Lunch at New Majestic Hotel

Today i was invited to lunch by Serene a very very old friend and school mate from secondary school, at this hotel - New Majestic Hotel located at 31 Bukit Pasoh Road. Initially i thought it was the old majestic theatre that screens ex-rated movies and where old man goes to watch - haha - but i was in for a pleasant surprise because i didnt know it was opposite Memories Karaoke (Cha Xuan) where i used to visit for karaoke. But i havent done that that for a long long time.

The thing that caught my attention was the beautiful willow trees
just outside the hotel. Its reminds me of some western places where these trees can be found. Really eye catching and beautiful.
Couldnt resist taking pictures of the trees and sharing them with you here.

When you walked into the hotel, this magnificient statute just catches your attention - hahaha.
The figurine is just placed outside the restaurant.

Another interesting item is the nicely decorate trishaw with beautiful batik prints. We took some pictures with the trishaw after lunch but not with the figurine lah - too paiseh to take - haha.

Food was fantastic.
We chose the set menu = $50 per person - pretty expensive but value for money. As you can see from the pictures below.

Tamarind Spa

Today is an exciting day as i had 2 events :
* Lunch at KHA at Hortparks again but with fan mates
* Scrub and body massage at tamarind spa
For both activities i was the guest of honour and all birthday treats from dear friends.

Lunch at KHA
I had wanted to go back to take good pictures because the last time i went, it was drizzing so we couldnt walk around the park.
Wanted to visit the butterfly park and stone park.
This time weather was fantastic but after lunch it was just too hot and it was too bright to take any good pictures so we gave up halfway since the weather was terrible.

Tamarind Spa
I rushed down to Tamarind Spa where my friend was waiting for the massage.
We chose body scrub and massage - 1.5 hours and i think it costs around $100+ for combined - had 20% off because of birthday discount.
I have been recommending friends to this place because i felt very comfortable with the place and the masseues are really professional about the massage.
This was the first time i tried sea salt scrub and it is really amazing.
After the scrub, and i went to shower to remove the salt before the body massage - i could feel my skin really smooth and felt very refreshed - i never knew sea salt scrub was this good.
My friend also like this a lot and she also said the masseue was really good and she will come back again.
Her name is Rose - i will try her next time when i go for the body massage.

Check out Tamarind Spa

Beast Auto Signing - 25 Jun 10

hahah will be back to post more details after the auto signing

Beast Showcase - 24 Jun 10

Just came back and Aiyoh missed by 1 minute to post on 24 Jun.
Will be back to put in more info.

Vegetarian Workshop by Catherina Hosai - 19 Jun 10

Catherina Hosai, a Malaysian but happily married for 37 years to a japanese. She has a cooking studio at her home near outram park mrt and she is a "celebrity chef".
I was lucky to register myself for the class with Vegetarian Society of Singapore. I had wanted to attend but there was some slight miscommunication and only registered 3 days before her class. Luckily there were still 2 vacancies.

I was really excited to attend the workshop because i was pretty interested in some of the dishes she has to offer. There we supposed to have healing properties for the blood and i thought it was really useful as i was thinking of a friend who might need the recipe.

Catherina's house was a peranakan house and was really a beautiful place. I love the way she decorated her home and her kitchen was also made such that she could hold cooking classes there. She also had a lot of souvenirs from different places.

She taught us 5 recipes all vegetarian - a sweet dessert, a soup, dumpling, cake, and a rice dish. All using japanese ingredients.

She is a bubbly character and her class was so enjoyable and she is very generous about sharing her tips and i really learned loads from her.

Some things i learned :
* should buy red dates with the seeds as those without seeds may contain certain chemicals used by the manufacturer to remove the seeds
* Godo or Niu Bang is good for detoxing blood and by boiling with water and drinking everyday can help to reduce sugar level.
* when making cakes with fruits, should always mix some of the batter with the fruits so that all doesnt sink below.

In addition, we met some other chefs who offers different types of foods - indian cuisine and another vegetarian eatery.

I will definitely join her other classes :)

Kha Restaurant - HortParks

Everyone looks forward to bonus periods but for me - i have mixed feelings. Being a payroll personnel for many many many years, it is an extremely stressful period having to ensure that the payouts are in order etc etc. But once this is done - all the hard work pays off and it is time for celebration.

