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December 30, 2009

Eating Out. Loud II.

the eat-out continues...


26 Dec

had to work after X'mas too. such booboo-ness.
Poppy said he had craving for Island Cremery (i rarely hear guys having cravings. or am i just swakoo?), so he sent us there after picking me up from office.

though the mall was really quiet, the crowd in the cremery was mad (as usual).
i wanted to try Brandied Cherries this time but they seemed to have ran out of that, so we went for Very Berry and Apple Pie. the latter was really creamy with huge chunks of strawberries whilst the former had a nice almond-ish taste together with bits of pie crusts and apple. yumz.

Poppy insisted that we head back to Tampines afterwards, then i realize my cousins and aunt have come to visit. my bro brought them out to town for movie and dinner so Poppy and i went to meet Mommy at my aunt's place for dinner instead. while Poppy and my aunts played mahjong after the meal, i dozed off on the sofa. i didn't even know when my cousins came home.
most unglam. yikes.


27 Dec

headed home in the morning after breakfast at Mommy's.
somewhat still confused on which i should type as "home". like Mommy's home is also my home, and Clementi most definitely also my home. aargh.

wrapped the pressies at the last minute, packed up a little, then lazed around a little till Yongmei & Wei came over with Clarice.

Poppy experimented with Chawanmushi-making (unfortunately, his "skills" weren't too great to boot) then we gave up and headed off to Sakae Sushi for lunch instead.
haw-haw.

more lazing around, while Clarice took her nap, then prepared to set off to Jurong to fetch Lihan for our movie, "Avatar". like many it's our second time.
i'm not really a sucker for graphics, but the storyline really attracted me.

had a brief supper with Alex and Michelle after the show, then back at home for the well-deserved rest.





28 Dec

while Poppy was away at work, i spent the rest of the time experimenting on making a photo/movie montage for our wedding. tried my hands on a new software for the first time, the effects appeared better than Movie Maker but i still can't fully grasp it at the first go.
finally decided yesterday that i should have a jab at cross-using both softwares. but first i need fresh ideas on the text and motions to use!
*paces up and down the room 1000x*

anyhoos, we grabbed a quick dinner at the neighborhood coffeeshop and caught Jay Chou's "Treasure Hunter" before meeting Alex and Michelle for supper in JB. she had a craving for Lok-Lok, and so off we went!

Poppy was exhausted by the time we arrived home near 1am. poor thing.


29 Dec

laundered our bedsheet and quilt cover, and followed on my Taiwanese drama online before Miss Teo came by for our art-and-craft session. the first after many many many manyyyyy years.

time whizzed past. we cut, pasted, got stuck sometimes, frowned and laughed it off afterwards. mighty good fun, better if we could do away with the stiff necks and backs.
cleared up the leftovers and mess, then went to pick Mary up at her office before meeting Miss L and Shanny at AMK. 'twas the long-awaited CRAB treat from Mary!

despite having made our reservations a week before, we still had to wait for our table (approx. 30 minutes) and another hour for our food to arrive. our tubby tummies rumbled as we caught whiffs of other tables' food. *gulp*.

and then, viola!
first came the deep fried buns 饅頭, then the crispy beancurd, then baby kailan 芥蘭 (almost mis-typed as a friend's name "Kai Lian". oops.), followed by chili crabs and crab bee hoon.
Miss L and i LOVE the crab bee hoon!
it's moist, and black pepper-ishly fragrant. *double slurp*.

we vant moar!
let's do it again soon, alright?

collected my share of imported accessories and bags before the girls left (yes, i spree-d again) and Poppy came by to fetch me coz he happened to be in the area.


i'm a very satisfied and happy cat this week.
*pats tubby tummy*

December 26, 2009

Eating Out. Loud.

loaded with lots of functions, gatherings and what-nots, our kitchen has been pretty quiet these couple of weeks.
no grocery shopping, no cooking, no clanging of dishes after meals.

we're all happy except for the fact that we're decking up loads of calories eating out.


