recap of 2011

most of my friends and myself have started the year thinking it won't be a smooth one overall.
at least according to predictions for roosters in general.
so a year has almost passed, all i can say its not as bad as i thought:

jan: hubbi turned 34 while my little nut turned 1. FIL suffered a mild stroke that gave all of us a wake-up call in paying more attention to our general health.

feb: YR started learning to walk at 13m+, earlier as compared to gor gor at 15+m. I bought myself an awesome watch as my wayyyyy advanced early 30yo bday pressie! :P
yz suffered from a bad bout of stomach flu that lasted almost 2 weeks which made me so sad and helpless.

mar: i got DD to help me get my new wallet from europe at a great price! the ng family went HK for 5D4N with my mum. it was quite fun but definitely wayyyy too tiring. both the boys came back and developed cough which lasted almost 2mths.... :(

apr: yr's turn to suffer stomach flu @_@ and i started actively looking out for jobs after being in my previous job for coming to 3 years and feeling more and more stagnant at work. and i signed the appointment letter at end apr!

may: a short month as i was busy doing my handover duties at previous job and a short macau trip before i commenced work at new workplace in early jun!
it was GE2011 too and i voted for the 1st time in my entire life. i was under marine parade GRC before i moved to TP GRC. but ever changing SMC/GRC landscape resulted in my area being under Radin Mas this year and i finally cast my sacred vote this year- haha.

jun: started work, steep learning curve which took me awhile to adjust. finally changed to android phone when hubbi got me the HTC incredible S. android rocks!

jul: rewarded myself with a chanel GST (thanks to eric who helped me get from london) and a ipad2 for the family with help from work vouchers. :) YR stopped taking his paci at 18m+ too.

aug: watched fantastic fireworks with my boys at my workplace on NDP 2011. went down with a terrible sore throat/cough that lingers on for the longest time (almost 1m+) which resulted in a health scare and blood test in between. lucky results come out to be ok.

sept: celebrated 5 years marriage anni with my man. secured a buyer to sign on the option to purchase for our flat at a good price as well as signed on the option to purchase on our next home - at a reasonable price (i think!).

oct: my YZ turned 4yo! gosh, hes growing up too fast! will be going to kindy in 2m+ time!

nov: went for routine check up with a worried heart after the health scare in aug. the results came back generally ok. a good improvement i passed a test that i failed last year. but another area was highlighted for further testing if im concerned. (*sigh*).
went for HDB 1st appt and concluded that our buyers are way nicer than our sellers. pui. well, just have to deal with whatever curve balls are thrown to us!
tasted guy savoy with the husband which was a special culinary experience for both of us.

dec: super busy month at work and outside of it. the whole month was almost dedicated to cleaning up the house (that means throwing away tons of stuff) and packing it to boxes!
YR had a fall and a nasty bump on the forehead which gave me a big scare. and he finally started on his childcare. better than gor gor, he stopped crying after 2 weeks...
had the most fun-filled bday gathering with my peeps to spend my *gasp* big 3-0 birthday!
for the actual day, will be spending a quiet one with my boys at a staycation. :)

yup, that kinda concludes my 2011.
there are ups and downs but being the ever-optimistic me, i think its still a pretty good year for me! :)
im more convinced than ever that H&H - health and happiness is really important.
resolution for 2012 will be to spend more effort in ensuring H&H!

turning over a new leaf

im finally done with my year-end shopping!
zara started yesterday and i've trawled through 4 outlets by today. *gulp*
i would think the purchases are good: 1 flats, 1 heels, 2 dresses and 2 blouses.

ok, time to turn over a new leaf and lead a frugal life (at least in jan!).
now, its time to choose from all the loot bought over the last month to see which will be my CNY clothings! :)

YZ ready for new school!

my little wormy is all grown up! :)

lights at JB!

hubbi's friend have been telling us how cheap lighting can be purchased from JB for the longest time.
so today, both of us took leave to drive to JB with ah long's friend for lighting shopping and of cos, indulge in bak ku teh lunch. haha.

