Festivity stock-take

Not only has the Christmas festivites given me a rounder tummy, the holiday season has also made me lazy to post. I could possibly crank out nostalgic reminiscences about all the wonderful food and drinks I guzzled over the long weekend, but as I am already filled to the brim with food, I don't think I can handle any more mention of food. (Let's not forget New Year isn't here yet, and that's another round of imbibing).

This year, I had another good haul of pressies - some of my favourites are the handmade truffles which came in a handmade Tiffany-coloured box, a Boys are Smelly car freshener, a cute tube of Miso Pretty lip-balm, a bright orange digital clock, and a Bodum coffee-maker (which I will use for tea instead). But by far the best early Christmas present was the offer of a job last week. After coming back from Cambodia, I had two more phone interviews, and on Thursday afternoon, the company's HR guy called me to offer me the job. When he detailed the pay package, I almost dropped my phone and had to coolly ask him, "I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?" It was way, way, way beyond my wildest dreams, and immediately put away any doubts I had in my head about whether to accept the position. Hoorah! I have a new job for the new year!

Whee!

A very
Merry and Blessed
Christmas!

May this season bring you lots of good food, lots of booze and fabbo presents. Oh yeah, and peace and joy too. :)

ShooStories: You gotta roll with it

#28

The Shoo: Swiss Roll
Circa: Dec 2001
Where: X:odus, The Heeren

The Story: I bought this pair of rather masculine-looking, yet fun pair of shoos from the very first X:odus boutique when it first opened in the Heeren. In those days, their designs were fun, unique, innovative and a breath of fresh air in the local shoo scene. And the best part was, they were fairly affordable. I was ogling their other pretty flower designs, but this pair was on sale, and you know, magic words like SALE are something I cannot resist. Plus, when a shoo is named after one of my favourite cakes, you just know it's something you cannot pass up. Sadly, I don't wear this pair of shoos nowadays, mainly because I'm now in a phase of very feminine, girly-girly shoos. But you never know, I might get one of those butch days and wear this again.

Bonus!


-- View the full ShooStories photoset on Flickr.

Children of Cambodia

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
-- Matthew 19:14

All I want for Christmas

1. A boxed set of the Narnia Chronicles (with pretty pictures), 2. When You Lunch with the Emperor by Ludwig Bemelman 3. Stila Retexturising Scrub, 4. Set of 5 brushes with pouch from MAC Cosmetics

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one a few things I need
I don't care about (too many) presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
...and you...and you...and you

And yes, I do realise I am quoting Mariah Carey. That song has been dancing around my head like a mad sugarplum for the past couple of weeks. Damn this earwormy song!

Home sweet home

A street outside the Russian market, Phnom Penh, 12 Dec 2005

Joum reap soo-er! I'm back from Cambodia! It was a fantastic trip and my brain is filled with images of what I've seen and done; we packed a lot into one week and I feel as if I need more time to just unpack and process everything I've seen. Although it's only been a week, I feel as if I've been away for much longer, probably because we were so busy doing so many different things. We saw (and entertained) over a thousand kiddies in various villages, visited a hospital for Aids patients, a prison, went to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng, the genocide museum and a landfill. And along the way, ate a huge amount of really yummy food!

I still miss Phnom Penh, but I'm so glad to see my bed!

Hello and goodbye (for a wee bit)

Just like last year where I went for a mission trip to Korat, Thailand, I am taking off from tomorrow onwards for another trip, this time to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I'm looking forward to this; I've never been there before, and I've heard so much about the country. And the good thing is in between the packed days, we get to have one free day. I hope to use that day for some sight-seeing and err...some shopping (spoken like a true-blue Singaporean).

In the meantime, I must go learn some key phrases (so far, all I can say is "Hello", "How are you?" and "My name is...") in Khmer, and practise singing kiddy songs.

Looks like the shoes will have to wait. Have a great week and seeya soon!

Interviews and me don't mix

It's been oh so quiet around here lately eh? Partly because I'm suffering from some sort of blog block. I find myself filtering events into the "bloggable" and "non-bloggable" categories. The little filter asks, "Was this event interesting? Was it worth you spending time to write about? Would people care to read this crap?" And unfortunately mostly, it's been a No. So, hence the need for you to look at Chicken Little's bum for the past week.

And yeah, you've probably noticed that ShooStories hasn't made an appearance for a while. It's not because I've run out of shoos to blog about (lordy no, we're only about halfway through!), but because recently, we got our pipes done in the house, and the storeroom which housed all my precious shoes had to be cleared out and the shoes packed away in boxes. Now that the work has been done, I can't be arsed to take them out of the box. Yep, I'm a procrastinator. But fear not, I hope to crank out a couple of entries soon.

So on to current events. As you know, the job hunt is still going on, and I've been going for a couple of interviews here and there. I had another one this afternoon, and I can't really say how I did. It was...OK. At some point, I heard myself blathering away like an idiot, stuttering one phrase like a broken record, and I tried to stop myself by sounding more coherent, only to make myself sound even more incoherent. Bwaaargh. So much for sounding smooth and confident! But apart from that, I guess I managed to pull myself together quickly and get on with it.

Also, on another note, I hate being tested during interviews! Why do I have to use my brain? I sat and typed away, worrying that I was not doing a good job and worrying that I was taking so long to complete the task. I thought I left my exams back in uni! No more exams in real life! Anyhoo, hope I hear back from them.

Like a fly buzzing around in my brain

Now I know why the Numa Numa song is so familiar in the Chicken Little running man trailer. It's because I saw this funny video months and months ago!

My-a-hee!

Tee off!

The Threadless sale got to me, and I bought one tee (design above) in coral colour. Not exactly my favourite design (I like these ones), but the fat guy brought a smile to my face. It reminds me of the time a rather luscious schoolmate tripped and fell on me while I was sitting on the floor. Owie.

In other news, I'm scouting out wedding cakes. No no, not for myself, but for a good friend whose wedding is in Feb. She wants none of this fruit cake business, and is instead going for a yummy chocolate cake. So far, I've checked out Awfully Chocolate, Pine Garden and Hot Fuchsia. Awfully Chocolate has a divine chocolate rum cherry, and Hot Fuchsia's wedding cake designs are stunning, but both are a little too above her budget. Any other recommendations?

