Based on my Nike+GPS running app, I have ran 19.12 km so far in 2012.

Let me start off, as usual, by reviewing my New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Complete my MA thesis.
2. Get a job.
3. Photoshoot more – shoot something once a week.

No. 1 is technically fulfilled – I just need to get my thesis signed off and get over the administrative boo boos. No.2, fulfilled. As for No.3, my adult ADD has once again thwarted my efforts. When I started my project it was more along the lines of using my dSLR for photoshoots. But as they say, the best camera is the one you’re holding all the time. So I do indulge in some iPhone photography and wizardry with apps like Instagram. I won’t consider No. 3 fulfilled, but I haven’t been that all stagnant I suppose.

I gather it’s not too bad to complete 2 out of 3 of 2011′s NYR. Now, let me set some for 2012:

1. Read 100 books.
2. For every kilometer I run, I get to set aside $5 to buy whatever I want.
3. Be amazed.

For (1), it is an achievable aim. Even though I read 152 books this year, I think it’s still better to be conservative and keep it at an average of 2 per week. For (2), it’s more of an encouragement to for me exercise more; a reward system ought to work I guess! (3) is a plain ripping off the movie New Year’s Eve, from the NYR list of the character played by Michelle Pfeiffer. I aim to be truly amazed – by something, someone, someplace, some moment. I seem to think it’s not an entirely passive resolution; it demands I keep an open mind and be receptive to things lest I miss the moment. This, I assume, is good for my mental wellbeing. Perhaps it’s something everyone should practise (if they are not already).

So with that note, Happy New Year everyone and may 2012 bring you more joy than you can handle (in a good way).

Part of the tour led us to a market – we fondled spices and vegetables and tried to guess what they are. For the first time in my life, I smelled star anise and white pepper so intensely. Also the texture of corn, contours of an apple, the roughness of an orange. It is true that when one sense goes away, the other senses heighten to compensate. Through the tour we are exposed to different environments such as the street, a garden, a boat ride (yes!) and even a cafe.

I really enjoyed my tour; I wouldn’t say it was an illuminating experience for me personally. To me the novelty and fun factor in it overwhelmed the learning values. Let’s just say I need a little more fun in my life. Through the tour we also learnt about how technology can enable the blind; touchscreen technology is not as unfriendly as I previously thought. Well, at least if it’s an iPhone the accessibility options are great; every icon and word will be read out to them. Also, there are apps to enable their lives, such as color apps that can tell them the color of an item through the camera sensor, an app that takes picture of a merchandise and matches through its information repository, an app that takes picture of a building and situate it on a map.

If you are interested, the tour is at $20 each for adults, and $12 for children.
For more information, you can visit http://www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com/venues-worldwide/singapore/  and http://www.dialogueinthedark.com.sg/DiD/booking/Pages/default.aspx.

Mine:

Apparently I am geeky (magazine about smartphones), a traveler/ sketchbooker (sketchbook), cheeky (monkey), unbreakable friendships (safety pin), an organized person (organizer), active (sweatband), knowledgeable (flashlight), wise (fortune cookie slip) and a Healer (plaster).

To see my results in details, go to http://mzl.la/ohEuGG. To take the test, go to https://webifyme.org/. Let me know what your dashboard looks like!

Received an EMS package from Japan, no need to guess whom it’s from. This birthday present is nearly two mores in the making; my BFF told me she bought me my birthday present, but refused to tell me what it is. I kept asking for clues, and only knew it’s utilitarian, and bigger than a fist but smaller than a chair (I am horrible at siphoning clues). So to a certain extent, this is indeed a surprise birthday present (that came late but nonetheless came)!

The Japanese store is great at wrapping gifts.

With my present is the cutest birthday card ever. It’s small but so funny. It basically is about a cat going to spa and relaxing.

So I unwrapped my present, the shape momentarily confusing me…

It’s a folded bag! For those not familiar with this, this is the Longchamp Le Pliage foldable nylon tote. It’s a staple in many Singaporean girls’ wardrobe (methinks). I know a few people with one, I have, on many occasion, expressed my desire to buy one but never really got around to doing it … you get the idea.

Unfolded. It’s pretty big and roomy, great for stashing all the stuff I love to carry with me when I go out. Like a water bottle, umbrella, iPad, little pouches of random items, shawl… The bag is very light and portable, perfect for stashing into luggages when I go travelling, I suppose.

In any case I am very delighted with my present! So to my BFF of 14 years – thank you so so much! :D

P.S.: Believe it or not, this is the first real non-angbao birthday present I got this year, almost a week after my birthday. Not complaining, just stating a fact.

