Bali day 1 - Ubud

the ng family moved out of the house early in the wee morning on Wednesday, all ready for our bali getaway!

5.30am to be exact. @_@

we had a 7+am flight to catch and we are lucky that our house is just a 10mins stone throw from airport when there is no traffic in the early morning.

 

smooth flight and by 10am, we landed @ Denpasar airport. :D

it's first time to bali for all of us!

 

our driver was there waiting for us - finally i have a chance to have someone waiting with my name sign at the arrival gate. LOL.

our arrangement was for the driver to drop us off for lunch before sending us to our resort.

 

when I planned my itinerary, I thought bali aint too big.

with ubud only around 30-40km from kuta, how long can it takes to commute places to places?

I thought wrong. I didn't know the roads are mostly devoid of traffic lights, lanes so narrow sometimes you have to stop to let the opposite side vehicles pass first etc. :(

we were mostly travelling at 20km/hr (no kidding!) and maximum of 70km/hr (and that is very very RARELY).

 

and so, we took almost 1.5hr to reach our lunch venue @ ubud from the airport....

timing wise, it played out fine since it's a lunch stop.

 

lunch venue was at melting wok warung.

heard good reviews for this warung which is opened by a French lady with her Laos husband as the cook.

menu is pretty limited but the food is good!

 

ordered curry with pork & fish stir-fry with brinjal

desserts were crepe with chocolate & crème caramel with coconut sauce

 

the crepes with chocolate is especially yummy.

simple dish but so good. the crepes were warm and soft when served and the vanilla with chocolate chips ice-cream was milky and thick.

*thumbs up*

 and the pricing is very reasonable ~ S$30 perhaps?

 

after lunch, we had a walk around this part of ubud centre.

typical Balinese architecture. 

YR having fun taking photos.

noticed how his socks were pulled up high?

the boys did that cos they saw the big ants on the pavement and wanted to protect their legs.. @_@

our driver sent us to our resort after that which is another 15mins from ubud centre!
im starting to regret my decision to book this resort until we arrived.
its location is really not that desirable though to be fair, it was already highlighted during my research that it's nowhere central but its draw points are its tranquility and peaceful surroundings.
and the resort is indeed a haven tucked away in a lush setting with rice paddies in its view.
in the days that followed, im impresses with the hospitability shown to us by the staff as well.

our room was not yet ready, so we were ushered to the restaurant for welcome drinks.

they gave us flowers to put behind our ear! even the husband had one.

in the end, the boys wanted 2 flowers each.. LOL

 

panorama view from the restaurant

 

finally we checked in at 2+pm and took our time to nua in our room.

after some time, we finally bathed and moved out for afternoon tea!

afternoon tea was provided FOC at the resort daily.

not too sure if the menu will change but we only had 1 chance to try it on the first day.. ha.



left: freshened up and ready to move out!

right: tea break at hotel

 

we took the hotel shuttle bus to ubud centre at 4pm.

there were really nothing much at ubud centre if you ask me. :P

but we were on a mission hunting down the dinner venue for the night - bridges!

and we realized how the name came about for it is located next to a bridge so if you are seated at the right place, you have a good view of the scenery under the bridge.

through the entrance of the restaurant next to the bridge, you actually descend to the main part of the restaurant for the tables.



middle: nice view!

bottom left: huge foie gras!

bottom right: our mains

 

this meal ended up the most expensive of all for the whole trip ~ S$150 for 4 of us which is pretty hefty for balinese standards but the food is nothing short of fine dining standard if you ask me!

and we ordered quite a fair bit.

entrees: wagyu beef, foie gras

mains: barramundi for me, lamb shank for hubbi, pasta and chicken for the boys

I cant remember what desserts we had. even a glass of wine for me!

they even had palate cleansing sherbet for all of us. pretty impressive.

