Cupcake fetish

Attended a wedding dinner yesterday evening, and the cupcakes on our tables were so lovely...

青花瓷

I know I very slow but I only found out the title of this Jay Chou song when watching "我要唱下去” on TV after dinner... It must be the most difficult song to sing@karaoke! But it has such beautiful chinese-poem lyrics... I shall learn this song one day + the meaning of the lyrics hehe.



青花瓷

素胚勾勒出青花笔锋浓转淡
瓶身描绘的牡丹一如你初妆
冉冉檀香透过窗心事我了然
宣纸上 走笔至此搁一半
　　　　
釉色渲染仕女图韵味被私藏
而你嫣然的一笑如含苞待放
你的美一缕飘散去到我去不了的地方
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
炊烟袅袅升起 隔江千万里
在瓶底书汉隶仿前朝的飘逸
就当我 为遇见你伏笔
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
月色被打捞起 晕开了结局
如传世的青花瓷自顾自美丽 你眼带笑意
　　　　
色白花青的锦鲤跃然於碗底
临摹宋体落款时却惦记著你
你隐藏在窑烧里千年的秘密
极细腻 犹如绣花针落地
帘外芭蕉惹骤雨 门环惹铜绿
而我路过那江南小镇惹了你
在泼墨山水画里 你从墨色深处被隐去
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
炊烟袅袅升起 隔江千万里
在瓶底书汉隶仿前朝的飘逸
就当我 为遇见你伏笔
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
月色被打捞起 晕开了结局
如传世的青花瓷自顾自美丽 你眼带笑意

Butter Pork Ribs

Mmmm... I love the butter ribs at Two Chefs at C'wealth Ave... They are utterly sinful, but also irresistably yummy! It's the cereal prawn equivalent, pork-ribs style hehe. Sigh, I was intending to jian3 fei2 today one...

Today I co-organised my first PS gathering at our MND karaoke lounge... The turnout was surprisingly quite decent; and the delifrance mini pastries and Jpops (Mini versions of donuts from J.Co -- My co-organiser commented maybe they are the "holes" from donuts "recycled" into another marketable product) were quite popular! Hmm, unfortunately order too little food and I didn't really get to eat what I bought... Maybe I shld order a box of Jpops for myself one day hehe. They are really quite cute and bite-size. I suppose the snacks matched the largely-girly crowd's taste buds... Which leads me to my next point..

That the crowd at MND is so much younger as compared to HDB. We recently seem to get at least one "sweet young thing" a week. That aside, for once most ppl seem about my age, except for the bosses. Gone are the days when lunchtime talk revolved around kids falling sick and kids gg to sch :P But only rewind a bit lah, colleagues talk abt getting married and getting their own place... I suppose that's still more befitting for my age than all the nursing/rearing kids talk ;)

Still gymless...

The gymless me decided to try out Fitness First at Capital Tower yesterday evening... And i spent close to an hour fighting imaginary enemies in a Bodycombat (something like kickboxing) class yesterday evening, tog with like a ton of other adrenaline-charged sweaty companions... Though class was not bad and quite a good workout, somehow the crammed studio and high density of fellow exercising humans put me off quite a bit... So after session I decided to sneak off before the sales executives come bugging me to sign up for a package. Alas! The careless me left her driving licence behind (had to exchange id for locker key) and had to go back today to pick it up... Luckily I only had to listen to sales pitch for less than 10 minutes. I suppose I appeared clearly disgusted with the unreasonably high 'membership entrance fee' and 'admin charges'. Why would anyone in the right mind pay $500 to become a member at the gym. Though it's currently slashed to $9, such a ridiculous marketing gimmick failed to work on me...

So I'm still gym-less... The "informal" bike club i joined havent open shop leh... heh :P

Clueless

Once in a while, I'd lapse into the what should-I-do-with-my-life mode. But nothing never really happens in the end. I'm too inertia-ed to act on my whims. I'd frequently think abt this nagging question after reading an article abt some inspiring personality who has made some v admirable/remarkable contributions towards the poor/ needy in some developing country. But then I'd soon forget all about it till the next inspiring role model interrupts my status-quo-life again. And it's a vicious cycle- little ideas well up in my head, and these waves of intended action recede and disappear soon enough, traceless... And before I know it, I let trivial worries take up my attention and sap up energy to seriously think about bigger goals in life.

I need a breakthrough of sorts! What is there for me to pioneer! On hindsight, I cannot help but think what the Z&C gang once said abt me is rather true - i'm the half-boiled sort... where's the determination to follow thru?

