Incredible India!

Hello!

It's been awhile, Happy 2011!

While I'm in the mood to accomplish anything tonight (yes, my favourite sugared tea is keeping me up and hyper at the moment), therefore I shall no longer procrastinate, and attempt to share my experience in India through my eyes?

Tra lala ...

Immigration form I had to fill in during my plane ride.

Strolling about the village on my first morning - my first taste of village life.

Dogs and villagers aplenty, they were a curious bunch - since I am probably the only Chinese girl they'll see in their life entire life time. I have to say that they are a very sincere bunch though...

* the place I stayed in the ashram was pretty decent by my Singaporean standard...so fret not for me!

Our Indian chief suggested that we embark on a stroll to the beach - which turned out to be a tormenting hike in a swamp trail, filled with lots of crazy thorns that poked through my slippers.

Add in a loooong trail of squishy, muddy grounds so slippery that was practically i-m-p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e to walk.

Out of desperation, I gave up on my slippers and walked bare footed.

Post Beach stroll, Kuge suggested that we attempt the vegan breakfast served at the Ashram daily.
This is how it looks like - Rice flour cake with coconut milk and dahl-like curry.
The rice cakes reminds me somewhat of a moist and softer textured version of our local Tutu Kueh.

On the top left corner of the picture, out water was supplied in packet forms.

You're supposed to chew off a corner of the packet, and drink out of it.
No Straws.

The meal tasted decent to me, but I must say that 1 rice cake was definitely enough for me.

It's waaay too much carbohydrates in 3 rice cakes for me to stomach in the morning.

The lady who handed me my food was very concerned that I would starve, and insisted I finish at least 2 cakes. Just to be polite ( and because most villagers are very poor/ do alot of manual chores they eat at least 20 rice cakes in one seating or something along the lines, I tried not to waste food!) Gosh - I nearly died from from my attempt.

Us smiling with our lovingly made breakfast before partaking.

(I love how sincere everyone was, even though I could not understand their language.)

Post breakfast, we ran off with our driver for a little sight seeing around the main town.

Spotted a rare Signage with English words.. and I have no idea why it emphasized that the shop was owned by a Fish monger.

Peeped through the wall, while waiting for my ferry ride.

Yes, this is my ferry queue. I am quite the rare sight in India, being Chinese and female.

Haha. Everyone did their part in taking care of me, and I am really thankful!

On the left, we have Kuge, who's blending really well with the rest of his homies, and on the right, we have a quarter of Aden who's resting on the queuing bench.

And this would be the name of the Ferry that we boarded.  

Before boarding, there was a mad rush to grab a smelly worn out life vest. 

In the midst of the chaos, I panicked, and didnt manage to get any pictures of the smelly pile of life vest, dumped on the floor.  

I picked up a dingy looking vest, and refused to put it on...Better dead than smelly for me!

But Crix seems to be loving his vest tho... 

Setting foot onto the island, I love the sign that greeted me : Each soul is potentially divine.

So zen!

This island we visited housed the statue/house to the founder of Yoga. This is where Yoga apparently originated in. *beams*

As with most holy places - Visitors are required to remove their footwear.

Therefore the random pictures of my feet following the arrows.

Waiting for the ferry back - self entertainment was absolutely essential.

I attempted an arty shot of Aiden and myself through the reflection of Crix's sunnies,

but FAILED.  :(

my usual self shots, and the intrusion of Crix's peace sign in the picture..

Speaking of peace signs, we are extremely amused with the coins we received when we paid for our meals...

Meals were decent. Being the spoilt Singaporeans we were, we got the driver to drive us out to the fancy hotel in town, and we practically camped out at the same Restaurant almost every lunch and Dinner. 

Our first taste of Pepsi in a bottle! I think I was having a good hair day..

Sample picture of our typical meal. Tandoori Chicken, Fish Tikka (yummiest!) Chicken manchuria and blahblahblahblah. We ate so much meat that I constipated for the first 3-4 days! (so much for everyone's concern that India would give me diarrhea. Hahaha!)

Restaurant interior

Our favorite Booth Seat!

Our last day at Lunch! Chinese vs Indians! LOL

Post Lunch, a random shot of me in my heart shaped sunnies that was taken by Crix.

Kuge in his Epic Kawaii Gangsta shot.

Joker borrowed my shades. Totally amusing! 

Floor art at the entrance of the Ashram.

