"She did not need much. Wanted very little. A kind word, sincerity, fresh air, clean water, a garden, kisses, books to read, sheltering arms, a cosy bed and to love and be loved in return." //Starra Neely Blade And when I'm with you, you open up my eyes to show me that love and contentment can actually be very simple. That joy can be found in a cosy, lazy cafe on a Saturday evening sharing life over coffee, fries and pasta. That unadulterated excitement can exist in dodging shoppers along the noisy, bustling alleys of Little India and Mustafa Centre. That love can steep and stew over an accidental ninety-minute bus journey of epic proportions, starting from a lonely bus terminal at st michael's and ending up right back where we started. Maybe it's been unknowingly inculcated in us to expect the grandiose, the glittering and the glamorous from our relationships. Maybe it's in every k-drama, every love song, every movie that we've watched and unknowingly grown to expect in our own lives. But again and again, you show me that love is both simpler and deeper than that. That it's in your willingness to spend dinnertime explaining the finer aspects of audit work to a completely confused amateur, in your protective shadow hovering right behind me as we navigate the swarming side-alleys of Little India, in your unwavering resolute to stay awake and entertain me on the extremely long bus journey home. And in all these little things, time and time again, I come back to the same conclusion. That God's choice for me is always incomparably good and he will never allow me to doubt Him or you.
Happy happy 2014 you all! There's always time to update about the new year even though we're a good two weeks into 2014 already :)
Met up with the Vis East girls over lovely pies and coffee at this quaint little cafe called Windowsill in the Woods, which is tucked away in a quiet corner just along the Jalan Basah Stadium at Lavender. It was really really crowded when we arrived and sadly, there were only 2 flavours of pies left! But I have to say that I'm really pleased with the pies we tried, it was soooo good! Not to mention that the service staff were really friendly and helpful even though it was super crowded. Miss these good times with people from law school, and feels like it's been a lifetime since we were studying and doing moots together :(
After the meetup with the Vis East girls, headed off to meet UU to celebrate the New Year together! UU had this brilliant idea to go prawning on New Year's Eve and we finally carried out the plan after procrastinating for such a long time. When we reached Punggol End though, it was packed to the brim with people. Gosh, I didn't know people really enjoyed prawning and fishing thatttt much.
When we settled into our spot, there was an uncle who commented "Aiya, no prawns tonight. Maybe the water here is too cold. You should try going to the other side." Immediately I sensed something fish and was like, "Err nope, we're gonna stay here. Maybe you should try going over there." And good thing we didn't move! UU started catching prawns almost immediately and we caught around 6-7 prawns in an hour! Apparently the trick is to keep your eyes on the bait to observe if the bait is being pulled under water. Once the bait disappears under water, that is the sign that the prawns are hooked and you should immediately reel the rod in or risk losing the prawns! At the end of it, the people next to us also gave us their prawns cos they didn't want to eat them so we went back with a full bag of huge prawns!
We brought our prawns home and UU's mom cooked it for us with some garlic, shaoxing wine and salt! It was mega yums! What a way to usher in 2014 :)
22 July 2009
;21:05 “When was the last time you wanted to say it all to the right person? To have it all come out right, to surprise yourself at how together you could be. When was the last time you ever met someone who made you want to give it all to them? I mean give yourself to them. Where you couldn't express yourself enough - like you wanted to cut off one of your arms to be understood. That's it - you would cut your head off to have someone understand you. You know how pointless that one is. You know how many times you've smashed yourself to bits on the rocks.”
//Henry Rollins
today, most definitely, wasn't the greatest. the sky was awfully grey and it was whipping cold wind and rain from the moment I woke up. luckily for lunch, we had an enormous bratwurst pizza and awesome chocolate cake at nydc. I checked and realised that we had this about a month ago also haha! no wonder vicks keeps insisting that my arms are fatter ugh. the consolation is that when the new school terms starts (in less than 3 scary weeks) can lose weight damn quickly also. pft, kind of pissed but don't know who to vent it all on. also super tired from lugging all that stuff around which I didn't get to use. happily though, we managed to get a pair of shoes each! yeah I know retail therapy is a cheap thrill, but it's better than nothing huh.
4 July 2009
;18:51"Love blurs your vision; but after it recedes, you can see more clearly than ever. It's like the tide going out, revealing whatever's been thrown away and sunk: broken bottles, old gloves, rusting pop cans, nibbled fishbodies, bones. This is the kind of thing you see if you sit in the darkness with open eyes, not knowing the future. The ruin you've made." //Magaret Atwood; Cat's Eye
my mogu and I went baking last friday! us before the baking started! surprisingly, there were quite a few people our age haha. got a group of well-dressed girls and a small boy with his sister. but I think the teacher was the funniest la, he looks super pro and he even got time to bake a pizza for us to try after the whole lesson.
this is cream with chocolate emulsion, you stir it for a while and it becomes good, creamy chocolate haha.
and my mogu stirring the cream! what I learnt is that baking requires copious amounts of arm power. even while we were not using the industrial mixer, the teacher made us stir bowls and bowls of stuff. we had to whisk the eggs into a froth then we had to stir the macademias into the cream and after it all, we have to add all the stuff together and mix it well. haha, if you don't have time to work out, go for a baking class la, guaranteed toned biceps after all that stirring and whisking!
and these were our cakes before they went into the oven!
haha, the finished product! we made a walnut pound cake also but that one not as sexy as this awesome chocolate macademia cake! all in all, baking is super good fun especially when you don't have much to do. but if you really want to take up baking, it's super expensive cos I was checking out the prices of the baking equipment and I think you'll have to spend at least a hundred plus to get all the basic stuff haha. maybe should just stick to making cookies first la huh.
I just wish the cakes would last long enough so I could give them out to all the people I love.
"Love will be an impulse which can inspire and ruin in equal measure." //Neil Gaiman
this has still been a crazy week but managed to spend some time at ikea on wednesday. had the always awesome poached salmon and soft ice-cream! and there was this very cute toy rat with a very realistic tail which I put in a display bathroom sink to see if people will get scared. wished we'd stay around to see if anyone screams hoho. in a week that has not been easy, I really appreciate the little time we have haha even though we spend it on arcade basketball, shooting games and roaming in furniture stores.
and everytime I go shopping with my mogu, I see something I absolutely adore. and she's very crafty one lor, she only encourage people to buy, she never ever buys stuff haha. then everytime I complain, she will say, where got lor, it's always you zhi gao fen yong say wah so nice so nice then zooom you go inside and try already cannn. haha, but we had a great time on thursday! and secret recipe has a most awesome tea time special now, everybody should go there and try the moist chocolate cake. I think after that, you cannot live without it.
right now, kinda waiting for news to see if he's reached safely. don't know if it's cos the reception there sucks or if my msgs haven't been received. zzz that's why I don't like hearing morbid stuff, I kept obsessing about it while walking home. but anyways, it would be better if the douhua shop at elias opens again. I just ordered my sister to go buy some douhua and apparently it's still closed. it's been closed for the past 3 days already la, the pasir ris people cannot take it anymore!
Was her affection for Gyan just a habit? How on earth could she think of someone so much? The more she did, the more she did, the more she did. Summoning her strength, she spoke directly to her heart, "Oh why must you behave so badly?" But it wouldn't soften its stance.//The Inheritance of Loss; Kiran Desai
been reading alot of Indian literature recently so I was thinking of Little India when Chris asked me whether I got any places in mind. haha, I kind of like the atmosphere in Little India actually, very happening music and there's always this smoky smell of incense. and the cheese prata there is AMAZING. I could sit there and eat cheese prata forever! but sadly, I can't seem to remember where they brought us to when we were in primary school. I wanted to get those little Indian perfumes in plastic bottles and maybe buy an Indian tunic or two but it was wayy too hot to hang around and shop. but Chris showed me those alcohol shops where the alcohol comes in those mini collectors' bottles and it was pretty interesting. when the weather gets better, I will launch a fullday trip there definitely!
and on tuesday, we went to delifrance to spend deming's vouchers! but in the end, we were the ones who got cheated lah. apparently the vouchers can only be used in delifrance cafe but we were eating in delifrance bistro haha. and we were so happy somemore eating like there's no tomorrow! then went to shop around in pull&bear where zel and deming were having fun pointing out clothes that are 'my style' haha. does that mean I have a very predictable sense of style? okayy, it means that I have alot of similiar looking clothing!
and my cousin made my day with his awesome picture of a dinosaur! the more I look at it, the more I'm reminded of my dinochua, oh I miss you, come back soooon! in the meantime, I shall stick this by my bed hoho.
this is a massive, massive muddy mudpie from TCC, one of the yummiest I've ever tasted. it can actually stand on its own by the way, and when it stands, it looks like someone's boobs from the side haha. i love the airport on a weekday, quiet and still with pockets of human warmth in just the right places.
and just finished my first week of CIP with the sunshine club at claudia's church and it's both refreshingly fun but so tiring also! kids just have so much energy and when they get together, it's so darn noisy. and by teaching them maths, I realised that my long division method is kind of wrong. apparently when the number cannot be divided, you're supposed to put a zero there not add a zero to the back. ohmytian, the kid had to correct me lah. tsk tsk, my primary school teachers never teach me properly cann.
and to round up the week, I finally finished the jar which I'm going to give later. haha, I got superglue all over my hands lah and it's so annoying bcos there's no way to remove it! my sister says just must wait for it to dry up then peel off haha. and I bought too many crisps so there's extras even after I filled the jar. oh well, I kind of like how it turned out :D
"She did not need much. Wanted very little. A kind word, sincerity, fresh air, clean water, a garden, kisses, books to read, sheltering arms, a cosy bed and to love and be loved in return." //Starra Neely Blade And when I'm with you, you open up my eyes to show me that love and contentment can actually be very simple. That joy can be found in a cosy, lazy cafe on a Saturday evening sharing life over coffee, fries and pasta. That unadulterated excitement can exist in dodging shoppers along the noisy, bustling alleys of Little India and Mustafa Centre. That love can steep and stew over an accidental ninety-minute bus journey of epic proportions, starting from a lonely bus terminal at st michael's and ending up right back where we started. Maybe it's been unknowingly inculcated in us to expect the grandiose, the glittering and the glamorous from our relationships. Maybe it's in every k-drama, every love song, every movie that we've watched and unknowingly grown to expect in our own lives. But again and again, you show me that love is both simpler and deeper than that. That it's in your willingness to spend dinnertime explaining the finer aspects of audit work to a completely confused amateur, in your protective shadow hovering right behind me as we navigate the swarming side-alleys of Little India, in your unwavering resolute to stay awake and entertain me on the extremely long bus journey home. And in all these little things, time and time again, I come back to the same conclusion. That God's choice for me is always incomparably good and he will never allow me to doubt Him or you.
Happy happy 2014 you all! There's always time to update about the new year even though we're a good two weeks into 2014 already :)
Met up with the Vis East girls over lovely pies and coffee at this quaint little cafe called Windowsill in the Woods, which is tucked away in a quiet corner just along the Jalan Basah Stadium at Lavender. It was really really crowded when we arrived and sadly, there were only 2 flavours of pies left! But I have to say that I'm really pleased with the pies we tried, it was soooo good! Not to mention that the service staff were really friendly and helpful even though it was super crowded. Miss these good times with people from law school, and feels like it's been a lifetime since we were studying and doing moots together :(
After the meetup with the Vis East girls, headed off to meet UU to celebrate the New Year together! UU had this brilliant idea to go prawning on New Year's Eve and we finally carried out the plan after procrastinating for such a long time. When we reached Punggol End though, it was packed to the brim with people. Gosh, I didn't know people really enjoyed prawning and fishing thatttt much.
When we settled into our spot, there was an uncle who commented "Aiya, no prawns tonight. Maybe the water here is too cold. You should try going to the other side." Immediately I sensed something fish and was like, "Err nope, we're gonna stay here. Maybe you should try going over there." And good thing we didn't move! UU started catching prawns almost immediately and we caught around 6-7 prawns in an hour! Apparently the trick is to keep your eyes on the bait to observe if the bait is being pulled under water. Once the bait disappears under water, that is the sign that the prawns are hooked and you should immediately reel the rod in or risk losing the prawns! At the end of it, the people next to us also gave us their prawns cos they didn't want to eat them so we went back with a full bag of huge prawns!
We brought our prawns home and UU's mom cooked it for us with some garlic, shaoxing wine and salt! It was mega yums! What a way to usher in 2014 :)
“When was the last time you wanted to say it all to the right person? To have it all come out right, to surprise yourself at how together you could be. When was the last time you ever met someone who made you want to give it all to them? I mean give yourself to them. Where you couldn't express yourself enough - like you wanted to cut off one of your arms to be understood. That's it - you would cut your head off to have someone understand you. You know how pointless that one is. You know how many times you've smashed yourself to bits on the rocks.”
//Henry Rollins
today, most definitely, wasn't the greatest. the sky was awfully grey and it was whipping cold wind and rain from the moment I woke up. luckily for lunch, we had an enormous bratwurst pizza and awesome chocolate cake at nydc. I checked and realised that we had this about a month ago also haha! no wonder vicks keeps insisting that my arms are fatter ugh. the consolation is that when the new school terms starts (in less than 3 scary weeks) can lose weight damn quickly also. pft, kind of pissed but don't know who to vent it all on. also super tired from lugging all that stuff around which I didn't get to use. happily though, we managed to get a pair of shoes each! yeah I know retail therapy is a cheap thrill, but it's better than nothing huh.
"Love blurs your vision; but after it recedes, you can see more clearly than ever. It's like the tide going out, revealing whatever's been thrown away and sunk: broken bottles, old gloves, rusting pop cans, nibbled fishbodies, bones. This is the kind of thing you see if you sit in the darkness with open eyes, not knowing the future. The ruin you've made." //Magaret Atwood; Cat's Eye
my mogu and I went baking last friday! us before the baking started! surprisingly, there were quite a few people our age haha. got a group of well-dressed girls and a small boy with his sister. but I think the teacher was the funniest la, he looks super pro and he even got time to bake a pizza for us to try after the whole lesson.
this is cream with chocolate emulsion, you stir it for a while and it becomes good, creamy chocolate haha.
and my mogu stirring the cream! what I learnt is that baking requires copious amounts of arm power. even while we were not using the industrial mixer, the teacher made us stir bowls and bowls of stuff. we had to whisk the eggs into a froth then we had to stir the macademias into the cream and after it all, we have to add all the stuff together and mix it well. haha, if you don't have time to work out, go for a baking class la, guaranteed toned biceps after all that stirring and whisking!
and these were our cakes before they went into the oven!
haha, the finished product! we made a walnut pound cake also but that one not as sexy as this awesome chocolate macademia cake! all in all, baking is super good fun especially when you don't have much to do. but if you really want to take up baking, it's super expensive cos I was checking out the prices of the baking equipment and I think you'll have to spend at least a hundred plus to get all the basic stuff haha. maybe should just stick to making cookies first la huh.
I just wish the cakes would last long enough so I could give them out to all the people I love.
"Love will be an impulse which can inspire and ruin in equal measure." //Neil Gaiman
this has still been a crazy week but managed to spend some time at ikea on wednesday. had the always awesome poached salmon and soft ice-cream! and there was this very cute toy rat with a very realistic tail which I put in a display bathroom sink to see if people will get scared. wished we'd stay around to see if anyone screams hoho. in a week that has not been easy, I really appreciate the little time we have haha even though we spend it on arcade basketball, shooting games and roaming in furniture stores.
and everytime I go shopping with my mogu, I see something I absolutely adore. and she's very crafty one lor, she only encourage people to buy, she never ever buys stuff haha. then everytime I complain, she will say, where got lor, it's always you zhi gao fen yong say wah so nice so nice then zooom you go inside and try already cannn. haha, but we had a great time on thursday! and secret recipe has a most awesome tea time special now, everybody should go there and try the moist chocolate cake. I think after that, you cannot live without it.
right now, kinda waiting for news to see if he's reached safely. don't know if it's cos the reception there sucks or if my msgs haven't been received. zzz that's why I don't like hearing morbid stuff, I kept obsessing about it while walking home. but anyways, it would be better if the douhua shop at elias opens again. I just ordered my sister to go buy some douhua and apparently it's still closed. it's been closed for the past 3 days already la, the pasir ris people cannot take it anymore!
Was her affection for Gyan just a habit? How on earth could she think of someone so much? The more she did, the more she did, the more she did. Summoning her strength, she spoke directly to her heart, "Oh why must you behave so badly?" But it wouldn't soften its stance.//The Inheritance of Loss; Kiran Desai
been reading alot of Indian literature recently so I was thinking of Little India when Chris asked me whether I got any places in mind. haha, I kind of like the atmosphere in Little India actually, very happening music and there's always this smoky smell of incense. and the cheese prata there is AMAZING. I could sit there and eat cheese prata forever! but sadly, I can't seem to remember where they brought us to when we were in primary school. I wanted to get those little Indian perfumes in plastic bottles and maybe buy an Indian tunic or two but it was wayy too hot to hang around and shop. but Chris showed me those alcohol shops where the alcohol comes in those mini collectors' bottles and it was pretty interesting. when the weather gets better, I will launch a fullday trip there definitely!
and on tuesday, we went to delifrance to spend deming's vouchers! but in the end, we were the ones who got cheated lah. apparently the vouchers can only be used in delifrance cafe but we were eating in delifrance bistro haha. and we were so happy somemore eating like there's no tomorrow! then went to shop around in pull&bear where zel and deming were having fun pointing out clothes that are 'my style' haha. does that mean I have a very predictable sense of style? okayy, it means that I have alot of similiar looking clothing!
and my cousin made my day with his awesome picture of a dinosaur! the more I look at it, the more I'm reminded of my dinochua, oh I miss you, come back soooon! in the meantime, I shall stick this by my bed hoho.
this is a massive, massive muddy mudpie from TCC, one of the yummiest I've ever tasted. it can actually stand on its own by the way, and when it stands, it looks like someone's boobs from the side haha. i love the airport on a weekday, quiet and still with pockets of human warmth in just the right places.
and just finished my first week of CIP with the sunshine club at claudia's church and it's both refreshingly fun but so tiring also! kids just have so much energy and when they get together, it's so darn noisy. and by teaching them maths, I realised that my long division method is kind of wrong. apparently when the number cannot be divided, you're supposed to put a zero there not add a zero to the back. ohmytian, the kid had to correct me lah. tsk tsk, my primary school teachers never teach me properly cann.
and to round up the week, I finally finished the jar which I'm going to give later. haha, I got superglue all over my hands lah and it's so annoying bcos there's no way to remove it! my sister says just must wait for it to dry up then peel off haha. and I bought too many crisps so there's extras even after I filled the jar. oh well, I kind of like how it turned out :D
