Arent these fairytale dolls adorable? Even though these toys are pretty much useless (more for ornamental purposes since they are too small to hug and has no keyrings available for hanging), but I guess sometimes girls just need some of these useless stuff around :). A set of 4 costs $28 before shipping fees. While 1 doll costs $10.58 before shipping. What a stark contrast! Of course more worth it to buy the set right?

 

How many can you recognize? I see snow white, little mermaid, tinkelbell, red riding hood, alice in wonderland and rapunzel. The ones I like are just little mermaid, snow white and alice in wonderland! So cute right! Can I lug them all back, pretty please? 

Credits to: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon and http://gingermelondolls.blogspot.sg/ 

Tambuah Mas

This is a long dated post of a meal I had at Tambuah Mas with the cousin. We had this meal on nov 12 I think. No no, that cant be the attitude of a foodblogger wannabe. Hahahah... With the cousin, it is always hard to keep the calories low. Haha. Nonetheless, I always enjoy eating and exploring new eateries with her. 

  Complimentary belinjau crackers offered to us. I always enjoy eating these crispy crackers with a slight bitter after taste. It would be better if they have sambal chili as a cracker dip.

A look at the menu... not many selections to choose from, but as long as it has Tahu Telor ( mixture of fried bean curd and egg), it will suffice. I never fail to order this dish when I step into any Indonesian restaurant.

"Daging" stands for "meat." I learnt that in my basic malay class. Yay, somehow my limited malay knowledge becomes useful at times.

                                                              Drinks and desserts page.

                                       okay, this is what I am here for! Mission accomplished :)
The cousin and I ordered just this Tahu Telor dish, together with 2 plates of nasi kuning, schweppes and hot tea for me.

Nasi Kuning ($3), known simply as yellow rice or more correctly as "tumeric rice". Topped with a copious amount of fried shallots. I like the fragrance of tumeric and the shallots do wonders. However, the rice was a little too mushy and sticky for me. I like my rice to be more defined. Each grain of rice must be separated from the other. 

The magnificent Tahu Telor ($9). This is a concoction of eggs and beancurd, topped with thinly shredded cucumber and drizzled with cekap manis (black sweet sauce). I like how it is shaped like a tower or block, whatever you call it. For this price, I must say that the portion is huge! Not meant for two, probably 3 or 4 peeps would be better. During my first bite, all I can describe is that I feel it's sheer decadence and it's so sinfully good that I told myself I gotta come here again and again for this dish. However, during my second bite, this dish becomes less palatable. With further bites, it becomes too greasy for my liking and more complaints surfaced. Probably it's the theory of diminishing returns at work. Hahah... As only the top of this tower was drizzled with the sauce, the other areas tasted quite bland. Probably the sweet sauce is the key deciding factor to this dish's success. The other tahu telor that I had was at Pepes (at takashimaya) and I think that fared a whole lot better.

                        It looked so much like a pretty sight, but taste wise it's only mediocre.

It took us a while in order to get seats though. HOWEVER, the restaurant was nearly empty. Plus an alarm goes off when someone walks near the entrance. So, we attribute that to talkative waitresses who arent attentive. I would probably go back there again for other dishes. Must give them a second chance! This time though, other dishes probably.

Total damage done: $25.40 for 2 pax

Overall Ratings: 2.5/5
Tambuah Mas
290 Orchard Road
#B1-44
Singapore 238859
             


  

Yuan Xiao Festival

It's the fifteenth of the first month of lunar new year and this day is also known as the Yuan Xiao Festival. Have you had your share of tang yuan yet? I certainly did, ate one with red bean filling and another with peanut filling. Just came back from the temple after a 补运 session which literally means to improve your luck. The queuing up for a number starts at 9am today and I could not believe that some devotees turned up way earlier! At 6 plus! The turnout was really surprising as the whole temple is so so packed! We left our house at 9 and waited for an hour to get a number. we got number 237. Then we returned back at 2 pm to go through the ritual. My favourite part of the ritual is the part in which our shirts get "stamped ". It is believed that wearing the shirt will bless us with good luck and rid us of bad luck. Need to wear the shirt for 1 full day and only wash it after 3 days.  And I just learned that only the Taoists go through this ritual, the Buddhists dun! Initially I assumed both religions go through it because I expected the two religions to be very similar. I pretty much like my own religion even if it means more festives and rules to observe. Some of the more prominent rituals that we have to go through include 补运，拜太岁，过桥 (crossing of this small bridge). I am not sure of the exact dates though as mama always keep us informed of them. Hope the younger generation can sustain these religious beliefs. It will be sad if no one follows them in the future. I shall try my best to make little notes and jot down these important dates.

