Park Review

They say that people with kids or dogs know all the best parks in the area. The latter is certainly true for us. Having had Moxie for a while now, we've toured most of the parks in the vincinity. And just when we thought there weren't any more left to explore, we discovered another favorite today! The little Reservoir Park off Route 9 in Chestnut Hill. There's a nice path with plenty of benches and trash cans (very important so you don't have to carry the poop with you) that go all the way around the water. It was breezy, shadey, and so picturesque that we decided to go back in the afternoon for a little picnic. Here's a photo from our excursion:

Notice she's drooling. She desperately wants her treat.


These are the other parks in the area. Let me know if there're others we left out:

1.Arnold Arboretum - In Jaimaca Plain. It's a huge park covering over 250 acres but I didn't find it particularly spectacular. The Singapore Botanic Gardens is much better. haha

2. Boston Commons - Nice place to people watch and for Moxie to meet the city dogs! Cons are that it's hard to find parking.

3. Bowen Playground - Good for daily walks since it's right across the road.

4. Cold Spring Park - A favorite since it's close to our place and dogs can run off leash. There's also a doggy playgroup in the afternoons for the lazy.

5. Chestnut Hill Reservoir - Near Boston College. Parts of the trail is a dirt path. Reservoir Park is way nicer!

6. Reservoir Park - Our new favorite. Great for jogging or catching some rays.

Dum dum dee dum

They're finally ready. We finally received CDs of our professionally taken photos from my dad by mail last week. See there are reasons why I haven't been blogging in a while. I've more important things to do like mull over my photos!

Initially I was really dissapointed with the photos because our photographer neglected to take shots of our wedding programs and confetti packets. We put so much time and effort into designing and making those ourselves. I've been bitching and moaning about it for days. So I'm kinda feeling sick of the topic. But today I am feeling slightly generous and will say that for the record I am quite satisfied with the rest of the photos he's taken. *gasp*

Based on my pre wedding shots and wedding day photography experience, I've learnt that choosing the right photographer can only do so much to guarantee the quality of your photos. Yes, I hear you bridezillas out there going ... what you mean it's the luck of the draw? It also depends on a variety of factors like whether the photographer is on form that day or if he's got an inspiration block. It's similar to being an artist. Got mojo = good day. No mojo = bad. Choosing the right photographer will only mean that you'll have a higher likelihood of getting better photos over some amateur who might be a hit or miss. I've seen photos from 'so called' good wedding photographers that were kinda blah.

So if I could do it all over again. I would get 2 good photographers :) and hedge my risks. Great idea eh? Why didn't I think of this before? *sob* Muahahhahhah ... I bet hubs is soo glad that we won't be doing this again.

One of my favorite shots:


What's a wedding without the kiss:


You can see the rest of our photos here.

Dear Gahment, Why Can't I Vote?

Triggered by tribolum's post I read on tomorrow.sg and the presidential election fiasco in Singapore, I must say that while it's outrageous most Singaporeans don't get to vote because of the lack of candidates, it is even worst when others don't even qualify based on some other criteria (i.e. me and hubs). I looked up the elections.gov web site today and was stunned to find that I didn't meet the requirements because I had been out of the country for more than 3 out of the last 5 years. Say what???

Holy schmoly is that really grounds for having your right taken away from you? What have I done to deserve this? Afterall, I am a good, polite Singaporean citizen, with a red passport, pink IC, and a spanking good command of singlish. I don't litter, I am over 21(don't ask), I read the Straits Times daily (ok ok only before they started charging), I have good personal hygiene,I am kiasu, kiasi, though I must admit to my one vice, chewing gum.

According to these rules, if you live overseas you must either be i)a scholar ii) gahment henchman or iii) diplomat to be worthy of a vote. Which leaves out us not so privileged folk. See for yourself:

You must have resided in Singapore for an aggregate of two years during the period of five years of being away as of the cut-off date of the Registers of Electors; OR

on full-time training or full-time service abroad as a member of the Singapore Armed Forces, or as a public officer or an employee of a Singapore public authority;

on full-time training which is sponsored by the Singapore Government or any Singapore public authority;

employed outside Singapore by an international organisation of which Singapore is a member, or any other organisation designated by the President under the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore;

Could it be because ...
a) I'm not smart enough? Only stupid people study or work overseas, unless of course they're on a gahment scholarship.
b) I'm a quitter and quitters don't deserve this privilege.
c) Or maybe like Gardenia bread, being Singaporean has an expiry date.

