you're like this piece of cake.
i've tried it already, and i was enjoying the cake so much because it was so good.
then, the cake is taken away from me.
placed somewhere close enough that i can still see it, smell it, but i just can't taste it anymore.

and i suffer, cause i'm addicted and i'm not getting my cake.

inspiring. 

taking the module Sociology of Food in school has been a rather eye-opening experience. i was always interested in food as a factor that moves the world, and this class has given me access into the world that we do not see as a normal "eater".

I want to change my diet, change my thinking of my eating habits, but it's gonna take awhile. but no hurry(:

go read: The Omnivore's Dilemma: the history of four meals. by Michael Pollan

in the meanwhile: watch jamie oliver's food revolution! he's definitely trying to change something.

do you see food in a different light? because i do now.

i need to channel my emotions to a more positive direction.
although similarly as unproductive as before, i believe it's nurturing back the creative side of me.
except...that it's making me want to get down and dirty back in the kitchen!

whole wheat penne and vodka tomata sauce - aprondays.blogspot.com

or this:

raspberry chocolate tart - caren blair

i'm thinking about having "Friday nights with Pam" - in the kitchen of course (:

it'll be a time i can enjoy myself in the kitchen cooking for people i love and enjoy company with. or let's just start with my family. a special time.

and then i'll start inviting people over.

Ah. Pretty Red Ribbon cake on Foodbuzz. Just fell in love with it once i saw it. The ultimate layering in red velvet cakes <3

At the rate i'm blogging, i think my blog can be titled with the status ' INACTIVE '

up till now i haven't had the time (or more like i'm just too lazy to make the effort) to blog.

Continued from the last post, the events that have occured since:

1. Ochre dinner where vinnie, suen and I went to visit Liu,

2. Sheena's esplanade performance ( go to Sheena Hong FANCLUB (: on facebook for details)

3. My last elementary 1 nihongo no ressun and how I passed the tesuto.

4. Chinese New Year - Reunion dinner, almost non-existent valentine's day, first day of visiting, Provence company CNY dinner with B&J supper after at Dempsey.

Salami Pizza @ OChre ($18) ; San Pellegrino (sparkling water - $7)

Grilled Fish ($23) - and this dish has a story that goes with it!

Braised Chicken ($18)

Cuore Mobido [Choc Lava Cake]($12)

Mille Foglie [pastry with pistachio custard filling] ($12)

the only shot we could sneak with Liu on the 'Roof', and i think our eyes all popped after paying for the bill, hance look like this.

vinnie and the metal man.

Sheena nana! and Amos on the guitar.

Chocolate initiated gang-fight?

Chicken franks. really troublesome things.

rocker chicks!

Vivo outlet <3 [CNY dinner]

Pictures have thus completed my 1000-word plus blogpost.

hello! it's been a while now.
and GRADUATION NIGHT is over!!
oh yes, i've been busy busy, baking, shopping, slacking. fretting.
A little more than a week has passed since the last post, and since then, some things have changed. like, how i'm OFFICIALLY FREE FROM A LEVELS, SATs are done!, and so is grad night, and bakesale is underway!

Warning: Exteremely long, draggy post ahead. Do not read when short on time, only when you are terribly free and bored with your own life and is interested in mine, read at your own risk.

it took me this long to type this post due to me being lazy to type out an ultra long post complete with pictures, plus my typing speed has been reduced dramatically from typing inactivity. Now, to facilitate my memory bank, we shall go in chronological order, starting from

30st Nov, Monday.
With only one paper to go, the hockey girls went down to CCAB early in the morning to join the juniors' training (we were still late anyway...) george was around, so we hit around by ourselves on half the pitch, did passes, the juniors did their own drills with george. played a mini 3v3 game with the juniors, on like 1/8th the pitch? sighs. what terrible waste of pitch. SAJC had booked the pitch after us, so george couldn't drag, hence we girls went for lunch at adam food centre after.
After much delaying, I followed vinnie to school to mug for bio MCQ in the canteen while she had consult with a teacher. I did only one paper in that uh, 4-5 hours I was sitting there? Mostly attempting to sleep. Didn't even touch the hugeass SATs book i borrowed from matt's friend and dragged around (for a few days too, thinking i would open it.) Went home before the sidegate closed, feeling so underproductive. But it's just Bio MCQ right?

1st Dec, Tuesday

I decided to go down for training in school again this time, as an excuse to stay in school to mug and make up for the previous day. Since George wasn't going to be around, it was another incentive. Derek and Felix came along too, and after that hot hot training under the sun(which i got a mild sunburn from -_-), we had Cai Fan for lunch! yum. Talked in the canteen while it rained, so the guys couldn't go home, and when it did stop, I went up to the library to join the library gang to mug. It was a revelation that day - SH1s have compulsory study sessions in the library ( i believe they're basketballers). But other than library gang (H3 econs people), bio people (me and gwen), and basketballers, there weren't anyone else again. Bottomline, unproductive again. did another paper, slept, and went home early.