slight jam at the customs given its year-end now and hordes of sg cars driving in for shopping and eating!
we spent about 5 hours there, just very focused on light shopping. :P
at the end of the trip, we were very glad to have purchased near to 80% of the lighting that we will be needing for the new house. :)

we should be making another trip back soon to collect our stock, perhaps get the remaining lightings from other shops and hopefully shopping at the new KSL mall!

xmas season = jolly season!

xmas is finally here in a jiffy!
23rd was a super happy day for half an hour into the work morning, my VP came round my floor to do the usual shaking hands-best wishes thingy.
THEN, he told us to scoot off after lunch to enjoy the joyous season! :)
and with a tibits tea break inserted in the middle of the morning with my own team, i can only say i've done minimal work on friday morning!

at 12, i scooted off to meet fifi @ my office lobby.
we were meeting gb & dd for lunchie @ verve pizza bar at marina bay city gallery!


the newlywed looking fresh n radiant from her honeymoon break at south africa!

after lunch, gb, fifi and myself continue to MBS to do serious window-shopping of most of the heavy-weight brands.
lol. its sooo fun when shopping with 志同道合 friends.
the adrenalin-high that we experienced as we weaved in and out of the shops came to a deflating 空虚 when we left the shops with no 战利品 of cos.... muhahah.
oh, and we went to the LV maison for the first time. pretty impressive, i must say.
i saw my next wallet too.... wahahahah.

xmas eve is pretty boring for the ng family.
we made various trips to furniture shops to source for our new house. took a rest stop at my mum's place in the afternoon for the boys' nap.
came evening time, a short stint at hubbi's sis house for dinner and then its home sweet home.

and finally, today is xmas day!
we had a surprise for the boys!
there was no xmas tree in our house and we didnt wrap up the present as well, haha.


tada, finally the cooking station that yz has always wanted!

we chose a set that looked safe for either gender, lol.
yz kept asking for reassurance that "this is not for girls one, hor?!". haha.
and the boys love it. they have been cooking food non-stop from morning up till their nap-time at 1pm... @_@

hmmm. now i wonder where can we go after they wake up from their nap...
we cant run errands (there are tons!) as those places were closed....
let's see how....

and the year-end shopping continues...

and so shortly after my shopping spree, MNG & topshop started their sale as well.
how jolly!

for MNG, i visited the raffles city branch with candice and jx and cheonged the vivo branch by myself during the 45mins window period before the husband and elder son reached...
damage: 2 tops + a dress
topshop sale is not really sincere with quite a small and poor selection on the sales rack.
(was relieved to find the new items that i bought a week back are NOT on sale - hehe)
visited the raffles city branch alone and the knightsbridge one with candice.
damage: a top, a dress + flats
i think im pretty done with the above two liao.

robinson year-end sale started and 难得 i can shop with the hubbi.
its pretty good deal for there is a voucher to less $30 for every $180 spent. not to mention most things are at least 20% off already!
we used up 2 vouchers which means all the items we bought were already discounted, we still get an additional $60 off the total bill of $400+ (a good additional 15% off!)!
we bought toys and kids stuff for the boys and toiletries as usual.
and i got a top from axara and shoes from nine west. :)
oh, and a belt for mr ng's birthday (apparantly, he's not that keen on ah mei's concert as his bday pressie. and i thought i bought him a belt for last year birthday too!?! hmm, so long the mister is happy lor.)

ok, the bill came and i paid with tears streaming down my cheeks.
i hope the bill will be kinder in jan since there is only zara sale left? or no?

advanced xmas celebration @ junren's hse

as with tradition, ah long and his friends try to have an xmas gathering every year.
this year, we did so at junren's house!
its interesting to see how the group just get bigger and bigger over the years with new additions. :)
yz and yr had fun (i think!) playing with the other kids and of cos eating all kind of nice food and stuff.


can you spot us! this is not full attendance by the way...


left: its a potluck gathering but being the lazy ones, we got the desserts covered - a chocolate log cake and a strawberry shortcake
right: yr terrorising all the uncles with his balloon sword.

