Kuala Lumpur

Hi all :) How's your weekend? Hope you all had a blast.

I did :)

We had long weekends here in Singapore. So me, Han, and his family went for a trip.

We went to Kuala Lumpur. This was my second time to KL, but last time was a day trip so I didn't really get to enjoy a lot of thing.

Han's sisters used to stay in KL, so they're quite familiar with it. They said that in KL what we could do are just shopping and eating. Well, for me those are just enough ;)

Here are some shots I took around the hotel we stayed in.

KL somehow reminds me of Indonesia, not many tall buildings like what we have in Singapore.

Sungei Wang was one of the mall we went to. There are many small shops there, selling anything. Clothes, shoes, accessories, electronics, anything. And they're cheap. I got some good stuffs here, will post it tomorrow.

KL is also famous of its delicacy. We didn't get to try a lot of famous food there. But what we had was good enough for me. Here's one lunch we had in a small restaurant called Soo Kee (as I remembered).

This one is called paper wrapped chicken. Han loves it. It's marinated chicked wrapped in a kinda paper and then grilled. The paper wrap actually worked really well 'cause it sealed all the juices and sauces inside the chicken. Thus, the chicked was really tender and full of flavour.

This one is beef kway tiaw. The beef was really tender! Yumm..

This one is the best and the specialty dish there, Prawn crispy noodle. The prawns are huge. They are so tender and juicy. And the sauce was creamy. I love the crispy noodle.

The next day we went to this huge mall called Pavillion. It's kinda new. And they have anything. Any brand you want, they have 'em. Okay, maybe not ALL, but really a looottt. I was drolling while passing by Marc Jacobs, Prada, Gucci, Giuseppe Zanotti, Chloe, Burberry, ohh and the list went on. Ooh, they have a huge Forever 21, the biggest I've ever seen.

Some reindeers and sleigh in front of pavilion. They were pretty at night when the lights are on.

Uh Hu Hu! tiny cheese cake. Yes, the bakery's name is Uh Hu Hu! They sell cheese cake in a cup. A few scoop size. Makes you keep wanting more. These are caramelised, and tangy lemon. Love them!!

Having some cakes and latte after a long shopping.

They were all dolled up for Christmas already. Love 'em :)

On the way home, we visited Malacca, another city in Malaysia, famous for it's old town area. They have some old buildings and construction, built during Portuguese and Dutch colonization. Will post it tomorrow, need to finish some work now :( I'm still in holiday mood today, thus the laziness..

Have a fun Monday all :)

What I Deserved on Weekend

I've promised myself to eat healthy, which I did. But weekends are exception, right? Anyone deserves something more on weekends after working hard on weekdays. I'm sure you all agree with me.

My definition of something more is good food and good shopping. I was a very good girl last weekend for not doing any shopping. So, I deserve some reward! Hah!

After church, we were heading to "New York New York" resto. The menu looked really tempting, you know, those types of American "guity pleasure" food. The place was huge, and nicely decorated.



Here's what we had:





Appetizer platter, which consists of spicy chicken wings, fried breaded mushrooms, calamari, fries. I like the mushrooms and chicken wings. They were not bad, but also not really special.





Our main is this Whole Rotisserie Spring Chicken. Shared for two, which is a wise decision. It came with a small portion of salad, and wedges. The chicked was quite nice actually. I like the taste of the spices they use.

After lunch, we just sat at Starbucks, having my favourite Caramel Macchiato. We have been looking for houses 'till now, so we're quite busy browsing through newspapers and internet. Recently, houses' price in Singapore is sky high, and that's becoming more and more frustrating everyday. We can only pray everyday that God will provide us the best right on time. Wish us luck dearests!

Happy Monday :)

Just Give Me This

And I will live..

I love the idea of having huge windows, laying down on a sea of couch pillows, browsing through a stack of magazine, feeling the warmth of morning sunshine, or looking at the falling rain, sipping a warm cup of coffee..

