New addition to the family

Hihi!!

I'm sorry that I didn't update my blog over the last weekend. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have already known that something big happened in my life over the course of the last weekend.

I HAVE A BABY NIECE NOW!!!!!!!!
I have been an aunt before. I have 3 nephews and 1 niece, but all of them were my cousin's babies. So they were kinda like.. not so directly related to me. But this baby niece is different! She is my sister's baby! I am her direct aunt!! (And a very proud one too lol!)

When she just came out!
Not a very pretty sight lah... and a bit scary looking haha! (To my dearest niece who might read this in the future, yiyi loves that sight of you the most k!!!)

After being slightly cleaned up... Much better and cute looking right?? *heart starting to melt*
Happy grandparents!! Look at my dad's smile. I've never seen him smiling so widely before.
My dad is bad at smiling for the camera. He always gives this super awkward smile when he is asked to smile for the camera. It's like a very forceful, awkward, unnatural smile :/ But for this very shot, he didn't have to force it at all. All he had to do was to lift up his head and I snapped the shot.

His smile in this shot.. it is brimming with happiness for the little one that he is holding in his arms. The joy that she brings.. it is undeniable and irresistible.


Rod started babbling at her after spending 1 minute with her LOL! Super funny to me because I have never seen him baby-talk before.

#awww *heart completely melted*
Yes!! She opened her eyes already!
She will give you this puppy look that will just take your breath away and you'll melt in front of her like an ice-cream under a hot sun in the Arabian Desert.

Think... Olaf. LOL!!


Hot toasted sandwiches that comes from the machines!!!
I love these sandwiches that comes from the vending machines that will toast and heat up the bread. It's super yummy despite being rather.. pricey (Chocolate hazelnut was $2.30, BBQ pineapple chicken was $2.80). I can usually only find these machines at hospitals.. So sad man. I wouldn't mind having these for breakfast everyday!

They change the menu almost every 1-2 days? I know because when my grandfather was admitted into NUH a couple of years ago.. I was on watch shift most of the days because it was my gap year and I had the most free time as compared to everyone else :/

Had a super quick lunch before heading down to the hospital on the 2nd day of her birth
My current favourite appetiser at Pastamania is their Honey Garlic Chicken!!! Super yummy and sweet! A really great start to any meal!

Basil chicken fusilli and their new salmon ravioli in tangy cream sauce
I don't think the ravioli contained salmon because it didn't taste nor look like salmon. The cream sauce is really overwhelmingly sour. I haven't tried the other 2 types of ravioli (mushroom ravioli and spinach ravioli). It comes in a set meal of ravioli of your choice and a cup of SJORA, for $9.90. Be warned: Try the ravioli at your own discretion.

Grilled salmon and white fish
Super suaku to say this but... this is my first visit to Fish 'N' Co! I guess I am more of a Manhatten Fish Market person. In fact, I think even the price at Manhatten's is more my kind than Fish N Co's.

I was so shocked when I saw the menu at Fish N Co's. Other than the fried stuff and the food at the Under 500 (meaning: under 500 calories) category... everything else was above $16!!! Not so wallet-friendly I suppose.

I wouldn't deny though that the fish was really fresh.. however the rice was cold and rather tasteless. The seasonal veg (ie. radish and carrots) were mediocre.

Something to note: I was not expecting radish and carrots for my seasonal veg. I was thinking of something along the lines of lightly boiled FRESH broccoli and carrots. I wouldn't even mind french beans and carrots or corn kernels. But carrots and radish were a total shocker.

The worst thing was that they tasted like they were cooked early in the morning when the restaurant started its day and then left there to turn cold and be subsequently served to the patrons who ordered seasonal veg for the rest of the day. I had this meal for dinner!!! At like 8pm, which means that it has been left there for probably more than 9 hours?? Yuck!

Mediterranean pizza
Super healthy and brimming with the taste of tangy tomatoes. Don't judge its petite portion. It can be rather filling!

And tadah!!! End of this post with a super cute picture of my super adorable niece!
I hope this picture makes your day and that you will have a great week ahead!


