ah-ha-ha-ha stayin' alive, stayin' alive

stayin' alai----hi--ay----ay-aive

hello, give me some credit please, i was trying to type out the words in the same way those beegees sang it.

contrary to belief, i haven't died yet.

no, i've just been busy as a bee. in fact, busier than a bee, and just about as busy as a queen ant. in the last 3 month's, i've returned from a holiday from singapore and japan, had an argument with my roommate, been put in a situation where we didn't talk for over a month, went to view apartments, and i mean at least 40 different places (no kidding), packed up and moved out of my old place and into the new, forgave my old roommate and talked things through, found a new roommate, bought and installed new furniture, decided i had to kill myself because i had so many clothes and no where to put them...

and all that while going through regular classes!

you have no idea how tired i was!!! oh man!

it was really hard. trying to keep up with being a full-time fashion student + moving house (especially when you have as many things as i do) is not recommended.

i know a lot of you have come back to visit this blog and sent me messages asking if i've disappeared. after i've manage to build up a reader-base, it was really silly of me to stop posting for so damn long because i probably have like zero readers now... or worse, more like minus 5.

basically it was a very difficult 3 months and i had very negative qi. my ex-roommate and i could not get along and she spent her days practically thinking about "revenge" and how she could send me emails that would anger me. to be honest, her emails did piss me off at first, but after a while, i realised it was so ridiculous and it became like a joke to me everytime i got one of her emails dipped in poison. i knew i had to move out of the place because i definitely wasn't happy there and it didn't help that we hated each other. i was coming home extremely tired from school and keeping to myself in the room, only leaving it to go to the bathroom or the kitchen. i had never experienced something or someone like that before, and believe me it was a real eye-opener.

anyway i moved into a new place about a month ago, and guess how many boxes i left my old place with? 3-fucking-0!!! there were big ones and there were small ones, but there were 30. crazy shit. i wanted to slap myself. the room that i have now is way smaller and i've had to learn about being organized. but it's quite newly renovated and it's in an amazing location. my new roommate seems really nice. she goes to parsons too so we can bitch to each other about our crazy teachers and how tired we are and how expensive the school fees are. yay!

my ex-bosses (roger and yvonne, a husband and wife team) and edmond, a great mutual friend came over to new york at the end of february for a few days. edmond used to live in new york for 10 years, back in the days when it was still very dangerous and the parks weren't safe and the lower east side wasn't a shopping area. so he brought us around to his favorite restaurants and it was so hilarious watching this grown man get all excited saying, "ohmygodiusedtolooooovecominghere (breathe) thefoodisamaaaazing." and he'd give us instructions on how to eat this and that. yummm!!

el faro (823 greenwich street, 212.929.8120) is a spanish restaurant with sme very homemade dishes. the space was cramped but edmond made reservations so we didn't have to wait, and he had made orders ahead of time so food came pronto! and the garlic bread, is the devil. in a good way. like i want it everyday. *lick lips*

edmond's friend, steven, lives in new york and works at artsee eyewear (863 washington street, 212.414.0900), a really cool shop with unique glasses and sunglasses in the meatpacking district. he brought us to this tapas bar called pamplona (37 east 28th street, 212.213.2328). we ordered like everything on the menu and holy crap it was so so so good. some of the stuff we ordered aren't even shown in the pictures above. particularly amazing were the celery root soup (coming from a girl who hates celery and celery root), the dates wrapped in bacon, fried chickpeas, and the peanut butter ice-cream!!! hello!!! peanut butter ice-cream!!

they stayed at the W in union square on the 20th floor. who knew new york could have pretty sunsets?

spring break just ended yesterday. a friend of mine from japan, yuka, came over for a few days so i was tour guide for a week. it was more tiring than i thought it would be, because literally, i was planning each day!!! i'm such an ass for complaining, but she basically came over with no clue as to what she wanted to do, and she didn't really care so much about what we'd be doing. so that made planning even harder, because then i had no idea where i should bring her and all that. but we got through it, walked a hell lot, ate even more, and spent too much money. sounds like fun eh?

