The Apple's Diary!

the last day of 2008. Tomorrow is a brand new year, a brand new start. Whatever has been wronged, whatever mistakes has been made - let bygone be bygone. 2008 is an eventful year for me. There are ups and there are downs. Let me not forget the lesson from the past, so that I will not repeat in the present and remembering always I have Your hand in the future. Wishing everyone a great start to the brand new year with lotsa of good cheers! May you have the peace and joy that will make you smile till your eyes wrinkled into a thin line, showing only your pearly whites! May the LORD of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Haven't had BBQ Seafood for a long while. The last round I had was in 2007. I remembered that time, we just started to Par Tok (dating). On that particular weekend we took a bus from Great World City, after catching a movie to Alexandra Village (AV) for BBQ Seafood. The food was so spicy hot that I had to gulp down 2 glasses of sugar canes and could still feel my stomach churning. That was the good old days! But good old days don't have to be too far from us. We can also revisit the places that bring us wonderful and funny memories. Last weekend, we visited Rong Guang at AV again. It was 6.30pm when we reached there. Surprisingly, it was not very crowded, we managed to find a table and the food was served pretty fast too. Remembering the last lesson, we decided to go for only 1 spicy BBQ seafood and tried their Herbal Chicken instead. So we ordered the white clam shells "La La". A portion for 2 cost around $8. I think the portion was just right for 2. Yes, it was ver...

I'm an avid dessert fan. No matter how full I am, I always have that extra room to shove in a few mouthfuls of dessert, be it cake or red bean paste or mango pomelo. Had tried this place twice at Chinatown. The varieties are not alot. For the last visit, I tried their Herbal Jelly. The portion was big. The Herbal Jelly was smooth and bitter. However, the honey that came along with it was not of a good quality. Hence, I didn't really enjoy the Herbal Jelly. So I ordered another bowl of Mango Sago. Well, I didn't really find any sago but lotsa "tadpole" jelly. The Mango puree was very smooth but the crushed ice was not fine enough. When they placed this bowl in front of me, i thought they got my order mixed up. Well, is their version of Mango Sago. The taste was average and there was nothing exciting about. I guess this Mango Sago will probably go very well with young children, as it is very sweet and with those tadpole jelly. Their Barley Ginko lotsa Fu Chuo but s...

Has always been wanting to visit the SPCA. Finally I got a chance to do so. The premises are not exactly what I have expected, is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It is opened to public except on Thursdays. SPCA closes on Thursday unless is a public holiday. They won't turn away any animals but due to resources constraints, these unwanted pets won't be able to live there for long. Needless for me to explain further, I guess you know the likelihood fate of these poor animals. I wonder why would anyone give up such a nice breed of bunny. Of course, there are many mix breeds too and mongrels. This doggy here is Gandalf , a mixed Husky breed. I suspect is a Schnauzer breed mixed with Siberian Husky breed. And there are really good breeds doggies. Like Mita on the left and Lady on the right. While no reason is given why Mita is put up for adoption, Lady was given away because her owner said "No maid to look after" When you keep a dog, it is your responsibilit...

Xmas came and gone. Very soon we are stepping into the new 2009. Not to mention Chinese New Year is only less than a month away. When 2 persons are in love, time seems to have come to a standstill. Everything surrounding them becomes infinite. Forever, Always, Until the end of time . When love gets stale, excitement gone, the infinite becomes a drag. Always becomes negative. Forever is no longer pleasant. Until the end of time is like a nightmare. When 2 strangers meet and love strike, they stand on the same platform. The initial part of the relationship is always exciting, because there are so much unknown to explore. When the 2 get more familiar, more comfortable with each other, Appreciation gets lesser in most cases. To prevent LOVE getting stale, i guess keep on remembering the good times helps. Having the same vision in life helps too, because one partner may start to emphasize on career while the other is keen on settling down. Or one is still a wanderlust while the other is ...

