HCMC - day 3

 

we now know how small HCMC is so we lazed in hotel room after breakfast until it's lunch time before we decided to venture out for food. :P
with the recommendation from gb, we headed to quan ngon 138 for some good o' Vietnam cuisine!
I like the food here especially the shrimps cooked while wrapped around sugar cane!
the unadventurous husband had his pho as usual but it was really good. :D

@ quan ngon 138!

 

after lunch, we headed to vicom centre which is the biggest shopping mall in HCMC.

nothing too different from the malls in SG but I felt weirdly at home in it. haha!

we had yummy fanny's ice cream which is really tasty and creamy!

 

very affordable ice cream

wide variety - saw that they have chili flavor but I was not brave enough to try...

 

after shopping time at vicom and parkson mall next to it, we walked over to the opera house.

this area reminded hubbi and me of the opera house and surroundings at paris!

really french colonial style.

 

@/around opera house

 

 

by then, it was almost 5 and the ng family was feeling tired and sleepy again..

we found refuge at café bene - a Korean franchise café  which we were very fond of when we were at seoul last june - and proceeded to laze there with yummy bubble tea for the next hour.

 

finally, we made our way to the last stop for the day - ciao bella for dinner!

a Italian restaurant known for its good food near opera house area.

 

I like the food here second best for all the meals at HCMC (we had the best meal as last dinner in HCMC - more on that later).

I ordered sea bass thinking its the usual thick slice but was most surprised when I saw the whole fish!
and the chef has removed all the bones and baked it with lemon slices between the fish!

how well-executed! and it's only like US$20?

 

hubbi had squid ink seafood pasta and the man loved it too. they boys' cabonara was good too - not overwhelmingly saltish.

I like the touches from the restaurant like free house wine for us and sprite for the kids AND limoncello after desserts! YUM.

 

the whole meal only costs us like US$50+ for 4 of us? what a steal!

 



check out the sea bass!

 

it was drizzling when we left the restaurant so on we hopped to a cab and back in warm dry hotel room in no time. yeah!

HCMC - day 2

 

we started the day early after breakfast at hotel.

from sofitel, it's only a short walk of 10-15m to the unification palace via the main le duan street.

 



motorbikes everywhere! huge roundabout with bikes and cars zooming from all directions and NO traffic lights!

I really don't know how we cross the roads most of the time

 

we decided to drop by Windows cafe which is one of the recommended cafes for HCMC.

not too bad given the ambience.

but the interior smell like the its turned into a KTV/pub with too much smoking and alcohol... @_@

the pho with beef balls was good but the rest of the dishes were so-so.

still, a good meal.

we opted for non-smoking section and were led to this secluded open-air corner. @@

but its a good thing for it was thumping bad techno in the café!

 

unification palace is just opposite windows café - we didn't go in but just take some shots of it.

opposite it are the city parks which are pretty small but the few times we walked past it the next evening, they were full of locals having drinks and looking relaxed, chatting.

a nice sanctuary in the city

 

 

next up, we walked over to the notre dame cathedral and post office which are incredibly near.

nice architect and i especially like the interior of the post office.

posing in front of the church

interior of post office - grand!

 

by then, it was almost 4pm and we were mostly drenched in sweat.. the weather was that atrocious.

we walked back to our hotel to laze the late afternoon away - shiok!

 

by 6+pm, we were good to go again.

we took a cab to district 2 for our dinner - la villa French restaurant.

read good reviews about this restaurant online and made reservations before the trip. the location is a little off but luckily by cab its only a mere 15m away from district 1 where our hotel is.

 

the décor, ambience and menu of the restaurant are fine dining standard.

the food was good too especially for the price ~ US$100+ for 4 of us.

but again, I rather pay abit more for the tastier food in bali. :P

hard not to compare when we just did bali only 3 months back and I can still remember clearly how fine the food was!

 

chanced upon this very nice desserts shop next to our restaurant

bought a red velvet cupcake and lemon tart for tea break tomorrow which turned out to be absolutely delicious!

