On My Own Place.

It's been over a year since I've settled down at my own place post-marriage and I have not stopped enjoying the freedom that comes with this space I call my own. Here's three little pieces of freedom that I've been happy to savour (super random but nonetheless relatable to some people in a similar life-stage).

1. I no longer have to deal with yellowed scotch tape marks/missing paint pieces from walls that result from years of my dad/late mum using scotch tape to tape up decorations (cos the house always runs out of blu-tack and ain't nobody got time/petrol to specially run out to get blu-tack). No judge at all but I generally avoid things that will potentially cause irreparable damage - only use the right adhesives so you never have to deal with damaged walls --> Pro-tip for your new home in the future!
   
   One funnier thing is I also don't have to deal with overdue decorations as a result of the yellowed scotch tape marks - I've recently realised that my dad has never been able to remove the decorative 囍 we pasted for my wedding (which happened a good one year back) because if you remove it, there's a huge yellow stain at the back which makes the wall look like it's perpetually perspiring LOL. So it appears, the 囍 is likely going to stay there forever. Just this week, I was almost going to take a Chinese New Year portrait with that as the background (as I really didn't think much about it and just thought it was some red 福 decoration that will look great on pictures) - I was stopped by my sister, haha!
   
   Sooo, any suggestions for removing scotch tape marks without ruining the walls any further?
   
2. Designing every room YOUR WAY & being able to put any thing anywhere. New home owners will know what I mean! Every room is tastefully curated by yours truly, and all the decorative items in your house are either purchased by your good self OR given by people who know your taste well enough. If you don't like some decorative item that an older relative gave to you (no ill-intentions of course), you can hide it in your storeroom where it will never see the light of day and no one can demand you to give some face and display it! In my case, I don't have to find myself stuck with having to look at a hideous black pig rubber squishy (which makes loud snorting noises, which Dad thinks is super amusing and likes to put it center-stage on the TV console and doesn't allow anyone to move it, wut).
   P.S. I personally don't find the black pig that annoying, but I would love for it to be placed, erm, somewhere else and not like right smack in the middle of the TV console! There's a time and place for everything, maybe we can just display it during the year of the Pig? Hahaha.
   
3. I now can haz dog/pet/animal/gremlin and no one can stop me*! (*with the exception of government bodies ha). My parents used to give me a variety of reasons to disallow me from having pets such as allergies, me not being old enough to deal with such responsibility, they are dirty etc.
   
   To be fair, they're really not wrong to say that because:
   (a) Most people with some sort of allergies, cannot deal with living with animals in the same house. Minimal exposure to pets (e.g. being exposed to an aunt's dog once a week) and its corresponding pet dander, spit etc. is pretty manageable for most allergy-sufferers and does not result in allergy-attacks. However, the same cannot be said about 365-day exposure to the relevant allergens. There are pets that are "hypoallergenic" of course, but parents protect you by telling you that all animals are dirty & cause allergies and you will fall for it when you're below 12 years old with limited access to the internet haha.
   
   (b) Pets are frankly like kids, with the only exception being that you can leave your pets at home unattended, but you can't do the same with kids. In the case of dogs, if you're not ready for (a dog's) lifetime commitment of a minimum of 10 years of weekly baths, entertaining them, their nutrition needs, weekly supplements, ad-hoc veterinary fees (that can amount to a lot if your pet suddenly gets hit by a genetic disease at puppy/adult/senior age which no one will not know of at time of purchase/adoption), toys, dog-boarding fees when you travel etc, please save your potential dog prospect his/her life and do not buy or adopt him/her! Also, please don't buy a pet and then dump the pet at home for your parents/helper to clear/pick up their shit/feed them la please la, even if you don't care for the pet, don't torture your parents/grandparents/helper with additional work! 
   
