Friday, February 24, 2012

That Red Bag...

For the loooongest time I have wanted to own this
Longchamp Le Pliage Large Tote

But when I causally told my siblings about my “IT” pang everday wear shopper’s bag, my brother just blurted out “bat ang mahal? Ang dami namang nabibili nyan sa palengke…” Huwattttt?!?!?! 

Oh please all longchamp lovers out there don’t begin to hate my bro, it was said in a typical male tone na walang ka fashion fashion sense sa katawan.  But anyways affected pa din ako. Hmmp!  So after X number of months, yes months, I still don’t have That Red Bag.  But everytime I happen to pass by Takashimaya or walk the temptation laden Orchard Road and chance upon that bag,  I still catch a glimpse of it and say at the back of my mind “Oo na, dami nyang nagkalat sa palengke, but if I carry one I would still get the satisfaction of knowing that I carry the real thing”. Oh well…I guess for now I will do more red bag shopping…


pwede na noh?!? wehehehe dreaming

MANGO .... not bad either ;) loving it nga... 

Ladies, what do you think would be a good roomy, sturdy but still fashionable every day red bag?  Yung friendly sa budget ha...

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

This duck..does quack


floating placidly on the pond but you know underneath the feet are paddling like crazy
photo courtesy: http://02f6373.netsolhost.com/WordPress/?p=1237
 I was browsing through my posted pictures in Facebook, and I realized I do live quite a “charmed” life in a way. Well if I solely base it on the pictures I post... short get-away here and there, food photos, family gatherings, and wonderful pictures of family, friends and the ones we love dear…. Yeah I live a charmed life alright.

But behind those posted pictures is the “oh not so charming” details of my life. I start my day at 6:00 AM and I hit the snooze button twice. After the second snooze button, I struggle for I few minutes to get my lazy self out of bed. With my hair disheveled, I twist it with a big clamp and head to the kitchen to cook breakfast and our pack lunch. Not so charming right? But at least when I arrived at the kitchen, I have my ingredients prepared already (most of the time that is). Veggies cut, onions minced, table set (this part I find charming. Thanks Hubs …and I don’t mind if you do it ALL the time… *wink *wink)

Our mornings are quite rush. I need to be in the office, and start my role as a corporate slave the latest by 9:30 AM. From our flat to the MRT station is roughly a 10 minute walk, the train ride to the office is another 15 minute, and the company shuttle/or walk from MRT station to my office is another 10 minutes. And before all this walking and travelling, is the “where’s my key… where’s my id…what I am going to wear this morning?!?…I don’t have shoes to match this outfit…hubs don’t forget your baon…” moments. You get the picture?

While I was applying my lipstick and thinking what belt would complement my outfit for the day and at the back of my mind reassuring myself that my office keys and ID are left in the office and not lost, a thought struck my mind. (I guess this is what I have meant in my resume when I say “work well under-pressure”, na carry pang magpaka-profound ang tita nyo ha ;)) But seriously, I have thought of the proverbial duck. You see a duck floating placidly on the pond but you know that underneath the feet are paddling like crazy. And yesterday I felt like that duck!

Sometimes our families, friends and other people might think that we have accomplish something quite easily without much effort, when in fact we need to paddle like we are in a kayak moving through the rapids of a raging and roaring river.

In a way it’s good to be a duck, and not let fear, stress of daily life and anxiety get the best of us. But then again ducks do quack right?

And so this duck may appear calm but she does quack! :)

it feels good to quack! :)
 I think it’s good to quack sometimes…. Do you feel like a need to quack?



Monday, February 20, 2012

Bintan Get-away

Hubs and I went away for a short get-away to Bintan Island, Indonesia to temporarily escape from the hordes and cares of city living.
We started the day early, because our Ferry will leave Singapore at 9:10 AM and that we need to check in an hour before the departure. As the travel from our place down to Tanah Merah Interchange would approximately take an hour, so we left while it was still dark.

all set to go...
From the Tanah Merah Interchange, we took the bus 35 that goes directly to the Ferry Terminal. We were already running as we arrived there less than an hour before departure time. The journey from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Bintan approximately took us about an hour. We did experience a bit of a rough seas because of the monsoon, but all in all it was quite a good sail.

When we reached Bintan, though the queue was quite long at the immigration, it was quite a breeze (as compared to the hassle and blatant “unethical” behavior I have observe at Batam immigration).

But the journey to the resort was a different story. I was almost more than an hour’s journey by the hotel’s free shuttle! I remarked to hubby that this resort would not be for people not so patient, coz it was a looong journey.

For those who have gone to Bintan for a get-away, you might wonder why the travel time to the resort from the Ferry Terminal takes a long time….? Well, the deal that I have bought from deal.com.sg (I have bought most of our get-aways from this website) is not part of the Bintan Resorts Group. We booked for an overnight stay at Bintan Agro Beach Resort and Spa. The deal was for an overnight stay, plus return ferry tickets, breakfast, set lunch and dinner. Plus 5 minuted banana boat ride (which we did not get to ride because we have no time), 30 minutes bicycle ride, 30 minutes kayak. Not bad for the price we paid of only 99 SGD. But since we went on a weekend we have to top-up additional 35 dollars weekend surcharge. For the money we shell out, it wasn’t bad a deal. You can check out their website for details of the exact prices of their watersports and other facilities here.
waiting for the welcome drinks...


kite boarding was a hit @ the resort...
 
the view from our room..not bad eh? :)

sunrise...i love


finally to ease the stress-tense muscles :) reasonably priced!!!

our room for the weekend


my margarita..his tequila sunrise..by the pool

breakfast array


one of the resort's two swimming pools












kayak practice session ;)

















And by the way the karaoke room was free, you just buy some drinks and your good to go.


oh diba? divang diva ang dating wahahaha...

Excuse the picture laden post, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words :)  How about you, where did you head for a short get-away?




Friday, February 10, 2012

A Singapore staycation experience...plus mojitos & margaritas

Hubs and I will be going on a short weekend get-away to Bintan but before we splash on our sunscreen and enjoy the sun and sea, let me share with you what we did during the CNY holiday break.

We did not pack our bags and bring along the passport. Yes, staycation it is for us this time around. Well, we would have wanted to stay at the Marina Bay Sands, but with all the short trips planned for the whole year, we just can’t squeeze it in the budget this time. Our first wedding anniversary perhaps hubs…? ;) can or not? Lol!!!

With its location near Clark Quay, the happening area in Singapore, we opted for Furama RiverFront Hotel. Actually there were a number of hotels around the area, but my first consideration was, it has to have a swimming pool. (We love to swim, good exercise).

We had an overnight stay and got upgraded to executive floor. Yay! The reception area was Chinese inspired. I am not sure whether it was because of the CNY festivities or it was really there standard décor. Sorry no photos :( Note to self, should take more detailed photos next time. (hindi kasi sanay my blog, but I'm learning from all the blog hopping I have been doing)

But the bathroom was a disappointment for me because I was hoping there would be a bath tub (I brought along pa naman my bubble bath hoping to have a “spa” moment). Still it was nice, clean and relaxing. The toiletries looks “sosyal” but the smell it too masculine for my liking


the "mukhang sosyal" but smells too masculine for me toiletries

In the evening we walked to Esplanade and had dinner at makansutra, then had some cocktails at clark quay
Glutton's Bay Makansutra


her margarita


his mojito





cocktails courtesy of Octapas

 
 
After a good night’s rest (thanks to the margarita) we had a hearty buffet breakfast. Again, I have no pictures to show..booo. Next time next time pramis…. I also noticed that there are a lot of Filipinas working in the hotel. Siguro naman with our pleasing personality and excellent service, the hoteliers & guests will be very well please with us Pinoys.

And since it was one of the most important factors for consideration, we hit the pool after breakfast. And yet again no pix of the pool  sadness... The pool wasn't really that fantastic, but it was good for a nice swim.

By 11:45 AM we checked out already, but before that... the SOP of the day picture picture.

Enjoying the free coffee

Hubs claimed the rights to the "office desk"
 


another bed pose ;)




the bed



 









colorful bridge along clark quay

we just have to take a picture, it exudes a feel of a quaint european town ;)

After almost 7 years in SG, its my first time to stay in a Singapore hotel. Hmm I kinda have a liking for it. I have list of hotels/boutique hotels I want to visit. Hopefully if budget and time permits, I can share with you our staycation experiences. And this time, I will try my best to take the right pictures. Excuse nyo nalang po si “Narcissa”, angles nya lang gustong e capture.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A Trip to Singapore's First Eco-Mall plus Astons Express Lunch


We recently signed up for a banking promotion facilities with one of the local banks and with the approval they give you a Charles Jourdan pen. 


Looks expensive, twas suppose to be expensive...
Sadly it did not live up to it...now it's idly sitting inside it's box :( sad.......
The pick-up location was at City Square Mall.  Since I have lie low on being a mall rat, I was not quite familiar where this Mall is.  I just use the streetdirectory to find out the location.  This is such a useful website for me, since it tells me the detailed direction if you opt to take the bus, train, taxi or drive going to your desired location.

The directory pointed us to alight at Farrer Park MRT station.  I was surprise that there is a Mall there.  As far as I can remember, when I use to frequent Mustafa (wonderful finds there and love the colorful displays at Little India, try my best to let you know more about it, in one of my post hopefully).  But before heading there, we went to have lunch at Astons Express.  I had honey glaze bbq chicken plus which comes with 2 side dishes of your choice.  I opt for onion rings and potato salad.  While hubs had Black pepper chiken with potato salad and brocolli and carrots.  

I sooo love their potato salad.  Generous serving plus easy on the pocket.  I LOVE...
 
Honey Glaze BBQ Chicken 


Black Pepper Chicken

Astons Express at Jurong East is located at Blk 134 St. 13 #01-309 Fu Chan Coffeeshop Stall 7.  If you happen to be in the area do try it :)  They do have other branches island wide.

With stomach full and satisfied we headed to City Square Mall.  I was quite surprise as I have mentioned that there is a Mall here and to top it, it claims to be Singapore's First Eco-Mall.  To me it looks like a normal Mall, but they do have quite prominent trash bins with a segration labels.


Let's bin it, with segration labels
After we collected our Charles Jourdan pen (which is a disappointment, but at least we get to see how an eco-mall looks like), comes the SOP of the day...Picture picture :)

`


located at the junction of Serangoon and Kitchener Roads
Singapore's First Eco-Mall

somehow mukhang nagblend ako sa background


picture din si hubs (we are both vain..whahahahaha peace bhe! :D )


Sunday, February 5, 2012

My Pink and Green Wedding

I know it is almost 5 months overdue...But with the air filled with love, though I am not a believer as what I have expressed here, but I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a simple but memorable milestone in my life in this month of love....




Do you have a simple and memorable day you would like to share? Would love to hear about it.

Click here for more sweet memories. You can also create your own compilation as well.  Cool & free... That's what we all love right? ;)
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