Year end shopping is here again!

im almost scared to write this post but i guess i have to note down all the nonsense i bought so i can be more mindful going forward! though i think the shopaholic me will still reign.... zzzz.
to my credit, i think i didnt buy anything for almost 5 weeks before i started my recent crazy spree!
that is such a feat! :P

but as usual, i think most of my buys are good one:
1) a beige shorts from forever new - i love this brand from down under! think they have only 1 store @ raffles city in SG.
think lace and ruffles. and they have crazy petite sizes for the tiny ladies!
2) Pedro shoes
3) bangles and shoes from Bimba & Lola - crazy year-end sale! check out ion outlet! i love their accessories, shoes & bags!
4) novel 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - no time to read yet in this crazy season of activities
5) top, top, top (yes, 3!) from GG5 - im hoping feverishly i wont see them in any upcoming sale!
6) jeans & denim shorts from Guess by marciano - good year-end sale! check out the MBS branch for good sizes left.
7) dress + (zebra!) leggings from forever 21 - believe it or not, this is my 1st time buying from this brand. had always feel that its quality is inconsistent and maddening. well well, lets see if they last the test of usage.
8) 2 tops & a romper from topshop - thanks to the girls! knowing topshop, im SURE these new collection wont appear in their upcoming sale. some comfort here.. haha.
9) 1 T&C bracelet - my fav. buy!! thanks to GB who helped me to get this from the states! :) though its only a teeny weeny bit cheaper as compared to SG, its my lovely gift to myself for turning 30. :)

i think the above is crazy enough.
the husband only got snippets here and there, i think he's still missing the BIG picture.
ok, no more buys UNTIL the sale gets going at the usual brands (think gg5/MNG/zara) bah!
god bless my pockets.

big 3-O birthday with the girls!

its amazing how i can still pull myself out of bed yesterday morning after the crazy saturday night @ park hotel.
still, i must make it to meet the girls for my bday lunch and our annual xmas gift exchange gathering!

venue was at DB bistro Moderne @ Marina Bay sands.
we had brunch there and it was delicious! *yum yum*

they knew me well too and got me a topshop value card! *wee*
just in time for year-end shopping! :)
and i got stella's xmas gift - a loewe perfume! nice!


polaroids with the girls! ok, women!

my big 3-O birthday party!

YEAH~ 10th dec is a big day to me!
the day i spent my 30th birthday with the gang. :)
i booked a room at park hotel and we meant to spend as much crazy time from day to night!
by 5pm, its full attendance! :)


took polaroid shots with all of them! they got me a princess balloon! can you spot it!?
though i cant be any further from being one. i have no 公主病 ok!

we took some shots before heading out for our mini "photoshoot" and dinner @ robertson quay:
and of cos, we downed 1 bubbly before heading out.. :)


baring teeth with the women

prim & proper ( i dun know why?!) with the *cough* hunks.

we walked to our dinner place ~ brussels sprouts @ robertson quay from the hotel.
along the way, we started our crazy photoshoot session:

at first, it was still tame and under control

then, more instructions were thrown and we actually followed suit?!

im glad for my yoga sessions @ cali back then!


mad dd and bin bin jumped real high at the back! well done!
and alot of passers-by threw us dubious glances.. LOL

it was still very fun, all of us laughed till our faces almost cramped. hehe.

by the time we settled down for dinner @ brussels sprouts, im absolutely bushed.
check out my expression. zzzzz

we had like 4 pots of mussels between AND 5 dishes too. *burp*
oh, their fruit-flavored beer were berry nice!

and then, it was back to the hotel for more merry-making.
we chatted and drank and chatted and drank.
for a group who communicated via watsapp EVERYDAY, its pretty amazing we still have so much crap to talk about!

