31st Birthday Celebrations Pt. 2

As with last year, I had 2 parts to my birthday celebrations.. actual day festivities with family and a separate day with friends. After doing my ZumFit class for the evening on Friday night, I got changed from sweaty workout gear to my night outfit and met some friends over at Fishermans Wharf in front of The Central for Dinner!

Those who turned up were: My youngest sister, Alexandra, EY (Zumba Dance Mate and also my dance student), Vikki (my favourite Aqua instructor who taught me most of my moves) & her friend, Leila? (Vikki - pls confirm spelling), Priscilla (my online gf buddy) & her friend Derrick, Willie (a California Fitness dance mate) & her friend Elin, Daphne aka Daphnemaia aka Hello Kitty, Hendribudi, Mohd. Hisham, my favourite galfriend Preetha aka Jane Doe from 91.3FM with her man, Regan and his brother and last but not least, Josh Lim aka Tow Kay of Advertlets, right down from KL for the weekend! Whoot!

Thank you everyone for joining me to have fish & chips for my birthday! Your presence even though I only had a couple of minutes to speak to each of you touched me greatly.

After dinner, majority of us moved down to Azzucar which is situated right in the middle of Clarke Quay. I LOVE AZZUCAR with its cosy atmosphere and music that I totally dig! The band is named Cubania.. apparently from Cuba of course.. and the lead singer is also the BOSS of Azzucar.. Miguel!

They really took AMAZING care of me that evening.. constantly checking in that everything was alright and if I needed anything. Personal attention from the boss himself too! Even called me when I was on the way home to ensure I was safe and checked in on me the next day that I was alright and happy.

In picture: Josh Lim, Boss of Advertlets - of which I fully support exclusively as of the past year in terms of long term blog advertising banners. My sister Alex and Balpreet, another dance galfriend from the gym!

My galfriend, Jo Lim - the sexy lady who clothes and plays a major influence your purchases for your favourite Timberland outfits and gear and Tow Kay Neo of Silk Minerals. Check out her online shop where you can get amazing colours and beauty products specially hand picked by her!

Silk Minerals has also always sponsored my eyeshadow so most of the eyeshadow you would see on my blogs as of the past 9 months at least are Silk Mineral colours! Check it out!

SILK MINERAL

Krisandro and Leshane also came to spend time with me at Azzucar that evening. I was very very touched that they came! Thank you! Even though I didn't have alot of time to spend with them, their presence and attendance was definitely heartfelt! And Fwoah! Thank you for the present! I really like it!!

Whos in the picture? Josh Lim... Leshane and Krisandro.. *big loves to them all*. And I just had to take a picture with the sweetest and prettiest one there... Leshane! Even her name is pretty!! Argh!! Thanks again for coming!! *hugs*

My sister, Alex calls my boots, "CFM boots"... I didn't know those kinda boots even had a name! *CFM - Come F**K Me* -.-''

And a very sweet guy, facebooker and blog reader, Lennard came to grace me with his presence at the party along with a group of his friends too! How nice!! They're all so lovely. And he gave me a box of chocolates too! Awwww....... thank you!

A group shot with Lennard and all his very nice friends...

Other than booking up all of the lounge space and 6 tables for me for the evening on a complimentary basis, Azzucar also extended preferred rates for drinks and sponsored a HUGE cake FOR ME! I did not have a single drop of alcohol that evening too! So it was a free flow of iced water all night for me...

The cake was so big that even after cutting large slices for everyone who came for my party, we still had half a cake left which I cut up in even larger slices and my sister, Alex went around giving out to the other patrons at the club till it was all finished.

In the picture: Krisandro & Leshane, Josh Lim, Preetha D aka Jane Doe and my other favourite couple, Adele and Joe Augustin... Adele looked SMASHINGLY pretty that evening! *whistle*. Do check out Joe's PODCAST!

MORNING JAM

I was pleased with the cake... yes I was.. hahahaa! But I didn't get to eat it! Hahha.. I can only hope that it was good!

With that, the live band Cubania *which I absolutely adored the kind of music they played* sang me a reggaeton version of Happy Birthday... I blew out my candles.. on my 3rd, 31st Birthday cake. First was at my aunt's house, 2 weeks ago - Durian cake. 2nd was on my actual day, Mango Vanilla Fruit cake and this was my 3rd cake. They put on 25 candles for me as they refused to believe that I was turning 31.. awww.. flattery eh...

