WEEK 50

 Weekends were pretty much relaxed.

Had the last Christmas gathering with the usuals over at Bird's tropical penthouse!

It was so pretty and i couldn't stop exploring the house haha.

Thank you for having us over and for the steamboat prepared 💕

Then come Saturday where Hans and i went for a swim to kick start the day.

Never felt like this chill for a long time, December was quite a busy month.

It was then hanging out then dinner with his family and supper with mine 🍴

Sunday was spend packing up for Japan (less than 5 days now!)

Grandpa's one was the fastest checked and the rest of us have some other stuff lying around waiting to be fully packed in.

& here are the amount of clothing for me myself and i.

Seems pretty decent for a 9 days trip, i guess.

5 more days, till i see you, Japan ~

EARLY CHRISTMAS

🎄: Fresh Fruits Lab

Christmas exchange + Brunch with the girls yesterday.

FFL was surprisingly good, and we left satisfied ~

Chilled at Charm's over Monopoly deal and we had our exchange, where i almost cried when i opened Jas's present, because she was so thoughtful to include my grandma in our timeline photos..

Thank you girls for being my constant the past 11 years ❤

WEEK 49

☕: Stateland Cafe

 Met up with these 2 over Stateland on Saturday, kinda glad to know everyone has their own route sorted out, just a matter of time before things fall into place.

On a side note, Stateland was 👍, first time there and i love their toast!

Afterwards it was some time with Hans & soccer.
Was so fascinated by the Snapchat's effects (call me slow) and here's one of them.
 And this little one never fails to get all excited when she sees me, leaving so many scratch marks on my thigh as a sign of welcoming.
Well, i'm giving credit to her cuteness so i'll accept that!

Then it was Sunday's wedding date with Caly at ParkRoyal.
Seeing people getting married makes me want to too (oops), but nope, i'm sticking to the plan.
Thank you for having me as your date haha.

Counting down to less than 3 weeks now to Japan!
And while i'm typing this, i could feel the butterflies in my stomach.
All the clothes to bring - checked, passport - checked, humans - checked.
We're left with the last bit of tidying up the itinerary, purchasing of a few tickets and we're ready to go!
A much needed break.

SHORT LIL LONG WEEKEND

🎥: Fantastic Beasts

Caught Fantastic Beasts with Hans on Saturday, lucky for free ticket we managed to watch at Gold Class 😁

For a non Harry Potter fan, i got to admit the show was good!

Maybe i should consider watching Harry Potter hmm.

🚗: JB

Headed to JB on Sunday and was surprise there was no jam in the morning, it was definitely sign of a good start.
Summary of our food itinerary: Beef noodles - Cheesecake @ Uncle Tetsu - Coffee Run @ JWC - Seafood muchies - Noodles @ Ah Koong
Always love our coffee run at JWC The Factory, reason being - it's secluded most people won't really visit unless they drive - less crowded.
JPO seems like a must-visit these days, they always have attractive discounts you'll feel like everything is a must go.

& i had my specialist visit yesterday, thankful for Hans around.
Did the same scope which i really dislike, uncomfortable and bleh.
The only good news - nothing major 😊

Slightly less than a month's time to Japan.
Hello December in 1.5 days time.

#THOUGHTS

⏰: 9.30am

Came in office like every other morning and was uploading some of the photos taken over the weekends since there was some time to spare.

 As usual, there were photos on bakes, and others with the family.

There is this folder under my Google Drive that indicates "Family Birthdays", and the first photo that appeared was Grandma with her favourite D24 durian cake for her birthday back in 2014.

So many images ran through my mind at that instant and I felt like I could feel her with me, probably waiting for me to end work back at home, like how she usually does.

Still could not deal with her departure despite it being almost a year now.

People around may not be able to fully comprehend this feeling, but staying with her for years has allowed Grandma to form a significant part of me.

- I miss you so dearly, Grandma.

MY NOVEMBER BABIES

Dinner buffet with the family at RISE @ MBS yesterday for my 2 big November babies: Grandpa & Bro 💕

Spread was good and glad everyone enjoyed! I could see the smiles on grandpa face the entire night.

Always love it when the whole family is together, just that this year, we are short of one very important woman in all of our lives.

Can't wait for our Japan trip next month and we are all counting down to slightly less than a month!

I can tell Grandpa is looking forward to this trip and i believe he will bring Grandma along with us, in his heart.

December, i can't wait for you already ~

SOMEONE PRECIOUS

And on Sunday, we lost another person precious to us.

Great aunt passed away on Sunday morning, right before the time when everyone was preparing to head over her place for her 83rd birthday celebration.

I used to feel luckier than everyone, cos i have 3 grandmas while everyone has 2.

This year, i lost 2 of them.

Great aunt is like a grandma to me, although she may be mean to grandma when they were young but in my memory, she was nice to us.