Change

I discovered this gem of a Jap drama some weeks ago when family was channel surfing on cable TV... And I've started watching this jap political drama right smack on the eve opposition party DPJ wins the elections in Japan :P And surprise, surprise, Kimura Takuya plays elementary sch teacher-turned prime minister.. His life very good, always end up getting these fun, meaty roles... Not sure how realistic this drama is, but well, definitely a fun way to learn more about Japanese politics I say :) Can watch everything FOC at mysoju.com!

And a good way for me to relearn my Jap... :)

I'm Gymless...

My gym membership ended two weeks ago and I'm now gym-less 'cos I was too cheapo to pay for an unlimited package just to access the AMORE Living at Tampines One... Sigh, can feel fats accummulating already. If only there were HDB club-houses... Maybe HDB can branch out into the health business and set up affordable, accessible gyms in the heartlands... Maybe we can have void deck gyms, managed by Town Councils... And then the Town Councils would come to me at MND and curse at the idiot who thought up such a silly idea :P I suppose this is me putting on the "spoilt resident" hat, wishing facilities were all at her doorstep. But sigh, seriously, me needs to find a new gym that wun bust my budget... I suspect I'd end up gg back to AMORE, having to settle for the Bugis/Park Mall branches... :(

I've a friend (W) and an ex-boss starting grad sch at Berkeley this Fall. Apparently my PS' daughter is also gg to Berkeley and would be taking the next week off to escort his daughter there... So envious :(

So W is staying in Albany; and would be within walking distance from Solano Ave/ Ranch 99 and El Cerrito Plaza... Sigh, even mere mention of these functional places conjures up fond memories... Even routine activities like hopping into my lovely ex-car to go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's... Or driving to Jacqui's place to hang out... Going to Oakland D&A for the 3-vege-1-soup Chinese dinner that would only cost say $5 per person? Even gg for classes (that you chose and wanted to do) was nice. Sigh, dun think already... one needs to accept reality and move on :P

Hehe maybe I should take off and go studying again one day...

I found the long weekend and day off extremely restorative... Despite having to drag myself out of bed early Thurs morning, I was surprisingly awake and energetic even after tennis in the evening... If only the work week were reversed -- such that we get 5-day weekends ;P

Though I freely indulged in the buffet spreads during the weekend retreat, I hope I made up for it by exercising quite a bit too... And somehow after coming back, I feel a bit more pysched in keeping fit :)

A welcoming entrance...

View of the pool with lazing vacationers on deck chairs...

Walkway leading to the rooms

Desserts! There were yummy looking (and yummy tasting for the most part) desserts everyday.. heavenly ;)

I thought this pond was a mutant grass patch that supports water lilies... Yeah, it was that covered with those green thingies... maybe duckweed?

Laze, eat and sleep

Had a lovely lazy long weekend in Club Med Cherating (Malaysia) where life was comfortingly piggish ;) Hehe, I shall indulge in fantasy world for another day before returning to hectic pace of work on Thurs...

Public Enemies

Rodents, crows and pigeons have managed to top list of "public enemies" lately... Actually I dun really notice them very much, but they are apparently quite a nuisance... leading to complaints after complaints and MPs asking questions on how Town Councils carry out enforcement. You birds and rats have also created trouble for me cos I have to provide inputs on you to MEWR...

One day countdown to weekend getaway! :)

I finally get a decent weekend this time round! I'm really a lazy, like-to-do-nothing bum at heart, but somehow circumstances have led me to lead a rather fulfilling and somewhat action-packed life of late. So it's been a work-hard/play-hard week and a half. In btwn my busy work schedule, I've managed to: Check out Changi Village, indulge in simple $1 yam ice cream from ice-cream truck uncle and cycle at East Coast Park last weekend... This week I managed to lunch at Il Lido, Sentosa (farewell for boss), check out french bistro place at Shaw Centre and Ion Orchard (which seems like a decent shopping mall, unlike the chapalang Orchard Central... sadly, many stores there will NEVER be within budget). Also fully worn myself out with Labrador Park "games night" yesterday. And cos starchy food selection at Amoy is making me fat, I disciplined-ly dragged my tired self to gym class this morning...

And before the week ends tmr, I would also have watched Public Enemies, play at Drama Centre and attended boss' wedding@Goodwood Park hotel... Hmm I need rest!! Thankfully, that should come next weekend, when I shall be unpatriotic and slip away for a short getaway... :)

Relish, Cobbler Uncle, BHS Uncle and the Teochew Porridge Grandma.

