Marché Vivocity

Met Karel after work for dinner at Vivocity. Reached there earlier so decided to take a look around. Went to Mango but didn't find anything interesting. Popped by La Senza next and got 2 for $45. Spotted Growing Fun beside Burger King and found finger puppets that were quite adorable. Bought the Gingerbread story for $9.90 (5 finger puppets with story).

Decided to go to Marché to wait for him as my heavy bag and tired legs were getting to me. It's my first time going to this outlet. Used to go to the Heeren outlet but that has now become V'llage. Really liked the decor in this Vivocity restaurant. It reminds me of very traditional European country-style decor and has a nice ambience. Got the original rosti and tried the Chocochino (Chocolate and espresso hot beverage). The drink was really nice and decided to get dessert. Tried the mango soufflé which was fantastic. Think sis would love it. Will definitely visit the restaurant again.

Out with Bro Dave

Woke up early to do my weekly plan. Was pretty efficient and managed to get it done fairly quickly. Think I was focused enough. Managed to contact Bro Dave and arranged to meet up mid-afternoon as both of us intend to purchase stuff at Sim Lim. Met him at Suntec and walked to Sim Lim (took abt 20min). Along the way, saw some wholesale party shops and got some stationery items. Intended to get the notebooks for my students' journal writing but didn't managed to find suitable ones. Will probably head back to school to get the plain pages jotter book and get the kids to design whatever they want for the cover.

I was looking for compact portable speakers for my mp3 while Dave was looking for digital recorder. Managed to find Targus at PA Mart going for a good price so decided to get that as it's quite a good brand instead of Creative's which costs slightly higher for a similar product. Dave also got his Olympus digital recorder after we searched abit for the correct shop. I also bought Imation CD-Rs.

Walked back to Bugis Street and stopped at the corner coffeeshop so I can get my dinner before heading home. Tried the roast duck guo tiao ($3) and it tastes quite good. We managed to get a photo near the colorful spiral staircase. Will post it here soon. Took 133 back to AMK and slept abit on the bus cos I was too tired. Reached home quite early but could only pack my bag for school tmr and check my emails as I was too tired.

AJC 30/00 2008 first gathering

Decided to contact my ajc pals and have a dinner gathering on Saturday evening. Managed to inform most of them. Unfortunately, Jo and Gloria weren't able to turn up while Yiting, Yi Pheng, Michelle, Audrey, Charity and Yahti couldn't make it in the end.

I was punctual as usual and sat rather foolishly at the long table reserved for 12 (thanks to Charm) till Ridzal came. Densen was next to arrive, followed by Peishi, Charm, Guolong, Harold and Tza. Had a nice time enjoying our food and catching up on what everyone is doing. We left around 10pm and only Ridz, Harold, Guolong and Charm along with myself could carry on to hang out longer at Coffeebean at Millenia Walk. Fortunately, Harold was kind enough to offer me a ride home, since I live rather near to him (Kovan), which I didn't know till today. Had a nice time chatting on the journey home too. Would post the photos of our gathering up here soon.

Decided to start a yahoogroup for our class so that we can keep each other updated and also organise future gatherings. =)

Sentosa picnic and Sis' birthday

Met Karel at Vivocity to get our picnic stuff from Giant and Daiso. Along the way, checked out forever21, Bodyshop, Faceshop, Diva and PageOne before getting our things ready and queuing for our Sentosa Express tickets.

It's the first time I took the Sentosa Express and think cos it's a public holiday and there's lotsa tourists, we had to queue for some time before we managed to buy our tickets ($3 inclusive of entrance fee) and enter Sentosa. Felt that the Express is better than our airport sky train. It's similar to our LRTs. Took 7 minutes to reach the Beach station and went to queue up for the beach tram to get to Tanjong Beach. The sweltering heat didn't help much but make our waiting for the tram more miserable. Upon alighting at Tanjong Beach stop, could see that the furthest beach is a fave amongst dog lovers as they bring their pets to the beach to play and mingle with other owners or their friends. We managed to find a hut and was properly sheltered from the sun so we can enjoy our picnic lunch. Enjoyed the walnut cheese on bread and also the cranberry juice from Minute Maid. Sat there to chat and only left when we sensed that a storm might be coming as dark clouds were starting to gather and could hear the occasional thunder.

