![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Wishing all a Merry & Blessed Christmas ♥ and a great 2010!!
Current Mood: 
happy
happy
My loves
::Ezylife::
24 December 2009 @ 10:16 pm
Wishing all a Merry & Blessed Christmas ♥ and a great 2010!!
24 December 2009 @ 02:55 pm
If you love desserts like I do, you will love Brunetti.
There are a few outlets but the one that we went to was near Lygon Street. Lygon is like a Little Italy. Many good Italian restaurants with gelato and dessert cafes nestled in between them. If there is one thing good about Melbourne, it is truly the food.
At Brunetti, the array of desserts ranges from cakes to cookies to macaroons to everything sweet and colorful. I didn't know what to get! Every item was screaming out to me - CHOOSE ME! In the end, I went for my usual favorite. A heavy chocolate mousse cake with a crispy hazelnut base. It didn't disappoint and I was on a sugar high. However, I landed up biting my lips a few times which explains the three huge ulcers on my lower lip right now -_- Yes. It is still there. *ouch
The cafe is always crowded and is very popular. I can easily understand why. It is always my dream to open a similar cafe like this, but then again, I'm not exactly a baker or a chef so for now, I can only dream.. and savor and enjoy whatever is out there :)
There is another recommendation - KoKo Black. It's a pity we didn't have enough time to swing by to try the warm chocolate that is served in martini glasses.. Mmmmm..
( More pictures here )
24 December 2009 @ 01:56 pm
Another present from B.T was a can of snow! He knows that I love powder snow and thought that I would love making some of my own at home!
It is so cool! A tiny packet of snow powder makes about 1.5 litres of snow! We divided it into two batches so that we could bring one batch to let me niece and nephews play with it later on. As you add water, it grows right in front of your eyes. Really really cool! He added a bit too much of water so the snow is now damp and we can't fluff it around and throw it over ourselves! Will do that another day :P But meanwhile, I am excited to have a tub of snow in The Studio.
Video of snow making
Making snow at home from ndrea77 on Vimeo.
24 December 2009 @ 10:37 am
cheerful24 December 2009 @ 12:16 am
Last weekend, the blogbabes threw a small, very last-minute Christmas tea party.
It was unfortunate the sky wouldn't let up with the rain that afternoon - I am sure the kiddos who came prepared with their swim gear would have had a whale of a time playing in the paddle pool out front...
Maybe next time round, Sean would be able to join in the merry-making and contribute to the noise levels too!
Regardless, we still had a fine time indoors chatting while casting a watchful eye over the little ones - and of course, tucking into the delicious potluck spread of jelly hearts, macaroons, to-die-for prawns in basil pesto, tiramisu and icecream.
Yum yum!
Only parties planned by girls have such pretty, fanciful food
With our 'arm candy', like Yvonne puts it Candice, you have to BYO-Baby next year la ;)
I think it's wonderful how we have seen every one of these babies grow and blossom into their own person. Sean was the youngest there - somehow, seeing the other kids play together is like to having a small prelude of what is to come.
Ah, I envision a lot of chasing to do in the not-too-distant future!
I also came away from the party with immense respect for all the mummies - it is only now that I am one myself that I know how consuming it can be caring for a child and running a household, not to mention juggling a career, all at the same time. They are all superwomen in my eyes.
And I just have to ask, when did you girls find time to shop for individual Christmas presents for everyone?!!
Thanks for having us at your (mum's) lovely home too, 'Manda! We all had a wonderful time, rain or not. Looking forward to our next gathering with the bubs - over Chinese New Year, perhaps?
PS. And Sean thanks everyone for the lovely presents!
Christening his presents with drool, nom nom nom!
It was unfortunate the sky wouldn't let up with the rain that afternoon - I am sure the kiddos who came prepared with their swim gear would have had a whale of a time playing in the paddle pool out front...
Maybe next time round, Sean would be able to join in the merry-making and contribute to the noise levels too!
Regardless, we still had a fine time indoors chatting while casting a watchful eye over the little ones - and of course, tucking into the delicious potluck spread of jelly hearts, macaroons, to-die-for prawns in basil pesto, tiramisu and icecream.
Yum yum!
I think it's wonderful how we have seen every one of these babies grow and blossom into their own person. Sean was the youngest there - somehow, seeing the other kids play together is like to having a small prelude of what is to come.
Ah, I envision a lot of chasing to do in the not-too-distant future!
I also came away from the party with immense respect for all the mummies - it is only now that I am one myself that I know how consuming it can be caring for a child and running a household, not to mention juggling a career, all at the same time. They are all superwomen in my eyes.