Noob

I'm such an idiot when it comes to dating. I don't know the right thing to say, don't know when to flirt, heart plunges down to my stomach, and my hands start shaking. Eee.

And this is just in the sms-ing. Pathetic!

Fashion isn't just fluff, y'all

“I’ve become impatient when people claim they don’t care about clothes. They still dress every morning, and if they are going to reject fashion, they still need clothes to show it. Style rebellion is still a form of self-expression.”
-- Miuccia Prada

"I talk about Hillary Clinton's hair and the way people interpreted it, and the jokes she's made about it. She's quoted as saying, "The most important thing I've learnt is to pay attention to your hair because everyone else will." Here was a woman who hadn't paid attention to her hair and how people might interpret it, and suddenly there she was in the public eye. She didn't have her own personal style. Whether people liked her or disliked her, they read into her changing hair styles meanings that might have been or there might not have been there. Because she hadn't defined her own aesthetic, she wasn't controlling the discussion."
-- Virginia Postrel, in The Substance of Style

ShooStories: Royal flush

#27

The Shoo: Her Madgesty (the new Madonna single 'Hung Up' is really catchy!)
Circa: Sometime 1996
Where: Little shop in Lucky Plaza

The Story: Since the colour purple and velvet are very much the 'in' things right now, I thought I would feature a pair that combines both. I can't even recall how I came to be wandering around Lucky Plaza, but perhaps that day, my mother decided to do something different and explore the shops in there. We came across a little shop that had rather exotic Asian wares - handwoven bags, unusual batik prints and lots of these Aladdin-type shoos. I was attracted to this pair because of the rich colour and the beading. And at that time, the design of these shoos looked quite special and unusual. Of course now, they really aren't all that special anymore, since the gypsy and boho looks having been making their rounds of the fashion circuit.

Seeing as I don't own a lot of purple, I don't really wear these shoos a lot. In fact, I think I've only worn them a grand total of two times; these shoos are pretty hard to match! But they sure are nice to the touch. Soft and furry, purrr.

-- View the full ShooStories photoset on Flickr.

Childhood food memories

I only just realised Deetourguide has tagged me to do a childhood food memories meme, so here I am fulfilling it, a tad late. The task it to recall five childhood food memories I miss/not miss.

1. Lunch at home
My grandaunt, who came to live with us when I was born and stayed with us until the day she died, was always in charge of mealtimes, since my mother was (and still is) a hopeless cook. What I remember most for lunch are her chicken macaroni and chicken bee tai mak (or if you're Malaysian, loh shee fun), a simple but tasty broth of shredded chicken and lots and lots of spring onion. That was the first thing I would do after coming home from morning school, having a large portion with my special red scalloped placemat, still in my uniform. Mmm...

Being Cantonese, she made lots of qing dishes and soups. What I remember most are the steamed pomfret with tofu on the side, the variety of yummy herbal soups she would concoct and her sweet and sour pork. She seemed to be able to make it crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.

2. Hot milk
As a child, and even now, I've never liked the taste of milk. The smell alone is enough to put me off, and the creamy taste somehow makes me cringe. But being a child, having milk every night was a must, with my mother constantly giving me lectures on the importance of drinking milk to build strong bones, while I would make faces and attempt to weasel out of drinking my mug of hot milk. Every night, my grandaunt would heat up the milk for me, but I would always put it off, waiting until the very last minute, until he milk had curdled, and then I would pretend that it would be completely undrinkable because of the skin on top. But of course, both my mother and grandaunt would not be fooled, and would simply whisk off the offending skin and I would be sternly admonished to drink. Man, that's something I don't miss at all.

3. Fine dining
I'm lucky that my father is a huge foodie and for special occasions, he would always take the family out for a nice, posh dinner. Everytime there was a birthday to celebrate, we'd try various chi-chi places in town. We went to lots of nice restaurants in hotels, but the two places I remember the most distinctly are the the French restaurant at the now-gone Marco Polo Hotel, and Harbour Grill at the Hilton Hotel. Embarrassingly, what I remember most about Harbour Grill is the butter, which could be found in the middle of the table. I am a huge butter fiend, and I liked having a variety of butter to choose from to go with my bread, and Harbour Grill always had three different types to choose from - the usual salted kind, a super yummy garlic butter and the last, I can't remember. Of course the steaks there were yummy as well, but what really sticks were the cute little butter bowls. As for the French restaurant, the duck l'orange was just heavenly and I would be utterly boring and always insist on the duck everytime we ate there, despite my parents repeated attempts to get me to try something else. Oh yes, I've just remembered the bakery at the Marco Polo hotel, they always had the tastiest scones, filled with juicy and plump raisins, and lightly dusted with icing sugar. We used to buy half a dozen and bring them home for tea time.

I suspect part of the enjoyment of these posh dinners was the fact that it allowed me to dress up in pretty party dresses. See, even as a child, I was such a vainpot.

4. Sweet treats
Before my sister was born, my parents would take me regularly to a pancake place called Better Batters at Holland Village. It used to be located at Chip Bee Garden, and I still remember the awning over the main door, the brown latticed windows, and the two round carpeted steps you had to climb to reach the upper level of the tables covered with checkered tablecloths.

It was probably my favourite place to have dessert, because I liked how the kitchen had a little slidey door from which yummy pancakes would magically appear, pushed out by unseen hands. And of course, there was the pancakes. I'm too young to remember this, but my parents tell me that the chef liked me so much (me being so cute and all, hurhur) that he would make free special little pancakes for me, cut into shapes like hearts and flowers. But I always liked their light and fluffy pancakes, no matter how they were cut, with generous portions of butter and maple syrup or honey. As I got older, I learnt to appreciate their banana pancakes, a tall stack of pancake layers with thick slices of banana and fresh cream in between, topped with a thick and rich brown sugar sauce. I got really excited when they opened another branch at the Promenade, but it didn't do too well, and closed down soon. I was really sad to see Better Batters go. You don't find pancakes like they used to make now.

5. Dinner at grandma's
It used to be a ritual every Sat night for my father to bring my sister and I to his mother's house for dinner. There, we would play with our older cousins, and get to have scrumptious and always filling dinner. Being part Perenakan, we would always have a variety of typical Nyonya dishes, like bakwang kepiting, buah keluak, kiam chye and lor bak. Then some days, if my grandmother felt like it, she would make popiah, and we would all gather round the table and make our own fat popiahs, bursting with our favourite garnishes. My method is always to load up on the sweet sauce, garlic and peanuts. Yummay.

