NATAS Fair

Today I went to the NATAS fair with my family. We intend to go to Europe for holidays in May so went to see if there were any promotions. As we had already had a destination in mind, we zoomed in to the various travel agencies to enquire about the tour packages to Europe. We decided that we would just focus on one or two European countries for this trip, instead of those itineraries that cover many different countries.

After checking out the tour packages offered by the major tour agencies, we narrowed down to 2 choices from ASA Holidays and Chan Brothers, based on our preference of only 1-2 countries as well as the availability of travel dates. In the end, we decided to book with ASA Holidays as we were rather pleased with their service in our previous trip. Here's the itinerary that we booked.

However, this is not a confirmed trip yet as a minimum of 15 people are required but there are only 9 now (including our family). Hopefully, we would not be disappointed *crosses fingers*

2010 Movie #5: From Paris With Love

Yesterday 小花 mentioned that she didn't see any interesting movies to watch so I went to GV's website to take a look. I saw one with a good review and asked 小花 if she would be interested in watching it. She was so we went to buy tickets during lunch.

Though we could not catch everything the actors said as they were talking so quickly and there were no subtitles, we still enjoyed the movie. This movie was highly action-packed, and we also found many of the scenes amusing. Too bad the ending is a bit sad.

After the show, we wanted to go for dinner but had a hard time deciding a place. 小花 finally suggested McDonald's but she changed her mind later when we passed by KFC. Both of us had the Bandito Pocket and I also ordered a Portuguese egg tart to share as my sis mentioned that it was quite nice. It was quite tasty and not too sweet so it suited us :)

CNY lunch

Today our company had a CNY lunch for all staff at Sentosa Amara Sanctuary. This year's was a bit different as the people in the organizing committee also put up a dance performance for us. There was even an appearance by "财神爷", who went round the tables giving out red packets. Even the lucky draw was rather entertaining, as the top 6 winners had to imitate animal sounds before they could get the prizes. Near the end, our IT staff also put up a song performance, where they sang songs that were not of their native language.

Overall, it was quite fun and there was hardly a dull moment. Credit to the host for making the event lively and enjoyable for all :)

CNY Gathering

Our boss invited us to his house for a Chinese New Year gathering. Most of us arrived between 7.30 to 8pm. As usual, we chatted and watched tv, while the kids ran around the house playing. After dinner, we played Blackjack. I did not participate and only watched 小花 play. The cards that she was dealt were not very good and she only managed to get a Blackjack once. However, it was quite fun and we did not leave until around 11pm.

It's Friday!

Not sure if it was the dinner last night, but I woke up with a stomachache at around 3.30 am. Tried to sleep it off but in the end still had to go to the toilet. Later that morning, heard that a few of my colleagues also had stomachache, though 小花 was fine. As we all had the same dishes, we suspected it may be the salmon from the "lou hei" since that was the only food that 小花 did not eat.

My team had a CNY lunch today at the Carousel Restaurant at the Royal Plaza on Scotts. It was a buffet lunch and there was a wide variety of food but due to the stomachache this morning, I did not have much appetite and was rather selective of the food.

There were no movies that we wanted to watch so 小花 and I decided to just go for dinner. 小花 suggested the Western Food stall at the Banquet food court at Harbour Front Centre. This stall is quite popular as there would always be a long queue during lunch. 小花 ordered the Chicken Chop with Honey and Black Pepper, while I ordered the Black Pepper Grilled Fish. They did not disappoint and we plan to try the Sambal chicken chop and grilled fish the next time.

CNY dinner

Tonight we had a Chinese New Year dinner at Taste Paradise at Ion Orchard. It was my first time at this restaurant and felt that the decor was rather "cheena". When all of us have arrived, some colleagues started ordering fruit juices. However, it took a long time for the fruit juices to be served and we jokingly said that the restaurant must have run out of fruits and had to go and buy them.

As most of my colleagues have CNY lunches with their customers during this festive period, they were rather sick of eating Chinese food and tried to reduce the number of dishes ordered. Despite that, we still ended up very full, though the food was tasty. As we still had to work the next day, we finished the meal quickly and headed home.

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. As my father had to work today, we had to wait for him to come home from work before proceeding to our relatives' houses to 拜年. I knew we wouldn't need to go out early so I only slept at about 3 am last night and woke up at almost noon :P

We only reached my 1st Uncle's house at around 4.30pm. Our relatives had just left so it was rather quiet. My grandma kept urging us to eat the New Year goodies even though we were not hungry. She took out a box of 肉干 and said there were too many people just now so she didn't offer it to them, only to us. Ha ha... didn't know my grandma liked bak kwa so much :) After chatting for a while, we left for my paternal grandma's house at Hougang. She also brought out New Year goodies, but we only wanted drinks as the weather was rather warm and humid. We watched tv for a while before proceeding home.

