merry christmas in advance!

not that i celebrate it, though who would say no to a public holiday. hehe. AND PRESENTS! we're actually past the stage of giving each other presents on every occasion, but this year for christmas, SSD got me something! something which i've been complaining for more than a year about. =X

zoom lens for wall-e! honestly speaking, i have already gotten used to zoom-less photography, but the new addition is certainly useful for special outings, like the zoo (which we're going again soon) and travelling. though it needs abit getting used to. test shots!

side note: i love feeding times where the sakura shrimps will crowd around the algae wafer. so cute! and no casualties so far! i hope they start breeding soon. also set up another 1ft tank for my baby mollies and mum's guppies. so much fun! =P

and then we had buffet dinner at concorde hotel last night. majority of the shots were blur; guess i need more practice in holding my hands still lol.

thumbs up for the cheese half-lobster (one-time) and crabs (comes in 5 flavours and is free-flow), and the sashimi and oysters. the rest were pretty normal stuff i must say, and variety isn't impressive. i'd actually rather much go back to buffettown or riverview.

 

looking forward to a half-day tomorrow. please let me clear my stuff in peace. =)

happiness is a warm puppy!

it's been so tiring last week - sleeping 4.5hr nights and working 10hr days. yep, i've finally found a chance at events! well...sort of. =X

first impressions. environment. the office is small, but in a way, homely and cosy. kinda in dire need of housekeeping lol. colleagues. actually, colleague. lol. that's right. only 2 paid staff including me. she's quite nice, friendly and helpful. the other committee members are actually volunteers, and they're supposedly a pretty 'interesting' lot! workload. majority of that tiring week has been clearing up backlog. according to kolic, the previous gal was an absolute horror and i certainly have her to thank regarding my OT the whole week. honestly i can't wait to start on my actual job scope. tsk.

so far, i haven't felt any reluctance to go to work in the morning despite the 1hr 15mins journey, and hopefully this won't change when the shows start. =| anyway, you gain some, you also lose some. truth be told, the pay and benefits are not encouraging at all. although it's somehow understandable since it's a non-profit organization. oh wells. i guess it's not really a long-term place after all.

... ...

finally went shopping at bugis street yesterday! don't know if i've said this before, but i have a love-hate relationship with that place. love because the clothes are on the cheaper side. but hate because there's usually no trying and i have horrible estimation of whether the clothes can fit. so if anyone wants to help me clear them off, you're most welcome to do so. lols.

'celebrated' aunts' birthday as well. it was supposed to be a buffet but due to last min booking, NO MORE SPACE! T_T had to be postponed to next week so we had to make do with eating at home. not saying that it isn't nice, but i was kinda craving for sashimi. :(

p/s. was at bugis+ too and they had this board with photos taken by canon cameras, and the photos at the food photography section was just....crap! i mean, if they're showcasing how clear and sharp and zoom-ed in they are, then i got nothing to say. but if otherwise, i bet even a beginner like me can win them hands down. really dunno what poop they shooting. tsk.

happy 3rd year anniversary!

yesterday was our 3rd year anniversary and we spent it at sentosa! got this package from deals which was kinda disappointing because i thought it had included the desperados 3D shooting game. was so looking forward! in the end it was changed to extreme log instead.

underwater world

for some reason a lot of my photos turned out quite blur, so i'm just gonna share some that aren't. it's been so long since i was here, and honestly, i didn't remember it to be so boring. lols. and we took the travelator 3 rounds! maybe, just maybe. i've been to hongkong's ocean park, which was in a way bigger and better. =\

a: i just watched an awesome movie!
b: what is it about?
a: the wife's brutally killed by a cold-blooded killer and the son gets really hurt. then there's a twist and the son is kidnapped. the father then begins a quest to find and save his son, with the help of a mentally ill female.
b: wow i wanna watch that. what is the movie called?
a: finding nemo :)

dolphin lagoon

i always get mixed feelings when watching animal shows. on one hand i like gushing over how cute and smart they are while performing. on the other hand, it doesn't seem right subjecting them to training for our entertainment purposes. sigh. photos taken by SSD anyway. wall-e has no zoom. =(

cineblast: extreme log ride

i kinda feel this was a rip-off because the 5-10 minutes of simulation ride doesn't really justify the $18 entrance fee. anyway, we were brought on a virtual tour to the himalamazon, supposedly on a log. it's almost like a rollercoaster ride because we were seated in rafts which shook and turned as we climbed up mountains, get tossed in rapids, and fall from great heights. it was exciting at first, but soon became predictable, especially since there was no 'heart-dropping' feel even though on the screen we're practically free-falling down a mountain. i think we would have enjoyed desperados more. boo.

