The Jemej Files

A Day of Something Yet Nothing

2008-08-11T21:42:00.012+08:00

I don't remember the last time I took leave to do nothing. Well, almost nothing. The last time I took leave was to cook during Christmas, so that didn't count as it was "hard labour", and before that, the trip to Italy. So today was a day I specially put aside to spend some time with, well, myself.

8.30am::

Opened my eyes from deep slumber and thought how good this felt, when all my friends were just about to start work, and here I was, just waking up.

9.30am::

Breakfast with The Boy at Jones The Grocer. There were quite a number of expat wives sitting around having scones and tea. I asked him if he could find a job that would allow me to do the same not just today, but everyday too.

10.30am:: Muddy murky stone massage. Not sure to what extent should the masseuse talk during therapy, but she did tell me alot about her life, her family back in China. I listened politely, but somehow, I didn't quite have the heart to tell her to shut up and continue with the massage. The bitch in me was on leave too.

Overall, the experience was definitely relaxing and the Hungarian mud left my skin soft and smooth. But maybe the aromatherapy massage would do the next time, as I didn't think the stones were that much to rave about. In fact, it was ticklish, sending shivers up my spine, when she glided the stones up and down my back.

The lounge area where I waited to go for my mani/pedi next was nice and cosy. Just sitting there, staring out at the greenery was enough to bring about a sense of calm and serenity within. One would just wish that every moment in life was like that - peaceful and knowing that you have nothing else to do next!

12.30am::

Mani/pedi by therapist who wasn't very thorough with the cleaning of the cuticles. Otherwise, I have nothing much to comment on.

On the whole, House definitely has a very arty, back-to-basics feel to the place. The raw pillars of exposed cement and bricks, the dangling naked bulbs - unfinished yet deliberate. I like the contrast. Will be back for more love-me sessions.

3.30pm::

After a bit of late lunch and reading (in a world of my own), I called back to the office, asked if everything was going well. I actually told @ndrea I was getting bored already. I didn't know what to do next.

I was starting to feel out of touch with the world!!! How ridiculous is that? Is that what working life does to you? It makes you work non-stop to a point where you don't know how to take time out and relax anymore? That there must be an agenda in place every day?

Gosh, think I better shelve that tai-tai dream, I'll probably rot. Or maybe I should take more of such days off to get the hang of it.

The Last Weekend

2008-08-10T22:36:00.016+08:00

Gee, I've been so irregular with the blog that I'm only writing about last weekend this weekend. But better late than never!

Last Saturday: Shutterbug has already written about it - the Fruits Dinner party at Mudgod and Ms P's new home. The moment we walked into the apartment, we were greeted by the powerful smell of the DURIAN. Ok, I'm not a fan of the king of fruits!

We like their new place (except for the arduous 3-storey climb up the steps) - 30 years old, it certainly spells character and an old-world charm with its mosaic tiles and retro railings.

Was great catching up with the girls and Shutterbug. The boys caught up with one another too.

And when fruits weren't enough for dinner, we went for Punggol Nasi Lemak thereafter, just across the street, where Gerald entertained us with some hilarious stories. These photos were obviously taken by the Master, not moi. Thanks dude! :D

Last Sunday: Singfest!!!

Queue was blady long, even when we were going in 3 hours after it started. Out of all the acts we caught, Jason Mraz was the best - I'm not surprised if he had every girl muttering "I'm his" when he sang "I'm Yours". So despite the heat and crowd, both BB and I were more than satisfied to have caught him in action.

Then again, I'm not that great a fan of such concerts. Not sure if I would go for another one of such again. The super long queue for the kebabs (which made me miss the entire Rick Astley act) was too much for me to bear. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

Thank goodness the rest of the week flew by quickly, for when Saturday came (National Day), I slept the entire day away. I slept like I haven't slept for years, only waking up for dinner. Haha.

I'm taking the day off tomorrow. Come to think of it, I haven't taken leave since late last year, so am long overdue for a thorough pampering session. A muddy murky stone massage, a manicure and a pedicure.... I'm definitely looking forward to it.

什么鬼都有

2008-08-06T16:58:00.005+08:00

Omy is running a "7th month promotion" called 什么鬼都有, following which we received a set of magnets from them.

Perhaps it's the trauma from work, perhaps it's the trauma from the polluted air caused by the renovation going on (for which our place looks like a fortress now), the girls got inspired by the magnets enough to end up like this:

And for the fun of it, we sent it to the OMY team to "show our support", and now, I think a couple of them are posted on the website as "scary face?" Haha.

It's great to have a bunch of crazy, fun-loving friends at work. Makes a day's work so much easier to pass!

And That Was Not All

2008-07-31T00:29:00.003+08:00

Following up on the last entry of the visit to Entrepot, did I mention that I couldn't resist these as well?

The cupcake is a pin cushion, how cute is that?! (Although I can't sew for nuts.) And the "crate of chocolat" is just an empty box for storing knick knacks.

Would go back again someday soon. When the next craving of Hock Lam Beef hits.

Killer Trinkets

2008-07-29T20:47:00.019+08:00

Had a sudden craving for Hock Lam Beef Noodles this afternoon. Dragged @ndrea all the way to Far East Square.

While walking towards the shop, my shopaholic radar picked up sight of a quaint little shop called Entrepot. It was the display of Good Morning towels made into oven mittens that caught my eye. We walked in, and were absolutely smitten with so many of the little trinkets around the boutique.

We went gaga over these, and eventually succumbed to the temptation. I got the "Little Red Riding Hood" while she decided that she "Will Work for Peanuts".

Back in the office (ok, I need to qualify that this was during one of our "breaks"), we checked out the rest of the trinkets at My Killer Heels.

Z and A thought the bracelet with the ants suits me most, and we thought "My Pet Chicken" is damn cute.

While I cannot yet say "I Sold My Soul for a Birkin", I did know the "Cupcake Recipe". And so my credit card was swipped once more....

A Week of Bourgeois Dinner

2008-07-27T21:09:00.014+08:00

Rabbified

It was a dinner to catch up with a bunch of good friends and check out one of the newest kids on the Dempsey block - The White Rabbit.

Amongst us, 2 food critics who have very obviously well-trained palates, which made the evening even more pleasurable (read: critical).

The place is without a doubt beautiful. The high-ceilinged chapel of stained glass windows, the mellow hue of warm orange lights. It was like stepping into Wonderland.

Sadly, the food wasn't part of the magic. Even r@e and I, non-professional at food reviews, were not impressed. Except for the salad of duck confit which was not bad, all the other dishes were disappointing.

The signature Mac & Cheese was mushy, the truffles off-tasting. Cafe Cartel could have done better with the Poached Salmon. The portion of Rack of Lamb was shockingly puny.

I hate to be critical here, but the Mars Bar Souffle totally gave a wrong interpretation of what a souffle should be - the texture was just wrong! Even the signature deconstructed Black Forest Cake looked quite, ahem, phalic - amazing how things can look so different from another perspective...

Although reluctant at first, we eventually shared our opinion, as tactfully as we could, with the manager. He was really sweet and open about it, hopefully we were not judged as a bunch of overly-critical bitches.

We did ask ourselves if we had come with too high expectations but it wasn't just one or two dishes that were bad, and I'm usually quite forgiving. We did commend on the attentive service though, and he still took some nice pictures for us, haha.

It has been opened for about a month so far, so I think I'll definitely go back, to give it another shot again some months later. :)

Le Pont de Vie

Yet another catch-up session, this time with one of my closest gfs, SY.

Le Pont de Vie, a little restaurant offering European classics. One of the owners was ex-sommelier at Raffles, so the one thing I have to say first is that the choice of wines he recommended that evening was excellent!

With SY, it's always very easy to order from the menu - we've always shared the same taste for most things in general. Whatever one of us is thinking of ordering, the other would say, "Yah, that's exactly what I was thinking of too!"

For starters, we had the Black Truffles and Cheese Souffle - the earthy taste of the truffles was perfectly blended with that of the cheese, it was heavenly.

For the mains, I had the Duck Leg Confit while SY had the Grilled Kurobuta Pork Cheeks - totally no regrets, both were done perfectly.

As we polished off the Baileys Irish Cream Cheese Cake, I made a mental note to come back again soon. But that evening was their last night of operation from the Waterloo location, they will be moving over to Kandahar Street from August.

And here's us - gleeful and satisfied by the excellent food and wine.

Ok, better hit the gym right away tomorrow.

Labels

2008-07-23T19:22:00.004+08:00

A gal pal aka fellow blogger aka fellow shopaholic sent me this. Given that this passage is on the brink of being blasphemous, she had her reservations about putting this up.

Aside from what its original version should have been, this post, in the name of just a mere good laughter to end the day, is for all you ladies with a love for labels.

WOMEN'S DAILY PRAYER

Armani, Which art in Hermes,

Hallowed be thy Gucci.

Thy Cartier watch, Thy Prada bag,

On Rodeo, As it is in Tiffany's.

Give us this day our Visa Titanium

And forgive us this overdraft

As we forgive those who decline our Mastercard

Lead us not into JC Penney, And deliver us from Sears.

For thine is the Chanel, the Gaultier, and the Versace, For Dolce

and Gabana.

Amex .....

The Big Red Shoe

2008-07-22T01:13:00.004+08:00

I'm still contemplating whether or not this red beauty should come home with me. Perhaps outside the main door, at the corridor?

And if so, I would be "the little girl that lives in her red shoe". And no, I don't have many children, that I wouldn't know what to do.

Bags and shoes will do for now. Manolo and Louis, it's all I'm thinking of.

Oops, pardon the bimbo moment.

It's A Jungle Out There

2008-07-21T23:57:00.003+08:00

I've always been pretty comfortable in the changing rooms of the gyms I go to. I've never been really bothered or adverse to seeing fellow women-folk changing out completely in front of their lockers.

Perhaps having come from a girls' school, where changing out into our PE attire without having to go to the toilets was quite "an art" to master, I am one who thinks that it's not such a big deal changing out in front of the other ladies. As long as it is discreet enough, with some level of decency and courtesy to the others around.

This thus brings me to the point of my entry today. At this point, I apologise to the guys reading in, it may get a little too detailed and uncomfortable for your liking. So stop here if you have to!

Yes, it was THAT traumatic that I have to put this down. I've noticed her before. It was her super long straight 小倩-like hair that ends at her butt that caught my attention. And her sanitary napkin that was sticking out of her tongs (yes! how these 2 are supposed to be used together, I have no freakin' idea). SORRY GUYS!!!

Never mind. It could be a case of emergency for her that day, perhaps she had no other choice. I can deal with that.

This evening, I saw her again. She was wearing a long gown of leopard prints. Leopard prints could sometimes be quite ok, though I would rather be caught dead than wearing one. But this gown of hers, it looked like a mix of some African mama's big dress and some auntie's sleeping gown. Ok that's disturbing enough.

Then, she took off her "gown". Top was black, tongs were white. That's already a no-no, by the simple basics of "matching colours". Both undergarments were taken off next, and lo and behold, she turned and started strutting around the changing room. Towards the vanity mirror, then off to the shower room.

She walked nekkid right towards me. I didn't think I would have been that traumatised, if not for what I saw. And I thought seeing those pictures from the Ed*s*n Ch*n drama was enough to warrant more business for waxing parlours.

No, this one wins hands-down. I've never seen such a riot. SORRY!!! But sometimes, a little bit of pruning will be that much better. I know I didn't need to look if I didn't want to, but she was THERE, right in front of me. I was too much in shock. I found myself gasping for air, not sure whether it was from the vigorous session of body combat just before, or the "breathtaking sight".

Ok, you might be wondering why I was standing around - I was waiting for a lady to finish using her locker that was right below mine.

Concluding this seemingly "boliao" post, I am not saying that every gal should go out and get a brazilian right away. No, you don't have to. But like the crowning glory on your head, I think we should all have some good grooming sense.

A Wild Time Amidst the Madness

2008-07-19T23:03:00.012+08:00

Falling behind yet again with my blog entries. It's the time of the "B" - Budgeting. Given that the company is run generally by a number of shrewd Chinese bankers, there's no room for slip-ups on our part, everything has to be detailed, precise and accountable for. This explains largely for my absence from the cyberspace.

Catching up a little here, the BBs and I celebrated @ndrea's belated birthday a few weeks ago at Wild Rocket at Mount Emily. Our first time there, we totally enjoyed ourselves, the food was really as good as the reviews have been.

More importantly, it was quality time spent with my BBs, as we caught up with each other on how we have been separately. By the end of the evening and 2 bottles of vino, we were all giggly-happy, like how we have always been back during those days at the Bay.

Sigh, I do miss those times.

Not wishing for the night to end so soon, it was spontaneous Rochor bean curd thereafter, even though we were totally stuffed after a sumptuous dinner.