 

and that concluded our 2nd day in HCMC!

hcmc - day 1





we reached airport early at slightly before 12 for our 2pm flight.

mummy needs to do some spot of shopping @ DFS.:D

 

we had a quick tea break at coffee & toast before going through the immigration.

and I must have shopped for quite some time for the next thing I know after I made payment, it's only 30m before take-off time..

well, it's good shopping for I bought (almost) absolutely nothing from HCMC. @_@

 

left: happy boys @ T1

top right: touched down at HCMC airport!

bottom right: checked into Sofitel

 

Jetstar took off on time and we reached hcmc around 3pm (hcmc is 1 hour behind SG).

found a cab in a jiffy and we reached Sofitel in 15m or so.

by the time we were ready to move out to explore, it was still pretty early at 4+pm.

 

we tried looking for food but there are no cafes in sight when we ventured out but coffee bean.. LOL.

so we settled for that to fill the hungry tummies of the boys.

 

food for the boys

 

from our hotel, it is only a short 10-15m walk to Saigon square 2.

but it's really not our cup of team so we were in and out in less than 30m.

 

the rest of the evening was better spent trying to hunt down a decent dinner venue for us.

as the night fell fast, we quickly settled for an authentic looking jap restaurant.

but the menu presented to us revealed a mix mash of cuisines (jap, Korean, chines etc). @_@

 

we had bbq - kobe beef, pork belly etc for dinner. it wasn't really ex ~ US$50 for 4 of us.

but I thought for this price, I can get better food in bali....like much better.

ok, maybe it's just the wrong restaurant.

 

and it started drizzling when we walked back to hotel, so we doubled our steps and reached the comforts of our room slightly after 8+pm.

not too bad for a slow day 1!

 

as for the DFS shopping, im very pleased with my purchases. all the more after im back and knowing that those are almost the only things I bought for this trip...

stocking up and buying some stuff on a whim as usual:

- make up remover oil from shu uemura

- sunblock from shiseido

- facial cleanser from guerlain

- lipstick x 2 from chanel

- perfume from chanel

- liquid foundation from estee lauder

- bb cushion foundation from laneige

 

im a happy woman!

we are back!

5D4N zoomed past just like that and we are back from our hcmc trip!
so how was the trip? it seriously may be the most zzz trip for hubbi and I..
maybe just a case of misalignment of expectations. maybe we just don't know how to appreciate the beauty of hcmc.

ok lets talk about the good parts - very short flight to and from Singapore and city extremely near airport (think ~ 15m by cab) so you can start the trip as soon as you touch down without feeling the fatigue.
there are really a lot of cafes there, some with really nice décor and ambiance.
similar to bali, good range of restaurants which serve really decent Italian/French cuisine at affordable prices.
it was actually a relaxing trip if you count the time we laze in hotel - see below.

the not so good parts - if you are going to Mekong river or the cuci tunnels (which we did not for we have neither the desire nor are they kids-friendly), then hcmc is best for at most 3D2N.
no kidding, the attractions in city (reunification palace, post office, notre dame church etc) can be all visited in 1 day itself for their proximity.
and the markets (Saigon/ben thanh) are really not our cup of tea.
so by day 3 of our trip, we have started to go very very slow with our pace. like lazing in hotel until almost noon then going out to seek for food and going back to the hotel early like before 8pm every night. LOL.

still, it was an experience for the boys and us to try crossing the streets by trying to walk confidently while the motorbikes and cars navigate around us..
to see motorbikes charging towards us on the pavements (yes, they ride on those to save time).
to see showers that last all of a grand 2mins (yes, summer rains are amazing).
and some parts really feel like a #throwback to 70's Singapore.
it was all good experience on hindsight I guess though when I was there, I actually miss home terribly. :P

ok, more on hcmc trip in later posts!

HCMC - here we come!

been a hectic 2 days at work! trying to clear as much as possible before going for our family trip tomorrow.
so where are we heading off this time round!? HCMC (Ho chi minh city) that is!
I think we are really running out of places to visit in Asia - cant go too far for a 1-week sept school holiday.
the last time I was in Vietnam Hanoi was a good 3+ years back. and to be honest, I wasn't too impressive with the city itself.
halong bay is beautiful but the bus journey to and fro Hanoi city is a total bummer (think at least 3.5hrs ONE WAY).
but I read good things about HCMC off travel mags though the very few colls who had ever been there gave me some shady comments here and there.
oh well.

