Nobody does it better.

2012-02-03T22:54:00.002+08:00

I am swamped with assignment after assignment, readings that I really have to catch up on but have no time due to said assignments, and a quest to secure an internship that has left me with too little sleep and even lesser time to watch my TV shows! Somehow not watching Grey's Anatomy/Pan Am/Modern Family/HIMYM/Gossip Girl (don't judge, I know you watch it too!)/etc here and then makes me a very cranky person. So sometimes I sacrifice an hour of sleep just to watch an episode.

It baffles me how it's only Week 4 and I'm already losing precious sleep. This usually happens only in the second half of the semester! Somehow this time, nearly all my modules involve big projects with phases. So far, I've been chasing after an organization to be my client for a publications project, conducted my first in-depth interview, and made my first visit to a Sikh temple to take photographs of 'anything that catches your eye'. I'll admit some of it is fun though. Perhaps by the end of the semester, when I get to have more sleep (ironically, during the reading and exam weeks) I'll look back and think "Wow. That was refreshing." Perhaps.

2012-01-22T11:24:00.003+08:00

the perfect woman.

Colette. Each time I watch Pan Am, I yearn so much to be like her. Her sophistication, poise, the way she smiles with her eyes (she puts Tyra Banks to shame), and her French-accented English! She's every bit the lady, but still stands up for herself and her beliefs.

Bridget is very pretty, but Dean you are an idiot. I hope you wake up and realize what a gem you are letting go soon.

2012-01-18T02:10:00.006+08:00

4 Nights on the Legend of the Seas

Warning: This is an image heavy post!

It was my first time in years (since many many years ago) on a cruise ship - and first time on Royal Caribbean - and it definitely exceeded my expectations! Aside from the fantastic company I had (wink), there were fantastic (and virtually unlimited) food, entertainment, service and new experiences. Loved. It! And would very much like to be back there right at this very moment!

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Let's start with my favorite part: the food. Beginning with those from the Romeo & Juliet Dining Room, i.e. the formal dining room where ala carte dinners (and some breakfasts and lunches) are served.

My partner-in-crime: the said company.

Starters of choice for Day 1, dinner: Onion tart (so good) for me and seafood corn soup for, which oddly tasted like sharks' fin soup, for him.

Mains of choice for Day 1: Atlantic cod for me and rib steak for him.

Starters of choice for Day 2, dinner: Garlic butter escargots for me - so yum that he ordered another serving - and lobster bisque for him.

Mains of choice for Days 2 and 3, dinner: Tenderloin and Roast turkey. (We ordered the same items)

Starters of choice for Day 3, dinner: Spicy szechuan soup for me and chicken spring rolls for him.

Starters of choice for Day 3, lunch: Beef carpaccio for me and calamari for him.

Mains of choice for Day 3, lunch: Ricotta gnocchi for me and burger for him.

Starter and main of choice for Day 4, dinner: Scallop risotto (thumbs up!) and chicken marsala.

And now, desserts!

Grand marnier souffle; orange sherbet.

Note: Joel had the sherbet-of-the-day for a few dinners and they all seemed boring to me so this was the only one I took a picture of. And for desserts, we never did order the same thing. :)

Warm chocolate cake - so sinfully amazingly good - with vanilla ice cream; Tiramisu - not the best I've had.

Raspberry chocolate ganache tart - so much decadent chocolatey goodness, but too rich for me to finish the whole slice; Hazelnut torte - Joel polished the whole thing off.

Chocolate brownie 'sandwich', i.e. chocolate mousse sandwiched between thin layers of brownie - (pleasantly) surprisingly light and still very chocolatey; Strawberry pavlova (swoooons).

One thing I will definitely miss about being on a cruiseship: being able to order anything off an ala carte menu - sometimes even just a part of a particular dish - in any quantity and it's all "free". And being able to dress up a little every evening to go for dinner.

Aside from the Romeo & Juliet Dining Room, there were of course other awesome sources of food supply that brought wide grins to our very greedy faces. :D

The buffet spread - sorry I was too busy stuffing my face that I only took a picture of the dessert table - at the Windjammer Cafe. It's open for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner - and sometimes after our sit-down dinner at Romeo & Juliet, we'd come down to grab somemore food.

Breakfasts! Most of the time, we had our breakfasts at Windjammer because it opens till later in the morning. Romeo & Juliet breakfasts are only available early in the morning till 8am, so we only managed to wake up for that on our final morning on board. Large tubes of cereal - there's a knob at the bottom that you turn, kind of like those toy capsule vending machines, to release the cereal - made me very happy. So did the guy(s) at the egg station who made perfect sunny-side-ups.

From top left, clockwise: Afternoon snacks to satisfy a sweet tooth; pizza, burgers, hot dogs and fries for supper; post-dinner trips to the buffet tables, random middle of the day trips to the pizza & burger bar.

OH, and one of the best things that I unfortunately only had the time to try once: self-serve frozen yogurt dispensing machines by the pool! :D Aside from all these, there's also a small cafe serving "free pastries", beverages - some chargeable - and Ben & Jerry's ice cream (chargeable)! One afternoon, we shared a scoop of Vanilla Heath Crunch, on top of a warm brownie, as per my request. Yum. :) Oh, there is also 24hr room service that we never had the time to make use of. Sigh.

That's all for the food. Now, on to other cool things from the cruise!

Service on board was excellent! Look at these towel figurines made by our room attendant and placed on the bed each evening of the last 3 nights! And the crew - not all, but many of them - will always greet you with a smile when we pass them by anywhere on the ship!

Day 2 at KL. It was mad rush mall hopping to shop for stuff because we had such a limited time there. But we managed to frolick with the Bears of the World - and get some Krispy Kreme!

Day 3 at Phuket. We had some time to leisurely stroll around the Patong Beach for souvenirs and the like - and even an ice cream stop at Swensen's. The blue blue sea and view of - and from - the beach still makes me go 'awww' inside.

One of our favorite pastimes on board: mini golf! We played it day and night without fail. :)

And just some other facilities that we barely - if even - used. The 'track' that I ran 3 miles on one night - but never did again because of the frightful wind that made those easy 3 miles so, so difficult; the library; the pool that was almost always occupied with kids; the rock wall.

Even after the very recent news of the Titanic-esque crash of another cruise ship, I would definitely recommend Royal Caribbean - and of course would want to go on board again in the future, perhaps another (bigger) ship from its fleet! Best would be to go during an off-peak period like we did. Not only is it way cheaper - therefore easier to make your money worthwhile with your tummy - but you also get to avoid loud noisy screams of too many children in the same place! :)

2012-01-09T23:19:00.003+08:00

Happiness is found in the form of...

Dona Manis Cake Shop's Banana Pie

Sis and I were first introduced to this to-drool-for beauty (and only $2 for a slice!) by my aunt last summer, when the three of us + Mom were in Katong for some munchies after Mom and I attended a wedding in the vicinity. This pie has a crumbly buttery crust, chunks of sweet soft banana, topped with a layer of shaved coconut and sprinkled with some chopped nuts. To die for. Really good. My sis is not a banana nor coconut fan, but she loves this - that's how good it is.

Dona Manis Cake Shop is somewhere on the B1 floor of Katong Shopping Centre. It's just a small bakery (not a walk-in) and you'd be able to spot the sign when you near it. Enjoy!

2012-01-08T21:29:00.002+08:00

Back to school blues

Our 4-night cruise on the Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas (stopped at Port Klang and Phuket) was AMAZING. Toward the end of the cruise, both of us fell victim to a nasty flu but aside from that, I had such a good time. The last time I was on a cruise was way back in perhaps early primary school days (or maybe kindergarten) and that was with Star Cruises, so this was my virgin voyage with Royal Caribbean - and it certainly did not disappoint. The service from the crew was great, and the never-ending food supply was such a dream! And it certainly was nice having Joel all to myself for 5 days. :) It's been only a couple of days since we disembarked, but I'm missing it so much already.

But well, all good things have to come to an end - and it's back to school tomorrow. While I have been dreading it (and I am most certain it has contributed to the worsening of my sickly condition), as always I still feel a tinge of excitement for the new semester. While school stresses me out - real bad at times - it's still somewhat of a comfort zone and I do (except for certain periods) enjoy it. Okay now please don't stone me when you see me on campus!

Cheerios. :)

2012-01-01T21:33:00.002+08:00

HAPPY 2012!

(Taken with my Diana F+ with the instant back, double exposed. Our faces are overexposed because of it was a self-shot and the flash was a bit too harsh for the close-up. But I love the fireworks in between our heads!)

2011, you have been a great year to me and will always be a very fond memory. Not only was it the year I turned 21 - the event made me realize how loved I am by those around me and how important they are to me - but also a year of fulfillment. I got to know the Phuas and while I didn't do too swell for the module that had initially led to it, I am really glad to have been able to spend time with them, become friends and help them out even just a little in raising funds for future medical expenses. Their motivation and spirit for life are so incredibly admirable. The past year also marked my greatest academic accomplishments in terms of my grades (though my CAP is still not Dean's List worthy, it still way better than I ever thought I'd be able to achieve). In 2011, I also came to several very important realizations. I now know what I'd really love to pursue in the future, and I also know who I'd love to be beside me in that future. While thought of the future still scares the crap out of me, knowing what I want - and that I've already got part of that - does help a lot.

Have a jolly new year, folks! And may 2012 be as delightful as 2011 was.

Cheers!

2011-12-31T00:00:00.002+08:00

RAWR
Teeheehee, I've survived another bout of insane CORS bidding! Well, NM3217 has bled me almost dry for 1000 points (on the dot too!), but at least I can now enjoy my New Year weekend and then my cruise trip with Joel worry-free!

Before coming home with only one weekend left to savor and then I have classes all over again (insert painful groan) and the (possible) headache of trying to obtain my 6th module in Round 3A. Sigh.

Well, life goes on.

Have a great New Year's kiss when it strikes 2012, people! And don't drink and drive!

2011-12-26T13:18:00.002+08:00

Trying to be Bree.

One of the most significant things that has stayed with me from Desperate Housewives is Bree's famous pineapple upside down cake. Loved the episode when she was secretly coaching Gabrielle over the phone - and yet Gabby still failed horrendously - and how they managed to make the cake switch through the window!

So when I saw the pineapple upside down cake recipe from Flour that involves making caramel and cooking fresh pineapple chunks in the caramel when was looking through my cookbooks for dessert choices for our family's Christmas Eve dinner, I decided to take a whack at it. My mom and I love pineapple, so we almost always have some fresh pineapple cut up and in the fridge. The recipe makes a 9'' cake, but at the time I only had sufficient pineapple chunks available for a 6'' cake, so I just added chocolate chips to the remaining butter cake batter and made them into chocolate chip muffins.

This is really pretty simple to make, actually! But, I think I might have either cooked the pineapple a tad too long, or perhaps the brand of pineapple wasn't the best to be cooked, because the pineapple chunks had a slightly bitter aftertaste - though my dad couldn't taste it for some reason. The cake was great though. The pineapple-infused syrup that soaked the top part of the butter cake made it so so awesome.

Old-fashioned pineapple upside-down cake

from Flour by Joanna Chang

1 pineapple

350g sugar, divided into 150g and 200g

120g water

86g softened unsalted butter, plus 114g, melted and cooled

140g AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, room temperature

3 egg yolks, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

For the pineapple:

1. Using a serrated knife, peel, halve, and core the pineapple and then cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices. (I just used pineapple chunks that were already cut up by my mom and in the fridge)

2. Put 150g sugar in the bottom of a medium saucepan (preferably not with a dark non-stick surface because you need to watch the color). Add the water and gently swirl the pan to moisten the sugar.

3. Place the pan over high heat and leave it undisturbed until the contents come to a rolling boil. Then continue to boil rapidly without moving the pan until the sugar syrup starts to caramelize. This will take about 3-4 minutes: the sugar syrup will boil furiously; then as it thickens, it will boil more languidly; and then you will see some of the syrup start to color and darken around the edge of the pan.

4. When you see color in the pan, gently swirl the pan in a circular motion so the sugar caramelizes evenly, and then keep swirlig gently until the caramel is a medium golden brown.

5. Turn down the heat to low and whisk in the softened butter; be careful, as the caramel may sputter and steam.

6. Carefully add the pineapple and stir until it is coated with the caramel.

7. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 8-12 minutes, or until the pineapple turns golden brown. The pineapple will release juice and liquefy the caramel.

8. Using a fork, transfer the pineapple to a plate. Continue to boil the remaining liquid on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until thick and syrupy.

For the cake:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 176°C. Generously butter a 9 inch round cake pan. (I lined the bottom with parchment paper and buttered that too)

2. Add all of the pineapple and caramel syrup to the prepared pan, arranging in concentric circles and covering as much of the bottom of the pan as possible.

3. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolks until blended, then slowly whisk in remaining sugar, the vanilla and melted butter. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just well combined (no clumps).

4. Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple in the cake pan. Tap the pan gently on a countertop to get rid of any air bubbles in the batter and to make sure the batter fills in any crevices in the pineapple and settles into the bottom of the pan.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes (it took about 35 minutes for the 6''), or until the top is golden brown and springs back when pressed in the middle with a fingertip.

6. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack until cool enough to handle.

7. Place a serving plate upside down on the top of the cake pan, then holding the pan and the plate tightly together, carefully invert them. Lift off the cake pan. If some of the pineapple sticks to the pan, remove and replace it in its place on top of the cake. Let the cake cool for at least another 30 minutes and then serve warm or at room temperature.

*This cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

2011-12-23T00:28:00.002+08:00

Short update:

Hello, I've been swamped with work (extra cash for my cruise trip with Joel in early jan) and super last minute christmas baking. Every single year I tell myself I will not make iced cut-out cookies anymore (because it's such a pain to decorate that eventually I'll just not care and they won't look nice) but somehow I always do. I think it's because I own so many christmas themed cookie cutters and it's such a waste not to use them when it's the season for it.

Anyway, exam results were released a couple days earlier and I did good! While the grade for one particular module was lousier than expected (and it was no exam too so I thought I did pretty darn well, but turns out I was wrong and it was just so-so), I am so relieved and grateful for the grades I got for most of my other modules because I really felt that I pretty much screwed up my final exams this round. (Thumbs up!)

Okay I am going to crash now. Two straight nights of late late baking (making the dough, baking and decorating had to be split up into three days because I have been busy) has taken its toll on my poor head. It feels like there is a huge boulder stuffed inside it, pushing against my brain and at the same time pushing against the inside of my skull.

Good night!

2011-12-20T08:09:00.002+08:00

A rainy Sunday at the Zoo!

