. 2011 in review .

With only a few hours left before we usher into the new year, I would like to take some time to look back at 2011 and reflect on the first year of the new decade. 
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Started 2011 with our 3rd anniversary dinner at DOZO, where we pen down our resolutions for the year and kept them in a time capsule which we will be opening at 12.01 midnight. Did we fulfill our resolutions? Only time will tell. :p

Job & Studies

Since entering the workforce about 2.5 yrs ago, I must admit that despite the many challenges that I have faced, this is also the year that I have accomplished the most when it comes to my job. From the entire process of renovating a store to managing a crisis when a sewage pipe burst in the middle of the trading floor to managing people relations, it had been an extremely tough journey and I was miserable most of the time. Many times, I have questioned myself about my decision to remain in a job which obviously doesn’t bring out the best in me and in fact made me so demoralized that it has not only negatively affected other aspects of my life but also made me go into a quarter-life crisis mode.

Looking back, while the work year has generally been quite a pain in the ass, I cannot deny that I feel such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment every time I visit the renovated store and tell myself that it was my “baby project”. And just when I was contemplating to re-evaluate my career choice and throw the letter, I was given the opportunity to transfer to a department of my choice! Taking up my new job portfolio is probably the best work-related decision that I have made so far and I’m elated to finally be able to see a future in my career.

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Upgraded myself by picking up sketching (Fun with Sketching classes at NAFA) and learning how to use the various Adobe programs to create simple designs. Just received the letter from NAFA that I have successfully graduated from the certificate course with credit. It has always been part of my plan to pick up basic designing skills and now that I have finally fulfilled that goal, it sure feels great!

Love

2011 saw me having to answer the popular question of the year – Will you and MK be walking down the aisle anytime soon? Well, let’s just say that we are not looking around for HDB flats yet! You guys will be the first to know if anything pops up! :p

As with every year, our relationship is not a fairy tale and has its fair share of happy moments and heartbreaks.Honestly, I have to count my blessings to have such an understanding and patient boyfriend like MK who is able to tolerate my mood swings, (sometimes) unreasonable demands and always so willing to compromise to make the relationship work. I love you, baby boy!



Travels

Bali. Batam. Bintan. Kuala Lumpur. Langkawi. Segamat. Shanghai. As you can probably tell, my travel trips consist of mainly short getaways to neighbouring countries.

- Sponsored trips to KL and Langkawi
–  A company incentive retreat to the vibrant city of Shanghai and Hangzhou
– Day trip to the sleepy town of Segamat, Malaysia where the boy and I had the privilege to board the last KTM train back to Singapore
– Celebrated Valentine’s Day with the boy in Bali, where we also had our first experience of scuba diving!

Explore Singapore 2011

From visiting the railway stations at Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah to soaking our feet at Singapore’s only hotspring at Sembawang to exploring the idyllic St John island, the first half of 2011 saw me resuming my role as a “Tourist in my own country”. However, my weekend activities kinda dwindled down to being a couch potato and lazing around at home in the 2nd half of the year due to an increasing workload and night classes. All that I wanted to do was to catch up on my sleep! Now that I have more free time at hand, let’s hope that I will become more productive with the weekends!

Blogging

In a nutshell, blogging has been the highlight of the year for me. Being nominated and getting into the top 3 places for OMY Best Lifestyle Blog Award has opened so many doors for me – Receiving invitations to blogger events and food tasting sessions, product reviews, blogging collaborations, befriending other bloggers and best of all, free trips to Langkawi and KL to party!

With so many fantastic experiences, I’m sure that it will be difficult to beat 2011 (in terms of blogging). Having said that, I have made a little promise to myself to remain true to my first intention of blogging – which is to document my adventures and journeys in life – and not turn it into a commercial blog that’s simply full of reviews and advertorials. Yes, The Girl at The Traffic Light Junction will remain as a little and humble blog and I would like to thank all friends and readers who have been enjoying my blog!

Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!

. NYE: party hits .

2012 is just a few days’ away! Here’s a list of some of my favourite dance hits to get me in the mood to usher in the new year!

