The Noose Christmas Song

Saw this post at Bookjunkie’s  Singapore Actually blog and totally love it! I think Jason will like it too! He is a big Noose fan. Haha. Happy New Year people!

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Merry Merry Christmas.

A few weeks back, we hosted close to 20 people in our tiny little place! Jason couldn’t believe we can do that, but we did! People were flowing all over the place! Haha.

There were tons of food (turkey, ham, beef, pork, salad, sushi, logcake!), tons of alcohol (red, white, sweet, beer, vodka mix), tons of laughter (with ZN’s brainy reverse bingo game and silly party games), tons of presents (where we did our yearly secret santa gift exchange) and tons of friends (from the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th batch of management trainee, 2 plus ones, and one Tim Heng out of no where)!

We had a blast and it was a successful party with great fun and great turnout!

Colin & Lyanna’s Church Wedding

In December, we attended Colin & Lyanna’s church wedding at Chijmes and it was magnificent! Love the details and DIY projects!

The Gift for 2012

The gift to the girls is (1) a good habit especially for Sue Ann to cultivate for the next year, (2) an activity which we will be doing together at the end of next year, (3) a commitment to our friendship when they choose to participate in this, (4) a jolly good time for the winner and friends and lastly (5) a gleeful performance to watch when the loser performs a penalty! (I should be in marketing! Haha, selling ideas of a simple item!)

My gift to the girls is a pretty little cupcake coin bank! Sue Ann and I got the pink one and Siqi and CW got a purple one! We each commit to start saving all the coins we have starting from the 1st January 2012 till 31 December 2012 (no cheating and no notes!). At the end of next year, we will go to one of the girl’s place to count all the money we saved!

Before we start saving we each came out with an activity which we would like to do together as a group. The winner (biggest saver) will be granted the wish with all the money we saved and use it for the activity she picked! The loser (smallest saver) will have to perform a penalty (which is still undecided)!

Here are the activities we picked!

Squareberry: To take a professional photo shoot (I don’t mind this!)

Siqi: To go wakeboarding (Omg! Sounds damn tough!)

Sue Ann: To visit a lesbian club (Serious?!?!)

Serene: To book a villa for a night stay and enjoy a massage!

Girls, if you want to have your activity picked you got to save hard! If you want to avoid going to the activities some others chose, you got to save hard too! Sue Ann, you got to put in effort ya! Haha.

Post Christmas SSSS Gathering!

//Psss. CW, I need the picture of us! Haha.

We finally had a SSSS gathering last night! We were supposed to meet in town but my work commitment had me back at Frontline till midnight! Thanks to the girls who came to dine near my workplace, I managed to have a good break in between a 15 hour work day! I have the best girlfriends one can ask for!

We had our belated Christmas gift exchange and all three well travelled girls brought home souvenirs from all over the world, spreading over a few continents! Haha. It feels like Christmas all over again and we each brought home a bagful of goodies!

Siqi also gave me my belated birthday gift and I totally adore it! A card filled with owls which has that pop-out effect! To top it off, an owl bangle! HOOT!

In my next post, I will share with you the exciting gift I gave to the girls!

Wickedly Merry Christmas!

He brought me to watch Wicked on Christmas Day and it was wickedly awesome! I love musical and it is far better than Mama Mia (NYC) and Lion King (Singapore)! Love the set! It was magical and the transformation between scenes kept my neck stretched throughout the show! I was mesmerized by the costumes, set, plot and voices! Even though their voices are not as powerful as their counterparts seen in Mama Mia in NYC, it is still good!

Barley met Flare

Barley finally met Flare! Even though they didn’t hit it off (I think Barley doesn’t enjoy socializing with other dogs) we were glad we tried! Barley behaves like a diva. Enjoying the environment, galloping around and almost hissing (in a barking manner) at Flare when she irritates her. Haha. Both of them looks really cute together! Jason and I concluded that we need to find a more active playmate for Barley! Flare just couldn’t keep up with Barley’s speed and stamina but who can? She is a fur ball on fire!