And I just have to ask, when did you girls find time to shop for individual Christmas presents for everyone?!!
Thanks for having us at your (mum's) lovely home too, 'Manda! We all had a wonderful time, rain or not. Looking forward to our next gathering with the bubs - over Chinese New Year, perhaps?
PS. And Sean thanks everyone for the lovely presents!
23 December 2009 @ 11:36 pm
I got my Christmas present from B.T *squeals!
Isn't it lovely? I have never had a blue diamond before so this is very precious! According to the sales girl, it is a journey design where the diamonds around the half circle go from small to big. The design is simple and it's very 'me' and I love it love it love it!
So for those who know B.T well, you will chuckle when you read this. My boy is what I call a typical Alpha male. He is not standard romantic, he cannot guess what I want - subtle or strong hints don't work. There was once where I wanted a particular stuffed toy to bring along with me on my work trips. I hinted several times to him but it didn't get through. Finally, I literally spelt it out. Can you please get me this? He proceeded to write on a Post-It - Buy for Andrea this. -_- I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The toy never came.
On a trip to Australia, he came home with a chimp. He hid it in the wardrobe and went, Tada. That was my favorite gift. And hence the reason why I carry it whenever I travel alone. His name is Pimp or BBB - beanbagbackside and I'm sure most would have seen him.
Also, this is the same boy that asked me, Who else would you like to invite for your 30th surprise birthday party? -_- So that was how I found out I had a surprise party. So that is him. It cracks me up half of the time. I don't expect to get surprised and though I do love surprises, this hasn't quite bothered me and I still love him loads.
For birthdays and Christmas, we usually tell each other what we want. Call us practical, but it works fine. And I supposed, that is how our relationship has always been. No guessing, no hinting, just loads of communication, openess and being upfront and honest.
This Christmas, we had sorted out his gift. I didn't know what I wanted then I saw the pendant and really wanted it. I could definitely buy it on my own but I thought it would be special if it came from him. So I told him that if he hadn't had something in mind for me, he could consider this. Then I mentioned that my Mom had points in her member card that could possibly be used to offset the cost and she said that I could use it. However, he needed to mention her NRIC. He said, Well, I guess you will know on Christmas what your gift is! Then a minute later, I receive an sms saying - What is your Mom's NRIC?
-_-
I was in the office. I laughed till I teared.
He bought it for me today and I love it so much. Thank you baby. So girls, if you really want something from your better half and the hints don't work, just tell him, spell it out to him. Some guys just can't get it and it's not their fault. They are just wired that way. It mihgt kill the surprise or romance or whatever but sometimes, it doesn't hurt and if a guy isn't naturally that way, don't force it! For those who have better halves that are good at surprises and are romantics at heart, lucky you! Treasure it and don't take it for granted :)
I unwrapped all my other Christmas gifts today because B.T said it was the eve of Christmas eve and well, he wanted me to unwrap them -_- So I did. I am a lucky girl this year. Have a nice collection of great gifts ranging from a photo album to stick my favorite shots in (everyone knows how I am always taking photos), to a silicon puppet hand holder for hot pots and stuff, to jewellery, toiletries, gold pouches, lip glosses, truffle oil, sexy red luggage tag, chocolates, and more.
I hope everyone will have a special gift - Merry Christmas to all, in advance.
xoxo
23 December 2009 @ 11:16 pm
When I first tasted Ippudo ramen in NYC, I literally went OMG. To taste ramen similar to that in Japan outside of Japan, is quite a big deal. It was so good that I wanted to re-visit the place again. So when I found out that Ippudo was hitting Singapore, I was completely excited.
We made 4 disappointing trips to the store. It was supposed to be opened but it was still closed. The second time, it was still closed. The third time, it was closed for lunch because it was a soft launch for dinner that day. Then on the fourth trip (after I had recommended it to people and my two friends had already tried it out!), the queue was insanely long. So again, we walked away disappointed.
Today, we decided to give it another shot. There were only 5 people in the queue so we decided to hop in. It wasn't too bad. Just a 10 minutes wait. The menu is slightly different or rather, lesser items offered. I remembered the pork buns being absolutely yummy so we ordered a plate or one. And it didn't disappoint. Service is pretty quick similar to the one in NYC and the decor looks the same as well.
The verdict on the ramen?
It is good ramen. Good bite and texture - the ramen thickness varies for example the Akamaru has thicker strands of ramen. However, we found the soup too salty. Overall, we both agreed that the one in NYC was better but it doesn't mean that it was bad here. I guess our initial expectations were way too high since we were totally raving about the one back in NYC.
