Super overdued birthday update

My 21st was a blur as I celebrated with friends and loved one at the awesome Coq & Ball (the name, I know right) in Tiong Bahru. My parents were so supportive and of course, the bill was insane but my dad didn't bat an eyelid. Jotham was the bestest best boyfriend who came over early with a truckload of present ranging from the yummy nana chocolate from Royce to VS undies to an iPad mini (!!!!!!) to a handmade book with lots of cute pictures. The rain that day sort of spoilt the mood a little but it was all fine anda dainty after. I even got a kettlebell from the Jotham's boys and chocolates from Wan and Amiril, so loved.

So anyway, I'm going to try to keep up this blogging thing and not be lazy. It's so hard to keep track of everything here because I usually just write it down in my moleskine. Oh right, and my next year's moleskine is red (thanks lopez and co!), a change from my yearly black. It's really Christmas, isn't it? I've got a full week ahead with lots of Christmas activities and potlucks and gatherings and soon, it will be 2013. Can't wait to start the new year, it'll be good!

Teenagehood

This picture is proof how much this girl has grown. She looks... like a lady. Gone are the childlike features and the baby fats. Melissa turned 13 on Thursday. We celebrated with a simple dinner with the family + a small vanilla cake I managed to find out of sheer luck as per her request. I don't know how to put into words the amount of love and fierce protection I have for her. It's quite like... I will selflessly jump in front of a speeding bus to save her. It's an honour to see her grow up. Happy 13th birthday, Melissa! My favourite girl, my babygirl, forever and always.

Quarter-life crisis

So I just typed a great deal of nonsense and deleted it and now I'm a sobbing mess. Is it really possible to hit quarter-life crisis even before I turn 21?This feels like the depression and desperation I felt during internship all over again, except unlike the end of internship, I can't see the end.

This post is too long and I have no title

1) My very handsum boyfriend/lover/future husband (ok I typed it out here so if this doesn't happen it will come back and haunt me forever) in one of his many floral shirts. Now I think he just needs a nice watch to complete the look.

2) How my usual breakfast looks like 

3) First time in Forty Hands (no, I didn't just hear it for the first time; I just couldn't be bothered to go look-see) and unfortunately, I don't like that place one bit neither do I like the supposedly awesome coffee. Too strong for me. Not sure if I was drinking water, spitting out or gurgling in the picture LOL brunch may be getting too pretentious for me now that I have found my perfect breakfast, see number 2 above.

I've just recovered from a random bout of high fever after my mom peeled me off my sweaty bed (gross ikr) and dragged my dying body to the Chinese doctor. Apparently my body is of the "cooling" type and I may have eaten too much raw vegetables (aka salads) over the past few months which is considered a "cooling" food so it isn't really good for me. ._______. All the supposedly healthy salad lunches for the past 10 months... are making me sick?!?!?! Ok anyway so I googled it (thank God for google) and it's not recommended to consume spinach, the main raw vege in my salad, raw too often because it's high in oxalic acid, which has been linked to the formation of kidney stones! But obviously you've got to eat like a ton of raw vege to get thaaaat sick like this woman who ate too much raw bok choy aka xiao bai cai aka my favourite Asian-y vegetable in the world (on par with kang kong yums) but who in the right mind will eat them raw when it's so much better steamed or lightly stir-fry?! So now, I've got to relook at my diet again. I think Jotham greatly approves and wants to hug the doctor and probably suggesting in his mind (because he knows I'll punch him hehe) that I just eat meat/protein or something. Btw I didn't fall sick because I ate too much salad (that is just sad) but the doctor just happened to ask about my diet and the first thing my mom said was "salad" and resulted in the whole raw vege conversation.

Actually I came here wanting to write about my October just for memories' sake. Overspent my credit cards (shall never give my daughter one, ever), got my knees bruised in Krav Maga, ate hell lot of sliced fish bee hoon, met my LLL peeps, tried to matchmake ML, failed to catch the church bus so destined to cab to Potong Pasir forever, went USS twice, first time for Halloween Horror Nights 2 with my bro who basically walked through all the haunted houses with his fingers stuffed in his ears and me pathetically hanging off his arm, second time with J's family where only both of us took the Human and Cyclone rides, met Siyun for Perks of Being a Wallflower and long talk, sort of screamed at an incompetent security guard through a taxi's driver's mobile phone (long story). OK goodnight.

Miss Atomic Bomb

Taking a moment to appreciate the musical genius that is Brandon Flowers and The Killers with Miss Atomic Bomb. They need to make a music video for this. 

