Goodie Goodie

I felt like a factory worker, packing stuff into bags just now. Brainless job but somehow enjoy it at times :P Ha, can still remember how Miss Tan has always described the way I would pack all my goodie bags every year, yes, she's right, the items in every pack would be packed in the same order and same position :P Didi who is back for a holiday thought it's Christmas when he saw the whole living room filled with those gift packs. Hope the little gifts will bring much delight and joy :) ...Didi is playing that "Imbecile Test" app on my iPhone now, haha, good luck! It's probably high time he exchanges that Blackberry of his for an iPhone :P

Some tea?

It was a pleasant surprise that I got on my table last Friday. An ex-colleague was back to visit. Ha, wasn't the gift a little early? :P Nevertheless, it's really thoughtful and sweet of her! It was a long day at work on Friday and certainly needed a cup of tea :P

That little cloud

Was on my way to work, saw this little interesting cloud in the sky which looked a little like a shark but it seemed to be a friendly shark. Really liked the glow it had, made me smile early in the morning :)

Focaccia bread sandwich

Saw focaccia bread (real huge pieces) at Swissbake that day so decided to buy them to cook up something for breakfast the next day. Focaccia bread has always been my favourite, with herbs and rich in flavour, just the right kinda bread for a sandwich. Saw a can of sardine in our food cabinet, had the sardine shredded and placed in the fridge that night and had them pan fried with beaten eggs, milk, soya sauce and pepper the next morning. I guess that formed the 'star' of my sandwich, the rest were just greens, tomatoes and cheese (hoo, loved it when it melted on the egg and sardine :P). Didn't realise the sandwich got so huge when all the ingredients were stuffed in between the bread. I could not finish the whole sandwich at one go, had half early in the morning and the other half in the later part of the morning. You know, whenever I bring homemade breakfast or lunch to work, I would always wish I could sit at a table placed in a nice little garden, enjoying my meal, sipping tea, no laptop, no documents, no schedule to follow, no list of things to work on...daydreaming again :P

Just arrived!

Snoop just popped by my place to pass me these, giving me some of the 'loot' that she had gotten from Candylicious yesterday. Mini chocolate bars with lotsa peanuts, leaf shaped dark chocolate slices that are placed in a nice little tin :P Thanks Snoop dearie, for being so so sweet :)

Over a meal of mee soto

Zai invited us to his place for dinner on Friday night. How time really flies, I thought it was just one year ago that Rene, Joyce, Edmond, Raymond and I had homecooked mee soto at his place. It's certainly great to meet up again! As usual, we ate lotsa homemade Hari Raya snacks and cookies made by his mother. Goodness, his mother can really cook and bake. I hope all her recipes would be passed down generation after generation. As usual, there's much catching up and thunderous laughter, oops, hope we did not create much disturbance to the quiet neighbourhood in the night. Zai's pretty much the same, sporty and adventurous :P You know, we need good gardeners to maintain the garden of friendship, really appreciate Zai's effort to organise our meet ups and gatherings. You know, it's never so much of what food we had but I thought it's indeed the strengthening of the bonds of friendship over a simple meal of mee soto...with lotsa ingredients, the soup was addictive and the chilli was shiok! :P

A quick fix

Pork Bulgogi (Korean marinated meat from the poultry section in the supermarket) was tender and sweet. Stir fried it with capsicum to add colours and crunchiness. This dish goes very well with rice!

Have never ever got tired of eating broccoli and mushrooms :P Oh yes, time to get a new bottle of oyster sauce!

Told my mummy that I would be reponsible for cooking dinner today, hmm, have had enough of food outiside for the past few days and do crave for some homecooked food. By the time I had finished my haircut, I was rushing to the supermarket, hoping that there's enough time to prepare and cook. Made snappy decisions about the ingredients for dinner tonight :P Spent nearly an hour to prepare and cook, quite a quick fix I would say. I was thinking maybe I should prepare some soup the next time I cook at home, ha, let me think about it when the time comes :P ...Realised that I can be such a perfectionist in some aspects of preparation and cooking at times :P

After a week...random thoughts

It's good to take a walk along the beach once in a while...I'm glad I did :) Thanks Rene for the photo!

I have not opened my black planner for the past few days. Neither have I checked my email at work for the past few days. Ha, kinda ignored my long list of things to do at work for the past few days too. Well, not exactly feeling guilty about it :P Hmm, just wish and hope that I have the strength and stamina to survive through the next part of 2010...