4D magix: pirates

this is similar to the shrek 4D at USS. the story is about a young pirate setting traps on an island to get back at captain lucky, who soon arrives to locate his treasure. i got a lot more shocks as some of the effects were unpredictable. especially the gusts of air blowing from behind! the story was also longer and more exciting. although $18 is still a little too expensive imho.

maritime experiential museum

easily the most boring part of the day. lol. the museum is apparently about the chinese pirate cai qian and his pillaging voyage around the world. and also how zheng he brought them to justice. the artifacts on display didn't really interest me, although there were interactive points, like where we made our own chinese junk (which now sits on top of my betta tank), and our virtual vase. mine 'sold' for a pathetic $17 while others went up to $150+. lol fail!

there were some more artifacts on display on the lower level, but were housed in such dim areas that i didn't even bother shooting. i think people interested in zheng he would be excited. unfortunately i wasn't. =\

s.e.a. aquarium

no we didn't visit it. not yet at least. but there was a section open to 'public'. one was the shipwreck and the other the shark exhibit. i especially liked the former. water is kinda cloudy; not sure if it's meant to be like that. i think it's not completed yet (some fish still in transit?), so we'll probably drop by again when it's done.

and the end! i was beat! old liao cannot take it hahahaha. then we went back vivocity for dinner! settled on soup restaurant. i like the fish and beansprouts! veggies and tofu was normal though. and i thought the rice would be the hainanese chicken rice type but it wasn't. but SSD said to add the ginger and it was so yummy!

and that concludes our long and tiring 3rd year anniversary 'celebration'. =)

kith cafe

so yesterday, i was with zhu for dinner and breaking dawn (again!), and she had suggested kith cafe. it's conveniently located at park mall and you can see the sign as soon as you cross the road. we zhu chose to sit outside in the candlelight (need so lomantic anot LOL) and i must say, the ambience was lovely.

i thought it would be hard to take photos but wall-e proved me wrong! ta-da!

i had a cappuccino, which was quite normal, and vongole (vong-go-leh), which i super like! i don't normally take clams but here they didn't have that usual weird 'clammy' taste. amount of clams was pretty generous too. and coupled with the linguine and white wine sauce. oh yums! i think SSD would like this.

zhu's mushroom aglio olio was pretty yums too. i might try this on my next visit. and she had it with a vanilla milkshake, which looked too milk-overwhelming for me. >_< total bill was $50; kinda ex actually. =\

breaking dawn part 2

i've been waiting so long for this!! a year to be exact. watched this last week with SSD and later again with zhu. can't get enough yet although the show was almost 2 hours lol!

while this is definitely my favorite installment of the twilight saga because it's so action-packed, i felt they should have followed the book more and focus on more important aspects. like how bella adjusts to her vampire life, seeing herself for the first time, learning to hunt, learning to manage her thirst etc. the beginning was so rushed! it's like, 10 minutes into the movie and bella meets her daughter liao. cut the sex scene by 2 minutes and you can include all the above in. =\

the final battle scene also gave me quite a shock because i was trying to figure out why on earth would the director change the storyline completely. i mean, how can jasper and carlisle die?! luckily it was just a vision. but it still took up quite a bit of time. there was a scene i was hoping to see - alec's mist creeping in and benjamin trying to blow it away. it would have been so cool if they filmed this.

oh wells. so the entire twilight series is over and done with. back to vampire diaries for my vampire fix. anybody can relate to this too? XD

looking forward to a normal, non-riding-or-exercising date with edward jacob zhu later. ^^

[sponsored review] pore putty bb cream (smooth)

some time ago, we were at marina square for the "ah boys to men" movie and i had randomly picked up this bb cream at john little. i tried a little and liked it so much! it made that area (on my hand) feel so smooth and i kept telling SSD that if i use this cream, my face will be as smooth as my hand. LMAO! i didn't buy it cos i haven't finished using my current one and i didn't want to spend so much money.

a week later, SANA decided to sponsor me a tube! i asked for the smooth one since it's recommended for oily skin. there's another version - enrich, which is more for dry skin. it appears to have more beneficial ingredients (such as shea butter) than the smooth one, but oh wells, who call me got oily skin. =(

should you not know what a putty is, here's an example. if you have holes in your wall, you use a wall putty to fill in the holes. lol so a pore putty does the same thing; it fills in your pores. and i'm pretty sure everyone knows what bb creams are, but still, an obligatory introduction.

i received the product pretty late, so i didn't actually use the product on my face. (no point putting make up at home right?) but as you can see, the cream blends very easily into my hand and that area feels so so so smooth! it doesn't look like it's got good coverage though. it's also not fragrance-free but the smell disappears after you apply it.

it retails for $24.90, which may seem a little pricey for such a small tube, but i really like how my skin feels so smooth after application! lol.

update 30/11:
tried it on my face today and while it makes it feel nice and smooth, the coverage is definitely so not enough to cover my blemishes. pretty disappointed. anyone uses double bb cream? =\

[sponsored review] breaking dawn @ GV city square!

you must have heard the latest news about golden village (GV). their newest multiplex (costing S$6 million to build) is located at farrer park's city square mall, and features cutting-edge technologies that enhances the film going experience. 

it has 6 auditoriums, one of which is the unique and intimate "couple's cinema". all the 6 cinemas will have stadium seating (i like), ample leg room (important for long-legged people like me), wall-to-wall digital screens with crystal clear 2K digital projection, 7.1 dolby digital sound and premium-grade EAW speakers.

this state-of-the-art cinema also boasts several features to enhance the cinema experience. look at this: singapore's first auto-gate system via a confirmed booking code sent to moviegoer's phone. so high-tech! :P the next feature probably won't affect us moviegoers but GV city square has adopted this theatre management system that apparently can control all the digital equipment in the multiplex. honestly, i don't need to know as long as the movie doesn't get disrupted and starts more on time! lol.

