One Sentence Journal l 6 - 8 January 2017

Didn't get to blog the last few days, hence a 3 in 1!

6 January was our last day in Maldives. Wish we had stayed longer. The highlight of the trip was definitely the snorkeling with turtles! Also visited a sand bank which was so untouched.

Back in Singapore on 7 January early morning and rested at my parent's place for the rest of the day before heading home. It's good to be home despite the post holidays blues :p

Started 8 January, the first Sunday of the year, with Piloxing which I really enjoy. Have not really seen the results though so perhaps time to up the ante this year? Maybe join 1 more cardio activity weekly - hmmm... shall see if this comes true. Bought the very first fridge of my life today and well, had sundae at Sunday Folks for the very first time too! Yummy for a super sunny day! And no queue :)

Not bad a weekend before starting the first work week of 2017 tomorrow!

One Sentence Journal l 5 January 2017

Still beach bumming at Maldives and wondering at nature's creations. Spot the kingfisher we spotted on the way to breakfast?

One Sentence Journal l 4 January 2017

Surreal to blog under the stars in our Maldives resort tonight. For city dwellers, it's almost impossible to see stars from the comfort of our home. It's been an eat-excursion-beach-eat-swim-excursion-eat day 2. Life's a beach, for now.

One Sentence Journal l 3 January 2017

It's great to listen to the waves and blog in the water villa in our resort in Maldives. Feel blissed to be in Maldives which is indeed beautiful and Cinnamon Dhonveli is quite a nice property.

Went for the Dolphin Sunset Cruise, half sceptical that we might not see any. Very blissed to see so many! Happiness!!

And double the happiness to see the sun setting from the sea! :)

都忘记了原来幸福可以很简单. 

Kenting! 垦丁很美！

I just pressed about Kenting in ilovelongvacation!

Half a year later, I cannot remember the name of this beach. But I remember its beauty

Half a year later, I cannot remember the name of this beach. But I remember its beauty

Half a year later, I cannot remember the name of this beach. But I remember its beauty

Half a year later, I cannot remember the name of this beach. But I remember its beauty. 

Half a year later, I cannot remember the name of this beach. But I remember its beauty

Seoul - Siloam Sauna, Sigolbapsang, Passion5, Young Plaza and Lotte Department Store

Have not blogged about my travels for a while, especially here. Been thinking of consolidating both the blogs (the other being http://ilovelongvacation.wordpress.com/) because I realise I don't have much time (and content) these days. Will see how - it's tough because both are so close to my heart...

Well, I mentioned briefly about my Seoul trip in end March (we just missed the full bloom cherry blossom by a bit :( ). Went with my sister C and my cousin SS (our first trip together) so it was quite fun :) Took Cathay Airline because it was relatively cheaper and the timing of the flights matched all our schedules. But it was a red-eye flight with a short stop-over in Hong Kong airport so we were a bit jet-lagged when we arrived in Incheon at 6am...



Headed for a local sauna after we left our luggage at the hotel. Siloam is near Lotte Mart (nearest subway station is Seoul Station). Quite interesting. Besides the sauna, Siloam houses many levels of entertainment but we didn't take any pictures inside because we didn't want to intrude into the privacy of the local community - in the changing area, many were walking around in their birthday suits! Haha.

Not really sure what we were doing - the language barrier is quite apparent here because it serves mainly the locals, I think. We soaked in many different types of pools and followed by trying the different sleeping areas set at different temperatures with different setting e.g. salt, jade. We also tried the BBQ eggs and fermented barley drinks - those you see in Korean drama! Haha. There were many other facilities available e.g. gym, karaoke, hair salon, massage spas, restaurants etc. Definitely a place where you can spend a day to relax! Cannot remember how much it costs but I recall telling my sister that the amount is value for money :P



After the bath, we went to Itaewon for lunch and decided to try Sigolbapsang, a small traditional Korean restaurant. There, we tried so many classic banchans for a flat price of 8,000 won each!



Very sumptuous lunch - I think we over-ordered. Should have just ordered 1 more ala-carte instead of 2! Didn't imagined that we will be served so many banchans!



Seafood pancake. I really like this version because it was over-flowing with seafood! Really miss it as I blogged. Yummy!



Spicy chicken stew which was also huge! Thought it would be a spicy chicken soup that will warm us, not fill us up!

After lunch, we explore Itaewon where many foreigners hang out. The area is large with shops, cafes, galleries lining the entire stretch. I'm sure there are many hidden gems somewhere in the gil and dong but we did not really seek them out. Haha. Still suffering from our red-eye flight...



