ひさしぶりの Pictures

I decided to do a post of pictures on what happened recently, or what happened since the start of new year.

Before I was still spending my carefree days out of nia, Vin and me decided to go "K" songs at cash studio again.

Usually, we eat dinner while we "K" cos we met late after vin's work; and time is precious. But on that day, we are pretty early, so we had dinner at this msia wanton mee stall in cuppage.

Anyone know the difference between sg and msia's wanton mee? It's nice, but i still prefer the one at my grandma's house.. "kukup-style"..

The stall is almost like a cafe, so there are some scribblings on the table that we sat:

Us..

 Remembered that singing on friday night at cash studio cost a bomb.. best day seems to be sunday night.

Next outing with camera, vin went to Bedok stadium to train for his ippt's 2.4km run. So, without running shoes, i can't accompany him too la.. So i sat there like a bimbo and snapped:

After the run, we went to have dinner at the kopitiam of Bedok's botak jones. Here, the spaghetti cost only $5 becos of promotion:

Vin's: creamy bacon?

mine: tomato mushroom chicken

and my favorite calamari rings:

Bought an oven sometime back ago, so when it's dad's bday, mom and me made a cake for dad. When we put into the oven, the cake is like this:

After like 20mins, the cake was ready, but the top cracked! Something must have went wrong with our recipe or wat..

Neeways, the chocolate marble cake tasted great :)

 That night, we went to a kopitiam in marsiling to have our dinner to celebrate dad's bday.

The shop with its menu:

 I like their icon, very ancient chinese style, with the ancient script writing.

While waiting, took a couple of shots. Here's one trying to shoot a mug with my camera like a pro SLR...

Then here's the very nice butter prawns..

Spicy tapioca leaves..

Prawn cake..

Mini sotongs..

and the fish head steamboat.. (鱼头炉) .. i hate the yam.. but overall it's nice!

 We ordered so many things, but the total bill cos $50. Pea, u can bring ur family here try try.

On my 200th outing with Vin (no mistake cos vin wrote a log for all our meetings since we met ^^), we had a mini celebration at creation. We had came here once, and that was on our 1st meeting. Maybe following that, our 300th, 400th meeting will come here to eat to commemorate a decade of meeting? O.o

We love here cos it's cheap. Bill cost roughly $15 per person, including a soup, a main dish and a dessert.. but the food is good!!

Starter: Pumpkin soup (last time, it's mushroom soup. i prefer that one.)

Mine: Seafood marinara. I told the person i dun wan any shells or clams, so i was given more prawns :)

Vin's: He forgot what kind of meat was he eating..

Apple crumbler ice-cream...

and chocolate muffin ice-cream.. this was great! i love how there is a sea of chocolate!

Met BH here. He's doing well too :) He's still very funny with his questions which i don't know how to answer. haha.

Projects started in school again.

Last friday, we met up for a series of project discussions. We are to do a digital story for e-learning, so for HS's group, they were busy working..

HS colored the backdrop of the pics.. she's so talented in coloring!

KK was moulding the plasticine into props.. very talented too!

AL was coloring too, but she wanted to take pics with the toys :)

FP was coloring too.. nice!

I'm not from their group for this project, but i was there, playing around >.< Playing with KK's pencil case which looks like a shoe:

So artistic la~

If you add up everything, it looks like this:

Nice right!! So creative :)

My group members in another of their project discussion..

 Everyone is so busy now..

Jia you!!

Feeling Vulgar

In a rather bad mood these days.

I had been working and working.

Thinking back, my work sucks. It is so far, traveling time take 3 hrs to n back.

I work 24/7, excluding meal and sleep time. I still work when i knock off, I still work during the weekends.

We get criticized of our work like primary school kids. I know we are in "school", so inevitably we are treated like students, but I don't feel like I am working or that I am a working adult.

Group work has become less enthusiastic this sem. Most people now choose to spend more time for their personal affairs, while I am carrying these tasks on my own. How to reject people nicely when they are your friends, and they so "straightforwardly" ask you to do/help?

Maybe I can "summon" the selfish "Me" again soon. It always works.

New Life in School

Ever since school started, I am back to the busy me again.

This time, it is 7 modules to be completed in a MONTH.

Plain torturous.

I wanted to do a lot of things that I liked, like watching anime, reading manga, etc.. But I just could not bring myself to do it. Deep in my heart, there will be a little voice telling me, "You can only read after you finish xxxxx..." And when I finally finished that xxxxx, it was time to sleep for another school day.

Plain boring.

I started to realize that I had been spending so much time with family and friends, I have neglected myself. For how long have I not accompanied ME to finish reading a little book? For how long have I not sit in front of the comp and surf the websites I liked for the whole day without thinking that I have to go out later?