I love them to bits, and cannot take my eyes off them every time I walk past the entrance. :)

The wall of the Ashram is filled with plenty of wall murals, and these are just some that spoke the most to me.

As for my lodgings provided by the Ashram, we had ceiling fan, aircon, water heater, 2 washing sink (one in the toilet, and one in the corner by the window)

I was not expecting this standard before embarking on my trip, and I am glad to say that this was waaay better than what I have anticipated. For that I am extremely thankful for all that was provided.

On our last day, we visited a fortress nearby with a mega huge pond that was said to be where the Princess used to shower. -_-" The way I looked at it, the pond/bath could hold 10 elephants in it, or house a really HUGE princess, or the princess fancied pool parties?

I was not impressed with the pond, but I do have to share this...

Funny thing was, the men on the right of the sign were really comfortable on the tree...

Lol! I guess the signs were meant for tourists only?!

Ending off with a random picture of me posing with a tree that everyone tried to climb, but me.

Footnote: I never thought a city loving girl like me would ever say this, but I would choose to make a trip back to Kanyakumari again in the near future, for it was this little village that I found the inner peace that I desperately seek.

Okay, bye for now!

Hello India!

Heading off to India in a couple of hours.

I rarely hesitate at the chance traveling.

However, after the countless horror stories I've heard, about the water quality and standard of living and smelliness and blah..

Packing preparations became a big hassle.

Pretty sure this is the first time i am not packing any pretty stuff for a trip.

I packed mostly stuff that I "think" I would be alright disposing them/getting dirty in...(That proved to be a tough tough thing to do - coz of my obsessive habit of keeping my belongings in pristine conditions)

I've also probably never packed such an incredulous amount of wet wipes, make up remover in tissue form, body wipes, or even fret about instant food that can easily be eaten without the use of WATER.

Hahahhaa

Seriously!

After all the hulabalooo...

I am finally ready for the journey.

"Roughing it out" will do you some good" ~ mommy, Nov 2010.

So Hello India!

Humming In my head : Good Life - One Republic

Paper art inspirations

I chanced upon this site with many amazing paper creations.
I feel the itch to start on my paper crafting again.

Paper sculpting used to be limited by what I could borrow off the library shelves as a kid.

But look at these!

So amazing!

Love the paper bloom sculpture on top!

The forest of paper roll is damn creative.

Having staring at paper rolls for the past 27 years,

The most creative thing I've ever done with it, doesn't even come close to

the forest! Blah!

I want to be paper brilliant again!

Spreading the gospel

No offense to all the iphone users in the world...

I was just having a random conversation one day, and an annoying iphone user simply told me in the face that the iphone is the greatest invention on earth, and that I didn't know what I was missing out, using the blackberry and yada yada...

Gosh! I hate it when people evangelize their iphones in such a manner,
It's like those annoying christians telling me that their god is good syndrome.
it just leaves a bad taste in the mouth...

Everyone has a choice, and one should just learn to respect other's choices.


There prolly are many retorts i'll like to tell this bunch of "cool" iphone users, like.....
----
Back when the only Safari(s) that will EVER register in your mind was those related to African expedition with lions, zebras and similar journeys of its like, I was already adept at the browser called Safari, and extremely comfortable with the Mac OS.

----
or
Just because you think your phone is damn bloody good, doesn't give you the right to put my phone down.
I probably know more about the iphone and the blackberry, than you know about your iphone put together.
as I'm arguably more tech savvy than most guys are, so go get your facts right, before you start flauting, for I did my homework before I purchased my phone -- unlike you, prolly too bimbo and bought it blindly, as like how most singaporeans are, with the hello kitty and crazy bubble tea queuing. Tsk!
----
or my Blackberry messenger doesn't cost me a cent, *dramatic gasp* you mean you have to pay to download your Whatsapp just to talk to your friends like the BBM?!

----
My blackberry for one has the sensibility of providing options of changing my battery pack, the memory card, and your phone doesn't. I could spend all day picking on both the good and bad of every phone available in the market.

However, like I said at the start, this stupid thing about how- my phone is better than yours, is as childish as my god is better than yours charade.

I suggest you just shut your trap, and go back to your isolated world of apps, where the most happening thing that has ever occurred in your life, is your precious iphone 4.

Blah!
I'm still annoyed it's damn suay-bye to meet such retards!

disappintment

I know I couldn't count on you for your support,
But all I asked for, was your understanding,
Even that, you failed me.