Honeymoon Series Part I - Bali

After all the wedding madness, we managed to sneak in a short 3-day getaway for a mini-honeymoon. Ok I call it the mini honeymoon because it was too short and I feel jibbed. We need another honeymoon, or a series. (hint hint) :)

Perhaps my expectations were too high. Hotel Nikko where we stayed was quite mediocre (though the Ritz was probably a hard act to follow). Now I wish we'd stayed somewhere else, like ALila or The Four Seasons (thanks for the rec Gabby, it's too late now) but alas since all our plans were made last minute we weren't able to do much research. We don't even have a Lonely Planet Bali guidebook that we so faithfully buy for each trip. No one to blame but us!

I was surprised by how quiet Bali was. Kuta, the supposed tourist hub, seemed rather lifeless, so was Jimbaran Bay where we went for seafood. It could be because tourism is down as a result of the Bali bombings, the place just isn't as vibrant anymore. Besides lazing by the beach, we also went snorkeling. Though most of the time I was trying not to get washed away by the currents which were pretty strong. The water wasn't that clear either, though we did get to see an assortment of tropical, brightly colored fish that came up to eat bread from your hands.

Our hotel room:


At the beach:

100 Years

I love the photo montage that hubs dearest created for our wedding. It's set to my favorite Five for Fighting song. I must have watched it a gazillion bazillion times but I never pass up an opportunity to watch it yet again. Too bad the song was recently cheapened in some stupid commercial on channel 5. Damnit I discovered it first ok!

For those of you who want to see our very very adorable baby photos so nicely arranged in the montage again (hah), we've uploaded the file so you can view the montage here. Be sure to download Flash 8 before viewing the montage since it contains embedded videos. The absolute latest technology. Would you expect any less from hubs? This is all just a teaser for when we actually get our wedding video and photos! Meanwhile I am desperately trying to relive the moment through photos from our friend's cameras. The wedding was so much fun ... can we do it again?

PS: Pardon the timing in the montage. For some reason the photos cycle at the correct frequency only on hub's computer. Flash is flakey!

I was born with a full head of hair


I can touch my toes

Surprise!

Awww my co-workers threw a little surprise wedding parteh for me with champagne and all. I should have been tipped off by that 4pm meeting on a friday. *#*! But I digress ... wasn't that so sweet of them. More importantly I got a nice $120 gift certificate from Bed Bath and Beyond. A great gift too since I already know what I want. A cool Zojiroshi neuro fuzzy rice cooker! Just in time too since our existing rice cooker is busted with a capital B. Everyone seems to be raving about this rice cooker and being the kiasu lemming that I am ..I want one too! Features I'm looking forward to:

• No more scrubbing the pot ... always have to do that with our existing cheapo rice cooker! Rice at the bottom doesn't burn and stick
• Timer so you can come home to warm rice! (ok ok who am I kidding I probably won't use it. But it just looks so nice and cool!)

Only problem though is the same rice cooker at BBB cost more than at amazon. Hrmmm wonder if they do price matches?

Damn Fools

I am seriously dealing with twits and nitwits. I write an email to my Bridal Salon yesterday telling them I would like to see photos of my gown before going back. Is this really so unreasonable? As a personal touch (since I know the assistant reads the mail) I say the following:

"Considering the fact that I can't see the dress in person, this is the best plan and would make me feel a lot better. I'm nervous about coming back to a gown I haven't seen, that cannot be modified, I'm sure you understand that being a recent bride yourself."

(All I am asking is for the gown to be complete 1 week before I arrive, and for photos to be taken just incase changes need to be made.)

So get this. The beyotch assistent starts off her reply by telling me to relax!! Then goes on to lecture me on how I should have 100% trust in the designer whilst relating her own pathetic story of how she didn't even see her gown till 2 weeks before her wedding because she had so much confidance in her designer! So what, now I am the unreasonable, neurotic one??? Such f'ing b**crap. I really hate when people have blind faith. Sure your gown designer might be able to guide you on what works or doesn't work for you, though they aren't always right! No wonder I see so many photos of brides who look like f'ing train wrecks. Oh and btw dear assistant, I don't really give a rat's ass for your opinion. I was only saying it to be nice.

