Things I do in January and to kick off Feb!

Hello fluffies,

This is the month of change. This is the month, of 

PIERCINGS.

okay. I finally got my first ear piercings! They were pretty painful at first but quickly felt like nothing afterwards. My boyfriend decided to reward me with Lady M for finally plucking up my courage to get my piercing done. 

My superman looking like a stunned baby

I've always passed by this Lady M outlet and never stepped in until that day. What a beautiful space and interesting volumes. If my memory didn't fail me, this used to be the outlet store for Ashley Isham, a Singaporean fashion designer.

We had the chocolate Mille crepe which was awesome and an apple tart which was...okay? My boyfriend didn't really like it but I thought it was pretty good though. Probably wouldn't pay that kind of price for a tart like it again!

We also discovered this quaint little new waffle hideout in Bukit Timah after one of my long lecture days. The ambience was amazing and I really loved the interior decorations. The glass panels at the back of the cafe reflected the beautiful lights which looked like a dreamy layer against the yard.

We had Cinnamon apples with Vanilla ice cream waffles with Earl grey Lavender Gryphon Tea. Look at the cute cutleries which were in perfect sync with the interior!

On a quiet night, close to 10pm :)

Tell me if January was a month of desserts or what? After one of our gym sessions at Toa Payoh Safra, we decided to head to the last dragon playground in Singapore. 

Le boyfriend tried to take a nice picture of me but my poses just won't cooperate.

FYI, This one of our first dating spots. The first time we were here, we weren't even holding hands yet hahahaha

Although my boyfriend was really just.. UPSET that he had to have such a late lunch that day, we fixed it by having ice cream and waffles under a tree, beside a playground while watching Pan's Labyrinth. It was a beautiful day after all. :3

Soooo Because its January again, that means LANEWAY AGAIN! Unfortunately I fell sick and didn't manage to pull through the whole event :( This year we decided to get henna done for the special occassion!

 

Despite the crazy combination of sudden sunshine, on off rain and my constant sneezing, I had fun. Laneway never fails to start my year well and remind me of things that I have always loved. I'm so looking forward to the next Laneway festival and hopefully I would be fit as a fiddle to brave through the 12 hour music fest.

Because my flu actually got way worse after the event, my boyfriend made me hot chicken soup after my constant whining about wanting hot food hehe.

I got to have my first movie date of the year with my bros right after work. We caught 'I fine.. Thank you.. Love you' a Thai comedy which sent us all into fits because it was really funny! It's one of the movies that I would actually bother to watch again. 

We celebrated Baked Alaska day on the first day of February by meeting up at Serene centre for Baked Alaska at Island Creamery. Le boyfriend made an impromptu dinner choice of french cuisine at La Petite Mason and I topped it up with my take away super market salad.

The spinach ravioli with lemon creme was SOOOO GOOOD my goodness. I miss it so much already. It may look like a mess in the picture. In fact their food didn't look fantastic. But heck, they taste really good. I can't wait to be back there for dinner actually.

For desserts, I was pleasantly surprised that the special CNY ice cream flavours are back. Although the black sesame with peanut butter didn't taste as good as before, it still tastes pretty good. 

Of course, with all these dessert conquering, I had to match it with enough exercise to burn those calories off. Despite my new year resolutions, I haven't tried any exercise routines that are particularly new. 

So i've found this workout by Livestrong and Nicky Holender to try out tomorrow morning before school:

STRONGER Month 2 Plyometric Workout: EXPLOSION

Looks tough enough to make me break a sweat!

You can give it a try if you'd like and please do let me know how was it for you!

New year new goals?

Hello Fluffies,

As I write this blog post now, my butt is hurting from my second gym session of the year, which happened on Friday. I'm so so happy and glad that I finally got to spend a whole day(pretty much) with my boyfriend, in peace, working out, have dinner at one of our favourite hunts, discovering new food and going window shopping at scape. 

It was his first time at Energyone gym and I was so excited inside because this is the first time we're heading to a 'namebrand' gym together and my first time at Safra Jurong. Although the gym looks alot more weathered than the one at Toa Payoh, it was a quite a strange sight, for me at least, to see just a sprinkling of people working out. Needless to say, the gym was rly quiet and it was just absolutely peaceful to workout in this area because no one cares about what the hell you're doing and if you're hogging the machines XD

An impromptu trip to Chinatown for dinner because my baby wanted to get something there. I'm glad we did and this time, we ventured beyond our usual Ma La Xiang Guo and headed for more 'traditional' Sze Chuan chinese fare. 

