Best SYTYCD audition. Ever.

http://youtu.be/cxYm36HVUmU

So heartwarming! <3

http://youtu.be/e5afnMoj1_E

and if you'd like to watch the entire dance, Amelia just pointed me to her rehearsal clip - in a room filled with toddlers. :) made me smile!

Nails and manicures.

I would sadly like to say, that my nails are super ugly.



Looking on the bright side, they're very low maintenance. I don't even bother spending on manicures because they're beyond rescue. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T APPRECIATE NICE NAILS. I'm always slightly jelly I don't get to experiment with different polishes (crackle! magneto!! all sorts now!) and draw cute things on them. So I've been living vicariously through Pinterest. (My board is titled "If I had nice nails", not even kidding.) All these nicely manicured nails!! If you have nice nails please go forth and indulge them.

Digging matte metallic:

 

Monotones:

 

Simple designs:

 

Psychedelic colours:

 



Cute stuff (including the totoro ones on top!)

  

aren't they all so pretty. :< i also want.

#muffinkitty vs toys

Dance For You // k0szzz / hua / kosmic

Yeahhhhh it's finally out!

If you haven't heard of Fredy Kosman, he's an amazing instructor and an even more amazing dancer...

looks so KPOP star right.

and perhaps I can also add YOUTUBE star because not only are his videos highly watched, 2 of his vids have crossed 1 million views -

Rihanna's Rude Boy
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xIBNu40XW0]

and Where Have You Been
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgh64jegvck]

In case you can't tell, Fredy's energy is crazy. I love going for his classes and doing his choreo because he really inspires me to push myself when I dance, embrace my inner sexiness and ehem, try to absorb his energy. Plus though he's big in talent and has like fivethousandmilliongazillion views on his YouTube account I appreciate that he's still a humble guy that just loves dancing and sharing his passion.

So recently, Fredy decided to do a concept video to Beyonce's "Dance for You". The lead is Ah Hua / Xuehui (someone you'll find familiar if you watch all his class videos) - who is a super young and very talented, versatile dancer.

I also had the chance to chap jit ka and support this production with the rest of Kosmic crew!

This was the original choreo:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVQiZCNtoIw]
(in it you can see Marcia!!! who is also a Kosmic girl but who couldn't join us for the shoot :<)

Kosmic Crew -



My ladies who are so committed to their craft... I swear I've learnt something from each and every one of them and enjoy performing with them so much!!! SO MUCH LOVE!!! They're all so good that they really push me to improve in terms of performance and technicality to meet their level. It's a blessing to be part of this team.

SOOOO yeah! The shoot was pretty no frills and so professionally done thanks to Jaze and Irwin, and Jerry! Many thanks to you guys for taking time to shoot us :)

Here are some pics from "behind the scenes" -

gearing up and getting cray

decked in denim

pulling off a mr bean

lee shooting her indiv shot

checking out how their shoot went

zhili & mel

sexy lee

samsam & i

kosman loves his makeup :b

and here Fredy does a little introduction...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x7oKyNESwY]
andddd last but not least, here's the final product:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUywGXpMqGg]

If you like what you see, Fredy and Ah Hua (and loads of like, perhaps the best dancers in SG) teach at O School! See you there :)

LOVE,

STEPH.



HA. just had to post that cos I think it looks cool.

p.s. - props if you watched ALL THE VIDEOS!!

Top 5 Things to do in Macau

QY and I spent an evening and a day in Macau (okay, so effectively a day lah.) QY's sister, Felicia, and her husband Nestor were nice enough to house us and suggest things to do. Just a heads up, because I was rather confused: Macau is kinda made up of 3 parts - Macau city, Coloane Island and Taipa Island. Which won't really appear as islands when you're there cos they're all really close to each other and linked by expressways.

So here's our top 5 things to do -

1. Casino-hop

The great thing is, the top casinos are all free to enter (unlike Singapore...) and most of them offer free shuttle services to other casinos. We visited The Grand Lisboa, Wynn, Galaxy (the newest casino in Macau), the Venetian and MGM. And because we had no idea how to gamble, we just kept playing slots. So yeah. We played slots in all those casinos. Our biggest win was from MGM, where we managed to win HKD300 with HKD10! They are all unique, and you can tell (especially at Galaxy, Venetian and MGM) that their designers really had an eye for detail, and the investors really paid for extravagance. Each casino has a really different feel, and to take it all in in a day was far from boring.