And some more pictures with more girlfriends who came to join me for the evening, french galfriend, Anne Valluy and her close friend. Loreta, a very lovely Brazilian woman with her husband...

The night was very enjoyable with the people who came to celebrate it with me, with cake, with the dancing & music and the dance challenge on stage which absolutely gave the exhibitionist in me an absolute kick! And I love how the clubs now are all smoke free!

No more going home smelling like an ash tray.. only smelling like sweat & purfume! hahahah! And a shot of some of the gifts I was given for my birthday that ranged from chocolates to lotions, eyelashes, eyeshadow, makeup kits, hand painted cards, necklaces and vouchers.

As of now, I'm due for a Birthday Brazillian which is a gift by Preetha, to meet up with Adele Augustin for a pressie, meeting my galfriend, Serene for La Mian birthday lunch treat on Tuesday and my close galfriend, Kay for another birthday lunch on Friday...

Looks like I won't be watching my carbs for another week... will resolve to detox from next week onwards... but for now.. THANK YOU EVERYONE.. because you came, you made my birthday that little bit more special with your presence. Thank you. :) Love u all...

Its Azzucar's 2nd Anniversary!

Azzucar celebrated their 2nd anniversary on Saturday, 27th March 2010! Its been 2 years already! Did you know that there was a latin dance club on the 2nd floor next to the Clarke Quay central fountain above the Tent restaurant, in front of Mulligans?

Well anyway, it was a successful night with a cosy group of partners, suppliers, sponsors, friends and guests of the club that was filled with their resident band, Cubania's live music, amazing close up magic by Solomon *check him out!*, bartender flaring, cake cutting, lucky draw with 7 great prizes including 2 main prizes of a $600 Body Contours Gold Spa Voucher! *lucky winners!*, a buffet spread and a casino table with baccarat & black jack sponsored by Jack Daniels!

And what was having a latin dance club when you don't go there to shake some bonbons to the reggaeton and salsa beats! Completely my type of music! Dance away!

Zuri *above* came. She is one of my fellow Zumba instructor mates and she brought her husband and friends too! And their cosy little group won 2 prizes!! What a lucky night!

I emceed for the evening, spread a little joy and hope that my guests who spent the time to attend enjoyed themselves and return again soon. :) Too bad I didn't get to take pictures so many of the amazing new people I met that night but I hope everyone stays in touch!! You have my namecard! Here are pictures of my guests that I DID take pictures with... :) Like Gurmit!

Fuyoh! I was honoured that Gurmit took some time off his crazy schedule to spend the evening and join me at the Anniversary celebrations... Thank you! Hahhaa! We look waaaaaaay too cheerful here dude! This guy is hilarious... both in person and on screen...

And some friends joined the celebrations in support, night owls - Jonathen came with friends to spread some cheer... thanks for coming out "in the daylight" to join in!

Group picture with Charlie, Lisa *Azzucar's new Marketing Manager*, Gurmit and Andy.. thanks for coming guys! And whoa! These guys keep on winning at the baccarat & blackjack table! Good practice for IR - looks like its time to check it out! *ruffles coin pouch*

And finally, Ze 2nd Level Team Azzucar! Hahhaa! Me (external partner PR, Design & Special Events), Ricky - Mister General Manager and the ONE to go to for anything needed at the club and Lisa, Marketing Manager extraodinaire...

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY AZZUCAR!

May you have many more Anniversaries to celebrate!

The Pink Party at Azzucar!

Hey Everyone! I would like to share this with you and I hope you help spread the word to ANYONE who you feel may be interested to attend this really fun party!

Azzucar! Club & Bar, located in the heart of Clarke Quay (located next to the fountain, 2nd floor in front of Mulligans) proudly delivers an electrifying mix of the newest Latin funk, pop, salsa, merengue and reggaeton beats belted out by Singapore’s Only All Cuban Band, Cubania.

Seven exotic, sexy entertainers perform 6 nights a week with profound passion that brings forth Cuba’s cultural heritage and music scene, hand picked by experienced performer and club owner, Miguel Morales.

The Pink Party is a themed party by color but also by representation of this social segment of society that is otherwise represented by the color Pink.

This night is also dedicated in support to Pinkdot.sg where drink bottles auction (Lychee Gancia Champagne x2 bottles (auction starts at $100 per bottle) + 42Below Kiwi Vodka (auction starts at $200) will be held on this night where 100% of the proceeds of this auction will be given to Pinkdot.sg for their cause and activities.

Exclusive One Night Only Special Pink drink called “The Pink Ninja” has been created that comes with a handmade soft felt stuffed 3 inch tall Pink Ninja Brooch which allows party goers wearing this brooch to purchase subsequent party drinks/shooters at special prices for the night. This brooch can be taken back as exclusive memorabilia from the party.

The event which runs from 8pm to 12 midnight till late will have engaging interactive games held in between every 45 minute band play sets that boasts of exciting prizes such as bottles of 42below Vodka bottle and an exclusive to Azzucar! - Lychee Gancia Champagne bottle amongst other sponsor prizes up to $340!

From 830pm - 930pm, participate in a Latin dance workshop with a professional latin dance instructor, Albert Chung from S&A Danz X'pressio simple hot sexy moves that would sizzle the dance floor!

Two contests which will run for the night that will be drawn past midnight would be “The Most Pink Person” Contest which will be selected for the person who was dressed the Most Pink attire for the night.

“Come dressed in your Most Pink outfit; be as outrageously pink as you can be! Make a statement!”

The other contest would be for the “Azzucar Pink Party King & Queen” Coronation that would include a crown & a special prize for the winners.

“It would be such an exciting evening that the club for all attending that would be infused with engaging Latin music, fun interactive games, great prizes and crowd to dance a Saturday night away with a different experience that would befit a special night such as this….and for a good reason too! Support Pinkdot.sg!”

Door Cover at the door for the Party would be $25 (includes 1 Pink Ninja drink + Handmade Brooch).

So Clear your Calendar people! Its Party time next Saturday! Gather your buddies & friends, RSVP please and I'll see you there!!

RSVP over at Facebook HERE

RSVP PLEASE!

Hey People! Party post details HERE! OR FACEBOOK rsvp HERE.

If you can meet me at 9pm, please sms me to check out which location at Central Mall we will be at to grab a bite.

After which, its off to Azzucar at Clarke Quay! May I add for safe measure and alert everyone going, if you want to buy me a drink, get me a bottle of water. I won't be drinking that night. :)

Azzucar is sponsoring a cake for the evening. I hope they're sensible enough to sponsor a BIG ONE and not a tiny one with the amount of people going.

There are alot of pple who still have NOT yet RSVPed, please do so today or tomorrow PLEASE! Even if you're on a tentative, at least let me know you're a tentative and update me with your plus ones or plus twos.

Thank you!! If you're going direct to Azzucar, the place has been booked for the evening, just say you're there for Pam's party. :) See you all tomorrow!!

Halloween 09 - Azzucar Spooky Night!

Spooky Night on 31st October came around and I spent the evening working. Yes, at a club and yes, it was Azzucar but for filming purposes. My videographers were there in full force recording what was needed for the night. While that was happening, the Marketing Manager and I made our rounds for the evening looking for Halloween Costume winners for prizes.

I interchanged my gold mask for the night for some black devil horns. What was I? Well I don't know really.. I had a mask, I had golden glittery spiders running all over my body.. some blood running down blood-red lips and blood splattered around my shoulders... so I was a bloody horny masked..err.. something.. *shrug*

Above was the first prize winner in red hair... below was the 2nd prize winner and the 3rd prize winner.. she left before we could take a picture with her. :(

And some more pictures with two of the band members (in pink hair and red horns)...

And my newest girlfriend, Michelle! Priscilla introduced us one evening some weeks ago and we hit off completely! She's a riot and completely hilarious... a really fun girl. REALLY fun. And best part too, she's also an Endorphin Junkie like me but she instructs swimming and trains for triathlons! Cool eh! Triathlons! Even I'm not at that level to even want to do a Marathon... much less Triathlon!! *hugs babe!!*

And I just HAD to take a picture with these guys.. its the GHOSTBUSTERS!! ... whod'yacall?! GHOSTBUSTERS!! Err.. on duty with Heineken? .... Got ghost how?.....

And of course, the evening would not have been complete if I didn't get a picture with the lovely owners of Azzucar, my clients... Miguel and his wife. "Rawwrrr!!"

