Lovin’ BC all over again

This week I managed to do 10 GX classes – 6xBC, 2xBP, 1xAF, 1xBB I tried to maximise what I could  being the last week of the school hols.

Anyways, for a while there I was starting to get a bit ’sian’ (bored) with the whole gym routine (shock horror) and was wondering whether my longest-runnin fad had finally come to a fizzle. Thankfully not!

After going for Julian’s 1pm BC class @ Capital on Weds – I was suddenly reminded of why I love combat soo much!!! Cos it really alleviates my stress. Oh yea and that SO WHAT song is perfect for punching out the stress – heheh

Tioman Bliss…

This time last week Sheryl, Yaya and myself were strolling along Salang
beach, Tioman (Malaysia). I guess you can never get sick of perfect
sunsets, irridescent, balmy waters and cheap, delish seafood

Accomodation
This time round we stayed at the Salang Indah Resort which I booked via phone the night before We got the aircon room with 3 beds, spartan toilet and basin – real simple but cheap at 70rm a night.

Getting there
We met at Queens street bus terminal and caught the Singapore JB Express bus ($2.40sg) which takes us straight to Woodlands checkpoint – JB checkpoint – then to Larkin terminal, journey <hr. From there we bought coach tickets to Mersing (8.80rm), journey – 2.5hrs. When we reached Mersing I bought the ferry tickets (35rm one way) from a little shop, but I discovered its only 30rm if you buy it direct from the ferry point itself. A 2hr+ ferry ride later, we arrived at gorgeous Salang a bit before 3pm making the journey around 9 hrs.

Itenary: Snorkel, swim, suntan, sleep, sketch, seafood
For the 3 days we basically just did that. Whilst Yaya was rather content with the occasional snorkel and dip, I found myself a snorkel buddy in Sheryl who was just as keen as I was in dipping into the wide open sea. Sadly, the coral and my fave ‘clown’ fish are disappearing but we did see lots of colourful fish.

The weather was really perfect during the 3 days and the sunsets were a perfect closure to the day – as you can see in the collages – I seized the opportunity to snap away.

On the last night we had a sumptuous seafood dinner – crabs, mackrel fish, prawns and squid for a cheap 90rm – about $15sg each. It was damn good especially since we were famished from all the swimming and snorkelling. Earlier in the day we took a boat out and snorkelled at 3 different sites – (cost 50rm p/p inc. of snorkel gear).

Cost
Total damage for accomodation, transport, food, snorkelling trip and Secret recipe lunch @ City Square on the way back – less than $150sg for 3D2N. Of course you can go cheaper if you want.

I was grateful for the short escape with my galfrens. There’s nothing like swimming in the big blue sea I really wanna explore Krabi, Thailand and Ningaloo W.Australia end of the year. And I think I’m going to go for my divers license – yup – it’s time!!!!!!

P.s for more tips on travelling to Tioman click here.

Retail Therapy…

Being the last week of the school hols, I’ve been doing a little (a very relative term) retail therapy.

The goods:

1. Skinfood cosmetics (available at Raffles City & Marina Sq) it’s affordable stuff from Korea rather similar to Body shop. I bought the peppermint peel-off mask, banana yoghurt mask & an eyeshadow stick. I’ve tried the masks and they smell and feel soooooooo good!
2. A new pair of silver Birkenstock slippers (sponsored by Nav)
3. Assorted gourmet white chocolates which totalled $17 for about 6! Ouch – but YuMMo!
4. And…….. the new MacBook Pro laptop – which I saved a whopping $850 – thanks to the trusty UOB creditcard and thanks to Chow Yi for informing me about the great deal! I’m using it already and it’s so slick & smooth – I’m loving it already. As for the ibook – I’ll use it for storage for something, it’s not worth selling 2nd hand as I’d probably only fetch a few hundred dollars, plus me love me ibook still!!!

31 now…

My dear church gurlfrens Andrea & Annemarie organised a little cupcake party for me yesterday afternoon. Along with Opie & Marlon cupcakes there was yummy cheese fondue and Ikea Swedish meatballs.

I received the best gifts – a purple top, a massage gift voucher, Yoshitomo Nara postcards, Nike bag, a lovely scrapbook-designed plaque made by Ands and a mosaic candle lamp.

We played ‘Apples for Apples’ and ‘Beanz.’

Thanks for a lovely gurly time gals – I really enjoyed myself! *hugs*

P.s. Nav surprised me with a basket of gerbera flowers on my return from Tioman (shock-horror!!!) and I had a lovely journey out to Salang beach, Tioman with Yaya & Sheryl on my birthday – will post pics soon!

