St Regis

My dear used his Asia Miles to booked an executive deluxe room at the luxurious 6-star St Regis hotel this christmas... it was a fantastic experience!!

We have had stays at Fullerton, Ritz Carlton and The Sentosa Spa and Resort before.. and they were good. Fullerton has excellent service. The Sentosa Spa and Resort has nice, cosy rooms for a relaxing resort stay. Ritz Carlton.. hmm, not very happy with the service when we were there but the room was definitely 5-star. But on the luxury aspect, from the lift with the red velvet seat in it, the rooms corridor, the personalised butler service, to the bathroom... i think St Regis wins hands down.

The bedroom -
Plush Sealy mattress with a choice of pillows from the Pillow Menu
Rich fabrics surrounding the room
42" Flat -screen HD TV and DVD player with in-room movies
Personalised butler service 24-hour





The bathroom -
French-marbled flooring and walls
Double basins- one for him and one for her
Stand-alone bathtub
Separate shower stall with rainforest shower
Bathroom flatscreen TV
Exclusive toileteries from Laboratoire Remede



Complimentary Christmas Cookie platter


We brought in our own Moscato and cakes from Marriott hotel to self create our own Christmas "celebration" hehe

Next morning (Christmas day), we ordered in-room breakfast cos the room was too comfortable. wahaha. A bit expensive, but it was good! Yummy home-made pancakes for me and omelette for dear!

The room does not have coffee sachets or teas... instead, they can be ordered through the butler service and they serve freshly brewed drinks to your room.

English breakfast tea and hot chocolate

I have heard of coplaints about St Regis not living up to its expectation as a 6 star hotel, but it was definitely a wonderful experience for me. What a lovely Christmas! =)

2009 Christmas is one filled with many many pressies!!

Tiffany & Co necklace - checked.
New sports shoes - checked.
A night stay at St Regis Singapore - checked.
A new 'old' phone - checked.
A Samsung netbook - checked.

I am so pampered.

Enjoying the very last 1.5 weeks with my dear before he goes back to COS for his last semester!!!

Shanghai 2009

Never really expected it, but I am in love with Shanghai. Its a modern city, rather highly populated with foreign students and expats. You get great food at reasonable prices here, whether its Chinese, Japanese, French, South American, Korean etc. There's a comprehensive transport system, consisting of public buses, taxis (rather affordable), metro and spacious and clean trains to the outskirts of the city. For a relaxed afternoon, just pop into one of the cafes (American chains Starbucks, Cold Stone Cremery and Haagen Daz are everywhere) where there is wireless internet and magazines are free for perusal. Last but not least, there is H&M (haha!).

Ten things I learnt about Shanghai:
1. Customers do not have the habit of saying Thank You to service staff. If you do, you are very polite. But well, it doesn't hurt to show some courtesy.
2. Chinese on the streets love to push u to get space to walk, and its perfectly normal. So just get used to it if you are there, there is no point in getting agitated because no one really cares except yourself.
3. Taxis are cheap, start ups are about RMB10-RMB12 and can last 5 mins without any increment. A 15-20mins trip costs about estimated RM40 (S$8), so i guess sometimes sharing a cab is cheaper. As comparison, metro train tickets start from RMB3. Generally, taxis go by the meter. However, beware of taxis at the railway station whereby they will request for a fixed rate at outrageous price.
4. Head to Muse 2 for some clubbing action! Great music, no cover charge, cheap drinks, professional singers/rappers/dancers. Way better than Butter Factory or Zouk i will say.
5. Shopping for clothes is not that cheap here, especially at the malls. Nevertheless, there is H&M which offers affordable and fashionable wear. To get boots, go to qi pu lu. You can also get cheap books (around RMB10/per) and DVDs (RMB10/disc) on the street stalls
6. Eating is cheap. Meals at nice restaurants generally cost less than S$10 per person. For illustration: Korean bbq dinner costs RMB30 (S$6. Maybe $30 in Singapore). Chinese food alike Crystal Jade/Tung Lok costs RMB25 (S$5. Maybe S$25 in Singapore)
3-course fusion lunch costs RMB90 (S$18. Maybe $30-45 in Singapore for the same quality)
7. To tell the cab driver a place to go to, name the road AND the intersecting road. Telling them the unit number is of little help.
8. There are no so-called predestrian crossing here! So watch out for on-coming cars in both directions when crossing the road, even at traffic lights.
9. When shopping at qi pu lu, starting bargaining at 30% of the asking price. (i.e ask for RMB70 if asking price is RMB210)
10. Forget the tourist attractions and go off the beaten path!

