Beautiful things 'n' love...actually

Love Actually...I've no doubt mentioned this movie before, but my Valentine's Day (and evening) alone 'sans mon mari' sparked a DVD and a glass of wine moment...ah, yes for a girl who loves a bit of a romantic comedy 'n' a few happy tears, a perfect moment was had :-)

Husband away on business or working late are a common aspect of Singapore life (yes, lots of other lives too...even beautiful Kate and Prince William were apart this Valentines).  I always 'try' to stay sane and positive when I'm alone and make endless lists of all that 'random stuff' I don't get around to normally. This time, I'm creating a fabulous bedroom make over for my boys :-) it's kind of tiring me out so I'm sleeping pas trop mal, actually.  I wonder if my Mr Man will notice that the 60 minute make over team (should have) been round?

who sleept in this messy unorganised room?

OK, so my self-set budget didn't stretch to interior designers!

but, plenty of 'housey' mags were flipped through.

I'm pretty pleased with the result... 

Last bits, a random selection of links making me smile :-)

ASOS yeah...they deliver free to Singapore :-)

Net a Porter lots of wish list beautiful things here :-)

The Tiger Mother I am actually admiring this woman...she is amazing, so too are her children :-)

and a few beautiful things I'm loving actually xx :-)

from top left clockwise...

Burberry wedge, February's Bellabox, Tiffany bracelet,

pink 'n' purple glitter nails,

Christian Louboutin 'snakey paint splatter' pumps,

arty cutie dog :-)

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx :-)

Art Museum, Trattoria Lafiandra 'n' pretty pumps

The Singapore Art Museum made me smile this week :-) it's a bit crazy that I had not been to the Art museum yet but had the chance to help out with CIS Open Minds trip. Here's a few pics I took and would definitely recommend a visit ;-)

can laser lights be art?

The next pics are my favourite bit of the museum tour... The first pic is of an exhibit entitled 'Boom Box Liberty' looking at the pic for a while you'll start to see figures and objects (possibly a lady holding the French flag?)

So all the kids and teachers took sometime to share what they saw in the painting... When a second image was show to us all it was very comical to hear everyone go "oh yeah" and mostly "wow, really, it is". See the pic below to see what you think...I personally was quite amazed at the cleverness of the artist in the recent painting :-)

So, whilst visiting the SAM for the first time I spotted a lovely looking restaurant which seemed to be authentic Italian :-) Mr Man and I decided to give it a try and we did just that on Saturday night (our Valentines Day romantic meal xx) Krikey, we were very much smiling and will for sure be making this our special occasion restaurant...
Also, check out the menu at Trattoria Lafiandra's website and make that booking, you will not be disappointed.

Electric blue bits 'n' bobs have found their way into my wardrobes recently. I spotted these fabulously pretty pumps !!! and just had to have them. So, teamed up with my skinny jeans, checked shirt, white lacy vest I was almost set for our romantic authentic Italian dinner...this perfect Valentines Day necklace finished me off nicely :-)

So, it's that BellaBox time of the month again...and I know I'm going to 'love' opening my February box.

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

Changi Museum 'n' Black & White houses

Changi Prison Museum; very interesting and such a moving experience. I highly recommend a treck out of the city to see a little bit of Singapore and World history.

Photos in the indoor area of the museum are forbidden

but the chapel can be photographed

Certainly a tourist attraction not to be missed (Uncle Brian - you'll catch it next year :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_origami_cranes

Next, a little further afield at the very North of Singapore - actually in spitting distance of Malaysia ;-)

Still standing in Sembawang are many old British Naval Base houses.  These nestle in tree-lined roads and all have fabulous gardens.  So, who lives in a house like this?

and after reading the reviews for this book...

I want a copy to display on my coffee table ;-)

Actually, driving around these neighbourhoods I was left thinking "I want to live in that house or that house or even that house!". But, thankfully my Mr Man knows me better than I know myself and declared that Sambawang, Singapore is most probably how Gambais is to France...totally out in the sticks and I would become bored crazy ;-)

Avenue de Neuville, Gambais
proper 'out in the sticks' ;-)

My house in Gambais, France...lovely, lovely old house

but not the right choice for a city loving girl like me! ;-)

So, still smiling here despite the fact my parents have now headed back to the UK  :-(  Got lots of exciting outings, projects and general 'stuff' planned for me and my boys...:-)

The SAM , Snow City , ice skating @ Kallang and for me and my Mr Man...The Woman in Black au cinéma - proper scary snuggle up viewing ;-)  

Lastly, I'm a tiny bit obsessed with this song...

Kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

fabulous furniture 'n' terrible Thai...

I recently had a very nice compliment on my blog from homeimpress followed up with an email and a link to a Portuguese furniture manufacturer. Here's the link and a couple of photos of their designs...http://www.bocadolobo.com/

Very nice designs and if only I had some space I would for sure be making an order. Fabulous, fabulous furniture. I'd be extremely happy with a product or two in my home :-)

Terrible Thai in a flash...

Has anyone had a good meal or good experience at Thai Express I would be extremely happy to hear about it.  Or indeed, if you work there and would like to prove me incredibly wrong :-)

The Thai Express I attempted to dine at was in Kallang Leisure Park. We made an order of appetisers, soup (as entree), four main meals and three drinks. First to arrive was my Mr Man's main meal, followed by only two of the three drinks. Next up came yet two more main meals along with appetisers. I was getting annoyed and my boys were not enjoying their meals. My main meal arrived...red curry chicken, but wowzers, how very hot and spicy that was 'n' way too spicy to be tasty nice. Finally my Mr Man and I received our Tom Ka Gai...again, krikey me far, far too spicy hot to taste of anything nice.

Thoroughly disappointed and very much not smiling at my Thai Express experience. We tried it but will not be returning! 

I will add that I love Thai food and just the other day took my family to Sukhothai at their restaurant on Boat Quay...excellent food, lovely, lovely :-)

Sukhothai on Boat Quay, Singapore

lovely, lovely food...highly recommended :-)

I'm planning a blog about my family's trip to Australia and will be giving tons of info on some Singapore Sunday brunches :-)

Kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

BellaBox 'n' more Mustafa goodies...

Finally a peek inside the January BellaBox...

Again, as with past month BBoxes, there are perfect goodies to try, test 'n' enjoy :-)  My personal favourite would be the Dr Jart BB cream...I love the texture and coverage this gives. I'm definitely ordering while the postage is free.  Pangea Organics lip balm is currently on my smiley lips :-) mine is lavender and cardamom...lovely.

Yesterday I took a trip to the Mustafa Centre and disappeared inside for over 2 hours! I have yet to make a quick trip there as I get totally blown away by so much stuff on display.  I see something different each time and always that very something I 'need' :-)

blue and green sparkling nails

Extremely random stuff from yesterday's purchased list are... Indian style tunic top, nail varnish x 3 bottles, eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner (waterproof), white polo shirt x 2, white sports trousers, cricket bat and cricket ball...

I am absolutely loving my new Indian style top

with gold detail

Sports wear and cricket stuff need to be explained....these are actually for my boys. School are celebrating a week of culture...the students have already had a dragon and lion dance and on Monday the students will be taking part in a parade of nations. Hence the cricket attire...my boys will be representing England with the very British cricket whites. Of course, India is also a cricket nation so finding the stuff in Mustafa's was pretty good thinking on my part :-). So once again, I'm smiling at the Mustafa centre 'n' all its goodies.

Kisses 'n' smiles from me xx ;-)

skinny 'n' smiling with braces...

Orthodontic braces - not exactly a 'smiley' (or 'kissy') topic but just something that's 'me' right now and a topic I want to spring out there like an orthodontic elastic band :-D.

Oh, this certainly won't be everyones cup a tea but anyone who's ever had braces or currently has braces or is thinking of getting braces...read on...this might just make you smile xx :-)

not the best quality pic...sorry but since
getting my braces I 'don't do teeth smiles :-/

If I had not decided myself to get braces fitted, believe me, I would be 'blinking' annoyed at whoever did suggest them.

Anyways, for the last 8 months I've been supporting wires in my gob :-)  My reason for this, which will no doubt sound incredibly vain, is that my teeth are around 4mm off centre! Yep, 4 or 5mm off to my left.