And a final pic taken just before I left the house for the evening.. before the masks/horns/blood was put on.. still looking somewhat powdery n fresh.. face was much whiter in person... and no, I know it wasn't scary and my eyes were squinty.. but whatever.. "Raawwrrrr again...".... HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

Brazillian BBQ & Azzucar Paella Girls Night!

I have to note the 3rd of January 2009 as one of the most truely enjoyable Saturdays I've had in a long while and it was such a fabulous start for the new year too!

Above is my girlfriend and rumba dance mate, brazillian lady named Cristiane Oliveira. She invited me to her Brazillian BBQ cum Farewell Party as she and her husband were moving back to Brazil due to work.

I'm going to miss her and its such a pity that we've only gotten to know each other recently but a friend made is always better than none at all. She taught me some portuguese too! She's the first brazillian I know personally and she gave me a lovely Christmas present too! It was a brazillian throw that had the design of Rio De Janeiro. Love it.

So the girls and I packed up and made our way down to her condominium at Woodlands *faints.. so far...* and were the first to arrive by the poolside BBQ pit. The crowd came much later and I've never seen so much MEAT in my life.

Now THATS A BBQ!!~ No measly satay sticks & chicken wings. Hell no! There were SLABS and SLABS of beef sizzling heavenly on the grill. Its like someone killed a cow or something by the side and just wacked it up and threw it on to the grill.

And everything was simply seasoned. Everything with organic coarse sea salt. There were whole yellow Onions... Garlic Bread...Sausages... Chicken pieces and wings too.... More Beef.. Beef again... and yes, you've guessed it.. MORE beef.. Everything was big and in large quantities...

Can there be such thing as Beef overload? What you see here.. was one slab of a possible 30-40 available SLABS brought & cooking that day. So not kidding. -.-''

Just when I thought that was about it... the fish & prawns came out from the food containers... seasoned the same way with coarse sea salt and thrown on the grill.

And of course there were chips.. chips and MORE chips.. *faints... I can't get over it. Hahha!* Plus Doritos & Nachos Galooore!!!...*Eirian went a little chippy mad here*

And then drinks.. they had 4 Jumbo cooler cases filled to the brim with cans of Anchor Beer.. I don't drink Beer so they opened another cooler and it was filled with soft drinks.. Whooot! They really prepared alot of drinks!

If anyone was looking for eyecandy... some of the men AND women at that BBQ were jawdroppingly STUNNING. No kidding. The only thing was that EVERYONE SPOKE PORTUGUESE with a smattering of english which they graciously from time to time used to lure me into their animated conversations. I picked up certain phrases & words as it was somewhat similar to spanish but for the other parts of the time, everything was totally foreign.

They also made Caphirinia which is one of their favourite drinks from their country.. and they made some that I tried a little.. *hands up* Yep! First Time - tastes pretty alright!

Caphirinia is made from fresh lime, sugar and cacacha. They made two versions.. one original with Lime and another one with Fresh Strawberries...

Talking about strawberries.. there were punnets and punnets of strawberries.. I can never get enough of Strawberries!! And Bunches of Bananas??! Oookkay..

There were trays of rice - brazillian long grained rice.. potato salad, a pot of tomato salsa, a dish that was literally turkey stuffing aka crispy breadcrumbs mixture which was scooped over the rice.. I like! Lauren loved this too.. I had at least 3 rounds of this... plus all the meat that was constantly grilled and passed about.

Soon after the first burst of eating, with Brazillian music blasting. It got a little more entertaining.. the men whipped out a microphone... Eh? Microphone? Both Eirian and Lauren immediately sat down amused to watch their funny singing.

Strangely, they all knew the words to the songs so they were belting it out song after song.. sounds alien and brand new to me but obviously must be some popular song back in Brazil. It was amusing to listen and watch at how truely passionate and relaxed they were as compared to locals. Then there was a little dancing!

AHA!! My kinda action and a small group formed before I knew it and they were all trying to teach me to samba! Whoot! Loved that. We all tried a little of this & that of salsa, a little merengue and then back to samba again... and again, I must say.. Brazillians really have it in their blood to do a mean samba.

On some tables, boardgames, dominoes and card games broke out and everyone had a little something to do... interesting!

