a break from studying..

I have this strange habit of taking pictures of my room/desk during my exam period... I did it last year on my old blog as well.. But i think in comparison, my desk is neater this year.. In any case, this will be the last time in a very long which i would do this (provided in future there are still schooling oppotunities for me), so indulge me=)


My stash of tidbits... I love strawberry Meiji products as opposed to the choc stuff.. especially Strawberry Pocky.. finished 1 box today le.. then there's peanut butter and choc creme Oreo (preferred this to the normal Oreo too), my childhood fave of Tasty Sticks, which is a salty-sweet long thin biscuit. and healthy breakfast bar.. Yeah.. just picnic in my room man..


My much-neater desk as compared to the past..


My companionable Eeyore mug holding warm Earl Grey's..


My best companion, Turtly.. so nice to hug in the midst of studying..


My music and aromatherapy centre. I resolutely refused to switch on the distracting laptop for my music, as i know it will lead me to go on the Internet.. then You-Tube.. etc. The aromatherapy oil used for today is Uplifting Pear Fragrance Oil, but for some reason, it made me sleepy.. or maybe it is the notes i am reading.. Actually most of the time, i used aromatherapy to dispel stale smells in my room and keep it fresh-smelling.

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Another distraction..


I just realised the cross-stitch kit of Eeyore Xianyu made for my 20th birthday is the same as the picture of the Eeyore on my mug!! BIG discovery hahaha


See?


Side by side...


Okay, back to studying..

Note: I blogged this entry upon taking a break hehz.. after finishing my set of notes for the day=) A break is necessary, n'est-ce pas?

Celebrating the end on a foodie note...=)

My last semester of 13 weeks has come to an end... but strangely i felt no lingering sense of sentimentality or loss.. maybe it's cos i am just too disappointed with the choices of modules this semesters, and the lacklustre performance of some of the lecturers, and then the things that happened along the way that almost threatened to throw me back into that black pit, pain, disappointment over some people.. once again. Maybe it's also cos I feel my identity is just stuck somehow in terms of school. Compared to my normal batch, i have graduated damn late (most of my friends have already graduated last yr or mid-yr this year and have already took the plunge into the working world). Compared to my social work batch, i am graduating early. True, i am graduating with a number of grads who came from poly and only did 5 semesters in school instead of the usual 6, but I am still graduating earlier than friends such as von and karen and shem. I am so stuck and not really knowing where to begin from here that I failed to miss the sentimentality of it being my last semester.. much as i wanna savour the feeling of being a student.

Strange. I remember the sentimentality of younger days. Autograph books passed around the entire class at the end of each graduating year, or more significantly, the notable graduating of the stages--PSLE, O, A Levels. Graduation gifts in the forms of flowers, teddy bears, farewell cards were given. At times, if the class is close enough, a class party is held. We graduated amidst hugs and cries of not being able to enter the next stage together. Where have those days gone to?

In uni, u graduate without a trace left.. people like you come in and out everyday, every semester. People only realise you are graduating when it is mentioned over casual conversations, meals. *Oh you are graduating le?* *what are your plans* etc.. Funny.. As we grow older, it seems sentimentality dies as well... the numbers you accumulated or wanna get then is for future social networking contacts and not purely in the name of keeping in touch and having a meet-together.

I guess i must grow with the stages musn't i? In any case, this is how i celebrated my final week in my final semester. With a couple of impt people, in which i hope i don't have to say farewell to..

*Day out with Von*

Went out to relax with von and let her shop amidst her tiring week of Bahasa exams..

::At City Plaza::


Von and me at PL station.. it was a good hair day for me haha.. we went there: me to reattach my 8 bunches of dropped hair, and von to satisfy her shopping cravings there.. She bought so much clothes.. hahaha.. hope retail therapy worked for her. I had to be conscious of my spending, so I only bought a $8 necklace and a $2.90 pair of unique star-shaped earrings. Von bought a pair too.. hehz.

::At Central's at Tamp Mall::

Satisfied our hungry tummies at Central's at TM..

