More food in Melbourne

So apparently I can't stick to just one post of food in any country. If you've checked out my previous travel guides you'll probably find that more often than not I've got more than one food post for each city. What can I say? I love food haha. Sorry, not sorry :p

Anyway, while brunch is a definite MEAL OF THE DAY in Melbourne, there are tonnes of other good food that you can find there. This city is a melting pot of international cuisines and you can probably find more Asian food than any other western food here. Unfortunately I didn't get to try much of it, but there are other things that I have to recommend.

Brown Bagels
330 Collins Street, VIC 3000

Tucked away in a little alley off Collins Street, you wouldn't come across this place unless you're in the know. And of course you are, now that I've told you. And there are lots of reviews of it on Urbanspoon as well! I was hard pressed to select a bagel from the list of flavours because they all sounded so yummy! While I'm not usually a fan of bagels, I really enjoyed this one (: The poppy seed bagel had the most incredible texture, and the combination of smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers can't go wrong.

N2 Extreme Gelato
329 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065

Wacky names, and even wackier flavours. What makes N2 Extreme Gelato stand out is the fact that your ice cream is created a la minute right in front of you. You will not find ice cream tubs in this store. Instead, you see ingredients and blenders and liquid nitrogen and *BOOM* there you have it - your cup of ice cream made from scratch. Flavours change regularly, so there's always a reason to keep going back.

Yarraville Gardens Food Trucks

My most interesting dining experience in Melbourne was my dinner from the food trucks! Oh, we know how difficult it is for such a concept to be licensed in Singapore. And yet in Melbourne, I found an entire row of trucks all selling different types of food, lined up in front of a football sized field. I went on a crazy food spree and we ordered this for two people to share. Those kimchi fries....yum!

San Churro

Shop LTL 255, QV Centre, Swanson Street, VIC 3000

You can probably find San Churros in quite a number of places in Melbourne. It's one of their most popular food chains there, and there's a good reason for it! Despite having one of the worst sore throats in my life, I went ahead and ordered this because I simply couldn't resist it! You can a choice of different portions (this was for one person) and white/milk/dark chocolate sauce. Gosh. If I wasn't having a sore throat, I would have slurped up the entire cup of chocolate!

There were so many other foods I wished I had the time (& tummy space) to try! I've heard rave reviews about the Korean and Vietnamese food here, and if you go to Lygon street, please eat the gelato and tell me which one is good!!!

Brunch in Melbourne

The answer to Melbourne's favourite meal of the day - BRUNCH! :)

Whenever I asked people for recommendations of food in Melbourne, the topic would inadvertently turn to this meal, in between breakfast and lunch, for the lazybones, or simply those who have the time to spare to languish over a delicious meal, relish every mouthful of the food, and indulge in their caffeine of the day. I know how I'm sorely missing out, being rather averse to coffee, but I was definitely in for a treat with the food. And while these cafes I'm recommending are solely on the basis of their food, I'm sure their coffee is pretty good as well because it is rare to find a bad cuppa in Melbourne. 

I need to be more efficient in writing these posts (as you know, I have the tendency to ramble), but I've got to pen this down - Australians are proud of their brunch, and they show it. The brunch here is so mind-blowingly good, that I can't wrap my head around what we've been eating in Singapore. You can refer to my lists of best eggs benedict, french toast, waffles etc, and they are good, but...it just gets a little tired after awhile. It's...common. In Melbourne, they don't do common. They do loud, they do unique, they do creative. This is probably a generalisation, but I don't believe it's far fetched to say that no brunch is the same anywhere in Melbourne. 

Here are the must-tries:

Hardware Société

118-120 Hardware Street, VIC 3000

Man, can you resist a cafe when it has such cute servers like them?! ;) 

We were really lucky to get front-row seats at this cafe. At a bar seat right in front of where the chefs were whipping up their meals. It was fascinating to say the least. I took a leap of faith and ordered the daily special, which was a tuna & salmon tartare on a bed of quinoa/barley/pomegranate salad, topped with two poached eggs and homemade crisps. GOSHHHH. Just the way our server described it made me drool already. I just had to order it!!! And it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I hope they get this on the main menu soon! 

