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The other day when I was out with isaac at Novena, we went to Popular. I saw a series of zodiac books for 2010 and since we were trying to pass time, I picked up a book for ox (which is his zodiac) and started to flip. It was such a wrong decision!
There is this section that talks about love possibility between ox and tiger (that's me!). The gist of the 2-page write up is summarized in a phrase - no real interest in each other. DAMN DAMN DAMN!! Although this kind of prediction should be taken with a pinch of salt (because I don't believe there isn't a single ox and tiger mix couple who didn’t stay together till their death days! :(), but I still can't help but harp on it. :(
To add on to the already bad heading, within the write up, the authors wrote that both the tiger and ox will not have interest in each other and they wouldn't start to have in 2010. And if the couple had already gotten together (and that's us!!!!), we wouldn't last! DAMN THEM! How I wish I could burn them alive! Haha... Okay, my reaction is a little uncalled for. Such predictions are usually not 100% accurate. At least the good stuff that I normally took note of doesn't happen! But it succeeded in affecting me with its prediction about Isaac’s and my zodiac. :( It doesn’t help that their prediction sounds so firm and absolute! Sigh…
Enough of this depressing subject!
Let’s go on to something more light hearted! FOOD!!!!
If you haven’t notice, there’s this new Ramen place which opened about 2-3 months ago at Novena square’s Velocity. It’s called the Ramen Monster. We walked past it countless times while on our way to church and after church as well. We kept saying we will visit it someday but never got down to doing it until recently.
As I had already gotten my dinner, Isaac was the only one having it. The ramens are priced like around $8-$10 dollars and you could easily add $3 to get a meal which will include an additional plate of 3 gyoza with free flow of hot/cold green tea or ice lemon tea. It is only about a few dollars cheaper with free flow ice lemon tea in comparison to Ajisen.
I only remembered about picture taking when we were at half the bowl. Both Isaac and I find it’s soup a little conflicting to our taste bud. Its texture is slightly thicker than the usual but its taste is a tad bland. If you ever had pig’s trotters with black beans soup or any kind of pig’s trotters’ soups, you will find the texture of Ramen Monster’s soup very similar to it. Feels like you are drinking collagen! HAHA…
Then the gyozas are mediocre. Neither fascinating nor inedible.
But what I really love was their crème brulee!! Ooohh lala… It might not be the best crème brulee in Singapore, but I love it nonetheless. Especially when you eat it with the accompanying blueberries! Yummy yum yum!!
This picture above was the second shot. Check out the first shot below! Mr. Mugger must have caught sight of some pretty girls or girls with hot bod, that’s why his eyes drifted away from the camera! : ( GUYS…
To conclude, Isaac classified Ramen Monster as the unpalatable ramen. While I feel that it is still edible and I don’t mind eating it again but not with Ajisen just located at Novena square 2. HAHA…
The whole idea of us getting our butts down to Novena is for this!
Heavenly MAO SHAN WANG Durian Ice cream! Durian Lovers out there! You should NEVER and I really mean it! NEVER miss this! It’s really as good as having the Mao Shan Wang just without the hassle of dirtying your hands. This ice cream parlor sells lotsa ice creams! They also had the D24 Durian Ice cream which I don’t think is comparable to their Mao Shan Wang. Or perhaps it’s because the two different flavours of durian is not comparable to begin with. They also had alcoholic ice creams like Long Island, Bourbon and other popular cocktails. I didn’t try much of their other flavours even though I visited them quite a few times, because I am so mesmerized by their Mao Shan Wang ice cream and never want to have anything else. TEEHEE…
Today was a rare day because I enjoyed the luxury of having lunch with Isaac alone after church. Usually, we would have it with his family or I needed to go home for lunch.
Since I kept having craving for noodles (actually pasta or ramen to be exact), we ended up at Pasta de Waraku which was located at the Novena Square 2.
We shared spicy prawn pasta in Carbonara sauce with a Yakisoba pizza. And our stomachs were very satisfied with the quality of food.
Once again, you can see that the hungry monstertook the better of me and I only remembered photos when we were finishing our meal. HAHA…
Oh! There’s another food monster who hadn’t surfaced for quite some time! Oh! That’s not a monster, it’s a food lecher!! HAHAHAHA…
The Yakisoba pizza has thin crust (much like timbre’s) and spread with fried noodles in Japanese style then finally topped with seaweed, mayo and bonito flakes. Not a bad dish but I kinda prefer the spicy prawn Carbonara pasta. The sauce is delectable!
This is a close up picture of the Yakisoba on the pizza!
