Soupy lunch at 一家村

Happy to leave office at 6.30pm today. Guess I'm winding down for the long 2-week break ahead. Often, it's really about letting go, trusting others and not trying too hard to prove myself. And I do think that is one of my big takeaways since I came back to work - a new philosophy of life, I guess...

So here's a post about one of my lunches at work last week - so much about letting go. LOL. Had soup at Arcade, Raffles Place. It has been such a long time since I last had lunch at this Chinese soup place 一家村 :)




Pig Intestine Soup

With Yam Rice - so full!

If you are thinking of having delicious soup when you are at Raffles Place, check this out. A variety of soup to choose from, different menu everyday :)

Happy to say goodbye to September and welcome October

Tomorrow is the beginning of the last quarter of the year. 
Surreal how September/October has an impact on my career in the past year.
Last year this time, I made the decision to leave SS and said goodbye to a job that kind of didn't fit.
And this year, I will report to a new boss after beginning my new role 5 months ago.
Not sure how it pans out but definitely a new start to a new quarter, one of the many new beginnings of the year.
It's complicated but the feeling seems to lean towards the right side of complexity.
Been taking it slow in the last few days of September.
And feeling ready to go all the way in October (or so I psych myself).
Perhaps to make up for the lack of it in the first quarter of the year. Because I still enjoy my job.
Happy to say goodbye to September and welcome October.

知己 l MCA

昨天与YK去看 《歌剧魅影》， 有一点感触。
近年发现老友与从前不同了。不知是不是岁月让大家不介意拆下面具。 以真面目示人并不是不好，但有时让人觉得不知所错。 也许有一些朋友应该疏远，也许 美国作家切波斯基在《壁花男孩》说的是：“物换星移，朋友离去。人生不会为任何人而停留。” - 美国作家切波斯基，取自《壁花男孩》

"Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody."
 - Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower 

Well, it's kind of funny how the opening paragraphs lead to a post about the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (MCA). Well, I guess a museum is a place where I like to visit without friends. Although I visited  MCA with a group of friends. LOL.





 

Our guide for the day who took us through various artwork that were contemporary in a nice way. Not sure if you know what I mean but some contemporary art can be too overwhelming! 

At the entrance facing the harbour...Maybe this man was waiting for the rain to stop too... 

A peek at The Rocks from MCA :)

 

And here's a peek into MCA via below video. I like how the museum show glimpses of its surrounding through the windows. It feels so integrated, like how art should be integrated in life :) Guess I would have lingered longer if I was not travelling or if I was travelling solo... and I really look forward to my next solo trip...

 

慢活 l Pies & Coffee

八月十八日，艳阳高照

好久没有用华语blog 了。
慢活是我最近上网时看到的。慢活应该是指慢慢地活，不被时间环境限制吧。
慢活人人向往，但在生活步伐如此快的都市，可能慢活吗？
即时在旅行时，也未必能够慢活。赶飞机，赶火车，赶巴士。赶导览，赶开幕，赶关门。
赶赶赶。有时我们觉得旅行就是慢活，但有时我们只是重演了办公室里的快活。　
我想，要学习慢活就应该从生活开始。我真的很想学习慢活，从这一刻开始慢慢地活。

今天本想九点起身去游泳。结果九点半才醒来。吃吃早餐，看看报纸，十点半才出发。游呀游就午时了。本来想去tiong bahru一带吃brunch，却临时改变主意，去了rochester mall pies & coffee。一来，还没去过那。二来，觉得那会清幽些。就这样游游永，喝喝茶，吃吃派，看看杂志报纸过了几个小时。
我不知道这算不算慢活，但我好像慢慢地活过来了。也许这才是慢活的定义。



Pies & Coffee at Rochester Mall, next to The Star Vista, is such a sanctuary! There were so few people around, contrary to what I thought...

My simple yet yummy lunch - lamb shank pie and yuzu tea.



The last time I had lamb meat was at Sydney where I had a lamb burger... Some of my friends don't like lamb meat because of the 'smell' it exudes. But I like it - it's what made lamb meat special, right? Very tender and savoury. I did not try the other pies, which I will (soon, I hope). But I'm quite sure the other pies taste equally good!



Hot yuzu tea. I wanted to order an ice honey yuzu tea but I guess I did not order the correct item. Quite interesting - not sure if yuzu is a spice, but as tea leaves, the spice flavour was quite strong. Maybe I should have ordered a coffee, since the café is Pies & Coffee. LOL.

