Dear Diary | April 2023 Edition

Hello to the second quarter of the year ❤

How quickly time flies. April is a pretty slow month, so I can focus more on self-development, and prioritizing my personal wellbeing. Despite having a simple life routine, I am grateful that every day is blessed with abundance of love, care and kindness from the people around me.

 

My favourite MacRitchie Nature Trail ❤

01.04.2023; Nature venture | Back to my weekend routine to MacRitchie Reservoir Park and it helps a lot in calming my mind especially with great companion. Thanks for being around and having hours-long chat with me whenever I struggle from emotional turmoil.

Weekend food finds | The authentic British Fish & Chips from Smiths Fish & Chip Shop reminds me of those ol' good days in Sydney and Melbourne, except for the non-existence of seagulls and cooling sea breeze here. 

Potato Head @ Keong Saik Road

07.04.2023; Good Friday | It was a long weekend and I finally got to explore a little bit of Singapore - this time around Neil Road, Keong Saik Road and Chinatown area surrounding the Outram Park MRT station. It felt like being a tourist once again, reminding me of those days when I first came to Singapore.  

Every simple moment spent like this is a gift, and I realise I become more appreciative towards such meaningful times when they are becoming more and more rare in our everyday hectic life. ❤ 

Ginza Tendon Itsuki @ Tanjong Pagar Road

*Bonus*: Botanical gelato from Birds of Paradise

Weekend food finds | The one-bowl soul food served in the special Japanese porcelain bowl, reminds me of my recent tempura experience in Nihonbashi Tendon Kaneko Hannosuke, Tokyo. We had the signature Seafood Tendon and Buta Tama Tendon, and were surprised by the soft and juicy pork loin despite being fried. My favourite was still the onsen egg that popped with yolky goodness on the bed of short-grained rice. 

We then stumbled upon this famous gelato shop and there went our after-meal dessert - the highly recommended Pistachio (Earthy, nutty, mildly sweet) and White Chrysanthemum (Floral, delicate, sweet) flavours. Will be back again for the Pistachio gelato! 

SOD Cafe @ Upper Thomson Road

Weekend food finds | Our Sunday brunch date came unplanned and we were at this random café which serves a surprisingly good truffle scrambled egg croissant. The aroma of truffle was so prominent and we enjoyed every bite of it.

Ri Ri Cha @ Chinatown

Our Sunday dessert, Nian Gao Waffle with Ice Cream + Yakult Green Tea - the sticky glutinous rice cake gave a different dimension to the waffle, but not exactly my favourite. Nevertheless, it is not the food that matters, but the companion who shares the joy of sharing the food and the conversations that flow throughout the breezy afternoon. 

Recent favourites @ 51 Noodle House (麵屋), The Venue Shoppes

Throughout the month, I am happy that we get to spent some weekday evenings on food hunting around the neighbourhood, for instance this unique Fusion Bak Chor Mee. 

15.04.2023; Hello KL | It was a beautiful weekend of being home for a couple of days and doing my favourite things: To spend some quality time with family, and indulge myself in the hair and nail pampering sessions. It is pure bliss to be able to catch up with the loved ones :)

Before & After | Good to trim off the untamed manes! ❤

Equate Coffee @ Orchard Central

22.04.2023; Old friend meet-up | Nothing beats the feeling of spending quality time catching up with old friend, while indulging into good food. Close connection like this is getting rare, so appreciate it while it lasts :)  

29.04.2023 | It's a long weekend again, thanks to the Labour Day public holiday. Finally get to spend a couple of days to challenge myself and do things out of my comfort zone, such as joining my first spin class, yoga and boxing session in SG. These classes actually excite me and I want to do more of this moving forward! As part of the self-care regime, I finally managed to try my favourite Taiwanese egg crepe and Hong Kong double layer milk pudding here :P 

30.04.2023 | Yay, spent a fruitful day catching up with friend over a meal and had an impromptu trip into Sentosa Island although the island turned out to be disappointing due to the major construction ongoing near the beach area, on top of the immense heat and massive crowd. But thanks for accompanying me to go with the spontaneous flow of the day! Did some running to redeem my guilt from the heavy Marché lunch too :P 

***

And it's time to bid goodbye to April and I am going to kickstart the month of May

with a short trip to Bangkok!

Ultimately, it is simple happiness that matters most ❤

Thanks for being part of the beautiful memories in my life.

April in a nutshell

All in all, April has been filled with lots of positive vibes and meaningful moments. End of April marks my 6-month journey here, and I have to repeat myself on this – I couldn’t be more thankful and grateful for what I have here in Singapore thus far. Things have been so beautiful and dreamy, far exceeding my initial expectation of starting a new life here. 

Throughout the journey, I am glad that I made multiple decisions that prioritise my own happiness. “Choose only what you deserve to have, and never settle for less” – we often hear this saying, but how often do we practise this in life? After going through some self-reflection internally, I realise that a lot of times, we are worth more than what we thought. I am still learning to appreciate that, and try to choose what is best for me. 

Know your worth, and choose your own happiness.❤

xoxo,

FiSh @ 30 April 2023