Life this week (so far) has been a lot less insane. It would be great if it can remain this way, then I'd be sufficiently occupied at work, yet not too drained to do stuff after working hours.

Checked out Relish at Cluny Court yesterday evening... Have been wanting to try their burgers since a while ago, but somehow never really got down to it. The deco was quite simple, but fun and quite tasteful. Especially like their white wrought iron gate front and the white little antiquish "reception table" with curvy legs... The burgers were quite decent, but somehow I still prefer their sister restaurant Wild Rocket, with the best strawberry cheesecake ever. Somehow the version at Relish just didn't taste that authentic and shiok :P But it's quite pricey for such a sparse dessert... Perhaps I can learn how to make it for myself one day.

I've also been wanting to blog about the interesting Maxwell characters I meet around my workplace. They are mostly ordinary old folks, but somehow they each add their own special touch to the place. Character #1 is Cobbler Uncle. Every morning without fail he sits by the sheltered linkway linking Tanjong Pagar MRT to Amoy Food Centre... With his stash of rubber soles and other tools... He's usually working on one shoe or another, and I'll occasionally see a customer sitting patiently while Cobbler Uncle breathes life into the broken shoe... Such individuals/ trades are such a rare sight today, and somehow I feel happy that he's still fiercely guarding his simple trade/skill... Well, at least that's what I assume it is. Maybe Cobbler Uncle really laments everyday why he has to set up stall every morning to earn a living. But somehow the peaceful look on his face suggests otherwise...

Character #2 is Blast-hokkien-song Uncle. I've only bumped into him twice, but that was enough to leave a pretty deep impression. He's really quite a character because who on earth these days wheels a funny decorated cart around (with flower sticking out, collected cardboard and other paraphernalia). BHS Uncle seems to stick around only in the evenings, and this evening he was parked at the little park btwn Tanjong Pagar MRT and MND Complex... enjoying his little piece of hokkien-song infused territory... One day I shld try to figure out what his cart serves as... perhaps he peddles merchandise...

Character #3 is Teochew-porridge Grandma. Who sells teochew porridge at a stall at Maxwell Mkt... Their teochew porridge is quite yummy :) The best thing is that all the liao4 is always cut into pieces by this teochew-speaking old lady. E.g. When you order things like fishcake, or dao3 pok4, she will lay that piece of liao4 on her round wooden chopping board, swiftly cut it into more bite-sized pieces, before transferring it to a dish for her hungry customers... Dunno leh, somehow I think she very li4 hai4... I wonder what I'd be doing at the age of 70...

Hee ok, enough blogging for today. Perhaps next time I can blog abt the Haig Rd market hawkers... :P

I'm just not cut out to work very hard. Why do bosses ask for things over the weekend all the time! They should just go hire more ppl to share the work.

Though life feels a bit tough during this transitional period, am so thankful for support from loved ones... Every Sunday I am also reminded how wei2 da4 mum is. When I came home this evening with empty stomach, she instantaneously cooked me my fav instant noodles. While eating, quietly watched her help sis make "Little Indian" headbands out of vanguard and colored paper; cos sis needed those for her schoolkids' performance. Somehow her careful gluing of these technically "not her business" strips made me really touched..

Today... I'm halfway done.

It's been quite a trying week so far... just when I thought i could sit down in peace to clear some backlog work, we get last min "request" from M late Monday to put up two p-c papers for today... And you can imagine the mad rush in btwn... At one point, couldn't help but feel utterly cynical... I don't think I've ever had to work so hard...! And seems like that will be my sorry fate going forward. Oh well, seems like it is more strategic for me to learn how to deal with all the work than to wallow in self-pity though :P

Though volume of work is rather unpalatable so far, hope things will get better with time. Today when speaking with HDB staff I came to stark realisation that my sitting on things also mean that all these poor HDB ppl there cannot proceed with their work (for items significant enough to come to Ministry for approval lah). And felt somewhat guilt-stricken... Somehow that didn't occur to me till today, when reviewing the pile of stuff I had. More than 50% involved putting things up for M's approval... Hehe, those ppl waiting for the go ahead in HDB must now be cursing and swearing at the Ministry officer (hmm, i think i used to be in that position not too long ago...)

Today, that HDB is a very obedient stat board also finally set in... (A common comment made by both bosses and staff at MND) I'm getting the impression that we ppl at the Ministry wield a lot of power... One innocent question/request could (unwittingly) send ppl in the stat board scrambling for answers... Though it felt kinda "good" (wah, like suddenly everyone so obedient), also realised that I ought to be very clear/careful with what I ask of HDB... else make ppl do all this extra, unnecessary work. In other words, cannot abuse the "power" that comes with this job...

