Life in the pink box

Walk in the park

2011-07-09T23:50:00.002+08:00

Lately we have been visiting the newly done up park a short drive from where we live.
this is Bishan Park... looking rather pretty eh.
Its a good time to get out and get some exercise!

Samuel also loves seeing the doggies of different shapes and sizes taking their walks.
Its amusing to see him point at them and go "wow!" and attempt to follow them.
He's even had a few chances to pat a few friendly dogs!

Yummy!

2011-03-28T00:45:00.001+08:00

Matcha Oreo!! Yummy....
Depletion of my Tokyo trip's stash :S

A beautiful prayer for Japan by Paulo Coelho

2011-03-14T10:48:00.004+08:00

We pray for Japan

Its so sad to see one of my favorite countries look so devastated on the video clips online and on the news. :(
no words can express those terrible pictures of the tsunami destroyed land. Sigh!
Say this prayer today for all in Japan!

I'm back!

2011-02-08T16:54:00.004+08:00

Ok... i know I've droppped off the face of my blog for a really long time!
hehehe, being a mom really does sap up every bit of spare time.
But things are getting a bit better since the little boss is more grown up now.

So, with my new found free time, I have started a new online store! :)
check out: www.welovezakka.com
Do support us, especially if you love cute goods and stationery!

Canvas Print

2010-03-20T23:21:00.003+08:00

I recently managed to get a giclée print of one of my doodles done! :)
I'm really glad with how it turned out... yay!

Here's sam... I somehow thinks he looks like a guard at the museum here!

2010

2010-02-18T14:42:00.004+08:00

Oh boy!
Its been eons since the last entry!
baby's been keeping us on our toes that i hardly notice the time flying by!

Just got news from a friend yesterday that they are expecting twins due in July!
WOW wee! how exciting! :D

and this year I aim to do something with my doodles!
been sitting on this for way too long... time to get cracking! :)

Daiso here i come!

2009-12-24T00:06:00.002+08:00

Hahahha, i've never made it out of Daiso empty handed... NEVER!!

there's always so much things to see and buy..(even though I might not really need some of them, but, heck!!)

After a long time of not stepping in there, hehehe.... look what i got!

They're lovely...!
the minute i saw them sitting on the shelves there, i knew i had to get them!
HAHAHAHA... never mind that they are a little too small, they're cute, and that's all that matters! :P

Illustration Friday- Pattern

2009-09-30T21:46:00.001+08:00

I Love Patterns! :)
Especially floral ones!

How Google Maps’ Streetview Works

2009-09-11T10:56:00.000+08:00

Cute animation! :)

Doodle- Toadstool forest

2009-09-08T11:45:00.003+08:00

We've been having slightly damp/humid weather off late...
and on the way to mom's house i noticed a little collection of toadstools sprouting up along the side walk. How cute!
There's something about toadstools that seems mysterious to me.
They spring up out of no where and then disappear after awhile.

But while they are around, those little clusters look like a little magical forest! :)

A Prayer for Fleur

2009-08-19T09:58:00.004+08:00

I came across Fleur's blog sometime ago and after a while, we communicated by visiting/leaving comments on each others' blogs.
Fleur is a brave lady (although sometimes she does not admit it) who is fighting cancer. Off late, she had not been updating her blog and this got quite a few readers worried and we soon found out that she wasn't doing too well as her liver had failed to function.
But her family has said that she is still fighting on.

They have requested prayers for her today, Psalm 23 at 9pm.
I'm praying for God to give her strength during this difficult time... join me!

Up (up and away!!)

2009-08-14T15:02:00.002+08:00

Managed to catch this animation sometime last week.
Very well done i must say! Good job to Pixar on the story line and graphics!
Its funny, touching and exciting all at the same time. (It managed to make me shed a few tears even! which was embarrassing when the lights came on :S... must be the hormones acting up!)
We watched it in 3D... I thought the big glasses were a tad cumbersome... think it'll look just as good on the normal screens too. :)
Have you watched it yet? Go if you haven't!

Illustration Friday-Modify

2009-08-07T11:31:00.003+08:00

(Geee, its been a while since I posted on IF... been real busy!)

Lately, my tummy feels like it has become a balloon... changing in shape and size...
(Hehe, if you had noticed my new blog, you'll know what i mean!)

Visit to Fruit Paradise@ Orchard Central

2009-07-13T09:14:00.005+08:00

Decided to pop by this new mall along Orchard Rd yesterday for a look see yesterday.
Hmm, looks like a nice building to get lost in. Oh and let's not get to the number of escalators that are in this mall!
They are EVERYWHERE!! They also have ultra high express ones that get you between 4 floors in a jiffy. (but a pain if you happen to get on a wrong one and want to get off at some floor in between)
Anyways, one of the reasons for the visit was to try out Fruit Paradise, the japanese pie cafe which i had read about. Oooh, the pies in the display are really pretty and remind me much of the ones I had seen in japan. Yummy!!

Quite a few flavors to choose from...

Decided to go for the blueberry one as it had a custard filling. Some of the others were just filled with cream, lots of it! (eeeks :S)
Verdict: Yummy! The pie crust was good and crunchy. And the custard filling was good and the fruit toppings were fresh too. But if you hate cream... or on a major diet, hahaha, maybe you should try some place else. :P
And good place to rest your feet (its a plus if you get the seats at the further end coz there's the window view and more privacy.)

