A week in a blink;

Another week has gone by, and it’s scarier knowing that another seven days are taken off my countdown chart to the first paper for this term. Three papers to take, and one ECA to complete; I just can’t wait for June to arrive! Not to mention how stupid the topic is for the ECA – a three to five minute video on end-of-life care in Singapore. And the lecturer had actually suggested us to interview her mom, who’s struck with a terminal illness. Gees, seriously?!

SATURDAY
That aside, I am glad that I managed to squeeze in some leisure time amidst the crazy weekend of mugging, doing up the outline for the ECA, and planning the study schedule. My aunt from Malaysia is in town to visit us and will be heading back to KL tomorrow, so Mommy and I brought her out on Saturday to have dinner together simple food-fare at Jurong Point’s Kopitiam.

SUNDAY
I headed out to capture some shots for my assignment. First stop was Bras Basah, and we jumped onto the opportunity to tour around National Museum of Singapore since full-time students and regulars get to enjoy free entry/S$5 (special rate) for admission fees.

BOOMZ clouds taken outside the museum;

A couple of exhibitions and galleries were opened when we visited, and I found the photography gallery particularly interesting. Perhaps ‘cos it showcased the history of Singapore from various perspectives of the key people, such as Sir Stamford Raffles and the performers from Great World Amusement Park. A pity I left my SD card at home so, I could only make do with my iPhone to snap some photos from the museum tour. That, I shall leave it to next entry.

Another place that we went to, Tiong Bahru Market; this place serves really delish hawker fare. Ordered Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chwee Kueh, Beef Soup, Oyster Omelette, and Sugar Cane drink to top it off. My fave dish has got to be the Chwee Kueh  from Jian Bo Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh (#02-05)!

Tiong Bahru Food Market & Hawker Centre
(Check out ladyironchef’s post for more food recommendations!)
Address: 30 Seng Poh road
All these for less than S$15, daebak!

MONDAY
After a somewhat long Monday, the whole family brought my aunt out for dinner with some hawker foodfare lovin’. Our initial stop was Redhill Market & Food Centre, but too bad the tzi char store wasn’t opened for business so we decided on heading to Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre instead.

We ordered BBQ Sambal Stingray, Sotong, Kang Kang from BBQ Seafood, and Winter Melon with Spare Ribs soup from Yi Ping Tung. The latter serves really good soup, and the unique way of cooking it charcoal-style allows all the ingredients to be well-broiled. Best of all, the price is reasonable at S$4 per claypot. Yay!

BBQ Seafood
(Check out InSing’s post for more information)
Address: Yung Sheng Road, #03-178, Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

Yi Ping Tung Charcoal Claypot Soup
(Check out InSing’s post for more information)
Address: Yung Sheng Road, #03-157, Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

After the dinner, we brought her to Marina Bay Sands to take in the night-view of Singapore.

Chanced upon the window display of Louis Vuitton, and snapped a photo of it – amazed by the vibrant colours. But I thought the colours used for window display were a big contrast to the pastel colours used in their SS12 campaign.

LABOUR DAY
The journey went like this – Jurong Point, Jurong East, JCube, Redhill, IKEA, Changi, and Old Airport Road Food Centre. And I finally got to try the Lao Ban Soya Beancurd!! Bought a few back for mommy and sister, and they love it too. Mommy said that there’s a tinge of black sugar taste in it. The queue wasn’t that bad when I went at 8+pm, less than 30 minutes I’d say. At S$1.50 per bowl, it’s much pricier than the usual soya beancurd in the market but I think it’s worth the price. HAHA!

Lao Ban Soya Beancurd (Old Airport Road)
Address: 51 Old Airport Road, #01-127 Old Airport Road Food Centre

Wednesday
Alas! Mid-week was finally here, and it’s another day with bad headache etc. Went to the temple to pray that evening, and had a good talk with my god-uncle. Let’s just see how things go!

Simple foodfare // home-cooked food is love! Mommy never fails to let us come home in comfort and bask in love from her. LOL, so much for cheesy lines, but I really learnt not to take such details for granted after working. It’s not like I get to eat home-cooked food everyday

OTD // Crochet top with TheTinselRack Floral Blossoms Paperbag Skirt in Violet Peonies, and my trusty Longchamp bag

xx

Sooooo many movies that I wanna catch, but I think gotta wait till my assignment and exams are over – the highly raved Avengers and Battleship. Boos*

xx
Review on “The Lucky One” movie

Details:
Movie title: “The Lucky One“
1hr 41min – Romance, Drama
Director: Scott Hicks
Writers: Will Fetters (screenplay), Nicholas Sparks (novel)
Stars: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner

Synopsis (credits here):
A Marine travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.

