evening! Of course, B chose the wine for the evening. He always knows what i like, would be clueless if I had to choose the wine!

Dessert was an assorted cheese platter. Lastly, petite fours!! We also had freshly baked madelines courtesy of the chef!

Thanks B for the evening and the pressie! :)

This evening, I met up with the family and had a cosy little dinner celebration at Jack's Place. Hey, the sambal steak is seriously quite good (for an entry level steak).

Stephie, we missed you!! You are the official photog at our family events!!!

And I love all my pressies!!! :)

Earrings from B
Boxers, Ahava toiletries set and shampoo from my loving sisters
A fotofall frame from Min
The Botkier bag that I was kicking myself for not buying earlier from Cat and that wonderful BMW Sabuer F1 cap from Cat and Chris
Yummy-licious gifts from Molton Brown - Chempaka shower gel and body lotion - from the people at work! I love Molton Brown stuff.. the scents are always a loving treat for my body!
A travel tag and girlie coin pouch from cult brand 'Flirt' from Mad

Off to the races

2008-09-28T16:50:00.004+08:00

This was a whirlwind weekend of sorts. I thought we were going to be hanging out at the F1 for most of the days, but a small accident happened with B and in the end, it was zooming in and out of the hospital as he got his right hand fixed! Drama!

Other than that, we had an exciting time watching the qualifying rounds at the F1 Sky Suite. Lucky us, we were hosted by RBS and we had a wonderful view of the paddock and the pit stop. I didn't see Lewis Hamilton but the view of his car was good enough for me! :)

Here are some highlights from the evening:

Tonight is the finals for the F1 Singapore Grand Prix. We didn't get the Sky Suite seats for tonight but am just glad to be there tonight.. heading to the F1 village soon to grab some merchandise and soak in the fun! Seeya peeps..

2008-09-24T20:38:00.003+08:00

I just found this cute site: http://www.art-dept.com/illustration (thanks to Galfren's recommendation) and have been on a roll downloading all these cute illustrations for wallpaper. Now I can dress up the wallpapers on my phone! :)

This week is going to be an exciting week with the F1 just days round the corner! Other than the massive traffic build-ups and jams that it has caused so far, it will also see the return of B and Cat! Yippeee... looks like it's set to be a fun weekend with calorie-pumping action, boozing, great company and loads of high-pitched sounds to be heard from just outside the window and at the Grand-stand! Can hardly wait!

Need sleep! Last night I had a scare! My air-con went bonkers on me at the ungodly hour of 11.45pm! I had to suffer sleeping in the sweltering heat worrying that it's going to be a major problem. Turns out it was an electrical trip and I managed to resolve it in the morning.. phew! Can't imagine turning guests away!

I like...I want.....

2008-09-21T22:15:00.007+08:00

Chatting with fashion-savvy Cat always gets me excited! Especially when we talk about the latest fashion and what's the latest lusts and must-haves in our handbag wardrobe. She got me hooked on Balenciaga and the latest collection from this brand is now on the top of my shopping list.

Purple is always the colour to stock up for Fall/Winter. Its always on the top of every brand's coveted list of colours for the season.

My first choice: Giant Day in Sapphire
I fell in love with Balenciaga when I saw Cat touting the Giant City with the gold plated metal hardware. The metal hardware was so-so outstanding and definitive of the brand.

I got my first Balenciaga thanks to B and have been using it almost to death! Its the perfect bag for any get-up and great for travelling. It can take almost anything that you dump inside. Really, I never seen a bag that can go so well-coordinated for all my travel outfits. My Balenciaga First has travelled many a-times with me to Hong Kong, KL and have been my bestest bag companion for travelling.

I want the Giant Day cos its a tote that is travel-worthy as well. Loves the deep royal purple colour that can add that dash of glamour for my outfits!

Second choice : Giant Day in Sahara

Need to add more 'colours' to my bag wardrobe and stay away from the dark colours. So Cat suggested the Sahara colour. This natural tan vintage leather makes this bag a winner! It would be easy to pair this bag with any outfit for the day and night! The only downside? It may not be able to subject the 'torture' that I may put it through.

The Giant Day is also available in these delicious rainbow colours!

drooling.....I am definitely checking out the nearest Balenciaga boutique when I hit Paris!

Balenciaga Boutique
10, avenue George V
75008 Paris
+33 1 47 20 21 11

Printemps
64 Bld Haussmann
75009 Paris
+33 1 42 82 50 00

Le Bon Marche
24 rue de Sèvres
75007 Paris
+33 1 44 39 80 00

Unveiling

2008-09-21T16:52:00.005+08:00

The latest Fall/Winter collection from the House of Chanel 2008/2009

I find the latest collection nothing that much to shout about but I still have my eye on these bags which are top of my 'must-have lusts' for the season.

The evergreen 2.55 classic undergoes another model makeover with this patent silver calfskin look. Loves the shiny patent look on the 2.55 that can dress up any outfit.
This Chanel is a little different from the ones in my handbag wardrobe, hopefully one that my other half would approve. Hmm.. but I am not too sure about the tweed detailing on the bag. Something to consider perhaps?

I also have the roving eye for Yves Saint Laurent's Downtown Tote. Its an everyday tote that rides on the metallic wave trend. Loves the silver leather along with the silver-tone hardware. The shape of the bag is also perfect for everyday wear whilst providing the wearer some uber-chic edge.

2008-09-20T17:26:00.002+08:00

Am feeling a little beat from the morning yoga workout! After taking a long break from yoga, my body is starting to feel the strain when my yoga teacher 'forced' me to stretch in the warrior and upward dog poses.. phew.. I am sure tomorrow my body will really suffer...

Next Monday will see the departure of the little one off to UK to further her studies. Am a little tad bit worried for the actual departure at the airport. Am sure the waterworks will surely and freely flow at the airport.. like my sister said, we have all inherited my mother's ability to turn on the waterworks almost instantly (not that we have a choice).

Last night, we planned a cousins' outing at Empire Cafe.. it was the Yees', Sims' and Chers' clan gathering. Over the table, we had great laughs whilst chomping down local delights at rather high prices targeted to earn the tourists' dollars I am sure.

We all chipped in to get the star a laptop bag. Now she is worried how she is going to stuff this into her luggage. Haha...

Thereafter, we adjourned to Supper Club to check out the buzz. It was a long flight of steps up to the bar (must be wanting us to exercise before we drink). When we reached to the top, we 'oohed and ahhed' at the posh and inviting white beds. But they are all reserved.. unless we opened 2 bottles of spirits or a few bottles of champagne. At this point in time, my cousins missed B (who many months back had a dramatic episode of opening many a few bottles of champagne at Zouk that got me mad!). The culprits then shut their mouths thereafter when I threw my dagger-eyed stare! Haha... As the configuration of the bar was not very conducive for idle chatter, we decided to jump-ship and head to Loof instead.

Will definitely miss u gal gal.. study hard and do us proud in Warwick!!

Affordable Europe: Chic City Guides

2008-09-18T21:05:00.005+08:00

Oh lookie what I found!!

Surf on down for some great travel tips filed by the New York Times.. I am going to bookmark this page and save it for my research for London and Paris! Counting down.. another 25 more days to go... can't wait! :)

2008-09-18T21:05:00.002+08:00

Uploading the last few images from our trip down under...this is the last day that we spent in Sydney before heading back to Sing...

Looking at these pictures kinda made me miss my bob-hairstyle... hmm.. now I kinda regret cutting back short...okie... I need to grow back my hair!

Other than that...it's Wall Street Woes... its depressing seeing the financial markets these days not knowing what is going to happen next..[BIG sigh!] How I wish I could live in a little bubble and be protected from all these gloomy stuff.

2008-09-17T22:44:00.004+08:00

There is a new blog in town that I am hooked on to....

Surf on down here to www.seaofshoes.typepad.com

Jane has got loads of style coupled with a to-die-for extensive shoe wardrobe! Oh, did I not mention she has a killer sense of style as well?! All this at a young tender age of 16! Hmm, don't really want to recall the 16 fashion horror stories that should be locked under a heavy-duty bolt never to be mentioned ever-again! haha...

life... as we know it....

2008-09-17T22:27:00.003+08:00

It has been a busy week for the action on Wall Street was simply nerve-wrecking and nail-biting, keeping one on the edge of the seat all day!

Other than that, I haven't been doing much. Just checking out the fares for air tickets to Hong Kong, airfares have gone up so much, its not good for my pocket! Sigh...

