The Handlebar: Life is a Pattern & Giveaway #1

Outfit: Floral printed top with black sleeves, c/o The Handlebar, Black high-waisted shorts, Taobao, Military green hoodie, Cotton On, Brogues, New Look.

Shot these after our lunch at East Coast Park, 'twas semi-perfect weather and no mosquitoes! Really love exploring places like these but the weather in Singapore is really too much sometimes.

 

Life is a roller-coaster ride, there are ups and downs like there are joyous and tearful occasions. But mostly life is boring and monotonous -- Haven't you sometimes wake up in the morning and think again, 'I need to catch the 8.17AM bus" or "Thank God it's Friday!" after slogging through the whole week?

But no matter what patterns in life that you follow, whether is it a diet plan or an exercise regime, I'm sure girls will agree that our favourite patterns would be the floral brights or cute hand-drawn animals that adorn our clothing. I would say, the more the merrier! And out of all the blogshops that I've seen (and believe me, I online shop everyday), The Handlebar has the cutest printed apparel!

Now do you believe me? I am a huge sucker for floral printed anything. And the have the cutest bird prints which are huge right now, butterflies, polka dots and even watercolours!

Pretty patterns printed on bustiers, peplum tops and dresses! Plus they've a pair of the prettiest lace scallop-hem shorts in the last photo. I would love to own one of these, since lace and scallop hems are pretty much the 'in' things this season.

Plus their apparel is so comfortable! The Floral Printed Top with Black Sleeves that I received is so lightweight and cooling, great for the summery weather here.

Love the patterns on the top so much too!

Promotions:
Join their mailing list to enjoy complimntary normal postage!
Like their Facebook page to receive first-hand updates and Facebook promotions!
Use the code 'WISHFULPENGUIN' to get $1 off your order!

ps. They are having a sale now! From $4.50! Where else can you get a brand-new apparel at $4.50? I really don't know.

Shop The Handlebar today!

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Giveaway #1

I am also doing a giveaway to thank you all for reading my blog. It's my first one so yippeeeee.

Here's what I'm giving away:
An anchor print blouse as worn here, but in black(!)
A pair of cat-eye shades
A pair of tortoise sunnies as seen here too!
Rojukiss Anti-wrinkle Serum
Rojukiss Stem Cell Renewal Cream x2
BRTC BB Creams x4
These are sample-sized but can last quite long too, especially the serum!

How to win: 

Like The Handlebar's page here.

Follow Wishful Penguin on Bloglovin' here OR Google Friend Connect.

Leave a comment with your name and email address below this post!

Extra entries: 

+1 Follow Wishful Penguin on BOTH Bloglovin' and Google Friend Connect.

+1 Follow Wishful Penguin on Instagram.

+1 Follow Wishful Penguin on Lookbook.nu.

+2 Tweet about the giveaway!

+3 Blog about the giveaway on your blog!

For each of the above, please leave a separate comment, along with your username (for the Follows) and links to your tweet/blog post. 

Please note that tweeting and blogging means composing your own post, not copy and pasting mine :) Thanks!

Giveaway ends on 9th of June & is opened to residents in Singapore only. So sorry, will have an international giveaway soon! 

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It's even harder to picture that you're not here next to me

I'm at a payphone trying to call home, all of my change I spent on you.
Where have the times gone, baby it's all wrong, where are the plans we made for two? 

Tuesday, Pique-Nique @ J-cube,  I travelled from the east to west, and rewarded my efforts with my darling and this lovely Norwegian Benedict. I am officially sold.

ps. Say hi to Mr Penguin! He's too shy ;)

Friday, Oakham Market @ Ann Siang Hill, a trip to my favourite vintage and snap-em-up thrift store with the weird piratey indie songs playing on a crazy loop. Bought the blush-coloured skirt (for only $16.95, yay!) and say hi to my rainbow patch bag!

Saturday, Nihon Mura @ Cathay Cineplex, our favourite buffet with loads and loads of sashimi and the boy's favourite sushi. Ate, walked around, went to the toilet, chatted, played games, chatted even more, round two, rinse and repeat.

Fast fact: Nihon Mura means Japanese Village (in Japanese, of course).

Sunday, East Coast Food Village @ East Coast Park,our favourite kind of food with the semi-perfect weather! Oyster omellete, Teh Tarik (pulled tea), Sambal stingray, glazed BBQ chicken wings and sugarcane juice. Okay my mouth is watering now.