 

and that concluded the first day at bali for us - a foodie one no doubt!

we are back!

yeah, we are back from our 4D4N bali trip.
virgin trip to bali for all of us.
not as relaxing as I thought but again, who am I kidding?! relaxing with the 2 boys?
again, I think im being overambitious with my planning - leaving us tired out most of the days.. we were sound asleep by 10.30pm almost all the nights! LOL

anyway, a big thanks to the husband for sponsoring most of this trip - he paid for the air tickets and accommodations!
i paid for the other expenses which are mainly food (a good thing for i got to choose all the restaurants i want!) and the buggy rides (which is really for hubbi...).

more on the trip in later posts.
need to get all the unpacking and washing done.
need to sleep earlier tonight for  a long week at work ahead. *boo*

oh, and we are heading out for father's day dinner too.
though hubbi said he had enough of rich savory food in bali that he just wanted something simple at simpang bedok. ha.
so we are heading there for dinner now!

tata!

under the weather..

argh! just before the trip, I have to feel under the weather.. :(

was on MC yesterday for sore throat and flu.

though im feeling much better now, I hope the symptoms wont worsen during the upcoming trip.

 

and im officially moving on to a new role at work next week.

a little apprehensive with the fluid and slightly ambiguous job scope but nevertheless feeling geared up with the challenges that come with it.

will I rise above the occasion or drown in time to come...?

only time will tell.

for now, I say go with the flow and enjoy the ride. :)

 

some outfits for the last few days:

 

left: top from topship, pants from zara

right: basic top from uniqlo, vest from soon lee, pants from zara

 

disclaimer: these 2 pants are NOT the same. one is more cropped than the other.

lego day for the ng family!

it was a fantastic, albeit back-breaking (more for me), day for the ng family yesterday!

we woke up pretty early, went for a mac brekkie, did our grocery shopping and attended the parents-teacher session for YR at his childcare - all before noon!

good job!

after lunch and back at home, we got down to the interesting part - lego building!

 

ok, more of me doing the building.

the boys did alternated between that, playing with other stuff, lazing around etc.

bless their backs.

bending over building bricks is really not an easy task.

my fingertips were all sore and swollen by evening time..

not to mention a lonely one. :(

 

blurred photo of my black pearl!

 

it really look much much better in real life. pardon the blur photo.

arrowed the husband to re-assemble it and did a check if all the pieces are intact.

since it's built 2 years back, it has been the plaything for the boys though we had explicitly told them not to dismantle it and never, never lose a piece.

the husband will do a check every now and then and its a good thing that all is good!

it's time to put it somewhere safer.

just realized recently the price for this black pearl has rose to a crazy $450 (think lego has discontinued the range)!

i think we bought it for around $150 from Germany 2 years back....



http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Palace-Cinema-10232

 

and I spent almost the whole day (think come close to 7-8 hours...) to assemble my Palace cinema!
it was the first modular set that I've fallen in love with, thanks to my love for movies.
the boys were excited and helped me for ..... only awhile before their interests went elsewhere.
as I said, it's a lonely activity..

anyway, the finished product is lovely!
though its more like gothic architecture, gorgeous on the outside but a little bare inside.
still, there are some delightful parts within the walls. :D

1st floor boosts more interesting details

top left: movie posters on the outside

top right: ticket booths exterior where the dollar brick can slip through under the glass pane!

bottom left: ticket booths interior

bottom right: snack bar - see the cupcakes holder at the left? the bottles on the right? :D

 

left: the "PALACE" billboard is fingers-numbing hard... all the small parts.. @_@

right: the theatre itself on the 2nd floor completed with reclining seats. *Hoot*

 

and of cos, its not completed at 1 shot..

we went for some water fun at the pool in the late afternoon and yummy dinner at simpang bedok.

the boys had their own fun in the afternoon too.

they were busy building their own lego - the CHIMA set that hubbi bought for them.

to be honest, the set looks good and i'm impressed that the boys can build on their own given the recommended age group is 8-14 for this one.

 

they are only half-way through.. I hope the end results look as good as what's on the box!



the new chima mammoth set!