Saturday dinner always followed a pattern: we would arrive, go to the kitchen to greet my grandmother while she bustled around the kitchen, then run to the living room to watch TV. She would eventually holler that dinner was ready, and we'd run into the kitchen to have dinner, crowded around a large round table. My grandmother never ate with us, despite our repeated attempts to get her to join us, but would eat after we'd finish. While we ate, she would hover around the table watching us eat, urgins us to "jiak, jiak!" and clucking in displeasure if there were any leftovers.After dinner, she would bring out freshly squeezed orange juice, chilled to perfection, and a plate of freshly cut fruits, invariably they'd be watermelon, rockmelon, and sometimes mango. We'd eat a little at the kitchen table, until she would shoo us away to the living room while she cleared the table. We would then take the plate of fruits with us to watch TV, or play Uno or chess.

Actually this is not quite a childhood memory, as I still get to go back and have dinner at my grandma's house on an occasional Sat and she still makes tasty dinners. But now that we've all grown up, and my cousins have their own children, somehow the feeling is all different.

And now, I tag:
Woof!
Tym
Little Miss Drinkalot

Wax on, wax off

Judging by the number of comments I got in my last post, I suppose talking about that interesting experience down under merits its own post. So, to get down to details (down, hurhur).

Let me start off by saying I am a total chicken shit when it comes to pain. I teared when my ears got pierced, and I cried when I first got my eyebrows plucked. So naturally, the thought of hot wax ripping off hair from my nether regions just gave me the willies. It was with a huge sense of trepidation that I walked into Strip at Wheelock Place last Mon. And this is after giving myself half an hour of browsing through images of skinny and undoubtedly hairless models in fashion magazines at Borders for dutch courage.

I was repeatedly asked if I wanted the Brazilian (helll noooo!), and given a choice of strip wax and another kind of less painful wax. Seeing as this was my virgin experience, I immediately went with the more expensive, less painful wax. It was even a pleasant, reassuring shade of pink. Ooh pink.

I was then asked to "remove everything at the bottom" and wrap myself in a towel. When I was ready, the waxer (is that we call them??) entered and without any ceremony, promptly whisked away the towel, positioned my legs just so, and proceeded to take out some scissors and started trimming with an alarming speed and precision. While she was happily chatting away, she tried to engage me in what I suppose is easy conversation.

Now I don't know about you, but I was totally uncomfortable chatting to someone who was tending to my erm...privates, and delving into my private life. Bad enough that you can see me in my nekkid glory, and that you're sort of touching me down there, you don't need to go delving into what I do everyday and what I'm up to over the holidays. Plus, does anyone feel there's just something wrong about being completely clothed on the top but being completely bare-bottomed?

Waxer: (snip snip) So have you ever considered the Brazilian?

Me: (nervously eyeing progress) That's the one where everything comes off right?

Waxer: (snip snip) Ya...cleaner, more hygiene. You should try. It's verrry good! I always do Brazilian!

Me: Err no thanks, I think I'll just stick to the normal bikini wax. First time and all, you know.

Waxer: How about electrolysis? You want to try that? It's very good, and especially for someone like you, last longer too, no need to keep coming back.

Me: (thinking) Thank you for making me feel like the Yeti.

After the trimming was completed, she got down to the real business (pun again entirely intended). I braced myself for overwhelming pain, but I was surprised, even slightly disappointed. After all the building up of anticipation and fear, it turned out to be entirely foundless. The first rip hardly hurt. On a scale of one to ten, the pain was a 2. Hell, even getting my eyebrows plucked hurt more. The rest of the experience was very much like the first application. Relatively painless. I think it helped that she was very skilful and quick, and knew where to press the skin just so to minimise pain. Before I knew it, I was done and I was looking at a part of me I'd never seen before. And now I can see why women keep coming back to get their bikini areas waxed. It feels lighter, and err...kinda airy down there now. Also, cleaner, and more 'hygiene'.

(And now I think I shall stop, as I suspect I have sufficiently grossed out whatever male readers I have out there)

There will always be a first time

Yesterday I did a very brave thing. I walked into Strip and booked myself an appointment to do a bikini wax for this evening. I was too chicken to ask if they had an available appointment right away, and decided to save the pain for a later time (must have more time to mentally prepare myself).

The reason for this feat of bravery is 'cos I am a vainpot and want to look goods in my new bikini. Am going to KL tomorrow and then Langkawi on Fri for a long-awaited beach holiday. Whee.

But right now, I'm very scared leh.

Do the Shuffle!

Can you tell it's a slow day at the office? Robot Johnny has a fun music shuffle game to play with your mp3 player and being the sheep that I am, I decided to follow too. So fun!

1. Saturday’s Alright (for Fighting), Nickelback, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle OST
2. Save Tonight, Eagle Eye Cherry, Save Tonight
3. Piano Concerto #4 in G Minor, II Largo, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Rachmaninov
4. Something Wicked This Way Comes, Barry Adamson, Oedipus Schmoedipus
5. Stellar (Acoustic), Incubus, Drive
6. Lisa Listen, Lisa Loeb, Tails
7. Throw Your Hands Up, Yoko Blaqustone, Back to My Base
8. It’s Business As Usual, Barry Adamson, Oedipus Shmoedipus
9. Murmullo, Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club
10. The Yellow River (Piano Concerto) Prelude, Daniel Epstein, Yin Cheng Zong
11. Sinnerman, Nina Simone, Verve Unmixed 2
12. La Bayamesa, Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club
13. You Are The Universe, The Brand New Heavies, Trunk Funk: The Best of The Brand New Heavies
14. I’m Not Alone, Crystal Kay, Natural
15. Lo Dudo, Pepe & the Bottle Blonds, Latenight Betty

Aww I'm kinda bummed nothing embarrassing came out of this shuffle. Maybe next time, hehe.

My homegirls from the '80s

Man I was such a girly girl...oh wait, I still am.

