Daddy's 60th Birthday

What is love? No words can define it. It's something deep, so deep, so unfathomable. no one can do without love, for love brings about supreme fulfillment in one's life. for me, my life revolves around the 2 most important people in my life. the 2 people whom I love dearly with all my heart and soul -- Daddy & Dearie -- The image of total perfection. Well Almost.

In less than 2 hours time, it'd be daddy dearest's 60th bday. I threw him a surprise party for him on Sunday. (He pretended not to be surprised when he arrived with everyone screaming "happy birthday" in the background....haha..he looked adorable trying to cover up his stunned feeling) The planning n preparation was no joke. Had to invite all my immediate uncles and aunties, plan the menu, order the longevity buns. On the day itself, had to wake up extra early to go marketing. Came home to clean up the raw stuff, later collected more raw stuff from C (who got me a good deal! Thanks!), then collected the ee-fu noodles (A musthave apparently for oldies having bdays), then collect the longevity buns and finally come home and start cooking from 4+ till 7pm! The "thens" seem endless! It's not that I'm lousy and inefficient, it's just that I've only got one pair of hands!

Painstakingly printed and cut out the night before! Apparently, it's tough finding a happy birthday streamer banner. Somehow when you need stuff, they simply don't appear!

The gruelling process of marinating and preparation starts......

The above is from 2 cans of 红烧fatty pork. I placed it in the fridge to "freeze" the fats. It hardened and looked like jelly! ewwww.....

Custom-made this peach blossom Longevity Bun for daddy. I din realise it'd turn out so ching cheong (Traditional looking) But I guess it's meaningful.

All in a hard day's work. There's more dishes which I didn't manage to take. In the top left corner, there's a big pot. Was really trying to squeeze my way through to take a photo of it, but alas! it was gone b4 I could take a pic! Nevertheless, it's my maiden attempt at SHARK'S FIN! Sorry to those environmentalists! The feedback varied. Some said it's just nice..some said it wasn't salty enough. Tasted real good and salty before I added the cornstarch and egg. :-(

One of daddy's favourite dishes -- Braised Fish Head. Real fresh and cheap. The head was only $10.50. But of coz I added loads of other stuff. All in all, the dish would probably cost $20. Definitely cheap compared to the local coffeeshops/ restaurants!

Ordered a tray full of chicken wings from my favourite stall! A total of 28 for 17 pax and only 6 was left over! Was trying to make warm and crispy again after collecting it at 1pm, however, the standards of makeover was rather disappointing.

Everybody. The air was thick with excitement.
The traditional cake cutting ceremony. A surprise awaits.......
Viola! MiNI LoNGevity BUNS! SO adorable right? there're 9 in each pregnant bun. The outer dough was rather wasteful coz it looked to unglam to be eaten. The mini buns were really adorable. Custom made from the supplier of hotels. Didn't disappoint but wasn't exactly mind-blowing.
Chocolate Praline cake compliments from Cousin P. Thanks!

Happy family. Was overwhelmed with emotions when I saw the sincere smile plastered on daddy's face. After the cutting of the bun, he said "i hope u won't put candles on the buns and make me blow"....I told him "nah...wont do such a thing"..I thought he really didn't want to blow the candles but when the cake was lit, so was his face! What an actor! haha



My happy family!
My loves -- Parents!

The little rascals


Dessert time! DURIAN! The best, from Balastier @ $12 per kg.

It was hard work and my back's aching terribly, but ultimately, to see the sunshine in Dad made me really happy. There's no vocabulary for love within a family, love that's lived in but not looked at, love within the light of which all else is seen, the love within which all other love finds speech. The love is silent.The love of a family is life's greatest blessings. I wish our family can be closer, but we aren't that "open" with our emotions as our Western counterparts. A pity. Treasure those around you.
Wishing daddy a prosperous and healthy life ahead!

Freedom of speech

What happened to Freedom of speech? What happened to respect of views? Having an insane need to hurl profanities but this is a decent blog afterall.
A molehill has been made out of an ant hill and I was angsty the entire day. If you (just a general term, no targets involved) are not happy with what I'm writing, don't read. It could be detrimental to health. Malicious even.

