:: footprintsallover ::

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Slightly Revamped

I sat in front of the computer today with the intention of putting my limited knowledge of HTML to test in revamping the blog. I gave up after 5 hours and only managed to add a new profile sidebar along with a new page menu. Well, I shall not be itchy fingers anymore in tweaking the blog, lol! Time to head to bed for a good night's rest.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Honeymoon: The Palace - Hall of Mirrors

Journey to Palace of Versailles

The Palace - The Royal Chapel

The Palace - The King's Grand Apartment

*****

3rd week into the new year! Besides the usual engagement with families, I have been busy clearing the house. I'm a hoarder by nature, hence our house is mostly filled with my things, lol! Leecher always lament at the stuff I keep, but I'll always brush him off with you-never-know-when-you-will-need-it hand wave. So over the years, he gave up on asking me to throw things away. This year, I decided to look through my stash and try to clear some space for new things, ha! While I'm dusting around in the house, I also had to dust off the cobwebs from my honeymoon folder, so here's another entry!

Framed with an arc ceiling where elaborated crystal chandeliers hung amidst ceiling paintings , the Hall of Mirrors has to be my favourite room in the entire Palace. When I first set foot into this room, the only word that popped out was "WOW"!

Get ready to explore further!

Picture first, talk later!

Lined with 17 mirror-clad arches that reflect the arcaded windows which overlook the gardens, this is the central gallery of the Palace where the King displayed the royal powers to impress visitors. If I'm not wrong, the signing of the Peace Treaty for WWI was conducted in this gallery.

I definitely fell in love with the many chandeliers hanging off the ceiling. If only I can have my own chandelier at home, but then I reckon chandeliers will only look nice off a high ceiling. It would look slightly out-of-place in a normal HDB apartment.

Initially it was difficult to take pictures in this room, due to a combination of reflection from sunlight + mirrors + chandeliers. You can see spot the greenish specks from the picture. It took us a long time to figure out how to avoid having those specks.

School field trip for the students to learn about history. I attempted to stand behind the group and tried to evasdrop on their lesson, but silly me totally forgotten that the lesson would be conducted in french, lol!

It was really difficult to capture a decent picture in this room with no one in the background, for every inch of this place is crowded with tourists. I think a lot of people enjoyed taking pictures in this room due to the natural sunlight coming in from the huge windows.

Have to sign off now and head to bed, while watching up on K-drama :) Till the next time!

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Korean Dramas - 2009/2010/2011/2012/2013/2014 & counting!

Happy 2015 everyone! We have been pretty busy with gatherings ever since the new year, let me do a count:

1. 31-Dec: Countdown at EK's place

2. 1-Jan: Reached home at 3AM, nua at home the whole day

3. 2-Jan: Back to work, housewarming party @ Samuel & Angie

4. 3-Jan: Baby niece birthday shower

5: 4-Jan: Cousin's wedding

What an eventful week! My old body can't take such hectic lifestyle anymore, but I have a luncheon next Sunday, sob sob! Can't have a full weekend to nua, I miss being a couch potato!

Yes, that's me during weekend :) Just for fun, I decided to compile a list of K-dramas that I have watched (sorted according to year of release). It's quite a comprehensive list, I must say, given the amount of time I spent in front of the TV, heh! Some are pretty old shows that I have added in for completeness, but my rate of watching them accelerated since this entry.

Korean Dramas before 2009

Korean Dramas, 2009 - 2010

Psst ... you can also click on KOREAN DRAMA S on the blog for the list of shows that I have watched/reveiwed :)

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014, in a heartbeat!

The usual tradition of wrapping up the year with a simple blog post. This year was a difficult year, as we went through the year without baby bro by our side. It was painful initially, but we survived together as a family. We also bid our farewell to Granddad, who passed away 4 months later in the comfort of his bed surrounded by his family. My mental health took a slight dip thereafter & I was really exhausted. It made me realize that life is indeed fragile. I always wish for the best for mummy dearest and lil bro; may they be healthy and happy. Wish baby bro is happy on the other side of life & please continue to appear frequently in my dreams!

3 years of marriage and I am thankful that we didn't tear each other apart, lol! Let's survive another year together, my love :) Marriage life is so enriching because I have you in my life!

As we embrace the new year together, here's wishing everyone a blissful 2015!

Saturday, December 6, 2014

3rd Wedding Anniversary at OTTO Locanda

Time flies, we are officially married for 3 years. Since I got a gift during the 2nd anniversary, Leecher declared - in fact, way in advance - that I won't be getting any present. Boy, this guy is seriously good at managing my expectations or maybe, I have low expectations to begin with, tsk tsk! Well, a dinner is still a must but I decided that we should head for a place near the office, so we could ~~walk~~ stroll there after work to avoid the jam.

We headed to Otto Ristorante located at Red Dot Traffic Building. They couldn't find my reservation when I showed them the email. Upon seeing the email, I realised that I had walked into the wrong restaurant! *super paiseh* The place that I had booked was Otto Locanda, instead of Otto Ristorante - can't believe I made such a blunder. Leecher was trying his best not to give me the see-you-also-make-the-mistake-look, lol.

Separated by a street, Otto Locanda is a more casual, informal Italian trattoria as compared to Otto Ristorante. We managed to rush there in time to secure my reservation, as they only hold the table for 15 min. We were greeted warmly upon entering the front door and shown to our table by the corner.

The restaurant exudes a cosy and intimate ambience; the walls are decorated with Italian dinnerware and a personal postcard collection from one of the owners while the shelves are filled with antique Italian memorabilia and recipe books. The bar area, boosting an extensive collection of alcohol, is perfect for those who are seeking to unwind after a long day at work.

After showing us to our table, the waiter swing by and presented us with a glass of champagne each, complimentary on the house to celebrate our wedding anniversary. How thoughtful of them :)

Can't wait to get started!

Warm & crusty bread was served once we placed our orders. Leecher was famished and his hands headed straight to the bread basket before I could even snap a picture.

We went for a 3 course set dinner and started with breaded saffron risotto ball stuffed with taleggio cheese and green peas on beef ragout. This was absolutely delish, even though I'm not a fan of green peas. The only complaint - the risotto ball is too small!

For mains, I went for homemade squid ink angel hair pasta with lobster meat and basil pesto while Leecher had char grilled rack of lamb with arugula and sicilian cherry tomatoes salad. Hmm, why was Leecher's main served in fanciful italian dining ware while I get a plain plate? Nevertheless, both mains were well-executed.

We ended the meal with vanilla panna cotta & chocolate drops. This was my kind of dessert (anything with dark chocolate & sweet) so I was delighted when Leecher offered his share to me, haha! Happily polishing 2 portions on my own :)