My Spaghetti fried with shrimps and XO sauce... with von's skeletal fingers. The XO sauce is really quite delish, though a bit too spicy for my taste.


Von's Pork Chop Noodles. We thought the noodles were fried.. not soupy. But i like the design of the bowl! It is in the shape of the digit 8, and they separated the soupy noodles from the pork chop. This is a good idea, as most restaurants would just serve the pork chop together with the soup, and make the fried food totally soggy and the soup oily.

Our drinks in the foreground.. My yuan-yang with grass jelly and von's thick milk tea.


My butter and sugar thick toast.. It brings me back to my childhood.. a childhood fave form of breakfast and goes really well with kopi-O!=)

::Tapas Night::

I have been looking forward to this all week. Grace invited me to join her, her best friend and her best friend's bf to a Tapas dinner at the Tapas Tree at Clarke Quay. I have never dined in that area before, as it is really out of the way, but that place is filled with unique restaurants and eateries of various cuisines.

In any case, Tapas is a Spanish sort of tradition, according to Grace, where Spanish celebrate this festival by ordering small dishes and eating through the night or sth, with beer. It is an interesting concept.. food all night!! hehz. Perfect for foodies.

I like Spanish cuisine cos they have alot of POTATO dishes.. but due to their pricing, and also the fact that most of the people ard me are "safe" eaters, I only had this cuisine once before, when someone treated me at CHIJMES. So I jumped at the chance at having this cuisine again that night=)

*Disclaimer: some of the pics are taken by grace.. the abstract ones actually.. of scenery and the place..


The inner of the restaurant is very dark, which will explain for why some of the pics turn out very dark, and that the colour of the food looks almost the same. heh. But i like the romantic glow of each table only lighted by one candle..


The vibrant furnishings which adds cheer to one's world-weary, study-exhausted spirit..


The romantic candle set in a pretty frosted painted glass..


Tapas Tapas.. anticipating our meal ahead..


My Cha-Cha, a mocktail of pineapple, mango and orange juice.. served with a slice of orange and a maraschino cherry.. pretty right?

Haha, i shall attempt to name the dishes we ordered by their Spanish names.. provided by the restaurant's online menu which grace sent me.. It's soo cool.. Spanish is sooo cool, and i heard before that Spanish men can be ultra romantic, best of all, they prepare my fave food in the world--potatoes!!.. or is Italian men who are the ultra romantics?? And they prepare another fave food of mine--pasta!! Haha.. who cares? As long as the food's good!


Pan de la Casa.. or homemade fresh baguette.

Simin, Grace's best friend said that the bread determines the quality of the restaurant's food. A good restauarant would serve good, crusty bread, or something along the line. Heh.. I am not the food expert here. The bread tastes okay to me.. i love baguettes with butter.


We ordered 4 dishes.. and they are really quite small dishes.. dun be deceived by the pictures hehz. But the portions were still alright for the 4 of us.


Champiriones salteado al Ajillo.. or Sauteed Mushrooms in Garlic and Olive oil. The mushrooms are quite succulent and juicy.


Patatas salteadas con Chorizo.. or sauteed potatoes with Spanish pork sausage. This is easily my favourite dish.


Solomillo salteado con Ajillo.. or Beef tenderloin cubes sauteed in olive oil and garlic.


Gambas salteadas al Aljillo... sauteed shrimps in garlic and olive oil. They kindly didn't add chilli to the dish, which was optional as i cun take spiciness.

Actually, it ended up as Simin said, all the dishes tasting garlicky.. and i realised almost all the dishes we ordered had garlic! there was so much, i even spread garlic and olive oil to a piece of baguette and ate it. Personally, i can't taste the difference in the cuisine. The uniqueness of the Spanish cuisine didn't come up, not like the one i had in CHIJMES eons ago. I was even thinking that normal chu chao stalls would cook the dishes better, cos if you noticed, the food we chose, can be used in Chinese cuisine as well.


Grace and me.. looking very happy and untired due to the mask of soft candlelight...

With Simin..

Ah well, i think the general consensus was that it wasn't totally fantastic, though i really love the ambience.. so romantic!! So we moved to another place for dessert.

They brought me to Canale.. at Robertson Quay which is a little walk up from Clarke Quay. It is a small patisserie set in the midst of other eateries and cafes. I have never been to Robertson Quay before, but i was really enchanted by the place, littered with eateries and people, and which in Grace's words, totally dun look like Singapore, but like some other country, especially with a clock tower, and it is also mostly frequented by expats. Oh it's beautiful.. Canale. And i love patisseries.. and it is my first time in one, don't you think the word "patisserie" sounds so pretty in itself? And i only have a toy Sylvanian one to tell me what a patisserie is supposed to resemble before i came to this placee.. I know i am gushing.. but i am so excited.. and it's really really beautiful. I fell in love the moment i stepped into the place.

Beautifully decorated for Christmas already, with Christmas wreath and dangling fantasies of decorations, the place was small and warm with the sweet smell of chocolates.. the display case was meticulously arranged with different varieties of chocolates and pastries, with 2 macaron trees, and a side table with assorted cookies.. Even the see-through kitchen looks pretty and neat with boxes of delicious-sounding ingredients stacked up high, such as "Jupiter's shells". There were even a tray of chocolate dome-shaped shells in sight, and a 6-tiered wedding cake.. Oh it's really really gorgeous.. i wish i had not been too shy to take pics to share with yall.. but there were so many people in the cafe.. I feel so happy just drinking in all the beautiful sights of this small patisserie/cafe with my eyes, my troubles forgotten for the moment.


Beautiful Canale.. you steal my heart away..


Le Royal chocolate cake.. lurves! I love the layers of chocolate with the hazelnut crispy biscuity centre..


Matcha (green tea) cake. It is really an acquired taste. i can't take to the taste at all, but the girls loved it.


A discreet pic i took of this sweet picture i saw hanging on the wall, but not very well-taken. It is of macaron fairies.. so cute right?? Each fairy is dressed up in a different coloured macaron skirt or hat. i only had the cheap version of macarons, when they sold in a bazaar in school. Eleen, from social work, offered me one. I heard the real macarons are really expensive due to the ingredients that go into them. They can cost like $12 for 5, and they are really tiny. And according to Simin, the macarons flavours come in seasons.


This is a pic of macarons i got off wikipedia..

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With my last week spent amidst happy gatherings of food (there was also this class gathering for our sociocultural module, which the lecturer suggested each group brings a dish to share with the class a la pot-luck style. it is the first and only time since i was in NUS that we had such a "celebration" to end the module.. but we all had fun. My group had fun preparing our food and getting to know each other better.. alas it was the last day of lecture.

Through centuries, food has always been used in celebrations... recall the above note: Spanish tradition of Tapas.. With the happy feelings that food can arouse in us, I end this turbulent semester on a happy foodie note. Thanks von for the sweet company, and gracie dear, for the lovely night out. Good food and company really helps to dispel the negative feelings. Haha, but i am not forgetting my exercise. Yeah.. loving CardioLatino at the moment.. and together with KB and CardioBlitz to burn the fats accumulated, and release more of the happy endorphins to keep me going through the exam period manz. Yay! ling is a strong and happy and loved girl..=)

on friendships...

I had been having conversations with various friends on this topic for the past few days... weird. it's one of those never-ending kind of topics..meaning that you would have endless to talk upon this topic. Unfortunately, where this topic is concerned, i am not simple, my expectations and views towards it are not simple, so there was definitely plenty to talk about.

There was this instance when one thanked me for being a good friend and apologised for having been a lousy one, one that told me realistically that we would lose touch once i graduated (i was pretty bemused by the honesty) and then a couple with my healing balm on past friendships--the loved and lost.

healing balm told me not to expect... where friendships are concerned. so maybe i wun be sorely disappointed each time. true, i expect too much, expect too much from my gal frens as well as guys... never realising there's differences. else why would they always end up such disappointments to me? then there's my heart. too much given, too little given back. whh explains the inner bitterness. hmmm. truez.. but this is as far as i go for now. tired out from all the house packing. more will be blogged in private blog when i have given more thought to it. ooh and exams!! groanz.