Matryoshka doll key holder

2009-06-26T19:05:00.002+08:00

Decided to try making a key holder out of a Matryoshka doll.
Always wanted to try making one of these for my keys.
this was quite fun to make... :)

Illustration Friday- Craving

2009-06-08T16:47:00.004+08:00

Recently I'm having a sweet tooth and craving all yummy sweet desserts!
Cakes, puddings or muffins...?? Just bring them on! :P *slurp*

matryoshka bunny fabric!!! Its here!!!

2009-06-03T11:52:00.003+08:00

My first attempt at fabric design is finally here!! Yay!!
I was super duper excited to see the Spoonflower parcel sitting in the mailbox yesterday evening and had to resist ripping up the envelope to get to the contents! :)
OOooh I am so pleased with the results and you bet I'm going to be printing more fabrics with them soon! :)
One problem now though... the fabric is so cute, its going to be hard to cut it up!! :P

A greedy piggy

2009-06-01T19:13:00.001+08:00

*burp* a happy pig! :)

Illustration Friday - Adapt

2009-06-01T18:40:00.001+08:00

From the bath tub to the great outdoors, rubber ducky adapted well! :)

Have you seen this T-shirt???

2009-05-25T12:02:00.004+08:00

I got to see my 'pirated' doodle t-shirt in church again when the girl who owned it wore it again last week and sat 2 rows in front of me!! Oh how i wished i could take out my cam and get a pic of it!! but the last time when i approached her to ask about where she got the 'offending' t-shirt from, I think i made her feel really awkward :( so i decided i would leave her alone and just fume about it from behind. *fume fume fume* (well, its no fault of hers as she totally had no idea that its a copied design.)

So anyways, if anyone of you does see a T-shirt out there with a pattern that looks like this, PLEASE... let me know ok? The color of the t shirt is something like this, but the line work is way thicker and blacker. :( (probably thickened to cover up the pixelation.)

Haiz, some people out there just have no ethics at all and snitch works/designs off the internet and reproduce them! :(

Little miss porkers

2009-05-25T11:45:00.005+08:00

Its been almost 3 weeks since we boarded Pigmy at our place coz she's been put on several medications for fur-loss. :(
Well the furry one is doing better now, she's not as 'naked' anymore and is super greedy too! hehehe... here's some cute pics of her! :)

The Sleepy Guzzler...so sleepy, but there's much to be eaten..."yawn... nom nom nom...."

Wheeek!! I'm well again and look... my fur's grown back! yay! XD pretty again! hehe!

Busy nom-ing away... so much to do, so much to eat... its hard being a piggy! :P

Illustration Friday- contagious

2009-05-20T16:54:00.001+08:00

A smile is always contagious :)

An eye for Annai- Jon Klassen

2009-05-12T19:12:00.002+08:00

Illustration Friday - Parade

2009-05-12T15:21:00.001+08:00

Somebody's played a prank at the penguin parade.

Illustration Friday - Hierarchy

2009-05-04T12:15:00.002+08:00

The higher the stack of pots, the higher the rank of 'plant terrorizer'. :P

Bobbers on the rainbow bridge

2009-04-23T12:56:00.005+08:00

Yesterday was a sad day! :(
My sister had to make the painful decision of sending her beloved bunny to the rainbow bridge. The whole episode was really unexpected and sudden, but it was a selfless decision and difficult one for her too as she was not able to be there. (I'm sure Bobbers understood!) :( Hard as it was, this decision saved her bunny from going through much pain or suffering.
We had witnessed the pain small buuny went through before he went to the rainbow bridge last month, so I am glad Bobbers is spared any of that.

Although I have not met Bobbers personally as she is in Melbourne, I've heard and seen many stories and photos of the feisty but cute one.

In memory of Bobbers, I did a doodle of her, sitting on her own cloud on the rainbow bridge with her favorite piece of fleece and Mr. Carrot. :) She's probably wondering if she should visit Raisin Land or the Great Carrot Patch first.

Illustration Friday- Fleeting

2009-04-13T11:18:00.003+08:00

Did u catch any fleeting glimpses of eggs or chocolate kisses on Easter morning?
Hope you all had a great Easter! :)

Sakura season in Tokyo!

2009-04-06T23:42:00.005+08:00

Back from our Tokyo trip and boy do i miss Japan already!
The sakuras were lovely... and best of all, they were pink! My favorite color! :P
Here are some lovely pictures from my trip!

And a special part of the trip was that I got to meet Bella!! :)
(Oh Bella... only shortly after we parted ways, I realized I forgot to get a picture with you!) :S

Little India photoshoot

2009-03-24T22:43:00.004+08:00

Been going to Little India for the last 2 days to do some location shooting for an on going project. The place is full of interesting sights, sounds and smells. And it was also very warm, and I got sunburnt! Its been a busy week! clearing loads of work before we get going on our holiday.
But some how, running up and down Little India didn't really feel like work :)

here are some shots that I'd like to share. :)

This is a shop that sells clay pots for incense burning during prayers.

And flowers shops are a common sight with many along the streets.

Pretty Indian outfits for sale at the market. Look at all that shiny beads and bright colors! :) really pretty.

