4th Year Anniversary with my Dearest…
Had a really good day walking around with him, walking around without thinking of school work or what…
How i wish everyday could be like that?!
Anyways, 4 years have been a long time for both of us.
I hope to have many 4 years to come.
Will post up some pics soon!
If you havn’t already heard of The Peak, where have ya been?!
The Peak is HDB’s DBSS(Design, Build and Sell Scheme), so it is essentially a government flat, but it is designed by private developers and it is similar to a condo, but minus off the facilities. In addition, the house comes with tiles(flooring done), doors, water heater, toilet is done, kitchen is done with cupboards, cooking hob, so basically this is similar to what a condo offers, a move-in state after the house is complete is 2012.
However, prices for such DBSS are usually high.
We have friends who have officially purchase units from there. And therefore, there had been requests for us to consider getting a unit there as well, so we can all be neighbours.
There’s only 5 roomed flats left in The Peak, and the price ranges from 539 – 722 k, depending on the location of the unit and floor level.
We went to visit the Peak’s showroom, directly opposite to the future site of the Peak itself. It looks really pretty, the balcony is wide! The master bedroom is huge as compared to the master bedroom of other HDB flats, and the toilets look nice! I also like the bay windows. The whole house is so zen-ish.
We worked our finances, it’s going to be a bit tough to fork out the initial down payment. We aint as lucky as our friends who have the ‘moola’ support from their parents.
Anyways, we are going to try to apply the HLE loan and see how much can HDB loan us, most probably is 90%.
Told this to mum, she asked why the need to get 5 room flat right from the start? And that she thinks it’s a bit far in Toa Payoh. Dear’s parents have the same concern as well.
Well, it’s a bit far fetched to get The Peak no doubt about that.
But we dreamt abit of having an unit there cos it’s real pretty.
And that we have friends as our neighbours, how cool is that?!
Toa Payoh is also close by to town, accessible to alot of places somemore, good food… And resale housing index is also pretty high, so in the long run, the unit’s probably going to generate $$$ for us.
But well, can sense that our parents still prefer for us to stay nearby them.
Well, do consider The Peak.
Their website is at: http://www.thepeakattpy.com/
Congrats to Cindy on her ROM.
She’s the first among our Uni peers to get hitched! hee
I was shocked initially when she sent us the sms saying that she’s going to become a Mrs on National Day. Because her bf is still studying, that’s why I was super shocked to know that she’s having ROM.
But after that I know that it’s because she gotten a resale unit in Yishun, so she has to ROM soon.
Anyway, we met up with Cindy 2 days before she ROM.
It was fun meeting up and chit-chatting cos havn’t had the chance for quite some time.
Met up @ Ma Maison
Dear + Cindy
Me + Cindy
Bev, Me, Dear, Cindy
Final group pic
Well, this is an outdated post.
We went to Pasta Inc, situated at 279 Jalan Besar, to celebrate our dear Jul’s birthday 2 weeks back.
As fans of Hungrygowhere.com, ling and I had noticed the Pasta Inc’s link on the main page of HGW for quite sometime, but always havnt had the time to have a try.
Finally, we decided to go try since there is a buy 4 get 1 free pasta.
One thing to note, it’s easier to go Pasta Inc if you have your own transportation. There’s ample parking space on the other side of the road, if not, go to the sports stadium to park.
Pasta Inc is a small, cosy Italian restaurant that serves mainly pasta, italian appetizers, mains (no pizza though). It is only about 7th month old. When we reached, there wouldn’t other customers. The server and the owner of the restaurant were all very keen in recommending the food to us. They indicated that some items are not indicated on the menu, like grilled portobello, saffron cream pasta or anything Italian we can think of and if they have the time and materials, they can definitely do it for us, that’s what I called personalised and good customer service! When Jul asked about the availability of risotto, the owner said ‘of course’, but it will take a quite a long time to prepare unless we are willing to wait.
Anyway, we ordered 2 portobellos, 2 baked eggplant, 1 pasta each and of course Jan’s salad.
Just for those who have no idea what portobellos are, they are a type of mushroom, the very big mushroom that you can now find in NTUC (but the one they served us is bigger than the ones you find in NTUC). Oh man, it’s so gd! The juiciness of the woody-flavoured mushroom, and it’s grilled to perfection with a layer of cheese. Thumbs up!
Portobello!