Spring will spring

I was feeling a little down this morning, what with the sniffy nose, freezing office, and thinking about why I'm not getting any callbacks for job interviews. It's funny how your job ties in so closely with your self-esteem and feeling of worth as a human being. The rational side of me says my job doesn't define me, but then sometimes the heart will whisper that there must be something lacking if I can't even get a new job.

But there's always online shopping to cheer me up; there's nothing that looking at pictures of pretty shoes and bags can't fix. I forgot to bring my camera into the office, so in lieu of a picture of my shoo, I give you a picture of a very pretty 'spring-ey' pair of shoos from the brand Irregular Choice (link provided by the delightful Miss D). And oh, what the hell, here's a pretty picture of a Marc Jacobs baggie as well. Mmm. I feel betters already.

What's cooking?

This is what happens when the buying bug and the cooking bug hits you. These are the titles I want to get the moment Kinokuniya has one of those 20% storewide sales. Dessert, anyone?

Already on my bookshelf:
The Naked Chef, The Return of the Naked Chef, Marie Claire Dining, The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook, The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol 2

ShooStories: White out

#26

The Shoo: Napa White
Circa: mid 2004
Where: On Pedder, Ngee Ann City

The Story: I realise I don't own many pairs of expensive shoos, because I don't take good care of my shoos. I'm not the type to wipe them or clean them after each wear. My idea of care is to toss them onto my shoo shelf to "air" them for a day or two (or three) before I put them back in their box. So really, it's probably just as well I don't spend pots of money on Bruno Maglis or Ferragamos or Kate Spades.

But all the same, my favouritest shoo shop is On Pedder at Ngee Ann City. Such sleek, delicate and beautiful shoos they always have, and it's so fun to try them on for fun and pretend I am tai-tai on her way to tea. But the best times to buy from there are during their big sales. Every so often, they have a clearance sale to get rid of the old season shoos, and that's where I swoop in. This pair was a bargain buy from the store, and I was just happening to be searching for a white pair of shoos. I was so pleased with this pair I wore them the next day to dinner with my father. I remember we went to B.R.O.T.H. at Duxton Hill and I was very gingerly walking on the cobblestones to avoid getting them dirty. Dinner was delicious though.

You can tell this shoo has had some wear, by all the bumps and lumps made by my fat feet. Oh well. I did say I don't take very good care of my shoos.

-- View the full ShooStories photoset on Flickr.

Blog block...

...is a case of what I have right now. I'm not really in the habit to blog about blogging (that's just toooo much navel-gazing), so I shan't begin now.

But otherwise, this is a poor excuse to say that I have found my camera battery, after much whining and sulking. I discovered it nestled among other cables behind the PC. How did it get here? I crowed with triumph and quickly kept the charger in its proper place. Tonight, there shall be a camera-charging, and tomorrow, ShooStories will resume! Hurrah!

To: Melissa

The Grammy Race
Originally uploaded by JellyGirl.

Hi Melissa,

I found the alert on my email telling me you left a comment on my blog somewhere, but I can't seem to find it, so I decided to post my reply on my main blog.

Thanks for visiting! I'm so glad you like my illustrations, but I have to say I'm not a professional illustrator, so I don't have a website that shows more of my work (the best I can offer is my flickr set). I do the odd illustration here and there, but more for fun as I have a full-time job doing something completely different. The last one I did was for an entertainment magazine in Singapore and it was for a music article they were featuring on the Grammys (shown above). But I do enjoy illustrating and would really appreciate the oppportunity to do more! Let me know how else I can help you, I'm sure we can work something out! My email address is on the sidebar on the right.

Diary of a trifle

Strawberries!
Originally uploaded by JellyGirl.

I managed to take this one picture with my camera before the battery went complete flat. Unfortunately I was not able to take anymore of the trifle, because it turned out really well. Layers of pink at the bottom, orange, red and white for the middle fruit layer, and yellow for the custard, topped up with white pure cream and red strawberries. Yum.

So here's how I did it:

1. Find massive huge bowl that would hold trifle large enough for 20 people. I didn't have a big glass bowl, so I used a corningware bowl.
2. Layer the bottom with sponge lady fingers. I did two layers since it was such a deep dish.
3. Prepare raspberry jelly as instructed on the packet. I added less water to make the jelly thicker and sweeter. Poured jelly mixture over the sponge fingers until they were immersed. It took me 3 jelly packets for that.
(Here's something I forgot to do: drizzle sherry over everything for an extra kick)
4. Let the jelly and sponge fingers set for about half hour in the freezer.
5. Slice up the strawberries, and sprinkle some sugar on them to sweeten.
6. Layer canned mandarin oranges, lychees and sliced peaches and the fresh strawberries above the jelly and sponge fingers. Freeze overnight.
7. Prepared about three servings of custard. Used Bird's custard powder and banana milk, regular milk and some sugar. (The banana milk was a mistake buy but it turned out good)
8. Spread custard above fruit layer and freeze again. (And here I made another mistake of freezing it overnight. Of course the custard turned out rock solid. In future, I'll make the custard just hours before serving and let it chill in the freezer for about an hour)
9. Day of serving, added the cream on top of the custard. I used a mixture of whipping cream (which I hand whipped) and since I was lazy,Pure Cream. Added some sugar to sweeten the cream, and for the piece de resistance, scattered more sliced strawberries on top.
10. Thawed entire trifle for about 4 hours before serving.

All in all, although I made some mistakes, everything turned out well, including the frozen custard. Looks like I'll be making this again, but I think I'll change a couple of things the next time round.

No eye for my shoos

Arrgh I can't find the battery charger to my digital camera, and it's rilly, rilly low on battery now. So I have been unable to take any pictures. Not of my lovely trifle, and not of my shoos. No ShooStories until I find that darn charger. It MUST be somewhere around!

Monsters, Inc

charmed, I'm sure

As if I didn't have enough phone danglies charms already, but these cute monster phone danglies sure make me want to whip out the credit card and do some buying! Limited to only 200 pieces per character!

Update (4.30 pm): OK I went and did it. I bought the little green and blue monster. Can't wait for them to arrive!

-- Link via Shiny Shiny and Little Yellow Different

Old fruit, it's a mere trifle

From Joyofbaking

It's my turn to provide dessert for our weekly bible study group. In the past, I've been buying cakes from Awfully Chocolate and Blood Brothers cafe, or going to Cold Storage and relying on good old Sara Lee, but this time I've decided to do something different.

