SUFOOD Tasting

Last week, Javin and I were invited for a food tasting session at SUFOOD. When we read that SUFOOD is a meat-free dining concept, we were pretty excited because Javin goes meat-free and although I am not vegetarian, meat is pretty much absent from my meals. I would talk about the reasons why I avoid eating meat since it's quite a popular question among friends and people I eat with, but for this post the focus will be on SUFOOD.

The idea of going meat-free is still relatively new in Singapore and Singaporeans are still not that open to this idea, so we were glad that Pu Tien brought in SUFOOD from Taiwan in collaboration with Wowprime (one of Taiwan's biggest restaurant operators). Hopefully it is a sign that people are more willing to go meat-free, for good or occasionally.

We were lucky to have Pu Tien's Brand Manager sit with us at the table because she was very knowledgeable about SUFOOD and explained a lot of things to us. This meat-free dining concept actually came from Taiwan and is apparently very popular there, especially among the ladies and I can understand why. The food served was pretty much what I like in my food - fresh-tasting and clean yet tasty without being overpowering; no artificial flavourings or MSG. Perfect for feasting with much less guilt.

The restaurant serves an 8-course meal at $25++, which is pretty affordable. The meal comprises of a general starter, bread and palate cleanser and you are given a choice for which salad, soup, main, dessert and drink that you want. Javin and I ordered different dishes, so here's what we tried that day:

My favourites were the mushroom salad, conchiglie mushroom bake, osmanthus flower jelly and sesame panna cotta. Even though each course was very light, I actually started to feel really full towards the end but it was an enjoyable experience. For those who do not want an 8-course meal, you can order ala-carte.

Here's the menu for those who are interested:

SUFOOD
#02-19 Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road
Singapore 179103

White Day in Korea: Cafe Slobbie + Snow Queen, Hongdae, Seoul, 14 March 2013

I've always heard about White Day that's celebrated in Japan and Korea. Basically, Valentine's Day (14 Feb) is where the girls give boys sweet stuff and on White Day, the boys give girls sweet stuff in return. Javin and I managed to catch White Day in Seoul in our first few weeks there and it really is quite a big deal here. You see couples EVERYWHERE and girls are all holding flowers/candy/chocolate/others (please state). Koreans are really into these couple things and the idea of love. Like the really romantic and sweet fairytale type of love. You can tell from their dramas.

We went to Hongdae and had dinner at Slobbie, a restaurant that promotes healthy local slow food. Please google "slow food" because I'm not an expert on it. They serve vegan/vegetarian options in meat-is-everywhere Seoul, so it was great for us. The deco is nice and the food was not bad. Not spectacular or outstanding, but simple and homely, if you get what I mean.

After dinner we took a walk around Hongdae. Hongdae slowly became my favourite place to hang out with Javin after school or on weekends during our short stint in Seoul. In the pictures you'll see my favourite street snack (don't know how many times I've said this already) literally called 'egg bread', overpriced egg tarts (kaya toast is seriously overpriced here too), the famous playground from the drama 'Mary Stayed Out All Night' which was a bad drama that I never finished after a few episodes and this classy restaurant/bar that had pretty lights on bald trees (it was winter).

Dessert at Snow Queen to end the day.

Exchange Student Life in Seoul: Korea University Welcoming Party, March 2013

I've just started my internship at an advertising and marketing firm and it has been lovely so far. I have no time to update this space during the weekdays because I'm working and after work I meet my friends or spend time with my family or Javin (who is so not used to not having me text him random things during the day while he is working). I use the weekends to relax and I decided to take some time every week to fill up this little place of mine. On a day-to-day basis I post short spouts of my thoughts on Dayre, but I still think this space is better for collecting my own reflections and photos.

I am so terrible at uploading things onto this space, but I insist on posting everything up even though photos and experiences are backdated. At least I have locked in some details (those that still remain that is) of one of the best periods of my life; it is pretty therapeutic to revisit these memories as I write and wish that I could do it all over again / made better use of my time / visit more places and try more things - but that is the beauty of missing a place or someone; the longing to experience again. I hope such a feeling means that at that point in time, one was truly immersed in the moment and that's what life should be about, isn't it?

