Damn I'm 20!

WELCOME BACK TO MY BLOG! lol

It feels ages since the last time I posted anything. I still have one unpost content on my draft about the food I had at Jakarta back in September 2016 HAHAHAHA. I'm such a procrastinator. Forgive me please. I will have it up as soon as possible!

Anyway, as usual, this is my yearly (obviously) birthday post.

As always, I would like to thank every single person I know, my family, my boyfriend and best friends, and just some people who I stumbled upon, for everything you guys had done and for those that had been through the thick and thin with me. 

Life isn't going to be like what it is now without the presence of each of you in my life.

On Saturday, 4th of February, I had my birthday dinner. 

It's earlier because some of my friends were going back to their uni the next day. 

God damn, I'm 20 ... Feels really old to say that I'm now in the 20s club.

It was pretty a casual night at Bel Mondo. 

A nice chit chat with the girls (mostly) and guys (not so much). 

In the midst of taking photos, I didn't realize most of the table are empty. Where the people went?

When I did realize was when they all appeared and sang the Happy Birthday song with the cake I baked earlier that day. HAHAHA what a mind blown!

I was indeed surprised by the unexpected cake and well, everything came up to my mind that the cake was previously delivered to my own friend's house but using the mom's name.
Seriously, what was I thinking?
I must be too exhausted to even realize that. 

Don't I just have the cutest bunch of friends? :')

The night went well and yes, I love my group of people.

The next day, which was Sunday the 5th, 

I went to a female orphanage place called Evangeline Booth and for the first time in my life, I am able to give back.

I've been wanting to do that for years now and wasn't able to do it back then because I had no income. Yes I had sufficient money to buy all the stuff and I'm indeed giving sincerely, but I thought, what's the point if it isn't the money from my own hard work?

So this first time giving back isn't much but I really hope it's doing good for the people there. I really wish I could do more and I promise myself I will do it real' big later on. 

But it feels really good to be able to do it now and crossing the point out of my bucket list :)

Moving on to Valentine's day, 

My boyfriend and I decided to not have the fancy dinner as it costs, well, pretty darn expensive and it's not really worth the price. I would prefer to have a good fine dining with a wonderful view somewhere else. 

Anyway, we spent the night having sushi (which is my faveeeeee. yumsss) at Sushi Tei and went to Soho to chill for the rest of the night. 

Before we arrived at Sushi Tei, my boyfriend surprised me with a stalk of beautiful blue rose. It was pretty a funny moment because I was on my phone and looking outside the window and my boyfriend was driving while he tried to hold the rose to give it to me. 

Trying so hard, he said the flower kept falling down and he didn't want me to know that he was holding one. 

Anyhow, I was still surprised and the funny story is, he asked me whether I like roses or flowers in general, and I said no. I don't mind but I prefer not to received one because it'll be useless for me and the people who give for spending their money on those pricy flowers. 

But there he was, with that blue rose in his hand...

I probably never mentioned this, but I've said to myself or some people a couple of times that I would marry someone who gave me blue roses causes I freaking love blue and rose? Come on. Who taught that blue rose is a thing? Even there's the gold ones now... say whattttt?

Well, does that mean I will be marrying my boyfriend later? we'll see ;) I'll keep you all updated. hahahaha

It was 12.30 AM when we left Soho, so it was already my birthday.

I wanted to go home but my boyfriend kinda insisted me to go over his house to blow the candle first. But I was like, "I'm tired... can we just do it tomorrow?"

and he kept saying that it's best for me to blow it now and bring the cake home rather than tomorrow. 

So after few arguments, I agreed on going to his house.

Nothing really fancy, just my boyfriend singing happy birthday song with a cake that I requested (lol!)

It's simple but it is one of those little things you appreciate a lot in life (gosh I'm literally crying happy tears while I'm typing it. Soooo emotional...)

After I blew the candle, I saw my boyfriend taking out another stalk of rose from the fridge :')

It's the rainbow rose!

Yes I did say it is ugly at first when he asked me about roses/flowers in the car earlier... but damn, boy... you surprised me again!

I love surprises, big or small ;)

While I was busy taking photos or snapping for Instagram & Snapchat, my boyfriend went upstairs to his room. Wasn't expecting anything, he came down with a big present. 

I remember precisely that I was recording on Snapchat and was saying thank you to my boyfriend when he came with the present, so I was a bit surprised. You'll understand what I mean if you watch the snap.

 So it was the time to unbox the present.

As I said, I genuinely not expecting anything. Why? Simple because I told not to give me anything after last year's present. (read it here)

And....

Inside the big wrap is....

*drum rolls*

A Macbook Pro :')

I wanted to buy it initially, he knew it and he said that he had no idea what else to give and since I needed it, he thought, why not?

