I lost my shoes

Last Wednesday, after my gamelan session at Haig Girls, I was packing up to leave when one of my girls (this cute little Pri. 2 girl) came up to me and proclaimed

"Miss Tan! I lost my shoes!"

My first thought was "who wants your smelly shoes!" Then I looked down at her feet and saw she had shoes on! I pointed at them and she quickly replied

"These are my sister's shoes! And now she has no shoes to wear home!"

Aw so sweet right? Sisterly love. So anyways, we proceeded to find her shoes but they were nowhere to be seen...until another girl piped up

"I know what must have happened! The shoes must have fell downstairs, then someone picked them up and brought them to the office!!"

I thought "yah right, how far-fetched is that? More like someone hid them" But anyways, not to hurt that little detective's feelings, we immediately dispatched someone to the office.

And.....the shoes were there.

How awesome. The innocent child could see so clearly when we adults could not.

We lost the ability to think and feel simply as we grew older.

I am ashamed.

Sunday brunches are made for these

After a hearty breakfast of minced meat noodle (for Soap) and abalone noodles for yours truly at Upper Thomson, we head to Little Part 1 Cafe a little further down on Jasmine Road and enter our second part of Sunday brunch heaven.


Apple Crumble, Hot Chocolate with toasted (they really make a difference toasted) marshmallows and my never-fail choice of Rosebud Tea. The Sunday paper and old books sitting on the shelves.






I want to do this over and over again.

Reading List

I've just finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman in one day. This one is a keeper.


I'm starting on Dan Brown's newest novel The Lost Symbol. The title sounds promising though the book I have is hard cover and is gonna weigh a ton to lug around. I'm so not looking forward to that.

Updated 20 Jan: The Lost Symbol is such an apt title for this book. I got LOST in the book as I couldn't understand one word of Mr Dan Brown's jargon. Omg. You have to be a scientist to get/read this book! How lame is that?!

My PDL is here!!

I've finally gone to get my PDL and thus far taking one big step in the direction of fulfilling New Year's resolution No. 1! Hooray!!

I wanted to get this PDL thing over and done with in the first week of the year so that when all my schools and piano kids start next week, I won't procrastinate - which trust me, I'm so good at.

Well, toodles for now. I just had to share this nugget of good news :)

For those who haven't got their license, or PDL - you know who you are...get it now!!!! ok not now now, but soon!!!

okay bye.

2010!!

Well happy new year guys!!! Without really feeling it, we're suddenly into the 3rd day of the new year!

Today is our 2nd year anniversary and we didn't do anything really grand. Just spent some quiet time together, catching up on movies, having two surprise breakfasts and cleaning up his room. Odd way of celebrating ya? I guess we're too lazy to really plan something grand and I'm just really really glad that we could spend our actual day of anniversary physically together.

So what are your new year resolutions? Or are you still thinking about it?

Mine are:

1. To start learning how to drive.

2. Finish paying up one of my loans by the end of this year.

3. Finish spring cleaning my room! (for those in the know, i'm still only 40% done, after 3 months)

4. Catch up with my friends more!

So there you have it. Keep it simple and real. And I just might have a chance to complete all 4 resolutions!

I'm leaving you with this quote:

"Be always at war with your vices,
at peace with your neighbours and
let each new year find you a better man"
- Benjamin Franklin

Happy New Year!!

This week's Music Bath

This week I've included two vastly different pieces of music. Vitalic 's One Above One is a breath of fresh air in today's crowded dance music repertoire whilst Max Richter's beautiful instrumental On The Nature of Daylight must be listened to. It is strangely sad yet inspiring.

Hope you enjoy both pieces. Merry Christmas and spend the rest of the 2009 wisely.