I kind of regret not posting in "real-time" during my exchange, but I would choose getting caught up in the moments there over trying to capture them all the time. I guess this is related to the whole phenomenon of not being able to truly immerse in life's moments as a result of trying to capture these very moments in pictures or on our social media platforms.

---

Today I want to write about the start of one of the best things that happened to me as an exchange student in Seoul, and that is none other than my school's exchange students community. KUBA, short for Korea University Buddy Assistants, was one of the main reasons that made my experience so enjoyable. It's basically a group of local Korean students who are in charge of taking care of the exchange students (like me). This group of students are further split into smaller groups and each group is in charge of 70 to 80 exchange students. It's kind of like during orientation in Singapore. They organise things like orientation, sometimes outings if your group is enthusiatic like mine (but I didn't attend all the time because sometimes I had my own plans with Javin) and the annual KU Welcoming Party, which I am going to talk about. I think I'll summarise my whole experience with KUBA in a separate post.

So last year, KUBA organised a welcoming party for the exchange students to mingle and have a taste of KU's culture. I was really impressed by how much effort they put into the event. The venue was actually the school cafeteria and it was in the day, but they covered the entire place's walls with some black material and revamped it into a club/bar, which was really cool. I think the universities in Seoul are really so full of life compared to the typical university life here in Singapore.

It was a black-and-white themed party (obviously the Koreans were much faster at going into the monochrome trend). I went with my heeled lace-up boots and the balls of my feet hurt after the entire event. I can never find heels that stay comfy after hours. I wore grey coloured contacts to stay in the theme (black + white = grey hahaha) for the first and unfortunately last time because they look weird on me. I think coloured contacts are pretty but so far them and I just don't go...

There were games, performances, drinks, food and good music. Oh and one funny thing that I suddenly recall. Javin and I had a minor argument because some Korean guy put his arm around my shoulders, started telling me that he likes me (I suspect alcohol + lack of vocabulary) and asked for my Kakao (it's the Koreans' Whatsapp) ID - most of which I just responded by smiling. Not that I was happy about it, but I was still quite new to Korea, so I wasn't sure if he was just being friendly and if the way he acted was showing friendliness towards a foreigner/exchange student.

Other than that, Javin really enjoyed himself. He is a secret K-pop fanatic. I think this was the point when he started wishing that he was in my school too haha

22

I turned 22 about four days ago and it was any other day, or so I thought, to me. It seems like the anticipation I feel towards my birthday decreases with age. I'm not sure if it is linked to youth loss aversion. I've been seriously considering getting some anti-aging stuff to slap on my face daily. SKII? Recommendations would be appreciated ;)

However, as much as I would like to say that I nonchalantly went through my birthday without any fancy arrangements and treated it the way I saw it, I did not, thanks to my family, friends and my beloved boyfriend. I am not complaining though, because it truly is a blessing. To me, my birthday is just an ordinary day but to my loved ones, it is a significant day to celebrate my birth and it makes me happy to think that my existence is worth celebrating lol. A birthday is just a day, but it is truly the people around me, and not me, who give meaning to my birthday.

I've always loved the idea of birthdays though. Celebrating birthdays is always a good reason to gather and catch up with my family and friends. I also like attending birthday parties because they're always so fun, filled with good food and gives me a reason to dress up, theme or no theme. It is interesting how people can create so much importance for a day, but I get why: it is for remembrance and a reason to be happy. I mean, I woke up feeling on top of the world on my birthday and I can't rationalise why, because I had yet to receive birthday wishes/gifts/hugs/kisses/etc so I think this is all psychological and kind of an illusion hahaha.

Some people don't care what I think about birthdays and just want to know what I did so here I will start the typical birthday recall. I am in the midst of finals, therefore I didn't really have any mood or plan to go out and celebrate my birthday (on Saturday) because I had an important finance paper on Monday.

