A lovely poster for Lost in Translation, one of my favourite movies.

Finally...

My tests are over! I don't have a very good feeling about my papers, which can only mean one thing: be a workaholic during the june holidays. I also have my interim art coursework submission in about a week's time. Argh! But you know, even though it's tiring to be doing coursework all day, it's strangely enjoyable and I get a sense of satisfaction seeing what I've accomplished. Cross my fingers, I think I'm making some really good progress in my coursework.

This is going to be a gastronomical post...

I've liked pretty much every cuisine I've tried, but watching a show while eating lunch today made me realise that I haven't tried Greek food. Firstly, they have many varieties of salad. I love salad so I presume I'd enjoy their food. Secondly, they have all sorts of cheese, including goat's cheese. Another tick. And they have olive oil! There's nothing that goes better with freshly baked bread than a drizzle of olive oil (butter comes a close second). They use octopus and calamari. Calamari, yes, but octopus? They have LAMB, which I'm also not so sure about. However, I've long realised that when I don't really like something, it's because I haven't tried the best there is. I didn't use to like pork until I went to Japan and ate their shabu-shabu. Mmmm. I didn't use to like beef either, until I hada steak in a restaurant in Dempsey Road that tasted so luscious. So I think I might fall in love with lamb if I go to Greece. Plus, the Greek pastries and desserts look so delicious. I love custard! And I didn't know pavlova came from the Greeks. Maybe Greece should be my next holiday destination.

Food, food, food...

My mother, in some fit of obsession, has forbidden us from taking substantial amounts of sugar. This means no ice-cream and chocolate. She even stopped us from eating more than three pieces of tapioca with coconut yesterday. She says sugar ain't good for one's complexion. Looks like I have to do away with ALL my drinks in school as they are potentially sugar-laden. Oh, and she doesn't allow me to drink milk either, but I go ahead anyway. I reason that I need calcium, right? But I blame my bad complexion on the spicy food I take in school (spiciness makes things taste nicer) and the copious amounts of chocolate cake everyone seems to have for their birthday. I'm going to have to decline having cake for my birthday if it involves chocolate. For my father's birthday we had lychee martini cake which smelled heavenly. It was picked from the list of Singapore's 50 best cakes. There wasn't much of a martini taste to speak of, though. I suppose I'll make it through this food drought somehow. I managed to stave off seafood and dairy products for a year when I had eczema (no eggs!). My mother didn't allow me to consume them 'cos she suspected I was allergic to them.

Eco-friendliness

It kinda irks me that eco-friendly clothes featured are often so expensive. I stumbled upon this cool blog who's owner crafts things out of recycled materials.




She found a mannequin disposed of in the rubbish heap I believe and created these works of art.







This charming screen is made from shelves dismantled from old IKEA furniture and painted accordingly.

http://twinksplacenow.blogspot.com/

I'm dieting...

No, I'm not. It's just that I've come across this really cute brooch:



I think girls who are dieting should pin this brooch on their bag. So cute! The maker is this super-talented Singaporean who makes dolls, miniature stuff and dough crafts.

Miniature suitcases! How cute! She even put up a tutorial for this.

This is actually a Valentine's Day card. Looks so delicious.

Check out her blog at http://evangelione.blogspot.com/. The good thing is, she sometimes translates her Chinese posts into English (typical Singapore bilingualism), which is a yay for me.

The PERFECT gift from a guy

I started thinking about this topic when on Friday some people were gushing over a gift to my friend from a guy. I was strangely unmoved. But I thought there must be something that will inspire such sentiments in me so I came up with a list of my dream gifts from a guy. But first, what NOT to give me:

1) CHOCOLATES. Death to any guy who gives me chocolates.

2) RED ROSES. Nahhh, too cliche. Besides, I'm not really a red kind of girl.

3) POTTED PLANTS. This would actually be a pretty sweet gift, if not for the fact that I kill every plant I try to raise. Giving me cactus wouldn't cut it, either. I've killed two pots of cactus by over-watering them. So unless the guy wants the dead plant to be a symbol of our relationship, I say better not.


Gifts I dream of receiving from a guy:

1) My own customised writing set. Beautiful fountain pen engraved with my name, custom-designed notepaper etc. Of course, I'd use it to write him a thank-you letter.

2) A delicious home-cooked meal.

3) A story about me. If possible, hand-written and hand-illustrated. With beautiful binding.

4) If not a story, then a poem, song or a piece of artwork about me.

