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Friday, March 25, 2016

Christmas 2015: Christmas Over To New Year Part 4

Right before the first quarter of 2016 comes to an end, here is Part 4 which wraps up the whole of Christmas 2015 meet ups that happened in 2016.

In case you missed it, the links below lead to the previous parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


~*The One When the F4 Reunited*~


After so many rounds of F4 minus 1 the past few times this group met up, we were thrilled that at long last, we were reunited as four in the new year of 2016. This time round Hs is back in Singapore for good!




Monochrome Fusion Bistro is known for being an Instagram-worthy cafe that dishes out good food. Hence, we were surprised when we found out we were the only customers there on a super hot and sweltering Sunday afternoon.




Curious as we were, we were glad for the lack of customers that day. Hs was the first to arrived and when I arrived next, I jokingly asked if she had booked the entire bistro for us.




Instagram worthy right?




For sides, we ordered Smokin’ Truffle Fries and Coated Mid-Wings which came with 3 unique flavours - Chilli Crab, Honey Oat and Thai Sauce.




The Squid Ink Risotto was one of their signature dishes. I don't usually order risotto as I do not like mushy rice that could easily go wrong. The risotto here changed my mind. The rice was wonderfully flavourful with an impeccable texture. I also loved the juicy succulent scallops, alfalfa and beans which added varied texture to the dish. And you have to agree that the dish is Instagram worthy.




The Monochrome Aglio Olio could possibly be named after the bistro's name or it could be because of the monochrome elements of this dish-- a monochrome contrast of normal spaghetti and squid-ink spaghetti. Well-coated with a layer of fragrant olive oil infused with garlic, this dish is indeed slurpilicious.




Although the pizza was a good dish for sharing, it tasted pretty normal and we were glad that the risotto and spaghetti made up for it.




This was what the 4 of us ate. The portion for each dish was really small and we thought of adding on more to our order along the way. However, it was delightfully satisfying and we did not order more in the end. We have really aged. We used to be able to eat lots at buffet!




I cannot find the desserts we ordered on their latest menu but upon Googling, I think this could be Churroffles with Ice-Cream.




I think this is the Sticky Date Pudding with Ice Cream.




After snapping so many food shots, we needed some human shots to balance it up. Humans (me and Em) on my side of the table.




Humans (Wy and Hs) on the other side of the table.




All our gifts combined.




Besides the Disney Tsum Tsum cable winders, I got for the gals and myself a bimbotic PINK hair brush straightener online. The price was simply too unbelievable that I've to buy 4 all at once while emphasizing my disclaimer to the gals about how I suspect this could be an inspired product and that we should all take precaution when using it.




Gifts from the gals!

Hs claimed that she is lazy and uncreative, and simply can't be bothered and so got us the most common gift that hailed from the chocolate country where she used to be. I don't care about lazy, uncreative and can't be bothered. I care for the gift of friendship.

The beaded bracelet from Ems reminded me of Easter eggs and the one I chose look just like a pastel coloured water-melon Easter egg.

Wy gave a pack of healthy almond nuts snack as a reminder for us to reach out for healthy food while snacking. I usually munch on almonds coz I read that it helps curb headaches. Since I've finished my pack of almonds in the office, this is just perfect.




Wy also gave me Benefit Bathina "Take a Picture... It Lasts Longer" Body Balm. Yes, that's the product name. Benefit always comes up with product names that make me giggle and oh oh oh, how I love their packaging. The tin exudes such a charming vintage feel and I love the floral fragrance of the balm. So Wy told me that this was a gift to her which she would not use and all she could think of was me. o_O

I was like "WHYYYYYYYY?"

And she was like, "So you could buff your legs and take nice leg shots in bikini."

FAINTZ




It was this picture from my MBS staycation FB album/blog post that promoted her to think of me.




Let our powers combine!




I'm still missing that short evening Em and I spent together at Taipei Shilin Night Market. Speaking of which, I've stopped my Taipei travels updates. All my travel posts over the years have been left hanging after a few posts. ARGH! Time time time... I need more of you.