Oh and she ends off by saying 'no offense'. F'king A I hate hate hate when people. Such hypocrisy...you sure know what they really think when they say something like that. Oh and I haven't even started on our wedding coordinator yet...

The Mox and the Sea

To escape the sweltering 90 degree heat, we decided to take puppy on a road trip to Rockport,MA. You see we don't have air conditioning in our apartment and we figured the nice cool air conditioned car would be a good change from our stuffy apartment! We've actually been to Rockport several times before though never in the summer time.

Thanks to me we got lost finding the town center and somehow stumbled upon the Halibut Point State Park. This park is pretty cool as it used to be a granite quarry (unfortunately no swimming is allowed inside). The trail also leads to the beach, though don't expect the traditional sandy beach. The flat smooth rocks go all the way into the water. Very cool! Puppy got her first taste of the ocean. She seemed somewhat apprehensive as she stepped into the water. She even tried to sit down but then her furry butt got all wet. So cute ... indeed Retriever she is not ;)

Me and puppy enjoying the cool sea water as it swept over our feet/paws:


After our little hike we headed to Bearskin Neck for food. They've got such yummy treats there, but that's for another post. Here's a picture teaser.

Puppy barking at the huge orange buoy at the town center:

Sparklies

Last weekend, we finally decided it was time to stop procrastinating and head to the Chestnut Hill mall in search of a wedding band for yours truely. We'd previously stopped by Tiffany's and unfortunately (or fortunately for the fiance) none of the rings there were to my liking. In the past couple months we'd also checked out a couple other stores but nothing I liked. I knew I wanted something sparkly with diamonds but most of ones I'd seen were too gaudy for my little E.T. fingers. Though it seems that trend in the US is towards bling. :p

Our first stop was Shreve Crump and Low. They had the best selection of rings I'd seen so far and the one ring I was looking for! A micro pave diamond eternity band!! I was really dissapointed when the lady told me that since it was an eternity band it would take 4-6 weeks for them to custom make one in my size. (We are leaving for SG in less than 3 weeks) The nice lady however managed to have the order expedited. So yay now I'll get to pick up my ring before I leave! :)

Reasons why I love this ring. Since I'll be wearing it with my e-ring, it's not too gaudy and doesn't draw away attention from the main diamond. It's also pretty enough to wear it on its own. Oooh sparkley ... I likey!

A similar band from Bluenile:

The BEST Wedding Gift!

Dear ins, I apologize for all the complaints I've had about you. You are not slow, you are not inefficient, your employees do not sit around all day and snack on bonbons. They do not take 3 weeks off during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and July fourth. Thank you for sending us our long awaited green card today. Thank you for not making us stand in line with the other aliens at customs :). We promise to make good use of it on our way back from SG in July.

As every true FOB knows, the green card journey is a long one fraught with many perils. Your company might stop sponsoring petitions, your labor cert might be rejected, you might be laid off, the process can take years. The list goes on. Hypothetically, now I can get fired, I can switch jobs, I can move to a different state, I can go back to school. Woohoo! The wealth of options! Now how shall we celebrate ... oh and more importantly what am I to do now that I can't bitch and moan about our gc anymore???

Supersize Me

I walk into a meeting last week and I hear "and MINI she probably doesn't even eat'. Throughout the rest of the meeting I tried to give her the look of death. See I am sick of this kind of talk coming from people. Just because I am not grossly obese does not mean I don't have a healthy appetite. I get all these snide comments from people and its really starting to irritate me. Here's a sampling:

- Oh you ate a whole cookie? that is like me eating a whole cake (yeah thanks, you're quite a beast?!)
- Uh oh you're going to get fat on that piece of cake (substitute with brownie, chocolate, cookie etc.) (thanks?!)

Hey this seems like reverse discrimination. Now its ok to make fun of the person who isn't fat? Do people actually think a comment like this is a compliment? Can they not contain their jealousy? Am I over reacting? Fiance thinks I am. Now can someone help me think of a good comeback?? All I can do now is give a lame fake smile.