Room Clearing In Progress

Probably the title doesnt sound so appropriate, since I do not have my own room. It refers to our common room, otherwise known as the study room in which we put mainly books and personal barang barang. My sisters' wardrobes are in there, luckily mine's not. Mine is located in my parents' room and it's more spacious and airy. As the windows in the study room are perpetually closed, air circulation is poor and the room is stuffy and dusty. Thus, when I am clearing this room, I need to put on a mask, otherwise my poor nose gotta suffer again.

Here are some surprised finds during my cleaning session:

 I didnt know I have so many existing notebooks! All of them are new, some are even wrapped in packaging. Guess which one is my favourite of all? It's the one on the extreme right, the pugilistic one. I bought it for $1.50 from Shenzhen during my exchange trip.
 

  My existing perfume collection. From left (back row): Victoria Secrets' Pink, two unknown bottles Sister got for me during her trip to USA, Salvatore Ferragamo's Incanto Shine, Lacoste's Touch of Pink. From left (front row): Salvatore Ferragamo's Incanto Bliss, Salvatore Ferragamo's Incanto Shine again, Victoria Secrets' Plum mist, Moschino's Hippy Fizz. Front row of two dolls: Gwen Stefani's Music and Gwen Stefani's Snow Bunnies Collection Love. Arent these dolls cute? I am going to keep them when I am done with them. Actually I am only using 2 at the moment, Incanto Shine and Gwen Stefani's Love. Note to all: Please DO NOT get me perfumes for any occasion, unless you are sure it's the scent I fancy or I ask you to get it for me. After I am done with all these perfumes, I am going to lay my hands on Moschino's Funny. I have been wanting to get it for years! Told my fren about it and she got me Moschino's Hippy Fizz because she told me Funny's a pretty old scent and the one she got was the latest. Eh , turns out that I dun quite like Hippy Fizz because i am not a fan of floral scents. I didnt like Bliss either.. because of its after smell. Very strong and overpowering. My kind of scent is the fruity or sweet smelling kind. Nothing too strong though.    

I must admit that I fell in love with the bottle first, before I fell in love with the scent. But well, it's all the same! Still means falling in love. I am going to keep this bottle when it's finished. So cute right! I am a ribbon lover, or as my mom always pronounces "leh-bin" lover. Most of my shoes have the leh-bin as design. Haha. It always makes me laugh so hard when I hear her pronounce that.       

And you arent going to believe what I found! Yes, I found my DIARY!Many many exclamation marks!!!!! I didnt know I had a diary with me! I thought the last one I had was during my secondary school days and I had it thrown away cuz I couldnt stand how childish my writing was. Last time most of the entries were about complaining school work, friends and all the nonsense boy girl relationships. So when I found this, I was both shocked and happy. Initially, I thought this is just another of my notebooks and I almost wanted to put it together with the rest. Until I looked at the contents to realise that this is my diary! No, this is not the one from Secondary School. This is the new one from Junior College onwards.     

This is the exterior of my diary. Interesting design right? It was a birthday gift from my Nepal penpal, Ayut, who sent it to me all the way from USA, where he was studying his degree.

The interior of the diary. It is made of recycled paper. My penpal has nice cursive handwriting right? Eh, but sometimes I find it hard to make out the words cuz he wrote in pencil.

Okay, you are most probably going to laugh,  but there is only one entry in my diary and it was dedicated to my mom, or mama, as I personally address her. Here's the first page of the entry which I decide to share:

Did not post the full entry cuz it is too much of a grandmother story. Plus the gist is all in the first page. My handwriting is totally disgusting. The chinese characters look even much worse! Haha. To think that I represented my primary school for penmenship competition before (without winning prize of course haha). It was written in year 2008 and I think my handwriting has vastly improved over the years. Although my family has an open system, we never wear our heart on our sleeves. Thus, we wouldnt tell each other we love and appreciate each other. It's strange, but I can do that to others, just not to family. So this is the only way in which I express my love. And probably you should know by now, I love to express myself with writing. When I told my ma ma about her being the topic of my first diary entry, she was elated! Haha. Her thick skinned reply was : 我几时有对你们不好? (When did I ever treat you guys badly?) True enough, but when her nagging is incessant, it is pretty torturous to us, to our poor ears. Anyway, I left my second entry, penning down my thoughts, emotions plus my messed up life at the moment. I am not sure which day I will go back to this diary again to realise that it is A DIARY. It is the feelings associated with a surprise find that makes reading past diary entries enjoyable. 

