i bow to the divine in you

Namaste
~ traditional Indian greeting of respect and thank you, with spiritual and symbol meaning

Am lucky to be able to take a day off work today, spent it worthwhile like a yogi with instructor Adam, who just won the champion title at Singapore Yoga Asana Championship held at harbourfront just yesterday. Congrats and wishing him all the best at the International Championship which will be held in LA this summer! As if enduring the forty degrees temperature for 90 minutes isnt enough, it was also tough (and starting to get a tad bit boring doing the same routine over and over again) completing the standard 26 poses. Today's session made me think a lot this time, thinking and re-thinking about the things that are not within my (our) control. BUT what we can do is, taking full 100% control of ourselves. We always have a choice over our actions as well as our reactions. You know, it's always easier to master one pose when you fixate your eyes on a single spot in front of you. Not specifically saying that i've lost my life direction once again, it's more like my PMS period (as we all know it) right now.

Thought the below image would be funny, exactly how i felt in the first 5 minutes of class. Nevertheless, enjoy!


the awesomeness 26 poses of bikram yoga
www.theironyou.com


P.S.On a side note, yea they did try to apologise, wanting to do it personally instead of over a lifeless text but im just choosing not to meet up now. It's THE weekday. beauty sleep ^^

Namaste~

(X-M), X>M=surplus

it amuses me some of the wonderous things that my next-favourite country after singapore (i would like to think that it is true) is exporting or rather, can export.

first up, we have gmarket that is rapidly expanding into singapore. but items have become slightly dodgy ever since it was acquired by ebay in 2009 at a value of $1.2 billion.

then, there came a kpop craze whereby even till now, korea is still exporting its lucrative entertainment business and you see teenagers in singapore parting with a few hundred bucks to see bigbang and SNSD in concert. and i dont refer to just singaporeans who boast the highest GDP in the region but a recent bigbang concert in taipei raked in a record amount of KRW5 billion. mind you, that's about USD$5 million in topline. and no prize for guessing the all-time #1 video on youtube. PSY's gangnam style is/has been internationalized. my favourite cover of this song is also performed by a pair of korean twins. OK, you have to see this and i mean it.

already in the pipeline or out of the pipeline, i am seeing increasing number of korean cosmetics shops and beauty counters popping up around the island. to name you a few - faceshop, etude house, sulwahsoo and laneige.

this afternoon while i was on hsbc women's champions, i noticed that choi na yeon, is leading in round3 with a score of 14 under par, ahead of stacy lewis and paula creamer (who was involved in a recent car accident in thailand) at golf (a game primarily american-dominant). at a mere of 25 years old, choi already has a few titles under her belt after turning pro in 2004 including winning the US Women's Open just last july. a few players hot on her heels also including a few other koreans. i really wonder who will bring home that S$1.7 million tomorrow at sentosa's serapong golf course coz i have already thought out what im gonna buy when i win toto next friday.

as a country with borders confusion (notice: north and south korea) and with a greeting (an nyeong ha sim ni kka = meaning "安宁吗?" traditionally used to greet neighbours and checking if they are still alive with invasion from China on their west and Japan on their east), the Koreans have sure progressed a long way.

disclaimer: by no means is this a post on nationalism, instead i applaud the country's determination and efforts to succeed. you go girl, new korean female president Park Geun Hye *^^*

HELLOOOOO

hello!! after a long hiatus of a few months or so, im back again!

in a blink of an eye, ny and cny have already past by and nope, i have no other updates other than the fact that i have disowned all my degenerate buddies. now left without a string of weekend-past-midnight activities to engage in, i have been good and am staying at home on nights where i should really be out there. this is only the exordium of a brand new me.


GONE! NO MORE!


oh well, lemme have some me-time again before i start some drinking sessions (tonight!!!) and go on my exercise-crazy phase. speaking of which, i can combined those two activities, cant i? had dinner w leong on tuesday at mbfc before heading to a few mini tennis games at the sail then for his drinks + ladies night (maybe). and later today, i'll be heading to another few rounds of real tennis games at jalan duad before house bbq dinner. man, how i miss my hall mates...

mundane mundane < repeat>

woke up, went to work, came home, ate dinner, bed time. <repeat> <order good till cancelled>

am suffering from post-holiday withdrawal symptoms, so please pardon me. with a half-unpacked luggage still sitting at one corner of my room, i decided to switch on my selective-sight sense and ignore it while i am typing away at this entry. work today was a blur because i kinda forgot the SOP (standard operating procedure) while also having to clear some dormant emails rotting in my office inbox at the same time.

highlight of the day: i came home to a relatively healthy and yet yummy dinner (refer to previous post as to why i will love to eat rice this week before i revert back to sandwiches the next).
additional bonus: favourite soup!

rice, lotus root peanuts ribs soup, rice, lotus root peanuts ribs soup, rice, lotus root peanuts ribs soup,  ignore the other dishes

back for grains

goodbye steaks!

hellooooo rice!

ten wonder herbs roasted duck, spicy prawns, mongolian ribs, tofu with minced meat and greens

perhaps i am a very asian girl at heart, even though 75% of the time i'll pick sandwiches over chinese hawker food during office lunch hour. ask my neighbouring colleagues and you can prolly guess how many subway 6-inches i can eat in a week. then again, my trip this time round has taught me things i have never thought about before. during my 216 hours (if your math is bad, it's 9 days) overseas, i never had a single grain of rice (and that seafood risotto at jamie's italian doesnt count). it was all basically a lot of red meat such as ribs (think hurricane's) and steaks (again, rump at hurricane's), kangeroo meat, rabbit meat (yes i had that, surprisingly good), sandwiches, burgers, pancakes (on the rocks!!) and more angmoh desserts. so the first thing i did after i touched down was to hit dian xiao er aka 店小二 at terminal 3 for a quick dinner before heading home. dad and bro came to fetch and of course, chinese food fits the family's sunday dinner best.

