A bit about everything

Arh, as usual, I've accumulated alot of backlog! Shall start by clearing a little first, heh.

#1. Super impromptu baking session

I've been contemplating to bake for quite a while. As soon as I learnt that Bee has a whooping oven at home, I coerced asked her to lend me her oven for a day! :)

Excited as I am, I do not have much of an idea of what should I really bake. There are sooo many recipes available at Videojug.com that I'm spoilt for choices! I was out earlier, so I asked Rainbow to scribble some ingredient lists down for a guide later at the supermarket (Don't ask why I didn't prepare earlier, I told you I was spoilt for choices, so I didn't choose!).

And we head down to the nearest supermarket and I randomly picked items that are usually used for baking, i.e. block butter, sugar and eggs (and this is after checking with Bee over the phone on the baking stuff she already have at home - Yes, I know I'm hopelessly unprepared!).

Which means, on the way to Bee's house, I still don't really have an idea of what to bake. Contenders as follows: 1. Chocolate chip cookies, 2. Chocolate fondant, 3. Apple crumble, 4. Brownie.

By the time we reached Bee's house, all of us are feeling nua already. Bee was addicted playing with Sims; Rainbow and I watched her play the really dysfunctional family (i.e. Girl is pregnant but don't wanna marry the guy. Girl keeps slipping into unconsciousness - Bee says she was too tired. Girl can't cook for nuts and burnt the kitchen, killing the maid or smth.)

It was finally time to make a decision as to bake what, so I decided to bake chocolate cookies - since I've done it before under Jiemin's supervision and cookies should be idiot-proof. ALAS, I FORGOT TO BUY BROWN SUGAR! -_-

The minimarts located in the vicinity don't sell brown sugar la! =_= So I decided to bake chocolate fondant, in the absence of cocoa powder (substituted by milo powder).

This is the recipe for chocolate fondant, tried and tested by Yiting!

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-chocolate-fondants

Bee and Rainbow helped me through the baking process. Not feeling really certain how it'll all turn out, the first batch of fondants goes into the oven!



The first batch goes out of the oven.. looking somewhat there but not there.



It was too sweet and too liquid, but I was quite happy that I've got smth close! Haha. Rainbow and Bee thought it was good and took one to try respectively..


Just look at that hard-to-swallow expression

I learnt my lesson and sent the fondants into the oven for a longer duration. But still too SWEET! Then I realised, I used Hershey's SEMI-SWEET chocolate chips instead of DARK chocolate chips. With the same recommended amount of sugar! -_-


Batch 2, abit chao tar but more edible.

Comments about my chocolate fondants:

"Wah lao, I take sweet stuff one la, but yours.. Really too sweet! Can only take one a day at the max." - My sis

"Not bad!" - My supportive mummy!

"Too sweet" - My dad

"You should bake it again when it's cold. Tastes better!" - Bee

"Aiyo, Uncle's teeth are all dropping la! You think sugar free meh?" - Rainbow's dad

Ok... I'll try my best next time! So Bee, let me KIDNAP your oven AGAIN! Woots! :D

#2. Wii-ing at Rainbow's house!

As usual, Rainbow and her dad prepared a feast for Huiting and me! We watched a few episodes of HK dramas and played Wii!



Weeeeeee!

Huiting and I played this super kuso Rabbit game! It's brainless but super fun! LOL. We played bowling too!

This is Huiting scoring her SPARE!



Huiting is concentrating.. Haha.



Wii is soooo interesting! Shall I kidnap Rainbow's Wii too? Hehe.

Ok more up soon!

Obligatory Birthday Post for Mingshu

... Because I saw your tags on my tagboard - twice, for a birthday post :p Aiyaaa, I was just too lazy to upload the pics until now. I'll be sending my lappy to the service centre soon, so might as well (If I'm still feeling awake and upbeat later on the night, I'll probably add another update! I did so much random stuff this longggg hol, ha!).

But I'll dedicate entries to you anyway, this is evidence. Just a tad late :D

Part I - Dinner + Movie outing with the QBs in Tampines

I was late, but Tyng Feng was soooo much later! Lol, he wins hands down for being late! While waiting, I got fascinated by Mingshu's galore of chess-like nails.