Okay! That’s all for now folks! My horrendous period of midterms is coming up! Baby is also about to embark on her working life journey! Sigh… Life… What is it?
amor,esperanza y fe 3:18 PM.
What do you do when your boyfriend is smitten with his studying books instead of you or women? Oh well! I rather it be books than other women.
The solution is easy and simple.
BURN HIS DARN BOOKS!!!
But as my title suggests, I don’t have the kinda guts. I might end up be the one burnt for committing such a crime in his eyes. LOL.
So, as a timid little weakling… I… joined him in his passion for studying. =( Sigh!
The activity for the day is studying at the national library! Hip hip hooray! How exciting…
Alright, I should stop being such a whining brat. He takes my terrible indecisiveness and always had to walk around an area or mall for at least 10-15 minutes before we get to settle down at some place. HAHA… You see I am such a glutton that I couldn’t decide what to have. Because, I want to have EVERYTHING!!!
Okay! So as you can expect, I am there to be a hindrance to his mugging! I stopped him from studying just to take a picture of his disgustingly ugly derivation of don’t-know-what!
And I stopped him in his cozy time with his books to force him to take a picture with me at the studying lounge at the library.
Then we went for lunch at this little bistro called Food for Thought opposite the National Library. Isaac find the prices a little too steep for their standard of food. I quite like the garlic prawn pasta and their side salad but Isaac kind of prefers coffee club’s garlic prawn pasta to theirs. But I forgot how coffee club’s garlic prawn pasta taste like. It’s quite good on its own without any comparisons.
However, the shiitake mushroom soup isn’t great. Find it a little bland. I think you guys should try their house soup if you have the chance. It’s roasted garlic and tomatoes soup. I overheard the staff recommend it to another customer. They also had lotsa cakes which I didn’t get to try… =(
But one thing to note is that their kitchen is only in operation for lunch and dinner time. Their lunch starts at 12 noon and ends at 2p.m. While their dinner starts at 5.30p.m. but I don’t know what time it ends. =(
amor,esperanza y fe 11:15 PM.
I had to force myself to blog after a bath and taking 2 aspirins. HAHA…. Had a headache since afternoon.
My life had been happier since. I guess I really need to go out, shop and just spent money. HAHA… Alright… sound so spoiled. LOL.
On Thursday, I finally went out with Tarynn! It’s been such a long time since we went out. I find that we are really amazing! We started off at around 6p.m. and only went home near to 10p.m. We can really shop! And I also just discovered that Tarynn is mesmerized by RIBBONS!
We had lunch at Ion’s Food Opera. The nasi kuning from Food Opera is really delicious but the plate featured above cost $8.70! Damn ex for a plate like that~~ =( Although, it is really good! And I had a fun time trying on all the headwear at Accessorize. Look at me with that big ribbon! Teehee… >.<
Friday was an exciting day for me! Got free invitation to watch NINE at the Golden Village Vivocity Gold Class and meeting baby before she goes for holiday on Sunday! After having an sumpltous meal at Food Opera (again… HAHA… I should try to get their loyalty card! ;)), we finally made our way to have tea at TWG. Yes yes! TWG! We had been talking about it every since it exist but somehow, it was never able to fit into our schedule. =(
Baby had Rose Boudior tea which smells and taste a little milky but with very strong smell of rose. I like it! I had Geisha Blossom tea which had a distinctive peach smell but I don’t really fancy it. I was really fascinated with it’s tea menu and baby and I decided to visit it more often because we like the ambience there and we want to try all of its tea!
I also had a Bain de rose macaron which I ordered despite of my full stomach because I really want to try it. =) And I am glad I did.
After parting with baby, I headed off to Vivo to meet my mum, sis and Isaac for NINE. The GV Gold Class experience is really good! The seat is like a massage chair where you can adjust to a lying down position to enjoy the movie. Blanket is also provided. Popcorn and drinks are served to you. I like it! But I heard that the price is more than double the price of the normal movie ticket. =( Which makes it too exhorbitant! =(
Anyway, the pictures are taken in the theatre where lighting is bad hence, we had to use flash and its usage caused ugly pictures of me to be born.
That’s all for this week! Hope next week can be as enjoyable! =)
amor,esperanza y fe 12:56 AM.
Can't wait for tomorrow to blog about my comments on NINE!
It's totally my kind of movie, fascinating and alluring. Dangerous yet attractive. But I guess it might be the kind of movie where you either love it or hate it. Before I begin, I will like to apologize for being a philistine in theatre works and jargon. Many a time, during the formulation of this post, I was drawn to the realism that my language capability is unable to help me express my heartfelt opinions with clarity. Anyway, here goes.
