and i thought to myself

another chapter

2012-02-15T20:50:00.000+08:00

my life now runs in 3-hourly segments
in 3 hours' time:baby needs to be fed
boobs need to be pumped
and within the 3 hours, slot in changing of diapers, bathing baby, carrying baby, preparing meals for myselfand before u know it,
it's time to feed and pump
somehow it feels rather limiting
doesn't help that i can't seem to soothe baby when he cries
it's really rather demoralizing
and pumping... don't get me started on pumping
i think it would be so much more enjoyable w/o the pumping
engorged boobs and sore nips are really a pain
wells at least we've got a domestic helper -
i should really stop grousing
really 佩服 frens who are first time moms and managing all by themselves

feeling rather restless
the mind & hands need to work on something
so i decided to update the blog!
inspired by shoutmate's "re-fleshed" blog
and L's brand new blog
and chanced upon an ex-colleague-acquaintance's very beautiful blog
no major changes though - the blogspot interface seems rather, limiting

major lack of posts on the new addition to our family
will post on baby soon! i think he's really cute hah

i'm a mom!

2012-01-08T16:57:00.012+08:00

OM-major-Gosh.

2011-12-02T22:59:00.012+08:00

and so it all started with swollen gums

no, rewind that a few weeks back...
waking up one weekend morning
i had the cravings for kaya toast
and sent the husband to get some from old town down the street
and whilst running some errands at bukit timah plaza
we passed by a laksa stall and i asked k
if he would like to share a bowl

these seemingly mundane activities would have been
nothing out of the ordinary
had i hardly ordered laksa for as long as k has known me
nor would i have craved for kaya toast
nonetheless i didn't give a second thought to these actions

until i woke up one morning with swollen gums near my wisdom tooth
that got me really worried because i really didn't want a decayed tooth
when i was office, i googled "swollen gums" and the auto predictive
search showed "pregnancy and swollen gums"...gosh... glup...

during lunchtime i went to plaza sing (was working at mt. sophia then)
and bought a pregnancy kit and went to toilet to do the test
had hardly pulled my pants up & nearly dropped the stick
when i saw the results - OMG!!! positive!!??!
it was such an overwhelming feeling...
it wasn't elation neither was it shock... just overall very overwhelming
was deliberating if i should text k immediately...
but decided to keep it to myself till we met after work

had dinner at suntec crystal jade and after the tables were cleared
i passed k the package wrapped in butter paper
told him to open it discreetly under the table top
when he saw the stick, he stared intently at it for several seconds
then wrapped it back in the butter paper, and said,
"oh... don't have hor..."
i was like ????? and nearly burst out laughing
but i held back and concurred, "yah... don't have."
now his turn to ?????
"so have or don't have???"
"gosh, do you not know how to read symbols?"
"yah, i know - it indicated negative right?"
"how can it be negative???"
he told me that he was staring intently at the "-" sign of the "+"
and didn't see the "l" ...

we decided we should buy another kit to test
just to be sure... and this time we bought another brand
and the results, were positive

and so it all clicked.
the kaya toast craving, the ordering of laksa...
i was already expecting on my birthday so
no wonder my fav. pilsner at paulaner at the
bday celebration tasted weird
and i could only stomach two mugs,
much to the surprise of tea and e1

and here i am today, with a belly as big as a watermelon
almost at the full term of 37 weeks,
typing this blog entry at the sentosa beaufort
enjoying our last getaway as dinks (dual-income-no-kids)
as my sisters would label us
anyday, anytime from now, kiddo will choose to squirm his way
out from my tummy to greeet this world...

and i'll be a mom. OM-major-Gosh.
i really can't believe it.
thank God, thank sweaty heart, for this overwhelming gift.

mub mub yt-taf

2011-08-13T16:31:00.005+08:00

that was what my fren S and I called fat people when we were young
our secret code word "mub mub yt-taf" for fatties
(how mean kids can be hahah)
try pronouncing it, it's really cute
it's actually a reverse of "fatty bum bum" hahah

and now looks like I'm turning into a mub mub yttaf myself!!!
*sob*
I remember I was really plump and stubby when I was between the age of 15 to my early 20s
think I was around 50kg ++
my mum always said I was a late bloomer, and told my sisters, that I was still in my 发育期 at the age of 20...
hahaha and my sisters would scoff at me, especially my very svelte second sis
not in malice, but at my mum's rather contrived logic to explain my rather mub mub yt-taf bod
strangely enough mum was right!
I started losing weight when I was in Melbourne
and somehow gradually over the years
I lost about 10kg...
it wasn't through any form of diet nor exercise, the appetite just reduced and I naturally ate less
coupled with a high-stress job... and I suspected my bone mass was depreciating cos i was actually shrinking in height...
hereditary I guess...

back to why I'm turning back into a mub mub yt-taf
it's the pregnancy! initially I lost a bit of weight due to bad morning sickness in the first trimester
however into my second trimester, things started looking up and I was regaining my appetite
and at my visit to my gynae yesterday, she said I had put on too much weight over the past month!
yikes!!!

the healthy weight gain per month is 1.5kg, and I had put on 3kg!
must be the McDonalds sausage mcmuffin and ice Milo brekkie
that the husband and I have been indulging almost every morning before work...
so now I got to watch my sugar and carbs intake,
limit to only 1 sweet drink (=fruit juices only) and a glass of milk daily,
and that's it. plain water for the rest of the day
and if I have any sugar cravings, I should only be taking a fruit!
*sob*
and strangely enough during this pregnancy, the foods that I felt like taking
are mostly what the husband likes...sweet kaya toast, Macs hotcakes, cheesecakes...
I used to to have a really salty tooth, but now I cannot really stomach any potato chips, which was like my favourite food at anytime, at all!

charting my weight:
original weight: 44kg
may: 42kg
june: 43kg
jul: 45.7kg
aug: 48.9kg

so the rate of weight gain for the last month was really shocking
if I'm allowed to gain only 12kg, throughout the pregnancy,
these should be my ideal weight in the coming months:
sept: 51.2kg
oct: 52.4kg
nov: 53.6kg
dec: 54.8kg

keeping the weight gain in the healthy range is really important because I'm small built
and if kiddo gets too big, it will be difficult for natural birth
and I have a great phobia of childbirth!!! *faints*

bedsheets for kiddo

2011-08-05T13:16:00.007+08:00

bought a pair of plain 100% cotton bedsheets from ikea
for $15, to doodle on them for kiddo
may he have happy dreams
of the ocean, skies, flying, nature...

all things bright and beautiful
all creatures great and small
all things wise and wonderful
the Lord God made them all

(can i say i think they look nicer in real life
than in photos? haaa...
the sheets look so crumply and harsh
and an awful shade in the pics
but i'm really too lazy to iron them
and retake nicer photos... =S)

Between Two Trees

2011-08-04T22:06:00.003+08:00

kk saw this sign whilst driving hm fr work
and thought the name was quite unique
i did a search to find out more
and this poem represented this preschool's belief
which i thought was quite good
firstly, using a poem to represent their belief
secondly, it's a really meaningful poem
and coincientally, one of the names i had thought of naming
one of the imaginary businesses that i'ld own
was - A Hundred

The Hundred Languages Of Children
by Loris Malaguzzi

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marvelling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.

The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

yummies to whack after delivery

2011-07-22T19:51:00.006+08:00

This is a growing list:
1. Proscuitto ham & freshly baked bread w balsamic vinegar fr Jones e grocer

2. Salmon belly, and all types of sashimi fr sakuraya fish market

3. Feyel fois gras pate

4. Rojak from the hawker at the singapore food trail (flyer) - have not tried it yet but when i was there i was already preggars and not allowed to have it =(

rainbowed balloons

2011-06-10T14:17:00.007+08:00

don't you find hot air balloons just lovely and whimsical
a large rainbowed bauble floating in the sky
i've always imagined myself in one
the clouds would float pass me silently
and my entire face engulfed in its soft cottony texture
i would look down at vast pastures of green
and dots of little houses with smoke piping out from chimneys
and then i would look up -
and feel a little closer to Him

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time."
Ecclesiastes 3:11

crispy banana pancakes

2011-05-17T14:10:00.009+08:00

mum's recipe for traditional indonesian banana pancakes

ingredients
3 batu bananas
approx. 3 dessert spoons of sugar
approx. a small sauce dish of melted butter
a pinch of salt
some water
approx. 3 tbsp of flour

yeh i know, all the amounts are based on agah-ra-tion
mum just based it on instincts =p

steps
wash hands thoroughly
mash up bananas with fingers/hand
mix all the ingredients with fingers/hand
add water and stir well (can use spoon now)
mix in the flour till you get a thick batter

drop dollops of e batter into oil at low heat
continue frying them in low heat
till the final stages of frying when the pancakes have browned
press hard on the sides on the wok to make them flat

and then u will get delicious golden, crispy banana pancakes!

what did we do last year?

