I met S, my excolleague for an afternoon of girly time after I was done with the gym with M. We decided on Ion as I go the the California Fitness and Ngee ann city and it's convenient enough. It was about 2 by the time we met up, and we walked around the mall for a bit and decided it was time for tea, so I suggested Paul's as I love their fruit tarts and tea. We hiked through wisma, which was full of people, and half way through, we saw this exhibition. Firstly I saw many kids dressed in the formal wear of Anglo Chinese School (International) and found it kind of odd. When I was still in school that was reserved for formal occasions like founder's day or graduation. Turns out, the school had sponsored part of the exhibition in support of habitat for humanity. Back in Year 5 I remember we slept in a cardboard box in a field for a night to understand what the homeless go through everyday and I was well pleased to see that the school was still continue to partner with Habitat for Humanity to raise funds and awareness to help homeless people.

We stopped and decided to play our part and each paid for a brick in which the proceeds go to materials for building new homes.

It was quite fun just colouring and chatting and I thought that was a very engaging idea as opposed to just getting people to donate $2 and then just walk away. By the time we were done and left to go to Paul's, there was an extremely long line outside so we decided to head to Jone's the Grocers instead. We were both famished by then and decided on the Egg Benedict and the french toast topped with berries. I love the combination of smoke salmon, avocados, with the prefect poached egg topped with hollandaise sauce on top of an english muffin.  

We decided that we would share each dish so it meant one serving of eggs benedict and 2 slices of french toast for both of us, which was the best idea ever! I love having both savoury and sweet elements in a meal.

The berries were very fresh and the cream was also light, and not overly stodgy. It was perfect with the maple syrup drizzled over it ^^

Perfect way to end the day out with S!

Date nights have been rather quiet affairs as of late. We tend to hang out at his place and just watch movies and laze around and have his mum will cook for the whole family. Did I mention I love home cooked meals? :)

So instead of going to orchard, I suggested heading to bugis instead. After all I haven't been to bugis + since it has opened. Let me warn you that bugis + is definitely for young people, from the mix of shops and restaurants to the entertainment outlets. We were going down the escalator and I commented how we must have brought the average age of people in the mall up significantly, he laughed at me and pointed out at really old man in front of us. 

We got off the escalator and I found this. A fix it felix machine!! We had just watched the first half of wreck it ralph a few weeks ago, so I was pretty amazed that such a machine existed. The bf being the skilled one finished the game rather quickly but I perserved and completed a level. We walked around a bit more and decided to grab dinner so we headed to ma maison. I've never tried it but it apparently has pretty good ratings so I figured, why not?

We got there pretty early so the restaurant was really empty, which was nice because the service was good and staff seemed rather attentive. The decor is quite interesting, kinda like a really cosy family home feel. 

We decided to give the buttered escargots a try. I guess I expected it to be nice and buttery as the name suggest but well it tasted normal,

I got the squid ink pasta. Way too oily for my liking and I started regretting it soon after but oh well.

The highlight came after that when we walked around and found a kids arcade. It has some really old school games and this is one of those! Feeding Big Bessie is one of those things that my sister and I used to do so it was quite fun playing it with the bf. Just that at this age we're significantly taller to get the balls in properly. We played a few more games, a fun drum one, hitting moles with hammers... And we managed to win a grand total of 75 tokens! I chose 3 sets of stickers to redeem because I figured my Primary 1 sunday school kids will appreciate it :) 

We walked around the mall for a bit more and headed back to his place soon after, it was an easy fuss free date that was fun. I'm on the lookout for more easy date ideas!

So it was the end of July where I spent a night at the airport hotel, and flew back on good old SIA, a day after the parents and the Bf left England for the sunny island. It was a bittersweet affair. I have grown to love the UK, watching the leaves fall in autumn, shivering through winter, watching the flowers bloom in spring ( having a room that looked out to the garden with a huge cherry blossom tree!), long summer days where the weather is perfect and everything in York looks so beautiful. I miss taking the train to various parts of the UK to explore. I enjoyed the journey, looking out at the sheep grazing on the fields and spotting cows on our long drawn train rides.

But all this finally came to an end when I graduated from the University of York, got a job in one of the Big 4 accounting firms, packed up all my belongings and moved home. I felt like I didn't belong. My friends from uni were scattered all across the globe. People I'm used to seeing in lectures and tutorials will just be part of my past, only a hand full were coming back home to Singapore too.

