A Farewell, but not a Goodbye!

We've been friends since junior college and i always, ALWAYS am thankful for all the times we've shared together. So many that i need photos to remind me of the things we got up to. I didn't enjoy college life (i thought i would, since it was the "cool" college to be in) but in the end, i hated it but instead met the core group of people who would be my friends for life. I thank God for them. :)

Y will be going to HK for a work stint and though we don't meet up as often as we should, the months that she will be away will be felt, honestly. So we decided to have a girly meet up over tea and delicious bites at this place called Arteastiq at Mandarin Gallery.

The 2SC10 Library Gang

Y's Ginger spice tea. It has a good ginger kick! Me like. Comes with biscuit, milk and sugar cubes.

That's where the good spice kick comes from



Lychee... something... Can't remember. I just remember thinking that everything was presented so prettily.

My duck breast wrap. It was soooo good. On the sweet side though, but that suits me just fine. I was amazed at how much salad they were able to squeeeze into that tiny bowl/cup. The other stuff in the plate includes the mushroom soup (thick and had loads of finely chopped mushrooms), croutons and a garlic puree salad dressing (spicy! and left us all garlicky in the mouth)

The wrap, upclose.

Monkeying around as usual.

You can probably tell that we had set a theme, which was so wear summery dresses. So tai tai, huh. :) But it was nice to play dress up for our girly outing la. Since we hardly ever do something like this.

I'd say the food isn't cheap and for bigger eaters, you might find the portions a little wanting. Which is why ordering your food with the teas might help fill you up. The general sentiment was that the food was good, so, if you don't mind paying for presentation, you can try this place. The ambience is lovely: dainty, delicate, whimsical.

We'll be having another outing soon, just to spend more time with Y before she goes. And hopefully when i start working (*kaching!*kaching!*financial freedom*!) and when XH's baby gets a little older, we can troop over and raid Y's apartment in HK. Teeheehee.

Stuffed portobello mushrooms. These were soooo good. But i think i'll still try other ways of stuffing them (these had bacon in it). The possibilities for mushrooms and cheese is endless!

The tomato sauce turned out really delicious, but i think i picked the wrong pasta to use. The grilled chicken was okay. It was tasty, but i think i still prefer overnight marinated chicken to glazed-while-cooking chicken.
And these were the rosemary and garlic baby potatoes! I tried to make them as healthy as possible, so i put less oil and less salt. I think i will make them tastier next time by adulterating the recipe with all the other kinds of herbs and spices. Teehee.

and lastly... these AWESOME THE BOMB GO CRAZY EAT ALL STUFF YOUR FACE FINISH EVERYTHING AND MAKE AGAIN CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIE. Ina Garten struck gold with this one. Oh... These were soooo good. Best eaten with chocolate loving friends around the dinner table. And vanilla ice cream. But of course. :) Have never made brownies from scratch before and this is the first recipe i've tried. Excellent. I'm full of praise for Ina. Get the recipe here! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/peanut-swirl-brownies-recipe/index.html
I've made a few changes to suit my pantry's limitations and tastebuds, but you shouldn't stray too far off as well. Go try it! But i would halve the recipe, imho.

Had a prayer and catch up session with some of my church leaders and so this was a good excuse for me to cook and have people over during my Dissertation House Arrest. It was good. Food, friends, catching up and prayer. All good.

L to R: Green tea, Peppermint, Lemon and Tiramisu

The fruit of many hours in the kitchen. Credits to Weizhen for giving me the idea of doing a tiramisu version... V (close friend) really liked it even though she isn't even a macaron person. One of Gem's friends also enjoyed the tiramisu one. Whoopee! :D

Thinking that i would be leaving on sunday for my Canadian adventure, i thought i had time to do up the literature review of my dissertation. But instead, i discovered that the 31st is THIS friday. Good job, Jo. So now i'm rushing out my literature review and am guessing that i'm making more headway in these few hours than in the last 7 months.

Just thought of sharing this photo with you, as part of my macaron madness journey. :)

it's been birthday meals after birthday meals (treats from friends and family. love.), and then doing my research's interviews in the last week or so.

and today, i spent 14 hours in the kitchen baking macarons for parties i'm going to. it was a real macaron marathon i tell ya. started the morning off with coffee-chocolate shells (zen's great idea of making tiramisu macarons), and moved on to making green tea shells, then lastly, lemon shells. from 10:30am to 12:30am, thereabout. I really enjoy the process, i'll admit. though the repetition of steps and the worry over whether the macs will crack/will not have feet/will have lopsided feet drives me a little nuts.

and i found out 2 keys things to prevent macaron death. 1) get level trays. 2) Air-con

Spoilt biscuits, aren't they? Even i don't rest in air-con rooms. hurhur. the lengths i have to go to to make them, just because i live in singapore where the humidity is high.

can't wait to experiment with flavours! going to attempt to deviate from the usual flavoured white chocolate filling and try making a buttercream. It's lots more work though. Meh.

hopefully i'll have photos to show you tmr. :) for now, toodles, good night.

