There is this particular block of flats jux across fm mine which houses the low income families. All the units are 1.5 bedrooms on a rental basis. In fact, this is the 1 & only block in the whole of Holland estate. 

I can't help but to take a shot it when I saw this one evening from my bedroom.  Goodness, what were they thinking...... Sorry pic a little too dark.

*The tent is behind the bicycle*

A much long delayed post, esp for Jac (per yr request).  We had a belated b-day celebration for our boss on 29 May 09. Due to tight budget constraints, we decided to tap on exclusive invitation to New Asia Bar(Equinox) @ Swissotel Stamford Hotel. An overseas DJ Jon White will be playing Hse Music for the evening.

Now, 1 invitation card permits a New Asia member to bring 1 guest along.  Since many of our colleagues are members & has the invitation hence we fully maximise on this opportunity to have our own team outing. Also tonight New Asia will allow access of their rooftop; "Helipad" to hse part of the party.  There were no barriers on the Helipad hence was advise not to stay too close to the edge. We snapped quite a bit of pics, but as it didn't turn up well. (Too dark)

                    Invitation Card                                                   Party @ the Helipad
 

Signals for helicopters landing but sure looks like "udders"! Haha!!!

 

DJ Jon White playing Hse Music, (though I am no fan of Hse Music) but I mux admit he spins well.  A colleague of mine was so smitten by his good looks she ask permission to borrow my camy & started snapping pics of him. Haha!!!

   

Some of us stayed till 10.30pm & decided to call it quits. Whilst the rest partyed on......

Just like the song goes..."One Way Ticket."  Well, here's mine for a Complimentary Bus ride. I was onboard Bus 106 on my way home from work. After just 2 bus stops, the bus malfunctioned. Hence, all passengers had to alight & wait for the next bus. However, each passenger were given a Complimentary bus ticket for the inconvenience caused. (which has to be used within a month)

Decided to take a snap of it as keepsake 8) since I've to use the ticket before it expires. Hee!

On Wednesday, it was truly TGIW as it turns out to be an unexpected hectic Wednesday, one call after another continuously. Didn't have a chance to step out of office till I knock off. Had to get my kolig to pkt lunch and only ate at 2.30pm. By the time I left office to meet C. for din, I was more drained out than hungry.

My greatest consolation for the day was: 1stly, dinner venue was somewhat nearby home, 2ndly it was a new restaurant which I've yet to check out, 3rdly Nice environment to chill a little after a stressful day in the office.

It was a pretty cool evening hence we went for the outdoor seating. Outside of JIM THOMPSON Thai Restaurant @ Dempsey....

              



Since we weren't too hungry hence decided to eat light. We had a craving for the salad. Thus, went for the Sampler Salad which comprises of Pomelo Salad with toasted coconuts & roasted peanuts, Thai Mango Salad and Minced Chicken Salad with Mint leaves. For our mains, ordered the Thai Seafood Pad See Ewe.

        Sampler Salad (to be shared by 2-3 pax)                                                Thai seafood Pad See Ewe
    

Verdict : Mango Salad was excellent !!! The other two salad is nice but I'd much prefer the pomelo to be more juicy & prefer to do away with the toasted coconut. Thai Seafood Pad See Ewe was YUMS !!!

We shared a pot of Mulberry English tea. You have a choice of either English, Chinese or Japanese Mulberry tea for your selection. What's the difference? Difference is mainly in the level of thickness of the tea. We ordered a desert to share which was pretty unique. (Pic didn't turn out well.) It had 2 slices of Orange, 3 pieces of Lychees, plus some other ingredients in it in ginger syrup.

The main pitfall though is they need to brush up on thei pdt knowledge & service for the wait staff. A little Patience required & much appreciated.  Oh some of their cutleries are in the name of Jim Thompson brand itself. (eg; sugar satchets, cookies, etc...) 