First of all, to me, it’s one of those commercial movies that are as close as can be to arts films. Definitely not in terms of the content for this one. I wouldn't recommend it to people who are suckers for content because it's quite easy to put the whole plot into words. But the way of expressing emotions and feelings through this senses stimulating medium should be applaud in my humble opinion.
Perhaps, it should be viewed like an art piece. Like the way, people like to critic and comment on famous director, Zhang Yimou’s films. Brilliant in colours coupled with graceful movements all captured by unique camera angles.
Things that most movie watchers (including moi) had forgotten are what made NINE worth watching. Important and quintessential things like the acting skills of the cast. Their ability to capture and disturb the emotions of the audience through powerful body movements and facial expressions. The directing method and notion as well as the beautiful costumes and lightings are also notable. The music, costumes, settings and cast totally blew me into a world of dreams and delusions (much like the main character – Guido Contini) with only a pinch of realism.
Daniel Day-Lewis’s depiction of Guido Contini is marvelous, bringing out the agony, misery and sense of lost of the genius filmmaker perfectly. It made me want to watch its original production by Broadway!
However, the plot may not be appealing to those with high moral restraint and stark moral values. I mean how decent do you expect the life of a skirt-chasing filmmaker to be?
Then and again, it made me wonder about the general bias against “creative” people. People like poets, writers, movie makers, designers etc. We kind of have a mentality that their lives must be in a mess, destitute of morality and sanity. And when they don’t fit into our biasness, we tend to be amused. Decent writers who wrote fascinating but grossly horrifying stories or stories characterized by crazy individuals are often marveled upon. People are then often skeptical of whether they are really decent, especially mentally.
Anyway, to simplify it all, I LOVE NINE! I love the song - Be Italian by Fergie the best among the songs from NINE.
Be Italian
Be Italian
Take a chance and try to steal a fiery kiss
Be Italian
Be Italian
When you hold me don’t just hold me but hold this
Please be gentle, sentimental
Go ahead and try to give my cheek a pat
But be daring and uncaring
When you pinch me try to pinch me where there’s fat
HA!
Be a singer
Be a lover
Pick the flower now before the chance is past
Be Italian
Be Italian
Live today as if it may become your last!
amor,esperanza y fe 1:34 AM.
These few days were filled with events that are worth remembering, at least in my blog. But I didn’t. The thought of blogging them without any pictures just failed to appeal to me.
Last Saturday, Isaac held a house warming party but no photos were taken by me. I wonder whether it is due to me being overly stressed in my heartfelt obligation to help out or my uncontrollable tensed up self when it comes to his family. I know he yearns for me to be at ease with his family and likewise, it is my hope that he can interact comfortably with my family. But sometimes it is simply uncontrollable.
Precisely because his family are important people to him, the more I don’t want to display even a pinch of incongruous behaviour. When you desire perfection too much, you tend to be overly tensed up and unnatural. I guess. But I have to say, because of this whole day of interacting and working alongside with his mum and sis, I kind of became more adapted to them. Less tensed.
Then came Monday, where Isaac treated my family for dinner for the first time. I should take some pictures of our dinner but it slipped off my mind. I am feeling lazy these past few weeks. The laziness is hard to describe. It is more of a sense of discontentment with the lack of excitement in my life. Sometimes, I really think that I am quite a conflicting person. I seek stability and simplicity who are inseparable with boredom. But yet, I desire some spice amidst my stable and simple life.
Humans! Such greedy beings!
The purpose of me having a blog filled with pictures of my life is to record it. To encourage myself to live life more vibrantly…more… I don’t know how to put it into words. Just want to leave evidence of parts and parcel of my life. To want to look back one day and reminisce good old days and different sections of my life. Sigh… I don’t think I expressed myself well here.
But I have been feeling “Sian”about my life recently. Just felt that my life is like a self-repeating routine. I guess it is partly because I didn’t take photos on my recent expeditions. Anyway, enough of my whining about my boring life, I shall cheer myself on by making a promise to myself to take more photos from today onwards! I shall not let this lazy bug get to me!
Well, I learnt a new word from Isaac’s GRE vocabulary list. And I LOVE it! Was asking Isaac to keep it in mind and practice it. All my ladies, remember this word!
UXORIOUS: excessively fond of or submissive to one’s wife
amor,esperanza y fe 4:39 PM.
How long has it been since you took public transport? Even without it, did you feel the change in dearie Singapore?
