Ramen

Yesterday when my dad arrived back in Singapore we went to have ramen at Ramen Champion, cos I kept seeing the ads on the MRT and was tempted to try them.

I've only had my one and only bowl of authentic charsiew ramen in Japan at a street side store in 2008, where I remember the owner writing his name, Tukemen, on a piece of paper and handing it to us. It was a small store, really like those you see in Japanese dramas where the walls are plastered with soju advertisements and you sit in front of the chef and watch him whip up steaming bowls of noodles.

Overseas trips are always nice when it's band-related and not academics-related. But then I was stupid to
not have eaten any sushi at all while I was there.
We'd always have Tully's breakfast on the bus while heading towards the band school, and have packed bentos at the school itself. There were times when we were allowed to roam the streets of Tokyo freely, but we settled for less expensive food.
I'm kind of glad we didn't eat Mcdonalds there.

Anyway my point was to comment on the ramen. I ordered the corn and butter one, which came with a humongous heap of butter that could give anyone a heart attack. Cut it into half and mixed it with the soup, which gave a nice pleasant buttery smell. The broth was thick and good but a little too salty for me. Somehow the noodles were just a little tough. The egg was purposely undercooked to give a runny orangey yolk with bits of runny egg white too, which I like because I like runny yolks. Plenty of bean sprouts made my day. :)

Overall I like it, because I found Ajisen's ramen to taste 'non-Japan' already. But the portion was big; was still feeling quite full even before I slept.

And I'm still waiting for SHINee's mv.

My music player just played 4 SHINee songs in a row.

It's a sign.

After last night's failed attempt of waiting til KST's midnight and no MV was released, making shawols worldwide disappointed :[
I don't wanna spaz on Twitter too much because I myself get annoyed seeing a lot of spazzing tweets.

Anyway I can feel that it's gonna be out within the next five hours.
And tonight I'm going to eat a chicken dinner with Nooby to celebrate the release of Sherlock ;_;
Can't wait.

Little joys in life.

Pigging on a bowl of red ruby dessert at the airport waiting for my dad.
Water chestnut coated with tapioca, coupled with coconut milk 8)
My favourite dessert of all time; it's like almost extinct in Singapore :(

Omg pathetique dinner I don't know why I'm even trying when it has never worked for a million years..

SPASM

I FORGOT KOREAN TIMEZONE 1 HR FASTER THAN US I GOT A SHOCK OMO OMO OMO
THANK YOU!!!!!!!! SHINEE IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ONEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO



Currently spamming refresh search bars of korean browser sites and youtube and allkpop's with SHINee so they'll trend.
I don't really dare to do it much on Twitter cos I'll get bashed.

CURIOUS YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It's amazing how fans churn out stuff just an hour into the release.
GIFs, youtube audios, full album download, lyrics, screencaps.

UPDATE:
YES IT HAS STARTED TRENDING ON NAVER



SUPPOSEDLY PEOPLE SAY ITS TRENDING ON TWITTER ALSO BUT I CANNOT SEE

AND WHY BLOGGER CANNOT POST GIFS I'M SHIFTING TO TUMBLR IF LIKE THAT

ALL KILL ON KOREAN CHARTS
GO SHINEE

I can cook.

Lots and lots of bean sprouts cos they're my second favourite veggie after the crunchy white cabbage. YUMZ.

I wonder

2am ballads are always nice. :)
Would've bought their album if not for the fact that SHINee is making a comeback soon and it is pertinent to boost SHINee's album sales instead of 2am's. I've already made a pre-order ha!
I like both groups, but SHINee's still the best. 8D
And tomorrow's the digital release of Sherlock!

Went to all 3 open houses and I think I've made up my mind.
But regarding the choices I'm still unsure as I'm not certain if I can cope with the workload or even have sustained interest in it.
It was nice to see lots of people again.

Fun-O-Rama next weekend!
After that I ought to be going back to BP band; SYF is on 7 April...

Feeling quite horrible.

It's like whenever I drink this new honey mixed with my daily dose of lemon I get a freaking tummy ache; the kind where you don't want to shit but it is still painful.
My mum's gonna go get the usual one we have tomorrow. :(

And I just went for an interview today.
Went quite well I suppose.. But I wouldn't be surprised if they don't call me back.

It's almost April and I haven't made my uni decision.

Shall go sleep the pain away.
And leave my lucid dreaming training til next time.
This is what happens when you have nothing to do...

