Rediscover Sg Vouchers

The year's coming to an end and me and Kelvin still haven't used our SR vouchers so we decided on the Labrador park walking tour and seafood buffet dinner afterwards.

I have never been to Labrador park - same as Kelvin, although we both used to work so near and I was surprised there were so many people running. The nature reserve was small and the walk was a bit boring aftwards lol. 

When we reached the restaurant I was quite surprised there were so many people there, like in the middle of Labrador park. The buffet was actually quite good, they gave us half a lobster each, they have oysters, scallops, prawns, wagyu beef, hot fried stuff, free flow drinks etc etc. We took a bit too many but we spammed the seafood - that's the main attraction right. 

Also, Kelvin asked me to be the MC for his wedding dinner and I agreed. That will be next July then.

Xmas 2021

This year's Xmas was not to shabby. I went to Jessie's house early to make Danish Xmas rice pudding - inspired by my friend who stayed in Denmark and that was one of his fav things during Xmas.

Rice, milk, double cream, almonds, cherry compote.

It was a success and Lilian had 4 helpings lol. I had some leftovers so I took some for Huang Wei who gave me the pecan pie the other time.

Jessie made vegetarian Lasagna coz Lilian's family is vegetarian. It was really good too but I miss the meats.

And look what Jessie gave me for Xmas!!! LOL when I opened it I was really shocked coz she knew I was eyeing that Thom Browne T-shirt but she gave me socks hahaha. It's cheaper. I also got a scented candle from Lilian and another rose body bath from Jessie. I gave some gummy vitamins for Nikolai and Xmas tree scented candle for Jessie.

Not too bad for Xmas this year.

Bazi reading

I had dinner with Delon the other day and he mentioned his brother went to see a chinese fortune teller - using Ba Zi, and she was quite accurate. So I have been thinking of seeing as well for many years but I just didn't think much about it because I don't know who or where to find one. So I booked an appointment and saw her last weekend.

It was... half accurate and half not. Accurate in telling about my work and career wise, like 2018 was very stressful for me but it turned out better and better, and also she said I have nothing to worry about because I am usually very fortunate and things will always turn out just fine for me. Oh wells, at least I got a reading and kinda gave me a sense of assurance already.

Spiderman: No way home

Spoilers ahead.

So this Spiderman went to watch the latest and newest spiderman movie in IMAX. I couldn't wait because of all the spoilers everywhere but wow! The open secret: all 3 Spiderman together. I was so excited I couldn't breathe and all of them spidermaning together??? It's every Spiderman fan's dream. 

This was the best Spiderman movie in the history of all Spiderman movies. And Andrew Garfield is still the best Spiderman, Tobey was so awkward like he didn't act for many years. Tom was... very kiddish as usual but he was good as well. 

This is really a big turn for MCU Spiderman story, it actually restarted the whole Spiderman story. It's the endgame feeling over again... might need to wait for so long till the next Spiderman movie.

Anyway after that I went for a massage at Natureland and it felt so good. And dinner with the choir peeps while we gave spoilers to Pear and Sida.

weird dreams

I don't know why I've been having weird dreams lately.

Last week I dreamt that I was lifted up to the top of the warehouse by some machine, and I was shouting for help and so scared of falling, and some ninjas came to jump on the containers on the top of the warehouse, and I also jumped but I tumbled backwards and fell from a really tall height and I was thinking - this is it I'm gonna die. And then I woke up.

Just yesterday I also dreamt that I was in bed with my ex-best friend whom I haven't talked to in years??? So weird.

Pre-xmas weekend

Jessie bought a Xmas tree again this year!

This year's tree so much taller and fuller than last year's. She invited Lilian and her babies over for lunch and deco! I love her babies. Leonid is so cute and Nikolai was just super curious and hyper, running around and touching everything.

Kids should be like him, he's super sociable and wants to try everything and so hyper. I was so tired having to play with him, carrying him up and down my shoulders for him to reach the top of the xmas tree.