I've always been a bit ga-ga over the concept of English tea- scones and piping hot tea, crumpets, cucumber sandwiches, blancmange, jelly pudding and the like. When I was a kid, my favourite pastime was to imagine myself in Enid Blyton books. I really envied those goody-goody kids from The Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair having fantastic adventures and then going home for tea, (When you're Engligh, you never miss tea-time) or if it wasn't possible to be home for tea, then to pack a picnic basket (along with the checked tablecloth) filled with goodies. Yum.

So my dessert of choice? Trifle. Layers of sponge fingers, jelly, a dash of sherry, lots of fruit, and fresh cream. What's not to like? My aunt recently reawakened my liking of trifle when she made it as dessert during one of our family dinners. And it's so easy to make. I can't wait to start tonight. The recipe I found here sounds yummy, and I love the idea of making the trifle in little glasses, but I've decided to make my own version, with strawberries, mandarin oranges, lychees and peaches in a big bowl. Hope it turns out good.

Remember the time

I can't get down to work just yet, so I shall do this fun little meme, which came from Li-er:

How old were you when you...

1) Took your very first baby step? Err you'll have to ask my mammy that question. I have absolutely no idea.

2) Had your bicycle license? You mean you need a license to ride a bicycle? Anyway, as some of you might know from previous memes, I can't ride a bicycle. *hangs head down in shame*

3) Were told you needed spectacles? Oh gosh I was one of those sad ones who wore glasses when I was really young. That's what sitting close to the TV will do to ya. There's a kindy picture of me in giant specs...so that would peg me at about 4?

4) Had chicken pox? Not had it..yet! And I hope never to have it. I'm actually hoping I'm one of those lucky few immune to it, as my sister got chicken pox but I never caught it from her

5) Had your first part-time job? When I was 16 and waiting to go into poly, I had 3 spare months, so my uncle got me a job in his office helping out with the company's card club. I had originally wanted to scoop ice-cream at Haagen-Daz, but my mother thwarted those grand plans of ice-cream domination. Hmmph. I'm still sore about that.

6) Fell in love for the first time? I've had crushes, but true love like in The Princess Bride? I'm still waiting.

7) Got your first full-time job? When I came back from Oz in Nov 2001. I'm still at that job.

8) Had your driving license? Got my license in Oz in 1999 at 20 because I heard it was easier to pass there. It still took me 4 tries to get my license. Once again, I *hang my head in shame*, but I drive real good now!

9) Had your funky pager? Final year in poly when I was 18 when I needed a device so interviewees could get a hold of me while I was in class. My dark blue Motorola pager, oh how I remembered all those clever codes my friends and I came up with to show that we were calling each other.

10) Had your cool mobile phone? I shared my first mobile phone with my housemate in 1998 when I was 18, because we needed a device so interviewees could get a hold of us and pagers just weren't done in Oz. It was a cool black Hagenuk which was constantly mistaken for the TV remote. I've since gone through two Nokias and now have the silver Motorola Razr. Ooh sexy.

11) Finish your tertiary studies? At 22, le sigh. I miss my student days.

Musing aloud

Dating really is a game of push and pull, isn't it? And I have realised I am completely hopeless at the game of sms. Since when was sms such an important part of flirting? I've been out of it for too long...

More Spring 2006

Fashun I dig from Spring 2006

Please to visit Style.com for more the full collections.

ShooStories: Golden steps

#25 *Fresh!*

The Shoo: Golden Step
Circa: Sept 2005
Where: Yue Hwa department store

The Story: You've got to love Chinatown. It's a mix of old and new, and even though a lot of its original charm has all but disappeared, what with the new malls, the refurbished shophouses and the spanking new MRT station, I still like walking around there and discovering the little shops. There are still the little old mom-and-pop shops if you look carefully, and the things to buy are different from what you get in town. Like these carpet-like slippers I found at Yue Hwa. I know they look like something I already have, but I couldn't resist those pretty flowers at $11. When I wore them to dinner last Thurs, my friend looked them and said, "Hmm they look like the slippers my grandma used to wear." She probably did, but it's perfect for the boho chick in me. And lastly, look at the label name - Golden Step, you can't go more Chinese than that.

Bonus!

Silver sequinned flowers

-- View the full ShooStories photoset on Flickr.

Jalan jalan

It was not the best of mornings to go out for a walk, even if it was a casual walk, as my cousin insisted. First, I had stayed out late the previous night and second, what does one wear to a casual walk? One needs good shoes that are suitable for walking, and at the same time, does not make you look like cankle. Also, how short should the shorts be? I ended up wearing a white tank (not too tight to hide my tummy), and knee-length Nike shorts/berms, my Gola shoes and a black bandana (all the better to hold my hair together, dear).

I have to give my cousin credit for all her cunning arranging. As we met at a house beforehand to discuss the projected walk, we decided to head to McRitchie for our walk. As I had to leave earlier, I decided I would drive as well, so I could turn back anytime I liked. My cousin immediately bundled everyone else into the second car, and directed her target (let's call him Mr A) to sit in my car so he could "show me the way". It was all done very quickly and smoothly and before I knew it, we were on our way.

We had pleasant conversation in the car, and I learnt about what he does (no details here, the Internet has a nasty habit of biting back) and that sort of thing. Once we got there, we ended up walking in pairs, since the paths were quite narrow. He walked with me (I'm sure my cousin had some hand in this too) and we talked about movies and music. It was all very pleasant chat and there wasn't any lag in the conversation. We walked all the way to the Lornie Rd SICC golf course and headed back to the carpark, as I had to leave soon. We were a little ahead so we stood around and talked somemore as we waited for my cousin and her friends to catch up. He then casually asked when I got off work, and suggested meeting up sometime soon to hang out, then gave me his number (as his phone was in the car). heh.

And there you go. We have since smsed each other a bit, and a tentative plan has been made to go out again soon, but that's another story for another time.

PS I hope he doesn't read blogs.

I want, I want

Where can I get a pair of shoos like these from Chinese Laundry?

