Homemade Pizza!

Mom really wanted a free evening. But the thing about making dinner for her is that she's a rather picky eater and has a strangely weak tummy. I, on the other hand, is less picky about food though I admit some things make me queasy. Anyhoo, we settled on pizza. We didn't like the traditional dough-y types so I went ahead and chose puff pastry for the base. I think it gives a lovely buttery scent that the dough types lack and the light crusty flavor is amazing! The best thing about a homemade pizza is that you can throw anything you want on it. Hey, its your pizza!



Basic Ingredients
--------------------
Puff pastry base - I used store-bought ones. It was 3 in a pack and we ended up eating 2 of them! If you like, go ahead and make 'em fresh. ;+)
Pasta sauce - There are some debates about using pure tomato paste but I find that too harsh & plain for our palate. I used a small bottle of my fav pasta sauce, mushroom & herb flavored. Note that pasta sauce can be watery so nuke it or boil it down if you find a need to.

Fun part - Stuff to go on top! I used...
Fresh mushrooms - white ones coz the swiss brown tend to give a distinct flavor that will take away much of the other flavors so I stuck to white.
Pineapple pieces - I chopped up canned rings. Go for fresh if you like!
Crab sticks - chopped
Cherry tomatoes - I prefer the small ones coz they're sweeter and bite-sized
Mozzarella cheese - I used a ready pack
Pepper - fresh ground!
(Feel free to add or subtract anything - chopped herbs, onions, capsicum, olives, pepperoni, salami.....)

Directions
--------------------
1) Lay greaseproof baking paper on a oven tin. If you noticed, I used foil, which is a bad mistake, since the pastry got stuck to it. We can fun scraping the bits off though. ;+)
2) Preheat oven to about 220degC, 428F
3) Chop uo your ingredients if you haven't already
4) Lay out a sheet of pastry on the baking paper. If you wish to have smaller serving sized pizzas, go ahead and cut up the pastry now. Its advisable to cut up the pastry only when its slightly thawed as it breaks easily when frozen.
5) Spread a decent layer of pasta sauce on the pastry. Go as close or far to the edge as you like. I left about 1/2 inch so the sides come up crispy.
6) Layer the mushrooms on the sauce, followed by the other chopped ingredients. Hold the cheese. Pepper or chopped herbs can come in here. Layer a little more sauce on the chopped ingredients.
7) Into the oven for about 10 minutes.
8) Take out the tray from oven and layer cheese on top. Go ahead and add more if you like.
9) Back into oven for another 10 minutes or so, or until pastry puffs up and browns at the side. Cheese has to be fully melted and slightly brown.

Enjoy your yummy homemade pizza! :D

Cookies, cream, chocolate & berries ice-cream

You gotta try this! Its easy, yet So Yum~!

Low-fat vanilla (i used cadbury's)
bunch of oreos smashed (i got DH to do the punching! Get your kids involved!)
bunch of frozen berries (i used sara lee's box of variety berries)
melted chocolate (i used haigh's & it was heavenly!)
strawberries halved

mix the oreos & vanilla ice-cream
line the bottom of the glass with melted chocolate
layer with frozen berries (they give a surprising burst at the end!)
add the ice-cream mix
add halved strawberries
freeze
&
enjoy! :D

Super easy Banana Nutella Muffins!

Banana Nutella Muffins! Boy the name's a mouthful but it was so unexpectedly yummy, it was gone in no time! Those slightly overripe bananas were literally calling out to me on saturday night. And I had to try out Sandra's recommendation of using nutella in muffins! Besides, I had bought those really cute ruffle muffin cups from Daiso earlier. ;+) Sunday's the best day for baking! yaay! Resipe below! You HAVE to make some. For real.

Ingredients for about 30 small muffins (sorry about the metric system!)
200g flour
150g butter (Golden Churn gold foil butter makes the most fragrant goodies!)
125g sugar
half a glass of milk
3 slightly overripe banana
2 tablespoon nutella
oven, muffin cases, muffin tin



Get out your ingredients. Pre-heat the oven at 190degC. We used the creaming method - 100g flour to 75g caster sugar, 75g butter. We doubled that proportion for about 30 small muffins. Note that if you're using sweet ingredients for later, eg banana, nutella, kinda stuff, its good to skip about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon (25g) of sugar or it'll get way too sweet.



If you have a electric mixer, use it. We're going old-school - creaming the butter & sugar with a wood spoon. Its pretty tiring, but kinda worth it since I can control the process. Room temperature butter does the best job. Using the wood spoon, roughly cut up the butter into manageable pieces then mix & beat til the mixture becomes smooth, white and rather fluffy.



Kinda like so, but I recommend beating it for a little longer as it'll curdle later if it wasn't well beaten at this point. Then add one egg to every 100/75/75 proportion. Beat the egg seperately and add it in a little by little while beating at the same time. If your mixture separates into individuals (curdle!), you'll need to increase the beating for the mixtures in order for the mixture to return to the creamy state. Add a little bit of milk thereafter.



