Twenty-Seven..

I finally turned 27 and yes, am officially in my late twenties -_-. It was another quiet affair, just the two of us and it began at my favourite NYC restaurant - Eleven Madison Park!

We were initially unable to get reservations (well, we only started booking 4 days in advance) and Mr Lim had to explain that it was for my birthday and that it is my favourite restaurant (Both facts are true!). We ended up on the waitlist and I was pretty disappointed that by thursday morning, there was still no news. Eventually, I was over the moon upon learning that they managed to squeeze us in! (Hooray!!)

I was expecting a simple lunch but was really surprised by the excellent service provided. It started when I was greeted at the door by name and led to a table with a hand-written birthday card for me! What a great personal touch!

The menu is really interesting and you could choose any 3 or 4 items from 12 choices depending on the number of courses you want. Hee, my selection was Tuna, Lobster, Beef and Berry! Zim's selection was Octopus, Lobster, Beef and Chocolate!

After placing our orders, we were served with a selection of amuses bouche! Our lunch started with a little dish of perfectly baked, cheesy gougéres that I could not stop munching on.

Tomato basil soup that was so refreshing and appetizing. While Zim found the taste a tad bit overwhelming, I simply loved it!

Smoked sturgeon sabayon with chive oil! I swear I licked the eggshell clean!

Just when we thought we would be served our first course, the service director came up to us and invited us for a kitchen tour. While she explained the functions of each section of the kitchen and how it is run, a gin cocktail was being prepared. What an experience!

My first course - Tuna:

Zim's first course - Squid:

2nd Course - Lobster:

3rd Course - Beef:

A palate cleanser - Egg white whipped cream using vanilla malt syrup and a drop of olive oil, with poppy seeds and seltzer. Well, it has a really interesting taste... Not quite sure if I'm a fan of it, but the afterall taste was really nice and light.

My dessert course - Berries! And they were really sweet to add a candle for the birthday girl!

Zim's dessert - Chocolate:

Just when we thought we were finally done with the meal, we were served mignardises that included my favourite macaroon! I was also given a box of desserts to go as a final birthday present.

And finally, the check arrives! I kept it as a souvenir as it has my birthdate written on it!

All in all, a very happy me...

A not-so-happy Zim, especially after footing the bill.

A happy us!

I'm so in love with the restaurant service, ambience and food that I would absolutely love to come back again. (Well, maybe not so frequently, especially after the damage.) Sigh, a little part of me kinda wished that this was the place Zim proposed at. *Ideas for singles out that!*

So, after the damage done at lunch, I settled for a homely and simple dinner - Japanese take out from my favourite restaurant - Oyishi Sushi! Well, I wanted a place where I could enjoy dinner with Sam, and since Irene was close, we decided to stay home and enjoy a simple take out!

Yummy chicken terriyaki!!

Happy Mummy with little Sammy..

Of course Sam was happy... he got to enjoy some yummy chicken too!

A happy us again!

Guess that's it! Last but not least, Happy birthday to me!

Sam's little corner..

Sam's little corner of outfits, collars and harnesses...

Just for Sam..

Another completed scrapbooking page. Thanks Rachel for the motivation and inspiration! Hopefully, more to come!

Packing in progress...

I'm coming home!!! Almost...

Goodbye Lappy...

Well, now that I've my new Macbook Air... I've to say goodbye to my faithful Macbook that had accompanied me for the past 5 years!

Goodbye Lappy.. Hopefully, your new owner would treat you better...

At least the new owner is showing him with lotsa hugs and kisses...

I decided to give it the little man after catching him eye on Lappy for the longest of time!
Guess I made the right decision... I wish Lappy and Sammy many years of happy collaboration!

Goodbye my friend...