2008-09-15T21:37:00.005+08:00

The little sister has discovered the world of photo-blogging! She created this little photo-montage on Picassa on last night's 'ti teng long' events! I miss Picassa, its really quite good for photo blogging but now I have another software to rely on, so I can't really complain!

It's hillarious.. my sister said this..
'Next time we TTL at da-jie's house, all the children will cheer Auntie Stephanie is the best, Auntie Stephanie beats the rest cos Auntie Stephanie works in CAAS!!'
haha... hillarious!!!!

Happy Mooncake Festival

2008-09-14T23:00:00.003+08:00

Have you had your mooncakes yet? :)

Today is the mooncake festival and I just came home from dinner with the family and my 2 sisters sent me off in a 'ti deng long' kind of way! Haha.. It was 'meet the parents' session for Marianne and Auggie and our family. Over dinner, we negotiated the day's events and what is going to happen for the big wedding day. Thereafter, we went home and had mooncakes...I finally sunk my teeth to a durian mooncake for the season. I haven had durian in such a long while!

Next week will see the last week that my baby sister is here in Singapore. Must say that she has grown all up.. I really enjoy spending time with her, going supermarket shopping, helping her to buy the stuff and getting ready for the big UK move. B keeps saying that I am a tyrant when it comes to hanging out with my sisters.. but honestly, I don't think I am all that bad! I still have a softer side! :p So next week, am making the extra effort to hang out more with my baby sister... its dinner on Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat and prob Sun! :) Looks like its tons of family loving coming along my way!

2008-09-13T15:51:00.003+08:00

I am down with the flu... sniffles... damn..what a waste of weekend!!!

Last evening saw me dragging my old bag of bones for a 30 min jog with Dawn. We are on this 'Get-Fit' programme, determined to lose off some extra pounds. For me, it was the shock and horror of seeing my photos from Sista's wedding.. hmm.. I wish I could just blame it on major water retention.. but its prob not going to be the case. Anway, we decided to get fit and try doing some sporting activity every week if we can. So this week is jogging! I have not gone for a jog for the past like 10 years! The first 7 mins, I was major 'gung-ho' but after that, I was like 'u mean I have to jog another 3 more minutes before I can walk!' Fortunately,having Dawn there to motivate me really helps! We managed to do a 30 min jog-walk-jog activity! After the jogging, went to a colleague's house for overnight MJ session.. this prob contributed to my flu but we all had fun washing tiles and making jokes from time-to-time! :)

I got a tad bit lazy this morning, was supposed to go for yoga but I really couldn't get out of bed, flu was getting worse so I decided to sleep in and then clean up the house. After galfren and grateful left, I haven had the chance to clean up the house! Am glad to have de-cluttered stuff and did some spring-cleaning in the midst of it all! :) Phew.. now I need to moisturise my hands who are screaming 'DRYNESS..HELP!!!'

This evening, I have no plans again..sigh..dun really like the weekends when B is not around.. but no choice! He is up in Xi-An this weekend honing his photog skills whilst visitng the sights and sounds of Xi An and attempting to battle some Terrocotta soldiers. I am just going to be stuck at home twiddling thumbs. Prob going to head to the supermarket and stock up some grocerries for the week.

I am going to head into the bedroom for a nap, the meds are making me real drowsy now. But before I go, here are some more pictures from Sista's wedding (taken candidly!)

Us 'tekan-ing' the groom... we made him a signature cocktail consisting of brandy, whiskey, red wine and egg yolk. It was major gross but that's bcos he didnt give us the proper dues! ;p

That's me on stage being the emcee for the evening. First time public speaking for a wedding dinner.. had the jitters and prob think that I wasn't audible.. I am the worse critic for my own self! ;p

Paris...

2008-09-11T16:27:00.005+08:00

Now am really excited about the upcoming trip to Paris.... we were talking about it over lunch and hopefully the weather holds up so that we can have a lovely time there.

The hotel has finally been booked... we were this close to sleeping on the streets of Paris with our LV and Chanel handbags in tow..haha... The period that we are heading up is the Paris Fashion Week, which means that its going to be tons of famous people there..from models, fashion editors and possibly celebrities.

We got a nice little room at Hotel Galileo - recommended by another colleague from work. Situated at 54 Rue Galilee road, its within walking distance to the Metro and located Champ Elysees... whoo hoo...can't wait!

2008-09-10T23:04:00.002+08:00

I am just trying very hard to catch up on sleep these days after catching up with friends these couple of days! Just came back from a nice long dinner with the ex-colleagues from 'where time stood still'. It was good Teochew food at a retro-looking Chinese restaurant at People's Park, recommended by good ol' Uncle Larry! :) It was good fun and laughs as we made the most noise in the restaurant and of cos, we were also the only ones that drove the waitresses mad with our incessive laughter and indecessive requests! ;p It's nice to know that everyone has moved on and are doing well.

On a separate note, am really relieved that we managed to sort our train tickets and hotel booking in Paris. I was getting quite worried when most of the hotels that I had written to were all fully booked! I really don't want to end up on the streets! I'm thinking that the period that we are going up is the Paris Fashion Week.. so it's going to be madness and mayhem...

Okay, next up...some lovely restaurant to be researched on! :)

more photos....

2008-09-08T17:55:00.001+08:00

Here are more photos from our Bentfork 'get down and dirty' dinner!

2008-09-08T17:48:00.000+08:00

I dun wanna leave........

2008-09-07T18:59:00.004+08:00

Enjoying the glorious view that our new place in Hongkong has to offer.... lying in bed and watching the sun set is prob one of the best times the day has to offer.

It was a whirlwind weekend again... almost missed my flight but thankfully, managed to get all the work sorted...I just need 1 hit...

Touched down on Friday and B brought me to Xi Yan cafe...I dunno why but I kinda like the funky fusion Chinese food and the desserts were to die for!

Sat, we went to Mongkok to try and find B's spiked shoes. We couldnt find any but got away with some running shorts for him. Went home and we hooked up our Wii system and got hooked on Mario Wii-kart. It was pretty fun and we even roped in Galfren and Grateful along. We ended up playing games till close to 9pm before heading out for dinner and drinks a a local pub. Ate loads of pub grub and ended playing darts (the girlies against the boys). Not bad.. I managed to score 2 bull's-eye!!! :) Now I just need to be consistent in terms of scoring points. After guzzling down about 5 big pints of hoegarden, we were eager to go for more and we ended up in a karoke pub somewhere in Lee Garden. We didn't leave till about 5am..phew am really getting old for any form of clubbing...am dead-tired when we got back home! Phew...

2008-09-04T21:56:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow is the big event...sports day at NYP...
Thereafter, I am coming home to write my release, hopefully can secure some coverage and then head off to the airport to catch my flight to HK!
Yay... going to be spending the weekend there! :)
Can't wait ...but B is on an exercise regime... I applaud his efforts in going to the gym almost everyday, something that I said I want to do but have yet to do anything about it...

So am going off for the weekend... we have moved to a new place..so going to be taking in the new sights and sounds in Kowloon!

~toodles~

the day sista got married....

2008-09-03T21:03:00.004+08:00

The day Sista finally tied the knot. I love weddings but then again everything usually happens so fast and one really wonders 'Wow, what really happened? What did I do?' and so on...

We were all supposed to report at Sista's house at 7.30am. But bcos I havent slept in a long long while, I acually overslept. Woke up at 7am instead.... panicked, got ready and then dashed out of the house. haha... As you can see my eyes were still all puffy.... sigh... once you pass the thirties, its kinda downhill all the way..The eyebags take a longer time to get rid and let's not talk about the flapper arms...DAMN...

Now I am not too sure about my short hair. I used to sport this look before I got married but now its a look that I am not so used to. I really wonder why? Anyway, back to the topic. Thats' the bridesmaids in tow and waiting to 'zheng' the groom. It wasn a long 'ragging' session. There was the usual sourching of sweet, sour, bitter and spicy stuff which we originally wanted them to get from the neighbours place. But the best men were all not bothered. Oh well.. in the end, we only played the games for 20 mins.

We checked into the day-room at the Regent and galfren and I headed to the Bobbi Brown counter at Taka to get our make-up done. The makeover cost about $80 but its fully redeemable on Bobbi Brown products, I thought it was pretty worth, liked Bobbi Brown stuff anyway. In the end, I ended up getting alot more stuff than the original $80 that I wanted to fork out. ;p Got more concealer to cover the eye bags.

Then we went back, got ourselves dressed and tressed. We popped a bottle of bubbly courtesy of Jenn and then giggled a little before heading down for the bride to mingle with the guests. Bcos I was driving, I couldnt drink loads and summon enough Dutch courage beore going on stage. I was supposed to be the emcee for the evening. I don't like public speaking.. my job calls for it but outside of work, I still get the jitters going on stage and facing a roomful of strangers. And obviously you could hear the shivers from my voice......stresssss.

But overall, the evening went well.. it was a lovely wedding affair and a job well done for all who helped. Crept home after 12midnight..dead tired...

Ooh.. Desperate Housewives Season 4 is back on Star World. I can't wait!

2008-09-01T20:59:00.004+08:00

This weekend was massive... I have never survived on such little sleep for a very, very long time....It was a whirlwind weekend and everything happened so quickly...

Galfren flew back for Sista's wedding and stayed over my place starting from Thursday. I waited for them to arrive and we started chatting happily.. it was way past my bed-time when I hit the sack.

Friday came... it was supposed to be my happy friday..but I ended up conducting a last minute session for a new bunch of joiners.. then had to facilitate a lunch-time briefing and lastly co-facilitate another session. There went my Happy Friday... but nonetheless, was looking forward to a fun night out with the gals.. I guess it has been a while since I did a girlie gathering.. This time we gathered together for Sista's bridal shower.

We arranged a nice little get-together with the Bentfork Cooking School. It was a five-course meal complete with canapes, champagne and wine. We even got to try a couple of easy-to-do recipes.

I just realised I didn't do much photo-taking for the whole night.. Jenn became the official photog and I hope that she gets to upload the pictures on FB soon.. The amount of food I have been having despite being sleep-depraved has been tonnes... It contributed to my roundness... :( sobz... which means the photos that I am are all going to be roly-poly!!!

It was fun getting the bride-to-be in the hot seat asking her all those arkward questions that she just cringed in.. But I must say she was really game enough to take part in the games with finesse and a pinch of gung-ho-ness... haha...

After dinner, we went to Holland V for another bottle of red wine. After that, galfren and Pam still wanted more, so they dragged me down to Wine Bar for alot more round of drinks... it was really quite scary. There were loads of alcohol, with Martinis and trays of shooters. We got home after 4pm and still managed to chit-chat loads more.. I crept into bed at 5am with my mind screaming HELP.. need more sleep.

I got woken up by a serious bout of coughing and headed out to town to meet Ava - shopping partner-in-crime for a perfume sales. But the stocks were not that great to shout about.. so we were ended up being quite disappointed. I decided to treat my aching and tired body for a much-needed massage. I went to Kallang Leisure Park and got my feet massaged like little balls of dumplings by this Chinese male therapist. Thereafter, I added a 30min shoulder and back massage. I think I gave him a prety good work-out....he really pulled me and kneaded me hard as if I was a dough that needed to be slapped around and flattened! But it felt quite good after that... it was what I really needed! Went to prettify my nails for the wedding and then headed home to do my weekend clippings...

I didn't get to stay home long before changing and heading out for a family gathering. But before that, we went to check out City Plaza with the leetle sister and cousins. It was my second aunt's birthday and dinner was at Lion City Hotel. I got congratulated at for being pregnant.. that definitely was not a good sign cos I wasn't. I am just rounder a lot more. Sigh.. sobs..

Okie.. I need to get to bed now.. eyelids are h...e....a.....v.....y

2008-09-01T13:43:00.001+08:00

I am so so so very tired from the lack of sleep that I have been having the past couple of days.

I.need.sleep.badly!

thrilled

2008-08-28T21:39:00.003+08:00

I am really thrilled with the upcoming couple of events that will probably overwhelmed me to bits!!! Work has been piling up but I just hang in there.. do my best! Come Oct, I will be packing my bags and heading for a nice work trip :) Am really really grateful to be given the opportunity... so am making the most out of it...

Will be making a side trip to chi-chi chic Paris enroute with my colleague and am now researching to make the most out of the limited time that we have. Am really excited.. this is my 2nd trip to Paris, the 1st time I went, B brought me there.. it was part of our grand Europe tour and we just started work, so we went on a budget. No doubt this time round, its still going to be a budget, but it's also slightly different! I wanna go to the Louerve Museum, do my jumps at the Effiel Tower and just hang out the boutiques. Ooh ooh let's not forget to make a little stop at Madame Chanel Boutique.... ;p I can't wait!!!

So here we go again, as I embark on my planning and start 'sniffing' out hotels that come with almost everything! Location, View, Great Beds and hopefully at prices that are oh-so-affordable to one's pocket.

Watch this space! :)

more cam-whoring...

2008-08-25T21:57:00.003+08:00

Bondi Beach was absolutely breath-taking with its glorious views of the beach and hot bods surfing and riding the waves. If it weren't winter, I would be jumping and prancing around in my summer gear but unfortunately, we were decked out in our winter gear. For most of the time, I was just shivering as I wore a dress over my winter coat... was trying hard just to smile at the camera without gritting my teeth too hard. ;p

Still reeling in from the fullness of our lunch, we tried to eat light for dinner. It was hard not to over-eat in Sydney as we had too many choices when it comes to dining. For the eve of our departure, we chose Icebergs (see previous post on Icebergs). The place was all that it promised to be. Boasting great views of the Bondi Beach, it was absolutely breath-taking sitting by the edge of the bar whilst sipping our cocktails. Dinner was a lovely affair as well...dimly litted restaurant with patrons that were all decked out in their evening finery. As we had an overdose of fish for the day, B chose the lamb, whilst I chose the squid ink rissotto with chilli and lime garnish.

2008-08-24T10:02:00.001+08:00

Experimenting with B's new cam is really fun, was jumping, jumping and jumping almost everywhere we went...

more aussie photo-taking

2008-08-23T22:22:00.006+08:00

Day out at the Sydney Fish Markets... we went there rather bright and early. But it was nothing that fantastic.. not like the Tsukiji Fish Markets but seafood was abundant!! We had fish and chips and calamari for breakie.. Dunno why but I was craving for calamari at this point in time. Haha..

Then we headed to Paddington Market to check out the local market scene... hmm, not that great either. Stuff were pretty normal...nothing too over the top. So we headed off to the next place, QVB Building, one of the oldest shopping arcade in Sydney. I didn't find the shopping there too exciting as well.. haha.. But had a ball of a time taking pictures...

Sydney

2008-08-21T22:47:00.004+08:00

Arrival into Sydney and we just hung around the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House... I will just let the pictures do the talking...

Tetsuya's

2008-08-20T21:15:00.010+08:00

Remember my post about Tetsuya's? We couldn't believe when they told us there was a waiting list for dinner till the end of the year. So we tried our luck for lunch, but they never did get back to us, so we decided to give up. Little did we know, we did manage to score a reservation. They were trying hard to get hold of me but I didn't turn on my mobile till we arrived in Sydney. Was really quite ecstatic when we found out that we were going to having lunch at Tetsuya's!! :) Yippee dee doo dah....

It was an eleven course degustation menu at Tetsuya's... the diet plan literally just went down the drain! Anyways, that's the only menu that all patrons can have. The menu was delightfully and sinfully exciting!

Bread was served with not just any normal butter but non-salted butter with black truffles and aged parmesan cheese. The amuse bouche was a small serving of warm green pea soup that was drizzled with white truffle oil. This summoned our 11-course luncheon...

1. First up was the fresh ocean trout cake with Beluga cavier and scalloped egg. Initially, we thought that little white dollop was scallop mousse but it turned out to be a tiny little egg. The sweetness of the yolk matched the trout cake perfectly. This dish was paired with sake from Kyoto.

2. Next was the tuna sashimi with wasabi and ginger dressing. It was paired with the Lost Valley Savignion Blanc 2006. Wouldn't say this dish was super fantastic, but the dressing was refreshing to one's tastebuds. To quote my better half, 'this dish is very nice.'

3. Grilled Tasmanian scallop with diced onion and bacon was paired with Tyrell's 02 Seminion. The juices from the scallop made a nice warm broth, an added accompanient for the dish.

4. Another ocean trout dish but this time served with konbu salt over a crunchy green apple and fennel salad. I thought I couldn't stomach another trout dish but this dish proved me wrong. The konbu salt gave the trout a much needed salty boost whilst the green apple and fennel gave this dish its a crunchy balance on the palette. This dish is also said to be Tetsuya's signature dish and paired with the Eden Valley Joseph Hill 2007 wine.

