Girls Nite Out – Swap.Dinner.Soak

The cheena gals

Bingo game…

Striking a pose Chinese Chic style!

Feasting on North Chinese AGAIN

Wrappin’ things up with a soak!
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Last night was the CNL Girls Nite Out (Swap-Dinner-Soak) and it was ‘Chinese’ themed, so everyone had to doll up Chinese style, I provided Chinese snacks, Teresa Teng played in the background, we ate North Chinese food & had a Chinese foot soak.

Swap. The lovely ladies brought clothes, acccessories, bags, cosmetics, etc to swap. There was plenty of goodies to exchange – with the gals being so funky!!! Pearl was the cutest though, she quickly found some clothes she liked and hung up the dress she wore, replacing it with her new items!

Games & Photo-taking. The bingo game was very simple – basically the gals had to find 9 different people who could identify with the 9 points.. Some of these included:

• A person who owns a jade accessory
• Has travelled to Great wall of China
• Has relatives still in China
• Can cook a decent Chinese meal

For best dressed dear Trina took a clean sweep. She looked gorgeous in her cobalt Chinese top & gold-fan earrings so DOLLY!!!!

Dinner. We had the North Chinese again, although we tried some new dishes including the red bean dough dessert.

Soak. Wrapping up the eventful night we headed over to Bath Culture for soak & massage – some of us opted for a shoulder rub, whilst some – foot reflexology.

Next girls nite out? Was thinking a diva nite – where we dress up like celebrities Any other suggestions? Pls share!

P.s for more pics check out my flickr

Cheng Li Yuan Restaurant

After the leaders huddle, T, Jas, Mel, Joey, Sam, Anne & myself sampled some authentic North Chinese food along Tanjong Pagar Rd. Cheng Li Yuan Restaurant to be exact. For $15+ pp we ordered xiao long baos, peking duck, fried-salted-egg-pumpkin, black pepper beef, cold century egg tofu, spinach & century egg, sweet sour pork, & this funky glutinous rice balls with a prawn-salted egg surprise.

It was my 2nd time there and I will return. The ambience is grunge and authentically CHINA-ese – if you’ve travelled to local restaurants in China – it’ll seriously bring back the memories More importantly the food IS GOOD, they have a unique and interesting selection of North Chinese dishes at v reasonable prices.

Cheng Li Yuan

72, Tanjong Pagar Rd

T: 6227-2551

11am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm

Canele, Robertson Walk

Milly & my gift to her!

Milly & meeeeee…..

Salmon crepe

Hmmm.. which dessert will it be??!!!

What better way to cure a wisdom-less smile??? Answer Canele… Yups, I got my right-upper-wisdom-tooth extracted @ the Toof Doctor yesterday afternoon. Dr Choy said the previous visit, being an upper-wisdom-tooth – I’d only need an LA and that the procedure would take approximately 10min.. Nevertheless it was still a mini-ordeal The yanking of the tooth was scary!!!! I thought my other teeth were going get to smashed in the process and that my wisdom tooth would be half broken and left behind, thankfully not. After 20min he showed me the tooth and the decay and I was ushered to the receptionist. The ever friendly Wendy just told me to abstain from spicy food & exercise. It was funny cos I wasn’t even dressed in my gym gear. Furthermore, she said I reminded her of her gym teacher in secondary school & asked if I exercised.. Hmmm, think 2 consecutive days of Mr W’s bootcamp really shows! Haha…

Back to Canele. Eileen & Amber swear by it and I’ve been craving it. So I made a lunch date with Milly this afternoon to indulge in some posh nosh Tucked away in the relatively quiet & private Robertson Walk, we ordered mushroom soup, salmon crepe, tomato pasta & of course ordered a Black Forest 2007 & some mango white chocolate slice.

Price wise it’s affordable, palette wise – yum – although the crepes were so-so.

My dear Milly is heading over to London in 2months time Am gonna miss her heaps………

P.s Check out this local girly-on-line shopping site

The visit to the toof doctor

I’m so proud of myself. I made an appointment to the dentist this morning, another spur-of-the-moment decision. I’ve delayed the visit to the dentist for years (I shan’t disclose actual no of yrs… haha simply cos I can’t remember!) I’ve always had a phobia of the drilling; the close proximity of the dentist (bad experience in highschool) and the pain per-se!

Anyways I decided to visit the Toof doctor (7, Tanjong Pagar Plaza #01-106) and my fears were totally alleviated Firstly the ambience is very clean, friendly, wide variety of recent magazines, the receptionist is neither grumpy/old or ah-lian & ditzy, instead 30 smthg, corporate and very reassuring… So far so good…. So whilst I wait for the dentist who’s fashionably 10-15mins late, I forage through the laminated dental related articles and realise that dental clinics of late are very much becoming spa-like…..

