National Day auntie staycation

Thursday I went back CCK and to Si Kor's place and I told her Jessie is coming over during National Day for steamboat and asked her if she wanted to come. She said ok, then she can stay over at the guest room. She had been saying she wanted to staycation at my place for a while haha, and I wanted to thank her since she sponsored a part of my renovation.

National day on Friday, I went to the gym in the afternoon then Jessie and her husband came over to prepare shabu shabu, the Si Kor came. We watched the parade and fireworks and chilled until 11pm, then time to sleep. I watched TV till 1am coz I don't usually sleep so early. 

Jessie wanted to bring her for breakfast in the morning at like 8am -_- so I woke up early too and finally had the popular fried bee hoon nearby. It was meh not worth waking up so early. 

We walked around, went to Raffles Hotel and suddenly I saw some workers replacing the orchids in the big ceramic pots, and they were going to throw the old flowers away. I walked over and asked if I could have 1 or 2, then he said they were actually going to recycle the flowers, not throw away but he could spare 1 or 2, so he gave us 2 very nice looking orchids haha. Flowers for Si Kor.

They went back to Jessie's while I took a quick nap at home, then she headed back home in the afternoon. 

Ever since her leg injury (?) she couldn't really walk for a long time so I'm glad she had a staycation at my place. 

New leaf

After 10 months my fiddle fig plant finally grew 3 more leaves.

This was after I moved the plant to the yard area where the sun shines in the morning till afternoon so I guess sunlight really helps. 

Naeum lunch

I always wanted to try Naeum because most people said it's good and value for money, but I didn't have the right occasion. It was Shiba's birthday so I booked a lunch $188 per pax on Friday.

I seldom eat Michelin restaurants in SG because other places in Bkk or Tokyo are more value for money but Naeum lunch was quite value for money too. And I get to wear my Thom Browne shirt haha.

I like that most dishes comes with Micro-flower which made it look pretty lol. Overall it was really good Korean food, the first few dishes were a bit overhelming because of the flavours but it got better. The dessert watermelon ice cream and fromage blanc was really good. Shiba likes it too.

Kaching! $500~

New specs

After 8 years of wearing and abusing my Oakley glasses I finally decided that the lenses were too unclear and I have to get a new pair of specs. I usually have 2 pairs - one for work and travel, another for more hardcore activities like gym so it gotta be more heavy duty.

I decided to get another similar pair of semi rimless Oakleys so I went downstairs to try a few, and because I can use CDC vouchers hehe. At first I wanted the Sway Bar 0.5 which is very comfortable and light because it's titanium, but it's $100 more than the rest and smaller than I like. Then I tried on the Oakley Voon which is the latest and larger model and it fits perfect. 

I did my eye test - my prescription remained the same. They didn't have the colour that I want so I asked them to pre-order.

I was deciding between the black satin and the blue stonewash, my other pair is already black so I went with the blue. After 2 weeks it came and it was better than I expected. 

Kaching! $445. Oakley specs are so expensive I should have bought Zoff or Jins.

Reservist shoot in july

I received a SMS to go for some reservist practise shoot and it will take around 2 hours. It's quite annoying because it's so out of the way and we have to bring SBO and helmet.

So Tuesday night I went back home for dinner, packed and sleep, the next morning my dad drove me over coz it was nearer to cck, then I did some shooting, got marksman but no incentive, then it was done within an hour - _- waste of my time and effort travelling here and there and they only gave us 2 hours instead of half a day.

Eating meat

Cold Storage always have the best meats and that's not the best thing. 

The best thing is, when they are nearing the expiry date they are on 50% discount.

I bought this 320g Ribeye steak for around $6-$8, and I bought this cod fish for around $5. And I always buy the chicken steak - 2 for $5 woohoo.

And my microwave actually makes it so convenient, I just pop the meat in and press the combi cooking and 15 mins later it is done. No fire no hassle and minimal cleanup. But I'm quite particular about delicate meats like fish and beef so I usually pan fry them. 

I'm a meat chef now hehe.

