Starbucks and a girl

July 31, 2009 5:53 PM

and this is how we while our friday nights away

how aimless! how silly! how out of place! a friday night in town - you've got your after-work TGIF crowds dressed smartly in their work blazers or casually in their pretty flouncy dresses, the charming buzz of lightheartedness and contentment in the air, and oh! what do we have here? three teenagers, no scratch that, three in-betweens on the brink of adulthood, wearing their -am I seeing this right? - baggy school teeshirts and fbt shorts? what audactiy! and on a friday night too! honestly, have these people no dress sense?

the entire above scenario was entirely caused by dear kelvin low with his empty promises of free alcohol and music and PARTY if we dress like the smu business students fresh out of camp. what nonsense! in the end all we did was have dinner, take photos, walk around aimlessly, eat Rochor beancurd and laugh a thousand laughs as we teased (read: insult) each other and talked about everything under the sun (read: love life related/chasing girls).

Next time we either 1) Distrust kelvin's promises of a good party or 2) Strip three poor guys of their orientation tee-shirt. Sounds like a good plan.

Labels: musings, outing, photos

July 29, 2009 5:44 PM

Obliviate

There were so many things I wanted to write about, but the words cannot find me. There's something deeply unsettling about this flurry of fingers. Still, emotions aren't like a pair of no-longer-loved shoes. They cannot be wrapped up and thrown away into the rubbish chute. Funny, stubborn little things. Since the words cannot find me, I shall not attempt to describe this incomprehensible feeling, and let my photos give you a mindless update about my life again. As usual, narcissistic.
#1: Shopped at Orchard Ion with my parents today. This is mum, and here comes my usual question: Doesn't she look totally young!

#2: Lovey-Dovey Parents :D

#3: Me and Dad. I bent down a bit to be shorter than him, because I was wearing killer-heels-for-work (to practise walking in them before work starts proper, and they give me blisters. sigh)

#4: Splurged like crazy, on seven (yes SEVEN) tops and a belt. Am feeling insanely guilty and wondering where the extremely, beyond-believable thrifty sam in the UK has gone to. I think Singapore is bad for the wallet. But very good for the wardrobe (:

#5: Al Forno's @ East Coast last night! One of my all-time favourite Italian restaurants. Tried the (new) squid ink pasta, and it was my first time trying squid ink and it was not bad! Although it did turn all our lips and tongues a slightly strange colour...

#5: East Coast Park last night again, where we took a one-hour long walk home. The night scenery was pretty, but as usual, I tried to take photos of kids. Albeit, moving, hyperactive kids.

#6: ECP scenery. The sky in the distance was actually a deep, royal shade of purple. Unfortunately, my pink digital camera cannot capture that, so darlings, you'd just have to use your imaginations.

Labels: food, musings, outing, photos

July 27, 2009 4:54 PM

East Coast Park

It's funny how it always rains whenever I head over to East Coast at night. Either the sky hates me, or Murphy just loves being proven right time and time again. Do you remember how it felt like rollerblading in the rain at night? It's a liberating kind of feeling- fresh, exciting yet slightly scary at the same time. Today was the same. The pavements were empty; the road ahead was clear. It was just me and the world.
Perhaps it was remembering that feeling, that made me continue walking towards the beach even when it started raining. Everyone else was hurrying along the opposite direction; some were giving me slightly curious looks. I went on ahead anyway. There's just something rather appealing about the beach in the rain. I like how i can close my eyes and feel the raindrops on my eyelashes.

Labels: musings, photos

July 26, 2009 5:00 PM

PS CAFE@ Dempsey

Finally concluded all these booth-manning activities at the Experiences 2009 today, and I must say that despite all the screaming feet, hoarse throats and aching arms, I've quite enjoyed doing booth duty these past two weekends. I actually enjoy talking to people, very much so. I enjoyed selling the idea of Warwick to them, perfecting the whole persuasion spiel; and there's this rather sweet sense of satisfaction when you've persuaded yet another student or parent that your school/course is the best choice for them. Also, I must admit it's secretly pleasing when other people start copying phrases from your spiel. Ha ha claire and keegan :D
I think this is why I like journalism as well. A booth person persuades you to apply for their school; a saleswoman persuades you to buy their product. A journalist? A journalist persuades you to tell your story. I enjoy talking to people. I wonder if this will be in any way relevant in law.
Anyway, during booth-manning business today, dear winston popped by and we went for a starbucks break where I proceeded to use my newly-acquired persuasion skills to persuade him to help me out with THIS design! Thank you thank you thank you winstonsohhh you're the absolute greatest, kindest, artsy ~~fartsy~~ friend ever and no, i don't have fifty bucks to spare. haha.

