The Insignificance and Vulnerability of Simplicity

Thursday, November 26

Took leave on Tuesday.

A long planned day packed with errands.

Went out with mommy and daddy.

Hidden behind my glasses and the big shades..

First off to the bank..

Then got the flickering stove settled and the spoilt TV settled.

Popped over to Ikea to get daddy's metal document holder(s)..

10 of them in exact =x

First timers to Ikea.

LOL

See how much they enjoyed it.

Mommy got stuck at the kitchen section..

Daddy seemed interested in the DIY glass shelves..

A seemingly fresh concept brewing in his mind on his figurines.

I was contented following them around..

Taking both mental and digital photographs of them..

Guessed staying in the same house for more than 20 years has robbed them the joy of shopping for furniture, together.

I simply cannot remember when was the last time we did serious shopping for new furniture.

Things now remain where they are..

Never moved unless they deteriorate beyond repair.

Ikea had the most creative concepts possible,

And the best of all..

They tantalize you to come out with more creations on your own =)

The innovative team behind showed how it is possible to do up your own home without burning a huge hole in the pockets.

The people who do not fancy Ikea are probably people who are either damn rich, or they simply lack innovation.

The Xmas theme is pleasantly evident now.

My folks seemed to enjoy the day..

Walking around aimlessly, striking things done off the to-do list and only to stop for meals.

Funny how daddy commented that it was a good thing I was with them, else they would be squabbling again.

And god, my dad can definitely walk..

I'm still pretty amazed how much distance he could walk from Raffles Place all the way to Chinatown..

Then we took a bus to Queensway and walked to Ikea and inside Ikea.

Aftermath, walked the distance back to Queenstown MRT.

*****

It was a wicked scare after a run when you looked into the mirror only to find a totally different person staring back at you.

My face was horribly and morbidly distorted Monday night.

Total mutation.

Every time I tried to open my eyes, tears spring.

The youngest one warned me not to get a shock when I looked into the mirror.

And I scared the shit out of mommy and daddy.

Don said I was doing the Frankenstein.

Not the first time.

And I cannot seem to find the root to my problems.

The worst thing is,

The condition worsened each time.

The first big infection recovered by the following morning.

The following one recovered by the following noon.

This time round it took me two days and the swell on my top cheeks are still prominent.

My leave became a medical one.

What on earth is happening to me??!

Labels: family, ramblings, thoughts

irony @

2:03 PM

Wednesday, November 25

"Can Pakistan accept Heat treated Crate"

It all started with the very poor handling by the supplier.

So bad that the carton box that was shipped in was beyond repair.

So the most feasible suggestion given to her colleague (not her) was to ask a subcontractor to re-crate it for a safer re-export.

Then this question rebounded from her.

Got a very fine mind to reply her:

No they cant.

Only cold metal crates so that they can melt them for more resources later on.

As usual,

Her lack of knowledge obviously made her do the obvious.

Throw the question at someone else.

In fact,

I actually have to thank her for it.

If not for her,

I will probably be too lazy to finish reading the whole publication.

It's not a must to know, but good to know.

But as I was trying to know more..

Information overloaded, tabs all over the place.

Cant these ostentatious people use simple English?

IPSM IPP NPPO FAO HT MB !@#$%^&#;*

WTH they did not even cover a tiny bit of these topics in Uni..

*****

Labels: ramblings

irony @

10:28 AM

Thursday, November 19

If you think her first album was so damn good that we wonder what other eccentric ideas, styles and music she can possibly come out with for her next album..

Watch this o.0

The Fame Monster
Coming out on 23 Nov 2009

Weeeeet gonna hit the charts like crazy again =D

Labels: music, youtube

irony @

1:24 PM

Friday, November 13

Out of the blue

Dear had a suggestion..

Here we are =)

The Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge

Royal Copenhagen or Royal Porcelain Factory

The Danish cafe sure tempted us alluringly the minute we caught sight of it from afar.

Situated at a quiet corner in Ngee Ann City

It was in fact quite easy to miss the gem =)

Settling down,

we were blown away by every little details.

The menu, the furniture, the dining wares..

But the finest of them all..

The porcelain wares =)

The cuisine =)

Salmon chowder was something new to us.

The salmon cubes did not have the usual fishy smell like most cooked salmons..

Yummy!

This belonged to my Princess Tea Set..

Which I supposed is a favourite among the ladies.

On one hand it was light on the stomach,

On the other, the dish did not fail on a balanced diet of carb and protein.

The prawns are succulent and the tuna was well mixed with chopped vegetables and olives.

The Linguine Pasta with fine capers was the main dish on dear's All Day Royal Set.

Not the usual cheesy-sauced kind.