Much has happened since the day @ndrea and I left the Bay, yet the bond between the 4 of us remains strong and steadfast and I am just simply thankful and appreciative for this friendship and camaraderie.

BBs, LUP!!

New York (Mis)Adventure

2008-07-01T14:07:00.004+08:00

Finally, getting down to the bitching about my supposed ~~SHOPPING~~ trip to New York that didn't take place in the end.

Booked the tickets with some small time Lucky Plaza travel agent (TA) slightly over a month back. When Thai Airways decided to stop flying to New York from 1 July, it took me a while to put two and two together, to realise that I WOULD NOT HAVE A FLIGHT BACK based on my intended dates of travel.

Realisation hit one week before I was due to fly actually.

At first anxious, I called the TA to find out what was happening. The anxiety turned into furor when I realised that all these while, the TA never took the initiative to contact me regarding alternative flight arrangements. I had to personally call them. What if I didn't call, and I stupidly fly there, without knowing that there won't be an arranged flight back??

To make matters worse, the TA started to push me towards accepting China Eastern as the alternative. No way in hell will I be taking a China Eastern plane. And she could actually lie that their tickets are more expensive than Thai Airways'. Come on lady, who are you kidding?

AND if I want to opt for other airlines, I would have to TOP UP the cost difference. If I so decide to cancel the flights, I would have to PAY for the administration/cancellation fees.

I'm not about to go into a tirade of my utmost displeasure against such TAs which provide "service" for as long as till the money is paid up. Unleashing my knowledge of profanities, in English, Chinese and Hokkien I can, but why waste too much of my youth (anger begets wrinkles) on idiots like these?

In any case, with our current work commitment, it would be better if we postpone the trip till later in the year.

In the end, with some help and advice, I'll be getting back the full refund for the cancelled tickets. Never again will I go to small time TAs, never again Thai Airways.

"Thai Airways, smooth as silk" - in the words of one of my friends who's also a victim, "My arse is smoother than your silk!!!!"

So there, I'm still here in Singapore, not 5th Avenue, not Central Park.

On a positive note, I'm really glad that I will be there, for a couple of friends:

Olimomok, I'll make it for your wedding afterall! :)

PF, I'll be receiving your SMS from the maternity ward! :)

For my friends Coach, Kate Spade, Abercrombie, Victoria Secrets, and giant Macy's, see you in October (hopefully)!

I'm Alive

2008-06-29T12:39:00.020+08:00

Yes, I'm still alive. Have since been getting calls from a number of dear friends demanding an explanation for my lack of updates on this page. Thank you darlings, for all your concern. I love you all too.

Books, SATC dvds and such have been keeping me occupied these days. Other than that, think I'm still pretty much the same.

#1: I still love my bags and shoes. Vive la France, Viva l'Italia!

#2: I still love my food.

#3: And my wine.

#4: My job.

#5: And all its fun.

#6: And of course, family time. Julian's so grown up now, but still as cute!

Now, that pretty much sums up what I've been up to. Somewhat.

There's still another though - I'm still around in sunny Singapore, and not in New York as planned. That will be one major ranting in the next entry. For now, it's time to hit the Zara sale....

My Love

2008-06-10T21:31:00.002+08:00

I've been eyeing this since a month ago, when the pre-fall collection was released. I went weak in the knees the moment I slipped my feet in to try.

It's a deeper blood red, compared to the chilli red pair.

Now, this pair is on its way back from one of my favouritest streets in the world, Via Condotti, Rome.

Ok, I really need to re-organise The Mothership now. I'm running out of shelves...... Don't ask how come.

Mudfairy & Pamcake

2008-06-06T22:41:00.020+08:00

It has been a long while since I last penned down an entry here, and there's still lots of catching up to be done with all the blogs. My apologies to have gone missing, I do miss reading all about what's going on in the lives of you dear blog babes (and a couple of dudes).

There has been lots going on, yet nothing going on. Have been fleeting in and out between reality and not. But I'm not going to dwell too deep into this complexity. Am going to just focus on the exciting happenings in the last week.

Yes, Mudfairy and Pamcake are going to get married tomorrow!! And last weekend, we brought the Hen for a wild night out. And no, I refuse to be acknowledged as the master culprit.

Am very glad Pamcake loves the album of polaroids though - she was tasked to take different shots with different guys, making use of any item from her "goodie bag".

Funnily, she looked drunk before her shooters even came. And by the end of the night, she had more varieties of shooters than she ever had in her life (I think). But she was such a great sport, love her to bits.

The Groom-to-be is equally cool - we were all so amused by their pre-wedding shots - so characteristic of the couple that they are - funny, unconventional, and of course, loving.

Am so happy for them, the soon-to-be Mr & Mrs Mudfairy!

What I Can't Say No To

2008-05-25T16:33:00.005+08:00

The event went well, we raised a good sum of money for the beneficiary. Our artist did well too, he completed this in under 15 minutes, and sold it for $15k.

So to celebrate the accomplishment and the start of the GSS (I say this AGAIN - being right smack in the middle of the shopping belt, the lure of the malls is simply too irresistible), I indulged.

Like seriously, twice in a row, like I was on drugs. Am loving the red pair, didn't even realise that it has the potential to peep up skirts till @ndrea said so, haha.

The Story of My Miu Miu

2008-05-22T00:01:00.009+08:00

Since Lilsnooze was on the topic of Miu Miu, I was reminded of mine. The one that I had gotten last year in Florence. The one that you see in these pictures here - I no longer own it.

These were taken a few months back. Before I could post them up here, I found that the metallic joints of the bag had started to rust. It was most unbelievable, given that I only got to carry it for like, twice?!

Took it back to the boutique here, and they sent it over to HK for checking. After more than a month, they called to say that the parts cannot be replaced and would like me to pick another same model back as replacement. "Old" bag exchange for a brand new one, not that bad right?

But I hesitated for the longest time, simply because I had loved the chocolate brown colour so much, and they don't carry that colour anymore. The current colours of the S/S season were that of pastels, pretty and soothing, but I much prefer my strong chocolate brown.

So I asked if I could hold till later when the darker colours of the F/W season are available, perhaps I could pick my choice then? No, they said cannot. They said in fact, I was supposed to pick and replace as quickly as possible within the week. I was quite upset - I paid good money for the bag, for a colour that I loved. And now I'm supposed to settle for a colour that I'm not crazy about??

Changing to another model was possible, but I had to produce the receipt (which I had already discarded) or my credit card statement from almost 6 months back. It was so inconvenient. Why couldn't they just call their own people in Florence to check the price then, and determine the difference that I would have to top up if I wanted another bag?? It's not as if the bag was a fake!

Anyway, I love the shape of this bag too much, I decided that I was going to have the same model back. So I tried to settle for the soft grey, although a tiny voice in my head said the colour wouldn't be lasting, and that it wouldn't be evergreen enough for my liking.

Fortunately, the last piece they had was stained slightly. Till now, they haven't called me to say if they got another new piece, so I'm buying as much time as possible. Just noticed that the pre-fall colours of black and red are out! This could possibly be the red that Lilsnooze was referring to. Both are very desirable. Well, we shall see..... I'm still sad that the dark brown is no longer available, that I'm only left with these pictures to serve as memory.

Nonetheless, despite the less than pleasant experience, I STILL HEART MIU MIU!!! Heh.

Meanwhile, tomorrow's finally the day of the soft launch. An event that I had worked my arse off for the last few months, the cause of my sleepless nights.

Hopefully, this would be my lucky dress, that the event would go on as smoothly as possible, and most importantly, I get my art bidders to raise a respectable sum for the beneficiary. THAT would be the most stressful moment, ARGH, STRESS!!!!!

B for Beef!

2008-05-21T23:28:00.010+08:00

The quest for good food didn't end there over the long weekend. After watching KF Seetoh on Makansutra smacking his lips in immense satisfaction to the beef noodles at the Beef House at Joo Chiat some weeks back, we decided to give it a try.

It wasn't easy finding this place, especially when the weather was so unbearably hot. But it was all worth it when we started chewing on the springy beef balls and tender beef slices. We thought my dry version was nicer, but I would say that the soup version was very "cheng" and flavoursome too.

The chilli sauce was the power one - super spicy and tangy - added more heat to the afternoon! Obviously, I was trying very hard to look cool eating this hot stuff, even though I was melting in the sweltering heat!

Incidentally, this is also the place that we usually order our popiah from, it claims to be "the original popiah since 1938". Joo Chiat is yet another haven for great food!

A Weekend at Wessex Village, Portsdown

2008-05-20T22:42:00.016+08:00

Over the long weekend, we were down at Portsdown Road 2 days in a row. The first was on Sunday, after the baking class, where we hung out at Laurent's Cafe & Chocolaterie , a very newly opened quaint little cafe.

As the name suggests, chocolate would be the order of the day. But as the afternoon was so scorching hot, I didn't feel in the mood for any. A pity, will be back again to check it out.

And yesterday, with a spontaneous SMS from Mudgod, we were back again, next door at Pietrasanta, also another new kid on the block.

Quite crowded for a Monday evening, the place has a certain rustic charm, a very relaxed Tuscan feel. Owned by chef Loris, with brother Giuseppe and wife Jennifer, it was the classic Italian way of running the food business!

Food was on the whole, pretty good. The eggplant parmigiana was done pretty well; my main course of homemade spinach pasta with white wine mixture of meats tasted very homely. Think the spaghetti vongole and osso bucco were quite average though.

The only glitch was that service was still rather raw, the servers not too acquainted with the menu as they were mostly Chinese-speaking. With only the wife Jennifer and brother Giuseppe running the show, I think the crowd was more than they could handle. But I guess that with a little more time, the delivery should become more polished.

A great way of ending off the long weekend, and fighting the onset of "monday" blues - we polished off two whole bottles of prosecco. Not that impressive judging by our previous records, but we left the place bubbly happy!

INTENSIVE Baking!

2008-05-19T23:53:00.002+08:00

Spent a good whole 5 hours (or slightly more I think) yesterday, at Palate Sensations doing an INTENSIVE baking course.

From previous experience, I know that Nan Ong, the Le Cordon Bleu trained pastry chef, has not been known to use the cake mixer much. So it was a great Sunday workout, hand whisking all that batter manually - I was perspiring just half an hour into the class!

Interestingly, there was a little boy just 14 years old, amongst the class of ladies. His mum signed him up for this class, and apparently, he cooks quite a lot at home. We ladies were quite impressed - he sure sounds like a chef in the making!

Lynette, the owner, was sweet enough to provide lunch - some French Onion Soup and pasta with ricotta fillings. French onion soup was from the class the day before - Francois' french immersion in french cuisine that I had wanted to go, if not for my busy schedule.

Ever made 3 cakes in a day? We did that day! Got the useful recipes of the pound cake (almost sara lee alike), the Golden Yellow Cake topped with a citrusy Orange Cream Cheese, and the "Ugly Fudgy Chocolate Cake" - not fudgy enough actually, in my opinion.

And I think these aprons were somewhat newly made, cos Lynette made us "model" for her.... Love the picture of her taken with Anthony Bourdain, especially the chopper he drew - he's so cool, one of my "idols".

Art Frenzy

2008-05-17T14:14:00.008+08:00

This has been a crazy week, as we prepare for a launch/charity art auction next week. It's the launch of a shopping gallery, and my team has been tasked with quite a lot of the event's components, especially the charity art auction.

Too long a story to pen down here, it gets too confusing too. Let's just say that there has been quite a few near heart attack moments along the way, enough to have made me age a decade and grow a few more strands of white hair. But at least things do get under control after a while, as we move on to face other challenges. Not complaining here, despite the stress and late nights, I love the adrenaline rush!

We invited an artist over from Japan, and commissioned him to do a number of works for the charity auction. As with every artist I work with, I would discover that while each and every one is ~~eccentric~~ unique, all of them have an underlying surge of passion and conviction. And this is the part that is most admirable about their profession - they truly love and enjoy what they are doing.

A third generation artist, he has certainly mastered the technique of chinese ink painting over the years, and I must say that even his speed of work is impressive! From a blank canvas to a full painting, it took him all under 2 days, with sleep, meal times and breaks as per normal.

A painting of this size, he would normally sell for about S$100,000 in Japan. So since I couldn't afford such, I took a picture instead.

The coming week will be very crucial, as we tie up the finest details of the event. Wish me luck!

And There's More...

2008-05-12T00:13:00.007+08:00

In addition to the lure of online shopping, I found another source of retail therapy over the weekend - PEOPLE'S PARK COMPLEX!

Yes, thanks to r@e, I braved the heat of this non-air-conditioned complex (of a million shops), overcame my claustrophobia of crammy changing rooms, bashed through the jungles of clothes all hung tightly together (forget about stylish, upmarket window display here)..... and emerged a Chong Kee fan. Uh, yes, that's the name of the shop.