  If you dun mind paying a little more for the food and ambience then should check it out.                                       

Thks J. Meme reminds me of my dear fren S, when we used to play this yrs ago when she started her blog.   

1. What is your name : Cindy
2. A four Letter Word : Cozy
3. A boy's Name : Casper
4. A girl's Name : Charmaine
5. An occupation : Celebrity Chef 
6. A color :  Celedon
7. Something you'll wear : C-Cup (Hahaha!!!) 
9. A food : Cinnamon
10. Something found in the bathroom: Conditioner
11. A place : Canada
12. A reason for being late : Cramps
13. Something you'd shout : Crap ! 
14. A movie title : Charlie Angels
15. Something you drink : Cranberry Juice 
16. A musical group : Chubby Checker & The Fat Boys 
17. An animal : Chinchilla
18. A street name : Clarence Lane 
19. A type of car : Chevrolet
20. The title of a song : Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Over the decades, the quest for individualism, has spiked some truly "unique" names.  During my Poly days, I've come across names such as

- Wickfield
- Humphrey
- Max *
- Zeus

* (Jux found out he has named his son " Maximus " .... Didn't get a chance to find out his daughter name though. We're speculating if his daughter's name is " Maxi " ???? Hmn....reminds me of some s.... napkins.) But nothing beats the Hong Kong frens I have come across. 

- Otto,  Jackeline,  King,  Baby,  Apple,  Voiron,  Rea,  Wandy,  Venus,  Margarita,  Micky,  Kant,  Claudy,  Keni,  Summer,  Vanille,  Charldy,  Kitman,  Orchid,  Daffodil,  Carki,  Scully,  Net,  Cheyenne,  Ezena..... wait the best is yet to come.

This is the Ultimate..... STONER CHAN !!! (Even the tone of his voice is very monotonous too.)
 

On Valentine's day, I attended a colleague's wedding dinner. Frankly, the main reason why I attended was because "we" (N. & Dan are going also) It was a pact that we'd go if all 3 of us are going & we can catch up with each other. (since we're ex-colleagues now & working in different companies)

At the wedding, we found out why 14 Feb is such a significant date to the bride & groom. For the following reasons :

1) It's the bride's birthday.
2) It was a year ago, on 14 Feb 08, groom (my colleague) propose to the bride.
3) The groom's parents wedding anniversary.
4) Of cux now, it's also their wedding anniversary.

Whilst the bride was being questioned on how well she knew the groom. The groom was being led out of the ballroom. When the MCs announced that it was time to get the groom back to the ballroom. Suddenly the lights went out, and the groom walked in with these being pushed in a trolley, a Heart-shaped birthday cake and ......... now this is the ULTIMATE.......

A heart-shaped stand made of 999 Red Roses !!!


You can hear the whole ball room going ' Wow !!! ' and..... ' Ahh !!! ' all ard.  After the "how romantic" & "how sweet" effect has worn off, reality hits.  The ladies at my table said, "Now, that would have cost at least a LV or Chanel bag! What's the bride gonna do with the flowers anyways?!?! " How practical we Singaporean ladies are indeed.

Now, for the guys whom are already married, they were so so so relieved that they do not have to benchmark theirs agst this wedding dinner. For the single guys, they were just as relieved that their galfrens are not at this wedding banquet.

If you were the bride, would you have felt romanced, thrilled and touched by the groom's surprise for you? Or would U'd rather he gets you something more practical?? (ie, holiday, designer bag, etc...)

We were informed that there'd be a Lion Dance in the office on the 10th day of the Lunar New Year of the Ox. We didn't think much of it cux we believe the Lion Dance was mainly for our reception area & offices of our Senior Mgmt. Hence, I didn't bother much about it. We heard the drums of the Lion Dance in the near distance.

