happy birthday to me!

no longer in denial... i am officially embracing myself in my 30s! yah... i was 30 just 2 days ago... now 1 year older... hopefully getting wiser too!

after last year's glamourous 30th party, decided to go back to the low-key, no fuss birthday. went for lunch at BK with my sis and E, before proceeding to shoe shop with the 20% birthday discount at Pedal Works! bought 2 pairs of shoes for myself (yes... i am SUPPOSED to STOP shopping!) and 1 pair for my mom. hehe... always the same routine before checking in to M Hotel. we relaxed with a bit of tv watching before hitting the pool! swam quite a few laps, then soaked in the jacuzzi. after the almost "once a year" exercise, the appetite was built up for a good buffet dinner at cafe 2000. realised i also had a voucher for a bottle of house wine, so we had a bottle of red since we took red meat. we were really full at the end, but E mentioned to the server that it was my birthday when we were paying the bill. so i got a complimentary slice of cheese cake together will a singing choir. hehe! we adjourned back to the room and played some card games like heart attack and bluff etc... so retro right? then we watched transformer on hbo before the day ended.

this morning, my sis went to church early, hence leaving me to the room all by myself from about 8am! so i decided to pamper myself with a room service order of continental breakfast. so i had my breakfast in bed, in front of the tv. after a short break, i got my bubble bath ready and read my cosmopolitan while having a good soak in the bath tub! such a great way to have a rest and relax birthday. hmmm... maybe i should throw in a spa treatment for next year? hehe!

here are some pictures... only on yesterday's celebration. the rest will be posted when i completed my christmas gatherings next week (yes... there are more... its 12 days of christmas remember?)

the complimentary bottle of house red. quite like it as it wasn't too dry.

my main course - grilled lamb

enjoyment - wine & dine

the free piece of birthday cake!

my continental breakfast served to my room!

2 mini muffins - banana & chocolate...

and scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns with pineapple juice & tea.

merry christmas

its my favourite holiday of the year! christmas!

maybe coz it is near to my birthday? maybe it is a season of great feasting (but i do that for CNY too)? or is it because of the official reason for all the shopping? could be because of the cool weather in sunny singapore? more likely because of all the gatherings with friends (new and old)?

whatever the reasons, it is my favourite holiday and am simply enjoying every minute counting down to it! will be posting pictures of my many makan sessions when i am almost done with all the gatherings! till then...

merry christmas to all my friends!

gearing up!

time past so fast... after weeks of preparing, shopping, wrapping, spending and eating, christmas is just days away!

christmas has always been my favourite season for the year. maybe because it is near my birthday or it's always a time for meeting up with friends, especially with some friends that we seem to only meet during birthdays and christmas!

celebrations always starts early with christmas shopping! although you feel super broke after all the shopping, it seems worth it when you see your friends smile when they open their presents (hopefully it was a geninue smile than a "oh... but thanks for your thought" smile! i think i consider myself someone who puts in an effort to buy presents, not simply buying for the sake of buying. so that is why i always pray that i understand my friends well enough to give them meanful gifts to their liking and needs!

till date, i have already received some presents - one still remained unopened (yes HJ - i am a good girl, still waiting for christmas!), one received from an unexpected supplier (after years of working with her, this is the first time i received something from her), two that i already know what present i will be getting but still insisted on my sisters to wrap it! haha!

so the gatherings will officially starts tomorrow! lunch and dinner is already booked. i am so looking forward to it (although i don't think my stomach can take too much of the feasting!) must control, otherwise all my clothes for new year will not fit! haha!

experimenting

after a few busy weekends, this weekend is really a laidback and relax "me" time.

so while i was doing my grocery shopping on saturday, i chanced upon a cook book for "100 chinese desserts". flipping through the pages and suddenly felt the urge to try out one of the recipe! so decided to see if i could find the ingredients for my dessert experiement!

so... here's my work of art - pumpkin pudding 金瓜糕in pieces, can you see the 2 different texture of the pumpkin - smashed & diced

here's how it should look according to the cook book - quite close right?

long weekend

isn't it great when you wake up on a rainy monday morning, and realised you didn't need to drag yourself out of bed to get ready for work?

my long weekend actually started at 1pm on friday. why? coz i was on half day leave :)

so my weekend started with a shopping trip to takashimaya. its the last day of the members' sale and the place was super PACKED! you would have thought the things were for free! was there for 3 hours and spent more than $600! almost got all the gifts... almost! haha! but the pressure to shop during the sale is bad... kept telling myself i will have someone to give the item to... coz i just want to grab and go, not wanting to come back another day and pay the usual price!

anyway, originally planned to go more places, but i was so tired and mentally drained up that i gave up and left for home with 4 huge bags!

met my sis and mom for breakfast on saturday, originally with the plan to order christmas turkey at ntuc. but dear me forgot to bring out the ntuc card. so have to make another trip.

sunday was finally the chance for me to meet ade's prince lucas! went to his first month party (though he is almost 2 months alr!). his eyes are so cute and is a duplicate of his mom!

today was the official start of my christmas gatherings! met RL & HJ for steamboat at tiong bahru. of course, the best weather for steamboat with the pouring rain. so i received my first presents. only knew what RL gave since it was "wrapped" in a see-through organza bag! haha... now hands itching to open HJ's present coz she said must only opened on Christmas! haha... maybe that's why we decided not to wrap her present! hehe! i just love to see the expression of the receivers. at least i know if they like it or not. so i always "force" ppl to open their presents! haha...

spent the rest of the day writing christmas cards and wrapping presents... oh dear, no mood to work tomorrow... christmas is so near!