Hmm, seems like its all about food and shopping.

sat with mum

30 Oct (Fri) dinner: Itacho Sushi
31 Oct (Sat) dinner: Itacho Sushi
5 Nov (Thu) lunch: Itacho Sushi
7 Nov (Sat) lunch: Itacho Sushi

4 visits to Itacho Sushi in 8 days!

Today I brought my mum to Orchard Ion to show her around the latest, hippest shopping mall. Haha, I actually quite like the place, cos there are many shops and... there is a lot of nice food around!

We headed first to Itacho Sushi for lunch. It is a very famous sushi chain in Hong Kong and they have arrived to set up a branch in Singapore. Staff in the restaurant speak mainly Cantonese among themselves because many of them are from Hong Kong and they are here in Singapore to help with the start-up. Yummy! The food is really good! And very reasonsably priced.

Next stop is Bread Society. Once, I bought these cheese and cranberry buns from the bakery and she loved it.. she ate 6 buns in a day! First time she ate so much of a food that I buy, haha! Yeaps anyway I love the bread there simply because the breads are really soft. And yea, we bought the cheese and cranberry bun again.

We shopped around and I brought her to B4 to look around the food stores. We ordered these takoyaki balls from Gindaco. Another delicious must-try at Ion! Love it because the "skin" is crsipy on the outside and not too starchy. Close fight with the ones I had in Osaka. But beware, the queue is usually very long!

Haha the food tour didn't stop there.. as I urged her to try the tea from Tea Loft. Very smooth, and the taste of the tea is not overwhelmed by the condensed/evaporated milk, which is a usual problem with the tea from many coffee chains nowadays. But a cup here costs a whopping $1.70, about $0.30 more than that in coffee chains such as Ya Kun and Toastbox.

We ended the (food-)eventful day by dropping by Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant to da-bao the Liu Sha (Custard) buns. We had that last week in the restaurant and it was REALLY GOOD. The hot custard, with the fragrance of the salted egg yolk ,oozes out when you bite into them. Best custard bun I have ever eaten!

Some much eating and shopping with my mum... what a wonderful day! =D

My loves

Last week I saw a friend's friend's facebook photos.. she went to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to study baking! Looking at the photos of her in classes, the cakes, bread, pies, cookies and bread that they baked.. makes me want to study Patisierie again. I guess thats what i really love.

Friday night, Ying, Keng and I went for desserts at Bakerzin after dinner. We had the choux pastry and molten chocolate cake.. they tasted so good! i told myself: i want to make and sell this in future.

I wish i can go to le cordon bleu sydney next year end to do the course.
I dun know when my dream of having my own cafe will come true, but i guess learning how to bake professionally will be a good start! Its ever so easy to just pick a recipe and bake according to instructions. But going commercial is not that simple. You really have to learn the character of each ingredient and how ingredients work together. You have to learn that if your bread turns dry, if ur souffle sinks, if your cake cracks, if your muffin is too dense - what is really wrong with it. And you need to know how to come up with new creations to distinguish yourself from other patisiers.

I am not particular about food which i eat (to fill my hunger), but I certainly can tell the difference between good and bad. I guess FOOD is really my interest. Not in the sense that I love to eat good food(who doesn't?), but my interest takes me to another level - Why does that paricular item tastes so good? Is it because of the quality/origin/freshness of the ingredient? Is it because of the way its cooked - the technique/time taken/control of temperature/different stages orfpreparation? Or is it there a special ingredient which was added? I like to know what I am eating.

Anyway check out this new Japanese restaurant at Orchard Ion - Itacho Sushi (I am a great lover of Japanese food and sushi is my favourite!). The sushi at Itacho is really good.. reminds me of the sushi I had in Japan. Yum!


Salmon sushi

Roasted mackerel sushi (Mackerel flown in from Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan!)

Yellowtail sushi

Wafu chicken salad

Crab and avocado salad

Chicken and carrot stew (hmm.. soup is too sweet..)

Home-made tofu

I seriously can eat these everyday.

A love-hate relationship

I love my job because..