The incessant angst was unbearable and bringing such mood to lessons was certainly unfair for my little ones. But fortunately even my 17 yr old understands that one has mood swings. PMS if you like. Imagine the irony of it all. Prolific imagination. Was undeniably fed up and thought I'm alone but fortunately sweetie came back just in time giving me a good hug and even conveyed a sensible display of words. Thank you dear for being here for me!

Hope the menacing thoughts would clear tmw or perhaps the brain would block it out of my consciousness so I don't have to think about it, or rationalise. To begin with, didn't even bother thinking until I was reminded. Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.

Victimised

Realisation that I'm all alone.
Stuck in a never-ending vortex of frustration.
Misunderstood.
The defense had found evidence but it's apparently not sufficient to get oneself acquitted. Too strong. The proposition is simply too innocently strong.
More said probably will intensify things. Avoidance is best.
But I do feel Sickened by the situation.
I ricochet between being upset to being sane.
Totally marvelled by how malicious gossips/ words can get.
The world conspires against my favour it seems.
Episodes happened and emotions are stirred. Déjà vu

ANNOYING LITTLE OLD MAN!

Does anyone knows how to spell ANNOYANCE? that was how I felt at the start of my day! Was feeling rather lethargic after the wkend but that hangover feeling was soon translated into that of anger, frustration and rage! Had 5mins before my first lesson, thus I stopped by the side of the road to check my messages. My car was slightly before someone's residence. Gate, to be specific. There was a handwritten sign on his gate which says "NO PARKING". The bonnet of my car was merely a few inches along his gate..NOTE it's along, not directly In front of his gate. The piece of land doesn't belong to the owner of the house in anycase, thus I had the right to stop for a moment to attend to my handphone. While I was engrossed in replying my messages, suddenly a grouchy old man used his umbrella and knocked at my car door! Stunned, I wound down my window and was greeted by his bellowing! Yes, HE shouted at me! So loudly that all his neighbours started popping their heads out of their houses! That ASS**** said I'm in his compound and that I can't read and started screaming at the top of his voice. Casting a blazing stare, he threatened that he would call the police if I didn't remove my vehicle. I tried explaining that I was merely stopping for a minute and was leaving. Wanted to even apologise for "intruding" (though I'm adamant over my stand)...but he went on asking how long I want to park n he wouldn't get out of my way! How was I suppose to remove my vehicle IF he stood right next to me?! Do I need to RUN HIM OVER? I felt an angry beast being unleashed from within me but had to control myself, thinking that he's an old man and certainly didn't want him to get a heart attack. However, that old man started getting hysterical and shouted even louder. I was speechless with anger, my ire rekindled. I felt a sudden surge of anger rushing through my veins. I told him if he wants, he can jolly well call the police as I was doing nothing illegal. In fact, I was being a good citizen by not using my phone whilst on the road. Instead I stopped to use! I was intensely annoyed and wanted to let my suppressed anger express itself in a frenzied rage on that scoundrel. After repeatedly asking how long do I need to take to leave, I finally shouted and said "when u get out of my way, I'll leave!..n u can call the police if u want to!"....the road doesn't even belong to u F*****! It's the government so stop annoying me! By then, my knuckles which were gripping onto the steering wheels had whitened.

Is there some association which I can complain this BA***** to? Can't Singaporeans have more courtesy! How can the younger generation be more graceful if there are such older "role models" around!?!

Was engulfed in delirium the entire day. Thus, a little treat below (ok, my version wasn't as nice as this..but it was still a banana split) to simmer the flame.

Fondue & Foie Gras

雨。The day started at 730am. Nothing to anticipate about given that it's a Saturday. As if to spite me, it started to rain minutes before I embarked on my journey. Was pretty sore as I should be snuggled under the sheets with the cool air drifting through the window louvers. Seeing sweetie still in bed doesn't make me hormonally balanced. Fortunately, the day went by fast and i looked forward to the warm welcome of my home. Suffice to say, it was a real treat. However, the house was kindof messy. Heaps of clothings await me...I cleared those. Would have to do a mountain of ironing tmw. I'm constantly in perennial denial that those clothes would just straighten themselves if I place them in the heap long enough. An indescribable feeling engulfs me each time I do chores.

