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