Asian-style cooking

After a few months of sandwiches and wraps and salads, I finally realised that while our home pantry may not have lots of Western herbs/seasoning like thyme, basil, oregano, tarragon (I have all of them in bottles but still trying to figure out what goes with what sort of ingredients, it's truly a nightmare resulting in dubious food sometimes) but my mom has an impressive stock of Asian seasoning like fish sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce in all variations, abalone sauce, rice wine vinegar, etc, so I experimented.

I adapted a recipe from the BBC Good Food Asia magazine for the bowl above, a mixture of soba (they asked for rice noodles but I don't have and don't like it), leftover baby spinach, mixed vegetables, firm tofu and last minute bacon addition or else the picky little sister wouldn't eat it. While I failed at cooking tofu (looks nice but lacking in taste, damnit), the noodles were amazing because of the soy sauce and sesame oil!!! Didn't know the sauces would make such a great different but... omg totally in love with sesame oil.

Ok here's a Korean side dish of soya bean sprouts (finally found the right kind of bean sprouts in NTUC, everywhere else including the wet market my mom goes to only sell the regular bean sprouts, meh) with sesame seeds. Don't know why my mom has roasted sesame seeds in the fridge but she does, and totally made this a success. Again, soy sauce and sesame oil!!! So I snacked on this while watching tv shows yum. That's all for the gluton side of my life, bye.

Give thanks

Time is flying by too quickly, I cannot catch up. But in any case, here's another quick update of what has been happening in my life and things that I'm thankful for (and to rant a little bit, just a teeny bit):

Last week was pretty uneventful. Did the usual of sleeping in, staying up late and sleepover with Jotham. The best part of weekends is just lying in bed with this boy and talk about absolutely everything and anything. A close second is him carefully digging/cleaning my ear for me LOL gross but he doesn't mind so ok. Had flu the entire week so basically concussed in bed. Oh and have been obsessed with Masterchef, I now understand why people love the show because I do too. And result: I have five food magazines on my table now. I am ready to whip up a feast once I get my hands on a reasonably-priced food processor this week.

Last last week was, on the contrary, very eventful. I hung out with my "new" cell group mates (Meh, I don't know what to classify them under) in Sentosa but mostly trying my best to stay out of the sun and playing a little bit of volleyball. Em's 21st bbq at her house was, as usual, great because I met friends that I haven't seen in a year (literally) and sort of patched a broken friendship. Not too sure how that is yet, but I think we're off to a good (re)start. Met Amiril for some Mediterranean food at Olive & Fig and restored both our sanity for the week. Sometimes, we just need yummy food and friends, don't we? Sunday was Gideon's birthday and wedding. So, after a long absence, I went back to church for his solemnisation and the moment his bride stepped into the hall, I was on the verge of (happy) tears. I am so, so, so happy for him, it's ridiculous. This man, even though we hardly speak anymore, had a big role in shaping who I am today. I may have become a smoker + drinker/clubber + doomed to hell if not for him. Meh. Anyway, also discovered a new Bar Bar Black Sheep (way nicer than the one at Bukit Timah Road) at Cluny Court so I'm putting that into my to-visit list.

Ok, I'm hungry now. Shall pop some wholemeal bread into the toaster and have it with peanut butter (my fav!!!) while I watch Masterchef till bedtime. (And hopefully one day my toast will go beyond peanut butter.)

Light to the blind

Rainy day. Shit happens. Not a pleasant start to my Friday (I need sleep) but I'll get over it. Back to cleansing out my iTunes. I'm starting afresh.

"You see, one loves the sunset when one is so sad."

Picture from Tumblr

I have started practising Krav Maga. Mostly because I am bored with my boring routine lifestyle and partially because it sounded fun and I needed to try something new. And to learn some self-defense so I can protect myself when I'm in Sydney. I'm not sure why, but recently I've been having this insane urge to do something different. It's not like I have anything I want to do in particular, I just felt like I needed to do... something. Anything. Maybe because it's nearing the end of the year, and maybe because I'm turning 21 soon. This newfound fear of turning 21, becoming an adult, and looking back to realise that I've not accomplished anything this year is gaining its grip on me. Once in a while, I step back and have this amazing out of body experience and I see that I'm just being super silly because you don't judge your life like that. The process is as precious as the destination, if not more. But anyway, this 21st bday celebration is another headache. I want it to be memorable but I have yet to planned it because 1) I am lazy and 2) I like surprises and I'm hoping it will be one and 3) I have no idea what I want.

Just re-read what I wrote above and urgh, I am so freaking self-centred. There are wars and poverty going on and people, like this journalist, making a difference in this world and here I am whining about stupid things. I am ashamed. Ok goodbye.