Sigh, am off to hopefully put up couple of simple submissions so that my eyelids wun twitch too much in the weeks to come :P

It's been a pretty xiong week for me. The week ended on a rather low note, with Boss not so subtly pointing out that I owed him several outstanding pieces of work and that I needn't wait for instruction for every single thing... Though I guess the 'lecture' wasn't entirely unjustified, it was still somewhat depressing. I guess the main issue is dealing with a suddenly much heavier workload and learning how to manage my time better. Suppose I would have been a little less demoralised if everything I did/ put effort in wasn't taken merely taken as matter-of-fact my job responsibilites. So well, I had to buck up a bit over weekend and unfortunately spent quite a large part of it clearing backlog work... Hopefully I'll be able to pick up things more quickly soon and then life wouldn't feel as thorny...

It's been an eventful two weekends!

To continue from where i last left off, relations with Miss M took a dramatic turn last Fri... when there was mini crisis haha. It's actually quite a trivial matter to me, but sudden decision by a bigger boss to join us in division farewell dinner for two colleagues got her quite upset... And it so happened that almost all the other heads were MIA on Fri morning and so she ended up seeking my 'advice'... And I managed to kinda settle the problem for her for time being. Though it was rather disruptive for me (like why am i doing chapalang stuff instead of real work!); felt somehow glad that I managed to make her feel a bit less upset. Not sure if she will smile at me next time... but even if she doesn't I can be assured it's not personal lah ;)

This week was also quite special, with first Berkeley batchmate getting married... And being someone's "jiemei" for the first time. Didn't really do very much, but it was fun prepping the 'grill-the-groom' games (though somehow when 'tekaning' a very sincere and sporting groom on the spot I felt v bad for our evil deeds...). Was pretty self-satisfied with my replication skills in making an amazing race envelope for the games hehe. And managed to snap some shots of the little heart tuggers at the wedding...

The Amazing Race envelope and clue!

Registration signage for the groom's side. We were joking it looks like toilet signage... :P

Roses at the ballroom door

Polaroid of guests (the jiemeis) stuck on the guestbook!

Roses and sash behind chairs at bridal table

Markers for guests to doodle...

Miss M

Miss M is a clerical officer-ish sort of figure at Housing Division. Well, I can't quite pinpoint what she does exactly, 'cos somehow the support staff at MND seem to have less clearly defined roles than the support staff at HDB... but yeah, I've been told she's v efficient at chasing HDB for overdue appeal replies etc and well, she is the person to go to for stationery.

Well, there's actually a whole baffling story about the hierarchical entitlement of files (according to Miss M), but well, I guess I'd rather not go into that. To cut the long story short, ppl at my level are sadly only entitled to the flimsy brown paper files haha.

Anyways, Miss M has been somewhat of a small mystery to me (BTW, that's not why I named her as Miss M, it's because her surname really starts with M). Some time last week, she sweetly but stealthily delivered a box of office pins to my table... After leaving the box on my table, Miss M took off without a single word, making me feel like I had H1N1 or something...

Then this morning when I walked past her on my way back to my workstation, tried to be friendly and smiled at her... but somehow I was greeted with a very straight face... I wouldn't say it's glum, but a bit of a why-u-so-weird-smile-at-me-for-what kinda look. Well, I have to say I felt a little surprised to receive such 'transparent treatment' from someone, but well, somehow I resolved in my heart to persevere... Surely one day her cold exterior would melt and she would smile back at me one day...? :P Later today I sounded out another colleague abt Miss M and was told that actually she's quite a nice lady... just takes time to warm up. Hehe, we shall see...

Sometimes emotions can be so overpowering no matter what your waking brain does to pull you towards the rational side the attempt ends up being quite futile... So perhaps the key is not be too harsh on yourself, and to 'let out' the negativity... Guess it's still acceptable to get upset over stuff, so long as deep down one remains sensible.. We're human after all...

Over past week, I realised that 1) Big boss works v v hard 2) Immediate boss is v smart and 3) TC colleague is duracell bunny... What a lethal combination. Why all these ppl dun need to sleep on weekdays one... I feel ultra sloth-ish in comparison... And dunno why these ppl still so awake at 730pm during Fri evening meeting whereas I was quite switched off towards the end already... But perhaps I am normal...