Her leaving reminded me back in February when i lost my grandma, where it felt so yesterday, i could still remember the entire process, which left me in tears the past few nights.

Grandma, i miss you so dearly.

TARATATA BISTROT

Monthsary dinner at Taratata Bistrot tonight with the loveliest ambiance.

Always love dining at places like these once in a while with Hans.

Don't be deceived by the size of the food cos it was actually very filling!

Thank you for the wonderful start of the month.

It's gonna be an oh-so-crazy month for the both of us.

Hopefully we'll be able to hang in there for all the plans we have ahead of us.

Weekends seriously never felt so precious.

And i can't wait to deliver all my orders from Crumb Bites to all the lovely customers, tho i'm not comparable to a lot of bakers out there but i'm glad Crumb Bites even started.

Goodnight world.

OCTOBER '16

Celebrated mum's birthday at Carlton Hotel yesterday with the family.

It's our first year without grandma around for all our birthdays and something definitely feels missing.

Nonetheless, i'm pretty sure she was here with us all along <':

And here are some of the bakes i've been working on the last week!

Glad to say all these are going up on my selling list!

A brand new month tomorrow and i know it will be good.

So many plans in mind i wanna execute and hopefully time allows for it.

Thank you for being so wonderful, October.

BIRTHDAY WEEK 4: GOLD CLASS

Boss treated us to Gold Class (during work hours yasss)!

Watched The Accountant which was so relatable when terms like 'Profit & Loss' and 'Balance Sheet' were mentioned.

Met YY & Marissa after such long time @ Nigiro Cafe.

It's always good to meet up with old friends and it'll hit you how fast time has passed.

It didn't felt long when we went Taiwan together!

Anyw, October was a good month.

Here's to the remaining 2 months before the end of 2016. 

BIRTHDAY WEEK 3: COCOBOLO POOLSIDE BAR

Back to work after the short break and glad it's a short work week!

Had my birthday dinner with the bunch at Cocobolo Poolside Bar @ Park Hotel yesterday.

Food was great and ambiance even better. They have limited seating and that's what makes it exquisite.

Thank you guys, for everything. 

And i got the news from work that my boss will be treating everyone to movie next Tuesday, and the best part, during work hours!

Looking forward to next week and meeting my girls for dinner <:

BIRTHDAY WEEK 2: HCM TRIP!

It was finally my birthday trip w Hans!

Jet off to HCM after working for 3 days (short work week yess!)

We spent a lot of time (and $$$) on food for this trip and it's all proven true!

Day 1 we had so much awesome stuff: from road side noodles, to Trung Nyuen Legend for coffee, to makeshift beef stall, to sizzling beef on stone at Hokkaido Sushi Sachi and lastly the popular Nambo.

I counted, we had 9 meals in total that day, be it proper or "improper" meals.

I know, it's A LOT.

Day 2 we took a sleeper bus to Mui Ne, and i was really looking forward to this lovely place! The sleeper bus was quite an experience tho haha.

The view above was directly from our bungalow when we checked-in in Mui Ne.

It was instant-fall-in-love kind of thing, a little surreal, waking up and going to bed with this view right in front of you ~

Headed off to the Fairy Stream and the view was (Y), the sand was so fine and it's amazing how the black and white sand form such a beautiful pattern, nature at it's best.

Our night ended off with seafood at Mr Crab, lots of it.

It was love.

Day 3 we woke up early to catch the sunrise as well as join in the fishmongers at Mui Ne's popular fishing village for their catch of the day.

It was quite a sight and we were offered 1kg worth of live prawns to be steam and eaten on the spot! We got them, and the prawns were so sweet it was superb.

It was beach time after that and it was so much fun i didn't wanna head back. 

(We both got burnt btw :/)

That day we went to the Red Sand Dunes, and on for massage, chilling by Full Moon Beach, then my birthday dinner at Santimatti Pizzeria (awesome pawsome).

Day 4 we took the sleeper bus back to HCMC and i couldn't bear to leave the beautiful place.

Upon settling down, we went to M2C Cafe, and it was no doubt a pretty place to be.

Roamed around for a little the rest of the day then it was the long waited Hotel Nikko Lobster Buffet!

Was hesitant in going there initially as Hans was unwell halfway but we still went nonetheless. 

The spread was literally WHOAAA!

I really didn't want this day to end.

& on Day 5, it was return to home day.

We had Bánh mì in the morning at Hoàng Hoa bakery, they definitely live up to their name! The picture may not look like it but it's so good.

N11 Cafe for coffee afterwards before one last round of shopping at Saigon Square then check out.

Back to work today, and i can't believe how fast the trip ended.

Didn't wanna go home but i guess we had our fair share of fun and now it's back to our work commitments.

And especially for Hans, thank you for this wonderful trip, it'll probably be a birthday i won't forget for a long time to come.