It was our friend Kin Yong's 21st birthday yesterday (Monday), and so Joel and I planned for a trip to the zoo (he likes the outdoors and told us he would like to go to the zoo) with his family the day before so that his father could come along too. It was raining on and off, and there was a while when we were stuck amongst a crowd of people at a small sheltered area at the elephants exhibit because it suddenly started pouring. While a wet zoo isn't really ideal, I guess for them, it was better than a really hot sunny day. A few times I caught Ziqi sticking her hand out from under the shelter of the umbrella to feel the rain when we strolled around in the drizzle! Kin Yong also had a good time taking pictures with his birthday present from us (and my Aunt Eileen)! Initially he had trouble pressing the shutter button because he was surprised from the gift and his hands went 'soft', but he got better and took some pretty good shots!

Anyway, entry to the zoo for Kin Yong and Ziqi was free of charge! Anyone with a Developmental Disability Registry (DDR) Identity Card from NCSS can just show the card to the ticketing counter and get a complementary ticket to the Zoo, Night Safari and Bird Park. Two accompanying adults also enjoy a 20% discount on their tickets. The tickets are non-inclusive of tram rides, though.

2011-12-13T20:16:00.005+08:00

Melt The World Cafe

(Mandarin Oriental Hotel)

Birthdays are a big and hugely important affair in my family. There will always be a family gathering with uncles, aunts and cousins (on my Mom's side) which entails a cake, presents and red packets. Within our small family of four, it is also a must to have a celebratory meal together to mark the occasion. When we were too young to care, it was usually my parents who decided where to have dinner - and it usually would be a place where they have adorable kids' meals and ice cream - but since we grew to have minds of our own, our birthday lunch/dinner venues have been entirely up to us to pick.

Just last week, my baby sister - though not really so much of a baby anymore - turned 19 (yay!) and she chose lunch at Melt The World Cafe @ Mandarin Oriental! She made her choice based on reviews online, and we went there with the (misled) impression that there would be lobsters - but it turned out to be only for the dinner buffet. Regardless, I felt that the $68++/pax (the price is currently higher than usual due to the holiday season) was quite reasonable considering the ambience, variety, and the service.

I'm not going to ramble too much about the buffet, but I ate so much that it was my only meal for the day - I didn't even feel hungry much later that night. My favorite were the desserts - cheers to freshly-made waffles with homemade ice cream and so many toppings to choose from! And yummy yummy 'chocolate pudding', which is really more of a molten chocolate cake! Oh, and I love their coffee: so good I had three cups - black.

AND the service was impeccable! When we first arrived, the staff showed us around the place and introduced the different buffet tables, and throughout the meal, they consistently changed each polished-off plate, topped up our iced water and each time we were off to get more food, they'd fold our napkins nicely and place them aside on the table. Also, when we were done with our food, three of the staff came to our table with a lovely little (very yummy) cake for the birthday girl, sang her a birthday song with us, took a photo of us which they immediately printed and gave it to her in a birthday card with signatures of the staff! Thumbs up!

Okay no more words. Pictures:

2011-12-08T18:29:00.002+08:00

"I love the view from up here,

warm sun and wind in my ear,

we'll watch the world from above,

as it turns to the rhythm of love."

It's been 2 years, 2 months and 4 days since we've been together, but it's still a wonder to me how I managed to get here. I grew up as both a romantic (living on fairy tales, Jane Austen and classic American movies) and a commitment-phobic (running off in the opposite direction whenever a guy comes close to uttering those three little words) but somehow he changed things. We had a huge (but thinking about it, kind of overdramatized and senseless) blowup four days ago - thanks for friends who were guessing and concerned, esp Lydia Mak! - but as with all fights that we've had, it made us (me, at least) appreciate this relationship more than ever. It's really a wonder how I came from "FYI, I don't get serious with guys" to knowing for certain that there's someone I want in my future. But who's complaining right?

To all who love, are loved, have loved and hope to find love, whatever the hell love means for you. Cheers.

Nutella swirl cupcakes

From Baking Bites

140g butter, softened

82g sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

200g AP flour, sifted

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan. (I used lightly greased and floured silicone heart-shaped cupcakes as pictured above)

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light, about 2 mins.

3. Add in eggs one at a time, and then vanilla. Mix until fully incorporated.

4. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no clumps of flour remains.

5. Fill the muffin cups to 3/4 full with batter. Top each cup with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella, and swirl it with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the Nutella.

6. Bake for 20 minutes and you're done!

2011-12-05T00:19:00.000+08:00

It baffles me how things can just flip, in a split second.

2011-12-03T23:38:00.003+08:00

What do you when doubt is thrown on something that you've felt so strong, so certain, so sure about? All of a sudden, you wonder if what felt so right, so great, so exceptional might perhaps just be something on the surface and you've just been too chicken to look at what's really lying underneath? This is what I do:

1. Scream into my pillow

2. Punch everything punchable in sight

3. Throw hate at the world

4. Realize that I was perhaps too harsh on the world

5. Throw hate at whatever triggered such feelings

6. Punch my pillow

7. Collapse facedown into my pillow

8. Breathe

9. Breathe

10. Breathe

11. Go to the fridge and grab a brownie

And then blog about it.

While chocolate doesn't solve problems, it makes me feel better knowing that I can always rely on its presence and gratifying effect when I need a source of comfort.

Superfudge brownies

From the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

113g butter

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 tsp salt

250g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

110 AP flour

1. Preheat the oven to 176°C. Butter and lightly flour a 13x9'' baking pan. (I just lined it with baking parchment)

2. Melt the chocolate and butter. Let cool in the pan to room temperature.

3. Beat the eggs and salt in a mixing bowl until very fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.

4. Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture. Add the flour and fold just until blended.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting.

Note: They didn't turn out as fudgey as the ones from the scoop shops, and it baked out differently from the ones I made from the pre-mix when I used to work there - denser and a little drier. At the scoop shop, we baked it fully until the brownie is fully set but it might be a better option to bake it till it's just firm but not totally cooked if you prefer a fudgey brownie when using this recipe. And I totally regret not adding extra chocolate chips for added indulgence.

2011-12-02T20:19:00.003+08:00

BUTTERSCOTCH LOVIN'

While I've always been all for chocolate since I can remember, my sister has never been that huge of a fan. She appreciates a good chocolatey treat, but she's always been more of a sugary-candy kind of person. She used to have jars of candy - sometimes it could be gummy bears, sometimes it could be colorful hard candy - stashed in her room, which she would polish off in no time. Dentist-related woes have resulted in a decline in candy-chomping, but her love for sugary goodness has never died. Butterscotch is one of her favorite flavors - she is a diehard fan of Swensen's butterscotch ice cream. And so for my 'baby' sister's upcoming birthday next week, I whipped up a batch of butterscotch cookies (loaded with butterscotch chips). Replace the butterscotch chips with chocolate chips, they'd make good, chewy, decadent chocolate chip cookies too.

Butterscotch cookies

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

113g butter, melted

125g packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

193g AP flour

1/3 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Pre-heat oven to 176°C.

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together melted butter and brown sugar until incorporated.

2. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and cream of tartar, and gradually add to the wet mixture. Mix until just incorporated.

4. Drop tablespoonfuls (I used a teaspoon) onto baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Note: The original recipe makes three times the amount of this, and uses softened butter instead of melted. I chose to melt the butter in mine because I prefer my cookies chewier. :)

2011-12-02T14:52:00.002+08:00

Our exams are finally over! This bout of exams did not go as smoothly as all my previous semesters, but I hope they weren't as bad as I think they were. I've got my fingers crossed! My last paper was on Friday morning, and the past couple of days have been great. :) Joel and I had time to frolick around town, chill out at Toast for tea, bask in the Winter Wonderland decor along the street outside the Esplanade and just enjoy life. Today, Sis and I went to get our hair trimmed (it's a post-exam ritual of mine), had lunch at 4Fingers (I really like the katsu sandwich!) and went grocery shopping for her early birthday celebration with the family tomorrow.

My agenda for the rest of today (no studying involved!):

1. Bake!

2. Get rid of all school-related material from my desk

3. Watch tv

Oh yeah, good plan.

2011-11-27T11:09:00.002+08:00

Nothing releases exam stress better than good food shared with friends, tucked away in a cafe, away from the source of said tension. Friday morning was my second last paper of the semester, and I studied the least for it - and entered feeling the most unprepared - it was fortunately much better than my first two papers - which I slogged really hard for, btw. Thinking about it, perhaps I didn't in fact perform much better for it but it felt better because 1. being super unprepared, I was just glad to be able to answer the questions 2. it was my second last paper 3. after that paper I have a really long break before my next on Wednesday. Sigh, now that makes me feel even more uncertain for my grades this semester. :(

Regardless, our escape away from school to Cluny Court for lunch was a much needed break from it all. It was really REALLY satisfying. First, I satisfied my craving for sticky buns at Simply Bread - it is SO GOOD, and Nad and Neha can attest to it. Please go and try them, but do go there by the afternoon because they get sold out if you go too late. And I spent a good hour chilling out with good company aka Nad and Neha sharing a spinach lasagne and salmon pesto pizza at Da Paolo Gastronomia. While I didn't have anymore space in my tummy for dessert, just sitting there with a wide array of colorful sweet treats on display right in front of me was incredibly therapeutic. :)

Now that I've got a little taste of freedom, I can't wait for Wednesday 11am to arrive. Await my next entry of joy and liberation!

2011-11-23T00:44:00.003+08:00

CRAVINGS

Sat for my first paper this semester earlier this afternoon and I'm already in need of a BIG, JUICY, GREASY, CHEESY, SLOPPY, MEATY burger as a consolation - though I would've really liked to use the word 'reward', it is so not applicable given how I performed. The most annoying thing is during the few hours after the paper, points that I should've written just kept popping into my head. So I diverted my thoughts to sinful pleasures.

Though I really should've focused more on studying for my next paper.

2011-11-18T00:49:00.002+08:00

HAPPY 21ST, BFF!

Cheerios to almost 5 years of friendship, chockload of amazing experiences!

Truckloads of love,

Ting

2011-11-17T00:34:00.002+08:00

I spent today cooped up in my room, studying for my upcoming exams. My dad was home too, on medical leave due to a pretty bad scald on his right hand, a result of an accident involving our electric kettle. When I nipped out to the kitchen to refill my tumbler of water, the song "Everyday I Love You" (by Boyzone) was playing in the living room, where my dad was tuned to Gold 90 FM while organizing his documents. While I wasn't sure of the title and artiste of the song until I googled later on, I recognized it and was instantly flooded with a wave of nostalgia. Suddenly I was transported back to the carefree days of my childhood where I had no care for the world, when my 'future' was a far-away notion, when things were so easy.

It is during unexpected moments like this when I am reminded that things have changed. At twenty-one, I am now past the 'long' stages of childhood and adolescence. I've grown up, my parents are older, and soon I'll be graduating from university and any semblance of that childhood will be sapped entirely out of my life. People say that after that, life passes you by so much more quickly. I don't think I am ready for that. I really wonder if I'll ever really be.

As my dad would say, "This is life. Everyone has to go through it." I suppose one day I'll look back at today and be engulfed with nostalgia in a whole different perspective. And I realize that instead of yearning for the 'good ol' days' that can never be relived, I should be grateful that I've once experienced such days deserving of nostalgia - and for my parents, my sister, friends and relatives I've known from my childhood, and anyone else who have made them possible! Thank you!

Homemade pop-tarts, a sweet buttery treat worthy of celebrating the good ol' days.

(from Flour by Joanna Chang)

Pâte Brisée

245g AP flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

228g cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

2 egg yolks

3 tbsp cold milk

1. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a handheld mixer), mix together the flour, sugar, and salt for 10 to 15 seconds or until combined. Scatter the butter over the top. Mix on low speed for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or just until the flour is no longer bright white and holds together when you clump it and lumps of butter the size of pecans are visible throughout.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and milk until blended. Add to the flour mixture at once. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the dough just barely comes together. It will look really shaggy and more like a mess than a dough.

3. Dump the dough out onto an unfloured work surface, then gather it together into a tight mound. Using your palm and starting on one side of the mound, smear the dough bit by bit, starting at the top of the mound and then sliding your palm down the side and along the work surface, until most of the butter chunks are smeared into the dough and the dough comes together. Do this once or twice on each part of the dough, moving through the mound until the whole mess has been smeared into a cohesive dough with streaks of butter.

4. Gather up the dough, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and press down to flatten into a disk about 1 inch thick. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before using. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Assembling the pop-tarts

1 recipe Pâte Brisée

1 egg, lightly beaten

345g jam of your preference

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 175°C.

2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into half. Press each half into a rectangle. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each half into a 14-by-11 -inch rectangle. Using a paring knife, lightly score one rectangle into eight 3 1/2-by-5 1/2-inch rectangles. (I didn't follow these measurements but scored them to a smaller size that I wanted)

3. Brush the top surface of the entire scored rectangle with the egg. Spoon 2 tbsp of jam in a mound in the center of each scored rectangle. (Adjust according to size of your own rectangles if like me, you do not want to follow the measurements)

4. Lay the second large dough rectangle directly on top of the first. Using fingertips, carefully press down all around each jam mound, so the pastry sheets adhere to each other.

5. Using a knife, pizza roller or fluted roller, cut the layered dough into 8 rectangles according to the scored lines. Place the rectangles, well spaced, on a baking sheet.

6. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the tops of the pastries are evenly golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.

7. When the pastries have cooled for 30 minutes, brush the tops evenly with vanilla glaze. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the glaze to set before serving.

Simple vanilla glaze

140 g confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 to 3 tbsp water

To make the glaze: while the pastries are cooling, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough of the water to make a smooth, pourable glaze. (I made only half the recipe)

Note: Because I made smaller rectangles for my pop-tarts, I had some leftover dough which I used to make mini Nutella-filled pop-tarts. To assemble, I first rolled evenly sized balls of dough. Each ball was flattened on the baking sheet (lined with parchment), topped with a small mound of Nutella, and then another flattened ball of dough. The sides of the mini pop-tart were then sliced to create a square shape with straight edges. Bake them up about 15 to 20 minutes and you're set!

2011-11-11T23:41:00.003+08:00

It's 11.11.11, and the last official day of the semester. It's a little surreal how quickly time flies. It seems just a few days ago when I was still trying to catch my breath, getting used to being back in school after a long summer break - and now I've completed one whole (no exam) module and only have exams left to go before I saunter back into holiday-mode. Fa-lalalala-lala-lala..

Looking back at the whole semester, it really didn't turn out the way I thought it would back in August. Back then, I was so intimidated by my PR writing module but now it's probably my favorite (most enjoyable) module of the semester - which is really good because it is what I hope to do in the future. I thought I'd enjoy my Sexuality module the most - but rather, it turned out to be the one I neglected the most because I don't really like the lecturer. I did alright for the mid-term paper though, so hopefully I still get a good grade out of it. :)

NM3219 (the PR writing module) was really, really enjoyable to take. You should absolutely take it if you were considering. The workload is pretty heavy and it can be quite scary initially, but you'll get over it, grow some 'guts' and eventually love it like I do. While it does take up a lot of time, it honestly is much easier to get through as compared to say, a Soci term paper because it is so much more enjoyable. I loved it. :)

So anyway, to commemorate this last official day of school - okay it was more due to an itch to bake now that I finally have the time (I mean, most people pretty much chill the weekend before reading week away right?) - I whipped up this very easy chocolate swiss roll with Nutella filling.

