updates.

so much to do so little time! it's been a crazy busy two months but fulfilling nonetheless. there are many things i'd like to share but the inertia to start writing during a non-work day is just too strong. i will get down to it someday, but in the meantime, here's sharing a track by villagers from the album becoming a jackal - perfect for a rainy chillout saturday. have a great weekend everyone! =)

"I'm leaving for the great wide open plains
Leaving while this holy spark remains

I see you've written promises to make me stay

But it really doesn't matter now anyway

I'm leaving

True love feeds on absences like pleasure feeds on pain

So no matter where I'm standing I still love you all the same

And I hope you feel the same way when its your turn to disappear

I'll be cheering from the sidelines with a sandwich and a beer

"

- set the tigers free by villagers

phil 4:6

i really like this design from olly moss.

the world calls it optimism, i call it bible hope. 

it's a hope that never disappoints.

blame it on the weather man.

inspired by the non-stop rain and freezing weather, i posted a message on facebook:

"dear God, when I wished for winter in Singapore, i wasn't expecting so much rain."

well, there ain't no rainbows without rain buddy

then in a span of 15 mins my brain kept churning out cheesy sentences like:


"heaven ran out of cats and dogs, so it decided to rain giraffes and elephants instead."


"too many people must have sang the song "rain, rain, go away" the past year and God decided to clear the backlog of rain debt before this FY(financial year) ends."

oh man... sometimes i'm so lame i can't stand myself... i have to sit down instead.

hooked on 6:04 minutes of awesomeness.

I LOVE MAGNETIC MAN.

(yup.. in caps+bold+underline for emphasis)

goodbye and hello

good morning world and blessed new year to everyone!

it feels surreal to be back in january again and all i could think about at the stroke of midnight was "oh my god, is it really january 2011 already?!?" nevertheless, i'm psyched up for the year ahead, because i know that it's going to be my best year yet. amen! =)

2010 has been an incredible year with unbelievable blessings and experiences. i've been having this strong urge to pen them down just so that i can look back 10 years down the road and smile at what life was like a decade ago.

so, before i kickstart the new (and awesome) year, i'll take some time to be thankful for the experiences which i have been blessed with the past year:

- visited korea for the first time on a whirlwind work trip and didn't see much
- had a Before Sunrise episode which was drama until the end but absolutely no regrets
- visited the land of the rising sun for the first time

- joined the F1 team, had a fantastic F1 experience and took away with great friendships

- finally picked up spanish

- got my first performance bonus (wee!)

- marked my first year of work and still feeling thankful everyday for being able to enjoy what i do

- got posted to the department of my dreams

- went back to holland, revisited old friends and made plenty of new ones
- travelled alone for the first time to scotland
- got blown away by the beauty of the highlands, scotland
- ran another half marathon and spent half the journey swearing i'll never do it again
- finally stepped into zouk after a couple of failed attempts, and on mambo night too!
- finally repainted my room and got rid of my gaudy blue

sometimes we get so absorbed in our challenges and all we think about is the bugging problem that we forget the many other blessings to be thankful for. i'll be the first to say that it hasn't been all clear skies and rainbows the past year, but on hindsight, i'm grateful for each moment and wouldn't change it a single bit.

now, i wonder what richer blessings 2011 will bring. =)

lightbulb moments.

it's inspiring to see how art and science can be incorporated into product design for everyday life. bonus points for still looking so good while achieving all of the above too! check out this living kitchen and read more about it here.

flow 2

this is but one of the many uber cool products from studio gorm, a collaboration between john arndt and wonhee jeong. the designers met while studying in the netherlands (yay!) but are now based in oregon. a few other products which i really like are the laptop bag, bicycle bag and construction quilt.

on the same note, my dear friend R has embarked on SUPRSCH, creating a range of brilliant paper card cases out of recycled advertising material. that's just the first of many other awesome ideas to come, so stay tuned and keep a lookout for this hidden talent! =)

        

the best scone in my world.

i had drawn up a long list of cafes and restaurants to check out when i was in scotland, turned out i didn't even have the chance to try any! i spent the first day finding my bearings around edinburgh city and was on the road most of the time while in the highlands, eating only at random pit stops.

fortunately, the friendly hostel receptionist recommended a supposedly good cafe called the Edinburgh Larder right opposite where i stayed. feeling mildly depressed that my foodie escapade in edinburgh didn't quite turn out the way i wanted to, i swore to have breakfast at the cafe on my last morning there.

the edinburgh larder, stocked full of goodness

warm and cosy interiors of the cafe

and so i did. and had the.most.awesome.scone.ever.

freshly baked scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam

fresh out of the oven, it was warm and crusty on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside. together with some jam and clotted cream, i felt like i'd just gone straight to heaven.

ok... granted i barely got to try the other scones around and didn't quite have a fair comparison, still it was the best i've ever eaten at least. it made those which i've tried in singapore taste really bad.

i spent nearly 2 hours in the cafe that morning, sitting alone by the window with my scone, tea and magazine in hand. it was one of the best experiences ever. guess what, thousands of miles away from home and i still managed to bump into 2 singaporean dudes on exchange! one of them also ordered the scone and he couldn't help but to exclaim that it was awesome too. so there you go, i swear i wasn't exaggerating.

this is how every morning should begin

i shall go to bed tonight dreaming of all the sandwiches, salads, soup, pasta, brownies, scones, cookies and muffins i could have tried in scotland, and wake up hungry for a perfect scone. =)

the edinburgh larder
15 blackfriars street
edinburgh
http://www.edinburghlarder.co.uk/