Tagboard, food, shoes and other things

Tagboard, food, shoes and other things...

So first up, what do you guys think of the tagboard thingy? Keep or dump? Are the colours okay? I wanted to wait till you 2 Ars were online and choose one together but I haven't seen you girls online in 2 days and I just couldn't wait anymore! So I chose this one for now. Let me know what you girls think and I'll make the necessary changes.

Now on to food, glorious food. I finally had a day off yesterday and decided to make roast chicken cause I've been wanting to do that in awhile and plus I got serious cravings since Arlin posted the pic of that chicken she made. I kinda tweaked around with Jamie Oliver's recipe and everything looked nice and everything but I put way too much lemon. Lemon juice and grated lemon rind and then stuffed the lemons in the chicken's cavity. Bleh. Tasted like lemon with chicken instead of the other way around. Really annoying. The potatoes and veggies were good though.

So today, instead of eating the way too lemony chicken as it is, I got this idea from this recipe to shred the chicken meat and add sour cream sauce and some salsa and vegetables and wrap everything up in tortilla bread.

It actually tasted really good cause the sour cream sauce and the salsa took away the lemon taste from the chicken.

Today kinda sucked. Well it started out really good. I had 2 classes and my students were behaving and attentive and enthusiastic so everything was perfect, but I was mostly looking forward to the last class I was supposed to have with 4 students in grade 7-8 (Sec 1-2), cause I had prepared to let them listen to a Malay song. I spent all night yesterday recording some songs into an MD and spent all day lugging around two speakers and their charger and an MD player in my bag and I had also prepared a worksheet with the song lyrics. I picked Ku Bahagia by Melly, by the way Arlin. Cause it's all about adolescence and living life and stuff like that which I thought would be a good beginning song. Anyway to cut this whole thing short, my stupid students didn't come! All 4 of them! I was sooooooo pissed off and disappointed. I called them up, cause I wanted to complain to their parents but it turned out that there was a misunderstanding and 2 of them finished school early and the other 2 thought that I wasn't there. So all my efforts went to waste...boo hoo..

But one good thing came out of today. I bought shoes! Well, sandals to be exact. And not for me, but for Arnee. They were soooo cheap! Ar, what do you think? You like? I hope they fit! They're size 37.

Well this has been a pretty long post so I'll stop here. Besides I wanna watch Ugly Betty!

Love, hugs and kisses to my sisters, Ma and Ba!

*renee*

YAY!!! i'm not sick anymore and i finally finished my art. and when i looked at all of my friend's art...i thought mine was the most colourful...heh. :D
its very ugly actually. but kak arlin took a picture of it. but i'll put it up another time. ooh! i'm free of art. yay. ohh tomorrow i have bowling. and investiture rehearsel. oooooohh...tiring day. tiring day. and friday is house practice. i still can't do cartwheels. i need help. ahh!!!!!!!!!

arnee....

Aslan is garfield

Aslan is Garfield

I saved this comic strip a while back cause it reminded me exactly of Aslan. If he could use the phone, I bet he'd call me and do the exact same thing too. Nowadays we close the door when we sleep, and if I just sneeze in the morning or blow my nose, he'll start meowing like crazy, whining for me to get up and feed him.

Have I shown you girls Aslan's new bed? We bought it at Ikea a few weeks ago. I'll take a pic now and upload it. Oh I tried to take a video. Let's see if it works.

Aslan knows one cool trick, and that is he can give a high 5. He actually did that in the video and I was surprised cause he usually can't be bothered to do anything we tell him to. Unfortunately the camera angle was a bit screwed so you can't really see the actual high 5. But look at his paw!

And I really can't get over Arnee's amazing piano playing and Arlin's super cooking/baking/presentation skills. I'm listening to Prelude in F over and over and salivating over the pics of the chocolate cake and the roast chicken. My sisters are so talented!

*renee*

Me again.

I've been trying to sleep...its almost 2am now...and I have to be up in a few hours..bleh. Its so annoying that i'm having trouble sleeping again...oh well...I suddenly remembered this song...so I went on youtube to look for the video...listening to it now....

