Kampong Kampong (II)

And so we're tieing the red knot and these are some of our test shoots for our wedding album. Enjoy!

Kampong Kampong

A Sunday spent in Pulau Ubin. It was an eye-refresher with the rustic wooden houses and un-touched dusty roads with numerous mongrels running around.







Taking some pictures by the beach. The quality's bad though cause it was against sunlight and my cranky phone camera was set to VGA.



We had dinner at one of the traditional coffeeshops there and I must say, really fantastic food they have!

ka-chng!

Been using quite alot of facial masks recently due to the sudden hike of gatherings and special occasions. *smiles dreamily* Must be due to the festive season though there aren't any happening parties or programs lined up for me. The only thing worth looking forward to would be bringing QQ to the long awaited doggies' gathering on boxing day when I'll finally be able to meet a lovely white-apricot husky, Skylar. And also hoping that QQ will get to socialise during this gathering. What's more, there will also be an X'mas gift exchange for the attending poochies with a reasonable budget of 10bucks. I hope that everyone (mostly) will avoid giving any edibles with chicken cause MOST dogs are actually allergic to chicken, including my QQ. I've thought and thought about what we should get for the gift exchange - probably a kongo toy plus some non-meaty treats to avoid any complications, or dental chewing bones. I just found a cheap kongo toy for QQ but she doesn't seem to be able to master the knack of playing with it. Instead of nudging the toy around the floor, she managed to stretch her jaw to the widest extent and just ran off with the toy in her mouth to her 'hidey-hole'! Gosh! So much for distracting her with an interesting toy. Should have just got yet another, ball for her. QQ's crazy for balls!

Dear and I made our first trip down to Pulau Ubin on Sunday and was pleasantly surprised to find such a rural kampong setting still thriving. We had very tasty seafood with salted fish fried rice in a traditional 80s coffee shop with delightful home-made drinks and it was practically a dog-eye-feast for us cause almost every shop/household owned one mongrel! The dogs there are so tame and friendly of various shapes and sizes. I could'nt help wondering if sterilisation should also be carried out in that area for the mongrels, for even though they are owned, I would'nt call their living conditions ideal or healthy. They are still quite fleas-infested and I pretty much believe that heartworm would be a very common killer there due to the mozzies-saturated environment. Would sterilisation be good or should we let nature takes it course? Our business was finally wrapped up by 7pm when we made our way to the mainland. Was exhausted and feeling queasy due to my infrequent meals that I've been having for the past two weeks.

Another random revelation, I used to browse through many other pretty ladies' blogs and was impressed by the amazing photos that they display from their photoshoots and always wondered how/why they are so priviledged. But after some serious thought and listening to seasoned photographers, my perception of such photoshoots has started to take a sharp turn. They don't appear as glamourous or as 'easy' a job to me anymore. This goes to show how amateur I am and how much there is for me to learn.

Sighs, 2008 is coming to an end yet I have'nt been able to accomplish much. Let's hope there will be a better ending for me to reminisce for.

Goddess of Mercy

Today's weather was good - sun shone bright with a clear-blue sky. This seemed to be a good sign sent from above and before we knew it, we were walking along Bugis' streets.

Not missing out a stalk of lotus each on this special day.

After praying, we decided to check out this cafe that Kaiwan had introduced me to the week before. It was a good long hour before we managed to locate the cafe due to my inadequate memory. Poor baby had to endure terrible pangs of hunger. =(

I'm not gonna reveal here where or what the cafe is. I love it for its cosiness and quiet ambience.

And we finally found the place! Hooray!

Looking through the menu. They offer two selections namely, Asian and Western main courses. This cafe was set up primarily to showcase the chef's baking skills with their mouth-watering choices of cakes.

Set meal consists of a drink, main course and a cake of your choice!

His order: Roast Chicken with potato & greens.

Quite tasty, as you can very well see from the fervor as he tried the dish.

And mine: Spicy Shrimp Pasta. And they really mean it when they say spicy! I was practically gurgling cold water all the way.

It would have been better if they added less chilli flakes.

Mango Mambo and Minty something (can't remember the name!).

A mother and her child enjoying some quiet moments over a slice of the cafe's signature cake. Transient I call it.

Not forgetting to say, a BIG THANK YOU to you for turning an ordinary day into an extraordinary one.

cause you are so beautiful inside, so lovely, and I can't see why

reaching our quinquennial
yet all I can see of what's to-be are mere blurred images
our journey seems to have come to a standstill
like the red lights whicn won't turn green

sometimes thoughts flutter into my mind
which I can't help but brush aside
sometimes I look at you
hoping to find a trace of hope
to rekindle my faith in this affinity

all these pent-up frustrations with no outlet to go.

