spring time at starbucks

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Every time March comes around, I get pretty excited because it’s time to check out the spring time merchandise at Starbucks! Specifically, the Sakura series. It started out in Japan, but slowly other Asian countries (including Singapore) caught on.

So what’s this year’s picks?

Starbucks Japan

Bolder colours like hot pink and yellow seem to be adopted for this year’s range in Japan. Nothing really caught my eye except for that pop bottle in the middle of the picture. Cute shape but not much use for me.

I was more excited over the drinks and desserts…

Look at the pinkness! I am so going to try these when I’m in Japan in April! <3

 

Starbucks Korea

There’s a different range of merchandise in Korea. There’s the usual baby pink and white toned merchandise, as well as some purple toned merchandise. Kinda like that baby pink tumbler in the picture, but again, have no use for more hot water tumblers.

The drinks look interesting. I like the pink chocolate flakes on the top as they remind me of sakura petals. A bit meh about the white chocolate drink though. So far, all the white chocolate drinks I’ve drunk at Starbucks are too sweet for my liking. Perhaps the Cherry Blossom Latte might be a better choice…though I’m awfully picky when it comes to sakura drinks. They must have a strong sakura taste and not just faint hints of it.

The dessert selection didn’t look interesting to me though. Unlike Japan’s Sakura Chiffon Cake, the Cherry Mascapone Fresh Cream Cake looks really rich and the kind you’ll get sick off halfway.

 

Starbucks Singapore

The range in Singapore is quite similar to Korea’s. Nothing really caught my eye. Was hoping that they’ll have a large straw tumbler so I can replace my cracked one from last year’s Sakura series, but they don’t have one this year. It’s just the regular small straw tumbler. Meh.

There are no special sakura drinks or desserts in Singapore. Another meh.

 

Starbucks Taiwan

There is a small collection of sakura-themed merchandise in Taiwan, but it’s not strongly advertised. Instead, they advertised their sheep-themed merchandise for Chinese New Year.

The red is really striking and some of the mugs and tumblers are pretty cute.

 

My verdict? This year’s Starbucks Sakura merchandise is not as interesting as last year’s. Nothing really stood out much and made me really want to get it. Guess I’ll look forward to next year’s range. Hope there’s something good then.

meh the huat be with you

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Happy Birthday everyone! Today is the seventh day of Chinese New Year, which is also known as 人日 or all man’s birthday.

Set meal from Soup Restaurant

Haven’t been finding the time to settle down to write an entry for Chinese New Year. This year has been a bit quiet as my in-laws have chosen not to go visiting. We did however have a feast for our reunion dinner.

Set meal from Soup Restaurant

Made a couple of boo boos on the first day. Went over to my parents’ place for lunch. Was in a hurry to get out of the house that I completely forgot mandarin oranges and ang pows. Maybe because I’ve been so used to going visiting with my parents that I didn’t think we’ll need oranges. (My mum usually buys boxes of oranges.) Mother-in-law shot us the disapproving look. (Yes, my in-laws were there at the lunch too.) Then came the ang pow issue. This year, we definitely cannot run away from giving out ang pows as it is our second year of marriage. The first year, we could give the “excuse” that we hadn’t gone through the traditional ceremony. So, my cousins were there at the lunch and we had to give them ang pows. Uh oh. No ang pows on hand. Had to get some empty ones and new notes from my mum. Again, we got the disapproving look from mother-in-law. Yikes.

I was so ready to take some “ootd” shots this year, but then I realised we weren’t doing much visiting so there’s less chance to dress up. Moreover, I caught some bug that gave me a slight fever, bloated tummy and stomach ache. Totally ruined my plan of wearing my new cheongsam. Didn’t want my tummy to be sticking out, so I opted for an older mandarin collar dress on the second day.

Ah well.

Since it’s the year of the sheep, meh the huat be with you!

settling kids down for lunch

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Settling down for lunch with four young kids is no joke. It doesn’t matter if there are seven adults at the table, chaos still ensues.

To make things worse, we were at the ever-popular Itacho. The queue is usually long so the wait for a table is about half an hour or more. I was there early to queue for a table, but it didn’t help because some of the girls were late. Itacho at ION Orchard has a policy that states that all guests must have arrived before being seated. (In fact, most of the restaurants in ION have that rule.) So PK and I waited, lost our table, waited some more until the whole gang finally arrived, got our table again and…it was a smaller one. Not wanting to wait any longer, we decided to squeeze. The request for three baby chairs became two, and then there was chaos trying to get the kids to settle down. Hur hur.