Listening to the fountain, facing the colonial building that houses Starbucks. And quite devoid of a crowd. What a sanctuary!

There's indoor seating too for those who need the air con. Go for the outdoor, I say. It's really quite windy and with the sound of the fountain in the background, it was quite therapeutic. And guess what? I spot some power outlets along the wall, so this could be a good place to surf the net and blog. LOL

Found the Piettiquete in the Pies & Coffee website so funny! I just ate it - I'm so unpiettiquete! LOL.

 

For those who do not understand what I posted in Chinese, it was about slowing down in life. And I really felt that Pies & Coffee helped me to slow down today :) The popular cafes are really crowded these days, so if you are looking for a quiet place to chill, do check it out :)

PS: Trying to upload a short video of the café so you get what I mean about the place being a sanctuary :) Stay tuned!

July - Random thoughts...

Before I start to blog about happenings in August, I thought I will share some random thoughts about July. And they are, interestingly, related to work (kind of).
 

View from my office where I was getting water.
My thought: Too beautiful a day to be in office :P That's the thought that always run through my mind on a really bright and sunny day. I would rather be, well, at the beach or just chilling somewhere :)



Lunch alone one day - Macaroni and Cheese soup and Soba Salad from Soup Spoon
My thought: The salad is nicer than the soup! Well, perhaps a wrong choice of soup :P I utilised the Shape Run $5 voucher, so lunch was about $7plus with soup, salad and chips :)

 

 

Farewell Lunch for Intern D! At Au Chocolat in MBS! Was there with YK a few months (click here) and this time I tried the brunch :)
My thought: The food is really good! From top: Hens in a basket, Vongole Pasta, King's Breakfast. Lunch was kind of a rush because I had to go back for a meeting :( But still good :) That's working life. Sigh.

Overdue brunch with Intern D. Haha.
My thoughts: Glad to have connected with D, my neighbour at work for  a few months. Kind of understand what my previous boss ST said about mixing around with young people :) I'm still learning, I guess. And it has been a long long time since I visited The Marmalade Pantry. Was it back in 2008? Or 2010? Nicer than I remember :)

 

I.T. shop is finally in Singapore, at Wisma Atrium! And I decided to pop by after I parted with D. My second time there. Did not see anything I really like during my first visit....
My thought: Splurged on a dress (bottom picture) which was quite unique - it is made of a sweater cum skirt. And separates mean that I could wear them separately too! Pretty and simple- my style. LOL. Should work well for both work and fun. I also like the white t-shirt with jewels but I thought it did not fit as well as I wanted it to be. It has been in my mind since though. Perhaps I should have gotten it then, since a total of $150 purchase will entitle me to a life time member which in turn will entitle me to a 10% discount on future purchase. Haha. What a mouthful :P

 

Well, my final thought: Admit it or not, work is such a big part of our lives that we would be deceiving ourselves if we do not feel anything about it :) And July marks 3 months in my current job which is a key milestone, kind of. It has been a good (busy) journey so far, and I definitely feel that that I am enjoying what I do and learning in the process. Good for a start, I guess :)

Sephora Hot Wheels

TGIF! Thought I will post this before the weekend so you can try to catch the Sephora Hot Wheels which I heard will be moving to Jems Shopping Centre...


At Vivo City last Sunday! Picture was taken after the free express manicure. Was surprised to see no queues and I got my nails done in a twinkle :) Was a beautiful day!

Mint. From Butter. My blink blink collar t-shirt is from Suwon, Korea. 

Spotted the Sephora bus again today at Lau Pa Sat :P This time, there were more people so I had time to snap a few pictures :)



Ciata. Did my nails with Ciata products this time.

How the express manicure stations look like....

Rows of Butter.

 

Posing with my new nails colour and the goody from the goodie bag I got last Saturday.

 

The nails look really pink in real life. But prettier in reel life :P

Glad I spotted the bus today because I don't think I will be near Jems tomorrow. Good opportunity to try the bright colours, I say :) Some of the students in front of the queue asked for a different pop of colour on each nail!!!年轻真好!
 

Popiah ~ Chinese wrap? :)

Come weekends, I try to stay home at least one day (usually Sundays) - to either 'work' personal stuff or just do nothing or anything I feel like doing :) After 5 days at the real work, it feels really good to have time for yourself and recharge!

