Sanguine Expectations...

This evening when I came home from work, I saw something from the corner of my eye...Could it be what I've been hoping for? I quickly put down my bag & umbrella to take a look...Yes! It IS what I've been waiting for:

This plant has 'flowered' about 5 times in the past but I managed to see the fully bloomed flowers only ONCE! What about the other 4 times? Well, the buds were snapped off from the plant even before they could bloom! The suspects for these mischiefs - my neighbour's 2 sons. Since the last time they snapped the buds off, the plant has stopped flowering for more than a year already. Hmmph...So angry!

This time, I hope I will get to see the flowers...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my neighbour's sons will not destroy my poor flower buds again. If I'm lucky to see the flowers, I'll let you know how they look like. In the meantime, be patient & keep guessing!

Remember This?

Do you know what is this? No, definitely not a capsized boat, that's for sure. Make another guess...


Yep, bingo, it's a paper ball! Did you guess correctly? I used to play with these paper balls when I was a kid. Mum says they're still available on the market these days but I've not seen any. Have you?

Crochet Doggies

Do you see a familiar shape? The dog's body was created by crocheting over a "Yakult" bottle (you can use a "Vitagen" bottle if you like). Not only do I get to enjoy my "Yakult" drink, I can even make something with the plastic bottle! Cool!

Old Cantonese Movie - 後窗

I love old Cantonese Movies, especially those black & white ones (粵語長片). I used to be able to watch them on TV a few years back when they were aired normally in the dead of the night but not anymore. Found some of these clips on YouTube & thought I should share them with all those who love old Cantonese movies like I do.

This movie, 《後窗》 ~ 香港版 (1955), was an adaptation of the 1954 suspense film "Rear Window" directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which starred James Stewart & Grace Kelly. This Cantonese version featured the late 張瑛 & 周珅玲 and you can also see some old Cantonese movie stars like 盧敦、黃曼梨、馬師曾 、吳楚帆、白雪仙、芳艷芬 & 李清. Briefly, the movie is about the male lead who's recuperating from a broken leg and confined to a wheelchair in his small apartment. He passes the time by spying on his neighbours through his apartment's rear window and of course, he witnessed something one day...

I've watched both the English & Cantonese versions and enjoyed them both. This is one of my favourite 粵語長片. Hope you'll like it too.

Dinner - Fish Porridge

Yummy dinner! After that, I had mango for dessert. I feel so satisfied now...porridge & mango - my favourites.

Samurai

According to Wikipedia: "Samurai (侍) is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became synonymous with bushi (武士) and the samurai followed a set of unwritten rules called the Bushidō." Er...hold it right there, I know what you are thinking...c'mon now, repeat after me it's Bushidō, not bull****do! Get serious!

Dusk

This was what I saw this evening outside my window at around 7.15pm -

To my left, there's an orange sky! Isn't it beautiful? When I looked at the camera viewer after taking this photo, I thought what a beautiful picture, I even managed to capture the sun! But the funny thing was when I looked up at the sky, I didn't see any sun at all! I was quite puzzled & thought to myself: "Wow, I didn't know my little camera has this special effects function that can even add a sun to my picture at its own discretion!" Haha...Of course I didn't capture the sun at all & neither do I have an intelligent camera with special effects function; the "sun" (white patch) was actually a result of dirty lens. But jolly well, this additional touch was very much welcomed. What do you think?

Now to my right, there's this rainbow in the sky (yes, again!) but I thought it's not as nice as the one I saw on 25 Feb 09.

Looking at the 2 pictures, you must have thought they were taken at different time of the day but I actually took them almost at the same time (only about 5 minutes apart)! Isn't it amazing? Can you picture this - One side was orangy & getting quite dark while the other side was still bright with a pretty rainbow? Nice.

Try These Chips!

