FULL Week...

...not just with exams but alot of food, movies, people and packing up as well...

Too tired to say much.. so let the photolog do its job..

::Vivo with my SW babes::

Took a break in the midst of my papers (after my evening commty-based paper technically) and had dinner at Vivo's Marche's with von, samantha and her bf. It was an impromptu decision.. and having no place in mind particularly, we decided to go to Vivo's to see what they have.. and then decided on Marche's. The last time i had Marche's was in JC, so the refreshing variety of foods displayed in front of me was an appealing sight.. all the breads, pasta, potatoes and pretty desserts.. I wanted to eat them all!! And it did alot to whet my appetite.. kinda lost my appetite in the midst of preparations of exams.. which is a first for me. We shared dishes amongst us 4 but all were too tired to take pics, plus no one brought a digicam. Hope to go back again sooooon.. thinking about the food now again is making me salivate again.. haha.

The only pic i had from the impromptu dinner was a picture of the enormous X'mas tree on the children's play area/the chillout area overseeing Harbourfront.



Pretty?? I love the lettering of the words but my hp camera doesn't do it justice. I told my cousin i wanted to buy a snowman for X'mas like grace did too, and she just ignored me. In any case, she is not even spending X'mas in Singapore this year hahaha.. no point in my snowman too..

After my hectic week of 3 papers...

::Dinner out with a SW bunch of ppl::


the poly-grads bunch.. though i wasn't from poly, i am also going to graduate at the end of this semester as they do.. Alot of nolstagic pondering.. What i find heartwarming and fuzzy about this dinner is that though they are not the usual bunch of people i hang out with, we could just click.. it is the SW spirit i swear.. the community-homey feel about being in this major.. I never experience anythg like this in Lit or Soci i swear..

We headed to Fong Seng (prata place outside the school, behind Arts Fac) for dinner, as Chan Min said she doesn't want to graduate without having eaten Fong Seng (well-known with NUS Arts ppl particularly) once. Haha.

ALOT of camwhoring...


Li Ling was the only one who realised i was sneaking a pic.. she said she is very camera-sensitive..


Chan Min and Diana "sticking" against the wall to fit into camera lens.


With Grace (not healing balm grace haha) and Xiuwen.. Do you know these 2 girls are very "zhi(4) lian(4)'? When we started bluetoothing the pics to each other, "Princess Grace" and "Wen Wen Gong(1) Zhu(2)" appeared on my list of bluetooth nicks.. I almost died-ed.. reminds me of a certain someone really.. her name is von hahaha..


Chan Min took an unflattering photo of me when i was writing autograph for Diana.. I look so retarded!! haha.. Talking about autographs.. manz.. i must 'kowtow' to Diana... The last time i wrote one was in Sec 4.. haha.


Happy bunch though the food sux really.. haha.. but the company's what counts.


With Chan Min.. she's the camwhorer of the night really. Walking around the table taking individual shots with everyone. We started laughing at her at a point in time and asked if she's taking pictures on her wedding day.. flitting from guest to guest.

Our camwhoring continues on the bus...

This is one hilarious picture.. Haha.. At the very last moment, i decided my hair was messy and moved to tidy it when li-ling clicked on the button. Funny thing is Diana had her head leaning towards where my head was sposed to be for the picture. hahaha..


Phyllisa joined us!
I have this huge zit on my chin that appears on every pic la! *wails* Even hp cameras which dun show your flaws so much and my concealer (time for new concealer! bought my perfect ettusias on sat. it has medicating powers for acne too!! Highly recommended!!) can't hide it!! Stupid exam-cum-period stress!!!


With Li Ling.. although she complained of tired-ness (had 2 papers that day poor gal) and was already stoning in the midst of camwhoring in Fong Seng. But she still requested to take pic with me.. aww.. touched.

When you bond, time is not the issue really... I hope the holiday plans of meet-ups and outings i made with them and my sw clique come through during the Dec hols manz..