GV city square also aims to stand out with the launch of their "i run the cinema" campaign, which includes:

• book early & pay less - enjoy ticket price as low as $5 when you book early
• create my snack pack - choose any 2 items for just $8.50
• premiere my own production - screen your home-made videos on the big screen
• pick a movie to be screened - decide which movie to be played

thanks to GV/OMY, i was one of the 25 lucky bloggers to get a pair of tickets to watch breaking dawn part 2 at this new cinema! mega awesome cos i get free ticket, for a movie i've been waiting a year for, and get to watch it on nice comfy NEW seats! last row seats somemore, even though we weren't the first few in.

saw many people armed with cameras but.......so pardon the crappy phone photos. =X

the thing i like most about this cinema is probably the leg space. i can almost stretch my legs all the way out. definitely can keep criss-crossing without hitting the person in front. glad that the stadium-seating also includes the last row, because many times we have booked the last row only to realize the second-last row is just a few inches shorter. i hate seeing people's head. tsk.

overall, it was a lovely movie experience. of cos made better by the awesome movie (but i shall leave that for another post after i watch it again this week). so if you're in the area, why not drop by GV city square for a movie? =D

pariss buffet & banquet restaurant

celebrated dad's birthday yesterday at pariss buffet (marina square). been many years since we last ate here since we heard that the food quality has decreased substantially. but we decided to give it a go again. 

was rather pleased initially as i could eat many of the appetizers and they were quite yummy. especially the smoked salmon and pasta. there were also interesting stuff like cheesy potato and cheese/tomato combination, which i liked and took several servings of. from the seafood section i only tried the purple scallop and boiled prawns, and both were yummy. oysters have to be ordered and only one per pax each time. kinda inconvenient but i suppose it is to ensure the freshness? amongst the other ordered foods, we tried the teppan salmon and codfish and they were quite deli too.

hmm let's see. salmon sashimi is nice and fresh, although they replenish such a small amount at a time (to ensure freshness i suppose). chilli and black pepper crabs almost always get wiped out as soon as they're replenished. for desserts, the lime icecream is good, and so is the choc lava cake. and that's pretty much about it. lol.

there were other foods that made us scrunch up our faces in horror. and the variety isn't impressive. but the quality of the oysters and salmon sashimi were not too bad so if you can stuff yourself silly with these, you can make your $47.80 (weekday dinner) worth it.

don't think i'll be returning soon. =\

i'm a cascadian!

here's a short update!

if you're wondering what a cascadian is...well, we just selected our flat at punggol's waterway cascadia! it was our second time and although both times our queue numbers exceeded the number of flats, a lot of people gave theirs up so we got ours! of course the unit wasn't the most ideal; facing the LRT instead of the waterway. but considering how H88 evaluates it as one of the best premium BTOs in 2012 (part 1 | part 2), i guess we're pretty lucky to have secured a not-the-shittiest unit there lol.

having waited so many months for the results and then for our selection appointment, i suppose it's taking a bit longer to sink in. though i am beginning to feel more and more excited about it. been spending a few hours daily on pininterest gathering bits and pieces and i almost have the whole design in my head already! in 4 years time, let's hope my design gets finetuned and the reno prices drop. boo.

having my own place is like my childhood dream come true. that's...kinda weird eh? =|

fruit tart shop / fruit paradise @ raffles city

(warning: expletives ahead.)

if you know me long enough, you should know that i'm very particular about the customer service standards and this shop pissed me off so much that they deserve an entire blogpost. yep. 

fruit tart shop / fruit paradise at raffles city (beside buffetown)

to cut the long story short, we were there yesterday afternoon having a hard time thinking of where to have lunch. i spied the omurice on display and asked if SSD wanted to eat there. he said okay. by the way, they have like 5-7 types of omurice and a similar amount of curry rice. the rest are fruit tarts and teas. 

the waitress took our orders with a black face. we had to ask for water, which was tap water (something i really hate). SSD's fork wasn't washed properly (see photo below). i decided to change my blueberry tart to the mango tart and the waitress' face was seriously damn fucking black. not sick or weak or going-to-faint, but black. like i killed her whole family and stole her boyfriend or something. for once, SSD appeared even more dulan than me (but actually i was freaking boiling inside already). 

look bitch(es), i don't care if you're in a bad mood or you have some personal problem or whatever shit. don't take it out on your customers. i don't always expect excellent service of course, but come on, basic courtesy you have or not?! i really hope the person-in-charge reads this and fires that bitch and she can go back to wherever she come from and black face all she want. foreign talent my ass. this kind of people should not be allowed to serve!!

