Falling in love with Arteastiq

In reality, you don’t need to find friends for friends will come to you when it’s time. I don’t find friends deliberately, or rather I choose not to. But when I found one and feel like keeping one that I found, I make sure I do it deliberately. We don’t spend a lot of time together but that’s the thing, for friends don’t have to stick together all the time.  We make time for each other and say hello once in a while.

Chilling and chatting over a cup of tea is such an enjoyment. Been to Arteastiq twice with two good friends recently.  And good friends won’t ever run out of things to talk about. That’s awesome! If there’s any advice on how to keep the friendship going, it is to call that person out, and indulge over a cup of tea or coffee. Just catch up and lend a listening ear whenever needed.

I like my tea to be fruity; like that of a pear tea, lychee tea and berries tea. The fruits add a tinge of sweetness to the tea and I can possibly save the sugar cubes. I also love the almond cookies, which goes pretty well with the tea. I think Arteastiq (literally means ‘the art of teasing’ or ‘the art of tea that makes you tick’) is a really nice place to chill at with friends. The contemporary Europe decoration is not only good to look at, but also a lovely place to be at.

“Be grateful for your friends, family and support system. The people who are there for you right now will most likely be the people who will be there for you until the end. Express your weirdness and do it with pride. Be funny; be silly. You are too young to be so serious. Make new friends; explore new places.” - A message to the young women of the world.

Happiness can be easy

Was in a pretty good mood to curl my hair and do proper makeup.
Top and bottom – Bangkok
Flats – Mphosis
Bag – Naraya

Happiness is a consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it…….And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. – Eat Pray Love

I think happiness for me is pretty easy. I just need to have time for leisure. Little things like reading a good book, doing facials to bigger things like spending quality time with the ones I love make me happy. Oh yes, food. Food is my happy pill too. That’s all. Life would be very meaningless for me if I can’t even afford to do the things I want to do, spend the day the way I want it. I think I would just call it a quit if I can’t do that anymore. Anyway, it is a luxury to spend a Wednesday like this. I can hardly remember the times I woke up at 9am on a weekday or hang out with Prawn like this. Thank you for the meaningful Wednesday and thank you for the extra time I have.

The hardest part of my education journey will all be behind me in a week’s time. And I will look back and smile and be glad that it’s all over. And I survived.

Have a happy weekend everyone!

Delicious Milk Nougats from Taiwan

Last week, TangWan, the sole exclusive importer of Sugar&Spice milk nougats sent me a whole packet of yummy milk nougats! Sugar&Spice is one of the premier makers of milk nougats in Taiwan.

I said yes immediately knowing that most of my family members love nougats.

These nougats are all freshly handmade from French unsalted butter from Normandy, milk powder from France and crispy California almonds. A special preparation technique gives these flavourful milk nougats a creamy, soft and chewy texture that are very different from the nougats currently available in the Singapore market. No preservation, additive or coagulant is added during the production process.

The nougats have a slight sweet milky taste but not to fret for non-milk lovers, they are not that milky. I do no like milk but I find the taste palatable. The nougats are not as sweet as the normal ones that I’ve eaten before. So if you love super sweet nougats, then this is not for you. To eat it, you will have to thaw it for 10 to 15 mins. It goes on chewy with the almonds crunchy in your mouth. My mum loves it so much that she’s bringing some to work to snack on. :p

The nougats come in a nice gift box which I think it’s pretty as a simple gift too!

You can get these delicious nougats here or like their Facebook page for instant updates and promotion.

Life’s indulgence

Sometimes food does wonder. Pretty food are not only good to look at but delicious to eat and it eases your worries for that little moment when you eat. Well…at least for me, I don’t eat while I work. This little cafe Wimblylu  isn’t the most convenient place to go to but that’s the whole point. To be away from the city and the crowd. I thank my boyfriend for bringing me there.  

