Sunburnt To The Max

Spent one measly hour in direct

mid-morning sun last Friday and...

 

...skin now itchy like hell
and peeling like shit. ARGH!

p/s: Tell you why later. =)

Go With Your Gut

"Follow your gut. It may be wrong, but you won’t regret it

if you fail. You’ll regret it if you ignore your gut and fail."

– Sarah Lacy, CEO of PandoDaily in
15 Things Successful CEOs Want You To Know

Freshly Picked Baby Hats By Delia Creates

I can't for the life of me understand how a heavily pregnant mother with two growing boys outside her belly, has the time and energy to sew a DIY baby hat... much less whip up THREE insanely adorable ones that look like these:

DIY Apple, Pineapple and Strawberry Baby Hats via Delia Creates.

OMG, they're so cute I could die!

I wonder if I'll have the strength and motivation to come up with cute stuff like this for my kid when I'm preggers next time. :-/ But who knows... Maybe those nesting instincts pregnant mothers always talk about will help. Haha. Nest, nest, nest; sew, sew, sew! =p

CNY 2012: Reunion #2

What happened to Reunion #1, you ask? Well, I only made it in time for dessert when it came to that one so... there's nothing much that's bloggable there. Haha. I didn't even take any pictures! #failedblogger It was the immediate-extended (oxymoron much?) dinner for those in Mee's side of the family. Meaning, only those of us who were born of my Kong Kong's (i.e. my maternal grandfather's) bloodline onwards. That effectively consisted of just five of us – me included – minus the other four who were either sick, busy, or in other countries. :-/

Reunion #2, on the other hand was an even cosier affair

with just Dee, Mee, The Husband and I in attendance.

Picture taken after brunch at CRC Chinese Restaurant.

This year, we had our very first self-hosted Song reunion! =) (FYI, Dee and Mee still attended the major Song reunion with the extended family on the Eve of CNY, of course.) We decided to go to CRC Chinese Restaurant for brunch in hopes of ordering my our favourite dishes to celebrate the Lunar New Year but, unfortunately, they were only preparing a specific CNY menu so... bleh. Food not great. Not worth taking pictures.

Now, let me tell you about something else...

Seeing that this was my first year "Sang-ing Ni" to my parents, I decided to ditch most of the traditional stuff like mandarin oranges, kuih kapit and peanut biscuits. Instead, I went borderline unconventional by swapping the regular tong chiang stuff I knew they wouldn't appreciate for other stuff that I knew for sure they'd enjoy tucking into.

Premium New Zealand Cherries in place of Mandarin Oranges!

Still fruit ma. Kira lah, kan? Summore they're RED! Auspicious colour! =p

 

Sweetheart Cherries from McIntosh Orchard, bought from

a wholesaler in Penang, hence the massive 2kg stash.

 Kit Kat, Lay's Stax Original, Macadamia Nut Chocolates,

Bird's Nest, Bak Kua (not shown) and the NZ cherries (top-right).

I think I did alright. Kit Kat also red packaging wat. AND... I even included some RED Bird's Nest (super traditional) and some Bee Cheng Hiang Bak Kua (also si pek traditional lah)! Oh, and not forgetting the most important of the lot:

 Ang pows for Mee and Dee.

So, yes. That was Reunion #2

– our very first one with Dee and Mee. =)

 From L-R: Yours Truly, The Husband: Pixelated, Dee and Mee.


More CNY stories coming up. Stay tuned! =D

Sushi Zanmai, 1 Mont Kiara

Before I fully embark on my CNY 2012 series, I thought it best to finish up whatever I wanted to say before starting on something I'm pretty sure I'll never finish. HAHA. So here's a quick post on what I had for lunch two Wednesdays earlier – the Wednesday that came the day before The Husband and I returned to our hometown and sunny, little island up North.


It was the very day that I lost myself along the colourful aisles of TOKUTOKUYA, 1MK and went home with equally as colourful dish washing sponges. I was tired of having leftover food, bread or Maggi Mee with egg for lunch so I decided to head out to "town" (if you can even call Mont Kiara a town to begin with -_-'''), and splurge on some yummy Japanese delights to keep solo me happy.

Miso Shiru.

Soft Shell Crab Temaki.

Soft Shell Crab Maki.