Party On The Floor by DJ Earworm

Boomerang by DJ Felli Fel f. Akon, Pitbull & Jermaine Dupri

Turbulence by Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke ft. Lil Jon

On the Floor by J.Lo ft. Pitbull

The Time (Dirty Bit) by Black Eyed Peas

Shots by LMFAO ft. Lil Jon

Bon, Bon by Pitbull

Give Me Everything by Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer

. DEAL discount code .

Enjoy 5% DISCOUNT off your purchase when you key in this code!

* Code is valid from 13th Dec to 13th Jan 2011. 

Shoppers who purchase DEALs totaling more than $100 in a single transaction using the above discount code stand a chance to win $20 DEAL credit rebates! It’s that simple – All you need to do is to shop to your heart’s content while enjoying the 5% savings off your purchase! Happy shopping! 

. merry christmas, with love .

. merry christmas eve .

Dear all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Here’s how my family spent a lovely Christmas eve in the comfort of our home… The traditional turkey and stuffing, mash potatoes, sparkling cocktails, chocolate cupcakes and most importantly, in the company of loved ones!

Look at the little head at the corner… Archie’s greedy stare! :p

To Ginny in Australia: We are missing you (+ Yohan) back home! Merry Christmas, my dear sister!

The boy and I posing with our adorable Christmas hair accessories (from Daiso) – Reindeer antlers for him & Santarina hat for me!

. the city at night .

* All pics taken by MK

With a breathtaking view like this, it’s easy to see why so many of us have fallen in love with this city. To top it off, I  ♥  it when the boy and I took a romantic stroll along the riverbank on my birthday, enjoying the beauty that surrounds us.

. locket full of love .

A tiny quaint locket. Romantic to the point of Ocassional Impracticality. I’m in love.

. heritage along footpaths .

When I first heard about the ‘Heritage Along Footpaths’ project from Jerome’s blog, I knew that it was an exhibition that I couldn’t miss. It might sound really nerdy but I actually used to enjoy playing this educational computer game called “The Vanishing Trades of Singapore” as it brought me on an interactive journey to walk down the lanes of Old Singapore. A journey where trades of the yesteryear came to life – Chinese Opera, Cloak shoe maker, Letter writer, Glove Puppeteer and Matchmakers.

Together with Christine, we headed over to the designated site at SAM where we had our very first taste of the traditional ice ball dessert (yay!) and even caught a glimpse of a Caucasian having his hair trimmed by the Indian street barber! I even contemplated paying a visit to the fortune teller but decided against it as I figured that it might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Fortune Tellers
Fortune telling was once a thriving business because many people, particularly those with little or no education, relied on fortune tellers for advice on matters such as marriage, business, the selection of auspicious dates etc.

For Chinese fortune tellers, the more frequently displayed items would include small statues/pictures of Buddha or other gods, lighted incense or joss sticks, pictures of palms or faces filled with lines and tiny Chinese characters, as well as tools such as books to consult from, carved bambook sticks, cards, etc. The more popular Chinese fortune telling methods would include palmistry, face reading, “Bazi” (use of one’s birth data to foretell one’s destiny) and “Kau Cim” (a set of 78 fortune sticks to predict one’s short term future). 

On the other hand, Indian fortune tellers were primarily parrot astrologers. At the start of each session, the parrot astrologer would lay a deck of 27 fortune cards on the table. Once the parrot has been “provided” with the customer’s name and birthday, it would walk out of the cage, pick a card from the stack with its beak and return to its cage. The parrot astrologer would then interpret the card and advise the customer accordingly.

- Information extracted from NHB -

This Chinese fortune teller must be very accurate in his predictions as there was a long queue of customers waiting in line for their turn, in spite of the heavy rain.

Street Barbers

Usually operating along the “five-foot-ways” of shop-houses in areas such as Chinatown, Serangoon Road and its vicinity, Tanjong Pagar, these street barbers required only a small space for their operations (typically 1-3 chairs for their customers).  The toolkit of a barber would typically include a pair of scissors, combs, brushes, razors, powder puffs, barber cloth, as well as a mirror. Some of these barbers even provided extra services such as ear cleaning and head & shoulder massage!

