Summers are spent...

Eating lovingly-made tapas courtesy of my man :)

Online shopping resulting in a newly purchased wall clock...

And brunching on weekends with my favourite person in the sunshine.

How we do love to brunch! :)

Happy Summer everyone! I do hope yours is as lovely as mine

Simple pleasures

After a great spinning class, I made myself a piping hot bowl of homemade comfort. Ground pork porridge (aka congee) with scallions, garlic and fried shallots. YUM! A perfect end to the day, without compromising my good workout! :D I'll consider making this more often. As a child, porridge was always seen as a meal taken when I'm sick. But as I get older, my appreciation for a good piping hot bowl of porridge is greatly appreciated!

The secret - use old rice! And I like to season the meat before cooking and throw in the rice after the meat is half cooked so the juices will soak into the porridge, rendering it tasty! :) And my favourite toppings? Scallion and a must-have, deep fried onions straight from the motherland!

Healthy and happy me! :D

Home Sweet Home

Ah, its good to have some quiet time. It's been a busy the past few weeks and I'm finally

alone in my apartment and I'm enjoying it.

A little packing, organizing, cleaning and pottering around the apartment is something I never thought I'd enjoy. Ha! But look at me now! Surfing Crate & Barrel, West Elm and Etsy.com for cute pieces I can add to my new home

and apartmenttherapy.com for decorating inspiration.

Lazing my Saturday morning away with a hot cup of "teh tarik", with

Dog Whisperer on the telly PERFECT!

Here are some snippets of my work-in-progress pad:

Moved in

I'm sitting by the window (I have windows! YES!) in my new apartment's kitchen, trying to hook onto any free wireless internet until my cable guy comes on Thursday. Thanks to some very good movers, a very sweet significant other and so much more space - I am happily moved into my new pad, boxes and all.

I'm pleased to announce that I've got more than double the room that I used to have in my tiny studio on the ground floor. I'm in a doorman building, with a live-in super, on the 10th floor with more than 1 window. J and I slept so well on my 1st night here - there were no slamming doors, no sounds of people walking in and out of the building, no construction, just peace & quiet and pigeons that come visit my window sill every once in a while.

I can walk between rooms, to get to the kitchen. I have more than enough closet space (for now..) and I am actually in need of more furniture! Namely, a sofa! The apartment is work in progress for now, so no photos until its actually complete and pretty enough to show the world. But if I can I will definitely do a before and after post as recommended by J. I think I did good this time! :D YAY!!!

Bathing it old school!

im a rubber duckie
Originally uploaded by rizalgeo

So over the weekend when J arrived, my shower decided to die on me. For some reason, it won't divert the water from the spout to the shower head and so we end up bathing old school style with a pail.

Hahahaha!! Its been a long time since I sat down in the shower with a pail to wash my hair and it sure brought back some old memories! :D Hope you had fun too babe! I promise it'll be fixed next week when you come over :p

I GOT IT!

So, after a couple of anxiety episodes, many miles of walking to see apartments, hand shaking with brokers and doormen, trawling craigslist, nytimes and other real estate rental websites, I've found my new home for the next 12months. It's about 2 blocks away from my current apartment but probably triple the size.

Thanks to the economy and lowered rent, I've managed to find and my broker negotiated a great deal on a beautiful 1 bedroom apartment with all the amenities I desire and so much more! A doorman, a regular sized fridge, plenty of windows, air-conditioning, laundry (a luxury in Manhattan apartments btw), elevator, an oven and an extra bonus, a concierge/doorman! :)

So I will be signing the lease next week and hopefully I'll get the keys soon!!

In the meantime, I gotta arrange for movers, pack my tiny studio and perhaps shop for new furniture, namely a sofa/sofabed to fill my new, HUGE space!! IKEA? Crate & Barrel? CB2? Where to begin?? :D Wheee!!! So EXCITING!!!

Apartment Hunting

Sitting down with a glass of milk and $1 ginger cookie picked up from the Farmer's market on a Friday night, with House playing in the background.

I've begun my search for the next apartment again - it seems its a very New Yorker thing to do: be on the constant lookout for the next best apartment. I've decided I've outgrown my tiny shoe box pad and I'm moving onto greener pastures now that I have a job. Also in my favour, rent prices in Manhattan have come down a lot so bigger place for the same amount of money is definitely an advantage! :)

Off hunting I go! Wish me luck, I'm running outta time and still need to pack & arrange movers!! ACK!

Back in the City

There are mixed feelings about being back. I miss the comforts of home. Home-cooked meals, the company of family, the cuddles from the dogs, the driving, the never-having-to-worry about laundry, food or bills. I will also miss TNT Supermarket, Shoppers Drug Mart, mega large grocery stores, cheap & very good sushi, good dim sum on weekends and the list could go on.

