Bali Retreat....

So glad I went along with Annie and Kodi to the Yoga retreat holiday in Taman Ahimsa in Seminyak, Bali. This was my first time in Bali, and such a lazy and relaxing time really did me a lot of good (well, beside being woken up by Cock crowing and dogs barking before 6am).

Felt like I was having a holiday with a big family in a big house, taken care by a group of friendly and caring professionals. One dining room with a huge antique wood table so everyone sits together at every meal time, next to the kitchen; always served plenty of fruits and juices and also home made cookies for snacks during tea time; lots of lounging on comfy day beds, enjoying the sea breeze in a tranquil setting with lovely gardens. Blissed out.....
I managed to think a bit too, I am glad I have come to a point of acceptance of myself. Really, life is too short to attribute blame, just have to deal with things and look forward. Also, have realized the one single significant problem that needs to be worked on -- "Control".
I am still not there yet, and a lot of areas in my personal life that I fumbled through or even tumbled over, has to do with the lack of "Control". I know I am improving now, and will consciously work on it.

Meanwhile, I can't wait to plan another relaxing holiday to Ubud, perhaps next year...Ching E is already suggesting a villa that she fancies.....

Purpose, and positive changes..

Dear blog, sorry I have not taken the time to write, nor to change the template to a more decent, respectable one (promise will do that soon..).

Have been busy reviewing, bidding adieu to old stuff, and to envision a new way of life... a new road. I remember and feel so strongly with that quote from the movie "Eat Pray Love" :

"Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation."
Well, sometimes we have to hit bottom, and reach total destruction before full re-construction can happen.. and to look at it in a good way, with ruins, the only way to go is up. Strengthening my mind, and consciously making positive changes here....I have been a master at ruins so far, time to construct the new road now...

Purpose... will have to spend more time thinking about that...

Lessons...

Life is truly a learning experience. While we continue to think and search for the purpose, there is so much to learn along the way...
I finally know that I have never really shown enough care for another.. It's true that it's not about what you say it's what you do, and you cannot ask for what you have not given. To those that we truly love, we should only give and not ask for anything in return...
That being said, we also need to know what we want and it should be a conscious choice to allow only those who "fit" to come into our lives. It is indeed heart wrenching and painful when that choice means you need to let go.. so be it. We need to be strong and march forward and strive for a better life ahead....Each of us is responsible for his/her own happiness and life.. good luck everyone!

Not taking for granted...

Many of us, very often, take the people closest to us for granted. I am guilty of this too, but I have become very aware of this and trying hard to avoid neglecting my loved ones, and try to improve my attitude and to spend more quality time..When possible, I ask myself everyday now -- What am I grateful for? ...

So glad that YongMan is back with Su (and so happy her parents have recovered), and the kids get to spend some timg doing things together too. Had a dinner party at mum's place to show appreciation to her brothers/sisters, and I am glad the catered dinner turned out to be of supreme quality, and we all had a great time...
High tea this afternoon was highlight for the kids, and all were well behaved and enjoyed (even though TingQi thought the one at Swissotel Stamford had more varities and was more exciting).

My Just-do-it trip..

I am so glad I did it! My Spontaneous trip to GZ/Macau/HK in 4D3N. Visited younger brother and "Prolexis" , met my old friend - Zhu Dan - and her talented daughter for dinner (finally had the "Zha Niu Nai" (Fried Milk fritters), missing it for 10 years! ); had lunch at the 2-michelin starred L'atelier de Joel Robuchon, and revisited Macau after more than 10 year !(watched "Zaia" and stayed in the Venetian)

Catherine was such darling for planning our Macau itinerary, and arranging dinner outing at "Rice Paper" with her friends , had such a wonderful time chatting away in the outdoor dining area with a a beautiful harbour view.

All in all, such a cool holiday.. .and it's really funny that I went through the HK customs so man times in 4 days! Also was so lucky that Mr. Robuchon himself was at the restaurant when I went for lunch, so I had a picture with the "Chef of the Century"!

Happy Mothers' Day!

This week started with a little shock and some surprises, and with the early shift (meaning lack of sleep) and super busy markets, I still managed to pull through and round up with a night out at the MBS (Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort) on Friday till 2am. Was quite fun!

Met Mum on Saturday at Bugis TCC for tea after both of us finished our shopping separately, then quiet dinner among us back at home, a warm and cosy pre-mothers' day dinner.