Monster weekend

It's been a long time since I've gone out so much in one week. I've been out non-stop for 4 nights staight, starting from Thurs night, and it's all because my friend from Oz was in town to attend his brother's wedding. Of course I'm super happy to have been able to hang out with him all weekend, but boy am I so pooped today. I'm still really busy this week as well, and it looks like Thurs will be the only night I'm free to stay home to veg and recover. I can't do this go-out-everyday-thing anymore!

Recap:

• Thurs night at Wala, where we pigged out on chicken wings and fries. Another friend who was visting from Shanghai also joined us and we compared horror stories of work. Our conversation sure has changed since uni days. Last time we whinged about projects, now we whinge about work. Ok maybe things haven't changed that much.
• I took a half day to hang with D, so we walked around town and I ran a couple of errands. Went to Balaclava at night to let him listen to the live band (and can I say what a meat market that place is!), but because it was sooo packed, we ended up at Blue Bar at Central Mall where a friend has started singing. We ended up staying until closing time and I got home at about 3.45am after dropping everyone off. It was a night of lots of good music, wine and lychee martinis. Nice. Oh ya, and as a sidenote, Blue Bar is filled with dirty old men!
• First sms the moment I woke up on Sat morning was D. telling me to get up and join him for lunch. We went to Queensway Shopping Centre and Funan where he and his brother and sister looked for phones. I left them to go for church, and met up with D again later in the evening for more drinkies at Wine Network at Dempsey Rd. I really like that place, it's in a quiet location, really chilled out and casual and best of all, lots of affordable wines. We shared two bottles of a nice dessert wine from South Africa, the name of which eludes me. We were joined by more friends, and headed back to Blue Bar again. This time, the place was dead. I stayed for only one drink and headed home at 2.30am.
• Got up early Sunday morning to go for the 'date'-walk planned by my cousin. Perhaps I shall mention it in more detail in another post. :) All I'll say for now is that it turned out really well. I had lunch/tea after that with a couple of girlfriends as a 'strategy' meeting for one of their upcoming weddings, and after that tea, whisked off home to prepare for a wedding dinner. It finished fairly early, but I had one last drink at the Hyatt bar (very seedy) with D and his cousins straight after the wedding before heading home.

And here we are at Monday morning. The week has barely started and I'm already exhausted. Don't even get me started on what I've got on this week...

More celebrity doodles

It's a conspiracy, I tells ya

Last night, I received an sms from a friend asking me out for a movie next week with her husband and a 'friend'. My spidey senses tell me something is adrift.

I must have the sign "Single" plastered on my forehead or something.

Not that I'm complaining or anything, this makes it a lot easier for me, I don't have to go out to meet men, people are bringing them to me! Sweet!

Is this a sign?

Today I had two calls from my auntie and cousin, both wanting to introduce me to "very nice and sweet boys". My aunt passed along my number and email address, while cousin wants to set up a casual walk on Sunday. Hmm...

Teriyaki wha?

m-flo and Rip Slyme to team up to record US debut

Whee, m-flo and Rip Slyme are my two favouritest Japanese groups. I can't wait to hear what sort of songs they will come up with, but the name the name - Teriyaki Boyz? What is with the cutesy Japanesey names? And the misspelling? That misspelling of 'Boys' particularly irks me. Ugh.

- via Little Yellow Different

Friday doodle

ShooStories: Burn, baby, burn

#24

The Shoo: Sienna, but not Miller
When: sometime late 2003
Where: Zara, Liat Towers

The Story: When I was a little girl, I had a pair of red patent shoes. My mum tells me they were one of my favourites, no doubt because of their colour (deep blood red, and it's the closest to pink), and the little bow in front. Apparently I always clamoured to wear them, I suspect because I wanted to be Dorothy in her sparkly mary-janes in the Wizard of Oz, and also the dance-crazy girl in that old, old ballet The Red Shoes.

Red says passion, power, with a certain I'm not afraid to take on the world dash to it. And also, they tend to spice up an all-black outfit terribly well. So that's why I'm on a hunt for a pair of red shoos. So far, the search is not so good, and the closest I've come to it is these pair of Zara heels. When in the shop, I tried to fool myself into thinking they were red, but after trying to match it with various outfits, I couldn't fool myself any longer. They're burnt orange, not fire-engine red. Back to the shopping board, it is.

Bonus!

I'm wearing them today!

Social Monday

It's not often I go out on a Monday after work, since it's so close to the wrong side of the weekend and is generally for spending the evening at home, moping the long days ahead to the next weekend. But my mother decided to treat me to tickets to catch Bar at Buena Vista, knowing that I like the Buena Vista Social Club.

I'm so glad we went. It was a fantastic performance, and it tickled me to see despite the age of some of the performers, they still had so much life and gusto in them. I was especially awed by piano genius Rubalcaba, as he effortlessly danced off tunes like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and other familiar songs with such jazzy improvisations. My mother said if ever she could wish for just one skill in life, it would be to able to play like that anytime. And I agree. I'd love to be able to sit down to at a piano and turn jangly chords into pure music off the top of my head.

The oldest performer, 87 year old singer Reynaldo Creagh, despite his wizened and small performance still had such a powerful voice. After each song, he would retire to a rocking chair in the middle of the stage and doze off, while the Cuban dancers and sound of the bongos swirled around him. And as for the dancers, we were totally wowed by a male performer who seemed to have liquid for legs, as he glided from one side of the stage to the other and did all sorts of cool tricks with his partner. At the end, the group made everyone get up on their feet and dance to the music. And that's when you could see all the salsa lovers in the crowd dancing away (or showing off). I think concerts like these are best suited to bars with nice big dance floors, then you can sit down in a nice dark corner, sip a drink and get and boogie anytime you feel like it.

Now I wish I could go to Havana, and feel the whole Cuban vibe. But it looks like I'll have to settle for my Buena Vista Social Club CDs.

