Tuesday 18 February 2014

Signs you're being taken for granted

Very often most of us feel that we're taken for granted - it's really hard to find the line when it comes to any relationships be it love or friendships.

Give too little and people may assume you don't care..... give too much and people may get used to it and only start expecting you to drop everything or do everything when they need you.

I'm not saying that everyone takes their partners / friends / family for granted. I can only imagine there's people out there like me, you want to make people you care about very happy and you do that often enough but buying them gifts, buying them pretty much whatever they want..... overtime, these gestures may become expectations.

Imagine buying lavish gifts for a partner for 5 years in a row, and on the 6th year, you give your partner a card, imagine how they would feel about that, when the expectation has been set (probably subconsciously)

in my opinion, these are signs that your partner is taking you for granted.... and of course these rules apply to me:

1) They just don't have time for you. Who cares if you put in time to plan something 3 weeks in advance. If something comes up, you will have to drop it and you will probably be willing to but if tables turned, you had better drop everything for them.

2) They tend to forget to be in touch - now this is debatable as i am the sort who likes being in touch with my partner in ridiculous amounts, but for all your normal folks reading this, i think a partner who forgets to be in touch or forgets to reply, clearly is taking you for granted. come on - no one IS THAT BUSY!

3) they are very impatient with you - simply because you are taking too long to understand their point of view but sometimes in moments like these, when situations arise, people may try and explain themselves in very confusing way, heightening the patience level of both parties trying to understand each other.

4) they will never say they are in the wrong. they will probably tell you white lies to prove they are right.

5) you know you deserve better. - i really don't need to explain this do i? fine, sometimes the worse thing to do is to over think everything and think you deserve better - but if you're feeling that way 90% of the time, it's definitely not going to work in the long run.


i think the list goes on - but i think if you feel the need to verbalise in your head and heart that you're being taken for granted, then you probably are. it is ultimately a vicious cycle, you start to think you need to do more so that they will love you more, however then they start expecting more and this really just never ends.

it's easy to feel defeated. maybe a chat with your loved one is the only way to go


I am no relationship expert - in fact i am in no position to even be talking about this (because of how many failed relationships I've been) however I'm just verbalising thoughts. and I'm sure there are people out there who agree with me


Gastronomia da Paolo - The Paragon - Take Home meals - WOW

I suck at cooking and so while walking around paragon during lunch, i walked past Gastronomia da Paolo - The Paragon and figured the take home sauces and pastas might be a good idea for us to have a good tasty Valentine's meal ( which didn't happen as my boyfriend lovingly cooked for me so this ended up being a post valentine weekend meal)



so what exactly did i buy  ? 

1) Cream Sauce, Bolognese , Egg Tagliatelle 


All 3 items cost me SGD 26


The cream sauce and the tagliatelle was an absolute WINNER! I love my pastas drowned in sauce, so i wished there was more sauce between the two of us but in terms of flavor - an absolute WOW! I was very impressed. 

The bolognese was OK - tasted like normal bottled pasta sauce with some cooked minced beef thrown in. 

But OVERALL - fantastic idea for lazy days when you want good quality food. I will definitely be going back to try the other sauces. 

end product of the cream sauce with the tagliatelle. Sorry gobbled up the bolognese before i took a photo.










Monday 17 February 2014

feeling like a failure


It's 2 am and I've just ended what was an incredibly long phone fight with my boyfriend. 

You know how it feels when you love someone so much yet they verbally abuse you or they wake up one day and realise you're no longer needed in their lives- well I've been through that and I'm not sure if I have recovered

What happens now Is I keep my boyfriend on a tight leash worrying every minute he will do what others have done to me 

What I don't realise is the more I hold on - the more I push him away 

Thursday 13 February 2014

La Nonna - Singapore - Great but not outstanding

i've been seeing lots of reviews of La Nonna .... if we had a choice, the bf and I would try and go back to pasta brava whenever we could.... BUT we're in singapore, and there's so many restaurants that going back to the same place over and over again just doesn't make sense so we decided to give La Nonna at Holland V a go. I have to say i thought the appetizers were unusually higher than other restaurants, so we settled for a pizza and 2 pastas (YES - between 2 people! )

You can find La Nonna's menu here: http://lanonna.sg/#menu

First up - the Pizza - we ordered the DIAVOLA (SGD 23.00)
Tomato, Mozzarella and spicy Italian ‘Calabrese’ Salami



This was delicious but insanely spicy!! They left out the fact that they put small cut up chillis in the pizza! I don't know if i liked that part as much as it just left a burning sensation in my mouth - i would have been happy with the level of spiciness that the Italian Salami had to offer.

However still a tasty dish - that i might order again.

The boyfriend ordered : PAPPARDELLE ( SGD 24 )  Homemade Pappardelle Pasta with Oxtail ragout and Rosemary. This was a very delicious dish and definitely one with a strong flavor but a definite order again!