We would go back again, I am not sure if this is my current favorite or the one at Gallery hotel. Meanwhile, I am still game to trying out good ramen places. Briiing it on!!
( More pictures here )
23 December 2009 @ 10:51 pm
In Asia, we do get spoilt with the hotels as the rooms tend to be bigger and check-in timing is earlier (check-out is later). In Melbourne, we could only check in at 2pm so after the red eye flight, we had no choice but to leave our luggage at the concierge and roam around. I did want to shower but as I was pretty hungry, I didn't quite care!
Everyone wanted a good breakfast so I threw out the suggestion from JWang. Gluttoney. It wasn't too difficult to find - thankfully we had Lala who used to study here. Gluttoney is like most typical breakfast cafes with the usual fare. For some strange reason, all of us decided on the same item - Gluttoney.
It was a shocking amount but thankfully as we dug into the mountain of rocket, we realized that it was mainly rocket and two fat pieces of toast and a couple of bacon. It was filling for sure and as usual, I couldn't stomach all of it. Perhaps it was because I was already down with the sniffles that I didn't really enjoy the meal as much as I should or the fact that the poached eggs weren't quite runny but the yolks were solid. The toast was good, the rocket aplenty - I wished I could have enjoyed my meal more without sneezing into a tissue every few minutes.
Gluttoney
278 Smith St
Collingwood
Melbourne
+61 3 9416 0336
23 December 2009 @ 08:11 pm
Sorry we've been so quiet on the blog front!
Amidst the year-end flurry of Christmas gatherings and last-minute shopping, my aunt (mum's sister) and family flew into town for a couple of days so I have been one very busy mama bee playing tour-guide-cum-chauffeur-cum-bag-minder for them the past week.
It is always nice to have our extended family visit. Everyone was very excited to see Sean and I think he had a fun week because he got to go gai-gai with Yuan and Shyan Yiyi everyday too.
The very same way Cher and I used to tag along everywhere with my then-childless aunt and uncle in our much younger days!
It's heartening to see how we've come full circle :)
I had a good laugh watching the girls spout random Hakka phrases to Sean all day long, haha!
Surprisingly, I actually quite enjoyed seeing all the touristy sights that our small city had to offer, most of which I probably wouldn't ever visit on my own accord.
I just had to make sure we - that is, just Sean and I - got home at a decent hour every night because as I have unwittingly come to realise, his bedtime is not to be messed around with!
(Which means we missed out entirely on the twinkling glory of the Orchard Road light-up completely. Oh well, maybe next year!)
I didn't get many pics - it is virtually impossible to manage a constantly squirmy kid, the baby bag and a big camera at the same time - but I managed a few anyway.
Yee Po's flight was super delayed... zzz
All geared up for shopping, rain or shine! (taken at Bugis Junction)
Sean didn't seem very impressed with the Esplanade
My little clown providing some midday entertainment to the weary
All smiles with Shyan Yiyi at the Esplanade
Checking out the progress of the Sands casino
Sean, meet Merlion
That face says it all: Geez, are you guys going shopping again?! (At Raffles City)
Stranded in a souvenier shop in Sentosa with Mummy while the others went for the skyride and luge in the rain
Sean tests out a princess bed at Ikea - Nope, no pea in this one!
YEE HA!
Sean the hero tries to save a baby croc from its cannibal mother!
We joked about how we look like two pairs of sisters here (at Vivocity)
Cuzzins (and a baby)!
It was a very tiring but fun week with the noisy lot. Now I'm thinking we need to make a trip back to KK with the family one of these days. I haven't been back since 1997, almost as long as I have been in Singapore.
Targetting for middle of next year - let's see how it pans out!
Amidst the year-end flurry of Christmas gatherings and last-minute shopping, my aunt (mum's sister) and family flew into town for a couple of days so I have been one very busy mama bee playing tour-guide-cum-chauffeur-cum-bag-minder for them the past week.
It is always nice to have our extended family visit. Everyone was very excited to see Sean and I think he had a fun week because he got to go gai-gai with Yuan and Shyan Yiyi everyday too.
The very same way Cher and I used to tag along everywhere with my then-childless aunt and uncle in our much younger days!
It's heartening to see how we've come full circle :)
I had a good laugh watching the girls spout random Hakka phrases to Sean all day long, haha!
Surprisingly, I actually quite enjoyed seeing all the touristy sights that our small city had to offer, most of which I probably wouldn't ever visit on my own accord.
I just had to make sure we - that is, just Sean and I - got home at a decent hour every night because as I have unwittingly come to realise, his bedtime is not to be messed around with!