Busy figuring out how to flaunt her black and white nails in an alternate fashion


The best she could do, ha.

We were still waiting for TF in Swensens and the co. decided to give Mingshu her birthday present! Anna Sui collection!


Mingshu is realllly trying her best not to flaunt her new Anna Sui toys, to me! Hurmph -_-;

TF finally came and the group of us went to watch "Get Smart". It's slapstick but entertaining nonetheless :)

Part II - Steamboat + Stay-over with TK bunch!

Inspired by Lisi, Mingshu decided to have her birthday cum gathering session in steamboat style. Steamboat style is probably a good way to sit around and talk/gossip/shout/laugh for a long time (Since you have to sit around the table and cook). Pretty much as what you'd expect, it was a great session to talk about everything (I can't remember what we exactly covered but I'm pretty sure we covered the essential topics within that 3-4 hrs).

Since Lisi's 21st, chicken wings have become a "must-eat" whenever we are at her place. The chicken wings are marinated to perfection with their family's secret recipe and taste really yummy when cooked in the convection oven. Not a single one of us can resist the temptation and we find ourselves eating one after the other whenever each batch is served hot from the oven. Thinking of it makes me really hungry now. OMG..

Of course, MS loves it to the max and even requested Lisi to prepare the chicken wings for her party! We are in for a treat! :D


The legendary. (Oh, but the cleaning up (for the oven) was a painstaking task, more about that later!)


Bunny loves the chicken wings too, she's even posing with them!


Mingshu's specialty fried dumplings! And that is Lisi's hand caught in the act! :)

Yay a group photo before Ivy and Bee had to leave to meet their bfs.



It was followed by rounds of mahjong. We played till like midnight lor! Addictive. The rest of us began cleaning up the table mess and all. Being a lazy bum I am, this is probably the first time I've done such a big scale kitchen cleaning up. A lot of dishes, utensils and OMG the CONVECTION OVEN! We have a love-hate relationship.. It produces tender chicken wings that are not gelat.. because the oil is all drained into a pot, something like a "catchment area".

Let's look at the picture of the oven again.



The bottom layer is the pot solely used to contain the oil dripped from the meat. -_- And do you have any idea how many chicken wings we cooked?

All I can say is we had to dispose almost 1/2 pot of oil away, and the rest is up to your imagination.

After the dreadful cleaning up and our washing up, we had mahjong (in half sleep mode) again. To perk us up, Bunny shared with us chocolates from Holland!


Check out their signature shoe (or whichever is the correct term)!

Took pictures again~





We finally slept at around 5am and left her house at probably 9 or 10am. Tired but FUN! :)

Ok it's 2.31am now and I'm sleepy! Next entry later the day~

Till then, night all!

Dear Junie,

How time flies, it's been 2 years already. Is everything fine? Are you coping well?

How I wish you are just getting busy with university life like the rest. It's just that we don't get to talk as often as we did then. But at least I know you are somewhere in campus, working and playing hard..

I wish.

Sometimes I wonder if it's not for you, I'd have long forgotten completely about those half-working-half-playing days. Seriously, Mingshu is already complaining about my lousy memory bank. I can hardly recall faces to names for some people we worked together in the past. That's how bad my memory can be.

Last year I was still complaining to you about my internship. Now that I'm finally out of the paper chase, I got myself stuck in a feverish job hunt. I wonder when these chases and hunts will finally stop. Sigh.

Oh enough of my complaints.

Since the last time I wrote to you, many things have/I thought have changed.


photo/singaporeflyer.com

We have our Singapore Flyer, proud to be the world's largest observation wheel. It's not a ferris wheel fit for 2, but an observation wheel which can fit 28 passengers in each capsule. We can probably see the flyer from our old office since it's situated in the Marina area.

Singapore is also hosting F1 Grand Prix, as well as being the first host country for the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. I screamed in joy when they announced Singapore as the host country over to Moscow. The moment was exhilarating.

Camera phones are also getting better these days. The usual ones in the market are 3.2 megapixels and the upmarket ones are at 5 megapixels. And all of them look so sleek! Probably the handphone will easily substitute the digicam within the next 5 years, you never know.

