The Hunted

With regards to my existing lease, we have decided to renew for another 1 year, maybe 2 years depending on the landlord.

So that will give me some time to search for a proper home. Enough of nomadic experiences.

HOME.

Hmm, home has never really lived up to its meaning the past 5 years.

Time files - staying on my own for the past 5 years was not something I had planned or expected to do. But circumstances change.

It didn't occur to me until 2 days ago that I have stayed at the current flat for 3 years now, until T reminded me that this would be our 4th year. I had forgotten that we signed a renewed lease just last year.

Anyway, D has decided to move out, while leaves the master bedroom empty. We managed to find new flatmates to take over her room come July via an online posting. Met the couple over the weekend and they seem decent. Both are architects and they seem rather keen to jazz up the common areas. They reckon the place too plain! I know my place looks like its been robbed since it is devoid of any artefacts, paintings and whatever display pieces you can think of. Oh well, let's see what they can come up with. Something tasteful I hope.

The Hunt (updates)

The hunt is still on. Went to view several units over the weekend and I think I have fallen in love.

Love at first sight? Is it THE ONE?

Physical appearances wise - its gorgeous!
Inner beauty - well, so-so cos' of the afternoon sun and its facing the longkang.
Potential - hmm, I would suppose so cos' its sooooo close to the MRT!

Its a HOT unit I reckon. Rental yields are high. A probable investment choice for now and a permanent home thereafter is what I am hoping for.

The dilemma : To stop the speed-dating now or grab it while it lasts?

Countries I Have Visited (Part 3)

The travel bug has bitten again! After a 6 months hiatus, I am pleased to update my travelogue and my world map below.

This time, I am off to Cambodia with Ms Lak :)

I have always wanted to visit Angkor Wat @ Siem Reap and make my Lara Croft dream come true, haha! But first, I need some seriously inflated chicken fillets.



visited 14 countries (6%)

And that is not all, here is a sneak preview for an upcoming trip in September this year. Am keeping my fingers crossed that the trip will proceed as planned. Make a guess from the map below ...



visited 15 countries (6%)

create your own visited country map

silly goose

me : hi! is this aunty S? this is lynn ...

receiver (in a very sleepy voice) : huh? who is this?

me : lynn ... can i speak to aunty S?

receiver (still in a very sleepy voice) : huh? no such person ...

me : ok, sorry!


and then i rang mum to rant at the wrong number thingy ... while going through friendster to get my cousin to give me her mum's number ... resourceful eh? hehe

subsequently, receiver called back ... turned out to be cousin sybchoh lah! aiyo, blur queen ...


syb : oh! that was you!!! mum has changed her number again ...

me : heyo! can i get your mum's mobile number then?

syb : why leh? u getting married issit?!

me : !!!!! NO!!!!!!



omg ... it has started hasn't it? damn ...

Wacha Up To?

Friday 20.04.2007

It was an 'introduction' between 2 knowing parties. Chose a quaint and much flogged about place for nice and quiet dinner - Wacha @ 14 Ann Siang Road.

Told tee about the place 2 months back and we were due to have dinner with the peeps there. But alas, there were last minute hiccups and I had to cancel reservations - twice. Despite the possibility of being black-marked by the nihonjin proprietress, I was undeterred and made reservations for the third time, with stern warnings to the dinner attendees.

And wakaka, we made it to Wacha!

First things first - the dinner party. Here are pics of us sans flushed faces, before the sake.

:: tee + me :: lakky blings ::

I got to know about Wacha though ChubbyHubby's blog in February this year and was intent on visiting the place. Especially when it was just a twirl + hop + skip away from the office. The intent was so strong that I was so close to taking half a day off just for a nice afternoon tete-a-tete (they only open from 2pm onwards).

In just over a month, like the property market, prices for the set meal went up by 25% to $40 for 4-course meal. Nevertheless, I was so charmed by the pics of the pretty lil appetizer baskets and I just had to see if it really lived up to the hype.

As we all know, the Japanese place huge emphasis on presentation. Wacha is no different. From the facade of the shophouse, to the eden-looking tables with its plastic (prickly) vines, to the food baskets - the aesthetics were cute yet elegant.

Now the lowdown on the food.

The baskets were delightful. Each of us was presented with a basket of our own, consisting of 6 appetizers resembling an assortment of pickled delights.


The second course was a non too spectacular age-dashi tofu dish. For mains, we had a choice of either saba / chicken kakiage / unagi with 'plane' rice. The gals opted for the chix while the boy opted for the unagi. The 'plane' rice was good! Ask tee - she finished every grain! haha :)


For sweets, we had the green tea cheesecake, a cement-looking goma (black sesame ice-cream), green-tea ice-cream and an effervescent maccha affagato. Of which, I think the goma and green-tea fared best.


