Macarons = Love

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

While grabbing ‘supplies’ before our flight back, we passed by TWG’s colourful and attractive display of macarons in the transit area of Singapore’s Changi Airport. I couldn’t help but get drawn to it because of my addiction. I didn’t want to get some cos I thought it was frivolous use of money to be popping macarons all the time.

The hubs noticed that and insisted that we grab some for the road (or in this case, sky). We decided to just get a box of 6, which costed about S$12, and I had such a hard time choose only 6 flavours.

In the end, the final 6 were (from left to right): Limited Edition Singapore Tea, Earl Grey Fortune & Chocolate, Kaya, Camelot Tea & Praline, Moroccan Mint Tea, Blackcurrant. Can’t remember the full names of the flavours, but I’ve got the gist down to a pat. We wanted to try the Matcha flavoured one but it was out of stock (a perfect excuse for buying another box the next time!)

I find it very difficult to resist the teas as well, mainly cos of the pretty packaging. (I’m a sucker for packaging; I’d go broke in Japan.) But we didn’t get any teas this time cos we have a lot of tea bags and tea leaves waiting to be drunk at home.

Regardless, I was a happy girl, prancing out of the shop with a paper bag of macarons, in a pretty box to boot! We hurried to board our plane (slightly late, as usual) and carefully tucked away our macarons safely. It was to become our breakfast for the next 2 days. (P.S if you do keep them over a night or two, the shells tend to get a bit soggy. Just FYI.)

I’m glad the hubs was sweet enough to insist on buying these little treats for me, despite me thinking about not wasting money and all. If I’m not going to pamper myself, I’m sure glad someone else is.

Things I Miss About Living in Singapore – Part I

Tonight, I fly back to Singapore for a day, before flying off for my Summer Vacay (and Parts II & III).

The past week has been filled with bringing Singaporeans around Ahmedabad and preparing for our trip. And one task that I do diligently before every trip, is to clear out old photos in my cellphone to make space for new ones. My cellphone is constantly out of storage space.

While doing that today, I stumbled upon some things I’ve missed.

Salmon Sashimi. My ultimate craving! It’s raw fish, so even if I did find it here, I might be hesitant to eat it. I tend to avoid raw vegetables and cut fruits here. Food poisoning is not pleasant. This one here’s from Sushi Tei, it’s salmon, salmon belly, and salmon roe. What I first fell in love with at Sushi Tei is their Sashimi Salad – sounds boring, but it might just be my favourite dish there!

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

Coffee + macarons at any random hipster cafe. I really miss macarons. It’s hard to find really good ones, even in Singapore. They’re not easy to perfect. Believe me, I’ve tried. This one’s from a cafe called Smitten, somewhere along Robertson Quay.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

I don’t have many days back home this time around, but I’ll definitely be cafe-hunting in the UK! I hope to be able to share more on that with you soon. (:

Create Your Own Highlight Reel

By chance, or perhaps due to my habit of procrastination, I was just browsing through my Instagram photos for the past year. And to be honest, I look like I have an incredible whirlwind of a life.

Two thoughts followed:
1. I now understand what they mean when they say social media is unhealthy cos it shows you the ‘highlight reel’ of someone else’s life and it causes you to compare your own life to that and subsequently feel like you don’t have enough going for you. My string of posts did indeed look like a highlight reel, showing massive amounts of the exciting parts while close to nothing of the boring mundane ones.
2. Looking at my own highlight reel made me realize how blessed I’ve been in the past year. And maybe that’s one of the upsides of social media – that when you look back at your own properly documented ‘highlight reel’ you see that indeed you had many good times.

It is a known fact that the human mind tends to remember the bad things better. When things go wrong, or when you feel angry or upset, the feelings stick to your mind much more that the happy feelings. That’s why I think things like gratitude journals or #100happydays are useful because when we do reviewing them, we can clearly see the remember the good we’ve enjoying. And hopefully this will give us a better appreciation of our own lives.

In my case, scrolling through my Instagram account unexpectedly made me feel thankful for the life God has given me. I hope this little trick of creating your own highlight reel also helps you find and feel gratitude in your own lives.

And before I go, just thought I’d share a few of my favourites:

Our honeymoon in USA: Double rainbow at Niagara Falls and the crazy lights parade at Walt Disney World.

Our wedding ceremony. Good friends who remember my birthday with sweet gifts.

The amazing Greece. Beautiful flowers in Sydney.

Simple things like awesome waffles back home (this one at Stranger’s Reunion). Embarking and planning for the next adventure.

Credit for all 8 photos: Juxxtapose

Food from Home

I miss food from home. The number one thing I miss (after my loved ones).

This are dishes from a coffee shop along Upper Serangoon Road. First is the fabulous Hokkien Mee with extra spicy chilli. The chilli is so good, that they make you pay for extra chilli.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

And the Or Luak, which is fried oyster omelette. The best I’ve eaten. Crispy at all the right parts.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

My short trip home was postponed. So now I can only drool at the photos. Till we meet again!