1. It takes me to places. Out of Singapore and experience working abroad.
2. Monetary benefits - Salary is ok ( i really feel its reasonable, despite much disagreements). When travelling overseas, can earn per diem to supplement income, can claim warm clothings allowance.
3. The job scope can be really interesting - understanding the mechanics of different industries, learning about organisational behaviour.. there is always new things to learn.
4. It is flexible. Cos its project-based. And when there are no projects, u really have free time (at least at my level).
5. I have really nice colleagues.
6. Can take cab to work, when on assignments at client's place
7. There is really job satisfaction, like when your manager comment that you have improved, and they are looking forward to you taking on more roles. Or when clients are open-minded and accept your opinions and recommendations.
8. I get to continue playing team sports because there are annual inter-department games and inter-CPA games, which i participate quite actively in.
9. There are people from higher management who really do care about your well-being and make you feel like you are not alone in difficult situations.

I dislike my job because...
1. Of how sometimes higher management say they will help, that they care, but those words never seem to translate to real results.
2. Client does not appreciate what you are doing - to improve their business processes- and instead view internal audit to be a compliance cost and makes life hard for us.
3. Nasty clients, and you never understand why they have to behave that way.
4. Over-demanding managers
5. It can be really boring, repeating the audit for the same processes, for the same clients.
6. Sometimes got to work really late, and I am not a person who can work late, cos my brain doesn't really work after a certain time.
7. Have to bring work home to do after working hours and during weekends sometimes
8. Accident happens.

This road that I'm taking twists and turns

My life my chance turning dreams into reality

Down this path faced with many things

Sometimes I feel like giving up and turn away

Can't seem to go on

And I've been thru' this before

Now where am I? Where do I stand?

A little lost here

But I'll remember

All those times you've bought me through

I'd be a fool to give up cos' the goal is near

I'll move on I'll go on

Lord I will take your hand

And you will guide me along

Survive thru' this storm

So I say come what may

I'll hold on to my hope

Yes I will walk down this road

And my passion drive will lead me on

Here I am

Once again caught in the rain

Looking back I've come so far and I want to carry on

Take a step at a time it's alright

Even through this rain I want to smile again

Don't hold back now

And I've been thru' this before

Now where am I? Where do I stand?

A little lost here

But I'll remember

All those times you've bought me thru'

I can feel the sun shining down on me

Here I am

Here I am

Lord I will take your hand

And you will guide me along

Survive thru' this storm

So I say come what may

I'll hold on to my hope

Yes I will walk down this road

And my passion drive will lead me on

Peace

Accidents happen, and we just got to learn to let it go and move on.
Simply because life goes on, and thinking of all the 'what if's are of no use anymore.

He must have been a great grandfather, from the way he told us about the times he spent with his grandchildren. I really hope his family can brace themselves and be strong...

Great October Weekend

On Friday, met up with Meini and Lisa (who said she was very bored) and went to chill at Acid Bar and had a wonderful evening listening to the acoustic band play familiar songs. I also met my bro's girlfriend there - her group was making quite a bit of noise :p

Saturday was a healthy day.. we played tennis in the morning and headed for wakeboarding straight after. I had not intend to wakeboard as it is too expensive (aroun $80-$100 per session), just wanted to go enjoy the breeze. But it looked real fun (i tried once three years back) and i succumbed to temptation and played for half an hour. The girls generously paid for me! =D And now i want to wakeboard again.. it was really fun!

By the time wakeboarding ended, it was already five. And I had to rush home to prepare to attend Edwin's (colleague) wedding at Marina Mandarin. Too late, so i had to cab down to the hotel.... $$ fly away, haha.Marina Manadarin was on of our shortlisted hotels for our wedding next year. But we decided against it cos 1) the wedding cooridator was impatient 2) minimum 40 tables, cannot negotiate at all 3) afraid of the packing and traffic conditions around city hall area on sat night. Anyway, the ballroom was elegant, ambience was great, and the food was traiditonal, but good. The shark's fin in the soup was huge, chicken in plum sauce was not too rich but tasty and the abalone in 'abalone with spinach' was quite big. The dessert (mango sago with ice cream) was superb i had 2 servings!

Sunday, i had a 'surprise' (did not succeed because i found out about it) - Ning Ning came back from Sydney for the weekend! So happy to see her! Ning ning, yea, u put on some weight, but u still look great and most importantly, u are happy, so who cares! =) Please take good care when u return to Aussie, and I am sure u will enjoy the rest of ur time there.. cannot wait to visit u next year!