5. Ravioli stuffed with Queensland spanner crab and served over a tomato basil sauce. Dish was paired with Pierro Estate Chardonnay 2007 - specially produced for Testuya's.

6. The last crustacean dish for the course was this baby barrumundi over a flower bed of baby fennel. By this point in time, both B and I have had enough of seafood and were raring for the meat dishes to come on out.. haha..

7. The first of our 2 meat dishes - the pinkish duck breast that was soft and tender, served with Tetsuya's Pinot Noir.

8. The seared veal with wasabi butter. Wasabi in butter, what a heavenly pair!

Oh.. the famed chef Tetsuya came out to greet all the patrons. I couldn't resist being a groupie and asking him to take a picture with me! :0

9. And you know how many restuarants normally just give you a sorbet to clean your palette? At Tetsuya's they gave us this spoonful of sugared lentils with shaved cheese. We just took a hard look at this and almost wanted to just give it a miss but our server told us to just give it a try. And we did... the result? Wow... this spoonful of sugar helped changed our palettes in preparation for desserts.

It's finally time for dessert!!! YAY... there were about 5 other tables around us, but we were the first ones to come this far.. I guess we eat really fast! haha...

10. Beetroot and blood orange sorbet on shotglass 1 and in shotglass 2, bread and butter vanilla pudding. Hmm, nothing too over the top and fanciful I guess.

11. Last but not least, petite fours!!! From left to right - Sweet potato chocolate truffles, white macadamia biscotti, gingered chocolate macroons and the chewy soft green tea marshmallow. What a delightful sweet ending for the entire meal...

What can we say about this? PERFECT and STUFFED....

2008-08-19T22:06:00.006+08:00

This was our WICKED night out! When I found out that Wicked was showing in Melbourne, I was esctatic! Dun ask me why but Vic said I would love this show as it was rather girlie with bimbo undertones.. haha...

Tried to get the tickets online but they were rather ex! AUD 189 for the front portion of the theatre and those right at the back were AUD 109 - 119. So B told me to get the tickets when we arrive to Melbourne. When we arrived Melbourne, I immediately got the concierge to help us get tickets for Wednesday night. They were going to cost us AUD 120 each. B said to hold on again and try our luck for tickets on Thursday. So we did. Early Thurs morning, went to Regent Theatre and the tickets that were available right right right behind. I was rather disappointed by then thinking I wouldn't get a chance to see the show. Then the nice lady behind the counter said that there were having the Wicked Lottery Draw at 6pm where winners will get to buy front row tickets at AUD 30! I immediately told B that we would have to come back and try our luck!

And so we did! When we arrived back at the theatre at 5.30, there was a small crowd. We estimated there was about 100 odd persons in the queue. So we waited patiently and hopefully for either B or my name to be announced... and YAY...they did announce my name. I was the 3rd person to win the pair of tickets... so we got FRONT ROW TICKETS TO WICKED FOR AUD60!!!! Yippee dee doo dah!! Maaaaaadnesssssss and Happppppynessss.......

I loved the cast of Wicked Australia. My fave character was Glinda (but, of course, what were you expecting?!!?). I loved her bubblegum personality and not to mention she reminded me of Anna Faris.. and when I looked at Elpheba, she somehow reminded me of Jennifer Garner in green.. haha..

Here are some pictures from Wicked that I got off their website....

My fave songs from the show... POPULAR, I'm not that girl and For Good! :) I am glad B bought the CD so that I can listen to the songs over and over again...

drink, drank, drunk....

2008-08-19T20:34:00.007+08:00

Am going to jump straight into day 3 of our trip where we headed to Yarra Valley to get drunk. We arrived at Yarra Valley about 2-ish and headed out for a light lunch at Domain Chandon (the only winery that is operated by the good people at Moet & Chandon). I had the beef pie that was served with a rocket salad drizzled with superbly yummy wine dressing and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. B chose the sparkling Shiraz to go with the pie. Never tasted sparkling red wine and it sure was bubbly sweet! :) The weather was a downer, so we stayed on and ordered the Cheese Board Platter that was paired with 4 different Champagnes. After drinking those 4 glasses, I was giddy high...hic hic....

Dinner was at the charming and quaint Chateau Yering. It felt like we booked the entire restaurant! Cos there was no other patrons there that night except for us. Remember that we went there during deep winter!

We each had the 2 course meal. Hmm, I can't remember the starters...forgot! But for the main, I had the pigeon served medium rare. At first, I thought 'Hmm, medium rare pigeon...scary!' But the pigeon served medium rare was surprisingly tender. The meat was soft and pinkish.. and tenderly soft! Perfect...paired with a great red wine!

B and I shared the apple souffle for dessert and ended up goofing around thereafter.. playing with our cutlery as you can see! haha...

2008-08-18T21:43:00.006+08:00

I decided to just register Comic Life to make my photo-blogging life so much easier..and easier it is now! :)

I just spent an hour 'making nice' those pictures and getting them in order.. hopefully in chronological order...

I gotta head to work really really early tomorrow, so I will write more tomorrow night...

Can you believe it? I am still jet-lagged..eye-bags are really showing...

Back to reality

2008-08-18T00:18:00.002+08:00

Heylooo.... am back from my Aussie holidaze with B and it was madness!! It was freezing co...old.... but we still managed to pack in the fun...

Here are a couple of highlights from the trip.. am a little tired and promise with blog more tomorrow once I have settled down and sorted out the rest of my luggage :p

From left to right:

Road trip to the Great Ocean Road (great pictures, the weather wasnt that great though :( )
Wine tasting at Domain Chandon in Yarra Valley, was fun! It was our first stop but I was drunk after about 4 glasses of wine and champagne.
My fave pic from the trip. B's new cam really did capture nice shots... you will see from the next couple of posts.
We caught WICKED!!!! Loves the musical from Broadway and we got wickedly lucky as well... tell you more next time.
And lastly, we scored lunch reservations at Tetsuya's... and we even met up with the Chef. Was great!! :)

Gotta head to bed now..will blog more tomorrow...Nighty night...

よがた　ゆかた！

2008-08-09T14:14:00.006+08:00

It was fun prepping and dressing up for Lin & Ray's wedding party. Definitely not your usual wedding party of the mill, this was really by far one of the most creative wedding parties that I have ever attended! :)

I will leave it to the pictures to tell the story. At this point in time, I am so missing Comic Life for Mac that allows me to photo-collage with so much ease. Am debating whether I should just get the software...

Anyways, the evening in pictures....

We were sort of 'misinformed' initially, so we were decked out in our party garb for the wedding..I almost felt like I was the bride again.. changing into my 2nd outfit within 30 mins! Haha..

Check out the pretty decor... they made all these themselves!

After decking out in our Japanese yukatas.... we were part of the 'Yukata party', supposed to perform a Japanese dance, but the room was pretty crowded so, we could hardly move. It was quite a riot!!

Look at the bride in her wedding kimono!! Love the hair and the elaborate make-up. This is in celebration of the couple's love for Japan... hehehe ours too... we always heart Japan!

More cam-whoring thereafter... I wished I had bigger hair and more dramatic make-up on that night..

さよなら！
Off to OZ-land tonight... more updates to come!

oopsy...

2008-08-07T23:42:00.002+08:00

Sorreee for the silence... I been busy with the washing of the clothes and making the house is in order before we go on our vacation. Also, I have been busy packing, packing.. Heard the weather down under is brrrr cold.. so am abit worried! Every night, I am putting clothes into my luggage and then the next day I am taking them out for fear that I have once again overpacked for the trip (I have a tendency to do that).

Guess who is back?? Haha... B is back and we are off to a themed wedding dinner tomorrow.. cant' wait to wear my yukata again.. haha...

2008-08-03T22:47:00.002+08:00

My hands got quite busy this weekend, trying to manage the backlog of household chores (ie: washing of clothes, sweeping and mopping of the floor, etc) but they were extra busy this weekend cos I wanted to complete my necklace project.

Presenting the last installment of my necklace series.... the cobalt blue ribbon necklace intertwined with pink pearlies... This pearls on this necklace is slightly smaller than the other 2 that I made, but I experimented abit further by twisting the ribbon more for this necklace. I made it slightly longer as well, so instead of tying the ribbon, you can sling it over your neck. The best part? I put on the 'dove' charm that I bought when I was in Tokyo. Cute!! :)

not so wild rocket

2008-08-02T15:25:00.006+08:00

Met up with Jennimon and Peggimon after half-day training that I had to facilitate. I still have the jitters whenever I do presentations, somehow, can't exactly see myself as being a presenter. I just hope with enough practice, I would somehow get better with time.