Then add in your fun ingredients! We added about 3 lightly mashed bananas, 2 tablespoon of nutella (Mmmm!) and continued to beat til everything's nice and combined. Now, fold in the flour at the rate of about 2 tablespoons at a go. Don't beat at this point, fold means lightly mix in the flour til well combined each time. If the mixture gets a little dry, add in a little bit of milk. Eventually I did use quite a bit of milk, perhaps til about half a glass for the mixture to have a soft-dropping consistency from the spoon.



Get out the muffin cases & tin, spoon in about 2/3 full, pop in the pre-heated oven (190degC) for about 25mins or til the wood skewer (or fork) prick comes out clean.

Enjoy those yummy muffins before they're gone! :D

DH has left + Choc Muffins

Yeap, he's gone. Back to Sydney (Australia) that is. I decided to do a little random/update blog, plus the very chocolate muffin I baked couple of days ago for him, before he left. Its supremely chocolatey and I'd opted for the easy way out by purchasing Betty Crocker's cake mix. I know, I should've done it from scratch, but didn't have the time. I think it was a spur of the moment thing. "Let's have one of your cake-things for breakfast", he said. I thought plain muffins were a little well, plain. Besides, DH wouldn't like chomping on several muffins like that. Molten chocolate would make it more fun, I thought. Tough luck, Crocker's chocolate frosting was out. I searched my brain for liquid choco recipes. The stress made me buy 2 small bars of cadbury and a tub of very thick cream. Strangely though, it turned out ridiculousy yummy. We were licking our fingers like a bunch of pre-schoolers at breakfast. Just remember to do double-boiling and don't be shy to pile on the cream. ;+) (To Charlene, I apologise for not including the molten chocolate for your box of muffins! It was gone before I knew what happened. :P Just hope you enjoyed them somehow!)

So yes, I'm suddenly free of DH, but there's nothing to be proud of. I get this strange empty feeling all the time, like being naked in public. Not to mention the bed's supremely cold at night without someone around. I've even resorted to wearing my old Sydney University sweater. I do miss Sydney and the only solace is that I'll get to be there in about 2.5 months, after the papers.

All that's left now is the awful assignments, tests and exams. BUT, I'll get to make more stuff for florspace soon! OOOOooooohhh, so many ideas keep bursting into my brain!

Impromptu

We were too lazy & lethargic to get our asses out to dinner after a day of work and ridiculously sweltering sun. So I pulled out the pasta & bottle sauce. Turned out pretty good according to DH.

Quick tip, sauce may come from a bottle, but actually bothering heat it over a pan makes the difference! It gets yummier, trust me. Here's what I did.

Chop up 2 cloves of fresh garlic, fry til fragrant, add sauce slowly, stir in extra goodies like seafood, mushrooms, shredded chicken, cube veges, you get the idea, simmer, toss in loads of fresh gound pepper, bit of herbs (those in the bottle ain't fragrant after sitting in for so long), simmer over small fire til your pasta is al dente, serve quick!

If you're adding cheese, do it while the sauce is piping hot. It melts in and voila. Dinner. ;+)

ps: I'm loving the quality of Marks & Spencer pasta. And I merely bagged their choco biscuits before! Boy if only I can grocery shop there everyday, I'll be set.

How time flies!

Whew! Time is literally flying out my window here! The hot days are here again and I'm battling a bad throat(too much peanuts & chocolates!) and heat rash on my neck. I blame school. The stress level is rising, yet again. Sometimes I think its psychological but hell, it works on me. The local lecturers are hopelessly stuck to "memorizing & doing" instead of explaining. I wish I could study in Melbourne instead, at the main campus instead of doing it distance. They assure minimal difference but I feel it starkly already. Dang. Worst of all, less time to sew! My hands are itching badly to do something. My pieces are coming out waaaaaay too slowly than the ideas in my head. I think about new stuff all the time, sleeping, eating, bathing, dreaming, whenever, whereever! Its uncontrollable, ever since a long time ago, creating and building things in the air has been my pastime. ;+) Nonetheless, Woody Leaves (above) is up in my shop. Scratchy can't help posing with the leaves. I think he thinks the ferns are real. hee!



I saw this owl in the shop 2 weeks ago and couldn't help myself. Miss Fukurou(Owl) was pricey but really really adorable. Shakes her head at me, left to right whenever I try to buy something online. Tsk. Anyways, she's already inspired me to do toys & applique, which would come later (blame the school!), promise.



I doodled on CT's package since she mentioned she liked my owl doodle the last time. This doodle came before Miss Fukurou. Hmm....the similarities! (& unbelievable synchronicity!) Anyhoo, I always doodle on the bigger packages & FYI, its fun! I suppose people who receive them liked them too. I guess I'll continue til someone comes along and say, "dude, don't doodle no more, its crap." or something. :P



And then of course, I managed to do laundry last week. Um, I have absolutely no regards for the "don't show your laundry in public" thing. LOL Yeah, I wear a LOT of black in real life, black tees are my fashion staple. I think I'm happier in cyberspace. Real life here is mostly zombish like. Thats unless I'm bolted home & working in my dream factory! Whee!



Managed to make Mini Muffins for DH. Actually I used Betty Crocker's cookies package and I had those cute yellow cups lying around from last year so I added a tad more water and et voila, muffins! Because of the real choco pieces inside, they were throat worthy. Hey, thats where my sore throat came from! :+( Oh well, they were good while it lasted. We had a great time playing Burnout Revenge while downing these on Sunday. Perfect game for when you're stressed. Traffic checking & taking out competitors is priceless!



Try this. Take a large plastic bottle, cut it up and plant something. They look surprisingly good on the table. Its easy and environmentally sustainable. ;+)

DH is back

Yeah, its official. DH is back. Its weird coz we haven't seen each other for a while and things have to change coz he's mostly at my place. No more crazy late nights at the computer and of course a serious lack of time for my sexy sewing machine. I can say bye to lazing in front of the telly in the arvos as well. Mum reported that the shopping area is flooded with human traffic and it takes a good half an hour to navigate thru the crawd when it would usually take 5. I'm permanently afraid of town right now. In fact, there's a lot of inertia to go out, especially when public transport is required. I'm not spoilt, I swear. I do appreciate my dad's car loads. Its tough to muster enough courage to face the public crawd sometimes. I wonder if its just me.

Anyhoo, that was yesterday's dinner. I made soup but it was difficult to show without it looking weird. LOL DH says he misses fried rice loads. I shot him a funny look then my memories of awful sydney food came back. I hope he gets fatter here. *shhhh*



My dear assistant, mum helped with these. She's becoming tremendously good at making cubes now. I won't be surprised; her workmanship has been commended again and again thru the years! I'm super glad I have her help with florspace. The Sakura in pink was a custom order for another fabulous etsyer and Keroppi was snapped up by a dear customer just a couple of hours after it was listed! I do feel really happy, loved & humbled that so many of you guys love florspace! Hmmm.....I'm starting to miss Keroppi! I only had a piece of that gorgeous fabric and I've got only scraps left so its tough to let it go. LOL DH liked Keroppi too. But I'm sure the new ower would love it too! ;+)

Later guys.

Play catch-up, Diet Suicide, Going Blue

I played catch-up with 2 of my friends on Friday, had Sushi and a great time chatting away. Glad to see them doing fine and apparently, ahm~, they read my blog too! So hey Angela & Annie!, you guys always turn my bad days into good ones. Let's do dinner again next month!

Saturday, morning swim with mum again. 2 teenage guys were being gay in the pool, 5 kids in the swim class watched and played with delight. I tried my best to make my time worthwhile by swimming a couple more laps. But it was fun to watch what peeps do on Saturday mornings. :+) I came back and had a quiet hour with Craft Cafe + some knitting. Annie brought her knitting on Friday for some help. She was so modest about it but I'm so in love with the creamy color of her yarn on the wooden knit sticks. I can't help but wanna join the club. I rummage through my craft bags for those forgotten wooden needles and started reminiscing about my knitting days. Boy am I rusty! Annie, you're waaaay better than me now! I got a few rows so we'll see.



Gorgeous yet simple string of blue beads from Ana, Flickr FAA Parcel swap, Blue. Its funny coz I'm not usually a blue person but it seemed like a good idea then to join in. Then I received some fabulous goodies from Warm n Fuzzy & Ana, and those little blue things they sent me really got my inspiration growing! Blue might be the new pink for me....Can't believe I just said that! *gasp!*

DH would be so mad at me if he sees these. I lost a couple of pounds when I was in Sydney. He didn't liked me snacking so I quit choco & chips for 2 months. It was unbelieveable but it looks like quitting snacking can make you lose pounds. Then I came back here and started ravaging potato chips, Caramel Corn and Marks & Spencer's "extremely chocolately milk chocolate rounds". Not good. But how can a girl live without her chocolate? But I'm trying to be good and have Zaru Soba for lunches.

Thats my girl with her new shroom cap. I'm not sure if she likes it but it kinda looks cute on her anyways. ;+) It was just a random crochet thing and it turned out perfect on her head. Oh well.
I know some of you guys want some instructions for the Origami Tama. I'm a bit busy with family + school stuff but I promise I'll sit down soon to make one. :+)

Augusto is coming...

For lack of a better title for this week's update. Couple of days ago, I told DH "Augusto is coming..." after Supahfunk sent me a flickrmail telling me Augusto is asking to be adopted by me. He was bewildered. Eyes wide open, he asked me curiously, "Uh, who is Augusto?". I was hoping he would think that its my new Spanish boy toy. LOL Eventually after bouts of supressed laughter, I showed him who Augusto was. I could tell he heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. I however, still look forward to Augusto coming. I'll let you know.



I was at North Sydney Markets on Saturday. Thats me with too-shiny-hair, wearing the brown beret from nimblefingers. She makes one of the best berets around, to your specific color & size, even for my um, super large head. You don't want to miss her.
Anyways, I had to drag DH out coz he was wacked out by a series of academic stuff that render his brain mushy for the weekends. I was glad to be there. This quiant little market happens only once a month, and its a great place for unearthing the great stuff. I found this Paul Frank tartan gum boot for A$15, condition new with tags. SOLD.