PS Cafe at Dempsey with Nic after I got back my pink camera case from Watami at Orchard Ion! (thank you Watami!) I now know why PS Cafe was Marcus' choice for his "date", and why it was heavily mentioned on Plurk when Jerrick needed a dinner venue. The ambience was stunning, all pretty and classy. It was also my first time at Dempsey too, which I've always wanted to check out and it has left a rather good impression (:

This is my favourite photo of the night because its so pretty with the candlelight don't you think?

PS Cafe

Dessert!

I've realised my blogposts have reneged into daily rambles of my boring life but bear with me, I'll get better once I'm less tired. Goodnight folks.

Labels: daily doings, food, musings, outing, photos

July 24, 2009 3:46 PM

Wednesdays with the Chinablacks again, and other updates

I've not been blogging properly, nor been in the best of moods lately because either blogger or my internet explorer has been being a bitch and not allowing me to write posts. There's still something wrong with my blogger page, so appreciate this post because I went through quite some troublesome twist and turns to get it out here on the page.
Been doing quite a bit lately, so here's a list. And a photo post. And well, excuse me if it's all confusing because quite frankly, when you're gobsmacked tired and emotionally drained, you can't really remember days very well, let alone the order of events.
- Wednesdays with the Chinablacks is revived! Sadly though, we've reneged from our full-attendance post-Alevel Wednesday nights, to a fifty percent attendance last wednesday. Such is growing up :( And globalisation. And and, jet-setting across half the world. Sigh. I miss you loves!
- The half of us who turned up for Ladies Night at Clark Quay: Sumsum, Shubha and Myself.

- This wasn't supposed to be so high up the post (more prominence) since it's sumsum's hall of shame and I'm a nice friend to put it in some really really obscure corner of the post. BUT! Blogger is being nasty and not letting me shift the photo down. Sorry darling, but shhh, we won't tell anyone what you were up to ;)

- Chinablacks who want the full story and photos, get them from Shubha (:

- So the night was filled with plenty of crazy things. Like, getting rejected by Arena because Sumsum was too hot (she failed the thermometer test), going to Gotham Penthouse first for (free, don't you adore ladies night) drinks and being the only ones there, my long phone conversation with my parents, then finally ending up at Zirca, which shubha highly recommended.

- At Zirca, we wanted to take a photo with this bartender guy. No idea why. It was their idea. Oh wait, I think they thought it was cute how he kept clearing our glasses so extremely efficiently. We took one horribly lousy shot (below, but I can't shift the photo up) which no one's faces were really in and GUESS WHAT! The extra enthusiastic bartender came back almost 20 minutes later with a colleague and asked him to help us take a shot. Completely funny, shubha and I were in fits of giggles. Took the photo and said bartender's hand is a bit too high up my waist. Grumbles.

- Pretty Shubhaaa (:

- Pretty Sumsum (this was before the unglam moments came ha ha ha)

- The above-mentioned photo that was a completely lousy shot. Sumsum took it, I think she just wanted her and bartender's face in it :D

- Even trips to toilets become quite an excursion because shubha says "dark alley photos are very very nice! let's camwhore!"

- SHUBHA WHERES YOUR DARK ALLEY SHOT! YOU DIDNT UPLOAD IT!

- Lychee Martinis, which sparked off Shubha's Hall of Shame #142387923840293: "Oh wow! They have longans in the lychee martinis!"

- Sumsum's dark alley shot (this inability to shift photos to their proper chronological order is so annoying)

- Despite having a boyfriend, you can so tell sumsum wants a piece of me.

- OH YES. Shubha was going on and on about how techno music is really cool (to sceptic looks from sum and I), before telling us that Zirca plays really awesome techno music. The music they were playing when we reached Zirca? "Boys boys boys!" "Everybody go, YMCA!" HAHAHA epic fail.

