After days of moodling, I'm finally penning something decent. Not due to the lack of content but on the contrary, the influx of stuff! Some may question, since it's such a pain, why bother blogging? It's not like my life is so interesting and different that others would like to read. Well perhaps, but it's just an avenue for me to vent, practice and reminisce. Perhaps I'll be the next Darren Ng (winner of lifestyle section for the recent Singapore Blogger Awards) or perhaps like Bing, my newfound read. Anyway, not in the best of mood to be blogging too after taking my last two boosters (a total of 3 had to be taken) for cervical cancer vaccine and Hep B. One on each arm -- OUCH! But I have to get started, else things will blow out of epic proportions.
Recently I've been thinking a fair bit about life. Am constantly in my reverie and think perhaps things need to change. Life is akin to marriage. After the initial passion, marriage is full of mundane moments and ho-hum chores. But so many of these humdrum moments are made special by the way we experience them. However, somehow, my prefrontal cortex isn't exactly transmitting and organizing thoughts well enough to my rely neurons...perhaps something's missing in the synapse. One minute I'd be thinking about how I can be a millionaire, the next I'd be thinking how nice it'd be to have bigger family, then following that I'd be thinking of travelling around the world/ doing volunteer work/ studying again. I'm becoming random! Frustrates me to no end. The first thing one must learn is to focus. This is horribly lacking in my life. Once a goal has been set, it's easier to achieve. Having a to-do list is simply not enough. One shld have an achievement honour roll or somesort. With my gregarious, cowardice and indecisive nature, I wonder when I'd be able to control my choices and decisions. Life requires multiple coordination skills and I'm certainly no Paul the octopus! At this moment, I guess there are only a few baby steps I can take to add to the honour roll:
With the above-said, quality of life is indeed improving with the many dining places visited and the weight put on. Family doctor and a certain aunt has commented with gaping jaws! I wish things were an illusion but unfortunately this illusion is a mirage of the wine and dine that has been blowing out of proportions recently. I like to blame it on the declining metabolic rate though, a mimicry of age :(
长这么大, this is the first time I'm slicing a whole abalone with fork and knife!
长这么大, this is the first time I'm eating a whole abalone off a fork as if it's a piece of fish cake! *SCREAMS*
The hubs had a sudden craving for ramen on Monday thus I brought him to Ippudo @ Mandarin Gallery. Many have raved about this place. Heard that the place is horrendously crowded even out of meal times. Thinking that it's a Monday, things should be different. No reservations could be made unless u had a party of 6. We arrived at 9pm and thankfully we didnt have to wait. With that said, it doesnt mean that the place was not packed. it was brimming with people and the turnover was amazing! Even at 10pm there were people coming in for food! Menu wise, they certainly glammed it up. Recalling vividly the visit to Ippudo @ Tokyo (Ginza), the place was merely a tiny cafe down by the basement of a building. Inconspicuous! By the way, picture above: Left: taken in Tokyo; Right: Taken in Singapore. Difference: Puffier cheeks!
They had a large variety of appetizers and side dishes here in Singapore. I recalled gyoza being probably the only decent side dish (apart from those preserved veg and ginger) on the Japanese menu. Even the main dishes were significantly different. Too many permutations and combinations. Spoilt for choice. Soup base was comparable but flavoured egg was definitely not up to standard. It's supposedly flavoured but where was the flavour!? Wanted to try their cheesecake dessert but alas! It's sold out! :(
Every morsel was licked up. The soup base was so tasty, hubs and I exchanged bowls and finished almost the entire bowl!
To satisfy my immense craving for Japanese food, H and I went to the Hokkaido Fair at Tampines Mall on Saturday. Right after work at 5pm, I zoomed down and made a beeline for the fair. The place was abuzz with activities and that's an understatement! Fortunately, things moved really fast. Too fast! I wasn't able to purchase the famous Hokkaido biscuits 百色恋人. According to the salesperson, people arrived as early as 7am to q for the biscuits! WOW! I'm full of admiration of such people!
Bought a whole mountain of stuff which included my favourite Squid stuffed with Japanese Rice. It was to die for! Going at $6.80 per box, I simply had to buy TWO! If only this was a permanent thing on the menu of some restaurant! Also in my shopping bag were the infamous Hokkaido cheesecake. I'm not bragging when I say that its praline-like texture tickles ones senses and was in seventh heaven when the cheese consumed me! Regretted not buying 2 boxes. But at $15.90 per box, I had to think twice. Other than these two awesome items, there are the usual tako pachi, dried seasoned scallops, grilled scallops, fish cake and some Japanese pastries. All in all, the damage was close to $100! A whopping amount which amounted to a whole different league of awesomeness!