2011-05-15T00:28:00.008+08:00

so i asked the husband on tueday,
what did we do for our wedding anniversary last year?
he couldn't remember, and neither could i!
i scrolled through all the pics in my iphone -
nothing. no records of what we did last year
so for posterity and so we will not arrive at the same state as this year
told myself i'd better blog down
what we did this year

the husband very nicely booked a room at the Moon hotel
(told me he's "taking me to the moon" when i kept guessing where we were heading to during the drive. yeh. he's 200% lame)
it's in little india, and truly a very quaint (i've overused this word) place
and this nice boutique hotel stood out like a gem
it's just opposite wanderlust,
lotsa nice boutique hotels sprouting in this locale

and that night, we went for a jolin tsai concert!
yeh, for the closet ah-lian in me
i really like to see her dance
(this was his b'day present for me)

a belated post on my 32nd (already???) bday
(lest i forget what happened since i'm already 32)

(in chronological order)
four seasons durian cake . fr the in-laws
handmade-handdelivered flowers + card surprise sitting on my desk . fr erjie
custom plaque + cake . fr my cheeky colleagues
french dinner at vis-a-vis + calla + concert tix . fr the husband
teppanyaki lunch . fr dajie w mum
epic bbq @ tea's . w tea,eva,cheng,e1,tyre,raymond,jiajia
teochew dinner@tai seng . fr dad w family
goodwood durian mousse . fr bozo w aki gang

very shioks bday!

salty salty cheese straws

2011-05-14T23:51:00.005+08:00

Had cravings for salty cheese biscuits
I remember making them w mum when I was a kid
The cheddar cheese we used was the kraft kind
that came in a blue box, wrapped in foil
Asked mum if she could remember but she couldn’t

Anyhoos, with more spare time on my hands now
i decided to make instead of buy them
googled and found on allrecipes.com a recipe for them
the good thing about allrecipes.com is that it allows you to switch between imperial and metric units,
and also adjust the qty you wished to make
the recipe would adjust the amounts accordingly -
it's really a no-brainer

Ingredients
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (I used mainland vintage cheddar)
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I skipped this)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (skip this if the cheese u are using is already v salty!)
• 1/4 cup water (I didn’t use up all the water because the cheese I used was rather soft and was worried the dough might become too sticky)

Steps:
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, salt, grated cheese and butter or margarine in a bowl and mix until well combined. Add water a little bit at a time to make a very stiff dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll pieces of the dough into just slightly thicker than pencil shaped sticks. Cut sticks into 4 to 5 inch lengths. Arrange the pieces on the baking sheet.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 5 minutes or until browned.

And they taste really yummy!!!
shared them w my family and they said it was great too
Overall no fuss to make because you don’t need an electric beater
i didn't have a rolling pin, so improvised w a pringles bottle wrapped with foil
if you don't have a rolling pin, a wine bottle will do the job too

The only tough bit was grating this particular cheese because it was rather crumbly. Get a really hard cheese if you wanna have an easier time grating.
But I really love the taste of this vintage cheddar, so it was worth it! =)

bag i want this

2011-04-09T14:01:00.010+08:00

but it costs SGD 5125! *faints*
(only one piece left in sg at the taka branch)

and i really do want a green bag!
this one's another burner at £2,035.28 (from net-a-porter)

欣赏就好咯...
unless my income jumps another figure, i will get some for my sis too,
and when it jumps 2, i'll get one for my galfrens too yeeeeh!

memory loss

2011-04-08T00:58:00.006+08:00

had a scare today
e1 told me my blog's inaccessible and
probably hacked into!
darn it, i thought
just the other day i was just thinking to myself
i should pdf-print my blog, just in case
then murphy's law struck, & it really happened lor
thankfully after i posted my predicament on the blogspot forum
the administrator addressed my query almost within the hour
somehow, someone, had entered a post,
in the post there was this url (that my blog kept getting redirected to)
so all i had to do was to delete that post.
come to think of it, i'd better change my password now.

now that all my memories are intact, i did a pdf-print immediately
for those who keep a blog, do do it!
icky feeling to lose your entire blog
years of memory loss is quite painful

aside, the wednesday that just passed
marked the day i embarked on another phase in life and stage in work -
to try to reprioritise and take stock of my life
and not neglect my love ones, friends, and my Sweaty heart
before it's too late

being an Architect

2011-03-21T21:29:00.012+08:00

was this the elusive feeling i was searching for
when i penned my thoughts down 2 years ago?
or the numerous moments i had thought of letting go?

when it was at the crunch time nearing TOP
the immensity of stress within me was always so great
i often stood alone at the same corner of the site
looking at this building which has taken shape
and thought to myself -
that i love this building, even though it's not perfect
many a times i stood looking at the 4 columns
this feeling just overwhelmed me
finally, i'm beginning to feel that i'm an Architect.
and that kept me going for the day.

when it had finally obtained TOP
and we had to conduct a rather raw trial stay
i sat right on the bay window
and pressed my face onto the glass facade
to soak it all in
and it felt really amazing
to be sitting in this building
which i had started from the feasibility study of the land tender
to the schematic and then detailed development stages;
the drafting of tender drawings, reports, and tedious project adminstration,
the countless rejections and repeated back-to-the-drawing board schemes
being just a young architect running a 140mil job,
and yet by nature of how the company is run, had to face the client alone;
the mind boggling coordination with all the sub-contractors of all the various trades because of a less-than-competent main contractor;
the thousands of steps i had to take at every weekly 5-hour site walks;
to face front-on the lashings & shouting-at by project managers, kicking of walls, slamming of helmets, hurling of water bottles...

at this point in time when the closure seems reachable
i truly am in a fully battered state
was it worth it - a question i've been running in my mind
i really do not know yet.
but to take it on one more time,
will take a lot out of me to do it wholeheartedly.

unless you are really able to let go and let others run it,
there's really place for only one or two at one time.
it takes so much out of you, there is very little left for anything else.
how sustainable is this? will i make this my life?
in my naivety, i'ld like to dream this could be my calling.
and yet, i'm also much inclined to realise my thought of unclenching my fists,
and just letting go.
is there an in between in this?
perhaps to hold with one hand and keep the other free?

my thoughts on 19.3.2011 at 1:50ish am -
4 years of hard labour.
4 years of tears, sweat, lashings, pain and joy.
and here i am sitting by the bay window,
which has undergone the shop drawings i've checked,
in the building which i have drawn with my left,
and cadded with my right.
he is the labour of my love
and my love ones who have supported me these years.

cooking with mum

2011-02-19T15:43:00.006+08:00

I've loved plain tang yuan since I was a kid
we call them sorh yee - which is teochew for the action of rolling the dough into round balls
old fashioned, plain glutinous rice balls with no fillings, in a clear sweet soup base
and goes without saying mum's version is my favourite

so i decided to start a series of "cooking w mum" session every saturday to learn how to make these yummy sorh yee amongst mum's other delicacies

made these sorh yee two weeks ago
mum's (secret) recipe makes very Q balls

and i attempted to make my very first orange chiffon cake!

very hard to make ya know!
the technique of mixing the batter has to be very carefully controlled
so that the batter will not be lumpy, or trap too much air
otherwise the cake will have big gaping holes within
or not be soft and fluffy

happy to say that my first attempt was successful!
and passed mum's stringent standards
the colleagues whom i shared the cake w said it was yummy too!

much inspired :)

a sight for sore eyes

2011-01-11T23:12:00.006+08:00

lately the right eye has been throbbing incessantly
must be from too much frowning, the air/noise pollution on site
& the constant squinting at the computer screen

the husband said i should close my eyes and imagine:
birds flying freely, and into our balcony
(& not the shit they left all over the balcony =S)
superman(???), waterfall, flowers....

these are such a sight for sore eyes:

from small stump studio choo

beauty world ah ma

2011-01-10T23:31:00.013+08:00

no, the secondhand book stall has not set up stall for ages,
but there's this other shop at beauty world
which i must walk past and peep in even if i'm not buying anything

it's an old ah ma's shop at the basement
which sells dmc threads, vintagey buttons, belt buckles
and loads of other haberdashery
and the old ma has super wrinkly hands
i cannot bear not buying anything from her once i step in
she's really very old
and did i mention really wrinkly hands?
i like wrinkly hands and old leathered faces

so they were selling CNY decorations
and i saw on display these packets
containing paper filigree - so delicate and pretty right

so i asked the ah ma with my smattering teochew
how much they cost
she couldn't remember, so she went into her shop,
asked someone, and returned to tell me
that the entire packet costs 70cents
each packet containing about 3-4 pieces of cuttings
i wanted to pick only the black ones
but the ah ma asked me to take all
and since there were only 6 packets there
so i took all lah

wanted to pay her more cos my heart really goes out to old pp,
(and especially this sweet ah ma)
i passed her a $10 note and said never mind about the change
the ah ma said "buay sai! wa korh li bueh gak soin"
(translated: cannot! i give you your change of 80 cents first)
then she went into her shop to get the rest of the change
and so i followed her in

when she was in she spoke to this semi-bald man
he seemed to be clearing out some stuff
then he replied her in a really fierce manner
i couldn't really catch what they said exactly
but i kinda guessed he wanted to throw away some stuff
and she was asking him why throw? and he got frustrated
and told her not to ask so much

i felt really really sad...
aiyohs i could literally feel my heart physically ache
how i wished i could buy everything in her shop
so he won't throw her stuff away
really admirable spirit of her to still continue working
everyday even though she's so old
looking at the amount of stuff she displays outside her shop
i can only imagine much work it takes for her
to display & then keep them every single day...
her spirit and the pride she takes in her work is truly admirable

reminds me of mum...
fingers cramping all the time
but still insists on making all the kueh kuehs, tatting,
playing sudoku so as to keep her mind active...
and everything that she makes or cooks must be nicely done
otherwise it upsets her much...

