@llie's @ttic

Another Year of Astor Card Privileges

2009-12-14T00:12:00.002+08:00

I saw the envelope sitting on the dining table. Unmistakeable. I recalled seeing that logo a year back. I asked my dad if it was about The Astor Card membership extension. He signed up for one in November 2008 and it was only in November 2009 that we redeemed our 1 night stay at St Regis.

I was expecting my dad to reject the membership extension, since we had not been utilizing any of its privileges other than that 1-night stay (which we squeezed in at very last minute). So, I was so surprised when he revealed that the envelope contained his new membership card.

That means, we'd be enjoying another year of the privileges. Another night stay at St Regis with butler service, a customised Bentley ride and wine tasting sessions at The Decanter. Not forgetting the dining discounts.

And yours truly received the supplementary card. Thanks Dad! I promise to make it a point to utilize the membership privileges in 2010.

A Lunar Birthday Gift

2009-12-10T23:50:00.003+08:00

A surprise birthday gift. It's nice to know that someone out there remembers my lunar birthday. Thank you for the beautiful roses!

MadHatter's Party

2009-12-10T23:12:00.003+08:00

Oh, what a week it has been. The X'mas parties had started.

Attended a MadHatter's party last friday. We all had to wear something on our head to join the party ~ a pre-requisite. And boy, did we dress up to the theme. The bunch of us was extremely excited to see what we were dressed as.

I saw a nerdy grad at he party, a red winged devil, Mr Monopoly, some cowboys, a character from Naruto and a pirate. Hahaha!!!

For me, I came dressed in a conservative French maid inspired costume. All in the name of fun!

And the best dressed award went to....

Gifts from My Bro JT

2009-11-30T22:45:00.003+08:00

Through my wine appreciation journey, I met some really nice folks along the way. There was the ever so nice TM. He also introduced me to JT whom later became my bro.

JT missed my birthday celebration for the 2nd year consecutively. But this time, he was away in Japan enjoying the yummy japanese food, wonderful sake and wide selection of great wines.

And as promised, he came back with a bottle of unfiltered sake from Japan. This was what I wanted. :D And along with the bottle, he presented me with 2 Riedel Sake taster glasses. Heh! This is simply awesome.

If only my younger sister was single, I'd definitely recommend him to her. :P

December Parties

2009-11-28T15:19:00.003+08:00

This December I've a number of parties lined up...

Mad Hatter's Party
Next week, there'll be a costume theme party with the colleagues. The theme is "Mad Hatter". And I've gotten my costume for the event and all shall be revealed on friday.

Grower Champagne Tasting Event at Artisan Cellars
Recently, I've been spending hours on the internet reading about growers champagne. Having tried the N.V. Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Substance and N.V. Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Brut a long time back (a year is a long time to me), I would like to try out some other well made grower's champagne. The 2 growers champagne I've tried were fabulous sparkling wines. And they are every champagne lovers must-haves.

I put up a notice through my facebook status that I was searching for some farmer's fizz and then Robin from Artisan Cellars commented on my status. He let me in on an upcoming grower champagne tasting session. 10 champagnes, which I've listed below" will be featured for a price of S$55. And guess who will be attending? :D I've even gotten Karen to accompany me for the event.

Nicolas Maillart, Brut "Platine" 1er Cru
Nicolas Maillart, Brut Rosé Grand Cru
Benoît Lahaye, Brut "Essentiel" Grand Cru
Benoît Lahaye, Brut "Naturessence"
Benoît Lahaye, Brut Rosé de Macération
Henri Billiot, Brut Réserve Grand Cru
Henri Billiot, Brut Réserve Rosé Grand Cru
Egly-Ouriet, Vignes de Vrigny Brut 1er Cru
Jerome Prévost's La Closerie les Beguines Extra-Brut
Vouette et Sorbée, "Cuvée Fidéle" Extra-Brut

WOW Club Pre-Christmas Champagne Party
I've recently joined WOW Club, and it stands for Women Only Wine Club. It is a club organized by Josephine Chua from J&D Burleigh. She has invited the WOW Club members for a Pre-Christmas Champagne Party. For a price of S$145++, you'll be partying with fellow wine lovers along with free-flow of N.V. Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve and canapes by Oso for 2 hours. We will also be getting a glass of 1998 Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru and 1998 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Brut Rose.

Annual Christmas Luncheon at The Moomba
Not forgetting my annual Pre-Christmas luncheon at my favourite wine place, The Moomba. For the entire year, I had been busy at work and with my new office location, I had been unable to go to Moomba as often as I would like. But, thankfully, this year, I still received an invitation from Augustine. I'll definitely be there to join in the feasting and at the same time catch up with the Moomba guys. Oh, but before that, I'd have to find a bottle of wine older than 2000 vintage that is worthy for them.

Raw Jazz with Hanjin @ The Esplanade Recital Studio

2009-11-28T14:25:00.004+08:00

It was an amazing friday evening. Delicious japanese food at Torisho Taka at Gallery Hotel and followed by an awesome performance by Hanjin at The Esplanade Recital Studio. I was glad I bought tickets to Hanjin's 1-night only Raw Jazz performance a few months back. Thank goodness I got the tickets early. It was all sold out.

Hanjin's performance was superb. He belted out my favourite songs from his album and also sang chinese song written by him called “愛是懷疑”. I found a youtube clip of him singing this chinese song in Hong Kong. This chap is simply talented.

And also he performed some jazz standards and also the song that brought him to Number 1 on the most popular radio station in Hong Kong (Commercial Radio FM 903) ~ "Wave". Below is a clip of him doing a casual performance at the Esplanade.

And you know how much the tickets were priced at? S$25 each. I can't help but wonder if it's because he's a Singaporean, that's why the tickets cost only S$25 each. Frankly, I've never bought any tickets for any performance at that price (it'd have been at least double the price if it was someone else from another part of the world). I know I shouldn't be complaining, since I've got nothing to lose. But still, I don't think it's fair to treat local talents with such double standards.

Congratulations, Dr Mike Loh

2009-11-21T20:06:00.001+08:00

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes when Dr Mike Loh made that speech at his daughter's wedding. He spoke about how he hadn't spent enough time with her and now she's getting married. He spoke about being a protective dad and how she has had him wrapped around her finger since the day she was borned. It was a very heartwarming and touching speech, peppered with bits of funnies.

A message to Dr Mike Loh:

"From what I could see, you've done a great job as a dad. Your daughter has grown up to be a fine young lady. Even though she's married, she will still very much be daddy's little girl. From her speech and yours, I could feel that bond. That special bond, I understand, because I share that with my dad, too. Once again, congratulations! And thank you for the invitation to the wedding reception & the bottle of champagne."

It was at the wedding reception that I found out that I had a neighbour who knew Dr Mike Loh. My neighbour was sitting at the same table and we were both pleasantly surprised to see each other. We had been living at the same building for more than 13 years, knew each other's existence but had never spoken a word to each other. My neighbour knew Dr Loh since 1995. To think that I had been searching for ways to contact Dr Mike Loh during since 2003 to 2008. In fact, I just had to ask my neighbour. Haha! All I could say is "What a small world"!

After the wedding, my neighbour gave me a lift home. And we chatted through the journey home.

A Night At St. Regis

2009-11-21T19:31:00.002+08:00

It had been almost a year since my dad had gotten the Astor card. But it was only on friday that we utilized our one-night hotel stay at the St. Regis.

I took the afternoon off from work on friday. Just before heading to the hotel at the prestigious address, I went to have my nails done. My mum and sister were already at there at Remède Spa enjoying themselves.

I arrived at the hotel feeling rather excited. It was my 3rd time here. My very first time at this hotel was to dine and celebrate Binnie's birthday. My 2nd time was to attend Tina's lovely wedding. But this would be my first time checking out the room.

The over-sized guestroom had richly-finished wood furnishings and the bathroom had a luxurious decor evoking a sense of contemporary opulence. My favourite part of the stay was the TV screen infront of the bathtub. My sister seemed to enjoy the 24-hour butler service. She was getting hot tea from the butler at night and in the morning.

It was a nice little staycation at St. Regis Hotel for my family.

Gatherings

2009-11-15T10:31:00.003+08:00

The friday after my birthday... Met some friends at Shun Juu Izakaya Restaurant. We had some Jap food on skewers, 2 bottles of Kubota sake and lots of chatter. Adeline, Karen and Jasmine were enjoying the sake, too much and too fast. These ladies seemed so happy everytime they raise their cute sake cups. I always enjoy myself with the ladies. It was our 2nd dinner together, and already I'm looking forward to the 3rd.