SiewTin had to skip high-tea with us on Sunday as Elsa was sick. YingHong and I went on with it, with Kholifah tagging along. Was very relaxing and food was as usual, creative & exquisite!
Hope that we win the prizes from the Mothers Day lucky draw!!

Feeling weird in April....

Have been really lazy and distracted, even with the mini-excitement of a trip to Phuket on 10th April have not inspired me to post anything on the blog so far... mmm... think it's just the entrance into 2nd quarter of the year that's sinking in... haa..
I must say I have made some progress in coming to terms with my inner self (though still lots of other stuff to work on in my life..) , thanks to my best pal..
It was cool to accompany Yinghong to DownTown East to watch the "Wanda" kids made a record largest number of people dancing Cha Cha in the Singapore Book of Records.
Also cool to make it to tea with the girls at the super cool yet casually lavish "Oomphatico's" for tea yesterday. The cupcakes are surprisingly good!!!
Then there is the inspiring postings in a blogsite I read that open me up to the many discussions of human behaviourial biases... mmm....

Lots of fooooood...

Thinking back, realized I had quite a few food-outings since last Thursday -
- Saraceno (my fav restaurant for now) with Joyce and Berlina ...thanks to Joyce's last minute crave to go out for dinner...the dishes were all great, finished off with the lovely Tiramisu. Never disappointed!

- Axis Lounge .... with my long time girl friends...Cocktails are weeeeeeak.. horrible. Tapas so so, only went there for the cosy atmosphere.

- Dolce Vita in the Mandarin Oriental .... Nice ambience and superb food!

- Shiraishi in the Ritz Carlton ... High quality Japanese food, and those in our dinner party who ordered the set had a surprise when their grilled dish came with an accompaniment of Sea Bream Sperm! Yeeeeeee.. 2 creamy pouches with ... well, creamy content. How did it taste? "Not fishy, quite alright..." was the comment from our adventurous diners (definitely not me). The special off-the-menu item "Beef Tataki" was really good(with a price tag to match). Me being the boring person at a Japanese restaurant only had a California Temaki and the red bean + rice ball dessert... :)

One new experience every week...

My new mission... to bring mum out to a new place every weekend -- just to make sure she gets out of the house to experience different things. Ying Hong loves spending time with her PoPo too, and when PeiShan and TingQi are able to join us, the trio always have a wildly fun time!
Last week, we zipped off to The Vista --by the ECP beach --for breakfast, and Yinghong showed off her "S-board" skills to her cousins, then we went on to Kallang Leisure Park for bowling. Dinner was out at Canopy in Marina Golf Club.. a relaxing, no-frills Cafe with a stunning view of the city in the background. They have changed the menu, raised the prices a bit, service standard is still far from desired.
Nevertheless, we had a good time chatting and enjoying each other's company..

Was ALL fun on Saturday!!

The March School holidays have arrived!!! Promised Yinghong I will bring her to Hediard Cafe for breakfast, so she can have her favourite Croissant and hot chocolate and the highly-rated Scrambled eggs (turned out so so .. hefty price for a bowl of scrambled eggs).
The hot chocolate, however, was to die for!!!! faaaaaaaaantastic!

Organized dinner at NoSignBoard seafood restaurant @ the Esplanade, so Yinghong and her cousins can have an oooooomphy start to their one week holiday.. they had sooo much fun, and I have never seen them enjoyed their dinner so thoroughly...... felt so happy..

What a weekend!!

I was thinking of the logistics of moving the bicycle and myself to the Sunday's OCBC Cycle Challenge and this idea came to mind --book a Spa package stay at the Ritz Carlton!

Yinghong enjoyed herself tremendously, and we had such a wonderful time... and even did touristy thing on Sunday -- went onto the Singapore Flyer!

I am so glad I parked the bike overnight at the F1 Pit Bike Park, and only had to bring myself on Sunday to the start point of the Race.. .cos I overslept!!! The alarm clock didn't go off, and it was 6:15 am when I woke up when the flag-off time is 6:45! Changed and dashed like an Olympic sprinter to the F1 Pit and managed to collect my bike, fasten the time chip and get to the start line just on time!!!! But forgot to take my SoyJoy bar for breakfast, so was sooooo hungry during the ride.. Not too bad.. made it under 2 hours! :) Went back to the hotel, bathed and still in time for breakfast with Yinghong at the Cafe..heee
mmmm... The Ritz was so fun, we are already contemplating booking it for the National Day fireworks...