The clothes here are an amazing lot, almost every piece a familiar replica of those from Zara, GG5, Southhaven etc etc etc. I was so thrilled to find a few tops that cost only an average of 30 bucks each, yet good quality and chic enough for work. You can tell I'm so determined to break away from the monotony of matching the standard shirt/cami with suits!

The bad news is, although I don't know if the above is good news to the hubs, I AM FAST RUNNING OUT OF WARDROBE SPACE. I thought I bought hundreds of hangars from Ikea, enough to last a lifetime, when we first moved in a couple of years back. But tonight, I realised that there are no more hangars left. Now, is there an emergency here?!

And some of my clothes have just started to invade The Boy's wardrobe space.....

Mummy's Day

2008-05-11T17:41:00.020+08:00

Lunch was at Tetsu @ Tanglin Mall today, to celebrate Mummy's Day. My own mum couldn't make it, she had to work (of all days!) as one of their important directors was in town.

Julian just gets cuter each time we see him, breaking into this cheeky smile of his every now and then!

We took lots of pictures. It's been a while since we had lunch in such a big group, which could have been even bigger if my family had joined. And Julian has the funniest reaction when you feed him lemons!

All the mummies.... and the not-mummy-yet.

And I had my go at carrying him around, trying to distract him from his parents with anything that is "exclaimable" - WOW LOOK AT THE ELMO BALLOON!!

After that 5, 10 minutes or so of carrying him around, my arms were weak and trembling by the time I returned him to his parents. I'm amazed at how strong mummies can be, having to carry their babies around like that all the time!

We rounded off the afternoon with a nice cuppa at Oomphatico. I've always thought it would be a small cafe, as the entrance was quite small. So I was pleasantly surprised to see how big it opened out, into an al fresco verandah, upon entering. I was immediately taken in by the small artistic touches around the place - I love the chairs!! We'll be back very soon for sure, to check out their food.

My Greatest Muse

2008-05-08T00:36:00.005+08:00

Many have been amazed by how cool and fashionable my MIL is, that she's always decked out in the most "happening" clothes. I am sometimes awed too, especially by her love for bags, which surpasses mine!

We went shopping the other day, and at the mere mention that "this is the LAST piece" and "there's always a LONG QUEUE for it", she said "I'll take it" without too much hesitation.

Damn 爽快 right?! But admittedly, I LOVE this one too, I kept sighing (in admiration) when I first saw it.

And because bag buying can be contagious, I succumbed to the long held-back lust and overindulged. *OUCH* the wallet went, but hey, only the greatest muses can make my heart beat faster....

A side note, The Boy commented that I was talking in my sleep the other day. Apparently, I was saying, "Ok, I'll take it". Now, sometimes, things are predestined, aren't they?

All in a Day's Work

2008-05-07T19:49:00.003+08:00

Snap shot from last Saturday, sent from the YMCA secretariat. I noticed the big pink rabbit running around, too bad it wasn't my group who interviewed them, cos I was curious as to what project that was about!

Am looking forward to the final awards selection, to seeing their fruits of labour.

For a Good Cause

2008-05-04T22:29:00.004+08:00

It went well yesterday, at the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes selection process.

The judges were grouped into 3s, and sat through rounds of presentation by the candidates. I was teamed with an associate professor of SMU and a VP of risk management, to which I felt quite intimidated. But I guess my marketing BS came in handy ultimately.

We looked through the groups of under 16s, and it was really enriching to hear business proposals from these little budding social entrepreneurs. It was so inspirational to hear how they have an idea, and how much they believe in their idea, and that their idea is the best and will work.

That made me really think about how cynical we adults have become, how jaded we sometimes are, that we tend to say no first, even before giving the idea a chance to present itself. Even though there were really some proposals that we know from experience that won't work, it wasn't easy to make sure that we deliver the message across positively, that we won't crush their fragile confidence.

As the little kids sat before me, full of earnestness and eagerness, I thought it was so beautiful, to be able to feel their pure innocence and simplicity. I'm not a teacher, I don't come into contact very often with kids. So I really appreciate this opportunity, the guy who pulled me into this volunteer programme, to experience this youthful energy which I otherwise won't come across at work.

After the whole session was over, I was exhausted from the rounds of presentation, yet very much emotionally recharged and inspired. I sure won't mind doing this again, on a regular basis!

That aside, when I reached home, The Boy pulled out these boxes for me. YES! They have ALL arrived, both the loot from Forever 21 and Nordstrom.

Lilsnooze is right, the online shopping itself is exciting. But the parcels arriving is even more so!

He's My Sailor Man

2008-05-02T23:58:00.000+08:00

Although our place is just 10 minutes away, we finally stepped foot into Terminal 3 this evening. It felt like there were more locals roaming around than travellers flying in and out of Singapore. In fact, it's almost like what some people have commented, the terminal looked more like a heartland mall than an airport.

Dinner was at Popeye's - my first time having it. Not impressed at all, much prefer Carl's Junior any other day, although I'm no big fan of fast food. And it took me a while to realise what my dear husband was trying to pose as......

Now I'm nervous about tomorrow. Got roped in, somehow, to be one of the judges for the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes. Nervous because I've never been a judge (?!) before, but definitely excited and looking forward to what's in store!

And Finally We Meet

2008-05-01T23:28:00.006+08:00

The email first went out in the beginning of the year, titled "1st Gathering of 2008". 3 cancellations and postponement later, all of which were the fault of the Jemej, the blog babes (and some with their better halves) finally convened at our humble abode for some popiah this afternoon.

V did the honour by being the first to start wrapping the popiah. And there were bee hoon and curry chicken to go along, ending off with splendid cakes, courtesy of Squarenails and gelato, thanks to Olimomok.

There was so much food to go around, that only after everyone left, then I realised that we didn't get round to Candice's kuehs and Pigypat's fruits. To think that Squarenails and I were saying thank god we didn't go overboard with the spread of food today, like the last potluck gathering a year ago!

The award for being the life of the party went out to 2 special people - Jayden, whom everyone was fascinated with how he naturally dodged every corner of table that we thought he would bump into, and of course, Squarenails. Beanbean's hubby, DD, must have been quite amused, meeting Squarenails for the first time today. Or is "amused" an understatement?

With all the catching up, yakking and laughter, we had a great time. If only Lilsnooze and Baby Nat were there too!

Looking at this picture below, The Boy asked how come the guys didn't take one together? But it was funny how he noticed that still, he was the only guy who made it into this picture, haha.

Till the next gathering!

Coffee and Beans

2008-04-29T23:39:00.005+08:00

I've fantasised about owning a coffee machine since the day we got the keys to our flat. I'm no hardcore coffee drinker, but having one of these sure adds a gourmet feel to drinking coffee!

And I do know of a friend who not only has one of these machines, but he owns a coffee grinder as well. So I jokingly asked him why not just chew on the coffee bean to get the most original of flavour? To which he replied that he already tried that, and it wasn't nice. This guy is really hardcore!

The Parcel Arrives

2008-04-28T22:42:00.005+08:00

And so, the kitchen pipe has been fixed. It turned out that I made it more drama than it seemed. But hey, there was water seeping out everywhere that could be detrimental to the wooden cabinet.

Learnt that we need to open up that "cap" at the bottom of the sink pipe and clear it every 6 months or so. This "cap" traps all the dirt from the washing.

I've always been paranoid that one day, the sink will get choked. So I try to make sure that every plate is wiped clean of any food bits, even a couple of grains of rice. Otherwise, these get washed down and get stuck in the "cap".

On a happier note, this arrived today. Thanks to Chloe, we found the ingenious way to gain access to their clearance items. I felt like a hacker when I was ordering my loot.

Am so glad that the sizing is A-OK! :D

CRISIS!!!

2008-04-27T13:45:00.005+08:00

CRISIS IN THE JEMEJ HOUSEHOLD!!!

The cup at the bottom of the kitchen sink came off earlier. The water started seeping out from the cabinet to the surrounding floor area, causing me to freak out. All these while I was cooking pasta for lunch.

So I threw a couple of rugs around to soak up all the water and continued cooking, albeit with a very distracted mind. True enough, the pasta turned out a tad too salty. =p

Since we moved in a couple of years ago, there have been cases of breakdowns along the way, but nothing as major as this! :(

I've always taken extra care around the house, because I believe that regular attention and maintenance is fundamental to keeping the home in good condition. Spending that extra minute or two in taking care of something properly will go a long way in preventing any future "mishap".

Like how I spent an hour with half my body in the oven last night, obsessively scrubbing off every tiny blot of grease. (No, I don't think it's OCD.) I had to, because my oven is my precious, and spending this little extra time now is less dreadful than finding it in a worse off condition the next time.

Now waiting for help to fix that pipe - Heng-daddy to the rescue!!

No Sauces Please!

2008-04-26T23:52:00.000+08:00

Made a mess of the Jemej Kitchen this evening, made it really oily with the Pan-fried Spring Chicken with Sauteed Potatoes & Vegetables. Coupled with the Prawn & Vegetable Broth with Saffron on the menu, we had the pleasure of Heng-parents over for dinner.

These 2 dishes were actually the first 2 that I learnt from my basic cooking course at Palate Sensations almost a year ago.

Considering that since then, I've not tried cooking them at home before, think I did well today. They loved both the chicken and the soup, even foregoing the chilli and ketchup accompaniment after their first mouthfuls, with me also going, "NO CHILLI OR KETCHUP OK!!"

Now I understand why chefs are so uptight against customers opting for sauces other than what's on the dish, they should just enjoy and appreciate the flavours of the dish as it is! Adding chilli sauce etc masks the original flavours, which would only make me think "then I marinate so well for what?!"

By the way, for this shot below, I didn't make them pose this way. No, even though they had attempted to ask for chilli sauce at first, I wasn't the "terror chef". Heh.

Rare Moments

2008-04-22T23:52:00.006+08:00

It has been a while since we had a comforting home-cooked dinner in our little bubble world, on a weekday after work. It has been a while since I last cooked a "proper" meal other than instant noodles.

Decided to slow cook some EJ Beef Stew last night, for tonight's dinner. And I was pleasantly surprised that all my chopping of onions, carrots and potatoes took only about 20 minutes, a vast improvement from the ONE HOUR I used to take when I first started cooking.

Thanks to Prima instant mix of sambal sauce, The Boy helped to whip up some shiokalicious prawns with snow peas. Yes, he even wore my apron to prove that he was da chef this evening.

As we sat down to dinner, we thanked God for giving us these precious moments. It was bliss to be savouring home-cooked dinner after a hard day's work. And on top of that, today's a little more special - the Jemej celebrates our paktor-versary!

Love with a Sense of Humour

2008-04-21T19:34:00.003+08:00

On Radio 91.3FM this morning, Petrina "declared" today as "Appreciate your husband" day, to which The Husband turned to me and asked how was I going to show my appreciation for him on this "special" day.

"Give you some housework to do tonight," I said.

Anyway, I always love these little moments of making fun at each other. Coming from him especially, cos I'm the more "serious" (read: boring) one.

Just like the email he sent to me below, he never fails to put a smile on my face. Not by his sweet, romantic gestures, but by his endearing sense of humour.

Hi Miss Lim,

I’m Jeremy from XXX. I believe we met at your wedding. I was your groom. Hope you remember me.

I would like to request for your advice on making a reservation for a conference room.

Also your advice on how to curb online shopping spending habits.

Best Regards,

By the way, his colleague was copied on this email.

Work Saturday

2008-04-20T23:09:00.005+08:00

Was on duty yesterday - it sure sucks to be working on a Saturday, right smack in the middle of Orchard, while the rest of the world is happily shopping around you.

The Boy was sweet enough to come over and have dinner with me. Decided to have local food at an altitude - Chatterbox on level 38/39. Think he enjoyed the Lobster Laksa and my Char Kway Teow tremendously.

Not doing my "work" of PR here, but really, these 2 items are very noteworthy, especially the Char Kway Teow. Some may say that the prices are too expensive for local food, but I guess it sort of justifies paying the extra buck, given the quality of ingredients and serving portions.

But if any one has a differing opinion from a previous visit, feel free to let me know! :)

More Surf n Shop

2008-04-19T18:48:00.012+08:00

Thanks to online shopping queen Lilsnooze, I found a pretty cute "for the weekend" pouch for "ronberry" from Etsy, which has some of the most creative, artsy handmade stuff!

Even though I started out purely with the intention to just search for another iPhone pouch, I got distracted and ended up with a couple of items that would have been the last things on my mind to get.

But these aprons were just too cute to resist. A little voice had told me in my mind that a domestic goddess needs to look good too....

And so, in order to balance out the equation of my "irrational" purchase, a couple of jackets from the sale (!) at Nordstrom was it. I need more jackets for work anyway!

Ok, I need to stop. Maybe I should just start watching some new TVB drama series, so I would not spend too much time online....

