Year 2010

21st With Ninjas & JC friends! =)

2011-04-09T22:52:00.007+08:00

The day has arrived!! Gotta admit that it was a super last minute decision to celebrate my birthday with my friends since I was bogged down with exams in March =S It wasn't encouraging to know that a cousin & his band wasn't available...Moreover, my house is kinda lacking in entertainment hmm...Anyway it was better than nothing so here goes!

The previous day was used to make the pineapple mango sorbet and peach cheesecake. Made the icecream on Thurs since that was kinda time consuming...and on the day of the party itself, I made 1.5 soups! Didn't like it that my parents were arguing over pizza but eventually that was solved when the others arrived.

Yungyen's the first to arrive! =) Followed by Daltone a few minutes later & the guys ordered pizza. Was a little worried that the order could be mistaken as a prank since the guys were laughing.

I spy plainclothes ninjas in the corridor! These bunch were really noisy! XD Yungyen spotted them so we took a snapshot just as the curtains were arranged. Shook hands with GM and some of them upon entering the house. YY brought Hershey choc & skittles but that was kinda left forgotten in the fridge after that =S The ninjas took hostage of the orange juice so the remaining people had the packet drinks lol.

These fellas above are my JC friends...all the invited turned up except one =S Still it was good to see them all. Heard that the gym guy was supposedly auto when it came to greeting the parents...which I thought was a rather weird comment coming from the ninjas. Sha looks greedy here XD

Sha & I. I remembered in 2007 that a few friends were joking to tell him that I wasn't available (since I was seeing my now ex-bf), and perhaps that's why we have a photo taken together here?? Alright, I'm leaving a few details out of this so I shan't elaborate further =)

It was tiresome to run back & forth to play host since my mom was shouting for me every 5 seconds in the kitchen -.-" Luckily for the ninjas, my dad kinda entertained them with vids of...taekwondo?!

Sha & Shaun actually tried out my short sticks by turning them around as I tried to demo the blue belt kata before that=S Gotta admit that I need to exercise more!!

Here's my peach cheesecake...looking rather plain here eh. I didn't know where to find the decorations so I had to leave them out. Besides, I was still relatively new to cooking. The crust looks super thick because the recipe called for a square pan but I didn't have one.

The ninjas have gathered!! I guess that you can say it was a little weird to be surrounded by so many guys, ands worse still, squashed by them because my shoulders were kinda broad as well. Everyone seems pretty smiley when I got a shock from ZR's suggestion to beat me up for my 21st(since we learn martial arts)! XD

Valerie(I think) suggested to do the ninja push, and here it is! =D

I must admit that I love this bunch of people because we're all one family who go thru the hardships of training , countless suppers & fun outings together. We may have our differences but we all try to tolerate & work things out. I must admit that there are a few things which I didn't like before, but it makes better sense to change one's mindset since we're all gonna be in the same class for a long time! =)

Alright, my JC friends seem a little lifeless here as compared to the ninjas =S Some aren't in the pic as they had other commitments.

Here's ZR & Val playing the piano, which has kinda been out of use for awhile. They're pretty good O.o Of course, all these happened after the other group of people left! Such a pity that Amos had to leave for aikido, & Shaun, not wanting to be, well, left alone, left as well =S

Reheated minestrone soup which tasted good to me. Of course, this wasn't so tasty to everyone since it contained a lot of veggies =S Besides, the soup's a little plain =S It's a change from the punchy tangy stuff that you'd get from the usual minestrone soup(Which is actually more appealing heh)but it seemed like a good idea to serve this since it was for a light lunch!

Some ninjas stayed til dinner & we played some games surrounding the food(as there was WAY too much leftovers)and then we had to dance as YY suggested! A few pairings as followed since that was a forfeit. I was up as well -.-" The 3 in hiphop class were good, but I think that the funniest scenes happened when GM & OYY went up! =). Of course, as my parents were in the dining area, I was naturally reluctant to show myself so I hid at the TV wall.

The strange mushroom soup which I got from the soup bible. It's kinda watery & a little overly milky somehow =X Next, on to the presents! I've only chosen a selected few to feature here cos it's taking forever to blog an entry & my com freezes up a lot. Got this from Val & it's so cute! XD The material's really nice to touch =)

Perfume!!! =) Looks elegant & classy, doesn't it. Got this from Michael & his gf, GM, Nic & Val! This came along with the tumbler that I got from Daltone =) Cute little pretty kitty!
It's actually a cover for cups

Sha gave me this...I bet that he stole this pic from FB! XD Good reminder that I'm the most important person in my life =D

Flower shaped money which I got from Yungyen! Heh, he actually dug this out of his wallet =S But nevertheless it's a sweet gesture!

A card painted by MN!! XD Such pretty cupcakes & colours! She's definitely my role model XD

Pardon the pictures, I didn't want to spoil the resolution so I left them like that =( Anyway here's another picture! =) MN prolly took this from the pics that we snapped at the private property at Mount Sophia in Dhoby Gaut when there was a short filming of a ghost story & we had nothing better to do. That was around Oct 2010 when it happened, if memory serves me well. I was still a green belt & remembered doing some chunyatsu & yoyatsu in the balconey! XD

So sweet of her to remember that we used to give each other nicknames such as Wolverine/Logan & Nightcrawler/Kurt. That was 2001/2002 & we were caught up in the x-men evolution craze =) And we used to go to each other's homes during the holidays to draw comics & play badminton! =) However, time, the change in environment, etc etc has made us not as close before, but it's still been good =)

XD! More cute drawings!

And here's a mini card from Val! =)

I'll treasure this memory, even though it's not exactly how it was supposed to turn out initially(I didn't quite like my cooking cos it was overly rushed =( ). Still, I made good time with friends! I'd definitely do much better for the next one if there's any! =)

21st Bdae w/relatives! =D

2011-04-02T23:49:00.003+08:00

Relatives were a little late today, and so was I! Did some last minute attempt to make myself look presentable for my 21st since that it was kinda like the last birthday for me to celebrate. I made some icecream for everyone =) Though it was my first attempt in icecream making, I have to admit that the block looked good to me! Just a pity that a cousin of mine wasn't there to celebrate, bleh.

I received a watch from an uncle & a necklace from my godmom...while the rest just gave money, but who's complaining about that? =D

That aside, food was good, conversation was aplenty, and my house was really crowded. Most of the cousins occupied my sister's room since there was more space for moving around. Raf and Dan borrowed my short sticks to fight, and a younger cousin got the rubber knife to wield against another... =S

My sister used a lizard from my collection to scare Bec =S Not surprisingly, she cried, heh.
Here's the block of icecream!! =)
Here's my cousin Pris' cake. It's a strawberry jelly cheesecake, made by an aunt! =)

Here's my mango cake from Four Leaves. Gotta admit that it's a change from the usual offerings of ice cream cake =)

The lovely cousins who turned up! =) I have more cousins, but this is only about 2/3 of them! I've got a big family, heh =) Makes one feel all warm & fuzzy.

This is the marzipan piece, I think. It melted kinda fast as well =S

The house cleared close to 11pm...and then I watched this really weird movie on tv. This is how it went: A guy's been shipwrecked off to an island in korea, and he struggles to survive by growing crops of wheat, corn and more to live on. He uses his sweat as a form of flavouring to his food, and writes messages on the sand to communicate with a recluse of a girl who spies his daily activities thru a telescope. Alright, this movie's just way too weird. The man was finally siezed by police officers for supposedly trespassing the island, and he was forced to go back to mainland. The girl, upon learning of his departure from the island thru the scope, ran to the harbour to look for the dishevelled man. I suppose that she fell in love with him?!

That's about it I suppose. Ciao! =)

Blue Belt + Icecream!! =) 31st Mar 2011

2011-03-31T23:29:00.004+08:00

My 1st attempt at making icecream!! =)There was no school today, and since I was half hoping to let the ninjas be my latest guinea pigs =S I tried out a triple neapolitan recipe! Used the choc above and about half of the white O.o

The blob of frozen pure cream! Somehow, it froze when placed in my chiller or in the middle compartment of the fridge...lucky me =X

After mixing, the average milkfat was only 39%.

Lovely mess caused by whipping cream. My bowl's not deep enough =(

Quite a lot of time was spent chilling and freezing the bowls & mixer attachment since cream must be whipped under cold conditions...and this is SG, and without an air conditioner!

The whipping cream sort of doubled itself after awhile, and there was a nice consistency as well! =) Separated into 3, then melted the choc. Time was running out =X So after melting the milk choc, I moved on to the dark without washing the saucepan...Here's a last minute attempt at taking a pic of my new blue belt before going for class! Urgh, was almost late for the 1st time as a blue belt.

There was only time to layer after I got home...and sadly, the dark choc layer looks kinda little. The milk choc was pretty good actually. White choc...I was a little blur earlier & added all the molten white to the cold cream, causing bits of hardened choc to form! Anyway I had a lot of fun, if not, messy and oily moments making this!

Yeahhh. The icecream block turned out to be much taller than expected O.o Guess that'll be all!

Off to Im's Bar 26 Mar 2011

2011-03-27T14:08:00.039+08:00

Met S & V at Pastamania for dinner on 26 Mar(a Saturday!!)=) Made our way down to Im's working place after waiting around at PS(with the help of Im, who was late for work!!) M joined us just as we stepped into 7/11 to avoid looking like we came along with Im =) The 4 of us stepped into the bar and we were surrounded by this strange scent in the air O.o We ordered drinks after looking at the menu, and I admit that I kinda forgot a fact & ended up getting a relatively strong drink -.-" Below's a pic of me & NOT my drink =X Made a mistake earlier... Margherita and Rum & Coke

The 4 of us gathered with 2 to a table, then moved to the counter where we could chat with Im! I admit that the loud music made it difficult to hold a decent conversation, not to mention that it was getting more crowded as the hours went by! Vic was the latest, and tried to insult me about being able to drink alcohol (my cue to roll my eyes) but whateverrrr. Words kinda speak volumes about a person but I shan't be elaborating here! I've got better things to do anyway =) Lychee Martini...2nd drink! There was another 2nd drink(non alcoholic), but forgot to snap it =X Had it since I've had enough of alcohol.

Convo was better when the 5 of us got a seat(along with the 2nd round of drinks), and just my luck that my memory card lacked space...but luckily, S got a camera! =) Took a few more pics like earlier when we had to stand around the space. Im's pretty nice to treat us to 2 drinks each, not to mention that he helped to finish my 1st drink cos it was overwhelming x_x

Had to go off at 11.30pm to take the train! Must save on transport whenever possible, so that I can use the cash for activities such as cooking/baking! Funding your own experiments is always a whole lot better than having others to do it for you since there's no need to feel indebted etc. There's more freedom to choose to modify too! =) However, in the future, that will be unavoidable!

I think that drinks are best taken when there's also the consumption of food so as to alternate the tastes & textures, preferably in a social setting with good friends & live music!! Heck, I should just try Timbre already...hopefully soon =)

NOTE to the young & impressionable: Like all social situations & the media, things always look better in pictures. Don't drink like there's no tomorrow(or even frequently), because your liver is your life. Choose wisely! =)

Last day of hols =)

2011-03-21T23:08:00.002+08:00

The last day of the hols was a lazy day. Went out with MN & ZR!! Had ramen from Shin Sapporo which came in a relatively large portion since I ate all the ingredients! Moved on to Tom's Palatte, where I enjoyed the summer berries icecream =) Stayed for an hour there and grew sleepy O.o Took lotsa pics too! ^^ Walked along haji lane & found the Ice Cream Man shop(rather unexpectedly). Choc & apple vitagen(new flavour)...shared half with ZR. The 3 of us played a few rounds in the shop, where I saw a guy who looked like my JC clsmt Paul O.o Went to watch "I am No. 4" afterwards, and I admit that the movie was quite amusing since I noticed a no. of shots whereby the main character had a number of opportunities to show off his well toned bod! Dinner at Thai Express was good, just a pity that I wasn't totally hungry! Got home late at 11+pm, and I forgot to pass a belated birthday prezzie -.-"

Shaun Wang's 21st Bdae celebration!! 19 Mar11

2011-03-20T11:53:00.002+08:00

Woke up early on a Saturday morning at 8.30am(!!!) to tidy my room a little in preparation for the aircon fellas! Just love the sunshine at this hour, cos it always makes the world look fresh & new...it's perfectly bright without being too hot indoors! Perhaps I should change my current habits so that I can see this more often =)

The aircon which used to be in the living room. Just ignore the badly arranged cushions haha=S

For some reason, these droplets of water remind me of bacteria in an agar plate =)

The trunking & hole leading to the balconey O.o all's been painted over as of now!

Spent quite an amount of time pasting together newspaper to cover the table =S Cos nobody knows how much dust will fly from removing the old aircon! Brought down a variety of items for safekeeping, such as the double sticks XD I was incredibly sleepy but there was no way to take a nap...sofa's pointless cos there were workers walking about...it'll be freaky if some curious stranger just looked over to see my sleeping form!

Tried my new sprees from yesterday's sale, which I admit that I'm proud of since I nearly wanted to give up! I've had enough of having the same look, and I kinda like having many different looks myself, though I've yet to achieve that! I'm not much of a spender anyway on most days, so I guess that this once was fine.

Got ready for Shaun's party, then rushed to buy his prezzie =S Silly me, so last minute. To honestly speak, I don't really know why I was invited...is it because I gave "good" advice?

Dropped off at Tiong Bahru, then took a bus 63 opp the plaza and alighted at the last stop!! Pretty long journey...wonder how on earth did that guy make it to school in the past. When Shaun arrived to the "bus stop", he exclaimed that I looked beautiful...! Or maybe it was dark & therefore...yup, the remark. Or maybe I did something right haha! Anyway, we went to the basketball court where his other friends were playing. Walked towards the shelter where WJ was together with 2 other guys...intros were done, and I daresay that a certain guy my age(and S's secondary school friend)caught my eye with his dressing! His name's Elijah, or Jian De...and he looks(and sounds) pretty cool! English speakers tend to have a certain accent, which reminds me of that guy O.o

Moving on! I got to know L, a manicurist & we had a little language barrier, cos she speaks mainly in mandarin(to the point that I mistook her to be from china, judging by the accent)! Did I mention that the E dude has probs with his mandarin, just like that guy?! Gosh.

Hmm...we got to Shaun's house, which was cozy looking, and waited for the pizza! It was pretty funny for most of us to gather in his bedroom since the guys just stood around in a circle around S's bed! Had several laughs with L, and I admit that things were less awkward when the guys suggested to intro themselves & vice versa(there were more guys than girls at the party, & all of them are taller than me!! x_x).

Dinner at 9pm+(I think?)! Canadian pizza! =) Cheese!

Shaun had a councellor friend over who has a degree in psychology, so that dude was questioning him to no end, making us laugh XD I wasn't too lonely either since I smsed some friends during quiet moments =) I'm sure that most of us, including myself, are still curious to know why out of the female JC classmates of 8, he chose to remain in contact with me O.o Friendships are welcomed anyway, and I'm glad for all that! =)

Pity that I didn't get any pics of E, or even his contacts T_T But I still remember how he looks like!

I'm glad that I had more fun than expected, that's for sure =) Shaun does seem to know quite a no. of interesting people! I'm still regretting my choice of present, that's all...somehow I think that it didn't do much justice. If we're better friends in the future, I suppose that I'll do something else instead! People usually put more effort into stronger friendships anyway.

Didn't drink(as in alcohol), which was a little unexpected & a good thing too! Not particularly keen to overwork my liver and many more http://naturalbias.com/ways-alcohol-can-bring-you-down/ and some which I will not state here! Left with WX, WJ, and Gina in a cab back at around 11.30+...glad to have company =) Below's the pics of the day!

Guess that's all for the day! =) Haha. I have my cam whoring moments, though they look a little unglam =S

Minestrone Soup 17 Mar 2011!!

2011-03-17T16:33:00.002+08:00

Had to miss a small class outing today because of cooking! Heh. Mom thought I woke up too late, so I had to push the cooking to the afternoon instead =( Anyway it was a blessing in disguise cos I have njd in the evening, and I'd be seeing my classmates for the many weeks more to come x_x Wasn't in quite a good mood to cook since I was rushed!Today On The Menu: Classic Minestrone Soup! Got the recipe from the net, again =) A few items I bought, apart from the basil! Left out the red pepper flakes cos i can't seem to find them either, and parmesan cheese doesn't seem appropriate to top the soup(apart from being exp, like $12+ for 100g?!, I didn't have much use for it unless I was cooking risotto!)

Chopped veggies! Feels to me like I was just in the kitchen for cooking haha!

Whole, peeled plum tomatoes, chopped! Some of the tomatoey liquid was drained away...this recipe didn't call for tomato paste so I thought that the above tomatoes would make the soup a nice red =X
Cabbage, added 2nd to last! Had to stir the lot a few times(tough when it's just so crowded!!)

Well, veggies wilt when cooked, so it was a little easier to stir in =) Boiled for about 20minutes!

Boiled up some pasta, and I admit that when I first ate it, I was a little disappointed since there wasn't enough of the tomato flavour! Best of all, it serves 6 people X_X LOL! Mom had some for dinner. This recipe is all vegetarian, and I'm glad that it didn't call for any stock, since my household keeps things simple and resorts to using those ready made stock(not too fond of them due to the high salt content & preservatives)whenever possible. Amazingly, during ninja-do...I felt more energetic O.o Did better sit-ups too! Horse stance didn't feel as tiring as it did before...hmm...and I'm finally a blue belt, with the same grade as my prev belt...! Took the class, and was a little blur with regards to the break, since we didn't sweat at all. Went home after ninja-do and ATE MORE OF THE SOUP. It tasted better!

Leftovers were kept overnight, so we had this for lunch on the following day. By now, all the flavours of rosemary & basil had been infused into the soup, so I thought it was best eaten after keeping overnight! Still, perhaps in the future I should add tomato paste...kinda prefer my minestrone to have a more pronounced tangy tomato flavour! =)

Choc Lava Cake Expt! 15Mar2011

2011-03-15T15:17:00.000+08:00

Was quite fed up of Monday's sluggish, inefficient, lack-of-cooking day, so I got down to the kitchen & decided to try out a chocolate lava cake recipe from the net! Metal trays were uncalled for, but was a little annoyed to the point that I didn't care =S So, to heck with that, I'm going to try baking with them!! I halved the recipe in order to use up half a hershey's baking bar =) Below's the part whereby I gotta whisk together 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk & granulated sugar! Not too sure what the instructions meant by "whisking til stiff" since I've only done whisking only for egg whites & sugar! So, I went on for a good 5 minutes...

Looks better

Stopped at this stage since it 's kinda retaining some of its shape O.o Heated 55g unsalted butter & the 2 ounces of choc over a water bath until it became a melted mess(and eventually mixed of cos), then sieved in the flour & poured in the stiff egg mixture! Tried using the electric mixer for a while but stopped, since I noticed that the nearby toaster was becoming more colourful =X

First batch into the oven! Used only 6 cases as I wanted to experiment on the ideal temperature. 150degC for 5 mins. Looks relatively good! But insides were half cooked, not watery. Hmm...Couldn't pop them out of the trays. Tipped the tray upside down onto a wire rack & dragged them by mistake, rendering the whole 1st batch into an unrecognisable mess!
2nd batch at 100degC for 10mins.
Rose during baking but sunk when outta oven. Skin formed, but insides were totally mushy, like a pudding.Think I added too much butter in lining the cases =S
Looks sad there. Haha! 3rd batch above...125degC for 10mins...then added another 15mins...then 5min at 150degC...then 5mins at 175degC! Finally, those fellas managed to pop outta the casings! But insides not totally lava like. Hmm...guess in future I should try chilling the mixture 1st. Kinda against that move too, since that would mean raw dough, and raw dough has uncooked eggs!

Added too much hershey's cocoa powder, judging by the black film on the base

4th batch I tried adding bits of valrhona choc! Baked for 10 mins at 175 degC, then added another 8 minutes since the tops looked a little brown.

Pic above's a previous batch of cakes, baked again to knock them out of the casings =S Brown patches are from the butter & cocoa lining!

Looking good there!

Slightly brown/burnt =S

Destroyed a cake to check if it was cooked enough haha!

Actually, I destroyed/ate a number of cakes to check the consistency =S If not there's be a grand total of 22 small cakes!

Yup, it's THAT small

Need to buy those bigger 2 inch deep pyrex bowls when I do come across them! Perhaps, in their individual molds, I can make the centres like how Ghiradelli does them and that'll result in a lava-like centre. Heh. Til then! =) I had fun anyway!

Sweet purchases & church! 13Mar 2011

2011-03-13T17:26:00.018+08:00

Today's sermon topic was about how overcoming temptations can make us stronger. I can attest to that though! It's advised to change the direction of your thoughts if you know that temptation is approaching in order to quell the likelihood of sin(Anger, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy, Gluttony) happening. Temptation is not a sin, but doing things because of temptation is! Only weaklings crumble easily & are at the mercy of others because they have little or no self control, and I'm sure that majority of us do not want to appear pathetic!

As usual, things are easier said than done...it's pretty obvious to say that struggles are inevitable in life. All that's left for me to conclude would be that we gotta learn to keep ourselves in check whenever's possible. Moving on...!

Lunched at IMM's Crystal Jade for my sis' birthday celebration. Portions seem to be shrinking O.o Shopped at the supermarket afterwards, and managed to find olive oil & a variety of Lindt choc bars! Couldn't find rosemary, what luck! Went on to Daiso to check out some jap products, and managed to find some yokan & kinako powder! =)

Cake from Four Leaves...just love the texture & flavour! XD Didn't eat this til the next day, since we cut the cake close to 12am, and I was pretty full from a sushi dinner...

Note: Did a calculation of Lindt's pricing versus Valrhona's...Lindt costs $5.50 for a 100g bar(if there's no promotion which will reduce the price to $4.60 or sth), so that works out to $13.75 per 250g, while Valrhona is $13.95 per 250g packet...it's a little early to conclude, but I kinda like Valrhona better since there's a wider variety brought into SG! =)

EXAMS ARE OVER!!! XD

2011-03-12T17:57:00.004+08:00

Exams have ended!! It's been 1 helluva busy week, with the studying marathons & exams on alternate days. Glad that all's over at the moment, and I'm looking forward to a week's worth of holidays =) I'm grateful for the little use of the internet, cos I think I was a little addicted to it before, but in return I've made use of my time well and I'm proud of myself for that=))) Had a great time shopping yesterday, managed to get a few things to reward myself after persevering despite feeling sick from the cramming.

Now all I gotta do next is to find friends who'd like to spend a day or two with me for the week =) I still remember that YY wanted to try out a choc cake recipe, and Luffy wants to head out for lunch/dinner, but I have yet to confirm the dates with both =X I've gotta get some cooking/baking done myself too!! Guess I should be off making a list of things to do! =D Still recuperating from the lack of sleep(I almost dozed off while standing in church yesterday, wow), and I did vow before to try and cook at least once a day starting from next week onwards, so hope that I can get it done! One downside would be that my room's gonna be painted soon, so I'm not sure whether I can achieve all that. I seem to recall that some of my friends would like to have a sleepover, but with the rate at how some confirm, I doubt that's gonna happen anytime soon(like for a few occasions already) x_x haha!

Whatever the case, will be making full use of my time!! Starting from NOW!! XD

Study Break(NJD week 56 if no injury)

2011-03-05T17:31:00.003+08:00

Had a study session on Wed, and I made good time with the books & company =) Completed quite a lot during the 1+ hours!! Should have started the studying in the library earlier, like a few days back, since it's really quiet & the table's just at the right height for me. A number of things are still restricting me at the moment, so let's hope that I can get over this soon! Need to find more friends who'd like to accompany me to the library(and live near me too preferably for easier meet ups) since it does get boring to be solo.

Grading didn't go too well for me, no thanks to my nervousness (and a few things which happened that day)which made me wobble & do things wrongly...argh! This sounds silly, but I'm hoping that I'd fail so that I can retake it =( Really wanted to cry from the loss of effort but oh well, just got to move on(which sounds like a rush to get over things, but I guess I haven't much of a choice when there's too few ppl around me these days who care & many people only know how to judge the exterior of others). Nevermind. I live for myself & my own pursuits! =)

25 Feb 2011

2011-02-25T17:25:00.000+08:00

Horror of horrors! I'd been so busy trying to catch up with some of my Cells & Tissues module revision til I'd completely forgotten all about the fencing tryout held on every Wed in Feb! Aw shucks =( Apologies to the 1 who suggested to try it out when we all got the flyer...

Busy Days ahead!! Jerald's invite XD 190211

2011-02-19T22:25:00.003+08:00

Sunday was a dreary day which got brightened up by my cousin! He invited me to join his band!!! XD Got a little too ecstatic from the news while I was in NJD, waiting for class to start. Details will be on the quiet for now =)

Sidetracking, I've been listening to some music as suggested by him =D So far I like Bon Jovi! Hahaha!