Met the Crescent Hookers for dinner at Spageddies (O. Central )! Had a nice dinner, nice chat with everyone at Starbucks, before I had to leave cause my parents insisted on picking me up (and then reprimanding me for going out before exams are over -_-

@ Spagheddies!

2nd Dec, Wednesday- one day to Bio MCQ paper

Ariel's sendoff! Went to the airport to say farewell to ariel who's going back to Vietnam. GONNA MISS YOU SO MUCH FASHION ADVISOR! Yes, dear ariel's my personal fashion advisor and the coolest fashionista I know! I arrived late (seems to be a habit of mine now), joined the class girls at Popeye's, before helping ariel check in. There were a few problems, but all ironed out before she went in the gate. See you again next year celebrity!

 

gonna miss you ARIEL!<3

so after she left, we, the class girls, headed to T3 to sightsee a little, while I sat at coffeebean waiting for them as i tried to do Bio. Yes, i know, what a killjoy I am. Went home soon after because I couldn't keep awake. So much for Bio Preparation.

3rd Dec, Thursday - Bio Paper 3 day, day of end of A levels!

The end of A levels was nothing memorable, besides sitting at a table in the hall for an hour and 15 mins. Perhaps because we started going out and relaxing the week before, that when the paper ended, there didn't seem to be this overwhelming sense of relief that I expected to wash over me. So I went out with Vinnie only - to watch New Moon. I wouldn't say I regret watching it, because the purpose of watching a bad movie was to 1) accompany vinnie, 2) so that I don't have to read the book to find out what the hype is about. Why I found the movie bad? 1) the actor (specifically whats-his-name-who-acted-as-cedric-diggory-in-harry-potter) did not make a hot-drop-dead-gorgeous-i-must-fall-in-love-with-you vampire. 2) the plot was seriously unrealistic.I don't get the fall-in-love-to the point of madness of the female lead. 3) uh, actors were too stiff in acting, little variation in emotions and expressions. If I were to rate the movie, I'd give it ONE star- for the beautiful scenery.

I literally dragged vinnie around orchard after that, which i feel terribly guilty for, since she looked pretty tired. I was looking for shoes to match my prom dress, so we moved from Cineleisure (where we caught the movie), to Heeren, to Wisma. That took about 3 hours? It's because of my indecisiveness and terrible feet structure that I took so long (plus there were many shoe outlets with pretty but EXPENSIVE shoes), so I let her off at the MRT, while I went around Ion, then as a last resort, to Fareast Plaza. That's where I found my shoes, after 4 hours of searching. Plain, black pumps, not too uncomfortable, and flexible to wear with almost any outfit. Took a bus to Robinsons, bought my makeup, then headed home, exhausted.

shoes XD

4th Dec, Friday

Even though i was exhausted the day before, I didn't sleep till..5am. Not from insomnia, but K drama. Suen got me hooked onto the Korean drama "You're Beautiful", about a girl cross dressing as her brother in an all-male idol group. It's pretty good, and addictive. I've finished the series since then, and uh, it caused me to get distracted from stuff such as working on my prom dress and baking teresa's cupcakes.

Teresa and Anne came over for lunch, specifically Pre-Prom-Preparation. Basically trying on our dress, make-up, hair and shoes for prom. I was more busy cooking, washing the dishes and trying to hem my dress (a time-efficient alternative to making a brand new dress), think Cinderella and her two step sisters preparing for the ball. There's pictures with teresa to prove the scene. haha. Went well enough, completed teresa's cupcake order before she had to rush home. Anne stayed a little longer, and we continued watching "you're beautiful". HAHA.

teresa's order of vanilla cupcakes.

you're beautiful <3

i love Shin Woo and Jeremy <3 (2 guys on extreme left)

5th Dec, Sat. - SATs.

If you have not realized, I've only mentioned SATs once before in this post. And on this day, I took my first SAT I paper, which I only studied the night before. Haha.  I wonder how the results will turn out to be. Woke up early and headed to Starhub Centre to take it, while I knew others were heading to other centres such as St Francis for their own SATs. Coincidentally, Teoh Guan ( 2008 Lignum OGL), was taking the test in the same room as me too! haha.

Went Spotlight at PS after to buy more prom stuff, technically, only ribbons for my heels. but that took me an hour anyway -_-. Did a little grocery shopping before my brother picked me up, then headed home, and spent the rest of the afternoon to finish the K drama mentioned above.

