To God be the Glory

The Night scene of Marina Bay

2012-01-19T19:00:00.000+13:00

My sweet cousin decided to take me round the bay of Singapore's central city. It is the most congested place as it is where many people travel to work everyday.

This part of the city is full of high-rise corporate buildings. My camera can't capture the whole building...

So I met up with my cousin after she had finished work, and goodness there are soooo many people heading home after work. Its crazy! She decided to take me up Level 33. Its a bar located on level 33 and has its own special lift to get up to that bar. Its maginificent up there.

Marina Bay Sands hotel - There is a ship built on top of 3 buildings! Unfortunately I didn't have time to go up there but really would like to have a look at Singapore from up there!

At certain times of the evening, they would play omnimous music and lights would hit the waterfront.

Ok a blurry photo I know but you look stunning :)

My delicious skyline cocktail drink.

Then we walked down to the waterfront. It really is quite a nice atmosphere :) Oh don't mind me, I'd always go pink after 1 drink!

We are walking just beneath the large flower (located in my 3rd photo). This area leads on to a bridge that we'd needed to cross over to catch a bus home as the night was ending.

Here it is! This bridge was built recently (2010) and is a replica of the DNA double helix. And if you don't know what that means, we have 2 DNA strands that intertwine with each other through the ACTG proteins. Click on this link to see the diagram if you are unsure. You can see the proteins all along the bridge :)

Next post will be a couple of snazzy pictures of the Marina Bay Sands mall and food ventures :)

Singapore Science Centre!

2012-01-18T18:25:00.003+13:00

Now I have a random spur of trying to post up as many photos as I can simply because the longer I leave it, the more I will forget about what I want to jot down. Secondly, I am going to be very busy next week onwards starting a new job and making many plans this year for myself. I hope to maintain a balanced lifestyle, by juggling responsibilities at 2 different churches, teaching piano students and possibly moving out! We'll see what happens :)

So following on from the Bird Park, we went to Singapore Science Centre. I really love science and if it traveling wasn't my passion then I would be doing something more geeky like locking myself up in the room and experimenting with lightbulbs. Jokes.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who is the Fairest of them all? Answer: Why its your cousin of course >_>

Wait until you see this picture! Oh yes, I have been working out heaps. Look at the mathematical formulas engraved on my chiseled my body. :P

Lego-Jamming Robot for all you Lego nerds out there :P

The famous Optical Illusion.

Live experiments were done as well.

This is lighting made from a large conductor in the middle of the stage. The noise was excruiating! Sounded louder, more intimidating and worse than a wood chipper!

Indoor Fire Tornado experiment! It burned for a good 20 minutes. It was awesome to watch :)

Thanks cous for bringing me out that day :) I've enjoyed your company a lot. Next!! Away from the attractions for now as I have some photos of the scenery of Singapore. Unfortunately, I have not taken many pictures of food (how could you not, Phoebe!). Don't worry, there are still more attractions to come :) I have saved the best for last.

Jurong Bird Park Part 2

2012-01-18T15:56:00.000+13:00

After roaming about the birdpark, rain poured down heavily! Luckily enough, we managed to avoid it and decided to take a ride back to the cafe right by the entrance for lunch.

Can you believe it?! A monorail built within the parameters of the park. Now that is one big park :)

I had Chicken Biryani Rice for lunch :) Popadom + mint yoghurt + spicy curry chicken with extra spicy sauce.

After a scrumptious meal, we headed back the direction we came from and continued onwards. We went up to the highest manmade water fall in South East Asia. I love this photo!

See! I look tiny. Its somewhat 20m high.

We walked around a bit more and saw some really interesting fellows along the way. One bird decided to say hello to me as I walked past. I tried repeating myself but it didn't want to say hello back anymore :( In the next line of photos, this bird thinks that he's Batman haha! Batbird?? His mate is watching his new trick :P

At least he walks around with style ;)

Some birds love to pose. I got 3 different poses out of this bird and I decided to show the best one :) He's not camera-shy hehe.

Here's another one!

This is a seriously hugeeee bird! He looks human almost :3 Wearing a coat. I wish I looked that warm.

I have never seen striped flamingos before. They look so unique :)

Later, we decided to head over to watch the Hawk show.

There were owls, eagles, hawks and vultures used in the show. My goodness they are gigantic! They showed their hunting skills and sense of sight, flying right above our heads! haha

The Bald Eagle

Vultures eating meat around the dead carcass (plastic).

Oh man that was so much fun. I bought 2 macaw toys at the earlier show (previous post) to take away with me as souvenirs but really...they were offering an owl and an eagle for $15 after the Hawk show!!!! I was crying silently inside. On a better note, the day had not yet finished because we decided to head off to Singapore's Science Centre! That's coming up in my next post :)

Jurong Bird Park Part 1

2012-01-18T12:43:00.001+13:00

I wished I was a bird. Haven't you dreamt of flying before? Wouldn't it be great to have the wind blowing past your face and travel to the highs and lows of the earth? Helicopters are too noisy in my opinion :P

I had to split the post into 2 parts simply because I have too many pictures to show you! Birds are really interesting creatures, they are smart and their behaviours are adorable! Thanks cousin for bringing me along!!

The Blue Macaws. These 2 were squakwing away, having a bit of an argument.

Penguins! The park's aquariums are massive! They have a lot of room to move and swim for us to see :)

Something not to be missed is the Bird show. It is solid gold. And if you're enthusiastic enough, they need a lot of participants :)

For example, Mr and Mrs Wong, the Toucans were sent to an audience member's arms. Pretty rewarding experience.

A flock of flamingos!!! They are hilarious! There's one showing off by flauting its feathers and circling the table a few more times than others just to get more attention.

What about a friendly competition between 2 birds? The bird handlers had one side of the audience cheering for one Macaw, and same on the other. Click the photo to enlarge and see what these macaws are going head to head with! Notice the bright yellow feathers of the male macaw? Its a beauty.

Ok no, this is not a bird but I wanted to show that I was wearing a mosquito patch :P And its Doraemon! My favourite (asian) cartoon character. This patch lets off quite a pleasant citrus scent to ward off mosquitos. I needed one patch for each limb. Yet!! These little buggers were smart enough to bit round my ankles! Apparently I taste very sweet. Also, I bought a pair of ladybug slippers at the Birdpark store because the "leather" shoes that my Aunt lent me literally crumbled as I arrived at the entrance. Fashion Tip: I'd just learnt that if you do not wear your leather shoes frequently, it will disintegrate!

Alright, moving along now.

Lovebirds! Aren't they adorable? Beak to beak is cute haha. They couldn't get enough of each other, which made me think of my boyfriend. Yea I was missing him terribly back then.

These are amazing colours. Deep crimson red! I'd wish my clothing were just as loud haha But I don't really have the confidence to wear something like that.

We headed up to the Lorry Loft where there is a large open space for Lorikeets to roam about. We can feed them too!! One decided to sit on my head and I tried not to move. I looked awkward haha.

You know....birds have feelings too. And we have pictures to prove it :P

Once upon a time, I was feeding these gorgeous birds.

When all of a sudden, they started arguing! The green one stood tall and looked like it wanted to give red a bashing.

Another mate of the green's appeared and just started eating from my cup, shoving the other one aside. The red one with his head low, slowly left the scene by crawling up my arm.

For a long time, he stood by my shoulder and complained to me beside my ear. Gosh you're loud little one :P My face says it all haha.

Open enclosures sure are awesome! Look at how close this person is to the duck! The duck doesn't care and waddles across the footpath.

I'll end the first part with this photo - OMGoodness that's a hugeeee lizard!! Expect more birds to come soon :)

Singapore Zoo

2012-01-16T21:05:00.001+13:00

I visited nearly every world-class attraction possible within the borders of Singapore. You'll find it in my upcoming blog posts very soon. Right now, its Zoo time! Its a hot tourist destination, but not so much for the locals.

Luckily for me, my cousin (who just got married) along with Aunt decided to take me out on this day. Thank you for accompanying me to the Zoo :)

Singapore Zoo is home to the World's largest group of primate species, where many are close to extinction. Many of these species are found in South East Asia including your favourite Orang Utan.

Hurrr look at my muscular stance. He was posing for the group of spectators below.

We watched the Rainforest Show. Its a story about conservation and the health of the environment when human interferes with animals' natural habitats. Truthfully, the animal show that I had seen as a young kid was comparatively better than this show, but the message is most important.

A young Orang Utan swinging above the audience :)

If you'd want something more entertaining and interesting, the Elephant show is where you would want to be! Things are done differently here in South East Asia - each Elephant has a master and they can understand Indonesian commands!

They are extremely reliable at removing heavy logs ;) And helping the master with his hat, with its legs crossed.

Honestly, my trip to the zoo couldn't be more perfect. Babies were everywhere!!

The Chimps

Pygmy Hippo

Spot the cheeky baby in this photo. (Click to Enlarge)

The Proboscis Monkey, with its baby :D Its also named as the ugliest monkey in the World. As if discrimination and racism isn't enough....

Hold still....

These monkeys were kissing!! And I just managed to get a photo of it before it leaped away. Hence the blurry image :( noticed their yellow hands?

Frill Necked Lizard - inspired by the scary Lizard which hisses and opens out its large frills in the Juraissic Park movie. I was really tempted to frighten it so that I can take a shot of its frilled-neck!

Squirrel Monkeys playing about.

We could walk into open enclosures where lemurs, butterflies and Malaysian bats roam free.

My cousin had a surprise when a lemur jumped on her and onto the tree branch. My Aunt was absolutely terrified and jumped when a lemur walked past her. Hahaha!

Look up! My cousin had her finger right where the giraffe is. Me? Well, its a dead tree. D:

In the end, before the rain decided to catch us offguard, we visited the Leopards. And I'd like to finish off the post with this beautiful shot of them. Gosh they look stunning. My next post is my trip to Jurong Bird Park! Look forward to it :) I have spectacular shots of these beautiful birds that I cannot wait to show!

Singapore Zoo
80 Mandai Lake Road Singapore
T: (65) 62693411
www.zoo.com.sg

The White ceremony and evening banquet

2012-01-06T00:47:00.000+13:00

Here it is! My cousin's wedding in which I proudly represented my family in attendance hehe.

My cousin (the bride's younger brother) and I sang a song for her at her wedding.

We sang a duet: Hosanna by Brooke Fraser.

After the wedding, we went over to my cousin's place to rest and have the tea ceremony before heading over to the hotel.

Look what was on the table! A roasted pig which signals a prosperous future and happiness for the couple. The larger it is, the more prosperity it will bring.

Photo taken after the Tea Ceremony. I'm totally new to this ceremony. The newly wedded couple have to serve the bride's parents who are seated (calling and acknowledging the person before presenting them tea) before moving to the oldest living member on the father's side and one by one until the youngest, then the mother's side. In return, the elders will give their blessings to the wedded couple with red packets containing money. Those younger than the bride and groom will have to serve them tea instead and they will receive a red packet.

Then comes the evening banquet at The Regent Hotel.

Pretty front waterfountain.

Inside the Hotel with a large spiraling staircase and gorgeous classic-style elevators surrounded by ponds.

Beautiful wedding cake!!

Bride and Groom walks down the aisle to the front :) 2nd photo: In their evening gown, pouring out champagne over a tower of glasses.

Yum Seng Time! "Yum Seng" is a Cantonese phrase meaning 'drink to success' and is called out in the wedding ceremony with one breath. Its a custom that you'd say it as long and as loud as you can. Bottoms up!

We had an extravagant meal that evening. It was a typical Asian dinner an 8-course meal made up of:

Duluxe Combination: Suckling Pig, Jellyfish, Crab roll, Roasted Duck and Prawn Salad.
Braised Shark Fin soup with Assorted Seafood
Poached Large Prawns with Chinese Herbs and Hua Diao Wine
Poached Spinach with fresh Lily Bulbs and Wolfberries in Superior Stock
Roasted Chicken with "Mongolian Style" and Minced Garlic
Steamed Sea Bass with Superior Soya Sauce
Fried Rice with Diced Seafood and XO Sauce
Warm Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts and Coconut Milk

It was a lovely evening, with a grand dinner and absolutely amazing couple. I wish you all the happiness in the world with God as your rock, and don't forget to include pictures of little Einsteins!! :)) My blessings to you cous, and cousin-in-law ;) You know who you are.