BUT BUT BUT! i must say she was rather chirpy and politely thanked us while we were leaving. if you're that happy for customers to leave, why not put a sign in front that says "IN A BAD MOOD. DO NOT ENTER!" then you don't need to serve liao lor!

honestly, if you had chosen to be in the service line, it is UNDERSTOOD that basic courtesy is expected isn't it? who cares whether your boyfriend break up with you or whatever shit you go through, you have no right to take it out on your customers. it's not like we were being unreasonable. ask for water wrong meh? cannot change my order meh? your fork never clean properly i also never make noise. nb.

sian. actually i okay already but typing all that out make me dulan again. lol. let's talk about the food then. i had prawn omurice (YES AGAIN!!) while SSD had chicken. the rice itself pretty much sucked but the egg on top was nice. they also had salad and the mashed egg which i super liked! mango tart was yummy, albeit a little too much cream. but the mangoes weren't sour and the crust was so nice! (the plate was dirty but i diam diam lor. this shop has hygiene issues. tsk.)

31 bucks and i could have had a happier and cheaper lunch at SE. =( i suppose i might visit other branches for their tart, but no more raffles city branch. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER VISIT THIS RAFFLES CITY BRANCH AGAIN! (no wonder they have so little customers on a weekend afternoon.)

food-movie-food

i wanted to blog about my dinner with the gals, but then i realize i had forgotten to take a single photo that night lol. so just a quick one. dinner was at kazokutei, and i had the same ebi omurice again. -_- i thought tofu omurice would be safe, but it had beef in it. they really need to increase the variety of seafood omurice. boo. then dessert at dessertstory. the end. XD

meeting them is always enjoyable because we talk a lot of crap and make fun of one another. and i think when you start insulting one another for fun, the friendship goes up a level. can't wait for next meetup!

... ...

finally watched ah boys to men! i've been looking forward to it a lot!

i don't quite remember ever paying to watch a local movie but i actually don't mind going to watch this again. besides the fact that i tend to drool over serious and responsible men in uniform (oops!), this movie is super duper hilarious. i laughed so hard i literally cried. no joke. can't wait to watch part 2 now!

then dinner at kuishinbo again. cos i had a free meal voucher and it was expiring soon.

definitely ate more (and more expensive stuff) this time cos it was only the two of us. come to think of it, the food variety kinda sucks but the quality is not too bad. missing the salmon sashimi and prawns and cha soba and snow crab legs...and everything!! =)

alerte à paris!

know what it means? no? neither do i. but it was the title of a film i watched last night.

it's on the ipad version of funshion; not sure if it's on the windows version. and the film is entirely in french, with chinese subtitles. i can't seem to find much info on it online so lemme share a little bit.

the storyline. the film is set in paris, where the sanitation workers go on strike and rubbish is piled up for days. the rat population keeps increasing and they have gotten so vicious that they have killed and eaten cats. soon, people starting getting sick/dying after being bitten and the main female lead Laurence (a doctor) realizes it's an infection from the rats and there is no cure. 

in the midst of trying to get the governor to issue an official epidemic notice, she finds out that these rats have bred from the two escaped rats which were genetically modified by another doctor in the hospital. Laurence and Alex (whose father is a rat-catcher) go on a quest to find the rat nest to eliminate the entire brood. in the end, the army decides to lure the rats to a swimming complex and bomb them to pieces.

there was a scene before where rats starting filling up the swimming pool while people were in it. well i seriously hope they didn't use a lot of real rats for that scene. i don't think rats can swim that well. -_- anyway, they did manage to find the cure (from Laurence's daughter's pet rat), and while it seemed that the city was peaceful again, the film ends with two of the rats and their babies. 

overall, this movie isn't exactly very thrilling or scary or fast-paced, but i liked it. it's definitely family-friendly cos the rats actually look cute to me. no bloodshot eyes or razor-sharp, blood-dripping teeth or whatsoever. it gets a little disgusting in vast numbers though. =|

what is the point of modifying the genes of another living thing? going against mother nature is not good. no good at all...

love at first sight

so while revamping my tank last week, i had put some leftover plants into my empty filterless betta tank and had to get a betta to prevent mosquitoes. managed to get a cheap one ($1.50 only!) on saturday. definitely 一見鍾情 for me and him. you'll see why.

after 2 days of moping around, he finally flared! shot the first photo below in a darker place, which seemed to bring out his colors more. but i was struggling with the blur shots and moved it into a brighter place, resulting in paler colors. boo.

he may only be a veiltail (multicolored albeit) but isn't he so pretty?! =) though he still isn't eating. guess i need to get worms for him then. i hope he doesn't reignite my interest in bettas because i already have my eyes on a HMPK going for $70. *must 忍*

while we're at it, here's a clearer FTS and my growing salvinias. i wish i had gotten frogbits though. sal's roots are soooo tiny. -_-

[sponsored review] give me a morning kiss

thank you sana for yet another sponsored item! this time, it's something which i've been wanting to try for a long time - a proper makeup primer. and it comes in this cute little bottle! =)

it's called skin care base because, well, that's what it is - a make up base as well as a skin care product! it contains the amazing vitamin B12, which not only brightens your complexion and covers discoloration (light diffusing pearl effect), but also relaxes your skin! good riddance to problems such as wrinkles and outbreaks caused by stressed skin.

besides that, it also has coffee and tomato extract to moisturize, and artichoke extract to firm. the spf 30+++ provides sufficient UV protection on normal days so i get to skip my sunblock. and to top it off, there's a sweet floral scent as well! 

i received the product on halloween (31st oct) and immediately started using it the next morning. when i pumped it out (slightly smaller than 5-cent coin), my first thought was, "WAH LOTION AR?!" because the texture looked thick. but it was actually pretty lightweight and quite easy to apply. the scent wasn't very distinct though; good for people who prefer their products unscented. also i choose to believe it has helped with oil control cos at the end of the day, my makeup remained more matt and smooth than before. lol.

after using it for 2 days (got deadline to post review), i have found...no significant difference to my skin. =\ but of course i'll continue using it since it helps my makeup to look better. hopefully i'll see results soon!

i believe it retails at $29.90. worth getting! =)

... ...