Instead it was marinated with white wine and Italian parsley.

And then served with a generous portion of green olives.

Giving a sour tingling on the tongue as you feasted on the spaghetti.

A wholesome and interesting taste =)

The green tea tiramisu caught our eye the minute we stepped into the tea lounge.

At that point in time, the tray on display was filled with a whole freshly baked cake, readily sliced to serve.

During the course of our meal,

I caught sight of the greenish cake, almost on every alternate table =)

The brownie came as, Brownie..

Not a fanciful name but it was definitely underrated.

Because it came with this scope of raspberry ice cream that added a tinge of citrus to the heavily sinful chocolate that surrounded the walnuts.

Yummy =D

The food took our breath away..

Just like all Western meals,

The coffee and tea comes after the meal.

I chose the tea, he chose the coffee.

Could not stop gawking at those pretty little teacups with distinctive handles..

It was a high tea session all right.

But we are definitely no "tai-tais"..

Because tai tais go hi-tea on weekdays, and we dont =p

Flora Danica

The world's most prestigious dinnerware..

The creation of the Flora Danica dinnerware was an immense task.

To this very day Flora Danica is still moulded and painted by hand as it was more than 200 years ago. The elaborate and intricate overglaze decorations contain more than 700 wild plants in their pattern.

With such culturally strong history..

It's not hard to understand why Denmark refuse to convert to the Euro currency..=)

- Thanks dear for the wonderful treat -

*****

Labels: dear, gluttony, photo logs

irony @

5:30 PM

Wednesday, November 11

The RED runs

It started with a morning cab ride..

Halfway through CTE, the driver mumbled that the vehicle was stalling.

And because it was an early morning, we did not absorb the words of the driver initially..

*Credits to Suki for that great shot*

After some phone calls,

The cab driver hailed a second cab for us.

The meter showed 15 bucks.

In fact, I was prepared to foot the fare when I asked that question.

We had come a long way..

Maybe at most asked for a discount on the amount necessary to flag the next cab.

But he did not want us to pay.

Guessed not all cab drivers are suckers for money =)

Our cab fare for the day on the second cab?

An exact 10 bucks.

The Singapore Flyer in that misty gray distance..

We managed to reach the starting point with enough time for some proper warm up.

And saw the first flag off..

How did we have the illusion that the response were not as good as last year..?!

Best of all we saw sunrise =)

*****

The morning scorching rays laid hands on my bare skin..

Sweat trickled down into my ears..

It was humid, it was hot.

I kept glancing at the possible signs beside the road..

Any signs to indicate that I had finished another kilometer..

Any water signs to spur me on..

Any signs would do.

Water breaks gave me my rights to hydration in this heat.

Or at least they gave me the excuse to walk..

That very day..

Impossible to run throughout the 10km without water and risk getting a heat stroke.

I am definitely not a morning runner..sighz

Did that make things worse?

I stopped to walk.

The strain in my calves was impossible to ignore..

The cramps in my stomach, prominent.

Stopping to walk wasn’t the best solution because once I start running again, the demon urged my next walk.

Then I saw the magic sign..

Everyone else did.

1km left.

Suddenly there was a surge in energy..

Everyone began to sprint as fast as they could.

But I maintained my speed.

Simply because it was crazy to think 1km was a short distance especially after you ran 9km.

Funny how the runners suddenly deflated after running for a mere 200m of the remaining 1km.

Gasping large mouthfuls of oxygen as much as their lungs could grant them.

That, was my point.

*****

Went to look for the guys after cooling down..

The aftermath feeling was good, damn good.

In fact,

It’s not that hard to be addicted to the accomplished sensation after a pretty good run.

The radiant flush was in their faces all right =)

More candid pictures..

We were really goofing around crazily with our antics..=p

Triumph prevails =)

*****

GE Run 2009

A week following the Nike Run.

The GE Run organisers sent us an email to thank us for our support..

And I simply LOVEEEE this picture that came with the email..

This group belonged to the 10km runners..

Tell me, tell me..

That SG women are not crazy..

Just like last year,

GE Runs have always held a place for strong women..

Women who came with their young toddlers..

Women who completed the whole run cum walk pushing baby trams..

Women who were willing to forgo their beauty sleep to feel empowerment.

The weather a total contrast from last week.

Cool with slight drizzle..

And we breezed through our runs like the wind brushing through us =)

The back of the FILA top was in fact, quite unique.

The event just had to end with a dramatic shot-of-the-day..

LOL

*****

Labels: crazy gang, runs

irony @

10:09 PM

Sunday, November 8

Daddy's Birthday

Surprisingly

Daddy asked if we wanted to go Ling Zhi for dinner..

