Today I bought the Aeroccino3 from Nespresso so that I can froth milk for hot chocolate. I don't even know how many hundreds of cups of hot chocolate I have to drink to make the purchase worth it.
I was also sooooooooo close to buying my first pair of Louboutins. I was torn between 3 pairs and was finally settling for Bianca 140. Then my cousin reminded me that I could save another 10% by activating my Harrods discount. But that needs 24 hours and I do not have 24 hours.....
Then came this girl who was sitting on the same couch as me. Turns out she is Malaysian (Royalty - I saw her name) and she was gonna lend me her Harrods card. She is so THERE that she gets 10% everyday, no activation required. However she is a regular there and they know I wasn't the actual card owner so they told me it wasn't allowed blablabla... So I put my purchase on hold. The discounted amount is after all MONEY and not exactly an amount that is peanuts to me. :( I can only hope they still have my size the next time I go back there because few pairs come in each time and it doesn't come in all sizes.
Retreated to Canada Water with Sean and Sue. They had beer but I refused to have it as I was way too eager to try out my spanking new red milk frother. I had a cup of hot chocolate instead. The frother works beautifully!
Less than £100 spent this whole trip to London - definitely a record!! Well done babe. :)
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Waiting Room
At Crown. For one who's had afternoon tea in England, this was definitely just as good. 
Saturday, March 10, 2012
What being a Singaporean means
Was at Hermes in Marina Bay Sands looking for twillies... Yes, I'm so desperate that I'll pay retail price in Singapore.
Alas, there were only two ugly twillies left. According to the sales person, twillies don't come in large quantity and when they do arrive, the Indonesian ladies will buy them in 8-10 pieces at a go.
Crazy or what?
I eventually asked him if there's any Kelly in store. I KNEW the answer even before I asked, but I was just trying my luck. It doesn't take a penny to try. Eventually he admitted to something I've long suspected - even if one comes in, they will not sell it to the public. Instead, they will start calling up the long list of customers who have been put on the wait-list. While Hermes has supposedly banished the wait-list thing, the VIP customers now make it just as hard to get your hands on the bag. IMHO, without the wait-list, it's even harder to get the bags now because it will never get to your turn if the VIPs keep buying whatever that comes in!
I told him I want a red Kelly, and I'm on a quest to obtain it. He looked at my bag and said I've got a very nice Lindy already. He said the blue electrique is a very difficult colour to get so I should be very happy that I even got my hands on it.
Sigh.
He told me to try getting my Kelly overseas, like in the US where stocks are more abundant and cheaper than Singapore.
Awright then.
And uhm, I kinda like a watch a Hublot. $30,000. Yikes.
It's still much cheaper than the Lover's Bridge.
After MBS, Markus drove us to JB for dinner. We went to have his favourite bee hoon. It's amazing how different food can taste just across one bridge we call the Causeway. It seemed like a simple dinner - bee hoon, a plate of vegetables and assam fish (erhem Anlynn, don't feel cheated please) - but no Singapore stall/hawker/restaurant would have been able to whip that up tasting as good.
I told Markus how I felt about Singaporeans and how Singaporeans have a certain je ne sais quoi about them that makes them infamously Singaporean.
FOR EXAMPLE: Yesterday on my flight from London, all the toiletries in the business class toilets were EMPTIED right after take off. Only empty glass bottles left. It was unbelievable. Thank goodness we had a spare set of toiletries enough for all toilets. Throughout the flight, we monitored the toiletries and it was all good, until just before we landed. Again the bottles were emptied. Bloody hell, this is Business Class - how can anyone be such a cheapskate, emptying toiletries from the airplane for themselves? Can travel in Business Class but cannot afford French toiletries? No class at all. All crew had a strong suspicion that it was a Singaporean passenger because I had seen him coming out of the toilets just before we discovered the empty bottles on both occasions.
I told Markus how Singaporeans say thank you without being exactly sincere about it. A Malaysian's thank you and a Singaporean's thank you may sound the same, but they differ in how it's felt in that person saying it. After a while, you can almost tell apart a person's nationality just by how these two words are said.
Markus admitted Singaporeans are sheltered, unexposed and arrogant. He even went to the extent of saying he's not proud to be a Singaporean. Things doesn't have to always work just because you are Singaporean. There's so much more out there in the world and they don't see it. Things may seem rosy here until you live here and experience it yourself.