In the meantime, I lent my girls the camera and later I found some of their shots which was pretty funny too! Eirian taking her sister with some strange poses.. -.-''

And Lauren's turn with the camera.. TOO CLOSE!! wAHH! and whats this? Eirians' BUTT? *COUGH* moving on... so this is what you get when you give a 6 year old and an 8 year old a camera for a while...

Ahhh! I loved this one.. it looked like Eirian was trying to promote the fountain! Hahaha! "And here you see one of the lovely features of this condominium ladies & gentlemen.. The Fountain! Tadaaahhh!!!"

Once in a while, Cris managed to grab Eirian and we took a picture before she ran off again exploring the surrounding area.

A picture with some of the brazillian ladies that day... stuffed with ALOT of food.. everyone was in a little over-fed state of being... I'm going to miss you Cris! I'll visit Brazil one day and come stay at your place yea?! I love Brazillian BBQs... next BBQ I'm having.. I'm also slabbing beef like that! *slurps*

That was for the afternoon, the girls and I head home towards evening and we hit home and I got dressed for another round! Whooot! Happening lahhh....

Katia - Friend and also Zumba instructor in training at the gym invited me to her house for Paella *spanish seafood rice* Girls Night. Allow me to state that I've never been invited to a dinner party before. *Okay.. so laugh but its true.. and I was so excited about it! Over 30 and never had a dinner party!?*

When I say dinner party, I don't mean anyhow go to someone's house and just eat.. but seriously the WHOLE works... ambience setting... candles... appetisers set out in the living room with dips & cheese/crackers/fruits/toasted baguette.... glasses and glasses of red & white wine on the flow.... a fully setup dining table with the best china & silver cutlery...table runners... flowers... and where you go completely dressed up in a smashing outfit/dress like as if you're heading to a really posh restaurant. THAT kind of dinner... She was such an excellent host!

It was a group of Katia, me, Toni - another CF instructor and 4 other ladies and it was absolutely rambunctious! The conversation easy & delightful.. we covered topics all like water moving from one to another with wine glass on hand & a constant stream of food....

When I first arrived, I met Katia's husband & sister making the paella and it was so interesting how it was done and it smelt SO GOOD. After it was cooked, her husband went out and left us girls to our own devices... what delighted me when I first entered too was how her little son greeted me! He didn't just greet & run like other kids, he so very politely stood at my feet, looked up and said hello and promptly threw himself onto me and gave me a big hug!

I was caught totally by surprise! What a lovely welcome! Then he broke out into a little smattering of french & spanish.. adorable!! I was given a tour of the house and it was such a lovely place and the boys *she has 2 boys* were enthusiastically showing me their bedroom & toys.. I loved it!

So here it is.. PAELLA!! A truely first class HUUGE pan of spanish rice.. and it was phenomenal. So good!!! I would have had more if not for the large lumps of meat I had earlier ingested during the earlier BBQ.

Dinner had a side of fresh salad with balsamic vinegar & cherry tomatoes... very nice too.. and dessert was a very lovely icecream medley of Movenpick Mocha with a splash of Baileys, raspberries and chocolate biscuit rolls. *No pictures of anything else.. wasn't very appropriate to be wielding my camera during that situation* Very decadently good.

After dinner, we adjourned to the living room where our conversations continued and then joy of joys... we got onto the topic of zumba and yes, you guessed it.. Katia and I zumba-ed a couple of tracks together right in her living room. And I was really enjoying myself alot.

Shortly after my girlfriend, Alegria called and updated us that the music over at Azzucar was pretty good that evening, we decided to head down to Clarke Quay and hit the latin dance club after checking out Cuba Libres' *a smaller latin dance pub* music. It wasn't too hot that evening and we walked out after 5 minutes and watching a round of bachata.

And yet ANOTHER FIRST... ever since I've heard about Azzucar from Shelly - who told me that she went past and thought I'd really love that place - I REALLY DO. Okay.. so ever since then, I've wanted to check it out so it was my first time there and no prizes for guessing.

It. was. Fabulous! I found a dance club that I really REALLY really LIKED. The music was insanely GOOD that evening. Latin/Regaetton/Salsa with a live band. The crowd was older too which made me feel a little more comfortable too and everyone wasn't some professional dancer trying to show off.. everyone danced bc they wanted to and latin music was their cup of tea... it was friends amongst friends...

