As we grow up, our parents are getting old as well

The title of my entry is such common sense but I feel that because we see our parents every day, we don't realise that they are getting older day by day as we grow up. My mother and grandmother often complain that their knees hurt and get tired easily from a short walk, but I often think that such distances shouldn't be a problem for them even though I do register in my mind that they are of older age. In my mind, my mother has not aged at all. She still appears to me as the active and energetic mum she was when I was in primary school, but one day it hit me all of a sudden that my mother is already in her fifties. I guess I am the one who has been wrapped up in my own process of growing up that my head didn't register this fact.

Sure, we celebrate birthdays every year. 

Perhaps it is because I have started working that I realise that my parents require my taking care of. Since the time I was born, they have been taking care of me and watching me grow. But soon to come, roles will be reversed, and I want to take care of them as well as they took care of me. 

This will be a promise to myself again. 

Family celebration for my Mum at Buffet town at Raffles city. It's funny how my Mum will ask me where to go for meals when we celebrate birthdays because the places on my list to visit are all 1. far away, 2. require queueing and 3. not to their palate. So we decided on buffet style so everyone can find something they like. 

Photos of what I picked 

First plate, a mish mash of everything from random counters. I'm not the type to pile my plate with a lot of food. I think the item you'll see most is broccoli, because I love it! It's my favourite vegetable, but one hardly goes to buffets for the vegetables right? Got my favourite seafood too: all time favourite has got to be fish! Followed by prawns and scallops.

Such an anticlimax second plate since I couldn't decide on what to take next. 

And here comes the sashimi! Never ate sashimi until some time late last year. I always thought it'd taste weird but after trying it by chance once, I never looked back. Moreover it's healthy food:D :D

My obssession with raisins continue even at buffets><

As you can see, I don't eat in the orderly manner like starters, mains, desserts, for fear that I'll get too full for desserts so I insert waffles in between. Buffet town has a really wide variety of food for families who have different tastes. They have a counter that allows you to pick vegetables and mushroom and they fry it for you, a satay and rojak counter as well. But I'm not really a fan of those so I skipped those. I can't really remember what else they have. I liked the steamed fish and sashimi the most. I remember there being pizza too but I didn't take it because the crust was rather thick and I didn't want to get full so fast. So I guess bringing me to a buffet is a waste of money considering the type of food I take. It's about $35 after taxes so it's kind of expensive to me, suitable for special occasions.

Mum and Dad! We seldom take photos when we go out for meals so this is quite a rare photo.

My brothers and I.

Mum and grandma.

Hopeless case

so I went and bought more items even though I knew I was going to Hong Kong/have just gotten back from Hong Kong.

I joined the waiting list for Yventually's Alexis bag and they didn't have a back order because they were afraid of the long waiting time, so they did a 'restock' instead and gave the people on the waiting list the chance to buy it first. I was actually on the fence about it but I decided to buy it in the end and I don't regret it at all. Yvonne the owner provided really good service. Went for the meetup to save on the postage cost and she passed me the bag in a huge Yventually recyclable bag. I didn't expect it and was pleasantly surprised and definitely pleased.

Decided on Yale blue because it's a colour that I don't have for bags, and much easier to manage than cream. I haven't checked whether the zip is functional, but I guess it's more for the design. I put the usual items in my bag in and the bag took its shape. It's a nice hobo bag that I don't have so it's a good addition to my growing collection. It's also suitable for work too. I love my TTR bimba straw bag too but it's sadly not too appropriate for work. I've been carrying it everywhere else though!

This just arrived in the mail yesterday. Agneselle's split up crochet top in white. I actually thought it was nice when I first saw it during their launch, but didn't think of buying it but I got it on Monday when I saw it on sale. I bought it in size M cos their sizing runs so so small. I usually buy S for other blogshops. The measurements state 13 - 13.5" for the ptp. How to wear like that? I usually wear tops with ptp of at least 14.5 or 15", but I threw caution to the wind and just bought it hoping I can fit into it. And I also wondered what bodycon material meant, so I know now that it just means cotton polyester blend which is the same as my Songbird dress from Lilypirates. Not meant to be worn if you intend to go for a buffet, I tried it on last night after a full meal and it certainly didn't look flattering. No unsightly elastic band at the back so I guess it only fits a smaller range of sizes. It's a pretty top to own for casual days(: 

Close up of the crochet details. 