I didn't think too much about this recipe by Pioneer Woman because i'm not a corn person. But then when i realized that i had pretty much all the main ingredients in my fridge waiting to be used up (they were leftovers from previous cooking endeavours), i thought: How PERFECT! Onions, bacons, corn, cream, broth/stock... Can't go too wrong.

So i made the corn chowder. OH. It is DELICIOUS. HOHOHO!!! I modified it of course cos i didn't have all the ingredients she stated and i also was simply just using up leftovers. It definitely doesn't look like much though. HA.

I learnt that putting parsley on top of soup ISN'T just about putting it on top!!!!!!!
The soup has to be firm/thick enough to hold the parley leaves. You have to choose the right leaves that look good to balance out the look. Enough leaf, enough stem. The soup can't be too hot, or else the edges of the leaves get cooked/soggy/etc. I'm not sure why the parsley leaves that i have had in restaurants look dry-ish, but freshly rinsed leaves that look healthy and green tend to be heavy...
As you can tell, my parsley deco is a fail. HAHA. I just thought some green would be nice for photography, even though they just look like flat 2D, green patches. HAHA.

***

I love you girls. Though we definitely don't see one another frequently, i thank God for the regular meets... As rightly pointed out by Germ, i quote: "It's like when we can say, 'Didn't i tell you this the other day?', when the 'other day' could have been about 6 months ago or 1 year."
Amen.

My JC mates rank high on my list of important people in my life... I can still see snapshots or even little movies (though soundless) of the times we had walking around school and doing mundane or funny things. They walked closely with me back in the day, and i always get nostalgic remembering the times we spent together.

I remember as clear as day. When we were saying our partial goodbyes nearing the end of our JC journey, Betty came by with polaroid photos stuck to a small card and asked me to sign on it. So i did. And then i blew the whole thing up and stuck it on my room wall. It's been there for like 8 years now. I never regretted being that sentimental mush. :)

The wedding and wedding dinner performance is over... My battery is low, but not flat yet.

Got a couple of thoughts here and there:

1) Self written vows (i think they were) are so beautiful, personalized, genuinely spoken from the heart and soul. I teared hearing the groom and bride say them to each other. Somehow, i was really touched at this wedding, more so than the others i have been to recently. The couple are such sweet people as individuals, and when they are together... Wow, amazing work of art by God. Made in Heaven!

2) Practiced so hard, but things didn't quite turn out as anticipated. But the piece of advice from a friend that kept me from being overly disappointed was: "It's all about the couple's happiness. It has nothing to do with us." That completely took the attention away from our inadequacies and mistakes and i felt instantly depressurized because i know that the couple was already so happy that we could be there and had put in the effort for them. As long as they are happy, whatever buangs we made, don't matter.

3) Dang, i have leveled up. I now know the difference between and Major7 and a 7. IT TOOK ME SO DARN LONG. I WANT TO LAUGH AT MYSELF! WAHAHAH! Self deprecatory joke aside, wow. I can now play a couple of jazz pieces. Not superbly well, but something decent to build upon.

4) I realized that God has given me so many gifts, which was something that someone pointed out to me recently. At first, i brushed the comment aside. After all, who would think that they were brimming with any talent? But upon honest reflection, i realize that, hey, God really did put in me a few tricks up my sleeve... And i'm really blessed for it. Now how to bless others with them?

5) Met TWO (very long lost) people very unexpectedly! Miss RC and ES. Wow. Thank God for the opportunity. It was naiiccce. :D

Battery going flat in about 3, 2, 1.

Tiramisu Heaven!

Here's jie sieving the Hershey's cocoa powder over the cream cheese layer. What? What's that sound you hear? Me... Hyperventilating.
This piece is mine! :P

Sister taking a spoon out of hers.

Top down view. I love the texture of the cocoa!

Another top down view.

Cream cheese waterfall. Mmm...

Cocoa powder sliding down the cream cheese waterfall. Love the textures!

I'm loving the cooking sessions with my sister! Wheee!!!

Yesterday, "church" was so different for me.