Hammer & Tong

Rear 412 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065

Apparently soft shell crab burgers are a big thing in Melbourne, and you can get your fix at Hammer & Tong! A perfectly crisp soft shell crab, sandwiched between two fluffy patties and it comes with a yummy slaw as well. You can find all kinds of slaw here!! It seems like every cafe/restaurant has their own version of it, which is pretty cool. Also tried this really interesting salt & pepper french toast (photo featured in my first post on 5 things to do in Melbourne) which was delicious, despite the fact that I couldn't wrap my head around the description.

Proud Mary

172 Oxford Street, Collingwood, VIC 3066

This cafe is a coffee roaster as well, so you can expect to find some great brews here (: I had, by far, the FLUFFIEST PANCAKES EVERRRRR. Look at that stack!! Sooooo thick, but super duper fluffy and light. It was really interesting because I wouldn't typically go for orange-flavoured foods (not that I don't like orange, but I just like it in the form of fruit/juice and that's all), but this was a great choice! The tangy orange sauce was so appetising and yummy that I mopped up every bit of it with my pancakes that had the soaking power of a sponge. 

And...that was the day I ate two brunches haha. Things you gotta do when you don't have a lot of time in Melbourne. Hah!

7 Seeds Specialty Coffee

114 Berkley Street, Carlton, VIC 

So I actually really only went to four cafes. SOBS. Can you believe it?! It's too little! 

Anyway, I went to 7 seeds on my last day, and I'm really glad I chose it! It's those kind of really hole-in-the-wall cafes which I nearly walked past without knowing it was the one I was looking for. Melbourne's cafes are beautiful. You might be getting sick of me raving over these cafes already, but I can't help it. I love the vibe in the cafes here. The buzz and the bustle, the whole experience is just so invigorating, yet extremely relaxing. I don't know how to describe it, but you've gotta feel it to know it. So I heard a lot about the pulled pork sandwich at this cafe and I had to try it! Definitely one of the better ones I've tasted. It was so moist and tasty! And I was sold by that handful of toasted chilli nuts on the side. Can't resist it. Tried my first (and last) hot chocolate in Melbourne, and I was just wow-ed by their little touches (: That chocolate stick in there? Gosh. It was such a lovely, creamy, chocolatey cup of warmth ^^ I've heard their coffee here is amazing too! Do try it on my behalf hehe. 

So...some last words (: While brunch in Melbourne is not cheap, you get what you pay for and more with their huge portions and quality ingredients. Plus, there has to be some value for the amount of creativity they put into their dishes, right? While I tend to hold back a little when I go for brunch in Singapore, I was happy to splurge on brunch in Melbourne. Typically paid around $20 for each dish, and I would do it all over again <3 

5 things to do in Melbourne

I'm back from Melbourne!!! (: Ah, that sweet feeling of taking a break from work and travelling. This was one of the most last minute travel decisions I made, but the trip turned out to be one of the best (:  Didn't make many plans, simply because I didn't have the time to, in between work and studying for exams. But my last minute research proved to be somewhat useful, and going with the flow turned out much more fulfilling that I'd ever imagined it to be.

I really enjoyed my time spent in Melbourne, with friends, Sam and also alone. And it was the perfect balance between all three. There are so many things I wish I could share, but it's just way too much for this little space here. Let's just start with 5 things to do in Melbourne. This is my personal list, and since this was my second trip to Melbourne, I didn't want to do much of the touristy stuff. Might be different from what you're looking at, but I hope this gives you a glimpse as to what Melbourne can offer (:

1. Visit Melbourne's markets

I'm a HUGE fan of markets, and this pretty much tops my list in every country I go to. I loved Melbourne's markets for the variety of produce they stocked. Different markets have their own unique character, and it really depends on what you're looking for. Queen Victoria Market is the go-to for tourists, situated pretty much in the central area of Melbourne. I loved South Melbourne Market for its numerous homeware stores which I went absolutely crazy over! And you've got to try Pardon my French, a little pushcart stall selling sweet & savoury crepes. Prahran Market had lovely fresh produce, as well as coffee shops displaying a spectacular variety of beans. For those who love handmade products, Rose Street Market is a must-visit for products ranging from t-shirts, to candles, cards etc. All handmade with love.

