Wawa's Ramblings

Well, this post is really late. Our little boy turned 3 last month. As usual, both he and the little girl enjoyed the cake.



We didn't know what to get for him (pretty uninspiring stuff at the local pet store) and finally decided to get him these japanese treats.

Labels: chihuahua

The date: 4 May 2008; The place: Upper Seletar Reservoir Park.



We arrived there really early for fear of not being able to find a parking lot. Had our little power breakfast in the park while watching the sun rise. Made all the last minute prep like pinning the racing bib onto our shirts and attaching the number tag to the bike. While doing so, we checked out the competition that walked past us and concluded that these were real serious competitors. Oh-o, our only wish now was not to come in last.



The race kicked off at almost 9am. By then it was already really hot. Ji started off the race with a 3km run around the reservoir park and along the run was amused at seeing a monkey eating a packet of powergel. The bike route along Mandai Road was not as flat as I anticipated it. All my 3 previous training (yup, that little) was done along Changi coast road which is really flat. I was huffing and puffing all the way on the last leg to the transit area to hand over the timing chip back to Ji for the final 3km run. Our final results? Our time was pretty poor (my bike time dragged us down) but most importantly, we were not last.

Labels: race

This is a pretty good looking hybrid bike. Handles well too. It'll be put to the test this weekend when we take part in the singapore sprint series-duathlon. Yes, it's not a road bike and will be slower for the competition but it's more versatile (for other days) and a whole lot cheaper. We will be one of the 20 relay teams together with 500 other participants. Let's hope the weather will be kind this Sunday.

Labels: race

We planned to have dinner at Wine Garage on Good Friday but was told when making our reservations that the Amex discount was not applicable on public holidays. As there were five of us, the discount would have been quite substantial, hence we decided to dine there on Saturday evening instead. I have always raved about the service staff at Wine Garage and tonight was no different. It is like meeting old friends each time we come here as the wait staff would walk over and chat with us.

There were a couple of new items on the menu so we tried the Portugese style seafood stew ($36) and whole roasted pink snapper ($38).




The stew was quite ordinary but we all enjoyed the pink snapper, which was grilled to perfection. We had 2 bottles of Chilean cabernet sauvignon ($46) to go with the food.





We finished the meal with a platter of 3 different cheeses, including stilton blue and discovered that we actually liked the taste of some called it the stinky cheese.

Labels: dining, wine

Decided to have dinner at the dining room one Friday evening. Have always gone for their buffet lunch and saturday high tea and enjoyed the ambience, food and service. That night, it was kind of noisy as the function rooms above the restaurant were hosting several corporate events.

For starters, we had the roast duck salad ($19.50) and some seafood soup ($12), which must have been quite ordinary as I could not recall the taste while udpating this blog a month later.


For the main course, Co had the rack of lamb while I had the braised pigeon ($34 each).

We also had two glasses of Montes chilean wine ($16 per glass). The waiter must have been new to serving wines 'cos he filled our broad bottom wine glasses almost three-quarters full (wow that's almost two thirds of the bottle). We couldn't even swirl the wine but we're not complaining. We also chose to have the dessert buffet for $8 extra, including coffee. My favourite was the mini apple crumble, which was chockful of tiny cubes of stewed apples. Co as usual went for all the chocolate stuff. It was a sweet ending to a nice meal (especially with a 15% discount for citibank cards). Just wished that the place had been quieter and the service a little more attentive that night.

Labels: dining

The next stop was the Hmong (Meo) hilltribe village and market in Mae Choam. The villagers here sell produce from King Bhumibol's Royal Project which supports the hilltribe villagers to grow other produce instead of poppy.


There were quite a variety of fruits and vegetables, including locally grown strawberries which were in season. I could not resist buying some vegetables which cost only 10 to 30 baht for a one kg bag.

some of the fruits and veggies we bought

We met a 101 year old villager who was selling pumpkin leaves and Amy decided to buy some from her so that we can try it for lunch.

Our lunch stop was at a small eatery near the Wachiratan waterfall. We were delighted to see a stall selling grilled chicken, one of Co's favourite dish.

yummy grilled chicken with sweet chilli sauce

sitr fried pork with basil leaf

The Wachiratan waterfall was pretty amazing, and could rival those which we have seen in Hawaii.

We love Chiangmai and its people and look forward to our next visit. Just discovered that Tiger Airways has discontinued flights to Chiangmai from April. Looks like next time, we will have no choice but to fly by Silkair, and opt for a cheaper hotel.

Labels: chiang mai, thai food, thailand, travel

We had booked a full day private tour to Doi Ithanon, Thailand's highest mountain and were picked by Amy, our tour guide and Mr La, the driver.

Our first stop was the Karen hilltribe village. As all the menfolk were at work, only the women and children were at home. The children seemed so carefree while the women were busy weaving.

We bought 3 hand woven scarves for a steal, at only 200baht each and the workmanship was much better that those found at the night bazaar.

The villagers also grow their own coffee beans, among other crops and we later sat down to enjoy the serenity of the village surroundings with a cup of freshly brewed thick black coffee.

Our next stop was the Sirithan Waterfall, one the six waterfalls in Doi Ithanon National Park.
Doi Itanon, at 2565m above sea level is the highest mountain in Thailand and is part of the gateway to the Himalayan mountains and Mount Everest.

At the summit is a memorial shrine builit in the honour of Chao Ithanon, a former prince of Chiangmai, after which the mountain is named.

We walked along the Ang Ka Nature Trail which has many species of plants and colourful birds.

Labels: chiang mai, thailand, travel

Soon after our trip to Chiang Mai last year, we planned to visit this charming city again and secured cheap tickets on Tiger Airways (approximately $130 return) as we booked way ahead of time. We stayed at the same hotel, Rarinjinda Wellness and Spa Resort as the hotel offered us a very attractive discount off their rack rates and airport transfer.
The hotel was a peaceful oasis in the city centre and the service staff were friendly and welcoming. A surprising sight was a couple of cherry blossom trees near Narawat bridge. A close up shot confirmed that these were really sakura trees, which tourists flock by the thousands to view in Japan. And they actually had them here in Chiangmai!

We had planned to have lunch at Just Khao Soy, a restaurant near the Anusarn market specializing in this Northern Thailand curry noodles.

When we reached there, there was still more than half an hour before the restaurant opened, so we thought we should just grab some coffee. However, greedy me spotted a little shop serving noodles and sugggested a light snack, which turned out to be a pretty filling meal.


Co had the pad thai (30 baht) while I had a bowl of steaming beef ball noodle soup for only 25 baht.

After this cheap and yummy 'breakfast', we headed off to Just Khao Soy to satisfy our voracious appetite for more food. The restaurant was empty and we were ushered to a quiet dining area. Giving in to temptation, we over ordered (as always) and had an appetizer on top of the two bowls of khao soy. The appetizer consisted of spicy thai sausages, fried fish, thai spring rolls and dried beef slices and cost only 150 baht ($6.80).

The khao soy (100 baht, $4.45) was served on an artist's palette, together with the accompanying condiments of fresh coconut milk (for a thicker gravy), sugar, fish sauce, chilli paste (for more 'kick'), sliced lemon, shallots, pickled cabbage and sliced banana (to take away the heat).

Total cost of lunch, including two bottles of Chang beer in this nice restaurant only costs 430 baht ($19.20) and we were bursting at the seams after the meal.

Later in the afternoon, we had a totally rejuvenating 45 mins of foot relexology and 2 hours of herbal Thai massage at Just Relax for 850 baht ($38). This was followed by a walk along the night market, dropping off our photos for the artists to draw,


an appetizer of yummy banana roti (20 baht) ,


and chicken ball noodles for dinner (35 baht) from the streetside vendors.

This is what a holiday should be; cheap good food, relaxing massage, a little shopping and people watching....

Labels: chiang mai, thailand, travel