So we spent a few hours sipping our drink, eating and chatting away.
My boyfriend and I have come to a conclusion that we are a couple who enjoys spending good quality time together and that explains why we only meet up once a week. And because it just makes no sense to see each other too frequently doing nothing meaningful together. My boyfriend told me not to share about this cafe just in case too much people know about it. But a good cafe doesn’t need to go through my recommendation to be crowded. And besides that, I need to write down to remember. :p 

The best thing about the weekend is to enjoy good food with the company of love ones and the luxury of wearing casually. 

Weekend’s good food

My happiness derives from spending the weekend with my love ones. I think at the end of a long tiring work week, I want to make sure I get enough rest and stay away from work.  Being at home doesn’t help for me as I would be slogging away on the computer.
If I can, I would ask a friend out for dinner especially on a Friday night because that’s the night where I feel the MOST RELAXED!

Honestly, I do wish that weekends could be longer! Two days are just not enough for a healthy mind, especially for people like us who also need to work even at home. I admit I am not the most passionate at work but I’m learning to find joy in work, but I really loathe the fact that I need to remind myself to find pleasure in work. It just doesn’t make sense when this kind of thing should just come naturally. Maybe it’s just a passing phase. Maybe it’s not. But I do wish it is cos I cannot imagine myself facing the same situation for four years. I don’t wanna dread working every time. As and when I remember, I pray to the almighty up there to give me the strength and courage to face each working day. Not really a devotee but I guess I have no choice but to depend on the Almighty when nobody else can help me.

Okay Okay let’s not complain anymore. Let’s just face the gruesome truth and learn how to work with that amount of time you have. MAKE FULL USE of them!

I’m left with four more weeks before the end of my practicum.
And I can’t wait.

Singapore is truly a food paradise.

Jay Chou’s Restaurant

One of the most sumptuous meal I had in Taiwan was in Jay Chou’s restaurant. The place was quite big, and nicely decorated with Xmas deco as it was the Xmas season. Jay Chou’s songs were playing in the background as well!

The pretty piano in the restaurant which got everyone excited.

Sign board that reads “do not play the piano, or you will be sent back to twenty years ago.” lol.

Everyone’s checking out the menu except for J who seems pretty alert when the shutter goes! haha!

哎哟，不错哦！

The cake section!

The meal wasn’t cheap but it was really SATISFYING!!
Like my friend said, “此生无遗憾！”

I ordered the steak with wine sauce. I LOVE IT!!

My meal includes a slice of cake. Not a just a small slice but it was HUGE SLICE!! I forgot to take a picture so this was just a tiny bit of the huge slice. lol.

Everything was in a hugeee portion and that makes it worth the trip and money.

All of us!!

Awww…I miss Taiwan (and my furry Uniqlo jacket)!!

#uniquehawker: Thunder Tea Rice

Food Blogger Daniel Ang initiated an event for all bloggers to find and post an entry on #uniquehawker food on the 31st Jan. Even though I am not a food blogger, I thought it would be interesting to participate!  And because who doesn’t eat hawker food?! My idea of an unique hawker food is something rare and uncommon to find in the hawker. That said, I’ve not found anything extraordinary like fried chee cheong fun or crocodile claw. What I have here with me is one of my dialect’s (Hakka) specialty – Thunder Tea Rice  (擂茶饭). Not many people have tasted this simple dish as it isn’t commonly found in hawker. Some of them don’t even know what’s Thunder Tea Rice and not to mention, the greenish tea soup does not look appealing enough to attract eaters.

This dish is made up of brown rice and finely chopped vegetables. The difficulty lies in having the vegetables cooked yet stay crunchy. However, the process of making the tea soup remains a mystery to me. I would love to find out some day! My preferred way of eating is to pour some of the soup into the mixture of rice and vegetables, mix it and eat it. I try not to pour too much of the soup in so as to be able to taste the crunchiness of the vegetables.

This dish always leaves me wanting for more.
It’s a love hate issue for some people. My boyfriend says I’m very unlike other girls who loves food like this. But l think this dish is worth an experience. Who knows you might just fall in love with it?