2.  Catch the sunset from Eureka Skydeck 88

Melbourne is gorgeous from above, both in the day and night. You can visit the attraction throughout the day, but we chose to go around sunset so that we could watch the cityscape change from the day to a sparkling beauty at night (: Tickets are priced at $19.50 for adults.

*tip: get a copy of the tourist guide for a 10% discount coupon inside*

3. Get lost in a book in the State Library of Victoria

It probably sounds like strange advice to go to a library while you're on holiday. But if you love books like me, the State Library of Victoria is a magnificent place to visit in Melbourne. Pick a book from the impressive collection and curl up in a chair with it. You could potentially spend hours here.

4. Eat a LOT (i recommend two brunches a day)
^ that was typed by Sam haha but I agree :P

As you might expect...more details coming up in my next post! ;)

5. Chill along the Yarra River

Walk/cycle along the entire stretch of the Yarra River; find a spot on the (fake) grass when you need a break. It's a perfect day out - what could be better than this? (: 

Grad Trip in Taiwan :))

i'm back from my grad trips!!! (: or at least ⅔ of them hehe. and boy, am i glad to be back! travelling really does get pretty tiring after awhile. especially Nepal... :x haha once in a lifetime trip. i missed singapore so much!!! i've never been one to complain much about singapore (i honestly love it here, except maybe the weather) but the trip to Nepal just made me superrrr homesick. i was SO HAPPY to be back, i was literally bouncing off the plane the moment we landed at Changi Airport hehe ^^ though i have to clarify that despite everything, i thoroughly enjoyed the company (: - though i'm sure i would have enjoyed it more in any other country in the world hahaha. 

okie, here's some photo spam of taiwan to start off!!! ^^ SUPER LOVED my grad trip there :') first ever trip to taiwan and i spent two whole weeks there! honestly, i've had more than enough of taipei for awhile, but i miss the food already!!! definitely a place to go back, though probably not in the near future yet! 

so stoked for our first trip together!!! ^^ haha reality barely set in then that exams (and uni life!) was over. what would i give to go back to that day again :') so excited!!

waiting for the HSR to Taichung! (: 

TAIWAN IS ABSOLUTELY A FOOD LOVER'S HEAVEN :D

i miss the food already (though it's actually quite unhealthy oops)

we started pigging out the moment we reached taichung hehe! :P first night market was Feng Jia Night Market, and one of the best! stuffed ourselves till we were going to burst because everything looked so delicious, and ended the night with a hilarious discovery moment when we realised how the food was S.O. C.H.E.A.P. woohooooo ^^

next day up the mountains to Cing Jing Nong Chang - we had really bad weather that day >.< super cold!!!! and of all days i'd decided to wear shorts. haha big mistake....look at how warmly everyone else was dressed!!! what was i thinking. haha. BIG LOVE for these girls xx :)

the weather cleared up the next day!!! ^^ and we had our ANTM Vogue photoshoot with gorgeous mountains as our background hahaha. looking at these photos just makes me miss grad trip with this bunch soooooo much!!!!! hehe we were all so enthusiastic and woke up at 4am to try to catch the sunrise. in the end it rose from behind our villa and we couldn't see it :( so thankful for the clear weather anyway though!!! the scenery... :')

on to Taipei!!! ^^ where more exciting things were to come.

