It’s about our culture, heritage and roots

新年快乐! Before the 15th day of the Chinese New Year approaches, let me wish you all 心想事成, 事事顺心! If you do not know what those words mean, time to brush up on your Chinese! Hahah!

I read a tweet that said that CNY isn’t about buying new clothes, munching on goodies or even exchanging ang paos! It’s about celebrating our culture, our heritage and our roots! So true! But of course, part of our CNY culture includes those aforementioned customs that we practice year after year! :) And I think, one of the best customs of the CNY is gathering with family and loved ones! Thinking back on the CNY week filled with home visitations at our dearest family and frens’ homes, my heart is filled with so much gratitude for dear ones I have in my life! Although the time spent together may be short, but the sense of belonging and the feeling of family togetherness warms my heart! :)

Having 面线together! As my mother-in-law says, having this traditional dish (which I love so much, my bowl is always wiped clean!) is a wish for us all to 长命百岁!

Yet another bowl at my granny’s! Yum yum yum!!!

Exchanging kum and 新年贺词are also important customs to the Chinese! This year, I decided to make a point to really memorise some auspicious 贺词to greet my elders and they were really happy! If you think about it, saying such 吉祥话is having positive affirmation and confessing the best for others! :)

Steamboat and yu sheng are also must-haves during CNY! Makes all of us come together! 团团圆圆!

It’s a wonder I din put on much weight over the New Year! :)

Other than these usual customs, my family shares some special customs that must be practiced on 初一! Like having my Auntie’s delicious curry chicken and chap chye!

And after years of “leaving out” my Auntie, cousin & family from our 初一late night movie, we got tickets for all of them and it was a blast watching “We Not Naughty” together! This must be a new annual affair!!!

Till my next post, 我祝大家身体健康, 龙马精神! :)

The Office Lady Style

I love reading blogs, especially style blogs (refer to my previous post here). But most of the style blogs are skewed towards casual style, yet I spend most of my week and waking hours at work. So I have always been hoping to find blogs featuring formal workwear. And thankfully, I stumbled upon some really good ones that I can’t wait to share with all of you.

Extrapetite

Came across this when my fellow petite fren, Liping, liked this blog on her Facebook wall and I decided to check it out. Immediately, my eyes were opened to a whole new genre of style blogs – petite-size! Which suits me just fine since I am only slightly over 5 feet tall! I really like Jean’s style – professional, feminine and classy. I also love how she constantly mixes and matches items in her wardrobe to come out with fresh new looks. One of my fav sites!

Wendy’s Lookbook

Ok, so this blog isn’t really on formal wear, more like smart casual, great for dress-down Fridays. But Wendy is really really stylish and she has really great style videos as well, such as the very popular “25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes!”.

Shentonista

The catchy name definitely got my attention! It features stylish people caught around the Central Business District. (Btw, read my previous post about working in Raffles Place here!) I really love how they zoom into the details of each person’s outfit as well! Yours sincerely will be featured on the site soon, I hope! :)

All pics from respective sites

I’ve been doing it wrong all this while!

My love affair with BB cream started after I bought a tube in Korea. Read my previous post of BB cream here. I really love using BB cream as it acts as a foundation, but with built-in skin care! However, recently when I was in the search for a new BB cream to try out (after The ODBO one, I bought The Face Shop Face It HD Perfect BB Cream), I realised I had been applying it wrongly all this while! Since it provides coverage, I thought it should be applied on the face by spreading it over your skin. Apparently not! I seriously flipped when I watched the video below! And it really makes a difference when I applied it correctly! Sigh… well, better late than never! Please look and learn!

And also introducing, my latest BB cream haul – the Rachel K CC cream. I chanced upon it when I went to Watson’s and it was after researching on it online that I found the video above! It’s called CC (for Colour Control) cream but it really works the same way as a BB cream. Best of all, it’s mineral-based with lots of additional ingredients like white tea extract, green tea leaf extract, deep sea water, and macadamia nut oil to nourish your skin! It comes in 3 shades – fair, neutral and sun-kissed and I got the neutral one. It’s very light on the skin, yet giving a smooth finish and considerably good coverage. I really love it! It’s retailing for $35 at all Watson’s outlets. =)

Heels that DO NOT Hurt (that much)

High heels and hurt toes are almost synonymous! And that’s bad news for a petite working gal like me (with a tall hubby)! After constantly abusing my feet with a certain local brand, I decided enough is enough! I had to get better made shoes that were comfortable, yet not compromising on style. And on a fren’s recommendation (thanks Hsu!), I decided to get a pair of Heatwave shoes. Although the styles are very basic and simple, they fit so well and seriously, how flashy do you want your shoes to be? I feel that the classic styles give me more mileage, especially at work. My feet hurt a lot less and they are thanking me every day for that! =)

Heatwave has also recently launched their online store (click here) and delivery is now free for a limited time only! I ordered a pair – easy-peasy one rainy evening and I received it the next afternoon (hand-delivered by Speedpost)! What’s more, they have a daily promo of 15% off a selected shoe style right now! I really hope one of the shoes below will be on promo soon! =) My shoe size is 37 btw if any of you feel led to bless me! Did I also mention that the prices are very reasonable? =)

Images above from Heatwave Shoes

2011 Reflections

On this last day of the year, I just want to pen down my reflections for the year that has just passed. It was one tough year, the toughest I have experienced all my life. I wondered many times if I would ever make it through. But I am glad to say that I did, growing stronger and wiser, tapping inner strength that I never knew I possessed. Also, for the family members and loved ones who were there supporting Joe and me, praying for us and standing by us, THANK YOU!

I am really thankful for a new start in 2012 yet also grateful for the various highlights of 2011.

• Definitely blogged a lot more in 2011, so one of my resolutions got fulfilled!
• Promoted to an Ah Yi with the birth of Baby Nate, my darling nephew!
• Church moved into Suntec, which is a momentous milestone!
• Finally rebonded my hair, after resisting for many many years, a new look to welcome the new year!

What will 2012 hold? As the saying goes, I do not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future and I know He holds my hand :)

One resolution I have made for the new year is to improve my Chinese and I even bought myself a Chinese book today! I really hope to fulfill this resolution so if you have any tips or ideas, do let me know! And maybe the next time you see me, speak to me in Chinese instead! Haha!

Happy New Year! :)

Family Christmas Party 2011

Thanks to Charles and Aileen for hosting the annual Family Christmas party! :) Their place was all decked up for the celebration!

Goodie bags for all the kiddos!

Superhero Super Boy made a guest appearance too!

But had to take a nap cos he was so tired saving the world!

Lots of toys and games to occupy the young and the young at heart!

Presents Time!

What a great way to celebrate Christmas! :)

Christmas Lightings 2011

True to our promise to make this a yearly affair, Joe and me made a trip to Orchard Road once again to capture the Christmas lightings! Felt that this year’s light-up faded in comparison to last year’s, but here goes the pics!

Started at Plaza Singapura and made our way down Orchard Road

Just outside Istana

The same blue and white lighting all along the stretch of Orchard Road

Orchard Central

Loved the Paragon one! Very edgy!

TANGS’ one always has an apt verse from the Bible!

Orchard ION

Till next year’s!