the rainy season

I'm finally back from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's been a busy two weeks away - work, work and more work. But of course, it wasn't without any fun...

I've been trying out amazing food places with my colleagues / boss (mostly fantastic recommendations by the hotel concierge) and managed to squeeze in one facial at Clarins. That's about it, oh and yea I managed to check out the huge malls in KL - Pavilion, KLCC and the lovely area of Bangsar.

So besides the horrible complaint I had to make about the Shangri-La hotel for terrible customer service, everything went well. And now I have to recuperate from my minor procedure done yesterday morning. I've also just gotten news that I'll be off to Bangkok by year end - not too sure about the dates for now - but I'm looking forward to it!

Let's move on to the pictures, shall we?

In Pavilion KL, one of my fav shops - MJ :)


A gorgeous cafe - by Carat Club @ Pavilion KL

Where I had my amazing chocolate "sweets" - seriously. One of the best.

And delicious lobster bisque - I miss it!

Thai Restaurant Celadon at Pavilion KL - took my breath away! Love their chairs, and their food tastes great!

High tea at the executive lounge, The Shangri-La

Room service dinner after a long day at work - roast chicken and lemon tart

Dinner at Bijan with boss - really good local food...

Clarins where else :)

Lovely shops at Bangsar area

Starbucks with Yappy - weekend chill...

Dragon-i Restaurant at Pavilion - nice! Will really give Crystal Jade a run for their money...

Starhill - next to the Marriott

Now, this is how I feel...I just wana rest this weekend, and if only I can stare out into the city skyline like this and float away.

c'est super!

It's a fine day and this is what I've put together for lunch this afternoon with CL babe!

1) Charlotte Russe Military Shirt Dress

2) YSL Mombasa

3) Charles & Keith Light Gold Heels


Lunch at Au Petit Salut on Harding Road in Dempsey was pretty amazing. Extremely appetizing and fulfilling - Rated Top Three in the recent World Gourmet Summit 2008, I can't say more! :)

My entree of escargots, my main of seabass, chocolate sauce and ice cream - absolutely divine!


Have a good weekend! I'm on cloud nine :)

Of cupcakes and Chloé.

A beautiful late morning and early afternoon with Yappy.

First up, to settle some personal errands together, and then it was off to epicurious @ Robertson Walk for brunch. Nice and slow. Exactly like how all weekends should be, free from stress and busy thoughts!

Now while @ Robertson Walk, we could not possibly not stop by Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie for their tarts and cakes - lovely! Stuffed from brunch, definitely it had to be a take-away order. I've heard their new outlet at Shaw Centre has nice pastas etc as well..mmm...

Then, it was me off to get my brows done, and Yappy was off to run errands...Whilst in town, I could not resist checking out what some boutiques had in store.

This is what I came across - I know it's old season but what a classic anyways - Chloé's Paddington in black and matt gold. Love it! And, they've come up with little miniatures in keychains as well. How cute.

It's beginning to feel like X'mas!

The streets are lined in gold and lit up with pretty silver lights :) I think mainly what I'm trying to miss out on is the X'mas crowd - way too many people squeezing around and I think it's something I'd gladly give up for a cup of nice tea just chilling at home!

R and I went for dinner last week at this amazing Japanese pasta restaurant - Pasta de waraku. We loved it! There's a newly opened branch at Central (Clarke Quay) but we went on down to the one at Marina Square which was a lot less crowded! The pastas and their pizzas on display look so yummy and to be honest, when we finally tucked it, we can see why friends have gone back for more! :)

On the topic of food, LX and I made our way down to the foodcourt down at Takashimaya's basement the other day and yes it was as crowded as ever. And here's her recommendation - Japanese fried noodles which was an interesting twist from what I'd normally have - it's pretty unique but maybe not that all my cup of tea...too much of that mayo sauce for my liking...

X'mas shopping is never quite complete without a new colour palette for the new year...haha or so I'm discovering as the months are passing. Just added Lancome's day and night eye colour duo to my collection and am awaiting the Jill Stuart mixed blush compact I've ordered to arrive - check it out - it looks so very pretty with all the crystals! I can't wait!

More makeup from Jill Stuart...just look at the gorgeous packaging right - I'm melting...

Ah yes, I got my second X'mas gift today! :) (The first one being the gift from R) - Thanks to Durrow Gal, I'm going to be a lot more financial savvy in the new year! More resolutions, more determination...

"Think of all the beauty thats still left in and around you and be happy! " - Anne Frank

Fabbrica @ Dempsey

Sunday lunch at Fabbrica with the family turned out to be rather relaxing. And nice :)

Other than the mussels dish which didn't impress as the mussels were not up to standards in terms of freshness...everything else was quite appetizing...

I must say, Dempsey is evolving into a really quaint pretty area and I can so see myself going back up soon!

(click on the pic for more peeks!)

Hope y'all had a great weekend! :)

Yes, it's all back to the office tomorrow...

...and of food...

Let me start off by saying that we had a wonderful dinner at Melt - The World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental Hotel in celebration of our first year anniversary! :)

Service was really good - and the buffet spread was quite varied - finally, the food was really satisfying! And also, kudos to the hotel on their amazing facelift. We thought Melt was pretty nice with all the lovely colours too :)

(click on the pic below for more photos!)

Saturday

Look at what I saw at Paragon when I was out shopping with IC! :P

How pretty!

Relaxing moonlit night

Joined my family for a bout of shopping at Vivocity (no, I didn't buy anything! But Jo bought a beautiful green dress and the long leather wallet a couple of us were eye-ing from the M)phosis sale, and a cute pair of shoes from Topshop, plus a pair of jeans from Forever 21!). Then we had dinner at Coastes by Siloso Beach at Sentosa, finally followed by drinks at Cafe Del Mar... :)

Time to finish up my "Happy Feet" DVD before turning in. It's back to work tomorrow...

