The boyfriend left for Taiwan on Saturday to fulfill his nation duty, and left me back here alone for 18 days. Oh well, see you soon my luv. It feels slightly empty with no texts/calls coming form "Babe", and definitely less interesting without his constant quick witted comments and silly selfies. But thankfully I managed to use this chance to catch up with some old friends, chilling over some iced cold beer and stupid jokes. Looking forward to a much more interesting life soon, I'm becoming a bore, heading home from work and basically just rot on my bed with social media and mindrotting games in my hand right before the phone falls flat in my face, a cue that it is bedtime.

Special guests at shower!

Came home after work and invited some special guests for shower!

First up! Paradise's organic Virgin coconut oil from Bangkok, that an ex colleague gave me about a year ago. Kept it stashed away so long because I never found a way to use it but I never knew why I never had that brilliant idea I had today before. One of the uses mentioned a the back of the bottle is that you can put about 5-10 drops of the oil into a warm bath and soak yourself. And so I did that. I took the toddler's bathtub I had in my bathroom (used it as a kid, and its the biggest pail at home) filled it with warm water and squirted about 8 drops in, then sat right in the bathtub with the shower head still raining over me hehehe SHIOK. I felt like a kid once again, and I swear I did feel relaxed after a while of soaking, and since this oil was infused with lavender, the whole bathroom smells damn good. Which explains why you can also use it as an aroma massage oil. Aside from these 2 uses, you can also apply it to your face and body as a nourishing moisturiser. After washing the oil off and dried myself from the shower, my skin still feels supple and moisturised due to it!

You can get it from Gourmet Market at Siam Paragon for 190THB (90ml)

Next up was Yves Rocher's raspberry rinsing vinegar. Saw it on a platform last year and managed to get it in Bangkok during my solo trip when its sold out in Singapore. Turns out I've been getting the wrong idea of using it lol. And I don't know why I geniusly went to read the directions today again and realised how a fool I was lol. So while soaking, I applied it on my hair, spreading it evenly before doing my final rinse. voila! Now i smell like raspberries ^^

Last but not least, one of my favourite buys from Boots, my favourite pharmacy in Bangkok! I love...'s Minty Choco Chip shower gel. I always feel like I'm having my favourite chocmint girl guides cookie whenever I use it and I have to resists the urge to lick it off myself oops. The mint part of it makes you feel more refreshed and you smell goooood. Whats better than that!

I think I'm feeling a tad bit took relaxed, I'm feeling so sleepy now. Till the next time! 

x

Batam, again! (20-22 March 2015)

Hi all, I'm back from my rendezvous! So nice to get away from reality, and with E again before Taiwan gets in the way.

Left for Batam on Friday evening, taking the 7.10pm ferry, and by the time we reached it was about 8pm Batam time (SG is 1 hour faster than Batam) Checked into our hotel, Gideon Hotel, and look what a lovely surprise we got!

The room was really big as compared to the previous 2 we went to, and really pretty too. But sadly, they don't have a pool.

When on our way in there were many pushcart hawkers lined up along the main road so E and I hurriedly dropped our stuff and headed out for a food hunt.

First up is Murtabak Keju! (16,000rp)

It is similar to our chinese meejiankueh texture, spread with butter, grated cheese, and drizzled with condensed milk. very sinful, but shiok. I super love how they grate the cheddar on the spot, and the grated cheese looks damn pretty la.

E couldn't wait for me to snap shots first, so he snapped a piece away first hahaha. Anyway below is a picture grabbed from Google, but does better justice to this yummy snack. 

And of course how can you forget Indomie in Indonesia! 

mi-goreng (15,000rp incl adding of fried egg)

iced teh-susu (6,000rp)

We ordered mi-goreng at one of the stalls where i got my teh susu from. The mi-goreng was okay, E and I both felt that the lazy strain noodles drizzle sauce add 1 egg method that I always use is nicer, maybe because we're more used to eating that. The one they made was really like the mee goreng we have in Singapore, with eggs and veg, but not really our favourite. The iced teh-susu aka milk tea was yums! Always get so intrigued by their milk tea, because its white, and more milky than tea-ish like the one in BKK. Can't really choose which I like better though!

