Christmas is not much about opening our presents.
Christmas is about opening our hearts.
May your Christmas sparkle with moments of love, laughter and goodwill.
And may the year ahead be full of contentment and joy.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas
Christmas is not much about opening our presents.
Christmas is about opening our hearts.
May your Christmas sparkle with moments of love, laughter and goodwill.
And may the year ahead be full of contentment and joy.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Four More Days to Christmas!
It sure seem quiet in blogosphere. I have been rushing last minute hand-made cards, xmas shopping and running errands that by the time I reach home, I would be dead beat. There were twice when I fell asleep with my make up yet again and woke up feeling icky.
In a minute, it would be 21/12/12 and the world would end.
If the world didn't end then it would be 4 more days to Christmas.
Just now, my father-in-law asked my mother-in-law why she cooked dinner when the world is going to end and told her to sleep. I thought that was really funny.
It has been raining every day here and the weather can get pretty chilly at times. Sometimes I feel as if I'm not in Singapore.
~~~
It has been an unspoken tradition for my good friend Evan and I to snap photos along Orchard Road during the Christmas light up season every year. There used to be competitions among the shopping malls and as they attempt to outdo one another, we consumers benefit from the grand feast for our eyes. I have no idea in which year did the competition stop but the decorations seem to get less and less spectacular as the years go by. It is a little disappointing this year and I suggested forgoing our tradition this year.
During this November-December period, I would sometimes take the public bus home from work. The bus would go through parts of Orchard Road and as I looked out of the window through the sliding rain drops at the lights and joyous crowds, I couldn't help smiling a little smile to myself and feeling this incredible melancholy wash over me.
~~~
The decorations were not too bad last year. Tiff joined us for the Christmas light ups date too. And yeah, if you don't already know, this is a backdate post for last year's Christmas season.
We started our walk from Plaza Singapura where we had Nando's chicken for dinner.
It was a blue theme Christmas.
Before, we reached the most decorated parts of Orchard Road, we stumbled upon a really "sad case" Christmas tree. Whoever decorated this little tree clearly wasn't happy that he or she was tasked to do it. The security guard shot me hostile glares when I was snapping the picture below.
Yellow and blue carousel was the theme at Paragon.
As usual, we would always do some bauble shots. You have no idea how difficult it was to find baubles clear enough from scratches and raindrops to do the trick
Don't you love looking at the window displays?
Prada
Tod's
Miu Miu
Gucci
Whether Christmas season or not, I always love looking at Tangs window display.
I also love their Christmas quotes. Tiff especially loved the quote they used that year.
Somehow, there seemed to be an elephant craze in Singapore too.
Seriously? Angry Birds again? I did not need to take another picture with a confused elephant as what I did in Phuket. I wonder what were people thinking painting a bird on an elephant.
In Singapore
In Phuket
The iconic giant outdoor Christmas tree outside Ion did not look too good decked in yellow. It was too bright and staring up at it made me dizzy.
Fortunately, there were giant movable snow globes to more than make up for it.
They were really beautiful.
The LV store at Ion caught the elephant craze too.
I would end off this post with our reflections in the LV store. Yes, that is our reflection but it looked like somebody was snapping us from inside the store.
~~~
Edited to add:
I do want this kitty fleece blanket so much but I do not know if I want to buy myself a blanket for $59.90. So far, I've only seen this store in Vivocity. I would add this to my Christmas wish list and see if anyone bothers. Lol... I suspect I would not get my Kitty blanket after all.
In a minute, it would be 21/12/12 and the world would end.
If the world didn't end then it would be 4 more days to Christmas.
Just now, my father-in-law asked my mother-in-law why she cooked dinner when the world is going to end and told her to sleep. I thought that was really funny.
It has been raining every day here and the weather can get pretty chilly at times. Sometimes I feel as if I'm not in Singapore.
~~~
It has been an unspoken tradition for my good friend Evan and I to snap photos along Orchard Road during the Christmas light up season every year. There used to be competitions among the shopping malls and as they attempt to outdo one another, we consumers benefit from the grand feast for our eyes. I have no idea in which year did the competition stop but the decorations seem to get less and less spectacular as the years go by. It is a little disappointing this year and I suggested forgoing our tradition this year.
During this November-December period, I would sometimes take the public bus home from work. The bus would go through parts of Orchard Road and as I looked out of the window through the sliding rain drops at the lights and joyous crowds, I couldn't help smiling a little smile to myself and feeling this incredible melancholy wash over me.