seems like a simple enough trip - very cheap too.
since we are flying by jetstar budget airline (for a 1hr 40m flight it seems ok) and we booked the tickets early - almost 3 months back, the air tix was only like $650 for 4 of us!
how much cheaper can it be!?
since air tix is cheap, we decided to go for better accommodations - Sofitel that is.
but even so, 4 nights accom came up to be around $750 which is a good steal if you ask me since breakfast (yes, you heard it right!) is included!

the whole package seems crazy cheap compared to bali which we just did in jun.
is that an indication of how boring and uneventful the trip will be?
I hope not. I heard the café scene is good in HCMC though I've been warned that shopping is almost a no-no at least to me for im totally not into those market-type goods.

we will see, I guess?

just done packing for the boys and myself. hubbi is so lazy that he decided to pack his stuff tomorrow since it's an afternoon flight. tsk tsk.

some outfits for last week:

left: top from gg5, cropped pants from zara

right: dress from BCBG Max Azria

weekend fun for the ng family

 

the ng family spent a lovely evening by the bay yesterday.

after lazing at home for a good part of the day after yz's enrichment class in the morning, we decided to head out for some activities.

we parked at satay by the bay at 5pm - mummy decided to go for a 30+m jog on the usual after-work jogging route while the boys took turns on the scooter with the husband.

after that, we had yummy dinner at.. where else but satay by the bay!

the satays there are really good - we ordered from the first stall to the left as we walked in.

 

after the hearty dinner, we took a walk around the kids area exploring the playground.

the boys ended up playing in the water playground spontaneously (lucky I have the foresight of packing extra clothing's for the evening! i thought they will get too sweaty from the running around..).

 

by the time we reached, bathed them and let them slowly unwind for the night, they were so tired and ready to hit the sack. hehe.

 

we should do more of such evenings going forward! a healthy way to let the boys expense their energy the right way! :P

 

left: cheeky yr

right: big baobei with sweaty mummy after run

teambuilding - off to ubin

this is the first month i'm feeling the joy of not having BAU closing activities!

sure, I have stuff to do and it's not altogether rosy but finally I don't have to go through the same closing tasks that I've been doing for the past few years. :D

 

so this have been a happy 1st week of the month for me with hours stabilizing so that i can go off relatively on time.

the husband and I even find time to visit the local library with the boys on wed! :)

this is good!

 

and today, some of us left office early for a spot of teambuilding!

even though we have left the business team (finance was taken out of business as a central function almost 2 years back), we were still invited for their almost quarterly teambuilding events. *sweet*

 

and so today, we went to...... UBIN!

in fact, the whole event was kept so hush hush that only until the transport van dropped us at change point ferry terminal then we were aware that we were going there!

it was in fact my first time to the island - not really a sporty/nature person...

 

on the bump boat approaching the island!

 

and so the teambuilding event was we have to first find cards at the herb garden that determine what ingredients we were entitled to and with that, we needed to whip up dishes!

imagine my horror hearing that! I who cant cook for nuts!

so most of the time, I was just hanging around the main chef for my team helping him find the spices etc. not even chopping the vegetables for there are other more capable ladies in my team for that task.. @_@

so it's really drinking beer with some others most of the time.. ha! 

 

the team! can you spot me?

we managed to whip up 12 dishes between us and had that for dinner

 

the dishes are not the tastiest but it was really team efforts that created them so we finished most of them between us.

we took the last ferry out of ubin at 7.30pm - it was a fun evening!

 

some of us continued to changi hawker for some more food and drinks and we chatted all kind of nonsense before calling it a night at 10+pm.

Fridays are best spent with chatting with friends while having drinks and food. shiok.

start of something good?

i have decided to start doing something to my muffin top!
and so far for this week it has been a good start but of cos the question is always how long can I sustain it?
knowing me, always eager to start something new and seldom having the determination and willpower to follow through....

oh well, we shall see how it goes.

and so I managed to wake up bright and (not so) cheery at 6+am on mon, tue and today to hit the gym for a short run on the treadmill!
25m 3.5km, 23m 3.25km, 25m 3.5km respectively.
slow easy jog for others but quite a feat for me. :P
going to rest during the weekend and hopefully I can do another 3 runs next week.
or maybe not, since the ng family is going for our family trip on wed. :P
oh well, I will just try to stay active during the trip.

