Joanne Ng

Things I've learned from joining a gym and fitness classes.

2012-03-16T08:11:00.001-07:00

1) Do what you love doing.

Very often, when you first join a gym you'll be plagued with personal trainers telling you what you're doing is wrong and how you can improve your workout by a 1001 fantastic tricks they have up their sleeve. I got a bit peeved , when they told me to actually stop running.I don't go crazy on the treadmill but I do about 4-5 clicks on a treadmill about 3x a week. During race period, I up to about 6-8km and do outdoor training as well. One of the first things they tell you is... Running causes alot of impact on your joints and although you don't feel it now.. you will feel it in time to come. After they tell you what's wrong with your current workout routine they will then emphasize on the things they can do. Like resistance training, boxercise and kickboxing one to one and put down group classes.

I was frantically googling and came across this article. Nah, so everytime someone says your routine sucks, don't give into them. They will then start to question your source of credibility like who you learned it from and so on. I was talking to my friend who works out in the gym for a long time, and he said they are just plain desperate for business and are often to hit below the belt just to get their way and for you to sign up with them.

2) Don't be afraid to step out and try something new.

Alot of my friends tend to be taken aback when i tell them that I go for fitness classes by myself. But at the end of the day, if we keep on waiting for people to sign up with us. More often anot, we always fail to sign up for what we want to do. At the same time what you are interested in, may not be what another person is interested in and this just results in people just waiting for each other and you will still be the same old YOU.

3) Stay humble and come with an open mind.

After having a long hiatus of working out, or if you have come to the gym after a long period of being inactive, one of the common thoughts that run through your head is:" die. everyone is going to be fitter than me." One thing I've learned is that in every fitness class, there'll always be people fitter and weaker than you. I was in boxercise that day and this runner looking lady came in and she was super toned and lean. I was thinking to myself:' woah, she must be damn good!." Half way during the work out, she looked like she was gonna pass out and even found the class tough. and remember just because someone is ask skinny as a toothpick, doesn't mean that they are super fit as well. Whereas after heading to pilates, I've seen people who are 3 times my age and there they are stretching like rubberbands doing crazy tough pilates exercises.

4) Don't care about how people look at you.

After being in the gym, I think we often feel people may be looking at us, or we are afraid of doing dance moves in zumba or looking silly in kickboxing. But I realised no one is really watching. Something I call the "spotlight effect", well that's what my psychology teacher taught me. Especially after being in a crazy fitness class, after 15 minutes everyone is so tired that the only thought on their mind is to survive.

5) Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Today, when we were given a free get fit personal training session, instead of teaching us how to use the crazy amount of workout machines in the gym. The annoying trainer just made jie and I do a whole load of toning exercises. This meant that we looked like IDIOTS hanging around the weight machines. Well, then I mustered up the courage to ask one of the super fit looking guys next to me who had a crazy stern face. I thought he was really grumpy cos I asked him for help but he didn't respond, but it turned out that he had earphones in his ears. So when we were using the machine he even helped us adjust it to make sure we were doing it right! Ding ding! See nice people do exist, but I think as girls, we get more help from straight men. I asked another one for help cos I had no clue how to use the machine again! And he said:" oh dear, I haven't used this machine before as well!" But in the end when he saw us using a similar machine he told us that it had pretty much the same function and gave us a huge smile! So see, people are often open to making friends we just have to take the first step.

and remember guys, are always less bitchy than girls. So they are less harmless!

I hope this helps if you are thinking of working out and so on! I'm far from looking like Jillian Michaels, but oh well! I'll just keep going on!

Cheers,

Lunch with the Churchies. Max Brenner. Paradise Pavillion at MBFC. Patara.

2012-03-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

It's gonna be a pretty huge picture update.

Met up yesterday with my 2 childhood pals, Br and Joleyn for lunch at Thai Express at Raffles City. Food was alright, but nothing to go raving crazy about.

Meet BR. He loves to take photos. of Himself!

Dinner with the family friends at MBFC, their peking duck was supposedly comparable to Imperial treasure's super peking duck (my favourite chinese restaurant to go to in the whole of singapore) so jie and I were extremely curious to give paradise pavillion a shot.

The dim sum menu (only available during the afternoons) looked super good, so we are planning to head back there SOOON to give it a shot.

Appetiser

Double boiled chicken soup

Wasabi Prawns

Sweet and Sour Pork

Some vegetable dish

Crab meat vermicelli (this was pretty good!)

Kurobuta Pork

Desserts!

Now to make a long story short, I really enjoyed the ambience of Paradise Pavillion.But in terms of food,I still prefer Imperial Treasure! Both places have extremely good service, but in terms of food I think Imperial Treasure services a more succulent duck.

But I will not give up on Paradise Pavillion... yet! Shall head there in the afternoon as well to give it a shot.

Paradise Pavillion

8A Marina Boulevard

#02-01 Marina Bay Link Mall

6509 9308

Dinner at Patara

Jie recently got her Palette card and this meant that we could get 50% off at Patara, although the catch is that you have to order a minimum of 2 dishes worth $21 and they must come from specific sections :/

Mango Salad

Tofu and Mushrooms

Green Curry

Jie making alot of noise as she had to finish up the chicken by herself.

Tea with the grandma at Max Brenner

Spring on my skirt.

Meet the waffle. A very good waffle.Which was happily finished by my 80 year old grandma.

My very sinful indulgence: Peanut Chokkie

And me with Churros! He loves to wake me up in the morning by giving me a huge wet kiss on my face. and when I turn over face down he scratches my head furiously as if he was digging a hole in my skull.

Let's get it started.

2012-03-14T08:45:00.002-07:00

So I've been heading to the gym for about over a year now and with my new found activity i.e. fitness classes, Jie and I decided to check out Cali fitness as they always have promos going on and its super near to the hospital (TTSH) where she works at.

So we just signed up today for a 30 month platinum membership. We walked in and uh our sales advisor was really quite the horror.Jie, being the wonderful doctor she is suspected he was having a withdrawal from something. He started trembling and seemed very anxious and we were like :S. In any case, we were shown around the place and it seemed clean, spacious and the changing area was quite spacious as well.Well, we did go during off peak hours so I have no idea how it'll be like during peak hours. Oh yes, do note you have to bring your own padlock to use the lockers. Other than that, you get 2 free towels everytime you head to the gym- a small one and a long one for your showers.

To cut the long story short, there was a promo going on and it was down to the last 2 days. Basically here's how it goes you pay $130.50 a month over 12 months. And on top of that you get 18 months free. To break it down, I think jie calculated that it would be about $50 a month.Pretty cheap eh. What I really wanted was the fitness classes and I can't wait to get started on body combat (similar to kickboxing) and pilates.However, I am thinking of continuing still with my pilates classes. Since I love the instructor so much. Oh yes, what I like about the fitness classes is that you just go in and register before the class is going to start. Except for Zumba toning and spinning.

They do a body scan analysis as well! I got a physical score of 73, not fantastic but it was in the good range. I also found out I am over muscular, which means I am probably going to turn in to the hulk in the near future.

Oh yes, after we did sign up. One thing which did piss me off was the personal trainer bit. There will be a person who would try to actually sell you their services at about $120 a session. I actually found her to be pretty rude. :/ saying how she sees people who keep on doing cardio and that they are not working out right. She claimed to have a 30% off if you signed up today but that turned out to be like $90 over as well. And minimum would be a sign up of 6 sessions. But of course, they recommend 3 sessions a week and over a month that would amount to over 1k. which is almost the same price of your gym membership. She got rather peeved when Jie and I said we wouldn't sign up as well. Heh, half the time I was just staring at her freshly tattoed eyebrows. That's probably cos her eyebrow fell off whilst working out, hence the need for the tattoo. Oh dear, I sound horribly mean now. But she really did make me super pissed off.

I honestly detest people who hard sell and I do feel bad for them in the sense that they probably need to live off the commission but :/ haiyoh don't need to be so pushy right?

Oh yes, since I'm a member and if you decide to join as a member! Quote my membership number and you can get like shopping vouchers *ding ding* Look for Kevin! He was the other sales advisor who joined us! He was so much better! Heh! He owes me a free shoe bag.

I go to the Novena gym so you can find me there or if you want to go to fitness classes together! But please stay away if you are creepy, weird and please note I'm straight as a chopstick. Not as skinny as a chopstick, but as STRAIGHT as a chopstick.

So here is my new membership card!

Ta!

Love,

Staring into sunlight.

2012-03-10T09:04:00.001-08:00

Am currently typing this as I lie awake on my bed trying not to feel the pain and ache from today's class. Today, the trainer told us that she's gonna give us a good workout. Omg. Think crazy shuffles in all directions, mad man running (furiously running on the spot whilst pumping your fists in the air) , crazy punch kick combos and to top it off crazy abt (abs, butt and thigh) exercises like doing the plank in crazy crazy variations. Ouch!

I don't know who's crazier. This lady or the gay old instructor who never fails to tell us how fit and fabulous he is.