Perhaps I held too high hopes for this movie, so I was tad disappointed after watching it. Other than the scenes with the hot bod of Zac Efron, the rest of the story plot lacklustre and predictable. I felt the emotions shown during the scene where Taylor reminisced about her brother was more real than the chemistry between her and Zac. Nonetheless, it’s a nice movie to catch if you don’t want to fight with the crowd this weekend over tickets to the Avengers movie.

Rating:

.5 out of 5 popcorns

xx

QOTD// daily mantra; thanks for the love received.

xx

This is like, one of my longest posts ever; blogged this over the week and finally managed to publish it today. Gotta find time this weekend to do a good run and finish the rest of my mugging and video assignment \m/ FIGHTING!

xx

TGIF peeps! Looking forward to tonight

xoxo, Noi

Home-cooked food at its best;

They always have this saying, “Nothing beats home-cooked food“. I can totally relate to this statement even home-cooked (Curry) Maggie Mee does wonders at times! And to add on, I think I’m one of the lucky few whose mother is a stay-at-home housewife, forever thankful for that. Mommy often laments that her ‘job’ is one of the toughest in this world, ‘cos 1) she has no off day, 2) she’s not paid (other than the monthly allowances from us, LOL!), 3) she has to take care of three big babies – daddy, sister, and myself. How I wish I could whip up better dishes for her to eat, but she always brushes the idea off -___- for fear of her own safety, or rather her stomach’s safety. LOL!

It may be the simplest food fare, nothing fancy like gastronomy arts. Nonetheless, coming home to warmed-up soup or home-cooked dishes is one of my favourite things in this world :’) Thank you mommy!

xx

Thanks to bratty sister who recently acquired steel teeth mommy’s been cooking // Sweet Potato Porridge //.
It’s yummy yet fuss-free!

xx

Lotus Root Soup // Udon with homemade broth // Kimchi to pair with our udon

xx

Braised pork // Stir fry cauliflower // Assortment of Yong Tau Foo

xx

Stir fry roasted pork with garlic bits // Egg soup // Stir fry beans

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Simple stir fry egg // Crispy luncheon meat // stir fry cai xim

xx

Simple photo-log of home-cooked food by mommy dearest, it also serves as a reminder that I should be thankful and more than contented to see mommy’s health recovering. This brings me to an article that I would like to share; I took this off Facebook, it’s an article by Maryam Mokhtar (from Sunday Times, Think Section, Page 45), “Freedom can wait, I’m staying put for Dad”. One liner that struck the chord in my heart-strings is – ‘…with freedom comes a duty I owe my old man who gave up his own freedom decades ago to raise three daughters”, mommy gave up her youth, her passion as a seamstress to stay at home and look after us since we stepped into this world.

(Click on image to view text)

xx

Stan’s words,
“Never ever take it for granted that our loved ones will stay by our side for as long as we want to, it’s ironic that we only notice of their missing presence then we’ll realise how much we’ve neglected them.”

Time to let the emo thoughts come to a halt, back to essay writing.

xoxo, Noi

Movie quotes – “The Vow”;

Did a simple tumblr-like image on a quote from one of the latest movies in town, “The Vow“; the movie that most girls have been waiting to catch, either for Channing Tatum or for the love story genre. Thought that this quote from Paige’s mom about her husband’s affair is quite meaningful, so there I went to Google for it again.

xx

Dear gastric, please be good ‘cos I have a dinner date with my dear peeps later on.
G’night!

xoxo, Noi.

Love,

Love

• doesn’t judge.
• has no boundaries.
• is selfless.
• means equality.

Perhaps I’ve learnt to embrace Love with no boundaries since my teenage days due to a few gay friends that I have befriended and became best friends with… Hence, I came to be aware that it’s never easy to be in their shoes in our society. Having doubts about your own feelings towards the same gender, when the so-called norm says that it’s wrong to do so. Who are they to judge? How about love across continents, across cultures, across races, across religions, or across ages? Maybe we have been brought up with the knowledge that love can only exist between people of the same religion/race/culture and of different gender, hence the perspective of a normal relationship remains that way in our mindset.