Late at night when all the world is sleeping
I'd stay up and think of you
And I'd wish on a star
That somewhere you are thinking of me too
Cuz I'm dreaming of you tonight
Till tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight
And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be
Than here in my room,
Dreaming about you and me

Wonder if you ever see me
And I wonder if you know I'm there
If you looked in my eyes
Would you see what's inside?
Would you even care?

Dreaming of you - Selena

Hm...this is probley every girl's favourite song. :)

Perhaps I should try to sleep again.

- arlin -

Bruce Bogtrotter's cake.

I was inspired by all the cooking programmes i've been watching so I decided to be domestic today. I made this Chinesey roast chicken rice for dinner and I tried using Szechuan peppercorns for the chicken (cause Kylie Kwong always uses that! :). Anyway I thought it was okay...but Ma didn't like it....hehe she said it smelled like 'jamu' and 'kedai sinseh'! Annoying Ma. :p Anyway after that I made this chocolate cake from Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes. I haven't made the cake in years! And I used really nice couverture chocolate this time so I hope the cake is good. I also felt like really indulging in the whole chocolate thing so I took a step further and coated the sides of the cake with chocolate shavings. :))

The cake is in the fridge now....I'm letting it set....will probley have it tomorrow cause its almost midnight now. Now I feel like watching and reading 'Matilda' again.

Yum. :)

PS: Oh yeah...Mel, I've emailed you a pic of the recipe cause i'm too lazy to type it here...hehe hope you don't mind. :D

- A r L i N -

Gino D'Acampo

I was channel surfing earlier...ended up watching 'Saturday Kitchen' (yes, on a Sunday) on the Asian Food Channel and Anthony Worrall Thompson had an amazing guest on his programme. Well actually there were two guest chefs...but really..who cares about Gary Rhodes :p Hehe...anyway that was so much fun...that Italian Chef Gino guy was such a pleasure to watch ;) He reminded me of those IL DIVO guys. Hehe I must've taken over 20 pics of him! :D

He made cannelloni filled with ricotta cheese and meat but I took this pic before

he added the tomato sauce.

Oh there are more videos of him on the website!

www.ginodacampo.com

Check it out girls! ;))

- A R L I N -

Cause I'm such a dummy sometimes

Cause I'm such a dummy sometimes

Okay, some people (I won't mention names) have told me (nagged rather) that I need to sign off in all my blog postings so I did that. While in the process of adding my name to all past posts, I must have accidentally deleted the Rossa video and the Cheetah Girls one too. So that's why I'm reposting them. Urgh..technology is so annoying sometimes!

So anyways I took some new pictures to upload here. Ohh!! Before I forget! Arnee your piano playing is amazing. I still can't believe how good you've gotten! Wow! You must keep practising and playing all kinds of stuff. Imagine if you become like the Vanessa Mae of piano or something. :D

And I just want to say hi to all the people reading our blog. Even if not everyone signs the guestbook. Thank you for stopping by and I love and miss all of you (my friends and family of course, not complete strangers).

So anyways, that quote I got is from this book. And it was pretty fun to read. So I can recommend it to anyone who's looking around for a good book to read.

And the whole time I'm writing this post, I'm nearly falling off my chair because of this:

Yep, he's sitting directly behind me on my chair, curled up like a little ball. See how his hair's all weird? That's cause he got shaved last month cause there were hairballs everywhere! It was impossible to comb him. So he was pretty naked. But the hair's growing back now.

§renee§

Pudar

Our favourite song!

Cheetah girls- cinderella (full)

Just for Arnee!

Prelude in F....

I recorded a clip of our little sis when she was practising today...and I uploaded the video for you Nene....hehe i'm amazed I was able to do all that..using my phone too!...aren't you proud of me? :D Anyway...enjoy the clip!


-Arlin-

(Bernie, Jas and a fraction of my face, Jasline and Jasper's wedding solemnisation May 2006)

CONGRATS JAS!

So Jasline called yesterday afternoon....and she sounded pretty happy.....and she told me..."girl..guess what?...i'm pregnant!"....hehe I couldn't believe it....i'm really happy for her...its unexpected cause her wedding dinner was just two months ago....hehe....can't believe her tummy's gonna get bigger and soon enough she'll be a mommy! It seems just like yesterday that we were still the shatec trainees...hehe and working at that village meridien. Heheh....ah well....congrats again Jasline and Jasper! hehe Bernie and me can't wait to be Godmommies! :))

(The wedding dinner, November 2006

-a r l i n-

Quote

Quote

I finished reading this book yesterday. It's called "Yesterday's Houses" by Mavis Cheek and I thought I'd just share a quote I came across:

When you are in love you are not wise, and when you are wise you are not in love

Quite right I think. I wanted to write more but Ma called and I spoke to her on the phone and now I'm just too lazy to say anything else.