Apart from a myraid of interesting stuff, they also have great food. DH bought this plate of mini Dutch pancakes called Proffiterjes, correct me if I'm wrong. Warm mini panckes bathed in maple syrup and dusted with icing sugar plus strawberries on top. What could be better for a Saturday morning breakkie? YUM city, population ME! ;+)




I'd also caught sight of this gorgeous dandelion at the market after breakfast. I love them because they are so pretty, eternally round yet fragile and short-lived. I don't see them much in Singapore yet I've always known them them thru fairy tales, when you blew the petals off and you get 13, it'll be the witching hour. Hmm....I didn't blow this one though.


We stopped for starbucks in the afternoon. Yum rocky road crunch slice with Venti skim latte. Its already showing as another layer of fat on my tum. Its gonna be bad! Winter's the perfect season for hiding fatness but come swimsuit season, it'll be so much to cry for. No more skimpy yellow polka dot bikinis! :+(


Last but not least, I came home to find my ipod radio wrapped in the muffler I made. Looks like its getting cold...

Plush for Pup & today...

I'm making Mini Zippereds for Plush For Pup's raffle! Those poor animals need our help. So PLEASE, go buy their raffle to win stuff! Raffle tickets are only $5 to PlushForPup@yahoo.com and you could win baskets full of swell goodies!


How to make a lunchbox from cd spindle. Random surfing brings out the best in life! I can't believe we missed this idea entirely. I love bagel sandwiches. But wait, are we supposed to dig a hole thru the inside stuff as well? Oh well. I still love this idea anyways.

I finally get my lazy ass onto updating the zakka section on my website. Its annoying how procrastination can really get the better of me. Though, I've been working non-stop and time is still somehow flying. Hm, maybe I'm just tired.

Stuff I really want, after sneaking into some stores today. - Flip Flap, the big one with the white pot. I've been wanting this for a long time but never got around to buying it and I figured a plant can't be worth paying that much for? We'll see. I also need a black satin cocktail dress, like those from the 1950s. Good for weddings, operas and concerts. Yes, I watch operas and classical concerts ever since high school. I'm kinda sick of wearing black pants and floaty tops. No dress off the racks seem to please me. They are either too small, too frilly, too complicated, to lousy.......God, I'm picky. I'm just short of visiting bridal salons for fear of pestering me about bridal packages. Do people in the states/UK/rest of the world get this problem? DH used to enjoy the attention and teases me. I do so much eye rolls, its funny how my eyes still stick around. I kinda like this one, but worried about the material & workmanship as usual. Sigh.

I'm in the process of making a really really cool Bag starter set with the Rillakuma (San X's Relax Bear) fabric I scored. Its a really decadent set so keep your eyes peeled!

Zakka updates

This pic was taken yesterday at 7am when I was, yes, still awake....well, before I was knocked out of course. Sunrises are rare for me.

I don't even know why I'm still here. Its 4.30 am in Singapore and I'm thoroughly a nightbird now. I've broken my own record of staying up all night working at the comp, packing orders and answering people's messages. To think I used to sleep at 10pm. And the worse thing is time seems to slip away like running water. I'm barely breathing, working non-stop, pictures, sewing, mailing, buying supplies, running around, packing....And yeah, my suitcase's still lying around with a tiny heap of things inside.

Shouldn't I start packing already?
What the hell. I like blogging. So here goes.


This bag - courtesy of Melissa who entertained my neuroses when I told here I'm besotted with it. She did a swap with me. It was actually made for her for the Handmade bag swap on swapbot. Actually I can't cable knit worth a damn. I can only do straight knits and crochet which I do for fun, punctuating my sewing so I don't burn out and well, burn everything. Anyhoo...this bag is as lovely as expected. Its insane, but I slept with it beside me when I received it yesterday. The yarn isn't scratchy, its actually pretty sturdy yet soft cotton. I love this style very much as well coz I'm a huge fan of clutches. I still can't forget the one Carrie took to Mr. Big's place and discovered he was leaving New York. That one was great. And now I have a fabulous clutch too...good for loads of stuff. Thanks Melissa.


Obnoxiously adorable mugs I couldn't help picking up. Is that why I hate shopping? My money keeps flying. These are mine!



More additions to my deco tape collection. Loads of cram cream and stuff. They are actually for sale. Big ones are $5, medium rolls in the second pic at $2.20 and the small ones at $1. Email me.

This is my new dish. - "We missed the Chicken Dance" I like dishes of late. Funny thing is I don't have 2 matching ones.

Yummy candy for people who buy stuff.

Restock! Yummy Strawberry purses. They're furry but the fur doesn't come off unless you yank. Its ultra adorable... Duck egg blue popcorn pot picked up at a sale. Cute acrylic strawberries ready for charm making.

I think I'll hit the hay.

Some stuff about me...

I got bored with posting and thought I'd do one that's totally illogical and pointless.
Wait, this list is prolly for me to reminise when my hair's all white and my teeth has fallen out.

Some stuff about me...

My shampoo is squid ink black. My hair was in weird colors through my teens coz school didn't allow us to do any weird stuff at all. Yeah, we were all against the law at some point or other. Now my hair's black, jet black and I intend to keep it that way. Isn't asian beauty coming back?