Miss you gals!




After hanging out at Monochrome Fusion Bistro for hours, we started to get hungry. Since we were in Chinatown area, what better idea than to try out authentic Sichuan Chinese food. Em took us to this really hot, crowded, noisy and messy restaurant called 东方美食 (Dong Fang Mei Shi). In her words, it is a place that you would never ever think of stepping into if not for recommendation via word of mouth. How right she was! It was all that she mentally prepared us for but they serve OH SO DELICIOUS Sichuan food.




I'm totally not a sweet and sour pork person. To me, sweet and sour pork is just pieces of pork in tomato sauce gravy but OMG... the sweet and sour pork here is awesome!!! Just look at the outer skin and the sauce and you would know that this isn't your usual economical rice style of sweet and sour pork.




Salted egg anything is always yummy!




"May we please please please please order a stir fried green leafy vegetable dish coz I really need something refreshing?"

"SURE!"




I've always enjoyed all these hours of chatting and updates with people who matter in my life. As I grow older, I've learned to drop certain friendship in scale of importance and really cherish the ones that would stay for life.





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~*The One with AVJ*~


Christmas meet up with That Group That Shall Not Be Named (aka AVJ) would either take place way before Christmas or after Christmas since it has become a tradition for April to spend the December holidays at her hub's birth country with the whole family.




We met up at Kichenette a cosy little French bistro located at Goldhill Plaza. It is a little place with only a few tables that serves classic comfort food. We really made ourselves at home especially when it came to taking 19403834 shots of wefie only to find that none was the best. I should have worn my glasses that day to complete the specky look.




Mushroom soup




April's Fish and Frites




I can't remember what Viv and I ordered and since Kitchenette updates their menu frequently, I couldn't find our dishes on their online menu any more.







The only thing constant in our gifts are cats.




Rub kitty's tummy.




And pose with the arty farty cats.




We still had got so much to catch up on but the place was closing and we wound up standing by the traffic light to finish our never-ending conversation. And yup... yet to blog about Cat Museum day.




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~*The One Who No Longer Wears T-Shirt*~


Just like last year, TF and I met up at Cedele Wheelock place. And if you are wondering about the strange sub heading, refer to this post.




It seems like Cedele is a favourite place to hang out with TF. It also seems like I always order the same stuff, like Mango Lassi...




... and this super healthy and yummy fish dish.




TF's dessert.




Tell me that the pink owl is so cute!




I wonder which key would be privileged enough to be the Pink Owl Key.




Obligatory Rub Kitty's tummy shot. I wish for loads and loads of good health to you, Babe! xo




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~*The One When We Needed to Indulge*~


We we grow older, it becomes increasingly difficult to find the time to meet. Evan was the last friend whom I've yet to catch up with during the Christmas season and we only managed to find the time to meet up in February, a week before the Lunar New Year! She's the very reason why Part 4 of Christmas 2015: Christmas Over To New Year could only be completed in March 2016!




We both needed to indulge in junk food that day and I was thrilled to check out Omakase Burger for the first time. OMG... the beef patty is sooooo juicy!




Adding more calories to feel happier!





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My initial draft for this post had a section on the spirit of Christmas and what Christmas meant to me. As much as I understand the background and true meaning of Christmas, Christmas to me is basking in the love and warmth of people I care for. It is a great way to end the year with so much love and also a way of showing my appreciation to the people around me by spending time with them.

That section originally came with behind-the-scenes- photos of Christmas preparation which I had intended to share with you people but I removed that section because I was simply too tired and lazy to continue on.

So here's my Christmas gift to myself to end this post. This water cutie unicorn pony is called Rarity and her characteristic traits are 90% me!



16 comments:

  1. I should have know much better than to click on one of your post at 7am, Jo....I am so freaking hungry now and I wish I have all these food in front of me! LOL!

    Shireen | Reflection of Sanity

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  2. Jolene, I am so happy to read that you were able to get together with so many of your friends over the holidays... it's so important to give time to them. You look incredibly happy in those pictures, I hope it gave you many memories for years to come.