§renee§

nene...so sorry. in the end a lot of people like i predicted didn't bring or do their quilling art thing. i'm so tired. i went for bowling again today and all i did was drills. quite boring. but then our school want to win something big this year. sports day is coming soon. cheerleading is not done yet. fathoum hasn't made up her mind on who to pick and all. and she and dianty says i'm CEO of the squad. and fathoum is head and dianty is 2nd head. but then we haven't chosen who to go in st. anne. i didn't take part in any running events. i know i'll surely be completely last. this is so embaressing to say. but at least now i can run better than last time. last time i run like a freaking chicken. ohh i'm trying to install this spongebob game thing but i can't. so annoying. but i think i'm going to bed now although its only 8. okay i'll see you soon.
good night!
bye...

Cheetah girls- cinderella (full)

Just for Arnee...

§renee§

Sorry Arwar :(

Sowwie Arnee :(

Girl, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were sick. Now I feel really bad that I threatened you to write in our blog. You can write in it whenever you want to of course. It's just that I really really enjoy you writing in our blog. But do it when you're free. I'll keep blogging anyway. To make up for it, I've downloaded a bunch of songs by The Cheetah Girls just for you! And I'm posting a video here too. Get well soon girl!

Love you!
nene

§renee§

Arnee has a cold.

Nene,

Ar's not feeling too well...she's snotty and fever-ish too I think. Its the erratic weather obviously that's causing that. Everyone's getting sick around here. And plus you know how busy Arnee is on weekdays..all her classes and schoolwork...hehe she's even busier than I am! But anyway i'm sure she'll start writing again when she's better. So in the meantime..do blog away :)

PS: Arnee, girl get well soon ok? so you can write again..otherwise Nene's gonna start threatening you again...haha :p but i'm being such a nice sister right now aren't I? ;)

Lovies,
Kak Arlin

Arnee

Arnee girl,

Where are you? So long I never hear from you. Miss you leh. I'm not writing in this blog anymore till you write. :p

Love,
Kak Nene

§renee§

Onderweg...

Ik doe de deur dicht
Straten lijken te huilen
Wolken lijken te vluchten
Ik stap de bus in
Mensen lijken te kijken
Maar ik wil ze ontwijken
Voordat ze mij zien

Het is allang verleden tijd
Dat je mijn verjaardag niet vergat
Je onvoorwaardelijk koos voor mij

Ik zie de velden
Langs me heen gaan huizen
Het is stil achter de ruiten
Wie kan mij zien
In blauw verlichte treinen
Je hart is zo dicht bij me
Maar het klopt niet

Het is allang verleden tijd
Je zwarte haren en je lach
Dat je heel de wereld voor mij was
Het zit nog veel te diep in mij
Dat ik mocht delen wat jij had
Je door me haren ging en zei

Je kent m'n stem niet
Wie ik ben is wat je nu ziet
Wil je dansen met illusies
In gedachten
Ben je verder dan het heden
Wil je terug naar je verleden
Zegt je dat iets

Het is allang verleden tijd
Rode wijn op een terras
Dat je heel de wereld voor mij was
Het zit nog veel te diep in mij
Maar ik vergat hoe jij me zag
Dat ik zo anders ben dan jij

Ik loop de straat in
Maar het zal mij nooit verwarmen
Omdat het mij niet kan omarmen
Wie zou mij zien
Het liefst zou ik willen schreeuwen
Ik zou oneindig willen schreeuwen
Maar het gaat niet
Jij bent nu alleen van mij
Ik kan de wereld laten zien
Dat het zo beter is misschien

Het is allang verleden tijd
En ik vergat hoe jij me zag
Dat ik zo anders ben dan jij....

Onderweg - Abel. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WNo6YdN8u0)

:(

Just sitting in front of the compy now...its been such a long day...and an extremely slow week too...can't believe that its only midweek. bleh. Anyway...I suddenly remembered this song earlier...so I went through my old cds...and I actually found it and I'm just listening to it over and over again right now....I haven't listened to this in a really long time...hm...great song...not Marco Borsato but still good. I really like it anyway.