I work better at night (10-4am). I'm very very cranky in the morning and I refuse to take coffee. Coffee gives me an existence of about 4 hours and after that I am out. I used to take it only in the late afternoon or evening to get through the last hours of the day. Now I work at the comp at night so no need for coffee, the internet's as exciting as a rollercoaster.

I type better and faster than writing. I used to have penpals til I was grossed out by my own handwriting. I have a friend who had the same problem as me when we were in junior high. We were famous. So I now type. No penpals. Good writing, good fonts and easy erase. Best thing since sliced bread.

Grammar mistakes drives me nuts. I spend my waking hours scrounging for them. I swear any such mistakes made on my blog is totally unintentional and its due to lethargy. This place (Singapore) is a gold mine for them. I often tell sales people I refuse to buy their products because they can't articulate. Sue me.

I'm Sensory-Defensive. I get very upset when people unintentionally has sudden contact against my bare skin. All my neuro senses rushes to that area and I can't think of anything else for 5 minutes and I have to slap or scratch the area. And yes, it gets worse when I'm in Singapore. Its like being in India. I can't turn around without knocking into people. I need space.

I like lavender, lilacs, eucalyptus, sandalwood for smells. I don't do vanilla & sweet scents. I'm partial to fruity & woody notions. DH wears Chanel Allure, courtesy of me.

I'm not into kids and the usual family type stuff. I think I had my fill of it since young. And I can't deal with myself & my life, I refuse to bring someone else into this world to share my problem. My friend Aaron says, "Can't solve the problem, share it out". And I've seen waaaay too many parents who can't handle their kids. If, I ever have a kid, the kid will the center of my universe. No offence, but I think I can't handle a career, a family, a husband, parents and myself all in one lifetime. I'm a perfectionist and doing a half ass job on everything isn't me. Somehow I'm also not the marrying kind. I'm still single but DH is almost already DH so its like that for now.

I'm a visual and sensual person. I like lomo photography, art installations, craft, poetry. I visit museums & old places. I feel things, take it in and breathe it out in my own way. I like jazz for relaxation, classical sometimes & chillout for music coz they give me space to think a lot. Sometimes I think too much. Permanent radio station for here is Lush 99.5fm.

My imagination runs very wild. I don't watch anything remotely scary, unless I'm sure DH will be around 24/7, or at least at night. I can't handle things like showering alone after a scary movie. I can't be told things halfway coz I'd imagine the possibilities of the rest and settle on the worse case senario. I was notorious for mystery/supernatural essays in junior high. My teachers still talk about it. They tell me I have to stop when I get to high school so I did. But I still blame Agatha Christie.

I hate white flourescent lamps, bulbs, tubes. Neon ones too.

I like most colors as long as they fit the theme. My room is in black and white only. Somehow I dislike purple a lot and have no idea why.

I read magazines over lattes at cafes. American & Australian Vogue, Harp B (A&A), STYD (Aus), Cotton Friend, Cotton Time, Style (SG), Sometimes architecture magazines, Her World & Elle (SG) too.

I can't stay away from Blue Potato chips & ganache truffles. I like Prestat's handrolled ones. I also like really good mud cakes, krispy kreme, cupcakes & fresh brownies. I'm partial to milk chocos with nuts or fruits in it. I don't do much of dark and I hate white. No liquer chocs. I also like ice-cream from Haagen Daz's, Ben & Jerry's & Andersen's of Denmark. I have to finish the whole bag or tub when I open one. Its bad.

I love fresh raw salmon. I eat a ton of them when we visit the Fish Market in Sydney. Although I won't mind a fresh grilled on in olive oil or Japanese style, with skin and all. I adore a good Sashimi salad, a smoke salmon salad, greek salad with fresh goat's cheese, grilled chiken salad or a caesar's salad if I'm in a rush. I also like squid ink spaghetti with carbonara sauce.

I can cook. I love to use good chunk of beef skirt for a teriyaki & garlic pepper steak. I know its unconventional but its soft, totally juiced up & oh so yummy. I'm a medium rare fan. I paint the surface with thick teriyaki sauce then fry the outside on slightly lower-than-usual fry heat, then simmer it slightly with virgin olive, loads of fresh garlic mashed, fresh grined Tri-color peppercorns & chopped pasley. Try it. The flavor is a total explosion!
Of course I do other usual stir-fries, baked chicken in a myraid of flavors, Japanese dishes like onigiri, noodles & fried spam rice, recipe courtesy of my friend, TC. I bake as well, cakes, cookies, tarts, etc. The only thing I can't make is creme brulee & chocolate.

I'm allergic to tobacco & I can't drink much. Though, I'd love sips of Wolf Blass's Grey label red, or other slightly aged sauvignon. I seldom do whites, though I like dom perignon & vodka lime when I'm dragged out to clubs. Reason for why I don't club - tobacco. DH likes brandy & the grandad port. I much prefer green tea, wheatgrass & lemon or strawberry Pellegrino please.

My life is re-runs of Sex & The City, The Simpsons, House & a ton of other movies. I can't watch the programs here; they are Singlish loaded and wrecks my head. It was better in Sydney though I mostly grew up in American pronunciation. I read chick-lit now, had too much mystery & thrill in my earlier days. I do pick up things like Freakonomics & Affluenza by Oliver James.