hahaha so much meaning behind this photo. lol!!!! how the three of us were the naughty (irresponsible) kids running around and exploring our AWESOME airbnb and toilet (i miss it already!!! okay i'm officially having major nostalgia now haha :P) while our 双木林 parents were patiently listening to the landlady showing them how to use the facilities in the house keke. well, too many cooks spoil the broth right? no need for so many people crowding around the area. teehee ^^ 

first meal in taipei was awesome-possum!! we were totally blown away by the super friendly (and smile-y) staff at Din Tai Fung, and how delicious the food there was ^^ the service itself just made up half the experience already. look at the big smiles on our face! ;)

one of my favourite moments! (: 放天灯 was super meaningful with the best company ever <3

bestie! <3 love this photo of us!! (perfect if not for that butt in the picture -.-)

another of my favourite places was the Dan Shui Fisherman's Wharf/Lovers' Bridge. can really feel the loooove there hehe! and it was so spacious and windy and all! super super love that place :') 

visited Jay Chou's restaurant too! hehe so that dearest SK could fulfil her dream ;) could see how happy she was! haha. and it was really quite cool with the piano and all ^^ definitely a must for Jay Chou fans! 

we got so lazy that by the last day of our trip together, we woke up past 12pm!!! :P omg haha. honestly i think this is the FIRST time in my life (not counting when i was a baby) as far back as i can rmb that i've ever slept till such a time. i've really never done this in singapore before!!! and the feeling was SO SHIOK. haha. this was taken on the last day before we parted ways :'( i was so torn between choosing between staying on in taiwan with sam or going to korea with the girls. hearing them rave about korea so much totally made me want to fly there as well!!! And yet i was absolutely relishing our couple time in taiwan as well :') (so much better than exchange hahahahaha). if only i could split myself in half eh? hehe. but the one week with them was really a precious memory that i'll keep forever :') BESTEST bunch of travel buddies <3 we really had the perfect combi of personalities  (hehe like the parents & the kids ;)) and just the right number of people so that we could share food and eat to our hearts' delight. SUPER DUPER LOVE THE VIDEO THAT SK DID TOO :') hahaha so many memories!! totally looking forward to our next trip together again <3 

lots more on my taiwan itinerary coming up!! stay tuned ~ :)

Bangkok in the first week of school! [Part 2]

hello! as promised, this is part II of my bangkok trip! (:

after Platinum Mall (see previous post), we headed to the Siam area! 

Siam Centre was really nice for all its cafes and food places. I FOUND MR JONES ORPHANAGE!!!! ^^ SO HAPPY! i've seen so many pictures of it on instagram (thanks to ladyironchef lol) and i'd been wanting to go there since f.o.r.e.v.e.r. and i'm so glad it lived up to expectations :')

so gorgeous!!!!!!

and omg, doesn't this look simply orgasmic? :O :O :O sooooooo goooooood. luckily there was ngan to restrain me. i was half-tempted to choose a few cakes because they all looked so good! >.< hahaha. we decided to order one first, and another one if we were still hungry. and that was after lunch :p well, luckily we only ordered one. because it was SO DELICIOUSLY RICH that we couldn't have another slice after that haha. and this only cost 100 baht if i rmb correctly! (: more affordable than in singapore, and absolutely worth every cent :) 

we had lunch at Som Tam Nua, which serves all kinds of salads! or papaya salads. well we ordered three salads to share (haha so healthy right) - papaya salad, mango salad and vermicelli salad. all of them were scrumptious!! but oh gosh. they were so spicy hot!!!! i think my chilli tolerance is pretty good already (ngan's tolerance is like, zero? haha) but i found these wayyy too spicy! we actually asked for less chilli already! (idk whether they heard the opposite, because the staff's english was really bad), but it was insanely spicy. it's the kind that tastes alright in the first mouth, but just gets hotter and HOTTER as time goes by! :O even my eyes felt like they were on fire haha, not to mention my tongue and stomach. luckily they were nice enough to change it for us when we couldn't stand it anymore. and they actually gave us brand new servings! wow. oh and try their thai iced tea too! (: it looked really different from what we'd expected, but it was definitely necessary considering the spicy level haha. 

we didn't really shop in Siam Centre, because it was all the shops like h&m etc, which we didn't go to bkk for. but!! we discovered a really interesting place there ;) guess where this is!

the toilet. 