Anywayz, met up with the ex-coll for dinner and Puffy actually made reservations this time round for dinner. We wanted to try out 'White Rabbit' but unfortunately, made reservations too late and this 'it' restaurant was full!! So we settled for 'Wild Rocket'.

Well, food was not so wild. Think the standard dropped (Puffy commented 'that's why can make the reservations'), I think the lunch menu was better.... with the all-time fave Burger and laksa pasta. Dinner menu was not so desirable.

We ordered their house white which was actually pleasantly smooth on the tastebuds. And here's the starters that we orderd. The pumpkin salad served with wild rocket greens, feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. We also tried the beef carpacio seasoned with lime dressing, I liked this dish as it tasted refreshing with the lime dressing. We also shared the escargots with black bean sauces served over polenta. Hmm, that starter tasted abit strange, not so great.

For the mains, we shared the tandori rack of lambs and the crab linguine with tomato/chilli cream sauce. The portions felt a little small so we ordered dessert!!

This was the ginger pana cotta over poached pear. They actually diced the young ginger and drizzled over the pana cotta. We made fun of this dish and said it was more like tau huay served with ginger. Haha...We also ordered the Strawberry Cheesecake, but its' not that nice as well. It was granola served with very heavy cream cheese and strawberry. Well, Peggy said she can make this.. .hmmm... I wonder..

After dinner, we fooled around whilst waiting for our cab to come. That's Jennimon calling for cab and me taking a pic of Peggy who was supposed to be taking a pic of me. And lastly, me and Pegz... hmm, my hair is too flat!!

And, today, I attended Eva's daughter birthday party. I was the only 'big kid' there.. haha, B actually called me and asked if I terrorised the kids or 'stole' their toys, I just rolled my eyes on the other line. Met with Huiming after that for a nice cold beer at 26 at Big Splash. Hey, the place was actually a gem that she uncovered, really nice and chill-out, the best part? Just outside our place, dun need to head to town to drink next time round!

I have been lusting over the Lanvin pearl necklace for the longest longest time, and it still looks pretty unattainable for now... so I got down to making some look-alikes!!! :) (LHS: The actual Lanvin necklace and on RHS: necklaces made by 'moi'!) Pretty pleased with the end-result! Gotta go now... going to try my hand at another design with some pretty pink pearlies that I got.

Gastro oogling...

2008-07-31T20:42:00.005+08:00

Because its not possible to get a table at Tetsuya's (double sigh!), here are the other top restaurants in Sydney that are worth considering:

Icebergs
1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach
Tel:(02)) 9365 9099

With uninterrupted views of the Bondi Beach, this restaurant offers diners a relaxed dining experience. Mediterranean entrees start from A$21. Ooh, it would be so nice to dine here with the soothing sounds of the oceanic waves. The Polenta with Crab dish comes highly recommended!

Marque
4/5 355 Crown Street, Surry Hills
Tel: (02) 9332 2225

Degustation menu starts from A$145, and the restaurant just completed its renovation to mark its 10th year anniversary. Serving French-Australian fare, this restaurant promises an exciting dining experience that will linger in your minds even after you leave Sydney. WOW...

Becasse
204 Clarence Street
Tel: (02) 9283 3440

Ten course degustation menu offered for lunch and dinner at A$120, seems like a pretty good deal! :) Becasse is one of Sydney's premier dining spaces with it's modern French cuisine and professional service.

Ooh, I can just hear my stomach calling ... there goes any form of diet for our 9-day holidaze!

2008-07-31T20:24:00.002+08:00

I heart my frivolous dress!!! It's got stars and smiley faces that just brightens up my day. I wore this to work today and it's probably the only time I would get to wear it to work.... ;p

2008-07-30T21:46:00.002+08:00

B brought me to Kiku at Landmark for lunch on Monday. Kiku is his supposed canteen or fave hangout for business lunches, and since I love all things Jap so naturally I made him bring me there!! :)

Apparently, this place is always fully booked and since we didn't make reservations, we were pretty lucky to get a table (provided if we can finish our food within the hour).

Our food for the day...special vegetable salad with onion shavings and seared toro, yumz... Next was the prawn tempura, B also ordered the teapot soup and our last dish was the beef roll with vegetables! It was a super filling yummy Japanese lunch...

Oh, B also brought me to Roka..he still owe me the pictures ... will post them once I have them.

Comfort Food...

2008-07-29T21:19:00.004+08:00

This was my craving when I was sick over the weekend. Actually, I love the Borsch soup with pasta that is the Cha Chan Tang simple breakfast fare when I am up in HK. So much so, I was quite determined to learn how to make this seemingly simple but yet ultra comforting one- meal dish! And my determination paid off even though B didn't want to support me initially.

So this one-pot meal is really quite easy to make!! Here's the steps:

Add 1 pack of chicken broth (Swanston or Knorr's) and half a can of chopped/diced tomato to pot.
Dice carrots, potatoes and cabbage and add to pot. Optional to add button mushrooms.
Add in chicken and ham.
Bring soup to boil and once the vegetables have all softened, this yummy dish is ready to be served! :)

It's that simple!!

rolling good times...

2008-07-29T20:55:00.004+08:00

Little update having come back from HK:
Met up with galfren over drinks in HK. She bought me to this quite cool pub just off TST in Kowloon. Drinks are really very cheap, we had like 8 beers (Hoegarden), 2 frozen Daiquiris, and like 3 types of finger food and it all cost only like 500 plus HKD. That's like 100 Sing... really cheap right? After that, we met up with Grateful and adjorned to the Hong Kong side to drink some more and to play darts. Quite fun, but its not that easy, had a hard time trying to aim bulls-eye.

Saturday evening, we were simply too lazy to move our butts to go anywhere... so we decided to just go downstairs and have dinner at Ye Shanghai. It was my second time there and I had to 'control' B from over-ordering (the last time we went there, B went overboard and ordered too much!).

For starters, we had the drunken chicken, followed by the winter melon and crab meat soup. For the mains, B ordered the small prawns that tasted simply divine with loads of vinegar!!! My fave!! Then we had the long beans and no Shanghainese meal would be complete with the signature Xiao Long Bao! B ordered the Dan-Dan mian, but it was not very nice.. don't order next time. And we still had space for dessert!! :) Rice dumplings ... I liked the soup though.. reminded me of あまん　さけ。

misadventures..

2008-07-27T15:10:00.003+08:00

Hmm....the skies look grey today...not good sigh....hate it when that happens!!! Another not so good sign was that the both of us visited the HK hospital this morning at 7am! I was having the worse sore throat that needed a serious boost of antibiotics for me to get well and B was having a bad case of stomach acid attack or something. Poor guy couldn't sleep the whole night thinking what went wrong, in the end, he woke me up at 7plus and told me that he was going to the hospital. I went along with him of course.

Now, the both of us are just stuck at home and nursing our own individual sickness.... damn unlucky...

Factory outlet shopping..

2008-07-26T22:51:00.003+08:00

B had to be 'xiong di' for Colin's wedding and I got the day off, so decided to drag galfren down to Tung Chung with me to check out the factory outlets there! Go only if you have the time, otherwise downtown shopping in Hong Kong is good enough. The array of shops at the City Gate outlets are not too bad, with a couple of major brands to boot!

Of course, my eyes widened when I reached there.. IT shops with Prada/Miu Miu shoes going at 70% off.. and not to mention the Club 21 boutique with CK and DKNY going at 70% off as well. Walked down abit further and we arrived at the Pedder Warehouse (shoes and bags GALORE!!). We spent an hour at the Pedder boutique to search for past-season's shoes. The sales assistant gave us the wrong infor and we thought all the shoes were on 50% off from the discounted price. So after picking out 3 pairs of shoes, I went off with just a Pedro Garcia black pumps that were 90% off (orginal price was HKD10,500).. pretty pleased!!! Went to the Polo Ralph boutique but too bad, the polo that I liked didn't have my size..damnit...

Next, we headed back to IT where I eventually decided to buy a grey pair of ankled boots. I paid like HKD399! Going to pair the boots for my OZ trip! :) So that about ends my trip to Tung Chung... where I scored shoes!

blissfully glowing?