the perks about waking up early is you really start the day fresh.
I like how im able to prepare for work unrushed and arrive at workplace with a clearer mind.
but by 3/4 pm, I feel like a walking dead. especially when there are back to back meetings....

perhaps just a matter of getting used to it.
the body and mind need to get adjusted too!
and I realized exercising eats up time. I need to be in bed by 11pm given I'm so drained by then so there goes my k-drama/variety time too. :(

for health and happiness - I shall persevere!

a good week

it has been a rather uneventful week but for a working week that can be good news, no?

still, there are always the happy moments to relish and fall back on to brighten up an otherwise drab and routine week.

lunch with nelly after we last saw each other at her wedding 2 years back! glad to know that she has joined a new company in the same office tower as me! more lunch dates with this dear friend of mine.

lunch with suz - great catching up with her though we will be seeing her real soon in 2 weeks time when she returned to work after her longgg maternity leave. :P

went for my bi-weekly jog and even though we cut short the jog due to impending drizzle, we still managed to run 3+km which is good enough for me!

the elder boy needs to be in school by 7.20am today! what a change from his usual afternoon session.. the whole family woke up early to send him to school. after which hubbi and I spent quality time having breakfast with YR.

and I left work earlier today to join some colls to the new sports hub as a supporter- they were playing badminton there. the new sports hub looks good and spacious!

left at 6+pm to meet up with the husband and the boys and we had a good dinner at bedok town centre before spending some time at the library.

 

I like doing the above. counting stock of the little happy stuff makes me feel that the week has been a good one and not just another week zooming past. :)



 

happy with his chee cheong fun

some outfits for the week:

left: top and pants from zara

middle: dress and belt from gg5

right: top from gg5, pants from zara

EXO : XOXO



 

the ng family went to kallang wave mall for dinner and also to take a look at the new stadium.

it's not my first time there since sun yanzi's concert was held here but this is the first time im seeing it as it is.

it sure looks good though the soccer field seems smaller than it should be? just an optical illusion perhaps. 

 

happy boys

 

so why were we there? that is because they have to drop mummy off to watch her concert at the indoor stadium later in the evening! hehehe.

the long awaited EXO concert was finally here! :P

 

the gates were supposed to be opened by 6pm but obviously it was not done so. that resulted in snaking long queues before we can settle down in our seats!

we only managed to get in like 10mins before the concert started..

 

the concert! it was crazy sitting among girls mostly half my age who were screaming their heads off...

to counter that and saving my eardrums from bursting, I have to scream too right? LOL

 

still, I think the concert was a superd one - thoroughly enjoyable.

can see the organizing team puts in a lot of effort in coming out with the sequences and performance items. im suitably impressed.

and it surely helps that we are seated close to a mini stage so we can see the boys upclose..:D

 



 

ms chan and me - happy groupies!

 EXO members! from top left in clockwise direction:
tao, xiumin, D.O., lay

but Korean concerts are too expensive to go on a regular basis....I went for this one since I get to see 11 of them so it's more value for money?
if only B1A4 will come to Singapore! well, one can wish right?

excursion trip with the younger boy - philatelic museum!

 

off day for me again today - hiaks.
people are always commenting how often im on leave or so but it's just a case of me not saving up huge number of leaves to carry forward to the next year.
I don't see the point in that, bulk of a year's leave should be used appropriately within the year.
actually with the annual leave and childcare leave that most parents are entitled, it's more than reasonable/enough to take 1.5 days off every month and yet still has enough leave to go for a short (2-3 days) and a long (6-10days?) trips during the year?
and of cos we don't take 2 days off every month and of cos we try to overlap with weekends for trips. so really, most people leave should be more than enough for them to take a break at least every other month.
worst is those who don't and c/f leave just so they can expired!

ok, so the younger boy is having a mini excursion to the philatelic museum with his school.
I took leave to accompany him so that after that, we can head out and spend some time with the husband (who took PM leave to join us!).
comparing to yz, we actually spend much lesser time with him alone - I was definitely doing more such things when yz was in learning vision back then.

happy boy and me on the excursion bus

 

we reached the museum slightly before 10am and the kids had fun with the museum staff who facilitated some interesting learning games with the 2 nursery classes.