- So if you see us doing annoying little poses like this, we were just trying to annoy the crap out of shubha (: We still love you though (:

- Very nice attempt at acting excited about the music, sum! (:

- More crazy moments of the night included this guy who came to talk to Shubha and me (sumsum disappeared) and I attempted to scare him away by saying I'm a journalist and I'm there for research and I'm going to write all about him. Didn't work. We ended up walking off hand-in-hand. We as in, Shubha and I. To find where in the world sumsum was.

- Then I had to run over to Hooters and charm old, bald and quite fierce manager into giving me a big glass of ice water because please please, my friend really needs help!

- I'm very amused how EVERY ladies night/clubbing thingum ends up with one of us sitting on the floor outside clubs. I still have photos. I think sumsum and kat sat on the floor outside arena the last time because their heels were killing them. Then remember how sumsum shubha and zhang sat on the floor outside raffles city while we (me, kat, phoebe) giggled and ran up to the hotel room to bathe first?

- Ended up heading off home first because of curfew curfew! (Sorry sumsum I wasn't there for you!) While walking to the cab stand, two italian guys tried talking to me by asking for the time (that was actually the first pickup line i encountered back when i was 13. now i'm 20 and guys still dont learn: no stranger's ever going to give you her phone number!) But I now have one of their name cards and the guy has a strange name called Pietro. It's lying at one corner of my table and no, I'm not going to call.

- All in all, I've missed our Wednesday nights ladies! Kat, zhang and phoebe, get your Chinablack self back to Singapore so we can do a full-out Wednesday night please! (:

- Met up with Sheng for Lunch at Raffles City yesterday, before we plonked our asses at Citylink's TCC to people-watch the whole afternoon away. It's like our Singapore version of a cafe experience, minus the alfresco but plus the ~~bitchy~~ constructive comments on the clothes/looks of the people walking past. Have concluded: There are more better-looking people from five - six pm as compared to four - five pm.

- Bought Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, which really, is the only chick lit author I indulge in (except the halfprice Jill Mansel book at the airport) and actually buy from. I've just finished the book! It's a complete laugh, as usual, I wouldn't expect anything less from Sophie Kinsella (:

- Explored Orchard Ion and had dinner at Watami! Queues were long but we waited anyway. The side dishes were really good. Sashimi, scallops and the salmon & egg thing.

- Oh yes, wenjie came along for dinner as well! This photo is courtesy of Sheng who managed to capture wenjie's kodak innocent boy look. It's quite funny. WJ looks so young!

- Sheng being a camwhore, while wj and I decided to spoil his photo :D

- Final photo of the post! Us looking tired and starving because it was 9pm and we were still waiting to enter the restaurant. The waiter who took our photo was quite nice though. We wrote good stuff in the feedback form (:

- OH. HAVE LOST MY PINK CAMERA CASE. It's extremely annoying. I'm temporarily putting my camera in my many-many-dollar Coach wristlet, which mum thinks is a sin because how can you treat a Coach wristlet like that!

- Okay that's all for this post. I am really tired. British Council Pre-departure Talk tomorrow morning. Goodnight!

Labels: outing, photos

July 21, 2009 4:10 PM

Green tea green tea!

so the one good thing about falling ill is that i get to spend the entire day snuggled up in my air-conditioned room, lazing around, reading my harry potter and crying over silly taiwanese dramas. its feels pretty perfect, apart from the slighty groggy effects of flu medication. all thats missing is a nice cold can of jasmine green tea (which has woefully run out because my appetite for green tea is as good as ever). still, its nice to have a day of non-thinking and non-activity.

its also nice to be happy with the simplest things.

Labels: musings

July 20, 2009 5:24 PM

happy birthday kenneth

Admist all the nose-blowing and mum's scolding that I should take care of myself and not fall sick when H1N1 is at its peak, I'm too tired to do an actual full-blown blog post. So I shall do a photo post, go to sleep, and hope everything will be fine tomorrow. Maybe I'll wake up and all the bad news from today will just be... a nightmare.

#1: As the post title suggests, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNETH! :D Like I said, everything I wanted to say is in the card so do read it!

#2: Zi Char dinner at Sixth Avenue after watching Half-Blood Prince. As usual, the movies never do amaze me as much as the book. I always feel that it's too fast-paced and they change/cut out so much! But still, not a bad effort since this was quite a dark book to portray. Also, Emma Watson is gorgeous :) And Dumbledore's death was rather tear-inducing, but could have been drawn out longer and done so much better! Sigh.

#3: Guess who I bumped into!

#4: Sticky date pudding with toffee sauce and ice-cream!