Tomorrow; SHINee's teaser.

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Okay. That was self-made and I had more ideas but I didn't want to make it any long because 1) I'm lazy 2) I do not mean any malicious harm to dear SHINee.
And I didn't post the teasers cos I think if YOU are interested you SHOULD go look for it yourself (and make SHINee trend even more! :D)

Just my two cents worth on their comeback;
as a fan of course I'm happy! It's like a long awaited dream finally having come true albeit the unorthodox concept.
But to many (who also do not know what's going on in SM), it seems like SM has spent all their budgeting on other groups (ahem, 20+ teasers?) and has left SHINee not even with clothes.
And they're what, rushing these teasers out one a day, compared to the rookie group which had a 'teaser period' of what, 3 months?
I'm just a little upset at the fact because it seems like they're not getting what they should deserve.

Maybe it's a fashion thing. You know, Paris, Vogue, etc etc.

Of course this is purely something that we can only judge by teasers, Key's and JongHyun's aren't out yet (and one of theirs will be out next morning! And the next!), and I do hope (no, I'm SURE) the music and MV will be mindblowing.

We have waited too long.
21st March!!!!

Seems legit

Limited.

I can do so much more with such, but I am limited.

Muahchee.

Made some muah chee as celebration for myself. :]
Hooray! I feel so much better after a nap.

I honestly honestly did not expect what I've gotten.

It's really beyond what I thought I could even smell.
I didn't even dare to hope for such results.
Being in SSP, dropping a H2, always being in the bottom of the cohort, and I have never gotten an A for majority of the subjects.

I am truly, very satisfied and today those were tears of extreme joy and disbelief.

It's so surreal. It's like I'm still living in denial.

I am very thankful, especially to Jeremy, Alfred, Aylwin and Reynard for guiding me along and always answering my stupid nonsensical questions.

Thank you Ms Too for entertaining my always-ahead of class questions which annoys the class. And bearing with my slow thinking and analysis during consults.
Mr Lim for always trying to make time for consults and answering my queries through SMS.
KSL for conducting many supplementary classes to help us.

And plenty of others who have helped me along the way.
Joel, Janan, Zetong, Szechew, Bingcai, Derrick, Lynn, Carmina, and other classmates in my class.

Thank you all so much.

And for now, I'll get a good sleep, before finally settling down to decide on university admissions.



And what's left of my college life, is a big regret that will never get closure for as long as I live.

I am afraid.

Fear.

February was a month that passed so quickly there was nothing eventful about it.

This is exactly what I told myself I would never get myself into; an office job with fixed office hours, having to wear formal wear and sit your ass in front of a computer for 8 hours.

I had so many plans after 'A's. To work in the zoo, or a cafe, get music theory lessons, watch my sitcoms, go overseas.

But all I do when I get home is again, sticking my eyes onto a screen.
I have been running about 4 km a day for like 3-4 days a week, but IT DOESN'T FREAKING WORK and I have found out the reasons why.

1) I am not moving for 8 hours.
2) I eat rice for lunch which I hardly did last year.

Hmm during JC days (ah my youth) the school food was so unappetizing I only mostly patronized ... yongtaufoo and perhaps roti prata. Then I started bringing my own food to school.

So instead of losing weight cos I am actually running now, inversely I am getting fatter and fatter because of this job.
Yes I blame the inactiveness of an office job.

But it's a steady income and my parents don't want to pay for my transport and food and phone bills anymore.
I have to survive this bitter world where money revolves around everything.

Where do I get the means to follow what I want to do?

And of course, the dreaded 'A' Levels results are coming out this Friday.
I haven't been thinking about it; it was only today when the news was confirmed then I accepted this fate. I didn't want to believe it was Friday since SEAB gave the period of 1-5 March...

But yes, it's coming.
I honestly don't know how I'll fare, seeing that my studies in JC is actually quite bad.
I'm scared, but nobody wants to do badly.
I don't know if I should go to college on time.
Or go late? Anyway I'll feel suffocated if I see my peers going up the stage with tears of joy and relief while I sit frozen in my seat, grasping with the fact that I may not get into a local university.

At this point of time I really just hope for decent grades to get me into a local Uni.

In the mood for baking again.
just borrowed 3 baking books from the library, with 1 purely on chocolate.

Finally the long hiatus of my baking will be broken.

