my pink birthday

the bf is finally back from his work trip in the US and along with it came my bday present! this year all the presents i received were pink.

yes pink. i like pink. its sweet. cute. girly. yum :)

i got a coach bag from the bf... its the first bday present from a bf in a very long time.. it feels different receiving it from him than receiving a present from other ppl :P

mum bought me an iphone! well, its technically white. but i zeng-ed it to become pink. metallic pink. oh so sweet!

i'm officially apple-d :P

dean & karen bought me a wallet. hurs, its pink cos i chose it. dad sponsored a bit for this wallet too....

and lastly... char & ej bought me lancome miracle! again i chose it. but later realised it was pink as well...

oh, and yl bought me a pink/black dress.... that became grey/black :(

thank you all! i love all the pressies i received this year!! yayyyyy =)

random pictures

the bf and i were really amused with the photo booth function of my imac... see what we started taking pictures of?!

we started off with traveling through some light tunnel...

then he said he looks huge and hunky in this picture... haha!

i like this picture, it reminds me of those caricatures!

i took this some time back... i luv the mirror image function!

and this picture... i look so emo... hurhur

i luv my mac!!

birthday treats

had 2 big meals 2 days in a row :)

means i gotta put in more effort to go jogging :P

first birthday meal is at sakuraya... was craving for (good) sashimi and sakuraya is a fail-proof place!

the bf and i both love sword fish and salmon... so those are the must haves... then of cos i love scallops and oysters!

according to ev, the seafood is shipped in every tuesdays and fridays... thankfully my birthday is on a friday :P the sashimi were so fresh i could taste the sweetness in the fish! we also had lots of makis for this girl who loves her carbs :)

saturday night dinner was at the hawker centre at smith street in chinatown... dad's friend's father-in-law's stall and according to dad, serves very good fish head.

we ordered veg, bitter gourd with pork ribs and a fish head steamed with some spicy sauce...

overall, the meal was quite a disappointment. the veg was ordinary. you can probably find veg as tasty as this in any zi-char stall...

the bitter gourd with pork ribs was slightly below average. the bitter gourd was bitter (its not supposed to be despite its name!) and the pork ribs were not flavourful enough...

dad reading newspaper behind :P

ok, the only saving grace was the fish head... but then its their signature dish, if not good then might as well close shop right!

all in all, prolly wont go back there.. unless dad insists on supporting his friend again!

best bubble tea in singapore?

remember more than ten years ago there were cafes that sold nothing but bubble tea? back then one cup of bubble tea costs more than $5 each... were prepared manually by mixing the concoction in metal cups and came in nice fancy glasses...

a couple of years following that time... kiosks serving bubble tea in plastic cups started sprouting everywhere! selling bubble tea for $2 per cup and completely over threw those nice quaint bubble tea houses... then that industry got too crowded and the kiosks started disappearing again...

fast forward to today... only a few dominant bubble tea companies remain: sweet talk and happy cup just a name a couple...

and now... people are starting to rave about this particular bubble tea shop - koi @ toa payoh central

the store front had a long queue of people waiting for their drinks. i took a peek at their preparation area and was surprised! remember those metal cups? instead of manually shaking it, the shop had this machine that shakes the cups (of cos, someone had to mix the drink and put it on the machine) and following that process, the usual, someone puts it into another machine and the plastic cup gets sealed.

i tried the bubble milk tea and the bf had the swiss chocolate milk shake. what i like about it most is that you can choose your level of sweetness! unlike most other bubble tea kiosks (where the bubble milk tea is usually pre-prepared and all the person does is to fill the cup with bubbles, tea and ice and seal it), the bubble milk tea from koi is individually prepared, "shaked" in the machine and sealed... and the taste? much better than the usual of cos. the draw backs? pricely. each cup costs an average of $4 for a medium sized drink, double the price of a drink from sweet talk.

will i go back again? yes, but only for the bubble milk tea... the chocolate milk shake was wayyy to rich and after finishing it, you feel like you're gonna "pu zhua" the next day :P

oh, did i mention that the pearls were super chewy? my jaws ached after finishing the cup!

happy new year!