Terrible agony in the first few days.   Awful pain in the first weeks and, to top it all off, each month (after getting the wires tightened) the pain is awfully bad for a day or so (and the cost is mounting up and up).  I can strongly recommend Ibuprofen (for those that can tolerate this medication), I was in severe pain and thoroughly miserable with 'gob ache' but luckily my cousin and a friend gave me the 'heads up' about using an anti-inflammatory drug. I really don't know how I managed without it...actually, honestly, I did not manage without it. 

Ah yes, it better had be worth it!

I'd love 'Malinda Gordon' teeth...

even the little centre gap ;-)

So, braces fitted on my top teeth (in France) and the following month we arrive in Singapore. My new found best friend Dr Choo decided the braces were fitted in a way she would or could not work with! Ok Mrs Dr Choo, so let's have these French styled wires off, next we'll extract 2, yes 2, teeth and get the more superior Singaporean styled braces fitted top AND bottom.

Without being too damn gory on detail, I developed alveolar osteitis which is commonly known as dry socket.  This is excruciatingly painful.  With my Mr Man away :-( my lack of sleep and tears dripping off my nose end :,-( I took myself into emergency at my clinic and had the 'dry socket' cleaned out, this involved lots of scraping noises (I hear those noises in my nightmares!)  Forty minutes later 'Mr' Dr Choo had finished and sent me off home with some 'extremely' strong pain killers and the instructions to rest.   Extra instructions were no food for 48 hours and only luke warm water in small sips for the next 24 hours.

Let's get ******* skinny !

Which is where the link in this blog moves to getting skinny.  Healing did take a little while and soon enough the novelty of eating jelly (the wobble on a plate kind not 'jam') does wear out.  No more can I bite into an apple let alone snack on a cheeky bar of chocolate ;-)  Prior to braces I weighed 61kg, today, I'm a little less than 54kg.  I do still eat (of course!) but the constant teeth brushing and tooth picking really does make the eating more trouble than it's worth.

Twelve more months of braces, tooth picks 'n' mouth wash. I know (truly hope) my teeth will look great when the braces are off.  It does go without saying...I'm definitely not complaining about the weight loss in fact, I'm positively 'smiling'  at my size 8 bottom :-)


Next up, smiling at my beautiful January Bellabox and loving the CNY sales...

kisses 'n' smiles from me xx :-)

VIPs in Penang 'n' extra stuff...

A little change from my usual 'all about me 'n' Singapore' blog...talking about someone 'n' somewhere else :-)

My parents-in-law broke up their stay in Singapore with a short break in Penang, Malaysia. They chose to stay in town rather than by the beach.  Their stay at at the George Town Traders Hotel with the extra 'lux' of The Traders Club meant their stay truly was perfect and a real VIP experience right from the moment of check-in. Of course, they loved it and its highly recommended...it does sound fantastic and I can't wait to try it with my 3 men.

Guests of the Hotel can 'utilize' the facilities at the Traders’s sister property at Batu Feringgi Beach via regular shuttle, so if the sea 'n' sand is your thing then the hotel in the town can still work for you.

My Parents-in-Law no matter what country they are in, near or far, like to sample the local transport and found the buses in Penang easy and cheap to get around.  Here's a few pics of the transport and some of the touristy stuff they saw...

http://www.butterfly-insect.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Chaiya_Mangkalaram

http://www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my/

I'll leave Malaysia now but will follow up this 'change in blog style' with a little tour of Australia when I get the travel tales from my parents...

I'm off now but leave you with a couple of bits 'n' bobs to look forward to in near future blogs...

smiling as the Lunar New Year preparations are in full bloom...lion dances and dragon festivals will be a dozen a day daily event :-)

not smiling, but more ranting, that folk are carrying out their annual spring clean and deciding they no longer need a pet (or maybe just not an 'out of date' pet)...some people!  I have no tolerance for them!  The SPCA are, and will continue to be, inundated with 'strays 'n' surrenders' during this festive season :-(

On a more smiley note, I'm going to finally enjoy the opening ceremony of my January BellaBox :-)

Kisses 'n' smiles from me xx :-)