Ah well...time for bed now...

- - ARLIN - -

Daim Recipe for Melissa

Daim Recipe for Melissa
because Australia sucks and the Daim there is way too expensive!














2 tbsp flour
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp light syrup
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 dl almond (around 1/4 cup), peeled and chopped
100 g chocolate

Mix everything except the chocolate in a saucepan.
Let the mixture cook on low heat until it thickens.
Spread on baking paper and let cool.
Melt the chocolate and spread over the candy.
Cut into pieces. Eat.

I don't know how good this is cause I haven't tried it yet. If anyone gives this a try, do let me know how it turns out.

§renee§

Ouch!

So I wore a new pair of shoes to work today...well they weren't exactly new...but I just haven't worn them before...anyway...they were pretty comfy initially (when i wore them around the house :D)...but then they really killed me! hehe I think that's probley the last time I'll wear them...I ended up walking around the office in flip flops...but then I started getting blisters too so I just went barefooted. :))

Anyway apart from that my day was actually pretty ok....It was nice seeing Pearle back in the office...cause she was away for a few days...hehe for some strange reason I really missed her although I last saw her on Thursday...so we gave each other huggies...hehe but she was kinda down with the flu after coming back from her trip so she didn't look too good...poor Pearle.

Hm...its 7.30pm now....have to send Ar for class in a bit....honestly I feel a bit crap now...bleh...cause somebody just had to call and ruin my evening :(

Ah well...maybe I should have some chocolate...perhaps that might make me feel better. Oh yeah..we got Almondy in the fridge...totally forgot about that! Hehe....Nene....this one's especially for you :D

-arlin-

Snowing, snowing, snowing!

Snowing, snowing, snowing!
When I went to bed last night, it was around 5-7 degrees and there were stars in the sky and it had rained earlier which wasn't a big deal cause it's been raining a lot these days. But when I woke up this morning, I looked out the window and it was white everywhere! Apparently it had been snowing, and a whole lot too and it's still snowing! And now it's like zero degrees. How weird. Such extreme weather changes. I'm kinda excited cause it's always fun and new when it snows but at the same time it sucks too, cause it's hard to cycle and get around and my winter boots need mending. But it might be fun playing in the snow...I took a pic in case all the snow melts and disappears in a few hours.

I took a newer pic of the brownies I wrote about earlier. The earlier pic was blurry so there's a better pic here.

I'm gonna have to make more of these!







This next picture is of this pasta dish I made yesterday. It's campanelle which is this pretty flower-shaped pasta with spinach and shrimp cream sauce. And lots of cheese. I know it sounds weird maybe but I just threw everything I had in the fridge and it ended up tasting really good.

Is it just me or am I always talking about food? There must be something wrong with me! Help!

§renee§

I’ve got you under my skin

I’ve got you under my skin

I’ve got you deep in the heart of me

So deep in my heart, that you’re really a part of me

I’ve got you under my skin

I’ve tried so not to give in

I’ve said to myself this affair never will go so well

But why should I try to resist, when baby I know well

That I’ve got you under my skin

I’d sacrifice anything come what might

For the sake of having you near

In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night

And repeats, repeats in my ear

Don’t you know you fool, you never can win

Use your mentality, wake up to reality

But each time I do, just the thought of you

Makes me stop before I begin’cause

I’ve got you under my skin

-a r l i n-

THUG LUV!

Hehe why/how on earth did you remember that song?! and that you actually found a clip of it on youtube?? Wow....I was really amazed...hehe thank you for sending that to me Nene...although I must tell you...I really got goosebumps when I heard the song and watched the video....can't believe I used to love that song...hehe and yes...it really did bring back a lot and a whole LOT of memories....oh man....Lox anyone? ;) heheh...that really feels like ages ago now...Hmm...the version you sent is without Bone Thugs though...so that kinda sucks....heheh....I still remember some of the lyrics you know...hehe I actually attempted singing along too! ;)

And please do not upload the video here....it really does give me the creeps now...:p

AR-LUV! (heheh)

ohh finally the girl blogged again...
hallo...
i blogged again..
too busy with many other things like my own bloggie.
http://dodo-arnee-woohoo.blogspot.com
check it out. its about me and talking.
but its kinda boring. i haven't updated that much.
and i haven't put song yet. and pictures.
even in thesretsis i haven't put any pictures.
well i think i'm going to eat now. nothing interesting to say.
ohh check out my blog again. and people sign the guestbook.
and thank you to kakak mel and nana for signing the guestbook.
bye!

arnee

The one about Botok Botok...