My philosophy is to share the joy with colleagues who works closely with me in the department. So this year, it is the same.

I have been wanting to try out this interesting Thai restaurant at HortParks located near our office. I heard from colleagues who went there for walks that the landscape is beautiful - they have butterfly parks and stone parks and i thought would be a good place to treat my two beautiful colleagues who goes through ups and downs with me in the department and share the same passion for "serving people with a smile".

So made a reservation for three today and we all agreed to dress up because we intend to take pictures. But unfortunately, it was drizzingly so we couldnt walk around the parks so we went straight to KHA.

The setting was really beautiful - thai style and i love the "wooden feel" and surrounded by a man made lake and lovely flora all around the restaurant and loads of bamboo.

We quickly ordered our food and then started taking photographs - we were the first guests to arrive - so we had the whole place to ourselves.

After enjoying the food, we went out to take pictures again - i tell you we were such camwhores - hahaha. It was a real pity that we couldnt venture further due to the rain.

We took a total of 59 shots :).

I am definitely going back again to explore other areas in HortParks. This i intend to do on 26 Jun with another group of friends and i hpe the weather will be kind to us and we can go to the butterfly and stone parks to enjoy the nature floras.

Check out the place :
KHA Restaurant
Hyderad Road

Olivia Ong's Event at Bishan - 12 Jun 10

Olivia Ong, born on 2 Oct 1985 and a Singaporean. I found something about her on facebook.

Olivia Ong, born 2 October 1985 is a Singaporean singer. At the tender age of 15, she has secured a recording contract, making her mark as an artiste who sings in Japanese, Chinese and English. A former member of the all-girl pop group, Mirai, she embar...ked on a solo career, releasing her first album, “A Girl Meets Bossa Nova” in March 2005. Up to today, Olivia has released a total of 3 solo albums, 2 EPs and some songs in albums featuring various artistes. Her beautiful voice and skilful singing not only captivated the audience in Japan, she is also highly regarded in Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and others. With Asia as her base, Olivia has appeared on the cover of the magazine, “NUYOU”, establishing her popularity beyond the music scene. Currently, the new solo album of Olivia is in the final stage of production, and should be released throughout Asia in March 2010.

I noticed her a few years back and did buy some of her bossanova albums. Love her voice and she is a beautiful girl.

I forgot about her until i read about her in facebook and she was "acquired" by HIM, the same company as my fav boy band Fahrenheit. She was back in Spore to promote her album Bitter Sweet. I heard her songs before but i didnt know it was the same Olivia until i saw her picture. Began to join the FB fc and that is where i got to know Nicholas and Benson and Joe. I went to the first Kose showcase in Tampines Mall and then late went for the autograph signing on 12 Jun at Bishan. I bought her a bouquet of roses - beautiful bouquet of blue roses, cost me $60 but it is ok as i really am proud of her. And she doesnt come back that often. I also promised the FC that i will make some boards for her so that we can use them at the signing.

I was excited to meet the members all fantastic photographers. Nic brought his two young boys who help hold up the boards. And i got a friend Darren to join me. He also told me he liked her songs and i was glad he came. Everyone noticed the boards and i think Olivia also saw them and was happy. I was given Q ticket no. 6 because they will only sign 100 copies as Olivia had to leave for other events. I was glad there were more fans at the event :) I am happy for her because i felt she was really a good artiste and i hope she will be as famous as JJ or even Tanya or Stephanie.

When it is time to go for auto signing, i went up the stage to get my album signed - i bought the pink one - and then passed her the flowers. She said thank you and it is very sweet of you. She spoke very gently and she really has beautiful flawless skin - KOSE chose the right endorser for their make-up. Nic boys went up for her autograph too whilst he took pictures for the FC.
We took more pictures after she left the showcase for the FC. I had a great time and for a change, the fc had more guy fans then gals. I have done up the board, i hope to do a banner for her. Her next event is in July - so not much time to do up the banner but i hope to get some help from fellow colleagues - hahaha. Looking forward to the next event. I will add on more boards and hopefully a banner and i also hope i can prepare another bouquet for her.


I was glad to meet the members - really nice group of boys - i hope there will be more female fans or male fans also can to join the FC. All the best for her career and will be there in July for her next showcase. Not sure if there is another round of signing.

Hair Affair - 12 Jun 10

Hair is said to be the crowning glory - so very true.
You can have a beautiful face, but if you have a problem hair or even thinning hairlines, you just look aged.

