this close to nature

Highly amused by these pictures of TR and the worm (millipede??). I suspect he's usually quite squeamish around insects but he looks like a kid transfixed by a new discovery in these pics. I'll say the hilly air of Cinque Terre does wonders to your mood and sense of being...

Here it comes

My favouritest golden month September has arrived but I can't seem to muster enough spirit to wish everyone a Happy September Day. The only thing that's taking my mind off other things (I need to keep things vague) is scrapbooking. Seriously it's one of those rare indulgences that gives me sustained gratification. It makes me happy, which is not quite so easy to come by nowadays.

Scrapbook/scraplifts I did for the twins' birthday:





Too adorable not to do a layout on these pics TR dug out from his attic.

Snapshots of July

Andy and Cui dropped by for a visit - it really feels like NYC is more their home now - and off to The Dunearn we went for a "posh dinner with a dress code", another of Cui's strange requests. Enjoyed dinner but enjoyed sneaking into BTC more. Quadrangle B at night, how nostalgic! Until we were politely chased off by security, my ex-student status did not impress them.



NAPS gathering, we're maintaining the numbers! At least for now. But Mal's returning to London and Wee just jetted off to Aust. Now that Eleta's migrating for good, don't know when we can pack a round table again.

Singapore River in the evening through a condensing lens. No, I was not at work at 6.00am.


Lunch time at Far East Square. We usually won't walk that far but wanted to help my mom take some pics for a ridiculous contest organised by her company. The only people in action I managed to capture were the Quiznos staff working the coffee machine and KM using a fork to eat his sandwich.


Food For Thought - nice location, lousy service and overpriced food. Was very grumpy cos they took my order for choc pancakes (recommended by Nic and Jia) and told me much much later that they didn't serve pancakes at 4pm.



The giant inflatable bunny that has been travelling around Singapore, heartlands and all.



The corner coffee shop at the intersection of Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road is where I indulge in sinful hawker food. The best fried mee sua and tau kwa pau!

book hunt

The annual NLB book sale at Expo must be one of the largest crowd puller. I dropped by today, the last day and a few hours before closing, yet it was still very crowded. Didn't expect to find any good books at this late hour but was pleasantly surprised to spot a few. Noticed that non-fiction and children books out numbered adult fiction books by 70%!

NLB book sale is certainly not the place to pick up the newest titles but it's a good bet if you want to find those obscure, discontinued books. I think my best buy ever must be Madeleine L'Engle's "Dragons in the Water". I'm sure you can only find second hand copies on Amazon.

Speaking of which I bought a simplified biography of Madeleine L'Engle today. Am extremely delighted to read that her favourite author is... LM Montgomery! I mean they are BOTH my favouritest writers!

Bought a New England travel guide (all books at $2). Since the travel books are all dated (2006!), chose a series where the published date doesn't matter that much - a pictorial guide to the best driving trips in the region.

The last book I plucked from the bin is Imogen Edward Jones' "Tuscany for Beginners". It's chick lit mixed with a dash of Frances Mayes "Under the Tuscan Sun". Perfect for easy breezy reading on the MRT. Anyway I have high expectations from the author of the excellent Babylon series.

Scrapping memories

Everybody knows how I go ga-ga over scrapbooking materials, magazines and all that paper stuff. The truth is, I hardly get my hands down to actually scrapping my photos. I think it's equally enjoyable just flipping through the magazine pages, scrolling through blogs and dreaming of all the possible pages I can create.

Here's the HK pages which I did on a sudden whim shortly after we returned. I guess Dragon's Back on a drizzly, blustery winter day was an unforgettably un-Hongkong-ish experience. Some people think we're crazy to hike in HK, I mean why HK of all places right? But I always make it a point to do/see something less common in each place I visit and to have a varied trip - shopping, scenery, culture, outdoor activity - to prevent sightseeing fatigue. The piping hot and cheap egg tarts at Shau Kei Wan at the end just topped it.





Got this idea for a "memory file" from KP, one of my fav scrappers. What attracted me to this project was how easy and quick it was to put everything together and how ingenious it is to collate all your loose souvenir neatly into one file. Anything that can go under the puncher can be thrown in. While each piece of paper may look rather insignificant on its own, the whole stack nicely sums up what we did for our US trip.

Daiso is the best place to get all sorts of strange but extremely useful stationery supplies like the postcard folders above and the punched sticker extension below when you don't want to punch holes through a particular document.

Snapshots around town - Kallang River

It's true that when your friends get married, you barely see them, with or without their other halves. Which is probably one reason why I agreed, albeit rather reluctantly, to SX's demanding request. Please remember to photoshop my head off thanks.