i don't know what the hell i was doing shopping with her when i'm not even on holiday. did i mention that i'm broke and that i had no space to put anything in my puny room!!!!

and oh my god, did we eat or did we eat.

i regretted not taking more photos with her while she was here. i think we took like 4 pictures together. the rest of our pictures were all of the glorious food we had.

what disgusting pigs!!! we just ate and ate and ate more!!

pizza at lombardi's (32 spring street, 212.941.7994). some people hate it, i think it's yummy and i love the crust, and the meatball toppings! it's apparently new york's first pizzeria, but who cares about history when you've got amazing mozzarella and meatballs in your mouth! hee hee.

cupcakes from magnolia bakery (401 bleeker street, 212.462.2572). made famous by sex and the city, i'm sure there are many more cupcake places that must be better than this place. but for the moment, it makes my sweet tooth happy and who can resist all those cute colors! (although i have to admit the purple icing was way too much even for me.)

korean fried chicken at bon chon (314 5th avenue, 212.221.2222). introduced by a korean friend of mine, this restaurant is apparently also famous in korea and every korean in new york is supposed to know this place. the thing is, this is the best fried chicken i have ever had in my life. i've brought 4 different groups of friends there, and we can't get enough. you know it's good when you're so full you're about to puke and you still wanna gobble some more. it's fantabulous.

at the hershey's store in times square, 4 outfits from the project runway challenge were on display. jillian's (the one of the red corset) was really pretty amazing.

we had a huge lunch at the peter luger steakhouse (178 broadway, 1.718.387.7400) in brooklyn. i was told that the single steak wasn't as good of a cut, so we ordered the porterhouse steak for two, which was actually steak for 17. it was cooked in 4 pounds of butter or something and we all know how good that smells and tastes. also amazing was the bacon that we ordered as appetizer. give me a strip everyday please. the second shot was taken while on the subway back to the city.

i hate making the rich richer, but dylan's candy bar (1011 3rd avenue, 646.735.0078) was too cute not to mention. never mind that a lot of the stuff were all about easter when we went. the whole place was so colorful, even the stairs were cute! the place was also stocked with tons of very nostalgic sweets. i wonder if the kids these days even know what those are! i used to have those lollies that you wear as a ring and all that! loved them. and yuka spent like 70 dollars buying a basketful of pez! crazy girl! she collects them!

i also brought yuka for cheese fondue at the bourgeois pig cafe (111 east 7th street, 212.475.2246). i love fondue and i quite like it here. plus, the place has pretty great atmosphere. i had a glass of champagne with a strawberry reduction. it was so delicious.

our last meal was at florent where fries are always amazing. i had a huge bowl of mussels. i don't think i've ever eaten that many mussels at one time. i was telling yuka that i doubt it'll make me full, but halfway through my tummy was overfilled. they gave us these paper placemats with empty faces, so it was fun to fill in the blank looks. i think if i ever had a restaurant of my own, i want to have something like that too.

at the m&m's store in times square, there are m&m colors that i had never seen while growing up. there's also this huge-ass machine in the middle of the 2nd floor where you stand under and they tell you what color you are. i had never tried it out before (very embarrassing), but since i had yuka with me this time, we both decided to join the line. yes, we were the only grown-ups in line. among all the 5 year old kids. ugh. as you can see, i'm sugar and spice but mostly spice. i think this fortune teller is pretty accurate. it was so funny! i'll have to go back again one day to see if that has changed.


and lastly, on saturday, after yuka left to go back to tokyo, i walked out to the supermarket and realized that there was this ultra-funny event taking place outside the union square subway station. pillow fight!!! the air was filled with feathers and i didn't wanna step nearer even to take pictures because i could see the people who had stepped away from the fight, and yes, they had feathers in their hair, on their coat, in their nostrils. there were soooo many people, i would imagine getting a neckache after getting slammed on the head one too many times by someone's hard-ass pillow!

so that's it, i've been away from my blog for a while, but if you've read this far, you'd know where i have been:

fat camp.

i'm so disgusted with myself i could hurl. yuck! stop eating you fat pig!