My cupboard. Neat right? Oh darn! Should haf captured the Before picture for comparison purposes. Merely did the rearranging of stuffs instead of dumping stuff. Stuff I threw: Photo frames, letters, flowers, erasers, sticker album, expired make-up, old earrings. Can you spot the humpty dumpties? There are two of them, the young and the old one. I love them :) Got it from Macdonald's Kids' Meal. Alright, I hope I can keep my stuff in this state for a longer time! It's hard to have to rummage through  my belongings to find something I need.     
   

Rhythm 0, 1974

Recently, I have just read an interesting article online and I wish to share it with all readers.

This article is about Marina Abramović, an artist, who uses her body primarily for art expressions. Some of her performances are mild, while others are dangerous. One of her more interesting works include Rhythm 0, 1974, which is also my favourite.

In this act, Marina stayed immobile for 6 hours and invited members of the public to interact with her. She would stay unresponsive no matter what was done to her. Sounds okay to you? Wait till you hear the full story. There was a table around her, in which 72 objects laid. These objects included a whip, feather boa, rose with thorns, a gun and a single bullet.

Initially, the public was almost cautious and restrictive with their actions, probably just talking to her and tickling her with the feather boa. However, as the hours lapsed and they noticed that she remained impassive to their actions, the nature of these acts grew more violent and intense. To quote Marina : “What I learned was that... if you leave it up to the audience, they can kill you. I felt really violated: they cut up my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away. It created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I stood up and started walking toward the audience. Everyone ran away, to escape an actual confrontation.”

 I think the above picture depicts how she looked like at the end of the performance. Notice that words were written in marker on her stomach.
 
Wow, sounds unbelievable at how aggressive humans can be? Where's all the love? When given authority, human beings react differently. Love is put aside. Sensibility is gone. Logic is chucked some where. Humans become blinded by the utmost power they have! Wait a minute, doesnt this remind me of Stanley Milgram's study on Obedience? Or perhaps more of Zimbardo's prison study. Eh I forgot Zimbardo's first name.. hahaha. I think I learnt that in my HP101 and HP203 classes. I remembered watching the videos and liking it very much because it amazed me to know how cruel humans can be in different situations. Haha, I dun totally forget what I learnt. Just bits and pieces of Psychology information hidden in my head. I can name a few stuff or terms, but dun ask me to explain in detail! And even if I do remember some stuff, sometimes I cant name them, kind of tip of the tongue phenomenon. I really really love psychology :) minus the stats. I hate statistics, no matter how hard I try to understand them, it's just too hard to absorb. Anyway, I must say she is really daring to go to such extent in order to prove something... I am glad she was not sexually violated. Kudos to her bravery and attitude. But please dun risk your life for the arts!

They ought to replicate this experiment in Singapore... not with the guns and bullets of course. I would be curious to know what the results are... Even if it was me, I cannot be certain that I will treat her humanely. But most probably i wont cuz I am helpful and kind hearted in nature! But then again, perhaps the curiosity to explore her limits and boundaries triumphed the need for humanity. It's scary to think of it. Shudders*         

Photos courtesy of : http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/art/picture-galleries/2010/march/22/documenting-the-performance-art-of-marina-abramovi-in-pictures/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramovi%C4%87
andrewfishman.tumblr.com    

Chinese New Year Continued

Apologies to all because the posts arent uploaded in a chronological order. So let's go back to Chinese New Year again!

Day 7 of Chinese New Year. It's also known as Ren Ri (人日). This is the day in which humans were created by the goddess Nu Wa, as believed. It also means the time to eat Yusheng and the Seven-vegetable soup. My mom prepared stir fried seven vegetables instead of cooking them in soup.

This is the $18.80 Yusheng that we got from the coffee shop. Notice that the chinese love the number "8 " because it is an auspicious number signifying "huat" (prosper) in chinese. 

Do you know that you have to utter auspicious words even when pouring the ingredients one by one? I didnt know! Until my sis told me that... I always thought we do that only when tossing the Yusheng. This Yusheng isnt that tasty, a tad too dry. The freshly made one from my aunt tasted way better because the cucumber shreds were really juicy!

Day 8 of Chinese New Year. It's Pen Cai day for the House of Toks. We decided to order our first Pen Cai from the coffee shop. It cost $150 because it is a pot of delicacies.

This pot consists of fish maw, prawns, roast pork, abalones, brocoli, mushrooms, oysters and chicken. I only ate chicken and 1 oyster. It's my virgin experience eating this so called treasure pot and I dun really like it. The sauce isnt nice. I dun eat much of the ingredients. Allergic to prawns, dislike pork and fish maw has this oil smell. Haha... so I wouldnt eat this again. Notice the tartan table cloth? I chose it! Because tartan is my favourite :) Tired of all the past floral designs that Mom always buys. It's time for a modern sophisticated look.   
This marks the end of all my entries for Chinese New Year. Wait... I thought I used to say Lunar New Year. Although everybody uses the acronym CNY, Lunar New Year is the more exact term. Weird to use LNY, so I toggle between the two... Haha.