And one of the weekends, we had home-cooked popiah! :)



Ingredients that go into the popiah... the good thing about home-cooked popiah is you can choose the ingredients you like :)

In the making. I love the peanut :)

Ready-to-eat popiah :)

And here's a video of my brother making the popiah - not really the way Singapore hawkers do it. But well, that's home-cooked style, right? :)

And I grabbed some videos from you-tube on how popiahs are wrapped, in case you are wondering :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZgI4UsHTvY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZaEXyhPi5M

Now I'm reminded that I have blogged about what I tried to cook at home - check them out! :P
-Make your own Japanese Curry
-Baby potatoes with herbs and a Merry Christmas!
-Topokki Rice Cakes

Happy Sunday, everyone! Guess I'm just going to do nothing today - maybe blog. Haha.

One of the best things about working late...

One of the best things about working late...Is the beautiful night scene of the marina bay.
There are several ways I get to and fro work, and walking by the bay is one.

***

It has been about 6 weeks since I started working again. A recent chat with the intern sitting next to me has been flashing in my mind for a few days. Her dream (kind of) is to be a host of travel programmes (like Discovery, quote unquote her). And I said it's good!

It's funny because we better articulate dreams when we were younger. Now when people asked me what is my dream, it is tough to talk about it. I wanted to be a news anchor when I was young. It made me decided to study communication studies. Then in the course of it all, I realised that it is not so easy to be one. So I chose what I am doing now because it is the closest thing next to it (or rather the closest thing  I could do). It's funny because reality/life kind of took our dreams away...

Douter Coffee@Marina Bay Financial Centre

Not sure about you, but sometimes I just feel like having lunch alone. And I did that last Thursday at Douter Coffee at Marina Bay Financial Centre.



Douter Coffee is bigger than it looks on the outside. Not crowded before 12noon, so quite a cosy place to lunch alone.



Honey Sugar to go with the ice tea. Nice.



Avocado & Shrimp sandwich. Bread is nicely toasted. Like the mashed eggs in the sandwich. Felt more like a Shrimp & Egg sandwich :P

The wall can dance - watch the video if you don't believe me. This kept me well-entertained throughout lunch :)

 

 

Have a great work week ahead, everyone!

The Fabulous Baker Boy

I know I sound like a broken recorder....

 

It has been tough trying to find time to blog these days. Have been trying to commit at least one hour everyday on checking emails/social media. Started this post yesterday by uploading the pictures :P

 

I wanted to visit The Fabulous Baker Boy in early April before I start work. Unfortunately it was not opened on the day I went (it is closed every Monday). It is located at The Foothills, opposite Liang Court. It occupies part of what used to be the River Valley Swimming Pool. For those of you of my generation (you know who you are :p), there was an aquarium right on the hill many years back. Ah, childhood memories of school excursions after exams! :)

 

It was near Mohd Sultan, so GT, XF and I decided to check it out after visiting the UT Pop-Up Singapore and dinner at Liang Court.

 

The café was quite cosy and quaint, seating not more than 10 tables. So the noise level was ok and the three of us need not shout to make ourselves heard nor strained to hear each other :P Most of the seats were outdoor, so it felt rather alfresco (might be a bit humid on some nights though).   

 

Heard that the Red Velvet Cake is good so we gave it a try. Very light, not too sweet. :P Will go quite well with a cup of coffee, which none of us had as it was getting late and we don't need the caffeine :P

We had the house ice tea instead which I like - tasted a hint of tea fragrance...

Besides drinks and cakes, the café also serves proper meals. Going by the items we tried, I do assume that the food will not be too heavy on the palate ( and stomach and pocket - we paid less than SGD6 each!). I have this feeling that it will be prettier in the day so will try to return soon to FIKA! :)

UT Pop-Up Singapore

It has been a jam-packed week, both physically and emotionally. Now that I am working, many activities are taking place during the weekends (and after working hours). Come to think of it, I'm thankful to the mid-week break on Labour Day. One activity I really want to find time for is to blog. So here I am, trying to squeeze in an hour (hopefully less) before meeting SF for Shakespeare in the Park - Othello this evening! :)

 

XF and GT wanted to meet for dinner yesterday and I suggested we go to the UT Pop-Up Singapore before that. Interesting event. Although we did not managed to buy any stuff as we did not see any UT shirts we really fancy ( they were either out of stock or sizes). Maybe because we went too late?

 

Cool venue was 72-13 @ Mohd Sultan. A place to consider if you want to hold any corporate events. Thumbs up to Uniqlo for being 'first-mover' in selecting the venue for the 2013 UT Pop-Up SIN!   

