Night Festival @ National Museum

After the Marc Jacobs event, V and I hopped on down to the National Museum to catch the Night Festival. I didn't get to go last weekend, so this was good. By the time we got there, it was close to 10pm and some of the performances were over. We managed to catch the last bit of a drumming performance and also explore the various exhibits inside the National Museum. Last night was also free entry after 6pm to all the museums in Singapore. Pity there was no time to go explore the Peranakan Museum (next on my list to visit).
The night illumination continued the entire night outside the museum. It was so crowded. Kudos to the organizer for a free event for 2 weekends. And it gave people something to do till 2am too.
I love this purple combination. Blurry pic though.

Isn't this a bit eerie? Somehow the illumination on the museum reminded me of the grand opening of The Arts House at The Old Parliament House. They did something similar during the opening ceremony :)
This was even scarier. You could imagine it like a doll house and the window opened suddenly. Lol, the museum is haunted. I went on a Singapore Ghost Tour and they brought us to the National Museum. But with the changes to the exhibitions and the renovations, I don't remember which rooms were haunted. They also took us up to the roof top for the tour, so we got to climb that metal spiral staircase which is still inside.

The tour was organized by someone else (obviously not the museum staff) - think someone involved in the heritage of Singapore or something - we were brought to a room with Peranakan features - the altar, wedding bed etc and also the surrender chamber thing? Memory is vague now as the tour was conducted in 2002. We also went to the Singapore Arts Museum (used to be SJI) and Raffles Hotel - haunted too :p



I like this too. Leaving the Night Festival.

In the clothing section. It showcased the women fashion through the years and how dresses changed from being loose to tighter as influenced by Dior in the 1960s. There was even a vintage pair of Ferragamo heels on display.

Singer sewing machine!

We used to have this at home. It seemed like most families will have a sewing machine at home in the old days but what happened now? Everyone just buy and no longer make their own clothes.
At the film and wayang section. The old old old cases of reels of films. How old is that?
Gramophone. So cool. The oldest player I have seen and played with was the turn table for the vinyl records which my cousins used to have.
I didn't take picture of the wayang or puppet theatre as it looked too eerie. Almost like those people burned to worship the dead. But look at the costumes for the Chinese opera. You hardly see this anymore. I remembered when it was the Lunar 7th month, there would be wayang shows and those pasar malam food stalls along the walk way. Those were the days in the early 80s.
At the food section. Kueh tutu. So cool.

And kickapoo! Green Spot! I remembered those drinks in primary school. Soft drinks used to cost 10 cents for a small cup and 20 cents for a big cup. Those were the days before inflation and all that stuff.
I remembered the fan too. Satay, anyone?
And look! The metal thing to make love letters. Gosh! My ex-neighbor's mom used to make love letters and I remembered helping out. Trying to make it, but it was so hot! The metal thing got very hot after being heated on the satay man's charcoal stove thing.
All the kuehs! Mooncakes, rice cakes, tortoiseshell cake. The old days where people actually still made their own goodies.
David? Or the Greek God from the previous visit I made to the museum to check out the Greek Masterpieces. I need to find time to go visit the Peranakan Museum. Anyone interested?

Marc Jacobs Loot

So what did I score at Marc Jacobs opening at DFS Galleria? With any purchase, I would be given a free gift plus another lucky draw chance.

Voila! A dusty purple (lilac) short wallet and with it came the free gift worth $400 (a card holder or coin pouch from Resort 2007 Collection - that is so old!). Errr...frankly I will not pay $400 for that card holder :p
I love this shade of purple. It is not too purplish nor too pale or dark. It is something which is not commonly seen. In fact, I would even describe it as puce or mauve taupe (as in Wikipedia color swatch) but MJ called it lilac, as described on eluxury.

The coin pouch/card holder which is really quite small to be of much use. Oh well, I may find a use for it someday :)

And with my first purchase at DFS, I was asked to fill up a form to be a member of DFS Privilege Club. Please use my card if you are shopping at DFS so that I can chalk up points to be upgraded to a higher level with more privileges :p My lucky draw numbers - 0007 and 0064. Too bad none are winning numbers.