Red turtle cake

I previously uploaded photos and talked about the nicest ang ku kueh I've ever had but at that time I didn't know the address or anything. My parents happened to pass by the area agan today and bought so many pieces home for me! Okay not exactly for me but my family too but it's really my favourite ever since I tried it. I had so many many many this time round. I keep telling myself that because its not everyday that they buy my favourite food.

Looking so shiny and delectable in a small styrofoam box. The peach coloured one is filled with red bean paste while the red ones are either peanut or mung bean paste. I love the peanut and red bean paste one. The skin remains soft despite being out in the open for almost a day and a half. The last time I made them, the skin turned so hard after it cooled down boohoo. I guess that is why their kueh is so famous.

Hehe close up of the red bean paste one. Previously, the red bean paste was liquid-like and would flow out but this time round, it didn't flow out at all but it's still very nice! I don't know if discovering the goodness of red bean paste is a good thing, it just makes me more tempted to eat more fatty food.

And the peanut one!

I didn't try the peanut one the previous time, or maybe I did. Haha I'm really not going to eat any other red turtle cake other than from Poh Cheu's. My brain will just automatically compare it with this. The peanut is so compact and crunchy. Was trying to figure out what goes into the filling and my guess is that it is made up of ground roasted peanuts some peanut powder, sugar and maybe some oil to make it so compact and smooth. 

Okay so after all my rambling, here's the address for people who are interested in trying these.

Poh Cheu

Blk 127, #01-230, Bukit Merah Lane 1, Singapore 150127

Going to try to make some red turtle cake soon and I'll post my endeavour here if I succeed. But first, I'll have to hunt for good recipes.

TTR Cest la vie top + Willow button basic top

I happened to pass by Bugis last night so I popped by KissJane to try some of TTR's items.

Cest la vie top in blue florals. It's a really pretty top but not something I would wear, or can wear, to put it more clearly. I can already foresee my Mum commenting on it. 'What sort of a top is this, neither sleeveless or sleeved'. But I quite like it, though I can't buy it. You know I'm always in a dilemma when I see tops/shorts/dresses that I like, but which I know my Mum will definitely comment on and not like. Tempted to buy them but afraid to wear them. I like the black florals more but there was only M size left for the black one so I didn't try it.

And this: Willow button basic top in peach size M. It's so so so much more comfortable compared to my white piece in size XS. I wanted to try S so that I can join the backorder but there weren't any left on the racks. I guess since XS is snug and M is super loose, S would be the best choice..right? Peach is a nice colour too. At first I was kind of afraid that it would look weird with my skin tone, so I'm glad I tried it first!

And I was wearing the good girl flare skirt in mint. I've worn it countless times since I bought it! Really my favouritest skirt! I would have tucked both tops into the skirt, if not for the lack of time.

Just got back from Hong Kong less than a week ago. It was such a fun trip and the first trip that I planned the itinerary for. Still missing the dim sum, the freedom and everything there was and I really want to go back every year. It was a much needed reprieve from the mundane working life I was living. Time to plan another trip that I can look forward to. But for now I shall look forward to the next public holiday which is..omg, not until August. Though the weekdays are dreary, I have the weekends to look forward to because I get to go to church and spend time with God.
Oh well it's Monday again tomorrow, and 6 more days to the weekends. I'm thinking of joining the Adidas king of the road run alone but I'm not sure if I'm up for it. I've managed to shop alone, eat alone, run alone on weekends but can I really run alone in such a large scale run??

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Told my Mum that I'd give her a treat for her birthday and she told me to choose a place from my list, so I chose Skinny Pizza as I felt that it was something that she would like as well since she liked pizza. Moreover it's skinny pizza with thin crust. 

First time trying truffle fries! I read that either you like it or you don't, so I was actually quite afraid to order it, like what if my Mum and I won't like how it tastes. But my fear was unfounded, cause I liked the taste of truffle fries! It's like wasabi flavour but without the choking in the nose feeling. Has to be eaten when it's piping hot as it doesn't taste as good when cooled. My Mum isn't a lover of wasabi at all, but she helped me finish some of the fries:D

Here comes the long awaited squid ink pizza that I ordered! Really really really awesome! Perfect in my dictionary. Hahaha. The squid and prawns were lightly cooked before being baked together in the pizza, I'm quite sure. But I didn't like the taste of raw onions, so I removed all of them. Really overload of squid and prawns. Even my Mum who isn't a fan of squid ink commented that this was nicer than the one that she ordered. She said I had almost two squids, and I guess that would be quite a good approximation if you exclude the heads and tentacles. I had no idea how to cut the pizza with all the toppings, so I just broke pieces off the pan. And the pizza crust was really crispy and flavourful, because of the squid ink I suppose. This shall be my staple when I visit Skinny Pizza! This, and truffle fries:D

Another photo of the squid and prawns. Look how plentiful they are. If anything, it's the rocket vegetables that I didn't really like, it wasn't to my liking but I still had them all because it's healthy. And I'd say their pizza is healthier compared to others because of the thin crust, lack of the usage of processed sauces such as tomato or the spamming of cheese like how it is done for pizzas from those that are delivered. But of course, this pizza has so much seafood I guess it isn't healthy as well. Doesn't stop me from ordering it, still. Hahaha. Not like I'm eating it on a weekly or daily basis.

Meatball marinara pizza that my Mum ordered. I did try a slice of it, and it tasted nice as well. The meatball was my favourite type, like Subway's, compact and flavourful. But not as nice as the squid ink pizza. Rocket vegetable adorns it again. 

Had a nice meal and didn't get too full though we had one pizza each, probably because of the thin crusts. But still, no space for desserts. Hahaha, we saw a couple who ordered a pizza, a rissoto and a pasta, if I'm not wrong, but there were also two people who ordered a pizza and truffle fries to share, so I'm not sure what the standard is. I guess if you enjoy the meal and don't get too full then it's alright!

The night didn't end too well because of certain things that my Mum said and I felt bad that things had to end on such a note, but on hindsight, she simply cared for me and wanted to undo the knot that had been in my heart for a long time, so things turned out well. I'm just sorry that it had to be on such a happier occasion. 

Mooja!

Was introduced to Mooja, a Thai-styled steamboat restaurant located in Tanjong Pagar. My Mum's colleague was treating since he got promoted. He told us that they serve healthy food. Haha well, healthy or not, it's a personal opinion. In my opinion, definitely not! But it tasted so good. I wouldn't mind going back again for their cheese pork balls. Really out of the world.

Fried fish skins. I know doesn't look appetising, let alone delicious, but it was so awesome! It tasted like keropok, just that it's thinner and crispier. The lady told us to dip it in the soup for 5 seconds for the best taste, and indeed it was. Ahh I really want to go back there for their cheese meatballs and fish skins. No photos of the meatballs but it was really really really good. They steam it when you order it and the cheese squirts out when you bite into it. But you do have to be careful because the cheese might burn your tongue. Didn't have a lot but I did enjoy it very much.:)

Wide variety of seafood and meat as well. The usual steamboat items, and its unlimited orders for all, except for the wagyu beef and the black pork and something else. Their standard chicken and pork tasted really nice as well because it was seasoned before hand. The squid too! And I had quite a fair bit of scallops.

Steamboat and grill, thai style! You can either choose to add the food into the soup and eat it like steamboat or choose to grill it at the top. I was really pleased since it was my first time trying it. The only thing I disliked about it was that the grilling was done using LARD!! So you can see why I say it's unhealthy. But I can't think of anything to substitute the lard since butter is equally bad. Yet the meat tasted so good when grilled. The lady taught us to shape the meat into a ball and grill it like that. I was quite surprised that it didn't chao-da. 

Enjoyed the meal a lot with my Mum and her colleagues. They are such a funny bunch. The meal wasn't cheap, I'm guessing more than $20 per person because we had free flow drinks at an additional $5 per person. Don't worry if you don't drink sweet drinks. They provide mineral water by the bottle. For those who like having beverages, they have thai milk tea, iced lemongrass and other items as well. 

Definitely something everyone should try at least once(: They have the non-buffet menu during lunch too. 

Didn't know that Tanjong Pagar has so many hidden restaurants (hidden to me, at least), definitely returning to try more restaurants(:

Holland V hopping

Met Amanda at Holland Village, our usual hangout area. And since we've tried Everything with Fries, Ipoh Horfun and Hatched, we decided to try something new. I really like googling for new restaurants to try, but before that I will trawl through google to read reviews, dropping those with unfavourable ones to avoid getting disappointed. This was one restaurant that had pretty good reviews: Yoshimaru Ramen Bar.