Suddenly, a bunch of my colleagues got all excited & started to display Mandarin Oranges and red pkt at their workstation. The arrangement was for the Lion Dancers to grace their workstation for Good Luck & Prosperity for the Year of the Ox. Some even hung their red pkts  up on the ceiling lights. Someone even bought a bunch of Chinese Lettuce ("Cai" for wealth) & arrange it in between the Mandarin Oranges.

Yes...call it herd instinct, though my Desk Head is not the superstitious type, but since the rest of her peers came & ask her to join in the fun. So she relented & next she pass on the vibe to us.

   

Much to our surprise, the Lion Dance troupe did a great job this year. They not only grace our workstation but also personalise the 'blessings' when they peeled the Mandarin Oranges & had various formations.

Mine means "Hua Kai Jie Guo" (aka Harvest)    My boss formation of "Wang" character. (per word written on the paper next to it)
                             

"Ji" Chinese character.                                          "Wang Cai Ji Li" that's the interpretation of this formation.
                               

The red pkt for the Lion Dance is well worth it this time. The Lion Dance Troupe sure had a swell time happily picking up their Red Pkts from each desk. 8)

One of my 1st x'mas gift for last year arrived in my mail box.  It was sent by my dearest fren S. (whom is darn good at on-line shopping)

I LOVED the teapot & cup. I  thought it was a necklace initially. However, when I tried to put it on realise there's no hook. It's just a long chain with these 3 items (seen below pic)  attached to it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Thus, I concluded this is must be a bookmark.  When I thank S for the present, she was glad I love the "necklace". Haha! That's when I realise she ordered it online with necklace in mind. *Shrug*
                                                                                                                                                                                              
No worries, S. I'm happy to use it as a bookmark, a very pretty one indeed! 8) THANKS for the lovely gift !!

This hymn comes to my mind today which best describe how I feel. It's a beautiful hymn.

In moments like these, I sing out a song,
I sing out a love song to Jesus.
In moments like these, I lift up my hands,
I lift up my hands to the (my) Lord.

Singing I love You Lord, singing I love You Lord,
Singing I love You, Lord I love You.

In moments like these, I sing out a song,
I sing out a love song to Jesus.
In moments like these, I lift up my hands,
I lift up my hands to the (my) Lord.

I was most grateful & over-whelmed with relief when Mum related that her Colonoscopy results were fine. Phew! Peace of mind to us indeed. So at least we know the spotting which she has been experiencing is unrelated to the colon.  It is probably due to piles. So a day surgery is scheduled for the removal later this week. 

Hope everything will be smooth on Thurs with God's blessings.

It's the 1st work day for the New Year 2009 for me (02 Jan 09 - Fri).  (whilst majority of the workforce is still enjoying the festive period)  For a X'mas gift exchange, E. indicated any Christian book in her wish list. Well, co-incidentally, she has read the book I got her hence, I had to try & exchange it for another. Thankfully the book exchange went well. Thus, thot I might as well deliver it to E. before the 12 days of X'mas is over.

Decided to complete my mission over lunch time. I intended to take the MRT fm City Hall to Raffles Place, however as I was making my way towards MRT. Suddenly, spur of the moment I figured the walk fm One Raffles Link to Raffles Place would be pretty scenic. The good weather was the main motivational factor also. I had my handy sleek camera in my handbag, thus started the touristy thing.

  Mid-way from Esplanade                               Lim Bo Seng Memorial 
  

As I strolled and took in the sights whilst enjoying the cooler weather. (Pretty rare in tropic, humid S'pore)  I closed my eyes & imagined I am not in S'pore but overseas in a small park somewhere in Australia, London or US ?!?! *Dreaming away....*

        CBD skyline ahead                                             Empress Place & Anderson Bridge in the backgrd
  

Before long, I've reached my destination & completed my mission. I was craving for Arcade Fish Mee Hoon Soup so pkt it & make journey back to office to enjoy my lunch. By then, the weather turned humid so took bus back. It was a rare moment & a most enjoyable lunch for me. (Should do this more often if time & weather permits)

A economical & therapeutic way to relief stress indeed.

