oh hail food .

you know how sometimes we need a friend or relative visiting then only would we make an effort to go out to dine 'properly'? well if you do, that's what happens ever so often in my family. with my dad and sister now living overseas temporarily, it's quieter around the house. mom and i normally just have simple lunches and dinners and well, that's it.

so, it's been nice to have my aunt in town because today, we made the effort to head out to The Fullerton Hotel to have a nice and relaxing lunch by the river. we were pretty impressed with the food at Town Restaurant so i suspect we might head back there again some day for their buffet lunch. as for today, twas ala carte.

we started with these:

Caramalized apples and Foie Gras.


Mussels in tomato sauce with garlic bread.

my mom, aunt, cousin and i then moved on to our mains respectively:

Soft-shelled crab tempura.


Cracked Pepper Cod with Miso soup and Japanese rice.


Grilled Salmon with prawn-filled mashed potatoes.


Duck's leg and breast with shredded duck wrapped in cabbage.

to wrap up our arvo nicely, we had the restaurant's tasting plate for desserts:

Vanilla ice cream with some kind of sponge cake that tasted really good.


i can't remember what this is.


Puny cheesecake.


Green tea cake that's been weirdly pierced with chocolate flakes.

i wore this dress with one shoulder off at first but decided to pull it up after lunch. i reckon it's nicer when worn as a boat-neck dress instead of a off-shoulder dress so... don't know what i was thinking when i stepped out of the house!

"i like big butts and i cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny." from "Baby Got Back".
but this one ain't such a big butt aye? haha.

wearing: brandless dress, Camberwell Market belt, Ray Ban aviators, JKC bangle, Sportsgirl bangle, Fossil watch, Chanel canvas jumbo, Wittner beige pumps (not pictured).

"huat ah, huat ah!"

hoo! guess what? i managed to grab some photos of my trip back to Malaysia from my dad. there weren't a lot to begin with cos my dad was lazy to snap away too so here's a little of what my Chinese New Year (CNY) was like:

every CNY, we'd drive from Singapore to Nibong Tebal and it's always a looooonnnngggg drive (at least 10 hours!). so, toilet breaks and random stops are essential.
this was taken from the top of a small little hill. my dad had stopped the car to take some scenic photos (how enthusiastic he was at the beginning! hah. guess he later got sucked in by food too and forgot about taking photos). i can't remember where exactly this was but looking at the time the photo was taken, it's probably somewhere in between Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

it's a tradition to get everyone together to "lo hei" (the act of tossing this particular dish called "yu shang" which is a Chinese fish salad) during CNY. apparently, the higher you raise your chopsticks, the better luck you'll get for the new year. haha.

we do it the 'kampong' style back in Malaysia. instead of sitting on chairs, we'd rather sit on random spots like this decorative piece (i think that's the purpose of it...) that runs along the back of the garden in my uncle's house.

mom once said, "you aren't a Chinese if you don't know how to use chopsticks." so she made my sister and i learn how to use them when we were kids but somehow, until today, i just can't seem to grasp the technique properly and still hold my chopsticks in the wrong way. shame on me. ):

mosquitoes are ALL OVER the place once night falls. my arms and legs were covered with mosquito bites and sores that i had to apply calamine lotion to all those spots to relieve the itch (thus making it seem like i love drawing white circles on my body).
this thingy (when i don't know what's the name for something, i just call it that) here is suppose to keep the mosquitoes away but it wasn't strong enough or something cos those damn insects just continued to buzz around and sting us every now and then.

Chinese New Year is almost over! ):
and so goes another Year.

gifts from halfway around the world .

i'm back from Malaysia! i know, what ever happened to blogging FROM Malaysia?! (this is the part where i start with excuses.) 1. the internet at my cousin's place was shit. 2. i was too caught up with eating that i didn't even bother taking photos. 3. i got lazy.

bad/good excuses? you decide. personally, i think excuses are bad to begin with but that's just gonna work against me now aye?

anyhoos, it's been a while since i got something in the mail so twas really nice to find the postman outside my house today with a package marked for me! i knew right away that it was from the boy in Manchester. even though it didn't reach me on Valentine's Day, the wait was definitely worthwhile.

Topshop Premium Stripe Shorts


Compiled pictures of various dogs with stuff on them

hope y'all had a good week!

double happiness .

this year's 14th February is a little different for the Chinese: 1. it's the first day (chu yi) of the Lunar Calendar which marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year; 2. it's Valentine's Day.

i always spend Chinese New Year with the family as it's tradition and as i'm originally from Malaysia, we always make a point to visit Penang (where i was born and dad's home town), Nibong Tebal (my mom's home town) and Kuala Lumpur (my dad's other home town) to catch up with the relatives and celebrate the occasion over reunion dinners.

on the other hand, i've never 'celebrated' Valentine's Day until the boy came along. even so, we didn't believe in forking out extra money to be part of a collective coupledom (if there's such a term) on one specific day.

with gaoster away in Manchester, this year's 14th February is pretty straight forward for me: family time. it's a pity the boy can't be around his family as well (one could say that Chinese New Year is the equivalent of Christmas where bonding with family is (and should be) of utmost importance).

so anyhoos, i leave you with a photo of my pooch Sushee and will update from Malaysia! 'til then, folks.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR (GONG HAI FAT CHOY) and  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY PEOPLE !

going vintage .

even though i've been back in Singapore for a week, i'm still posting entries about Melbourne. i promise to move on in the next entry but before i do so, i'd like to share with you my Camberwell Market finds:

Anne Stooke blouse with funny dancing people. $5!



vintage belt with various bag 'studs'. $20 (tad exy for this one but it's just too unique to walk away from.)



Rummage Style playsuit made from vintage fabric. $30 (brand new so decided to go for it.)

i've been drawn !

a while back, a blog friend of mine offered her fellow blog friends to send some photos to her to get their portraits drawn. i love her artworks and when she 'announced' that she would love to draw us, i jumped on the wagon and sent her some photos. here's what the very lovely and superbly talented DollyAsylum (check her blog out if you haven't! she does heaps of cool stuff.) drew for me:

So long, Farewell Melbourne .

i'm back in sunny, hot and humid Singapore. i'm not enjoying the weather but i'll just have to start getting used to it all over again. (i'm trying not to start the next sentence with an I again) ... the weather is really getting to me that i'm not in the mood to do anything but just sit right in front of the fan 24/7 (we have a try-our-very-best-not-to-switch-on-the-a/c policy at home because we like to go Green when we can) it'd be great if i had a pool in my house but na-ah, no such luxury.

***

twas sad leaving Melbourne and am still kinda sad that i'm not there anymore. the silly sister teared up at the airport when i left which made me even sadder but hey, that's just part of growing up - you gotta go different ways at different times in your life.

you also know that it's time for you to have a change of outfit after your friends see you and ask, "sze, how long have you been wearing this?" so yes, i finally realised i should put away my MNG cuff pants for a while and put on another pair of pants and tee. here i am, with some photos taken at my sister's place -

the draped pockets were the first thing that caught my eyes.

wearing: Supre striped tee, Witchery draped pocket pants, Sportsgirl necklace and bangle, JKC bangle, Fossil watch, Wittner pumps.