snowflakes keep falling on my head

What a nice sight to wake up to. Street filled with snow, skiers making their way to the slopes.
Before hitting the slopes, we had to get our gears.

√ Waterproof jacket and pants
√ Snowboard and boots
√ Goggles and gloves
√ Ski lift pass

Look at how beautiful Hakuba is, covered in thick layers of powder snow
Base station for Happo One Ski Resort
All geared up and ready to go =)

4 easy steps to get to the top of the mountain. 1) Put your leading leg into the binding on your board. 2) Make it pass the electronic ski lift gate. 3) Catch the ski lift. 4) Away on the ski lift.

Getting off the ski lift was tricky. We took 3 times to get it right without losing our balance by falling and blocking others. It was hilarious. We laughed so hard that we started perspiring even before we started snowboarding. And that's like -5 degrees.

Managed to capture us in action. We don't look too bad right.....

We attempted skiing but failed miserably. Gave up after 1 hr and decided to stick to snowboarding. It may look easy but somehow we juz can't get it.

This is how much my boy loves snow. Best thing of all, it snowed the whole day =)

Foods of the day. Yummy kyushu ramen at an open air cafe, with snowflakes as extra ingredients, sashimi bowl and grilled yakidori bowl. Everything juz taste better here.

Traditional Japanese Onsen to end this snow perfect day. Snowboarding is some extreme sport. My body is breaking apart. Hopefully my knees, shins, wrists, muscles, arse don't give up on me.

Welcome to Nagano, Hakuba

After weeks of planning, trying to link up all my trains and buses transits' timings, I'm so glad that it all turned out perfectly. Not the easiest task when the Japan train system has like a million and 1 different companies and routes to get to the same place. My goal was to find the best combination for the cheapest and fastest way and that included 5 transits to get from Narita International Airport to my lodge at Hakuba, Nagano. Japan is well known for it's powder snow and what better place to test that out at the site where the 1998 Winter Olympics was held. We took 3 different company's train and managed to take Japan's famous bullet train, Shinkansen. Instead of taking a bus for 4.5 hrs, shinkansen took about 1.5 hrs =) Of coz, the trade off for time is cost.

After traveling the whole day, we finally arrived at our home for the next 4 days, Lodge Karunaju. It started snowing right when we arrived at Hakuba =) Shall take more photos of white hakuba in the day. I'm really pleased with myself for finding this place. My boy's 1 and only request was that it has to have ensuite toilet, which is not common for Japanese lodges/hostels. With most lodges averaging S$150 per person per night, < S$100 pppn is a real good deal.

Gyoza, ramen, pork shabu shabu, grilled stewers and sake. There's nothing I don't like about Japanese food except it's price. Then and again, nothing is cheap in Japan.

I was so worried that I'll freeze to death coz my tolerance for cold is really bad and I refuse to wear the michelin looking down jacket. So far, leather, fleece and wool is serving me well.

Looking forward to the next few days of action on the snow mountains! ♥ Japan ♥

the journey begins

Pre holiday activities include visiting, feasting and mahjong. Now I'm ready to freeze my skinny ass and begin my quest for the best powder snow.

beef me up

What better way to kick start this long festive holiday with half day work and feasting at Lawry's Prime Ribs to celebrate my sis's 20th birthday. The actual day falls on the second day of Chinese Lunar New Year.Honestly, I prefer the deco of the old Lawry's at Paragon. My sis was kinda bumped out when the waitress asked everyone what wine they wanted but left her out. Doesn't she look over 18?

dress: Miss Selfridge, belt: H&M

give me 5 secs to process my thoughts

The look on my big boss's face was classic when he realized I'll be on leave for the entire period of an important client/trainer's visit. It was as if he didn't know about it at all. 5 secs later after processing, he said, "looks like XX has to step up and you can learn from him after you're back." Oh god, not again..... The person who thinks he knows all, who has the best memory in the world to not take notes or photos, who doesn't know how to give clear instructions, who doesn't know how to delicate to others. Clearly there's gonna be conflict again considering that I have been ignoring him since I was excluded from the initial training but somehow mysteriously is solely in-charged of the QA validation now. How useful.........

pre CNY shopping

I wish..... My mum's CNY present to herself and I'm juz carrying it for her =) I tried tempting her with Bottega but failed. Price difference too huge. Shall try harder next time.

blazer: mum's, top: Zara, leggings: F21, bag: Mulberry, shoes: DIY

DIY Studded Loafers aka Rollerball wannabe

I've been toying with the idea of studded a pair of loafers after seeing this wow piece from Christian Louboutin few months back. Was kinda lazy to get started and wondered where can I get a pair of cheap leather loafers without worrying that it may potentially end up in the bin due to lousy/ugly studding.

I then saw this DIY pair online and it seems as a really doable DIY piece so I started my random search for cheap loafers. Roaming aimlessly while waiting for my friend, I stomped across this boring looking leather loafers for S$23.90! After my CC rebate etc, I ended up paying S$9.50 for it. It's kinda a no brainer if you ask me since I can't even get a decent pair of flip flops for that amount. My dad asked me why did I buy granny's shoes. hahahaha. Wait till you see the final result. Trust me, no granny will be hip/daring enough to wear it. Things to get started include a plain pair of loafers, a bag of studs and something sharp to make the holes.

Presenting my DIY studded loafers. Painstakingly hand studded.

Shots of some people rocking the original rollerball

the 1 steamboat I actually look forward to

I'm totally not a steamboat person but once every year, NYGFs will get together for steamboat at Amanda's place before or after CNY. It's juz something we have been doing since don't know when. Now that everyone has their other halves, when can we finally have a meal with ALL our bfs? It's about time don't you think? I think the guys need to come up with a strategy of how to handle NY girls =)

It juz happened that we were carrying bags of the same hue, one that's gonna be huge this spring. NEUTRALS =) Our motivation to work hard.......

Fendi Doctor B Bag, Miu Miu Bow Satchel, Mulberry Alexa

my little excursion over water

WL and I decided to pay Resort World Sentosa (RWS) a visit since it's the home to SG's first ever CASINO and Universal Studios. We were all curious to see how RWS managed to transform Sentosa. Upon arrival at 8pm, we discovered that that ALL the stores were CLOSED. Apparently, their opening hours are from 10-7pm. I'm seriously hoping that the Marina Bay IR will have a better array of shops. I'm super looking forward to the floating Louis Vuitton and the first ever Louis Vuitton Cafe.

Determined to make our trip worthwhile and not waste $2 bus fee, we roamed around, trying to orientate ourselves amongst the incomplete constructions. Immediately out of the bus terminal was the Casino.

The sight of it was pretty exciting but it ended there. Unlike the Venetian in Macao, where to Casino floor can visible to everyone, all the public could see here is this. No peep of the deco inside, how big it is etc.....

Entrance fee into casino unheard of? Well, I guess this probably applies to locals to deter us from gambling.

Further roaming and we were at this forum which seriously resembles the one at Clark Quay. It's probably for some musical fountain/laser light show.

And we spotted the globe =) 18 attractions await us behind those barriers. Nithe can't wait to rate the thrill factor. To him, Thrope Park is only 5/10. I think the only way I can get Nithe to go USA with me is to show him Six Flags =)

Little glimpse of the old Sentosa remains. Spot that thing with the scary glowing yellow eyes?
And the Tiger Sky Tower?

Enough said, I'll visit RWS again when it's COMPLETELY opened and in it's intended glory. Guess that should be around April/May? A snapshot of RWS's uniform. Can't they do anything better than that? hahaha