Lovely lovely weekend, i wish every week is like that. But i sure know very clearly in my mind what i want in my life =) 1001 things i wanna do, just waiting for me to go do them!

I am sorry

I know I have not been a good daughter. More often than not, I am more concerned with my own life rather than with my parents'. Giving home allowance on time each month was the 'best' thing i think i ever did for them.. but it turned out to be a bad thing, as i wrongly made myself believe that i have been a good daughter as such, neglecting the basic respect that i should have for them.

Today my Dad slapped me for the first time ever since I can remember. Because I interrupted in an argument between him and my mum and I raised my voice. I always side with my mum because she is always the tolerant one giving in, and my Dad is someone who never thinks he is wrong. And me, being me, always step in to help my mum, and many times raised my voice in order to bring my point across to my dad. I think today i overdid it.

I am not angry or upset. Instead, it was a wake up call. Whatever it is, whether right or wrong, a daughter should never shout at his dad. and i did it too many times. I took it for granted that others can tolerate that temper of mine, and today i tested the limits of that threshold.

Today I also hugged my dad for the first time ever since I can remember. And I told him I am sorry..

There is no way i am going back to assurance. Never. Not even for one month.

oh yea, not forgeting to mention...

i got a wii fit from my dear this year!

who wants to play!!!

How i spent my day:

Went to the gym for an hour.
Had lunch with Angela at this korean restaurant at Square 2 (Novena).
IPL at Goldhill Plaza.
Went shopping (alone) at Orchard - bought a pair of earrings (love it!), Clarins hydrating serum (Clarins products are really good, even my facial therapist said my skin improved hehe), a Zara skirt, blue sleeveless top.
Wanted to take a bus home from the bus stop outside the Thai embassy and saw that they were having a Thai bazaar, so went in to walk one round. Bought a bag for work at $10 and a beaded ring for my mum. five bucks only! and she likes it! Saw a silver ring which i really like but it costs $45, so decided to give it a pass (still struggling whether to go back and buy).
Had dinner with family at home.

24 years have passed, and birthday ain't as exciting and special anymore. Its just like another day of the year, isn' it?
No longer need to specifcally have a good meal with family on this day, because it should really be done on any other day, you don't need an occasion for it.
And missing birthday wishes from some supposedly good friends? Well, people who wish you doesn't mean they really care (they may just probably got a reminder from facebook or friendster). And people who didn't wish (forgot or whatever) may still probably be the ones who will be there when u need them.

So whats so important about birthday anyway? There are so many other more significant occasions to celebrate.

I very well enjoyed today on my own =)
if only i had more money to shop. hahahaha.

the day after national day

He just made his way back to the US again...
For the past 2.5months, waking up with him by my side, sending me to and picking me from work almost everyday. And now gotta get used to life without him nearby again..

But its great that this is his final year! Getting closer and closer to the future we have worked so hard for.... =)

I will be waiting~~ I love you dear!

Hospitality and tourism in Singapore

Ubin seems like its a rather popular place for Singaporeans, cos three of the guys met their friends there. How coincidental can it get?

I also noticed a trend of more people spending their weekends at the nature trails att bukit timah, hsbc tree top walk etc... think Singapore really getting more and more boring. Its true, though I am a Singaporean and I should be proud of what we have, but the tourist attractions in Singaporea really pale in comparison to other countries.

Just a week before Ubin, Ah C and I accompanied his younger sis to spend a at Sentosa. We went to the Cineblast for the new "Desperado" big-screen video game and "extreme log ride", damn horrible la.

1) First, must wait very long, like 45mins for the log ride

2) the service horrible + terrible +atrocious

3) the system got major problem - the ride stopped for three times because they claimed someone removed their seatbelt, when apparently no one did. Because they said someone in our car removed seatbelt, and the 6 of us in our car stared at each other innocently.... like what the hell.

4) the ride was neither extreme nor thrilling nor fun - even Ah C's 10-year old sister who hasn't taken a roller coaster before said so

5) the stupid ride costs $16 for 10mins (i rather pay $70 to go disneyland/universal studios/seaworld/cedarpoint for one whole day and take over 10 MUCH BETTER rides)

And we went spent $8 each to go up to the Merlion. Hmm to see a lot of trees. Waste of $$.