Hearts,
Soph <3

Eve of Mother's Day

Happy Belated Mother's Day
to all moms out there!!!
Thank you for tolerating all the shit that your kids and husband put you through, for staying strong and for being the wonder-woman/superwoman of your family! You are the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world, so don't let anybody tell you otherwise!!

***
Well.. I'm a week late with my greeting but I guess it is better than none right? Haha

This year is a little bit more special for me because I went through 2 Mother's Day instead of one! I celebrated it with my own mama on the actual day and refused to let her cook that day. We had take-out for lunch and for dinner. I know that the best way of giving her a present would be to put on the apron, don the chef hat and stepped into the kitchen but... not this year. Wayyyyyyy too busy with academics to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen even though I really would love to! I have not-understanding drama queen classmates. There was an occasion when one of my friends had to ask one of the drama queens for permission to go out with her mama *snorts* #truestory #soridiculous

Anyway, as for the other Mother's Day... I celebrated it with Rod's family!

We went for a cosy dinner at Crystal Jade @ Tampines Mall and later dessert at Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert (Tampines Mall One).

Salted egg yolk prawns
Sauteed vegetables
Stir-fry beef
Snow fungus, red date, chicken and pork soup
(not the actual name, just naming the soup according to the ingredients)
Some chicken dish???
Sweet and sour pork!! Rod's grandma's favourite!
(Ha, I know the name for this dish!)
Posting this picture up because it is one of those rare ones that Rod doesn't have his awkward smile on. This dude seriously doesn't know how to smile. Next time I'll show y'all what I mean.
Went to Sheng Kee's after that....

Osmanthus jelly!
First time that I've ever tried an osmanthus jelly and I get why people like it. It was really fragrant and the fragrance goes from your nose (smelling it) to your mouth (tongue tasting). It wasn't very sweet either which was excellent! One thing that I dislike about it is how the bits of osmanthus got stuck all over my mouth, in between my teeth and gum. Urrgghhh..

Mango glutinous rice cake!
Super yums! Especially if you are one who likes mango sticky rice, you'd like this too! But be warned.. you might get sick of this after a short while so it would be more advisable to share this plate with someone else.

Mango aloe vera sago
Love love love this!!!! Not too sweet! Brilliant for a hot day! Mango was considerably fragrant but a tad sour.. not ripe enough I suppose. Bits of aloe vera was great to chew on!

I would like it though if they had a mango/aloe vera/grass jelly combi. That would be a kickass dessert to have! #justsaying

NOTW: Nyctophilia - Love of darkness or night, finding relaxation or comfort in the darkness.
I was feeling a bit dark this week. Dark in the sense that I didn't want anybody (who isn't somebody to me) bothering me without any apparent reason because I just simply felt like I had a low tolerance for random-ness this week.

I wanted to just spend time with the people whom I felt close with and that everybody else would just fuck off (pardon my french) if there isn't anything important. And so, I chose a dark colour and OPI's Number One Nemesis seemed like a good shade to represent my mood. I jazzed it up a bit by adding a square jem to my ring finger to show that I am not all that dark and that there is still room in my heart for those who are important to me.

I wear my polishes like a mood ring so if you ever want to know how I'm feeling this week... just look at my nails and you'd know if I'm friendly (or not) for the week. HAHA!

#100fooddays
Oh and one last pic before I end off this post, about a week ago.. I started my #100fooddays challenge. A friend of mine wanted to help me get back my interests (photography + food) and so we came up with this challenge together where I have to take a photo of the food that I eat each day, for 100 days.

It seems to be working since I feel like I have a reason to take photos of my food even though some of the food cannot be anymore mundane, and also I am definitely posting food photos on instagram more diligently. I share my photos on facebook too and my mom looks forward to it everyday. She sees it as a way to track my junk food intake and a record of what sort of food that I am putting into my food over a span of 100 days -_-

So anyway check out my instagram and you can try out this challenge too if you're keen!



Hearts,
Soph <3

The start of my final year in OT

My 7 weeks of clinical attachment has finally ended.


I am grateful for these 7 peeps and the support that they have rendered me through that period. I could not have asked for better companions. Thank you girls (and guy lol)!

I am now back in school where all the drama is awaiting to unfold.


I'm sorry for being so open and forthcoming. I find it rather ironical that I am using these 2 words since these are the 2 words which I use the most frequently when documenting the progress of my patients when I was on my clinical attachment.

In my mind, school refers to "friends" and "drama". I love my friends. They are adorable, humorous, sincere, weird (in their own ways) and supportive. Super super awesome friends! Yay! \o/

Then there are the self-centered drama queens who have insanely low EQ, whose life revolves around only themselves (and ONLY school too, duh!), who thinks so freaking highly of themselves, judges others, screws them over, wouldn't give a shit about others and basically... their pre-frontal cortex aren't developed yet. Therefore tolerance and a big heart are the only two solutions to get through this final year.


This is my final year in this course. I want get through this year smoothly (with no drama at all for me, thank you) and to have a smashing awesome time. I'm sick and tired of being put through unwanted + uncalled for drama, and even more tired of seeing my friends being put through it just because others are too narrow-minded, self-centered and back-stabbing. Therefore...


Ok enough ranting. It is dampening my mood.

Food photos now because food always cheers me up.

I went to my first counselling session ever on Wednesday. It was at 4pm and project meeting ended at around 1.30pm so I had plenty of time to burn.

Went to Manhatten Fish Market because I was craving for their crispy whitebait salad
In the end, I ordered anything but that lol. As seen in the above pic, clam chowder.

Left: Crispy whitebait colesaw. Right: Fried country mushrooms
I went during lunch hours so in their lunch menu, there was a 1-for-1 starters deal (the cheaper one of the two will be free).

I was like super excited because if you think about it... it's so worth it!!!!!

But then right... There was something that I did not take into account. The freaking expensive/pocket-burning GST + service charge. My $10 meal became close to $15 -_-

This is how I love to eat my cripsy whitebait: Drizzled with honey mustard sauce all over!! Super yums!

That evening, I went to Bojangles @ Woodlands to have my dinner. This time Rod and I were slightly smarter. We ordered only 1 main and 2 accompanying appetisers.

I say slightly smarter because... we still couldn't finish everything.

I think we made the wrong choice of ordering 2 appetisers? My bad for that because I was feeling rather gluttony that day.. Hee!


Mafia's choice
Just tomato sauce as the base, pepperoni and lotsa cheeseeeeee!

Me loves these mid-joints!
Well-marinated. Well-cooked. Crispy on the outside, tender and hot on the inside. Not greasy. Brilliant chicken wings!!

But still it loses when compared with my mom's home-cooked chicken wings :P

Calamari
So-so only. Regret ordering this appetiser. Rod packed this home to eat in the end so as to not waste food and money.

NOTW: Girly start to my first week of school with $2 blings from Daiso, and OPI Teenage Dream!
It's so much more bling bling in real life!
Went to His.Tori with Le BFF on Friday for some awesome grilled meat.

20 Tanjong Pagar Rd
Singapore 088443
Contact no.: 6224 6539
Facebook page: Click here!

Price list:
Adult : S$18 (lunch), S$22 (Dinner)
Children (Below 12 years old) : S$ 15.00
Gotta love korean BBQ!
This used to be my favourite go-to place when I wanted to have some grilled meat. I liked how they have a wide selection of meats to choose from, fresh vegetables available to wrap and eat with my grilled meat, fresh mushrooms, seaweed soup (super love their seaweed soup!), kimchi, free flow drinks and dessert... (and the list goes on)

And most importantly, I liked their previous price list which was $20 NETT. Back in the days... They didn't charge for GST nor service charge!! It was super awesome!

But now they do and after adding all the damn taxes, it amounted up to $24!!!!! :O

Didn't have to be the one cooking that day because Le BFF was there! HEE HEE!!
Grilled bacon and bulgogi beef wrapped with fresh lettuce! YUMS!!!
A new addition to their buffet menu: Kimchi pancake
They provided the kimchi pancake mixture and you can cook it yourself!