So I had a weird craving for botok botok today....hehe guess who I bugged then? Cik Ti of course! I called her and in my sweetest voice asked her how she was..what she was up to etc ;)...hehe then she got highly suspicious (as usual..she knows me only too well :D)...so I told her I missed her botok botok. But she told me she was going out to visit a friend....so I was kinda disappointed...but she said she would make it for me next weekend or something..anyway about ten minutes later she called back....said she'll visit her friend another day..and she told me to come over. So we went over to her place...and I learnt how to make it too...hehe okay for people who have no idea what i'm going on about...I think I should explain a bit...

'Botok botok' is a typical Javanese dish I think..well Cik Ti said she got the recipe from Yayi (Grandpa). Anyway its usually fish...with all kinds of leaves/herbs...and spices...lots of spices...and its wrapped in banana leaves....and steamed...and you have it with rice...yummy. Hehe I crave for the weirdest things sometimes...I'm still craving for the eggplant too....its really strange....cause sometimes I really don't even like eggplant at all...it gets me all eeky...anyway that was fun...learning how to make the botok botok dish from Cik Ti...the folding bit is a bit tricky though...but she's such an expert at it! I took pics too using my phone...hehe will upload them in case anyone's interested to see....Cik Ti and Ma found it highly amusing that I took pics of the botok botok. They said I was jakun. heh. I just happen to appreciate my roots. :p

Making botok botok...

Step 1: Place the marinated fish, spices and herbs/leaves on the banana leaf and wrap.

Step 2: Placed wrapped parcels in a steamer

Step 3: Steam for 15 - 20 minutes in a traditional steamer thing.

Step 4: The finished product. (And yes, I made this one! am real proud of it too :D)

Unwrap leaves and serve with steamed rice.

Eat.

Hm Cik Ti can be so sweet sometimes. Ohh and she gave me a Hello Kitty pencil case too!...which I'll probley use as a make up bag. :)) And she gave you a Mango blouse too Nene...its really pretty.....black with some embroidered flowers. I'll keep it for you k. Alrighty...its been such a long Saturday...was up pretty early this morning...so time for me to get some rest now...

- A r L i N -

Blurry pics

Blurry pics

Here are pics of the stuff I made the other day. First one's brownies and the other's the chicken thing. Can't see them so good though.

§renee§

Guestbook

Guestbook!

Has anyone noticed that we have a guestbook now? Cause you guys can sign it and rate our bloggie too. So please do that. Okay, the link is really small, right under the hits counter on the left. Sign it okay! Not just both Ars, but everyone else who happen to come by. We'd like to hear from you too. But the two Ars, what do you think of the guestbook? I don't really like all the ads, but it's free. :)

Hmm, I thought of another thing to add. Polls maybe. Like we can have polls where people can vote on stuff. Could be fun. I'll check it out. And no I haven't written to the girl who designed this template to ask her about adding another sister to the picture. I'll try to do that soon. Anyone who's reading this who happens to know how to draw and change the template and stuff, please get in touch too.

I wonder if it's silly to keep addressing other people who read this, cause it's probably just the 3 of us.

Anyways, I made black pepper chicken and fried omelette yesterday. I put carrots, green peppers and some leafy vegetables with the chicken cause I've been watching "You are what you eat" a whole lot on tv and I want Gillian McKeith or whatever that woman's name is to approve of my fridge and my cooking, hence the vegetables. But afterwards I had serious chocolate cravings, which I couldn't get rid of even after eating a whole bar of choccie by myself, so I made the brownies that Arlin and Arnee made the other day. I put less sugar though (Gillian would be proud of me) and I only had like very little peanuts left so I threw that in too. I tried to take pics but the camera batteries were dead again. Anyway, the brownies were so yummy! So chocolatey and not really sweet but damn rich and moist and just a bit cake-like but also fudgy. I didn't have vanilla ice-cream either so I whipped vanilla cream which I did have and some whipped cream and put it in the fridge and it kinda tasted and looked a bit like ice-cream. So yummy!