Had KFC for dinner. What a treat! hadn't had it for the longest time. Went Ikea and bought a whole lot of storage. Was really elated as it's gonna make my house more organised. Inspired by V&G, I'm probably gonna make a video of my house -- my pride and joy! Ikea was bustling with life and it was rather stifling to be shopping with a whole lot of people. Typical Singaporeans, rushing to a place when there's a sale! After being pushed and shoved by hordes of busy shoppers, sweetie and I went over to E&L's place for a chillout session.

Don't be envious, but we had Fondue, fried anchovies with chilli padi (a great beer snack!); top shell (still love the way I do it *Wink*) and bread. Not some ordinary bread...and that's certainly not some ordinary garlic spread, but Foie Gras! Talk about luxurious supper snacks! Together with a full-bodied red wine / beer, it makes this day all the more fullfilling!

This is totally random. But thought I should share nevertheless. A month ago, I had a visitor right above the pillar before my house. Saw it past midnight and almost freaked out! It was a moth, the size of my palm! I kid you not! It was the first time seeing such a gigantic species and I tried my best to contain my screams as it was an unearthly hour. Talk about Bug's Life!

Hibernation Mode

I'm in auto-pilot mode. Hibernation. Whatever u call it. I'm down. Down with a bad flu. All thanks to sweetie. All those juices had seen their prowess superceded by the mighty germ or perhaps an over-exhausted, over-productive weekend. Was mulling over heaps of assignments and cleared almost the whole pile at 4am on Saturday. Did tons of chores though sweetie did most of the menial ones (THANK U DEAR!) and had a whale of a time at GIANT supermarket, stocking up on groceries! My kitchen cabinet is blooming once again, equipped with all sauces, canned food and other essentials.

That wasn't all that was stocked up over the past few days...Check the rest of my buys:
With the H1N1 scare currently, I've suddenly taken interest in my health. I'm left to fend for myself in this world, and thriving in this unsafe and unsanitary outside world is certainly no mean feat. I wish there's a protected haven which I can call Sanctuary.

PS: RedSun Takara in the photo above is a patch to be placed on your feet or any part of your body. It's filled with a TCM concoction which apparently will turn black to draw out the toxins in that particular part of the body where you adhere the pad. Did it once in the past and boy did I have LOADS of toxin! The whole patch was BLACK the next day!
Was sniffing the whole time during lessons today. Miserable. My nose was like a cascading waterfall! Had to endure the ordeal as time seemed to tick away slowly today. At the end of the day, I headed to Watsons and grabbed some medication to armour myself against those germs which prey in every corner of the world. In the picture above, you'd see a MUST-HAVE Redoxon Vit C, an Immune effervesence pill, Lemsip flu pills...some TCM flu concoction, Calcium pills which I've been meanin to ingest faithfully before it expires in August (i must have hidden it since a year ago!) and Meji Amino Collagen! Inspired by friend B, I decided to give this collagen fad another chance. Previously I tried out PLUSH which proved to be yucky! Everyone's telling me it's tasteless, but somehow, the thought that it's derived from fish and pigs didn't make it all that enticing. However, as I gracefully move into the big 3, beauty is no longer superficial, it's Skin Deep. Been blindly pursuing a career, which honestly has been at the bay this year, and didn't have time to truly take care of myself. Secretly, I really yearn for a more luxurious life, enjoying the peace along the Merchant of Venice whilst sipping my afternoon tea and tickling my tastebuds with those English scones. Thereafter galavant at LV, Gucci, Prada, just to name a few. However, this is just a dream which thankfully I'm not blinded by. The generation these days are decking themselves with branded stuff and seem to be accustomed to the high life. I guess it boils down to people's perceptives. It's a choice, as someone once put it. However, before u can start choosing, wake up and earn your greens! Else u'd only end up with endless credit card bills. Worse yet, you may end up bankrupt! That's certainly not my choice!
I quaked at the thought of aging....In an attempt to boost my collagen level, the below BB cream is also my latest fav! With its triple function ie whitening, preventing wrinkling and sagging and SPF 20, no wonder it's a hit in shops! Had to visit 3 Watsons outlets before getting my hands on it! Doesn't really come cheap ($55) but it's certainly a better deal than my previous Bobbi Brown Smooth Skin Foundation, which I have to specially fly in from US as Singaporeans apparently have such great skin that this item was discontinued! Unbelievable!