Flare is sociable, friendly and curious unlike Barley who is a snob and impatient to other dogs!

Barley, you better learn to socialize or you will be left on the shelf with no mate nor friends!

// We went to Steph’s place to meet Archie and Frosty there after and Frosty (also a Jap Spitz) is worst than Barley! Extremely feisty and not friendly! Archie loves Barley though! At some point, he looks dejected when he was rejected by Barley! Haha! Too bad we didn’t take any pictures! Next time!

// Al the pictures except the first one are taken by Jiehui! (Cw’s bro’s gf) haha

Christmas Baking

Last weekend, my sister and my mum came over to my place for some cookie and cake making! The Christmas shortcake turns out yummy! It is almost like the Danish Cookies you buy from supermarkets! The fruit cake was burnt slightly and I could have do with more fruits!

My mum and I!

Our burnt cake and my sister burnt fingers!

The texture and consistency were perfect! All thanks to the expensive mixer! But the flavor can do better!

My sister looks like she is on some ad campaign, something like a “She can bake!” lifestyle program. Haha.

Our pretty yummy cookies!

We found the recipe from Straits Times and it is really easy! I shall not share the cake recipe until I can perfect it. Haha.

Anti Dog Pee Poem

We found this at the life lobby and I thought it is hilarious! Haha.

Wedding Bus Rental

We saw this at our estate and thought it is really cute! If only we know of this either! We could have rented this to match our Beetle and for our wedding entourage! Haha.

Ba.Ba.Ba.Barley.

During a stay cation at our place, I made Barley stay on top of our bay window!

Isn’t she the cutest!

Chocolate Addiction.

When I’m looking at rows and rows of Christmas chocolates at supermarkets, I can hear them calling out to shoppers “Pick me pick me!” as though a puppy at a pet shop yearning for attention! Their calling is especially loud these few days with Christmas approaching! I hope they can find a owner before their value turns to nothing after Christmas!

I must be mad! It’s either work or my secret chocolate addiction! Haha.

// I cannot bring home any more chocolate because we have tons of it and Communist Ng will kill me!

Review of Christmas Albums (2011)

My job allows me to buy Christmas CDs for Frontline and I bought 5 Christmas CDs just for this purpose. I can’t stand Christmas CD compilation which gives crappy music!

Here are the reviews of all the Christmas CDs I bought and I have rank them starting from my favourite album!

A Very She & Him Christmas – She & Him

This CD totally rocks my Christmas world! I love that it sounded different from the usual Christmas songs adding a little edgy and quirky touch to Christmas! Right, I’m also a little bias because I love Zooey Deschanel ! Her character in New Girl is awkward yet cool and I’m just curious how she sounds! An unlikely Christmas song “Baby, it’s cold outside” is cheeky and oh so appropriate for the cold cold weather. Haha.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars

The Gift – Corrinne May

Her voice is heavenly! Even though this sounded like a typical Christmas Carol voice but don’t you love her angelic and soothing songs during this joyful season! Also, this is the only Christmas album which actually worship and praise our Lord Almighty!

Rating: 4 / 5

Glee Christmas Album 2 – Glee

I love Glee, period. Haha. It adds a modern twist to Christmas!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Connie Talbot’s Christmas Album – Connie Talbot

Her voice is angelic yes, but there are a couple of songs which went a little too high pitch for my liking. But for her age, she is good.

Rating: 3 / 5

Under the Mistletoe – Justin Bieber

I am not a fan of inconsistent Christmas album. One minute it is blasting some high pitch song, the other minute it is an R&B Christmas song trying too hard and the next minute it is this soulful vocal rendition of a prepubescent boy with Mariah Carey. OMG. The only reason this CD is picked – to appease the younger audience at Frontline.

Rating: 2 / 5

I wanted to pick up Michael Buble’s Christmas album too but I ran out of budget and our CD player can only hold 5 CDs at a time. HAHA. Perhaps next year.