*heart pain*

treasure trove

2011-01-08T14:12:00.011+08:00

today the husband and I got to tend the shop in the morning
as e in laws had a tea ceremony to attend
this was my chance to buy things I've been eyeing
I've lamented about my plight before
how I'm too paiseh to take the things I want
as I'm not allowed to pay for anything

the shop is such a treasure trove

my loot of the day - hand juicer for the occasional lemon juice
for my cocktails
and it is made in Turkey worh!
and and it costs an amazing $2.80!!!

in e end my mil thrusted e money back to me later
after e husband informed her we bought some things
*haizz*

housse

2011-01-05T23:19:00.005+08:00

chandelier + cement screed flooring + branchy arrangment
beautiful assortment of chairs + plenty of daylight spilling in

elements of a shoppe

2011-01-05T22:45:00.008+08:00

besides collecting inspiration for 'dream-home',
will start another for 'dream-shop'
discovered this beautiful shop located in san fran
seems like the owners enjoy all e elements that I do too
flowers, greens, branchy organically arranged displays
vintage, jewelry, artwork, concocting cocktails, fairy lights...

they say, if u can dream it u can achieve it :)
reach for the stars ***

what I would wear to a Christmas party

2010-12-08T21:35:00.008+08:00

technically though, I dun really have a Christmas party party to go to,
and it's still a looong way before my hair gets to this length
but this is both so casual and dressed-up
super like

next home

2010-11-24T18:30:00.015+08:00

when we did e reno for our apt almost three yrs back
we had a very tight budget
most of the moolah was spent on spatial reconfiguration
to maximize e potential of the huge floor area of our old walk up apartment
we hardly did any any built in furniture
mostly affordable ikea and a few key pieces from air or vintage shops
maybe because we felt this wouldn't be our "final" home,
so more economical to invest on loose furniture, rather than built-in,
which we could bring along if we moved

for our next home or if we were to rehaul the entire apt
i'm going to FILL IT UP with loads of huge paintings and artwork
hopefully can afford them in years to come

& gonna start collecting images in my blog as a library of inspiration as I dream about our next home...
these screen prints from anthology... super like

and so, it started with a book

2010-11-16T18:07:00.017+08:00

i've always liked this series of books
under the collective name of "editions de paris" (e.d.p)
which contains mainly pictures of parisians' everyday lives
& their homes.
chanced upon my first of this series in osaka
didn't understand a word of it because it's written in japanese
but the scores of images it contained
made those words meaningless to me
and these images are really insipring
flipping through them will magically stir up inspiring thots in my mind

i used to finger these books longingly at kino
but couldn't bear to buy them
(they cost $40 apiece for an A5 sized book, less than a cm thick)
i would check up their website and dream of owning every series of it...

one day shoutmate told me: "you should check out the chinese section of kino, a same book in chinese print will cost less than a jap edition"
& so i ventured and found - a copy of "e.d.p" printed in chinese
at less than half it would normally cost! ($15 only!)

and so, whilst holidaying in taipei recently
we had to venture into pageone of course
and *!!!* i spotted on the "recommended shelf" an "e.d.p"!!!
so i asked the hubby, to please check w the staff
where's the shelf that contained this book,
so i could check out if they had all the other series too,
so i could buy all of them! muahahaha

and the hubby found more than just e shelf...
these taiwanese, they are ever so helpful
when the hubby asked the pg1 lady where he could find more of such books in pg1
she brought him to the shelf (where i found and bought 4 more e.d.p)
she then passed him this brochure and told him we could go look for
THE PUBLISHER [田园城市] of these books, which is in taipei, and they would probably have more of such books.
omg i nearly fainted.

and guess what?
the publisher was just a few streets away from our hotel! hahaha...
ok, not exactly just next door, but abt 10min walk away,
within the precinct of zhongshan
and this precinct was such an oasis for us
there were the type of shops that we really love -
ppaper - sells the type of stuffl like the defunct asylum;
de stijl - sells vintage jewelry which i can ill afford but i soaked it all up in my head and heart, i'll be back one day to buy something from there;
le bouquet - a very pretty bakery & yummy macaroons;
dandy hotel - a really funky hotel w whimsical windows,
really wished we had stay there;
and loads of other cafes, quaint shops and eateries

somehow we are always drawn to such places
the romanticizing of coffee & cakes, books, alleys, sidewalks, cafes, bookstores, jewelry, & designer shops which are like the brains of creative individuals that one can walk into, explore, prod...
these are really the fodder for our minds, & e fuel for inspiration

need to stop cutting my hair

2010-11-06T12:35:00.006+08:00

i luff getting my hair cut
but i do also luff long messy hair like this
note to self: stop going to the salon!

& i really wanna get my hands those lucite cuffs

pendant lights

2010-10-18T23:53:00.007+08:00

chairs and pendant lights are 2 pieces of furniture
which i think are highly important to a space
i like a random assortment of chairs,
so guests can choose the seat they like
and i like pendant lights that hang off thin cables,
they remind me of mobiles that swing freely

grab this now - it's on more than 50% sale!
from pedlars

bridal getup

2010-10-18T23:40:00.006+08:00

i know i've had my wedding, but this getup is really pretty

i dig

2010-10-18T23:12:00.004+08:00

chanel . Inès de la Fressange

Haider Ackermann

i can see myself in

chanel chanel chanel

2010-09-02T21:41:00.005+08:00

the previous images were probably too small for anyone to really drool over, so i downloaded ones w better resolution (the previous were printscreen shots)...mmm doesn't seem much better... mmm still drooling over the green one

i kid not

2010-08-23T18:55:00.007+08:00

there are probably more reasons for not having kids than having
not for a fact that this is a fact
but rather, pp who do not wish to have kids
find themselves having to justify themselves more
than pp who wished to have kids.
afterall if one wishes to have kids,
would anyone question?
but if someone wishes not to have kids
it would raise a lot of eyebrows

my reasons for not having a kid now
1. it is painful and a hell of a heartache to see parents age and fall sick.
i don't wanna subject my kids to my old age.

yah. i only have this reason.
you may judge and say that my reason is selfish.
i've never declared myself a saint.

that being said,
i'm not denying that whether or not one can have kids,
is a decision entirely up to God.
you could be doing all things right
and yet can't have a kid
you could be told by docs
chances of having a kid are slim
and yet still have a kid

it sometimes irks me that kids become the easy excuse for parents
but i have to bite my tongue for saying this now because i have no kids

it sometimes bothers me if something will be missing from a marriage sans kids
after working together on "projects" like a wedding, a renovation, buying a car, working asses off for careers; what's next?
a bigger house, a better car, a higher pay?

i sometimes wonder could all these thoughts of mine
be a result of 读太多，想太多。
why do i have to analyse everything and have a reason for everything?
in the past pp just simply got married, have kids - just like that
work hard for a living, and not wonder if a job is satisfying

谁会那么无聊去想东想西？

Oh every time I close my eyes

2010-08-09T21:25:00.002+08:00

I wanna be a billionaire so frickin' bad
Buy all of the things I never had
Uh, I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen

Oh every time I close my eyes
I see my name in shinin' lights
A different city every night oh
I swear the world better prepare
For when I’m a billionaire

Back to life

2010-08-09T17:44:00.003+08:00

Imagine, something to tell you if it's reality
The mind of Christopher Nolan is really remarkable

I think, at the end, Cobb (Leonardo) is still in a dream
In his mentor - Miles' (michael caine) dream

finds

2010-08-08T18:19:00.007+08:00

how is it that in the magazines i read in salons

- just regular local mags, like female, bazaar etc,

there always seem to be much info that i can glean

but when i actually buy these mags,

i find them less than informative most of the time

& a total waste of money?

whilst having my hair coloured at

my old neighbourhood salon last week

i found these finds in the july copy of female

painted installation - elisse net trapezio,

by swiss artist felice varini

talented local illustrator, read her colourful blog

at prissydiary.blogspot.com

nice red sneakers from agnes b, $185

gucci mini bamboo bag

chester aged brass, gilded metal & khaki lacquer dior ring, $650

feeling crafty

2010-07-19T23:17:00.005+08:00

these sites are very inspiring
made me wanna try my hands at one or two of their projects

how to weave a ropey necklace
from p.s. i made this

how to make scarves from scraps
from grosgrain

tres chic siah!

and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

2010-07-11T18:41:00.003+08:00

why do i have so many dreams

Summer in Paris

2010-07-07T21:35:00.002+08:00

One day when I travel to paris
This is what I will be wearing

if i sell, will u buy?

2010-06-26T11:40:00.010+08:00

find it at uniek-ID

images of such are always swimming in my mind
and if I were to create a scrap book of the kind of shoppe
I would hope to own one day, this picture will be in it

over a night cap w e1 last night
we were commenting how photos make everything appear nicer
I can imagine even if I set up to replicate the setting in this photo
it might not be as nice as it appears to be fr the photo

wells, photos are memories that can be seen
so even if it wasn't as nice as how the photos turned out
as least u wil have a nice picture to frame up and display

husband talk

2010-06-25T21:41:00.006+08:00

me: k, when next month r your sis and mum travelling?

k: july

me: ?

me: when in july ??

k: can't remember leh... not sure if it's end July, or early July... or mid July

me: ???!!

My life, is not mine.

2010-06-21T23:43:00.001+08:00

me & u - just us two

2010-06-16T20:01:00.017+08:00

have u watched SATC2?
i like SATC1 a lot more than i like SATC2
the scene at the souks w the dodgy merchants made me a little nervous
it was a lot easier to watch the first movie

there are many things in SATC1 that i like -
the entire (almost) soundtrack, esp the song "auld lang syne" (watch the clip!) and the accompanying scenes

& what carrie wore when she visited miranda on new year's eve (yar i like the odd ensemble of the sequin thingy on her head, long strangly pearlies, the super furry coat, & pjs)

the book: love letters of great men,

the scenes of the library building when the idea of getting married there first struck her (i wished i had that idea of getting married in a library first! though other than our national library, which has been demolished, there aren't any nice libraries to get married in in sg =S),

the L-o-v-e- keyring (i've got one!),

carrie's blue apartment

...mmm that's about all i can recall for the moment
and the one thing that i like from SATC2?
that vintage rolex (wow, rolex AND vintage)
with the engravings "me & u, just us two"

struck a chord in me when watching the movie...

sometimes i wished pp will just leave me alone when it comes to the matter of having kids

on bags

2010-06-13T23:05:00.006+08:00

i like bags. =]

the red bag 2 posts down - is called a "bagchel"
you can personalise it with your initials!
get it here at cambridgesatchel.co.uk
costs 85 pounds + 20 pounds for shipping
that's about SGD$220!...mmm many second thoughts

very much tempted to get either of these 2 bags -
big & roomy totes that can hold a pashmina,
neck pillow (i have such a horrid perennial stiff neck these days)
etc when travelling

tempter #1

from bags avenue
originally priced at $4xxx, now $2650

tempter #2

also from bags avenue
originally priced at $1970, now $1750

between the 2, i would much prefer the chanel
not a big fan of lv but somehow rather drawn to stephen sprouse's graffiti

but sigh... these are wants not needs...

oh wells... but as my favourite song says...
i can dream abt them first bah... =)

posters source: music philosophy

A penny for a pensieve

2010-06-10T02:08:00.005+08:00

I wish I had a device like the pensieve dumbledore used to siphon the thoughts from one's mind.
So I can remove all thoughts from my mind now and get some sleep!

for my new laptop?

2010-05-27T20:09:00.011+08:00

maybe in black

what our beetle looks at everyday day

2010-05-22T10:56:00.008+08:00

I like

2010-05-22T01:04:00.003+08:00

"I would like to thank my enemies..."

2010-05-21T23:46:00.007+08:00

Tonight at the 49th singapore institute of architects annual dinner, the gold medallion recipient, Teh Kheng Soon said "I would like to thank my enemies too, it's because of them that I would not be who I don't want to be.

Said in good humour and without malice.

Very enlightening.
Never saw it from that perspective.

It's my birthday today =)

2010-04-20T23:59:00.023+08:00

in fact there's only less than a minute left for me to lock in this blog entry
otherwise my birthday will be over...
so actually, now as i'm typing this, the minute has just passed, and it is over.

anyways i decided to blog about my birthday this year
not because of the wonderful gifts i got
but because it has been such a unique birthday -
i'm spending it alone (!) and started my first oil painting lesson.
alone as in not with a party (that was last fri)
or w family (that was last Sat)
not even with the husband (he is in china now)

my birthday celebration with family was one we haven't had in ages
this year i made the request to have one -
just like how i used to celebrate my birthday every year when in primary school
and mum would cook her delish chicken wings, fishballs, bee hoon...
this time round erjie made me a jelly strawberry cheesecake
i still remember she bought me this HUGE strawberry cake when i was 8
and now 23 yrs later she personally made me one!
and dajie bought me - a strawberry shortcake watch!
seriously despite being 31 already, i'm still quite the baby at home =D
and then afterward we all went BOWLING! -
from the baby of barely 1 to the gong-gong of 72.
and the happy thing was, everyone enjoyed it!
and mummy was so good at it she beat almost everyone!

and the husband really surprised me this year man
he got the notice to leave for china on my birthday
which was really quite a downer as we both took half day leave already
(but anyways i had to cancel it because of work too...)
so he used the additional money meant for a good meal to get me a really handsome gift :)
but that's not the surprise (i mean a present is a must mah, so can't be considered a surprise)
the surprise was he ordered flowers to our office today for me leh!
wahs, i've always prided myself as a not very "girlie" kind of girl
and pooh-poohed at this kinda mushy stuff
but i must say, this time,
it was really a very very pleasant surprise, surprisingly
(cos i hate surprises, cos i can't disguise my reactions, and if it's a bad one, then it will hurt the person who planned the surprise)(sometimes, i think, i think to much)(but then again, that's why my blog is thus named)

and then i received the sweetest msg from an old old friend
who's birthday is 3 days away from mine and we used to celebrate our birthdays together in primary school
and when i thanked her for remembering, she said she remembers it every year...
i'm so touched cos even though we don't keep in constant contact, and only saw each other probably like twice in the last ten years, u know, some friends u just keep in your heart always, and when u meet again, it's like you can just pick up from where you left off from...

and then my dear shoutmate even though she's in china (why is everyone in china these days??) tasked her fiance to pass me my present today and it has to be today (so, sorry T, she must have terrorised u a plenty for my sake ;D)

and then and then, all the many many sms-wishes from all my dear friends, who have a place for me in their hearts, i feel like you know, sometimes life isn't that bad and i'm very much loved. =)

got milk?

2010-04-02T00:46:00.004+08:00

PURA milk - should it be poo-ra or pew-ra?
pu as in "pull"
or pu as in "puny"?

and when i asked the husband, he said,
"you see? you will never have this kinda problem with mandarin.
pu will just be pu, like pu3 tien1 tong2 qing4.
english is so complicated."

and he still hasn't answered my question.

that aside, if you make your own latte at home,
this is a really nice creamy smooth milk good for frothing

manic monday

2010-03-23T09:11:00.002+08:00

yesterday was a mad, MAD day
I'm so torn!!!, again. ='(

Happi Lunar New Year!

2010-02-15T12:16:00.007+08:00

promised ms 211 that i will upload this recipe

one of my favourite CNY snacks

i tried another recipe previously

but it involved many ingredients, beating & baking etc

and it wasn't really the type of cornflake cookies that i liked

this one is really simple and yummy

no baking nor beating involved

and only 3 ingredients required!

so very cheap to make

ma bought me a box of similar cookies

from Taka that was so overly priced!

$18 for 28 pieces!

ma said "never mind la, buy and let u try"

here's the recipe:

125g butter

120g marshmellows (plain ones)

170g cornflakes

- melt butter fully in a pot, smells heavenly...

- tumble in the marshmellows and keep stirring until u get a smooth creamy paste

- pour in the whole lot of cornflakes

- scoop the mixture with a teaspoon into the cupcakes paper

- let to cool and harden

done! :)

Wrinkly

2010-02-01T15:30:00.003+08:00

I often take cabs from TTShospital's taxi stand
as it is the nearest to my project site
and there are always old pp in the queue
sometimes on wheelchairs
sometimes w a protector over an eye
and most times frail, wrinkly and boney

pains my heart to see them hobble
and get into the cab with difficulty
and often needing assistance
and it's worse if they are alone

very sad ='(

christian, jude or hugh?

2010-01-02T12:03:00.009+08:00

recently HBO has been relentlessly screening
the dark knight day and night
it was screening when I was playing mj
it was screening when I was at my eye surgeon
& it was screening on new year's eve and day.
not that I minded it terribly
at least the lead actor was swoon-worthy

playing the "these are a few of my favourite things" game in my mind,
i was thinking to myself if i were asked
"who is your favourite actor, yh?"
I can't really decide who to name as my fav actor -
should it be the steely christian bale as the dark knight
the suave and sleek jude law as dr. watsons
or the slightly pudgy now, but terribly dry-humoured hugh grant as mr. morgan?

and i thought to myself,
i think my choice will be mr. morgan. =)
although not very suave nor cool
mr. morgan kept me laughing & laughing
next to him i think i wouldn't have to pretend to be cool,
look smart or think of before answering lest i sound stupid.
i could, just simply, be myself =)

so, who is your fav actor?

on new year's eve

2009-12-31T14:51:00.016+08:00

the office has very generously given a half-day off on new year's eve.
so here i am doing something i really enjoy
and used to do often when in melb -
spending me-time reading and sipping coffee in a nice cafe

read several good reviews of the coffee at Oriole
and decided to give it a try -

disappointingly, the coffee wasn't as good as i had expected

it arrived too hot, and there was a faint burnt smell

the one i had at publico . hk was way better

but well, it did look good

whilst sipping my flat white and munching on bruschetta

i came across this in the mag i was reading

and it made me laugh and concur

what a miserable time i had when i was doing my internship!

but as L said, it was that meanie that made me who i am today

and thank God that i have such a nice boss and mentor now

and then, very indulgent me, went for a facial and massage!

at the tamarind spa near my place

i have so many "knots" on my shoulders it hurts even if gently pressed

really need a good shoulder and back massage

bought some proscuitto ham and foie gras from huber's next door

(i know, sooo indulgenttt rite, but but it's not those super ex kind,

it's called foie gras d'oie, not that i know what it means,

but the brands' Feyel, and it cost $22.50 - affordable luxury laa)

and took a nice slow walk home...

then i received a very nice ny's eve sms from S

asking me to spend the remaining 5 hours of today nicely,

and i think i have done pretty well so far! =)

happi healthy new year to all my dearest family and frens!!

xxxoooo

always from her heart

2009-11-18T01:07:00.013+08:00

ma is 68 already!

this makes me sad sometimes...

she's really good with her hands - at sewing, cooking, crafting...

