Rainy weekends

My recent workload's positively killing me...which I kinda expected given that my contract's ending soon...but due to unforeseen circumstances, it's even worse than i had imagined. Thank goodness I don't have to work this weekend, which allowed my exhausted mind and body ample rest...something I really need after bringing work home to work on till midnight almost every day this week.

Work complains aside, I'm really happy with the discovery of stanza, an e-book sorta application for iphone which is so sleek and easy-to-use that i managed to finish 3 Agatha Christie novels in a week! No more long weekly or even monthly waits just for 1 miserable novel to turn up at the library. Now that's a fine example of a free application that is actually useful!

On a side note, I have 3 things which i really really want but probably can't get due to all sorts of reasons like lack of space & money. Anyway these things are mere wants and not necessities so i can make do without them until the right opportunity presents itself.

Anyway, check out these really sweet interior designs (there are much more @ apartment therapy, one of my favourite sites to visit when i have nothing better to do)

1-in-1

Made this super easy & tasty ice-cream some time ago and the fantastic thing about this ice-cream recipe is that it requires 1 and only 1 ingredient which is...monkey fruit!! Whoever came up with this recipe is quite the genius!

Freeze banana slices --> blend till creamy --> freeze again --> serve with sliced fruit --> into the tummy --> burp!




Anyhow i'm drowning in work once again (especially after returning frm a wk's holiday) which is terrible till the point that I have to bring work home to rush over the weekend and even during weekday nights! I really really can't wait for my contract to end. Soon now.

p.s. is it me or is my journal turning into a recipes rant page?

Recent happenings

Work's been crazy this week (worked OT thrice) and my office pc crashed on me so had to go without e-mails for the whole wk. Thank goodness i saved some of my essential files to work on and LUCKILY the IT technicians manage to retrieve all my files frm the HD. If not...

Anyway, i was ill for practically a week (nasty flu) and am still having a wicked cough which i hope will go away soon.

Below are a bunch of pics taken over the last couple of months.

Biking with my psych pals at ecp



View frm S'pore flyer. Got 10bucks tics 'cause of some VWO promotion during CNY so brought my grand aunts on a ride


And i havent been slackin' on cookin'. Me and colleagues had a baking session one of the evenings after work and we made Lava Cake (recipe from 8days) which was semi successful (will try it by myself again one of these days). Also, i made sushi with my mom for lunch today!


Lastly, we have a new addition to the family! A pretty friendly fella adopted by my dad- it was posing on our main door when my dad scooped it up and placed it on one of the potted plants. I think it likes us cause it'll look at me when i talk to it and pose prettily for us to take pics of. I've named it Minty. Can u spot it?

The sun, the sea and the fishes

Just got back from an extremely fruitful and exhausting trip to Pulau Aur over the weekend; successfully completed 5 dives and am now a certified PADI open water diver :)

Didn't take much pictures mainly because i had too much gear to handle (the entire diving gear plus air cylinder are more than a handful) and was too tired most of the time (my entire body's aching like crazy frm muscle cramps & sun burns).

Arriving @ diver's lodge (our accommodation on the island) close to 7am on Sat


Brilliant view from our humble abode


View of diver's lodge from the water


Our dive gear


After a couple of dives on Sat


On the whole it wasn't as scary an experience as i imagined it would be; couple of my friends told me the 1st dive is usually quite frightening but i found it quite thrilling. I'll probably never forget that mixed feeling of apprehension & excitement while waiting for my turn to descend for the 1st time. The rest of the dives were pretty alright with the exception of my 4th dive- had trouble equalizing my right ear when i first descended (probably due to the tiredness) which resulted in extreme sharp pain & I had to surface to clear the pressure.

Was somewhat disappointed by the view underwater though- always imagined very clear waters, loads of colourful corals, fishes and marine creatures but it wasn't really like that, especially for the corals which were mostly dead or half dead. Perhaps its got to do with the location 'cause they were saying that Tioman has much more colourful corals. In fact, i find the view during my snorkeling experience in Redang some years back even more beautiful and that was only snorkeling! Oh wells, maybe i'll get a chance to dive in those places another time. For now, it's back to r&r before i go back to work tomorrow :(

Rainbow Cake

This week has been a most terrible one for me- exhaustion, blunders, wounds, bruises, aches and more...it's probably the worse week ever since i started working but with that said, i don't want to go into the details. Blunders are lessons one learn from and life goes on as usual.

On a side note, i had cake therapy this afternoon (though with all the mess about, the process might have been more stressful than therapeutic). Anyway, i got a rainbow cake recipe off Omnomicon some weeks ago and have been meaning to try it out since the end result looks so pretty!

First, the white cake mix batter


Then, dividing the batter into 6 portions, each portion filled with a rainbow colour (doesn't this look like art class for the kids?)


Spreading the batter in layers (was supposed to make 2 layers of cake but the first was undercooked and smashed up when i removed it from the oven so i was left with 1 layer)


And the only cake layer i was left turned out far from perfect as the top cracked while baking :(


What it looks like inside


With chocolate sauce


To tell the truth, it doesn't taste that nice- very artificial and play-dough like. A kid would probably love it though. Very "alice-in-wonderland". Speaking of which, i caught the movie on fri with cchua and it was average. Nothing spectacular but nothing exceptionally bad as well. Probably 'cause we all know the story already. "Pan's Labyrinth" still remains my favourite dark fairytale movie.

Dogs & food (do not mix)

When im free, im really free. When im busy, i can hardly breathe. Starting last week, assignments and deadlines have been flying in all at once. The rest of March will involve plenty of burned weekends, analyses and report writing :(

I can't wait for April as there might be a possible (dive) trip to M'sia then!

CNY is special this year since its my year!
The second batch of p tarts made on the eve of CNY



My aunt's extremely cute terrier!


French dinner and more with auntie sk and family



Last bt not least, i had one of those impulsive spree moments 2wks ago & wasted almost $50 on a bunch of really sweet and cool-looking stickers + mini posties from arty knick knack shop, Cat Socrates.


The latest 44 Scotland St novel is as good as the previous one and slow me has only recently started appreciating Agatha Christie's works. How nice is it to have a library near your workplace!