 

Unlike the bright and cheery Uniqlo stores, there was a dark and misty air in this pop-up store. Guess the organisers were trying to evoke a arty hippy indie ambiance, maybe along the line of artist workshop (think Andy Warhol factory)...

Of course, the highlight was the UT shirts! Many collaborations were on display - think Disney, National Geographic, Laduree etc.



Wanted to get one of the Lula Guinness t-shirts but did not see any around on sale :( Will check out the stores later. *WINK WINK*



Local band performances by.... Kudos to Uniqlo for its CSR efforts to promote local art in its events!



A customised give-away! Well, I did walked away with something :P The organisers tried to engage guests with video-taking/photo-taking activities - wear UT shirts to get discount coupons for participation. Nice touch, although the staff were looking a bit weary! Somehow, I feel bad for them... Cheer up!

 



Buses to ferry visitors to and fro the venue from City Hall and Somerset MRT stations! Amazed that they even painted the bus for a 2-day campaign!



I find UT Pop-Up SIN quite cool. It's still on today, so you may want to check it out if you are in Singapore or Mohd Sultan area. A nice way to end your weekend if you do not have any plans. Happy Sunday! :)

At the close of a long vacation...

By the time you read this, I will be in Sydney where I will spend the last week or so of my long vacation. Come to think of it, I am glad that the first and last leg of this vacation is a trip overseas :)

I have not figured out how to mobile-blog on blogger yet and I will try to update my wordpress blog ilovelongvacation, twitter (@ilovelongvacatn) and instagram (@ilovelongvcation), so do check them if you like to know how I am sydneyING :P Meanwhile, I might schedule and post some long overdue posts of the last few weeks.

While it is a cliche to say that time flies, it is true that 6 months have raced past for me, especially in the last few weeks or so - I felt an urgency to do more as I count down to the final days and also look forward to new career challenges very soon.

By then, this long vacation would have lasted exactly 191 days (yes I decided to do a count :p). I know I am lucky to have been able to take a break of more than half a year, a 'luxury' that excludes many because this is LIFE - the life they wanted, the life they think they should live, the life they have to live. Such is life.

While I do not have much to show for my professional life for the last few months, I would like to think that I have more to show for my personal life.

• Travelled to Scandinavia (partly solo, partly with my brother) and visited Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), Oslo (Norway), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Reykjavik (Iceland). Glad I have travelled alone more than once in my life! So agree with Huff Post Travel post: Why Every Woman Should Travel Alone (At Least Once in Her Life)  :)

At Unesco site, Suomenlinna in Helsinki, Finland. Read more at Suomenlinna Story.

• Blogged more. In this blog, the total number of views was 4746 and last month alone saw 568 views! In the other blog, the number of followers have grown from under 10 since it started in late 2011 to over 50 today! Happy to share my stories and thoughts with more people.

• Learnt more about social media and became more active! I twittered more @ilovelongvacatn @chan5013 and joined Pinterest @ilovelongvacatn and Instagram @ilovelongvcation.

• Reaffirmed what I want to do professionally. Communications is still close to my heart. I really want to use my strength/experience in this area to make a bigger difference. Taking various courses and talking to career coaches have definitely given me a clearer direction. I have also learnt from people I met in the course of it all.

• Explored the backyard and learnt to enjoy life more at home. There are so many places in Singapore I have not been to for a long time - it was good to revisit them. There are so many places in Singapore I have never been to - it was good to discover them. There are so many new and interesting places to chill out - it was nice to be able to continue to FIKA(coffee/tea break in Sweden) after coming back from Stockholm.

I cycled from East Coast Park to Changi Beach Park. Read about my Weekly Photo Challenge: A Day in My Life l Cycle.

• Jogged more. Walked more. Swam more.

Rediscovered swimming - it is a luxury to swim at the public pool on weekdays (I am going to miss doing so :( ).

• Volunteered again. Not sure about the cause I am truly passionate about yet but I am definitely going to try to find that cause in the days to come.

• Bonded more with my brother (in Scandinavia) and my sister (in Singapore) Need I say more?

My brother and I in Þingvellir National Park, Iceland. Read more about Þingvellir!

And many more that are difficult to put into words. For example, I had more time to reflect more and meet more new people. Somehow I wished I had done more e.g. read more, travel more... However I know I only had so much time and I wanted to follow my heart. So this was the life I chose to live in this long vacation. While I felt uncertain at times, I tell myself to enjoy it while I can because I really don't know when will be the next one...

I want to close this vacation with an extract from the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button that has been inspiring:
Benjamin Button: [Voice over; letter to his daughter] For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.