I am excited to come back to the big city and start a new job. In these times and this industry, I'm so blessed to have something and have great people who believe in me and who are rooting for me. YAY Employment!!! :D Here's to new opportunities...

Picking up the pieces

A week of unpacking & packing has left me and my aunts exhausted. I've had the bittersweet opportunity to go through all my mother's things - mind you, she has a lot of things. My mother was a sentimental woman, who kept everything she felt reluctant to part with. This applied particularly to her clothes & accessories.

My mother was an extremely fashionable woman with a walk-in closet that overflowed into guest rooms and mystery miscellaneous storage places which till this day I'm sure we have yet to uncover. She was blessed with a fabulous sense of style and taste and as I go throw my mum's beautiful wardrobe, I feel blessed to keep many of the pieces that remind me of her. From clothes to shoes & handbags, accessories & jewelry, my mum spared no expense to her passion to fashion. I've been fortunate enough to keep some pieces which I may never be able to afford.

Going through my mother's things was an emotional but fun experience. I found clothes and accessories from the 70s and 80s, which we laughed about. Items that only my mum could pull off because if we even tried, we'd look like clowns. I found pieces which I'd hadn't seen in years since my childhood and others which I've never seen in my lifetime which she still kept. It made me miss her more but also comforted me, in knowing that she's with me every time I wear something of hers. I found things which have made its back way full circle in the fashion cycle: pleated pants anyone?

It's a blessing to me to have had to chance to do this with my aunts. I think she was watching from above and laughing along with us. I miss you Mum. You had way too many things but so many have since benefitted from them. I love you.

Gong Hey Fatt Choy!

We rang in the Year of the Ox with a Feast! Thanks to my aunt & grandmother who were with us this festive season. All the dishes have significance - everything had to be in tact. You wouldn't be believe how difficult it is to find a decent whole chicken with head & legs! I guess most North Americans don't like to look at their food whole. The menu of the night included:

Sweet & Sour Pork

Shitake Mushrooms

A whole Hainanese style chicken

Our family traditional "zai" (vegetable stew)

Braised pork knuckle

Spicy prawns

Sticky rice

Steamed fish

*BURP*

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009. It's a New Year and I've been inspired by several blogs to recall the year that has past. Like all years that have gone by, there were highlights and lowlights.

Great times, good times & not-so-ok times.

It's been filled with lots of travel thanks to obliging family & a globetrotting significant other.

There have been hot, hot summers and very cold, snowy winters.

I've also had 3 glorious months of enjoying the company of my better half being in the same city.

There were sleepless nights, restless nights and long summer nights.

There was road trips, weekend getaways and spring breaks.

I've graduated from my post-graduate program with far better grades than I'd ever received in undergrad and understood that the power of passion makes doing what you love so much easier.

I've also learnt the importance of love, family and spending quality time.

That good friends are hard to find and I appreciate all the wonderful ones I've made in my new home of New York.

I've toasted the town, stumbled into bed and woken up next to the man who hasn't tired of me after 2 years and loves me for who I am.

I am grateful for 2008 and I look forward to a better, brighter 2009.

Happy New Year Everyone! I wish you all Love, Life & Laughter (as quoted by my dear cousin's tri-colored ring)

On the eve of 09

335/365 Knitting: not just for nerds anymore
Originally uploaded by spring_peeper

I'm passing my time this New Year's Eve doing the most grandma thing ever: Knitting a cowl neckwarmer. Because I was inspired by the folks @ Etsy.com

I'm ringing in 2009 with Popiah & lotsa booze & champagne with the family. What about you?

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Here's wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a wonderful time with family & friends. Lots of turkey, ham & pressies to one & all!

Oh the weather outside is frightful..

so at the mall today with my brother & his girlfriend, I snapped up a fabulous furry vest! I've been toying with the idea and then spotted my Columbian classmate of mine sporting a fabulous one in class. And that was when I decided I'd get one for myself, BUT only at the right price, right look & faux fur please. And today at the mall, I found it at Le Chateau, amidst the crazy last minute shoppers, for a VERY good price that didn't put another dent in my already depleted bank account.

Along with that, I picked up some other great pieces:

• a fab Foley + Corinna inspired black tote
• a black & emerald houndstooth cardi
• turquoise reflective aviators inspired by Top Gun which was on tv last night!

Bonus - nothing I bought was at regular price. Whoopeee!!!

Home for the Holidays

Touchdown in YVR amidst the holiday rush. JFK was a nightmare at 5am - a snowstorm was bound for NY this morning and everyone was scrambling to get onto earlier flights to leave the city. Thankfully, I made it on-time with luggage in tow and arrived in Vancouver safe and sound.

