Mixing business with pleasure

I wonder what it feels like to do craft all day ... for work :P
Does it feel a bit like being in some strange land at the top of the faraway tree?

Why I Blog

1. To capture the enjoyment / happiness I feel
2. To help me remember things, like when I last met some friends, as I did tonight at the extremely charming & affordable Pasta Brava. I met Chelle & Steph for dinner. And oh Steph, last time we met was in Feb :)
   
3. For fun
4. ...and for other reasons I'll talk about some other time when I'm less sleepy :)
   

Things to give thanks for

...namely, people in my life who swoop down on me at lunch time on a day in which (1) work is taking its toll (2) it is a very wet day in which it is near impossible to get out for lunch and the prospect of canteen food seems dreary (3) I need cheering up. Thanks gal :) This is at House at Dempsey Road. This is truffle pizza and some delicious squid concoction on the right.

Sun-dae

Sticky Chewy Chocolate!

Sweet Surprise

I was talking to a colleague on the train this morning and mentioned
that I was feeling panicky about some deadlines. After lunch he came
by with some cheesecake to cheer me up. How sweet! That's the kind of
thing I would do for someone so I hardly know what to say when I'm on
the receiving end. Um, except a very big Thank You.

Tea at the Raffles

It was a pleasant afternoon off.

Nightfall

Though the photo doesn't suggest it, it is now night as I write this.

It was a beautiful day. Joe and Mandy got married. Little boy Joe, a kid who I recall was a terror in sunday school. The kid whose favourite t-shirt for a season cheerfully proclaimed "I'm here for the beer!" It was a very sweet wedding. My brother was busy scampering about helping the couple, in his new suit and with his brand new ties which I take some credit for. Oh he looked very nice :)

It was a nice hot-but-windy-day.

Dinner was nice too. Good food and it's always nice to see everyone dressed up.

And beautiful thought, the weekend is starting!

It is night. I have had a good day and am satisfied.

My noticeboard, May 09

I brought my stamps home from work where I've been doing craft stuff with a colleague at lunch. This being a long weekend, and with my new stamps, I thought I'd have time for some craft. Made a card for Joel & Mandy who got married this May Day.

I've been playing with my friend's Polaroid camera. I wasted one shot at lunch with Stella, Jac and Sheena when I accidentally pressed the wrong button. There went $3. I stuck it up on my board as a reminder of lunch, and I tried stamping on it to see the effect.

A giant A by Adobe which I love. I tore it out of a brochure.

Christmas card from Sheena. We made our cards at Chelle's store, I mean, home :)

Some Lomo photos that I cut up.

A little pen and marker thing I did after seeing Jacob's website.

And things that have been on my noticeboard for ages... what I have previously described as a decorative thing, and a toothpick-and-macaroni-letters painted over with nail polish from a secondary school fun fair made by my one of my classmates. Someone once said that things in my house don't change that much, which is pretty true!

Here's looking at you, kid

I had a good time gallivanting tonight. Bought new craft stuff from Made With Love that I can't wait to use. Serendipitously bumped into Chelle who has a discount card! Whee. Hopped over to vivocity where I met up with my cousin who's temping at the national geographic store's Big Blue exhibit. Oh, the funny questions passers-by have asked...is it real?..(feeding time's at 4, she says, deadpan. She has her dad's sense of humour.) Anyway, the exciting thing to a stationery freak like me was there were free notebooks up for grabs! Fill in a short quiz related to the exhibit and exchange it for a notebook at the nearby very cool Nat Geo store. I want to go back to the Nat Geo store soon and check out all there cool stuff. the exhibit's on only till 3 may, folks! I know, I know - I've been caught, hook, line and sinker :) Ok I just had to say that.

Mini poster for a friend

So the story behind this is this:

This was for a friend who was very stressed. So I decided to focus my crafting activity for the week on making her a card.

I used a card from paper source ('Do something creative every day' is their motto), and started stamping. As I've mentioned, I've been doing craft stuff with my colleague who is also into it, and what a nice lunch time activity it makes! We're trying to get together once a week.

