finally.


after four months and sixteen days..


*grinning from ear to ear*

I need all the strength and perseverance I can muster to survive the following week(s).


so help me God.

tried brewbaker's kitchen & bar, located at anchorvale CC. it offers "tranquility and comfort for the soul" with alfresco dining and plenty of space - a welcome break from city's hustle and bustle (so they claim).


as we went there for lunch, the alfresco dining was not an option - it was hot, hot, hot. inside, it was fine, but I couldn't say it's cozy. they have lounge, though, as well as pool table outside. once sengkang riverside park is open, I guess the alfresco dining will be a hit.


their set lunches are value for money, especially since we got 1-for-1 coupon :) brewbaker's is under same company as jack's place, and we could really see the similarities. the type of food served, the servings, the set meals, the menu, the cakes, etc.


we ordered seafood basket and char-broilled NZ striploin. seafood basket was crumbed mixed seafood served with fries and salad. it was alright, but how wrong could you go with deep frying some prawns, scallops, fishballs, calamari and fish fillet? the NZ striploin was served with potato, vegetables and mushroom sauce. it was too well done and a bit too hard. astons serves much better steaks.


for set lunch, the meal came with soup and garlic bread, dessert of the day (it was almond pudding with longan), and coffee/tea. the difference with jack's place is that brewbaker's served ice water in a big bottle. that way customers can serve themselves and they only need to occasionally check for empty bottles, instead of refilling the glasses.

had "team" dinner at melben seafood, pasir ris. it's a project celebration dinner sponsored by the HR manager. only 3 of us from IT joined, and the rest were HR folks. as the manager put it nicely, "I won't raise less work request just because you eat less". yeah, right.. I should've replied that I won't do more work requests just because he feeds me crabs.


so, let's dig in! we had butter crabs, crab bee hoon, pork in dark soy sauce, ma po taufu, sambal kangkong, stir fried veggie, fried prawn in thai sauce, with rice and of course the fried mantou. gulped it all down with mango pudding and longan for dessert.


had a few crab legs left, and the manager forced everyone to play a very silly guess-a-number game to arrow someone to finish the food.. lucky I didn't get any.

I hate conference calls.


especially when I need to repeat myself repeatedly.

tried 2 new restaurants this weekend. manpuku at tampines 1 on saturday afternoon, and tsubohachi @ ebisboshi shotengai at iluma on sunday afternoon.


ordered hokkyokusei omu rice and chicken toji set at manpuku. omu rice was so-so, quite bland, actually. chicken toji set came with a bowl of rice and fried calamari. their fruit tarts looked really tempting but too bad we were already very full. had a glass of matcha gravity at tea dot. at first glance the drink reminded me of chendol, as it's in milky white and green colors. heavenly!



met a few friends at iluma on sunday afternoon. it was supposed to be lunch, but turned out everyone's eaten before going there, so only one main course was ordered - chicken karaage. the portion was big - juicy pieces of fried chicken on top of steamed rice accompanied by curry sauce. we also ordered a plate of sushi and some desserts.


their service sucked. the only item that arrived promptly was chicken karaage. they took incredibly long time to prepare and serve our desserts, so much so that after one hour, the last macha ice order was cancelled.


a fun thing about this restaurant was the ordering system. when seated, we were given menu and also a thick fat black pen that's been programmed with our table number. once we decided what to order, we could just point the pen to the small sticker-like icon near the food name on the menu, followed by the quantity and an enter button. once all orders have been entered, we pushed the 'send' button. there're also review, cancel and call waiter button.


having sophisticated technology is one thing, but making the most of it is another.

just finished jodi picoult's my sister's keeper.


it's a heart-wrenching, beautiful novel about a family with a daughter suffering from leukemia. their eldest, jesse, was not a suitable donor. therefore they decided to have anna, a designer baby - a baby genetically programmed to be a perfect donor match for her sister, kate. at first anna was supposed to donate only her umbilical cord blood, but soon the process repeated itself - platelets, lymphocytes, granulocytes, bone marrow, stem cells, tissue, organ.


aged 13, anna approached a lawyer to represent her suing her parents for medical emancipation.


what made the story engaging was that it's written from the characters' point of views, in first person terms. each chapter printed in different font, the paragraphs were grouped to several sections, relaying enough background with the messages loud and clear. flashbacks were used heavily.


there were in total 6 characters' viewpoints: the father, mother, jesse, anna, anna's lawyer and anna's guardian ad litem who happened to be the lawyer's ex-girlfriend. I'm not sure why kate's viewpoint was not included until the very last chapter, but then it made me relate with anna more, although I could also see that each family member had their own share of the painful journey.


and the ending, the ending was so heartbreaking. I guessed that anna would win the case, but then still decided to donate her kidney to her sister, and they lived happily ever after. but I was so wrong. I won't disclose it here, though. the novel's a must read.



Like I said, I was eleven, so even to this day I can't tell you how I made my way from our house in Upper Darby to the middle of downtown Providence. I suppose it took me a few hours; I suppose I believed that with my new superhero's cloak of invisibility, maybe I could just disappear and reappear somewhere else entirely.


