Belated 2015 Xmas dinner with Poly gals @ Sufood + Cycling, bowling & dinner @ Koji + The Secret Sister review + WH's 29th bday dinner @ Joyden + Kickboxing + SG Horse Racing Awards 2015 + tuition with Luke + visiting Mervyn's grandma + 2nd dose of Hep A & nanoblk with Stephen + AOne Claypot house with YJ + darts with Justin + Picoloco & jamming session

12/1/16 Tues: Met up with XN, LX, Pat, WZ and Joy for a belated Christmas 2015 dinner at SuFood at Raffles City for dinner. I have been wanting to try this ever since LX posted it on her FB haha. We all had the course dinner ($29.90++), and I enjoyed the shrooms pasta, shrooms soup, mango crepes desert and fruit! However, the beetroot and honeydew drink tasted weird imo. Did our gift exchange and I got Pat's present... handcreams, perfume and Rolls Royce bitter and sweet choco! 

18/1/16 Mon: I finally started on my cycling lesson again aft yrs of procrastinating. Stephen and I took 176 from Haw Par Villa a few stops to West Coast park. I rented a bike with a basket in front ($8, 1-for-1 hr package). Being an experienced rider himself, teacher Toh started guiding me. He put his hand behind my bike at first, but I felt insecure that way somehw, so I'd rather he let me ride on my own haha~ at least I would know straightaway if I can ride lol. The sun was pretty hot at 12+pm, and I'm very thankful that he's patient and even ran beside me when I was cycling that unsteadily lol. I rmbed he told me to look afar, and adjusted the gear for me. After managing to cycle straight, we proceeded with turning, which was sth new to me. Aft numerous shaky turns, I told him I wanted a break and so he took over, and I simply sat behind to rest while he cycled, down and up slopes~ shiok o. Before we ended the 1hr session, and under his encouragement, I successfully completed 3 big rounds without falling yay! *I hope I can maintain and rmb the feel the nex time I hop onto a bike again!* I was yearning for sth cold, so got the orange juice bar... such enjoyment on such a hot day. *Thanks for remembering my NRIC, man I almost forgot to take it back.* 

He headed over to SP to shower and meet Ning for lunch, while I went back home first. We met again in the afternoon at the bus-stop near my place, and took 154 to Superbowl at Yuan Ching. And so we enjoyed some discount cos he's a SAFRA member. *Haha he knelt down to help me with my bowling shoe lace cos I was wearing skorts, and he tot it's not very convenient for me to bend down and tie my shoelace lol~ 担心我走光... which was very thoughtful imo.* 

We played 2 games, both times he won la! He said it's been long since he bowled, but hey his ball can spin one leh~ he can play one lor! And he's got so many spares and some strikes~ still gave me the surprised face! *Yes la I know I'm his lady luck eh-hem~* Honestly, deep down I'm sure he must have inherited his sporty genes from his dad lol. Then again, bowling is a game I enjoy, even if I'm not that gd at it. 

Ning, Stephen and I took the train to Clarke Quay. *Oops I had oyster mee sua juz before boarding the train hehe~* We were gonna hav dinner at Koji, known for its barachirashi don I guess? Ian, James and Francine joined us, and so I was introduced to "Stephen's family"... Ning the eldest sister, Stephen the second bro, Ian the youngest bro, James the distant cousin and Francine (I forgot her role?). I had the unagi don and hot yuzu tea~ tasted really nice! The guys were a funny bunch~ with Ian being the joker, James complementing and Ning nagging at them at times lol. *Ian spoke with this English accent most of the time, and it's funny how Stephen has it too when they talk LOL.* Ian treated us to the Jap dinner, whilst Stephen had to treat all of us to drinks at a pub nearby cos he lost a bet about whether Francine has alrdy watched a certain movie or not lol. Oh well, James and Ian "interrogated" us as well, and well dear Stephen都挡掉了hehe~ Thereafter, James biked off, Ian, Ning and Stephen took the cab home whilst Francine and I took the train together since she stays in Batok. *I'm sure Stephen misses his bro Ian now and then after he returns to Japan.*

