adventure

Stay tuned for my Bali trip post!

Wednesday, April 02, 2014


Am finally back from a one month long holiday!!!!

Muhahaha, yes it's a freaking one month long vacation, and non-stop fun, laughters, adventures, food and soaking up the sun! Travelled to Bali (Indonesia), Krabi (Thailand), and lastly Kota Kinabalu! (Sabah, Malaysia)
This year must be my lucky year since it's not everyday that my boyfriend gets to travel with me for ONE WHOLE MONTH. He's working in the F&B industry so it's really hard for him to take off so I'm really grateful we had all these time to ourselves to bond and go through new experiences together :)


Meanwhile, I'm just uploading all the photos and (obviously) editing them in Photoshop cos they'll look even prettier! (and by that I don't mean photoshopping my face if that's what you're thinking :P)

Bali has been such a beautiful place, with great local delights, vibrant nightlife, and endless shops for us girls to shop to our delight - Think Roxy/Ripcurl bikinis at factory warehouse prices!! 

As usual, I'll be including all the reviews, tips and MUST-DO activities in Bali.


Anyway, the above photo was taken on Valentine's Day.
Yes, Valentine's Day! I spent my freaking Valentine's Day in Bali... Best moment ever :) Except for that one embarassing moment was that I was soooo stuffed from dinner at Mama San (omg I will blog about that later - BEST DINNER IN BALI EVER!) that I had to borrow the opposite pharmacy's toilet to puke my dinner out -_- Such a turn off but whatever.

But Bali has been good to my boyfriend and I! Except for the weather and some of the pushy locals of cos :(
We were practically HARASSED by every shop owners that we passed by. They literally grabbed my arm and I had to seek help from my boyfriend to rescue the distressed damsel.. Hahahaha. And one annoying thing was that we wanted to head over to Nusa Dua Beach but it rained the whole morning and afternoon so we sat at our hotel's nearby Starbucks reading up about the missing Japanese divers all afternoon. Bummer.

Other than that, it was really good!
Bought Ripcurl/Roxy bikinis and surfshorts at only like 1/3 of Singapore's retail prices?!
And the factory outlets were so cheap, way cheaper than SG's so called "outlet stores."
Food was good because we relied on Tripadvisor to bring us to the top rated cafes/restaurants.. Oh man I'm missing the food!



Well, stay tuned because not only is my Bali trip post coming up, there'll be Krabi and Kota Kinabalu too! :)



travel

Back from a 2 weeks holiday ;)

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I know I've totally ignored this space for the longest time ever... and I'm so excited to be blogging again! It's a good habit to pen down my thoughts and blog once in a while everytime I can no matter how cheesy it can get. Good to keep the mind working and my readers.. (I hope you guys are still here :()

Guess what? 
I just came back from a 2 weeks long Bali (Indonesia) + Krabi (Thailand) vacation! Mmm.. feeling so refreshed and energised! I guess I actually grew a little throughout the trip. It wasn't any ordinary trip, not your fancy 5 stars resort or fine dining, but rather, we took the other alternative - chatting and hanging out with the locals, having local food and "trying to" lead the local life. Of course, the buffet breakfast in Bali doesn't count.. (Too damn good to give it up HAHA



Some tips to share for travellers travelling to Bali :)

Simcard
We actually bought simcards (simPATI) from the Bali aiport (Denpasar) for both our Samsung Note 3 and Iphone 5 phones, so we could have internet & GPS throughout the trip that could allow us to navigate through the islands of Bali easily. There were so many places to explore!
Costed us about 300,000 rupiah for two sim cards.

Transport
Most of the locals travel by motorcycles, and tourists can also rent a motorbike conveniently from the streets. About 50,000 rupiah per day (they will most likely quote you highly, so be sure to bargain!)
You could also travel by their taxis. Honest ones will go by meter while the others will go by quotation. Well, I guess in Bali everything is about haggling!

I'd definitely recommend getting the rented motorbike, especially if you have your own GPS.

One of the best places that we've managed to find on our own through GPS and our very own handy rented motorbike was definitely Pandawa Beach.



The cliffs, monuments, statues, sea, view.. omg, just too many to name - there were all so breathtaking. What surprised us was the colour of the seawater! Unlike Kuta / Legian / Seminyak's polluted beach that resembles Singapore's,  Pandawa was so different.. It was so clear. We could even see the seaweeds the farmers were growing in the water!

With our bike, we also explored the pretty cafes in Seminyak area (just a 10-15minutes drive from Kuta area) and our best bet? Definitely Revolver Espresso Cafe! And Naughty Nuri's.. and Mama San... and oh my so many!!


Shopping
The local goods that you see everywhere, especially in Kuta Market are all basically the same. I was already bored on the second day, seeing the SAME stuffs everywhere. However, if you were to shop in Bali, go for their surf brands like Roxy, Ripcurl, Billabong, Quiksilver. Most likely the prices are so much cheaper than what you have back home. I got my Roxy bikini at the Factory Outlet along Jl. Bypass for only $15? Also got a super pretty surf shorts (Roxy) while my boyfriend went mad for Ripcurl's surf pants and shirts at their factory outlets, also along the same road.

