Happy Chinese New Year!

Never too late to add my greetings to all those celebrating the Lunar New Year, right? Yes, it may be the 10th day of CNY, but since we have 15 days in total I still made it!

Warning: Pic-heavy post!

It has been a full couple of weeks, considering my CNY celebrations usually start up to a week before, starting with the “family reunion holiday” – it’s still easier to book accommodation before CNY (and cheaper too!), so we usually end up somewhere in Genting for a couple of days just to catch up with everyone and have a bit of fun.

Guess who’s back? :D Twas a blast catching up with Tine again after almost 9 months – sure there’s Whatsapp and Skype, but it ain’t the same! We also celebrated my gran’s 93rd birthday…she can still strike a pose yo!

The day before I left for KL, I managed to book a slot with Clarahnails who was back from Melbourne on holidays. Make no mistake, this woman is a nail genius – from my cherry blossom nails this time, to the paisley print she did for me when I was in Melbourne last year (all done freehand with a tiny brush!), it’s always majorly impressive. LOVE!

Gorgeous skies in Genting! Sadly, the temperature seems to have risen over the last 10 years…

Oh my pretties – I was trying to travel light since I was carrying back quite a few items for family as well as knew I was going to be bringing stuff back to Singapore with me, so I decided to break out a couple of the new items I picked up over the past month. There’s the Chanel Poudre Signee de Chanel Illuminating Powder, as well as the Guerlain LiU palette – both pretty awesome in their own right!

I also ended up making my first purchase from Net-a-Porter…the YSL Arty ring! :D No they’re not all mine, we decided to make a bulk order to save on shipping. I just had to add in this pic of the L’Occitane Fleur Cherie eyeshadow duo because it reminded me so much of Stila – right down to the paper casing!

CNY is never complete without these arrowroot crisps (or ngaku), and mum was a bit adventurous this year and decided to try making homemade crabstick crisps – they look a bit weird, but taste-wise it’s awesome!

One of the best waffles I’ve had in a while – came from Out of the Pan (and a steal with 1 for 1 deals!), while the one dish I always look forward to at CNY is…yee sang! Sadly I only had it a few times this year, but there’s still a few more days to go right?

Every year, my aunt’s place in Seremban has this awesome view of a temple nearby that sets off loads of fireworks at the stroke of midnight on CNY – next year, I think I’m going to camp out there with a proper tripod. These were taken on my PnS camera balanced off a fence!

Tine was caught hamming it up for the camera (she’ll probably explain why later on her own!), and I loved the décor that was put up – not a fan of the snake year, but there were still plenty of pretty lanterns and designs put up everywhere. One place I saw decided to recycle their Christmas tree and hang little red lanterns on it instead – quite creative!

I also got a cute thumbdrive in the shape of an Oreo cookie – so adorable! Just hoping I won’t mistake it for actual food and try dipping it into milk…and Bailey says “Happy CNY” too! He was busy keeping me company while I packed the angpows to go to my parents and grandmothers. :)

This year was also the first time I celebrated CNY with Kevin’s extended family, which was held in Malacca. I hadn’t been back there in over a decade (driving through to avoid highway jams doesn’t count), so we took the opportunity to try some of the famous favourites there like the Jonker 88 cendol and ‘one bite’ durian puffs…omg so good!

It happened that we were in Malacca the same night they had their Jonker Street night market, and despite being the first day of CNY it was still packed!

I had a real trip down memory lane thanks to that night market – there were cute stubby Coke and Sprite bottles, 60s themed drinks and even these Pop Pops I used to play with as a child. Who says you have to behave like an adult all the time? *wink*

There was a cute discovery during CNY as well – Tine and I found out we were iPhone cover twinsies thanks to similar Marc by Marc Jacobs…and when I posted the pic on my Instagram, it turns out Renee (Beautyfool) also had a similar case – yay for triplets!