Vitalic - One Above One



Max Richter - On The Nature of Daylight



xoxo

Hooray for Plus sized girls, Surrealist paintings and Fantastic furniture

V Magazine will be launching their Plus Size January 2010 issue. I actually thought both were the same models, only just photoshopped, but on closer scrutiny (and after reading the captions, duh!), I found out both were different models. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't their plus-sized model not really plus-sized? They should have chosen a model with more meat to represent most of the plus-sized women now! You judge for yourself.

See the photos here ----- "One Size Fits All"

These are some gorgeous surrealism paintings by Russian artist Vladimir Kush
Would love to frame these for keeps.






New Year is coming and other than the impending resolutions on my mind, I also have the idea of new furniture. Though these would have to stay in my dream house for now...

(items below by Loyal Loot Collective)
One can never have enough of storage...log bowls!!!!




aww too cute!!! finally something masculine yet feminine. You know what I mean.




(items below by Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc)

Phonique sofa and Tapisserie sofa (single) in c minor. Doesn't look comfy but sure as hell looks amazing.





I can just imagine this house-warming kitchen scenario with Mrs Dalloway here:

Overzealous houseguest: "Hey where's your stove? You guys don't cook?"
Lo and behold, I open this mini hot plate to the awed gasps of my guests.

I'm not kidding. I really really really really want this cool fashionista/kitchen item for my house. Dream pad or not.

(items below from Mooi)
This oblique bookshelf can't house much stuff. But then again, its for my DREAM house.


Love love love this smoke chandelier.

My first and only Christmas mail of 2009....

...comes from (surprisingly) a male cousin of mine. Come to think of it, he's my financial/insurance agent as well, so it isn't that shocking after all.

Its been hours since I tore open that square piece of envelope quickly but carefully and I can still feel that pumping excitement of getting a piece of snail mail from someone.

I remember going through my mental phonebook, scrolling up and down, thinking who could this be from. There were a few suspects, though the sender was surely a pleasant surprise. And he thoughtfully penned a short paragraph to me and my family instead of just writing Merry Christmas-seal envelope-affix stamp-send and made my whole family (we were in the lift, see I couldn't wait to get home to open it!) smile.

So thanks Jeremy for the wonderful wonderful card and for making my day!

loves.

xoxo

Christmas is coming...

I made a New Year's resolution to send out Christmas cards this year and guess what? I have! OMG am so excited right now!

I took some pics of the stuff and cards (yes you do get presents through snail mail too how about that!) I sent out (will post them up soon coz I just wanted to get this post out today). Hope you guys like what I got for you!

For those who didn't receive anything from me, there's still next year!!

I've been thinking of setting up another blogsite dedicated just to snail mail. I definitely do not want letter-writing/paper mail to die out!

What have you recently got in the mail other than adverts and bills? Any letters from your friends? Cards?

My grand total of letters from friends and cards is....TWO. And both were wedding invites. Sigh. There is really so much pleasure derived from reading a letter ON PAPER. It would really make my day. *not so subtle hint...LOL*

I believe in paying it forward, so before paper mail makes my day, I should make the first move and send out paper mail!

What would be a cool blog address?

ThankyouMrPostman.blogspot.com??

Or Ilovesnailmail.blogspot.com?

Ideas are welcome!

I just googled and these are a few websites that deal with their love of snail mail!

http://snailmailfriend4life.wordpress.com/
http://www.vivasnailmail.com/
http://welovesnailmail.webs.com/apps/blog/
http://missivemaven.blogspot.com/

And look out for more snail mail coming your way this year!! (methinks I need an address book)


On a solemn note..RIP Brittany Murphy. You will be missed. I loved your wacky antics on camera and your smile.

Way too many celebrities are leaving us this year.

Dragonfly, JB and Enoki mushrooms

I know they don't really go together, but the title of this post pretty much sums up my life for the past two days.

Monday night, Soap was asked to sub for Velvet band's drummer at Dragonfly, so we were there from 9pm to about 5am. And when we got out of the place, not a cab was in sight. For the first time in my life, I've to wait for a cab after clubbing (sort of). Don't ask me what time I woke up today.

St James seems to have undergone a revamp. Otherwise, its been a pretty long time since I've last been. Check out Dragonfly when I first walked in.


Cool huh? Looks super classy. Or maybe its my camera.LOL.

And because I was there for so long. I pretty much started playing around with my handy camera phone.


I tried to zoom in on Soap but my camera's zoom like sucks lah. Anyways, you can just make out Soap's face without his usual smile coz he's very very stressed. LOL!

I especially love this one of Velvet's bassist, Xiang. Colours damn nice.

Lawrence

Kaili aka Jolin. lol.

Simon.

If you're thinking why they look so familiar...its because all of them are from the most recent season of Superband!! Hahaa...Soap included!

Out of point but I must say I really love my phone. I think the camera is damn power!!! Don't you think so??! All the photos in this post were taken by my wonderful phone!! okok back on course....the post continues....

So when we finally got up the next day, we decided to go to JB before Soap's overseas leave expires on Thursday. I bought three pairs of gorgeous heels. I can't wait to wear them but they are so high I just know I'll get calf cramp!

Here's one of them. Love the soft buttery leather feel of these gorgeous grey heels which translates to no blisters!! woot~


Soap bought 3 tops at Padini at great prices (don't we just love sales) and we got Christmas gifts for his siblings - they liked their gifts. phew~

For supper, he cooked this Enoki mushroom dish that was a complete gastronomic delight! (my fellow Enoki mushroom fans - Xin and Cindy will be so jealous)

Needless to say, I finished the whole dish! yum yum~

Smile for the Day, Vid of the Day

When I saw this, I just had to upload this and share this with you guys!!

Deathly Hallows Preview

The preview is out. I can't wait!


Dh Preview One - The best bloopers are here

Smile for today, Vids of the day!

I just saw this on youtube today. Made me smile so I thought I'd post this and make YOU smile!

:D




talk to the moose...moose ah ah ah moose!

Just watch. And be entertained.


Ear Bite - Funny Bud Light Commercial - For more funny videos, click here

Okay technically this won't make you smile unless you're a guy.

This week's music bath

I think I've found the next two songs that will be on my repeat list:

Here's Adam Lambert's soaring and gorgeous vocals in "Time for Miracles". What caught me and has since been holding me captive starts from the bridge of the song all the way to the end. I swear it gave me goosebumps.



Ke$ha's Tik Tok equals dance-anthem worthy in Phuture!

Hamster running

I've been going to the gym everyday (well almost everyday, except today) at 10.30am to run. For those who know me, this comes as a surprise for

a. I don't wake up early
b. I hate running

But many people have been telling me that if I want to lose weight, I have to exercise before my first meal (coz stored body fat will be the first to be burnt off) and running is the best way to lose weight. So I've decided to try this out for a few weeks and see if any thing comes out of it even if I feel like a hamster running in a cage.

And since its so early in the morning (for me, at least) and i'll be perspiring like a pig very shortly after, I don't bathe before going out. TMI! I can hear you say. But strangely, to be going out without bathing and not a smudge of makeup on the face can be quite liberating!

On another note, I am sick. And Soap is sick too. So we're BOTH stuck at his house. Sigh.

What's the best way of curing a sore throat??

This week's music bath

Another winner from Miss Zhang. I think the guitar riff is the most catchy part of this song and is what makes the song all the more unforgettable. You?




Fiona Sit's 叮叮車 - Chinese jazz! So rare and so well done! And mainstream!!! OMG!



Warwick Avenue - Duffy. Soothing.



If you don't watch Singapore Idol, watch this. I love this song and Sylvia does a great job IMO. Dick's comments are damn funny!



Shut Up and Let Me Go - The Ting Tings. A bit of fun fantastic frivolity to end this post. I absolutely love this one!

Chocolate Eggs and Promises

After dinner today, my parents and I went to the nearby convenience store to buy some groceries for the house. I spied the Kinder Joy chocolate egg, picked it up and placed it with the items to be paid for at the counter.