Just plain complaining. Not that I don't want to see my friends anymore, but I just realized that it would be good to have more time, so I can do BOTH.

First day of school was torturous too, as I need to wake up at 6am (which is something I had not done for a month), and having 3 lectures of 2 hours straight. When I am in the third lecture, I am already having bad migraines. All I wanted was to go home and sleep but I still have to return the library books to NLB since I so stubbornly kept them for so long. When to Jurong East, and realized that so much renovations are going on, that I had to make a big round way to reach the library.

I realized when you are having bad aches in ur head and you so wanted to lie down n sleep, you hated everyone that walked past you. Cos they are so making you dizzy!!

I don't know how i survived the 1hr30mins but when I reached home, I popped panadol pills and soon enough I slept and woke up with a mild fever and inflamed eyes.

I don't know how I got my eyes in this condition, but the left eye was very red, and I think wearing lenses the next day can really blind me for the rest of my lives. So, I went to the doctor on the first day of my school, get some eye-drops, and started wearing specs for the rest of the week.

I seriously don't like to wear specs, cos it blocked most of my vision, and it made my eyes look smaller, cos it's not natural to open your eyes big when you have nothing much to see through the specs.

Lessons continued, and this semester, I have Ed Psy 2, Social context learning, a module teaching you how to set exam papers, translation module, CME teaching, ICT learning and literature teaching.

At least, Wednesday is my free day. But I'm still working through the weekends for project. >.<

Arashi 5x10

In love with this song these days.. :)

"5x10", from Arashi.

I can't find a good mv for this song, but here's one from youtube:

(Don't look at the video, cos it's just a slideshow of their bare torsos.. listen and look at the lyrics instead XD)

Arashi - 5x10

出会って数年 あれは偶然

The years since we met was all a coincidence

泣きもするね 気付けば10年

We've even cried, by the time we noticed it's been 10 years

空に舞い上がっていく風船

The balloon that rises up into the sky

花奢な五人で乗り込む揺れる船

The swaying ship that we luxuriously boarded

ただ笑うとこ

Simply laughing

きっと夢が叶うとこ

For sure making dreams come true

そう言い聞かせてた頃の過去も

Yes, that period when we were told what to do in our past too

今胸にまとう

It's all stored away in our hearts

焦り 不安 憤り

Impatience, unease, resentment

ばっかなんか感じていた日々もあったな

There were days where we felt nothing but that too

でもあなたがいてくれたから

But because you were there for us

その笑顔暖かったから

Because those smiles brought us warmth

歩いて来れたんだね

We were able to get to this point

横に並び掴んだ手

Your hand that grasped ours at the sides

このすこした時間さえって　

This period of time that had passed with you

なんかね　今はまだただ照れるね

For some reason, we're still a bit shy

体中に風を集めた僕ら支えきれない悲しみも　

The winds that gathered inside us, the sadness that we couldn't support too

あなたがいたから　笑顔にできた

It was because you were there that we were able to smile

無敵に奏でた　不協和音は　

The unrivaled dissonance that we used to play

いろんな世界を見てきたんだ

Saw all these different worlds

気がつけばいつの間にかそれが

By the time we noticed, somewhere along the way

もう 僕らになってた

That had already turned into us

本気で泣いて（すごした時間は沢山の愛の）

We genuinely cried (The time that had passed was full of love)

本気で笑って（言葉にしかもうほんとに何もないの）

We genuinely laughed (We really have nothing else left but words)

本気で悩んで（向かい起こせと再度）

We genuinely worried (Let's face forward once again)

本気で生きて（重ねた分のでっかい愛を）

We genuinely lived (With this large accumulated portion of love)

今がある　胸をはれる

And now, we can stand tall with pride

一歩一歩　近い道などないなら

One step at a time, if there are no roads close by

信じる道をいくしかないから

We can only take the road we believe in

もしもあなたが泣いたら

If you ever shed tears

ここでまた会おうよ　

We'll meet you here again

この愛変らず　奴らからただ愛を送る（Yeah）

This love will never change, we'll send you nothing but love (Yeah)

ともに望む未来という　for you（Yeah）

And wish for the future together, for you (Yeah)

先の山は風で超えれ　飛べる

Surpass the mountain ahead with the wind, fly

僕らの色で辺り染める

We'll dye the surroundings with our colours

一人ぽっちで覘いた空を

The sky that we gazed up at by ourselves

あなたも見ているのかな

Were you looking at it too?