Open the pretty card and ta-da! A mini poster. I'm utilising my love, elsie stamps, still getting the hang of them but they work pretty well and the little ladybug stamp is a favourite. I was trying to keep the colour scheme pretty spare but anyway the letters can be coloured in and customised by the recipient, which I think is cool.

The Bible verse behind the text is from 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 7.
"...casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
Incidentally, is that a play on words?

A long time ago, when I was still in school, Calvin gave me a little decorative thing with that verse on it. I still have it on my desk. It reminds me of what it felt like to be a student and have piles of work to do. I am so glad those days are over and I thank God for bringing me through all those times!

Once upon a time, two girls got together to make t-shirts for their
music team in church. They had all this fabric writer which they also
used for cards and such.

Years later, one of the girls remembered she still had them at the
back of her drawer and fished them out for use in Sunday School.
Amazingly, they still worked! And so another generation got to enjoy
them. The end.

[Afternote: Hmm, the Tulips brand was all dried up after all but I'm happy to report that the Scribbles brand lasts a long long time ;)]

Friday Night

I took a stroll down Orchard Road. I haven't been there in ages so it
feels sightly alien. Behold the new Orchard Central, at the site of
the old specialist's centre.

Random sounds of music

On and off, I've been feeling like watching The Sound of Music. Well, I will get down to it sooner or later. Meanwhile, here's something that tickled me. I particularly liked the little remix thing going on :p (via molly irwin)



This past weekend was a whirl of activity. I was thinking I should feel less guilty for the weekends in which I gleefully spend Saturday morning goofing around.

Discovery of the day

Treasure! Buried under a pile of Christmas cards! To Kino we will go...

LOL

The surfing amusement continues. Via Elise.
Also from her site: I agree that this photographer is really good! I like.
Incidentally, this is my 100th post! I am slightly surprised that it's continued :)

Fashion and Art

I really wish Jacob had an online store.

Life Un-Emcumbered

I am feeling a little under the weather.
Maybe it's a post-holiday reaction, what with the loss of my million-dollar pool-and-sea view at breakfast time?
I was pretty busy when I got back to work, and it was a relief that this week was a short one.

So. I have a slight cold on the horizon but a long weekend ahead of me. So far, so good.

I am indulging in enjoying the moment, reveling in my beloved weekend morning activities i.e. lolling about the couch with newspapers in hand and surfing about the blogosphere. And hunting for cool new fonts.

And oh! This has just tickled me. A photo of canoing (or kayaks? I never know the diff.) in France, via a cup of jo. There was a time when feli and I were in France and we were taken with a wild fancy to canoe in some river in the middle of nowhere. So we got all excited and started making long-distance phone calls in a bid to get ourselves some kayaks. (Bonjour monsieur, do you have any kayaks...?) Alas, we were foiled by a lack of time for the said kayaking. Still, we tried. Ah, days of freedom and fancy.

















It is a very good Friday indeed.

Dinner at Khaima, Moroccan Restaurant

Rest

There is something magical about an open living room with the wind
blowing through. I could gaze at the horizon for a long long time.

A great way to start the day.

Garden Party

Serendipitiously, we were invited to the gala opening of ayana hotel &
spa last night - this was previously the ritz carlton. There were a
million lights in the garden.

What a view

This is the most amazing view I've ever seen. St Tropez pales in
comparison :)

Caption: the view from the hillside (outdoors!!) lift

Poolside 0815hrs

After breakfast.

Where I am this minute

Sun rises early in Bali. I was up at 6am to enjoy the peace and quiet.
We are up on a hill and it feels like we are the only ones around. I
am enjoying this respite from everything.

On the road again

Tis a nicely overcast day at Changi.

Friday Night

I is tired.

Original Sin

With the prospect of a late night and/or weekend of work, it seemed
like a good idea to dig in to a good lunch. Absolut penne - laden with
sun-dried tomatoes and slivers of mushrooms in a rich sauce - from
Original Sin at Chip Bee Garden, an area that manages to be both atas
and chill-out at the same time.

