Auld Lang Syne

Been cracking my brain on what to write for the last post of 2007. Think i shall be traditional and reflect on what i had done in this year...

Things i had done in 2007

1. i gained 3-5 kg. Note there's a 2kg range cos i'm still in denial.... Don't dare to step on the scales.

2. i stopped going to the gym. Well, not completely. If visiting once a month counts!

3. i ate lots of ramen. i even got a special column for that!

4. i did lots of shopping. really gotta curb my impulsive buys.

5. i procrastinated... lots of stuff unaccomplished... sigh....

6. i started keeping a blog.

7. i turned __ this year.

8. ....
9. .....
10. ....

Gosh... this is hard.... age is really catching up... can't remember what i did all this year. Enough of what i had done... maybe i should list down my resolutions for 2008. i know it sounds cliche to do this but it is, in fact, the first time i'm doing up a list. We've heard all about people not being able to fulfil resolutions so let me try and be a little more pragmatic in this.

Resolutions for 2008

1. Lose that 3-5kg i gained in 2007. (No, think i better just make it 3kg cos weight is easy to gain but hard to lose... Or better make it 2kg instead...)

2. Go to the gym at least twice or thrice a week. (hmm... i have hit my target for the week! i went yesterday and today! yay!)

3. Stop buying books. i've got a fetish. i like to collect books... books i bought which i think are useful and classics but which i've never got round to reading... Pull me away from Kinokuniya when they are having 20% off!

4. Stop buying wine. i've got 3 types of alcohol in the past week alone and i can't down one-tenth of a glass!

5. Think twice before buying a new pair of shoes. And clothes. And bag.

6. Clean up my room before the dust settles.

7. Do up the photo album for my Hokkaido trip from ...................... hee......................... this is embarrassing....... June 2006....

Gone Shopping (Again!)

The MAIN point here is that i went to the gym (the 2nd consecutive day, ok!) after brunch. But i digress.... Sigh... why are all my gyms sited in / near shopping malls!? My legs just carried me to the G2000 at BHG as i was about to go home. It does not help that the top that i had been eyeing for months is now on SALE! i simply have to grab the chance to get it! Imagine the savings i had made! It does not help either that the changing room queue is so slow that i had a chance to wander around and grab a few other items to try. No point waiting there and doing nothing right?? Simply no point at all... But i controlled myself. In the end, i only walked out with one top and a pair of culottes. And i made a startling discovery! G2000 members are entitled to a whooping additional 15% off sales items! What the %^&#!! i would had saved even more! Pity i do not hold the card... Anyone who has the card, please fall in!

Happy New Year Eve

We had brunch (again! :P) at Hans to usher in the New Year. Most of my colleagues ordered the breakfast set but i got the tomato and pine nut pesto. Looks very promising and lots of yummy pine nuts. Alas, the taste is average only.

「１リットルの涙」特別篇‧追憶

Finished watching One Litre of Tears Special. Basically it is about how Aya's loved ones get by after her death. Most of it are recaps of the drama which are woven into this Special. If you have not seen the drama, this is a good introduction to the show. Cried LOTS while watching but it felt great! (o_O") keke. Other than the title track, the song that is performed by the choir is also very nice. 3月9日 (sangatsu kokonoka)

Last gathering of 2007

8 of us turned up at tao's restaurant for dinner. we were given a private room but service was kinda slow... seems like this is the problem with most private rooms...

bacon & mushroom gratin with bread - for a starter, i thought this was too heavy to the palate. i mean, i'm feeling full after downing this appetiser. (minus 10 points!) for a gratin, it is cheesy enough but somehow lack a certain punch to it.

mango sorbet - this is just a chilled drink. i was having some difficulty trying to decipher what flavour is this... we thought it was orange and mango punch... hehe... and the ice bits are too big...

fruit salad - someone commented that the presentation looks like dog food... =_=" but it is surprisingly nice. Well, at least i think it did its job well enough to make me wanna eat more.

grilled mushroom - average

cream of pumpkin - very nice. This taste different from the usual pumpkin soup i've tried which are puree-like. This is soupy enough to taste the pumpkin pulp. Can i come back and just order this?? (^^,)

slow cooked pork back ribs - average. Too much fats and the sauce is slightly too salty.

ice rose apple tea - very nice and refreshing. tried my friend's ice grape mallow tea which taste like diluted ribena

creme brulee - a huge disappointment. taste like ordinary custard pudding.

In all, we paid about $30 each for this 7 course dinner. I may come back to try some of the other stuff but this place is kind of far from the mrt station...

After dinner, we are left with half strength. As usual, we always have difficulty deciding what to do next.
Ktv? AL had just sung in the afternoon.
Movie? WL had movie overdose and there isn't a single movie left that is interesting which all of us have not seen.
Board games? Out!
Bowling?
Pool?
Chill? K was not dressed to the occasion
Mahjong!? @_@ forgot i've even asked!