Yes, as you can see, I love my miso with mini mushrooms and a good dose of soft shell crab. Haha. The temaki and maki both go great with Wasabi in sauce and a hot (or cold) cup of Ocha, if you ask me. =p

Wasabi in sauce. I doubled the dose of Wasabi after snapping

this picture and putting the mix through a quick taste test.

This batch of Wasabi was surprisingly mild! Totally no feel.

The 1MK Sushi Zanmai branch was very nice and quiet. Quiet enough to sit there and work. But then again, it could have been because I was there at an odd hour. Haha. Food was just as good as all their other outlets if not better. (I dunno if psychological or not lah, but I felt it was better. @_@ Got a lot of Japanese eat also. Good sign, right?)


I wouldn't mind going back there again for another solo meal if my time alone calls for more self tummy pampering. Haha. It would have been better if the service staff were a little more attentive though. But... kira ok already lah. At least they were polite. Overall? Good call, Pam Song! Good call. Can go again. =p

A Very 38 Snowflake

Haha. All 38cm of it.

Google Doodle as seen on 28 January 2012.

125 years later, Google pays tribute to the largest snowflake that was ever observed, documented and placed in the world records. (This is an attempt to show you the relevance of my snowy Christmas blog theme that's still up on the 7th day of CNY. Harhar. =p)

But first things first! Question: How could a 38cm snowflake ever possibly come to being?? Secondly, why did anyone bother measuring and recording its size? And thirdly, how could anyone ever believe the fella who said he found it!? Wouldn't the snowflake have melted by the time the world record authorities arrived??? @_@ Hmmm... #suspicious

Cool doodle though. =)

p/s: Yes, I'm back from my CNY hols and am ready to blomit (that's blog-vomit) my heart out. As soon as I get motivated enough to go through all the pictures I've snapped, that is. All 3 gigabytes of it. *faints*

Happy Chinese New Year!

I realise that Tinki Talks isn't exactly dressed for the occasion so... do me a favour and imagine that the striped red and white Christmas present with the big, red bow in the header is a super red ang pow with a super big Chinese character in glittering gold on it, alongside big, juicy mandarin oranges. Imagine that the daintily falling snowflakes are pretty, pink cherry blossoms floating down. And finally, imagine that there's super loud, super Cina tong chiang Chinese New Year music playing in the background. Cos that's what I'm doing!! Hahaha. Sorry lah, dudes and dudettes. Best I can do from Muar at the moment without a comp. Haha. I'll make it up to you with a post-CNY update later, ok? With pictures and all! (Lau gi na. =p) Anyway, last but not least...



HUAT AH! HENG AH! ONG AH!

Different Feeling Leh...

Spent a good part of the morning stuffing

hard earned money into red packets.

Not that I've never done it before, of course. I happened to grow up being that kid who forced her mother into sharing ang pow-packing duties since the day she learned how to count. Just cos money felt good in my tiny, little hands and it made me feel very "adult" to do so. Haha. How silly a young mind thinks. =p

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Funny but this year, the whole ang pow-packing process

just seemed a little less fun to me. I wonder why... =p

Tiny Little Blueberries

I've never ever eaten them. Until today.

These tiny, little, blue-black, fingernail-sized, round balls of fruit are surprisingly tasty and good to eat! In fact, they make good pop-into-the-mouth-with-little-effort snacks. Haha. A little like cherries but much, much easier to eat because of their lack of seeds. #lazybum Which reminds me... I have a cherry story to tell you guys. One I'll share tomorrow when I'm less tired. It's been a looong day. -_-'

All Hail Japanese 100 Yen Stores!!!

They appeal to the inner child (and super aunty) within in me and I could literally spend hours and hours on end just browsing through the stuff they've got to sell. Found a big-ish one at 1MK called TOKUTOKUYA and ended up trolling its colourful aisles for an hour after lunch yesterday. Haha. It's no surprise that I ended up going home with a big bag of nonsense and a little less money in my pocket. =p

Bought some storage boxes

and plastic cartons to keep stuff in and...

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A PACKET OF COLOURFUL SPONGES!!! Wheeee!!! =D

 

Me and my rainbow sponges!!


And here's another picture of it cos that washed out
Photobooth pic just does the colours no justice.