gluttony is a terrible sin

dear alex just boarded the bus about an hour ago, and is on his way back to boston right now. i saw him off, then bought some food from the roadside pushcarts, and brought it home to eat. it's so yummy but loaded with mayonnaise.

eeks!!!

it's so sinful but it tastes soooo goooood....

ps: yes everyone, it is chicken and 4 tonnes of mayo.

obsessing sometimes isn't a bad thing

i went out with my friends from junior college (high school) last night - ewan, adrian and bob. we went to see nuts (aka natalie) at her home. it was her gorgeous daughter, angel's birthday. she was so cute. sometimes i see kids like that and i wish i had a child too. no. really.

then they brought me out to dempsey road. i just want to say OH MY GOD i didn't know that it had a major transformation!!! like hello?? 4 years away from singapore and now i'm a bloody tourist. dempsey road has turned into a major spot filled with gorgeous cafes, restaurants and whatever else, and in the middle of all this lush greenery as well! (but totally scary at night. where are the street lamps?!) i can't believe that after coming back to singapore for 2 months that no one took me there. hmph! and like it's totally near my house! it doesn't even take more than 5 minutes by car! i've gone by it sooo many times and never went in. damn.

we went to ps cafe. i loved it. it was gorgeous! the place is apparently famous for their desserts and when i saw those cakes, my eyes lit up. (i cannot emphasize enough how much i love chocolate.)

but!! this ang moh (singaporean slang which literally means "red hair", but actually refers to all caucasians. the slang started decades ago and today, is widely used and is by no means, a racist remark.) came over, pointed to the fudge brownie i wanted and asked his wife if she wanted that! there were only like 2 brownies left and i started getting anxious that by the time i could order, there would be none left!!! i kept going, "don't take my brownie don't take my brownie..."

well it worked and he didn't. woohoo. we ordered the soup of the day. bad idea. i think it was supposed to be cream of potato and leek or something?

well it was potato-boiled-in-water-and-add-some-cream-plus-some-leek soup. i couldn't taste anything. maybe my taste buds have been used to less bland stuff. we also ordered a roast beef salad. i thought it was quite yummy but i couldn't believe we paid $19 for a salad that came with 4 puny pieces of roast beef and a handful of veges. daylight robbery.

so now i know why the place is famous for its desserts. thank god for that. the cakes were sooo yummy and miss chocolate lover, me (duh), was extremely satisfied. in fact it was a little too rich. we shared the fudge and the white chocolate brownie. which i didn't touch cos i'm a dark chocolate kind of girl, no white chocolate thank you very much. the fudge had a slab of brownie at the bottom, and it was topped with tons of marshmallows that were sort of stuck together with chocolate that had been drizzled all over. it was fantastic and we couldn't finish. i had to drink like 5 glasses of water.

it was great to meet and catch up. it's been 6 years since we graduated and it was like time took a stand-still and although we've changed in some ways, we're all very much the same. they all seem to be doing exceedingly brilliant. bobby started who's going with his friends, and now he's also doing some great new venture that sounds excellent and i wish him well. ewan seems to be doing great at work also, but i tell her she's too busy and is harder to date than the president. and adrian, who's still in school, is going to prague next month on exchange, the lucky bastard!!!


update on parsons: i'm like totally freaking out now cos i don't know if i'll be able to get my visa on time. i've got less than a month left before i'm supposed to be going over to new york, and there are all these things left to do and it's driving me nuts. the next couple of weeks are going to be hell. i can feel it coming.

also, i've been pouring over scores of real estate websites online. i know i know, i shouldn't be looking at those gorgeous pictures because what you see isn't what you're gonna get. (oh yeah, i've had that bad experience the first time i moved to japan and no way i'm going through that shit again.) but oh they look so good and i just love looking at houses and apartments. i'll be staying at my dad's friend's daughter's house in queens till i find a place of my own. in other words, i'll be squatting at her place for a while. does anyone know a great loft/studio/one-bedroom apartment in manhattan, that i could probably rent/buy/loot/squat/live in for free? i'm desperate.