I ordered the crab meat Linguine (SGD 23) - Linguine Pasta served with Crab Meat in Tomato Cream sauce and fresh Basil


I am a lover of cream sauces and i sure do love crab, so when i saw them both in a dish - i just had to order it! The only negative note i have on this dish is that the smell of the crab was slightly stronger than usual, however with nice big slices of garlic, it definitely made up for it!

Overall a pleasant visit with fantastic company as always!

Sunday 9 February 2014

CP Stir-Fried Chicken & Basil with Rice - Review

Sometimes when you're feeling absolutely lazy, frozen meals come in very handy.

this weekend  - i tried the CP foods frozen meals - the fried chicken and basil to be exact.

I absolutely loved the Thai fragrant jasmine rice that came along with the meal .... however don't expect it to be the typical version of the Thai Basil.

It came with a good amount of sauce.


that's how it looked after removing it from the microwave. 

While it was tasty, the meal was REALLY SPICY ! 

I do love spicy food however the spicyness took away the flavor and i felt i was eating a whole bunch of hot chillies. 

Having said that, i would definitely be keen on trying the rest of available flavors in the CP frozen food range. 


you can find more information on the fried chicken & basil here. http://www.cpbrand.com/sg/product.aspx?pid=175


Monday 3 February 2014

Letting Go, Trusting, and Allowing Yourself to Be Happy and Free

from tinybuddha   - tiny buddha

sometimes we all need a little reminder ... sharing an article useful for such moments


“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
First, let’s be clear about something…
Surrender is not about giving up, handing power over, or failing. It is not waving the white flag of defeat.
We are so used to striving and trying so hard for an outcome that anything outside of that formula seems like self-sabotage.
It isn’t. In fact, surrender is the pinnacle of evolved and enlightened behavior.
Surrender is the beautiful soft space of acceptance. It is an allowing—allowing life to unfold and to be what it is, irrespective of your agendas, expectations, and judgments.
It’s that arms-wide-open energy that is deeply rooted in trust. Relaxing and trusting that, even though things might not seem perfect or they might not be according to your plan, that everything will turn out just the way its meant to for your highest good.

Why do we want to embrace surrender? Because this is how we get out of our own way.
This is how we experience a life of real freedom. Free from our limiting self-beliefs, emotional blocks, and negative self-talk—all the stuff that prevents real growth and transformation. Ultimately, preventing you from an extraordinary life—a limitless life.

At first, the journey into surrender can be very destabilizing. Be assured, you will question it, resist, and try to force stuff to happen, but eventually, when you completely let go, you’ll discover that surrender is the space where everything starts to shift.

Surrender allows us to step into our lives ready to receive, completely able to manifest, and willing to embrace everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—with an open heart. It’s from this place that real magic happens.
To really understand surrender we need to look at its opposite.
Can you relate to any of these scenarios?

1. Something unexpected has happened and you feel a bit down in the dumps.

Are you comfortable with moving on quickly? Or, do you get stuck on how you believed a situation should have played out?
Notice if you notoriously hold a grudge or can’t handle it when things don’t go to plan. The only person that suffers in this situation is you. Turning an annoying situation into a crisis doesn’t help or do anything to change it.

2. You are working on a project that you really care about. You’ve hit a wall, a plateau.

Do you see that as a clear sign you need to back off? Or, do you grip the reins tighter and try even harder?

This one’s for you if you insist on doing more, going further, pushing through, even when it’s time for a breather. This type of behavior will send you straight to Stuck-ville, a place devoid of creativity and joy!

3. In a discussion or argument, is it possible for you to admit when you are wrong, say you’re sorry, or compromise?

Or, is it your way or no way at all?
Take note, self-confessed control freaks and know-it-alls! This type 
of attitude is a direct route to self-sabotage. This narrow-minded behavior will block you from experiencing different perspectives and detaching from limiting ideas.
Wouldn’t it be so incredible to be free from this energy of control, attachment, resistance, and fear? What kind of life could you live if you were limitless? Free? Wholehearted?
In hindsight, I see that the universe has been coaxing me to let go from a very young age. I think maybe I was born holding on. To what, I’m not sure—my place in the world?
But I do know my grip was tight. I’ve always been light-hearted and happy, but underneath that lived a layer of effort, so structured and controlled that in the end I did nothing. At a standstill, road blocking myself. Life was unnecessarily exhausting.
Ten years ago surrender wasn’t even a concept I was familiar with, let alone one I could fathom embracing. I had no idea that I was about to embark on a master-class in surrender.

How Do We Come to Surrender?

There are three distinct ways that we can come to a place of surrender.

A Lack of Control

Sometimes you look at your life and ask yourself if you can change or leave a negative situation. When the answer you get back is a resounding no, it’s in that moment that the only thing left is acceptance.
Honestly, that’s most of the time. We often have no control over the situation, but we do have control over what we choose to do, what we think, and how we feel—that’s surrender.

