1st of December and Tips for a Christmas Feeling

Here it is - December! It's my first time ever to spend Christmas abroad, and I must say that I'm missing the Christmas feeling of Finland. The lights in the dark, candles, music, snow, crispy cold days, excitement in the air, happy faces, present planning, and of course all of the gorgeous Finnish Christmas dishes!! 

In Finland, Christmas is celebrated on the Eve, 24th. In the morning we wake up late for Christmas porridge made by boiling porridge rice (bigger, thicker rice) in thick milk. The porridge is enjoyed with plum soup or cinnamon and sugar. In the evening the true fest begins! Mashed potato, carrot and rutabaga casserole, pork or turkey, beet/carrot/pickle salad, smoked fish, bread spiced with syrup and raisins, glögi (a hot spicy sweet drink with or without alcohol)... My favourite is the smoked salmon; I could eat it every day!!

Well, so now that I will be spending my Christmas with palm trees, I have to use a bit of imagination to get myself in the mood. I'm actually planning on making some Finnish dishes on the Eve. I won't be able to make the exact versions but something similar anyways. Singaporeans overall don't usually celebrate Christmas to that extend as Finns but there are Christmas songs playing in shopping malls and some very very tacky huge Christmas trees here and there :D

Here are a few things that get me on the mood despite the tropical weather:

1. Christmas decorations

I took some photos of tasteful Christmas decorations that were sold at a shopping mall. Looking at these doesn't make you feel like it's summer outside right? ;)

2. Christmassy foods and drinks

For me the taste of cinnamon in hot drinks also brings back the feeling of Finland and winter time. So I sprinkle some cinnamon on my sweet drinks and foods every now and then to feel like it's winter ;)

3. Christmas ideas and presents

Planning for what to get to your loved ones is a fun way to get into the Christmas mood whether it's snowing outside or you are planning to head to the beach. I think that the thought is always the most important when it comes to gifts and I can immediately see if the gift giver has spent time thinking that this present will make me happy. As for relationships, I usually go for something romantic that makes my husband feel like the gift is specifically for him. 

Here is one example of something cheap but nice that I got him during the time that we were physically apart. A key chain with our photos in it. As you can see it's been used a lot! :)

4. Pre-Christmas Parties

I love parties! And pre-Chistmas parties are usually among the funniest ones as people are on a great mood, love is in the air  - and glögi warming up the socks doesn't hurt ;)

I like how people are dressing up in an unusual way and usually trying out something more daring! These parties are sort of giving people an excuse to be a bit wilder with the outfit and make up. I attended one blogger event arranged by Nuffnang and hosted by Chic Kiss Love where a make up artist from ProAcademy gave us some good make up tips. Here are my more daring party-lips :D

Have a great time waiting for the Christmas. If you have some more good tips to add I would be happy to hear! :)

X Ang Moh Chick

My Favourite Place in Singapore

Everything in Helsinki, Finland is somehow so... small. And there's nothing wrong with small. The buildings are all quite low even in the city centre. There is no real business centre, even at 8pm you can easily walk on the main shopping street without bumping into other people, and during Christmas you can easily be the only person on it! I like it that way, being able to be deeply in my own thoughts without being stepped over. I do feel Singapore is a bit too congested, however, I love the 'big city' feeling I get here.

The best place to get that feeling and also the place with the best view over Singapore is the Esplanade bridge that crosses from Esplanade to Raffles Place and its sky scrapers. I love the view of Marina Bay Sands, the tall buildings and the Durian-shaped Esplanade building used for theatre and concerts.

As Esplanade is dedicated to arts, there is a small pond with environmental art pieces...

We continued to the Merlion Park with its statue and lots of restaurants and bars to choose from. We were almost caught by a thunder storm but luckily it passed by (I do like thunder storms like my hubby claimed, just not when I'm enjoying a drink outside! ;) Our night ended with a stunning light show coming from the Marina Bay Sands.

As I've written here, almost all of my clothes and especially jewels carry a story. The dress I'm wearing in the photos is from Estonia, Tallinn, where we headed for two days after our ROM in 2012. The earrings are a gift from my grandmother when we had our wedding five months later. They are designed by a famous Finnish designer and are not made anymore - my grandmother bought them decades ago for herself. They carry a valuable meaning to me; everytime I wear them I remember both my beloved mummi (granny in Finnish) and also our wedding day.

What's your favourite place in Singapore - I would love to hear! :)

Dress: Guess   Bag: GG5   Shoes: Aldo

X Ang Moh Chick

Mooncake and Lantern Festival

I went through the photos in my camera and noticed that I haven't shared some lovely photos I took during the Mooncake & Lantern Festival in September. 

Mooncake Festival is sort of the Chinese version of thanksgiving. The origin of the festival is in the celebration of harvesting while moon is the symbol of harmony and unity. Nowadays, during the festival season, people eat small round mooncakes that symbolize completeness and unity - mooncakes are sold in all major stores and their prices can be surprisingly high. I will write more about moon cakes later on ;). 

The background of lanterns is a bit of a mystery. They are originally symbols of fertility but they have come to symbolize the Mooncake Festival itself. I was walking in the Northern Singapore at night during the festival and took some photos of people celebrating the festival with their families. Everyone was there - uncle and auntie, children in many generations, grandmother and grandpa, maid... I wanted to share these photos because I think they capture some of the Asian culture with its large families and the simple way of living.

After seeing all the beautiful lanterns, I wanted to get my very first own!

I decided on a flying horse. Who says adults can't dream of flying horses?

X Ang Moh Chick

Singapore City Lights

Singapore has that something, that glamour and excitement of a metropolitan. Just walking among the huge buildings of the business centre still awes me somehow. Or maybe I'm just a small-town gal from Helsinki - the capital of Finland but oh, so small compared to everything here.

Here are some outfit pics during one night of a busy metropolitan..

Dress: Ivo Nikkolo   Bag: GG5   Shoes: Aldo


X Ang Moh Chick

Best Places of Singapore - Part IX: Little India

This is the final part of the popular sequel Best Places of Singapore. This time I will bring you to Little India - the place for great finds at a good price, beautiful handcrafted items and spicy delicious food.

We started our journey from Arab street and its surrounding area. The place is great for shopping because some of the streets are shut from cars and full of the prettiest and cutest small shops that remind me of Europe. We even run into a tv shoot!

After shopping for the day, we moved on to Little India itself...

Little India is best known for three things; shisha, food and MUSTAFA! :D Mustafa is a huge superstore where you can buy anything - literally. Anything you can think of, light enough to be carried out of the store, and the odds are that they sell it. I shop there for food, spices and small items for home.

Shisha is a water pipe that can be ordered in different tastes such as raspberry, apple or mint. We went to an Arab cafe called Al Maljis on Arab street. It's definitely something new to try, sitting on mats and enjoying very dark Arabian coffee with chocolate dates or trying out some shisha!

Naturally the best part came last - Indian food which I absolutely love!! We went to this small restaurant just opposite Mustafa where the personnel was kind enough to make me fish tikka according to my food allergies. It was delicious and very spicy ;) I finished every bit of that dish!

My mum <3

Something very unhappy happened to me today. However, blogging about my memories helped me to cheer up a little bit. What would happen if we didn't have all our happy memories to carry around with us when something bad happens! Memories have such an amazing power to create joy and comfort <3

X Ang Moh Chick