 

i wonder when I will start the Parisian restaurant.

perhaps before the school holidays end. I know the elder boy is very keen to help me with it. :P

and oh, I bought yet another set online from Amazon. :P

the pet shop set..

anyone keen to buy the emporium set for me? hehe.

an afternoon off - spending time with my boys

yeah, I was on PM leave today!

the husband came to pick me up at work with the boys around lunch time and off we went to plaza sing.

the plan was to catch "Maleficent".

before the show, we were pleasantly surprised to see some booths at the square on level 1.

these booths were selling snacks and showcasing games from yesteryears (my childhood era)!

think zero-point, country "rubber" (the one that you flip to end on top of your opponent's erasure), pick up sticks etc!

the boys found all these fascinating as they walked around seeing how the games are played.

and I bought snacks like ovaltine, white rabbit sweets, polo sweets etc.

my fav. toy would be the one that you blow bubbles out from a tube which smell all chemical and nasty. :P

hubbi didn't want me to buy for the boys to try as those are toxic...

but, we all grow up fine that way right?!

 

@ the booths - vespas!

 

 

after the show, we left for bedok mall.

the ng family has a sudden craving for tim ho wan and the queue at plaza sing is atrocious!

and as usual after dinner, we ended up at the lego store there.

I almost ended up buying yet another set but a personal boo boo convinced me not to in the end.

BUT the husband, in a good mood or so, decided to buy the boys a CHIMA set.

*tsktsk*

I don't like buying toys for the boys for no reason.

but its rare that hubbi want to buy anything for the boys on his own accord so I just let him be.

YZ & YR are now busy building lego as I typed... @_@

 

 

yeah, the weekend is about to start properly tomorrow.

I want to catch up with all my reading, watching and playing. :P

 

 

some outfits for the week:

 

left: top from gg5, skirt from bysi

middle: top from HK, skirt from bysi

right: dress from Massimo dutti, perforated belt from gg5

updates on the work front

its closing once again!
but I was good to leave the office by 7pm this Monday. :D
work was pretty manageable for now.
my stint at the other team is coming to an end soon - 1 more month max to go I presume.
now im in the midst of handing over stuff to the new contract...

and its pretty much confirmed that im really moving on to another role.
seems like a good move at this point of time but really too early to say.
perhaps another 6 months down the road, I will have a better picture.

and I went jogging with the colls this evening!
wow!
it  was surprisingly a good jog from the office to marine barrage and back.
the weather was cool after a whole afternoon of raining.
think I ran around 4.2km slightly under 32mins...
not fantastic but I was happy that I didn't stop running at all the whole time (though at 1 point my speed was slower than the fast walking tourists around me... jeez).
no mind, a good start!
lets see if I can continue to join 'em at least twice a month going forward. :P

doing what im good at again

shopping, that is!

as I mentioned in my last post.

the window shopping at MBS on Tuesday ignited a long-forgotten spark in me.

beautiful clothings, gorgeous shoes, exquisite bags all calling out to me!

and ah long's words of wisdom :"you work so near here, just pop by during lunch or after work to shop lah!"...

and that's what I did.

 

and I continued to burn more holes in my ragged pockets:

: shoes from pedro

: shoes and rings from bimba & lola

: pants from zara

: jeans from 7 for all mankind

: yet ANOTHER expert modula lego set - Palace Cinema

 

im getting hooked on the expert modula series!

my coll is heading to HK in jul and I really hope she can help me get the Grand emporium set!

but don't ask me when I actually will start working on any of the sets in my storeroom.

maybe I just love to buy things and keep them in boxes....

 

gonna take a break from the shopping the next  2 weeks - with closing and our upcoming trip.

but i'll be back in action for the full swing of GSS in late part of june!

oh yeah!

 

the good (?) thing is I found absolutely nothing to buy from GG5 this time round.

next bet: zara. :D

 

some outfits for the week:

 

left: dress from warehouse

middle: top from sportsgirl, shorts from topshop

right: all from zara

dating time with the husband

it has been a while since the husband and me last dated.

and we did it not once, but twice this week!

all on my tab! *tsk tsk* well mainly at least.