Fighting your demons

Right now, I have lentil stew cooking in the crockpot and I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be nice! Even though I made like a zillion tweaks to the original recipe. 

Went through a teensy bout of self-pity and bleakness last week and Jotham was so scared I was falling into depression. But I snapped out of it. I've been avoiding some of my issues, hiding them deep inside and hoping that if I don't speak about them, it'll just go away. Guess it just surfaced again last week in full force to haunt me again. But this time, I'm going to face it and fight it and make it right. Thank God that J is so annoyingly logical and that he anchors me to the ground when I'm overwhelmed and overly-dramatic. I like that we're not too whimsy or romantic (I've come to realised that it's only nice for a short while) because it's the steadfast and quiet confidence we both have towards each other that is deeply reassuring.

In other news, I have shoulder-length hair now. I love it, I may cut it even shorter the next time.

To China and back

A bit more to mid September. This marks the eighth month I've been full-time working, and already so jaded. So old. Working on some changes in lifestyle. But anyway, that's for another post, this is about my 8 days to Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Guangzhou - 2 days in each city and it's as tiring as it sounds. 

Obviously we went to the Forbidden City because that's the must-see in Beijing. As I walked around with our tour guide babbling on about the history of the Forbidden City, all I could think of is how this is like seeing Huan Zhu Ge Ge (fav primary school show, don't judge) come alive right before my eyes.

And then proceed to feast on xiao long baos and roast duck at various restaurants that I will never be able to afford if I were travelling China on my own. This was at Ding Tai Feng and we had crab roe xlbs. Also had truffle xlbs! Whuuut ikr but they have so many flavours we just kept ordering.

Some leftover Cultural Revolution building in Hangzhou in the middle of the West Lake (I think). 

The Hangzhou weather was quite bad and all my pictures of the lake/greenery turned out ultra foggy ): so here's a picture of a random lamp post in the park.

And alas, I FELL SICK THE FIRST DAY IN SHANGHAI. 3am on the day we were supposed to take the train from Hangzhou to Shanghai, I woke up suddenly and threw up. And continued throwing up even all the way to the train station and at the train station. Needless to say, that wasn't a very pleasant train ride. Once we got to the hotel, I plastered myself to the sofa for three hours without even taking off my shoes before forcefully peeling myself off and concussed on the bed for 20 hours. .___. Being sick alone in a foreign place is the worst feeling ever!! But somehow, my body managed to repair itself and the next morning, I was alive and kicking and visiting the French Concession and drinking tea lol. Regardless of how I old-ish feel, I am (thankfully) still young. Thank God.

A tiny shopping street in Shanghai that's really, really cool. And then it poured for a couple of hours and we just sat and drink tea and went into a funny discussion about the gay culture in China and Singapore. Ok I also must add here that I've made some friends on this trip and they all made my trip more enjoyable whether is it I was laughing with them or at them (sometimes only).

Dimsum is aplenty in Guangzhou (Cantonese place) and I had my favourite chicken feet!!!! Nom nom, this particular one from a traditional Guangzhou restaurant is so so so good. I polished off the entire plate. Also had an ok-ish custard bun, though I would prefer Swee Choon's.

The cutest cat in Guangzhou. I was stroking its paws and shaking it and touching its neck fat and it didn't even stir. It just sunk lower into its neck fat and continued sleeping omg so cute, second only to the kitty Jotham and I "adopted".

Random shopping area in Guangzhou. Most impressive thing about this area is the aaaaamazing rooftop garden on the top of these short buildings. I can totally imagine people chilling out on the rooftop bbq-ing and drinking beer. That would be the life. Except the weather there is as sucky as Singapore's.

Anyway, that's about it. Everything else I've to save it to write for my travel story. Also, the third issue of EX is coming out and I am so excited because I've got a 10-pager for one of my story! And the cover is pretty rad as well :) 

Wormy

Love this picture of a secondhand book store in Khao San Road, Bangkok. Meh now I sort of regret not browsing through.

Anyway, I'll be going for my second press trip to China this Sunday! I should be packing my luggage now... but there's no motivation to. It's not really sinking in that I'm going away or that it's basically a free holiday. Ok not really free since I have to write lots of things about it but still, it's a good deal for me. I've been super busy at work trying to finish up all my articles for the two magazines and it's killing me. But thankfully I'm almost done. I still have to write a couple more short news pieces and I'm good to go. Ok no time to waste now, be back on 10 Sept! 