I can honestly say that for a while now, things haven't been as "fruitful" as i would want with respect to ministry (worship/music team) and my personal walk with God. But yesterday was different. And it all started with knowing God's mandate of royalty upon me, and the choice to ACCEPT IT.

One thing i've taken away from the school of supernatural worship speakers is the assurance of WHO I AM, my IDENTITY. That as Christians, we are Royalty. We inherit God's identity, y'know what i mean. Like, THE CREATOR, THE MOST INTELLIGENT BEING WHO EVER EXISTED, THE GOD OF ALL HEAVEN AND EARTH, IS MA DADDEH.

And since He is my DADDEH, who does that make ME? Did you get that? Could it sink in? I'm a CHILD of the MOST HIGH KING. YOU, when you believe, ARE ALSO a CHILD of the MOST HIGH KING!

And that has changed me, my perception of myself. And domino-ingly, that changes how i worship Him, receive Him and receive all His promises and good gifts.

During worship jam yesterday afternoon, i was playing the keys and of course, it wasn't perfect but i know something in me was different.

I was playing from a heart that knows that, I am WORTHY to give worship to God. Like, GOD SEES ME AS WORTHY TO GIVE HIM WORSHIP. Sure, i'm a little human bean and actually bluntly speaking, a stinking rat and perhaps unspeakably worse by His standards but because Jesus took my place of sinfulness, I am considered completely clean and worthy to be in God's presence (without being struck down dead like in the olden times before Jesus came). It's MY PLACE to worship God, y'know? It's my RIGHT.

I used to worship and still have part of my mind thinking, "I'm no good a person, God won't accept me or my worship, i'm lousy, i'm not liked, He doesn't love me as much as other people..." And though it was a part of my mind, those thoughts took over my WHOLE being. So "worship" became a chore, something painful, something dreadful.

But yesterday, i worshipped and enjoyed it so much because i was FREE! In knowing that there is full acceptance from God! Wow. What a change it brought!

I realized i was tired of the "routine" because i wasn't getting the fullness of what those activities meant. I wasn't immersed in its reality, when i wasn't worshipping like i could. They were, simply just activities, i.e. meaningless.

And i saw a really cool... i don't know... vision story of myself with God? While J was leading worship, He saw us dancing with God... and here's what I personally saw:

I was dancing in a ballroom with God and He was like this white robed figure and i was like a small child. We were twirling and swinging about. I got tired after a while, and i sat down on what looks like a park bench by the side and instead of sitting beside me, Father God knelt in front of me on bended knee, like how a man would when he is asking for his girlfriend's hand in marriage. And i felt like Father God was "laying down his majesty and his heart" just to romance my heart again, for me to love Him again and follow after Him.

As we continued to worship, I saw Father God and I started to dance again and this time, we were twirling so hard round and round that i literally FLEW UP INTO THE AIR (woah lao eh!) and my hands left His and i was left thrown up into the air and started falling down again... And that's when God caught me in his hands and help me high up, I looked down into his face and there was SO. MUCH. LOVE. Like. There was silence between us, but in His eyes, there was adoration. Like how a mother would look at a baby with loving eyes.

When i saw this, I started to sob in the room and i was so glad that i brought tissue this time. Thank God for the awesome water resistant Bobbi Brown eye liner and almost budge-proof Majorlica Marjorca mascara man...

During worship, amazing words were shared. That God wanted to give us and assure us of His promises (for me, that would be my identity in Him!), that God wanted to GIVE so much to us today and that all we needed to do was to trade in our faith (the currency) for whatever gifts he would give to us. The visions shared were that we were being given a key to unlock His storehouse (WHAO!) and another one that was cute was of Jesus pushing a cart selling different kinds of bottled water. Thanks C and J were releasing those words. They were amazing. Oh, but hold on there's more.

The sermon was on honouring as the key to receiving (Matthew 10:40-42). It's a teaching about how if we receive someone (in this context, it means: to honour/to have a friendship with someone who has certain giftings from God), we can receive the giftings of that person as well. And you know how we ended? Pastor J shared her annointing with all the youth leaders, and after that, all who wanted to receive spiritual gifts could approach the leaders to be prayed for. You know, it was such a continuation from the worship session before our sermon... God was just releasing all His gifts to His children, all those who wanted it, generously! Just like the storehouse/Jesus selling water visions!

After being prayed for by a particular leader and friend, i sat there and i was so amused... At how the scene before me was really us just "shopping" (remember Jesus's cart of bottled water?) for our desired gifts from Father God. It was so amazing. I was so blessed.

