The year is coming to an end really soon and I'm going to do up one or two super long entry in order to clear all the pending pictures/happenings that I didn't managed to update them here since August! Keep a look out for it as it's coming up really soon! ;) But I don't think I'll be able to do up all my overseas trips update by end of year though, kinda have way too many photos to go through and edit. For all the overseas trips posts, it would probably be up on next year January!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays during this awesome festive season! Because I am! :D






Quite a lot of my friends around me also gotten this card as well, which also indirectly implies that we are spending way too much money at Starbucks too hahaha. Anyway, what's all your favourite Starbucks drink ah? For me, I don't really drink frappuccino that much and I always prefer hot drinks instead.... like; Hot Chocolate, Chai Tea Latte, Green Tea Latte, Caramel Macchiato, Toffee Nut Latte (Christmas drink), Peppermint Mocha (Christmas drink). For iced ones, I recommend Earl Grey Tea Latte - can go try out if you have the chance to! I personally think it's quite nice! ;)






Have a great Saturday everyone!

-o-"

Before I start my post, I just want to ask you guys that if you all still greet your neighbours when you see them?

For me I definitely do! I've been greeting all my neighbours since young, and partly because I think our mum taught us well and always told us that we should greet our neighbours when we see them. Although, some of my neighbours had already moved out over the years but even when there are new neighbours moving to our floor or even the level below us (we stayed on 12th storey and we are also close to all our neighbours staying on the 11th storey), we still greet them too!

I'm not sure about you guys but to me, they are the people who live closest to us. They are the people whom we can count on, especially when we are not around at home. And so I don't see why we should not be friendly to each other. For example, my neighbour will always help us to collect our parcel when the delivery man came but we are not at home. Or whenever I forget my keys and no one is at home (omg I dread this situation so much), they will always offer me to go to over to their place first while I wait for my family to be back. Small little actions like these can be really heart warming and helpful (especially when you're stuck outside your house and you need to use the toilet - which always happens to me :/).


But honestly, as the society advances, the time that we actually get to be in touch with people decreases. We are all now busy with work/school etc. And even if we are not, you can see that everyone are obsessed with their mobile phones instead of wanting to interact with people physically. My mum always told me that during their younger days, when they still lived in kampong, they were really close to all their neighbours and the bond is so strong that even until now when they bump into each other, they behave like old friends catching up with all the fond memories that they used to share together.

I actually have a lot of fond memories too!!! As I was raised up here since young, so I know all the neighbours around me very well. When I was young, me and my brother would always play with my neighbours (kids) and we will go over to each others house to play games or watch cartoon! The families will also invite us to their place for meals too, same goes to us! I still remember clearly all the times I spent playing games with my neighbours and the fun we had! So nostalgic!

As time pass, and as we grew up, these kind of activities decreases and although we still greet each other and stuff but we seldom have that much time to get together for a talk or even inviting each other over for a meal anymore. Oh! Since I was talking about playing with my neighbour earlier on, one of them is already married! How time flies isn't it! She invited us to her wedding last year and I was so touched when I was there. Because to me, I kinda feel like I watch her grow up since young. We used to play together, done tons of crazy stuff and now she's already married omg. :')


I always feel that in this current society, we are all usually very shy to make the first move and that's probably one of the reason why such gatherings and activities with our neighbours are slowly obsoleting. And furthermore, most of us are more keen to interact with our smartphones or laptops instead of human beings, which is kinda bad. So when I heard of that Singapore Kindness Movement actually came out with 'Let’s Makan' initiative, I was really happy and excited!




Let's Makan actually to allow us to rekindle the kampung spirit over Singapore’s most popular pastime – eating! A gathering of our neighbours from different walks of life, sharing a meal together and fostering closer relationships!
And above is the Let's Makan starter kit that they sent over to me to help me plan my very own, Let's Makan session! A Let's Makan session could be a small and cosy gathering or potluck session among a few neighbours... as long as everyone makan together! I feel that it's really a good idea for people like us who are so busy and didn't have the time to think of this.




Let's see what's inside the starter kit!




Some cooking materials, plastic bowls, old school games (ahhh.. I missed playing them), trash bags etc.
You can also request for the starter kit here too if you are planning a Let's Makan session with your neighbours! To be honest, planning a Let's Makan session is not as easy as I thought because everyone is so busy nowadays and not many of them will come home early and it's hard to coordinate the timing and dates as well. But with the help of my parents and since all our neighbours are pretty close to begin with, managed to gather most of them for our very own Let's Makan session!





Since Christmas is also coming and we thought that it would be a good time for such a gathering too! So we prepared the food (actually is from catering but we prepared and arrange it okay ahaha) and set up the table outside our house!




One of our neighbour came over early to check out the food first hahaha!




Then slowly our neighbours all came over for our first ever Let's Makan session!!




And since it's dinner time, all of us were hungry and started "attacking" the food first.




The turnout was great and better than I expected it would be! I am really happy eh! :D
Because you will never know if they suddenly couldn't make it due to last minute stuff yay!




Everyone was having their food while busy catching up with each other! Which we usually didn't have much chance to do so! Usually if we managed to catch up with each other is when we wait for our lift and inside the lift hahaha!