I'm spoilt & hate generic wearables. I either try to get interesting designer pieces because they fit better & last or I make my own. I don't like T-shirts that say the designer name in big words on them. Though, I am forced to get basics from Bonds & Muji. I like quirky things & black shirts.

I'm allergic to mohair. I tried to put one on but after putting one arm into the sweater, I had to stop. My arm was red and horrid for a week after. I have to wear natural cottons, baby merino wool or cashmere. I don't do fur much. Its murder and its trouble coz they fall out. I want to shave my head because of the same reason.

I have to sleep on pure egyption cotton.

I choose bookshops & libraries over clothing stores for shopping. They are quieter, or at least people are forced to be quiet. New books and magazines get me excited. New clothes often smell funny. I do shop for my swaps at the usual cute places though. And I like Jason's Marketplace for groceries, Meidiya for Japanese ones & Liberty Market near my place for a quick in and out. Though, I can't visit the grocer's when I'm hungry. It gets disastrous.

I like vintage. I collect dresses from the past. I have 2 leather suitcases from Sydney's vintage shops filled with very old books and a very old leather hatbox from Glebe Markets which I had to fight someone for. I also have an American Tourister round hat case from a lady in the states which I absolutely adore. I like altered vintage jewellery and get them from talented etsyers. Naturally, I own bags and shoes from the past as well. I have a funny tendency to believe things were better in the past. I got over the funny smell from vintage things when I got a really pretty pink nightie from a store in Sydney some years back. It was my first vintage buy. I make it a point to visit markets & vintage stores in sydney when I get back there every year.

I miss my 29th floor apartment at Forum Tower in Sydney. DH still lives there, albeit at 11th. That apartment was the holy grail. We faced the north & the view was virtually unblocked for miles. We could see mountains and rainbows stopped in front of us. It was THE view, not a view. Reminiscing about having a drink on the balcony and soaking up the night skies really hurt.

I get upset when people tell me I'm cute. This translates as childish to me. Isn't it why I couldn't get the important jobs? They just won't believe I can do it if I look cute. But somehow it looks like there's no way in hell I can ever look sophisticated. Just doesn't happen.

I'm partial to french and japanese things coz IMO, they make the most effort at what they're doing, therefore yielding the best results. I learn from them as well.

I'm addicted to fabulous cottons and canvas fabrics from Japan and mangle linens from the west. I empty my pockets for them. Its insane.

Running around for my shop drives me nuts but I still love it. Somehow spending time on my shop really makes time run like hell. Its already April 07 but I don't feel it at all. I might need a marketing manager and secretary soon. Maybe a new studio and 2 seamstresses?

I dream of being an artist with solo shows in museums. I still want to own a massive white washed gallery in a prewar shophouse with a studio at the back. I'm partial to static and performance installations. Though, I won't mind Aleksandr Petrovsky's whole-floor thing in satc. Yum.

I'm also dying to do an installation with sound and touch as the theme.

Webpages I have to visit everynight. My shop, Flickr, Wikipedia, The Superficial, Google. Webpages I frequent. YouTube, Etsy, ebay, LOF, website, movie mistakes & a whole load of other crap.

**Edited 209589473298583 times because I have ADD and perfectionism.

Midnight snack and hedgehogs

Midnight snack is diet suicide. Blame DH for the tea from Sentosa and the yum-cookies from Joseph! I had a long day. Make that very long. I managed to rush-pack everything this morning and mailed them all. Then I rushed to school. Then begin the long lessons and dreary warnings of looming exams and stuff. I have trouble understanding the lecturers; they use Singlish. Yes, I'm still appalled. Its a professional exam for god's sake. Do they have to stoop so low? Never mind all that, I failed my exams, mainly because I have trouble with their explanations. Using a mix of Singlish, mandarin, dialects, malay and god-knows-what isn't doing me any good at all. I'm motivated by intelligence and wisdom, not exam-oriented bozos. I'm beginning to think this isn't a good idea at all. My CPA-clad cousin told me, the course is more for working people, in the industry who have had the experience and are looking to move up. Well, I've been working here but somehow it seems that everything's not working out coz the language is bad. Its indeed easy to just blame something but I really do need someone who knows what he's talking about, not just scoring the question and passing the papers. I hate that. Its an oxymoron.

So I ended up at Starbucks after the lesson, hoping to read the class notes myself to see if I could figure some things out for myself. No such luck. Even the notes are like strings of estranged information that doesn't link up. I remember telling myself, "you're in so much trouble". My mind started to wander furiously by itself like a hungry dog on a leash chasing sausages. I thought of box purses, coasters, aprons, tea mats. It was just running away! I had to jerk it back to my notes several times. The sun started to set and I was left in the mood of low lights and jazzy tunes. I gave up. couldn't fight it no more. I sipped my grande latte and flip thru Home & Decor and miraculously my mind stopped giving me headaches. I remembered experiencing the mind-wandering process during my school days but it was never as furious as this time. I was the most comfortable in English, Literature and Art classes. I scored like hell because my mind never wandered. In fact, all the wandering it did was to go deeper into the subject at that time. I don't know how long can I really hide this. I don't want to disappoint my parents by venturing into the unknown but I'm facing trouble on the straightroad. Crossing my fingers and hoping to pass my papers probably isn't enough. I need help motivating myself really bad.