The grilled eggplant, well, it’s quite a small plate of eggplant for the price, but still, it’s rather nice. Personally, I prefer the grilled eggplant that Pasta Fresca serves. But somehow, they differ abit also. Neverthelss, it’s still not bad.
Grilled eggplant
I ordered a seafood linguini in white wine sauce.
I think white wine base pasta will be a new love for me!
For me, I find it hard to finish pasta that is cream-based. So in terms of pasta bases, my favourite is white wine & aglio olio style. Always, aglio olio remains on top, but sometimes I find it hard to dispose the garlic smell that lingers for hours in the mouth after the meal. But still… both aglio olio and white wine base is my top picks!
Seafood linguini in white wine base
Had a try at the off-the-menu saffron cream based seafood pasta, well, it’s pretty unique, I think this is also not bad!
Saffron cream seafood pasta
Dear’s lasagne was pretty good too! Pretty flavourful! But abit pricey for its price. I think it’s $16.90. But, lasagne fill one up easily!
lasagne
On top of our food, we had white wine too!
I had 2 glasses of it myself! haha..
It’s cheap to purchase by bottle, only $45 I recall.
Well, i can’t drink too much alcohol as some of my body parts will flush and may itch. But nowadays, it seems better, perhaps I’m improving…
Anyways, the owner of the restaurant was very warm and friendly to us! He’s a young chap, under 30 somemore! Talked to us, told us how and why he started the business. Can see that he’s a hardworking dude who has a passion for the food industry. He even told us something that I was quite shocked!
Cos he wanted to advertise his restaurant, so he wanted to invite the famous food blog owner for a food tasting and review, but he do so foy a charge!? Not sure if we hear wrongly, but the amount is quite big!
Here are some screenshots of our experience there!
Happy Bday Jul! (The male owner in the background)
Group Pic (w/o Kel)
Group pic (With Kel)
Feeling feverish now!
Measured temperature thrice, 37.1 degrees twice and 36.9 degrees once.
The temperatures are quite normal, but why does my body feel so hot? Unusually hot~?
Really don’t wish to be sick now, cos NIE school terms starting next monday.
feverish
NIE timetable came out the day before, and the timetable is not good!
Booo….
Why are Thurs/Fri so long hours?!
This means, no going out on Fri?!
=(
Friday is supposed to be short days!
Anyways, went to ION today.
Well, pretty impressed with the mall.
And I don’t think I finished exploring everything?!
Shall go again soon, probably when most shops are open.
I went to watch A Frozen Flower just last weekend.
A Frozen Flower
For those who are planning to watch the movie, perhaps you should stop here now and come back again when you’d watch the movie.
The story is a Korean period story set in the Goryeo period starring Joo Jin Mo as the King, Joo In Seong as the bodyguard, Hong Lim, and Song Ji Hyo as the Queen.
The young king handpicked and trained 36 young boys who will then become his bodyguards in the long run. Among them, one of them strike out to him and later become his favourite bodyguard and the overall Chief Bodyguard. The word ‘favourite’ used in the previous statement bears something more, the bodyguard Hong Lim, is in fact, the king’s lover. They share beds, they share food and they even share nights of passion together.
The story went on, to say that because the king and queen were not able to produce an heir, the position of the king is dangerous as there was plans to overthrow him because of his inability to have an heir.
Well, the king is not interested in ladies at all, therefore his inability to bear a child with the queen. And now, to have a chance of having an offspring (an heir), the king turned to his most trusted bodyguard cum lover, Hong Lim for help. Because he trusts him the most, he wants him to help impregnate the queen. Hong Lim asked, ‘Why me?’, the king said he hopes that the kid is as fair and as gentle as Hong Lim and also he trusts him the most. The king selected him probably also because he knew that Hong Lim will not develop any feelings for the queen since he is supposedly his lover.
On the first night, Hong Lim was unable to do so with the Queen as he had never sleep with a lady in his life before, all this was very new to him.
The second night, they start to get into the mood, once they get the physical bonding, they were totally enslaved!
The once lonely wife of the king, suddenly rekindles as a happily married lady, sometimes initiating with Hong Lim. And the shy bodyguard who only had nights with the king, now also feels something different. The pair developed feelings for each other after sex and you can see in the film that the bodyguard actually felt caught in the middle. He gave a gift to the queen, thinks about the nights with the queen and yet he feels guilty towards the king.