One thing I did regret not buying was the pink and black Nike Tr Fit 5's shoes :( They were so cheap compared to the ones in Singapore! I saw the same nike shoe yesterday at Tampines retailing at $139 whereas Bali was selling only at $80!

And oh yes, one thing to go for is their sales! If you're lucky, you're bound to snap up some good deals. While we were at Discovery Mall near our hotel (Bintang Bali Kuta), New Balance was having a 1 for 1 sale. And it was fucking cheap! The depressing thing was that we came a little late so our sizes were sold out :'(


Till then.. I will blog more again. Still many things to do ;)


Follow me on my instagram - @gladyspng since I'm using it often, especially when I'm on vacation! In the meantime, you guys could also check out the pictures we took during the 2 weeks ;)

reviews

Yacht Party at Lazarus Island!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Yay! I recently got back from a one-day yacht trip last Saturday, and it was a blast!
Super tan now, but it's a precious priceless souvenir from the trip hehehe. 
The yacht was Richard's, so he charged us at quite a cheaper price compared to outside :))

Thankfully Dear has quite a lot of friends, thats why we managed to get so much lobangs, lol.

Ken's friends and us met rather early that day, and had our breakfast at Le Xuan Dim Sum at Changi Village!


 Tina and I on Mike's car

We reached SAF Yacht Club rather early, with Richard and Joanne there waiting for us :)


We set off pretty early! 
Finally reached the yacht :) 

 Ken & I on the yacht

The men 

 The ladies :)


Luckily my colleague gave me a pack of seasick pills for the trip, and for fear that I might vomit halfway through the trip, I took it so luckily I didn't get nauseous! However, Adrian's wife got seasick and vomited halfway. :(

 Single shot while the yacht is moving :) Across you can actually see Changi beach!

The captain and his wife! (Thanks for being such great hosts)

Ken and I :) 

 Plane spotted

There were also small showers throughout the yacht trip, but Lazarus Island wasn't affected at all! From the yacht,. we could see dark clouds looming over the CBD area. Thankfully we didn't kena the rain!
It was a short 45 minutes trip from SAF Yacht Club to Lazarus Island.

And there, we reached! 

We saw quite a number of yachts there, and a few angmohs suntanning on the beach. Hahaha the water looked so much better than ECP's/sentosa/changi beach's so it was really tempting to jump into the sea!

Peaceful quiet island with quite a number of yachts around 

Lazarus Island is connected together with St John's Island, but I wouldn't dare to jump into St John's island that freely as my boyfriend spotted quite a number of jellyfishes there.. :(

But anyway, we didn't get the chance to go St john's island, the time passed by too quickly! :(

The boys were the first to jump into the sea..

 Woops!

I have a phobia for swimming in the sea (because you never know what's in the water!) so initially, I wanted to stay on the yacht, but the trip would be wasted, right? :(

So with the group's persuasion, I decided to "take the risk!" LOL. 

Joanne gave me a life vest & swimming buoy so I was quite safe. Hahahah.
And there, I swam in the sea and I did panicked a little when my feet couldn't touch the floor!

But it was really fun! Watershot with dear :)





We swam near the shore so that I could recover from my first experience in the sea! AHH

Yay! Having fun :) You can actually see the rest swimming near the yacht HAHA 

 Dear <3 p="">

 And here's the unpolluted Lazarus Island..


 The girls :)
We were struggling so hard to stay still in the water! HAHA 

 Adrian found a really pretty sea shell!

 And girls being girls,of course we wanted to take lots of photos while being at a completely new island. hehe! JUMP SHOT!



After frolicking in the water for a while, we swam back to the yacht and the boys were already fishing while the rest were starting the fire to BBQ on the yacht! Yum :)


Within 10 minutes, the boys caught their first fish!!! It was really fast. AND it also made me realise that there are actually such huge fishes in the sea -_- WTF so scary..

Caught the first Parrot fish!

In fact on that day, they actually caught 3 different fishes!

This kena-squashed-by-stone looking fish.. Which we have no idea what it is :P

 And while they were fishing, BBQ-ing, I went back to the water and swam on my own.. There's something so calming about being in the water than on land. Prolly the reason why human bodies mainly consists of water?


 Of course, my boyfriend was the chef onboard, grilling beef patties, satsys, nuggets for us to enjoy~!



While swimming, they caught their 3rd fish, which was a HUGEASS garoupa! Omg I literally screamed when they were catching it cos it was so huge! Plus I didn't feel that safe to be in the water anymore.. LOL

Dear holding the garoupa

And its pretty heavy! 

Just a shot of us holding the garoupa but we're not the ones who caught it :P 

Some ladies shot again~  

Candid shot 

 Lovers' shot


And lastly, our favourite shot of us :)

Had such great fun that day, Though it was 10am-6pm, it felt like 2 hours only. When you're having fun, time really flies past.  I wanna go for my next getaway again!