P.p.s Thanks too for all the birthday smses I received – so sweet of you all! *smiles*

Bkk part 2

Aside from eating in Bangkok we of course did lots of other things!

Day 1:

• Checked into Asia hotel (very centrally located – I highly recommend this place!)
• Spent 3 hours at MBK + Siam Square (SS) (the part connected to MBK) – bought some accessories, Seinfeld DVDs, Thai savory snacks, a 1GB SD card for only $50+ sg! Got pedi nail-art @ SS for about $12sg
• Took a tuk-tuk to Khao San rd (K.S) to get Nav’s measurements for his suit, walked along the Khao San strip – bought a few accessories & gifts, had pad-thai from the road-side

*K.S’s actually not as seedy as I’d expected – I had seen glimpses of it from the movie ‘The Beach’. Crowded with ‘Farangs’ (Thai slang for ‘foreignors’) it’s actually a great place to buy clothes, accessories, fake CDs + even fake IDS, you can even get your hair braided or if you like dreadlocks!!! You must add it to your to-do-list for BKK!

Day 2:

• Walked to Pratunam markets (wholesale market for clothes & accessories) – bought a few accessories, didn’t buy ANY clothes – cos sizes way to small for me & you have to buy minimum of 2-5 or even 100 pieces
• Checked out the rest of Siam Square (SS) ie. the small shops beyond the MBK connection to SS
• Visited Siam Paragon (the newest shopping centre in BKK) – it’s rather similar to KL’s KLCC, Singapore’s Paragon – high-end boutiques/fancy interiors
• Had foot reflexology, Nav had Thai massage for only 200B p/p for an hr which is less than $10sg p/p!!!
• Ate Tom Yam-Yam (Thai style instant noodles) from the roadside
• Nav’s friend treated us to Thai food at a reputable Thai restuarant
• Visited Suan Laam Night markets – bought some gifts and a funky accessory holder made from wire

Day 3:

• Visited Playground – was rather disappointed, we felt the place was rather overated – prices too steep and the buzz was amiss
• Visited H1 – which was more like ‘deads-ville’ most shops vacated/under going rennovation
• Checked into Davis Bangkok Boutique Hotel – had problems with checking in as our booking wasn’t processed properly. Hotel swanky – but not as convinently located as Asia hotel
• Nav went to pick up suit, I caught cab to Healthland Spa and 3/4’s of the way transferred to a motorcyclist taxi who eventually took me to the spa (twas an adventure – thrilling and exciting manouvering through the polluted, crazy traffic of BKK on a motorcycle!) Spa was good – about $70+ sg for 2hrs of scrub then oil massage

Day 4:

• Headed for the greatly anticipated Chatuchak Markets, Nav decides to head back to hotel to sleep upon arrival, whilst I psyche myself for a good sprint of bargain hunting – clothed in singlet, Nike bra & short-shorts (for ease of trying on clothes) and Evian spray to keep myself cool from heat exhaustion 4+ hrs later, armed with 2 pretty dresses, a dotty top, t-shirts, an array of belts + accessories + plenty of gifts. I make my way back to hotel – totally exhausted but very content!!!
• Pack, check out of Davis Bangkok hotel & grab a bite before heading to airport

In conclusion, Nav & I thorougly enjoyed our short trip to Bkk, duration was just right, we spent about 2K in total on accomodation, food, shopping, transport + pampering.

Although one might say the conversion of the Singapore dollar to BAHT is really good, I’ve an acronym for the BAHT.

B-be prepared to bargain
A-be prepared for bad air (pollution is a serious problem in BKK!)
H-be prepared for the humidity – it can get really unbearable especially at the markets
T-be prepared for traffic jams – were were stuck in traffic for up to 2hrs!!! Be prepared to also TIP constantly, have the correct change for taxi/tuk-tuk drivers as by default they’ll keep change.

Backk from Bkk off to Tioman..

Arrived back from Bangkok (BKK) late Sat night, Nav & I were mega-tired and sick with the flu bug but satisfied with our trip to the ‘land of smiles.’

As you can see from the pics we ate well……..from the street-side stalls (pad-thai noodles and tom yam-yam) to Donut King to even Greyhound cafe.

I have the sweetest memories however, of the brownie donuts and the 3baht ice stick from Chatuchak markets. What’s sweeter is that despite the indulging of Thai food and donuts I lost a kilo (from all the shopping me thinks) – especially from doing 3 laps of Chatuchak on the last day

Will update more on the trip soon. Off to Tioman tomorrow morning with Siya and Sheryl what a great way to celebrate me birthday and to drown my recent self pities!!! Cheerios!