The many sexual scenes in the show between Hong Lim and the queen are essential to prod the movie plot ahead, in showing how intense they have fallen in love with each other.
The king starts to get suspicious with Hong Lim and when his fears were confirmed, he rages up! The uncontrollable anger and jealousy leads to many killings by the King. Even till the end, the king had no choice but to order for Hong Lim’s castration when he found the pair having a rendezvous in the library.
The story ended in a sad page. Both men were dead. Before death, Hong Lim revealed that he had fallen in love with the queen and he said it’s the king who led him to feeling love because it was him who caused all of this to happen! The king then asked if Hong Lim even loved him for just once in his life, Hong Lim replied firmly ‘no’. From that moment, the king’s heart went dead and that allow Hong Lim to kill him successfully.
Well, there are alot of issues to think about after watching the movie.
Does Hong Lim love the king before his liasons wth the queen? I believe he is in such a close relationship with the king due to long term coercion. Since young, the king has paid special attention to Hong Lim and personally training him, and therefore Hong Lim probably is coerced into having all the loving moments with the King. Cos he had looked after him all this while.
Why did Hong Lim shed a tear at the last breath, and also looking at the king when he was shedding the tear?
He was probably feeling guilty towards the king. The king left a lady head in the capital, leading Hong Lim to think that the queen has been killed by him. Hong Lim then came into the palace, to kill the king. However, at the very last few moments, the king died, and Hong Lim discovered that the queen hasnt die, that’s why he turned and face the dying king and shed that last tear, because the king loves Hong Lim too much to kill someone Hong Lim loves? That’s why he felt guilty towards the king.
The king really loves Hong Lim alot as many small actions through out the show depicts that. He gives Hong Lim the best horse, even better than his own horse, and waited for him whole night to show him the horse, but Hong Lim was away having dangerous liasons with the Queen. At the final scene, when Hong Lim returned to assassinate the king, the king’s first words were ‘Where have you been? You looked thinner?’ Can see that he’s still very much in love with him and is worrying for him. But one thing that puzzles me is, if he really loves him that much, why was he so firm in ordering for Hong Lim’s castration! Guess he really felt too betrayed at that moment when he caught them in the act!
This movie is really mind-boggling! I greatly recommend people to watch this movie! The music, the setting and the actors acted well!
I applaud the actors for doing a great job, especially the king! Nice job…
But the actress, I must say she’s a daring actress to allow the male lead to touch her body/boobs throughout the movie, I don’t think any hollywood movies actress are so daring! You must watch it to know what I’m referring to!
Attached is the youtube trailer to the movie!
=]
Highly Recommended!
I must say, I have been having way too many good food recently~!
And I havnt been doing much jogging!
Really need to cut down on food or go for more jogs!
PS: Just gotten back my free medical checkup conducted in school, everything is in order!! (Except for my heavy weight! Arghhh! Verifies the fact that I’m getting heavy!)
Past 3 weeks, visited 2 restaurants that I’m gonna mention in this post.
The first one is Crystal Jade Korean Ginseng Chicken outlet located in Takashimaya and the second one is Hog’s Breath located in Chijmes.
Korean food isn’t really my kind of food seriously, perhaps it’s cos Korean restaurants are not common and prices not so cheap as compared to other cuisines. My only experience with Korean food is only Food court korean food and a Korean eating place in Bt Timah Cheong Chin Nam Road. So I can’t really comment on what’s a good or bad korean food.
Nevertheless, we had a craving for hot warm soup and we thought why not go try the korean food?
We stepped into the restaurant, immediately greeted by the waitresses. The menu offers extensive food, BBQ is also available, however we did not want to feel ’stinky’ after dinner, so we opted out of it. We went for a dinner set, that costs $59.90 if I recall correctly. It consists of 6 small plates of appetizers, 1 plate of fried greens, 1 pot of korean ginseng chicken soup, 1 beef bi bim bap and 2 mackerel fish!
Appetizers
a plate of yummy greens
Yummy chicken soup
Grilled mackerel fish
Forgot to take the photo of the bi bim bap. Overall, the food were pretty nice! I must commend the ginseng chicken soup, it’s heavenly! I love it! I think this set is worth ordering! If you order the chicken soup ala carte, it will costs $25.90.