& used to be a seamstress - sewed all my new year clothes,

my barbie's clothes, my pillow and bolster cases

i remember her teaching me how to fold my first origami - the crane

when i was a tiny kid of 5

she kept emphasizing, "the corners must meet exactly"

by her standards, a well folded crane was one with a very sharp beak, and wing tips

if these points were blunt, or the whites of the origami paper showing,

it was a very poor crane, and she'ld make me unfold the piece of paper again, and re-fold it.

that's ma, always setting very high standards in whatever she makes.

and finally finally, i'm done with "re-folding" ma's blog,

redesigned a new logo, took better pictures,

and got it ready just in time for christmas

http://pietstatting.blogspot.com

do give it a visit!

might give u some ideas for christmas gifts this season!

what's important in life?

2009-11-10T12:27:00.005+08:00

seeing to the end a building u've designed, put in thousands of hours labouring over drawings, finally built?
taking the exam and getting the paper that allows you to legally call yourself an architect?
everytime i fall ill and get rest days off work
my mind starts wondering and questions like these always pop up
i so relish spending day time in our house
tending to my plants, cleaning the house, tidying the mess,
i even thought of baking! i used to bake ginger bread cookies, bread loaves, pizza bases...

life's like that isn't it...
if i do make it a full time job to be housewife
such domestic activities might soon bore me & evolve into chores...

but for now, i really feel so tempted to let go off everything
(imagining myself unclenching my tightly clenched fists,
and everything falling off one by one)
and just do the things that i enjoy
not checking shop drawings, worrying if things are built correctly,
not self-doubting if it will turn out good,
not having to argue with incompetent lazy contractors,
not having to manage everyone's expectations,
appease those lofty foreign consultants...

i really just want to sit and read inspiring books,
(just finished reading alligators, old mink, new money)
package, manage & perhaps making into business mum's tatting & baking,
giving new leases of life to old unwanted furniture,
open a cafe/florist/retail shop,
enjoying a cup of good coffee in the afternoon, in a nice cafe, & reading

i need some courage.

do u think it's a bit too much

2009-10-18T10:33:00.006+08:00

having had no shopping activity for the past 2 months
me went into a bout of shopping frenzy at JB yesterday
this is what me gathered:

a pair of shoes - grey patent w black ribbon trims
a bangle - made up of round grey timber pieces & a painted pic of a girl with a laissez faire slouch
a vintage bracelet - 5 round pieces w gold trimming, each w an ivory heart on dusty pink background
a pair of jeggings - new fashion term for leggings + jeans
a pair of leggings - black w leather embossing
a lantern skirt - black & white checkers
a dress - w fringes lining the skirt & matt gold studs around e collar, and shoulder pads! - very balmain-ish
a shirt dress - long behind, short front
a midnight blue blouse - collar details made w zippers
a tube top in jeans + floral fabric (can also be worn as a high-waisted skirt)
a white tee w black rose prints
a white tee w sky blue stripes, reminds me of "coco-coco-et-coco" by the sea
a shirt w victorian floral prints
a long sleeves grey top, comes with a skinny stripey (again) scarf
a brown vest
a deep purple crocheted scarf
a midnight blue scarf w the tiniest white checks

and the damage?? SGD$450 ! Yikes! =p
what a binge!
No more shopping for e next 3 months at the very least!

But can't deny it was a darn shioks retail therapy i've had in ages! :)
k commented that it was the first time ever
he saw me shopping in heels w/o a word of complaint!

pre-loved destash

2009-09-16T23:50:00.002+08:00

if u get bored over the coming long weekend (sun-mon)

drop by dempsey for a nice cuppa at jones

and come by this flea market for some gems :)

it's been almost a year

2009-09-03T23:14:00.005+08:00

since my first flower arrangement class

very settling to snip and trim and arrange

and so, it just continued week after week,

series after series...

and most happy that the teacher started a new series -

ikebana!

today's arrangement - very high feel-good-factor

cos it smells and looks nice =)

cooking for two

2009-08-16T18:24:00.013+08:00

seemed a lot easier and effortless in melbs -
pork chops & mushrooms,
or a pot of chicken curry and frozen pratas toasted,
and it was a most satisfying meal already
(perhaps being students back then, and it being so cold,
everything tasted better.
these days, the palate's too spoilt for choice)

and it's strange to find that we cooked better and faster then
back home in singa, we've tried cooking after work
and always having to only start eating at 10pm!

it's really quite an effort to cook with both working
and with such late hours...
but we've always enjoyed cooking together
so we're learning to be savvier cooks
think k is a better cook than me,
but 'cos i dread washing more than cooking
so he lets me have the hand at the stove =p

look at how dark the sky is, gonna rain anytime soon
just nice for a steamboat-dinner-for-two
we've learnt that since we cook so rarely,
and there's only just but the two of us
it's makes more sense to buy quality ingredients, which are pricier,
but the quantity smaller and quality better,
so there's less wastage & makes for a healthier meal

healthy and effortless steamboat-for-two menu includes:

red grouper fillet
tiger prawns
pork sirloin, thinly sliced
fish dumplings
salad cos - get organic ones, they really taste sweeter

soup base
ready-packed chinese herbs

staple
because we no longer keep any rice at home,
(major breeding ground for evil weevil, yucks)
we bought tang hoon as the staple
you can replace wtih udon or rice vermicelli

and all these for only $25! :)

UP, up and away!

2009-08-06T23:52:00.003+08:00

it was both a sweet and sad movie

darn hilarious too

always luffed chubby kids, and russell, chubby, cute, sincere & earnest

the love story between carl and ellie, endearing and beautiful

& to have your house travel with you,

and bring all your favourite things along,

such a wonderful adventure

"for every laugh there should be a tear" - walt disney

and this is such a movie - please don't miss it!

on a cool & balmy friday nite

2009-07-31T21:53:00.008+08:00

was supposed to be playing netball with ah kHai
but the sloth monster got the better of me
so here we are, enjoying an after-dinner-night-cap
at gastro bar (retrofitted fire station along upp bukit timah road)
on such a cool & balmy nite
enjoying my fav - creme brulee & mojito,
listenin' to live jazz music & singing,
under a starry night with half a moon-face hanging by,
feels somewhat like being back in melbs...

sometimes, singapore can be so-nice too =)

ooh she's singing bizarre love triangle now(!)

IT's...

2009-07-22T23:27:00.014+08:00

... my first IT bag!

one that 's not second-hand, worn or a flea-market find
(the mulberry's from tanglin flea market, so worn, the handle broke off when i was happily swinging it
the balenciaga's from a garage sale at hotel phoenix, in soft red leather, but it suffered a really bad stain from a Sharpie)

but this time, this one, is mint-fresh!
like the casual doodly colourful Fs
like that it's just right for a mobile, wallet and keys
like that it goes with jeans and tee, or dress and heels
like that i've found my perfect weekend bag! =)

i've had my filled of merriment

2009-05-22T23:26:00.009+08:00

29 feb 2009 . our 5th year anniversary

this special day comes every 4 years & there's actually no such date this year, but, who ever needed a reason for celebrations?

venue don quijote (spanish restaurant along the street of our place)

kk received book [rules of the red rubber ball] + braun shaver

me received nintendo ds!

17th april 2009 . my 30th birthday w old pals

it was just like old times enjoying great food & shouting at each other, only thing lacking was leaving toe-prints on tea's windscreen!

venue en bar@crown centre; Picotin@turf club rd

frens e1, tyre, tea, eva, kk

me received tres chic white leather passport holder from kate spade (fr e1)

19th April 2009 . my 30th birthday shindig

nothing beats spending a sunday afternoon with frens over beer and buffalo wings

venue brewerkz@bukit timah

frens jian+grace, wynne+tx, bozo+winnie, libin+kev, wilson, katty, eunice, mo+gf, wilson, dr.+mrs wong, kk

me received tons of gifts! thank ya all!

20th April 2009 . my 30th birthday, the actual day

scrumptious dim sum brunch, walking like "ya-ya papaya" around shenton way on a weekday afternoon, visting haji lane, bought a lottery ticket... one of the most shioks monday i've had this year

venue lei garden, shenton way, haji lane, sakuraya

me received tiffany's mesh ring! =) =) =) all smiles...