Test 110211 & Shopping w/ZR

2011-02-11T12:41:00.011+08:00

My 1st meal from the school canteen! I liked the fries, but wished that the meat was bigger & I didn't quite fancy the salad's odd mayo. Two girls, Kev & I had this while Mr H(aka the ipad holder) had bright red mee goreng! We had a DPS1 test that night, so fuel's important =) It didn't go too well for me cos I did last minute studying... Went shopping with ZR on the Saturday after! Had an amusing time out XD Must go shopping at far east more often! This pic above's from a wisma atria shop though, kinda like the dress, but this lousy phone camera didn't do justice! Miss going to those formal events...hmm...come to think about it, I do know of formal events which I can go to every year, but I haven't got a companion for that! It's always nice to feel a little like high society sometimes(while excluding their bitchiness, competition, snotty attitude etc), even though I've got a number of rough edges which need working on =X Guess that's all for the 2 days!

Shop w/GM!! 010211

2011-02-02T01:56:00.012+08:00

No school today, & I was in need of some new stuff, so I went out!! XD

Got out of the house a little late on Tues due to the rain! =( Met GM at 1pm & made our way to Somerset!!! I admit that it was a little strange in the beginning cos I chat more often online than in person( and vice versa for some other friends)...

Tried the food at Trattoria, after much consideration(my bad, I just wanted to try a new place haha) Set lunch at $9.80++!! A choice of drink & main course...both got the upgrade of minestrone soup!!

This is my pizza. Was a little disappointed at the amount of ingredients & the über thin crust =X ah well, it wasn't too bad. Here's GM's pasta! Looks like quite a heap O.o

Ate for more than an hour X_X Talked too much! Hahaha! XD

Off to forever21 then orchard central, but didn't see anything that interesting(apart from discovering this row of shops along a sloped floor)! GM decided to check out sneakers so we went off to the Heeren for more. Sidetracking, Heeren reminded me of Aug 2009 when I bumped into my cousin J(who was meeting cousin R)& we had a very amusing sms conversation afterwards!

I think we went to ion then to taka? My dad called to rush me home cos I didn't pack my luggage for CNY yet =X Ate dinner out since I wanted to extend my shopping, and I finally bought a T from Guess? ! Went home a little later than expected, but it was time spent well, so I suppose this sums up my day before the trip down to KL! =)

CY's Bdae!!Bistro Petit Salut 26Jan 2011

2011-01-26T23:33:00.015+08:00

Mr Netto's last day in school! =( He'd be missed. He's one teacher who never failed to make the lessons interesting(no matter how boring some of the topics were), and he was open to ideas & such. Above's a pic of KL & him =)

It's also Colin's birthday!! I met the guy at around 6.30pm & we made our way to Holland V! It was raining, of all things. We made our way to Bistro Petit Salut & the friendly staff collected our soaking umbrellas while we went inside. Here's a menu of the available executive set dinner!

I had no idea that the entire place was awashed in the soft glow of candle flame, making the setting look romantic. Seriously, GG!! I think that I gave my friend the wrong impression =S

We placed our orders( C had beef, I had Mixed Seafood Risotto with prawn, scallop & squid with light cream emulsion)which had to wait for about 20 minutes(we were warned beforehand but I was cool with it)

Here's bread & butter!

And here's the requested ice water, which was replaced when the glass container was about 1/3 full.

It's relatively empty, since I suppose that the main group of people who dined here are busy working adults!

This is complimentary, since we had to wait for the mains. Half a prawn topped with caviar(from trout?)while sauteed veggies were at the base & drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Yummeh! XD

Here's C & his dinner

A closer look at the beef(looks a little like a filet mignon...erm, then again, I think it is, judging by the price!)

Here's my risotto($28,I think)!

No offense, but I was quite insulted when he gave an unconstructive comment on my risotto. Since when do people step into restaurants & say such things?! The comment was fairly loud also. Gawddddd. There's only so much presenting that one can do for a risotto, but I can assure everyone that it's a well made risotto which made even the last bite lovely!! Succulent prawns! Scallops too! The sauce is fantastic! That's cheese on top of the risotto mound. The rice is al dente & delightfully chewy! I'd have enjoyed my risotto a lot more, were it not for the rude comment. =(

Best of all, he took a few bites of beef then requested for chili sauce("That's because the bloody taste makes me want to puke!"). Why on earth did he want to order medium rare is a mystery to me. He didn't finish the beef(about 75% eaten) & I felt kinda bad when the waitress asked him if there was anything wrong with it as she cleared our plates.

For dessert, I tried the creme brulee($10)! He only took 1 spoonful(more weird comments which I refuse to write here). Crunchy scorched sugar with satiny smooth vanilla custard made with REAL vanilla beans! Quite a lovely treat.

I definitely enjoyed the excellent service & food at this place, that's for sure! I'll go grab a person with more discerning tastebuds(or at least polite ones with a little more knowledge on etiquette) to eat here again! Pardon me if I sound disgruntled by the human company, because that is also important in making food taste better. (I once thought that this correlation between company & food tasting in manga was ridiculous, but I now know that it's true!) On the bright side, I got to know a bit more of my friend's life & such. I think, by now, everyone knows that he wants to join NJD!!!

Reached home at a relatively early time of 9pm! All in good time for me to study some histology.

Here's me for the day, smiley with braces. Don't like the new lip balm which makes me look kind of pale though.

Fun out w/GM & ZR! =D

2011-01-23T01:26:00.020+08:00

It's the Winter Hokkaido Fair at Isetan! O.o

Went to orchard on a Wed & bought these! Yomogi dango & Mitarashi Kushi dango! Got there again on a Sat with the 2 ninjas! Went to have a study session earlier with ZR at JE lib until 5, then met up with GM at JE & the 3 of us made our way there! Had a mini debate about hip hop matters & donating to the poor XD

I guess that the guys were disappointed about the fair(located in a supermarket, no less)cos they don't like sampling as much as I do! Gawd, GM repeatedly poked a vacuum packed rice while standing next to ZR, who kinda got thoroughly embarrassed when a promoter for the rice came by and said,"Boy, please don't poke!" I walked off to another aisle, pretending not to know them LOL!

Got the corn croquette & then we made our way to Sephora. Wanted to try some little makeover for fun, but this guy(with blue eye shadow, stuck on costume jewellery diamonds close to his tear ducts & long, fake lashes and a well chiselled jaw)was obviously acting to be nice so we left the store & went to kinokuniya!! XD

Can't find that book on documented ninjas throughout history since I wanted to show it to the guys =( But here's 1 bit that I remember! This policeman invested a sum of money to feed the poor village people since he realised that crimes in the area were committed to fill empty bellies! In return, the people cooperated with him when there was a case of burglary done by an outsider(or something like that!)! Ninjas restricted their diet to minimise body odour, and that meant no meat! A diet of the ninja mainly consisted vegetables & protein such as tofu, and I think they used little soy sauce too? Their weapons were awesome too XD I remembered that 1 friend cheekily called me a kunoichi, but I'd advise against that name! The work of kunoichis are mainly sexual! Horror of horrors.

Tried finding a book on histology, & I told the guys about bigger brains= slower to mature & more, since they were wondering XD! Science is fascinating!

Made our way to taka food hall after that, and I stopped at a hot choc shop offering samples XD It's really delectable! Such rich flavour of choc! I'm in heaven~~! ^^ The guys had some too XD

Off for dinner, & I noticed a restaurant selling okowa rice! Reminds me of Peacemaker O.o We settled for this cutlet restaurant since it had empty seats! Here's my order below!

Pork cutlet. Very tough & dry! Ugh =( ZR's order got curry so he was saved! GM got a wrong order, but apparently he had a lot more with the wrong 1 lol! I couldn't stop laughing at the tough & dry pork cutlet which made me expend more energy cutting & chewing!

Afterwards washed up, then grabbed dessert from Azabu Sabo(Mixed berry is scrummy!) & then went on to ion(i think) to shop for ZR's jeans! Of all things GM had to wonder aloud why we were walking to the mrt(when in fact it's the right path to ion)to buy jeans, cos this was what I imagined next: People desperately clinging onto available boulders while ZR ripped the pants off them, similar to Mr Bean's attempt at retrieving his own pants from a guy who was crapping in a cubicle! =X

We left town kinda empty handed =S But we had a pretty good laugh over the silly voice app on ZR's hp! XD Couldn't stop laughing, whew!

And here's the cat of the day!

Danny's 20th Birthday Celebration!!

2011-01-19T23:36:00.007+08:00

Today's 1 of my dear cousin's birthday!! He's now 20!! (Actually this post was meant for 15 Jan 2011,Saturday)Cheese platter, starting from 11 on the front plate and going clockwise, edam, brie & camembert!Initially, at the start of the day, I was dreading having to meet the class girls up at a bar since I was so not keen on trying the shisha! I'd rather try the drinks instead =D Pina Coladas sound fantastic! I'd so love a beach holiday which involved snorkelling, clear waters & so on...but let's get back to the main topic! The outing was cancelled, much to my delight, and I went to my cousin's instead! Ate quite a fair bit of cheese, that's for sure...Had 2 helpings of spaghetti bolognese, topped with shredded parmesan cheese! Simply scrumptious! Tried some jap curry, which tasted kinda weird since she added some other ingredients like meat?

After dinner, I continued with dessert. Choc! Ate about 3 of the above =) Had 2 helpings of cheesecake(covered in strawberry jello & sliced strawberries), then proceeded to eat the cheese with the crackers, as seen in the 1st pic! Seated around the table were Callis, G, Raf, Dan, Ben & some aunts..! Tried all the cheeses...and camembert's awesome! That's my 1st time eating it, but I quite enjoyed the nutty, fruity flavour! Cheese platters are good =)
We drunk some red wine along with the cheese! It's a Los Vascos' Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 =) Of course, as usual, I had a little red wine since I'm pretty new to it. That's how little I drank, and the evidence's above! Haha!
Raf commented that all red wines tasted the same, which is so not true IMO...This bottle is ok I suppose, but I didn't enjoy all the sips! Only 1 sip was pretty good, but I don't remember how I tasted it...I actually liked it O.o The rest of the sips were terrible! Swished the wine like how people usually do to release the fragrance, of course, but I wonder what went wrong? Totally glad when I was done with my tiny amount =)

Look over there at the corner...CHEESECAKE!!! I was plenty stuffed since I was eating nonstop since 8.30pm =X If i remember correctly, we were watching hairspray on TV? Additionally, my cousin Raf commented on how to become a real ninja =X He still owes me some pics which he took on 31st DEC 2010!!!

Heh, some of my female cousins remarked that I still looked pretty slim, even after all that eating lol! =S Luckily the cheesecake was light, but I'd have preferred the dense, baked cheesecake variety! Oh wait, the strawberry cheesecake earlier was delish too =) That'll be even better! Told them about the oreo cheesecake, and my mom continued the convo on that cake, so I hope that'll make it clear that I do DO things. Since people can't remember, I'LL HELP THEM TO REMEMBER. Tired of a few things, and setting things straight is always better, no?

Grateful to have gone out! =D

Back in Action! NJD week 49(wld hav been week 43)

2011-01-14T19:26:00.009+08:00

So I tried making profiteroles today! Mom helped me to buy white choc & whipping cream for the filling. Everything was going pretty smoothly..!

A mixture of butter & water was set to boil over a waterbath! Flour was added when the mixture bubbled. The whole lot was mixed, and then returned to the heat! The dough above's pretty small actually.
Unexpectedly, it became disastrous when the eggs were added! Horror of horrors! I'm guessing that I added them too quickly as the final result became too liquidy to keep its shape! Above is the sorry looking 1st batch mess! The lot of them stuck to the baking tray even though I used quite a bit of butter. Darn...
2nd batch! Lined with baking paper.The little fellas rose like pillows, and only a small area was in contact with the paper?!

Yup, they do look kinda...undercooked for some reason =S Gotta poke holes in them to release the steam

3rd batch,I believe?

I tried to salvage the watery dough by adding more plain flour. They look slightly better now!

Fed up that they couldn't keep their shape, so more flour was added. The last batch below had the most flour! They're pretty tasteless dough on their own though, cos there's no sugar added.

What luck! I'll do better next time, that's for sure.

Since the amount yielded a pretty small no. of choux buns, I managed to eat half of them along the way =D Some reminded me of the breadou series from Action City =X

Ate a quick dinner, then went off for njd! My 1st lesson in 2011!! XD So glad to be back.

I guessed that a few were surprised to see me, haha! Don't remember exactly why, but GM gave me a scare by mentioning about being an IC at the doorway, and I misheard that I had to lead the class for the day. Feels strange to be in a class with more black gi people!

I was the only girl for the colour belt class(more specifically my own belt colour) T_T but whatever. Somehow that fact doesn't seem to bother me these days, so I'm guessing that I'm getting over it! Enjoyed the 60 squats, since it's been a looooong time I did that. End 2010 & starting of 2011 weren't too fantastic for me.

Muscle memory wasn't so great, kept kicking wrongly for most of the kicks, argh. Was somewhat annoyed with a derogatory remark, since I thought it was unnecessary to add pressure when I just returned & hadn't been exercising for about the past 2 months or so? I'm friggin unfit, and that's what I know. No fun being unfit anyway.

Cheered up a little when I got to digress about the pesky choux dough to some friends after class! Only got to drink during supper since I wasn't so keen on eating. Sir made most of the group disgusted by going in depth on "How to save toilet paper" during defecation. Won't be writing the sordid details here! Hahaha! =S

Trial HipHop class! 08 Jan 2011

2011-01-09T00:36:00.011+08:00

Heh, I tried this trial hip hop class together with 3 other ninjas yesterday!

The 4 of us met at Pioneer MRT, and unexpectedly, I was the last =S 2 of us wore shorts while the rest, jeans. Didn't know what to wear anyway, since I don't have any hip hop inspired outfits in my cupboard! We set off for Jurong SRC, and bumped into a girl who was looking for street 74?! I thought that we were going to be even later for the class =X

We had to fill in this form upon entering the little studio! YY brought her friend Aloysius along, so the 5 of us trooped into the danceroom at around 8pm(supposedly 7.45pm). Warmups were a pain as I couldn't stretch much in those jeans, but overall it was quite cool since I haven't been exercising for...hmm...2 months?!

Being in the front row was terribly amusing as the instructor reminded me of 2 people I've come across(1 from school & 1 from work) in my life! Shan't elaborate here =X Should have tied my hair since it was flying into my face!

Repeated some dance moves over & over again, and I think we all looked kinda strange haha! Then we were separated into the long pants & shorts group, and danced away at several intervals. Was a little disappointed that the class ended kinda fast since I was enjoying myself haha!

The 5 of us went for lunch at pioneer mall, I think? ZR ate 3 servings of dessert O.o Felt a little bad when YY ate the leftover noodles in my bowl, but I was too full to finish. Then us ninjas took the train back! At least my saturday was well spent XD Pity that I forgot to bring my camera along, that's all.

Badminton + Meetup w/bmc mates cos Liying's back 2 SG! 040111

2011-01-05T00:41:00.032+08:00

Badminton with YY & the Ming Bros at CCK!! I got there around 5pm, I think? The bunch were having a match(2vs1) so I went outside to wait, which was WAY cooler! The hall was like a sauna!! GM tried to scare me by creeping behind when they were done lol! We had a 3 vs 1(the 1 being JM) and I think we didn't do too well either haha =S Who would've known that it was pointless trying to do a random selection for teams, cos I ended up with GM anyway. And it was really hilarious to watch all that histrionics coming from GM when we lost as a team =X Didn't dare to play too vigorously as I didn't want to smell too much later when I'd be off for dinner with friends! Enjoyed the games anyway =DI think I left the hall at around 6.15pm, followed by an interminable wait for the bus...! Considered walking, but I didn't know the way, so I didn't. Starving then! Good old dinner gathering was for Liying's return to SG. Bumped into her on the way into the restaurant(after I was done changing out & trying to find them)! Thank goodness I wasn't the last =S LF & then Axelle arrived! Everyone ate ramen except Axelle & Ibra! Here's a pic of my bowl, the shio ramen at $10.80! Didn't like the bamboo shoots much cos they tasted a little off...The piece of meat could have been thicker, and the egg retained a slightly watery yolk, if a little too hardboiled too. The soup was slurpable. There was a lot of noodles, & everyone were pretty full, I think? Took quite a no. of pics XD

Here's 1 in front of the bookstore! GH approached a random stranger to help us take pics!
Wahaha, John called me "happening" for playing badminton before meeting them all lol! Not too sure when Ibra went off, followed by GH, but the rest of us made our way to SSC afterwards! Who would've known that the doors were unlocked on the 5th floor O.o The watercooler's no longer there though. We sat down at our past seats in the old classroom & hung about for half an hour, relieving the bygone days! XD Just Acia, Pie kia, Mr Bean, little snacks & lunches brought to class...I guess you can say that PS & Dhoby Xchange reminded me of the past! =') We never ate at the Fish & Co there. I remember eating with Axelle & Sher Fong on my 1st day there, and I think we ate at Han's? The scary old cleaner auntie, an overly self confident teacher...hmmm... Not forgetting to mention the naggy English teacher next door are some memorable people from that time! Oh wow, I've said quite a bit =X

Enjoyed my day out to the max!!! We parted ways at 10+pm, I think? Glad to have gone out! I'd treasure this day =D

New Year's Resolutions!!

2011-01-04T00:05:00.000+08:00

It's kinda late to be blogging this, but here's some New Year's Resolutions!!!! Let's cut this post short & get right down to them! XD

TO DO:

Practice the acoustic guitar DAILY. FOR 4 HOURS. Nahhhh. I'm not that free for now. Perhaps a more reasonable 30 mins as a start?? My cousin actually recommended me to do 4 hours sometime in Sept 2010, along with "advice" to quit NJD =S
Have more SELF-RESPECT. Won't be explaining the details here
Sleep more. Majority of the people around me already know why
Cook/Bake more than 2010. I must quit thinking about the time, money and effort, because ultimately, I'm just helping to slow myself down, and I'd still have to eat anyway!!
Read the NEWSPAPERS. Yeah I know it does get pretty boring most of the time(not to mention newspaper ink-I know that I can read news online, but somehow I'd get distracted by something or somebody else), but I think I'm lacking on knowledge about news happening all over the world(apart from the Life Section =X)

Guess that'll be all for the moment!!

Last Day Of The Year~! + 2011!!!

2010-12-31T16:17:00.016+08:00

Last Day of 2010!! I spent the afternoon practising chords on my acoustic guitar, then proceeded to paint my nails in paris pink! XD Watched FMA Brotherhood(yeah, I know it's kinda late, but initially i was reluctant to watch this series since I read the manga!) while waiting for my nails to dry. Got off pretty late, and prepared to go to J's House for Countdown to 2011!! Of course, as usual, we had a potluck...below's the partial spread of the food! XDSo many spicy dishes!!! My family brought curry fish head..! I kinda liked the black pot's contents which had stewed pork, mushrooms, and most importantly, chestnuts!!! XD There were taco ingredients(brought by Dan's family) but I didn't take pics of them! Ahhh!! They were really good(the corn shells are so scrummy!!), and I had 2 servings =D Don't know why Raf was silly enough to ask if I was going vegetarian when I wasn't even done with building my taco...sheesh. Please guys, I eat plenty, even though that right now, I'm kinda...skinny? Not that I can help it =P

A view of the desserts...and this is, obviously, the driveway! Honestly, I haven't a clue why the desserts were outside while the mains were indoors...I think that initially, people brought food out to eat at this table & then when they were done, these cakes etc were brought out??? The almond cake here tasted too strongly of almond essense(the one in the square plastic container)...There's some almond tofu in the cooler(almond essense again!! Urgh!). The green cake in the round disposable container is green tea, I think? I was too full to sample it though.

Tapioca kueh?? Think I had 2 servings of it! XD

Raf testing out his camera on Dan, like several times?! XD Dan made eating poses all the way! I think that's Callistus at the other end O.o Je was just beside me(on my left)! He borrowed Raf's cam & snapped 1 shot of me, which resulted in really bright brown/red kinda colour hair! Je drove Chris to the mrt station(with Raf tagging along) after this little gathering! Pity that I didn't go...and perhaps it's also a good thing! Unknowingly, I bought myself time!

Most of us went upstairs to play on the wii after Je & Raf's return! Some mario game, haha! I think the bunch of us went downstairs when it was 5 mins to midnight! This year's drinks selection is a little pathetic compared to previous years(apart from 2009/2010, which my family did not attend(at Je's house too O.o) as we just returned from our holiday in America!), because everything was non-alcoholic LOL!! Oh well, at least we're being kind to our livers at the start of 2011 =)

I didn't drink much as the sparkling apple juice tasted very strange!
Random shot of Raf, who's the cameraman for this occasion! XD Many apologies to Je, whom I had to disappoint for the night...the next best thing I can do(for New Year's resolutions) is to practise the guitar everyday & then get back to him, cos once again, I got out of it O.o Thanks to my little bit of luck for 2011!

Thurs! =D

2010-12-30T23:55:00.001+08:00

*Cough*! *Cough*!

Man, I'm seriously sick of coughing. Even more when I was trying to draw this diagram during the Cells & Tissues lecture. I suppose that not only was I being distracted, but my classmates were as well. Thank goodness that there's no class on Fri!

Took the shuttle bus to queenstown station, and had a good chat with KL & LM! Both were alighting at JE, so I was in luck...I had company back! XD

Was considering to pop into JP for a few minutes for some sales, but decided otherwise. Grrr...if I were well, I'd have gone for NJD...I must make it a point to never trust any doctor who doesn't dispense antibiotics to a patient with a virus!

Lab on Mon & Tue

2010-12-29T23:52:00.003+08:00

I realised I forgot to mention that it's the 2nd Christmas in a row & I didn't get to exchange prezzies with MN! Oh well, whatever the reason, cos even I don't know myself =S Pardon me, but I've had known a few strange people =X

Glad that many liked my nails this week! XD Lab's been amusing, and I drew more than the previous time. I must learn to have more faith in myself as others have been placing theirs on me...! I can do better than this!

NJD dinner, Xmas eve& Xmas!!

2010-12-25T02:21:00.015+08:00

Two awesome colours- Paris Pink & Black. They look so good together!! Pity that the Paris Pink did not show up well on camera =( I hope that all the NJD peeps enjoyed eating the ninja gingerbread men on Thurs(231210)! My mom baked them while I helped to ice the fellas XD Many thanks to those who have given me personalised gifts too =D And other mini prezzies!

Lunched with P on Friday! We wanted to try out Daikokuya, but it was packed! We settled for Aerin's, and tried some of their specialities! The little advertisement's offer above sounds delish, no? =D By looking at the prices on the menu, it wasn't surprising that both of us were possibly the youngest patrons of that restaurant =S But hey, it's good to try out the food at a different place every now and then! Variety is good! XD P ate chicken w/some sauce...which I kinda liked! XD The polenta square was a little strange cos its texture reminded me of kueh =S It was mildly bland I suppose.
My prawn risotto! Hahaha! The prawns were succulent, which is a good thing! There were many cut spears of asparagus which were hidden throughout the rice...and oh, did I mention that mine's parmesan cheese based?? Every mouthful was easy to eat! It was never cloying no matter how many spoonfuls I ate, and the rice was still chewy & slightly al dente, and that's how a good risotto should be(I've read before on the qualities of a good risotto, of cos)! Many blur people think that risotto is some kinda mushy porridge, when in fact it is not! It's a rice based dish slowly cooked by absorption, and the soup base is ladled in 1 scoop at a time until all the moisture has been absorbed!

Off to Fruits Paradise cafe! The service was somewhat poor(well, I suppose that I should forgive the waiter since it was on Christmas Eve afterall!)and it was such a pity that the tarts we wanted to try were not yet available. Above is a Mango tart(I've forgotten the full name)

Here's a banana caramel custard pie! The odd part about this pie was that the caramel is supposed to be bitter, as stated on the menu! It did not go well with the tart at all, and was downright weird! Salty caramel would have made a better choice, if they wanted to be different =S

Shopped a little more for prezzies for family(I had a good time sampling my way around on the basement level of Taka! =D) I got home pretty late, like about 8.30pm?! Didn't have time to take a short nap, oh well. Here's me in my outfit for midnight mass! XD

It was kinda crowded when we got to the church! Fortunately, my relatives were there early, so my family took turns sitting with them, haha. My throat was getting sore at this point, ugh. Kinda miss San Francisco's midnight mass for its otherworldly charm & ethereal music.
A quick snap of my church!

I was literally in the shadows with my all black outfit, so I managed to get a few shots of the decorations before heading towards my dad's car.

Pity that I didn't do much for Christmas this year, such as baking =( hope that I'll have time for that next year!

Woke up feverish on Christmas morning, but had to drag my sorry self to Raf's house for lunch! The spread's above =) My mom cooked prawns. Most of the dishes had chili, but I ate them anyway! Didn't have much of an appetite so I ate less, and then went back home to rest!

Lovely flooded drain after a heavy downpour on Christmas evening at 7pm, I think?

I returned for dinner! Sat next to Je, and thankfully he did not ask me about the guitar, after seeing me in my sickly state. Fever is horrible! I was shivering the whole day. Let's hope that the next Christmas would be a better one! Last but not least, my mom made this Christmas tree agar =) Enjoyed my prezzies too, thanks! =)

Small Outing w/New clsmts!