CREAM PUFFS HERE I COME.
Can't wait to try and bake omg screw 5 day work week.

I have a green thumb.

Germination success!
My only problem now is that I forgot which is tomato and which is vanilla.

-_-

Feeling misunderstood at work.

:[

Apparently my colleague spied my marks and spencer puffs that the guys bought for me during my birthday, and that was when they offered me muffins and I refused cos I thought it was fattening.

No serious; a muffin is very very very scary.

Then they asked why I never share and that it's ATAS food.


OMG IS THERE SUCH A THING THEN I AM MISJUDGED COS I DON'T EVEN BUY M&S STUFF IM A POOR COMMONER WHO BUYS NEIGHBOURHOOD SHOPPING CENTRE STUFF EAT HAWKER CENTRE FOOD DRINK KOPI DONT HAVE A CLUE WHAT ARE BRANDED GOODS ETC ETC.

Why. I feel so upset now they must think I'm some miserly teen.
When I brought it to work I was mulling over how to offer them then I didn't ... Cos I didn't know how to.

:[
:[

Ge ge ge ge get down

Many new rookie groups this year but B.A.P has caught my attention.


This song is pretty addictive and although I was skeptical of every rookie group and usually judging them even before hearing them, they're quite good.

My favourite part is the "get down get down ge ge ge ge get down". Somehow that guy sounds like some guy in Big Bang.

During secondary school days when those 3 below (did you Sandy?!) in my previous post urged me to listen to Kpop, I would snort and was determined not to fall into those traps. Tinghui will ALWAYS ask me to listen to Big Bang songs, to a point she sneakily found a way to put their songs into my phone.
Which I reluctantly proceeded to listen and found it not bad but didn't make any comments.

But as the world is divided into kpop haters and lovers, you have to make a choice.
I don't even remember when I started to take interest; but there was a time I found SHINee ridiculous (OH MY DID I?!!?!!?) doing RDD and pronounced their name as SHIN-ee.

Speaking of which all of us are tired, AHEM, tirelessly waiting day and night and googling almost every day for their highly anticipated comeback.
Like this.


I think SM should stop the teasers with EXO already, debut them and get going with SHINee before I GET MAD
Oh 'What Is Love' sounds pretty nice too. I like.

Before you judge, I'm not that crazy of a fangirl... those who see the Hallyu wave through a distorted vision - picturing mad fans spending their youth chasing after idols who don't even know their existence, emptying their pockets for the latest merchandise, and those who queue for hours, sometimes up to days, just for a glimpse of that one idol they've been supporting...- should seriously change their views and not let such people determine their opinions towards Kpop.

And while this may make Kpop seem commercialised and fake, and to a certain extent I do agree, but many of these idols are actually talented people who can really sing and dance, and if one watches the variety shows (albeit scripted), they are not as bad as they seem.

I was once prejudiced against SNSD, thinking they couldn't sing live and were overrated.
Now, after a few variety shows, they weren't as bad as I thought they were...
They are still human after all, coping with schedules of less than 3 hours of sleep a day (poor SHINee ;_;)

Sometimes those who really can sing (IMO ballad groups) are overlooked and don't get the recognition they deserve, which is quite upsetting. :/

And they still have to cope with unreasonable and scary netizens.(think recent controversies)
A price to pay for fame (and for the lucky few, fortune)...?

I go gaga over SHINee sometimes.
Most of the time.

But life goes on.
I have other stuff to do with my life too.
:]

This iPhone game is pretty fun.
Pity I didn't grow up watching Simpsons cos I'm sure there's a lot of stuff I don't understand as I didn't watch it.

And it's rumoured A levels results are out next Friday.
Oh save me.
I don't even want to think about it...

Horticulture.

Decided to give it a go by planting tomatoes and vanilla beans.
I predict a 30% success rate, but I'll still try.

Haven't been blogging cos I need to practice censorship;
People judge too much by your honest thoughts and feelings, making me type out lengthy blog posts and eventually not even posting it.

Then what's the use of this place anyway?
I voice my honest opinions people not happy, would you rather face a fake personality who twists her words just to make one satisfied?

And I dislike it when people talk to me about what I blog.

Enough. Am feeling horrible and angsty and a feeling of wanting to shut the world out.

Leave me alone.

I miss the three of you,

most from secondary school.

MBS

After work yesterday I wanted to go home straight because I was very tired, so tired that I kept making mistakes again and again.
Called Carmina to ask about our class MBS outing and told her I wouldn't be going.
However when Oli took over the phone and persuaded me...