I was a very stressed girl last night, but troubled soul has calmed down considerably today :P Stress arose primarily from some draft outline I had to come up with; and me not wanting to work over weekend coupled with tight deadline given by boss resulted in a rather one-sided discussion session with boss that left me feeling rather inadequate... Oh well, guess ought take some blame for not putting in super a lot of effort lah. It's only been a week and I have a few pieces of outstanding work, not to mention lotsa reading to catch up on... but well, feel like I shouldn't put too much pressure on myself and to learn to keep my cool :) After all, if I get all stressed up in the beginning, how to survive the 2 years...!

On a more cheerful note, I was a bit more adventurous with food today and had bak kut teh with rice and fried doughsticks... The auntie at the stall was quite amused when she caught me staring at the packets of pre-cut you cha kueh.. I never knew ppl actually eat you cha kueh with bak kut teh soup... Pretty yummy. Colleagues had fried carrot cake (which I crave for deep down) but hmmm, I'd need to practise some self-discipline...

Sometimes you have so much you want to say you don't really know what you want to say anymore... Thoughts are somewhat jumbled, but oh well, I'm still gonna attempt a bite-size summary of my first week at work ;)

Day 1
First day of work at MND, me bumps into CK at lift lobby first thing in the morning... It's a small small world :P Thereafter, as part of getting-to-know new staff routine, my unglam sleep-deprived face was broadcast to rest of MND that same morning... Was also made to write self-intro that same morning, but was so uninspired I simply told the whole world how snacky I was... hehe. Rest of day was divided btwn setting up laptop (I got a Fujitsu! But just normal black black one, not v chio), talking to bosses (that took up large part of afternoon) and coming to terms with regressed IT @ MND (vs HDB). Was also somewhat amused by this intra-office chat program called SameTime-- and upon probing a bit, first thing ppl did was to SameTime. If not there, walk over. Last resort is to phone the person... how odd...

Days 2 to 4
Almost everyone I've told congratulated me that I'd be in the midst of good food at MND... Though the good food seems to be at Maxwell, colleagues dun seem too fond of it, citing overcrowdedness and consequently difficulty in finding seats as primary reason. So i haven't actually eaten there this week. Lunches have mostly been at Amoy... which has its fair share of good food as well, but yeah, seems like it'd be a while b4 I brave the snaking queues to try the really yummy places.

Work-wise, it just seems like.... there would be plenty of work for me in time to come haha. In case you're still wondering what on earth I'm doing at MND, well, I'd be dealing with Town Councils... Starting with the more routine stuff first before moving into the 'grey areas'; I'd prob need to be super well-acquainted with them fairly quickly.... cos... it's basically going to be a 2-man team :P Have to really take my hat off to existing TC officer...

Day 5
Me starts off day by talking to new DS and troubleshooting more IT issues... and today I sent my first email 'home'...! Feels somewhat strange, but hmm, guess I'd get used to it. And there really is some advantage coming from HDB, cos I have prior knowledge of how things work and ppl I can approach... And by end of day, also completed first submission ever to boss...! Though pace this week was quite manageable, feel like it's enough action for the week... am so happy it's finally Fri!

Bookmarks and chocs for colleagues...

I really wanted to write a comprehensive blog post on last few days at work, but I should really be sleeping soon... not good to be too panda-ish on first day at new workplace... so... till next time!

Above: Bookmarks made by me! :P
Below: Cute chocs rich with antioxidants... hehe.

A couple of recent visits to the supermarket the past week has made me feel like I'm missing out a bit on the little things in life. Well, maybe I'm really a bit yellow-faced deep down; and so when I got to go to the supermarket to do a little of my own shopping, it actually felt pretty enjoyable. Felt really shiok when leisurely strolling down the aisles in NTUC on a Mon morning...

I miss those undergrad days when visiting Safeway/Albertsons/Trader Joes/Whole Foods/Ranch 99 was a weekly affair... when I actually put more thought into what ought go into my kitchen cabinets :P These days, when I eat at home, I frequently find myself just eating what dear mum puts in front of me... And I have somewhat lost track of the foods available/location of utensils at home... so much so that sometimes mum "complains" that I'm really a tenant-in-daughter's-clothing.

Am taking one day off to nuah3 again tmr, in anticipation of the faster pace of life when I start work at MND... Having time on your hands to relax and do your own thing is really a luxury! If given a choice, I think I would prefer a slightly slower pace of life... with pockets of time to read and laze about at home... After all, too much of a good thing can be bad too :P

Today's muffin day...