2010-12-18T03:15:00.006+08:00

Lunched with the classmates today! A few turned up since it was only decided just the day before, but hey, at least they're organised & decisive! I got to know the names of 3 more people, and we had fun =) Pictures were taken, there was laughter & we all went to do a little gaming at cineleisure. There was a slight language barrier between me & 1 china guy, but somehow,surprisingly, we managed to get our points across. That same person ate dinner & shopped around orchard with me! Our bonding was pretty funny, & I learnt that he went to a kungfu school back in china! Most of my shopping plans for the day had been disrupted, but at least I made a new friend, and that's what counts! XD

Thurs IKEA dinner w/class friends

2010-12-17T00:26:00.002+08:00

Met my class friends for dinner(4 of them)! I think I arrived at the same time as San, no thanks to the bus 195 which I took and stopped 1 stop away from the 1 just in front of IKEA! Must remember that it's 3 stops in the future. Kev, V & then An arrived later! Pity that M couldn't make it due to work =(

I tried the ratatouille dish with salmon! XD Was a little disappointed at the difference in appearance of the dish(chopped veggies stewed in tomato sauce instead of grilled zucchinis etc) but it was still delish, cos the sauce masked the taste of cooked red peppers! I tried the dark choc cake(which reminded me of a choc tart) which was a thin slice of cake with scattered chopped almond mix, choc cream and the top layer was dark choc(which was sweet!).I had to use a knife to cut the choc layer since it was like, 3mm thick?!Kev pronounced the cake to be too sweet(because he bought it also lol) =S Guess it's a girl thing! XD V & An had the choc mousse, while San had the apple cinnamon muffin! Apparently everyone had a dessert XD

Evening class again! The whole bunch of us(class combined) had a fire drill practice during CBI, right down at the lab! There are 3 doors...and we were asked to run to the storeroom in case of a fire. Kev was unlucky enough to be the 1 forced to volunteer his face in the eyes washing process =S I daresay that the storeroom was pretty cool! A fridge set permanently at -80 deg c...and there was another set at -22 deg c...and more! We also have this OH&S cert(which can be found in 2 other unis in SG...NTU & NUS!) One thing about the chem lab...there was an oscillometer O.o and an eye chart?! While our lab's sadly not the best(since $1mil covers a basic lab), we're still well equipped anyway. Guess the only thing left to do right now is to persevere, and hopefully go on elsewhere!

Caught up with SH & LM, so the 3 of us had a good chat until JE, where they alighted. Brisk walked to JSCC and wanted to pay for njd fees, but it was my luck, cos they closed at 10pm! Called the guys a few times, and finally found out where they were, whew.

The 2 tables were really crowded! New blood in NAS! They're Mike's friends O.o heard that 3 more were coming in Jan or so! Gosh. Can't wait to get back in action here, cos I'm tired of being so lazy, ie. not going for exercising! Faster heal, my pesky backbone! XC There'd be a few changes when I return, so I can't help feeling a little sad at the moment. Of course, we all have to progress, so let's hope that I'd get over this soon! =D

A form of motivation-Cooking!

2010-12-15T00:10:00.007+08:00

So I was incredibly sleepy during one evening class on Tuesday! To think that I was actually yawning and fighting to keep my eyes opened =S Not that the lesson was boring, but it kinda stank not being able to absorb anything for that moment.

The classroom had a sleepy atmosphere too, of all things. It was a 1st for me to have a combined class, since the lecturer couldn't make it in the afternoon. Food and Christmas came to my mind, and who would've thought that I'd be instantly awake! I'm just so excited to bake again for my friends and family! The process of sourcing out ingredients is kinda a little adventure itself XD I'm always looking forward to getting the best ingredients to use in my baking! =D

I'm still pretty new to this cooking thingy, so I hope that the usual people who taste my results will be kind *crosses fingers*! And most of all, I'm grateful for everyone!

Art Of Invisibility! Sunday 121210

2010-12-13T22:44:00.026+08:00

Woke up late on a Sunday! Studied/read some of my sis' JC bio notes(as a foundation), lunched, went online & studied again x_x The quiet,sunny afternoon was perfect for chilling out in an alfresco style cafe(away from polluting vehicles & ciggie smoke, of course)surrounded by beautiful flowers,a pond & perhaps some lush foliage nearby??? Not forgetting some scrummy English Tea! =D I know that there's a place like that, but just can't remember the name =(

I had dinner, then went out to ARCC to check out AI! When I arrived, I think that that was John & GM behaving suspiciously with their backs to me( crouching down, sprinting up the stairs etc!) The scene was amusing, and I almost wanted to make my presence known in the most surprising way possible, but decided to resist doing so! Went off to the ladies, then stood next to the hall to have a better view of everyone on the different floors.

There were quite a no. of outsiders in the area, so I blended in well for a while =) Tried to do some hiding myself by standing behind the pillars, leaning against the wall, etc! When that round ended & everyone went back to the dojo, I walked along the corridors & spotted "Wine appreciation". Wow. I should go try one of these when I have the time & better palate...Life is short! Alright, I noticed movement from the top, so I brisk walked behind the hall(near the entrance) to check out who would be in that area again...! I heard a noise and took a peek, and saw...hmm I think that was John. Then I realised that there was another ninja in the area & couldn't help smiling XD Went back to hide & laugh!!

I took a walk to the side of the hall where I would see the different levels again(and remained there).Who would've known that YY spotted me from a distance (much later into the game), and waved to say hi! Thought that some of the crazy guys were doing pull ups in the middle of the round =X Then somebody yelled at them to stop doing so lol!

It was quite funny to be pointed out by GM to both white gi guys(not at the same time)at a distance, since well, aren't they all still doing their round of AI?!?! Gosh.

Waited for a while for the class to end then said hi to everyone! I kinda managed to accomplish 2 things...1st was to check out how AI is done(since I heard of it a few mths back)...and secondly, to see familiar faces in person! Think by now everyone knows that I haven't been going for class for the past few weeks cos of my back, and with school and all, life's been a little dreary lately =( I need more activities in my life!

Can't wait to get back to njd! Thanks to all who are concerned for me =D Guess that'll it for Sunday. New week up ahead! =D

Walking down memory lane

2010-12-11T16:52:00.036+08:00

Spent part of the late morning at the orthodontist! Changed from pink to red, haha! Pity that I couldn't have it done in red & green =S Christmas is nearing, but somehow I just don't have much of a holiday mood. I've not seen familiar people for a while, and there's hardly any shopping (apart from school related stuff) on some weekends(or even staying at home), so if anyone's looking for christmas gifts on a weekend, do call me out please! =D I need a change of environment & feel a little seasonal goodwill. Most of all, I miss baking =( I wonder if we're going to make any gingerbread cookies this year? I LURVE potluck parties among our relatives =D

Here's a pic of my new labcoat! Hurridly snapped it just before I had to rip the plastic on friday =S My mom was wiping my ex-study room one sleepy Saturday afternoon! I decided to take a look at some of the items on the bookshelf(which I had not much contact with since my sister invaded that room after getting back from Ame)since a no. of things would be taken down by the end of the year.

As shown above, this is a personal organiser, as provided by my ex JC (and sold for $5 in the general office, I think?). It was mostly empty =X Notice that it's in near mint condition? This is something which I'd treasure, even though, back then, I kinda disliked its existence. It actually contains a few memories which you can see below! =D
This is a pint sized motivational card as given to me by my chinese teacher in J1. He taught back in my secondary school, and I suppose that he was posted to IJC ?
Yeah well, too bad that I couldn't appreciate this on time, due to various reasons =( There were people looking out for me and everyone else, but oh well. And here's a Christmas card given to me by 1 of my class friends! =) It was also left for safe keeping in the little plastic folder.
Yeah, I've kept it well too, right in the little plastic folder of the IJC handbook. It's been a long time since! Guess I should make an effort to contact everyone who I've not seen in the past few mths again!

Bought this at my school before, and kept part of it haha =X It somewhat brightened up my dreary JC life, although the words are kinda nonsensical now lol!

Some of my ex-geekiness when I was 14. LOL!! But whatever, I think it's cute. Anyway I managed to get what I wanted & thoroughly enjoyed my life during that time (although post- achievement, the path wasn't smooth sailing due to a no. of factors back then X( ) The story is long, so I'd be stopping here =)

I found some moolah in this...! XD Some long forgotten cash which resided on my currently abandoned bookshelf.

These used to belong on the dark brown bookshelf, which were later cleared for textbooks.

Empty for once. This was wiped & my sis' stuff was arranged by my mom, back on the cabinet. Honestly, I find this to be extremely plain looking=X Can't wait to choose my own new cabinet soon

Some badges which I've accumulated! Going clockwise, the green badge(sagittarius) was from my JC's house system, and it was a 1st for me to be in a different colour other than red. The hot pink badge's from kiehl's, as received on Feb 14 =) Bearing my name is a badge from my CCA in JC as made by my juniors, and lastly, a badge I got while taking a tour in ICES...!

That's quite a bit for one entry, so I'd stop here for now! =D

Friday 101210 Cell Drawing!

2010-12-10T21:22:00.008+08:00

Hi all!!

I had an enjoyable time in class today, drawing cells!

Or rather, it was the bonding that went on in the process of drawing different types of cells as seen thru the microscope!

The 1st pic I drew was a human glandular epithelium, and seriously it was pretty irritating, since I don't know what to exclude & include as the slides were really clear & detailed! Gah.

I had a good laugh with my fellow group mates & nearby classmates! Hopefully we'd all improve with time =D I'd better go do research on how to draw proper pics for bio since I didn't take it(apart from sec sch)!! Sidetracking, I still remember that my bio teacher asked us to draw proper solid lines with no shading at all...hmm...but shading doesn't quite apply right now, since there's quite a fair amount of detail, like attempting to draw a slide showing stratified cuboidal epithelium...madness!

There'd been some upsetting things today, but as I reflect on the day's events, I'm pretty lucky afterall =) I'm truly grateful for everyone. We all have a common goal & interest!

Sidetracking(again...!) I must learn to remember people's preferences...I tend to be preoccupied...of course, I hope that people would likewise, do too. Real relationships are 2 way =) It's always nice to have a person that you can turn to =D

Can't wait to bake more for some lovely friends! =D

Midweek

2010-12-09T01:22:00.012+08:00

It's the 2nd week of school! It's going fine, but pity that it's not the same with me =( Maybe it's my immune system(because I do have a slight cough at the moment, and I've read before that people tend to feel blue during an illness because of the immune system's battle against the antigens in the body).

I admit that I do miss seeing familiar faces especially when I'm off to a totally new school, and so far I'm just getting to know my classmates & all...would be great to have some physical presence of old friends, but that's life, everyone's busy with school etc...of course, I'm always grateful for the actions of those who keep in contact on msn or thru sms. I just haven't seen many people in a long time =(

Guess 2010 is getting tougher... Or I'm just not outstanding enough. Who knows? Let's just wait and see how things go after I'm done with a few adjustments. I'm already going to miss Dec 16's dinner cos of a replacement lesson =C Great.

On a brighter note! I had learnt something which is of utmost importance to me today, so there is some hope.

Dinner wif ZR & MN at XinWang Cafe!

2010-12-08T00:38:00.011+08:00

The chocs from San Francisco! Haven't blogged about them before =XTCHO sells dark chocolate(which is seriously potent stuff)with variations such as dark choc covered dried mango & cashew!

This brand sells hot dark chocolate at the mini choc shop and offers tours around its factories, but at that time I was there(Dec 2009), this tour wasn't in operation yet =(
Monday! Went out with MN & ZR for dinner!!! Class ended at 6.30pm for me, and met MN at cityhall! Chanced upon the Hershey's shop in Citylink Mall, which also sells Reese peanut buttercups! They've got lotsa things ranging from candles, cushions, pencil cases, sweets, giant kisses...etc etc! They've got the huge hershey bar at $60, I think =X Directed ZR to Hershey's cos he came the last! Popcorn from the adjacent stall smelt wonderful(garrett's), but the smallest pack they had cost $8, not forgetting that the 3 of us tried the popcorn(much later on after dinner was done)and I guess the Cornery's still the best! =D
Menu...!MN & calamansi drink, I think?

We all had a go at ZR's mango milkshake, which was definitely the best drink out of the 3!

ZR & mango milkshake. LOL!

MN's curry & chicken chop! This costs $7.80, I think? The curry was pretty good

The rest of the spread. Guess I won't be ordering the honey version again, since they drowned the sauce in garlic!!! The combi's really weird, since the honey was diluted & tasted more like soy sauce & garlic. Eeeks!

Wanted to go for dessert, but there wasn't enough time, not forgetting that there's no more marvelous cream at citylink mall(replaced by toast box). The directory got a laugh out of us, since there was this just next to 2 shops on the list..."Opening in October"....um, right. LOL!!

Cooked a funny dinner

2010-12-04T23:36:00.006+08:00

Did some nonsense "cooking" on Sat! I won't call it cooking since it's just throwing a few things together for dinner=S Tried out this recipe for drop biscuits(the american equivalent of a scone)and followed the instructions to a T...and the batter didn't come out well in the end haha =X It was bread-like! I was a little blur and made the whole recipe instead of half! Who would've known that the whole recipe produced 10 mini biscuits...totally relieved about that!

Think I should've added less milk, since the resulting mix produced a really sticky dough =S
The "soup of the day"! XD Fresh tomatoes & some,um, herbed sauce =X
Was interrupted by this dragonfly during my time in the kitchen! I admit that I was pretty lucky since I was done with dinner prep...and oh, did I mention that I tried poaching an egg using the swirling water method? =S It was kinda disastrous but I managed to salvage the egg, and I daresay I now know what went wrong!

Watched Personal Taste on Ch U(I selected the original language, of course...dubbing is never pleasant to listen to)! I suppose my saturday was pretty boring...didn't study much in the end either, argh. It'll be more fun to have friends around! I suppose that I failed to mention earlier why I resorted to eating this on a Sat...and that's cos my parents went off to JB(stuck in a jam for 2 hrs =S)and my sis went to cozycot's little party in the evening. Kinda reluctant to head out to buy dinner since I wasn't sure of what to get from the nearby hawker centres! Hmm, just to sidetrack...one day I should try hosting a dinner party(with proper food & plates, of cos!) Anybody up for it? =D

1st Day of School!

2010-12-01T23:01:00.003+08:00

Today's the 1st day for my course!

I was somewhat surprised to see slightly more than 20 people for the lecture on intro to bio molecules ever since I scanned thru the pathetically short list during orientation(which was a talk on the sch's facilities etc etc) yesterday. Sidetracking, it was the food served after orientation which made me remember how delish chocolate eclairs were, so that'll be another recipe to try out! XD

Sad to say that my class has more girls than guys =( The class has a mix of locals & foreigners, and as of now, I've confirmed that there are 3 of them(1 from m'sia, 1 from korea, and 1 from france but she's indian). I can only remember 4 names(Angeline, Tracy, Sanjali and Calvin)...oh wait, I think the 1 from m'sia's called Chin Chin...guess I'd be able to confirm that again tomorrow or so!

One last thing before I'd end on school...I must always remember not to rest on my laurels...just because that the exam for this module comprises of nothing but MCQs(local unis have this too, which I just remembered)doesn't mean that they're going to be easy!!! Every single detail is important!!!!

The path to school is peaceful & fairly gorgeous during the day, but it's a whole other story when darkness descends(on rainy days or night)! The area is pretty deserted, not forgetting to mention that there are quite a no. of bushes...perfect for the black belts to do their AI XD

The week thus far

2010-11-29T14:48:00.008+08:00

Sunday was a fairly interesting day, since the sec 3 kids had confirmation...church was packed! I still remembered the day I had confirmation, and at that time(unlike this year's), a bunch of us students (about 5) were followed by our confirmation godparent to the front of the church to be anointed with the Holy Chrism by the archbishop. I said "thanks" by mistake LOL! I was a lector for the 1st reading, and who would've known that I spoke a little too loudly into the microphone =S My cousin B was the 2nd reading's lector, and at that time he was made to stand on a stool =X I can still roughly remember what I read! It went along the lines of "He does not cry out or shout aloud, nor make his voice heard in the streets." and "...nor quench the wavering flame. Faithfully, he brings true justice." Isaiah something-or-other chapter =X

Most hilarious was when this person announced through the PA system to get the sec 3 ppl to stand next to the archbishop for phototaking! Best of all, some individuals' names were mentioned over the system. I wonder if they were embarrassed =X

Some unpleasant things happened along the way after I got out of church, to the point that I almost teared out of sadnesss when I went to JP =( My mood lifted a little during lunch(mainly because I was amused) by this guy who was singing softly to himself while waiting for his friends to get back from buying lunch...and he sounded pretty good O.o Bought some things in preparation for school!

Sidetracking, Christmas is nearing!!!! =DDD Bad news is....I hope that J doesn't, erm, bombard me with questions related to music...not now anyway. Can't wait for more baking! XD

Oreo CheeseCake!!

2010-11-27T14:15:00.026+08:00

Oreo Cheesecake on a Thurs! XD I'm going to go though a few of the pics 1st before doing some serious writing...! Below's a pic of the instructions on caring for the springform pan, which I bought on a Tues at a PH speciality shop in clementi for a price of $24+!
I was more than hesitant when I had to purchase gelatine since the only non-halal version came in sheets, not forgetting to mention that it had a short shelf life =(

Fish gelatine in a cheesecake~! Yummeh =S

Cream cheese! XD

Pile of crushed oreo cookies, minus the creams. 4 1/3 packs' worth of plain oreos, just for the base!

Scarily shiny base, and I'd have the melted butter to thank that for...off to the chiller!

Philly cheese! Unfortunately, I forgot to keep the recipe stored inside the box =(

Random whipping cream which my mom bought from the nearby baking mart

Full cream milk & gelatine for double boiling! Honestly, I was kind of disturbed by the slight smell of fish in milk =S

The 2nd layer which I used up the remaining pack's worth of sandwiched oreo cookies(with 1 w/o the cream), along with a whole other pack of 3s(minus the creams)

What a stark contrast! I overdid on the no. of plain oreos for 2nd layer haha!

After this was in the fridge, I went off to eat my late lunch =S Took a shower & had a nap, then went off to njd class to inform YY of my need to be absent from class for the next few weeks cos of my back XC Good luck to those going for grading!!! Took some pics and then went back for dinner, and then to remove my cake from the pan!! =D Millimeters (or centimeters, if u're impatient) of the cake slowly detached itself from the sides of the pan...! I was reminded of natural disasters for no apparent reason XS The whole cake! The layers look awesome, apart from the base! I cut a miniscule slice for myself and tried it. And laughed. With a fair amount of disappointment settling upon me. I thought, "Why does it feel like I'm eating a jelly with a biscuit base?! Did I do something wrong??!" I had the impression that I calculated the amount of gelatine wrongly, so I referred back to the book. And I now know that this is probably the texture of non-bake cheesecakes! Guess I haven't eaten enough to know how things should turn out, since I was half expecting the layers to be fluffy(like those in BAKED cheesecakes!) What was I thinking, really. My parents liked it O.o and the funny thing was that my mom said that I helped her to achieve her dream of making cheesecake?!
Here's the pic of the cheesecake recipe which I used(and modified), since I reasoned that mine would be cut into many small pieces and therefore look less aesthetically pleasing if I were to follow the original recipe =S But to begin with, there's so many kinds of oreo cheesecakes out there, so I got the idea of 2 layers from the net!

I cut the entire cake in preparation to give some away, since I'd already mentioned to some in advance that I was making it, lol. Brought 10 to the njd supper! Michael & Sir's reactions were kinda scary as they imitated those japanese on food shows ie. saying WAHHHH! Followed by exaggerated facial expressions. Surprisingly, most of them at the table liked it(at least I think so, since I never asked all) O.o But personally I think I'd rather stick to eating baked cheesecakes in the future as I prefer my cheesecakes to be fluffy & creamy. Can't wait to try out another recipe(not cheesecake)soon! Let's hope that I'd achieve what I want for that! XD

Church & my lumbar

2010-11-24T22:08:00.015+08:00

Sunday's sermon was very interesting! I can't remember the specifics, but to summarise, it's important to change for the better(meaning that we should not to hold grudges if we are having one now & stop whatever sinful activities if we are already involved in them)because we'd ultimately be right in hell if we do not acknowledge the fact that we have caused hurt upon others etc and steadfastly choose to remain as we are, being selfish, indulgent people(and so on!) Whew! What a paragraph!

Moving on! I had insomnia on Sunday as I was terribly worried about the growing pain in my lower back(at the lumbar area) & stayed up to do some research on it! Can't remember when my back started hurting, but I remembered that during the widest leg stretch in sunday class(Nov 14 2010) there was some pain but I chose to ignore it. I thought that it would go away in a few days, so I went for Thurs class, and still, that particular spot...! Haiz.

Went to see the Dr. on a Monday(this week) and got my back xray-ed...the bones are fine but the tissue isn't =\ Some inflammation at that area, and the Dr. called it a tender spot O.o, and tole me about the R.I.C.E thingy(if i'm not wrong, since I was kind of sleepy that day), but in my case it was just the R and I(rest & ice), so doing my best with the cold compresses! Heat would make it worse since it's an inflammation. At least I've learnt a few things today! Kind of unlucky here, since grading is on 2nd Dec and I'd have to miss it =( He mentioned that 6-8 weeks' worth of rest O.O and he wanted to give me a medical certificate from school, but too bad, cos I can't afford any of that.

The pain's quite easy to forget since that spot will only hurt if I bend my back =( forwards or backwards. Twisting does cause some pain, so have to minimise that as well. How strange to think that I'd be down with this kind of pain...or maybe not? I'm not much of an active person to begin with in the past! Guess I'd just deal with this for the moment!

Ninja-Do 42nd week Sighhh

2010-11-19T03:03:00.002+08:00

Things did not go well for me at all during mock grading.

I was quite jittery, along with the pain in my lower back when we had to bend...best of all, I had to go after ZR was done, and alone. Bleh! Sad to be the only green belt there.

Everything was terrible, especially my balancing...it was just too surreal, not to mention that it was scary having so many eyes on you. Defences wasn't timed properly, and I had no practice for that in weeks. Punches hmmm I should have gone to confirm with sir for the ninja push moves, because there are quite a few inconsistencies & it's definitely not helping! Kata...there's definitely inconsistencies which exist. Haiz.

Luckily dinner was a light & funny affair, else I'd have just gone home earlier. I was tired!!! To think that I had to sacrifice my sleep while trying to trace the very unprofessional people working on the lines in the afternoon, since I had only received a notice via email on the same day itself that I was not required to attend the biology pre tutorial. Awesome work there, people. I got transferred twice, and even they don't know much. Simply fantastic.

I bet that I'd surprised a few people by turning up for class...haha.

Drawing of Sebby & Cooking!!

2010-11-17T03:20:00.015+08:00

Drew this on a Tues, 16 Nov 2010! =D It's my first attempt at drawing Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji!! I know that it's slightly inaccurate, but I like the pic that I drew anyway =D Scanner's not working, so I had to resort to taking pics, which does look a little blurry here. I'm so stale when it comes to drawing =( My previous attempt at a character was Ed from Fullmetal Alchemist, which was sometime in 2006-7?? I'm not kidding! Not that I'm lazy to draw, but many other things have occupied my time(which I have mixed feelings about, but still cool with it). Cooked on Wed, 17 Nov 2010! Pumpkin Bisque again! However, I instructed my mom to buy MORE pumpkin since the previous attempt had too little...and I think this time's a bit too much haha =X Are you, the reader, able to read the scale?

Pumpkin overload!!Boiling on the stove! The smell was sweeter since there's more pumpkin...the ratio of pumpkin to potato was about 3:1 O.o

Done after 35 mins' simmering. Had to manually mash the bits(again!). Used cream this time around, which made the soup taste even better =)

Wanted to try making a ganache with this, but I guess I can do so when I go shopping for more ingredients from the supermarket! That valrhona choc's still waiting for me in the fridge =(

Before addition of cream

After addition of cream!

Tiny globules of fat floating O.o I wonder if restaurants freeze their soups 1st and then scrape off the layer of fat before serving customers??

Been going on about cooking( if a few times lately) since I've still got a looooong way to go...time which has been lost cannot be gained back, not to mention that time is running out for me, sadly. I guess I'd just have to see how things go in the future!

NJD sunday! MN bdae141110

2010-11-15T01:26:00.008+08:00

Hi all! Had a visit to the orthodontist on a Sat, and I admit that the new fittings onto my teeth were extremely painful =( Took me a while to get used to them. There are now 4 metal rings around my molars!! Lunch was a little bit of a mistake, so I guess that from now onwards I'd just survive on soup when I'm done with the adjustment =) Church on the same day, and afterwards rushed off to Ambush at JP to celebrate MN's bdae! Surprisingly no birthday cake, but it didn't matter anyway cos I can't chew much.Cod fish with pesto cream sauce or something like that? It was rather garlickly, but pretty nice...Was somewhat struggling to chew since all my teeth hurt. Ambush doesn't serve soup at all!

Christmas decorations are already up at JP, so we took a few pics...which were kinda blurry(unsteady hands), so will not be posting them! Above are falling "snowflakes", better known as foam from soap! Joel drove everyone back for the night.