In all healthy eating goodness, ive found my fav sub!!! Okay it's the veggie delight. All veggies! With sweet onion sauce. Never knew anything could taste so simple and good. Although, jie tells me she can make it for me and I'm paying way too much for vegetables. Mehhhh.the veggie patty is super good as well!

Alrightys, am gonna try to convince myself that my achey ness is all in my head. Mind over matter baby.

Oh yuh , on a side note. I finally got my dr martens! Super happy they had the black ones in my size. But I thought they were gonna be super comfortable but they are so not! I already have a blister on my second toe. :( grr! Not to mention, they are so hard to remove and wear! I remove my shoes whilst driving - yes, I know. What a weirdo. Weird things I learn from my mummy. And whoever drives my car has to remove their shoes as well!

And now, I take forever to get out of the car and I couldn't do a valet two dys ago cos I would have to get out of the car barefooted with the boot in my hand. These shoes are a major fuss ball.

Yupp I just had to rant about these shoes. Everytime I wear them I hop around like a maniac and need to grab something for support.

That day, I was at a wake and I was sitting on the chair wearing the boots and my mum said :" Jo, this chair is for the older people to wear their shoes ! " and all the elderly people stared at me sniggering to themselves. And I had to say :" sorry ah sorry ah! "

Am quite dismayed as I was hoping to wear them to Japan! :( bleagh! It was a toss up between these or a pair of hunters. :(

Oh boy, I just realized I rambled quite a bit about uncomfy shoes and me aching. Haiyoh.

Till then,
Love Jo.

Where's my Yoko Yoko?

2012-03-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

Jie and I really got our asses whipped today at Boxercise. Am aching so badly, it pains me to even lift up my arms. The instructor was pretty hilarious. Think of Richard Simmons, Singapore style. HEE-LARIOUS. Have decided Yoga is not really the thing for me, I really enjoyed my pilates class so much more. Best of all, she is super thorough as well!

Poofed from the week. Am dreading it.

Pictures from the week.

A family friend's 80th Birthday Dinner at The Regent Hotel.

I took a Sabbath from my fasting for this meal, and no one at my table at prawns. Their loss was definitely my gain, I think I ate about 20 prawns. (: Hur Hur. Xin Zai Le Huo!

Another family friend dinner at Hua Ting.

Ordered way too much food, so there were 9 huge dishes for the 7 Adults.

Snow dumplings with Durian. Dee-lish-ous.

Till the next time folks! Swamped with work again and my fitness classes! Bring the ache on baby!

Cheers,

Twisted toes

2012-02-29T07:17:00.001-08:00

The past week including today has been such a crazy whirlwind. Hoping that tomorrows yoga class is going to give me some good alone time with myself to relax and unwind.

Other than that Joyce Meyer's books have been extremely comforting during these times and my tv has been my constant companion for alone me time :)

Pics from the week.

Take care folks!

Barefoot in the moonlight.

2012-02-21T08:53:00.003-08:00

Some crazy lovin for my liu sha baos from Imperial Treasure. So good, you may die.

What I love about my job is flexibility. Well, sorta. Although I don't work the regular office hours, I work at really odd hours of the night :/ and answers dutifully to the call of work. Mainly due to the fact that we are so far ahead of the USA, so the only time people actually reply is during midnight, Singapore time.

On a side note, I am aching really badly now from trying to practice yoga poses like the wheel and the crane. I am so inflexible like a wooden block. ouch. Hope the yoga classes will help me be stretchy like a rubberband. Jie and I have gone a tad overboard, I'm not swamped with 5 classes every week!

Alright folks, am gonna be on a lent fast for 40 days! Wish me luck and may I see wonderful things at the end of 40 days. Okay, that sounds really whimsical but I'm hoping for the best.

<3.

Jo.

I box you ah!

2012-02-18T05:57:00.001-08:00

So, I attended my first kickboxing class today. and I can feel a mega ache coming on real soon! It was a pretty intensive workout I must say and it was pretty fun as well. But along with every class, comes up a group of crazy housewives who try to show off their moves by standing right in front of the class and of course there'll be one who forgets to put some deodorant, therefore causing all of us to choke from the lack of oxygen. But nevertheless, mega fun.

So, yesterday... Daddy came into my room and said...

Daddy: Eh, Jo. Tomorrow, the singtel guy is going to lay the cables in greenleaf,can you go down?

Me: No, I can't I've got kickboxing.

Daddy:BOXING? BOXING? WHY DO YOU WANT TO LEARN BOXING?

Remy (Who happened to be in the room): Eh I teach you how to box, and then she proceeded to go into a kungfu position. And started jabbing the air.

Me: Uh, okay. I'm still attending my class tomorrow.

Oh yes, I bought these pair of shoes lately. They're called the Nike Lunar Eclipse+ 2 . I originally bought, a pair of Adidas Clima Cool Ride, which were known for being super light weight as well as keeping your feet feeling cool as you run and workout. I really loved this pair of shoes, as they were honestly as light as a feather. The downside however, was that they often did not give me enough support as I am also flat footed and this caused me great pain at my achilles heel and also giving me plantar fascilitis.

So I bade farewell to these shoes, and was honestly on the hunt for a great pair. I knew Asics was a really good brand for running shoes, but... they were kinda ugly! haha. and I know alot of people say that when you buy Nike shoes, you are purely paying for the name. But, in any case at the end of the day, I got the pair of shoes. I was a bit peeved at first, as I was like OMG these things weigh a ton! But the guy told me, the heavier the shoe, the lesser the impact on your joints. It provides a great amount of support and it has a heel clip at the back, which prevents your foot from slipping out! It's been close to a month and I really love my new shoes! They feel like you're walking on air.

Although, it is possibly the most expensive pair of track shoes I've splurged on ($269), I do think they are worth the money! Or maybe, I just haven't explored other shoe options. haha.

And, because I have nothing else to talk about. Here's me trying to do a chu chus and me losing my sanity in my hotel room in Hong Kong.

That's all folks! Have a great weekend ahead!

My Neverland.

2012-02-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Hong Kong and it never fails to bring me so much joy and happiness. as stupid as that sounds! Stayed at my usual Langham Place and it was gooooooood! Heh, especially with the member perks this round. *TWO THUMBS UP YO.*

I never knew roaming the streets by myself, could be so therapeutic! I swear I'm becoming an introvert, I love how in Hong Kong everyone is alone and everyone eats alone so you just eat with strangers. Unlike Singapore, where people think you're a freak.

Although, the only sad thing which happened to me and has still left me traumatised was how the cap of a mineral water bottle came loose and soaked my whole bed leaving both my phones in a state of coma and the other in paralysis.

Didn't take much pictures this time round, as I didn't wanna look like those siao zha bors holding up their phone and posing like nobodys business.haaha.

my puppy: his way of telling me to pack him up and bring him to Hong Kong.

On the way to the aiport.

Langham place!

Cantonese chok. So waaaat (Smooth). Awesome stuff.

Yee Shun Milk Pudding. There's my happiness in a bowl.

Me and The Grand Tai Tai

Breakfast at Tsui Wah

Visiting the construction site.

My very sad but complimentary fruit platter.

My ubber fluffy and comfy bed!

Uber Cool treadmill at Langham.

View from the gym.

Brunch at Ming Court.

Me and my new doggy friend! Although, he was more interested in sleeping. and you can see my family friend frantically hovering over me, as she is petrified of dogs.

My last meal at the airport before heading back home to Singapore.

The food here was super reasonable and the best part is that it was one the 2011 Michelin Guide.

Managed to snag these 2 babies before I boarded the plane! Well, I almost missed my flight because I was too busy shopping in the airport.

I love the Hong Kong airport! They even have a zara inside the Terminal! The Chanel store has a pretty amazeballs range as well! :D

This trip has confirmed my love for Hong Kong even more! I can't wait to plan another trip with Er Jie, who is my absolute favourite travelling buddy. Service in Hong Kong is always top notch, even the staff at Zara are so friendly which is such a refreshing change compared to those in Singapore. The SA at Chanel, even handed me her name card and told me to call her in Hong Kong if there was anything I fancied in Singapore and she would reserve it for me in the airport, so I could get it tax free! Can you hear the angels singing from above!

Unfortunately, HK has burned a huge hole in my pocket, mainly because all the shops stocked all the pieces I was dreaming day and night for. For now, my motto is gonna be :" Restrain and Refrain" and did I mention HK had such a pretty awesome sale at ZARA.

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Pictures from today !

Laid my hands on this new product I saw on tv! Smells pretty good!

Finally got my watch fixed! wheepee! it's really hard to find someone to fix this watch!

Churros using my leg as a headrest

That's all for now folks! Blessed week ahead!

The A Team

2012-02-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

I finally got down to doing my hair today! Well, I've been putting off highlighting my hair but mummy finally convinced me to head down to Artisan Hair at Holland Village to get it done.