i've been obsessing over a lot of things recently. basically just going all nostalgic over memories from my childhood. i went with my sis to the kid's department in isetan a couple of days ago, when we were looking for a present for another friend's daughter. i took one long look at all the barbies in one section, and my little pony in another. i used to love them as a child. i spent my days playing with them!! i remember watching tons of videos over and again, of my little pony and carebears.

oh god; that reminds me. my first two dogs, two huge dobermans, were named after the ponies!! one was called rose dust, the poor dear. imagine getting called that, when you're a huge and snarly dog. luckily for her, at least, she was a girl. heh heh. i also remember losing my beloved care bear, a sunshine bear, in a hong kong airport when i was about 3. i cried buckets and would not be consoled.

anyway, we also went to the sanrio store where i found another one of my childhood loves: little twin stars. i remember using a cup of theirs till i was like 12 or something. they are so cute. i found this note book and multi-colored pen that i had to have. i'm not like, you know, going crazy over them, but everytime i find something cute that i can use or something, i buy it. in fact, i'm almost tempted to download the little twin star wallpaper.

i wonder if that'll be overdoing it.

also, i'm stoked, because i just unearthed a few enid blyton books. i must have read every one of her books when i was a little girl. i remember my mum buying me my first enid blyton. i was 4 and we were on the way home after one of my piano lessons. i got hooked after that and bought everything. i loved her books! i loved them all, especially the series!! mr galliano's circus, the famous five, malory towers, the magic faraway tree, the naughtiest girl, the wishing chair, amelia jane, shadow the sheepdog, the three golliwogs..... oh god i loved them. i read many of them over and over and over again. even when i had grown up, whenever i found the books, i would sit down and read them through once more.

(and yes, you guessed it right. my dog, shadow, was named after shadow the sheepdog. shadow first came to my home with a sister from her litter. they were tiny and could fit in a box. one was a dusty light brown, yellow and white. so i called her misty. that must have been a character's name from somewhere as well, but i can't remember now... the other puppy was brown and white, but she followed us everywhere. "perfect!!" i thought. i was 11, had read 'shadow the sheepdog' about 25 times, and badly wanted a shadow of my own. my darling misty, who was as rebellious, stubborn and defiant as me, died when she was just 7. shadow is 13 now, and still follows us everywhere.)

i think enid blyton's brilliant and i really grew up with her. i learnt about many things through her books. i'm really sad that many of my books had been given away to younger cousins. but when i have kids one day, i'm gonna make sure they grow up with enid blyton too. i'll buy them the whole collection. i'm tempted to go out and buy ME the whole collection.


wow. it was so great just reliving some memories by writing this. what are some of the things from your childhood, or from your past, that you used to love and still do now? i would love to hear all about it!


with much love, sheepdogs and rose dust,
gilda

how to cook tamagoyaki

here's a guide to cooking tamagoyaki. "tamago" means "egg" in japanese, and "yaki" is "to bake/roast/etc", well all sorts of things, in other words, "to cook". so this is a version of the japanese omelette. there is another version, called dashimaki. "dashi" is "stock (usually made from fish or chicken or vegetables)" and "maki" is "roll". tamagoyaki is usually sweeter, and dashimaki is a little salty because of the stock base.

i prefer tamagoyaki, which is what you would normally find in sushi restaurants. you can eat it on its own, or with japanese rice, or you can also add bacon or whatever to the egg mixture before it's cooked. there are many different versions of the recipe out there, but here's what i have found to like best.

psst. i tried to take a video. but i realised i sounded like shit. also, i was concentrating on the egg and forgot what to say... and if i remembered what to say, i'd mess up the egg. so, pictures will have to do. heh.

ingredients (for 2-3 people)

4 medium sized eggs

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of mirin

pinch of salt

cooking oil

+ alternatively, you can substitute japanese cooking wine for mirin. or use about a teaspoon of each.