and before long, its time for cake-cutting session and presenting my pressie to me! :)


my first time popping a champagne (with help from dd for loosening the cork first). and MOET is especially yummeh! *slurp*
cake was strawberry shortcake from Rive gauche - light and good. and they very scared i dont know im turing 30 loh. @_@

i was waiting eagerly for my pressie for im sure the peeps will do a good job given how *ahem* well they know me....
so i was sooo happy when they produced a balenciage dustbag and said dd scoured high and low overseas for my pressie.
my 1st thought was really he managed to get a good buy from one of the outlet @ his last work trip @ london....


very suspicious looking me and getting a shock when i realised the real "brand"!

but things started getting suspicious when he asked for the dustbag after i took out the bag and kept it away immediately.
why cant i keep the dustbag?!
when i held the bag in my hand, it just doesnt feel right. too light and the leather too PVC smelling.
and their grins were so up-to-no-good!
and so i checked as they told me and realised the brand is actually................ YIC (i dun know what is this!?!??!).


very unhappy with the (fake) pressie

luckily, they whipped out the real deal soon!

berry nice ferragamo skinny belt. :)

and the rest of the night was really chatting, laughing, singing and of cos drinking.
but we drank happy spirits this time round and all were in high spirits! good!

near to 1am, we still managed to drag ourselves to shanghai dolly. LOL
a bad mistake!
bad crowd and worse music!!
i think it will be our last time there ever.

so with my bday, we finally ended all the big 3-O birthdays for everyone in the group.
back to normal bday celebrations next year onwards i guess.
big celebrations 很伤身! haha.

i just want to shout again that im sooo lucky to have this group of friends for the 17 years and counting!

they are oh-so-cute!

the screw up

and so after 5 months of good luck and smooth sailing, i had my first major screw-up at work.
so JUST after my bosses' commendation last month, i went on to commit not one BUT two mistakes for this month closing.
well done, ecookie!
and i only realised the mistake on WD2. hohoho.
that's why i almost cant make it for fifi's wedding that evening!
its a blessings that it was the weekend after WD2 so we have 2 days to rectify the mistake before the deadline on WD3 (ie. monday).

i suggested coming back on saturday to salvage the situation and im so grateful to my team members who came back to help me so willingly.
though we stayed abit longer that we hoped for on sat, it was in a way a good kind of teambuilding! LOL.
im just keeping my fingers and toes crossed that no more next time! *gulp*

to mr & mrs zeng: blissful marriage ahead!

and so, my dearest fifi 嫁出去了！
hehehe.
i am sooooo sad not being able to be her 姐妹！*sigh*
but her wedding actually falls on 2nd dec = 2nd workday of closing = the bane of all finance people!
and i almost cant make it for her wedding! *gasp* (let's leave that in the next post...)

still, the ng family managed to make it to conrad slightly before 830pm.
i was in time to give the bridezilla a big hug before her first march in!
*aww* she looks great in her wedding gown. :)

and as she marched in to RC's serenade, i actually teared!
just so touched at the moment. ok, emo me lah.
didnt manage to take photos cos the 2 kiddos were there too!
cant wait to see the shots when the newlyweds is back from their honeymoon. :)

and, that was the last wedding for 2011.
as of now, im counting...1...2..3...4..5 weddings to attend next year!! and im sure the number will go up more....
haha, but weddings are happy affairs and i love attending them!

YR finally get a haircut!

YR has always been scared of getting his hair cut even since he was a baby.
when he was younger, we got around it by waiting till he was asleep and then let the hairdresser do the job while he was zzz-ing.
but as he approached toddlerhood and getting more vocal with his fear, it was almost mission impossible to bring him for a haircut!
so the last haircut he had was almost half a year ago - im seriously not kidding.
he got himself a crew cut the last time my mum brought him to the barber...

for the past few weeks, we have been trying to bring him for his long overdue haircut.
but before we even step into the shop, the tears already start falling...zzz.
so, we resorted to the expensive choice today. and with a combi of vcd and sweets, we managed to cut his hair!!


look at how crazily long and untidy his hair is!!
very focused on bob the builder LOL.