2008-07-26T22:35:00.003+08:00

I was supposed to just go over to the Bliss counter and help my colleagues get their body lotion. What happened in the end? Me and galfren started chatting with their beauty supervisor for an hour and she painstakingly went through all their best-selling products whilst making the effort to try the products on us. So in the end, the both of us ended with Bliss products in tow to try out.

This 'Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask' is one of Bliss's star-products. Its a super-quick-fix for dull, tired, swallow skin. I tried it on one of my hands at the counter and this stuff seriously works, my hand was visibly glowing and it was soft and supple! AMAZING... going to try it on my face later and give it that much-needed boost of vitality!

jet-setting...

2008-07-24T23:31:00.003+08:00

4.35pm - colleagues panicked on my behalf for fear that I miss my 5.50pm flight

4.50pm - arrive at T3, rushed to get my boarding pass
5.00pm - got stopped at the security check-point, they said I brought a scissors which turned out to be my eyelash curler..haha
5.05pm - stopped by DFS, couldnt resist checking out the cosmetics! Saw some Clarins products that I wanna try...prob will buy them in HK. Couldn't resist getting the Bobbi Brown eyeshadow palette...ex but looks good!
5.20pm - where did the time go? Need to post letters but was told that the post office was at the other end of the terminal..hmm, better not risk it.
5.25pm - queuing outside gate A4 and waiting for my turn to get in...so many people! Its a full flight!
5.50pm - SQ 2 leaves for Hong Kong, I actually fell asleep while waiting for the plane to take off... crying baby in front of the airplane bawling away
6.15pm onwards - watched 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. Colleague lent me the book, but I think it was much easier to watch the movie. Unfortunately for me, the movie line-up this trip was the same one early this month when I came up.
9.50pm - Flight lands in HK
10.15pm - B picks me up at Hong Kong station
11.30pm - Finished our room service dinner/ supper and blogging away...

Phew..long day... :p

loving all things

2008-07-23T22:03:00.005+08:00

CHANEL!!!!

Totally loving the new Fall/Winter 2009 Pre-Fall Collection!

In celebration of all things grey..still kicking myself for not 'grabbing' the Marc Jacobs Patchwork Grey bag quick enough during the Neiman Marcus sale... I am picking out my fave GREY pieces from the latest Chanel collection that I am drooling over....

Bowling Bag in Sparkling Calfskin

Loves the casual bowling bag style that I can dump all my stuff in...

Flap Bag in Studded Lambskin
I know, I prob shouldn be looking at a bag this size, but the metal studs on the bag make it look ultra-rocker chic!

Vintage Zipped Bag is Aged Calfskin

I need not say more... its vintage and Chanel, definitely a bag I can pass on to the next generation!

So I need to make more money... and I hope one day, one of these babies will have my name on it.. May that day come soon!!! hahaha....

2008-07-22T22:56:00.002+08:00

This week saw the return of many of my close friends....

Sista was back for the weekend last week. It was a touch and go weekend trip for her and despite the 101 things that she had to do, we managed to catch up over wine at Bar Stop first continued by round 2 of tea at Emerald Hill. That Sat night was one of the most happening nights... I crept home the latest by far, 3.30am! B was shocked! Haha....

Then Vic was back from Cheng Doooo for 10 days.... the guy was super busy and I had to meet him over steamboat with the rest of the guys!! He dragged me to watch Wanted with them. I didn't want to initially but it was pretty alright..the movie...

Then, just tonight.. another friend from Msia came back... had a nice quiet dinner over non-alcoholic drinks at Siam Riep II...

That's my round-up for the week... am on another course of steriods for my hives and just last night, I was wheezing away at 4am in the morning.. scary... now I have to have an inhaler on standby... problems...

Valentino

2008-07-20T13:33:00.005+08:00

B originally wanted to bring me to a restaurant at Upper Bukit Timah Rd, but we simply couldn't find it! In the end, we ended up at Valentino's Restaurant somewhere along Railway Road. We didn't make any reservations, but thankfully, we were there early so we managed to get seats. :) I guess I took a little longer than usual to eventually get here.. I mean this place was opened since 2005...so it took me about 3 years to come here.. oops... :p

The place was quaint, reminded me of Elio's in Tokyo. Decor was simple and minimal, nothing fancy, just imagine yourself stepping into a family restuarant in Italy.

Forgive the poor picture quality, these were all taken using my phone camera, wasn't expected a dinner outing so we were not decked in our finest! :p

First up, was the freshly flown cherry tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar and mint leaves. The other appetiser we had was the Burutta cheese, it was a really huge cheese served simply with olive oil and greens on the side. The cheese tasted like mozzarella cheese. Combine the tomatoes and the cheese and you have Caprese Salad...ta-dah!

For the mains, we shared the Lobster Pasta with tomato and cream sauce. The other main we shared was the beef steak with proscuitto mushrooms drizzled with truffle oil. Though we were feeling abit stuffed but when the dessert tray rolled out, we really couldn't resist! So we again shared the vanilla sponge cake with white chocolate shavings.. decadent!

After the dinner, I bugged B to go to do a foot massage along with me.. afterall, he was my foot reflex buddy. After much persuassion, he finally caved in and went along with me :)

yayz :)

2008-07-20T00:16:00.004+08:00

We finally made our hotel bookings for the trip to Melbourne and Sydney.. its almost time to pack our bags and head off to a winter holiday down under! :) Can't wait....

2008-07-18T21:05:00.001+08:00

Ooh... love the bright blue colour of the Loewe Amazona... simply striking arm candy to behold! :)

scary

2008-07-18T20:51:00.002+08:00

my heart kinda stopped when I tried to start up my ibook and I couldnt hear anything... it was really really scary.. I thought OMG.. how can it be?

THank goodness after many many attempts of trying to 'revive' my mac.. it finally worked!! Phew.....

2008-07-17T20:31:00.002+08:00

I am starting to feel the burden of the inflation rates... just received the circular from my friendly NTUC shuttle bus and guess what.. they are increasing the rates for the bus from $2.70 to $4!!! Wow, thanks to those wretched ERP gantries and the rising fuel costs! Everything is starting to get so expensive! It's expensive to take a bus, a cab and to even drive... Everything is just going up and up!!! WOW.....

fun nights out..

2008-07-16T21:50:00.004+08:00

Was a fun night out tonight... met up with Princess Min and just the night away chit-chatting.. She picked me up from work and recommended this new hang-out at Portsdown Road... CICADA.. apparently, its been open for 8 months and scheduled to open at the end of the year. Its rather quaint and serene. In Min's words, not competitive unlike Dempsey.. perhaps its still new, thats why! :)

We started the evening off with a nice bottle of white Chardonay from Napa Valley, USA. Chit chat abit about what's happening in the markets and then shared the yummy blue fin tuna salad. Thereafter, we shared the Penne Pasta with Marinara Sauce. Yummz.....

Oh, the dessert is said to be really good as well, but I should watch out for those extra pounds!! Try the brownie cake, comes highly recommended by the foodies!

Cicada, definitely the new place to watch out for. And if you dine outdoors, the friendly staff would ensure that the area that you are seated is 'well-protected' with lavender mosquito coils! :) No more sand flies bites for me...haha...

2008-07-14T22:20:00.001+08:00

This is going to be my dream outfit...so happy.. I finally got my hands on this MJ dress!! :)

Have you heard?

2008-07-14T21:05:00.002+08:00

there are further markdown on sales items!!! Yipeee.....

That's happening in Hongkong..sigh.. I wish I was up there this weekend.. can check out the sales...;p

Hopefully there are bargains left when I get there....

I finally started my exercise regime after a super-duper long hiatus..and my fitness levels have been very poor I must add. Actually, its quite horrendous.. my legs were all wobbly jelly when I tried doing the warrior pose and my heels couldn't even touch the ground when I did the downward dog... Now I am really suffering for the lack of exercise!!! Sigh...

2008-07-10T21:24:00.002+08:00

Just came back from dinner with Delly...its been a long while since we met up and I am really happy for her... sporting that baby bump but still looking stylishly radiant now that she is expecting! :)

My leg seems to be recovering but I am getting that occasional fever on and off. Doc said I better just monitor it... I am just worried that its dengue... just think that I am damn unlucky...