Again, thanks a bunch babe! (if you're reading this)

I love you to the core of my heart hahahaha

On the evening of 15th February,

my group of friends came by my house to surprised me.

But they failed HAHAHA

Because my mom called me and said my friends are here.

LOLOL

but it's alright, I'm still grateful for it.

Thanks girls! You know who you are <3

On the 16th of February,

I received a parcel all the way from Malaysia.

I know about it beforehand because yesterday (which was the 15th), this girl (I think she regrets asking me now hahaha) asked about whether or not I've received the parcel.

Nevertheless, I was very very excited when I found out about it and more than thrilled receiving the parcel the next day.

She, Vetriana, has sent a gift and a letter over to my place.

I swear I took a proper picture of it that day but the file is missing :(

I have no idea someone would ever be so thoughtful towards me.

Not saying it to pleased her but I did cried a little because I was simply too darn happy.

It was very very very very unexpected. 

I love you Vetriana S. Tonoto!  (If you're reading this as well :'D)

Will never ever forget you now ;p

Well, I guess that wraps up my 20th Birthday. Hope you enjoy it! 

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in my next post. xx, Julia

2016

I know it's a bit late but HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016. 

Can you believe how fast the time has flown?

I can’t remember what I did each day of 2015… It feels like I’ve done very little things…

Anyway, here’s the story of my 2016’s celebration/trip to Singapore with my boyfriend and his family. First thing first, I would like to say many thanks to my boyfriend and his family for bringing me along. Secondly, I know I haven’t post the story of my trip to Bangkok, but I think this should be up first so stay tune for that!

**If you haven’t knew, I’ve uploaded a short video summarizing the whole trip on my YouTube channel. You can watch it here too.

30^th December 2015

We arrived at Singapore in night time. So after we put our stuff at the apartment, we head over to Boon Tong Kee for dinner. It’s a chicken rice shop but I didn’t take a picture of it because well, I just forgot about it. Probably I was already very hungry… lol. We didn’t do anything much tonight or head to somewhere else so that’s what all we did.

31^st December 2015

It’s a rainy day today – a legit whole-day rain. It drizzled for few minutes and all of the sudden the sky just became so bright and half an hour later, it was drizzling again, and it keeps on going on until midnight…

So headed out around 1pm and our first stop was Tiong Bahru Bakery (the main outlet). I ordered the Almond Chocolate Croissant + a cup of cappuccino and he ordered Original Kouign Amann.

Oh mannnnn. Love at first bite! Both stuffs are freaking good. After the first bite, we were like “should we order more?” After few arguments, we decided not to because we wanted to eat some other stuff afterwards.  The place is quite noisy when crowded, but it’s quite a nice place to chill, too.

ION Orchard was our next stop. We went to the lowest floor and get some newly opened MR. CHURRO.

Well, honestly, it’s not as good as the Churro101. I would give it 5/10. I can taste that the chocolate isn’t that “high” quality either. Thus, I wouldn’t eat it again if I’m not really, really, craving for churros.

It wouldn’t be a Singapore trip if I don’t eat the Chicken balls from Tori Q. It’s a MUST whenever I go to Singapore, especially if I’m at the orchard road area.

After all the snacks, we were already quite full. I’m the one that was full actually… But we decided not to eat anymore. Therefore, we just walked around and waited for his family to come. They came around 5pm and we went to the food hall to eat. I didn’t eat because I was still full… So we strolled around ION for a couple of hours and headed to Marina Bay afterwards. Because all of us don’t want to carry all the shopping bags while watching the fireworks, we decided not to shop today. Basically, we just walked around The Shoppes and wait.

The securities told that they will be closing the door to go outside by 9.30pm, so we went out by then. Unknowingly, we could still go out even after 9.30pm. For few hours we stood outside, we were annoyed by the every-15-mins drizzle. We were quite hungry while waiting for the fireworks show time, and thanks to Ericko, he bought some snacks from don’t know where. There were fish balls, French fries, fried dumplings, and chicken wings. It doesn’t taste good, but when you’re hungry, you gotta eat what you have right? Hahaha.

When it was almost midnight, the rain finally stopped. At 00:00am, the fireworks were light up and it is beautiful. It lasted for around 8 minutes, if I’m not mistaken. I was amazed the whole time and kept saying “Wow” like seriously… LOL. We don’t see fireworks very often, am I right? (Unless you’re working in Disneyland ;D) 

After the “ohhh-ahhhs” and even though we were tired, we made a stop at Spize River Valley for supper because WE NEED FOOD.

The fried rice is not bad, but the fish & chips are nizeeeeee. Give it a try if you’re there. It’s probably one of the best I’ve had so far. It’s not oily and the fish is seasoned very well (Don’t forget to squeeze the lemon!). I wouldn’t say much for the fries though. It’s not that good. Overall, the meal is a good energy replacement and also my first meal of 2016 ;)

1^st January 2016

It was a very hectic day yesterday so we headed out rather late today (I think around 3pm?). And our first intake is CHURRO101 :9 A good start isn’t it?

