My November Long Weekend...

November 27 is Hari Raya Haji and considers as one of the public holidays here in Singapore. That makes the last week of November 2009 a long weekend. Hooray!

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Thursday:

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Went Kha Restaurant for some cocktail with my man. It was our second time here actually (though our first time was over dinner), I really love the ambiance and the open deck lounge concept. I specifically requested to be seated on the pink sofa, hehe... Seated together hugging and stargazing over blueberry martini, perfect Baby! It was my man's first time to taste crab and prawn cake, suprisingly he liked it. Of course we also order our ever favorite chicken bbq skewers.

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open deck lounge of kha restaurant hortpark

kha restaurant veranda - where we had our dinner last november 17

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Little problem arise when we already paid and noticed we were mistakenly charge 4 martinis instead of only 2. It was actually a 1-for-1 cocktail promo. Goodthing my man saw it and the error was corrected in minutes.

honest mistake of kha - we were charge S$96++ instead of just S$58++

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Friday:

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Spend quality time with my man the whole morning. Cuddled and talked about exciting things about our forthcoming activities together. Went raffles to get my office laptop then went straight to Mccdo Bedok to book a kiddie party as my birthday treat for my other mommy friends. I initially thought of organizing a couple's lunch or dinner but I decided to prioritize the kids enjoyment - wanted them to have fun. I always get invited on thier birthday so why not invite them for my special day also? So McDonalds for me is the most hassle-free reasonable gathering I can come up.

McDo kiddie party as mommy ybeth turns 32

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Then went toa payoh and help friends transfer to thier new home. I reached the place and wonder if the old owners are either pig, carabao or horse... The flat was sooooooooooo damn dirty!!! Bigtime cleaning we did. My friends swear that it was not like that when they view the place a month back. My friend called the agent and the conversation goes like this:

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My friend: the house is so dirty. can you ask someone to clean it and please pay for it.

Agent: it's not dirty, it's on an average ready-to-live condition. oh, you are filipinos right? don't expect too much! you are not australians or caucasians to act like that!

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Couple of strong words exchanges and my friend hung-up. Sad that after an agent close a deal, he will totally be unaccomodating (well, I'm not generalizing ok. Surely there will be helpful ones too). But hey, it's not about the race. Being a Filipino means we can tolerate dirt and foul smell? Only nationalities of first world counrty deserves to be hypersentive to clean living? Again, it's not about the race, it's about hygiene, it's about proper sanitation regardless of who you are. Especially for my friend's case, she paid well enough for a flat she liked only to face horrible hand-over. But what to do? Don;t wanna be stress anymore so spent 3 hours cleaning, girl-power-style! Whew!

Reached another friend's place at 8pm for her 2nd tattoo party. I arrived and 7 people are still on que for being inked. Met new friends again. I was so tempted to customize my recent tattoo but I diciplined myself not to. Just did alot of chit-chat, eating and drinking.

me with the tatto party part 2 host

vhin being tattoed for 2 hours! end result was too good...

unlimited food and drinks that night

me with my vodka session partners

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Went home at 1pm. Went online and talk to my man for a little while then went to sleep at 3am.


Saturday:

Clean room and laundry my clothes morning. Went back to my friend's new toa payoh home for lunch at 12nn. Though little foul smell is still there, the flat is already clean and looking like home for human beings now. Hehe... Had mega lunch of sauted prawn, fried salted fish, steamed kangkong and pork stew. Did some picture taking and watch several filipino movies over wall's vanilla ice cream. Fun!

our hearty lunch

they set-up a purple-themed christmas tree

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Met another friend at 4pm and went john little sale at singapore expo. It was so crowded and big-time shopping is not my priority right now. So after satisfying my eyes with lots of window-shopping, we proceeded to giant tampines for my weekly grocery. Dinner of ikea's famous swedish meatballs and I'm home at 10:30pm.

my simple buy at john little

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Sunday:

Woke up at 7:30am to prepare my man's breakfast in bed. Spent another quality time with him before I proceed to Bedok for my kiddie birthday treat (will make a separate blog about this McDonalds party).

breakfast in bed baby...

macaroni soup, blueberry pancakes (notice the lovenote. hehe..) and sweet corn flavored soya milk exclusive for my man

at my McDonalds kiddie party

ready for candle blowing

eating my ronald mcdonalds cake

giving party lootbag for kids

mommy ybeth carrying baby zy's gift (i requested my friedns to gift my son instead of me)

mcdonalds give-aways and thier gift to me

so many gift for baby zy!