Tears of disappointment trickled down my face, as we stood waiting for the bus.
You were supposed to be the one person I could fall upon, even if the world turned against me.

Whoever who said that your mother would love you unconditionally, prolly never met mine.

Nights like this...

I find myself in a pensive mood.

Our life often evolve just around ourselves..

but lately, I feel rather small and insignificant to this huge world..

Just like an aquarium filled with beautiful fishes swimming about serenely.

No one actually notice, if a fish went missing.

In fact, life goes on, doesn't it?

inner peace

Distractions are merely temporary measures.

Love and Marriage

Sitting in the cab making my way home from Stella and Cliff's wedding, the corn story that I once heard of popped up in my head:

A student asks a teacher, "What is love?"

The teacher said, "In order to answer your question, go to the wheat field and choose the biggest wheat and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and you cannot turn back to pick."

The student went to the field and in the first row, he saw one big wheat, but he wondered that maybe, there's still a bigger wheat in the next few rows.

Then he saw a bigger one but he thought that there is an even bigger one waiting for him somewhere in the wheat field.

Later, when he finished more than half of the wheat field, he started to realize that each wheat is not as big as the previous one that he saw. He realized that he has missed the biggest one, and he regretted.

So, he went back to the teacher with an empty hand.

The teacher told him, "This is love... You keep looking for a better one, but later, you realize that you have already missed the best one and it's too late to go back."

"What is marriage then?" the student asked.

The teacher said, "In order to answer your question, go to the corn field and choose the biggest corn and come back. But the rule is: you can go through them only once and you cannot turn back to pick."

The student went to the corn field, this time he is careful not to repeat the previous mistake,

when he reaches the middle of the field, he
picks one medium corn that he is satisfied, and comes back to the teacher.

The teacher told him, "This time you brought a corn.. And this time, you looked for the one that is just nice, and you have faith and you believe that this is the best one you can ever get.... Now that is marriage."

hole in my heart...

Granted that I'm feeling miffed for other reasons, but it's nights like this where I miss her the most.

Her dainty chin, her tiny paws, my secret keeper.

Curly hair!

After MONTHS of procrastination, I finally went to get my hair trimmed, and I am happy with the results.

Granted that long hair does not differ much from its before and after picture, it does make a big difference when one is waiting for her hair to dry naturally after a hair wash.

I was whining to my hairdresser that with long hair, I am pretty much a boring looker, and she reckon otherwise. Which prompted her to whip out her curling irons just to prove otherwise!

Not only did she curl my hair, she actually gave me a personal tutorial on how to do it ( I always resemble Medusa, after I am done playing hairdresser. )

*grumbles*

Yup, she made me look different, but the curls were alittle too ladylike for my liking.

what I realized was.......

I absolutely love the way my hair look the next day!

Those lady-like curls became a wavy mess, and it instantly looked more Daphne already!

Love the slight volume!

I somewhat miss having voluminous hair!

Heheh.

Good hair day lasted the entire Saturday last week, and it's back to normal limp hair after....

Personal attempts to recreate the look was totally lost in a mess!

Argh!

I am looking forward to the removal of my metal mouth in August.

Hello Pretty teeth, I missed you.

---

Went for an imprompt blading session today after a long, long, long hiatus, and it felt good.

Happy and awkward on wheels, I enjoyed the breeze caressing me as I glide on...

....and *thud* the fall.

Which made it more real.

AA le sac dress

I realise that I am a sucker for clothes with entertainment value.

Like..... the AA Le sac dress that I bought a million years ago...

It's essentially a big shapeless piece of rag, resembling a potato bag ( I highly suspect "Le sac" - literally means "the sack"!) with a really really long sash (estimated 4m long) in various assorted colors, and you're practically left on your own, to entertain oneself.

It is not quite as easy to go creative, and yet create a modest and un-insane look from the dress. *beams*

tying frenzy aside, I realized that I have a knack for grabbing the Le Sac dress whenever I am in a hurry to get out of the house - and I will end up wearing the versatile dress in the SAME WAY.

How boring!

Sneakily, I'll try to alter the design mid way at the convenience of a Public restroom. :)

But my choices rarely variate too far from the Classic Le Sac and the Gathered Mini, for I'm not much of a Grecian type of girl. I personally think that the Architectural Mini and its likes are simply an overkill to wear out for a casual day out, not forgetting that people in Singapore do usually prefer their bras to be in tact when going out for shopping . Lol.

