Full Circle

It seems like I ‘ve come full circle.  After nearly more than one half of a decade I found myself meeting up with my so called first love today, finally!  Impossible, I would say if you had ask me whether I’ll have predicted this last year or the year before or the year year year before!  But here I am now….. with my past behind me and somehow impossibly also right in front of me!

How do I feel?  If I’d said I felt nothing I would be lying.  Anticipation and ecstatic is what I’ve been feeling these past few days.  I mean who can discount the fact that I’d once been with this man with such a dramatic end to our liaison!

On the eve of Halloween I read this article on the characteristics of vampires and I thought he fits the bill perfectly.   He signifies all the traits that I found appealing in a vampire.  No wonder I’m so into vampires!  Loyal, a loner, giving others space, silent, brooding, dresses snazzily, the ultimate bad boy!

After meeting up, I think I’m more the vampireress than him vampire!  He doesn’t dress snazzily!

I feel like the Lord is leading me to walk down a new path(which is not a bad path altogether) after I’ve decided to end my misery.  It feels good actually and empowering.  It ’s true, when the Lord closes one door, he will open another for you.

Parisian Nights

Materials : Charms, faux pearls, korean glass beads, swarovski crystal

Autumn Dreams

My favourite season of the year.  Autumn brings with it a sense of melancholy that envelopes me.  So serene and romantic,  perfect and colorful…..

In case any one is wondering why I’ve been absent from regular posting, may I now present to you my endeavours – things that have been keeping me busy for a while and hopefully for a very long while to come.

Autumn Leaves – glass pearls that encompasses all the colors of autumn with leaf/maple charms hanging from it. USD16

Autumn Hearts – antique bronze heart locket which can be opened as its centerpiece and various other heart charms, czech glass beads. USD 12

Chunky antique bronze/brass charm bracelet – glass pearls, various charms, polymer clay flower.  USD 23

Hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I did making them!

Mid-Autumn Memories

The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eight month of the Chinese lunar calendar which falls in the midst of autumn and hence its name.

A day where we used to pray to the moon with the burning of incense and offerings of special delicacies .  We, the children(as this was a long time ago) would light our lanterns in various animal shapes while in the hope that we don’t burn down the poor animal or at the worst the whole house!  The more adventurous like the writer herself would try making bonfires from dead dried leaves and everything else that is inflammable and within grasp!

As cruel as it may sound we even BBQ any unfortunate house snails(in keeping with the tradition of eating  snails from taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil)that we can find lurking in the garden.  By the time we were done with the snails it’s usually about time the praying was done as well and time to have some real food like moon cakes, cooked taro(at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight), chinese tea(green tea is not popular then)and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns.  My dad made toys out of these which I’m not exactly sure how to play with though! :p

We will sit on the swing, rocking back and forth, admiring the brightness of the lady moon, singing moon lullabies taught by my granma and my mom……

Those were the days….how fond are these memories to reminisce…..

Japanese lanterns have more or less overshadowed the traditional animal shape lanterns which we used to play with when we were kids.

The original mooncakes are made with lotus paste, lotus & melon seeds and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival.

Nowadays, mooncakes are made from every possible ingredients that you can imagine!  Even Starbucks has their own mooncakes with cheese and mung bean fillings.  A total fusion of East and West.   Pictured above is the Tiramisu with a generous layer of Starbucks Coffee and lotus paste which I personally favored over their Berries Cheese.  What is Starbucks after all if without their coffee!

The inside of Starbucks Berries Cheese with raspberries,dried cranberries and strawberries mix.

My favourite Teochew mooncake with crispy outer layer swirl pastry and yam filling inside.  You’ve got to eat this hot from the oven to get its best flavor.

Snowskin and lotus paste so soft and smooth that it might just melt in your mouth.

The newest addition to my list of must have – Shanghai mooncakes.

My absolute absolute favourite – picture mooncake biscuits.  They used to come in more shapes and sizes.  Now you are lucky to even come across them.  They just don’t make it as good and as many as they used to anymore most probably due to lower demand as compared to the mainstream mooncakes.   I wouldn’t be surprised if they totally disappear from the market a few years down the line.

An updated version of the mooncake biscuits. These are softer in texture but look kinda dreary – a blop of baked flour.  Taste good nevertheless.  It was better last year though.

Jelly mooncakes.

Cooked taro eaten by itself or dipped in sugar.  Also a firm favourite.  Anything taro also called yam is good with me.  I realised the older generation(which is sadly, me) tends to like anything yam.  How about a yummy yammy club for all yam lovers, serving all things made from yam!  Not a bad idea eh!

