Happenings in January - Hidden Figures Movie + Bukit Batok Town Park + Miam Miam with Clique

Wednesday 25/1/17

Met up with the girls for a movie date at Filmgarde @ Bugis+. Thanks GF for bringing me for the movie preview of Hidden Figures and happy belated birthday to you. We have the opportunity to watch the movie way ahead of others which is only release on 23 Feb 2017.

Based on a real life stories, the movie featured the success stories of 3 African-American women - Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia) and Mary Jackson (Janelle).

Took place in the 1960s where the entire white community is prejudiced against the `coloured’ skin, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson show us how they overcome the prejudice with their incredible knowledge and desire to dream big, and become true American heroes. They successfully help launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit.

Living in a multi-racial harmonious country, we never really experienced such an extreme discrimination like having 'colored' toilet, pantry and education. The movie shows us how is it really like back in the 1960s where dark coloured skin are discriminated. It also means no promotion, no highly paid job and no space for them in university.

It ached my heart to see such discrimination that actually exists. Nevertheless, it's a meaningful movie, never doubt your ability and give up on your dream. Go for it and create your own miracle.

Monday 30/1/17

I have been wanting to visit Little Guilin or Xiao Guilin for the longest time, a place that is known for its beautiful landscape. So during this long weekend, we made a trip down to Bukit Batok Town Park for a stroll along the park. The nearest MRT station is Bukit Gombak.

We went in the late afternoon at around 5pm to avoid the scorching sun, turned out the sky was gloomy.

Bukit Batok Town Park resembles Guilin in China, that's how the name Xiao Guilin is derived. The towering rock cliffs make a majestic backdrop to the large lake.

The sight resembles what I always seen on ancient period drama, giving me a fantastic view of the tranquil lake.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

Little Guilin is more than just a lake, it has a spectacular view to offer.

Embracing what the nature brings us, a moment of peace and serene.

A great retreat for the city dwellers. Many families and joggers were there for a run or stroll too.

We sat on one of the big rocks for quite awhile, trying to achieve relaxed state of mind. This is one of the rare moment where we just sat down doing nothing and enjoy the present moment. We cast our phones aside, away from the internet, except for taking pictures. I really appreciate this because I like it when people give all their attention to the person they are meeting. That's the purpose of meeting up isn't it?

If not, you can just stare at your phone for my updates.

Enjoy the breeze and birds chipping. Life can actually be so idyllic.

Tuesday 31/1/17

Met up with the clique on the fourth day of CNY  and also first day of work after we were back from our long weekend. Today is the start of my unbearable one month.

The 6 of us gathered again, our last full attendance was during Christmas eve celebration. We fixed our dinner gathering at Miam Miam @ Bugis Junction.

Ryden ordered this chicken salad for sharing.

The chicken was tender and delicious. This salad is super for people who want to have low calories meal. The chicken will make you feel full, not to worry that you will get hungry very fast.

I have Carbonara.

The creamy pasta tossed with bacon, mushroom, cheese and fresh egg yolk. The yolk was in a beautiful shape of orange. Smash the yolk and mix it thoroughly with the pasta so that every mouth will taste the aroma of the yolk.

The featured dish in Miam Miam - The French Toast.

The french toast was toppled with fresh made whipped cream and maple syrup, enhancing the flavour of the toast and making it savoury sweet with every bite. 

Yogurt and valrhona chocolate souffle. 

Indulge in a heavenly decadent melted chocolate on top of our soufflé. We top up another $1.50 to get a yogurt. 

It was a great dinner gathering, I love being with this group of people. I may not have a lot of friends, but having a few groups of true friends is more than enough for me.

See you soon again.

CNY Day 2: Chinese Garden + The Manhattan FISH MARKET

CNY day 2 was quiet in the morning because the lion dance troupe no longer visit door by door to bai nian with us.

Went over to go bf's house to bai nian and spent time with him before he went off for his work trip. It was almost 3pm when I arrived at his neighbourhood and we have our late lunch at a Muslim-indian eating place since most of the shops were closed for CNY.

I have a plain and egg prata. I preferred the egg prata, it was fluffy with the taste of egg nicely spread and dipped it in the curry sauce gave a delicious taste.

