These couple of weeks just whizzed past me in a blink of an eye as I’ve been busy packing, tying up loose ends for various responsibilities and catching up with friends and family before leaving Singapore. I’ll be putting up photos of most of the meet-ups soon!

I love the ambiance and food at House@Dempsey so much, I actually patronized the restaurant 2 days in a row. I was just there for the much raved about High Tea Buffet the day before I met Jun for lunch. It’s a great place for chilling out on weekdays especially.

Poor Jun is always busy at work and she has been nursing a bad cough for about 2 weeks! Yitian couldn’t come as she was already in India by then, but we caught up over sushi before she left.

I’ll miss you girls! But, the good news is, I’ll be back before you know it. 😉

Black tassel dress from City Plaza
Neon yellow bow belt from Platinum Mall, Bangkok
Ruffles polka dot socks from Hong Kong
Suede pumps from Salvatore Ferragamo
Gold hobo from Gucci

I’ll be leaving for Sydney next week, hence I’ve been busy trying to catch up with friends, especially girlfriends. One evening, Yitian, Jun, Karen and I decided to meet at Dempsey for dinner. As Jun and Karen were caught up with work, Yitian and I had early dinner at Don Quijote. We were both famished!

We had paella, tapas and sangria, which are so distinctively Spanish. These reminded me of my recent holiday in Spain, where I had the most delicious paella in Rodellar. I also have a penchant for sangria. In fact, if moscato didn’t exist, sangria would probably be my favourite alcoholic drink.

We then adjourned to Ben & Jerry’s to continue waiting for the girls to arrive. That was when we succumbed to temptation. We ordered a huge platter of desserts to satisfy our sweet tooth. The presentation alone was so enticing, we absolutely could not resist.

After what seemed like an eternity, the girls came along and we chatted for a long time before calling it a night.

I’ve never mentioned this before, but I was inspired to share my views on friendship after some recent revelations. I draw very clear lines between work, friends and family. At work, I’m very demanding and I admit I may not be the most patient person to work with due to my expectations.

With friends, I’m more patient as all I expect is a listening ear and companionship, nothing more. In general, I don’t like to trouble my friends for help as the last thing I want to do is to cause any inconvenience. Sometimes, mixing friendship with work is a sure recipe for disaster because everyone has different working styles and you may not realize that a friend’s working style is vastly different from yours until it comes to the crunch, and this inevitably strains the relationship.

I try to show compassion, respect and consideration, and will reciprocate if someone does so as well. But if I feel someone has taken me for granted without showing me consideration, I get upset. Then again, I don’t get upset for long as those close to me would know I never do bear grudges.

Of course, strangers and acquaintances are entitled to their own opinions of what sort of person I am, but I don’t care about their impressions because we either don’t know each other very well, or at all, and I don’t see the need to explain myself to people who do not matter. 🙂 Time is such a precious commodity that the only way to make good use of it is to spend it with people who matter, understand, and reciprocate. These are people who will stand by you, always.

There are a few other close friends whom you don’t see on my blog at all for privacy reasons or simply because we always get so engrossed in conversations we forget to take pictures, but I’m sure you know who you are! 🙂

On a lighter note, I’m ending this post with my outfit for that evening. Everything was from my recent Bangkok trip, except for my socks (from Daiso) and heels (from a random neighbourhood shop).

I’ve a number of gatherings this week and I’ll be meeting more girlfriends as well as my beloved god-daughter this weekend! I’m so looking forward to all the meet-ups!

The girls and I met up for late lunch at Greenwood Fish Market on a lazy Tuesday. Every Tuesday is oyster day at Greenwood Fish Market and with every main course, you’ll get to enjoy oysters at $1 each.

Look at how happy Yitian was! Yitian loves oysters so both of us gobbled up a dozen of them while waiting for Jun to arrive. Such gluttons we were. 😛

The fish mains are pretty good too. Servings are huge and the marinade is generally very flavourful. Yums!

For some strange reason, one of the waiters there thought that we were air stewardesses. Then, he kept asking if I was of Chinese descent before hazarding a guess that I was a Malay. LOL The last time I was mistaken for a Malay was in secondary school when I had really tanned skin from too much outdoor activities. What a hilarious and bizarre encounter!

That aside, I’ll probably still patronize the restaurant for its chillax ambience and delicious seafood. There’re several cafes in the vicinity where you can grab a cuppa coffee after lunch and relax as you people watch too!

After tea, I headed over to Nex mall with JW to meet up with our JC friends. We had so much fun reminiscing about our RJ days, including how we angered many teachers such as our Maths teacher who would throw chalk at us whenever we dozed off in class. I was the Maths rep, but instead of collecting assignments, I was usually busy handing out completed assignments for the rest to copy. Oh well, we were wayward teens, but we all turned out fine eventually, didn’t we?