Bear with me as I go through a long-winded description of the service at this hotel; in which made no sense to me whatsoever (I'm a hospitality graduate after all). If you'd like to continue reading on, be my guest :)

Usually in an asian restaurant, the waiter would set a large dish in the middle of the table which sits approximately 10-12 people, and we help ourselves to the food. If only I had the space/time to take photos of each meal but there was a constant service of waiters giving us clean plates (very small btw) and serving the food onto our plates whenever a new course is introduced and the previous course is removed. Its like we have a timely schedule to keep to when we eat! I kid you not....we had new plates for every dish served. I found that a bit odd as well as the fact that they are influencing the service with a Westernized concept.

What about the groom and bride? They don't have the chance to eat that night when they are busy taking photos with every table or having to play games that the groomsmen have laid out for them that evening. Plus, the evening ended at 11pm. its a stretch for my family members over 65 years old to stay up this late haha.

Changes to be made:

Unless its a bowl of soup/dessert should it be served into bowls; we can help ourselves to the food without additional service thank you very much - some people are allergic to certain foods or tend not to eat it at all. Some eat more than others!
Because of this, we as guests are given the freedom and choice to dine. And please don't take away the dish if its unfinished or force someone to eat it due to your 'timely' schedule.
Save Water!! You don't need to constantly change plates after every course. Maybe customise the menu to have a new plate half way throughout the entire course.
Lastly, give the waiters/waitresses a break! Setting up the event and packing down, drink requests, clearing plates, getting a whole new set of plates, serving everyone. Its too messy and in-your-face to the guests! I bet the employees get paid peanuts to work for you since your revenue is spread too thinly across unncessary water bills and overheads.

Hey, if you can improve one aspect of your service in the hotel and leave customers happy, your revenue would skyrocket :) But that's just me being plain critical. If only I could be hired as a banquet manager to provide such feedback and rearrange the system then I'll be happy to take on a lot more $$ for that in return.

Celebrating my extended relatives' birthdays!!

2012-01-05T12:57:00.001+13:00

Now as promised, the next set of blog posts will involve Singapore and quite a bit of documentation. Sit back and get ready to read a lot!

As soon as I had arrived in Singapore, the next day marked the day of my cousin and my aunt's birthday. Celebrated separately on either side of my family, I was treated to a delicious homecook asian meal and night hawker centre food in Singapore. What a great way to start my trip :)

I just love this photo. Warm glows emitting from birthday candles. The chocolate mud cake was to die for. Seriously good!

My cousin who is celebrating her birthday is the very purpose of my trip. Her wedding post will be up next! Apparently I look a lot like her haha. My small beady eyes :3 Thanks for inviting me Qi :)

The following day, I went out in the evening with my beloved aunties for a birthday feast as they showed me the best place to eat Singapore's famous chilli/black pepper crab and prawns. The night scene of Newton Food Centre.

Drinking Thailand's young coconut. Fresh coconut water with tasty insides! I simply cannott get enough of the water!

Garlic roasted Tiger prawns!! It doesn't get any cheaper than this! And look at the size of it! Oh it was a delight!

Chilli and Black peppered crabs, best served alongside fried mantou (fried round balls of bread) so you can dip it into the delicious chilli sauce! Things do get a little messy so there's a tub of limewater on the left hand side to wash your hands.

Delicious....ooo I could go for something like that again. Funnily enough, another aunt of mine took me out for chilli crab again but at a restaurant this time. They even provide bibs for you with a cartoon prawn in front of it. I may look funny when I wore it but it was useful! I was close to dirtying my white pants that evening had it not been for that funny bib :P

Hai Kee Seafoods
Owner: Margaret
Newton Food Centre
Stall 78
Singapore

New Year's Eve - Strawberry Custard Tart recipe

2012-01-03T20:22:00.003+13:00

For New Year's Eve, I had a get-together lunch + movie with my girls. My mother was gracious enough to let me use the kitchen and helping me to clean up. Credit to CC for the picture :P

Feta and Herb Yoghurt Dip with carrots, celery and chips

Sweet tarts recipe

Strawberry Custard Tarts - made from scratch.

Making the tarts were the most time-consuming element simply because it was my first time. But I had promised a friend that I will put up the easy recipe, filled with my own notes and baking experience. My apologise, I am not posting up the recipe for custard, as it is widely accessible. Plus I had to make adjustments with my custard by sight and taste so I wasn't following a definite custard recipe.

Ingredients:

115g butter (softened)

115g sugar

1 egg

225 glour; plus extra for rolling

1 tsp baking poder

pinch of salt

Preheat oven @ Bake - 180 degree elsius

Method:

Cream butter and sugar in a food mixer until pale. Add the egg and mix well.
Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed. As it comes together, remove the mixer and make it into a ball using your hand.
Wrap the pastry ball in plastic wrap and store in the refridgerator for 30 mins.
Remove from the fridge and divide the pastry dough in 2 (easier to work with one half first). With a bit of flour on your work bench and on your hands, knead the dough until it starts to cogulate and hold together well.
Flouring your rolling pin, roll out the pastry til 5mm thick.
Cut out rounds of pastry using a pastry/cookie cutter to fit the mini-muffin tray. Carefully place it in the muffin tray and prick the base with a fork to reduce puffing.
Bake the cases for 10-15 minutes until very slightly brown.
Remove cases onto a wire rack for further cooling.

Makes approx. 60
Tart cases can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of weeks.

My notes
This recipe is only a rough estimate in the number of cases it can make. The original recipe makes 48 cases whereas I have managed to reach 60. So here are some pointers to guide you along the way:

Experiment with different sizes of pastry/cookie cutter until you've found the right size that will enable you to fit the pastry without overlapping (this most undoubtedly took up most of my time).
The tarts, once removed from the oven, did not expand at all thanks to the fork pricking.
The base and rims of the tarts should be slightly brown before removing them from the oven to cool.
Depending on your oven, you may need to extend the amount of time slightly to cook the tarts. If something doesn't come out right, your pastry is either too thick or the size of it is too large for the mini-muffin holder itself.
Small cases = quick to cool. I could remove it straight after it came out of the oven.

The first time isn't always a success but I'm glad I managed to pull that off successfully during the day I had my friends over. Otherwise it would've been a huge disaster!! :) Leave comments below if you have anything you'd like to add. Happy Baking!!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-03T20:21:00.002+13:00

Hello everyone! Thanks for being patient with me. I know I'm a few days late on this post but its just too good to pass up before I start blogging about my recent trip to Singapore. Need to do this quickly as my memories of Singapore are quickly fading away as the new year dawns upon us all. And no, we are not doomed to perish in 2012.

During Christmas Eve, International Baptist Church held a celebration. I love this church. Its amazing at what God has done for this church and in bringing such a multi-cultural group of individuals together. We have Samoans, Filipinos, Malaysians, Singaporeans, Koreans, Australians, Americans, Chinese, South Africans, Indonesians, Maoris, Danish (and more that I might have missed out). Funny that we do not have Kiwis in our congregation but hopefully that will change.

Big Christmas Ham at the dinner table. Tasty :)

Gift exchange for the Kids.

Gift exchange for the adults were good fun. John and I ended up receiving chocolates. Noticed I haven't made a start on mine whereas he's nearly done with his? Also, we have matching tees that light up hearts whenever we remain in close contact.

We ended the service by singing Silent Night in 5 different languages. Amazing :)

Tis the season to be jolly :)

2011-12-27T13:27:00.001+13:00

Hello my dear friends, its been a while since I've posted. And yes, I am late on my Christmas post. However, do not fret! I do have interesting posts about Singapore on the way. Now that its Christmas, celebration has arrived :)

While I was in Singapore, my aunt decided to put the Christmas tree out and play Christmas music as I was bored stiff at home. I had fun decorating and taking pictures of it. However....

I broke 2 ornaments!! These were timeless and couldn't be found in stores anymore. I felt really bad. "Oooo you have butter fingers," says Aunt. I'm sorry!! Its my first time hanging a Christmas tree :< So accidents are bound to happen :(

Enjoy the rest of the pics. It takes great patience to take pictures while Christmas lights are flashing in the background hehe. Thanks Aunt for allowing me to decorate your tree and break your ornaments.

Hello :) You can see me right in the middle!

Meanwhile back in New Zealand, Dec'11, we had a huge Christmas service and dinner celebration at Mandarin Ministry. We remember the day of Jesus birth and the importance of his life on earth. Glory be to God!

Your 3 wise men :) and the Pastor.

The comical duo- we were just posing for fun :P

A huge feast :) Turkey, Ham, strawberries, mince pies, cold pasta, mashed potatoes, roasted kumaras and steamed veggies.

I hope you've enjoyed your Christmas with lots of holiday joy among your loved ones and remember why we celebrate it. How do you celebrate your Christmas? Leave me a comment :) Would love to hear from you.

Touchdown after 12 years!

2011-10-24T16:11:00.000+13:00

Hey everyone! What's been happening with you lately?I have just arrived in Singapore and unfortunately missed the World Cup finals against France. But aren't we glad that they won! Everyone was clapping on board when we heard the results. The pilot who announced it definitely liked to keep us in suspense haha! I bet kiwis were on the edge of their seats when the score was just 8 to 7 just at half time and remained the same towards the end of the game. Well done All Blacks! You've played a splendidly at the World cup, and now its ours :D

I sat by the wing and looked out the window just before the sun started to set upon arrival. Gorgeous scenery, and although this picture doesn't do justice I did my best in capturing it for you.

I met a really cool Canadian man onboard; traveling with his family world-wide for a year. His wife is an award-winning travel author. His 2 boys are only 7 and 9, man they have experienced so much more than a regular kid would have. When I was curious to know how his kids would receive education, he said to me: "You've seen it, you've touched it and you've been there before. Experience is the best teacher." And I couldn't agree more. Wherever you go, and whoever you meet, you're bound to learn about a lot of things not just from one another but of yourself as well.

Check them out! Their experiences will leave you jealous :P I know I am!
www.globetrottingmama.com
http://www.facebook.com/GlobetrottingMama

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2011!

2011-09-12T19:59:00.000+12:00

Mid-Autumn Festival is a literal translation from Chinese. Culturally, the Chinese would celebrate it on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Lunar Calendar. It can also be called Mooncake festival or Lantern festival. Up to this day, we can see significant food emerging that upholds our cultural festivity. Yes, the mooncake! I seriously want to learn how to make it. And like most people, I probably won't follow tradition and make it at some other time of the year hehe.

Yesterday at church, the Mandarin Ministry we had a few performances during the day on this special occassion. We had a couple of fan dances, Chinese singing and Poetry Reading. After that we had a major feed!

The moon is at its fullest and brightest tonight! Don't forget to go outside and take a look :)

Titirangi Matangi Island - Native bird reserve

2011-09-10T16:17:00.003+12:00

Hey all! I finalllly have my internet back after 15 days of dial up speed....it was the most frustrating time ever! haha. Oh boy do I have some gorgeous pictures that I couldn't wait to post up. Last week, my best friend and I went to an island via ferry. We got the vouchers at grabone.co.nz (amazing website) to a conservation reserve, on an island!!

An hour and 45 mins by ferry, we headed got out of stormy Auckland into beautiful sunshine and clouds. Look who came to visit us on the way to the island?

Hector's Dolphins!

The port and waters round the edge of the island, walking further into the bushes.

Many are dedicated to preserving our native birds. We had a volunteer guide who'd shown us around and told us the historical value of this piece of land as well as the amazing creatures that come in day and night in their natural habitat. Kiwis can be found creeping out at night too!

Hi Julie!!! I'm jealous of your pro lens :P Walking along the track.

These birds are preparing themselves for the mating season, so many males are out and about flying to find females. This is a male stitch bird, its so pretty and has a very high-pitched call.

800-1000 year old Pohutukawa tree (oldest in NZ). My goodness its big!

Just at the peak of the island, I tilted my camera up to capture this.

Bell bird.

Takahe. I was right next to it! It doesn't care about people walking round it. Feathers almost resemble a peacock's.

Lighthouse beyond the bushes.

Tuis feeding on raw sugar and water solutions.

By the end of the day, the sun lowered. I took this photo to reflect the light bouncing off the waters. God I love silhouettes. The walk was definitely not stressful on the knees and proper paths have been built by volunteers all over NZ. Call me old, but I've enjoyed it alot. :)

More info about the island and ferry tickets: http://www.360discovery.co.nz/discovery-experiences/about-tiritiri-matangi-island.php

Chilling in the winter's afternoon sun

2011-08-18T21:07:00.002+12:00

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. To cheer up my sour mood, I decided to head out there with my camera and get some gorgeous shots. I will not lie to you. These images that I have taken were within walking distance from my house. Different times of the year, we can expect different flowers to grow on trees. Don't forget to click on them to enlarge it. Enjoy!

