Cutting my hair short

I had been keeping my hair long for the past few years. Friends and family said I look nice with rebonded hair but I don't want to subject my hair to heat and chemicals. It takes me a long time to dry my hair and in this hot humid weather, it was hot to leave long hair down and I felt the hair band pulling the hair from my scalp when I tied it up.

A week ago, I went to my hairstylist and told her to cut my hair to about an inch below my ears. She commented that looking good is not a priority to me and I want to go natural and use organic hair products. She's right in a way but I think I can still look nice sporting a short hair cut if I bother to style it a bit. Now it's a breeze to dry my hair after a shower. Most friends said my short hair is refreshing but what really matters is I like it :) I will have to put my hair clips and hair band away and I don't think I will need them for a long long time. It also means I have to visit my hairstylist more frequently. This is a right decision I've made this year :)

Bob & Bobby 2

Before I turned 32 last month, it was just Bob.


Sis gave me Bobby 2 as my birthday present.

This is how Bob welcomed Bobby 2 :)


Sis got herself one too that resembles Angel :)

Mini cheese & choc chip buns

I tried a recipe for milk buns a few Sundays ago and improvised by added shredded cheese and chocolate chips. Luckily they turned out quite nice. I would prefer the buns to taste sweeter but the cheese and choc give the plain taste bread a nice touch.

Mommy's special porridge

I feel very happy whenever I eat Mom's porridge. It's simple and full of ingredients, but mom doesn't cook it often, so it's a occasional treat.

Angel behind the curtains

The curtains are one of Angel's favorite hiding places.

I like how he stuck out his paw :)

My room-mate and my pillow

My room-mate will just happily sleep on my pillow without leaving a space for my head. I'll then try to find a space in between his legs against his tummy :)

Talented singer: Inch Chua

After reading about her in today's Straits Times, I visited Youtube to listen to her works. I'm impressed. Here's one of her music videos.

Good Friday weekend and Sis' Birthday

Sis' birthday fell on Good Friday this year. I suggested that we and mom had lunch @ Japanese Dining Sun @ Chijmes.

Angel was lounging on top of the dining table when we were getting ready to leave the house. Mom always said Angel looks kind of sad like he knows we won't be home to be with him.

Dad had to work but he was very sweet to pick us up in his cab. Sis took a photo of him on her Holga :) Our birthday girl was wearing a lovely dress bought from Trove Shop @ Esplanade.

Lovely blue sky and fluffy clouds over @ Chijmes.


Our feast. We were very disciplined and ordered a tofu cheese cake to share :)


After a satisfying lunch, we took the MRT to Bugis and walked to Haji Lane. There are a few interesting shops - Sis and I bought some clothes and accessories :) One of the shops, Dulcetfig has 3 resident ginger cats. We also met a stray cat outside another shop.

Dad met us after his work for dinner @ Army Market.

On Sun, I planned a lunch for all of us @ Imperial Treasures @ ION Orchard. Dad wasn't working and could join us. He doesn't really fancy Jap food too. He had beef and fish slice porridge and all of us shared roast pork (which Mom did like and complained of strong porky smell), chee cheong fun (that came with yummy peanut sauce). Sis had one with roast duck meat tucked inside the rice rolls. A nice plate of fresh Hong Kong kailan. Xiao long bao. The last order was siew mai and I butchered it into smaller pieces and ate with chillies.

After lunch, sis and I brought Mom to Mandarin Gallery, 313 Somerset and Orchard Central. We had some teacakes and teh-si @ Toast Box @ the food court of 313 Somerset, so I only had space for a small bowl of melon soup @ Far East Plaza for dinner after all the good food. I think it was an enjoyable weekend for us :)

Lemongrass - my favorite homemade drink

The ingredients: pandang leaves, lemongrass, ginger, water and rock sugar

I tried to present the drink in an aesthetic manner with the lemongrass :)
But it doesn't really matter when it was just me drinking it.

Feeling sick and well

I felt a bit nauseous while having lunch today. Coupled with a headache, I was a bit worried if I could take good notes for a meeting at 4pm. After visiting the toilet (not to puke fortunately) and laughing about work with my 2 colleagues, I felt better. I even enjoyed the 4pm meeting as my boss and the visitor know each other and it was a light-hearted discussion. I don't look forward to writing the minutes tomorrow morning, but I feel good that I don't feel sick anymore. Maybe it's just the weather - freezing in the office and heatwave when I had to go down to Golden Landmark hotel to send some materials to a visitor. Maybe I haven't been getting enough sleep. Whatever it is, I'm glad I can write this, think clearly and enjoy the rest of the day :)

Shugo Tokumaru's music

Last Mon, I read in the Straits Times' Life!'s article "Dream diary whimsy" about this singer-songwriter, Shugo Tokumaru. Tickets to his show on 19 Mar have been sold out and he said to the journalist that he doesn't think his abstract lyrics (in Jap) make much sense to Jap listeners and he encourages people turning up for his gig to "imagine new scenery, lands, dioramas and lots of different colours". I cut out the article, so that I could google about his music.

Here are 2 of his music videos. Cute animation and really whimsical music. I don't know what he is singing though :)

Yummy brown rice porridge

After all the baking, I didn't feel like making shepherd's pie for lunch today. When Mom suggested cooking brown rice porridge, I was all for it. We put in lots of veggies and Mom wanted sausages, mushroom balls too.


Lunch was a wholesome meal and we had it with some nuts :)

Vegan cake

I tried this recipe for vegan chocolate cake and tweaked it as I had only a bit of cocoa powder left and mix with instant coffee powder. Mom said Dad likes coffee cake. This cake uses canola oil and white vinegar instead of butter and eggs.

I could only smell coffee when the cake was almost done. It didn't have the usual aroma of butter cakes. The cake texture is also softer, when I ate the cake yesterday, it really tasted healthy. Dad tried a bit and said he didn't know what he was eating. Sis said the cake wasn't sweet enough and she won't eat it again. This morning, Mom ate a piece and said it was not bad. I tried it too and it actually tasted much better. I could taste some sweetness and it helps that I have sprinkled lots of chocolate chips and macadamia nuts on top, so I'll be bringing some for my aunties, uncle and cousins to try later :)

Little Tigers @ home

Since it's the start of the Year of the Tiger, I mustn't forget our little Tigers, Angel and Bob.

Sis took some photos of Angel who looked disinterested.


Mom said Bob looks more like a tiger. Sis thinks he looks weird here. I think he's cute :)


He wanted my attention when I was using the PC just now.