Since I grew up drinking the Cantonese home style soup, thus it is nothing strange to me. However, as I start to blog, it suddenly dawned upon me that what I find common may be "strange combination" for others. For those unfamiliar, this soup may be deemed as "requires an acquired taste".  Salted Egg with Chinese Red Spinach with Anchioves. (A non-dble boiled soup) This soup is very flavourful & full of umami !!

   "Hum Dan Shan Choi Tong" (in Cantonese)
 

With the cooler & wet weather we have been experiencing of late, it has made us a little more lethagic. So here's another Cantonese one-dish meal. It is almost like claypot rice. Only difference is mainly in the ingredients and also it is not cooked in claypot. A normal rice-cooker will do.

"Yau Mei Fan" in Cantonese


On Sunday, Mum dble boiled "Choy Gan Tang" in Cantonese (Dried vegetable Soup) which aids in cleansing of our urinal tract. Tonic soup indeed !

Truly, I am most grateful and blessed to have a Mum whom can cook and is most eager to ensure that her kids are WELL-FED!! (Indeed! We are! Haha! That explains our size. : p) Mum's experimental mentality keeps us in anticipation of " What's the special for the day? " for every meal. (Brkfast, lunch, dinner, dessert & sometimes tea-time)

*So, can't blame me for my passion for food.* Wink!

Another of my fav dish...... Stir fry Cabbage with Sambal Belachan !! Super Umami & Addictive!!! Bet U'd go for more after one helpings ! Unfortunately, she seldom cooks this dish as the whole house will be taken over by the strong sambal belanchan smell.



Now, when my Chef Koh run out of ideas on what to cook or when she feels lazy. She'd whip up One-dish meals - ie; Fried Rice, Fried Mee Hoon, Fried Noodles, Fried Mee Tai Mak, etc..... The ingredients of her Fried Rice are ever changing. She'd throw in whatever ingredients she has in the fridge OR according to her preference for the day. If she feels like having corns, then corns will be thrown in.

Here's one version : Fried Rice with French Beans, Eggs, Small Fresh Shrimps, Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheong) and Sprinkled with Raisins.



How nice... if only my body metalbolism rate is high then can continue to "sample" a variety of dishes without much weight gain. Heh!

Warning: Not advisable to read this if you are hungry.

Mum decided we needed some tonic soup to reduce the "heatiness" in our body. Viola!

 Wholesome Chicken Ginseng Soup


I could drink 2 big bowls of it !!

Mum found a beef stall in Chinatown which sells both fresh beef and frozen beef. This stall also supply to restaurants, hence they have a machine which could slice the beef to the level of thickness you desire. Hence, she decided to cook Pan-fried Beef Fillet for us one weekend.



Yet another day, my Chef Koh decided to whip out this dish.

Spareribs wif Carrots Stew (Oriental Style)


The stew gravy is lovely over some rice. Slurp !!

On one weekday, Mum made another true blue Cantonese Home Style Soup.

Fish Fillet with Sweet Gourd ("Cha Kuah" in cantonese) Soup


This is another soup which you will not find it being served in restaurants. Best consumed immediately served piping hot. If you can't find fresh fish fillet then not advisable to cook this. Cux if fish is not fresh, you'd end up with a soup with very "fishy" smell.

I am a "Kai Chong" (in Cantonese) aka a Chicken Fanatic. As long as it's Chicken, I'd go for it.  Mushrooms are also a hit with me. This week, during one of the weekday dinner, Mum made one of my all time favourite dish......

Braised Chicken with Button & Chinese Mushrooms
                         
 
Ooohh.... I love to drizzle some of the braised sauce over my rice. Can U imagine my joy when I saw this dish esp after a long day at work. Both my fav ingredients in the dish. It was a HIT for me!! Yums..... I could have finished all of it, had it not been for Mum stopping me from it. (Afterall, I had half a bowl of rice only.)