 

hubbi came to look for me after work on Tuesday.

we were watching a performance at Marina Sands theatre - Tap dogs!! :D

I have watched it like 15 years ago when I was still a student at Victoria theatre and the experience was totally exhilarating.

I shared with him on the performance during our dating days and promised that i'll bring him to the same performance if they ever come to our shores again.

and 一等竟然是好多年！

the performance started at 730pm so we had more than ample time for dinner and some window-shopping (not good, more on that later) before it.

 

the "dogs" were younger and hotter in my memory.

now the average age of the group has "upgraded". hehe

still, the energy and effort of the performance shone through.

the husband seemed suitably entertained by the performance which is really a feat by itself.

we are talking about someone who can sit through the ENTIRE A-mei concert with a straight face here!

 

really nice of my folks to take care of the boys while we had the tue evening to ourselves!

 

both of us were on PM leave today.

headed to YZ's school for parent-teacher session.

was pleased to hear mainly positive things about the elder son.

the areas of improvements as highlighted by the teacher were nothing to shout about.

it was the same things that we've keep reminding him - carelessness, too talkative and more focused when doing his work.... ha.

most importantly, the boy seems to be genuinely enjoying learning and school. that is enough for now, I guess.

 

after the session, we discussed for like a split second if we should fetch the boys to spend time with them but decided that time spend with ourselves was a better choice. :P

 

we headed to artscience museum for a exhibition that I long wanted to go since it launched last month - Annie Leibovitz A photographer's life 1990-2005

the exhibition was pretty small but it was an enjoyable one.

she does mainly portrait photography and personally I don't think portrait photos are as powerful as other genres like documentary or street photography.

still, there are gems like those iconic photos of Obama (taken before he became president!) and Hollywood stars in relaxed mode.

 

and then the very nice husband accompanied me to shop at MBS followed by raffles city.

something he really doesn't like... ha.

 

dinner was at wooloomooloo steakhouse at swissotel. :)

heard good feedbacks from coll and reviews online so decided to treat the husband to his fav. steak here.

im not really a beef lover so cant comment much.

the steak was good but I still prefer the one at au petit.

but our starters of garlic prawns was really good!

crazy ex dinner for me for I don't believe in spending too much on food and furthermore not on steak!

but seeing how happy mr ng was with the experience, I guess it's worth it.

 

happy husband

lazy week

it has been a lazy week at work.

things were pretty quiet and it was zen for awhile catching up on some tasks and tackling issues at a leisure pace. :)

 

got the chance to fetch the elder boy from school with the YR during the week.

needless to say, both boys were happy with something out of the ordinary.

the younger boy got to be fetched from childcare earlier and take a peek at gor gor's canteen.

only disappointment is ice cream uncle didnt turn up at the gates that day!

awww... would be lovely to have ice cream!

 

YZ was happy to see us and bade farewell happily to his school bus uncle.

we made our way to papa's workplace area for dinner.

simple happy evening!

 

photo-taking while waiting for YZ

 

some outfits for the week:

left: top from AL&Alicia, cropped pants from zara

middle: dress from zara (I forgot I have this dress till I saw it in the wardrobe!)

right: long sleeve top from gg5, skirt from zara

not a good month for the pockets....

may is not a good month for the moolahs.
they are disappearing faster than I can say "olah"!
ok, bad rhyming here.

nowadays, I dun seem to have spare cash for shopping anymore.
the money is suck up in other areas FAST. :(