Great moments in Movie history

Sure there’s the Oscars and the Golden Globes, but their awards are all Best Actor, Best Cinematography etc, but is there a single award for Studliness? I think not! I therefore think it is my duty to rectify this glaring omission by hereby conferring my own Studliness awards – great moments which I feel should not be forgotten in the hallowed annals of film. Here, I capture, in freeze-frame moments, that one single orgasmic moment in various movies:

Hugh Jackman in Kate & Leopold

Yes, I admit Kate & Leopold was an abysmal movie. Meg Ryan looked old and wrinkly, the story was quite lame and full of holes, and the fashion wasn’t exactly very inspiring either. But before you dismiss this movie entirely, please try to recall that one scene where Hugh Jackman leapt onto a horse and pursued a mugger who dared to steal Meg Ryan’s purse. The grandest moment was when Leopold drew himself up in his full splendour atop the horse, with reins in hand, and said to the hapless mugger, “I warn you scoundrel, I was trained at the King's Academy and schooled in weaponry by the palace guard. You stand no chance. When you run, I shall ride, when you stop, the steel of this strap shall be lodged in your brain.” Yes, that is when I gasped, aloud, in the cinema hall in sight of this amazing display of manliness.

Jonathan Rhys-Meyer in Bend It Like Beckham

So, all along in this movie, all you saw was Johnny in his trackies. Not very exciting, you know. A little skinny, rather ordinary. But then, he had to go to Jess’s house to convince her about something or other. Her dad goes to open the door, and there you see Johnny, backlit in the sunlight in a white shirt. And at that exact moment, I swear every single woman in the audience gasped, when he did the ‘hero’ spin-around, like a casual ‘oh I was just looking elsewhere while waiting for you to open the door.’ Just that one moment alone was enough for me to forgive his little poncy swagger while playing cricket at the end of the movie. (I was quite tortured after the movie about his orientation, but thankfully thanks to the magic of google, I have found out that he is reassuringly straight.)

Viggo Mortensern in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

I have to admit when I first watched Lord of the Rings, I was rather taken with pretty boy Orlando ‘Legolas’ Bloom, then an unknown. And I thought little Frodo was quite cute too. But as I followed the trilogy, I discovered that pretty boys didn’t quite do it for me, it was the manly types that had true studliness and staying power. So this is the man who would be King. He has to go and discover himself, and prepare himself for his destiny, so this makes for lots of brooding, knitting of eyebrows, eye piercing looks and waving of big swords. I cannot pinpoint any one great moment in this trilogy, but be assured there were many, many great moments. Viggo is one man who makes dirty straggly hair look sexy. However, one must note that his sexiness quotient went down once he prettied up as king, with newly-shampooed locks and braided hair (nancy boy!). Give me prefer rugged stubble any day.

James Franco in The Company

Yes, the dancing was fabulous in this movie, but what made this movie fabulouser was James Franco as Neve Campbell’s cheffy boyfriend. Let’s go back to the night when he stayed over her place. She wakes up to find him making her breakfast. Isn’t that just so sweet? But wait, there’s more, not only is he making breakfast, he is making breakfast SHIRTLESS. Yes please, I too want to wake up to a hunky chef boyfriend cutting tomatoes shirtless at my kitchen. Talk about food porn.

Where to shop for shoos

*Updated!*

Hello Anonymous, thank you for your comment a couple of posts back. It's a little hard to respond to you since you didn't leave a name and email address, so I've decided to do it directly on my blog. You've mentioned a great idea though, to start a thread on where to buy the best shoos in Asia. I'm really flattered you asked me, so I shall do my best!

Let's start with Singapore. We do indeedy have lots and lots of shoe shops here on our tiny little island that stock lots of small sizes, but as far as I'm aware, a lot of them don't have a web presence. Here are a couple which I know have a website, a product catalogue and ship to international addresses:

Online Shopping

Charles & Keith
If you've visited S'pore recently, I'm sure you've come across this brand. My Canadian friend who lived here for a while adored this shop, and could buy up to 4 pairs at one go. I have to admit I've never bought a pair from the store before, but I do love their pretty summery designs.

VNC
This is actually a Malaysian brand, and is known as Vincci in Malaysia. The website prices are listed in Malaysian ringgit, but they have prices in US$ as well, so I guess it's safe to assume they ship overseas.

Product Catalogue

PrettyFIT
As you might gather from the name, they do indeed have very pretty shoes. Unfortunately they dont' seem to have any online shopping options on their site, and what's more, only show their newest arrivals.

X:odus
Again, no online shopping options, but at least you get to see what's in their newest collection. I have to admit though, X:odus shoes aren't what they used to be. When they first started a few years ago, they had very fresh and exciting designs, but since the original owners have sold their business, the new designs aren't quite as cute. Still, some pairs are worth a look.

Ruby Sky Shoes
Little shoe boutique at the Mandarin Hotel shopping arcade with a small collection of heels. To view their shoes, click the 'Press' page.

And would you believe it, these are about the only shoe stores that have websites. When you next visit Singapore, perhaps you would like to visit the following shoe stores:

Local brands

• J West
  
• Substance
• Heatwave (Far East Plaza, same level as the overhead bridge.)
• Little shops in Far East Plaza & the Heeren

International brands

• Novo
• U.R.S.
  
• Nine West
  
• Aldo
  
• Tangs Studio shoe department
• Foot Fetish (Shaw Centre)
  
• On Pedder & Pedder Red (Ngee Ann City)

One last thing, here's an article I found on shoes in Singapore. It lists the various locations of different shoe stores. Go shoe crazy!

And this is probably as good a time as any other to start a thread on where we buy our shoes in Singapore. Girls, where do you shop for your shoes?

ShooStories: More beads!

#23

The Shoo: Silver Sensation
Circa: December 2003
Where: Vincci, either KLCC or Lot 10, KL, Malaysia

The Story: I can never resist a sparkly shoo, and I liked how this pair was slightly reminiscent of the old beaded nyonya shoos. This was bought on the same trip as Arabian Diva, and although I couldn't quite picture what I would wear these with, I bought them anyway. Buy first, match later. I don't really wear these too often, but they do look pretty with a white shirt and a pair of jeans. I should have bought the gold pair as well. Bah.

Hungry

Right now, I'm craving:

• A steaming bowl of ramen, with lots of yummy soup and fatty slices of char siew
• A bowl of prawn mee with pai guat, a la the prawn mee place at Arab St
• Champagne truffle mooncake from Raffles Hotel
• Cornflake cookies
• Feather-thin but crispy prata from any good prata place
  
• Royce chocolates

Mmmm...if only...

Fridays afternoons are for surfing the Internet...

and finding these cool sites:

David & Goliath iPod cases
Why did I not see these when I was in the D&G store in Hawaii? I want I want!

