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!

Pressure

That's the key word for today. I kind of got into an argument with my boss today. I was trying to point out to him that we need to look into job allocation because why on earth would you ask your Assistant Director to send out 100 EDMs one by one?!

Anyway, he started raising his voice about how we all need to work regardless of pressure, there will always pressure, yawn, we must work 24/7, he has pressure too, he is stressed too, yawn. Actually, who is the bugger who mentioned 'pressure'? No one. 自导自演.

Furthermore, why in the name of holy panties would you burst in front of your employee who is only 21? Lack of self-control? Too much pressure? No blessing from the holy panties?

Which leads me to...

Men who can't control their emotions, who loses their cool and crack under pressure are not cut out to do great things. 

Look at the hokkien mee uncle. Maybe his wife was being a pain the entire day and there were customers who kept complaining that they order without tau gay (bean sprouts) but why still got tau gay, and the queue was long, the weather was hot, he found out he don't have minimum sum in CPF but HE STILL CARRIES ON. He doesn't crack and yell at everyone: I GOT PRESSURE ALSO CAN.

That hokkien mee uncle is a great man.

Anyway, I don't what I'm rambling around. I'm too traumatised by what happened today.

Okay, this post is getting too angsty. Think happy thoughts. Don't pick up that parang.

Photos from the week ~

Made Bento for Ah Pek and myself when he joined me for lunch.

Tried making a breakfast bento.

Cherryade popsicle. Love Pasar Malam.

Omg. I finally had the chance to try Coco Ichibanya, and although the service staff was meh, the kare was too awesome. 

The lady beside me kept peering at my plate. Never see Cai Curry before ah.

Ah Pek's. He chose Spicy Level 4 and it didn't affect him one bit. Bless his baba blood.

WANT. To Wuby: this can be peanut's new home.

Angry Bird Star Wars. I don't know how they can outdo themselves with cute retardedness. 

And guess what, the Muji bento box, which I have been eyeing on for ages, was on 50% discount!!!

Of course, I bought it. Ahem. Together with a bento bag. Happiness! Kay now I can forgive all men in the name of holy panties.

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! (^.^)

Cecil McBee e-Mook

As mentioned yesterday, I committed a sin and purchased a Cecil McBee e-Mook along with Vivi February (Atsuko Maeda is in it! Will find time to translate her interview). And since I have some spare time today, I thought of revealing what's in it even if no one is interested. Hurhur. #sadlife

Cecil McBee first started in 1987, at 渋谷109.

Sigh. So pretty.

The premium gift - Cecil McBee Quilt Bag!

Zipper so pretty.

Shows you the history of Cecil McBee.

Their shopping bags are insanely gorgeous. It will make me go super eco cos I will hoard the bags till the day I die and never throw them away.

Fujii Lena.

Nana from After School.

That's it! Short preview. It's basically a catalogue which is tempting me to go on Runway Channel! The perk would be the premium gift.

Though the bag is a little smaller than expected but... it's Cecil McBee! Sigh... I'm such a sucker fan.

Next would be Murua's e-Mook!