We reached Chinese Garden at 6pm. 

It was packed with people, sitting on the grass and having their picnic. 

So nice to be back at Chinese Garden again, it seemed like almost 20 years ago since my last visit. Being back again brought back memories of my childhood. 

One of my memories of Chinese Garden is this 7-storey pagoda. I didn't managed to climb this the last time I was here because mummy told us scary stories that stopped us from climbing up.

I'm going to conquer this pagoda this time round. 

Here's my OOTD for CNY day 2.

Dress: Tomato from KSL JB

Shoe: Far East Plaza

I love this pink dress that comes with a stripe to act as a belt, creating a waistline. The dress made me look feminine and flare at the right spot. The multi layers at the bottom created a volume to the dress. I hardly do shopping in Singapore lately, all my clothes were bought during my overseas trip because they were more value for money.

Climbing up 7 storey at one shot and treated to the scenery ahead and many good spots for photo taking. It was worth climbing up.

Spending some time to admire the gorgeous view of Chinese Garden. This is probably one of the very few places in Singapore that preserves the scenery of an ancient place that we seen from the ancient period drama.

So glad to visit here again, I really forget how Chinese Garden looked like. 

Chinese Garden was especially crowded that day.

The incredible view of the picturesque lakeside with the shadow of the scenery cast in the lake. It was an unforgettable sight. 

CNY period is like the blossom of spring. The place was lifted up with liveliness.

I love visiting places with spectacular view, it just lightened up my mood.

It was 7pm when we left Chinese Garden, we made our way to Jurong Point for our dinner. Since many places were closed for CNY, we decided to dine in at The Manhattan FISH MARKET which was opened on CNY.

Ice lemon tea to ease our thirst. Super thirsty.

Our feet feel tiring too.

I ordered this set that comes with fish n chips, chicken and rice. It was really nice but too much for a person to take. I could finish everything, I tried my best to clear all except rice. The fish was moist and the chicken was tasty.

Ended our dinner with a scoop of strawberry ice cream.

I was super super full by then.

While on my way back, I was really sleepy, I guess the food coma took effect. So glad tomorrow is not a working day, I can sleep and wake up late the next day.

Chinese New Year 2017

Happy New Year, everybody!!

Ushering the new year with the Golden Rooster this year.

Chinese New Year (CNY) is another favourite holiday of mine other than the year end festive (Christmas and New Year) because it is yet another long weekend. It is a tradition for me to have gathering with my relatives and collect ang paos.

Chap chye is what we always have for our brunch every year.

My plants were also decorated to spread the CNY atmosphere.

My nephews brought their dog to our home. It is big in size and looks adorable, drawing everyone to surround the dog.

The dog was obedient, it didn't bark and just quietly sit there.

While waiting for more of my cousins to come, I joined this younger group to play for awhile. They love my pink monster cushion very much, kept throwing and playing catching. So nice to be young.

The vegetarian shark fin soup was ready to be served to the guests, prepared by grandma and mummy.

It was so delicious that I have 2 bowls of the shark fin soup. 

Our yearly steamboat affair during CNY dinner. 

As we have a very big group and limited seat, we split into quite a few rounds to cater to everyone. I was assigned to the first round of eating by mummy. 

Gather and gamble time.

Activity after dinner. My luck is always bad when it comes to gambling so giving it a miss.

Before the relatives left, we have our lo hei to usher the new year.

Huat ah, may 2017 be a prosperous year for all of us.

Bf came over to my house for CNY dinner. Hope you have a memorable one this year.

This was how I spent my CNY day 1, a warm and cozy gathering with my family, relatives and loved ones.

Chinese New Year Eve + River Hongbao 2017

This year, Chinese New Year Eve falls on a Friday. It was a half day at work for the working adult. It was a busy day for my family too because my mum will be busy in the kitchen preparing for hosting today's dinner with my extended family.

Since the time was still early, bf and I went for a walk to spend quality time together at Sentosa.

There was a showcase of drums at Imbiah Station. It immediately sparked my interest and I went straight for it to play the lion dance drum beat. Not really a pro, but know a bit here and there.

At the foot of Merlion.