Look at how gleeful this big baby is :3 

I ordered a pickled cabbage fish slice dish which costs $10 because I wanted to try something proteiny and still share it with my boyfriend. For a moment, my boyfriend probably thought I was mad for ordering something that would set me back $10 at a place like this. 

Until it was served. 

It was a huge bowl of fish, vegetables and fragrant soup! I was addicted and so in love with it.

But the utensils could be more sanitary lol.. would you please look at the state of the bowl??? But oh well... for the love of food...

Men should suit up from time to time. It's like how girls should dress up from time to time, or better yet, ALL THE TIME RIGHT? I think my boyfriend looks really good in a suit :)

How time flies.. Now that we're on the 11th day of January. I have had one of the best Christmases and it felt just like yesterday when I was baking cookies for people almost every night, fumbling around the wrappers, getting ready the gifts and clinking wine glasses with my Milk.Tin lovelies over dinner and presents at Cocotte on boxing day. 

Just look at the amount of presents!

Picture with the birthday boy :)

Gifts from my lovelies and a glass of wine to represent our fine aging ship.

All I can say is, the food at Cocotte was great. The ambience? Even more so! I loved everything that I had that night. As the menu is most likely seasonal, I'd recommend you to order everything on the menu because that's pretty much what we did.

After dinner, we headed for the lights over at gardens by the bay. It was so magical and surreal, looking at all those lights with few people around. The lights kinda remind me of Hannukah somehow? It had a sort of beautiful exotic touch to it which only adds to its magic. I really wished my boyfriend was there because he would have loved the place for sure.

Avatar or what seriously??

2014, it wasn't the easiest year for me, transitioning back into school life, doing assignments, writing essays, taking up a new job and finally realising that my call was somewhere else. It was an unnerving year of realisation and changes. One thing remained consistent though, that would be my baby's consistent shower of love which never fails to calm me down at the end of the day.

I'm really glad it ended on a good note, spending the day with him, counting down at west coast, watching the ships fire flares and setting sky lanterns into the sky. 

I wonder if you had planned new goals for the year. As with every year, I've thought about them but quickly forgot about them in 30mins. This year I wrote them down and put them by my window. Most of them are rather generic and making sure that I don't end up a loser haha. Also, a container, to contain all the awesome things that happened throughout the year( An idea I got from buzzfeed). The first awesome thing to happen was a much anticipated meet up with my former schoolmate whom I have not really sat down and had a conversation with in 7 years. 7 years it took for us to finally take time to meet and catch up on life and boy, have we aged! XD

I hope 2014 was kind to you.. If it hadn't been, here's to a better year ahead. 

Happy 2015 and may this year bring you lots of love, peace, joy and laughter <3

Just a little update

Hi fluffies, 

It's been a while. 

&

I'm soooo tired. 

Ever since the last time I posted, I've been studying and working like mad. Although I did workout, those were tiny specks of time when I actually get to do what I like. I haven't been on a date in while :'( and I really miss going out with my boyfriend, stress free. I miss heading to places that I like and just walking around charming areas in Singapore. Pretending to be a tourist in my own country is one of my favourite past time.

Can't believe, it is now the 3rd week of December. Have you done your christmas shopping yet? I've done most of mine.. The damage just keeps getting bigger every year >.< Although I must say christmas shopping is fun. As the presents start streaming in steadily, I've been preparing cookies just to give away. One of my de-stressing routines is to bake and cook. Being in the kitchen and whipping up something is like embarking on a major science experiment for my loved ones. Yes, it makes me exceptionally happy whenever my boyfriend and family tells me that I've made something good, or they like my cooking (which is a rare occurrence sadly)

Anyway, some highlights during these tough times:

My boyfriend presented me a ring!!! LOL from Rockme, a mainly handmade jewellery brand from Thailand. The stones used are moonstone and amadite. Moonstone :>

We had ice cream at Sunday Folks, they have the BEST CHOCOLATE SOFTIE EVERRR. I added on some matcha squares because matcha thats why. 

