It has been 5 days since I've returned from my trip from China. It has been a really crazy 10 days in China with their crazy-ass-unpredictable-weather. I tell you, it is really MADNESS, one moment you will feel cold to your bones; the kind where you feel the chill blowing through your spine, and another moment you will be perspiring through your woolly sweater. To tell the truth, I love the cold weather, mainly because Singapore is SO BLOODY HOT. And whenever I head over to cold countries, this gives me reason to buy WINTER CLOTHING/COATS. This time I treated myself to this beautiful fit and flare coat from ASOS. It is so freaking beautiful, I almost cried when I first wore the coat.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures (or decent pictures actually) of my trip to post here as the DSLR is still with le bf who is still millions of miles away from Singapore. Yes, he is still in China! #jealous Well this post is just a brief touch-up on what I did in China. The first day was the worst; mainly because we had to transfer flight from Guangzhou. The people I met there are simply horrible I tell you. They haven't have the slightest idea of what good-manners is. There is this bitch who stepped on my parcel without even apologizing when she knows it damn well her fat foot was on top of my stuff. So I scolded her and she was like "Oh, you can't scold me that .." (obviously in Chinese), and le bf heroic shouted at her, daring her to pick a fight. Of course, she fled off like a pussy. Not trying to create trouble actually, all I wanted was a simple apology from her for being a fat ass.

The moment we touched down in China, le bf's parents and best friend came to pick us up from the airport. Even though bf's mother was not feeling well, she still made the trip to fetch us, I was really touched :) So this time in China, I managed to control my-other-self - my shopaholic-crazed-maniac-self. It was not surprising that le bf would take note of how much I would spend whenever I went back to China. This time, I really had to put a metal lid on my urges. So what did I do during my time in China you may ask ... Well, this time I am proud to say that I have spent most of my time getting to know le bf's friends and family more. Bf's best friend whom he called Xiao Hu, was a very gracious friend indeed, every time I came to China, he would always plan fun activities for both bf and I. And I really do enjoy myself every single time.

Besides all the exploring the best eateries in China, which includes me gorging on food which I have been craving ever since, we had activities such as flying kites, going to flower gardens, enjoy a spin around the city, visiting the friend's house for a simple meal. Well, I don't have any pictures now to show, but that was the summary of what I did in China. Of course I will share more details of my trip in my next post :) And, I did put aside 3days out of my 10 to spend them on SHOPPING! #hooray The previous times I was in China, I really did burn a hole in the wallet dragging home a luggage that was literally filled to the brim. This time, I limited myself to really quite little and in the end I could fit all my shopping hauls into half a carry-on. Really quite a surprise right? Therefore, I've made a vow that the next time I'm going overseas, I'm bringing my own luggage. This way I can limit myself not to spend so much money; that's right, I'm actually saving for the future :) Which I will not elaborate further for now .... ^-^

At the end of the trip, the worst part was naturally saying good-bye. This time, I felt more connected to le bf's mother because finally I am able to understand most of what she says and when I speak in Chinese, she could understand me too! #achievementunlock Le bf has trained me well! I cried like crazy when I had to enter the terminal gate and I clung onto the bf not wanting to let go. I was scared because this was my first time travelling alone, in addition, it was my first time transferring flight all by myself! And the transfer flight was in Shen Zhen! A foreign country which everybody speaks freaking Chinese and I had no translator by my side. The flight to Shen Zhen was quite tensed as they kept delaying take-off. I spent 4 hours in the airport just waiting to board my plane. And I was lugging three carry-ons: one is my VSPINK carry-on which was super heavy with all my school books (I thought of studying in China but failed miserably), another is my shoebag which consisted of my cheer shoes and other small items (yes le bf was super enthu about taking stunts pictures in China and we did!) and the last was an LV tote which had all my clothes and souvenirs + snacks inside. Carrying all three of them is a freaking chore - they were fucking heavy I tell you. I felt like I was going to dislocate my shoulder whenever I carried them altogether.