19 Dec

Poppy sent us to the Island Cremery at Serene Centre after work.
since we weren't hungry enough for a decent meal, we decided to pop by for some sweets first.

had a single scoop each, Poppy's was Nutella and mine was Spumoni. Spumoni was a nice perk-me-up after a long day at work though a tad too sweet. i preferred Poppy's Nutella. it tasted much like my own homemade Peanut Butter ice-cream. "but it's not supposed to be peanut butter" i quote Poppy.

well, since he promised to bring me there again, i guess i can safely say... Better luck next time!

after picking up Liz, Wei and Clarice from Toa Payoh to Clementi (all the way from Bukit Timah), Poppy suddenly had to go back to work. none of us managed to have dinner that night. tsk!


20 Dec

not sure if it's simply a lazy Sunday or the economic downturn
(i'm certain it's not after seeing throngs of shoppers jostling downtown), we had the entire RedDot brewery to ourselves in the afternoon i.e. until a chatty family and another "gone-in-60-seconds" Caucasian crashed our party. sort of.

we ordered 3 items to share - Farmer's Breakfast; Cinnamon French Toast; and Big Breakfast Sandwiches (picture on left).

the dishes were awesome but the portions too huge, each with a salad and chips as accompaniment. we were mad stuffed even with leftover chips and baked beans (farting beans as Miss Teo calls it).

we proceeded to Miss L's place to ravage our parcels that arrived from US. played a couple of childhood games including Old Maid, Happy Family and Snap.

on side note: i'm not sure if i was too high on caffeine or the smell from Miss Teo's newly spray-painted car, half the time i was fiddling with a cloth fish-bait thingy and trash-talking to the bunnehs (who largely ignored me). bah.


afterwards, Poppy came to fetch me for our movie Avatar.
everyone's right. it's awesome.
do catch it for i am going (again) tomorrow.



21 Dec

it was Gong Gong and Esther's birthday dinner at Chong Pang's Taste of Thailand restaurant.

i didn't manage to snap any pictures (mostly busy devouring the food, as usual), so i've sneaked a few from Deborah's cammie.

so here's two groupies and one taken with Nathaniel (aka Niel Niel).


































23 Dec

a random dinner date. just two of us this time.

because my sandals mysteriously snapped and broke when i was out with Miss Teo, i had to limp to work with a pair of unworn flats (and ended up with a bad case of blisters). till today, it's still a miracle how i could totter around for two hours straight with broken shoes.

anyhoos, the point is Poppy brought me to Jurong Point so that i can get a new pair of sandals to last me till our Bangkok trip next month.

the crowd was mad. just like in some other malls downtown. snappily popped in a few stores, and finally got a pair from Charles & Keith. Poppy paid for it, so schweet right.
he asked for $1 from me in return (FYI: we're superstitious people), so i gave him a treat for dinner instead (which ended up costing more than the sandals -_-").

our orders were braised pork rice with peanuts, oyster vermicelli, salt baked chicken together with egg beancurd topped with red beans at Lai Lai Noodle Restaurant on Level 1.
the vermicelli tasted a lot like the ones u'd get in Taiwan and was topped with tangy pig intestines. i heart.


24 Dec

a random dinner date. also just two of us.
Poppy's on duty this night, and he came home to do the laundry while i was still away at work.
i met him at the coffeeshop and had zi-char together.

nothing about the meal to shout about but am mighty glad he managed to pull himself away from work for a bit to spend the last bits of the X'mas eve with me. slept early for the long day i have ahead.


25 Dec

working on a festive totally sucks. anyway i shan't broach on that subject.
knocked off earlier and Poppy came by to fetch me home to prepare for Jerry's wedding at Lion City Hotel's Happy Restaurant.

he was a great host but there's lots of rants about that meal.
in short it was T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E.
of course, being just a day's affair and one shouldn't splurge unnecessarily. but there lies a thin line between thrift and penny-pinching. since the guests somewhat "pay" for that meal, i'm sure they deserve better, at least something passable. 'nuff said.


on a different note altogether,
since the (unbelievable) omission of my online spree order, i haven't had time to buy replacement x'mas pressies.
oh cripes, i hope i make it in time for Mary's crabby treat on Monday.