Marc Jacobs Opening @ DFS

I was invited to the Marc Jacobs official opening at DFS Galleria in town on Friday (25 July) and I asked V along. This was the first Marc Jacobs boutique in Singapore and the event was pretty well organized. It was a pretty good size crowd and people came and left after a while. The store was not huge, so the selection was not extensive too. Marc by Marc Jacobs (the secondary line) store a level up looked bigger and had a wider selection.

Paintings by this artist (I didn't manage to catch the name from Europe) were displayed. They are actually prints on canvas so they suit Singapore climate and look good too. We spoke to the person who represented the artist. I was quite pleased that I managed to get my artsy terms right. The paintings reminded me of Andy Warhol at first sight - the pop art, the bold blocky use of colors - and the female kinda reminded me of Sophia Loren too. The representative affirmed that it was done in the veins of Warhol style and the female did remind some people of Sophia Loren. So while I love the Arts and appreciate such things, I am no expert at all. I don't study it as much as I did for BV stuff. Hahahaha. Prices start from $2000. The actual painting would be from $15k and up.

The shopaholic in me. Yes, that was when I bought the Guess green butterfly sandals. See, I was already wearing them. And yes, I did buy something at Marc Jacobs too. I sure didn't expect to purchase anything at all.
No goodie bag, but instead we were given this box when we left the event. I liked how the lucky draw was conducted at 3 different timings, spacing them 20-25 minutes. So people did not really have to stay throughout the event. Plus they served Veuve Clicquot champagne and fruit punch and the wait staff actually took out the bottle to top up the glasses which was a very nice touch. They did butler service for the event. The canapes were average and desserts were not bad but the best was the eclair. A burst of soft cream melted in your mouth when you popped the entire thing in. Catering was from Purple Sage. (hahaha...occupational hazard. I am forever noticing such stuff when I attend events or when I receive any invitations or when out shopping - I always observe promotional activities)

Not a Marc Jacobs gift, but macarons from Gobi. Gobi tiny macarons were super sweet when I bought some to try last year. These were pretty good. I didn't like the initials as they were made of marzipan. The yellow macaron was chocolate and something flavored while the pink macaron was rose or something. Nice.

I just checked the website and the yellow was the Morgan Blend and the pink was the Rose. So my tastebuds were still working, not too bad :p

Morgan Blend: Lapsang Soucheng tea is perfectly blended with bergamot oil and dark chocolate

Rose: Aromatic rose macarons are time tested vintage favorite.

Celebrity Watch: Edmund Chen & Xiang Yun

Edmund Chen is sooooo cute! Xiang Yun looks very pretty too! They make such a gorgeous couple. They looked so good (for their age). I mean, They started acting in the 80s, or at least Xiang Yun did in the early 80s and I grew up watching her tv serials. I stopped watching local TV in 1990 or so.

So I was at the opening of Marc Jacobs boutique at DFS when suddenly there was a slight furore near the red velvet rope area. Some guests were taking pictures with Edmund Chen (I still think of him as Chen Zhicai) and Xiang Yun.

Then V said Edmund was very down to earth and friendly as her brother works in Mediacorp and Edmund was very kind to him blah blah blah. I asked V if she wanted to have her picture taken since I brought my camera with me, she didn't want to. Then Z (girl we met at the event) said she wanted a picture, so I took this pic for her.

The first pic, Edmund said he thought he blinked and so asked to take another shot (the above). He was nice. After the picture was taken, we spoke for briefly. Xiang Yun has wandered off somewhere. He said he didn't know there was a private function going on, and that he just went along shopping/browsing with Xiang Yun, and just basically told me to enjoy myself and have fun. Then he shook my hand and said goodbye.

Now, if I was still a teenager, I might have swoon and screamed "He shook my hand! He shook my hand! I'm not gonna wash it!", but being older, I am just not into the whole celebrity thing. Hahahaha. Hence, I didn't request for my picture to be taken. I like it that they also didn't ask me if I wanted to take a pic with them. It kinda showed that they are not that arrogant to think the whole world wants to do that.

I think if I was alone and they walked past me, I would not have notice them at all. Lol. That is me. I think so many HK celebrities have walked past me when I was living in Vancouver, but I just never noticed them.

But that was a bit of excitement for the evening :)

Found Guess Butterfly Sandals

I am so happy! After I bought the pink sandals full price in May this year, I thought I would wait for the sale and then get the green sandals. I knew Guess would be holding its sale very shortly but I just needed a low heeled shoes for work and the pink was the last pair in my size then.

