Monday, November 9, 2009

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 3 - See You Again Merlion

The coming of nightfall signals the end of this journey. It's uncertain when we shall see our friends or Singapore again, but we have no regrets as we made the most out of this trip. Thanks to TC for planning this trip, Ji who made the draft for our itinerary, our hospitable friends who went out of their way to accomodate us and the Singaporeans for making Singapore the way it is today. ^^

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It was 8pm of July 26, 2009 when we left Akashi after a delicious dinner courtesy of Che and Mon to rejoin my folks...

The Departure
It was a cinch to get back to Clarke Quay from Vivo City via MRT, in about 45 minutes we were back at Novotel to get on the cab. There were still a lot of time, but we had to stop by the customs to refund our tourist tax at the GST Refund counter. Of course, we were back at the budget terminal.
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Selected items can avail Tax Refund for tourists. Ask the merchants before purchasing, of course, you need to keep the receipts ;).

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A sign in the airport - Male Toilet, or for kids who aren't potty trained *snicker*.

Our parting meal... Double Wasabi Fish Fillet :9, now this trip has gone full circle.
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Here's the security, the lounge area, and the gate to the plane. You can buy last minute pasalubong at the duty free stalls, or you can sit in one of their comfortable couches. There's even a couple of massage chairs that simulate hand massage for the legs popularized by Osim, not sure what brands these are though.
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Love this shot ^^!

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We have arrived at our destination, thank you for flying Cebu Pacific :)

My Loot
Here's some preview of each notable item I brought back from the trip.
Singapore 200907 - My Loot 01

Zumreed Headphones
Cute and functional as advertised. This is also my first set of headphones, it's worth every penny ♥.
Singapore 200907 - My Loot 02

Western Digital MyBook External Harddisk (1Tb)
This purchase was really planned and it is serving its purpose as secondary storage aside from my laptop's limited space. At S$179.00 you can't go wrong with this. (note: There was a Seagate 1.5Tb that has more value per money, but Ji was more biased towards MyBook :p)
Singapore 200907 - My Loot 03

Bossini Shirt
Ji and I bought a pair of shirts that complement each other, hopefully this one's not available in the Philippines. The exclusivity gives it more value lolz.
Singapore 200907 - My Loot 04

Saint Seiya Figures
Mission accomplished! I was able to get the just released Andromeda God Cloth priced at around S$85, which I was really aiming for since it's going to cost a lot more than it should if I get it shipped or from a local store. Now, hopefully I'd also have opportunities to get my hands on the 3 remaining God Cloths of the other bronze saints (Dragon, Cygnus and Phoenix).
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God Cloth Andromeda Shun will go nicely beside God Cloth Pegasus Seiya!

I'm NOT sorry I spent more than I should've :D 'cause I bought two more figures... The Pisces Gold Cloth and Virgo Gold Cloth! Hooray! The two remaining Gold Cloths from the 12 zodiacs I'm searching for a decent price, especially since the Pisces was particularly hard to find by this time, now this set is finally complete.
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Pisces Aphrodite, the beautiful saint. Virgo Shaka, the one closest to god.

Ok, I lied, there's one more figure :p and it's the stalwart of Hades' army, Pandora! She comes with a huge harp. This is a premium figure in Japan and the only way to get her there is by sending in purchase coupons from other figures. This one is a bit more expensive than I was hoping for since it's a consignment item.
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Extra generic Canon digicam battery
This should come in handy, though the IXUS 990 SD is very efficient in terms of battery usage, taking videos on it drains it relatively fast.
Singapore 200907 - My Loot 13

Novotel Hotel Card
Oops! I have no intention of taking this back as a souvenir... honest! -_-'
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Plum Liquer?
This one is from JR :D I've tried it and it actually packs a punch!
Singapore 200907 - My Loot 14

Recap
A lot of sleep was sacrificed in order to make the most out of this trip but it couldn't be helped, and all that continuous walking with deprived rest caused a strain on my lower back for at least a week (;_;)... I've met most of the people I know in Singapore, got to see a lot of sites, chowed on some of the most delicious food, fulfilled my shopping list, and spent time with some of the most important people in my life ^_^ I couldn't ask for more. Admittedly, it's tiring to recall and compose these articles of our travelogue but I surely enjoyed it and hope you also enjoyed reading. However, I know that there's still a lot left to be experienced in Singapore, heck I'd want to revisit most of these places as well. While it's uncertain when we'll get the chance to visit again, we'll be sure to share the experience with you ;).
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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Related posts in series:
Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A haven called Chinatown


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Ikea chicken wings. Yotsuba with edamame.

