Instagram Snapshots ~*July 2015*~

How was your week? Mine was eventful!

The hub came back from overseas with a bad case of cold. I caught his bug due to his lack of social responsibility, only that the bug attacked my stomach instead and I had been suffering from gastric flu first and then a slight cold. It's no fun feeling so hungry yet nauseous and puking my empty guts out during the initial part of the week and then blowing my nose out the past few days.

The good that came out from all the discomfort of being sick was that I caught up on loads of lost sleep. The anti-nausea tablet knocked me out like a date rape drug. I've also lost some weight which totally leaned out my tummy and I've got visible abs and obliques for a few days.

~

I always beat myself to this. Better late than never is Instasummary for July... in the month of September. T_T

~*1 July 2015*~
A bountiful harvest of bananas from my in law's garden. I never knew green bananas could be soooooo sweet. My MIL uses compost from vegetables to fertilize the soil so I guess we could consider these organic bananas.
#banana #organic #harvest #healthydiet #healthylifestyle #whatieatforsnack




~*2 July 2015*~
Colouring my intestines purple with red dragon fruit and apple juice. When the stall assistant insisted that dragon fruit could never be sour, I knew she didn't know her stuff. She quipped that the apple would add on to the sweetness. I was conned. This is a sour purple drink.
#dragonfruit #fruitjuice #purple #healthydiet




~*4 July 2015*~
Oops. I took a photo of this cute flower and forgot to post it up. I'm always thrilled to receive handmade or personalized items coz it is a gift of time from the gifter. So well, I wanted to say "cute flower from my colleague" but somehow the lines between friends and colleagues are always a blur here and if I use "colleagues", my colleagues might jump and say "we are friends". Lol.
#pink #tulip #handmade #lovenote #giftoftime #origami #igsg #instagood #iphoneonly




~*5 July 2015*~
At La Strada AGAIN coz the hubz had craving for pasta. This white asparagus with Parmesan cheese and egg confit is a special appetizer available today. We wiped the plate clean in under a minute. Yummy!
@lastradasg #lastrada #lastradasg #asparagus #parmesancheese #instafood #instagood #fatdieme #ilovefood #foodgasm #foodie #foodporn




~*5 July 2015*~
Penne Al Sugo D'Agnello
Tube pasta, lamb and artichoke stew, eggplant, tomato. Well, I hope somebody's pasta craving is satisfied. I don't get how pasta craving could be satisfied with lamb stuff but the hub remarked that the flavours were dancing in his mouth. Somebody has been watching too much food channel to be spouting words like that!
#lastrada #lastradasg #pasta #foodporn #foodie #foodgasm #fatdieme #instafood #instagood #ilovefood




~*5 July 2015*~
Costata Di Manzo
Grilled US Black Angus rib-eye, mixed mushroom. emoji I was deciding between their awesome carbonara for the third time or to try something new. I decided to try something new instead. Steak in medium rare is always the way to go for us!
#lastrada #lastradasg #ribeyesteak #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #fatdieme #instafood #instagood #ilovefood




~*5 July 2015*~
Tiramisu Limoncello
A refreshing take on the traditional tiramisu. There is a fresh citrusy burst with every bite and a little hint of bitter lemon rind.
#lastrada #lastradasg #limoncello #tiramisu #dessert #ilovefood #foodgasm #foodporn #fatdieme #instafood #instamood




~*5 July 2015*~
Chocolate Surprise
Love the generous drizzling of warm coffee alcohol over the chocolate dome and it was indeed a surprise what was in the dome.
#lastrada #lastradasg #chocolate #alcohol #dessert #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #fatdieme #ilovefood #instafood #instagood



~*8 July 2015*~
So I thought of doing clean eat for dinner today and little BIL @jovennnnn offered me this extremely spicy chicken ramen stir-fried with bacon, cheese, egg, onion. Not too bad at all! I was supposed to just pick a mouthful to try...
#ramen #stirfried #spicy #noodles #instafood #instagood




