I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all togetherTumblr (3.0; @tzialing)http://tzialing.com/<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4xqvqzkbf1qadjv2o1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4xqvqzkbf1qadjv2o2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4xqvqzkbf1qadjv2o3_r1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><p>Brunch at Wild Honey was quite an experience.  Hubby and I decided to be spontaneous and googled a nice place to have brunch.  Highly recommended by the netizens in the area is Wild Honey located at Mandarin Gallery.  Indeed, they do have a glorious all-day breakfast spread.  50 SGD for breakfast for 2, comprising mainly of eggs, bread, and ham is a a little bit on the pricey side, but overall I’d say worth it.  I do not like eating bread but I quite enjoyed my dish.</p>http://tzialing.com/post/24189594493http://tzialing.com/post/24189594493Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:10:00 +0800<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4gjzyu2xA1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Made with <a href="http://www.fiftythree.com/paper/via/tumblr">Paper</a></p>http://tzialing.com/post/23592843343http://tzialing.com/post/23592843343Wed, 23 May 2012 12:19:10 +0800MadeWithPaper<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/42475779" width="400" height="224" frameborder="0"></iframe><br/><br/><p><span>Finally finished this project of mine I had since early this year…</span></p>http://tzialing.com/post/23401620541http://tzialing.com/post/23401620541Sun, 20 May 2012 15:10:27 +0800weddingbubleceremonyromantic<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2v2fx4ZaA1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Had fun yesterday at the social painting session at Arteastiq!  I was supposed to go with my sister next week, but because of our impromptu trip to Beijing, I had to reschedule my session to an earlier one.  </p> <p>My sister and I grew up on multitudes of lessons - our mother had us taking piano lessons, ballet lessons, ice skating lessons, etc… of course we also had the customary art lessons.  I’m used to working with watercolor on paper.  This was my first time with acrylic.  </p> <p><img height="478" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/6954754286_94d962312f_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p><img height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8159/6954755528_083bc12de9_c.jpg" width="598"/></p> <p>The main difference are the following.  Acrylics dry very fast.  You can actually paint one layer of over the other without fear of blending the layers.  That’s a good thing if you make mistakes - you can just paint over them!  But acrylics still have some getting-used-to for me.  I tend to work very slow on paintings.  Secondly, acrylic paint is quite chunky.  Its very very hard to work the little details.  This was my major mistake in this session. Instead of choosing a nice workable picture of a flower vase, a chose a landscape with human figures on the foreground.  I found it quite tedious to work on the hair, hands, and eyes with the globs of acrylic paint.  </p> <p><img height="445" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5350/6954671026_2cce199a86_b.jpg" width="724"/></p> <p>For your reference, here it what it was supposed to look like…</p> <p><img height="332" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7100784199_98d2debcdf.jpg" width="498"/></p> <p>Needless to say, my painting was not a masterpiece.  Far from it, it looked a little bit cartoonish and abstract.  I don’t like abstract very much.  I’ll probably go down to an art store and buy myself some acrylic paint to try to salvage my piece.</p> <p>Had lots of fun though.  For all those artistically-inclined (or those who just wants to find out if they are)…</p> <p>Arteastiq is located at:</p> <p><strong>Mandarin Gallery #04-14/15</strong></p> <p><strong>333A Orchard Road S(238867)</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.arteastiq.com/"><a href="http://www.arteastiq.com/">http://www.arteastiq.com/</a></a></p>http://tzialing.com/post/21546132332http://tzialing.com/post/21546132332Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:16:45 +0800<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m22ck763YY1qadjv2o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Made a cake today! A tribute to my favorite game…</p>http://tzialing.com/post/20590033756http://tzialing.com/post/20590033756Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:04:00 +0800foodcakeplants vs zombiespvz<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1c9hxtaCV1qadjv2o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>The flowers are now in full bloom. Perched beside Conrad Bear, it’s decorating our little corner very nicely.</p>http://tzialing.com/post/19780642606http://tzialing.com/post/19780642606Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:01:09 +0800<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz8fpogkMg1qadjv2o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Early valentine’s date - Shang Palace.  Food was good, though quite a bit different from the Chinese food that we are used to. It seemed more like a fusion of Chinese avant garde food.  We were half expecting platefuls of roast pigs and whatnot…</p> <p><strong>PEONY BLOSSOM PEARL SET</strong></p> <ul><li>Song of the “Summer” trio cold dish combinations</li> <li>Braised shredded fish maw soup, crab meat and baby cabbage</li> <li>Wok fried scallops and coral clam</li> <li>Pork belly with golden pumpkin</li> <li>Stewed noodle, assorted seafood with XO chilli sauce</li> <li>Sweet fancy duets</li> </ul>http://tzialing.com/post/17424531481http://tzialing.com/post/17424531481Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:17:00 +0800shangfoodvalentineschinese food<p>So it&#8217;s not our real honeymoon.  We actually got this treat from the wedding we had last December.  Included in the package was a honeymoon 4-day/3-night stay at their selected hotels.  We chose Shangri-La&#8217;s Boracay Resort and Spa.  Here is the low-down on our stay&#8230;</p> <p><strong>Shangri-La&#8217;s Boracay Resport and Spa</strong></p> <p>The rooms are oh so lovely! But oh so expensive as well! Cheapest rooms cost around 20k PhP per night (good thing our stay was free).  They feature L&#8217;Occitane toiletries and provide fresh fruits everyday.  