You MUST try these jackfruit chips, they're very delicious! These chips are made from real jackfruits but I think they're sort of dehydrated to make them crisp. I got this 210g pack from the Value$ Store at S$4.05. There's another assorted pack selling at S$3.50 which consists of jackfruit chips (best), banana chips (good), yam chips (so-so) and sweet potato chips (crispy but don't taste like sweet potato at all). Since the jackfruit chips taste best amongst the lot, I suggest that you buy the S$4.05 pack, i.e. the one with solely jackfruit chips, as I feel it's better value for money. Wait, wait...there's durian chips too & they taste heavenly (slurp! slurp!), have you tried those?

Hello Kitty

This was made from a T-shirt that I've never worn & did not intend to wear. Instead of throwing the T-shirt away, I thought the colour was suitable to make a Hello Kitty, so here it is. This is hand-sewn. I found sewing fabric with curvey edges more difficult than sewing felt. I suppose it'll be easier if I had (& know how to handle) a sewing machine, will it?

The Paper Chase

I enjoyed watching this TV series "The Paper Chase" during my secondary school days & would faithfully tune in on those afternoons it was aired. For those who have no idea what this TV series is about - "The Paper Chase" tells the story of Hart, a first-year law student at Harvard, and his experiences with Professor Charles Kingsfield (played by John Houseman, in an Oscar-winning performance), the brilliant, demanding Contracts instructor whom he both idolizes and finds incredibly intimidating. In the show, Professor Kingsfield has this famous line: "You teach yourselves the law. I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and if you survive, you’ll leave thinking like a lawyer." For some reason at that time, I found this quite amusing (probably it was the way John Houseman delivered the lines or how my brother tried to imitate him) & would giggle everytime he said that.

I don't know if my third brother remembers this but look what he did -


He cut this picture of a man (from the newspapers) who happened to resemble Professor Kingsfield, wrote the Professor's famous line next to this guy's picture & gave it to me! I like it so much that I kept it till today. brother, it was fun!

Paper Weaving

Received this paper sock from my eldest brother many, many years ago. I especially like the part where the coloured papers are woven together to form a checkered design.

Inspired, I later wove my own checkered hearts, clown & choo choo train (this is my favourite!).


P.S. The checkered hearts have turned yellow (age-stained!) as these were made long, long, long ...long time ago. But hey, didn't I warn you in my earlier blog post that I'm a hoarder?

Turquoise Bracelet

I received a present yesterday - this lovely turquoise bracelet. It came all the way from someone in Texas! Wow! Thank you for the pleasant surprise.

Why I Blog? Cos I Don't Want To Be...

STRANGERS IN A BOX

Come look with me inside this drawer
In this box I've often seen
At the pictures, black and white,
Faces proud, still and serene.

I wish I knew these people,
These strangers in the box.
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among my socks.

I wonder what their lives were like.
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I'll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time
To tell who, what, where and when!
These faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be passed away?

Take time to save your stories!
Seize the opportunity when it knocks!
Or someday you and yours
Will be Strangers in the Box

- Author Unknown

Tortoise

S l o w...a n d...s t e a d y...
w i n...t h e...r a c e !

Kampong Revisited

Guess what I saw yesterday evening on my usual walk home from work...A chicken! You must be thinking what's the big fuss, it's only a chicken. But think about it...This is not the olden days' kampong where you could easily see chickens roaming freely everywhere. Rather, here is a chicken grazing the grounds in your modern housing estate, in your friendly neighbourhood!


These days, the only chickens I see are the featherless ones that are shrink-wrapped & displayed on the supermarket shelves. So, to see a live chicken grazing in my neighbourhood is definitely something to shout about.

The Playlist

In case you were wondering why I chose those fuddy duddy songs in the playlist on my blog, well, those were the songs I grew up listening to (with the exception of Michael Buble's "Sway")! I still remember Bee Gees & ABBA were very popular during my primary school days and even had a scrapbook filled with clippings of Bee Gees. Hmm, those were the days...happy days. Yes, those songs may be old but I feel nostalgic these days, so just indulge me...

Bento Set

Long before Hallyu (the Korean Wave) hit Asia, there was the Japanese Craze...of course, I was part of it too (hehe...where else could I be?) and that was when I made this felt project.


Enjoy this Japanese bento set on the house! Hai, Itadakimasu!