Dreaming of Australia

I've put my mind to it recently that i want to travel to Australia after my last year of Poly, probably hang there for a week or more if possible. I want to open my eyes, i want to meet new people and i want to let my heart love. I have decided to start planning my trip, the places i wish to visit and the things i want to see. And i would post my journey on this blog, for all to see, a year plus from now, lets hope i accomplish what i have set myself to do.

Twelve Cupcakes

Take a seat everybody, this is gonna take a while because there is going to be a long story until we reach the Twelve Cupcakes outlet. You can just skip this to the photos but NO! STAY BECAUSE I AM PUTTING MY HEART INTO THIS POST!

Lets start from the beginning when i first read an 8 days article of the now popular cupcake shop which has 12 outlets already opened throughout Singapore. It talked about the celebrity couple, Daniel Ong and Jamie's journey of opening a cupcake shop that begun back in 2011.

8 days article

I loved how they decided to name their cupcake shop, 'Twelve Cupcakes'-that to them, is a lucky number, what with 12 signs in a zodiac, 12 holes in a baking tray, 12 numbers on the clock and the list goes on. It kinda made me believe so too because look where it has gotten them now, 12 outlets already opened in less than 2 years! Well, of course there's the hard work in producing the countless number of freshly baked cupcakes every single day.

Fast forward to 2013 March of 28th when i just came back from Sentosa to Vivo City and stumbled upon the 'twelve cupcakes' shop. I was thinking "The name seems so familiar... " and then it came back to me like a wave, THIS IS DANIEL AND JAMIE'S CUPCAKE SHOP! And i looked at the dainty and elegant looking cupcakes for quite some time, considering whether i should really spend 3 freaking dollars on a measly cupcake so small that i could probably finish in 2 or 3 bites. So i decided, screw it! YOLO and what what not, i am going to try this and if it's going to be nice then it is money well spent! And so i bought a cupcake that had my two loves in life combined together, Chocolate and Peanut Butter, called PB Chocolate, what a chic name! i thought :)

Once i got my hands on it, it was simply delightful, i couldn't help but moan how good it was, how moist and fluffy the cupcake was and how soft and unlike many other cupcakes the icing was. And the flavours were a perfect combination, the peanut butter wasn't too strong and you could definitely taste a hint of chocolate. LOVE IT!

After going home happy, i searched the net and found that there was another outlet that was closer to my house which was IMM and decided to go there after my trip to the science centre with my sister, Rin, yesterday. It was a disaster.

Firstly, we had to search for the shuttle bus that would bring us to the IMM so we walked all the way to Jurong East MRT which was originally where the shuttle bus service would be 3 years back. Now, after a recent renovation, the road was closed and many things were changed. So we thought maybe it was at the other road opposite us and we climbed an overhead bridge to a bus stop where we sat for 20 minutes in the sweltering hot sun for a bus that never came. It did have the word 'Shuttle Bus Service' so of course we sat there! When i couldn't take it any longer, i phoned the IMM bus service and found to my dismay that the shuttle service was moved elsewhere, no longer at the damned bus stop my sister and i were sitting at. And she couldn't stop complaining that we should just go home and it's not worth it for a stupid cupcake so i told her "you know what? You can just go home, i'll just walk there," and walked away but a few seconds later, i realised that i was going the opposite direction and made an embarrassing U-turn towards her. I should just tell you that going out with my sister yesterday has been the most frustrating thing. She has been treating me like one of the kids she has been taking care of at her day care centre, kept on chiding me and oh so much have i been patient with her. I'm just 11 months younger than her for your information. Sooner or later, i'm going to have to throw a bucket of water at her and scream 'GROW UP!'

My sister decided to just follow me then to the correct pick up point to get to the shuttle bus service and yes, i can officially tell you, we arrived at the right place and off we went in the nice air conditioned bus to IMM. But then, there was another obstacle, we had to find the outlet in the mass of shops which then prompted my sister to doubt whether the outlet was really here. And so we searched high and low for the shops directory and when we found it, started scanning the map. The map was another thing, we found the shop number 01-124 but the usual red dot that depicts where we are at the current moment was nowhere to be found so we had to turn around and look at the names of our surrounding shops. I looked a shop named 'Spectacle Hut' and turned back to the map searching for that the shop that could possibly give us an inkling to our current location. Then suddenly my sister said 'You're stupid!' oh damn, her and her PMSing again =_= and i looked at her with my NOW WHAT? face, readying myself to give a counter attack when she pointed at something right behind us and i saw it. The white washed wall with the chic sign 'Twelve Cupcakes.' IT WAS RIGHT BEHIND US THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE LOOKING AT THE DIRECTORY. And off we took it that direction.

