Food Paradise Singapore

It's difficult, even impossible to stay slim in Singapore with all the yummy food that we have here. Either you have to be blessed with a very high metabolic rate or work out at the gym 7 days a week for at least 3 hours each time. Now, since I am not blessed with high metabolic rate and I have 'near death' experiences each time I step on the dreaded treadmill machine, I am destined to keep on putting weight *sighs*

Had dinner with parents at East Coast Lagoon Food Village and as the name implies, they had heaps of food there. Anything you want, you can get it there. Our usual fare when we head there would be satay of course. We tried all the satay stalls there (yes, we go there pretty regularly) and finally found one stall that has the nicest satay. We usually have the mutton (love the lil bit of fat that they sneak in between the meat) and the babat or tripe. Yes, yucky to some but I simply love it!

We also had fried kway teow (flat rice noodles) with cockles. Also yummy but I couldn't take a picture of it cuz it was too dark. I also ordered Roti John (see below). I have no idea why it's called Roti John. Roti means bread in Malay but John means nothing in Malay. Now, there's a theory (my Mom's) that it's probably cuz some ang moh (westerner) named John who came up with it and got his cook (a Malay person) to make it for him thus the name Roti John...John's bread *laughs*

Another theory by yours truly is that there was some Malay guy who was trying to sell this dish to an ang moh named John and he yelled out 'Roti John' as in 'Bread John?' and that's how the dish became to be known as Roti John. Guesses here people. Now if anyone can enlighten me as to why this lovely dish is not Roti Mat or Roti Minah or something like that, and instead is called Roti John, please please let me know.


We had sugar cane juice (we tend to alternate between sugar cane juice and coconut juice each time we head there) to wash down all the yummy food. Now other must have (there were only three of us so we couldn't order more food much to my despair but there was just not enough tummies to finish up all the food):

1. Chinese Rojak
2. Honey BBQ chicken wings
3. Ice cocktail jelly (dessert)
4. Teh Halia

And am sure there are other dishes that I have not tried. So will add on to the list as I try them. But right now, am totally satisfied with our usual fare *grins*

I am thoroughly stuffed (as usual) and very satisfied! If only we had durians to top the night, it would have been a perfect 10!

Akan datang ..... 2006

I am so in denial right now. Why? Cuz in a few more days, am going to start the school year again and it's back to work proper (that is, 7am to 6pm each day at work five days a week, and if I am lucky, will leave work at 5pm). I can hear the parents jumping for joy and doing a count down to the days that their kids go back to school so that they don't have to constantly think of ways to entertain their kids anymore after two months of having to look after their kids for more than a few hours a day.

Yes, I am that grouchy right now. My table is still a mess. I have not completed my yearly ritual of clearing my work station to make space for the trash that I will be accumulating for the year. There is a landslide waiting to take place at my desk cuz I have two huge stack of files, papers and god knows what else .... balancing dangerously, threatening to collapse any minute. I kept telling myself I had time to clear my work station and kept it to the very last minute and when the 'last minute' is finally here, unplanned things keep popping up and keeping me away from doing what I need to do *sighs* Bummer!

Yes, I am a proud wannabe tai tai. I don't think I will bored with going for facial one day and manicure and pedicure on another day and meet up with friends for tea and mahjong session (would need to learn to play that game cuz all I know is PONG!). Of course I will spend some hours doing charity work and then spend the rest of the time shopping and doing whatever else them tai tais do. I am so ready for that.

Things I will miss doing once I head back to work:
1. Watching telly till wee hours of the morning (especially watching repeats of Nanny screened after midnight on Hallmark Channel).

2. Playing with my new sewing machine and trying to sew things that don't resemble what they suppose to be.

3. Going for nice lunches at nice places at lunch time (back at work means having lunch at 3pm or even 4pm sometimes).

4. Going shopping at 10am when it's so nice and quiet (okay, not 10am but 11am cuz I wake up about 10am naturally with no alarm clock going off).