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That's all folks! Will go down now for dinner then will iron office clothes once back. Busy monday is near but hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!

Happy birthday to me…
Happy birthday to me…
Happy birthday, happy birthday…
Happy birthday to me!

As the saying goes, another year older is another year wiser. Mommy Ybeth just turned 32. Whoa!!!! Thanks for the greeting guys! Those calls, sms, offline chat messages and facebook greetings means a lot to me. Sharing to you how most of the people dear to my heart made my birthday very special…

BABY ZYRUS AND MY FAMILY:

November 22/ Sunday night - I was busy packing my stuff as I have an early flight to Singapore 6am the next day when my room light died. I went out and saw my Mom.

Mom: oh, black-out!
Me: if black-out, then why Alexander’s room has lights?
Mom: will check, let’s go down.

I was taking down the stairs when my whole family, especially my one and only son started to loudly sang happy birthday while the only source of light was my cake candle (I think they imitate what I did to Baby Zyrus last bbq/camping party. Hehe…) I was really surprise as I never saw that mango cream cake in the fridge thar morning.

Me: wow! when you bought the cake?
Mom: i asked sharon (my sister-in-law) to buy one when you instructed her to buy some stuff for you yesterday. you notice your money change got smaller than the total bill? because you technically bought the cake too.
Me lol! (it’s ok, at least the thought was there. hehe…)

Thanks Baby Zy, Mama, Alexander, Mac, AC and Linggit! I love you all! In this family lies my comfort zone, we are just simply perfect and intact together!

MY MAN:

November 23/ Monday – Spent this entire day with the most important person in my life outside my family. Carrying a rose bouquet and mini-black forest when he arrived, I gave him a tight kiss back. After few exchange of stories and quality time together, we headed to Kenko Spa Esplanade for a relaxing 45minutes foot reflexology and head/shoulder massage. Then he surprise me with a dinner and cocktail at 70th floor Equinox The Stamford Swisssotel. I was very impress not because of his restaurant choice as I know he can very well take me to the finest and most elegant places around, but I was mostly touched upon knowing that he made prior arrangement and reservation. Imagining my man researching where to take me and calling/ sending booking emails makes me feel proud I’m his girl. Ordered martini for him and dry red wine for me. We were eating our main course of potato sausage and roasted family bird when the surprise cake arrived. This one I was totally clueless as I never expected a cake, love it Baby! After dinner we went for little city strolling then catch a cab to home. I was typing an sms for him when a message from him came (goes without saying that we are doing the same thing at the same time).

My man’s sms: hope you like it mahal. love you and happy birthday.
My sms: everything was perfect babe. thanks for making me very happy on my birthday. love you!

Then he called and we spend another 10minutes talking and saying our long good night. (I was typing this part of my blog when he called and I told him I will write our November 23rd memories. Then he told me that there’s no pictures to support my story - it's ok Babe. If someone will question me, I’ll borrow your credit card bill then I’ll slap to them. Hahaha!)

I will never forget what you did Babe. Love you a lot! Looking forward to our own Christmas and New year celebration.

MY OFFICE FAMILY:

November 24/ Tuesday – Blow my birthday candle for the 3rd time. Thanks guys! You know I consider you all as my Singapore family (not to mention Madam as my Singapore Mom. Hehe)

MY FRIENDS:

November 24/ Tuesday - Rica and the whole gang – Western food dinner treat at Café Cartel Plaza Singapura. Special mention to you Aman, thanks for the birthday coffee and lovely gift by the way.

November 25/ Wednesday - Old guillemard housemates – Seafood dinner at kallang. Let’s go back there guys, the black pepper crab rocks!

November 29/ Sunday – Mommies friends and their families – Organized a McDonalds kiddie party so all the kids can enjoy. Thanks for all your gifts to Baby Zyrus.

November 22/ Sunday – All my Philippine-based friends – Thanks for coming to Baby Zy’s birthday party. We will schedule night-out party on my next month vacation. See you all!