The next lot of photos were taken inside a bush. Many people bring their dogs here for a walk. The afternoon sun hit a lot of areas in the bush and I thought I would be able to find some inspiration and work on a few angles.

Can you spot the bird in this picture? :P

Tui bird! I got up nice and close to it and took pictures as it sang. This was the clearest of them all.

Which do you like? The green or red picture? I love parakeets, they travel in twos. They are always together.

Half of the photos seen here have been edited or highlighted. Other than that, they all hold natural and true to their beauty. I hope you had enjoyed these pictures as much as I have enjoyed producing them. Do you have any favourites? Post a comment :) Would like to hear from you.

Saguaro Trio & Orchestral evenings

2011-08-13T22:18:00.002+12:00

John and I had quite a musical weekend. Before I share that with you, we had delicious pizza at Covo (market Italian home-made pasta pizza bar) as we got a voucher on Groupon.co.nz for an extra large pizza. Sadly, we couldn't get different half-flavoured pizzas. But we were pretty happy with our choice - "Hans The German" with Tomato, mozzarella, rosemary potatoes, bacon and mushrooms. Extra large pizza is definitely enough for 2 people. I had to get John to finish off my last quarter of pizza...it was too much for me :P

After dinner, we were skipping to Auckland Town Hall to listen to the magnificent Saguaro Trio. And we stumbled across a store along High Street with cute displays of Scooby Doooooooo :)

Source: http://www.chambermusic.co.nz/artists/32-saguaro-trio/

The pianist John Chen, a kiwi chinese that won the national piano competition at 15 (I think). Brilliant night that evening~ It was good to listen to them, read more about them in the sourced link.

The next evening, I spent the entire day practising with different groups to prepare for the evening's combined church choral performance. I played for the orchestra, a choir and a chamber group. I was flat out busy the entire day rehearsing with everyone and then performing in the evening's concert. Thanks for taking the shots, John. I miss you -,{@

Covo
44 Fort Street
Auckland CBD
http://www.covo.co.nz/covo/

Celebrating Birthday at Aubergine

2011-08-02T19:08:00.001+12:00

We went to Aubergine restaurant for my dear friend's 21st. You may have seen my previous post of this restaurant a while back. This restaurant was suggested by the owner of Ultimate Om Noms. Visit their website for some delectable fine dining experiences in Auckland and try out the places that they have been to!

Our dining table.

With my best friend Jules :) She's so pretty.

hahaha the birthday girl~ Its a nice photo! Don't be shy.....

Oh, she was trying to hide behind the piece of paper. Too late!! Within a split of a second, I captured you as you let your guard down. Hehe.

Fine dining indeed....you know me, I like to conserve my $$ but because there is a special winter offer ($35 for a 3-course meal; entree is choice of garlic bread or soup, any main & dessert), I'd say...go for it! My 3 course meal:

Tomato Soup $10.50

Veal Parmigana - lightly brushed with crumb toped with melted Mozzarella and parmesan

cheese, aubergine confit with a mediterranean blend of tomato and extra virgin olive oil sauce, sautéed vegetables and roasted new potatoes $29.90

Passion fruit cheesecake with forest berry coulis $13.90

John's 3 course meal:

Garlic Bread (we shared the soup and garlic bread...it was so good together) $5.50

Duck Confit - oven roasted crispy duck breast, roast golden kumara, sautéed vegetables and orange honey jus - chef’s signature- $34.90

Peach and Blueberries crumble - oven baked and served with Vanilla ice cream $14.90

Oh dear.....the 3 course meal sure was splendid, but definitely did not go down well with my stomach. Found myself sick and unable to walk towards the end of the night. However, I had a great time catching up with everyone.

Happy Birthday Grammy :) I had a splendid night with everyone. Thanks for organising dinner.

Aubergine Restaurant
129 Hurstmere Road
Takapuna
North Shore
http://www.aubergine.co.nz/

V iced coffee

2011-07-25T19:46:00.000+12:00

My new love for coffee!!

Tasty~ Thanks to my workmates, I can have better tasting coffee instead of poorly made ones hehe.

Pastor E's Surprise Birthday Par-tay!

2011-07-21T21:01:00.000+12:00

It was one unforgettable night for the church. Each one of us kept it a secret as time edged closer to the birthday surprise. We were hoping to enter the hall and set half an hour before the Pastor arrives, but the key for the card reader wouldn't work! So we stood out in the cold >< We called the security guard and he came 5 minutes before the Pastor arrives. Everyone was just getting inside and everyone got busy!

Alas the pastor walked in with his wife (the mastermind) just as we were fixing the Happy Birthday Banners haha! Joy on both their faces :)

Pot luck dinner!!! Om nom. Pizzas galore! And many other tasty treats too.

I spent most of my evening hanging out with the kids hehe

Time to open the present!! The gift in the Stevens bag XD

We were screaming: Open it Open it!

A brick, a box, empty ipad box and paper haha oh you can see the real ipad being handed to him from the bottom left corner.

He's thinking: Is this for real??

Chocolate & Vanilla Birthday cake~ You can see someone's grubby finger in the cake. :P But isn't it a wonderfully made cake? Its made by the pastor's wife.

It was a fantastic night, and although Pastor E liked his new ipad 2, he loves his church family more :)

Dumplings served!

2011-07-17T22:48:00.002+12:00

As promised from my previous post, delicious dumplings on the way! Some joked that we gave birth to babies, or one called 'em "dumplings of love". I have funny friends. Our 1st batch were beef, spring onions & mushrooms. It went down deliciously well with soya sauce. The second time we made it, we used up pork + chives.

This is the simplest form of a meal and it contributes towards healthy eating and maintaining a satisfied stomach. I can down 20 of these and be completely at ease until my next meal. No snacking required in between whatsoever! Unless it is to go back for more dumplings hehe.

He's doing silly faces....again..haha

I'm caught red-handed! My most natural shot of feeding. The monkey is enjoying her dumplings.

It is best served with red vinegar and/or soya sauce. Delish! Something to make note of: best kept frozen if you want to save it for another day.

a glimpse of our lives through book titles

2011-07-14T22:28:00.000+12:00

Hi guys, this is just a quick update from me. The pictures taken on my boyfriend's camera have happened quite some time ago. These are long overdue! I just haven't been able to get the photos off him. We were just mucking around at Borders....picking up books.

The title certainly does ring true :P

As for me, I'd always get into trouble and I'm not particularly fond of it, but it does seem to come after me very often. oh my...is that a ghost behind me?

Anyway, recently we have mostly dedicated one evening of the week in learning how to cook together. Photos of that will appear in my next post :) Take care! Stay warm.

IBCC dinner fellowship + games

2011-07-05T19:07:00.001+12:00

Our church had a very delicious meal at the Auckland Deaf Society hall. My goodness that place is so pretty, big and clean, just magnificent. Let's hope and continue to pray for a space in the morning for our church service. We had potluck dinner, fellowship and games that evening. Tasty stuff!

3 musketeers or 3 stooges? You decide :P I see trouble brewing! Especially from the middle guy, he's got an evil grin.

Dinner, fellowship + games

Yea, my extra competitive side took over and I came 3rd overall.Winners got bars of chocolate! Got given an extra bar too! We wrapped up the evening by celebrating a little boy's birthday. He just turned 3, and was stoked about receiving a firetruck. :) Happy Birthday Yuuki.

Tuna Pasta Bake + goodies

2011-06-21T19:57:00.001+12:00

Hey all~~ I wish I had the time to post this up, as I'm quite proud of it. It is a little on the dry side as this is my first pasta bake for 4 people. I'll make more sauce next time.

Just your basic Bechamel sauce (which is essentially a milk sauce) mixed with a large can of tuna, tomatoes on top and lotsa mozarella cheese....delicious!

Aside from that, now that my parents are back, I've received loads of goodies! Food + makeup, jewerly and bags! Everything that a girl loves...although I'm just starting out in learning how to use makeup myself. Thank you my dear cousins and aunties for giving me these things. I love it!! <3

Makeup is from Majolica Majorca --> http://www.majolica.com

Clean up after yourselves!

2011-06-16T21:58:00.002+12:00

Now, where have I been in the last few weeks? Yes, I have been very busy: knocking off work around 3pm, heading to the grocers/doing housework since my parents are out of the country.

How sad.

Currently, I am miserable and need a space to vent.......having to remind and pick up after my brothers who do not want to help out around the house is exhausting. Its my responsibility to provide them dinner every night, therefore, a lot of my evening plans have been cancelled. Not only that, I have to shop for groceries, clean the bathroom/kitchen, and telling my brothers to do this or that.

This is the mess that has been piled up. All spread across the bed - creases and lint all over the clothes like you've never seen before. And my brotherss decided that it should be cleaned up before our parents get back. Yea right, they aren't going to get away with that so easily!!! I have evidence!

I have asked nicely, be frank with them, yelled at them, wrote a note to them. Its like talking to a wall. Here are some things that were yelled back to my face:

1. Can you please vacuum the floor? Its been one and a half weeks.
Answer: Did you vacuum your room?
Reply: Yes I did, on Friday.
Answers back: I didn't hear anything.

2. Reminds him about washing the frying pan after using it (practically every day for lunch).
Answers back: Shut up and go away!!

3.I yelled: Chuck the recycling out every night (its been sitting there for 3 days)!!
*Excuses pour out of his mouth*

And I could go on forever. Its so disheartening. :(

Grace unwrapped Ladies Conference

2011-05-29T21:51:00.002+12:00

It was a great day at the Ladies Conference. I took home not just an awesome goody bag but also the fruits of what God wanted to show me. I had a terrible night the night before. I'm rationally sane but my emotions did not agree with me, and I just crumbled under the pressure.

Guides a crucial decision

Repairs a broken heart

Answers the impossible questions

Changes stubborn mindsets

Erases the unthinkable

I really needed a reminder, that not all things that happen are bad. Its part of developing your character. I leave with an amazing grace quote:
"It is not only by grace alone that we become God's people but by grace alone we remain His people". - Dale Ralph Davis

Chocolate Fudge Puddles

2011-05-18T12:13:00.001+12:00

Oh yummies!! Its been a while since I've posted a recipe online. Chocolate fudge puddles aka Pods, are my newest and latest ;) Lately, I've been trying to cook up a storm in the kitchen now. I was making tuna pasta bake with my very own white sauce~ it was delish.

This was my 2nd attempt in making the puddles. I've cut down on sugar and chocolate quantity of the original recipe found at this blog: Sunday Baker. This took just beyond 2 hours to bake + clean up. Click on my pictures to enlarge.

Chocolate Fudge Puddles

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup plain flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

Filling:

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

185ml carnation milk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven @ Bake 165 celsius

Method:

1. Sift A together in a bowl.

2. In a large bowl, Combine B using a mixer.

3. Add C to B.

4. Gradually add A to B with the mixer.

5. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or if you're super impatient like me, chuck it in the freezer for 15 minutes. I used my hands to scoop the mixture out of the bowl, wrapped it up and placed it in the freezer.

6.Grease tiny muffin pans & add 1 ball to each cup using a melon scoop.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and make an indentation in the centre of each ball while its hot.

8. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn over to cool on a cooling rack.

9. Throw D altogether into a pot over a stove or in microwavable bowl to microwave. Using low heat, melt all and constantly stir.

10. Immediately fill in the cookie cups. If the chocolate sauce starts to harden, give it a little stir. Let the cookies stand for an hour.

Makes approx. 40

Thoughts + Learning Tips
In my first batch of cookies, I mistakenly used self-rising flour!! Although it took a longer while to cook, they still came out tasting the same. Surprisingly, despite both batches, I made exactly 39 balls. When preparing the cookies, the dough sticks to the melon scoop. I decided to pinch out some dough, roll it into a ball and place it inside the scoop to roughly measure the size. The original recipe asks for 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butterscotch chips. Since I couldn't find any, I just used chocolate chips instead.

I used low GI brown sugar (mostly used for coffee/tea) instead of normal brown sugar for puddle crusts.
I used Flora Proactive margarine to grease the pans
The smaller end of the melon ball scoop was used to make the indentation. Find a tool in your kitchen that can do just that for you.
Leftover chocolate sauce can be used for icecream...om nom

Delicious! If you do make it, let me know how you went about doing and your thoughts :)

Tummy overkill

2011-04-28T13:57:00.003+12:00

oh boy, I ate until my belt was tight, I was bloating and everything would back up. Did you guess what I had for lunch? That's right, I went to a buffet at SkyCity! Next time, if there ever will be one, I shall maintain my stomach elasticity by eating at a more appropriate pace and be aware of my own limits. I did feel a little guilty that I couldn't eat as much as price per person (it was a whopping $23.90!).