Being the last day of the trip, it's about spending it on our own personal business. For me and Ji, it's about visiting the local toy stores in Chinatown and so did we as we were accompanied by Paui on the morning of 26 July 2009. By afternoon, we decided to get to Ikea in order to meet the rest of our friends. In this post, we feature more food. :9

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Great day for taking photos outdoor because the sky is clear. UV rays are merciless though.
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This branch is located at 317 Alexandra Road

Not sure if Ikea stores normally have a restaurant since the one we go to at Hong Kong only has a few selections such as hotdogs and popcorn. Like a cafeteria, you go around to check on the selection and point out what you want and they serve it to you.
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Counters placed at the center to collect payments.

Just across the street is the Anchorpoint shopping center. Aware of another Charles & Keith retail outlet, Ji and a few others dashed there right after having our fill. I also checked the stores but didn't find anything particularly interesting for me to try on, we ended up waiting at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

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We left the area with Che and Mon towards Vivo City and bought some items at Daiso. The highlight here however was the dinner. Che and Mon knowing very well that Ji and I are fans of Japanese food treated us to this awesome place called Akashi ^^. "Yum!" indeed, all the dishes were very tasty, check out the photos modeled by Yotsuba.

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Carl's Jr is still available in SG. Yotsuba on a kiosk.

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Itadakimasu~! nom nom nom nom

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Domo arigatou Che and Mon ^^

Related posts in series:
Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A haven called Chinatown

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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Our Song

This isn't a post about me and Rai's song.

Rather, it's just me sharing this Taylor Swift video which I just saw (I know, I know this came ages ago :p) where she looks reeeeaaaaally gorgeous.



Don't you agree?
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Friday, November 6, 2009

Simple Reasons That Make Me Happy

- a clean, well-lighted dining place with good company

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- filling, yummy, and affordable food

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- and, winning just by tweeting

Pepper Lunch Tweet
*photo courtesy of Chuvaness' post


Pepper Lunch + Twitter = Simple Pleasures

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Red Is In

... in Starbucks coffee branches, that is.

Christmas at Starbucks 2009

It's that time of the year when everywhere you look, you see red (i.e. from tumblers to mugs to paper cups to (overhead) menus to barista shirts). I'm not too keen with this year's paper cups design and I can't help but miss last year's design. But I digress. This also means that the promo cards to be used to collect stickers for the Starbucks Limited Edition Planner are out. This year, one has to purchase 9 featured holiday beverages and 8 other beverages of your choice. The three featured holiday drinks (Dark Cherry Mocha, Toffee Nut Latte, and Peppermint Mocha) aren't really new and are just making a comeback.

As for the planner... We've had a look and feel of the planner and have come to say this: I like it that I cannot decide which cover design to choose. If last year, we were given 3 colors (red, blue, and black) to choose from. This year, we are given 3 cover designs (coffee bean plant, coffee beans roasting, and an espresso shot) to decide on. In addition, each cover has it's own texture as well (rough, knotted surface for the coffee beans roasting shot, sanded leather-like for the coffee bean shot, and velvety sking for the espresso shot). The planner comes with coupons (6 of these), very much like that of 2006's. It's light and handy, so there's no problem with me carrying it around. Checking the insides, it looks as if it's based on a business-type planner. It's not a good thing for me because I like a journal-type since I like listing down my things-to-do and writing down thoughts here and there. Other than that, I'd say this planner passes my taste.

Red... Peppermint Mocha... Planner closeup look. Hmm.. Could be why I am on a high today?
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Chocolate Love

LG has been kicking up the marketing hype for their new phone models dubbed Chocolate series. I'm not particularly interested in the phone, but the promoters LG got ♥.


LG Chocolate BL40 Advertisement



Apparently, LG is going all out and got no less than SNSD to market their new baby with their new song Chocolate Love. The name was derived from the sleek black design this series is known for and the BL40 is probably the best one in the line so far. That's a 4.0 inch screen and it's equipped with 5 megapixel camera utilizing Schneider-Kreuznach lens!

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Not convinced? Here's another one of their ads.


Other Chocolate phones usually have slide functions to reveal their keypads. Newer models also have a glowing touch sensitive touchpad used for navigation, similar to iPod. Might be a bit tad too sensitive based on some phone reviews. Aside from black, they also come in strawberry, cherry, mint and white flavors colors.
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Here's the full MV for SNSD's Chocolate Love. Enjoy ^^.

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A Couple of Years After

NDS artworkSee this item here?