So it all began when Maisey Lazarow went back to Fairham to look for her elder bro Keith, aft a painful divorce and the death of her daughter Elise (SIDS), for fear he'd make the foolish decision of ending his life. But both the siblings has a hate-fear relationship with their dear mum Josephine, and so Maisey was reluctant to stay at home, and instead opt to stay in the local beach house her father built, which was whr she'd met Rafe Romero, the first guy she slpt with. Rafe has a daughter, Laney, who is blind, and the two shares an awesome r/s. Maisey develops a r/s with Rafe, and then discovers a pile of photos at the construction site, which could mean she used to have an elder sister. Maisey decided to look into the past, but Keith and Josephine were strongly against her doing it...
The reason why I picked up this book at NLB was cos of the title. *So long since I read an English novel again!* Pure romance stories could bore me, so a bit of mystery sounds gd. I liked how Rafe and Maisey's romance developed, and how Maisey and Keith set off to find out the truth about Roxanne, with the help of Rafe etc.
The 3 siblings reunited in the end. But there's more to Josephine one would think. If she was so controlling till the extent someone would take her daughter away from her... I doubt she's an easy character. Well, we can look forward to more development in this character in Brenda Novak's next novel perhaps!

Rating: 4/5

19/1/16 Tues: YB, WL, WH and I opted for Joyden restaurant for WH's 29th bday dinner. We ordered 6 dishes and I loved the plain-looking crabmeat fried rice, 三蛋蔬, roufu and prawn with冬粉. The soy-sauce chicken was and egg yolk pork rib were not bad as well. 4 of us played "Psyche" on the spot aft dinner lol, and it was YB's first attempt in the game... she still managed to smoke us sometimes haha. We treated WH to the dinner, and I reckon it's worth it, about $120+ in all.

20/1/16 Weds: Had my first kickboxing lesson at Bukit Gombak dance studio with instructor Emelia aft work. I reckon most of the students were regulars cos they alrdy knew the steps for workout, and I being a newbie, naturally couldn't keep up sometimes haha. Her routines are fierce leh~ even worse than Piloxing, which I thought was a gd toning exercise for me. 1hr of exercise includes 10mins of warm-up, 40mins of kickboxing and 10mins of cool-down. I felt super tired aft juz 1hr... finished my 500ml bottle of drinking water! *Lucky for me I didn't experience much DOMS cos I guess cool-down exercise was properly done.* Aft the 2nd lesson a wk ltr, which I felt was a bit easier for me, I now have 10 more lessons to go. However tiring it would be, I would always look forward to the relaxing feeling aft a great workout!

21/1/16 Thurs: It's the 2015 Horse Racing Awards at Regent Hotel aft work. Eugene, HP and I cabbed down, and we reached pretty early, so we took some photos while waiting. 

Each guest was presented with a small momento every yr, and it's like a mini wine cup this yr lol. There were 4 dishes, and I liked the appetiser: roasted teriyaki duck breast with cinnamon pears and yellow endive salad, lemon green tea dressing and the main course: pan-seared Atlantic cod with roasted pumpkin, braised Le Puy green lentil, ginger and coriander light soy sauce. The soup, which was the SG laksa with wild barley, Pachino tomatoes and crispy tau pok tasted a bit funnier with tomatoes in it lol. Hands down for the dessert cos it's almond alamak! 
Gareth was the host this yr, and I thought he looked and sounded pretty solemn and nervous during the first half of the ceremony. *I very much prefer Matthew or Craig's... then again, they are much more familiar with it.* There is a Jazz band singing whenever we're eating, during breaks... but somehow I tot this idea isn't gd cos most guests aren't listening. *Waste of money eh... they might as well play backgrd music and engage other forms of entertainment instead, like a comedian would be gd.* 