Oh I am looking forward to my next holiday... And now, back to work.

Oh Scrappy Day

Lunch time and my colleague and I indulged in some creative activity.
Made cards for some people including cute round cards for all 19 of my
sunday school kids :)

The round stamps belong to my colleague. They work really nicely! And
I love my Love Elsie stamps with the little ladybug. Whee.

Louder than the radio

Dessert Fit For A King

It's durian season. And mangosteen and mango season. Yesterday my
colleagues and I had lunch at one our regular coffeeshops. Someone
bought a whole durian - the full works, not just sterile flesh in a
styrofoam box. After our main dish and drinks, we dug into dessert. It
sure felt like a lazy Friday afternoon.

In which I uncover some subconscious fascinations with farm life

Carolyn shared this blog called Dutch Girl Cooking with me. The Easy Butter recipe consists of cream, salt and pepper. Easiest recipe I ever heard of in my life. I'm not even sure it counts as a recipe (ponder ponder ponder). Still, I was amused - both with the post as well as with my own fascination over the photos. Wow, it turns into BUTTER!!! I think I have deep subconscious fascinations with farming life (and picnics. and adventures. oh boy.), wrought by all those Enid Blyton books I used to read.

I'm bemusedly sharing another blog that I read. Ahem, it's called (building) a little house by the woods. She writes about her work-in-progress farm, how she got there, and cute little craft projects.

If I'm not careful, my romantic notions about farm life may find me settling down in the Kranji Countryside.

For Chelle

~ For Chelle who is super free right now ~

1. This lady used to do design work for martha stewart...very cool stuff. I was inspired by her self-described favourite (craft) trick and her birthday party favours.
2. I like blogs with stories about lives and a bit of creativity thrown in. Now this is a fun project I would like to do someday. Hmm, bug me so I actually get it done.
3. Oh I can totally understand this lady's print addiction. I've saved lots of stuff over the years to re-use in great new ways. But your stuff, my dear, takes the cake :)
4. Of course the ever creative Ali E. ... you might be inspired by this love mini-book/card project.
   

manda :)

Night Out

I'm really quite a homebody. I get tired if I'm out too much in a week. Like if I know I'm going to be busy several nights or have a busy weekend ahead, I start thinking of taking leave, get a little respite from all the activity.

But the occasional night out leaves me feeling refreshed and alive. It feels good to have a change and a total break from everything.

Tonight I met some old friends...it was funny how people just seem the same no matter how many years you haven't seen each other. The only things that have changed are the husbands / houses / job changes and so on that have happened in between. But really, it's like we were still in JC or something.

The other day, Feli and I collected our new ICs (one of those rites of passage...) and we were like, I still feel 20! Being competitive, she had to say she felt like she was 15. Hahahah.

In this day and age of ultra fast communication, it is so nice to have that human touch.

* * *

I got my new Marvy square punch!!! I am such a nut over stationery... :)

Starlight, Star bright

One of my dreams is to see the Milky Way some day.

This comes close: seeing a whole sky chock-full of stars at Tekapo, NZ. Incidentally, tekapo sounds rather Hokkien-ish... oh yes, it sounds like tea-po or something like it (I believe it's the name of a fish that I really really love, fried and shredded and in a bowl of da-mee. yums.

:)

I wish I could linger but...

Today will be busy.
A new IC to collect.
A baby to play with.
Bulletin to do, in church.
Helping out at a senior citizens' CNY dinner, with my very limited hokkien/mandarin.

Side note: I am thinking of signing up for a course on photoshop for scrapbookers.

ttfn!

Singapore dreamin'

A Singapore shophouse spread in the NYT.

If anyone else caught A Kucinta Family Reunion on Channel 5... did they also laugh out loud when they saw the milo tin? I did :)

Isaac for Liz

Oh wow. I like the grey-ness as backdrop to the perky pink, the little bit of graffiti on the wall, Isaac Mizrahi sitting unobtrusively to the side... but what I really like is how a box swivels around with a little story and even a videoclip when you click on the key people in the photo. It was so cool, I was blown away.