I haven't baked in AGES... actually i've been wanting to bake something for the longest time, but have been quite lazy all along. It also doesn't help that I don't have an oven at home :P But since I took a day off today (clearing time-off), I finally overcome the inertia and just did it! And... my 40D and lovely f1.8 lens are back in action :)

Decided to try baking two kinds of muffins at my aunt's place this afternoon -- Banana sourcream muffins and Blackbottom muffins. The former was a somewhat interesting recipe I found in a Jap magazine; and the latter was an online recipe. Not sure if any of you can remb the Blackbottom muffins at Free Speech Cafe at our Berkeley Moffitt Library -- but they had the yummiest blackbottom muffins ever! With lotsa cream cheese goodness... Hehe, now you know how come i put on so much weight over there :P
The 'before' and 'after' of my banana sourcream muffins. Hmmm, I think I actually prefer the 'before' look. I dun think I'll ever find out what they are supposed to taste like; because my Jap a bit cannot make it then I couldn't quite make out one of the steps... and just anyhow anyhow... hee.

Heh, I have a fairy-chimney muffin! Well, very unfortunately, I dun quite fancy the looks of my muffins... It doesn't help that the core of the banana turns black after being cooked. Hmm, the chimney is really quite sooty hor :P

The blackbottom muffins--- fresh out of oven (all in baking tray) and when 'served'. Hehe... more like for picture-taking only.

Hehe, some of you might get to taste the experimental muffins... :P Sadly they neither look nor taste terribly good :) Nevermind, till next time!

Moving On...

While in Turkey, I also received news of a job transfer via sms. I would be seconded to MND, after close to 3 years at my current job. However, was offered no further details of the secondment till I got back to work this week. Seems like I would be starting work at MND Housing Division come Jun 1...

While I welcome the change, it would have been nice if it weren't that sudden. Less than 3 weeks to finish up and pass on my work, say my good-byes and prepare myself mentally. And I would most certainly miss my bunch of 'auntie' colleagues, lovely people who never failed to offer a helping hand whenever I needed one. No more 'koping' of my junior staff's keropok and titbits... Wun receive anymore 'lil sis' special treatment... No one to 'dote' on me anymore... :( Well, hope I'd still be able to maintain work-life balance over there and let the environment not be too competitive.

Beauties and the "Beast"!

As suggested by the title of this post, this is a random post of flowers... and of myself :P The flower pics were taken on my own camera b4 it died on me... As you are probably aware, I'm not particularly fond of posting pictures of myself... but this time round, I managed to look somewhat photogenic in a few shots-- thanks to fellow DSLR enthusiast hehe. So yeah, I will be a bit ego and post a few this time round. Please bear with me... :P

Plush cushioned seats at roof terrace of Sebnem Hotel, Istanbul. Highly recommended for anyone who intends to visit!

Let me indulge a little and turn to an excerpt from Le Petit Prince... :P

You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you -- the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

Err, trying to act cute in the middle of nowhere. Cappadocia, Turkey.

Brr... Weather in Istanbul was pretty chilly when we first arrived... but it became really awesome when we returned for the last 2 nights after touring the rest of Turkey.

Trying to pull off a "look back" pose on an escalator at a metro station in Istanbul.

Charles and Keith in Cevahir Shopping Centre, Istanbul (apparently the largest shopping centre in Europe). Seems like this local shoe/accessories chain is doing pretty well. I also chanced upon "Zara Home" -- only can see, cannot buy... when one pretty towel costs a whopping $69...!!

Beautiful Turkey

My turkey trip was great. Lovely weather, beautiful sights, flowers blooming everywhere, warm hospitality from locals, yummy yummy food and great company... Though I broke my camera on Day 4 and got quite seasick during the end-up-going-nowhere boat cruise (kenah "cheated"), everything else went quite well...

I did a part free-and-easy, part local tour agency kinda itinerary. Istanbul was pretty tourist friendly-- the Sultanahmet area with all the major attractions was quite walkable; it was also easy to get around with an efficient and affordable public transport network (actually taxi fares were reasonable too, though we only found out on the 2nd last day!) Other "must-visit" Turkish destinations were somewhat more spread out btwn the western coast and central parts of Turkey, so we relied on the local tour agency for those bits. That allowed us to meet quite a few visitors from different countries; to our surprise we found out that quite a few ppl take like 1 month or more off work...!! Such decadence... Making my (seemingly long) 2-week getaway seem trivial in comparision hehe. Well, you make the best of what you can squeeze out; and it was definitely long enough for a decent recharge :)

Turkey's a place with a long and rich history; though it was cool to learn more I'm not a traveller terribly into history... the things that left me with the most vivid memories were the people, insights into the Turkish lifestyle, sampling different kinds of local cuisine... And well, they prob charge the most exorbitant rates for using public loos -- expect to pay btwn 0.5 to 1 turkish lira (Sing dollar/ Turkish lira exchange rate's about 1:1) each time...