6.30pm, we went to esplanade for Woon's concert. It was unexpectedly good! The lights changed according to the music and I just love strings and voices harmonizing together. The music was Norwegian folklore which I really adore. Even Jessie said she closed her eyes and it was really good. I gotta get the songs from her. 

Sunday was another round of visiting at Jessie's but this time the kids could entertain themselves and I was just chilling at the dining table and munching on things and talking to my cousins. I was a bit tired from the previous day so decided to tone down. We had dinner and I had this Korean stout beer which was pretty dark but $20, luckily Jessie treated haha.

Xmas day itself is another round. Hahaha I will be so tired.

One week leave!

I had 13 more days of leave to clear before the end of the year so I took a whole week of leave, plus Friday medical checkup.

Friday

I haven't got a medical checkup for 2 years already, I thought it was time just because the year is ending and it's my company benefit for the year so I booked Mt Elizabeth Orchard. The checkup was quite smooth, a lot of tests, the staff were so nice but the breakfast was bad. I went to Tiong Bahru market for lunch and then forty hand for coffee to use my voucher.

I kinda forgot what I did on Sat and Sun but I did went to Queenstown, and also bugis library to borrow comics.

Monday

Gym, and I think I stayed at home. Oh I met Domi at night to consult him on some designs. Luckily he's having school holidays!

Tuesday

Went to Orchard to deposit my poop sample for medical screening, and then had Ma Maison for lunch, walked around for a bit and went home for dinner.

Wednesday

Gym, then met Max the issuer for sushi. Ah I so miss the Izakaya sushi. No pics coz I had too many pics of them.

Thursday

Was supposed to go Sentosa with Domi but it was raining so we changed plans. Honestly Sentosa was just a whatever kinda plan coz I really don't know what to do when I'm on leave. We went to city hall for coffee and Suntec for some furniture shopping, had dinner and then bugis and back home. We agreed it was better than Sentosa.

Friday

Gym, then Delon for dinner. I was craving oysters so we went to oyster bank. The oysters were really fresh and plump and juicy. It was really nice catching up and he's annoying as usual but I learnt a few things from him. 

Xmas tree and Russian baby

Jessie said it is time for Xmas tree shopping so she asked Lilian along with her family. We went to Far East Flora and they just stocked up their Xmas trees and the whole place looked like a forest of Xmas trees! The smell is amazing. 

Lilian's Sg-Russian kids Nikolai and Leonid were sooo cute!!! Nikolai couldn't stop moving about, he's super active and chatting and friendly. And he kept taking pots of flowers coz he liked them and wants to buy them. In the end they also bought a huge spade lol.

We had lunch at Open Farm, which wasn't too shabby but a tad too ulu and pricey. Probably their lunch or dinner menu would be better. Thanks Jessie for the treat hehe and looking forward to another Xmas tree Xmas at her place!

Coloured hair

The last time I coloured my hair was 8 years ago, when I was still working in Shanghai. After returning o Sg and working in bank I didn't really think it was time to colour - and at that time working in the office people would point out things. 

I didn't had the thought of colouring my hair but since we are working from home, and I need a haircut and in time for Xmas, I thought why not? 

Initially I wanted to be really blonde or like ash grey but Chloe said it would be too damaging to my scalp and hair and it would like several hours so she did a normal brown colour. $115 for a haircut and colour.

11.11 sale

My bank account automatically dips in November. 

Every year I always have a list of things to buy for the 11.11 sale, it's really the biggest sale with so many vouchers and everything.. except for flight fares but ok, I can stock up for the year. 

My list of items bought during 11.11:

1. Taobao - 4 x Schott Zwiesel wine glasses - they were on pre-11.11 sale and so much cheaper than retail stores in sg. Pre 11.11 sale is slightly cheaper than 11.11 itself. Unbelievable. I have always wanted to have my own wine glass and I really like the shape. Total damage $66.

2. Hush Candles - 2 x room sprays, 2 xmas candles, 1 Kyoto candle, 1 lavender candle. I bought 1 of their lavender candle previously and find it really smoothing, and it's really cheap compared to the usual Diptyque that I have. And all of them were on 22% off! Total damage was $175.