Perhaps my expectations for Wacha were on the high side. After all, CH's review seemed more exotic and exciting as compared to the menu that we were presented with.

Nevertheless, Wacha is a perfect place to while a lazy afternoon away which ambling along the quirky shops along Club Street. It is also a nice place to bring a date to. In fact, it might be just perfect to hold speed dating parties! Business idea anyone?

+ + +

Night at the Museum

Since we couldn't shrug off the Friday chill-out mood, we headed to the National Museum to check out the new bars. It was a toss between Novus (quieter and more atas) and Muse (louder and more poseur).

Not quite in an atas mood, we settled for Muse. Reminiscent of Post Bar @ The Fullerton with its high ceilings, the setting also bears semblance to MOS with its loud and thumping music.

Despite the pumped up vibe, it was surprisingly quiet for a Friday evening, which was just as well. Seated outdoors, its a great place to catch up + chill.

The Hunt Is On

For those in the know, of late, I have been fretting over the roof over my head.

Come June, my lease @ Bishan is due for renewal or kapoot - lapse.

It was a decision that 3 of us had to make.

A) To renew the lease, albeit at a higher and at an initial ridiculously proposed increase in rent of 66.66% (WTF?!)

or

B) To allow the lease to lapse and we all go our separate ways.

Initially, we all agreed to renew the lease depending on how negotiations with the landlord went. Subsequently, one opted out of the renewal. Which leaves us with another problem : finding another flatmate to split the rent.

The past 2 weeks and counting were an ordeal for me. With the IT filing deadlines, FashBash and the lingering burden of the lease thingy...boy, it was sleepless nights...

Another alternative to continue leasing was to move back home to mummy and daddy...

Ya right!!! Not if I can help it.

The other obvious consideration was buying a place to stay. This was something I had planned in 2 years time (with luck). But circumstances proved otherwise. Unfortunately, now seems like a bad time to buy property. That said, in 2 years time, what could be within reach now could be out of reach then and the vicious circle begins again. Hunt for a new place to stay etc.

Speaking of which, its one thing which I absolutely hate, having to scour, pack and uproot. Scouring for a place to stay is a nightmare...it is tedious, time-consuming and requires a lot of research. Packing, needless to say is a disgusting chore. And finally the uproot. Getting used to unfamiliar surroundings, moving out of the comfort zone and hopefully assimilating seamlessly into the new one. Hence, lending argument that perhaps, getting a place of my own now (if I chance upon the right one) might be lead to the pursuit of happyness :)

Oh yes, with such gaiety and optimism that presents!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the right abode comes along. After all, it will be I think the largest financial commitment that I will make. So it has to be perfect, it has to be ME.

To share my insipiration, here are some cool apartments in the US that I stumbled upon ... think small spaces.

FashBash II

yup yup, fashbash was a BLAST!

thanks to all who came down to support ... to shop, browse, pose, chat, catch up ...

also, thank you for publicising the event, especially my dear sista who plagarized, i mean, publicized the event on her blog :)

anyway, fashbash was more hectic this year as compared to the last ... double the number of sellers + smaller display area + squeezy layout + longer hours ... unfortunately, it wasn't a pleasant shopping experience for shoppers who came earlier to snap up the goodies

as always, it is always heartening to meet the die-hard fan or two who has supported us throughout the years ... its even more satisfying to create a new BI convert ... well, i'm hoping ...

Riddle

this one's easy ...

~ best described as BORING + conservative
~ has 2 left feet
~ favourite toy : calculator
~ favourite snack : crunching on numbers, the bigger the better
~ favourite pastime : inventing complex formulas linking across different worksheets in Excel



Answer : An accountant!!!

If you didn't guess it correctly, you are probably an engineer *snigger* hahaha

Anyway, fellow quick-fingered friends, who ever said accountants were boring with 2 left feet? Check out the video below - hilarious man!!! LOL

these ... i'm guessing, auditors ... can really shake their bon bons

caveat : Beijing office, mind you :)

lai ah lai ah!!!

Fash Bash - BE THERE!

BUT FIRST HOW TO GET THERE!

WALK — 10-min from Dhoby Ghaut or Bugis MRT Stations; 15-min from City Hall. Look out for the big Kopitiam at the corner of Bras Basah Rd and Bencoolen Street. Just 20 steps from there to shopping in cool air-con comfort!