When Everything Falls Apart

All hell has broken loose. Crisis in its many forms, death by fire, stuff is going down. Surrender, whether you realize it or not, has come knocking on your door.
If you don’t listen you are just going to go down in flames, figuratively speaking. Instead of armoring up, ready to fight, perhaps a deep breath and a reminder to trust will throw you safely into the arms of surrender. A more peaceful response.

By Choice

Through awareness, personal growth, and intuition we can invite surrender in when it comes knocking. It’s a choice made in the present moment. Seeing reality for what it is and opening up to it wholeheartedly.

Over the last thirty-one years, I’ve been tripped up by many moments, but it’s only been in the last ten that I could almost hear the words “Surrender! Surrender!” chiming in my ears with each stumble.
It sounds like the message had fallen on deaf ears, right? I mean, why else would it keep coming my way?

Well, we are creatures of habit and habits are hard to break. It’s not a rip-it-off-quick type scenario. We may have to fall down a few times before the message gets through and we realize that the path we are walking is leading to a dead end.

It wasn’t that long ago that I fell down a few times before I heard the call to surrender. I had a back injury that was preventing me from moving forward in my yoga practice. I tried to manage the injury, but really, I wasn’t listening to its call. I resisted and, of course, the injury persisted.

Energy flows where attention goes. And my attention was certainly stuck in the limitations of my back. All I could think about was how to fix it. I was so frustrated with my body.
Surrender finally came to me four weeks before my wedding day when I put my back out, again. I emailed my teacher to let her know I would be back soon. She replied, “Take three months off, practice at home, and break the cycle.”

As I read her words I could feel my grip tighten on my routine, my practice, my yoga. Even then, a year after I first sustained this injury, I was still resisting and controlling.
Bizarrely, within days, I realized her email was a divine message. So I listened. The four weeks leading up to my wedding day were the most incredible days. I practiced without rhyme or reason, I went to random yoga classes, practiced outside, or didn’t practice at all.

The irony was, I felt stronger, more balanced, and more connected than I had in a long time. She was right. I had to surrender to break the cycle

Today, I know that surrender is part of my divine journey. I am still on the surrender train. I don’t think I will ever stop learning, nor will you.

The beauty, though, is that now I know what surrender looks like, how it feels and fits in my body, what size and shape I can wear comfortably.

I now know that letting go—right in those moments when I really don’t want to—is always right for me, so I respond faster when I hear the call. I know that the life I truly want—limitless, free, and abundant—comes from that space of pure, openhearted surrender.

It’s from that rich territory of surrender that we finally let go of the limiting energy of control and force.

And when we aren’t controlling, we have completely stepped out of our own way. We are ready to receive, to tap into the abundant possibilities available to us, and to manifest a life free from restraint and restrictions.

Sunday 2 February 2014

Mondo mio- robertson quay


Last weekend, the boyfriend and I had a big night of partying and so the next morning we felt like having a big hearty Italian meal. We planned to eat at Robertson quay but didn't have any specific place in mind- but figured if all else fails we would have ended up at the wine connection.

Anyways after walking around and looking at menus, we chanced upon mondo mio just across Harry's at Robertson quay. My first question to the waitress was if it was fusion food of Japanese and Italian as the menu was also in Japanese and she mentioned that they usually have a very big Japanese crowd. 

Anyway back to the food. I have to say we were pleasantly surprised.that's the interior of the restaurant... we heard Italian music throughout our entire meal and was honestly pleased with the ambiance.




You can find the menu online but i took one anyway to show you the Japanese menu that was included.


honestly, i didn't read any reviews prior to visiting the restaurant and honestly didn't know what to expect however I have to say service was exceptional. Not once did i have to wait for my water to be refilled. Also the moment we finished our pasta, within the second, new plates were sent to us to enjoy our pizzas.

I ordered the  Linguini pasta with crab meat  flavoured  by  a delicious pink sauce (SGD20)   - i had asked for more sauce so was a little disappointed that I didn't get more however I was satisfied with the flavor. Honestly didn't think it was anything like pink sauces you usually get in other restaurants, this just tasted like normal pasta sauce. However i liked that the crab did not have an overpowering smell compared to many other places that I have tried.



the photo above is the Freshly homemade egg-based  flat pasta served with  bacon, sun-dried tomatoes  and basil pesto in a creamy  tomato sauce also known as Pappardelle Casalinghe Mondo Mio in Salsa Rosa (SGD22). THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. the star was definitely how well the pasta was cooked and combined with the various ingredients, this was truly delicious.



we also ordered the Tomato,  fresh mozzarella cheese  and  Italian pork salami (SGD17) - beautifully crusted and tasty - we wiped it out very fast.


Honestly this place surprised me.. on average mains were about SGD 20 and it was honestly hard to fault any part of our dining experience.