Going to head off to bed after taking my meds ... sleepy....zzzzzz

I need concealer

2008-07-08T20:59:00.002+08:00

My feet looks like crap.... like what my colleague said..it looked like it got burnt....dun ask me why...but it still looks way gross....so I am still depressed... the itch comes on alot more at night... I dunno why... Nothing seems to work.... no cream seems to help to relieve the pain, the scars and the itch... God help me... I ran out of stuff to wear to cover my ugly feet... sobs :(

miserable

2008-07-07T21:37:00.003+08:00

I am feeling super duper lousy... if you think the pic that I had posted yesterday was super gross... well, today is like 10 times worse. Its all red and swollen.. I never felt so miserable before..sigh... Its the ugly red marks that make me just want to stay at home and hide. This is the one time that I do not dare to step out of the house without covering my feet. But I can't do so, I did it today and the pants made my sores worse. Wearing covered shoes made the bite marks worse... I never felt so much whilst taking a step forward. Sigh... I just wanna stay home till my feet looks normal again :(

And it is not mozzie bites.. its the wretched sand-flies that bit me.. they are damn deadly!!! :(

2008-07-06T19:32:00.001+08:00

Sorry if this looks really disgusting... I just got bitten by killer mosquitoes whilst dining at the cafe at the Marina Bay Driving Range. Its scary.. and both my feet looks like its infected and swollen! I had to take a jab and now am on a course of antibiotics to drive and bring the swelling down. I am feeling really awful and the bites are really really itchy :(

HK Gastronomical Minute: Cheap and yummy fare

2008-07-06T13:12:00.003+08:00

My last post of my HK food trails:

After touching down, B brought me to this happening 'Ma La' restaurant that he says its a must-try. So we had our super late night supper there. It was noodles, ginseng soup, french beans and the hightlight was the Ma La frog leg spicy concotion. But I guess we were too engrossed in eating and I forgot to take the pictures. Oopsy..
Next day, it was raining and we were simply too lazy to head out for food. So we went downstairs for yummy burgers at Admiralty. Must say, the burgers were really good. The patty was juicy thick and the beef was succulent. Every bite was sinfully yummy. I had to stop myself from gobbling down the calorie-busting burger.
The next day, we went for some local grub even though it was raining (again!!! ANGST!!). We headed back to Hollywood street and went for the 'Best Wan Ton Mee ever discovered' in HK (according to B). I was skeptical at first, as I was never a fan of wan ton mee. But the first bowl had litterally won me over. The bowl was tiny, but the broth was comforting and the noodles were done just right. B finished off his noodles in a gulp and went on to order the 'Zha Jang Mian' and another set of beef tripe noodles. All in all..great food... can't go wrong especially if Anthony Bourdain says so :)

2008-07-05T22:20:00.004+08:00

It feels like a normal working day for me today... went for training but this time I ended up being the trainer. I don't really enjoy giving presentations, it still gives me the jitters. But I guess to build up my confidence levels, I really just need to get out there and practice, practice and practice. Hopefully, practice makes perfect! Phew, am really beat now.

And after that, I came home... did my housework and headed off to the driving range to hit 50 balls and catch up with a really, really old friend, one that we have been kinda putting off to meet. But I guess, cos of circumstances, we decided its time to meet and just try to put the past behind us. I am really glad we met up... maybe it is time for a new beginning!

Okie, going to head off to bed soon...

2008-07-04T23:01:00.002+08:00

In memory of 4 of July where the US of A celebrates their Independence Day! This was how we celebrated the day last year in sunny Hawaii... Those were the carefree days... just chilling out at the beach, sleeping in, driving and checking out the malls... and watching Transformers!

Wine tasting classes

2008-07-03T21:30:00.002+08:00

B has been busy 'upgrading' himself..haha... attending wine classes. So I bugged him to bring me along when I was up visiting him in HK.

It was really quite an eye-opener, a total of 13 pax attended this wine-tasting class held in the private room of Amber restaurant.

When we arrived, I think most people were eager to start dinner... me included.. but thank goodness B pre-warned me, so I stocked my tummy up with 'bad' food like chips and cocktail nuts. :0

The teacher, Jennie, brought us through a presentation of wine (namely Bourdeaux) and we got to taste wines after every 20 mins or so of explaination. It was quite interesting tasting the bourdeaux and trying to describe the taste and the smell. The bottles were all covered and we had to guess the year. Only 1 person managed to hit the nail everytime! Good for him! :)

This time I managed to pace myself for the wines and not get drunk instantly. (Good Job!) And I found myself enjoying the wines and the dinner alot more, especially when some of the wines 'opened' up.

Ooh, next up was the dinner!!! I loved the foie gras on the lollipop stick, I guess I need not say more when the flavour of the foie gras just bursts in your mouth on just one bite! The next amuse bouche was a chilled asparagus cream soup. Oh the starter was really quite interesting if I can remember. It was raw scallops, oysters and salmon roe served alongside a jellied white wine and topped with granny smith apples. Yumz.. Our mains was the mini lamb chops... I resisted for finishing the entire plate. ;p And to end the dinner, was a delightful plate of assorted cheese. This was also the first time I was served mustard with cheese, tasted abit strange... so I asked for the honey :)

My quest for knowledge on wine stops here for now.. B will continue his last lesson (I think). Well, am going to count on you for our trip in Oz-land then!

Gastronomical Minute: Zuma

2008-07-02T23:19:00.003+08:00

It was pouring on Sat..but instead of craving for steamboat (which we always had), we decided to have Japanese. So off to Zuma we went.

Zuma, a dynamic Japanese restaurant and bar concept in Hong Kong, has been acclaimed as one of the world’s best new restaurants by Conde Nast Traveler magazine.

Zuma was listed as one of the world’s most exciting new restaurants on Conde Nast Traveler’s ‘Hot Tables 2008’ - one of just 105 restaurants that opened worldwide last year to make the prestigious listing. Taken from www.asiatraveltips.com

The place kinda reminded me of Nobu..poshy with hints of modern Japanese influence. I liked the dishes that B ordered.

The Spicy Edamame starter was a crowd pleaser.. just imagine normal Edamame stir-fried with spicy chilli. Next up was the Zuma Tofu... it was silky smooth and just perfect with a pinch of sea-salt. Nothing too fancy and over the top. Ooh I loved the Meguro sashimi, it just melts in my mouth and the ponzu sauce is always my fave. We had the beef which was grilled to perfection. When the tempura came, we were too stuffed.. but of cos, there wasalways room for dessert, that's a separate compartment altogether..haha.

Labels I love

2008-07-02T22:30:00.002+08:00

In the spirit of the Summer Sales in Hong Kong... here's a tribute to the lovely shopping that we done on a not so sunny day! It was raining when I was there! I must be the one that brings the rain to HK..anyway, the day I left, the sun was up shining brightly like never before...damn...

Here are some of the brands to 'drool' over.. and cos I miss Japan..here's a pretty Jap doll for old time's sake.

2008-07-01T23:22:00.002+08:00

I dun wanna go back home
I just want to be with B all the time and have fun

SATC book

2008-06-29T16:01:00.004+08:00

Ooh...there is a style book that I wanna get my hands on...the Sex and the City book. Its the deifinitive must-have for any die-hard SATC fan. It gives the low-down on almost every eye-catching outfit that was don by the style maestro herself - SJP!

2008-06-28T22:45:00.003+08:00

Say what you will about Sienna Miller (no real talent, over-hyped, gorgeous, whatever), her ad campaign with Italian accessory line—and new home to Derek Lam—is stunning. She looks better than she ever has. But better yet, so do the bags. The Tod’s T-Bag Tote is a classic Tod’s style, and with good reason. No, you wouldn’t carry it around from one club to the next at night in a cocktail dress and dangerously high pumps. You would, however, look incredible with this cocoa brown leather purse under your arm at work, shopping, meeting people for happy hour, really any time before eight pm. It has lots of pockets for storing lots of personal effect, so you will never be without your necessities, numerous though they may be.

Taken from www.pursepage.com

2008-06-28T22:37:00.001+08:00

Can you believe this? The weather actually forecast that its going be stormy weathers till Wed.... and guess when I leave? TUESDAY!!!

I dun believe this!

can't believe my luck

2008-06-28T15:31:00.002+08:00

When B told me that HK was hit with Typhoon 8 just this week, I was thinking to myself...'Aw man, why does this always happen to me when I go HK! Someone up there doesn want me there! Hmph'

Today, the skies were grey and it was raining when I woke up..but well, helps that we are living at Pacific Place and the shopping is rather amazing just at our doorstep. Yay... the HK Super Sales are here..so we went a shopping at the different brands! But most of the good buys from the branded stores are all snapped up already. Damn it... 1 step too late!