Hello? Hello?

2008-04-16T23:49:00.004+08:00

I'm notorious for not picking up phone calls "regularly". I keep my mobile phone on silent mode at all times in the office and inevitably, I miss a few calls here and there. And I try not to pick up calls during meetings, unless absolutely necessary.

And so with the new "ronberry", when I asked to take pictures of my folks, so that their pictures will be displayed when they call, I ended up with the following shots:

Obviously, my husband has the hardest time looking for me.....

Forever Online

2008-04-16T00:09:00.010+08:00

I've been very busy at work lately, with non-stop series of back to back meetings. And even at night, I'm busy at the computer too, but doing something else quite different.

The deed is done. One of my first few online spree. Now I await their arrival.

Now, isn't it great that there are no shop closing hours to observe here?

Yummy Sunday

2008-04-14T23:13:00.010+08:00

Yesterday was "stuffing our faces with good food" day.

Made a wrong turn while trying to go Katong after Sunday mass, and ended up at Old Airport Road. And since we haven't been there since they renovated the place, decided to have our lunch there.

We had so much - the hokkien mee and carrot cake were good, while the wanton mee (the one with the digital display of your queue number machiam like clinic) didn't turn out as good as I would have imagined, given the number of newspaper reviews they pasted on their display window.

After the long-overdue manual car wash at the petrol kiosk, the craving for a lazy afternoon coffee set in. Adventurous we still were, we checked out Old Town White Cafe at Playground @ Big Splash.

It was quite crowded, and we waited a while before we got our seats. We found the white coffee too sweet, coming from me who take black coffee kosong. The kaya toasts were not too bad, though I still think Ya Kun's the best around.

The Boy (yes, he was still hungry even though we had quite a lot for lunch) enjoyed the Nasi Chicken Rendang thoroughly though, happy that this could be another place to have our lunch or dinner the next time.

Now, it ain't too good an idea to blog about food this time of the night. I'm getting really hungry man....

Rice to the Occasion

2008-04-13T21:01:00.003+08:00

Maiden blog entry from the 'ronberry', from heng-parents' place, tapping into 'some' network...

Had a commentary by yours truly in the Sunday Lifestyle today, on the issue of the price hike of rice.

To which The Boy's first reaction was, 'but you don't even eat rice!'

-_-

Where the Sun Sets

2008-04-13T10:42:00.021+08:00

After an "out of this world" day of wakeboarding in the rain, The Boy picked me up from Punggol to have dinner at an out of this world location - Sunset Grill & Pub, well hidden inside Seletar Airbase.

It wasn't easy to find, we made many circles round this quaint neighbourhood - yes, I didn't realise that there is actually a community of people living here! - before we finally found the gem.

The eatery is right next to the runway of Seletar Airbase. Here, we saw private jets taking off intermittently, against a soft sunset.

We had our beers......

With pretty good breaded mushrooms, prawns, fries and the buffalo wings. There were 10 levels of spiciness for the buffalo wings and we bravely took #4. I started to feel faint halfway through, not sure whether it was due to my fatigue from the wakeboarding, or the beer or the super spiciness of the wings. We couldn't imagine any one ordering #10 - that's pure madness lor!!

After dinner, we took a walk around to see the place. It was pretty surreal, to see aircrafts with propellers, as if we were in some war movie (and those communities outside were the wives of the pilots who had gone to war).

Nothing "artistic" about this red/white barricade. The Boy had wanted me to take a shot of him jumping over this, and because my camera was not fast enough, all I took was just the barricade. He was pretty disappointed to see that not even his leg was captured in the shot.

When it was time to head back, I was really tired and too lazy to walk. So I "hitched a ride" and hopped onto The Boy's back! Whoever said it was easy to be my husband?

Wakeboarding in the Rain

2008-04-13T10:16:00.006+08:00

I went out wakeboarding again yesterday. Alas, the sunny weather didn't hold up, and soon, we had to hide away from the lightning and dark clouds.

We took shelter under the bridge, anchoring ourselves to whatever you call this "AMH" thing next to our boat.

I've never been this close to cranes before, much less looking at it from the bottom! It was pretty miserable (and amusing) at the same time, while we were under the bridge. When the wind blew, we would be pelted with the rain drops. The next thing we knew, it was raining sand particles - they came from the construction "site" next to us, and because I made so much noise, I ended up having some in my mouth as well. Next time I know, just keep my mouth shut.

Once the dark clouds cleared, we went on with the wakeboarding, even though it was still raining. The rain drops against the face was pretty shiok, but terribly cold once you get out of the water!!

And if I thought Aloy was pro enough, these 2 other ladies were even more impressive, one of them doing 2-wake jumps and all. I'm pretty keen on learning more than gliding along with the waves, but I don't think I would end up buying my own board eventually!

Leant how to move to the left and right, causing my lower back to ache big time. I'm so gonna feel the pain tomorrow... =p

Days of Our Lives

2008-04-10T23:40:00.000+08:00

During our lunch break at Tiong Bahru today, we became best friends with the biscuit auntie.

Her shop is in the Tiong Bahru market, on the 1st floor, next to the wet market. She has the bestest collection of retro cookies ever - from the colourful "gems" to the apollo, the ice-cream wafers, the "wallets", the "ear biscuits" etc etc. I don't know how many people would be able to catch what I'm saying, but maybe if you see the cookies, you would so know what I'm referring to!

Our Ah Lian here bought not 1 pack, but ONE KILOGRAM of strawberry-flavoured egg rolls. Plus she kept calling the auntie "大姐", which had the auntie grinning from ear to ear.

And because of that, we got discounts off our loot of cookies! She even offered us free "Milky Boy" sweets - haha, I don't recall eating that before.

So the next time you're at Tiong Bahru, go check out her shop if you miss the cookies from our childhood days. They are very fresh and absolutely nostalgic!

The "Ronberry" Lunch

2008-04-09T23:58:00.000+08:00

It was an excellent lunch with Shutterbug, Silver-Crv and Lilsnooze today at Lei Garden at Orchard.

Thanks to Shutterbug who planned it all, we were happily tucking into yummy dim sum and very "bu" chicken ginseng soup, while enjoying the conversations that were going on around.

Very seldom you would see such great, well-taken photos on my blog, and they were obviously not taken by me. I ripped them off Shutterbug's blog, hahahaha....

Don't the pieces of pork belly look so inviting? Although I now confess that I didn't take a single piece - I'm 70% halal. The char siew bao was good though!

And as we all agreed, we should do this more often. It's always so great to meet up with blog buddies - you just know what's going on in each other's lives and you never run out of things to talk about.

The Housewife Speaks

2008-04-08T23:41:00.005+08:00

Sometimes, the weekend is so short, that we have no extra time to squeeze in for grocery shopping. And even if we do so, it would be very rush, and we only make it to those that open 24 hours.

Having said that, grocery shopping remains one of my favourite ever since I became a Mrs. And those that know me well would know that I ONLY shop at either Cold Storage or Market Place. The bigger, more swanky NTUC could make it to my list, but Shop & Save is out. And I would NEVER step foot into Sheng Siong unless I have to go save a life there.

No, it's not that I'm atas or what. To me, grocery shopping is not just getting what we need for the house. It's about the shopping experience that I look out for and value. The way the shelves are arranged, the way the products are categorised and the flow/sequence of product placement.

Even the lighting places an important role - white glaring lights are a turn-off. The range of produce available differs too, I NEVER find any fresh basil or oregano at Shop & Save, only flies hovering over the "fresh" seafood and vegetables.

Much as I would like to, we sometimes really cannot afford the time. And since shopping online is so absolutely convenient, I thought the auntie in me would check out Cold Storage online.

It would have been a very viable alternative, given that the whole idea is actually quite neat, if not for the limited range of products available. There could even be some savings, some products being slightly cheaper online than at retail. More so, the brands that I usually trust and go for are not available.

In the end, I could only find these necessities, whilst the rest of the things I needed were not online.

So, until they are able to put the entire Cold Storage store online, I would still stick to visiting the supermarket in person. This actual experience of seeing and touching the products, reading about them, contemplating whether or not to buy cannot be replaced by the mere clicking of the mouse and convenience.

Relish the Moments

2008-04-07T22:33:00.013+08:00

My parents were away over the weekend, so we took the opportunity to take my sibs out for dinner, somewhere where our parents wouldn't normally go.

Burgers at Relish was the choice of the evening, a first time for my sibs and the second for the Jemej.

Shuenie the Sponge must have gotten too much sun in her head that afternoon at KM8, that she was rather hyper, making funny noises throughout. I even asked my bro if she was on drugs, haha.

The burgers were so-so that evening, not as good as the first time we were there. The Boy had the Ram-Lee Beef Burger, while I had the Curry Chicken Burger. Both tasted pretty average. Shuenie had the Grilled Beef Burger while my bro had the signature Wild Rocket Burger. Somehow, all the beef burgers seemed to be made from the same patty, just matched with other different ingredients.

Don't know, could be one of those "off days" of the chefs. I really think Relish is a pretty good place, and so would actually give it another try again sometime in the near future. Honestly, the first time I had the Wild Rocket Burger, it was YUMS!

Oh, but Shuenie's milk shake of Chocolate with a dash of Cointreau was simply divine!

Anyway, had a wonderful evening talking and laughing with the sibs. I really miss all these bonding times with them, not being able to see them as often. Even though in the past, when we used to see each other everyday, we were probably getting on each other's nerves!

I love them, so much I wish I could shrink them and put them in my pocket and carry them around, haha!

The Husband Provides

2008-04-06T15:11:00.005+08:00

Since the iPhone is not available in Singapore yet, those lovely casings are naturally not sold here as well.

In the end, after much surfing around on the net and after-lunch walking around town, a "chance" visit to KS had me ended up with this:

If only they have it in red, but no. But I like the striking green as well, and the black kind of "balances" it, making it serious enough for sitting on a meeting table.

Not too bad at all, with my VIP discount, and The Boy's Taka vouchers, I ended up paying only 7 bucks for it.

Speaking of the Taka vouchers, The Boy had earned them through his long hours of hard work put in for their company's D&D. It was the company's token of appreciation for a job well done. Only to have the wife spend them on her KS pouch. But hey, he gave them to me with love what!!!

To Have and to Hold

2008-04-03T00:59:00.003+08:00

Am looking for a pouch to hold the "ronberry". Found quite a few options online, each more frivolous than the other.

Hmmmmm.... how indulgent should one go?

A Vinous Afternoon

2008-04-02T23:56:00.010+08:00

Went out with the team just before noon to check out some wines for an upcoming event. And of course that meant wine tasting. Compared to the norm, this was definitely a different experience tasting "draft wines", drinking them "from the taps" of the barrels.

Wise Wine has a pretty wide selection of specialty wines, muscats and ports. The owner very patiently explained each type of wine to us, as we tasted them. Most of them were pretty mild, some others with more character.

We particularly like the fruity muscats, which I think are their signatures. In fact, despite knowing that we might have to wait another 6 months or so for the next production of the melon muscato, we've placed our orders already! Believe me, the melon muscato was YUMMY!

Here, you can choose your own wine, bottle and cork it yourself. You can even print your very own label. So, I had a try at corking the bottle, which was well, not as drama as these pictures seem.

So despite the numerous wines we tasted, we managed to remain sober, reminding ourselves that there was still work waiting for us back in the office.

Lunch was next door at the coffee shop, where the famous Hainanese curry, pork chop rice was super, duper yummy. Even though I don't take rice, I found myself eating some, cos the sauce was just so delicious!

And because that was "wine tasting" only, we went for the real round of drinks later in the evening after work. Haha, I'm working with a bunch of alcoholics, but I totally enjoyed the evening!

The Supermodel

2008-04-01T18:48:00.006+08:00

One of the guests invited by STB to attend this year's Fashion Festival is staying with us. There was supposed to be a series of interviews lined up for this guy, and we were involved in arranging the venue.

I didn't think too much about who the guy was, given that such arrangements are pretty standard.

No, I wasn't really excited about who he was, till I saw his picture and write-up in yesterday's Straits Times Life! section. I knew it was some famous supermodel to be interviewed, but I didn't think he would look like this:

I know. "HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW WHO HE IS??!" you may ask.

But to me, I only remember the Claudia Schiffers and Heidi Klums. Name the female models I can, they are afterall, the higher profiled ones in the modelling industry. Thus, male models all kinda look the same to me, despite this guy's many years in the industry.

Anyway, cut the long story short, I straight away personally went up to "oversee" the interview.

Apple-fied

2008-03-31T21:33:00.003+08:00

I'm not a tech person, so when I first got the iPhone, it took me quite a while, and Shutterbug A LOT of patience, in setting this up.

Don't get me wrong, Shutterbug's the expert. It was me with all the "technical problems" that he was absolutely baffled by, for I gave him problems that he has never heard of.