3. Myprotein - 7kg worth of protein powder - enough to last me for 12 months. 62% discount off so $200. I realised they raised their prices a lot this year when I compared to last year's order.

4. Diptyque - Baies Room spray. I am going to have so much room fragrance. I do light a candle every night now so the room spray is more convenient and instant, and more worth than the candle. I still like the black Baies candle though. Maybe next sale. $75

5. 2 more boxes of wine from Alex. Wells, that's the last of those wines from the winery before his company sells off the winery. I have 36 bottles of wine in my room now. $400

6. Ishopchangi - Tarsier Oriental Pink gin. I always buy my alcohol from there during 11.11. It was 11% off so $72.

7. Shopee - Shampoo, facial stuff from Japan and other items here and there because there's are just so many vouchers. $152.

I spent more than $1k in total as compared to the $500 last year. This year's 11.11 is really shopping spree for me and I think I overdid on room fragrances and the alcohol. I have become a room fragrance fanatic what a twist lol. Surprisingly I didn't buy any clothes or sneakers but I think soon haha. That Thom Browne T-shirt might be mine sometime. 

I am so excited for all my packages to come. It's like Xmas heheh.

One day MBS

Last Saturday after collecting our pottery - my 2 sake flask and cups, Jessie suggested to go to MBS for dinner so ok, here we go. I've always wanted to eat at Yardbird and indeed it didn't disappoint.

For appetizers we ordered a salad and deviled eggs. The deviled eggs were lovely. For mains we ordered a mac and cheese - this is wowww and also their signature chicken, waffles and watermelon. We also ordered a cocktail and a beer and the bill came up to $74 each but we were both super full. It was a really good dinner. Their signature chicken was really good, not dry at all and the skin was crispy. I think everything we ordered were quite good and luckily we only ordered 1 main coz it was so big.

After that we were so full so we pretended to be rich and went shopping at Valentino, Longchamp, Burberry and there was a Thom Browne store. I went to try a few things.

Sigh I really love the Thom Browne 4-bar sweater but I could only use when I go to winter countries so it wasn't worth it. I also love the pique 4-bar Tshirt which was $670. Urgh. Why so expensive. I really can't bring myself to buy a 600+ t-shirt. Or should I just do it. 

Dark eye rings

I suddenly found out that there are dark circles around my eyes. Then I thought, I definitely have enough sleep. I have 9-10 hours of sleep a day. Sometimes I have to drink a little alcohol for me to fall asleep better. 

Then I realised it must have been the ipad mini. I have been using my ipad mini most of the day to play games, up to 6 hours a day. Maybe more. Sometimes my eyes become warm but not bloodshot and the game will remind me to rest lol. 

So I conclude. Prolong usage of phone/ipad or any small screens will strain your eyes and cause dark eye rings.

Treat myself 1 day leave

I haven't treated myself for a while so I took a half day off and went out for a holiday. Well since we can't really travel yet so there's nothing to do except to treat myself to a good meal or something lol.

I was really craving steak and Bedrock had this value-for-money lunch, $58 for a 3 course.

The Naan was really really good with the butter and garlic oil, the truffle mushroom soup was good as well. The ribeye steak was.... a little disappointing. I felt The Carving Board ribeye steak was better than this one. It was a bit thin and too charred for my liking. The dessert was ok as well, it was fried brownie with ice cream and I could taste Haagen Daz hahaha.

Then went for the latest James Bond movie for 2.5hours and so expensive at GV for a weekday show urgh. And I just anyhow ate dinner at the foodcourt. I feel good and bad for spending so much money in a day but I would spend way more in a day if I were in Japan.

Completed Eva

After receiving my RG Eva I took my time in building them. So after one month...

I still need to get my paints from Japan so that I can spray them up and also do the decals but so far this is really fun and the Evas look amazing. The details on them are amazing and parts are really small and luckily I didn't lose anything. Can't wait to get 2 more of them. 

hello mini

It has been a week since I bought myself an ipad mini. 