"Unless you are a student, retiree or housewife, so much of a person's life centres on that concept called work - where to work, what sort of work, are you happy at work, should you work? The workplace has long become more than just a place you check into five days a week to fulfil form of labour for which you are paid at the end of the month. A colleague put it aptly: Work is a creche for adults, providing structure, stimulation and sustenance.

Here is also where you find friendship, companionship and love even, and you can be guaranteed it's among like-minded people. Afterall, you are similiar enough to seek a job in the same area of interest." ~ Sumiko Tan, The Sunday Times (29 June 2008)

I was reading Sumiko Tan's article, "Work gives life meaning". Hmm, we have worked all our adult life, but have we ever asked ourselves this...do I live to work or do I work to live?...

If you were an instrument in a symphony, which instrument do you think best represents you? Why?...I thought this question is kinda interesting :P I thought about this question not really for long and an instrument instantly came to mind :)...

Although still nursing a nasty cold, I opened my black planner and replied a few emails half an hour ago. Life goes on...

Bruno's...Tiramisu

Which one do you think I would prefer? Tiramisu or hot chocolate lava cake? Well, I thought not many places sell really good hot chocolate lava cake and I always love to try good tiramisu. We decided to have both for dessert. I like the tiramisu! I think I was guilty of eating almost three quarter of it :P As for the hot chocolate lava cake with ice cream, hmm, not really to my liking. Well, should I say it wasn't seductive enough? :P

Bruno's

The crust was kinda thin, hot and crispy and the cheese was not like the usual kind that we have on our pizza.

Decided to check out Bruno's Pizzeria and Grill as Adeline suggested Italian and Mark wanted pasta :P Hmm, simple decor but I thought it's kinda a nice and cozy place, like what I have mentioned to my dinner dates, it's more of casual dining. Seafood was fresh...from the starter to the pizza and to the clams in the pasta. Linguine with crab meat in pink sauce (interesting) was nice and luscious. The essence and sweetness of the crab meat can be savoured in every bit of the linguine. I think I would describe the vongole as al dente :P An Italian expression that I have come across while surfing the net. Has got just the right firmness and the clams were fresh and juicy. Well. every item came in piping hot and everything wasn't that salty. Hmm, may try Italiannes at Triple One, as recommended by Adeline. But for the time being, no Italian food, real high carbo :P

Porridge

Have always liked eating porridge. Nice and hot, easy to digest and of course, it goes very well with just salted vegetables :P Had dinner at Oasis Taiwan Porridge Restaurant (Toa Payoh). Well, we didn't just have salted vegetables though. I thought the fried promfret with fermented black beans and lotsa leek was nice, that was my favourite :P Ha, Rachel and I were trying to finish every bit of it, including the bones...meow :P The braised intestines and salted vegetables were kinda ordinary to me. The raw cockles were fresh though and went very well with the sourish chilli sauce. The porridge was nice and warm, kinda like it with those chunks of sweet potatoes. Hmm, I remember my mummy adding pumpkin when she was cooking porridge at home, I like it too! Nowadays, my mummy usually cooks porridge for dinner, good idea, goes well with just vegetables and steamed fish :)

That orange armchair

As I was enjoying my tea after the massage at Aramsa, the orange chair which I was facing caught my attention, it kinda looked so interesting with the lamp behind it. The light that came in from the garden seemed to bring a glow in that simple looking armchair. Dunno why but kinda felt so relaxing just looking at it.

Tea at Aramsa

There's a comment from a friend..."You really know how to pamper yourself." Well, why shouldn't I? Why couldn't I? Why mustn't I? I do have a choice, don't I?...I had a good scrub and massage at Aramsa today, really missed being pampered and being spolit, haha :P The gingery tea was good after the massage. You know, it's good to pamper your body once in a while. Not to forget that we are also pampering our mind and soul coz all these three are connected.

It was handmade...from the heart

The best gifts in life cannot be bought...It was a handmade card, photographs were taken by Snoop who has been pretty 'flowery' in her photography, at her workstation and in her blog recently :P ...Nice shots, showing three different perspectives with individualised character in each even though it's the same flower...It will certainly be a much treasured gift :)

Massive block

These have been my companion these two days. Well, you see, the Vapex inhalant is for my nasal congestion from a cold (XF, you mean virus do travel far? :P) and of course, the little cutie pouch is for containing my inhalant. Oops, I think I need some of those again...sniff sniff

Spending time with...

Miso soup with luncheon meat

Spent some time with my grandmother yesterday afternoon. She's doing fine and eating well :) Bought her favourite kueh and yam paste. Although wheelchair bound, she's still look physically strong and I am sure ever ready for a game of mahjong :P Ha, can still remember how she had kinda tried teaching the three of us a little of mahjong (It's not easy playing mahjong okie :P Well, I guess it's not easy teaching me too, haha!).