December 18, 2009

'Tis the season to be jolly

warning: picture-heavy post ahead

weekends lined up with major events.
last weekend was Poppy's cousin, Wilson and Phoebe's wedding.
this weekend is Miss L's bday, and next, Jerry's wedding (right smack on X'mas day).

well, pictures time.
Wil & Be's gorgeous wedding held at Raffles Marina Club.


fetching the bride


arriving on the yacht


Poppy and a very happy Gong Gong


Po-po and Gong Gong


Me and Poppy


the family's "Famous Four"

Crafts and Such

yesterday, Poppy gave me a surprise (and a very early) X'mas prezzie...
my first and our very own X'mas tree!

he installed while i was away at work,
actually he was at work too and won't tell me how he did it,
then he fetched me from work, had our dinner outside... then voila!

such a schweetie.
*pinches cheeks*

anyhoos, i've been busying myself these couple of weeks making paper crafts.
started off with making flowers, hoping they'll come in handy for the wedding.
and today, i made ornaments for the X'mas tree. teehee.

well, 'nuff said.
here's what i've been up to, and if u're keen, u can pop by the webbie and learn too...









Updated: 19 Dec '09

by this time, i've made 4 6 nani-birds. curious?
check it out below...

for more designs, do visit

December 11, 2009

i love u(huhu)!


Blueberry
Treasures


Caramelised
Heartiness


Nutty
Pistachios

Tangy
Lemon

Coco
Loco
(our fave!)



as requested,
Poppy returned from his KL trip with my long awaited Uhuhu's from The Loaf.

pity though,
he didn't return in time for me to pass some to the girls at our weekly dinner.
and, i've just devoured the last two in the pretty box.


December 03, 2009

Miss L's Birthday

just before the secret location to my company year-end party was revealed by the committee today, the gurls and i, also happened to decide to fix our dearest "Miss L's Birthday Brunch" session at Dempsey.

we love the ambience there!
no clues for now except that...



we are SO going to enjoy the Farmer's Breakfast and Cinnamon French Toast.
ooh yes, visualize ourselves in the picture, enjoying that beauuuutiful mid-day TaiTai-ish brunch.


oh yummo.
*giggles silly

Company Year End Party '09


the venue's set for our company's year-end party.

instead of the usual hotel setting,
the committee has opted for something slightly different this time.
definitely, for the better, if u ask me!


well, here's some clues on where it's gonna be held









in case, u still have no clue...


yes, it's Oosh at Dempsey.

December 02, 2009

Will Google Wave Kill Facebook?

talks, on the possibility of Google Wave overtaking emails and Facebook, are rife.
with the endless development possibilities, Wave is the next huge thing.
*waves madly*

looking at the following site traffic comparison, Google topped the chart with Yahoo! biting behind, followed by Facebook. but hey, that's taking into consideration the fact that Google Wave is still in its beta stage and opened to limited users.


who knows. Yahoo! may want to have some sort of "collabo" thing-o with Facebook. like FaceYaboo! or something. i mean they've got almost everything - the mail, search engine, messenger. pity though that they closed down the photos, documents and 360. i didn't have sufficient time to move my stuff out. ok, i'm a dork + procrastinator. i deserve it.

anyhoos, Google's awesome...
Gmail,
Google documents,
Google Chrome
(loads at top speed. i use that in the office but switch back to my Flock "social" browser at home. i'm a sucker for apps-packed stuff, sorry.)
Google maps
(though i really prefer the detailed local version Streetdirectory.com. Google folks, u heard that!)


that said, i shall now log-in to my Facebook to tend to my crops on my virtual farm..
and perhaps clean up my virtual restaurant, and maybe take a few crappy quizzes.

adieu!