~*10 July 2015*~
Happy anniversary my dear hubby! This chocolate rainbow cake went through overnight neglect in the cold store, vigorous shaking and lots of hard knocks. So you just texted me saying you would not be home so soon, and to postpone our celebration to next week together with your birthday so that I could save a present? No way... This rainbow cake is all you get!
#happyanniversary #chocolate #rainbowcake #dessert #thebakerychef @thebakerychef #instafood #ilovefood #foodgasm #foodporn


~*11 July 2015*~
For the past two weeks, there was simply too much indulgence in delicious food, too much exhaustion for cardio and too much laziness for simple toning workouts and stretching. A new sports bra is needed to keep the motivation going! Guess which one I picked in the end?
#motivation #healthylifestyle #exercisefreak #sportsbra #changingroom #changingroomselfie #adidas #nike




~*12 July 2015*~
It feels like being transported back to Taiwan with salt and pepper chicken (盐酥鸡)，bubble tea (泡泡茶)，pig intestine vermicelli (大肠面线) and braised beef noodles (红烧牛肉面) at Lee's Taiwanese (台湾庙口美食). Super red lighting due to the red lanterns that remind me of 九份.
#leestaiwanese #taiwanesefood #bubbletea #meesua #braisedbeefnoodles #instafood #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #ilovefood #fatdieme




~*13 July 2015*~
Got myself a new toy when buying for the hub his birthday present. Finally found a dress watch for myself! It's not those classic and classy black or brown leather strap watch that I've been looking out for but for a Solvil et Titus at more than 50% discount, of course must buy!
#solvilettitus #dresswatch #whitewatch #motherofpearl #like #love #igsg #instagood #instamood




~*14 July 2015*~
Latergram. Ate #greenbites salad for lunch again coz somebody (@ange1ajane) had craving for #healthydiet. Lettuce base, pasta, shiitake mushroom, sliced oranges, diced apples, corn and smoked duck with honey soy sauce.
#healthylifestyle #cleaneat #salad #eatgrass #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #instafood #like #love




~*15 July 2015*~
Mid week lunch indulgence-- Ichiban Jyu Don! Delicious with lots of sesame oil but not filling at all.
#japanesefood #ichibanjyudon #salmonsashimi #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #fatdieme #ilovefood #instafood #instagood





~*16 July 2015*~
During the past 2 months, I was so glad to have connected with so many of my blog friends on Facebook.
Now, I want to connect with my Instagram friends too especially those of you who often have meaningful 2-way communication here. If you want to be friends on Facebook, send me a friend request. wink You know who you are.
To anyone else reading this and want to be friends on Facebook, I'm sorry but I'm pretty selective about accepting friend requests. You could still follow me to get updates as I have public albums and posts too.
Tap on the link in my profile (http://iamjolene.blogspot.sg/2015/07/connect-with-me-on-facebook.html?m=1) and let's connect on more social media platforms !




~*17 July 2015*~
Out to celebrate the VIOS July and August babies' birthday. We are all getting old but we would forever be young at heart (and forever acting silly).
#VIOS #friends #oldfriends #actingsilly #instagood #instamood #instafriends #igsg #like #love




~*18 July 2015*~
Happy birthday to my dearest hubby! I won't go all soppy and say all the good stuff. So all I've to say now is that I've got no idea why you always look like 你在强吻我。
#happybirthdayhubby #ilovemyhubby #kisskiss #强吻 #iloveu #instagood #instamood #igsg #sgblogger




~*18 July 2015*~
Hubby's bday wefie and we are at our new home to paste those "defect stickers".




~*18 July 2015*~
The sashimi dish that begins it all for hubby's birthday indulgence #2 at Tatsuya. He's really grabbing the golden ticket of my allowing him to indulge. The uni (sea urchin) on the flounder is pure heaven.
#tatsuya #goodwoodpark #sashimi #seaurchin #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #fatdieme #instafood #ilovefood




~*18 July 2015*~
So we finally got to try the legendary Tatsuya beef bowl in mini version. What a little heaven in a bowl! Gonna blog about the rest of the dishes instead of posting them all on Instagram. Meanwhile, the hub is still hungry and asked the chef to prepare more dishes for him. PIG!
#tatsuya #goodwoodpark #beefbowl #heavenly #japanesefood #ilovefood #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #instafood #fatdieme




~*22 July 2015*~
Nostalgia... When life was much simpler.