When Guess did go on sale, it was only 30% and I was reluctant to pay over $100 for another pair. I was waiting for them to be on 50% off. When it was finally 50% off, it was no longer available at the Ngee Ann City outlet. So I was thrilled to see it at Raffles City outlet and at 50% off. I grabbed it immediately. I wore it on the spot too since it matched with my MAC peacocky eyeliner, plus I was going to attend an event later.

The butterflies on both sandals. Love the green and purple-blue butterflies.

My 2 pairs of sandals. You could see I am wearing the pink sandals to death now. The pink is in size 7 (UK 4) while the green is size 6.5 (UK 3.5). That's why the pink looks slighter bigger. I usually take size 7 (UK 4) as I prefer my footwear to be slighter bigger though I am actually a size 6.5W (UK 3.5). Aren't they pretty? Now I have another option for work. I have just been alternating between the pink and my birkies when I go to work. I keep a pair of heels and flip-flops in the office so that I can change into whichever when needed.

Korean Food @ Food Republic

I decided to try new things when I was at the Food Republic at Suntec. Usually I would order either the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee or the Basil Chicken Rice from the Thunder Tea Rice stall.

Walking around a couple of times, I decided to try the Korean Stall. After all, it did receive some awards for its grilled saba set. I was not in the mood for fish, so I decided to get the beef and fish set. It was pretty good. Tender beef and crispy battered fish. The chili made the difference. I love spicy food

Hard Rock Cafe

Whenever I am in the mood for something healthy or for a salad, I would invariably think of the Cobb Salad at Hard Rock Cafe. Somehow it has become my favorite item on the menu. Somehow the Cobb Salad does not seem like a salad salad as it is filled with so many things. Bacon, boiled egg, onions, grilled chicken, avocado, cheese, tomatoes over a bed of lettuce and dressing on the side. I could never finish this on my own, so I always need to find someone who is willing to share with me. Hehe.
So Sheryn and I shared the salad and the main. We decided on the ribs and beef brisket. I love the beef as it was so tender that it kinda melted in your mouth. The ribs was not too bad but not the best I tried either. It came with fries, coleslaw and the baked beans.

Surprisingly we could not finish the 2 dishes at all. Bad idea to have dinner close to 9pm too as the band started playing around 930pm and we could hardly hear ourselves.

Aji Tei again

I met Celest and Davis for dinner last week and suggested going to Aji Tei since Davis wanted ramen and I wanted to try the ramen there. The scallop ramen was to die for. Super sweet scallops with flavorful ramen and broth made it perfect.
We shared the cream crab croquette which was pretty good too. Nice and creamy. The butter corn was not available, what a pity. I think I got enamored with Hokkaido ramen after the fantastic one I tried at Sun with Moon.

Bath & Body Works Swap Loot :)

This is quite an overdue post. I was so thrilled to receive these from a MUAer. It was a multiple swap and I did not expect to get so many "extras" from her at all. I love the shower gels from Bath & Body Works. Still ok even though they are old, she kept them in good condition :)

Aji Tei Japanese Cuisine & Dessert House

I decided to walk over to Bugis Junction for lunch last week and chanced upon Aji Tei. As it was kinda hidden away, tucked behind Hotel Intercontinental and away from the indoor walkways, I usually never see it. I was drawn in by the Hokkaido promotion, somehow I became a fan of Hokkaido cuisine.
In the end, I decided on the omu rice set. Fried rice wrapped in the omelette and doused with tomato gravy. The fried rice was excellent, I wished it was curry sauce though.
The side dish - squid with a cream sauce mixed with mashed potatoes and fried. Nice.
Dessert - matcha ice cream with corn flakes underneath. It was a pretty tasty combination. The ice cream was so cold it kinda burn my tongue :p

Fish Head Curry @ Xin Yuan Ji

I read somewhere that besides the fish meat bee hoon, Xin Yuan Ji also serves a very good fish head curry dish. There is limited portions of the individual serving of the fish head curry during lunch but you need to go early since it is while stocks last.

We went closer to 2pm so it was sold out by then. We ordered the usual half portion of the fish head curry and it was more than enough for 2 of us. The curry was of the lemak variety and had lots of eggplants and taupok (dried beancurds) and cabbage.