Mum also made this typical Home Style Cantonese soup (loaded with lots of natural Calcium & Omega3) .....

Soup : Hairy Cucumber with Fresh Silver Anchovies, Lean Minced Meat and Conpoy


With the silver anchovies & conpoy used as the stock based, athough soup is not double boiled. But it forms as a basis for a naturally "sweet" stock. This is a typical simple home style soup in most Cantonese household. Cux you will not find it being served in restaurants. Hence, I call it home style soup.

Like what W, always says " Another Old School Dish / Soup which my Grandma used to cook when I was young."

This soup is not offered in most restaurants mainly because.....

- 1stly it is not double boiled + cost of ingredients required for the soup is not too pricey.
- 2ndly, some are not aware of the existence of such soup.

Hence, restaurants are not enticed to serve this, since they can't charge you a premium for it due to the lower cost of ingredients as compared to dble-broiled soup.

Hmmmm..... Nothing beats home cooked soul food after a tiring long work day. THANKS MUMMY DEAREST !!! LOVE U !!! 

Ever since young, I've been brought up with a Cantonese palate, which is further enhance with Mum's Cantonese culinary skills. Although Mum came from a Chinese education background, thankfully, she is receptive to other cuisines and modern culture. Meals were and still is a treat to us always. Mum never cooks the same dishes within the week. At times, we are her "white mice" when she experiments with new dishes or she improvise on some dishes.

She'd cook Western or Italian food at times. This Sunday was one such occasion, dinner was a sumptuous spread of East meets West.

              Anchovy Fried Rice Onigiri                                                                        


  Green Salad with Shaved Ham and Coleslaw Dressing


 Seasoned Pan-fried Salmon Fillet with Boiled Potatoes and Anchovy Fried Rice Onigiri.



Voila! Each of us had an individual serving of the Salmon Fillet as seen below plus Green Salad for sharing. The boiled potatoes had this natural "sweetness" with a "melt-in-the-mouth" texture. Mmmm.....Yums!

After catching a 6.30am flight in the morning, by the time we arrive at the service apt, most of us were tired out. However, since only 1 room is available, thus we conveniently deposited all our luggages for the time being. Headed for quick grocery shopping & had a quick bite before rushing back for our Cultural tour.
 
1) First stop was Suan Pakkad Palace Museum

Built by Prince Chumbhot & his wife in 1952, it mainly displays the exquisite collection of traditional Thai homes and gives an insight into the appreciation of art and gardening by members of the Royal Family.

 

2) Next stop was the Grand Palace known as Vimanmek Palace.

As you can tell the architecture of this palace has a very European touch unlike the typcial Thai style. According to our guide, this was the King whom was referred to in the broadway success "The King & I". He has very Western influrences as reflected in his Western antiques collection and the furnishing of his palace. Cameras not allowed inside, hence can only get a pic of the building outside.

Personally, I enjoyed this palace tour most, the European furnishings makes me feel like I am visit a museum in Europe. 8)

Entrance of the Palace


3)  Last stop of our musuem visits was Jim Thompson House

               Living Room                                          Layout of Jim Thomson Hse
 

4) Finally, the last item on our itinerary was Dinner and the cultural show "Siam Niramit". Much to our surprise, the 2hrs show was pretty interesting. The stage which cost 60 million was worthy. Some scenes from the show.

As seen in the 1st pic, the small part of the stage where you see the Sampans rowing, were indeed water. The actors & actresses were really rowing their Sampans from one end of the stage to the other. Pretty impressive.

In some of the acts, they even had a live elephant walk parade the stage & later along the aisles amongst the audience.  Much to the audience delights, they also had some live goats & chickens parade along the stage unleashed in the Kampong scene.