Isn't it beautiful...

Oh my, I really do need a little bit of these to make my day...

Ps: I'm saddened by the current news of Daul Kim passed away. She was such an amazing model, and I really admire her as a great model, and as a quirky yet adorable person. You'll be missed, Daul. Hugs and love for her family..

My New Oxford Lover

I've been searching for the perfect Oxford shoes since like months ago. But all those shoe shops that I often visit (sometimes too often that I can tell their whole collection, and where to find them) ended up disappoint me. They either have high-heeled oxford, or patent oxford. None of them are my dream ones. What I want is a simple flat "leather" lace-up pointy oxford, with wing tip accent. Well, it doesn't sound simple anymore, but among thousands shoe shops in Singapore, can't I just find one pair? I don't even mind about the colour. Let it be brown, black, pink, blue, or green, I will take it. Okay maybe not green.

Anyways, I got so frustrated (Yeah, I got frustrated over shoes, that's how I love shoes) after a few month of searching with no result. I did found a few pairs I'm quite interested about, but it's from online shops. And I prefer trying up and feeling my shoes before buying them. So, I skipped online shops.

And last week, me and Han went to Dhoby Gaut. We stopped by at Plasa Singapura to have our lunch at Carl's Junior. I had Cheese Chilli Fries, Cheese Curry Chicken Cubes (this one bought from small snack stall next to it), and Guacamole Bacon burger. When Han almost puked of being too full, I was still enjoying my food happily. Yes, we ate the same portion.

Anyways, after lunch, we went around the mall, and I suddenly found this shoe shop. Automatically, I went into it. I walked around and out of sudden I halted. I saw these pair of Brown Oxford standing gloriously on the rack. They were pointy, leathery, flat, lace-up, and wing tip-y, exactly how I wanted them to be. I almost jumped onto them, really. I asked the shop assistant to get my size, tried them on (perfect!), and bought them. And now their mine!! Hahahaha! Hah!

Here they are:




Love the wing tip!

Btw, that's Anpan-man. A famous character from Japan. Han bought it for me when he was in Japan for business trip. He said it looks like him (the head part).

First time wearing it. I wore them with my cuffed jeans, and loose button-up shirt.

I love them!!

Btw, can you believe it's Thursday again?? Time really goes fast..

Blown Away

"Soleil de Minuit" Vogue Paris, march 2007
Natasha Poly & Freja Beha
Stylist : Emanuelle Alt
Photographers : Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin



I'm BLOWN AWAY

Can't believe it is actually from 2007 Vogue, they look so "in" (borrowing Heidi Klum's term), with a little vintage feeling (although 2007 is not considered as vintage), which makes it even better.

Taking Singapore's Train

I have been living in Singapore for 1 year, and train has become one part of my life. I took the train almost everyday during rush-hours. If you ask about Singapore's train, I would seriously have no idea how to answer. One part of me hate it to the core. But another part, guess what, finds it quite enjoyable.

I don't think I need to say why I hate it, 'cause you might have known. How people squeeze in into an already packed train is one. How people behave inside an overly packed train is another one. Seriuosly if you want to know one's real character, you can take him/her for a train ride. Make sure it's rush hour, and the train is super packed. It works magic! Before you get serious with a date, take your date for a train ride. You will reach your destination either falling deeply in love, or getting extremely turned off.

Anyways, there are times when I find train ride quite "interesting". Why, you asked? Because a lot of funny things happen on the train. You get to see "raw and true" character of people inside it, and that sometimes can be annoying yet funny. Here's one:

Yesterday me and Han were inside a fully packed train. I was standing in front of the seats row. Beside me were Han and another guy (call him A). When the train stopped at a station, the guy who were sitting in front of me stood up to alight. I stepped aside a bit, to let him through.