I had lunch with dearest Durrow gal at Sakae Sushi...It was light, brief but well spent...

Then, after, I met up with GW and EY and we three ladies spent the whole day walking around town - and there were so many people!! Dinner was a nice affair at Corduroy & Finch...we had the tenderloin steaks, which were pretty good :)





And EY gave me her wedding invite! It's the prettiest one I've ever received! :) In a chocolate box with sucha lovely birdcage print...and the inside card tied with a black ribbon and adorned with a fluffy deep purple feather! Wow...Now, I can't wait to attend her wedding!



"All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

Menotti

Had dinner with my RG ladies (SC and Yappy) at Menotti, Raffles City. Finally, I got to try the famous crab linguine the ladies have been raving about :) Shredded crabmeat, with linguine in a creamy tomato-based sauce - Yum! It's slightly spicy and peppery but lovely and extremely fragrant! After dinner, I had the chocolate mousse cake with a raspberry sauce centre topped with a macaroon. Never had anything like it! Apparently a lot of their other sweets are mouth-wateringly to-die-for too...like their tiramisu etc...I shan't go on!

I'm happy. Yes, tired but happy.

...and I have to hit the gym starting next week. GW has inspired me to lose weight :)

The Grill Hillcrest @ Greenwood Avenue

We checked out The Grill at Hillcrest (formerly Coq n Bull) on Sunday with R's family for Mother's Day. Excellent says it all! Service was impeccable, and food was amazing (at reasonable prices). I had the daily special of lamb leg, which was a generous portion served with mashed potato and roasted veges. It was yum! :) Tender and just beautiful.

The rest of the family had cod, pasta, prime beef, seafood, beef stew and dory. We had a share of appetizers of king seared scallops and portobello mushrooms stuffed with escargots (a must try!!).

And to top it off, roasted bananas with ice-creams to end the fantastic meal!

Afterall, it's Chef Lee from the former The Canteen by the Les Amis Group at the helm of the grill...Should check it out sometime! Just be sure to drive!

Sweet colours

Thinking of checking out Canelé by the Les Amis Group sometime next week before I head to HCM, Vietnam :) Just looking at their lovely Macaroons on display at their site is making me go weak!

R and I took an early start to this sunday and headed down for the Marriott talk. Interestingly enough, I never knew the Bvlgari group of resorts were under the same umbrella group. Well, it didn't strike us to sign up on a 5 yr committment, but we did leave the talk $100 richer...

"Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." - Napoleon Hill

Café del Mar

Can I just say that while the food was average, however my strawberry daiquiri could rival the one I had in Paris at Hotel Costes - amazing and totally yummy! :)

As expected, music totally lived up to expectations and was fantastic...should check it out when there's a chance!

Music to the Sunset

R, Shirl, MP and me are heading to Café del Mar at Sentosa for drinks tonight :) Somewhere I've always wanted to check out for the longest time - absolutely LOVE their music!

More later...

It's finally the long Easter weekend...R is back till Monday - and the good news is - The Boy no longer needs to fly until his next stop in August / September, which translates into R will be based in Singapore till then :) YAY!

We had a simple dinner - for just the 2 of us - it was nice, and definitely something we should do more often :)

Due to a lack of time, we had prawn paste chicken and spinach with garlic bought back from the shops opposite, and I made chicken soup with carrots and corn :) There's something missing at the table (can you spot it?)...so we added on...

Viola! 2 glasses of our lovely limoncello brought back from the streets of Venice, Italy, mixed with a dash of coke completed it all :)

"Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination." - Voltaire

PS Cafe

Nestled amongst the greenery and hidden within the Dempsey estate lies the PS Cafe. The only tell-tale sign of the cafe's location is a modest wooden sign with its name imprinted, leading to its entrance via a wooden planked path.

It reminds me of how relaxing weekends should be. Akin to the good old days back in Melbourne, and yet similarly resembling a little buzz of activity over a cup of earl grey in a nice green house with other like-minded people on a lazy sunday morning.

Prices were not the most competitive I must say with the bill for us 2 ladies coming up to approximately S$50+, however, I enjoyed the scrambled eggs brunch with my lil piece of haven.

Once again, it's really like how weekends should be - nice, long, relaxing and in a different world :) And, thanks to Yappy for a great find and recommendation!

"A sponge to wipe away the past, a rose to sweeten the present, a kiss to greet the future."

Dinner last night was fantastic. First let me say we ended up at La Strada - Ristorante and not the Pizzeria (which was full and they only take walk-ins). The food (as always with the Les Amis Group) was delectably presented and entrees were yummy! Main courses I felt were normal in taste but the ambience of the eatery was well worth paying for! It felt as though the group of us were away somewhere in Paris :) The waiting staff were slightly snobbish but I guess given time, there might be improvements...

Happy Birthday babe!!!

Just to rave - my new TV console has finally arrived - and it's lovely :) I can't wait to set up the new bed in the other room!

Have a great weekend! ;) I have a looo0000ng week ahead!

pour vous

It's all set! Will be zipping off to Phuket for my spa break in September, and then next stop wintry Rome / Florence / Venice in the last month of this year! I can't wait! :)

I'm also yet another year older now but have just come to realise that despite the rare human disappointments, I've been so blessed with so many wonderful people around me :) So thank you all for remembering my hatchday!

Dinner at Wiener's was amazing - I felt as though I was in a different land altogether. Now that I think about it, I do miss Vienna too...



My fav dish there...the schnitzel!



It's GA's big day today - stay beautiful! :)