Korea was pretty awesome, even though it was very very chilly and my body condition wasn't that good. I've always preferred cooler climes than to be hot and sweaty and I used to be pretty good at taking the cold but as I get older, I find that my tolerance level for the cold has gone down quite a bit. :x My lungs are also very inclined to develop allergic coughs especially when the temperature dips so I gotta ensure that my chest and neck are kept warm. Before I left for the trip I was already nursing a sorethroat and I could feel a cough coming and it worsened in the cold, so I popped a lot of pills while I was there, and got better towards the last few days.

I think my stomach also shrank in the cold, didn't have much of an appetite most of the time (or maybe it was because I've reached my quota for hotpot). We had 2 very expensive dinners though - 40,000 KRW (~48 SGD / or is it 60,000 KRW? #memoryfail) for a Korean BBQ dinner and 65,000 KRW (~78 SGD) for a buffet dinner cruise along the Han River. But never mind, on holiday, just spend first and regret later!
Luckily I didn't put on any weight on my already expanded frame haha if not jialat.

But nose-blowing and frozen fingers/ears/nose aside, I had lots of great memories such as seeing snow fall for the first time in my life! Also tried live octopus, fulfilled my wish of visiting Shinhwa's Kyochon chicken shop and I love the shopping there, especially for skincare and cosmetics. Now that I'm back, I feel like I should have bought more stuff! Never mind about bursting and overweight luggages hahaha.

Am hoping I get to visit Korea in autumn one day, when the trees are awash with pretty red leaves and the weather would be nice and cool! And I'll make sure to go with an emptier luggage so that I can lug more skincare and cosmetics home! Hurhur.

*blows dust off blog*

My poor, long suffering blog. Always here when I am angry or upset and I need an outlet to rant. But when things are calm and peaceful, it goes down the pecking order and gets ignored while I get distracted by Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and what-have-you. Ever selfless and giving, my blog doesn't fight for my attention and always waits patiently in the shadows. *pat pat*


And seriously how many social media platforms do I need?! Haha recently I hopped on the Dayre bandwagon (it's like microblogging on the go - if Twitter and Instagram had a rendezvous and had a kid, Dayre would be it).

But well nothing fascinating has been happening... or wait has there been? OK let me share some recent bakes:

Went for a log cake baking class last Saturday and this ended up as dessert for the Nepal celebratory dinner!

I asked my mom to buy lots of Christmas cake decorations back from Phoon Huat. Haha. Shall attempt to replicate the log cake again closer to Christmas.

 Banana Walnut Muffins

I'm pretty sure I baked something similar before but since I only had 3 small bananas left, I went to google for stuff that I could make with 150g bananas haha. So specific. But anyway I liked this version a lot, they were incredibly soft and fragrant. As with all banana+walnut combinations, it could do with some choc chips but I ran out of them.

Been really tempted to buy a lot of stuff lately, like a hand mixer, the Olympus Stylus XZ-10, and the Babyliss Big Hair 42mm. AHHH CONSUMERISM IS EVIL!!! All these are just wants and not needs. Like my Olympus E-PM1 is still serving me well but sometimes it's a little bulky to carry around plus I want something that can transfer photos from camera to phone using the wi-fi card. -_-

And I want a hand mixer because it's more handy and convenient instead of having to lug the huge mixer out of the storeroom when I want to bake something simple.

And seriously I always tie my hair up so why do I need the Babyliss product so that my hair can look like I just stepped out of the salon?

OK I shall convince myself that all this is not needed. Coz if I buy all these then essentially I will have nothing leftover from my AWS.

#firstworldproblems

And recently Paul got himself a second-hand bike and I've never ridden on a bike before (save for one time in Cambodia) so this will take some getting used to! Riding a bike requires lots of planning and also the mood of the skies. I wanted an orange helmet hurhurhur but I guess most riders like boring colours because there are absolutely no orange helmets out there unless I spray paint it myself. So my helmet is pink. Haha. Wave if you see a pink head that looks vaguely like me on the roads!

What happened on Good Friday:


Drove in to JB and was stuck in a Jam at the Tuas 2nd link for 2 hours :x


The look and feel is the same, but the size is only about 1/3 of the ones in US




Coach is super expensive there





I am the official photographer hahaha

Oh and I finally bought the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens after much deliberation!
According to the guy at the camera shop (I was bombarding him with lots of questions haha), it's a good lens for potrait shots. With a lower F-stop (hence shallow focus - I think?), you can achieve the bokeh effect!

I haven't really had the chance to play around with it, so here are some test shots that I snapped.


Those out of focus lights in the background produce the bokeh effect!


My new buys at the Mitju sale. Cheap man! The silver glittery wedges were only $8 and the mustard flats $15!


Shinhwa's 10th album! <3 Collected it on Saturday and lugged it all around town. :x


My favourite test subject hee :)


My new pancake lens! Costs a hefty $545 but I managed to save $200 thanks to Capitaland vouchers + StanChart credit card cashback :)


The original lens that came with my Olympus Mini. The pancake lens definitely shaves off some of the bulk.
The flip side is that I can't zoom at all with the pancake lens. :( Guess I need to do "manual" zooming - i.e. walk nearer towards my subject!


This wasn't shot with my new lens but here's a nice photo of us at Canton-i! :)
Sad that the long weekend is over just like that. WE NEED MORE LONG WEEKENDS PLEASE! :x

Long overdue. Been wanting to post this but was engulfed by the lack of time.

Still think I should have bought more stuff! Shopping is awesomeness. If only cash was unlimited. Damn!

My USA loot:


2 new Nike bags filled with stuff


Shoes. Nine West shoes are really quite comfy!


Bags - saw a nice brown Coach that I didn't get. SIGH!


Miscellaneous barang barang - watch, sunglasses, perfume... etc.


Loot from Old Navy. I LOVE OLD NAVY! It's superrrrrrrrr cheap!


Forever 21. I stepped into the outlet and it was an explosion of prints and patterns!


H&M. Had to get a cardigan from there in SF coz it was way too cold!


Very beach-inspired clothing from Gap - except for that brown cardigan haha. And a pair of brown shorts that should rightfully belong to the Old Navy picture!


Oh yes I visited Victoria's Secret countless times and each time I walked out with a shopping bag!


Came back with 22 new VS undies wahahahahaha. Enough to last for the next 10 years probably. I heart VS!


You can't really tell but I colour code my clothes. This is the red/pink/yellow/blue bunch.


The pile on the floor are the greens!


Creating a big mess while I was trying to pack my wardrobe. Suffice to say, I have insufficient wardrobe space.
Oh I forgot to take a picture of my 3 pairs of Levi's. THEY WERE FRIGGING CHEAP! :D *sparkly eyes*

Aww man I want to go back there to shop again! The next time I need to prepare like $10k or something. Haha. :D