*tada* my handsome little pumpkin!
he has natural brown hair like papa..

i wonder how will he react for his next haircut....

missing musee dorsay & tasting guy savoy!

had originally applied for leave on fri as the elder son's childcare would be closed for spring cleaning and i meant to take care of him myself on that day.
but he mentioned wanting to stay overnight at my mum's place and she actually agreed despite having to take care of YR from tue to thurs!
SO! the husband took leave on the same day so that we can have a proper date with just each other since both the boys have caretakers for the whole day till evening time!
for the first time, we can dine out at nice restaurants without the boys! haha.

so we started planning our activities 1-2 days before the day:
first thing in the morning, we went to run errands. @_@
our car was due for servicing so we drove it to the service centre after our MIL reached our place to take care of YR for the day.
luckily, leng kee is near our place and there were few people at the centre on a friday morning.
we were out in 20mins time, thankfully.

next stop, cabbed to plaza sing to collect our tickets from sistic.


looking not as fresh as we wanted. haha.

so where are we going?!


tada! to the dreams & reality impressionism exhibition @ national museum of singapore

hubbi and me have been to musee dorsay all the wayyy back in 2003!
it was our first time being exposed to impressionism and i remembered the boyfriend then getting more excited over impressionism works than those classic renaissance pieces by the grandmasters (ie da vinci, botticelli, caravaggio etc). @_@
so, we were both really glad to revisit some of the art works here in singapore again!
though the husband's interest fizzled out real quick DESPITE the 140+ works only being exhibited here. duh!
he was sitting down here and there as we walked through the different sections...... *rolled eyes*

let's take a look at some of more interesting pieces being exhibited here (at least to me..):

one of my favourite artists from impressionism - edgar degas
he was quite popular for his female dancers works. i remember some excellent pieces seen in the thyssen-bornemisza museum in madrid when we were there in 2009.

i like his works - he has a knack of capturing the fluidity of movement in his works.
sadly, there is only 1 piece of his work in the exhibition this time round.

hubbi and i both agreed that impressionist works are best seen from afar.
somehow, the realism is enhanced when you approach the works from a distance.
its really amazing how the seemingly bold careless broad strokes from close-up can translate to such realism of the art pieces from a distance.

some examples:

a well-excuted piece by monet. the couch takes the limelight for this painting, if you ask me.

on closer look, the couch is just made up of some blurred, blotchy patterns. LOL

ooh, ah long's fav for the exhibition. he can even accurately decipher that its night-time for this seaside painting.
hahah, maybe i've underestimated him!
ahh, the waves look so real and you can almost visualise the movement of the waves.

close-up: the waves are just dabbed on in thick strokes of white paint... zzz.

ending with van gogh's starry night over the rhone, undoubtedly the hightlight for the exhibition.
though im rarely a fan of his works. they always give me a psychedelic feel, dont ask me why!
not unlike the scream from edvard munch.... haha.

sigh, i miss paris...
oh well, back to reality. it was lunch time when we left the exhibition.
time to scout for a light lunch since we've something quite heavy planned for dinner.

lunch was at novus at NMS. we share a hearty classic all day breakfast between us and some desserts.
i highly recommended their desserts. quite reasonable at $12 for 3!
and the sizes are just right to be shared with others. :)

we had raspberry meringue, chocolate mousse (which is interestinly graduated from milk to dark chocolate!) and lemon tart. *yummeh*

went window shopping with the husband at orchard road.
bimba and lola was having 50% sale storewide so i bought some bangles at a good price!
and i finally managed to find a specs frame which design i like and fit my flat face to a T after scouring many optical shops from lucky plaza till ion!
placed a deposit to secure the frames so i can come back at a later date to test my eyes' power for the prescriptive lenses. :)

as usual, window shopping with ah long on watches never fail to impress me (the only area he can do so with ease, LOL).
learnt another one or two interesting facts about certain watch features and i discovered another choice for my next watch! *wee*
though the husband said im just a copy cat of him. pui.

