Rainbow cake pops & such ...

I helped my sis decorate this basket with stuff bought from Daiso, including floral foam in the center. It's meant to hold these rainbow cake pops, a really great idea especially when cardboard cake pop holders are not available in a store near us.

3D doll birthday cake for Sophie this year. You have to buy the Barbie doll in advance to pass to the baker for several reasons. You can ensure its authentic Barbie coz the doll makes another gift for the birthday girl and this particular doll has the leggings and bodysuit already on so it's not naked in the cake.

Staying with my sis ain't so bad after all, it's easier to buy food for large groups of people and I can always find someone to go out for lunch with.

Anyways, I read in the newspaper that there is a new 24hr supermarket near my place and went to take a look. You can't see it from the main road, it's right inside the new estate. Run by Giant, this supermarket has loads of China food stuffs.

I bought loads of disposable plates & cutlery coz our place is still a mess! Moving back to stay even though renovations are still in progress. At least the electricity and water have resumed.

Halloween treats from Cold Storage. I honestly believe this holiday was created just for the candies.

醉花林俱乐部

Family dinner at Jumbo Teochew restaurant, next to Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh. Some family friends are joining us. My sis ordered the signature braised duck dish in addition to an 8 course menu in advance. The braising sauce was not herbal at all and actually quite light and tasty, I guess that would make it more appealing to foreigners and kids.

The must try cold appetizers of pork trotter jelly, liver roll, prawn roll and my favorite seasoned jellyfish. All 4 starters are really delicious, not sure if its just me talking coz things like innards are not usually nice things to eat. The liver was really creamy.

Crab & sharksfin soup that everyone loves, one bowl is never really enough. Salted egg prawns that are a new food fad, it makes the dishes really rich and flavorful. Too bad there's only 1 per person.

Steamed toman fish, headless coz they use the fish heads in curry here. It's a really meaty fish found only in Asia.

Braised pork belly and fried rice, the ultimate comfort food combination. If I come here alone, I would just order these 2 dishes. The braised pork belly comes with sea cucumbers and fish maw for extra textural crunch.

Taro & Sweet Potato dessert covered in syrup. 1 pot of tea was not enough for this meal.

Over dinner I was admiring the girls gorgeous nails and apparently they all use this brand, Etude House dashing diva press-on nails. I haven't seen press-on nails since my mother's time. It's a great idea, instantly gorgeous nails without the wait & $$$. I received a new box set as a gift from them, it's got enough for 3 full mani plus some extra.

Packing for Renovations

We've been busy packing everything into moving boxes. Our place is going to be renovated and I am soo excited, we've been talking about it for dunno how long. Anyways, the biggest challenge so far is getting enough boxes.

This is just the kitchen stuff...Tupperware, plates. It's kinda unbelievable and after this I won't be buying anymore flatware & cutlery. I think there's enough kitchen stuff here to last a few more decades or maybe even a few more homes.

Kitchen demolition complete. There was nothing wrong with the cabinets, we just wanted to take down the walls and create an open kitchen, maybe add a new laundry or half bath.

These are stationery and office supplies like the printer, fax. We put the books into plastic containers coz once it gets wet, there's really no point saving it. Hopefully, we'll have a place to put all these things out once renovations are complete. Usually, people try to downscale when renovating. I haven't looked at the new plans so I don't know what its gonna look like.

Because of the shortage of cardboard boxes, my mom suggested I pack my personal stuff into all available bags I own. Which is kinda funny, imagine me carrying out 10 LV/Chanel/Prada bags all at once. That isn't actually it, its more like all the luggage bags we own. So our home stuff is in boxes and our personal stuff is in luggages.

Escaping the noise and dust @ Delifrance.

Looking at alternative living arrangements. If you don't want to live in a budget chain hotel but want to spend around that amount, there are several boutique hotels in Chinatown. Imagine living in a historical area filled with tourist sights, quaint eateries and famous hawker centers. Booking 3 to 6 months ahead is recommended, coz when I tried to book these places it was too late to confirm the dates. Capsule hotels are the new thing, its in between backpacker hostel and Chinatown hotel.

I also tried looking for rentals by the month. In general, HDB flats go for less than $500 for 1 room and more than $500 for the whole flat per month. Condos are a few thousand dollars per month. All tenancy agreements are for at least 3 months at a time, but it really depends, sometimes its longer like 1 year.

Fruit Icing Gel

Having ice cream at Vivocity, I came across this cute new body product called icing gel. It comes in watermelon, mango or strawberry and is an aloe vera after-sun gel enhanced with fruit essences for fragrance and other qualities @ $9.90. It feels quite cool to the touch and is mildly moisturizing so I got one, don't think there's another bodycare product out there like this yet.

Not to be confused with Fruit Salad Dressing by Lady's Choice, a Filipino favorite. Served with fresh cut fruits, it makes the fruits taste sweet and creamy. It can also be used in the popular pinoy dish macaroni salad.

Boon Lay MRT is right next to Jurong Point Shopping Center and I was here again to collect more prizes. Have to take a bus out to the industrial estates for prize collection and the entire process takes me hours.

Jurong Point S.C. has these popular HongKong or Tokyo themed streets with eateries, instant noodles for sale and cute souvenirs. It's also home to this Food Court that looks right out of a 5 star Malaysia Resort. All the fast food chains can be found here too.

$1,000 Chan Brothers Travel Vouchers that would translate into a 3D2N staycation in RWS or free'n'easy for 2 people to Langkawi. Haven't decided what to do with this yet, so I'll have to check with the travel agent what the latest travel destination is.