It's a X'mas affair with JB!

It's been a while since I last updated. Work's been real busy for the past few months. Now that I've officially quit from my previous job (once again restarting my career with zero income), I would have more time to work on the blog and my online store. Entrepreneur is never easy and especially when I am going into a saturated market and doing it alone. Another emotional pitfall is when your peers are advancing their career but your future still look somewhat bleak. But I'm going to embrace it with optimism and positivity, and hopefully one day DeStylez would become what I hope it would be... 加油！

Anyways, it's the festive period and before I officially become a full-time slave to my own ideas, we had a mini celebration in JB with my clique. Unlike our usual tradition where it's a all-girls-affair, aiks joined us for we need a driver, a guide, a muscle man and his apartment *smiles cheekily*

Day one was spent BBQ-ing, with food bought from Sheng Shiong (in SG) and Testco (in Malaysia). If you happened to rent/have an apartment in Malaysia and want to have a BBQ session, you probably would know that it's better to buy food from Singapore for Malaysia is a muslim country, so the meat variety might be limited. 

 

When we finally concluded our cosy, mini BBQ session, we moved on to playing Dance central on Kinect to work off the gained calories (or so I think) before we had our usual X'mas gift exchange session! It is usually during the gifts exchange do you realised how creative your friends could be. haha!

Day two was spent singing karoke at City Square's Neway. The previous time we came, there was a lunch set with salad buffet, but it seems that they had changed their package to only include a lunch set, which wasn't a fantastic affair. But given that we paid around RM20+ per pax for a 3-hour session, there's nothing much to complain about. Do remember to bring a jacket along for it might get a little cold with the centralised air-conditioning.

 

We had a surprise for aiks after the k session, just before we conclude our mini getaway. One thing I loved about Malaysia is the food. It's half the price as compared to SG with equal amount of goodness.   

Thank you for reading.
♥ ZM & Kim

Something call LOVE

 Beware of a warm fuzzy thing call love, for it comes unexpectedly and accidentally, often when you are least prepared. 

This series was unexpected, for I had not planned for it to happen. But it's always fun to be spontaneous. Well, truth is, 'no' is simply not an option when you have a bunch of crazy friends who are in it with you. While it may not be the best set of photo, for I'm still trying to learn the ropes, it's the moment that matters the most.

Thank you for reading.
♥ ZM & Kim

Striking the right balance

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine. 

 

 

Having lived in an urban area all my life, I've come to treasure the beauty of vintage and rustic places. While some people rather shop in shopping centres while overseas, I, for one, prefer the old streets. It's rare that a place can strike a good balance between both, which explains why I am so in love with this city. And the experience was made perfect when you have local friends who bring you around. 

I hope that this set of photos will evoke in you a sense of reminiscent as well. 

Thank you for reading.
♥ ZM & Kim

Day 37. Be brave and be different.

"If you going to look at what people are going to say, you'll never do anything..." - Mr Nathan

"I think fear is somthing you impose on yourself - if you were taught to fear (venturing into the unknown), you will." - Elisha Tan, CEO of Learnemy

Sometimes we are so affected by what people think of us and would say of us that we decided not to venture into something unknown or different from the norm. From young, I was under the illusion that by studying hard and getting good enough grades, I would eventually end up with a good job or at least should have no problem looking for one. When all my friends decided to take the JC route, I follow suit even though I knew that I wanted to give Media studies a try. 

Having graduated from a local university, indeed job search hasn't been difficult. What's more difficult is about finding the right fit. Once, I quit my first job without securing another just because I wanted to embark on a self-reflection trip to find out what I want out of life. With a backpack, and some help, I left for Cambodia. Reflection proved to be an easy word to say. Even after the trip, I wasn't as much enlightened as I was prior to the trip. Not thoroughly thinking about it (in the past few years) has apparently granted permission to that part of my brain to go on infinite days of holiday.

Having graduated and worked for 3 years now, I still feel somewhat unaccomplished. As my interaction with the world increases, I feel increasingly limited - in terms of my knowledge, skills and experience. Every now and then, I would pose the question to people I met, "why do you do what you are doing now?" Often, it's about making ends meet, and that job fulfillment isn't as important as earning enough money to spend on what you enjoy. Is it? Earlier, I had a conversation with a taxi driver, and his story was rather thought-provoking - he left a well-paid position in a big company to enjoy doing something he likes, but with time to spare for himself and his family. I imagine a taxi driver with a grad degree - doesn't sounds quite appealing does it? 

Indeed, to be in a career that you love, you have to take risks and ignore what others think of you. This is a lesson that will take some time for me to digest, and perhaps a while to internalise.

Heavy story aside, Aiks and I went to try Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Sing today! It was a totally random and impromptu attempt, especially upon seeing that the queue was shorter than usual. Having said that, it still took us a good 1 hour to get our foot inside the restaurant.

Having heard of the super long queue time, we actually run a stop watch to see how long it takes for us to enter the restaurant. Technically, it was a 49 mins wait. 

 What we do best when we are bored, self-entertainment. I look so different here!

 Finally! One step closer to the food.

I was rather surprised to see the rather limited variety offered on the menu, but that also explains why the food were of a certain (controlled) quality. Having only 2 of us, we ordered a total of six dishes (though we really wanted to try more!):

1. Pork Dumpling with Shrimp “Siew Mai” ($5)

2. Steam Egg Cake ($3.80) 

3. Prawn Dumpling ($5.50)

4. Vermicelli Roll with Shrimps ($5.50)

5. Beancurd Skin Roll with Pork and Shrimp ($4)

6. Baked Bun with BBQ Pork ($4.50)

The Siew Mai was really juicy, the best that I have ever tried thus far.

I had a bite, and had the next and it never stopped. The steamed egg cake was so fluffyyyyy I can die! Have it when its piping hot.

Though there's a generous number of shrimps (about 3) inside each dumplings, I would say the prawn dumplings were pretty normal. Value-for-money?

This tasted pretty normal too.

I don't really like this dish. If you were to order, I rather you wait for the temperature to cool down before eating it, I feel that it's more fragrant when eaten cooled.

True to its reputation, this legendary baked bun with BBQ pork was really yummy. It came last, and by then I was pretty full but I decided to have my deserving half portion anyways!

It was, overall, a pretty good experience. I would say it's baked bun with BBQ pork and the steam Egg cake are to die for - cause you probably can't find better ones elsewhere. But for a one-hour long queue, I probably need to have it bad enough before I would put myself through this process again.

Tim Ho Wan

68 Orchard Road, #01-29A Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839

Mon - Thurs: 1000 - 2200 hours
Fri - Sun & PH: 0900 - 2200 hours