Labels: food, outing, photos

July 19, 2009 4:17 PM

thankyou!

A big big big THANK YOU to those who came to help at Warwick's booth at SPH Scholars' Choice today! You guys are really awesome for coming down even though my plea for help came so last minute. Big thank you to rahul, yonglong, shenting, keegan and nic for coming down! Especially rahul, yonglong and shenting who stayed with me practically all eight hours thank you guys! I know all standing and talking was extremely tiring but we will have our dinner soon! (:

ps. Heels and booth-manning days don't go together very well.

Labels: thank-yous

July 18, 2009 6:28 AM

Timbre@ Arts House

You won't believe how incredibly tiring it is to go out with friends every single day for an entire week (i've completed four out of seven days and already my body is craving some home-alone time). But it's been good, all these catching up. Somehow you forget all your tiredness once you meet up with your friends and get all excited. Ahh, the advantages of youth (:

So, it's been council BBQ yesterday (whereby I walked all the way to Area F of ECP from my house- I live near Tanah Merah- then bladed to Area C for the BBQ. So much effort to save some Ez-link fare ha ha), Timbre with the secondary two girls on Thursday night, and Kenneth's birthday chalet on Wednesday night.

Then there was WIG 6 today, which despite all the stress at first turned out to be pretty good fun! Bladed in the afternoon with Ching and Jerrick, then spent dinner and DURIANS with the whole bunch of people who came. Wanxian came as a surprise guest! :D And we got lovely cheap durians because we got the boys out of the way, and I dragged only chloe to come along and sweet-talk the uncle. (wenjie if you're reading this we only paid $2.50 each for durians :D )

I really should sleep since I've got to wake up early to man the booth at SPH Scholars' Choice tomorrow, but first, some photos before my friends start calling me slowpoke (:

#1: Jiahui! Who regaled us with rather interesting stories for the night and my dear girl, you've LOST the bet in secondary school where you kept insisting I would be the first to you-know-what. haha. LOSE.

#2: Marie and Clara! Marie's coming to Imperial next year which means one more friend in London to go on foodie outings with ((:

#3: Me and Jiahui camwhoring again because Jiahui got very excited about taking photos... maybe because for once she didn't come in a teeshirt ;)

#4: I told her to act cute... Failed attempt one.

#5: I told her to act cute again... Failed attempt two.

#6: Everybody! It was really, really quite an awesome meetup which so many heart to heart chats and laughter and what-have-you. Oh and did I mention, I didn't order a Screaming Orgasm this time either, but I did order some Sex on the Beach. Haha. (The person who waited on us was female)

#7: Guess who's the tallest :D

#8: I kinda like this candid shot that Marie took of us. Very artsy fatsy. Haha we were checking out our own camwhore photos I think :D

Okay sleep. Goodnight everyone! Warwickians, if you're around Suntec area tomorrow, pop by to the SPH scholars' choice Warwick booth (from 10am - 6pm) to come help me! See you! (:

Labels: daily doings, outing, photos

July 16, 2009 11:59 PM

The day we went to Hill Crest

Just got back from Timbre@ Arts House with the girls, and all these late nights out are taking its toil on me already. All I want to do is curl up on my bed with my half-blood prince (book, not person) and read to my heart's content with my new vanilla candle burning in the corner. See, I'm really, easily contented.

I'll update about Timbre (and the girls) tomorrow, since it was such a good night of catching up that it deserves more attention than this half-asleep attention. For now, here are some photos from my trip down memory lane with Tseruey and Glam Twin Chang back to the school of grey.

#1: My favourite pose at the school-crest, up at the rooftop. We originally went up to see if there were any raging-hormones-kids, but upon finding none, decided to take some photos. If you remember from a long time ago, I took an exact same shot as this one. Well, not really exact. That time, I jumped and touched the crest. This time, I stood on a chair. This is what I call: the effects of old age.

#2: Almost everything in NJ is the same. My all-time favourite yong tau foo stall (which Tsereuy and I faithfully ate from every single day for one-and-a-half years), and Jasmine Green Milk Tea with Pearl. They tasted exactly as I remembered it, which was the perfect touch of nostalgia. There were some differences in NJ though- the disappearance of the President's Scholar Board (ha ha), the omg-extremely-colourful-and-noisy TB classrooms filled with little Secondary Ones and their attempts at classroom decoration, and this newly-renovated LT5!