There are truly many ways of wearing the Le sac dress without feeling scandalized, but there are times where the dress looks good in the front, and terribly messy at the back!

So Daphne, being Daphne - stuck to the same few methods just so she would not look like an absolute mess in the back.

Hahahah.


I'm considering the purchase of an additional sash in a different color, just to add variety to the dress - then again, sewing a sash is extremely easy, only that the wires of my sewing machine has been chewed on repeatedly by the ever so destructive bunny.

Sigh.

humming in my head: fly me to the moon..

What next

What next?

When?

How?

I dont know.

3 months later, I realized that I am still headed towards nowhere.

Living aimlessly, do you think I'm contented with that?

I'm tired of sitting still/movng aimlessly/and getting nagged.

Who can I admit that to?

Noone.

Goodbye Pixie

Late January 2004

Wandered into a pet shop at Holland Village and I met the prettiest little creature that was standing shyly away from the rest of her friends.

She had weird turfs of hair sticking around, cute color patches, and she looked so lonely.

I stared and stared, and asked questions about her.

Her black eye reminded me of a naughty rascal, and her brown eye had the sweetest look.

How could a piggie look so naughty and so lovable at the same time?

I was told by the pet shop uncle, that she is an Abyssinian cavy, and the only one of her breed, amongst her other cavy friends for sale.

I knew at that moment I had to bring her home, and so I did.

I was told that she's roughly 6 months old....which made her a June baby.

---

As a kid, I was told that Guinea pigs are capable of whistling, and I was sort of disappointed to have a silent piggie when I brought her home.

I truly thought she was mute.

I read up that guinea pigs love fruits and vegetables, so I experimented with various offerings that mommy has in her fridge.

I shared sliced apples, grapes, bananas, carrots and other various vegetables, and I found out that her one true favourite would be the Chinese cabbage (bok choy - according to the price stickers that supermarket paste onto the packages) was because

she uttered her first "whee" after she got acquainted with the chinese cabbage.

She never quite stopped whistling after.

She'll whistle excitedly whenever she hears the fridge door being pried open.

She would also respond happily to my footsteps.

Not quite sure how she manages it, but she would whistle whenever I walk through the door.

Not to mom's footsteps, or dad/sister/brother's.

It would precisely be my footsteps that she responds to.

This smart little sweetie, somehow stole the hearts of the entire family in less than a month.

Even mommy, who hated/scared of animals so badly.

Mommy would insist that I walk to the wet market, to buy her a ball of cabbage, just because the fridge is out of cabbage for Pixie's consumption.

We ALWAYS have cabbage in the fridge ever since.

Mommy also attempted to use her feet to stroke pixie, and sometimes attempt to poke her really quickly, just like a kid dipping her hands into cold water, just to see how cold the water is. That's what she meant to mommy who had been scared of furry animals her entire life.

she definitely stole more than just a corner of mommy's heart.

---

Feb 2007

Pixie also attended my 21st birthday.

Secretly, over the years, I always saw her as a personal 21st birthday present to myself.

She attended my party with her red harness and leash.

Everyone present was intrigued by her, and the silly red leash that I bought for her. :)

---

Her first christmas with me...

I attempted to photoshop reindeer's antlers onto her picture.

Her last christmas with me Dec 25th 2009

I borrowed a tiny santa's hat from Da's winnie-the-pooh toy, and made pixie pose with a mini axe from the christmas log cake. :)

---

I gave her lots of nick name over the years, with derivations based mostly on her name and the sounds she makes like....

pixie wixie

pig pig/pix pix

piggul

weewee

and princess.

I love how she would hoist/headbutt my hands whenever I irritate her, how she'll sit on my tummy and not move until I let go of her - making coooooo coooo/purring noise when she's contented and happy.

and a slight "pock pock pock" sound that reminds me of chicken, when she's exploring, or finding her way back to her living quarters.

How I never needed to cage her up, because she is home loving, and no matter how much coaxing or cabbage dangling, she refuses to step out of her cage.

---

June 2010

at 4.30am today, My brother and I watched our little darling succumb to age and her failing health.

I found her lying on her sides weak and almost motionless, just as I was about to head for bed.

The brother transferred her onto a towel, as we sat by her side, cheering her to be strong and telling her how much we love her and still do (something I never failed to remind her when I feed her daily, especially in the recent months)

She showed signs of improvement, after I fed her with drops of water using a syringe.