なら歌うよ　空に向かって

Sing if you have then, face the sky

そう　力の限り

That's right, with everything you've got

本気で泣いて（すごした時間は沢山の愛の）

We genuinely cried (The time that had passed was full of love)

本気で笑って（言葉にしかもうほんとに何もないの）

We genuinely laughed (We really have nothing else left but words)

本気で悩んで（向かい起こせと再度）

We genuinely worried (Let's face forward once again)

本気で生きて（重ねた分のでっかい愛を）

We genuinely lived (With this large accumulated portion of love)

今がある　胸をはれる

And now, we can stand tall with pride

僕ら交わした声が消えないのならば

If our converged voices will not disappear

誓えるよ　この愛を　百年先も　

We'll make a vow then, no matter how many centuries pass

笑顔が咲いてますように

We'll make smiles blossom with this love

ずっとずっと心にあるんだ　

You've always, always been in our hearts

だからこそ伝えてみたいんだ

That's why we want to try conveying this

ありがとう

Thank you

これからも　ありがとう

From here on too, thank you

ここに立っている　僕たちが今　

The us that's standing here now

輝けるのは　君がいるから

are shining because of you

五人でいる ずっといる

The five of us are here, we'll always be here

今までを力に替えで

If you turn everything up until now into strength

変わらぬ愛で 包み込んだら

And wrap it up in unchanging love

永遠が　ほら 永遠が

Eternity, look, eternity

僕と君だけに生まれたんだ

Was created only for you and I

Lucky Charms

Chinese New Year is around the corner, and Mcdonalds are now having this "lucky charm" sale with any meal purchase.

It's the 12 animals of the chinese horoscope, and most of them are so cute, but seriously, many people thinks that Mcdonalds is over-reacting by replacing the "pig" animal with a "cupid" doraemon. (Reason they give is first day of CNY is Valentine's Day, and they are being sensitive to the Malay community in Singapore.)

And ironically enough, the malay community thought that it was okay for them to buy a "pig" toy from a halal fastfood restaurant. See News.

In the process of being sensitive to the malay community, they have upset the chinese community whom have wanted to have a pig zodiac in their collection.

Someone had said that it would be better if the fastfood restaurant offers both (cupid and pig) on the selling week for patrons to choose which one they want to buy. I agree. And from there, you can see how the overall reaction of the public would be.

And yes indeed, banning pig toys from the restaurant might be as bad as stop selling Winnie the Pooh's Piglet ever again.

*

Being a Doraemon fan, of course I hope to have one rabbit toy (my zodiac) for collection's sake. But it's sold out. The doraemon series is sold as three animals per week (release day on Thursday), and it's sold on a first-come-first-serve basis. And to my disappointment, I have missed the first week, and I could only get the last sold-out animal: horse.

But still cute la. My aunt don't like, because of its (+++) teeth.

We bought four. Mom wanted to give two of them to my male cousins in Malaysia, and one for Pillow and one for me.

The quality is not bad. I like how the pocket of Doraemon, really is a pocket. (Not those drawn on kind.)

It has a horse back, with some neat and tidy horse "mane" behind.

I don't know why, Pillow seems to know that there is one for him as well, cos he's tagging behind me ever since I reached home with the toys.

Bathing Pillow

Pillow takes a bath once a week.

When he first arrived as a puppy, taking a bath was a very tiresome thing, as he could not stand still, and he kept "nibbling" my hand when I touched him. He was afraid of water, and you could not touch his head. If you tried to, he would look up quickly at your hand, being defensive, or ready to bite. After bathing, we need to blow-dry him, and this can take quite long too. When everything's finished, both the dog and his master were dead beat.

Thus, I used to hate bathing Pillow. Yet, we committed to giving him his weekly bath, and over the few years, he had become more tamed during his bathing sessions.

Whenever we wanted to bath him, we would signal with a "chong liang (冲凉)", and he would got so excited that he wanted to jump onto your lap immediately.

This was in 2008, a picture taken of him when I said, "chong liang". He wasn't that excited yet, maybe he still dislike bathing too.

But he still looked happy.

When I repeated "冲凉" to him, he grew suspicious. He even frowned!! He must be thinking that I was going to do something bad to him.

A dirty kid must get his bath, immediately! No sulking! And so, he went. We used to leash him, cos he would run around in the toilet, but we do not need to do this now.

What's the problem now is that he would "growl" when you tried to carry him into the bathroom. Something "Boooooo.... Boooooo" would come out of his throat. (=.=)

He looked very fat with all his fur dry, but when he was wet, he still looked fat with his thick waist and thick chest. All FATS!! Pillow IS OVERWEIGHT.

After his bath, it's time to blow-dry him, but we could not do it immediately. He would be too excited when he came out of the bathroom, feeling cold maybe. So, we had to put him in his cage for like 30 seconds, and he would "shake" away all the water on his body, or turn rounds and rounds inside the cage, while we went to get the hair-dryer.

Blow-drying a pomeranian is tedious. It has more hair than my head do, and the blow-dryers used on him never lasted more than half a year (whatever brands). I should blow-dry him in the cage (if not all the fur will be flying around the house), but he would just sit in one corner of the cage and resist to move, so I can only blow one angle of him. So, I usually blow-dry him out of the cage.