~*24 July 2015*~
Rare moment when hunger got the better of sleep and I had to get up just to eat or I wouldn't be able to sleep. No, I don't think it's weird to eat savory cheese with sweet oatmeal cookies.
#healthydiet #latenightsnack #iamapig #cheese #oatmeal #cookies #ilivetoeat #ieattosleep #igsg




~*25 July 2015*~
Latergram - It was a hot and sweaty day today with no indication of sinus so it's the perfect excuse to get hot and sweaty with my old running shoes. With one sole off, I expected this pair of running shoes to disintegrate on me the next time I wore them. The sides disintegrated but the other sole remained beautifully intact. When can I throw you away???
#mizuno #mizunoshoes #mizunorunning #healthylifestyle #running #instagood #instamood #iphoneonly




~*25 July 2015*~
Before the run-- hot and sweaty, motivated, raring to go, no hint of sinus, harbouring the thought of giving the shoes one last run and throw . During and after the run-- hotter and sweatier, motivation sustained, sinus acting up, left knee hurt, wondering at the resilience of the shoes . Haven't worked out for more than a week and this feels good ! Totally energized after a very hectic week of many late nights.
#hotandsweaty #fitness #postworkout #postworkselfie #healthylifestyle #dontbelazy #moveyourbody #selfiequeen




~*26 July 2015*~
I don't usually waste stomach space for bad Kway Chup but hubby assured this Kway Chup is ho eh. Well, he's right! This is totally not #healthydiet and I'm still not full. Hubby is so full and says I'm a P-I-G.
#kwaychup #粿汁 #instafood #igsg #sgfood #foodie #fatdieme #stillhungry #iamapig




~*26 July 2015*~
I missed those times the family, friends and department feasted on durians and I kept telling everyone I haven't eaten any durian this season. To all those who laughed at me saying the durian season is ending and to stop hoping to eat durian... Nah! Here's Mao Shan Wang for you!!!
#durian #durianfeast #durianparty #bittersweet #maoshanwang #榴莲 #猫山王 #sgfood #igsg #instafood #fatdieme




~*29 July 2015*~
Never knew Jim Thompson makes T-shirts till I received this lounging tee as a gift. (Ya, I'm a noob can?) Love it! Now I've got another decent indoor tee to wear on holidays coz orientation tees, PE tees and SAF tees just don't seem right as home clothes when on a holiday. People think #ilovepink #jimthompson #jimthompsonfabrics #selfiequeen #love #sleepwear #igsg #iphoneonly #instagood #instamood




~*30 July 2015*~
Lim Soup is a soup stall that's worth a post on Instagram. The soup is not too bad but what I like most is the option of healthy brown rice and the generous serving of naturally sweet and crisp cabbage topped with little silver fish. I could sometimes smell the cabbage and silver fish when i crave for something from this stall. I also like the good service from the stall holder. You could tell that he cares for the health of his customers. He would give more cabbage at no extra charge. He once informed a pregnant lady that she couldn't order certain soup coz of certain ingredients in the soup. Today I ordered the ABC soup and finished everything except the bones of the meat and the inedible parts of the corn. I usually only drink non-homemade soup without eating much of the ingredients so that says a lot. Oh yes, how could I forget. They are famous for their coconut husk chicken soup! #limsoup #doubleboiledsoup #chinesefood #healthydiet #foodie #foodgasm #foodporn #instafood #ilovefood




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I really love it when my blog friends and I are connected on other social media platforms too since I know many of them don't blog as often yet have got a lot more updates on their Instagram page. I'm so glad to see more blog friends on Instagram now and I hope we continue to stay in touch here!

SG50 Golden Jubilee Weekend

For the first time in our short national history, we had a 4-day long Jubilee Weekend from 7 - 10 August 2015 to celebrate our 50th year of independence.