This flavoursome glutinous rice, encased in succulent squid, together with the scallops were for dinner. Over-estimated my appetite.
The leftovers were used to prepare Sunday's breakfast. The hubs had a tiring week, with work and WC, thus we decided to enjoy some homely comforts. This Japanese pasta was certainly fit for a King! My king! :)
The same could not be same for dinner though. I failed miserably in my rendition of Beer battered Fish. Followed instructions faithfully yet the batter simply didn't stick, resulting in a very ugly looking and unappetizing fish. The hubs was sweet enough to comment that the fish was fresh and the cauliflower was nice. Well, those can't go wrong!
Despite using a strong brew, there was simply an absence of beer taste. Not trying to be an alcowhore but I seriously think all the alcohol had evaporated.
Thankfully, momsie surprised me with my favourite -- CRABS! Friend of hers gave her heaps of chilli crab and she decided to pop by and share. Felt bad that dad and her had to pack from the coffee shop instead of having a piece of my failed-masterpiece.
The highlight of the day had got to be THIS!
Dinner did not start till 8pm and the appointment was at 9pm. Was a little downcast thinking that I'd probably had to cancel the appointment, but alas! the place, FEETPRESS @ Siglap was opened till 11pm and thus could allot me a later time!
The place made me feel at home. With books galore, I really wanted to have my feet pressed the whole day whilst I devour all the words! Hubs and I wanted the 1.5hr treatment and though their closing time was 11pm, they graciously acceded to our request and ran into over-time! The massage, needless to say, ROCKZ! Majority of their masseurs were men. My therapist somehow knew the sort of pressure to exert on me and was able to target on every sore and aching accupressure point of mine! Felt totally rejuvenated thereafter. It's reasonably priced as well. You can check out their rate card here: http://www.feetpress.com/ratecard/
They are having a promotion currently. for $399, you'd get $460 worth of credits! Was really tempted to sign on but hubs thought it's not enticing enough. My verdict: A must-go to relieve those tension, but do remember to make an appointment as the crowd was still streaming in at 10pm! Well, promo or no promo, I'd be going back for sure as right after the massage, my body instinctively sought the bed!
Recently I've been thinking a fair bit about life. Am constantly in my reverie and think perhaps things need to change. Life is akin to marriage. After the initial passion, marriage is full of mundane moments and ho-hum chores. But so many of these humdrum moments are made special by the way we experience them. However, somehow, my prefrontal cortex isn't exactly transmitting and organizing thoughts well enough to my rely neurons...perhaps something's missing in the synapse. One minute I'd be thinking about how I can be a millionaire, the next I'd be thinking how nice it'd be to have bigger family, then following that I'd be thinking of travelling around the world/ doing volunteer work/ studying again. I'm becoming random! Frustrates me to no end. The first thing one must learn is to focus. This is horribly lacking in my life. Once a goal has been set, it's easier to achieve. Having a to-do list is simply not enough. One shld have an achievement honour roll or somesort. With my gregarious, cowardice and indecisive nature, I wonder when I'd be able to control my choices and decisions. Life requires multiple coordination skills and I'm certainly no Paul the octopus! At this moment, I guess there are only a few baby steps I can take to add to the honour roll:
- Enrol in a course by Harvard university this September (gotto check on pre-requisites and other details though)
- Improving the quality of life by enjoying the fruits of labour. Treating myself to more massages and thrilling Sunday breakfasts with the hubs. Now that the World Cup has ended, we probably can have proper breakfasts. Thrilling yet surreal all at once
- Secret mission (this I can't reveal at this point in time)
With the above-said, quality of life is indeed improving with the many dining places visited and the weight put on. Family doctor and a certain aunt has commented with gaping jaws! I wish things were an illusion but unfortunately this illusion is a mirage of the wine and dine that has been blowing out of proportions recently. I like to blame it on the declining metabolic rate though, a mimicry of age :(
长这么大, this is the first time I'm slicing a whole abalone with fork and knife!