Under unwritten law and simple train ethics, that seat was mine. Unless I choose to keep standing up, then other can take the seat. Anyways, the train was real packed, so the only persons who could get to the seat fast were either me, Han, or A. BUT, it seemed like one person wasn't aware about this ethics. This lady (not even old, I think around 30 plus) chose to forcefully squeeze through the sea of people from like 4 metres away towards my position. And while i was stepping aside to let the guy go through, she squeezed in between me and another guy and took the only seat empty.

Yes of course, the bloody seat right in front of me!

Damn, she was fast! After sitting, she didn't even dare to look up, not even once. She took out her cell-phone and played bloody solitaire!! I was furious!! I mean, i didn't even mean to sit, seriously! I meant to let anyone else to sit, maybe the elder lady behind me, or that tired-looking little girl.

This woman, woahh I really cannot believe it, she acted like she was playing seat-grabbing game. The one who get the seat managed to go to the next level. But, here, NOONE is playing with her!

Okay, it was actually quite funny. Seems like she was so desperate to sit. I still can remember her face when she was squeezing through the crowd. Ridiculously funny. She looked like one of those ladies who run through a sea of other ladies to get a pair of leather boots across the room in a sample sale. The difference is, a pair of boots worth the fight, but one stupid train seat???

**********

There's another funny thing I realised about train passengers here.

In Singapore, two most corner seats in the row are reserved for elderly, pregnant women, disables, and those carrying kids. But of course, when non of those mentioned people are on board, anyone can take the seats. However, it seems like the corner seats are very comfortable, that most people who sit there fall asleep.

At first I thought that life in Singapore was very busy that people didn't have time to sleep, and thus had to sleep on the train. But then I realised, that they are not really asleep, 'cause their position are actually very steady and stable, even when the train gets shaky. And, when it comes to their stop, they are always magically awake, and there's no sign of someone who just woke up. When I told my friend, he said that some people, NOT ALL, pretend to be sleeping so that they don't have to give up their seats. WTH?

************

Okay, the purpose of this post is actually to rant about train incident that I encounter recently.

But well, I still love taking trains. Especially when you give up seat for a cute old lady who smiles sincerely at you and say thank you repeatedly, when a mommy holding a cute little baby sits next to you, and you can enjoy the cuteness, when a small family with happy faces wearing causal tees and shorts enters the train to go to the zoo on the weekend. Yeah, despite some of those incidents, I guess, Singapore's train is still worth the ride :)

Prata and Ambush

You might be thinking what kind of stupid title it is. It sounds stupid even for me. But let me tell you what it is about.

It's about food, food, and FOOD.


THE ROTI PRATA HOUSE

The first one is prata. You all might have known what prata is. Prata is a traditional Indian crepe, accompanied with curry sauce. Prata is everywhere in Singapore. And last Friday, since we're still quite full, me and boyfriend (his name is Han, so from now on I'll say Han instead of my boyfriend, just because it's shorter. And yes, I'm lazy even to type a few more letters.) decided to just grab some snack for dinner.

We ended up at this Indian open-air eating house, which looks quite convincing from the number of people eating there. So let's cut to the chase, here's what we have :)

Recommended by one of Singapore's newspaper.


Apparently they don't only sell pratas. They sell loads variety of food. This is only a part of their menu. So yeah, I suddenly felt hungry, and had a hard time choosing my order..


The drinks are also fabulous. This is Han's Teh Tarik, literally means pulled tea. It's a mixture of tea and milk (I think it's condensed milk). What special is the way they mix it. They have two cups in each hand, pour the tea from one cup to another from like 1.5 metres height. It results as this foamy (it doesn't look foamy anymore because Han drank it before I took picture, poor boy was so thirsty) smooth and creamy flavoured milk tea :)

Mine is called Kopi Cino. It's actually a local kind of latte, frothed milk and coffee. But the milk they use is the special ingredients. They use a mixture of condensed milk and evaporated milk, then froth it. This is one of my top favourite coffee! I love it especially when I don't really need a shot of caffeine. The light coffee taste, and creamy milk really make the best soothing feeling ever :) Even for those who don't drink coffee, I still suggest you to try this one. You'll love it.