: the fine for doing well is here.
income tax is really a pain in the ass.
still, I rather suffer the pain at 1 go then go the wheezy way of GIRO.
again, maybe my "fine" is not that hefty to begin with compared to others!
: lamer products
there is a staff discount lobang and I took the chance to stock up on the essentials and the not-so-essentials as well. :P
and even after the discount, the final amount came up to be a crazy....half a k. T_T
: lego
yes, another lego caught my fancy - to date, only the black pearl and ghost ship interest me enough to buy them.
this time round, its the Parisian restaurant from the modular series.
look exquisite and reminds me of my favourite part of the world - Europe!
though now its still sitting prettily in its box in the storeroom.
I wonder when I can spare the hours building it.
or should I outsource to the boys?! heh.
: upcoming trips
its always fun to go on trips. but not so fun when it comes to paying the bills. :(
hotel bill for September trip is in and we need to exchange currency for the upcoming trip in 2 weeks time.

with all the above, its really a no surprise that there is NO savings for the month!

still, the fun must goes on.

celebrated ser and dd's bday yesterday with the gang!
we must be getting lazy. no photos taken!
dinner was at pasta brava at craig road. I found the food not too bad for the pricing but not enough to warrant a re-visit though.
we adjourned for wine drinking at duxton hill after that.
lovely evening with the peeps.

and before dinner, we made a trip to visit Candice and her newborn at the hospital!
baby Shayne is really cute and handsome!
inheriting his mum's sharp nose and pretty mouth. hehe.

I bought super cute rompers from petit bateau for the baby and shared a necklace from agnes bay with zm for dd.
while its fun to spread the love, the pockets teared. LOL

let's hope jun will be a kinder month to the wallet.
but I seriously doubt so.
with the trip and the kids on holidays.....?
oh well.
we can always plan but the journey made itself.

spending the afternoon with hubbi doing the usual stuff

 

both the husband and myself were on PM leave today!
with only a few hours for ourselves, we did the usual - a good lunch followed by movie.
we tried concetto @ the cathay for lunch which is pretty much Italian food at value-for-money pricing.
hubbi had their wagyu beef while I tried the cod.
the food is really not bad given the pricing though I prefer their sister restaurant food - Saveur.
French food is still the best!
but have to admit, concetto's tiramisu is pretty good!

 

*yumm*

 

when the kids are not around, it makes sense to catch a R21 show, no?

ok, the choice is made more due to zac being in it. :P

"bad neighbours" was a hilarious show!

though its nowhere near classic comedy like zoolander or tropic thunder, it cracks me up for a good 1.5hrs. :D

 

oh! a good news for today, Candice popped this afternoon!

baby poh is finally ready to greet people outside of mummy's tummy! hehe.

im excited. cant wait to see the baby tomorrow. :))

 

some outfits for the week:

 

left: top from seoul, cropped pants from gg5

right: cardi from HK, pants from gg5

an active evening for the ng family... or just a facade?



the ng family headed out for an active evening today..

or so we thought. hiaks.

the enthusiastic husband brought us to change village, wanting to try the change point costal walk.

he was raving about the boardwalk where we can catch a nice sunset.

 

so we reached, all eager and ready.

it started out pretty well, we strolled along with the beach to our left and marvel at the planes flying by to land at the airport.

- it is a better spot to view take -offs and landings than the airport itself, if you ask me.-

but after 15mins or so of walking, we realized we were walking towards the wrong direction.

we were definitely not heading towards any boardwalk. LOL.

 

so we turned back.

by the time we reached the starting point, the elder son said he wanted to poo!

oh well, after the toilet break, this mummy just wanted to tuck into yummy hawker food. :P

so that ended our "well-planned" excursion but not executed fully the way the husband wanted. haha.

 

the weather is mad crazy hot! thank god for ice cream!

 

changi hawker is choked full of seemingly delicious local foodfare!

I think we will visit pretty soon again! :)

yet another week is over

it has been a quiet week at work. just the way I like it. :)

anyway, the love handles have been growing happily on me so I decide to do something.

something small like cutting down supper for the whole week.

YES! 1 whole week of no supper!

those who know me will know how tough this is for me... :'(

and as I stepped on the scales this morning like what I do everyday, im lighter by a grand 0.3kg.

zzzz.

how encouraging.