One does not simply reject Oli; so I made my way down to MBS.

Wished I could've stayed.

The second tallest building at the left is actually my office.

Blogging during work.

Cos I can do so.

Just came back from lunch with my colleagues, it's quite amusing to listen to them talk about 上面的 (upper people) while I sit and laugh silently.

Yes, not my usual horrible terrible vegetable laugh.
Anyway at work I'm not even myself. I don't talk unless they talk to me.

I think I have an ability to make situations very awkward.



Oh oh have I mentioned, I didn't think of tissue paper booking as anything at all until my first time booking seats at Burger King with these very essentials.

I was VERY AMUSED.
Seriously! Usually what we (ex)students do is put our bags down and just go buy food right?
In the working environment, tissue paper is the key to survival during lunches.
If you don't have tissue paper, you can't book seats; if you take turns with your colleague to buy, most likely you'll be late cos the queues are ridiculously long during lunch hours.

But today has just proven that The Booking of Seats with Tissue Paper can fail.

Apparently when my colleague came back with her food there were two other 'innocent' people sitting down already, claiming that it was their tissue paper.

The seats were magnanimously given since we found more seats anyway, and my colleagues joked about telling those women to, 'You wait, I call my boss here' which I thought was funny.

Next time I'll put something on the back of my tissue paper. When people claim its theirs, I will turn it triumphantly to reveal a photo of a naked man, and say,
"Oops, I guess it's really yours."

Psychological warfare much.

Work has been what people would call, sit and shake leg.
Well I do have busy days; but I hate having nothing to do cos I get so drowsy and I have to sustain being awake. Guh.

Monday we had department lunch at Royal Plaza which was a buffet consisting of seafood, sushi and Asian food.
Was throbbing with delight but I took less than what I would usually take at a buffet cos I must 意思意思, you know.
Anyway what I ate was already more than what my female colleagues ate and I felt like a damned pig.
The seafood is REALLY GOOD. The sweetest meat I've ever tasted from shelled creatures.

Dessert that I took; deliciously fragrant pecan and chocolate ice cream, a creamy berry mousse, a berry cheesecake hidden behind my ice cream and a creme brûlée, which I think I MUST learn how to make.

This was almost equivalent to the amount my colleagues were sharing.


OH WELL.

Gonna get back to looking at my nails grow.

How I spent my only day in almost a month where I can finally take a rest at home.

Continued my RM series for awhile, and I took off some time to read up on university admission criteria and the likes.
Looked for culinary arts courses in Singapore, and found out there's close to none, except for one in SIT but it's more inclined to accept poly students.



Then I realized my future is bleak.

Popular,

You're gonna be popular.

Today received a last minute sms from band, asking me to go down pass my DSLR to them for filming.
Which resulted in me not being able to make it for a secondary school dinner.
I don't blame anyone but myself, because I already promised a few days before I'd go down on Saturday to help, but I didn't get any reply until today that's why I wasn't able to make it for the dinner, which Janice complained that, even though she booked me 3 weeks in advance, band always has to be in the way.

Honestly I don't know when will I ever extricate myself from band. I really do love the people and the music, I envy the J1s and J2s for being in band now.

Very very much.

When you love something so much, it's just hard to give it up.

And what makes it harder is when the people who are supposed to support you do the opposite.
Am I selfish for thinking for my future at the expense of ... I don't know, financial capability?
I honestly meant it as a friendly suggestion, I didn't want to limit myself to only local choices.
You say band is a waste of money and time, you think I can't do well in academics, you presume my efforts in baking to be merely a fad.
I got an admin job, because that was what you wanted me to do.

What do you want me to achieve in this life, when you don't support me in even a single thing I enjoy doing?
Are you leading my life for me?

I'm not angry, but hurt, at these thoughts.

It's been almost a week.
And what we can do is sleep over these problems like we always do.

-----------------------------------------
LegACy photos.


Banner which many of us worked on. Glitter for AC was thought of last minute because the blue colour didn't really work.
















I miss the times when percussion is usually the last to leave, like that day.



My gifts for this concert.






The section. Probably the last time we'd ever perform together.






My juniors, J1s included.



Went to Jun Yong's house today for CNY visiting.
















Thank you for that day.

It's over.

Even though it's late now and I'm going to regret like mad at work the next day, I would like to express my thoughts on this concert before they fade away.

Throughout the first half my heart was beating non stop. I was so nervous.

Before that soundcheck took so long, especially for percussion and a few other alumni who had to sit through all the rehearsals.
And I did get irritated. By the lack of time and last minute rushing because I absolutely hate last minute work.

Everything happened so quickly, and coupled with the fact I didn't eat until from morning til after concert, (which I hope turns out to be a good thing for my diet ultimately.) I just wanted it over and done with.

After Scheherazade I swear my arms were gonna fall off; never have I played so much cymbal parts in a single concert.

There were moments when my eyes got lost in the scores. Lack of concentration, which obviously resulted in mistakes.

I would love to say more but this is an open platform for scrutiny.

Not to say there weren't any good moments; especially playing with the full section again.
The fun times with my section.
Interesting sounds by new instruments; i.e bird call, wind machine

Something I've noticed, or rather what our section has;
How people just come and play our percussion instruments without permission.
People just help themselves to the sticks or instruments and start whacking the mallets. Or trying out the gong.
Even worse, using the timpani as a freaking table.

Is percussion that insignificant to you guys? Why do most people think almost everyone can just grab a tambourine or triangle then they'll be able to play?

Sure, you can make noise, but you can never make music.

You don't see us going to any instrument just lying around, then grabbing it and playing it right.

I do hope people will learn to respect percussion more.

To end off, let's have a good week ahead.

I am tired.

It's been days of consecutive work, and then ending off with band and I reach home quite late.
It's almost the same as school days.

While people look forward to the weekends, I don't (for this) because I know it's gonna be hell and I have work straight on Monday.

Today Mr Alvin was talking about human willpower or something. About pushing yourself to the farthest.


But I am desperate for some time of my own. :(
I don't even talk to my parents, I don't have time to tidy my room which is getting cluttered. I need to hand wash my own handwash clothes which are piling up.

I just get home, nua a bit while snacking on CNY goodies and bathe and sleep.

Let this pass soooooooon.

GongXiFaCai

I dread the following four days.
Work+Band+Work+Band.

I am very very very afraid I cannot last until concert day.

Which is, this Sunday.



If you're interested please tell me.
I personally look forward to Symphonic Overture and Machu Picchu.
Oh, and there's no more Jurassic Park.

Work today was a torture.
As my supervisor was on leave I was totally free for the whole day.
Like I'm just there to sit in front of the desk and do absolutely nothing.
I counted; I spent less than an hour the whole day doing actual work.
It's not a good thing seriously; you feel so bored you get sleepy but you can't sleep at work.
And it's only the fourth day...

Don't know how to survive. :(


Here's the CNY post. Hardly any mood this year so it's going to be a boring post. I didn't even touch mahjong (like I know how to play anyway) and cards this year.


CNY Eve's; my mum cooked this ... I can't remember at what time of the day.

Very rich and plentiful pot of savory stuff with a flavorful broth.
But it's like once a year... bleh.

So here goes CNY Visiting.
It's like with every year it gets more and more boring...
And with the pile of goodies in every person's house, it's like a battle with my inner fatty devils.
WHAT AM I SAYING. But you get it.
... Sigh.


Family photo at home before going out!



With Crystal






Stole Jessica's Fun-O-Rama coupons that she has to sell this year. MUHAHAHAHA.



The adults.




With Mavis :)



Sisters.



Cousins!







He's cute. We were upstairs playing guitar and piano and singing; he gave instructions and we were to play the songs he knew along with him. Haha.



Crystal, MeiChin and Mavis



Patronizing scenery shot.



W/o my brother :0







Full family photo, and ironically without the owner of the house...










Here's what left at home.
My family finished the pineapple tarts when I've only had one so far. Sian.



My favourite; kueh bangkit bought from Sandy's shop. Melty and very fragrant. I should learn how to make this.



Love letters. Not exactly something I like cos the top of your inner mouth can get ulcers if you eat too much.



Arrowhead. Tastes abit like tapioca chips but Sandy emphasized it's health-ier. :)



My aunt made these! Cashew nut cookies and almond cookies coated with chocolate. Plus another box of rolled pineapple tarts. And the thing is; she's Malay!
Best of both worlds, I appreciate her celebrating it with us and always making these goodies :)


I'll post up other photos when the rest have posted them.

And now I shall go sleep for the next day of work.
:(