I also like the Turkish ppl we met... They seem generally good-humored, warm and friendly. Though it doesn't seem like they get too many Singaporean tourists, with the Turkish frequently greeting us with "Konnichiwa" (or the Korean equivalent) at the touristy places... And when told that we're from Singapore, they articulate the three-syllables Sing-a-pour melodiously and knowingly... hehe, though i suspect half of them prob haven't heard of us before. I also gathered that fair-skinned Asians like us must be a pretty rare breed in town, especially when you get locals wanting to take pictures of you (which was odd), or with you, more than once.

Hee, ok, now for the pictures...

Tulips tulips everywhere in Istanbul!

Above: Shutter-happy in Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
Below: Tulips in front of the iconic Blue Mosque in Istanbul.


Above: Lovely arches at this courtyard at the Blue Mosque.
Below: Need I say more?? :P

Had lunch at this cute cafe in Selcuk, Turkey.

Olives, olives and more olives! I tried to give them a second chance here, but well, I still dun quite fancy them...

We also visited Sirince, this village near Selcuk with greek houses. Quite a quaint little place, but sadly it's pretty ravaged by tourists today. Many turkish women just sat at their stalls weaving flower wreaths from fresh wildflowers... I got myself one for just 1 lira... :)

Above: Awesome views of the mountainscape during a long bus-ride...
Below: Blending into the fairy-chimney landscape at Cappadocia

Hee, I found "myself" at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, of course must take picture right? :P

A refreshing breakfast at the hotel roof terrace in Selcuk. Quite a few hotels use their roof terraces as their "selling point" on their websites... Then you go there and discover that everyone has got a roof terrace :P Oh well, not too surprising, given that it's really very pleasant to dine under the warm sunlight in spring.

And of course, who can leave Turkey without tasting some Turkish tea (or Çay, pronounced "chai") served about everywhere in cute curvy glasses?

Am typiıng this from my cave hotel at Cappadocia, Turkey... The careless miınts broke her lovely F1.8 lens and possıbly the camera on Day 4... and so have been without my own camera for the past week or so :( but at least I took enough tulip and flower pics before the unfortunate accident to leave without regrets :P On the other hand, have been indulgiıng in too much cheese, meat and breads the past week or so... need to exercise way harder when I come back... :P

Greetings from Istanbul!

Today is Day 2 of my long Turkish getaway... Never in my life did I imagine that I'd see my lovely spring tulips in Istanbul... Think I ended up taking more flower pics than the "proper" attractions pics.. hee. Weather's a bit chilly, but the lovely sun feels great... reminds me of Berkeley weather on a nice spring morning. Aargh... dun want to go home already hehe.

Cake and photography on a Sat afternoon

There's a little jewel of a cafe tucked away in one corner of Chinatown... The cookbooks on display make me want to start baking all over again :(

Above: Dun be deceived by its "solid" exterior... It's full of melted Valrhona choc goodness on the inside!

Below: Pretty shadows cast on the adjacent table...

Countdown...

I am now only one week away from my 13-day Turkish holiday! :D Around this time next week, i would be waiting to board my flight...

Funeral

Think this MCYS commercial might be a little overplayed/overcirculated by now, but I still think it's a pretty good attempt by the govt to get ppl to think about getting married or setting up a family. I like how the message is more subtle and not so in-your-face, and the point about how tiny/quirky imperfections sometimes make our dear ones all the more endearing. On a totally unrelated note, thought the elderly chinese couple look like a real married couple in real life hehe.



I've also grown considerably lazy after stopping Japanese classes on Sundays. Now I really laze around more, leisurely read my newspapers etc... Feels good to be able to do nothing, really, once in a while. I think we all need that one/two days in a week to just be able to chill and relax. Recently I also feel like I am growing somewhat more comfortable in my own skin... dun think it's very obvious except to myself, but feel happy that I've made some progress in this aspect. Hee, though from time to time, I still wonder what is it about myself that makes me likeable :P

The 2nd half of this morning's annual conference felt like a pseudo NDP. The 'surprise' item at the end was a lot more interactive than expected -- not only were we requested to learn the actions of a rather dubious rap video on-the-spot; all attendees were given neon lightstick thingies to wear around our wrists... these later turned into waveable ultra-slim torches for the ending finale... Well, everyone was somewhat "submissive" (myself included) and went along with what we were told to do (haha, typical Singaporeans?) but hee, deep down cannot help but feel odd. Like, it was some sort of induced spontaneity...

