Monday 26 March 2012

of cakes and parties

Hello all!
Back to blogging because I have now more time on hand, and my training is going to end tomorrow. Not sure if I still have energy to celebrate it honestly, because everyday we end really late at night (and most times, I arrive home at 1am..)

It was Veriza's birthday 2 weeks ago and she courageously threw a house party for 20-30 people in her 4-room apartment :)
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here's lorna and rita doing some cooking in the kitchen with us.
with some help from adele, I managed to cook olive + basil fried potatoes which now is one of my favorite dish to cook at home.

Also helped to fry banana wrap with cinnamon icing and chocolate sauce. mmmm, awesome.
Gonna ask adele to cook with me some day again, she's such a great cook with marvelous receipts to share.
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the galore of food for the party prepped by the girls, headed by adele;)
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the sautéed mushrooms with baguette are the best, ought to ask adele to teach me again.

to put faces to the names, here's adele (finally), riya, patricia and me ;)
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got cheated to wear pink while everyone is in black 'cos it was themed black x pink dress code.
:(

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me + birthday girl, veriza.

taking a picture with the Singapore girls that night :)
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it's nice to have people to talk to and to hold when abroad.
This support group of mine helps me when I'm in trouble, when I need company and it's always fun to hang out with them, like it's never enough:)

cupcakes for V, love them;
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while the clock strikes the time to cut the cake,
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V's got all the presents she needed ;)

a picture before we rode on the pink limousine that was booked to drive us to Gold club @ Sheikh Zayed (unfortunately we didn't take much photos of it);
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girlies who started our adventure; Singapore to DXB on the same day ;)

* * *

I thought it'll be nice to hang out to do some shopping and tea, and Shuping was off so we finally got down to doing it together.

Was near the Dubai Aquarium that was known in the mall;
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tickets start at AED50 (around S$18) for the aquarium tunnel and underwater zoo (akin to our underwater world). Would love to go when JS comes to visit!

Our first stop was to Lush because we know we'll spend the least money in bath products (as compared to clothing stores). DXB mall is so huge, you can practically find everything and every brand from Bershka, F21 (where we've got 10%), H&M, NEXT, Topshop etc. Once you start, you'll not stop!
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Lush is less sinful

The store in Wisma SG is really small, so the fragrance that sets off in store is kinda overkill that I hardly stepped in to look. This one is so much better, and with a shopping companion, I managed to purchase a bath bomb and a bubble bar! :)
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us in store :)

With Shuping's recommendation, we settled at Dean & Deluca :)
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I know I was hesitating as Laduree's in the mall too (we have that here and i can't wait to try their macaroons, no need to wait for paris/NY at all!!)

The terrace seats set us in an amazing view of the exterior of Dubai Mall;
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At my 10 o'clock direction is the Burj Khalif;
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Awesome!

Having lunch/1st meal of our Saturday, accompanied with a cuppa fruit juice;
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we both shared 2 flavors of wraps - spicy prawn and grilled chicken quesadilla, and they fared really well as wraps. The potato chunks are well done - crispy outside and soft when you sink your teeth in :) Yumms!
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Watching the periodic fountain display;
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Would be nicer at night, but we'll see when I get that chance to get the terrace seats at 7pm :p

We got to shop for awhile in F21 - Shuping got a pair of boots which are really cute, and I got a cardigan for JS in F21/Men21 there.
My companion suggested we get cupcakes off Magnolia bakery, a hidden bakery in Bloomingdales store (concept store) and off we went.
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Magnolia Bakery originated in NY and they are very famous for their moist cupcakes which I've heard a lot about.

As greedy as we both are, we finally settled for 2 cakes instead.
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Seated near a humble water feature :)

CAKES ARE SO GOOD - they are moist and we both loved the texture.
Ain't too sweet or creamy so it worked very well with our english breakfast tea:)
Hit the top of my chart for cakes!
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chocolate banana, red velvet (my favfav!)

my pretty lady and I enjoying our tea ;)
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and to reward myself, perhaps tomorrow'll be a good time i sink in these candies!
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can't wait to see Althea, my local friend tomorrow when she comes here for a work trip, hoping tat I'll have a chance to bring her to Magnolia again :)
Mommy packed some stuff for me including my miso soup and jap curry - so i'm really looking forward to see her ;D;D
love it when I get to host my friends here, they'll have a splendid catching up time to do with me!