I must’ve been a rather good girl this year, so much so that I was showered with lotsa love and gifts for this xmas (also for my birthday last month).
I feel truly blessed and thankful, for a rather good end to this year which I can’t wait to get over and done with (maybe another post on my thoughts with regards to 2015).
Million thanks to all my gifters! I received many Gudetama items too! *throws confetti*
Hope that everyone had lotsa fun and laughter during this festive period too!
So, I’ve officially joined the gang of big 3-0s 2 days back. Many thoughts going through my mind as I crossed the line into this phase of my life.
The past couple of years hadn’t been easy. Shitty things happen when I least expected. People come and go. Lessons learned. I try again and again. And I see things/people more clearly now. I’ve grown to know better, what/who matters and what/who doesn’t. Well, how many 30 years will we have in our life right?
I’m blessed and thankful to have a small group of people who stood by me and love me for who I am, who trust and don’t judge me. (Of ‘cos it’ll be even better if a ‘boyfriend’ is added to this small group too haha..)
Here’s how fortunate I am during this ‘transition’ period. (Warning: pictures of gorgeous babes and hunks and prezzies coming up!)
Now now, kindly excuse me while I go make more wishes.
Couple of days back, Ving had the honor to be invited to a food tasting session at Paradise Inn at Marina Square.
Started 7 years ago, Paradise Inn is the third culinary concept initiated by Paradise Group and is currently the brand with the most number of outlets island-wide. As her brand tagline suggests, Paradise Inn aims to be an all-in-one dining concept — a restaurant, tea-house, as well as dessert place. Therefore, the focus of the menu is circled around these three main areas.
Paradise Inn‘s main menu offers nostalgic and familiar home-cooked dishes that are popular among local Chinese. One can easily call these ‘comfort food’ or ‘grandma’s dishes’. Think of them as simple, heart-warming and nothing pretentious. Like how a granny would have cooked it, the quality of the ingredients used and affordability are the main concerns when these dishes are concocted. Paradise Inn’s current revamped menu’s version is already the fourth, combining the best and most popular dishes from all the past versions. So let’s check out what awesome dishes Ving and buddy be served today!!!
Starting out with some lovely drinks… Left:Floral & Herb-infused Hot Tea (S$3.80++ per person)
Our combination was Lily Flower + Forget Me Not + Dried Longan + Chrysanthemum. Benefits: Nourishes lungs. Relieves cough. Detoxifies the body and has beauty enhancing properties.
It smells and tastes light and floral, with notes from chrysanthemum at the end.
Nice to have it after a heavy meal!
Bonus for the presentation aspect, whereby it comes in a nice little teapot and kept warm with a burning candle at the bottom.
Right:Fruit-infused Ice Tea (S$4.20++ per glass)
We chose the Elderflower and Melon combination, which was very refreshing and suitable for Singapore’s hot weather!
It was gone in no time!
Before the mains were served, a strong supporting actor came into the scene… Stewed Pork Belly served with Lotus Bun, S$2.60++ per piece I’m usually not a fan of pork belly, but gosh Paradise Inn sure knows how to do this dish well.
Having been simmered for hours, the meat is so tender with the right amount of fats melting in your mouth, coupled with the homemade sauce and sweet soft lotus bun.
My gosh. Every bite feels like heaven.
Can I have one more piece, please?!
Then came one of our main leads for the day… Traditional Double-Boiled Black Chicken Ginseng Soup, S$23.90++ per potIngredients used:
Black Chicken + Ginseng + American Ginseng + Spare Ribs + Lean Meat + Chicken + Chicken Feet
Benefits:
Nourishes lungs. Improves blood circulation. Rejuvenates the body.
Every spoonful of it oozing with goodness! It was light and very flavorful, no doubt that it had been double-boiled for hours.
Plus it doesn’t cause your mouth to have this greasy feel at all.
I can totally have at least 3 bowls of this!
Hot-Plate Tofu with Preserved ‘Cai Xin’ and Minced Pork, S$11.90++I’ve always been a fan of hot-plate tofu (a must-have for me during zi-char sessions).