I heard from the girls that the drinks were watered down and not up to standard.. it didn't matter to me as I didn't drink further after dinner at Katia's place. I was very pleased that the girls too were mature & gracious enough to take me seriously when I said "I'm not drinking anymore" before we hit Clarke Quay and didn't try to pressure me to drink "for the occassion"... as such, I ordered mineral water.

And then I gagged once my order came... about $10 for a small bottle of Evian... CAN DIE LARH! Sorry.. but $10 for water is insane lah.. but I had one still. Pffffttt!!!!~ Sorry arh.. Aunty Pam here still thinks that $10 for water is insane.

Then we danced.. bootyshaked till my ass almost fell off.. I REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoyed it. There was no smoke since the smoking ban at clubs so I didn't have to worry about smelling like an ashtray & breathing in 2nd hand smoke... the crowd other than dancing wildly on the dance floor was docile and calm otherwise, Oh! And I know I mentioned the music but I LOOVED the music that night. It was almost like track after track of my favourite tracks.. out of a possible 20 tracks.. maybe I didn't like only 2. It was THAT GOOD.

We danced till we were all DRIPPING in sweat. It really helped too that bc we were all in the same dance class somewhat that we knew how to dance together with moves that we can recognise and replicate. Our hair were literally plastered to our heads & shoulders and serviettes were stuck onto our skin *piak- drrraaag.. wipe*. Our faces flushed from dancing so hard & much..

In between dance sets, we even managed to take some pictures! Me and Alegria... I must say... put her and me together and we both can bootyshake and grind together in fantastic sync! Must chope her as one of my favourite dance club partners.

And of course, a picture with Katia, beautiful host, lovely friend and what a dancer too! Unfortunately, a lady accidentally elbowed her right eye on the dance floor and it swelled horribly to a swollen purple black eye the next day. It was really unfortunate but she was still a gracious host throughout even with the bruised eye. *am touched - hand to heart*

I left early a little after at 215am and left the girls to their bottle of Champagne and next live band set for the evening but left very satisfied and happy. I want to go to Azzucar AGAIN one day... and I want Alegria and Katia to be there too! and.. Sin Yee... and Shelly... and all my bootyshaking latin dancing girlfriends... Azzucar!!

Photography Work & Friends...

Sometime the week before, I had to do another photoshoot for Azzucar but before that, I met up with a long time old friend, Daryl. For those who know Daryl, he's Mister Herbalife. He's a major big shot in that business....

Everything about him is Herbalife... hahahaha! I've known him since Eirian was about a year old so that makes him about a 7 year old friend already...

He's seen me at my fattest at 100kg some years back and tried to put me on his Herbalife products. If you don't already know that I was previously that size. You can check out my SOYJOY promo. videoclip done earlier this year HERE.

Unlucky as it was for those products, I was that 1% of people who had serious side effects from taking them so I had to stop consuming them or go into shock. Over the years, he slowly saw the transformation with my low carb/exercise regime and imagine the fast forward to 2009 the other week when we met for dinner at the Fisherman's Wharf for Fish & Chips.... :) "Is that really you?!".... always good to get that kind of response...

Then it was down to Azzucar for some work done. Picture first with the club owner, Miguel before we set off to work... and that evening, both my photographer boys went to the club to help me, Darran and En Yung.

Must take a picture with EY ... remember En Yung? *hugs* One more reminder below and you can check out the other photos taken by him HERE.

And thats my attempt to pretend to swing about the already slanted metal pole by the waterside at Vivocity during our photoshoot. "Quick take it! I'm sliding off!!!!".... Hahahah!!!

Azzucar @ Clarke Quay

Anyone close to me would know that if I had to choose where to go to, to dance and have a night out. It would be at Azzucar, Latin club at Clarke Quay with their all cuban band, Cubania belting out many of my favourite dance and spanish love songs. *loves*

I had my birthday earlier this year there. Details on that HERE.

How apt it would then be that I now have work relations with them so I have the opportunity to enjoy my favourite live tunes belted out by the new & updated Cubania from time to time.

I really love the place.. the music.. I'm happy to be working with them...

