Jes on Vacation..

Tired, dead tired from playing too much...
Knowing that this is my last week of vacation before a new and probably hectic working schedule kicks in, I packed my whole week with events! Instead of lazing in bed till midday, i woke up early from Monday morning till Friday and went out the whole day. *horror* Went for daily workout at the gym in the morning, meet up with friends for lunches, followed by some shopping (Zara started their sale yesterday!), coffee / high tea appointments, dinner appointments and on certain days, late night coffee and movie.

By friday, was surprised that the week passed so quickly and I'm gonna start work on Monday! Sianz.. It's a pity too that Gerald started working late (it's only his 2nd week of work!) so didn't managed to spend much time with him. Looking forward to Sat & Sun where we can finally slip coffee and catch a movie tog =)

Last day of work..

Today's my last day in ICA. I joined them in July 2002 right after graduation so it's been 5 long years! Most people would be in ROD mood on their last day of work, But for me, i was still attending meetings in the morning, handing over files in the afternoon, shredding docs at 5.30pm and packing stuffs till 7pm++. It's because I was clearing leave since I tendered my resignation on 1st June and there was only 6 workings days to handover the tons of work.

Had several farewell lunches with colleagues since news of me leaving got around. In particular, I like the buffet lunch at Carousel, located in the recently refurnished Royal Plaza Hotel along Scotts Road on Thurs. The selection is great, food is pretty fresh, the deco is pretty glam and most importantly, it's not overly expensive. =)


Final farewell lunch on Friday was Patrick and Seah at Sakae, Bugis. They were sooo sweet! They got me a swatch watch and wrote me a pretty touching card. Even my boss got me a farewell gift! Indeed I felt a tint of mixed feelings as I read the farewell cards from colleagues.. a bit sad to leave the good friends that I've made along the way, sad to leave my comfort zone.. and yet, I'm excited with anticipation for the road ahead..

Holiday in BKK (14-18 June 07)

Gerald & I went for a 5D 4N holiday in Bangkok last Thurs with 6 friends. There's a total of 3 couple & 2 additional guys. We had a good time shopping and eating. In fact, shopping started from DFS in S'pore airport. Bought my first La Mer product, their Refining Facial which is a miraculous scrub with pure diamond powder as ingredient... haha it reinforces the fact that diamonds are a girl's best friend.. Also bought the limited edition Guerlain Meteorites powder.. simply couldn't resist the pretty packaging. Had a good time shopping with the gals (Ivy & Jean) and I'm glad to know that I'm not the only spendthrift.. it's a women's nature to shop, shop & shop =PBKK never fails to satisfy us.. we tailored shirts / pants, enjoy massage sessions, stock up on lingerie.. basically eat, sleep then shop again. Simply loved the shark fin soup served in claypot and the boiled bird nest with coconut at Chinatown... we ate it twice and it made us real happy! Clubbing in Bkk is good too! The clubs are happening, the live band is good, the toilets are clean and huge and there's even foc masseur at the gents and a live band in the ladies.

Relax...

Had a good time bumming around for the last few days. I was on leave the whole week while Gerald is now taking a break before he starts his new job later this month. It was real nice that we could sleep late, shop around in the afternoon without the crowd, slip coffee and catch movies in the afternoon. Also had the time to meet up with friends for coffee & chill out and watch plenty of DVDs (we just finished Season 2 of Prison Break and it's really good!), and spent a big bomb on retail therapy..

Just a few weeks ago, I was feeling jaded from almost 5 years of working life and now, I'm happy and refreshed.. hehe. Looking forward to our Bangkok trip next week and another week of vacation in end June. =)

We also did our PC test on thurs morning. Arrived at the golf course for an early tee-off at 6.45am! The scenary is great and it's more exciting than playing at the range. Golf is a interesting game though.. almost like a roller-coaster. Still didn't play well and when we go practice at the range, always feel frustrated that my ball didn't fly so morale will hit rock bottom, and yet there's always the urge to play esp when we chance upon any golf related gear or magazines.

Yummy...

We had BBQ at our place today with a group of frens.. our first BBQ since we moved in about 5 months ago. Adrian recommended BBQ Wholesale Centre at Frankel Ave.. they offer a complete menu of BBQ essentials.. black pepper steak, marinated chicken wings, sambal stingray & sotong, even popcorn for BBQ! Two thumbs up for the convenience and taste!

It was very breezy downstairs so the bbq was enjoyable. Here's all our tired faces after the bbq.

Finally had the chance to taste donuts from the Donut Factory at Raffles City today. It's really fresh and soft.. absolutely divine.
My fav favour is the strawberry one on the bottom left. =)

Dinner Celebration at The Line

Gerald gave me a treat at The Line today. There's plenty of selection.. japanese, indian, western, chinese, etc.. yummy! Ate 2 portions of my fav salmon sashimi, sinful chocolate cake and choco fondue. Wish I had a much bigger stomache. I quite like their deco too.. modern and pretty chic.