10th may 2009 . our 1st wedding anniversary

venue amara sanctuary resort. sentosa

kk received hugo boss leather belt

me received oh-my-gosh...georg jensen cave collection diamond earrings!!! super cannot believe it larh...

time to rest, recuperate... & gear up for the next cycle of merriment!

i seriously love a good celebration - with booze, frens and plenty of laughter to go round... =)

van haar hart aan haar handen

2009-04-11T22:45:00.006+08:00

which means "from her heart to her hands" in dutch

ma's homepage Piet is up at http://thepietnio.blogspot.com/
- delicate handmade lace

these make thoughtful easter/christmas gifts
more to come - lace bracelets, chokers, brooches...
customisable too, just let me know your ideas
& we can choose the colours and designs with Mdm The :)

i heart,

2009-02-22T22:18:00.005+08:00

fresh-water pearlies from k!

i feel like some merriment

2009-02-16T23:46:00.007+08:00

invite frens who will enjoy many rounds of beer with me

indulge in some good chips

sit at the balcony

& have really long chats about everything and nothing

- end of part 1

two things happened, this lunar new year

2009-02-08T22:31:00.012+08:00

1
woke up last sunday morning to hear noises coming from the living room
i scurried out from the bedroom to find toppled, my vase of dried branches
and then, something flew past me

it was a sparrow!

honestly it was trifle alarming to see a bird in the house
i scurried again towards the balcony to slide open the doors wider for the sparrow to fly out
but before i could do so,

"PIAK!"

the poor bird whacked itself into the sliding door and dropped to the floor!
aiyohs, it really scared the wits out of me
somehow it managed to pick itself up only to fly a short distance
before hitting against one of the dining chairs

this time it stopped moving

k and i peered over the poor creature
it was blinking and still breathing,
its chest heaving up and down
k gingerly picked it up with a towel and brought it to the balcony

then i heard it again

"piak! piak! piak!"

i approached towards the source of the sound
*SCREeeeECH*!!!! there was another sparrow in the guest room!

this one was a tad smarter, despite several futile attempts to fly out through the closed windows, it didn't knock itself out as it was hitting against the glass with its feet.
i hurried to open the windows to release it and it flew with all its might out to freedom :)

(thank God the other poor fella maanged to recover by itself, by the time we returned home in the evening, it was gone =). k almost wanted to bring it downstairs to leave it by the tree! what if the cats got to it!!! hmmph!)

(we forgot to take pictures of the knocked-out birdie on the balcony! because: #1 - i was so caught up by the event, and rushing off to church, totally forgot to do so. #2 - k deliberately not suggest taking any, as he was worried the bird would not survive)

2
books galore!

my favourite delicious second-hand bookstall at beauty world plaza!
this elusive bookstall sets up periodically and sporadically
so the only way to find it is to chance upon it
and its my favourite haunt because you can get really rare finds here
so i greedily gobbled all these treasures with some mahjong winnings

1. the ever quirky Dr. seuss Dictionary! how cool is that! this one is printed in 1964!
"this dictionary has a serious purpose.
there is nothing more serious than helping a child learn how to read.
but the editors... who put this dictionary together,
decided they could be serious...and still avoid being stuffy.
so they made this book of words just as funny as they could make it.

it's full of ridiculous alligators, foolish bears and giraffes' uncles,
all racing around and getting involved in nonsensical adventures. - Dr. Seuss"

2. The Pooh Story Book, with original pooh illustrations by e.h. shepard -
nice nice lovely sketchy illustrations, unlike the pristine and flat illustrations of the commercialised pooh we commonly see now

3. Giant Treasury of Peter Rabbit
with beatrix potter's orignal illustrations of course

4. love and be wise
it's a children's story book adapted from a french book "riquet a la houppe" by charles perrault.
haven't read it yet, but this is one of the 3 morals from the book -
"if your lover's handsome
only in your eyes
is he deluded
when he thinks you wise?"

imagine, this in a childern's story book!

5. water voices
a book on water in different forms - rain, ocean, morning mist...

6. trashy novels! to unwind whilst chugging beer and chips :)

*

all in all it was quite a bountiful new year!

if u stir the pot anti-clockwise,

2009-01-02T23:17:00.004+08:00

u might have been a witch,
or simply that u are left-handed.

k took this snapshot, with his new mobile phone (finally),
of me stirring a pot of creamy pumpkin soup - my first attempt!
made several improvisions to an online recipe to make it easier to make with my limited kitchen equipment

ingredients -
1 pumpkin
small tub of heavy cream
chicken stock - just dissolve a chicken stock cube in water for instant chicken stock

steps -
remove skin of pumpkin, cut into small cubes
pour chicken stock & pumpkin into rice cooker
use the slow-cook function to cook for 3-4 hours (i went to bed after that)
use a potato masher (i bought one from cold storage for $4) to mash the softened pumpkin
(the original recipe called for a food processor to process this - pretty sure not many amongst us own a food processor, a simple masher will do enough good, it gives the soup more texture anyways)
transfer the soup into a pot and simmer over small fire, stirring constantly.
add heavy cream.
pinch of salt (or if u are me, many pinches! =P)

and you'll have an entire pot of yummy creamy pumpkin soup all for less than $8 to enjoy this rainy season!

my new -year's-eve wages

2009-01-01T12:54:00.009+08:00

before the start of each school term

we will help out at my in-laws' shop

selling school uniforms, shoes, socks and stationery

after spotting serveral primary school kids

trying out those white canvas mary-janes

i really wanted a pair for myself

and they cost only $5.50!

but here's the snag - i not allowed to pay for anything from the shop

which means everything's free for my taking

i always feel extremely pai-seh to take stuff from the shop

in the past i've seen puffy stickers that were only 20 cents a piece

which i could and would have bought 20 of them!

& in the end i had in possession only 1 piece!
although it was free for my taking, i couldn't take all 20 pieces could i?

& neither could i buy them all, 'cos remember?

i'm not allowed to pay for anything.

i really couldn't take my eyes off those shoes

so i told k,

i'm going to buy them from another shop!

he exclaimed i was mad, and took a pair for me.

i was highly embarrassed.

dad-in-law said, "oh, u going to draw on them is it?"

i managed a sheepish smile.

i gleefully tried them on - oh they look so preppy!

and i'm really happi! haha

new year's eve at the shop -

"silent night, holy night...

2008-12-26T00:44:00.009+08:00

didn't deliberately plan anything on christmas day itself
but we decided to give ourselves a treat and bought some foie gras
& made a baby spinach salad with an asian-style salad sauce aunty grace taught us when were were in melbs

asian salad sauce ingredients:
- thai sweet chilli sauce
- juice from a lemon,
i substituted with lime cos dad & mum bought me a lime plant!
so i had the thrill of plucking fresh limes from my balcony
- coriander,
which i substituted with lemon thyme leaves from my new herb garden!
it felt altogether very jamie-oliverish

christmas supper!

in the background is a minty green cup covered with hearts
which was k's early christmas pressie to me
& SATC dvd! cos k didn't catch the movie with me
and i so wanted him to watch it , so he got it for me as a gift
it's the second time i'm watching it
and it still made me cry

this was a gift i 'fought' valiantly for and fobbed off several attempts
to challenge it from me at Tea's christmas party -

& it's exactly what i wanted to get myself for christmas this year!
a radio for my bathroom.
so pleased with this one cos it's really unique and the sound that comes out from it is a little squeaky and rattly, like those old records
which i really dig

wend! always gets me such quirky gifts -

and i couldn't resist piecing this together the moment i got home
it's those primitive model planes that you have to piece together
and this one is really handsome
it's now swaying in my balcony overlooking my patch of green!

...all is calm & all is bright."

my little patch of green

2008-12-21T20:21:00.006+08:00

for a while now k has been treating the 2 tiny pots of plants

i bought at a carnival with much disdain.

"oh no! the leaves are drooping again! i just watered them 2 days ago!"

"hurh. they don't really do much."

"they are PLANTS, they don't need to do anything."

i know he's harbouring thoughts of hoping they die a natural death or be accidentally blown away by the wind.

so i made us a trip to the nursery today and told k we will find plants that can do something.

i chose a pot each of sweet basil, mint & lemon thyme

got a long planter box and the nursery guy transplanted them all in one box

and now i have a miniature herb garden!

"i'll look for recipes that make use of these herbs!

and and i can make you that vietnamese drink you like with the sweet basil!"

i got another planter box and filled it with gardenias and citronella,

"ya know, i keep getting mosquito bits leh...

and this mosquito plant, it repels mosquito!

& this gardenia, when it flowers, will give off a very very nice fragrance

that... that... really makes me happy!"

i was beaming all the way home.

"oh no! k! how about the 2 pots of plants at home now? should i transplant them too?"