Headed back to our hotel to watch some tv and ended up falling asleep. Woke up pretty early on day 2, don't know why, and went down for the hotel breakfast. it wasn't a very wide spread, but good enough, with varieties. Went back up for some rest time before heading back out to the coffeeshop nearby for round 2.

herbal bak kut teh (35,000rp)

tipan tofu (35,000rp)

The previous time E and I came to this coffeeshop, we had a super good peppery bak kut teh, so we were kinda expecting that but when the soup came it was herbal... and I'm not one t take herbal bkt but I tried and it didn't taste very much like herbal, just not peppery. And in fact, it was quite tasty. And the special thing about their bkt is that they add lean meat and minced meat besides the usual pork ribs, so you have a different biting texture. 

The tipan tofu was yummy, and so cheap like less than 4sgd?! (conversion rate 1:9300) We ordered the small one, and when it came we were like "wah this is small ah?" and they were super generous with their ingredients! Besides the usual, they added in seafood like sotong and prawns and even lean meat. E was so in love with the gravy he basically cleaned the plate. 

Our only source of exercise overseas is when we are walking it off at the malls, so we headed to JC Supermarket just opposite our hotel because we wanted to buy some snacks and indomie. JC Supermarket's basement i like our Sim Lim Square, selling phone stuff, but when you go up to the other levels, there's retail stores, manicure salons, supermarket and of course a lot of food. E and I just realised this afternoon that they also had an arcade, bowling alley and karaoke!

Snacks from the supermarket and also a toothpaste that I wanted to try after watching ther advertisement lol. Went back to the hotel after that and took a nap before waking up to head to Nagoya to get the tapioca chips that we both love. 

keju tapioca chips (small pkt 20,000rp; big pkt 35,000rp)

We actually cabbed down to Nagoya just for the chips, because the uncle opens only after 4pm, and we slept till 6pm so slowly make our way there, the pushcart is located at the main road outside Nagoya Hill Mall, and we got like 15sgd worth of keju (cheese) tapioca chips cause its really super yummy, E's bunkmates always all clear them whenever they open in camp. We got like 4 packets of small ones and 2 big ones. Wanted to eat one small packet in Batam but the uncle damn nice age us another half packet of chips FOR FREE, maybe because he can tell we like it a lot? Haha. 

Just beside the chips pushcart was another pushcart selling drinks, and the way the guy was preparing the drink got me damn intrigued. 

Bandrek (10, 000rp)

I was trying to ask him what was it but language barrier... thankfully there's nothing some pointing and basic english cannot help. What intrigued me was how he was mixing the drink which seem like some thick brown foamy thing - egg yolk and condensed milk, with some equipment, and it was super interesting. And he'd add a squeeze of lime and honey, then add in the ginger tea, which has a cappuchino looking finish, and taste abit like teh-susu with slight gingery hint, yums! I literally stood there for 5 minutes before ordering one to try. Here's a video of how he made the drink

After getting the chips and the drink, we made our way back to the hotel to drop the things off before going for our long awaited massage! The massage pal our we went to was called Reborn, just along the main road when we walk out from our hotel. We went there the very first time we visited Batam together. Had the full body traditional Balinese massage (120,000rp/pax) again and my body felt much more relaxed after. 

Almost, is never enough

'Cause sooner or later
We'll wonder why we gave up
The truth is everyone knows

Almost, almost is never enough
So close to being in love
If I would have known that you wanted me
The way I wanted you
Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart
But right here in each other's arms

And we almost, we almost knew what love was
But almost is never enough

Little do you know

Little do you know
How I'm breaking while you fall asleep
Little do you know
I'm still haunted by the memories
Little do you know
I'm trying to pick myself up piece by piece

Little do you know
I need a little more time

Underneath it all I'm held captive by the hole inside
I've been holding back for the fear that you might change your mind
I'm ready to forgive you but forgetting is a harder fight

Little do you know
I need a little more time

I'll wait, I'll wait
I love you like you've never felt the pain,
I'll wait
I promise you don't have to be afraid,
I'll wait
The love is here and here to stay
So lay your head on me