~~~
The decorations were not too bad last year. Tiff joined us for the Christmas light ups date too. And yeah, if you don't already know, this is a backdate post for last year's Christmas season.
We started our walk from Plaza Singapura where we had Nando's chicken for dinner.
It was a blue theme Christmas.
Before, we reached the most decorated parts of Orchard Road, we stumbled upon a really "sad case" Christmas tree. Whoever decorated this little tree clearly wasn't happy that he or she was tasked to do it. The security guard shot me hostile glares when I was snapping the picture below.
Yellow and blue carousel was the theme at Paragon.
As usual, we would always do some bauble shots. You have no idea how difficult it was to find baubles clear enough from scratches and raindrops to do the trick
Don't you love looking at the window displays?
Prada
Tod's
Miu Miu
Gucci
Whether Christmas season or not, I always love looking at Tangs window display.
I also love their Christmas quotes. Tiff especially loved the quote they used that year.
Somehow, there seemed to be an elephant craze in Singapore too.
Seriously? Angry Birds again? I did not need to take another picture with a confused elephant as what I did in Phuket. I wonder what were people thinking painting a bird on an elephant.
In Singapore
In Phuket
The iconic giant outdoor Christmas tree outside Ion did not look too good decked in yellow. It was too bright and staring up at it made me dizzy.
Fortunately, there were giant movable snow globes to more than make up for it.
They were really beautiful.
The LV store at Ion caught the elephant craze too.
I would end off this post with our reflections in the LV store. Yes, that is our reflection but it looked like somebody was snapping us from inside the store.
~~~
Edited to add:
I do want this kitty fleece blanket so much but I do not know if I want to buy myself a blanket for $59.90. So far, I've only seen this store in Vivocity. I would add this to my Christmas wish list and see if anyone bothers. Lol... I suspect I would not get my Kitty blanket after all.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Celebrate Christmas with Fleurfaerie this December!
Fleurfaerie is having a Christmas promotion.
1) Enjoy 25% discount on all our items. Simply enter "FFXMAS25" upon check out.
[Promotion 1 is valid for all orders. No minimum purchase required.]
2) After making your purchase of at least 3 items, email shop@fleurfaerie.com, stating your wish list of 5 items from our shop. Our secret santa will pick one as your Christmas present to be sent out together with your purchase.
[Promotion 2 is valid for orders with minimum purchase of at least 3 items.]
This promotion ends 21 December 2012. Place your orders soon to avoid the holiday season mail rush.
Make someone’s day with a Fleur Faerie e-Gift Card. Gift cards in $30 and $50 domination now available.
If you are purchasing this for a friend, please drop us an email at shop@fleurfaerie.com to provide us with the recipient’s name and email address. We will send this e-Gift Card to the recipient within 3 working days. You will also get a copy of the email.
Happy shopping!
1) Enjoy 25% discount on all our items. Simply enter "FFXMAS25" upon check out.
[Promotion 1 is valid for all orders. No minimum purchase required.]
2) After making your purchase of at least 3 items, email shop@fleurfaerie.com, stating your wish list of 5 items from our shop. Our secret santa will pick one as your Christmas present to be sent out together with your purchase.
[Promotion 2 is valid for orders with minimum purchase of at least 3 items.]
This promotion ends 21 December 2012. Place your orders soon to avoid the holiday season mail rush.
Make someone’s day with a Fleur Faerie e-Gift Card. Gift cards in $30 and $50 domination now available.
If you are purchasing this for a friend, please drop us an email at shop@fleurfaerie.com to provide us with the recipient’s name and email address. We will send this e-Gift Card to the recipient within 3 working days. You will also get a copy of the email.
Happy shopping!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12/12/12
11:59pm... a minute more before 12/12/12 -- the last repetitive date we will ever see in our lifetime.
I'm sure many of you reading this belong to the generation who have survived:
01/01/01
02/02/02
03/03/03
04/04/04
05/05/05
06/06/06
07/07/07
08/08/08
09/09/09
10/10/10
11/11/11
And lastly 12/12/12
My 12/12/12 has been pretty nondescript. In fact, my 12:12pm on 12/12/12 was spent in my senior manager's office discussing about work. (I'm not complaining though)
Then just now I decided to do something worth remembering. Through World Vision Singapore, I gifted gifts of:
1) Deworming for 10 children in Vietnam
2) Vaccination and immunization for 10 children in Laos
3) 3 water filters for school children in Myanmar
There were many gifts to choose from and gift of health somehow tugs at my heart string more than other tangible gifts. It isn't a lot but I know it would really help these children.