Disclaimer: I am of a normal weight. I'm not even considered thin in asia. I wear a medium. I also eat a lot (though slowly). Sometimes I scare myself with how much I can eat. Fiance never fails to remind me that the portions I eat are the same as his. And he's 160lbs (the last time he weighted *chuckles*). I think he wants my left overs.

Favor Dilemma

The wedding draws close and we are still trying to figure out what to use as favors. The ones the hotel (supposedly 6 star no k) provide suck. Take a look. The bear looks like he has a hernia. And what the hell is the organza bag filled with? Birdseeds? The 'elegantly designed gift box' is so tacky. Don't even get me started on the wreaths. Are they edible? I just hate giving stuff that people are going to 'unintentionally leave behind'.(I know I would. Why even take it home where I actually have to put it in my trash can and add extra weight so I can lug it out on trash day?)




We've actually decided to make our own. I even mocked up the box. This leaves us with the question of what to fill it with. Should we do 1)Colored M&Ms 2)Yogurt pretzels (I would love to add a cheesy note like 'we're tying the knot' haha) 3) Strawberry Fortune cookies with custom fortunes. Or we could forgo the boxes (imagine wrapping hundreds of em) and go for the Tea Forte favors. Help!!!

My fancy favor box:

Teaforte:

Happy B'day Boz

Today's my fiance's 29th birthday. I can't believe he's almost 30. I was planning to surprise him with going out to dinner, but the *!@$*# ruined by plans by deciding he had too much work. So I had to come up with a different plan at the last minute but I think made out pretty good! The wine club membership I got him (like duh he must have mentioned wanting to join a wine club at least 10 times) arrived at his office today with 2 wines from Italy. So did the Riedel wine glasses I got. Though I have no idea what the difference is between bordeaux and I have no idea if chianti is red or white. Perfect timing ... good thing I'm a procrastinator.

For dinner I got take out from Blue Ribbon BBQ in West Newton. Highly recommended ... it was really delicious. Much better than Red Bones in Davis Square, though that is not saying much because I hated Red Bones. Got the North Carolina Pulled Pork and a half rack of ribs. The spicey sauce was so darn good and the corn bread was freshly baked and excellent. Funny I was in NC for 4 years and all the BBQ I had at the engineering picnics were gross. Really liked the collard greens but fiance thought it was gross. Oh and we have left overs for tomorrow too. I can't wait!

BBQ Ribs with collard greens and black eyed corn. The cornbread is in the foil.


NC Pulled Pork with baked beans and coleslaw.


Wannabe Riedel Glasses. Pardon the fobilicious mess in the background. Notice the Chou Wang soy sauce prominently placed. Doesn't do them glasses justice. Forgot to take a picture with the glasses filled with the Italian Lungarotti 2000 Rubesco. It tasted good ... but I really don't know anything about wine ... dont' claim to either :)


Dessert ... the best part! Raspberry dark chocolate tart from Whole Foods (who knew!) ...mmmm


Couldn't resist one with the Mox. No it's not her birthday. Sorry for the blurryness, the picture looks much better without flash and I can't help having trembly hands.

Last Week in Pictures

Top Left: Moxie enjoying her new fleece bed from Target

Top Right: Mother's day flowers for my mommy with purdy hydrangeas from Flower Verandah. This is the second time I've ordered from them. Great speedy service!

Bottom Left: Nina Shoes from Zappos.com that I returned. Should I have kept them??? Will they go with my wedding gowns??? I swear my calves don't look that fat in real life!!! See the photo was taken top down.

Bottom Right: Mr Crocodile RIP ... dismembered by the Mox the Ripper (and despite the reinforced arms too!)

Almost Famous

Doing a search for "makan wiki" in Google last week, I found that Makan Wiki which I'd talked about in an earlier blog entry was featured on Tomorrow - Bulletin of Singapore Bloggers! (I have no idea how they found it) Here is a link to the Makan + Wiki = Maki article. Isn't that cool? My first brush with fame. Ok ok for those of you gagging in your seats, admittedly I'm not very blog savvy and I hadn't even heard of the Tomorrow site till last week, but I like to think that its an accomplishment albeit small. There are even some contributions from people I don't know. Ahh the power of wiki.