BUT, thank God, I met a few kind souls on my flight to Shen Zhen. The person whom I was sitting beside on the plane helped me a lot. He took the initiative to help me put my bag in the overhead compartment when he saw me struggling like crazy to do so. Plus, after the plane touched-down, I had difficulties carrying all my three carry-ons out of the plane and he and another guy stepped forward to help me carry! I was shocked. When I told the bf about this, he was sceptical about it and asked me to check whether my valuables were still inside as he feared that they might want to take advantage of the situation to steal my stuff, but I assured him that everything was in place. Another scenario was when I was finding my way through the Shen Zhen airport for the International Terminal, this officer saw that I was quite frantic as my flight was only 1 hr from taking off, and I was nowhere near finding my terminal. Knowing I was a foreigner, he took his time to explain how to get there the fastest way and he spoke slowly and really clearly, consistently asking me whether I understood. I could tell that he was busy with his own stuff, but he still took the time out for me.

After rushing through three fucking terminals, I finally reached the International Terminal for my flight back to Singapore. I swore that was the most crazy, frightening experience I ever had of flying. Yet, I have to admit that it really changed my opinions on people from China. I've always thought they were mostly a crude bunch of people, but I have been proven wrong time and time again. One instant would be my bf's family members and his closest friends - they have always been so gracious and kind towards me :') Another instant would be those kind strangers who did not take advantage of my clueless situation. Hahaha saying that makes me feel like I'm a bimbo :S

The moment I reached Singapore and walked out the gates, I found myself shedding a few tears. I guess it feels really different without the bf beside me, and the plane flights have been excruciatingly painful since I have always never been able to fall asleep on planes. 14 hours gone just like that O.O Well I didn't go to school even though the second half of the semester has started; I was not feeling well. Some say it may be due to me being heartbroken or love-sick, but after seeking professional help, it seems that I am currently suffering from low blood pressure. Not high ... but low blood pressure. Not sure how that happened though, but it made me feel pretty weak for like 24/7. I took another week break from both trainings and school, but I still have to rush through the seemingly endless project works and catching up on lectures/tutorials.

Wish me luck for the next few weeks, because my end year exams are coming and I sure am hell not prepared for it. Worse of all is that I have no one beside me that I can share my problems with :( Normally I will always cry on le bf's shoulders whenever I feel stressed out, but this time, I've got no one. #foreveralonemuch But the bf is still giving me tons of encouragement through whatsapp and I do appreciate his sincere efforts :)


I love you Chen Cheng, and I really miss you so much. I truly wish you are here beside me, hope to see you soon :')
Distance do make the heart grow fonder.

" Because time spent with you is the best present one could ever have ... "

Everybody has a special day they always look forward to: be it Valentine's Day, Christmas, Chinese New Year etc ... One thing for sure, I always look forward to my birthday. It not only marks the ageing of one year, but it marks another passing year for me :) I know many will make a big fuss about them turning 21, but frankly speaking, I prefer just a simple celebration with my loved ones. I have been to so many 21st parties and it was always so glamorous and crowded with friends, family and relatives. It felt rather hectic. So this year, I did not expect any grand parties whatsoever, I just wanted to spend time with my family and bf.

Well, bf had a hard time racking his brains on how to celebrate my birthday, and he was literally stressed out. He was really overwhelmed by all the 21st birthday parties he had attended and they were all meticulously planned and executed. As such, he felt he had to do the same for my birthday. But I reassured him in the end that it did not matter whether we celebrated in a hotel, in a restaurant, at home, at the park, I just wanted us to spend time together. This calmed him down. And then a few days before my birthday, he told me to come meet him at Bugis for dinner. Well, I thought it was just a simple dinner as usual accompanied by a slow stroll around Bugis Junction, but in the end, I found myself strolling into the Intercontinental Hotel. Frankly speaking I was quite shocked and the restaurants there were rather fancy. However, bf just pulled me into a restaurant called the Olive Tree.

