Happy birthday Lady scarlet aka Sarah,

Happy blessed birthday Sarah and have an awesome 20th!
Couldn't resist putting this up hahaha I quote: "This is a compulsory event. You cannot back out last minute unless someone DIES. we have postponed this for too long. the last time the three of us hung out, was to usher in the new fucking year 2011. its going to be 2012... thats so not cool. so seriously respond to this, and show the fuck up. Miss you girls ♥"

I haven't seen them both in the longest while, we started the year with a bang so let's end it with an awesome note too - looking forward to 2nd Dec with our Red Sangria and basket full of sinful waffle fries ♥

Time can take its toll on the best of us,

It's barely halfway through the day but my eyes are half closed, lip gloss eaten away.

So far I've taught my sister how to bus to school, refused a chocolate digestive by my classmate, and accidentally drew on my jean shorts with an uncapped ink pen (in a non-artistic sort of way)

Just used my last ounce of energy fixating on a cockroach figure which the shuttle bus driver used to hold up his sun shield, deciding if it was real or not (or if there was a need for panic)....and typing this.

My hair ends are frayed and there's sand in my H&M flats.

I could really use a cuppa coffee right now.

P.S. Feeling so much better right now with Arnott's Blueberry tarlets after printing my notes

Love without prejudice,

Silent but not empty.

The past two weeks have taught me aplenty, especially a noteworthy serendipity on board bus 95 on the way back home from Arts. It was 3pm, I avoided the window seat because of the intense midday sun. Left it empty and sat next to the aisle, secretly praying that the bus would be empty enough for some personal space. But alas, everyone started filling up the bus at the NUH stop. One of them was an intellectually disabled guy who staggered his way through, in hopes of getting a seat. What was most astonishing was that no one in front offered their seat, or removed their bags on the empty seat next to them; so I grudgingly moved into the midday sun spot, using my calendar as my shield against the sun glare. He smiled politely, but didn't utter a word of thanks.

Later, after he alighted at the Buona Vista train station stop, he knocked profusely on the window pane next to my seat and placed a foolscap against the glass with a "Thank you" scribbled clumsily over it whilst waving fervently. The woman who received him, presumably his caretaker, smiled and gave a nod of acknowledgment.

What a day brightener and a humbling incident! The mile in the smile truly lives up to its name, for it goes a long way. If only we could celebrate our differences amongst ourselves, and love without prejudice.

In a whole different context, past two Fridays have been really therapeutic - Be it sipping white wine in the stillness of the night by the beach, or in the embrace of the breeze by the poolside staring at festive light reflections on the surface of the water. Such moments which just take you away from the bustle of everyday life. Or in my words, the true luxury of life.

Photograph: Sunset taken at Pinnacle@Duxton

DIY: A cuppa dried flowers, Grande to go please

It's a cold dreary morning but nothing like half-done water colour sketches and The Seekers playing in the background to cheer me up. It's finally Friday, and my 'Deadline' wall has exponentially reduced in the past week ♥ More deadlines next week, but there's always a lull period before each battle right? 

Having attempted to hand press flowers once, which failed miserably, I decided to try them out with another batch of flowers heehee. Placed them under the sun for a few days by my window sill and viola, sun-dried flowers bringing sunshine to my room!

Flowers aside, I've been going to Starbucks@ University town rather often lately because of the long breaks between classes, it's pretty conducive to get work done there especially since it's relatively quiet. Plus, bagel with cream cheese and a hot cuppa caramel macchiato makes it all the more worth the trip. I've also always made it a point to request for a to-go because I can always take it away with me if I have last minute plans to rush off and also because the cup's pretty sturdy. So I use the Grande for my sun-dried flowers and lo and behold, my Lyra paint brushes standing proud in the Tall.

What can you say? A girl loves her flowers.

School has been pretty abusive these past few weeks, but the semester's drawing to an end and I'm so grateful for that. December holidays are beckoning once again, and then exchange plans may (hopefully) start to fall in place ☀ Shall scuttle off to organize my notes, ciao!

P.S. Probably catching The Thing later but I'm having second thoughts.