I had used up all my unsalted butter last night for my homemade poptarts (to be posted later!) so I was looking through my cookbooks for recipes that did not require butter - and found one for a swiss roll with jam filling from a gifted cookbook (from Caryn, Eunica and Serene)! (Un)fortunately I had also used up all my jam for my poptarts, so I decided to go all chocolatey instead. Yum-my! And all it takes is half an hour, including baking time!

Chocolate swiss roll with Nutella filling

Adapted from Step-by-Step Baking (Caroline Bretherton)

3 large eggs

100g caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)

Pinch of salt

60g self-raising flour

40g cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp Nutella (or up to your liking)

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line the base of a 13x9'' jelly roll tin with parchment paper.

2. Set a bowl over a pan of simmering water, and make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water.

3. Add the eggs, sugar and salt into the bowl and whisk with a handheld electric beater for 5 minutes or until thick - batter that drips from the beaters should sit on the surface for a few seconds.

4. Remove bowl from heat and beat for 1-2 minutes to cool.

5. Sift in flour and cocoa powder and add vanilla extract. Gently fold in, and try to keep the volume.

6. Pour batter into tin and gently level into all corners, smoothing the top with a spatula.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until firm and springy to the touch.

8. After removing from oven, let cake cool until it has shrunk away slightly from the sides of the tin. In the meantime, lay a larger sheet of parchment paper on a work surface.

9. Carefully turn the swiss roll out of the tin onto the parchment, such that it lies upside down. Cool for 5 minutes, then carefully peel the parchment from the base of the cake.

10. Spread Nutella over the top of the cake, spreading to the edges.

11. Make an indent with the back of a knife on one short side of the cake, about 2cm from the edge. Using the indented edge to start it off, gently but firmly roll it up, using the parchment for support. Use the parchment tokeep cake tightly rolled and in shape. Leave to cool completely.

12. Slice and enjoy! Or refrigerate if you prefer (as I do)!

2011-10-29T23:49:00.004+08:00

Fairy tales should've begun with weddings.

While I'm no naive little girl, I've always been a sucker for love and romance. Needless to say, weddings are way high up there in my list of favorite occasions, just above birthdays. Weddings are also frequently star in my daydreams. In fact, I already have a dream engagement ring that I've decided on years ago.

26 October 2011: my eldest cousin, i.e. my mom's elder's brother's eldest daughter, Emily finally got married to her boyfriend for several years, Wei Ming! :) My mom's side of the family is really tight, and he gets along well with all of us, so he has my stamp of approval!

It was a long (but really fun) day. My cousin Jo, my sis and I were 'Jie Meis' for the wedding along with other friends (and another cousin) of Emily's. For the traditional morning tea ceremonies, we were all decked out in red dresses as instructed by the bride:

Here's my sis and I in our red, red dresses!

And the bride, excited to be picked up by her groom. :)

In Chinese tradition, the 'jie meis' (which literally translates to 'sisters') are supposed to guard the gate of the bride's home and bargain with the groom and his 'brothers' before allowing the groom to enter and fetch his bride. The theme that day was 'Casino Royale', so the groom and his 'brothers' were pitted (unfairly, I'll admit) against the 'sisters' in gambling games, and had to eat prepared food items representing 'sour' (lemon), 'sweet' (pi pa gao syrup), 'bitter' (bittergourd) and 'spicy' (chili padi sandwiches) after every loss. We managed to collect $399 from them before the groom was finally allowed to enter, saved by the looming of the 'auspicious time' at which he had to fetch his bride.

The rest of the morning was occupied with tea ceremonies at the groom's and then the bride's, with a short outdoor photo/video shoot with all the 'brothers' and 'sisters' in between. Video footage of the whole morning was then shown at the wedding banquet at night - and we found out that the 'brothers' had cheated and tossed most of what they were supposed to eat as forfeit into a plastic bag that was placed away from view!

After the day events, we had a few hours to head home, shower and get ready for the solemnization and then the wedding banquet - both of which were held at Marina Mandarin Hotel. My cousins and I headed over earlier to hang out in Gabriel's (Emily's younger brother) room and grab some Starbucks at Marina Square before the solemnization.

Before the solemnization:

My uncle and aunt, parents of the bride, looking real sophisticated!

My cousins (minus Emily) and I!

The solemnization:

She looked like a total fairytale princess in her poofy white gown and Brigitte Bardot hair!

They wrote and memorized their own vows. The groom got all choked up saying his, which was so 'awwwwwwwww'!

After the solemnization, it was prep time for the big banquet. I was in charge of setting up the booth for the photo albums, and here it is:

The standing letters and heart were from Typo, the Polaroid looking photos were created with Picasa (and the 'behind the scenes' shots of the wedding photo shoot taken in Taiwan) and the red paper pom pom flowers were made by yours truly (with some help from my sis and cousins in the hotel room at the last minute because the initial ones I made were crushed during transportation). Emily's colleagues made cupcakes for display too, but they weren't brought over at the time of this shot so pretend the empty cake stand here has cupcakes on it. :)

The dinner banquet was just about perfect. There was a video montage of the bride and groom's lives since childhood - including a picture of Emily in her permed hair when she was a kid! - and a surprise video dedicated to their parents which was so touching! :) Oh, and the groom sent the cork of the champagne bottle crashing into the pyramid of champagne glasses - and while Jews would exclaim 'Mazel Tov!', us Chinese shouted "Huat ah!". :) It was probably the most memorable part of the night.

Ahhhhhhh, I love weddings!

2011-10-29T14:53:00.001+08:00

I'm in a celebratory mood, and extremely reluctant to snap out of it. Wednesday was my eldest cousin (on my mom's side), Emily's wedding to her boyfriend for many years, Wei Ming! :) It was by far the best wedding I've been part of, and I'll put up a post with photos soon. :)

Thursday was my Daddy's birthday! We didn't get to properly celebrate yet because relatives from Hainan came for the wedding and they had to bring them around that day, before they flew off on Friday. We'll be celebrating this coming Monday though. :)

And yesterday night was Kim's early 21st birthday party. It was held at the 2nd level of Sukhothai at Boat Quay; a small, private and cosy affair. I loved the tom yum soup! And I had a great time yapping away with Lyd and Joy and finally meeting my cousin Patricia (who's coincidentally also friends with Kim)!

Photos and more to be up later!

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2011-10-21T23:04:00.004+08:00

Blister update:

It is now no longer fluid-filled or painful! Although Joel helped me drain it yesterday, it just kept getting filled again and again with more fluid - and because the skin of the blister was still wet, it accidentally tore this morning. At least now it's dry(er), though it still looks really disgusting.

It really looks worse than it feels.

I only feel perhaps a slight sting when it touches warmer water, that's all.

2011-10-20T09:20:00.003+08:00

I am way too much of a klutz for my own good.

I warn you: this ain't gonna be pretty:

Yeah, this was the product of trying to hold a large bowl filled to the brim with Nong Shim with my left hand to switch off the lights of my kitchen with my right. I impressed myself very much with my pain tolerance though. When the soup splashed onto my left hand and it hurt like a !@#$% I didn't let go of the bowl because I didn't want to create a mess that I'll have to clean up.

Okay fine I totally deserved it because I was just lazy, lazy, lazy. 1. I didn't want to carry the bowl to my room, and then go back to switch the kitchen light off. 2. I didn't want to clean up the mess so I let more hot soup splash onto my hand.

Lesson learnt.

I hope.

2011-10-17T21:08:00.003+08:00

YAY

After spending a bulk of my spare time last week sourcing for academic journals, credible web sources, newspaper articles and books, most of Saturday and 5pm yesterday evening to 4.30am this morning reading through all of them and drafting an outline, and then waking up at 8.30am today to start writing, I have finally conquered my Race term paper (except for the reference page) at 8.37pm! It was a painful process, sitting in front of my MacBook for almost 12 whole hours. I didn't even allow myself to have a proper meal because I didn't want to be distracted and tempted to procrastinate. But at least tonight I can have a good sleep (I hope). Ever since I began seriously looking into my term paper last week, my dreams have been someway or another invaded be some aspect of this module and it's been very disturbing. One particular night I dreamt that Joel wrote my term paper for me and it scored a 97/100!!!! Only after I woke up I realized it was odd because Soci papers are usually given lettered grades.

But yes, from that you can probably guess how unsettled I was by the term paper and its looming due date, which coincides in the same period when other group projects/presentations are due. This term paper is quite different from the others I have done in past semesters, and it's one that I am least confident of, but I'm hoping my streak for term papers isn't going to die out anytime soon! (Crosses fingers)

I think I deserve an episode of Mad Men now before my mind shuts down from the lack of rest the past few days. I am surprised by how it has stayed alert all this while. Oh, the wonders of adrenaline.

2011-10-10T18:06:00.003+08:00

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting

Once again when I was supposed to be catching up on my readings - or perhaps starting on my term paper or work on my group project - I managed to find something else to do. I am a Class A procrastinator! Haha.

Well, I've been having the urge to bake for quite a while but haven't had the chance to because of the craziness that's been going on so when I had the whole day to myself at home, I had to seize the opportunity don't you agree? :)

I've been craving cupcakes and when I flipped to this page of my Flour by Joanna Chang cookbook, the chocoholic in me just leaped out and exclaimed, "THIS IS IT!" Anyway, I did not want to run out to the supermarket - or even the store downstairs because I am just that lazy - and when I scanned through the ingredients list, all was fine and dandy - "uh huh, I've got that, got that, that too" - until I realized it called for 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate. "Oh damn it damn it damn it!" I knew I didn't have any, but still ran off to my refrigerator to check - maybe, maybe I had some stashed away that I don't remember - but nope, no unsweetened chocolate.

I was just about to consider giving up and flipping on to search for another recipe, but that seductive picture on the page refused to let me go. So I googled "unsweetened chocolate substitutes" and YAY I found this: http://www.food.com/recipe/unsweetened-baking-chocolate-substitute-188761. It probably isn't that authentic, but it did the trick! Oh, Tim Berners-Lee, thank you for the Internet. :)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Crispy Magic Frosting

(from Flour by Joanna Chang)

Cupcake batter:

2 oz/56g unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used 2 tbsp melted unsalted butter + 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder)

30g Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)

200g granulated sugar

114g unsalted butter

80g water

120g milk

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

140g AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt (I used sea salt)

1. In a small heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and cocoa powder. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar, butter and water over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, 3-4 mins, or until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved.

2. Pour the hot butter-sugar mixture over the chocolate-cocoa mixture and whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is homogeneous.

3. Whisk the milk, egg, egg yolk and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well mixed. Dump the flour mixture on top of the chocolate mixture. Whisk until the dry ingredients are totally incorporated.

5. Let the batter sit for at least an hour at room temperature, or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. (This allows the liquid to be totally absorbed into the batter, so the batter thickens up a bit)

6. Before baking, preheat oven to 175°C. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.

7. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling to the rim. Bake for about 30 mins or until the tops spring back when pressed with a fingertip. (Mine were ready in 20) Let cool completely in the pan or on a wire rack.

Crispy magic frosting:

140g granulated sugar

2 egg whites

342g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 2" chunks (make sure they are soft but not melted!)

230g confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. In a small heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg whites to make a thick slurry. Place the bowl over (not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat, whisking occasionally, for 3-5 mins, or until the mixture is hot to the touch. It will thin out a bit as the sugar melts.

2. Remove from heat and scrape the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment (or a handheld mixer). Whip on medium-high speed for 6-8 mins or until the mixture becomes a light, white meringue (it should be stiff enough to stay in the bowl if you overturn it) and is cool to the touch.

3. Turn down the speed to medium, add the butter, a few chunks at a time, and beat for 3-4 mins, or until butter is thoroughly incorporated.

4. Add the confectioners' sugar, salt, milk and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and satiny.

5. Use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days, then beat with the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for a few mins until smooth before using. Or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, then bring to room temperature and paddle for a few mins until smooth before using.

Note: I only used half the recipe for the frosting and had way more than enough for my 12 cupcakes!

Best enjoyed with a good TV show.

Cheers!

2011-10-04T23:26:00.002+08:00

HAPPY 23RD, LOVE!

This marks the third birthday of his that we're spending together. :) And the 2nd anniversary of our relationship going official. Joel Tan, I love you very very very much! And I look forward to many more birthdays to come.

Anyhow, it was a long day in school for both of us - poor boy's supposed to have e-learning week (this semester it's for FoS) but he had a mid-term, an EL lecture and a long long lab session - but we had an awesome dinner date to celebrate his birthday! :)

I brought him to Oriole Cafe & Bar at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites (beside 313, directly in front of Brotzeit)!

Opening his present + reading birthday card!

Appetisers: Arancini (with porcini mushrooms) and a gorgonzola cream sauce, and spicy calamari. This was both our first time trying arancini - I've been wanting to since I saw it on a Food Network travel/food show! - and it was creamy and very tasty! Though I'm sure authentic ones from Italy would taste way more epic.

Mains: I had the beef cheeks tagliatelle and he had the fish and chips. The beef cheeks were so tender they 'melt in your mouth' (in the words of Joel). He also loved the potato wedges and I liked that the fish wasn't greasy. While the fish and chips basket looked small, the serving is actually quite generous! We were stuffed!

After dinner at Oriole Cafe we headed to Cold Stone Creamery (refer to first photo of entry) for dessert! We shared a German chocolate cake concoction (loved the coconut in it) and I asked for a candle because there's no way I'm letting his birthday go by without making a wish and blowing a candle. :)

Before I end this,

I just noticed this on one of the tables in school!

How apt.

2011-09-30T17:47:00.002+08:00

There's nothing like home-cooked Friday dinners that make me feel loved and taken care of.

Most weeknights Sis and I are home late so my Mom cooks dinner only on Fridays (not counting weekend lunches) - and the beauty of a weekly home-cooked dinner is that it would usually comprise of dishes that Sis and I like. And it's Friday today! I took a peek into the refrigerator and I think there's going to deep fried squid. YUM.

I've never been so glad for the weekend as I am for this one. I'm just so knackered from the stress brought over from recess week + this week (i.e. midterms/presentation week), I just need a break! But if you take a look at the stack of readings I printed at the library earlier today, you'd now be looking at me with sympathetic eyes. Yeah the sad-sob story of my life.

Regardless of readings galore, at least there's nothing next week that will be making me go blue in the face, screaming "OMG I AM SO SCREWED!!!!! GAHHHH!!!!" into my pillow. So (insert victory sign) to that! Now I'm going to watch another episode of Mad Men before I start stapling together my printed readings and (oh, bother) start on them - after dinner.

