RamenPlay - Catch up with friend ya!

It's been really long since I last met Serene. I couldn't remember when was the last time. Our time always seem to clash - it's either me busy with my tuition schedules or her busy with her school stuff. So finally we managed to block out a common time to meet for lunch and a short catch up. YAYYY!

We headed down to JEM, the newly opened suburban mall in the west. Despite the heavy haze, the mall was nonetheless packed with shoppers. There are 241 shops in the mall, with popular fashion stores such as H&M, TOPSHOP, Dorothy Perkins etc. So how can we not do a little bit of shopping there?! ♥‿♥ 

Afterwards, we had our lunch at RamenPlay. Actually we were quite disappointed because we were told (only after we were seated in the restaurant) that not all the food on the menu will be served during lunch time. This left us with only a limited choice. ☹ The staffs there should have told us about it before we stepped into the restaurant. Since we were already seated, it's not really nice to leave without ordering.

I am a ramen-lover. What about you? (｡◕‿◕｡)

I ordered the classic Cha Siew Ramen, which was quite nice actually   

I've known Serene since secondary school days. Back then, we were not very close and in fact, we sort of disliked each other because I felt that she was too noisy. Neither does she, but I couldn't remember the reason why. Anyway, that's not important already because it's all in the past and we are really really good friends now! ^( '‿' )^ Ps: She is still very noisy even till date. HAHAHAHA!

Aiyo, why is this auntie photobombing us? ◔_◔

The Lone Ranger

From the team that brought you "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN", now comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "THE LONE RANGER", an upcoming action adventure comedy film that will hit town on 4th July 2013. Starring none other than JOHNNY DEPP, not a "savvy-ing" pirate this time but a Native American spiritual warrior, TONTO, who recounts the untold tales that transformed a man of the law into a legend of justice, JOHN REID aka LONE RANGER, enacted by ARMIE HAMMER.

Hold tight to your seats for a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. The action-packed film takes the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

"THE LONE RANGER" also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter, and is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski. 

To me, Johnny Depp is probably one of the best, or even talented Hollywood actors, because he has the ability to paint his characters so well that I actually almost believe that they really do exist! (Be it Captain Jack Sparrow in "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN", Willy Wonka in "CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, or The Mad Hatter in "ALICE IN WONDERLAND") Hence, I am really looking forward to watching "THE LONE RANGER" and see him acting his role in the movie. 

People out there, do you still remember Johnny Depp's elaborate costumes and unusual looks in his previous movies? Similarly, such an image would be portrayed in the upcoming movie, with TONTO having his face painted white with black stripes, wearing a thin headband with a black crow hovering behind his head, and dangling fringe. (Actually I've no idea what the black crow for HAHAHA) The image of TONTO alone already interests me so much. Oh dear, I can't wait to watch the movie!!!

Catch Disney's "The Lone Ranger" in Singapore cinemas this 4 July 2013! For more updates, like the Official Walt Disney Studios Singapore Facebook Page, follow @disneystudiosSG and subscribe to the Official Disney Studios Singapore Youtube Channel!

Save22.com.sg

Today, I would like to share with you my views on Savee22.com.sg. Frankly speaking, I've never heard of Save22.com.sg until recently when Nuffnang shared about it. Out of curiosity, I decided to click onto the link and check out on the site.

What is Save22.com.sg?

Basically, Save22.com.sg is a user-friendly, online platform that provides you with a comprehensive list of retailers with their pricing, promotion, and other information such as store details and operating hours. It updates you with the various promotions and sales in town, allowing you to purchase your desires at the lowest price possible. It also enables you to shop smart by comparing the prices and products that these retailers are offering and choose the one that you deem best for you.

How do I go about using Save22.com.sg?

Step 1: Visit Save22.com.sg (Just click on the website for the link)

Step 2: Start navigating !

Yes, it's as simple as that. For ease of navigation in the webpage, retailers are sorted out according to categories such as restaurants, entertainment, telecommunications etc. Users can just click on their desired navigational links and they would be led to a page that consists of the popular promotions under the particular category.

Navigational links at the right hand side of the page

Let me show you an example of how Save22.com.sg works. For those who are having plans to refurnish your house, you can click on the furniture link and you would be greeted with a page filled with information on the various promotions that participating furniture retailers are providing. You can also find the latest copy of the Courts catalogue, giving you the access to browse hundreds of items and instore promotions from your home.