On my birthday eve, Javin and I headed to school to study. What he told me: he would buy me a slice of cake from Starbucks at midnight to celebrate my birthday and anniversary. I agreed.

What really happened: Near midnight, I got a call from Javin when he was in the washroom, telling me he slipped, suspecting that he injured his ankle. I quickly asked him where he was and headed there. Thinking back, I was quite stupid for not realising that the place where he "slipped" was not near the washrooms... When I got there, Javin jumped out of the bushes (lol) with a box and I was totally surprised. I opened the box and it was filled with clothes and some rings! I did not expect a gift at all because he gave me an early birthday gift about a week before my birthday, which is this white Haters snapback. His gifts were very thoughtful :') He got me the snapback because I bring a cap with me almost everyday because I use it to keep my face from the sun (both vanity and health reasons) and I was really bummed out when I lost my previous favourite black Haters snapback; a thick cardigan because I always get cold and my arms always start aching when I'm in cold/windy places (rheumatism guys, told you I'm aging); a black knee-length skirt because I like skirts but a lot of my skirts are short and can't keep me warm; a loose shift dress because I mentioned recently that I don't wear my dresses because a lot of them are tight or waisted and they feel uncomfortable, especially after a big meal. He even wrote me a card that was addressed to the special nickname he has for me.

On my birthday, Javin and I went for dinner to celebrate. What he told me a week ago: He said that we should still go out for a short meal since it is our anniversary too and I agreed. He told me that we would be going to a simple place near home to have dinner and just wearing a loose top, shorts and flip flops would do. I expected going to some hawker centre for some kickass vegetarian feast and looked forward to it.

What really happened: The cardigan and skirt he gave me were supposed to be my outfit for the night and we went to Greenroom Cafe, a restaurant that serves ethno-botanical cuisine, for dinner. The meal was okay and we both felt we had better. We had the Daikon pancake, Miso & Sesame Tofu with Osekihan, Mushroom Tofu Burger and two smoothies. I wouldn't return specially for any of the dishes we had, but if you ask me which I enjoyed the most, it would have to be the burger. The Daikon pancake tasted just like pajeon (a Korean pancake). After dinner, Javin said he wanted to bring me for dessert and chose Max Brenner at Esplanade. It was the best decision of the celebration because the chocolate lava cake was so good. I'm still thinking about it, even until now.

This year's birthday felt really special to me, because I didn't expect Javin to put in effort into planning a surprise/night out amidst finals and also buying a gift for me when he has his own financial responsibilities to fulfill. About five minutes into the journey to Max Brenner, I suggested going for waffles and ice cream instead because Max Brenner is pretty pricey and I felt that Javin had already spent a lot on me. He insisted though, because he wanted to bring me somewhere that we usually would not go. I also suggested skipping dessert altogether because we had a paper on Monday, but he didn't want to either. I was taken aback because most of the time, work comes before me, and I am totally fine with that because it should first and foremost be a man's priority, but this time he actually chose to sacrifice revision time to celebrate my birthday with me. When I told him that I really appreciated it, he replied that he has already prioritised work over me enough times and he wanted to prioritise me on my special day.

I felt bad because it was our anniversary, but I did not prepare anything at all, because I thought we both agreed not to and we decided to take our trip to Bangkok as our celebration instead (okay no excuses hahaha). It was our day, but I was the one who received so much love that day and every decision made was for me, instead of us. I was so touched by everything he prepared and how much my happiness meant to him.

That night, I lay in my bed thinking about how lucky I am to have met Javin.

Thank you bb for everything, I love you so very much.

Spring Pop by Fash Mob

About two weeks ago, I had a shoot with Fash Mob. It was my first time shooting after a three-month break and the style of Fash Mob is pretty different from the usual happy and girly feel that my previous bosses liked, so I was pretty curious about how the pictures would turn out. My conclusion is... I need to touch up my roots hahaha. Would really appreciate and recommendation in hair colour because I'm thinking of changing it again!