On the other side, My newest tote + mini! My favourite little animal - the hedgehog surrounded by squirrels and mushrooms! Coupled with pink dot grosgrain ribbon and chocolate canvas, this makes one irresistible combination! Its pink gingham inside with a pocket! Mini comes with the same choco canvas behind and ivory inside. Cute pink satin ribbon tie on the zip! ;+)

Go here!

Surprises are so nice....

I was working hard at my machine today when the door came a-knocking. A package came with no return address. The smoke from the postman was annoying but a surprise package! I wreck my brains for recent purchases. None. And this one seems to be mailed locally. My trusy blade opened the box and I was so surprised and happy to find that its from Joseph! We were supposed to do a collaboration project which I sent him some fabrics for. The note on the very cute box of cookies said he was in Japan and couldn't work on it. You shouldn't have Joseph! Though I'm a huge fan of Japan-anything and with memories of the delectable cookies from Osaka-Universal Studios, I know this one's gonna be just as great! I love the cute tin box too! I was actually going to buy a vintage tin robot and seeing a cute print of it on the box just totally clicked! LOL I was delirious coz I'd always had the impression that anything this fab has to be bought myself and missing a trip myself to Japan this year is heart-breaking.
Anyways, its Yum City. Population: ME!

Yup, socks. From my fav Muji Store in my suburb. They were closing, though these socks weren't on sale. I realised it only after I grabbed them and skipped over to the counter. They were too cute and soft to miss. I think I had a long day. They seem to scream comfort to me at that time. I'm going to miss them. Now I'd have to make a longer trip to the city for Muji.

Beads and Button Matchbox fill swap on swapbot. I'm joining a ton of swap over there coz some of them are really meaningful to me. This one's too cute to miss. Its my first matchbox swap and its going to Ella. Hope she likes it. Loads of beads & buttons. Mostly pink, as usual!

Its been raining rather heavily these 2 days. I'm going to the PO tomorrow. Have to send DH's Hinamatsuri package too. Its a girl's day thing but I couldn't not send him those goodies I found from the supermarket. They were flown in for the event, pink and cute! I'm not taking a picture coz its a surprise. ;+) Off to read for now. Classes start tomorrow + more enquiries for other degree. I hate to even think about that one. Hope you guys are having a better time!

February Already!?

How time flies... DH will have to leave soon and I'll be reverting to singledom for the rest of the year. Hopefully I might actually manage to scrape enough to see him during winter break in June/July. Well, there are good and bad sides of it. I'll have more time for fabric-ing, designing, blog-bitching, photo-taking (DH got me Lomo Fisheye2 4 Christmas!), shopping, reading & general lounging. On the bad side, there's always the loneliness. I'm got used to having someone around while I sleep so somehow sleeping alone is something I can't quite get use to. Spending 4 years in Sydney together was one of the best moments in our lives. The freedom to do mundane yet fun things like grocery shopping & home chores somehow made us feel like adults. Coming back here where everything belongs to our parents somehow made us feel like kids again. I don't dread the occasional nagging but I fear living with the parents makes me lazy. I miss Sydney a lot. Things are prettier there. The chilly weather also makes everything look better. With the seeding heat & humidity, we don't enjoy anything anymore, however beautiful it is. Besides, there isn't a day gone by where I don't cringe at the awful Singlish used here. If there's one thing I dread, its my roots & the awful weather. I wanna run away from it all but I can't. Accepting it? Yes. Though, it doesn't mean accepting the awful language & behavior. Just yesterday when I was going to the tailor's with DH, there were several instances where I got plain leering stares from men. Not the decent shirt & tie types, the ones you'd see in the back alleys, wearing god-awful polo tees that makes me cringe everytime I think about, those that you'll not want to meet when you wear short skirts or a plunging neckline. Its not what you'd think. I wasn't even wearing anything short or revealing. I was wearing all black, tailored slacks with a loose cami top & cropped jacket. I have no idea why do people do plain stares here. I have never encountered this in Sydney. I think its plain rude to do that.

There, my 2 cents worth.

My stuff have been flying off the shelves and I thank everyone who has pitched in or thought of doing so to ensure I don't continue eating with lewds at the back alleys or having instant noodles with water at home. My Visa bill has currently shown its very ugly face so I'm going to have to lay low for a while. No extensive shopping. I wanna hide under the covers when I remember how much I've spent at 2 online fabric shops just last week. Those were simply too good to miss. Oh and the trips to Daiso.....*cringe* I swear not to go out after DH leaves on the 25th.

Anyways... I made something very special a couple of weeks ago and thought I'll list it sometime. Its from the Au Jardin fabric! I'm totally in love with the fabric coz its the softest & smoothest denim I've come across in my life! I made a ginormous market tote out of it!