Then we stopped at this place - Passion 5 - for coffee. Didn't manage to take any pictures but the  café was gorgeous with pastries both savoury and sweet! We just had coffee, no thanks to our overfilling lunch. Would have been nice to try some of the sweets... Hmmm...



My mocha - I always have this notion that in a good cup of coffee, the coffee art stays till the last drop if you don't stir it. Haha. Correct me if I'm wrong :P

Left Itaewon for Young Plaza, which was next to Lotte Department Store, which was near Myeungdong. SS checked out the SM Pop-Up Store. First time I heard of EXO. Haha. And this trip, my favourite was Mr.Mr, Mr.Mr. Haha.



While I checked out the highly-raved Style Nanda. Didn't buy any clothes but got away with some 3CE cosmetics :)



SS wanted to go back to the hotel at 6pm! Gosh! So we decided to have dinner at the Lotte Department Food Court to re-charge and to explore the Lotte Department Store a bit more before we call it a day. My cold noodles which was ok. Haha.

We found out that the departmental store closes at 8pm which I thought was really early for a shopping paradise like Seoul. Well, I guess everyone will just head to Nandaemun which we did in the later part of our trip - will share on that later.

It's like only 2 weeks since I'm back to reality. And I think I need a break again. If only we can travel every day...

BKK

 

Been quiet in October because I was out of town for a few days.

And partly because I have been trying to stay home at least one of the weekends.

Go read about my Bangkok trip in http://ilovelongvacation.wordpress.com/ :)

Hello from Bangkok!



Selfie at Wat Arun :)



And a video taken while climbing the prang (spire)!

Been struggling to be productive at work though - suffering from post holidays syndrome, I guess :P

Malacca

 

Been to Malacca thrice - twice for department trips. Guess the proximity of Malacca from Singapore makes for a good (but exhausting) one day trip.

Always new things to discover - didn't remember Hard Rock Café when I was at Jonker Street 2 years back and it seems like there are more cafes sprouting up in the area. So I might just make a trip there again this year (and perhaps include Port Dickson as part of the itinerary) since I have leave to clear :) We'll see...

 Jonker Street - Jonker 88

 

 

Realised that Jonker Street in the day is a bit different than night. We tried the Chendol and Laksa at Jonker 88 which is quite famous. There are other local food to try too but we were full. LOL.

Yummy Chendol - we tried three types! :)

And Gula Melaka goodness in all three!

Always like the shop houses in Jonker Street. Let's feast in the courtyard!

Laksa - a mixture of coconut and Assam. It's nice but the concoction might be a bit powerful for weak stomachs...

Earlier posts about Malacca:

My Golden Half - Roll 2

Laidback Malacca

 

City Square, Johor Bahru

 

And yes, we visited City Square again! And had the Taiwanese food again at Taiwan Nostalgia Café!

 

 

 

From top left/clockwise: Oyster Mee Sua, San Bei Chicken, Fruit/Flower tea...

 

 And dinner at Old Town White Coffee before we headed back to Singapore.

 

 

Didn't knew there is a tea-time set that you can order - comprises of a smaller portion of the main course and a drink. Value for money, I say!

 



New addition to City Square. Food court with interesting designs :)



And many new cafes too - always reasons to cross the causeway, I guess :)

 

Earlier posts on visits to City Square, Johor Bahru:

Across the causeway again

Marching on - JanuarIED

 

Hello Pandas!

Really happy to visit River Safari with GT and XF on Sunday! :) It is one of the latest attractions in Singapore under Wildlife Reserve Singapore and is Asia's first and only river-themed wildlife park!

 

While it is a pity the river boat ride and some exhibits were not ready yet, some good came out of it: we paid $25 for admission (will be $35 later) and the park was not very crowded. We could visit the pandas twice without having to queue at all! All good reasons to visit now and again later (more reasons to visit next year perhaps to try the ride and to see Jia Jia and Kai Kai again? :)). They were so cute! Pardon me, but I think I will be repeating 'cute' many times in this post :P

 

Taking a picture for keepsake at the entrance of River Safari, next to the Singapore Zoo! I am like so dwarfed by the giant pandas :P

 

The park was designed by the river theme and we saw different animals as we walked through the different river zones e.g. Yang Tze, Amazon, Nile etc. We were impressed by the animal enclosures - thought they were really clean and spacious for the animals, and enhanced our viewing pleasure as well.

