best backpack

Had an awesome time shopping with Debbie on indie street Haji Lane today, bought the backpack the guy on the right has. Handmade in Singapore and so awesome!

Chinese New Year!

Okay so not exactly all Chinese New Year photos, but the festivities are the reason why I haven't posted in ages. 

Cute bakery of the kind that dot Singapore / Korean clothing store, all in pastels / Yoghurt + toppings you buy by the gram / Brothels are illegal in Singapore but here is a classy place in Chinatown with a neon SEX sign  / The centre dish is called Yusheng and is eaten around Chinese New Year in Singapore and Malaysia. The higher you toss the higher your expected fortunes in the coming year! 

saba hotplate

So this delicious tray of korean food, including kimchi, rice, vegetable soup and hotplate saba cost $4.50 from the e-canteen at my hostel. So cheap!

Royal Room

This year's NUS + SMU Socialite Welcome Night was held in the Royal Room champagne and cocktail lounge at Pan Pacific Hotel. The waiters are very vigilant about getting you to use their branded purple coasters which I eventually took home with me and cut into hearts. They actually look very sweet on my wall. Bottom photos: wagyu beef tataki and lychee martini.

mattress moving

The mattress at the hostel is too hard for me and they didn't have any other ones so off I went to IKEA to pick out a new one. Unfortunately it doesn't fit in a normal taxi so you have to call a special extra-large taxi to get it anywhere (IKEA do offer a delivery service but it's pricey and the wait can be long ~ I need my good sleep now). The taxi company will likely tell you to wait to be collected at the loading bay. This is NOT the same as the front of the store, or the loading zone in the underground carpark. It is in fact out the back of the store amongst the IKEA workers on break smoking in place that looks nothing like a loading bay at all. To be fair to IKEA the mattress did come plastic-wrapped and boxed which I ripped off in an attempt to make it more 'squishable' (still didn't fit in a normal taxi, not that any of the drivers would let us try). If you ever decide on exchange that you need to buy a large item and taxi back: keep it in its packaging, go during quiet shop hours and make sure it won't start to rain before you get it home.

Singapore Underwater World @ Sentosa

on the bridge to Sentosa Island / seaweed seahorses at the Singapore Underwater World / jellyfish / cute golden fish you can touch 

miniatures for sale @ the elephant parade outdoor sculpture exhibit in the Singapore Botanical Gardens / trying on skull masks at a Mexican restaurant, Bugis / Shisha on Haji Lane

fuss-free cooking

Here at PGP there are numerous food outlets, with a decent selection of cheap, convenient and pretty tasty dishes. Unfortunately, the one thing they do seem to be lacking in are recogniseable green vegetable dishes, so, in an attempt to be healthy, I bought some broccoli and mushrooms and a $1.30 bottle of sweet n sour chilli sauce . The rice comes courtesy of the e-canteen though - I am not motivated enough to wait for my own rice to cook.

Marni for H&M

Not yet fully recovered from jet lag and already I've started to fill my calendar with events for a few months away. These shots are previews of the Marni for H&M collection due for release at Singapore H&M stores on 8 March. You can watch the preview video clip here

central toa payoh

On Thursday I went to visit my Aunty who lives in central Toa Payoh. From her doorstep you can look down and see the main Toa Payoh strip which is essentially a pedestrian mall selling cheap sandals, household goods, toiletries, clothes, hot food as well as fresh tropical fruit. So all the essentials really, and it stays open late (by New Zealand standards) into the night which is a bonus.

home touches

my welcome home bunting, polaroids, bunny soft toy, stitched yellow bird and calendar courtesy of frankie magazine add some home touches / some other snaps inside my room

this is why I don't fly Jetstar

So there I was, bright-eyed and toting overweight luggage early morning at Wellington airport only to find out my flight to Auckland had a two-hour delay, meaning I would miss my connection to Singapore. So now I'm staying at a hotel on the Jetstar wallet waiting to fly out tomorrow via Melbourne, instead of the direct from New Zealand flight I'd booked. Sigh. At least I have a pillow menu here.