He claimed to have followed a group of friends to a nail salon and was subsequently persuaded to have his nails done too. As he figured this would probably be his first and last time at the nail salon, he decided to test out a myriad of colours. It’s funny how there appears to be some logic in his crappy explanation.

Oh…and check out those nude pink slippers.

He insisted they’re beige but hello…..

JW organized a surprise birthday gathering for me at Leonardo’s Place the weekend before my actual birthday. He was coordinating with my friends secretly over facebook just a couple of days before and they were all so spontaneous!

It was also funny how my friends told me they were busy “running errands” that Sunday, which was quite out of the ordinary. I even told JW I suspected they were out buying my birthday gift. So thick-skinned of me but I was spot on! Haha yay, I have another pair of earrings to add on to my collection now!

I wasn’t really expecting a birthday celebration though, so being lazy on a Sunday evening, I didn’t bother to dress up. I couldn’t even be bothered to do my hair, hence I clipped it up rather haphazardly before darting out of the house. LOL. You can imagine my surprise when I saw my friends all glammed up at the restaurant! Jun even paid extra attention to her make-up because we often tease her about how her make-up never does show up on her face. 😛

I had an amazing time in the company of good friends, good food and my newly minted photographer! Without any hesitation, JW quickly assumed the role of the photographer for the evening, capturing all our picture perfect (and also imperfect) moments. I especially love all the candid shots below, where we were laughing our heads off because the candle looked a little erm….vulgar, and my dear smoker friends couldn’t find a lighter (of all things?!) to light my candle!

Sushi and Daryl were so sweet! They knew that I loveeeee the durian cake at One Bakers World and JW loves their chocolate cake to death, so they specially made a birthday cake with 2 flavours – durian and chocolate! I was so touched!

Little Leo was there to celebrate my birthday too, putting a smile to our faces with his cute antics and crazy laughter. Everyone wanted a piece of him! The cutie pie’s birthday is just 2 days after mine, and we all celebrated his 1st birthday just yesterday, before Zoukout 2011. 😉 More of that in a bit!

Tian, Mavis and I got her a gorgeous black bow BCBG accessory watch. I loved it so much I wanted to get one for myself but alas, there weren’t any left in the shop!

Here’s what the watch looks like (picture credits: ASOS). I need to make a mental note to myself to get it one of these days.

It was a fun-filled night with great music, singing, booze and last but not least, the best company. Jun is one of my oldest friends and we go way back to JC days. She’s looking younger everyday though, especially with her bangs. 😉 Happy Sweet 18th Birthday babe!

River Island toga cut-out dress
CK bracelet watch
Transparent heels with leopard print soles from Far East Plaza

On her actual birthday, Mavis and Tian decided to bake her a cake at the spur of the moment. I rushed down after work only to catch a glimpse of the cake already baking in the oven. The shape of the cake turned out a little dubious (it cracked and a part of it actually collapsed..hahaha) but the two ladies made it all good with dark chocolate fudge and succulent strawberries! The cake was so finger-licking good!

And while the two ladies were busy with the cake, I just stood there in awe, occasionally dipping my fingers into the baking tin to savour the goodness of the residual crumbs. The only thing I did was draw the white heart and write part of the birthday girl’s name on the cake.

Another mental note to myself: I ought to start honing my cooking and baking skills now that I have time on my hands!

The actual day celebration lasted till the wee hours of the morning, starting with dinner at Tonkichi, followed by Kungfu Panda 2 and finally ending with several rounds of bingo at the gambling queen’s (i.e. the birthday girl’s) abode.

Before you start worrying for our health, fret not, for we’ll be going for yoga soon. Yay to healthy activities!

These days, my life only revolves around food. After lunch at Halia, I headed to Karen’s place for dinner and cake! Karen baked a fruit cake for everyone and a fondant birthday cake specially for Jolene.

Jo was still in Brunei at that time, so nobody was allowed to touch the gorgeous cake! Since we literally couldn’t have a slice of the cake, everyone turned their attention to baby Andre, Koji’s little darling boy instead. LOL.

Andre is such a cutie pie we absolutely couldn’t resist taking photos with him. He is very active too and is constantly on the prowl for new toys. One minute, he was peering curiously at JW’s book entitled “Called to Lead”, which we all thought was a very promising sign indeed, but the next minute, he was caught biting on Koji’s LV wallet and using it as a teething toy!

I lead a very sedentary lifestyle and watching TV has become such a huge part of my life that JW often jokes that it is only a matter of time before I leave a permanent dent in our sofa.

Getting me to participate in any form of sports other than running (even then, I have not run in years) is no mean feat. Hence, I really have to take my hat off to my friends who persuaded me to go to the bowling alley after our sumptuous Japanese dinner at Shin Kushiya.

It all started well for me and I even scored a few spares, but hunger pangs got the better of me in the middle of the game due to my high metabolic rate. Needless to say, the game went downhill from thereon. If you noticed from the collage above, Jun was the most competitive among us. She even brought a change of attire!

Ever since my good friend Reyna passed away in a car accident, I haven’t been able to come to terms with her death. To say that I was an emotional wreck would probably be an understatement.

I couldn’t even be alone in my house without feeling afraid. Memories of her lying motionless in the coffin would creep into my mind and haunt me at every waking moment. Tears would well up in my eyes whenever I thought of her. I was mortified, to say the least.

I couldn’t believe that she was gone. We didn’t even have time to say goodbye.

Nobody saw her for the last time.

You see accidents happening everyday on the roads, but it all seems very distant because you don’t have an emotional attachment to the victims. You can try to put yourself in the shoes of the victims’ family and friends, but I can tell you with absolute conviction that when it happens to you, the wave of emotions that engulfs you is inexplicably excruciating. I most certainly would not wish this upon anyone for it is the worst feeling one can ever experience. It is a potent concoction of fear, denial, anguish, helplessness and anger.

I can only imagine the amount of grief her husband, daughter and family members have to undergo. I yearn to help, but first, I need to get back on my feet and I know this will happen quickly because they will be my driving force.

Reyna’s sudden departure struck me so hard it ignited an acute fear in me, a fear that I would lose someone close to me again some time down the road. Fortunately, it is also because of this fear that I have come to appreciate and cherish the people in my life even more. I have always been happy and contented with my life, but I am now more tolerant towards others as well. I believe that arguments should never last more than an hour, because I would rather make better use of time by bringing joy to people around me. Embracing new opportunities and breaking the habit of procrastination is another step that I have taken in the right direction. After all, life is a journey of discovery, and experiences are the very ingredients that make life worth living.

Writing about her departure is another step that I am taking to get back on my feet. I couldn’t do so any earlier because this would mean that I have accepted her death and it was just impossible for me to do so until now.

For now, I just want to remember my beautiful girlfriend, her radiant megawatt smile, her cheerful nature, her laughter and all the wonderful moments that we shared. I don’t know why, but I would always recall how she looked when she came by to visit me at my previous workplace at Bugis. I remember her in a fuschia top and how she sashayed across the road with such grace, no one would never have thought she was pregnant then. She was one fabulous hot mama.

I wish we spent more time together during our first and last holiday together in Hong Kong, but I am sure she had a ball of a time nevertheless. We were planning this holiday for ages and it finally materialized.

During the trip, both of us lamented that we didn’t have time to check out the cafes in Hong Kong. Well, I’m glad we managed to have tea together one last time at agnes b cafe. 🙂

For my fabulous girlfriend, I will continue to blog about our equally fabulous HK trip so that our shared memories will live on forever. I know she is in a better place and the rest of us here will always remember her dearly in our hearts.

Before Clara left for Melbourne to further her studies, we gathered one last time at Le Bistro for her farewell dinner.

I was instantly blown away by the decor once I stepped foot into the restaurant. An eclectic mix of picture frames and mirrors of different shapes and sizes were scattered artistically on the wall, occasionally reflecting an interesting array of hanging lamps on the adjacent ceiling.

Jolene and I were the first to arrive, and we certainly wasted no time in taking photographs and camwhoring with all the various backdrops. The restaurant was reminiscent of a quaint European cafe complete with English armchairs, lush draperies and a vast collection of pictures and souvenirs from over the world.

I recall Clara telling me that we would go crazy over the decor of the restaurant, and boy was she right. We were so intrigued that our cameras couldn’t stop snapping! There we were, posing with stuffed toys and picture frames. I especially like a photo of Jolene which I snapped (the picture in the middle below). It was a candid back view shot of her browsing through the menu but you can see her front view from the mirror too.

We were quite famished by the time we were done with photo-taking so thankfully, the food was great – fresh, flavourful and very filling (LOL you can call this the 3Fs if you like!).

We had a wonderful time catching up and getting to know new friends that before long, it was time for us leave as the restaurant was closing for the night. We hugged, said our goodbyes, and promised to visit Clara when we next go to Melbourne. That fortuitous night, Taylor Swift waved goodbye too, from the Singapore Indoor Stadium after her rehearsal.

Clara is such a talented artist and I am so happy that she is able to pursue her passion, especially in this day and age where so many people just conform to societal expectations and go through the motions to earn their keep, without knowing exactly what it is they really want to do with their lives. I wish Clara all the best in her studies and I look forward to visiting her one of these days!