Labels: bali, birthdays, boozing, clubbing, food, friends, indonesia, travel, videos

written at 12:46 0 comments

Labels: birthdays, food, friends, hong kong, macau, travel, videos

written at 15:27 0 comments

Labels: australia, birthdays, friends, gold coast, road trip, sydney, travel, videos

written at 09:47 0 comments

I signed in to my blogger account, with plans on writing about my recent Japan trip, when I chanced upon this in my drafts and realised that I've yet to publish this entry, ha-ha. Above are some behind-the-scenes photos as to how we captured our pretentious-food-from-space photos to upload on Instagram.

But more background as to how this rendezvous even came to fruition. Basically, we're broke, yet we still want to be able to photograph as well as eat pretentious brunch food. At the same time, we seem to also have this delusional notion that we're all domestic goddesses (which trust me, we aren't). Hence, t' was a rainy weekday afternoon when we gathered with our groceries in an apartment at Serangoon North Estate and started wrecking havoc in the kitchen to whip out the following three dishes. I'm too lazy to post the step-by-step instructions of each dish, so PM me if you're even interested. However, it should all be pretty simple and straightforward to figure out on your own, ha-ha.

Labels: cooking, food, friends, tutorials

written at 14:29 0 comments

As promised, I'm writing about my recent trip to Perth. Like my previous entry, I wouldn't consider this a guide to visiting Perth, because I sort of followed an itinerary by some travel agent, with minor modifications by yours truly to include a few pretentious places to capture "Instagram-worthy" moments. The trip was an initiative by SMU's Gourmet Club and I tagged along because 1) my friend is in the EXCO 2) I've never been to Perth 3) I have a lot of free time and decided to use this as a kick start to my graduation trips (I say trips, as if I'm going to loads of places, when in reality, I'm just visiting Japan, in addition to Australia - I may have used one too many commas in this sentence).


I was on the trip with 6 others (excluding my friend) and we stayed at this resort located in Swan Valley. While our guide, who's also probably the boss or one of the bosses behind the resort, was a super nice man, I wouldn't recommend staying here. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't dirty or poorly refurbished or anything. There were plenty of rooms, a working kitchen, televisions and a barbecue pit in the backyard.

However, despite it's... uhm... rustic charms, the place lacked several important things. NO WIFI!!! And, for some bizarre reason, ALL the rooms in the resort can't be locked, INCLUDING the toilets. It's also pretty inconvenient if you're not driving, because it's basically far away from almost everything, except the wineries.

You'll likely be better off renting an Airbnb apartment in the city. That said, you'll probably have to rent a car to get around anyway if you're travelling without a guide because Perth is HUGE and it makes much more economical sense to drive than to cab (unless you're planning on staying only within the city). FYI: TAXIS THERE COST A BOMB!

To Summarise { don't stay here because it's very 'ulu', stay near the city and rent a car if you have no guide/driver }



This is, in my opinion, the most scenic place we visited during our time in Perth. It's actually nothing interesting to witness in person. All you'll see is a line of tourist queueing up to take a photo with this boat shed and then leave. However, what translates on camera makes for a really gorgeous photo. It's kind of like Singapore's "Instagram Tree"? When you see it in real life you're like "that's it???" Of course, this is much nicer to look at in person than the Singapore's "Instagram Tree", but it's the closest example I could think of that would make sense to Singaporeans. Okay, I'm rambling, about a tree. And a boat shed. #suchabasicbitch

In case you have trouble finding the boat shed, it's located along the road near the University of Western Australia.



I casually asked our guide what would be the landmark of Perth (in an attempt at making small talk) and he told me it would have to be Kings Park. I suppose it's a nice place to go have a picnic, or have a run, or just chill out at. It also has a good view overlooking the city, but to be honest, there isn't much to look at anyway? Overall though, I had fun traipsing around, being a public nuisance and taking pretentious photos of nothing in particular. As you can tell, I'm easily contented as long as I can be basic.



We went to this place because I wanted some diversity in the Perth photos that I'll be uploading on Instagram. Hence, I asked our guide to bring us to see the ocean, LOL. I mean, after a while, there's only so many ways you can take photos of dying vegetation. Again, there's nothing to do here but chill. You may notice a pattern rising.



Ironic how a trip, organised by the Gourmet Club, ended up with us eating mostly meat that was grilled on the barbie in our backyard. But I guess that's what happens when we just leave everything up to the guide. On hindsight, I should have done some research on cafes and tweaked the itinerary further. I was sort of expecting more.. I don't know. Just.. more? Ha-ha, being completely incoherent right now. Okay, I was expecting the dining experience to be better. Not that it was bad, but it was nothing spectacular or Gourmet Club-worthy.