Patisserie RUI

I was invited to a bakery opening in Mont’ Kiara not too long ago.  Suppose to blog about it earlier but knowing Ms Slowpoke here….be patient with me okay…

Anyway, why was I even invited(since I do not even know the owner) or more appropriately gate-crashing someone’s opening celebration? Solely because I love cakes and bakeries and big-mouthed me politely asked whether I could take some photos while being there.  And voila the next thing I knew I’ve been promoted to be the official photographer for the event! Not that I’ve many top grade photos to show the poor owner or even forwarded to her yet as I am writing here.  The good thing was her official photographer showed up after all.  So that put half the pressure off me and thus the non urgency of the task.

A quaint little bakery located along the Mont’ Kiara Meridin Promenade and owned by an extremely talented young girl who single-handedly bakes all the cakes on sale!  Someone told me that she’ll throw out every other cake(which makes her a not so good entreprenuer!) that doesn’t meet her requirement be it big or small.  So be rest assured the quality of the cakes you get are stringently controlled, ISO certified good to eat!  Just in case yo guys are wondering, Mont’ Kiara is the neighbourhood of the rich and famous.

This is their signature red velvet cake – Valhrona Pure Cocoa Cake brushed with Felchlin 54% Dark Chocolate with Rui Signature Light Cream Cheese Frosting.  Mmmmm…..cake so moist and soft and cheese frosting so light.

Princess Torte which I have not yet tasted.  Looks fit for a princess though.

The lemon meringue was served in miniature sizes during the cocktail reception for the opening and it was good.

The very innovative claypot fruit cake.  You heard me right – claypot!  The only claypot dishes I’ve ever had are claypot chicken rice and chinese dishes cooked in a claypot, definitely not cakes!

Another of RUI signature cakes – the white chocolate cheesecake

Cookies

All of RUI’s delicious cakes and bakes come in this Victorian inspired trademark box.

The tools of the trade

Come time to say good bye every guest is given a RUI box containing freshly baked bread, muffins(very fragrant and moist), chocolate chip cookies(delicious) and a mini jar of Bonne Maman jam.

Haven’t eaten chocolate that is this bitter in a while.

Verdict: A very impressive opening bite that will surely bring you back for more!

Do check out her website@www.patisserierui.com if you would like to view yummilicious pictures of all her lovely decorated cakes and more of the RUI story.

Rose Rose I Love You…

This is my lovely beauty diary face mask in bulgarian white rose.  My favourite because it is rose scented(but of course) and most part also because you can really see the immediate result of a more even skin tone right after application.  It brightens up your overall complexion and skin becomes well hydrated and soothed. This hottest selling facial mask from Taiwan comes in many varieties formulated with different natural ingredients to suit every skin type and needs. Value for money too as they are priced reasonably at less than USD1 a piece!  Definitely recommended before your big night out if you are thinking of attracting second glances from the guys!

Can you see the colorful orange rose motifs amongst the flowers?  Yup this is my finger biting hot just out of the oven Nike shoe in my favourite color, purple.  Even if it is only the tick that is in purple, not forgetting certain parts of the sole as well!  LoL

Hmmm….seriously….

Morrow Was Here & Gone

I know I know morrow was more than two weeks ago and here I am only about to post the events of a birthday long gone.  Somehow just couldn’t find the time to do any blogging lately.  Yes, Ms Slowpoke here.

Here’s the recount…

Other than decking ourselves in our best attires(until our parents thought we were attending a wedding or a party!) in the early morn(as in 10am) we didn’t actually do much for the day.  Some may even consider it a laidback day.  But it was a tiring laidback day!  Talk about getting old.  Stopped by Kinokuniya to check out some books, doing lunch at the Concorde Hotel followed by our young wizardry movie date and finally dinner at Ms Read.  And the day has already gone by.  Just goes to show there really isn’t that many hours in a day for us to waste!  Hence, my out of time post or a well thought out excuse!

To begin with, this is my cute carrot cake in a cup version baked by my sister.  Cute leh….tastes good too.

Followed by a hurried unwrapping session of my pressies from sis.  In any case, I have no idea why we were hurrying since it was supposed to be a laidback day!  As you can see I’ve received lots of biscuits to munch on(befitting my Biscuit Queen title) and about four paperbacks.  And the singular most exhilarating moment must be when I held Adobe Lightroom 2 in my hands.  Words cannot expressed enough of my happiness.  I was totally inclined to carry it out to lunch with me.  The idea was to hang on to it wherever I go for the day just to be able to shake and peek at the box whenever I like may sound pretty crazy.   If you have not realised by now, Lightroom is a software that needs to be installed in your computer and not to be carried around!    But that was how excited I was.  Of course the plan was abolished at the last minute less the public thinks I am really mental!