I dare not say that I could understand how LGBT lives in our society, but at least I’m taking the first step to accepting them. Accepting the fact that they are humans too, with feelings and with hope in finding their ‘true love’. Reading posts from Peggy’s blog about her relationship with her girlfriend, and coming out (despite being in relationships with men before), it further strengthens my belief that it doesn’t mean ‘straight’ relationships are happier than ‘gay’ relationships. Straight or gay or bi-sexuals… everyone has a chance to love, everyone has the right to love. So long as the two persons in the relationship are happy, does it really matter?

If you’re struggling to come out to face the world (that may be against you, at the moment), don’t give up and don’t forget =) you aren’t alone.

p.s. I don’t know what came over me to churn out this block of words, maybe it’s ‘cos I am getting annoyed at the society’s disrespect and bullying of gay people. And it definitely saddens me more to say how the plight of gay people overseas have driven a couple of my gay friends to doubt themselves at times. I have to say that I respect everyone’s opinions towards LGBT relationships, so I hope you’ll respect mine too.

p.p.s. a close straight guy friend once told me, “Do you know that not everyone is straight? There’s a slight gay tendency in every single one of us.” How true? For you to know I guess

p.p.p.s. I had qualms about publishing this post and making it public, but heck it anyways.

xx, Noi.

黃小琥 – 沒那麼簡單

Credits to this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzIaZQVySbU&feature=related

沒那麼簡單

作詞：姚若龍
作曲：蕭煌奇

沒那麼簡單 就能找到 聊得來的伴
尤其是在 看過了那麼多的背叛
總是不安 只好強悍
誰謀殺了我的浪漫

沒那麼簡單 就能去愛 別的全不看
變得實際 也許好也許壞各一半
不愛孤單 一久也習慣
不用擔心誰 也不用被誰管

感覺快樂就忙東忙西
感覺累了就放空自己
別人說的話 隨便聽一聽 自己作決定
不想擁有太多情緒
一杯紅酒配電影
在周末晚上 關上了手機 舒服窩在沙發裡

相愛沒有那麼容易 每個人有他的脾氣
過了愛作夢的年紀 轟轟烈烈不如平靜
幸福沒有那麼容易 才會特別讓人著迷
什麼都不懂的年紀
曾經最掏心 所以最開心 曾經

沒那麼簡單 就能去愛 別的全不看
變得實際 也許好也許壞各一半
不愛孤單 一久也習慣
不用擔心誰 也不用被誰管

感覺快樂就忙東忙西
感覺累了就放空自己
別人說的話 隨便聽一聽 自己作決定
不想擁有太多情緒
一杯紅酒配電影
在周末晚上 關上了手機 舒服窩在沙發裡

相愛沒有那麼容易 每個人有他的脾氣
過了愛作夢的年紀 轟轟烈烈不如平靜
幸福沒有那麼容易 才會特別讓人著迷
什麼都不懂的年紀
曾經最掏心 所以最開心 曾經

相愛沒有那麼容易 每個人有他的脾氣
過了愛作夢的年紀 轟轟烈烈不如平靜
幸福沒有那麼容易 才會特別讓人著迷
什麼都不懂的年紀
曾經最掏心 所以最開心 曾經
想念最傷心 但卻最動心 的記憶

————————————–

Random thoughts running through the mind now – nevermind that I have to finish editing the photos for MYnt’s launch on Sunday, three DB posts by Sunday, one quiz by tomorrow, and one TMA to complete! Mehs.

Been thinking about long-term relationships – do all LT relationships go stagnant after some time? The sparks just got lost somewhere, and could never find its way back. Don’t get me wrong, ours is going great and in fact better. Just a thought that popped up today, and I asked Stan – he jokingly said ours seemed like honeymoon period. Haha! Bottom line is, it’s never easy. Too many ups and downs – if you’d managed to survive the downs, even the most severe ones, I think that meant both individuals are willing to give their all to make this work. Nonetheless, there’s no hard and fast rules when it comes to relationships. I alway believe in no-comparing-with-your-friend’s-relationship, it’s YOUR relationship with your partner, not your friend’s and yours.

The song above is really meaningful – speaks of what a relationship between two individuals consists of. The occasional tantrums, the fights, the sweet times, and the bitter moments – no one ever said loving someone was this difficult, but it’s when you overcome the many impossibles and the many bitterness, you know it’s worth it. These few weeks haven’t been the easiest to get by I must admit, the time apart and the level of understanding towards each other kinda went to the highest level. I guess that’s why the cliche statement that we learn from each other in relationships. You give and take, and you learn how to appreciate each other during the course as well. Doesn’t just apply to love I feel friends and family alike.