I used to have very long, thick, black and shiny hair that make heads turn.
That was in the younger days when life although humble, but didnt really have much headaches, stress or problems. Childhood days were the bestest - free and easy and happy go lucky.
Until i stepped into the working world. Life was tough for me and after years of long hours, stress, poor nutrition, insomnia and lack of sleep, my healthy crowning glory wasnt any glory already, cause my hair started thinning and lack lustre.

I have tried all things to save the hair but without any hopes until i came across this herbal treatement hair salon called BEE CHOO. Quite a few people had encouraged me to try and i finally went and have been seeking treatment monthly. Although it still didnt really cure my thinning head but at least, it doesnt drop so much and the hair has a healthy glow and you can see baby hair growing.

But this is not about my thinning hair but a daring move to cut my hair really short - above the ears. This is the shortest hairstyle in my life because i always had long hair or shoulder length hair.

My friend recommended me to this korean hair stylist - Sunny from Shinjo Matsuo which is located behind The Herene. I decided to give it a try and i went before Olivia's autograph event - very daring move - i was amazed by my courage - hahaha.

When i stepped into the shop and met Sunny, found her to be very very stylish and friendly. She saw my hair and felt the texture and told me that it is baby soft. She recommended me some hairstyle which i wanted so she started the cut. She was very detailed and with such little hair i have, i amazed that she took some time cutting because of the layers etc. She explained what she has in mind etc.

To be continued.

How to Blog and Make Money

After months of deciding whether or not to take up a blogging course, i finally picked up the courage to call Toa Payoh South Community Club (TPSCC) to check if there was vacancy because there was a class this evening.

And to my delight - i took it as God's calling - that there was still vacancy. So i registered myself and took a cab down to the place as i was not sure of the location.

When i reached, the person whom i spoke to was at the reception.
I saw a passionlink card application - so decided might as well register as it only cost $12 for 5 year membership and you get points for buying stuff at participating stores. Well my reward was :
* free FILA Lady bag - i chose black and red
* discounted course fee of $40 for members instead of $45
Seems like a good start.

The course starts at 6.45 pm to 9.45 pm.
The trainer is a webmaster from HTZ - Don Tan.

Amazingly enough, there were only 4 participants but the class still went on.
Well i take it possitively that we will be able to learn more since there were few students - and more coaching.

Prior to this workshop, i already attempted to create a blog and was successful. After the workshop, i realised i missed out some steps so i made some changes to the setting and here you have it - CHLOE'S Petals - hahaha.
Now i need to find out how to change the blogskin :(

It was an ok course at least i learned something new and some tricks to blogging.
It met some of my objectives. Looks like i may need another workshop on web page. Will see if there is a class.

Check out the CC as not many CCs offer computer courses :
Toa Payoh South Community Club
1999 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh

theLifestylemart

Today i had to attend a briefing by SAF for a rededication ceremony for my company.
The briefing was to be held at safra mount faber at 3 pm. Amazingly, part of the programme was a visit to the SAFRA's lifestylemart. This is a new concept of selling army related clothesware etc - my FAV !!! My eyes lit up when i went to the shop. The place is amazing.
They had a food bar but unfortunately i didnt go there to take a look as i was distracted with the clothes and bags and shoes and caps and all army related things.

I saw a tshirt that bears the drawing of an eagle for Navy. It immediately reminded me of my colleague who just simple love eagles and i thought that would make an excellent gift for her.

I ended up buying :
* 2 tshirts with eagle prints
* a neck scarf
* a pair of knee high army socks
* 2 army shorts
I spent around $90.92 for all the items :) Not too bad.

If you love army stuff, you may wish to go and take a look at the place. Unfortunately i run out of memory space and also i am not too sure if they allowed people to take pictures. But i will load up my purchases :)

Check the place out :
theLifestylemart
safra mount faber
2 telok blangah way level 2
singapore 098803
telephone 65 6272 1269

Disappointments

Yet another disappointment in friendship.
People just take you for granted without considering your feelings.
But you keep looking out for them and caring for them.
But from all past experiences, i have learned not to expect too much of friends and have learned to pick myself up from a disappointment friendship and move on in life.
You give so much and never get anything in return.
I hope i have earned plenty up there in heaven when my time has come.
Life goes on naturally.