Star Awards 2013 Themed Dinner

The idea came pretty randomly. It started off as a dinner to celebrate getting of bonus but it went wild with a themed dinner. And we are glad it happened and everyone looked the part (at least some of the least expected guys tried to look formal). I don't know if it's the anticipation or it's the rare occasion where everyone dressed up so nicely together. We do not appear like this in wedding dinners even!

The dinner venue was set at Paulaner, Millenia Walk. It was the eve of a PH (Labour Day) so it was timely, we did not have to wake up early for work the next day.

The ladies spent a lot more effort to dress up for the evening. We brought clothes and heels to office for change. And we brought makeup set to touch up. I even brought fake lashies to put on! It was (to me) a big deal because I rarely wear fake lashes. Always wanted to try them on but always no time. This time, I attempted to put them on and succeeded! It reminded me of getting ready for prom or some performance when the 3 of us were busy dolling up in the ladies. 

The highlights of the Star Awards 2013 dinner... ...

A little jam on our way to the dinner

Look at the other guests, we were definitely OVERDRESSED.

Without jacket for now

The dudes started without the ladies!

Not so sure if it was our formal dressing or the weak air con, we started to perspire a little half way through the dinner. So thought the iced cold beer would lower the temperature but the beer was not icy at all. Probably that was also why I thought the beer tasted average. 

All those blue tinted photos were courtesy from Ah Yeo who used different camera mode on his new phone to capture. The tinted photos indeed gave a sense of arty look, don't you think?

Can you tell we really spend a lot of time dressing up?

 

The bickering duo

 

We ordered 2 portions of Pork Knuckles (boy, it was really huge), 1 plate of sausage with fries, the other sausage with wedges and 2 different types of salads (caesar and I do not know what's the other one because I did not like it). The Pork Knuckles were delicious, the skin was roasted till it was very crispy while the meat still kept its moist. But 2 plates of them were a little too much. And you kind of got sick eating so much meat after a while but luckily we managed to clear most of the food during our chats and jokes. I like the caesar salads, served with croutons. The lettuce was fresh and crunchy. The croutons gave the extra texture to it. The other salad tasted a little more sourish.

As for the sausages, there was really nothing special... given that by right they are supposed to be the specialty (right?) in the German restaurant. Or maybe I did not know how to appreciate German cuisine. They were ok but I could not recall if I liked any particular type.

 

Looking good, everyone!

 

Mr Kok could not join us because he had to celebrate his youngest gal's first birthday. We gave him live updates via the WhatsApp Chat group, with all the photos, where he started to anyhowly gave us different awards, based on our dressing. It was a shame that he could not join. And, he was the topic of our lame acts. Putting Mr Kok's face together with our handphones was really hilarious. What made it more challenging was we had iphones and samsungs, so the quality and the alighnment were different. This was what we could do... ... LOL!

 

 

 

What's the star awards dinner without the red carpet moments!?? So we managed to find some "Star-worthy" backdrop in Millenia Walk and there we went, snapping away. Weren't we lucky to find somewhere with red carpet and white background?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the one Ah Yeo took of us, during the candid moments because they looked more natural and somehow gave the "celeb" feel. He should be our photographer next time. HEHE! He also put together the photos which he took earlier that night, and formed the collages.

We did not want to end the night so early because it would be lame! Haha! So we went to The Coffee Club for some tea and coffee and they had the cakes (which I did not, too FULL!). The seats we had were very orangey, so I did a little edit on the pictures so that they are less glaring. It was a nice place to end the night with all laughters and reminisce. The waitress who served us was very nice too, she was very welcoming and entertained our 'nonsense' by laughing  with us. Hahah! A lovely evening. :) It was so lovely that we are already starting to think about the next themed dinner! LOL! Probably can be along the line of "From Riches to Rags"... no more glam, the most unglam wins it all. :D Stay Tuned!

Lunch at the Toa Payoh Hawker Centre

It was a very hot afternoon. The guys were perspiring like mad. But for the sake of healthier food, we still went ahead to Toa Payoh Hawker Centre (the one near Phillips) for lunch. Bumped into Ah Leng Jie Jie who was also there for lunch with her colleagues. She worked at Phillips. 

It's probably a bad choice to have hot soup in this kind of weather but it was good. While the rest had sliced fish mee sua and Irene had the porridge, I had sliced fish Ee Mian. With a glass of glass jelly drink... ... perfect. The noodle soup mixed with the runny egg tasted good. I like the milky and thick texture the egg yolk gave to the soup. And the noodles was of the right "crunch", not too soggy for a soup noodles.

