bali!

went to bali with friends before going to shanghai and here are some picture highlights

Bubba Gump, a themed restuarant based on Forrest Gump movie. Very yummy, highly recommended!

ms vong doing her mountain song while enjoying coffee @ some plantation

Bali Mother Temple - the biggest temple in Bali, but not worth making the trip just to see this

we went for white water rafting. very fun with no danger factor. its a water theme ride in nature.

wan a pair of nike bali? had to buy these for the rafting

Kuta beach was littered with people who gathered there to watch the pretty sunset

patchwork blanket - balinese style

smouldering shanghai

was in shanghai for the past two weeks and it was hot hot hot there - temperatures went up to 40 degrees. at least that's what 'they' say. anyway, below are some pictures from the trip.

this was taken at some wholesale market that sells curtains, bedsheets, household stuffs, about 1 hr ride from puxi city. i bought a quilt cover there and its amazing - choose the fabric you like, they will sew and it will be ready within 10 minutes. it will probably take me an hour to do it.

the english translations are usually amusing. the picture below's just one of the many i have seen.

this is nanjing buxingjie - a vibrant pedestrian street filled with shops and people. somehow, buxingjies are very popluar all around in china (@ least i have been to a few already) and usually, there's a mini tram to ferry people up and down the long street for a small fee.

my favourite xiaolongbao, especially those filled soley with hairy crab yummies. this place's called JiaJia Tang Bao @ 62 Liyuan Road

these ppl make the best use of what's left. here's what i saw - the lift door opens, a construction works rolls out a cart and empties it on the floor. the people would then rush towards the rubbish and rummage through it for scrap metal or anything remotely valuable exchangeable for money and put into their own carts or boxes - first come first serve. its a sad sight, yet its amazing how ppl make full use of everything they have.

cleaners do not use modern machines, nor nice brooms to sweep the roadsides. they merely gather dried twigs into a bundle to become a broom. another money saving and environmentally friendly idea.

this place needs a revamp

Was at kallang today to support tyre's tennis game. While he was doing his warm up, i went over to KFC to have a drink. To my horror, the facade of the KFC was horrible - the paint was peeling and faded. It was in such stark contrast to clean and new MacDonalds opposite. Anyway, i had a craving for the cheesy fries so despite the unwelcoming entrance, i still chose KFC over MacDonalds.

And regretted - the interior was just as bad as the exterior. There was a horrible smell and the fittings were all old old old. Took a seat and the seats where dirt filled (at the gaps) and there were bits of chicken and crumbs littered on the seats. Also noticed that the staff merely wiped the crumbs off the table, and ignored the seats.

Yucks yucks yucks!

random thoughts on love

i read something someone wrote sometime back. here goes, not in the exact words, but the main idea holds:

you fell in love with him for who he is
yet you wan to change him after getting together
but then, would you still love him after he has changed
for he will be a different person

suitcase full of my shanghai buys

will post some of my shanghai trip pictures next time, but for now, here's the suitcase full of goodies which i brought back from shanghai!

forgotten crafts

spent the past 3 days packing my room. was in the mood to clean up and i came by these.

the first one was a box of paper cranes. i've forgotten why i did all these but i do remembered that i wanted to at least 1000 paper cranes because according to people - make 1000 cranes, make a wish and it will come true!

the second one was pieces of cross-stitches. before i discovered my interest in sewing, i had been doing cross-stitch instead and here are some of them. the thing about cross-stitch is that after finishing a piece, i could only do cushion covers or frame them up, both which i felt were pretty useless.. hahahahaha :D

surprise from tyre!

first thing i saw when i reached home (after a two week stay in shanghai) was this pretty huge box! its from tyre!! guess what's in it?

its my very own Bernina Activa 220 sewing machine! yay! had already ordered it more than a month ago and wanted to buy for it myself but tyre 'conspired' with the salesguy and went to buy/pay for it while i was in shanghai and had it delivered the day before i returned! :D now it sits prettily on my craft table! cant wait to use it!

i have given it a test run just now and it purls like a cat! finally! my very own bernina! :D

my own threads organiser & holder

I had been wanting to buy a threads holder similar to the one in the picture below but couldnt find it anywhere in Singapore and i couldnt bear to fork out US$20 just to buy one on ebay. hence, thought of doing a simple one myself.

Just need some nails, a wooden board (bought from ikea for only S$2) and a hammer!had wanted to paint the nails pink but that would take too long so here it - the end product!

flat tyre!

this is the second time our mini got a flat.

the first time was when i was driving to work on a rainy day and had to abruptly stop by the petro station to seek help in changing the tyre.

this time, it happened while brother was driving home. we tried our hands at changing tyres but the screws broke so we had to call for a tow truck in the end. brother stopped conveniently under a durian tree (Try to spot the fallen durian at the bottom center of the picture). ! :D

and this was the highlight of my first day unemployed!

the dreaded deodarant

deodarant is like a taboo word. to use deodarant = to have body odor.

but recently, ms vong put the use of it in a new light to it. i quote her "to use deodarant is a form of courtesy to others!" it may not read much, but the way she said it sounds good. :D

so, inspired by her form of courtesy, did a little research online on homemade deodarant and here's one of the commonly suggested formulation:

Combine a quarter cup baking soda, a quarter cup cornstarch, and 3 drops of tea tree oil . Mix thoroughly and viola, you have it ready to use! and according to reviews, it can be kept for months.

i'm going to buy the ingedients and make myself a pot of homemade deodarant!

from the vongs to tyre

the vongs got a gift for tyre!

who would have thought that it would be a mattress? they say that its not just any simple mattress but a Branded Seahorse mattress :D

only the vongs can think of such special presents! :D

the vongs, if you are reading this, thank you!!! he loves it! even my mummy wans one now too! can she?

one zip pouch

bought this fun zippered pouch last night. it aint the prettiest thing but it's sure fun to zip around with.

from an ordinary zipper...


to a zippered pouch. in just a zip! :D

memo boards

finally got around to doing these up for my friends. hope they like it. :D

the green one's a floral theme
the brown one's just cute
the pink one's matryoshka theme

tyre's toy

he couldnt help grinning and smiling the whole time he was driving last night. our conversation went like that:


y: guess what's it?
t: i dont know
y: dont care, just make a guess
t: a carton box of tennis balls
*yiwan gives incredulous look*
y: u really reallly really think its tennis balls?
t: yes
y: what if you tell lies?
t: then cut off #$&*%# (that part of his words have to be censored)



i am amazed! it doesnt take alot to keep him happy - just cans and cans of tennis balls would do!

nail it!

i've been thinking of getting these for the longest time and finally, i did! i am going to turn these nails into pretty lotus pink color (that what it says on the spray can) and nail it!

i love mail!

these came prettily packed by mail on friday! i got them from ebay! 6 pretty craft books! i love those from Cotton&Paint especially. too bad i cant get it from singapore :(

patchwork books

i would love to sew some of these projects but the only thing stopping me (as usual) is my bad sense of matching fabrics. rather than to face the dissapointment of crafting a horrendous piece of art, i prefer to just look and the pictures and feel happy! here are some of the pictures

the most interesting item at your workstation?

what's the most interesting item you have on your table?

for me its the fermented tea! left this jug of tea on my table for about 3 weeks already, and the surface's getting mouldy and still i refuse to get rid of it because i do not want to wash it. i am leaving it behind as my legacy to the successor :O

for mr M., it has to be this fengshui thingy. its actualy a bowl filled with sale and 6 gold $1 coins. he's been 'growing' it for almost 2 years. according to the fengshui master, the more the salt crystal accumulates around the bowl, the better it is for you.

for ms D, she has a shoe rack under her table for her shoes and a flower pot?

and for daph, her desk's perpetualy filled with paper, paper and paper everywhere!

half eaten

what does this look like? :D

a half eaten corn! what you thinking of ? :P

dejavue!

Just early this year during a CNY celebration at the O's house, we took a FE Family picture - the current FE staff and ex FE staff.

6 months down the road, the picture has turned into an FE Alumni picture! Where all the ex-FE staff gather together! The last 3 survivors have abandoned the ship!

moving on

i finally quit
needed a break

spend some time
indulging in my hobby
and looking for greener pastures

i am going to miss this geylang place
which i call home for the past good five years

countdown starts!

i drool...

i have been thinking of buying this for months and months and finally, i made up my mind! i am getting it ! heck the price! Bernina Activa 220 here i come! i finally ordered it today and by end of this month, i shd be a proud owner of my very own Bernina sewing machine (some say its the rolls royce of sewing machines!)

donations anyone to help offset the cost of the machine? a cool S$1,600!