Cute food photos
- via design*sponge, the ultimate interior design candy site

Music from your favourite animes
The ultimate database filled with all the songs featured in your favourite animes. Registration required, it's free!

Seven

Woof! has tagged me with a meme. This required some tinking and soul-searching. So here goes:

7 things that scare me...

1. Scary movies (make me scared to go pee-pee in the middle of the night)
2. War & suffering
3. Flying creepy crawlies that get too close
4. Staying single for the rest of my life
5. If I do get married, that my husband would cheat on me
6. Not having enough money for a comfortable life
7. Not hearing the voice of God

7 things that I like most...

1. Singing my favourite songs out loud in the shower/car
2. Dark chocolate...mmm
3. Being engulfed in a giant hug by a hunka hunk o' burnin' love
4. Hanging out with friends
5. Gawking at trashy celebrity sites/tabloids to see what celebrities are wearing
6. A deep tissue massage (get all those kinks out!)
7. Sleep

7 important things in my room...

1. My bed! (that includes all the usual accoutrements of pillow, blankie, quilt, million thread-count sheets)
2. The new 'puter
3. My giant stack of CDs and books
4. Fan / air-con
5. Hair-dryer + assortment of hair products
6. Make-up bag filled with prettifying products
7. Collection of bags (I'm an accessory queen)

7 random facts about me...

1. I have perfect pitch - off-pitch singing and out-of-tune instruments sound particularly painful
2. I don't like durian
3. I can't eat chilli
4. I adore pretty stationery
5. My favourite drink is a lychee martini
6. I am very flexible - my pilates instructor once called me Gumby, heehee
7. I wore pigtails to school every day of my primary school life

7 things I plan to do before I die...

1. Travel to my ever-increasing list of places to visit - some of which are Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Italy, Spain, India, Kashmir, Alaska and so many more...
2. Eat an Inn' n Out burger
3. Learn to cook real good
4. Finish reading Anna Karenina
5. Have kiddies
6. Fall in love
7. Build a house with Habitat or another similar organisation

7 things I can do...

1. Put on lipstick without using a mirror
2. Put on lippie and rouge while driving
3. Play the piano and violin
4. Swing dance
5. Always justify buying yet another pair of shoes
6. Matchy-matchy my outfits
7. Try to be a better person everyday

7 things I can't do...

1. Be good in sports
2. Cycle
3. Whistle for a cab (I wanna learn!)
4. Be patient
5. Wear a min-minii-skirt or short shorts (eew!)
6. Remember friends' birthdays
7. Handstands or cartwheels

7 things I say the most...

1. Durrr...
2. Seeya! or Byeee!
3. OK
4. Like (the accursed word. Must stop sounding like Valley girl)
5. What?!
6. Huh? (or other variations like 'harrr?')
7. Hey or Hello or Whassup

7 celeb crushes...

1. Tony Leung Chiu Wai
2. Hugh Jackman
3. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
4. Ewan McGregor
5. Lee Byung Hun
6. James Franco
7. Jake Gyllenhaal

7 people I'll love to see doing this...

Err ok here I have to say I can't do it. I don't know enough people online! But if you lurve doing memes, then go riiight ahead. Just lemme know once you've done it so I can read it. :)

And at last, I'm done! Boy this was hard.

ShooStories: Out with the old, in with the new

#21

The Shoo: Cross my Toe
Circa: sometime 2002
Where: C K Tangs

The Story: Just like the little black heels, I like to keep a staple pair of black slides for when I have no time to think of what shoos to match my outfit, or when nothing in my shoo collection goes with what I'm wearing. I call them the fallback pair. Before I got this pair, I had a pair of Nine Wests, which had served me faithfully for 2 years of almost everyday wear when I was in Australia. I had broken the strap of the left side, and it was held together precariously with black tape, and yet I was loath to part with them. When I came back to Singapore, they finally fell apart and no amount of black tape could save them, and that's when I knew it was time to get a replacement pair.

I found these black sparklies after some searching. It also came in hot pink, and I was initially going to buy that, but the llittle practical angel sitting on my shoulder told me that the black would be mush, mush better. Don't be fooled by its sad and worn appearance. Back in its day, it was really pretty hor.

Bonus!

It looks better on the foot ya?


#22 *Fresh!*

The Shoo: Ladybird, ladybird
Circa: Aug 2005 (bought same time as Bling on my Buckle)
Where: Novo, Suntec City

The Story: It's time to put the abovementioned pair to happy shoo heaven. So this is my replacement pair of black staples. I suspect I won't be wearing them too often nowsadays, because I'm quite over my black phase now. It's all colour, colour, colour for me. But of course, you never know, one day I might be rushing out of the house, and NOTHING will match what I'm wearing, and that's when these ladybirds will come in useful. A girl must always be prepared, y'all.

Bonus!

Albino ladybugs

This September, I am into...

...my new 'puter, downloading anime (Bleach!), watching anime on the 19-inch screen monitor, Meiji strawberry yoghurt, gaucho pants, Style Diary, visiting friends from overseas (hurrah!), going out lots with visiting friends (double hurrah!), white skirts, Raffles Hotel snowskin mooncake, Royce chocolate, shimmery eyeliner from Sephora, trying not to buy any more new things.

My entertainment for the weekend

Did I get a new stereo?

Nope! It's my new PC!

Last weekend, I braved the crowds at Sim Lim and bought a brand new Pee Cee for home. The older one, an ancient Dell with clunky performance had finally died on me and I decided to put it out to pasture. Now I have a sleek black 19 inch LCD screen (comes with free keyboard and mouse!) and a Shuttle-like CPU that also doubles up as a stereo.* Now I have rendered my old stereo obsolete. Perhaps now is the time to buy speakers for my iPod. And then my complete home entertainment system will be set! hurhur.

So I spent the whole weekend doing computery things, like surfing for pretty wallpaper and icons, downloading important programmes like Azureus (all the better to download anime with!), anti-virus software, downloading the latest Bleach episodes, and watching Bleach on big, beautiful screen.

I foresee many nights at home.

*Don't ask me for the specs for my new 'puter, cos I don't remember. I had help assembling this. I just had to give me requirements: must look pretty, must have big-ass screen, must be powderful enough to do some Photoshopping and watching anime and movies. All I remember is it has 512 MB RAM.