I am always a happy camper coming out of the hair salon, maybe because the guys are really stylish and trendy so I know they won't make me go out looking like some chao ah lian. :D

Titus first analysed my hair and then chose 2 colours for my highlights! whoo! I didn't know I get 2 colours. Well, in my old hair salon I only got one colour choice okay! I sat around in the chair waited for about 2 hours and poof I was done! Now, when Desmond blow dried my hair I was like OMG SO LIGHT OMG SO LIGHT. I LOOK LIKE A HYENA. But, after a second or third look it kinda grew on me! Even mumy thought it was nice, well I know she's my mother and she's supposed to say it's nice! But, whatever.

I think the most life changing thing the salon ever did to me though was actually convincing me to change my parting. Heh! I can't believe I actually changed it to the left, okay I know that sound kinda weird. But, it is a big step for me , since I've always convinced myself I would never change my parting.

The guys are really softies at heart, well to me I think! and mummy is always impressed by their meticulous-ness. Mummy said to me:" Jonathan is so patient, he so determined to slowly wipe away the hair dye stain from my face."

Did you know they give fringe cuts too! And it's F.O.C. But, please don't all of you head down tmr and ask for a free fringe cut. Cos, that will really be a shame on you! But, I brought my little Godsister there and I think she was so intrigued by the salon! Since, it's kinda rock-chic ish. She was like WHA the salon is so nice and the chairs are so comfortable! Not like the other salons I go to. Funniest thing was how the little Samantha was horrified by the dead cow rug on the floor.

Will try to take pictures of my new hair cut tmr. I know it's not anything life changing but I think a little difference goes along way.

In any case, my verdict is that everyone in the salon is stellar! :D

Artisan Hair

42A Lorong Mambong, Holland Village

6469 2059

Heh!

Oh yes, I'm heading to HK tmr baby! See you guys next week! But of course, since this is for work I promise to stay connected!!!

In any case, pictures of brunch at roadhouse with kim and tingali!

Alright folks! Till the next Blog Post!

<3,

hair, be gone!

2012-02-02T23:33:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday Jie and I went down to Musee for our first IPL treatment. We managed to get a super good deal on deal.com.sg for unlimited underarm hair removal for $98.

Okay let me, side track a little.Here's things you should say when you don't want to sign up for a package. Don't say I don't share with you ah! ahaha.

1. I already have a package with another centre, but I thought I would come and give your treatments a try. When my package is over, I'll come and sign up with you! (This works most of the time!)

2. Oh, I don't like packages because I always waste my treatments, so I'd rather pay full price. But don't worry la, I'll come back to you all. (They may give you a quizzical brow with this response, but just leave quickly!)

3. If you're super brave and don't wanna patronise them anymore:" I DONT LIKE PEOPLE WHO HARD SELL PACKAGES TO ME."

OR THE ULTIMATE ONE. WHICH WILL LEAVE THEM SPEECHLESS.

I AM VERY BROKE, I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY. (I haven't tried this yet, but my family friend did and it worked like a charm. hur hur. )

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, back to the treatment.

Jie, was doing her legs and underarms so that took about 40 mins. For me, my treatment only took about 10 minutes.

First step, change into a spaghetti top and wait patiently for the therapist to come. Next, apply cooling gel on your pits, to sorta numb them, I think! After that comes wearing the glasses and a towel over your eyes to protect them from the bright flashes of light. and here goes the treatment:" BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP FOR ABOUT SIX TIMES IN TOTAL AND YOU'RE DONE! The therapist, then gives you like little gel pads to put under your pits.

Okay, and that's that. I was pretty worried about it being painful but it really doesn't hurt at all. Well, if I was being very anal, I would say you may feel like a slight prick, but it's only for a second! However, after that you may feel like your skin feels kind of sunburnt.

Oh yes, you're not allowed to put deodorant 12 hours before and after the treatment. So, try not to lift your pits up. No exercise and no alcohol at all too okay!

OH YES, THE WORST PART OF THE TREATMENT HAS TO BE NOT BEING ABLE TO SHAVE YOUR PITS FOR 2 TO 3 WEEKS. :/ ewww right! and apparently you can only see the full effects of IPL by the third or fourth session. but, after that you should be hair free :D

Oh yes, if you are wondering. The IPL for legs is about 2.1k for about 30 sessions. Jie calculated and it'll last for about 5 years, with each session costing only an average of $74!

Best of all, if you feel that your hair has stopped growing by the 10th session, they'll refund the rest of the money to you!

So, that's about it!!!

Here's my membership number, you get a free treatment if you quote it! 81009193

Cheers,

For today we eat, and tomorrow we diet.

2012-02-01T22:53:00.000-08:00

Today has been physical torture. I am aching in places, I never knew one could ache. The zoo run is coming up soon and since I fell sick last week, I didn't practice the full distance. So, I decided to head to the club's gym for a run. Aye. So, I ran on this giant treadmill called paramount which has some arty farty colour screen and I didn't know how to set the machine so I was only able to do about a 4 click run. After which, I decided to do some rowing with the machine which is filled with water. Mighty cool I must say , but I didn't know how to set the resistance which meant that some buff dude set the resistance to the highest and my arms felt like they were on fire by the end of five minutes. Kill me honey. At the end of that, I headed back home to use our own gym and did another 6 click and a round of pilates. HOOO HAA. and now. my legs are screaming in pain and I can't even pour water from the jug! Oww.

Jie and I went to Musee today for our IPL consultation. We managed to snag the deal coupon so it was only 98 buckeroos! Our first session which is going to be on this coming thurs. Jie also signed up for the leg IPL for 30 sessions, which came up to a whopping 2k. -_-" Aye. My helper used to tell me how a guy with hairy legs meant that he was caring and friendly. But when girls have hairy legs, they call us rambutans and gorillas. guh.

1. Genki Sushi

After our consultation, we headed to Genki Sushi at Orchard central. I've always wanted to try it since I've heard nothing but great things about it. At the same time, it kinda reminded me of sen-ryo in hong kong!

The staff are super friendly and ordering food with the ipad is pretty eggciting. Hur hur. Best of all the speedy bullet train has gotta be one of the coolest things ever. Plus, it means that the sushi is made fresh with crispy nori! Whoop!

Here's some of the pics I took. Love the concept. Love the food.

Super affordable as well! and there's a 10% going on right now with all DBS/POSB cards.

Can't wait to head back there. Everyone go give it a try. The sushi averages at about $2.30 a plate! and the udon is only like $3.80! Amazeballs!!!!

Genki Sushi

Orchard Central #03-32

Singapore

We ate at Sun with Moon yesterday and the food was nomnom-licious! I love the japanese sets they have! It's like a bundle of surprises! haha.

Their lunch sets are super worth it! Everyone should give it a shot.

Sun with Moon

Wheelock place #03-15

+65 6733 6636

On a side note, I signed up for 2 fitness classes! Wheep!!! Ha Ha! I feel so brave signing up for these classes by myself. I signed up for Kickboxing & ABT as well as Pilates Class. Hope it's good! HOO HAA!!!

Alright then, that's it for this post.

Love,
Jo.

Here's to a new year. Let's make it right.

2012-01-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

This year's cny celebrations have been pretty low key and that's the way I truly enjoy spending it. Even if it's just the four of us we never fail having such a lovely time together over dinner.

The past weeks been pretty crazy. Working for daddy has been such an experience and I'm truly blessed and thankful for daddy letting me work with him. He's super humble and I can't wait to learn the ropes from him.

In the past week I've headed to chinatown with mummy to soak up the new year festivities and watched wicked for the second time but this round with the Aussie cast. Kudos to jie for third row seats. But nothing still beats the experience of watching a musical in London.

We had an early reunion dinner as well at our favouriteeee imperial treasure Peking duck restaurant! :)

On a side note, am so glad I've finally been able to get into the swing of training again. The thought of next weeks run is pretty daunting!!! Wish me luck!

We celebrated reunion dinner a day earlier, so this meant it was just the four of us pacing up and down town finding a restaurant which was open.

We went to Watami and ordered this pretty huge set meal! super satisfying (: there were alot of other pictures but we were soooo hungry, so we ended up attacking the food as it came.

Here's pictures taken at mama's house on chu yi.

Pictures with Instagram:

Have a great new year everyone! (:

Dinner at Le Bistrot

2012-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

So last Saturday, Glenn, Karl and Yiwei brought me to Le Bistrot. Trust me it was a really long journey before we got there. Why? The musketeers decided to trick me and surprise me in a really sweet way so... they pretended that we were going to nex to have dinner. At first I was like.. uh.. NEX? seriously. Ended up Glenn brought us to NTUC and told me he was gonna make us dinner and so we had to choose our own produce! haha. Glenn is super good at making a fool out of me, I tell you. In the end, they made me take the mrt to stadium, where they then told me we were gonna attend some random person's concert. So, I was like uh great. I asked this teenage girl who's concert it was and she gave me a quizzical brow and said:" JAM HSIAO". It was at this point, I was like great..... I have no idea how to sing any of his songs. We walked around like fools, Glenn even made me take a picture in front of the stage door.