So this is nearly my whole week in pictures, with laughter and tears, anger and fears. I really wish I could photograph my entire life, action by action, frame by frame, so that when I look back someday when my memory is starting to fail me, they will remind me of who and how I used to be, how young and carefree life and all of us were.

But thank you for being my favourite person to hang out with, the only one who makes me smile when I am about to cry, who hates to see me feel sad or disappointed. Please know how much I love you. I really do. Thank you for all the photographs but I know your memory is way better than mine, so where photographs and my camera fail, please tell me how it used to be and how beautiful the days we spent together were.

If happy ever after did exist
I would still be holding you like this

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Ice-cream pastels

 edit: I just got Bloglovin', do follow if you wish :)


I was looking through ASOS and found these Polyvore-esque images off their Fashion Finder, which consists of outfits created by stock images of items that are sold on the website. What an ingenious way of getting people to purchase their items by creating outfits, putting into perspective how the item would look like paired with another!

And I'm sure one would want to purchase the whole outfit instead seeing how pretty everything is coordinated, like how I was tempted many a time...

Florals! Prints! Pastels! Need I say anymore? On the other hand, I imagine wearing the thick sweater out in the heat like in the magazine cut-out... Induces fainting spells just by thinking of it.

I think I stopped breathing a little. Too saccharine sweet but I love pastels, so this is just a colour appreciation photo because the photo doesn't make outfit sense.

*steals blazer from photo* One thing I don't get is how do people coordinate the colours so perfectly.

Finally an outfit that has pieces I do own and can wear out. Love the backpack though the colour scheme looks a little out of place.

To be honest I'm writing this post because my laptop has been sent for repair and I need my Photoshop to edit photos. I have so many posts lined up, including possibly a giveaway!

Which is your favourite set? :)

All images from ASOS Fashion Finder.

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Cupcakes and pizzas

Today's post will be about food because I am starving right now! Tuition got cancelled last minute so I am meeting the boyfriend later at Bukit Timah, which is in the west. And I live in the east, boohoo.

Went for Love, Bonito x Sogurt's launch on Sunday! Sogurt is a frozen yogurt shop that has a do-it-yourself concept: You can take as much yogurt (in as many flavours they have) as you want, and as many toppings as you wish! This compared to normal frozen yogurt shops that charge different prices for normal or flavoured yogurt. 

Anyway, the launch was for the new flavour to be unveiled that day! Although my cousin (who is a Sogirl) had already told me beforehand that it was Pink Guava -- Tried it on that day and it was super yummy and refreshing! And in the prettiest shade of pink, like the icing on the cupcake above which was sponsored for the event on that day as well.

Everyone there got a goodie bag sponsored by Seventeen magazine, Zouk (my boyfriend kept the Zouk passes they gave because he was afraid I'd lost it, thanks for your faith darling) and a Love, Bonito flower corsage/pin! So pretty. Actually to be honest I went for the event for the goodies. Please do not judge me. #kiasu

15 Minutes

1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940

15 Minutes is a cosy and artistic cafe located in LASELLE College of the Arts, which is perhaps why it is tastefully decorated with black and white pillars, chalkboard menus and book pages plastered to walls. But the main attraction is of course the food! Its dishes mainly are Italian, with pizzas, lasagne, pastas and the like.

I ordered the Wasabi Prawn Pizza ($7.90) which was surprisingly yummy! You would expect something like that to taste funny. I mean, wasabi, and prawns? On a pizza? With bonito flakes? But thankfully, I made the right choice and it was like eating a Takopachi (little Japanese octopus balls) which was more savoury and salty compared to the usual pizza. The downside of this was that I couldn't taste the wasabi; The sauce felt more like mayonnaise instead and there was no cheese in the pizza! But it was just a small caveat and the price made up for the loss. It's great for two people if you're sharing other items, which works out to only $3.95 per person! Affordable yet yummy food. I like.

Next up was the Tofu & Spinach Lasagne ($7.90) which is a vegetarian dish but tastes divine! Great for healthy people watching their weight but like all lasagnes to me, I felt that after a few mouthfuls the taste would be too overpowering because of the sheer amount of cheese used in the dish, so best to share this!