   (c) You are right to assume that pets are dirty if you don't know what their owners are like. If you know the specific owners don't bathe their dogs at least once a week - which is an ultimate must for dogs in Singapore (i.e. our weather!) - they are dirty enough for you/your own pets to possibly fall sick, especially for those who go out for daily walks twice a day whereby their fur can pick up bugs/bacteria/viruses/germs. The general guideline is that they're pets, and shit happens LOL. Sometimes they don't shit cleanly too. Imagine what happens after not bathing after that (for a long period of time)? 

Living away from your parent(s) comes with its own pros and cons (it's not all pros nor all cons, ok!) and I've been super fortunate to have pretty chill parents who give a generous amount of autonomy as long as Child-Me fulfilled all my responsibilities as a Child (e.g. decent grades, get driving license, get degree, get part-time work/internships during holidays, get job upon graduation, be productive whenever you can); and siblings who have long moved out upon marriage - so the adjustment is really not too drastic for me. I'm frankly super thankful for my parents for not being helicopter parents and for teaching me how to fish, instead of just giving me the fish, very, very early on in Life.

Most people may have bigger adjustments when they leave their family home, especially for those who used to live with many occupants and/or had the luxury(?) of parents sorting everything out for them from the shampoo they use to the clothes they wear. Also, probably fair to say that the more home occupants = the more drama to deal with. Imagine if you wanted to get a dog, you'll need ten persons' concurrence/ten people have to be non-allergic-to-fur. Similarly, if you put a new carton of apple juice in the fridge and the next day it's gone, you have to run a full investigation on who drank your apple juice hahaha!

With that said, there's nothing wrong with all that, of course! We cannot choose the environment we are born with, but what we can do is to make the best out of what we have and try to be better each day. Never forget to show your appreciation and gratefulness to your parents/grandparents/main caretakers for getting you wherever you are right now. We can conveniently do that during this festive Chinese New Year period, and it's probably the least awkward time to do it too (yo, calling all you people who say you are more 'traditional Chinese' and prefer not to express yourselves) :).

Happy Lunar New Year.

You, Me, and Nugget

"Dogs are like kids".

It's not entirely wrong to make such an association, although if dogs could think in English, I'd think both dogs and kids would find that quite insulting.

I've never seen myself as a dog owner, ever. 

Then I went to one of South Korea's dog cafes and I fell in love with the dogs. Not instantly, though. My elder sister is terrified of animals, but I was the neutral kind - never gushing over other people's animals or kids (I don't like or don't don't like them equally lol). I started my first ten minutes at the cafe trying to assess the friendliness of the dogs there - because the dogs were on average, much larger than me, and it was the first time I was in contact with about 15-20 dogs at one go. 

So of course I was generally cautious as a noob (and also in a foreign country with limited conversational skills where I won't be able to get medical help as fast) but the dogs were so friendly and lovely, it was frankly hard to fall in love. JS, at the time, was also jumped by a large Goldendoodle who basically was so enthusiastic, he pounced on JS and JS fell to the floor (It was unexpected and too funny). Since I saw the whole thing with my very eyes - judging from his face - he certainly had the 3-second "Omg, is [the dog] going to bite my face?!" thought cross his mind. After that, we both made a conscious attempt not to get into any compromising positions within the dog cafe (e.g. bending too low, or squatting down), haha. Yeah guess we were kiasee.

Korean pet owners seem to love large dogs. Perhaps due to relaxed pet ownership laws in Korea (e.g. size restrictions based on residence), and more affordable dogs/pet supplies/grooming services, people would easily decide to go for "the bigger, the better"?

Well, in Singapore, if I was filthy rich and wasn't sensitive to dog fur, I would pick a Husky or Golden Retriever any day. What toy breed. What is toy breed. Pfft.

***

So anyway, we returned from Korea, forgot about dogs and the interest went dormant. 

We never knew what compelled us to walk into a pet store in November (2016). My own advice is never to stroke temptation because you will most certainly act on it LOL. Of course, I didn't take my own advice. Suddenly we were 80% decided to get a dog once our new place arrived. Fast forward, we got married in December, was ready to move into our new place and our new dog joined us 1 week after we moved in. That. Escalated. Quickly! 

That dog is Nugget, the Maltese-Poodle.