This gathering turns out to be so meaningful and heart warming! Can you believe that we actually gathered and talked for more than 3 hours???!! Even when we have work or school the next day! But the conversation couldn't stop coming between all of us! We laughed so much and had so much fun time listening to each other's stories and how they have been up to!




A 'wefie' (well sort of) with my neighbours since all of them are really shy to take pictures together!
But it's absolutely fine because the time spent with them for this Let's Makan session was so AWESOME, we kinda find it hard to believe! And we all agreed that we should do more of such gathering soon! Yay more fun gatherings to come! ;)

I urge you guys to try it out too and start your very own “Let’s Makan” session and bring back the kampong spirit! By doing so, you can also get to win quarterly mystery gift and our grand prize from Neo Garden Catering!


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Let’s Makan Photo Contest!
From now until 10 January 2015, participate in the Let’s Makan photo contest simply by submitting a photo of your very own Let’s Makan session! Get creative with your photo as the most interesting photo wins a Neo Garden buffet session for you and your neighbours! You can submit your photos by email to them, postage or just share it on your social media with the hashtag #LetsMakan - It's really simple and easy! You can visit Kindness.sg/letsmakan for more details on the contest and I wish all of you guys luck! If you all win, please invite me to the buffet session okay? :D




Ending off with a photo of my dearest family! Without them I don't think that this Let's Makan session would have be possible! Oh! And apart from the contest details, you should also go to Kindness.sg/letsmakan for recipes and more! Have fun!

-o-"

Just a few more days to Christmas and have you guys all bought your gifts for your loved ones yet?

I know many of you guys here always do last minute shopping for Christmas gifts (like me too!) and for those who are running out of ideas or still cracking your head on what to buy for your family, friends or your partner.... why not get for them something classic, stylish and something which they could wear this festive season? I'm really excited to share with you guys again some of the amazing designer accessories from justtangy.com which is perfect for gifting this Christmas!















There are both home and femme collection to suit your needs. Buying from Just Tangy is more affordable too and they will ship it to you before Christmas if you order by today (20th December)! You can also get 15% off all Daniel Wellington and Kiel James Patrick from justtangy.com by using this promo code: "BENXMAS" - Which is valid till 31 December!














Happy holidays and enjoy shopping for your loved ones this Christmas!


-o-"

Remember my previous entry on how easy it is to shop over at Groupon? Go read it if you haven’t! Today, I’m going to share with you guys my experience with all the deals that I’ve bought there with tons of pictures!

For those of you who might be wondering how’s the process like to claim all your deals once you bought them from Groupon, it’s actually pretty simple and fast. For some deals you can even redeem it on your mobile, so it’s really convenient!




The first one that I went to is Bar Stories!




It’s a little cozy cocktail bar hidden at Haji Lane.




They do not have a cocktail menu here, instead they will whip out delightful concoctions based on your preference!




Enjoying my drinks!




After having some drinks, it’s time for dinner! Yes, they have food too! Here’s my Salmon pasta with truffle oil! :)




Pretty yummy! Love the truffle taste!




Another 2 drinks to end the night! I told the bartender that I wanted something milky, and then they created and served me this butterscotch drink (right). What a delight! You will only know what drinks you'll get when it's being served.




Next up! It's the time of the year (since it’s coming to an end) to pamper myself for a good massage!
Went to Chinois Spa located at Mandarin Gallery!




Gonna have 100 mins of spa indulgence yay!




All changed up and getting my feet soaked.




Long time no selfie! Do you all miss it? :)



Having a small drink before we start the massage.




Me after the massage and facial was done and feeling so rejuvenated!




What’s Christmas without having a feast?!
My Christmas party catering set just came in time for my family!




It’s 3 course spread and can serve up to 12 pax! Ideal for parties!




It comes with a bottle of wine too! Awesome!




Looking really delicious isn’t! And since Christmas is about sharing, we decided to also use this chance to hold a gathering and share it with our neighbours!




Gathering was a success! Everyone was indulging the food as they happily chit chat for the whole night! So happy!




Remember the Sri Lankan Roe Crab deal that I’ve gotten for Peishi? Yes, I #giftGroupon it to her previously as an early gift for Christmas! :D Which I also bought the same deal for myself so we can go and have it together!





Yay 2 crabs for us! The first one is the steamed crab!




Another is Stir-fried with vermicelli.




Rachell was there with us too! Always a great time to catch up over dinner!




Love this photo of us! We were really hungry at that point of time!




Then after that, we went to Satay Culture for supper! Which is also the gift that Peishi gotten for me! It’s like lok lok and I’ve been craving for it since the last time that I had it over at Malaysia!




Time to choose the ingredients that we want!







Some of the ingredients for our first round!




With Peishi as we start our lok lok feast!




Dipping our skewered food in the hot satay sauce!




And that concludes all the deals that I’ve gotten from Groupon! :D
I must say it’s definitely a great experience to enjoy all the different services with Groupon.
Send a surprise #giftGroupon this Christmas to your family and friends! Gifting is made easy with Groupon where you can find all sorts of deals ranging from services, products or even travel packages that will suit your love ones!

http://specials.groupon.sg

-o-"