5. Waking up after 10am on my own and rolling around in bed for a few more hours.

6. Reading magazines after magazines and not worry about having to do any work.

7. Surfing the net and googling things that are fun and frivilous and totally not work related.

8. Going for movies during off peak hours and not having to pay peak hour rates.

9. Going for trips, even short ones to Kuala Lumpur.

10. Having lunches and dinners with other teacher friends.

Trust me the list can go on but some of you probably thinking that we do very little work. Well dunno about the others in the same profession but the whole of November was spent at work. And for December, I had about 10 days of doing all those things that I listed above. So I really deserved those 10 days cuz that was about the only break I got for this year.

Am I rested and recharged for work? Nope. I am still feeling tired and not looking forward to work as I should. Tarot card lady said that it's going to be a SUPER SUPER busy year for me...yippee *sighs* Got to watch my health cuz will be SUPER SUPER tired and backache will be a nuisance for 2006. And it seems that 2006 will be a year for lots of major decision making for me...work and personal life.

Got some goals that I need to work on for 2006. Top five would be the following:

1. Take better care of health. Threadmill machine, here I come!!!

2. Get out more often as in less work and more balanced life than 2005.

3. Meet up with old friends more often than 2005, at least once every few months rather than once a year. Must be the ageing process *laughs* and getting all nostalgic about this.

4. Pick up a new fun skill. Learn something new that will help destress from work (knowing me, even that will be stressful cuz got to get it just right). Ah yes, suppose to continue on some old 'skills' that I picked up this year cuz don't want to waste all the money pumped into that!

5. Put aside and spend more quality time with S and COMMUNICATE with him alot more than what I have been doing for 2005.

These are the main five things for me to work on for 2006 and the list is in no particular order as they are all important.

Have a few more days to psyche myself up for work and start the whole year again. Am wishing myself luck here cuz need loads of that to pull me out of this denial stage :o) and into the acceptance stage that me no tai tai so need to work work work *laughs* Oh well, that's my lot in life and I should be thankful that I am healthy, have a job and have a wonderful family and friends around me. Yes I have many things to be grateful for and I am.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

For this year, I made a sock monkey and a froggie for two of my dear friends. For Karen, I made her a sock monkey that I personally think is adorably cute. No name yet cuz Karen will have the honours of naming the lil monkey. Anyways, this is how she looks like:

She also has a yellow boa for when she's going out partying. And didn't add the eyes like the other monkeys cuz she has them starry eyes already (it wasn't planned btw).

As for Pearly who has a fantastic collection of frogs at her desk at work, I made her a froggie that she has decided to call Ms Gorgeous. Check the froggie out:

Yes, she also has a similar boa when them froggies go out partying. This frog was partly sewn by machine but the bulk of it was still done by hand and I love how she turned out.

My presents for myself came today. I ordered two books from Amazon and am happily flipping through them right now.


Am looking forward to trying out some of the adorable creatures in them books!!!! Yay!!! :o)

Schizo Moosey

Thanks to the idea from Karen, I finally decided to try making a moose and made this one here who is a wee bit of a schizo. On one side he is blue for days when we're feeling blue.

And when you flip him over, he is all pink and covered with flowers. Anatomically female moose cannot have such antlers so this is not a female moose but rather a male moose who is very much in touch with his feminine side. Good on him.

Had a hard time making him cuz he was rather hard to stuff with the stuffing. But it's a start and this moose was sewn by hand 100%. Will there be other such moose, only time will tell *grins*. Got to make them moose with fat legs rather than skinny ones like this.

Another thing yesterday, we went shopping for a sewing machine. Yes, yes, finally decided it's about time I got one. My Mom, the advisor came with me and she insisted that we got a Singer one. She's from the old school that believed it should be a Singer sewing machine or you sew by hand.

So a Singer machine we got and it was a basic one. Just a variety of stitches but nothing fancy where you can programme, set the cloth in place and let it sew by itself and you can go cook. By the time you finish preparing a 10 course dinner, the sewing computer would have a top all done. Nope, nothing like that though we did see a few such mean machines at the shop.