The next day, on a nice Saturday afternoon, a little gathering was formed at my place. A few old schoolmates came together, brought food and caught up with one another. We went to the same school when were 13 years old (all through till we were 16 years old).

Daniel wasn't able to join us because he was still undergoing flying training in Perth with SIA. Shi Jun revealed that he, too, would be going to Perth for flying lessons on his own soon. We knew that it was always his childhood dream to be a pilot. Am glad to know that he's pursuing this dream. Jinde has not changed much, but is now into golf. His mum was so kind to cook us a big tray of delicious bee hoon. Adrian is with a BIG audit firm and he came with his girlfriend, another secondary classmate of mine. Guo Zhong had to go to Malacca for a business presentation and wasn't able to join us. Yanling, a successful banker, came with her French boyfriend, Arnaud.

15 years went by... and we are now in different places and phases of our lives. We have different types of conversations. We used to talk about bowling, now it's golf and Barclays Open. We used to talk about exams and classes, now we talk about work and our careers. We used to bitch about our lack of pocket-money, now we talk about applying for loans. We used to gossip about who was dating who but now it is about who has how many children.

The conversations will change even more in the next 5 years. We'll probably be talking about mortgages and properties. And along the way, I hope we'll be talking about our own weddings and parenting issues. None of us in this group are married as yet. Will Adrian and Weiqi be the first couple to walk down the aisle? And hopefully, the rest of us will follow suite.

A Birthday Getaway

2009-11-12T20:08:00.001+08:00

Thoughts before the11th November

2009-11-10T23:50:00.000+08:00

It has been a fabulous 27
and now I'm looking forward to
more fabulousity at 28.

Yes, in a matter of minutes, I'll be turning 28. But I must say that being 27 has been a real exciting and amazing time of my life. I've achieved a number of goals, which I've set out for myself (including my promotion to AVP and my first trip to Paris). I've got alot to be thankful for.

So, I'm thrilled. It's a fantastic age to be. It's when everything starts to get all serious and it's the age when dreams become reality. :)

I'd really like to spend more time with my family and hopefully be able to bring them for a short holiday. I'd like to also put in more effort and time in the romance department (I'm sure my mum would approve of it).

Woo... 10 more minutes... :D

Celebrating with a Wine Friend

2009-11-10T08:41:00.005+08:00

TM brought me to Joan and Bowen for dinner. It was located at a little cozy corner of Macpherson Road. The decor was simple and almost cute. Rather interesting place. TM popped a half bottle of 2000 Chateau Beaucastel wine for the dinner. It was a nice Rhone wine. I simply like Beaucastel wine. Delicious.

And to top it off, he presented a box containing a 1995 Henriot cuvée des Enchanteleurs. That really made my day. Another bottle to my champagne collection! Yay! Thanks TM!

Have You Heard Charice's Voice?

2009-11-08T22:06:00.003+08:00

Was watching Oprah on TV and caught a performance by this young singer, Charice. If you had not heard about her, I suggest you do so. She has an amazing voice.

Youtube Clip #1: Introduction

Youtube Clip #2: The Duet with Celine Dion

Home Cooked Food @ Greg Danker's Crib

2009-11-08T21:57:00.002+08:00

Greg invited us to his place for the cook-out session. I brought the champagne and wines and the rest of them brought food. Greg whipped up 2 meat dishes for the party of 5, Legal Counsel Lim brought champagne ribs and dear Reggie baked Chocolate Tarts for us. It was a simple, cozy and warm affair.

Reggie & Legal Counsel Lim enjoying their wines.

Greg gets busy in the kitchen

Reggie digging for the pot full of meat

Greg's Eurasian Creation

Delicious stuff!

Chocolate Tart by Domestic Goddess Reggie Tan

Mondovino

2009-11-07T15:21:00.004+08:00

Mondovino is the Italian word for World of Wine and is also the title of a documentary I had just finished watching. It is a documentary film created in 2004, which talks about the impact of globalization on the different wine-producing regions and also the influence of the famous wine critics like Robert Parker and consultants like Michel Rolland. The documentary also featured the difference between the big wine producers like Robert Modavi and also smaller old wineries.

I want to thank Arnaud for introducing this interesting documentary to me. Gave me a deeper insight to how wine producers think.