November 28, 2009

In The Mood For.. SHOPPING!

i this have this sudden surge of excitement.
2 months to the trip, and 7 months to the wedding.

i was browsing the interwebs and saw some really cute stuff!
(beware: picture-heavy post ahead)
here's a few...


for the cheena loving side of me



i'm a shoe fanatic!!!
(self-explanatory)
i love the black lace overlay but figured perhaps the creme version would come in handy for the wedding.
a-hah! the perfect excuse to get more shoes.
moar, mOAR, MOAR!!!
*convulses*



and not forgetting clothes. lots of it.
tops, bottoms, dresses..
*dreams and drools*

January, come quickly!

November 26, 2009

Random Thursday

it's been too long since i blogged proper.
distracted by sprees and blogshop launches too many a times.

Poppy was hooked to this Mediacorp variety show 《煮炒來了》 and for a few weeks we went food-hunting whenever he spotted his favorites on the show. 鹹蛋螃蟹,螃蟹米粉.

that was well before he got his cholesterol results (which were slightly over the border).
since then he has started his daily swimming routine. and i mean it - DAILY.


meanwhile, dates with the gurls are pretty exciting as well, with our first time at the 2am:dessertbar together with rare appearance by Mary. set on the pricey side, 2 desserts (Chili Chocolate & Purple) plus 3 sides (Mary's favorites Wedges + Calamari + Chicken Chunks) set us back by more than 70 bucks. thank god, UOB Lady's cardholders are entitled to a 10% discount.

we spotted a postcard chucked under ST's wiper, and that may well be our next "to-visit" venue.
the location shall be a hush-hush till confirmed. *secretive*


Mr Poppy's annual leave has ended.
an entire span of 7 days, yet we didn't manage to have a proper day to ourselves.
he had to go service his car - TWICE, went back to office - TWICE (or was it thrice?), run some errands because of his dad, send his mom off at the airport for her Beijing trip... not forgetting various meet who-and-who trips. *rolls eyes*

when he's off to KL in December, imma be a queen at home.
mess up the whole house and make him pack. mwahahahaa.


hokays, i'm mad hungry now.
downed an entire pack of popcorn plus cup noodles, on top of dinner but still hungry.

i'm going to buy Mac on my way home!

November 21, 2009


all i want is a nice day just to ourselves.
is that even so difficult?

November 13, 2009

The top 10 countries for 2010

just read Lonely Planet's latest article on their new edition of Best in Travel.
here's a sneak preview of their Top 10
Nepal and US are both in it. i love!

El Salvador

El Salvador sneaks up on you: in lefty lounge bars in San Salvador, at sobering war memorials and museums, and along lush cloud-forest trails; it’s a place of remarkable warmth and intelligence, made all the more appealing for being so unexpected. Travellers tend to skip El Salvador, wooed by marquee destinations such as Guatemala and Costa Rica, and unnerved by stories of civil war and gang violence. But the war ended almost 20 years ago, and crime, while serious, is almost exclusively played out between rival gangs; tourists are virtually never involved. And though El Salvador has fewer protected areas than its neighbours, you get them practically to yourself – including pristine forests, active volcanoes and alpine lakes.

elsalvador














Germany

Some countries are simply allowed to be, but Germany has had to reinvent itself more times than Madonna. And it has done so again since 1990, when reunification brought an end to nearly three decades of division. In year 20 after its latest rebirth, Germany is still a country where you can witness history in the making. Head toHamburg, where an entire new quarter is being wrested from the detritus of a 19th-century harbour. Or to Dresden, where the domed Frauenkirche church is once again the diamond in the shining tiara that is the city’s famous skyline. And, of course, to Berlin, whose climate of openness spawns more creative experimentation than a Petri dish on Viagra.