Closure

As of last night, I have finally come to terms with it. It doesn't make sense to hang on when the other has moved on. It is still a pity to me, nonetheless. I hope this means the end of teary sleepless nights. It is certainly true that the breaker hurt as much as the breakee, or probably more. I used to complain about getting few keepsakes from him. So far I have only three with me... if it was in e past, i would haf plenty.. one for each monthsary, anniversary and important occasions such as birthdays, xmas and valentines'. I love cards, notes, postcards. I can even make do with post its. As long as it is an expression of love, that will suffice. I like to mentally revisit these events each time i read what i was given because that meant fond memories and it brings back the happy emotions associated with that event. Well, it's probably good that i have few keepsakes for this one because that meant less time to brood over the past. No more sad posts after this! I hope.

Zoo Zoo Zoo

Day 3 of Chinese New Year. Off to the zoo! The last time I went there was 4 years ago during which I acted as a buddy to an autistic kid. It was no easy feat though... I learnt that I cant give them sweets or chocolates as that would make the kids energetic/hyperactive and they would run about wildly. Had a good chase of my kid back then! Haha... I still remember giving him stickers at the end of the day. I love to visit the zoo even though some animal activists may say that it is cruel since the animals are kept captive. To me, at least their living conditions are good and they arent ill-treated. Anyway, we didnt get to see many animals because it rained halfway! Didnt see elephants, penguins, polar bears, flamingos as well. The most important thing is I didnt get to see Kaikai and Jiajia cuz they fell sick! What a wasted trip. Didnt get to ride in the horse carriage (I wanna take my wedding photos in this! Haha...), the bumper boat too! Sang "Rain rain go away", danced the "sun dance" but to no avail. The rain was cruel to us! What is the "sun dance"? Actually we dunt know! Haha... but my version is just to raise both hands above head, wave wildly and hop about on your legs! Luckily the tickets were free, so I wouldnt feel so bad. Haha. Here are the photos taken during the zoo trip.  

                                          My super cute backpack! Getting ready to set off!

                               Look like a small kid in here... I miss schooling days.

 Crocodile lurking in the murky waters. Lurk and murk. Rhymes! I love word play, dun you?

                            Spotted this cute caucasian girl posing next to the fake weasels.

 

                                                                     The white tiger.

                                                                              Sea turtle.

                                               Hippopotamus! This animal isnt very clean...

                                   Appearing on the surface to take a breather.

                     Bumper boat ride. We wanted to take this but it rained soon after....

                                     Year of the Snake, so definitely must see the snakes!

                                        Not a huge fan of reptiles. They look too cold to me.

                                                          I love kangaroos! Marsupials. 

                                        Tram ride. Pay 5 bucks and you get unlimited rides.

                                Toilet. I love the sink. And the toilets are clean, surprisingly!

 

                                                   Aunt, mom and sisters enjoying the walk.

                                             The three of us, with aitee being the camera man.

                                 Waiting for the animal show to start. It's the splash show!

                                                                 Aunt,  mom and sis. 

                                                                         Aunt and I.

                                                                       Yanfen and I.

                   The sea lion named Colours. A pity that the show only featured this sea lion.

 If you are tired, you can rent this for 5 bucks each! This elder brother was pulling his younger bro. Brotherly love, so cute :)

                           The orangutans having their breakfast. I miss Ah Meng already.

                                    Tortoise shells are so tough that you can literally sit on them!

          Now I know where the expression to "shed crocodile tears" come from. Interesting!

                                   They have nice flowers in there too. I love flowers :):):)

Young kids feeding the goats, 5 bucks per person for a bucket filled with carrots and long beans.

                            

                                       Do you know this is a frog? It looks just like a leaf!

                                                             Frog camouflaging in process.

                                                      Some more flowers. Blue orchids!

 Do you know what is my favourite animal? It is the giraffe! I like it because of its super long necks. Plus, the giraffe cant make noise. It cant scream or talk.

                                                       Lion taking shelter from the rain.

             I saw one zebra shivering in the rain. Poor thing. It has to bear the cold weather.

 These monkeys' bottoms turn very red when they want to mate. Ooo la la.... 

                                                                Snake near the entrance.

                                                                    Soft toys for sale.

               This orangutan plush toy is selling at an exorbitant price. $500 Madness!

Growl! Cats on the prowl. Growl and prowl. Word play again! Haha... lame.

Will definitely go back to the zoo again because this time around it was an unsatisfactory experience. Probably wait till the river safari opens before I head back there another time.