I took the opportunity to take tour round the museum which is pretty small and nothing much. :P

 

the bus was here at 12+ to pick the kids back to school and we bade farewell to his teachers and classmates from there.

met up with hubbi who came to fetch us and off we go to town! :D

 

@ ion

 

 

it was amazing how many people were in town - don't anyone have to work or go to school?

simple walking around and stopping often to snack on this and that.

it was good time spent together with the younger boy.

we had an early dinner @ saveur at far east before heading to yz school to fetch him direct.

 

quiet evening of the boys playing on their own and us catching up on housework.

rest of weekend ahead. this is good!

 

some outfits for the week:

left: top from axara, cropped pants from zara

middle: top and skirt from gg5

right: romper from warehouse

stay-at-home weekend once again

just 1 week after recovering from sore throat and fever, yz is down with stomach flu this week. :(
it started early this week when he complained of tummy ache and mild fever came along.
so he was on MC on Tuesday but luckily was well enough to attend school on wed for his mini English test.
and thankfully, there were no school for both thurs and fri due to PSLE so he could rest more at mum's place.

but the fever was ranging high and he was having loose stools a few times a day during those 2 days too. :(
luckily, all the symptoms finally subsided this weekend and it seems like the rest of the family didn't get the virus from him.

but this episode got me thinking of kids falling sick during exam period.
so stressful for if the child is unwell enough to go to school, there is either no re-taking so grades are taken pro-rated from other tests or re-taking of tests by sitting in the class alone?
and if the child is well enough to take the test but not fully recovered, surely the performance will be affected?
ha, it's actually not much of a concern when I WAS the kid having to take exams back then..
but now I worry for the boys. zzzz

there is a time and place for everything so maybe no point sweating over such stuff prematurely.
ok, let's move on!

new look for the living room

 

ok, nothing drastic - just a new carpet.

finally we got rid of the old one which is very new and in mint condition since it's only 2 years old...

but it has been shedding too much for the husband so bye bye to it...

 

it was actually hard work just changing a carpet even though hubbi did most of the work.

I forgot how heavy our coffee table is - shifting the tempered glass almost break my back!

then hubbi moved the sofa and what's under it may be better off left alone.. @_@

but he did the vacuuming and then its rolling out the carpet and another round of vacuuming.

followed by shifting back of sofa and coffee table.. zzz

 

but I like the new carpet! some dashes of colors to our otherwise plain living room.

i wonder when can we change our sofa - it's coming to 8 years old!!

im drooling over those buttery soft leather sofas whenever I see them in furniture shops.

though I must admit fabric sofa is much easier to maintain...

 

long weekend is the best!

 

long weekend is the best! non-work time to catch up with loads of stuff - I like!

the long weekend started from Friday evening when I left the office with my ex-team to vivo for dinner at the very yummy tajimaya yakiniku for wagyu beef and pork grill.

and of cos.... sake. hehe.

it was all fun and laughter chatting up all kind of crap until 10plus when we adjourned to st james or whatever it is now.

it has been so long since I was there.

we just wanted somewhere for more drinks and dancing so it was a natural choice.

however, alcohol and old age is not a combi so we left the place at 1+am. just too tired.

though I went to bed that night feeling shitty and the same the next morning, it was still a very fun night with the crazy bunch! :D

 

Saturday was a peaceful one. as I said, I was really "recuperating" at home from the night before.

and we really spent the whole day at home.

the boys busy playing with their lego, doing some homework and watching tv to their heart contents. ha!

for me, the best moment is chomping on the oily chicken rice that hubbi tabao for me.

that always work wonder to remove any queasiness leftover from last night drinking! shiok!

 

cartoons and more cartoons on a holiday!

 

the ng family watched the parade on tv and I must admit even if im not physically at the parade itself, it is still moving at moments nevertheless.

I got so emotionally charged up when I saw the last parachutist touched down safely! good job!

and no matter what the hype is gonna be for SG50 next year round, i think this year's parade is truly a wonderful one. I feel the heart is in the right place, I feel the change the government is trying to show, and lastly I really feel my own love for my country.

happy birthday, Singapore. Home, always.

 

and we had yummy mac delivery to go with the parade!

yeah, shiok shiok satay! (no, we didn't have that..)