Now that all mysteries are solved, from the phone to the laptop, I've been apple-fied. AND I'M LOVING IT!! Absolutely love how "seamless" it seems, that both phone and laptop just "connected" so well.

And it is no surprise why Lilsnooze and I refer to it as the "Ronberry" now. :)

The "Other" Birthday Party

2008-03-30T16:54:00.019+08:00

After going goo-goo-ga-ga all over at a one-year old baby's birthday party, innocent and all, and short of humming to the next Barney's sing-along tune, the next birthday party that we attended the same evening was definitely of a different world.

It was a dinner gathering at Moomba to celebrate the birthday of the Piceans, them turning THIRTY this year.

The email said "to come dressed up", and our friend Mudgod obviously took the meaning literally and even further - he showed up in a dress. One of Ms P's old dresses in fact, while she was dressed in shirt, pants and cap. But then again, Ms P wears the pants in their household all the time anyway.

And in this white, "flowy" dress, Mudgod had actually walked all the way to the restaurant from the carpark, along Boat Quay. We had nothing but total RESPECT for that man.

The food was excellent - we ordered some mouthwatering starters of fresh oysters, duck salad, and crab cake. For the mains, The Boy had the kurobuta pork, which was very juicy and flavoursome, while I had the tender confit of duck. Paired with an excellent sparkling shiraz, the dinner of gourmet food and great conversations was absolutely enjoyable.

The birthday cake of bananas and chocolate was divine. Followed by lots of cam-whoring, including the guys trying peep up Mudgod's skirt and doing a Marilyn Monroe on him.

The old folks in their 30s versus the SYTs in our 20s. Come on, I had to make my last year in the 20s age group more memorable.

The gathering was a great success, thanks to Pamcake who organised it from the start. And we didn't end there, we even went for karaoke thereafter.

More pictures of the evening here.

Julian is 1!

2008-03-30T15:56:00.015+08:00

Our beloved nephew Julian turned one yesterday, and we all celebrated his birthday at Go Go Bambini at Dempsey Road, complete with games and a lovely cake from Cherylshuen.

We ordered our 1st Anniversary Cake from Cheryl before and this time, she didn't disappoint again. Her chocolate cake was yummy!

It was such a cute place, with kids and babies everywhere. In the "caged up" play area, which I think was about 3 storeys high, kids were running around, climbing up and down, with their parents trying to catch up behind them. It was, erm, riotous!! It was a place that The Boy had always dreamed of playing in, so he was seen running around amongst the little ones.

I'm sure all of us remember our childhood days of "swimming" amidst the brightly coloured balls at Ikea. Here, it was a joy watching Julian playing around among the balls, he looked so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. It was so heartwarming to see how he looked as if he was in kids' paradise!

Lucky birthday boy got a "convertible" as a present from his parents - he sure was one happy little baby that day!

We also learnt that he was fascinated with the iPhone. He sure has the techno whizz genes of his daddy!

And with that, he's a year old already. Soon, he'll be walking and running around. Soon, he'll be starting school. Life is truly amazing, and we thank God for this addition to the Heng family, that Baby Julian has given us much joy and laughter. May the Lord bless him and watch over him as he grows and learns the way of His Word.

The Entertainer

2008-03-26T17:37:00.003+08:00

Following his highly successful staging of what many in the company coined as "ST's best D&D in so many years", The Boy was approached by Fly to join them. As an entertainer.

Because of his "multi-talents" which include dancing, singing and acting. People who have seen our wedding videos and my birthday video would get an idea of what I mean.

Fly:: Think you've got potential. Would you like to join us?

The Boy:: I don't think so, I don't think I'm up to it.

Fly:: That's what many say in the beginning. You should give it a shot.

The Boy:: But I'm old already. I'm 30.

Fly:: Age is not a problem.

The Boy:: But I'm married.

Fly:: Er, Ok.

Haha, looks like age is not a problem, but being "not available anymore" is.

Actually, The Boy's ultimate wildest dream is to become an entertainer. This I really know, from the constant acting, singing and dancing he does around the house, and sometimes in public, causing numerous stares.

So this "opportunity" was almost like his childhood dream coming true, since the day he started to look up to Li Nanxing. He even had Li Nanxing's picture pasted on his primary school file - did all of us have those self-decorated and wrapped files during our primary school days??!!

I was highly amused by the Fly proposition. At the same time, I kinda felt sorry that he would not be able to fulfil this wild fantasy of his anymore, given that "Hello, this man is for my eyes only, for me and me alone"!!!!

Told him (jokingly of course) that if he really wants to become Pierre Png's colleague, then we can do the "lie low" thing for a couple of years - YEAH RIGHT! *rolls eyes*

Anyhow, for the sweet bit, he said, "Baby, of course this will not happen. You know I'll only perform for you, cos you're my greatest and only fan."

Ok, will spare him some housework for the weekend.

Take 5!

2008-03-25T18:18:00.004+08:00

Am getting off work early today - to a concert!!!

I'm not that into the pop music culture and all. Ask me if the song is nice, I'll tell you yes. Ask me if I've heard it before, I'll say yes.

But ask me who is it by, ask me what the title is, I start having difficulty. It has always been this way - I recognise tunes for those that I'm attracted to, but I seldom remember the creators/performers behind them.

I mean, come on, I used to think that Queen, Nat King Cole and Prince all belong to the same era, the same royalty.

And most times, for the songs I enjoy listening to, it's because of The Boy. He loves them, he plays them over and over again. In turn, I love listening to them, cos they remind me of him, they make me feel closer to him. Especially when he goes overseas, and I have the car, I'll be playing the songs he always plays over and over.

I know, it's a strange kind of love.

The Heng Killers

2008-03-23T00:27:00.005+08:00

Heck, I just killed a lizard. Come to think of it, I not only hate ants. I detest anything creepy crawlie!!

It was there on the window sill. I ran faster than I did at gym today, to grab my buddy, Baygon. I sprayed at it like nobody's business. I was quite surprised to see that it didn't move as fast as its counterparts usually would.

Upon closer inspection, which was actually a very hair-raising moment, I realised that it was bai-ka-bai-chiu - it had only 1 arm, 1 leg and no tail left. I swore my hair was standing by then, as I shrieked for my partner-in-crime to come clean up the mess/evidence.

Good thing that it was next to the window, so The Boy nudged it out quite easily. All these while I was crinching in half fear, half disgust in the background, swearing away.

After the deed was done, The Boy turned around and said, "I saw him trying for a last ditch attempt to cling on for life with his only arm lor." And I actually felt quite guilty and went, "HUH?! Really?"

Am I going to bed, imaging the lizzy crawling back up the window, with its scaly arm reaching out to me, screaming "Nooooooooooooo!!!"? Damn. Now, not only would I be afraid of the ants taking revenge on me at night, now I have to worry about one-arm lizzy.

If It Swims, We Have It

2008-03-22T23:55:00.000+08:00

And that's where we had dinner last evening, after the shopping spree at Haji Lane. It was to celebrate my mum's birthday which was last Sunday, when she was on holiday in Malacca with my dad.

All these years, prior to their renovation, I've never stepped into this seafood restaurant. Default was always Jumbo or Long Beach. So I was so tickled to see a mini supermarket right in front, once we stepped in from the entrance. I was so amazed that you can pick exactly what you want for dinner, including the veggies!

It was fun, watching my dad pick the crab for our chilli crab dish, and the fish that swam the fastest - he claims that if it swims fast, it's agile, and that means fresh.

And when we were done, all the "chosen ones" were put into the supermarket trolley, to which I was pushing around gleefully. Soon, they would be passed on to the kitchen - an open concept one, which looked really busy and scary. I can so imagine the chaos and tension inside, given that the restaurant was so packed.

Food was good, although service was a bit clumsy. My bro claimed that the chilli crab was even better than those we've eaten before. Indeed, the sauce tasted somewhat different from the normal chilli crab sauce that we know so well. The freshness was very evident too. Hopefully, Missing Sponge will be able to join us the next time round. Dinner was so good, I forgot to take pictures! Maybe next time then!

Day Out @ Haji

2008-03-21T23:40:00.001+08:00

Our today started like this:

The Boy:: Baby, what you wanna do today?
Me:: Let's go Sim Lim!

He looked at me incredulously, wondering why on earth would I suggest Sim Lim, of all malls.

The Boy:: But Sim Lim doesn't sell clothes leh.
Me:: I know. I just wanna go there to get the screen protector for my new iphone la.

Thanks to the ingenious Shutterbug, I would be able to use the phone soon. :)

En-route to Sim Lim, I suggested that we check out Haji Lane for a bit. Haven't actually been to Haji Lane till today. And I don't know whether it's because I haven't gone shopping for a long (?) time, or just that my "luck" is good today, MANY things caught my eye.

Some of the shops were really well designed, I love the creative flair of the interior decor. The Boy and I had a really good time walking in and out of these 2-storey shophouses, taking in the artsy charm of the place. Quite a number of the shops had both male and female clothes, so The Boy didn't get bored too fast, and could browse through the racks too.

Weather was pretty good, not too sunny. We even took a break with some smooth teh tarik.

Towards the end of the evening, we still haven't reached Sim Lim. (To which The Boy wasn't surprised at all.) Guess I was too happy, scoring great bargains, with each top costing only about 30 bucks. Heh. And the damage?

For the records, we did manage to go Sim Lim after all. For just 30 minutes, a quick zip in and out once I got the protector sheet done. Ha.

My Relationship with A

2008-03-19T21:58:00.006+08:00

Have not been blogging much in the last couple of weeks. Firstly, work has been keeping me very busy, working till pretty late at times. Am settling in well, and I must say that I've got a very nice and fun team - some of them just need a little bit of warming up to. And some, a little more motivation and encouragement.

And so when I managed to finish up my stuff earlier today, ending by a record time of 7pm, I was at a loss as to what to do next. So much so that I asked @ndrea what was I supposed to do if I got home earlier. So much so that I "loitered" around Prada and Miu Miu, as well as the Market Place, for a while more before I decided that it was "time" to head home. Haha, I hope this doesn't become habitual, I mean the going home only at a certain hour.

Secondly, instead of the usual logging on once I get home, I was fervently trying to finish watching a Korean drama series. Drool factor was high, with not one but two Korean hunks. And now, there's lot of catching up on the various blogs to do.

In other news, I seem to have this perpetual "affinity" to ANTS. Random ones just keep appearing out of nowhere on my office table. Much as I have tried, I haven't been able to find any food source or anything that seems to be attracting these buggers.

How I hate ants!!!!

Super Suter

2008-03-16T23:26:00.027+08:00

Out of the few times that I had gone wakeboarding, which was even before I met the Husband, I never succeeded in standing up. And yesterday, thanks to "Super Suter", Singapore's no. 2 wakeboarder, his patience in coaching paid off, and I proudly rode the waves!

The day started off bright and early, as we met up at Marina Country Club. It was a pity The Boy had to pull out at the last minute as he was getting really busy with his company's D&D preparation. Nonetheless, I had a terrific time with the gals, and the superheroes, for the sunshine was very much welcomed

We had one boat to ourselves, while the guys were in the other. And we made our way to Sebana, in Malaysia.

When it was time to start wakeboarding, we split up - the couples on one boat, while the singles + me the married one took the other. Aloy and Shawn were of course the pros, cos having their OWN wakeboards already says something.

On the other hand, r@e and I were the "babies", having to learn everything from scratch. And I get very intrigued whenever Suter brings out his "toy" - the action figure wakeboarder to demonstrate where we went wrong.

When it was time for lunch, I managed to stand up for a bit, while r@e was still trying to keep her knees together. Lunch at the kelong was unforgettable. One of the best crabs I've ever eaten, best squids ever! And Uncle Jimmy, the guy who stays on the kelong, refuses to divulge the secret recipe of the fantastic sauce he uses to fry the crabs. Apparently, many people have come JUST to have lunch at his kelong.

Soon after lunch was finished, r@e had to have another session of personal training, on land. Suter had to make sure that she stands up by the end of the day, otherwise his perfect record of successfully getting everyone up would be, uh, tarnished. Haha, poor BB must have been very stressed. But she was very determined alright!

We were then treated to an awesome performance display by Singapore's no. 2. He somersaulted, he jumped across TWO wakes, he made it look so cool, so fun. I was almost daydreaming about what it would be like, to quit my office job and be a "surfer dudette".

By the end of the day, I was so happy that I finally got from the "I never got up" stage to the "look, one arm only!" stage. And I guess even the skies were happy - see that rainbow in the background!

Definitely looking forward to doing this again. Even BB said it was money well spent. Even though we were super tired by the end of the evening, and really sunburnt. Now, my entire body aches, in all those places I never ever imagined would. It was certainly a great workout alright!

Shoe-In

2008-03-09T21:14:00.007+08:00

Spent some time over the last 2 weekends ~~re-stocking~~ re-arranging the Jemej Shoe Loft, aka "The Mothership" by Squarenails. Got more of those transparent plastic shoe boxes from Howards Storage World .

Except for the fact that those with heels higher than 2 1/2 inches can't be placed upright, these boxes are great 3 for the price of $24 - worth every dollar for being able to see my precioussss clearly.

And whilst I was at it, throwing out a couple of pairs of old ones, I decided that balance had to be regained in the Mothership. I mean, you throw out old shoes so as to buy new ones right?

This pair, frivolous, but I love the polka dots!

Never Too Young To Start

2008-03-06T23:01:00.005+08:00

Never stepped into Zara at Vivocity before. Have always assumed that it's the same as Zara anywhere else, with almost the same collection. Yet 2 evenings ago, when The Boy and I were at Vivocity for dinner, for some reason, I decided to check out Zara.

And I was surprised (and super delighted) to see that there's a Zara section for babies and toddlers! All the baby girls' clothes were super cute, super sweet. Man, if I were Squarenails, having a baby girl, I would have gone oh so crazy. My daughter's Zara wardrobe would start from age 0!

Shopping aside, when we were shopping at Parkway Parade over the weekend, came across this at Challenger.

WOW! Guess I'm a techno idiot, but I was really surprised to see this! Gosh, how big is 1 TB? How many GB is that?! Can put your whole life in there lor!

Of Men and Chicken

2008-03-03T00:37:00.005+08:00

Because I was so caught up with watching 賭場風雲 today on channel 55, we didn't go out for lunch till very late.

My eyes were glued to the TV set the whole time because of this one very suave guy.

So mesmerised I was, that I unwittingly exclaimed to The Boy how good Michael Miu looks in his suits, with all the charm oozing out from his every pore.

And when I finally decided that we shouldn't stay home any longer, cos The Boy's stomach was growling with hunger, he came along and said, "Ok let's go eat bak chor mee now." To which I teared my eyes away from the TV set and looked at my husband - he had purposely put on his black formal jacket (beneath which were his T-shirt and jeans).

Me:: HAHAHAHA! You wanna go eat bak chor mee in that jacket??!
Him:: Yah, you like men in suits right?
Me:: BABY!!!

My husband's funny. He cracks me up. Especially when he pretends and acts like those actors that I like so much on TV.

(Late) Lunch was at the newly opened KFC at Playground @ Big Splash. Get this - I have not had a meal "proper" at a fast food restaurant in the last decade. People who know me well would know that I never eat fast food for lunch or dinner, unless it's pinching some fries or nuggets from the husband.

Only because we wanted to check out the place, and that not many of the other restaurants are opened yet.

So here, the momentous lunch @ KFC. When I was about to start eating the chicken, I was confused for a while. I had to be reminded that you use your fingers to tear the flesh from the chicken. No fork and knife baby!

Sorry guys, not that I'm atas, but I really feel that I get a lot more value, in terms of quality and nutrition, from real food. Give me bak chor mee even!!

Keppel Bay for the 1st Time

2008-03-01T19:16:00.002+08:00

We finally got our chance to go over to Prive over at Keppel Bay last evening.

It was a friend's birthday, yes he's a leap year baby, celebrating his birthday for the 7th time in his entire life! It was quite funny when he attempted to cut the cake first before blowing out the candles, given that he has only done this 6 times before. Haha!

Anyway, The Boy and I decided to grab a bite first before the birthday party. Was hoping to check out the Prive restaurant but it was closed for a private event. So we ended up at the Prive bakery cafe, which we were sorely disappointed. The cream of organic mushroom soup was too salty and the pastry of the chicken pie tasted too "flour-y" which I suspect that it was one of those pre-made ones. And Baker's Inn Croque Monsieur is a million times better. Gah.

So while the place is all chic with a gorgeous view at the waterfront, the gastronomic experience (or rather, lack of) left much to be desired. Maybe we'll have better luck at the restaurant next time.

Off to the "Oscars"

2008-02-27T23:36:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow's the start of the World Effie Festival 2008, at the Suntec where I'll be for the next 2 days. Have been so excited about it since the announcement that it would be held here last year.

The Effie Awards, described as the "Oscars" of the advertising industry, will also be held at the end of this 2-day exchange. Am really looking forward to hearing from these advertising gurus, and especially MM Lee's discussion on the Branding of Singapore.

Ok, switch off shopaholic mode (I zipped in and out of Miu Miu today at lunch, but only a quick glance!!) and turn on brain juices.

PS: I merely went into Miu Miu on the pretext of helping Beanbean check whether there's new stock of the bag that she was eyeing. Serious.

Day 1 @ Orchard

2008-02-25T23:48:00.005+08:00

The day went by quickly. I was, and still am, quite blur about what's going on. And after the hand-over was done, and I got an update from the team about what's going on and what's in store, I was starting to feel rather overwhelmed already.

Great, exciting plans ahead. From the renovation of the grand lobby, to the repositioning of the mandarin gallery (YES! I'm probably trying my hand at RETAIL for the first time!!!!) and the rebranding of its F&B mix, it sure sounds like lots of work to be done. But it's not the hard work that I fear, but rather I hope that I would add good value to this milestone in the hotel's 30-year history in time to come.

The Boy, being the sweet boy that he is, felt bad for not being in town on my first day. He had flowers ordered and sent to my office.

Him:: How's baby girl's first day?

Me:: So far so good! Still blur but ok. Thanks for the flowers, I love you!

Him:: You goddit??

Me:: Uh huh! :) By the way, I don't think you realised that you ordered fabric flowers right?

Him:: Huh?! Really? I so blur baby. But good also since you always throw my flowers away.

(At this point I would like to clarify that I DO NOT always throw them away unless they start getting mouldy.)

Me:: Haha, no lor! Oh and the arrangement was as big as those that your mum buys and puts in the living room.

Him:: I'm a dumb dumb. But but but... it's expensive lor.

Haha, that silly boy! So I was right in suspecting that he didn't see the flowers properly when he was ordering them online.

Of course no matter what, the effort that he has already taken in sending me those flowers is more than enough. Can't wait till he comes back tomorrow!!!

Meanwhile, here's a look at the lovely flowers and my new office. It's a fish tank, amidst a pretty open concept. Miss my old office, whereby each department is confined to their individual rooms, and I could scream and curse as much as I could! Ha.

By the way, I ended the work day with a quick zip next day - Takashimaya. BUT only because I had to get a mug for the office ok!

A Quiet Weekend In Anticipation

2008-02-24T22:25:00.004+08:00

This has been a quiet weekend, especially since The Boy is away in Dusseldorf, Germany, for a trade show. I spent all of Saturday recuperating from the bad cough and flu.

Spent the day watching some Taiwanese drama on Channel 55. Quite drawn by Alex Fong in the show, "ho man ah"! Just like the other more matured TVB drama actors such as Michael Miu and Bowie Lam. Swoons.

Ok, I've not forgotten about my boyish Raymond Lam, in case the BBs say how come I've got a change of heart.

Realised that this Taiwanese drama is adapted from Qiong Yao's novels. No wonder I was quite drawn to it, I watched so many of those Qiong Yao shows since young. They can be really drama-mama, but quite addictive leh. Especially when we were young and impressionable, always dreaming of that perfect romance that would be dazzling with fireworks.

Ok back to reality.

Tomorrow will be my first day of work at Orchard. Had my manicure and pedicure done today, for that extra confidence booster. Haha, do I sound lame and Becky Bloomwood-ish?

Yup, finished up the book, Shopaholic & Baby over this weekend as well. Love all of Sophie Kinsella's books, looking forward to the release of her new book next.

Now, am going through the media planning that has been handed over to me for review. Hmmmmm..... looks like there's lots to be done.

A Time for Everything

2008-02-22T23:39:00.000+08:00

And so, the last day came and went. It has been an emotional last few days. It could be a good thing that I've been so sick with flu and a bad cough, that I had lesser energy to feel the sadness in its entirety.

It's a good thing too, that the BMW Popiah Party has been postponed, cos I definitely wouldn't want to pass my sickness on to some of the brides-to-be, and new mummy! ;)

And for one more, possibly last, time, we were in coordinated dressing again, at the Padang yesterday! The atmosphere was so electrifying when they were about to announce the results of the Youth Olympic Games bid. As if we didn't know the answer already!

And there was the farewell lunch today, with all the department heads and my team as well.

Oh, and I had a little farewell gift from the dept heads. On the pretext of wanting to borrow to "take a look", the BBs later added on this charmer as a surprise. Absolutely love it, will always be reminded of how much we love to shop during lunch hours!

Saying goodbye to some of the greatest people I've come to love has been really hard. Even these chefs call me "Mama".

A lot has happened in the last couple of years I've been here. There were highs and there were lows. There were difficult periods we had to deal with, we overcame them all. And we did it as a team.

I don't need a report card from anyone to tell me how I've fared during this tenure. Because having the following validation is good enough for me. One email from Matt, one ST article of "the Mandarin girls". I think I've done what I first set out to do.

知道他们有我的心，我就心满意足了。 Ok I don't know which "zhu" or "zu".

Dear all luppies,

The only piece of work that I am proud to present to mama (my dear boss) got to be the poster
that I did for her birthday cum farewell. 40% that I wanna show her how far I had improved on my creativity,
another 60% got to be from my heart to thank her for being patient, kind and most importantly giving chance for me to improve my CS skills.

As she said, change boss doesn't mean change job, I totally agree with both legs and hands.
Though Marina Mandarin to Meritus Mandarin is just a stone throw away, we must make sure our friendship is as strong as stone and no one can thrown us apart.

We must keep in touch, email and stay tune with gossip.

LUP,
Matt

Fark, this is machiam like breakup, crying for days on end. But the beauty of it - we have built a lasting, meaningful friendship.

BBs, LUP MANY MANY!!!

The BBs Celebrated My Birthday!

2008-02-19T21:51:00.014+08:00

Since I do not have many days left in this office, thought I might as well hang around a little longer. It's quiet here now, cos I'm the only one around.

But the laughter, the screaming, the shrieking, the use of colourful language that the four of us shared still rings in my ears, most deeply in my heart.

Came back to the office today after a couple of days off, and the sweet darlings gave me a birthday surprise late in the afternoon. Even though Matt was on leave, he came back as well.

Apart from my all-time favourite Lana Cake (which BBE's beloved collected and sent all the way here), there was a huge poster too. It was a collage of all our moments together, it was an expression of the highest level of creativity (and LUP) that I've ever seen from Matt. I totally, absolutely love it.

I even hugged him although he was all sweaty and stinky from all that running over to the office!!!

By the way, this dude RUNS. He really can run. He would run from City Plaza to City Hall (from sending his teenage son to school, to come to work) 3 times a week, in the morning. As he puts it, he would run from one city to another. And you wouldn't believe how old he is, despite how he looks!

Here's some close ups of the ingenius creativity as well - doesn't it resemble the Business Times masthead? :)

Oh, and isn't my cake pretty? First time I've got a cake in the name of a Mama!

Ok, I'm not gonna let my emotions get the better of me again. I'm truly blessed to have known them.

On This Day

2008-02-18T23:34:00.017+08:00

On this day 3 years ago, The Boy (then boyfriend) arranged an unforgettable birthday party for me, with some of our dearest friends and loved ones. He spent all his time prior, making me this very special birthday video, which reduced me to tears by the end of it.

(By the way, you can see that I was quite chubby at that time. Ha.)

Little would I have expected that on this day 1 year later, we would be exchanging vows at Flutes At The Fort.

Now, on this day, today, we revisited Flutes for lunch. Thanks to Chef Francois, thanks to Eileen, we had an extremely lovely lunch. This was a treat from them, in return for letting them use some of our ROM photos on their website.

Took a shot with Francois as well, from whom I had learnt a number of French classic dishes. The 5-course lunch he prepared thereafter was simply amazing, from the appetizers of fresh scallop, to the Boston lobster, pan-fried foie gras, to our mains of cod and rack of lamb.

The ultimate treat was the desserts. You know how you always look at the dessert menu and can't decide which to have, and would love to have them all - we had that on our platter. Warm chocolate fondant (I know this one!), carrot and apple cake, tiramisu and lemon tart - simply decadent!

Great food, great wines, great conversations, great time reminiscing. Even though I wasn't actually feeling in the best of health (think I caught a chill from Bintan and was feeling feverish), we ended off the afternoon very gleeful.

And here are the rest of the pictures.

Oh, and for the records, he said since I didn't feel well today, he would give me another day to be my "birthday" - where I get 110% of his attention. Now, shouldn't that be every other day?!

The Bintan Escapade

2008-02-17T20:22:00.010+08:00

We're back from Bintan, burnt like bright red lobsters! This short get-away has been perfect, much needed for us to recharge and spend some real quality time together, with just us in the bubble for that few days. No work, no Internet to distract either of us.