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crystal jade la mian

overdue post cos for some reason my sd card reader isn't doing what it's supposed to do. -_- 

anyway, SSD birthday was also a quiet affair since it was a work day. and he was still sick. so i just met him for dinner.  he had wanted to have porridge at suntec but we found out it was closed (due to renovations probably) already. wandered around before settling on crystal jade.

there was a lot of meat dishes, so i don't think i'll be dropping by in future. the service staff isn't very polite too, except maybe for the manager.

i decided on the 酸辣湯拉麵. it looked, smelt and tasted like spicy shark's fin soup. nothing special imo. the sick cat got the veggie and mushroom 拉麵. i like the soup base! also got some fried prawn thingy to share.

lol i don't know how to comment this time. it was pretty disappointing actually. definitely boycotting crystal jade. =\ hope SSD gets well soon so we can have good food again!

woes of job-hunting

for the past month (or past several months), there has been only one thing on my mind, my job hunt. it's been especially miserable last month being stuck at home. i've been to many interviews; rejected some, and got rejected by some (no news means rejected right?). it's utterly disapponting and demoralizing. sometimes i get so stressed i'll curl up and cry at night. (embarrassing but yes i cry when i'm stressed.)

and i'll like to take this opportunity to brag how i completed my degree in just 8 months. *sarcasm* seriously do you really think i'll spend $18k on a degree for an industry where qualifications are not very important? no dumbass, i paid for the internship. so thank you MDIS, for graduating me without one.

this has been pissing me off for a very long time already. the modules i have taken are mostly useless beyond words (can't blame prospective employers for thinking that way cos i myself think so too) and without the internship (which i have fucking paid for), all that i'm left with is a useless piece of shit paper that won't get me anywhere. sigh. i don't regret quitting RT or taking time off to study, but i do really really regret wasting my time and money on MDIS/SCU. (only thing good is getting to know the gals.)

sigh. words can't express how desperate i am for good news. any type of good news. and yet there are inconsiderate people making insensitive remarks. like SSD. sheesh. luckily i have zhu and wan ting to encourage me back. argh.

anyway, if you really did read that chunk of rant up there, thank you. i feel slightly better now.

... ...

to make the hole in my pocket bigger, i decomm-ed my tank the other day and had it set up again last night. bought some new stuff, including a very expensive (and small) bottle of water stabilizer.

very dark and horrible instagram pic here. i still need to replace that light. sooooo, here's $60 gone without even a single fish or shrimp in the tank. p/s. bought too much taiwan moss; i now have 3/4 tub left. anyone wants them for free? =\

quarter of a century old

so my birthday is over and done with, and i am officially 25. a quarter of a century. that's scary. it was a quiet affair, with class in the 'morn-noon' and buffet dinner afterwards. and the best present i received this year, is this.

love letter and photo frame from zhu, amongst a couple more stuff. haha ok seriously 感動-ed when i saw them. i'm so thankful to have her in my life! i mean, 12 years of friendship - npcc days, drama club days, poly days, work life, and our recent activity spam. she's probably seen the very worst of me and still willing to be my friend! lols.

even though she's younger (by a month), she acts more old mature and i wanna shout, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND ADVICE AND HELP AND WHATNOT ALL THESE YEARS! if you were a guy i'll marry you. really. =)

in fact yesterday morning she asked me to make a wish and i thought, it doesn't really matter if i pass the assessment or not, since i'm not planning to continue. but zhu needs to pass cos she wants to learn cantering and i don't want her to waste time/money in beginner again. SEE I SO GOOD RIGHT?! in the end she pass but still want to take beginner plus. chey!

lols. anyway, buffet dinner was at kuishinbo suntec. initially wanted to try shooting the buffet tables to show you all, but i was almost hyperventilating when i saw the greens, potato salad, pasta, sashimi, and so many other things, that i decided i'll just snap whatever i took. after these few shots, i totally forgot. LOL.

must must take the snow crab legs. to make your money worth. and i think they're having the salmon fest or whatever, so they had quite a lot of salmon dishes. i especially liked the potato salad and cream salmon pasta. i took 2 servings each! lol.  

then nearing the end of our dinner, we heard the supposedly-famous kuishinbo jingle being played. none at my table knew about it, so thankfully i had read about it on their website. the jingle actually signals the limited serving of a special food item. i think we managed to get 3 or 4 bowls of the peach (i think) pudding or something. but not very nice though lolol.

alas, this meal made my riding lessons seem cheap. $475 for 9 of us, with 2 senior citizens having 10% discount. overall i think, while i enjoyed the dinner, i won't be returning anytime soon. (actually i will, cos they gave me free buffet for 1 pax.) but for authentic japanese buffets, i would still recommend riverview hotel's, and for international, i can't seem to forget buffet town. =D

after-buffet times like this, i miss the muay thai workouts. boo.