One of the biggest banes during CNY would have to be the traffic jams of everyone trying to make it back to their hometowns for celebrations, and this year was no different. Thanks to the jams on the highway, we decided to take a number of back roads and trunk roads to avoid getting stuck, and one of the roads we drove along reminded me so much of the scenery heading to Yarra Valley in Melbourne…ahh that brought back memories :)

Yes, those are actual purple roses – gorgeous, aren’t they? :) Since Valentine’s Day fell during the CNY period, Kevin decided to surprise me with these just before I headed back to Singapore (and yes, I carried them all the way back with me!) I also ended up getting a cute snake plushie and angpows from the bosses (I know I said I didn’t like snakes, but this one you have to admit is pretty cute!) Last but not least, I ended up with a cute little purple bin to help with decluttering – I’ve been on a cleaning and sorting spree ever since I came back from my CNY holidays…I’m hoping this holds up, it’s coming in very useful as I’m discovering items I’d forgotten I had!

And there you have it – a choice selection of moments over the past two weeks of my CNY celebration. Needless to say I had a total blast…hope yours was just as awesome, and sending all of you felicitous wishes for a prosperous year filled with health, wealth and luck!

Back from Melbourne!

WARNING: VERY picture-heavy post!

View of the Melbourne sky line at night from the Eureka Skydeck – 88 floors up!

Hel-lo peeps, didja miss me? :D The last 2 weeks have been absolutely *heaven* in Melbourne, and safe to say I didn’t want to come back at all…alas, that was all the time I could squeeze so it had to do.

When looking through my photos, I realised that I’d used my iPhone 4S as my default camera as opposed to my Lumix (not to mention posted rather a LOT of photos on Instagram!) so I’m going to share this trip through my Instagram pics…

My host for most of the trip was none other than cousin Tine, who played host, tour guide and general shopping buddy…she’s probably the biggest reason why I’ve gone there twice in the last two years – well, that and she keeps tempting me with all the good stuff in Melbourne!

One of the ‘must do’ items on my list was to get my nails done at Tsumiki Design by Clara. After seeing Tine’s McQueen nails, I didn’t have to think twice. I had told Clara I wanted a paisley-ish design and I knew the woman was talented, but OMG she still blew my mind when I saw the end result. Mind you, the design was hand-painted on with a TINY brush, and the attention to detail is astounding. I still have them on after over 2 weeks, and beyond a bit of tip wear (and me chipping my darn nail) it still looks darn good!

What would a trip to Melbourne be without meeting up with bloggers that you interact with online but never get to meet in person eh? A bit of a bummer that the meeting with Emily and Ling fell through, but I’m glad the dinner with Geek, Tina and Tine happened – was the first time meeting Tina, and that woman is a SCREAM. Am rather sad she’s gonna be leaving Melbourne soon, but hey, there’s always Taiwan/ Malaysia/ Singapore, right?

And oh the food…it was a good thing we did a lot of walking because otherwise I’d have come back 2 sizes bigger. Just check out a choice selection of the food…

Kettle chips – I didn’t see this brand around last year, and the roasted pepper & sour cream variant is to DIE for…*slurp*

Vietnamese at Thanh Dat – had a good giggle since the name pronounced in Cantonese means something else!

Excellent salt-baked chicken and other piping hot foods from the Hakka Tea House in Glen Waverly…

A funny sign at Grill’d along Lygon Street – can’t speak to its enforcement though, because after I tweeted a photo of my burger, their twitter handle replied me saying they liked the photo and hoped I enjoyed my meal. LOL!

The Perfect Pear burger from Grill’d…awesome stuff, and spectacular fries!