"A great wine transcends time and
is made from love, humility and nature.
It takes a poet to make a great wine."

Then There Was Dinner @ Kome

2009-11-07T01:22:00.005+08:00

Lynnette, Binnie, William & Mr Yang had a nice dinner at Kome on friday evening. Amidst our busy schedule, we all found time to get together for a dinner celebration. It was a great opportunity for all of us to catch up and update one another on our lives.

And that was when Lynn announced that she'll be getting married in July. Congrats my dear! :)

We had alot of laughs at Kome. Chef Gary and Raymond created yummilicious sushi after yummilicious sushi and also entertained us along the way with funnies. Gary was so sweet to pop his personal bottle of bubblies in celebration of my upcoming birthday! Such a sweet guy!

Then There Were Cupcakes

2009-11-07T01:15:00.005+08:00

I ordered some cupcakes for my colleagues before I went on my birthday vacation. These cupcakes were specially designed by Christine from The Cupcake Bakery by my request to have pink/white frostings and pretty flora icing petals as decorations. These cupcakes looked soooo pretty and it's worth every penny. These gorgeous cupcakes were also delicious!

It was my way to share the happiness and joy with people who work with me.

It Started On Thursday

2009-11-07T01:01:00.006+08:00

I used to start my celebrations on 1st November. Perhaps it's maturity or pure laziness, but I find myself starting my celebrations a little later than usual. This year, the celebrations began on 5th November.

It was lunch at Ember with Amanda, Mich and Raq. 3 of them brought me out for a wonderful meal. I had my usual bamboo clams for appetisers, cod fish for mains and warm choc cake for desserts.

And later that evening, more colleagues celebrated my birthday at Harry's. We had a great time drinking away.

My big boss presented me with the gift from the department. A really useful gift for me ~ Wine glasses from Riedel!

Special thanks to Mich and Amanda for organizing the lunch and drinks session. These ladies put in alot of effort to get everyone together and for getting the right gift. :) THANK YOU!

Wine & Dine All The Way

2009-11-01T22:01:00.002+08:00

I was out with my parents earlier today when I received an interesting question from TM through a text msg. He asked about my wine collection and what was I intending to get next. That made me think for awhile (I was still pondering over the question over dinner) and I arrived at an answer. I peered into my "wine box", which contained several bottles of champagne and other french wines, and asked myself what was lacking from there. My heart said champagne, but my logical side over-powered me and I mouthed the words "Bordeaux Wines".

Don't be mistakened. I do love champagne and I would never have enough of bubbly white wines. However, it is comforting to have a good old bottle of bordeaux wine along with a hearty meal. I used to love the seduction of Burgundy. But seduction comes with a price. A pretty heavy one. For now, I'd pay for a good bottle of champagne over a bottle of burg. I wouldn't mind an occasional bottle of bordeaux for variety.

For the upcoming week, the line up would pretty much be a champagne-filled one. :) I'm not complaining... it'll be wine and dine all the way to my birthday. I love November!

Barclays Open 2009

2009-10-31T23:45:00.002+08:00

I had planned to stalk Adam Scott this year at the Barclays Open, since I didn't get to do that because he didn't play well enough to make it to the list last year.

When I got to Sentosa on saturday, I was distracted by Ian Poulter's suave stride and his flamboyant style. I decided to follow this golfer who was top on the leaderboard that morning. As Ian Poulter took each stroke with great confidence, his suaveness also charmed the crowd. He had so many females in the audience following him and snapping pictures of the golfer, including me! I was particularly impressed by his well coordinated outfit (including that outstanding pair of shoes which paired so well with his pants). Need I give you more reasons why I am now a fan of his?! Hahaha!!!

Ian Poulter before teeing off.

I was also pretty impressed by W T, a taiwanese golfer dressed in orange pants, who was playing in the same flight as Ian Poulter. W T's back swing was slow and steady, but packed with power as the swing came down. He was in control and yet so calm when he took his swings.

I didn't stay long at the Barclays Open this year. But like last year, I enjoyed the walkabout very much.

Hairy Crabs at East Ocean

2009-10-26T23:59:00.002+08:00

I must say that they put in alot of effort in cutting my S$68++ hairy crab and placing it in a really fancy design. But still, I don't think I'll ever try eating hairy crabs in Singapore (unless I forget how it tastes like). After tasting those hairy crabs in Shanghai... nothing can match up. Not even these expensive creatures from East Ocean Teochew Restaurant.