My spicy ramen! Found the name from their website. This should be called the Yoshimaru Tan Tan Mian. I think this was the only spicy item on the menu, which was the main reason why I ordered it. It was good, basic ramen. No fancy items in it but I enjoyed it, though it could have been spicier. They also gave us a bowl with sesame seeds each so we could grind the sesame seeds and add it into the ramen. The sesame seeds, when ground, was so fragrant, but didn't make much difference when added into the noodles.

Amanda's Hakata ramen. She ordered the set which included a salad and side, rather reasonable I suppose, as it came with a drink as well. We had a student discount as well so my ramen cost only about $12 or $13, if I recall correctly.

The usual dessert at Island Creamery after we loitered around to digest the ramen a little.

This time we ordered the mud pie to share! Three layers of ice cream from top: Chocolate, cookies and cream and burnt caramel. Don't really see how it's a mud pie, but I guess it's just a name for it.

Pineapple tart flavour and burnt caramel flavour. When I saw the pineapple tart flavour on facebook, I really really wanted to try it because of my love for pineapple tarts. But I guess I had too high an expectation of it that it was rather disappointing. Glad that I tried it before deciding whether to buy the entire pint home. I actually told Amanda that I wanted to buy the pineapple flavour home. But I bought very berry in the end and it still sits in the freezer till today, untouched. I think I've successfully trained myself to not crave for ice cream already, it's a small milestone for me, yay!(: 

TTR Willow button top White

Received this top yesterday in TTR's new envelope!(: It's a really cute envelope:D

I bought it in XS, not because I want to act thin but because S became unavailable while I was trying to checkout. And from the measurements it seemed that I can fit into XS, but after I checked out, I realised the models wear S! So I was afraid that maybe I can't fit into it afterall.
Tried it on immediately after I got home, so glad that it fits. But it is rather fitting, and I guess these tops are meant to be loose fit, right? S would be better for me I guess. I usually buy clothes which have ptp of 15 inches and they're often loose for me but this is fitting to the max though the measurements are the same. A little uncomfortable wearing this so I might join the backorder for S instead! Tried it on with my favourite skirts and indeed, both colours match well:D

As for sheerness, it's not exactly sheer but better to wear skin coloured undergarments.

Overall, a nice basic top to have because it can match any colour and any shorts, skirts and jeans:D

Yipeeeee

After refreshing the page for close to 15 minutes, I managed to get the Good Girl flare skirt in white! Hahaha I got so sad when it went out of stock on Sunday night. So I decided to check back last night at 8.

I still feel so lucky! The rabbit sticker looks so retarded yet cute at the same time.:P

Ahh but I now own 4 colours of this skirt! I love it so much!

What being healthy really means

If you asked me more than a year ago what being healthy means, I would tell you that it means an acceptable weight, being more mindful of the amount of food you take in and exercising regularly.

But a year on, I've learnt so much more about what being healthy, or rather, leading a healthy lifestyle entails. I don't believe in diets anymore because dieting means that you're only going to do something for a short period of time to achieve the desired goal and in this case, weight loss. So you tell yourself to cut back on food, eat less rice, skip meals to reach the weight you want but once you reach it, you stop dieting and revert back to your previous lifestyle. Needless to say, you gain back the weight you've lost because you simply reverted back to how you were eating previously before the diet. So I'll just share them here, for the sake of my poor memory.

Instead of diets, I've learnt to change my habits and adopt healthier ones. The easiest one would have to be cutting out sweet drinks from my daily intake. In the past, I used to take a lot of milk tea (with heapfuls of condensed milk), it's no wonder why I got so fat. I stopped taking any sweet drinks (eg, milk teas, ice lemon teas, bottled green tea, bubble tea) because it's just empty calories. I mean, you wouldn't even consider it a meal but the amount of calories can be equivalent to half a meal or even more, so byebye

After a year of not taking sweet drinks, I don't crave for them anymore. Can't believe I used to love bubble tea so much ever since the craze started in primary school. I remember going to school early with my friends just to go to the community centre to order them. And blue coral tasted so horrible, never understood why my friends liked it so much. But my favourite flavour remains as Honey milk tea! Though I'm not going to drink them anymore. Drink water instead! Zero calories and has so many more benefits (haha not going to claim that I know what benefits it offers but it's definitely healthier, right?). Another alternative is the teabag, with no milk/sugar please. I admit that I feel super healthy whenever I drink tea because I imagine the hot tea pulling the oil out from my system though this may not be entirely true. Self delusion maybe? Haha.