I'm personally pretty proud of it! You can hurl loads of stuff in this when you visit the markets! To photograph this, I actually have a big lounge pillow stuffed in it with space on top top spare! Lovely garden silhouettes with lovely French sentiments at the bottom. How much better can it be? This time its a total inspiration from the fabric itself! I saw it and thought I have to make this. The handles are from the same lovely soft denim with speckles of dandelions intermittently printed on it. Soft yet strong red cotton twill inside with a lined zip pocket. I figured with a purse this bag, you're gonna need a place for your wallet & keys. The zip pocket itself is 8 inches across, almost like a pouch itself! I'll be putting it on etsy very soon. If you'll like to request for it earlier, just drop me a line.



Lady Daisy, one of the most popular girls in my shop is making 2 final appearances before permanently retired due to lack of fabric. I can't put a word to it but this fabric feels like your favourite bedshirt without the daggyness. Its pretty, vibrant yet soft without the awful gawdyness. I'm not a big flower fan, but I had a dress made out of this fabric 2 years ago and still love it. As usual, a pearl button adorns it.



Mushroom Mania! Its a small wristlet this time. I had just that tiny piece left & didn't know what to do with it to ensure it doesn't get wasted. It is afterall my favourite & its rare and coveted by anyone who laid eyes on it! I coupled it with the very lovely weaved oat milk thick denim, similar to the Mushroom Mania tote at my shop. Its the only one!



Its Hello Kitty again! Just a couple more before she'll be retired too! That very same lovely Sanrio fabric! Up on etsy soon.....



Last but not least, I made Onigiri for DH! Didn't realise it'll turn out to be so perfect! I'm not a good cook but DH said it was good so I guess its all's well end's well.....

Tune in soon for more utter crap about my life!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Everytime I hear that song (title), it reminds me of the hotel guy in that Home Alone movie. Funny and so heartwarming all at the same time. Christmas here isn't any fun. Its 32degC days and sweaty nights. Not exactly my idea of a white Christmas, but in the spirit of giving (presents) and expecting them, it might be a good holiday idea. Or maybe as a reward for being nice (69% of the time) in the year?

I'm usually indecently late for Christmas. This year, I swear on my own grave, it was going to be different. I've ordered my turkey, ham, pork ribs (?), complete with trimmings and even pineapples (This is what you get for Christmas in the Tropics) and even the log cake! I'm told I should just eat one slice. I begged that its the holidays but my mum won't listen. She's going to on a trip to the Dead Sea with dad so I'm left with DH in the house for Christmas. Oh, I'm also told not to burn the house down when I try to paint the town. :P Anyways, DH is in town for 3 months. He's on a Phd course & lecturing in Sydney and its the hols now. At least I'm not alone for Christmas. Wait...is that a good thing? Maybe I'm too used to being alone. Oh well.

Today DH put up the decorations while I tried (or pretended) to squeeze in more of what I'm suppose to squeeze into my already buldging head. Most people like to tell me I have a bigger head than usual. Well, duh. Thats what you get for studying too much. Anyways, DH had to play Christmas tunes while he danced & pranced about while decorating. It was more annoying than distracting. I never understood the stupidity of the UK system. We have courses all round the year, then its exams, followed by 1 week worth of break and the new course starts. If my exams end 13th dec this semester, would I have any Christmas left, I keep asking myself. Its utter crapola if you'd ask me. I can only sigh in disbelief while I try to memorise the Cash Flow Statements format and the list of never ending ratios. Who the hell cares about Creditors turnover days when its Christmas?! Hey, I already tried to be early this year. Last year, DH decorated 1 week before Christmas and we had a real crummy dinner at home. (read: Pasta with slices of turkey on top with $7 sparkling wine) We will have something good this year, I keep promising myself. The lights are up with the red theme ornaments and wooden zakka Christmas creatures around my black wrought iron bed. (I refrained from word-bashing!) I also have a tiny tree with the cute wooden creatures on it too. I put DH's sliver cufflinks beneath the tree. He hasn't asked what it is yet.

So, you already know how I can't keep my hands away from my sexy little white sewing machine? Yeah, I couldn't. Even under the watchful eyes of my mum, who threaten to break "us" up if I work on anything before my exams are over, I cheated. Hell, it felt good. It can only be described in Shakesphere,"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". He probably said that while he was having an affair and I can only nod enthusiastically in agreement.

I made my Christmas collection, up on etsy now. Only 2 sets of 3 minis, since I had some trouble finding fabric I actually like. I scour up tiny pieces and fight it off someone so you could have only the best, like I always intended. I have a strict policy not to offer anything to anyone if I don't already love it. Those 3 fabrics are fabulous together and they would be perfect for stocking stuffing and for peeps you don't know what else to get! Makes a good closure too, like if you're missing that something in your package.

Oh and, before I run off, I've finally started a shop with freewebs.com They are a fab bunch and I've gone premium with them too, which means less restrictions, no ads, more space and stuff. I'm so lousy with the DNS-type mumbo jumbo so please bear with me. If you're smarter and wish to critisize, please write me. But please promise you'd help.

Otherwise, SHOP @ florspace for fabulous handmade goodies and ultra adorable stuff from my shopping trips!

You know how much I love you guys... (apologies for the late update!)

Happy (late) Thanksgiving & early Christmas