Anyways, being the big-eater couple, we were unable to finish all the food! Haha, amazingly.. cos we always were able to finish all food we ordered and sometimes at kopi-tiam ordered food enough for 3 pax. We were freaking stuffed here and unable to finish!
The bill amounted to $70++, not bad for a gd meal! Recommended.
Next, Dear had a craving for steaks.
Having tried Outback Steakhouse years ago, we decided to head for Hog’s Breath.
I myself tried Hog’s Breath before therefore I recommended that place.
We ordered 1 steak each, medium well done, a salad and he also ordered a Kilkenny fresh from tap.
The salad was nice but a bit pricy I think for sucha small plate of salad.
The steak were nice, according to his standard. For me, i don’t always eat steaks, so it tasted ok for me, not bad.
I concluded that Hog’s Breath is pricier than Outback, but well, also depends on what you order. Our bill amounted to $100++, but lucky for discount on Amex credit cad, we gotten a 15% discount. Other credit card discounts include StanChart, mastercards.
with his beer
Me...
my steak!
After seeing the advertisement for this show a couple of times on TV, I tell myself, this is a must-see show for me!
It just debuted last night, on Channel U, 8pm – 9pm, every Thursday.
If you have no inkling of what the show is about, let me briefly introduce. The show will feature local and Taiwan stars, going lengths to help out needy people.
In the show, we are able to see how stars are willing to put down their position as an artiste, getting down and dirty with just to render help to the needy.
It’s an inspiring show and I strongly encourage everyone, old and young, to watch it.
After watching the first episode, featuring a Taiwanese star, 阿布, most known for his hosting on 冒险王, I had many reflections and thoughts.
He went off to Sichuan, Heishui Province, to help out villagers living in mountainous areas, 3000m above sea level.
Their tasks are mainly focus at helping the kids in these mountainous regions, to provide them with a schooling environment, so they built libraries, brought tables, shelves, books to the local schools. In addition, they also taught the kids basic hygiene such as using the soap to wash hands/face and also using a toothbrush. They also visited the families of 2 kids.
Reflections:
- On the donation of books and library to the local school:
When the volunteers were putting the tables/shelves together, the kids stood outside the room curiously and earnestly, and when the library is ‘officially opened’, they all rushed into the small and cramped room, each grabbing one book, and just go to wherever there’s natural lighting to start reading their books. And they just cramp together, you will see them standing side by side around the window area, just so to get the natural lighting to read the books, while those luckier ones who got in earlier manage to have seats. Do you ever think kids in Singapore does that? Definitely not, books aren’t really high on SG’s kids agenda, you probably guess what’s top on their list, iPod, PSP, DSLite or eve iPhone.
Kids there are so conscientious, they wanna learn but they are deprived of that because of living conditions. Me, in the teaching field, just feel that our kids here are incomparable to them, who have such hunger for reading and studies.
Life can be so simple for these kids, it suffices with just a book to read. This is what i call Simple Happiness. It teaches me that, happiness can be simple, and we do not need to be rich to feel happy.
- On the volunteers teaching hygiene to the kids:
The volunteers brought with them toothbrushes, toothpastes and soap to these needy kids. Because these kids and their families live under such harsh conditions, they do not have access to the basic hygiene items, such as toothbrush, toothpaste and soap.
And it was said that, judging from their dirty faces/hands, the kids probably do not know that washing up is important. The kids were taught how to wash their hands correctly and also using soap to wash their faces! One of the volunteer mention on the TV, people in affluent countries are always lathering many products on our faces, moisturiser to keep our faces moist, or wearing sunscreen to prevent pigmentation and protect our skin, but the kids there havnt even washed their faces with soap before, it is so unfair that they do not have such access. To them, they don’t wash, don’t moisturise, yet they don’t suffer from bad skin that some people spend thousands on to get treated for.
It makes me feel guilty, cos i buy facial products every now and then, sometimes not finishing the bottle and I will get new products. It really makes me stop and wonder.
Also, they were taught how to brush their teeth. This was the first time they brush their teeth, so when 阿布 was teaching them how to brush the correct way, the kids were brushing so hard that 阿布 mentioned in the show 7 out of 10kids actually brushed their teeth so hard that they bled! Hearing this, my heart just broke and tears continue flowing down when my eyes are already swollen. Such simple tasks in our daily lives, may actually be a once-in-a-lifetime activity for these people living in rural areas. If not for the volunteers, not sure if they ever would have the chance. And well, some kids in SG dont even brush when they can do so freely here.