 

yesterday, we headed out to town after lunch at my in-laws place.

been a long time since I last went town!

finally we had the chance to check out the new orchard gateway!

at first glance, not too bad. seems to sell stuff that I dig.

still, a challenge to shop with the boys+man. @_@

 

but those who know me, I'll have my way. so the damage is:

- a top from gg5

- funky (think neon yellow, pokka dots) socks from chocoolate

- lip balm from Dr GL

 

and we caught guardians of the galaxy after dinner!

what a hilarious fun show! and awesome mix indeed.

we were listening to the soundtrack on youtube on our way back home- even the boys like them.

chris pratt is surprisingly charismatic after the pounds are gone! I cant wait for the sequel really. :)

it will be fun if peter quill ever meet tony stark!

 

and today, we went carpet shopping after lunch.

finally, the husband decided he has enough of our carpet - it just wont shredding no matter how he vacuum in the past 2 years+ :P

oh well, so we went to a direct carpet supplier and after hubbi affirmed its quality, I chose the design, we concluded the transaction chop chop. :D

 

and it's onwards to vivo after that!

more shopping for me and pigging out time with the boys - basically they chose what they want to eat and I just pay (luckily their taste is cheap - texas chicken, ichiban boshi etc)

hubbi went to meet his reservist mates for a free movie (expendables 3...) on army's tab.

 

and I got myself 1 more top and dress from gg5 + romper from warehouse.

what a good long weekend! :D

 

some outfits for the week:

 

left: top from gg5, skirt from zara

right: top from uniqlo, skorts from zara

new haircut!

finally made time to get a haircut - the weather is just too hot for words at time.

not as short as I wanted initially but as usual when the hairdresser said he was done, i just went along and make payment.

no time to do a proper assessment.

not when I need to rush home to the 3 boys home..

never mind, it will do for now!

 

lighter head!

a surprise from the husband

hubbi is having his reservist these 2 weeks - half the time he is able to book out early and spend the late afternoon slacking at home or out catching a  movie on his own...

tsk tsk. super envious can!

 

so when he watsapp me in the late afternoon that he has a surprise for me, I was really thinking along the line of a pack of cookie from famous amos from tampines.

when he did the "tadah" thing at dinner, i was so happy to see the keychain that I had wanted for a long time - spongbob in superhero gear!

I first saw this at a lego store in HK 1 year+ back, didn't get it cos it was overpriced there.

and since then, I've been trying to find it in SG to no avail. what we have here is usually the normal spongbob.

and getting it from amazon doesn't make sense after the shipping charges kick in.

 

so when the hubbi happened to chance upon it this afternoon at the usual lego store we visit at century square, he was surprised to see it there for we have hunted for it there previously too.

and he got it without any seconds thoughts. :D

 

a small gesture but really make my evening.

 

the husband does have me in his mind.

 

someone commented that spongbob seems to be more muscular here - do you think so?

the ng family going crazy with LEGO

having a new obsession is never good.
and its worse when the obsession in point is LEGO. @_@

since I started buying the first expert modular set earlier this year, there is no turning back.
and im not sure who is influencing who but it seems like the whole ng family is going crazy with LEGO!
the husband with his Star wars sets, the boys with the usual kids range - Chima, Ninjago and recently YZ started looking at the City range! *tsktsk*

for me, it's always buildings, ships or rails.
and so this month, I got myself another 2 sets!
seriously, I think LEGO has taken over my interest in shopping for clothings (at least for these 2 months!).
my coll managed to help me get the Grand Emporium for just $260 from HK when it costs a hefty $340 in SG. *yeah*
and today, I just made another purchase for the Haunted House on Amazon.
with shipping, it's $290 compared to $370 in SG!
the husband is very sweet to subsidized that even though he was against me from making yet another LEGO purchase so soon. :P

but if you are into LEGO or appreciate anything that is exquisitely made, then you will understand why the obsession.
whenever I finished a set, I just want to shrink myself small so I can explore the set better! haha.

I finished the Parisian restaurant over the long weekend last week and it's interior could be one of the best for all modular sets!
and it has joined the rest.
see, so chio!

top: joining up with the movie palace and pet shop

bottom: the first floor is full of details! if you can take a closer look at the kitchen!