please don't judge me

but i just 'friended' one of the puppies from our last litter on facebook.

his new mommy, michaela, is a real sweetie. she wrote us on his first birthday and it is most gratifying to hear back from our puppy's new family. she's every breeder's dream and oscar has truly thrived under her care. she brings him swimming every morning at east coast, to the dog run every evening where he meets his four-legged friends, and most importantly,

"He's very active, extremely friendly to both dogs and people (he's only been in a fight once and it wasn't his fault; usually he lays on his back when being snapped at by another dogs, he's very non-conflict).

But with people he's super friendly!" (in michaela's words)

looks like our little baby is all grown up and quite the jetsetter! michaela shared that he's going the czech republic, where she's from, and then to italy next year. places i want to visit toO!

and here's oscar from last year - just for comparison sake.

(the last photo is one of the first few michaela sent us - told you she's a sweetie!)

the night of the water thieves

disclaimer: i am as far from hip and haps as it gets.

but i happen to have sweet friends with sweeter offers and they know people who know people and tadaaa! avalon :) which was a little funny because the club itself is not ready so we were at the convention centre (???!) and it felt like a bad prom flashback. not that i ever had the misfortune of prom in a convention centre but the batch one year my senior at rj did (teehee). always wondered what it would be like to traipse through carrefour in a ballgown. but back to the avalon event being held in a convention centre, weird as it was initially, i can see why a convention centre was a suitable venue for a rave. 

all the sets were pushed back and by the time above and beyond started spinning it was almost 5 (they were supposed to go on at 3!!!) but it was nothing short of amazing and suddenly i'd a second wind and continued to boogie the night away. which was fun, because i hadn't 'boogied the night away' since freshman year. which is also why such nights are momentous and occur every four years, like the olympics. 

come on MBS, you have to up your game and not make patrons walk through the colon of the building before getting to the convention centre...

her table came with too much alcohol for 5 people ;)

the only downside was the randoms who circled like vultures and swooped in to steal water from our table. what's with that?

awesome night and today i'm back to my usual good self.

the end.

reality bites

crazy packed touring yesterday and...

tonight it's off to avalon with this amazing line-up 

2000 - 2045 NICOLE CHEN

2045 - 2130 ANDREW T

2130 - 2230 SANTIGOLD

2230 - 0000 MAJOR LAZER

0000 - 0100 FLO RIDA0

0100 - 0215 STEVE AOKI

0215 - 0330 STEVE ANGELLO

0300 - 0600 ABOVE & BEYOND

sleep is for the weak - and those who don't like above & beyond. foresee us pulling an all-nighter at avalon, and then sending him to the airport (he's off to saigon for the weekend) at 7am. gah. coupled with night class later and dinner with my girls, this is going to be one looong night. thank goodness for defensive sleeping and waking in the afternoon. ready to hit the ground running!

plus there are papers to write, why why why are there SO MANY papers to write. but i'm done with wills, and aiming to finish the 5000 word family law assignment before my 6pm class. just started, so wish me luck aplenty! 

this is defensive blogging, btw, in response to the slew of 'don't you go to class? don't you have work?' well yes and yes, i'm on course full-time, continue to work part-time (as i did through college) and with what residuary time i have, i do the other things that are so much more enjoyable. so sue me :)

i leave you with a photo of the family law assignment in it's 21 page glory. and yes, that's just the QUESTION.

break-neck speed singapore

met these two dutch beauties for a whirlwind six hours in singapore. am mega impressed by their stamina and speed! after a month backpacking in indonesia, i'd the privilege of showing them singapore as they transit-ed on their way home. 

we started with the hugest burgers they'd ever seen at the seah street deli, and the obligatory raffles hotel tour.

bellies full, we hopped across the street to chijmes for them to see the former convent and 'baby dumping gate'. of special interest was the explanation that 'tiger girls' were often abandoned by superstitious parents, because that's their year and they are as far from the stereotypical unlikeable tiger women as possible.

they were tickled by the huge havais on display outside raffles city and we took the train to somerset after touring raffles hotel and chijmes.

of course, i had to show them one of my favourite streets in singapore. not only because i used to school just up the road but also because it's such a hidden jem right in the hustle bustle of the city. it had also started to drizzle by now so we sought refuge from the storm at no. 5 :)

by far one of the most charming bars i've ever been to!

even though the raised sitting area at the back looks a bit like a comfortable prison with the peeling paint on the walls. not like floor's complaining!

when the rain finally stopped, and after a lychee martini and singapore sling each, i brought them for a peek inside our house.

don't they look beautiful by the pond?

peek-a-boo

and another heritage shot for good measure

the 11-storey outdoor escalator was such a novelty that we rode it all the way up not once but twice.

