zoey

hello, first post of 2020!!

was looking at my archives and realised it's my 13th year of blogging. ohmy. tbh i don't know anyone who is still actively blogging, but i'm very happy that i am still doing so! it's such a good way to preserve memories :)

i think i was quite excited for 2020, but now that it's here i feel like it's just gonna be another year of... more work. i think i'm still trying to get used to work being the most time-consuming part of my life. still trying to figure things out and find out what is the meaning of it all here. maybe i need a religion. LOL. kidding, i have had way too many opportunities to get religious and i passed them all up. the agnostic life is definitely for me, at least in the foreseeable future.

but in the meantime, here are my goals for 2020:

1. get my driver's license
i've been feeling v meh about this since i failed my first attempt lolol but cannot waste money! i'm gonna try again (test is in about 1 week oh my) and if i don't make it again... well maybe i need to hit the road on that one. in singapore you don't even really need a car anyways.

2. exercise
basically i'm very unfit and it's super difficult finding the motivation to exercise more often. i guess to try to compensate i should also try to eat more healthy!

3. see the world aka travel
got some tentative travel plans lined up, so excitingg. wonder where else i should go next? the possibilities are endless.

4. get a hobby
pretty much self-explanatory. maybe i should return to writing? doing more music?

also, i got my braces off after 2 years and 2 months!! so rad my teeth feel so smooth and food doesn't get stuck all over my braces anymore hehe. will post pics soon enough ♡

okay BYE

uploading photos 3 days after my last post wow is this a christmas miracle

okay i mainly wanted to get rid of my photo backlog from Bali and also blog now before i forget all the restaurant names and places i went to.

without any further ado...

mos burger with wums!

worst oyster omelette i've ever had, if you can even call it one.
can be found at penang delights or something like that at white sands mall.
it was WET when it came. not even gravy wet, WATER kind of wet.
me and sherwin looked at it and said well this can't be good...

worst chicken and pasta ever too.
not sure what was going on in the kitchen.
the best thing on the table that night was the chili sauce

mala at deck has fallen in standard since they renovated too.
come on singapore

uni gathering that night at bong's place!
it's my second time i think attending one of his parties,
and as usual it was awkward for me cos i didn't know most of the ppl there
still had a decent time though

always a decent time with pizzas

finally went to jb with the ampd ppl
kind of a bad day to go cos it was drizzling the entire day

the queues were long as usual (didn't manage to buy train tickets)
so we walked across the causeway in slippers hahaha
it didn't look like a long journey at first but oh man

pretty amazing teh across the border!
great burgers too (some famous shop at suria market?)
the real star of the show were the beef gravy fries though. not pictured cos they disappeared so quickly

though we only managed to reach jb at almost 2pm, we somehow had time for lunch, a massage, cakes and coffee, and a walk around city square mall.

kawfee for lyfe

back at Lee Do restaurant for a cold crab lunch to celebrate mum's bday!
so good omg. even my cousins who don't normally eat crab liked it.

went to sherwin's family's christmas dinner at sheraton hotel the same day :)

too much a fan of solo lunches hehe

and then it was time to head to Bali!!!
woke up at an ungodly hour to catch our 7am flight

had a pocket of time for a quick bfast at heavenly wang's

hello bae

first meal in Bali ♥️
nasi campur!
it was so hot though i died

i had nasi goreng plus all of sherwin's vegetables from the nasi campur

revolver espresso
died on the walk there too; wanted to grab cos it was really cheap but sherwin said no :(

face of the devil

decided to check seminyak beach since it was so near - about 6min walk from our hotel?

just in time for sunset!

Kajin for dinner! sooo goooddd and i was really surprised the chefs were all locals
tasted super good and authentic though

tried to capture the pretty sunset

this was served last, didn't expect it to be so big and couldn't finish it damn
would've been just nice for 2 ppl but sherwin doesn't eat sashimi (i KNOW)

porridge for bfast on day 2 from our hotel buffet

tegenungan waterfall!

abit the awkward cos our guide made us pose like this

visit a luwak coffee plantation
felt very sad for the civet cats cos they looked depressed and unhealthy somehow :(

this guy didn't move at all for the half an hour we were there. not even his eyes!

but i still had to try a cup since i was there.
tasted like normal coffee tbh couldn't taste any difference

coffee tasting! all reaaaally sweet

off to monkey forest and sanctuary!

can you spot them

was a lil scared of the monkeys hahaha

look at them getting it on 😦

day 2 was also hot as balls

found shelter at a random cafe at the ubud arts market
also discovered a liking for jalapenos

me: oh crap i have food stuck in my teeth.
...
let's take a picture anyway

after removing the food HAHAHA

animal cruelty man

tegalalang rice terrace!

the photos he takes of me hahaha

that finger

swing looked cool!

