A Day of Something Yet Nothing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!