Address:
珍发擂茶饭
Blk345 Jurong East St31 #01-29

Smashing Good Time!

Tucked away in a corner of Star Vista, District 10 Bar Tapas is a restaurant that aims to serve working adults with good food and drinks after a long tiring day at work. In this chillax environment, you can bound to have good relaxing time with your colleagues or partners. Serving modern European Cuisine and affordable drinks, the dining and chill-out crowd has expanded over the months.

I was invited for a simple food tasting that evening together with some other bloggers and I had a plus one so I brought my boyfriend along with me!

For a limited time, District 10 is bringing back popular dishes from the old menu when they first started. The dishes include sambal prawn pizza and soft shell crab pizza, with the latter being my favourite! The pizza is very crispy and thin, leaving you wanting for more and the soft shell crabs are simply delicious! Sambal prawn pizza tasted like a fusion of western food and Singaporean food, which was a pretty interesting combination in my opinion.

The grilled balinese chicken and Braised wagyu beef cheek rendang were soft and tender, but it is not something I would want to order in a restaurant.

I had Ginger Beer that day which did not quite taste like the Ginger Beer I always love. The taste was too subtle in my opinion.

Above two pictures credits to District 10

What was most interesting that night was the Smashing Glass event where we get to smash the person we hate with a glass! Just look at my spastic face cos it was a little awkward for me to stand there and smash people! There was an iPad in front and you get to choose someone from your facebook list and smash him/her! HAHA. I didn’t choose anyone to smash though, and for the record, my glass didn’t break!!

All in all, I did had a smashing good time that night with my boyfriend.

District 10 Bar Tapas Restaurant at The Star Vista –
1 Vista Exchange Green The Star Vista #01-42/K3
Singapore 138617

PROMOTIONS – CRAZY MONDAYS (All house pours at $5 NETT from 5pm till closing)

Why do the kitties not have mouth?

I was never a fan of the kitties. Girls I know usually love them and that explains why people never fail to queue up for these kitties. I was never a fan but I didn’t say I detest it until there was a period of time in my life when I really really loathe it. It kinda irks me when I was reminded of that particular incident (or rather a particular person) whenever I see the kitties. Those were the days that I really don’t feel like remembering them anymore.

Yes the kitties are cute. But ever wonder if they ever MEOW loudly if they do have a mouth? Why do they not have a mouth? Sometimes it’s good to do without a mouth, if all the words that come out from you are going to be mean and nasty.

That said, these days I choose to look at kitties with an open heart. And that explains why I would wanna step into a kitty cafe and don on that kitty spec. Well, I guess I’m trying to let go even though I don’t think I ever will. An impression made too deep will always be there. I can forgive but I’ll never forget.

Food there was a little expensive.
But well, you know you are there for the ambiance, not so much for the food.

A day with Jun

I came to realise I am always staying at home on the actual Xmas day … oh well … better to stay home than be stuck in a horrible car traffic jam and human traffic jam. Spending time at home with my old folks, drinking vodka can be quite therapeutic too.

Anw, here’s another Xmas meet up!

Met up with Jun at Hatched (Holland Village) recently.

Jun’s Sir Benedict.

Mine is Burly Benedict. (I actually ordered this cos I wana eat the potatoes. LOL)

My verdict: Not bad…but not something I would say I love it!

My Orange Cooler

Posing with my food as usual. Hehe. I think I will be putting my fringe cut and keratin treatment on hold first. I will just go for a new dye job.

The girls do what the girls do best – SHOPPING. Wore pink coincidentally!

Do you know that Jun is courageous enough to travel abroad on her own … and her recent adventure was to Nepal’s Everest Base Camp!! Trekking non-stop for 7 days is no joke at all! Way to go girl! I am so proud of you.
Life is all about dreaming big, having faith, taking chances and taking things into YOUR hand.

This is our selca for the day. ^-^

Merry Xmas and let’s gear up for the new year!