Battle of the Year

For the past 2 weeks after our trip, I was busy... getting sick :(

On Mon morning (in KL) when I woke up, I felt extreme dryness in the throat but I was greedy, ordered many deep fried dim sum items for tea time before heading to KLIA. Almost instantly after eating, I had sore throat. Then at the airport / on the flight, I felt feverish. Upon reaching Spore, I confirmed I'd fever as I felt cold. Tue (May Day) was spent mostly in bed, attempting to recuperate. I felt ok when slept on Tue night. Then in the middle of my sleep, I felt really unwell & went to A&E at 4am, to know that my temperature hit 39.4°C & according to the MO, I got throat infection. I was given 3 days medical leave Wed-Fri.

The week before our trip, I got infected by one of my dear colleagues. His virus was really powerful (1 hit 3! those around him!). I'd mild fever & a bit of runny nose then. In a week's time, praise God that I recovered more than 80% & was ready for the trip. And I got no one to blame for the relapse but myself. All the heaty food + boozing... I've really learnt a lesson about self-discipline...

So I thought I could go back to work on Fri but nope, I felt weak & cough started to develop too. And for the past 1 week, I've been coughing badly... & at the end of each day, I'd feel so breathless that all I wanted to do is to zzz... In fact am still coughing now :(((
Now it's hubby's turn to fall sick. Poor him... been trying to nurse me back to good health for the past month but he's been surrounded by viruses at home & in office. Mum hasn't been feeling too good lately as well. Because of me being sick, the annual tomb-sweeping was postponed & Mother's Day celebration.

Just hope that all of us in the family will get well soon .....

Good morning KL! :)

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Short Getaway!

KL here we come (via 1st flight this morning)! :D

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Surprise On A Wednesday Evening

One X from hubby dearest! :D

Our 1st packed lunch for tomorrow

Soba Salad with Miso & Sesame Oil Dressing :)

Birthdays Staycation & All

I planned for a surprise birthday dinner with the siblings on the Sat before hubby's birthday. It's at one of his current favourite spots. Then just 2 days before the dinner, I'd the idea of a hotel stay as wanted hubby to drink to his heart's content without worrying about how to get home after that. To justify the amount spent, it'd be for both of our birthdays. So almost the whole of Fri was devoted to an intensive search for hotels. Top requirement - gotta be near to where we're dining at (ie. Raffles Place) which didn't leave with many choices. Not considering Fullerton Hotel as the standard room is miserably small. Finally, just before end of the day, I booked us a room for the next day but almost regretted when I got to know there's no carpark within the premise. And then I saw the old façade of the building when I saw it after work.. somewhere which I've never taken note of in the past though it's at Raffles Place & we passed it everyday.

To spice up the whole celebration, I decided this as the second surprise for hubby. Initially I didn't even want to tell him we're having a 2D1N short getaway (like what I did before) but due to the very last minute plan, I didn't prepare at all by secretly packing our clothes & all needed... it's totally impossible for me to pack everything & hide in our car in a whole 10 minutes. So all I told him was a hotel stay, which was surprising enough for dear hubby:)

Hubby suspected it'd be in CBD and for the whole night, he's trying to fish information from me but I successfully dropped misleading hints to diverge him, haha. Anyway, I was very sure he wouldn't know we'd stay there. Was really relieved that I only needed to keep the secret for 1 night as there're times I nearly blurted out!

The next day, I navigated hubby to drive to the nearest carpark. Slowly, more & more details unveiled.. it's almost as if I blindfolded him & led him to the destination. So, Mission Successful! It totally didn't occur to hubby that we'd be staying there.. He couldn't even remember there's such a place!

The place turned out to be a hidden jewel - what seemed like a tired looking building externally, is totally different inside, especially when we got into our apartment. We're very impressed with the luxury of space, the interior & the little details that are paid attention to.

The fully equipped kitchenette (including coffee maker, hidden washer/dryer & dish washer etc)

The open bathroom. Cool!

The concept is similar to Hilton KL (Sentral)'s but this is more thoughtful with a clear full view of TV while showering/soaking in tub. What's more - a speaker specially installed in the bath area!

Bed is placed in the middle.. special.. & they're generous to put 2 TVs.

L'Occitane toiletries.

Made ourselves very at home with a tapao-ed Starbucks earl grey & green tea latte ;)

Dinner+Drinks @ OverEasy. I made sure that we're the latest to arrive (it's only a short walk of less than 10 mins from Ascott) & hubby was surprised to see his siblings & partners as I previously told him they couldn't make it by giving a few convincing reasons.





BD gift from the siblings.

As for my birthday, I wanted a simple one (because I wanted a gift instead + the earlier hotel stay). Still, we took half day leave & had my favourite Peking Duck lunch at Imperial Treasure Ion (that's the only one that opens through afternoon). Then we met sis later who treated us to afternoon tea @ TWG Ion.