from S.H.E new album 我的電台FM S.H.E First heard this song from the radio, my immediate response was composed by Jay Chou. Second response was ... so sad... Found the lyrics online... 作曲：周杰倫 填詞：Selina 編曲：洪敬堯 Ｅ：只剩下鋼琴陪我站在這裡 　　夢想中　屬於我們的婚禮 　　卻成了　單人結婚進行曲 Ｅ：在這場愛情角力的拔河裡 　　愛我還是愛你　你選擇了自己 Ｈ：撒嬌的　可愛的　黏人的　愛哭的 　　照片裡　曾經的都是你喜歡的 　　如今我還在原地 你卻走回你的記憶 Ｓ：你說我愛你太多　就快要把你淹沒 　　你害怕幸福　短暫一秒就崩落 　　分開是一種解脫　讓你好好的想過 　　我想要的　那片天空　你是不是能夠給我 Ｈ：你說我給你太多　卻不能給我甚麼 　　分不清激情　承諾永恆或迷惑 　　愛情是一道傷口　我們各自苦痛 　　沉默是我最後溫柔　是因爲我太愛你 Ｓ：只剩下鋼琴陪我站在這裡 　　夢想中　屬於我們的婚禮 　　安靜了　在我枕邊的夢裡 Ｅ：我知道相愛原本就不容易 　　愛不是一加一　努力就有結局 Ｓ：撒嬌的　Ｅ：可愛的 Ｓ：黏人的　Ｈ：愛哭的 Ｓ：照片裡　合：曾經的都是愛著你的 Ｓ：臉頰的淚還溫熱　卻沒有人握我的手 Ｈ：你說我愛你太多　就快要把你淹沒 　　你害怕幸福　短暫一秒就崩落 Ｅ：分開是一種解脫　讓你好好的想過 　　我想要的　那片天空　你是不是能夠給我 合：你說我給你太多　卻不能給我甚麼 　　分不清激情　承諾永恆或迷惑 Ｓ：愛情是一道傷口　我們各自苦痛 Ｅ：沉默是我最後溫柔　是因爲我太愛你 ------------------------------------------------------ So sad... and it brings back a lot of memories, especially the chorus part. This is one song that I am going to sing at KTV. On the other note, S.H.E has grown alot and i think they are good...

2 more days to Xmas and another 7 more days to a brand new 2009. I remember very clearly how rotten was my 2006 and my 2007 was a complete turn around. 2008 is a year where the harvest is bountiful. Thank God for that. However, life just isn't all the time smooth sailing for me, even though i would wish for that. But tell me, whose life is just so smooth that the person doesn't experience the joy and pain. Personal life - With a few bouts of back pain now and then, I am really careful with my action. Perhaps if there is ever a regret in my life, it would be not taking care of my back when I was younger. The heavy load on my back, the bad back posture of lifting heavy things, the habit of bending down and straining my back... it had protested long ago but ignorance wasn't the right way, thus the consequence is for me to bear now. But God always has a mysterious way of doing thing. If not for my bad back, i doubt Darren would be my darling so smoothly and so soon. What does ...

Today is my off day. Woke up at 11am this morning. It was a wonderful start with lavender cake from Bakerzin and a cup of mocha. Cleaned and polished my piano since the tuner coming at 2.30pm. Played a tune from the "Classics" movie, very sad tune. As I kept playing, I was reminded of the touching scenes from the movie. I wonder if it's a fiction or a true story. Can anyone live to tell such a romantic and touching story? After that, popped down on my bed, watching the french movie "A la folie pas du tout"... bought this DVD for a long time, only now, then i got the chance to watch it. Very good story. but it makes me miss french class. Hope to take back the french lesson soon. Going to bonk down my bed again. Resting is good and so it shall be...

Chako - Authentic Traditional Japanese Restaurant. Basically is an one woman show. This very traditional family restaurant is owned by a Japanese old lady and her husband. She's the chef and the only chef. The husband helps around serving the customers. Located at Hong Leong Garden @ West Coast, it is accessible by public transport. Bus 198, 197, 97 and 154 stop at the bus stop along the AYE, and is right in front of Hong Leong Garden. A 5-8 mins walk will see you at Chako. But do call before going down. It may be full house like what happened to us. You can also call for pre-order but you still have to wait. We called at 6pm to order our food and was seated by 7pm. Still we waited 45 mins before our first dish was served. And there was no one else except for the group of us. But good food, you just have to wait. And it is definitely worth the wait. Longest record was a 2hr wait. I opted for seafood hotpot. It was really a superb hotpt of goodies. Fresh prawns, oysters, clams, japa...

