Lackluster

Final leg of finals ha-ha. Seriously hate the timetable of exams this semester but since it's the last one tomorrow I shall quit the complaining and get on with describing photos of my life so far.

Recently got my hair touched up because I don't want my roots to be showing in vacation photos. The funny (and good) thing is that the photo above shows my hair color before the touch-up. It doesn't look like I've roots at all which's weird because I've gotten my hair cut quite often these past couple months so it's not like my hair has been stagnant in terms of growth. Secretly hoping that my natural hair color has decided to change to a reddish brown because I've been so nice to it. A girl can dream.

Tried Godfire ramen at Ramen Champion (Bugis) and liked it

What a sassy gal

WILD BEAST

Been quite in the working out zone recently because I want my body to look the best it can at my age. Not a willing victim of a saggy butt and bulging tummy. Darren has been helping me out so much in the fitness department. I mean, constantly being around someone else's six pack abs does make me feel bad about my body only because I know I could have that if I wanted to. And well I did have it, until laziness visited and decided to stay.

Problem areas: -circles entire body-

Does this count for something?

Smug after  surviving an hour of suffering

If you feel in need of a spark of motivation in terms of fitness, do contact Darren. Most people have this impression that personal training sessions cost a bomb and that it's not worth it when you can just workout at your own pace FOC. I used to think this way until I realized that never would I have the discipline or knowledge to identify what type of workouts my body needs. There's so much more to it than just running like a hamster on the treadmill, trust me on this.

In case you're interested, D.Fitness is having an ongoing personal trainer promotion and you can view the promo rates here. If you're a student like me, you enjoy a student discount! Don't be shy or hesitate any further and just go for it. There's no time better than now and personally, I prefer a perkier ass on myself. And it doesn't hurt hanging around with a bunch of hot guys at the gym.

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Mel and I participated in a flea and it was so bad this time round. Usually we clear most of our stuff but after the organizer shifted the location of the flea, it was so bad. Will definitely have to think twice if we're planning to join anymore fleas after this. The best part was definitely the chatting and spacing out together since we rarely see each other these days.

HA

Bravely partied at Mink in the midst of exams because I wouldn't have any other time to do that. The next day, I had such a bad baaaaad tummy ache and almost died waiting for Darren to bring me food because he was stuck in a meeting. Basically rolled around in bed the entire day with the occasional visit from Sundae. He bought me piping hot Ajisen so all the hate disapparated.

Finally took time out to bring the grizzly bear to the groomer's and of course she caused me such embarrassment. Had diarrhea twice during grooming and led all the other dogs in a barking frenzy. She's so wild. Does that say anything about me as the pet owner/sister?

Dempsey Weekends

I used to dislike Dempsey Road sooo much because my parents loved going there to buy various pieces of furniture during the weekends. To my sister and me, that meant a boring afternoon spent looking at wooden furniture and trying not to get bitten by mosquitoes. Only in recent years did I realize that there's so much more to Dempsey than furniture and seafood.

There has been so much raving about brunch/high-tea places at Dempsey that I got so sick of the thought of going there. I'm not one for crowds or opinions of the masses.

However, I'm so glad that I decided to go for a massage at Spa Esprit and have dinner with Mel at House. It was such a lovely and quiet day spent.

The room was very clean and simple. The best part for me was the light smell of essential oils wafting through the air. I love essential oils and scented candles with a burning passion. Which explains the 6 Bath and Body Works candles I have sitting in storage right now, waiting to be burned. And mommy's plus my collection of essential oils. Ah love ♥

I asked the front desk for a recommendation of their best and was introduced to the House Proud Massage which's a combination of a classic massage and Tui Na, if I remember correctly. But in the end I chose the Back To Balance which consisted of 8 essential oils.

During the 90-min massage, I went to heaven and forgot to come back. The masseuse was really nice and polite, asking for my preference of which areas I'd like to concentrate more on. I know for a fact my neck and shoulders have a ton of knots which ache so much especially when I'm hunched over a table doing work. When she started working on those, I died for a moment on the table. She apologized for the pain but I told her to carry on anyway which was the best idea ever because right now, the knots feel non-existent! Also, the smell of the oils definitely helped in relaxing me further.

A point to take note of is if you're heading out after the massage, it's best to have the oils cleaned off you or at least exposed areas like your neck and limbs. When the lady asked if I wanted it cleaned off or left on, I made the mistake of choosing to leave it on which meant feeling oily for the rest of the day during dinner and shopping afterwards.

Came out to a nice surprise of hot ginger tea and pastries. Totally relaxed at the sitting area till Mel said she was on the way. Plus points for after-treatment service!

Another thing I noticed was how the front desk doesn't hard sell their products or service packages. I was observing how they treated all other clients besides myself and it was the same. For this customer who had a package that was already used up, she was just politely asked if she wanted to add on more services or leave it at that for the time being. There wasn't the whole "it's so much cheaper if you sign up now, it's a limited time offer only and it's really cheap so do it now now NOW!" I hate hard selling tactics so much because I'm currently experiencing it at other salons which I'm going to with every.single.visit. It definitely spoils the entire experience and leaves me feeling hella annoyed.