Here's how my new friend looks like:



When in school, we were introduced to the fancy sewing machine and while the teacher was giving instructions, I of course started touching my machine and don't know what happened but I stepped on the pedal and my finger was at the wrong place (where the needle was) and somehow my finger got jammed with the needle pressing onto my nail and *shivers* okay, bad memories but never dared used the machine afters. Managed to complete all the projects thanks to my Mom!

And many many years later, finally got my own machine and took it for a test drive. We did we do yesterday, well Dad needed his pants altered (shortened) so Mom made the adjustment and we used the machine to sew the bottom bit. And it took two people (me and Dad) to complete to pants and we saved a grand total of $6 for both pants! Not too bad for a first go.

Would love to try out a few more things but let's see how that goes. Think my Dad is just as excited as I am about the machine and was teasing him that he could set up shop at some corner and do alteration work for $3 per piece.

I just have to make sure that the machine doesn't become a white elephant!!!

One Moose, Many M_ _ se?

English is a complicated language to me and makes no sense sometimes. Let's take the word moose. Am sure the experts will have some technical explanation for this but I am a simple girl who needs simple logical explanation for things :o)

LOGICALLY:
One goose, Many geese
One moose, Many meese.

Ah no, somehow it's still many moose! What logic is that? Went around some time back and asked several English teachers about it and they confirmed that it's many moose.

Next thing, my fascination with them moose. Yes I have a 'thing' for them and it all started on my very first trip to Sweden (Mooseland). I saw a plush moose with a Viking hat and that was it, love at first sight and it has continued till today. I have a lot of moose plushies right now. And I mean ALOT. Yes, bought heaps from my two trips to Scandanavia and when I was in Canada (another moose paradise), I brought back 11 moose, to the amazement of the other officers (it was an International Air Cadet Exchange programme and i was chaperoning two cadets from Singapore).

Why the fascination with things moose? Well, they are cute (though they are not so cute in real life when fuming mad) and they have a very duh look about them and that I find simply adorable. And thanks to my dear friends who have helped me build my collection of moose plushies (yes, I only go for them plushies).

Unfortunately, they are all wrapped and kept in boxes and waiting for an opportunity for me to have a room to display all of them *grins* Soon, I hope.

Have I seen a real moose? Unfortunately, the only real living moose I have seen is at a zoo in Stockholm and was told that it was a teenage moose. So it would be a real dream come true to be able to see a real moose in the wild some day. Was told that I would need to be out in the country in them cabins to see them moose and that also, depends on how lucky I am. I am patient. I can wait!

Anyways, as a test project, I made a moose from felt and it's my first. It was a real headache cuz stuff the skinny legs...tuff, real tuff! Am going to probably turn this fella into a book mark or key chain or something.

Down with a cold...bummer!

Horrid feeling when nose clogged up and can't breath properly at night when sleeping. My lil cold has turned to a cold and nasty cough in the making! Real bummer!

Went gallavanting yesterday with intentions of looking for some pressies but ended up with pressies for myself. Got a work bag from Liz Claiborne when in KL and got another one from Takashimaya yesterday. Like another but had to draw the line. One bag per day! *grins* NOT! Enough bags already!!! Am a bag lady and there's no such thing as enough bags. So for now, will stop buying bags for as long as I can tahan.

Also spent several hours browsing at Kinokunya. They have a great selection of books on a varied topics. Picked a pile of books but had to bring it down to two books (and I sneaked in one beading magazine) for myself. Am interested in doll making (I go through these phases that can get pretty expensive at times...well most of the time) so got two books on that. Will read it and tell you if it's any good. Am not planning to make such fancy toys but will modify and simplify them of course.

Orignal Song of the Siren @ Starbucks

Saw this mural painted on one of the walls at Starbucks in KL (the one at Jalan Bukit Bintang). It's really awesome and I've always had a thing for them Sirens.

And the last part is the one which caught our attention (other than the pretty cool painting of the siren) ...

A human matures when intelligence becomes wisdom. And by then, they've grown old? The young siren wondered. A curious term, the siren responded, 'For it is only when they stop growing that humans become old'.

A girlie trip to K.L.