2015 is the year when you see the SG50 logo and term everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE in CAPZ. Discounts, promotions, campaigns, events and the likes are all held in the name of SG50. The term was so overused that someone (either in annoyance or in jest) created the Singlish hashtag #SimiSaiAlsoSG50 which loosely translates to "whatever shit also SG50".

Well, this 4-day long weekend was the best SimiSaiAlsoSG50 event that all Singaporeans welcome. It was certainly a well-deserved break for me.



[Photo taken by my friend, Paul Christian]


~*Jubilee Weekend Day 1*~

The first thing I did during the Jubilee weekend was to replenish my sleep. I went home that Thursday night and slept like a koala drunk from eucalyptus juice till the afternoon and had late lunch with the hubz at Chock Full of Beans the next day.

Oh yes, I painted my nails with the Singapore flag theme in mind but failed miserably.




We were feeling patriotic and were all decked out in our national colour - red and white! My red was not the right shade but I was saving the top with the right shade for National Day itself.




After having a 3D kitty drink on my own the other time at CFOB, I was excited to choose another character for my mocha. I requested for Totoro from the options that the server gave. I had expected a melancholic Totoro but this Totoro looked kinda like he was high on drugs.




From our prior experience, we assumed that the limit of only one 3D latte foam art per table still held and that the rest of the art would be random. Hence, the hubz did not bother stating any character preference. Imagine my utter amusement when the server came with My Melody for him!

The hubz wasn't very amused as you could see. I had the time of my life making fun of him the next few minutes. To be honest, we felt that the server should have had higher situational awareness. If the lady of the table requested for Totoro, the server should have told the barista that the other order belonged to the man of the table and to choose a character suitable for a guy.




As usual, The Destroyer loved to destroy art...
As for me, my Totoro self destructed. ie, it fell apart before I could even snap 473047336 pictures of it.




Ultimate Swiss Rosti!




At our new home...
You know what our interior designer friend told me about our inbuilt wardrobe?
"Tell your friends that you have a walk-in wardrobe. You open the sliding door and you simply walk into your wardrobe. There, a walk-in wardrobe."




I ended the day with bullying my BIL's cat.




~*Jubilee Weekend Day 2*~

I ended the previous day with bullying The Cat and started the next day with The Cat bullying me. She photobombed me when I was trying to take a picture of my Asics.

Just so that I don't embarrass myself on social media by revealing the fact that I was bullied by The Cat, the caption for this on Instagram was:
"You could tell that the focus was really The Cat 🐱 who was photobombed by the shoes 👟👟."




The sky was overcast and perfect for running even when it was approaching noon. But once I started jogging, the sun beams peered through the grey clouds announcing their arrival. Then, the dam in my nose called Sinus started leaking and by the 15th minute, my chest was hurting from sucking in too much. I can't run for nutz but I try my best to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I'm no longer that girl who loved to run back in school. I'm the middle-age lady who struggles with a 15-minute run and with Silver Peanut.

I can't believe how patriotic I am. Even my running attire is in red and white, or rather white and red.





~*Jubilee Weekend Day 3*~

National Day falls on this day, 9 August. Happy birthday, Singapore! I'm all decked in red and white again and this time with the right shade of red.




As usual, the hubz would be involved in National Day. Instead of squeezing with the millions outside on this day, I had arranged to go back to my family home to watch the National Day Parade (NDP) on TV with my parents.




I brought my work laptop with me to finish up some work while watching the NDP.

I simply love my parents' cooking! Simple, delicious and healthy. Somehow, the lotus root was in the shape of a heart that day.




Since we are on the topic of food, here are some favourite local dishes that we ate over the weekend.

Nasi Lemak -- My favourite local dish back in school!




Otah!  Love it when the whiff of otah permeates through the air and lulls me to the direction of the makeshift otah stand. Often, they smell better than they taste so when they taste just like they smell, those are really ho eh (good)!




Adopting the SimiSaiAlsoSG50 mentality, I handed these to my parents. This must be the most #SimiSaiAlsoSG50 "bonus" that they would gladly welcome.