See! Who gets bullied on their birthday dinner! guh! Finally and finally, they brought me to Le Bistrot a modern french cuisine restaurant. Greeted by the warm staff, we were then led to the table where they showed us their menu, which consisted of 3 options: Entree + Main for $50, Main + Dessert for $50, and all 3 for $60. Of course, we opted for all 3 courses. Hur Hur. The food was pretty darnn good and I left that place feeling like a happy duckie.

Here's the pictures to boot!

My hot friendly neighbour.

Us. Forever Friends. Forevermore.

Can't wait to bring Jie there. Things which were deee-vine: Scallops, Mushroom Soup, Gravlax, Lemon Tart, Karl's hazelnut praline dessert. Karl's beef casserole, Glenn's steak.

Things I would give a miss: Coq Au Vin.

Address: 2 Stadium Walk, #01-03 Singapore Indoor Stadium,Singapore

Suit me up!

2012-01-12T08:51:00.003-08:00

Daddy having his Zegna moment. Haha.

life.goes.on.

2012-01-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

So, today I made possibly one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. I don't know whether I've made the right decision, but I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. I actually cried three times whilst writing the letter and to me it's possibly one of the most courageous things I've done so far.

This journey has definitely brought me closer to God, waiting and praying that he will give me sign or a confirmation of what and where I'm to go in life. I hoped that the sign would be in the form of flashing lights or maybe the stars aligning to form a sentence or a word. But no, none of that happened. So, over the last weekend I tried to be as sensitive to the people or words that were said to me. After all, God does use people to talk to us and to convey his message.

I went for a prayer conference on Saturday, bawled my eyeballs out. I swear I'm such an emotional creature , I may very possibly slash my wrists into ribbons when my boyfriend breaks up with me. Okay, that aside. So, today when I finally made my decision and stuck to it, an immense sense of peace came upon me. I swear, I started to think to myself :" my chains are gone, I've been set free."

Right now, I am scared of what the future holds for me.

But all I know for now is:

I have a Father

He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was talking to an 18 year old girl today, who just faced a huge setback. She's only 18 years old, holds such a great faith for God, its pretty amazing. Yet, when she told me what she was going through, I couldn't help but shed a tear for her. (I was actually talking to her on the AYE, with my p***e in one hand and driving at 110. phew! ) What makes me feel more ashamed, is how optimistic she is still and then my problems start to feel so insignificant.

So, may I close this short chapter in my life on a high note, knowing that God will have something better in store for me.

Jo.

Just the three of us and Ah Chew Desserts

2012-01-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday night, Jie, Pops and I headed out for dinner, just the three of us. Mummy was swarmed with work, but her being super efficient meant she finished all her work at 11 and thus lead her wanting to shop till dawn at Mustafa. But thank goodness, we cancelled that thought and headed to Holland Village instead.

We started off with Din Tai Fung at Raffles City and was rather peeved as alot of food had been sold out by the time we were served! Grr. After which, daddy wanted to bring jie and I for dessert at Tan Quee Lan. He couldn't remember the name of the shop, so we parked at Bugis and crossed over.

We walked around and finally found the shop. Ah Chew's dessert. It was a blessing in disguise that we didn't bring mummy cos she hates HATES hates tong shui. Daddy and I were so fascinated by the menu, we went a tad crazy, whereas Jie on the other end was thinking really hard what to have cos she has no clue about chinese dessert or anything outside the realms of TWG. Ps: In the end, she settled for glutinous rice balls with peanut filling. Daddy and I on the other hand, ordered in total 2 bowls of mango sago with pomelo, 1 bowl of gui ling gao and 2 bowls of cold steamed egg white (Oh my protein-y goodness)

The dessert was pretty good. The mango sago pomelo was huge and the steamed egg white was pretty smooth and wasn't too sweet. Reasonable and pretty satisfying. :D

Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品

Address: 1 Liang Seah Street, #01-11 Liang Seah Place,Singapore

After our dessert feast, we were on the way home. When our mummy dearest called us to say she was bored and wanted someone to bring her out. Okay then. Dessert round 2 at Holland Village's Haagen Dazs. Chocolate fondue for everyone!

Christmas time in the City.

2011-12-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

It's a pity christmas has flown by so quickly. Christmas is definitely my favourite time of the year. One way in which we always celebrate it is by FEASTING with our favourite friends and family. It started off with our turkey dinner with family friends. Christmas eve's brunch was spent at Jade @ Fullerton and Christmas Day was spent at Patara for some awesome thai cuisine followed by our favourite chinese restaurant, imperial treasure super peking duck. Boxing Day was spent with my aunts and my dearest por por.

And here's the pics to boot.

Brunch at Jade

Dinner at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck.

Boxing Day, Turkey Dinner.

Another New Year's eve brunch awaits us tomorrow, with mummy's special guest from the Philippines. This round, jie and remy have been hard at work trying to whip up some of their local dishes! Good stuff awaits us tomorrow!

and here's some crazy photos taken with chus and jie!

Have an awesome 2012 everyone. End tmr with a blast as we venture into the new year.

What scares me is how I dread the upcoming year. so much uncertainty, so much fear.

Hong Kong, Look what you've done Part 3

2011-12-22T04:27:00.001-08:00

Hong Kong Disneyland. Dinner at Ming Court. Best Gui Ling Gao ever.

Dinner at Langham Place's Two Michelin Star Ming Court. Supper affordable and if you're looking for a steal, go during lunch! Although, I do think the food quality during dinner is a tad better.

Gui Ling Gao right outside Langham Mall. There's a popular joint in Hong Kong, I can't remember the name but it sells Gui Ling Gao for a whopping 9 bucks and its really bitter. This one right outside Langham Mall, isnt too bitter and the portions are huge and it's half the price!! Whoop!

Last up, Day 4! But sadly, we left Hong Kong at about 1. So we only managed to have lunch at Tsui Wah. But I'll save that for another post, in the mean time Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!

Hong Kong, Look what you've done Part 2

2011-12-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hearty Breakfast at Tsui Wah. Birthday.Lunch at Amber.

Bun with Condensed Milk

Squid Balls and Noodles. mmmhmm.

Fish Curd with noodles

Tsui Wah, is a pretty popular cha chan teng around hong kong. We found ourselves heading there for about 2 days in a row. They do have an english menu, so if you find youself lost in translation, try to ask for it.

Birthday Lunch at amber. Amber located at the The Landmark, Mandarin Oriental is on HK Island and is a 2 michelin star restaurant.

The food was pretty darn spectacular. With explosions of flavours in my mouth, I thought I had fireworks in my mouth. I've been to Alain Ducasse in London which is a 3 michelin star and I thought Richard Ekkebus did it way much better. Everyone who stops by Hong Kong, should definitely try this place out.

The WOAHHH Chandelier.

We met the chef, which was pretty delightful. At the same time, the lovely crew gave us a box of 12 macarons each, mainly because it was our birthday. Oh the perks. If you are wondering about the price it was about 160 a person, if I'm not wrong. and this included the wine pairing, which was a pity cos I didn't know they had a non alcoholic version where they serve you fruit juices and spritzers instead. The wine pairing costs an additional 200 HKD and trust me you'd probably need to have a pretty high tolerance of alcohol to survive the meal. Jie was saying about how during wine pairings they only give you a little bit of wine, but here they gave so much wine that my mummy was feeling WOOZY by the second glass. Hilarious. So she kept stuffing her face with bread and butter. The hotel even gave us a bottle of champagne as well! hur hur.

Feasting at a Dai Pai Dong .

A similar version to the lobster, the lady told us this was a mix between a lobster and a huge prawn and up today I till have no idea what creature this is.

Up next, is Hong Kong Day 3- Disneyland and more feasting! Stay tuned!

Hong Kong, Look what you've done. Part 1

2011-12-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

There's something about Hong Kong, that never fails to make me happy. I get so caught up on cloud 9, that coming back home to reality makes me immensely depressed.

Those 4 days, were such a blast and the time spent with the fam fam and having a breather from work was simply refreshing.

The first thing we did when we touched down was to head to Lei Garden @ IFC. Booked this place a month in advance as it's always always super packed! It's a one michelin star restaurant by the way ! Super reasonable prices, for yummy delish food.

Feng Zhao. Had a major issue reading fan ti, and thought these were the normal brown braised feng zhao turned out to be some steamed shizz. GROSS AND HORRIBLE. I really felt I was eating a raw chicken's foot.

Chee Cheong Fun with Char Siew. Simple, but oh so so heavenly.

Pan Fried Radish Cake

Stir Fried Hong Kong Kailan (In every restaurant we go to in Hong Kong, daddy never fails to order a plate of Kailan) and Lei Garden does an excellent job. Crispy, Succulent and Juicy.

Xiao Long Bao!

Chee Cheong Fun -Plain. (my fav!!! totally tasteless and just tastes like chewy goodness!)