And heading out to Da Shanghai for my mom's birthday lunch. Finally a reason to doll up again :)

Just another day at work. Le wild tiny human spotted:

Anyways, I hope you're having a good December so far and Merry christmas in advance. I'll probably blog about working out again after all these festive craziness is over. I really can't wait to take a break and spend christmas eve with my boyfriend gahhh

Throw back to Krabi market crawling.. sigh.. Need a vacation badly.

November, Movember

Hello Fluffies,
I thought I was gonna post a lengthy post on my workouts for the past few weeks. An update is seriously long overdue. But I didn't feel like bombarding you with lists of lengthy workouts so I'm gonna show you my favourite workouts for the past weeks, followed by, my past few weeks in pictures :)

800 Calorie No Equipment Total Body HIIT Workout

Even though this was a 800 calorie workout, it felt alot more like a 500 calorie workout albeit tiring. More doable than the usual HIIT routines with promised burn, still a good burn nonetheless! It felt like a limbo by the second round though.

Plyo Plank Challenge | 500 calorie Burn HIIT Home Workout

This one was good. It felt like a total body workout with all that plyometrics and planking. Plyometrics simply means jumping and planking, well its planking haha. It worked alot of my arms, core and legs.

6 Min to a Sexy Booty!

Cassey came up with a series of new videos recently and this booty workout was great. 6 mins and it gets your butt sore. It always served as a cold reminder that my booty still has alot more work to do.

40 Min Cardio HIIT Workout + Butt, Thighs, Abs: Ultimate Workout for Belly Fat Loss, No Equipment

This one wasn't too bad. As always, Fitness Blender's workouts are usually very doable, no crazy stunts that require extreme balancing. 

30 Minute Intermediate Full Body Workout

A change from the usual HIIT routine. Pilates for the lazy days :)

Between assignments, I make healthier lunches and I bake. I try my best to go as gluten free as possible because well, it is a diet that works for me. Sucky because I love my sweets and pastries but its okay as there are always alternatives :)

Tell me you are not impressed with my gluten free bread???? hehe OK, theres definitely room for improvement tho because it tasted quite strongly of baking powder :/

 Just recently, my boyfriend and I went on an impromptu trip to JB because we had time to spare. What an adventure hahaha I had so much awesome food from daylight to sunset. I had a great time exploring the street food. We even had time to catch a Big Hero 6! But the movie theater snacks was shitty. There was no popcorn smell at all so that was kinda of a bummer to me because movies should smell like popcorn to me :/

We had curry chee cheong fun but unfortunately the pictures are with my boyfriend, but i assure you, it was really dang good. We made it a point to have authentic chinese-malaysian food outside of the typical shopping malls because we wanted to have a more local experience.

Dinner time in one of the bustling back alleys

My man of a thousand expressions

ME. Duh.

If you're like me, you love the oysters in your Oyster omelette to be BIG, JUICY and FRESH, sans the starchy tapioca flour that you tend to get from the usual hawkers, THIS ONE IS FOR YOU. 

My darling ordered fish for us hehe, my favourite fish ^^ Meowww

As November is ending soon for us, I leave you with the final picture depicting my latest happening endeavour. Hui Qi's suprise 21st Birthday Party! I'm glad it was a success and felt really happy that she got a celebration. Everyone deserves a smashing 21st and don't you just love birthdays!? There's always cake!

Oh and my favourite pic/gif for the month :3

Fitness log and my OBSESSION with Christine Salus

Hi Fluffiesss, Its been 2 weeks?? 

The days flew by so quickly, halloween came and went, its November now! Mugging period is coming and I'm totally dreading it. For now, I'm just gonna bask in the few happenings in my life, juggle school and work at the same time. Quickly after my last post, I fell sick. It started off as a sore throat which soon manifested into a full on fever. I couldn't do much but I felt really really restless so I did an easy workout to loosen my limbs. Oh, I recently got my mom to start exercising with me! It's not the most fun thing in the world to be exercising with your mother but it sure as hell is funny trying to help her figure out how to keep her form! Perhaps I can try to get some pictures next time....Anyways, here's what I had to start my workout week with. An easy beginner's pilates workout. Really really manageable, even for someone who was done with a cold. 