Nugget has been an incredibly easy dog to train, cohabit with, and a dog who constantly learns our quirks and preferences. He never barks, never bites, is 100% pee-tray trained and basically a lovely dog to live/work with. (Disclaimer: This is after constant training and correction, please don't expect a newly-adopted/newly-bought dog to come with such skills ah please. At the beginning, they WILL pee and poop everywhere.) 

Dogs are more predictable than children - which make them so much better to live with. We have a neighbour with two kids. Frankly, after living alongside them for the past few months, if you give me a free kid (let's say, no 9-months wait + no pain of childbirth), I'd pick a dog. Perhaps in the past, I was neutral to the idea of having kids, but after looking at my sisters (their kids) and my neighbour's kids, I realised having a kid is gambling. There's a 50:50 chance your kid is good-natured; a 50:50 chance your kid is nasty etc.

Say what you like, I won't gamble (haha).

Perhaps a few years down the road, I'll change my mind and eat my words. Until then, my stand remains the same. Enough with the 早生贵子 already - we'll have kids when we decide to ;)

Back to lighter things, Nugget lives to please and enjoys having visitors over. Given a chance, he would play 24/7 and die from exhaustion (he doesn't know when to stop playing at times). Some days, I feel that if he could talk, he would say he would love to die from playing cos at least he died happy and like #yolo? Gosh.

Nugget can be found on Instagram here. I assure you I try not to be a crazy "dog lady" who force feeds people with pictures of her dog. With all the crazy things happening in this crazy world, looking at photos/videos of animals doing funny things/looking adorable might just provide a small relief. Why not share these photos then? I just want to make your day better.

I've been away from this page for so long, I feel like I've forgotten how to express myself in words some days. Don't mind me if I sound a little awkward and lacking in flow. Trying to write freely again - this will take time.

The Wedding and 2017

One monumental milestone in my lifetime occurred in December 2016, but not without a whole lead-up of exhaustion, countless expectations and small and large conflicts. Weddings are exhausting! I have developed a big bucket of respect for couples who have held it together throughout the wedding process - because honestly, it's a challenge to stay sane (without falling to pieces) with everyone trying to be part of cooking the broth, but not really contributing, and pointing fingers in different directions. I'm not saying that either one of us fell apart before the wedding, neither did I turn into the popular-coined term "bridezilla" (at least my bridesmaids said I didn't, and I'll take their word for it lol), but the lead-up to any wedding has got to be the most stressful situation two people will ever have to be in.

Think of the most stressful moment in your life, and multiply the negative emotions times 50. That's a wedding for you.

For two people who generally make a lot of our own decisions (and have no qualms about standing ground in tough situations), in all touch-my-heart honesty, we were not only nudged into certain things but shoved down a cliff into some. Were we happy about it? No. Did we take it out on each other? Sometimes. Did we learn from the process? Probably. Everyone brought to the table their good thoughts and intentions, I know, understand, and appreciate all the goodness in each's heart - I know this line appears 100% sarcastic, but if you know me well, you know I actually do talk exactly like that in real life, deal with it! - but, every single person's good intentions put together are often conflicting and the wedding couple cannot please everyone. What results is simply a couple stressed out by their loved ones and friends, while opinion contributors feel unheard and not respected, and no one is happy. Lose-lose. Why should such a happy (and expensive) occasion be lose-lose? 

It is these times that make me reflect on my priorities in life, and this wedding had also greatly opened my eyes to all the good people I count myself very blessed to know. This is not another 'Thank You' message, as I have given two 'Thank You' messages already (and my newly-minted husband is asking me to put a lid on it, ha). You guys know who you are!

B..b..but... I will just like to shine a small virtual spotlight on my best ex-housemate - my father:
My father is more often a friend, and he was every bit as lovely as he could be throughout the (trying) process. I shared some of my or our (non-financial) struggles with regard to the wedding and he would always quietly listen and offer some constructive comments while slotting some lame puns and crass comments here and there to make it all light-hearted. True to Tan family's usual ways of handling things - it is to "never take yourself too seriously".