::My Day Out alone::

I decided to take a day out myself to relax on Friday, after the crazy week. Decided to watch 2 movies all by myself. One reason was most of my babes are still preparing for papers on Monday so can't ask them.. (i only had one left on the following Friday) The most impt reason is i really miss my alone-time and the fact that when i watch movies myself, i dun have to compromise on movies!! i can just watch what i like. This is also topped with the fact that i have postponed watching these 2 particular ones till after at least my crazy week is over. So yupz, good break all round=)

##Lust, Caution##

I kinda regretted watching the R21 version of "Lust, Caution". Haiz. Besides the fact that the theatre was filled with old, sleazy and desperate uncles and aunties who are so obviously there to see porn, specifically Tony Leung's balls, (i think i am the youngest in the theatre lor), I seriously dun even get the sex scenes at all. I find them quite disturbing in fact. Reason why i wanna re-watch is that i heard the sexual scenes built to some kind of climax, and i wanna see how Wang Jiazhi's decision in the end was affected by the build-up, which wasn't shown in the censored version. There was this heart-splitting moment when she spilled out her emotions to the spy leader and i wanna see what leads up to that--her hesitations and inner conflicts. But maybe i just can't appreciate the sex scenes at all. But i do admire Lee Ang's artistic direction. I love the setting of 1942 Shanghai, and the classy elegance of Mrs Mak in her beret and overcoat and alluring cheongsams.. sigggghhh... Now why doesn't Singapore have cold enough weather to warrant that kind of dressing?



See how classy and timeless her dressing is??? I couldn't stop gushing about them to gracie hahahaa..

**Stardust**


Loved it!!! Particularly how Yvaine keeps glowing like a star when she is happy.. she sooo cannot hide her emotions lor.. Now why can't I glow like a star when i'm happy too instead of turning red?? Red is soo not a nice colour.. And I loved how she'll keep going, "What does a star do? It shines!" The love story is refreshing, with a stellar cast.. Just leaves me with a happy, fuzzy feeling.

::Chillout with Gracie::

Had a nice relaxing Sat with my healing balm watching a heartwarmingly sweet movie and having BK's ultra-soft crossaint-wich for breakfast and dim sum for lunch.. Can feel my appetite coming back le.. grinz. Just a good chillout time in the midst of papers.. the poor babe has 6 exams.. she starts and ends same time as me though. Happie to go through the last lap of academics with my healing balm.=)

~*~Enchanted~*~



Giselle is just sooo surreal... and her dresses are to-die-for too!! I can't get over how she'll just cut out the dresses from whatever cloth's available--curtains... carpets.. And Patrick Dempsey's reactions everytime he sees his coverings cut up... Hahahaa... She is my childhood dream really. Movie left us in stitches, screaming in laughter. Light-hearted candy for a exam period=)=)=)

::Packing and painting over the weekend::

My sisters are having their personal rooms revamped and this week was removing of furniture fixtures so my pa could start painting the room.. This is Ying's room, painted in some sunny peachy colour.. my Pa is a wonderful painter. He complained no one helped him, but being perfectionistic, he thinks he still does it best. My sisters and i took a few fun rolls with the paint sponge, under his critical eye, but that's all. But yeah, my pa's da best!


Took a pic of my parents and feng standing in the middle of the room while my dad fixed the lamp back. Yeah, Ying can look forward to a new room when she comes home from work tonight.

I am looking forward to furniture shopping with my darlin' sisters after the exams.. Looking out for a display case(s) for my Sylvanians too. Any recommendations? I have been looking through catalogs but no suitable ones.


The mess in my parents' living room. I did my share of work by packing my own stuff to bring over to my cousin's. Yay! got 2 rooms in my cousin's again. The study is once again vacated, so i have moved all my study stuff and electronic stuff and toys back, so my bedroom is emptier. She's so sweet to me. Hee.

Should go sleep to prep for consultation tmr.. ermz.. ya still got one more exam on friday.

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.

*****

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..

********

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...