"orh, if want to, transplant lor, if not, just THROW away lor."

i knew he hated them.

rabbit without ears

2008-12-09T23:29:00.003+08:00

was a joy to watch

not to mention the darn good looking lead actor

k kept saying the character of the lead gal was like me

i think the similarity stopped at the glasses =p

i want that rabbit without ears!!

christmas is coming

2008-12-01T22:20:00.006+08:00

& if you are fretting over christmas gifts
amidst the gloom and doom of the economic crisis
perhaps you can find the right gift at the right price from these frens
who make and scour -

onebowl

the buyer

somewhere over the rainbow,

2008-11-26T23:48:00.008+08:00

way up high
there's a land that i heard of
once in a lullaby

caught a rare sight of an almost full, double bow
whilst enjoying a steamboat dinner with dad, mum & k
really made my day

once on a road trip in melbourne
i saw at least SEVEN rainbows along the way
that really really made my day

have always had an affinity for rainbows, the rain, and sky
raindrops and colour of the sky were inspirations for the facade of the building i am designing

but sadly, although the client accepted my concept
he didn't embrace the manifestation to my greatest disappointment
i'm thoroughly drained
wonder how i am to cough up another design
and how many more rejections i have to be subjected to...

anyways
a rainbow is a symbol of God's promise
guess i'll just have to keep faith that He will provide

it's getting christmassy

2008-11-22T22:21:00.004+08:00

a l'il bit of christmas for the door

a l'il bit of christmas for the lamps

and our first l'il christmas tree for the house

i simply can't get enough of these tiny metal christmas decorations from daiso

feel like buying a hundred of those tiny tin soldiers & lining them along my whole balcony

this little robin-egg blue

2008-11-22T21:56:00.004+08:00

has been one of my favourite colour for a while now

and this is my third purchase from tiffany's this year

the first 2 for two old frens

and this one we bought for k's sis who got ROM-ed on thursday

i couldn't stop smiling when i walked out of the store

swinging this little blue bag in my hand

even though it wasn't for me

it's a lovely lovely green quartz pendant

& k's sis wore actually wore it that day even though we didn't ask her to

glad she liked it =)

ps i love u

2008-11-12T00:08:00.004+08:00

my favourite programme (excel comes a very close second)
such a quaint self portrait

i like the l'il pots of colour swatches

why do i love thee so

2008-11-10T18:12:00.007+08:00

i truly am profusely immensely & utterly attracted to old stuff like these
just can't get enough of them
already i have 2 original Thermos thermos-flasks aged beyond any good use sitting inside my vintage cupboard (which in itself is a salvage from salvation army)

one tattered old leather luggage with a loose handle,

another gem of a doctor's handcarry in tan leather with a broken handle (by k's friend who happens to be a doc too (sob-sob))
an old red made-in-japan typewriter bought from the theives' market at sungei road,
and loads of other useless old old stuff...
that i can't bear to throw out nor bear not buying more of...

Christmas, is jus 'round the corR-ner

2008-11-10T17:43:00.003+08:00

so excited !

4 doctors and 2 jabs later

2008-11-10T15:05:00.005+08:00

i'm still not sure if i have the dengue
as the blood test results will be out later today

sounds really serious huh
but the 4 doctors didn't all attend to me at one go
nor did i have to consult 4 different doctors for a clearer diagnosis

it all started with an innocent dry cough
which led to a full fledge freaking high fever that wouldn't subside
that i have had to visit the doc 4 times in the span of 5 days

& this funny little clinic that i visited for the first time in my life
had a different doctor each time i visited it

results should be negative for dengue as the fever has subsided
and i can type this blog entry! :)

beginner class

2008-11-01T01:14:00.004+08:00

found out 3 weeks ago the class i have been attending

was actually meant for advance flower arrang-ers

good thing the instructor offered to teach the few of us

a beginner's course

the extra fun bit was having LB & B joining HY & i

really liked this week's arrangement,

a long and horizontal piece

sits very nicely on our 2m long dining table

arrragements 3,4,5

2008-09-27T00:30:00.006+08:00

#3 - for mid-autumn festival (the fan is supposed to represent the full moon)

#4

#5

the next lesson will be the last of the series...

think i'll continue with another series! =)

it's on its way

2008-09-11T00:16:00.004+08:00

sold...

sold...!

sold...!!!

to me! =)

the beautiful things in life

2008-09-09T23:45:00.006+08:00

blooming flower

this pot of plant was a gift from k

when i first started work 3.5yrs ago

it was flowering when he gave it to me

after that it never got to flower

the buds would always die before getting a chance to bloom

and 3.5 yrs later it finally bloomed!

only one precious stalk though

the other buds didn't survive

furry butt-looking peaches

pretty peaches! $7.30 from cold storage

absolutely juicy and pure sweetness

the instructor is a psychologist

2008-09-04T08:43:00.003+08:00

this was yesterday's arrangement

it was largely rearranged by the instructor

after my first attempt

he came over and said

"your flowers look stressed,

you have to let them breathe

give them space

don't force them to go a certain way

are you feeling this way?"

oh...

2008-08-28T08:46:00.010+08:00

"this is what you will be doing today"

my slightly effeminate sounding instructor over the phone

is a burly, rather beefy man in real life

i looked at the arrangement, and thought to myself

"oh... pink roses and heart shaped card..."

not allowing myself to be crestfallen i stayed positive

at least the room smelled nice with the fresh flowers

the results of my first arrangement

couldn't really bear to bring myself to stick the red heart-shaped card in it

learnt the proper names of some flowers

wax flowers - pale pink and whitish flowers with a waxy appearance, releases a nice fragrant when u cut flowers - (i really like these, they remind me of Christmas)

bear grass - the long willowy green blade of leaf

statice - purple papery flowers (which i didn't use, purple and pink really shouldn't be together)

and i had quite a bit of leftover flowers

which i had fun planting at the few nooks in my home

one for k's bathroom

one for mine

and one for the washroom

pink roses and heart-shaped cards weren't ideal but it was fun and relaxing,

snipping away at the flowers is indeed "a kind of soothing monotony" =)

how timely

2008-08-24T21:19:00.006+08:00

on the day of my great escapade some ten days ago,
i met up with the gals for drinks at emerald hill
(how timely that when i sms-ed them,
all 3 were free to meet up for drinks that night)
k said i was darn lucky, i thought otherwise,
most times and most things are always about timing

& over drinks and wings

mrs L mentioned that she was going to take up - floral arrangement classes,
asked if i were interested
how timely, thought i again
that i had just today,

bought 2 books on floral arrangement (michael george's)

and so i made the call to sign up for the class
and the instructor informed that all that was required

was a pair of scissors that could cut stems

so i made my selection very carefully and made k "present-me" this:

and if time becomes timely again,

this tool might perhaps one day become my means of business ;)

ten green bottles standing on the wall...

2008-08-20T23:11:00.005+08:00

did this invite for a colleague's house warming party

have had a craving for all things green for a while now

Many gardeners will agree that hand-weeding is not

the terrible drudgery that it is often made out to be.
Some people find in it a kind of soothing monotony.
It leaves their minds free to develop the plot for their next novel
or to perfect the brilliant repartee with which they should have

encountered a relative's latest example of unreasonableness.
~Christopher Lloyd
The Well-Tempered Garden, 1973

time to get some green for the house!

these are a few of my favourite things

2008-08-19T00:18:00.002+08:00

"raindrops on roses and...
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,
door bells and sleigh bells and...
wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings...
snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
silver white winters that melt into springs,

when the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don't feel so bad..."

picked the lines which described things that i liked
and this is one of my favourite corner in my apartment
which houses a few of my favourite things

the walls are caving in...

2008-08-14T18:17:00.006+08:00

i felt like christopher in the curious incident of the dog in the night-time
on his journey alone via the train to his mum's place
like there was a balloon inside my chest
except that i couldn't do mental math formulas to placate myself
and something was really going to burst within me if i didn't get myself out of the room

so i took the other half of the day off
took a bus that brought me to town
hoping that perhaps i might find solace at the malls

when retail therapy didn't work for me i wondered aimlessly
and found myself in the comfort of the kino bookstore at taka
i embarked on my journey within the store starting at the magazine section
there was nothing there for me today
but this was my oasis, and i had faith
there were still shelves and shelves of other offerings to satiate me
was most satisfied to have found a japanese book on tatting for ma
this is quite a remote form of craft so it was really quite a joy to find a book on it

and i got myself these 3 other books to add to the shelf kk made
where i dedicated one corner for all my-favourite-books

it was still sunny and warm on the bus ride home
as i lugged my bag of loot home
it felt really good to be away from that cold intense room

i should seriously reconsider my options...

i could get used to this

2008-05-16T11:58:00.011+08:00

not working that is.
woken up every morning, not by the alarm ringing,
but oh-so-naturally, by my own body clock,
gently nudging me to open my eyes slowly...
wah. shioks siah.
this would be one of my perfect daydreams.

happy to say i've actually lived like how i had imagined my daydream to be for 38 days now
except for moments where my heart would drop when ma's health paled,
it was all together oh-so-very indulgent.

moments of indulgence
in melbourne

in huahin

in kilat
my new home.
haven't taken any pictures of it yet
but i can tell you there's plenty of beer in the fridge.
and i have a bath tub - all to myself.

in another 11 days this daydream will vaporise and
it will be back to my reality of a cold hard concrete world, literally.

he makes me smile

2008-03-29T00:56:00.011+08:00

i used to be terrified of anything that moved on its own,
(worse if it was furry)
that probably covers every living creature on earth except for humans
dunno what i was thinking when i encouraged k to get that brown ball of fluff
from vic mart nearly 4 years ago
perhaps it was the attitude - it had a "i can't be bothered with you" look
stuck on his face, sat in one corner of the pen minding his i-dunno-what business despite his other siblings scampering wildly over each other
to our tapping at the glass pane
when he first came i didn't even dare touch him,
squrimed when he tried to lick my toes
and kept having to go round in circles to avoid him,
which only made him want to come nearer
thinking it was a game i was playing with him

without him, i probably would never have overcome my fear of animals
(but i'm still very terrified of cats)
he's such a joy to our lives
no one else greets me with as much enthusiasm and elation as him
so earnest in wagging his tail when he sees us
that his entire butt gyrates as fast as his wagging

not your typical dog who turns himself over for you to tickle his tummy,
with his big attitude, he would not be able to share our special day with so many people around

so it really warms my heart for us to have shared a sunday afternoon
with him walking in the rain
and having it all captured on film for keepsakes
(many thanks to the very talented brian)

& he really loved the rain that day

"little fishes swimmin' in the deep blue sea...