This little devil is called Maggie mee goreng. It's basically noodle, fried with special (spicy, which cause the red colour) sauce, egg, fried sliced beancurd and veggie. It's damn good. They serve it with some pickles and sweet and sour sauce on the side.

This one is called Chicken Murtabak. It's a kind of crepe, filled with some curry chicken, and then fried. They give two kind of curry sauce, chicken and fish. I prefer fish, 'cause it has more taste, a bit sour. Nice!

Nice!!

Nice!!!

AMBUSH

One of our weekend dinner :) We found this nice new resto in Jurong Point. Yes, the name is Ambush. They sell quite a lot of food, but their specialty is Bratwurst, Germany sausages.

Here's what we have:

My order is Trio Meat (chicken, salmon, and bratwurst) Paella. Paella, as you can see, is a Spanish rice dish. The rice is cooked in a broth mixed with tomatoes, chicken, peppers, mushrooms, and some other ingredients which I can't tell. They taste really nice and homey. It is like a bowl of Mom's chicken soup, which is really soothing, and you'll never get bored of it. Love it!!

Han chose this Sausage Platter, which were amazing!! It's a platter of Chicken and cheese sausage, mutton sausage, and pork sausage, served with salad in balsamic vinaigrette, and stir fried potatoes and onion. I didn't get to try the salad, but the potatoes are really yummy. The sausages are really good. My favourite is the chicken cheese. It's so juicy that when you cut it the juices will burst out wildly to the next table, really.

You can see the clean plates, which shows how good the food is. Must-try!!

Have a happy monday all!!

PS: I found the best oxford shoes yesterday. It is exactly like how I always wanted them to be. I'll post the photos tomorrow :)

Sunshine, Beach, Seafood

Okay, I know that the title and the picture are irrelevant. But for me, it is :)



I am going to Bali for holiday next month!!!

Yay!!!

Sunshine, beaches, seafood, here I come!!!

I'll be going with my boyfriend (his first visit to Bali) and my family (our 8th visit, since Bali is like 1.5 hours by plane from our hometown, cool huh? haha)

Although it's my 8th visit, I never get sick of Bali. I love the beaches, the food, the atmosphere, the people, everything.

So, what's the picture's story?

This cute fedora, I purchased last week. When I first saw it, I could see me wearing it, guess where? On the beach! With some beach dresses, or simple tee and shorts, or even swimwear and cover-ups. I was in love even with the idea. Then I tried it on, and it felt just right, comfortable as if it was custom-made for my head. I also love the design, the knitted look, the thin leathery braided belt, and the bronze ring. So, of course, I bought it :)

Now, it is sitting quietly inside my wardrobe, waiting for December. I can't wait myself!

What's you holiday plan guys??

xx

Boys Vs Girls

I read this forwarded email yesterday. It's supposed to be a "cry" of a guy's heart about women. It is (my self-presumed) written by a guy who (most probably) doesn't have a girlfriend. How do I know he (most probably) doesn't have a girlfriend? Wait until you read what he wrote, then you will see WHY he doesn't have one. Haha. Fine, actually I found this list quite amusing. So girls, you can read it as an entertainment. Guys, you are welcome to argue.

And no, I didn't mean to insult this guy, or any guys in general. He did get a point here and there, but still the things he pointed out are common things about women that all guys (again, selfish self-presumed) should have known.

I will comment the list just because I cannot stand not to argue, haha.. (my comment in blue)

********************

Read and learn!! (I will)

We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE (haha)! Print this out and pass to your partner for a greater understanding: (print out and pass? don't you think she will assume you're too scared to say it at her face?)