Life’s too short for hatred – I know it’s evitable at times. Time to let go… life’s bigger than that. Treat yourself better, love yourself first before loving others, and always be positive (I learnt this from friends, it’s tough but I’m trying!).

It’s like a word-vomitting post – but I kinda like writing lengthy posts with insightful thoughts about random topics in my mind. That being said, the above could have been triggered by the missing-someone syndrome. Yes, he’s away again! This time for his advanced diving course, and yes yes I really miss him even after such a long time (breaks here and there though).

Some visuals (Instagram!) to complete the post – I gonna head back to editing the pictures and send out the mailers tomorrow!

Good night, x. Noi

Adele; your songs struck a chord in my heartstrings.

Note to self, never indulge in songs by Adele when it’s late at night. This is the time when your mind’s too clear, your heart’s too frail, to hear the lyrics that seemed to struck a chord in my heartstrings.

Someone like you, speaks of a girl whose ex-lover has found someone new and settling down soon. Wishing the best for him, and hoping that her next love may/will be someone like him. Kind of real and true, in my opinion /shrugs. The lyrics managed to dig up some old memories too.

Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
“Don’t forget me,” I begged
“I’ll remember,” you said
“Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead.”

Rolling in the deep, you know sometimes when they say songs depict unspoken words/feelings best, I have to agree that it works for me.

The scars of your love, remind me of us.
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
(You’re gonna wish you never had met me)
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside your hand
And you played it
To the beat

When things get too beautiful, when a love is burning with too much emotions, when life seems to be too perfect, you should know that all good things will come to an end someday. The fact to face is,

When?

x, out.

Ramblings in the night.

Just got to know from my sister that her ex-classmate ended his life, supposedly over a failed relationship. I was astounded, not to mention despite the fact that I dont know him (only saw him a couple of times when I fetched my sister home from school), I couldnt believe the news. His friends left him wall posts on FB, asking him why, scolding vulgarities, saying he’s stupid. As much as this sounds mean, I am pretty upset that he didnt treasure his life.

Ok, I know I cant judge him or the ex-girlf over the reason or cause that triggered his actions or if it’s wrong or right; but to me, tons of people are fighting out there to survive…yet he gave up just like that. Only a twenty year old, he could have had a long way to go and lots more to accomplish in his life. Why?

My mom said, “Everyone has suicidal thoughts whenever things go really bad in their shoes, but it’s up to oneself to be determined enough to walk it through.” Sighs.

On a side note, is it just me? Or, why am I feeling distant from some friends around me? Oh well, gotta hit the sack soon after I print out my notes for my first lesson of this semester! It’s taking place tomorrow or rather, tonight.

Bless me, x. Out.

Friendships and Relationships

Perhaps it’s just me, taking things too hard in stride could be a bad thing at times. Friends whom you care too much, may fail you in the end. People change, I realised this recently; sad fact but hey, that’s life. Change is constant, this cliche phrase I’ve heard of it a million times but only till date, then I see it coming true. Sometimes caring too much pushes them further away from you, maybe it’s time that I learn how to step back instead of pushing you to the brim. Same for Love, give him space, give him time, if he doesnt want to talk about things, no matter how much you force him to…you wont force the answers out of him, you’d only be pushing him away. Maybe that’s the difference between men and women, we rant too much we talk too much, the guys prefer to keep it down keep it quiet keep it to himself.

I could have spoken too much, I could have been too open about thoughts on social media platforms, just plain rants could escalate to being labelled. I thought friends would understand, I thought you would know me best. Turns out that I’m my own best friend. How sad, how true. I’ve learnt my lesson, you’re right…some thoughts are best to be kept to oneself. Putting yourself in the sympathic light doesnt help in the long run. Give me time, give me strength, I just wanna have more faith in friendship and love these days.

x, out.

QOTD

Hello all!

I know I havent been updating this much as frequently as before. Been really tied up with work and MYnt! Promise I’ll do some updating tonight!

For now, here’s a quote that I thought it’s pretty meaningful. Credits to this link.

As I look back on all that’s happened..growing up, growing together, changing you, changing me — there were times when we dreamed together, when we laughed and cried together. As I look back on those days, I realize how much I truly miss you and how much I truly love you. The past may be gone forever..and whatever the future holds, our todays make the memories of tomorrow. So, my lifetime friend, it is with all my heart that I send you my love, hoping that you’ll always carry my smile with you, for all we have meant to each other and for whatever the future may hold.
– Author Unknown

How true, how apt.
More often than usual, I just want you to know.
All I hope, is to see you happy.

x, out.