Rendezvous @ KL

They say the best bits of happiness are those you create for yourself. Last weekend I made happiness happen. Right after lessons on Friday evening, sweetie and I zoomed across the causeway and drove approximately 300km to Kuala Lumpur. Throughout, I was intoxicated by the peaceful drive and kept singing. Sweetie actually preferred that to the radio. Not that my voice was exceptionally melodious. Sweetie doesn't have the habit of having the radio on whilst driving and I can't stand silence in a claustaphobic environment. I was almost out of battery when we arrived at 10+.

Had to stop for dinner before we embark on our arduous journey. Guess what's for dinner? My favourite Bittergourd soup and fried pork of course!!! Tantilising and cheap!
No wonder we arrived that quickly!
Dive in pleasure was what we did! Look at how serene the fishes are! Bloop Bloop Bloop!
No, it wasn't a dive trip we went on.....we merely checked into KL's first marine-inspired boutique hotel. It's a really simple place with no amenities, not even a place of their own for breakfast. Rooms were however nicely decorated perhaps coz it's newly refurbished. When one "swims" along the corridor, one could see the art on the wall that mimic the sea -- truely an aesthetic experience.We were pleasantly surprised that we've got a free upgrade to a suite!! AWESOME! This place was really quite a little enclave of "nature" amidst a concreate jungle.

We were veging out on the sofa the whole time, snacking sinfully and relaxing the soul and the mind.
After a night of rejuvenating sleep, we woke up at 10am and headed for the streets for some brunch. Everywhere was overshadowed by skyscrappers and the place reminds me of Singapore. The mood was however very different as I was on a retreat!Had brunch at a fancy al fresco restaurant over at the PAVILION...which was somewhat like our PARAGON. It's a mall filled with the anchor brands like GUCCI, FERROGAMO, PRADA, just to name a few. The entire brunch cost us a whopping 80RM! We didn't eat anything else that whole afternoon! Itinerary for the afternoon was simply mandatory -- FULL BODY MASSAGE!

Dinner that night was also a splurge....Candlelight dinner @ THE SHIP. The feast was disappointing. Sweetie had Chinese Sharksfin soup....strange as it was a Western restaurant. It had a milky taste...Weird. My seafood chowder was no better. I thought chowders are supposed to be milky base, but mine was tomato base. Sweetie's steak was pretty alright but clumsy him, dropped the whole pc of meat on his lap!!!! Fortunately, it didn't land on the floor, else dinner would be bread and butter! My grilled black cod was weird too. perhpas I'm spoilt. In Singapore I'm too used to the standards of Blue Lobster. The cod was too crispy to be grilled. The sauce sweet. My verdict -- Food SUX. Fortunately, we could always rely on Heineken! We effortlessly washed down the beer at breakneck speed and went back hotel to chill once more!

Baby chilling at his favourite relax chair. Sipping his aromatic cup of coffee. He loved the chair so much, he wanted to carry it home! The whole can of pringles was a snapped up within one night. His appetite never ceases to amaze me!
I just had to take a photo of this quintessential car. It must have been abandoned for the longest time!

Two days of R&R soon came to an end. we had to make our way back on Sunday. Went for brunch at a rather famous coffeeshop. The egg tarts were heavenly! Adorable in size and adorable in price too! -- only 60 malaysian cents each! I bought 20 of them!
After checkout, the highlight of the day came -- MASSAGE AGAIN! 88RM for one hour of foot massage and one hour of Tui Na. The whole body felt so relaxed!

At approximately 415pm, we made our way back to Kembangan....not Seri Kembangan though...haha, fancy seeing my street name in Malaysia!

ohhhhhhhh SEDAP!!! Durians at one of the rest stations. It was fantastic and we packed 2 more home.
You must be wondering why till now I have not mentioned a word about shopping. Totally unlike a shopaholic like me right? Well it's becuase, my purchases were fairly small, nothing to boast about. Kept to my resolution and bought only 2 shoes and one pair of slippers. The dress was an impulse buy....merely 15RM. MUST BUY Right?
Back to reality. Can't help but it's time to strive hard again. Opportunity is knocking...hopefully Success is within reach!