 

and i think they liked the roof garden too!

escalator round 2. it was such fun!

by the time they tore themselves away from orchard, it was already night and the roundest, brightest moon of the year was out in full force. we ambled along to little india, picking up the tempo just a wee bit to grab some mango lassi from komala's to go.

there were so many sweets on display at komala's, and here are our happy campers finally reunited with the yoghurt they so missed in indonesia.

that's not it! they had the good fortune of passing through singapore on mid-autumn festival itself so no trip to singapore is complete without a visit to chinatown. we wandered around the food streets and night markets before i very reluctantly packed them back onto the mrt at city hall and bid them bon voyage :(

given the very limited time, i'm glad we got to cover as much as we did. it didn't feel as hectic as it sounds when recounted but time really flew. it was great to see roos again (not seen her since stockholm in may!) and to meet floor for the very first time. they're fraternal twins and share a bond closer than most sisters i know. excited for them as they return to the netherlands and enter a brand new phase. so...

good luck my lovelies and we will meet again :)

reverse travel blog

it's that time of the year when we stuff ourselves with mooncake and battle the crowds at the chinatown mid-autumn markets :) always found it hilarious that we don't have four seasons but celebrate mid-autumn nevertheless.

am really lucky to have many friends passing through town this week - which also means i've my hands full with hosting duty, not that i'm complaining!

meeting roos and her sister floor tomorrow and they only have seven hours in the city! so we're going to get down to business. there's little india for henna, threading and lassi, a trip to emerald hill for peranakan houses and a drink at no. 5, boat quay for more drinks, clark quay for dinner and ending with a venture into the madness that is chinatown on mid-autumn night itself. sadly at 10pm i'll have to pack them into their taxi and have them vroom away to the airport.

after that it's hosting part two with the newly-minted mr. and mrs. randall who hail from auckland. i'll be showing them capella and specifically bob's bar (after all, they're both 22 and which 22 year old doesn't like an al fresco bar?) also hoping that will be good comparison for ku de ta at marina bay sands because mama is gifting them with a stay there!

does not help that there are 1001 deadlines this week and next...

dinner in

is such a fun affair! especially when peach garden caters and i get to be a guest too :) have nothing but respect for the impeccable hostess-types and do endeavour to one day be able to multi-task like that. yet for now, i'm mega lazy and cat-content to be served without having to lift a finger.

plus i love how the stairs invade the dining room and it gives the place a harry potter feel, as if you're living in the cupboard under the stairs. good times result from great alcohol (we'd st. julien '82) and even better company. plus over the course of dinner, i scored my little brother a swimming coach gig. he nows owes me an introduction fee and i've half a mind to be like those maid agencies and demand his first year's wage...

a photo just because

pity shanghai didn't materialise this weekend like it was supposed to, but then again we'd two long-standing engagements and it wouldn't have been nice if we'd flaked out last minute so just as well. there will be other times, or so i comfort myself.

instead of shanghai, we went for a surprise spin on friday night, a party-like-there's-no-tomorrow birthday bash on saturday, and for shabu shabu with friends old and new at nadaman tonight.

there's korean bbq tomorrow night and i remember the days by what i consume.

what is confirmed, however, is kuching for a wedding at the end of october. yay to exploring my own backyard :)

perth city

took a leisurely afternoon start on our last day and our first meal was lunch. he'd the yummiest seafood linguine with the freshest ingredients. loved the saffron colour of the dish and the delicate handling of an otherwise overtly creamy creation. it also sparked a carbonara craving in me that i'm not entirely appreciative of...

tried to walk off lunch along the beach but somehow only made it as far as trigg beach cafe, where we stopped for scones and hot chocolate.

finally headed to the city to meet jeanne outside corica where he bagged the last non-ordered apple strudel. jeanne and i made the mistake of buying cupcakes that the boss woman was only too quick to get rid off (A$1 each) and found to our dismay, that they were stale. not that the gulls seemed to mind.

because we wanted to see the city, we hoofed it from aberdeen street to beaufort street and made ourselves comfortable at queen's bar. waited for A to be done with uni and assuaged the impatience with bees kneez beer and fries, before a hearty italian dinner at martino's. and all too soon it was time to head to the airport and bid the lovelies farewell.