Wanted to take pics of the black belts in their current white gi before they make the switch to black gi, but was a little bit shy so didn't ask XC Training was...tiring!!! Outstanding squats multiplied by the no. of people...the guys formed a bigger group so they had more extra squats as compared to us girls(only 2! Yay!)Was kind of shocked with the wrong multiplication, so I corrected it! The guys were practically half dead by the time training was over.

I couldn't execute my kicks properly since my legs were jelly-like. Lost my balance several times...some of the black belts were quite funny when it came to hitting the punching bag-like target XD

Ninja-Do Week 41 & Kazokutei!

2010-11-11T15:54:00.032+08:00

Led the class for warm ups for NJD! I couldn't help laughing during the 1st warm up since Steven looked like a mushroom =X Training was just stances...surprisingly. Unfortunately, I kicked horribly today =( Was totally unbalanced!

Drank as usual for supper, and am waiting to be paid back by MN(she owes me $5.20). The convo during supper was, ahem, "appetizing", as the people at the table on my left were discussing about...surgery in detail!!! Guess they are too desensitized from watching some of those videos =S Pity those who were eating there =X Ate again when I got home since some food was still kept for me though I ate earlier before class O.o

Went out with P on a Friday! Shopped a little for my things, such as notebooks from Urban Write =D P was tempted to buy some of the notebooks which caught her fancy, so she bought 2! I almost bought a notebook which resembled a classic storybook(it was really pretty & had a romantic vibe)but alas, it belonged in the hands of those who are in love/have a significant other(and I am not, most unfortunately =S )so I left it after much consideration =( We had dinner at Kazokutei, which is a handmade udon franchise at PS, part of Tokyo Walker! I can't read jap, but here's a pic to certify that all udon served are handmade fresh on the premises =) You could actually see people making udon (behind a glass screen, of course) pretty close to the entrance, but I didn't stay to watch the action =(The soup base which was chosen by the both of us! They had other bases which included the use of bonito flakes, and if I remember correctly, there was also curry udon O.o not to mention shabu shabu & cold udon XD

P's dish! I didn't sample the meat since it was a Friday =) This was $12.80

Closeup of the serving of soy sauce which I was supposed to dip my tempura veggies in...and those red marks are part of the bowl's design =)

This cost me $7.80(a bowl of udon is $4.80)! The veggie items included a piece of pumpkin, carrot, mushroom & brinjal...not to mention that there was a little bit of grated daikon and ginger on the side! The soup was clean tasting and light(which I liked), but it could be a little more flavourful. I prefer noodles to have a little more bite and I was expecting it to be chewy, so I guess that this isn't really it! It was barely al dente...maybe I'd have more luck with the cold option on another visit? I ate here at around 7-8+pm, and the place was packed with people...hope I'd have better luck with the noodles on the next round! It gets a little squeezy around a corner to the seats, so I hope that all those who visit this place will take care!

Badminton!!! 091110

2010-11-09T23:56:00.022+08:00

Was planning to do quick shopping just before playing tennis & badminton, but decided not to since it would be silly to lug my loot to CCK!

Spent some time concealing a flaw on me before heading out...to think that I was late! Almost took a bus 985 from the interchange...how could I forget 307 at the busstop behind Lot 1?!

GM fetched me while I was on the way to the stadium, and from there I learnt that Justus & YY were even later than I! Didn't know that the tennis court was out in the open...changed out & back, and saw that the 4 of them were already playing O.o

I'm extremely stale in tennis, so pardon my terrible playing! Furthermore the racket is kind of heavy =( I managed to hit one ball out of the court, as usual =S I think I used too much strength and my angle of projection is badddd, cos I tend not to notice the way I swing the racket =X Sidetracking, tennis reminded me of JC days O.o

Played til it started to drizzle again...went off to the hall with GM to start on badminton. Had doubles later on, and only when I took a break I had more energy, and was somewhat annoyed that everyone was exhausted lol! My reflexes are faster now, that's for sure. XD

The group parted at around 6+ to 7 ish for dinner! Took the same train as YY back to jurong...ate a little too much during dinner(cos my mom always cooks a LOT)but still went off to play bball with the 4 of them along with YY's friends & bro! Everyone looked more comfortable in their own outfits than I...should have changed out XC Was getting a little nauseous so daren't move too much...only at the end did I bother to be a little more active in the game.

Guess that's it for a Tues! Won't be having this kinda stuff in the afternoon to evening so often in the future, since school's starting soon for me!

Sleepy on a Sunday

2010-11-07T14:43:00.009+08:00

I was pretty much half asleep on this day, but I managed to pay attention during the sermon! The story was like this

A woman married a man who had 6 other brothers. The man died and went to heaven, and the woman married the next brother. He also died(and to heaven), and the woman married the subsequent brothers, one after another and during this whole time, she had been in monogamous relationships. When all of them went to heaven, whose wife would she be now?

The answer is, none of the above. In the next life, there'd be no need for procreation, and therefore no need for marriage whatsoever. Thus, in my conclusion...make the most out of this life. Of course, this doesn't mean that as a person, you should be free and easy, for if you were, there'd be no next life anyway!

Honestly speaking, I don't remember much of Sunday, but Biology ROCKS! Read some of it before taking a fairly irritating nap because I was woken up several times, and was somewhat tired for class =(

Daresay that it was a little bit intimidating to attend the Sunday class w/o the other colours from the Thurs class, cos I'm closer to them XC Fortunately for me, I kinda got over it quickly. Squats this time around O.o but heyy it was cool! Just hope that I don't get too muscular lol. The guys stretched their legs, and I almost spat on John's face in surprise while on the floor(I was drinking before that).

Trained my kicks & kata...and almost hurt my leg =( Especially during the yoyatsus! Nevermind, at least managed to kick higher.

Class ended, and as usual I was off to change out...got a little confused when Daltone said that Justus & ZR were there, then they left with YY and I couldn't go back home?! Then I mistook GM and thought he wanted a lift. Almost gave everyone a funny look since my dad was already there!!!

I admit that I was a teensy weensy bit hurt that they left for supper at the last minute, but not so much since it was a rainy day, and I was wearing shoes which shouldn't get wet. Said a sarcastic "ha. ha." to ZR on the line lol when I asked about said supper. Bought dinner back & went to bed fairly early, I think!

Macaronage- French Style! 05 Nov 2010

2010-11-06T13:43:00.065+08:00

Most of my posts lack better vocab, so allow me to inject some life into this one! *crosses fingers*

Presenting to you below is a pic of the Valrhona Choc! I have yet to sample it, however. Notice the price stated on the label?

Yesterday was a sluggish Friday afternoon! I got ready my equipment, almond meal, etc, and was all set to start when I noticed a fatal flaw in the recipe that I was about to use. No castor sugar?! I went to one of my favourite websites and did some research. Castor sugar made the frothy egg whites more stable, and without it meant a higher chance of failing...so I guess I'd have to eschew that castor sugar-less recipe!

Great.

Ominous clouds loomed ahead, further dampening my spirit. For those who aren't aware, rainy days are not suitable for macaron making! Made a silent prayer for the skies to clear while making my way to the supermarket!

Managed to find the castor sugar, got home, and started at 4.30pm! Washed & dried equipment, yadda yadda.

I sifted the icing sugar & almond meal for what seemed an interminable 50 minutes. This was how it went: Through the sieve. Too large ground almond bits, grind. Not high enough in the food processor, add sifted icing sugar. Repeat.

Fortunately, it wasn't as much as the previous Italian method(about 2 hours!). Mom helped me to make the meringue, since the amount was kind of small and the bowl needed tilting. Speaking of which...I should hunt for a copper bowl if I intend to make more macarons in the future! I was expecting the added gel food colouring to fade, but to my shock and horror...it remained a shade of hot pink, even after adding the almond meal etc! The mixture shrank during folding, leaving me a grand total of...3.33 trays' worth of macarons! Below are freshly piped raw macarons left to dry out(and ultimately, form a crust- that's French method for you)I recalled having to smack/shake the trays to allow the air bubbles to emerge, but with

such a thick consistency(even thicker than the italian method), it was impossible! Maybe I screwed up somewhere? A close up of a raw macaron whose shape I kind of like =D French meringue method is good- if you like making oddly shaped macarons. I can attest to that! All the evidence is below XD

I piped spirals, not knowing that the mixture would not form a nice dome upon baking(like the Italian method). My 1st tray was cooked at 150 deg C for 15 minutes, with 3 trays stacked. Ah, apparently it was too hot. The macarons rose quickly after 5 minutes, so I dropped the temperature to 125 deg C. Yikes. They came out slightly burnt! The bottoms were a little undercooked, so I placed a foil to cover the macarons and popped the tray into the oven for another 10 mins, this time at 120 deg C and using only 1 tray.For my second tray, I used 3 trays at 15 mins, and 125 deg C. The bottoms were very undercooked, so yet again, into the oven, 1 tray, 15 mins, foil over top. Silly me tried lifting them off the baking paper while they were still hot, as recommended by the recipe which I used. I did that since the notes advised to allow them cool upside down.( I daren't turn the whole lot upside down while they were stuck to the paper as the macs could crack!) The bottoms stuck to the paper, so I let them cool for a while before lifting cleanly.

2nd batch looks better than the 1st, that's for sure. The feet for all stuck out awkwardly, so I suppose I did a no. of things wrongly!

I sampled one from the 1st batch, in an attempt to understand why the French is favoured over the Italian for its taste. Ah, to my delight & consternation! It is not overwhelmingly sweet. Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside! Unfortunately, this was how I looked when I discovered that...

A HUGE air space appeared on the inside!! Didn't know that it was THIS bad.

I made the silicon baking mat slanted in an attempt to combat its tendency to expand during the baking process. This helped, though I could have shifted the macs more to the right =S125 deg C, 2 trays, 15 mins. I let the macs cool before lifting, but they were still stuck. The top wasn't crispy, of all things. I got the oven thermometer to check the exact temp, which I didn't do previously since I could only hang it, and it always fell out when I took trays in and out of the hot oven despite being meticulous. Foiled, 5 mins, 1 tray, now slightly past 120 deg C. Bottoms still sticky even when cooled!! BlehhThe 4th tray had the deepest shade, for 120 deg C, 2 trays and 15 mins. Bottoms slightly tacky, so foiled, 5 mins, 1 tray, now temp is about 125 deg C. Who would've known that I managed to make exactly 50 cookies! However, as they are all slightly bigger than a quarter, crazily shaped, unfilled with a huge air space, not forgetting that they are somewhat brown(not my intended colour)...I'll be keeping all for myself! Til next time, when I'm done making them properly and filled XD Have to hurry for upcoming events! Comments are welcomed for this post! Just leave a tag in my tagbox =D Thanks!

Ninja-Do 40th week!

2010-11-04T02:20:00.022+08:00

What a day!

Argued, so I was kind of glad to leave for Holland V! Tired of the agitation, shouting etc...seriously, give me a break.

Went to Cold Storage but couldn't find the chocolate & almond meal! Made my way to Phoon Huat instead, and bought the almond meal. Stepped into Shermay's cooking school, and remembered Valrhona choc! Bought a pack, yay! Quality stuff, oh well, so the price was kinda steep for a 250g pack. Will be discussing more about this choc on the next post! Pity that I didn't ask to sample before making my purchase because I made a grand entrance at the doorway while getting in =S

Took the wrong train back, of all things. Reached home at 6.30pm! Rushed dinner, then off to NJD. Bleh, nobody returned my greeting when I said hi on reaching the dojo XC Awkwardddd.

Did warm ups for the class today! Could barely shout as my throat was dry like sandpaper. Unsure of a few things during class(as a temp IC, and no, not the warm ups!), so I guess I still have a long way to go! Had a mini demo on the ninja push, and still didn't get it right, somehow =( Pushed somewhat wrongly argh.

Had 1st sparring today! Wore the safety vest w/GM's help, and of all things my opponent was YS! Plenty nervous, so I blanked out and didn't know what to do. Both of us froze for a while, then I started with a so-called turning kick. Pity that we weren't auditioning for a comedy series, since both of us did the knee kick at the same time! No idea why sir(i think) made a reference to muay thai when that happened. YY became my next opponent, and I didn't block some kicks on time =( Quite afraid of hurting my wrists since they are kind of thin. Maybe I should depend more on my legs! Then 2(YS & I) vs 1(YY), and I think I managed to get a hit. Next were the guys, and they actually kicked heads =S The rounds were stopped when they were getting too aggressive. I was reminded of the arcade game, King of Fighters!

Subsequent sparrings had their own funny moments, and I left the class with a small bruise on my left arm and a fairly huge one on my right leg! Not bad, I suppose, but I should be faster in the future! Wasn't paying attention when A asked me to help YS to untie the vest =S I should reflect after and not during class haha!

Dinner was okay, apart from the strange atmosphere at the table. Got home pretty late, like about 11.30pm!

Birthdays & Sunday's NJD!

2010-11-02T14:15:00.056+08:00

The golden day...Saturday! Seriously, there were way too many activities/birthday celebrations on 30th Oct 2010.

Initially, I was supposed to head out and participate in this Passion Walk with my JC's 12F girls, which I didn't go in the end due to the extremely troublesome method of visiting a place(near town) to sign up(and during the time of njd chalet!). Next, I had a 4e1 class bbq...which I also didn't go since I had a sorethroat. Who would've known that my relatives were holding yet another birthday party in the same house...gah. Best of all, it's the actual birthday date of this guy who I admired from my JC!

I think I laughed too much on the line when I called to wish him! He sounded different on the phone O.o It was pleasant hearing his voice anyway! The call stretched for about 3 minutes, which isn't too bad. Was a little high for a while =X

Forgot to confirm for Sun's njd class, of all things!

Evening went to cousin's house, and I enjoyed dinner thoroughly. Pity that J wasn't there, cos I haven't seen him in a while. Didn't do much apart from reading and then hanging about the house! Smsed friends too while waiting. Cake was cut rather early! Below are the cakes...I think the left's from breadtalk while the right's from bakerzin.
The macarons were stale on the breadtalk cake =S Bakerzin choc cheesecake was the yummier cake, but I'd prefer pure cheesecake with strawberry or blueberry sauce any time!

G's got a new haircut! A mohawk! Looks cool on him XD Punk hairstyle is awesome! Of course, I doubt this can be called a true mohawk...because the sides of his head aren't completely shaved.

Left the house at 11.30pm, I think?

Woke for church on sunday, was dragging my feet since I was really tired. Had insomnia again! Sermon was about being abstemious, I think. Took a very short nap when I got home from church & lunch, since it's impossible to sleep on a full stomach. Out to pray for the dead, and pity that J didn't go! Gah. My sensei...! Must be busy with his NS duties. First time never see him around for things like this!

To St. Anthony's church, we prayed the rosary for my deceased grandfather. I was reminded of the past few mistakenly said phrases such as "all the angles in heaven" "soul of our late great grandfather & brother in Christ" and decade became "dedicate"!

Was almost late for NJD, because my dad ate dinner 1st! Got a little sian when I smsed some of the njd peeps and 1 sounded unfriendly regarding the confirmation for turning up for sun class. Guess I won't be writing on fb walls in the future w/anything related to it! The language barrier is really irritating at times.

Fortunately, class went well! Wanted to overtake JM during the running session but didn't. Had more energy to jump over the obstacles since class was fairly crowded today, and there was time to cool down during running. Practised kata, ninja push & kicks on my own! The black belts were busy learning their own stuff, to my relief. I noticed that I tend to pay more attention to my kicks when facing a shiny wall, so I don't know how am I going to do when grading comes again. =C

Supper! Fetched YY's cousin, then 5 of us went to eat at west coast hawker centre. Not too bad, considering that I spent only $4 for food & a drink! Reached home at around 11.30pm! Pity that I couldn't stay out for, um, sightseeing?! with the rest. Would love to get a mat and place it on the grass while seated under the stars(preferably less light pollution and no clouds), gazing through a telescope to find the constellations! Canapés & drinks are most welcomed. XD Of course, this is an open blog, and I won't share why I like doing this sort of thing unless asked in person =D

That's all folks!

Ninja-Do 39th Week + Fri's acting!

2010-11-01T15:49:00.048+08:00

Ninja-Do 39th Week!

Spent a pleasant day at home with my Yamaha guitar on Thurs, 28 Oct 2010, and surprisingly, was a little disappointed that I had to part with it to go for NJD class. Lovely to own & play an easily portable musical instrument!

Had to rush for NJD, as usual, because I had dinner! Dinner before class is going to stop once school starts, so oh well, might as well eat at home. Colour belt class was pretty small when class started, like about 4 of us?! Noticed some were smiling during the warm up XD MN came in about a minute later. Siti turned up late, I think? Leftover squats was multiplied by 3! MN & I kept moving further away from our original spot when we had to partner each other O.o Sad that I was the only green belt! TAT

Kicks, then defenses! Partnered MN for defense 1 & 2, which was quite funny, esp when it came to mine, as she punched the air and stood still(while as an attacker)! Siti partnered MN afterwards, and since there weren't enough people, John became my attacker. I'm perfectly fine with guys, because that meant that I needn't worry about exerting more force than usual(since that happens when I do the defenses faster)! Did kata, and looked forward until my eyesight blurred in an attempt not to feel awkward being the only green in class(and practically the only one swinging a weapon)! Kind of like going into my own world =X

Hand hurt from gripping the stick too tightly when I swung it to produce sound! Asked GM after class why he didn't bring his belt today O.o A no. went for dinner! Had the usual stuff, & told them about the incident in the chalet room...and why is everyone's 1st reaction to the story the same?? They completely forgot the beginning which I stated that everyone was asleep except me XC

Moving on to Friday!

Tired from not being able to sleep well. Dressed, met up, then learnt that only one actress was needed. Thanks XC SO LAST MINUTE! Students, I suppose. Wanted to head home and sleep, and was pretty annoyed since there was nothing much to do at the house(private property on the Mount Sophia slope, cool!). Long story short, I managed to cheer up and took some pics, as you can see below.
It was getting late, like around 8-9pm while waiting. We were supposed to meet Gene at Aston's at the Cathay, but the idea was canned. Offered food, so we ate. Had mini sushi! Tuna, tamago, cheese & ebi eggs combi, & cucumber! I think I ate the most XD Had a cup of meiji milk as well, since I noticed that it was lying around. The bunch of us waiting were a bit restless, so tried NJD there(for a short while). The balcony was huge, so I practiced yoyatsu! Tried chunyatsu on Ben(who's been really quiet for the past few times towards me, no idea what's going on but oh well),and didn't move fast enough, so ended up with a bit of ache in my leg.

Me and the ghost(played by Jamie)

Balcony...
More ghostly effect haha!

I tried the wig(already quite messy at this point) for fun! Brushed the entire length forward, and it made me look even tinier =S But my shoulders look narrower, yayXD

Scary closeup of me in the wig...my iris has disappeared!

MN in the wig!

Some other parts of the house

My reflection

Closeup

Leo(one of the actors) in wig + lighting

And a pic to show the length of my fringe! Must cut it before school starts.

Left the house past 10.30pm! Was considering to meet up with one friend while waiting for the acting to be done, but didn't bother in the end. Didn't have an official dinner, so I guess that was it! Saved some of my $, since I was unlucky when I patronised both shops and 1 didn't serve it(machine spoilt) while the other was closed for the say =( Walked home with MN & Ben! Guess that's all for a Friday!

Canele Patisserie & Macarons!

2010-10-30T17:30:00.077+08:00

Hi! Before I do a mini review for Canele Patisserie, here's 2 pics of melting sweet from Sticky which I saw on my sis' desk!She doesn't believe in placing them in the fridge =S

Ok! Right to the topic of the day!

Went out w/MN & YongHan on Weds, 271010 to celebrate MN's move from temp to perm staff in a gahmen sector! We went off to Canele Patisserie at Paragon for dinner!

A pic of the menu XDThe, um, serviette haha =X Here's YH's main course! Pasta alla carbonara! Nestled atop a pile of pasta, cream sauce n ham is the poached egg! I found the sauce to be a tad salty, possibly from the addition of salt when there's already the briny ham in the pasta =S Otherwise it'd have tasted good! YH didn't ask them to recook it though =(

MN's! Spaghetti bolognese! Tasty cheese haha! Didn't try much of the sauce though =S

MN & I while waiting for my doria!

Random pic of smiley YH!

A vegetarian doria...and not because I'm turning vegetarian haha! I ordered this as it's easier to consume...I think by now everyone knows that I can't really bite noodles in my current state! Presentation wise...the cut veggies are kinda haphazardly placed, which, to honestly speak, neither looks professional nor appealing! This cost me $14.50 or so, which I didn't think was worth it. There's a layer of tomato, brinjal, courgette & sauteed mushrooms, which were unevenly scattered beneath the uppermost layer of tomato. Taste wise...hmm...I don't remember much about it now. Doubt I'd be ordering this again!

For dessert, we shared a "L'amour"($8), which consisted of rose petal icecream with raspberry swirl, rose meringue and lychee pieces! YH said that it was like bandung, except that it's an icecream =S I don't drink bandung but I've certainly tried it before! Far from bandung haha! Presentation wise...do you readers notice that they tried to save on meringue(those pink sticks in the pic)? Don't know what happened back in the kitchen, but I feel a little insulted by the lack of pride placed in arranging the meringue, the blended raspberries & the lychees! I took 3 pics just to prove my point. Pardon me for all these griping, but I like my food to look (and taste, but that's not impt right now in this reason) good if I'm seated in a restaurant charging 10% for service charge and 7%. gst.

The crisp meringue went well with the rose icecream and the raspberries tasted sweet, which is a good thing! I'd rate this...7/10? Lost some points from the presentation, oh well. I certainly hope that there'd be more heart into the presentation when I return to try other desserts!

Pic of me & L'amour(French for "love")

Rows of macarons! I bought 2 types, 1 of each...Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit & Caramel Sel! Reviews are below =) Paid $4.90 in total =X Ah well. Could have bought 6 or 9, which would be cheaper, but apparently they didn't have the chart like they have in Shaw Centre, and was a teensy bit shy to ask for it! I wanted a bag, and was given a standard sized Canele Patisserie paper bag O.o

To kinokuniya! Showed both a book on the collection of ninja stories which included their diet, weapons, real life ninjas & tactics! Spotted this interesting book(priced at $27!!!)the last time I was there buying my macaron recipe book XD Heard from YH on an interesting fact surrounding Jamie Oliver...which I'll go try out myself =D
Walking home, MN and I received a call from ZR, who spotted us while in Justus' car! Justus picked us up and we almost went for bowling. Off to macs at Jurong Spring CC for "supper", and such a pity that they didn't serve icecream at that hour! Straw above was ripped apart by the two violently strong people in our group, ZR & MN! Think I reached home at 11.40pm O.o Macarons!! XD The funny smear that you see in the pic above is the salted caramel filling. Caused by the ones fighting...NOT!
Macarons on a plate...on the left is passionfruit, on the right's the caramel sel.

In half to show the cross section of the macarons!These are well made macs, as you can see that the little hump or base(or foot, as some call) is pretty much flushed against the rest of the top of the shell!Best of all, few air bubbles! Filling is sufficient! Pierre Hermé(a French Pastry chef ...google him yourself) approved this shop's macarons, so give it a go and try them!

I loved the Caramel Sel (Salted Caramel)Macaron! This was what I experienced- Alternate tastes of salty and sweet caramel, followed by the sugar in the meringue macaron...and lastly, the hint of almond cookie(macaron shell). Didn't like the passionfruit much since the tartness didn't contrast well with the choc ganache filling, in my opinion. Perhaps it's an acquired taste! Can't wait to try the others soon XD

Reflection

2010-10-29T02:02:00.047+08:00

Been feeling tired lately. Spent quite an amount of time on Thurs at around 4am reading my old blogs' posts for fun; Pity that i can't find my 1st blog on the web which recorded the year 2005-2006, I think...but those times were really unpleasant, so nevermind.

Need a break from everyone, seriously...If I could, I'd like to not use any form of technology or whatsoever for the next 2 weeks. Just don't feel like facing anyone. It'd be great if I could take a holiday on my own, recuperate, reflect, etc etc...including lotsa good food, sightseeing & activities. For starters, I'd love to take up snorkelling. Speaking of food, I feel like setting up another blog solely dedicated to food =X a more accurate description would be to condense 3 things that I like into 1 blog.

What makes a person interesting? Sometimes I wonder if I'm a boring person to society. Maybe I haven't been doing enough or making use of my time well, and thus do not have much to share? Yeah, perhaps that's it. Still, even if I do...I wonder how many people would bother anyway. Rarely do I get asked the question, "So how was the day?" Been leaving some details out of my posts, but nobody questions either. Guess everyone reads them as they are, or, unfortunately, don't care. Moreover, I feel like a crutch for people to lean on at times, sighhh...

Whatever the case...I'm going to make myself uncontactable for now, I think. I've had enough.

Au revoir... Let's hope that things will improve. Sleep deprived =((

Where is God??

2010-10-28T03:51:00.029+08:00

Oh gawd.

With all the recent confessions & such, I'm wondering if I'm still able to go out normally without feeling like some kinda gooseberry in people's presence! That said, ignorance is bliss XC And I'm tired. I need to study my biology. Work on guitar theory. And I still have yet to succeed in the things that I want and need. Perhaps I can find the answers in my sleep? (Sounds like a mini poem =S)

What I need now is to feel the presence of God's actions in my life...and maybe I've been praying wrongly. Or I could have a higher calling in life, but it just hasn't dawned upon me. Who knows? Answers may just be before me, but as usual I don't see it til it ends because my judgement's been clouded in the process. If only life was easier. Or I should just give myself another chance.