This uncle at the chappati shop was really friendly and obliging, :) he let us film him going about preparing chappatis.

Bangles! another pretty thing! shiny and colorful. :)

Lots of vegetable shops here too. Nice array of colors from the different variety.

Illustration Friday-Intricate

2009-03-10T15:02:00.004+08:00

I always thought traditional batik fabrics were lovely, filled up with intricate patterns. Some had animal or plant motifs and others had repeated abstract patterns.
I did get to try batik when i was studying, and it was a challenge dripping the wax out evenly. the tool used to dispense the wax was called a canting, a wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a tiny spout, out of which the wax seeps. mine always clogged up...
So, here's my doodled pen and ink version of batik. :P

Illustration Friday-Breezy

2009-03-04T11:50:00.003+08:00

The other day, i watched a documentary on plants' seed and fruit dispersal methods.
On breezy days, some flowers disperse their seeds in the wind.
Another "Discovery Channel" inspired piece! :P

Illustration Friday-Instinct

2009-02-24T21:59:00.004+08:00

For this week's IF, i'm putting up my latest moly entry.

Space bunny's first instinct was to search for the elusive planet carrot.

Illustration Friday- Celebrate

2009-02-18T11:27:00.002+08:00

Not too long ago, i was watching a nature documentary about a mother and baby whale making their way around the globe. Their journey was fraught with much dangers to the little calf, like large whale bulls and killer whales.
But at the end of the journey, it was a reason to celebrate when they got to their destination safely.
I gave them some happy bunny angels to watch over their journey! :P

Unlikely pals

2009-02-13T11:15:00.001+08:00

2 unusual friends hanging out in the car :)
A rabid rabbit and a cool carrot!

Pretty

2009-02-10T17:56:00.003+08:00

My favorite neighborhood kitty! :)
Managed to get her posing nicely... she's usually running around my legs and its almost impossible to get a nice shot of her.:)

Illustration Friday-Climbing

2009-01-28T12:20:00.001+08:00

The creepers grew and grew, climbing all over the garden wall.

Cookies! :)

2009-01-19T17:10:00.002+08:00

Its been a long time since I last baked, and over the weekend while i was cleaning my bookshelf, I saw my 500 cookies book and knew I just had to make something! :)

And I picked the white choc chip and cranberry cookie to make....
my baking skills are a slight bit rusty(was a bit slow and goofed up with the timing) but i guess with a bit more polishing up they'd be ok!

Yummy! :)

Holidays holidays holidays

2009-01-07T15:42:00.009+08:00

Wooo been caught up in the holiday mood recently, which explains my lack of postings here! :P
Well, I'm back... and about to post about... what else but another holiday!
One that's coming up pretty much soon.
The Lunar New Year, or some call it Chinese New Year.
This holiday mood is felt once the Xmas decorations are taken down and get replaced with red flowers, crackers and mascots of the year's zodiac animal. (this year being the ox) Shops start playing traditional Chinese new year music (which is like Xmas carols but, on a whole different twist! The songs are filled with lots of 'Dong' and 'Chang' sounds, which I can't really stand! hurhur)
So anyways, made an early trip down to Chinatown (to avoid the crowds) for a look see, and soak in more holiday cheer... Chinese New Year is about 2 and a half weeks away, and at the speed time passes, it'll be here in no time!
For those of you who dun celebrate this occasion or dun have a Chinatown where you are, here's a peak into one! :) Enjoy!

Here's a stall selling Chinese paper cuttings. They are really pretty and intricate. :)

Chinese knot tassels... you can hang these on your floral arrangements or anywhere around the house.

Cherry blossoms are a popular flower to decorate your house with during the festive season as it represent Spring.

Brocade ox plush! These are so cute I had to get a pair! :) they are holding onto to little stuffed gold bags.

This shop house in Chinatown has been all decorated for the occasion.

Many different varieties of melon seeds. One of the auspicious tidbits to serve when guests and relatives visit your home.

The great wall of sweets! Hahaha! :) Sweets are also an auspicious tidbit to serve.

The Chinese New Year is kinda like Xmas, whereby you stuff all your guests silly with lots and lota of goodies. These are sweet and savory cookies. These red capped containers of various tidbits are a popular sight during Chinese new year too.

Everyone is busy buying decorations and ornaments to decorate their homes for the festive mood.

These candied dried fruit are a rather traditional auspicious tidbit. Sweet things generally symbolize the sweetness of life.

Red packs with various kinds of ox mascots on them! Red packets are one of the highlights of the Chinese new year, especially for kids! These contain money which are handed out to children or adults who are not married yet. I'll miss receiving these now that I'm married... in fact, I've now become one of the distributors of these! HAhaha :P

greetings!!

2008-12-24T15:30:00.003+08:00

designed this for the company greeting and I'm putting it here too to wish you all a Merry Christmas and an excellent new year!
Happy holidays! :)

Shiba Inu puppy cam!

2008-12-23T10:57:00.001+08:00

Live video chat by Ustream

Came across this online....
All the cuteness... Live! :D

Disney's Bolt

2008-12-09T11:22:00.005+08:00

Been pretty busy with work lately, but as yesterday was a public holiday,
we managed to catch Bolt, Disney's latest animation flick. :)
(Nice story line, but it remind me a little of The Truman Show)

Its heart warming and would probably appeal to all pet owners out there.