CAB — "Uncle, Bencoolen Street, NAFA the arts school, opposite Bencoolen Hotel, stop at the taxi stand after the coffee shop on the left side. Please. Thankyewt"

BUS — See bus services listed below.

Satsuma

Paid a visit to Satsuma, the hipper and younger sister of Shunjuu.

Nope, Satsuma is not a geisha mind you .... its a nice lil enclave located at Gallery Hotel.

It was a pre-holiday get-away from the office ... we all needed a short break and so we planned for a lil tete-a-tete in dresses, high heels and all :)

Since the gals were craving for hot chocolate, we headed to Robertson Quay once again ... now a favourite hotspot with its close proximity from the office. Thanks for Angie whose friends' cousin owned Satsuma, we secured our reservations at the last minute and got to meet the affable owner herself.

Satsuma serves a terrific range of yakitori, we especially liked the foie gras and oysters wrapped with pork. The gals' favourite dish was tofu with melted cheese - very smooth and really quite heavenly .... Having heard about the drinking games at Satsuma :

" sorakyuu of shochu - a conical cup with a hole at the bottom. You'll have to cover the hole with your thumb then down the shochu in a gulp amidst much ruckus created by wooden 'clappy' things which the waiters will rattle vigorously"

But not quite in the mood for hardcore drinks, we opted for something a lil more lighthearted - Shochu cocktails, which were so-so.

As mentioned, we ended the night with dessert at The Chocolate Factory once again (my 3rd time there in 3 consecutive weeks!). With Easter round the corner, the coldroom showcase was peppered with delectable chocolate eggs which were oh-so-tempting!!!

Holey Moley

Move over Krispy Kreme ... Holey Donuts has supposedly taken over holy grail of donuts!

Containing less fat as compared to KK ...

"at an astonishing two point eight (2.8) grams of total fat per donut"

"Doughnuts typically range from eight grams of fat for a glazed French cruller to more than double that for a cake-like doughnut."

"No Trans-fats! - No Cholesterol! - Just great taste!"

"you would have to eat 5 of our donuts to get the amount of fat in one traditional donut!"

check out the website and be bowled over ...

unfortunately this is only available in the States ... however, if you are planning a trip to NYC where the factory is ... please go check it out and let me know whether it tastes like heaven :)

More ECI

Friday 30.03.2007

been dreaming of chocolate the entire week ...

yup, after a stressful week at work and after a bout of flu ... spent Friday night with tee + lee having a light dinner at Miharu + dessert at The Chocolate Factory ...

this time, I opted for the Chocolate Tarte ... which was ecstatically goooood ... puuurrrre + smoooothh ... as expected, the gals enjoyed the Vienna hot chocolate ...

i'm one happy gal too :)

when the rest of the crew came, we had Mascato + Bubbly at Tasting Notes to start off the night ... followed by more drinks at O Bar ... leaving tee in a happee state, haha

we survived ... cheap + sleepee drunks unite!!!

:: [clockwise] Pleasure, Black Forest Cake & the Chocolate Tarte ::

Basil Alcove

Wednesday 28.03.2007

Dinner with the gals ... more specifically in favour of Rachel who has left our sunny island to seek greener pastures else where ...

The venue of choice was Basil Alcove - highly acclaimed amongst local floggers (food bloggers) for good quality Italian food at basement prices ... okay, reasonable prices. Located at Fortune Centre, it offers alfresco, no frills dining with its plastic chairs and foldable tables. To put it simply, it is fine-dining ala kopitiam style.

Upon glancing at the menu and its ultra reasonable prices, we ordered our mains and 3 starters/appetizers. A total of 7 dishes for 4 hungry gals! It was enough to feed an army!

The lacklustre ambience actually made the food shine even more, since one has no choice but to focus on the food and momentarily forget about the lack of frou frou associated with fine dining.

A fan of squid ink pasta, I ordered the linguine with clams - delish! Rachel ordered the duck dipped with vinigerette, Lak had the bratwurst carbonara and Kay Bo Cha Cha had the cod with mash potato on the side. Our starters/appetizers consisted of a mix of mushrooms, ceasar salad with generous portions of roasted chicken and a dozen mussels. Pity they didn't have a dessert menu.

Even though the staff kept forgetting that we needed spoons, service was pleasant. The only grouse we had with the place was the lack of payment options - only cash is accepted! Used to credit card payments, we had to empty our wallets to pay the bill which amounted to $90+ and thereafter we all had to scramble in search for the nearest ATM. It is a very unsettling feeling to have just 2 bucks left in the purse ya know ...

:: kinda like "in the mood for love", doncha think? ::

:: at it again ::