apart from the wizard talk.

jk rowling's commencement address at harvard, titled "the fringe benefits of failure, and the importance of imagination" was extremely well written and delivered. dotted with humour and personal experience, this is one video worth watching. she writes so well that almost every other sentence she spoke was capable of  printed on those inspirational quote-cards!

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

"You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default." 
- jk rowling.

a brief history of olympic sore losers.

interesting feature by time.com, enjoy!

 (picture adapted from source)

click here to view article.

tradition.

our customary mcdonald's breakfast during holidays where my dad gets a rare opportunity to wake up late and enjoy a slow brekkie. that's why the latest advertisement by macs (where the uber cute little girl wishes her dad doesn't have to work so she can have macs breakfast everyday... though that may not be a brilliant idea waist-wise) totally hit the nail in the spot. now... time to get ready for work. =/

introducing the deluxe big breakfast...

for my dad of course, i'm sticking to ma fluffy hotcakes baby!

i am tiger hear me roarrr!

saw this e-mailer from tiger airways in my inbox today, thought it was quite funny! i feel for woods though, to have almost every industry ride on his personal affairs. anyway, blessed chinese new year everyone! =)

the boy in the striped pyjamas.

caught this awesome movie on dvd today and i wondered what took me so long to finally watch it. if, like me, you haven't heard of the boy in the striped pyjamas until now, then i highly recommend that you add this to your weekend's to-do list!

synopsis from imdb: set during world war II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a jewish boy on the other side of the camp has startling and unexpected consequences.

farmers' market - a piece of europe in singapore.

a farmers' market is a common feature in europe, somewhat like our local pasar malam, where farmers will gather to sell their produce to the public. chef jane of the pantry at loewen gardens missed that little piece of home, and decided to organise a farmers' market on the first saturday of every month!

organic bread by the organic baker

absolutely devine orange cake by madz chef

when i was living in maastricht, i used to wake up early in the morning on days when the farmers' market was on, cycle to the city centre with a shopping bag and return with my loot of fresh fruits and vegetables. i still remember the comical scene where my friends and i would try to balance the heavy bags while cycling uphill. ahh.. these wonderful memories!

scones and desserts from the pantry

i was really excited upon hearing about this event and decided to forgo my precious sleep, wake up early and head down to loewen gardens with jolene. with no idea how a farmers' market in singapore will work out, we didn't really know what to expect.

olives etc. from olive grove, a supplier to hotel and restuarants

surprisingly, it was a lovely and cosy affair, with loads of imported and homemade food! it's not quite the scene where farmers sold their own produce, but i guess that's about as close as we can get in singapore.

salmon quiche from the pantry

sausage, scrambled eggs and toast from the pantry

jols and i had a lovely brunch at the pantry, and we both went home happy girls with peach cake, sicilian olives and hummus in our bags!

more details on the farmers' market on expat living.

the pantry, loewen gardens, 75 loewen road

loving this shot by lars daniel.

so old-school yet so classy and modern at the same time. beautiful!

from copenhagencyclechic.