running out of space. =)

over but not done with. or not?

today was my last beginner riding lesson. well, i didn't really plan on continuing, so my goal was purely to have as much fun as possible, and to put into practice everything that i have learnt so far. it was more of a personal test for me, since my performance has been really inconsistent throughout. 

i didn't mention the last lesson cos it was with mike and it was absolutely horrendous. it all went so well the previous 2 lessons but went totally down the drain in that lesson. 

so anyway, they gave me rocket today. T_T super thankful that i have him cos he's easy to start trotting. actually, wayyy too easy. when we were walking our rounds, he would steer, start, and stop himself without me doing much. trotting together as a group was okay too; he did everything himself and i could practise the rising (which also didn't go too well cos i kept having double beats).

the individual runs were the killer. he started trotting easily as usual, which eventually turned into a CANTER. if you don't know, you sit when the horse walks or canters, and rise when it trots. so in majority of the runs, i was kinda stuck inbetween the trot and the canter. and when that happens, i can't steer. if there were individual points for steering, i would get a big fat zero. T_T

and the lesson was over. kinda too fast for me to get into the momentum actually. the surprising thing is, he let us all into novice 1, which is the next level of riding. but as you can see, i totally owe it to rocket and even with such a star horse i can't steer to save my ass. so yeah, i totally didn't deserve that. lol.

if i were to continue, i'll probably join zhu and alice in the beginner plus course again instead of novice 1. (though i must admit cantering feels quite fun!)

ah wells. please let it rain cash. =|

男人如衣服

it is so so difficult to decide on where to go on a date. we've been to the zoo, bird park, USS, night safari, barrage, flyer, and goodness knows where. nowadays it's mainly movies, walking around and eating. sigh. so today we ended up watching a movie at cineleisure before having dinner at vivocity. so boring! =(

this was what we watched.

i think it's only showing at cathay cinemas. not very popular i guess. not surprising though, because although it had 'veteran' actors like teresa mo, ronald cheng, raymond wong and raymond lam (and quite a few more), the storyline and acting weren't impressive. to make things worse, the original cantonese was dubbed into mandarin so horribly! what saved it was probably the funny and touching scenes. (raymond lam's bathing scene was by far the funniest!) 

but it felt like such a long time since i last watched a movie that i suppose i can say i enjoyed it. lol 2 more to watch next month - ah boys to men and breaking dawn!! excited~

then dropped by h&m and got super unimpressed by the crowd and long fitting room queue. sheesh. so we made our way to vivocity. which had practically double the amount of crowd. seriously, whoever said we could support 6 million people comfortably did not really use their brain squeeze amongst the weekend town crowd at all. tsk!

we went straight for desserts! maddening hot weather. and thanks to the crowd we had to wait around 15 mins for a table. the other time we came, it was almost empty! =( we had the same thing as before since i was craving for the chocolate ice. super yummy! happy girl already lol.

then walked around before heading upstairs for dinner. imperial herbal again! lol. a bit pissed cos we specifically requested for a bigger table with normal chairs when we made the reservation but they still gave us the small table with these weird chairs. cute but not very convenient for a maxi. =\

i brought wall-e out! mad heavy but i am giving up on handphone cameras already. -_- quite like how the foodies turned out today so i think they deserve an individual introduction. just to haolian the photos. hahahahhahahahahaha! wall-e is so going to have a permanent place in my bag.

1. fried fuyong egg. hastily split this into 2 cos our table confirm not big enough to put all the dishes. it has shrimps and mushrooms in it. i think it would taste better hot cos by the time i came round to eating it, it had turned cold already.

2. fried cuttlefish. came with a dish of salt and pepper. i super like this!  the cuttlefish isn't hard and chewy and goes so well with the s&p. not enough lor lol.

3. sambal kangkong. quite nice/normal, but i have tasted others which were horrible, so being nice/normal is very good liao. i kinda preferred the sambal kailan though. =|

4. thai tofu. we had this the other time too, but i wanted it again. cos very nice!

5. fried tilapia. i saw this on another table the previous time and wanted to try. regretted it cos the sauce is nice but the fish was more bones than meat. had a pretty difficult time eating it.

but anyway, total damage was about $45 after all the taxes. um, pretty reasonable no?

what's cooking?

been quite long since we last cooked. i always thought home-cooked meals are cheaper but i guess not. this dinner would have cost us $20 if not for the voucher SSD had. tsk!

1. mushroom soup! add water and canned mushrooms to the packet of soup mix and voila~! one of our favorite dishes, but i still prefer the MFM type. boo.

