This blog is still alive!

And so am I.

Here are the pictorial proofs:

I made Ohagi! It's a type of wagashi (Japanese sweets and yes, I am obsessed with all things jap) and is made up of glutinous rice and azuki. I used the chopped peanuts from those frozen tang yuan packs.

The ingredients looked quite gross, that I admit. And I must have developed arm muscles from all the pounding and mashing.

Ta-da. Ruby attempted to make a Hello Kitty one. 

Keeping to the Jap flavour ~ I went to a jap restaurant which specialises in Miyagi cuisine like Gyuutan and Zundamochi. We first had Nantsuttei ramen for dinner so the intention was to have some drinks. Maybe like a teeny bit of sake. But thanks to a special offer, we got pretty tipsy, on a Tuesday night. (The next day at work was hell.)

Miki and Ah Pek were in charge of choosing the drink. I had zero experience with shochu.

And this was what we ordered. IKR. O-O

Like damn ginormous. When we saw it, we figured we'll probably finish it in 3 - 4 trips, maybe we'll come back for my birthday or my birthday eve or my belated birthday but YA RIGHT.

I am Big Sho(w) chu.

That's how big it is.

Zundamochi!

Anyway, guess how much we drank?

HALF.

WE DRANK HALF OF IT. 

No wonder we were a goner.

Before I was white.

After - I am red. I represent the Singapore flag.

Ah Pek likes his shochu.

Moving to more jap stuff...

My order from NoQ arrived! 1Q84 and Sanshiro. Yup, I completed 1Q84 but I really love it so I had to get it in this edition. (^O^)v

And I finally got myself the Emoda inspired Meow sweater.

Looking back, everything was jap related. Ha ha ha. Anyway, gong xi fa cai!

Rainy Saturday

Singapore felt like London yesterday. I actually seriously considered getting a pair of wellingtons to brave through the muck. Thankfully, my trusty converse (which survived the acid rain of Beijing) rose up to the occasion again. D and I headed down to the Handmade Movement Craft Fair at Fort Canning. Tsueki was saying that she was expecting sunshine and balloons and bringing her bunnies down. Well, there were sunshine (behind the clouds), balloons (deflated and lolling around) and doggies (in a tote bag).

Umbrellas everywhere and everyone was squeezing into the large gazebo. 

With D the Ah Pek. Ah Pek was very tired yesterday.

Tsueki doing her business woman thang!

Crafts from Tea Party. So cute can.

Woohoo~

She was selling coasters and placemats. 

Ah Pek and my ootd.

We bought them coasters cept Ah Pek opt for the ones with red polka dots which leads me to...

So we were manning Tsueki's booth when this exchange student came and to strike a convo:

Student: Oh look at these things.

D: Hi! These are handmade coasters.

Student: (points at red polka dots) Ooo.. you know what this reminds me of? *sniggers* *bro-to-bro talk*

(-_-)

He was referring to lingerie. Honestly, I would think if you are going to bang someone who is wearing red polka undies, you'll find it funny and not provocative. Don't understand men.

Heh.

Random illustrations dotted the fair.

With Tsueki! Don't forget me when you make it big! T__T

And then dinner!

Mentaiko Pasta ~~ 

That's it for Saturday! 

Happy Times, Grim Talks

Finally met up with Zee yesterday together with Wuby. We went to Parco Millenia Walk and had Nantsuttei Ramen. But before that, while waiting for Wuby, Zee and I went to Yamakawa where I found Matcha Kitkat! T_T Been looking for it since I tried it at Narita.

Yes, a bit expensive but... it's worth it. Swear.

Found the full range of Meltykiss! I thought I was cursed because no matter which Watsons I go to, I just can't find them. *Broke curse like a boss*

Forgot to rotate photo. The best ramen in town. As of yesterday.

Wuby Zee. Like some sorta brand.

Looked so tired here. Sigh.

Went to 3 Inch Sin for coffee. Molten Lava Cake was meh. Wuby was spewing out 1001 ways of why it went wrong. #chefsisterproblem

Super tiring to try to squeeze everyone into the frame.

Forced them to take a proper group shot. In the toilet. HAHA. Friends for 8 years! 我们老了。

At 3 Inch Sin, we were chatting about our plans for the future and we realised that the future looks bleak. Standard of living in Singapore is really high and the job market is crazily competitive; almost everyone has a degree/diploma these days so what sets us apart? There is no point in splurging a huge sum on a degree that can no longer give you the advantage the previous generation preached about. Things are leveling out - it is possible for a diploma holder to have equal opportunities as degree grads, you just need to prove you are smart. Some degree grads aren't the brightest sparks around. True shocking story. That's the same for every qualification out there I guess except maybe Mensa?

I do agree that the draw of a university education is the network you can tap on but when tuition fees are astronomical, is there a point in being chained to a loan for a supposed advantage that is losing its edge?

And do I want to study something that I'm not interested in just to run society's rat run with the bondage of debt weighing down my every step? Is this how a good future should be? Is this life?

Erm... How did a happy blog post ended sounding so emo...

Was reminded of this bit in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman:

“Kiss a lover, 

Dance a measure, 
Find your name 
And buried treasure. 

Face your life, 
It's pain, It's pleasure, 
Leave no path untaken.” 

I may be delusional but I'm still hoping that there is path in life where every step is fulfilling. An office job does not cut it, that I know for myself.

皆さん、がんばってください! (^.^)