Unsurprisingly, Markus isn't the first person who would like to distant himself from being labeled the typical Singaporean. My landlord has also mentioned many times he is very un-Singaporean and he knows how unbearable Singaporeans can be.
I don't mean to put them down, but if these people holding pink I.C.s are aware of how awful their society has become, I think it's clear my opinions are justified.
Alas, there were only two ugly twillies left. According to the sales person, twillies don't come in large quantity and when they do arrive, the Indonesian ladies will buy them in 8-10 pieces at a go.
Crazy or what?
I eventually asked him if there's any Kelly in store. I KNEW the answer even before I asked, but I was just trying my luck. It doesn't take a penny to try. Eventually he admitted to something I've long suspected - even if one comes in, they will not sell it to the public. Instead, they will start calling up the long list of customers who have been put on the wait-list. While Hermes has supposedly banished the wait-list thing, the VIP customers now make it just as hard to get your hands on the bag. IMHO, without the wait-list, it's even harder to get the bags now because it will never get to your turn if the VIPs keep buying whatever that comes in!
I told him I want a red Kelly, and I'm on a quest to obtain it. He looked at my bag and said I've got a very nice Lindy already. He said the blue electrique is a very difficult colour to get so I should be very happy that I even got my hands on it.
Sigh.
He told me to try getting my Kelly overseas, like in the US where stocks are more abundant and cheaper than Singapore.
Awright then.
And uhm, I kinda like a watch a Hublot. $30,000. Yikes.
It's still much cheaper than the Lover's Bridge.
After MBS, Markus drove us to JB for dinner. We went to have his favourite bee hoon. It's amazing how different food can taste just across one bridge we call the Causeway. It seemed like a simple dinner - bee hoon, a plate of vegetables and assam fish (erhem Anlynn, don't feel cheated please) - but no Singapore stall/hawker/restaurant would have been able to whip that up tasting as good.
I told Markus how I felt about Singaporeans and how Singaporeans have a certain je ne sais quoi about them that makes them infamously Singaporean.
FOR EXAMPLE: Yesterday on my flight from London, all the toiletries in the business class toilets were EMPTIED right after take off. Only empty glass bottles left. It was unbelievable. Thank goodness we had a spare set of toiletries enough for all toilets. Throughout the flight, we monitored the toiletries and it was all good, until just before we landed. Again the bottles were emptied. Bloody hell, this is Business Class - how can anyone be such a cheapskate, emptying toiletries from the airplane for themselves? Can travel in Business Class but cannot afford French toiletries? No class at all. All crew had a strong suspicion that it was a Singaporean passenger because I had seen him coming out of the toilets just before we discovered the empty bottles on both occasions.
I told Markus how Singaporeans say thank you without being exactly sincere about it. A Malaysian's thank you and a Singaporean's thank you may sound the same, but they differ in how it's felt in that person saying it. After a while, you can almost tell apart a person's nationality just by how these two words are said.
Markus admitted Singaporeans are sheltered, unexposed and arrogant. He even went to the extent of saying he's not proud to be a Singaporean. Things doesn't have to always work just because you are Singaporean. There's so much more out there in the world and they don't see it. Things may seem rosy here until you live here and experience it yourself.
Unsurprisingly, Markus isn't the first person who would like to distant himself from being labeled the typical Singaporean. My landlord has also mentioned many times he is very un-Singaporean and he knows how unbearable Singaporeans can be.
I don't mean to put them down, but if these people holding pink I.C.s are aware of how awful their society has become, I think it's clear my opinions are justified.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Nobu London
Hello people :)
I'm back from London.
This London trip was a good one as I managed to catch up with both cousins (seems like a task these days), had French for dinner on the first night, Japanese for lunch the second day and Italian for dinner that same day.
I stalked Harrods everyday for a reason that starts with H and while that was unsucessful, I managed to get a present for mum's upcoming birthday. I hope she likes it.
This trip to London also fulfilled a dream to dine at a Michelin-star restaurant and I've been wanting to dine at Nobu London since the day Evelyn introduced me to the one at Melbourne. While the Melbourne experience was nothing short of amazing, I wanted to try the one in London because it is the one that was awarded (and still retains) the Michelin star. My cousin Sue made reservations for me prior to my trip to London.
I arrived at 3 minutes to 12 p.m. and after a minute's wait, I was guided to my table.
I did not know how much food to order so I ordered as I ate. Honestly while only halfway into the second plate I was full but I took my time and managed to order more. And there was still room for dessert, but that's only expected.
