My very own coffee machine!! - Dolce Gusto Circolo

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Circolo Automatic
https://www.dolce-gusto.com.sg

 

I can't believe it! My very own coffee machine!
They are expensive in the market and as the only person who drinks coffee frequently, I didn't find it worthwhile to own one. And thanks to Standard Chartered Bank, I was given this machine as a gift! (For spending quite a fair bit on my credit card of course.)

I didn't expect it to be this size (retailing at over 300bucks!), I thought free gifts are normally the smaller, cheaper ones. Or require a top up, if you want to get a better one. But this was it. I went to collect it myself, and ended up with aching arms when I reached home.

I simple LOVE this machine!
It is sooo simple to use, easy to clean, and it takes less than 2 mins for a hot cup of coffee. You dont even need to wait for your kettle to boil.

Just fill the water tank with water, place the capsules into the capsule holder, select the right amount of water, and wait to see it work.

Nescafe Capsules - at S$10.90 for a box of 16 capsules - 8 cups of coffee
Each cup of coffee requires 2 capsules (milk & coffee)

  

With a variety of coffee to choose from, I make a different cup each day.
I am so proud to own this machine!

Officially a member of Big 3 Club!

I told a friend that I have officially joined the Big 3 Club, and he thought I was pregnant. -_-

I actually meant my age, and he chuckled after adding an 'oops'.

Au Chocolate

http://www.auchocolat.com/

The cakebox looked so pretty in its blue.

Wen got this cake at a hefty $90 bucks!

 

If you love rich chocolate and cheesecake, this cake is sure to make you happy, just like my 3 year old niece was. She isn't a chocolate fan, but the taste of the cheese was really strong and she wiped off the slice on her plate. Some may find this a tad sweet and cheesy.
But I like it. :)

Flutes at the Fort @ Fort Canning Park

http://www.flutes.com.sg/

A fine dining restaurant that was originally the home to former Fire Chief.

(It is situated just beside the Central Fire Station)

Take time to read the story on its menu.

It has an outdoor verandah and an indoor dining area.

Unless you are fine with the lizards crawling on the ceiling at the outdoor verandah, choose to sit in the indoor dining area like us. I would love to sit at the verandah that cooling evening, but I couldn't stop watching the lizards! Even though I was assured that they have never fell, I didn't want to take any chances.

Apart from that, the interior design of the place was actually very cosy and warm.

We were served warm slices of bread with olive oil for dips, I think they were focaccia, very nice.

 Unfortunately the rest of the pics I took of the food were too dark, I was not able to show them here. But, I STRONGLY recommend the pan fried foie gras!

It was really awesome! It was so warm and soft and it melts in your mouth!

I had the roasted victorian lamb rack and Wen had his Cape Grim Beef Tenderloin.

I had my lamb rack medium done and it came just right. Wen's beef was sadly a bit dry.

We didn't take any desserts as none of them sounded good to us, so we had drinks instead and spent some time drawing in the relaxed atmosphere.

And another gift from him, a very pretty Desigual floral dress.

I like the tagline from Desigual, 'You are not the same!'

A great way to celebrate my day, even though it was a working Monday.
It took the blues away.

Company Farewell Celebration to Me

Company Farewell Celebration to Me

@ Buffet Town - Countdown - 3 days

It was initially intended for us 5 ladies for a casual farewell lunch, but it ended up with 12 people throwing me a sumptuous buffet lunch at Buffet Town (Raffles City)!

The selection was massive - fresh seafood & sashimis, hot dishes, teppanyaki, pizzas, satays, western grilled fish, pork chop, fries, desserts included cakes, waffles, crepes, fondue, ice cream..

Teddy to Hug

The team was so sweet. They decided to get me something that I could hug and remind myself of each of and everyone of them. Said they don't really care how I'm going to take it home!

How so swwweeet.

See how one tried to make sure I wasn't peeking while they bring out the big teddy, and the other holding a box of tissue in anticipation of me breaking into tears!