+ i like my tamagoyaki a little sweeter, and sometimes add half a tablespoon more. i also find that if the egg cools down or if you refrigerate the egg, it's less sweet than when it was just cooked so bear that in mind.


clock-wise from 4 eggs: some oil, small piece of paper towel, 2 & half tablespoon sugar, mirin, and japanese cooking wine.

tools
small rectangular frying pan
chopsticks or spatula (spatula for beginners!)
small piece of paper towel
+ if you don't have a rectangle fry pan, you can use a round one too. it's the same cooking method, just that you end up with a different shape!


steps
prepare the egg mixture.
1. if you can, before cracking open the eggs, leave them at room temperature for about 30 minutes. crack them into a mixing bowl just before you want to use them. use your chopsticks to beat lightly, but don't over-do it. just a few stirs is fine.
2. add in the sugar, wine/mirin, and salt. (the salt is meant to actually bring out the sweetness of the sugar)
3. once again, if possible, use a fine metal mesh sieve and drain the egg through it, so that the end product will be really smooth. but this is too much of a trouble for me so i don't usually bother.

two important things to remember before you start
ONE: spread the oil evenly all over the pan and make sure every spot is oiled!
TWO: roll the egg up before it dries and gets totally cooked!

yaki-yaki!
1.

using a medium fire setting, heat the pan up. oil the pan a little and spread it VERY well, using the paper towel to really make sure you've covered all grounds.

2.

using your chopsticks, "sprinkle" some of the egg mixture onto the pan. if it gives you a sizzling sound, you're ready to start. if it sizzles and turns brown immediately, make the flame smaller.

3.

pour a small amount of the egg mixture into your pan, enough to cover the whole pan. never pour too much or it just won't turn out right! you will see it swelling up, or bubbles forming. use your chopsticks and poke it to death! you don't want air to get in. then swirl the egg mixture around to fill in the "holes".

4.

when it is semi-cooked (it should still be quite watery), start rolling it to either the top or the bottom of the pan. make sure to do so when it is still not 100% cooked, or the layers won't stick together. it doesn't really matter which side of the pan you push it to, or how small your roll is. i usually just flip it in half, but you can roll it up a third or a quarter of the pan size.

5.

with the egg pushed to one side, using the paper towel, lightly oil the rest of the pan. once again, make sure to spread the oil well, or you will have problems rolling the egg up.

6.

pour in another thin layer of the egg mixture.

7.

use your chopsticks to lift up the rolled egg, and let the egg mixture flow in underneath. again, do not allow the egg mixture to swell up or bubble. poke it, then swirl it around to fill in the gaps.

8.

when it gets half-cooked again, flip the rolled up omelette onto the half-cooked portion. the most important thing is to make sure you roll it in before the egg mixture dries up and gets cooked. now you see why this is also called egg "maki"? because you're basically rolling the egg up as it cooks.

9.
repeat steps 5, 6, 7, and 8, until you have used up all your egg mixture.

10.

turn your fire to low heat. making use of the shape of the pan, lightly press the egg against the sides to make it rectangular in shape. (if you're using a circular fry pan, don't bother making it rectangle!) you can flip the egg around several times to lightly brown the sides. i like my eggs 80-90% cooked, so i don't leave it on too long. but if you prefer it 100% cooked, lightly press the egg down against the pan to get the insides cooked.

transfer to a plate, and cut into 1cm slices or thicker if you prefer. then,

"dekita!! tamagoyaki desu! cho--- umai yo!"
(done!! it's tamagoyaki! totally delish!)



the first time i did this, it was really difficult to flip and roll the layers around. well, i'm a really terrible cook. so i tried using a spatula and it was a lot easier. it also took me a few times of trying, to get the portions of sugar, mirin and wine that i personally like. now, i don't measure at all, but just pour straight from the bottle cos i know what i need to get it to taste the way i want it to taste! experiment until you find something you fancy! it looks difficult but it's really quite easy! even for me!

good luck!!! leave a comment or email me to let me know how it went! :)


ps: it can be eaten warm or cold, so if you store it in the fridge, you don't have to warm it up again before you eat it. i prefer mine a little chilled, or at room temperature, but that's totally up to you.

update!!

according to my fabulous japanese friend, michiko, who commented on this post, she says it also tastes brilliant with mayonnaise added to the recipe!! just remember not to use western mayonnaise, but the japanese kind. my favorite brands are kewpie and saralear by ajinomoto (yes, shingo is advertising for them). they are just as good but kewpie should be readily available worldwide. and by the way, japanese mayonnaise is so yummy, you can add it to just about everything.