Went back to Vivocity to avoid getting caught in the rain. Went to Garden of Posies and got some drinks and food. Like the ambience of the place and the food is quite nice as well. The ice-blended floral tea were interesting and refreshing. However, it's basically iced floral tea instead of ice-blended. =P Found a cute birthday card with a small soft toy sheep and Karel decided to get it for sis' birthday gift which was sweet of him to do so.

Went to queue for a cab to go to Yoyogi at Mohd Sultan for the family dinner to celebrate sis' birthday. It's the first time in my life that I'm in such a long taxi queue. Think there were like almost 50 people in front of me and I waited like 15 min to get my cab though there were plenty of cabs waiting in line. It's quite silly to only allow passengers to board at the front of the queue instead of just having the passengers get into the cabs in queue. Perhaps it's for order and safety reasons. The journey was quite short, abt 15min and I was there earlier. Could look through the menu and see what they have to offer. Dad ordered sashimi, sushi, chawanmushi, cold tofu, agadeshi tofu, yakiniku udon. He also ate a ume 饭团. Felt so contented and full when we were done. = )

Had the birthday cake once we got home cos grandparents tend to sleep early. It was quite amusing as the candles were burning out fast and we had to rush through the photo-taking and I was the only one who sang the birthday song for sis quickly. She was told to blow out the candles and in a hurry she forgot to make her wish before she blew them out. Hahahaha...super cartoon...the cake was from Fourleaves so it was really tasty and not too sweet. (",)

Power packed March hols

Just a quick overview of how my March 1 week hols went:

Mon: Workshop about P1, P2 New curriculum at Teachers' Network. (830am-530pm)
Met Karel at the Cathay for dinner and movie "The Leap Years", chatted and had a drink at Starbucks before walking down to Esplanade.

Tue: Workshop about P3, P4 New curriculum at Teachers' Network. (830am-530pm)
Met Andy to catch movie "10,000 B.C." at Marina Square.

Wed: Met sis at Bugis to have lunch at Ma Maison and shopping at Bugis Street (2-6pm)

Thu: Back to school for CCA Tapdance SYF training. Checked out Cityhall for Yifen's wedding bridesmaid dress but quite pricey and not really what I wanted. Met Josh for supper and chat at Jalan Kayu.

Fri: Met Jiahui to have lunch and shop at Orchard. Managed to get a Daniel Yam gown from Tangs at a greatly discounted price. Green Sanctuary treatment at Paragon (230pm-4pm). Met Guoyong at Orchard for dinner.

Sat: Met Philemon (Tapdance instructor) at Tampines to go to Mona Reflexology shop to try out the foot massage. Went for piano lesson before meeting Karel for dinner at Sakae Sushi and shopping at the Cathay (商务书局 and gramophone). Had drinks at Starbucks before heading home.

Sun: Woke up early to complete my work before I can go out. It's the last day of my March hols afterall, I don't want to be buried with my work. Met Karel after lunch to go to the Cathay to get more first day covers (stamps) before we headed to Singapore Historical Museum. As we could visit all galleries with $10 adult ticket, we chose that and I was quite impressed by the renovated musuem as well as the kind of exhibits they have. Didn't realise it's the last day of the Greek sculptures exhibition. Just glad that I went cos it's really very interesting and the replicas really look amazing. Took photos till my camera's battery went flat. Think that's the only way to stop me from taking more. I did use my hp too but of cos the quality is not as good and there's only a few images I can take as the memory is limited. Walked to Citylink to have dinner at New York New York before getting a hp accessory from Kokon Tozai. Walked to the Esplanade bus stop and boarded bus 162. Was so tired I slept throughout the bus journey.

Nice food I've tried recently

Sakae Sushi: Yakitori and mushroom Udon, Salmon and mushroom pasta, haagen-Dazs' mango sorbet served in a cupcake-shaped white chocolate.

Seasons (Raffles City basement 1): Beef stew with mashed potato, 1 dessert (coffee gelato) and 2 tapas (oreo cheesecake and brownie)

Sun with Moon: Salmon rice with soup tea set

P.S. All the names may sound weird as it's based on my descriptions instead of the actual name from the various menus...