And yes, every time I meet up with the 7ners, I unlock new motherhood knowledge/skills. This time was a lesson on how to get kids to eat during mealtime. When you have more than one kid, suddenly you become octopus mum. While focusing on feeding the baby, your eyes have to also watch the two other kids. That was how Nad was. Trust me, it’s tough. Since I was seated opposite her three and five-year olds, I decided to try my hand at managing those two so Nad could actually focus on feeding the baby. Example: Despite her telling them NOT to touch the croquettes with their hands, the hungry little ones’ fingers kept creeping up to the plate. There were only chopsticks on the table, no other cutlery. So I picked one croquette up with my chopsticks and fed the two with strict instructions to blow first because it’s hot and then take a bite.

I used to think that her kids are really active, mischievous and out-of-hand, but really they aren’t that bad. They do listen to instructions if you say it firmly. Of course, each kid has a different character so responses differ based on that as well. Like I noticed her oldest one, Zayden, tends to push the limits until you really tell him off in a crossed tone. The second one, Reuel, is more observant and listens to instructions, but will ‘monkey see, monkey do’ what his older brother does. But having said that, Zayden has improved quite a lot…hmmm…maybe it’s because he is going to school and there’s the teacher to listen to.

Also learnt something from Jo to make kids sit down at restaurants and not run around. I think earlier on at the restaurant entrance, Zayden must have spotted the restaurant’s security camera and pointed it out to Jo. Later on, Jo was telling Zayden to sit down because the camera is watching his every move and he better not misbehave. Haha.

And speaking of observant Reuel, while saying goodbye when we were parting ways, he suddenly came up to me mumbling something. I thought he wanted to give me a hug, so I squat down. It turned out that he was actually asking what happened to the missing bow on my right shoe. OH!

PS: I know the meet up was for Jo’s birthday, but I just had to blog about this instead. Erm…how about a nice picture to end off? Heh.

rude relatives and relations

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Rude relatives and relations, oh what would you do without them? They criticise every damn thing about you and all you can do is pretend that it doesn’t get to you.

The closest one to me has already said that I can’t do household chores and cook. She proclaims that I know nuts about fashion, make up, investment, etc. She even told me I’m too kiddy to be a mother. (Basically, she thinks she’s the guru to everything.)

Just this weekend, another close one commented that I’m fat (or rather, my butt is big). Why, thank you very much. As if I didn’t know that I have put on weight since Secondary school, you just had to say it out loud point blank and laugh about it. Someone related, but not by blood, jumped to my defense at that statement.

Why is it that someone NOT RELATED BY BLOOD is so much nicer? Yes, she tells me when I’ve put on weight, but she does it gently and out of concern. Not to poke fun or say it just to feel like she’s above everyone.

I have my armour to protect myself, but even the thickest of walls is vulnerable to damage over time.

the big midnight scare

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A health-related entry…maybe I should create a category for such entries…hmmm…

So I had this huge scare early this morning that resulted in a trip down to the 24hr clinic. It started last night while I was in the bath. For some strange reason, I had a strong urge to pee. Even after I emptied my bladder, I still felt like peeing. I just shrugged off that strange feeling, thinking it would go away after a while. Nope, it didn’t. Around midnight when I was ready for bed, I went to the loo to take one last pee for the night. That’s when I noticed a slight pinkish tinge in my pee. Blood. Uh oh. And mind you, the strange feeling of wanting to pee was still there. I crawled into bed feeling rather uncomfortable, but decided that maybe I’ll go see a doctor the next morning. Did a quick search on the internet for a possible diagnosis and thought to myself that nothing could be too bad.

And I was wrong again. One hour passed and the feeling hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was getting worse. I just couldn’t fall asleep with that feeling…partly because I didn’t want to end up wetting myself in my sleep. I got up and peed. My pee still had traces of blood. I could feel the panic rising in me and tried to distract myself with an activity so I would stop panicking and making things worse. After pacing up and down a few times, I decided to wake the hubby. I could feel my voice quivering as I struggled to tell the hubby I was feeling unwell. He immediately got up and drove us to a nearby 24hr clinic.

The doctor ordered me to pee in a cup for a dipstick test. That was when I got the biggest shock of my life. My pee was full red this time. I was really about to cry. There was no other pain or discomfort except for the strange urge to pee, the sensation at my uh…pee hole. Doctor confirmed that I was having urinary tract infection (UTI). I’m not about to go into a long discussion on the possible reasons for getting UTI except that the receptionist/nurse just consoled me that it is common for females to get UTI and with medication, the symptoms would ease off in about two to three days.