Rawr!! Lots of red meat to boost my iron levels! (Sooo much meat - more than I ever eat). Mind you, this was the hot foods. I went for salads and desserts too! Arrr soo full. I had to wait for more than half an hour with John before I could meet up with mates that I met from computer games. We had a good chat, watch them eat ramen and had a bit of a play on air hockey and guitar hero. Its sad that not much could be done in the city unless you were stinking rich.

In the evening, John and I went to restaurant (address provided below) by the beach for a mutual friend's birthday evening. His boss's restaurant was having a grand reopening with free food :) woooot! No one can turn down free food at an up-class bistro bar, especially me! All of these photos taken here were by my good friend, Anne. She was playing with my camera the whole night.

Here she is :P

She tried taking a picture of John too but he refused, and made a face. Doesn't it look like this >_< to you?

Aww, I do like this picture a lot --'{@

First up! We had delicious sides. Wholemeal/Cheese breads with hummus and tomato spread.

Haha the camera focused on the middle cup instead of the one in front...although it is a nice shot. :)

I had a really tasty drink called Nectarine White tea by TiTonics.

Beneath the Guiness coasters, we decided to get a momento of interesting Guiness messages.

Then came rolling in the super hor'deuves! Tasty stuff. This is my favourite: beef eye fillet with risotto.

Smoked salmon on baked potato chips

Deep fried squid rings, duck sausage in orange sauce + pork belly. Yum!!

What a great way to end the day...I've been out to 2 restaurants for lunch and dinner!! Plus I got to hang out with a couple of mates from gaming. It was a good way to pass a Saturday :) Lesson for the day: Do not stuff yourself until you're about to explode. Thank you to Anne for the lovely shots, I hope you had fun playing around with my camera.

Montrose Cafe Bistro Bar

1 Montrose Terrace
Mairangi Bay
North Shore

Happy Easter for 2011!!

2011-04-24T19:43:00.001+12:00

This was what was prepared before us at Church in the morning. We had a wonderful sermon and the Lord's supper.

I hope you guys enjoyed your Easter! Its more than just a festive holidays filled with chocolate, bunnies and eggs. It is a time of remembrance and a time to celebrate for Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! :)

The truth about the unemployed lifestyle

2011-04-21T13:44:00.004+12:00

As most of you know, I am unemployed. Now I know how infuriating it is to find a job, let alone if you are trying to put yourself out there but all you get are rejections because based on your skills/experiences, there will always be someone better and more suited for the role.

It is interesting to see how 40 years ago, people were needed for labour. However, in the 21st century, the organisation now has the power to choose who they wish to hire that closely fits the job requirements outlined by (wait for it...) the organisation! If you don't cut it, you're discarded! Funny how the organisation seeks to improve their company structure by recruiting members through specific "rules" (aka. job descriptions) as a means of selection by sugar coating the fact that job descriptions also acts as a limitation? You cannot classify people that way, in my opinion.

Here is an unfair example of what I came across that spurred me to write up this post.

I saw an advertisement in the newspaper that only revealed basic points of the job- what, where, send your cv to blah@company.co.nz. It did not state about more information at WEBSITE etc. So that was what I did. I sent my CV to the person and this was what happened.

From: Phoebe

Sent: Thursday, 21 April 2011 1:01 p.m.
To: Miss
Subject: ______ Sales application

Good afternoon _____,

I saw your advertisement in the North Shore Times newspaper. I wish to apply for this sales position at ________. Please do not hesistate to ask me for an application letter. I can be contacted by phone or e-mail.

Thank you,

Phoebe

From: blah@company.co.nz
To: Phoebe
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:02:18 +1200
Subject: RE: ______ Sales application

Hi there,

Thank you very much for applying for a position with _________. However you were unsuccessful and we wish you all the very best for your future.

Obviously we can tell from your application that you do have a keen interest in health and fitness. Congratulations on this!

As you know, _______ is strongly driven by its passion to encourage others to get in shape. Should you wish to utilise any and all of our TEN Auckland locations we would like to offer you ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS CREDIT towards any new membership you wish to undertake.

But as with all offers, we do need to have a time limit. The offer is therefore available until 14 days after this letter is issued.

Once again, sincere thanks for showing an interest in our company and best wishes with your future endeavours.

Yours in health,

______ Support Office

My Reply:

I'm sorry Miss, but is your company looking for someone to help out in sales or is this an automatic e-mail?

Phoebe.

I got this e-mail 1 minute after I had sent my CV! I haven't heard from them since haha! The nerve! How dare they advertise their membership asking me to fork out some money after rejecting my application on the spot XD

I do not plan to harm the reputation of the organisation but just to show the reality of what job seekers face. Anyways, I feel like I can go on forever about it. But I'll give it a rest. Sigh...back to job searching.

Mushrooms sprouting

2011-04-21T11:28:00.000+12:00

Oh wow, we have never seen this before - mushrooms sprouting in our backyard. I took a picture of the pretty one out of the 4 we have growing in our garden.

Dad: Why don't we pluck them and eat 'em?
Mum: Are you crazy? You don't know if its poisonous or not!
Me: (Wouldn't poisonous ones look pretty? In any case, I'm not gonna gamble my life with it...).

Are there any mushrooms in your garden? Or anything foreign growing in your garden in which you did not plant?

Scrapblog!

2011-04-18T11:28:00.000+12:00

Hey guys~~ I realised that in the last year, I have only posted up pictures of interesting things merely to keep it alive. If I am not mistaken, I said to myself years ago that this will be a blog of reflection, and a time to document my thoughts. As I grew older, I kept things at my end very quiet.

While it is just as important not to reveal too much detail, I think that even a bit of effort will help to trigger my memory later on as I look back at my posts. :) So perhaps I am doing this for myself, and you might find my blog boring as I ramble on about what I think. My blog is like a scrapbook. Or...scrapblog ;)

Thanks for reading my thoughts! haha! Tricked you!! If you read up to here, then you're gonna be in for a cognitive roller coaster! Wheeeeeee~~!~!

IBCC 1st year anniversary

2011-04-06T10:47:00.000+12:00

Last weekend we celebrated the 1st year anniversary of International Baptist Church Central. It was a great turnout where brothers and sisters of IBC turned up to celebrate the day.

Choir came to sing.

The Lord's Supper.

Chocablock-full attendance!!! Everyone is squeezing in for a group picture.

Happy 1st year and many more to come!!!

Lovely sunset at Takapuna Beach

2011-03-28T12:34:00.001+13:00

Continuing on from our lovely dinner, we decided to head down to the beach. This is my most exciting post because this is where John and I are improving our camera skills. As promised, more pictures of seagulls plus a bit of action here and there but also breath-taking views.

I caught two dogs playing around with each other on the beach.

And one more as he is playing in the water. John really likes the wave.

John took this picture. It only looks visibly sharp once the photo has been sized down. This picture has not been photoshopped but taken on a clear sky. Do you like it? I reckon its a very good shot.

A seagull riding the wave. Haha life is good isn't it? The birds of the air do not have to worry because all is provided from them (Matthew 6:26).

The moon visibly shining beyond the serene cloud that passes by while the sunset's reflection, trapped by the clouds, enhances the nightsky with a glow. John took this shot and its become one of my favourites.

I love this shot. The moonlight glistening in the waters under the red velvet nightsky. I waited for the seagull to fly by before taking the photo of Rangitoto Island. I'm soooo glad that it came out so well. I'm thrilled.

Before we left the beach, John took a picture of the apartments and the sunset beyond it.

The whole evening had been so much fun and a lot of joy. We were having a great time. One of our last days together before he starts work and will be moving further south away from me. I had a fantastic time and I do hope you enjoy our photos :)

Sentinel Kitchen

2011-03-25T10:48:00.001+13:00

Yay!!! We are here at Takapuna's Sentinel Kitchen. It is a lovely restaurant with a beautiful set up.We had 2x $35 vouchers from GrabOne to eat at this place. It is certainly a higher priced restaurant but we had a fulfilling time. As you can see from the next line of photos, John and I have been practicing using Manual mode on my camera. And in turn, its brought out some really nice photos.

I got my camera out to take pictures instead of looking at the menu. "Looking mighty fine in a white shirt".

Oh look!! A glass of water. I'll just take a shot of that.

Salt and Pepper! I reversed it to get my initials :P

So after playing with my camera, John and I decided to take the best approach of getting value from our vouchers. We had enough $$ to order an entree, a main + pizza, dessert, 1 side, and a hot chocolate :D

Crispy Fried Squid with Smoked Paprika & Parmesan Seasoning.

Pesto Chicken & Bacon Salad with Salad Greens & Homemade Ranch Dressing.

Seafood Pizza Jumbo Shrimp, Smoked Salmon, Capers, Brie topped with Dill Mayo.

Side Potato Salad.

Raspberry Mess Meringue & Vanilla Ice Cream with Chunky Raspberry Coulis.

So here is my embarrassing photo!!! John urged me to post it up online. I was thinking I look alright here...not that embarassing but the very moment I was eating dessert and has some icecream on my lips, I got caught in the act. Hehe totally by surprise.

I like this photo. What are you thinking babe? :)

We spent $67 in total and had a great meal. The food descriptions were taken from the menu and servings are just nice if you wanted to dine for a 3-course meal. The restaurant address and website link (title) is below.

Continuing on from this post is our trip to the beach after we were filled from that delicious n' scrumptious meal. Look forward to the next post! Amazing photos to be shown so stay tuned :) And no, I haven't forgotten those seagulls.

Sentinel Kitchen
3 Northcroft St
Takapuna 0622
09 486 0122
Open: Weekdays 7am-9pm; Weekends 8am-9pm

Devonport

2011-03-24T13:06:00.003+13:00

First of all, its a new blog layout :D whooo! I hope that this isn't too fancy/girly for the guys who are reading my blog haha. John and I both realised that he hasn't been over to the Shore so I decided to give him a little tour before he starts work. We decided to go to Devonport.

The view of Rangitoto Island on Mount Victoria at Devonport.

Both of us were sitting with our huge bag of Shrimp crackers. They are certainly addictive.

Long stretch of road leading up to Mount Victoria.

The view of Devonport from Mount Victoria. 1st picture is the port and 2nd is Auckland City.

My boy, is into wildlife photography and he's been practicing. We had to select the best out of the many shots taken. Let's face it, my camera is not made to capture fast moving animals. Although....

...here is a still picture of a seagull. Tell me, doesn't it look like a hawk to you? Haha.

On our way down from Mount Victoria, passing by shops and cafes.

Next destination: Takapuna! Plus....many more seagulls!!!!!

Auckland Domain

2011-03-21T12:56:00.001+13:00

As said from my previous post, this is where John and I were walking back to his place from Parnell Rose Gardens by cutting across Auckland Domain.

This is such a beautiful tree although John looks like he's blending into it.

John taught me how to shoot the water fountain using a quicker shutter speed. It turned out quite nice.

Beautiful sunlit glow on the flowers.

The pavilion sure looks nice when there are palm trees and rows of flowers surrounding it. Can you imagine a wedding here?

I'm ending this post with an unsual picture for laughter. We found a male statue in the middle of a small piece of land by itself and I wanted to get a picture of it. John offered his posing services and I took it upon him! I got a picture and he immediately wanted to run away from embarassment haha~ well I just posted it online :P Now, he's wanting payback.....so stay in tuned for my embarassing photo that John took of me...although I'd reckon the photo of me isn't that embarrasing. Well you can be the judge of it.

Parnell Rose Gardens

2011-03-11T14:30:00.003+13:00

John and I decided to head to Parnell Rose Gardens for a picnic. He said he never knew there were such nice places within walking distance in Central City. My boyfriend decided to experiment with my camera too, in fact, he knows more about how to use it than I do even if he doesn't have a DSLR; I really need to read more about cameras. This place is perfect for functions and weddings. Click here to find out more information.

We sat down on a bench beneath a tree that had branches growing out sideways and onto the pathway. John used my mega zoom lens and this was what he captured (what we can see from afar beyond the trees).

