Starting 2014 with a bang!

3 days in and I was off on a mini-break with mumsy. After 2 failed attempts at going on our bi-annual trips together, we were off to a great start for 2014!



Off we go!

We arrived at about 10pm and hopped onto a cab to take us to our hotel. The cab queue was about 10 miles long and we waited in line for 45 mins amidst smokers from different lands. Times like this I wish I was back in Singapore, with the 'no smoking in queues' policy. I was subjected to 45 mins of second hand smoke and I felt like I was going to pass out. The travel time between Pudong International Airport and our hotel took about 45 mins and costed us almost RMB260 which is about SGD$54. Pricey much due to the midnight surcharge.

Then we checked into our hotel and boy, I have to say, I'm in LOVE with our hotel room, although nothing beats my honeymoon suite at Marriott Singapore on my wedding day. That's the superficial benchmark that I've set for hotel rooms now because seriously, how does anyone go from Presidential to Standard? Anyhoo, the room was really cozy and has one of the prettiest toilets ever. I felt like I was in a resort, and the complimentary Lanvin toiletries is just the icing on the cake.

We didn't do a detailed Shanghai itinerary because it was basically a chill out trip for me and mum. Since it just us girls, I felt that it wasn't safe for us to venture too far out so we kept to places that were accessible via the MRT.

New shoes from the hubby!

I miss you sooooo much!

It was about 6 degrees in Shanghai and was really cold. I kept myself warm with the best, yes I repeat, the BEST BUBBLE TEA I've ever tasted in my life. I ordered the warm one and it was amazing. Before you go ewww... warm bubble tea?! I can say that not only does it not taste the least bit weird, but it's such an amazing comfort to wrap your icy cold hands around the cup to thaw those painful fingers. I had the pudding, bubble milk tea and just thinking about it now makes me salivate. I'll make a trip back just for these babies!

Meet, the BEST tang baos that I've ever tasted in my life! Seriously orgasmic. If I wasn't already stuffed to the brim, I'll order 1 more basket of this and savour every last drop of the soup essence. It was mindblowingly awesome and makes the Singapore DinTaiFung ones that I love, subpar. It contains crab roe, crab meat and pork contained in a veil-thin layer of skin packed with wholesome broth. It's a no frills quick stop for a dose of authentic xiao long baos. A must-try in Shanghai!

Jia Jia Tang Bao 佳家汤包 - 90 Huanghe Lu, near Fengyang Lu (黄河路90号, 近凤阳路). (0)21-6327-6878. Hours: 6:30am-10pm.

 

 

We visited the Bund at night time and it was absolutely beautiful! But it was freeeeezing cold so we had to brave the wind and frozen fingers trying really hard to take nice and steady pictures. But the Bund is truly an awesome place to take a walk when the weather is kinder.

That just about sums up our short trip to Shanghai! I'll update more when I finish uploading pictures into my comp from my camera.

Have a great weekend peeps! :)

What transpired over the weekend

The annual 'go straight' event. 

Ah... Blissfully lighter locks. Perfect for this horrid sunny weather we've been having.

Chocolatay Goodness!

Chasing Monday blues away with a dash of chocolate from Std Chart! :)

The One with My Rants Part 2

Feeling a bit under the weather since yesterday. Despite the fact that I bundled meself up pretty good, I still found myself shivering relentlessly in the office. So I left work an hour earlier hoping to come back home and shiver on my bed instead. My initial thought was to cab home from work because I was feeling really horrid. Then I saw the cab queue at Tower 2 and was shocked beyond belief. Where did all these people come from?? 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon! Good grief!

So I thought, all rightie then, I'll take a bus to town and take a cab from there. I alighted somewhere along Somerset hoping to catch a cab. But along came my usual bus just 20 seconds after I got off and I debated for a good 30 seconds before boarding it and heading home. Just saved myself a good $15.

Came home and fell on my bed immediately with my work clothes on and napped for 20mins (all the while shivering like an abandoned puppy). Oh what I wouldn't give for a working fireplace and some warm flannel PJs. Woke up even groggier so I decided that it was time to start self medicating.
Eugene is my drug dictionary. I usually consult Dr Chua before attempting to pop pills because I'm too young to die. In my semi-conscious state yesterday I browsed my medicine box only to be faced with a bunch of nonsensical medical terms that made absolutely no sense to my groggy brain.

