I'm going to Shanghai!

Yesterday, in the midst of celebrating Joanne's 21st birthday, great news came in a really small package named Tiffy. My confirmation to Shanghai!

I was really worried about my GIP - China internship. Who wouldn't? Barely a month away from when you are supposed to leave, you are yet to get confirmation? I was due to go Vietnam next Wednesday and was really really worried about not getting confirmed by then. How am I supposed to check my email in Vietnam. Hello?! Plus, all the worries of shitty companies with ah-Ts with bad breath? urggghh! Hee. But now, I can go Vietnam in peace! ;)

Honestly then, I didn't care whether I got Beijing or Shanghai. I just wanted a good company. And I kind of think I deserve a good company? After all, everyone in school got really great jobs. So, I really thank God for giving me Shanghai Daily. And I trust that Faith and I were separated for a good reason.

Anyway, I will not be able to blog on blogspot from China. Unless through some alternative means. Big deal. Like I blog much.

But I will blog more in China I suppose? Since there's no more frequent late night suppers with the girl and Mr Allen, no overnight mahjong sessions followed by the supposedly bad kueh chup, no annoying Daryl and his weird phrases?, no more solving mummy's daily massive OVERsupply of food, no more ghostly Jill-appearing-in-my-room talks... And who will teach me how to put make-up for work? Who will spoon-shop me, especially those Tuesday spend wildly days?

Sighs. But then again, there will be so many more fresh things and experiences. Little old Laine seems to be getting resistant to changes. Tsktsk. Got to move along in this everchanging world man. Who knows I may enjoy myself so much I wouldn't wanna come back?

Let's see! :)

ps, I'll really miss you girls!

Because of the exams, i can't even rest in peace

haunting my notes...!

One huge pimple, two bad days.

Lonely pimples don't deserve to live.

Hope it shrivels up and die a horrible death.

Without leaving a trace of its existence. Ever.

Crazy 'bout Crabs!

For the review for Foodsnoop on crabs, I finally got to visit Mellben! If you have no idea what that is, you are seriously deprived and I suggest you beg me to bring you there. Cuz the crabs are so darn good.

Here's what we had.
From top left: Shimmering sand crab or something along that lines, Crab beehoon, Stout pork ribs.

Guess which is my fave?
Hint: Focus.





This is the best Pork ribs I ever had. Can't really taste the Stout though. But I have no idea how Stout taste like anyway.









Oh my mantou! It was so good with the peppery milky spicy sauce which comes with Ms. Shimmery Sand Crab.









Here is Ms. Shimmery Sand Crab who seduced my boyfriend Allen.

He talks about her all the time. How good she was... How sweet...







Yeah. How sweet she WAS. I agree...

There! For getting my bf hooked on you.

No point screaming in protest. Here I come...!!!







It was the best crabs I ever had. Got to go there again. With the girls. It's quite near. The Toa Payoh branch that is. I got home within half hour despite having to switch buses at Serangoon. It's a must-go-again experience.

What can I say? I don't think I can write food reviews. Limited vocab.

Anyways~~ The recent Sunday, we met for crabs (again)! Companions this time include Estelle, Xinjie, Jane and Camille.

Crabs and me!









Photo| Courtesy

More about the 3 for $11 crabs. Less about me.

The sauce was super good but the crabs were disappointing. Still prefer the 3 for $15 crabs the girls and I always have...









Next... baking at my place. Chef of the day... Ratatouille! eh, sorry, Camille!

Eh, I have no idea how to turn the picture round...

Anyway, here's the pretty chef.








She's amazing. She doesn't even need to measure anything. She simply throws a bit of everything together and... Tadaa!! 2 cakes in no more than 2 hours.

Felt utterly defeated. The time Jane and I baked cheesecake, we had to try our best to get all the measurements right, convert from this standard to that standard, worry over why our cake is not baking and finally, sit by the oven praying hard. Really impressed! Ratatouille's no joke. ;)

Really enjoyed my Sunday with these bunch of bakers wannabes despite the hangover from overnight mahjong. That includes myself, of course. And excluding Camille cuz she's already... there.