Suffered major embarrassment on the way there though, where I got so sick from the ferry ride, that I puked my entire lunch of mee siam back out. Haha, sorry for that. But it was a really, really horrible journey there. The waters were so choppy due to the monsoon period, and when I heard the people around me started puking, I followed suit.

Damn gross, damn loser of me. I do get sea sick, but I think this was the first time that I threw up. When the captain said thank you and hoped that we had enjoyed the ride, one guy could only point his middle finger in response.

The Floral Suite was pretty nice, though I was kinda all psyched up for the Banyan Tree experience, given that Banyan Tree was our first choice. I guess being next to the beach does speed up the wear and tear quite a bit. Overall, it was a spacious suite with a very lovely, private sun deck where we spent a lot of time lazing on.

Only managed to get a little bit of suntan when we were lazing by the pool and walking on the beach yesterday. But in the end, it was not too little, judging by how red we turned out.

I realise that my skin condition has changed ever since I started developing eczema - in the past, I would turn brown, never patchy red (with white spots) like this. I suspect that the eczema has caused my skin to turn so red and itchy.

Looks like I can't have a healthy skin colour as long as I still have eczema. Looks like I'm destined to be white forever. =p

The Boy enjoyed himself so much, doing nothing, that he's now eager to plan the next few trips to neighbouring resorts. He says it's the best type of holiday, cos "got no shopping". -_-

Meanwhile, here's a snapshot of the Jemej Bintan Escapade!

Bintan Here We Come!

2008-02-15T09:30:00.004+08:00

It was a very last minute decision, when I realised I needed to make use of the off-in-lieu (for the CNY Sunday that I was working) by next week. So in the last couple of days, I tried booking us a short get-away. There was a fabulous, unbelievable travel trade offer for Angsana Resorts, but alas, they were all fully booked.

Even contemplated, and was PREPARED to pay an arm and a leg for Banyan Tree, but fully booked too.

Man, everyone celebrating our ROM anniversary and my birthday in Bintan or what?!

Anyway, got us a nice looking suite in Bintan Lagoon and we'll be off in a few more hours!!! Till Sunday, have a great weekend everyone!

Oh man, I better start packing NOW......

Toasty Love

2008-02-14T23:50:00.006+08:00

Even though I'm not into celebrating Valentine's the "commercial" way, decided to do a little something for The Boy and the BBs on this romance-filled day.

Made each of them I Love You egg-mayo toast, coupled with an apple, to mean that each is "the apple of my eye". Yah, I can be quite cheesy at times, heh.

In the office, the BBs and I got very busy taking photos with the toasts and apples. Matt put his graphic designer skills to good use, coming up with this nice pic. He even gave his interpretation to "Apple of my eye" - he said it can become "Apple of my 爱“. Haha.

Realisation is slowly seeping in. Realisation that next week will be the final week that I'll be officially working with my BBs.

I've done pretty well not succumbing to the emotional heartache so far, not wanting to think too much about it. In that way, I won't cry. But I'm not sure how long more I can keep up with this. It does get more unbearable with the days.

Wok for It?

2008-02-14T00:24:00.002+08:00

I'm contemplating very hard, whether or not to take up the 6 lessons on Basic Chinese Cooking at Palate Sensations.

Starts March 9, every Sunday for 6 consecutive Sundays, from 11am to 2pm.

Thought that learning some Chinese dishes would be more practical, since The Boy loves his white rice. They'll be teaching some Szechuan dishes such as Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup, Chicken Gung Bo and Ma Po Toufu, all of which The Boy loves.

Plus, he says I should take a break from Western cooking and brush up on my Chinese cooking, since the last time my fried rice kinda failed.

Anyone keen to join me in the fun? :)

Justified

2008-02-13T00:03:00.000+08:00

While most of us had one thing or the other to do during the busy CNY holidays, mostly visitations, The Boy had something else up his sleeves. Or rather, socks.

He was busy practising the sleek dance moves that Justin Timberlake did in his DVD, Justified, which was a compilation of his music videos.

I must say it was really funny, watching him in his socks at home, gliding about in front of the TV. He woke up the next day with aching legs. Definitely not as young and nimble like he used to be!

Sometimes, my husband sure knows how to tug at my heartstrings. It was totally endearing, seeing him help me clean my floor in the process like that.

开工日！

2008-02-11T23:49:00.001+08:00

Today's the first day of work after the long CNY break. The BBs were all ready with mandarin oranges to 拜年, right after I stepped into the office. It was too early in the morning to take pictures, as you can tell from our pale faces.

After work, we got off earlier to go for our 开工饭, at one of my favourite cze char places, Sin Hoi San along Tiong Bahru Road. R@e was damn thrilled to be at the outlet which 五月天 frequents whenever they are in Singapore.

We had lo hei, great food and good ol' Tiger. We had lots of, lots of fun and laughter.

By the end of the evening, we realised that between the 6 of us, we finished 7 bottles of Tiger. So to make it a FATT year, we ordered one last, the 8th bottle, for the road.

So here we are, the 4 of us - BBL, BBE, BBM and Mama - before and after the 8 bottles. We've been through 2 fantastic years as a team, so strong no one could bitch around with us. The camaraderie, the chemistry we have as a team. It was even unthinkable to be anywhere else.

I love us so so much. Damn, I'm gonna miss us so so so so much.

Days 3 & 4 of CNY

2008-02-10T13:53:00.000+08:00

The Boy has assumed a new role this CNY. He's my ang bao tracker - I can't remember clearly which kid I've given the ang bao to, and which kid I haven't. Especially when they are the kids of acquaintances whom I've never met.

This was over at his boss' place yesterday, lunch session #2. Thank goodness it wasn't steamboat anymore, like what we had (for the nth time) at his parents' place, where it was lunch session #1.

When I first heard that it was pratas for lunch at his boss' place, I never thought that it would turn out to be pratas made "live" in the comforts of your home!

They actually got an Indian dude from Casuarina Curry Restaurant to make pratas on the spot, in whatever way you like - plain, egg, cheese, tissue, whatever!!!

This is definitely a cool alternative to my popiah party. At $14 per head, for 2 hours, they would make however many pratas you like. There is also a selection of other dishes on the buffet line too, such as chicken curry, samosa etc, with teh tarik and lime juice. Damn cool right?

This CNY, we were playing with babies every other day. Here's another cute one, Gaddiel, son of The Boy's colleague.

Julian was super boy, super cute that day. He participated in the great lo hei too, where both my parents and Jen's parents gathered at the Hengs' place for that lunch session #1.

We ended off the day in the great company of our superhero friends, where we gave ang baos, for the last time, to Mudgod & Ms P, Mudfairy & Pamcake and Mudskipper & C - they are all getting married this year and next, so exciting!

And today, on the 4th day of the Lunar New Year, I'm not out visiting. Neither do I have the luxury of vegging out at home. I'm back at the office, on duty for the Sunday. Dammit, what a way to end the long "break"! =p

Now, when's the next long stretch of holidays coming up?

The 2 Days of CNY

2008-02-09T00:06:00.000+08:00

Love the fact that we got to spend so much more time with Julian over this Chinese New Year holidays, playing with him to our hearts' content.

Also, this marks the 2nd year of giving ang baos to the siblings - they seemed pretty happy, haha.

It was a super tiring day - we went to 5 places in all, starting off with work early in the morning. The Boy was sweet enough to follow and helped take some pictures. Coupled with the hot weather, we were exhausted at the end of the day.

Very glad for day 2 - we did NOTHING. We slept, we watched dvds, we slept. We had afternoon coffee at Starbucks, we stocked up on groceries. We had a nice quiet dinner - simple home-cooked pasta (we really wanted something non-steamboat) with a nice glass of chardonnay. We truly appreciate and love such quiet time, we love time to ourselves.

Gong Hei Fatt Choy!

2008-02-08T23:59:00.001+08:00

So, with the first day of the Lunar New Year, Emma puts on her new dress.

And the Jemej wishes everyone “新年快乐，万事如意！” May the new year bring everyone great health, happiness and warmth!

Can't Get Enough of Steamboat

2008-02-08T22:53:00.000+08:00

Since a few years ago, reunion dinner for the Jemej consists 2 rounds - an early one at my parents' place, followed by rushing over, across the island (literally, cos my family stays in the west and his in the east) to his parents' - as if like that in a Chinese restaurant with 2 seatings.

Over at my parents' place, the heroine behind the steamboat fare is of course my mum. And the steamboat is about as old as my brother.

We had more steamboat over at The Boy's parents' place thereafter. Julian joined in too! He's now so "grown up", has his own chair. Think the next time we see him, he could very well be walking already!

Our nephew Samuel's very adorable too. And as I was playing with the both of them, I realise that it takes a lot of energy to keep them entertained - they can't keep still!!

It's a good thing that I love steamboat, cos for The Boy, it was quite a steamboat OD for him by the end of the day. So much so that we came up with a rhyme:

Ok we're lame.

New Year, New Clothes

2008-02-04T11:26:00.000+08:00

Even Emma, our "munchlet" wants to put on some new clothes for the Chinese New Year - or so I was told by the husband when he sent me this picture this morning.

Speaking of new clothes, each time I bring them back for washing, I'll let the helper know, so she would just need to give them a quick rinse through.

Just the other day, when I handed her another new loot, she went, "Again? Ma'am, you every week new clothes?"

To which I replied very quickly, "Huh?? Since when?! Where got every week? You mistake la!"

Geez. How can it be every week? And no, I'm not in self-denial. No... I'm not... it can't be.... really, I'm not....

My Hero

2008-01-29T09:06:00.000+08:00

Because of my obsession in rushing home every evening to catch my Raymond Lam in action, The Boy has decided to protest and vie for my attention.

It's, er, a hard choice to make between 10pm and 11.20pm every weekday evening!

I Love My Siblings

2008-01-27T23:46:00.000+08:00

It's my darling sis' birthday today.

Happy blessed birthday sweetie, love you lots! :D

We celebrated her special day last night after our cousin's wedding dinner, at her favourite Attica. Cheongster r@e joined us too.

The last time I was at Attica, the last time I went clubbing with my sista was a year ago, also her birthday at Attica. Haha. And it was funny how she kept introducing me to her friends saying "this is my real sister". I felt like some sort of chaperone, haha.

And we didn't leave till wee hours of the morning. Today, I slept the day away, overcome by exhaustion. I can't do this anymore. Age is catching up on me!

And here's one with the precious brother - he used to shy away from cameras. Now at least this is a good first step!

The "Swop"

2008-01-27T15:31:00.000+08:00

Objective of the Swirl Swop:

Give away your clothes and get "new" ones without having to spend money.

How it works:

You bring the clothes you would no longer wear. The girls bring the clothes they would no longer wear. Put all the clothes together, and pick what you fancy. One of the rules - "No cat fights please".

How I fared:

While waiting for more people to arrive, waiting for the pile to become bigger, I got distracted by the collection from Swirl and Dotted Line.

Excitedly, I tried on a couple of pieces. Just when the Swap begins, I was still in the fitting room. The others had begun their rummaging through the pile already - I didn't have a good headstart....

And so, in anticipation of the Swirl Swop, Beanbean and I met for lunch at Cedele, Raffles City, lugging our big bags of clothings along. Hers was a HUGE bag!

We had a very nice time chatting and laughing over the funny, endearing habits of our hubbies. Pity that the service was pretty slow, there wasn't enough time for us to have the desserts that we so wanted to have.

Over at Swirl, although I didn't manage to find anything, it was really fun just being there for the experience. And seeing a few pieces of my clothes being picked up by the others, knowing that they will be treasured. There were yummy mini pastries and cocktail punch, even bumped into Inthewilderness! :)

And Beanbean managed to find a few pieces of treasures! :)

Soon after, we got more interested in the clothes that were on sale. Again, no luck with it this time round as well, the piece of dress that I liked and wanted to buy was slightly torn and that was the last piece. But Beanbean managed to find yet another treasure! Heh..

Even though I didn't "score" well at the Swirl Swop, which should have been a case whereby you get "new" clothes without having to spend money, I went back with new stuff nonetheless, at a price. Dammit, and I thought I could be saving some money this weekend.

Both Beanbean and I love the black and white polka-dotted top from Nicholas so much, that we bought one each! By the way, the piece in this pic belongs to her - both bags were accidentally "swapped" during the payment process. Haha! =p

Oh, and Beanbean was wearing this same pair of Hue slip-ons. Talk about having the same tastes! :)

The Big Swop

2008-01-26T01:28:00.000+08:00

While The Boy is away in KL attending a colleague's wedding, I have a date with Beanbean tomorrow, for the Swirl Swap Swop!

The objective is to clear your wardrobe, of all those pieces of clothings that you no longer wear, either they no longer fit, or that they were impulse buys or fashion disasters. Bring them down, and add to the pile of cast-offs from the other girls. The great exchange begins.