Grand Lisboa - kinda old! Old crowd too.

Wynn // we were greeted by a fountain show! Really lush decor.

MGM: grand exterior // our loot // butterfly exhibition!

Galaxy

Venetian (my fave! so pretty!): exterior

Venetian: interior

2. Eat ALL the food

According to Fe and Ne:

The best egg tarts come from Lord Stow's Bakery. Avoid the touristy branch at the Venetian and visit the café at Coloane instead. It's kinda laid back, very quaint, located near a... water body? Seemed like a nice place to chill, but we didn't have the time for that. Here's the address:

105 Rua da Cordoaria
Macau Coloane
Tel: +853 2888 2174

They took also us to Hang Heung Un (杏香园) which is like their fave dessert place and it opens till 1am. Their entire menu is in mandarin though, so please go with someone who can speak. The quality of the desserts was really good - I'd say they beat the ones we had in Hong Kong hands down. They specialized in warm, creamy soupy stuff like walnut cream / almond cream / egg white... thing. Appreciated that they used good fruits as well. Unlike HK!! You can mix and match any ingredients too... really enjoyed their coconut+egg white+water chestnut. (Fe's recommendation!)

Their address:
新馬路清平街13號

3. The Ruins of St Paul - probably Macau's most famous tourist attraction

The cathedral used to be one of Asia's largest in the 1600s. It slowly lost money and funding after Macau came second to Hong Kong, and eventually got destroyed by a fire and typhoon. For a famous landmark, I expected it to be ... larger? And to have better exhibits? It was pretty, nonetheless. We walked from the Senado Square. A very pleasant walk down cobblestone lanes, albeit flanked by international labels and touristy stuff.

Walking around Senado Square

Le ruins

Try the curry in Macau - it's sort of like loklok / yong tau foo, just that the items are drenched in curry. There's a spicy and non-spicy version, they have many stalls between the square and the ruins.

You can also try the Pork Chop Buns, we thought they were just okay.

We also picked up some biscuits freshly made by an uncle with a makeshift stall. I know, we eat a lot. But...yums.

4. Rua do Cunha: Have a portuguese meal, with some portuguese dessert after

We had dinner at O Santos. Food was awesome! The best dish of the night was this: Bifinhos C/Natas à Santos C/Arroz Branco (白汁磨菇牛扒飯) - ok I blatantly copied it off their site menu because I only remember it as beef in creamy sauce. You mix it all up with the fries and the rice (I know, but yeah, tastes great that way) and eat. nomnomnom so yummy!!!



What we had: clams, beef... in creamy sauce, sausages, some rosti of some sort with fish, grilled chicken, rice, fries, sangriaaaa!!!

Then we had serradura pudding for dessert from a shop nearby, on the opposite side of Santos... I didn't manage to get the name of it. Serradura, also known as saw-dust pudding is made of a really light cream that's layered with biscuits that have been smashed into a really fine dust. It's really light and pleasant! After googling I also realize it's pretty easy to make. Will try one day!


You can also drop by Koi Kei that's on the same street to pick up edible souvenirs.

Watch as they make walnut biscuits / phoenix rolls.

5. Take photos at Old Taipa

Very pretty! With old cobblestone streets and colonial looking houses painted in soft pastels. We got to a point that faced a skyline of casinos and took in the view for a while. Only bad thing is that the body of water that separated us from the other side was like... a swamp. Complete with an abandoned fountain. hmph. #spoilmood. Didn't really camwhore there because it was really dark. and we were really tired.

-

There's something I missed out that I would've really loved to do: Panda-watch

Macau has a pair of pandas called Kai Kai and Xin Xin, gifted to them in celebration of their 10th year returning to the. It costs MOP10 to enter the Giant Panda Pavillion, and there are only certain timings when you can visit. Plus, it's not guaranteed that the pandas won't be sleeping when you visit. Otherwise, pandas are so cute lah. How can you not want to visit a pair called Kai Kai and Xin Xin??? Can't wait for SG to get our own pandas!!

Image from panda-n-mee

PS i made a new friend in Macau, his name is PeaPEA!!!! (actually, it's peanut.)

That's all!