It's one of my bag must-haves - along with my wallet, keys, mobile phone, kikay kit, and planner. If you haven't figured out what it is, it's my 2 years and 4 months old Nintendo DS Lite. Since it is it's 2nd year, I'm giving you two reasons why this here is special to me: (1) it was given to me by Rai as a birthday gift and (2) the cover artwork is me (back when I was still sporting a semi-curly hair), drawn and colored by none other than Rai (yep, he draws and is good at it :) now that's a Rai trivia for you).

Two years ago, I was still bent on purchasing a PSP. I remember chatting with him about this when he suggested NDS Lite instead. He thought it matched my personality better. I had to research and check out the difference between those two as well as the games available for each one. I later found out that some people think that DS is for kids while the other is not. If that's what Ken meant when he suggested DS for me, I can only guess. :p

Honestly, I'm not much of a gamer. As a kid, I didn't spend much time playing family computer or what-have-you's and was more into reading. The end result is that now, I can't relate to most people when they discuss 80's games. Being a late bloomer that I am, I am discovering some classic and/or famous games because of this handheld game console.

In two years, this handy gadget became a reminder of some sort of how Rai has influenced me to nurture that kid in me. It kept me company during long MRT rides. It had been a tool to inculcate fun bonding moments with our close office-friends. I'd say it has served its purpose... and still continues to do so. :)
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Monday, November 2, 2009

Giving Filipino Food a Chance

If there's something one needs to know about me, it's that there is no way one can consider me a Filipino food lover.

Seriously.

I prefer Italian or Japanese or Chinese (in that order) cuisine more than anything in this world. My parents, in stark contrast, would always choose a Filipino restaurant whenever we dine together if given a chance. In fact, yesterday's Sunday lunch was no different. Only this time, it was my sister who decided which Filipino resto we'd go to.

Kanin Club

It was also her first time to try what this place has to offer since their first branch is located at Paseo de Sta. Rosa in Laguna. Yes, you read that right. That far. According to her, food here is so good that others would really go out of their way for a visit. Good thing the owners decided to put up a branch near us at UP-Ayala Land Technohub - some place more accessible to us who live in the north.

Since it was my sister who knew more about this, we gave her the liberty to decide what to order.
Kanin Club: Crispy Beef Salad & Itsi-Bitsi

1. Crispy Beef Salad (Php246) - strings of crispy beef with tomatoes, onions and cilantro drenched in vinaigrette instantly became a hit even to me (except I had to take out the cilantro as I am not a fan).

2. Itsi Bitsi (Php224) - the name is actually a derivation of the 3 green vegetables included in this dish: itsi(taw) bit(suelas)si(garilyas). The veggies were sauteed and mixed with beef strips. I was partial to this because I'm eating more veggies lately plus I love sigarilyas. :)

Kanin Club: Sinigang na Sinangag & Seafood Kare-Kare

3. Sinangag na Sinigang (Php224) - recommended by many is this fried rice that is sinigang-flavored. True enough, you'd find the staple ingredients found in a sinigang and taste that sour flavor, too. A single order was good enough for us 5 (maybe because we also ordered brown rice).

4. Seafood Kare-Kare (Php298) - mussels, squid, and prawns in peanut sauce with bagoong on the side. A little too oily for my taste.

Kanin Club: Crispy Dinuguan

5. Crispy Dinuguan (Php261) - another must-try according to most people is this diniguan (or stewed pork blood) with the pork being crispy. I may be the only person in our family who doesn't like dinuguan, but hearing of a crispy dinuguan made me curious and made me eat more than I thought I would. [I thought of Rai while eating this and how he might like this too, because I know how much he likes dinuguan (partnered with puto)].

After being impressed by the Filipino dishes with a twist served to us here, I think I just might give this cuisine a chance. (If you didn't get it yet, I'm saying Kanin Club is indeed worth visiting).

Kanin Club
Ground Level, U.P. Ayala Land Technohub
Commonwealth Ave., Diliman, Quezon City
332-5978
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Sunday, November 1, 2009

Red Cups in About 3 Days

Starbucks 2010 Planner Glimpse

Only a few more days before we see those red cups (for hot drinks) and taste those featured holiday drinks once again. Also, I hear there will be new food offerings starting November 4, too.

Sunday StarbucksMost importantly, it's only a matter of 3 days before we see Starbucks' 2010 Planner. (By the way, that, there on the image above is one of the covers we will be seeing for this coming year's planner. It seems it's going to be a notebook-type the 3rd time around. *yey for me*).

So while I wait, let me enjoy some of what are available for now... :)
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