Goodnight world

Chalet!!! 22-24Oct 2010!!

2010-10-26T18:52:00.157+08:00

Went to sleep at a really, ahem, ungodly hour of 5am on the chalet day itself(at home still, of course)due to the discussion online!

Lazed in bed when I woke up at noon since it was a pathetic attempt at maximising my sleeping/resting time before going out! Unintended weightlifting the night before enervated me, and sore arm muscles were screaming for TLC. Lunched, packed bag, went online to play DotD...and was disrupted by my ex on msn. My mood was slightly dampened as I wasn't interested in communicating with him since I broke up the relationship due to several issues which couldn't be solved due to his attitude in dealing with problems.

Anyway, I had a pleasant snack, and got off the net soon after to finish packing. Showered, made sure that everything was done and I went out! Was abit sad to head out in the dark since everyone was going home, and I'm not exactly fond of leaving the house at night...furthermore, a day was ending, and initially I was supposed to meet the guys by afternoon but couldn't make it in the end.

Reached lakeside station at probably 7.30pm, took to harbourfront, called the guys & met them at vivocity's giant supermarket! To be more specific, I walked past GM without realising since I was expecting everyone to be at the supermarket =X The nice guy carried my heavy clothes bag & we went to find Justus & JM! What I found to be the most ridiculous food item bought was icecream, since it'd melt.

There were too many things so we brought the bbq items filled trolley to the kopitiam. The service was really horrible for this thai food stall, as I waited for my food for more than 10 minutes and almost fell asleep standing there. If I had not paid for my order, I would've gone off to another stall. The person after me ordered the same as I, so I was kinda cursed to wait even longer as the cook prepared pineapple rice for 2! When I got to the table, I noticed that the Ming bros & Justus were almost done eating =S

After dinner, we bought bbt & waited for Michael & his gf, and ZR. The bros kept disturbing Justus since we all suspected that he may be smsing YY XD Michael & his gf arrived a while later, and we made our way to our chalet since ZR was going to be even later. The monorail ride to sentosa cost us $3 each, and I noticed that there were staff with painted faces w/respect to halloween. Pity that nobody I know will be doing halloween!

Took the bus when we alighted the monorail, and got the shock of my life when I entered the Siloso Beach resort room. It was TINY, almost like a hotel room!! There was only 1 toilet, and 2 single beds. That meant that us girls would have to sleep next to the guys =S I was somewhat uncomfortable sharing the same room as the guys since I didn't want them to see my innerwear when I had to go and bathe.

ZR arrived about 5 minutes after we got into the room, and we had a round of monopoly. After it ended, and since I wasn't that interested in playing anymore, both of us went to fetch YS from the bus station on sentosa, near our chalet. Before that, went to the ladies on the ground floor, and the silence plus the blackness of the cubicles made me expect something to pop out. There were 2 adjacent cubicles, locked, I presume...and silent. No signs whatsoever on the doors. Called YS when we reached the bus station later & learnt that she was almost at our chalet. Before making our way back, we went to look & walk up this slopes as shown below!
Got to the top. Pity that there are no stairs to skip the slopes lol. The space was plenty wide, & totally suitable for sparring whatsoever. There was a really long man made
meander which looked good for floating in XD Hills on the sides of the slopes were completely black and eerie looking, so I couldn't wait to get out of there.Walking back, took a pic of a buck teeth fish, which happened to be a shop's mascot XD

The rest went to the beach for sparklers. Made my way back to chalet to change to slippers, as accompanied by ZR. The sparklers were unreliable since parts of them went off while burning, and I daren't hold one as a result. Some of the crazy guys kicked sand all over, and ZR's slippers were hidden lol! After that, all went off to the "island"! GM & ZR made the bridge joining the island and the main land oscillate, so I followed suit for fun XD

We didn't stay for long up the tower as the air was still, so we went down after 5 mins or so! Back to the bridge, GM then ZR, followed by me. Most baffling was GM suddenly took off, then proceeded to jump up & down at the end of the bridge(like a monkey, no less), leaving ZR, the rest and I, stunned! The grossest part was having to touch ZR's sweaty shirt as he intentionally stopped in front of me, and the line was held up!

Finally made our way back to the main island, and all the guys except Michael kept play bullying Justus XD to the point that Justus was going around in circles lol! Checked out the pool on the 5th floor, then back to chalet where we took a card to determine our queue no. for showering, as suggested by Justus, who was incredibly unlucky in the end since he got the last no. !

While bathing, I heard most of them talking about my bathing speed XC puh-leeese, I've got makeup to remove, and I have long hair! Pretty glad about the showering area, since I could adjust the strength of the water. Took quite some time drying my hair when I got out. While YS was bathing, we watched The Orphan on HBO! Pretty cool show. Too bad I was slow to whip my camera out of my bag to snap Justus' kneeling outside the toilet, begging YS to bathe quickly lol!

We all had a lovely chat in the dark when YS suggested to stay awake. I daresay that some of my answers aren't the best, as I now know what's the most important aspect I would like in my future guy, and the only hint I will admit on this very public blog would be something close to my heart XD

Grew tired, and people were falling asleep one by one, so I went to rest on half of the tiny single bed. YS was supposed to be beside me, but fell asleep on the floor, so ZR took her side. Noise from people's breathing due to REM sleep kept me awake until much later into the morning. I was still awake at 8.30am!! Hunger played a part in keeping me awake, but I chose not to eat. GM & ZR were talking somewhat noisily, but later ceased their conversation. I was partially embarrassed when I looked up to check out what the noise was about, and said "What??" in this really high pitched voice, and hid my face under a jacket afterwards lol. Managed to fall asleep.

Woke up to find GM beside me. YS was on the floor in a cocoon of blanket, just beside Justus. Think Michael played this alarm music on his phone to wake Justus later on! ZR, tired from staying awake the whole day, slept on 1 of the beds when everyone was awake, eating breakfast & watching Jamie's Great Escape on TLC!! Would have been better if I had an american breakfast or some sort for the morning, haha, since I was starving =( Think I "fasted" for 14 hours, and drinking juice is not counted. Nevermind, that's a new record for me XD

Everyone went off for a swim while I went to shower & get ready for the day out! Pity that I couldn't swim, but oh well, I had a good time laughing at the crazy guys' antics & helping them to take pics. Followed YS back before picture taking since I was holding the key, but who would've known that it didn't work on the door! Luckily, Michael's gf, Jasline, was already in the room before I went out so she helped us open the door. Below's 1 such example(with most of them looking towards the camera).

After swimming, back to chalet, where a no. of them washed up, then went out again for lunch at Koufu! Before that, we walked past this aviary, so I snapped this parrot!

Sat down for a mini show, then we left for lunch! Here's my ebi curry don ($5.90)

Which, I daresay, is tasty enough...but would have been better if I could bite! Think I ate a little messily =S The lack of biting does make food seem more bland, since there is a smaller surface area of mechanically broken down food to taste. Can't wait to eat normally again! Off to washroom, then later bought watermelon juice...at $3. Dark clouds were gathering, and conversation fell flat at the table as everyone was kinda sad that a no. could not make it in the end. We made the most out of the situation & played some volleyball & frisbee game on the beach, which I quite enjoyed! Left when rain fell & back to the chalet. Played indoor games, I think?

Evening, we set up a makeshift bbq grill at the huge shelter, some place at the beach. Below's an example of how dark it was at night, minus the flash

A pic with flash!

Luckily I brought my torch, so lent a helping hand to the guys dealing with the charcoal XD

Looks warm & lovely XD

We were found out by some patrolling guards, so we gathered up out things & went to the back alley of the chalet to bbq!

Amazing darkness...

The spread of food, as cooked mainly by YungYen, Justus & JM! Didn't eat much due to my braces...think in total I managed 1 taiwan sausage, 1 otah, 2 corn, 1 squid pack & 2 potatoes =( Shouldn't have eaten the squid! Meanwhile, Alicia was showing the few of us in the room about some people from the old NJD group, not to mention some videos about NJD as shown on Ch8!

Felt a sense of sadness, both from the tendency of the older students to look back into the past & being part of this new group which isn't half as good as the current blacks...it just isn't right to cause others to feel a sense of regret. Wonder what should I do sometimes, because I know that I can be fast, but always failing to be fast during kicks since I'd be tired out from the training, which aren't very vigorous...or I should just exercise more, sleep early, & eat more complex carbohydrates!

Hmm... I mean, this is something which I'd been wanting to join since July 2006( to brighten up my dreary life, no less, as I cannot live without Science & the Arts), and I finally did on Jan 21st 2010, after much waiting, evening classes from JC on Thurs & tuition class on Sunday, disapproval from parents & even more stress from trying to divert my thoughts to other "safer" sports, but was eventually led back to NJD. Who knows, maybe I'm just this person born with many crosses(pains in life) to bear.

Back to topic, after the guys were done BBQ-ing the food, they got back...and we all forgot about marshmallows! YaYan came to the chalet just after BBQ though. Michael & his gf, and YungYen left after BBQ. I went off to the toilet to floss teeth, then I had to put my foot in my mouth & said that I wanted to bathe, and missed some exciting parts of "Truth or Dare" when I could have remained in the room, still dressed in the day clothes instead of pyjamas T.T I have nothing against pyjamas, but it was rather awkward to be the only one fresh from a shower!

For "Truth or Dare"...I chose truth 1st, which was to pick a guy in that room that I would like to kiss *sweat*! Picked ZR cos I knew him the best out of the 4 remaining guys. Picked a dare when it was my turn again, and YaYan pointed out that suddenly everyone looked more interested in the game. Am I such a boring person?! Gosh.

I know I tend to keep quiet because many people would be talking at a time when in a fairly big group, and I'd be the one passively listening at the side since it's pretty impossible to get a word in edgewise(and to reduce the noise level). Furthermore, I'm not exactly a chinese speaker, so it does take some time for me to comprehend the things that are being said. When I was showering, I could hear everyone speaking excitedly in chinese XC not that I can't understand some nor am I against it, but I would appreciate if people do not judge me before getting to know me better 1st. Sometimes I wonder if I'm hindering their enjoyment though XC stinks to be the minority.

Anyway, in total, I gave away 1 kiss and got 3 in return...the one away was on the back of ZR's shirt... for the other 3(with 3 other people), 1 was a peck on the cheek while the other 2 were on the lips omg. Didn't see any happen haha! Changed to charades, which YS joined after a lil persuasion since she guessed quite fast, & I noticed that I kept my eyes closed while imitating alphabets! Felt like some silly small kid when I did that XS Justus & YY were quite funny, ZR reminded me of jelly & GM was like a mime lol!

Back to "Truth or Dare", and the last few things I remembered doing were doing this nose to nose thing to GM which is something like an eskimo kiss, & getting tickled by almost everyone there dotssss. The former was quite amusing, as YY or Justus commented that GM blushed even though the room was semi dark lol! I heard that I did this chop with my leg to ZR during the latter, which I thought was weird since I couldn't see a thing while struggling to fend myself from the mutiple tickles. 5 of us had a late night chat, and was surprised about a few things, I daresay...but after much consideration, I guess I can look past some things, since I initially felt weird from the chat. They're all lovable people in their own way, and everyone's imperfect. Just hope I can remember this!

Prayed before sleeping when the 4 left for the beach to play with sparklers at 4.45am! Felt stronger in faith after the mini chat, after feeling empty for quite some time. Set the alarm for church which I would go to in BoonLay. Had the whole single bed to myself, and was next to GM, who was next to Alicia. Heard weird noises coming from the kettle(as though boiling), so I got up to off the switch. Grabbed my rosary from my handbag and slept with it, since I felt slightly afraid. Dozed off.

Woken by chatting, and saw my handphone & got somewhat annoyed, since it was 7.30am & I had to wake by 8.15am so I could reach back on time for church! Pity that I didn't have the willpower to get out & join some for breakkie =(( But I was thoroughly exhausted! Snoozed, then woken by hp alarm which I could barely hear, and back to sleep. Were it not for my mom's morning call at 8.30am, I would've slept through =X Rushed to prepare, & when I was fully dressed etc the rest from breakkie came back, & 3 occupied my recently vacated space on the bed LOL! Ate my cookies N cream hershey bar as breakkie, then GM accompanied me to the monorail.

Got back to lakeside at 10.30am, dad fetched me to church, and for the 1st time in a looong time, I was early for mass by 10 mins!! Awesome! I struggled to stay awake though, almost fell asleep when we had to stand. Back home, in the afternoon, I slept for 4 hours straight!

Benedict's bdae, pumpkin bisque,Macaron Recipes &! Ninja-do 38th week!!

2010-10-25T20:38:00.041+08:00

Here's a post on a week's worth of events!

On Saturday, 16 Oct 2010, my family went to the same cousins' house again for another birthday celebration. Dinner was okay, and I had some tapioca kueh for dessert! Some of my aunts were going gaga over a recipe book on homemade bread, and I admit that I was tempted to borrow the book from them! There was a recipe on chestnut bread which looked lovely...but taste wise, I don't know!

I was kinda bored after dinner, so I headed for the 2nd floor and started smsing some of my friends. I tried doing a mini version of the current syllabus' kata while seated on the sofa, and G came by & noticed that I looked bored! Luckily, the silly guy started talking about electric guitars and such...and apparently, I didn't know that quite a no. of them were under Je for a while, then didn't continue O.O!! Benedict and Raf used to learn but gave up for different reasons...the former didn't listen to music while the latter was simply too lazy to learn. G was convinced by a friend to learn since secondary school as they had wanted to form a band back then, but post secondary and the lack of contact with that friend of his made him reluctant to pick it up again. No idea where his amp went to( prolly covered in a layer of dust by now haha!) but I tried his electric guitar!! Omg super cool, esp when I tried some songs such as Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", MCR's "Welcome to the black parade"...and Hot Chelle Rae's " Bleed", I think?

Below is a birthday cake of Benedict's!

The family..!

The evening ended well, though Je wasn't there at all...and I was quite surprised that I was able to click with G, since he gave me the impression that he's quite an arrogant cousin for the aura that he gives off most of the time. Perhaps that's his way of being "cool", and it helped that I managed to mirror his cool haha!

I wanted to make butternut squash bisque on a Monday, but couldn't find butternut squash from ntuc the day before, so I substituted with pumpkin! Above are most of the ingredients used...more potato was required, but for photography's sake, I didn't bother haha! I changed the onions to shallots =X And I didn't use the whipping cream.

Chives! Unfortunately, most of the bunch went to waste as my mom said that too much will bring back old injuries...furthermore, this bisque recipe required only 1.5 tbsp chives, but she bought a whole bunch =S

Pumpkin! 1st time dealing with a pumpkin! Seriously speaking, this was the 1st time that we actually bought raw pumpkin. Cut it up, washed & dried the seeds & tried toasting them. They popped all over in the toaster =S which gave my mom a scare at 1st

Messy! =X

I tried toasting them longer, and ended up with dark brown seeds =X

I tried the lighter coloured ones, but couldn't really appreciate the taste since I could barely bite, but I thought they were fine though.

Soup! Had to manually blend them to bits using a sieve as we tried transferring some to the blender but the liquid flowed out when the blades were moving even though it was kinda tight =S

The final result with chives! It was kinda salty...so I tried adding some milk and that greatly improved the taste!

Tues was spent on badminton. I played rather half-heartedly since I was kinda tired of playing doubles, and stoned for most of the game which resulted in a pathetically slow reaction. I think JM was quite fed up of that cos I noticed that he didn't direct the shuttlecock much to me, which left me to daydream further during the game lol! Then MN, ZR, YY and I went off to Justus' house, where YY and ZR grabbed an apple from the fridge...when they were done, all of us had a potong icecream from the fridge which Justus bought when it was his birthday, but we were too full back then to eat anymore! Dinner was fine though I regretted ordering noodles as the thickness needed more precise biting, and I can't bite =(

Went shopping on Weds on my own...and I noticed a trend about my solo shopping, which would be to head out fairly late, grab a mos shake, walk around the upper floors of ngee ann city while drinking & then off to kinokuniya!!

Even though I'm kinda annoyed that I couldn't find any nice clothes on weds, I managed to unearth this godsend book while pouring over the shelves! XD There were 2 macaron books, and I settled on this one since I compared the ingredients, pictures & instructions, and concluded that macaron shells pretty taste much of the same, apart from some recipes such as chocolate macs. This may be twice as expensive as the other book, but at least there's more recipes and there's no weird instructions such as having to toast the flour just before using!!!

Spent about 1 lovely hour there...it's always nice to be surrounded by books & magazines XD Both books used the french meringue method, so please wish me good luck when I do try to make them, because after piping the meringue onto the covered tray, I'd have to wait for another 2-6 hours for the crust to form before putting into the oven to bake!!! This crust forming depends on humidity...the less humid, the faster it will form...and most unfortunately, I'm in S'pore, so with a little bit of luck, perhaps I'd be able to complete everything in 2 days...and I hope that I'm exaggerating, cos it's no joke putting so much time into something only to find out that they may fail. I think I mentioned before about liking how elegant they look, apart from being delish and pretty! Will persevere in making them anyway haha. Yummeh! Wonder how do our local patissiers make this...think I should do some research on drying them faster XD

Ninja-do class was cool! Did the kata, and am still trying to move with grace & style, but still far from it =X The irritating haze made training less rigorous though. MN joined us for the 1st time for dinner, and she sat in between ZR and I while poking him lots. Went home and had supper!

Ninja-Do 37th week!

2010-10-15T14:04:00.040+08:00

On Thursday, 141010, the lift was out of order at the CC, or rather, it was stuck on the 4th floor, so the whole lot of us walked up the stairs for the dance room!

Alicia asked JM where his bro was, and yet again, he left the house without waking him up, LOL!! So strange XD History almost repeated itself, seriously. Warmups went well, training was fine, though I think that I'm putting on some fat in the middle, since I've been doing nothing much lately and couldn't do the situps well =S I think GM arrived for class at 8pm...which is an hour's worth of improvement lol!

Punches, then defense. Kata was next! I know that I can look cooler with the stick! Keep mixing up some steps, bleh. Or maybe I should pretend that I'm acting on stage, and cannot afford any wrong moves.

John shouted at us 5 green belts today when class ended, which was kinda scary X(

Went for dinner! Was quite stunned when YS asked me on how long I intended to stay single, so I replied with a "huh?"

In my opinion, there's no right time to get attached, so whatever comes, comes. Things do not always finish as how a person would want it to be. Besides, forcing yourself to get into a relationship just because others around you are attached is kinda sad. After being through one which lasted for 2 years plus, I daresay that I am sort of relieved to be single again. But then again, this is a blog seen by the public, so I shan't share too many opinions either XD

If guys are really that interested, they'd be asking me on my thoughts, and they too, won't be so afraid to share theirs. Moreover, they'd prolly remember to keep in contact if they are that interested. Even a simple "hi" would suffice, be it on facebook, sms, or even msn. Knowing a person well enough etc is of utmost importance before getting attached. Then again, it's also a pity that I'd made some wrong moves, so therefore, *poof!* I'm still single!

Moving on...!

Heard a no. of ghost stories during dinner, which kinda made me feel creeped out actually XC Luckily, the plan changed to chalet instead of going 2 m'sia, cos I know that my parents will shoot me down even before I start explaining, as usual XC That's also 1 of the reasons why I'm starting SO MANY THINGS late, such as NJD...the guitar...cooking...argh! Frustrating beyond belief.

Walked home alone D=, and felt a lil creeped out! Dotssss

Badminton Session 2, Tues 121010!!

2010-10-13T22:23:00.009+08:00

Rushed on Tues!

Moved at lightspeed(pretty much close to)to get ready for badminton! Called ZR & MN to ask where they were while I was halfway to the mrt station. Who would've have known that they were just getting out of the house! Haha! Fortunately, I brought some notes to read XD When both reached, we made our way down to CCK!

To the same place for badminton again! John & JM were already playing O.o

Changed out! Partnered MN and played against ZR. GM arrived later, minus his friend O.o Justus got there the latest, haha! Badminton has to be one of the funniest sports since there'd be a no. of horrible starts & hits when people are rushing XD Did doubles, partnered GM 1st then changed to John. Stopped a while afterwards cos I was tired from running around! The court was darn hot, but there was cool air blowing from the stairs, so stood there for a while.

Pity that Justus couldn't trash JM because of a blister! Lol! Apparently, most of them got one on their fingers O.o

Got BBT after the whole game, just like the few of them! Decided to eat at home since nobody was free, & no way would I wana hold them up either! Can't wait for another badminton session XD

Justus' bdae party!!! 111010

2010-10-12T22:40:00.053+08:00

Monday was Justus' birthday!

Was considering to head for Justus' house early with ZR, then changed my mind when I started studying bio! There's really too much to learn in so little time, sighh. Rushed to make notes on the afternoon itself and was planning to read them while on the train ride to Yew Tee! Got an sms from MN, and I daresay I was surprised to learn that she didn't go with ZR O.o

Anyways, I took the train with MN there, and we bought bbt before walking to the house!

Got to the unit, and rang the bell + knocked on the door. No answer. Checked my little slip of paper to confirm the unit, and tried the bell again. Still no answer. Called Justus to open the door, and when we got inside, the house was awfully quiet since the whole lot of them were in the room!

Placed our things down and gave ZR a scare at the door, just as he was exiting the bedroom. Noticed that most of them were playing monopoly(YY, GM & JM?), while John was using the computer. Got out and took some pics as shown below, since the bedroom was kinda stuffy at that point of time and I was pretty warm with the jacket!
Minus the flash, our hair look shiny and brown XD

Flash does no wonders for us haha =X Poof!YS arrived to the house about 5 mins after us, and here's a pic of she and I!

Of course, the convenient mirror at the doorway made phototaking much easier, since we can pose better!Bailey's! ZR brought this over.YY and MN at the table! This was before most of the food was taken out though, haha!Random shot and angle, which looks horrible but I decided to put up anyway. We started cooking before most of them arrived to the table =X Sat in between the two of them!

Went off to remove my jacket since it was excruciatingly hot! I must remember not to wear double layer in the future unless in freezing conditions! =S

Michael arrived soon after, then the rest got out of the room & had dinner! Luckily I managed to eat most of the items as I'm still not able to chew, haha. A ladle would have been better since everyone was doing more than just a double dipping...and the same utensils were used for touching raw & cooked items =S Pity that I was kinda far from most of the food since I like cooking! Not too sure how the topic started, but the guys at my table side cracked a no. of dirty & disgusting jokes. Saw Michael doing something vulgar with the food XP

Tried some original Bailey's from MN's glass after dinner, but couldn't appreciate the taste. ZR added some fresh milk into MN's glass and mixed it! It was finally more palatable, but still not really to my liking. Guess you can say that I prefer milk to taste creamy & pure, and not reek of alcohol! On a sidenote, I can appreciate flavoured milk, and I haven't tried enough alcohol(there are some which are good but I don't know the names =X), nor do I really bother about consuming a waste product from yeast digesting sugars. Had fruits afterwards, as cut & arranged nicely on a huge plate by YY!

Went off to floss, then heard that they were cutting cake?! Ran out, then took several pics, of which most can be seen on fb!

The birthday boy, praying so intensely. Haha!

Had some cake(mostly choc sponge, choc icecream?! and a layer of choc, I think?), and I have no idea why GM said that he couldn't eat choc because of braces. Seriously?! Guess I forgot to mention that choc is best eaten melted at room temp, so it's perfectly fine to consume, so long a person doesn't chew the choc! Almost had to be technical to the point of being a turn-off when ZR asked how I managed to eat the cake, so decided not to explain in the end =X

Tried some monopoly cards after that, and didn't play for very long since had to get ready for home! Who'd have known that we didn't leave the house til almost 11.10pm. Left the house with ZR & MN, then had to wait a little more cos the Ming bros decided to walk with us, I think? Went along some dark alleys, and encounter some roaches, ugh! What I thought was weird was JM said that they lived pretty near and could walk back, but they chose to take 1 stop on the mrt?! Or maybe it was kinda late, haha.

Glad to be home just before 12! Encounter 2 medium sized roaches in the kitchen, so smashed them with the fly swatter. Guess I just "levelled" to level 4 =S

Sunday Mass- Gratitude! Didn't go sun njd

2010-10-11T01:15:00.022+08:00

Hi all!

Sunday's sermon was about gratitude!

It started off with little phrases of the small things that we can be thankful for in our daily lives, such as,

" I may grumble over the drudgery of work, but thank you, God, that I am employed and able to provide for myself, because there are many others who do not have a job."

"I may complain about the twittering of birds which disrupt my sleep, but thank you, God, for being able to hear."