Oh, Orchard Road is undergoing a major revamp. More shopping! :) Bugis street is still pretty much the same, still as crowded and suffocating walking in the crazy crowd. But worth the jostling for bargain buys below $10. Basics are usually $10 and shoes.. less than $20!

Besides, "physical" shopping, online shopping has grown to be pretty popular. I'm so hooked and and a 60% of what I wear are bought online! Simply because the stuff are usually selling at a fraction of retail price! :)

As for myself, I've grown out manicures 'cause I can never maintain them. But pedicure remains to be my fave :) I still can't paint for nuts and have to go the nail parlours to satiate pedi cravings.

My dressing style has also (kinda) changed and I hope it's changed for the better. At least the feedback from my friends is so far, positive. Oh and I'm learning how to use the eyeliner! Omg, that was sooo tough! My fingers always fumble and make a mess on my eyelids instead of drawing a line -_-. I need more practice on this. Haha!

Unlike you, I'm afraid to commit in a relationship. I think commitment is such a scary thing.

I'm just wondering, if we could turn back time, would you still choose him? Is he worth your love?

Is it better to love unscathed, or battered?



If you can tell me.

Hmm, alright.. That's all for now. Take care alright? I'll jiayou too :)

With love,
Shu Juan

最近處於"想太多"的狀態過於頻繁...

可怕呀.

***

Met a primary school friend (unplanned) on Saturday. It was weird? I haven't seen him since Primary 6, and meeting for the first time after 9 years..

I find it a feat for myself to walk up to him and talk (after realising that both of us had the same "I know you right?" expression).

I wonder how I managed to recognise his features after so long.

The first thing we did was to confirm if you are so-and-so. We didn't say hi.
The next thing we asked was "What are you doing here?"
He tried to find a common topic to talk, but that topic didn't last long. Haha.

And finally we went back to do whatever we were originally doing.

Whole process - probably 2 mins (or less), with an exchange of less than 10 sentences. I didn't expect meeting up with an old friend in such a strange setting, but I'm glad we talked! :)

Comfort food saves the day during my crazy 2-week stint :)


Yummyyyyy.


Chocolate oozing out as you cut the fondant apart.. Fabulous. Serve warm.

Delicious home-baked chocolate fondant, thanks to Yiting :) She is a baking enthusiast and her baking stories alone are enough to make me hungry. I'm motivated to bake (again) this December, with the step-by-step guide on Videojug (as recommended by Yiting). Yay!

Cindy introduced the 2-week fair to me, and because of this, i got to know a bunch of nice peeps :)


Yeah, I had time to doodle ;)

Besides Yiting, I got to know Lixin (and her little secret, hoho) and Jiahui aka Uncle Ringo. Of course, I also got to chat & joke ard with other promoters and staff (shh!) during the fair :) One of them is Marcus, who's also JT & Eileen's secondary school friend. Perhaps Singapore is really small.

Anyway.. Everyone thought I'm a poly student = Young! Haha. Some of them were quite surprised that I'm already over 20 (sigh).


I also got to hear Angela Zhang's concert rehearsal and 1-2 songs for her actual performance. I'm kinda disappointed with the stage and seat arrangement. We took a peek when the show's over.. and um, I thought it could have been more glamourous-looking.

All in all, the fair wasn't that bad as I thought it'd turn out to be. Interesting people and customers, free live music and crazy prices. Managed to buy Luna Sea and L'Arc~en~Ciel CD and DVD for $5 each! What a steal :D Bought some DIY craftwork to do at really affordable prices too. Show you the pics when they are ready (That is also when I'm not procrastinating. Haha).

More updates will be up pretty soon! :D Till then.

阿信 = 勤勞努力的業務員

I just have to post this up. 阿信 is sooooo 可愛い!!



大好き! :)

即可愛又聰明的 idea! 現在真的會覺得三商美邦人壽是個充滿人情味的地方! 不知不覺中對這家公司產生信賴與好感.

Before I forget..

Oops. It's been eons since i last blogged. Am simply too lazy to upload pics. Lol. Reckon its time to clear some backlog (:

JT the Martian's 22nd, celebrated on Planet Earth.





The cake says, "Happy Martian's Day".

And as usual, we have to do silly things together. Lol. I wonder what the others were thinking. Perhaps along the lines of "noisy-and-kinda-nonsensical bunch".