I'm considering sponsoring a child in one of the Southeast Asian countries. It has been something I contemplated doing 2 years ago and at that time I also envisioned visiting the child and his/her family in their hometown too.
I don't know what is holding me back now. I guess I'm afraid of not being able to follow my plan up till the end. The sponsorship ends when the child and/or the child’s community reach a level of self-sustainability and no longer require further assistance from World Vision. Each child is helped through an Area Development Programme (ADP), which usually spans 10-15 years. That is considered long term for me and I was wondering if other means of helping underprivileged people would actually be more beneficial. More importantly, I would want to be able to visit the child and his/her family and if I don't fulfill this aspect, I would feel that my plan of sponsorship isn't complete.
One thing I'm sure for now is that I would gift life-changing gifts on a regular basis to the underprivileged.
How was your 12/12/12? Have you done anything significant on this date or is it just another date to some of you?
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Pay It Forward
The expression "pay it forward" is used to describe the concept of asking the beneficiary of a good deed to repay it to others instead of to the original benefactor.
A week ago, my sister shared this wonderful video on Facebook about giving a little love and spreading the love exponentially.
I'm not sure if you are able to view the video without a Facebook account and over the course of one week, I found a similar video on YouTube with a different music used due to copyright issue (I presume) and the original one in English by Noah and the Whale. While I love the meaningful lyrics of the one by Noah and the Whale, the piano music of the Chinese version somehow brings a different feel to the video. I can't stop watching and listening to the music of both.
The one by Noah and the Whale
The one with the soulful piano tune
Which one do you prefer?
Of course great music aside, I love the message behind the video. The video depicts the concept of paying it forward in our everyday life. You could see how all these simple acts in your everyday life could actually create waves and speak volume.
You needn't go all out to be kind. You can do something like smiling, for no reason, at someone you happen to pass in the street. Without intending to, you might have saved the life of a complete stranger, whom might have been ready to kill himself, until a smile gave him new hope and confidence.
For me personally, I love to smile, show appreciation and give sincere compliments to people. Yes, these are NOTHING at all. It doesn't cost a a pinch do them. Nevertheless, I realise how much difference these could do to the person at the receiving end.
I hope you like the video as much as I do.
Give a little love. Pay it forward. The world would be a better place with more love.
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Phuket: The Land of Decadence Volume 4
This post marks the final volume of our adventures in the land of decadence.
Check out the rest of the volumes here:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
~*Day 4: A Sweat-it-out Morning or a Chill Morning*~
Whichever morning it was all depended on whose shoes you are in.
I would always bring a book to accompany me during my travels and this book 《大家都有病》 was my travel companion for Phuket.
My Chinese improved by leaps and bounds upon reading this comic. Written in traditional Chinese characters (which we do not learn in Singapore), I struggled trying to make out some of the words. Overall, I could understand about 90% of its contents and I really love the meaningful quotes by the side of the book at certain page intervals. I love how negativity could be so comical. The contents in this book has allowed me to see the light behind every negative outcome and laugh at any bad situation.
Tiffy had a good laugh too, not because of the content but because of my inability to decipher certain words. No actually, the main idea was to snap a pic of the big bowl of fish porridge (rice in soup actually) and of Tiff's toe shoes called David. Yes, her pair of toe shoes has got a name. Wtf?
The gym was located at the top of the hotel with an awesome view. So while fit tiff was running and sweating it out before brunch...
Lazy Jo was at the reception with a cuppa and my lappy using their wifi as the wifi in our room went haywire that morning.
It was basically a very slack last day in Phuket for us as we were pretty tired out by the past few days' activities.
After catching some snooze, Tiff and I headed to Patong to have a very non-Thai dinner. Do you also have the habit of trying out the McDonald's in various countries? It is really interesting to note how the food is modified to the culture of that particular country.
Remember the beautiful ship from the last post?
When in Thailand, love what the Thais love. Hence, we love elephants.
We were really thrilled by the paintings on the elephants. This pink and white polka dot elephant is simply too sweet!
Tiff said, "I am ok with the statement proclaimed."
This reminded me of Sharity Elephant.
In Tiff's words:
Angry bird has infiltrated all parts of the world. Now they even try to make an elephant believe it was actually a bird.
I've always have a thing for animals' butts. Love how cute animals' butts look with their tails.
The boxing pick-up which I hate was making its rounds and the punching of the boxing gloves made by these boxers on the pick-up gave me regimented jumps out of my skin.
You can't see the overexposed sign but it read "autobar". I love its name!
We swung by Hard Rock for some grooves and also to check out the merchandise. Are you one of those who collect Hard Rock memorabilia from every country?
We walked past the place where we had seafood birthday dinner for Tiff and I just had to snap a picture of it since I missed it the last time round.
Besides riding an elephant, I also learnt how to ride a motorbike in Phuket. It is more commonly known as motorscooter and these are automatic, which made it a lot easier as long as your know how to ride a bicycle.
You could actually learn to ride a motorscooter in Thailand for just a few hours course but I did not quite trust their safety culture. I mean, nobody wore a helmet there, you could spot kids who were barely even of legal age riding a bike and a family of 5 squeezing onto the same motorscooter!
Tiff was my pillion. Yeah we so totally flout the rules. In Singapore, it is compulsory to wear a helmet and you have to be covered from head to toe as well as to wear covered shoes when you learn how to ride. Over here, it is as informal as learning to ride a bicycle.
Ok, you didn't really think I learnt to ride a bike in Phuket, did you? Riding a motorbike and a white/pink/red authentic Vespa had been one of my dreams. Unfortunately, I had to cast that dream aside when my schedule and very bad sense of balance (on anything other than a bicycle) did not allow me to continue pursuing my interest.
I mentioned in the previous post that Blangla Road would be our last venue of the day without fail and there we were on our last night!
While the people were busy thronging the streets, the poor street dogs were trying to sleep.
Spot Tiff's favourite pole dancer.
We ended our night at one of the "cleanest" bar. It was one with a live band and absolutely no sleaze. It was great to engage in people-watching while swaying to the music. The alcohol in Phuket is dirt-cheap and full-bodied, not like some diluted mixers and cocktails.
The Asahi had a one-for-one promotion and the mojito was deceptive! It tasted delicious, limey and minty. I could not taste a hint of alcohol and gulped it down almost too quickly. Instead of the usual 10% alcohol content, I suspect they had more for I was swaying myself a lot more than before.
Our last tuk-tuk ride.
Outfit of the day:
♥ FleurFaerie Dolman Sleeves Banded Waist Top in Beige
♥ Sheer Romance bikini worn inside
♥ FleurFaerie Fleur Khaki Shorts
♥ No label black sequin flower flip flops
~*Day 5: Bye Bye Phuket. Hello Singapore*~
It was time to leave Phuket. We had a light breakfast.
The bumpy ride from our hotel to the airport was interesting.
Once we landed in Singapore, I had laksa and bandung. After all the yummy Thai food, I was in need for yummy local food.
~~~
I hope I haven't bored all of you with the influx of Phuket posts the past 2 weeks. Honestly, I'm so behind my photo updates that sometimes I wonder if I should just stop doing photo-stories on my blog. Blogging is one of my favourite hobby but it takes up most of my free time. Since the start of my gastrointestinal illness, I've been cooped up in bed during my free time watching tv and I must say, I've grown to love watching Criminal Minds a lot besides the usual CSI Vegas, CSI New York and CSI Miami. I have to applaud the writers for every brilliant episode and for improving my analytical skills which I've picked up from the series.
Check out the rest of the volumes here:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
~*Day 4: A Sweat-it-out Morning or a Chill Morning*~
Whichever morning it was all depended on whose shoes you are in.
I would always bring a book to accompany me during my travels and this book 《大家都有病》 was my travel companion for Phuket.
My Chinese improved by leaps and bounds upon reading this comic. Written in traditional Chinese characters (which we do not learn in Singapore), I struggled trying to make out some of the words. Overall, I could understand about 90% of its contents and I really love the meaningful quotes by the side of the book at certain page intervals. I love how negativity could be so comical. The contents in this book has allowed me to see the light behind every negative outcome and laugh at any bad situation.
Tiffy had a good laugh too, not because of the content but because of my inability to decipher certain words. No actually, the main idea was to snap a pic of the big bowl of fish porridge (rice in soup actually) and of Tiff's toe shoes called David. Yes, her pair of toe shoes has got a name. Wtf?