"I may dislike the choice of food available to me at times, but thank you, God, that I am able to fill my stomach, for there are many others who are starving."

okay, the above sentences aren't word for word, but they were roughly like that! I kinda thought that the 2nd sentence was hilarious XD

The sermon was a lovely one, but such a pity that I don't remember everything now! The moral behind this is to be patient & learn to see things in a different light, since we, as human beings, tend to take things for granted because of our selfishness & pride which can cloud our judgement. (of cos, this entire line's mine cos I seriously don't remember the sermon =S)

Anyway! Didn't go for sun NJD class, so took a break at home! But of cos I kinda regretted not going because I tried a few chunyatsus & wished that I were in class. Did I mention that in Fullmetal Alchemist ending 4(not Brotherhood!), Ed's actually doing a kick similar to purple belt & a chunyatsu? Sounds really random, but it occurred to me the other day when I was finding the full jap song to sing at k-box lol!

Best of all...had fish head curry for Sun's dinner! Yummeh! XD

Sat's outing & Benette's bdae party!

2010-10-10T23:35:00.014+08:00

Spent the Saturday, 091010, out shopping with peeps! Got my paprika XD Had tomato soup & Mushroom soup from Saybons, and got the nutty nutella crepe, which was kinda of a mistake since I can't bite, sigh.

Went to my cousins' home in the evening! How time flies...the cousin whose bdae we were celebrating is now 14 years old...and to think that I was present on the day I saw him as a baby, perhaps a few days old then? Been seeing a no. of my cousins grow up, haha.

A few people remembered that I had braces on! I managed to eat some solid food, or rather, soft solid food such as carrots,curry & soup! My mom kept forgetting that I had them on since I was eating as though things were fine. Had a few mini eclairs & puffs which were divine, but a tad soggy! Cream puff shells should be crispy, but most of the time I think that people use too much water to encourage the shells to bloat? Just my guess. Felt pretty awesome to be eating normal, solid food, since I'm quite tired of just swallowing.

Went upstairs after dinner! My younger cousins were causing a ruckus with their screaming, shouting & jumping..! Raf(19+), G(18+) & Dan(18+) were there messing around with the small fries XD The crazy kids were throwing pillows around haha! Rebecca(10+) thinks that I'm a good cousin for not messing her room lol XD

Raf went to Ben's room & got his nsmen face paint! He "threatened" Gab (10) with the face paint if he didn't keep quiet. Unfortunately, out of curiosity, Gab snatched the tube, and squirted quite a huge amount of paint onto his hand. This, as shown below, is what happened in an attempt not to waste paint!
The kid got permission from his mom, so Raf applied it for him XD

Raf used the black/dark green? paint and helped to cover his eyes haha! Gab wanted to walk out on the streets with that face XD Below's a pic of the finished work of art done by Raf!

What a lovely colour =S...he can almost pass himself off as the Hulk, which he actually likes haha!

Cake! Benette's. And it's peppermint choc =S

Pic of the family! Minus the oldest bro, who is away overseas for ns haha.

Got a little bored after the cake, so smsed some friends! At least I had a good laugh out of smsing XD Spotted a red electric guitar, obviously G's. Felt like trying it out but I'm not too close to him so I didn't ask! Pity that Je wasn't there, or he'd have played a few tunes such as Canon Rock!

Friday's K-Box outing! 081010

2010-10-09T00:01:00.017+08:00

Before the update about Fri's k-box outing, here's a cross section of a Jaffa Cake on the night before I got my braces! XD Orange filling + Cake!The 1st thing I tried eating when I got my braces...ate realllyyyy slowly

Let's get right down to topic!

I was experiencing insomnia on the night/early morning on Friday, so I didn't doze off til past 5am =X Was pretty tempted to just stay awake and take a short nap afterwards, but I know that I'd look even more terrible, so slept for about 5 hours instead! Sidetracking, 5am reminds me of the time I slept on Sunday, just the day before my Geog ppr for "A" Levels...needless to say, I was quite exhausted trying to cram in the last bit of information, and worst of all I had a stressful time at home and couldn't stop crying at that time =(

Moving on!

Rushed at home, smsed the njd peeps, & arrived to JP's BK and met ZR & GM there! I was somewhat late, since I couldn't decide on what to wear =X Survived on dessert as lunch at BK T.T but surprisingly, I was full! GM asked why I'd only decided to put braces this year, and apparently I forgot to add that I have a phobia of the dentist, & that's why it took me a loooong time to get this braces done. YY came about 15 mins later or so...& Justus was the last for the mtg pt at BK. Whole bunch walked to Jurong Safra...our room no. was 10! Was a little lost at 1st haha. Ordered drinks! YS was the last to arrive though.

Didn't sing much cos of the braces, but had quite a no. of laughs, esp when I chose JG's "You're Still You", and his voice reverberated across the entire room, causing him to sound like an incredibly old man when he's not! =( JG's only 8 or so years older than me, and I just love his baritone voice which he uses well for singing! Think when I can pronounce properly again, I'll choose that song, but minus the voice haha! Tried searching for Patrizio's music, and wanted to find "Forever begins tonight" but they didn't have that T.T

Sung, or rather talked through most of american idiot, since I've developed a sorethroat then, ugh. That was the last song! Below are a few of the sillier pics that we took for the day haha!

I wanted to do a peace sign but there was no time, so settled for poking my cheek XD

The 3 guys pretending to fight! Honestly,I don't remember the details, but I think ZR jumped in and tried pushing Justus, then GM joined in the squishing! When I 1st saw this pic, I thought that GM was holding a comb, & Justus looked a little like a duck, & ZR's just pushing them aside XDMore silly pics can be found on fb! XD

I admit that I quite enjoyed this outing, though it'd have been better if I were more coherent when it came to speaking! Everyone's a mandarin speaker, except me lol. Think we left the place at 5+, then took the train with the 3 guys, because, duh, train's much faster for me & I don't like sitting in the bus for the mystery black dust/soot that a person will come into contact! If buses were cleaned often, I wouldn't have minded them, but oh well. That's all! Bought some food from Mr Bean when I got off, because I was hungry argh. Liquid/semi solid food diet is not working for me!

Ninja-do 36th week! 071010

2010-10-08T22:17:00.017+08:00

Thursday!

Spent quite an amount of time napping in the afternoon because I was so sleepy =( but at least I was awake afterwards! Dinner was quite a tedious affair because all I could do was to swallow XC
Rushed for njd, which I was pretty early for! Caught up with YS in the lift, then reached to the danceroom aka dojo & wore the other half of the gi! Quite surprised to learn that JM left his bro sleeping at home O.o

MN arrived on the dot, & class started after YS got in! Tried to do the push up style which we did last sun several times on my own, but got kinda tired after a while =S Did the squats for training, which were pretty okay! As for kicks, at least I think I did the yoyatsu properly(but still not fast & high enough!)since I used what we had learnt from sunday. Seriously, only after sun's mini exercise did I then realise that I'd been doing things wrongly T.T I daren't make my kicks too high due to one accident which happened early this year, and honestly speaking, I doubt that leg's gonna be fine anytime soon.

Defences went well, and kata was most enjoyable, if confusing! Then, one of those rare moments in life happened...GM turned up with only 30 mins' worth of lesson left O.O! Reminds me of the time when I auditioned for choir during sec 1, which stretched for quite a while and that left me 5 mins' worth of self studying class after school. Back to topic!

John taught Fauzi & I the kata, which was pretty cool! Couldn't help laughing during the step which required jumping =X since John looked as though he was trying to reach for the ceiling! Tried the jumping myself, and I daresay I was surprised by the height, which I prolly owe to the trainings! Can't wait to master the kata XD

Dinner was quite awesome as well! Pity that i can't say much, so I mainly listened. Sat next to Dalt & YS like the prev dinner. The drink stall uncles were weird...they asked me if I was a foreigner...didn't get 1 of them at 1st so I said njd lol! I guess that I can thank this braces for my new, weird accent! Saw a pic of Dalt's pet dog which looked quite cute, and I noticed from today's convo that lotsa ppl visited lolcats webby! Perhaps I should do more reading instead of fb & such so that I'd be able to contribute more to convos in future dinners...would be great to share, cos it's no fun keeping quiet. Been rather uncreative lately ugh! Learnt that GM was at the top of the orthodontist's list for the person with the most extracted teeth O.O And had to walk home alone today T_T haha

Braces!

2010-10-06T14:28:00.013+08:00

Reluctant to get up from the bed today!

Ate the macs breakkie, changed & then went out to the orthodontist! Got a pesky woman who stole my seat on the train when she changed her seat at the JE station(because the rest were the reserved seats & there was only 1 empty seat which wasn't reserved) And she had the nerve to ask me to sit at the reserved seats!! =( Stupid me to allow myself to get bullied by people! Grrr.

Was a lil late for my appointment =X fortunately the orthodontist was kinda busy with another patient, so I took a seat on the lip shaped couch. My turn came after 5 mins or so, and I admit that I am not looking forward to this new chapter of my life! Past experiences with the dentist, or rather the school nurse (from my pri sch), made me hate dental appointments because she was a nasty person during those visits. She would scold almost every kid who stepped foot into the little clinic & did cleaning for people's teeth a little too forcefully. Best of all, she'd tell us horror stories of while we were in the supine position on the chair, & so on! Back to topic...

Saw this drill like thing nearby, and I was half expecting the orthodontist to strip off some of my teeth =S

All he did was to clean my teeth, such as polishing and then adding acid?! Fixing went well, and I wasn't too pleased when I found out about the platform though. There was a funny taste in my mouth which has long gone, and I'm pretty sure that one of my friends said that it was the glue. Oh well! Will have to stay with the whole lot for a year or so. Got the wax, bought a special toothbrush, then left the place!

Guess that's all for Wed!

Smashing Roaches

2010-10-06T01:48:00.010+08:00

Tuesday was fairly well spent...

Woke at 12pm =X Lunched, used the net, and then played g major scale on the guitar!! Wrist hurt a little, so smsed my cousin about it. Reassured that it was normal cos I prolly curved my wrist a lil too much. Didn't know that he had a 2 day mc starting today, so hope that he gets well soon!

Played for about half an hour, then tried to do some warm ups in the smallish room...was pretty ok, except for the leg spread =X did a little practice to see why the heck am I always doing things wrongly in class, but it was a tad hard since the floor was really squeaky clean & difficult to move on! Just my luck that my ankle still hurts from Sunday's fall. Ugh.

Interrupted by my mom's phonecall to take the chicken outta freezer, and in doing so, I spotted a med sized roach! Grabbed the nearby fly swatter to smash it. To put aptly, it was pulverised beyond recognition! The 2nd roach I spotted near the 1st met with the same fate, oh well. Can't have them crawling when I clear them!

Didn't do much in the end, but at least I tried some training! Showered, dinner, then back to guitar. Think I should limit the use of the net to an hr each day...must study!! 1 mth and 25 days to electric(I hope), and 1 mth plus more to school.

Feast Day & sun njd(not too gd)

2010-10-04T13:24:00.033+08:00

Arrived kinda late for Sunday's mass, no thanks to my snaily sis & dad! Missed the 1st reading entirely, but at least I paid attention to the sermon conducted by the Archbishop himself! There are four kinds of catholics that we should try not to be: Hatch, Match & Dispatch, 1 dimensional, Supermarket, & ...uhhhh I kinda forgot the name today =X but I remembered what was said!

"Hatch, Match & Dispatch" Catholics are people who are baptised, married & then buried under their religion's name, but otherwise do not practise their faith outside church..."Supermarket" people are the kind who choose to buy only certain bits of their faith, & ignore the rest..."1D" would be the follower & God only while excluding the community...and the category of the final one would be people who only pray to God if they are in trouble, but ignore Him otherwise(no thanks to good things that are upon them) when they are healthy & privileged(such as luxuries etc). Of course, everyone will fall into either category at some point of time in their life, so it's good to do self reflection when it's possible!

Wanted to take a pic of the Archbishop from where I was, but realised that I left my camera at home, so couldn't do it =( Took a small pic, which looks really crappy below, of the "For One & For All" styrofoam stuck to the wall when mass ended! Oh, and during holy communion, I was blur and said "Thank You" instead of "Amen" =S

Since it was Feast Day, they distributed buns(which were blessed) after mass ended...and somehow they looked a little like hot cross buns except that they didn't have raisins or spice. They were plain sweet bread with a custard-like cross on top! Took one, along with a bookmark & went outside, where people brought their animals for a blessing!Below's a pic of some owners & their pets...trust me, it was really crowded!

Just to sidetrack, St Francis' a patron saint for animals, and that's why there's this blessing going on yesterday at my church! Pity that there are no cats =(
Bookmark! The words read as "Where there is charity & wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience & humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty & joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace & meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt"

Moving on! To JP for lunch, & back, then a short nap & to NJD! Boarded the bus w/ZR to ARCC, changed out, & thought that class started since everyone went inside! Had a mini chat for about half an hr while seated on the sofas, then class started. One of the surprising things I found about myself was that I could touch my knee with my head during 1 of the stretches! However, I think I overstretched a bit and found it hard to do the belt pulling.

MN & Siti got in at 8pm O.o cos they were lost! Reminds me of the time, around Oct 2008,when I took the bus down to my JC, only to find out that my friend misinformed me & I went all the way to upper serangoon because there was no way I could ask the driver to stop on the expressway! I ended up late for geog class by 30mins =X

Kicking was horrible today, due to the awkwardness of being the last 1 to kick(2 people to one target tdy for my case) & I was standing in the middle of the class, so everyone could see how terrible I did. Best of all(NOT), I fell down at the 1st kick, but oddly enough it was my foot which hurt the most! Just wasn't the lesson for me today, I suppose. I did the yoyatsu & all quite horribly, and I can still remember how annoyed sir look...haiz. I think it's been etched in my mind already. Held the class up cos I couldn't coordinate properly =((( felt like crap for a long time until I had a tiny consideration for quitting, since I'm so clumsy. ARGH! (To think that I suffered from insomnia because of this! ) Everyone prolly thinks badly of me now XC

Almost didn't feel like going for dinner, but went anyway & ate. Heard in chinese in the car with regards to green belt, & I think I know who it was aimed at. TT Would love to take a break from everyone right now, but pity that I can't just go on a solo holiday. Hopefully things will improve, such as my kicks & judgement of distance. *sighhhh*

Singapore Guitar Show 2010, w/Je & Ibra

2010-10-02T23:26:00.030+08:00

Received a phonecall past 12am from cousin Je's home no. asking if I could contact another cousin, G, to join us today! Pity that none of us had his hp. no., so resorted to fb. Then came the dreaded qn, which was, "How often do u practice your guitar these days??" Sad to say, and truthfully, about once a week or less lately, and that's probably due to my terrible planning of time. Not too sure when I cultivated this habit, but I got a feeling I know when(shan't be saying here tho).Think I should draw up a schedule & use less of the internet(or rather fb)to put in my 100%! Life's short, really. I know I can do better than this!

Woke up today, saw the time 12.45pm & practically flew out of bed since I was supposed to meet Je at 2.30-3pm-ish! Brushed, showered, lunched & smsed Je to meet a little later. Who would've known that we smsed at the same time =X & he was going to be late himself!

Met Je 1st, then Ibra joined us a few mins later! Was surprised to see my cousin's gf, so I kinda thought that he called her to follow since I asked Ibra along. Who would've known that she went off with her group of friends =X Both guys intro-ed themselves to each other, then we made our way down to Suntec! The guys kinda ignored me for a while, which I thought was rather amusing since both were so busy talking to each other about guitars & concerts XD Ibra turned to apologise lol but I was totally cool with it. Below are some pics of the Singapore Guitar Show! It's a little small since, well, it's a 1st in SG, & acoustic guitars were the main attraction. Spotted a few items such as colourful guitar picks(which I didn't buy! ARGH!) & guitar shaped paperclips($6.50), not forgetting colourful guitar strings! Wow!

Yellow casing XD

Ibra & IJe & IBrand of the colourful guitar strings! Am so gonna get some when I go to electric(MUST PERSEVERE NOW!!! Je's giving me another 2 months for that =S)

Postcard from SGSI think Je wanted to negotiate on the raw materials for making a guitar, since he was having a little chat wif the guy at the booth. Ibra bought some picks & a pick box, then we left the lil exhibition. Headed for Marina Sq, bumped into Je's older sister(and a mini fight about famous amos cookies ensued) followed by a drink from each-a-cup. Oreo Crushhh! It was a tad diluted, so my guess is that they used 2 cookies instead of the usual 3. I think that it was at this moment when my cousin said that he was going to give me another 2 more months(intensive)then I'd have to switch over to electric...one funny thing he said was that I shld give up njd(nahhh)& conc on the guitar! But like I mentioned earlier, it's a matter of planning, so I should update on my daily doings if possible(so maybe I can also get some friends to bug me to hurry up lol).

Checked out Liang Seng shop, which sold weapons such as shurikens & sais, but pity(& thankfully cos they've got lotsa sparring every week...horror of horrors!)that I'm not in the kagega ryu grp so I won't get to learn the sais, for example. Another scary thing that I've discovered is that...I've not been practising enough of my guitar cos my cousin asked if the strings have rusted =S Walked down to the esplanade link mall thingy & went into some of the shops.

Went back to the mrt station, then Je wanted to check out the guitar shops at peninsular plaza, so the 3 of us made our way there. So glad to see many V shaped guitars!! *hearts* Unfortunately, the cheapest I saw cost $780, so guess it'll not be within my reach! Who knows, and hopefully, that there'd be a greater demand for V shaped guitars so they'd import more & perhaps the price will go down?

Ibra left halfway, so Je & I continued w/the browsing! We left for Funan(or rather to challenger), then popped into a shop for the games & anime figurines. Was told that our cousin Raf, who recently returned from Thailand, had a fellow mate who was possessed!!! Scaryyyy. Blur Je didn't know that I was on to K-On season 2 lol. Directed my cousin to the small guitar figurines, which cost quite a bundle at $140 for 7, I think! Now I'm reminded of this shop in Wheelock which sells food models(& who knows that I may consider buying them in the future?!) Congrats to Je who won 3rd prize in the ns d&d which happened to be an itouch!

Back to Raffles City, & my cousin gave me a little scare for this event on Nov 4! Oddly enough, when Je met up wif his gf again for dinner, they accompanied(stayed outside duh) & waited for me when I headed for the washroom -_-" Overall it was pleasant to hang out with my cousin & Ibra...guess the only thing left to do next is to use my time wisely, cos I've got a feeling that more good things will be upon me if I act quickly!

Ninja-do 35th Week & Fri's dream!

2010-10-01T17:34:00.031+08:00

I've had such lovely, if odd, dreams today! One scene involved a bunch of my friends & I having afternoon tea at this place which served some weird food such as curry puffs in chocolate fondue & fried kaya! Most of my friends had black coffee to go with their food, and one of them spilt the coffee O.o I remembered seeing Lemon tea & milk served in separate dispensers...! Strangely enough, it was drizzling and we had to sit under the rain... In another scene, MN told me that she knows this guy, C, who was from my jc!! O.o The last dream was definitely the sweetest =D

Thursday was spent fairly well, since I learnt some bio in the afternoon and didn't use the internet til the later part of the day. Got an sms from GM to remind me to bring the short sticks for njd, & I was fairly alarmed to hear that 1 was going to be used for the leg..! Ate a quick dinner then literally ran off for class. Wore the gi top in the lift as I thought that I was uber late, since I saw Dalt ahead of me while on the way to the CC!

Class was funny, if a little embarrassing, as us green belt girls were asked twice by John to demo to the green belt kids( & I did the yoyatsu quite horribly =S) I hurt my neck a little while doing chunyatsu, ugh. There was a searing pain which diminished only after we did the punches(Speed throw punch, ninja push w/speed kick & lower blk continue). Omg I need to prac more on my ninja push, cos I can't do it fast enough! Had to swop places with YS, so I was placed at the front, which was really pressuring since more people could see how I did.

ZR looked like he was hugging Justus during 1 defense! LOL! They looked quite cute XD We did the kata after the defense, and I admit that it was pretty cool using the stick! Now all I gotta do next is to remember my moves well & learn how to move smoothly! Perhaps I should watch those *ahem* martial arts shows to see how people actually move with grace & style(and that sounds really silly, but who knows that all I gotta do is to revise the movement myself and see what went wrong)

Dinner was a noisy affair which I quite enjoyed. Dalt really had a lot of things to talk about O.o and I saw that GM looked really bored! Tried choc cookies baked by YY, and I think Justus cracked the cover of the container=S Received a chinese phonecall during dinner & was half expecting my mom at 1st! The group broke up a little b4 11pm, which was kinda sad since I didn't feel that I've interacted enough with people for the day...nevermind! There's always sunday!

That's all for now. As you can see, my words don't flow that properly, and I blame it on my habit of puking out info. I must write better in my next post! Au revoir!

Sidenote: Shld I take up french classes by alliance francaise?

Trip to the dentist! 290910

2010-09-29T20:38:00.019+08:00

Could barely wake at 8am today! Was so thoroughly exhausted from yesterday's activities that I wanted to sink back into the pillows and return to the world of dreams, but alas, I had to get out of the house by 9.30am =(

Ate breakkie, changed out and then went to orchard! Nearly dozed off while on the train, bleh. Walked quite a distance to the dental clinic & felt oddly calm as opposed to previous dental visits...perhaps I'd have to thank myself for sleeping so late in the morning that I didn't have the energy to feel anxious? Hmm...

Waited for at least a full minute before stepping into one of the rooms! I had to open my mouth wide, then shut again just to allow the dentist to check my teeth =S Got outta the room, and then was given a heavy vest by a nurse in preparation for xray! The nurse then proceeded to affix the machine to my head(and to prevent me from turning my head, of course) by moving & adjusting the sides to stick into my ears =S For some reason this reminded me of brain surgery which I saw before in a science mag, except that drills were made into people's skulls! Urgh. Closed my eyes when the machine moved around my head for xray even though I believe that it wasn't necessary, oh well. Afterwards, I was asked to squeeze in to another side of the room with another machine, and of all things I had to bite onto something for a second xray!

Ran off to the washroom after the 2nd machine to gargle, then waited a while more for the dentist to analyse my teeth thru the scans O.o A guy who looked like a personal trainer walked into the clinic, and even more amusing was that his name is Sebastian!

Five minutes later, I was called in to take a look at my xray shots on the laptop! Pleasantly surprised to see a profile of my head, which looked quite round, and saw a faint outline of my flesh forming my features =X Actually, that shot was meant to check for unerupted teeth...and am somewhat fascinated to learn that I will be short of 2, so all seems okay! Half tempted to ask the orthodontist to send me the pics, but wasn't sure if that was allowed, so I didn't. Was advised, but guess we'd see how things will go when the time's right.

The ort pushed this squishy minty dough-like molding substance onto my lower jaw 1st, then repeated with the upper jaw. A past skating accident had me worry when he did the upper, sighh... Will be heading back there in a week's time to fix things for good! At least everything went well, apart from some of the yucky molding material which remained in my mouth until I had the opportunity to leave for the washroom... again!

Had lunch w/mom at the foodcourt, then bought this yoghurt smoothie which tasted like the panna cotta berry sauce XD Shopped a little at paragon, & went down to the basement in search of the supermarket! Came across canele patisserie, so I took a look at their macarons which I didn't buy in the end since I wasn't hungry. The macs looked kinda small...perhaps they are as "big" as the medium sized basic macs which I made before? From my experience(and some research),macs are such temperamental little cookies! Unless a person owned a huge oven to bake many at a go, it's not advisable to keep the meringue mix out for long since they do not hold their shape after a while...or maybe the problem's in using a bowl made of plastic & not copper, which supposedly helps to strengthen the egg whites during beating.

Headed for home mid afternoon, and it was such a hot day ughh. Guess that's all for today. Had pizza for dinner...again! Am so considering to use olive oil to line the pan next round!

Badminton w/ZR,MN & Ming Bros!

2010-09-28T23:42:00.025+08:00

I had fun today!

Got ready and was out of the house by 3+pm, then called MN & ZR to gather at L station! MN caught up with me when I was at the junction O.o Topped up my card, then walked past ZR w/o realising since he was hidden by the giant poster at the station XD Took the train down to CCK & then bus to CCK stadium!

It rained earlier, so it was kinda gross to walk up the stairs to the hall >.< changed out of my outfit & footwear to sports appropriate attire in the washroom, then proceeded to play! It was ZR & MN vs JM & I 1st! JM kept running all over, so was a lil hesitant to intrude lol since he seemed to be pretty good! Realised that he yells when he doesn't expect certain moves from the opposing team O.o

Then tried playing w/ZR, then later vs MN, and then ZR was stopped cos he wasn't wearing shoes O.o Gosh, what troublesome rules! MN & I vs JM was pretty ok, cos did some combo lol. GM arrived later, prolly just a lil before 5? Was half expecting him to turn up in school uni cos heard initially that he wanted to watch us play. ZR & JM disappeared to the other court, leaving MN & I to play w/GM, whose starting I thought was rather amusing to watch since it reminded me of 1 of my friends' playing!

When ZR developed blisters from the shoes that he borrowed frm the Ming Bros' hse, JM asked me to vs him. Omg seriously I got pwned lol!! Been playing nonstop since 4pm(apart from the few secs worth of drinking water) so that could be the cause of my pathetic defeat =S Was breathing rather heavily since the air was so stale & it was extremely hot in the hall until my t shirt was drenched! When I lost after 2 rounds, I went back to the other space nearer to the stands & vs GM!