As we got there rather early, around 5plus, there were hardly anybody there, which was good news for us! Olive Tree is an international buffet in which they served different types of cuisines every day. The last time bf came here with his business buddy, they were serving Malay cuisines, which was quite a feast for the both of them. This time, they were serving cuisines of both Eastern and Western cultures, which I had a grand time trying out from both worlds.





Just as I was trying to configure my camera, le bf had already proceeded to claim his first dish.



Their sushi is the bomb! Every sushi tastes so fresh and their rice has an amazing fragrant!





I think you can make a guess who took this plate. Their oysters are another must-haves! Le bf told me that their oysters are probably the best he had ever tried in Singapore, and trust me when I say that my bf is a seafood fanatic. So if he says that these are the best, I take his word for it! And they were good :)



My bf looking all cute and dazed *squeals*











Here is another dish to take note under the "must-haves" list: you may think that this is just regular steamed fish with a bit of tomato sauce splattered over it. But you're dead wrong. This is no ordinary steam fish, or at least they don't taste ordinary. I think it could be the spices and sauce that really made this dish so mouth watering. Plus the flesh was really soft and delicate, in this case, my bf would compare it with a virgin's touch. Haha







Amazing chocolate mousse cake I found near the entrance.

Lo and behold, I stumbled upon their dessert corner! Their desserts occupied 3 tables and my eyes literally lit up in glee. Everything there looked so amazing and I really couldn't decide which to eat as I was already half full from all the other food I had stuffed my face into (o^^)o



Here we have assorted jellies and pudding, and by golly, the mango pudding on the bottom right hand corner is a super hot favourite for both bf and I! Bf also fancied the vanilla pudding just beside the mango pudding, however the greenish thingy on the top was not that nice, so bf kept scooping out the green goo before eating. What a fussy boy! :P



I just love how they arrange their snacks! It is such a pretty sight indeed :)



Say hello to their fondue table! This is simply heaven on earth! I had a ball of a time emerging my marshmellows with hot fudge.





On the other side, we have an array of small cakes. I did not eat any of their cakes because I was just too full to indulge anymore :(



Strawberry pie! *swoons*



On another table, we have asian delights!



Nonya kui anyone? :D



Strawberry chocolate fudge cake. I was so tempted to try this out! But I managed to resist my carnal cravings for sweets.



I was also amazed at their displays of food and desserts, everything is just so neatly and well arranged!



Here you can see such exemplary case of beautiful arrangement.
Oh, their cheeses are simply wonderful. Having a thin slice stacked between crackers seemed pretty simple, but the taste was extraordinary! It was nothing I had ever tasted before. I really could not take my hands off their cheese table *shys*









More choices of food! :)







Le bf and his bowl of ice-cream which melted away as I kept trying to take close-up shots of it. Heehee



Le bf trying to use the chocolate fondue to write a note for me!





Tadah~ His lovely note for me! :) It took quite a while for bf to write it so nicely, but the hilarious thing was that after 2+years of dating my lovely bf, he still doesn't know how to spell my English name! Ahhh, such a naughty boy!





I'm the luckiest girl in the world ^-^









I truly am so blessed to have such a caring boyfriend like Chen Cheng. To think that he almost tore his hair out trying to plan a perfect birthday party for me, when I just wanted to spend time with him alone. He is such an angel, really (: Sure we have times when we will argue for days, or not see eye to eye for many days, but in the end I still love him deep down in my heart. He has never forsaken me in my time of need and he has always tried his best to bring joy in my life. I really do need to learn how to treasure him more in my life, because I know for sure that without him, my life will be very different - meaningless even.

So a little note to my one and true love; thank you for the smiles you have bestowed upon me. Sorry for the tears you have shed for me, but whatever happens my dear, I will love you till the end :) Your sincere love, your honest efforts and your stunning personality never fails to make me fall ever so deeply in love you. Thank you for the most delightful birthday dinner ever, I love you Chen Cheng.