Ended up walking up and down Bras Basah Road before we settled at tcc (again) at citylink.... service was good. they "forced" a couple to another table so that we could take the 4-seater. i really must recommend the must-NOT-try here! enough said.

rose juliet

ti-rum-misu

Happy Anniversary

Place: Fortune Cuisine
Location: Block 106 Clementi St 14 (off Sunset Way)

Went to this bbq cum steamboat buffet to celebrate my parents' wedding anniversary. Mummy's friend had strongly recommended it. But we all don't find the food super nice... :S It is only average. nothing special loh... the restaurants along the stretch seems more interesting. Quite surprised to see a whole stretch of restaurants at this place. There's even a bar that looks like a great place to chill out. But at a neighbourhood area, it looks kinda out of place...

Sidenote: Found out that today is XJ-san's parents' wedding anniversary too! What a coincidence! (^.^)

Merry Christmas Eve

My office had a mini-christmas party cum gift exchange today. Yay! The best part is we practically did not have to work. keke. (^_^)

Looks a little bare under the tree... i was lucky i picked up a box of chocolates. typical gift-exchange present. But was quite surprised no one gave rocher chocolates. (-_-") though i don't mind receiving those. (^^,) Some of my colleagues were quite "innovative". someone gave car wax and another gave a bag of those "freebies" stuff and didn't even bother to wrap it! *gasp* and we all know who he is!

Some of the food we had. The food is not bad. considering how bland catered food normally taste. yum yum. or perhaps i was hungry. (^o^)


who killed Santa?? ~ help! ~

**secret** i also made handphone pouches for 2 of my colleagues. forgot to take pics of them before i gave them away. lol.

Buffet Dinner @ Cafe Vic

Last night, we had our annual xmas gift exchange. Wanted to make something instead of buying to make it more meaningful.. (i'm not saying that your presents are not meaningful. :P keke.)

After the not so successful first attempt (see earlier post), i made this pouch instead and gave it (together with a bracelet) to MT for the gift-exchange. Such a pity i'm occupied with this project, otherwise i would make the bracelet myself too! :) seems like it has been so long since we last gathered. we were all reminiscing and joking about our previous years' Christmas celebrations at bintan.

This year, we end up having dinner at cafe vic at Carlton Hotel. The buffet spread is not bad, quite a good selection and variety of food. As usual, we were all busy digging in so no food photos were taken. hehe. But somehow after a while, it seems that the only food nice are the oysters - small but fresh and no fishy taste and the tomato soup! lol. i only had a couple of oysters but YZ and LF ate LOTS!! *jaw drop* i ate a little of almost every single item except for those normal so-called 菜饭 dishes as YZ said. i gave the durian pudding a pass cos i was really bursting at the seams. but i could smell that it is good.


here are our presents all wrapped up prettily. guess which is mine and which is the one i gave away??

this is the present i received. nice white patent handbag and a cute pooh paper bag.

~tis the season to be jolly. fra-la-lalala-la-la-la-la~

Fruits of Labour

Had been labouring over my new found, rekindled hobby recently! This is the result of working hard over 2 off days this week. i'm so proud of me! hehe.

This is my first crochet bag after 18 years! lol. Wanted to give it as a gift exchange but i ran out of the green yarn and somehow the vertical design on the bag turned out slanted. =_="

so i had to rush something out within 12 hours. wanna see what i did?? see the next post. :)

Sakura Buffet and iMax movie

My office went to sakura for lunch today as part of our family day celebration (it's more like a staff day imo cos usually no one brings their family along. keke.) i think the food is quite good for the price. (Dunno how much cos we didn't need to pay but the web says $20+++). The salmon sashimi is one of the best i've tried recently in buffet spreads. Two thumbs up!! One of my colleague ate so much i think he would have eaten one whole fish! i think other than the cold soba which is horrendously tough and the bbq-cum-grill-cum-stir-fry counter (the one where u need to order and they will serve you), all the other food i've tried are pretty decent. But my fav has to be the ice cream bar!! They have 10 different flavours!! i've only managed to try 4 of them.. Hehe. And they are all nice! Rum and raisin, mocha chips, nata de coco and mango. The last two have small bits of coconut and mango in them. The funny thing is they don't have chocolate ice cream... i thought that is the no. 1 must-have flavour in every ice cream bar! Lol.

After the satisfying lunch, we watched Hurricane on the Bayou at the Omni Theatre. Nothing really spectacular cos i was hoping for some really nail-gripping, mind-blowing effects. my only vivid memory of the theatre was being "ran over" by a train while i was in primary school. Hehe... None of those today... Was kinda disappointed in fact... Still, the show's pretty decent. One good thing about watching on IMAX is that everything looks so real and vivid. Almost like you are there yourself. :)

Since it was still early, some of us popped over to the Science Centre for a visit. Have not stepped into that place for yearssss... It has changed a far bit but still packed with noisy kids running and screaming around. The only highlight of the day was catching the Tesla Coil Demonstration which is a highly dramatic and electrifying live demonstration of high voltage electricity. This 3.5 million volt coil generates spectacular five-metre long electric sparks that is akin to natural lighting. We saw the sparks blew up two hydrogen inflated balloons into flames right under our noses!! But after a short browse around, we decided that shopping malls are definitely more interesting to us and so off we go! Haha..

but why, oh why did i forget to bring my camera for this occasion?? bash !$#%&@!