Left for the washroom at 6pm to cool down with the fan & to change out! Such sweet relief from all that drenched t shirt ughhhh. My face was really pink O.o But at least I had fun! Maximised my time & played with everyone =D The bunch of us took the bus 307 back to lot1, then JM left & the rest ate at pastamania! Not too sure exactly who ate what since I didn't ask, but I think all 3 of us except ZR ordered different variations of the bolognese! ZR ordered milo or some sort of choc drink, since it came with swirls of choc sauce & it looked extremely sweet...and I ate as much as GM for dinner omg lol!

The guys mainly chatted about njd with my occasional input since they were speaking in chi as usual =S But it was ok. MN looked really tired then O.o Left pm after a while & went to buy lipbalm & then to ntuc cos ZR bought bread! For some reason, walking into ntuc reminded me of a time which I can't remember clearly, but I believe that it was when MN & I went to ZHCC for a meeting or something like that? Hmm. Then we went past the people giving out nutella on bread samples, & we ate that!

Guess that's all for the day. Uber tired here. Let's hope that I'd be okay for Thurs! Goodnight world!

Sat & Sun at Justus' Hse and 2nd sun njd lesson!

2010-09-27T13:43:00.023+08:00

Spent the Saturday afternoon shopping w/MN & Ben! Went to somerset 313, and tried the soft serve cone from superdog! It was quite delish, and best of all they made it pretty tall! After that, we then walked to ion for dinner & more shopping! Fortunately, I managed to find something that I liked, since I'd been spending most of the day looking and nothing caught my eye then=(
Was so sleepy that I nearly fell asleep on the train ride home, since I hadn't enough sleep for the past few days, and muscles still ached from thurs!

On to Sunday!

Went to the 11am mass since I slept late the night before! Best of all I went together with my family, so all's well. Paid more attention during mass than the past few times, and remembered stuff from the sermon such as "Generosity with $ is fine" since there's no such thing as eliminating gambling altogether, so that means if one would like to blow some moolah on casinos, then he/she should also donate an amount to charity that is as much that he/she is willing to blow in gambling.

Received the last pledge card for Self...previously we got the cards for Family, Environment & Community, but at the moment, none of my cards are filled =X While on the ride home, I was on the verge of falling asleep when I opened my eyes in response to the rustling of paper...and to my shock & surprise, there was a medium sized roach just next to me!! Brrrr. Almost wanted to get out of the car, and my sister could only think of her nails which she claimed that I nearly caused to break when I moved to her side -_-"" Can't believe that my dad said that the roach was in the car wayy before he left for a short trip to UK of 1 week >.< Luckily it's smashed & dead now! Sidetracking, I've been reminded of the time when my cousin puked at my grandparents' old hse at lakepoint about a decade plus ago, and on the next day when we fetched him and his mom back(and sat at my sis' side of the car), she couldn't stop squishing me even though there was nothing at her side -_-""

Rushed when I got back home! Then ran out again to head for yew tee! Can't believe that it was about 12.30pm when I finally reached home from church >.< nevermind, now I know! How time flies. Met ZR 1st, then went to basement of YT Point, and bumped into JM! Received smses from YS who lost her green belt & brown bag, and luckily JM said that it was possible to wear the lower colour belts or YS wouldn't be going for the sun cls!

Justus arrived later, and the 3 of us went for lunch 1st. Met YS at YT Point then everyone walked to Justus' hse to watch a movie! He's got tonnes of books, esp manga O.o the room was fairly cluttered, not forgetting dusty =S There were black blinds which effectively blocked out the light, and made a good atmosphere for horror! Watched the shock labyrinth, and luckily it wasn't that scary, if a bit disappointing since the plot reminded me of the thai horror, Body 19. Luckily we didn't catch this in cinema! Tried hotel 626 in the dark, and seriously speaking, it took a loooong time to load at stage 7, which we later refreshed & gave up since it stuck at 23%.

Left the house at around 6.30pm, and bought a cheese imagawayaki from Mr Bean. Took train and bus down to ARCC, and was slighly late for class at 7.35 =S since us gals had to change out to the gi & tie hair! Was kinda jittery on turning up for class late until I mixed up and bowed to JM instead of Alicia since someone prompted me to lol. Cut the class without realising omg. Uber embarrassing!!

Did the stretches & such...was pretty amusing to check out how the rest did since I was at the back XD Ran the floors again, and got back to do push ups on the chair...saw the black belt guys do push ups at the bar, which Dalt told me a while ago! Then moved on to kicks...which sir said that I should twist my body more =( I think I should take a video of myself, since everyone seems to be doing it right except me! Argh! But on the bright side, I've been tripping less =D fewer awkward landings! Hopefully I can be as good as some of them soon!

Saw that Dalt & GM did some weird leg stretching, not to forget the roll overs which went quite scarily, judging from the moans & groans which rose from them on floors after a turn! Think they went out of the sq mat when turning? Was kinda glad when changed sides for the kicks since I was feeling abit crappy when I couldn't twist enough.

Class ended, changed out and went to the main entrance! Quite surprised to see Alicia, JM, GM & Dalt sitting on the sidewalk just outside the main gate while looking like lost children =X Actually the bunch of them were waiting for their parents to fetch them home. Think ZR cracked the joke about whose parent's car YS shld sit inside if she wanted to hitch a ride home, since GM & JM don't look related! Sidetracking, I was reminded of the time during sunday class at church, which I attended with 3 of my cousins XD My teacher asked Raphael where he got his sunday class bag from, and he replied that it was from his uncle, who worked in scv. After that comment, Dan, Benedict & I chimed in that our uncle worked there too, and the teacher laughed in reply while adding, "That's because all 4 of you have the same uncle!!!!"

YS, ZR & I got a ride in Alicia's dad's car to lakept mrt, and while waiting for the bus, we, ahem, schemed to spam Justus' fb wall with reminds to clean his room! XD Went off for dinner w/ZR nearby at a Mr Teh Tarik, tried the cheese & mushroom prata and then a banana smoothie since it was kinda late at 11pm O.o Saw a girl who looked like MY, a classmate and friend from my pri sch but couldn't be sure since I didn't keep in contact with her. Was accompanied back home, then spammed Justus' wall after a quick shower, and couldn't stop laughing from the comments! Had a really good laugh, and slept late again, but that's ok! Such a pity that I had to head for the bed anyway.

That's all for the weekend. I guess I'd be going for future sunday classes, since it's both extra practice & less stress! Hopefully I can get past this green belt syllabus anyway. Au revoir!

Wed & Thur njd!

2010-09-25T00:41:00.009+08:00

Quick update!

Went out with Ben & MN to raffles place for lunch at baikohken! Most unfortunately they added beansprouts to the ramen, which made the soup taste weird...not to mention why didn't I have any charsiew in my bowl of ramen, apart from some bits of minced meat O.o Perhaps they'd run out of supplies and supplemented with the sprouts?

Full from the ramen, we made our way to BK & macs 4 icecream =D So as to clear the ramen taste! Kinda tired of ramen now X( But I'm available for UDON!! Below's a pic of me pretending to drink the melted remains of icecream, and as for more pics, they can be found on fb =)

Headed down to bugis, and played HOTD4...pity that only 1 gun was working! Afterwards we went to iluma, and I tried jubeats for the 1st time! This sounds really lame, but the guy whose machine we wanted to use so as to get everyone in the same row looked a little like one of my JC acquaintances!

In the evening we headed back, and after a quick dinner at home, mom & I made our way down to Chi Garden, since they had Mid Autumn Fest! Passed by some youngsters who complained that the fireworks "totally sucked", which we had completely missed since they went off at around 8pm or so, judging from the suspicious bangs and pops which I heard from the comfort of my home earlier =X

Below are some pink lanterns (which aren't all that obvious here) hung on the trees near CG!
There was so much smoke & dust that this pic below had to be the best pic of the night
Walked a little around the entire park with my mom! Saw a no. of ppl wearing lighted red horns in the darkness, which looked really unsightly...it was like a trip down to a hell =S

Here's a pic of the "Wishing Tree"! People threw the coins & red string combi a la throwing discus..and some people made rather hazardous moves O.o

All in all it was fairly pleasant, but could have been better if got friends around to goof off =D

Walked a looong way back! Super tired, but good thing I managed to reach home! Yeah, I know that I could have used the mrt, but just wanted to save some $$ since I didn't think it was worth it =\ furthermore the weather was cool & pleasant, so might as well soak in the atmosphere! Got home & ate some mooncakes, had the baked lotus ones which my dad brought back...they were ok, but I preferred more flavour! Kinda miss the days where they'd include watermelon kernels, because to me, macadamia nuts just didn't quite hit the spot =( But hey, how many ppl actually have a no. of mooncakes in their house...so I should just be grateful =)

Tried some yam snowskin mooncakes, and they're really great!

Pardon my pathetically short sentences, as I'm in the middle of IM-ing some friends while having supper =)

Thursday's training was more rigorous than usual, having to do squats & horse stances in the same lesson for once! However, I shan't complain, since I'm pretty unfit, having exercise like only once a week for a looong time(random doing of push ups etc at home are not counted!!), and it only serves me right that I cannot do them well enough. Oh well. Real training starts now! XD Must do my best to kick better, because I must bring the grade up! No way would I want to be some incompetent ninja-do practitioner and look like a total fool if ever asked to demonstrate my moves..seriously. Especially when I totally stink at the green syllabus =(( Legs couldn't stop shaking when we got into the starting stance, but luckily it didn't move as much when we did the last few kicks! Still got tonnes to improve on man...

Stayed back for dinner, and couldn't get what GM was saying at 1st when the bunch sat down at the table =X Actually he complimented the panna cotta, and I was half expecting comments on the kicks =S Was kinda surprised that Steven & Michael remembered about the macarons here! It'll be a looong time til I make them again guys...it's really time consuming(2 hours just sifting the almond meal)...plus I should go sample from the best 1st and gauge how my macarons should turn out!

Many apologies to YS & Daltone at the dinner table...because I talked across YS to get Daltone...and then afterwards I didn't say much to Dalt cos didn't know what to say later =X At least things were ok this week! Pity that I didn't stay back for dinner last week...would be interesting to see how people actually react to my cooking at 1st hand!

That'll be all for now. Nothing eventful happened on fri, just that I'm going to sleep at 3am again =( And I want to shop later! Haha. Goodnight world!

Quit calefaring, Sun NJD class(a 1st)& Mon + P C

2010-09-21T16:07:00.008+08:00

Update for the weekend!

Didn't do much on Saturday apart from shopping a little at JP! Initially I wanted to be a calefare in some local movie set in the 1960s on Sunday, but changed my mind while shopping for some extra things at JP! I admit that it was a good choice, as I will further explain later in this entry =)

While on my way to find hairspray, it occurred to me that the losses would be much greater than the gains since I didn't have hairspray etc to begin with! How much can $20 cover? I'd be losing $ instead of gaining since I'm a total newbie at using hairspray, and who knows i'd be having a miserable time on the set about that? Another reason which deterred me from going was the possibility of having to stand on a muddy field with my good shoes, since the scene was a funfair! I didn't even know what sort of director was that person going to be, because I believe that some are kinda bo chup, so it was better to be wise about it and not go. Lastly, because of Fri's phonecall, I'd decided to spend the last day of the week with closer friends!

Thus, the only things I bought from JP were scotch tape & oreo crush bubble tea -_-" haha! Felt somewhat relieved of my decision to head for Sunday's njd class instead =D

On the same evening, my dad returned to SG...and below are some snacks that my dad brought back from London! Enjoy the pics haha!
I've got a feeling that I ate similar crepes before O.o

The Adrian Mole series included this confectionary above...in between the pages of the main char's beloved's book!
Omg Waitrose(which I know sells vanilla icecream in the bigger supermarkets in SG and it's supposedly good)! Jamie Oliver advertised for this brand a while back

On to Sunday! Tried walking to church for once as dad was resting from his trip, and I admit that it was kinda cool(but terribly hot) since we went for the 11am mass! Saved 71 cents on bus fare haha. Took a bus to JP after church to buy lunch and fruits! Got home somewhat late, took a short nap in the afternoon and then made my way down to JE! Met ZR there, followed by MN and Siti as the 4 of us were waiting for Justus to fetch us to njd sunday class. Train disruption's a hassle as we had to walk a little far off in order for J to fetch us, but luckily the mtg time was 6.30pm so we managed to reach the CC at around 7pm.

Was a little disappointed that the class was small, but good thing I went anyway for the extra practice! Warm ups were kinda fast, and the training was literally a pain since we ran several levels and my feet hurt from the rough floor. Furthermore, we had the pushups on the chair, but that was quite a hilarious moment since we could barely do that!

Kicks were ok, but was left kinda tired from all the spinning around! Glad when we had to switch sides, or I'd be a goner. Punches were cool, and I especially liked the ninja push, but have to do it muchh faster! Dang. The 2 guys were pretty funny with their antics cos YS mentioned earlier that she couldn't stop moving side to side(which reminded me of my JC fren called Junhao who was guilty of that while doing project work presentation during class! LOL!!) Many apologies to YS whose arm I almost broke =X cos of the 4th defense. I have to take more precaution from now onwards!

Checked my hp and saw that Gene called me 3 times. I returned the call and he asked if I could make my way down to CCK, but I had to decline since I was going for dinner, and furthermore I just went for exercising!There was absolutely no way I could go even if I wanted to after class, since I didn't even have any 1960s kinda clothes on me, and my footwear looks wayy too modern.

Ate with the 2 guys n YS at some coffee shop at bukit gombak! How silly of me to order beancurd and tofu, because I didn't realise that I ordered 2 similar items in my haste, but at least they tasted fine. Can't wait to catch a movie with them and a few others! XD Reached home at around 11.45pm, and finally got to bed at around 2+am since I chatted online about Monday.

As for Monday...I approached the person and asked for reasons, and I admit that I noticed some telltale signs of fibbing in some instance when I pointed out things, but oh well. One of the reasons I enjoyed working there was that there were quite a no. of ppl around my age(but mostly older), and thus I managed to make a no. of new friends! Sadly, most have already left, and I suppose I'd have to keep in touch with the few remaining via msn or smsing! Just as when I'm beginning to be much better friends with some...but oh well. The past 2 months had been enriching and delightful, and I'm grateful for that. I'd been asked out for a "date", a bbq and many more! However, at the same time, I'd been deprived of sleep and the chance for cooking since work was almost everyday until recently, with fewer no. of calls.

Below are some things that I took at my workplace! The pics with me in them will be up on fb, of cos!

My signage! Kinda like the colour combi =D It's supposed to be a brighter yellow, but I've blocked it a little in order not to have the reflection of light on the plastic

The =S face which I saw since the day I 1st stepped into the office and that was on the desk no. 26, which was the desk I had on my last working day(we did quite a no. of rotations, as I'd been sitting on desk no.s 11, 36, 54, 37, 50, 43 and lastly 26!) Anyway the desks were numbered differently when I returned on Mon, so pardon me if I'd forgotten the exact no.s!

A self portrait of the guy who used to sit next to me at table 12, before he went for leave for a month! He's quite amusing, and was kinda the 1 I sought some help from when all the suppies were bz!

Had lunch with MN, Kelv, YongHan & Weiting at mos! Pity the outlet didn't serve mos shakes, so had the combo instead! Will definitely miss the lot who I ate with on the last day =(

A view of the 3rd floor! This place holds a few memories as well, as I used to lounge around here after a quick lunch at the cafeteria with Aisyah & Jessica! We'd moan about being sleepy and all lol. I think the 1st time I came up to here was when it was a thurs, and we got a free fruit(oranges at that time) from the 5th floor, which I later gave to the Starfish for being my buddy. A few other times would be packing food from the cafeteria or shopping mall & eating at those tables as seen at the end of this pic! I recalled trying the brown rice porridge from the vegetarian stall, and I admit that it was quite wholesome, if a little disgusted by the ginger shreds since I forgot that the shreds came from the beans packed together with the rest.

Bought a mag and read up here on my last day, since I was waiting for the rest to end work! Initially I was sitting beside YH in an attempt not to be spotted(and of cos, to chat with him and Kelv!)but was asked to leave by a suppie since there was a higher up walking around!

Was a little sad to part with the company(as in people)when we had to board the trains home since I'd miss the socialising and sporadic shuriken throwing activity during and/or after work! I recalled teaching Jess to fold shurikens on her last day(which was also the last day for Sean and I had njd BBQ at the Centris after work!) to, ahem, shoot at Kelv(who gave me "smoke bombs" in return)! "Ninja" was my nickname among them(cos of njd, no less), and there was a mini shuriken folding craze at one point! I've also accidentally hit YH & Justin on the forehead with the throwing b4 =X at one time after work when we threw them for amusement purposes.

Of course, there's many more, but I will cease my further ramblings lest it bores my dear readers! =D

Gave away one panna cotta to MN, and decided to eat 1 on the same day. Below are the final pics of the panna cotta, which I assembled on Mon, 20/09/2010 after eating about 1/3 of the pudding and recalling that I could remove it from the mold since it was oily enough!

1st attempt at the styling, then realised that it looked really boring(and a little like a tart/biscuit)

Smeared the sauce around the panna cotta to give the illusion of lotsa sauce

Lastly, I settled for this! Grabbed some few good berries from my fridge in an attempt to jazz up the image! Hopefully I can serve it in this manner some day, or who knows that I'd change the entire look next time by serving with caramel or choc sauce? It's such a versatile dish that I can't wait to try out again and serve during parties or gatherings!

Guess that'll be all for the weekend and Monday. What a long post! Wheww

Icecream Outing,Panna Cotta & NJD!!

2010-09-17T14:30:00.013+08:00

Time for a lengthy & quick update!

The week's been full of ups and downs, and right now at the time of blogging I must admit that it's at the lowest point of the week! Oh well, whatever. I'll get over it.

Anyway, for the better part of the week!

Monday- Went to Udders with the good o'friends after work! I didn't like most of the flavours I tried, since most were either too strong, or a particular flavour was over emphasized. To play safe I had the vanilla bean icecream, which wasn't spectacular either since there was no lingering vanilla taste, and after a few mouthfuls things became monotonous. Enjoyed the time spent with the rest of them, and felt a sense of sadness that we had to part!

Below are some hard boiled soy sauce quail eggs that my sis bought while holidaying in Jap! I admit that they were delish! But of course a person must take the number of quail eggs into consideration, since 1 chicken egg is equivalent to 3 quail eggs's worth of cholesterol =X
Cream! Mom cooked this on a tuesday, using a recipe found on the back of the package itself! Unlike the recipe, we used spaghetti instead of rice...but perhaps rice would have been a much better choice since the sauce had the consistency of soup =X

On to Weds! I had CL for the rest of the week so I went out with Pet for lunch at baikohken! We got a little lost while trying to find the shop since it was located at an obscure corner of raffles place! Below(or rather, both pics feature the half size bowl) is the shoyu soup!

I had the corn and butter ramen which cost $11! Unlike the previous time when I had this with another person, this bowl had more ingredients! Perhaps timing had to do with it, since I arrived during lunch time(1.30+pm?) on Wed as compared to the previous experience whereby I ate just when the shop opened for the day =D
After lunch, we made our way down to robertson quay! Didn't know that there's a Taiwan food fair going on, can't wait to try some of the food actually =D but most unfortunately they were

still in the midst of setting up the stalls, so didn't have the chance( and a good thing anyway since was pretty full & on our way for dessert!)

Lookie here! The mini icecream stand! Notice that they've changed the shelter thing(forgot the name =X) to red instead of the previous which was green? Below is the shop itself, and unfortunately there was a no photography sign so couldn't take pics of my food! So let me describe what I ate instead =D
I had the vanilla bean icecream($4.50) & choc tart($7.80) while Pet had the black forest cake($7.80)! Was a little hesitant to get the choc tart at 1st since it was kinda small(I can probably hold and crush it with one hand)! The dark chocolate shavings on the BFC was intense, and I enjoyed the accompanying tart cherry sauce when I tried a little off my friend's plate. My VB icecream had too much vanilla flavour haha =X cos not only did it taste vanilla bean but also the essense...gah!

The choc tart was rich! Very rich indeed. I had to drink at least 2 glasses of water to feel better, but it was good! The base was impossible to cut with the fork, so I gave up eating with it and proceeded to sink my teeth into the tart as it was! There was a bit too much dark chocolate at some point, but still I liked my tart. The accompanying raspberry sauce tasted too sour though. Hmm.

After dessert, we remained seated and reminisced about the past! Only after a while did we leave, and seriously when I return I'd like to try their choc drinks! Or perhaps this icecream sundae which costs $14( 3 scoops of icecream etc)
Robertson Quay's a beautiful place with the relaxing vibe. It was a part of sg which I didn't go to before until weds, 150910. Truth to be told, I encountered a no. of expats...perhaps they live nearby in homes such as the 1 shown in the pic abv!!
The water fountain and the chairs from a nearby restaurant! The whole place just looks awesome enough to sit back on a super comfy chair and perhaps cuddle up to a gd magazine/book and read til u doze off...or drink sth fancy & chat the afternoon away, accompanied by petit fours =D

Why is the Frigidarium icecream sign doing here?! Seriously I'm not sure if somebody stole the sign and left it at the sidewalk at RQ, as I was at Frigi a few months back for the 2nd time and didn't see this there!

On Thurs I made panna cotta from a recipe which I found on the internet! I started at around 2.30pm, and tediously washed every container and cover with detergent & water...gah. 15 of each! =S Nevermind, once that was done I proceeded to cook my whipping cream & sugar! The whipping cream smelt lovely on its own, and I am glad that I bought it instead of the smaller packed variety which would have cost more at $12-13 instead of this 1L pack at $8+!

Used 1 tsp of vanilla essense since the original recipe called for 2 tsp of vanilla extract(which is alcohol based & I didn't have that in the house). Read from the net that vanilla extract is much weaker than vanilla essense, so reduced to 1 tsp! The aroma reminded me of custard...but they're different, as custard needed eggs.

I sprinkled 4 1/2 teaspoons of gelatine into cold water...and got a slight scare when the gelatine hardened on its own. As a laugh, I made a smiling face out of the gelatine since I wanted to, ahem, make it look more interesting in picture!

I reheated my cream+sugar mix and made it warm enough so that I could dissolve the gelatine! A sieve was used to filter the mix b4 each pouring into the individual cups to ensure that the cooked cream was smooth! Made about 13+ cups, then reduced to 13 and popped them into the fridge to harden.

My mom cleared out the fridge, and I got a scare when I opened this container! What was I expecting anyway, keeping a box of fresh( but kind of empty) cheese container in the fridge...threw this out immediately, that's for sure.

I used raspberries & blueberries for the sauce since I didn't have enough good berries of either! Took the sauce recipe from elsewhere, since the panna cotta recipe didn't have the sauce included!

After dissolving the sugar into the water, I let off the heat and dumped the berries inside! Squished some of the berries first since I wasn't sure if we had the hand held blender, food processor or blender in the cupboards.

While waiting for my mom to find either, I squished the berries further and made them this way haha =X in an attempt to hasten the process later!

Mom took out the blender so we gave it a whiz until they were pureed!

Strained the whole lot, and i admit that the combi was pretty good! Such a pity that this amount made up to 2 small containers, so gave a little more to the 1 which I was giving away to the friends who accompanied me to shop (& the rest who were there 4 dinner).

There u go! Berry sauce! Definitely going to make more of this in the future, but perhaps I should add another raspberry to make it more tart as a foil against the creaminess of the plain panna cotta =D

Not too sure how the rest found it, but glad that most of them(apart from 1 sadly =( ) tried it!Personally I liked plain, pure milk on its own and I was fine without the sauce! Realised today that it was possible to unmold the puddings, but u have to destroy the shapes a little 1st, since it was already oily on its own!

Thurs njd class was fun, if a little empty cos YS wasn't around to partner me in the kicks etc! Oh well, on the bright side I could kick the target harder since GM was holding it. Think at 1 chunyatsu(the 5th kick) I almost caused the target to fly out of his hands =X Did too much kicking & was told to stop since I looked pale! It was good to take a little break as I was kinda warm from all the activity, not to mention slightly dizzy from all the turning haha! Learnt the 3rd and 4th defense, was quite fun, if a lil scary! Many apologies to YY =X

Here's a pic of the unleavened bread for ZR! LOL. Notice how thin's the crust? It was still good anyway, but got a scare when I heard that my sis managed to chip off 1 of her tooth's fillings after eating this hard crust pizza =X

Guess that's all for now. Have to head for the bed! Perhaps I should blog more in the future, unlike the weekly journals that I seem to be doing these days. It'll be a good thing to keep an update on my studying too, since I've kind of neglected my reading during the times I was working. I will definitely take advantage of this misfortune! I'd be off to bed now, it's kinda late at 1.40am...au revoir!

Small update of week

2010-09-10T23:45:00.003+08:00

Something more positive now!

I've been working hard this week to get to work on time, since I'm always hindered by something or another such as the only working lift in my block that has to go to the 14th floor when I'm rushing =S Been quite proud of myself , so hopefully next week I can keep this up and earn more $. Apart from that, I've enjoyed my meals and some silly random office fun, such as throwing of paper shurikens...I must apologise to 2 guys who I've hit on the forehead with the tiny ones by mistake =X

Picked up some brochures of mooncakes from the small stalls set up in Novena...as usual, things always look better in picture...unless eaten in a place with the right ambience and people! XD And oh, lastly, they should be eaten at a time when there's nothing stressful to deal with! Only then can one actually enjoy the flavour of mooncakes...!