BEST BEGINNERS PILATES WORKOUT - Slimmer, Stronger Body with this 45 min fitness routine

Extreme Total Body Fat Burning Workout | Level 3- BeFit in 30 Extreme

I supplemented my regular pilates workouts as usual with some additional cardio routines just so to up my metabolism. As soon as I felt fine, this was the first workout that I attempted. 

Power Yoga with Bryan Jones - 1 Hour

I can't exactly remember why I chosed to do a power yoga sequence in place of a cardio routine but it will most likely be because I needed a bloody good stretch and didn't feel like stomping on my floor at 11pm KD. Anyway, I don't recommend anyone with zero background in Yoga to do this because well, it is very likely that you may lose your balance and fall face first on the ground.

Extreme apologies in advance. 

Brace yourself...

Christine Salus HIIT workouts swarming in

So.. I think I've developed an obsession with Christine Salus' HIIT workouts. Let me just say... Her 20min HIITs kills me more than my usual full hour and more workouts. Yup. I've begin substituting her HIITs for Blogilates' cardio workouts because they are much more effective for me at the moment. There are so many workouts out there that tell you 'BRUTAL', 'KILLER', 'EPIC' etc but her workouts are probably all of them combined into one. 

Brutal Bodyweight HIIT | Burn 300 calories in 21 min

Fat Blasting HIIT workout - Sweat, Strengthen & Tone! (Time challenge II)

On my first attempt, I managed to complete this in like.... 30 plus mins I think? I paused the video several times because I was just so tired. My second try was better. I came in at about 25mins. 

How to Increase Your Metabolism - Brutal 30 min HIIT workout

700 Calorie Burn HIIT Home Workout

After all that working out, its time for some regular human activities. I visited a quaint coffee place called 'The Provision Shop' in Duxton area. It is such a lovely place I can't wait to be back again just to soak up the atmosphere.

 I must say tho.. The food was pretty average :/ Not the best cafe food that I've had.

A little walk through the charming old streets of Singapore. If I ever have to leave Singapore, this would be one of the things I would miss most.

In the spirit of Halloween, my friends and I went on a TRIPLE DATE to USS for Halloween Horror Nights! The queueing was insane for the last attraction but it was well worth the wait. I was extremely exhausted by the time we reached the last attraction but I was probably the one that screamed the loudest and even scratched my boyfriend at some point. The Lab, was so well done and I just couldn't handle the size of the aliens towering over me. All I wanted to do was run. 

Along the streets of 'New York', ghouls, gargoyles, zombies roam. I didn't manage to take alot of photos but the set was really really well done. 

And I took some time to come up with my first ever halloween baked goodie for my friends and I: 

Paleo witch fingers!

And as for the weekend after Halloween, I kick started it with a gym session at Energyone with my classmates. 

Our workout session routine (Weight recorded is for my sets):

1. Running on treadmill: 1.2km
2. Lateral arm pulls: 4 sets of 12 reps, 18 to 25kg progressively
3. Tricep push ups on some arm machine: 4 sets of 12 reps, 22 kg support I think? 
4. Regular Squats: 4 sets of 8 reps, 20kg barbell with 15 to 20kg progressively each side
5. Sumo Squats: 4 sets of 8 reps, 20kg barbell with 15 to 20kg progressively each side
6. Walking Lunges: 4 sets, 20kg barbell with 10kg weight
7. Quad extensions: 4 sets of 8 reps, 25kg
8. Hamstring extensions: 4 sets of 8 reps, 25kg

I did an additional round of arm workout because I wanted to work my upper body a little more and build more strength.

I think we couldn't be any crazier by going for a round of creepy mind boggling fun at the Escape room after our workout. We did the resident evil's challenge and it was hard! We weren't allowed to bring in anything, not even our phones, a pen or paper so there was no way for us to cheat. But hey, someone in our group managed to cheat after all. LOL thief in the making.

And finally, the day I've been waiting all week for..
Pak Tor day with my boyfriend! We went to creamier and had our favourite waffles (Altho they didn't taste as good as usual) and ice cream!!! Ice cream days are probably my favourite days lol..

While waitingggggg and waittingggggggggggggg

It came! After almost 30mins of waiting. We probably finished it within like... 15mins or less lol

That marked the end of October. Is it just me or the excitement in the air.. Can you smell Christmas like I do already? 

Happy November guys.. Approximately 2 more months to the 2015. 2 more months to fulfil whatever your goals this year :)