#3: My favourite Tseruey, who was such a sweetheart to accompany me to NJ to fulfill our yongtaufoo and bubbletea cravings. Our classic rooftop photo! Thanks dearie for keeping my newspaper article for me, for the pretty white shawl and the vanilla candles! They smell delicious (:

#5: Coincidentally bumped into the MD girls and Mr Neo! Mr Neo, in his familiar nasal voice, commented you girl, you look like you've undergone plastic surgery. I'm still having mixed feelings about that statement. Nevermind, I shall blame it ALL on the dull grey uniform.

#6: Spent a total of seven whole hours in NJ, because a good chunk of it was spent hanging out with the new junior house captains. They're all so cute and enthusiastic! This is the new Lignum house captain (my great-grandjunior), Nurul! And guess what, she's from TKGS too! (Extremely rare since only one-two tkgians come to nj every year) She's very similar to me, which I felt was really funny and heartwarming. Like she said, once a tkgian, always a tkgian (:

#7: Finally left NJ and rushed down to town with Han Ern to meet up with the other four house captains of our batch. Our six-housecaptains photos are with Sasha so I'll simply leave you with one of Han Ern , with his "no photos please" shirt. How ironic. Anyway, dintaifung, bakerzin, bimbo moments and the catch-up was really nice. Now, presenting to you, Glam Twin Chang who is not too glam at the moment because of the spot on his right cheek :D

It felt really nice taking that trip down the grey memory lane again. I'm so thankful that some things never do change. And the things that change just induce laughter, not regret. You know the exclusive round tables we used to sit at (and made our mark under the table on the last day of school)? It has multiplied to so many now that I forgoed my grand plan of searching for the table riddled with our signatures.

I'll end off with this extract from an old blog-post written on the last day of our NJ school year. It's slightly childish, but it brings back so many good memories and I hope that if you're a part of them, you can remember them too.

"We never did do the many things we said we would. We never climbed the school gate. We never made the Iguana Trail signpost and stick it on the steps from LT5 to the canteen. We never came up with something to beat the infamous HBK as most-talked-about-prank. But for all the things we never did, we did more - and then some.

We've forged friendships. We've weathered through scandals. We've rolled down hills (or least kat did). We've mass-danced in full view in the canteen to embarass ourselves (celine and i actually). We've stood by our friends. We've ran away(literally) from teachers. We've had a hellava 2 years. And we'll make the Chinablack mark tomorrow trust me.

Misty-eyed and sniffling? Not quite. Because we'll have that one last day tomorrow to do all the things we never did. Or maybe not all. Standing on canteen tables, dedicating and singing (or reciting depending if you think we can carry a tune) Graduation to the cohort would be sufficient. Whoever's up for the challenge, I promise to be your camera girl.

Tomorrow darlings, hold the tears first. And save me your prettiest smiles."

Labels: outing, photos, school

July 13, 2009 2:28 PM

Greenhouse@ Ritz Calrton

I'd somewhat decided to clear one of my many back-logged blog entries today, since I'll be busy meeting up with friends over the next seven days (yes seven days, let's hope my wardrobe can take the hit). The pending Paris post still seems too daunting to even prod- thanks to our extremely enthusiastic camwhorage- so I've decided to do the review of the buffet I went with my parents last weekend instead. It's quite appalling how my blog is slowly transforming into a food blog since my royal descent into sunny Singapore. This proves one thing: Singapore really is a food paradise.

Digressions aside, I've always wanted to try out Ritz Carlton's buffet for several reasons:

1) The entrance to the hotel is quite secluded and exclusive, giving it a very posh feel. (Think Shangri La)

2) The greenhouse is all lined with glass panels, which meant that as a kid running around in Marina Square, I always could see people digging into their delicious buffet platters, which was rather tempting.

3) You always, always, always read about people dining at Ritz Carlton in your chick lits. Especially those with illicit affairs. But that's besides the point, the point is, Becky Bloomwood likes the food at Ritz. And any normal chick lit fan would always want to follow their chicklit hero.

So with these three very good reasons, and a fifty-percent promotion to boot, my parents and I headed to try out their buffet selection last weekend.

#Plate One: Mussels, Crab, Prawns, Sashimi and Salmon.