I also had the opportunity to do a little photography work with Darran aka Limetouch *below* when I had to do some impromptu photo session at the club. Many thanks and heartfelt appreciation to Darran for being so spontaneous and meeting me with such short notice. He's a pretty cute boy isn't he!? And he works out regularly at the gym too! Fit, young, cute and still single? Whats there not to like girls? (*heh heh*)

Should anyone feel like they want to give a new photographer a try, you can contact Darran over at his blog. :)

Nightmare on Bus 190

After last Saturdays' dance class, my girlfriends who joined my class and I decided to have some girl time together for dinner and to people watch over at Clarke Quay for abit. Little did we know that we were in for a little bit of a nightmare that evening...

Serene, Pek Gan and I fresh after the latest circuit training routine that I've created, feeling va-va-voom with the latest deconstructed tops that I created, set off from the club at Bukit Timah. We were chatting happily and boarded the bus 190 that would have brought us direct to Clarke Quay with a travel time of only about 15 minutes... 10 minutes into the journey, it struck me that I was seeing trees, trees and more trees.

We were on the highway heading to Choa Chu Kang!! We were going the wrong way!! Argh!! It completely escaped us that we were on the bus that was heading the wrong direction and the worse part was that it was a journey to one end of Singapore with a non-stop bus that went over major long highways to the west end of Singapore. We had no choice but to wait till the bus hit Bukit Panjang.

We then decided to just have dinner in the west instead and head down to CQ after. We peered out the bus windows in hopes to see a food centre and eventually saw one but realised shortly after that the nearest bus stop was just too far to walk back towards it. So we headed onwards toward the CCK interchange. My god, that just mean another 20 minutes on the bus as the bus traversed internally through the CCK estate... *smacks head*

When we finally disembarked, we were already somewhat delirious and proceeded to get something to eat and shortly after lined up to board the same bus back towards town to our final destination for the evening.

From the time we boarded the bus in the wrong direction, it was only 6pm and bright as seen above. By the time we hit back town, it was already 8pm and dark. We had practically made a 15 minute journey turn into a 2 hour one on the "same" bus. *blink blink* Bimbo Moment.

We tried however to make our journey as interesting as possible and whenever Serene whips out her iphone, we know that we would be taking pictures of us in strange positions and poses. And incase anyone was wondering, I am 101% straight so I really am not into kissing other females... this picture is not what it seems.

Sometime into the ride... ZZzzzz.... why does it take sooooo long... *peers at traffic on the highway... & falls back asleep*... eventually, we finally hit town with flat aching butts. Pek Gan already on the edge of her seat ready to slide off, Serene with her not so glam snore position and a grumpy me uncomfortable in my seat...

Serene took this shot and even though it was only part of my face and grumpy, we thought it was a nice picture that made me look like such a little girl.. hahaha! A 33 yo middle age mom of 2 pre-teens trying to pass off as a SYT.... *sweet young thing*... ewww... *balks* Hahaha!

Eventually we reached our stop and stumbled off the bus relieved. Finally, we have reached. Albeit not so cheerful, alot less energetic and feeling a little half dead...

The night eventually ended well as I took the opportunity to pop into Azzucar. Where I had previously worked with them as their external design, PR and events partner for a period of time and held 2 of my past birthday celebrations there. Sadly, it was their last day and Azzucar is now officially out of operations and closed. I made my rounds to say goodbye to everyone I knew there. So one of my favorite haunts is now gone forever, along with the live cuban band that I grew to appreciate who belted out many of my favorite spanish tunes and dance numbers.

We then proceeded to Cuba Libre around the corner at Clarke Quay to enjoy some more amazing music played by a pretty nifty and charming Colombian band. Serene knew the club manager, Trevor and he made us his guests for the evening so everything was on the house. He ensured that everyone had their drinks. Mine was a Virgin Mojito (non alcoholic! okay)... and Trevor plied the table FULL of extremely delicioso yummies!! They were seriously tasty tasty food.. if anything, I'd be back there to eat!

We had grilled chicken cheesy nachos with Jalapeños, crispy Prawn cheese bruchettas and Mango chicken Cheese Quesadillas and the menu was open to us to order more if we wanted to.. Gosh.. talk about being spoilt for choice!! Too bad after the initial round of food, I was ready to "give birth" right there n then with the amount of food offered. What a wonderful *pats tummy* experience that was... really good food, good music, love the company and a final good end for such an adventurous evening... Thank you Serene and Trevor for the treat! :) Salsa and Bachata one day? :) Por supuesto!