My present! Will show later what it contains.

About The Preps

For Con's wedding

I bought a dress that's worn by Karen Mok before. But it looked very different on me...

I looked fat, especially at certain angles.. Can you imagine? I wore a Size L!!

Hubby bought this gorgeous looking tuxedo shirt...

We took the opportunity to have an enjoyable 3.5-day long weekend. On Fri, we're on half day leave & started the weekend with my honey's favourite Korean lunch.

We'd a late & slow one at a Korean restaurant near my office that exudes quite a bit of Korean feel - Dae Bak BBQ Restaurant. I'd say, for now, that's the best Korean meal I've had in Singapore considering it's tasty, cheap (@$10/set for lunch) & we'd the luxury of time to savour our food.

Ginseng chicken soup set & beef rib soup set for hubby. It's the first time I could finish the soup & meat *thumbs up*

After lunch, since we still had time before my manicure at FEP, we took a stroll to Good Morning Nanyang @ Hong Lim CC for a cup of tea. After the long awaited move, the standard was as good as their franchised outlet at Sembawang Shopping Centre.

Nails to match my dress. A combi of the lady boss' & my ideas ;)

The Wedding

Of Ivan & Con on 4 Mar!

Pre-Luncheon Cocktail reception @ The Fullerton Hotel
A pic with our pretty AP birdcage. Guests were amused by it! :)

After the wedding lunch, the few of us wanted to have a drink before heading back. But both OverEasy & Level 33 were closed. Stopped over at Fullerton Bay Hotel's Lantern Bar but it's too hot to chill out.

So we walked further down to The Bank Bar & Bistro @ One Shenton.
We give them 1/5 for service so no, we won't be going back there.

AP "Box"

Con tasked us with making an Ang Pao Box for her Big Day.

So about a month before, hubby & I started to brainstorm.... thinking of ideas to dress up a big box. In the meantime, we got an empty copier paper box from my office. On the Sat that we scheduled to buy all needed materials, there's a sudden twist in the design & Serangoon North was where we got . . . . . .

This birdcage!

We visited all the bird shops in Serangoon North & hubby was so overwhelmed as we're being surrounded by so many birds & parrots! Haha. This was the first time that we bought a bird cage when we've not, in our lives, kept a bird before (& never will :P).

That evening, we went home to spray paint it & got the materials on Sunday. We'd 2 themes in mind... one's our style & the other was the couple's decor style for the wedding event. Just nice that we got to visit the wedding venue earlier that day for the food tasting lunch session.

First, we did it according to our own preference

After another week's consideration, we changed it to what we thought the wedding couple to be would prefer more :)
Just that poor hubby gotta smell the paint twice..

Voilà! This is the final creation of Vincent & Kelly! ;)

And it got a close-up shot at their wedding..

Talking about our 'creation' for wedding event, the last was for Vincent CH's wedding.

For Uncle CH's... we did the stage decor & floral pieces for the high tables.

We really enjoy doing such "special assignment" together! :)

Happy International Women's Day! :)

All the ladies were greeted by the big bosses with a stalk of gerbera once we came out of the lift on individual floors.
What a pleasant surprise early in the morning.. ;)

Whatsapp Rocks

Hubby & I were the first 2 in the group to use WhatsApp 2 years ago. Slowly, the rest joined & the lastest was June, end of last year.

Hubby & I first created a family chat group for CNY & now the title is changing according to the different occasions :) We've all the siblings in there, except Ben.
Ben, if you're reading this... We're still waiting for you! Hehe.

Tea Time. Me Time.

Some TWG Chamomile tea for the day :)
Hubby dearest have to work today & mum has gone for a 11-day HK trip with her sisters & relatives. So I get to spend some time by myself. A very different Sunday indeed..

Fuss free meals at home.. with TV, lappy & some nice tea :)

Lunch - Chee cheong fun in seasoned soy sauce.

Macaroni soup with lots & lots of spinach (1.5 packet!)

Year of the Dragon Celebrations

Flower of this CNY.
I was captivated by the bright orangey lil flowers at Far East Flora. There're only 2 or 3 pots there as the rest were in red or pink. On the left was when we first bought it & only a few days later, we saw the pretty blossoms all over (right)!

Like any other year, CNY celebration started early with the reunion dinner with extended family.

Lo Hei the Sat before CNY (14 Jan) @ Toa Payoh's Swatow Seafood Restaurant. That's quite a different reunion dinner as everyone was so into drinking & got a lil too loud.. haha.

Before CNY, not a night we could sleep before 12.... just too many errands (I actually did up a daily checklist for the 1 month right till CNY eve!).

Foie Gras @ sis' just 4 days before CNY!
Had a tiny bit on NYE (as shared with the other 3 - hubby, June & EY) & been craving for it. So when we went to collect a carton of mandarin oranges from sis, we took the chance to have dinner there. Hee.
The feasting had never stopped since Christmas.. Tsk tsk...