psychotic

i'm talking about my sister. she has been meddling downstairs in the kitchen for the past 4 hours. then she comes upstairs holding a bento box.


yeah. for the past 4 fuckin' hours she's been making a lunch box for that boyfriend of hers who's staying over (again) and sleeping (again)!!!

my GOD.

i rolled my eyes at her but i couldn't roll enough.


when she used to stay in sydney years ago, she would cook meals all the time for her ex. but she's never even cooked a meal for my parents before. when i was still staying in tokyo, she cooked for me when she came to stay over, but i highly suspect that was because she was in my apartment almost free-loading for 3 weeks at a time.


the first time she cooked for him, i was politely asked to make an egg. no silly, not like a normal egg-egg, a japanese omelette (tamagoyaki). so i cooked the egg, and left, while she continued on for a few more hours after that, making a take-out meal, while her darling was asleep!!!

i don't believe it!!

i like cooking and i like cooking for friends. but then, they cook for me all the time too.

all that work for hours when the other half is sleeping very comfortably in an air-conditioned room, is beyond me. is this how m.c.p.s (male chauvinist pigs) are borne?!?!


i thought she might have made extra and my family could probably finally eat something she made. but nope. we ain't that lucky. she said she only made enough for him.

BAH.

for a step-by-step guide to making tamagoyaki, clicky-clicky!

okonomiyaki love

we had an okonomiyaki party on friday. written お好み焼き in japanese, "okonomi" means "favorite" or "what you like", and "yaki" is "cooked" or "grilled". basically you mix whatever you want into the batter. usual ingredients are stuff like shredded cabbage, prawns, pork, eggs, cheese, whatever.

it's a pretty cheap but really yummy meal. there are expensive restaurants for okonomiyaki in japan, but that's when they use premium ingredients like kobe beef. my friends and i used to go for okonomiyaki pretty often because it's fast and fun. you just mix everything you want in a bowl, then pour the whole batter over the hot plate, turn each side to cook, and you're just about done!! then you've got to add the japanese sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and aonori.

it does get kinda heavy (can't eat too much of it) but it's yummmmm.

we had the party at yvonne and roger's house (my ex-bosses), and stayed there laughing and talking nonsense till 2am.

it was so good and i wanted to eat more but my stomach would not allow me to stuff anything else in it. dammit.


also, i've started on another still-life painting. this time, my angle was really difficult. we had to draw a pot and some watering can, and all the damned spouts and handles were pointing their asses at me!! i'm not very good at that and took some time to get things right, but i was quite proud of myself.

my teacher, raphael, says he's now teaching us the proper methods of under-painting (?), or was it monochromatic under-painting. as we start to use more oil pigments we would realise why he's making us go through his steps. well, according to him anyway. but i'm getting the hang of it (i think) and i'm having a lot of fun.

except my clothes get dirty and i get black fingernails that won't get cleaned, even if i use the olive oil brush cleaner to wash my hands. they finally come away clean after i take a bath. in the meantime i keep feeling really gross and dirty and i hope i get used to that soon! haha!


in the meantime, my bright pink highlights on my dark red hair, is slowly fading. now it's kinda-pink highlights on a WHAT-IN-THE-WORLD-COLOR-IS-THIS hair.

i found a dreadful picture of myself, back when i first got my highlights done. excuse the mess, i was sweaty after hockey training. but ugh i want that pink color back!! well truth be told, on most people, pink wouldn't last very long. most of my friends would get crazy colors like that and it wouldn't even last a week. mine has lasted a month. i think i'll hold out for a little while more and get a touch-up done. i wonder if there's anywhere that i can buy the color to diy though. does anyone know where i can buy l'oreal nuancelle?

my parents keep telling me that at the rate that i'm dying my hair (and sometimes perming), i'd be bald in no time. the thing is, i have extremely thin (considerably fewer than normal) and thin (each strand is very fine) hair. amazingly, all my coloring hasn't zapped all the life out of my hair yet. but because i have such thin hair, i'm already convinced that i'd probably go bald by the age of 35 anyway. so i might as well make full use of it now. hahaha.