And we also found this egg tart stall at Bugis street so we bought one box of 3. It’s quite good actually. I could give an easy 9/10. It’s not very sweet and the tart is flaky, crispy, and buttery. What’s more to ask?

As we found this cheese fries last trip, my boyfriend was craving it so we bought it again. And it is still as good as the first time.

I don’t know whether you know that apparently Old Chang Kee’s curry puff is very famous and I’ve never had it before. So with my almost full stomach, I gave it a try. It is okay… quite nice… but I’ve had a better one. Or probably it’s just my taste buds. One thing I like from this curry puff is that it’s not very oily. Some curry puffs are very oily and this one is not. So that’s the main highlight of it.

After the curry puff, we took the MRT and went to ION to meet up with his family. As what others would do around ION, we shopped. Though I think I didn’t buy anything… After tired of shopping, we went outside and ate the S$1 ice cream, though it’s no longer $1. Hehehehe

A while later, we decided to go home and order salted egg chicken. A funny story. I ordered the $8 and $10 portions, which in fact should have been the $6 and $8 ones. Simply because the $10 ones are wayyyyyyy too big for one person ;’D and the $8 ones are quite filling, too, for me. But it’s okay, holiday is meant to get fat. If you don’t get fat, it means you’re not enjoying the trip :p

And by the way, I received a lot of requests to share with you all the address of the salted egg chicken. Unfortunately, I have no idea where it’s located, but I can share with you the phone number, which is +6592374545. Probably you can call the auntie and ask where the place is.

2^nd January 2016

We are quite early today, we were out before 1 pm. Like we have nowhere else to go, we went to ION, again… Anyway, do you remember the Strawberry and Rhubarb cake I had last trip from Plain Vanilla? Yes, as I said, I’ll definitely be back to try more and I did. This time I got the Peanut Butter Brownies and Dark Chocolate Marbled Tea Cake.

A bite disappointed with the peanut butter brownies cause it’s only normal cakey brownies with peanut butter frosting… but the chocolate tea cake is divine. It’s buttery, rich, and chocolate-y, but not overly sweet.

As I was indulging in my sweets, my boyfriend had Spicy Chicken Curry from Monster Curry.

We both agree that this is the best curry so far and it will be better if it’s spicier (you can choose the level of spiciness). And please be mindful that the portion is damn big. If you’re not a big eater, it’s best to be shared to avoid being too full. After food, what else to do than to shop?

Before going out of ION to eat the ice cream with his family, I got myself the Awfully Chocolate Dark Chocolate Ice Cream because I found that it has good reviews. 

My verdict is that it’s very rich and creamy, but it’s not addicting though. I can go crazy about chocolate or ice cream, but this one doesn’t give me the feel of craving for more. However, I can imagine it being paired with a warmed croissant from Tiong Bahru Bakery… I would be a magical spark in your mouth. I will definitely try combining it one day.

It was quite an unusual thing to see that they blocked the orchard road from being entered by cars. So the main road has become a walkway for tonight.

Really babe? Shades at night?

3^rd January 2016

It’s my last day in Singapore, but not his last day though. I need to go back earlier because I thought I would have a class on Monday, which in fact, I didn’t (WTH!). Never mind, at least I have a day to rest before going to class on Tuesday. Anyway, since our first experience at Tiong Bahru is excellent, we gave the one at Tangs a try. I would say that the main outlet is slightly better. Nevertheless, I really don’t mind going to the one at Tangs, but definitely not the one at Raffles City. Tried once and it is bad…

Anyway, my boyfriend ordered the Kouign Amann, again, and Spicy Pork Hot Dog with Black Sesame Vienna, and I ordered a mini croissant and mixed berries tart plus a cup of cappuccino. The hot dog is great. The croissant isn’t that perfect, but the mixed berries tart is over-the-top. It’s sweet and sour in one bite and also smooth/soft and crunchy at the same time. PERFECTION.

We were asked to buy some jars from Takashimaya by his mom, so we need to cross over to ION and go through Wisma Atria. At Wisma Atria, there’s this cookie place called Ben’s cookies and if you remember, I had this last year during the new year trip to Singapore, too. As far as I remember, the cookies are tasty. So like I’m not full enough, I got myself one Double Chocolate Cookie. Loved it, still love it.

After we found and bought the jars, we walked around Takashimaya for a while before heading to 313@Somerset to get my last CHURRO101 (because I said that I want to eat this churro twice this trip :p)

And that sums up the whole trip. Thanks for reading this very long post and I’ll see you in my next one! xx Julia.