I was so surprised and happy that no tears came down but lots of laughter!

Chill Out @BluJaz - Countdown 2 days

Boss decided to give a treat to all after a 2 hour staff meeting on a Friday evening.

We had mocktails, wine for the few eager ones and nibbles. I love the calamari and cheese sticks!

Gonna miss all the wonderful friends but on the other hand, I was truly glowing and happy!

heeX...

Will be off for a short break to Ho Chi Minh City before starting work again.

Very relieved indeed.

Tulips & DB Bistro Moderne

2 years running and he is still so sweet.
First, it was a surprise delivery to my office (for the first time) - a very beautiful bouquet of purple roses and tulips.
Well, like all common men, he has the 'flowers are a waste of money' attitude. So that was definitely a pleasant move. And I didn't expected this today, since we have decided not to commemorate this date in future once we have our BIG day in October.
It was something to smile about for the whole day... :)

db Bistro Moderne Marina Bay Sands
B1-48, Galleria Level
As one of the celebrity restaurants at MBS, this french bistro offers delectable dishes to you in the most authentic way the French enjoy their cuisine.



He's seriously looking into the menu...

To begin our meals, we were served the appetisers, all sorts of bread - I liked the sour dough the most. Soft and chewy. They also brought over a warm cheese bread (bottom of the pic) which was very light and fluffy.

The original DB burger. This burger is a must- try for burger lovers. A huge beef pounder with embedded foie gras and duck meat. You can see the whole meat in there for each of the items, not in usual places where they mashed everything up together. Be warned though, it looks small but I could only manage half of it.

Desserts!!!
Warm Madeleines
These puffs were served in a napkin-wrapped bowl to preserve its warmth, it was vvvv good.

~ Pomme - this is a very refreshing dessert! It has apples in 3 different forms, apple cider jelly, concocted apple-flavoured alcoholic (not sure what it's called) ice cream and apple fruit dipped in apple sauce. We tried dipping the warm madeleine with the ice cream, and we liked it!

We ended the night with a movie - Chronicles. We were never fans of hand-held films, but I must say, this movie was manageable and we enjoyed the storyline.

All in all, thanks for everything Wen.

Transportation is against me these days

Something is not going right these days... with planes... with trains... with me.

My recent trip to Beijing was fabulous. More on this in my next blog entry.

We were expected to take the 2am flight home that night, and when we arrived at the airport, we were told this: "Sorry, the pilot is sick and this plane will be delayed till 1pm tomorrow. We shall be arranging a ferry bus to take all to the airport hotel." What?? Pilot is sick and we are all stuck? This was really something new to me. I never thought pilots are that important to Airline. No pilot = Lose time, lose money, lose confidence. We then learned on the next day that the pilot had food poisoning and the airline flew in another pilot to take us home. Lucky for me, hotel was excellent (5star hotel), breakfast was good, we got the travel voucher, free in-flight entertainment & food & we got to claim travel insurance.

And just today, after spending almost a week in a foreign country, I was happy to be back in SG. Everything seems good, until I took the train home from work. My train was stuck underground for almost 45 mins - no lights, and worse, no ventilation. I was calm at first when the train came to a halt, and my cabin's light was faulty. Even when the whole train went black out, I still did not think much about it. It was after 15mins when I could feel that air got thinner, that I could sense my fear, and others' fears as well. Lucky for me, there was this Caucasian elderly, I called him The Man, in my cabin. With other locals, they spoke through the speaker to the driver to open the door to allow ventilation. The driver refused to barge the rule. When it got really bad another 15mins later, The Man pulled the door opened with his hands, with the help of another local. I think this is a safety feature of our trains that they are easily opened when forced. (Watching the news now, people actually smashed the train 'windows' with a fire extinguisher! Silly.) With the door left half opened, we got to breathe better. But everybody was perspiring and fanning and worried. People started to call their loved ones. I called the 999. Train lights came on and off, I could only hope to get back home. The Man then took charge in my cabin and people started joking and laughing. And The Man even got a 'choir' singing the Xmas carols! It got everybody's mood up. When we finally got to the station, everybody cheered. However, when the door was still not opened when we were there, The Man again (with another man) pulled the door opened, and asked all of us to get out. I thanked him before making my way out of the door. I went straight to the control room to get help to open the door and the whole station was filled with stranded people. Luckily the door automatically opened a few minutes later. It was a pleasure meeting kind & happy people. Lucky for me, The Man was there in my cabin.