"Danzen, Arcoxia, Paracetamol, Acetaminophen whatchamacallit wtfffff...."

I searched my brain for something that Eugene said to me the last time I was ill, something along the line of a box called Zrytec whatever. Found and popped them, then changed into decent clothes and went back to bed. Slot in a dinner session with dad in between and that was my night.

Perhaps it's my body's way of rejecting the thought that he's away, coz I'm feeling better today knowing that he's coming back tonight. Whee! :)

Something else to get Sylvia excited about... Les Miserables in the theatres on Christmas! I have been conscientiously writing to Sistic about bringing Les Miserables, The Musical to Singapore since the last time it showed in Singapore was when I was 13. C'MON MAN SISTIC! How long more are you gonna make me wait you bastards!

Still have some Christmas shopping to get done. Hoping to finish the task at Candy Empire today because I know they have some excellent promotion on cookies. Will make a nice gift I reckon for some special people. Who doesn't like cookies! :)

Happy Wednesday Peeps!

The One with the Furry Culprit

Living in a house with a garden is not all it's cracked up to be. I've experienced the torment of all sorts of creepy crawlies invading the house that freaks me till no end. Be it bigger than palm-sized butterflies, chameleons taking up residence on garden stools and under spray hoses, the occasional pregnant stray kitty giving birth on your lawn and bits of twigs and sweet wrappers dropped onto the front porch because Mr Birdy is building a nest inside the roof. Oh yes, and did I mention the now familiar Mr Monkey who brings his family of three over to my estate for an all-you-can-eat buffet amongst all the exposed waste bins?

Those I can tolerate.  Nature's wonders. C'est La Vie.

But what happens when Mr / Miss Kitty decides to leave you souvenirs every day on your painstakingly trimmed lawn because it is apparently very picky over where to place it's butt. I have sprinkled pepper over my lawn to keep the fur-ass at bay but on nights which I've forgotten to, I'll awake to a scented lawn bearings gifts for me to clean up.

I never did catch the culprit, since the deed is always done in the middle of the night. Sometimes I wonder what the poor furball would do if I were to keep watch the entire night. Will it suffer from constipation or will it run off in search of better toilets? I'm tempted to tent on my front porch armed with a cane to flick it's furry ass away.

This morning as I was leaving for work, I caught a glimpse of something.

do you see what i see?

Comfortably seeking shelter under Pegs?! How dare thee!

and so we meet, you lawn-shitting furball

I unlocked the gate and went back in to get the pepper dispenser to pepper its ass away from my porch. I peppered the entire lawn and around the car. It seems to know what I'm up to because when I peered under the car it was sitting up, alert and vigilant as the smell of pepper permeates the air. I closed the gate with a smirk on my face, knowing that this kitty is in for some serious constipation today. Hah! Take that fur-ass!

The One with the Loots from Europe

I know I know. I have not forgotten 'The Plan'.

It's back to reality in Singapore and I'll be working my ass off to pay off my 'sins'

*Don't you dare laugh babe, your stuff are in there too!"



I know I shouldn't but I did...


But they are so so so pretty!! Shopping ban for the rest of the yr!

New nails from a groupon promotion. Loves :) Now on to packing and I'll be set for my trip!

The One with Ippudo and Free Tickets

Met mumsy for dinner at Ippudo last night. The queue was so horrendous I contemplated abandoning ship and walking into the beautiful Antoinette for some foie gras and kobe beef.

But flipping through the menu of Antoinette's ricochetted me back in line for Ippudo because I was feeling a tad broke. I entertained myself by pressing my nose up against the glass while drooling at diners in Ippudo slurping their large bowls of soup and refusing to leave.

Yummy chickie wings and gyozas

one slice of chasu *sobs*

Overall, it was worth the wait. The soup was tasty and not too salty, with the perfectly cooked runny tamago and an extremely stingy slice of chasu. We had the shiro-maru with my noodles done medium and mumsy's done soft. Perhaps because this was our first trip to Ippudo, we had nothing but praises for the food despite critics such as hungrygowhere.com as well as friends who have frequented other ramen joints telling me they've had better. What can I say, other than sometimes virgin experiences can be pleasurable. ;)

I stopped by Kinokuniya attempting to refresh my memory on the last new book I picked up. Despite technology such as Kindle and E-books flooding the market, the thought of actual hardcopies and the smell of books still have me intoxicated. My eyes browsed through the spanking new copies of 'Hot new releases' and I picked up the expected girly read, 'The Lucky One'. The poster above the stacks read, "Free movie tickets giveaway with purchase of 'The Lucky One' out in cinemas now!" Thats how I ended up with a new book and 2 free movie tickets. Come on, Zac Efron! What do you expect yuh? heehee~

So girls, go grab the book at Kino! The free tickets are whilst stocks last!