Umm.. we failed cooking these 2 kimchi pancakes. They turned out horrendously mushy because they stuck onto the hot grill plate and we tried flipping them over when they weren't entirely cooked yet. :/

But the mixture tastes super awesome!! Full of kimchi flavour!

Unfortunately I'm most probably not going back to this restaurant to eat again... Think I'll find another korean BBQ place to fill my tummy when I'm craving for grilled meat. I have my eye on this other place that I came across when walking with Le BBF to His.Tori! Will check out the place first and then let you guys know if it is any good!!

Stripping Down Naked

Don't worry. There is no nudity pictures in this entry.

Nor will there ever be actually.

Or at least, none of the pictures will ever be of me. I'm not evil enough to burn any of your eyes or leave a scarring impression of me on you through such means. I'm far too shy *blush*

Anyway if the title of this post is not direct enough, what I aim to talk about today is...

HONESTY.
This topic came about because I was interested in taking part in a contest held by MyFatPocket and I had to share why is it that I would like to be a blogger with MFP and what would I have to offer as their blogger then?

For almost a month.. I stared at a blank page. I have written and deleted several drafts, and that reverted me back to square one. I guess this would be what they term as "a writer's block".

If only it was that simple...
Ever since I decided to take blogging more seriously, I have been struggling to find the "right" category that suits my blog, and the "right" materials to blog about.

My blog is a lifestyle blog. Do you know how many lifestyle blogs there are on the internet? There are countless.

It is hard to stand out among the crowd, especially since the internet is pretty much international.

I have googled "how to be a successful blogger" and most of the tips given state that to be a successful blogger, one will have better luck if he/she ventures into more than one blogging category (ie. lifestyle/beauty blog, or lifestyle/food blog, travel/food blog) and writes unique stuff that little or no one has written before.

The tips that they have given is right. Their suggestions are good. However it is easier said than done, or at least that is the case for me.

I have tried to include my blog into other blogging categories. I have tried beauty, I have tried food.. Out of the list, these are the ones which I am most comfortable and familiar with. Unfortunately I have to be honest and say that those 2 blogging categories are not working out. Sure, I can blog about them every once in awhile, but the focus of my blog is still on the experiences of my life.

Now here is another thing which I have to be honest about, most people who blog about their life either have a very interesting life or a very boring life. In my opinion, my life sorta falls into the latter.

Here are the 7 reasons why I think my life is boring:

1. I don't travel every 2 weeks or during every holiday that I have.
2. I am not some fancy rich kid who have tons of pocket money to spend on branded goods and michelin-star restaurants (Exaggerating a little but you get the gist)
3. I am not THE popular + pretty girl in school (I never was and still am not)
4. I am not model-thin and frankly, I have weight management issues (I love food too much! You cannot pull me away from it!)
5. I am not one of those book-smart kids in school who finds exams to be a piece of cake and is constantly scoring 'A's in all the class tests. (Studying sucks)
6. I have yet to discover any extraordinary talent that is in any form of art in myself (be it drawing, music or dancing).
7. I don't know any of the latest seasonal fashion trends. (Don't watch fashion runway shows nor read fashion magazines, sorry)

And here are the 7 reasons why I use the words "sorta boring":

1. I don't travel every 2 weeks or less, but I do travel occasionally. I love travelling and one of my life dream is to travel around the globe and visit as many places as I can before my bones become ashes.
   Pic taken from my instagram
   
2. I may not have a big fat wallet, but I do love to shop and eat good food. Hence I am often out looking for great discount/sales places to shop at, and "hidden" eateries that serve great food at a reasonable/cheap price (click 'here' to read my experience with Liberty @ 247)
3. I am no model but as a girl, I have my own fair share of vanity. I guess my vanity is the worst when I have a front-facing camera and I manage to figure out how to keep on putting the best side of my face forward for the day lol!
   