Wk 2 of the school Hols :)

fried rice @ Central, Takashimaya

A much better week, Nav and I hit the gym big time the last 2 days. We visited George St thrice yesterday – we did Sharah’s BC @ 7am, then Leonard’s BC @ 12.30pm, then I returned @ 5.45pm for Amy’s BB, Andrew’s BP then JW’s BC, whilst Nav did BP & BC.

Today we did 3 in a row @ Paragon – Angie’s BJ then Leonards BP & BC.

It feel’s REAAAAAAAAAALLLLL good!

Anyways it’s all the new launches for the GX classes. BB is reallllllly challenging!! BC & BP is ok, nothing spectacular – but very 90’s music e.g. B52’s Love shack!!! BJ is rather challenging too – lots of cardio!!!

Tini and I were sooooooo amazed by Angie – this 40-something instructor who’s got incredible energy and charisma! Gabby joined us too today for BP & BC, the poor dude was so exhausted by the end of pump!

Although we hardly frequent Paragon, as it’s not within walking distance from our house, it’s really a novelty working out with the tai-tais! Aged between 40 to 50-60-something with coloured-sprayed-permed-nest-like-hair, with some wearing strange leotards – they really know their moves!!! And I actually aspire to be like them haha!!!

……

After the workout, I met up with Linda and we ate at the new ‘Hongkee’ eatery Central @ Taka. The food is so-so, cost a lil pricey. We then proceeded to visit baby John and darling Darlene and grandma.

Tommorrow Nav and I fly off to the ‘Land of Smiles.’ Yipppppppppppppppppppppppeeeee!!!

Doctor’s orders: No karaOKE!

Hahaha…. Just came back from the nearby clinic. I figured that I needed some antibiotics to fix the voice loss.

Aside from ‘no karaoke’ the doc advised no fried/spicy foods, no junk food and no nuts – (that irradicates my diet of late ) instead more water and sleep.

It totally sucks being mute – very frustrating communicating face to face and even worse via the phone. But like I mentioned in the previous entry – Nav loves the peace and quiet – and I think my colleagues were lapping it up too yesterday (right Gail?). hehehee.

So agenda today, rest, rest, rest. So if I don’t pick up the phone or if I seem rather reserved – you’ll know why.

Wk 1 of the school hols…

Tamarind seasoned fish (Ewa Lim’s farewell@Mrs Angullia’s)

For one, I lost my voice! Yup much to the pleasure of Navin I hope it clears before Weds!!! I’ve Been in school from Mon-Fri – classes, meetings, did some design errands, got my hair trimmed, went for Ewa’s farewell cum gourmet bbq @ Mrs Angullia’s and managed to squeeze in BP, AF, BB &  BC

Aside from that nothing else, no splurging at the Great Singapore Sale and no real dining out – saving that for Bangkok (BKK).

Yup – decided to postpone trip to HK – Mr Le will be in Shanghai and for some strange reason – I’m seriously craving BKK!

Even though I was kinda disappointed with BKK last year, I’m determined to have a blast this time round with Nav – I’m going to seriously eat, shop, pamper and be inspired!!!

Thanks to Desmond and my hours of research – this is the plan:

Flying:
JetAsia – a budget airline that has pre-allocated seats & allows for 20kg checkin luggage & 5kg cabin luggage – (handy for all the shopping)

Accomodation:
2 nights in the convenient-access-to-BTS 3 star Asia Hotel
1 night in the plush 5 star boutique hotel – The Davis Bangkok

Eating:
Pad thai noodles
Glutinous mango rice
mango/papaya salad
road side snacks – plus I want to try the fried grasshoppers sold during the night markets!!!!

Shopping:
Chatuchak Markets - the mother of all markets – selling everything under the sun – particularly good for cheap funky clothes, accessories and gifts
Pratunam Markets – cheap T’s
MBK – cheap makeup, lingerie, CDs/DVDs, Thai snacks
Banglamphu markets @ Khao San Rd – ‘hippy’villeTailoring
Saphan Phut Night Market – supposively a smaller scale/cheaper version of Chatuchak Markets where a lot of Thai youths hang out

Pampering:
Healthlandspa – cheaaaaaaap spa services strongly recommended by friends

Design Inspiration:
The Playground
H1
The Bed Supper Club
and Muay Thai @ Lumphini Park!

Cannnnt wait!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 more sleeps!

P.s. some comprehensive blog entries on Bangkok:
my old entries
Friends:
Nick Pan
Ands
Hazel
Others:
Wanting
Jean