They also clean your room 3 times a day, I guess they must have realized beach-goers have a tendency to make rooms messier than usual.  Sand sand sand everywhere.  </p> <p>This is the view from the balcony in our room&#8230;</p> <p><img height="238" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6769854343_6abb5e7c8b_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p>While this is the view of the beach during the afternoon&#8230;</p> <p><img height="258" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6774599617_221e548e3a_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p>This is the second beach.  Looks pretty but there are quite a few small rocks on the shore.</p> <p><img height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6774868467_a4fa765302_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p>Beach is nice but admittedly just so-so, at least for Boracay-level.  Shangri-La has 2 private beaches.  The perks are (1) lifeguard on duty - good for nonswimmers like us :) (2) very attentive staff that offer towels, water, and whatever you may need (3) privacy! noone will be bothering to sell you snorkeling, diving, massages, hair-braiding, etc etc! The only bad thing is the beach itself, the sand is not as powder-fine nor as white as the one at station 1 and 2.  It&#8217;s actually made up of small pebbles and ground-up seashells.  There tend to be a few bits and pieces of big rocks, so better watch your footing.  Boracay is also known for its long stretches of shallow shores.  Shangri-La&#8217;s shore is quite steep. Anyway, the good thing is that if you don&#8217;t like their beach, there is an assortment of pools nearby.</p> <p><img height="427" src="http://www.holidaycheck.com/data/urlaubsbilder/images/154/1156706990.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p>Location is not so good.  This hotel is quite far from the main area (d&#8217;mall), definitely NOT walking-distance.  Not unless you are uber-rich that you can afford to spend for every meal, you certainly have to go to the main area every now and then. There is a shuttle service that runs every hour during the day and every thirty minutes during the night.  The whole trip takes about 15 minutes.  However, I don&#8217;t think its frequent enough.  During the day, imagine if you miss the bus for a few minutes you may have to wait for a whole hour for the next one again.</p> <p>In summary&#8230; did we enjoy? Certainly yes! Repeatable? Probably not.  Next time we would want to stay somewhere at station 1 instead.</p>http://tzialing.com/post/17425724326http://tzialing.com/post/17425724326Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:51:00 +0800shangshangrilaboracaybeach<p>Being chinese doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean one would know all the chinese tradition and rituals.  Come to think of it, by the sheer number of Chinese population in the world, plus the fact that the Chinese people has been spread all over the globe&#8230; there is bound to be tons of variations one would not know about!</p> <p>Case in point&#8230; Lo Hei, a tradition only Singapore and Malaysian Chinese know of.  Lo Hei is a special appetizer during the Chinese new year period. It usually consists of strips of salmon, mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. We eat this during the Chinese new year simply because it symbolizes prosperity and abundance.</p> <p><img height="800" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6817114935_e481c6f27c_b.jpg" width="676"/></p> <p>Here is the cool part&#8230; we get to play with the food! The correct way to go about it is to ‘toss in’ the New Year. Toss high, toss loud and toss messily – not that you will be able to help it. Each diner is equipped with a pair of chopsticks that are used to mix everything together in the large communal dish. The mess can be lessened (a little) if you aim towards the middle – and this is also the way to ensure that good fortune is being distributed throughout the group. The words lo hei are chanted for luck when tossing. </p> <p>Of course it&#8217;s not just the Lo Hei we get to eat.  We also get the full 10-course Chinese banquet. </p> <p><img height="800" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6817114941_640447c8d1_b.jpg" width="676"/></p> <p><strong><em>Old Hong Kong restaurant at Raffles City</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Standard Chartered Celebration Lunch</em></strong></p>http://tzialing.com/post/17031380832http://tzialing.com/post/17031380832Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:13:00 +0800cnychinese new yearlo heifun<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lya51tmjBL1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Happy birthday to my hubby! Woke him up with a cake this morning.  Wasn’t able to take a good picture coz it was hard balancing a humongous cake with one hand and wielding a camera with the other.</p>http://tzialing.com/post/16382762191http://tzialing.com/post/16382762191Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:49:10 +0800birthdaycakecutecelebration<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lya4cm1nO71qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Hunter mode…</p>http://tzialing.com/post/16381740421http://tzialing.com/post/16381740421Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:34:03 +0800cutecatpreyhuntkittykitten<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxsb83vM4R1qadjv2o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Finally did it! Had my eyebrows done! At this point they still look quite dark. It should fade in a week or so, lets see then how it will look…</p>http://tzialing.com/post/15822017827http://tzialing.com/post/15822017827Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:45:39 +0800<p class="MsoNormal">Cosmo has this segment in their website where they (supposedly) grab girls from the street and inspect the contents of their bags.  Now I am left to wonder if this is if at all staged.  Did they really randomly pick these girls right from the street?  Were the girls given time to prepare what contents they wanna divulge to the public?  (What if they have something really embarrassing like a tampon or something?)  I wonder because it seems to me like these girls are awfully neat.  Too neat maybe.  And they have waaaay to much makeup in their bags.  