年除夕 was a rush for us. After Sunday service, we packed breakfast from Uncle Ong in Middle Road (his homecooked 面粉粿 is superb.. so as his chee cheong fun with special hay bee topping) before going to my manicurist at FEP to add crystals to my gel nails. we spent almost an hour for my nails & had our breakfast there. Also bought for the manicurists as previously promised.

My deep purple French nails with crystals :)

Thereafter we rushed to 2 Crystal Jades - (1) Bishan & joined the long Q to collect our roast meat for reunion lunch (2) Causeway Point, our carrot cake. It sounds silly but we first ordered carrot cake weeks ago & we, of course, chose the closest outlet to us. Then days before CNY we ordered roast meat but could only collect at one of their restaurants (not My Bread) & we couldn't change the collection venue for our carrot cake as well. Anyway, after chain of errands in the morning, we reach bro's just before 1pm for the lunch. Phew!

Reunion lunch @bro's. Sis-in-law cooked all the dishes by herself!

Then steamboat reunion dinner @ AMK.
Thought we could sleep earlier that night as we'd had our car washed & polished a coupla days before & I didn't have to DIY my nails. But still, we slept only @ approx 2am.

This year's 初一 was different because my MIL changed plans. So we visited bro instead (at least to get 1 visiting settled), then had dinner with the siblings before a 9pm show.

Dinner @ Cineleisure's Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe which was one of the very few restaurants/cafe opened on the 1st day. Planned nicely so we could proceed to watch the show in the same premise.
And it's to celebrate Ben's birthday :)

On the 2nd day, it's the 开年饭 at home that we can't miss. Dear mum prepared everything by herself. **In HK everyone's talking about 开年饭 but in Spore, seems like my aunt and ours are the only families having it, haha.
After lunch, we went back to AMK & the yearly photo-taking. We took much lesser this year & there's no family pic! My MIL was so disoriented this year & made all of us confused as well :( In the evening we caught another movie.

Were glad that the CNY holiday hadn't ended for us as we took leave on the 3rd & 4th day.

On the 3rd day, got to take some pictures before we went to 5th aunt's with mum for lunch. This year only needed to visit 1 aunt as the other started work.
In the afternoon, hubby & I had a relaxing afternoon at City Square, having tea & did a bit of unplanned shopping.

That night, finally got the chance to have our carrot cake for dinner, with shark's fin soup which mum specially kept for us from the previous day's 开年饭 :)

So that week we only worked for a day on Friday. Fri night, we went to 3 supermarkets trying to buy all needed ingredients for next day's lunch as hubby's siblings visiting & we last minute decided to prepare a simple meal for them instead of potluck. Hubby was a great 'assistant' so cooking that day was quite a relaxing task than I expected though I hadn't been cooking for almost 2 years :)

Lunch menu: Sweet sour pork (咕噜肉), scrambled eggs with chinese sausage (腊肠煎蛋), spinach with garlic (波菜清炒蒜茸) & lotus root soup (莲藕汤). Most rewarding for a cook is to see every bit of the food being finished up ;)

After lunch:
Beer tasting! La Trappe beer - different bottles contained different alcohol level. From left to right - Quadrupel 10%, Tripel 8%, Dubbel 7% & Blond 6.5%.
Monopoly time! Looks like it has become our yearly tradition to play this game during CNY. Hahah.

The gang stayed till 8pm & some of us had dinner together @ Kungfu Paradise in Sembawang Shopping Centre. Hubby & I then went for CNY drinks with my cousins whom we haven't been meeting.. First at MBS' CBTL then we adjourned to One Fullerton's OverEasy (yes... it's our recommendation:P).

In fact it's the first time we had a reunion like this. Not all were present though and we hope to be able to gather more in future ;)

The following Sat.. we reached Orchard early at 10.30am. Had our fav Hans breakfast at FEP & then ran banking errands in the vicinity. Did a bit of shopping at ION/Ngee Ann City & then had lunch at sis' as we've arranged to visit dad's in the afternoon.

After that, had tea with sis at Dome in Bishan & had a good catch-up.

After sending sis back to her restaurant, we dropped by at AMK to pick June & EY for dinner. The timing was just right!

Dinner @ Hotpot Culture! As I was craving for some simple steamboat food.

Drinks at Level 33, MBFC. We'd a very good chat there with great view.



Surprise! It didn't occur to us at all that there'd be fireworks at the end of Chingay till we suddenly heard noises & saw the beautiful fireworks from one of the best angles.

We still went Lau Pat Sat for supper after drinks & reached home nearly 2am, again.

Celebrations usually mean unhealthy lifestyle - lots of food, alcohol and late nights. That's indeed very bad...
We're starting a healthier diet program right after CNY because we didn't wanna look so bloated on Con's Big Day. But it'll be so hard to follow, ha...