Popped by to visit Sunny baby in the evening too. Same old Sunny baby! As active as ever :P The ground outside was wet from the rain in the afternoon, so didn't take him out for a walk. He's having those nasty skin rashes too. Had a simple dinner of miso soup filled with lotsa beancurd, leek and mushroom. Thanks to Derrick! Hmm, when was the last time I had luncheon meat? Frankly speaking, I cannot remember. Mark decided to add pan-fried luncheon meat into our miso soup, haha, interesting, finished the whole big bowl of soup :P

By the beach

Took a walk with Rene along the beach while the other three decided to jog, it was a nice evening to take a stroll. A part of the sky was cloudy but clear enough to see sunset. We met at the seafood centre for dinner, decided to feast at Jumbo :P Kinda crowded for a weekday. Where we were sitting, we were also able to catch a glimpse of sunset. We kinda sat facing the sea too, beautiful evening to dine by the beach. Well, it's certainly great to take time to catch up with one another every ten weeks :)

Tea at East Coast Park

While waiting for Rene, Julia, Chu Hwei and Edmond...moroccan mint didn't seem to taste that minty but looking forward to seeing sunset...

Sorting and organising memories

It's time to sort out those photographs, a stack of them. Took out my black journal...how time flies. But no matter how time flies, memories stay...

Midlife

At times, simply enjoy reading The Sunday Times coz have always looked forward to reading the section, "Reflect". You know, sipping my cup of hot tea and reading the newspapers in the morning is such an enjoyment...Anyway, was reading an article "Midlifer and mentor" by Chua Mui Hoong, allow me to quote a section of what she has written...

For many people, midlife is a period of reflection, when you come in touch with your inner desires, and come face to face with your dreams. You then have a decision - do you accept your limits, let go of those dreams and learn to live with what you are and what you have? Or do you take a leap of faith and go after your dream? Either decision is fine. The key is to embrace your real self and accept yourself lovingly, achievements, disappointments, successes, failures and all.

In midlife, we learn different ways of gaining satisfaction. In our younger, driven 20s and 30s, our self-esteem is tied to our achievements. We take pride in work done with our hands, by the sweat of our brow. But as we grow into middle-age - and into management positions - the source of our satisfaction changes. Instead of taking pride in doing things ourselves, we learn to take pride in coaching, training and mentoring others to get things done. Psychologists call this "generativity". It is one of the most important transitions for those going through midlife.

Indeed, midlife is a period of reflection. In fact, well, I thought it could be a period of intense reflection. You probably learn to let go more easily, especially of things that won't really matter five years down the road. You probably learn to accept things more readily. I couldn't agree more with what Mui Hoong has shared.

Colours in my packed lunch

It was a colourful Thursday! Have I ever told you that I am always glad that it's Thursday, almost end of the week and that means weekend is kinda near :P Thought I would prepare packed lunch to work, decided to prepare fried rice. Kinda like the small french beans I bought from the supermarket and thought some char siew meat would add a little fragrance to the rice as the only seasoning I have added was just light soya sauce. Was kinda ambitious with colours so decided to have tomatoes with eggs. The huge tomatoes in the supermarket seemed juicy and nice. Added some milk and light soya sauce while beating the eggs. Like those days that I have brought homecooked lunch to work, I truly enjoyed the lunch that I have prepared just last Thursday. Colours do have a way of brightening our days too :P

A reason to smile

There is always a reason to smile every single day of our lives, isn't it? Little and simple gifts in my life have always been the reasons for my smile :)

Obolo - Layers of bliss

Indeed, they're layers of bliss. Put a spoonful of it in your mouth, close your eyes and just concentrate on enjoying the sweetness of it all, bit by bit, letting the sweetness diffuse to every bit of your taste buds. Some would choose to taste it layer by layer but I thought I like the taste of the combination of the various layers. Well, no matter what way you choose to savour it, enjoy it the way you like it.

Obolo - Les Macarons

It was a Tuesday afternoon. A few of us left our workplace for afternoon tea. Mark recommended Obolo located along Joo Chiat Road. Oh my, it was really a small cafe but I like the coziness. I guess size doesn't really matter. Was very much attracted to the black and white design on the wall, love the contrast of red at the desserts counter. You know, you just couldn't resist that smile on your face just looking at the colours of the various kinds of desserts in the cafe. Let's see, the last time I had lotsa macarons was summer in Basel. Kinda miss them...those smooth fillings sandwiched between those crispy shells, everything seems to melt in your mouth, every bit of it...goodness, could be so addictive :P