Steamed Layered Pumpkin Cake- OH SO FLUFFY!

Hong Kong Beef Balls- a tinge of mandarin peel, which leads to an explosion of flavours

The little duck. Good, but I stopped after finding out it was a baby duckling.

Har Gow

Wonton Soup. Hearty Soup with compact meat filled wontons.

Everyone say egg tarts!

Dumplings! Ordered this by accident. Good, but the consequence of not being able to read fan ti zi.

Gyoza. Ordered this by accident as well. My parents stared at me in horror, because there were so many DUMPLINGS ON OUR TABLE.

Baked Custard Buns.Saving my best dish for the last. MMMHMM..


	Shop No. 3007-11, 3/F., International Finance Centre, Central, Hong Kong
	(852) 2295 0238

---------------------------------------

Dinner at Sen Ryo, at Causeway Bay. Still one of my top Sushi joints. This place serves possibly the weirdest sushi, which always tastes oh so yummy. They have things like premium salmon sushi as shown below, and it actually tastes like butter going down your throat. SOOO SMOOOTH. I made everyone around the table take a piece. The Scallop Sashimi is to die die for as well! And best thing of it all, everything's super affordable! Whoop!

So here's the address, wont bother going too much in detail about the sushi's cos I think its pretty straight forward. But everyone should definitely try out these 2 places. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Shop B222, B2, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay

銅鑼灣勿地臣街1號時代廣場B2 B222號舖

Stop number 2: Our Birthday High Tea @ St Regis.

2011-12-05T07:32:00.001-08:00

So last saturday,we met up with my aunts and grandma for our birthday high tea treat at the St Regis. My family has this thing about high teas of all sorts. Which explains why we are often at L'Espresso and why my sister dragged me to Jade and Cherry Garden during the past 2 weeks.

Just to clarify, the St Regis Tea is NOT a buffet high tea, so if you are a big eater, this place is definitely not the place for you. Me, being more of a savoury sort of person, was honestly rather disappointed to find out I had to stuff my face with scones to make myself feel full, as there were only 4 puny finger sandwiches. After your tea set, which comprises of 4 finger sandwiches and 2 scones, comes a hot entree. The hot entree was either a salmon quiche, a vol au vent or a foie gras creme brulee, or dimsum from Yan Ting. Sadly, the hot entree's were all misses for our family. With the vol au vent being cold and hard on the outside and having my foie gras sprinkled with sugar crystals... was definitely.. kinda weird. After your entree, comes a dessert trolley whereby two desserts are limited to a person. Now WHO LIMITS PEOPLE TO DESSERTS. THAT'S JUST PLAIN EVIL.

So, enough talk. Here' the pictures from the tea. The tea was about 56 ++ if my memory does not fail me and there was a champagne option as well. Oh yes, the high tea is famous for having 2 dancing teachers teaching students or rather patrons how to dance. More often a not, the dance floor was filled with the same old people which led me to think that the people were most probably in search of a dance partner. Just Kidding! But I honestly, did pity their husbands. Think of it this way, bringing your wife to a high tea, only to find out she'd rather dance with a hot young dance teacher.

Honestly, I doubt seeing myself going back to the St Regis for tea, but I am very game to try their highly raved lunch.

But without further ado, here you go . I've decided to possibly do away with collages for a while. So, enjoy!

meet my grandma. the sweetest, most kindest soul ever.

Join me on my journey: Stop number 1!

2011-12-03T06:22:00.001-08:00

I'll soon be growing another year older in about exactly a week's time. (December 11 to be exact.) I think I've grown the most this year. In terms of finally finishing school,starting work and struggling through work and all that jazz.

Thank you all who've taken out time to celebrate my birthday with me, you've all been a blessing to me in ways that you'll never know. In any case, to kick off the celebrations, my first birthday dinner was with the good ol' kows, who are dear dear family friends of ours. Dinner was at Pepperoni's where we ordered 3 pastas, 3 starters, 3 desserts and a XXL pizza. Food was great, service was pretty good as well. The Kows, picked out a awfully chocolate (chocolate banana) cake which was dee-vine.

Many often ask why I'm not having a birthday party this year. Mummy was bugging me to have one, telling me repeatedly that I'll be starting a new milestone in my life. But, I thought it through and finally decided that it would be best for me to celebrate in a nice dinner setting with individual groups of friends, where we will be able to dine in a peaceful manner and have good conversation over good food. Honestly, it's so much more hassle free as well and I know I won't have any friends feeling left out or being in an awkward social situation. On my birthday itself, I've decided to spend it in Hong Kong. The land where my troubles vanish into thin air, good shopping, the place which has oh so lovely weather during winter and being able to dine in some michelin restaurants at really affordable prices. And most of all celebrating it with the rents' and my sister! (who also shares the same birthday as me)

Next week: Crazy amount of gatherings, an artisan hair and browhaus appointment to help me prep and prime for my birthday!

My wish for this year : BE A TAI TAI. (QUIT MY JOB AND GET MARRIED)

ANY TAKERS?

hahaha.

have a great weekend folks.

Jade @ Fullerton Hotel.

2011-11-27T02:42:00.001-08:00

Getting our dim sum fix at Fullerton Hotel's Jade Restaurant. The buffet was about $33++ and I would definitely choose this as compared to Cherry Garden at Mandarin Oriental which costs about $48++. The quality of the dim sum at Jade isn't great or very refined. But what I liked is the fact that you are able to reorder the main dishes. I had about 10 wasabi prawns to myself. Which to me, made up the whole meal for me. The custard buns were pretty good as well. The main dishes likes the char siew, braised lamb etc. were all pretty delish. Best of all, was the service. With the ervice staff promptly refilling our tea cups and changing our plates. Jie and I are likely to return there. Next stop for us, is Yan Ting! Many have highly raved about it and hopefully Jie and I will be able to swing by next month.

On a super random side note, I just bought this M.A.C. lipstick in the colour "kinda sexy" and it is to die for. A super subtle and nude colour perfect for work. A perfect lipstick for all lipstick beginners. Haha. I love how its creamy as well. PURR-FECT.

Alright folks. Here's wishing you a stellar week ahead. Am hoping to survive the upcoming week!

Dinner at Morton's. Dinner at cocotte.

2011-11-25T07:23:00.001-08:00

Cocotte. Got stuck in traffic for about an hour. Horrid Location, where people do not give a shit about oncoming traffic. Drove against the flow of traffic on a one way street and only found this our when i saw a huge ass lorry coming in my way. Tip for all: PARK AT THE VERGE. Service was kinda bad, but the food was pretty good! Pity about the location though.

Mortons.

Good food. Good service. Great fun. And two glasses of champagne from random strangers. Good stuff.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

my comfort.

2011-11-21T05:56:00.001-08:00

When trials come no longer fear

For in the pain our God draws near

To fire a faith worth more than gold

And there His faithfulness is told

Within the night I know Your peace

The breath of God brings strength to me

And new each morning mercy flows

As treasures of the darkness grow

I turn to Wisdom not my own

For every battle You have known

My confidence will rest in You

Your love endures Your ways are good

When I am weary with the cost

I see the triumph of the cross

So in it’s shadow I shall run

Till You complete the work begun

One day all things will be made new

I’ll see the hope You called me to

And in your kingdom paved with gold

I’ll praise your faithfulness of old

God.

Breakfast at Roadhouse. Yiwei's birthday at pepperoni's

2011-11-19T18:16:00.001-08:00

Hanging on the wall for the world to see.

2011-11-11T07:18:00.001-08:00

The past few weeks have been incredibly trying. Am still trying to figure out which direction to head to in life. Work has turned me into looking like an old haggard auntie. Think huge eye bags and crazy hair.

In any case, here's my week in pictures cos honestly I am probably Going to crash and burn after I publish this.

Mummy's birthday celebration dinners. First at yamagawa with a bunch of family friends. This place has gotta be one of the best bento box dinners. Now who doesn't love a bento box. It's like a box of little surprises!!!!

Mummy's main birthday dinner was at gunthers at purvis street. Food was so so but was pretty pricey. The bill turned out to be a whopping 700 buckeroos!

And that probably summed up my whole week. The rest of it was pretty much miserable.

Have an awesome week ahead everyone!

it's a tough nuff life for us.

2011-10-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

That's right honeys. I 've been in the working world for 3 days and it's been filled with ups and downs. To me, it feels like I've been thrown into the deep end and the learning curve is so steep , I honestly feel like giving up. But I'm trying to cling on as tight as possible. Being in a new workplace exposes me to such a variety of personalities, both good and bad.

Well, there's one which I absolutely detest and I honestly don't care if he reads this. But, I think there's always one of these in every company. The know it all, who talks down to people , who thinks he's so great because God gave him the power to descend down to earth and to enter our lives. I honestly believe, if you want people to respect you as a leader, start respecting them first. Just being a dictator no way in hell makes you a leader. What sickens me is when people think they're so great and they have no need for self-improvement. Come on, a little self-help wouldn't harm anyone. Along with that, I've also just spent another hour just now persuading a colleague not to quit the job just because of him.