I think it feels very comfortable to be blow-dryed when you are soaking wet, cos Pillow made faces like this:

Had to blow-dry every part of him, if not he would develop rashes on his skin if it was left wet.

Seems like pomeranians are more susceptible to skin problems.

こばと

Kobato (こばと), from CLAMP.

Am watching this in manga and anime now. It's a very nice story :) And the graphics are superb!

Enjoy~

http://www.animecrazy.net/kobato-episode-list/

http://www.animecrazy.net/kobato-episode-1/80327#

Bak Kut Teh & Sushi

老爸请客~！

爸妈交待我说请男友和最好的朋友Pea一起来吃什么好的，就这样，凑了大家一块儿到克拉码头的一间肉骨茶专卖店吃午餐。

来到了这家“松发”肉骨茶店。

到了这里，感觉就是好好，因为店内外的专横都有费心思，让人感觉到“来到了国外街边吃早点”的感觉。店里的生意也很好，虽然店员都是中国人，但是他们的态度也很好，手脚也快，点了不到五分钟就能上菜（也当然是热呼呼的）。

“假复古”应该是这间店的主题吧。总之，就是感觉很不错的一间店。

除了我和阿姨以外，大家都超爱吃猪肉的吧。唯独我俩，菜一上，大家都争着夹一块“猪肠”送入嘴里。我可是不敢恭维啊。

爱吃猪肉，敢吃猪肉的人应该会觉得这是道很美味的佳肴。但是这是猪肠哩！你知道肠是来做什么的吗？怎么可以吃得那么若无其事啊？

Pea 和 Vin 都“怂恿”我试一试，强调口感一流，但我顶多只能咀嚼一口，感觉到一道沙味，像是带着咸味的芋头，难以下肚。“爱吃的话，你们就多吃一点吧。”

肉骨茶的主菜当然是排骨汤：

虽然我自称“Halal”，但我还是会喝用猪肉熬的汤啦。的确美味。

会吃猪脚的人也是很厉害。那层厚厚的肥油肉，我不敢想象嚼劲会是如何。

不吃猪肉，想吃肉骨茶的话，还是有很多小菜可以吃啦。。

很丰盛的一道早餐/午餐。吃完，我们便到“Liang Court”走走；这也是我们跑到克拉码头的目的。

妈妈要买一个烤炉。家里有了个烤炉，以后要做蛋糕，烤饼干都行了~~ 到了“Audiohouse”逛一逛，也发现了很多有趣的电器用品。我也现在才知道desktop 已经不再需要一个 CPU 了！我一直以为商家是为了省位，没有把主机给摆出来。原来一切都已经包装在那个薄薄的屏幕后面了！真的很酷。有钱的话，也想买一台。。。

买了烤炉，我们接着往 Plaza Sg 去，6个人，搭了两台计程车到目的地，便开始无目的地逛。现在到处都有 sales!我喜欢的 FOX 现在也有 50%的折扣！让我好想大买特买，但是看在今天得做离子烫，花钱也总要有个限度，只好忍着，撑到开学发薪水为止吧。希望到时候，所有的sales都还在。。。

为什么花钱那么容易，存钱那么难？

*****

在这里插入一个蛮有趣的对话。

Pea: “我希望我有一万块，可以用来买东西。”
Vin: “如果有一万块，拿去存在银行生利息，再把那个利息拿去买东西，不是更好？”

男人和女人在这一方面比较，男人的确比女人有理智。。。

*****

闲逛了许久，也是时候吃晚餐了，我们便来到 ichiban。

 到 ichiban 的原因是因为我想吃寿司拼盘。如果到sakae 的话，那里没有ichiban的新鲜。。

当时店里的客人没有很多，所以我们也花了一些时间来叫拼盘。觉得无理取闹的东西，是这间店的员工，或是这间店的条理太死板。我们想要吃拼盘，但是拼盘却只能做外卖，不能在店内食用。也都是寿司嘛！人家想吃寿司拼盘也唯独是想要享受那种视觉上的美感。偏偏他们听不进，一直强调寿司是一盘一盘卖，一盘一盘算的。

我管你怎么卖，我们就只是要吃拼盘。 把寿司排在盘上，像要他们的命似的。折腾了很久，他们也终于“屈服”，把寿司排在盘上。。。

也许他们知道我们这桌顾客有点不开心了。。所以出乎预料地，也看到了他们的一丝心意：

用生鱼片做的“玫瑰花”。

满满的寿司，这才叫做拼盘嘛。。

可惜，还是有些“距离盘外”的寿司。。

爸妈好像很担心寿司吃不饱，便同时叫了很多东西。。。

结果，大家都“吐”了。

谢谢爸爸。