As I've mentioned in a previous buffet post (Sam's guide to eating buffets, I think it featured The Line@ Shangri La) a long time ago, always start off with the good, expensive food to make the buffet worth your while. Also, before everyone attacks it and there is no more left (because they usually take ages to refill the expensive dishes). The mussels were normal, crab was tasteless, prawns were fresh but nothing fantastic, and sashimi was also normal. If I'd had to compare this with other hotels, Orchard Hotel does the best and freshest prawns, sashimi and crabs. On the bright side, the wasabi was really good!

#Plate Two: Japanese Chawanmushi, prawns, sushi and salad.
Time for some greens for plate number two (vegetables don't fill you up much, so they can be eaten at round two). The salad was surprisingly good! They used this clear, sour-tasting dressing/oil which I liked very much. The sushi wasn't really nice (rice was too hard) but the wasabi helped disguise the taste so all was fine. Chawanmushi was an interesting bonus because not many hotel buffets come with that! It was nice and warm. Thumbs up!

#Plate Three: Sushi, Sashimi, Briyani Rice, some cooked dishes

Now that the important, expensive dishes have been eaten, some form of carbs are allowed. The fried prawn sushi was actually very good! But everything else on this plate is normal. But to be fair, most other hotels don't serve outstanding cooked local food either. Took sashimi again because its been a long time since I've had it. But of course, the best buffet for Sashimi is still Ikoi at Mirama Hotel!

#Bowl Four: Ramen
To be honest, I don't usually take the cook-on-the-spot carb meal at buffets (usually it's laksa or fishball noodles) because it fills one up so much but this time I made an exception because I was craving ramen (I really like ramen and I haven't had any in the UK!) and the ramen looked good. I wasn't disappointed because the chef was kind enough not to give too much noodles, and there was a lot of liao (ingredients) and the ramen was springy and nice to chew. Thumbs up!

Bowl Five: Soups!
Didn't take photos of this (because soup photos are so boring) but Ritz has an awesome selection of soup! There were seven choices, ranging from herbal chicken soup, to crabmeat soup (like sharks' fin), to Korean Salmon soup, to Tomato soup... The list goes on! I only tried the first two soups but they were really, really good. Kudos to Ritz for having such a large selection of soups that other hotels don't! Thumbs up!

Plate Six: Cheesecake, Mango dessert, jam pastry and bread pudding.
Cheesecake and bread pudding were gooood. Mango Dessert was too sweet and the jam pastry was inedible! But bread pudding mmmmmmm (:

Basket Seven: Strawberries!
Okay I was totally bought over when I realised they served strawberries. I dipped them in sugar. It really really good, all sweet and succulent (: Thumbs up for providing strawberries when other hotels don't!

Final Verdict: The buffet was not bad, it had several unique points which appealed to me, like the large selection of soups, the strawberries and the tasty ramen. There was also sufficient seafood for one to feel that the buffet is rather worth it. But if I wanted really good seafood, I would say Orchard Hotel does it better. For good sashimi, Ikoi does it better. For good dessert, Traders Hotel does it best (the durian paste in a cup is to die for!). And for way, way better variety, The Line at Shangri La is the best. They have like, what, sixteen stations? Nevertheless, ambience at Ritz Carlton is good, and since the food is not too bad, if there's another fifty percent promotion, I won't say no to it :D

Om nom nom (:

Labels: food, outing, photos, review

July 12, 2009 6:25 PM

Family Sunday

Today is Sunday. Sunday is Family Day, which means good food galore! Had dimsum at the Crystal Jade at Paragon which I still insist is the best dimsum place around Singapore. The ambience is good, and the food even better. Maybe I'll change my mind after trying Fullerton's dimsum next month, but for now, Crystal Jade at Paragon is the love. Spending eleven hours out shopping with my parents was lovely too. Family bonding is something I've really missed back in the UK. All that warmth and fuzziness and laughter. haha.

Labels: food, outing, photos

July 11, 2009 4:26 PM

food pornography

its been a long time since i've trawled east coast beach at night. its still the same peaceful serenity, until, well, the thunderstorm hit. got drenched, which means that if i fall sick again, its MY OWN FAULT. on a brighter note, i was stranded at lagoon hawker centre, which means supper, supper! sinful singapore with its many om nom noms. hah. i'm talking in baby language. i am tired. i'll let the photos do the talking.