The above is the bluefin tuna with tataki ponzu.
Fine I know it's really bad to consume bluefin tuna but it is by faaaarrr my favourite raw fish. When in Japan, I go crazy ordering tuna sashimi. 6 slices may seem like a lot to some people but I was in heaven eating it.
More tuna.
The pictured salmon sashimi is definitely the most expensive sashimi I've had. It's ₤4 per piece, so the above makes it ₤8. It's still sashimi, just really fresh and juicy sashimi. As I tried to justify the price when the plate arrived, I concluded that it's got really nice fish fats patterns.
Then came a plate of assorted sizzling mushrooms. I was really struggling by the time this plate arrived. This is a halved-portion after I told the waiter I would love to try it, if only the portion could be smaller. They were flexible and the chef prepared just half a portion (just in case you are curious, the price was halved too.)
I like it when people are flexible about things!
As I slowly slowly had this dish, a Japanese lady came up to me. She is probably in her fifties, and she works there. She's the only Japanese staff and I had only seen her long after I had started on my first course. She came to my table to change my cup of tea, and started a 10-minute conversation with me. It started like this:
She: Are you Japanese?
Me: No, I'm Malaysian.
She: Oh... Are you an air stewardess?
*MIND BLOWN*.
This is not the first time someone has just come up to me and ask me if I'm a cabin crew.
How did they know????
HOW HOW HOW?? HOWWWWW???
One guy friend said, "You were probably eating too fast. I see all the stewardesses eat very fast."
FYI, I was there for 1 hour and 50 minutes. And eating alone.
Tell me how is that fast?
Anyway after declaring that I was done with the dishes, I ordered dessert.
It was tough deciding what to have so I decided to 'call a friend'.
I was almost going to order T2 when my friend said I should get the warm chocolate. Well, looks like a good option.
After having this, I declared that nobody needs sex when there's caramelized pistachios (!!!! soooo good!!!!) with almond ice-cream, and chocolate that oozes out from 'mantou's. I really really enjoyed the dessert. I almost had to ignore all messages coming in from my phone then.
By the time I was done, I was immensely impressed with the food - even though I did not order the signature black cod - and looked about another month into my false pregnancy (that makes it 5 months). Almost two hours of indulgence and pampering by very attentive and professional service staff, I paid up and left. It was a shame I did not get to say goodbye to Sachiko-san.
I'm back from London.
This London trip was a good one as I managed to catch up with both cousins (seems like a task these days), had French for dinner on the first night, Japanese for lunch the second day and Italian for dinner that same day.
I stalked Harrods everyday for a reason that starts with H and while that was unsucessful, I managed to get a present for mum's upcoming birthday. I hope she likes it.
This trip to London also fulfilled a dream to dine at a Michelin-star restaurant and I've been wanting to dine at Nobu London since the day Evelyn introduced me to the one at Melbourne. While the Melbourne experience was nothing short of amazing, I wanted to try the one in London because it is the one that was awarded (and still retains) the Michelin star. My cousin Sue made reservations for me prior to my trip to London.
I arrived at 3 minutes to 12 p.m. and after a minute's wait, I was guided to my table.
I did not know how much food to order so I ordered as I ate. Honestly while only halfway into the second plate I was full but I took my time and managed to order more. And there was still room for dessert, but that's only expected.
The above is the bluefin tuna with tataki ponzu.
Fine I know it's really bad to consume bluefin tuna but it is by faaaarrr my favourite raw fish. When in Japan, I go crazy ordering tuna sashimi. 6 slices may seem like a lot to some people but I was in heaven eating it.
More tuna.The pictured salmon sashimi is definitely the most expensive sashimi I've had. It's ₤4 per piece, so the above makes it ₤8. It's still sashimi, just really fresh and juicy sashimi. As I tried to justify the price when the plate arrived, I concluded that it's got really nice fish fats patterns.
Then came a plate of assorted sizzling mushrooms. I was really struggling by the time this plate arrived. This is a halved-portion after I told the waiter I would love to try it, if only the portion could be smaller. They were flexible and the chef prepared just half a portion (just in case you are curious, the price was halved too.)
I like it when people are flexible about things!
As I slowly slowly had this dish, a Japanese lady came up to me. She is probably in her fifties, and she works there. She's the only Japanese staff and I had only seen her long after I had started on my first course. She came to my table to change my cup of tea, and started a 10-minute conversation with me. It started like this:
She: Are you Japanese?
Me: No, I'm Malaysian.