I am tired. Physically, emotionally and mentally. For the sake of clearing last year leaves, I have to squeeze my work and my leaves all in the month of December. And it was a lousy choice. Half day leave means I still have to wake up early in the morning to come to work and rush through my work, because I am taking the afternoon off. I find it more tiring than working through the day. There are some days that I take the whole day off. But it doesn't mean I laze around the whole day. I clean the house, tidy up here and there. End up I don't get the rest. Tired of reminding people of their tasks. Tired of always picking up people's loose ends. To face someone I don't like to see at all is tiring. Thinking of ways to avoid meeting that person is exhausting. Having keep reminding someone to mean what he said is tiring and nagging too. Why say it when you don't mean it at all? Why say it when you already know you won't be doing it? Personality different, I don't...

In Matthew 5:43-47, Jesus talks about the love for enemies, encouraging us to love not only those who love us, but extend the love to those who persecute us. I find that this is beyond human capacity. The forgiveness for the one who brought grief to me, can I easily forgive this person? I find that this is extremely and excruciating difficult to do so. No matter how much I pray for God's healing on my broken heart and His healing on the broken relationship. If a person is unrepentant, does he still deserve a 2nd, 3rd .... chances? For now, I have wiped off your dust on my feet. I am totally done with you. I ask His Shalom be upon my heart and may God show more mercy to you than Sodom when His Kingdom come.

The initial plan was to go Red Star for dim sum, for a birthday occasion. But the queue to Red Star was simply too long. Red Star is at 7th floor and the queue snaked all the way to 5th floor. After rounding Havelock for a while, we thought Tea House would be another good place. Only upon reaching there, we discovered it was gone. So we had to settle for Zhou's kitchen. It's our first time there. I shall let the pictures do the talking. Was actually quite glad that they served Keropok. We were famished and thirsty and their service was rather slow. Not sure if the restaurant was packed that day. The Hor Fun was nothing special and the noodles are the thinner version. I didn't try it. The look just didn't appealed to me. I don't know about you, if you like pig trotters, maybe you will like this. Served with jellyfish as appetizer. This is my favourite from Zhou's Kitchen. I like their egg tart. They are warmed and the crust is not hard neither are they too puffy....

I am a lover of Sashimi. My favourite was the Ika (cuttlefist) when I first tasted it in Fiesta restaurant. Subsequently, I noted that for fresh sashimi, one should go to Sushi-Tei at the Takashimaya outlet. But i was totally wrong. Nothing beats the freshness from Sakuraya. I first heard of Sakuraya from my colleague on a casual talk. I didn't quite understand what she meant by fish mart. Then one fine day, Darren brought me Sakuraya for fresh sashimi. I was totally blown away! We went to the outlet at Pasir Panjang Village. It was relatively quiet since it's situated at ulu corner of a dead shopping centre. You would get to choose your own fish and at the portion you want. The chef would then slice it for you. Been there for quite a few times and different chefs had their own individual style of slicing fish. Anyway, turned out that Sakuraya is a favourite hunt in Darren's family and so much that his sister is a member. Last Sunday, we went back there again. As usual, i w...

They called the December month as a Festive Month. Xmas is coming then we get ready to receive the New Year. Shortly after that, we have our Chinese New Year! But for this 2008 December, we have the Hari Raya Haji so indeed very Festive and FEASTIVE . You see, I was away for a 2 days conference at the Raffles Town Club. When you go a conference, what do you do? You eat non-stop. 1st day, you had morning tea, buffet lunch. After an hour or so, you found yourself back to the buffet line for afternoon tea. A conference dinner was also scheduled. For a person who seldom eat so much, I can really see my stomach bulging out after the 1st night. The 2nd day repeated itself with more food, coffee and tea. Remember about the home party I mentioned in my earlier blog. What's a party without food?! So you can guess... a spread of food on the table. Sandwiches, fishballs, seaweed chicken, kueh kuehs and a blackforest cake. The good thing was that this was a tea party so finger food was ge...

A new contemporary Japanese restaurant opened at Jurong Point recently. Went there today to have a try. Located at 3rd Level, Benten Café is an open concept eatery, with high stools and tables and open concept kitchen. At the side of its corridor, there are sofa chairs with tables for dining. Since it is an open concept outlet, be prepared to have many people staring at you and your food. We were there around 6.45pm and it was already quite crowded. But we didn't have to wait for long before we were ushered to the side table. Generally, the food served were what I called contemporary Japanese food. Think others than sushi and sashimi. Afterall, with the Basement Osaka Street, there's no point in competing. Benten Café is better off serving Teppan Yakisoba, Pasta in Soup, Cream Soup or their special broth (cannot remember the words they used). Varieties are okay for a start. I decided to try their Hamburger Teppan Yakisoba while Darren went for their Deep Fried Chicken Pasta in ...

These few weeks were rather busy and stressful and it all showed on my face. Pimples, clogs, blackheads, whiteheads etc. So what do a woman do when it comes to time like this? Facial lor ... Having said that, I have 2 regular beauticians and I alternate them. Yesterday, I didn't go any of them. Instead, I tried out a new beauty regime from Subtle Senses. Subtle Senses First impression when I stepped in, was hardly subtle and hardly rejuvenating in any senses. The staff at the reception desk were like working in telecom, always on the phone. If I bumped into a staff along the corridor, she would be walking so busily and so hurriedly. Making me feel that I must walk faster in lest of obstructing traffic. Led to a room to change out and locker provided to keep personal stuff. It was the usual as in any beauty parlour. My facial was done by Lee Yee. Okay, when she first started, I thought she was rather rough. She cleansed my face quickly and her fingers worked through my face like th...

I flipped through the life section of today's Straits Times and got captivated by the SSO advertisement. So I went online to check out the Sistic's webpage and I went crazy! I am so excited! Very ExciteD! There are so many good concerts and play and musical upcoming. I am torn... oh so torn between them! 1. Christmas Concerts (SSO) CIMB-SSO Christmas Concert f rom 10 to 12 Dec only. I haven't been to a SSO concert for a long time. The last time I went was " Angela Hewitt Plays Bach : The Well-Tempered Clavier Books I & II ". That was in April this year. I thought it was fantastic that someone actually played the "whole Bach book". Anyway, can I miss this SSO's Xmas Concert? 2. Singapore Dance Theatre presents The Nutcracker from 12-20 Dec. The 1st time I watched the Nutcracker suite, I was still a student, probably just completed my O levels. Then my piano teacher brought me and another student to experience Tchaikovsky. Do I have the chance to...

I just want to quickly write this down. I am deeply humbled by God's hands working in my life. When Wing Keen came to Agape sometime in October to promote "My Hope Singapore", I thought it was a good idea. A brief introduction on "My Hope Singapore" - This program was initiated by Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. It is run using the concept of Matthew, who invited a few friends home, so that they could meet Jesus. Similiarly, MHS hopes by using this home party invitation, the Gospel of Christ can reach far and fast. But I have a problem, I don't have my own home to open to my friends, so I thought I would invite my friends over to my cell group leader Li Peng's place. So I went for the training in early Nov and then got pull in to make a promotional video clip for BGEA. After that, I really got worried. I mean, why would my friends come to a party which is at someone else's home? And how would they react when they watch the video (local product...

A person's personality will not change but a person's behaviour will change as time passes by. What do you think? When a person's behaviour change, does it not reflect the person's personality?

Next month today is Xmas! Usually I am very excited about Xmas. Embracing in the festive mood, going for Xmas shopping, looking forward to clearing leaves. But this year, what a total different story. Firstly, I have annual leaves to clear but I don't know when will be the good time to clear. I don't have a fixed plan for my leaves, making this leave thingy very fuzzy. Secondly, the Xmas lightup in Orchard is really disappointing. Can tell that this year lightup is a victim of the financial crisis. Hardly mood lifting. Thirdly, work is going on full force. Instead of the usual slow down for year end, this time round, is a mad rush to try to stay in schedule. Fourthly, I have more Church activities compared to the past. Top on my list is the "My Hope Singapore" program. An outreach program at home setting. In fact, at the top of my prayer list. After that, I have to commit my weekends for the choir practices. This year Xmas carol is going for the musical effect. A gran...

I remember how last Sunday I was lamenting about how short the weekend seemed to be. Now is Friday again, weekend is here. Feeling quite tired and sleepy. I didn't had my full 7 hours of sleep. Went to have a small gathering with my Primary School friends at TCC. Did some catch up with each other but didn't managed to stay for long since the 2 mummies had to rush home to be with their babies. Realised that one mummy friend is getting more pessimistic and cynical than ever. Example 1: Me : I have communication problem with him.... Her : Have you bought a house yet? Me : Nope... Her : You lucky! Otherwise, if you 2 cannot work out your relationship, the house is going to burden you down. Me : ..... Example 2 : Me : Hey, i am going to throw a small xmas gathering. if you gals are bringing your kids, someone can help babysit for you so you can enjoy yourselves. Her : Wah... the kids sure fight one. Me : No lah... Tze's son quite good boy, won't bully your girl. Her : No no ...

I know it is very bad for me to even write something like this now, considered now, we are in a financial turmoils. People are sensitive to money and retrenchments are real. But I really detest going back to work on weekends. Once in a while, is acceptable. But make it a regular, you see me jumping up and down. Time is very precious to me. And because I do not know how much time I have left before I am called home to be with my Heavenly Father, it makes me even more wanting to grasp my time properly. In my workplace, there used to be this slogan "Work-Life balance" ... at some point in my stay, the CEO had even couraged his staff to have work-life balance. But balance doesn't stay long.. now, i'm imbalanced...... Consider this, I spend 7 hours of my 24 hours sleeping 8.5 hours of my 24 hours working I am left with 8.5 hours to pursue my own interests. Out of this daily 8.5 hours (mon-fri), i have to spend 2 hours on transport, 1 hour on meals (3 meals a day), plus my ...

Booked myself a makeup session at Face Bistro. Purpose was for the family portrait photo shoot. At first glance, I was not used to myself having such makeup on my face. The makeup artist, Nicole could sense that, because half way into the makeup, I was fidgeting on my chair, wondering why she took so long. But slowly I realized that actually my eyes could be done up nicely, creating a bigger and brighter eyes. And for the very first time, the makeup on my face lasted for as long as 6 hours, without any touch up. Amazing! considered how oily is my face. Thanks to Nicole! For creating such a different look for me and letting me enjoyed myself the whole day without worrying about smudging eyeliners or mascara. That's my AFTER photo... after the make up and after cutting 5 inches off my hair....

There's a saying that a girl would have a drastic change in the hairstyle if there is a drastic change in her life. Well, I partially agreed because I remember a couple of times when I had a drastic change, it signified a desire of complete change in my life. But sometimes is just for practicality sake. When I went to Oliver on Thursday, I only had in mind for him to chop off some length and rectify my fringe problem, which I nicknamed my horribily fringe "the cabbage head". That's a long story for my cabbage head.... in short, to save on money and time, I went for the $10 QB house to cut my fringe short and now I had to spend much more to get it fixed. I was prepared to spend a $120 for Oliver's magical touch on my hair but what came next was still baffling to me. Me : Can you do something for my fringe and trim off my back? Oliver : No problem, i just pull from the back to cover the fringe. And i cut 2 inches for the back Me : actually you can cut even shorter.....

What's the most talked about topic in a Singaporean's daily life? No prize for guessing correct. Food! The usual beginning of a casual conversation with each other often starts with "eat already?" and then finishes with "wah the food good?! wah like that next time can go there lor" So food surrounds our tiny island like the sun shinning brightly over us. Remember Bon Bon Tea from my previous blog, how I raved about their Happy Blossom Tea and their round green teapot. Well, I went back last Saturday. Since I just stepped out from a movie, I decided to get something light. Decided to try their Chocolicious Red Tea and their Bon Bon Tea Salad. Serving was slow so I had plenty of time to study their menu. Upon closer look, I realised that Bon Bon Tea is more a tea joint than a meal place. Hot meals are limited and actually, varieties of their finger food as well as desserts seem not as widespread as my first impression. My chocolicious red tea was served first ...

Salon de thè basically means the tea room. Located along the same side as Pacific Coffee Company in Vivocity, Salon de thé (Bon Bon Tea) is giving coffee joints a run of their money. Tried their Happy Blossom Tea. Sweet, slightly fruity and florally. Came with a big green fat and round teapot and a small little cup, priced @ $7.50. It was definitely value for money as one teapot could fill 6-7 cups. They also served hot meals as well as finger food. Dessert with coffee or tea to go along is available. Great place to come for the initimate and cosy get-together with friends. Definitely will see me there again, soon! À bientôt!