Little do you know
I know you're hurting while I'm sound asleep
Little do you know
All my mistakes are slowly drowning me
Little do you know
I'm trying to make it better piece by piece

Oh wait, just wait
I love you like I've never felt the pain,
Just wait
I love you like I've never been afraid,
Just wait
Our love is here and here to stay
So lay your head on me

I'll wait, I'll wait
I love you like you've never felt the pain,
I'll wait
I promise you don't have to be afraid,
I'll wait
The love is here and here to stay
So lay your head on me
Lay your head on me
So lay your head on me

Day 6: Thailand trip (13-24 Dec 2014)

view from the train on the way to Chiangmai

Day 6: 

Wanted to catch the sunrise but woke up a bit too early for it, because I haven't really been sleeping well too, waking up from time to time because of the uncomfortable stomach. Poor E had to wake up everytime I felt uncomfortable to soothe me and make me feel better. So thankful for him, tiding me through that horrible night. And since we woke up too early, and everyone is still asleep, so time for pictures!

We reached Chiangmai about 930am, managing to catch the mini van to Pai. The ride to Pai from Chiangmai is about 4 hours, and there were only about 6 of us in the mini van, not including the driver. E and I fell asleep on the way, with my tummy still feeling unwell. After about 2 hours, the van made a pitstop at this cafeteria along the road. It was rather chilly, and we got some hot kway teow soup to warm my tummy and a kha prow moo. Geh kiang I went to order a passionfruit juice as well because Emily said it was very nice, but it came ice blended lol GG. The way up to Pai from there onwards have like 762 turns, and the driver came to give us a "warning" to tell us that the road will be bumpy and gave us all a plastic bag lol. I tried counting the turns though, but I lost count and ended up falling asleep. Pai is a super nice town, small but quaint. There were many foreigners when we reached, and the locals could speak mandarin.. totally didn't feel like Thailand at all. Checked in at our villa and it was nice and comfy, with aircon, fan and a shower with heater etc. But it gets super cold at night so we didn't even on the fan.

E and I has been very excited about being able to ride a bike here because Emily told me that you can ride as long as the person thinks you can pass. So we tried asking at the different rentals but all were afraid to let us ride because we had no experience. But the last one and the biggest one we went to, Aya Services, which was also the one we took the bus up to Pai from, allowed us to try out at this barren ground at the back of some villa, first teaching E on how to operate the machinery, then letting him do a pre-run himself, before trying with me as a pillion. And we passed! So hi to our ride for the next few days in Pai!

First stop after getting our bike was to go pump some oil, and then we just aimlessly rode down the roads, pitstopping at pretty things we see. First stop was a place with colourful houses, windmills and swings. Next up was Coffee In Love, a place with a small cafeteria on the right and a colourful house on the left. Behind them is a sight of mountains and greenery, absolutely stunning. When we arrived there were quite bait of people so we just quickly took some photos and continue driving down the road. Wanted to look for Pai Canyon, but it was a bit too early because many people said its nice to catch sunset there, so we decided to head to Pam Bok waterfall instead, since we found the signboard. But while riding in we can't find our way so decided to make a uturn. It was getting dark, and toooo chilly and we were both in our shorts so riding against the wind was quite a task, especially when E's hands are getting so cold its hard to ride. 

Headed back to the main Walking Street which is where the night market is. There are some further downtown, but they are more like singular stalls set up along the roadside. The Walking street is made up of about 3 connected streets, with many hawker pushcarts, caricature, souvenirs and even postcard stations where you can purchase a postcard and stamp set, write it on the spot and mail it out at their in-store postbox. E and I of course got damn excited at looking at all the different food variety. 

They have many different and interesting food items like fried sandwiches with different fillings, crispy black glutinous rice, gyoza, pancake wrapped sausage, sour and spicy cold noodles. One of the more interesting one was drinking from a bamboo cup. You get to choose what you want to drink, and you can request to have it in the bamboo cup or a normal plastic one. 30 baht for the drinks with the bamboo cup, and 10 baht for a refill. The lemon black tea was so good we go back for it every night at least once.