Xi Yan Private Dining

Really good. http://www.xiyan.com.sg/

Full Marks. Thanks SPH for the treat.

from their webpage: While Xi Yan boasts a long list of guests of who-is-who from all over the world, it attracts anyone who seek to enjoy quality good food. No matter who the guest, Xi Yan home setting makes every of its guests feel comfortable visiting.
Xi Yan private dining is strictly by reservations-only, it adheres to a philosophy that only what's fresh of the day at the market will be served, and the 12 course menu would be plan by the chef daily.

Wish I was there...

My Hong Kong Trip

I always love HK - the food, the people, the clothing amongst others.

I'm glad I've friends to bring me to places for wonderful food, restaurants and cafe which only the local knows. Happy Valley for seafood, some street in Wan Chai for egg tarts and char siew fan, and other nice food =)

And I so heart agnes b at IFC. if i had more money i'll probably buy a few more voyage, cuff links etc... And if i had more money i'll buy a vivien westwood sling too.

And because i was feeling lazy most of the time, since this is suppose to be a relaxing trip, i didnt go swimming at kowloon park and did not visit the giant buddha. oh well next time la.. HK is near and it's a place which i will always visit.

Thanks to all.. Mickey, Eric(s), Vincent, Ian, Kit and Cyrus.

more pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211774&l=8b60f&id=799570152

Beetle

In a fit of anger, I killed a house beetle. It kept buzzing around me and I Threw a pillow onto it. When i flipped over the pillow, its legs got stuck onto the fabric and i shoot it off the surface with my finger.

the poor beetle hit the cupboard and died. sigh... i hope this act doesnt magnify into killing people when i become angry. i dumped the dead beetle into the bin. and said aumithuofo.

10 mins later, it resurrected from the bin and started terrorizing me.

and i saw that SIA is having a recruitment drive for cabin crew on 17 jan 09 while i was applying hair loss serum on my fringe.

and today i saw house of feng shui's pushcart in vivocity. and how the boss wanted to sue me and stuff..

wat a bad day.

So proud of U!!

KL Trip

okie.. time to update my blog a little.. i felt pretty burnt-out at work and needed to go somewhere to relax my mind. this was a pretty spontaneous 3D2N trip with dom. we've decided on KL.. i haven't been there for years, and its good to visit Pavillion, since i'm working in a shopping centre.

so we toook aeroline, supposedly a business class coach, with tagline "the convenient way to fly".. it was not what i expected. other than simple food being served on board, there was nothing too different from the usual coach.

and we checked in to grand millennium hotel, which is conveniently located beside pavillion. nice hotel. nice service. accomodating staff who kindly extended our check out time and also served the cakes we bought from secret recipe on nice plates at the lobby.

some recommendations for food:

Werner's at Changkat Bukit Bintang for German / Spanish food and the nice decor
Palate Palette @ 21 Jln Mesui for International Fusion food and to check out the arty farty people
Jln Alor for hokkien mee and oyster omelette
The Mill at Grand Millennium

anyway i wished i could eat more in 3D2N.. so many restaurants selling good food, and mostly reasonably priced.

Happy Teacher's Day

I've been giving tuition for many years.. Usually Kids whose parents are expats working in Singapore.

And its teacher's day... I love all my Korean kids =)




it reads "you're the most good looking teacher in Singapore".

And no i didnt force my students to write that.



hehe....

saturday =)

its a saturday afternoon. i've made plans to gym, thread eyebrow, go temple then meet friends for an event =)

Alexis's belated birthday last Sat..

Alvina

As you already know, or perhaps this is something new to you, i am fat and i have a tummy. The name is Alvina.

as usual, i had many meetings today and when i reached office, i felt so drained and tired.

then i received a fone call.

"Hi good afternoon, can i speak to Alvina"

OMG I laughed so hard for at least one minute... the person ended up saying "sorry wrong number"

Had wanted to put the fone to Alvina... Anyway she needs to be destroyed. ordinary means no longer work. she requires medical intervention. Hey maternity leave is 4 months leh

People Come, and GO, and hopefully some Come back again

I've been working for close to 3 months. Within these 2 months +, I've seen many people leaving the organisation. Imagine I was the most junior marketing person in the department. Coming End September, I'll probably be the most senior one (excluding my boss). Well, bosses move too. Even faster. This is the 3rd marketing communications manager, given this shopping centre I work in is barely 2 year old. The management office will soon be so quiet... More work coming along, with less colleagues sharing the workload.

