Cupid's a' Callin..

February has always been my favourite month of the year.. Firstly, it's the month that houses my birthday (although I have to admit that birthdays aren't nearly as fun as they were when I was little.. this growing-old business does not sit well with me at all!) Secondly, it's also the month we celebrate luuurve! It's a great wonder it isn't everyone's favourite month! Haha..

Anyway, obviously, not one to lose out on celebrations, I got to celebrate both special days.. My birthday wasn't a big one, just had an 'intimate' dinner with close friends. No wild or big parties, which is another sign that I am growing old.. You know, turning 27 sucks! No more hiding behind the '26 is still mid-twenties' excuse, since 27 is officially LATE twenties! No more, let's enjoy our twenties while we can, now it's just, let's kill ourselves before we hit the big 3-0! Sighhh.. I wish we could grow younger, that would be great rite? Like the curious Benjamin, haha!

OK, no more ranting.. these are some pics of my 'celebration' dinner. The best part of the night was when my darling WS surprised me with birthday cupcakes! Apparently he spent the day running around arranging the surprise at the dinner, of course, with the help of our friends. Plus, he surprised me with a lovely birthday gift, so altogether, my baby got a lot of loving from me! ;)

So I better stop before this turns out to be a 100% lovefest.. so here are some lovely pics, followed by some more of Valentine's!

Me & my cupcakes! They were so cute!

My darling made my birthday so special.. thanks so much, baby!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S?

Someone was soooo happy to spend my birthday with me! ;)

Yummy steak & chocolate fondue.. ok, have to admit though, it looks better than it tasted!

My beautiful cupcakes!!!!

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Soulmates? Yup, the boys fit as well as YJ & me!!!

The new Mr & Mrs!

My lovely gift.. ok, so it doesn't look great, but it was exactly what I wanted!!

Since this year's Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday, I had the marvelous idea of going for an 'exotic' holiday, to be uber-romantic... I had big ideas - Reykjavik (too cold), Berlin (a tad boring), Venice (I've already been and it's not that big a deal..), Prague (we're going in Easter) or Gran Canaria (too far for a weekend trip). As if that wasn't bad enough, WS put his foot down and said what I've been trying to deny - "NO MONEY". Apparently he wants to save up for our wedding (he hasn't even proposed yet, that self-confident ding-dong! But seriously, of late, we've been sooo broke!) So unfortunately for me, no romantic getaway. Instead, we were stuck in sad ol' Manchester.. (WS suggested somewhere local, but as you can remember from this entry, no more local holidays for me!)

OK, so it wasn't a bad Valentine's Day at all.. (I guess it just paled in comparison to my initial extravagant ideas!) WS booked us a romantic dinner at Albert's Shed, a restaurant in Manchester. Right, hands down, the best restaurant we've ever been to in all of Manchester! The food was absolutely delicious, the service was really good, ambience was wonderful and the overall experience was fantastic! We really enjoyed ourselves and will definitely be going back soon..

I was later surprised with a lovely bouquet of roses when I got home! (I must admit, WS is definitely getting better at this surprise business! ;) ) They were so pretty and the roses were huuuuuge! Hehe.. so as you can expect, here are my pictures!!! (A word of warning: there are some seriously loved-up cam-whoring going on here, so avert your eyes, oh thee faint-hearted!)

Me and my yummy roast duck leg.. the garlic mash potatoes were absolutely divine & the roast root vegetables were out of this world!!

Enjoying the decor at Albert's Shed..

WS enjoyed his roast lamb shank.. doesn't look much, but it was huge!

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Love is truly in the air! Haha..

More cam-whoring..

My beautiful roses..

Scrutinising for bugs?

Even more cam-whoring!!!

Aren't they just gorgeous?

OK, that's all for me for now! Have I mentioned how much I love this month?

It's comeback time!

For as long I've remembered, people have told me how annoying my obsession with Ronan Keating & Boyzone is.. so no one was thrilled with the new of their reunion, apart from me, of course!! My high school sweetheart, my first love, the one that got me through all my hard & tough teenager times.. oh, and of course, the rest of the lads mattered too, otherwise, there wouldn't be any of those wonderful tunes like Love Me For A Reason & I Love The Way You Love Me..

Anyway, when I heard that they were doing their reunion tour in June, I just had to go... there was absolutely no way that I would miss them after their 8-year split! Hehe.. so anyway, got my butt down to London to watch them perform at the O2 and managed to drag good friend PY to go with me cos' guess what? She was a fan of Ronan & the boys too!!

At the O2.. I was very impressed with the venue, it really was an entertainment venue!!

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OK, these aren't the photos from my camera, but damn, they look good!

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They still look as good as they did and they definitely sounded as great!

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OK, again, I can't take credit for this either.. but does Ronan not look hoooottt??

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Ooh, they did this grown-up thing.. where they sang & danced HALF-NAKED on stage.. Oh, those abs!!!

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Ooh, they did this thing at the end where they stood on this moving stage over our heads and sang No Matter What.. it was amazing!!

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Lucky for me, I got a seat quite near the stage so got to have a close look at the boys!!!

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An explosive performance! They sang lots of the famous chart-toppers but also had some non-famous songs for their real fans.. like me!!

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It was so good to watch the boys back together again live!

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All in all, the whole concert was a fantastic production & fully enjoyable, I shouted so hard that I almost lost my voice... long live Boyzone, I'm so glad they're back!!!

Courtesy of heat magazine.. need I say more??

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PY & me at our favourite London hangout..

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No, I did not drag WS to watch Boyzone with me.. for that, he was truly relieved!

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OK, that's all that happened in London.. ok, not all, but that's all that matters! ;)

More from Netherlands!