Introverts, in contrast, ...

Introverts, in contrast, may have strong social skills and enjoy parties and business meetings, but after a while wish they were home in their pajamas. They prefer to devote their social energies to close friends, colleagues, and family. They listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They tend to dislike conflict. Many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions.

Susan Cain, Quiet

Boracay Day 3

Day 3 started off with breakfast back at Jonah's shakes, the tide was up and this was our view:

About 120php for an omelette with ham and mushrooms - looks measly but really good.

After breakfast we headed for Ariel's House to wait for the boat that would take us to Ariel's Point. The entire trip cost us 1,300php per person; it included a free flow of drinks & booze (water, soft drinks, beer, some hard liquor) as well as snacks and lunch.

Loading onto the boat - prepare to get wet. It would help to put your stuff in ziplock bags.



All ready to gooo



Rockstar Jean



le view

When we were reaching Ariel's Point, Jean spotted someone sitting on a plank on a cliff by the edge of the island. None of us knew this was Ariel's Point yet... till the boat turned around and docked. It took us about half an hour to reach A.P. from Station 1, apparently slower because our rudder hit the rocks and got broken, or something.

At Ariel's Point!

Yeah, free booze! Had watermelons and caramelized bananas (THE BOMB) for snacks. Here's a word of caution: there have been many cases of accidents happening at A.P., mainly because mixing a free flow of booze and jumping off cliffs isn't really a good combination.



View from the 12m jump. Here's how it works, there are 3 "levels" / heights where you can jump off from, 5m, 8m and 12m. You're advised to jump at lower heights till you've got the hang of it, then advance higher. Jean and I both jumped the 5m and thought that was the max we'd go. Nina stayed off the diving boards - she had a slipped disc :<



Jumping off the lowest plank was scary enough. My legs shook so much that it was probably safer to leap off the board before I fell off by accident; that's the only reason why they took me there. And you're falling for what seems like eternity, with your heart in your mouth, pretty oblivious to the beautiful horizon stretching into infinity, till your feet hit the water. (and your swim gear re-adjusts itself with the impact of the water, but thank God there was enough time to pull it all back in place before emerging to the surface...) and that was 5m. The lowest level of them all.

It was fun though - everyone got to know everyone else a little better because, let's face it, most of us are scared of heights and require a little encouragement to muster enough guts to jump off a little plank, off a cliff. We were soon shouting at each other, cheering when people managed to bring themselves to jump, chanting when we saw anyone hovering around the 15m board.

In case all this talk about jumping is bothering you, rest assured that you don't have to jump; it isn't mandatory. There were plenty others who decided to just sit and chill - Ariel's Point is a lovely place to take in an uninterrupted view of the sea. Many seats for sitting, eating, drinking and/or talking, for sunbathing, for watching the excitement, and a couple of hammocks for relaxing. You can also choose to swim in the ocean (beware: baby jellyfish! a guy got stung.), snorkel or kayak.





Hearty lunch! Buffet style. Not bad ;), accompanied by coke and rum.



Clear waters :) we snorkeled after lunch.

Our newfound friends, and yes, that's a starfish on his head.

blue starfish! that conforms to the shape of whatever it's on.

check out how clear the waters were!

We got into kayaks too. Nothing much to see though, in the waters - mainly sea urchins, little blue fish and blue starfish. Which was mesmerizing enough.

Got back to shore for more snacks, and the thought crossed my mind that I'd probably regret it if I didn't take the 15m leap of faith.

Did not want to try the 8m jump because it looked the closest to the cliffs of the 3!

The girls egged me on and caused such a commotion that others caught on to my intention. A total stranger said that if I jumped, he'd jump too - and I'd already made half my mind up that I'd jump. I grabbed another guy who had half the mind to jump as well and before we knew it, we were all standing behind the 15m dive board. I hesitated for like 5 minutes (felt really long); everyone was cheering me on, the guy who made the barter asked if I wanted him to go first, I declined knowing that it'll only make me more nervous.

Then something clicked, and i leapt.

like a flying

Now if you recall, I mentioned that the 5m leap felt like eternity. That makes the 15m leap feel like I spent eternity and a half falling. Someone mentioned to me that the falling distance felt the same. I say that's bullshit. I actually had enough time to scream till I had no more breath in me, realize that I was still falling, take in a bit of scenery, then decide that I can't handle that feeling of falling and anticipation any longer, close my eyes, and after all that, finally hit the water.