Art Jam 2009

2009-10-25T15:05:00.003+08:00

As the Art Jammers were busy painting away, I snapped a few shots of them. Look at how engrossed they were. We had loads of fun with the acrylic paint. It was my first time participating in such a huge art competition. It was a competition amongst a number of companies, from RBS, OCBC, BOA, DBS, Barclays, SingTel, Accenture, IMC and the list goes on...

We were having so much fun painting that we forgot it was afterall a competition. Heh! We managed to finish a piece of "art work" alright. Haha! It was titled "Evolution of the Perfect 10 Land". The theme given to us was "10", so we came up with the idea as we progressed with the painting. Haha! Frankly, I plucked this concept from the hat. We had to present our work, and frankly, we didn't know what we were doing as this was a first for most of the team mates.

But at the end of the day, we all enjoyed ourselves! We went for a round of beer after a hard day's work.

Artists at Work

My Creation

Our Finished Art Work

Lazing At Home On A Friday

2009-10-23T12:33:00.002+08:00

It feels really nice to be on leave.

I had been feeling a little beat. The exhaustion was getting to me. I hardly knock off before 7:30pm. And I had not been getting any proper rest. Recently, I realised that I'm one of the rare ones who wakes up at 6:30am (ok, sometimes 6:45am) on weekdays. My colleagues found this really absurd. Greg asked if I was going to work or school. Haha!!!

Today, I'm on leave. Took a day off from work. Managed more sleep and woke up at 9:45am. to a hot plate of fried noodles. My mum actually cooked up a storm this morning for me. :)

The morning flew pass so fast. I managed to clear my wardrobe. Threw away 2 bags of clothes, which did not fit me any more. Some of these clothes were brand new (not worn before). I told myself I had to get rid of them, if not, they'd just be taking up space in my cupboard. But now, my wardrobe looked so bare. Guess it's time to do some shopping once again. :P

The weekend is going to be quite a busy one for me. There's an Art Jam, which I'll be participating. My colleagues wanted to form a team and showcase our creative side. Sounded like fun to me, so I joined. Little did we know that we signed up for a corporate community art competition (i.e. competing with the other corporate organizations). It'll be a full day event. Let's see just how creative my team is.

On Sunday, I'll be attending a colleague's wedding. The bride-to-be is an extremely diligent girl at work. It's nice to see this young girl dressed in her wedding gown. She'll be looking beautiful and all grown up.

Then, it'll be back at work for me on Monday. And 2 weeks later, I'll be taking leave from work for my birthday celebrations. Life is great!

In The Month of November

2009-10-18T19:34:00.004+08:00

In less than 1 month, I'll be turning 28. Time flies...

What a number?! Hmm... the last even number before I hit the big 30. I shall not let that bother me, really. I should enjoy being 27 and enjoy even more when I turn 28.

A number of people had been asking me about my birthday celebrations. Previous years, I had celebrations which stretched over 2 weeks. And perhaps age is catching up, I don't seem to get excited over my upcoming birthday. Last week, I pulled myself out of this non-feeling, and made some plans with some friends. Managed to arrange for 2 parties in November. I'm still trying to decide on the venues and themes. Hopefully, nice dinners and loads of wines & champagnes will keep the smile on my face this november. :) And as usual, I'll be taking a few days off from work for these celebrations. :)

Corporate Community Games 2009

2009-10-17T18:37:00.003+08:00

I participated in the Bowling Mixed Team event in this year's Corporate Community Games. Together with 3 others, we formed Strike R Us and represented our bank. We didn't make it to the finals, but we had fun. We were bowling beside the top team from DBS. Heh! They were really awesome. One of the ladies in that team scored more than 200 pinfalls in the first game.

I was pleased with my scores even though I wasn't at my best. Still, I maintained my philosophy of scoring more than the previous game.

Game #1 : 134 pinfalls
Game #2 : 147 pinfalls
Game #3 : 173 pinfalls

It was my first time playing at Kallang Bowl. The lanes were very oily. The ball was skidding too much and there wasn't much pin reaction for rollers. Spinners seemed to be doing better in such conditions. However, as the oil wore off, the rollers started to get into the action.

Bowling is still my first love when it comes to sports. :) The feeling is simply amazing.