Ahh, the kitchen shall be my happy place from now on. <3

Copywriters, The Infographic

Via The George Report

Wikipedia 24-Hour Blackout

Wikipedia's 24-hour blackout homepage. The blackout

began at 0500 UTC on Wednesday, 18 January 2012.

 The header floating atop every Wikipedia page before the blackout.

You probably read about it online. On Google, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Mashable – on some site, somewhere. Probably even paid the blacked-out Wikipedia homepage a visit to see it for yourself. You may have hated the fact that you didn't get to run your search or get any work done. But you have to admit that this blackout? Well, it achieved what it set out to do. That is to help you see, experience, understand and realise...

...that knowledge shared is everyone's gain,

and knowledge withheld is everyone's loss.

Just one day without our trusty Wikipedia and we grunt and grumble like we're stumbling around in the dark. (Personally, I'm thankful I didn't actually have to Wiki anything yesterday. =p) But sadly, it's kind of true. What the proposed US legislation, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate wants to do WILL bring us backward, and into the Internet dark ages.

If you don't know how big a deal this is, or how great an impact will be left if SOPA and PIPA are approved, read this. Cos if these people in high places get their way, you might as well say "goodbye" to freedom of the net. And that, will be a sadder and more depressing day than just 24 hours without Wikipedia.

Finger Update!

So remember how I very carelessly poured bright red blood all over my left index finger yesterday? No, wait. That's not how it happened. -_-''' ANYHOO... I finally removed the band-aid this afternoon and GAH!!! It looked like Frankenstein and I had some ugly misunderstanding at the gym (like I go to the gym – HAH!) and accidentally swapped finger pads cos...

GAH-GAH-GHASTLY!!!

All wrinkled, white and... lifeless-looking!

After that, I just sucked it up, went naked-wound,

and ditched the Band-Aid altogether. #toughnut

1 dinner and 2 hours later...

Dang! No wonder it hurt like a b*tch! T_T

Uh, Sorry, Wrong Brother. No, Wait. Sorry, Wrong Girl, Too!

I was just directed to the most shocking Facebook upload. LOOK!

@_@

Like... WUD!?!

Sorry, man... Wrong brother.

I married Brother No.2, not No.1!

But wait! Here's the full upload:

Click here to view from source.

TADAAAA!!! It's another couple altogether!!! HAHAHA. One that doesn't look like us AT ALL in real life (look at the picture placed on the bottom-right) but share so many couple-name similarities to us, it's scary.

No need to talk about her cos even I did a double take (and triple take!) before I could even begin to process what I was seeing in that picture, in my head. Hahaha. Then boy, did I really have a good laugh after I realised it wasn't actually The Husband and I that was featured. *perasan* =p

----------

Thanks, Fry.

This had me laughing my head off non-stop.

Thanks for injecting sunshine into my day. <3

XOXO,

Fry

UPDATE AT 9:33PM ON WEDNESDAY, 18 JANUARY 2012: OMG OMG OMG, I was browsing through more pictures when I realised... I know that Pamela!!! We went to church together! Plus, her older brother and I were pretty tight (strictly friends, mind you) back in the day!! Gosh, it's such a small world! @_@

 The bride in the caricature with her brother, my good friend!

The Husband's Christmas Present

I just gave it to him last night – unwrapped summore, wth – cos shipment was delayed and he went to collect it with me and bla bla bla bah humbug. So... yeah. "Merry Christmas, Honey! Here's your present, 24 days late!" -_-'''


And what did I get him? Well... uh... it's electronic. And definitely not romantic in any which way. In fact, deep down inside I'm slightly embarrassed to say this but... *deep Zen breath* ...I ended up giving him a...

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CASIO Calculator Watch.

#facepalm

Trust me, in spite of a lack of fashionable wear in my wardrobe these days, I'm not that tasteless. HARHAR! Seriously! He wanted it. *points ten fingers at The Husband* No, he didn't ask me to buy it, but I do know that he's been keeping his eye out for one for quite a long time. So... yeah. I silenced the palpitating fashionista within, bit the bullet, ordered him one from Amazon and had it shipped to Malaysia.

A calculator watch!?! Wth, man... -_-'''

This is why I'll never understand Accountants.