the most atas-looking toilet in the whole of bangkok hahaha (i don't know. but it's definitely a strong contender). we took AGES to find the toilet, because the staff just kept pointing downwards, and we were on the third floor and wondering WHY THERE WAS NO TOILET?! finally found it after really going down down down all the way, and realised it was at B1. and oh boy, it was HUGE. walked in to this touch-up area for people to rest and re-apply their makeup. there were curtained changing rooms along the corridor, and (of course) the toilets. it was amazing! very impressive, i've gotta say. 

we then headed to Siam Square for more shopping. it was pretty hot in the outdoor areas there! but then we found an air-conditioned area after that which was more conducive for shopping (: bought quite a few pairs of shoes there! ^^ wheeeee. 

have to say that our afternoon-evening shopping experience was much more disappointing compared to the morning one though! 

i'm really sad that we didn't go back to the Siam Night Market! :( we actually saw it on the first night! but it was SOOOO CROWDED (it's practically impossible to stop and shop. i've got no idea how people do it) that we didn't stop, because we were just recce-ing. second night we decided to go home early, and third night we were broke haha. i actually saw a lot of nice tops there which i wanted to buy though :( sigh.

also didn't manage to go to Siam Paragon, because After You cafe was closed for renovation!!!! :"( unbelievable!!!!! i was so sad because i was totally craving it after hearing so much about it. anyway, that's a great reason to come back haha.

the next morning, we got up bright and early to go to Chatuchak! it's a weekend market, so you'll miss it if you're not here during that time. this was a bit more troublesome to get to because we had to take the train (rather than walk), but their public transport system is really quite convenient (: we took the BTS Sky Train to Mo Chit station. it's impossible to miss because EVERYONE would be heading there haha. no kidding. oh yes! a tip that i got from reading other blogs is that you should bring a huge bag along to put all your shopping! so that you don't have to carry around a bunch of small plastic bags there, where it's so crowded, chaotic and hot. 

there, you have it. crowded, chaotic and hot xP personally, i didn't like chatuchak much. it was really unbearably hot!!! Thailand's hot weather was really OMG... and another tip i got is that you should go to chatuchak in the morning/evening because it's really crazy hot at midday. trust me. i was there at 10am and it was scorching already. and bring lots of water!!!! 

the good thing is that you've got a lifesaver from the heat, in the form of this coconut ice cream :)))) looking at it makes me drool already. it was so so so yummy!!!! i never really expected it to taste THAT good. i'd heard a lot about it, and i was really trying to keep my expectations down. how could something that looked so simple be that good? seemed too good to be true. but IT'S TRUE!!!! the next time i'm gonna eat one whole thing on my own haha. this, in my opinion, is the ONLY thing worth going to chatuchak for. haha. i didn't buy anything there at all because it was just too confusing already -.-

there are lots of street food there, and i wished we could have known that our stomachs could take it (didn't dare to risk it >.<) so that we could try all the food! saw so many people eating, and it all looked darn good! we tried this coconut thingy that sam recommended though! haha we thought it was a little strange :p because it was coconut that was sorta sweet & salty? haha dunno :p anyway, that's pretty much all we did at chatuchak - eat! 

and then came my favourite part!!!! :) our last stop of all. and where we accumulated this much of stuff in 7 hours of shopping hehe. TOO SHIOK. Union Mall was awesome!!! there aren't many recommendations of this place because it seems much less touristy. but thanks sk for telling about this gem of a place!! the moment we stepped into the mall, we were floored. a super duper long row of shops extending from one end of the mall to another. multiply this by 4 parallel rows, and 6 floors (i'm estimating, but it's really a lot!!!!) and we were in shopping heaven! loved how Union Mall was arranged in a grid, which made it really easy to shop. each level sold a group of merchandise, e.g. clothes or shoes, which also helped in allowing us to compare prices across shops. have to concede that goods are more pricey here (like i said, we shopped from the cheapest to most ex haha), but it wasn't too bad! still managed to find really affordable clothes. and the staff don't speak as much english here (also in the restaurants!), but for some shops, they allow you to try the clothes which is super useful. 

we found that Tienchai Thai Cuisine (i think it was on level 4 or 5. it was called a 'food hall' level or something like that) served really good and cheap food (i think our lunch cost us 50 baht each?!) and we had both our lunch and dinner there ^^ i recommend the green curry fried rice, green curry and pad thai! 

