Ain't She Cute My Cute Lil' Kitty?

Yes! After so many years, I'd finally bought a kitten as a pet again. My previous cat was forced to be given away by my parents cos of my niece and I was devastated. Their reason was "Cats' fur is bad for babies". I had that Persian cat for 5 years, and her name was "Tammie".

I had been thinking of buying another cat as a pet since Tammie was gone. Many times I held back from buying a cute kitty. Why? I want to be sure that I am ready for it and will give it all the care and love that it needs.

I bought her home this evening and her breed is called Exotic Shorthair. She was born on September 14, 2008 and she's super duper cute to the max!!! Her fur color is grey and white, and I decided to name her Truffle. She is named after the truffles mushrooms (thanks to my di who gave me this idea). Truffle is a kind of mushroom that it is so expensive people don't eat it as a whole. Simply shaves off a few shavings of the truffle mushroom over your pasta, steak, or even salad.

Click here to read everything you need to know about truffle mushrooms
Click here to read the price of truffles mushrooms for YR2009

The first image is my previous cat, Tammie. As for the rest? My super duper cutie pie!!!

Sail Away With Royal Caribbean

5 day 4 night cruise with Royal Caribbean and at the end of the cruise, my conclusion? It was indeed "royal". The service was excellent and food was excellent too.

Day 2 and 3 the ship stopped over at Port Klang (Malaysia) and Phuket (Thailand). We had been to Kuala Lumpur so many times, therefore we ended up staying onboard that day. Although we had been to Phuket before, but the last time round we were practically at the villa sunbathing most of the time and didn't get to see much of the island. We signed up for a 5 hour tour : Phuket City and Cultural Tour. 70% of our time was eating and sleeping since there were not that many activities for us. The balance 30%? Sunbathing, reading my book, shopping and watching performances by Royal Caribbean dancers and singers.

Though now that I'm back in Singapore, I still have the feeling that I am onboard a ship. I keep having this "choppy" feeling..

Before Chinese New Year...

I have so many things to do!!! I just got back from Lombok, and here I am busy preparing for Chinese New Year before going away again.

Since Chinese New Year is coming, I was thinking to myself it would be nice to have a new look. So, I went to get my hair done at J Salon. Highlight, haircut plus treatment cost me $268.

Yesterday I had my 2nd cooking class for this year. I'm the one conducting the class, not the student ok =p I thought her how to make honey mustard salad dressing, roast chicken leg with rosemarry and bacon, and a dessert.

Later in the afternoon, I'll be on a 4 night cruise with Royal Caribbean, Jan 19 - 23. The ship will stop over at Port Klang, Malaysia and Phuket, Thailand. I'll report about my experience after I'm back from the cruise.

Click to view Royal Caribbean website

I wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year in advance!~

Sunburn & Lombok

Date : January 8 - 12
Venue : Imaj Villas (Lombok, Indonesia)

My 2nd visit to Imaj since last year March 2008 with my family and friends. I was at their 3-bedroom villa again since the package was purchased a year ago and expiring in February this year. I bought it for US$600 for 5 days last year. Recently, Imaj had this promotion and their 3-bedroom villas was selling at US$40 per night only!!! @#$@#$@#@#$@@$#@#

Anywa, since I'm just back from my retreat, I'll briefly summarize on what I did. The photos below are the villa I was staying (forgotten to take a photo of the bedroom I was sleeping in). And not forgettig me sunbathing... and came back with sunburn. OUCH!!!

1 of my dinner, I invited the chef to cook at my villa. While they were busy preparing my dinner, I went to peep on how they prepared the food and penned it on my notebook. I will use it for one of my cooking class ho ho ho...

I took some photos of the place as well. Not a thorough photo tour, but at least better than nothing?

Due to me and my sunburn, I couldn't have a body scrub at the spa. I ended up with a full body massage, strawberry mask and milk (body), anti-agiing facial and pedicure. I took their Christmas & New Year special package which included 3 course dinner and a bottle of red wine. All these for only Rp960, 000!!! SO CHEAP!!!

On my last night in Lombok, I went to this seafood restaurant recommended by the staff at Imaj. They said the seafood there is not only fresh, but cheap as well. Verdict: GREAT GOOD, NICE AMBIENT AND SUPER CHEAP!!! 1 Lobster, 4 King Prawn, 6 sticks of Calamari, 1 whole Red Snapper, a plate of vegetables and rice and beer : Rp291, 000.

Some of the food I had while in Lombok, too layz to take picture for all my meals there =p

Not forgetting my cute pinkystreet doll. I was so lazy that only took a few photos for Yoshiko.

I was kind of unlucky. My 3rd night there I got sting by a bee on my nose, 4th night by an unknown insect on my right foot and ended up still swollen till now.

I didn't buy anything when in Lombok since the place isn't a shopping paradise. It is more for relaxation, spa, watersport, scuba diving and cheap and good seafood. I ended up spending quite a fair amount on tipping the staff at Imaj.

This will be a busy week for me for I'll be away again next week for cruise from Monday - Thursday. And after that will be Chinese New Year. Gosh! So many things to be done by this week!!!

Just Before My Trip...

I need to pack my luggage right? I'm going to Lombok for a spa retreat. I had been there last year March and am going back again. It's a nice 2-storey villa with private pool. The villa is situated on a mountain, overlooking the sea. I am thinking should I take a boat ride of 3 hours to Bali since it's nearby. Anyway, I'm packing my La Mer Whitening Mask to bring along to sooth my sunburn face. I'm not sure how much it cost now since this box I bought it last year. Retail price for a box containing 8 sheets of mask cost S$600. This isn't the first time I'm using this mask. Before I bought this box, I had bought a smaller box set of 2 sheets of mask at S$180. After using it, I find it over-rated by the reviews and regretted buying that bigger box. I mean, I'm paying so much and yet the so called wonder isn't that wonderful to me. Lucky me, this box I managed to get a heavy discount from my sister's friend.

Below are some photos of what I'd been cooking lately. The fish was my new creation. The sauce was a combination of dark vinegar, sugar, and so on.

I shall take a break from blogging till my return from the trip and will definitely post up photos of the nice villa. The last trip I didn't manage to take good photos for I forgotten to bring my camera? Zzz...

My New Year's Resolutions - 2009

It's that time of the year again. Time to renew, refresh, recommit, re-everything we can come the turn of the new year. Few will actually commit to making any real changes, and of those who do, even fewer will actually succeed.

For myself, I start thinking about my resolutions just today on another insomnia night.  My goals are simple. I want resolutions that will either make me happy or resolutions that are truly aspirational. I don't want to feel bad missing them and I can continue tossing them into the mix for years to come.

For Year 2009, I will work to:

• go out of my way to help others and not feeling disappointed if it's not being returned.
• reduce, reuse, recycle. It's the right thing to do.
• try new foods and come up with more new recipes for my cooking class (Which I need to planning new schedules for cooking class as well grrr... )
• take photos and sell stuff on Ebay. I have tons of junk I can get rid of.
• buy more stuff on Ebay. A cheaper way to spend than going to the malls.
• start exercising at least once a week.
• clear the food in my refridgerator before buying anything else.
  

 That's all for this year. Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!