Here is a very nice place for photo taking, nice scenery and backdrop.

Causal wear out. I wore a lightweight top that was perfect for a day out in the sun.

With love.

Our relationship is definitely not love at first sight. It is through the endless communication that we got to understand each other better and form the chemistry. Being someone who don't find myself attractive and afraid of getting hurt, you give me the courage to love and accept this relationship.

Hate that we don't have a longer time to explore the area, my mum wanted me to be home at 6pm for dinner with my extended family. Time to bid goodbye and go home. 

Look at our delicious dinner spread for 15 of us.

Play time with Amber after dinner. 

She is turning 1 year old this year.

At about 9pm, we went over to floating platform for River Hongbao, a fun-filled extravaganza of lights, sights, sounds to celebrate this festival. River Hongbao is open to public and admission is free.

Went exploring around, looking at the displays.

财神爷, may you bless that 2017 will be a prosperous year for us. Huat ah!

I have my favourite twister potato with chili powder that I gotten at the outdoor Food Street. I never have it for so long, miss it so much.

Since there was still an hour of buffer time before the clock strike 12 and fireworks to welcome Chinese New Year, we went to our favourite hangout place to chill, sitting there and enjoying every cozy moment.

We found a good spot for fireworks just 5 minutes before 12.

Happy Chinese New Year.

The night was too young to return home early. We lingered around to enjoy the peace of the night for another hour in case the train station was packed with people heading home after the fireworks. I love public holiday with train hour extension. We don't need to worry about returning home late.

Happenings in January - Food Outing + Saizeriya + Let's Meat Up + Shang Pin Hot Pot

Monday 2/1/17

Post-holiday blues. I'm just back from my getaway trip to JB. Thankfully, we still have another day to rest before the start of work in 2017. Ended the last day of my rest day with dinner at Ju Hao Xiao Long Bao.

Ju Hao brings us authentic Northern Chinese fare served in a contemporary Chinese restaurant. This is my first time dining at Ju Hao. Lucky we were early, it get a bit packed during dinner time.

I have pork cutlet fried rice at $11.80++ that makes me feel full. 

With the fun and good food enjoyed over the long weekend, I felt recharged and ready to face work in the new year.

The next public holiday will be Chinese New Year, we will be welcoming the year of Rooster. 20 over more days to go. 

Friday 6/1/17

Made my second visit back to Tsukada Nojo Bijin Nabe 美人鍋 at Chinatown Point.

I have a bowl of Bijin Men Shio ramen, the original flavour of collagen and also the best seller ramen at $16.80++.

It comes with the ramen and ingredients separated. 

We then add the ingredients we like into the broth. I just dump everything into the broth.

The end product.

I love the nourishing collagen soup broth that is good for our skin. The 4 ladies all love it.

I have been feeding myself with all the good food lately. We live to eat.

Saturday 7/1/17

Welcome the first weekend of 2017.

Finally weekend is here again, time to head out and enjoy the day.

Stopped by at Churro 101 for my lunch cum tea break. I didn't want to have something full so Churro 101 is my choice.

Churro 101, It’s a place where everything is better than a boyfriend :D

Wow, that is their slogan.

I ordered the set that comes with Cinnamon churro and vanilla ice cream at a price of $6.20.

The original churro is toppled with Cinnamon Sugar, crispy on the outer and soft on the inner. It was served piping hot. I have an indulgence of hot and cold treat.

Done with the walking at Bugis, we then headed over to Marina Square for a walk and dinner.

Settled our dinner at Collin's again. 

This was my fourth visit to Collin's. I was first introduced to Collin's through a food tasting and I love their food that is price valuable.

I have carbonara. The portion is just nice for me, I finished every bite. Usually I will something here and there, won't be able to finish everything but there is an exception.

Subday 8/1/17

I love how my weekend is packed with activities that keep me busy.

In my causal wear out to VivoCity for dessert and dinner.

We went to our new favourite dessert shop at Honeymoon Dessert.

Black pearl in vanilla sauce with blueberry ice cream. The vanilla sauce complements the blueberry ice cream, they tasted so delicious when consume together.

We have a walk around the outdoor area of VivoCity before heading for dinner.

We have our dinner at Seah Im Food Centre.

I have chicken chop at $6.80 from The Iron Plate, a full and satisfied meal to eat our weekend.

Sunday 15/1/17

Another one more week to the start of a new school semester. Once school starts, I will not be able to fully enjoy my weekend as time needs to be set aside for assignment. Free weekend is important to me and I will try to make it well spent.

We spent our late afternoon roaming around Orchard where we indulged ourselves in delicious food, cravings satisfied. 

We stopped by Cold Stone Creamery @ Orchard Central for a rest and to have a cup of ice-cream. I have a soft spot for ice-cream.

We have Cheesecake Fantasy. This is the best creation I have tried so far.

The cheesecake ice cream was toppled with graham cracker pie crust, blueberries and strawberries. Every bite tasted heavenly delicious.

We then went for an early dinner at 6pm as bf needs to head back early on Sunday. Hence, our Sunday will just be a short 3-4 hours dates as he couldn't meet me early too.

We have our dinner at Saizeriya, a place I haven't been to for a long time. We went to the outlet at Orchard Gateway.

We order 2 appetizer to go with our meal - Chicken Fritto ($3.90) and Baked Asari ($3.90).

For my main course, I have Curry Chicken Baked Rice ($5.90).

The baked rice is a little spicy though, thankfully there is free flow of drinks to ease the spiciness.

We have Panna Cotta ($4.90) for dessert, an Italian classic dessert.

Dinner was $24.50 which was pretty decent, I love dining in places with no service charge and GST. Recommend me more of these places if you know of any.

Monday 16/1/17

It's Monday again, hope the work week will pass fast. 

Looking forward to this weekend because I am heading to JB for last minute CNY shopping and staycation. 

We traveled down to Plaza Singapura for lunch.

Walked past Let's Meat Up at B1 and decided to give it a try.

It is a Japanese restaurant where the main food selection is their charcoal grilled proteins with choice of rice or soba.

I tried on the Grilled Boneless Chicken Leg marinated with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce.

The meat is juicy and portion just nice for me.

Wednesday 18/1/17

Happy mid week. 

Thankfully, it is not a very tough week. In fact, I have an enjoying day today. A day where I am exposed to performing music myself. Usually I only listen and watch band performing, but today I was actually part of the big band performing. It was a nice experience learning different musical instruments and playing the songs.

I was playing the bass guitar. 

Bass is similar to guitar, the only difference is the key played. The key played for bass is pretty low while the key played for guitar is of a higher note.

Monday 23/1/17

This coming weekend is Chinese New Year (CNY), the most important festive in the lunar calendar is here. I have an early CNY celebration with my lunch kakis by having a reunion steamboat lunch at Shang Pin Hot Pot.

We set off to Rendezvous Gallery by Nick's car and arrived Shang Pin Hot Pot.

Since they were 8 of us, we split into group of 4 where 4 person will share 3 soup based together. Our groups were split based on beef and non beef. We selected the soup base of Tomato, Sichuan Spicy and Chicken.

I love tomato soup based the best, Sichuan spicy is too spicy for me.

My ingredients arrived.

Time to start digging.

It was our yearly tradition to have a reunion lunch together.

We always explored around and enjoyed good food together.

**

Feeling full from the lunch, I have late dinner that night at Kopitiam @ Marina Square.

I chanced upon the salted egg chicken rice with egg at Mini Wok stall and decided to try it. The salted egg gravy coated on the chicken was generous, you can taste the salted egg in every piece. 

Bf ordered the curry chicken claypot for sharing.

It was yet another filling meal.

It's not the food we eat that matters, but the person we are eating with.

Tuesday 24/1/17

Dinner at Old People Park food centre that is near Chinatown OG. Lately we love venturing for hawker food.

We ordered xiao long bao for sharing.

I love the xiao long bao here, they were serving piping hot and the broth was tasty.

After the dinner, we went to Mei Heong Yuen Dessert located at Temple Street for some sweet treat.

We ordered Mango with Pomelo & Sago and Mango Roll for sharing.

The month of December and January are the month of festive, the month of good food and gathering. More food hunt posts coming up.