The deranged hamster was cute but scary (Hahahhaah!) and I liked the cool cat :)
Of course Bolt was cute too, especially at the start where he was a cute little puppy.

I think the best part of it was the end credits! I love the artwork!!
I'd watch the show a couple more times if that was how the whole show looked like! :)
Think this has become one of the main reasons why I enjoy watching animations these days... the fabulous artworks at the end! :)

Illustration Friday-Opinion

2008-11-24T19:01:00.005+08:00

A pattern for this week's topic :)

Wise

2008-11-13T15:47:00.004+08:00

Way too busy to work on the IF topic this week :(
but when i saw it (the topic) I just had to post this pic i took of Pigmy over the weekend! :P
Hhehehe.....

Car meet up

2008-11-10T17:14:00.004+08:00

Had a car meet up last week with some of the other owners of the Suzuki Lapin.:)
Its was nice seeing many of us parked in a row, but a pity that it was a rainy day.
Although only 5 of us turned up, but that's already almost 50% of the population! :p
Yups, there's only 11 of us here in Singapore.

Illustration Friday-Vacant

2008-11-04T17:06:00.003+08:00

Something's vacant, another's not! :P

Inspired by this week's doodle.....

Break

2008-10-31T11:44:00.008+08:00

A nice sunny day for a break!
Sometime last week, we decided to take off from work and head out for a bit. :)

So we headed off to Ikea for lunch and also to pick up some stuff for the home there. Its great going to Ikea on a weekday coz it can be quite a nightmare on weekends with the crowds, especially in the Ikea cafe.

Lunch! Yummy! :)
After lunch I though it'll be a pity if we didn't head outdoors since the weather was looking great. So we headed for the beach, to polish up on my cycling skills. Hehehe, I may have forgotten to mention that I had just picked up cycling a few weekends ago. Before that I had never thought that one day I'd be able to balance, much less get anywhere on 2 wheels! But a few lessons and some wobbles later, i managed to get a hang of it! :D
So anyway, we rented our bicycles and cycled along the beach. Its was quite fun and also nice that there were not many people there either! :P
Spotted these large sand castles at the beach...

Hmmm, maybe I should consider staying in to work on the weekends and go out on the weekdays! Ha! That'll mean a 2 day work week?? Well, once in a while, we all can dream and build our imaginary castles too can't we? :P

A present from Cannes

2008-10-30T23:27:00.004+08:00

A friend of mine recently came back from Cannes and got me this really cute little present! :)

An angel lapin plush from Trousselier!
Its really cute an I like it lots! :) Thanks Corinne!

A Visitor

2008-10-24T11:40:00.004+08:00

Lately, we've got an oriole who keeps visiting.
Its pecks on the window, flaps around outside and then sits on the window and looks in.
Hehehhe, how cute.
Its quite hard to get a pic of it flapping around coz it moves way too fast for me to grab my cam, but here's one of it sitting on my window. :)
I like its chirping, its got a very nice call. :)

Illustration Friday- Late

2008-10-21T00:41:00.001+08:00

A late night date :)

Bye bye Bao bao

2008-10-16T22:33:00.005+08:00

Bao bao is my dream cat.
Bao bao is one cute, fat cat that has a great following on Flickr and many other pet related forums here.
Bao bao has an equally cute friend called Bei bei and also has a wonderful 'daddy' who takes fabulous pictures of him.
Bao bao sadly left for the rainbow bridge on the 1st of October. [I only found out about it today :(]
It always tears me up to read about people losing their furry friends, cos I know how terrible it feels. :_( I couldn't bring myself to read more about it at the office today (can't walk around all teary eyed), so I left that for when I got back home.
Sigh, its so sad losing a furry friend, no matter how big or small they may be and my heart goes out to his loving family. :(

Illustration Friday-Strings

2008-10-14T00:04:00.003+08:00

Stuffed string puppet show :)
Scanner's out of order so i had no choice but to take a photo of this one... :S

Clack clack clack..!!

2008-10-07T16:14:00.004+08:00

Made this stuffed rattle as a welcome present for my friend's baby, Kayla. :)

Illustration friday- sugary

2008-10-07T13:20:00.004+08:00

Stuffed donuts on a doodled doily! :)
All the sugary goodness without the calories! :P

Illustration friday- packed

2008-09-29T14:49:00.004+08:00

When we were kids, i remember grandpa used to buy me and my sister goldfishes which came packed in a round inflated plastic bag. :) We would both start picking out our favorite fish among the lot!

1st wedding anniversary :)

2008-09-29T12:43:00.005+08:00

Today marks our 1st wedding anniversary! :)
Yes, its been exactly a year since we got hitched! hehe!

Made a stuffed heart-shaped felt cake for Mr D to mark the occasion! (hehehhe... too bad it can't be eaten)
and he in turn surprised me with some flowers :)

Meow~

2008-09-25T00:19:00.002+08:00

Made a felt kitty from one of the patterns in the aranzi book i got for my birthday.
Heheh, well, it doesn't really look like the one in the book, coz i decided to alter the pattern slightly. Still, quite pleased with how it turned out.
This is quite fun to make....more to come! :)

Illustration Friday-Clique

2008-09-22T18:48:00.002+08:00

A clique of cats... :)

Moly Exchange

2008-09-22T14:50:00.003+08:00

Got my hands on my Japanese Album Moleskine last week! All ready to go!