The relatively smooth delivery of a speech I helped to co-draft also means that i can finally sleep soundy tonight :P And somewhat pleased that the anecdotal story I had decided to incorporate was quite well received by the audience. Working with someone whom I never knew that well beforehand (for the speech) also somewhat improved my impression/liking for her... I somehow appreciate discovering things about myself thru working with other people... eg. when it allows me to discover shortcomings about myself/ "gaps" that other people "fill in" simply because they operate differently and consequently view things differently. Well, I suppose that's why it can be pretty refreshing and potentially enlightening to mix around with people who have vastly different personalities from you once in a while.

I'm pleased it's the weekend again. Though the week's not been too bad either :) Work is blah, but nevermind -- me can look forward to my long holiday in 3 weeks' time! Tennis on thurs was actually pretty good for once-- maybe i am starting to finally get the hang of it! Though my brain still not very leakage-proof-- remember to do one thing but will forget something else :( When will I ever be able to play tennis gracefully and stylishly (like these experts playing at the adjacent court that night)... But as with many other things, I suppose I need to be patient and keep at it. Surely that day will come...? :P

Last night I took taxi after midnight for the first time in a very long while (hehe, I so guai1)... And to my horror discovered that the 50% surchage applied to the metered fare after 12 midnight. Not calculated based on when the passenger gets on the taxi... Was still so delighted after managing to flag down cab at like 11.52pm. Oh well, on hindsight it makes sense lah, else like close to 12am NO ONE would be able to get on a cab.

Will end my frivolous chapalang post with a lovely piece by J.S. Bach. Since I heard the Tang Quartet cellist play this at The Importance of Being Earnest, it's been stuck in my head! Though the song kinda gets a bit boring towards the end, the starting bit is so catchy and lovely.... :)

Beautiful Sunday

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday and the baby blue sky is infused with lovely cottony clouds :) Unfortunately I need to stop lazing around and get some serious work done... Before that, let me indulge a little and treat you to another gorgeous sunrise -- a Feb 24 sunrise to be exact :P Discovered them when I whipped out my neglected 40D to capture the T.L.C lunch prepared by mum this afternoon...

Ta-dah... A simple but lovingly prepared lunch. When I discovered that the green soybeans (you typically pay an exorbitant $1.90 or more for like a meagre 15 pods in Japanese restaurants) didn't come in this form (ie. extracted from pods by mum), I gave her a sheepish grin and felt really sweet inside.

I've never been so continuously sleepy throughout the week in a while. But luckily I have not managed to break record of falling asleep right in front of Nobel Laureate speaker, like I did some 4 years ago... and then got suaned1 and blackmailed forever by some people. Though it's been a tiring week, life has been relatively decent nonetheless. Pulled off an emcee stint for long service award ceremony on Wed; ended my term as CCM secy this week (finally! after an arduous 9 mths...); had quite a bit of fun celebrating boss's birthday with colleagues; and ended the long work week with nice dinner and lovely company at the Botanic Gardens. Was going to end up not leaving work on time today, but thanks to a system shutdown of sorts, LN was not login-able and I had excuse to not do what boss requested me to do at 5.30pm... :P

But of course, how can life be all work and no play... there's a long holiday in sight! :D
Above pic: Another sunrise from my balcony... can you spot the airport control tower and the cute little crescent? :)

Departures (Okuribito)

Wanna watch this...

This afternoon, after much pain and sweat, finally sent out annual conference speech outline that i had been working on past couple of days... Felt rather scary 'cos this time round, no one to clear and after i finish just anyhow whack and send out to the whoevers I needed to send to. The most mortifying thing though was that in barely 1 hr, my email got circulated back to me by boss-- asking me to check on stuff pertaining to my own unit... well, at that point in time i wanted to faint... cos means like prob whole world got my chapalang rather last min draft outline... :(( And were asked by their respective admin heads to give comments...

Oh well, I am strong... I will survive...

i dun really know why, but recently there's no urge to blog... it's been a tiring but eventful week; and though I have to work this weekend I'm still really glad the work week's over! Some time in the middle of the week I woke up to a most amazing sunrise... yet had like only 5 seconds to admire it... how sad is that... ;P