Thank You God. And a Happy Father's Day. You probably had it all planned already... You are so cheeky!

Wedding Band 2

We are zee Wedding Band-ers (J, C, B, T, and yours truly) for another lovely couple. It's really fun playing for weddings. I get to play the piano, enjoy the music and worship (if any), be with a team of friends, get to eat the catered food, witness the couple's significant moment(s), be surrounded by beautiful decor, I get to dress up (all those online blogshop buys put to good use somehow somewhere) and I get a small tok$n of appr$ciat$on! I could do this as a part-time job. Teehee.

A friend once said some time ago that i'm a "nu chiang ren". Recently, he concluded that i still look like one on the outside, but i'm actually soft on the inside.

To my other friends who know me personally: am i either or neither?

Wedding Band 1

This isn't just ANY Yamaha acoustic piano. It's a grand piano! My friend for the morning.
Stuck my phone in to take a random shot of the insides.
Shot from the back of the stage, while waiting for the church hall to be filled.
The piano's mine for today! But ok, it wasn't really in perfect tune. I was suppose to wear a longer dress befitting of a wedding pianist playing in a presbyterian church but my original dress was pulling wardrobe malfunctions on me. So it had to be changed at the 11th hour. meh.
The Wedding Band-ers. :)

Yesterday was our 4th year and 8 month anniversary... It's almost 5 years since we've gotten together. But if i were to hazard a guess, just for fun, of the amount of time that we've ACTUALLY been in each other's physical presence, i think it would only come up to... 2 1/2 to 3 years? HAHA. Mostly because we're both quite busy in this phase of our lives. Busy-ness usually ISN'T and SHOULDN'T be a reason to explain away the lack of time spent with your partner. But, we've been REALLY busy.

I guess we're both independent individuals who also enjoy our space and own activities, but of course each other's company as well. There is a comfort in being both apart and together. Perhaps that is easier to say and do for now since we've not started living under one roof. But still, we are who we are and we are perfectly fine without clinging to one another.

I've learnt though, that being TOO involved in your own life has its pitfalls because that sidelines the other person and s/he may be prone to wander... in whatever ways you can think of. It is never good to take the other person's presence for granted. So Gem and i do keep the smses going, though not all that often, but at least one sms conversation a day. Or a call.

There's been a lot of "wedding talk" around me recently. Friends talking about getting married soon and friends talking about the things i should do in prep for my own wedding... Not that he has proposed anyhow. hurhur. I can't wait to be at my friends' weddings, i don't mind being a jiemei over and over if they don't mind the supposed "inauspicious" aura around that. :P

Last night, dinner was a simple yet satisfying affair with V and Y. I had 6-8 pieces of sushi, shared 2 desserts and had milk tea. I used to be able to exercise control over my food portions to curb the dreaded IBS bloatedness but as usual and lately... i've been stuffing myself silly and regretting it later. I know (both in stomach and mind) that i'm full, but my mental hunger isn't satiated at the same rate as my stomach. Ah well, but i think i've stumbled upon something really helpful for bloatedness...

Was feeling quite bloated (i think the milk tea did it man...) from the overeating and while waiting for the girls, i popped this pill called "Dandelion Complex" from Vitahealth (free from my Cozycot card goodie bag sign up).

I'm not sure what exactly did the trick, but i felt the warmth from the peppermint (an ingredient in the pill) go down into my stomach and in a matter of minutes, i felt the bloatedness lessen somewhat. I'm not sure if all this was a placebo, or whether it was the peppermint or the whole pill itself, but i really did feel slightly better. Shall try it again when i have the chance. Darn, but it would mean i would need to feel bloated again some time. Bah.

Anyway, here's what the pill bottle label states:

"Rich fatty meals and overeating (!!!) tend to cause digestive discomfort. VitaHealth Dandelion Complex is a unique formulation that combines Dandelion, Artichoke, Ginger and 3 other herbs to:

- Help maintain healthy digestion system
- Support liver health
- Promote healthy fat digestion"

Under ingredients, it says it contains: Dandelion, Burdock, Ginger, Artichoke, Peppermint, Capsicum.

Will update again if there's anything notable.

