Weekend JB Getaway





Our first mini holiday together was a successful one! At least to me. Everything went well and I'm sure we all had fun. Prior to this trip, i only had 1 thing in mind when going over to JB. Shopping and eating @ City Square!

It was only until recently that we realized JB actually has good and cheap seafood! Really value for money. The place we went to was situated by the sea. Amazing setting. Will definitely revisit the restaurant again. We need to go for the massage @ city square next time round too



and I love this picture very much! cheers to nice picture!

Happy 23rd



Had a wonderful birthday celebrations @ Nabins with a wonderful group of lovely friends. Words alone are not enough to express how grateful i was. To say i'm happy that night is an understatement.













Thanks to everyone who came. Love the presents as well!

Happy BBQ



Had an enjoyable bbq session @ ecp with the usuals. Normally we would invite most of our ex secondary school mates for such event but decided to just have it within ourselves this time round. Lesser the merrier in this case!



Everything went well. Weather was awesome, food was great albeit a little too much for 7 people. The pit we chose was also very well situated. Carpark and toilet just behind us! Ended the night with some CLUEDO. Not the best game to play at that point of time. All of us were too zoned out!

Istana Open house



The Istana was opened for public visiting last sunday so i went there with my grandparents, eager to see how the official residence of the president is like.






Sadly, we didn't delve deep enough to see the buildings. It was quite a far walk in. Not convenient for the elderly!



National Day Cycling



Sadly, only 4 of us were able to make it that day. But like what i mentioned previously, the lesser the merrier!



We cycled all the way to NSRCC and back. So much memories just by looking at that place. Poly class chalet, secondary class chalet, not once but a few times already. One of the best chalets in Singapore by far!



And poor Shellen, the 2 hours of cycling seem like a torture for her. All in the name of fun dear. hahaha Went over to Cineleisure to watch "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in the evening. Love that movie! Don't let the (stupid looking)poster and (verbose)title trick you into thinking that the movie is stupid!

School

It's the 3rd week of school now and the ennui of lectures is starting to kick in. Morning lessons at 830am is really torturing. For once, i actually felt very concerned about the availability of seats in the train. It's getting increasingly frustrating when i have to stand all the way from Tampines to Dover. But i guess i had my share of convenience during poly.

Lesson wise, its lectures, lectures and more lectures. 3 hours each. No matter what, going to school is definitely a thousand times better than booking in!

Study smart!

TGIThursday

Our company had a mini event today to celebrate "Bastille Day (France's National day)"!

Yummy food, pastries, beers and fun people all gathered at the roof garden. Such a lovely sight!

This is one of the reasons why i enjoy working here. Everyone seems so casual and laid back. U get to work with people from all the different countries which is very fun. I guess it's safe to say that this is the first ever job i had that makes me want to continue not entirely because of the money, but the place and people!

work work.

One of our colleagues made Tiramisu for us for lunch today. It was really good. However, Kaye and I felt a little bit tipsy after that. hahaha

What a fun week it was. Meeting wonderful people for lunch and dinner. Looking forward to after work tmr.

TGIF

Happy nights

1 thing i'm definitely gonna miss working at tanjong pagar is the FOOD. Theres so so many hidden gems around that area. All of a sudden, i feel like a tourist.

Ever since i started working 2 weeks ago, i haven't had much time to do my own stuff. By the time i reach home after work, i'm only left with 4 short hours before bed time. And the cycle repeats itself till friday.

It's quite a sad thing but we've gotta get use to it. Life doesn't come easy on you. I'm not complaining. I've had worse.

It seems that July is going to be an exciting month. Looking forward to outings and meetups with friends!

Happy nights and take good care

work work!

hopefully for 1month!

i really want to continue with part 2 of the euro trip post.

i'll try to find the time and motivation to do it!

exactly 1 more month to my birthday.

Happy nights!

Ever dreamt of a miracle foundation? Experience the New All-in-1 #MaquiMiracle Foundation at Lancôme Beauty Counters today!

Ever dreamt of a miracle foundation? Experience the New All-in-1 #MaquiMiracle Foundation at Lancôme Beauty Counters today!

Get rewarded by referring your friends to join #ChurpChurp today! Get SGD$1.00 for every friend referred!

Get rewarded by referring your friends to join #ChurpChurp today! Get SGD$1.00 for every friend referred! Click here and join me!

i saw an email from my aunt today when i opened my inbox. The title of it was

"Back from Alaska Cruise tour"

i was stunned for awhile. it's ALASKA!!

We almost wanted to go to Alaska instead of Venice the other time.

Maybe it's a sign. It's calling for me!

Euro Trip

Italia! I miss the place so badly. What an amazing experience! Every time i look through the hundreds of photos, i feel so awestruck. It is indeed a once in a life time experience.