Malicious gossip session. Topics revisited the 1001353rd time, still as hilarious and memorable.





Jumping in the middle of nowhere.


I'm quite sure Zming practised this beforehand.

Finally we decided to call it a day night with a decent shot



JT being the only driver gentleman, drove us home. Let's just say it was quite a bumpy ride and we got worried for his car. Haha.

Ice-cream chef + ECP & Changi Beach cycling + Arcade = FUN!


Finally a chance to eat you. Muaha.

Had a great cycling trip with the girls. We cycled all the way to Changi Beach! Woots. We then settled down at ECP for some water fun. It was then I realised I have not thread the sand & water since.. JC days or earlier.





We stopped by the jetty and saw many fishing enthusiasts. Are there seriously fishes swimming along our beach? I really wonder. But the jetty had a lingering stale smell. Is it the bait or the fish?! Lol.


looking at ECP from a different perspective.

And in the evening, we went to this ulu arcade and played old-school games! Heh, we spent most of our tokens shooting Jurassic Park Dinosaurs..

A new hairstyle, thanks to Jeremy.



I love my short hair now! At first I was kinda apprehensive about having it bob-style, but I'm really happy with the results. Yayness! I just hope I'm able to maintain the hairstyle for long.

Jeremy pampers my hair with ZERO slipshod work. Lol.. Now I know why he's always fully booked. I love him! :D

Burnt in the hot weather


"Eeeeeeeeeee-haaaa!"

Event at the Playground was freaking hottttt. It's difficult to get me tan/sun-burnt (I didn't get tanned even while kayaking), until this event. -_-'' Now I'm finally paying attention to sun-block lotion ads. I hope it's not too late.

In the midst of preparing for a getaway, so let's hope it all works out well! :D

That's all for now, night world! :)

probably my last trip down Old National Stadium

i thought the national stadium would have been closed by april. to my surprise, my resourceful friend managed to get tickets to the syf band competition - held right at the national stadium.

i don't frequent the stadium, but this building definitely holds memories from as long as my primary school days. those days where school teachers led little boys and girls to the stadium to watch the national day prelude. with kfc as the official caterer.. and the little toys in the mini goodie bag. sadly, that is all i remember for my first and only national day celebration in the stadium.

or as we grow older and cheered/screamed for friends, or people we don't know personally.. and you realise everyone else is doing the same.

those days.

and now, i'm able to relive those moments of cheering.. thanks to my friend :)


of large banners and supporters

the atmosphere was all tensed up when it was finally time for the display band competition. the surprises, props, suave drum majors and dances! most of the bands even had performers all dressed up in flamboyant costumes to wow the audience.

my all-time favourite tk band - with an Oriental theme :)


notice the red square - that's the olden Chinese door gate. and they had "warriors" charging through it!


they even had dragon dance troops!

and this band - with a Mexican theme



another band -




colours in a flash

and Deyi, wow-ing the audience with Phantom of the Opera and tribal music





the moment the bands have been waiting for



i love to see how the bands react when the results are announced. the emotion at that crux is genuine.

great performance, well done guys :)

my mind is in a whirlpool as i ran away in the rain.


i was on my way to an event when it started to rain (downpour in fact). since the distance between the bus stop and the venue was only about 300m, i decided to dash it through the rain.

i've never been too particular about being caught in the rain. i was never sick because of that anyway. besides, carrying a brolly that weighs half a ton in my bag is such a chore.

no prize for guessing what happened next.

within 12 hours, i caught the bloody flu.. urgh. what's wrong?! all along i thought my immune system is strong enough against rain eh.

as i sneeze and wheeze, somehow a bad premonition tells me a fever is on its way.. damnnnit.

***

i never knew fear could reach such an extent. fear - even by the mere mention. just stay away.

***

it doesn't help when i keep deleting the sentence i typed.

hello, i'm back (albeit for a short while). i'll be disappearing again to do my last, proper mugging session ever. haven't been seriously studying for ages, so i do hope something can be achieved out of this.

this semester has been great - all about events, interesting projects (which almost choked my life away. lol!), learning japanese, lil' gatherings despite the busiest schedules and getting accreditations :)

can't wait to fill you in when i'm really back ;)

till then, mug hard everyone!