lychee love

because i'm sitting here in front of my computer, eating away at the kilo of lychees i bought this afternoon. i wish i could be bothered to get up and make myself a lychee martini *slurp slurp* but nope, i'm like glued to this chair.

psst: don't be a pig like me; try making one!!

use lychee liqueur, vodka, and a dash of lime juice. alternatively, you can use fresh lychee juice if you don't have the liqueur. shake with ice, and strain into glass. top off with one or two peeled and pitted lychees and enjoy! oooh and try adding a stalk of lemongrass to your martini. it adds a totally different flavor and is totally yummy!!

many things have been happening lately, and i've been doing a lot of thinking. my friend tells me i shouldn't think so much. HAH. that's easy to say.

i painted another still-life thingy the other day. it was my second ever oil-painting attempt, and i think i'm getting better. well the first was an absolute disaster; i don't wanna even think about it! i've never had formal training in art or drawing. back in bunka, we had weekly design classes, but that was more of training us in the design (clothing) factor, and nothing concrete in the real "art" part. but yeah, i'm actually really enjoying myself in class. i missed a lesson while i was away in melbourne, so during the lesson i only had time to paint the objects and couldn't go into the details in the background. i'm quite pleased with it though. heh heh. (ok for those of you who are pros, just let me pretend i'm doing ok, ok? ;D)



i'm not sure how it happened, but it's suddenly almost 2am. i've had a long day today. i went to the doctors, went to buy fruits for the family, went to my juniors' training, then went to the club training. honestly, i'm kinda tired, and it's been quite a while since i've been this tired.

it's raining outside. like totally pouring. i love to sleep when it rains, so i think i'll go to bed soon.

sweet dreams, lovers. and tell me what you dreamt about.

neon pink kisses,
gilda

glutton

just when i declared how much i love gays,
i opened the papers today to read about a gay gang
in holland who lured victims over the net,
inviting them for an orgy, only to drug them,
rape them and then infect them with the hiv virus
by injecting them with contaminated blood!!??!?!

they said that it excited them, and that the more
hiv-infected people there were, the better their
chances of unprotected sex.

i was shocked. and very disturbed.

people like that are really sick.

how can anyone do such a thing!!!
it's terrible.
have we lost all sense of decency and humanity?


more reading for the professionals
- gay orgy gang's hiv rapes stun holland
- the complete hiv/aids resource





anyway i went with my sis and her boyfriend down
to newton circus hawker centre today for dinner.




it's one of the most famous hawker centres
here in singapore. although some of the hawkers
are notorious for touting, there are a couple of
stores that my family and i have been frequenting
over the years. and when i'm overseas and lusting for
some oily singaporean food, i lust for newton circus.




i've been dying for some spicy and oily seafood.

it never disappoints.

we ordered sambal stingray, sambal kangkong,
sambal sotong (squid) and oyster omelette.

(in case you're wondering, sambal is a condiment from
this side of the world. it's a kind of chilli paste that's
usually blended with some dried prawn paste that
usually stinks like hell but tastes so so so good.)

and to wash it all down, i drank sugar-cane juice
topped with some lemon.

heavenly.

this is the stingray on the left, and kangkong on the right.


this is the oyster omelette.




now you know why singapore is called food paradise?

eating is our national pastime.

i'm so full, my tummy's about to burst.

ps: today's my dad's birthday but he's on holiday in china.
i know he doesn't read this
(of course i don't tell him i have a blog.
i can't be swearing if he's reading this!!), but oh well.
happy birthday daddy. love you.

photo diary

i am in the search for a bloody charger for my digital camera.
yup, i STILL can't find mine!!
i also went to sim lim yesterday,
singapore's answer to tokyo's akihabara,
except akihabara is an entire town and sim lim is just
one measly building, filled with all things electronic.
but they took a look at my camera, and said,
"don't have".