And I also totally don't recommend anyone to take the Singapore Flyer. I went there about a year ago during one of our CG (company) outing. The ride up was still ok, though there is really nothing much to see cos the IR is still in construction. I was dying the ride down cos its so boring.I definitely would't pay $30 for that ride, maybe until the IR is up. I am so glad I didn't pay for that ride.

Some time back, a visiting intern from Hong Kong asked me where I can recommend her to go to. Sure, a lot of 'tourist attractions' came to my mind. But as I was thinking through to give a more valued opinion, it struck me that there is nothing I could really recommend.

Forget about the 'tourist attractions' if you come visit Singapore. Just go to the cultural sites such as Chinatown and Little India, and eat the food I say!

Pulau Ubin

One saturday a few weeks back, Ah C and I, together with his primary school good friends, whom we meet up with every holiday he's back, went on a day trip to Pulau Ubin - my first time in 24 years!

I didn't know its so near - only 10-mins ferry ride away from Changi Jetty! But its quite troublesome to get to Changi Jetty la, its all the way at Changi Village hawker centre. Have to take mrt to bedok, then take bus #2 for half hour to Changi Village. Anyway, we rented a bicycle each to get around in Ubin, and the bike rentals are cheap - only $6 each for one entire day. Of cos, you can get those better, newer ones at $10-$12 also.

We cycled on the east trail for two hours in the morning, before we stopped for lunch near the jetty (Pulau Ubin side). The zi-char was pretty good and reasonably priced! We had sambal stingray, kangkong, hot plate tofu, butter fried prawns, lemon chicken and the meal for 7 of us costs about $80, including drinks. And I love the coconuts at pulau ubin.. but they are called thai coconuts so I am not very sure if they are from thailand or pulau ubin, hehe. Anyway they are big, the juice is sweet and refreshing, the flesh is soft and easily scrapped from the shell and cost only $2.50 each. Ah C and I had 5 in total!

Some pictures:


After lunch, we embarked on the west trail for about another 2 hours. The west trail is so much more fun! Cos rambutans are in season and we saw a lot of rambutan trees! haha damn bo liao, but we actually stopped and tried to pick the rambutans - by throwing sticks and all sorts of objects at the bunches of rambutans high up, hoping to hit them down. Super hilarious.



Anyway we failed miserably cos after almost half an hour of effort, only one rambutan dropped. And the worse thing is, we only took a small bite before Ivan accidentally dropped it on the floor..... so heart pain! We decided to give up and continued cycling west. But before long, we saw one Malay auntie and his friend picking rambutans also. They are super professional, cos the guy climbed up the tree and used a fruit picker to pick the rambutans. Their rambutans drop from the trees.. in bunches. And they were very nice to give us a few bunches! The auntie said that they stay in Jurong and goes to Ubin every week to relax... so cool!

Our gifts - rambutans! Very sweet and yummy cos the rough skin doesn't stick to its flesh (probaly cos they are freshly-picked):

We settled down before a lake/quarry to savour our prized possession haha!

It was a tiring, but lovely day spent =)

PS: If you go to Pulau Ubin and are not as lucky as us to meet the Malay lady who gave us their rambutans for free, you can still buy them at $2.50 a bunch near the jetty =P

Distance

Distance keeps people apart physically, and maintaining a relationship takes effort, be it bgr, friendship or kinship. It takes two hands to clap, so if effort is lacking on one side, there is nothing much that can be done. There are things that I really treasure, but sometimes its just not easy to hold on to them.

Wedding bells~ling ling ling~

Long time no blog!

As my close friends would have known by now (if i had the chance to talk to you), i am OFFICIALLY getting married in July 2010! Finally went to the geomancer to get an auspicious date (3 July). cos we simply couldn't wait for the new Tong Shu to be out as Ah C might be back in the US already.

So the last two weeks were spent researching on hotels, wedding and photography packages, wedding must-knows, and budgeting for our wedding.

After going to three different bridal shops, we finally signed a wedding package with My Dream Wedding! Its not the cheapest package around but I really love their photography styles and photo enhancing techniques! Their wedding gowns are nice too =) But yea, the actual selection of the wedding gowns will be 1-3months before the photoshoot (in Dec) and the wedding itself (July 2010), so haven't choose yet! Tried a few styles though and i conclude that.... I MUST REALLY LOSE WEIGHT AND GET TONER!