I'm greeted by a whole lotta snow, 3 of my favourite uncles, much of my extended family, the 2 doggies and hot, piping bowl of homemade laksa for lunch. Ah, what a treat! It was followed by my annual trip to the dentist and then tea time @ Timmy's. It looks like this holiday season is going to be full of eating since I've got a houseful of great cooks. Yum!

Now I have a mountain of presents to wrap and Christmas cards to write.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

ewwww!

I rolled out of bed at 12:30pm after a nightlong catchup marathon of previous Gossip Girl episodes. After my morning mug of Milo and much procrastinating, I finally make lunch and get down to doing some homework. I've got the TV on and I've seen this commercial many times and it always gets me smiling. Especially when they go: "Ewwwwwwwww..." Hahahaha!

Mid Autumn Musings

I've sent my better half off on a busy bus back to Boston, our regular trips to and from New York have begun. The weekend was spent wedding gift hunting, bubble tea drinking, scrap-booking, sleeping and spending quality "couple" time.

I've discovered the joys of Crate & Barrel and how it isn't as expensive as I imagined it to be. He's discovered a fabulous store in SoHo where he could find Energie & Diesel jeans for 50%-70% off, if only they just had his size...I've also photographed and documented one of my favourite stores, Anthropologie, for my visual merchandising class. Quite the productive weekend.

And now, after some apartment cleaning, I'm sitting on my bed, simultaneously watching House & makeup tutorials on YouTube, while drooling at over-the-knee boots from DSW. There are dishes in the sink which need to be done and laundry in the basket which needs attending to. All I need is some snow skin mooncake and Gossip Girl reruns and I'm all set.

Happy Mid Autumn Festival Everyone! Let 'em eat cake! PS: check out Starbuck's own mooncake, available in Asia only I think...Boo!

"Ga-lang Guni"

So i head downstairs to do my laundry and as i'm exiting to go back upstairs, lo & behold i spot a spanking new IKEA BILLY bookcase in birchwood sittin by the recycling / garbage area. Immediately, my Singaporean "kiasu/cheapo/cheap-ass" instincts kick in and i scurry upstairs to inform my roommate of the delightful teasure of trash i've discovered. She jumps up from her desk and hurries downstairs with me to attempt to lug it to our apartment. Thankfully, living on the mezzanine floor is a blessing in this case and having elevators in the building are a bonus! We lug it out of the garbage area into the elevator and to our apartment, where now it sits happily in the corner of our dining / study area ready to be filled.

Ahh..there's nothing like free furniture. One less piece to buy! YAY!

toilet troubles

I am officially the problem solver of the apartment - i fixed the internet, (well, actually Jordan fixed the internet but I fixed by proxy) i dealt with the phone company so now we can get a phone line and most recently, i fixed the toilet. i've also been know to perform feats of strength (ie. opening mayo jars, lifting beds and moving desks...) *thank you sifu for all that strength training* hahaha! Those Korean girls really need to eat some MEAT.

Hello New York City!

This blog is a chronicle of a new chapter in my life for family, friends and anyone else who cares: My little life in large Mahanttan - being away from home for the first-time, attempting to feed myself and educate myself on Big Apple living and lifestyles.

Finally, I'm here.We arrived late last night and went to the deli across the street to buy some food.After our showers, we settled into our lovely Marriot hotel room on Lexington.
It is an old hotel and very much a beautiful one too, with an old world, black and white art deco feel. Our beds are soft and fluffy, typical of all Marriots.

This morning, we went to collect the keys to my apartment. After a line-up and photo-taking Aftering lining up for keys and photo-taking for ID - we went to scope out the apartment. Its located in the East Village about a 15-20minute walk to school. The building is old, but everything inside it is brand new! The smell of fresh paint permeated the rooms and I was relieved to find air-conditioners in every room!

bedroom
kitchen
living/dining
bathroom

After checking out the apartment, we decided to take a walk to find my school. The streets are lined with old brick buildings, small stores, rod-iron fire escapes, very much like how you see it on television. It is hot and extremely humid. We're working up a sweat just walking! We find 5th Ave in Downtown, after going through Union Square and several weekend markets to look for an AT&T to activate my new NY cell phone - and eventually find my school, not before stopping by H&M and Coach and walking by many familiar US stores like J.Crew, Banana Republic, Kenneth Cole, Juicy Couture etc! And this is just 5th Ave downtown!! Not even close to mid-town or uptown! Geeee....

Lunch is at a pasta and pizzeria. Yum yum....

Took a subway back to Lexington (trains are ACed but stations aren't!) and retreaed from the heat and humidity. I signed online to set up my phone with iTunes and registered with AT&T. After an hour of trouble shooting - I finally did it. And then it was off to dinner with my Dad's friends at Picholine and then back to the hotel to watch some National Georgraphic, as we are doing now!