After the screening of the NDP, I met up with Tiffany and Paul for some post NDP fun around the whole Marina Bay area. This arrangement was so spontaneous and I'm so glad she managed to convince me to go out. I had lots of fun imbibing the post National Day late-night revels.




Acting stupid since 1989... Wait was that when we first knew each other?



We had wanted to do a 50 years of Singapore History walk around the whole Marina Bay area. What better way to start the night with old school wafer ice cream! So we had chocolate mint, nata de coco and chocolate chips but they all tasted like durian!!!

Let our ice cream sandwiches powers combine!




As part of the effort to light up Marina Bay, there were 50 specially designed light-installations around the Bay, taking the shape of the numerals 1 to 50. Each had a panel of contents that highlighted the major historical event of that year. Our main agenda that night was to discover these 50 light-installations. We started from 50 and walked down memory lane. The whole walk took about 2 hours and it was certainly good work out!




We had to shift barricades and sneak in through metal gates just to get some shots (since it was late and closed to public) but the mini adventure (and chasing away by securities) was well worth it.




There were lots of road closures and we had fun standing in the middle of the road to snap a picture with Fullerton Hotel. We also managed to catch the start of the 8-minute long music and visual display right when we reached the front of the hotel.




Entitled “A Celebration of Our Heritage”, the spectacular show showcased iconic moments that took place at the Fullerton Square and would play every night from 1 - 9 Aug. Tiffany and I were glad gto have caught this on the last night! This is an anigif I made. You could watch the whole video here.

"The spectacular show will showcase significant moments in Singapore’s history, taking viewers through decades of our nation’s triumphs and tribulations on the façade of our well-loved landmark. Taking place on the evenings from 1 to 9 August 2015, watch history unfold in fabulous 3D detail – tracing the early days of The Fullerton Building as the General Post Office, through a 50-year walk down memory lane as told through postage stamps, before culminating with a dramatic finish to mark Singapore’s 50th birthday." - Fullerton Hotel website




























After all the acts kindness displayed from Singaporeans from all walks of lives during the last time majority of Singaporeans gathered together, we were surprised to see volunteers handing out free bottled waters to the revellers by the bay.




The Merlion was spewing booze after a night of wild merrymaking.




The Singapore flag light display from the Fullerton Hotel continued to stand out amongst the towering skyscrapers of the financial district.




It was the first time we walked on this portion of the The Float @ Marina Bay. As I walked, I pretended to be waving to the audience as Tiff shot me an "I dunno why am I hanging out with you" expression.






Call me suaku but that was the first time I stepped onto the Helix Bridge.




We completed the walk!




Paul was nicely booted out from the picture so that we could have a photo of the full Dragon Playground. My fondest childhood memory of one of the dragon playgrounds was when my cousins and I used it as our base to fight the mean neighbourhood kids. My older male cousins gave my younger female cousin and me pebbles to throw at the kids while we hid in the covers of the dragon's body. Yeah, that sounds mean but they were even meaner to us.




We celebrated the end of National Day by indulging in unhealthy local cuisine like Maggie Goreng and Roti Prata.






~*Jubilee Weekend Day 4*~

I spent the last day of the Jubilee Weekend bawling my eyes out as I was hit my the realization that the 4 days had whizzed by just like that.





~*Post Jubilee Weekend Outing*~

That Tuesday after the Jubilee weekend, Tiff and I caught The LKY Musical.




It was a rather last minute buy and we were seated right on top. What drew me the most initially was the wonderful multifaceted set and then after that Adrian Pang blew me away. From where we were sitting, it was difficult to make out facial features. Adrian Pang certainly do not resemble LKY physically but I swear I could see a young LKY on stage. He managed to capture the speech and gravitas of LKY almost to perfection. I particularly love this review a lot as it articulates my exact sentiments.




After the musical, we hung out at High Society for some tea and cakes... and coffee.




This rose cake is phenomenal!





Totally decadent!




Tiffany looked so good in her red lipstick while besties being besties, that's the best photo she snapped of me!




And then after that week, all jubilant feelings came to a halt as I picked up speed on other busy areas of my life. I've been drowning in the sea of "God knows what I'm busy with" recently! Catch up with you peeps soon!