Shades~

After contemplating for the longest of time, I finally took the plunge and bought me a pair of prescription shades! I decided to invest in a pair after learning from a fellow Singaporean-New Yorker that our insurance plans cover part of the cost of prescription lenses! I found out that my insurance covers up to USD100 per pair (plus the cost of the eye exam to get my prescription). So, I was kinda expecting to pay a couple of hundreds out of my own pocket. But, the lovely surprise was, I only had to pay less than USD100 in the end, even though the frames were supposedly USD140 and the polarized lenses were USD200. Apparently, there were additional discounts from a summer sale and the insurance plan. But hey, I ain't complaining. *Grinz*

Yap, my very own pair of Ray-Ban shades!!! When I showed Zim, he was like "Huh, so ah-lian.". !^@$@#$$%^# Tmd.. that guy has no taste.. Pui~

Well, the downside of this really great deal was that my lenses are uber thick... =/ Afterall, my prescription was 4.25 per eye (it actually went down from 4.75!! My eyesight's improving!) and cheapo me refused to pay another USD150 for thinner lenses. I guess people don't really notice the thickness and with my fringe covering, it probably isn't that obvious anyway.

This was supposed to be my birthday present.. but since it ended up being so cheap, Mr Lim felt generous enough to offer to pay for my MacBook Air as well. (So effectively, I've two pressies from him!) Wahahaha, what a great bargain for me!

I love August!!!

It's August!!

Well, August is possibly my favourite month of the year! Simply because I get to act as a diva for at least one day of the month (and pretty much get away with it) and to extort and order Mr Lim around. And I absolutely love it!!

The extortion began a little earlier this year and it has arrived!!!

The little boy spotted the package first...

Approaching carefully...
I guess he probably thought it's for him.. Nope Sammy, it's for MUMMY!!
So, frustrated sam finally begged me to open the package to feed his curiousity.

Ta-da~ My very nice MacBook Air!!!! Something I've been eyeing for ever since I got to NYC! And yap, it's my birthday pressie from Mr Lim. (Well, part of my present at least...)

Love Love Love Love it~

My brand new MBA!

My first blog entry from my MBA (macbook Air) and I'm loving it!!! I've to admit that it does take a little while to get used to the uber small screen (I settled for the 11-inch one) after being so used to my 27-inch iMac.

Nonetheless..It's just so darn good.....

My Project..

Remember the photo of my new study room I upload here? At the little corner of the room sat a photo frame that I bought on my first trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond when I first arrived in NYC. (Well, quick mental note, that's effectively 1.5 years ago!) I bought thinking that it would be my first scrapbooking project in NYC!

So, that little frame sat in the cupboard for over a year and finally saw some light when I revamped the room. With some great inspiration and a great deal of motivation from my scrapbooking buddy, Rachel, I finally completed my first project after just 1.5 days (That's my new record!)!

On a good note (and a really valid excuse), had I done this earlier, I would not be able to include the beloved little boy and the photo of us in Orlando! So I guess it was pretty much a blessing in disguise!

Nonetheless, I'm really happy with the end product and here it is!

Food Truck Rally...

We spent our lovely sunday eating our hearts out! (Well, sorta..)

One of our foodie friends invited us to join them at the Food Truck Rally at Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Though it was a little bit of a commute, we just had to go for the experience!

The stupid park was just so huge that we got lost, partly because we got off at the wrong station. We were a little worried when we got off the station and didn't see any crowd at all! (The banner on top was spotted only after we called our friends to make sure we got the venue and date right!)

It was quite an eye opener seeing all the colorful and pretty trucks! I was so tempted to try all the food, but sadly, the food wasn't as cheap as I thought it might be. (A lobster roll was USD16!) Plus, the crowd and the heat was really offputting. Nonetheless, I was able to order Mr Lim around to get some of the yummy food I craved!

A glance at some of the yummilious food we got! The best had to be the Kimchi Taco! I would have gotten another one if not for the uber long queue!