Did you feel that the roads are getting more and more congested with increasing number of vehicles? Did you feel that the trains and buses seemed to be more packed? I guess taxis are the only thing that is still lacking in business because of their exorbitant prices.
It seemed like the number that I used to remember for Singapore’s population when I was in secondary school had grown far and large. My 3,000,000plus became a figure that is close to 5,000,000. It appeared that the increment came from PRs and non resident population. The citizen population only increased by 1% but there was a 6% increase in PRs and 19% increase in non residents. We are becoming more metropolitan, aren’t we?
It’s all part of a plan and looking from a macro view, it should be a good one. But tiny lil’ me can’t helped but feel differently. I am not speaking from a critic’s point of view because I am not qualified. Neither do I want to criticize. It’s just what I feel as someone who lived in this small dot since she was born.
I understand that this is all about the aging population. The incompetency of citizens to generate sufficient numbers to replace and support the older generations. It is kind of true in a way; how would the numerous merchants, retailers and businesses survive without a target audience which is huge enough. That’s what makes the economy move and what makes the world goes round. Perhaps it is due to my inert unsociable nature, the man-made decrease in oxygen level in Singapore kind of troubled me.
Sometimes, I can’t help but ponder whether our tiny little Singapore became overly developed. Excessively developed. More developed than what it’s humble size could take. Looking around at all the large complexes that shot up over the years and took over the island, my country has changed. I should be proud but I kind of missed the good old days when I was young and everything seemed a tad more simple (or backward depending on your point of view).
Perhaps I am too much of a weakling and extravagant in my pursue for simplicity. Someone who might not be able to follow the flow of the world and steps of “development” and “civilization”. I am like a single soul in a standstill while millions and billions of shadows just past me by. All alone.
amor,esperanza y fe 11:28 PM.
This week should be label as the week of gifts. Or of love. I have been receiving gifts from people throughout the week.
On my first day of school, I received
The little green bookmark on the left, which is from Tarynn. She bought it for me on her Cambodia trip. Then, on the same day, I got the shawl on the right and a packet of cinnamon tea (which I am too lazy to walk to the kitchen to take a picture of) from Michelle. She bought it on her Turkey trip. I am always delighted to receive gifts from friends who went for holidays or trips because it showed that they had me on their minds even though they are enjoying (or suffering.. HAHA) overseas. =)
Oh! Tarynn, remind me to pass you your gifts from Michelle next week, k? I forgot to bring it along today. =( Sorry!
Then, today, I got my belated Christmas gift from Baby!
Sorry for the bad lighting!
A precious moments musical box! I almost bought the same jewelry box for her! We were very amazed at our telepathic abilities! Well, although I didn’t buy this jewelry box for her, I also bought a precious moments musical box for her! HAHA…
Gotta go to bed now… very tired from carrying books, laptop and what nots… I think my arms are going to hurt very much tml. =(
amor,esperanza y fe 11:45 PM.
Yes! A dog flew across the dark and raining Sembawang sky at around 5.47pm today.
Yours truly, me, yes me, went for a brief exercise today. No no! Not of the mind. But of the B.O.D.Y.
The dog flew all because of the greed of moi for a meal treat from Mr. Isaac Chen Zhuchen. We made a bet on Monday that if I managed to exercise today, I would get a free meal from him and if I didn’t, I would have to treat him to one. Why did I enter into the bet? A moment of utter folly on my part. =(
Anyway, I got my meal, at least, but there’s nothing to lose on his part as treats to Wendy are his specialty!
Back to my suffering story, we agreed to a jog. But somehow, I was never meant for a jog. =( My original plan was a jog at 9plus in the morning, but I woke up at 10.17a.m. I didn’t want to go back on my promise (although secretly I know I should!), so I decided that 5p.m., when the sun isn’t that bright, I will go for the supposed jog.
At 5.05pm, I was all prepared, wearing my old and musty-smelling sports shoes which were left in the shoe cupboard for don’t know how many donkey years (*hint*hint*)!
See! Me! And my humongous arm!!! In my exercise attire and ready for the activity that I kissed goodbye since my Secondary school days are over. Alright, but as I mentioned earlier, I was never meant for a jog!
This is the sky when I was about to exit my house for my torture! Oh well, so I texted Mr. Chen and initially, he suggested that I run in the rain. I was thinking to myself that he wants me dead so that he can get a new girlfriend! Running in the rain!! And I would looked even more disgusting, all drenched, than I would have if I ran under the bright sun.
