Ember @ 1929

Warning: this post is going to be photos galore cos I thought that my pictures at Ember turned out especially nice that night because of the lighting and the projector-like partitioning which effectively acted as the backdrop.

We celebrated KM's bday there. While I'm sure everyone passably enjoyed themselves and the food, I was feeling a little grumpy that night for no particular reason. I guess it's not easy to organise dinner and have people complain (even in jest) about the place, time, price etc etc. Maybe I was just tired. But anyway, here are some of my favourite pics:

Birthday Bear!

Birthday Boy

Prince Nord

Someone in a pensive mood... again

I don't know why Cyn is frowning when I was trying to suppress her hysterical laughter the whole night

the happiest person (thing) around

the nicest roasted pork belly I tasted, fat and all

foie gras with shitake

yummy crabcake which makes me feel like going to Boston rightaway to try the real stuff

scallops wrapped with prosciutto

sticky!

sticky too!

our cosy corner - for rowdy customers


wish and blow!

are you really 27???

50mm of happiness

Eeeeks! Am thrilled with the belated bday prezzie I'm gonna get my bro. I've always subscribed to the buy-people-things-you-like theory and it works like a dream this time!

The object of all this lusting is a second-hand 50mm fixed lens which is just perfect for portrait shots. Grateful for the diversity of cameras at home cos this lens only works with my dad's D90.

Some candid (read: unglam) sneak peaks taken with our new fixation:

Bintan 2010

Everyday randoms

Separation anxiety. My parents are hilarious sometimes!

Very belated prezzie from bro. Good conversation starter if I bring it overseas. Think Cui will like it.

Attack of the ferns - I'm very fond of these weeds.

Pitchers keep growing to replace the shrivelled ones.

Baby ferns sharing a pot with the cactus.

More thanks

The sweet thing about having a slightly cheena bf is that he remembers strange Chinese dates - like today (10-10-10) - and I find a pretty kikki k card in my mailbox (with no postmark) even though he's miles away in GZ :) I wonder whether he bribed his mom/sisters to deliver it!

To round off my thanks to all my friends who have been so kind to me:

Thanks LKM, my soon-to-be ex-roomie for his pretty silver necklace. I guess it was a more appropriate gift than my request for a bikini from Bali!

I've thanked TJS and R previously but only managed to take a pic with them last Friday at Table 66. My smiley look belies how lightbulb-ish I was feeling when the pic was taken hahaha.


Thanks KM for the superb Truffs cake (the fudge covering was so gooey liquidy that I can see the reflection of the card in it!), the card and postcards, and ALL the presents you got me. I still can't decide which is my favourtiest! :)

Belated Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your well-wishes for my birthday! :)

• I think my scrapbook obsession is apparent to all. Thanks QF for the fabulously sweet scrapbooking kit!

• Thanks Yiwei, Jiaying, TY and TY for adding to my stash (oh joy!).

• Thanks Yivon for the bag and our MBS staycation!

• Thanks Wendy for the treasure chest of materials and my very own card!

• Thanks SX for the very writable journal!

• Thanks Des for the supermarket vouchers!

• Thanks TJS and R for the necklace, charms and all!

• Thanks KM for the 00:00 phone call and postcard (I'm sure your 5pm at Florence was a sunnier one than mine!)

• Thanks XX and Yilynn for organising our PS Cafe lunch!

• Thanks TR for the surprise cake and Gnomes books (how many more to go?)!

• Thanks A. Sandy for the watch!

• Thanks to my parents for the Kate Spade bag (en route) and cake (my retarded bro owes me a prezzie)!

• Thanks to my grans for their ang bao and Yosemite Sam!

• Thanks YY and Ivy for the super cute romper/dress!

baby installation

A new-age Anne Geddes!

Have not seen something so creative, uber cute, and original, all in one picture!

Check out more of Adele's creations at Mila's Daydeams. Quoting her "While my baby is taking her nap, I try to imagine her dream and capture it".

Hmmmm, I wonder do babies really have such fanciful daydreams? Maybe they have even weirder ones in their little minds.

Observation: Mila has tons of adorable rompers, dresses etc!

Plasticine People

I spend a disproportionate amount of my time surfing blogs and only 15 mins each morning flipping through yesterday's papers! Not a good habit I realised when people in the office start referring to the hottest news and all I can do is nod politely.

Read an interesting article on Monday where the author described "plasticine" young adults as "mostly white collared workers who are somewhat numb to life, have no dreams, interests or ideals, and do not feel much pain - or joy... Typically they work alone and for more than 50 hours a week. They feel as if they have expanded all their energy and all they get in return is a sense of emptiness".

The author cites doctors, bank employees, teachers, journalists, traffic policemen, civil servants, actors, taxi drivers as examples. No lawyers mentioned. Basically anybody can be a Plasticine, with people in solitary jobs more prone to being one. I understand what TR means when he mused about the importance of having peers in your job.

Thankfully, I don't think I'm qualified to be a Plasticine yet, not when I am capable of feeling pain and joy (sometimes I want to be numb!) or when all I want to do is travel, take photos, read and scrapbook. But I can think of a couple of people around me who seem to be in danger of being plasticined (I think it's a more negative than neutral phenomenon), hmmm maybe I should highlight this to them.

Snapshots of Europe

I understand why they say that September is the best time to travel - the crowd of summer has dispersed, the weather is still warm but you can feel the autumn winds sneaking in occasionally. How nice is that sigh.

The only travel I did this month was our annual family getaway at our favourite villa in Bintan (which was a very timely retreat), more of that later. However, was still dreaming of my trip to Italy/France a few months back (it seems so long ago!) so I tried to recapture some of the memories on paper, what else.

Florence - It rained almost non-stop the 3 days we were there but you know how the rule of inverse proportion works in such instances - the wettier it is, the less crowded it gets. Piazzale Michelangelo looks dreamily surreal that day, I appreciated it much more than the last time I visited it in sunny weather. But, the romp in the rain was probably the reason why TR had to cold sponge me that whole night.


Cinque Terre - a slice of heaven on earth. I can't say anything more, you have to visit it to know what I mean.



Paris on a too hot day. We did the obligatory Eiffel shots. Not saying that I did not enjoy it, finding a nice spot and sprawling on the grass is probably one of my fav things to do overseas. Nothing much has changed on the Left Bank (except us arrgh) as you can see in the picture below which was taken 2 years ago at around the same time.