I like it buffets cos of the variety and unlike ala carte, you don't end up kicking yourself if you choose the wrong dish.. anyway everything is on the table so what you see is what you get. More importantly, it gives us the opportunity to sit down and chat as we slowly enjoy a long nice meal... yummy!

Beautiful memories would last a lifetime..

Watched the Phantom of the Opera at Esplanade with Gerald, Adrian, Ivy, Kok Min & Chloe on Sat night . I managed to psycho Geald to watch it with me and was looking forward to today.

I first watched the Phantom at the Kallang Theater about 10 years back and it was so nice then. The beautiful memories of the stage prop & the touching songs stayed vivid in my mind till today. I was so crazy over it then that I bought several of their souvenirs including the T-shirt, the mask necklace, the programme and CD so that I could sing along to the tunes.

However, this remake turned out to be pretty disappointing.. If given a choice, I would rather not watch it again so that the beautiful memories of the phantom would not be ruined... arrgh

Delicious Lunch Treat..

Patrick gave us a lunch treat today at Kuriya Japanese Restuarant @ City Hall. When we enter the restaurant, we passed by a counter displaying the "delicacy of the day". The manager promptly introduced the freshly flown in miniature crab which was still crawling in the bowl until customers make an order and they'll be made into fried soft shell crab.. yeez...

Their food is delicious and the best thing is, they're in small portions so there's plenty of variety and the food presentation is pretty good too!




Haven't had lunch with Patrick for a while and was surprised he's been through quite a lot lately. Nonetheless, he's still had a positive outlook. Shared with us about his experience on Past Life Regression which I found very intriguing.. apparently it was believed that what we encounter / experience today have roots in the unresolved past. With the aid of a hypnotherapist, he managed to see his past lives and was able to discover himself and hopefully create a better tomorrow. Hmm.. interesting and I might just try it one day when I pluck out enough courage =)

Weekend with Lynn Lynn

After golf lessons on Sat morning, Gerald and I went to my parent's place to pick up Lynn Lynn so that she could stay with us over the weekend. =) It's the 2nd time we're bringing her home and she seems to remember our place and is not as panicky as the 1st time.

Bought her along when I went downstairs for a swim and she obediently waited for me by the poolside. Thereafter Gerald and I bought her for a stroll and she seems to be enjoying the breeze and the greenery.


On Sunday afternoon, we bought Lynn Lynn to East Coast Park. We had picnic by the beach and ate my favourite Subway Sandwich. The weather was so hot that she couldn't stop panting. Nonetheless, she still looks super cute and several onlookers came up to ask what's her breed. hehe...

I love my Lynn Lynn and I'm so proud to have her by my side. =)

Very busy lately so haven't been posting my entries faithfully...

A tiring but fun labour day

Woke up real early today for Tim Sum at Hong Xin with Gerald & 2 friends. It was real crowded but we had a good time gorging ourselves =) They still have push carts and the selection is great. Really a good place to yum cha! Plus I'm trying to learn cantonese so the atmosphere and crowd gets me in the mood to practice.

After the breakfast, we decided to go shopping at Orchard. Was there the whole afternoon until another 2 friends joined us. Thereafter a friend suggested fishing and we ended up in Pasir Ris park.

I think fishing really hurts... we were fishing for 2 hours and caught no fish at all. Even "upgraded" our bait from dead fish to fresh prawns but the fishes were too smart for us! There were others who caught big fishes.. not one or two.. but a whole bag of fishes!... hmm.. thought we were supposed to have beginner's luck??!!...

Recalled my very first fishing experience in university where a friend rented a boat and brought us out to sea. It was another "fishless" experience but it was a truly unforgetable experience! We went to a neighbouring island for BBQ but it started to rain shortly after we setup the pit... we ended up BBQing in the rain with umbrella on a desserted island... what a sight! After the rain stopped, we were shocked to realise that our boat was stuck on the shore as the high tide has subsided. Haha.. truly memorable =)

New notebook... New beginning..
Yeah.. just upgraded our office notebook yesterday. Looking forward to the change cos the new T60 is almost 1kg lighter.. carrying it around is now a breeze =) There's also built-in wireless capability. Plus I actually did some housekeeping & archival of my files so everything is a lot neater now.. hehe

A romantic evening..


I've been wanting to go to a nice place for dinner so Gerald took me to Oosh on Friday night. When we reached the place at around 8pm, the dining area at Oosh was fully packed. Not wanting to disappoint me, we went ahead to try the japanese restuarant Yen ¥ Dining.

The deco is very modern and nice.. we were sitted in small dark enclaves which makes dining more cosy and intimate. It's the only japanese restuarant I've visited which lay out the chopsticks correctly.. horizontally across the table in true authentic japanese style so I was pretty impressed. The food was nice but very expensive.. $100 for a small plate of wagyu beef!

After dinner, we continued to stay on at Oosh for drinks. The live band was good and I like it that we chat for hours without distraction such as TV at home. Really enjoyed the night out and I miss the dating feeling.. nice! =)

New Challenges Ahead...