why so many photos ah LOL

last one i swear

alighted at naughty nuri's but it was packed af, so we wandered along the street for other food options.
found this casual jap place, can't rmb the name oops
i rmb it was really dark and kind of ulu though

pretty decent beef udon

and rolls

actually all the food was nice but the waiting time was superrr long.
they were rly apologetic and gave us free rice and a discount (can't rmb how much) to compensate though, so all's wells

porridge again!
added some sides including some green stuff i thought were spring onions but they turned out to be green chili padi ahhhhh

loved our hotel!

booked a private ATV plus river rafting tour

sadly all the pics are with sherwin cos i put my phone in the locker.
it was damn fun though!
but rafting on the Ayung river was a bit boring after a while haha
thought it would have more bumps, like whitewater rafting
the river is still really really pretty though. 10/10 scenery

finally got seats at naughty nuri's cos we went early.
got this martini cos they're apparently famous for them, but the alcohol taste was too strong to me

their famous ribs! pretty good and they totally fall off the bone.
sherwin says this was his favourite meal in Bali

great truffle fries too

okay-ish mac n cheese

went to the cafe next door after dinner!

so empty! you would never find a pretty cafe this empty in singapore man

so comfyyy

couldn't decide which focus was nicer

day 4 at Jimbaran beach!

i miss this life already

so peaceful

my personal favourite meal in Bali!!
seafood package for slightly less than 55 (for 2 pax)
- fish, lobster, clams, sotong, prawns, kangkong, huge pot of rice, wine (we changed it to 2 fruit juices and a bottle of water)
damn worth it and everything was so fresh and delicious

went to see samasta lifestyle village which is a new shopping area, but it was super small and we were done in less than 10 minutes, including buying souvenirs.
took a cab to uluwatu temple but tickets to watch the kecak dance were sold out :(

we camped outside the temple to watch the sunset initially thinking that temple tickets were sold out
then we realised how can tickets to enter the temple be sold out LOL

beautiful sunset and sea!

❤️❤️

❤️❤️❤️
awkward gap cos he was sunburnt poor thing :(

and then we saw monkeys...
these monkeys were aggressive and literally robbing people of their phones and sunglasses
it was pretty scary - in the end we didn't even go to the top of the temple cos they were blocking the stairs :(

so this poor arab guy (not in pic) got his glasses snatched by a monkey while he was trying to take a photo with it.
his wife tried to get them back for him and even threw her slipper at it, but the monkey took her slipper, ran away and started chewing on it, much to her horror and the laughter of onlookers.
a few mins later one of the monkeys snuck up behind her and tried to snatch her phone omg
thankfully she was holding on to it tight and only got a shock when she realised the monkey was right behind her

sherwin was very interested to see the show
long story short, they didn't appear to get their things back :(
the monkeys also stole someone else's phone while we were there.
super scary sia

would've been such a great experience if it weren't for the monkeys cos it was a beautiful temple

after the sun set it was of course very dark and kinda scary cos there were a lot of people leaving and more monkeys seemed to be coming out, plus sherwin and i couldn't find a grab!
we stood within the temple vicinity watching our backs for monkeys until it was pretty empty and we decided we had to go, if not the monkeys would definitely target us next, what with our brightly lit phones.

found a nearby cafe for dinner cos it didn't look like we would be getting back to our hotel anytime soon

could see the lady boss cooking our food while her husband minded their baby outside.
one of the things i love about Bali - even cafes feel so homely

thanks for staying so chill the whole time cos i was honestly panicking a little inside and thinking we would have to find some shady inn in Uluwatu to stay for the night hahahaa :')

finally a driver accepted our ride, only to cancel 5min later -__-
we told the lady boss what happened and she said she would see if any of the drivers outside wanted to take us
someone offered around sgd35 and we didn't have much choice but to take it haha granted it was a 1.5h ride out so we were quite lucky

woke up theglad to be safely back in our hotel

Monsieur Spoon for a light lunch since we just had breakfast

only tried the lemon meringue tart which was small but pretty good!
will be back one day to try the rest ♥️

asked for the bill and the waitress handed us a giant spoon like this LOL

cutes

Sea Circus for dinner!

☺️

so cute la

aesthetics in Bali are mad
cookie, flower AND a printed quote with my hot mocha

it was a good dinnerrrr

one of the better massages we had, at Kimberly Spa

aint no holiday complete without a cup noodle night

last day in Bali :(
went to wacko burger cafe for lunch and our table overlooked this field
it honestly looked like heaven irl

what's going on

v generous portions

and sick burgers

one last time at seminyak beach

one last time at revolver espresso

goodbye pitbull i saw twice in seminyak

very very meh ramen and nasi goreng at Denpasar airport

got a random free upgrade to Row 1 seats wowow could see into the cockpit!
and lots of leg room for lucky tall sherwin who said our flight to Bali was a torture chamber 😂