Say hello to my new Ipad mini. I have always wanted an ipad mini since it launched years ago and this version is so much more beautiful and bigger screen, albeit more expensive. Since I had an inflow of cash from my stocks I was thinking of getting the new Iphone 13 pro coz my phone is 4 years old and battery dying already, but the Ipad mini was also attractive. Plus I am working from home so the Ipad mini serves as a bigger screen for me. And the best part is I can play games on the bigger screen. 

All the apple store were sold out when I've decided to buy, and the website says I have to wait for a month to get it. So I searched everyday on carousell until somebody was offering $709 instead of the usual $749 in stores and it was brand new sealed in box and starlight colour. 

Immediately I bought a tempered glass protector online and I was thinking of getting the apple original smart folio which was $89 but I thought some people were gonna sell it on carousell for a cheaper price so I waited. I immediately stripped the box and played games. 

And on Taobao I saw a shop selling a blue smart folio which looks exactly the same as the ipad mini, so I bought it. $13.70 on taobao vs $89 in apple stores. And it comes with a free tempered glass (again?) and a ipad mini compatible pen. I guess I'll only bring my ipad out when the protective stuff comes.

Cheapness=happiness.

September updates

Hello, I haven't been blogging for 2 weeks now for a number of reasons. 

First is my life is really stagnant now, there's nothing much interesting going on. I have been going to office on Tues and Thurs, coz Mon Wed and Fri are gym days. It's just work.

Second, I'm actually quite troubled. I kinda suspect I have some mild depression and I feel that I have lived life enough and comfortably so much so I have nothing much to look forward to. Sometimes I don't want to wake up in the morning coz I don't know what to do. It's like I have done what I have done and if I leave this world then I would leave this world. It's really a weird period for me now. I'm just too logical at this point. 

Third, I am an alcoholic. Most of my money are spent on alcohol during weekdays. Whenever I go out I'll either come back with a bottle of wine or sake or strong zero and every weekend is drinking at home. I just need to feel the high at night and it helps me to sleep.

Forth, I've been learning from Alex on house buying and renovating most weekends. I've visited his pre-renovated house and I'm leaning towards the idea of buying my house near his. It's more convenient for friends to stay near each other also but I just don't like the old MRT line. 

Fifth, I've been thinking if I should get the new Iphone 13 pro since my Iphone X is 4 years now, but it's still working well, just a little bit laggy at times. And also I don't need the good camera since we can't travel yet. I think I will get the ipad mini first then decide on whether I should wait for next year's Iphone 14. Also I just received a sum of money from my Capitaland stocks so I wouldn't need to worry about money as yet. Ipad mini first.

First day back in office

After 2-3 months of working from home I finally went back to office on Tuesday. It felt really good, a good distraction from the monotony of working from home and also a good distraction. Working from home can be relaxing but over some time it is actually depressing. Working in office and interacting with colleagues makes the mental health a little bit better. Also, the eating out. I miss eating out. 

Feels good to have a good view while having lunch. 
 

Tea time LJ Reika

 

Last Sunday we met for tea and some tea spilling. It seems that everyone has their own troubles/ problems/ issue no matter if you are single, married or with kids. Sigh. Why is life so hard. 

RG Eva

 Shikai came back from Shanghai with my stuff and I just picked them up from his place. It's time for me to restart my hobby!

No feeling is final

I haven't been writing lately I'm not sure why. I just... either lost a bit of interest or I'm just afraid of facing things or just afraid of writing things down, because when you pen things it becomes true. 

These 2 months have been rough and I just can't shake off that feeling that I'm physically in one place but mentally I'm in another. My thoughts kept gravitating to the same subject over and over again, it has became a habit and habits are really difficult to change. Especially when your life and mind is quite empty and there's nothing much to occupy your mind. I really hate why it had became like that, I used to be so comfortable and secure and suddenly life turns upside down. Nate sent me an article earlier - no feeling is final. In summary, to embrace every feeling right now because no feeling is final. 

This too shall pass.

Pottery with Jessie

My cousin Jessie pulled me for a pottery class last weekend. 3 hours for 3 balls of clay and 3 items, but my teacher was very generous she added one more ball because I wanted to make a big sake flask.

We will collect the final product in 2 months time.