Any-o-how, we concluded with climbing the stairs. And applause please! I climbed a total of 36 storeys! I know this doesn’t looked like a grand number, it might even looked like a tiny one, but I felt that it was my achievement. Someone, who only “exercise” when it comes to public transport and shopping. And even those, decreased exponentially as I became lazy to run for my train and online shopping became part of my lifestyle.
Oh oh! Say hi to Mr. Chen’s torture equipment
S.T.A.I.R.S.
Well, at first, when Mr. Chen suggested climbing the stairs, I was wondering, what kind of a slack exercise is that! It won’t be anything close to a jog! But I was so so wrong! I was heavily punished for belittling this demonic exercise.
Since I thought that it is a slack one, I climbed 2 steps at a time (suggestion of Mr. Chen) and even tried to sprint a little (also his majesty’s advice!). By the time I reached the third level, I could hear myself panting like a dog and feel my throat’s pain (pardon my incompetency to describe the excruciating pain perfectly). So I slowed down and as I was at the third level, I had half the mind to walk back to my flat and forget this whole episode.
Luckily (I don’t know for who!), I persevered. I slowed down and paced a little to smooth my breathing every few storeys, and finally, I made it up to level 14! Although, I had the tiny little lizard at the mid of level 13 to level 14 to thank for sprinting all the way up to level 14. Then, I thought to myself that I completed one round and that is it.
When I took the lift back to the third level, I kind of felt that I could do another one. But being indolent by nature, I couldn’t be bothered to get my butt down to the ground floor, hence, I started from the third level. This time, upon reaching level 14, I told myself that I should go for a final round before going home. And I did! I am so proud of myself!
Oh well! This might be the first and last time of 2010, anyway! >.< Teehee!
amor,esperanza y fe 6:54 PM.
Alright… when am I not feasting? =( Getting fatter by the minute and still not doing anything about it. That’s bad! =((((
My exclusive “feeder” decided to bring me on another feasting spree by treating me to Pu Tien after his GRE exam. His mama is Pu Tien Zhang Hua, therefore, he ate it often and find it nice.
We had Pu’er tea instead of the Tien Guan Yin tea that Mel mentioned in her tweet because Tien Guan Yin might be too strong for Isaac and he might get insomnia again. He is Mr. Insomnia. HAHA.
To be honest, I wasn’t feeling cold. But I still put on my shawl because I was being self-conscious. =( BIG BOO BOO! I am FAT!
But I won’t stop eating! Probably might start exercising if you see a dog fly! ;)
Right right, enough of my rubbish! Let’s go on to the fabulously palatable dinner.
The first dish that cannot be missed. That is according to our beloved Mr. Insomnia. It is named the Lou Mee but surprisingly not in a black goo. The soup is absolutely tasty! It’s taste kinda remind me of very very good and soupy kind of Hokkien mee.
Next up, is a dish that might seemed foreign to most Singaporeans. It is a kind of Fen Tiao (if you know what it is…). Basically, it is like noodle, made from flour and if my memory don’t fail me, it should be tapioca flour. DAMN NICE! I ate it before in Beijing but as a cold dish, here, it is served hot.
Last but not least, perhaps you can’t distinguish it clearly, COCKLES!!!!! Don’t worry! Although this is a cold dish, the cockles are cooked! Cockles are mixed with garlic and red and green chili. I am not very sure what kind of flavourings are added but definitely vinegar is included. People who don’t like garlic taste, please avoid this dish. But for garlic lovers, the opposite is recommended. ;)
That’s my dinner for Monday.
Today, at long last, after my boring Urban class, I met up with Michelle! Yes, Michelle! We had not met for so long although we are studying in the same campus. This is just how SMU is.
I think I introduced this dish before. I called it the Spicy Fragrant Pot or something like that. Now you can get a taste of it at the Food Republic in 313@Orchard. Nice! Tried it before with baby but went there with Michelle today to reminisce our days in Beijing.
And we went a little crazy after our meal. It was a totally amazing meal session! While I was still struggling to finish up my food, Michelle decided to gamble and called our Beijing friend using her special Starhub dial number or something. What astounded us was that our Beijing friend picked up!!! Perhaps, you don’t find it that bewildering. I need to give a brief prelude here. The thing is, we were out of contact with that friend for close to half a year. The last time I heard from her was last year Mar or Apr. Then Michelle emailed her a couple of times and no replies came back. Hence, we were all betting that she might have changed her number as well. It was great to get in contact with her again.
I want to go back to Beijing again! For the food. TEEHEE…
amor,esperanza y fe 10:41 PM.
amor,esperanza y fe 1:10 PM.
amor,esperanza y fe 11:58 AM.