Copy of Courts catalogue for the month of June 2013. Available on Save22.com.sg as well

Copy of Courts catalogue for the month of June 2013. Available on Save22.com.sg as well

Other benefits of Save22.com.sg

Unlike Groupon or other deals-offering online platforms, Save22.com.sg does not require a certain amount of people to sign up for the deal before the deal is activated. Hence you would be able to slip away with the trouble of having to spread the deals around and hoping to have enough people signing up and activating them. All you have to do is to hop into the nearest store and make your purchase! No trouble, no hassle. 

So why are you waiting? Start visiting Save22.com.sg today! (•‿•)

Mongkok Dim Sum @ 214 Geylang Road

After our River Safari trip, Pat and I went dinner at Mongkok Dim Sum. It's my nth visit there and I decided to blog about it since I own a blog and a camera now, which I previously do not. It was supposed to be a 15 minute walk from Kallang station. We got a little lost, probably because it's been a long time since I last came, and hence spent about 30 minutes trying to locate the place.

Mongkok Dim Sum @ 214 Geylang Road

Mongkok Dim Sum offers a wide selection of Dim Sum and Tzechar dishes at a rather reasonable price. I dare not say that this is the best Dim Sum spot in Singapore, but rather, this is one of my favourite places to fill my stomach with these delicious snack-sized specialties.

I was really impressed with the food and variety there. Both of us were spoilt for choice and everything on the menu was simply so enticing. I always thought how could a person be full from eating these small bites instead of a proper meal? Then I realised I was so so so wrong. We ended up spending a total of 33.80 SGD on the meal, which entitled us to indulge in 7 different types of Dim Sum, a plate of piping hot fried rice and a cup of drink for each of us. Good place to recommend for dinner or supper!

Let the photos do the talking instead.

My all-time favourite, pan-fried carrot cake

Steamed shrimp dumplings, one of the classic dishes in Yum Cha

Egg tarts! A must try there! Egg custard was really soft and crust so crispy

Chee Cheong Fan filled with shrimps. There are other variations such as BBQ pork too

Pat's favourite - Stewed chicken feet in spicy sauce

Siew Mai, another quintessential Dim Sum item not to be missed

Shrimps wrapped in bean curd skin

Pat and I shared this plate of Yangzhou fried rice

River Safari

My 1st visit to an animal farm/park this year was during my Taiwan trip last month. The 2nd was during my Kuala Lumpur trip few weeks back and 3rd was when I visited River Safari with Pat and her colleagues few days ago. It was a family-colleague outing and 11 people, including me, joined the trip. Pat asked if I was interested to tag along, and since I was free, I said okay. I think I want to emphasize that I am not a huge fan of animals, but it just happened that I've been to too many animal parks recently. @(ᵕ.ᵕ)@ And once again, for those who are in need of photographs of animals for your project, personal collection or whatever reason, please feel free to grab these photos. I promise this will be the last post you ever see me writing and posting about animals. HAHAH! ٩(๏̮͡๏)۶

Pat and I cabbed down from Woodlands and gathered with the rest at our destination. On our way there, the taxi driver kept complaining to us how horrible his last visit to the zoo was. Actually it was quite hilarious because of the way he described his experience, like how he grumbled about the smell of the animals etc.

The entrance fee's supposed to be 35 SGD per person. However, when we went there, the tickets were sold at a discounted rate of 25 SGD because the boat ride and the animal exhibits along the ride are not available yet. As compared to the past two farms that I've visited, River Safari houses a larger variety of animals, and in fact, there are some animals which I've never seen before. This makes it a little interesting for me.

Soooo, here we go!

A bunch of monkeys playing/fighting with one another. I think one of them snatched the stick away from the other monkey and now they are in a tug-o-stick-war

A hard smack on your face, see if you dare to snatch my sticks next time

The monkey on the right side says: I don't give a damn  இ_இ

Who's that making a din?

I know I don't look like a panda, but my name's red panda

And then we saw the famous Jia Jia and Kai Kai. In case you are wondering who they are, they are the two giant pandas which arrived at the Singapore Zoo from China last year on a 10-year loan. I heard that they are actually a couple. Are they? Anyway, the diet of these giant pandas consists mainly bamboo, and other food like carrots and apples. To welcome these celebrities to their new home, River Safari spent $8.6 million just to build the houses and create an environment similar to that of their native habitats. That's expensive.... Good life uh? ᵔᴥᵔ

That's Kai Kai lying and resting like a boss (°∀°)

It's indeed quite hard to spot Jia Jia outside of her den

20 kg of bamboo! That's really a huge amount. I wonder if there are ample supplies of bamboos for these pandas

The Mama Panda Kitchen located outside the Giant Panda Forest that sells panda-themed bites

Hi, I am a squirrel monkey. I am from a different species of monkeys which you saw earlier 

Ahem, no public display of affection please ＼(^ω^＼)

Planking on the handrail

Kuala Lumpur Trip 2013 Day 2: Istana Negara & Farm In The City

Day 1 itinerary can be found here.