He wanted to experiment further with the lens by capturing sparrows on the ground as I continued to eat my delicious basil and pesto bread :P He managed to get the sparrow tilting its head haha.

There we go, look at him go after that huge watermelon. It was my idea not to buy spoons...therefore, we had difficulty tackling this juicy watermelon with just our mouths. Two lady jogger's came by and John paused, and his reponse was: a man's gotta have dignity eating a watermelon while 2 females pass by (as juice dribbled down his chin). Crack up~

More beautiful pictures under the cut...

Very small flowers yet it can be so captivating.

Have you ever seen a bird drink water at a fountain? They dip their beaks in and quickly catch as much water they can as they lift their beaks up. I waited to capture this shot just in time as it dips.

I was playing on the contrast of these photos. Its such a beautiful setting especially where the sunlight hits and where shadows cover.

All roses were captured by John for his mum except for my favoute pink and yellow rose. It looks like its been painted with watercolours!!

It was a great day, although we were unable to take photos of many other roses under the bright sun. Our day then continued on as we cut across across Auckland Domain to get back to Central City. There will be a couple more images for my next post. Stay tuned.

Lillies & Roses

2011-03-06T23:46:00.000+13:00

The pictures of lillies and roses were taken at my house. Dad planted roses and different lillies in our garden. Before they started to blossom, Dad would cut off the stalk and put them in old wine bottles filled with sugared water. Oh gosh, the white lillies smelled differently to the bright pink/red ones. Its a very nostalgic scent....like a lolly I had when I was a child. I cannot put my finger on it, and its driving me crazy! Hehe.

I decided to play with the colours of my captured beauties at its blossoming peak. The rest of the photos are under this cut :)

This picture is slightly different to the first one. This photo has been reduced to 16 colours.

Greyscale

I've mixed the palette to favour blue, green then red.

Enhanced yellow eye reduction (the green and pink in this picture is heightened).

Solarised

Opposite to solarised?? You guessed it: Negative.

I'm ending this post with my favourite picture. And this one is perfectly raw & natural, no adjustments made to it whatsoever. What do you think of my photos? Any tips or comments? Hit the comments button below :)

First day back

2011-03-03T12:11:00.000+13:00

I started counting down the days. As each day edges closer, I find myself in a deep pool of thought; everything became surreal. I couldn't tell the difference between reality and dreams. I'm ecstatic to see you again yet it feels like I'm still under a spell.

But you are back, and you turned up with a box of Ferrero Rocher. My favourite chocolates :) I can't tell you how great it is to worship and serve God with you again. Its been a blessing.

Lantern Festival 2011

2011-03-02T19:47:00.027+13:00

My friends and I took a stroll around Albert Park; you'll never bump into all your old friends in one place (in your entire life to exaggerate) more than you do at this time of the year.

Before we headed over to one of the busiest events in Auckland (attracting up to 200,000 people in a single weekend), my girl friends and I sat down for dinner at the Korean restaurant: Favourites. Too bad we didn't take the pictures of the food. We all decided to share 3 dishes among the 4 of us. It was delishhh~ Note to self: the chicken fried noodles had a bowl of rice and less noodles!! We should request for a dish FULL of noodles next time ;).

On our way to the Lantern festival, we met up with the guys. Oh my goodness, the food stalls were packed! And the evening has not started~ it was still very bright at 6:30pm. We walked around the premises taking pictures of lanterns and making out way through the crowd. A lot of pushing and shoving going on haha! I was protecting my camera like it was my baby lol.

Antartic theme. I love the blue colours of lanterns, I've always liked it.

Dinosaurs! Rawr...I couldn't get a better angle because there were too many people...so this will have to do.

The full moon goddess or some Chinese fairy tale?? I actually don't know what this symbolises, and if you can drop by a comment or something to tell me, that will be fantastic!

A whole row of crescent moons.

Lanterns hung on trees all over the park :)

Thanks for a great night out buddies!!

Chinese New Year 2011

2011-02-25T15:19:00.001+13:00

This year marks the Year of the Rabbit - 兔年. According to the Lunar calendar, Chinese New Year can happen as early as Feb or as late as the end of March. In this case, it was 3rd of February. As soon as the Chrissy and New Year's period was over...here comes Chinese New Year! We celebrated it on the last Sunday of January.

We had a good programme for our Chinese folk and it certainly made everyone feel like a family. I'll quit my yapping. Here are some awesome photos:

After worship, we had a quiz/riddles. I didn't understand half of them, but the rest were cleverly designed. Witty and funny. A play was put on: it included two good friends, one who doesn't know God, but the other friend is showing who God is and what He is within the context of the New Year.

Then, we had a competition between 3 groups. Each group was given a bag of props to dress the 'model' and present it to the rest of the fellowship. They even had to catwalk the outfit! haha

Each group had to write on red parchment using their awesome calligraphy skills; describing the theme between their outfit with reference to the New Year.

Lastly, we had a big feast with everyone! They made 'Tang Yuan'- literal translation is Soup balls. Its a tradition to make this when the new year arrives. It symbolises a wholesome year and hopefully, prosperous and full.

~~!!**新年快乐***Happy Chinese New Year***新年快乐**!!~~

My 1st Valentines

2011-02-12T12:37:00.000+13:00

I am ecstatic! 2 boxes worth of goodies was found in my room after I had a splendid lunch and catch up time with my university girls.

I couldn't believe it when I opened up the boxes. All these novelty items that I just looked on the internet just for fun turned up in my room when my boyfriend decided to surprise me for Valentines Day. I was embarrassed about the thought yet surprised at the cost :O *shock came to my face*.Well it has been paid and I can no longer complain about it.Normally I wouldn't celebrate holidays or any cultural traditions...it was how I was brought up at home. So having these gifts meant that it will be something different from now on. Hey, it gives me a reason to celebrate now :D

And I should stop rambling and not keep you all waiting in suspense. My presents are just beyond this post!!!

This serves as a reminder, since John's nickname is Chewy. Plus! It growls!! Owuuuuorrawrrr!! He's soooo cute but furry hehe. I have fluff all over me.

2 matching t-shirts for us with hearts attached to it. Cool trick is that all the lights will go up the closer you are to each other. If you both are far away, only 2 and a half hearts will appear!! Only exception: visible at night XD haha!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Even if you don't get gifts on this day, be happy you get to spend it with the ones you love :)

Samurai Kitchen

2011-02-05T18:45:00.001+13:00

This has become a family favourite as it is cheaper than Narita. We went out with family friends for dinner last night. They decided to order this course meant for 2 people. But I can honestly say that it is a meal for 4 people! There was a 5 meal course...and both families just couldn't stomach it down alongside our own orders. Every time we eat out with them, its like a feast!!!! SO much leftovers!

The menu

Fish lover - Teishoku (fried fish in the middle)

I highly recommend this place; especially for lunch. The food is simply delicious.

Samurai Kitchen
75 Porana Rd
Glenfield
Auckland

How to pick up nuts using Chopsticks!

2011-01-19T13:32:00.001+13:00

Happy New Year everybody! I hope the new year has been treating you well. Let's start this blog with a pair of Chopsticks! Thanks Anne for the awesome link :D

A poem titled Equality

2011-01-02T23:00:00.002+13:00

A good ol' church mate of mine memorised a poem is read a long time ago. He recited this poem for me and I just had to get him to write it down for me. I was so eager to post this online. This is a poem was written by a south island man from the high country. He was bewildered by some of the changes of some womenfolk due to the feminist movement in New Zealand. I think it was in the 1960's/1970's.

Equality

The women folk are playing up, they're kicking up a fuss.

They want to be equal, equal with us.

I've never heard such baloney in my years upon this earth

from those pretty little creatures, those that give us birth.

Why should a slow-eyed beauty with her form and figure fair,

want to be like an oafish man, its more than I can bear.

Those bonny little creatures that we worship from our youth,

want to come and join us on the heap, where alls uncouth.

The rose-bud mouths that called us in dulcet tones and sweet,

have changed to strident fog horns, I'm sure its got me beat.

Those firm pulsating bosoms that we marvel from afar,

have become a jogger's nightmare for they've gone and burnt their bar.

We must put a stop to this before the situation worsens.

There won't be Humans anymore, we'll all be called Hu-persons.

Pray More

2010-12-31T14:28:00.000+13:00

A good church friend of mine gave me this small article about prayer. Take note. It is so true. Let's hope that this gives us a different mindset as to how we pray each day. Have a Happy New Year folks!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
40% of what we worry about never happens.
30% has already happened.
12% focuses on opinions or situations we can't change.
10% is about our health, which only worsens.
8% concerns real problems we can influence.
Think: 92% of our worries are needless.

Worry comes from a Greek word meaning "to divide the mind". Anxiety splits us right down the middle. Rather than take away tomorrow's trobule, it robs us of today's strength. And who can afford to lose strength? "But how can I stop worrying?"

Paul offers a two pronged answer: God's part and our part.
Our part includes prayer & gratitude: "Don't worry about anything, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done."

Do you want to worry less? Pray more! And express your gratitude. God wants to be thanked before He gets invoiced.

Waipa & Delta Cruise gift

2010-12-30T13:19:00.001+13:00

Hey everyone~ I hope that the holidays have been treating you well!! For me, not so much! I was involved in a major car accident. Absolutely not my fault - I was slammed into the back by a 4WD. Just a sudden whiplash, in which I had a sore neck and shoulder for a day. I'm recovering nicely, so no need to worry :)

I do have some pretty awesome photos to show you (not of my incident). My boyfriend took me out to dinner on a cruiseboat for my birthday. Isn't he sweet? ;)

There were 2 levels to the cruise. We sat on the top level and our opportunity to take pictures ranged from sunlit horizons to sunset glows.

Our table.

The sun above Auckland City.

Which one is messing with your head? The real background or the surreal figure next to it? hehe I think that the sunlight made this photo seem unreal. Let me know what you think of it (hit the comments button below)! :)

Auckland City sihouette taken during sunset. I love the cloud in the background. One of my friends said that it was post-card worthy! Haha!! I feel honoured in that case :)

Our dinner arrived raw on hot stones + fresh green salad. We got to decide how long to cook our meal for. I ordered lambchops whereas John had salmon and prawns.

I adjusted the contrast and saturation of this picture to get the full glow of the sunset as how we see it in our eyes. Beautiful isn't it? Any notes that I need to make of? Does it look fake? I'm learning on how to improve my photography. Feedback will be great.

Beneath the Harbour Bridge.

1st: Background is focused. 2nd: Focus is placed on John.

The main meal was a delight and so was dessert. We paid for the experience moreso than the food (that was how I would like to look at it. Food came to $40 each.....I'm still conservative so I pretty much dropped my jaw. However! I am out there to enjoy myself and not think about the cost haha). We hopped off the cruiseboat and roamed around the city. Just in front of my bustop, they had the Rugby world cup 2011 countdown.

I quickly asked John to do a pose. He was unsure of what to do so he let out a sigh, spun round and hung his head down as he walked closer to the site. I quickly took a photo. Natural shot achieved! And he didn't need to do much hehe.

We noticed a strip of reflective metal at the bus shelter and decided to look up. Snap! My baby looks adorable.

I will end it here with a sihouette again :) Its a perfect photo. Missing you my dear.

I feel older....

2010-12-18T22:34:00.000+13:00

ooo I received a surprise from my workmate just before I finished work. She went to pick up a bottle of rose for me and flowers for my birthday. I was revved! What a pleasant surprise. As soon as I got home, I just had to take pictures of it.

Please comment if you like the pictures :) I would like to know your opinion.

Waiheke Island on Labour Day - part 2

2010-12-17T22:36:00.000+13:00

Hey guys! As promised, this is part 2 of my trip to Waiheke Island. Its more green than blue in my first post. Its time to admire the green that is of Aotearoa!

John took this shot. Its one of my favourites because he capture the vineyard landscape and part of the shot has been blurred out by the branches of a nearby tree.

We stopped by a bird park....funnily, its just roosters on a patch of grass. They were calling away and we were trying to get close enough to them without scaring them away.

ooo I love this close up shot of the rooster~ Especially with a long body shot and the other rooster in the background. The camera captures it so clearly.

ugh...I'm fully emitting light...including my fair skin HAHA!! I'm whiter than a white person..oh how modest...XP

This is Stony Batter, a historic reserve. There is a beautiful winding brown road that leads into a long set of dark tunnels where gun turrets for defensive protocols were built on this island for WWII.

Climbing out the hole and onto the turret site.

Cows!! I like this one :)

Ooo and the last 2 photos is just a bit of a mess-around. Let's see whether you can spot it.