2011-09-27T15:06:00.003+08:00

I've been in school for 7 hours and I still have 3 more to go. :(

I'm so sleepy, I'm tempted to just go home and crawl under the covers and sleep till tomorrow comes but I HAVE A DARNED MIDTERM TOMORROW UGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Just needed to rant.

Please lemme dream about the two essay questions for tomorrow tonight!

Okay bye!

2011-09-21T02:44:00.003+08:00

Whoa my head is spinning from hours and hours summarizing and analyzing news articles for my issues tracking project. :( This is my worst - in terms of workload - recess week ever. Okay I'm going to crash now.

G'night, folks!

2011-09-19T22:29:00.002+08:00

Truly happy days are hard to come by.

And despite an arduous day at work, where we were so busy (including heavy lifting) and there were electricians and wires in the way for most of it, today was no doubt one. :) Time passed really quickly and even though I'm extremely exhausted + had to deal with a bout of school-related anxiety mid-day, somehow the day felt really pleasurable! And all of us at BIY were just giggling and grinning especially towards the end of the day.

It could've been that Nad and Serene were both in joyous moods too, and all that happiness was just bouncing off all of us, multiplying it. It could've been that Nad started it all by coming in with super high spirits in the morning. It could've been the effect of having KOI (courtesy of our awesome manager Serene) while at work. It could've been the holiday cheer from all the Halloween streamers and decorations. It could've been the yummy extra Valrhona chocolate we got to share. It could've been the sum of it all, but I guess it doesn't really matter does it? A joy against all odds is so hard to come by, I should just appreciate it. :) I hope all of you had a good, happy day too!

P.S. Nad finally got to eat at Kichn! Every single time she heads out there wanting to try it, it's closed. Haha. At least now we know it's not her. ;)

2011-09-15T20:17:00.004+08:00

Birthday dessert table treats!

(3 recipes included)

From top: Heart-shaped vanilla sugar cookies, World peace cookies, Chocolate chip cookies, Peanut butter cookies

(Didn't have any extra at home so I don't have individual pictures of these)

From top left, clockwise: Lemon babycakes with marshmallow frosting, World peace cookies, Blueberry crumb bars, Hazelnut babycakes with Nutella frosting

A couple weeks before my party, I made the decision to bake up a dessert table because given my love for baked goods, how can my birthday party have none (not counting my cake)? So I decided on the items to include, and began baking two days before the party so that I'll have enough time but still have them as fresh as possible. My party was on a Saturday, so on Thursday I baked all my cookies before storing them in airtight containers with little bags of silica gel. The blueberry crumb bar and babycakes were baked on Friday, and the frosting was done on Saturday morning.

Anyway, baking for an event isn't as fun as I thought it would be! Baking sweet treats are usually therapeutic for me, but gosh this time it gave me such anxiety! I truly, truly admire those who do this as a career, because I will never be able to handle it.

Recipes:

(I converted the US measures to metric just for you! I don't trust measuring cups - they're just not that accurate! - and I totally get the pain of calculating the metric measures for almost every recipe found online or in cookbooks.)

Lemon cupcakes

250g butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs
2 cups self raising flour
2 teaspoon lemon zest
100ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 160°C & line muffin pan cavities. (I used a mini muffin pan)
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well each time.
4. Sift flour into batter and mix till lightly combined.
5. Lightly fold in zest and juice just until batter is smooth.
6. Fill cups 3/4 full and bake for 20 mins. (I baked the babycakes for about 15 minutes. Don't worry if they rise too much and crack on top because when they cool, the tops will sink slightly and even out)

Marshmallow frosting

1/3 cup + 2 tsp white granulated sugar

1 large egg white

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

2 tbsp water

1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract (I used a pure vanilla extract and it didn't really alter the color)

A little bit of salt

1. In a large metal bowl, whisk water, sugar, egg white, cream of tartar and salt.

2. Set bowl over a pot of barely simmering water and mix with handheld electric mixer at low speed. Gradually increase speed to high, beating until it holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes.

3. Remove bowl from heat and continue beating until mixture is cool and airy (about 2 minutes). Beat in vanilla.

4. Pipe or slather onto cupcakes.

Chocolate chip cookies

by Pithy and Cleaver

225g butter

200g brown sugar (I used 150g)

62g granulated sugar (I used 40g)

2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp corn syrup

330g flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp corn starch

2 cups chocolate chips (I just dunked as much as I wanted in)

1. Using a stand mixer, cream butter on medium speed until pale yellow and fluffy. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more.

2. Add the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and corn syrup. Increase speed to medium high and let it rock out for 3 more minutes. It will be fluffy and smooth.

3. While all the wet stuff is mixing, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch and salt.

4. Put the mixer on its lowest setting and add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, until just incorporated. Add baking chips and do the same.

5. Leave dough in your refrigerator for at least 12 hours (I made my dough on Wednesday and chilled it overnight)

6. When it's time to bake, preheat oven to 190°C. Using your hands, roll dough into 1.5" balls and smoosh them so they're moderately flat. Place on lined cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes or so. They will look slightly underdone. (I rolled the dough into my desired size, lined the balls up on the cookie sheet, and then flattened them with the back of a spoon.)

8. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes or so and then transfer onto wire rack and cool completely. (I ignored this because I had no time! I just transferred them straight away to a wire rack, and they turned out fine)

Blueberry crumb bars

by Smitten Kitchen

125g white sugar (I used 80g)

1 tsp baking powder

330 flour

225g cold unsalted butter, cut into big cubes

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries (I only had 3 cups so that was all I used!)

63g white sugar

4 tsp corn starch

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease a 9x13'' pan. (I used an 11x11'')

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 125g sugar, flour and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. (Weigh the dough and divide in half. The crust will be very thin.)

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, corn starch and lemon juice. Gently mix in blueberries. Sprinkle blueberry mixture evenly over crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake for 45 minutes or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. (I chilled it overnight and only cut them on the day of the party)

Enjoy!

P.S. If you want the recipes for the other items, just text/whatsapp/fb chat/fb message/tweet/e-mail me and I'll gladly share!

2011-09-11T01:34:00.004+08:00

Snapshots from my 21st

I love all you people in these photos + all those who came but had to leave early + Van who woke up crazily early in US time in order to Skype me after cake cutting! :D

Honestly speaking, I can't really remember much from the party. Somehow it sped by like a blur. I remember snippets of conversations with everyone, but I think for the most part I was greeting people who arrived and saying goodbye to those who had to leave. But looking back at the photos (taken by none other than my BFF Lyd!) I'm so incredibly happy that everyone who mattered came! And of course I am in love with all my gifts. :D

Favorites that I can remember

(in random order)

Seeing my dream birthday cake (the pink two-tiered ruffle cake has been part of my phone and desktop wallpaper for ages) come to life when Cheri delivered it to the cafe.

Seeing friends and family I've not seen in some time.

Introducing my parents to Joel's family.

(Of course) Receiving my presents - and opening them after I got home!!

Lyd and Nad being the first people I see outside the cafe when I first arrived!

Giving and receiving lots and lots of hugs!

My Trug/Germany trip friends getting along superbly well with my niece and nephews!

Yeah, those are basically the things that still bring a smile to my face when I think about that day. :)

More snapshots

My home-baked dessert table (yes I baked them all by myself within the two days before the party)! I'll be posting an entry really soon about baking the dessert table, so stay tuned!

My pretty pretty birthday cake!

And yes for those of you who know how much of a chocoholic I am, it is chocolate cake (with chocolate ganache) inside. :)

:D Balloons that the kids + some of my kiddy friends (you know who you are!) had a great time entertaining themselves with.

YES I MEAN YOU GUYS. :P

And lastly, skyping Van on Neha's iPhone! She just woke up so she refused to let others see her face but you bet I was super happy that she dragged herself out of bed at 6+ in the morning (in Michigan) for this. :) If you're reading this, Van, I MISS HAVING YOU AROUND IN SCHOOL!!

2011-09-08T11:09:00.001+08:00

Good morning!
I apologize for not updating for some time, but I have a really good excuse, I assure you! The past few weeks were spent crazy juggling school and planning - and baking - for my birthday party (which was last Saturday).

I'll be updating soon with a post about the party, but at the moment you can drop by fb to view the photos! :)

Cheerios!

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2011-08-27T01:01:00.002+08:00

Of bittersweet (though temporary) good-byes.

At 6am yesterday, Van flew off to her life-for-the-next-four-months as an exchange student in Michigan. We had a bittersweet farewell dessert-supper at Ice Edge Cafe the night before, before proceeding to her place to hang out for a while before she drove us home because she had time to kill and didn't intend to sleep that night. Unfortunately due to family commitments, Nad couldn't join us, but I drew her in based on what she was wearing that day. :) Oh and in case you're wondering what's going on in the picture, we're wearing winter coats at the suggestion of Van's mom! Vanny's been an amazing buddy in - and out of - school I'm definitely going to miss having her around!

Anyway this semester has been hectic. While I'm not overloading this semester, it somehow feels so much heavier than the last (and I was overloading then). Journal readings are getting thicker and thicker, and tutorial work is heavier - and I'm taking a writing for comm. mgt. module which gives me a lot of stress because I'm not used to media writing styles. Somehow writing a 4000-word essay seems less daunting. But I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it soon.

I'm absolutely looking forward to next week. Though the hari raya holiday has pushed forward certain things - thus contributing to the craziness of this week - I'll only have two days of classes next week! :D

2011-08-19T19:33:00.003+08:00

Have you ever been in a dream in a dream?

I get that pretty often, and even though there's nothing really scary about the scenario in the dreams, they creep me out.

I was trying to do my readings earlier in the afternoon and got really drowsy so I decided to lie down for a bit. I fell asleep, and I started hearing a medley of voices - if I remember right, they sounded like children playing in a playground. I knew I was dreaming because I was conscious of how my body was curled up on my side though I couldn't see anything because well, dream me's eyes were closed too. My body felt numb and stiff, and I couldn't seem to open my eyes, so I started to get a little freaked out. I realized there was a thin piece of cloth (kind of like a shoelace but smoother in texture) in my left hand. After some struggle, I forced my eyes open and I managed to sit up. But the room was dark. (It was in the bright afternoon) I lay back down, curled up again, and the voices returned, only clearer this time. Hand was still holding onto the cloth. Body felt stiff again. Really panicking inside this time. Then, I finally forced my (real) eyes open. And the cloth wasn't there anymore.

It was so realistic, it's creepy. I've also had other variations of dreams in dreams, some which stretch through multiple dreams too.

If you've had similar dreams, gosh, tell me about it next time we meet!

2011-08-16T08:38:00.003+08:00

I am currently sitting outside LT15, killing time before my 9am class, feeling extremely unexcited. The class is going to be three whole hours and it's such a small class (19 students only), I probably won't be able to tune out like I do (quite frequently) for big lectures.

To joyful-er matters! We had crabs again (at Master Crab) for dinner last night! It was such a good treat after a long busy day at work - plus it's the first time Neha and I could both make it! I haven't seen her since last semester!

We are the epitome of multiracial Singapore. Aside from two chinese, we also have one chinese-indian-malay (Nad), and one Nepalese (Neha)! :D

We shared two crabs and a plate of fried mantous (deep-fried sweetened steam buns) which we used to soak up the awesome sauces.

Salted egg crab.

Black pepper crab.

The black pepper crab was spicy! But shiok! Next up: chili crab please!

2011-08-14T01:02:00.003+08:00

I am so not used to the idea of being back to lectures/tutorials/readings/assignments/studying/bleh. And I'm definitely for sure not used to the idea of being in my THIRD YEAR. Gosh has it really been two whole years since I was a fresh undergrad? It's insane, and incredibly scary. I don't like being in school but am dreading going into the workforce. That whole pit of uncertainty has been easily avoided for the past years but now that I'm HERE, it's looking me right in the eyes and it sure as hell scares the crap out of me. Oh, so many "What ifs"!

Well, at least there are a few aspects of my life that I can depend on to be (I hope) pretty stable:

1. My family's support. My dad even laughed at the idea of me worrying about possibly not finding a job that I want. He said unlike when they were younger, we now have the option of taking our time to find a job we're interested in because we won't have to financial issues like helping our parents support the family, etc.

2. My boyfriend. It'll be officially two years in a couple months time and I was just telling Lydia how it often amazes me that I'm still not at all tired of him. In fact, I think I enjoy his company now more than I did in the past when we were fresh.

3. My girlfriends! And yes if you think you're one of them, then you should be. :) I love you guys!

Okay. Now thinking about it, the future's not that scary after all.

2011-08-04T23:56:00.002+08:00

On 2nd Aug, 2011:

T: If you had to be a food, what would you want to be?

J: Peanut butter. Because you like peanut butter!

Today marks a year and 10 months of us being officially together, and he still makes me smile (almost!) every single day.

Speaking of peanut butter, I baked a batch of PB&J Brownies today!

They are strictly for people who love pb&j sandwiches though. E.g. My dad finds the combination very unappealing, but I still often have a pb&j sandwich for breakfast/lunch/sometimes dinner. These brownies are rich, gooey, and filled with peanut butter and jam swirls (or chunks, if you may). These are pretty simple, and take only about 30 minutes to prepare the brownie batter and the peanut butter swirl (cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla), but I was supposed to marble the batter and the pb swirl on the top, but well you can barely see it. Oh well.

2011-07-31T23:56:00.003+08:00

Joel gave me this when he picked us up from the airport in the wee hours of July 26. I love you, Joel Tan!

I've been back in Singapore for almost a week now. But I've been too busy (okay, not really busy but just going out every day) to update about the trip, so in the meantime you can check out FB for the photos - and when the semester begins and I want to procrastinate doing readings/assignments/studying, I'll write about more significant moments of the trip! :)

Anyhow, we finally pulled off our Cousins' day out at Universal Studios! :) It was fun. We managed to convince my chicken sister to sit for both Human and Cylon Battlestar Galactica rides! :D And we sat Revenge of the Mummy multiple times just to get good camera shots so we can buy them. Haha. The 7 of us grew up together, until today our families meet up very often, and still we always celebrate each other's birthdays! Cheerios to us!

2011-07-15T03:44:00.003+08:00

I'll be away for 11 days!

Back on the 26th.

To Joel: I love you and I'll miss you insanely. Though I've not left yet, I miss you already. Rest well while I'm away since you don't really get that much rest when I'm around! :P Love you, and I'll see you real soon.

2011-07-13T00:18:00.002+08:00

Hey ho!

Back from dinner with Nad and Van after work! We wanted to go to Kichn because Nadia has been meaning to try the place but the last time she visited the place, it was closed - AND IT WAS CLOSED TODAY TOO! Haha, now we know it's her. So anyway Van took us to this tapas bar on Dunlop Street instead. I'm too lazy to upload photos here so check out my FB if you're interested! It was so fun just chilling out with the two of them after work. We ate, drank and talked! We are so sad that Van is leaving for exchange soon. :( We won't be able to complete our Sex and the City marathon!

Moreover, I'll be away with my family from the 15th to the 26th! It's going to be a whole 11 days in some part of China I have never heard of before until my parents booked the trip. The place is called Zhangjiajie, and well, it's supposed to very scenic - which my parents enjoy. There's going to be a four day cruise in the middle of it too. I still don't feel excited for it yet, because it's such a long trip, away from my laptop, internet, food blogs, friends, and of course most importantly, Joel. And it kind of sucks that after I get back, the new semester will be so close. But I guess a break away from Singapore would do me some good. And I'll get to spend more time with my family. :)

Gosh I am craving for a rich chocolate layered cake!

Time to go to bed.

2011-07-10T22:29:00.003+08:00

In the afternoon today, I accompanied Joel to Bedok Reservoir to support his canoe teammates who were rowing in the PM Cup dragonboat competition (it was like about half dragonboaters and half canoeists I think). The events were delayed for maybe an hour and a half because of bad weather so we had to sit through quite a few races (and blank spaces) until the PM Cup. It was a huge bore. No offense to anyone though. I'm just not a big fan of dragon boat races. Contact sports are more my thing, I guess.

Anyhow, after it was finally over - NUS won both the male and female categories! - we drove over to where I used to live before moving to Woodlands! :) So much has changed! The lift used to only go to three floors with a long corridor across the block, so residents living on other floors will have to use one of these corridors to access different stairs that will bring them to their homes. Now, the old lift has been replaced with one that goes to all floors, and there are two new lifts that cater to the units at the sides of the block. If we still lived there, we'd have a lift that goes directly outside our door! But gosh it looks so different from the last time I visited the place with Kiat, maybe about two/three years ago. Now I can barely recognize the area just outside the door.

But anyhow, I take comfort in the fact that the playground downstairs has not yet been replaced! :) It's now all battered up and so old, but it's still the exact same one I used to play in as a kid! Take a look:

Oooooh yes, and we drove along the road to check out the places I used to go to all the time - and I'm so pleased that the clinic we used to go to is still where it was! :)

I'm so filled with nostalgia, it's making me want to cry!

2011-07-08T15:22:00.005+08:00

Paid a visit to the Blood Bank at Woodlands to donate blood just now but my iron count's too low again. :/ Somehow even though officially I should be able to donate 12 weeks after my previous donation, I never seem to be able to until maybe a couple months after that.

Anyhow, Nad came over yesterday to bake cupcakes for our Saturday picnic brunch with our Germany trip friends from IJ! :) We made nutella cupcakes with nutella cream cheese frosting (improvised because we couldn't find double/heavy cream in the supermarket which was required for the initial frosting recipe) and orange cupcakes with a sugar glaze! We decided on nutella because it's german and they had little tubs of it at the breakfast buffet tables of most of the hotels we stayed in! I remember when Lloyd would stuff a bunch of them into his pocket and eat them on the bus after. :) And well, orange because it's a good contrast and Nadia swears it's awesome - which it is! Light and fluffy and so good! And it was super fun baking and decorating the cupcakes together. Nad is an awesome baking buddy because...SHE ACTUALLY LIKES WASHING UP. I didn't have to wash anything at all, omg. :D

Orange cupcake with sugar glaze and Nutella cupcake with nutella cream cheese frosting!

2011-07-07T00:06:00.002+08:00

It's we're more than halfway through the summer break now and it pains my heart that my freedom will soon be snatched away from me - and next summer I'll most likely be doing an internship so NO MORE LAZY SUMMERS FOR TING? (Insert dramatic shriek of horror) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyhow, I have been making good use of whatever time I've got! I'm barely at home and I'm getting increasingly broke from spending on food, food and more food..and shopping, and food.

Sis and I watched Green Lantern today (we had free tickets) in the late morning, and then shopped for a while before heading to TCC for high tea!

We both ordered the July high tea set (they change it every month), but requested to change the coffee/tea that comes with the set to an iced lemon tea (for her) and a Gula Oohlala (which I am sooooo addicted too). You just have to top up the amount, which is maybe only about two or three dollars more! Oh have I gushed about my new favorite drink, the Gula Oohlala? The icy gula-melaka spiked soy concoction with generous chunks of coffee jelly just makes me squeal with delight inside with every slurp!

This is the high tea set for the month of July. I loved the scones! Polished them off with every last bit of my jam.

While scones and (oooh) Gula Oohlala are oh-so-good, I need to tell you about dinner at Manhattan Fish Market just yesterday (6 July)!

Joel: my dinner date. :) We ordered the platter for two, which was currently on promotion for only $29.90!

In case you haven't had it yet, there's a large fillet of fried fish over a bed of fries, yummy garlic rice, grilled prawns, fried calamari and oysters, and some vegetables in the platter.

So yes, we were having a good time eating until we reached the middle portion of the fish when we realized that part was still raw! We alerted the waiter, who apologized and took it back to the kitchen. By then we already ate about maybe 1/5 of the whole platter, but they replaced it with an entirely fresh new platter. And while we were waiting for that new platter to be cooked, they gave us complimentary cheese fries to hold us over till it was done. AND they gave us another complimentary dessert of our choice from the menu as an apology for the fish! The waiter was incredibly and sincerely apologetic - which was actually enough for me - and we were just surprised by how the situation was handled! We were honestly just expecting them to perhaps replace the fish! And I thought good service was dead in casual dining restaurants. I guess I thought wrong! :) Kudos to Manhattan Fish Market! We were so stuffed when we left, paying for just the one platter!

In case you were wondering, we picked the mud pie for dessert! Gosh, we were actually possibly going to order that later on because I thought it looked really good on the menu. While no one would like finding a raw piece of fish in their dinner, no harm was done and it turned out to be a way good thing for us, so hurray!

2011-07-02T21:36:00.002+08:00

This week has been incredibly draining. Not in a bad way, though. I worked on Monday, went cycling across Singapore with Joel on Tuesday, spent Wednesday recuperating, watching Transformers 3 and hanging out in town, and then worked again on Thursday and Friday. And today I attended a Hindu temple wedding with Mom in the morning before food hunting in Katong/Joo Chiat with Mom, Sis and my aunt and then shopping and dinner at Raffles City. It was an eventful and rather fulfilling week. Here are five things that made it so much better:

I got to have my favorite chocolate chip muffin from Chocolat N' Spice the morning after a whole tiring day of cycling! Thanks Mommy!

My first Indian/Hindu wedding! The groom is my Mom's ex-colleague's son. Dad was working so I was there to represent him. I couldn't really see what was going on during the ceremony because of where we were sitting, but I occupied myself admiring how the female guests were dressed! So dolled up, in colorful saris!

Another first: banana pie! It was warm and moist, and the crust was sooooo good. :)

"Gooey" from Mooshi Bakes! A twist on the cinnamon bun, with soft melted cheese topping instead of syrup!

Kopi and sugee cakes at an ol' school Hainanese coffee shop!

2011-06-30T15:05:00.001+08:00

I WILL NEVER BUY FABRIC RUBI SHOES EVER AGAIN!
I am at work now, having my lunch break, and I am so appalled by the condition of my shoes! I'm wearing the cream-colored flats with a ribbon on top, and after they got soaked when i was walking over in the rain from Newton MRT Station, they're falling apart! This is SO BAD. After I knock off, I'm going to buy a new pair of non-rubi shoes and toss these. Ugh!

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2011-06-29T23:22:00.004+08:00

I watched Transformers with Joel today and a couple hours later in a store, I hear people on the radio saying they prefer Megan Fox over Rosie, my favorite VS Angel. ARE THEY NUTS? Rosie's so incredibly sexy, especially with those luscious pouty lips (come on, no amount of collagen injection can give you THOSE lips), I totally have a girl-crush on her!

2011-06-25T23:33:00.003+08:00

Tea at The Marmalade Pantry!

My Aunt Eileen's birthday is tomorrow, so Mom, Sis and I met up with her for tea to celebrate! We went to Marmalade Pantry for the high tea set, but discovered that they only have that on weekdays. Bah. But they had weekend brunch so we could order items off the brunch menu too, so that made up for it. :)

Soon-to-be birthday girl and Mom!

Me and Sis!

Everyone picked at least one item off the food menu and then we basically shared it all.

First up: the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting and coconut on the top, and the 'Elvis', which is a chocolate banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting. Yes, of course I was the one who ordered the Elvis. Haha I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER. Anyhow the Elvis is still awesome (previously I tried it at Toast) and while the red velvet was good, I don't really like the coconut on top! The taste was too strong for me, but my aunt and Mom liked it. They love coconut.

The red velvet cake is REALLY RED. I hope they used beetroot and not a truckload of red coloring.

On the left is my iced lemon tea (Sis got the same too, while Aunt Eileen got the bombay chai tea and Mom - as usual - the long black) and on the right is the blueberry almond tart. Sis and I love the crust! And somehow the tart tasted a little like egg tart to me.

Off the brunch menu is the french toast with caramelized banana and maple syrup! This is super yummy, I ate the most of it even though it was my aunt who ordered it. The insides are soft and eggy, and the outside is crispy! Plus lots of maple syrup = heaven.

Lastly, the truffled mushroom risotto! This is good. Though I didn't really like the black fungus looking mushroom (or perhaps it IS black fungus, though it didn't really taste like black fungus). Sis especially loved this. Polished off a bulk of it.

I enjoyed the food a lot! But! The service was horrible. Really horrible. We actually ordered the sea salt caramel cheesecake, but you don't see it here because we didn't get to eat it. The guy who took our order didn't bother writing the items down, and missed out the cheesecake and Mom's long black. When we asked for them mid-meal, we only got the coffee. In the end we just cancelled the cheesecake. And before our food came we asked for two glasses of warm water and two glasses of iced water. Nothing came until we asked again, and then only the warm water arrived. The woman who served the warm water said the iced water will be coming soon, but then it never did. Tsk. I hope it was just because they were understaffed and too busy because it's the weekend.

2011-06-23T21:33:00.003+08:00

After a day out with Sis, I had some time for myself at home earlier tonight. I decided to watch Flipped, which has been sitting in my "Vids" folder for months. I loved it. The story's simple and heart-warming, and I loved that it was set in a small town back in the 60s. I won't ruin it for you by revealing the storyline, but I teared a little bit at some parts and chuckled at others. Oh please do watch it if you have the time! :)

Okay, I shall go be a geek and play The Sims 3 Medieval now. I am sheepish to admit I can spend a few hours on that thing. Sssssssshhhh don't tell.

2011-06-22T00:53:00.002+08:00

Just planned out my timetable for next semester - and hell, I'm going to DROWN. Like a cat in the deep blue sea. I need to overload for the next two semesters in order to graduate after four years, and aside from core modules, I still have a breadth and a Social Science exposure to clear. I was planning to do one of each for the next two semesters, but turns out the breadth I'm interested in is only available in Semester 2 AND the exam for the exposure module I'm looking at is on the same day (just before) another Level 3000 Soci module.

So, next semester I'll be doing 6 core modules. The last time I overloaded (last semester), two of them were S/Uable. This time none will be.

:( Now how am I going to enjoy the rest of my summer?!

2011-06-18T00:06:00.002+08:00

Joel's new bike:

It's good looking, and expensive, and attracted a few admirers while we were having lunch at Changi Village but...

I never knew I'd lust for a bicycle until I saw this one while Joel was browsing bikes online.

This is so pretty!

Agree?

2011-06-17T17:49:00.002+08:00

Outside the Yishun public gym waiting for Joel to finish his sets. I'm sweating buckets. While he's in the gym, I was at the track. It's been a long, long time since I've ran on a track (since JC) and hell, 8km outdoors is WAY easier than running 20 rounds on the track. My chest and legs feel fine, but my head is SPINNING!

Anyhow, this auntie who keeps the track/field area clean is SO SWEET. I left my water bottle (tthe disposable type) on the benches and when she was sweeping the area, I was a second too late in stopping her from emptying the bottle and throwing it onto the dustpan. Since the deed was done, I assured her it's okay and I'll just drink from a water cooler later and resumed my run. One round later, I spot her holding two new bottles of water and she insisted I take both to hydrate myself properly. That was super nice of her, I'm still overwhelmed. :) Made my day!

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2011-06-16T23:23:00.002+08:00

I had an incredibly unfortunate day at work today. :(

Recently I've been spending a lot on online shopping - e.g. I splurged on 6 OPI and Essie nail polishes this week - and on just going out, so I was looking forward to working for some extra cash today. Sadly, there was a shortage of $44.50 in the till, which had to be deducted from my pay as per store policy (we collect our pay from the till at the end of the day). I still have no idea how that $44.50 could've gone missing, but hell that's more than 80% of my pay for the day! My manager was incredibly sweet and contributed $10 to it, so I only had to deduct $34.50 from my pay. But still, I feel so frustrated about it because I have no clue as to how the money got lost! To add on to my lousy day at work, my colleague for the day had to leave at 6pm (an hour before closing) and a stream of customers started entering after she left. And I was all alone in dealing with all of them and then closing. :( I'm hoping after today, future days at work will go smoothly. No more shit like this, please!

Anyhow, I'm so glad I had a date with Lyd after work. She totally made my day so much better. :) We had sumo salad and gong cha by the river once again, and just talked, before going home. Oh and the day definitely turned for the better. A few months ago I bought two pairs of flats online and while both were supposedly the same size, one fits perfectly while the other is way too big! Since then, the too-large pair has been just sitting in my room, but I recalled that Lyd's feet are one size larger than mine - and when she tried them on today, they fit perfectly! :D So we exchanged the shoes for a one-dollar coin. :) Because Chinese superstition says it's bad luck to give someone shoes.

Tomorrow shall be a good day!

2011-06-12T00:46:00.002+08:00

Hey ho!

I'm currently still really stuffed from dinner, so I can't go fall asleep sleep even though I'm really tired too, so I shall write about my past two days with two of my favorite people (aside from my parents)!

Friday was spent with Sis, to watch Insidious in the late afternoon because she's been craving for a horror film. And over the past years we've kind of been each other's horror movie buddy. :) I recall this one time, back in 2008 when the cinema at Sunplaza was still open, when we got so freaked out by the empty, dark, silent theatre (we entered early) even before the movie started, and ran out to wait for more people to enter before returning to our seats. Haha we are so chicken, but somehow we always go back for more. Ugh and I keep telling myself to stop paying money to scare myself! Insidious was good, though. While many horrors are mostly built on suspense, with just a few scares, this one had a ton of scares. And some of the scenes are still haunting me!

Okay, I shall stop thinking about it and freaking myself out again.

Anyway, it was a 1-for-1 food day! :D First we had lunch at TCC, for 1-for-1 pasta (the offer is also for main courses)!

I can't remember the long names of the dishes but mine was basically supposed to be spaghettiwith salmon tataki, the slices came entirely cooked through! :( And the egg was also a bit overdone. The pasta sauce was really good though, so I guess that made up for it. Sis had the spaghetti (with some garlic-ish miso sauce with japanese mushrooms) and crispy oysters. I stole half an oyster. It was yum. For drinks she got the (BORING) iced lemon tea and I tried the Gula Ooh-la-la! It's basically a soy frappe with gula melaka and coffee jelly. LOVED IT.

After Insidious, we had desserts for dinner! :) 1-for-1 classic desserts at Bakerzin! I had the chocolate souffle and Sis got the molten chocolate cake. I am such a chocoholic, I love anything chocolatey and rich so I won't even bother commenting on how I felt about them both.

Today (Saturday) was spent with Joel! :)

We've only known each other for less than two years, but I can't imagine not speaking to him for more than a day! I love you, Joel Tan!

So yes, anyway, we had lunch at eM by the river! We shared an American Breakfast, and a bacon rosti. YUM to the bacon rosti! I've said this the last time I tasted it, and I'm going to say it again: Definitely going back for the rosti!

After lunch, we went bike hunting (for Joel, of course) along the East Coast Road area! His lust for a bike has been rekindled after about a year back in Pasir Ris. Haha. But gosh, bikes are so expensive la. I'd have an amazing shopping spree with that kind of money - perhaps with a bit left for saving!

Bike hunting turned us both into tired and hungry kids. So we had dinner at Old Airport Road Hawker Centre! We ate so much, causing my current stomach discomfort - and Joel's "I'm so stuffed" face above. Haha.

2011-06-07T11:24:00.001+08:00

Good jolly morning, people!

I'm writing this on my Charm while waiting outside in my living room for my NEW GLASS CAKE STAND(!) that I arranged to be delivered between 9am to 1pm today. Our doorbell is old and dingy and we can't really hear it from our rooms so I have no choice but to sit here and wait, while watching recorded episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8 (I love it, love it!). I hope it arrives SOON cause im so tired of waiting and I'd really like to go take a shower. I'm so gross now, in my filthy running clothes because I didn't want to risk missing my package while I'm in the shower. I'll post up a photo of my cake stand later! :D It's being delivered from Aussie so I'm crossing my fingers for it to be perfectly whole and intact.

Anyway, I had a superbly great night with Nad and Van (and Van's boyfriend Jarret) yesterday! Nad and I were working together at BIY in the day and so it was a dinner date at Strictly Pancakes! I didn't get to eat my peanut butter pancakes with nutella, ice cream and kinder bueno again! I was so sure this time finally I'll get that instead of one of the savoury ones because I've been wanting to try it, but silly me ate too many macaroon shells at BIY and was so overloaded with sugar that I ended up wanting something savoury. Gah! Somebody ask me out to Strictly Pancakes SOOOOOON please! I need those peanut butter pancakes!

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2011-06-06T22:44:00.002+08:00

I GOT MY MOTOROLA CHARM FOR $199.00 (no contract)!
Okay it's relatively old news because I've had it for two days so far, but the fact that I got this cute little phone - which I thought was so cute and wanted when it was first released - so cheap still makes me buzz with joy!

For those who see me on a relatively regular basis would know that I've been using a Motorola Dext. But on the day I went to USS with Joel, the screen just blacked out on me! A few days later, it revived but then after a few hours, it'll automatically reboot for no reason. :( Warranty's been over for a few months, so there isn't any point in having it fixed. Since then I've been using my old Palm Treo Pro, on which my data plan is almost useless aside from pulling emails. So you'd be able to imagine my excitement when Joel brought me into this shop at Ion and we spotted that promotional deal for a $199 no contract Charm! :D

Such a nice little coincidence. <3 I love my new cheap phone!

2011-06-02T00:36:00.004+08:00

The Wilton Mini Loaf Pan: my latest purchase from BIY (yay staff discount!)

And it was put to good use tonight, to bake my favorite banana bread!

The mini loaves are so adorable, but are bigger than regular muffins so I thought they'd make great gifts for simple cakes like these that require no decorating! :) Plus, they're just nice in size for a quick breakfast!

Anyhow, so far this week has been great! Joel slept over Sunday night so we could check our results together in the morning when we receive the SMSes, and oh thank goodness we received good news! It was such a nerve-wrecking experience, however. It normally takes a lot to wake Joel up but that morning he woke up at around 7am ON HIS OWN! And damn it he received his SMS at least 10 to 15 minutes earlier than I did. My entire body was buzzing with anticipation+fear and I was really preparing for the worst - but OH HUGE RELIEF CAME! :D

My grades for 2010/11 Semester 2:

MNO1001 - B- (S)

NM2101 - B

SSA2211 - A-

SC3213 - A-

SC2220 - A

NM2219 - A+

Cumulative CAP: 4.24 (after S/U)

I feel extremely blah about my MNO1001 results because of the amount of effort I've put into the group project, but okay thinking about it, I didn't really study for the final exam so perhaps it wasn't uncalled for. But anyhow I've S/Ued it so no harm done!

Aside from MNO, I'm so very pleased with my grades for all my other modules! :D Especially for NM2219, because it's the most relevant to what I intend to do in the future. And I put in a crazy lot of effort in the two group presentations and our group report! And I'm so relieved for the B for NM2101. It's not a good grade, but I completely screwed up my mid terms and my class participation grade was probably quite low (I only realized at the end of the semester that forum participation counts for it and only then did I post one thread on the forum!) so a B is way awesome. I was hoping and hoping for a B-, and fearing for my first C!

Joel and I both were the least confident in this past semester, but we've both pulled through so YAY! :D I'm hoping that having been doing decent in school, my parents will be more lenient and allow me to go on short trips abroad in the near future!

2011-05-29T00:20:00.001+08:00

In less than 2 days, I will be receiving an SMS containing the scariest information of the semester. Holy moly. Wish me luck!

2011-05-27T23:48:00.003+08:00

Oh, this is crazy awesome stuff! Darling Nad bought this for me during her Eurotrip! :) I love love love Lotus biscuits and this is just...AWESOME. Sorry for my limited vocabulary, but I can't think of a better word to describe it! So far I've been eating it with ahem a spoon, but I should really restrain myself and save some to use in baking some time! Cupcakes, perhaps?

Speaking of restraint, I have been eating so much and not exercising! I know I ought to feel guilty but somehow it's so easy to brush aside. And I've still got plans for more unhealthy eating and bumming around in the next few days! Oh I need the discipline I used to have that got my bum up early for min 6km runs!

Oh, anyway! (Brushing it aside) Joel and I spent today at my place, and I made us lunch!

Menu:

Creamy mushroom penne

Cornflakes crusted baked chicken breasts stuffed with couscous

Cheese-filled meatballs

It was fun cooking! I bought most of the ingredients, i.e. chicken breasts, minced beef, mushrooms, yesterday before heading home from my date with Nadia and Van. When I got home, I made the meatballs, binding the minced beef with egg, some sauces, herbs and spices, as well as the buttermilk marinade, which I soaked the chicken breasts in overnight. I love buttermilk marinaded chicken - so tender and moist! :) So anyway today all I had to do was cook the couscous, stuff the chicken breasts and coat them with crushed cornflakes, stuff the meatballs with cheese, popping both into the oven and then making the pasta. Unfortunately the cornflakes did not adhere too well to the chicken, so you can see it's a little bare at some parts. Might try coating it in egg and some flour before coating with the cornflakes in the future!

2011-05-26T23:43:00.005+08:00

Warning: this is an image-heavy post!

25 May 2011:

I finally visited Universal Studios Singapore!

Though people may complain that it's nothing compared to theme parks abroad, my day at USS was pretty darn great. :) Of course my first time there had to be with Joel, and he was a great companion, I'll say! We didn't go for all the attractions, and gave a few rides and shows meant for children a miss, which gave us just enough time to go for rides and shows that we wanted to catch - and go for our favorite rides for a second time. :) Below are just some photos from the day! We didn't take too many pictures because it was just the two of us and we were more focused on experiencing as much as we can in one day!

The WaterWorld show was pretty interesting. Though I was more occupied with protecting myself from getting soaked because we were sitting right in front, in the 'soak zone'. Haha. I would probably have chosen to sit higher up in the 'splash zone', but my cousin Jo (who was working) made us sit with her in front!

Jo and I! :) I finally got to see her in her uniform! I was horrified at first sight, but then eventually I grew used to it and it doesn't seem as bad after a while. Haha.

This was taken just before we left the park. Behind is the Battleship Galactica, which was super fun! :) Although I suffer from motion sickness, I love roller coasters and the adrenaline rush they bring - and therefore Galactica was of course our favorite for the day! The Galactica Human and Cylon rides were of the three rides that we took twice that day, Revenge of the Mummy being the third. Joel is a weird fellow who doesn't scream (or shout for that matter) at all! I still can't comprehend how that is possible. Haha. Popping from ride to ride, excitedly pulling Joel around the park here and there was so fun, I can't wait till we have the chance to visit theme parks abroad together!

After we left USS, I bought a bag of Garrett's Caramel Crisp! Yummy sweet crunchy goodness!

It was one of the best days I've had with Joel!

26 May 2011:

After an adrenaline-filled yesterday, today was a nice and chill day out with the girls!

It started off with brunch at eM by the river - okay scratch that. After some delays, it was more of a late lunch (pointed out by Joel whom I was texting). Haha but it was all good. :) It made digging into our food all the more exciting.

The place was lovely, at a nice little corner of Robertson Quay, with a large al fresco area with rustic seating and little lamps hanging from the trees! In the midst of greenery, with the Singapore river streaming by, we felt so lazy and mellow, like how I'd imagine cats feel when sleeping on a warm bonnet of a car, under the shade of a tree.

My ~~brunch~~ lunch companions:

Van

and Nad!

Closer shots of our food, for your viewing, drooling pleasure:

We shared this mushroom quesadilla, which was not bad, though there weren't as many mushrooms in it as I would've liked. We couldn't finish it anyway. We were way too stuffed with our own plates.

I had the Eggs Benedict, which was really good! The Hollandaise sauce was just right, not too salty like some others I've tasted. And I absolutely loved the poached eggs. They had yummy, runny centres! :D I love runny yolks.

Nadia had the Eggs Royale, which was basically the same thing as my Eggs Ben, except it had smoked salmon instead of ham.

Vanessa ordered the rosti, WITH BACON! :) I was initially expecting there to be strips of bacon on top of the rosti, but the bacon chunks within the rosti was heavenly. They were crispy and smoky, topped with lots of cheese - so, so tasty! And yes, I snagged quite fair bit from Van's plate even when I was so stuffed from my food. :D I will definitely return to eM for that rosti!

After we polished off our plates - except the quesadilla - we just sat there for quite a while, talking and mostly hearing stories Nadia brought back from her Euro trip! She had so many exciting experiences there, I am so green with envy!

Anyhow, after we finally left eM, we walked to Clarke Quay where we eventually settled in Gong Cha, with our drinks and more talking - largely about TV shows - and planning for our next rendezvous!

After two days of activity (Ubin and USS), it was very, very nice to just chill out with just food and drinks and talk! I love this summer. :)

2011-05-25T00:13:00.002+08:00

My phone is getting a little cuckoo and I'm sad because I promised my mom that this time, for sure, I wouldn't change my phone until I reach the full 21 months to renew my line, which is in January 2012, and I am seriously doubting if it can hold up so long! :(

Anyway, Joel and I had a great, sweaty time at Ubin today! I haven't cycled in so long, haven't been running much over the semester, that my legs were so lousy! I'm not an experienced cyclist - only learnt how to a couple years ago and of course haven't had that much practice so I'm not very good with gears and definitely can't peddle standing up and I need my seat low to feel safe. Haha and gosh today I could barely cycle up steeper slopes, especially on the gravel paths. Tsk tsk to myself. But it was fun nonetheless, just spending time together, away from most of the world!

And tomorrow (HURRAY!) we'll finally be visiting USS for the very very first time (not counting the time we entered during After Hours because only part of the park was accessible)! Very, very psyched. Plus my cousin will be working so I can finally see her in uniform muahahaha!

Okay I need to sleep. So tired.

Sweet dreams!

2011-05-20T17:45:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since I've last updated, and I admit it's because I've been too lazy! (Insert sheepish look) Every time I intend to update with a post after uploading latest photos onto Facebook, but always after that I get sidetracked with something else...which lately has been Iron Chef America on YouTube. Which is so incredibly addictive!

Anyhow, in today's post, I shall share with you the knickknacks I collect!

Some of you who are closer to me would already know that I've been collecting these things, but most of you probably do not...but after this you would know so remember to save them for me, yes? :)

#1 Snapple caps

Not very original, but I've been collecting them for years! Haven't been drinking much Snapple lately though, so the pile has been rather stagnant, but I really should start again.

#2 '1990' S$1 coins

This has got to be my favorite collection - uh, but of course, right? It was started by Joel, who collected eleven of them and gave them to me on my 20th birthday. :) Ever since then whenever either of us get a 1990 $1 coin, it goes into my little collection. And it's really not easy to find them 1990 $1 coins. Up till now, I've only got 25 of them, but the pot will grow!

#3 Magnum sticks

Not very original either, but I've been collecting these for some time too, but it's not as large a collection as my Snapple caps because I don't eat Magnums very often - so pricey in Singapore! My sis once asked me why I even collect these, and I don't really know! There's something about the shape of them that are kind of like ice cream 'spoons' that you get with cheap little ice cream cups? It brings a kind of nostalgia to me.

#4 Unbroken can tabs

I love this. My very first one was when I managed to remove a tab from a green tea can by twisting it around and around until the friction loosened it from the can. I thought it was such a great feat that I kept it in my wallet and went bragging to Joel about it - and then he demonstrated how he could just easily pluck once off a can without the time and effort I took to remove mine. Haha well ever since then I've been making Joel pluck them off drink cans and collecting them. :D

So yes, those are the little things that can so easily make my day!

2011-05-10T23:52:00.003+08:00

Happiness comes in...

spending time with loved ones.

Joel left Singapore to go on holiday with his family in Korea on Sunday 12am, and I miss him a lot a lot! He's been my rock through good times and bad for the past year+seven months and though it's only for a while, it's still so weird to not be able to just pick up the phone and call him to talk about nothing.

But oh well! I've been using this time well, spending more time with other loved ones and it's been awesome, especially when I don't have any work or readings eating at me at the back of my mind!

So anyway, Sunday was Mother's Day! Sis and I couldn't think of what to get Mom this year, so we decided to give her a 'shopping spree' at Far East Flora since she loves plants. You'd know if you've been to my place and seen the part of the living room by the window.

Mom chose 3 potted plants, a bunch of fresh cut pink roses and fertilizer stuff. Haha. We also bought a large pot of orchids for our favorite Aunt!

In the evening, we went to Mellben Seafood at AMK for dinner. (That's Mom and I while we were queuing outside) Oh goodness we queued for about an hour before we got a table, and then we had to wait for another hour for our food to arrive! Service sucks but the crab beehoon and the salted egg ribs were totally awesome.

Look at that queue. If you know my dad, try spotting him!

Yesterday (Monday) I was scheduled to work, and oh it was crazy madness. Saturday was polling day (so BIY was closed) and there were a lot a lot of classes on Monday + somehow there were a lot a lot of non-student customers too. I was working with a new girl and I felt so sorry for her because her first day had to be so busy - it was even worse than my first day which I thought was scarily hectic enough! I was so tired after work that I didn't even have the appetite for dinner.

Anyway, today I (finally) met Lyd after she knocked off from work!

Look at my pretty friend. :) Haha! We bought Sumo Salad and Gong Cha from Raffles City and walked over the outdoor theatre at the Esplanade to eat and talk by the river. :) We haven't had the chance to meet for months, and barely even talked before and during exam period, so we had a ton to catch up on. It was fun! Totally chill and reminded me of JC and post-A Level days....

Five years and counting!

After dinner we just talked and talked and strolled to and in Marina Bay Sands before going home. Poor girl has to work again tomorrow. Haha now I'm a little bit put off the idea of applying for an internship next summer. Yikes.

Oooooh anyway tomorrow Mom took half the day off and she's going to be ALL MINE to shop with because Sis has to work! Yay! Haha I'm going to treat her to Skinny Pizza for lunch, and then we're going to SHOP TILL WE DROP! I hope, at least. Sometimes when I really really want to buy things, I just can't seem to find anything I'd really like to buy. So annoyed when that happens! Do you get that too?

2011-05-08T08:21:00.002+08:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I love my mom so much, it's insane! :D

I'll update more about today either later or within the next two days!

Anyway, summer has been awfully good to me! :) No more studying suits me well. It definitely suits Joel well. That boy gets so incredibly stressed out in school. Lesson learnt: Do not do Science in University! Hahahaha. Okay I need to prepare to go out with my family for brunch soon! So below are just a few photos from the past week!

A novel, yogurt and cereal makes for a great, chill morning.

Here's the inside of the Mother's Day card that Joel and I helped Kin Yong and Zi Qi with yesterday! :) Kin Yong actually wrote those words on the right by himself! A little bit shaky, but very very good! His mandarin is clearly way better than mine. :)

Joel and I were very impressed by this origami bird that Kin Yong made with a Mother's Day card!

Yesterday was a busy busy day for me. After helping Kin Yong and Zi Qi with their mother's day card in the late morning, my afternoon-evening was spent with Vanessa to bake and decorate a cake for her boyfriend's 25th! She was my partner-in-crime in taking away my new Kenwood mixer's virginity! Haha. Here's Van hard at work, writing "You're 25!" on the cake board!

The final product! (It actually says Game Over You're 25! but you can't see the line on the cake board here) It's a double-layer chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting, and white chocolate Space invaders that we made with a silicone mold that Vanessa bought!

I love baking. I'm going to bake much much more very soon!

2011-05-07T00:04:00.002+08:00

I'm summer-lovin'!

Sorry, it's been more than half a week since I've been unleashed but I've just haven't had the time to sit down and update! It's so ironic that when I'm supposed to be focused on studying, I visit Facebook and blog more than usual and yet when I'm 'free', I'm too 'busy'. Haha.

Anyhow, tomorrow Joel and I are visiting Kin Yong and Zi Qi (finally!) to help them make a mother's day card for their wonderful wonderful mom! :) I bought pretty paper from Paper Market just now and I've made Kin Yong think of what he wants to say to her so that I can write it on the card for him. I suggested telling her that he loves her but he's too embarrassed and finds it sappy. Haha!

And after that, I have a date with Van...which I'll tell you more about tomorrow. Yes, I promise. Tomorrow. :) Night, loves!

2011-05-03T09:30:00.002+08:00

Oh, golly.

I have my very last paper at 5pm today, and it's so FRUSTRATING! Even though I feel nowhere near prepared (this module is so confusing, I swear), I would much rather it be a 9am paper so I can quickly rip the band-aid off and BE FREE!

And what's worse is that Joel's sitting for his final paper now. And by 11am, he's going to be announcing his new-found freedom, and I'll be so miserable with so many more hours to go! Oh this is so, so annoying!

2011-04-30T21:20:00.003+08:00

I am getting increasingly annoyed with GE-related Facebook statuses! I am not pro-PAP, and I certainly do not agree with some of their policies (esp. those with regards to press freedom) and I do agree that some of them have said certain things that they probably shouldn't, but what I see right now are ungrateful little spoilt brats. Makes me think of some middle-class kid, fed and clothed well enough, blaming his situation on lousy parenting because he can't live a life like his upper-class classmates.

I'm not saying we shouldn't give opposition parties a chance, since that's the argument many are using to justify what one should "Vote wisely", but it's a five-year chance and I honestly think that one should "Vote wisely" based on whether that particular contesting opposition is able to deliver, not just because of the hype that 'we should give them a chance' regardless of which opposition party (or individual for that matter) it is you're giving the vote for. Just because a few opposition candidates are promising, 'the opposition' is not a united entity.

And it really pisses me off whenever non-pro-opposition voices appear (I'm just talking about Facebook btw), they are immediately brushed off as 'brainwashed' or 'fearful'. Take all the pro-opposition statuses/comments and look at them together: you'll see the irony.

I'm not saying everyone should vote for PAP. I'm all about bringing in promising opposition candidates (and from what I'm seeing at the present moment, there are only a handful at most), but if we're going to support 'the opposition' as a whole, just for the sake of opposing PAP, we might just regret it.

But what do I know right? I'm just a 'brainwashed' little fellow.

2011-04-24T22:17:00.002+08:00

Me for the past few weeks (and this week too, I'm sure):

Tomorrow onwards shall be a crazy week of exam papers, one after another, before a long weekend and then my last paper on Tuesday evening.

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT DAY.

After which I shall be:

YAY!

2011-04-23T13:54:00.003+08:00

One down, FIVE to go. Whoop.
NM2101 paper wasn't very good today. :( I was happy with regards to the short essay questions, and the essay question wasn't too bad too (though on hindsight I could've included other things that would've made it better), but HELL, the MCQs were unexpected to say the least. There were 5 MCQs and each is worth 3 marks (to the total module grade, mind you) and every question was one of those "which statements are correct?" for specific journal articles for tutorial discussions. And I didn't go through a single one of them during my revision. Yay me. I'm just hoping I was lucky enough to have guessed the right answers. Oh gosh please let me at least get a B. I really don't want to get my first C. :(

And I still have five more papers to go.

2011-04-20T23:41:00.002+08:00

My eyes are so dry from staring at the computer screen typing out my own notes while studying the entire day, and from not having enough sleep (by my standards of course. Who knows how some of you manage to be so perky with just like what, 4 hours of sleep a day!) and ugh I hate mugging.

And I have so little time left. Two more days and it's my first paper.

SHIT.

2011-04-18T09:35:00.002+08:00

I finally tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter Stack!

It was alright, I guess. The peanut butter 'cream' layers were really really rich, and I liked the crunchy texture of it, but the chocolate cake layers were quite dry. Joel and I shared it but we didn't even finish the whole thing. Haha. But the first few bites were good! Like Snickers transformed into a cake!

Anyway, I'll be sitting for my first final exam in less than a week! :O I just spent my entire weekend revising MNO1001, and making my own set of notes for the open book exam. I'm so not touching that module anymore until maybe the night before the actual paper.

Revision has been painful, anyway! Literally! My right hand has never had to suffer so much the past months. It's so stupid that University doesn't even require you to actually write much during the entire semester - assignments are all expected to be typed - and then they throw you crazy finals that test how rapid you're able to write. :/

OKAY NO MORE PROCRASTINATING. I need to start on my core modules!

2011-04-15T23:39:00.001+08:00

Ah I feel like going to bed because I've exhausted all my TV shows and don't wanna download anymore because exams are arriving! And yet I don't feel like going to bed because it would end my last day before crazy-ass-mugging begins!

2011-04-15T18:08:00.002+08:00

Here we are once again, at the end of the semester.

Somehow, I'm actually feeling excited after just viewing my exam timetable, which Joel was so darling to have downloaded for me. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOATHE examinations as much as the next guy; they scare the crap out of me because you can so easily, easily screw them up (as proven from my NM2101 mid-term, for which I'm still feeling incredibly demoralized) and then that's IT. Bye bye all the hard work earned from the previous semesters. Gosh I am so afraid of my CAP score falling. :( I won't be able to take it! (I AM SO JEALOUS OF LYDIA MAK SHE JUST FINISHED HER EXAMS GAAAAAAAAHHHH)

I drew up a 'study plan' to "CONQUER THE FINALS AND WIN!" yesterday. Haha. It basically just states which modules I'll be studying for on which days in the following week before my very first paper next Saturday. I'm pretty glad my first paper is the dreaded NM2101 paper, because at least I can quickly get it over with and then focus on the rest of my papers which I probably (oh, I hope!) have greater chances of doing well for. I'm hoping I'll be able to stick to the plan, and breeze through reading week so I won't feel so panicky come exam day - but I mean, when has that ever happened huh? Haha. Still can hope la, yeah?

I have six papers to sit for this semester, but I'm consoling myself with the fact that: two of them are S/Uable, and another one is only 25% and fully MCQ. Yeah. I'm super duper scared for NM2101 and my Soci modules though.

ANYWAY, all the best for the upcoming reading week and exams, my dearest friends from NUS! And those from SMU/NTU, if you're also sitting for exams now/soon too!

P.S. Vanessa, Shereen and I got an A for our SC3213 group term paper! That makes me feel slightly less demoralized. At least it's a sign that this semester is not jinxed. Haha.

2011-04-12T16:27:00.003+08:00

Thank you to all you lovely people who sent me texts of concern!

I'm feeling much better now, though I still can't eat solid food and as for fluids, I can only take them in by sips.

Anyhow, despite my mind being bogged down by fever/drugs yesterday, I managed to complete my parts for the NM2219 group report as well as my SC2220 individual wiki contribution! And today I managed to do a reading for tomorrow's tutorial as well as make some final edits onto my SC2220 group wiki project. So at least I'm not behind in my work due this week! :)

And I also had some time to watch my two favorite movies to watch when ill: Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Parent Trap! :D

2011-04-11T13:50:00.003+08:00

I am down with stomach flu, and it is such bad timing, seriously. :(

It started around noon yesterday, when I started having diarrhea and then in the late afternoon, I began running a fever and felt dizzy and nauseous. And it all went downhill from there.

So while I was supposed to be working on assignments due next week, I was stuck in bed. :( It's a damn good thing the previous night I stayed up until 4am to finish writing my Gender group essay.

Yes so anyway I thought the worst was over last night after I puked water and the charcoal pills that I took earlier, but I woke up at 2am with the worst nauseated feeling ever, ran to the washroom and puked again. :( And when I tried drinking some warm water to calm my stomach, all of it was thrown up two minutes later. It sucks, sucks, sucks. Especially when I'm supposed to be (finally) working today and tomorrow! I haven't worked for a full month because of group projects, and I won't be working again until after exams. :(

Anyway Mom took the morning off work to bring me to the doctor's, and he gave me a jab to curb the vomiting, plus a ton of meds. And he says I can only sip fluids otherwise I might puke again.

SUCKS TO BE ME.

2011-04-06T21:12:00.004+08:00

I FINALLY GOT A CHANCE TO BAKE...

And it's with one of my favoritest things in the world - nutella!

Well yes, I haven't had much time recently and it was a completely spontaneous decision to take a little time off my work to bake something. And alas, I didn't have any butter in the fridge. So, I fished out a simple four-ingredient recipe from Savory Sweet Life that I've had stashed in my "Bake!" folder on my desktop. No need for butter or oil, since Nutella already has oil content!

Nutella brownie (mini) cupcakes

They are gooey and fudgey and oh-so-simple to whip up.

Nutella, flour, an egg and chopped hazelnuts are all that it takes.

2011-04-05T16:01:00.003+08:00

Today I have a super duper long ass break from 11am to 6pm.

Because I need to attend SSA lecture to submit my assignment (and hopefully collect my previous assignment), plus it's a review lecture, which I figured I have to attend given my skipping of all previous lectures - and not watching any webcasts. Haha.

Anyway, I've been diligently doing my readings for tomorrow's SC2220 tutorial (it's the only module I've been keeping up with readings) but then after completing three of them (I have two more), I found myself turning on Isaac and surfing food blogs. I am such a restless fellow.

Okay. I must persevere and push on! I will finish my last two readings by 5.30pm!

Later, alligators!

Tonight I'll blog about finally baking again yesterday! :)

2011-04-03T23:56:00.002+08:00

Why do weekends always fly by so quickly?

I took the entire weekend to complete my last assignment for SSA2211 - Saturday to read up and write the outline, Sunday to write the actual thing - but ah, at least that's one more down and just two more group assignments to go! Hopefully by the end of next week I'll be done with all of them!

I am so glad I'm reaching the end of this crazy semester. I hope it all goes well in the end, despite recent setbacks like my NM2101 mid-term. I think I've been doing fine for all my other modules...I hope. Haha.

Well, even though there are still a couple more weeks before the school term ends, I've already decided on the most fulfilling thing this semester: Project Be A Friend! I'm not thinking of the MNO project itself, but rather my own personal experience with the family and now raising funds for them. My group kind of bombed a bit on our video because it was too focused on aesthetics and unfortunately missed out certain explanations that would've made it much more comprehensive, but I'm hoping viewers would've bothered to take time to visit our blog and Facebook page so that they'll understand it better.

But yes, anyway, I've grown super attached to the family and it's now my personal quest to try and raise as much as possible for them! Through friends and relatives - and a few of Mom's colleagues - I've raised $970 on my part. The total amount raised so far is $1,020 and I'm really really hoping that it wouldn't go stagnant from here on. Haha I'm now like seriously waking up everyday hoping that when I go on FaceBook or check my email, I'd receive at least a message from someone interested in donating to this cause.

Dearest friends, please do help me spread the word about this cause! And also I'd totally welcome you with open arms if you want to personally get to know Kin Yong and Zi Qi. :)

2011-04-01T17:13:00.002+08:00

Received our scripts for NM2101 mid-terms and I did so bad. :(

Oh my word it's becoming a trend. In Year 1 Sem 2 I did really bad for one of my mid-terms too.

I have such a bad, bad feeling about my CAP this semester.

2011-04-01T00:08:00.002+08:00

TGIF.

I think it's the first time I've said that this entire semester. I miss my no-school Fridays. But even though there's still school tomorrow, I'm just super glad the weekend is finally arriving because this week was another one of those weeks.

Anyhow, two projects down (MNO and Sc3213), one and a half more to go. Half because NM2219 presentation is over, and we've just got the reports and article summaries left. And we've already gone through our articles, and the report is basically the written and more detailed version of the presentation content, so shouldn't be too much of a problem. And today my gender group settled the outline of our wiki page so, that should be completed soon enough too. I can't wait.

OH SHOOT I ALMOST FORGOT MY SSA SECOND ASSIGNMENT DUE NEXT TUESDAY. Ah, in previous semesters you'd never see me have an individual uncompleted a week before the dateline. I usually complete them like two weeks beforehand. But damn it this semester after recess week, I haven't even had time to do readings!

Okay now I just can't wait till exams are over and I HAVE THREE MONTHS FREEEEEEEE!

Okay before I go off and sleep or something, I have something (quite sick) to share!

Remember my bruised little pinky toe? THE ENTIRE NAIL CAME OFF A FEW DAYS AGO. When Joel told me the nail would come off I never thought it would happen so...clean. It's like the dried blood underneath was washed off, and thus nothing was there to hold the nail to the nail bed....and it came off! No pain whatsoever. And now I have a naked little left pinky toe.

2011-03-27T23:07:00.003+08:00

Hi, I am Ting. And I am a caffeine addict.

It's official. I cannot last through a day without coffee. On days when I had sufficient sleep the night before, by around afternoon my head will start throbbing and I'll either need a shot of caffeine or at least half an hour of sleep. And if I choose the latter, by evening I'll feel it in my head again. On days when I didn't have sufficient sleep the night before, well, I'll need a large cuppa early in the morning otherwise I'd be walking around with a headache for the rest of the day.

I blame it on my workload this semester! Too many group projects = last minute rushing of work = staying up late = not enough sleep = need caffeine! Not to mention the 8am classes. And these days I don't even have time for my runs = no endorphins = a very tired Ting.

Just a couple more weeks and projects/assignments will be over and done with! At least when I'm studying for exams I get more sleep. Haha.

2011-03-24T19:56:00.002+08:00

I didn't go for NM2101 lecture. I know. Someone should really hit me with a rock for skipping all my lectures for this module. But ugh it's my third lecture of the entire day, and I've got a two hour break before that....and thinking of the 6pm human traffic on the journey home is enough to make me want to scurry home right after my second lecture of the day. Haha, now I understand why lecture kakis are important. To keep you from missing lectures. XD You don't see me skipping SC3213 because of Vanessa. Haha.

But anyway I went home earlier today and missed the lecture not just because of the usual reasons but because somehow after taking 2 pink Panadols, my cramps are (even till now) still bothering me. It's never been so bad before! :( I can't even concentrate on doing my readings because it's so distracting. :(

2011-03-24T00:20:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow I will attend NM2101 lecture for the second time this semester. I will enter LT9 at 4pm and leave school only after 5.45pm.

And because I wrote it here, I will keep to my word!

2011-03-23T10:10:00.002+08:00

Hi.

The past few days have been crazy planning for the fund-raiser for Kin Yong, and everything's pretty much in place now! :) I'm really hoping people will feel the same way I do about this, and want to help, whether it is by donating some money or joining us in house visits or planning outings for them!

Our group project has somewhat come to an end yesterday, when we submitted our video and report during tutorial. At least that's one group project down! Next few weeks will be mad rush of presentations, reports, submissions submissions submissions, then EXAMS. I can't wait for the holidays, especially when there's something I can look forward to focusing on when it comes! :)

The past two days I've been at the Phuas', since I don't have school on Monday and yesterday I only had a tutorial from 10-11am. On Monday I basically went there to show them the pictures and videos from Sentosa and our house visits, and to talk to their mom more about the fund-raiser. I spent some time just watching TV with them and making a beaded bracelet for Zi Qi! :) Their mom told me that they've really been happier and smiling more since we began our visits, which was really good to hear! And I think I've in a way earned her trust over the past weeks! Previously she wasn't very comfortable with leaving Kin Yong and Zi Qi alone with us because we might not be able to understand them when they need something etc, but she actually asked me if Joel and I are free to stay with the siblings Saturday night! If we could, then both her and her husband can go to their cousin's wedding dinner together. :)

Yesterday, I went over right after class because we wanted to open a new POSB account for Kin Yong, where the donations will all go into. He did not go to SPD yesterday (otherwise he'll only be back at 4pm) and was alone at home in the morning so I headed over ASAP to accompany him before his mom and Zi Qi came back from her school at 1pm. :) It was fun! He showed me videos that he likes, Facebook profiles of people who's important to him, etc etc. And I realized that I can understand him and communicate with him way better now!

:) Okay, I should leave for school now! Later, people! Visit our facebook page/blog and spread the word to your parents, uncles, aunties, friends, etc etc etc! THANKS SO MUCH!

2011-03-21T01:07:00.002+08:00

PROJECT BE A FRIEND

Hi, my friends! :)

Do check out http://www.projectbeafriend.wordpress.com/

and find out more about two very incredible siblings, and their insanely admirable mother! I promise the visit will be worth it.

You could also

2011-03-20T03:05:00.002+08:00

After a whole day of fighting a headache, reading through journals and news articles, and then finally getting down to writing, I AM FINALLY DONE WITH MY SEGMENT FOR MY SC3213 GROUP PAPER!

Gosh I am so tired. Two days of hard-core chunks of writing is insanely draining. I am so tempted to just leap into bed and forgo washing up and even brushing my teeth!

Oh gross.

Okay I'm going to drag myself to the bathroom now.

Cheerios, amigos.

2011-03-18T23:29:00.003+08:00

Finally completed the first write-up of my MNO group report. I volunteered to write it, since it's just 3 pages and I already have an idea of what to write and the points suggested by other group mates were similar. It took me about three to four hours, but I'm still not entirely done with it yet because there are certain things I realized I want to edit but I'm not too tired to do it, so I shall leave it till tomorrow.

Anyway, TODAY WAS MY VERY LAST SSA2211 TUTORIAL! :D Actually SSA tutorials have been one of my favorite tutorials such that they were actually pretty stimulating, and time passes much faster than in other tutorials. HOWEVER, the 8am slot of the tutorial just completely squashes that. Haha. More sleep always prevails, huh? :)

To a separate point, it's mid-March! While this is crunch time, with the bulk of major assignments and projects due and ~~you~~ I fall further and further behind in my readings due to time spent mostly on said assignments and projects, it also means that this will all be over soon and FREEDOM IS SOON TO COME! I can't wait!

2011-03-16T13:11:00.002+08:00

Hello from the steps at NUS Central Forum! Unfortunately my favorite spot (outside LT14) is completely full today so oh well, I have to kill this one hour here, Isaac on lap, munching on my muesli bar because I don't have time to go buy a proper lunch.

OOOOH I just noticed a milo van.

Haha okay that was random, plus I don't really like milo from the milo van anyway.

I hate school very much.

2011-03-15T21:06:00.003+08:00

We just got back to my place after dinner.

In my room, Joel plops onto my bed.

J: I'm going to sleep for 5 minutes.

Looks at clock, realized it was 8.50pm...

J: Okay make that until 9pm.

At 9.05pm

T: It's nine.

No response.

T: Wanna wake up?

J (muttering): No...don't want.

I predict he will be sleeping till at least 9.30pm, or maybe even 10pm. When he takes a nap, he doesn't wake up. And he mutters nonsense when I ask him questions. But, let's not touch on that today. Haha.

2011-03-11T21:19:00.003+08:00

My crazy week is finally over! I'm so incredible knackered right now, I just want to sleep the following week away, but unfortunately this week was actually my shorter school week (less tutorials). Plus the bulk of projects will be taking their toil in the next couple of weeks. Oh well, at least I've got no more mid-terms!

Anyhow, on my way home from school today, I went to the Woodlands Bloodbank to donate blood. Yay my iron count today was high enough so I finally made my 6th donation (after like three low-iron attempts)! And they gave me this medal for my past 5 donations! :)

And on to a more random note, look at the contrast between Joel and my breakfast choices:

(Taken the morning after he slept over because we studied till pretty late one night)

I oven-toasted two hashbrowns and made a 3 egg omelette with chicken filling for him, because he insisted on having something salty and warm.

And...

here's my usual breakfast: strawberry yogurt with Post's maple pecan crunch and Quaker's oatmeal squares. And a cup of honey water that my mom makes for my sis and I each every morning.

When I showed Nad the pictures over dinner last night, she was very amused. Haha.

2011-03-10T10:33:00.002+08:00

Two presentations down yesterday, one mid-term to go.

I'm skipping all my lectures before my mid-term test, so that I have time for "panic-driven hardcore mugging", which anyway has not really started yet! After the past two weeks, I have this growing "screw the world" attitude inside me! But, crikey, this test is 35% of my entire grade for the module, AND THE TOTAL MARK FOR THE TEST IS 35. Short essays and one full essay. I think I'm pretty much screwed. And it wouldn't be the first time I screw up a mid-term, just never had one that has such big weightage.

:(HELP!

2011-03-08T21:49:00.002+08:00

Oh my word. I am so incredibly brain dead right now.

Last week was the week I had most lessons ('cause I had to go for lectures I normally skip), including two 8am classes, but even though this week is less packed in terms of my time table, I am so bogged down with projects and Thursday's mid term, I can barely even take a breather! :(

Tomorrow I've got two group presentations, in back-to-back tutorials, and then I've got to get back to mugging for my mid term. I've barely been able to study for it the past two days because I've been busy working/doing project-related stuff/doing tutorial assignments.

I am so knackered.

I plan to skip many lectures this week.

2011-03-04T07:50:00.001+08:00

Lesson of the week: I should not take my pinky toe for granted!

Last night, I accidentally kicked my little toe into a leg of this wooden stool in my kitchen 'cause I didn't notice it there in the dark. It started throbbing, but then I've stubbed both pinky toes in many occasions before and it'll usually just sting for a while and will always pass. This time, though, when I glanced down at it, I realized there was a little pool of blood at my feet. And when I fumbled out of the kitchen and back to my room, I left a trail of blood (totally irked my dad out because he doesn't like blood!) behind me. I think the nail might've been lifted off the flesh, but I didn't really wanna examine it so I just wrapped it up with two plasters. I didn't know a little toe could bleed so much! Joel commented that my entire room smelt like blood. Ughhhh it was so painful and it STILL IS. And I CAN'T EVEN WALK PROPERLY NOW! :(

And today I have school from 8am to 4pm. :( BUMMER TTM.

2011-02-28T20:22:00.002+08:00

Today marks the official last day of my recess week. I guess no-school Mondays are pretty good. :) I escape the Monday blues, and by Tuesday I feel glad for having had Monday off so I don't feel as sucky going back to routine life. Hmm, maybe I should try getting a Tue-Thur school week next semester huh? :) FOUR DAY WEEKEND. SWEET!

Okay I shouldn't get too carried away now, especially when only half the semester has gone by. The easy half too. I'm wishing very very hard that all goes very very well in the coming weeks, till after 3rd May!

Anyhow, I finally managed to spend some time with my darling Sis today! :) It's her tutorial week (they are unfortunate folks with no recess week, just one week with only tutorials) so I could meet her at 1pm after her only class for the day. We had lunch at Sunshine Plaza. I wanted to try Ichi Tei, but it was closed! :( So we went to Zenso instead.

And after lunch was dessert! :D

Our favorite flavors: Caramel biscuit and cream and Tiramisu, with caramel sauce, almond flakes and cone chips. Yum!

And we got tempted into ordering this too. I forgot the fancy little name for it, but it's basically a pink chocolate heart filled with macadamia nut ice cream. :) It looks really pretty, but we still prefer our sundae!

After we left Häagen Dazs, Sis said out of nowhere, "Let's go watch a movie! Unknown! I feel like slacking today." So, off we went to The Cathay to catch the 4.40pm screening of Unknown. I liked it; I wouldn't have thought of the ending, honestly. Haha. I was so sure that (SPOILER ALERT! Close this window if you're planning to watch it but haven't!) his wife was the undercover spy and using him.

Now it's night, and I'm back at home...(insert sigh)

2011-02-26T22:20:00.003+08:00

Oh, good golly gee.

My second wisdom tooth is threatening to pop out and the gum is sore, so sore! And my first one isn't even fully out yet. :(

2011-02-24T22:48:00.002+08:00

Recess week is coming to an end. What a bummer! :(

This semester's recess week hasn't been very relaxing though, unlike last semester when I could even indulge in playing The Sims 3. There are so many group projects to discuss and research for and what not, plus individual assignments too. Oh but I finally completed my SSA essay today! It's due the coming Tuesday, and it's been eating at me because I don't like having not completed an assignment when the deadline's alooming. I usually complete my assignments like at least a week in advance but I've been putting off this one because it involves a field trip to Fort Canning. I didn't even go in the end, anyway. But anyhow, I am very proud of myself for forcing myself to finish writing the first part (there are 3 parts) of the essay last night before allowing myself to go to bed (around 3am) and then forcing myself to finish the rest of the essay this morning (started at 10am) before allowing myself to have brunch. I finished at 1pm and boy, I was starving!

I baked brownies today! :)

And gosh I'm finally working again tomorrow. With NAD! Working with her makes it feel like it's not work. :) Plus we barely get to hang out this semester because we're only taking one lecture together.

But OMG tomorrow is Friday. :( Which means the weekend. Which in turn means the second crazy half of the semester is dawning upon us.

DRATS.

2011-02-21T15:28:00.002+08:00

GUTEN TAG!

Yay recess week. But I'm not going to have much time for myself or friends because of UGH group projects. I have so many of them this semester and it's sucking all my time and energy. I miss individual assignments that I can just start and finish whenever I want. Projects have to coordinate, and usually there are presentations, PLUS group meetings. Bleh.

Anyhow, to happier matters, I got to cook the super adorable kangaroo pasta that Nadia bought for me when she was in Perth! :)

And I managed to take some time off to bake my favorite hazelnut cupcakes over the weekend. Some of you will be getting them!

And, Joel and I bought Monopoly Deal and it's been taking up so much of our time that we initially planned to be spent studying!

Look at that sneaky, sly look on his face.

We seriously play whenever we have the time, like when we're having lunch.

P.S. The cooked pasta is there on the top left.

Come play with us sometime! :)

2011-02-18T18:27:00.002+08:00

IT'S RECESS WEEK!
And I've just got the loveliest news: my only midterm after recess week has been pushed back an extra week! That means I'll have more time to focus on my assignments and group projects this following week while also enjoying my time because I have the week after to study for my mid term!

Anyway, much to my surprise, I did pretty well for my NM2219 mid term! That gives me more motivation to do well for the rest of the semester. :)

One thing I must do this weekend: BAKE!