A&E

Whoa, I love civilisation!

Kisses to unlimited telly-channel surfing, full access of Internet, privacy, my luxurious complete facial regime (my face is engulfed with blackheads and big pimples!) and not forgetting, endless supply of (junk) food. Ok sounds like I just returned from Survivor XXXIII (can't remember what's the correct series now), but no, its only a 1-night stay in NUH which seemed to me like 1 week.

Baby was rushed to the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department in an ambulance on Sunday morning (4a.m) because of a severe stomachache and vomitting. Amid all the frantic and chaos, QQ ran out and the siblings had to go after her while I tend to baby. He was experiencing such pain that I've never seen him in before during our 4 years of relationship and all I could do was to prepare for the worst. Have you ever seen those television shows where someone would just faint all of a sudden and the companion would just stare back in shock, not knowing what to do. I used to criticise them cynically, half-muttering to myself what a dumb-ass they are when they should just dial 995. Well, after that night, I can finally understand why they reacted thay way.

We reached A&E around 5 a.m and waited till 8 a.m before the doctor finally came out to update us on his condition. Knowing that admission to the ward takes a darn long time in our government hospitals, we (his brother and I) decided to go back home first to rest and pack his belongings. I fell asleep as soon as I had fed Xiao Q and packed his toiletries cause I had not slept since Saturday. To my dismay, it was only 3 pathetic hours later when I woke up.

First day

Medical Officers came to examine baby and told us that it was most probably mild appendicitis, but they can only conclude after 24hours of observation. If it is indeed appendicitis, he would have to be operated on. Hence, no eating or drinking for him till Tuesday morning at least. I created some commotion when dinner was served and I helped him to finish it. My poor baby had to be on drip constantly which deterred his movements. We had to call the nurse everytime he needed the Gents. Bought some newspapers and magazines to accompany myself throughout the night but gave up after trying to stay awake at 2am.

Second day

Consultants came in to look at baby again during breakfast and told him the good news that he could eat. Baby was overjoyed and looked like he was savouring every mouthful of the porridge served. Should have taken pictures for keepsake's.

After trying the hospital food baby was served, I don't think their food is bad or mediocre at all. Around food-court's standard, I must say. Everything served looked appetising and did not tasted bland or awkward.

Finally, at around 6 p.m, baby was discharged and his parents drove me home first before my mom starts making a police report. This entire incident gave me some rather useful insight and helped answered questions which I had been pondering over for past weeks. Our relationship has definitely grown stronger and another chapter of our life-story passed.

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On a lighter note, here are some pictures of past events.

1. Anthony Hair Boutique Exclusive Opening

I hate my hair. Wasted a freaking $40 to style it and it came out horrendous. I know I'm constantly saying this, but I should have just done it myself.

Pictures credits to Clara (http://dblchin.blogspot.com/)

**********

2. Jing Jing's Solemnisation at Mandai Garden

Wish this young couple ever-lasting love and happiness.

Pictures credits to Jing Jing (http://jingjingdogs.blogspot.com/)

And the kind editor of Cozycot kindly decided to use my photo for their e-newsletter. Weee!

Guess what

we were doing...

Deflated tyre! We (actually only my boy) had to warn oncoming vehicles to keep to the other lanes. He said I looked more like a female ghost waving to a fateful car on the road, damnnnn...! It was so coincidental that my boy had to report to the headquarters and was donning the smart-fore or whatever you call that.

Breath-taking outline of nature. Taken by fluke with my 3.2 megapixel camera phone.

Bored from the long-wait for the towtruck.

Save Tigger

http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-11-17T00%3A39%3A00%2B08%3A00&max-results=2

MY CHRISTMAS WISH:
People look at me but what do they see

Yet another mongrel born with no blood of a pedigree

Would you give me a chance to walk by your side?

Could you try and understand what lies inside?

A pure heart bursting to belong and to love

To be the loyal friend you can be proud of

If there really is a Santa, I hope he'll grant my simple wish

I don’t need much, I promise won’t be selfish

I don’t require fancy treats or a special bone

All I want for Christmas is a place to call home.

Please help save these dogs. If you have been looking forward to owning a dog, here's your best alternative. I strongly discourage buying puppies from petshops - you do not know what goes behind the profitting inhumane breeding that many petshops get their seemingly cute adorable puppies from. To stem out unethical businessman from profiteering on poor and helpless animals, please verify that the puppy comes from a reliable source which treats their animals humanely before buying.

If you are intent on getting a best friend, adopt from your nearest dog shelter.

When I last visited Xiao Q, I found out to my amazement that she had grown again (within a week's time!). Judging by the increase in thickness of the folds around her neck and her height, she must weigh more than 10kilo now.

Xiao Q was more than happy to see me. As she greeted me at the gate, she poked her head in between the grilles in an effort to reach me better and unknowingly, got stuck, unable to move forward or retreat! Just imagine, her tail wagging happily as she whined when she realised that she could not move. In the end, Andrei's brother had to help her manoeuver her way through the metal grilles afterwhich she just took to trotting around the gate, waiting for us to come inside.

When I cam in, she sat down on the floor and then slided into a lying position so that I could rub her belly (her favourite) while I checked her skin condition. Was relived to find that her skin allergy is getting better, with the help of salmon and Oscar cream.

When she saw me going into the kitchen and rummaging through the fridge, she immediately perked up and follow me, looking up at me expectantly.

Like this.

But home-cooked food takes some time to be prepared. In the end, she just sat down on the kitchen floor waiting patiently for me to finish!

This time round, we steamed salmon, a whole potato and minced meat for her. Without seasoning of cause. I still do not dare to use stuff like apple cider vinegar cause I've not read up enough on them. I did not include any veggies this time round though I would have liked to throw in some carrots or leafy veg. I read that raw food is good for canines but as we have to be very careful on the sources of the raw food and storage as well, I decided to stick to HCF for the time being. I chose salmon because of their omega-3 richness which I hope will benefit Xiao Q's skin condition.

I also noticed that she poo-ed less frequently when she's on HCF as compared to kibbles!

As part of her training, I'll make sure she does something for me first before giving her the food bowl. Usually, she'll run towards me as she sees me putting down the food bowl for her. So I will get her to "sit" first and then "stay" while I place the food bowl. She can only move towards the bowl when I say "Go". First few tries were unsuccessful of course, but my clever girl got it soon and she's been doing this ever since before I give her her meals.

I think its time for me to get her a bigger food bowl. Oh my.

My baby lying on the sofa, watching telly with us. (That's not my hairs by the way)

I love this picture of her! Can't help but feel proud as I see her grow everyday.

Dear me, I'm missing her again.

my 10-kilo baby

Good morning sunshine, daisy, buttercup, all yellow and mellow. I'm wide awake on a Saturday morning. Was woken up by my rumbling tummy which seems more effective than my loudest alarm clock. Got up, made some tea to go along with toast, turned a few pages of Harry Potter and here I am, finally deciding to update my pathetic blog.


I should have blogged about all these weeks back but was too impatient to be bothered with the uploaded photos.


Some Brother-loving
Went to town again with my brother to look for his prom stuff. I lost count of the number of times we walked to and fro between Wisma and Far East, while my indecisive brother made up his mind between a "out-of-sizes" and backdated designs TopMan sales and custom-designed gray blazer. Finally, he settled on the gray blazer, skinny-cut shirt and slim tie within $200, quite reasonable I must say.

Our late lunch at Crystal Jade's. We were both too famished and gobbled up the dishes within minutes.

Another dinner with brother at Swensons. At this rate we're eating, we are gonna end up in the Obesity Club.

And to be consistent with my outfit postings, here's one of the outfits I wore weeks ago to Vivocity with my brother.

Wore my havianas out as comfort presided even though I would have preferred heels or wedges.

Breakfast & Walkies
On one of the days, we managed to detach our sleepy butts from bed and met up early for MacDonald's breakfast near my place followed by walking QQ at the neighbourhood park. Found some interesting games at the arcade and dropped by the pet store to stock up QQ's treats and necessities.

QQ looks very happy in this photo, don't you think?

Going home! QQ loves the overhead bridge, she would walke and pause to look down at the speeding trucks below.

I love her expression here!

QQ's 3rd Visit to the Vet
It was time for QQ's 2nd vaccination. As usual, we packed her favourite treats to calm her down during the experience. QQ is really timid and can get quite intidimated by foreign sounds and scents. Flagging cabs aint easy either as some (many) drivers do not like fetching dogs.

We finally arrived at the vet for our 0730pm appointment. You can see from QQ's downwards tail that she's getting scared, but she got better as she slowly adjusted to the new environment.

A happy (relived) dog after receiving her injection! QQ weighs a whooping 10 KG now!

QQ's prescribed medicine for her skin condition. It actually reads "Chloroamine" on the label, the drug which we, humans, take for our flu!

And of course, to reward her pleasing behaviour, I prepared a home-cooked meal of steamed salmon, pork and mashed potato She loved it and finished it within a minute!

My baby tired out from the day's activites.


Another "nude-face" photo, of course taken under flattering natural lighting so that my acne scars are faded and not that obvious.