I was pretty pissed at first, abut after a while I told myself I'm gonna kick his ass in sales.

In any case, I'm still thanking God for this wonderful opportunity and I'm thanking God even more for my wonderful friends, family and food for my being my wonderful source of comfort. Best thing I think is still going for a good run, and releasing all my pent up energy and anger.

Alright folks, gonna sleep now. Back to Greenleaf tomorrow. So stokked.

Cheers,

Jo.

婆婆我愛你!

2011-10-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

Wednesday saw us having lunch with our dearest grandmother at kuishinbo. Jie and I love the lunch express deal, so good and so worth it! My grandma loved the food there from the edamame beans and attacking the chocolate ice cream. Heh ain't my grandma cute! I forced her into wearing the hat :D

In other news, we are setting our sights on moving to Greenleaf! We are pretty excited about it. Can't wait to go back and take a look at the house this coming thursday. Jie and I have been thinking of where to place our different furniture items and who doesn't love designing their own space. :D It means so much more aye!

Work starts this coming week. I've actually been fretting over how to get to work. From the street directory, to the bus guide and using gothere.sg to see all the different routes I can take. I actually tried searching for a carpool site! But everyone stays so FAR AWAY FROM ME!!!!! So with that, I've finally decided. I'm just going to take a taxi. I'm pretty sad about leaving my car back at home. But I don't have any CBD parking ): I've even offered to pay my sister $300 a month to drop me off at work in the morning and she said. NO. ): EVIL!!!!

Two more days before I embark on the adventure of my life. But before that, 2 very satisfying dinners at hangoga grill and greenwood fish market await me!

Have a blessed week ahead everyone! Savour the weekend!

Of friends and food.

2011-10-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, the parentals and I headed to my very new favourite joint, The House of Robert Timms to have a hearty breakfast before we parted ways. I've always wanted to try their breakfast, but my sister is the kinda person who has to have her breakfast during breakfast and doesn't believe in having breakfast food for dinner. So we ordered, French Toast with mixed fruits, Eggs benedict, The croissant with the bratwurst sausage and the 3-way toasts. I'm glad daddy was there, cos it means I can order more food.

The french toast was about $11.50 and it was pretty alright, but nothing great. I still prefer the huge as* thick toast at the Hong Kong cafes. Daddy loved the Eggs Benedict and mummy loved hers too. Although, she did find her scrambled eggs abit gelak. Probably due to the fact that they made it really creamy. The 3 way toasts was alright, but wasn't stellar. Another thing I appreciate about this place is that they use multi-grain bread. Although, the rest of the breakfast is not exactly calorie-friendly. But hey! every bit counts right?

For dinner, we headed over to Wo Peng Restaurant, which is located at Mac Pherson. I haven't really heard much about this restaurant but our family friends told us that this place whips up some stellar cantonese dishes. Although, I'm a teochew by birth, but I would definitely say we are more cantonese than twochew. Perhaps, its the close bond that I have with my por por and as such I am a sucker for anything cantonese. Be it Hong Kong, to their serials, to their food.

We had the roast pork, Soon hock Soup,Crab Bee Hoon and broccoli. I'm not usually a fan of roast meat but this guy definitely knows how to make a good roast pork. There was hardly any fat on it at all! We had the crispy fish skin as an appetiser, which is a pretty common dish sold in Hong Kong. Considering how hard it is to find in Singapore, I think many people in Singapore are quite intrigued by this dish and by no means is this dish the same as fried salmon skin that you find at Sushi Tei.

The Crab Bee Hoon, was pretty good, with the crab meat being sweet and flavourful. I did find the Bee Hoon to have a slight flour-ish smell though. The Soon Hock Soup was the dish I liked the best. Despite there being bones, they were super easy to remove. Although, I probably took 20 mins to eat this dish. (We teochews only know how to eat duck.) Whereas mummy found great delight in eating the fish's head and tail (cantonese power! ).

Is it me or do Cantonese people find GREAT DELIGHT in eating fish with as many bones as possible? Daddy and I just stare at my mom in great fascination and were very disgruntled when we were always brought to eat yu tao mai fan. (Fish head bee hoon)

Oh yes, do note that some of their dishes like the crab need to be pre ordered.

Wo Peng

476 Macpherson Road

Singapore 368191

6747 9892

Today, I finally had the chance to catch up with my long lost primary school friends Rach and Evon. We've known each other since we were 8 and although we hardly meet up, we always find ourselves picking up from where we left off. What I really admire about these gal pals of mine is how down to earth they are. Which I think is something we don't find in many Mg girls. These girls actually know how it is like to have tasted life's trials and tribulations and are actually working and studying at the same time. So kudos to them and they are finally my first group of friends who I can rant to about the working life. I love exchanging pointers with them about the different characters in the office. So, go and meet an old friend this week and look back on life's journey and it's pretty amazing how we've all changed over the years.

Have a blessed week ahead everyone!

Fire with Fire.

2011-10-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday I received my first official employment contract. That's right folks. I'm finally heading out to the dog eat dog corporate world. Please wish me all the luck in the world because I am likely going to need it. Venturing out into a field and a department that I have no clue about scares me right, left and centre. The boss sent me a list of stuff I needed to do and I was like :" OH SHIT. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO". It's gonna be a pretty steep learning curve, but with God and my loved ones by my side, I hope I'll make it through. In a way, I'm thankful for not working for my dad cos I don't really think that would be a good judge of how the real working world is like. For example, my dad starts work at 1030 and comes home anytime he wants and taking a salary from my dad is just like taking a bigger allowance.

And in case you guys are wondering what job I have decided to take on, im going to be a MARCOM Specialist. Well, that was what was placed in my contract. If you guys are wondering what that is, go google it. :D

Anyhoo,whilst I was surfing the net, I came across this quote and I think that those of us who come from a cushy or a family who has given us everything that we ever needed has led us to often take things for granted. So, I hope that over the next few years, I'll learn to be more appreciative of what my parents have done for me over the years.

More often a times after a quibble with someone, or a fight with someone, I tend to find it hard to be the first one to say sorry. Often, I see myself taking the easy route out by pretending everything's okay and I'm sure many of us do that as well right? The only person I know who actually apologizes readily is my father which is something you don't see usually in a male and that's one aspect I really admire about him. When he's the one to first apologize after I quarrel with him, it just makes me feel more shitty inside, since I'm usually the one in the wrong and yet I find it hard to humble myself and to make the first move.

So, remember everyone! The next time you quarrel with someone. Quickly apologize, but of course apologize because you really want to. I really do feel the longer it takes for one of us to make peace with one another, the anger just brews inside and things just get from bad to worse.

Have a blessed weekend ahead everyone!

Food's the word.

2011-10-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Our family is particularly fond of going to Marina Bay Sands during the weekend. It's less crowded as compared to the other malls and we always find ourselves being able to find ourselves having a quiet and leisurely family dinner.

This week, we decided to try out the Korean Restaurant, Hangoga Grill. I tried looking out for reviews on it but there were hardly any and the one on HGW, gave it a horrid review on the lunch menu. Nevertheless, Jie suggested we try the place out.

Hangoga Grill is famous for their Korean BBQ and they have a huge selection of different cuts of beef. Do note that the only BBQ meats they have is about 10 different types of beef, pork and seafood. There's no chicken, which I found a little strange. Jie did the ordering and ordered the pork chuck ($29) and the Beef Short Rib ($51). We also had the braised short ribs ($40 something) and the Ginseng Chicken Soup. The food soon arrived, and the beef was to DIE. for. I hate beef, but the braised beef we ordered was really good. and the bbq meats were really good as well, although on the pricier side. The Ginseng Chicken Soup was so-so only and I found it a tad bland. But to sum it all up, I think the whole family was really satisfied after the meal. Especially daddy, who is mad-crazy-in love with anything beef.

Another nice touch, was being able to have a whole dining room to ourselves despite there being only 4 of us. They had a service button also, which was a pretty neat device. Service, was pretty good with the manager consistently checking whether we enjoyed the meal.

The total bill amounted to $175 for the 4 of us.

At the end of the dinner, they gave each of us a tissue and wet tissue packet and each of us a 10% discount card as well!

Hangoga Grill

#B1-01B The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

6553 9227

For lunch, Jie and I went to try the House of Robert Timms for brunch. They had an all day breakfast but Jie and I decided to try the All day menu instead. Robert Timms is located at Wheelock place, where the borders cafe used to be. So you have to go around wheelock place, to enter the restaurant. Being an Australian themed restaurant, they serve dishes like Kangaroo and Crocodile as well. We had the white wine mussels, the tofu pattie- which I know may sound kind of gross but I found it really yummy and Jie who is anti-tofu found herself liking it too! We shared a chicken wrap as well, which was good but I think the other two dishes stood out more.