Being used to cycling to school/church/wherever I needed to go turned into either taking the car if dad allowed me to (I had just passed my driving test the day before I flew back) if not I'll take the train. Well it's 11 mins to raffles place and 4 mins to Orchard ( can't really complain). I also started taking the bus too, and it is nice looking out of the window and seeing shops you never knew existed, old eating places that you know will soon make way for higher end cafes or restaurants. I never understood why people complained about the crowded trains. To me it was efficient. During my summer break I would take the train, and it came every 2-3 mins, and got me where I needed to go in such a short while. But having to lug a laptop, my handbag and files on a crowded train at Novena every morning was not ideal. It is a struggle every morning to get on the train. You just have to be bold. See the space in which you don't think you can fit in? Just take a leap of faith. Somehow people tend to move and make space. If not, keep waiting for the next train, which will probably be as packed as the previous one.

Besides the struggle with transport, I had to learn to order food in a local hawker centre/coffee shop. Earning my own money means firstly, tithing to God. I am merely a steward of what he has blessed me with, followed by my parents and saving a large chunk for buying a home. This leaves little money for frivolous purchases. For one I cut out taking a cab everywhere so as to be able to still dine at nice places with friends, and for lunch during work I choose something simple and affordable. I must say I'm not the most adventurous when it comes to Singaporean cuisine. But I've found a few favorites that have become my staples. I love sliced fish in soup with white noodles or just rice with dishes. I do like the occasional popiah and chicken rice ( breast meat,no skin or bones) but I tend to abstain from anything with yellow noodles or is spicy in nature.

I'm starting to acclimatize well. Local food is satisfying, I'm appreciative of how affordable transport is here, and I'm starting to build up my support system in terms of reconnecting with my friends, getting to know awesome people at my previous workplace and being more involved in church. Yes, I've started teaching sunday school. And I love being about to see my grandma every week and watch my nephews grow up. Mum has also graciously paid for my gym membership and lasik so here's to healthier living. So I'm thankful for this season in my life and am excited to start another phase as a management consultant.

So we frequently head to Orchard and eat around the vicinity so I thought it's nice to go somewhere else for once. I met M at Holland village and we caught a bus to a little cafe near her place. I didn't know where it was but it was pretty close to the bus stop so it was just a 5 mins walk away.

It pays to be a student as they have D.I.Y Pancake buffet for $10. M is still doing her masters so she qualified. I love how a simple idea can be so engaging and fun. Thinking of ridiculous shapes and squeezing the batter out of the soft malleable plastic bottle, laughing at how weird the shapes somehow come out. We evidently didn't make many pancakes because there's only so much one can eat and the pancakes did come up decently. Not too sweet or tasteless, but I guess not fluffy enough for me to go wow.

 I got the Red Velvet Pancake instead. What I like about red velvet pancake is how it's not too sweet. It's actually the cream cheese frosting between the layers of the pancakes that made it taste so sweet. the red velvet pancakes paired really well with the strawberries, and the serving size was pretty generous too. I could barely get through half of it as it was quite rich, definitely a bad decision to eat it after lunch. This has inspired me to try whipping up a batch of tasty, fluffy red velvet pancakes.

Nooks- D.I.Y House of PancakeBukit Timah, 

21 Lorong Kilat,#01-03 S’pore 598123

So my quest for good food continues and a Bodycombat class to make up for the pancake intake.

So being in a phase of life where you can't pick just throw on your favourite pair of massimo jeans and a top, pull on your uggs and cycle off to wherever you need to go means you have to start refreshing your wardrobe. I find it practically impossible to wear jeans or any form of long sleeve tops in Singapore due to the heat,so my weekend wardrobe is essentially made of sleeveless tops, casual v neck t shirts, shorts and skirts. But shorts tend to be a bit on the casual side, and the skirts that I have bought that aren't for work tend to be shorter and reminiscent of my teenage years so I've been on a quest to find bottoms that are not figure hugging, of a decent price and cut that I can wear to church or out for a meal with friends. So imagine my delight when I spotted this grey jersey flared skirt in the H&M at Ion.

It's versatile enough to pair of more formal blouses but can also be dressed downed with a plain t shirt, and just make the outfit interesting with accessories. Furthermore I love the pleating detail and the exposed zip. Best of all, it was only $24.50. It's perfect for budget conscious fresh graduates who want to save a significant chunk of your pay for big ticket items (read: cars, homes) and still want to update your wardrobe for a more age appropriate look. 

I can't wait to pair this with some of my existing tops and maybe I might start posting #OOTD.