I'll just leave yall with pics now..=)

::Hair extensions::

Long overdue pic... yay!! i did hair extensions with von... (truth be told, i'm a little tired of them now, and it's not even a month, im sooo gonna see a lot of eye-rolling.. HAHAHAHA.. that is precisely why hair extensions work for people like me.. I can put them on and off as and when i please without having to "xin teng" over the fact that i took 5-7 years to grow my hair!) okay my hair still looks odd in this pic cos the person never do properly! Make me look like a jellyfish.. i mean, i am definitely not as cute as Rainie Yang to be able to pull off the look.

In any case, i went back another day with von to another salon whh is better! my hair doesn't look so jellyfish-ish now. I have received various comments, ranging from "looks like my own hair", looks fake" to "i look better with short hair" etc. Anywayz for me, a different hairstyle just offers me different options for styling my hair (yes, i am vain and i want a change from styling short hair), so i aint too bothered with the fact that i am carrying 200 strands of some dead corpse's hair on my hair. But if i do die mysteriously, u guys would know wad happened yeah? rem to cut off the fake hair on my head k?

von's one is much better.. cos her original hair is already long, so her added strands gave her hair a more swingy, more "piao" kind of feeling.. mine ah, cos i chose curls, i figured since i want curls anyway, but the curls are not the big doll curls i want, its more maggi-mee-ish, so abit disappointed. Ah well, at least i dun have to bother with curling each time.



how the jellyfish look would look on me.. hahaha

::Pa's birthday::

Pa's birthday which fell on Halloween.. celebrated with chilli crabs and a chocolate truffle cake from Prima's (pa's fave!)..
i like this pic.. pretty artistically taken=)

family shot

pa and mummy

my cute sisters...

feng and me..

ying and me..

Least i know my family will always be the constant.. in the face of all the other uncertainties and lost friendships in my life.. I am thankful for the constants i am left with. Constants still require work, but nonetheless, they are still there.. huggies to my family.

::Flo and KTV and attempts at styling my hair::

Like i say, i like playing ard with my hair. Else i do extensions for what? Unlike some girls, i dun like leaving my hair down all the time.. boooring..

Attempted this. my first attempt at doing the bun twist was good. The hair tool, or "metal tong" (as flo calls it), that i used to do the twist held the bun well without the need for pins. but still a bit messy.. the stray hairs definitely still requires pins.

Bun all pinned up. I still prefer the first one, the pins here look a tad messy. Needs improvement.

How it looks like from the front. I know i am acting cute here, and its a toilet cubicle i am taking this photo in btw, but so wad? hahahaha

flo and me at ktv.. we went to this KBox at KBox plaza which ying told us to go as her friend is working there. took us more than an hour to find it.. grumbles. but the place is nice, room a bit small. Hope flo feels better after ktv-ing=)

Just wanna say thanks for all the dear friends.. Although there were disappointments, there are still some of you treasures i will always be grateful for.. my dear healing balm, thanks for the reassurances and the great company and comfort this week.. huggies=)

darkened bars and slow music

I love how when i'm down, i can seek solace in the quaint setting of a darkened wine bar, letting the slow music, the blended shadows of the faces in the neighbouring tables, the sweet sourish taste of Shirley's Temple (want to but still can't get used to the taste of alcohol) wash down the emotions inside. It is almost like a numbing drug, enough to soothe the pain for the moment and distract me.

And of cos complete with soft crusty garlic toast with cheese and my favourite healing balm... it saved me from a night of self-pitying and crying into my pillow.

::At Blooie's Roadhouse along Rail Mall::


My healing balm and me... dearie, thanks for always knowing what I need and want at the moment in time.


Beautiful and strangely comforting woody village-like structure of Blooie's bar counter.


In the presence of strangers who are distracting enough without the feeling of overcrowdedness and invasion of privacy.

So let work take me away for now...