 

The animals looked so 3D from our angle - very 'real' as though we were swimming next to them :P

 

Besides fishes, we also saw alligators!

 

Lunch was at mama panda kitchen, right next to where the pandas were. Food was ok. Price was also ok for a tourist attraction - we paid about SGD10 each.

 

Hello Panda! Bun with red bean stuffing. According to the menu, this is the favourite of Jia Jia and Kai Kai. LOL. Almost every customer ordered one (Really!).

 

Typical (and literal) Chinese-theme decorations - bamboos and red lanterns :)

 

The beautiful red pandas were the giant pandas' neighbour. Very cute too! They were very active - running around all the times, chasing each other up and down the trees and fooling around :) Kept us so entertained! So cute!



Kai Kai, the male giant panda! He was sleeping the first time we saw him and then woke up for a while the second time. Found him to be a bit grumpy and clumsy as he moved around his enclosure a little before disappearing into the cave behind him :P Such a teaser! Very cute!



Jia Jia, the female giant panda! She was hiding in her cave the first time and we could only see a bit of her head and view Jia Jia via a live feed from a CCTV installed in her cave :) Apparently she is very shy! We were lucky the second time and spotted her eating bamboos! A hungry panda is shy no more! LOL. Very cute! Jia Jia is more dainty compared to Kai Kai, although she was ripping her bamboos apart!

  

Me and Jia Jia in the background :p

 


There is a serene air about River Safari. A bit quiet, a bit rustic... unlike Singapore Zoo which is more lively... Not sure if it is because the crowds have not arrived yet. But I do hope its serenity remains. Would be a very nice place to think away...



Graceful were the mermaids (Dugongs) despite their size!

 


It was a pleasure to see them dancing in their enclosure. And heart-warming to see happy adults and children dancing with them :)

 

Would say the mermaids are very lucky to have such a big and beautiful home! River Safari is beautifully and environmentally built, I must say!

 

The squirrel common monkeys were very cute too! You can see them up close and person in their enclosure :)



And I do think we have one of the best souvenir stores in our zoos that enticed even the locals (me!)! See the green hat and cap adorned with River Safari animals? Was so tempted to get them. Nice!

More cute souvenirs to make you happy! :)

 
It was drizzling most of the time and fortunately, River Safari is well-sheltered. It was a simple trip that made my day. Yes, happiness can be so simple! :)

Marching on - FebruarIED

Following yesterday's post on how I JanuarIED, here's how I FebruarIED :P

Joined a Love Hunt race on the first day of February. Think I blogged about it earlier - click here for the story!

Took this while waiting for the race to start. My S3 camera's self portrait feature has been cranky these days, hence this ártistic' shot. Please don't die on me! :(

 

 



Found during more spring cleaning. T-shirts of the good old days. Time to say goodbye to them! All have turned yellow with age. Not before some pictures for keepsake :l

Getting ready for Chinese New Year. Blogged already - click here! :)

 

Me in Cheongsam bought from Beijing last year on the first day of the Snake Year! Still getting ang baos from relatives - a bit weird. But well, it's still Happy Lunar New Year!:)

 

Birthday staycation with the girls in Angsana Bintan :) Lovely beach.
 

Champagne and Cake! Thanks, girls :) Will press more about this staycation in my wordpress soon - ilovelongvacation, so check it!

Glad to celebrate my XXth Birthday with Mama PY! Happy Birthday!



Birthday cake from the family! Napoleon Ice Cream cake from Swensens - hmmm...



Attended Social Media Marketing course at National University Singapore, ISS. Great to see NUS Business School again after so many years! And it was an interesting course...learnt a lot...

 

Singapore Flyer. Finally! Thanks to YK for the treat.




A 360-degree view of Singapore landscape...

  

 



My homeland has changed so much over the years!

 

Belated Birthday lunch with SP at Oriole Cafe. Food was good. Piccolo coffee was a bit strong. Definitely a nice place to chill on a Monday afternoon :)



Birthday treat from Godiva. Did not expected such generosity. Thanks!



Lunch at Golden Shoe market after meeting a headhunter from Hong Kong at Chevron House.




Lunch was cheap and good - only $3.30 for popiah and lor mee! I miss CBD. Really :

So this was how I FebruarIED. I 'fika' too (think I did blogged about them...will check and blog if I have not). Wanted to give myself a treat for all the job-hunting - definitely need the boost to continue Marching :P