we reached MBS too late, i just realised more shops are opened there now and i could've spend more time shopping there. :(
well well, there is always next time since i worked so nearby right? ok, new venue for lunchtime shopping.
window shopping, that is! haha.

we were decidedly excited with our dinner venue - guy savoy @ MBS!
this would never be our preferred dining choice given the steep price, michelin stars or not!
BUT, with the reward i just got from work, i was able to treat hubbi to a fine dining experience. :)
we opted for the cheapest (still crazily ex!) set menu - TGV which came with an appetiser, 2 main courses and desserts.
but we soon find out there are alot of "complimentary" dishes from the chef....
anyway, the TGV menu changes everyday so you won;t know whats on it till the day itself.
and so, we started our meal with no inkling what will be served to us. cos not like we can dislike the menu and opt for other more expensive set menus! wahaha.

i try my best to recall what we had...
1) a bite size foie gras with toast (above left)- to me, the taste is exquisite but ah long found it akin to ya kun kaya toast. zzzz.
2) a bite size hand-made waffle with parmesan cheese melted on it - soft, warm and very good.
3) free-flow bread with salted and unsalted butter (to choose from) - good but not the best. we made the right choice of eating half of what was offered.
4) Palate cleanser - a small drink made of carrot, orange juice with some bits in them (i miss out bits of what the waiter was raving to me...haha)
5) appetiser is........ chestnut (gao lat! LOL). its 3 chestnuts on top of a chestnut pudding swimming in a plate of foamy chestnut sauce. it was very good but the asian in us were thinking about how cheap the cost is!!! but i think credit must be given to the chef for a basic ingredient like chestnut to something so delectable, esp the pudding.
6) 1st main dish is cod fish (above right) - its one of the best ive tasted in my life though i do think forlino's one is slightly better.
7) another complimentary dish - a bite size meringue with orange syrup in it (this is fantastic!) and a shot glass of slanted 3 layers - calamansi syrup (if i didnt hear wrongly), hazelnut jelly, hazelnut mousse. very interesting presentation.
8) 2nd main dish - game bird. by that, its a pie with truffle and foie gras added to it. the meat in it was made up of pigeon, quail and duck.....
again, the dish was nice but we were getting rather stuffed by then and the husband kept insisting he cant taste any truffle nor foie gras in it. again, i felt happy that im not paying the full price of this meal. hahah.
9) desserts was dark chocolate cake - nothing too special
10) *surprise* the waiters pushed out a trolley full of desserts and ask us to choose! (below)
misunderstanding our question on how many different types we can choose, they said up to 3/4 pieces for each type!! haha SIAO! how to eat when our tummies were already bursting at the seams!
still, we chose 9 different desserts (thank god for their bite sizes) and managed to finish them somehow.
11) AND, when we thought its all over, they presented us with the last palate cleanser for the night - earl grey sorbet which was totally refreshing and light.

it was really a wonderful experience overall despite the rather hefty $180++ per pax.

the food was actually very good, the service was excellent as well (though im still not v used to waiters "introducing" the food to us each time they served us - that will be 11 times for this dinner!) though ambience is so-so to be truthful.
when we looked back at what we've eaten, we noted that we have the opportunity to try a good variety of food. also, the food was prepared in a different way from most restaurants.

i guess, thats how guy savoy earned their stars for their paris/las vegas restaurants.

thumbs up for the experience! :)

i had the most lovely day/evening with the husband.
until he kept whining at night when he stepped up on the scales.... haha.

work - never my cup of tea

due to an unexpected promotion/transfer of my colleague, im forced to prematurely take over her job scope.
just like that, 4.5 mths of honeymoon came abruptly to a halt.
ok, not really. she was still hanging around during the transition month so i was still in safe hands in Oct.
THE CHALLENGE came when she transferred out of our team start of this month and i've to "hold 住" both our roles meantime while taking time out to train the newcomer too. @_@

the past 3 weeks flew past in a frenzy if you ask me.
so much things to do during work (cos i try my darn best to leave by 6+ most of the time) and with the boys coming down with coughs one after another....
finally, things more or less settled for this week and i actually have time to take a breather or maybe two during office hours! :)
BUT, month-end closing is here again in 1.5 weeks time!! *puke*

apart from learning (albeit a steep curve) more so in this 1 mth+, the most notable postitive thing that came out of this busy period so far is that my efforts didnt go unnoticed.
apart from positive feedback from my bosses, i'm able to treat hubbi to some fine dining. *wee* :)
thats what we are planning for this friday. i totally deserved this coming break!! to lose myself in work for extended period of time is such a foreign thing for me!