Greece

Seldom does a travel destination satisfy the blurbs that shout ‘has something for everyone’ - but Greece truly does. Whether you’re there to poke around ancient ruins, soak in the sun on idyllic beaches, or party till you drop, Greece will leave you clamouring for more. It’s guilt-free travel – a slice of history served alongside a healthy slice of hedonism – and everyone seems happy. You get to marvel at the dazzling clarity of the light and the waters, the floral aromas that permeate the air, the pervading sense of spirit – and then sit down to contemplate it all while consuming that great Greek combination of ouzo and octopus!

greece













Malaysia

Malaysia often gets criticised as being mild in comparison with its grittier neighbours, Thailand and Indonesia. It’s true, natural disasters and coups only seem to happen across its borders, the roads don’t have too many potholes, buses and trains have air-con and plush seats, and hotels are of international standard. While troubles are few, visiting Malaysia lets you leap into the jaws of one of the most interesting parts of Southeast Asia’s roaring cultural smorgasbord – and not be too worried about it. Cheap connections to Europe and great exchange rates mean that you won’t get eaten up by your wallet either.

Morocco

‘Hello, bonjour, salaam alaykum, labes?’ Street greetings sum up everything you need to know about Morocco in a word: it’s Berber and Arab, Muslim and secular, Mediterranean and African, worldly wise and welcoming. Morocco sees how the Middle East is portrayed via satellite news and the internet, and is as concerned with violent threats and abuses of power as anyone else in the modern world. But as you’ll see, most Moroccans are plenty busy working to get by, get their kids through school and greet the king’s planned 10 million visitors by 2010 with the utmost hospitality. Every visitor helps Moroccans realise these goals by creating new economic opportunities, and can make a Moroccan’s day by returning the greeting: ‘Hello, good day, may peace be upon you, are you happy?’

morocco
















Nepal

But for the Himalaya, Nepal would probably be stuck in the shadow of India – but it’s hard to cast a shadow on a country that includes the highest point on earth, the summit of Mt Everest. Over the last decade, Nepal has seen its share of troubles, but 2008 was a watershed year – the rebels became the government, the kingdom became a republic and the king became a civilian. With the fall of the monarchy, the sound of temple bells has replaced the stomp of army boots and peace has returned to Shangri-La.

New Zealand

Recommending New Zealand’s too obvious, right? You’re looking for something a bit edgier, under the radar or further off the beaten track. But there’s wisdom in the old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fi x it’, and last time we checked the land of Maori and hobbits certainly didn’t need repairing. NZ’s checklist of essential experiences remains as strong as ever. Spectacular landscapes abound, from sea-level rainforests to plunging glaciers, geothermal springs and barren volcanic plains. Add a hearty pinch of lens-friendly wildlife, proud Maori culture, and fine food and drink, and it’s easy to see why the natives are so chilled.

Portugal

Skirting along the southwestern edge of the Iberian Peninsula, the once-great seafaring nation of Portugal today straddles two very different worlds. For purists, this is a land of great tradition, of saints-day festivals where ox-drawn carts still lumber through flower-strewn streets, and ancient vineyards bring sleepy medieval villages to life during the annual harvest. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, something decidedly more modern is transpiring. Old city centres, long ago abandoned by the young and upwardly mobile in favour of the suburbs, are slowly being revitalised. A new wave of boutiques, art galleries and cafes are finding new homes in once crumbling old buildings, and locals are beginning to rediscover the allure of vibrant downtown areas.

Suriname

South America’s smallest country, both in area and population, is easily one of its most diverse. Some three quarters of Suriname’s people are descended from Chinese, Javanese and Indian labourers that arrived in the 18th century, and West African slaves in the 17th. Add indigenous Amerindians and Lebanese, Jewish and Dutch settlers, and you have the makings for a lot of ethnic tension, right? Fortunately, wrong. Suriname is known for its peacefully coexisting cultures, most emblematically represented by the country’s biggest mosque and synagogue situated side by side in the capital Paramaribo. With everyone speaking different languages, celebrating different holidays and worshipping in different temples, visiting Suriname is really like hitting several countries at once.

USA

Suddenly the USA is cool again! Be it from Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday last year, or just tightened budgets during the recession, but more Americans (even hipsters) are looking backwards – and foreigners too – and taking in traditional American historical sites, beginning with Washington DC’s freebie zone of museums and heroic monuments.