NEXT YEAR'S BALI TRIP IN FEBRUARY :)

food

Healthy Lifestyle / Maki-San / Merely Ice-Cream

Sunday, September 01, 2013

I hate Apple. *just joking*
Why did they come up with iPhone?! I'm thankful to them for its user-friendly features but it's too friendly..
I've been so lazy to take photos with my S100 because my iPhone 5 always comes in handy! So in case my loyal readers don't see me updating my blog too often, follow me on Instagram! @gladyspng :)

I'm going to make it a habit to blog soon after every event.


Anyway, I've been trying to maintain my healthy and fit lifestyle (eating healthy - 70%, indulgence - 30%) ever since getting interviewed by the Straits Times Lifestyle editor. Hehe. Yes, I do have my own clean eating recipe book too :P It's handwritten and whenever I feel like whipping up a clean dessert/main course, that book is literally my bible for it!

Been trying to incorporating more different workouts into my life (since I don't have to commit so much to my work anymore :D) such as strength training, yoga, exercising outdoor. It's great to try out different workouts once in a while to keep that metabolism high.


Here are some of my clean meals I had over the few weeks:
(Mostly are in my Instagram, you guys can go check it out and see my feed)


Oats in a Jar
Don't be deceived by its plain appearance, the taste was soooo good! And I had it this morning :P

Chocolate Oats Pancakes
 drizzled with Chocolate yogurt sauce sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon :)
I made this for my boyfriend!


Clean Fried Brown Rice
My all-time favourite easy clean fried rice! No hassle at all :)

Just my normal breakfast in bed: Muesli with raisins, flaxseeds and strawberries

Clean Chocolate Raw Brownie
This actually turned out pretty good! It's raw brownie (no bake required) and the main ingredients consists of only medjool dates, cocoa powder!

 Clean Chocolate Banana Ice-Cream
I love love love this combination. It's completely clean and not to mention - yummy too! I finished it off that night :P

Clean Bento Box
This was actually whipped up by my boyfriend. Lettuce with yellow capsicum, broccoli, brown rice risotto cooked in organic vegetable stock, with grilled fish! It was so good I was licking my box HAHHA


I don't usually upload every clean meal that I have (that'd be so boring seriously) because I do repeat. For example, I normally have my fried brown rice (almost) everyday for lunch. Occasionally when I feel like it I'd bake a clean pizza :)

Dear is also (trying to) maintain a healthy lifestyle but the food that he eats make me go.... omg =_="
I have this philosophy that if you're going to put the food into your body, it'd better benefit your health and taste good too. No point having a delicious meal but allowing it to harm your body.


Myself in the gym recently :p
Ever since after the Genting trip, having been slacking a little :( Especially when I workout! My knees are hurting like a bitch again so going to recover first before hitting the gym again!


Back to exercising, Dear and I went cycling 2 weeks back at Pasir Ris Park!
There were so many animals around (if you're lucky) and we spotted so many different species of birds and their nests!!


Spot the birds feeding their babies awww~ 


Whoop! Fresh air!
 A break from the gym... which is normally filled with the smell of stale sweat and hk feet HAHA 

Our bicycle :) 

Despite having my clean meals, I do have treat meals too!!
I'm only human and it's normal for me to have my cravings -_- but recently, my body's been reacting badly to too much sugary stuffs. (which is GOOD in a way, HAHA)

Anyway met up with my Year 2 mates for a short dinner and a catchup at Maki-San!



Maki-San is a DIY (okay not exactly do it yourself...) sushi cafe at the basement of Cathay that allows you to customise your own sushi, from toppings, sauce to the types of rice you'd like to have. Best part is it's healthy if you choose wisely!

 Of course, I chose brown rice, topped with zucchini, avocado, tempura enoki mushroom (okay not too healthy already HAHA), japanese omelette and it is sooooo good. I had teriyaki sauce drizzled over my sushi rolls which is also packed in a very pretty packaging :)

Check out my sushi rolls! 


I think Maki-San is definitely worth the money (though it's really affordable - $9.90 for 8 rolls, $6.90 for 5) and they also have free green tea/ miso soup for students :)

And not to mention, it's so yummy!!!!


Anyway, after dinner, we went to Merely Ice-Cream at Sunshine Plaza as highly recommended by Eileen and Lydia. Best part was it's pretty cheap, so why not!!

It's located next to the popular small thai restaurant, and the design and layout of the ice-cream cafe was really attractive!

Super pretty! 

Tried out a few flavours.. I always have my waffles with chocolate ice-cream but Merely only has alcoholic chocolate -_- Tried it and the alcohol taste was sooo strong, ewww. So I settled for butterscotch instead. It was sooo good!!

Green Tea and Butterscotch

Butterscotch and Horlicks... ( i think?) Oops my memory sucks -_- 

Their tables are decorated with customers' namecards, doodles, drawings, coins, and so much more! Under the table they have magazines for customers to browse too :) 

My waffle with Butterscotch ice-cream! 

It's really affordable and it's good too! Maybe I'll put clean waffles in my "to-bake" list next, topped with my own clean chocolate ice-cream :P 

Nevertheless, we spent the night laughing and catching up with one another :)


More to come, girls!


Okayyyyyy. Hitting the gym with my favourite class - RPM tomorrow!
Goodnight ;)

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