Our story in Amsterdam continues with Part 2, in pictures, of course! :) We spent one day in Zaanse-Schans, a quaint little tourist town just outside of Amsterdam. It's the only town left in Netherlands which still have real, live, working windmills, and I'm really glad I got to see them!! The landscape was absolutely picturesque, it was like walking in a postcard! Anyway, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here they are!!

We had to take a little canal boat to get to the tourist spot!

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This is the entrance of this lovely little town.. so picturesque & serene...

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This is the first of many beautiful pictures taken in this beautiful little town!

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This could be a holiday postcard, right?

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I may not look it, but as we were standing on the first floor of a real windmill, I was terrified!!

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I love this shot, do the fields make me look like Anne of Green Gables?

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Look what I found?!!

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Another good shot? ;)

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We visited a traditional clog workshop, I've never seen so many clogs in my life!
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Look, a real Dutch milkmaid!!!

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Look what else I found? Heehee..

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This is a real grinder for chalk that we found inside a real, working windmill!

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And this concludes our holiday trip in Netherlands! It was fantastic and we said that we definitely would go back again! Those of you who haven't been, you must go!!!

Tulips, cheese & cannabis.. where else? Amsterdam!!

In the spirit of good Jean-type blogging, here are more photos of my trips & trots.. Sorry I don't have any serious, insightful blog entries, but honestly, how many of you actually enjoy them? Aren't pretty photos much better? ;)


Blog Entry - April 2008

I have been sooooo broke lately, it's ridiculous! It's that time of the year again where all your car crap (pardon my language) is due.. Car insurance, road tax, MOT, service etc are all costing me wayyyyy too much! Who said having a car was easy? Sheesh... Plus, I had to buy my air ticket back home to attend dear TS's wedding. Unfortunately for me, that's costing me a whole extra bundle of cash too.. Sighhh..... all for the sake of friendship, eh?

The other thing that drained me, which of course, is entirely my fault, is my recent trip to the Netherlands.. Yes, after all these years of wanting to go to Amsterdam and the famed Keukenhof, I finally got a chance to go at the right time! :) We were only there for 4 days but it was an amazing time anyway, especially since the weather was gorgeous! Sunshine and light breeze, with maximums of 22 degrees Celcius! (I sound like the weather girl now..)

The only drawback was stupid KLM, who left our luggage behind in Manchester for 2 whole days! That completely ruined half of my trip, cos we had to spend time and money hunting around for clean underwear, socks, pyjamas and amenities. Plus, with the added trouble of having contact lenses? Overall, it was not a very pleasant time.. Lucky for us, our hotel people were extremely helpful and we managed to claim most of our Euro $$$ from the airline, so overall, at least, the trip wasn't completely ruined!

I must say that I found Amsterdam to be one of the most beautiful cities I've visited in Europe.. it had the perfect combination of buildings, greenery and of course, the city's landscape was enhanced greatly by its numerous canals.. Overall, there was a tranquility amidst the vibrant citylife and I found that extremely inviting.

The buildings that flanked the canal were all very beautiful and it was obvious that there was much thought and meticulous planning put into the development of this charming city. The city council has also put a halt on canal houses and canal boats in the city so thankfully, the canals were not overcrowded and instead, exuded a peaceful atmosphere. There were people from all walks of life and the variety of food available was simply endless!

WS and I went together, which was really nice cos' it was a romantic holiday for us.. unfortunately, that meant very few pictures of us together cos' let's face it, setting up the tripod can be very tiresome. Coupled by the fact that our first 2 days in Amsterdam were clouded with our missing-luggage problems meant that we really couldn't be arsed to take that many pics in Amsterdam city itself. So sad... Luckily, by the time we ventured out to Keukenhof to see the tulips and to Zaanse-Schans, a historical Holland township, we had our clothes back so that meant lots of pics! Here they are, so do enjoy! (You just absolutely have to look at all the pictures, especially towards the end.. no regrets, I promise!)

View of a canal in Amsterdam city..
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We visited the real house where Anne Frank stayed and it was a chilling experience..

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On a canal cruise.. I swear I got a tan from that hour!
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Enjoying a traditional Dutch meal - hotspotch!

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Of course, one couldn't miss the oh-so-famous yummy Dutch pancakes!

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These are called poffertjes.. yummy!

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Can't get enough of pancakes! ;)
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The main reason we went to Netherlands in April was to visit the Tulip Festival at Keukenhof, a quaint little town just outside Amsterdam. My parents have been showing me pictures of them enjoying a romantic spring in Keukenhof some 25 years ago, and I've dreamt of visiting this place ever since I was a little girl.. Of course, I never got the opportunity to come (despite telling everyone else to come visit this beautiful place), as there were never any term breaks during this time whilst I was at medical school. So finally.... here I am!!!

The beautiful Keukenhof Gardens..

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Calm & serene.. stunning beauty!

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Beautiful, innit? Of course, the flowers look great too!

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My favourite picture!

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Such picturesque surroundings..

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The sun was glorious!

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Pretty flowers everywhere!

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I loved these blossoms.. has such an oriental feel!

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They had an interior design show too, which was very impressive..

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I loved the vibrant reds!

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Nothing says Holland better than windmills eh?

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Up close the flowers look even more beautiful!

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WS tries his hand at artsy photography..

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More artsy photos.. he caught me unaware in this one!

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More pretty pictures of us... ;)

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I love this shot.. it has such a romantic feeling to it, don't you think?

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More fun in the sun.. not complaining though, the photos turned out gorgeous thanks to Mr Shine-brightly aka The Sun!

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Last shot of the day.. looks like a Wedding photo backdrop eh? Now don't start getting ideas..

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And that concludes the first part of the Amsterdam series.. haha, are you waiting at the edge of your seat for Part 2???