Then based on our estimated number of guests (min and max # of tables) and requirements (nice ballroom and good food), we shortlisted several hotels, including:
- Regent Hotel (under Four Seasons Group)
- Marriott
- Merchant Court
- Marina Mandarin
- Fullerton
We had some issues with the Intercontinental coordinator so dropped them.Don't like Sheraton Towers lobby and ballroom, so dropped them. Four Seasons was considered, but they can only accomodate max 32 tables, so dropped. Basically we are really keen on Fullerton, and will prob do a wedding lunch because most of the shortlisted hotels are already booked for dinner on 3 July (sat). Unless we don't mind the hassle of stretching the wedding to two days on 3rd and 4th July, we will prob settle everything in one day by doing a lunch banquet. Yeap yeap! and lunch seems to be rather popular nowadays too cos guests tend to arrive on time and do not need to rush off (cos its getting late) before dessert is served.

Oh yea, talking about planning the budget, seems like the wedding is going to cost us like 20k or so... and we realised that Ah C's miles will not expire as long as he continues charging to his card, so we decided its only practical to cancel my Nov US trip. Yea, gotta spend wisely from now on! Cos we might be getting a house too.... and it will cost us like prob 50k for the downpayment, renovation and furnishings.

And also after a thorough process of rationalising, I prob won't be going aussie for my studies next year. It will be wiser to wait till Ah C finish his BWC, get a higher pay before i start flying around with him. Ya lo... if not who's going to pay for my monthly insurance premiums, give allowance to my mummy and support my monthly maintenance. Also, if we get a house, we have to pay the monthly mortgage too! But don't worry Ning gal, i will still go aussie for holiday and visit u!

Getting married is so expensive!!! but as long as we are working towards our dream... i really think everything is worth it =)

USA Summer 2009

I am back from the United States and and despite the swine flu scare, the long 22-hour flight from Singapore to San Francisco and many not-so-enjoyable internal transfers within the U.S (security checks, transit times and flight delays), i had a great time throughout the whole trip =D

I did so many activities of different nature:

- hiked about 5hours, 900m up upper yosemite falls

- cycled 3 hours from fisherman's wharf to and across golden gate bridge and back

- attended a memorable Ring Dance in USAFA

- spent 5 luxurious days on board the Royal Carribean Cruise in the Carribean Sea

- played for four magical days in Walt Disney World and Seaworld in Orlando

- ate the best vietnamese food in my life at Lemongrass Bistro in C. Springs and is craving for more.

And the list goes on.... I want to write in detail about all that I did but I don't even know where to start with, so I decided not to, maybe i will just post some photos on FB or an online album (when I have set up one?). Or blog about it when i am really free and patient.

Anyway, I got to meet many of Ah C's friends when i went up to C. Springs. I am glad that my dear is surrounded by a group of really nice people who are very friendly and sincere and who made me felt very comfortable. I really wish I could talk to them more and get to know them better, but i guess i simply could not do away with my introvert personality, especially among people I have not known for long. Argh... I hope I did not appear arrogant or unfriendly to them as there is a tendency that people find me fierce on the first impression! Nevertheless, its good that my dear is in good company when I am not around =)

Hohoho... looking forward to more pho and thai iced tea should i visit again in November ~ =P

the strength of a kid's mind

To have to deal with the separation of your parents.
Being reprimanded for something which u feel was not your fault but you couldn't really say more to defend yourself.
Having to deal with your parents dating (someone else) once again.
The simple wish of having a happy family.
The yearn for freedom.
All these without showing it on your face, how strong can a kid get?

Quizno and Tully's

Yesterday, HM invited us(me, yingni and jac attended) to the Hungry Guppies Attack for a free tasting of Quizno sandwiches and Tully's coffee drinks! Trust me, its nothing like sub***, Quizno is way better!

The 'Attack' started with an introduction of Quizno and Tully's (such as where they originated from, their specialties, the process of making the sandwiches and drinks, and how they are different from others).

It wasn't long before we start our actual tasting..and of cos we got to try three of their best-selling sandwiches!