It was great fun taking a stroll along Stony Batter especially on a clear sunny day. We had a lovely time and Waiheke Island had become one of our favourite places. Its magical and absolutely stunning. God, I love creation!

Waiheke Island on Labour Day - part 1

2010-12-12T12:31:00.002+13:00

Hello Everyone!! Its good to be back!! A lotttttt of things have happened in the last wee while and only my closest and special friends know of the situation. Trust me, its been a troublesome time but its ended with a lot of happiness at the same time too. I'm growing and maturing more day by day. That is always a plus.

I have gotten hold of a Canon digital SLR 450D thanks to my dad. I have taken ample amount of photos!! I will release them slowly and steadily. I need to get back into the jizz of blogging again :)

Getting used to the camera and functions without reading the instructions manual has its demerits however, I have a basic understanding from what my friend (who is excellent in photography) has taught me, so it was just a matter of experimenting. Plus, my boyfriend is a fine observationist and gave me a few pointers too. :)

First up, Waiheke Island is known for its glorious breathtaking scenery and my was it a beautiful day; not too strikingly hot nor was it piercingly cold. There was a faint breeze that added to the atmosphere. The day just simply couldn't get any better.

Pictures taken on the Ferry.

We hopped on the ferry which takes about 40-45mins to the Island and found out that as soon as we docked, the bus left. The next bus was an hour away....and well, we were not wasting any time whatsoever therefore, we decided to rent a car for the day to give ourselves a bit more freedom. It was the best decision ever made. We cruised throughout the whole Island and it costed us $12 to top up the fuel and rental was $80. Its so much more convenient without time constraints.

We first dropped by Oneroa Beach, Palm beach and finally Onetangi beach. The beaches are so clear and absolutely stunning. Its beautiful when the sunlight hits the waters. Check em out!

At Oneroa beach. Cheeky thing poking his tongue out.

John found a lemon on the beach with a seashell on it and decided to place my shoes beside it.

Ooouch~ rocks are sharp!

Voila. This is my vain model XP

At Palm beach.

We sat on top of rocks and I took this shot. One of my favourites :D

Last beach stop: Onetangi beach, the longest beach on Waiheke Island.

Took a picture of John with aviators on. You can see the beach as well my reflection.

Finally, a scenic shot in which we believe, is to be parking spot of a home owner. Lucky person. We quickly stopped there and took a shot of this lovely view and drove off! Broom broom!

Well my friends, its been a great time showing you the first part of Waiheke Island. The next part covers more green than aqua. But its been a great time just chilling out on the beach and falling asleep under the sun next to your special person :)

A special note

2010-08-22T11:40:00.000+12:00

Its been a long while since I have updated this blog. I haven't lost interested in it. Its just that I have been a little bit preoccupied >_> <_<

Well a lot has happened in the last 2 months. Some good times and bad. Those who are closest to me know what has happened and will continue to support me in my decision. I just hope I will be able to get over this period and look forward to something brighter. Thank you to my amazing friends who are walking with me. I'm so grateful for you in my life.

To a special someone, I have no doubt that your true hapiness will eventually come.

~O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.~ Psalm 84:12

Church Ball - New York City

2010-06-27T21:55:00.002+12:00

My best friend invited me to head out to her church ball one Friday evening. It was a beautiful (but wet) evening and everyone were in their best attire.There was a professional dance couple that taught the youth how to dance jazz swing. I just sat by the side lines and watched haha. I was toooo tired to dance so I decided to pass it up. Here are some photos of the evening:

To be honest, I had no idea what to wear for a ball that was themed New York City. So I just pulled out a dress that I had not worn before. One of my good friends decided to lend us his professional camera for the evening to try out and test it. Hmm...I kinda blend into the balloon background XD

Delicious hors d'oeuvres offered at the table. Garlic bread with different spreads and cheese.

They had a lot of auction items to raise funds for their summer missionary week. That was the main purpose for the event and of course, to put on a specular evening for young adults. The ball sure was pretty.

@ Plant Barn

2010-06-19T08:59:00.002+12:00

Hey all!! Sorry for the late blog post~ Some were requesting my next post, some were waiting in anticipation and some just don't visit anymore :( My computer literally broke down and had to get a new one. So far, all is good :D My computer is quick and reliable, but best of all, I can play Team fortress 2 with no problem. Woot!!! Also, recent turn of events had lead me to NO BED.....as its time for a new mattress!

Ahh....I dread those days where I had to sleep on a fold out sofa bed with hardly any support....hmm.. Boy do I miss rambling on my blog. I seem to have been soooo serious in the previous posts...the stress was really getting to me during that stage. But all is good now :) hopefully~ fingers crossed~!

Anyway, it is time to dish out the photos!! My best friend, her mother and I went to Plant Barn to pick up some plants. And I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some shots.

Lastly, my favourite: This boy saw me taking pictures of the little play garden. I asked him to go into the little house and do a little wave. He ran in, closed the door and did a wave. It was adorable. He made my day.

Harzardous Material & Points of View - Dangerous but true

2010-05-01T09:17:00.002+12:00

These are awesome charts I received from a good friend a while back. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Have a read of it:

Hmm...I wonder if they have a male version instead??

Oh and here's another to dwell on:

Current Mood: pondering

April event - Promoting Healthy Living

2010-04-25T10:16:00.001+12:00

"Promoting Healthy Living" event was a (missionary) event that my church have organised since February. A lot of preparation and hard work has gone into making this event a success. Since this was the first event ever done by a small handful of us, work has been strenuous as there were plenty to cover.

I hardly ever have free time for myself. As soon as I came back home from work, I had to knuckle down and get rid of all adminstrative tasks; not to mention the constant stream of meetings on the best possible way to present this event. I had been stretched to the last possible ounce of energy. I was in charge of administration, gathering food sponsors & selling food, reception and getting supplies for the event. @_@ that's how I felt after all that has happened.

Anyway~ I took the liberty of placing my friends' photography website on the images instead of my blog's name since the credit goes to their photos. Please check their photos out! Its worth looking at and should you ever require their services, feel free to pop them a request http://photoessence.co.nz/ :D

The banner

Selling food outside the church

Hall set up

Guest speakers

Nutritionist in action

Additional information

Presentation

Unfortunately, we were hoping to attract a larger crowd. In any case, I thought that it was a good experience overall and there will be a lot to talk about when it comes to post-evaluation on what could've been done to improve the event for future references. The work has not yet ended! Although a large chunk of it is done :P
Big thank you to:

guest speakers :)
core organisers: Kath, Christy, Alex, Tai (and me)
additional helpers: Paul, Suan, Carl, Daisy
photographers: James & Danny.
nutrition team, translators and the rest who have contributed to the food stalls

Current Mood: phew~ relieved

"Promoting Healthy Living" event

2010-04-05T11:18:00.000+12:00

I am proud to introduce to you an event that my church is organising.

Seriously, there are only less than the number of fingers we have on one hand and we have to produce such a huge event. I am spent!! Not to mention that I have been working full time at a very busy cafe. Hmmm....

Here is the banner that took us about 7-8 hours of painting. Looks good??

Information:
"Promoting Healthy Living"
Sunday 18th April
2pm-4pm
Please do not miss out the opportunity of free medical examination and healthy living promotion.

heart treatment
kids facepaint
food bazaar
lucky draw

And unfortunately, I have no idea what the other points are...as my Mandarin is not too strong. But there will be 2 guest speakers specialising in breast/cervical cancer and general men's health to conduct presentations and offer medical advice.

Here it is hung up just outside our church.

I'm in charge of reception, control management, food sponsorship and I just came back from the weekend of buying supplies that we would need including cutlery, crockery, lucky draw prizes, packs to give out. Wahhh....too many things to think about at the moment!! I have yet to organise to pick up food from all my sponsors who are contributing!! You guys are the best!!! Thank you!!!

With full time work plus organising an event as soon as I return home took a lot out of me. I've been feeling really burnt out in the last couple of days and miserable at times. But God will provide~ as He always does. I will just have to continue and persevere. I do hope everyone had a good Easter break :D

Current Mood: exhausted

Dine in

2010-04-02T19:35:00.001+13:00

Utter ignorance....hmm...I really should start writing in my blog again. I seem to have less and less free time nowadays. My explanation will come up soon!!

But for now, would like to say how great it was to catch up with my dear old highschool friends. We went to Harbour dumpling; a restaurant owned by Koreans. We had a very nice catch up.

Hmmm...tasty fried/steamed dumplings, spicy chicken and spicy noodles.

Then we headed off to Sierra cafe for some coffee. My mocha latte looks good :D

Its interesting as the conversations starts to mature a little since we have last got together. It certainly is a wonderful progress to have friends for so long to grow up with you. I couldn't be more happy. I do hope that everyone is having a good easter break!! You all deserve it!!

Praise be to God. YES! Don't forget that it is daylight savings!

Current mood: tasty

Black sesame seed cake

2010-02-27T22:30:00.000+13:00

hmmmm toasting these black babies in the pan.

This is my first time baking a sesame seed cake. Its quite simple and requires about 1 and a half hours of time to prepare, bake the whole cake and clean up.

Black sesame seed Cake

Ingredients:

1 and a half cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

2 and a half Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

120g butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk (substitute: 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice)

1/4 cup toasted black sesame seeds

Preheat oven @ Bake - 175 degrees

makes one 8-inch round cake

Method:

Combine A in a bowl and set aside.
B: In another bowl, beat eggs together with a whisk. Add sesame oil and vanilla and thoroughly combine.
In a large bowl, beat C using a mixer until it is light-coloured and fluffy.
Add in B a little at a time and beat well after each addition until it is fully incorporated into the batter
Add in 1/3 of A and beat it until just combined. Scrap down the sides as necessary. With each addition forth, beat it only until it is just incorporated. Do not overbeat.
Add in 1/2 of the buttermilk into the mixture and beat it until just combined
Repeat step 5 & 6. Add in sesame seeds with the last 1/3 of the flour
Pour batter into pan and bake for 30-40 mins until golden brown
Cool the cake by inverting it onto the rack.

Thoughts + learning tips

I attempted the cake again for the 2nd time and all was perfect :D You'll understand what I mean when you continue to read further.

In step 3, I softened the butter just a whee too much and mixed it with the sugar. Its softer than it should be and it wasn't light or fluffy but don't be alarmed if that happens. The end result will still be the same.

I actually reached for normal cooking oil instead of using sesame oil for my cake! That was certainly funny as they were placed beside each other in the drawer and I did not realise that I used cooking oil until a few hours later. It still tasted fine though. I can't wait to taste the real thing with sesame oil to see if there is a difference.

Current Mood: gorging...

Steammmboat Chinese New Years 2010

2010-02-21T11:31:00.000+13:00

I hoped that everyone had an awesome Chinese New Year and we cannot forget that it falls on Valentines Day too!! Double day for celebration! If you are wondering if I got anything more than hearts online from my girl and guy friends...haha well its a secret :P or not....D:

Regardless!! I enjoyed spending the day with my church friends in which everyone brought a thing or two for the steamboat. There was plenty of food to go around and everyone ate joyfully. After the church service and sermon, we had a calligraphy contest.

Who said a kiwi cannot write Chinese? :P

My sweeeet lady helping out in the kitchen. She is such a trooper! Look at the food she has to prepare at the table.

More foooooood! :O And I skip for joy

Awww the man on the left always comes in to help out our Chinese ministry even if he doesn't understand a thing in Mandarin. He's sooo patient and kind. The one next to me can speak very fluent Mandarin and his so much stronger than mine.

We also had live performances where everyone would just get a microphone and sing operas, sing K, and everyone would sing along and clap together. Truly is a good time for all those who came from China and have no one to celebrate Chinese New Year with.

Awesome fellowship :D

Speaking of church I have to get ready for it now! Hope everyone has a good day!

Current Mood: elated

Korean BBQ+ 21st K

2010-02-15T23:10:00.000+13:00

Buffet-style Korean BBQ here we come!! Bleh....although I like to eat, too much meat for me is not good either.

There is a hot plate in the middle where you can fry your own meats. At the back of our table is an array of raw meats and korean vegetable dishes. Raw meats include beef tongue, bacon, chicken, squid etc. Some of the sauces didn't have labels so it was really difficult to distinguish by sight. Although I saw plenty of koreans scooping up this type of spice. So I decided to have a taste of it. It was miso with a bit of chilli flakes. Its not bad after you brown up some beef strips :D

Judy with the boys~ the big guy on the left is sooooo funny.