6th Dec. Sun.
Baking Day! For gowri's order of Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Frosting (which she totally forgot to pick up, haha!), and experimented with some muffins that just failed. Played with my newly bought gum paste to make christmas decorations for my bakesale too! That's about it really. oh, and then had to go for a relative's wedding (i believe the groom's my grandmother's brother's son, which makes him my uncle.) at Holiday Inn Atrium, a five minute walk away from my house. Walked home in my heels. haha.

gowri's cupcake order.

christmas deco!

my family, and my brother's girlfriend, minus my 2nd brother.

7th Dec,Monday - one week later, Grad night!

Morning was a URA talk I signed up for with Trudy, about the URA scholarship and tea session. Delivered cupcakes to gowri before I headed to URA centre early and met up with trudy, matt and edwin. A few more other njcians were there too, like kok wah, kung yin and shirley. Met Jia xi, a henry park gymmer who went to HCI at the talk too! It was pretty interesting, but I my mind was drifting away when it got to touring the exhibits of different places in singapore. It ended an hour later than specified, but the food was good though. Chocolate eclairs and cheesecake <3.

Rushed home right two minutes before anne came over - for Prom prep! slacked around a little, made my clutch, before I cooked lunch again, and teresa arrived. It took us about an hour and a half to prepare, before leaving to go early to the hotel room which jilly booked by cab. Grr...cab fares are seriously expensive nowadays, 13 bucks to get to raffles city from my house, which is only about 10mins away. But include heavy traffic and ERP surcharge..wallet busters the meters are. Due to the rush, me and teresa forgot jewelry, but didn't bother to go back and get them, so we went earring-less. I have to apologise to teresa for not being able to do her hair as she wanted it to, as a bun, but due to my inexperience, it fell out before prom even started ): sorry!

purse: made from "Fruity Pebbles"

Grad night..was much better than I anticipated. I had fun, watching the performances, going around taking pictures, creating memories that will hopefully, last me forever. The food wasn't too bad, but the mango sago was totally disappointing (being a dessert critic here). The MC was great, and that's what makes a great show. I even got to do the Limbo as one of the table games! Super Seniors (parody of the K band Super Juniors Sorry Sorry MV), OST (Oh Xuemin, Sheena, Trudy's band), 06IP dancers were a few of the performances that I really enjoyed. Of course, there was the Best Dressed,  and Prom King/Queen, which i felt was totally bogus, since I felt that it was more like a 'sabo' game by friends, and didn't truly reflect the titles. But it did feel good when our efforts didn't go to waste, when NORMAN LEE won MR CONGENIALITY XD "What would you want to change the most?" Reply: "My voice." haha! totally out of context.

Anne! sleepover buddy.

teresa: the camwhore who sleptover.

Mr Congeniality!

06IP01 - graduated!

Post-prom was supposedly at Helipad, on the roof of Central, but I trooped alone to Supperclub to pay a visit to Nanthini, Christie and Jo(SA hockers, who had prom on the same night) with the intention of joining my schoolmates at Helipad later. BUT, just before I left the place, Noo and Chench called me and said that they were coming over in a cab. UH? With Mohammad and Reuben too. So, apparently Helipad was boring enough they decided to join me. Mohammad had contacts that got us in (don't ask how) with the soccer guys, without having to buy the SA post-prom tickets. haha. It was pretty mild at the start when we got in, Loud Music, Not Too Crowded...and then the Dancing Started. Noo wanted to dance so much she dragged us in, and I think I lasted five minutes(pathetic ain't it), before I went out to sit. Mostly beacuse having the Smoke machine right behind me, I couldn't breathe. So my first time at a club, was spent mostly sitting around, waiting for others, observing the scene. The dancefloor got really intense as the crowd grew, and I started seeing a lot more NJ people who migrated over from Helipad. So. It was that boring eh? SA post-prom? became half NJ-post prom. I even got a few pictures taken in the SA post-prom album on facebook. haha. I left after two hours, alone, again (2am), and walked back to the room as technically, I wasn't much into the clubbing scene. No point staying. I saw girls getting so drunk they can't walk, girls vomitting, girls getting rubbed up against guys, and I got worried for a particular friend too. Conclusion is, I don't think i'll be stepping in to a club for recreational purposes anytime soon, it's just not my atmosphere to be in.

Supperclub atmosphere.dancefloor.

8-10th Dec, Tues- Today - Post-prom syndrome.
Teresa and Anne slept over at my house after prom, we reached home about 3am? and just went to sleep after a bath. it's pretty exhausting after a whole night out socialising. Morning came, and teresa woke me up to announce she was going home. Reason: for lunch. haha. anne stayed longer, so I baked her brownies as a farewell present, since I couldn't see her off at the airport the next day (yesterday = 9th). Used the time to experiment with peppermint, in brownies, but I still don't think the flavour's strong enough yet.

Yesterday I had a STB scholarship interview, hence couldn't see anne off. I think it went rather badly, with my brain not functioning well. I was stammering and blundering my way through, that the interviewer even commented "I can see you're smoking your way through this one, and the last one too. haha." ugh. I'm really bad at interviews. Really. I can't seem to think on my feet(or chair), make appropriate, coherent responses that answer the question.Hence the blundering. GRR again. Went home feeling deflated, so I slept, then baked the afternoon away, making teresa's sister's order of the same cupcakes, gingerbread men dough, and cookies. Seems like my mood affects my baking too :/ today was not much different, but lesser. SLACKED. that about describes my day. Facebooked (I seem to be on it 20 hours a day now), and well, typed out this post which took a few hours -_-

So much for making my Post-A-Levels plans, most of which I was itching to start on, but haven't. Why do they always not go according to plan?
I should sign up for driving test. Soon.

oh yes, i wanted to mention two dreams i had, but i really shouldn't elongate this post further. It was about visiting the gym at hpps on a sat morning for training, and buying sugar for my baking.haha.

The future awaits.

It seems like karma for sleeping late last night and deciding to be lazy to not join denise & co. for the morning run. I've not even reached school yet, and i've counted 5 misfortunes that have befallen me. Since i'm currently stuck in a jam[misfortune number 5], i've got time to detail the other 4. The first two involved buses. Well you see, i normally depend on the what-time-is-the-bus-coming-board to decide if i would walk to the other busstop to have an extra option for my transfer bus instead of waiting for only one bus without walking the extra 500m or so. And thus, when it said 14 minutes, who would wait there when there's the possibility of getting on another bus earlier with a short walk? And so i walked. But that decision led me to miss that bus that was supposedly to take 14 minutes to come, came in less than one minute as i walked AWAY from the busstop. Well fine. Lets just hope the second bus will come soon. It came soon enough, yes it did. It came BEFORE I reached busstop-number-two. And so, that led to misfortune number 3, which was me having to spend 20 very HOT minutes at the busstop which faced the morning sun. The misfortune only felt like one, when I starting perspiring like a pig less than an hour after i took a rare morning bath. Grrr... And now, for the forth m, is a continuation from the first two, as missing the buses, meant that i missed the time i could enter the school through the sidegate. For you non-NJCians, our school gate closes exactly on the dot at 9am, and if you can't enter through the sidegate, you've gotta walk around Hillcrest Villa & RGPS, up the hill, to the maingate to enter the school. And yes i did that.

All that trouble just to come to school to study. 5 more days. And they say i shouldn't count my misfortunes, but my blessings, so i will end it on a positive note. I had true-blue chocolate banana bread for breakfast, which was white bread with nutella spread, with a layer of fresh banana slices in between....Yum:)
- 9am, Nokia N95 Notes.

update: today was really unproductive. GAH.

it hits me over weekends. where my mind just doesn't seem to function the way i want it to. and i am powerless over it. you may call it a lack of self discipline, but i do know what i have to do. my body just doesn't seem to listen to me to carry out what my mind wants me to do. all the more i'll plunge myself into romantic love stories which probably makes it worse. but hey, better to celebrate a fictional character's love then just stoning time away right.

all i know that is it started on friday. an eventful day, one which could have been much more productive if the unproductive student in me had just given in to the fact that i was past the peak of studying. it just went downhill, and let me ask you, can you get depressed from knowing that you're not studying when you really have to and have no more time to do it? well i think i have. perhaps all that pressure is building up again, and instead of giving me the motivation to study, it's pulling me further away from my goal.

i know i can never say what i really want to say here, and as the title has suggested since the start. it's been a place i rant. ranting the superficial. i type whatever that comes to mind during these episodes, perhaps to mask or distract myself from really looking at what i'm feeling. just before i started this post, i skimmed through the latest entries on member blogs on my reading list on the blogger dashboard, mostly reflections on graduation day.i've been wanting to blog happy things about friday (being the last supposed day of school and all) and the new wonderful experiences that happens when one finally feels that they're moving ahead. but i just lost that feeling to type about it, being lazy and all. I always go perhaps one day i'll find the time to type it out properly, but i know myself. that day will never come if i don't start now.

when you enter a new school, you meet lots of new people. some, you get closer to, some you just ignore just because you don't know them and there's really no need to know them. that's when it started. but three years and nine months down the road, you suddenly are making friends with people you haven't really talked to at all for the past three years and nine months. it's intriguing really. about how you know the end is coming, and you'll try to pull everything closer to you, whatever it is or whoever they are, so as to prevent the feeling of loss. i don't think i've ever felt this sociable, ever. the past month has been a routine of studying mostly, but in between, you forge ties with people whom are going through the same process. something like 'alchoholics anonymous', an example brought up during one of the GP classes. we depend on each other to pull through to the end, feeding of eeach other's energy, motivation, enthusiasm, depression, pressure...everything. oh yes, i'm off topic again.

friday. we came to school, many armed with cameras, i didn't. i armed myself with vanilla frosted cupcakes for teachers and two and a half hours of sleep. there was a 5-course buffet provided by the school, totally fried, and the school instead of leaving us with the feeling of exuberance that we're finally graduating, it was the feeling of pressure and haste- to get all our CIP and CCA records filled up. once i threw that feeling aside, there was the 06IP photo on the field, of which some got a little more sun than they should have, but through it all, it might be worth it for that picture or two that shouts 'remember those times!'. i retreated off to the library to do a little unproductive studying, and convinced myself to miss a session of frisbee cum captain's ball with a huge mass of people who could have probably lifted my spirits. Thus when i was chased out of that depressing haven, i had to wander around and flit from people to people, while waiting to enter the NJC AEP Graduation show. I must say though, kudos to the 15 eighteen(or nineteen or twenty) year old artists who produced amazing works of art. Tedious i would describe them,  something i would never have the patience to complete. after a little art appreciation, i had dinner with a group of people i never dined with before. it's a first for a lot of things for me that day. dinner was at CURRYWOK. with lynna, jing min, daniel, eugene k, eugene t, alan, alvyn, zichao, pauline and denise. funny how it was about 3 years ago that this place i had associated with my hockey senior's favourite dinner hang out, and haven't stepped into the premises at all. it's ironic that i'm only coming here to taste that delicious food only when i'm graduating, with a completely different group of people i never imagined myself with. in all, there's still many things in this world that we have yet to experience, so don't assume life and take it for granted.

saturday, DEEPAVALI! my first celebration of the festival of lights, thanks to chenchel! I must say, i haven't had the experience before mot due to my lack of indian friends ( i do have some), but rather my lack of initiative to get invited to one. it's really interesting to take part in something that is out of your own culture. the appeal of it just makes it so much more fascinating. it was to celebrate jillian's 18th too, but we (our class girls) managed to feast on great indian home-made snacks too! i'm glad that i didn't skip out on this. it was a day worth not studying for.

that's all i would conclude over my happy weekend,besides my brother coming home from NS for his first break since he went in less than two weeks ago. he didn't change at all, being that guy lying in front of his computer from dusk to dawn for the whole weekend. But with him gone, the house seems so quiet at night, me being the only child left in the house. makes not much difference if i keep staying out to study though. it's gonna be a quiet holiday once A's are over.

I realized a habit of mine in my language. when i describe events, i tend to avoid using the word 'i', although it's been used a lot in this sentence. somehow there's an aversion to it. 'we' comes out instead, when technically it's only one person's point of view, it's a little weird.perhaps it's my nature to avoid attracting attention to myself, or the need to include myself in a group, to feel like there's people around me. but it does get a little creepy, as if there's more than one of me around, a split personality more like. a two-faced person, i'm not surprised that it's more than just me though.

people who see this. don't take it to heart, try not to comment about it. i wouldn't know how to react to people who react to my rantings other than a thank you or silence.

now, that was so much longer than i anticipated. but i feel much better already :D

Norman: same standard??
Nush: HI YOU FINALLY TAGGED. i thought it was chocolate souffle!
Denise: HI. glad you amused yourself with my dreams.
Chris: YES. When can we start?

Study session at Starbucks: Tanglin Mall today. I expected to meet Nush, since she did say that she'll be there, but Denise turned up in her place, both of us expecting to find Nush around the corner. But no, she didn't turn up. it was a pretty productive 4 hours i spent there, now that i've acknowledge that math and geog just takes that much time to revise. One hour was spent chatting and laughing with Denise, over belgium waffles and her hazelnut choc-chip muffin (sorry, but i think mine are still nicer :P). Our conversation topics went around friends (or rather a friend), and teachers. It was a really interesting theory, which she thinks isn't appropriate to post here in case the object of discussion happens to pass by and read my blog. it went along the lines of, subject teachers, marriage status, age, and weirdness level. Doesn't seem to apply to the females though. And then threw around the idea of the mass IP video to remember ourselves by. But it wouldn't be possible before A levels, and there's really no point in making it AFTER A's (with all the guys being shipped off to another island, some others flying around the Earth, and no one really wants to go back to NJ when there's not much reason to ain't it.)

Now, i just feel so old. it's really all going to be over soon. Four years of preparation (or maybe 2 months worth) is all going to be over in two month's time. I really can't wait to get compulsory education over with, and then finally get a move on Life.




You know the phrase that goes, once you taste a little of luxury, you can't go back to the simple life? Well, that's how i think my tastebuds evolved. For bread at least. I've probably mentioned before on how i've switched to eating Country loaves and Walnut loaves for breakfast instead of white sliced breads. Now, I've finally reacquainted myself with the taste of Foccacia, and it's just heavenly. I'm craving it all the time now, after that delish breakfast of Apple baked ham (it was on sale at Cold Storage) with lettuce and cheese in Foccacia I made myself this morning. I feel like making my on breads now, it's so much more convenient and inexpensive.

Now that i think about it, the reason i like baking and cooking. It's in my nature, to make things, create things, to use my hands and shape something from the Earth. Cooking and Baking allows me to do just that, projecting my imaginations and ideas into physical forms, pleasuring the senses be it sight, smell or taste. The Beauty of creations make people happy, and that's the emotion the world needs rather badly. Then it extends to almost all crafts and aspects of life. Fashion, music, food, architecture, furniture, dance......it just pleases me to be able to use my hands to create something, even if i may not be good at it at all.

just came on to report how disastrous the paper that ended 2 hours ago was. well well, 2 hours, 3 essays. can't they just round it up and make it even? 3 hours for 3 essays sounds so much better don't you think? we even get one and a half hours for ONE GP essay!oh wells, so i did 2 essays that took me 2 hours, um, maybe 10 mins of planning, and thus five minutes for my last essay. use your own imagination to think how much i could write (and mind you under PRESSURE) in FIVE minutes.

yep. and then i came straight home to an empty house, intending to cook myself something healthy. i did, and it probably was the healthiest lunch i've had (although not the most delicious). it's uh, aglio olio- spaghetti la caprese- inspired. haha. the guy on tv...david rocco if i'm not wrong, made it look so easy. and so...

Spaghetti with
-sausages
-olive oil
-tomatoes
-broccoli
-celery
-carrots
-lettuce
-garlic
-herbs
-mozzarella
-parmesan
-salt

yep. and uh, some of it was raw. haha. i would post a picture and scare away the veggie haters, but sadly BLOGGER IS STILL SCREWED IN MY BROWSER. yep.

oh right right, and another one! a dream i mean (it's so rare nowadays.) I WAS PLAYING CS - counterstrike! AND I WAS THE PLAYER. like literally in the game, holding a gun, running around trying to avoid getting shot. and uh, somehow i really sucked at the game. (ironic since i came in champion for paintball haha!) apparently i met saket (an old gym acquaintance) and a friend of his who was in the game too..Lehait/Lemait/Hemait or some weird name like that. haha. and so, he tried to lend me his gun (because i was too poor to afford better equipment and thus had sucky guns), and another one of those bazooka missile things i talked about in one of my previous dreams. the thing was, the missile was pink -_-. but yea, i missed the shot, the missile didn't explode, but started inflating. so Saket went over, picked up the inflating missile, attached it to a pail (???!!), and put it back onto his gun. and shot the target (a car). uh..the last part didn't make any sense, but i've got a feeling the dream stems from me reading books with Virtual Reality plots.

and then this morning i saw a lady riding a red Harley Davidson with a black leather jacket! so cool :D

geog time!

RAWR. this is the umpteenth time that i just want to slap myself silly right now! or rather for being silly. yes, today's two papers down already, so i came home to relax awhile, and in the end ENDED UP READING ANOTHER MANGA AND SQUEALING TO MYSELF. haiz. seriously, manga reading is really an addictive thing. but i just can't help it. the prospect of having to study econs...makes me want to put as much distance away from it as i can...so i avert myself to manga. a much MUCH more pleasurable way to pass time. Faster than a kiss - another shojo manga i'm dying to know the continuation.

From yesterday~
" Rawr. I seriously can't concentrate. It's one day to go and i'm trying to spam bio into my head.

I'm located at cafe pralet, a cafe run in conjunction with a culinary school i've been wanting to take classes from for quite awhile. The atmosphere's good, good music, nice staff and good food. AND IT'S A FIVE MINUTE WALK AWAY FROM MY HOUSE. Haha. It,s relatively quiet when it's not lunch hour, so it's much better than ikea with the screaming babies and artic airconditioning. The only downside i can think of is the wonderful array of cakes and pastries they have here, at a rather reasonable price of 3 to 4 bucks.= i'm really gonna get fat studying here.haha.

So far i've ordered a ice chocolate and Pralet- their signature chocolate praline cake. Starting with the drink, it was normal, nothing special. The cake it's like normal praline cake too. A good balance of chocolate mousse and chocolate cake, plus the chocolates isn't overpowering, so you don't really get sick of it fast, unlike some other richer cakes. Now, i just love the service. There's a small cup of warm water that came with the order, and when that finished, she automatically replenished it even though i didn't order anything else. This is what i call good service. The staff is friendly, albeit both sounded filipino, they're so much friendlier than some others. It's like they're just able to cheer you up with a smile:) ok maybe because i'm located near the kitchen door that i smell all the cooking and oil, but it's not too bad that i can't tolerate it, and it's my choice that i'm staying here for hours on ends.

Did i mention the cafe itself inspires me to hop right into the kitchen and whip up some delish items..i can't wait for december to come :D

Oh and right before i go back to bio, the staff at cotton on was top notch i would say- cheerful, the ultimate at being helpful and outgoing. Haha.

I'm all motivated now:) " - 2.15pm,1st September 2009

my passion for cooking and baking has been fuelled up once more..

by a book 'The Food of Love' by Anthony Capella.

a romance novel about a chef in rome, and an american girl in a web of lies....

oh i just want to travel to rome now. and then there's the cuisine described in the book..just made me hungry to try them, to cook outrageously delicious recipes, to make people want to eat the food you cook.

i went on a grocery shopping spree after, with desserts in my head to be made and eaten. but with the guilt of already spending my time reading instead of studying at the library today took a toll, thus dessert was bought. tried to make panna cotta again, improvised without the gelatin sheets that i couldn't find in NTUC, we'll see the results of that tomorrow.

From Q Bread bakery: Cheese mousse. The cream was light, almost like whipped cream, but a little excessive, while the cake was not as light as it looked.

yesterday, was one hell of an interesting day, full of emotions i would say. and quite ironic when i compare the situations i was in.

do you think i'm cold/heartless/emotionless?

it's late afternoon, and i'm sleepy.
my tummy's still full from the 2 hour-plus lunch this afternoon at The Line. Shangri-la hotel. Yes, an extravagance, but it was meant as a birthday lunch for my brother's 21st birthday, hence the all out nature of throwing money to the wind, or rather to the hotel's cash register. since it was one expensive buffet, my whole family plus my brother's 5 friends ate till or tummies were at the point of bursting (at least mine felt like it was. that's why i said the last time buffets are so not healthy. The food was good though, as expected from shangri-la.picture post again, since im too sleepy and uncomfortable using my brother's computer. oh and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE & SHAUN CHUA!

The Line @ Shangri-la Hotel
sadly i didn't take a lot of pictures either..so this'll have to do.

my third serving of food. i was starving, so kinda forgot to take the camera out till then. There was A LOT of variety. Dim sum, prime rib, satay, lamb chop, salmon coli-something (it's like a long salmon puff), mushroom quiche, bread with garden vegetable soup (it was just green pea soup)....those were what i ate. there's a lot more fresh seafood, sashimi, local favourites etc. but the quality was just so good..
left to right: Rose mouse with blood orange jelly, Gula Melaka Sago and Coconut Panna Cotta. My favourite is still the rose mousse.
Clockwise starting from centre: Tiramisu, Apple Filo, Cream Puff, Macaron, Lamington in Rasberry Confit.
Chocolate Cremeux: my older brother's favourite. basically dark chcolate cream with more chocolate in the middle.
L to R: Strawberry Shortcake, Morello Cheesecake, Pineapple and Mango Mousse.
Gulab Jamu: an Indian dessert, supposedly made of condensed milk, flour , soaked in suger syrup. This one had some coconut in it, which made it have this veggie-like texture. made my mom exclaim: 'it's like i'm eating paper.'

L to R: Carrot cake with cream cheese, Macha (green tea and red bean paste)
Creme Brulee. This was NICE.
Brother's Chocolate Truffle Birthday cake. more rich chocolate.
The dessert disply. this is only one third of it, the 'cakes' section. there's the local desserts, the ice cream counter, the waffle/crepe counter with the ice kachang and chendol, and the ethnic desserts....
did i mention i love the range of desserts although those were the ultimate that killed my stomach?

technically it's still my birthday because i was born at 7 plus in the morning! i think. haha.

it was a relatively enjoyable birthday, didn't expect as much things to happen as it did today, and they happened! and then i've got to thank all the hockey people, my classmates, my family and the random people who wished me happy birthday! especially the presents...(i got a full body shop tea tree range....feeling a little guilty here.) i'm proud of myself of finally being grown up enough to think that even if it was my birthday, it's still no excuse from studying.

that's my priority now. (finally, for once in my life studying is somewhat important and near the top of my list). i managed to scrap out some essay outlines and finish bio essay tutorials before i left school, but i'm still really far behind on my revision! help! rushed home to get changed before my family went out for dinner. got to wear my new wedges (: but sometime in between the dinner, it felt as though it wasn't going as how it should, and i kinda sulked a alittle. probably due to the fact that my tumy wasn't feeling too well then to enjoy a japanese teppanyaki buffet at yuki yaki (and the food's not really that good anyway...just went there for the cold plate to make ice cream experience.). but it passed. and i ate VERY little cake. like one spoon of oreo cheesecake. haha. today i've had three cakes, that's just overload i tell you, even for a cake lover like me. Chocolate mouse with coffee in the morning, chocolate truffles in the afternoon, and oreo cheesecake at night. lets hope my tummy gets better

througout the course of the day. i learnt new things. from others, to myelf. i hope that with this birthday i'll grow into a better person for humanity.

i don't know why. but i always listen to my older brother no matter what he says. not necessarily that i'll follow his advice, but somehow it matters. even when he talks as if he's the only one who matters in the world, not caring about others attitude, basically his point of view. but sometimes it's convincing enough it makes sense. i guess that's just him. being able to manipulate people, convince them of what to do. thus he'll make a good financial planner = his current job. a little bit of a salesman somewhat.

and that talk with him over cooking and eating dinner and washing up (i was doing all the cooking and washing up; and him the talking) he made me rethink about university. earlier in the day, i was thinking about culinary school. not just pastry.he was positive about that. and then he brought in my parents' view and university. and then about business school. no use he says. and it made sense. haha. in a way. ok, it coincided with ms ting's comments in class too - about people getting good grades then going into business (implied as if business isnt all that, which is somewhat true with almost everyone in business as if it's mainstream) so now i'm back to square one. seriously at loss at what i want to do in uni. something fun, adventurous, out of the classroom. national geographic! haha. that would lead me into geography, but i'm not into the science. just the outdoors. environment. making people recycle. making the world sustainable.

this always happens just because i'm so easily swayed. lets just hope that can change very soon.

perhaps it was the significance of having my last 17-year-old dinner, i was in a pretty good mood, cooking for me, my brother and my dad, washing up, all on my own accord. perhaps it was the atmosphere. happy day = i'm being a helpful person, and i got to talk to my brother in a long time - without parents around. so i guess it's a pretty reflective or...don't really have a word to describe it, but, calming, to have a talk with siblings. older siblings (no matter how self-centred and lazy they are - well, my brother was saying how we should all just have dishwashers so we don't have to wash dishes, while I was washing all the dishes and he was eating ice cream) and so my nicest dinner i've cooked myself:

Fried Rice with ham and celery, Portobello Mushroom with Butter and Garlic (my signature), and lastly Grilled French Onion Bratwhurst.

i want!

zara wedges that were on sale...spotted at zara.

it's just been so busy...and now i'm up to my neck drowning in just homework.

well, photo post again. no time to elaborate (although i should be practicing elaboration for ALL my essays no matter what subject it is. meaning that my weakness in scoring level 1 or level 2 marks is due to lack of details and rigour in my essays, and probably lack of evaluation as well.)

Chocolate Amer by Bakerzin. chocolate mousse and cake. alright, nothing special.

Outing on Off-in-Lieu. Tuesday 21st July 2009. Supposedly study session at National Library, then Suntec-Marina Square window shopping, then Millenia Walk's Bakerzin.

Spaghetti Bolognese @ Swensons'

Ariel + some burger @ Swensons'

sheena, anne @ Swensons'

i + ariel @ Swensons'

thin people + burgers @ Swensons' (the size of the burger is improportionate to the person)

anne @ Mango.

anna overtowering pam in heels. @ zara

pam liking wedges (: @ zara

mango mousse @ bakerzin (ariel.yum...)

Newyork cheese @ bakerzin (sheena)

Tiramisu @ bakerzin (anne)

ariel promoting cake.

ariel eating cake.

ariel liking cake.

my free Warm Chocolate cake. @ bakerzin

fin. @ esplanade.

Cafe call with Christine - Wednesday, 22nd July 2009 @ Caramel & Hairloom (Shaw tower)

Creme Brulee.

Bread and Butter Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream. YUM.

love the wall. so reminds me of the ikea cloth i bought (:

shoppe + salon.

love the interior (:

table.

Pretty sky - 24th July 2009 @ Kitchen Window

sadly my phone camera can't capture the real vivid colour. injustice to nature!

tweaked the contrast a little...closer to nature.

this is just a pretty exaggeration. blood orange sky (:

Grades update.

GP- D

Math- U

Biology- U

Economics- E (after moderation)

Geography- D

looks like my marks have yet to pass the halfway mark...