Luck ran dry

We had 2 piece of good news at the start of the year.

#1: We've sold our flat for a decent price! Offer came in when we were travelling in Bangkok in early Feb. Although I must say, we never expected a middle age lady to appreciate our house reno. But still, we're glad that we're going to handover our nest to a nice lady. I felt a momentary loss when I accepted the cheque. After all, we have stayed in this home for the past 5 years. I didn't know we can experience seperation anxiety at this age too. Hahaha.

#2: We've bought our new place when I was travelling in Taipei!!! All happened in a span of less than a month. We spent a few months of deliberating on where our next place should be - priority was the Son's future school. But after reading all the possibilities and non-possibilities of trying to secure a school purely using distance, we decided to play safe and just put Jayden at either one of our school. No need to lose hair anymore. Heh.
So choosing a home become no boundaries. We wanted somewhere near in-laws but anywhere near Bishan is very very expensive. :( My only bottom line is I do not wish to stretch the dollar and stress ourselves over mortgage. So we shelved finding a private condo and decided to go for EC. After all, it is our last chance to get a subsidized house from HDB.

So we went around to look at a few current launches. The only EC that caught our eyes was Twin Waterfalls from Frasers. We love their layout and location was very near future Watertown - the next Centerpoint in a suburb. So we took our chances and went for the balloting. And bless our souls, we got it! :D Very high floor, the layout we wanted - everything penned out nicely!

So everything went well and smooth in Feb and early Mar. But our luck suddenly ran out in mid-Mar.

Dylan got into a minor car accident - thankfully unharmed but the car is disfigured. :(
A series of unlucky things happend on me too.

I am hoping it is just a temporary 'suayness'. After all, the biggest contentment is that we've found our new place but only ready in 2015!!! We'll take this 3 years to save up and hopefully can invest in another small unit for future investment. :)

As for now, we'll be busy busy busy in moving to a temporary shelter.

Let's hope April will be a good month for us!

Foodie trip 2 - Taipei

WARNING: The following entry will be mainly on food and shopping. If you have a weak stomach or compulsive buying disorder, please note that I will not be liable for any impulsive decision to fly to Taipei. Although I will be very delighted to share with you the locations =)

So after what seemed like 2 years from my 30th birthday wish, I finally got onto a girly trip with Liv and 2x Irene. The only agenda on the trip was - FUN. We couldn't even care if we came back a few kilos heavier or maxed out a credit card. Ok I lied. I was VERY VERY concerned I gained a good 2kg!!! =(

When I meant girly trip. It was a lie too. Girls are young and poor. We matured ladies have the power to spend. So of course even airline must be the best. :p We came to Taipei prepared - biggest luggage, enough warm clothes and a mind set to just spend, spend, spend! :D

Day 1

Arrived at Howard Hotel with a very angry stomach. So Irene brought us to her favourite "yi-mian" store near the hotel. The food was YUM-MEH and super super cheap!!! Of course, always end the meal washed down with a cup of bubble tea.

Come nightfall, we went to Tonghua night market for some street food and shopping. Was that just our dinner??! Nah. We went for supper at a nearby teahouse. I am guilty to acknowledge that I have broken my "no meals after 8pm" rule on my 1st night in Taipei.

Day 2

Irene wanted to bring us to try BBQ. Unfortunately, the one we wanted to try was closed so we settled for a random restaurant. Turned out the choice wasn't so bad. BBQ on a cool day never tasted so good!

Another must try dessert. You pick your main - either grass jelly or bean curd and then add 3 more ingredients. I picked yam balls, pumpkin balls and barley. Ultimate shiokness!

Very random shot of me posing with my pumps. Shoes are madness cheap in Taiwan!! Everytime I hesistated to buy a pair of shoes, the evil voices from the girls rang in my head "It's just $20 nia....." Gone case. I succumb to the voices eventually... ...

Day 3

Ok. Come to Taipei must do some touristy thing. Like patronize their Toilet Theme restaurant. Everything is toilet related! From the bowls, cups, table, seat - yes we were literally sitting on a toilet bowl while eating! Food wasn't so bad either.

After lunch, still got space to finish a bowl of "Ah Zhong mee sua". Recipe for a good bowl of mee sua on a cool day = Lots of garlic, chilli oil!

Don't be mistaken, the dumpling fest was during dinner time. After all the feasting, what rewarding way to work out the calories than shopping in the night markets!

Super love the pumps! It is so comfy and uber uber cheap! Each of us got a pair and a color of our favourite choice!

Day 4

We skipped breakfast just to have this for brunch. It is a Sichuan restaurant opened by a few Taiwanese celebrities. The restaurant was at some random street that you would hardly notice. But the food was fabulous! We even had to make a booking a day prior in case we meet the lunch crowd.

And off to Danshui - almost the end of Taipei to get some local goodies!
Disclaimer: Notice that most of the photos were just Irene and me? We're the buddy partner for the trip. Liv brought her partner along. So Irene and I, sleep, eat and take pictures together most of the time. The only thing we didn't do is bathe together la.

Come nightfall, we went to the famous Shilin Market. I must say, even Tonghua and Shida beats Shilin hands-down.

Day 5

After 4 days of combing night streets, we decided to pamper ourselves with a good meal. When I meant GOOD, it was a 5 course meal with a decent size portion at only $60/pax! Where to find this price in Singa-exhorbitant-pore!!!

This is also the day Dylan and I got our 2nd piece of good news for the house! :) More on that later.

For the past 2 consecutive nights, both Irene and Liv had their own plans to do. But both of them took turns to keep me company. To reward ourselves, also at the expense of making Liv salivate while she was at a concert, Irene and I tried shabu shabu! $20 for free flow of 五花肉! Tell me worth it or not!

Day 6

Finally, our trip came to an end. By the last day, all of us were living by the last dollar in our pocket. We almost had problem having our last meal. Hahahah. It is alarming to know all that we have stashed on the ground is a 4 figure sum!

We went back Singapore with everything expanded - expanded luggage, expanded waistline and an expanded credit card statement.

Suddenly, holiday trips with the husband seem so lacklustre. :p

Feb is all about foodie trips

So this is where we went at the start of Feb for a quick getaway. The last time we went to Bangkok, it was in 2006. 6 YEARS AGO... *gasp*

So to "re-live" the moment, we decided to go back to Siam Novotel, where we stayed then. But this time, we took the premier club room. What is the difference?

You get a kinky see-through bathroom!!! A touch of a switch, you can see the room from inside the toilet!

It's pure raw honey!!! You cut the honeycomb with your knife and you get pure awesomeness honey for your waffles/pancakes!!!

Very random photo of myself. Just want to show the sharpness of my normal digital camera. Hehehehe....

And the eating fest begins!!!!!

This is a very random shot but I assure you it was no easy task. Especially with a 慢三排 hubby, we failed to take a decent photo with the water fountain until like xxxxx-th time.

Tom yum goong - Checked

Pad Thai - Checked

Mango Sticky Rice - Checked

EQUALS VERY SATISFIED ME!!! :D

I am ashamed to witness that 50% of the time and photos, my mouth is open.... Heh. Not a very nice sight but who can resists good drool-worthy food at drop-pants price!!! Of course, other than eating, eating and more eating, we also did what every tourists would do - massages, combing The Platinum Mall, Chatuchak, making tailor shirts, joining the Naraya frenzy.

There were also 2 significant things that happened twice when we were overseas. While we were in Bangkok, we had an offer to our house, the buyer was so eager, they came to our house the moment we touched down!!! Count our blessings, we sold our place with a reasonably good offer. :)

Perhaps that explains the severe shopping damage below...