I tested myself. I walked through the business district, and sure enough, people passed right by me, their eyes on the cracks of the pavement or staring straigth ahead like corporate zombies. I walked by a long wall of mirrored glass on the side of a building, where I could see myself. But no matter how many faces I made, no matter how long I stood there, none of the people funneling around me had anything to say.


I wound up that day at the middle of an intersection, smack under the traffic light, with taxis honking and a car swerving off to the left and a pair of cops running to keep me from getting killed. At the police station, when my dad came to get me, he asked what the hell I'd been thinking.


I hadn't been thinking, actually. I was just trying to get to a place where I'd be noticed.


(Page 246-247 - Jesse's)



"Anna," Campbell says quietly, "what made you think that Kate wanted to die?"

"She said she was ready."

He walks up until he is standing right in front of me. "Isn't it possible that's the same reason she asked you to help her?"

I look up slowly, and unwrap this gift Campbell's just handed me. What if Kate wanted to die, so that I could live? What if after all these years of saving Kate, she was only trying to do the same for me?

"Did you tell Kate you were going to stop being a donor?"

"Yes," I whisper.

"When?"

"The night before I hired you."

"Anna, what did Kate say?"

Until now, I hadn't really thought about it, but Campbell has triggered the memory. My sister had gotten very quiet, so quiet that I wondered if she'd fallen asleep. And then she turned to me with all the world in her eyes, and a smile that crumbled like a fault line.

I glanced up at Campbell. "She said thanks."

(page 391-392, Anna's)


four thumbs up!

team yang aneh...


and I can never stop comparing.

and the boardgame craze continues...

had a nice and refreshing weekend.


woke up late on saturday and lazed around for a while before decided that we wanted to go to city area and catch a movie. realizing that the movie money that's about to expire had no restrictions, we chose to watch drag me to hell at great world city.


late lunch was at bangkok jam. we had pineapple fried rice (disappointing, totally forgettable), prawn fried kway teow (quite good after tasting the bland fried rice), lemongrass tea (sweet and fragrant), and banana tempura with vanilla ice cream (superb).


next stop was orchard for shopping and dinner. we had lontong cap gomeh and javanese soto ayam at java kitchen, really filling.


woke up quite late on sunday, attended mass at nearest church and had lunch at nearest shopping mall. had a short nap, and headed to big splash at east coast to meet up with friends. the birthday gathering was held first at old town white coffee where we had drinks and cheesecake, followed by dinner cum board game (it's citadel again!) at sushi tei.

apple tart - first attempt. it's basically baked cheesecake with a layer of sliced granny smith apples topped with sliced almond. yummy!

first attempt on baking melting moments cookies. simple recipe, simple ingredients, simple directions. the result? crispy, crumbly, buttery cookies that melt in the mouth..


there are several ways on how the cookies can be presented. with creamy filling, gum paste, etc. mine is the easiest - icing sugar sprinkled on top.


question of the day - why are unsalted butter sold in blocks of 227 grams while salted ones are in blocks of 250 grams? does that mean the salt itself is 23 grams?

loved the typingweb site!


it reminds me so much of my childhood days when we drilled ourselves to type properly just for the sake of mastering the games. that time the games are stored in a 5 1/4 inch flat disks. there were only 3 types of game: one to practice on particular keys by typing to help a circus monkey balancing itself on a rope, one to practice typing words by saving a town from bombs, and the last one is to practice typing sentences by moving a frog from a chasing snake. simple games but great fun!

I had this craving for steak and planned to have dinner at astons last friday. too bad friday was a super hectic day, and the rush continued until past midnight - 1.45am to be exact. never mind leaving on the dot to head to a restaurant, I was lucky I could go home at 8 plus before continuing my work from home.


I spent this weekend from one mall to the next - it's been a while since my last shopping trip. however the annual sale event was not really satisfying. some shops don't participate at all. maybe it's because they're already on sale throughout the year.


on saturday I went with a girl friend to city link, marina square and suntec. long queue at astons, and finally we settled with bali thai. we had a nice sinful dinner there, so much coconut milk - chicken curry, red ruby and glutinous rice with mango. but the glutinous rice was really good.


so finally today we went to the cathay. the mall was not crowded at all, considering there's a queue for singapore idol audition at the entrance. the rest of the shops were either vacant, closed, or waiting for customers, except.. astons, of course. waited for quite some time to be seated and afterwards, to have our steaks served. but finally I had my sirloin steak, with house salad and onion rings for side dishes. yum! for dessert it was waffle plus two scoops of ben & jerry ice cream, topped with chocolate fudge and chopped peanuts.



we also visited the brand new orchard central shopping mall. it's so new some of the shops are still under construction. there are in total 12 floors, but we could only go up till level 8. I guess level 9 to 12 are still under construction too. the escalators are confusing, some are 2 level high, and they are not located at the same point in the mall.


made a stop at red dot design museum, maxwell road, to visit maad. it was our first time entering the unique bright red museum, and the displayed award-winning items were interesting too.

a simple recipe at the back of a french vanilla granola box + itchy hands on saturday afternoon = baked french vanilla tart. bonus: sliced almond and a scoop of ice cream.