and we finally settled for our mango sticky rice at this place just across TienChai called Crazy for Mango. actually...i wouldn't recommend you to go there. we probably paid for the presentation rather than the mango sticky rice itself because the portion was quite small, and didn't quite taste like what this dish should taste :/ i'm so sad we couldn't find Mango Tango!!!! does anyone know where it is??? we went to so many places to search for it but couldn't find it :'( i think the airport mango sticky rice which i da-baoed back to singapore (yippee!!) tasted better than this one haha. 

so this is the end of my bangkok adventure (amidst the "protests" which we never encountered. phew!). hope it was useful/interesting! and i would definitely come back again for more shopping/eating/massage *hehe*

Bangkok in the first week of school! [Part 1]

hello!! (: starting on my bkk post first, even though this trip was later than my Aussie trip last december because i think this should be shorter haha. lots of backlog and i can't remember half the things that have gone on since then! xP whoops. haha hopefully because bkk was more recent so i'll do a better job of it! 

anyway, it was a #YOLO and #makingyear4count moment when my bestie & i decided to escape to bangkok in the first week of the school semester this year! ;) perks of having only a two day week hehe *allow me to gush about it for a moment* FINALLY EXPERIENCING THE YEAR 4 LIFE WOOHOO!!!! and i'm lovin' it! ;) it's so super shiok to 1) not have any accounting mods 2) not have any morning classes 3) only two days of school a.k.a. school feels like a weekend! or rather i have an extra-long weekend keke. too shiok. obviously i'm not thaaaat free (idk why my days still get filled up all the time. which has made it quite difficult to update this space :p), but this awesome timetable has really allowed me to find time to do many other things i love (: such as cook, bake and experiment with flower arranging! i guess you would probably have seen my cooking/baking adventures on instagram/recipes on my blog (lots more coming up!), but allow me to present the first ever flower arrangement i've done ^^ 

it's really an amateur one, and i think the flowers were rather cui because the florist was mainly stocking CNY plants rather than normal flowers (well at least they were on sale!! haha), but i'm still really happy i took the first step to creating this. i've got zero creativity really....need to improve on this (maybe that's why i decided to venture into flower arranging). anyway, if anyone is interested in giving me some lessons, i would be ever so grateful (: 

okay i digressed really far! :P oops! so anyway yep went to bkk in the first week of school. we almost didn't get to go because of all the bad news about the protests and stuff!!! :'( gosh it was such a nerve-wrecking week. we'd already paid and everything and were so excited to go!! but parents and friends were worried etc :/ anyway we managed to change our tigerair flight for a minimum fee to come back a day earlier so that we wouldn't get caught in the shutdown (for those who want to change flights to bkk, i think they will waive the change fee! check with them! cos they might pretend not to know -.- BE PERSISTENT) 

soooo okay bcos this post seems to be getting quite long already (haha), i've decided to split it into two parts

Part 1

Pratunam Morning Market 

Platinum Mall

Hotel

SIM Card

Travelling to the city centre from the airport

Part 2

Siam Centre/Square/Paragon/Market

Chatuchak

Union Mall

for shopping, we literally shopped from the CHEAPEST place, to the most expensive (or least cheap one).

our very sleepy morning faces zzz. because we woke up at 5.30am (OMG...) to catch the Pratunam Morning Market. it actually starts at 5am, and lasts till around 9am if i'm not wrong? we figured that it was no point going thaaaaat early because we heard that the stallholders would still be setting up at 5am. so we arrived there around 6am.

sun had barely risen at that time as you can see. so sleepy...but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! ^^ all the stuff there were really really cheap. the rule of thumb seems to be: do not pay anything above 200 baht. they will also give wholesale prices if you buy more than 3 items. is it just me (i haven't been to bangkok for like maybe 10 years haha) or is there not much room for bargaining nowadays? i really have no idea! bcos a lot of them don't seem to allow much bargaining and being lazy as usual (haha), ngan and I didn't bother to bargain too much. the prices were pretty decent already anyway.