thank you for being impeccable hosts, you're missed :(

lappis

by far one of the best photos i've seen - doesn't this completely capture the essence of a lappis room? less you forget that this blog is about stockholm, and all things wonderlust related, here's a link to phil's blog. he's currently in stockholm on exchange (luckyyy...) and i've been living vicariously through his photos.

p/s the final perth installment posts here in five hours time!

fremantle

freo was a feeding frenzy if i ever had one. we went to the market early to run some errands and in the space of four short hours, had miraculously consumed a steak&kidney pie, a chicken d'aquilla crepe, an apple strudel crepe, fish&chips with extra fish at cicerello's, tomato chilli mussels at little creatures brewery and washed everything down with little creatures pipsqueak cider (me) and bright ale (him).

we stumbled on michelle's creperie and boy are we glad the aromatherapy lady recommended it! initially put off by the queue, we were all ready to pass it by when kate (whom i was tasked to buy A$130 of essential oil from...)  told us that she'd eat their crepes breakfast lunch and dinner if she could. seeing how her store was right opposite michelle's, this wasn't a case of familiarity breeds contempt. so after hearing her heap glowing praise, we had to try the crepes. ordered a savoury crepe and hunkered down for the 20minute wait (yes, 20minutes for one crepe) but it was soooo good and well worth the wait that as we reached the tail end of the first crepe, we very greedily ordered second, rationalising that if we'd ordered it any earlier, it'd get cold. and then we proceeded to patiently wait another 20minutes for our second crepe. and by the time we finished that, we realised we'd been perched on the stools watching the little crepe elves churn out crepes for over an hour! time flies when you're having fun haha.

fresh from our crepe meal, we moved on to the water and squeezed into the last available table at cicerello's. it's not freo without a fish&chip meal :)

so cute! i felt compelled to create junk just so i could toss it into jaws.

met the crew at little creatures and there was such a buzz inside the microbrewery. good times!

need i add that this is one of the many reasons i adore A? i don't know anyone else who'd randomly hop into giant boots with a straight face.

bye simon! 

(we're so bad with awkward farewells that we live in denial instead.)

and after the feasting, we had kebabs for dinner at peter's by the sea.

swan valley

began with a breakfast run to yelo, a charming cafe on along the coast. i've never had such yummy wraps. my chicken wrap with banana chutney was insane...

and after we filled our bellies, it was off to the swan valley for some wine.

at this vineyard, A$2.50 was all it took to have a full tasting of over 10 different wines. 

and after savouring the gorgeous wines (well, more misses than hits but what can one expect for A$2.50?!) we went on to support local farms by stocking up on freshly plucked strawberries, more wine (this time with complementing cheese), chocolate from the margaret river chocolate factory and local ice cream. we ate our way through the valley, then again, quite embarrassingly, we seem to eat our way through everywhere.

and after a little too much free wine, we started to take flying photos over the vineyard. do note that A is too tall to fit the camera frame.

A brought us on a scenic drive around the swan river in the city and we passed the governor's boatshed that is the most popular wedding photo spot. takes a bit of imagination, doesn't it.

A went to work in the evening and simon fetched us from casa mcfaull and brought us to grill'd. grill'd serves the best burgers ever, and believe it if you will, they are healthy. healthy burger sounds a bit oxymoronic until you take a bite of these babies and i suddenly understood why they're promoted to be 95% fat free. well, the patty at least. it felt like i was eating good quality steak, albeit in ground form. in fact, i even deconstructed my burger and ate it layer by layer so as to enjoy each aroma and sensation individually. the avocado and bun made a nice avocado sandwich, the veggie tasted like a salad and the patty like high-grade beef. mhmm :) did attract strange looks though but i maintain that my mouth and hands are too tiny for the monsters they served up. so there!

and we rolled out of grill'd and into helvetica, a bar named after the font. one of the nicest bars i've been into, crowded but not packed on a saturday night and with a great selection of whiskey for the whiskey fans out there.

as if helvetica wasn't enough, we'd a toss up between going to green's (?) for cake or the wembley to see A. of course we picked A over dessert and swung by to watch the bar pro at work. was fun to go, 'hi A, i'd like a sweet cocktail please.' and watch the cogs in his mind turn as he went to work concocting something special. i'd 'the A special' and if i tell you what went into it, i'd have to kill you. but i felt special all right :) and my +1 had some export quality tiger from the tap which left us swearing never to have tiger back home. not like he drinks tiger, anyway.