One marketing colleague left for another place, one was head-hunted to another mall, one is going overseas with her husband, one is going on maternity leave in End Sep. Colleagues from other departments are leaving too, one after another.

You probably never know the real reason why people leave their workplace. Even when they mention it's for a better offer elsewhere, the real reason may be a different workplace culture when new bosses come in.

Human dynamics sets in. Everyone has a different working style. And I've since learnt that it is good to be really versatile and work according to the style your bosses prefer.

Its my first job, and I'm glad its a good place where I can learn alot. Anyway enough of work. Its quite never ending.

Mickey, whom I've known since Sec 1, is leaving for Hong Kong, for good. Probably not returning. We never meet him for more than 1 year because he went into some sort of hibernation. So this is the first, and last time we are meeting after his hibernation.

bye~

Whine about work

i havent blog in a while. partly due to work commitment. i always feel so drained everyday after work. i dunno where to start whining about work. but i need to whine about work. work is so hectic.

why is it so hectic... because i have alot of meetings.. ok if i can remember, i met national arts council this afternoon, in the morning i went to singapore tourism board for an F1 grand prix talk.



so day ago i met mediacorp, the korean embassy, some marketing companies, some singapore fashion week committee.. some this some that some everyone zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ

everytime i need to sit down and do my campaign proposal or marketing proposal, i am bombarded by many many many MANY MANY MANY emails. emails about advertising, emails about events, emails about this tat everytihing...

while at the same time i need to crack my brain on a marketing proposal..

this is worst than school work. much much much much more hectic than projects in nus.
as i whine, i saw a stack of work beside me. stuff which i have to settle tonight before i can sleep in peace. and i already start pasting post it note to remind myself to follow up on alot alot alot of stuff to be done tomorrow.

in terms of marketing in a retail environment, the mall i m in is the biggest mall currently. hence it is very very very happening and challenging... and there are alot alot alot of things to do to do to do to do to learn to learn to learn

i think one big lesson i would learn from working here is to be FIRM when handling people if not things will never be done..

another stuff which i learn is to be organised organised organised so that u know where everything is and how everything is going on.

anyway i have graduated!!! yay!!!! i havent blog about this. but anyway i have graduated.



























I recently bought dead sea mud, mixed with mango and kiwi oil so nice =)

hmmm...

I dunno what to blog about except for some stuff that happened over the week.
Maybe I should start blogging about the exciting stuff in VivoCity.
Well... work has been pretty good and I enjoy what I m doing. I'm still learning.. everyday. I'm amazed by how much I've learnt in just 2 weeks.
What else should I blog about... ok there was a Creatively Thai 2008 Fashion Show..











VivoCity is a good place to grow fat with all the free buffet etc... What else.... I met a japanese friend during one of the weekday, went to The Shore Restaurant and eM by the river with K... Ahhh nothing else. Its a tiring week. And I didnt have much time to gym. Hence I m still fat..
I can't wait for July to come, thats when my FF membership would turn 1 yr and I will switch to PF.

This whinery is getting boring.. help. Any suggestions how to spice it up?

Working Life

I've been working for like 4 days. And I've been enjoying everyday at work.

On the first day, Subway threw a mini opening ceremony and the management staff were invited for free flow of bread, cookies and drinks =)

On the second day, I met mediacorp's events marketing team and M1's promotional marketing manager.

The third day is the launch of Movie Fiesta.. Again, buffet catered from Siam Kitchen.

Today, the GM called me to his office. My marketing manager was already inside when I walked in. So I guess they have been discussing about the Christmas project which I would be handling.. After the brief meeting, he dumped stacks and stacks of files on my table. From tendering to working with ad agencies to all the SOPs etc etc etc.... And this is on top of my already heavy heavy workload. I step in to office before 830am everyday! And on most days I only leave after 7p.m.