and this was our morning loot!!!! can you believe it?!!?!? hahaha just shopping from 6am-8am got us this amount of stuff :P hehe. *proud of ourselves* and everything was so cheap.

we headed to Platinum Mall after breakfast for more shopping! surprisingly covered Platinum mall really quickly. because it was just soooo messy (kinda like far east plaza) which was just too complicated to navigate already. we spent like only three hours there? haha so fast :p and i was absolutely appalled to see that some stuff were so freaking expensive O.O like 600 baht or sth?!?! i mean the quality was definitely good, but still, i was totally not prepared to buy anything in bkk at that price. in fact, i think other than my shoes, i didn't pay more than 300 baht for anything. haha.

i guess the best part of Platinum mall for me was the FOOD!!!!! on our first night we immediately headed to the Food Court on level 6 to get our thai food fix *woohoo!* pad thai and som tam papaya salad (stall 25 has many options! ask to try the fish sauce though, because it tasted real weird to us :p so you should ask to omit it if you don't like it). we also ordered the yam-flavoured mini belgium waffles (yummy!! wish it was hot thought xP) and the egg pan, which is the super duper cute dish you see there!!! it's sunny side up quails eggs! haha i'm super deprived of bangkok k, so please let me go crazy ;) i didn't experience all this the last time i came here (which was eons ago anyway). totally over-ordred and we were stuffed by the end!! but everything was so cheap (Y)

Platinum mall closes really early though. i think around 9pm? so be sure to go there early to shop/eat!!! i think by the time we went there, there were no more fresh waffles -.- 

okay shall stop here with the malls for now. but just some useful info to add! 

Hotel

we stayed at The 93 Hotel, which we booked through Agoda. if you think it sounds sleazy because it sounds like hotel 88, it's nothing like that. i thought it was pretty good! 

1. It was cheap

2. Good location (walking distance to Platinum/Siam area, and also right along the street where the Pratunam Morning Market was! so we literally could tumble out of bed and start shopping haha. VERY convenient)

3. Comfy room (the bed was awesomely comfy!! and it was sufficiently furnished/equipped. they even provide toothbrushes! haha not bad)

4. Decent restaurant (we had dinner there on one of the nights. i quite liked their green curry! and there is live music haha)

5. A pretty good massage just around the corner! okay this is quite hard to describe, but when you walk out of the hotel, turn right and walk along the main street and turn left into the first small street. there are signs pointing towards a massage place there. there are two directly opposite each other and we went to the one on the left TWICE because their foot massage was damn good especially after a day of walking & shopping hehe)

SIM Card

we bought it at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. at level one, there are quite a number of shops selling it for around the same price. we bought the one week SIM Card for 300MB of data (more than enough for our stay!) for 399 baht.

we were so amused at their mrt tokens!! haha super cute! you actually tap this little circle token just like an ez link card! anyway it's really easy to take the Airport Rail Link to the city centre. we took the train to the second last station, and this took around 30min and cost 40 baht.

and i shall save the rest for the next post, coming up in a few days time ;) stay tuned ~

My "last" "10 days to play"

hi!!! omgosh i'm drowning in blog posts to do #canyoubelieveit. haha even with the holidays here i'm still struggling to finish up my posts from months ago! and i'm flying off for my holiday early tomorrow morning!! rushing rushing this post like CRAZY. haha. anyway, why the strange title? well I'm really amazed at how this even happened, but for 3 out of 4 years of winter breaks in SMU that i had (other than last year when i didn't travel because i was interning), i always had exactly 10 days between my last exam and the date that i flew overseas. how coincidental is that?! i have no idea why either. haha anyway looking back at 2010 and 2011, gosh, that just seems crazy long ago. i still can't believe i'm gonna graduate in half a year :'( 

ended off our last day of exams on a HIGH note with free flow alcohol and a scrumptious buffet at Intercontinental Hotel's Olive Tree restaurant! thanks to the gourmet club x wine appreciation club deal, i only paid $30 for it :O how awesome is that!!! #TGIO (thank god it's over). so glad i ended with start as my last exam, because it was obviously the most promising out of the four exams i took. the other three were just bleah >.< let's not mention it. i dread to think of the results that are going to be released next week (i think?). shall just enjoy my holiday and check it when i'm back. yikes! always hate that dreaded feeling. 