As they say, people get mellow with age. Birthdays come and go, but everyday can be a special day if you make it so. So, happy birthday to me.

P.S.: And I hope my birthday brings good luck to all 48 of my students doing their exam today!

I got THE job!

Some of you may have heard me mention a couple of times over the past few years that I want to join the library board. Today I finally concretized that plan. I am going to be starting work come mid-May as an Associate Librarian. (Associate because I don’t possess a professional degree in library science or the likes). I will be posted to a Regional Library in the East, and truly, elation cannot encapsulate what I feel about this. Like I said previously, I’ve been walking into walls mucking about in my job hunt prior to this position opening. I went for interviews and writing tests big and small. A writing test with a Ministry, a writing test with a private company whose office is above a pub, interview with teaching organizations… let’s just say I never felt as much as sell-out, and I think the interviewers could tell I don’t have an ounce of nurturing spirit in me. So very gratefully, the position for an Associate Librarian opened in the end of March and I seized the chance. The rest is history.

For those who think I’m just accepting the first job I land – I rejected another private firm who was willing to pay me good money. But it was quite a dead-end job with no prospects. I don’t want to wake up five years from now and see that I’m doing the exact same thing as Day 1. Not boasting, but I think I have to justify my decision.

Now that’s one New Year Resolution down. But the end of this month I aim to complete one more.

See the spring rolls in the first picture? Those aren’t savoury spring rolls but filled with 年糕, or niangao and deep-fried. The spring roll skin is wrapped around the sticky caramel new year cake making it easier to cook.

Braised Chicken Feet

My family likes braised chicken feet with mushrooms. There’s something about chicken skin and cartilage that entices them. Over rice this is yummy.

Ngoh Hiang

I wrapped these ngoh hiang, or meat and prawns wrapped in beancurd skin. These are made with meat, succulent prawns and turnip. The turnip provides some textural balance to the chewy meats.

Century eggs with ginger slices

Well, I did not partake in these, definitely. Century eggs will always be pungent to me, regardless how well the preserved ginger slices can mask the smell and taste.

Roast Meat with assorted vegetables

My mum is definitely the better food stylist between the two of us. This dish, while it’s made of everyday ingredients, looks so good and inviting.

Vinegar pork trotter

We love vinegar pork trotter. Again, it’s the combination of skin, collagen and gelatinous texture that tastes so good. Over rice, the gravy will rock your world and you’ll ask for seconds.

abalone.

‘Nuff said. Sliced abalone over bed of spinach and garnished with ginger and cilantro.

Pacific Clams

The clams are hidden under the accompanying plants. This is one time of the year I pretend abalone and pacific clams aren’t animals with no face and eat them with copious amounts of cilantro.

Chilli Prawns

You can’t see how big the prawns are from here, but I assure you, they are big. Juicy and sweet on the inside, spicy on the outside, this dish is always a winner.

And then there’s a chicken soup I didn’t take a picture of, because it was so filled with sea cucumber (which I don’t eat) and I got turned off.

And so we ate this for dinner, and supper on the first day of the new year. Are you passing out from envy already?

Chinese New Year is one of my favourite festival to celebrate. Apart from having days off from school, I love Chinese New Year for the non-stop feast that goes on in my family. Unlike most other Chinese families with large extended family we do not go visiting. Instead we stay in and, well, feast and gamble.

The feast starts on New Year’s Eve and ends probably the night before everyone return to school and work. For the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve we usually have a steamboat meal. We start at about lunch and we take turns to eat intermittently throughout the day till nightfall. The spread is filled with our favourite food. There’s beef shabu shabu, pork liver, salmon fish, mussels, mushrooms, squids, cuttlefish, sliced pork, copious amounts of vegetable, tofu, chicken franks, fish maw, prawns … You get the idea. It’s no mistake to call this a steamboat buffet, really.

Admittedly, the reunion dinner is a simple affair compared to what we eat on the first day of year. On that day my mum will be cooking for a few hours on end, starting early in the morning and ending after lunchtime. And that will be featured in the next post, Part 2 of my Chinese New Year Feast.

1. Complete my MA thesis.
2. Get a job.
3. Photoshoot more – shoot something once a week.

Again, three aims. I know, I’m cheating a little because (1) and (2) is really do-or-die for me this coming year. 2011 will be a year of epochal shift for me for all things practical. I will have to finally graduate and start on my (currently unknown) career. That said, I am definitely NOT doing a PhD. Not now at least; I can’t say for ten years down the road. (3) is special. Plainly stated, I must photograph something at least once a week. To help me keep record of this aim, I will post a photo each week, POTW as they say. This is to encourage me to practise more and not put my investment to waste. I think it’ll be quite a lot of fun too.