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us [beep][beep][beep][beep][beep]ing about you leaving it down.

argument: *slap everyone, ya boys and girls* WAKE UP y'all!! Right now I'm [beep][beep][beep][beep][beep]ing, because you are fighting over toilet seats when there are actually other things to think about other than toilet seats!! Duh..Me and bf never have problem with this. If it's down when he wants to use, he lifts it up. If it's up when I want to use, I put it down. THAT easy.

solution: buy two toilet bowls, a normal one, and male-only one. OR simply do what my bf and I do, which is lift-up and put-down.

1. Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!

argument: and let you anyhow buy some stupid stuffed animals at the nearest shopping centre an hour before we meet up for romantic dinner?? yeah right..Get your lazy ass up and think of something!

solution: I repeat..Get your lazy ass up and think of something!! Okay, the point is what we want is not a perfect gift, what we want is a gift that is acquired and given with all your heart. And yes, we KNOW if it's only a last minute gift..Believe me..It's written all over your face..

1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.

argument:Oh, I'm living with every second of it in joy! So you think we're thinking about you all the time? Sorry, but we have other better things to think about also. The Leopard booties, that new Zara dress, the cool leather jacket, the stacking laundry (ya, sorry but sometimes dirty laundry is more important than you), the entertainment shows, world peace, and sooo many other things.

solution:Okay, maybe sometimes we require more time together. But we're girls. Girls are supposed to be pampered once in a while. That's how we are. Live with it. Just give her a few minutes to just cuddle, and then you can proceed with your soccer game. How 'bout that?

1. Don't cut your hair, Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then you're stuck with her.

argument: well, this convince me that the person who write this is a complete idiot. "Don't cut your hair, Ever" is the worst style suggestion I have ever heard. Let me just show you pictures that explain why.

which one you want us to look like?

solution: don't say anything about your girlfriend hair unless more than 5 people tell you that you have a good sense of style.

1. Crying is blackmail.

argument: we're chicks, and we cry. Not to threaten you, but because we're sad or upset, or happy, or shocked, or anything. We cry because of almost all reason. Live with it, and act like a man.

solution: instead of becoming a paranoid and ask us to stop crying, just be a man and give your shoulder to cry on. Instead of saying "please stop" or "what the hell happened?", just say "it's okay"

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

argument: I always say anything in my mind loud and clear. So I cannot really comment on this. I cannot really stand people who talk using hints either.

1. We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.

argument:this guy is an idiot. Did I say that already? You don't remember dates? Do you remember when that coolest game of the year is going to be launched? I bet you do. Your girlfriend's birthday and anniversary. Two dates only, and you can't remember? You need to check your brain, dude!

1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes -- tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?

argument: Hallooo?? we're asking your opinion only! Just say which one you think is good! We will go with our own choice anyway. We're just asking your opinion, just because you're special, and we want to look good, so that you can be proud walking with a beautiful girlfriend wearing shoes that match her dress!! It's all for you man!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

You: honey, what's for dinner?

Me: No

You: What do you mean no? You don't cook?

Me: Yes

You: Why? I'm starving..

Me: No

Hmmm, okay, I can live doing that. Can you??

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

argument:What's so hard with holding your crying girlfriend (because she just got bullied by her colleague) and just kiss her on the forehead, and calm her down? You prefer squeezing your brain juice to find solutions and talk a long talk? When we come home crying, you prefer we call our girlfriends and talk, while you are sitting there doing nothing, just because we're looking for sympathy other than solutions? You're weird man.

1. Check your oil! Please.

What oil? Anyone knows what this guy is talking about?

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

This guy is flicker-minded and those scared of commitment type. He even refused to be responsible of what he said..

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. We refuse to answer.

argument:If we think we're fat, we think we're fat. The reason we ask you is to get some comfort and encouragement. And it doesn't help if you refuse to answer.

solution:just say "Maybe you gain a little weight, but I still love you no matter what. What if we go exercise together? I still want to see you in that new little black dress ;)" If you say that, we will just love you more. And the fact that you encourage us to lose some weight by doing exercise and even offer yourself to accompany us is the greatest encouragement ever.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

coward

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

I often do this to my boyfriend. He fixed the toilet door, something that I'm certainly unable to do. But I stood there with him telling him to do this and that. I know it's annoying but sometimes I cannot stand not to say it. My BF just laugh it off. I'm so lucky to have him :)

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

Me: "Uhh..honey?"