an early celebration

went to DOZO for dinner early this week - its supposedly a fanciful japanese style place serving 7 course meal at river valley. its pretty expensive so in order to make it more worth while, we conjured up an excuse to celebrate dad & mom's wedding anniversary in advance :D its written 35 years but they cant exactly remember how many years it was.

the very thoughtful waiter prepared this freebie for us! and a free glass jug as present... this made the expensive dinner more worth the price :D

(btw, they serve the yummiest chocolate cake - the liquid chocolate was oozing out of the cake. yummy!)

let there be light!

tyre only has 2 lights in his room - the ceiling light and a small table lamp in yellow light. totally not conducive of studying nor reading. the yellow light makes him wanna sleep so rather than wait for him to buy one for himself, got one simple one from him! let there be bright light to keep him from sleeping and from worsening eyesight.

my first little blue box

from shoutmatey!!!!!! :D a pretty teardrop shaped pendant and necklace in a pretty blue box!!!!! :D cant bear to wear it yet.

the taipei trip

went travelling with my parents to taipei over the long weekend for a short trip. wanted to write more about it and do a few photo collages but then again, too lazy...plus i want to start working on the new quilt project, so here goes... some of my fave pictures!

Fisherman wharf @ Danshui. the last time i went with ms vong, we attempted to walk from the danshui mrt to this place (rated a must-see by many ppl). after mroe than half hour walk, we gave up! (btw, ms vong if you are reading this - wise choice we made cuz its over-rated la)





love this quaint japanese style eating place at ximending - a twist to the conveyor belt sushi system. instead of the boring conveyor belt, its disguised as a 'choo choo train'. cool!



view from Jiufen. Jiufen's this place that's like 1 hr away from Taipei city. take a train followed by taxi/bus. according to the locals, jiufen's not the key place to visit here. suppose to go upwards further to the gold mining place.



well, that's all. lazy to write already.

custom order

my largest order so far - for 7 pouches :D from haw actualli cuz she wanted to give it to her lovely jie-mei's and do some advertising for me at the same time. i rushed out some for her - aint the best just simple pouches but in very pretty fabric

think i wont be sewing any of these in the near future - i'll be embarking on a new quilt project!! dreading it cuz its going to be hard work, yet looking forward to the finished result!

my interview

today's the first time i went for a formal interview after about 7 years gap. the last time i went for an interview was for first job after graduation.

i think i failed terrbily at the interview with a panel of 4 which went like that:

P: so tell me about yourself?
Y: *dumbfounded look*huh? let me start with what i do at work ... blabber blabber

P: so tell me what it takes for you to join us?
Y: *stumped* (quietly thinking .. errr must have criteria to join? )

P: so tell me how you can contribute after joining?
Y: *stumped AGAIN*

i tried to be funny by throwing back the questions to them only to get it deflected back to me. So we went round and round question 2 and 3 asked in different forms and formats because i am not prepared to answer nor know how to give the model answer. had to go thru like 10 minutes of drilling, i think they got tired of me and so decided to let me go.

... all these not for a job... but for a club membership!!!

i totally was caught off guarded by the questions. well, hope they overlook the lack of substance in me and were impressed instead with my earnest attitude and bright smile.

cant wait to know if i passed with flying colors?!?! :P

new creations on onebowl.etsy

yay.. after a long dry spell, finally posted a couple of items i painstakingly made. yes, the popular clutch purse is back!! i had some pple asking me if i am making any more of those. had wanted to stop doing it but hey.. its back by popular demand ! :D suddenly had a spurt of inspiration to do it.

hope it flys off the shop fast! :D

goodbye

goodbye my old friend

we had fun together

through the long days at work

and the exciting travels from

moscow to ukraine to kazakshtan on the other side of the world

to sri lanka, malaysia, china and many others

you have been very dependable

never failing on me through the years

only falling sick once

now we have to part for good

i hope you be in good hands

i will always remember dependable you

PS: i havent quit yet. its just that they changed a new computer for me ... that's what i get after 4+ years of service! a new laptop! :D

shoutmate's big day!

shoutmate's married! have so much to write about... but too lazy to, so are some pictures

the happy couple !

the lovely couple, jie-meis and brudders! see how nicely (or uncomfortably) the brudders were dressed in suit and bow-tie. while we were dressed comfortably and sensibly for the weather in t-shirt and shorts.

having a private moment in their room