Singapore, December 2012

I really love Singapore, but the last time Mr Ng and I went there was back in 2008 so it's been a while. This time round we went with my parents and so not only did I want to stay somewhere a little nicer but I also had strict instructions from my Mum to stay in a hotel within walking distance to Orchard Road (Singapore's famous retail strip). So we decided on the Four Seasons located on Orchard Boulevard which is just behind Orchard Road and I have to say this place has now made it on to my list as one of the nicest hotels I've had the pleasure of staying at.

Since we booked through American Express, we were upgraded to the Boulevard rooms which, as the name suggests, had a great view of Orchard Boulevard. Our rooms were super spacious and clean, had a huge bathroom with separate section for the WC and bidet and my favourite - L'Occitane bathroom amenities! And because we arrived on Christmas Day, we were delighted to find a cute little Christmas cake waiting for us:

I think it's small touches like these that really make a hotel stand out.

Our booking also included a set dinner for two per room which we enjoyed on our first night which was surprisingly very good:

The only other meals we had at the hotel were the continental breakfasts each morning but this too was really enjoyable.

Now on to Iggy's which was ranked 26th on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list last year, and was our one fine dining meal for the trip. I honestly had never heard of Iggy's until my Mum read about it in a magazine but once we knew we were going to be in the same country as Asia's Best Restaurant 2012, we booked as soon as we could. Only the degustation Christmas Menu was offered on the night we went and at SGD275 per person (excluding tax) it was probably the priciest meal I've had in my life. However each of the dishes were so beautifully presented and the flavour, omg..it really was a feast for the senses. Yes, portions were on the smaller size but by the end of the meal we all felt just right.

Clockwise from left: Snacks to start - Gillardeau oyster, Somen and Golden Oscietra, Sea bream and ankimo, Buri and egg sauce

Snow crab, Onion tart, yummy soudough bread, Alba white truffle (hands down best pasta ever)

(choice of either) Kinmedai, (or) Roast Duck, Consomme, Mr Iggy himself who was nice enough to go around and greet every single table

Forest berries - campari, blood orange and lime mascarpone, very cool food 'cover' through which the waiters asked us to smell the food after removing the metal ball before revealing the dish, Pumpkin - spiced sponge cake, Petit fours - chocolate, pecans, selection of home-made chocolates and macaroons which we picked from a 'Christmas tree'

The restaurant is located inside the Hilton Singapore on Orchard road and they only take bookings one month in advance so if you're thinking of going be sure to book as soon as you can since it's only a very small restaurant (from what we could see approximately 10 tables and a separate private dining room).

And now some random photos to leave you with:

famous Paradise Dynasty xiao long bao at Ion Orchard

out and about on Orchard Road and at Marina Bay Sands

Hawker food! including super smooth tofu fa/tofu pudding) from Hong Kong Bean in Chinatown (funny, I've never seen this in HK)

I feel like we didn't explore too much food-wise this trip but hopefully there will be a next time. I miss Singapore already...

Goodbye 2012

The end of 2012 probably couldn't have come sooner for my family - it was a crazy year full of ups and downs that sadly ended in the death of my Grandmother just days before her 90th birthday celebration. In a way though it was good that because so many of us had planned to go back to Malaysia to celebrate, we were all present for the funeral and I truly think that that's what she had wanted. She was an absolutely incredible woman who will be very much missed but definitely not forgotten.

With everything that's happened I've been in no mood to blog since coming home last month. But life as Mr Ng and I now know it is about to change in a very big way as Mr Ng heads off to HK to work from next week on. Sadly I have made the (tough) decision not to go over with him straight away so it looks like we are going to have to rely on Skype in between my trips over there for at least the next few months. I know absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder..but I also know that my nights and weekends are going to be so very boring without him around.

So back to blogging it is!

Oopsie..

Ok so I know I'm supposed to be on a major shopping ban but it's not my fault that Black Friday deals are just so damn good! In case you didn't already know, last Friday was the day after Thanksgiving and is referred to as Black Friday which is pretty much America's equivalent to our Boxing Day (but SO much better imo). I've only ever been in Hawaii once three years ago for Black Friday but omg it was awesome. Fortunately though for those of us not living in the States or lucky enough to be on holidays there around this time, many American online retailers also participate in the sales and this year was no exception.

Having been eyeing a couple of pairs of shoes for (what feels like) the longest time, I guess it was inevitable I was gonna take advantage of Shopbop's spend and save offer. Starting with a pair of black Newbury boots by Rag & Bone which I first read about on Goop's 'Packing tips for travel' newsletter back in August. There are so many great reviews of these boots over at Shopbop and I've gotta say they are all pretty much true - these boots are so amazingly comfortable, and feel more like flats than heels:

Just for reference (because I'm always searching other people's blogs for sizing advice) these ran true to size for me although I probably won't wear thick socks with mine.

This next pair is all Mr Ng's fault after he bought a copy of HK's Next Magazine featuring an article on Kelly Chen's outfits of the week:

                                                                         image from the Nov 08 issue of Next

I love Kelly Chen, and I love her style even more so into the shopping cart her Ash sneakers went as well:

Again for reference, I took these in my usual size and I can most definitely still wear these comfortably with thickish socks on. However these are available in whole sizes only so if you're between sizes it probably would be best to size down (so much for no more black shoe purchases..).

The 'Big Event' spend and save promotion is still on for another few more hours so scoot on over there now before it's too late!

Bioderma In Oz!

I've blinked and it's now only 5 weeks away from Christmas - my absolute favourite time of the year. And this year it will be especially exciting as Mr Ng and I will be holidaying with my parents over the Christmas period in Singapore before going to Malaysia to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday. And then it will be off to Tokyo just the two of us to celebrate my own birthday - the first time going to Japan for both of us so I can't wait!

But due to the upcoming travels I've been trying very very hard to curb my spending, and sticking pretty much to necessities only i.e. beauty products. Unfortunately with zero trips to either HK or the States this year I've been unable to stock up on some of my favourites and have been forced to pay the sky high prices for them here (though I suppose I should be grateful that they are even stocked here in the first place).

I've mentioned this before but one of my all-time favourites is still Bioderma's Crealine H2O which I use as a pre-cleanse to take off my make-up before I do a proper cream cleanser cleanse. I actually ran out of this a couple of months ago and have been using other cleansing waters by Vichy and Caudalie which I picked up on previous trips overseas. But I have to say ever since I stopped the Bioderma the condition of my skin has really started to deteriorate - I break out much more than usual these days and my redness has really started to increase.

So after a bit of googling I was so happy to discover that as of earlier this year Bioderma products are actually stocked at quite a few pharmacies around New South Wales and Victoria! And low and behold I managed to pick one up from a pharmacy just down the road from me:

250mL retails for a crazy $AU39.95 (I pay less than that for 500mL in HK) but at least I got a bunch of cotton pads for free which makes me feel a little better lol.

Cosmetiques de France is the exclusive distributor of Bioderma products in Australia and you can go to their website here to find a stockist near you.

Totally off topic now but the other week I was at the movies and saw a trailer for Ang Lee's new movie Life Of Pi.
My opinion? BEST. TRAILER. EVER.

Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow is Halloween, a time of the year I have honestly never cared less about throughout my entire life. But it was this time last year that my Mum and I were heading to New York and so from this year onwards I have decided to celebrate the anniversary of that trip by celebrating Halloween! And it's just not Halloween without some pumpkin carving:

 The pickings were pretty slim at Coles but this was the nicest one we could find weighing in at a good 6kg

 Off with its head!

 Keeping it nice and simple for our very first carving experience - one of Martha Stewart's designs

 Done!

A big thank you to Mr Ng for actually doing all the hard work while I supervised haha..
I've been waking up these past few mornings half expecting some feral animal to be chewing on it but so far soaking the entire pumpkin in bleach for 30 minutes has managed to keep it safe (for now). And hopefully the Vaseline we smeared all over the exposed areas will keep it from turning brown before tomorrow.

Happy Halloween everyone :)

Long Weekend In Melbourne

Ahh Melbourne. The city has always had a special place in my heart ever since the time Mr Ng and I first went almost ten years ago for our very first holiday away together. I truly love it there - everything from the food to the atmosphere to the shopping..But I haven't been for close to two years now and so we took advantage of the Labour Day Monday public holiday at the beginning of this month and headed on down for the long weekend.