I'm glad we didn't make a big deal of the wedding, both being born-crazy type of planners on a normal day. We planned whatever we could, and whatever we could not control, we let it slide (even though some were really quite hard to swallow!). There are just that many things in your world that you can control, and some days, some variables will disappoint you, some variables will (rudely) surprise you, some will make your day better, some will exceed expectations. You never really know.

The wedding couple will like to say that most importantly, we had fun on our wedding day. We were made happy by things that went right, pleased that there weren't that many unanticipated bad surprises, and glad and honoured to share such an important occasion in our lives with that many people.

We are grateful to be alive and healthy, and we are grateful that the people we love are alive and healthy.

This 2017, as the world seems to grow increasingly hostile to its inhabitants, remember that people in other parts of the world are having their homes bombed to nothing while you're complaining how small your 5-room HDB flat is... People in other parts of the world are searching for scraps in unhygienic places while you're queueing 3 hours for Hai Di Lao weekly. There is nothing wrong with aspiring to live in a larger house, or spoiling yourself with a 'luxury' meal at times, but what we need is a realignment of our mindsets. If you have got food, water, shelter, a job, loved ones down pat, you already have it better than most people.

With that, we wish everyone a fulfilling and lovely 2017.

The South Beach

Characterised by modern chic furniture & postmodern funk lounge music, The South Beach is something different altogether. There is something very art house about the hotel & though I can't quite put my finger on what I like so much about it - I'd say I love it all. The consistency of the design accents as well as music choice and impeccable service give one very holistic brand impression. The hotel also gives a very immersive other-worldly experience sound-wise. The designer spared no expense in furnishing the hotel same-same-but-differently and I appreciated that more than anything.

So anyway, I spent my 25th birthday at The South Beach hotel. People always say I've hit quarter-life, but I'm thinking why that is so since most of us don't actually live until a hundred. The reality is that the average lifespan of a human is about 75 years old... and no one calls 25 "third-life" huh? Haha.

First look at the bed area.

The day bed at the window is super plush! It looks pretty tough (i.e. uncomfortable or stiff), but it is extremely comfortable. Filled with the same material that's within bean bags, we were surprised to see that the day bed maintains its form and doesn't slump around like a bean bag does. So, basically it felt just like I was sitting on a bean bag, but I can sit properly and look classy while at it. 

Anything design-related is right on point. No boring, plain tappy cards - check out our snazzy hotel access cards above.

Simplified controls, I loved this by the doorway. We did have some trouble with the door-bell sign, which was basically an equivalent of a "Do-Not-Disturb" sign. Whenever you activate or deactivate this sign, the doorbell starts sounding once, then continues to sound another 5-10 times with 2-second pauses. I never knew how annoying the classic "ding-dong" can sound repeatedly, but heads up to all the aunties who are considering that ringtone as your call ringtone - STOP, it's ANNOYING. Hahaha.

Matte bathtub featuring a flat base that can fit two people at a go and really simplified controls. It's not rocket science, but the knobs were not so easy to figure out. This probably will be a pain for above-50s who potentially will also have trouble seeing the markings on the knobs (written quite small, with many dotted directional lines). 

Standard bath products as well as bath salts! Called "Oranges & Lemons", the products didn't really smell like oranges nor lemons, but the smells were definitely fragrant in a positive way. Looked pretty yummy too, so I'm not going to fault 'em.

The bathroom's a ladies' dream! Very spacious with 70% mirrored surfaces, the bathroom splits into three sections: the bathtub & sink area, the bidet area, as well as the shower area. The bathroom door is a sliding door with a 100% mirrored surface (both front and back), for your viewing pleasure. 

The hype-worthy part's also the warm toilet seat, automated open-and-close upon entry into the area, as well as a super-high-tech bidet that allows you to adjust every little aspect... Other hotels do feature bidets as well, but this one was just slightly more awesome than the others I've seen. 

Muted, minimalist designs with a feature wall section behind the bed, as well as behind the television. 