She: Oh... Are you an air stewardess?
*MIND BLOWN*.
This is not the first time someone has just come up to me and ask me if I'm a cabin crew.
How did they know????
HOW HOW HOW?? HOWWWWW???
One guy friend said, "You were probably eating too fast. I see all the stewardesses eat very fast."
FYI, I was there for 1 hour and 50 minutes. And eating alone.
Tell me how is that fast?
Anyway after declaring that I was done with the dishes, I ordered dessert.
It was tough deciding what to have so I decided to 'call a friend'.
I was almost going to order T2 when my friend said I should get the warm chocolate. Well, looks like a good option.
After having this, I declared that nobody needs sex when there's caramelized pistachios (!!!! soooo good!!!!) with almond ice-cream, and chocolate that oozes out from 'mantou's. I really really enjoyed the dessert. I almost had to ignore all messages coming in from my phone then.
By the time I was done, I was immensely impressed with the food - even though I did not order the signature black cod - and looked about another month into my false pregnancy (that makes it 5 months). Almost two hours of indulgence and pampering by very attentive and professional service staff, I paid up and left. It was a shame I did not get to say goodbye to Sachiko-san.
--------------------------------------------------
Many many hours after my meal, I went through the photos on my phone to see what I had for my meal at Nobu in Melbourne.
I had the same dessert. OF ALL DESSERTS! I could have tried something else!!
Argh.
Now I feel the need to go back just to have another dessert.
Like T2.
Consolation: in the above photo from Melbourne, the pistachios do not look caramelized. And I think the highlight of the dessert for me was actually the caramelized pistachios.
Many many hours after my meal, I went through the photos on my phone to see what I had for my meal at Nobu in Melbourne.
I had the same dessert. OF ALL DESSERTS! I could have tried something else!!
Argh.
Now I feel the need to go back just to have another dessert.
Like T2.
Consolation: in the above photo from Melbourne, the pistachios do not look caramelized. And I think the highlight of the dessert for me was actually the caramelized pistachios.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Old London Town
HUZZAH!
It's back to London again tonight. Plenty of things to do this time around, I guess it's always the case anyway.
I'm awfully excited about Tuesday's lunch - because my cousin has helped me make a reservation for lunch at Nobu!
Just looking at the menu gives me the chills. And who knows, I might get a table that overlooks Hyde Park (fingers crossed!)!
Can't wait to say "hello babies" to the pair of shoes that have been sleeping in Sue's closet for the last two months.
Like every trip to London, this will definitely be another memorable one.
It's back to London again tonight. Plenty of things to do this time around, I guess it's always the case anyway.
I'm awfully excited about Tuesday's lunch - because my cousin has helped me make a reservation for lunch at Nobu!
Just looking at the menu gives me the chills. And who knows, I might get a table that overlooks Hyde Park (fingers crossed!)!
Can't wait to say "hello babies" to the pair of shoes that have been sleeping in Sue's closet for the last two months.
Like every trip to London, this will definitely be another memorable one.
Friday, March 2, 2012
ABUDEN
I'm so proud of Jin! This Malaysian boy managed to collaborate with the guys of WongFu Productions, which is IMHO a huge huge hugeeeeeee honour. Hopefully with this collaboration the video will gain popularity on the stateside and spread Malaysian productions.
For the benefit of Evelyn and those of you who have not seen this video, I'm sharing it here.
Spot Phil and Wes in the Hitz.fm studios.
Enjoy the vid!
For the benefit of Evelyn and those of you who have not seen this video, I'm sharing it here.
Spot Phil and Wes in the Hitz.fm studios.
Enjoy the vid!
Trunks
There are several kinds of trunks.
Elephant trunks. Car trunks. Swimming trunks. River trunks. Tree trunks.
But there is one kind of trunk that I AM SOOOOOOO IN LOVE WITH NOW.
Only Evelyn will understand my passion because it's hers too now.
For a few hundred under $10,000 (for the canvas and somewhere around $15,000 for Epi leather) we are very seriously thinking of getting one each for our homes.
LV trunks ❤
Elephant trunks. Car trunks. Swimming trunks. River trunks. Tree trunks.
But there is one kind of trunk that I AM SOOOOOOO IN LOVE WITH NOW.
Only Evelyn will understand my passion because it's hers too now.
For a few hundred under $10,000 (for the canvas and somewhere around $15,000 for Epi leather) we are very seriously thinking of getting one each for our homes.
LV trunks ❤
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