new year new beginning... x'mas/new year is always a busy period... lots of new year and birthday celebrations :) *hint hint*

first b'day of the year was of cos the bf's.

took him to this place called the golden spoon at seng poh road in tiong bahru. read the reviews at hungrygowhere and all the reviewers said they will definitely go back there... sounds like a place not to be missed eh!

we ordered my favourite spinach with 3 eggs (salted egg, century egg & normal egg)... this one is cooked in a clear broth (unlike most places which cook it in a starchy broth). the broth is very "flavourful" and they gave pretty generous serving of eggs! *yum*

we also ordered deep fried cod in pumpkin sauce and cereal. they are famous for their pumpkin sauced foods... so how can we not try? the cod fish, partially drizzled with pumpkin sauce, were covered in cereal... which gave the fish a sweet and savoury taste, together with the fishy taste that cod has... absolutely yum!! we also ordered vermicilli (cos birthday must eat noodles :P) and the bill only came up to less than $50. i sound like i'm advertising for them hor? i think their food is really nice leh!

that's the bf waiting for his food *fierce*

the 2nd birthday of the year... mine! although not yet, the girls decided to give me an early celebration :)

we wanted to go mellben's at amk for crabs. tried to call and reserve a place, but was told "no reservations on saturday". so we rocked up at 7pm, only to find a freakingly long queue, and expected waiting time of 1.5 hours! we crossed the road to try uncle leong's crabs instead. approximately 45 mins of waiting time though... we tried their signature dish - shimmering sands crab... yummmm.. pics are with dean... as you can see from the pic below... she was busy all night taking pics and peeling crab meat for hieu :P

more bday and nonsense pics to come!!

happy birthday spr!!!!!!

melaka 2009

the road trip to melaka was a good break from the hustle and bustle of the city life in sgp. the group of four (zh & yp, the bf and i) drove my mum's lancer 200km north to melaka!

i quite like melaka, it feels like sgp back in the 70s with all the shophouses, trishaws, pasar malam style street stalls... the people there are also very nice & polite! (as least the drivers give way to you when you signal!)

the highlight of the trip was jonker street...we walked up and down the street like 4 times! (up and down once in the day and another time at night) oh fyi, street peddlers line the street at night (like pasar malam) only on fridays and saturdays... its like a gigantic pasar malam... worth going :)

and of cos, the trip was EAT-WALK-EAT-WALK... we ate so much that we were constantly feeling full... i wonder how do the food hosts tahan when they introduce multiple stores/restaurants in a single day?!

anyway... let the pics do the talking :)

first stop: chicken rice balls!! (someone said, eh? how come got fishballs?) the balls weren't too impressive... all of us preferred the normal rice to the balls...

the chicken tasted yummier than the balls...

heh... the funny things we see along jonker walk...

spade shaped jew her!

2nd stop: melaka chendol! this shop sells different variants of the traditional chendol... beware.. not all modern flavours are pleasant to the palate! the bf bought one with pineapples... he hated it!

he bought the traditional one for me... yums!

clogs are a hit in melaka... but not quite with me!

the bf says this is the cleanest place in melaka... because its constantly being washed!

dinner is satay celup... basically like our steamboat, except all your food is in skewers and your soup base is a thinner version of the satay sauce... spicy!

the group! (enjoying our food, while sweating)

A&W!!! the last time i ate this was when i was... 12? i still remember hanging out with ah hu, eunice and yiting... omg! its more than 12 years ago alr!!

i miss the root beer floats...

the full set... curly fries, connie dog and root beer!

my fav waffles of ALL time... i swear...

us!

hilarious!

halloween night @ night safari

its my first time celebrating halloween in my 2 decades of life... and i spent it @ the night safari with deers and rhinos and alot of scary ppl... hurhur...

it was zh's gf's suggestion to go to the night safari... it was super duper crowded... the queue to enter the safari was at least 100m long (i swear!) and we queued for a good 2 hours to enter the safari... we took the train of terror which brought us through the safari... looking at animals and towards the end of the tram ride we were in for a scare by the halloween party... i think zh scared the "ghosts" more than the ghost scaring us :P

the train of terrorrrrrrrrr (ahhhh!)

our tram ride!