So anyway, the front desk very politely informed me of this introductory package which they had going on at the moment. I would so totally have signed up if not for how much I've already spent elsewhere.

Hanger steak, apple cider by the bottle, truffle fries

If you love red meats medium rare, do try the Hanger Steak. It looked like such a small portion at first but made me so full I couldn't even finish the croquette. Apple cider was so awesome at washing down the food. Love!

I love relaxing weekends.

Casual

Outfits

Those were my casual running-around-Singapore-madly-running-errands outfits. Whenever I see style blogs, it seems as though it is possible to go around the city wearing 6 inch heels running errands. How do people do that? And there's always a professional photographer around to take photos of them looking fabulous while running errands. I am such a commoner.

Been so busy trying to fix everything in the house before CNY, and all the beauty appointments I'm trying to squeeze into these couple of weeks. I've fixed kitchen sink pipes, oiled all the creaking doors, switched out lightbulbs, continuously stocked the fridge with wet market groceries (this means getting up earlier than I want to), and all other gross household stuff nobody except professionals should ever have to do.

My skin has been horrible lately due to lack of sleep because I'm so into Rizzoli and Isles currently. Gahhh I'm not ready for CNY!

Looking totally gorgeous while baking almond cookies

Saw this at Cold Storage and sent the photo to Anna. She thought it was a deity figurine of some sort. Would anyone dare to cut open this 财神爷 (God of Wealth) to get to the 年糕 (sweet glutinous cake) in it?!

Been having this Red Rice Wine Noodles when I go for appointments at Novena. It's located in the food court of Velocity, the stall selling Banmian. Love it so much! Not exactly the tastiest I've had but this is better than nothing.

Sneaky girl trying to get our attention when we go out/come home

Bug-eyed sisters

Darren sent me this, which I think is meaningful for anyone who needs a boost of spirit. Think he saw it on Instagram or something so credits to whoever made this! It may seem stupid/insignificant but I think we all have to remember this at some down point in our lives when everything feels horrible and bad.

At least I know some parts of it is true for me. Happy Monday!

Noteworthy

Over the past few months I've had some pretty good meals. These days, I cook at home so there's not really much of a chance to explore dining places outside. Buying cheap groceries from the wet market has really put things into perspective. (lol)

Famous Thai food in Sembawang, located in the coffeeshop of an industrial area. Tom Yum Soup, Deep Fried Thai Style Fish and Pineapple Rice are must-haves every time I'm there. Restaurant quality food at coffeeshop prices!

At grandparent's where food is strictly reserved for me.

Went to Viva Mexico with Anna after a friend recommended it to me and the beef chimichanga was the.best.I.have.ever.eaten.in.Singapore. If you like Mexican food, just go. I'm pretty sure most of their dishes are as awesome as this. It's at Somerset where there's a row of restaurants including a famous ramen place. Memory fails me.

Pho at Nam Nam Noodle Bar (Raffles City) was alright. It wasn't fun queueing and the noodles weren't what I expected. Noodle texture seemed very starchy to me, it's like they soaked it in something to make it chewy. The lotus or whatever tea I ordered was a waste of money. If lotus can't be tasted at least the tea should be but no, it was like iced water.

I still prefer the other kind of pho where you pour heaps of bean sprouts and some leafy herbs into the soup. That was what I had in US, Vietnam, and Australia so I'm not sure why the pho at Nam Nam is so different?

It's 1.50 A.M. and I'm hungry.

1.1 Sarah's Birthday x Buffet

Isn't it awesome how I start almost every post with some shameless photo of Sundae?

My little sister is a New Year baby and it's always great to be able to celebrate both a new year and her birthday together because it means x2 the celebration. Parents used to host parties for her every single year but I believe she has grown out of that. She requested for just a birthday meal this year instead.

Obscene Sundae

She chose the Vienna Seafood Buffet Restaurant located at United Square and during the meal, we both agreed never to go back again. It was a pretty horrid experience for me. We were probably the only locals there.

Food: Not enjoyable. I paid about S$115 and it was really not worth it. Could've had much better food at a nice restaurant for the same price or cheaper.

Crowd: It was sooo disgusting seeing people snatch food, pile their own plates high with seafood, and being really greedy and selfish in general. Guess I shouldn't expect much since it's not a quality hotel buffet but seriously people need to learn some basic manners.

Service: Depends on the nationality of the servers. I shall only comment on the positive experience, which was this Thai lady who was polite and helpful. That's about it.

We bolted out of that restaurant as soon as we finished. Ugh.

Then we went to Orchard to get a cake and shop around. And of course Starbucks to wash down the food as quickly as possible. (Craving an iced mocha now omg)

Pretty Sarah all grown up :')

It is normal to smell your pet dog ok

I love my weird family.