The heat was a killer and since Mr Lim was wearing jeans, he was clearly almost suffering from heatstroke. Hence he went straight for the ice cream sandwich. (It's just one of the most sinful thing ever.. Ice cream sandwiched by cookies.. Of course, I gave it a miss..)

A rather happy me with the uber expensive lobster roll that was unfortunately quite disappointing. Well, at least Sam enjoyed the pieces of bread that I peeled for him.

Forced the little boy to take a picture with me again, and he's just eyeing on the kebab I had. Lucky him, he got a small piece of chicken!

All in all, it was a pretty fun experience. Just sitting around, having a picnic and great company, despite the great heat! Looking forward to doing it again next month, hopefully the weather is gonna get better!

Of course, the happiest of us all... (Yummy food + lotsa grassy areas + Birds & squirrels to kill chase = Happy Sam!)

Going Home..

Yap! I'm going home!

Amid my indecisiveness, I've finally decided. And I'm glad I made that decision. Apparently, Mum was so happy that she called my bro, who in turn called me almost immediately. I would like think he's happy too. Afterall, I will be there to share Mum's overbearing-ness for 2 weeks. So why not?

Of course, I'm sure I'm going to miss my little man. To reduce my guilt, I'm thinking of boarding him at a farm, so that he would enjoy the freedom of roaming on acres of land, running on grass and breathing in fresh fresh air. I've narrowed down to a couple and let's see how things go from there.

Anyway, looking forward to home!!!

Photo Booth fun!

Finally a perfect one after Nth tries...

Home?

Where's home? I used to think that home is where Sam is. I still do. It's just that I have a sudden yearning for home, the other home where the rest of my family are. I used to pride myself for having little homesickness and actually enjoying the freedom I get being away from my overbearing mom. (Oops~) But now, I actually feel like going back home. And it really doesn't help that my dad spoke to me personally about wishing that I would go home.. (He seldom makes such requests and when he does, my heart definitely goes soft...)

I guess that the trigger is Zim's upcoming trip home, most possibly without me. I'm a little tempted to go back with him. Okay the truth is, I'm VERY tempted to go back with him. That being said, there are a couple of factors holding me back. Financially, it does not make any sense. The trip back and sam's boarding would easily add up to USD3k. In addition, I have to leave my other home, the home where my little boy is and it breaks my heart to do so. Lastly, it's the 20 hours flight. The uber long flight that would make my butt break and where I would be constantly worrying if it's going to crash. (Yap, I've a phobia of planes.)

So, is it worth it? I don't know...

I thought that I had made up my mind, but the constant struggle about the decision makes me realise that I'm clearly not happy with the decision.

Sigh.... How can I be so indecisive? Rawrrrrrr~

Random Shots of KeY's life...

My wall of bags... And yap, Qian's gonna scream at me for being a Bitch for having so many Longchamp bags. Current count: 5! =P
A painting of Ed Heck that a good friend gave. I really love his illustrations of dogs...
Our new Dahon folding bikes. His on the right and hers on the left. Our new exercise/ relaxing routine - a good ride along hudson river.
My new arts & craft room! Yap, yellow is the new black for me. Wished I could paint the walls grey though. Nonetheless, I'm really happy with the end product! (There's just a little more touches to be added on.)

Loving my yellows and greens!

Last but not least, the silly little man that slept beside mummy while she blogs...

Say Goodbye...

Made a long overdue effort to revamp the guest room into a craft room. In the process of doing so, I finally tossed some things away, most of which were just trash. There were a couple, however, that had some memories attached...

1. My childhood stereo..

This was a birthday gift from my parents when I was in secondary school. It was antique enough that it had both a cassette tape and a MD player! It had served me well during my school days, always there for me while I chilled out in the room or while I struggled to study. It's definitely hard to say goodbye, especially after a decade. But I guess when it's time to let go.. I've to..