Why do I always have so many words in my posts? So boring. I'm gonna see if the batteries are recharged and try take pics of the brownies, which hopefully I'll be able to have this whole weekend (if I don't eat it all up tonight!).

§renee§

NENE IS A GEM!

YAYYYY! Thank you SO much for the song...it is absolutely fanstastic! You know how much I love it...hehe thank you thank you thank you! love you sis! :)))

Lyrics to Stacie Orrico - So Simple

Don't need high heels
For a good feel
You can keep the fancy clothes
I'll take walkin in the rain
Over things material

True to life, true to me
The way it's got to be
So simple, so simple, so simple
Live to love, love to be
Absolutely free (so simple, so simple, simple)

Give me wisdom, plain and truthful
Teach me somethin I don't know
Plain as education, inspiration I suppose
Give me family, on a Sunday
And I'll be just fine
There's nothing in the world
That's worth more of my time

Take it down, down, down
And strip it to the core
I don't really need much less is more, more, more

Livin my dream, is my song to the world
Sharin' my soul and spirit
I'm hopin that you hear it
Got one life to live
It's only what you make it
Every new day's a chance worth takin.

- a r l i n -

Stacie Orrico

Another great song!

My shoe album!

Well its been quite awhile since i've updated my shoe album....so I thought i'd take pics of some of my recent shoes. There will definitely be more to come! Enjoy :D

Here's the link: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2125762523

- A R L I N -

Just another day....

Hey hey....sorry i haven't blogged all that much...I guess I was just depressed after the trip...I had so much fun being in Vietnam mostly by myself...that I just hated going back...in fact I was almost teary when I was in the plane...and it didn't help either that the moment the plane landed in SG...there was a real heavy downpour...sigh. :(

Anyway its back to work...back to life again I suppose....I haven't really done anything much since I got back...except work...bleh....which I really don't feel like blogging about....so I don't have anything too interesting to update. Well its 6.45pm now....got home not too long ago...going out again in a bit to send Ar for piano...I'm so tired and lazy...but Ma's bugging me to go...heh. Well I did promise Cik Ti too that i'd see her at the mall...I got her a vase from Saigon...its lacquer...I like it.

Oh yeah....I'll add in pics from the trip..as promised :)

A picture of the Opera house in District 1...pretty close to the hotel where I stayed.

Hehe..some kinda building which I thought looked pretty so I took a pic of it. :D

Me and some Vietnamese girl....I love their baju....sooo elegant!

Vietnamese coffee! Ah I really love this stuff. mmmmm :)

Well I have a few more pics....but i'll just upload them to an online album and paste the link here once its done...think that will be easier...

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2096538559

Alrighty...that's all from me for now...

ARLIN

Yay! It worked!

Yay! It worked!

I uploaded Rossa's video from Youtube like 2 days ago I think but everytime I checked on our bloggie, it's not there. I'd almost given up hope and was even gonna write to both Youtube and Blogger to complain but low and behold, Rossa's video is on our blog! Whee!! Fits right in doesn't it girls? :)

Nanana...
Ku rasakan pudar dalam hati ku...

Lovies,
Nene

Pudar

Our favourite song!

§renee§

okay...i've not really been writing in the blog. too busy with other stuff. i haven't even written in my own blog. i think i'm going to make a new blog. again. with a shorter url. yay me! clap clap! the other reason why i don't really write in the blog is cause i don't really have any interesting stuff to share about. and i also don't really have recent pictures. also listening to britney spears' outdated song "sometimes". i'm like so bored. and you know i have 2 prefect duties every morning which is SO ANNOYING!!!! cause i have to do gate duty for the week and then rush up to take care of the p3s straight after bringing late comers to the general office. and its so tiring. and have to rush up and not be late for my own class. but its good cause i sweat more and can loose more weight! but i can just faint....i gotta go and put chicken in the oven for a starving kak arlin....

bye! love...
arnee!