To our pleasant surprise, the total bill was $48 and considering the quality of the food there, it is pretty darn worth it. So do give it a try! (:

The House of Robert Timms

#01-02 Wheelock Place

67359201

Puppy spam!

2011-09-30T08:36:00.001-07:00

Never knew blogging with the iPhone was such a breeze! Hahaha. And the photo get uploaded in a jiffy! Here's more puppy pictures!

Liberty.

2011-09-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

And with my final paper ending on Monday, I'm finally free. To think I may never ever have to take another exam paper, is definitely a comforting thought. As for me, I will finally be joining the corporate world on the 3rd week of October. Days have been spent trying to chart out a route to Shenton way. Due to the lack of parking, I'm going to have to leave my dearest car at home. I decided to take a bus home from Plaza Singapura a week back - my first time in about 2 years and buses are so different now! Technology never ceases to amaze me- from iphone apps which tell you which bus is coming, which route to take and they even have the mrt map as a app too! Super cool! The buses are so clean and nice now too! Bought a nightingale to use as my work bag and it's SOOOO heavy! I weighed the bag and it was a whopping 4kg. ); I wont be surprised if my shoulders turn out to be lop sided by the end of my working life.

Was able to meet up with Br and Joleyn last week! Cheers to good ol' times. We had dinner at manhattan fish market and it was kinda bad. Fish & Co. is way better!

Dinner with the parentals and Jie at one of our favourite haunts, Ps. Cafe. The parentals didn't really like the food though! Jie and I revisted Ps Cafe two days back and we had the Crisp & Dip, Chicken rossa penne and the BANANA & MANGO CRUMBLE. Which is to die for! My other favourites include the Key Lime Pie and Ginger Pudding. (: The Ps. Cafe at Harding, definitely has the upper hand on making desserts as compared to the one at Paragon.

PS.CAFE at HARDING

28B HADING ROAD

SINGAPORE

T:(+65) 6479 3343

And here's a picture to make you feel all nice and fuzzy. Churros showing Sushi some love! My two puppies never fail to amuse me.

"To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.”

Blessed week ahead everyone!

love in the first degree.

2011-09-13T03:36:00.000-07:00

It's definitely been a crazy week. With a whole lotta birthday celebrations going on for daddy and meeting up with good ol' family friends and friends who I've not seen for ages and ages past.

Daddy's Birthday Dinner at Osteria Mozza.

Good food. Good food. Good food. We were given free champagne thanks to the UOB Infinite Card, and mummy told me that it really gives you quite alot of other benefits as well! Like, going up to the skypark for free and having a free sampan ride. HAHA. My mum was so excited about the sampan ride.

Starters: Mussels, Parma Ham and Buffalo Mozzarella, and a Family portion pasta to share. Their pasta is pretty darn good and the waiters were so excited for us to try it. Pretty amusing.

Mains: Grilled trout and Wagyu Beef. (Good for 4 persons)

Being not a fan of beef, I had the grilled trout which the restaurant does oh so well. The wagyu beef was good for 4 persons but the parents didn't really like it cos they found it a tad salty. I thought it was pretty good though.

Dessert: Apple tart and canolis. Heh. Excuse the spelling. The apple tart was really good! :D Jie whu-luped it.

The very kind staff at Osteria Mozza also gave daddy a birthday ice cream . (: In case you're wondering how much to budget if you're planning to bring your loved ones there budget about $150/pax.

On saturday, we had lunch with Auntie Jenn and Uncle Yew Meng at Royal China which is at Raffles Hotel. I saw the reviews on HGW and it was given a 80%. So I was like hey! we should definitely check this place out. The good thing about this place though, is that the price is really really affordably priced considering its at Raffles Hotel.

However, I didn't really think much of the Dim Sum. I mean it was alright, but it didn't blow my mind away. I do think Imperial Treasure's Super Peking Duck does a better custard bun and the dim sum is of a higher quality. But nonetheless, it was pretty good.

If you're in chinatown, go to mouth restaurant which does the BEST BEST BEST baked Steam Custard Bun. Some call it a liu sha bao, some call it a nai yong bao. Mouth Restaurant is the only restaurant I know which does it baked. Awesome stuff.

Royal China

Raffles Hotel

1 Beach Road #03-09

6338 3363

Note: Royal China, is not part of the Feed at Raffles Group. However, they did have 15% off all UOB cards.

On Sunday, we had dinner at Imperial Treasure's Super Peking duck. This has gotta be Jie and I's favourite favourite ABSOLUTE favourite chinese restaurant. The quality of the food is always top notch and the food is actually quite reasonably priced considering the quality of the food.

This round we had the prawns with egg white which was sauteed in white truffle oil. I know white truffle oil is fake and stuff. But, it still made me one happy girl. We also had the wagyu cheek, which was damn good! ubber soft and yummy. This cow did not die in vain. I really liked the tofu as well, which I think was mixed with spinach or something. Whoever's reading this, promise me as long as you're in Singapore to give this restaurant a try. You will not be disappointed.

Do remember that all peking ducks have to be booked in advance. and for the second dish from the duck, I like the ee-fu mian. You can also ask for the two drumsticks to be chopped off , which was what we did. and the rest of the meat was just sliced up onto a platter. We had it done previously in the lettuce, which I absolutely detest, and it was kinda dry as well. But oh well, my grandpa and aunts love it that way. :S

Jie and I are heading there again this thursday. Whoopie.

For awesome service, look for John Lim, who is also known as Ah Qun, who used to be from Wah Lok. He used to be a manager there, but has now moved onto Imperial Treasure. He never fails to crack my grandpa and grandma up with his cantonese jokes. Eric, who is one of the senior managers there also used to be from Crystal Jade's Golden Palace.

Remember to make reservations everyone!

Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck

Paragon

#05-42

6732 7838

Walking down life's little road.

2011-09-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Earlier this morning, I spoke to possibly one of the best/most annoying sales person I've ever encountered. I picked up the phone call and found out my wonderful father asked her to call me to buy some $400 membership for restaurants. In any case, I think it's a pretty bad deal. So I don't think anyone should sign up for it, since alot of credit cards have alot ongoing promotions.
Am going to be starting work soon, so I am currently trying to get over and done with my last semester in school :D hopefully I don't fail anything this semester. If not, I'm screwed. haha. Am pretty darn scared to start this new chapter in my life, but am pretty thankful to be able to have a job already. It's gonna be a pretty crazy week with daddy's birthday this week which we're gonna celebrate at osteria mozza followed by another sunday dinner to celebrate his birthday, but this time round with family friends.

Tea at Canele! Have a serious obsession with anything lemon/lime. Shall order a lemon/ lime tart as my birthday cake for this year! :D

Tea at TWG with Jie. Followed by dinner at Raffles Hotel's Seah Street Deli. Don't think anyone should go there without the Feed at Raffles card. The burgers are a whopping $37, which I thought was kinda pricey for a burger. I asked to add a portabello mushrrom on top, and that was $8. $8 for my sad looking mushroom.Thank God for the Feed at Raffles card which gave us 50% off our bill. The business was kinda sad as well, with only 3 tables being filled and I honestly do think it has got to do something with the prices. The food was good, but I don't think is worth it paying the full price of $37 for the burger.

Seah Street Deli

1 Beach Road

Raffles Hotel

6412 1110

Dinner at Bliss Restaurant. Really affordable food, and it was pretty good as well!

Bliss Restaurant
6 Ang Mo Kio Street 53
Cheng San Community Club
6280 3389

Aye. My blog is now turning into a food blog. but heh! Food makes the world go round.

A week of fun and laughter.

2011-08-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, the family has been on this bak kut teh hunt! It first started with Songfa bah kut teh, where daddy was driving past and saw the queues were really long. So the next evening, the three of us headed to Songfa bak kut teh which is located opposite Riverwalk. In the end, it was pretty alright I guess. But, I doubt I'll be heading back there anytime soon.The pork rib soup was really worth it considering we had about 5 pork ribs each and it only cost us $8. However, I think it fails in comparison to Auntie Ya Hua's bak kut teh, whose soup is definitely more flavourful and pepper lovers will probably go crazy ga ga. But the best thing about dining at Songfa, was spotting Carl Ng. Gush-Drool-Die. I stared so hard at him, I think my eyes and heart almost popped out! Haha. Thank goodness I didn't have a pork rib shoved up my mouth. Oh yes, when dining there do note they have two seating areas - one is outdoors and the other has air conditioning. I like to sit at the road side, so we opted for the one without air-con. Although, I think daddy almost died sitting outside. The bill for the three of us came up to $45 if I'm not wrong! (: Who doesn't love a hearty bah kut teh meal! Super affordable!

Songfa Day & Night Bak kut teh

11 North Bridge Road

To sum up the night, we headed off to Ps Cafe at Paragon for some sinful crazy good deserts. I thought the lemon pudding was good but this ginger pudding is crazy good. Haha, the parentals loved it alot. So all you ginger lovers, go for the ginger pudding! (: The key lime pie wasnt too bad as well! The funny thing was how our desserts ended up to be the same price as our meal! haha.