This is another comic book especially autographed and caricatured by the author for me.  I think his drawing doesn’t do me any justice.  I definitely look better than this in person or even in print! lol

Some Chinese dim sum we had for lunch at Xin Cuisine, Concorde Hotel.

All my favourite fried and crispy dishes – egg tarts, crispy yam dumpling, sesame lotus balls.

Desserts time at Ms Read – strawberry chocolate pavlova and black forest cake in a glass.  I like the black forest in a glass better.

Another pressie which was too beautifully wrapped till I felt a little reluctant to unwrap it.

Beneath the layers of lovely wrappings is the most heavenly rose scent you could ever dream of in a bottle of shower gel and a tub of body lotion.  So subtle yet intoxicating, you could almost feel it gently caressing your body and enveloping your senses.  With it on I could sleep peacefully and blissfully throughout the night.  For a self-confessed non-girlie girl, this has just made me realised I do have a weakness for anything rose tinge after all.

What Will Morrow Brings

The day….19…07….2009…..

Dear Mr Froggy,

What will morrow brings?

Watching Harry Porter & The Half Blood Prince is a certainty.  Other than that I know not what has been planned for me!  It has been hinted though that it will last me 12 hours at the least beginning from nine in the morning with no changes of clothing possible in between! Hmmmm….. Whatever it is, I think I shall douse myself in the strongest perfume I can get my hands on just in case I stink before my twelve hours are up! It’s gonna be a hard day’s work…….

A prequel to what is to come – carrot cake baked by my beloved mastermind sister.  Haha

Miracle 09′

My first Miracle!  For those uninitiated it’s a fund-raising event organized annually by Fitness First for non-profit organizations.  The honored recipients this year are the Agathians Shelter, an orphanage for boys founded in 2003 and the Shelter Home for Children, in existence since 1981 to help abused, abandoned, neglected or at-risk children.  Okay, nuff ad time!

This is the smiley face logo doubled up as a Go Green campaign?

I always had the impression that such a gathering would nonetheless be a claustrophobic experience, thus my aversion to it.  But  it was surprisingly calm and manageable.  Hmmm…is it because of the sliding economy or the H1N1 pandemic scare that people are staying indoors and away?

Sweat, I did not.  Perspire maybe.  I was busy circling the encampment looking for the perfect spot.  Not so much perfect as in at least a spot where our view were not that obstructed.  If you’d happened to be strolling at the Curve and came across these two crazy women perching on a ledge of not more than six inches wide for more than two hours, intermittently screaming encouragement to the performing groups, yes, that’s us!  These, other than the thorns poking at the back of our legs and the leafy tree falling in front of our view.  It was a miracle in itself that we didn’t fall off the ledge and topple over some innocent bystanders below us!

I heart Body Balance 45!  The tracks are really soothing especially track 4.  ” How can I just let you walk away, and let you leave without a trace…….”

This very fragrant flower which I know not the name invokes memories of yesteryears.  We used to grow this in our garden and my granma used to ask me to pick them for the altar tables.  That’s the reason I remembered it so well.

Body Combat 40.  Nice movement combos.

Oh yeah and this being it’s 10th birthday.  Happy Birthday Body Combat!  We love you!

This might look like some street demo by some street activist or another going to turn ugly.  They are in fact the unstoppable jammers waiting eagerly to crash into the ring!  Get set, ready……CRASHHHHHh!

The Mama Stepper group performing their thang for the TRIBE challenge.  Okay the big afro hairdo is a turn-on!

The group from Bukit Tinggi, Klang doing their Karate Kid, Rambo, Thriller & Mamma Mia all roll into one sketch.  This is the Thriller Vampire (ooo….vampire I like)bit.  A funny sketch and befitting of the first runner up title.

And may I present to you the winner of the TRIBE challenge for the night – The Invisible Protege.  Wo-hoot!  This is my one and only miserable shot of them due to shooting from the fringes and my laziness to lug around my kg heavy(to me anyway) flash.  Well, at least I got one considering their invisibility!

My Bead Board

I admit I crumbled under pressure.  I bought a bead board.  Undoubtedly, owning one makes one feel ever so slightly more ready to take on the world of beading seriously.

The said bead board.  Supposedly aids in designing stages as you can now lay out your ideas on the board and see for yourself the end product as compared to just visualizing it in your head or sketching them down on paper.  With it beads loss is also minimized since your beads won’t be flying around all over the place now that they are safely on the board.  Unless of course that someone was me, the whole board might just flip over! lol

My first batch of cameos imported from US has arrived!  Yey!  I absolutely heart them.