Eugene and I sat with most of the Chinese media. Aft the event ended, WH, Charmaine, Justin, Eugene, HP, Jessie and I took photos in front of the stage. And just before HP, Eugene and I left for MRT, we saw Munro at the lobby. We talked and just when I asked for a photo, he jumped like 10steps away, shaking his hands like "No~" lol. Oh well, we hav a very low-profile jockey here haha.
*rRandom tThought: We have many two-faced ppl ard ah. It bothers me the moment I sense it, but whatever, I would continue to treat them how I used to. No point putting in more effort.*

23/1/16 Sat: First tuition with Luke. His mum wants me to focus on Oral Chinese for him as he is having his O levels this mid yr. *Hopefully I can help him improve and gain more confidence in speaking mandarin!* Met Stephen, Josh, his gf, Joan, Galvin and Mervyn for dinner at Sembawang Sun Plaza kopitiam, before heading over to Mervyn's grandma's place. Stephen has always wanted me to meet this "granny" of his, whom he's pretty close to. Granny may be in her 80s, like my own Ah Ma, but she speaks clear and well. 
Come to think of it, I'm not very close to both my Ah Mas. I mean yes I do see them and visit them at times, but I rarely talk a lot to them. My paternal grandma is one who is always worrisome about her grandchildren's studies and marriage; whereas my maternal grandma would complain to mum about her health. Deep down I do uds why though.

25/1/16 Mon: Went to SGH near noon for my second dose of Hep A vaccine. The nurse waived off the nurse consultation of $28, and only charged for the dosage... about $75. Went Northpt in the evening to return my lib book, borrowed a new one and met Stephen and Pamela at Yishun int. He brought us to the famous 925 Yishun chicken rice for dinner, and Pamela da bao-ed dinner hm. We were only left with chicken breast meat, but it still was gd! *Lol he randomly showed me this Chinese book about cats, paw types and their perssonality that he bought for his friend lol.* 

And he "compensated" with a late delivery of 2 stalks of Gerbera Daisies for our 2mths' anniversary lol. I bought the kaya chiffon roll from Rich and Gd cake shop for him and his family to try too. We started building the nanoblk I got him some time ago in his room at night haha.

Yes we completed the church in about 2hrs! The final pdt looks cute! He was the "supplier" while I was the "constructor" during the process of building lol. And halfway through, he switched to play the guitar... an "entertainer" LOL. 

26/1/16 Tues: Had dinner with YJ at CWP's Aone Claypot restaurant. It's my first time trying it, and I had their frog leg's porridge... a bit too salty imo. We shared the scallops with冬粉... tasted quite salty too haha. However, the洛神花花茶that YJ had was real good. We chatted a lil' about her work at SPH, makes me wonder how things would turn out if I went into SPH instead aft grad?

28/1/16 Thurs: Justin and I had dinner at JCube's吃在台北. He enjoyed his spicy beef noodle. The fried chicken cutlet we shared was a bit too tough la. My卤肉饭was meh-meh, and I thought the bubble tea was not as nice as last time alrdy. Then, we played Darts at iDarts. *Whoa bro's darts very ex leh~* I won in the 501 pts but he triumped over me in the Cricket game~ twice kns. Anyway, glad I met nice ppl like him at STC. 

30/1/16 Sat: Stephen and I walked over to WX and Jere's place at AMK, then we had dinner at Picoloco cafe nearby. We shared the Burrata cheese salad with pharma ham, at least no taste of the normal cheese which I dun really like. I had their Crabmeat pasta in pink sauce~ not bad though u get a bit sick of it aft a while. *Stephen concluded that mine tasted best compared to the risottos and prawn pasta the trio had.* However, I dun like the fact that they dun serve plain water FOC. Then, we went to hav prata at a prata shop nearby cos they found dinner nt filling enough keke. I juz had a glass of longan drink thr. 
Jammed a bit at WX's place aft dinner, while she practised her singing for the audition on Sun. *I liked Stephen's dark green guitar... very cool.* He wow-ed me la~ whatever song also can play on the spot~ bonus hehe.