A first dose of antibiotics after I returned home did help. There was still blood in my pee but at least the nagging urge to pee was easing off. As I lay down to sleep, a wave of nausea came upon me. What now. Could be the effect of the medication or another symptom of UTI. Struggled out of bed for the umpteenth time and found some sour plum to take (wasn’t sour enough but I’m taking whatever chances I have to keep from throwing up). Sat up in bed a little and soon the nausea subsided. It was about 3am by the time I (and the hubby) actually fell asleep.

The lesson learnt from this scare is to drink enough water and not to hold in your pee. If you gotta go, you gotta go. The doctor’s advice was to pee every one to two hours. Yes, I was actually holding in my pee after dinner. We were at the mall for dinner and I thought it didn’t matter since I was going home straight after dinner. Would rather pee in the comfort of my own home loo. What an expensive lesson to learn as the trip to the clinic in the wee hours of the morning cost us $145 (consultation after midnight is $105 which is about the same as a trip to the hospital).

Oh and the hubby deserves a pat on the back (and maybe more) for sacrificing precious hours of sleep and still head for work this morning.

keeping yourself covered adequately

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Some time last month, I wrote an entry about taking care of your health and keeping yourself covered with medical insurance. I cannot stress how important it is to make sure that you and your loved ones (especially if you have ageing parents) are adequately covered.

Up until the day I moved out of the family home, my dad has been the one buying the necessary insurance and managing the family’s coverage. His hope was that one day his children would take over the responsibility of managing their own insurance matters. The day is here, but I guess it is regrettably a bit late. After seeing how hospital bills can add up to the five-figure range with my father-in-law and managing his insurance claims, I resolved to make sure my own parents were well covered. I found out that my mum was only covered under the Basic Medishield plan, while my sister was covered under an integrated shield plan for up to government-restructured hospital A ward. My mum has always been adamant about going to a private hospital and staying in A ward. Therefore, with their current plans, it didn’t seem enough. However (much to my dismay), my mum and sister’s plans cannot be upgraded due to their medical conditions. My mum is diabetic and my sister is undergoing treatment for depression. My insurance agent told me that underwriting for medical insurance is very strict.

So what’s my point of writing this entry? Yes, while most Singaporeans are covered under Basic Medishield (unless they opt out), the coverage is only up to government-restructured hospital B2 or C wards. I’m not saying that everyone should buy an integrated shield plan as supplement, but depending on your income level and lifestyle, it may be a good idea to look into it. Do it while you’re healthy…and especially while your parents are healthy. As age catches up, so do health problems.

The other part of my entry is more to whine a little about how unfair it is that people who are not born healthy, have to be excluded in getting themselves covered. While my mum insists that she is not born a diabetic, we all know that her side of the family has a history with diabetes and for the longest time, I’ve known her to be a diabetic. My grandparents were diabetic and so is my aunt. Even if she wasn’t born with that condition, it is more likely to be passed down genetically. From a business point of view, I can understand why insurance companies do not want to cover unhealthy people. They are a liability (so to speak) anyway as their risk of getting hospitalised or seeking treatment is higher. But from a human point of view, I just can’t get my head round the idea that people not born healthy have to be excluded just like that. Hellooooo, they didn’t ask to my born unhealthy. The hubby tried explaining it from another angle which helped me accept a little (if not fully) this rule. He said that if these people were included and they really had to be make more claims, the premiums for everyone would go up (since it’s based on shared risk) and the healthy ones (like me) would not like that right? Sigh, I guess he has a point.

Anyway, friends or anyone else reading this, if you have no clue about this insurance stuff and want some help, I’ll be happy to share what I know. Yup, this has been my job since I became a homemaker. Reading up on and understanding insurance and investment related matters.

jayesslee concert

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We almost couldn’t get a chance to go to the Jayesslee concert because the tickets sold out so quickly. But two more concert sessions were opened up and we managed to get tickets to the concert on Saturday night. Off I went to the concert with Serena, Marissa and Lynette.

Thanks Marissa for the wefie. Not great quality but ok I guess.

If you don’t know who Jayesslee are, they are a pair of Korean-Australian twins who got famous on YouTube for singing covers. Their cover of Tamia’s “Officially Missing You” went viral and was what got them famous.

Jayesslee…yes!

I was more excited that they brought their babies (and husbands) along too. Their babies are so cute! Jordan is like an exact replica (looks) of his dad. He is very responsive which Aunt Janice can attest to. After asking Jordan to shake his head, she looked at her son, Shane and asked him what can he do…nothing. XD Awww…but Shane’s younger than Jordan by three months and he’s cute too, so all is forgiven.