She tried to stand, waving her feet around, stretching, and we tried to help her stand up.

For over an hour, we watched my brave little pixie fight for her life.

I tried to ease her final moments as much as I could, watching helplessly as she weakens, gasping for breath.

Sad that she'll no longer greet me when I wake up,

I am comforted that I was able to be with her in her last moments,

that I managed to tell her that I love her for the last time,

that I am very proud that she is a fighter, refusing to let go of her life to the very end.

It's June - you've have turned into a full 7 year old piggie, if you could have held on just a little longer.

Rest in peace my darling, you'll always be my special little whistler.

Walking a doggie.

This might sound really retarded, but I officially walked a dog for the first time in 27 years, and I did it alone!
Hahhahaha.

Brought Xiaobai down to get 2 cans of coke from the vending maching, and went back up.
All this while, I was semi terrified that he would be naughty, and rush out of the lift while I was in it... and I'll end up with a leash with no dog, or worst, a strangled doggie.

BUT!

Luckily for me, he didnt.
He was pretty well trained, as he sat in the lift wagging his stumpy tail and calmly walked out.
I HAD FUN!

:)

Xiaobai went along for a walk when we went out to get dinner at Newton.

I didn't dare to walk him in the open roads, in case it becomes dangerous...

but it was fun watching him walk/sniff around/being well behaved/enjoying himself.

---

I tried taking a few picture with him earlier using my BB,

and mostly consisted of white blurs, or weird facial expression...

FAIL!

My sad attempt to lift his face for the camera, while perching on the floor...

and Tadah!

My best shot of us!

Woof!

I had to hoist him up around his underpaw and rib area.....and supported his weight (He's kinda HEAVY!) with my thigh hiked up so he could sit, while I balance on my other foot, just to get this shot. LOL

Just look at how small he used to be!

ONE ARM can carry liao!

One thing for sure, size aside, he's still a happy doggie! :)

Random shot...

The MUST have home accessory for 2010 : Expanding floor rug!

New chew toy!

KEYS!

The difference between toy keys for dogs, and toy keys for humans.

Facial!

I must be bored.

I spent too many a day/night scrutinizing my skin in the mirror, literally p-o-r-e by p-o-r-e.

It was concluded that my skin's looking peaky, and therefore the decision to head over for facial on Monday.

There is something so alluring about all the nice smelling products that is being applied on me, and the knowledge that my pores are undergoing some major spring cleaning!

My skin can finally breathe!

Laying there, blinded by cotton pads, I wondered in amazement how gentle the beautician is, when it comes to cleansing my face off dirt, cosmetics and what nots...and applying nice lotions etc....

and yet inflict sooooo much pain when they're squeezing my pore/skin.

I always akin it to my poor pore being raped. Hahahah!

Ironic!

It also amazes me just how long I am taking to complete my package of merely 10 session.

The next remarkable thing?

I signed up for it in 2007, and to date, I have only used up 7 session (I brought mommy along for one..)

Lololololol!

At the rate I am utilizing my package, I reckon it would take me approximately another 1.5 years to finish up my last 3 session.....

and when the lady asked if I wanted to renew my package, citing the Great Singapore Sale, "that the deal she's giving me is definitely a package that is not to be missed and blahblahblah".

I laughed aloud to myself, thinking about how old I will really be, when I'm really done with the new package that she's suggested me to take up.

No, I didnt take up the new package - I want to explore new places when I need to.

----

Post facial - I realize that I am always very conscientious with my skincare routine for the next one month, and the routine will slowly....slowly slip away, and Heyheyhey!

HELLOTOUGLYPATCHYSKIN!

and the cycle will go on and on...

Tsk.

That's why the saying "there's no ugly girls in the world, just merely lazy girls."

There must be some sense to that?

I am lusting for sushi and waffle + icecream.

Ugh!

Mom is not a very participative foodie.

Sad :(

Indecent conversations

Decent conversations are rare to come by lately (so it seems)
I fail to appreciate the "beauty" of conversations that discourages differing opinions.

It's alot easier to have conversations with myself, than to master the art of one sided
conversations with another.

Perhaps, you might have been thinking out loud, and was "rudely interrupted" by my remarks, to
garner such rapid aggresive replies in response to my halfhearted opinion that
contrasted yours.

Oh well!

Patience

Patience

The secret to patience is doing something else in the meantime.

LOL.

I saw this on FB and I thought to myself - sounds pretty much like what I am doing at the moment.