Not that any of these is bad, I experienced the crisis and enjoyed the fun bits of it. Most importantly, I am glad to have lived through them. Thanks, but no more please...!

Posting a blog is not easy!!

I have been trying to put together a travel blog of my recent trip but just as I was about to finish the first five days of my trip, somehow (i know it was totally my doing) the entire post was saved... blank!! Took me weeks to load the photos, and another week to write.. lots of skipping lunch and all... :(

Well... I need time (& motivation!) to gather the information again...

Till then..

(Extracted from the web)

Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay
To those who loves historical fiction, this book is definitely for you.
I couldn't put this down.

A significant part of the Holocaust was secretly hidden away from knowing, July 1942 marked a dark period of French History. Tens of thousands of Jewish families were arrested and held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver and the Drancy internment camp nearby, finally shipped by railway transports to Aushwitz (Poland) for extermination. Not by the Nazis. But the French police.

The Vel' d'Hiv Roundup unveiled another 'interesting' fact about the French authorities at that time. As a sign of collaboration with the then mighty Germany, the French Police actually arrested Jewish children (below 16), in hope of making up a scenario to the general public that the families were deported for work, even though the arrest of children was not requested by the Nazis.

This book brings you to the past of 1942 and the present at 2002. It tells the story of a 10 year old Jewish girl Sarah Strazynski who is forced to go to the Velodrome d'Hiver with her mother and father, innocently leaving behind a 4 year old brother Michel locked in a secret cupboard with the assurance that she would return to let him out when it was safe... Read to find out what happened, what was discovered and what it eventually led to...

I told Wen about it and we agreed that it would make a good movie.
I did a google on the title and... voila! It is screening in Australia!
I can't wait to catch it when it arrives in Singapore!

Christmas 2010 >>> Feliz Navidad!

Christmas @Home...

with the Gang!

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a day to celebrate a year older.

Morning was greeted with a sudden discovery and unsettling minds.

Wasn’t in the mood to work, wasn’t in the mood to celebrate either.
But everything changed that evening.

He surprised me with a new haircut!

Having had many haircuts before, the one he had was boring.

The new haircut caught me by surprise; he had rushed in between his work and sending me to work in the morning, meeting me for lunch and then picking me up the evening to get that done.

Nice.

He said he had a gift for me, and presented me with this!

I knoooow I said that the shape of a heart was interesting and that it was nice to see a vehicle with this sticker before, but still…

Anyway, this made me laughed for the first time today.

He whipped out this from his hand as we got out the car.
The three words it was supposed to mean, 3 was more than enough to warm my heart.

Whatsmore, they are purple.

He surprised me with a place I had always wanted to visit
~ INDOCHINE Clarke Quay ~

Not a pub or clubbing person, I thought this place is some sort of a pub (pub/club, I don’t know the difference.)

I didn’t know they served proper dinner, a lavish one even.

The elaborate table setting, terracotta soldiers on display, classic ancient music surrounded the place, we were treated and felt just like the ancient Emperor and Empress.

And then the food came.

I like the place very much. We could chat undisturbed and food was good.

Dinner at 8, we were famished.

Rice was unlimited and the dishes were served for more than 2 pax.

We took a stroll outside at the balcony and the view was just as good and relaxing.

The last surprise came, complete with a song from him and the crew.

The feeling was good.

We then took a stroll along Clarke Quay and dropped by TCC for a dose of coffee and berry smoothie, a perfect ending to that night.

He made it memorable in the best way he could which I never have thought today would turn out to be.

Nothing beats what he did.