Sidetracking, I remembered that when I was young, during mid autumn festival(and perhaps on some random occasions), my cousins and I would do some silly stuff such as "camping" out on the space found at the 14th floor of the condominium block which my grandmother used to stay at some 7 years back, and the more exciting "illegal" stuff which we would do on the ground floor...any guesses what it might be?? Not mentioning here! =D

NJD was a killer lesson as my knees hurt more than my arms when we did pushups. The new situps made me laugh a lot...but at least I left the place a more stretched person =X Shouting during the squats was hilarious as everyone was trying to outdo each other, which resulted in a slight miscalculation!

Had a good time at home today recovering from the pains since the weather was cool, & conversation flowed on msn! Discovered interesting facts on choc today, and am most keen on working with the godsend confectionary someday T_T actually I've been thinking about trying something out with chocolate for the past year, but haven't had the time, money and much expertise to begin with. I'm gonna go check out the pros 1st...And make time with my friends! It'll be a win-win situation!

Guess that'll be all. Like every other human being, it's good to end the day with a positive note! XD

Not feeling so great

2010-09-10T22:31:00.003+08:00

Hmm...I admit that the past few days' worth of events and such have left me feeling crappy and utterly unmotivated to talk much to anyone since I noticed their behaviour in my presence...been feeling left out on some occasions to the point that I was actually quite glad to head home for dinner yesterday as compared to the previous times. Apparently nobody seems all that interested recently, so I suppose, hey, why the heck did I even bother to mention when I'm usually the one listening & taking interest in the other side when my side's being ignored just because I happen to converse in English! Grr. I know that moods affect people, but at least show some attempt to acknowledge my presence and ask how my day went etc, cos I'd appreciate that.

Honestly, most of the time, I really think that I don't belong in SG...who knows that i've been born to the wrong family staying in this country...Not that I can't understand chinese nor do I find it grating to listen to people conversing in chinese, but i'd appreciate if people take interest in my point of view, expressed in ENGLISH. Furthermore, which person likes to be stereotyped by others? I'm just me, and me alone. Don't go shooting your mouth off or think that way just because the situation looks like that for the moment. Would you like it if I were to stereotype and assume how you should be like just because of a few occasions?? Obviously no, right?? I'm not trying to be harsh or whatsoever but just been in a pissy mood lately, due to my observations.

Oh well...after this rant I suppose I'll still give people a second chance...I mean, nobody's perfect, but if nothing improves then I guess I'll drop them like a hot potato. This post doesn't flow too well, cos I'm just puking out my thoughts at a time when I'm not all that fired up over the matter. Sigh.

One last thing to add...do not to others that irritates you...

NJD 31st week, K box & 1st sept!

2010-09-04T17:10:00.008+08:00

Hi all!

These week I worked for 3 days, which is a good thing since that meant more $ compared to the previous week!

Nothing eventful happened so far apart from njd and outing yesterday with peeps, since this was one week of ups and downs.

Grateful to the peeps who waited for me after work to head home!

As sensed on the train ride home, we had the wheelbarrow thing during njd! Class was small, with only 1 purple belt, 4 green belts, 2 orange belts and 1 white belt!We learnt something else too, and that was a rolling technique. Half an hour was spent doing that, and many left with a sore back. Dinner was pleasant, and we left late =X
Here's some colourful mochi that my sis brought back from japan! I haven't touched it since it was opened as I'm not a huge fan of mochi, apart from dango =D The small lil blobs taste artificial, no offense to anyone out there...

Saw this tiny bottle which my sis brought back...kawaii ne?

Going off topic, here's some homemade pizza for the viewer! This was dinner on weds. Half smothered in tomato and black pepper ham, the other pineapple and BP ham!

The peeps and I went to k box on a fri! The lot of us gathered at ichiban sushi for lunch, and some were pretty funny regarding food XD 3 of us ran to jurong safra (or booking would be cancelled)while the other 2 went shopping for a shirt since it wasn't possible to enter kbox in full uni! Here's the menu which I took for fun, if somewhat crappily =X
Can anyone tell me what's wrong in this picture below?? XD

We stayed at kbox for 3hrs, and a lil longer afterwards since we weren't chased out! The complimentary snacks served made my throat sore, but anyway most of us weren't really singing =S apart from the one who could sing really, really high! All in all I had a great time, apart from the few moments when I was lost in translation since everyone spoke mainly in chinese!! During kboxing, the bunch of us danced on the sofa =X and exaggerated the singing during some of the songs! This outing did feel like a small family gathering, seeing that it was a group of 5 =D

After that, 4 of us walked around JP and I sorta helped to choose a compo book, but there was only so much that I could do since it all depended on the individual! Off to ntuc, I bought my cream and gelatin! Pity I couldn't find my half-and-half, so I settled for whipping cream...I wanted to buy blackberries, but since some were partially squished at the side and/or were a lil mouldy, I gave up the idea! Hopefully they'd bring in blueberries by end this week or the next, which were part of my original plan for the sauce.

I admit that I learnt a few things from the outing/bonding session today, not to mention that I must remember to bring my own jacket in the future! Nevertheless, I am touched by the kindness and graciousness. Eeep. This brings to mind of a time which I rejected a friend's offer! I hope that friend wasn't insulted or anything, since I can be incredibly shy at times, haha =X

Going off topic again! Below are some pics of sweets which I received, along with the rest of the staff on sept 1st!
It's Sticky! I've seen the guys stretch, throw and fold these semi solid babies before at one of the branches, and honestly that's a lot of strength and patience put into these!

Candy making looks fun, especially when the results are aesthetically pleasing, no? Although I admit that it was unnecessary to remind us of our job LOL

Til then! Au revoir!

Week- Green Belt syllabus, BBQs and more

2010-08-29T22:06:00.008+08:00

Time for a quick update!

BBQ last fri was pretty fun, & many thanks to YY's dad who sent us all back! It was such a surreal experience to be running in JP at its most empty state around 11.45pm or so to get to our transport! I had a gd laugh throughout the BBQ, and most baffling was to be compared against GS by ZR since I laughed quite a lot at one point! Lastly, many thanks to John who put up with the cooking at his house, since the BBQ pit lights went off at around 10 or so!

Sat- I completely forgot abt Natsu Matsuri since I woke at 12.30(& still pretty sleepy at that!)

I didn't work for the whole of last week apart from Weds =( less $ for me now! Good news is being able to sleep more...but most unfortunately I didn't cook! I had the raspberry milk from the foodcourt as I was feeling a little bit adventurous, and I admit that it tasted normal, pretty much like strawberry milk! The kiwi version which I tried on my 1st round was horrendous since it was way too sour & did not compliment the blended milk & ice at all!

Thurs- 1st time green belt syllabus! All I can say is, I'm really terrible at this new one! So many combi kicks which I actually remember but the problem is getting my body to execute them well. *Sighhh* No offense to anyone, but I thought that some suggestions to executing the kicks were really weird!

On Sat, I went to collect some gifts before heading to pasir ris for the BBQ! No idea why but I've been craving for milk and more lately...perhaps my body feels deprived of these nutrients since I started working and continue exercising in njd? Bought a milkshake from a BBT stall located along the bus interchange just before the bus arrived to take me to the bungalow chalet =X Just my luck that nobody from my batch were at the BBQ! Fortunately I knew some of the guys & MN so things went well in the end...it was such a pity to leave around 10.45 or so since I was just warming up to the small company!

I admit that it was somewhat intimidating to have 4 guys staring at me especially when I didn't know them all that well and 1 asked me on the stance before a fight! We took some pics at the BBQ pit for memory sake, and I believe that KL was insulted by my comment which actually didn't mean the way it was supposed to be =S There were 2 cats in our area, and 1 of them was preggers! I think our host gave it some water in a porcelain bowl, and honestly I haven't a clue why he was so secretive about it. Personally I'd just feed both cats since they're already there and we've got some leftover(and unwanted) food!

Talking about feeding...I've been thinking of making myself sign up for this program at my church since I've been having so many CLs of late(and on weekdays) and they're short of ppl on weekdays! Grrr...ok. I must plan my time well this week!! Since I'm considered priviledged(able to meet basic needs and others + working), it's only right to give back by helping others out! It's always scary to jump into new environments alone, and I can attest to that(such as njd, working, previous year sch & upcoming school)!

Sun- I'd appreciate it if people quit commenting on my size...because the shape of a person doesn't determine how healthy he/she is! Of course there are many other limitations to this, but the list is too extensive, and thus I will not blog it here! Besides, muscles weigh twice as fat! Honestly, have they been brainwashed by the media...?! Seriously...that is rather pathetic!

Hope that the following week brings new ideas, inspirations and gracefulness to my kicks! That'll be all until next time! =D

Colourful njd & outta syllabus lesson!

2010-08-22T18:58:00.007+08:00

Thursday, 190810.

The class received new belts and weapons(apart from us new green belts and purple belt)today! I admit that it was somewhat annoying to receive the same results as before since the wrong footing led to lower points. That's ok anyway. I must strive harder!! Right now the colours of the belts in our class are black, purple, green, orange and white. What a colourful class! Meanwhile, I was reminded of the game on fb called Ninja Warz.

We had belt drill, and then an out of syllabus lesson. Of all things I had to go after ZR, and was somewhat panicking as I wasn't looking forward to landing on the floor if things went awry. I had to wear protective gear, which included the helmet. Weapons were the "nugget" and the "drumstick". Only a few made thru the entire course, and next week I'd have to do the duck walk...scaryy!! GM is really strong, despite looking lean. I managed to do 1 1/2 rounds, and left with a few knocks and scratches on my hands.

Dinner was fascinating, as the Dr. himself explained the process of lasik, pregnancy and delivering babies! The surrounding company was entranced by his passionate explanation, eagerly asking questions while leaning in to hear more stories. Somehow, I felt motivated to study there and then! It's always awesome to see how people speak of the things that they enjoy doing as one would be able to see how animated they are in expressing themselves =D

Last of all, I can't wait to watch the changi hosp movie with the bunch of them!! xD Yay to njd ppl!

Rant post- gdbye to ppl?

2010-08-21T15:03:00.121+08:00

**Warning: Rant post! Read at your own risk!**

It's always difficult to write about the people you know and yet don't know so well...so let's start from the beginning here!

Recently, I've not been on good terms with one of my friends. I admit that part of it has been contributed by me, mainly because I sms/say hi etc to this person online(let's call this person as A)in an attempt to keep updated and to sustain a friendship since there's a lack of contact in person. For starters, I guess that I'm unlucky by going that way. I feel so out of place right now that I don't even want to say anything lest A will hate me. I mean, things were going fine at the start and onwards...til at a point which I can't confirm when as of now. There are simply too many factors to consider and endless possibilities.

Argh. Life's complicated.

In general, truthfully, I have absolutely no idea what people expect of me sometimes. Seriously, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, or rather angry or whatsoever, TELL ME(preferably in the nicest possible way)at the 1st opportunity when it is brought up. An example would be to make a joke out of it and I'd get the hint. Afterwards, I'll do my best not to let things like that happen again. But of course, it must be within reason too. I am not a mind reader! At times, I have other things on my mind x=( (frowning face- knitted brows as x)

Most of all, it is extremely unfair to assume things about others before getting to know them well first. Getting facts right is of utmost importance before concluding. However, prejudice is hard to crack. Thus, I have decided to pretend that A no longer exists(for now). That may be the only way to demonstrate that I'm not that sort of person, since I cannot think of other ways other than this to prove my point at this moment. Nobody likes to be accused of things that they are not. Perhaps if things do improve in the future, which I highly doubt so, I will remain civil and be gracious to A.

I've had been more than a little sad to be thought of negatively, but I suppose that all I can do is to wait and see how things go(if any). Sorry to make you feel pressurised, A. I'm only a human being. I'm as fallible as the next person. I guess I had been mistaken about several things. Thus, I will henceforth discard everything that I once felt.

My apologies for bugging you so much. I had no intention of adding burden onto your shoulders. Having left with unanswered questions,there was further confusion, which led one to wonder what had happened. Truthfully, I hope to get enlightened in the future. However, at the rate things are going now, I guess that I'd be a mere afterthought, even forgotten. Who knows?

All's lost.

Note: Long post, and on the bright side, a good practice for me since I need to write essays in the future! Hopefully I'd have more success in those than with people. *sighhh* I'm terrible with words. I hope this clears some of the air of uncertainty.

Sat Airbender and NJD shirt

2010-08-15T22:51:00.012+08:00

It's a Sunday!!

Not many things happened today, apart from going to church and jogging with the friends some distance away from the neighbourhood! And gaining some, ahem, Eau de Friends along the way XP

Saturday was fairly lively. Watched Airbender, and had a good laugh over the errors and cast!

*Spoilers ahead!*

Since when did the blue spirit have bushy black hair?! And they mispronounced names like Agni Kai, Iroh and Aang!! Furthermore the firelord didn't have long hair! The acting was so fake in some scenes that it should have been a comedy xD Lastly, the starting reminded me of how silly most of us look when trying out the last kick that most of us learn in njd =X

Here Ben poses with the tix he won from challenging 1 of the bball players in this arcade game thingy held outside cine!
The tallll guy

The signboard that I came across while waiting for fireworks in the evening!Fried ramen??? My ramen from Azabu Sabo. Yeah I know that this company's better known for its desserts, but we went to try it anyway after the fireworks! Here's a fast take on this bowl: The meat was tough and unfortunately not so flavoursome, while the bamboo shoots were a little off(but not as bad as the ones I had at Ramen Santouka sometime in April this year). The soup was easy to drink(and certainly not covered in a layer of oil like RS)and noodles were okay, and at least the egg yolk was slightly runny. Add ons are from $2 onwards, if memory serves me!

After dinner I went home...and slept kinda late, I think?

Here's the njd t shirt! Front, above, back, below!

This T shirt's supposedly XS, but it's so huge that it could pass off as M!

Bleh. I guess I usually write pretty little whenever there's pics in a post, or I'm just pretty uninspired now >.<>

Forgiveness

2010-08-13T19:09:00.008+08:00

Guess I shouldn't have posted that 1st paragraph yesterday...It's not like a person knows another fully right? Only The Creator knows us through and through! I have to learn how to forgive more, because we, as human beings, are not infallible. Apart from forgiveness, I should learn to be wiser, and not get upset over things that can be changed for the better!

Truth to be told, if that had more stuff like drawings (apart from words alone), I don't think that it'd be discarded, right? What was I expecting anyway...it's just some dumb piece of plain paper and my messy looking handwriting! Furthermore, there are other factors to consider, so I shouldn't get stressed out. Seriously hope that things will be all cool anyway, mainly cos I dislike dragging on problems or whatsoever negative things for days! Now I'm being reminded of someone who recently returned to SG...ugh.

Friday's been one sleepy day for me at the office, so perhaps next time I should just chomp on some dark choc to stay awake! Brought a good past Sci Am issue along to read, but was too tired to process much. Had subway, back to office, took a few more calls and logged off when it was 5pm! More ninja jokes came in today, cos I guess that njd is relatively unheard of?! Laughed with a bunch of guys(don't know all, that's fer sure) while waiting for my neighbour, and the lot of us travelled on the same train for a short while as many went to play l4d!

Evening was spent relaxing at home, and I tried watching Kuroshitsuji II ep 7 since it came out a few hours before...Pity that I don't understand jap! Pretty sleepy here at the moment, so I should get going to bed, or at least play my guitar for a short while 1st!! I must not disappoint my cousin XD or rather, I should practise more cos I intend to try out something one day =D The frequent usage of my left hand on the keyboard during work makes it easier to press the strings down now!

Pesky S and movie outing on 10Aug 2010

2010-08-12T21:21:00.013+08:00

It's been a few days since I've last blogged. Currently, I'm kind of pissed off at one of my friends, and an urge to cry in frustration is increasing in my being. There has been a number of times whereby I reason and try to understand why people behave in a certain way, but right now all that remains is sheer annoyance. Oh well. What a way to end a friendship I suppose... =\

On a brighter note! I enjoyed meeting up with a few ninja-do ppl(5 in total, including sir!) on Tues to watch Salt!Unfortunately, everyone speaks mainly in mandarin and I do feel left out from time to time =\ I brought caramel popcorn from the cornery to workplace and shared with a few people, and still managed to have some left for the movie =X though I bought the smallest size!

All of us ate at Fish and Co. for dinner, and i tried the mussels and mushroom soup since the menu wasn't that extensive. Furthermore I was kinda tired after having to stare at the screen the whole day, so better to have something fairly light! Was pretty full from my own purchases for the movie and thus half of ALL helped to eat some mussels!

Justus drove the 6 of us home, and the remaining 3 of us sitting at the back(after YY was dropped off )had a small squishing competition! Had intended to squish the middle person(ZR) but I lost since GM used too much strength and ZR decided to move to the weaker side(meaning me!) and so I tried poking them!

Wed I went shopping wif MN, and I bought new pointy high heels! Sweet stuff! I'd post the pics up sometime soon!

Thur- took pics with some work friends! Sad to say that a no. of pics look quite weird (was MN sleepy??), so will go retake them when I bring the camera and look less sleepy and dress well! The apple juice frm the canteen tdy came in gradient O.o I'd post the pics on fb or here next post! In addition, it tasted nth much like apple O.o More of a mix of carrot, orange, starfruit and a slight tinge of apple!

Guess that'll be all for now. I'd blog more soon! Au revoir!

Ninja-do 2nd grading!

2010-08-09T12:05:00.007+08:00

Yesterday, I had ninja-do grading for the 2nd time this year!

I had dinner just before grading so I was rushing like crazy to get outta the house and to Ayer Rajah CC!!

I spotted ZR and he told me that I was the last one even though I arrived a lil just after 7pm! Great. On my 3rd grading, I hope I remember to be there by 6.30pm instead of 7pm =S Everyone was waiting for me up on the 2nd floor to start the warm ups, and that made me doubly anxious, cos the lot were practising their moves while I didn't have much time for that day to do so =( I signed the attendance list quickly and noted no. 22, or rather Group 2, no. 2!Oddly enough we skipped some warm up steps...so fortunately the ones I did before arriving to the exam venue kinda helped a lil with my flexibility! I'm still pretty bad, but whatever, at least I've improved heaps since Jan! Think I should go do research on nutrition and more, if i ever want to do splits in the future...

When it came to my group's turn(consisting of 3 people), I was half spacing out, since there were so many black belts looking at us all(black belt overload)!!! 1st was pushing kick...and one of the middle kicks was the yoyatsu. Good news about this: I didn't trip myself over and jump like in most of the classes! Bad news: I kicked a lil too low =(

On to kata! I did it ok, though it's a blur to me now, and I don't exactly remember how it went apart from 1 wrong footing but I corrected it after the next step! Great. I remembered shouting "ers!" after all the punches but now I'm debating how loud I shouted for the last punch! That's one of the reasons why I'm so scared =(( YX froze during one part of the kata, and she told me much later that it freaked her out to see all the black belts' eyes on her!

Knife defense was ok for me, though I believe I could have done better too! If I ever do go on to the next belt, I think I should go for the sunday class too since apart from thurs cls I don't practice at home!

Grading ended quite early, like around 8pm or so! There was no brown belt grading so I suppose it ended quite fast...Fetched ZR back to Jurong after grading...and I am anticipating another person to fetch in about 3 months' time XD

Went online when I got home to chat with people! My fingers were busy answering about 3 or 4 windows at a time!

That's all for now...I'd be off for lunch(and maybe more things in the afternoon, I hope!) It's been a sluggish Monday so far, and a public hol at that!

Nabins and Working on Sat!

2010-08-08T14:11:00.018+08:00

Time for another update!

Been adding the other friends from my workplc on fb, and I admit that SG is really small =S
It's been one sleepy week here! I just hope that I'd be alive later in the evening XC

First things first! I'd put a time limit to meeting up and getting home on weekdays from now onwards cos I didn't meet Rah til almost 9.30pm on Tues...and when I gt home it was almost 11.30pm!! Best of all I had to walk home alone, and I'm totally not prepared for any sparring if there's a need to...

On a brighter note, I had a grand time staying in 1 of the shops at Ion and trying out the clothes for prolly almost an hour...! =X Below are some pics I took while trying out the clothes on the current hp I borrowed from my dad cos the cam ran outta battery at such a propitious moment =( A toga dress which I liked and bought! Don't mind the following slanted pics, cos the room's really small and so is the camera's ability to capture the whole length of me w/o having to tilt...
I messed around with the strings at the sides and made the X shape at my neck!
The toga combined with a fluffy skirt which I didn't buy(the skirt, nt the toga)

R finally arrived at 9.30pm or so, and my first impression was...a reallly tall and skinny guy! The dessert from Nabins, as seen below! The restaurant's concept is supposedly arabian, with couches, cushions and curtains to cover each dining area for guests to laze about and eat off the cushioned stool like tables! Didn't eat much that day cos it was already past 10pm! I had the starter and the dessert, cos wasn't too keen on the mains(too late alrdy!)! The mushroom soup was ok, though it wasn't much to my liking as there seemed to be sth missing,say, a herb or two? Below is the dessert! I let R try a lil which he pronounced it to taste like paki food?! Personally I thought it was a lil like those nonya kueh(cos of the familiar ingredients like the coconut) but it also had almonds, raisins, and such!
Overall I think this outing could have been better if there was much more talking!

Moving on...

A small note to the friends who i've gone out with like one on one (and maybe in a group)this year so far:

Do tell when you're free again! It's no fun asking in other indirect ways only to find out that you're not free after all =((

Moving on...

Saturday working wasn't as bad as i thought! The trains are as filled as ever, but the plc was pretty quiet! Just my luck that I was stuck at the same table number, but fortunately got 1 fren there to chat with on my right! Almost wanted to shift to other seats where other friends were since they had empty seats on their side, but didn't in the end! Pfft! There goes my chance to chat haha cos at where I sat was kinda quiet, and the bunch of ppl i usually chat with were scattered at the back!

I had more opportunity to walk around and socialise when calls were slow to arrive...Went to disturb Sean, who was looking at a whole bunch of women in dresses from a gossip magazine LOL! There was one person who I tried calling a few times, but failed to get thru! Patrick got the call from this person at his phone and he sounded anxious,which in turn made me scared cos I thought it was some angry caller!! Luckily it was nth much haha!! =D It was Rahman's last day and we all took some pics after work, but we look quite horrible so I think i won't be posting them up! Afterwards went off to CJ for lunch with MN, and we ate xlb and the shrimp wonton soup noodles!

Lastly, to end off this looooong post, I hope everyone enjoys national day!! Cheers to all! I hope to cook/bake tomorrow if it's possible!! And hopefully go out!

Sunday sermon and Past Topics!

2010-08-01T13:21:00.029+08:00

It's Sunday!

Still down with a sorethroat so I didn't make much attempt to sing during mass. Sermon was about being rich in God's way and not the physical way, meaning that it's more important to hold and practise good values and such rather than filling up your lives with physical things like branded material items! When ppl die, they can't bring anything that they own in this world to the next, so might as well share the good fortune that they've been blessed with with the less priviledged!

This doesn't mean that we shld give up all luxury items; Rather, it means that we shld also learn how to be more generous towards other ppl! Ok not only generous, but being generous and NOT expecting anything(such as a favour or act) in return. Honestly, what's the point of calling a generous act as a good deed when the giver expects something in return? Generosity should be done out of the kindness of one's heart! Other than that, the rest who do with a motive behind are plain scumbags(my opinion, not anyone else's). I don't mean that the receiver should not attempt on returning the act of kindness, but rather the giver shld not expect praises frm the receiving party(and ppl outside of this group) just cos they've helped them. If the receiver does praise, the giver shld accept graciously.

Alright, I won't continue. I bet I'm boring the life outta majority of my readers from this small rant on generosity. Or go ahead and prove me wrong by discussing this topic with me! =D

Moving on...

I took several pics with this priest who did my baptism 2 decades plus ago! He happened to be in my church tdy cos he's supposed to be in taiwan, which I heard that he was returning to tmr. Hopefully my dad sends me the pics from his blackberry later!

Back to ytd's uncovered topics! I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to be the assistant IC for ninja-do's thursday class(ALL calls it as AIC), since well, it was unexpected and it was the 1st time there's a need for an assistant IC since I started njd in jan. My duties currently extend to helping the girls check their gi(which honestly slipped my mind on thurs since I was almost late for class!), and well, carrying out the warm-ups if the IC himself is absent!

Working for the gavimurn is tiring! I gotta wake at 6am everyday or so, but by the time I'm actually up is abt 6.20am =X Gotta curb this lateness to work!

Somewhat surprised to be asked out by one of my friends, but I went anyway. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I didn't suggest to browse thru clothes! Don't know how ppl perceive things, but I didn't consider it as a date, so I wore fairly sloppy ( t shirt, miniskirt, flats). All in all I think I shld return the favour, but I don't know what, when and how if I get rejected haha. For my upcoming outing/date?! with one friend(who crafts beautiful poems), I must dress better! I think I haven't seen a no. of ppl since 2008, so it'll be a gd thing to meet up!

Alright, this post is so long. I'll quit blogging here. Au revoir!