   
4. I have no talent in art whatsoever, but I am good at nail art. I love nail art. From the looks of it to the confidence that it brings to me. I haven't gotten around to sharing my nail art creations on a constant basis because I haven't been painting regularly, but I am looking into that. I stopped focusing on nail art for quite a while because of my busy school schedule, and I realised that I really missed doing nail art because it helped to set my mood/fashion theme for the week, plus it doubled up as an accessory as well.
   Some of the nail art creations that I did over the years
   
5. I may not be book smart but I make up for it by being street smart.
   
   

   Quoting from Scott Berkun,
   
   

   "There is no doubt in my mind street smarts kicks book smarts ass. To be street smart means you have situational awareness. You can assess the environment you are in, who is in it, and what the available angles are. Being on the street, or in the trenches, or whatever low to the ground metaphor you prefer, requires you learn to trust your own judgment about people and what matters. This skill, regardless of where you develop it, is of great value everywhere in life regardless of how far from the streets you are.
   
   Most important perhaps, being street smart comes from experience. It means you’ve learned how to take what has happened to you, good or bad, think about it, and learn to improve from it. The prime distinction between street smarts and book smarts is who is at the center of the knowledge. On the street, it’s you. In a book it’s you trying to absorb someone elses take on the world, and however amazing the writer is, you are at best one degree removed from the actual experience. Street smarts means you’ve put yourself at risk and survived. Or thrived. Or have scars. You’ve been tested and have a bank of courage to depend on when you are tested again. Being street smart can lead to book smarts as the street smart sense what works and what doesn’t, and adapt accordingly.
   
   Book smarts, as I’ve framed it, means someone who is good at following the rules. These are people who get straight A’s, sit in the front, and perhaps enjoy crossword puzzles. They like things that have singular right answers. They like to believe the volume, and precision, of their knowledge can somehow compensate for their lack of experience applying it in the real world. Thinking about things has value, but imagining how you will handle a tough situation is a world away from actually being in one (As Tyler Durden says in Fight Club – “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?”)."

   Just for the kick of it: "Street smart kicks book smarts ass"
   #hahaha #notbooksallthetimeyo
   
6. My dressing style is all over the place.I don't know nor follow the latest fashion trends, but it isn't like I dress shabby either. Some days I prefer dressing more casual, other days would be more k-pop inspired, or more preppy... it really depends. But if there is one kind of dressing that I will never go into, it would be rock/gothic. It's too dark for my taste. So I take it that being able to dress flexibly is a good thing as it would mean that I am not limited to just one kind of fashion style!
   
   
   
7. Lastly, if you haven't gotten irritated reading my writing so far and you think that it is rather decent, then I suppose I can take credit for it and say that blogging is my talent, because other than that.. I really have no talent whatsoever. #sosadtosaythisbutitstruefornow

I'm not the atypical blogger whom everyone envies and coos over. My life is not THAT fantastic, but I know that it will be someday because I am dreaming for it and working towards it. For now I am just an ordinary Singapore girl who hates being ordinary. I love anything unique, rare and outstanding. I hate having what everyone has. I hate living the typical Singapore life. I refuse to have a 9-5 job someday.

I am a free spirit - I love having control over my own time. I dream of having a job made just for me - it's unique and it enables me to be the best at what I am good at (blogging, yes?). I dream of touring the world someday, I dream of living in a big and fancy "smart house" mansion, I dream of owning a huge walk-in wardrobe that is filled with clothes, accessories, shoes and bags for every occasion. I know that I'm a dreamer.


I dream big stuff. And they say that...


You can read this as a mindless girl who is superficial and materialistic. But with a little twist of mindset, you can also read it as a lady who knows what she wants in her life. She knows how she wants to live her life, she knows what she wants in her future, she knows that it seems dreamy and unrealistic, but she'd rather die having tried to achieve the future that she pictures.

Back to the topic of what I can offer as a blogger.. I can offer honesty that I am not perfect, I am not completely sure about life and I'm still figuring out, I have yet to discover my talent and everyone else around me already has and knows where they want to go and has found what they want to do in their life. What I can also offer is a process. The process of my life. It can be an example of reference for others, an encouragement (I hope?) and perhaps an inspiration.

Ending off with a cool note:





Hearts,
Soph <3