MAY everything be Stellar!

 

Dear Diary,

I cannot believe it absolutely, but May is over, and we are halfway through 2015 - and like a roller coaster ride, you cannot look back. You can only look ahead, at what looms overhead, or what falls there would be - what kind of plunges you would take, as the heart lurches forward for the challenges.

I started my May Day working :) 

Okay, so it was business discussion cum shopping, before lunch / brunch with I-forgot-who-for-the-moment, sorry. OKay, you really have to pardon me because I am still typing away at 3.56AM on yet another long weekend, trying to clear off the daily bucket lists I have planned for these 3 days - I don't want to leave anything undone for the next day.

There were some splendid events that took place in May besides busy-ness, fret not. Mother's Day and the Mom's birthday fall in May, so we had the annual combined celebration. The chosen venue this year was Oasis Bay Restaurant @ Toa Payoh (*surprise, surprise!)

The long, circular restaurant situated in serene, almost-enchanting Toa Payoh Park with its murky lake, bridges and trees that resemble willows, was a hidden gem on its own. On top of that, there used to be another seafood restaurant situated in the place where Oasis Bay has now replaced - we used to go there for dinner rather often, when the Dad was still around. So, for reminisce's sake, we decided to come try this new restaurant that sits in the place of the wound-up restaurant we used to  go.

May also signifies The Beau's and my anniversary - the ninth this year (9th), wow time flies. A great part of my youth has been dedicated to him! Ok, so the fiancé and I headed to Stellar @ One Altitude for dinner and drinks - a really romantic, charming and sophisticated restaurant in the heart of the CBD itself. The blog entry will be up soon (I kept thinking I had published it, only to search one big round and found it back in my Drafts in the other blog!) 

Finally, for occasions-wise, there was also the wedding of a lovely cousin, so we got to play catchup with lots of the maternal relations and cousins.  It is always happy to be part of a large family - extended or not, especially when they happen to be gorgeous!

Workwise, well, the main-course and sides are equally busy but I love the rush. I am becoming a nerd right now by learning to dabble in Information Technology and the different aspects of it. Trust that it is still at the basic level, but I have transcended past the basic HTML reading and a little site-building stage. In the past, the thought of having to touch these made my feet turn cold.

Another potential partnership is upcoming, and I cannot wait for the next Friday's discussion.

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/05/lancome-party-at-bhg-bugis.html

Next up, it has been a fabulously fun month as well - lots of catching up with dear friends in which I got to go back to Beer Market for their awesome luncheon meat fries, revisiting Lantern Bar for their drinks and food, revisiting LeVel 33, etc, all in the name of my post-birthday celebrations or close friends' birthday celebrations!  Look out for reviews at this site here.

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/05/media-invite-ultimate-seafood.html

Then there was a Lancôme party in which I got more door-gifts, replenished certain skincare products and learned some fabulous makeup tips from national makeup artist Lina Tock.  Wait - I also enjoyed food tasting and getting up close and personal with Chef Peter Kuruvita at The Kitchen Table at W Hotel (Sentosa Cove) - always glad to be back at the astoundingly beautific hotel and Sentosa Cove!

Finally, some of my shopping loot (despite the promise to STOP buying clothes till I've rid the current overflowing batches) - a collared shirt-dress with white "tie" detail,  a MaxMara black dress with gold buttons and interesting lines, and a casual long black dress with gray denim top.

To end it all up, May has been a rather good month and I look forward to more good months to come. Thank you, all the powers there be, for the blessings!

Thank you dears, for reading my Site, and please do continue to stay tuned for this one-a-month blog!

April - the month of life and death...

Dear Diary,

here is my monthly update, one that is outdated because today is Mayday aka Labour Day.  I hope you guys are faring better than me because I have developed a routine of work-home balance, haha! But fret not, I enjoy what I am doing, with the job and the sides and the freelance assignments.

As I turn over to another page of the calendar to note that May has stolen its way into our lives, it feels so surreal. Where did the rest of the days go? What happened in April 2015 itself?

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/04/dinner-at-white-rabbit-dempsey.html

There was  a new start in a familiar capacity,  not sure how to put it across, but I definitely am back on grounds I know too well. It is both exciting and exhilarating at the same time. The sides I currently have are efforts-centric, I realise - meaning to say, once I stop doing the tasks, the monitoring or the writing, the stream of income halts. I need to find something passive-generating as another side.

That aside, planning for the nuptials that would be taking place exactly a year later - not too busy for now, because I already have an idea of exactly what I want and need. Planning for a short but well-deserved vacation too - one that will take place before the long one in September. I cannot wait!

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/04/lunch-at-yan-ting-restaurant-st-regis.html

April was the month of the Dead, as the Chinese Ching Ming Festival fell in this month. One may look upon it as the Samhain (more commonly known as "Halloween") of the Chinese tradition, where we go tomb-sweeping and make offerings for the ancestors and loved ones who have departed. For the first time in my entire life, we followed the maternal relations to the cemetery this year.

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/05/media-invite-dinner-at-violet-herbs.html

Besides that, it incorporated Good Friday, the day Christ bled his last for mankind.

April was also the month of the Living, with Christ rising from the dead. We had Easter a week later, not exactly a celebration but the tradition was more or less observed.

And of course, someone had her birthday in April as well :)

Besides the celebration with the family (Yan Ting at St. Regis) and the Beau (White Rabbit at Dempsey), dinner and drinks with the bro and SIL at Jamie's Italian + Post Bar @ Fullerton, there were the dinners with many friends - thank you precious darlings!! Yes, I had my cakes and ate them too!

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/04/lunch-at-kotobuki-japanese-restaurant.html

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/04/dinner-at-osahime-sushi-bar-restaurant.html

Photosource: http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/04/media-invite-dinner-at-mitsuba-japanese.html

In fact, there were many consecutive days of Japanese food - one of my very favourite cuisine, making me utterly happy.  No, the happier events were the catching up with a couple of friends I'd considered long-lost, and probably even "lost" somewhere in time. I was glad they had resurfaced, and was glad for the meet-ups.

Photosource: http://www.sgdemocraticalliance.blogspot.sg/2015/04/house-visit-on-18-april-2015-elias-road.html

Last but not least, a little more of community work cum other extra-curricular activities. So much things to learn and complete, so little time....  Then there are the exercise slots and driving lessons as well...

Oh, the music of choice for now would be MUSE - awesome tunes and vocals. I loved them a while back, but now it's rekindled. Check out their tracks "Unintended", "Resistance", "Supremacy" and "Sing for Absolution".

Anyway, till then for now. Do await my updates in May ok - more exciting things coming up, I promise. In the meantime, thanks for gracing my site and stay loved !