Pain wakes me up!

Decided to try a 9am Pilates class this morning. OMG....talk about PAIN!!! My leg muscles are just so useless and weak! Maybe I can blame it on my recent episode of "shingles" that kept me in bed for a good week....hence minimal usage of my legs!

Anyway really really felt good to be up and about early! Makes a difference to my breakfast too. Let's just hope the energy levels continue throughout the rest of my day. Hope you're having a great one too, whatever u may be up to.

Oh found this on "a glamorous little side project" and I swear every woman should have a shoe rack like this. Makes me happy just lookin at it. Accessories RULE! Bet ya Jessica Alba does pilates tooooo!

Independent Weekend

I realised it not...... until this weekend. I kinda missed my independence! One of the errr slight symptoms of being in a relationship. But let me clarify....I use the term "independence" loosely to mean not having to think or worry abt your other half for a bit. Just doing my own thing really.

As u can guess, jin's away this weekend and so I've had to entertain myself. Initially I only had negative thoughts abt him leaving me alone....in a country where I've yet to really feel totally at home in, or at least be secure because I'm surrounded by family and friends...not!!

But it's been good - driving off to the gym for my class without having to worry about who's using the car, opening a bottle of wine and settling in with some chick flicks cos its what I want to watch, sleeping in and not worrying abt what time I had to have breakfast, and basically enjoying the house all to myself! It's nice :) I'm indulging in a little selfishness I think and that's okay. Don't you think?!?

Oh...it also means more yummy home-cooked meals. Dinner was a pan-fried salmon fillet w/ roasted baby carrots & potatoes and salad, washed down with a glass of delicious Shiraz :)

Lunch today consisted of a tuna penne salad, tossed w/ sweet corn & argula plus a side of roasted pumpkin! Yum!

Enjoying the Thunder

Peaceful sunday night....until the thunder started anyhow. Now my music is turned up a few notches to drown out the very very loud storm that's raging outside. I love thunderstorms - even thou they tend to frighten the crap out of me. It's just me....under the doonas wif lotsa dvds. Too comfortable! [loving Private Practice right now btw... good drama :P]

Has been a lovely day - jin's away in Spore, which means I got the car and managed to venture out on my own to one of the local coffeeshops to vege - read a mag and enjoy a coffee in the late afternoon.....amongst other older "uncles" who were also out enjoying their sunday (the local scene!). Besides the few funny stares (cos i kinda stuck out like a sore thumb)...it was fun!

It wasn't spruce coffee or anything...and I am well aware that it's not so acceptable for me to sit alone in an oldish, small, not so modern coffeeshop, reading my Pulses mag abt the stock market....but i dared to soak up the local conservative culture and when i closed my eyes, i cld nearly taste my favourite melbourne coffee. Well this was the local take of decent coffee anyhow!!

P.S took a photo of my cup of coffee - the last time i was in Spruce in Singapore...to help me remember.....hmmmm ....the flavor. Yum.

Bed Hopping!

It's been WAY too quiet here on my blog....sorrreee y'all. Been in Singapore for most of the month with minimal internet access. A short trip turned into an unexpected 2 week stay which was super awesome cos that meant some quality time with daddy dearest. BLISS.

The flying in and out was centered around my bf doing Lasik. From wearing THE heaviest glasses in the world on his poor lil nose (we're talking 1000 degrees people! He is termed - legally BLIND!) to now being free of any kind of visual aid. yippeee! Check out his last photo wif his glasses EVA :P

The technology for Lasik has changed since I did my eyes, and this particular doctor was as good as they get - wif the latest equipment to increase accuracy of the procedure. But it certainly came at a cost. He prefers to operate one eye at a time, lots of tests and checks, very thorough but time consuming too. And of course, the more time u spend in his clinic, the more money he's able to charge ya! hehe! Not only is he a good doctor, but he's also a damn good businessman :P I am talking about the pretty famous.... Dr Jerry Tan at Camden Medical.

Would I recommend him? Yes if you're as blind as my bf was - cos most doctors aren't able to successfully do Lasik on such high degrees. But don't waste your money if you're only say 400 degrees and below.

Anyhoo the month of April saw me sleep in a total of 6 different beds in as little as 3 weeks. So I figured I could give ya a quick review on the few hotels we got to sample. It's just so pricey to stay in hotels in Spore these days - demand is up, and so are prices! But I did find a great deal for a brand spanking new hotel tat opened literally couple of days before we arrived. It's called Studio M - located at Robertson Quay - my absolute most fave area of Spore. Opening promo was $200 a nite wif free wireless.

A chic, modern lobby.

Designer furniture

Then in between hotel stays, I went to dad's for 2 weeks while Jin was back in Brunei working. It felt great to spend some quality time wif dad. I was also able to catch up with a few friends here and there without the usual mad rush.

When Jin came back again, we found that a night at the lovely Sentosa Resort & Spa (The Beaufort) was more affordable than any hotel in town due to the Gourmet World Summit and the volcanic ash crisis in Europe, which left hundreds of travellers stranded with no accomm. Hotel rooms doubled & tripled in price overnight - scary stuff! Felt really bad for them. And by affordable, it really wasn't.... we paid $300 a night and heard that some tourist were being charged $600 and up. eeks! Well that was bed #3 and the best room service we've had in ages! hehe!

I flew back to Brunei mid month only to be locked out of my house and had to seek refuge at Jin's place (which was bed #4) and then finally my own bed (bed #5) for only 3 nights before flying back again 4 days later for Jin's second eye Lasik surgery. Have I lost anyone yet?!?! hehe!

Bed #6 was at the Royal Plaza on Scotts - pretty old but decent and best of all, spack bang in Orchard Rd which made it extremely convenient. The room was the least exciting, with a view of a carpark next door. It was also noisy during the day - so beware. We paid $220 per night which is still considered one of the cheaper rates for Orchard Rd but not really that worth it. So that pretty much concludes my bed hopping adventures for the month.

To sign off - here's a pic... depicting an insect lying in his cocoon, waiting to spread his wings and SEE the world for the first time!

hehe! [aka jin wif his eye masks! Published wif his permission.]

Monday night Drama

Let me tell you a little story about a girl who went out to buy a DVD and came face to face with a "non" customer service culture.

She popped out in the late afternoon to pick up something fun to watch that night but alas, the dvd seemed to have scratches on it and would not play. So after dinner, she went back to the store to try and exchange the disk. Unfortunately there weren't any copies of that particular movie left in the store but they did manage to locate a copy at their other store so she drove over to pick it up.

While testing the dvd at the store, they ran into the same problems where the disk got stuck in the same part, making it unwatchable. She kindly asked for an exchange for another movie only to be told that she had to go BACK to the original store for any such exchanges! Driving back and forth in one night wasn't her idea of fun and she decided to try and reason with the salesgirl to make an exception. Finally an hour later, after several calls to seek approval and advice from their manager, they relented much to the relief of the little girl.

Upon selecting her exchange item, the salesgirl charged an extra $3 for the new dvd. Now here's the math as far as she could see it. The original dvd cost $23.90 and she was given her usual membership discount and paid $21. The new dvd cost $24 which was a whole 0.10cents more than the original!! And yet the store wanted to charge her $3 and said no further discount applied. HUH?!?!?!

It just didn't make any sense! Much to her frustration, she tried to gently convince the store that it required only a simple exchange without any monetary complications and if anything she secretly thought she should be the one getting compensated on the faulty dvd in the first place and having to drive around town all night.

The happy ending to the story though was the success of her persuasive influencing skills :) She went home with a new dvd for no extra cost, and had a great relaxing night.

THE END ....hehe!

Code of Silence

I've had quite a few things on my mind lately...stuff that I've been wanting to write about here......BUT I realised something cruciaL recently - my country of abode right now requires me to take a unique "code of silence" !! hehe! This is the kinda thing that you so easily take for granted in western countries - freedom of speech, democracy and all. But that's not the case everywhere and some places simply have their own rules. I'm learning!

I can be cryptic thou :) Well I'll try to be anyway cos some of the things that I want to share are what makes this place so damn interesting! Like last weekend, I was taken to a new place for dinner. That is indeed a big deal cos as I've mentioned before, we're really limited to a handful of cafes/restaurants here. Not set up in any normal err venue, the food had an amazing home-cooked feel & was super yummy and inexpensive. I can't exactly identify the place but I believe I only need to say one thing.....

SALTED EGG COATED DEEP FRIED CHICKEN!! hehe!

Trust me...it's to die for :) And it is what this place is known for. Way better than KFC. I honestly find gems in the most unusual of places - places that are not always fully legit, but who cares! We'll definitely be back...afterall it's only just around the corner. hehe!

p.s Inside my head, I've been working on a list of the Top 5 Must-Dos for Brunei. I believe this just made it to my Top 5 list. More to come so stay tuned. (of course I'm rather slow in my Brunei discoveries so if there are any suggestions out there - do leave a note!)

L.O.V.E

A good friend reminded me from the beginning not to start a blog unless I had something meaningful to say :) So that got me inspired to chat a little on LOVE and plus Valentines Day just passed and being our first one in Brunei, we had to rethink how to celebrate it without the traditional commercialism of the occasion.

I personally felt it was no different to any other ordinary day when jin could surprise me with some flowers he picked from his backyard to brighten my room with. Flowers are flowers - they die within a week whether you pay good money for them or not. It's definitely the thought tat counts!

And romantic dinners....well there are really only 2-3 restaurants that we enjoy eating at (and allow you to bring wine) so once they become part of our weekly routines, it's hard to notice the difference b/w a normal dinner and a V-Day dinner :P

This really made me think! V Day was not necessarily abt how to celebrate with dinner / flowers / gifts etc, but a reminder to be thankful that love comes in other forms too....like making breakfast for me in bed, reminding me to take my vitamins, allowing me to choose which dvd to watch, praying for me when I'm tired or sick.... Jin's good at tat - looking to e cross, seeing the positives & believing in His abundant blessings in our lives!