The plan for that day was to visit the Istana Negara and Farm In The City, an animal farm in Kuala Lumpur.

It wasn't really considered a visit to the Istana, because we were only allowed to take photographs of the front of the palace and not permitted to enter it's premise. When we reached, we saw two royal guards riding on a horse and stationing themselves at the main gate of the palace. I was really impressed as they have to remain stationary and unresponsive despite being under the hot scorching sun. 凸ʘ‿ʘ凸

Many other people, who I suppose were visitors as well, taking photos of the front of the palace

Istana Negara, which means National Palace in Malay

A royal guard seated completely still on a the palace's horse. These royal guards aren't allowed to move nor talk to anyone

Next up was the animal farm. My last visit to the zoo or animal park dates backs to the days when I was still a young kid, probably studying in either primary one or primary two. If not for the photographs taken with my parent's old antique camera, I would not even have remembered that I've been to the zoo. •(⌚_⌚)• 

I thought (actually, I've misunderstood) that we could see a wide diversity of animals there, but to my disappointment, there isn't. Maybe because it's a farm and you can only find farm animals, not elephants, pandas, or tigers. Anyway, this post would be filled with photographs of animals. For those who are in need for photographs of animals for your projects, personal collection or whatever purpose, feel free to grab these photos. Hahahaha!  ✌.ʕʘ‿ʘʔ.✌ I was perspiring quite a lot and hence wasn't in the mood for camwhoring. So there would not be much (in fact none except the above one) human photos in this post.  

You can find some rare animals there. According to the farm's website, they have the world's biggest species of rabbits and land tortoises. Because I came here as part of the tour group and the tour guide paid for our fees, I am not sure how much it would cost for a visit there

I guess this is the world's biggest species of tortoise that they mentioned

I see ducks in Malaysia. I see ducks in Taiwan too 

This arrogant-looking roaster. Sorry no offence   

Munching on a sunflower seed

This bird looks a bit aggressive, don't you think so?

Lying comfortably on a patch of grass   

Kuala Lumpur Trip 2013 Day 1

After a two night stay in Cameron Highlands, the tour continued to Kuala Lumpur. For those who missed the Cameron Highlands post, click here. Like the past two days, we woke up very early for breakfast in the hotel. Mom and I did some last minute packing before gathering with the rest and heading down the mountain to the capital of Malaysia.

The morning sky when we woke up at Equatorial Cameron Highlands the next day

We stayed in Swiss Inn Hotel which is conveniently located  in the heart of Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur. Mom and I enjoyed our stay there, in fact much more than our stay in Equatorial Cameron Highlands. The room is clean and the bed is really comfortable, even more comfortable than the one in my house. Of course, there is free wifi in the room too. How I wish I could lie down there all day, watch television, surf the net and text my friends. That's life okay. ♥‿♥ HAHAHA. However, the downside is that rooms are not really sound proof and hence you can hear your neighbors talking. Mom and I were not really affected by it though. She fell asleep soon after she lied on the bed while I what's app-ed till I dozed off.

Our room in Swiss Inn

Before we checked in, we went to one of the malls near KLCC. The stuff that the shops sell are relatively much cheaper than those in Singapore, but I ended up empty handed because none of it caught my attention. (╥﹏╥) 

Anyway, I was so enthralled when I saw a huge Rainie Yang concert banner outside the mall. I am a big fan of her and I can't wait to fly over to Genting to watch her world tour concert for the 3rd time!! ლ(｀ー´ლ) I am not sure why the photo of her in the poster was changed. It was supposed to be her baring her back and wearing something over her head. Is it because the photo is considered too revealing there? Anyway, for those interested in watching her world tour concert in Malaysia, here are the details:

Date & Time: 29th June 2013, 8:30pm

Venue: Arena Of Stars, Genting Highlands

Tickets priced at 133 RM to 433 RM, depending on seating sections

For more information, please visit the official ticketing website, or click here

The huge Rainie Yang banner outside one of the malls 

Sorry for the sidetrack. Anyway, that's basically it for day one.