Moved...

I can listen to the same songs again and again but never get tired of listening to them...For the past two weeks, songs from Kit Chan's latest album kept playing in my car while I was driving and while I was in front of my laptop doing some work. I am probably very much captivated by her voice, it has brought life to the songs. Listening to one of the songs "Bridge Over Troubled Water" now...

When you're weary, when you are feeling small,

When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all

I'm on your side

Oh, when times get rough

And friends just can't be found

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down

When you're now and out, when you're on the street,

When evening falls so hard

I will comfort you

I'll take your part

When darkness comes

And pain is all around

Sail on silver girl

Sail on by

Your time has come to shine

All your dreams are on your way

See how they shine

Oh, if you need a friend

I'm sailing right behind

I am also very moved by one of the Chinese songs in her album...

Purple capsicum

The story of capsicum continues...Thanks Edmond for sharing a pic of purple capsicum :) Hmm, I wonder how many more colours could there be? Are they all gonna taste differently?

What's happening this past week...

Not much really, except for...

Reading lots, really lots, I have never read so much in my whole life. My eyes were real tired from reading at times. Wonder how much I could retain at times. But as I read, I seem to discover more about myself...

Worrying about meeting all the deadlines of all the assignments. The beginning is really tough I must say. I guess it's like what one of my tutors (a jolly good fellow) said, what we do will constantly be a struggle, learning can never occur within a comfort zone...

Meeting fellow course mates, trying to understand all the group tasks and organise all our thoughts, let's hope divergence will eventually move towards convergence...

Completing a short test from my newly met acquaintance "Stats", phew, so glad it's over. Tests and examinations really make me break into cold sweat at times, a couple more to come, silly gal...

A BBQ with a bunch of friends to celebrate Joyce's birthday. Hmm, when was the last time I had a BBQ? Anyway, so glad it's the weekend, strictly no journals, articles or readings...

Well, you know what, what really mattered much for the past week was reading about the quake victims in Christchurch - a part of New Zealand that I have always wanted to visit. For those who have survived the earthquake, live well and treasure every minute of your life... For those who have lost their loved ones in this natural disaster, my heart goes out to every single one of you, be strong...For this silly gal who has been thinking about what's happening for the past week, count your blessings, count every little bit of them all...

Yummy prawn mee

The smell of the prawn soup filled the whole kitchen, we were all so hungry and could not wait to have dinner. Adeline's sister cooked prawn mee soup and invited us over for dinner. My goodness, the soup was rich and full of sweetness from the prawns. Every detail was taken care of, from the noodles to the ingredients that complement it. We were slurping on our noodles. Her sister also baked two cakes and we kinda had those for dessert. It's indeed a blessing and a joy to have a family member who really cooks so well...but shedding off those extra kilos after eating all those good stuff could be a torturous process :P

Art + Science

Some say the sciences feed the brain and the arts feed the soul. What happens when both the sciences and the arts co-exist? ...The new ArtScience Museum was opened last Saturday. The architecture of the lotus-inspired museum really got much of my attention while I was at MBS last Saturday. Creative piece of work I must say...I wonder what it's gonna be like embarking on journeys through curiosity, inspiration and expression.

My date with...

I had my first date with Statistics last evening. My first impression was, "I am sorry but do I know you?". Symbols and numbers seemed to be our way of communication or was there even communication? All they did was positioning themselves within numerous tables...remaining passive, motionless and lifeless all the time. I wish they could make some sense to me at times. Talk to me please, will you?

...Hmm, maybe I have not put in much effort at all in weaving a meaningful relationship out of this, maybe it's time to put aside whatever biases, judgment and past experiences that I have, maybe it's time to learn to interpret it the way it is and see the beautiful side of it. Well, yes, I think it's probably gonna be a real tough journey but maybe it's time to give it a chance and give myself a chance...Whatever it is at the end of the journey, I guess I will learn something out of it. Good luck, silly gal...

What's next after the death of passion?

Someone shared with me something about passion a couple of days ago, still thinking about it and pondering upon the truth of it...

When passion dies off, conviction comes into play.

What do you think? Is there immortality in passion? What's your conviction in life?

See ya soon...

Mummy asked if I would be seeing XF off at the airport. Mixed feelings...wanted to spend some time with her but somehow, just dun like the sight of the departure gate whenever we are seeing Didi or XF off at the airport. Grabbed Slacker along, may need a little company during the ride back home. After checking in her extremely overweight baggage at the airport, we went for teh and kopi. Heh, I seemed to be at the airport kinda quite often for the past two months :P ...Finally, time to be at the departure gate...lotsa hugz later, she went in...I hope to see her soon...I held Slacker close to me during the ride back home...

Bubbly milk tea

I told myself that I must never be a bubble tea addict like Angeline. But I was really craving for that bubble tea at Nex since the eve of Chinese New Year. Made a trip to Nex together with XF just now especially to get it :P Cannot deny the fact that most of the time, milk tea in general has a way to kinda hype me up, a boost to my energy level too :P Well, self declaration...I am still not a bubble tea addict, maybe more of milk tea addict. I certainly can do without the bubbles :)

Food, Fun and Friends

TK and Jessie bought satay for our potluck dinner but the highlight for me seemed to be more of the sides - cucumber and onion. Hmm, not really so much the taste but the combination of both, in colour and in authenticity, I guess one could really sense the rawness in both :P

Hee, my contribution...fried beehoon

XF got this yusheng from Sushi Tei...

XF joined us for the CNY toss and dinner :)

Words of well wishes and blessings poured in as we 'showered' the yusheng with much flavour...

Space

Didi went back to Dong Guan just three days ago. All of us made our way to the airport for brunch that day of the departure. That morning, the airport wasn't really crowded at all, love the space which seemed to be filled with much peace and quiet...