Something healthier than yesterday's Ribeye Steak at Breeks. Hehehe! Oh, almost forgot, we also ordered the very famous carrot cake for sharing. Good to share the calories and food tastes much nicer when you share! :)

The carrot cake was only $3 and the serving was just nice for 5 of us. The top layer was crispy because of the good spread of egg which was burnt but not too much, while the bottom carrot cake was soft and starchy. A combination of a good white carrot cake. No wonder we had to wait for about 30 min for it.

Oh and also, we can't wait for tonight's Star Awards Dinner!!!!!!!!! YAY!

Value Creation Day 2013 - Time to Start Work

Last I know is that my director has spoken to CA to clear things up and I need to get started on putting things together for VCD. Feeling the stress coming but I think I just have to do one thing at a time.

I understand CA was given one week to consider her posting options.

Anyway, I have sort of drawn up the activities which I needed to do but yet to put in the timeline because I have no expectations of what comes first or how long each activity will need. But to get started I think I need to just put a tentative one. Just to get a clearer mind on what I should do coming up in the coming week... ...

- Settle on the timeline for all the sub-activities
- Draft the specs for the exhibition and event management
- Email to the relevant directors to nominate 2 reps for the exhibition (on service related innovations)
- Decide on the awardees to be recognised on stage
- Email to relevant officers for their photos (to show them recognition by photos on screen)

I think this should be what I need to accomplish at least in the coming week. 

2nd Lesson at Heguru

Today was Evans' 2nd lesson at Heguru. This time, hubby brought him in while I waited outside. I observed snippets of the class, of course was very careful so that Evans would not catch a glimpse of me. He was attentive. I think papa did a good job to keep him interested in the class. If it was for me, I guess I would have given in to him and let him snack in class!

On the other hand, his classmate, Nic did not take the class that well. Just at the start, he already started wailing very loudly. That happened the last time too but his mama managed to calm him down then. Today was his papa's turn and his papa was not able to console him. He brought Nic up the play room in the end where he finally stopped crying.

Proud of our little boy for being able to stay in class. We hope he will be able to do so all the way!

WAY TO GO, BOY BOY!

Proud of hubby and Evans, well-behaved in the class

Gathering at Ah Keong's New Place

We all have been waiting for soooooo long for Ah Keong's invitation to his new house since new year. We have heard about the hardship he has gone through in getting the renovation done. Anyway, last night the gang (Giin Bo, Yvonne, Seek Ann, Mel & BL, KS & family and us) went to his place at far far Bt Panjang for dinner and gathering.

It was about 30 mins' drive to his place. When we finally reached his place, the rest of the gang was already there but they were merely earlier but about 10 mins. Keong and LJ's house was big (it was considered an EA). The renovation was nicely done. I particularly like the kitchen which was square and rather spacious.

It was a good gathering for the kids. We have Ah Keong's super active KH, Mel and BL's adventurous Josh and quiet Joel, KS's gals (YQ and EQ) and our little Evans. Though frankly there wasn't much interaction between the kids, it was still a good chance for them to see one another. Evans was in fact a little scared of KH because he was way "rougher' than the other kids.

Evans really liked to enter their kitchen to see the washing machine, even though it wasn't moving. He was just very curious about the stuff in there. And he kept walking in and out.

YQ was surprisingly participative in the grown-ups' chat. I wasn't sure what they were talking about because I was busy attending to Evans and also chatting with LJ and Zen. But I caught the moment where Ah Bo tried to share about an old, lame but funny story with YQ and the rest of the gang. That was the 5th time I was hearing the story. LOL! But I think YQ did not catch the joke, so.. not impressed.

Thanks to Ah Keong and LJ for the hospitality and of course to KH for sharing his toys!

Cinta Manis at Novena Square

Tell me, how to be healthy like this. Ok, I only have myself to blame.

Once again lunch with my kakis was not quite a healthy choice, at Cinta Manis (Novena Square). The former Ah Mei Cafe has closed down and now, it is Cinta Manis which sells nasi lemak, mee siam, kuehs, etc. Pretty much the sinful food. One of their signature items was this Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang. Big portion which costs $7.80 nett. You can choose the set meal too (at $11.80) which comes with a drink and a kueh as dessert.

Today I just ordered the normal nasi lemak, which was good enough for me. Yummy but sinful. Really got to work it all out this week.

Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Singapura

Passed by the newly opened Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Singapura. Wow, loooooooong queue!

It was almost as popular as the one in HK. No reservations, no take-aways. Not sure how the standard was though... ... Maybe we can give it a try some day... if we do not mind the wait.