The toof doctor finally arrives, young-well groomed-30smthg, pin-striped shirt – pretty swanky if I might add I enter the dreaded dental chamber, confessing that I’m here cos I fear the decay kickin’ in and that I’ve not visited the dentist in agggggggggges… Dr Choy smiles, and says it’s ok – we’ll take a look. So whilst he looks, I’m calmed by Norah Jones (piped out from the imac screen facing me) swanky-swanky!

After some consultation, X-ray & cleaning, the damage came to $160. Not too bad I thought…

I’m visiting the Toof Doctor next Fri for wisdom tooth extraction. Annnnnnnd I’ll be hop-skipping to the dentist, ironic rite? hahah…

P.s I left the swanky Toof doctor with a swanky gift – a nice blue mesh toiletry bag with the logo/address plaque attached. The inside containing travel sized tooth brush & accessories. SWANKY!!!!!!!!

Why I heart Chinatown

Indulgent Foot therapy (pic taken from their site)

Cross st goodness!

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Nat commented that I seem to love my food a lot, cos I blog about it a lot. haha.. it’s true! And yep I’ve simply become very Singaporean

If you know me well, you’ll know that I lurv living in Chinatown – it’s convenient to everything, buzzing with life and character, everything’s at my disposal, plenty of good food and there’s accupressure/spa delights galore! So let’s talk about the latter…

I just tried the dessert/dumpling place @ 46, Upper Cross St. I ordered the pork rice dumpling and almond paste with peanut & sesame dumplings – it was ok 6/10? Whilst this place is a little cooler (temp wise) and has a wider variety of desserts and drinks, I still prefer Mei Heong Yuan Desserts @ 67 Temple St, Chinatown. BUT another dessert place in Chinatown worth mentioning is the one at Pearl centre – look for Giordano & follow the aisle all the way inside. Their almond paste & bai ling is the BEST – creamy & fresh & cheeeap!

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The other place I wanted to mention was Bath Culture which happens to be along Temple st besides the Mei Heong Yuan desserts place. I stumbled across this a week ago, when we took my dad for dessert. It’s a classy little place – decked out oriental style and is only 4 months old.

I tried their 30 min peppermint foot soak bath & 20 min neck/shoulder massage – it was reallllllly good, the foot soak is done in a small traditional wood tub, with generous amounts of rose buds, jelly like substance and mint powder. The masseur who did the neck/shoulder massage was very strong & it was certainly effective in removing my back tension.

Verdict – despite the slightly steep prices – it’s worth checking out for its classy ambience and good service. They’re having an offer at the moment $10 for 20 min neck/shoulder massage OR 30 min footsoak.

Go indulge Chinatown style!

One of those long, productive days….

Maxwell faves – congee, yew-tiao & Mr Bean!!!

Catching up with Mrs Wok @ the lovely Marche, Vivo City

Delectable salmon & spinach crepes and super fresh salad

Terence & the bro

Terence & muah

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Fridays – are the start of my looooooong weekend and whilst there’s not normally a fixed agenda – today was an exceptionally productive catch up day

1. Slept in till 845am (my definition of sleep in ) then had brekkie @ Maxwell Market with the boo
2. Domestic duties – cleaned house & washed clothes
3. Caught up with T – went to Vivo City and finally checked out Riverisland and picked up a cute green cherry dress
4. Met Mrs Wok & had lu-dinner (late lunch/early dinner) @ the cosy Marche on the 3rd flr of Vivo. The quality of food is really good and fresh, Mrs Wok kept saying it reminded her of Italy!
5. Skipped gym & tried on the new dress & my other dresses from the wardrobe
6. Chilled with Adrian @ home, before heading out to the Marakesh @ the Cannery for some drinks & seesha

2007 has actually been a good yr in terms of family time (considering they’re scattered all over Oz & beyond!). I got to see Adrian thrice so far – our visit to Melb, then his 2 business trips here, parents twice – visit to Perth, then their visit last wk end, Nina once in Perth, and of course Uncle Robert & Kaman from NZ who visited a month ago…

Anyways tomorrow – I’ll be taking Adrian to Bugis to do a spot of shopping and then to visit grandma who’s turning 93 this Sunday!!! And I’ll be accompanying Lily for her D&D @ Swissotel

Girls Nite out

A week after checking out the Pump room, Clark Quay with Nav & Lyndsey – I returned with my girlyfrens MelP, Dawn & Trina came over about 7ish to my place for some of my cabonara pasta & our dear Char picked us up and we headed over to Clark Quay for some girly fun!!!

With the intention of grooving at the Pump Room – we were told the live band Jive Talkin only start performing at 10.40pm, so we checked out the night bazaar. Held on the last Fri & Sat of every month – it’s not your typical pasar malam of Bangkok products Instead theres an interesting mix of affordable clothes, bags, accessories and even scrapbook accessories – all of us with the exception of Char picked up something. I bought this bolero for $40 – with the gentle coercion of the gals – its quite Topshoppy.

Anyways we had Haggen Daaz for dessert – we actually wanted the fondue set but it was totally sold out – so we settled for a 3 scoop and an apple pie combo – which was wiped out by us gals within minutes!!!