Before I go all gaga about their babies, I should be talking about the concert and their music. They sang covers of newer songs but what impressed me was their cover of Ariana Grande’s “Problem”. Sonia actually did the rap very well. And both sisters tried a bit of beatboxing. How cool is that? Janice also showed off her new piano-playing skills which was pretty good. Yea, they were sharing how Sonia was the more musically talented sister because she played the guitar and how for years Janice only could play the shaker or tambourine. So finally, Janice upgraded her musical skills and started playing the piano.

I was waiting for them to sing Taeyang’s “Nun, Ko, Ib” (Eyes, Nose, Lips) and they eventually did. Yay! Love that song. I also love this other Korean song they covered a long time ago. It’s a blessing song which was also sung by Super Junior. I’m always awed by people who can harmonise just like that. I think that was what got me hooked on their singing.

I know some would find it awkward, but they did sing a couple of Christian songs and proclaim their faith in God. Yup, they actually started out singing Christian songs and have always stressed that they would like to share their faith through music. So, I really wasn’t surprised when they started singing Christian songs at their concert. In fact, I really liked their cover of Hillsong United’s “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”. If I really had to comment, I’d say that their covers of those Christian songs were really powerful. You could feel their heart and soul were poured into singing those songs…more than when they were singing the other pop songs. Guess that’s the power of faith.

sukitte ii nayo

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A movie adaptation of a manga/anime series I am following, 好きっていいなよ (Say “I Love You”). Another plain-jane-falls-for-handsome-and-popular-guy type of story (or is it the other way round?). It’s kind of unbelievable that a popular guy would fall for a plain jane like that, but who cares? It’s just a fictional story.

The movie captured pretty much most of the important scenes at the beginning of the manga and where the anime ended off. Again, certain parts were changed to fit the movie, but there was not too much deviation from the original. The actors/actresses that were casted fit the roles fairly well. A more handsome actor could have been chosen for Kurosawa Yamato though. But some credit should be given to Fukushi Souta who played the character. He managed to bring out the more down-to-earth part of the character — the one who doesn’t care for fame, the one who is a regular guy with fears for the future. If I wanted to point out anything negatively, I’ll say that the acting for Aiko’s character was a little flat. The movie also didn’t introduce Megumi’s character too much, which I thought they should as this character was the one who stirred up a lot of emotions between the lovers. Oh! And what about their cats? That was missing too. The cats were a good part of the story as they helped to break down the distance between the two. Dang.

Overall, I would say this movie was a good effort but I still prefer the manga/anime. Still waiting for the second part of the anime…

karma will teach you

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Karma will teach you not to laugh at people.

A primary school friend recently posted her primary school class photo on Facebook. Amid all the excited chatter about our memories, I couldn’t help but notice a few people on my friend list — from primary school and beyond. There are the misfits and the people who stuck out like sore thumbs back when I first knew them. Back then, we would bitch about and laugh at them, make silly comments about their weird behaviour. Well, just look at where they are now. Teachers, managers, etc. All successful people in the career paths they have chosen.

Just look at me. I went to college, got my degree, was in a good job, quit and am now a full-time homemaker. No one knows what the future holds. So before you pass judgement on other people, do reflect on your life.

new beginnings

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I recently changed webhosting companies. It’s not like I was unsatisfied with Webby Tech’s service. After all, I’ve been with the company since the time it was known as Netrillium and then AxisHost. The staff (which I suspect is only one person named Josh), has been very helpful and responsive to all my queries. You should just check out the number of tickets I’ve posted asking for help (usually pretty trivial matters) and all have been met with a great level of professionalism. It’s just that I have plans to expand what I’m doing with my domain now and I’m finding the most optimal solution to it. I’ve switched my hosting plans a couple of times with the last switch being fairly recent, but somehow I just couldn’t find something within Webby Tech that would satisfy me.

Thanks to Nick for recommending Vodien. The hosting plan costs more, but in terms of value, I think it’s worth paying that extra bit. Also, Vodien is a local company so I no longer have to wait for a response due to time difference or grapple with currency exchange (e.g. How much is this in SGD?) The folks at Vodien are very helpful too. I got them to help me with the domain transfer, which they did so for FREE. Really happy with their service.

New year, new beginnings. Thanks Webby Tech for hosting realistic-soul.net all these years. It has been a good 10 or so years. Vodien, am looking forward to many more years of great service with you. Cheers!