And today, I am most excited to say that our moly x-change group is official!
Now I'm just waiting to get started...
How exciting! this is my first moly exchange and I am sure my Moly is looking forward to start traveling! :)

Illustration Friday-Island

2008-09-15T12:20:00.004+08:00

On the world map we are not more than a dot so therefore we're considered as an island city. But I like to think that we're a rather green city, as there are lotsa plants/trees around, despite the dense urban jungle.
Not long ago, I chanced upon the International Year of the Reef 08 and another blog it was a great eye opener to learn so much more about the wild life habitats, flora and fauna which I never knew much about/existed on our island.

the big 30

2008-09-15T10:38:00.011+08:00

Turned 30 over the weekend! (boy did it seem like those 20's passed in a flash!)Was it my imagination or did I feel a slight ache in my back?!! Hehe!:P
A big diff certainly was the number of candles on my cake compared to last year!

Oh well, what better way to celebrate being 30 than to celebrate it twice! :P

Had a little dinner party at home a day earlier on Saturday night. Also celebrated the mid autumn festival which fell on the same day. Maybe I should have had a moon cake as my birthday cake!

And a birthday lunch on the actual day with the hubby and mom at Island Cafe. It was good :) Even better was that we got a discount since it was my birthday! Heh!

got to blow out the 3 candles twice!

And of course, the best part about birthdays are the presents! (Stuff to make you feel better turning a year older :P)

A jimmyspa wallet and a houndstooth print vintage bag from the hubby!

A key pouch from mama! (high time for a new one)

Softies Kit from my sister! (yay!:D)

More craft books..these are by aranzi aronzo and a set of markers (more doodling!)from Sharon, Evelyn & Justin.

Thanks to everyone for all the gifts and well wishes!

Felt baby booties

2008-09-11T16:04:00.003+08:00

A friend of mine is due in October, so I decided that I would make her baby girl a little gift! :)

I managed to finish the pair of felt booties for baby Kayla yesterday! :)
I hope they fit! Hahaha

Illustration Friday-Cluttered

2008-09-09T17:55:00.001+08:00

They lived together in a small cluttered forest which just kept growing and growing, but they were happy.

fun with mii-s

2008-09-05T15:28:00.003+08:00

had some fun creating mii-s on the wii.
Hehe, did one of my sis, and mom and me!
I think the one of my sis looks quite a lot like her. :P

Illustration Friday-Memories

2008-09-03T17:15:00.002+08:00

Today marks 3 years together for Mr D and me. :)
So i drew this on a little card to thank him for all the happy memories :)
And I thought I'd post it up for this week's IF topic as well!

Wii

2008-09-01T15:16:00.006+08:00

Went to the annual computer fair, Comex and got crushed by the the crowds. Think at least half of the island flocks to this event to load up on the latest computer and electronic gadgets. Hmmm, a geeks paradise? :P
Normally, I would completely avoid this, but we were there to get a new computer but on the way out, we somehow left with an additional item... a Wii!! Whopee! (hm oooh, they rhyme! :P)

I'm not exactly a gadget kinda person, but this one, I like!
It allows me to not only play games, but now I can surf online using my TV. (oh dear, couch potato in the making??)

And of course, the first thing I had to try was to check out my blog on the telly! :P
What can I say, I'm going WHheeeeeeee on my wii! :P

Illustration Friday-Routine

2008-08-26T17:25:00.002+08:00

cycle of day and night

Illustration Friday- Detached

2008-08-18T23:14:00.003+08:00

Shokudo- Japanese Coffee House

2008-08-16T22:15:00.004+08:00

Walked past and saw seats available so we decided to try this place for dinner at bugis.
I like looking at menus that have yummy looking desserts on it and Shokudo's menu sure looks good!

I had the curry rosti as i was looking for something softer to eat, (due to my tooth extraction 2 days before) and it turned out quite good.

Mr D had the Katsu Omu rice which was also not bad.

I enjoyed dessert best! :P I always do!! hehe, we had the tofu cheese cake. Boy, it was yummy! :)

Circle Painting

2008-08-16T21:27:00.005+08:00

Today we got to try out Circle Painting at The National Library. Led by artist, Hiep Nguyen, this is one of the workshops that he conducted in SE Asia. See the link on more info about circle art.
The event was an eye opener and it was sure a good fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It was very engaging and fun and probably is the first time we got to be part of such a spontaneous activity. I must say I had some reservations when I saw earlier groups going through their group activities. :P "Oh no... I am going to make a fool of myself in public!" hahahah.
But as we were put into groups of 10, I was quite fascinated to see the mix of people, different age groups from all walks of life, that I kind of forgot about being silly. We went through activities that focused on observation & leadership, which were fun and definitely a bagful of laughs. Great for de-stressing.
What excited me was the table of cups and containers, full of fabulous colors of paints waiting to be planted on the big canvases on the ground. Going by the name of circle painting, of course we were to be painting circles... hahaha. or dots, swirls or spirals...my favorites! (and I was happily picking out all my favorite colors :P)
Layer upon layer of circles and swirls in a rainbow of colors, painted by anyone and everyone who was a part of the day's activity. It felt good just looking at the canvas by the end of it. "Wow!" :P
"Art for All, All for Art"-that was the slogan for the day :) Really meaningful!