I'm determined to bake more regularly. I have a successful tiramisu and cheesecake to my name. Meaning I baked them myself that is. And although most of the tiramisu is devoured by just one person (Jane! Thanks for the support) and her maid too, I feel encouraged enough to bake more often.

Encourage me! And maybe I'll exclude you from the list of people I will "offer" my experiments to... ;)

Just did it.

When life begins to move forward, what we truly are capable of is revealed through our attitudes and the actions we take towards those challenges.

The truth is, most of us live within our comfort zones rather than constantly trying to widen it. Threatened by the unfamiliar, we become distracted from foresight and instead focus on the undesired, uncomfortable circumstances. More often than not, the dread for the coming of the unwelcomed is more unbearable than the unwelcomed itself. Hence, we remain stationary, undeveloped, in fear of the new.

But today I decided to "just do it", instead of whining about it or trying to avoid it. And honestly, it wasn't so bad. :)

For the first time in my life, I had to interview this big shot, an internationally known photographer and really, I don't feel prepared by all the journalism courses in school at all. But knowing that I had to go through the interviewing of some biggie sooner or later, I just went ahead.

Just did it. Simply.

Thus(itha), my biz journ lecturer, is right. Journalists need to bring around a lighter and perhaps a pack of cigarettes. It's The Ultimate Icebreaker. And to cut the long story short, the interview was over in less than twenty minutes, we got him blabbering non-stop! Cuz he had to run and we made plans for more questions through email. It wasn't as bad or tough as I thought it would be. I was lucky there were people I know in his class so it wasn't so weird after all.

Then I met up with Camille, this really pretty French exchange student, to bring her to The French Stall for a food review. I was rather worried too. Will I bore her to death? Somehow as you grow older, you become less sociable and at the same time, it takes more effort to chat someone up, make new friends. I admit I'm feeling old already.

The end? We really enjoyed ourselves and made plans for more outings. :) Hmm, despite the little shock that the stall is not opened today and we both ended up having our first Komalas meal (famous vegetarian Indian fast food joint).

And I really felt like today was wonderful cuz I did 2 things I had to garner courage and effort to do, and they went really well. yeah!! Makes you happier than having good food and drinks, really. wheee!

Tomorrow would be a greater challenge. I've to interview this SUPER BIG SHOT. Angmoh somemore. They require greater expressions/enthusiasm and therefore, energy. She's some founder of a company that made $7 million last year. I have 20 minutes for the interview and I really want this story to work else I would waste my Tuesday afternoon. Contrary to the positive comments above, I really want tomorrow to come and go quickly so that my life will be back to it's normal, comfortable tone... S0, God bless me please.

Challenges can come one at a time, not too many at one go.

Anyway, I'll just do it. ah.

I look like Me.

The last time I checked the mirror, I looked like Little Papaya in Royston Tan's 881. I was sadly reduced from the female lead of my sassy girl to a dying papaya girl according to my dear friend Alvin who sms-ed me just to tell me that right after the movie. Not that I think she's ugly. I may even diplomatically say she is prettier.

But plus the more than occasional "oh! you look really familiar. you look like...". It's rather annoying.. right? I wonder if it's only me who gets this kind of eh, treatment or everyone gets it too? Someone once told me that perhaps they have nothing better to say and that may be their way of breaking the ice.

Well maybe. But today four acquaintances went "eh, you look like the who you know?" in various phrasings told me something must be seriously wrong.

I am so annoyed. Urgh. I look like myself. Stop telling me I don't!

Is it my hair?

to my sense of self

sometimes i really loathe my job. they cheerfully send in their drafts as noted in the emails punctuated by smiley faces and i can almost visualize their smiley faces slapped many times over, the upward line forcefully turned downwards, by my crude/harsh/mean comments.

well, at least i get to run away soon. enough of my sanity. let's go wild deliberately. i need to regain that sense of self. who i truly am? that will show in time, in an island just like this one but where no one have preconceptions of who i am supposed to be.

except for that two. boo.