2. tomato garlic prawns. fry garlics, add prawns, then add the sauce. love the big fresh juicy prawns. which cost $10 alone. =\

3. salmon belly in bbq sauce. a weird combination, since SSD didn't have teriyaki sauce. but tasted yummy nonetheless. the belly was super oily and not bone-less. totally should have bought salmon fillet instead.

the end!

bruised.

having not truly exercised for the past almost 10 years (!!), i've recently been torturing my poor body with mentally-challenging horse-riding and physically-challenging muay thai lessons. #servemeright

if you've been following me, i'm up to my fifth lesson in horse riding. 2 more to go! we got a super strict instructor last week. there were a lot of mounting and dismounting involved, which i probably failed big time. didn't help that i had a feisty horse haha. we also practised the rising trot again, with no hands this time. it was actually surprisingly easy once you got the rhythm. next week is probably gonna be nightmare, since we're gonna have to start, walk, trot, rise, steer, and stop all by ourselves. oh wells.

i'm also up to my second muay thai lesson. many people seem to be surprised that i'm taking this. i really look so gentle meh? -__- anyway, we mainly learnt the different positions last week and did padwork this week. which i actually super enjoyed. especially the kicking! it felt good to be able to unleash the strength. i doubt i'll enjoy slower sports like yoga very much now lmao.

the killer part is actually the warm up session, which gave me like, 5 days of sore painful calf muscles last week. i could hardly walk! we added half a round of jogging this week, so i'm pretty fearful what i'm gonna wake up with tomorrow lol. 

another downside is the equipment. we got 'cheated' as we were not informed that we had to buy our own skipping rope, gloves and shin guards. i already got the rope (for a freaking 15 bucks!) but still debating whether to go ahead with the rest or not. pretty reluctant to spend another 60 bucks especially now that i have no input. T_T 

but these lessons made me realize how much my body had deteriorated since the NPCC PT days. 10 years ago omg! i really really need more exercise. 'nuff said. =|

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home-made natural air fresheners

i came across this website on pininterest some time ago, and finally decided to try it out! unfortunately mine doesn't look as pretty as hers. T__T

step one: slice oranges. i decided to use the citrus one since i had them in the fridge. lol.

step two: add spices. i have here cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and a pretty star anise. (which my mum kept for so damn long and had already lost their fragrance. -_-)

step three: bring to boil. after that, i left it to simmer for about 40 mins on the stove.

step four: pack for reuse. as you can see, the water is cloudy already, but it still smells pretty good. so i kept it in a container and froze it. shall try boiling it next week! (itchy hand added a couple of rose petals for dunno-what.)

according to the website, the scent is supposed to slowly spread to the whole house, which unfortunately mine didn't. mine turned out very "cinnamon-ly" without much citrus smell, even though i had used 2 oranges. 

and it only lingered around the stove/kitchen area. =( maybe i was a bit greedy to expect the whole house to be filled with just a small pot of scented water. however if you have the aromatherapy burner, you can try using that. i think it should smell very nice for a small room.

but the best thing is, it's totally natural!! have fun making yours!

halfway there

last weekend was my fourth riding lesson. 3 more to go!

this lesson was my favorite one so far. i got rocket, one of the recommended horses. i think he is probably more experienced and therefore more familiar with the training sessions and easier to control. like during the trotting runs, i think he steered himself. LMAO!

but most importantly, we got a new instructor! bye mike, hope i don't see you again. lols. i sound so bad but there's such an obvious difference in both instructors that i'm really hoping not to get mike again.

♥ we got an indian instructor this time, which meant he could communicate better with the individual horse handlers and give them clearer instructions. 

♥ he called us by our names, which certainly felt more encouraging than mike who called us by our horses' names! many times i didn't even know mike was calling me. tsk. 

♥ he made us do leg stretching and strengthening exercises and taught us how to stand properly before combining it with the trot. no more silly touch-the-cone stuff!

♥ i felt that he gave each of us more individual assistance which was definitely more helpful than watching others and not knowing if my mistake is the same as theirs or not.

the horse handlers were also pretty helpful with their tips this lesson. no more karthik (my handler for the past 2 lessons)! i only came across him once during the runs where he tried to say something to me but i ignored cos i couldn't understand him. LOL i'm so bad!

previously i was always eager to dismount but this time i felt sad that the lesson ended so soon. previously i was also a teeny weeny bit reluctant to go cos i don't know what weird stuff i have to do to embarrass myself again. but after this lesson, i feel eager to start next week's lesson! i had a lot of fun and i actually felt myself improve. can't wait to ride again! XD

anyway, i found out that trotting is the max we're gonna learn this course, so i assume the next 2 lessons are gonna be practising trotting and the last lesson our assessment. sheesh stress liao! please please please let me get rocket! =X

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desaru - one trip too short

back from our short 2D1N trip to desaru! my second time there. =)

this time, SSD bought the package deal from groupon (although desaruff can offer the same thing), which included coach transport, hotel stay, day tour, and some meals. quite alright i suppose, considering we'll probably spend more if we went genting. total damage: ~sgd150 each.

short introduction. desaru is a coastal resort area in johor, malaysia. it is becoming increasingly popular with tourists, especially with the new senai-desaru expressway (SDE) which opened last year. the beach spans 22km, and with a variety of watersports and family activities available. nothing overly fancy; just a nice quiet place to relax and connect with mother nature. ahem.

day 1: fruit farm and fireflies tour

met at the flyer on friday morning and departed shortly after 9am. took the SDE and promptly arrived around 1130am? quite fast right?! we were told our first stop would be the fruit farm.