Yes, I’m already 32 – totally out of calendar. It’s ok, nothing to worry at all as age is just a number. I have a very smart son… I have a supportive family… I have a stable and financially rewarding career… I have my man who’s making me feel loved and special for the past 16months… and lastly, I still have a 36-25-36 vital statistic. Hahaha! So nothing to feel bitter about. At 32, I know I'm definetely luckier, happier and more fulfilled than some people younger than me. Hehe...

My 5th Tattoo - Yin Yang Symbol

I was 20 years old when I got my first ink done. And oh boy, tattoo pain is really addicting. That's why I end up having a total of 4. An sms last friday made me remember my fascination with this kind of art. Dong's sms: tattoo session on sunday. are you game?

Currently I have 1 tweety bird, 1 chinese character alphabet, 1 ancient chain design and 1 tribal drawing. Hmmm.... add 1 more on my back neck? why not right?! After hours of contemplating, I called my mom to ask permission and as expected, she said yes. Yehey!

choosing the design...

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After almost an hour of checking what art to put, I decided to go for a uniquely customized "yin yang" chinese symbol. As explained on the net, this sign represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other. While "yin" would be dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak, "yang" would be bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. The shape of the yin and yang sections of the symbol, actually gives you a sense of the continual movement of these two energies, yin to yang and yang to yin, causing everything to happen: just as things expand and contract, and temperature changes from hot to cold.

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So let the pictures continue what I wanted to tell you guys....

putting the initial marking :)

the base marking.

let's get tattooed!

initial lining using black ink.

pain is inevitable! ouch! hehe....

blue shading now. too painful! seems needle touching my neck bone.

45 minutes of continues needle piercing equals perfect art.

me with the celebrity tattoo artist (he did some work for famous filipino personalities like aiza seguerra and rosanna roses)

sending sms to my mom that tattoo is done.

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So now, Mommy Ybeth just got her 5th inked! It may seems deviant and rebellious for some, but for me it is indeed an art as I put it only on location I know I can hide it if I don't feel like showing it off. Different people have different form of self-expression. I choose this, what's yours?

My February 20-22 Splendid Weekend

Something "too good" happened last friday, making my weekend indeed very splendid. Sharing to you my 3days and 3nights of fun partying, shopping and food tripping. :)

Friday:

Together with my office friends Leya and Jo, we decided to celebrate and have a special dinner at Newyork Newyork Restaurant CityLink Mall. We qued for almost an hour and order as if it's our last dinner. Hehe. We literally pig-out and tried to finished a giant burger, 2 servings of meatballs spaghetti, one whole roasted spring chicken. calamari and bbq porkribs. Whew! It was such a nice bonding - nonstop chat and laughing infront of awesome foods - perfect!

long que at newyork newyork citylink mall

eating like there's no tomorrow! waaaaaaaaaaaaa!

me with the giant beef burger

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After dinner, Jo went home while me and Leya decided to stroll around bugis for a little late-night window shopping. Then, took cab and headed home at 11pm. Change clothes and went clarkquay to join my friday girlfriends for our usual "drinking session" until 3am.

Saturday:

I'm suppose to attend and play a tennis match at kovan melody but weren't able too because I wake up late. Clean my room and laundry my clothes morning. I was getting ready for my whole day activity when Mr. A called saying he can't join me for strolling since there's a bigtime problem at the datacenter. So no choice but to go out alone. Went to orchard and see paragon, takashimaya and plaza singapura, then had some filipino meal late lunch at lucky plaza (where I accidentaly saw Jo again. hehe), lastly go to my ever favorite tampines mall and century square. I also did my fairprice grocery since I will cook lunch tomorrow.

cheap tent for beach overnight picnic. hmmm.... i wonder if it's easy to assemble also..


jackie chan's shampoo. hehe...

my saturday shopping spree

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I was having dinner at kfc tampines when Mr. A called and said he is free now. He said he is so stress and he wants to unwind a little. 8pm he pick me up at my block lobby and we went to quite a new place at Marina Barrage.

cocktail at marina barrage

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Sunday:

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Attended morning church mass then went home to prepare lunch. I serve the meal at my downstairs HBD playground's covered picnic table/s. I cooked an authentic filipino dish called "kare-kare". It's normally a beef dish but because Mr. A only eat chicken, I customize it a little. Though it tasted not so bad, I know i can improve more. I put more water on it making the gravy not-so-thick. I also overcook the vegetables, making it soggy and watery. But what the heck! I put my best effort to cook so I'm still proud with the output. Thankfully, Mr. A has enough courage to eat it. Hehe...

cooking for two with Mr. A - chicken in peanut sauce (kare-kare in tagalog)

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After lunch, we are arguing where to go - I want vivo while he wants marina square. But at the end, I won and had a long drive north. We started out checking a not-so-elegant but affortable spa. We took the cheapest package - 10 minutes fish spa (S$10), 10 minutes back massage (S$10) and 20 minutes foot reflexology (S$20). Service is not bad and it was really a money-worth. Try and visit the place it you are looking for a value-for-your-penny relaxation.

not-so-classy but reasonalbly priced spa at vivo city

waiting for my free chinese herbal tea

20 minutes foot reflexology then 10 minutes back massage!

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We decided to have an early dinner at go india restaurant. I simply love the place - the ambiance is elegant, service is fast and food is excellent. I enjoy thier wide selection of cocktails too, but since we are still gonna watch a movie after - we ordered non-alcoholic drinks instead.

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enjoying my "pink bird" non-alcoholic cocktail

butter chicken, fish kebab, garlic butter naan and saffron rice at go india restaurant

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We were inside GV moviehouse at 8:30pm to watch a romantic comedy movie "he's just not that into you". Even we are 3rd row from the screen and too near to the giant monitor, I managed to enjoy the story. It was quite simple and plain, with some scenes that will really make you think it's happening in the real world. However, I find it too pushy that ladies were percieved to be desperate-man-dependent individual while genteman were potrayed to be too-insensitive-phobia_commited males.

A scene from the movie "he's just not that into you"

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Opps, it's almost midnight, I need to sleep now. In a few minutes, it will be monday again, start of another hectic week.
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My Unexpected Valentine Gift

Please pardon the not-so-clear pictures since I took all the shots night time (more picture below, just scroll down). But yes, this 3feet sized 5kg jumbo dog soft toy is Mr. A's valentine gift to me. :)

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February 14 is special for me not because it's valentines - but because it is my mother's birthdate. Though I had more than enough share of the pie in terms of romantic dating and sweet memories of this occassion, I notice that when you mature in life... you will realize that there's no such thing as a "love day". Setting one day solely dedicated for expressing love is totally nonsense . For love I believe should be given and shared daily among people we care about.

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Anyways, I was at holland village having cocktail last friday when an sms from Mr. A came at 10:47 pm - "choose where you want to go tomorrow. a) sentosa, b) singapore flyer, c) orchard". I feel lazy to type a reply so I just called him instead.

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Me: if I choose A, what are we gonna do there??

Mr. A: a - vivocity lunch & movie, sentosa foot spa & head massage

Me: if B?

Mr. A: b - singapore flyer ride then foot fish spa also

Me: if C?

Mr. A: c - orchard food tripping, movie and window shopping

Me: hmmm..... choice A, everything your treat?

Mr. A: of course. popcorn and nachos combo yours.

Me.: deal! let's watch defiance ha, wanna see daniel craig again...

Mr. A: sure. go home early, don't drink much. pick you 11am tom

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Saturday, 10:50am - a call from Mr. A came.

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Mr. A: are you ok for carless day? i didn't bring the car.

Me: of course, infact more relax if we just ride mrt.

Mr. A: i'm at the lift lobby now. i'm carrying something heavy

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Imagine my shock when i see him standing and hugging this jumbo dog soft-toy. I was touched when he said that I still deserve to be gifted for valentine even if I don't believe on it.

my latest bed companion! :)

thinking of what name to give you...

the king of my other soft-toys

imagine how jumbo he is?

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Thanks Mr. A! You're such a very good friend. But can I be honest? Hehe... your gift is so big and heavy that it is occupaying a big portion of my bed. Also, would you know how much it will cost me if I bring it to dry cleaning once it is dirty already? :p Just kidding. :)

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So my sunday lunch treat to you is on - ok?

(edited to add: sunday lunch treat finished click here for the whole story - http://ybeth-food-journey.blogspot.com/2009/02/cooking-for-2.html )

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