last 4 days in sing-A-pore land

'Everything may change, but we start and end with the family.' <3

i <3 my parents - my dad who is reticent most of the time and awkward in showing his affection through actions, and my mum who is vocal and loud majority of the time (can't blame her, it's a occupational habit :p) and quick in correcting your wrongs, but shows her affection through her actions the very next minute. Such different individuals but joined by the circle of matrimonial love.

i <3 my grandparents - my "Yeah yeah" who is even more reticent than my dad but generously shares his childhood stories and adventures when we ask for them. My "Ah ma" who is such a great cook that i believe puts Jamie Oliver pale in comparison :p, who loves to cook for all her children and grandchildren and coincidentally has the best memory around when it comes to everyone's likes and dislikes in food. Everyone in my family always finds their fav dishes on the family table at my gram's. AND mind you, there are at least 20 odd people in our annual reunion dinner. It is no mean feat.

The past 4 days back home has been great. Spending time with family and catching up with friends has never been so enjoyable. Touching down on Xmas day, my parents drove me to east coast park hawker for supper - our usual spot. =) Alas, i manage to recapture the delicious taste of fresh fishball noodles, rather than those frozen lumpy fishballs. Dad ordered satay bee-hoon. For desserts, we had ice cheng teng soup and almond jelly with longan soup. *slurps. oh so yummy!

I've learnt the art of making PoPIAH! *nods. yes. i'm not lying. my Ah ma taught me so. :)

This the process..
Step 1: ingredients

Step 2: Assemble

Step 3: Wrap

Step 4: Cut

Step 5: serve and enjoy! :)



:)

Ruminations.

Today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope.~
I'm feeling @ the top of the world right now. feeling a little restless, but generally on a happy note. :) Ask me why and I'll probably say it's because I've managed to put my footsteps across Melbourne, Sydney and Gold Coast in the last 3 weeks.

There's so much that happened in the last month. and now, it's all reminiscence. The joy about vacations, I've realised, is to never be afraid to venture into the unfamiliar and be adventurous (haha especially when it comes to trying out new things.. like a 6 storey vertical plunge ride @ movie world :S). HOnestly, I was scared to death on that monster machine.. even though the whole plunge from the top to bottom lasted less than 10 seconds, it's the scariest thing i've ever been on. haha it's an achievement for me really.. i'm seriously scared of vertigo.



Just had a pre-xmas gathering @ audi's place yesterday. It's amazing how much we've grown in our culinary skills for the last 6 months. We had yummy green curry, marinated rendang? chicken and watermelon sorbet (from audi), entree of cinnamon raisins puff and custard pudding (from doris and stella), and last but not least, healthy servings of butter lemon spinach and chocolate banana log cake (from our house!) Impressive huh. :)

Fel came to visit too! hm finally had an excuse to tour Sydney with her. We went to the blue mountains where we discovered roads that created fog out of nowhere, hunters valley (famous for its wines and we bought a total of 7 bottles that day!) and went to the famous fish market for fresh-out-of-the-water seafood. Just the thought of it makes me salivate. hehe. But the weather was quite bad though. It started raining heavily towards the end of her stay. Nonetheless, thanks felicia for visiting! and hope u had fun too! :)



Melbourne trip with elsa was nothing short of fantastic. Though some may find the city too small and compact, I find myself amazed @ their laid-back lifestyles amidst a city landscape. I really like their architecture too. No doubt it is dubbed "the European city of Australia". Great ocean road day was the highlight of our trip. We managed to catch a glimpse of the historical "Twelve apostles" and several other places(for pictures pls see my previous entry). Somehow, we ended up with a tour specialising in chinese tourists onLY where the bus driver was alsO the tour guide. We ended laughing our bellies off when the tour guide literally translated "koala" into "快乐" when he sighted the bears along the drive. The hospitality I've received from Elsa's family friend - Uncle Eddie and Auntie Sam Mui, is also the best I've ever had. They were exceedingly friendly and generous, such great hosts even to a guest that they have only known for a few days.

All in all, I can say these 3 weeks has been well-lived. There might have been a few "incidents" along the way, but these incidents made all the memories all the more precious.

The end of the year is nearing again. Doris asked about new year resolutions yesterday. It is time to give it a thought.

Hmmm...

tacky but... marvellous melbourne! :)

For private reasons, i won't be posting my pictures on fb as yet.. haha ask me privately n i'll tell u why. but for now, here are the happy pics of the last 5 days! :)


Arrival @ avalon sirport, melbourne


Flinders station


Shopping @ Queen Victoria's Market


Twelve Apostles


ELsa and I on a beach @ Great Ocean Road


Two of the twelve apostles (we counted.. sadly there's only 8 left. 4 has been eroded by rough weathers)


Beach along Great Ocean Road


Melbourne University


Trying out clothes @ jeanswest :)


Melbourne Museum


St.Patrick's Cathedral


St. Paul's Cathedral


Flinders square

get-away yeah!~ =)

counting down to melbourne trip: 3 more days~ soOoo exciting! *happiness. :)

hm.. started planning for the itinery yesterday. so many places i'll love to visit. and it was amazing how everything fit into place.. the accommodation, the day tour to great ocean road and friends who'll meet us there. thank God for that.. looking forward to a gr8 time w elsa too! *grins :D

anw, exams are finally over.. and for once, there's no need to think of what time to wake up in the morning for classes or work. no need to rush through assignments and tuts. and ample of time to bum around. haha.

hm been catching up with a few friends over online voice-chat. realise how much i miss hanging out with them once again. *sigh.. anw, i recommend gchat at all times.. cos unlike msn voice chat which always lag.. gchat is sooo much better. loud and clear. no lag or wat-so-ever. absolutely fab~

with relation to my last entry, i figured out sometimes, one of the greatest/hardest thing of all, is to find forgiveness in one another. But if God is able to forgive us of our sins, why can't we do the same for our fellow friends? hm. i realise i still have so much to learn in my faith. somehow, somewhere in the corner of my thoughts, i always think i am very inadequate in this.

hm so i pray today, that God will grant me a forgiving heart.. to not only forgive but also to have a greater capacity to love.. to help regain lost trust and also to rebuild relationships.. To all glory be to God. Amen.

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. (Luke 6:35-37)

路遥知马力, 日久见人心.

this chinese idiom reflects much wisdom in its short length of ten characters. translated in simplicity, it means the innate nature of a person can only be revealed over time.

something happened around me recently, and made me witness some very selfish acts of a person. though the consequences are small (only affected the immediate people around him), it just reflected badly on that person. it has also changed my perspective of him quite thoroughly.

But i still hold faith that there is good in him. God made us imperfect in many ways, but in our weakness, we can be made perfect through Him. I pray that one day he'll change and realise all the inconveniences and consequences of his actons. but things are going to be difficult until then..

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

GSHC - Great S'pore Hawker Crawl

itinery planned:

1st stop -> Chomp chomp @ Serangoon gardens..for smokey BBq stingray, cold cheng ting n crispy chicken wings~

2nd stop -> Prata house @ Thomson Road..for some steamy hot curry n roti prata~

3rd stop -> Smooth bean curd shop @ Upp serangoon road..豆漿 plus 油條 my all-time fav. *slurps :)

that's all i can think of for now. haha and in view of limited gastrointestinal space, one can only eat so much for dinner/supper.

mominghuis' please drop more suggestions!! :D

random pictures of candice's bdae lunch

@ nandos :)