DAHELLL??? It must feel really scary to commit suicide. Especially if you know the end point is hard concrete...

Don't regret it, but wouldn't say I'd do it again.

Was very proud of myself though I shook like a leaf a good hour after. Still, I felt so brave that I agreed to try balut.


P.S. The guy who said "if you jump, i'll jump"? He ended up not jumping. Turns out they made a bet amongst their friends and he bet that I would't take the leap.

TAKE THAT, ANG MOR.



There was this dude called Oliver who was super bubbly and pleasant. He jumped the 5m and 8m boards and guess what - he can't swim! He had 3 dedicated "lifeguards" who all jumped before him and waited for him at the bottom to make sure he'd be okay; every single time he wanted to jump. AWW?

Our new friends:









Set sails back to Station 1 at about 4.30/5pm. Everyone was a little euphoric from diving / booze / music, whatever, but it was really fun. Loved this trip! We left as strangers, but came back as friends!

Here's the beautiful sunset we were met with on the way back:





And now... balut time!



Thanks to low lighting conditions and a general feeling of disgust amongst us, I don't have many pics of the opened balut eggs. 2 locals gave us a treat. I forget their names, so let's refer to them as "She" and "He"! There was another foreigner who had worked in the Philippines for about 10 years coming, but had never gotten down to eating balut. And he wasn't going to.

So she calls over to a man peddling balut along the beach (they carry big styrofoam boxes), and we head over to a sheltered area under coconut trees to indulge in our eggs. She went first, explaining how to eat the egg - first, you crack the shell, then you drink the "soup", then you peel off the shell, sprinkle a bit of salt, and eat the rest of it. There's a white "stone" that is too hard to be ingested - throw that out.

Simple enough.

He and I proceeded to start eating our balut. I cracked open the shell and drank the "soup" - not too bad. Then peeled off the shell, sprinkled salt onto the rest of the egg (didn't take a good look at it), and stuffed the whole thing into my mouth. and chewed. it tasted like a normal egg to me.

Nina gave up halfway through eating it - because she doesn't really like the taste of boiled eggs in the first place.

Jean didn't touch the balut at all.

He ate three of them, including Nina's partially bitten balut. With his last balut, the was dissecting it and educating us on the different parts - ie: "This (shows us the part), is the duck. (eats it.)" Jean has it on video somewhere.

I ended up feeling pukey for the next half a day or so.



On to the Calamansi Muffins we ordered the day before from Real Coffee. After hearing everyone rave about it, we thought we were in for a treat (and to wash down the taste of balut). It was meh. Average. Floury. Dry.

Next.



Posted this pic on Instagram which got a few people guessing if it was a real tatt or not. Here's your answer: it's not! It was a temporary henna tattoo that's all faded and ugly now. Cost us about 120php cos it's relatively big.

Our tattoo artist.

Yuh, we all got the same one. lol.

Some random guys who were getting hennaed the same time as we did.

One guy asked if any of us could draw a penguin. So I did. And the henna artist copied it onto his arm. it looks... so strange.

I am slightly exhausted from blogging already ah.

So finally! We had dinner. Yes, after balut and muffins and all. Dinner at Andok's - bbq chicken, fish and sinigang. There was a dog that would not leave. I fed him our leftover chicken. Walked around at D'mall after in search of aloe (we were pretty burnt...), arrived at a froyo place, and had a good heart to heart which lasted into the night.



Nina shot some hoops for the last time before we retired.

Jyeah. THE END OF LE BORACAY TRIP!!

Loved every single bit of it, except for the travelling bits! THE TURBULENCE DURING RED EYE FLIGHTS. TRYING REALLY HARD TO SLEEP ON BUDGET CARRIERS. THEN TRYING REALLY HARD TO SLEEP IN THE VANS TO & FRO KALIBO & CATICLAN (uncomfortable seats, and had the blazing sun shining down on me during the entire ride back). WAITING. AND WAITING. AND THE MANY HIDDEN COSTS!!!

Other than that, it was uhhhhmazing and super fun. Also thanks to my 2 girlies that made it all the more enjoyable!

Read about Day 1 here. And Day 2 here.