#1: Musical People at Thai Express

#2: More musical people

#3: Tom Yum Hor Fun

#4: Scene at Lagoon Hawker Centre/ In the midst of a thunderstorm

#5: Hokkien Mee

#6: Oyster Omelette

Labels: food, outing, photos

July 10, 2009 6:39 AM

from marseille to warwick

20th June 2009/ On the plane from Marseille to Birmingham

Our little holiday has almost ended. I'm on the plane back home to Warwick now (unknowingly, Warwick has already become a "home" to me now). I'm sitting by the window; We're flying above the clouds. It's slightly refreshing to see the clouds from this side. How many times have we looked up from below and wondered about the boisterous bouquet of white fluff with its different shapes and patterns? From above though, the white bouquet is tinged with the orange glow from the setting sun, and the shapes and patterns all seem somewhat... smaller. Less majestic, because it feels as if you can just reach out and touch them. Is this how life is like as well? You're less dazzled by what's within your grasp but infinitely awed by what's beyond your reach?

There's this little boy with big, baby blues in the seat directly in front of me. I learn that his name is Jake, he's three years old and he converses fluently in both French and English. Every once in a while, his little stubby left hand would creep around his seat towards me, waiting for me to touch it teasingly, before he snatches his hand away, squealing as he does it. Again and again we play the exact same game, yet astonishingly, his squeals are no less delightful each time. His right hand is coming around the seat now. I touch it. His squeals rise another notch higher. He smiles. He laughes. I think the kids have got it right. Simple contentment with the little things in life. Where's the kid in every one of us?

20th June/ On the train from Birmingham International to Coventry Train Station

I think writing while travelling is beautiful. Be it on a bus, or a train, or a plane. There's this special moment of limbo, as the sights and sounds streak past the window beside you. This moment of limbo, how do I describe it? Its like brimming with the memories of the place you've just left behind, yet also filled with the anticipation and curiosity of the place you're heading towards. This subtle mixture of feelings. It'll be such a shame to simply sleep it away and not pen down those thoughts.

Labels: musings, photos, travel

July 9, 2009 3:45 PM

if life were a bowl of katong laksa

i love spice. we all love spice. but sometimes when the spiciness gets overboard, it hits you in the nose and eyes. thats when the sniffling begins; thats when the tears start to fall. a small, niggling voice of curiosity asks you, why do you love spice in the first place? then another voice interrupts, you shouldn't be thinking this way. you shouldn't. so stop and be good now, child.

on a happier note, i satisfied my katong laksa craving today.

Labels: food, moods, musings

July 7, 2009 4:32 PM

the little box of nostalgia

before coming back to Singapore, I mentally prepared myself for the riot of changes that will accost me. the usual warnings that those before me have dispensed: that things will be different, people will have changed, your friends will be too busy with other friends and well, quite frankly, the world doesn't revolve around you. Singapore has moved on while you were happily traipsing away in England. luckily, that riot of changes hasn't hit me yet, or hopefully, it wouldn't hit me at all. Singapore is still the same familiar, nostalgic place and friends are achingly familiar. i'm really glad. and thankful. so maybe a small smug piece of me can daydream that the world does revolve around me after all.

braddel mrt station still looks exactly the same. i spent thirty minutes this morning exploring the station (careful to note any changes) while waiting for meiyue. nothing has changed. the same spot where i stood waiting for twenty minutes when my shoe broke, the same this fashion and this budget outlet displaying their gawdy outfits. oh. yes. maybe a some slight change- they aren't displaying you-know-who's daily attire to office anymore :D breakfast with meiyue felt just like the old times too. two of us sitting at the fast-food outlet booth, exchanging gossips and teasing each other. remember the days where we headed to KFC (when we needed to sit and bitch and didn't want anyone to overhear us) and had our massive heart-to-heart talks? three-hour lunches we took then, persuading ourselves that the sky's tears was with us, crying for our frustration at work and a sign that we should take a longer lunch. haha. those days.

sph office still looks exactly the same too. the nice, familiar smell which made me fall in love with the place when i first entered the building to submit my scholarship application form. the desks are the same, the suntimes eating table is still there and oh. the toilets! still the ones i knew (and loved) because it has that fascinating, fascinating automatic paper napkin machine which i've only seen once elsewhere- at the top floor of esplanade. then there are the people: mavis - still the same, loud and always making us laugh, jamie - still in her long skirts and demure ways, dawn - still looking stylish and young with her bangs and cool outfits, and not forgetting ben - still nice as ever (thank you for coming down even though you're on leave and thanks for the lift to town!) and forever getting grilled by me for gossips. apparently, they say i'm still exactly the same too. look the same, and i guess even my clothes are the same. haha. in a small way, its gratifying. change can be so.. scary sometimes.