Anyway I want to mention this shop "Red, White and Pure" at VivoCity #03-09. They are selling organic products at a 40 - 60% discount! I could get an additional 10% discount. I am new to organic product. The salesgirl was really nice... She introduced me to ALL the products in the store and I bought some stuff =) So excited to use them


Shower gel with organic grapefruit, pepper, yam, and ylang ylang etc...


Organic Face moisturiser with green tea, aloe vera and edelweiss


This is not organic but I just bought it to try la... Some Dr. Hauschka daily face care set with cleanser, toner, normalising oil, facial steam bath?? rejuvenating mask and a clay mask



Some organic tea =)


Promotions at Red White and Pure is till 8th June. hurry down!!!!! I may drop by again on Fri evening to get the organic body scrub.. hehe..

the day b4 work starts

I'm starting work tomorrow. My first full time job. I really dread having to wake up at 7am every morning from mon-fri and no more morning swim on wkdays from now on =(

I could retract my file for graduation but the thought of having to study for another year is equally dreadful.

Study sian. Work also sian. What should i do?

Saigon trip

Thinking back, the most memorable sight in Vietnam would probably be the journey to Nha Trang Beach with Alex. We were on a sleeper bus and I was awaken by the bright morning sun. The sun was rising behind a mountain range, the ray shines on the wet paddy field which glisten in the sunlight. The morning sun brought light and life to the farmland. It was such picturesque scene which could possibly move any urban dwellers to tears. The Japanese lady beside me was busy snapping photos. I didnt bring my camera with me. I will go back to Saigon and to the beach again =)

Talking about the Jap lady, she was travelling with another Jap guy who is pretty good looking. I was telling Alex they are such a sweet couple. Alex didnt think they were couple cos they don't behave intimately.

And Guess what!! During the island tour at the beach, We saw the Jap couple again. Now, the guy is with another Jap guy... they are obviously AJ and the girl was tanning alone.. hehe... The Jap lady took a pic of me and Alex. I requested for her to email me the pic.. But she never understand a single bit of English... so well nvm..

Lush is a bar / club in Saigon district 1. It became too gay and the owner mandated that every male guest must be accompanied by a female guest. This absurd rule was finally abolished when patronage no. dropped. I met the owner in the club and at a German beer launch party... He is AJ too.. I wonder why he came out with this requirement. Hmmm.... Maybe the Socialist Replublic of Vietnam is not very AJ friendly and do not encourage an AJ bar... And hence there is no AJ bar in Saigon. Alex also mentioned that he is not allowed to print a topless picture on his CD cover or a on a poster because it is not allowed in the country.

The launch party was nice. The beer was good. I don't see it in the local market as yet. In the party, I get to meet some famous singers, actress, models, media people.. Most people thought I was a Vietnamese.. I met a media guy, and after much translation from Alex's friend, I understood that he came to Singapore and visited geylang for sex. I just smiled... I didnt know how to react.

I am glad that I'm really lucky to meet Alex. He is really sweet. He took time out of his busy schedule to drive me round the city in his vespa, spend time with my friends and introduce us to authentic local food... And of course, brought me to the Beach Town while singing love songs during the journey.

Check out the pics here:
Launch Party
Saigon (1)
Saigon (2)

When is my next trip? Who will I meet? What will I see? =)

On the road in Saigon

I've been travelling around Saigon with Alex on his Vespa while Wanjing and Gerard took a taxi. Finally found a place where I can get decent wireless network to blog =) Well, the traffic is not as scary as it seems. Just have to get used to it. In fact, riding a bike in Saigon is safer than riding a bike back in SGP.



Me and Alex on the Vespa =)



Check out this MTV by Alex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23cGGv90tM&feature=related

Fabulous 40th Issue - Choices Relaunch Party

Thumper @ Goodwood Park Hotel


So proud of Alan. He does design for the entire magazine. Like I've mentioned, his talent in design will bring him far and I'll soon see him designing for Mens Folio.




Jinwei seldom look so cute on pic












Lots of alcohol, food and a handful of cute people... And I've got 2 goodie bags. My fav item is the Amino collagen from Meiji =) Thanks Alan! I know U read my blog.

Alright off to bed. Waking up early for my flight to Saigon.
Watch out for The Chic Travellers - When Vietnam War meets Contemporary Glamour