It was really a well spent 10 days over there. We flew off to Venice first, stayed for 2nights then took the train down to Rome, stayed for 3 nights, then train down to Florence, stayed for another 3 nights and back to Venice for the last 2 nights. We also went up to Pisa during our stay in Florence since it was only an hour ride away. You might have guessed it, the leaning tower was the only reason for going there.

All of the research and planning we did was extremely beneficial and valuable. Not too bad for us 1st timers! My greatest concern prior to the trip was our accommodation. I believe many would agree that a lousy lodging alone would be enough to ruin the whole trip. The 3 hostels we booked online was purely based on other user's review. My cousin, whom has been extremely helpful, gave his opinion when i showed him a few hostels which i short listed. However, due to much procrastination, those places were fully booked when we were about to pay for them. So we had to look at others and trust our own judgement this time round. But all in all, i would safely say that we are incredibly lucky or maybe, born to be travelers because the 3 hostels we booked was really what any back packers would have wanted. There's free breakfast and the environment was decent too. Definitely value for money though we could have gotten better deals if we searched earlier.

I've uploaded a few hundred photos on facebook which was pretty insane and i don't think many will look through every single one of them but i know i will! This was also the first time i used my phone's camera so extensively that the amount of pictures i took totaled up to around 4gb.

So lets look back!

We took the 0140 flight from Singapore to Dubai where we will transit from there to Venice. The journey was around 7 hours long! But luckily, Emirates airline have good entertainment onboard. The refreshments was quite yummy as well.

We thought we could go out of the airport to take a look while waiting for our next flight but apparently, you are not allowed to when u are transiting flights. So we grabbed some starbucks and waited impatiently for the next 3 hours to come

And after another 5 hours of flight, we landed safely at Venice's Marco Polo Airport! I remembered smiling happily to myself the moment we stepped out of the airport because the weather was extremely cooling even with my jacket on! So we more or less knew how our next 10 days would be like. Awesome! haha. We had to buy bus tickets before boarding the bus. Took us quite awhile to figure that out. We also bought a map and city guide which was absolutely essential and it cost us 2.5Euros. Without the map, i doubt one can find his way back to the bus station when roaming in Venice.

We took bus no.5 from the airport to our hostel which was about 10mins away. We saw the actual pictures of the area we're gonna live in on Google Map so we instantly recognized the place when we alighted.

Breakfast served to your room!


What better way to start the day than to have breakfast at the balcony and enjoy the really cooling weather!

I will always remember my reaction the moment i walk up that bridge. The scenery was simply unbelievable. I couldnt believe i'm actually in Venice, and not looking at Google Image. hahaha. We bought our tickets to Rome too. It's 75Euros per person. Most expensive ticket amongst the others we bought.

Basically we visited the some of the main attractions in Venice over the 2 days. The more popular ones would be the "Rialto Bridge" and the "Piazza San Marco aka St Mark's Square" which is the main public square in the city where the Doge's Palace, Bell Tower, St Mark's Basilica and other museums can be found!

We decided to opt for the easier travel option which was to take the water bus (6.50euros per person) to St Mark's square. It's possible to walk there which will take around 20-25mins but we felt the need to try taking those boats at least once.

Royal gardens!

Souvenirs galore


Doge Palace and St Mark's Basilica(the one with the Dome) in the background





I think we paid around 5-8euros to go up the Bell tower. The view from the top was amazing




This is the only chinese restaurant we came across. Feels so homely all of a sudden. haha

And of course, one of the many things that we were extremely fascinated about are their alleys!

Some were extremely dodgy while majority of the others were really very "Venice-esque". You can actually find some restaurants hidden in some corner. It's also very tempting to just sit on the steps by the canal and relax.


Imagine having a meal with your friends in such tranquil surrounding. I wouldnt want to leave

Carnival masks are very popular in Venice. There are so many different kinds, each with a meaning behind them! How nice it would be if we get to witness a masquerade party.


When people talk about Italian food, I'm sure the most common ones would be Pasta and Pizza!

and you wouldn't want to miss their Gelato Ice cream. It's so nice and addictive that we had to buy at least 1 every day.


Don't get fooled by the classy looking wines we ordered. It cost us only about 2.50euros! Almost the same price as their mineral water. Amazing!

And lastly, Martina! one of the extremely friendly staff at "Feel Inn"

Before we checked out, we decided to book another 2 more nights for the following week as we will be coming back to Venice from Florence before flying back to Singapore. Gotta love this place!

On the day when we were supposed to take the train down to Rome, we did an exceptionally stupid thing. BEING LATE!

That morning didnt start off well. We slowly took our time packing up and eating our breakfast. It was only when we were about to leave that we realised we are actually gonna be LATE for the train. Rushing down to the bus stop didnt help as the bus took a good 15mins to arrive........

I'll continue with part 2 sometime soon!