After the buffet dinner, we head to Sing K! I can't remember the place...but the insides were appealing...except for the fact that the doors needed more work and that the toilets really needed a good clean up.

Birthday girl singing :P and good at getting 100% too!

And then it was time to cut the cake! om nomlicious mango birthday cake! Her sis made the white chocolate smiley faces! Cute! Happy Birthday my dear!!! Hope you have a great year and one with many surprises in store :D

Current Mood: la la la laaaaaaah!

Graduation

2010-02-05T18:53:00.000+13:00

Upon my friend's request, she wanted to see some graduation pics. Well here it is! I don't have many since everyone else had better cameras and I decided not to use dad's

The girls who stuck with me through thick and thin :D Oh the stress levels!

This is the colour of my robe. Everyone gathered outside before heading into the theatre.

The start of the ceremony.

Dad's bad attempt to catch a photo of me at the end of the cermony.

So hmm...where will this take me? I haven't got the slightest clue. I am trying my best to send in applications hoping that someone will take the initiative to employ me. I have to admit that a lot of my friends and I are struggling with this because any organisation takes extra care in who they select. It really is quite a painful procedure to enter the market really.....even if you are qualified.

Current Mood: help..

Apego tea lounge

2010-01-30T13:59:00.001+13:00

My friend's and I went to a tea lounge. Its quite funny how they are all more than double-triple my age yet we had fun talking.

I actually did not look at the variety of teas there are. It is certainly a nice display of the different types of teas available. Hopefully I can learn more about tea because I got fairly interested in it only just recently.They also sell Chinese teapots.

There was a hugeeee selection of it. The menu was endless and it made it all the more difficult to actually select what you want. A lot of variety!!

My western friend ordered premium green tea. This little pot here allows the tea to brew. Once it is brewed nicely, you press a button and it will fall into the next compartment below. You can then pour it into a conical flask-like cup. Its a handy little thing really. I told him that he should try something more exotic and authentic than just green tea haha!! No doubt will he do that again next time!

Teh Tarik - creamy tea

$3.50 for a glass. Oh it was soooo enriching...I practically melted. I haven't had this for 10 years! Sad thing was that it costs about 80c in Malaysia & Singapore....jealous!

2B 44-52 WellesleyCentre
on Mayoral Drive off Wellesley Street
Auckland Central
For more info - http://www.apegotea.com/

Current Mood: schweeet

Zoooological birthday field trip

2010-01-25T19:55:00.000+13:00

OH this is long overdue since I haven't been updating my blog for ages. I had quite a full-on weekend last week: in celebrating my friend's birthday, we decided to annoy the monkeys, poke at each other and calling one another names of the biggest creature you can find.

That's right...bunch of 20+ year olds at the Zoo! Avatar call!!!!

The birthday boy is a pro photographer so some of the photos that you see here is significantly different to my digital camera. It was seriously sunny and scorching that day...yet beautiful photos seem to emerge. Lots of my friends are getting into photography now. I think its important to capture beautiful moments of anything. I tend to go for candid ones. Thanks to everyone for the pictures.

Bday boy and his girlfriend aka. Cousin It.

With my friends for the day.

I like this one

Having a snack. Digestives...yum

Pictures of animals!!

We get to feed the giraffe...I wanted to take a snapshot of his tongue eating my celery...but it was gone by the time I pressed the button! I got a bit of slobber and felt the tongue....kinda hairy hehe.

Elephant chucking sand on itself as a protective layer to cool down from the sun's heat.

Pushing a great big log....oomph!

Meerkats!!!

Rare species identified!!! He's with a bunch of kids showing them around as it was a little girl's birthday. While Ronald wasn't looking, my friend placed her foot beside his shoe and took a photo haha! Was soooo funny...and he didn't realise.

James wanted us to stand on the bridge while he takes a photo. Even shot...looks really good

We presented the birthday boy...a digital frame! He was sooo excited :D

His girlfriend gave him a snake. What a fitting present for today's theme. And his snake is trying to have a bite of tofu :P

We then headed for to a Chinese restaurant for a meal. We had peking duck, stirfry meat wrapped in lettuce, egg plant steamed dish, stirfry vegetables, deep fried egg tofu, venison and mutton hot plates.

Off for some pool!

I played against my friend.....she's trying to put me off...but I won in the end....it was a long game haha.

This is a cool shot.

The whole day was a lot of fun! Thank you so much for the awesome time James. I had a lot of fun catching up with mates and getting to know new people. May your year be a productive and one that you will enjoy.

Current Mood: playful

You're Special

2010-01-12T00:40:00.001+13:00

This was a poem given to me by someone from my church. He's really passionate about saving the lost. So here I am typing out this lovely poem. Please take your time to read it.

You're Special.

In all the world there is nobody like you.

There never has been not since the beginning of time.

Nobody has your eyes, your nose, your hands, your voice.

You're Special.

No one can be found who has your handwriting.

Nobody anywhere has your tastes in food or music, art or TV programmes.

No one sees things just the way you do.

In all time there's been no one who laughs like you, no one who cries like you.

And what makes you laugh and cry will never provoke the same laughter and tears from any situation exactly as you do.

You're Special.

You're the only one in all of creation who has your set of abilities.

Sure there will always be someone who is better at one of the things you're good at - but no one in the universe has your unique combination of talents, ideas, skills and feelings.

You're like a room full of musical instruments -- all being played together.

You're a symphony.

No one else through all eternity will ever look, talk, walk, think or do the way you do.

You're Special.

You're Rare.

And like something that is rare you have great value.

That's why you don't need to copy others.

You can accept -- and yes celebrate your differences.

You can risk being yourself.

It is no accident that you're special.

God made you special for a very special purpose.

He must have a job for you that no one else can do as well.

Out of the billions of applicants, only one is qualified, only one has what it takes.

That one is you...

Because you're Special.

Christchurch Grand Tour

2010-01-04T14:40:00.000+13:00

Sadly, I forgot to take home a phamplet of what I saw here so I have pretty much forgot what the places are called!!! AHH!

On Sunday morning, after eating that scrumptious breakfast in my previous post, we hopped on to The Grand tour bus which took us all over Christchurch. Our wonderful tour guide had a funny sense of humour.

First stop was the Mona Vale Gardens.

Beautiful houses beside the river with gorgeous rose gardens. I love this house, I want to live beside a river.

Ducks and ducklings swimming about in the lily pond.

The iconic cupid?? Actually its not cupid...I don't want to make assumptions here...I can't remember the name! In any case, I'm being mean and wanting to arrow my friend. I should've lifted my leg up hehe.

We took pictures at the rose gardens. Beautiful flowers.

Old English Cafe up in the hills - I forgot the name! But it looks gorgeous inside and out!

Jules outside the cafe; holding on to the sundial.

There's a restaurant behind me and I am standing on the stairs.

Playing on the piano and it has candle stands attached to it. Loving the background drop.

Punting on the Avon River. Our punter is from England ;) Gorgeous river that is completely clear and drinkable...if only the ducks weren't swimming in it hehe.

I like it how this duckling is the only one looking back. Perfect picture capture.

Later we went up to the Gondola. Its about 400+ metres above the ground. My ears was popping before we reached the top. Yeesh! Very steep.

But we took gorgeous pictures of the scenery.

We arrived at the beach~ Jules and I had lunch here. After lunch, we went exploring!

Rocks on the beach...haha nice elevation Jules

There is a beautiful cave in which you can walk in. And you can even climb on top of it~

I wrote JQ PS @ Chch. And we asked this elderly couple to help us take a picture of all the writing as we hold the stick. This was the best shot of us and the whole writing and I was teaching Jules to hold the stick vertically with both our hands placed on it. haha....fail.

Apparently my friend found it amusing that I was washing the sand off my feet.

The tour ended as there was Santa Parade in Christchurch. Its not as crowded as the one in Auckland hehe. At the same time, we walked to the famous Christchurch Cathedral Church and had a look inside.

It sure is gorgeous. The middle altar is all stone.

I took a picture of the Lord's prayer in Maori. That's pretty wicked.

On the way back to the hotel~~ and to rest before we headed to a church's night service. We hopped on the trailer :P

That's just about it of the grand tour and the last of my Christchurch posts!!! This is the end of the Grand Tour bus. The bus driver linked arms with me and suddenly said: Oh don't get too close or people will start talking. HAHA cheeky fella. To the right is a cool as Canadian couple who helped us to take photos. Thank you so much for allowing me to head to Christchurch with you Jules!!! Also thank God that we had such an awesome safe experience and got to see much of the beauty that there is to see.

Current Mood: mellow yellow

Christchurch luxurious hotel - the George

2009-12-30T23:06:00.000+13:00

HOPED everyone had a wonderful XMAS!! And best wishes into the New Year!! This entry is about the hotel I stayed at and the food that I ate at their restaurant.

the George is the only 5-star hotel that is located within central city of Christchurch. The most interesting thing is that the staff are very warm and welcoming yet have the most sarcastic/joking attitude ever. I have to say that it certainly is fun to joke along with them. They not only have attention to professionalism but they can be themselves around guests. I think that's a more important quality to have rather than the robotic greetings most hotels adopt. The service in this hotel surpassed my expectations. Truly was amazing.

Have you entered a room and you find that the switches were buttons?!

Plus.....always need to take a picture of the pretty bathroom hehe

This hotel also has the most luxurious 5-star restaurant!! It is gorgeous! Although i cannot remember the name exactly, but oh boy do I feel pampered after eating the 5-course meal.

The backdrop of the restaurant. I quite like this picture :P

On the menu, there were only 2 choices in which we were able to select for certain dishes. Julie and I decided to order separate dishes so that we can try each other's food out. We should make the most of it!

Between the courses, they gave us enough time to digest the food and enjoy the ambience. The sun went down and they started to draw the blinds and turn on the lights.

This was compliments from the chef. It was fried oyster with ------ sauce (can't remember the name). The sauce was tangy and added a zing to the salted fried oyster. For starters, they also gave us bread and bread sticks to dip into olive oil and truffle butter.

First course: A simple dish with fried bits and light cream mix (you can tell that I couldn't catch the names). Its clever how they make the fried bits stand up by following a black piece of paper. The fried bits include peas, onion rings, grilled salmon slices, apple chips and fried bread. And the cream mix was just....really strange to be honest, nothing like I have ever tasted before...my senses are tingling.

Second course ordered by Julie: Tuna Nicoise - liquid olives, ortiz mayonnaise, green bean

Second course: I picked Venison Carpaccio - mustard, rhubarb, truffle toast, olive oil ice-cream. That olive oil ice-cream was delish!! It doesn't even taste like olive oil yet it was creamy....

I felt that the Canterbury Lamb Trio (consisting of poached loin, braised lamb neck, lamb bacon, smoked celeriac, parsley creme) would have been quite a heavy course after I had the Venison course, therefore I decided to choose the snapper as well.

Third course ordered by Jules and I: Snapper - snapper branade crisp, truffled pea tortellini, ponzu gel. The snapper was ooooh sooo good. I wanted to eat more of it.

Fourth course: Miniature cherry souffle

Jules fifth course: Valrhona Chocolate Fondant - salt water caramel, yoghurt sorbet, milk powder.

My fifth course: Goats Cheese Cheesecake - brandy snap with apple and lime mousse and mango sorbet.

I HAVE absolutely no idea what all these terms are!! Its too foreign haha! I know that ponzu is a rare citric Japanese fruit. I can't believe that these ingredients are imported from overseas!! Certainly is high class!

After our dinner, there was complimentary champagne included in the package. We went back to our room to find a bottle of champagne, bottled water, chocolate mints and strawberries with chocolate at our table.

Cheers! Although I didn't really fill up my glass, so when I drank from my glass, I was totally blocking Jules.

Next morning, we headed downstairs for breakfast. The dishes are highly priced (approx $18-$24).

I ordered Bruschetta - garlic bread with mushrooms, thyme and cherry tomatoes.

Jules had Traditional breakfast - sausages, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, bacon etc.

WACKY!!! I am sooo spoiled for food! I gained 2kg after I came back from my trip. And it only lasted a weekend!! hahaha.

Current Mood: Blissful~

Roaming about Christchurch

2009-12-14T13:46:00.000+13:00

Once arriving in Christchurch early morning and got settled into our hotel, my best friend and roamed around the city. The hotel that we were staying at is quite central to the City so everything was within walking distance from us. It was sooo much fun!

Beautiful house! I want to live in this one.