A portion where we had a hand in.

This is portion of the canvas we painted on, about half of it. It was rather huge! :)

A tooth less

2008-08-14T23:08:00.003+08:00

back from the dentist today with a tooth less.
Urgh... I hate visiting the dentist, made worse by the anticipation of pain.
But I had cracked my top wisdom tooth and it was chipping off in bits, so with no other choice but to get it removed, I dragged myself to the dentist. Having heard so many nightmare stories about wisdom tooth removal didn't help the nerves either. :S

In the end, it did not hurt as much as I though it would and the tooth came out much faster than I had expected. Downside is that now, 7hours after, the gap is still bleeding. I hope it stops soon. :( boohoo...

hmmm....Wonder if that leaves me with less wisdom now...

Somehow, I felt that the tooth was glad to be out.. hurhur...freedom!!! :P

Yummy thai dinner

2008-08-12T18:32:00.004+08:00

Checked out Jai Thai at Clover Way yesterday for dinner after reading about it on www.hungrygowhere.com
Man was it a good find! Authentic yummy thai food with no crowds and what's more at an affordable price! Its pretty out of the way though, and we sorta took a wrong turn along the way but managed to get there in the end.
We each ordered one of the set meals. (I got the pineapple rice set and Mr D got the fried olive rice set)

For under $8, i think it was a vy good deal. It even comes with dessert of the day(we got steamed tapioca and coconut sauce) and a drink. *slurp*
Mr D says he'll not be stepping into Thai Express for sometime now. :P Definately will be back to Jai Thai again! :)

Illustration Friday- Sail

2008-08-11T19:10:00.003+08:00

A Sailor went to sea, sea, sea
To see what he could see, see, see
But all that he could see, see, see
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.

;P hehe

The 080808 wedding

2008-08-08T23:17:00.006+08:00

Just got back from Aamir's and Denise 080808 wedding! :)
Apart from the special date, the event itself was just as special.
It was a very nice ceremony which was blessed with very good weather.
Congratulations to you two! :)

The 080808 guest poster

The Solemnization :)

Us and the newly weds!

Bride's henna hand painting

The cupcake wedding cake! Yummy!

Table setting

Menu for the evening

Cheers!!

birthday cuppy cake

2008-08-05T10:47:00.003+08:00

Made this for Evelyn's birthday last week.
A birthday cupcake! Heeh :)

Illustration Friday-Poof!

2008-08-04T16:12:00.003+08:00

With his bunny friends cheering him on, Astronaut bunny blasts off in a Poof!
Off in search for the elusive Planet Carrot!

Its Out!!

2008-08-04T10:44:00.003+08:00

image from PageOne books website

It's finally out on the shelves.... the long awaited Devils in the Details is out!
I'm quite excited to get my hands on it, to see the doodle patterns in a book other than my sketch books! :)

Illustration friday- canned

2008-07-28T14:16:00.002+08:00

here's my take on this week's topic. :)

Nom nom nom

2008-07-23T17:54:00.002+08:00

This is one of my fav pics of Pigmy to date!
hahhaha... look at her munching away, taking big chomps of her parsley.
She really enjoys her food! :)

Illustration Friday-Enough

2008-07-21T19:02:00.003+08:00

a whole week of this same stressful cycle is quite enough!!

Fabulous~!

2008-07-21T12:15:00.001+08:00

Coldplay's Viva la Vida is a current NO.1 song on charts around the globe, and also in my head!

Happy gift box

2008-07-16T18:48:00.003+08:00

Made a felt gift box for a present last week.
Added a smiley mouth to make it look happy. hahahha.
No need for gift wrapper and also its reusable! :)

Illustartion Friday-Foggy

2008-07-16T16:08:00.001+08:00

Bunny found out that a foggy day was not the best day for a family portrait.

Illustration friday- sour

2008-07-08T14:11:00.002+08:00

Sunset Grill

2008-06-27T23:54:00.008+08:00

Sunset Grill
140B Piccadilly, Seletar Air Base,
East Camp (Near Singapore Flying Club)
Tel: 6482 0244

Ok this is a back post :P
Few weeks back we finally made it to Sunset Grill again.
(I was wondering if the place was still standing, since there are plans to develop that area.)
It'll be a real pity though if it were to go, coz there are not many of such places left in Singapore that have these colonial bungalows, rustic feel and roads with no lamp posts. (not sure the last point is a good thing or not :P)
But anyhow, it was a nice feeling driving into the peaceful area once again after so long, marred by the fact that this time, you can see construction work going on in some areas already. :S

Ordered the caesar salad, which was a huge portion! I like how the dressing is so evenly distributed onto every leaf.

And of course the house favorite, buffalo wings. We're not large chilli fans, so we went for just level 1, which i find is just nice. (think level 30 is the max, and i think you may need the fire brigade for that!)

Mr D ordered a Chili con carne. First time trying this here. Not bad, bit spicy... and yummy garlic bread! (wish there was more :P)

We opted for the indoor seating as we didnt fancy donating blood while having dinner! (those mozzzzzzies:( it rained earlier lah) I think the places has an old charm still. Hope it stays around for a while more.