Generous portion of bursting flavors, coupled with a big tofu that’s crispy on the outside but soft and silky on the inside.
I can literally consume the whole thing by myself! >.<
Sauteed French Beans with Dried Shrimps and Preserved Turnip, S$12.90++Only one word to describe this dish: CRUNCHY It was actually rather addictive to keep munching on this dish ‘cos of its crunchiness.
But of ‘cos the yumminess played a big part too!
Crisp-Fried Crystal Prawns with Salted Egg Yolk, S$18.90++One of my all-time favourite (though very sinful) dishes in Paradise restaurants.
I first tried this in Canton Paradise, and have never gotten enough of its taste.
Was so happy to find it in Paradise Inn too!!
The richness of the salted egg yolk you can never forget, couple with big prawns crisp-fried to the right degree
. Supreme Seafood Fried Rice, S$12.90++I’m super love fried rice, and this is what I would call the “Golden Fried Rice“.
Paradise Inn isn’t stingy with the ingredients at all, with chunky bits of fresh prawns and scallops.
Plus point which differentiates this from other fried rice:
They added in fish roe, which contributes to this slight crunchiness when u are chewing your rice.
Gosh…. I can eat this everyday.
The spread!! Happy and satisfied (and super full) us after the treat!! Thank you very much for the sumptuous meal, Paradise Inn!!! ^_^ *throws confetti*
Following my previous post on a tabulation of what Cycliclapse recycled in the last couple of months of 2013, we are even more motivated and decided to do up another tabulation for the 1st trimester of 2014.
WARNING: Rather long post ahead, but with many images to enjoy too.
This year, Team @ Cycliclapse is still diligently collecting and sending recyclable stuff to “Cash For Trash” on alternate, if not every, Sundays.
For the recent couple of weeks, we were caught up with work stuff and other commitments, so we weren’t able to drop the items off but yet still collecting them.
Hence they have since accumulated to a REALLY HUGE pile as compared to all our previous ones, consisting of countless aluminium cans / plastic bottles / newspapers, plus some other random pieces of old clothes and metal. Looking at the huge pile, an idea suddenly struck us.
“Let’s make a statement piece that can go viral, before sending them all for recycling.”
And so we started on our planning + execution process…….
(We hope one day this cover of TIME can become real!) After sketching some designs for the dress which we planned on making, it’s down to doing up the real thing in a week’s time. An old bra was found in the pile of old clothes, so we decided to modify it to be the top part of the dress. Every single can tab was being hand-sewn onto the bra. This pile of newspapers (and more) made up the bulk of the lower part of the dress. Big bag of aluminium cans to make up the train of the dress! Weaving using magazine papers (to cover a HP laptop box) for… …my Bottega-cum-Chanel inspired oversized clutch! We made a headpiece for each of us, including the model! After putting everything together………
TADAH!!! All the hard work has been paid off!
We are more than happy with the final result of the whole outfit!!
Thanks lots to our dear model too for wearing our creation!!!
And now to the 2nd half of the post, a tabulation of how much we’ve recycled for this 1st trimester of the year, as well as how much of our own carbon footprints we’ve reduced.
Metal (all others apart from Aluminium): 5kg
We saved 7.5kg of iron ore, 25kg of coal, 0.27kg of limestone, 0.2% of water used in production, 0.38% of energy needed to make such metals from raw material, 6.4kg of solid waste, reduction in air emission by 0.43%, and reduction of water pollution by 0.38%.
(Source: http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/recyclingmetals/)
I like to watch dramas, especially those with interesting story concepts, or merely for any particular celebrity whom I adore starring in it.
I used to be hooked on Japanese dramas ‘cos they’re usually around 10 episodes only and with good storylines (short and sweet), plus there’re many Japanese actors/actresses whom I really fancy.
Our local channels love to show Japanese dramas, variety shows, and movies as well so they’re easily available.
Then, I’d more free time to watch TV too so I’d make sure I didn’t miss any episode.
“Galileo“. “Long Vacation“. “Beach Boys“. “Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)“. “Forbidden Love“. “Beautiful Life“. “Hero“. “Crying Out Love, In The Centre Of The World“.
Just to name a few that I loved a lot.
Couple of years back, Korean wave hit us.
Initially I only caught very few Korean dramas, which can be counted with just one hand, ‘cos I’m very much still into my Japanese dramas which are less melodramatic and more chop-chop than Korean’s ‘chong-hei’ (Cantonese for ‘long-winded’) ones.
However subsequently, it seemed like only few didn’t succumb to K-wave.
I admit. I’m into it now too.
Let me share with you the 3 recent Korean dramas which I’d watched and left a deep impression on.
1. My Love From Another Star (来自星星的你), 2013-2014 Of ‘cos of ‘cos.
Who doesn’t know of this drama???
It had taken the world by storm, with Kim Soo-Hyun rising to be the new heartthrob, sweeping many females (and maybe some males too) off their feet, including fellow celebrities!
Also, the sales for fried chicken + beer combi probably went up by many many folds thanks to this drama.
There were even reports of some Chinese hardcore female fans who broke up with their boyfriends or threatened to commit suicide, ‘cos they feel that their guys aren’t as intellectual nor romantic as compared to Professor Do (what the hell)!
If you’d not known of this drama for whatever reasons, here’s a brief intro of it.
Main Characters… Jun Ji-Hyun: as Cheon Song-Yi, a top Hallyu star who is very blunt and believes she is every man’s type, until she meet her stoic neighbour, Do Min-Joon, whom she eventually fell for. Kim Soo-Hyun: as Do Min-Joon, an alien who landed on Earth 400 years ago in the Joseon Dynasty and possesses supernatural powers like the ability to stop time and teleport, plus able to see things before they happen and hear things that are miles away and move with great speed. He doesn’t age too, hence had to change identity every 10 years. He ended up falling for Cheon Song-Yi though he tried not to, who looks exactly like the girl whom he fell for 400 years ago and whom died while saving him. Park Hae-Jin: as Lee Hwi-Kyung, Cheon Song-Yi’s childhood friend who has an unrequited love for her and holds onto the belief that one day she will love him back. He supports her through hick and thin as a true friend too. Yoo In-Na: as Yoo Se-Mi, whom Cheon Song-Yi sees as a good friend since childhood. Underneath her sweet smile, she is actually very envious of Song-Yi and has a crush on Hwi-Kyung for a long time. A celebrity herself, she later became famous after Song-Yi’s downfall in the entertainment industry. Shin Sung-Rok: as Lee Jae-Kyung, Hwi-Kyung older brother and the heir of S&C Group. The main antagonist in the drama. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Love_from_the_Star)
Total no. of episodes: 21
I really like this drama ‘cos it’s so funny and sad at the same time!
Funny ‘cos of Cheon Song-Yi’s attention-grabbing actions and Do Min-Joon’s interactions with her.
Sad ‘cos the last few episodes made me cry SO MUCH I always ended up getting puffy eyes.
The actors/actresses were all cast well and really blend into their respective roles.
I didn’t get enough of it! Can’t wait for the movie version to be out (if it’s really true to be happening).
Also, the clothes featured in the drama are all very fashionable, especially Jun Ji-Hyun’s!
Plus if all aliens are like Do Min-Joon, I WOULD OPEN MY ARMS WIDE AND INVITE THEM TO INVADE EARTH ANYTIME.
Go watch it if you haven’t!!!
p.s.: This drama has some nice songs. Here’s the OST list if you are interested.
I personally love Nos. 1, 2, 6, & 7. 1. “My Destiny” by LYn (Korean & English)
2. “Like A Star (별처럼)” by K.Will (Korean)
3. “You Who Came From the Stars (별에서 온 그대)” by Younha (Korean & English)
4. “Goodbye (안녕)” by Hyo Rin (Korean & English)
5. “I Love You” by JUST (Korean & English)
6. “Tears Like Today (오늘 같은 눈물이)” by Huh Gak (Korean)
7. “Every Moment of Yours (너의 모든 순간)” by Sung Si-Kyung (Korean)
8. “In Front of Your House (너의 집 앞)” by Kim Soo-Hyun (Korean) (Source: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/You_Who_Came_From_the_Stars_OST)
p.p.s.: I recently saw that Kim Soo-hyun be holding a fan-meet in Singapore soooon!!!
Though high chance I won’t be going, just to share with you some details of it and how you can win tickets to the event (which I presume his hardcore fans already knew long ago of this haha).
2014 Kim Soo-hyun Asia Tour 1st Memories in Singapore Date: 27th April 2014 (Sunday) Time: 730pm Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 1 Ticket Pricing: $238*, $188*, $138* (*excludes $3 booking fee) Ticketing Hotline: 6348 5555 / www.sistic.com.sg
If you haven’t already known, Cycliclapse has been diligently collecting stuff and sending them for recycling on every alternate Sundays, in order to reduce our carbon footprint as well.
We first got to know about this collection drive called “Cash For Trash” only in late September 2013, which is held on every Sunday at Jurong West Street 51 (currently still ongoing), and has been going for it ever since early October.
Basically, you’ll be paid by per kg for the items you sent in for recycling.
The rates for each category of items can be seen below. Here’s to tabulate a total of how much we’d recycled so far, and also to motivate everyone to do so too! ^_^
Went for the recent Chingay Parade last Friday, courtesy of my dad for the free tickets! My 1st time watching it live! Just nice we were able to film it too!
Man, were the performers awesome!
On the way to the audience seats.
Waiting for the show to start!
Opening act!
Arrival of PM Lee and Mrs Lee!
Super long banner!!
Lotsa white horses…..
…… paved way for the big guy! Trojan much??? *kidding*
Pegasus came too!
Then we had a float with some of Singapore’s iconic spots! Merlion / Gardens By The Bay / Marina Bay Sands / Esplanade / Sentosa / Changi Airport
With a bunch of Gods of Wealth following behind!
Performers on stilts!
Lion dance troupes!
Huge banners which even the performers had difficulty keeping them up.
McCafe breakfast to start the day!! And I have to say, the service at the outlet opposite our hotel SUX BIG TIME. I swear I almost pull that bitch by the ponytail out of the counter in which she’s behind. No matter how busy you are, you have to maintain your professionalism and not fucking show attitude to your customers. Also, please brush up your fucked up English 1st before you rebuke me. I asked for what sandwich options you have. You refuted by replying, “NO SANDWICHES. ONLY HAVE CIABATTA.” Then brushed me aside to your colleague, and proceeded to bitch about me with your colleague IN FRONT OF ME.
Please do everyone else a favour by jumping off the building.
Right. Back to my breakfast!! At least it’s delicious enough to appease my anger a ‘lil. *tsk*
Went to check out this awesome concept cafe after breakfast! Had time to do so only on the last day before leaving Hong Kong!
Finding out the way to walk (in style) using Google Maps!
I had to eat this food item before leaving Hong Kong!!!!! Favorite egg tart of all time…………..
TAI CHEONG BAKERY!!!!!!
Address: 35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central
Station: Central (Exit D2)
Hours: Daily 730am – 9pm
Contact: (852) 2544-3475
FAVORITE TRADITIONAL EGG TART!!!!!!!
While on the way to explore this street which I like alot!!
GOUGH STREET was where I wanted to go!
Interesting shops along the way!
Yays! Reached GOUGH STREET!
Many niche shops along this street!
1st stop: WOAW Store (Lifestyle concept store stocking exclusive merchandise and a diverse product range for men, women and children.)
Address: No. 11 Gough Street, Central
Station: Sheung Wan (Exit A2)
Hours: Mon-Sat 1130am – 930pm / Sun 12pm – 7pm
Contact: (852) 2253-1313
2nd stop: HOMELESS (Lifestyle concept store selling niche homeware products as well as providing lotsa gift ideas.)
Address: 28-29 Gough Street, Central
Station: Sheung Wan (Exit A2)
Hours: Mon-Sat 1130am – 930pm / Sun 12pm – 6pm
Contact: (852) 2581-1880
Absorbing in more of this land before leaving on a jet plane. Gonna miss this place even though I’d been here couple of times!
Hello, cutie!!
And it’s time to go to the airport!!
Guess what? My luggage was overweight by 8.5kg………………. And I had to pay HKD1500 for it. Well, guess United Air’s rate was considered fairly cheap as compared to other airlines’ (judging by per kg). Bought too much stuff!!
Oh wells, still needed to eat dinner. My ultimate comfort food to the rescue! TSUI WAH!!!!!!!
Had some time to kill before boarding!
Yes. I mean, NOOOOO………… Can’t I stay longer???
Ok. Some food to distract myself.
Shall end this finale with shots of a cutie whom I saw on the MTR in Hong Kong!! (Disclaimer: shots taken by my friend, not me coz I didn’t have the guts to do it hahaha…….)
Till next time!!!!! CHEERS!!!!!! *juggles luggages*
DAY 7 ! ! !
2nd last day of the trip!!! Too fast!!! >.<
Started the day with a comforting and heartwarming breakfast to get our gears going!!!
Porridge / Chee Cheong Fun / Red+Green Bean Soup / Soya Bean Milk
N I C E E E . . . . . . . *burp* After which, it’s a long day in walking around (aka shopping)!
Needed to help couple of friends check out some stuff which they were interested in getting.
1st stop: SILVERCORD at Tsim Sha Tsui!
I like this mall! It has many shops/brands which I fancy, all in one mall.
Another / Double-Park / 5cm / Izzue / Fred Perry / Mercibeaucoup (to name a few!)
Happened to pass by this cool shop which this awesome paragraph on its window.
Love it. In case you weren’t able to read the whole passage, here’s it!
“There is darkness inside all of us, though mine is more dangerous than most. Still, we all have it, that part of our soul that is irreparably damaged by the very trials and tribulations of life. We are what we are because of it, or perhaps in spite of it, some use it as a shield to hide behind, others as an excuse to do unconscionable things. But truly, the darkness is simply a piece of the whole, neither good nor evil unless you make it so. It took a witch, a war, and a voodoo queen to teach me that.”
Love it. Really.
After we were done with shopping at Silvercord, it was still raining.
Hence, we decided to grab a drink and some light bites at SWEET DYNASTY near Silvercord!!
Address: 28 Hankow Road, Hong Kong Pacific Centre, B/F, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Station: Tsim Sha Tsui (Exit L5)
Hours: Daily 12pm – 230pm; 630pm – 1130pm
Contact: (852) 2377-9877 Walnut Paste / Soya Beancurd with Red Bean Paste One word.
Disappointing.
Walnut Paste was watery without much walnut taste.
Red Bean Paste was watery too that’s not sweet.
Soya Beancurd was so-so.
Totally different from the 1st time when I tried it. -_-
咸煎角! This is not bad, but Tim Ho Wan has even better ones. 流沙包!!! This one nice!
They ran out of the ones with pandan skin. *waiting* *nom nom noms* After chilling for some time at Sweet Dynasty, the rain finally stopped!!!
Time to move on to the next destination.
THE PENINSULA Hotel.
Gotta say.
I really like the decor of the hotel.
And its h~i~g~h~ ceilings……. Right. Why am I at such an atas place???
Two words.
CHROME. HEARTS.
Love their accessories….!!! Just one thing.
I don’t understand why staff working in such shops need to be SO snobbish.
Same goes for some other branded boutiques too.
Please smile and be professional.
You don’t have to look at your customers from head to toe before you decide how you are gonna serve them.
Since it’s the last night in Hong Kong, we decided to go back to Bon Bon Cafe for dinner!
Sooo gonna miss their food…….
In fact, I’m missing it now as I’m typing this post!!! *droolsss* The dumplings (bottom right) are sooo yumsss…….
They are filled with braised meat instead of the usual minced meat.
I’m not exactly a meat-lover, but this is so good I can finish the whole bowl by myself!!
Not forgetting the addictive pickles which I mentioned before in my 1st post for this trip!!! After filling our tummies, another (also the last) round at our favorite 7-11!!! Not forgetting, need change all the stickers which we received from 7-11 to change for Sanrio figurines!!
Such cute stickers!! We got the Monkey (I forgot its name) and Minna No Tabo!!
Didn’t manage to get my Kuromi! 🙁 Packing time!
Had a hard time trying to stuff everything into my luggages!!!
Heavyyy……
Reluctantly went to sleep after packing since it’s the last night afterall!! >.<
Final episode for this trip will be out soon!!
Do stay tuned!! ^_^
Early rise and shine for Day 6!!!
Coz today we planned to go Macau!!!
First thing first, getting ferry tickets from Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal! My first time going to Macau!! There was still some time left before boarding the ferry, hence grabbed a bite first at Lan Fong Yuen!!
I didn’t know they opened an outlet here.
Was elated to find out about that as I like the food there!
Here are the details for its original outlet if any of you are interested!
Address: 2 Gage Street, G/F, Central
Station: Sheung Wan (Exit E2) / Central (Exit D2)
Hours: Mon-Sat 8am – 8pm / Closed on Sundays
Contact: (852) 2544-3895 / 2854-0731 I didn’t know what I was doing.
Maybe bit excited over the food. Boarding time! Throngs of people waiting to board… Ok noted!! I’ve motion sickness, hence didn’t take any pictures when on board the ferry and simply slept throughout to prevent myself from feeling too giddy.
An hour passed, and we reached Macau!
On a free shuttle bus, en route to a nice boutique hotel which we gonna do some filming at. “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow………” So we did some filming at 5FOOTWAY.INN’s PROJECT PONTE 16!!!!
We were honoured and excited to have the opportunity to feature this lovely boutique hotel in our travelogue!!!
It is set to become Macau’s favorite boutique hotel with its modern design, cleanliness, friendly staff as well as strategic location.
Do consider staying here when you visit Macau!!!
I’m sure you will like it as much as I did!!!
Thanks much to Manager Han Jae-hoon for showing us around, plus patiently feeding us with details about the place!!!
Kamsahamnida!!! ^_^
After we were done with filming, time to explore Macau!!!
Just around the corner from 5FOOTWAY.INN……..
LEE KUM KEE !!! Tower of sauces!!! *walking walk walk* Kinda looks like Hong Kong actually… Senado Square! Managed to find the famous Pork Chop Bun and Portuguese Egg Tart!!!
Really yumsssss!!!!!! *nom nom nom* Hardworking Santa Durian! Ended up at Lisboa to catch shuttle bus back to the ferry terminal! The weather in Macau wasn’t exactly good when we were there, and getting around was bit tedious having to carry all our barang barang.
Kinda dampened my mood.
Plus I kena a long cut by the brolly when opening/closing it. -_____-” Need. A. Good. Dinner. To. Make. Myself. Feel. Better.
Hence, back to one of my favorite Hong Kong cafes for comfort food. Ittadakimasu !!! Happily tucking into my dinner….. So much better after putting them all into my tummy.
Strolling time!
Loveee the Christmas decor at Langham Place at Central!!
Sooo prettyyy……. Must. Watch. Cantonese. Movie. When. In. Hong. Kong.
Heehee so we ended up at IFC for a late night movie!!
Movie of choice?
WHITE. STORM. (扫。毒。) 刘青云。张家辉。 古天乐。
Enough. Said.
So.
So.
Good.
Was so thrilled I managed to catch this awesome show in its original language.
Beats voice-over anytime.
Love the popcorn box too in my favorite color!!
Though the popcorn itself wasn’t exactly fantastic. (I prefer Cathay’s.)
And I dropped my Bathing Ape Pocket Square in the theatre, which I only noticed after reaching back at the hotel. -_____-” Tiring but fulfilling day!!
Plus a bonus that we still managed to catch train back to our hotel area after the movie!!
Thumbs uppp for that!!!
Episode 7 will be out real soon!! Do stay tuned and support us!!! *throws popcorn*