Another thing is the snacking. I used to like buying chocolate and potato chips to munch on whenever I feel bored or stressed while studying last time. My favourites were (and still are) these. Unhealthy food ahead! These are the ones you shouldn't be snacking on on a daily basis. Hydrogenated vegetable oil means saturated fats and trans fats(either one, or both, I can't remember), so don't think vegetable oil means healthy in any way. Biscuits are also high in those (think Oreo cookies), can't believe I loved Oreo cookies. Dunking them in milk was such a nice combination.

I've always liked combos because its my favourite pretzel and cheese, but one serving which is about 9 pieces (yes I went to weigh it) contains about 130 calories if I recall correctly. Definitely helps to read food labels to know what you're actually eating! 

And just a side note on reading labels, I don't just focus on the number of calories now, I take into consideration the saturated fats, cholesterol, total fat, protein to decide on which brand of the same food item to buy. Though it might be time consuming at the start, you know which food is good for you and is healthier so you'll stick to buying the same brand in future, which will turn out to be a good thing in the long run. 

Another of my favourite, Fruties! It's raisins coated with chocolate. But after Amanda told me that they need to coat the raisins with something first so that the chocolate can stick, I'm trying to stay off these. Right, better to not like these unhealthy food anymore. I used to eat chocolate on a regular basis, like a small square of Cadbury chocolate every two days. I thought 25 calories was alright, but I failed to consider the fat content. So I take chocolate very rarely now. I don't see it as a sacrifice but more like chocolate as a 'luxury' food to be taken on special occasions. My Mum always laments or scolds me, saying that I'm torturing myself by not having food that I like, but as tastes change, I've grown to love healthier food as well, so I'm definitely still eating my favourite food! Just that it's not all these junk food anymore. 

Percy pigs! It became my favourite after I worked at M&S, as with their Chocolate digestive biscuits, red currant puffs and so many other items. 

And Reese's! My favourites all combined into one. 

And potato chips, my once-eternal love. But now that I haven't eaten them for about a year or so, I don't find myself craving for them anymore. So I guess changing habits does work. 

(Apologies for the unsightly photos. I tried to merge the photos to make a collage so that it looks neater but I didn't know how to. Will figure it out and get it done when I find out)

Now you can see why I became so fat! But I tell myself it was all in the past and as long as I continue my healthy lifestyle, there is still hope for my health! I stopped buying such unhealthy ones and opted for healthier choices of snacks like cranberries, raisins and nuts. Here are my new favourites! Okay I'm guilty of eating too much of these as well, but at least these don't contain cholesterol or saturated fat. Even if there is fats, it's the good fats (as in good cholesterol).

One thing to note is that all these also contain calories, but none of the unhealthy types of calories like saturated fat, trans fat or bad cholesterol. So, do watch the portion size while taking these! I'm always guilty of eating them non stop.

Okay so the reason for my increase in obssession with healthy eating stemmed not from trying to maintain my weight, but because of my health screening report which I received early this year. Before that, I saw nothing wrong with eating a piece of chocolate twice a week or a few spoonfuls of ice cream as and when I felt like it as long as my weight was constant and in the normal range. So the health screening was kind of like a wake up call for me. Not that I have any disease of any sort (at least not right now, not yet), but my bad cholesterol level was kind of unhealthy, though still in the acceptable range. So I decided to make more changes to my lifestyle. I take chocolate probably once every 3 weeks (and not a lot at once anyway), considering that we still have chocolate left over from CNY. And ice cream rarely now, probably only when meeting up with friends. I love cakes too! Why does all my favourite food come laden with so much cholesterol.

And I've realised that actually, being healthy doesn't actually mean exercising (okay yes it does), but the more important aspect is the diet. Because when one goes jogging, the maximum calories I can burn is just a mere 200 or 300, all gone down the drain when I have one heavy meal. So I guess it's more important to watch what you're eating. It doesn't mean that if you exercise, you have more allowance to eat more (like I always thought!!) because the calories burnt is almost negligible. I don't really see exercise as a way to lose weight anymore, it feels more like something to burn the cholesterol.