From Liz Claiborne.

Un-whining

I love...the colour, the pseudo-maths-likeness, the painting on serviettes with real coffee (ok, he mixed in some paint) and of course, it was all about coffee which as you know, I get a kick out of...Christoph Niemann for the NYT


It was about 9:15 when I was done with breakfast.
I woke up when I wanted to, made coffee and toast, munched distractedly while I flipped through each page of the newspapers.

Come and shred the vegetables for yushang, my mum said.
Ugh, went every bone in my body.
Oh it's only 9:15, she mused. (This from a woman who's already done her ironing this morning)
Right - you didn't see me, I said, channeling penguins from Madagascar.

Ordinarily, I would love helping and getting in the way by taking loads of photos to boot.
But I'm tired out from the week! I'm still unwinding, mum... or un-whining, as she put it. Very cute.

So right now I'm surfing online.
Making my way down my list of frequently-visited blogs. Getting sidetracked on new ones. Yes, I know there's google reader but I like actually visiting the site in its full glory. I want a heart punch! Inspired by this party.

Valentine's day is coming up! I think I'll make cards for my sunday school kids.
But first, Chinese New Year. I think it's high time I cleared the Christmas stuff and other things that have accumulated on my desk. I'm feeling inspired to freshen up my wardrobe too. Tis the season, tis the season.

Time check: 10:26. Sounds of busy-ness are in the background. Time to plunge into the luan-si-ness...

Here's to the long weekend, woohoo! Xing Nian Kuai Le.

I heart my comfort drink

Very simple pleasures

A highlight this week:
A day in which work got done in satisfyingly good time, after which I scooted off to meet Hazel for dinner. I had just enough time to get home first and change into shorts and slippers (bliss!). I walked over to meet her (minor exercise! whee!). We had a nice little dinner of ribs, bbq chicken and oh my, the strawberry shake was good.

Memo to self: sit on swings and watch the stars more often.

Lunch time escapade

Weekend, at last

It has been a week of Monday blues. Or Monday greys. But actually I like both blue and grey. I digress.

I rarely dread going to work but this week was just a long, long, one with mostly late nights and delayed/short lunches.







I really needed a perky non-blue-or-grey screensaver for my phone, and this was it :)










I had a good laugh over this new magnet from Bee, though. Laughter and a listening ear really go a long way... Ack! Even my office furniture is blue!

Another bright spark in the week: Thursday night out with my group of 78 - but more on them another time!

Fresh

I started out on the 3rd of Jan feeling, well, fresh.
Giddy with delight over my new clear stamps and excited...

Fast forward to 7 Jan and I'm so tired. Work has been ... a trial. And one that continues... sigh.

Still, I had a good time in December. Here's about 4 weeks compressed in 4 seconds.

• Family trip to Sarawak. Retro, good ol' family time, seriously overused the words 'kolo mee' (hee! inside joke).
• Youth camp rocked.
• The mad rush to make Christmas cards. Make that two years' worth of cards since I didn't have time to use them all.
• Christmas. I did a honey-baked ham!
• New Year. Just don't tell anyone how boring we were.

Off yet again

Come 5pm on Friday, I will shut down my computer, gather my stuff and hop on the train to Changi Airport. I love Changi... My family and my aunt's family will be in Kuching over the long weekend. We have a hectic weekend planned. There are relatives to meet, a cat musuem to visit, waterfalls to seek out and a beachside pool to lounge by. Oh yes and seafood awaits! Whee.

My favourite lozenges

If I MUST be sick, these lozenges make it more bearable at least. Argh!

I had a very busy week and had ambitious plans to meet several people over the weekend. But it is not to be...oh well.

Growing a tree

Last Sunday, we put up the wall stickers from France.
Mademoiselle D worked hard on beautifying her room wall.
Then D & I sat under the tree.
Sweet dreams, baby.