Update!
I just googled "peppermint + digestion" and WOAH LA... --> "(...) A number of studies support the use of peppermint for indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome... (...) A number of studies have shown that enteric-coated peppermint capsules can help treat symptoms of IBS, such as pain, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. (University of Maryland, Medical Centre)

"Peppermint aids digestion by helping to prevent cramping of the smooth muscles lining the intestine. Studies have shown that peppermint can significantly reduce symptoms of gastrointestinal upset, and may even help prevent the formation of stomach ulcers. Peppermint tea has been used to treat colic, heartburn, indigestion, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)." (extract from http://www.vitaminstuff.com/herbs-peppermint.html)

***

Loving every moment of my self imposed break... (when i should be doing my disseration research. Hm...)

Went shopping (for me, it's mostly window shopping) with the 2 girls and I realized that there's no real point for me to go shopping because most things (clothes) cost $30+ and above, which i'm not really willing to pay UNLESS i REALLY like the item a lot. So, i just revert back to shopping online where it's definitely more kind to my student pocket. Haha, ah well. But still, i love looking at clothes, touching and feeling the fabrics and experimenting with what would look nice on me. After all these years, i'm still trying to understand my body better.

Plucked some guts to wear out my beachy looking wedges today, this pair of shoes that i bought a couple of years ago from Bata but never wore out till today. Must say that i kinda like how it looks when i wear it but i need to learn how to walk less like an ungainly ogre... Had to consciously tell myself to walk with my legs closer to one another and not stomp around so much!

Think i might go back for that basic Zara tank top ($19.90). It has a lovely cut, and it's made from a very comfy material. Stretchy, dreamily soft and silky, and thick.

Ok, time for bed.

This was when i was taking my 'O' Level exams in Ghim Moh Secondary School. We were lining up two by two outside the chemistry lab waiting to go on for our chemistry practical exam when...

Me: *sniffs the air* HEY! I SMELL ONIONS!!!

(this was followed by great flurry of classmates flipping through notes to study onion cell structure, etc)

Outcome: we were tested on osmosis and diffusion, using onions to work with.

Then, while we were lining up outside the physics lab, one of my guy friends Ridzuan (the class joker) suddenly jerked his head up, stiffened, with eyes large like saucers said,

"I smell, i smell... PENDULUM!"

I could've died laughing.

Outcome: we REALLY were tested on some concept (gravity, methinks) using the bouncy metal spring pendulum thingy!

Rider's Cafe with B, G and the BFs

I'm not sure if my girlies want their faces posted here, so i've omitted the humans. Ok, but that's B's behind in the photo below.

Welcome to Rider's Cafe! A cool al fresco kind of place overlooking the Bukit Timah Saddle Club. The kind of place where you wear a pair of sunnies on your head, and nice flowy, airy and light coloured clothes to.

From where i was seated. Love the high ceiling and woody interior. We had planned to have brunch with P who had just returned from NZ, but he got held up so the rest of us continued on. It was truly quite lovely being with old friends, eating good food and being ourselves.

G's coffee. I guess it was as good as it looks.

Think this was Ph's burger.

My lovely, lovely salmon eggs benedict. From this photo, you can see the rather unique surface of the poached eggs. You can't blame us for thinking that it was whipped cream at first when the waitress delivered it to our table.

From another angle.

B's fish and chips.

Can't remember whose soup this was. But i remember it was lovely too.

Me and a horse in its stable! And yes, i do so love horses. I grew up as a little girl lovingly surrounded by My Little Pony toys, many horse figurines, drawing countless horses on stacks and stacks of rough paper that my dad/mom would bring home from work. Well, i drew dinosaurs and dragons too, among other things. I've got a permanent bump on my right hand middle finger to prove it!
Snaps of the various horses around the area:

Stuck my camera lens in between the fencing to get this unblocked view of this Lovely. :)

recent snaps (oh, and it's my 1000th post on thevacuum!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

As promised, some random photos. And more to come...

Ex-cell leader's wedding dinner at The Amara Sanctuary Resort, Sentosa.

Beautiful (deco), simple (procedures) and clean of "frills" (like the whole yam seng thing). I likey. This was taken at my spot at the long banquet like table while waiting for people to come.

There was this mood lighting thing going on, so the colours changed every few seconds bathing everything in its hue. So this was red.Then blue.
And neutral.

Dessert at Mykii, Holland Village.

This was the green tea ice cream with espresso, i think.

The green tea cake... which did not taste like green tea at all. If you told me it was a new york cheesecake, i would have also believed you. It was bland. The tastiest part of the cake was the whipped cream on top of it.

At my classmate's home baking cookies!
It's her special recipe for cranberry almond cookies. There's crushed cereal, chopped almonds, quaker oats and cranberries in there. As healthy as butter cookies go, i guess. :) Getting ready to be baked.Baked and displayed on the plate to cool.