Once we arrived at the outlet, a group of people probably having a meeting of some sort at one of the tables caught my eye and i squeezed my sister's arm and whispered as loud as i could to her "oh my gawd!!! thats Daniel Ong and Jamie!!!! oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god!!!" but she wasn't as awestruck as me though, she just smiled. And i was thinking, 'Singapore is seriously small!' Too bad i couldn't get a photo with them though, it wouldn't be nice if i budged in on their conversation with 2 other people and unabashedly asked for a photo. Oh well. I just proceeded to buy my cupcake and as we left i kept asking my sister to turn back and see whether the other 2 people Daniel and Jamie were talking to were celebrities as well but she didn't so i did. I couldn't see who the other 2 were but i caught a glimpse of Daniel Ong again and as we turned a corner, i kept jumping with joy while Rin just smiled. I think she has issues, how could someone not be ecstatic to be in the presence of a celebrity? and mind you, it's an effing celebrity couple!! The perfect couple in my opinion who has everything!

ANYWAYS! Here are the photos!

Isn't it such a cute bag? I finally got the cupcakes i wanted! Got the Red Velvet, Chocolate Chocolate and Vanilla Chocolate. Rin just can't stop saying how wasted it was to buy such expensive cupcakes and i finally couldn't take it anymore and shut her up with the following statement: "I think life's too short to miss out on the small things that makes us happy. I know you don't like the taste but i do and if i like it, i'll buy it, it's my money, not yours i'm wasting so let me spend mine the way i want to. I know it's expensive, i also think so but it's not like i buy them everyday."

 I love the packaging, all these customised packaging must cost a lot, no wonder the price of the cupcakes >.<

Chocolate Chocolate and Red Velvet

Unfortunately, my Vanilla Chocolate was 'murdered,' I tried to scoop up the icing but it was so soft that it became an ugly mashed up lump when i put it back on my moist cupcake. I simply adore how they promise to serve moist and fluffy cupcakes and true to their words, kept that promise!

Too-da-loo!

  P.S click here for their official website~~

Oh right and my verdict?
★★★★★

I don't believe i need any explanation here ;)

***

Genting Treats

Peace after the Storm

Eye Candies

Trekking in Nepal

An acquaintance of mine went trekking in Nepal with a bunch of other school mates and i'm filled with so much travel envy. The meaning? Check this link.

Anyways, i'd like to share a couple of photos he shared on Facebook, photo credits go to Lenz and Leapions Media.

"After raining heavily in chhomrung, we checked in at the excellent view top and restaurant and was greeted by a full double rainbow across the sky. It was intense. We could see Annapurna south as the clouds cleared as well"

-Lenz

Planking in Nepal

Waterfall frozen in time

Japanese Sea Salt Cookies

Last week, i was working as a promoter for different Japanese confectioneries and this is one of my favourites! Crunchy and sweet yet salty :) Not bad~

Verdict: 2.5/5 (Cause it's easy to get sick of it after a couple bites)
Available at Four Seasons Gourmet Market @ Marina Bay Link Mall for $10 per box, limited period only

Mcdonald's Cinnamon Melts

A few nights ago, i finally decided to try McDonald's Cinnamon Rolls after eyeing the commercial for a very long time. But sadly, it's not to die for. 

What i ©:  That it looks mouthwatering-ly tasty and has a nice bittersweet savour as well as buttery aftertaste.

What i didn't like though, was that the whole pile of rolls were stuck strongly together, giving me great difficulty in picking just one to eat. Also, it was too hard to chew, only the top part of the rolls were soft enough to eat, as if the cream cheese incing hardened everything, it had this sort of feeling like when the crunchy biscuit you love was left in the open air for too long that by the time you took a bite, it was too soggy to chew. 