Jas and I just came back from a 'girlie' trip to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. After a little over 5 hours bus ride, it was nice to be back but part of me am missing that 'tai tai' lifestyle that we had in K.L over the last few days there. A short trip for us but it has to be the most expensive one for us for K.L. Last time I was there with Jas, we spent alot of time window shopping and eating (lots of eating mind you).

This time it was a little different cuz we had plans to do major self-pampering and I think we did it too well (am not looking forward to the bills that akan datang).

It started from Day One, getting to K.L. We decided not to fly and Jas suggested we take a comfortable coach there so that we don't get too tired from the journey there. Brilliant idea. So we went all the way and got the First Class Seats with Transtar Travels at Golden Mile. We didn't know which one to go for so went for the biggest company there and it was a good choice. We went for the one with the 16 seater coach and I swear, that's the way to travel. Lots of space and they even had a 'steward' to look after us during our trip. The guy who looked after us on our way back from KL-SIN did a fantastic job! Take a peek at how our seats look like..mind you, it's individual seats ya.

Individual chair which doubles as a massage chair, own personal screen, personal game console, good movie and music selection, chair can be pushed back and a meal was served on the trip. We managed to rest on the trip so didn't feel grouchy went we got to KL.

We stayed at Hotel Istana, a lovely hotel thanks to Jas's sister! It's walking distance to Lot 10. So that was where we started along that area (Jalan Bukit Bintang). To sum up, these are the things we ended up doing during our trip in K.L (in no particular order ya):

* hair cut - I got one but not recommended cuz pretty expensive for a normal snip here snip there haircut (RM70).

* hair treatment - very worth it cuz it was much cheaper in RM and they used 'branded' products. I paid RM120 for a scalp treatment and they used products by Shiseido so pretty good.

* pedicure / manicure - I had a pedicure and Jas had a manicure at Nail Spa which was part of Leonard Drake Skin Care & Healthy Spa at KLCC. Prices were okay but they really need to work on the service and standard. My pedicurist was this young thing who was too gentle and I had to tell her several times to really 'dig in'. It could have been better but anyways. Back to their service, our appointment was at 10am. We spent about 10 minutes waiting as we were punctual. The girl was busy with the vacuum and cleaning up the place. Hmmm, shouldn't that be done before 10am (that was the time that they supposedly start business) while the shutters were still down and no one can see them cleaning up the place? Then we waited some more cuz the girls were not ready. Jas's manicurist took about 15 minutes to settle down cuz she was hot and sweaty and had to get up to wipe her sweat off! My pedicurist was late so I started even later. Yes, I had to wait for her to arrive for my 10am appointment. I did hear about the 'Malaysian Timing' but this was at Leonard Drake Skin Care & Healthy Spa at KLCC, not some Ah Huat PediManicure Spa.

* shopping - imported products are comparable to Singapore's prices but watch for their year end sale where they have some good discounts. But you can get pretty good buys but just have to look out for them. We got some work clothes, bags, and lots of little stuff from here and there. What is surprising is that Malaysia is very friendly for women who are built bigger. We discovered brands like Total Women (@ Isetan), Mis Read (@ Mid Valley Megamall) , Real (@ Isetan & Mid Valley Megamall). Good variety and affordable prices! Good on them!! I also got some made in Malaysia products from Arch Collection - beautiful wood carvings. It was so hard to pick which ones I wanted cuz they were all gorgeous!! We also went to Petaling Street for a 'pasar malam' kind of shopping but didn't get very much things from there. Was more concern trying to watch that our wallets stay with us. Oooh, but I did buy two compilation of R & B stuff so am looking forward to transfering them to my nano. They always have fantastic compilations in Malaysia. Hmmm, better stop on the shopping bit now *laughs*

* eating - lots of eating, both local (at the food court) and western. Had my siput there so was happy. Eating at the food court (or any nasi campur place) is quite an experience. It's self service and it really means that. You take what you want and how much of it. But I always wonder how they charge. Can anyone enlighten me please? Is it by the number of items you pick or the amount of each item you pick or? And am sure I had 'SINGAPOREAN' written on my face so surely kena ketuk (ripped off) a few times. But it's part of the travelling experience anywhere :o) so it's okay. We also ordered from Room Service and yes, we went overboard and ordered too much food. Oh yes, and we got some Roti Canai and yummy yummy Ramli Burger!!! Shiok!