"Blacklisted" shops

Was out shopping with sis yesterday at Bugis and I realised why people write to the forum complaining about the lousy service they encountered when they shop here. It's really very disappointing to see the local sales personnels treat fellow Singaporeans poorly.

There was a shop in Bugis Junction where nice t-shirts were sold. Both my sis and myself intended to get 2 tees from the shop. However, I was really put off by the snobbish salesgirl. She had this attitude and her body language seems to imply that we won't be buying, we are just wasting her time browsing through the shop's items. Though we really liked the tees' designs but due to her lousy service, I simply put the clothes back on the rack and left the shop. My sis asked why I'm so pissed off and I told her I'd rather not spend then to bear with this kind of nonsense. The salesgirl wasn't even the boss and if that's the way she treats customers, I'm sure the shop won't be able to achieve a good reputation.

We headed to Bugis Street next and we were lucky enough to find a small shop selling the same range of printed tees at the same price. However, the sales person in the shop was really helpful and we could sense that he was sincere to serve us. We bought 2 nicer prints frm the shop and I won't mind going back to the shop to check out what they have the next time I'm there.

The next "blacklisted" shop on my shopping list is one located on the second level of Bugis street. I recognise the lady boss as she was a very eloquent sales lady from bYSi before. She quitted her job there a few years back to open her own shop in Bugis street. I saw that she had some leggings and tights that I was interested in getting, hence I went into the shop to check out the price. After enquiring for awhile, she started getting impatient and she took on the tone that I was just there to check out prices. She implied that I was not serious in making any purchase and I was not prepared to pay a higher price for better quality materials. I was quite disgusted with the way she handles customers. My sis pointed out if the lady had on a microphone and portable speaker, she would have resembled a sales promoter for cooking ware at shopping malls. She had a rather condescending attitude and was quite rude when we were about to leave the shop. I merely mentioned that I didn't know the leggings will cost so much and she took offence in that. She concluded that I was just there to compare prices and was not sincere in buying anything from her. With just this incident, she has actually succeeded in removing me from her potential customers' list. I don't see the need to spend and suffer such lousy service even if I were there to buy the simplest or cheapest item in a shop. It's not a matter of how expensive the item in the shop or how rich a customer is. It's all in the attitude!

The Leap Years

Really enjoyed the movie though some scenes were pretty predictable. Loved the music used (Corrine May's) and how Ananda Everingham (Jeremy) interacted with Wong Li Lin (Li Ann) to create the romantic atmosphere. Cried a little of course when Li Ann had to leave Jeremy after finding out that he's actually married and her good buddy Qi Yu Wu (KS), decided to leave her.
Here's the official website link:
http://www.mediacorpraintree.com/TLY/

Baby Kezel Ong and all the "jie jies"

Met Yifen and Wanjun at Kovan for lunch before heading to Yanxuan's Mum's place to visit her and her princess Kezel. When we reach there, Sam and Corinne were there already. It was nice catching up. Went to Clarke Quay teochew restaurant for family dinner in the evening.

Story of Stuff

Interesting website I chanced upon...do check out the youtube videos...very meaningful...
www.StoryofStuff.com

Hmm...

Went to The Cathay to check out Fitness First as I've won the Jan/SHAPE magazine promotion of a 1 month free pass. Made an appointment through the phone on Thursday to see the consultant called Zac, however, when I got there today, he was not around. Ryan showed me around and though the gym is relatively small, but it's well-equipped. Can't start using the membership as it's the first time the consultant encounter such a promotion, and he needed to verify with his headquarters. Unfortunately, the office is closed today so I have to make another trip again.
Bought 4 cute wooden card holders (pinocchio, luckycharm cat, little red riding hood and the big bad wolf) from woodwould. Pricey but can't resist the temptation...
Found the Picasso postcard of a dove in Artica for $1.55. Taught a p4 unit about this so bought it to show my students...
Went to Starbucks to find a replacement for my "design own tumbler"...Asked the staff if I can just buy the tumbler without the cap but they don't sell them separately. Decided to buy a new tumbler for $19.90. The replacement will meet the "retired" tumbler on Monday.
Asked Mrs Hong for help with my school's musical lyrics but she frankly told me it's too difficult for my standard as I need to go for song composition course to be able to do such a task...sigh...just got to try my best and hopefully things work out.