when we got off the bus, the first thing that greeted us was the scent of dung fertilizer. power one leh! must be freshly made. lol. and the amount of houseflies buzzing around was so horrendous that i hurriedly slapped on even more insect repellent. @_@ then the guide started showing and explaining to us the different fruit trees. but she went quite fast and i soon gave up trying to follow her, opting to focus more on photo-taking.

honestly, i've seen majority of the stuff before and it didn't quite interest me. i guess this tour is more for families hoping to educate their kids with something that can hardly be found in urban singapore. but i did learn something new though - if the banana flower points upwards, the fruit can be eaten. if it points downwards, the fruit is just for decoration purpose. although, if i had the space to grow a banana tree, would i waste it for decoration? hmmmmm.

the farm had a mini zoo, which got me more interested than the fruits. although i noticed the areas aren't very clean for the animals. ahem. there were more that i didn't shoot. like the ducks walking around, the monkeys, snakes, and rats. my favorite would have to be the snowy white bunny. super cute and fluffy and sweet and clean and pretty! lol.

they also have bunnies and ducklings for sale, which didn't really make sense since their main customer base are singaporeans. would people really want to purchase a bunny or duckie and go through all that quarantine trouble?

lunch was free flow fruits and an 8-course meal. quite alright; only had one chicken dish i couldn't eat. then sat in a mini bee talk. it was informative, as i found out about the whole process of royal jelly. it was quite disgusting lol. sighh. the things women do. =|

back to hotel next as we didn't have the ostrich or crocodile farm tour. didn't want to spend extra money hehehe. and so, we checked in at the lotus desaru beach resort. from the photos on their website as well as the reviews i had researched beforehand, i wasn't really surprised to see how much it looked like our hdb apartments. though i must admit the interior was slightly better than what i had expected.

we got a first floor, double story, one bedroom apartment, complete with living room, dining table, kitchen facilities, guest toilet, as well as the bed and another toilet upstairs. through the photos online, the bathtub was quite miserable so i didn't bring along my bathbombs. which was a pity because the tub turned out to be quite spacious and clean. argh!

dropped by the beach for a while before it started raining. after we hurried back to the room, the rain stopped. -_- love the feeling of wind in my hair, sand under my feet, waves crashing against my legs, and bringing away my troubles. for that moment only. lol.

then went for dinner. which was probably the worst thing that happened this trip. i had read about this deal of 2 drinks + 1 pizza for 30rm and was very much looking forward to it. however we were informed that the deal was no longer available, so we chose their set menus. i took the malay set while SSD took the chinese set. then got a tom yum soup to share.

i had known not to expect much of the food but this was certainly below my expectation. the chinese set was just chicken rice while the malay set was briyani chicken, which was freaking spicy. i tried to eat the chicken, but i couldn't get past myself and had to pass all the meat to SSD. (damn poor thing he.) that, plus one drink, and fruits (which by the way, never came), cost 22rm++ each! at least i had some seafood from the tom yum soup, but it tasted quite yucky and so not tomyum-ish. hais.

all the while we had dozens of houseflies buzzing around us. it got better after the fans were turned on, but when some persistent ones continued to pester us, the staff lit a candle to help chase them away. this, on the other hand, i have to commend. the staff were quite courteous and friendly. didn't really experience any bad service from the staff this trip. =)

last activity of the day was the fireflies tour. my first time! it wasn't included in the groupon package but the desaruff guide from earlier offered to take us there. we paid 40rm per pax inclusive of pickup from hotel, but you can probably get it cheaper at the counter there. i wouldn't recommend first-timers to drive there yourself though, unless you manage to tailgate the tour van. the road in is totally unlit and probably very easy to lose your way inside that maze. i also assume it's gonna be very scary driving in the dark if you don't know your way.

so we arrived at this kelong (where there is also a floating seafood restaurant) and given life jackets to put on. boarded the boat and soon we set off! lol i probably didn't look it, but i was very excited and therefore, no photos! lol just kidding. seriously who takes photos of fireflies?

cruised along the river (in near total darkness) with one of the staff flicking water at the nearby vegetation. AND THEN FIREFLIES APPEARED!! small shimmering specks of lights. it was absolutely amazing to see large groups of fireflies appearing all of a sudden. many oohs and ahhs could be heard when that happened. yes me one of them lmao. the staff caught a few and passed them around. another kind of amazement to see the tiny light on your hand (not mine, SSD's).

sigh. i don't know how to describe this experience. overwhelming? to see and be so close to such a simple yet magical part of mother nature. probably also because i had heard the story of how fireflies spend their lifetime searching for their soulmate, that makes this whole experience even more beautiful and emotional. mother nature, y u so amazing!! (please don't catch and take the fireflies away from the area. their soulmates might be waiting for them.)

day 2: water theme park and home sweet home

buffet breakfast was significantly (imho) better than our dinner. simple fare, but they tasted pretty good. i should have ate more seriously. LOL.

visited the water theme park. didn't look very fun, although the cool water did look inviting. the most famous would probably be the giant coconut, which was filled with water and overturned when it got full.

then nua-ed, slept, and watched tv before checking out at 1pm. loitered around the lobby for 3 hours before the coach finally came to take us back. overall, it was kinda too short for us to relax or enjoy the water. but i was glad to get out of singapore. now that i'm back, it's time to start worrying about...things again. boo.