Turning 30

Run down of how the first day of my 30th (eep!) year....

After after-work drinks and chatter at a nearby pub, had late night-Japanese with G+A, who graciously treated me to dinner, sake and a surprise cake and song when midnight hit. I thought they shut down the lights to kick us out until the resto staff came out with a song and candle lit tiramisu! 

The next morning, I paid for all my monthly bills online, cleaned up my flat, spoke with M, and read the barrage of greetings on FB, email and SMS. Yay for technology!

True to form, it was only after having done everything else that I started packing for my trip - 3 hours before I had to be at the airport.  It was only then that I realized I had left my swimsuit in Manila. Not wanting to do a Filipino classic of T-shirt-and-shorts-on-the-beach, I packed EVEN faster so I could run to the nearest mall to buy myself some swim gear & brunch. The non-English speaking man who sold me my brunch (Japanse lumpia?!) threw in an extra dumpling. Yay for the bday freebie even though I'm pretty sure he didn't know it was my bday!

Ran back home, picked up my stuff, hopped back into a cab and made my way to the airport where I met up with J. Having checked in hours before, we printed our boarding passes and went through immigration by flashing a QR code, scanning passports and thumbprints on machines.Yay for living in a first world country! Yay for the 21st century!

We grabbed some coffee (and chocolate!) before boarding our flight and slept through the 1.40 hour flight to Phuket, Thailand. 

Fastforward through long cues at immigration, hour-long drive to the city, we had an early dinner at a nearby resto, checked into our hotel, and spent the evening watching a surprise video put together by my sisters (<3) and RuPaul's Drag Race. 

My 29th year was amazing - I remember finally getting a moment to myself at the airport enroute to Seoul, where I quickly posted a note to kick off the year. I was very much aware of the things that were just about to unfold in my life. This year, I have no idea what's in store for me - but I'm pretty sure it's going to be equally brilliant. Can't wait!

Celebrate!

I turn 30 (THIRTY!) next Saturday and about a week after that, I mark my 1-year anniversary in Singapore!

I thought it apt to honor the milestones by celebrating with the people who were integral in my move and assimilation into my new life. Without these amazing people, my experience here would not be as solid as it is now - so for that, I am grateful.

This morning, we all met at the home of a lovely couple who host a supper club called Brunch&Co - read more about them here.

A few friends went to an event here a few months back and raved and raved about the food and the experience that I thought, why the hell not, let's do it for my bday!

I was new to the concept so was curious to see how it would pan out - the people who run supper clubs open up their homes to strangers (through reservations) and cook for their guests. It's an opportunity to not only eat great food, but to mingle and meet new people. This particular supper club, was well.. all about brunches.

I was quite lucky to have snagged 7 seats well in advance. Even luckier that all of the people I wanted there were all in the country at the same time to attend!

All in all, I had a wonderful wonderful time. Mark & Louise's home was the perfect place for Sunday morning brunch - cozy, with lots of great natural light streaming in. This month's brunch theme was travel  - an amazing coincidence as all the folks I invited love to travel as much as I do! As with the theme, the details and the menu followed suite. The food was delicious as was the company.

Great way to kick off my 2nd year in Singapore as well as my 30th year!

Choice of cold spicy ice team and lemon grass cordial meet you at the door - perfect for a humid day!

Boarding pass for our ticket to foodie heaven!

Brunch & Co's napkins, with their name stitched in lovely script

Laminate placemats were images of different destinations; note the detailing of the boarding pass as well!

Mark & Louise of Brunch & Co greet their guests and explain how the afternoon would proceed

A & P/M/T (lol)

N & C

K

First Stop -  Europe: 

Caramelized Pear, Panettone French Toast served

with Homemade Ricotta drizzled with honey 

Louise describes starters

Second Stop - North Africa: Shakshuka, eggs poached in a spicy tomato & red

pepper sauce, served with zesty sausage, herb

salad & toasted pide 

Beautiful hydrangeas set on the tables; in the background,  extra bread for dipping

J

Before dessert, we were asked to swop seats; N chatting with a new friend

Palette cleanser - a beautiful tangy sorbet

Tea

J with some of the guests 

French-pressed coffee 

Final Stop - Middle East: Pomegranate & Turkish delight Fool served with

Persian Fairy Floss + little meringue drops for mixing in

My bday "cake" 

Happy 30th to moi!  

The pistachio fairy floss looks like troll hair but I promise, it's delicious!
Cold strawberries  were also served

Mingling mingling mingling

Empty glasses & plates, full tummies!

More mingling on the other side of the room

J & N chatting with Louise 

Beautiful hydrangea in a pesto bottle <3 

Parting shot with my SG survival team

48 Hours in Beijing

Yup, think I was a little mad to have spent only a weekend in Beijing. But you make lemonade out of lemons right? So while it wasn't my original plan, I made the most of annoyance my airline left me with. 

Having been to Beijing twice before, my priority was to visit the Great Wall, as I never had the opportunity to do so before. Didn't get to do everything I had wanted to do, but ended up doing a few other things that were not originally on my list so it kind of balanced out at the end.  I don't plan on spending my hard earned cash to visit the city again - but should it ever happen, there are definitely a few more places I'd like to check out. With a city as huge, old and innovative as Beijing - you will surely not run out of places and things to do and see. 

Itinerary - 

Day 1

• Arrived at almost 2 in the morning and froze my bum off waiting for a cab into the city
• Hopped into a hired car at 8 am and made our way out of the city for some site seeing!
• Cloisonné museum
• Great Wall (Mutianyu section)
• Lunch at some random resto out in the province - a bit dodgy but damn good food!
• Back in the city
• Coffee Break + Summer Palace
• Learned all about how to make silk 
• Drive by Olympic Village!
• Quick BBQ dinner (gah soooo goood) 
• Beijing Opera 
• Night cap with the girls at the hotel bar

Day 2

• Left hotel 10 min's before 8 to catch an 8 am Easter Mass.. only to get properly lost
• Found refuge (ie: breakfast!) at the Hilton
• Finally found our way to the Church - only to have JUST missed the mass :-/
• Peking Duck lunch
• Hutong Tour which included:
• Rickshaw ride around the area
• Drum and bell tower + performance at the drum tower
• Visiting a family living in one of the compounds
• Coffee break!
• Tried and learned all about Chinese Tea with a Chinese Tea master!
• 798 Art District
• Hot Pot dinner
• In the airport by 11:30, for my 2 am flight... which then got delayed till 3:30 :-/

Random musings, in no particular order:

• So excited to get up on the Great Wall, that I only realized when I was sitting in the cable car (think.. ski lift) on my way up: SHET. I AM SCARED OF HEIGHTS. 
• Beijing's MASSIVENESS never ceases to amaze me. Massive buildings, massive stretches of land, massive massive massive!!
• Getting a tour guide was the smartest thing we did. Primarily because it's so damn hard to make your way around, order tickets and even order food if you don't speak the language! Added benefit of course is the fact that you learn all about the China's history and your guide takes care of buying all your tickets and shuffling you about from one place to another. 
• Don't buy food at the Great Wall! I was so excited to try this one dish that (1) bought the wrong thing, (2) spent over 20x more than what it really cost!
• Food in Beijing is awesome
• Buildings in Beijing are amazing
• I will never understand why Asians love to collect all their phlegm at the back of their throats then spit it out
• I would love to spend more time in a country that experiences cold weather (though with how bitter cold can get, I know that'll bite me in the bum one of these days should that ever come true)

And as always, pictures pictures pictures: