Cookie, in her "sulky" mood.

Cookie and her new best friend. Hee...

My days with Cookie.

It has been half a year since we have moved into our new flat and all these while, Cookie, the neighbourhood cat has been keeping us company.

On weekdays, she will usually wait for us at the void deck in the evenings, and she will respond to our calls by running to us immediately upon hearing her name, and she'll meow while she trots over, seems to be telling us "what took you so long....?"

she will then follows us upstairs, and stations herself right in front of the gate because she HAS to be the first living thing to step into the house. Then she'll head straight for her water bowl and spend a few minutes lapping some water. After that, she will bug you relentlessly until you feed her.

Dinner is usually a small portion of canned food mixed with pieces of boiled Kunning fish. She has learnt the word "fish fish", and will immediately jump up from her sleep/nap if you ever mention "fish fish" to her, which is, of course vey cute. Heh...

We recently got ourselves a white porcelain cat as a decoration item, and Cookie at first, mistook the procelain as a real cat. She saw the porcelain and froze, her whiskers pulled back and she immediately leapord crawled towards her "new enemy". It was really hilarious!

She then stared at the porcelain for a few mintues, with a puzzled face, most probably thinking "hey, this idiot doesn't move?!" She moved even closer and started sniffing the porcelain cat.

Her body language immediately relaxed upon realizing that the procelain was a fake and she simply went to her usual corner to nap. Not at all interested in her "new best friend" anymore...

Haha.

That stupid cat. But how I love her so.

My Blue X'mas Tree, only $16 from Carrefour.

The items that we have bought and donated to the Boy's Brigade Gift Box.

X'mas Dinner 2010

Hrm, previously I had grand plans to make my very own X'mas tree but when I stacked up all my vintage boxes, it didn't look like a Xmas tree at all. Bleah... So, Project Xmas Tree was a failure. I needed a Plan B.

Thankfully Plan B was only 16 bucks from Carrefour! The tree technically only cost $10! As the tree came with LED lightings at the tips, I just needed to pay for another $6 for the socket to activate the pretty, little blue LED lights. As for the ornaments, I bought them from Daiso, and in total, I spent about $16 too. A grand total of $32 for a Xmas tree is quite budget eh?

As for the food, I ordered a pre-cooked turkey and honey roasted ham, threw in some home-made salsa, sweet corn, beef steaks and veggie frittata. E also made a really delicious carrot cake with cute, little reindeers as decor.

Alas.... I was too busy hosting all 15 of my friends that I forgot to take photos! ;(

In anycase, for this year, instead of gift-exchanging, I requested my friends to donate cash or basic food items to the Boy's Brigade Gift Box, where the boys would in turn, distribute these items to the less fortunate during this festive season.

With the amount raised, I bought adult diapers, tooth pastes, tooth brushes, halal canned foods and some packets of high-calcium Milo.

And I hope I can do this every year and with each year, I hope I can donate more. ;)

Hmm... I wonder whether Cookie is willing to dress up for the party too? Haha...

No gift exchange for my X'mas party

I'm going to host my very first Xmas party/dinner at my place on this coming Saturday!

Relatively small crowd, only about 12 of us actually. Hub gotta attend a wedding dinner on that day though, so I'll be the one running the show. Heh heh...

I've done up my Xmas tree (ok, will update about the tree on my next post), bought the X'mas decorations from Daiso and planned my menu. So, I'm all set.

As usual, there will be a theme for this party, and the theme is .... ... ... *drum roll*

REINDEER!

Sounds a bit lame and childish, but I'm looking forward to see what/how my friends will turn up for the party. These bunch of people are really creative, I tell you. Yup, the very same bunch who dressed up for the Shanghai Chic party and Retro party previously. ;P

Some friends have asked whether there will be any gift exchange, and my answer: a flat NO. From my past experiences, X'mas presents from gift exchange sessions usually end up in the storeroom or "recycled presents for next year".

In fact, I'm thinking of asking my guests to each bring some grocery items, such as a small bag of rice, cooking oil or tins of Milo that cost about $10 in total, or do a donation of $10. And I will then bring these groceries and cash to the Boys’ Brigade Xmas Gift Box or to the Lions Befrienders.

Merry Xmas and may you have a peaceful year ahead. ;)

My favorite wine tasting session of the trip: Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier. He is such a great wine maker, and his wines are characterized by both elegance and power. I was so, so,so happy to be able to meet him in person!

Our group dinner at our "chalet", which is actually an old barn owned by Anne Gros (another outstanding wine maker). We prepared 2 steamed pomfrets, cereal prawns, stir-fried mung bean vermicelli & clay-pot rice!

A famous plot in Chambolle-Musigny.

The youngest and best-looking wine maker of the trip. Well.... the rest are old men afterall! Domaine Arlaud's wines are very elegant, with good length. And since he is still so young, he has great potential...
On my last day, there was a thin layer of snow. Beautiful!

Domaine Ramonet is one of the very best white wine producers in Burgundy. I am a great fan of his wines, and in person, he's such a jovial and warm person, very generous too!

The vineyard of Domaine Romanee-Conti, aka "DRC", the most expensive wines in Burgundy. Every fan of Burgundy wine will defintely come here to take a picture!

France Trip Part 2 -> Burgundy

Part 2 of the trip, in Burgundy was extremely educational. I'm not a Burgundy expert but I sure like to drink wines from this region. It doesn't have to be "Grand Cru", but a well-made AND well-priced "village" will always make my day.

Some of the winemakers are actually in the "Superstars" league of the wine-making world. They are like the Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt of Hollywood, but... hrm, not as good-looking lah. Some are very camera-shy, and extremely down-to-earth. One of them even said that "he's just a farmer who likes to do lab-work"... ... Woah, I wonder whether he is aware of his celebrity status.

Other domaines visited included: Domaine Jean-Francois Coche Dury, Domaine Armand Rousseau, Domaine Roulot, Domaine Carillon, Domaines Mugneret-Gibourg et Georges Mugneret, Domaine Anne Cros and Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue.

After meeting the winemakers in person, in future when I drink any of their wines, will be even more meaningful.

Environmental-friendly Xmas trees

My family, being old-school Chinese has never celebrated Xmas. I have never decorated a Xmas tree in my life nor have ever own one. And being a non-Christian, I spent my Christmases partying away during my younger days. Now that I'm older, Christmases are spent with friends, usually over dinners and some bottles of good wines.

Now that I finally have a place of my own, I'm thinking whether I should do up my place a little for the up-and-coming Xmas.

The no. 1 headache: the Xmas tree.

I'm not keen to buy a fake tree and having to worry about fitting that darn tree back to its box and where to store it for the next 11 months. Having a real Xmas tree, smelling of pines is very appealing but to spend hundreds of dollars on a single plant that last for only a few weeks, is like burning my hard-earned money. Not to mentioned all the decorations that I've to buy either.

So... I'm thinking of innovative ideas to make my own Xmas tree.

It'll be environmentall friendly, save me some cash and will most probably be a conversation piece during the Xmas party.

Kill many birds with 1 stone eh?

The above pictures are some ideas that I've stolen from the ever-resourceful Internet.

1) Choc-a-Box Xmas Tree: This is my no. choice as I do have a few vintage-looking luggages and boxes that I can stack up to form a Xmas tree, ala Picasso-style. Then maybe just buy some green or white streamers and a mega-big-ass star for the top of my Xmas tree to complete the look eh?

2) Beer bottles Xmas tree: Thinking about the amount of beer that Hub, our friends and I drank, I really could have made that Xmas trees IF I HAVE KEPT ALL THOSE BEER BOTTLES!!! Alas, all the beer bottles/cans have been sent to the recycling bin. Maybe I'll give this tree a try next year instead.

3) Hang-on-the-wall Xmas tree: This must be the most fuss-free of all. I have also thought of using a streamer to outline a Xmas tree on a wall, and ta-dah, A Xmas tree! But using a cloth or chalkboard is definitely more chic. In fact, the overall feel of Picture no. 3 will fit my aprtment very nicely.

4) Kachang-Puteh Xmas tree: The rolled-up "leaves" of this Xmas tree remind me of eating Kachang-puteh. This tree takes takes the most effort and I really doubt I have the time to make this tree at all. Nonetheless, it is done up very tastefully and maybe, in the future when I have my own child labour, I can bully them into making that tree. Hahaha...

Ok, will gotta convince/con/cheat Hub into this little project of mine... Hopefully it will be a success and I can post some pics!

Vineyards at chateauneuf Du-Pape (CDP). Golden leaves against the bright blue sky. This picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful scenery!

The "mansion" that we stayed at Avignon, near CDP. This mansion is now a Best Westin Hotel, very charming with a big courtyard.

Walking along the street in the city center of CDP. We were on our way to visit Domaine Henri Bonneau.

And this is the legendary Mr. Henri Bonneau. He is known as the best wine-maker of the CDP region. Already 72 yrs old, I feel extremely privilege to meet him in person!

Walking along the river in Lyon.

Lyon's city center.

France Part 1 -> Paris, Chateauneuf Du-Pape and Lyon.

We spent 4 nights in Paris, 1 night in CDP and 2 nights in Lyon, before heading to Burgundy. What I can deduce from the 1st part of my trip:

1) Paris is still the most beautiful city (to me) day and night. There is just something about Paris... the old buildings, the lights, the small streets and the River Seine make Paris beautiful in her own way.

2) There are still tons of dog shit all over Paris?!?! This is one thing I do not understand... why do Parisians allow their dogs to treat beautiful Paris as 1 big toilet bowl?

3) Parisians are a bunch of super angsty drivers. Chill it, dude!

4) I cannot eat another Foie gras . In fact, I've concluded that I am not thaaaaaat into French food. The more I eat, the less I like. I am a china woman at heart, Chinese food is da best!

5) Do check the internet for the latest updates with respect to the museums. We spent the whole morning walking to the Picasso Museum and it was closed for the next TWO years for renovations!

6) I'll like to visit CDP and Avignon again. Hopefully with more time to walk around.

7) Lyon has better food than Paris. Not kidding. And Lyon is almost just as beautiful too, and with slightly nicer people.

8) I discover the peasant in me. I prefer simple food and small villages. I enjoy hanging out at the vineyards while freezing my ass off. As much as I like Paris, I think I'll give Paris a miss if I ever come to France again.

Part 1 of the trip was basically a prelude, the real action was in Burgundy! I'll update in another post. ;)

Groggy and jet-lagged

Yup, I made it back to Singapore in one piece. Very much to my relief. *phew*

There was plenty of driving on this trip and we very nearly got into a car accident while at 150 km/hr. I could not have imagined the damage if not for the very last minute super-hard-brake, and timely acceleration of the car that was in front.

*face paled*

Thankfully, everything was fine and all in all, I had a very good trip. Will update more about the trip with pictures later!

Now, I am still groggy from the jet-lag, and basically not functioning very much in office.

Argh.

I'm going to France!

Yippee! I'll be heading to France this coming Sat for a 2-wk holiday!

Finally, a well-deserved long break. It has been 8 years since I last visited Europe. This will be my 3rd trip to France and I'm looking so forward to it. There is something about Paris that I simply adore. Beautiful buildings, beautiful language, beautiful women with chic dress sense, just simply a beautiful city.

Well.... the French might not be the friendliest folks in the world but the beautiful country makes up for it.

I'll be in Paris with Hub and another 2 friends for 4 days, after that another 6 folks will arrive and we'll be heading to Lyon, Rhone and Burgundy for the next 10 days, eating and drinking ourselves silly. This trip is a "wine trip", organised by one of Hub's friend, who is in the wine business.

We'll be visiting some really renowned wine makers and I am SO EXCITED to see them in person. I feel like a groupie already.

And this group of people are serious about their wines and food. The last trip we made together was to Ipoh and we feasted non-stop for 4 days. We literally ate 6 meals a day, NO JOKE! Not only that, we brought our own wines and WINE GLASSES so that we could enjoy our food with decent wines and stemware.

For this trip, I don't have to bring my wine glasses but I will bring extra indigestion pills.

And I have started fasting already.

Am I Harry Potter’s oldest fan?

If the movie is based on a book, I’ll usually say the book is better. And that is true like 95% of the time… but the Harry Potter series; I must congratulate the directors, producers and the casting crew. They have made the movies better than the books.

I’ve read the books and I’m CRAZY about Harry Potter and the whole Hogwarts thingy. I’ve spent many hours imagining the setting and scenery while reading the books, but when the very first movie of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone debuted in 1997, I was blown away.

The casting was perfect. Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are also very well portrayed by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson respectively. I enjoyed every single Harry Potter movie and it was so amazing to see the producers’ interpretation of J.K Rowling’s world of magic, Hogwarts and the mystical creatures.

The 7TH and the finale (Part 1), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will premier on 18 Nov island wide. I cannot wait to catch the movie!!! But I will be out of town until 28 Nov. Argh… I guess I’ll just have to wait patiently.

And everytime there's a Harry Potter movie on TV, I MUST watch it, even if I have already watched most of them for at least 3 times. Hub will just roll his eyes whenever I go gaga over Harry Potter. Well... now that Hermione has become a hot babe, Hub starts watching Harry Potter too, or at least whenever she's on screen. *guys?!?!?!*

Meanwhile, I’m reading the Deathly Hallows for the 3rd time?!?! Anyone has the dvd for The Half-blood Prince to refresh my memory?

Do you believe in Long Distance Relationship (LDR)?

When Hub and I were dating, we went through 3.5 years of LDR. He was studying in UK while I was in Singapore and 1.5 yrs later, when he was deemed to come back, I had the opportunity to work in the States for 2 years or so, and thus, another 2 yrs of LDR.

That 3.5 yrs of LDR was one of the hardest thing that I had to go through. There were so many times that I wanted to throw in the towel and said “That’s it, I cant do this anymore”.

But miraculously, we survived the LDR and even more amazing, we survived the relationship when both of us were in the same land area and didn’t drive each other crazy. I must admit that most credit went to Hub since he is the more tolerant and rational one.

After that horrendous 3.5 years, I told myself that I will not go through another LDR again. I told myself that no matter what, I want to be together physically, mentally and emotionally together with my beloved. I’ll give up my career temporarily if I have to.

And now, due to career progression, Hub will be away for a year in a near-by country, which is about 3-4 hours away by plane. And technically, there’s a “spouse allowance” for me to move over as well. Not a “Tai-Tai” kind of allowance, but it is enough for me to survive a prudent lifestyle.

Honestly, I do not even like that country, in my opinion; it is polluted, crowded and extremely materialistic. I’ll rather stay in Singapore; at least Singapore is not polluted, less crowded and also a tad less materialistic. Ha.

But it’s my wishful thinking on my part. I’m not even “invited” to go over; I’ve already been “assigned” by Hub to stay in Singapore to look after the new flat, the plants and the cat.

So, I’m a housekeeper more than a wife huh?

I’m actually a little sad and hurt that Hub finds the new flat, the new plants and the new cat more important than us being together.

I know that it’s not as if he loves me less, just that rationally, it makes more sense for me to remain in Singapore because of my job, my CFA exam, to look after the flat, the plants and the cat. In addition, we’ll only be 3 hrs apart via a plane ride and IT’S ONLY FOR A YEAR.

We have been through so much worse, this should be peanuts.

But to me, it’s not peanuts. Maybe, I just need to grow up.

My childhood days…

As I was reading another fellow blogger’s entry about the stress that her son, a primary school student has to go through. I looked back at my primary school days and giggled silently to myself.

I was from a kampong school and nobody really took tests or exams seriously. From Primary 1 to 3, it was 80% play and 20% school work. In those days, there was even primary 7 and 8! But of course, most students did get down to serious business from P5 onwards due to the all-time-big-hurdle, the PSLE at P6.

Below is a list that I found on the net, and it brought back fond memories of my childhood. Maybe you’ll also find these items familiar if you were a primary school kid in the 1980s.

1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silverhawk, Ultraman, Super Friends, Woody WoodPecker, Tom & Jerry, Care Bears, My Little Pony, Smurfs and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, maybe Ninja turtles too.

p/s: My fav cartoon was Smurfs. I think I once drove my mum crazy by singing “la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” non-stop for 72 hours.

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school during recess time. You would squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a colored mug. The teachers said you must brush each side ten times.

p/s: We would all gurgle and spit at the same time. There was even a competiion among ourselves that who could spit the furthest.

3. You know in school, you could subscribe to get the milk which would come before you go back home. Some days you would get chocolate milk, other days strawberry. The old Magnolia fresh milk came in a triangular packet.

p/s: I was a really skinny kid and I had free milk until primary 4! I hated the Banana and Corn flavour though.

4. Everyone in class would tremble in fear when someone with a gauze stuck in the mouth came to your class and called out a name to go visit the school dentist.

p/s: I was so scared of the nurse and her dentist chair. And yah, why the hell did the nurse send some kid with a bloody cotton guaze to call for the next “victim”??? *Tramatised*

5. You’ve probably read the Young Generation magazine. You know who’s Vinny the Little Vampire and Constable Acai. For some, cikgu will always ask to buy the “Dewan Bahasa” magazine.

p/s: I remebered the mag! And I really liked Vinny, the little vamp with his cute, little sharp teeth.

6. You longed to buy tidbits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week. Not forgetting the 15-cent animal crackers and the ringpop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring. There were such things like the 20-cent dinosaur eggs, the 10-cent satay, Choki Choki Chocolate Sticks and the all favorite 10-cent “Sng Pow” that broke into two parts to be shared amongst friends.

p/s: O yes, all these wonderful snacks that only cost 10c to 30c! And I remembered the bubble-gum that cost 10c per piece and had a stick-on tattoo. I was wearing those stick-on tattoos on my arms like some trophy badges until my mum would force me to wash those away. Then I would go and buy new gums with new tattoos!


7. You grew up reading ladybird books. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven were probably the thickest story books you ever thought you had. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers. You also love Enid Blyton’s Enchanted Wood, Magic Faraway tree, and the 5-dollar Bookworm book you bought when there was a book fair in school.

p/s: All time fav was Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree! I really enjoyed those books about farms, animals and elves, and I wondered why wasn’t there an elv in Singapore. I thought if I were to go England, then I’ll find an elv and we could be friends. Haha…

8. Waterbottles, with your favorite cartoon character on it, were slung around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

p/s: I think mine was blue with Doraemon AND smurfs stickers!

9. Hopscotch, five stones, chapteh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too. Remember 5 times, highest, one-inch?

p/s: I was the zero-point queen. So much so that, the track-and-field teacher dragged me to train for High Jump. Didn’t quite work out though…

10. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives. Remember the “Young Scientist” badge you got when you completed the set of tasks in written on the blue booklet for “Young Ecologist”, “Young Botanist”, etc? The first excursion to the Science Centre was the best day of your life.

p/s: I had so many of those badges! And oh, the 1st excursion to the Omni Theatre was the best day of my life, my primary school life lah.

11. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit and wipe yourself dry. Then you wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

p/s: That I didn’t do. My mum would just wrapped little red plastic bags over my shoes and that was it. I had to go to school all by myself (less than 5 mins walk) and when I was older, dragged my 2 little brothers along too.

12. After exams, you brought Game & Watch to school, and played card games like “Snap”, “Donkey” and “Old Maid”. You also played pick-up sticks and Snakes & Ladders and the aeroplane board game. Those erasers with the flags were also a popular game. Either that or you would play those cards comparing aeroplanes, warships, or tanks — who had more firepower or speed or weight, etc.

p/s: Those colorful pick-up sticks were so much fun! And the erasers with the flags, haha, we were supposed to flip them around, the eraser which landed on top of the other would win and the winner would confiscate the loser’s eraser. Oh, the boys were really good at that.

I wonder do kids these days still play such simple games anymore….

Rice, not as easy as it looks!

Somehow, I always mess up dishes that are related to rice. Especially FRIED RICE. My fried rice is always too wet, too sticky. As hard as I've tried, I simply cannot achieve the fragrant, fluffy fried rice like the zhi-czar stalls. Argh... *pull my hair out*

Fried rice = too wet and sticky

Porridge = too sticky and not fragrant

Baked rice = also too sticky! Wait.... baked rice is supposed to be sticky. Heh...

Rice is my nemesis, but I will never give up on rice. I'm a rice-loving Chinese!

Thankfully, the baked rice above turned out ok. And thanks D for the beautiful picture. (as always!)

Note to myself: I really should learn how to take pictures from D.

Cat Slaps Dog - Very Funny & Super Cute

This reminds me of the relationship between Hub and I. Of course, I'm the cat and he's that gong-gong dog.

Eat Pray Love… *roll my eyes*

Caught the movie with a girlfriend last Friday, and I walked out of the cinema feeling exasperated. Similar to the feeling of teaching my younger brother Maths when we were kids…

Since this book is based on a true story, then the author, Liz is one self-centered woman. She wanted the divorce and she claimed that “it was a bitter divorce”?! Hallo, you were the one who wanted to quit the marriage and immediately jumped into another fling with a young actor and claimed a "bitter divorce”??!! I really sympathize the husband whose mistakewas to love such a woman. What happened to “till death do us apart?”

And the fling with a young actor? Hallo, what do you expect? Ever-lasting love?

The so-called journey to discover oneself, is overrated. The author is healthy, no health-threatening diseases, no handicap, has a great job, a privileged lifestyle in New York, no major family issues. OMG… what the hell is she complaining about?

The wallowing in self-pity made me rolled my eyes constantly through out the movie, so much so that, if not for Julia Roberts, I would have walked out of the cinema midway.

I cannot relate to her. And if she was my friend, I would have told her to get a grip and count her blessings.

The only saving grace was that Liz eventually helped a single mother and daughter gained some form of financial independence.

As you can see, I am quite a harsh person, with no sympathy for people whining and wallowing in self-pity. Especially with people who are perfectly healthy, with functional limbs, a good head between their shoulders and without major family issues.

Being a volunteer has taught me that if I think my problems in life are major issues, wait till you need to deal with a disability or a major illness or has to care for a child/adult with special needs.

Pixie cut takes guts!!!

I’m at the stage of wondering what to do with my hair. For most part of my school days, I had short hair, usually a bob that I could tug my hair behind the ears. Twice I had really short hair, one was so short that I could even gel my hair like a boy. That was when I was 17 and I thought I looked really cool. Hmmm… funny that I did not have a boyfriend until I was 19 years old. Haha…

Since then, I’ve allowed my hair to grow a little longer, usually till my collar bones or the longest of the longest length ever, would be till my shoulders. My hair simply does not grow longer than that, because by that length, I will be really restless and want to cut them short.

And I am at that stage now.

I am envious of girls who have sharp features and can carry off a pixie cut. With hair that short, one will need a beautiful face or the very least, small and sharp features to look good. See Halle Berry and Sharon Stone.

With my hamburger cheeks and non-existence nose bridge…. I end up looking fat and ugly. I really need long hair to cover my hamburger face. And so far, most people do comment that I look better with longer hair. Especially Hub, he likes girls with longer hair.

But I am so, so, so tempted to cut a pixie cut!!! Hmmm…. Maybe I’ll cut my hair short next year. A new year, a new hair style?

p/s: I simply do not have the courage to cut my hair short. I’m useless.

Will you love me like how Mr. LKY loves his wife?

I am deeply saddened by the recent passing of our Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, aka Madam Kwa Geok Choo. And today’s papers showed a picture of MM Lee, kissing his fingers to bid his very last farewell to his beloved wife…

That picture immediately brought tears to my eyes.

A very rare glimpse of “public display of affection” between MM Lee and his wife and sadly, it would be the very last gesture ever. Many Singaporeans would have already known about the deep love and respect that MM Lee has for his wife, it was no secret that ever since Mrs Lee was bed-ridden, MM Lee would read and talk to her every night before bedtime.

While reading the papers last night, I asked Hub…

“Will you love me like how Mr. LKY loves his wife? Next time, if I were to be old and bed-ridden, will you read poems to me?”

“You read poems???”

“Tsk, that’s not the point. OK, will you read ANYTHING to me at all?”

“Hrmm…. Can I record all the poems or whatever and play it to you via a CD player and you can listen all day? Even better right?”

*rolled my eyes* He just doesn't get it huh???!!!

Another list...

I've recieved another list to fill! Well, office is rather quiet anyway...

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Eh… that will be Insurance. Thankfully *touch wood*, I’m just paying the bills and so far no need to make any claims and hopefully, not in a very, very, very long time.

2. Do you miss being a child?
Nope. My childhood was fun but tough. Due to my family circumstances, I had to grow up fast, and was a rather angsty kid. Luckily I had great cousins, friends, brothers (whom I used to detest to the max when I was a kid, haha) and a really remarkable, strong, loving mum.

3. Chore you hate the most?
IRONING. Hate ironing to the core. Especially when I have to iron Hub’s shirts. Luckily that is now outsource to a helper who helps out once a week.

4. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
The most romantic dinner ever was when Hub (then BF) cooked a 3-course, candle-light dinner in his apartment in London. There were rose petals and scented candles, and a really kick-ass RABBIT stew. Thankfully, I am not a mega huge-fan of rabbits. Hmmm, funny that Hub doesn’t cook anymore now that we are married eh?

5. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?
Studied harder during my University days and be on the Dean’s list.

6. Name of your first grade teacher?
I can’t remember my Primary 1 teacher, but I remembered Miss Lim from P2. She was fair, with long hair and quite pretty. Except for her…. Hrm, rather obvious “moustache”. But she was a great teacher with a lot of patience and heart!

7. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Be my own boss. Run my own company… still thinking about how to make that notion into a reality.

8. What did you want to be when you were a kid?
A doctor.

9. How many colleges did you attend?
One.

10. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
'Coz I have not worn this particular blouse for the last 4-6 weeks.

11. What are your thoughts on gas prices?
Gas prices should be sky high so that people will make a point to either cycle or take public transport. REDUCE CARBON FOOT PRINT, PEOPLE!

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
Where is Cookie, the cat? She usually sleeps in the bedroom, but sometimes, Hub lets her out in the middle of the night.

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Where is Cookie, the cat?

14. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
That will be Mrs Lee, late-wife of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. Ask me this question 5 days ago and I would say “Mr. Lee” himself. But upon her recent passing, I just realized how little do we know about this great woman.

15. Have you ever crashed your vehicle?
No. Not that I have one to start with.

16. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?
Yes. Even now that I am working, I am a volunteer.

17. Get up early or sleep in?
I try to get up early whenever I can.

18. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Smurfs!!!

19. Favorite thing to do at night?
Both Hub and I start looking for Cookie when it’s bedtime.

20. When did you first start feeling old?
When I need 3 days to recover from a late night of fun/booze/chitchats.

21. Favorite lunch meat?
Fish. In.what.ever.ways.

22. What do you get every time you go into the local supermarket?
Yakult!

23. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
No. Marriage is a journey not just a ritual.

24. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
Free Willy. *embarrassed*

25. What's your favorite drink?
Non-alcoholic: Yakult! Alcoholic: Wines from Burgundy

26. Who from high school would you like to run in to?
Nobody that I can think of.

27. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
987. But I don’t have a car…

28. Sopranos or Desperate Housewives?
Neither. Glee?

29. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
Too blunt. I can be more tactful and I try to be more tactful nowadays… Direct but tactful. Possible?

30. Do you like the person that sits directly across from you at work?
She’s nice. I’m ok with her.

31. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purposes?
No, but I should know how to use one. *keep in mind*

32. Last book you finished reading?
The Girl with the dragon tattoo. A dark, dark thriller…

33. Do you have a teddy bear?
No. No soft toys for me since young because I am highly allergic to dust and dust mites.

34. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
Along a drain during Primary school days. All of the kids would line up along a small drain and we would brush our teeth together, gurgled at the same time upon Teacher’s command. Ahh… those sweet, innocent days!

35. Do you go to church?
No, I do not since I am not a Christian.

36. How old are you?
30 going to 31.

Ten things that I like to do

After reading fellow bloggers' list of "ten things", well, below is my list!

1) Hang out at my kitchen. Be it cooking or baking or just simply re-arranging the jars on my island top. Definitely my favourite spot in my flat.

2) Read. Especially cookbooks! Especially cookbooks with A LOT of pictures. I might not cook every single recipe from the cookbooks, but I can IMAGINE myself cooking every single recipe and that is part of the joy of reading cookbooks. ;)

3) Disturb my cats (especially Cookie) when they are sleeping. I have this psycho urge to "kah-jiao"/disturb my mum's cats or my current adopted cat, Cookie whenever they are taking a nap. I'll go and touch their paws, twitch their whiskers, flick their ears... until they wake up and look at me in disgust!

4) Gardening. This is a new hobby which I just picked up when I moved into my new place. Fussing around the planter boxes and checking out my plants give me quite a lot of joy.

5) Shopping at nurseries. Another new past time, I can hang out at the nurseries along Thomson road for hours. Just looking at plants, looking at types of soil or fertilizers available, checking out the gardening tools or those outdoor furnitures or even the water features. I usually only buy 1 or 2 plants, or some fertilizers but I really enjoy window-shopping at nurseries.

6) Dance. I've always enjoyed dancing. I was previously very into salsa and when I was in University, I was very into hip-hop and jazz. I also enjoy watching ballet and try to catch at least 1 performance once a year.

7) Exercise. Be it running, brisk-walking, dancing, swimming, cycling or doing yoga. Working out really release those feel-good endorphins.

8) Learning to play the violin. I'm still at the stage of making more noise than music, but learning to play a musical instrument is strangely very therapeutic for me. Hrmmm, can't say the same for my neighbours and Hub. Cookie, the cat will IMMEDIATELY run out of my flat the moment I play the violin. *Thanks for the encouragement, Cookie*

9) Drinking wines with Hub. Hub is such a wine connoisseur and I've really learnt a lot from him. Through him, I have also become a semi-pro at wines. Now I can easily identify wines from respective countries/regions. Differentiating a Bordeaux versus a Burgundy is easy-peasy for me!

10) Travel during winters. Singapore is so hot that when ever I can, I'll travel to areas with a lot of snow to freeze my ass off. The cold, crisp air, the fluffy white snow, and the fact that I can wear my knee-high boots, coats and scarves fulfill that inner vain pot in me.

Fugly, the pigeon didn't make it...

Despite of my best intentions, Fulgy didn't make it. In fact, it died on Wednesday night. Seems to me that it was suffering from indigestion.

Sigh. I've tried my best to save that pigeon...

Party, we did!

Everyone dressed up to the nines and we had so much fun. Haha... reminded me of our Uni days in NTU! I love my friends!

Fugly, the baby Pigeon

Last Saturday, when I was walking home after gotten my hair styled for the Shanghai Chic party, I came across a baby pigeon, which was walking around with a limp.

Before I proceed, I shall tell you something about myself. As much as I am an animal lover, I simply DISLIKE birds. Ok, I can tolerate them but I find birds stupid, smelly and basically flying bags of bacteria. ESPECIALLY PIGEONS.

I find sparrows kind of cute, white turtle doves very gentle and beautiful, even mynahs seem more spirited. Other than Crows, which I EXTREMELY dislike, pigeons come a close second.

And a baby pigeon stood in my path and it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. At first I thought it was a sick bird but upon close inspection, I realised that it was a baby pigeon. It was making baby chirping sounds and was walking with a limp. It must had fallen from its nest from the nearby trees.

Argh.... I hate pigeons! But I simply couldn't bring myself to ignore that baby bird. So with my head of freshly curled hair, I picked up the bird and brisk-walked home.

Hub's reaction was as expected. “Eeeeek, that bird looks sick. Why dont you just bring it back to where you found it?”

Well... If I were to return the bird to where it was found, I believed it wouldn't last more than 3 days. Anyway, I thought that the bird might be able to feed itself, so I put it in a box, with a slice of apple and a small saucer of water. With that, I headed out to attend the party.

Hours later, when I checked on the bird, it didn't touch the apple at all. Even when I placed the apple really close to its beak, the bird had no idea what it was and continued to make chirping sounds.

Damn... this bird still had to be hand-fed and I have never hand-fed any birds before! I tried to feed it with some cooked pasta and to my horror, the stupid bird had no concept of OPENING its beak. So, I figured that I just had to pry open its beak and force-feed it.

The moment the bird swallowed something, it finally dawned upon its tiny brain that it was food and started pecking at my hand frantically. After a few trails and errors, and some research on the net, seemed that I could feed the bird with a combination of bread and cooked fish (Cookie's leftovers).

It has been 3 days and the bird is still alive! And it is not limping anymore! So in the mornings I have to wake up 15 mins earlier just to feed it before I head out to work. Cookie, the cat is curious of the little fellow but so far, leaves the bird alone.

I just hope that the bird can grow asap, and learn how to feed on its own and I can then set it free.

It is still the ugliest bird ever and so, I've named it, Fugly. If anyone has any experience in feeding baby birds, please kindly share! If anyone wana adopt Fugly, even better, PLEASE contact me!

Theme Parties!

My group of friends from the university is really into theme parties and all of us, for the past occasions had put in tons of effort to out-dress each other!

Some of the theme parties that we had:

- Pyjamas X’mas 2006
- Cartoon Characters 2007
- Green Party at QH’s housewarming (can’t rem the date)
- Retro Party 2008

And tomorrow will be “Shanghai Chic” at China Club! Looking really forward to tomorrow’s theme party since the last one was in 2008. I really appreciate the time and effort that my friends had put in to organize a party for 16 pax!

All of us, already in our 30s are still making a fool of ourselves but seriously, without this group of friends, I believe my life will be dull as hell.

Above are some pictures from … yes, the Retro party. It was so so so fun and we spent a good 30 mins just laughing and taking pictures of each other. Kudos to my Hub, who was the key organizer for the Retro Party; he managed to rah-rah a few retro items from fellow friends and relatives, and also took the trouble to rent a few rarer items from a cute, little retro shop at FarEast Plaza. It was really hilarious to pretend that we were our parents in the 1970s…

I hope tomorrow’s party will be a blast!

We re-potted 2 cuttings of mints, I chose pineapple mints. The leaves are so pretty!

I was thinking of buying this tub to plant some edibles until I realised it cost almost $80 each! *w/o the plants!*
My "lecturer" for the workshop. She is so young!

We attended this workshop with our neighbours, who are also avid gardeners. Had a good time bonding with the neighbours!

Gardening workshop at Hortpark, 19 Sept 2010

Hub and I, together with our new neighbours attended a gardening workshop at Hortpark on Sunday, 19 Sept.

It was my very first time to Hortpark and what a beautiful park! I was like the "mountain tortoise" who was wooing and ahhing at everything . The workshop was conducted in a very comfortable air-con lab, and we had a very young and pretty "lecturer" teaching us how to do stem cuttings, and how to plant some edibles like Kangkong and pak choi.

To be honest, I expected the workshop to be more enlightening especially since we paid $15 per pax! The workshop was really for beginners and the "lecturer" simply went through some gardening basics. Nonetheless, we got to take home some mint cuttings, some seeds and 2 packets of soil.

All in all, it was good fun bonding with our neighbours and a great way to spend a Sunday morning. ;)

Plants in the bathroom

I've always wanted to have plants in the bathroom... simply because I can then shower and water the plants at the same time! (kind of silly, I know...)

Other than that, I've always enjoyed the company of plants... their quiet existence calms my mind and since bathroom is a place where I relax, thus, I should place some plants to make the bathroom even more relaxing right?

Unfortunately, I have 2 very small bathrooms. In fact, the master bathroom is so small that, I have to place the sink outside of the bathroom, just to have a decent shower space. The above picture will be a dream bath.... where I can, hrm... have "live" audience while I sing in my shower. Heh...

Nonetheless, I am quite determined to place plants in the bathrooms. I will definitely work on the idea!

How much is "1 cup"???

The measurement of "1 cup" really baffles me! I just had a failed attempt at making Banana Cake. ;( Since it was a failed attempt, I'm too embarrassed to post any pic.

The recipe called for 2 cups of plain flour. My measuring cup indicated that 1 cup = 200 ml. But when I googled "1 cup", WikiAnswers and many various websites indicated 1 cup = 236 ml or 240 ml. Then there were also websites that indicated 1 cup = 250 ml. Well, I figured that 10 ml shouldn't make too much of a difference. So I used 480 ml (2 cups) of flour.

But as I was folding the flour into the wet mix, I knew that something was wrong. The mixture was too dry... but I didn't know what I should add to a dry mixture. More eggs? More yogurt? More milk? I had no clue...

Since I was already "committed" to making the Banana cake, I might as well finished it, dry mixture or not, I simply just put it in the oven and hoped for the best...

As expected, the cake turned out to be too dry. So... maybe I should have used 200 ml = 1 cup instead?

I am so confused.... I guess I just have to try another time to figure it out!

Beatrice and Virgil

During the long weekend, a wonderful friend, D gave me a present, a book, titled “Beatrice and Virgil” by Yann Martel.

I am familiar with this author as I have read his award winning book, “Life of Pi” for at least 3 times. I enjoyed “Life of Pi” so much that, I insisted D to read it and in fact, bought him a copy as a present a few years back. And now, D returned the favor. ;)

"Beatrice and Virgil" is a captivating book, once I started, I could not stop. Luckily it was rather easy to read (but hard to digest), and I was able to complete the book in a day. And after that, I could not stop thinking about the book.

It’s the way Yann writes, the way he describes that make you go "hmmmmm". There is a particular section of the book where the lead character describes a pear to another character that has NEVER seen nor eaten a pear before. The description is so vivid and full of life that, I really felt like eating a pear at that very moment when I was reading the book.

Now, I ask myself how I’ll describe a simple object or event that I take for granted everyday, but yet, someone else might have never experienced before…

1) How would I describe the aroma of freshly ground coffee to someone who has never smelled coffee?
2) How would I describe the sight of a butterfly resting on a flower to someone who has never seen a butterfly?
3) How would I describe the thrill of sprinting down a slope to someone who cannot walk?

By forcing myself to describe each object/action in details, allowed me to internalize and then truly appreciate the very object/action that I’m about to describe.

The book is easy to read but hard to digest… the book is about the Holocaust and how 2 different men, but with the same name dealt with it.

How would you describe the horror that you have witnessed to someone who has never been through hardship?

How would you describe the pain and anguish that you have suffered to someone who lives the privileged life?

How would you describe the senseless violence that you have gone through to someone who has never been through unrest or war?

Personally, I find the ending of the book too abrupt and there are parts of the book that I do not understand. Compared to “Life of Pi”, which I think has a better closure and development of the characters; “Beatrice and Virgil” seems a little chaotic and unfinished. But is that intentional?

Nonetheless, it is a worthy read. Highly recommended.

p/s: so is "The Life of Pi"

Pizza vs Foccacia

2 weekends ago, I tried making some pizzas. Recipe for the crust seemed easy enough and my brother even made some self-made kimchi as topping. The dough wasn't as sticky as I thought it would be and the crust turned out to be very crispy. All in all, my brothers and I had fun making and eating the pizzas...

So, thinking that bread-making would also be as easy-peasy, I made grand plans to make some foccacia bread on the following weekend. I was especially inspired by another blogger, Petunia and her very delicious-looking picture of her grape-with-rosemarry foccacia.

But my first bread-making experience turned out to be a scary one!

It started all good on the Saturday morning, until I really couldn't figure out the recipe as provided by Petunia. The proportions were in "cups" and after translating the measurement to "ML", it still seemed rather strange to me. So, I last minute googled another recipe which I thought look rather simple and easy to understand.

Following the recipe, I mixed the dry and wet ingredients together to get a REALLY sticky dough. In fact, it was sooooo sticky that I freaked out a little, and ended up adding more flour. But, it was still very sticky! After 5 mins of trying to knead the dough, I gave up and dumped the sticky dough to my KitchenAid. I used the dough hook instead to knead the dough.

So while my KitchenAid was kneading the dough, I was clearing up the huge, sticky mess that the dough had made on my table top. I had pieces of sticky dough all over and, I tell you... these sticky bits refused to be washed down the sink! I had to use boiling hot water to dissolve the bits.

After almost 8 minutes, my KitchenAid started making weird noises and I peeped into my mixing bowl. Woah, the sticky dough just got STICKIER!!! Argh...... so, I freaked out once again and added more olive oil. By now, I doubt I was following the recipe anymore...

I stopped the KitchenAid (in case the sticky dough spoil my prized KitchenAid mixer), and decided to knead by hand all over again. So, I kneaded and I kneaded and I kneaded, but the sticky dough simply refused to yield... and it continued to be as sticky as ever, so I added more and more flour... until a "smooth, elastic dough that stretches" was finally formed.

By then, my table top was all messy again. Argh...

Anyway, I could finally start proofing the dough. I put the sticky dough into an oiled bowl and cover the bowl with cling wrap. The recipe indicated 1-2 hrs of proofing until double in size.

So while the dough was proofing, I rushed down to RDA to fulfill my volunteer duties. 2.5 hrs later, I was back and yup, the dough was double in size by then.

I transferred the dough to a square baking tin and let it proofed for another 1 hour or so. Ok, by then my guests would start appearing any moment, so I just had to send it to the oven. A quick dressing of sea salt, cherry tomatoes and thyme leaves from my dying thyme, and in the oven, it went.

25 minutes later, I presented: the Foccacia bread. It was edible, thankfully. Despite of all the additional olive oil, flour and more flour! The bread did not rise as much as I would like, but... at least it did rise!

After this experience, I think I'll just buy a foccacia bread from my Delifrance! Pizzas are definitely easier!

p/s: Thanks E for taking such beautiful pictures of the bread. ;)

Some people just have limitless amount of energy, not any old, how energy, but POSITIVE energy.

As much as I can, I try to let myself to be surrounded by these people; to breathe in their positive vibes and bask in their positive glow. After that, I’ll find life is good again and I’ll be so damn happy and thankful that I’m alive and healthy, with a good head on my shoulders and 4 useful, working limbs.

The irony part is that, these people aren’t my high-flier friends who are making big bucks, but they are the parents or children whom I worked with, on every Saturday. As some of you may know, I volunteer with the RDA – Riders for the Disabled Association of Singapore, and it has been 2 very rewarding years since I first stepped into RDA.

I’ve learnt how to be grateful, how to have an open heart, how not to take things for granted, how vast a parent’s love can be and how strong and resilient these children/teens are. Sometimes, I feel ashamed of myself whenever I feel down, I mean, how bad can my problem/issue be, as compared to these children and parents who have to face everyday.

If they can make the best out of how little they have, the more I should work hard and accomplish what I have set myself to do. I started off with the thought of volunteering my time and give what ever little contribution back to the society, but it turns out that I am the one, who is receiving and learning so much more.

Next Saturday, 18 Sept 2010, RDA is organizing a fund-raising Fan-Fare where there will be Pony/Horse rides, Face-painting, Games, Food and Drinks stalls. Coupons of $20 will be sold on that day, and if anyone of you happens to be free or around the area, do come down with your little ones, to “horse” around with us! All funds raised will be donated to RDA.

I will definitely be there, of course. I am most probably taking the afternoon shift – 2.30 pm – 5 pm or so.

Add of RDA: 5 Jalan Mashhor, Singapore 299174. Tel: 6250 0176

RDA is just next to the Singapore Polo Club, behind the row of nurseries (FarEast Flora ..etc) along Thomson road.

2 begonias have died... ;( so, I've decided to grow herbs instead. Mint is quite hardy, the basils are puny, but at least still alive. The frangipani is doing ok, I see many green leaves sprouting. *phew*

Spot the "Botak" plant... These are "Japanese Bamboos" or, at least that's what I've been told at the nursery.
Ginger is growing happily. A rather no-frill, easy to grow plant. Hopefully I'll have free gingers to eat soon!

I bought this Thyme just 2 weeks ago, but its roots are turning black and the leaves are dying too. Hiaz, to minimize my loss, I cut all the healthy leaves and froze them. Doubt it can hang on much longer...

Cookie, the curious cat was checking me out... until she saw another cat at the car park.

My plants after 3 months

So it has been 3 months since I moved in. Time to review my planter boxes...

Begonias -> Not much of a success. 2 have died, the remaining 4 seems ok, but they aren't looking all that healthy and happy to me. Hmmmm...

The herbs -> Mint is good, the basils... barely surviving. Thyme died. ;( Still considering whether I should get a pot of Rosemary. Argh, but I don't want to be a murderer... Luckily, the ginger is doing alright. The pineapple plantets (not in the photos) seem ok too. Hub commented that the "herb corner" is looking untidy and ugly. That kinda hurts my ego abit... But, that's how herbs are, aren't they? Any tips to "beautify" the area?

Japanese Bamboo -> Not good at all, the first batch had almost all died. So, I bought a second batch and some are showing signs of stress again... leaves are turning brown and dropping everywhere. I'm getting a bit discouraged, maybe I'll just get another breed/type of plants instead. Argh...

Another year to slog

Ideally, I should have passed my CFA level 3 by now, and can finally start thinking about starting a family. I’m in my earlier 30s… and biologically, it is about time to have children before age-related complication sets in.

But life isn’t all rosy and no matter how hard I try, things just do not go according to plan. I really did sit down and study for this Level 3 exam, but either I’m getting senile or I’m really just a stupid person, I did not manage to clear the exam, which already was my 2nd attempt.

1st attempt: I was busy with the wedding prep and subsequent house hunting activities that I did not prepare well for the exam. So, I jolly well deserved to fail.

2nd attempt: Wedding was over and finally got myself a HDB flat, I put in the effort and really sat down and studied. I did all the mock exams provided and went through all my notes. I really wanted to pass the exam and proceed to get my chartership. But, when I saw the morning paper… I panicked. The structure of the paper was very different from what I had been practicing and basically, I had no idea what the questions were asking about.

With that, I flunked.

Next year will be my 3rd attempt and I cannot afford to fail this time round. I have registered for the course early and once my books arrived, I will start studying. I will also sign up for “tuition” classes and seriously intend to be a “chao mugger”.

Haiz, the disappointment and shame that I have to endure for my “failure” is very, very, very difficult to stomach. In fact, I was moping around for the past weeks and took me a while to finally accept that what ever grand plans I have about having children, will just have to be postponed for another year.

Some friends commented that I should just go ahead with family planning and not let CFA be a hindrance. But I find this exam to be highly demanding and the fact that I have to juggle between my job, my personal life and the exam is already killing me. I simply cannot imagine being pregnant AND study 6 books and sit through 6 hours of mind boggling exam in a day. Yup, the 1st paper will start from 9-12, a break of 2 hours, then the 2nd paper from 2-5pm. And usually you will not have time to even pee nor drink any water during the intensive 3 hours per paper. It would be just scribbling, scribbling and punching madly into the calculator.

Just the thought of taking this exam all over again, is already making me DEPRESSED.

Why am I doing this to myself…?

Pictures taken by a true artist...

Same HDB flat but an artist can somehow capture angles and pictures that I simply cannot.

I invited a really talented friend over for dinner yesterday, and the pictures that he has taken made my place looks like a million bucks!!!

*impressed*