 

more feasting to come for the rest of the week.

I better buck up, I mean down, on the calories intake...

 

still, what better way to end a working week than to feast on yummy stuff at simpang bedok like prata! rojak! Maggie goring! and topping it off with milo dinosaur! *burp*

oh, and a new top from bysi bought during lunch time.

my first buy after HK! okok, 2nd one. what a feat!

 

 

there is some resemblance there right.

 

some outfits for the week:

EVERYTHING is from zara except the floral top on the right (from topshop)

I know I know. im such a boring shopper.

travel - rekindling the passion

2014 will be a great year of travel!
now that the kids are slowly getting older, I can see my travel plans coming back to life!
though this year is still pretty much concentrating in asia, we will see the ng family venturing further next year.
but that will be planned at a later date. :P

the husband has been very nice in accommodating and "approving" all my "suggestions". lol.
in reality, its more like I plan and he follows.

so there was HK with the peeps back in mar.
the boys and I are totally looking forward to our bali trip next month!
it will be a virgin trip for all of us!
I hope I will fall in love with the place like so many of my friends.
AND we have also booked the air tickets and accommodations for our sept trip! LOL.
planning ahead may seem ludicrous but the cost savings that come with it is no joke!
moments like this, I like the job stability & flexibility that both our current roles can offer us.

the highlight of 2014 will definitely be our nov trip where we will do a longer trip like what we did last year for Taiwan/hk.
planning will start around aug/sept I guess.
booking ahead save heaps!
and the savings translate to more travel in future. yeah!

and sometimes, im already daydreaming about 2015 where I have got the husband's permission to plan for a long family vacation..

awesome weekend *spoilers for spiderman2 ahead*

the best thing about weekends is when you can do what you like with people you love.

everyone should spend their weekends this way!

 

for me, this weekend has been good.

enough lazing around, quality time with the boys and to wrap it up with good food and a movie!

the boys had their usual time in the pool - a delight in the crazy hot weather.

 

the ng family had the chance to walk around amoy/telok ayer area and we had desserts at 1 of the eating places - Rice & Ice.

the durian snow ice is really good!

 

and of cos, we caught the must-watch movie of the moment - amazing spider man2.

for once, the younger son was good and asked minimal questions in the cinema.

I guess the actions were keeping him well-occupied. :)

 

personally, I was pleasantly surprised that this installment turned out much better than what I expected and as compared to its predecessor.

though the husband begged to differ.

 

maybe the real chemistry between the leads - Garfield and stone - is just jumping out the screen to us.

I like. :)

its sad that stone is out of the series..though those who read the comics will see it coming.

 

next, days of future past!

dont we love an oxymoron!

 

the worst is over and its not so bad afterall!

I survived the week!

was having slight teeters over this month's closing for as i mentioned, its the first time im helping out another commodity with its closing..

with the predecessor handing over in under 1 week mid apr, i was scrambling all over the place trying to self-learn using last month's files as reference the last 2 weeks of last month!

luckily, I survived the closing and did better by thriving it!

yeah, again im convinced that most things, if not all, are not as "uphill" or tough as what we tend to think initially.

im sure I can do better for may's closing. :)

 

been having lots of thoughts about career progression etc.

a little overwhelmed with all the options available, a little confused with which is the best path to trod and a little insecure as to the access to the chosen route is a granted.

I guess thats all because i still don't know what i want.

perhaps as one of my best friends told me, i always want the best of both worlds.

and like what another of my best friends said, you cant have your cake and eat it too!

 

so i say for now, go with the flow and carpe diem for vita brevis!

 

and i did just that by going out to have a yummy Korean dinner @ red pig with the colls yesterday!

*thumbs up* for the flagship marinated pork!

after that was chill out session at one of the bars at china sq.

ahhh - life's good with 2 glasses of wine. :)

 

some outfits for the week:

 

left: top from seoul, cropped pants from gg5

right: top from gg5, skirt from MNG