week 1 of nov: new bedroom!

so, the story goes like this:
when we first got the keys to our new house, ah long and me just wanted a simple master bedroom with minimal furniture.
so we came up with the idea of doing a raised platform for most of the bedroom area and do away with buying a bedframe.
back then, our dependable contractor did all the necessary and ensured that our renovation works complied with HDB laws and regulations.
and SO, the requirement then is the between any raised platform to the bottom of the window pane, there must be at least 90cm gap. to which we did better, ours was a 95cm gap.

so when the HDB officer came our house to do the routine check to ensure everything is in order before our HDB 1st appt to sell the house to our sellers, we were berry confident that we will pass with flying colors.
which we did. WITH THE EXCEPTION of the raised platform in our master bedroom. @_@
apparantly, the regulations changed in the last 2 or 3 years that the distance between any raised platform and window must be at least 1metre now............
*pui*
so we just went from legal to illegal unknowingly.

nothing too terrible. or so the HDB Officer said.
you just need to remove the platform soon and let me inspect again - he said. @_@

and so we did. :
luckily, our contractor was able to help us do so at a nominal fee.
but the bare cement floor thereafter rendered our master bedroom no longer one......

so we did a 乾坤大挪移。 hahaha.
so for the next 6-8 weeks, our master bedroom will become our study/store room.
and we have shifted our mattress to the study room since.
we are surprisingly zen with the new arrangement and actually think its fun to do so!
well, im now blogging away in my master bedroom ... haha while ah long is zzzing away in the study room.
new set up can be fun, i suppose. :)


tada, our master bedroom became a makeshift study room cum storeroom. *messy*


our new "bedroom". the boys dived onto the mattress once we laid it down. tsk tsk.

they never fail to brighten up my day!

fifi's hen party - cooking @ cookyn Inc

had a blast yesterday with my peeps!
it was fi's hen party and we've organized a cooking class (yes yes, i do think its mild for her too haha but we did have tons of fun!) for the bridezilla. hehe.
the class was at cookyn inc which is a short stone throw from my house near queenstown area.
majority of us reached 15mins earlier than the hen.

yan and me in the berry nice open-concept kitchen

before long, fifi arrived!
she was actually blindfolded in the car already, so she absolutely had no idea what awaits her. ha.


dressing her up in hen's gear . :)

she was more than pleasantly surprised to see the gang when she took off her blindfold.
she really didnt expect most of us to be there.


a group photo before the "hard" work starts. :P

with all the ingredients prepared and a chef on standby to guide us on every step, suddenly whipping up a gourmet meal is chicken feet. wahahah.
appetiser: we had hokkaido scallop salad garnished with truffle oil & caviar! *woot*

us with our salads!

next up: roast chicken with feta cheese!

after marinating, before roasting

tada! super juicy and yummy!

the whole cooking process took us around 3.5 hours - not short lor.
but we had so much fun fooling, ahem i meant cooking, that the time just flew past!

me with my main - pesto spaghetti with prawns
putting the final touch on our dessert chocolate mousse - dusting sugar on it.

it was almost 7 by the time we were done with the dinner - *burp*.
next stop - to wine company @ dempsey for more wine and merry-making!

but by 10pm, i've to make a move - meeting dan they all for more drinking. @_@
it was almost 3am by the time i reached home. @_@
very long but fun day lah!

im really very very happy for fifi who will be marrying love of her life - RC - in 3 weeks time! :)
may them have a very blessed marriage!