After dinner, mummy and daddy were trying to figure out where to find the Hokkien type of bak kut teh which has a darker coloured soup base as compared to the Teochew bak kut teh which has a white pepper based soup. SO! I googled and hgw-ed it and found out there was one at Joo Chiat called Sin Heng bak kut teh! So... we decided to head there for breakfast the next day (:

Instead of the usual individual bowls, Sin Heng serves their bak kut teh in a huge huge CLAYPOT! They had two types of pork- the superior one and the normal one! Just opt for the superior one (: It's only about $1 or $2 more! I really liked this place. The pork was really nice and it had so much meat on it. :D And!!! To top it all off, it was cheaper as well! $45 for the 4 of us! (: Ding ding ding. :D They also had the option of either yam rice or white rice.Which was pretty cool I though! Oh yuh, sadly. ): Sin Heng doesn't serve that preserved salted veggie dish ): For some weird reason, their signboard say bak koooot teh. and not bak kut teh.

Sin Heng Bak Koot Teh

439 Joo Chiat Road

Singapore

We also managed to bring my grandmama out for some tea time goodness at venezia- her FAVOURITE WAFFLE WITH CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE. I was also very amused at how she cursed at a buffet she went to with her friends for being "lousy like hell."

Oh yes, just to add in to the festivities. Our parents celebrated their 30th anniversary. Yuh, i know my family has alot of celebrations. Which is quite amusing. Like when my parents first met, anniversary, engagement and wedding day. haiyoh! hahaha. and we even celebrate our chinese birthdays as well! haha! Jie picked out Ku De Ta which was at MBS. She mainly chose that place cos of the view and i abhor the thought of having to pay $20 just to view the skypark. So! we just decided to have dinner there.

We ordered a crazy amount of food. In comparison to cut, db and osteria mozza. Ku de ta, has definitely gotta be one of the cheaper dining options in MBS. Mummy wasn't a fan of the food but Jie and I thought it was pretty alright! Just don't order the grilled fish which is the first on the menu. It was tough and full of bones. The desserts were pretty alright, but nothing to rave about. The options were kinda weird in my opinion and I definitely wouldn't pay $16 for a scoop of ice cream. The bill ended up to be about $85 per person. Oh yes, another issue I had was the loud bam bam music coming from the club. Oh yes, a worthy mention is the Crispy Squid appetiser. really yummy!

Ku De Ta

Address: 10 Bayfront Avenue, Sands SkyPark, Tower 3, Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore

Tel: 6688 7688

Oh yuh, if you're planning to dine at MBS. Here's my list of my favourite restaurants:

1.Osteria Mozza

2. Cut by Wolfgang Puck

3. Yu Cuisine

4. Ku De Ta

5.TWG- they serve food as well btw.

6. Db Bistro Moderne

We'll be heading to Osteria Mozza again for daddy's birthday! Hope the parentals like it! (:

So hit the lights.

2011-08-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

The week has been a pretty crazy one. First up, we had a lab report due. Oh the joy that fills our souls when we have to do a lab repot. Think Statistics. Kahpui. So, we were pretty stoked that we managed to finish our lab report within abut 2 to 3 days. But on wednesday, halfway during our ent lecture. Our lecturer announced to the class:" okay everyone, its time to pass up your group projects now!" During which, Yiwei and I stared at each other in horror. We then asked this china dude what was due and it was a 3000 word report as well as a set of ppt slides. Ay. ay. ay. The lecturer wasn't very nice as well. ): But, in the end he let us pass it up the next day as long as we delivered it to him . It's times like this, where I really thank God that I have a car. so, in the end our Wednesday night was spent furiously typing away.

In other school news, we had the "delight"of working with this dude. who has now disappeared from the face of this earth.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, enough about the crazy uni stuff.

Yesterday night the whole family headed to Tomi Sushi at Parco Millenia, which is basically a new area of Millenia Walk. There's a whole bunch of japanese restaurants there so those of you who are Japanese food lovers can all head there! (:

We decided to dine at Tomi Sushi. It'my second time heading there and the first time we went there we were all blown away by the freshness of the Sashimi. The prices aren't exactly cheap though but the food is oh-so-divine!

I bought myself a new camera yesterday, as my old camera was kinda lousy for shooting in low-lighting environments. ): Anyhoo, the new camera has definitely been living up to my expectations so far! and its not too heavy as well!!! whoop!

The meal was pretty darn good! Think happy goodness from the sea (: As a rough price guide the dinner cost us $180 for the 4 of us. (:

Address: 9 Raffles Boulevard, #P3-04 Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk

Tel: +65 6333 4633

Have a great week ahead everyone! (: Shall take more pictures with my new camera! (;

Oh yuh, in case you guys were wondering I bought a Lumix Lx-5.

2011-08-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

So the 9th of August saw us heading over to The Fairmont to celebrate our parents 30th anniversary. It was a surprise party which we've been planning since the beginning of the year. Kudos to Jie who has been planning this for so long and doing most of the work. We booked the Penthouse suite which was really pretty darn nice. There was even a steam room in the bathroom! It had two dining areas, a kitchen, a living room as well as a bbq pit. The service there was really superb as well. We managed to hire the chef to do some bbq-ing for us in the room, and with k-ki cakes as dessert, we were stuffed by the time the dinner ended. The fireworks were pretty spectacular as well. and we managed to witness the formation of the largest Singapore Flag which they held at the Padang. The next day saw us having breakfast at the executive lounge for a good hearty breakfast.

So here's a whole bit of pictures! Just for your viewing pleasure! (:

That's all folks! Have a great week ahead!

"It's funny about love', Sophia said. 'The more you love someone, the less he likes you back.'
'That's very true,' Grandmother observed. 'And so what do you do?'
'You go on loving,' said Sophia threateningly. 'You love harder and harder."
— Tove Jansson (The Summer Book)

so maybe it's true.

2011-08-11T01:41:00.000-07:00

Voyage De La Vie.

So a few weeks back, mummy was given a set of voyage de la vie tickets. Since, we had nothing on that night we decided to go and give it a shot. Well, to sum it everything up in to a nutshell. The show was terrible. Terrible and even more terrible. The understudy who played the boy in the show was terribly pitchy and his voice cracked quite often. At the end of the show, I still didn't understand what was going on as well. Mummy had to read the back of the brochure to give us a clue of what was going on. There was a weird magic show going on as well and after watching breaking the magicians code, magic tricks don't really excite me anymore. ): Thank God the tickets were free cos honestly, if I paid over a $100 for tickets to watch a show like that, I think I would shoot myself in the head. The theater was really empty as well, with only a fifth of it being occupied.

Pictures from dinner at Casa Verde and my oh-so-sinful-but terribly yummy dessert at Max Brenner.

Meet my eldest sister, she's currently residing and working in the USA. so she only visits us once in 1 to 2 years. Dinner was at Bistro Moderne at Marina Bay Sands. Food was pretty good, but nothing to rave about. The dessert on the other hand, was to die for! (: The souffle was oh so good! We ended up paying about $70 a person.

Photos after dinner. Cam whoring around the Art Science Museum and the Helix Bridge.

And that pretty much sums up this post! (: Have a great week ahead! (:

Everyday I'm shuffuhlin.

2011-08-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

Last week was such a blast. It started out with a church lunch which was tons of fun, catching up with people who I haven't seen in ages.

Jie and I had daddy bonding time at Pete's place which is an italian restaurant located at the basement of Hyatt. The place brings back alot of special memories for the family. It was the first time daddy brought mummy for her first date and we had so many family dinners there when I was a little girl. Although, I must admit that the only thing which I remember fondly was the big bowl of sweets at the door and the bread sticks which Jie and I used as swords. Oh yes, before I forget! Pete's place has this promotion for early diners. Order your main course before 630pm and get the buffet salad bar ($22) free! (: So, just order before 630 and you can enjoy the salad bar the whole night (; Mighty awesome I must say!

On monday night, we had some sisterly bonding time at din tai fung which was then followed by tea at TWG. The staff at the TWG in Takashimaya never fail to impress, the atmosphere there is pretty different from the other TWG outlets. Perhaps it's because its emptier, which means that everyone is probably more relaxed. The staff are really friendly as well and they are ever so attentive.

So I usually order my apple juice and I decided to have an orange muffin. Whilst my orange muffin was being served, Edward and his colleague pulled out a whole plate of macarons and gave our table the orange muffin and the chocolate muffin on the house! Which I thought was a really sweet gesture! The Jies and I were so stuffed but the waiters there are really ever so sweet. So be sure to visit them alrighty! If not, they'll zhup lup and I'll never be able to yum cha over there again!

I don't have many pictures as Jie snapped them all with her iphone. But here's a few to go along.

Ending off the picture with chubees and me. (: Hur hur. Although, I don't think he was enjoying his stay in the handbag very much. :D

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Cheers,