The power of pink,

Away with the rugged attires and weather-beaten (game) faces, 'twas good to see everyone decked out in their suits and formal dresses. A night of good food and good company in commemoration of the past year in office, and for those who fervently contributed to NUSSU. Pictures haphazardly arranged, and picture credits to many various sources, hence the different lighting conditions.

Bingo square sheets strewn all around the dinner table, our table won.........nothing.

The predecessors of PRU who did such an amazing job, it would be hard to fit into their shoes but we'll promise to uphold the reputation and hopefully go on to create future milestones for the committee. Thanks for all the effort and guidance, and hope you both like your personalized gifts!

Being our usual selves, even in semi formal wear.

My amazing bash committee!! Missing the days of rushing logistical requests, vetting publicity proposals, filming @ St. James, our dance/freeze mobs, sand modelling and what nots.

Not really going to explain the gist of this picture hahaha but it's something about Ming Yi for sure.

And of course, the highlight of the day was bagging the Best NUSSU Committee and Best Publicity for NUSSU Bash 2011, seriously very proud of my publicity team ♥ Delvin and his team has some high standards to meet up to, but we have faith in him that he'll bag the Best Event next year ^^

We have all definitely come a long way since we stepped up last year, and I'm extremely glad to have been able to work with such a passionate and enthusiastic bunch of people. Whom I gladly turn to in seeking refuge from academic work (and not to mention stay sane during the school terms). And of course, the second family that I've grown to love ♥♥♥  

Squeezing into a car and had many failed attempts to take silly picture with Hasan's iPad in the dark before post dinner chill out at Helipad @ Central rooftop. Pretty city lights from the top, couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. Especially the psychedelic water reflections of Clarke Quay on the Singapore River.

Here's to the new term in office!

DIY Birthday cake: nobody gets too much heaven no more,

It was my mum's birthday a whole month ago, so I decided to bake her favourite Blackforest cake before the 18th of September, Happy blessed birthday Mummy, we love you ♥ You could simply get a recipe online but I decided to improvise mine because of certain dietary preferences for low sugar levels and fresh ingredients in my family. Here are some tips for archival purposes as baking reflections, but you could just read along so you won't fall into these baking pitfalls on the way (even though I think they were pretty heelarious) Just my two cents' worth so take it with a pinch of salt ☀ 

1. On whipping cream

Chill your mixing bowl in the fridge for about 15 minutes before starting on the whipping cream because the humid Singapore weather disintegrates it pretty fast. Also, you might want to get an electronic mixer instead, because after adding confectionery sugar after the soft peaks, the stiff peaks appeared really fast. Mixing manually, I couldn't gauge properly so it got churned to butter (irreversible) and I had to start over. Oh, and the cream doesn't stay fluffy for 3-4 days in the fridge without stabilizer, as you can tell the cream on my cake became really flat :( You can try adding a few teaspoons of instant pudding mix, I heard it works like a charm!

2. On cutting halves

This was where I went deadly wrong because I was so anxious to half the cake whilst it was hot and the top section broke into two (I'm sure you can spy some cracks on certain pictures hee) So I suggest you wait for it to cool down before taking a sharp knife to cut at the cross section, if not you can always cover your flaws using a bunch of strawberry hearts like yours truly hahaha.

3. On chocolate shavings

The pre-packaged ones in the supermarket were way too expensive for my liking so I decided to make my own, it's really simple! Take a bar of chocolate (of the ideal colour gradient you desire) and using an apple peeler, just shave the sides and Viola! Chocolate shavings ✌ If you wanna do chocolate curls, just melt a bar of chocolate on a flat aluminum tray and use a knife or a metal spatula to scrape a thin strip after it cools.

4. On Black forest filling

The key idea here is adding loads of cornstarch and waiting for the water to slowly evaporate whilst on a slow fire so it reaches a good consistency. Try not to mash it up too much in the pot because it becomes very runny and hard to spread over the cake later....that happened to me and it kept oozing out from the sides.

5. On storing

Haha I kept mine in the fridge for about 5 days, it still tastes the same except that it became really dry and the whipped cream flattened immensely. Also, it was hard to find a box to store it at first because I worked on it whilst it rested on an overturned porcelain place and was too fragile to be shifted. Would love to get one of those pretty cake stands.

So much to update but till later, ciao!