As usual I shall start with some food pics this time at Laksa King in Flemington for a very late dinner:

  still busy at almost 9pm

Mr Ng's chicken curry laksa

a disappointing chicken rice to share

my assam laksa

We both had REALLY high expectations for this place considering all the rave reviews I had read online as well as the fact that one of Mr Ng's colleagues from Melbourne declared it to have the best laksa in town but I have to say we were both a little disappointed. Ok, so the laksas were good (but not great - Mr Ng said he still  prefers the one at Malay Chinese Takeaway on Hunter Street in the city) but I tend to judge places by their chicken rice and the one here was just so very bad. I suppose that's why the restaurant's called 'Laksa King' and not 'Chicken Rice King' though so if I ever go back, I will stick to the laksa.

It was then off to check-in at the hotel and this time we again decided to stay at The Blackman in St. Kilda, mainly because we were renting a car and didn't want to pay the exorbitant valet parking fees at hotels in the city centre and also because we were really quite impressed with the hotel the last time we stayed here back in 2010 shortly after it had opened. I'm happy to say it was just as good this time round as it was back then:

our spacious deluxe studio suite

great view from the balcony

Our first morning in Melbourne always starts off with breakfast at The European on Spring Street in the city  and this time was no different:

Mr Ng's mandatory mocha

the European breakfast for the man

hands down the best pikelets I have ever had in my life

The rest of the day was then spent at the pub for the AFL grand final for Mr Ng and hitting the shops in the city for me, a very good arrangement indeed ;)

It was then on to dinner at Ezard on Flinders Lane, another very late dinner since we had booked quite last minute and so only managed to get a 9.30pm reservation. Thank goodness we decided on the three-course fixed price menu as opposed to the degustation as we were falling asleep by the second course..

 amuse bouche to start

char-siu quail starter for Mr Ng

potato gnocchi starter for me

chinese style roast duck main for the husband

 my john dory (I regret not going with the snapper or barramundi)

 a side of fried kipfler potatoes - a must!

 Mr Ng's honey crunch ice-cream dessert

my fromage frais pannacotta

I think the dishes you select if you go with the three-course menu here will really make or break Ezard for you. I enjoyed each of my dishes enough but will most definitely choose other items on the menu if I were to go back. Mr Ng on the other hand said that this was definitely one of the better meals he has had at a fining dining restaurant so perhaps his choices are the way to go.

The next day started off with breakfast at Cumulus Inc. also located on Flinders Lane:

busy Sunday morning crowd

 

This was the first time here for both of us but I don't think Mr Ng was too impressed given the lack of 'sausage, bacon and eggs' on the menu. But whatever, I enjoy this kind of breakfast more than fatty bacon and egg ones.

Topshop was next on the agenda (although I think the Sydney store kinda blows Melbourne's outta the water), followed by a bit of wandering around Chadstone and then it was an early dinner at Carlton Espresso on Lygon Street:

my new favourite non-alcoholic drink, now if only I could find it here..

Ok, I had really been looking forward to this place since Mr Ng kept on going on and on about how he had heard from so many people that this was one of the best Italian restaurants in town but the pappardelle was so crunchy it actually got stuck in my teeth! The spaghetti was better but still a bit harder than I would have preferred..or perhaps truly authentic pasta should be crunchy and not al dente and maybe I've been eating poorly cooked pasta all along?! Anyways I am willing to re-visit this place simply because the service here is lovely and it was almost a full house and everybody else seemed to be enjoying their pasta so maybe it was just ours.

For our third and final breakfast we again decided to try somewhere new, this time The Hardware Societe on Hardware Street in the city. And I think this is now my favourite breakfast joint in Melbourne:

 

fantastic hot chocolate

Mr Ng was very impressed with his mocha as well declaring it to be one of the best 'modern' mochas he has had

 

yay for healthy breakfasts! well mine was anyway

And then after a bit more walking around - which included stocking up on 1kg of Famous Amos cookies lol - it was on to a final lunch at Laksa Bar which wasn't too bad at all:

 

And then it was off to the airport :(

But now on to the fun stuff - shopping highlights of the trip. And as always Melbourne never fails to disappoint on the shopping front:

my first pair of Tkees flip flops, was so excited to see them in the window at Husk

 

 sale buys from David Jones, so happy!

my first dresses from Topshop

MiH Marrakesh jeans in the Nico wash, can't wait to wear these in Summer

No more trips planned until the end of the year now so I am on a strict shopping ban from now until then! (stop rolling your eyes now Mr Ng..)