(Which means we missed out entirely on the twinkling glory of the Orchard Road light-up completely. Oh well, maybe next year!)
I didn't get many pics - it is virtually impossible to manage a constantly squirmy kid, the baby bag and a big camera at the same time - but I managed a few anyway.
It was a very tiring but fun week with the noisy lot. Now I'm thinking we need to make a trip back to KK with the family one of these days. I haven't been back since 1997, almost as long as I have been in Singapore.
Targetting for middle of next year - let's see how it pans out!
Current Mood: 
exhausted
exhausted23 December 2009 @ 02:49 pm
Yesterday's run was a failure. The intended 10km run turned into a 5km walk. My sniffles decided to return and I was feeling under the weather.
The hot yoga sesh earlier on was refreshing. I had a good stretch and I knew that I was working hard when I felt a constant stream of sweat trickling down my back, face, arms and legs.
One of my 2010 resolution is to improve on my flexibility. I am inspired by this girl in class who had a rubber like body. As she laid down on her back to stretch and brought both shins to touch her face - legs straight and toes over her head, our jaws dropped. She reminded me of one of those Chinese gymnastics.
Stretch stretch stretch. It can only be beneficial for the body right? :)
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
23 December 2009 @ 02:22 pm
Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight.
By Lance Armstrong
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
23 December 2009 @ 11:02 am
The Fur Rug turns 9 years old today! I'm not at home today to give her hugs and cuddles.. But she's definitely having a whale of a time because she won't get scolded today, will have long walks and car rides and can eat tons of doggie snacks.
Happy birthday FBB! We all love you very much! :)
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
23 December 2009 @ 01:07 am
I love Christmas. The carols, the gift giving, the atmosphere, the decorations and everything is warm and fuzzy. It is my favorite time of the year. I get broke from all the gift giving but then I love giving someone a gift, knowing that it will put a smile on their face. Most of all, Christmas is a time where I sit down and reflect and be grateful for all that I have.
The first celebrations started for us over the weekend. We were invited over to Jwang's and we were excited that it was going to be a traditional Christmas dinner. B.T was over the moon when the email stated - TURKEY. I think he was counting down the days to the dinner more than anyone else.
So firstly, we had to sort out the secret santa. And J's smart boyfriend D, wrote, yes wrote a software program to randomly assign the secret santas to each one. In the automatically generated email, it stated who we had to buy a gift for and specifically stated that we weren't supposed to reply to it. Of course, my brillant boyfriend was so excited and clicked reply to D saying that it was awesome. D said that he deleted the email without reading it because we weren't supposed to know the details of the secret santa. Sigh. And this is the same boyfriend that asked me who else I wanted to invite for my surprise birthday party this year. *facepalm
B.T proudly bought a gift and refused to divulge who his recipient was. In the end, he blurted out the person's name and I was laughing my socks off. There were other funny stories too. Like how E landed up being B's recipient and we all said that it was unfair! Or the amount of time the guys took to wrap their gifts - B.T obviously got his wrapped at the store. Anyway, the gift exchange part was fun and we all had a good laugh exchanging stories. We also pulled Christmas crackers and wore Christmas hats at the table.
Besides watching Charlie Brown, Pankun and James (on Youtube), we watched Victoria Secret 2009 not once but twice on the big screen. Yes. The boys were so excited and they were caught staring a the screen completely mesmerized. I have to admit, we gals enjoyed it too. Abs, legs, pretty faces. Sigh..
And what is a party without food?!
The food was fantabulous. Yummylicious. We were all happily stuffed with turkey, honey baked ham, stuffing, roasted potatoes and vegetables, cheese and crackers, Christmas pudding, pork roll, bacon... it was so good. There is something about home cooked food that tastes better than whatever is available outside. I guess it's all the effort and love that is put into the cooking! Everyone contributed to the dinner too be it wine or some starters or side so it really felt like everyone had a part in the dinner.
By the time we left, we had been over for 7 hours! It's amazing how time flies when you are having fun :) Thanks for the invite J - it was a great party!
( More pictures here )
23 December 2009 @ 12:38 am
I have never had mulled wine before so when we were asked to bring it along for the Xmas party, I had to ask, Where can I buy it from? It turns out that I have to make it!
The recipe is simple and it turned out great! We are hooked on it! Try it this Christmas and it will go perfectly well with the festivities :)
Here goes..