Luxuriously thick and fluffy bedroom slippers, with a pair of lips and moustache to indicate "His" and "Hers". Too, too cute. Really wanted to take these home!

Hidden behind a cupboard door, here's the 'pantry' area. Minibar, drinks and snacks are complimentary, and teas are stocked from TWG and coffees are of the Indocafe brand. 

In the centre of the room, you'll see this bar-like little pocket. My favourite part of the room! Bottled waters look chic, and those disposable-looking cups are actually made of very thin glass - which made it so lightweight and nice to sip from (and I'm not exaggerating here). 

Officially the coolest fridge/cooler! A pull-out drawer with the complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks (Lay's classic chips, a Snickers bar and a lollipop).

Complimentary birthday cake hand-delivered to the room.

Breakfast at ADHD (All Day Hotel Dining)

Located at the basement and accessible by the lift within the hotel, ADHD, also known as All Day Hotel Dining, will probably get your attention with its name.

Breakfast hours are from 6.30-10.30am. We got there at about 9.30am and the indoor area was full-house! We did manage to get an indoor seat after a short 5-minute wait, but generally as there were quite a number of people milling about, the restaurant felt cramped with its low ceiling.

The restaurant also has a very landscape layout (very short width, but very long length). Aisles can be quite narrow and to be frank, you can reach out to touch the table beside you as well as hear your neighbour's discussions. Generally, there is a homely, cosy feeling throughout the hotel, so being that near to your breakfast neighbours doesn't feel all that nasty. However, in the case that you meet slightly more unruly table neighbours, breakfast would not be that enjoyable anymore.

A selection of stuff we got for our breakfast.

The prettiest of plates!

The Sky Garden (Located on Level 18)

If you and your partner's feeling bored, head up to the Sky Garden where you'll find a variety of things to amuse yourselves with. The pool as well as the gym's found here.

Play ping-pong in style, on a mirrored table.

Top-notch gym facilities - everything is spanking new and so high-tech, it made me wanna get fit immediately. Don't worry, the gym does not only have a treadmill, it's fully-equipped and really quite large - to be honest, I think the gym is larger than the ADHD restaurant haha. As I was having too much fun exploring a lot of the machines and just poking around like a curious child, I didn't really take much photos at the gym. Sorry!

Last but not least, a pool with the best view of the CBD.

Can't beat this picturesque view. 

All in all, The South Beach did not disappoint! It's been my pleasure to have spent my birthday there. 

The South Beach
30 Beach Rd
Singapore 189763
Website Here

The Canopi, Bintan, Indonesia

Started off the year 2016 with a getaway to nearby Bintan!

It's about a 50-55 minute ride via the only ferry operator that goes there, called Bintan Resort Ferries (BRF). Strangely, I suffered a pretty bad case of motion sickness on the ferry to-and-fro this time. I've been on ferries a few times (to Tanjong Pinang, Batam several times and this time Bintan) but I've never felt this queasy. Fortunately I didn't throw up (i.e. give everyone else a hard time lol) so, phew.

Check-in reception looks very much like Montigo Resorts (Batam)! There are plenty of sofas around to lounge on, however, their ceiling is like a translucent sheet, which magnifies the sunlight and basically makes the lush fabric sofas cooking pans. It was just too hot to sit there any longer than five minutes. So when we experienced a delayed check-out (because there were too many people), it was pretty unbearable to sit around that we had to move to the restaurant behind (which was fully sheltered).

We read on TripAdvisor that the ferry operator and/or Indonesian authorities actually keep your passports for a streamlined, direct check-in into the resort without passing through customs. That was a bit of a deterrent for us before I decided to book the resort, since we both felt that we did not trust the foreign customs to return our passports (hey, you never know!) Fortunately on the date of travel, we got to queue and pass through customs and hold on to our own passports the whole time. A relief, we would say!

Tip: Request for a tent that is further away from the reception! 