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

it's driving me crazy.
i usually take a million pictures all the time, and because
my camera captures videos too, i used to take plenty,
and transfer them to my computer everyday!!!
being unable to do that is really irritating.

in my earlier post , i mentioned that i had stolen
my dad's canon 30d.
yeah i've been using it,
but unfortunately, that father of mine keeps stealing it back.
so we're like constantly stealing on each other.
can't he let me have it!!!

anyway. i finally borrowed my sister's boyfriend's
multi-card reader/writer, and managed to extract my photos.

woohoo!!

so now i only need to find something to charge those
camera batteries!! yikes!

so here are some photos from the past week or so,
from when i was just leaving tokyo.

may 11

that crazy reiko. everything and anything that she got her
hands on, she put on!! i was like, "aren't you hot!!"
hahaha it was so funny. we ordered pizza and she opened the door
like that. and asked the pizza guy if he wanted my feather mask!

may 13

sasan and me in the taxi, on the way to the station!!
that's the notebook that my friends made for me.
with these drawings of me on the cover. it's disgusting. haha.


the famous singapore changi airport.
in a not very well-taken photo from the back
of my taxi on the way home.


my swollen eye. except that when i transfered the photos
to my computer, it didn't look that bad. but it was actually red
and swollen and the nerve below my eye kept twitching and
irritating the hell out of me!! i wanted to take photos of my
face when i got home, but it was itching and i was scratching,
and my hands refused to reach for the camera.

may 15

we had lunch at a hawker centre at zion road, near my
house. my aunt and cousin, nicole, came to join us.
she's huge for her age and really cute!! i haven't seen her
for a while and she really grew. i hear she's quite the devil
though. at least she's cute. haha.


we went to palm beach seafood restaurant for dinner.
we've been going there for years and always order a big
sri lankan white pepper crab. yummy!!
it's what i call finger-lickin' good. the fried prawns in
almond flakes and nestum cereal is really good too.
but prices have gone crazy the last few years and it's not
really worth going there anymore. the food is pretty
average for the price, and you can probably find equally
good meals elsewhere for much cheaper. and besides,
i give them fail fail FAIL for service. by the way don't
attempt to go there without a singaporean if you are a
foreigner. for many reasons.


palm beach is lucky because they relocated to the
pretty cool one fullerton. i saw pretty cool because it's
right next to the waterfront, and next to the merlion.
you can also get a pretty good view of singapore's
commercial district (i like it at night). across the bridge
is also "the durian", what locals call the esplanade,
singapore's performing arts centre.
(by the way, say "singapore" to a japanese and they
reply "merlion". it's weird!)

may 16

shadow's already 13. she's really old and her senses are
slowly failing. she's even got grey cataracts clouding
her eyes. and she's gotten skinny over the years. i hate
feeling her bones. she has a breathing problem due to
a collapsed windpipe. i hope she stays healthy for many
more years. i can't lose her just yet.


at hard rock cafe for dinner. i love hard rock. good food,
good service. and good food. plus, the one in singapore is
SUPER near to my house. very convenient. i wore a
really colorful anna sui dress and cowboy hat, and felt
very loud in boring singapore. HAH.

may 17

i went out with my sis, bib, and her friends to some karaoke bar,
and had two vodka cocktails, before ordering a whole bottle
of absolute vodka to share with my sis and one other friend.
we paid like SGD140 for it. that's crazy because i can buy it for
SGD17 at the airport!!! why can't everything be duty-free!!
the 3 of us finished the bottle. it was crazy. i haven't been this
high for a really long time.

may 18

chocolate fondue at stella's house!! i LOVE chocolate.
my sis is sometimes disgusted with how much
chocolate i can eat. put chocolate in front of me and
i'll eat it. fry some cardboard and cover it with
chocolate and i'd probably eat it too. you'll know
when a restaurant serves really bad chocolate shakes
or cakes when i don't finish it (hardly never, but
when it's really bad...)

may 21

a night out with bib and my cousins. they are from my
father's side of the family. we had half a bottle of hennessy.
it was a bit too strong for me. haha. do any of us look alike??
they are children from two of my dad's sisters. it's so hard
to get together like this with everyone busy or abroad.