On seeing it, my dad said to me "Hey you're not a little girl already! Don't buy lah."

But it was not the first time I bought this chocolate egg and so my dad paid for it and the rest of the items. Then he turned around and said "Next time whatever I want, you must buy for me!" To which I of course replied to the affirmative.


It may seem like an offhand remark that my dad made, it may even seem insignificant but this is a promise that I'll keep. Next time when my daddy and mummy grow older, I'll make sure they live life comfortably and most of all, happily.

I have been a bad bad girl

Its been ages since I last updated this blog. I'm in this constant state of um...procrastination? I'm not doing the work I should, not being where I should be. I didn't even get to blog about the Sony Satio phone and now its out in the market! I just keep finding excuses to play Harvest Moon on my DS (which by the way, isn't a waste of my money). I don't even go online that much anymore! No reading emails, no facebooking, not even online shopping! *gasp*

But thankfully, one thing I've not neglected is my health (I've been going to the gym regular. Having a gym buddy helps! Thanks buddy!! *big smile) and my pals. I've been seeing alot of my friends (well not all my friends as I would ideally hope) but people like the vballers of SRJC thanks to the duo of wedding dinners provided by Elvin and Kenneth as well as Liz (my Left4Dead gamer gal pal - how many gal gamers are still playing Left4Dead?!), my gym buddy and not forgetting my darling Soap.

I better be posting those pics up soon or Cindy will have my head rolling on the floor while she does her rolling of her huge eyes. :D

I'm leaving y'all with this pic. Too cute for their pants.

(via The Sartorialist)

This week's music bath

I thought I'd focus on an Asian theme this week, seeing as I've just started having these urges to go karaoke singing these past few weeks (all started with Soap's bro-in-law's pub opening conveniently giving me an excuse to sing and then Cindy had to go and tell me she was taking half day leave to sing. Thanks -_-).

But anyway, I digress. As usual.

So this one from Fish Leong is a never-fail in my karaoke list (coz the only songs to sing are the Chinese ones. The English mtvs are too damn corny to see, I end up getting distracted and not singing but laughing at the sheer corniness of it all). Again, I digress. Sorry.

Here's my all time favourite: 不想睡 by 梁靜茹, Fish Leong.



Next is the overplayed and over-sung 祝我生日快乐 by 温岚, Landy Wen. I really love this song with its moving melody and lyrics.

I've never sung it. -_-



My favourite Japanese band: Tokyo Jihen with their hit Marunouchi Sadistic.



So there you have it. These are three of the many songs that I hold really close to my heart :)
Enjoy!

Quick Update

- Playtime is over. Phew! I can now celebrate not having to wake up at 6.30am!

- My phone has gave up its ghost, forcing my hand to change to a new phone when I'm ever so reluctant to. Is this a sign of getting old? This reliance on the old comfort zone and hesitance to change to something new and foreign. I don't even want to go figure out all these blackberry/twitter/qwerty pad stuff.

- Update to the update above: I now have a Samsung Pixon phone. I can't wait to take peektures with its 8MP camera!!!


I'm waiting for Sony Ericsson's launch of their almighty Satio phone. Its said to have 12MP camera function and music player function in one handheld set! Its not in the market yet I think. When its out...I might get it. Or not. Let's see if i'm comfortable with the Pixon yet. :)

- My next big job will be forming up a World Music programme for schools under Meiyin's Laras Ethno. Very glad as I'll be getting some extra moosh for this gig. Yayness!

- Have started going back to the gym again. This time with my gym buddy Serene! We have lots of fun as usual. I like the regularity of gymming and then having lunch with her. See? Comfort zone again. I have too many of them.

- Found out that Marcus (Mr Soccer Captain) from SRJC is staying in my block, two floors above me! He's been asking me out to catch up! I don't know why our schedules always clash and we don't get to meet.

I think thats all for now. Too many updates in just a week. I still love my life though. :)

Have a great week ahead!