North - Ancient Kingdom of Lanna  
Central Plain

 
Blissful Heaven (Many cables used to "float" the dieties)    Mystical Himapaan Forest
   

Since "WE" (the 8 of us, as 1 pax can't make it previously) had a hen holiday some 2 yrs back in Phuket, (compliments of R's hubby Mike) it has kinda " set the benchmark " for the next pax in the group getting married.  J's wedding has been set for early Nov this year. Hence, a hen holiday was planned since early May, and the destination this time is Bangkok. 

We were informed that we'd be staying at a service apartment; Legacy Suites @ Sukumvit area.  I was pretty glad that we'd be staying in a service apartment since there are 9 of us. Figured it'd be much easier to gather at one of the living room of the apartment and cosier too as compared to hotel.

Dun get me wrong, the service apt is nice no doubt abt that. However, I was a little disappointed cux it wasn't what I had expected it to be. It seemed more like a hotel room with the addition of an extra sink, some tablewares, cutlery, etc... Breakfast is included too. Breakfast selection is pretty decent and better than what I expected. 

* Pictures speak louder than words. For those of us whom has stayed in service apt before, bet you'd know what I mean once U see the pics. Without much ado.... here it goes.

Our Deluxe Studio Twin for 3 paxs per room. The bride booked 3 rooms and requested for extra bed in each room.
   
   View of Entrance right in front                                           Extra bed to be placed near the curtains
  

    Small kitchen at the side facing the bathroom                               Desk or dressing mirror
 

Last but not least the bathroom that comes with a bath tub and a shower room. From the mirror reflection, where the bath towel is hung, that is the shower room. The bathroom is spacious indeed.



Though the service apt wasn't what I had envisioned it to be. But at least the room and bathroom was very spacious. All 9 of us were able to gather in one room comfortably without feeling castrophobic. The nearest BTS is at Phrom Phong (where Emporium department store is), a 10mins walk from our svc apt. Hence, it is not too inconvenient. 

Am tired.... more abt holiday later.  

Time flies indeed.....It wasn't too long ago that my Godson; Damien just started his Primary school. Now, he will be turning 9 on 07 Oct . I was invited to his 9th birthday celebration on Sunday. Damien is a very gentle boy and accordingly to his parents, "not-very-street smart". Haha!  (unlike his younger brother; Dylan) He is very one track mind.

For example: After play, when told to keep their toys....... Whilst the ruggard, sporty younger bro of his; Dylan will just scoop up all the toys & look for a place to dump them. My godson would pick up a piece of toy and ask his folks where to keep it. And he continues with this process for the next piece of toy. Till his parents get a little frustated and had to teach him the most efficient way to keep his toys.

Damien loves to read and he plays the violin. He is Dad's GPS cux he is very good at reading maps. Just tell him where U want to go & he'll check and revert with the directions to your destination. In fact, at the tender age of 4 to 5yrs old he could name all the MRT stations in Singapore. Plus the flags of the various countries. Simply put, he is more on to the intellectual side.



His birthday cake with a picture of him on it from Sweet Secret.


Family photo of the Fernandez


Although Damien eats a lot but he is still as skinny as a stick. Super high metalbolism rate he has.... Godma would love to exchange that with him man! Lucky chap.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAMIEN !!!!   Have a blessed one!

After checking wif M on how to post video on this blog, finally..... trying it out. This is the F1 video taken fm my office on the practise round on Fri night (26 Sep 08). Since my camera is "not solid" enough to capture the shots. Hence, tried out video instead, also my 1st time trying video recording on my camera. (Yesss.... yes... me super late bloomer)


We went to the end of our floor facing Suntec Convention & we got to see Turn 7.  During the practice round, this is the turn, whereby we saw Massa did a skillful quick U-turn. Cux he drove towards the wrong direction in the street circuit. Instead of turning left he drove straight towards the road barricade. (where the ING signage is)

This is Turn 7, the turn from Suntec Convention Center towards Nicoll Highway and heading towards St Andrew's Cathedral. (Anit-clockwise route)



Lastly.... our sponsored F1 car + the winning car!!!