HANDSOME

I cut my hair short. Again.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to write an entry so I just posted a photo just to update this blog. Hihi. :D

MOM'S DAY 2013

Happy Mother's Day to this cool mother of 3. And to all wonderful moms out there -- Enjoy your day!!!

You are amazing! :)

FUN-FILLED LABOR DAY

Since it was a holiday plus my friend's mom's birthday was just around the corner, we spent our day full of fun and adventure in Sentosa.

Morning 'til afternoon we were at Adventure Cove. It is a water park full of attractions such as wave pool, slides, a wading pool, snorkeling pool with coral reef and about 20,000 colorful fish, a swimming area where you can touch and mingle with sting rays and a lot more.

 

 

Some of the rides, on the other hand are: Riptide Rocket, Tidal Twister, Dueling Racer, Pipeline Plunge, Whirlpool Washout, Spiral Washout, Big Bucket Treehouse.

For tickets that are priced at SGD29 for adults and SGD20 for children you can spend your whole day enjoying swimming and riding the attractions. The park is worth visiting though I was not able to maximize my day there. It was raining with thunderstorms so they stopped operating the rides for a while. My friends who went there ahead of me tried the Dueling Racer, a water slide where you can challenge a friend to a race.

 

They also rode the Pipeline Plunge. Obviously, it is a long pipe so I did not dare try (I am claustrophobic and didn't want to die yet.. hahaha!).

 

There's also a wave pool but didn't want to join this flock of people. It was a holiday and there was plenty of people visiting.

I was only able to try the Adventure River. It's a long journey along a "river" where you can just relax while enjoying the the water. There are some remarkable phases along the way though, like passing through a grotto, a dark cave-like area, waterfalls, an aquarium tunnel, and a glimpse of the Ray Bay where you can see tons of rays swimming as well as a school of dory. It was such a lovely sight so be sure to bring an underwater camera (I didn't bring one and I'm sad).

 

 

We had lunch at the park's restaurant. It is the only one, so the queue was so long. The food is a bit pricey too I think I paid SGD15-20 for this.

 

When it rained and rides stopped operating, we headed to Hard Rock Hotel where we booked a room. I just lazed around the pool.

Come night time we watched the Crane Dance show just around Resorts World. It was a majestic night show and I'd recommend this to tourists who will spend a night in Sentosa.


We capped off the day by having a glass of Singapore Sling at Hard Rock. It was toooo strong I couldn’t say yes to another round anymore. Hahaha.

No matter how busy we can get, we see to it that we relax once in a while. Otherwise, we would die from misery of working hard without playing. After all, we work to live, not to die.. right? Hahaha.

TULIPMANIA

Sharing with you some photos from my trip to the Netherlands yesterday.. errrr, I meant somewhere in Singapore. Hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were taken at the Flower Dome - Gardens by the Bay. KLM Dutch Airlines has partnered with Gardens by the Bay and flown thousands of tulip bulbs from Keukenhof to set up this lovely tulip-themed flower festival in Singapore. It is something unusual and a must-see for Singapore residents as we all know that this is a tropical country and not a single field of tulips can be seen. So if you happen to be in Singapore until the 20th of May, now is the chance for you to experience the Netherlands vibe without flying. If you're thinking how they were able to pull it off (growing tulips in a tropical country), they planted them in a cooled conservatory which is the Flower Dome. Although incomparable to those you can see in Europe in terms of the size of the field, it is still amazing for me. The colors are beautiful and the scent of the conservatory is just refreshing.

Ticket costs $10 for Singapore residents (including Work Pass holders) and $16 for tourists. The dome opens daily from 9AM to 9PM (last ticket sale is at 8PM).

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Gardens by the Bay
18 Marina Gardens Drive
Tel: +65 6420 6848

LAH-NGHAP SARAP

Forgive me for the corniest title ever. Just wanted to make Jollibee's tagline a bit Singaporean.

I'm not really a Jollibee fan (I hate the smell of my mouth after eating burger steak and even brushing my teeth for x times) so when Jollibee announced that a branch in Singapore was about to open, I didn't care at all. I am one of those few who don't list down Jollibee as their #1 fast food. But I do love Jollibee's peach mango pie.

Although I am not a big follower, I am updated with news about it since the announcement of the Singapore branch and very much aware of Singapore's (non-Filipinos) lukewarm reception toward it. While a few seems excited, majority tried to build a community to boycott Jollibee. Furthermore, Jollibee articles online are flooded with negative comments that are mostly about races and cultural differences and not about the food chain's chickenjoy and other offerings (see article).

Another news about Jollibee Singapore is the loooong queue that one has to endure just to take a bite of their favorite Jollibee dish. Since its opening in March, the number of people coming in has not subsided yet, especially during weekends when most Filipinos are enjoying their off days. I remember a few friends told me they braved the queue and spent at least 2 hours waiting to order. I didn't get it why they had to waste their time for something that I think isn't extraordinary. I mean, yeah, there's this unique sweet-spicy spaghetti but why are they lining up for a small piece of fried chicken when they can get it from other food chain's too? Personally, I prefer Popeye's and KFC chicken over chickenjoy.

Then one day, I had to go to Lucky Plaza to settle my social security dues in the Philippines. My colleagues came with me and said, "Tara Jollibee tayo, try lang natin kung mabilis ang pila." I said yes, why not. I wanted to experience to be in the crowd and we wanted to test the patience of our other colleague who has 'waiting problems'. Hahaha.

We came in past 7 in the evening and was greeted by this.

Beside Jollibee outlet is a vacant room for queuing, the store itself cannot accommodate the long queue. I almost backed out as I felt that the line wasn't moving at all. But then again, we have already started so might as well finish it. Hahaha. We just killed time playing games on our phone, chatting and annoy other people (kidding!).

There was this note on the wall that made me laugh and tell my colleague she didn't to queue up anymore as she looks pregnant. Hehehe. :D

When it was almost 8PM we got so hungry we turned into impatient grouchy monsters especially whenever someone tries to cheat and cut into the line.

My colleagues went crazy too. Hahaha.

Finally, at past 8 we are already inside the outlet but had to line up again to the cashier.

We were finally able to eat at around 8:30. It wasn't hard to get a table as most of the customers ordered take-away (to go) food.

Because we were starving we bought as many food as we can and ended up emptying our wallets. We were not prepared though as we only had a few bucks, we didn't know that Jollibee only accepts cash for now.

The food tastes the same as the ones in Jollibee Philippines, the spaghetti is sweet and spicy and the burger steak's gravy is just as nice. I just wish they would serve peach mango pie soon as I've been craving for it since time immemorial.  I am also certain if they offer Jollibee breakfast (sans the overwhelming grease) it would be a blockbuster.

So what it is with Jollibee Singapore that makes Pinoys go crazy about? I guess it's not solely the food, rather our passion to support our own or what we call "Pinoy Pride". Actually, on its opening day a friend asked me to come with her and her friends to Jollibee. Since it is located in Lucky Plaza and I am claustrophobic (LP has always been crowded, even before the opening of Jollibee), I didn't go with her. I told her I wouldn't waste my time lining up for something that I don't like. She replied in jest, "Gusto ko lang makigulo." And she was right, being part of a crowd like this would make you feel at home. The food would also make you feel like you're in the Philippines.

If you'd ask me if I will return to Jollibee? Yes, of course. But not until the queue shortens. Or until they serve peach mango pie. :P

SELYA KUSINERA: BREAD PUDDING

A loaf of bread is a mainstay in my grocery basket whenever I go shopping, usually wheat bread or that particular brand of bread with milk. Problem is, they sometimes go to waste coz I don't eat at home during weekdays. By the time I'm about to eat them on a weekend they're no longer 'fresh' (not really expired but more like a bit 'old'). Yesterday I saw a pack of unopened wheat bread so I thought of making a pudding.  I knew it isn't hard to do coz I often watched my mom baking pudding when I was young. 

I didn't have all the ingredients but I pulled it off. In fact, my flatmate says it tastes so good (hahaha.. she never complains about my cooking).

Here's what I did...

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of bread (like I said, I used wheat bread but I think white bread pudding tastes better)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups fresh milk (I used low fat milk)
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• vanilla 

Some add raisins, walnuts, cinnamon but like I said, I lack ingredients at home. Anyway, you can put whatever you like as the flavor of your pudding (eg banana, chocolate, etc). Next time I'll add in more fruits.

Directions:

• Grease the pan with butter (I only use a small square pan, sorry I don't know the measurement.. hihi).
• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.
• Tear bread slices into smaller pieces, set aside. 
• Mix together beaten eggs, melted butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. Pour over bread and push down until soaked.

• Bake in the oven. I had this baked for about 45 minutes.
• Serve.

It's so easy to do, isn't it?

Happy Sunday, everyone! :)

PULAU TIOMAN, MALAYSIA

As soon as the virus went away, I traveled with my friends. It was a planned vacation that almost didn't happen as I got really sick. Good thing I got better before this day.

We went to Pulau Tioman, an island in the state of Pahang in Malaysia. From Singapore we took a bus going to Mersing (took us about 3 hours), then a ferry from Mersing to Tioman. The bus ride costs SGD30+ while the ferry ride was included in our resort package. We availed of the resort's full board stay for 3days/2nights (inclusive of RT ferry tickets, buffet meals and island tour/snorkeling) so I don't have an idea of how much each ferry ticket costs.

We stayed at Paya Beach Resort. We were supposed to stay at Berjaya Tioman, which I heard is more beautiful (and pricey too) than Paya. We were already booked there and in fact, got our confirmation from the staff already. To our dismay, the staff emailed us the following day apologizing as they didn't manage to get us in coz the hotel was already booked. It was an overbooking, actually.  I wasn't happy with this mistake as it got me search again for other resorts and most of them were already booked. Paya was the only available resort I saw online so there, we booked and prayed that this time their confirmation's for real.

Paya was the second option, yes. But it wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be, except for the swimming pool that is so small and has not-so-clean water. Good thing there's an ongoing construction of another block of rest houses and another pool that I hope is better so for future guests here, hopefully you can have a better stay than I had. Oh, there's another thing that I didn't like about Paya, they charge MYR40 per device for wi-fi access yet the network is always down. If you're someone who breathes the internet, it's gonna be a torture for you.

 

We got a quad sharing room that costs us about SGD180+ each for 3D/2N (full board, as mentioned earlier).

The food here is nice and cheap (lunch buffet costs MYR18 and dinner's at MYR30+ if I'm not mistaken. Buffet consists of Malaysian (such as noodles, sambal, lemon chicken, fried rice, etc.) and western cuisine (roast beef, salad, sausages). The food is halal, as Malaysia is a Muslim country.

Ours is a beachfront room so the view was really nice. There was also a hammock so it was a perfect spot to relax.

 

Although the beach isn't as lovely as the ones I've been to, the water is clear and the sand is fine too. The weather was great so we enjoyed dipping and playing under the sun. 

I was happy too.. coz I'm back to normal. Puffer fish no more.. Hihi. :)

One thing that I regret is we missed our snorkeling trip. It was included in our package but since most of us were too lazy to wake up so early in the morning, we didn't have the chance to see the abundant species of marine life in Tioman. By the way, if you're not a snorkeling fan you can go trekking. The package says you can choose from either snorkeling or trekking. We chose none. Hahaha.

Anyway, it was just a trip to laze around and enjoy the scenery. Not much of an adventure but somehow it relaxed me. I am guessing though that this is going to be my only summer getaway this year. As much as I want to go on another trip, I'm too lazy to plan one (and lacks fund too.. hahaha!). I have no upcoming trips in the next 1-2months so I tried to enjoy this trip as much as I can. I ate like a monster, grilled my body like I am a Caucasian (haha!), dipped in the water like I never had a bad skin (note: I still have dark spots and scars until now).

I'm just jealous of my friends on Facebook I've seen a lot of their beach photos on my newsfeed. I only have this. It's sooooo not me. Hahaha. :)

Enjoy the summer (in the Philippines), friends! Don't forget to drink plenty of water.. and eat fruits too! :)