2. My snowboarding helmet..

This thing probably saved my life last fateful Christmas. Though I've absolutely no use of it now, it was a little heartbreaking tossing it out. Afterall, I am indebted to it.
Seeing the evidence of the crack it endured while it sacrificed itself for me still gives me chills and make me grateful that no long term damage happened (but again, maybe I did get dumber..=P).

Saying goodbye isn't easy, especially to things with memories. While I no longer hang on to these physical possessions, looking at the photos still give me a little warmth in my heart (and a little ache as well). At least there's still some memories of them that I could hang on to for as long as I would like...

For now, GoodBye...

Me Time trip.. Planning..

OMG. I didn't realise how difficult it is to plan a backpacking solo trip. It's even tougher for someone who tends not to plan for any trip and kinda do things as and when she feels like (Well, I'm a super last minute, impromtu kinda person I guess). I'm having a major headache just selecting the places I wanna visit, and suddenly, 2 weeks seemed to be wayyy too short!

I wonder if I would ever get done.. The scary (yet really thrilling) part is that, I would have to have a pretty complete plan as I won't really have anyone to lean on when something shitty happens.. Well, I'm pretty sure something IS going to happen. (Maybe a charming English prince or knight would come to my rescue then.) But till then, I'm definitely on my own! The unknown is just so exciting!!!! Sigh, wished I could have done this earlier!

Here's a quick look of the top places that are the highest priority in my itinerary as of now...

1. Bath

It's kinda stupid why I wanna go Bath. I was watching some HK drama (which I can't even recall) about a couple meeting and being together in Bath and I thought that I wanna go there someday.. And yap, that someday is in October!

2. Stonehenge

Definitely have to visit the iconic prehistoric site right?

3. Glasgow

Yap, Scotland's in my travel plans as well!!!

Other places include Liverpool, Cambridge and Edinburgh as well!!

Hopefully, the photos I upload in November will be that of those I took myself! Meanwhile, back to planning... *Pulls hair*

Musicals!!!

I recently bought tickets for two musicals that I've been dying to watch!!!

1. Rent

Remember me being super excited about Rent's return to broadway? (here) Yap, I finally bought tickets for it!!

Won't be able to collect my tickets till the actual day, but the seats are amazing!! I really can't wait till July 27!!!

2. Book of Mormon

Sigh, sad story on why I got the ticket. I probably tried the lottery about 5 times (and nope, didn't make it for any..) ! The crowd for the lottery tickets was insanely huge (possibly bigger than that of Wicked). Eventually, I decided that luck wasn't on my side and I'm finally willing to pay for two full priced good tickets (for me and Zim). Annoyingly, the next available date for two decent orchestra tickets (middle) is in April 2012! WTH.. Frustrated and desperate to watch it (come on, I'm a HUGE south park fan!), I decided to be a bitch and ditch my husband. In exchange, I managed to get really good seat for ONE in November! I am soooo excited!

Sorry Mr Lim, I promise to give you a good synopsis of the musical! I'm so enjoying the soundtrack I just can't wait!!! yippppppeeeee~

PS: If you are planning to visit me Sam next year and wanna catch this musical, BUY TICKETS NOW!

Me Time Trip..

Yap, I'm going Great Britain for my solo holiday!!! Not quite sure what the itinerary is as of now, and I seriously need to sit down and spend sometime planning the trip.. but you know what, I'm so freaking excited already!!!!!

I'm counting down to October...

So, wake me up when September ends ya?

Purple monster..

Something new for a change...

Can you spot my havianas tan? That's the results of Sam's daily noontime dog park visits! Yap, I officially have a thong tan.. LOL
Not exactly sure if I'm in love with the color, but nonetheless, it's an interesting change..

Time to ponder on what I should get next...

Kiasu Americans...

Goes to show that Singaporeans ain't the only kiasu people around..

The fireworks won't begin till 9.20pm and people are already reserving spots.. Nice...

Lucky us, we have the full view of the fireworks in the comforts of our own home! *Smug look*

anyway, Happy 4th July!!