and then there was you, theBOY. still, we end up chatting over toffeenut frappuccinos and exchanging love life stories. as usual, you always ask the right questions to make me reveal more (SIGH. unfair you.) at least watching the movie was a little different. the last time i watched a movie with you- Love Actually- i talked so much that the couple in front of me turned around and scolded me, you remember? this time though, i think i was suitably quiet. or maybe, i was just too busy gawking at megan fox.

even the feeling of rushing home to beat a curfew? still feels exactly the same. well the slight difference was, this time wasn't exactly a curfew, i simply had to rush home to mop the house before everyone sleeps. hah.

thank you for the book and the postcard and for sharing this little book of I Love You. its really one of the cutest and sweetest things i've seen in a long, long time. maybe, just maybe, i'll go hunt it down and buy it behind your back and save if for the day when i become a desperate spinster and badly need to propose to someone to soothe my ticking biological clock. haha. maybe.

Labels: daily doings, outing

July 5, 2009 5:11 PM

yet another ramble

finally got a chance to put on my blades and skate along east coast park again! morning blading session with kelvin (low) at ecp, where we swoped nine months worth of stories (i must say, i win hands down) and it felt just like old times. we're so similar its scary. was told to watch ghosts of girlfriends past. haha. that's going to be quite... interesting.

#1: After blading, we headed down to meet Marcus and Yuliang for Marcus' birthday eve celebration lunch! :D

#2: Pool afterwards (sigh, boys will always be boys) and guess what! Marcus beat the other two boys at pool... and guess who beat marcus? None other than miss-i-really-cannot-shoot-for-nuts Samantha Eng! :D

#3: The upset birthday boy

#3: Convinced it was a fluke, I had to attempt to beat the reigning winner (of the boys) again. Just when the competition was intense and there was only one striped and one solid ball left, guess who shot the black ball in? :D

#4: And thanks to this beloved black ball, I won again! :D Exciting stuff (:

#5: Headed off to Clark Quay for a gathering of some of the council people. It was nice to meet up and gossip all about nj again (good thing denise is still in nj!), listen to the boys talk army (and i thought it was over since the three seniors didn't mention army at all in the day) and laugh over the old times. NJ OEI!

Okay I'm off. Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCUS! Please try my 1159 idea and best of luck (: And be thankful I sacrificed a Fullerton Dim Sum Buffet to hang out with you today!

Labels: birthday wishes, daily doings, outing, photos

July 3, 2009 9:15 AM

and boys will be boys.

stuck at home. because lunch with the chinablacks and dinner with kelvin (low) and marcus have both been cancelled. oh well. i should get used to boredom. its going to be a long three months.

on a more positive note though, i finally satisfied my japanese food craving at Sushi Tei yesterday. ooooh i almost forgot how nice jap food is. had loads of wasabi. i love, love, love, loveeee wasabi. haha as my travel mates will tell you, i'm weird. i like all the exiciting sauces (mustard, vinegar, chilli, wasabi). we all need a little spice in our lives!

and timbre with my two ~~favourite~~ weird boys was not bad. all that crazy song dedication, endless poking and nipple pulling (the two boys, not me). boys will be boys. they never grow up. haaa.

#1: Comospolitan, because I was too shy to ask for a Screaming Orgasm. Well, I'm sure the waiter knew what I was about to ask. I was practising the order when he popped out of no where. Embarassing, much?

#2: Winnie the pooh! :D

#3: Jaffie the er... nineteen year old! Boy in brown, poker-boy ;)

#4: Me and Jaf! Jaf says, the macro-function is on so the shot is blurry and unfocused :(

#5: hahaha epic photo of the night. jafnie being bullied and having chilli pepper (i forgot what it's called jaf, tell me again!) all over his pizza... and on the table.

#6: Boys will be boys.

#7: Everyone! Jaf, you should have worn black too then the three of us would have been in black and denim. Then we also couldn't have sabotaged you with the boy-in-brown threat :D

If you're bored and need some stupid stories to spice up your life, ask me to recite to you the song dedications we wrote, they were a complete hoot :D

Labels: daily doings, outing, photos