After dinner we took a walk around. Not very far lah, as it was pretty dark already. Came across this graphic on the road. Ok, i've seen arrows, bicycles and footprints on roads, but this is the first time I got to see an aeroplane graphic! hahaha:P

Haiz, another reason why this place should stay.

saw this parked outside one of the aircraft hangers there on the way out.
Hmm, nice evening....wonder when we'll be back.

Car Toys

2008-06-27T11:16:00.003+08:00

My sister made a bunny passenger for our car! :)

hehe, here it is enjoying the whole back seat.

So I decided to make a stuffed carrot to keep the bunny company! :P

Hong Kong trip Day 5

2008-06-24T16:30:00.007+08:00

More rain! But luckily in a much lighter form.
We decided to stay in the Mongkok area as we were leaving HK in the afternoon.
Went to Fa Yuen Street again as I had to get pastries from the old bakery to bring back. Along the way we passed by the goldfish market.

I saw this cute pom patiently waiting for its master to finish breakfast. How cute! I think I saw the 2 of them(old man and dog) a few days before walking in the market. :)
What a good doggie!
Caught the hotel's airport shuttle to the airport and took in the last few sights of Hong Kong from the bus. Something about their dense living fascinates me...mish mash of apartments, old and new, packed closely together.

While waiting for our plane back, spotted some mascot planes... :)

And for my in-flight meal back, I had the beef noodle set. Must say that its not bad... :P

Hong Kong trip Day 4

2008-06-24T15:15:00.008+08:00

It rained on us on the 4th day. :S
look at how heavy it was...

can't even see the skyline on the Central side.
We went to Harbour city in Tsim Sha Tsui to wait for the rain to get lighter b4 we crossed over to Central and Sheng Wan. At least there was City Super there to help pass the time! :)
We had lunch at the city super food court.

After quite a few days of no spicy food, we decided to try Curry-in-a-Hurry. (what a quirky name!)
This is an Indian stall in the food court selling curry sets. Well, not bad and also rather generous portions i must say! I had the fish curry set which also came with a mango lassi. Stuffed!
After lunch, with the rain gone, we visited the Western Market at Sheng Wan.

This is one of the historical buildings in Hong Kong island and houses shops and a bakery.

At the entrance, Mr D got 'assaulted' by one model tin soldiers at the door. Hahaha..
We walked along some streets near cat street and ladder streets(think i know why the name came about!) after that and my, you'll need lotsa leg muscles here as most of the walkways are made up of steep stairways as the city was built on the side of a mountain.

If I had to go to school this way, I think i might drop out after a while! imagine climing up all these stairs every morning! Urgh!

Stairs run up along every side path here! Those who stay here must have great legs muscles. They even have small stalls along the sides of these stairs! I was really worn out!
We ended the evening back at Kowloon, at the new and huge Elements Mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. Too tired to take the train, we took a cab back to Mongkok. :P

Hong Kong trip Day 3

2008-06-24T11:23:00.019+08:00

OK so here are some day 3 pics.
Hmmm, day 3 seems like a super long day. we went to many places but i think I shall blog it as a good food day! hahaha. (coz think we had lots of it on this day)
we started out at the Mongkok area and visited the flower market. too bad its all see and no buy! heheh, they bouquets are so nice and reasonably priced!
Saw a cute corgi walking along the market.. so cute! :) I like corgis.

After the flower market, we headed to the nearby shopping street (fa yuen st, my fav)

and also went to the pastry shop there and got some munchies. :P After shopping, we headed for our 'yum cha' meal at Langham Place. This was like the highlight for the day. My sis had read about Ming Court's popularity and we decided to try it out and it was GOOOD!! :P
Ming Court, Langham Place Hotel
Level 6, Langham Plach Hotel,
555 Shanghai Street Mong Kok
We had:

Pan fried radish cake

Salmon and cheese tarts

Pan fried mushroom stuffed buns

Steamed rice rolls with scallop and green beans

Steamed sliced chicken with dates and herbs

Xiao long bao (soup filled steamed dumplings)

Pan fried vegetable buns

Just couldn't resist ordering the steamed custard buns! And no regret about this one at all! :P Best I ever had!
After the super satisfying meal, we decided to head down to HK island as the weather was looking good. (we were lucky.. there was a 90% chance of rain that day , or so the forecast said)
We heard of some shops round the wan chai area and decided to check them out. also heard of Xi Yan Sweets there, which had good desserts. Hahhaa, ok, so we have sweet tooths! :P And by the time we got to Xi Yan, we had already walked lunch off.
Xi Yan Sweets
1 G/F 8 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai

There was only another table that was taken when we got there, so we mostly got the place to ourselves. Nice red. white and black decor. All the items on the menu sounded so good that we took some time in deciding what we should order.

My mom preferred to stick to more traditional desserts and ordered the lotus seed soup. :)

My sis, being a big lover of anything with osmanthus, went with the lychee ice cream with osmanthus wine and enjoyed every bit of it.

I had the apple crisp ice cream. The sourish taste of the apples was a refreshing difference from the sweet caramel. Yummy!
Mr D went for the tea set which had the option of an appetizer and a dessert.

He had the fried radish patty with XO sauce and had the

signature dumplings in ginger soup, which really blew us away! Most unique and best 'tang yuan' we've ever had with a peanut, sesame, salted egg yolk, sugared melon bits and butter filling. Slurp! This was the winner of the meal!