Zesty Grill Steak (My favourite!)
thinly-sliced beef steak, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, mushrooms and sauteed onions with honey bourbon mustard and zesty grille sauce

Classic Italian (hmm, a bit too salty for me)

salami, pepperoni, honey ham, mozerella cheese, black olives, lettuce, tomato, red onion with red wine vinaigrette

Mesquite Chicken (huge chunks of chicken with fresh greens!)

mesquite chicken, bacon, cheddat cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion with ranch dressing

We also got to try one of the classic sandwiches,

Smokey Chilli Turkey (a classic. love the crusty white bread with sesame seeds)

smoked turkey, bacon, cheddar cheese, red onion with mild chipotle mayo and fresh cilantro

The generous portions of tasty meat and fresh greens served in a variety of bread toasted to a crispy-on-the-outside-and-soft-and -fluffy-on-the-inside perfection in their special toaster, were absolutely yummylicious.

In addition, you can help yourself to the free-flow pepper (jalapeno, pepperoni, etc) and sauce bar for additional filling to your sanwiches, though i say the sandwiches are good enough on their own.

Did I mention that the cookies are served warm such that the chocolate oozes out as you pull out a slice ot it? and they are so chewy you can't stop at one slice.

Tully's coffee were good too but if only we had bigger tasting portions! =P

I would definitely go back to Quizno and Tully's again. Sandwich lovers join me!

The ever social butterfly OYN

Not sure how it even started, but... conversation between YN and the taxi driver:

YN: Uncle you should visit some time ( referring to Timbre)
Uncle: No la, its past our time already
YN: where got, they play dancing queen you know
Uncle: haha they not original abbas, should play dancing king
(what?!?)

then dunno how... the conversation became like this...
Uncle: you diana rozz ah?
YN: no la...
uncle: or Pastor Kong's wife?
YN: haha that one not bad
Uncle: if I am her I won't get married to Paster Kong la. Her husband earn so much, she still must come out and sing
YN: but she like mah
Uncle: you know i attend their service before, service become go and hear her sing
YN: her mini concert mah
Uncle: if i am her i don't sing la, husband earn so much still come out and sing

and then the conversation evolves...
YN: wah uncle, still got city surcharge?
Uncle: ya got, the clock havent show 12 yet (pointing to the time on the satelite monitor)
YN: uncle can waive anot? 6 more minutes only...
Uncle: cannot la, the meter automatic one, if i give u discount i spoil market
YN: oh.. cannot never mind la, try bargain only. don't worry about it
(Just before alighting)
Uncle: ok i waive for you (the meter showing $10.10), you just give me $10, give you 10cent discount
(-_- first time take taxi can "bargain" one...)

something interesting to share

Please see video at

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/43463402.html#

!!!

Weekend is here!

i couldn't resist and opened my bottle of pinot noir. shiok.
can't wait for a fun-filled day tomorrow.

boo.. my indian assistant manager decided to book me for another week. why i so honest tell him i got no booking after next week?! but in a way its good also.. at least the client is nice, and i save money eating in this industrial area where food is relatively cheap. and my fate is at least decided so i wont kena some worse job. and i am ready to fly in a week after the job ends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

three whole weeks. yum. =D

The Proposal

Yea, a rather back-dated post again but due to its importance, i have decided to create a blog entry about it. Will keep it short and sweet though!

10 July 2007 was the second happiest day of my life. Cos what was supposedly a day of a short getaway turned out to be the day i was getting engaged to my boy of 5 years.

It started out with the usual sentosa routine, taking the sentosa tram, getting a spot at the beach and lazing for a couple of hours.

We then checked into our room at the Sentosa Spa and Resort before heading for our spa treatment at Spa Botanica. I really love the room!

After our spa, we headed back to our room and dressed up for dinner. Yea, Ah C said must dress up abit cos its a fine-dining restaurant.

Hee, feeling really good after the spa =P

We had dinner at The Cliff and it was al fresco.. pretty nice environment just beside the pool.

After dinner, we were supposed to go and catch the Songs of the Sea. But Ah C insisted that we crossed over the bridge at Palawan to take pictures. There and then, i realised that all the activities planned for the day were not for a simple reason.... and.... he proposed...

with many light sticks,

99 roses,

and a diamond ring.

and of cos all the activities he planned for the day.

But he will only marry me three years later.... so off la! anyway two years have passed... and i dun care, u have to ask me again next year (dear i know u are reading this).

Anyway, i said that was the second happiest day in my life.

Cos i guess the happiest day will be the day i marry my love =)