Taking a ride in the way of life

Sometimes, you just wanna face things upfront...

Sometimes, you just wanna take cover...

Well, sometimes, you just wanna turn your back on things or situations...

White capsicum

I was checking out the vegetables section at NTUC Finest with Mummy. That was when I discovered white capsicum! Goodness, that was really the first time I had seen capsicum in that colour :P I wonder how it's gonna taste like... Oh well, but simply love the way all of them are arranged in the basket, I knew I had to take a pic of them all :P

Family time...

Dim sum at Old Hong Kong Taste

We went to the temple yesterday morning to pay our respects to our late grandfather. Mummy bought lotsa stuff for praying purposes. As I was helping Mummy to carry those stuff to the car, I was wondering if people of my generation do know about all these customs and traditions. Somehow, it worries me a little when the thought that these customs and traditions may eventually vanish came to my mind... At the temple, we helped to place the offerings on the table. I was thinking, Gong Gong must be very happy to see us all...

After our trip to the temple, we had dim sum at Old Hong Kong Taste (myVillage@Serangoon Gardens), a relatively new restaurant over there I would say. Ingredients for dim sum were all pretty fresh, especially the prawns :P They also had an unique and interesting way to prepare their kai lan. Love the xiao long bao too, soup in the little baos was kinda rich and tasty, but was wondering if the skin was a little thick. Char siew bao Nevertheless, I know I would go back there again :)

Is there really an option?

Which one do we choose? Is there really an option?

What is an irony?

What is an irony?

Knowing much about other countries...nah

Not knowing much about your own country...nah

An irony is knowing so much about other countries but not knowing much about your own country...

Could that be so called the impact of globalisation and its challenges? Could the sense of rootedness be wavering?

An unforgettable feast...homecooked

Thanks Mark for the photo...it always makes me feel like savouring these dishes all over again

I know I probably can never do this...Erinna's mother-in-law started preparing this wonderful CNY meal for us early Saturday morning. Having a little experience in cooking, I know how much effort, time and hard work gotta be put in to present all these on the dining table for almost fifteen of us, kudos to her! She must have had a tiring day. We are all indeed blessed and certainly a great pleasure to be feasting on this sumptuous homecooked meal. My plate was licked clean at the end of the meal...not to forget my bowl of salted vegetable with duck soup :P

In reality, there're no "ifs"

I think these came from a part of his lyrics of a Chinese song, I cannot seem to forget this line...

Chet Lam was someone really foreign to me initially. Introduced to me by a group of friends and attended one of the Huayi sessions where he sang at the Esplanade just last weekend. The theme for his songs...Love, Lust, Heart, Home and Road Again. Somehow, I thought I prefer his English songs. You know, I feel that when you create music and sing from your and with your heart, it will never fail to move and stir emotions...

The many tosses

Toss to excellent health, happiness, prosperity ...and friendship :)

Plugged in...

Plugged in...but are you really connected?

The CNY meet up

They ain't ugly, they're my friends, haha :P

My favourite from Swenson...black pepper seafood pasta :P

I am sure CNY is also a good time to catch up with friends, with busy friends :P Well, real glad that the three of us decided to meet up for lunch today. Ha, I suppose there's lots to chat and catch up. By the time we went on our separate ways, it was already almost dinner time. Nura is still as crazy as ever and Angeline looked like she has not slept well for days (But she has really got a great appetite today, bravo Angeline!) :P ...Take care gals :)

The fighter

Watched "The Fighter" with XF and Didi yesterday night. Hmm, what do you think, silly gal?

I don't think there is an equation that equates a fighter to victory. Why do we fight? Why do we fight so hard?... Well, sometimes, it's not so much a battle in a battle field. It's more of a battle of the heart. Maybe that struggle and fury within the burning heart are causes for that fight... Every dream does deserve a second chance, dun stop fighting.

Knotty knot

Didi bought this real huge Chinese knot from Dong Guan. Goodness, couldn't believe he actually brought this back in his luggage bag. We were kinda clueless where we could hang this. Well, it probably needed a black or white background to present that contrast. Hence, the knotty knot found itself a place on our storeroom door, just facing our main door :P Well, not too bad actually... Didi always kinda gets the darnest things at times I must say. Or maybe like what he's always saying, "You can't get this back home."

Must-haves for reunion dinner

I commented that they tasted not much different from fishcake. Didi shook his head and said that I didn't know how to appreciate the good stuff. Who defines what's good stuff? :P

Wu xiang (our way and our style)...could not stop popping them into our mouths :P

The taste of sweetness in every spoonful of the cabbage soup...my father filled all our bowls to the brim

Mummy's cabbage soup...ladened with fishballs, fish maw and sea cucumber, it's really a whole big pot :P

Consciousness

I was trying to find out more about an American philosopher, author, social activist and teacher - Maxine Greene. Got this from eudotopia.org

"I'm very influenced by existentialism and the thought that you can be submerged in the crowd, and if you're submerged in the crowd and no opportunity to think for yourself, to look through your own eyes, life is dull, flat and boring. The only way to really awaken to life, awaken to the possibilities, is to be self-aware. I use the term wide-awakeness. Without the ability to think about yourself, to reflect on your life, there's really no awareness, no consciousness. Consciousness doesn't come automatically; it comes through being alive, awake, curious and often furious."

In her 1998 autobiographical essay, she wrote..."I grew up in a family that discouraged intellectual adventure and risk. To me, the opera and the Sunday concerts in the Brooklyn Museum Sculpture Court and the outdoor concerts in the summer were rebellions, breakthroughs, secret gardens. Since the age of seven, of course, I was writing."

Why do I have this strong feeling that I am gonna be a fan of this philosopher?...On the contrary, why do I have this strong feeling that in the context that I am in, there may not be many who are fans of her?