长这么大, this is the first time I'm eating a whole abalone off a fork as if it's a piece of fish cake! *SCREAMS*
The hubs had a sudden craving for ramen on Monday thus I brought him to Ippudo @ Mandarin Gallery. Many have raved about this place. Heard that the place is horrendously crowded even out of meal times. Thinking that it's a Monday, things should be different. No reservations could be made unless u had a party of 6. We arrived at 9pm and thankfully we didnt have to wait. With that said, it doesnt mean that the place was not packed. it was brimming with people and the turnover was amazing! Even at 10pm there were people coming in for food! Menu wise, they certainly glammed it up. Recalling vividly the visit to Ippudo @ Tokyo (Ginza), the place was merely a tiny cafe down by the basement of a building. Inconspicuous! By the way, picture above: Left: taken in Tokyo; Right: Taken in Singapore. Difference: Puffier cheeks!
They had a large variety of appetizers and side dishes here in Singapore. I recalled gyoza being probably the only decent side dish (apart from those preserved veg and ginger) on the Japanese menu. Even the main dishes were significantly different. Too many permutations and combinations. Spoilt for choice. Soup base was comparable but flavoured egg was definitely not up to standard. It's supposedly flavoured but where was the flavour!? Wanted to try their cheesecake dessert but alas! It's sold out! :(
Every morsel was licked up. The soup base was so tasty, hubs and I exchanged bowls and finished almost the entire bowl!
To satisfy my immense craving for Japanese food, H and I went to the Hokkaido Fair at Tampines Mall on Saturday. Right after work at 5pm, I zoomed down and made a beeline for the fair. The place was abuzz with activities and that's an understatement! Fortunately, things moved really fast. Too fast! I wasn't able to purchase the famous Hokkaido biscuits 百色恋人. According to the salesperson, people arrived as early as 7am to q for the biscuits! WOW! I'm full of admiration of such people!
Bought a whole mountain of stuff which included my favourite Squid stuffed with Japanese Rice. It was to die for! Going at $6.80 per box, I simply had to buy TWO! If only this was a permanent thing on the menu of some restaurant! Also in my shopping bag were the infamous Hokkaido cheesecake. I'm not bragging when I say that its praline-like texture tickles ones senses and was in seventh heaven when the cheese consumed me! Regretted not buying 2 boxes. But at $15.90 per box, I had to think twice. Other than these two awesome items, there are the usual tako pachi, dried seasoned scallops, grilled scallops, fish cake and some Japanese pastries. All in all, the damage was close to $100! A whopping amount which amounted to a whole different league of awesomeness!
This flavoursome glutinous rice, encased in succulent squid, together with the scallops were for dinner. Over-estimated my appetite.
The leftovers were used to prepare Sunday's breakfast. The hubs had a tiring week, with work and WC, thus we decided to enjoy some homely comforts. This Japanese pasta was certainly fit for a King! My king! :)
The same could not be same for dinner though. I failed miserably in my rendition of Beer battered Fish. Followed instructions faithfully yet the batter simply didn't stick, resulting in a very ugly looking and unappetizing fish. The hubs was sweet enough to comment that the fish was fresh and the cauliflower was nice. Well, those can't go wrong!
Despite using a strong brew, there was simply an absence of beer taste. Not trying to be an alcowhore but I seriously think all the alcohol had evaporated.
Thankfully, momsie surprised me with my favourite -- CRABS! Friend of hers gave her heaps of chilli crab and she decided to pop by and share. Felt bad that dad and her had to pack from the coffee shop instead of having a piece of my failed-masterpiece.
The highlight of the day had got to be THIS!
Dinner did not start till 8pm and the appointment was at 9pm. Was a little downcast thinking that I'd probably had to cancel the appointment, but alas! the place, FEETPRESS @ Siglap was opened till 11pm and thus could allot me a later time!
The place made me feel at home. With books galore, I really wanted to have my feet pressed the whole day whilst I devour all the words! Hubs and I wanted the 1.5hr treatment and though their closing time was 11pm, they graciously acceded to our request and ran into over-time! The massage, needless to say, ROCKZ! Majority of their masseurs were men. My therapist somehow knew the sort of pressure to exert on me and was able to target on every sore and aching accupressure point of mine! Felt totally rejuvenated thereafter. It's reasonably priced as well. You can check out their rate card here: http://www.feetpress.com/ratecard/
They are having a promotion currently. for $399, you'd get $460 worth of credits! Was really tempted to sign on but hubs thought it's not enticing enough. My verdict: A must-go to relieve those tension, but do remember to make an appointment as the crowd was still streaming in at 10pm! Well, promo or no promo, I'd be going back for sure as right after the massage, my body instinctively sought the bed!
Do not be tainted by pitfalls. We all need something to galvanize us into action and sometimes our lethargy arises from uncertainty over what we should do!