You: "Shh, wait until commercials"

Me: "...."

after 10 mins, and it's commercials

You: "What?"

Me: "Half of the house is on fire" (Okay it's not possible, but i'm just trying to give an extreme example)

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.

I'm ridiculously bad in directions myself, so I have no rights to argue.

1. All men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. We have no idea what mauve is.

This morning I asked my BF whether he knows what fuschia is or not. As I expected he doesn't know. So I told him. Then I asked what indigo is. He said it's blue. I asked what kind of blue. He said bright blue. I don't bother to explain. I asked what turquoise is. He said, "tortoise is turtle that live on land." I gave up. Guys DO see in only 16 colours.

1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.

We didn't ask you to mind-read us, 'cause that will be scary (We don't want you to know that we think the guy we just passed was cute). We just want you to use your brain and think a bit beyond what we say. Or at least ask something when you see our sulky face expression, instead of staying quite because we don't say anything.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

argument:Actually I'm not those kind of girls who say "nothing" when something is obviously wrong. But I assume a lot of girls do things like this (from what I see on TV). So guys, my advise, when a girl says "nothing" to that question, ask again!

One note for this guy, you know she's lying, but it's just not worth the hassle? Are you stupid or what? I guess that's why you don't have a girlfriend. I know you don't. It's because you don't know how to treat a girl.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.

argument: Okay, I'll wear my green polka-dot maxi skirt, with purple-red striped shirt, and a set of colorful bangles, three layers of croc's teeth necklace, a blue cowbay's hat, and mustard-color cowboys boots. Hey, I wear a matching cowboy's hat and boots.

"How do I look, dear?"

"...."

"Why you keep quiet? Does my look amaze you?*wink*"

If you don't run away after seeing your girlfriend dressed as said, you must have come from another planet.

1. You have enough clothes.

argument: Bear this in mind! Girls will NEVER have enough clothes. If you choose to live with two shirts, one pants, three undies, and two pair of shoes, then fine, live your life. We choose to live in colors and styles! Haha..

1. You have too many shoes.

argument: I do have too many shoes. And too many shoes are just never enough. Enough said.

1. BEER is as exciting for us as handbags are for you.

I won't argue on this. Beer is exciting for me too, although handbags are a bit more exciting.

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Okay, I'm not a feminist. And I did this post out of fun, just to release some long-kept anger on men (thanks to all my ex-boyfriends). I know that girls can be annoying to boys, and boys to girls. But it's just because we're different, and hey, that's what makes the whole relationship thing special, right. So boys and girls, live with the difference and be considerate. That's all I can say.

Fiuh, long post, I hope I don't bore you with it. Have a nice day all! Tomorrow's weekend :)

I'll be Home for Christmas

Christmas is still 5 weeks away, but I can smell the excitement already.

And yes baby, I'm going back home for Christmas. Just the thought of it makes my heart beat faster in excitement.

Don't you all agree that Christmas is the best holiday of the year?

I know it's a bit too early to talk about Christmas. But I'll just give you all a little sneak peak. Yesterday, me and BF had dinner in Orchard. Orchard, if you don't know, is a stretch of road with loadsss of shopping centres and malls alongside. It's like HEAVEN for shopaholics.

Anyways, after dinner, we took a walk to the train station, and we went pass a shopping centre which is already covered with lights, and shiny things (I can't tell what those things are). They're ready to welcome Christmas already!

See that huge Christmas tree!

It's only one mall, and Orchard has like a hundred malls. Can't wait to see all of them dolled up for Christmas!!

So you all start buying Christmas gifts already??

xxx