Rating:★★☆☆☆

Available in every McDonald's outlets for $2.60

Hand in hand

Revenge

I love Revenge!!! I've been watching it since its first broadcast when i first saw the trailer as well as the short promo back during a school trip to Vietnam during March of 2012, it was airing in this channel called Starworld i think. The trailer had me curious as to what it was about and when i watched the first episode, i was gripped right from the beginning. So when i came back to Singapore, i loyally followed the show till its current season 2 and just can't wait for the next episode to air!!!!  The commercial said that they were about to drop a bombshell in the last freaking 5 minutes like WTF?? Do they expect us to wait patiently until the following episode comes? Oh well, we viewers can't really complain much since it's AN AWESOME SHOW!

(Revenge season 2 episode 16, referring to hunting for the tech genius, Falcon)

Coco!

Dad went to The Cocoa Trees today and bought us children some chocolates!!!! Woo hoo 멋진 아빠!! (i'm trying to say Dad's AWESOME!!)

I especially loove The Cocoa Trees not only because it's the only place i can find my fav chocolates (Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) but also because it's just simply a whole shop FILLED with chocolates :)

look at the 2 big bags here ^^  I know, who is that kid? That's my idiotic brother displaying his photobombing skills =_= 

I told him to move away but instead, he brought out his peace sign and started smiling at the camera

And here is my favourite chocolate in the whole wide world, Reese's Peanut butter cups!!! I don't really like to eat chocolates but with the peanut butter cups, i can eat them all day huhu :D

All the chocolates brought home~ There's more than these, packets, i'm just showing one of each~

and a special jar of nutella chocolate~~~ I gotta tell you, it's extremely big and heavy! even my model later couldn't hold it for long when i took his photo 

look at the big diff in weight!!

there you go, thats how big the jar is

and the receipt, a whopping S$192.10, thats why i said that i have the best dad in the world hehe.. Plus,  the big nutella jar was S$70 WOW!

Longing for Home

A house is a man's biggest investment, it is where one chooses to build a family, where most of our memories are formed..

For some, it is where dreams are slowly discovered, born or nurtured while for others, it is simply a temporary purchase, more a liability than asset

but still, a house is a place we grow up with, associating our memories with, like friends with schools, like dread with work office, like relaxation with the beach

we allocate different feelings to different locations because we'll never forget those moments that touched us and what better than to acquaint those feelings with than a destination?

thats why it's so very easy...

to feel so much for a certain place, to get attached to it
and feel that longing 

and that one crazy depression when we realise we will never get to see it again

Sue's (The Middle) Great Speech on 'The Smile'

Sue Heck had to research on a hypothesis in this episode so she went with 'Is Smiling Contagious,' and this is what she wrote at the end of the episode.

Is smiling contagious? After many attempts with multiple subjects including family, friends, or my lobster waitress and an unfriendly baby, i unfortunately, was unable to prove my hypothesis. However, like many scientists before me, i refuse to admit defeat. It took Einstein 10 years to prove E=Mc (square) and if it takes me that long to prove smiling is contagious then i am up for the challenge. For i believe there are some things that defy logic. 

Brick: No way! An iPad?? And it's the one from the fire?

Frankie: oh.. (looking at Mike) this is better than being a good parent *smiles*

French anotomist Duchenne wrote that joys are expressed by the face by contraction of the muscles but it can only be put in play by the sweet emotions of the soul.

Axl: I'm gonna miss you guys 
(referring to all 3 of them having to go their separate ways after high school)

Darrin: Okay, i'm just going to say it. I love you.

Sean and Axl: Augghh!

Axl: oh okay! Darrin just made it weird!

Darrin: I'm sorry, i'm very emotional right now *starts tearing up*

Axl: Dude come on man! *smiles and lightly punches each other*

And Duchenne, had a whole smile named after him! Think of the smiles over the years that have inspired a whole world to happiness, Mona Lisa's, Justin Bieber's.. some might laugh at me, i know, just as they laughed at John Burton. He was told in high school that he would never be a scientist, he just won the noble prize. I guess it just proves that being dismissed by people who think they know better, is not an obstacle to winning a noble prize. So i will continue with my research one smile at a time until i prove that smiling is contagious, cause i don't wanna live in a world where it isn't. 

I do not own the rights to the photos.