New Dior sneakers

Guess who just bought a pair of Dior B24 Runtek sneakers for a very good deal?

I was looking for something more comfortable that I can wear to work or travel, and walk for more than 3 hours, the Hermes bouncing fits the bill but it was too expensive so I got this pair for $*** heh. 

It looks average but at least it's new, cheap and comfortable and it can replace my other Asics one which is going to be redundant soon.

Chiang Mai 2024 Day 2

There were 6 of us travelling so Neab booked a driver and car for 3 days and it was really well planned. Travelling with locals is definitely better. 

First we went to the temple up the mountain, it was the highest temple in Chiang Mai I think. We had to climb a long flight of stairs. And then we went to some hidden temple in the forest as well.

The weather was fair and not too hot, quite enjoyable. Lunch was at this amazing Michelin place but the food was a bit too spicy.

We rested at a cafe and walked around a little bit, visited the silver temple and the headed to dinner.

Dinner was at this famous suki place at the roadside, it was quite ok tho. We also shared a pork leg rice which was good. 

After that we had drinks at the hotel bar (plus shochu), then headed out to another live music bar with an amazing guitarist. I thought there would be singing but nah, just strings.

Back at the hotel to pack because we were changing hotels the next morning.

Chiang Mai 2024 Day 1

Before Ben went back to Bangkok we had dinner and I was saying I want to go for a short holiday but don't know where, then he suggested Chiang Mai and I said let's go together someday. Then when Angus was here he told me he's going Chiang Mai with his friends and I said let's go together!

I claimed my SQ miles because they were expiring and tickets were expensive because of the long holiday, and bought Jetstar for return trip. Time to make use of my new luggage!

Neab came to pick me up and we had wine for the night. No crazy partying because we have an early flight the next day. 

Sunday breakfast was Moo Ping, then we took grab to DMK and 1 hr Air Asia flight to Chiang Mai, then took grab to check into the hotel. The U hotel was quite nice on the exterior but the interior was a bit old and not user friendly. We headed out for lunch around the old town area, they were setting up for the night market because it was a Sunday, we visited a few famous temples and to Kalm which is owned by Neab's friend. 

We had some fruit smoothie nearby and then for dinner with Neab's friend. The restaurant was called Maadae Slow Fish and they grill freshly caught ocean fish at the south of Thailand. It was really excellent and super fresh. The other dishes like Tom Yam soup and seafood were really good but it was the grilled fish with a little pinch of salt that really impressed me. No photos but we decided to go back again for the last dinner. 

Then we went nearby for really nice toast bread dessert lol and we were really full.

We walked back to the hotel via the night market and it was quite nice. They have some nice items, unlike those in Vietnam, and food also. The whole market was super big.

We waited for Angus at the hotel, Neab came over to my room and hid behind the curtains. Unsuspecting Angus came in, we said hi, then he walked around the balcony to check out the room and Neab jumped out and "NI HAO". Angus' expression was epic I rolled on the bed laughing so hard.

We met his friends Jason and Yi Tian, went to a live music bar for drinks. We bought a bottle of Shochu to share.

That's it for the night I was so tired already.

June shoppings

Eric brought back my taobaos from Beijing, he went there for work and had a full luggage so I could make use of him hehe. And just nice there was the 6.18 super big sale so I bought:

1. Level8 cabin luggage

2. 1 x water bottle

3. 2 x spaghetti container

4. 2 x Nike t-shirts

5. 3 x underwear and a tank top

Love taobao and free delivery. I also bought another carton of Strong zero on Lazada because the vouchers made it so cheap. And also bought my Sonos soundbar which was awesome now. It gets better with usage.

Yesterday I went to MBS with Jessie to shop, didn't intend to buy anything but Club21 had 50% off sale so I bought a JW Anderson tshirt. I also bought a Thom Browne Tshirt and a Gucci Polo T -_-.

Argh why am I spending so much even before my bonus comes in!! 

I'm heading Thailand next week and I'm gonna spend more and I haven't even paid off my income tax yet.