Either way, I was fortunate enough to get to know a Singaporean who's studying in Perth and he offered to bring my friend and I to this cafe that actually stays open AFTER 5:00p.m!!! *GASPS* LOL, jokes aside, the cafe had decent coffee and desserts and hey, a place that stays open after 5:00p.m in Perth, on a weekday, deserves some recognition okay!

Overall, I just wished we had the chance to visit more cafes on this trip. There's always next time?



I didn't realise then, but we actually have this brand of coffee in Singapore too (and I actually visited the outlet when I flew back from Perth). However, this is like where the brand originated from and I must say, I learnt a lot more after speaking to the baristas working there. Apparently you're supposed to slurp and not sip your coffee, because doing so helps aerate the coffee to give it's flavour more complexity. It also cools the drink down at the same time so it doesn't scald your tongue. Useless, but interesting general knowledge to have, no?



This place IS NOT easily accessible so I don't know if I'd recommend giving it a visit? It's VERY peaceful and quiet because for some reason, there was just no one there. It's probably more lively in the spring/summer time, with more activity going on in the water. Nevertheless, I quite like the serenity of it all, less the annoying houseflies that seem to be rampant all over Perth. A good place to take photos of dying vegetation AND water bodies, ha-ha. You can more or less tell by now that I running out of steam with regards to finishing up this entry, LOL.



In terms of activities, this has got to be my favourite! We went on the last day and it was my FIRST time interacting with wallabies! There are sooooooooo cute, I CANNOT TAKE IT! They're surprisingly tame as well, though I did have my initial reservations when going up to feed them. Their fur reminds me of the coat of a Jack Russell. I think I took like over a 100 photos with the wallaby. The ONLY downside for this visit was that, by the end of the whole experience, the under-side of my shoe was COMPLETELY covered with faeces. I may have even brought back some with me back to Singapore despite my efforts to clean my shoe before leaving Perth.


And that my friends, marks the end of my Perth Plumping adventures. All in all, even though there were things I wanted to do but didn't manage to, I had fun on the trip. So, no regrets! Here's hoping Japan will be even more memorable. I got offered a job today, and the depth of entering a new phase in adulthood just became that much more daunting. I'll definitely need the memories of my graduation trips to keep me going as I adjust to working life come July 2015. But, let's worry about that when the time arrives shall we?

Labels: australia, boozing, food, friends, perth, travel

written at 21:49 0 comments

As the title suggest, this is just my guide for those planning to do a day trip and explore JB. My tips may not be the best available online; and if so, please do leave a comment telling me what are some of the things I could have done differently to perhaps save more money on the trip or things that could have made life a bit easier for myself.

So, stuff to prepare before heading to JB - actually, nothing much. We just went to Raffles City to rent a portable router so we wouldn't have to spend money getting a SIM card instead. However, on hindsight, the reception was pretty weak throughout the entire trip. I'm not sure if it's because reception is generally poor in JB or if it had something to do with the place where we rented the router from. Either way, most cafes provide WiFi. Hence, you'll probably only need the router if you want to access Google Maps. My advice would be to plan your routes beforehand and screen shot everything.

There are a whole bunch of places where you can take a coach/bus to enter JB (google is your best friend). We settled for the one near Bugis because I live near the airport, ha-ha. Travelling all the way down to Admiralty/Khatib would have been a complete pain in the ass for me.





On the whole, the day trip was a memorable experience for me. I enjoyed the wonderful company of close friends and with proper planning, there wasn't much cock ups we had to deal with. I only wish I wasn't in such a rush to return to Singapore so that I would have had more time to explore the streets of JB at night. I guess that gives me another excuse to return there one day, ha-ha. And one last lesson learnt, try to bring as little things as possible, and dress like you're going on an escapade to a dessert. Even though JB is very close to Singapore, our urban planning is done in a way that helps reduce our temperatures as much as possible. You'll experience none of that in JB. So be prepared to sweat or dress skimpily if you've got the body for it (not to show off of course, but to save yourself from a world of discomfort, ha-ha).

Labels: food, friends, johor bahru, travel

written at 15:32 0 comments

The overseas trip that has been said to be 10 years in the making. Ha-ha, sounds a tad over dramatic, but it has indeed been 10 years since the bunch of us have travelled overseas together. The last time something like this happened was back in 2005, when we flew off to Japan for a school trip. Since then, though we've travelled with others within the group, no trip has had as large an attendance as this. A pity not everyone was able to make it, but it was still enjoyable and memorable on the whole. I was initially somewhat worried that travelling in such a large group (11 people) would create some tension or awkward moments, but fortunately everyone proved to be easy travel companions.