PS: Thanks to everyone who contributed! :)

Food Diary

I've actually been making progress with food! I'm sure you guys will love to hear the sordid details. This is in addition to my staple of yogurt (that I've sworn off).

Friday: juice (that was promptly repelled by me stomach) Saturday: corn chowder, porridge and tofu (cooked by fiance the sweetie) Sunday: mashed potatos from KFC (fiance had the c)Monday: more soup, apple sauce, angel food cake, couscous, scrambled eggs Tuesday: Ritz Bits - mozarella and cheddar (wow), rice and tofu at sichuan fan zhuang (yeah huH!) Wednesday: fried rice from Penang!! + hokkien char mee (noodles are kinda hard to eat still)

When all is well ... I am planning to have some nice good crunchy salad and nuts, fruit (haven't had that in a while), juicy rack of lamb, and pasta/noodles! Haven't even touched on the stuff I'll have when I touch down in SG. Alright time for painkillers.

Fungry :( = F*cking Hungry

I finally got the courage to get my 4 wisdom teeth extracted (2 impacted). Well actually it was a monetary decision :) My dental insurance only covers $1500 and I had to make use of the other $1500 covered by fiance's insurance (before he left his cushy job with good benefits hah) so the procedure would be free! (which singaporean doesn't love a good bargain??) In any case I am so glad I got it done under GA. The best part is I don't remember a thing. No trauma nothing, other than the swelling, nausea, and bloodied spit. Nothing I can't handle!

The worst part, that no one ever mentions is not being able to eat when you are absolutely starving! All everyone talks about is the swelling, the pain etc. bleh. Walking by the food court on Saturday I had not eaten in 2 days (does juice count??) ... was absolutely miserable. Mind you I was absolutely starving. I couldn't have my favorite Chick Fila (only found in the Burlington Mall and Nashua) Had to settle for some burnt corn chowdah. But hey the good news is I actually had energy to hit the mall the day after surgery! I neglect to mention that I totally collapsed and didn't leave the house on Sunday.

Today ...Monday ...I am still hungry. *sigh*

Makan + Wiki = Maki ?

Makan means food in Malay. Singaporeans love to makan. Wiki is a software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. What happens when you combine the 2? You get Maki - The Makan Wiki :) Thanks to my fiance we now have a wiki page dedicated to where you can find the best Singaporean food. Wikis are meant for collaboration so everybody please participate and help us find the best food in Singapore :)

We set up this page because we couldn't find one that met our needs. We were looking for something comprehensive, something that incorporated feedback from everyone, yet easy to use. Be the first to check it out. And remember to put your name next to your recommendations. We like to know who to thank when taste the most divine chicken rice!

Add Your Favorite Foodie Haunts to the List

Run Forest Run!

Fiance is having his "week off" from work before starting at his new job so we went to watch the Boston Marathon during lunch. It's tradition at my company to provide free boxed lunches the day of the marathon so we can go watch the runners as they come through Natick ... perhaps to make up for the fact that we have to work on Patriots Day? I picked up an extra box, though I was horrified to realize later that all xyz company employees could be identified a mile away by their geeky totally uncool (did I say geeky already?) white cardboard lunch boxes. A matching accessory for engineers? Anyway we quickly finished our lunch in the car. But enough of the ungratefulness, Fiance managed to capture some cool shots of the runners. I posted his favorite :)

Somebody Gonna Get a Hurt Real Bad

I managed to skip out of yet another torturous evening meeting last week to go watch Russell Peters at Babson College. Aside from having to walk 2 miles in heels from parking to the auditorium in 30 degree weather, and having to deal with imbecile college organizers, it was all worth while. Not only did I derive great pleasure from masquerading as a college kid, I also laughed for a full hour till my stomach hurt. I suppose I shouldn't be ungrateful and extend a small thank you to the kids for bringing him instead hah :)

For those of you who don't know this guy, he's a stand up comic. If you are indian, asian, or international you have have have to watch his clips that have been percolating the internet over the past couple months. He's extra brutal in real life and rags on anyone and everyone. But hey it's all fun and games as long as it's not you he picks on right? ;)

A funny lookin kinda guy: