Belated Merry Christmas to all!

My family never really celebrates Christmas, but this year, I decided last min on Christmas Eve to buy us a log cake. Unsurprisingly, prices were a little marked up; and the scrooge in me felt a little 'pinched' that I was prob charged way above cost price for my log cake... But it turned out to be quite well spent, 'cos mum and sis liked it quite a bit and we all had a very yummy Christmas breakfast.

Come next week, it's time to start dieting!!! Daily feasting and no exercise makes me a sinful girl :(

The cute sugary santa, frosted all over by icing sugar... :)

Visit to Pinnacle@Duxton

I suppose my job sometimes has its perks... Might be peanuts compared to perks other ppl get at work, but well, better than nothing lah.

And so Hsg Div requested for and was given a tour of the Pinnacle on Tuesday... Unfortunately it started pouring 30 min before the tour commenced, so we had to trudge around in the rain... So instead of a nice sunset at the 50th sty skybridge, we only glimpsed a gloomy/ misty cityscape from afar ;P

Despite the rain, the Pinnacle did not disappoint. It really didn't feel like I was touring a public housing project. For a split second, I felt REALLY proud to be a part of HDB :P


View of Sg's busy port from the 26th sty skybridge

Can you believe this -- "pods" for stargazing at the 50th sty skybridge!

View from a vacant unit...

Nouilles De Ble Pourpre, Astroboy & Ice Cream

I just had purple noodles from Koka for lunch! If you didn't already know, I am a 'fan' of instant noodles haha. I think it's a brilliant invention, and they were my constant companion during my Berkeley days... :P From time to time, mum still allows me to indulge in instant noodle lunches... and today, she surprised me with a bowl of purple wheat noodles.


The packet of 5 packs comes (unsurprisingly) in purple packaging. The product summary on the packet claims that 100g serving of KOKA Purple Wheat Noodles gives you as much antioxidants as 80g of blueberries. I've never heard of noodles rich in antioxidants, but if it were really true, I wouldn't mind having these as a staple in my cupboard ;) But they tasted like normal maggi instant noodles lor. I also couldn't quite figure out why these S'porean-brand noodles had a french name.


Personally thought the individual packaging was surprisingly no frills but quirky :)

As for Astroboy, I discovered him in the most unlikely of places - 7 Eleven @ Sentosa Palawan Beach. I never knew 7-eleven stocks toys, but well, they did. Ok lah, this isn't considered a toy, but rather, a bubble bottle. It was so cute i couldn't resist buying. Thankfully I didn't have to pay too much for my whim -- $3.90 only lah. My kid (if i had one) would be thrilled blowing bubbles from this! Since I don't have any kids, I'm also not sure what I'd do with this. So... if anyone wants an Astroboy bubble bottle, can email me and check whether it's still available. I'd be most glad to give it away...


I also attended an ice-cream making workshop at UDDERS (@ their Kilat Court store) on Wednesday, together with all my colleagues and director. It was a Housing Division Retreat (first half was at Sentosa) and I had a lot of fun making and eating ice-cream. Seriously, it's not that difficult to make your own ice-cream! All I needed for my Vannila ice-cream was:

200ml milk
200ml cream
half a vannila pod
50g of sugar

Then, using a very simple method of cooling ice way below its melting point, we froze our own ice cream mixture in 15-20 minutes. But of course, after a few mouthfuls, most of us abandoned our messy creations for the professionally made ice-cream. It was certainly yummier than the Swensens ice-cream buffet... though more ex too, of course.

Sigh, what fun we can have outside work!

I created my long weekend this week by taking Friday off. It was a good decision, though with the backlog of work awaiting action, I hope it wouldn't cause too much pain next week ;P It has been a fulfilling weekend so far, and interesting new activities packed into the past 2 days included trying out new hairdresser; tagging along with j to search for her wedding gown; going to chinese sinseh the first time ever... and watching Dead Poets' Society on DVD ;)

Tagging along with someone to shop for wedding gowns was quite fun for a first-timer like me, but seriously, it also seems like a very time-consuming and tiring business. Being a 'photo enthusiast' I was also interested in how ppl took wedding pics, but somehow the two places I visited weren't very inspiring. And personally didn't see the attraction in going to random places overseas to take wedding pics, esp if the couple was born & brought up in sg - but I suppose it seems pretty cool to tell people that you're going overseas for a wedding photo shoot. Hmmm if i ever become a wedding photographer I shall bring my clients to quirky/nostalgic places in Sg... And if that day ever comes I hope scientists would have figured out how to keep Sg's daily temperature at 20C.

The thought of visiting a Chinese physician for my ankle was pretty scary, but better short-lived pain then long-term agony. So on Sat morning, went down to this presumably good physician located at Bedok Reservoir... One could smell the herby mentol-ish " shop scent" from afar. Waiting time was a good 45 - 50 min, but consultation only took less than 5 min. Very chop-chop, no nonsense one. Guy just came, asked what's wrong, then immediately proceeded with the extremely painful kneading. At the end of it all, his assistant covered the injured spot with a dubious looking patch (presumably with all the chinese medicine) and bandaged up the whole ankle. Told not to remove my bandage till tonight, but itchy fingered me undid the whole thing yesterday night. The consultation, including medicine (some 20 small black powdery spherical tablets to improve blood circulation), came up to $25. Quite reasonable lah. Though painful for that few min or so, experience was less traumatic than expected. Hopefully he lives up to his name!

Whole day change boss...

By early Dec, I would have changed immediate supervisors thrice in a mere 6 months! I am generally receptive to changes, but it's rather tiring to have to keep adjusting to new working styles; to explain things to the new person all over again. Though the first meeting with to-be boss last Thurs was quite alright (and she treated us to ang ku kueh...), I'm slightly upset that I will not get to work under Mr Good anymore. Instead it would be a Ms Workaholic (based on hearsay)... Sigh, I just want to be Ms Nuah3/ Ms Peaceful... not a Ms forced-to-be-workaholic :(

Little heart tuggers

Actually it's quite a pain to write long blog entries... So depending on whether the narcissist or lazy self takes over, you see/dun see a blog entry :P Today's a public holiday, so the force is on the narcissist self's side.. but cos there's still a lazy streak in me, I will not be writing separate entries (organised along various themes) on my India trip. Instead, I'd do a chapalang summarised one and try to mask my laziness by calling this entry -- Little heart tuggers. Heh.

If Shruthi didn't insist, we wouldn't have been able to go her fren's wedding. And thanks to her, we had a wonderful 3-day homestay in Bangalore. I also borrowed my kurta (the long dress with slits that many Indian women wear with pants) from her sis. But somehow, I still too look fair in this pic to pass off as an Indian...

The bridal car was erm... interesting. Hmm, i think if my bridal car ever looks like this, I'd rather not get married.

Cafe Turtle at Khan Market. Neat little cafe tucked away in row of 'shophouses'. This is on the 3rd floor while the 2nd floor houses a cool bookshop.

The wedding feast! One of my most enjoyable Indian meals. But I still haven't figured out how to eat unmessily with my hands.

Yummy salad at Le Cafe, New Delhi. Part of our lunch on the last day in Delhi...

I like the reflections I unknowingly captured in this pic.

A leisurely quiet moment together at the love monument..

Cookie Monster at the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur. It's this huge observatory (with various astronomical/astrological instruments) built by one of the kings... The structures remind me of Escher's paintings.

Anokhi cafe in Jaipur! It had the yummiest and cheapest food on the trip... Anokhi is a clothings/fabrics/homeware store started by a British. It's now a popular nationwide chain amongst, I would think, wealthier Indians.

Anokhi had a musuem too ;) In a beautifully restored haveli -- they showcase how blockprinting is done... very labour intensive! We also met this craftsman who was patiently chiselling his woodblock...

A beautiful sunset. Overlooking rest of Jaipur city from Naagarh Fort.

Ganesha is a good friend to have!

Loved the white and black tiles... but had to wait really really long for the endless stream of tourists to clear...

For some weird reason, I was quite a rare sight to behold in Udaipur... and in many other Indian cities as well. So all the school girls took turns to take pictures with me...

Apples in my hotel room - perfect for still-life paintings!

Lovely "palace grounds" at Fateh Garh Palace hotel, Udaipur. The floor was spotless because the cleaning ladies were cleaning the floor all the time...

Where's my food?? Hungry... :(

Touring in a wheelchair on the last day. At Bahai Temple (the Sydney Opera House lookalike), New Delhi. I lifted my own spirits by imagining myself to be the female lead in the Jap drama, Beautiful Life... haha. K lah, far from it... but imagine only mah.

Over the weekend, I restlessly overworked my healing foot... Sneaking out to shopping malls and to watch A Christmas Carol in 3D. Luckily the foot is hardy and isn't too achy yet heh. Today I excitedly signed up to be part of MND's community gardening programme -- some committee is setting up a rooftop community garden and we can apparently grow our own flowers/veges and even herbs, tapping on expertise of NParks staff! Was very excited cos we could potentially have a Jamie Oliver herb garden right at our doorstep! Or our own little secret garden... I mean, should be fun to grow stuff right. And have ppl teach you how to for free. Just that erm, I hope we all dun get so carried away by work and neglect our baby plants after the novelty wears off...

It's been quite a crazy week but the weekend has arrived just as quickly ;) Haven't gone home ard 9pm for quite a while and having to that almost 3 nights in a row was not fun at all. Then Thurs/Fri night were packed, with CW's wedding dinner and My Nice Dinner respectively. This year has seen a 'bumper crop' of weddings. Think I've already attended like 4, turned down 1, with 2 more to go in Dec...

Thankfully, My Nice Dinner went pretty well, and I think most staff were sufficiently entertained with the special videos they were treated to. And of course, the personalised tokens of appreciation -- Little Mr and Miss books. Directors were given a list of attributes to 'bestow upon' their staff... and apparently my Director thinks I'm pretty wise heh. Not bad, not bad, but I dunno gave him that idea. My DD got 'Mr Good', and i thought it's quite apt, cos he's a really nice guy.

My Little Miss Wise, and the toothpick cover from Club Chinois ;P

Yeah, I liked these pop-artish toothpick covers so much that I koped them home... Some ppl just didn't care very much for the details but I thought this was really cool. There's like a few colors, and the yuefenpai ladies are just so classic and beautiful. And food was yummy! *Slurp*

It's another weekend mostly spent recuperating at home. Thanks to a miraculous Salonpas gel, the swell in my feet went down by quite a bit within the past two days! Yay! My foot never looked so good haha. After suffering from a stubbornly swelled up foot for a good 2.5 weeks, i really appreciate its normal slim self... And I wouldn't need to crutch to work tmr & look too pitiful... Unfortunately I woke up today to a very phlegmy cough and slight fever... While at the doctor's, paranoid dad also suggested i check my blood pressure - unsurprisingly my blood pressure was normal, but the doc also claimed that I'd never get high blood pressure in my life... (I suppose that's a pretty good piece of news?) Apparently my blood pressure leans toward the lower range, but not so low that i get fainting spells etc. But it kinda explains my very occasional feel-faint episodes when I exert too much (eg exercise) without breakfast etc.

And despite having all the time in the world today (sort of), I couldn't really concentrate on doing anything at all... just doodled around the house doing practically nothing. Sigh, it's another 'wasted' Sunday :( There's also really no motivation to 上班 tmr... Hai... like that how to 做大事 in life... :(

Of arches, screens, shadows and reflections

Having visited at least 4 forts, 4 palaces and 3 tombs, my India trip was very much an architectural 'field trip'... And really, India is a photographer's haven, not only because of the beautiful architecture at many tourist attractions, but also because the locals' saris and kurtas come in all sorts of vibrant colors. Despite fantasies of taking award-winning portraits of locals (once in a while only lah), I often find it awkward and difficult to just click away in ppl's faces. And so everytime 80% of my pictures end up featuring inanimate objects heh...

I love the arches, the resultant play with light and interesting shadows created. We also saw many many intricately carved marble screens. Many of which were meant to let the palace ladies have a glimpse of the outside world without revealing their pretty faces to outsiders.

Glass House @ Lal Bagh Botanic Gardens, Bangalore

India Gate, War Memorial in New Delhi

Red Fort, New Delhi

Mughal Emperor Humayun's Tomb, New Delhi

Taj Mahal, Agra

Hall of Public Audience, Agra Fort

Me @ Hawal Mahal (Palace of Winds) in Jaipur. It's this small palace along busy streets of Old Jaipur... with many many tiny windows for women to peek at street affairs

Nice shadows at the Red Fort in New Delhi

View from outside hotel room, Fateh Garh, Udaipur

Screens galore! At various palaces and forts. The designs of the 9-in-1 one is simply amazing...

~Home Sweet Home~

I'm finally back from the land of blaring horns and the anyhow anyhow but somehow seems to work out traffic... I've never felt so at ease with the clean air and orderly roads in Sg... BTW, pedestrians also contribute a big part to the anyhow anyhow traffic. Indian pedestrians must be the most skilful car/auto-rickshaw shunners ever. Esp if you want to beat the charging oncoming traffic and hop onto public buses awaiting a green light; or weave in and out of temporarily stationary vehicles to hawk your wares (I suppose you can sell anything at all... from funny flourescent toys to socks, food and even erm, 2-feet tall huge vases) or beg for money... Then again, I guess most ppl wouldn't have to resort to such 'antics' (esp the hawking on roads) if it weren't so difficult to eke out a living.. :(

It's been a very interesting and eye-opening two weeks, but I suppose I wouldn't want to really live there. Pollution aside, my chinese/sg/western-food-philic stomach would complain big time if I had to eat curries and rotis and naans most of the time :P Not to say that I didn't savour some really yummy Indian cuisine, but the preferred option is still a largely non-curry/mashed up diet. I never really thought about it before, but being able to discretely see your food makes a pretty big difference...

As for the poor ankle, it needs a good rest too. I'm pretty much reliant on crutches for the next week or so, but thankfully it's but a bad sprain that should heal with more rest and time. The injury has given me a somewhat "invaluable" opportunity of being wheelchaired ard for the last couple of days... and only then do you truly appreciate places with universal access. And the wheelchair is a wonderful invention! I could still go places without my legs..., though being constantly stared at was part of the 'deal' :P And of all the airlines we took during the entire trip, think Tiger Airways was the most disappointing. Indian airlines like Indigo, Kingfisher etc win hands down! Esp when it comes to service and non-discrimination of physically challenged individuals... Stupid Tiger Airways, want to charge me Rs 1100 (close to $40 sing) for use of wheelchair from check-in counter to plane! What a rip-off...

Lastly, what's a trip without pictures? Here are some highlights...

The lovely but very hazy Taj Mahal...

Cookie monster moments to spice up the pictures...

Innocent friendly children never fail to bring a smile to my face... of course there were also many more 'devious' ones, who just call out... "Hello, money?" I think those who call me "Hello, chocolate?" are a bit more tolerable :P

When can I cross?

p/s: The cool thing about public transport in Delhi though is that they run on CNG... which cuts down pollution significantly! They shld eventually extend this to all Indian cities...

The lovely Fateh Garh Palace overlooking the lakes and rolling hills in Udaipur. The lake was a letdown due to the lack of rain but this place was still quite perfect for nursing an injured ankle... :)

Today is Day 12 of my holiday and Day 7 of THE SPRAIN.. which dramatically culminated in outpatient treatment at a local hospital in Udaipur this afternoon. Yeah, I managed to screw up again and half-limped my way thru most of the attractions, including the Taj. The stomach is fine but the leg is out.. :(

It's been two days with our wonderful host in Bangalore, and tmr my Incredible India trip will start for real :P Starting with 2 days in Delhi... Contrary to all the horror stories ppl have been telling me before I left, stomach's holding up fine for now, yay! And... I realised that books are so cheap here...! Esp those printed in India. I want to buy like 20 books home. But alas, books are bulky. Hehe, I just purchased a brand new copy of Muhammad Yunus' Banker For The Poor for like $9...! I think YJ and J in Japan would love the bookstores here... :)

It's been quite a decent weekend, but I smell a yucky 5 days coming up. Competent colleague is away on 9-day holiday in Japan and I'd be covering her this week. It's the first time I'm left managing the whole TC portfolio on my own... Cross my fingers that no one would generate extra work for me in the form of forum letters this week heh. Will also be clearing as much work as possible before going for a hopefully Incredible 2-week trip in India. Yes, two weeks away from work! Excited excited... if all goes well, I might get to attend an Indian wedding as well :) Why, why does work build up just when I'm due for a holiday??

500 days of summer!

I like this movie. It's a romantic comedy with a plot that actually feels quite real... except the names of the girls he meets :P Also like Tom's scribblings and outfits... heh.
but quite annoying i can't turn off the ads in the embedded video... :(

M.N.D = My Nice Dinner

This is today's instalment of publicity posters... cute? Today I still feel like being a florist. I'd have my corner shop by this cool street. My neighbour would be a jolly french baker who sells pretty and yummy french pastries. Two doors down the road would be a funky bookstore like Books Actually. And at the end of my street would be a quaint little Japanese cafe... with outdoor seating (white wrought iron chairs) And every morning the aroma of freshly brewed coffee would waft into my shop... And it shall be 22 degrees all year round...

3-second florist aspirations

Just now while getting a tiny bouquet of flowers for a friend, I really felt like being a florist myself. Learning about all the different kinds of flowers and then putting them altogether into pretty packages to make all my clients and their loved ones happy. Then I can buy all the lovely ribbons in the world and have 1001 flower creations... all cute + with lovely and non-cheesy color combinations. I was quite appalled when the florist wanted to match this ugly purple ribbon with my tiny white/gold wildflower bouquet... Luckily I managed to stop the disaster in time... :P

btw, this was not what i got lah... heh.

Pple at MND seem to indulge in long lunches, even though we're supposedly busier than the stat boards. But then again, I suppose it depends on which division you're in, cos our next door CC girls always end up "fasting"... Or only go for lunch when it's really time for tea. And then some ppl "complain" that Housing Div ppl can go home on time... I suppose it's all relative. But seriously, even when we're busy, colleagues and I seldom torture ourselves by skipping lunch... Something good to keep up! :)

Well, the variety of food places here is certainly wider than at Toa Payoh. If one's adventurous, there's certainly no lack of new places to try out. And just last week, several eateries in this new Maxwell Chambers building opened shop... Only gripe is lunch crowd doesn't seem to diminish despite more eating places around.

Yesterday I also decided to create an UP effect by ordering many many balloons for dt... Was rather excited about how it would all turn out -- and I wasn't disappointed! :P Perhaps the most anti-climatic thing was that the buyer seemed way more excited than the recipient... heh.

The cheeky acrobat of Duxton hill ;)