In any case – we burnt most of it shortly after at the Pump Room. With a cover charge waived we gravitated straight to the live band – Jive Talkin and eventually grooved away. It has been such a looooooong time since I had such girly fun!!! We’re hoping to make it a more frequent affair!

Anyways its time to recuperate a bit Mr W’s on a 2wk break so, I’ll be cutting down on the gx classes and trying to read more and probably walk more too…

Till then, cheerios

Food Glorious Food

So the truth is out, whilst I’ve been diligent with the gymming – foodwise I’ve not been so disciplined of late – how to?? With so many visitors/friends to meet – sigh tis really tuff being a tai-tai :p

Top 3 pics are of the lovely, delectably cheap Highlander Coffee along Kampong Bahru Road. Nav and I had our date there this morning. I ordered cafe mocha, Nav – cappachino – both around $3 – tastefully good, thick foam & lovingly served. For eats we ordered club sandwiches – which thick, generous and fresh!!!!!!!!! I’m DEFINITELY coming back cos:

1. The coffee & food is GOOD n CHEAP!
2. Their service is soooo from the heart!!!
3. It’s 10min walking distance from my house
4. There’s wireless internet access

Highlander Coffee Pte. Ltd.
49 Kampong Bahru Road
Singapore 169362
Office Hours: 9am to 6.00pm (Mon – Fri)

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Also I’ve frequented Clark Quay like 4-5 times since last Friday. Had dinner with Yaya @ the foodcourt on the top floor of Central. I ordered a Saba fish set which was alright – but I must say the views from Central are pretty awesome. Aside from the fabulous views of Clark Quay, theres a concentration of Japanese cusine and lotsa boutiques.

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Before I go…
Do check out these GORGEOUS brooches by Sue Ann, go order!!!!!!!!

Blair Street discovery

Jen left this morning, but I think she had an eventful visit to Sg. Monday we crawled Little India, Arab St, Purvis St, Beach Rd, Boat Quay and the Esplanade – I think we walked about 3-4hrs in total.

Tuesday I took Jen to my latest discovery in the CT neighbourhood – Blair Rd & Kampong Bahru Rd, further up Cantonment Rd. There’s quite a few food joints that I wanna sample including Nonya, freshly brewed coffee and Western food.

Blair Rd – is quite an architects feast – with historic terrace houses – tastefully restored. We took some piccies and breathed in the old tiles, mosaics, salon doors, and intricate wall/door embellishments.

I’ll be returning this Friday with Connie to sketch/paint some of the houses

Crazy-packed weekend

the cannery, clark quay.

amirah’s grill, arab st.

the hub & bro.

seesha bonding.

dragon boating @ kallang river.

the dragon boaters.

adrian, me, nav & lily.

It’ s been a crazy, crazy weekend.

After a really exhileratingly gd step class @ para, we met up with Lyndsey who is in town for the wkend and took her to Clark Quay. I must say it’s a rather happening night spot – heaps of nice restuarants, cafes, pubs & clubs. As Nav & I were rather hungry we went up to the foodcourt on the top floor of the newly opened Central shopping centre. Aside from really nice views, Central has a good variety of Jap cusine & plethora of clothing boutiques – definitely worth checking out – it’s a tad similar to Vivo City but not so overwhelming.

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After dinner we treated ourselves to Hokkaido soft serve ice-cream – combination of green tea & vanilla for a cool $3.50. A generous serving it’s as good as I remember it when I was in Japan!!!

After all the eating we walked around the Cannery section of Clark Quay – an impressive mix of clubs, pubs and eateries. Nav was craving a beer so we popped into the Jump room – the bar area was sleazy & packed, but as we gravitated towards the live band & dance floor – we started bopping to the 80s/90s tracks that were being belted out. Nav & I figured it’s our scene – hehe, the 30’s something crowd, so we’ll probably return and boogey woogey the night away

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Before midnight we dropped Lyndsey off then fetched Adrian from his hotel and headed straight to Arab street for some grub and seesha @ Amirah’s Grill. Adrian ordered chicken, whilst I ordred a selection of dips & pita bread and apple flavoured seesha.

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As the bro wanted to squeeze in some shopping during his extremely tight schedule, he suggested visiting Mustafars. Suprisingly even at 3am in the wee hours its buzzing with tourists and locals alike. He picked up a camera & shoes!

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Saturday morning – showed Adrian around the Chinatown area, then we headout to Kallang for the dragon boat meet. It’s been 10yrs since I did dragon boat & whilst I was expecting aches all over – it wasn’t too bad!!! (the gym and pump classes esp have helped me build some strength obviously!!) Anyways we had fun even though we were defeated by the other boat. I learnt that dragon boat aint just about adopting the proper techniques but it’s about team work n team co-ordination. We all had fun nonetheless.

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Well here’s to another crazy week ahead – Jen’s visiting tomorrow for a few days – gonna take her to Beach rd, Arab st & of course the Chinatown area.

Till then!
cheerio