rice never tasted that good before.

travel is not for the faint-hearted ~

holidays are often about expanding your horizons, gaining new experiences and trying out new things during the course of the vacation. how about pre-holiday? surely, it shouldnt entirely be just about printing itineraries and maps, purchasing travel accidents, wikipedia-ing touristy hotspots and packing luggages right? caught up a bit on feeding the soul with this book before i embark.

favourite page of the entire book, makes so much sense.

within a limited time frame (aka # of days you have there), you gotta decide what do you wanna see which leads to where do you wanna go and how much you wanna see and do.

take for instance, for every tourist attraction you visit and every restaurant you patronize, you could be missing out on a certain local attraction and a roadside food stall. the point here is not about doing things the local way instead of the over-rated tourist manner, but rather - it highlights the concept of opportunity cost. oh well, if i hadnt been studying finance, i guess economics minus the econometrics will be my next best choice. with that said, it doesnt meant travelling has to be stressful. some people chose to manifest the ethical theory of utilitarianism which prioritizes the maximisation of overall happiness regardless of who gets what amount. it's average happiness (idontknowwhatstheoppositeof utilitarianism) versus total happiness (utilitarianism). some holiday-makers prefer to maximise the value out of their vacation by a typical filled-to-the-brim schedule:- must wake up early, have to visit xx1, xx2, xx3, gotta eat yy1 and yy2, die-die must do zz1 and zz2, whereas some travellers can have an equally fulfilling vacation by just waking up (own time own target), chilling by a cafe which they happen to chance upon, basically no checklist to accomplish by the end of the day. there is no good or bad method of taking a holiday, it's merely just about what meaning you wish to get out of your vacation. be it a break away from work/family, have some me-time or gaining new experiences, it's YOUR holiday, no one can dictate how it should go (BIG BIG mistake to let your travel-partner decide how it should go, so decide and pick a right travel-matey). and ultimately, as per above-mentioned, traveling is all about decision making:- decide on a destination, your travel buddy, the budget, what to bring, where to go, how to go, how you want your holiday to be, ... (you get what i mean). who ever said i was faint-hearted?

quite a long and boring post trying to make some sense of itself. hope it's perfect for your bedtime lullaby anyway.

midweek dinner

came home on a rainy wednesday evening after work and i cant wait to dive into my bed already. that familiar warm feeling - to nap when it's raining outside, enjoying every bit of the pseudo cool temperate weather singapore rarely has. no dinner at home tonight, had to fix myself a quick dinner before i bury my body under my covers. similar to the korean bibimbaq method, i chopped/mixed whateverisinthefridge all into a bowl, drizzled with some lime, apple vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. (ok, stir fry the mushrooms first!)

TA-DA, an easy dinner all under 15 minutes!




chopped romaine, halved cherry tomatoes, cubed red apples, sliced mushrooms, hidden croutons

 

just mix all + juice + choc

 ending off with a cup of florida natural and green tea kitkat (thanks yish!)

FIRST SUN ☼

"dont worry about the world coming to an end today, it's already tomorrow in Australia"
- charles schulz

and yes, that is exactly where im headed this weekend. the first country continent to catch a glimpse of the morning sun, fits the "kiasu-iness" bill of a typical singaporean perfectly. although i have barely even started packing (not that kiasu you see ;) ), i am already looking forward to kangaroo steaks at hippy fitzroy, melbourne and pancakes on the rocks at darling harbour, sydney. i did my research, eh.

and now, where exactly is audsgd at??

p.s. mental note to self: *pack light*

cafe-shopping: zoo coffee @ samcheong-dong

zoo coffee

samcheong-dong

seoul, south korea

 



the "im korean" menu :)



level 2, large window with side balcony sitting

tiger, cheetah, panda??!!

another special mention at samcheong-dong, coffee chain, zoo coffee, also has a comparative large outlet in this infamous korea's cafes street. quirky "im korean" menu is an instant hit, i ordered in steamed ginseng honey latte and it came, topped with a tiger/cheetah/panda style foam (krw 5,500). good foaming technique there. drip coffee with milk with a tad bit of ginseng taste, largely already neutralized by the sweet honey. might be a little weird initially but got used to its unique taste sooner than i thought i would.

hmm, am i becoming more korean now that i say im loving my skinny healthy ginseng latte a little more each day?

# of outlets:  >30, >50 coming soon (growing so rapidly it amazes me)

cafe-shopping: beansbin @ samcheong-dong

beansbins coffee

samcheong-dong

seoul, south korea

HELLO WAFFLES! at beansbins coffee, cant miss their sweets waffles for the world man. although kinda pricey (krw10,000 to krw15,000), best ordered to share among friends before getting too gelat on it. special concocted waffles are topped with fruits, choc sauce / maple syrup and nuts. little did i know that i was in luck for their seasonal waffles menu which included korean strawberries! no prize for guessing it right what i ordered, mixed berries waffles with ice cream (matcha my favourite!).

although i have no idea what does the name beansbin mean and other than the fact that the owner of this coffee chain is the brother-in-law my friend's friend (what a so-far-away relation for goodness's sake), i am not biased enough to lie about the fact that the ambience at beansbin rocks. only did dine at their samcheong-dong outlet, walked past their brand at hongdae (another 3-storey cool building you wont be able to find in sunny sg).

deffo must visit because it's so worth every single calorie consumed. 18 stores country-wide but waffles at every outlet should be QC-ed and taste equally good??

lastly, a night view just fer you!

you know i love you :)