While I prefer the assam fish head curry with okra (ladies fingers), tomatoes and eggplants (brinjals or aubergines), this lemak curry over rice was very good. Reminded me of those curry rice. Yummy. The fish itself was fresh with no fishiness at all.

Location:
31 Tan Quee Lan St #01-01
Tel: 6334 4086

I did it! - Shape Run 2008

Okay, I finally completed the Shape Run 2008. This was my first ever run and it was quite an experience. I was still dreading it the night before, wondering if I should skip it. I am just so not a runner and to wake up at 530am for it is quite crazy. Anyway, I did go to the Shape Run. We got there around 635am and there were many people already. Here we were, waiting for the flag off. I took my phone and mini ipod with me. So pictures were taken with the phone. We were standing somewhere 1/3 near the front for the 5km area.
The route - blue line was for the 5km run. While I was walking towards the YESS building, the 1st 10km runner was on her way back. Woo-hoo!
The layout of the different sections at the padang. It was still madness after the run. Queues everywhere.
It was so crowded and there was a warm-up! The guy was from Fitness First leading us in warming up, but there was just no space to move at all.
The 10km run had been flagged off and we were waiting for our turn. It was late. Instead of flagging off at 735am, it was around 742am when we set off.

Since I was 1/3 near the front and had somewhere been pushed towards the middle, I had to jog a little after the flag off before I could move to the side and start walking. The switch from jogging to brisk walking was hell on my calves. Burning sensation all the way down my calves and it took a while before it subsided. My right ankle was still hurting, so I really couldn't jog much. One of the pictures I took while walking.
Another picture. There were frequent gaps as surge of runners would swell up and then ebbed. I had 3 "markers" during the run. It helped to focus on someone else and used them to pace myself. Amazing I went past them, one at a time.
On the way back, along the bridge. I was quite surprised it took me about 25-30mins to hit the midway point or something. I thought I would take 45mins each way.
Towards the end, you could see people gaining speed. I realized people would start off running, but by the time they hit the YESS building, most would slow down and either brisk walk or just slow walk. I even had time to take a drink at the water station and sip the water while walking. I didn't finish it as I just want to hydrate a little.
The segregation of the runners. There were many marshals along the way to ensure we stayed in the right lane.

The last leg - 250m more before the finish line. There were so many photographers along the way too. Halfway through, I even saw a male runner joined in (think he was there to run with his gf or something and male runners were strictly not allowed) but he left just before the turn.
The finish line. Yay. I was not really tired at all, probably because I was just walking at a constant speed. That was probably why I could pass my "markers" as they felt the burn and went into a stroll.
The end! I sped up i.e. I started running when I saw the time was moving from 49:51 or something, so when I crossed the finishing line, it was probably 49:57 or 49:58. Took the pic after I managed to catch my breath from running. I'm a sprinter, not a runner.

I am just amazed that I actually completed the 5km walk in under 50mins. I really thought I would take 2 hours or maybe 90mins to finish. Maybe all the shopping along Orchard Road paid off :p
One of the many queues of the morning. It was some time to get my bag.
It was quite organized with segregation of the different runners' tags. It helped since there were 8000 runners.

Then it was queuing for the runner's kit. That was a madhouse as the line was so winding that it was hard to find where it start. After the kit, was the yoghurt and vitagen. The girl in front of me was very kind, and her friend too. She came by and gave me a bunch of grapes and juice. I think I looked too lost or blurred and she took pity on me. Hahaha. I was alone then since HZ ran and finished earlier than me and went back first.

That girl later told us it was also madness queuing for the fruits and juice as some ladies were choosing the fruits as if they were at the market, thus holding up the line. At the runners' kit section, the girl just took my coupon and passed it to the person and grabbed the bag for me. Lol. Again, my "lost" look. They were experienced runners who participated in many runs.

Then I queued for the Subaru tee shirt since I had time to kill. That was not too bad as the line went faster. When I turned back to look at the runners' kit queue, it was practically empty. Same for the baggage claim line. HZ said there was not many people in the line for the runners' kits and baggage area when she went to pick up her items. Only the Subaru line was long so she skipped that.

I didn't queue for the deep heat massage as there was still a line. So I had the water and h2o and a power bar. The power bar was pretty good but after the walk, I didn't really have an appetite and only ate half of it as I didn't have breakfast before the run at all.

The funny thing was while walking, I kept thinking of kaya toast. Hahahaha. In the end, I didn't have kaya toast too.