Happy and satisfied faces :P (mom was camera shy and declined to be photographed :P)
Another good gastronomical experience!

We spent the rest of the day walking around causeway bay area where I happily took more pics of passing trams.

Hong Kong Trip Day2

2008-06-21T22:23:00.003+08:00

Day 2, we had breakfast at a Cha chan ting opp our hotel. This is what mummy had. some kind of soup noodle.

Another breakfast dish.

The cha can ting looks rather cheery and retro. nice :)

After breakfast we headed to Sham Shui Po coz my sister wanted to check out the fabrics there. So many shops! Walk n walk n walk! :S

Saw a cute fat cat outside one of the shops. :)

Hong Kong Trip Day1

2008-06-21T22:03:00.005+08:00

here's some pics from day 1 of our trip.

We took off from Changi Terminal 3. First time going there.

Trollies waiting to be used.

This is our inflight meal on the way to HK. According to the menu,its a Gorden Ramsey recipe. Its the best mashed potatoes I ever had!

On our way to the hotel in Hongkong.

This is a view from our hotel room.

After checking in we headed for dinner and then to Fa Yuen Jie for some shopping! :P

Hong Kong Trip

2008-06-18T10:55:00.003+08:00

Been a few days since we got back from Hong Kong.
The trip was full of walking, shopping, eating and more walking!
It was tiring but fun.
This was the first family holiday for me, so it felt a bit funny not having anyone to call to say I've reached HK or reached back to SG etc. Hehee...
Weather in HK was not fantastic I would say, (much like SG, hot and humid) but I think it was good that we managed to have rain-free days for most of our stay, although the forecast kept predicting high chances of rain. :P
Shall be posting pictures soon, so stay tuned!

Fuzzy sketch book

2008-06-09T16:48:00.002+08:00

Made a fuzzy sketch book cover. :)
This is quite quick to make, so I think I shall be making more.
Finally found a use for all my small scraps of left over felt bits.

Illustration friday- baby

2008-06-05T10:42:00.002+08:00

here are some baby blocks for this week's topic.
they also make up baby words...
put together, they make a bigger word: AppleBalloonCat :P

Vroom vroom....

2008-05-25T00:27:00.004+08:00

Here it is! Our cute Suzuki Lapin
Yesterday, someone finally got his dream come true car,after considering for so long (and i mean a very...very long time! :P)
It was a chance opportunity that we set eyes on this very cute car and someone decided that this would be THE ONE.
I think you'll be seeing more pics of it soon! :P
I have plans to 'decorate' it! Heeheehee ^_^V

Illustration friday- wide

2008-05-22T14:33:00.001+08:00

Not fat, just wide!

French Toast breakfast

2008-05-16T00:04:00.002+08:00

This morning decided to have french toast for breakfast for a change. :)
Cut into bite sized pieces, easier to fry and eat. Quite yummy to eat it with jam and maple syrup. :P

Lulu Restaurant/cafe

2008-05-12T23:01:00.006+08:00

Last Friday we went to Raffles City after work to do some Mother's Day present buying. Sometimes the big crowds on Friday night put me off going to town. You have to squeeze to get into the train, queue to get dinner and then queue to pay for your shopping. Oh well, that's the weekend for you.
We decided to have dinner at the Streets HK cafe, just outside Shokudo. But there was a queue there too. I think it must be the spillover from Shokudo, (which had a perpetually long queue) and the people who gave up queuing moved over next door.
So we decided to move another door down (Haha!) and ended up at Lulu Restaurant. Yes, I know the name is rather cheesy, but hey, at least they didn't have a queue! Lulu's serves Shanghainese and Sichuan cuisine and from the menu board, it didn't look too bad either.
Their menu comes in the shape of a fan (to suit the name of the place i guess) but unfortunately for a rather new place, was already falling apart. (boils down to the bad design :S)
We ordered the Smoked Fish, which was rather tasty... something like unagi. It was doused in a sweet sauce which had a rather strong taste of a certain spice. (can't quite identify which it is though) On the whole I quite like it.

Next we had the Stone Pot Fried Rice. This one was rather unique. Rice served in a hot bowl, with prawns, squid, diced pumpkins and mashed salted egg and it also came with a reddish sauce. (some sort like the one you would get if you ordered bibimbap at a korean eatery.)

We also ordered a stewed vegetable dish with bamboo pith. I found this a little too bland in taste and a tad bit to oily.

A downside was that the dishes came out at different timings, so by the time this dish was served, we had already finished our rice.
But overall, the place was not bad. Good thing is that you don't have to wait for a seat. :P Price was mid ranged, about $20 a person.

Illustration Friday- Seed

2008-05-06T14:56:00.002+08:00

Bath time

2008-05-05T00:53:00.005+08:00

Its been really hot around here lately, so today I decided to cool Pigmy down by giving her a bath. Pigmy never really minded taking baths. She's more or less ok as long as she has something to hold on to and the water is nice and warm. :) What a good piggy!
Now she's all nice smelling and soft! :)

Nice?

2008-04-28T18:26:00.002+08:00

Met up with Kim last week and she gave me some souvenirs from japan and also a little pouch she made. The fabric is from her Japan trip. So honored! HAHAHHA... I got one of the first 2 that she made. :P Nice?