Due to urbanisation and higher standards of living, street barbers no longer appealed to the younger generations. With most of the elderly street barbers retiring over time, it is not surprising that street barbers are fast becoming a non-existent sight.

- Information extracted from NHB -



Kachang Puteh Sellers
The term “Kachang puteh” is a Malay phrase with “kachang” referring to nuts, beans or peas. Although “puteh” means white, kachang puteh sellers offered kachang in variety of colours and prepared in a variety of ways including steamed, fried, roasted or dipped in sugar.

Kachang puteh sellers in Singapore were primarily Indians as kachang puteh originated from a snack in India known as “chevdo”. A typical seller in the early days would be an Indian man dressed in white sarong. He would pack his kachang into paper bags or bottles which were then placed on a rack or tray balanced on his head. In the later years, the roving kachang puteh sellers began to sell the snacks using push carts or bicycles and could be found anywhere that had high human traffic.

These days, as part of the local cinemas’ efforts to revive the good old cinema days, “non-authentic” kachang puteh sellers could still be spotted selling these popular snacks near the box office.

- Information extracted from NHB - 

Ice-Ball Sellers
Once a common sight in Singapore, ice-ball sellers were primarily Indian vendors who sold drinks and ice-balls at the same time. Ice-balls, each costing about 5 to 10 cents, were immensely popular in the 1950s to the 1960s, particularly among young children and teenagers. Eaten with bare hands, ice-balls provided relief in Singapore’s sweltering heat.

There are usually 2 types of ice-balls available: ice-balls with colourful syrup toppings only or ice-balls with colourful syrup and milk toppings, plus sweet cooked red beans and jelly bits.

These days, the ice-ball has been replaced by the ice-kachang, which is essentially an ice-ball placed in a bowl.

- Information extracted from NHB - 

Growing up, my grandparents used to treat me to a refreshing bowl of ice-kachang at least once a week or  more if I behaved well. It’s no wonder that the ice-kachang has always been my favourite cold dessert until I was introduced to Mango Sago dessert! Anyway, having heard so much about the ice-ball from them, I have thus made it a point to include ice-ball tasting in my “TO DO” list.

Imagine my excitement when I found out that the NHB will be bringing back this “extinct” ice dessert for the heritage exhibition! A chance for me to finally tick “My first ice ball” off my list! Best of all, it only cost 20 cents, a fraction of the cost at the Singapore Food Trail. Turns out that I’m actually quite a messy eater as it was quite a challenge trying to prevent the condensed milk and syrup from spilling out of the plastic wrap! The verdict? I prefer my bowl of ice-kachang any day! :p

Heritage Along Footpaths: This project, initiated by National Heritage Board,  seeks to re-introduce trades that were once common in the past at two designated sites within the Bras Basah and Bugis precinct – the Singapore Art Museum and Stamford Arts Centre (along the mural wall facing Middle Road). At each of the sites, tradesmen that were once commonly found along alleyways or five-foot ways – namely street barbers, cobblers, fortune tellers, ice-ball sellers and kachang puteh sellers – will ply their wares at the prices of yesteryears. This event was held over the 1st 2 weekends of the month of December.

. we are all grown-ups now .

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Just received  news from 1 of my girlfriend that she will be accompanying her hubby to Houston, USA for his new job in less than a month’s time! Can I just say, awesome?! 

. movie review: new year’s eve .

All about the movie: The movie tells intertwining stories of a group of New Yorkers as they navigate their way through romance over the course of New Year’s Eve. It celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the series of stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.

The Good: New Year’s Eve is essentially a feel-good holiday film and has succeeded in getting me to look back at my own year and reflect. Of all the short intertwining stories, I must say that my favourite mini-story involves Zac Efron’s character helping Michelle Pfeiffer’s neurotic character to fulfill her list of unrealized New Year’s resolutions in the most creative way possible. A gentle reminder of how we tend to exist, instead of living, in the world.

The Bad: To sum it up, think of the well-acclaimed Christmas-oriented movie, Love Actually, without the substance. This movie is all fluff and cliches which, sadly, resulted it to be relatively unimaginative and forgettable. Word of advice – Watch the movie without having any expectation and you might find yourself enjoying it even more. 

Movie Ratings:    Out of 5