It was the only 5 star hotel within city central. So excited!!

For lunch we just went to eat at the local store in the market. We saw plenty of people buying these pita bread in cups so we went to ask for the stall. This tastes even better than restaurants/cafes (such as Nando's) haha!! The central market that we went to used to be Canterbury university. Now they have moved slightly down south of town. It has very old English buildings with stone which were established in the late 1800's.

As we were walking around, I saw a father and daughter playing cello on the street. I decided to take a picture with them :D

Clock just outside the old Canterbury University.

Lamb pita bread.

Taking pictures with the shop owner.

We went around the market area to have a look. The art gallery and local museum was within walking distance. Very talented people.

The Dux Lux - known for brewing its own beer.

Outside a dyslexic centre

Eating my pistachio gelato ice-cream.

Gingko!! That helps with brain circulation and blood circulation. Hmm knowledge is power.

Around the old campus.

At the school hall but what is known as town hall now. We were trying to dance and perform :P

The back of the town hall, there was a stained-glass window. Very nice

Bought a teapot from this woman as a souvenir gift to my parents.

Later we went to the Canterbury museum. Its not as big as Auckland's but its still nice.

I say this fossilised fish looks tasty!

Real life mummy here that was brought over from Egypt. Usually you would have to be pretty significant in order to have a tombstone made for you in Egypt once you die. Although much of the hieroglyphics were difficult to decipher, it was said on the coffin that this lady had 27 maids under her authority.

This guy peering down from the window, I gave him a kiss. And my best friend is real upset with him because he is seeing another woman HAHA!

All types of rocks

The coolest quartz ever found in a shaft in America! I am ending here with my favourite photo. Will blog more about my hotel experience next time!

Current Mood: soothing~

Twen-ty OnE!!

2009-12-13T00:57:00.000+13:00

Phew!!! I had quite a full on week since last Friday until now. Guess I will take you through the process of it. Get ready to see lots of photos!

My highschool mates

My sweetest friends

Church mates

The birthday cake made by my friend's father who owns the bakery. THANK YOU!! It was delicious!

GROUP HUGZZZ

Some of the most insane but crack up presents that I got were:

Chocolate roll cake towel

Seeing how everyone knows I love chocolate and am addict they got me a crack with chocolate recipe book yeeeeee~~ though I have no idea where to start!

The card's title: The Lady and the Chocolate
Chocolate: You want me Lady don't you? You want me! You WANT me!
Lady: No Chocolate, I do not want you, for after the initla pleasure there is SICKNESS and there is GUILT.
Chocolate: That, Lady is the REASON FOR MY EXISTENCE. Are you to deny me the REASON FOR MY EXISTENCE?
Lady: No, chocolate. I would not do that.
Chocolate: Thank you.
(A munching sound is heard, followed by a sigh of pleasure).

Lastly......my friend who walked into the store to get me this gift had a strange stare from the lady at the counter. She quickly yelled...its for my friend!

MR Right lip gloss! Find your MR. Right instantly after putting it on HAHAHA!

I want to say Happy Birthday to my cousin! You know who you are! Wishing you a blessed life. Also thank you so much to James who have been taking professional photos....knowing when to capture those moments by dashing in and out without anyone taking any notice. VERY pro!!

Hope you enjoyed all the craziness from my blogging where more than half of it was my friends' doings. Thank you to those who have attended my party and shared a special moment with me and my family. Next blog topic~~~my trip to Christchurch with my best friend!

Current Mood: cake~~ yummy

Classic Chocolate Cake receipe

2009-11-30T23:15:00.003+13:00

It tastes like brownie but less dense!! I suppose you can't really complain much about it there. Its too delishhhhous! The first time I made it, it took me 2 hours to prepare. 2nd time I made it, I got the gist of things and I cut down my time to an hour of prep. Pretty good to cut down the time in half :P

haha even my brother was shocked that the first one turned out so well. Well it was kinda silly of me to attempt baking a sponge cake which requires skill without even first knowing how to bake a simple cake. Ohh I am soo happy about the results! Its not sweet but also has a bitter sweet taste to it. Sugar is just right!!

Classic Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven 170c

Makes a 7 inch cake.

150g Dark cooking chocolate

100g butter at room temp

30g cake flour

15g cocoa powder

70g Caster sugar

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

Icing sugar for dusting

Melt chocolate over hot water bath. In the meantime, sieve the flour + cocoa powder together.
Add in butter to the melted chocolate. Mix well until fully incorporated. Set aside to cool.
Separate egg whites from the yolks (use bigger bowl for yolks).
Beat the yolks, then beat in half of the caster sugar until thick, creamy and custard-like.
Add the choc/butter mixture into the yolk mixture. Whisk well
Fold in the flour + cocoa to the yolk mixture gently using a spatula.
For egg whites, add a pinch of salt and start beating. Once it becomes bubbly, add in sugar gradually and keep beating until it becomes foamy and soft peaks form.
Preheat the oven. Fold the beaten egg whites to the yolk in the addition of 3 gently until all is mixed well
Place it in the round tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or test it with a toothpick to know if it is fully baked
Let the cake stand in the tin for 5 minutes before fully removing it to cool on the rack. Dust icing~

Step 2: Melted butter in chocolate

Step 4: starting to beat the egg yolks with the sugar - the colour starts to turn lighter

Step 5: Adding the chocolate/butter mixture to the yolk mixture. The mixture turns into a darker brown shade.

Step 7: Egg whites with soft peaks...you can tell when it hangs from the whisks and it doesn't fall like liquid.

Step 8: The eggwhites starts to dissolve into the mixture

Ready to go into the oven!!

Notes:

I used standard flour (or all-purpose white) + corn flour as a substitute for cake flour.

The ratio for substitution - 1 cup of flour : 2 Tbsp of cornflour
Since 30g of flour was about a quarter, I used half a Tbsp of cornflour

Hot water bath - heat up a pot of water and place a metal bowl over the top. When water boils, the metal bowl conducts heat and allows you to melt chocolate that way.

Hmm..I didn't read the recipe carefully and should have continued beating the egg whites further until it has stiff peaks. I will remember that next time.

Using the round pan produces better results than the square one. Its because the round pan has an even surface area rather than the square where sometimes the batter brushes up the sides or corners unevenly. For that reason, the square cake started to form cracks and sink in the middle.

Credits to http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2007/08/breakthrough.html for the recipe. Check out her blog~ It has lots of tasty treats.

Current Mood: scrumptious!

2009 2nd half year reflection

2009-11-19T12:00:00.001+13:00

Phew! After those last 2 posts, I think things have settled down a bit. Although, lately I still don't really feel up to par about some things. I have games to pass the time anyway.

This was what my project was based on. 90 pages and 20,000+ words worth of writing, reediting and proof reading! Gave me the worst headache ever. But it was worth it in the end because all that hard work produced a good mark for me.

Good news is that I will be graduating soon!! Will let you folks know when you can come to my graduation ceremony :D

I am sooo stoked!! I couldn't be happier about my mark! All thanks to God! To be honest I had gone through such a rough patch in the 2nd half of the year. Uh oh...here comes reflection..

I really really could not have survived if it weren't for the Lord's encouragement. Most of the burden/suffering that I carry, I don't think many would have been able to do so (no, I am not trying to boast). I am not sure if this makes me a stronger person in character or the fact that I may have matured after the series of events, but have definitely started to grow more patient and possibly slow to anger?

I still have the impeccability to be ditsy and clumsy at times hehe That, I cannot seem to shaken off! I will post up more things soon.

Current mood: Beaming

2009-11-02T11:48:00.000+13:00

went to pay you my respects yesterday....tears wouldn't stop streaming down. Sigh...

Don't know how I will cope at your service.

Thank you, really.

Thank you.

Dedicated n devoted always

2009-10-30T17:36:00.000+13:00

I wondered why I couldn't sleep last night. I kept on thinking and thinking....somehow refusing to go to sleep. This morning, feeling a little weary, I received a message that a very close spiritual mother of mine at church has passed away. I was devastated, but could not shed tears for I knew that she is at peace with God. She had supported us right up until the time she was about to leave. And we loved her, she will always be dedicated and devoted to everyone else but herself. A true and most humble servant of God, a true prayer warrior for Him.

Its not R.I.P (rest in peace) as most people will say to those who have passed away but she is now at peace, and sitting beside God.

Happy Autumn Festival!!

2009-10-26T15:38:00.001+13:00

I was meant to complete this a month ago....but in any case, I am here to blog about it! This happened on Sunday 4th of October although the 3rd of October was the actual celebration.

WoW~ we decided that the Mandarin Ministry should celebrate it with steamboat!!! WAH!!! So happy that everyone brought something! In actual fact we had soo much food that we had plenty of leftovers and everyone could bring something else home!!

I took plenty of photos!! Mooncakes and Steamboat are the best combination!!

Table full of food!! Lamb, seaweed, fungus, mushrooms, fish balls, cuttlefish balls, veges, vermicelli galore!

My favourite pictures with the young and old.

Laughing and watching them play pool together. Its a refreshing photo.

The harpoon technique :P

Group pictures

We all celebrated birthdays and the graduation of Dr. Vogel!! Congratulations!!

Current Mood: 太幸福了

NZ Chinese pageant 2009

2009-10-23T22:23:00.000+13:00

YES!!! I finished my project!!!! And now...blogging about the NZ Chinese pageant 2009. On the 23rd of September, the NZ Chinese pageant of 2009 was on! The reason why I went there was because my friends were competing: one from my highschool, and the other who was an old friend.

Ahh...the stage was sooo far away and I can't believe that I paid $25 to watch it through binoculars. Next time, just watch it through tv. I had to do a little bit of translation for my other friends who were unable to hear Chinese properly (I need to practice my Chinese more).

Anyway, I picked up this magazine at work a while back and these were the results.

I wanted the 3rd person to win. She was pretty good! Did not realise that she was the youngest of the whole bunch at 17 years of age. She is very capable and played the Chinese dulcimer (I loved it!! I want to know where my grandma's one went) and then she moved on to kung fu. Red belt is just one level under the black belt, I think that was what the girl said. Looks alot like my friend Danya, don't you think???

Unfortunately, most of the talent pieces were dancing only. To me, I don't think that most of the items performed by the girls were something that they have been doing since young. The standard just doesn't really add up, which was why the girl who came 3rd was the most interesting one to me. She had real talent skills and technique.

My friend in the middle walked away with the 'Most dynamic' girl of 2009.

Current mood: feeling dazed...

10th slash 10

2009-10-22T00:00:00.000+13:00

Ahh....this blog with the lack of updates is killing me. What is killing me more is that I am this close to finishing my project and I cannot seem to bring myself to finish off my executive summary. So I came online to blog hehe.

My friends and I got together to celebrate her birthday.

Gosh!! Her auntie owns a Chinese restaurant and we had the dishes reheated. There were dumplings, beef and celery stir fry with chilli, chicken and green pepper stir fry, pork strips with chili and best of all...smoked duck. ALL my favourite dishes!! I just kept on eating and eating; especially those with chili

She specially ordered chocolate mud cake from Gateau House. SO RICH!! And I ate 1/8 of it...talk about satisfied!

Gosh! The plastic knife was unable to pierce through the cake thoroughly! It was that dense!

The taiwanese tradition: The current birthday girl cuts half of her cake. The person who celebrates his/her birthday next will get to cut the other half of the cake as a symbol of her birth date drawing near. But in the end, nobody knew how to cut the cake so I ended up cutting it up to one-eighths.

We basically like to XP

Current Mood: yum....chocolate and chili!

Yakiniku Bento - fried beef

2009-10-16T13:31:00.000+13:00

Aww...they said that this was a new menu...next time...we must try Ox tongue!! Originally we wanted seafood but mum opted out because she thinks that the restaurant got it from vacuum-packs and not off the seafood market.We went out because....our sewage pipes in the neighbourhood is getting a good clean! SO we actually have to minimise the usage of water from 7am to 7pm!! That is the worst time ever. Therefore, we went to a Narita restaurant to eat!

First goes the butter!

Then comes the red meat...bloody red!! Yummy....haha

I only managed to shoot half of my bento! WHY?!

It was the same thing that I had last time except for the fact that it is bento and just several dollars more. I still enjoyed it though....at the end, we were expecting their very-own made ice-cream but then they started handing out mooncakes. DELISH!! I missed that kind of cake that they always make in Singapore! Rarr....I must ask mum for recipe.

Narita
3/31 Link Drive, Glenfield
North Shore

Current Mood: yumyum...