Flowers In The Hair

Via So About What I Said

Stumbled upon that possibly-unintentionally-borderline-seductive picture of a girl with flowers in her purposely-messy hair and it brought back memories of the wedding for me. Because it was only during my wedding that I discovered that...

My hair only looks good with REAL flowers in it.

@_@

Seriously! It's so, so very weird! Even my MUA mentioned it over and over again while she was doing my hair. On both days (3rd and 9th of July 2011) that she was doing it! Here are some pictures from the wedding to prove it:

 3 July 2011 – Early morning prep for Pre-Wedding Photography Session.

3 July 2011 – During the Pre-Wedding Photography Session at Lone Pine Hotel.

3 July 2011 – First hairdo of Wedding Banquet #1.

3 July 2011 – During the Tea Ceremony before Wedding Banquet #1.

 9 July 2011 – Early morning prep before Morning "Chip San Leong" Ceremony.

 9 July 2011 – Group-Chi Mui-hug after the Morning "Chip San Leong" Ceremony.

9 July 2011 – Post-lunch prep before Garden Photography Session

before Garden Solemnisation at Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa. 

  9 July 2011 – Photo-shooting around Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa

before Garden Solemnisation.

 9 July 2011 – Photo-shooting around Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa

before Garden Solemnisation.

 9 July 2011 – Photo-shooting around Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa

before Garden Solemnisation. (It was unberably hot outside so we

moved indoors for the second half of the photography session. =p)

Those are all the hairstyles I had on during my wedding that used real flowers. The rest were either flowerless (not too bad but my hair looked a little "naked" to me :-/), with diamanté hairband accessory (bad move cos looking back, I don't really like this hairdo T_T), or with an artificial flower-looking accessory (also not too bad – better than the flowerless option even). Here are a few of pictures of that last hairstyle I mentioned:

9 July 2011 – Right before the on-stage yam seng session.

 9 July 2011 – Talking to an old tuition mate (who also happened to

be hired by my official photographer as a 3rd cameraman!)

during the Rasa Sayang Wedding Banquet. Haha.

 9 July 2011 – Shaking hands with the guests after the banquet.

Anyhoo... pretty weird, huh?

Looks like my hair's just as opinionated as I am! =p

p/s: I miss my long hair. T_T Never going to cut it short again. EVER AGAIN! (And won't listen to The Husband about how short hair is better anymore. >( Pfft!)

p/s/s: I know, I know. I'm supposed to be blogging about the wedding at some point. After all, it has been more than 6 months since "I do" and all that. Haha. Whoopsie. =p But this is a good start lah, right? *shifty eyes*

It's A Closet Conspiracy!!!

Via Oh, So That's What That Really Means

Ahh, if only my mom and mom-in-law knew this simple truth,

they wouldn't ever beat themselves up over tighter waistbands again. =p

Bandaged With Band-Aid

...or Watson's home brand plaster or something like that.

 

Doubt I'd spend money on branded plaster like

Band-Aid™ from J&J to begin with. Haha.

Jokes aside, that careless cut's still freaking painful though. T_T

@*&#^!%!I#

Just sliced into the pad of my left index finger deeply

with the kitchen knife while cutting fresh mango. >(

American Breakfast

 Luncheon Meat, Scrambled Eggs, Baked Beans and Sautéed Mushrooms.

OMG... would you look at that?? *falls in love* I could tuck into this hearty, mammoth of a breakfast every morning for a month and not grow tired of it! In fact, looking at it now totally reminds me of my college/first-year-at-work USJ 9 days, as well as my days in Perth two Winters ago, when I would start my days with this for brunch. *nostalgic*

Mmmm... Still as good if not better! YUMS!

p/s: These pictures were taken on Saturday morning. The Husband went to bed the night before asking to wake up to an American Breakfast. So... American Breakfast it was! Then The Husband and I had them again with his older brother on Monday morning. That was yesterday. And today – a day later – I'm craving it... again! Oh no! #addicted

Sunway Morning

Woke up bright and early today....

...and headed for Sunway to spend time in the house of God

I'm ever so familiar with in an "unfamiliar place".

The CHC I know, now, at No.3 instead of No.8!!

The only reason I'd wake up early on a weekend

without looking like Hell had just run me over. =)

Before church while waiting for The Husband to get up.