Oishii salad

We had friends over for dinner and instead of ordering KFC, we decided to make it a Japanese Italian evening. So I cooked two types of spaghetti - carbonara and Vongole and a salad in Japanese style. The salad - Japanese Avocado Salad is a must try. I adapted from a recipe and it was so delicious, it was wiped out.

Sauce:
1 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb Goba Shabu Shabu (dipping sauce for shabu shabu which has a strong sesame taste)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

Lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Avocado
Japanese cucumber

1. Whisk together the sauce ingredients. You can alter the exact measurements of each ingredient to your overall taste for the sauce.

2. Arrange all the greens in a bowl.

3. Dribble the sauce over the salad

4. Voila!

Strolling by Marina

We went to watch the musical, Ave Q the other day at the Esplanade. Great fun and the music is still stuck in my head! TS and I spent a quiet evening walking along Marina Bay to soak in the city. The skyline around Marina Bay is certainly shaping up everyday with the Integrated Resorts construction and the new CBD. I think I am going to miss Singapore somehow or another when we leave in February. But we are certainly looking forward to a new environment.

Family Album 2008

Message in Life

Through everyday's ups and downs, I have came to realise one important message which really helps me through everyday life. In life, there is some loss, there is some gain. We cannot expect everything to fall in place the way we expect it to be...with this, I wake up a happier person everyday!


For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.


Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Moment in Life

We took some family pictures at the studio recently since I had a convo package. Photographer Matthew from Protrait Gallery was very good with children and Ryan had no problems posing for every photo. The adults didn't fare too well though. But the pictures turned out very natural!

Dear Ryan

To my Ryan, stay the way you are. You are loving, caring, helpful and the sweetest nine-year-old I know. You love Bionicles so much that you sometimes go over the top about them. But at the end of the day, you would amaze us with the things you say and do.

A lazy Sunday afternoon

Baking can be such a therapeutic process. Especially if there is a rare occasion where there is no agenda on a sunday afternoon and you just want to spend quiet time at home with family.

Extra Virgin...What?!

(A conversation about Red Indians' names)

TS: Let's give ourselves a Red Indian name. What would you call yourself?

Me: Hmmmm, WHITE RIVER. You?

TS: I am always very caring towards people. So...I will call myself...CARE BEAR.

Me & Ryan: (Rolling eyes)

Ryan: Er... (walks towards a bottle of olive oil on the kitchen cabinet). I will call myself

EXTRA VIRGIN

TS & Me: What?!

What the Heck, Carpe Diem!

We are going! After the initial shakiness and the uncertainty, we finally decided that we are going to Sydney. Thanks for everyone's support and words of wisdom, I mustered my courage and decided what the heck, SEIZE THE DAY! I think the main question we asked ourselves is, "If we don't go, what will we be doing?" And the answer is, no prizes for guessing...

STILL THE SAME OLD THING.

Okay, so let's pack our bags and go for a challenge. We don't want to be doing that "same old thing" for the next 3 years. We need some spice, some action, some hype!

Of course, I went through some psychological stress..."I am not good enough, I am gog to flop this, I cannot do this" I really need to cast the demons out of me. Like Mich says, I am psycho. Maybe I am haha! Psycho Paw.

The.Stressed.Look

This is what my dear Ryan has self-choreographed weeks before his end-of-year exams. While playing with my handphone, he created a background and asked me to take a picture of him. He said, "This is how I look when I am about to take my exams." Okay, Ryan, I got your message...

The Young (and Blunt) One

Taken in 2007. They grow up so fast!


Conversations like these are to be remembered...

(After talking on the phone with each other for 10 minutes)

Ryan: Mommy, I don't want to talk already.

Mommy: Why? You don't like to talk to me?

Ryan: I need to rest my mouth.

Mommy: Er....#!??@!?

Thanks for your honesty (nicer word for bluntness), Ryan.

Loss for Words...

Two of my most favourite idols of the music world. Now, they both stand side by side in my piano studio. These two personal photography of Leonard Bernstein and Lang Lang are the most precious gifts I have ever received in my life! Was so touched that I cried when I opened the parcel.

These are from Willy and Joanne Haroutonian. Joanne is a music professor and Willy her husband is a immensely talented musician and photographer who plays the violin professionally in the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington. These are Willy's personal collection when Lang Lang and Bernstein played and conducted the orchestra. They are just one of the most wonderful couple I have ever met, passionate about music and the arts education and the nicest people I ever known.

A New Beginning?

So now Is the time to move on? But as the time approaches, it is really nerve wrecking.

So many things to think through, to consider, so many things to do! This step would change the future, we know. Are we ready to begin on this path?

When I applied, I told myself, since I have taken this path already, just give it a try. I know it is going to be difficult to get a place. I was rejected from another Uni, and that was my first choice. Well, maybe it is a blessing in disguise. On the other hand, I was just thinking, maybe I should be a housewife, have more children! Then I became really confused.

WHAT DO I WANT TO DO?

And I am STILL confused. TS's condition for me to to study is, "You better not tell me you want to be a housewife at the end of the day."

I totally understand what he means. Everyone has to make some kind of sacrifice if we were to take this path...