A Date

I cannot wait to get this movie on DVD and round up my mum, aunt(s) and cousins to watch it. Alicia Keys! Jennifer Hudson! A feel-good movie with the kind of plot I love! We'll plonk ourselves down in the TV room, turn on the aircon, sip honey-and-lemon-tea, munch on honey soy chicken chips, and have a good ol' bonding and cry-fest*. Bring on the tissue! I love my family.

* Notes:
Tis best to let the tears out during the movie. Once I stoically watched The Notebook with assorted family members sniffing all around me. When the movie ended, the credits rolled, said family members crumpled up their tissues and happily moved on while I remained in the TV room with a huge lump in my heart - argh.

Polaroid fun!

My Polaroid dreams have come true! I'm crazy happy :)

This very cool app turns any photo into a Polaroid shot. Best friend can't locate her Polaroid camera? The company's stopped making the film? No problem! Whee.

I turned this photo of Mademoiselle D into a Polaroid shot. She was oblivious to the cold and kept trying to get rid of her mittens. She had such a good time seeing how they stayed with her no matter how much she shook them. Ah, kids.

Publish Post

A sunny day by the Seine

For Carolyn. Didn't get to the tea place but I took a photo of the books for you! Thanks for all the tips and links - much appreciated :)))

Finding joy in the everyday

I have 2 best friends. I know, it sounds like either my grammar or counting ability is dented.
But yes, I have 2 best friends and the incredible thing is that we've known each other since we were in primary school.

And now they're mothers!

This is Keziah, who just turned two. I got her a storybook and a dress. In a fit of creative inspiration, I 'wrapped' the dress in a girl-pink chocolate tin. Guess what she liked best?! (And guess what she's getting for Christmas....?)

She had a great time filling up her tin with the stones in the courtyard. Such a cute reminder of finding joy in the simplest of things.

Oh Joy

"Trust you to see the beauty in something as simple as that", said my friend.
'That' was the sight of a delicious chocolate pastry accompanied by the best ever coffee mocha, which (I knew from past experience) would be so delightful I had to stop and arrange them for an impromptu photo shoot before proceeding to wolf them down.

The art of giving a gift

The Eiffel Tower (complete with vintage LV ribbon, in a nod to Paris), for my aunt & uncle's collection of bronze-gold artefacts, and a sparkly top from H&M (cunningly rolled up to conceal the sequins), which my cousin totally hearts.

Oh, I'm in the mood for Christmas gift-giving. It's not as much about the mad rush to remember everyone as it is to remember everyone who's special in your life.

Back home (II)

I had a very good break from everything and enjoyed a long holiday with my best friend and her family. I somewhat miss Mademoiselle D's cheekiness and charm.

Nevertheless, I was very happy to get home. To be slightly corny...this is home truly....where a great breakfast can be had for 7 Euros...for a party of 5 adults! Above photo: Good stuff at Changi Airport's Yakkun Toast.

After I got home today, I

• Unpacked. Washed my laundry.
• Opened my mail, i.e. credit card bills. How sad that we hardly get snail mail anymore. I think I will do up a batch sometime and surprise some people.
• Showered. Exfoliated. Ah, my feet love L'Occitane Shea Butter footscrub...
• Caught up on blog happenings. Added a few more to my bookmarks of blogs to read.
• Transferred over 800 photos into my mac.
  
• Took a short nap. Urgh, jetlag.
  
• Had a yummy noodle soup cooked by my dad. Soup is so soothing.
• Did a sorta check-in to work by calling Bee, my great ally, to get the scoop on things and to find out how everyone was doing. Our favourite chicken soup lunch place has a new dessert - chocolate fondant! I have high hopes for it and can't wait to try it.
  
• Took a longer nap, mildly roused by a jolly good thunderstorm in the afternoon. Welcome back to the tropics.
• Dinner with my parents and the recounting of holiday goings-on.
• Upped the present-giving a notch by adding trim! It's all about the presentation, baby.
  

And tomorrow, it's back to work...

Back from Paris

744 photos in my camera are being downloaded onto my computer now. Next, the photos from my iPhone. But first, a nap. I am falling aleep. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

We had a great time.

Mona