THEROSEBREAKER.COM

The idea of having your own little website intrigued me a lot when I was 13 years old. I proceeded to hit the "create a blog" button without much hesitation, and I have been blogging since. Switching from blogspot to xanga to live journal to tumblr and back to blogspot for the last couple of years, and started out blogging as a digital diary to spill the daily happenings in Secondary school and occasional outburst of emotions, has turned into an avenue of sharing lifestyle content that I am passionate about.

So after years on blogspot and months of contemplation to move on to a different platform, I am pleased to share the launch of my little pet project therosebreaker with its own .com and a facelift. Click here to be directed.

I am not sure how therosebreaker will turn out to be in the next 10 years, but it has been and will always be close to my heart; one that I am willing to spend time and effort in out of my busy work schedule just to edit photographs, plan content and write. Thank you to those who have been quietly reading my blog all these years, it means a million to me! 

So see you on the other side, and I hope you will enjoy!

http://therosebreaker.com

NIGHT FEST '16

It's Night Festival 2 weekends ago, and following our annual tradition, Nathaniel and I visit Night Fest again for the 3rd year. You can read up on our previous experience here – 2015 and 2014.

On the morning of that Friday, the 'annual' haze hits Singapore at a PSI level of over 200 and I thought "what a bummer" if we had to put off this year's visit if the haze persists...But the skies and air did clear, so we managed to resume with the plan.

Without saying, the Festival Village is what we looked forward to (mostly because of the fairy lights hovering over the area), though we chose not to dine there this time because of the heat and crowd, but instead we got ourselves a jar of coconut shake to beat the heat. I personally felt this year's Night Fest was a tad on the down side; there weren't anything significant to remember or perhaps I was just too tired after a long week at work to enjoy the experience. Nonetheless, Night Fest is still an event worth looking forward to each year, so till we meet again in 2017!

FINDING TIME & QUIET

Finding time for myself has been a real struggle for the last several months. Sometimes I'm not even sure if it is my bad time management or I'm really that busy, which makes me so tired everyday, slack off on exercising and procrastinating so badly; that I can't seem to schedule in some quiet time to spend with God and for myself.

It seems almost impossible in Singapore, or maybe Asia in general, to slow down where work takes precedence over almost everything else. While the Europeans or Australians somehow get the memo of slow living; enjoying every quality moment. Today, I finally found time – staying home on a Saturday to catch up on the things I've put off for a while, and just sharing some things from the last couple of weeks: Chalkfarm red velvet cupcake, Uniqlo x Lemaire seersucker blouse, Miss Dior blooming bouquet fragrance, succulents, Vulture issue 15 and a cuppa warm green tea.

Have a lovely weekend! x

LET MISS DIOR BLOOM

Let Miss Dior Bloom – A Dior Parfums exhibition on the iconic Miss Dior fragrance. Miss Dior Cherie Blooming Bouquet has been my favourite scent ever since I first discovered it. It carries a sweet floral scent that isn't too harsh on the nose, yet lingers on and I'm very glad to be part of the exhibition in some small ways because of where I work at.

Here are some sneaks, but if you love fragrance or Dior in general, you should head down to visit the exhibition and also visit the newly open duplex Dior Couture ION boutique, that is adorned with many beautiful art pieces and fashion products of course.

Let Miss Dior Bloom Exhibition: Happening now till March 8, at ION Atrium Level 1
Dior Couture ION Boutique: ION Level 2

CURIOUS PALETTE

Amidst all the cafes springing up in all corners of Singapore, Curious Palette is one of my new favourite. Apart from its undeniably beautiful (and my dream kind of) interior of greens, white, grey and cute lights, they've got an extensive and value for money menu. I love how they steered away from the usual eggs benedict's and typical breakfast set, instead they've got this too-pretty-to-be-eaten berry ricotta hotcake and a relatively good selection of coffees as well.

If you've been following Facebook or Instagram with #saveastranger a few months back, you might have heard that their head chef is battling with cancer and needed to raise funds for his treatment. The supportive Curious team decided to work on their off-day, every Tuesday, in order to raise sufficient funds while sustain their business and I was glad to support them in what little way I could for a stranger. It is my prayer that Chef Sebastian will recover in no time through the treatment and support from many other strangers.

This cafe tucked along Prinsep Street evokes a sense of slowness and I like that, because working in a fast paced society in Singapore has made me stopped to pause, to take things slowly and to be patient. And as I type this on my MC day (because I'm down with a flu for more than a week), I'm appreciating the slow life a lot more. Because I finally have the day to rest at home, it allowed me some time to update the journal while recuperate before I head back to work hopefully all recovered by then.

#LVSERIES3

DEEP DOWN MY SEOUL

Seoul is a bustling city amalgamated with Asian and Western beauty – modern architectures built alongside traditional Korean houses, photogenic European curated cafes along the streets with good coffee, the best Korean fried chicken and kbbq, well dressed and friendly Koreans who willingly helped us with directions despite the language barrier, tons of beauty products, women who just did plastic surgery shopping around Myeong-dong openly with bandage and cast on their face, good shopping, kpop & kdramas.

Don't judge me but I used to spend most of my Secondary school days listening to kpop favourites like Super Junior & 2NE1, chase after kdramas and naturally fell in love with Korea, or anything that seems to start with the letter 'k'. Being back again after 9 years is like rekindling love with an old flame. I may not be into kpop & kdrama anymore but somehow this city will always have a place in my heart, and there's something about Seoul that captivates my soul.

Ann yeong for now Seoul, I'll definitely be back!