My company that day! Two of my very close primary school mates whom I had the pleasure of meeting 12 years ago (I had to count that), Yvonne and Nic (who is also my BFF) and Von's sister Ginny (sitting with me)! I'm fortunate to be able to keep in close contact with my primary school graduating class and guess the best thing about dining with people you've known for nearly your whole life is that you can just say whatever you want. There are moments where we jinx each other saying the same things or smile because we know what the other person is saying... It doesn't get any better than this.

I actually wrote the top half of the post before dinner and now at 11.30PM, I feel like snacking again after looking at all these photos. Gosh. This should be changed into a food blog, no? Hope you have a great week ahead!

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Sea-sick and nowhere to call home

Outfit: Anchor print blouse, Tortoise sunnies, Taobao, White faux leather shorts, Oakham Market, Weaved summer flats, Online store, Vintage watch and bag.

Went to Vivocity with Mr Penguin *counts back the days* on Friday! Watched Dark Shadows which was a macabre yet funny movie that has a weird plot (to me) but we were in awe of Johnny Depp's versatility. And his numerous collaborations with Tim Burton who has a penchant for making spooky (but not scary horror ones) movies. My favourite of his is Corpse Bride!

What I wore that day. Just received my chains and anchors print top from Taobao (again) and I bought it in black as well but I always prefer the lighter colours over the darker ones. Did not really put on my shades so it was more of a decoration and my $10 vintage watch, isn't it pretty? Haven't used this bag since forever but finally found an occassion and outfit to. My mum gave it to me a few years back, I really love the material and the sturdiness of the bag.

Mr Penguin and his monorail, lol.

Enjoying the gorgeous sunset with the Star Cruise and cable cars in the foreground and the sea-breeze, which I really love because sometimes you can forget your troubles and life a little while, and embrace the cooling and alluring lure of the sea.

And... I just got back from my 10km run. I ran like I never ran before but I still managed to run consistently for 5km and stopped at the halfway point and began walking/brisk-walking/panting. I think I have a phobia for marathons now.

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Eggy

Hatched

26 Evans Rd, Singapore 259367

Went Hatched on Thursday for a quick brunch! The name of the cosy all-day breakfast restaurant is such because its dishes are a homage to the humble yet versatile egg: Have it poached, scrambled, fried, or even as french toast at Hatched!

Forgot to bring my camera so here are some photos nicked from my Instagram:

 

Smoked Royale ($12) and F.T.P ($16?)! The former is half an English muffin topped with Norwegian smoked salmon, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce, served with homemade mash potato. And the latter is a side dish with a weird name (still can't figure out its meaning) but in reality a yummy French Toast topped with cameralised peach slices.

My Sir Benedict ($16) which is a delightfully tasty eggs benedict! At first I thought the poached egg was overdone but when I poked it with a fork, the eggy goodness flowed out. So do try this if you love your eggs benedict runny :)

Yummy yummy! The restaurant is located about 10 minutes walk from Botanic Gardens MRT station, but it can get quite crowded during lunchtime with the office lunch crowd, though I have no idea where they come from because the area looks deserted.

Sorry for the short and overdued post but I'm so exhausted and I'll be waking up at 6.30AM to go for a 10km run. Which will probably become a 3km run + 7km stroll. Will reply comments and update tomorrow! Thank you all for the lovely comments :)

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Hey I heard you were a wild one

These photos are long overdue! So pretend this is a lazy Sunday evening and you're reading this to procrastinate the impending Monday doom. That said, that day I wanted to dress up to take photos with the boy but I was rushing for time and I just threw on a plain t-shirt and shorts and my favourite comfy H&M flats. Well, to my credit, the shorts were made of a faux leather material which makes it less casual but since we were in the heartlands it didn't really matter.

Lunch was at Bedok Point's Manhattan Fish Market! Really love the food there (anything seafood = love) although the breakout on my face was probably caused by this Cheesy Platter.

I almost fell off the metal bar thingy. Also, here's a closer print of my shirt from Uniqlo: Hogwarts! I will be travelling to England to study in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as I have just found out that I am a wizard. Whatever I told everyone before were lies. Muahahaha. 

And the second shot was posed as such to cover my pimples. They are the death of my face and I.

 

Last shot before Mr Penguin and I went to watch Vampire Diaries on my laptop. This was the place he asked me to be his girlfriend heheheheh I shall write it here to embarrass him *blushes*

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