In a saucepan, over low heat, stir in a bottle of red wine, 1 cinnamon stick, a pinch of nutmeg, 1 bay leaf, 2 tablespoons of sugar (we used regular but apparently brown sugar is better!), orange rind and juice from half an orange. Mix until the sugar melts and remove from the heat before it boils. Do ensure that the mixture doesn't boil. Let it cool for a bit and serve warm!
Different recipes have different ingredients. Some add gin or rum, you can add cinnamon sugar or whatever you wish to experiement with!
23 December 2009 @ 12:08 am
This is a 100% girlie post so for those that don't appreciate it - you can skip it :P
Yes. I have been on a bit of a bag splurge this year. Well, I got two branded bags so I guess that's a splurge to me! My black Miu Miu was subsidized by B.T for my birthday so that was lovely - he paid for the side that came with the inner pocket :P
My evil shoppaholic girlfriends got me into big trouble when I was enticed to shop at Zappos. I love online shopping and I do a fair bit of it but never for big price items like a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag! So this one a nervous first..
I spent a few nights surfing through the site, narrowing down my choices - B.T helped! And finally decided on the Twisted Q Lil Riz. The espresso color is gorgeous and well, I have leather bags in white, pink and black so a brown will be a nice addition.
So tada! Here is my new bag which I love very much. TS brought it over from the States and she was gushing about how lovely the leather smelt and coincidentally, she was eyeing the exact same bag but in purple. B.T likes it in fact :P He commented that it was made well with quality materials. Hhehee.
P.S TS, if you are reading this, thanks once again for bringing my baggie over. Muaks!
( More pictures here )
22 December 2009 @ 11:51 pm
I was introduced to this Australian tea shop called T2. When I had a first whiff of the tea, I was completely sold. The aroma was amazing and it smelt delicious!
I headed on down to the shop and the selection was massive. There was every tea available possible! Black, red, green, white, fruity, flowery in all types - loose or in bags. Also available is a wide range of tea cups, strainers and what have yous. Admitedly, I was quite lost and didn't know quite where to start. I didn't have much time either to sniff and pick out what I wanted since my team was outside waiting so it was a good thing that I had browsed through the catalogue the night before and knew what I wanted.
I am not a compulsive tea drinker but when I do drink tea, it's usually green tea. Currently, I have packets of green tea (with roasted rice and bits) from Japan. I decided that I would get some green tea in two different types to share with my Mom.
I picked out Gorgeous Geisha (isn't the name pretty?) which has hints of strawberries and cream and Sencha vanilla which well, has strong notes of vanilla! Lovely! It costs AUD$12 for a 100g box. I was tempted to buy white tea as I like it but it is very expensive - AUD$26 for 50g. So I decided to give it a miss.
We have been drinking the tea and I half wished that I bought more! So anyone visiting Australia should visit T2. They have outlets all over - the one I went to was at Chadstone shopping mall.
20 December 2009 @ 02:43 am
B.T showed me this video which is completely adorable and hilarious! I loooove penguins! Can I have one as a pet please??
20 December 2009 @ 02:41 am
Thanks to everyone's recommendations for Melbourne! I tried my best to cover as many places possible but time was tight since I was on a business trip. It's my third trip to Melbourne but it's been awhile so it was nice to visit places again.
After eating pizzas and pastas for a couple of meals (one of the reasons why I didn't have Italian at Lygon!), we decided to get some good ole' Asian grub. Everyone readily agreed on Vietnamese pho and Lala who studied in Melbourne for a few years was a great guide in bringing us to the list of places that I had from you guys!
Apparently, this place has been around for eons. It's old school looking but electronice PDA like devices are used to take down orders. Service is efficient and it's nothing fancy. Food is great. The broth is clear, sweet and not salty or artificial tasting. Beef slices and beef balls were generous however I have to say that I do prefer corn fed beef compared to grass fed beef! I know that the latter is healthier but I find beef in Australia gamey and too beefy.
We ordered a couple of sides. The rice paper rolls were great with the thick sweet sauce and the char-grilled chicken was excellent. I can understand why this place remains so popular after many years. Everything was perfect from the texture of the rice noodles to the broth and the whole ambience. We were all duly satisfied. And it was indeed, one of my favorite meals that I had in Melbourne.
( Just two more )
Pho Bo Gai Mekong
241 Swanston Street
Melbourne
+61 9663 3288
20 December 2009 @ 12:33 am
My newly acquired jewellery organizer. It fits necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets. Even hair ties etc. Awesome! Everything is kept dust free and stored easily by hanging in the wardrobe. I will still display my most used accessories on the other stands that I have but this one will hold the rest in place.
Stole them from B.T - two Chupa Chups key chains. They are now hanging on my backpacks. :) I likey.