" Christmas is all about sharing the love around family members and friends; indulging in this festive season and bonding over good food. Such warmth is what I truly look forward to every Christmas season. "

I have always looked forward to celebrating Christmas with my loved ones: my beloved family members, my dearest cousins and of course my darling bf. Well my Christmas last year was spent in China in a bar - not exactly a conventional Christmas for me though, but I still had fun because I got to play bar games with my bf and his close friends. Anyway, this year, I had to consistently pestered my mother to plan a Christmas party for both my cousin's and our family. My mother was quite hesitant at first because our maid was going back to her hometown for the holidays and it would be quite a hassle to clean up after the party. However, thanks to me being rather persuasive, my mother agreed! :)

My mother planned this party a few days before Christmas because she wanted a few days to rest up before going back to work, and the rest of us had other plans around the time of Christmas. My mother started the tradition of having a turkey when I was a child, and she had been keeping it true ever since. Trust me when I say it is not easy to prepare a turkey: you have to start preparing it a few days before it is cooked. As for the steps on how to prepare it, I am not sure about the details itself, so I shall not go into that :S

Well, I was unable to help my mother out at home because I had trainings, but my mother is a superwoman herself. And she managed everything perfectly :) Amazing right! Another amazing thing was that one of my bf's students, Kunqi returned to Singapore just in time to attend the party. He was actually quite excited to attend the party and so was I! It had been eons since I last saw him :P So, on that day, my bf went to the airport to fetch him and brought him to visit the secondary school he was posted to after his PSLE. While le bf was spending the whole day outside with his kid, I had to stay in to help my mother :)



Say hi to le bf playing games with his kid :)





Turkey still baking in the oven~



My mother single-handedly put up this Christmas tree; just love the decorations and lightings so much :) Pretty ttm.



This is one HUGE Rilakkuma doll which kunqi gave me for my Christmas present! I squealed the moment I saw him lugging through the door. Omgosh :P



The turkey seemed pretty baked, if you know what I mean ^^



My mother got this recipe for bread pudding from her friend and in my opinon, this pudding was the BOMB! It tasted WONDERFUL! Everybody had nothing but praises for this dessert and I had two servings of this after my dinner even though I was quite full :O





Me playing Xbox 360 which I had not touch for one year plus! Oh, and just pardon my HUGE ass.







My elder brother specially prepared this plate of prawns with his own recipe. It was really good, which actually put me to shame because my own brother is a better cook than me, a girl! *SHOCK* -.-''







My elder cuzzy prepared this bowl of spaghetti with my aunty, and I have to tell you that this tasted better than the ones you eat at Pasta Mania etc.



And my mother popped open two bottles of white wine for this special occasion: a good reason for me to start training my alcohol levels :P



See! I told you my grandfather had a stunning smile :)





Oysters le bf ordered because he wanted a free knife from their collection o.o haha!



The man of the family slicing the ham for the family! :) At first he tried to slice thin slices, but the more he sliced, the thicker the slices got. And in the end, he just gave up and just went for thick slices. Hahaha it was quite funny actually :P





Here's the full spread! It really does look amazing, doesn't it? :D





Family portrait 01.



Family portrait 02.



Family portrait 03.



Family portrait 04.



Family portrait 05.









Everybody digging into the good food!

Dinner was meant to start around 7pm, but the turkey and prawns took longer than expected to get ready, so dinner was dragged until 8plus. In addition, my elder brother and I were snapping numerous pictures of the food so we kind of dragged the time to 9pm. Hahaha it was just too hilarious, my dad was like at a breaking point and he was trying to stop us from taking any more pictures of the food. In addition of having a scrumptious meal amongst dynamic company, we also enjoyed two tremendous movies: What To Expect When You Are Expecting and Taken 2. I love watching movies with my family and cousins. Why? Because they will always come up with something absolutely hilarious which just makes you want to laugh your head off. Seriously! It's like watching an impromptu drama.

Even though the celebration seemed pretty simple, I really enjoyed myself entirely. It was great catching up with my cousins whom I hardly see because of our busy schedules, and having dinner together with them was really a true joy. Thank you all for the awesome Christmas celebration, and I sincerely love you all so much. Have a Merry Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The year 2013 will be even more awesome than 2012, and I will definitely make 2013 a worthwhile year :)