Invested in a new pair of running shoes over the weekend. I'm always buying Nike shoes cos the design is so nice! But since I'm aiming to "upgrade" my distance & speed, I got ASICS instead ... Heard it's the best running shoe & apparently been worn by many pros. With the new purchase, it's my driving force to cover a lot more distance this year...




Picked up a new hobby with Gerald recently... We started weekly golf lessons with my colleagues. Being diligent students, we also practice on our own at Marina Bay Driving Range. The new driving range is so nice and clean. 4 storey of lanes which means we could practice on the 4th floor where it's al fresco and less crowded.. not so malu mah.
Great place for practice =)

STOIC

The heavy rain this morning reminded me of a new word I learnt few weeks back from an article in "Mind Your Body" which I thought was interesting and truly enlightening.

Stoic - a disciple of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in 3BC

According to Zeno, if we are wise, we must learn to bow to the inevitable and cultivate indifference to circumstances outside our control... find peace of mind amid the most trying circumstances. Based on his theory, though we cannot always control our circumstances, we can control how we react to those circumstances. However, this does not mean that the stoic should resign himself to circumstances that he has the power to change.

I particularly like the following which was extracted from the article..

Why fret when stuck in traffic?
Why curse the heat or the rain?
Why not adopt an attitude of stoic indifference.
After all, what cannot be cured must be endured.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change;
Courage to change
the things I can; and wisdom
to know the difference

Next time there's an overwhelming urge to complain and whine over circumstances not within our control, why not adopt an attitude of stoic indifference..

Full of Cravings...

Went to Prestat in City Hall with Weiling after lunch yesterday cos she needed to buy a gift. Their packaging is so nice! Very english style which reminds me of London.. lovely place! Thanks to Weiling, I've the privilege of tasting their chocolate and it's yummy! =) Their pralines are sooo expensive.. doubt it'll ever buy it for myself. Hmm.. if I receive it as a gift, think i can't bear to eat it too... haha

After Prestat, we went to check out the Donut Factory. Was hoping that the queue would be short since it's a weekday. But as usual, the queue is still super long so we didn't wait. Unfortunately, the craving was still lingering within me after a day.... urrggh!

Absence makes the heart fonder...

Gerald was finally back last night. I picked him up from the airport though his flight was pretty late and he was pleasently surprised. He bought a Gucci wristlet from HK for me and I'm so touched! It's so expensive plus he didn't buy anything for himself except chocolate cookies and roasted goose.. which was also for me. Thanks dear =)

Lost for the weekend...

Gerald was away for holiday in HK over the weekend! He left on Fri early morning and will be back on Mon night. I didn't go because it was an "all-guys" holiday.. 7 guys & they're visiting Terence who is currently based in HK.

In fact, I was the one who encouraged Gerald to go when he was apprehensive since he didn't have much leave balance for the year. It was mainly because I didn't want him to feel leftout with the guys. Also thought it'll be good to give each other some freedom though we were married. Besides, it'll be a great chance for me to have some private time on my own.

I was busy the whole weekend doing things I normally loved to do but didn't have time for. Also managed to check out a new place.. Cafe Del Mar, the latest hotspot in Sentosa. I quite like the alfresco chill out place except that the DJ for the night wasn't fantasic. Besides, I think it'll be nicer to hang out there during daytime.

Highlight of the night was supper instead... Felice & I tried out Charcoal at St James Power Station. The food was yummy! Something different for supper... not super filling but enough to bring us to sweet slumber.


Despite the eventful weekend, still felt a bit lost knowing that Gerald was sooo far away. He called twice a day on Fri & Sat so was eagerly waiting for his phone calls. Dear, I hope you bought enough presents for me ya =P Also, bring me along next time okies?

Oosh..

Over the weekend, found a new chill out place which is absolutely hip and nice. It's located at secluded Dempsey Road, now know as "Tanglin Village". The deco is modern resort and mainly alfresco dining/drinking.. almost like Villa Bali but more upclass and cosy.. It's my fav chill out place now and I can't wait to go back there again! =)

Also went to St James Power Station after Oosh. It's my first time there *feeling like a mountain turtle liao* I must say it's really not bad. Luckily we didn't manage to go into Dragonfly since the queue was too long. Heard it's a real beng place and those in the queue explains it all. The big group of us settled for Power House instead. Quite good music and it's really packed. Guess, it's the current most happening place besides Clark Quay.

I particularly like their dining concept.. "Charcoal" which remind me of Japan. Hope we could eat there real soon...

Dear, this is for you =)

A different Valentine's Day...

Celebrated vday with Gerald for the 8th year!

This year is different though.. instead of spending a bomb on overpriced dinner in a restuarant, we prepared our own dinner. He cooked fried rice while I prepared black pepper beef for teppanyaki. It was delicious & cosy.

We also took effort to buy presents for each other. Gerald got me a beautiful Swarovski necklace & a bouquet of roses. Very nice! My gift for him was good too... got him a Braun Buffel luggage which could come handy when he goes for his guys only HK holiday next mth =(

Essentially it wasn't just about the gifts, flowers & food.. it's making the effort to make each other feel special, making effort to inject more lovey dovey feeling in the relationship... guess everyday could be vday in that sense..