An ingenious way to empty the wardrobe to make way for new clothes I say! At least you know that the clothes that you have cast away will end up with someone else who would appreciate them.

The idea is to be ruthless. But like I mentioned to Beanbean, I just cleared out my wardrobe a while back, so hopefully what I've managed to gather would be good enough.

We'll update tomorrow! :)

We Lup

2008-01-25T00:19:00.001+08:00

Finally, after more than a month of dilemma and contemplation, I have decided to move out of my comfort zone, to the sister property down at Orchard.

Over the last 2 years, I have come to know the greatest team that I would ever have had the honour of being in. The camaraderie, the ability to understand each other, the rapport, the friendship that we have developed in that lil office of ours, I don't think I will experience again.

On any given day in the work week, even when faced with stressful deadlines, that lil office never fails to be filled with our laughter - laughing with each other, laughing at others (ok we've got a really mean streak), laughing at each other. I've never considered them as my colleagues, I've never considered them as my subordinates. They are my joy, they are my BBs.

"Mama and BBs" came about because I'm the ultimate naggy queen, always nagging at them to finish their work on time. BBE - BB Elephant - is too skinny, and so Elephant is what she should "aspire" to be. BBL - BB Lion - needs to stand firm against all unreasonable demands, to hold our grounds. As for Mama Rabbit - I was given the name cos I need to be less fierce, more gentle. Ha.

There has not been a day where I dread waking up to go to work. We work hard but we play hard. And we shop hard too (!) of which we fail miserably at being each other's conscience to stop spending!

Now, the time has come for all of us to leave our comfort zone and take on new challenges. It has been hard, it has been painful. It has been sleepless nights, and constant worries. But I know that only with new challenges can all of us grow. And seeing my BBs grow to become the best marcoms possible - the pain would be worth it. In any case, the best thing that came out of this is the friendship that we have built.

For myself, in another month's time, I will be venturing into unknown territories. Double the size of operation, double the size of team, with new exciting developments - sounds like a long roller coaster ride. But I know that through it all, God is in control. I have the faith that for every step that I take, He will be looking out for me.

My New Status

2008-01-21T00:36:00.000+08:00

Learnt from r@e:

That there is a term to represent all those who follow TVB serials, all those who rush home from work to catch all that drama - xi lai. Sounds like "west come".

And I'm quite proud of it, ha!

Musical, Beer and Many Many Nuggets

2008-01-20T23:58:00.000+08:00

Went to watch the matinee of Beauty World yesterday. Tickets were bought sometime back, so we didn't foresee that The Boy would not have finished his reservist in time to catch the musical.

Got r@e to "stand in", as my date for the afternoon. Felt that the show was pretty draggy in the first half, some parts were a little too long. But in general, it was pretty enjoyable, it being peppered with anecdotes of familiar local humour.

Along with Mudgod & Ms P, Mudskipper & C, Ray and Aloy, we ended off the splendid afternoon with a round of beer at Harry's after that.

Or rather, we started the evening early with the beer. Cos we had even more, sake and Asahi at a Jap restaurant along Mohd Sultan over dinner. I can't recall the name of the restaurant - think we were a little tipsy by the end of the night, as you can tell from the HUGE bottle of sake that was finished in one night.

Attempted to play matchmaker as well. Not going to be obvious about who the "victims" were here, haha.

Still, the night didn't end there. It was poker for the boys and mahjong for the ladies after that. By then, The Boy finally joined us, in time to serve the mahjong ladies nuggets from Macs home delivery. Gosh, how I missed him that day!

Lethal TVB

2008-01-17T23:32:00.000+08:00

While The Boy is away serving the nation, I've been home glued to Channel 55 the last few nights. I'm hooked, addicted to watching the serials that TVB has to offer. This particular one had me cancelling my gym sessions the past 2 evenings, and rushing home just to catch it.

In fact, even after the 2 episodes ended, I continued searching for the site to download the whole series. Ended up finding only selected clips on the youtube. But I watched them anyway! Till wee hours of the morning. And had trouble waking up the next day.

So eager I am to watch, that I'm contemplating cancelling all activities for the next few days, just so that I can go home to watch Raymond Lum in action. I gushed about how charming he is to the BBs. Haha.

And because it would take time to download the series, I might just rent them instead. I prefer to think of this as "celebrating the auntie in me".

17th January - International Day of Italian Cuisines

2008-01-16T19:55:00.000+08:00

Chef Carlo informed me that tomorrow 17 January is the International Day of Italian Cuisines. For one day, everyone who makes, promotes or simply loves Italian food outside of Italy is invited to carry out a small activity to celebrate authenticity and quality in Italian cuisine.

This unprecedented celebration is led by over 130 Italian chefs and restaurateurs in 35 countries. They will cook Pasta alla Carbonara according to the original, authentic recipe.

This simple dish, a classic Italian dish, is in fact the symbol of counterfeit Italian cuisine in the world. Which I may just well attempt to "counterfeit" in my own kitchen, ha. But not tomorrow though, no time to cook on a working day. =p

Lunch with the Botak

2008-01-15T00:02:00.000+08:00

I seem to be on a rampage of western food these days. It was Botak Jones with the BBs at Toa Payoh, while on media delivery, for lunch today.

Call me a junkie, but don't the fries look so much more yummy than Mad Jack's? This cajun chicken was really good, all these for $7.50, a most satisfying lunch!

Ok, time to hit the gym.....

Mad Lunch

2008-01-14T23:33:00.000+08:00

The Boy had overnight duty on Saturday and only managed to book out the next day. We decided to check out Mad Jack at Simpang Bedok for lunch.

I had the Fish & Chips while he tried the Steak. His steak was really yummy. But I didn't think very much about the Fish & Chips, which was supposedly their signature. I thought the taste of the flour came through stronger than the sweetness, or rather the lack of, of the fish. The portion of fries wasn't as generous as Botak Jones'. Frankly, I think Botak Jones is so much better, cheaper somemore!

But we had the A&W Root Beer - it has been ages since we've seen the can. The taste was simply, ooooooh, nostalgic! On the account of the yummy steak, root beer and refreshing juices of green apple & celery, we'll be back. But not before we have our fill of the Mee Pok across the road first.

From the Other Side

2008-01-12T12:55:00.000+08:00

There are some things that you as a couple have never done together before, even if you've been with each other for years. This sounds bizarre, but The Boy and I have never been together on an overhead bridge before.

Just the other evening, we decided to WALK from our place to his parents' place for dinner. Although it's only a 5-minute drive away, it has never occurred to us that we could walk there too.

And so we cut through the blocks of flats, ventured through foreign void decks, to arrive at the overhead bridge that would take us to the other side of the main road. Halfway across, he turned to me, "Hey, we've never crossed the overhead bridge together before!"

And of course we had to take a momentous shot, while passerbys gave us odd looks.

When I threw him the idea of walking over initially, he was like "Can or not?!" I said if we could walk an hour to dinner in Italy, why can't we walk 15 minutes in Singapore?

Too often, we rely on the car to get around. While it's convenient, a big part of his attention is focused on the roads. And I would be dozing off. The time we supposedly spend with each other is not as fulfilling.

We totally enjoyed the walk. It allowed us to concentrate on each other, and gave us time to "stop to smell the roses". We took in sights that we have never noticed, we checked out people along the roads. All these, we never enjoyed while we were in the car.

Similarly, in life, we should sometimes change the way of how we always do things, to look at things from a different perspective. And it would always be surprising, and could be rewarding, what you get out from it.

We made a pact that one of 2008's resolution is not only to spend time together, but also to ensure that it's quality time. But that's not to say we are walking to everywhere in Singapore now lah!

Epilogue:

In case you were wondering, we didn't walk back home. His mum very kindly drove us back. Lazy Singaporeans lah.

Frivolous with a Capital F

2008-01-10T22:26:00.000+08:00

There seems to be a bag frenzy going on. Even before I have gotten down to confess my loot from Italy, it's great to know that there are already MANY great shopaholic minds that think alike.

MiuMiu aside, here's what I got for Christmas, 101% approved by the husband. I'm totally loving it.

We were checking out the new Kate Spade outlet in Raffles City - it's much bigger than the one at Takashimaya. I was even quite fascinated by the selection of baby bags.

You know how they say "八字都还没成一瞥“ - pardon me if I got the word "pie" wrong, not sure which character to choose, but I got quite excited already looking at this.

Anyhow, when it was time for The Boy to make payment for my new Christmas pressie, the sales lady said, "M'am, would you like to top up to $1000 to qualify for the member's discount?"

Gosh, why do they always make it so difficult? I thought hard, I thought fast. 10% discount henceforth - that should be a darn good investment right? Baby bags even. Now, if that's not forward thinking, then what else could it be? Ok, it didn't take me too long to seek out part 2 of the spree.

Girls, when you set your eyes upon the next Kate Spade, you know who to call. Hey, that's doing a good deed afterall right?!

P for Popiah, P for Party

2008-01-08T23:58:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend on Saturday, as a mini gathering of both our families before The Boy's in-camp training and in celebration of my dad's birthday, we had a little popiah party at the Jemej's.

It was an "off day" for me, no cooking that day. Just simple da-paoded food as afternoon tea - popiah, kueh pie tee and soon kueh.

With some kopi and tea, I made good use, for the first time, of the tea set that we got from our honeymoon in NZ back in Nov 06.

We had this set custom-made with our name painted on, from a little pottery house which we randomly found while driving along in Wanaka. That's one of the loveliest treats being in New Zealand - you never quite know what you are going to chance upon during those long long long long drives from one town to another.

Think our mums did more of the popiah wrapping than anyone else, while the rest of us just enjoyed the eating, followed by watching the movie 881 - which I can't quite figure out whether my hokkien-speaking 90-year-old grandma understood. Nice way to spend time with loved ones at home, I'm gonna do this more often.

The Art of Mee Pok

2008-01-06T22:07:00.000+08:00

I don't usually have mee pok. Mee kia or kway teow would be my preferred choice for various noodle dishes such as Fish Ball noddles, Wantan noodles etc.

But ever since we had the dried mee pok on the very morning of our flight back from Italy, with major OD of pasta, we've loved this ever since.

Ask for "hiam jio zuay" (chilli more), it's really damn shiok!

A check online made me realised that there's actually a War of the Mee Pok going on. Haha, thought there were only the wars of the Laksa and Rocher Soy Beancurd.

All these just made me appreciate our local food scene so much more - the choices are abundant and so varied. You would never be short of options!

Where There's Always A Reason

2008-01-05T20:34:00.000+08:00

We've been eating a lot since the beginning of the festive holidays. And it didn't end there.

On the first day of the New Year, since it's the first day of the New Year, we had a nice quiet dinner at Sun with Moon. Still think the tofu cheesecake looks sad in a bird cage.

Last evening, since it's the first weekend of the New Year, since it's the weekend before The Boy goes into camp officially (last couple of days was the briefing), we checked out Brasserie Wolf, one of the not-so-new-by-now French restaurants that we've been wanting to try.

Menu consisted quite a number of French classics, a few of which I was taught at Palate Sensations during the basic French cooking course.

Food was great - he loved his Duck l'Orange while I had to try the Chicken in Red Wine with Tagliatelle. He exclaimed that their Chicken in Red Wine had a familiar taste, as good as the ones he's always had - which I presume were the ones I've always cooked. :D

Totally enjoyed the starters of French Onion Soup and half dozen of Escargot with Herb Butter - all worries about the extra calories were thrown out of the window then.

Start the new year the gastronomic way, yes, put on those few more kilos. I know I'll regret that later. But for now, there's always a reason to indulge!! ;)

Serving the Nation

2008-01-03T12:14:00.000+08:00

The Boy will be on reservist for 2 weeks. Got the following out of office autoreply when I sent him an email this morning:

Hi, Thanks for your email.

I am currently on reservist duty.

During this In-Camp, the army is training us on the art of telepathy.
Please stand by to receive my thoughts on your email.

jem.

Yet another reason why he's my beloved abang.

Being Uncle & Auntie

2008-01-02T23:51:00.000+08:00

It's update on Baby Julian time!

The dad said it always takes like a thousand shots before he can get a few smiley ones like these, cos Julian's an active boy. Haha.

It fills our hearts with warmth each time we see him. And each time we see him growing bigger, stronger and cuter. Only that we don't get to see him often enough, and now that he's starting to recognise people, it does wrench our hearts a little that he's not as familiar with us.

So the least we could do is to shower him with little gifts every now and then. Moreover, being in the infants' clothes section also unleashes the shopaholic in me, everything is too C-U-T-E. Heh.

Hopefully, this new year brings more opportunities to play with him, as we really want to be part of his growing up process, to shower Baby J with lots of love, from uncle Jem & auntie Ej.