Headed down to Brewerkz thinking that it will be relatively more empty cos of the location but a phone call reminded us that it was world cup season and there were large screens indoors and outdoors. Took a gamble and secured an outdoor seat which was pretty nice on a breezy evening. Was told by the football fan among us that it was Holland vs Japan that night hence the many Japs around us. Didn't stay long enough to hear the cheers.

Love the mirrored surface of the calm river and the darkening clouds at twilight. Imagined that I was staying in one of those riverside condos. Swoon. Remembered that the bridge holds significant memories for SX and WQ and the long stakeout we had to do on the night he decided to propose to her. Probably one of the most romantic places in Singapore, especially at sunset.

Ms Tan still doesn't have eyebags after screaming at all those kids!

Something to look forward to

Nothing but a Martha Stewart magazine could incite me to start blogging again on my lagging laptop. Nobody but the Americans will, and can successfully, devote a whole issue to their country's national day. Never have I felt more envious of the Americans who can have something to look forward to, summer that is.

Summer is when "the whole country starts living outdoors", where people kick off their shoes and sprawl on their lawns, when there's more sunshine (true), more laughter (maybe) and more time to spend with family and friends (really?). Summer means barbecues, kayaking at the lakes, campfires, Sunday socials, inflatable pools, sea shores, picnics, popsicles and walking barefooted in the garden. I like that the Americans have a shared mentality that summer is the time to relax and refresh and reconnect with your family and friends. Who can blame you for throwing your pen down to get some sunshine outside when the person next to you probably feels the same way?

It's not really the same here when "summer" just means more humid days, quicker tempers and drowsy afternoons in a freezing office. I can't even take enough leave to go for a real "summer vacation" (which to me means a one month or longer holiday). Do Singaporeans have the habit of delegating one part of the year to more leisurely pursuits? I cannot think of a particular time of the year where there is a collective change in our attitudes. Well at least students get to look forward to their June and December holidays or the 3-month university summer holidays (which I'm still deeply missing), but not for us working adults.

Rome Revisited

Cool and wet. Never thought I'll enjoy Rome and its chilliness; it sure beats the heat and the steamy city stench. While we had our robbery scare the previous time, Rome seems a little less hostile now and it felt safer to stay out till dark. It rained but was too stingy to buy a brolly (I had one back in the hostel!). But thank goodness it merely rained, not poured.

Piazza di Spagna - still like the hustle and bustle of this place, tourists and all.

On Spagna and the surrounding shopping area. Love the girlish frocks!

Trevi Fountain - Throw a coin behind your back and you will visit Rome again. It works!

Piazza Chigi - encounter with another of the magnificent palazzos in the city

Piazza Navona - lovely at sunset with all the artists sans the crowd

One of the random buildings which caught my eye


Outside the Pantheon - love the plant covered ancient brick walls!


True blue homely Italian pizzeria recommended by our Roman hostel owner.




The yummy fried mozzarella balls!

Florence

Update: we're at Florence now. We are staying in this perfect 3 person hostel room with a computer and internet connection! The coolest part of our room is the window that opens up to be a door leading to the courtyard.

The weather the past few days have been really bad, cold and wet. Did not bring enough warm clothes. As usual. Caught a cold in Orvieto 2 days ago and have been popping panadol ever since :(

Tuscany is totally not the sun drenched place that we all know. Probably a cold spell cos I've never felt so cold. Brrrrr.

Gimme a break!

Finished packing so I'll leave some last words before I end up having "limited access to my emails or any internet connection" (my-out-of-office message).

I'm seriously considering if it's even worth it to take 2 weeks off for a "summer holiday jaunt" in the Mediterranean coast of Italy. Maybe it's better to dream about endless blue skies and balmy weather than to actually expose myself to the extra hassle, stress and fatigue of going on leave.

I wonder if it's the nature of my job that demands my 24/7 attention such that I can never seem to be free of it - people just expect me to stay connected and reply to their email queries. Though TR obviously hates this, I foresee that I'll be checking my BB umpteen times a day and hopefully, I won't be too conspicuous doing so in the middle of some piazza.

I swear that 70-litres backpacks are built for strapping ang mohs and not for Asian women (and I'm hardly considered petite!) My backpack is extremely ergonomically unfriendly, I bought it cos it could "convert" into a duffel bag and, it's red. Now I end up doubling under it in the most unglamorous fashion. Sigh. Hoping it'll wear and tear by the time I reach home (only when I reach home) so I can get a new one. Yivon thanks I'm craazzyyy to be breaking my back when I can afford to travel in a more comfortable manner. True, but when I think of the years ahead where I'll be age-barred from hostels and when I might really break my back, or a bone, I've decided to backpack for as long as I can endure, and enjoy of course.

LA DOLCE VITA!