But not too bad... I managed to get my starry starry top and dress from French Connection..yay, it was finally on SALE! And I got a nice denim skirt from Marc Jacobs...

I love SALES...I hope Baby Jane will have great SALES...

2008-06-26T22:11:00.002+08:00

off to Hong Kong for the next 4 days!
let there be sunshine when I am there...
better still.. let there be major sales when I am there...
hehe.. and let there be great times spent with B!
~toodles~

blast from the past

2008-06-25T22:54:00.003+08:00

Some past photos from our honeymoon in Maldives 2006! :)

snapshots from KL

2008-06-25T20:51:00.004+08:00

Went to KL 2 weeks ago for a 'Train the Trainer' workshop. It was the meeting of 50 different people within the network over 30 countries that was an eye-opener for me. Never worked in an organisation where the culture was diverse yet the goal was united amongst all of us. It was pretty cool.

Highlights from the trip included:

Getting a room right next to the 'Exit'. I find hotel rooms next to the 'Exit' or 'Fire Escapes' creepy. Thank goodness I managed to get that changed!
Working on a super slow internet connection!
Meeting tons of new people
Stocking up fashion staples at F.O.S
Scoring a True Religion pair of jeans for RM190 only!
Finally being able to head to the Pavilion and hanging out at Luna Bar
Catching up and just chatting with an old friend

Inspired

2008-06-23T21:52:00.006+08:00

B told me that he came across this blog where the blogger wrote so much about Marc Jacobs that Marc Jacobs actually gave him a bag...Wow...so B bugged me to blog more about my favourite designer.. Yeah, right? As if the nice people in Chanel will DHL a Chanel bag to me anytime soon. Sigh.. I can only dream lor...

Nevertheless, I really wanted to blog about Marc by Marc Jacobs. I have always loved his stuff and am still kicking myself for not ordering the bag from Neiman Marcus.. it was just seconds too late before it was grabbed by someone else! So to put my MJ craving to rest, I accompanied stylish colleague of mine to Marc by Marc Jacobs boutique at Taka and we checked out these pretty dresses:

And presenting the MJ dress that I tried and really really liked....I thought this dress fulfilled the corporate dresscode but best of all, looked CHIC!

OZ Gastronomical Want...

2008-06-23T21:33:00.004+08:00

Tetsuya's Restaurant,

529 Kent Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Telephone:+61 2 9267 2900

Wanted to go to try out Tetsuya since I have heard quite alot about him. So the moment I found out that we were heading to Sydney, I bugged B to allow me to make the reservations for his restaurant. Reservations are said to be ESSENTIAL! And since we booked the tickets like 3 months ahead, I thought better book the reservations for the restaurant.

Guess what?!?! The reservations for dinner at Tetsuya are filled till Jan 2009! Can you believe it? I can't imagine a restaurant with such a loooooong waiting list.... so so long...So we took the next better slot, B is now trying to get us in for lunch on a Saturday...

ゆかた

2008-06-23T20:10:00.002+08:00

The time to put on your Yukata is here again in Japan... I miss those days! Sure, Summer was smoking hot! It was burning hot...but I miss the fun days of seeing pretty Japanese gals don on their Summer Yukatas and getting set for the Hanabi Festival! It was really quite fun, the boat trips, the drinking and the 1hour feasting of pretty fireworks in the dark blue skies! Sigh..miss miss miss Tokyo!

Thanks to a fun wedding theme party in August, I get to put on my Yukata once again! :) I could have just worn my old yukata..but me being VAIN.. decided to just get a new one!! And thanks to dear Cat, the wish of getting a new yukata is one step closer!! :) Thanks CAT!!

So here are my choices for yukata from trusty Uniqlo:

It's probably going to be quite a pain to wear the yukata..but I can't wait!! Ooh.. here is a step-by-step guide to put on a yukata... I used it before, so its really quite reliable!

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/info/basic_info/basic/yukata/index.html

Enjoy!

Feeling loved...

2008-06-21T19:59:00.001+08:00

B knew how darny bored that I have been on weekends and he decided to fly back and keep me company despite me going up to HK next week.. It was really really sweet of him to do so. It's not fun, flying for close to 4 hours and not counting the time wasted in between waiting of flights. But he did it for me! Thanks yew...

And we spent this Sat with breakfast with his mom, watching Get Smart the movie, buying new stuff for our new place (the result: our guest room now becomes the store room by default), and eating crabs at Sin Hoi Sai Tiong Bahru...

2008-06-21T00:36:00.001+08:00

In celebration of all things black, white and PRADA! Loves the ballet flats with the Prada logo screaming right in your face!! :)

2008-06-18T22:05:00.002+08:00

Read Princess Min's blog where she paid tribute to SATC and her emotions.. just those few lines that I read from her blog and I could feel what she felt.

The movie definitely speaks to me in more ways than one. Call me flaky but I guess I could identlfy with the lead characters in the movie. And like Min, we both had a phase where we both shared a passion for the high life.. It was alcohol and hard night of boogy-ing... There was a time where partying was our middle name, I think at that time, we thought that we could do this for the next 10 years or so. Now, we meet each other occassionally and retreated to beer, wine and champagne nights sans the hard partying. I dun think I thank Min enough for her friendship, for just being her and being there for me all these years. She has always been my silent pillar of support that I know I can always count on. So babe, sorry I didnt catch the movie with u as promised. My loneliness got the better of me and I went ahead....I can only make it up to you with a Cosmopolitan in tow hopefully.

With the rest of the princesses and Sista, we thought we were the formidable gal gang of our times! We met every week at the regular booze bar...drank our hearts content and just bitched the night away with woes from our work and the occassional men problems from time-to-time. Then one-by-one, we all got hitched. Sure, am happy for all of them, we tried our best to keep in touch.. but then work loads got into the way and sometimes, its easier to cave in to not doing anything then trying to meet up.

Fast forward to present time, some friends have moved away or just moved on to different phases in their lives. I continue to relish the fond memories of fun times that we had. I guess I am sentimental, I tend to relieve the past and compare it to what's happening in the present. Cousin thinks its because I am someone that hangs on to the past, put it bluntly, I do not let go. I guess that's true to a certain extent. But thats' me...Anyways,

I loved how the gals in SATC are always there for each other. Like what Min said in her blog "Our hard and wild partying days are over". We now have to embrace the 30s and hopefully be drinking to the next 20 more years to come as our lives go into different phases.

Min wrote "One can never acquire all the labels in the world." All she wanted is to acquire Big Love.

Here's my bimbo quote "I have BIG love... now I wanna acquire all the labels in the world! Put it simly.. I wanna be dressed in LOVE..." :)

fave 4 letter word..

2008-06-17T22:15:00.006+08:00

= SALE!!!

The world seems to be on sale these days.. love the surfing at home on US sites and the adding of items in my shopping bag! Best still, chatting with Cat on the phone over what we should buy, what is nice and its nice hearing her voice..cos no one shares the same passion on this topic like this gal!! Am so great I found her in one of the best shopping places in the world..TOKYO... haha...

Here was what I lost whilst debating whether I should buy it or in between meetings..

Botkier Nightfall Metallic Bag (right)
Last night, I was bugging Cat to buy this Botkier bag with me. But she said its too small, cant put her potato chips in it.. So whilst I slept over and thought about it. This baby was gone in a wink! sobz...

Dr Q Patchwork Convertible Clutch in mouse gray (left)

Cat didnt think it was all that great..but I liked the patchwork design and also the silvertone hardware. This is the sort of bag that you can carry on the weekends and throw about just everything when you wanna head out for shopping!

OMG

2008-06-17T20:11:00.004+08:00

The latest Cruise collection from Chanel is now here!! WOW...check out my picks for the cruise collection...

The calfskin shopping bag with 'door latch' inspiration clasp. This bag reminds me of the Marc Jacobs one but of course Chanel is alot better!! :) I say so... I really love the vintage twist that feels a whole lot more chic!

The lambskin flap bag with CC signature and interlaced chain. B seems to insist that my precious Chanel bags all look the same...but but but thats not true! This one looks different whilst retaining the signature pattern of the brand!

Last but not least, I really really like the flapper bag look... Presenting the shiny, wrinkled accordian bag with CC logo. I love how subtle the CC logo is on the bag. Can you find it??

Sigh...drooling over the lovelies for now... I can only dream of it for now....