Or maybe it’s just me that’s the odd one out&#8230;</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So here we go, I share to you the contents of my bag.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>In the &#8220;trash&#8221; category we have the following&#8230;</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img height="459" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6651778493_32a5106494_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>For &#8220;things that keep me (in)sane&#8221; we have&#8230;</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><img height="477" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6651778477_c7584ec065_z.jpg" width="640"/></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>For &#8220;Opps, I had no time to fix myself before leaving the house&#8221; category&#8230;</strong></p> <p><img height="477" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6651778467_c338d160d1_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>As per &#8220;SG survival kit&#8221;, we have&#8230;</strong></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><img height="452" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6651778485_3048e085d7_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>For our &#8220;duh, of course&#8221; category, we have&#8230;</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><img height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6651722861_2f7cdd27b3_z.jpg" width="640"/></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sans the compact case and lip gloss, it seems that my list might pass as a boy’s bag contents.  I think I need to stock up more on cute things&#8230;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span>  </span></strong></p>http://tzialing.com/post/15753048155http://tzialing.com/post/15753048155Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:01:06 +0800anythinggoesself<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxdbc7i4QF1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>9 cities in 15 days, all done via train - possible? Challenge accepted!  Now, to watch Before Sunrise (favorite movie!) for inspiration…</p> <p>April honeymoon, here we come!</p>http://tzialing.com/post/15391756955http://tzialing.com/post/15391756955Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:24:00 +0800eurotriphoneymoontravel“Top 3 New Year’s Resolution: (1) read the newspaper everyday (2) travel more (3) blog less about my cat and more about other stuff”http://tzialing.com/post/15111758861http://tzialing.com/post/15111758861Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:51:00 +08002012resolutionsnew year<p>Since I have a brand-spanking new griller for Christmas, I decided to try it out for the New Year&#8230; </p> <p><img alt="grill grill" height="1224" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6607118841_e87dee0ee0_b.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p>And to cap off the evening, the countdown goes&#8230; 5&#8230; 4&#8230; 3&#8230; 2&#8230; 1&#8230;</p> <p><img height="431" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6610124815_cb941fe39d_z.jpg" width="640"/></p> <p>&#8230; CHEERS!!!</p>http://tzialing.com/post/15109204580http://tzialing.com/post/15109204580Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:27:00 +0800celebratecheersfoodnew year2012<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwqjmyiCHJ1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>To our first christmas together! Our first Noche Buena.  This term is actually Spanish for “Good Night” referring to the Christmas Eve.  Traditionally in the Philippines, Noche Buena is a feast that <span>comes at midnight after the family has attended the late evening Christmas Eve Mass.  Skipping the evening mass as we are not Catholics, we went straight to the feast.  Instead of eating at 12 midnight, we ate from 8pm to well past midnight!  </span>JM said he never had a noche buena before, so he had lots of catching up to do, food-wise! Hence, ta-dah!! My six-course noche buena.</p> <p><em><strong>Pan-fried Steak with white wine mushroom sauce, Caesar Salad on the side</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Pan-fried lamp chops with mint jelly</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Waldorf Macaroni Salad</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Chicken-and-Beef Lasagna</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Roasted Rosemary Chicken with Baked Potatoes</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Banoffee Pie</strong></em></p>http://tzialing.com/post/14747299320http://tzialing.com/post/14747299320Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:18:00 +0800christmasdinnernoche buenafood<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx3wn23Wlg1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>It was quite unfortunate that the official photographers were not able to take a picture of the lovely lovely dessert bar during our wedding (oh my hard work!!) … I was told that the guest gobbled the goodies right away… I guess that’s a good thing though, at least they enjoyed! </p> <p>Here are the few photos I grabbed from mobile phone snaps from some of the guests, managed to salvage a few at least. </p>http://tzialing.com/post/15116576509http://tzialing.com/post/15116576509Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:28:00 +0800cutedessertfacebookgeekjavanerdweddingyummycupcakescakebridal<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw5emlhHFy1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>There’s a saying that goes… “Pakakasalan kita, kahit ilang beses!” Well my man did it, he married me twice this year! Civil wedding last June 24, religious wedding last Saturday, December 10. I thought it wouldn’t be much of a difference the second time around, boy was I wrong. It felt so good with everyone congratulating us and also knowing that my friends and family were genuinely happy for us. We feel giddy as only newly-weds can be!</p>http://tzialing.com/post/14167660448http://tzialing.com/post/14167660448Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:20:00 +0800weddinglove<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx3p5rvZEg1qadjv2o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>2nd bridal shower… a week before the big day!</p>http://tzialing.com/post/15111621156http://tzialing.com/post/15111621156Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:47:00 +0800