Since the last dinner there, we thought daddy did not like the place..

It was ala carte this time round =)

The whole satisfying meal came up to around 20 per person, half priced of what the buffet offers.

We idled for a while..

Shooting random shots again..

Then I suggested bringing them to somewhere for light desserts near Novena Square =p

Funny how Daddy and Mommy used to lead the way as the four kids tagged behind..

Almost every weekend,

They never failed to bring us for cycling at Yishun reservoir, swimming at Yio Chu Kang complex and finally a causal dinner at the Thomson food centre =)

What sweet reminiscence that is.

Then as we grow older..

Each of us had our share of busy schedules..

During the day,

We will be running errands, studying, working outside etc..

Then nightfalls come only to find the young ones facing our laptops intently..

A little difficult to coordinate on last minute meals as partial concentration is usually diverted away..

All of them have never been to Udders.

And how often can I get the whole family to do something new together..

A scene of familiar switched roles.

Especially for mommy and daddy, who have never been to such hang out places..

Daddy and the brothers, laughing away at idle jokes.

Mommy and I chatting to our usual daily routines.

Hence that very few overwhelming moments,

I was really very thankful that we were walking towards Udders in the cooling quiet night, enjoying each others' company.

Interestingly,

Udders has changed their "food for thoughts" in the photo frames on the table..

Perhaps it has been there for a while, but we had fun reading them =)

How true for our neighbours' corporation =p

*****

Daddy's birthday passed.
Come January will be mommy's birthday.
Birthdays are considered scary now..
Especially when you hope that your aging parents stay happy and healthy..
And that some forces up there will allow you to keep them a little longer..
And that becomes your biggest wish year after year after year..
Sometimes I cannot help but I would stop to observe mom and dad's facial lines..
50 and 60 used to look like an age that is so old..
But not anymore as your parents approached that age..
I wished..

*****

Labels: family, gluttony, photo logs

irony @

12:48 PM

Monday, November 2

A debut trip to Haji Lane..

Walls of vast scribblings greeted us as we stepped onto the premises..

Unlike the clean and posh streets of Orchard Road..

This graffiti-filled back alley actually entices visitors with the promise of more innovative muses ahead..

Just like delighted little girls..

We scrutinised the modish shops one by one..

With the occasional ogles at ethereal adornments paralleled with gleeful squeals..

Our first victimised shop..

Where we relentlessly dug out shoe by shoe to try them on.

Not very ethical..uh oops

And we probably left the shop owner screaming in mortification through the CCTV..

But the prices were a little on the steep side even for impulsive buying.

And it was also not easy to make spontaneous purchases at this shop..

Just because because..

ALL of them were soooo pretty..

Unknowingly we spent most of that afternoon on that lane.

Creative sights beckoned to us alluringly..

As the array of merchandising showcase impresses beyond imagination..

What I really liked about the shops at Haji Lane (over Fareast Plaza)..

Unique designs with stocks in limited quantities..

That would mean the likelihood of bumping into someone on a random street donning the same style is almost zero.

A damn good thing that Haji Lane is not located beside some MRT stations..

Else I'll probably go broke before I know it..>,<

*****

Labels: art, crazy gang, photo logs, shopping

irony @

10:53 PM

Sunday, November 1

店小二

I supposed the outlet has been opened at CWP for a couple of years..?

But we have never considered checking out the uninviting eating place, not even once.

Then very surprisingly some time back, we've heard raving reviews on its duck meat from the auditor..

Since then, Dear had been wanting to try it out..

But he kept holding back..

Probably because I was not a "duck meat" kind of person..

Or perhaps we simply did not have the mood to eat duck meat for dinner..

That very spontaneous day..

We popped into the 客站 for some 酒菜 =p

The inner theme had some modern touch to the so-called inns during the ancient swordsmen era..

A few jars of "Nu-er-hong" were used as props..

And the furniture really looked like the olden times..

Service stuff were dressed exactly like 店小二 =D

Pardon us..

Couldnt help it..

We were quite fascinated by this secret manual..

Without any expectations

We ordered to go along with rice:

四川汤

海鲜炒菜

当归鸭肉

The steaming spread laid out before us very quickly..

Condensing the vapour on my camera lens..

Too inviting for a proper shot.

The duck meat..

Indeed lived up to its name.

Chewy, not rubbery..

Tender but not fatty

And the gravy is the key =)

One mouthful and the appetite was whetted up.

The whole meal reminded us of Soup Restaurant just next door.

Just that the latter specialised in chicken meat..

Absolutely no rivalry if you asked me.

Quite a hidden gem I would say =)

*****

Labels: dear, gluttony, photo logs

irony @

2:16 PM