P.S. The movie was soo good! Even the 'rolls-eyes at chick-flick hubby liked it!

*swoons at Zac Efron*

The One with the Exam

It's now 12 midnight and I'm still hard at work while the hubs is off to bed. What a killjoy.

Reminds me of the countless nights I've stayed up during my uni days to finish off an assignment or to study for the finals. Ah... I'm a-reliving and I'm not a-liking. 

Why did I ever say that I missed school? 300 pages to complete in a week is just... such fun. 

I first thought, "Just how hard could it be? It's only 300 pages." Now that the clickity-click of registration adrenalin has died down, I'm on the verge of pulling my hair out and screaming, "Are you fudging kiddin me?!"

Mug-athon  

I'd rather just plan the wedding.

In other news: I've just discovered that I can command C and command V on the Mac to copy and paste. To think I've been cursing it for not being smart like a normal laptop because the control button is utterly useless. Turns out the neighboring command function has been laughing it's key off at me. 

The One with the New Office

Out with the old!


bye byeeee!

  and...in with the spanking new! Lookie at my new chair. Loves x1000000~

Spot my pom pom :)

HAPPY NEW YR EVERYONE! Lots of love, luck and success for everyone!

The One with the Cat

Today a cat followed me home. Weird-ness.

First of all, I'm not that into cats. They like to intimidate with beady little stares which borders on creepy. So imagine my surprise when a black cat leaped to her feet and followed me as I was climbing the usual everest home. I thought it was pure coincidence that this black furball was prancing beside me but soon it dawned upon me that it was following me. I hopped up a step and it hopped up with me, I ran up 3 steps and it followed and back-tracked when I did. Wow. I have my own 4-legged 3D shadow.

So I did what anyone would do. I said shoo. Did it shoo away like a good kitty? Of course not. It followed me up the slope, quietly prancing away and sniffing my paper bag of altered clothes and perhaps hoping for something to eat. I felt my heart strings tug for this furball and decided to rummage the house for something furballs like to eat. Overdued famous amos cookies? Godiva Choco balls? Expired prawn crackers? Perhaps the kitty is into Gardenia Bread?

I settled for a small dish of milk because in Tom and Jerry, Tom is always seen slurping a bowl of milky goodness. So I cradled the dish to my gate and was greeted by sans furball. The kitty apparently ran out of patience and took off in search for better tasting cuisine. Basket-balls

So how was your Thursday? :)

The One with the Ultimate Chocolate Muffins

Domestic goddess in the making :)



Double Chocolate Goodness!



The One with the Bridal Nail Selections

Some men say, "Huh nails? Who notices them?" They are obviously oblivous to how much women adore pretty colours on their nails, and on their wedding day no less. How else to show off the beautiful diamond ring you painstakingly selected for us?

I've selected a few designs, will decide when the date is closer. But aren't they totally to die for? ^^

French Lace with Roses

French Lace with Ribbons



Cystal ball, Pearls and Roses



Crystal, French Lace and Flowers

Loves loves loves!! OUT with the boring french manicure! In with cutesy 3D nail art!

Images from Cynful Nails

The one with the Chiffon Cake

Baby was in Phuket over the weekend so I busied myself with baking class at the CSC and attempted to transform flour and eggs into something yummy on Sunday.

Did I poison anyone or come up with some lumpy goo of uncooked dough?

Orange Chiffon Cake

Of course not ;)

The One with the Bali Trip

Checking in at Kuta Seaview with a welcome drink and a sigh of relief from the heat

Beaching along Kuta Beach while doodling in the sands

Yummy BBQ ribs at Naughty Nuri's which we CLEANED out due to sheer starvation

Beautiful rice terraces on our chauffeured one day tour



Our very own private pool cum jacuzzi right outside our bedroom!

All in all, a great weekend getaway for two! xoxo