because i can't sit still

(From Hong Kong Island to Kowloon by ferry)

I suppose it's more of a touristy thing to do, but I really enjoy taking the leisurely ferry ride from HK Island to Kowloon (and the minute I get off at the pier it's STRAIGHT TO THE SHOPS :D). My boyfriend told me that they're going to be discontinuing these rides soon because it's no longer economically sustainable. It would be really quite saddening if that were the case though. There are so few things of historical significance that remain nowadays. I respect places that place emphasis on preserving things that are of culturally meaningful rather than always give in to what makes more economic sense. Which reminds me, I really need to go to Eastern Europe before it gets mass-gentrified and unrecognizably modern (!).



(I do believe that's the BF walking 10 steps ahead while I whip out my camera on the street. :D What's the rush, big boy??)

I also visited my grand-uncle and grand-aunty who live in a quaint, quiet part of Hong Kong called Tsuan Wan. It's almost like a retirement village where the air is (supposedly) fresher, life is slow-paced and simple, and you can always depend on the ONE dimsum restaurant to go to in the vicinity rain or shine.

In the two years in a row that I've visited HK, every single time I visit my granduncle and aunty they bring me to the SAME restaurant that's like a 2 min walk from their apartment. I wonder if they groan inwardly every time they receive that dreaded courtesy call from me saying, "I'm here!!" thinking, I haven't even gotten the chance to wash off the scent of that restaurant and now I'm going back again. HEH.

But really, the food's pretty tasty. And being the dimsum noobie that I am, I really can't tell the difference between good and excellent dimsum.

Two of my favorite dimsum dishes - fried rice with lap cheong (the yummy Chinese sausage) and carrot cake!! (though there's nothing carrot about it).

Here's a photo of my dear old grand-uncle. He's a real sweetie.

(GAH look at all the medicine bottles in the background. Enjoy life while you can kiddos, 'cos it ain't getting any better!)

(Yummy tangerines and grapes that they brought out, being the gracious hosts they are! :))




I suppose this is what you get after 50 odd years of marriage.

Ooo and because he received such rave reviews, here's another photo of Chomper! :) Can't wait for the day when I can get my own doggie... I'm all for a Labrador Retriever!! They're the absolute cutest in my opinion... And great to bring out for a jog too.

So my finals starts in 1 week. I'm determined to use less of the internet over the next few days but we all know how terrible my will-power is. :((( I'm sooooo looking forward to the summer holidays which will be in just a little over 2.5 weeks! This past school year has been one of the most tiring and challenging ones yet and it just seems like I never really had a nice long enough break to take a proper rest. In fact, the only break we had was the Xmas break that was just about 2 weeks long.

It's funny though, because I used to be able to sit down at the table and really concentrate on studying when I was a lot younger... but now I can barely sit still before I get immensely bored and have a compulsive need to be stimulated by anything... usually it's the nearby iPhone which is such a blessing (or is it?) since it provides instant access to Tumblr/gmail/Twitter... Tumblr is pretty incredible don't you think? I love how it provides instantaneous gratification through posting something out into the world in such an seamless, uncomplicated manner. So I guess over the next few days, my little tumblr will be overflowing with updates borne out of boredom and study angst/frustration. Let me know if you have tumblr! I'm always interested in finding more tumblr-blogs to read and of course it'd be even better if I could get to know you better through that.

Before I end off, just a little sneak peak into the tip of the iceberg of my Spring 2011 Wish List. :DDD

I've been dreaming of getting a lovely little brown envelope clutch but of course that Jimmy Choo one is merely a dream buy! I think by the time I earn enough to get that it'll probably be a vintage item. I'm planning on DIY-ing my own little leather clutch once the exams are over and more importantly, once I can FIND some leather fabric to DIY it with. I've just seen how simple/awesome it can be from Cheetah Is The New Black and Style Scrapbook and am so looking forward to giving it a try! :)

There are so many things I want to get down to doing this holidays... I think I've been a little too pessimistic about some things in life recently and it's really time to just move on and look forward to the best parts of life, always. Some things I'd really like to get started on or do more of:

1. Bake!! Especially cupcakes. I'm really want to master the art of baking a REALLY GOOD CUPCAKE. Pretty frosting and scrummy flavor combined.

2. Get back to photography. I haven't really had the chance to further my photography skills these past few months (it's always food food food :P) but one day, I really want to just go to a random, less explored part of Singapore and just snap away!

3. Explore all sorts of lovely design, fashion and photography blogs. After quite a long hiatus, I've discovered some really great blogs over the course of this past week and it just so happens to be the week before my finals grrr so I can't wait to catch up on my blog reading and get inspired to do awesome stuff of my own.

4. Exerrrrcissseeee. I've totally degenerated into a big ball of inertia. School does that to you. -___- I actually prefer study breaks to the school term because there's so much more time to do stuff of your own accord. I've exercised more in these past 2 weeks than the entire past year combined. Haha, do you guys feel that way? That really, work or school can just get in the way of the good things in life?

Alright, I guess that's enough for the time being. Till... next... well, hopefully soon! :)

P.S. SOB. I just realized that the change in 'age' in my profile was LONG OVERDUE. Yup, the truth is out. SIGH.

why, hello stranger

It's been ages, I know. :P And I seem to always start off a post with something along those lines! And end off with a rambling paragraph about how school sucks and there's never any time for anything else. Quite EEEEYSH I know, but I'm trying to look on the bright side of things. 2.5 weeks to my finals for the year and I'm taking a break looking at photos taken in these past few months (soooooo many soooo many) to break the monotony of the day.

I left off at Hong Kong, Dec 2010, so that's where I'll continue from! :)



Say hello to Brownie. He's the adorable mangly furball of a POODLE who belongs to my aunt! I stayed with her when I was in HK over the holidays and got quite acquainted with her THREE cutie patuties. He's my faaaaaavorite. :)



Here's his older brother, Chomper, who is also about half his size. Funny how things work out in life, no?

I tried to get a shot of the youngest one, who's also a poodle, and darker brown but he was ALWAYS moving so most of the shots are blurred. Maybe one semi-clear one will pop up in the folders soon. ;p

A visit to HK is never complete without a walk through the market/street stalls (and of course, the market shot is a must).







So there was this particularly famous Dimsum restaurant that my bf kept saying we had to try because not only was it supposed to be fabulous grub it's also really CHEAP. It opens at 10am on weekdays and thinking we'd be there earlier to beat the crowds, we strolled over at 10.30. THIS WAS THE SCENE. :(((( And I never did get to try the super dimsum from there!

There was, however, lots of this:

(Pork Chop bun!)

And this:

(Left: Bo Lor Pao! something like Pineapple Bun but there's nothing Pineapple flavored about it... Right: One of the boy's favorite street snacks. It's really hard to pronounce...something like Gai Dan Zai..? Egg Puff Waffle. Pretty nice when it's hot but a little on the bland side for me.)

(In Mongkok)

Here's chomper saying "Night, night!".