* clubbing - Hard Rock Cafe is a very safe place to go cuz the DJ plays good music and the band is excellent. We also popped into Rum Jungle and Beach Club. These were places that were recommended to us by several people and a nice taxi driver mentioned them as 'decent' places :o) We ended at Nouvo 5. Though the crowd was a little too young for us, but they played good music so that was fine by us. We went to another one that had good music (directly opposite Rum Jungle) but it was too packed and we left after a few minutes. Cabby also recommended Asian Heritage Raw which is suppose to be a trendy and yes, again 'decent' place but we did not managed to check that out as we spent Friday night out and Saturday recuperating. Yes, I AM getting old *sighs*

It was a nice break and am sure there will be more of such getaway. We had a good time and K.L. really surprised me. There were several things that I needed to get use to. For example, getting a cab from a taxi stand is cheaper than from the side of the road. Always asking cabby first before hopping in as they might not want to take you to your destination. Having to pay an extra RM1 if we put our luggages at the car boot.

But we met really nice people too. One of the salesperson in a shop at Mid Valley Megamall was so friendly that Jas and I ended up leaving the shop with heaps of things and enjoyed the experience. K.L. truly surprised me and I am so looking forward to my next girlie trip there!

Ming Delight

This necklace is a swap I am doing with Susan who makes the most gorgeous dolls. Am swapping with her for one of her dolls, Gwen, who is lovely and am so looking forward to that.

The necklace has a Ming Dynasty porcelain shard pendant, that I matched with Duromite and Mother of Pearl beads. Also used metal spacers with Chinese design and the whole piece turns out looking very Oriental actually - nice :o) Anyways, hope it arrives there safely and that she'll like it!

#7 - Cat for Lia

This cat is made for Lia who is in Portugal as part of a swap. She picked the fabric and I wasn't too sure how it would turn out but am glad she picked this very fabric cuz I love how the cat turned out. Very pretty I think. And I did the face, especially the eyes, differently and since it's not for a kid, I added a bell that can be easily removed if a lil kid is playing with it. Am working on another (just for fun) but am thinking how I can do the face different :o)

Chitas from Rosa.

I did a swap with Rosa, yes the same one who makes gorgeous dolls (yes, I caved in and bought myself one). I sent her some batik fabrics and she sent me lovely chitas. And I mean they are lovely. Take a look at them:

I am still trying to take a perfect shot of the doll that I bought from her. I mean, the doll is gorgeous! Will try and take a shot soon and put it up for one and all to admire :o)

Swap from Sima (USA)

Got a package from Sima who sent lovely things from the States. Am feeling really bad about it cuz I just sent hers a bout a few days back so she will be probably be getting it only middle of next week.

She sent me some lovely fabrics that are so soft. I think they are flannel but am not sure cuz not good with my fabrics. Also put in two magazines that I am in the midst of reading.


She also put in there a bag of yummy Korean sweets are so lovely. Am on my third one right now.

She also sent me a sock monkey and I swear my jaw hit the floor when I saw how big it is. I mean, my exposure to sock monkey is basically from pictures I see on the net. And hard to tell how big it is from those pictures. So when I saw how big it is, my Asian sock monkeys are so small in comparison. And I take 6 hours to hand sew one small sock monkey, am wondering how long it will take to sew the 'original' size. Amazing.

Sima bought the sock monkey from a centre where elderly folks make unique sock monkeys like this and they are up for sale. I think it's a neat idea/concept. I have seen similar corners put aside for craft work at old folks home here in Singapore but I doubt they get much sale. I really like the idea of selling the craftwork by the elderly and people get to purchase these ...kill several birds with one stone. Maybe something I can think about and adapt for Project SPHERE....just maybe.

The other sock monkeys came out to greet the new addition to the family and we took a 'family' shot of all the sock monkeys. Two of the pink ones might not be with me for long so it's nice to have a family shot like this. Nice :o)

Thanks Sima for putting together such a lovely package. Love all the things you sent and am going to have fun with them!