The gym was located at the top of the hotel with an awesome view. So while fit tiff was running and sweating it out before brunch...
Lazy Jo was at the reception with a cuppa and my lappy using their wifi as the wifi in our room went haywire that morning.
It was basically a very slack last day in Phuket for us as we were pretty tired out by the past few days' activities.
After catching some snooze, Tiff and I headed to Patong to have a very non-Thai dinner. Do you also have the habit of trying out the McDonald's in various countries? It is really interesting to note how the food is modified to the culture of that particular country.
Remember the beautiful ship from the last post?
When in Thailand, love what the Thais love. Hence, we love elephants.
We were really thrilled by the paintings on the elephants. This pink and white polka dot elephant is simply too sweet!
Tiff said, "I am ok with the statement proclaimed."
This reminded me of Sharity Elephant.
In Tiff's words:
Angry bird has infiltrated all parts of the world. Now they even try to make an elephant believe it was actually a bird.
I've always have a thing for animals' butts. Love how cute animals' butts look with their tails.
The boxing pick-up which I hate was making its rounds and the punching of the boxing gloves made by these boxers on the pick-up gave me regimented jumps out of my skin.
You can't see the overexposed sign but it read "autobar". I love its name!
We swung by Hard Rock for some grooves and also to check out the merchandise. Are you one of those who collect Hard Rock memorabilia from every country?
We walked past the place where we had seafood birthday dinner for Tiff and I just had to snap a picture of it since I missed it the last time round.
Besides riding an elephant, I also learnt how to ride a motorbike in Phuket. It is more commonly known as motorscooter and these are automatic, which made it a lot easier as long as your know how to ride a bicycle.
You could actually learn to ride a motorscooter in Thailand for just a few hours course but I did not quite trust their safety culture. I mean, nobody wore a helmet there, you could spot kids who were barely even of legal age riding a bike and a family of 5 squeezing onto the same motorscooter!
Tiff was my pillion. Yeah we so totally flout the rules. In Singapore, it is compulsory to wear a helmet and you have to be covered from head to toe as well as to wear covered shoes when you learn how to ride. Over here, it is as informal as learning to ride a bicycle.
Ok, you didn't really think I learnt to ride a bike in Phuket, did you? Riding a motorbike and a white/pink/red authentic Vespa had been one of my dreams. Unfortunately, I had to cast that dream aside when my schedule and very bad sense of balance (on anything other than a bicycle) did not allow me to continue pursuing my interest.
I mentioned in the previous post that Blangla Road would be our last venue of the day without fail and there we were on our last night!
While the people were busy thronging the streets, the poor street dogs were trying to sleep.
Spot Tiff's favourite pole dancer.
We ended our night at one of the "cleanest" bar. It was one with a live band and absolutely no sleaze. It was great to engage in people-watching while swaying to the music. The alcohol in Phuket is dirt-cheap and full-bodied, not like some diluted mixers and cocktails.
The Asahi had a one-for-one promotion and the mojito was deceptive! It tasted delicious, limey and minty. I could not taste a hint of alcohol and gulped it down almost too quickly. Instead of the usual 10% alcohol content, I suspect they had more for I was swaying myself a lot more than before.
Our last tuk-tuk ride.
Outfit of the day:
♥ FleurFaerie Dolman Sleeves Banded Waist Top in Beige
♥ Sheer Romance bikini worn inside
♥ FleurFaerie Fleur Khaki Shorts
♥ No label black sequin flower flip flops
~*Day 5: Bye Bye Phuket. Hello Singapore*~
It was time to leave Phuket. We had a light breakfast.
The bumpy ride from our hotel to the airport was interesting.
Once we landed in Singapore, I had laksa and bandung. After all the yummy Thai food, I was in need for yummy local food.
~~~
I hope I haven't bored all of you with the influx of Phuket posts the past 2 weeks. Honestly, I'm so behind my photo updates that sometimes I wonder if I should just stop doing photo-stories on my blog. Blogging is one of my favourite hobby but it takes up most of my free time. Since the start of my gastrointestinal illness, I've been cooped up in bed during my free time watching tv and I must say, I've grown to love watching Criminal Minds a lot besides the usual CSI Vegas, CSI New York and CSI Miami. I have to applaud the writers for every brilliant episode and for improving my analytical skills which I've picked up from the series.
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