    I think I have a very boring palette when it comes to food, not sure why... probably due to the fact that many of those different foods were not available for me to eat growing up... they do look tasty though xox

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  3. Lovely pics dear! Have a great weekend! xx

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  4. The photos from the bistro are really instagram worthy! I'm a fan of monochromatic and minimalist designs. Anyways, it's to hard to get all friends to meet up at once because of the hectic schedules, there's always someone who wouldn't make it. Glad you had all your girls together!

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  5. finally part 4:) Nice to see you catching up with your girlfriends. I like the hair tool you got for you all, that seems pretty practical. The bracelets are really sweet, matching bracelets are totally adorable.....so, almonds snacks are good for headaches? I must remember it. I've been having an awful time with headaches this Spring and it doesn't help I've caught the worst cold, virus, flu something (the symptoms seems to include all of the above and it lasts a long time).

    So many yummy dishes! I'm not sweet and sour person either but you never know until you try, right?

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  6. Such great photos and the food looks so delicious! So cool go got to see some good friends!

    Maireem | My Fair Autumn | Instagram | Twitter | Snapchat: myfairautumn

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  7. Monochrome dish?? I've never even thought of that - using colour to define a dish. What a great concept, and looks delicious.

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  8. Churroffles with ice cream both sounds and looks delicious! These look like some seriously fun meet ups, you have a lovely group of friends :)

    Gabrielle | A Glass Of Ice
    x

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  9. Oh my goodness...all the food pictures! I'm drooling. I don't think I've ever had squid ink anything before. I guess I better try it whenever I have the chance. Haha, I'm such a sweet and sour fangirl. It's such a basic dish, but I love it. And how is that hair brush working out? I've been wanting to buy one of those types of brushes since it seems like the ultimate lazy hair straightener.

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  10. You have a great circle of friends. That says a lot about you. A new comer here could read this post and understand the type of person you are. The last section surprised me. The first was about 4 friends, the second was about 3 friends, then two, then...two again! I thought somehow the last part would be about one of your great friends. :)

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  11. OMG... So I'm in the marketing business, right? And I had to write some content material on those hair brushes. I didn't actually think that they would work, but I've seen pretty good reviews about them. Love that you're still very active here on Blogger btw, you're one of the few!

    xx,
    Abby
    www.houseofakih.com

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  12. Hey Jo :)) Thank you so much for your comment. I'm the worst 'on-and-off' blogger of all times, but I am glad that you still make time and talk to me <3 It makes me really happy, especially considering the facts that there are so many new blogs every day and that there's always an interesting article to read, a youtube video to watch...
    Your food pictures make me so hungry!! Ahh haha even though I just had a late breakfast! The portion do indeed not look super huge, but if you were satisfied in the end, that's good <3 The monochrome aglio olio look so tasty *-* And you are totally right, that place looks IG worthy!

    As for benefit: I also love their products and the packaging. However, the 'they're real' mascara was a bit disappointing... :/ I got it for myself after exams (like a special treat) and for some reason it kinda smudges/the brush takes too much product.

    On a funny sidetone: When I read 'f4' I thought you named your group of friends after a group of boys in a japanese drama called 'boys over flowers' (hana yori dango) :D :D fantastic four is better though XD If you haven't seen the drama: It's so cute! It's quite old but I recommend it :)

    I wish you a lovely week!
    xxx

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  13. Your blog is the sweetest thing! Your snaps are adorable and I adore the food pictures *sigh* they look soooo good :D can't wait to read more, followed you on GFC! xx

    elizabeth ♡ ”Ice Cream” whispers Clara | (doing follow for follow on bloglovin or instagram)

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  14. Thank you all for your comments. I would take a while to either reply them here all on your blogs. xoxo

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  15. love that mickey tee btw:) I adore cartoon tees:)

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  16. It is always wonderful to see how loved you are, dear. You have a support system unlike anyone else I know, so fantastic. And also so fantastic to see those beautiful legs once again! Very fun flashback there ;) xoxo

    All Things Bright and Lovely

    ReplyDelete

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