Managed to catch up with Eevon and a childhood friend Charms (who by the way, makes DELICIOUS desserts!) for fusion food at Red Spice Road – if you’re ever there, go for the early bird banquet. The roast pork belly and prawns are a must-have. :D

Salted Caramel Cupcake from Cupcake Central…am beginning to like this flavour just a little too much…

Clams and chorizo in white wine at Movida…

A typical big breakfast at Sass Café out in Richmond…

One of the best desserts I had – rhubarb and frangipane tart with creme anglaise and yogurt sorbet at the Tokar Estate out in Coldstream (also one of the LONGEST lunches I ever had – our 2 course meal took almost 3 hours!)

Hellenic Republic on Lygon Street receives rave reviews, and it’s not hard to see why – these are just some of the appetisers we had…

…and the rest of the dishes from Hellenic Republic – quite easily the best Greek food I’ve ever had!

You know you can’t go wrong when lunching with two chefs (Charms and Chris) and they suggest Trunk – the quesadillas and pizza were awesome!

Strawberry bizcocho from San Churro…custard, strawberries, cake and chocolate – what’s not to like??

Managed to catch up with another cousin on my mum’s side at Degraves Espresso…and I loved the prawns and mushrooms served with crusty bread. I need to find more tapas places here!

By the way, the coffee culture in Melbourne is HUGE – Melburnians love their coffee…I haven’t had any bad coffee yet (explains why Starbucks isn’t doing that well here) or drunk so much in such a short time!

A friend on Instagram suggested I try Rekorderlig after I posted a photo of my Pipsqueak Cider…and the Strawberry & Lime is fabulous. Now if only I can get Tine hooked on it… :P

Okay, enough about food…on to the rest of the highlights!

Managed to squeeze in a sleepover at Geek’s place with Tine – and it was also one of the rare times I’ve worn pyjamas (aka jammies). Can you tell who is who?

Speaking of jammies, how adorable is the Cookie Monster print on this pair from Big W?? :D The boy definitely knows what I like…*wink*

The weather was brilliant during my second week – and we hopped into a rental to visit Philip Island…with Bailey in tow!

Spotted a super sleepy (yet still greedy) koala at the Koala Conservation Centre on Philip Island – we were lucky he came so far down just for the food!

A rare appearance of the boy and I looking err…rather frost-bitten thanks to the strong winds and freezing temperatures at Nobbies – by the end of the stroll along the wooden boardwalk, I could barely feel my nose or fingers (and probably looked like a banshee with my hair flying wildly about)…

Random sign spotted on a truck in Richmond…can you imagine if someone here tried to do that?

Melbourne is a seriously gorgeous city – just check out the view from the Rooftop Bar at Curtin House. We managed to glimpse the supermoon on several occasions too despite the cloudy sky…

My trip to Melbourne wouldn’t be complete without a meal with this group – this time with one more addition!

To say I shopped my heart out in Melbourne is a bit of an understatement – I think the boy has been scarred for life after lugging back a 36kg bag (most of which was my shopping…poor fellow!). I came to Melbourne with 7kg of my own stuff (rest was for other people) and left with a 23kg bag not including hand luggage…oops!

Just part of the ‘bottle’ haul…

Gotta love having a cousin who’s a beauty blogger as well…she err, ‘declutters’ her stuff to me! :D

No visit to Melbourne would be complete without a haul from the LUSH store – the lady there was awesome, and I got a sweet deal because she felt bad for making me wait (there was a big problem with their EFTPOS system)

Revlon Matte Suede polishes! I’d been hankering after the OPI Blue Suede Ink one, but these are just as good at a wallet-friendly price of AUD4.95!

Don’t know whether to be happy or mad with Tine for bringing me to Lovisa – how did I come out with so many rings after saying I wasn’t going to buy any more stuff?

One of my favourite finds at Lovisa...love the design! I also picked up a Swarovski Blue Fidelity ring at the duty free in Singapore before my flight (no pics though…)

A money tin featuring a comic from Vimrod! :D I’m gonna use it to squirrel away money for my next holiday…

And…one of my ultimate highlights this trip – meeting my god-pup Coco!! She came home the day before I left so my ‘co-godma’ (is that even a term?) Tine and I got to spend a good half-day playing with her. That pup is gonna rule that household, make no mistake!

There you have it – a little under 2 weeks squeezed into a very looongg post! Big BIIIIIIGGGG thank you goes to the cousin (and her hubs of course!) for making this (and every other trip with her!) an awesome one. :D

And yes, this is one of those “bored so let’s play with phone photo apps” moments because we’re nuts like that.

PS: I’ll save photos of the makeup and beauty haul for another post once I’ve picked up the rest of my stash from KL. :D

Finally, a free (well not quite, but very enjoyable) weekend…

Ahhh…did you ladies have a good weekend? I finally had a weekend to myself to do as I pleased – it’s been a long time in coming, since all my weekends this year so far have either been spent running errands, travelling or out and about. You get the idea!

So what did I do with my precious two days? I think I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Saturday had a rather ominous start since I woke up super early and couldn’t get back to sleep (don’t you hate it when that happens?) so…I decided to watch movies and do my laundry instead. But the afternoon was decidedly perky as I had tea with the lovely ladies from Bella Box. The bracelet above was their “sign-in” ID – how cute!

The tea itself was amazing (I’ll do a more complete post on it later because I forgot to bring the thumbdrive with the bulk of the photos! Super fail, I know…) but the biggest highlight of the evening was….*fanfare*…making your own Bellabox! You can have a peek into the items I selected, but mind you, this was only part of the stuff we went back with.

Every participant picked out an activity from a fishbowl when they arrived, and mine was a manicure (now how did they know I needed one?) The manicures were done with Ozotic polishes, and this colour is just seriously gorgeous. I haven’t stopped patting my nails yet (and Rinnah can attest to that…LOL…)

We had originally wanted to head to the i Light Marina Bay show after that in the evening, but alas it started to drizzle so plans were put on hold until the next day, which gave me some time to do some cleaning (Random Q: Why is it everytime I clean up stuff from drawers and put them back, there seems to be LESS space than when I started??)

Sunday was Simpsons day! Hehe…I had pickedup a packet of organic pasta in Simpsons shapes (cue squeal for cute food!) and made a tomato-based sauce with bacon, onions, mushrooms and chilli for lunch. Best part? I made enough to pack my lunch to work for two days…yay! I’ve missed cooking…previous places I’ve stayed at didn’t allow cooking, and when I’m at home my mum tends to love hovering while I cook, so I haven’t been in the kitchen for a while.

And finally, we made it to the i Light Marina Bay show in the evening – it rained earlier in the afternoon, but thankfully cleared up by about 6pm so the evening was nice and cool (albeit a little damp!). The i Light Marina Bay is the second time this show has been held (first time was in 2010), and will be on until 1 April 2012.

There were more than 30 innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations on display, including a gorgeous water, light and fire show which is held just outside the MBS shopping gallery (overlooking the bay) at 9.30pm.

Mind you, the display is spread out across the whole bay and starts at 7.30pm – after over 2 hours, we had only covered half of the show so I reckon we’ll have to come back again for Part 2. Nevertheless, these were two of my favourites… :D

Brightly coloured “toadstools” made from jumbles of lights in different hues.

The “SQU1D”, which alternated between white light and bursts of psychedelic colour along its body and tentacles.

This is just something random in the Louis Vuitton window I saw while we were walking back to MBS to catch a cab – love the way the display was laid out, but to be honest I thought it took away the focus from the outfit. What do you think?

And last but not least, how I spent my Sunday morning – taking out and actually cataloguing my makeup palettes. Extremely enjoyable, and I’ll be damned if I found items that I’d actually forgotten about! *oops*

I’ll definitely go into this in a bit more detail later, but for now I’ll just leave you with this…just a part of the various palettes I have, and some I haven’t even touched!

And that was my weekend in a nutshell. How was your weekend ladies? Hit me up! :D