2008-03-13T21:37:00.011+08:00

...on a country road or a city street
waves slappin' time out on the ocean
listen to the rhythm, put your hands in motion!..."

this is a song from a cassette tape ah kHai got me years back
i lost it many years ago (i keep losing things... very scatterbrain)
but even till now i can still remember many of the lyrics
'cos i listened to it over and over so many times

... & this little whale which reminded me of this song,
is handmade by the very talented Ms crocheThea
(you can see her many wonderful creations here)
who made this upon my special request as a kind of award
for the cutest baby of the year (declared my me)
who's name has a special association with whales

... & this made me realise i'm surrounded by many people
who are all very good with their hands
ma, with her hands at making the most delicate lace tatting, dainty leaf-shaped pineapple tarts, all my pretty dresses when i was a kid;
onebowl, with her hands at stitching together tiny pieces of fabrics to make pretty happy things; limegreenspyda, with her hands at playing the piano and cello

... & thought to myself, how nice it would be
if i can bring all these hand-y people together.
in a large and airy workshop;
with a sky light and garden of greens,
with vases and vases of fresh cut flowers,
rows and rows of yarns, fabrics, spices, ingredients,
with an old wooden piano and a lazy dog,
stitching, baking, sewing, crocheting, tinkling...

.... how nice...

the importance of being right

2008-03-05T23:51:00.011+08:00

struck by a moment of epiphany, i asked k in the car on the journey home,
"what's the difference between wrong and incorrect?"

"orh", he went without a moment of hesistation
i wasn't expecting him to be so ready with an answer.
so i was all ears.
"wrong, is, when u get all the answers wrong in mastermind -
that is, both colour AND position wrong;
and incorrect is when you get the colour right but the position wrong!"

the look on my face was in all bewilderment.

he even tried to help.
"mastermind, you know, the game - mastermind??"

we definitely definitely hail from different planets

"i think," as i tried to explain,
"wrong, and right, are less absolute than incorrect and correct;
wrong is subjective, incorrect is definite and objective - within set parameters.
for example, an answer is incorrect and an opinion wrong"

"orrh," he went again.
"like when you ask someone, blah blah blah... right?,
the right is in a questioning manner?"

i blinked twice.

i think he's right!

next stop, riverside point

2008-03-02T00:34:00.006+08:00

a shot from my to-be wedding photographer's recent portfolio caught my eye
and it lead to k squinting his eyes very hard to see the words on the label
he was quite good this time, given his poor myopic vision
it read: michal negrin

it was most gratifying to find that they have a branch locally
at a shopping mall by the river side
sounds really picturesque
but this again is one of those neglected shopping malls
that seems to be on the brink of closure any moment

will make that my next stop on a less hectic weekend

my life is erratic like weather melbourne

2008-02-14T23:09:00.003+08:00

we used to say this a lot in melbourne
that the temperament of a woman is like the melbourne weather
erratic, unpredictable, swinging from one spectrum of mood to the other
ie hail in the morning, bright sunny day in the afternoon, and rain in the evening
all in the effort of a day
and this is how i feel about my life now!
so intense!
like the span of 10 years squashed, squealed, stamped on hard and condensed in such short spurts and it's barely 2 months into the new year
attended another funeral today
was shocked when i entered the room which held the coffin
never knew the endearing old man with thick black framed glasses
was the father of a dear sunday school teacher
almost fainted on the spot when i saw the black and white pictorial
walked for very long the area of katong for the third time in my life today
to bring architects from amsterdam for site studies
climbed 100 steps today from the last floor the lift would go to reach the highest floor of a uncompleted construction site
for views good enough to capture some precious view angles for presentation

i smiled, was saddend, entertained socially, got shocked, felt grateful, was hypocritical, frowned, perspired, felt pensive -
all these hosted in the length of one single day

i really should spend a moment to pray for a cloudless, windless, calm and quiet day

i wanna believe in fairy tales

2008-02-13T22:18:00.018+08:00

i grew up on a diet of fairy tales and fables
not just disney ones and lasses with golden locks
but chinese folklores and phoenixes and dragons too (way before harry potter)
i used to have stacks and stacks of story books
and there's nothing i loved more than to come home from school,
have my lunch, then climb onto the upper deck of my bunk bed,
book in one hand and strawberry-flavoured yan-yan on the other,
devour both at the same go, and then, fall asleep...
(that probably explains how i developed the bad habit of having to read a book, even it it's just one sentence, in order to fall asleep)
aesop's fables, 365-poems-&-stories-for-everyday,
strange series of thin old books with unattractive swirls of patterns on the cover - their contents written in both english and chinese
most of these books were pass-me-downs from ma's friend's daughters who've outgrown them
i no longer have any of these books with me, i really don't know what happened to them
been trying to rebuild this collection rummaging through second-hand bookstores (very difficult i tell you)
on one occasion was also most elated to discover in the neglected shopping mall (this i'll write about in another blog entry) near my new house, a vendor from somewhere (i've checked and they don't have a shop in the mall), sporadically sets up stands in the atrium displaying rows and rows of second-hand books
till now i've yet to find any of the books i used to have
i'll keep looking, and i'll find them.

that's what happens in fairy tales

one of the items on my wishlist: i call this "fairy-tale-gone-wrong trapped in snow globe", designed by martin & munoz .

he was a good man

2008-02-10T11:27:00.000+08:00

attended the funeral of a good man yesterday
quiet and genteel elder heng was a kind and unassumig elder
the gentlest person i've come across
although i've not had direct contact w him,
only w his granddaughter who's a dear friend,
he was always there to shake our hands at the end of service
i would always choose the queue to shake his hands instead of the pastors
(not that the pastors were mean, they just made me feel guilty =p)
& elder heng would always shake your hands gently with a slight and sincere smile
it always felt nice and comforting
today's sermon "count your blessings" was a tribute to him
closing song was a song i loved "make me a blessing"
(out in the highways and byways of life
many are weary and sad
carry the sunshine where darkness if rife
making the sorrowing glad..."

somehow his presence hung in the air throughout the entire service
and i feel priviledged to have met such an exemplary man in my life

count your many blessings

would i get a tattoo?

2008-02-10T00:05:00.000+08:00

late working hours narrowed tv watching to a sliver of an hour in order to get decent amount of sleep
and my to-catch bedtime programme would be miami ink (travel&living.ch16.11pm)
it's addictive watching the tattoo artists transfer images from paper to skin
favourite aritst of the four is chris garver, next favourite would be kat von d (who has left the group & started LA ink)
ma is disgruntled about the addiction to this programme (she watches the programme with me as this is the only time she gets to see me everyday)
as i would always go,
" nice tattoo huh?"
she would nod, and i would go
"i wouldn't mind getting one"
every time i try this, every time she would say i'm crazy.

nevertheless, it doesn't stop me from trying, even though i know the answer.
because if i do get a tattoo, it's going to be of my ma's name.
she has the coolest name i've ever known.
being an indonesian-chinese, she has a chinese name translated from her indonesian name
and the dialect version of her chinese name was made up with enunciations of the dutch langauge (indonesia was a dutch colony)
i've even decided where it's gonna be: on my right hand, the portion between the thumb and wrist
this patch of skin is also where i've always scribbled important reminders
and it'll serve as a reminder of how great at her hands my ma is

'cos if i should a tattoo, it'ld be when my mum can't say i'm crazy anymore

labour and wait

2008-02-03T17:20:00.001+08:00

finally caught an episode of Livingetc. on travel&living channel by chance (channel 16, saturday 2:00pm)
been waiting in anticipation when they advertised at the beginning of the year the telecast of this new series based on the UK design magazine - Livingetc., but never caught any announcement of the screening time
Livingetc is refreshingly informative compared to pretentious local mags

http://www.labourandwait.co.uk/

"Labour and Wait" was a store featured in that episode.
love the name
and love even more what was in store
the store stocked only items that had a function and nothing ornamental

content with online shopping for now, i picked something i'ld love to work my hands on

it's the kind of store i love and would love to own

i can get in touch with virtual world again

2008-02-02T14:49:00.001+08:00

he was all excited when there was a 50% discount off the monthly subscription
my initial reaction was rather lukewarm "huh? hua wei? what's that?"
little did i realise this little contraception would be the portal that brought me back to the virtual world

i remember my "days in melbourne" (i love to reminisce this way) where there was the luxury of a broadband connection
icq-ing, blogging, friendster-ing - the virtual world would exist in parallel to the real
then i was flung back to reality about the same time i was brought back to singa by the boeing
relying on my dial-up connection was a chore, too many firewalls in the office evenutally forced me to give up trying any other websites besides .gov.sg

then along came this fella with a spot of blue glow. now i can even surf on the road.

i'm back!