The noise from the restaurant/reception area can get quite loud (from humans or from their awesome sound system). With that said, they have a great playlist! In the day, they play 90% English Top 40 hits all-day and the playlists don't repeat. Then they move toward more chill Evergreen and classic hits in the evenings. They do play an occasional Bahasa song or two, but the music choices always have a good groove going, so it's never anti-climatic even though you don't understand the songs.

Home for 3 days and 2 nights!

Walls are about 3 thick fabrics worth of thickness. So be prepared to always hear the staff members outside, either talking or repairing such-and-such item or delivering food on their buggies! It can be a bit disconcerting at some points (even creepy, at night) but you get used to it.

The room you pay for is basically a giant tent (one room), with a double bed, sofa, desk, a few cabinets, a bench, a cool vintage standing fan... and an outdoor toilet. The air-conditioning is powerful (yay). But, there is no fridge in the room, so do ask for ice box(es) if you want your drinks cold.

On to my favourite section of the giant tent - the outdoor toilet!

Spacious and really unique, with bronze toilet fittings, a rain shower and real plants!

We were two paranoid Singaporeans who kept checking for spiders in the toilet bowl before using it hahaha (more on the story later).

You can't get away with terrible shower singing here because the 4 tents around you can probably hear you, and you can hear them walking about (outside) too. Even though it's kinda open and exposed, you do feel pretty safe to bathe without some creep climbing in or peeping at you.

But I'd say if someone wanted to do that, they could. The wall is really not that high. Lol.

Four-poster bed!

So... the spider story. We killed two rather big spiders on the floor of our tent (the floor is a very rough rope-like material, which will probably give you abrasions if you rub your feet hard on it)... and I killed (i.e. stomped like mad) a millipede as well.

A word of advice is just to wear slippers around the tent, to protect yourself from bug bites or abrasions. I don't think anyone wants to ruin an R&R holiday with a painful bug bite right?

If you're wondering why we have two different chandeliers/feature lamps, we requested for a change of room because our first one (LV04) was near to the restaurant and they were doing some repair work nearby. It was noisy and there were a lot of maintenance workers walking around, so you feel odd walking about in your swimwear etc.

The furniture and fittings were all very matchy and nice, either way! 

Lagoon view!

Us relishing one of the many different types of lazy reclining beach sofas!

We decided to do an "in-room" barbecue! Every thing's served right to your tent but the barbecue is DIY. It was quite lovely to watch the sunset while we were barbecuing!

Twilight.

Their chicken wings & fried rice were quite amazing!

Remnant Christmas Tree made of lights (it's actually some telecom pole of sorts).

Stars! Not something you get to see much of in Singapore.

Area near the restaurant in the evening.

This made me laugh more than it should. There are so many rules that you want to ignore them as soon as you see this board. But hey, safety first ah.

Lunch right at our doorstep. We had S$80 credit to use for room service or certain activities, so we decided to have all our food covered by the credits we had (it's part of our booking package). We had originally planned to go for some ATV racing of some sort, but it was under maintenance on the dates that we were there :(

Restaurant-worthy beer batter fish and chips!

Carbonara was goopy and too cheesy (rather than milky). A whole plate of nope.

Salmon Aglio Olio was just not... right. It was not spicy at all, was 100% dry, and the giant chilli slices were an immediate red flag. This one was quite terrible, so to anyone who intends to order this - this is a flat no.

The finger food and snacks were good! The chilli sauce provided was awesome too.

Just a note of caution, there is only one restaurant/bar serving the entire resort, so do order earlier during meal times because the orders may not come very timely during lunch/dinner time. Also, that means you don't have a choice if the food is not to your liking. We were prepared and we brought instant noodles and stuff we love to eat/drink, so we had some degree of choice there.

Alcohol is not cheap here (compared to Batam). A can of Sapporo beer for SGD$10? I'd say bring your own.

It rained on our 2nd day there.

All in all, it was a really good rest-and-relax getaway. We hardly have such relaxing holidays since we enjoy visiting bustling cities. When travelling, we are also always on the go and attempting to cover as many landmarks as our legs can carry us to... So, this was different and that much more relaxing for us.

A unique glamping (i.e. glamorous camping) experience.