Zaffron Kitchen

135/137 East Coast Road
Singapore 428820
Tel +65 6440 6786

We went to Tim’s church at Pasir Ris on Sunday and thereafter we had to drop Barley at the groomer at East Coast / Katong area. We decided to check out Zaffron Kitchen – a modern Indian restaurant opposite 112 Katong – and it was all good. Good food, love their interior decor and funny punchlines everywhere. HAHA. It’s a cool Indian restaurant with good food and ambience.

Good Food

He loves their masala tea.

Their food is good yes, but their portion is so little!

I love their prata! It’s crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside! It’s damn good!

We chatted with the restaurant service trainer and she gave us a complimentary thosai. It is the perfect thosai. The consistency and flavor. Hmm.

The total damage? Eighty over dollars for the four of us.

Cool Interior Decor

Love those lamps! They reminded me of our hat lamps in my walk in wardrobe!

Love these tiles.

This place is pro-family too! You can bring your little ones there with your girlfriends!

Cute.

Funny Punchlines

One of those punchlines!

My personal favorite! Devils wear prata! HAHA.

Triple Date.

Over the weekends, we had a triple date gathering where we did potluck! I made some finger licking good roast chicken using the same recipe with tarragon and chicken wings instead! He whipped up some broccoli with mushroom and bacon with asparagus.

Yvonne made some yummy pasta salad and Alph brought a sinful ice cream cake from Island creamery! We opened up a nice bottle of sauv blanc and the night went well! Great company!

She is so Fluffy I can die.

Wizard of Paws
178 East Coast Road
Tel: 64403297

We brought Barley to the groomers at Wizard of Paws! They did a great job in making her look pretty! For once, she doesn’t look like she is booking in for Tekong after her haircut! HAHA! She smells fluffy and clean!

DIY Cute Christmas Ornaments

I came across this little DIY project from Apartment Therapy! If only I’ve not bought those random accessories for my Christmas tree, I would have try this out too! Have fun!

Rant.

With inflation and rising costs of living, Singaporean’s dreams seem harder to reach.

Even DINKS like us (Duo Income with No KidS) possessing a good degree can no longer afford a car and probably taxi rides in the near future.

First, high COE price is dashing our dreams to enjoy the flexibility, freedom and impromptu escapes to inaccessible but wondrous places around Singapore.

Then, increasing taxi fares limit us to places accessible via bus, MRT and bicycle.  All these changes were announced and to be implemented in less than a month. No one cares about the public anymore.

This simply means that young educated Singaporeans can no longer afford a car (and taxi rides). Sigh, I do hope that our dream to own a condominium in the future will not be too far fetched with all the various “market cooling measures”.

It’s a depressing news for those who worked hard and aspire for these little luxuries in their lifestyle. Boo.

Venice & Latte

Apart from Florence, Venice is my second favorite city that we visited in Italy! I love the colorful buildings, the waterway, getting lost around the city and treasure hunting for the various tourist spots. It was gloomy in the morning but when the sun came out in the afternoon, we saw the true beauty of Venice.

The rainy morning made us walk into many cafes for a hot cup of good old Italian coffee for him and comforting hot chocolate for me! Hot drinks never tasted so good! Haha. The boy didn’t look happy because he ordered Latte and in Italy, Latte means milk. He got a cup of hot milk instead. That was our first coffee lesson in Italy! He wanted Caffe Latte but lazy Singaporeans call it Latte. He told the guy he wanted Caffe Latte and they simply poured in a cup of Espresso. Haha. Epic fail.

Duomo di Milano, Milan

We landed in Italy via Milan and spent half a day exploring the fashion city! In Milan’s main train station, you can check in your luggage at a fee! It is really convenient and it freed us from lugging our luggage around the cobblestone pavements! Generally, there are only two things to do in Milan for a tourist, shopping or visiting the Duomo.

We chose Duomo and some light shopping around the cathedral. Upon ascending from the train station via the escalator, we were greeted by a huge, magnificent, breathtaking and an unimaginable sight of the church. I had my jaws opened for 10 seconds and it reminded me of how powerful Christianity was in the old Italy.

Duomo di Milano is the fourth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in Italy! It took nearly six centuries to complete!

Here we had our first taste of Duomo!