- On the home visits:
I can’t imagine how a child can grow up in such harsh conditions. Perhaps I’m just a city child and I really admire the kids there for their tenacity in life. THey have to face the harsh living conditions, trying to make ends meet, and also wanting to study.
Especially for the 2nd girl featured, due to the lack of medical assistance in these areas, when she fell ill a long time ago, and wasnt in time for cure, she lost her hearing and speaking ability.
The teacher in her school kicked her out of school because of her disability, as the teacher fears that she will slow down the progress. But she is so intent on learning, so the volunteer leader actually proposes her to leave her house and go into the city to study in a disabled school, so they went over to her place to plead with her parents to allow her to do so. Her parents seemed hesistant, because leaving them and into the city, so far away, further more they are worried of no one taking care of her. But after some persuasion they allow them to take her away into the city to receive better education.
Education is definitely important, no matter to a normal kid or disabled kid. Education allows one to be more worldly and achieve a set of skills in order to sustain ourselves in the future. Yet, some kids that I see are not serious in education here in SG. I think, SG kids are just too pampered to treat studies importantly. I don’t know why, some kids are like being force into studying here, they do not see the importance of education in their future lives, they just want to play all day, skip classes. I cringe at this thought.
I think every kid should watch this show to see how lucky they are to be born in SG. We do not lack anything and our government takes care of us very well, giving us education.
I hope that we start to think about how we live in our daily lives and give more thought to people living in these rural areas.
We should be content with what we have in our lives, the hunger for new electronic gadgets or that new handbag, they are just extras in life, remember life can be equally happy with just a cup of coffee/tea and a book.
If you havnt catch this show, please do so next week!
Roger Federer just re-wrote Tennis’s history on Sunday’s Wimbledon Finals 2009!
He overtook Pete Sampras in winning 15 Grand Slams titles to become the sole tennis players who ever won so many Grand Slams. In fact I read somewhere that Pete Sampras took about 12 years to acheive 14 Grand Slams but Federer only took 1/2 of the time, 6 years to do that!
Amazing stuffs!
Really have many respects for the Swiss guy, often seen on Gillette / Rolex advertisement.
I love what Andy Roddick said to Pete Sampras during the prize-giving ceremony on the Wimbledon Finals. “I tried, Sorry Pete”. He meant that he was hoping he could prevent Federer from winning this Wimbledon title, so that Pete Sampras and Federer can still on be the same par, in terms of the Grand Slams titles.
Federer in action
Oh ya, Federer’s gonna have his newborn soon.. in a few weeks time!
I also read that he’s gonna continue playing tennis, so that his child can see him play next time. Sweet~
PS: I love Federer’s Wimbledon’s White-Gold clothing! Should be out in stores soon?! I wonder why people are slamming his attire for this Wimbledon?
Federer's 2009 Nike Outfit
Now I’m wondering, when will Nadal be returning to the courts?! Haha…
Till then, I’ll have my weekly tennis sessions, haiz, I’m still damn sucky in terms of the skills!
Dear worked late on a friday night! Grr.. no choice, had to go somewhere near for dinner.
Was thinking of where to go, a few choices popped up.
Pepperoni’s Pizzeria in Greenwood, Pasta Fresca, the Jap restaurant around the Cheong Chin Nam area.
We thought that perhaps Greenwood would be packed with people and probably not much space for parking, we always eat Pasta Fresca, and therefore we thought of trying the Jap restaurant (New Garo) which we always pass by when we go Cheong Chin Nam area.
Alrite, set and we went there for the dinner.
We reached pretty late, around 8pm, it’s basically a small Jap restaurant, Dear said it’s kind of reminiscent of the Japan restaurants.
It was packed! Lucky we managed to get the final 2 empty seats.
The menu comprises of sets, not individual items, but I think you can still order individual items though not indicated on the menu, it’s very Jap like I suppose.
I had a unagi and sashimi set (costing $24) while Dear had a beef sukiyaki + saba fish set ($22).
We waited quite some time for our food to come, looks like the chef really took time to prepare the food, or perhaps they were short on manpower.
But still, food came piping hot!
Unagi and Sashimi set ($24)
Beef sukiyaki + Saba fish set
We were pretty full! Overall quite a nice place to visit, but do be early.
New Garo Japanese Restaurant
Address: 6 Chun Tin Road