scared or not?

joker...

group shot

with the bf =)

it was unanimously agreed that we will NOT go for such events on the last day its run... not crowd lovers!

pocket biking

here's how it all started:

ss: i signed us up for pocket biking

me: huh, which part of "i can only cycle in a straight line" did you not understand?

ss: lol... its next week

and so team zippy was formed.

for those who have no idea what pocket biking is.... well... basically, its adults trying to ride a fully motorised bike for a 5-year old... yes, the bike is tiny... and we're all over sized for it.

here's how my team mates look like in action...

so on the day of the competition (yes! we signed up for a competition!) each rider has to maneuver through an obstacle course (as if straight line wasn't hard enough for me!) 3x... the team with the fastest time wins... team zippy came in 2nd! we're one second faster than the 3rd... hurhur...

of cos... didn't contribute to the good timing... i was only there as a reserve... my cameo appearance on the bike brought laughter to my teammates (ev couldn't stop laughing) and fear to the organisers :P

the riders!

ss acting... i dunno.. cute?

we were each rewarded with $40 robinsons voucher for the afternoon of sweat and laughter... yay!

rosemary

because of the freakingly warm weather... the aircons in my house have been working overtime... when the aircons work overtime... my poor nose also... this is because i have an ultra sensitive nose that leaks whenever its too cold... or too dusty... and the construction work just outside my door step isnt making things any easier...

anywho... i've been using this aromatherapy thingy for a while.. and it seems like whenever i burn it.. my nose doesnt leak!

check it out: source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/aromatherapy-rosemary.htm

The ancients believed that rosemary strengthened memory, and thus it became an emblem of fidelity, important at both weddings and funerals. The smoke was inhaled to protect against brain weakness and dizziness, and the herb was burned in schools and universities to inspire the pupils. Japanese researchers have preliminary evidence that rosemary does indeed improve memory. Rosemary was burned by the poor instead of frankincense; the old French name for it, incensier, came from rosemary’s celebrated history as church incense.

Until the twentieth century, the fragrant branches were burned in French hospitals, with juniper, to purify the air. Rosemary also made its impression on early cosmetics; it was the main ingredient in the famous fourteenth century “Hungary Water,” which is still available today. This Mediterranean native with tiny, pale blue flowers that bloom in late winter loves growing by the ocean -- its name rosmarinus means “dew of the sea.” It is cultivated worldwide for aromatherapy and other uses, although France, Spain, and Tunisia are the main producers of the essential oil.

Principal constituents of rosemary: Borneol, camphene, camphors, cineol, verbenone, pinenes, limonene, linalol, terpineol, and others

Scent of rosemary: The odor is herbaceous, woody, sharp, and camphorous.

Therapeutic properties of rosemary: Antiseptic, astringent, antioxidant; relieves rheumatic and muscle pain (no wonder i feel so refreshed on the next day after training!), relaxes nerves, improves digestion and appetite (that explains the weight gain!!), increases sweating (gasp! no wonder i'm sweating like a cow!)

Uses for rosemary: As an ingredient in a massage oil, compress, or bath, rosemary essential oil is excellent for increasing poor circulation and easing muscle and rheumatism pain. It is especially penetrating when used in a liniment. It is very antiseptic, so inhaling the essential oil or adding it to a vapor balm that is rubbed on the chest and throat relieves lung congestion (ah ha! that's why my nose doesnt leak?) and sore throat. It is a stimulant to the nervous system and increases energy. Cosmetically it encourages dry, mature skin to produce more of its own natural oils. It also helps get rid of canker sores. Add it to shampoos -- it is an age-old remedy for dandruff and hair loss.

Warnings about rosemary: It can be overly stimulating and may increase blood pressure.

hmm... maybe i need to find another scent that can do all the tricks, without the rise in blood pressue...

i luv my....... nine-west!

since my pictures from my recent trip to australia has already been uploaded to fb... i shall not repeat and upload it here....

posting these pictures all for dean! actually some of my loyal readers have been asking why i stopped blogging... busy lah! where got so much time to do this?!?!

anyway i bought 4 pairs of shoes from australia this time... hehe... i love them! so pwetty right?!



*beams with pride*