The weather was surprisingly cooling and we came to this "brilliant" conclusion that the best time to visit Bangkok is at the start of the year (supposedly because the city is practically scorching during the remaining 11 months) *shrugs* Maybe we just lucked out and visited during a cooler spell? Either way, it made walking around more pleasant because as you know, we're budget travellers who refuse to take a cab unless absolutely necessary, ha-ha. Didn't take that many photos on the first day there because after we landed, settled our SIM cards, travelled and trekked to our hotel, we immediately adjourned to Platinum Shopping Mall for some serious retail therapy.


Dinner on the first night was at Somboon Seafood Restaurant, which I regret going to because I think it's a tourist trap (I'm not going to even bother listing the location of the place). It's my second visit there, and possibly my last. I would much rather have gone to T K Seafood in Chinatown, but unfortunately due to time constraints, we didn't manage to visit the restaurant on this trip. I guess the Fried Curry Crab was somewhat decent? Makes for a nice photo to upload on Instagram I suppose? But for the price we paid, I'm sure we could have eaten much more at T K Seafood.



I'm sure you can find this cafe in quite a lot of other places in Bangkok and while it comes across as a tourist trap as well, I must admit that the Shibuya Honey Toast is sinfully delicious and addictive. On the other hand, don't be fooled by the Chocolate Sphere. Despite being more photogenic, the taste is pretty average and I'd much rather spend the money and calories on a different type of toast.



When travelling with girls, you're more or less bound to visit Chatuchak Weekend Market on both Saturday AND Sunday. Not that I'm being sexist, it's just that there really is A LOT of things to buy at the weekend market, especially for girls. That said, I did have my fair share of damage done to the contents of my wallet, ha-ha. Overall, I honestly bought more that I had expected on this trip. I thought I was over my phase of buying nonsensical street wear when travelling overseas. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how up to date some of the street stalls are when it comes to their merchandise. In addition to all the snacks I brought back for my family, I miraculously managed to fit everything into my tiny luggage. Lesson learnt: bring a bigger luggage in the future JUST in case the shopping turns out to be better than expected!



Of course, no visit to Bangkok is complete without a visit to Healthland for a massage. However, what I discovered on this trip is that it's only worth to get a Healthland massage if it's for an Aromatherapy or Traditional Thai Massage. I personally don't think it's as worth the money if you're getting a foot massage (for example) since you can get it at a fraction of the Healthland price anywhere else (600 baht versus 250 baht an hour). As long as it's something that doesn't have the potential for the masseuse to ask if you want a 'happy ending', I'd recommend getting that massage elsewhere as the standard doesn't differ that much (most of the time).



Directions: Okay, the directions to this place can get a bit confusing. But given that it was my first time there, and the fact that I faced little trouble trying to locate the night market, I'm sure everyone else reading this will be fine too. Basically, take the BTS to On Nut station, get off and hail a cab. If the driver doesn't know where Talad Rot Fai is, and you have no google maps to guide him/her there, tell them to drop you off at Seacon Square. It's the large shopping mall that's right next to the night market and most cab drivers will know the place.

They say it's best to visit the night market on a Saturday, but we went on a Sunday instead because we were too tired the day before. It opens around 1500H and I'd highly recommend going there as early as possible because the market is HUGE. I wish we had more time to spend there, but unfortunately we got there around 1900H and the place closes at 2300H. I wouldn't suggest leaving only as the place closes because you'll most likely want to cab back to your hotel and fighting with everyone else for a taxi might be a nightmare.

The whole place is a bit like Chatuchak, in the sense that there are countless stalls selling a whole variety of merchandise. However, there is more space for people to walk around and there are quite a significant amount of second hand goods being sold (sort of like a Thieves Market). There are also more places for you to dine and chill out in, with live bands and football shows being screened.

Ending off this entry with some of the more memorable street food I ate on the trip - Mango Sticky Rice and Congee from a street stall that we just happened to come across at the streets of Pratunam. Oh Bangkok, how I've missed you. I couldn't have asked for a better place to visit as a kick start to my overseas adventures in 2015. I'll be back soon, hopefully for a longer period of time. And here's hoping that our #V12beyondborders adventure can become an annual affair.

Labels: bangkok, food, friends, travel

written at 17:44 0 comments