5) A collection of 365 poems, so I can read one for every day of the year.

6) He sneakily steals one of my jewellery designs and has it produced, then presents it to me as a surprise in a velvet-lined box.

7) Actually, just a simple note affirming his affection would make me very happy.


Talking about gifts, my sis is going to make me a necklace for my birthday and the design is going to be kept secret. So I expect to be surprised on my birthday! In return, I'll paint our small jewellery chests with floral patterns.

I should definitely compile a list of things to do after A levels. Right now this list would include (in no special order):

1) TRAVEL TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY. Vietnam, New York, Copenhagen, Japan, South Korea... whatever. I LOVE TRAVELLING! Even better if turns out that I like the local food. Food is definitely a major factor for me. Food, local culture, scenery... a bonus if the shopping is good.

2) DO CHARITY WORK. Maybe sign up with another volunteer programme like I did with kidzread. No way would my mum allow me to do charity work overseas.

3) LEARN COOKING AND BAKING. Ok, not exactly learn, since I've actually attended home econs classes and (I'm really proud of this) hand-made and cooked udon at the local Japanese senior high school! And they taste EXACTLY like the udon you eat in restaurants-just as springy, just as delicious. Extra fun added.

4) SET UP A WEBSHOP SELLING JEWELLERY. I have no idea how to go about doing this. NO IDEA. I don't even know my POSB account no. Well, I suppose the details can be sorted out later.

5) OBTAIN AN INTERNSHIP WITH A LOCAL MAGAZINE. Again, no idea how to do this. Some magazines I checked just asked for submission of "writing samples". Hmm.

6) SHOPPING.

7) how about... SHOPPING?

8) SHOPPING.

9) SHOPPING.

10) SHOPPING!!!

Well as you can see my list needs some more filling in.

I can't believe it- for once I actually miss blogging. One of the biggest challenges in maintaining a blog is that of procrastination. This time though I feel I really need to put aside my studies for a while and just write.

I wonder what it means if one is always having dreams? I often don't get a full night's sleep because it will inevitably be interrupted by dreams. Both good and bad. They increase in quantity and intensity in periods where I undergo a heightened emotional state, like now. Over the past few nights I've been having really vivid dreams, one so sad that I woke up and cried for a good 10 minutes. Another one made me feel warm and happy. And in yet another one I experienced pain so realistically. I seriously wonder what they all mean. I think they might be a manifestation of my innermost thoughts that I hardly share with anyone. Sometimes my fears can be so vague that even I myself am not sure what they are. I think alot of them stem from insecurity. I don't mean insecurity about my looks, because I'm happy with the way I look (though I wish my skin gave me less problems), but insecurity about my capabilities. Maybe I don't speak as often as some others because I lack confidence in myself or I'm uncomfortable with the situation in general. It's definitely not because I don't have anything to say, because most of the time I have an opinion. How can people voice their opinions with such ease? And it's no use if people actually ask for my opinion because I'd feel awkard or freaked out and forget what I was thinking. Sigh. Why am I like this?

This Saturday will be my last session with kidzread. It's a long-term reading programme for young children by the National Library Board. While initially I had problems with the kids being unresponsive or not liking the story I read, I feel we've really warmed up to each other. Our past few sessions have been really fun and I think I can safely say they like me, or at least don't find me horribly detestable :) I know some people wouldn't choose to go for CIP right before their common tests, like I did the past Saturday, but really I don't mind. I think I've learned a thing or two about kids. It's amazing how one can forget so quickly how it was like to be a kid. I also know now that I shouldn't impose my expectations or standards, something I tend to do in groupworks. I'd always have these high expectations of what people should be like or should do, and then I'd get all beat up when they fall short of my expectations. Like in the beginning, I kept comparing their reading ability to mine when I was their age. Then I realised that this was the wrong stance to take. I really love all of them now for their individual quirks and merits. I certainly hope I have imparted something of use to them and have made an impact on their lives. I'll be very sorry to part with them.

These two photos were taken at the headquarters of Theatreworks, called 72-13. I was there for an artwriting workshop. After the workshop we walked to Central at Clarke Quay MRT and saw a minimart selling Japanese food products, including these:

These are typical of the Japanese inclination towards beautiful, and sometimes excessive packaging. Lovely as it may be, it seems slightly incongrous to print famous works of art on Pocky boxes.

Floral arrangements

A compilation of some floral arrangements that have been in our house.

Cards I made recently

My sister's handmade jewellery

Thinking of setting up a web shop...