Our routine was to have fast food for dinner, since most food stalls and restaurants were closed. However, as we couldn't decide which fast food to eat, we drove to West Mall on our way home. We finally decided to take away the fast food, so that we could order from whichever fast food we wanted and also enjoy the tv programs while eating. I went with my 小妹 to order at Mos Burger first, before calling my father to ask him what he wanted at KFC. It was only then that we found out that he had already bought at Burger King when he saw that there was a long queue at KFC. So we headed home to enjoy our meal :)

Reunion Dinner

Today is Chinese New Year Eve. I did some last minute cleaning up of my room before preparing to go to my grandma's house for Reunion Dinner. This year we ordered dishes from Neo Garden Catering on recommendation from my 大妹's friend. It was rather convenient as everything has been prepared for us, from the utensils to the plastic bags for rubbish disposal. There was even a plastic sheet provided to put over our table cloth, so that everything can just be wrapped up in the plastic sheet and dumped when we have finished.

There were 8 dishes in all - Golden Fortune Egg, Sweet & Sour Prawn, Deep Fried Fish Fillet with Orange Sauce, Ee Fu Noodle, Baked Scallop on Shell, Sea Cucumber Duck, Asparagus with Assorted Mushroom and Longan Red Date with Gingko Nuts. Overall, the food tasted quite good, especially when compared to those that we ordered from other caterers in previous years. My favorite dishes were the Ee Fu Noodle and Asparagus with Assorted Mushrooms :)

We went home after the dinner. I'm not too interested in the countdown programs showing on tv, so I would try to catch up on my anime and j-dramas now :P

2010 Movie #4: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Today 小花 and I watched the movie "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief". It has been some time since we watched a movie of fantasy genre and it did not disappoint. Although the plot was somewhat predictable (I even guessed the true lightning thief correctly :P), it was very entertaining and we thoroughly enjoyed it. There were funny scenes as well, and I especially liked the scene right at the end, where Percy's stepfather smashed open the lock on the refrigerator, only to be turned into stone by Medusa :)

Team Bonding at Coriander Leaf

Today our team had a special team bonding event at Coriander Leaf. It was special because we were to work in teams to prepare and cook a few dishes, which would be our lunch at the end. I was a bit apprehensive at first as I almost never cooked, but it turned out to be quite fun. One of the dishes was Marinated Strawberries in Phyllo Nests, and I helped to prepare the phyllo nests which would act as the base for the strawberries.

After about 2 hours of cooking, we ended up with about 6 dishes. All of us proceeded to the dining area to sample each others' cooking, and the taste was rather good. Though the chefs did help us out, I still find it amazing that we can come up with such standard of food. After the meal, we went back to office to continue with our work for the day.

Bad news... Tulip dislocated and fractured her right arm last night so would be on MC for some time. Oh dear... She's so unlucky when Chinese New Year is just round the corner. Hope she gets well soon...

Eating and Shopping at Orchard

Today my 大妹 suggested going to Ramen Play at 313@Somerset for lunch. She had gone with her friends previously and felt that the ramen was quite good. So we decided to give it a try since my mum also wanted to go to Takashimaya to check out the New Year goodies.

As it was already past 2pm when we reached, there were not many people so we were led to a table quickly. All of us ordered their signature Sanpou Tonkotsu Ramen. There were 3 types of pork toppings: pork cheek, pork belly and char siew. The egg was braised the way I liked it - firm egg white with soft yolk, though only half an egg was served with each bowl of ramen. Overall, the taste was a bit salty but still not too bad. However, I think I still prefer the one at Marutama :P



After the meal, we headed to the Chinese New Year Fair at Takashimaya. There were many people buying New Year goodies and we joined the crowd. However, as we just had our meal, we did not taste test most of the goodies, just a few that we were keen on buying. In the end, we only bought 2 bottles of Prawn Rolls from 美珍香 and decided to go home. As we walked towards Centrepoint where we had parked our car, we passed by a 美珍香 store and was shocked that they were selling the Prawn Rolls at a cheaper price than that at Takashimaya! We had never expected that there would be a difference in price, since prices are usually standardized at different outlets. Too bad lor... next time have to check out the prices first before buying...

2010 Movie #3: Paintball

Not sure if it was because we missed the first few minutes of the movie, but I didn't really enjoy it. Felt that the plot was rather lame, where a group of rich people pays money to watch players getting killed. Perhaps I was hoping for something similar to Harper's Island, where viewers were kept guessing who the real murderer was right till the end. In the end, I'm not even sure if the last survivor managed to escape as her pre-made "death certificate" stated that she died in a traffic accident but she didn't drive the car that was prepared for her. Overall, 小花 and I were disappointed with this movie.

After the show, we decided to go to Burger King for dinner. We usually ate at Long John Silver's or Carl's Junior so we decided to have a change. 小花 ordered the BK Chicken burger set meal, while I ordered the BK Fish burger as I felt that it was more tasty compared to the Fillet-O-Fish at McDonald's. When we have finished our burgers, 小花 saw someone eating drumlets at the next table and decided to buy a box of 4 drumlets to share as she could not resist the temptation :)

Last minute dinner

Our overseas colleagues were here for meetings this week. 小花 and another colleague were "arrowed" to take one of the overseas colleague out for dinner and 小花 dragged me along too. As we were all keen to get it over and done with, we headed to the nearby Akashi restaurant at VivoCity. The food was nice, especially the sashimi, which was very fresh. However, we always seem to order too much and ended up too full again :P

One of the dishes we ordered: King prawn with miso paste