anyway i went all ballistic when i saw the dessert buffet line!!! (idk whether that's the right word to use haha but basically i was on a crazy sugar high even before touching any of it). all the food looked so good!!!!! and plus it was a christmas buffet, so there were festive touches to it (like a log cake!) which made things even more exciting ^^

some of the items in the buffet! 

happy boy attacking the seafood first as usual ;)

we were actually stuffed by the time we finished with the appetisers and mains. but guess what, i took a walk and came back with not one, but TWO plates of dessert for us to share! KEKEKE :P the look on Sam's face when he saw the amount of food i brought back was epic :P lol!! i made him share them with me hehe. so yummy! how could we have missed out on this eh? ;) had an awesome time trying the different kinds of wine too, and they were all so good! 

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i dyed my hair!! :) i guess those of you who saw my instagram already know this. so in love with this lighter shade, and i'll be blogging about my experience at _kimrobinson real soon! 

after my hair session, i went to the CHANEL's The Little Black Jacket exhibition at the ArtScience Museum at MBS with SK! (: it was such an inspirational exhibition!! I'm really out of things, but I've gotta admit that i didn't even know this exhibition was in singapore till SK told me about it. thanks for inviting me along babe!! :) it was pretty amazing to see how the jacket was SO versatile, it could be worn with anything - like over a T-shirt and jeans combo for a casual look, to being part of a ball gown :O some photos were really quite funny, the way they styled the jacket. they practically ripped it up!! O.o but super cool.

just look at this little darling!! :') isn't she soooo adorable?!

hey handsome ;)

we were trying to take artistic shots :P haha.

kiera knightly looked absolutely stunning in this!! (which reminds me, my poster is still with sam! hahaha). it was really nice of the people at the exhibition to give out free posters of some of the photographs! how cool is that! oh the exhibition is free too btw! it'll be here till 1 Jan 2014 (:

oh and there was this really cute activity corner outside the exhibition hall where we could design our own christmas cards! so interesting ^^ thanks SK for the photos! (: 

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sorry this post is getting really long, but cos i don't really have time to blog again till i get back >.< so i'm kinda just spamming everything! 

went for a christmas walk with Sam down Orchard Road the day before he left for China! <3 miss you darling! it was such a nice simple date ^^ plus the fact that i was down with some sort of fever/indigestion (i dunno what), and i just practically didn't feel like eating the whole day. so instead of the foodie date that we'd planned (sigh...we have no fate with song fa bak kut teh D:), ended up just strolling around the orchard area admiring the christmas lights and watching hunger games! OMG that show literally had me jumping in my seat quite a few times cos of shock haha. and we took a picture with my favvvv christmas tree in orchard road ^^

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another day, we checked out the Public Garden Flea at TripleOne Somerset! i've been seeing a lot of pictures of their flea and i've been wanting to check it out! also saw that nakedglory would be there and i've been wanting to take a look at their watches since forever! i've not worn a watch for nearly 10 years (can you believe it...) but thanks to Sam, i've started to get a bit more interested in it ;) and there's no harm getting a new arm candy, right? ;) hehe. so happy that he came along with me to the flea, and actually enjoyed it too! (especially after i bought the watch i think :p haha) so yep, i've got my first watch in 10 years. and i really like it! it has such a pretty maroon-coloured face that i love! and greedy me (as usual. i wasn't suffering from indigestion then) went around trying food and came across these really adorable and DELICIOUS jams from Gan Soon Hock Conserves! this pumpkin-flavoured was super interesting, and at $4 for a small bottle, really affordable!!! so i decided to buy one to try. new salad dressing, yippee! ^^

okay i shall just stop here and leave my housewarming party for another post. thanks for reading all the way to end! :D and bye-bye while i fly to aussieeeeeee ^^ 

*i will be scheduling posts anyway, so you'll be entertained during the week i'm gone! ;) hehe <3