It's not everyday we get to picnic

It used to be only wq but now, we are all in our twenties (omg) and meetups are getting pretty infrequent. Unlike three years ago, when we would just pile into wq's car late at night and zip off to for yummy pratas at Mr Prata or hang out at Henderson waves and take crazy multiple pictures. That's also what made our little picnic get-together last Mon public holiday so special. Nobody knew but I swear there was a particular moment when everyone was laughing at something during our silly shark-eating game (see picture above) and I had an out-of-body experience where I just saw everyone having fun, enjoying each other's company from a third person's view and wanted to sob with joy. I sound totally insane but for a brief moment, I knew that our group, our friendship - no matter how much we quarrelled, how frustrated we get with each other, how many times we exit our whatsapp group in anger and get invited back the next minute like nothing happened (lol haha) - we will be sticking together for the long run. Thank you God for friends like these, so blessed is me! 

Second year

Exactly one week ago was our second anniversary. Jotham is the only boy I want to be counting the years with. :) And look at us going to Nex in matching AA tee shirts (I now "own" that purple tee of his hehe), only in different colours. Belated "celebration" by cooking steak at home. I think this is our second attempt to cook together. Burnt sweet potatoes fries courtesy of yours truly ): My mom came home when we were eating, took one look at the burnt fries and said "Better throw it away, it looks cancerous." So much support hahahahaha Nevermind, I will only get better.

Nomming in Bangkok

Took me an entire week to stop procrastinating but I must write this down while the memory is still fresh. Bangkok is good for many things, but nothing will beat the food (ok shopping comes really close). Especially Bangkok's street food. Embarrassingly, it's only my second time to Bangkok, my first time was a press trip I wrote about here. Basically everything is pretty new and exciting to me so please don't judge me. 

Above picture shows my two ultimate favourite drinks - freshly squeezed orange juice and passionfruit juice. Thailand's fruits are really, really fresh and exquisite; oranges are tiny and passionfruits (or is it  something else?) are so pretty! Plus they come cheap like 20 and 40 baht respectively so we drank them everyday.

Usually if I walked past anything deep fried (especially on a hot, sweaty day), I would have given them a miss. But Jotham specifically texted me to ask me to look out for fried bananas, and we found them! Apparently, it's his favourite Thai street food.

Random mango sticky rice store. Almost didn't want to buy them because we were so full after our zi char style street dinner (btw we paid over 200 baht for just tom yum soup aka kena ripped off) but thankfully we bought it back to our hotel to eat. So, so, so good.

Street vendors lining in the middle of Khao San Road. This backpacker place is probably the best place  to scour for street food! We went there on our first night and our 5-day overeating started there but so worth it.

Coconut ice cream in Chatuchak. Delicious on a hot and crowded weekend.

Banana pancake in Khao San Road. Surprisingly we didn't see this banana pancake anywhere else in Bangkok! There's nutella, chocolate and lots more other flavour but we got the original one. If the passionfruit juice is my favourite drink, this is my favourite street food.

Nothing special really, I just like steamed sweet corn. In fact, I have sweet corn ready with my lunch tomorrow!

Phad Thai in Khao San Road. No joke, that place is a food paradise. The only thing I didn't really fancy was the chicken kebab. It was sort of dry with lots of weird sauces on it and dropping all over my shirt as I attempted to eat it. Not a fan. 

No idea what this is, the auntie told us "pancakes" or at least, that's what we heard. But it has a sweet taste to it!

Green curry noodles at Platinum mall. Unsure if this is how green curry is supposed to taste like or they just watered it down to cheat tourists' money but I definitely prefer Singapore's version.

Had a cheesecake and tea in a cute Japanese cafe to wait for the rain to subside. This happened almost everyday. So we went to lots of cafes. And restaurants.

Another cafe in Siam Paragon. Just needed aircon after Chatuchak lol.

Ventured to Sukhumvit area and found a little soi (10 or 12 I think?) with lots of Korean bbq restaurants. There were lots of Koreans too so we thought it must be of reasonable standard so we went in to eat too. Good choice because we paid only $34 for two in total which, unfortunately, will never happen in Singapore. If you do know a place like that in Singapore, please let me know thank you. Will be grateful for life.

Above three are in Sukhumvit soi 11, a cool hippie street with lots of restaurants and bars and lots of expats. We went to a Mexican restaurant and a Spanish tapas cafe there (on different days) and were the only two Asian girls. Again, we pretty much ordered without looking at the prices and ate our fill. And yes, that is a Paul Frank Volkswagen bus/van mobile bar. Someone needs to set this up a bar like this in Singapore and I need to own this Volkswagen.

Ok, this is taking me way too long and my eyes are hurting. And I need a haircut. Bleah goodnight world.