Yay to long weekend in Singapore

Enjoyed the Hari Raya Puasa long weekend that has just passed. It was great to just rest and not to have to think of work (except for 1 hour on Sunday - no choice, boss messaged).

Spent Saturday packing the house (G was coming to visit) before heading to Ikea (so so crowded) then Vivo City for dinner with the family (SS was flying off to Seoul the next day).

Sunday was spent at home packing again (LOL) before staying over at my parents' place. Feeling very domestic.

No Monday blues as I went cycling at East Coast Park (ECP) with C and KL Did I mention before that we can now cycle from ECP to Marina Bay Sands via the Park Connector Network (PCN)? Have done it thrice and loved it! Definitely looking forward to this healthy fun again soon :) The finale? Meeting Grace for dinner before heading to my place. Was a good catch-up as it has been a while since Maldives (check out Life is an adventure).

Photo stop at the Bay. Glad we started the day early - Singapore is beautiful in the morning too!

That's our CBD.

First time I cycled past the Barrage to MBS. That's the older part of the CBD (as I termed it).

Another beautiful side of Singapore that I seldom see in the morning.

Back to where we started the day at Marine Parade Food Centre. Herd mentality got us queueing for the Kun Ji duck rice/roasted meat and the Da Dong prawn noodle.

Not in sight is the Apollo Fresh Cockle Fried Kway Teow which we have wolfed down- surprised there was no queue!

#ilovelongvacationsg #longweekend #harirayapuasa #food #East Coast Park #MarinaBaySand #ECP #MBS #MarineParadeFoodCentre

Food@Marina Bay Link Mall

Here's a peek at the food I had at Marina Bay Link Mall in August :)



Big Breakfast lunch at Cedele. Not as deli as the weekend brunches but definitely value for money. Thanks to DBS Indulge, it was one-for-one  so we paid about $7 each!

 

Went to Din Tai Fung for dinner before Phantom of the Opera. Delicious pork dumplings (top) and pork + vegetable dumplings (bottom). Had the latter for the first time and I think it tasted healthier. Haha. Yummy dumplings! Looking forward to Taiwan trip in November where I planned to try some dumplings shops! :)

Beautiful MBS at night. Not edible but still looks mouth-watering. LOL.

At the Tuck Shop! Ice Lemon Tea has been a while....
 

Chicken Hor Fun at Tuck Shop. Small. But looks good. LOL.

 

Last but not least, Earl Grey Tiramisu from Glaze. Delightfully received by the birthday girl and family. Happy 18, SS! :)

Happy Weekend! May you have a FULLfilling one :)

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 :)

Singapore Food Festival 2013

The Singapore Food Festival Village started on 12 July and will end today. It is very near my workplace near Marina Bay Sands, so my colleague DC and I checked it out last Friday. At first, we hesitated to go because we did not have a NETS FlashPay card but we discovered that they do sell it at the village. And the good thing is you can use the card in future and may get rebates for food purchases!

Was good to go  at lunch time on a weekday - smaller crowds, shorter queues :) Thought I will quickly post the pictures taken so that if you chance upon this post, you still have the next 10 hours to visit the village for your Singapore Favorite Food :)

 

 

  

What is your Singapore Favorite Food? :)

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!

Au Chocolat@Marina Bay Sands

In between the exhibitions at ArtScience Museum (check out Marina Bay. Marina Bay), we had dinner at Au Chocolat. Wanted to check this place out after the intern bought a piece of pretty tart which was nice! And it was YK's treat, so why not? :P




French food again! Went to Poulet just last week :P



There are two sections to Au Chocolat - the Bistro at the and the sweet confectionery. Both were very pretty and packed with people...

Love the colour combination of menu and table - so chocolate!



Inside the bistro...



Up in the bistro - Fresco!



Truffle oil fries - smell and taste so good....Yummy! Like its presentation too :)



Duck Confit. Crispy and tender at the same time. The pear went well with the duck. Very savoury though, especially at the end of the meal when you run out of mash potato, carrot and pear :P 




House salad - is it Au Chocolat? It's ok. Like the way this picture turned out though :)

We returned later for desert at the confectionery - no pictures though as our phone run out of battery. Not as nice as we thought they will be. Perhaps we ordered too much - the original cheesecake was nice, the mint brownie so so, smoothies were ok :) Here are some pictures we took earlier when we were waiting for our seats at the Bistro - pretty, isn't it? :)

Now I know I can go to Au Chocolat if I need to grab a sweet gift. May you have a sweet week ahead, everyone :)

Brick & Mummy

Was at the ArtScience Museum on Vesak Day with YK! Wanted to see The Art of the Brick exhibition. The combo tickets for both on-going shows (the other was Mummy Secrets of the Tomb) was $20 (for Singapore citizens), we decided to go for both and had fun :)

 

This was taken at the entrance as no pictures allowed in the exhibition built around a priest - his authentic mummy was also on display. Not as intensive (and scary :P) as some of the mummy exhibitions I have seen. A bit scientific, in fact. Interesting nonetheless.

Wanted to see this exhibition for a long time but never got down to it.

 

Dare to bare your heart? Yellow - One of the most well-known Lego artwork of Nathan Sawaya.



Love how the artwork interacts with being :)



Cannot remember the title of this piece. I remember it is about diversity.



Writer.

 

Grasp : No matter where your heart wants to lead you, there will be hands that try to hold you back. Life's challenge is to find the strength to break free. I created this sculpture in response to so many people telling me 'No' in my life. I wanted to break free of those people - 2007



Mask. Nathan Sawaya has this uncanny ability to use Lego to reflect life. I also like how his captions captured the essence of his artwork and life :)



Dinosaur.



ArtScience Museum in LEGOLAND :)

  

My Lego Portrait - like the uncanny resemble :)

The Art of the Brick ends today while Mummy Secrets of the Tomb will be on until November.