Good morning Vietnam! :D

(hehe I just love saying that)

Okay this is supposed to be a reply to Nene's earlier comment but I had problems with the comments so i'm just going to do a posting instead. Ugh.

hehe I still can't believe it either that i'm here. Well Vietnam is still noisy...and busuk...hehe but I actually had a really peaceful nights rest last night. Somehow I actually really like it here..we should come here together sometime Nene...that would be fun..I keep imagining what we would do if you were here..especially when i'm walking around by myself...:) Well things are ok I guess...it depends on what you're looking for...but food and stuff is really cheap...well so far I haven't really taken too many pics..hehe but i'll try to take more pics today so i'll have stuff to upload :))

Eek...there's a storm? sounds scary Nene...Ok I won't make this one too long....I think i'm going to walk around now..do my touristy thing :D...there's this Reunification palace that I want to see.

Hope all's well in Singapore and Sweden.

a R l i N

Hurricane

Hurricane

Ack so scary. First Johanna called me and said to start filling up water bottles and stuff like that cause there might be a hurricane tonight or tomorrow and the electricity might go out. When she said that I thought like nah, won't be anything cause we never had a power failure before. And then 2 minutes ago, the radio in the kitchen started up by itself (no, not ghosts Arlin, it does that when there's emergency warnings and stuff like that) and the newscaster said that a hurricane's coming in Västra Götaland or something like that and Skåne where we live. So now I'm a bit worried and am gonna fill up some water bottles and the bathtub and gather candles and matches just in case. Shit, how am I gonna work tomorrow if there is a hurricane?

Greetings from Vietnam!

Hey hey...
So i'm actually here in Ho Chi Minh right now!...it feels pretty surreal...for some reason...its still not quite registering...the fact that i'm actually here in Vietnam again :)

Anyway...I've been walking around today...just around district 1 where my hotel is...went for a manicure and pedicure...which I must say was..eh..quite an experience. Met a french lady who was leaving for Paris tonight after being here for 15 days...hehe her husband i think was there too...and he got a mani and pedi as well!...and he didn't look gay or anything...although that did feel a bit strange...i've never actually seen a normal guy getting his nails done :p Anyway I wasn't too impressed with the nails...so I spent the rest of the afternoon at the spa...which was really good. That was actually way beyond my expectations...they had a comprehensive spa menu...the rooms were lovely...and the treatments were amazing..hehe...basically it was a fantastic spa...and it was run by a Singaporean too...haha...but anyway....it did make me feel much much better. If there's any reason for me to come back...it would definitely be for that spa :)

Oh and I also met up with Bernie and her colleague, Melissa...we went for dinner...Vietnamese food is ok I suppose...perhaps a tad bland for me...I think I way prefer Thai.

Well so far so good....i'm still pretty full from dinner....we did have quite a bit to eat...ack. I feel a little guilty now though...so I think I should do more walking around tomorrow :D....hehe....so gemuk.

Traffic here is still as insane as ever....but I think Ho Chi Minh's slightly more organised than Hanoi...I just close my eyes...cross my fingers and cross the roads!...hehe that's actually really fun...it sounds gila...but they actually do work their way around you...well they'd better!

Hm....its almost 11pm here now...close to midnight back home.....still miss you both...hope you're enjoying your weekend....will write more when I can...and I'll probley upload pics too when I get home k?

Love you and miss you both Nene and Ar....till then..

Lovies,
Arlin

Song

Song

"You're the closest thing I know to love so
let me in
the moon is glowing white
and time's a-wasting
and don't you want to know
what happens when
we start at the start
before it becomes that thing
that broke my heart in two
we've been here before
that place where we dwell until
we both want something more...

so let's pretend that for a moment we have
never loved before
touch my skin and I will kiss your lips and
we can both ignore
the feeling of wait
what happens in time
I know this is cool for now
but I just might change my mind
and leave
you there in the dust
I know that you loved me a lot
but it was never quite discussed..."

~Never Quite Discussed, Terra Naomi

Picture taken by Arlin

oohh... i wanted to change skin and you know i didn't really have time to edit my links and tagboard all and now my blog is ruined. argh! so much for fishball stories. i'm like so angry these few days. and now i know got period. ooh..so annoying. and i think i'm going to send kakak mel back. alah! she never come our house. at least i get to meet her. i hope.

in school because of the prefect thinggy i have to do duty every single day. and that is making the primary 3's go back to their classes quietly and must shut up at all times in the hall and make sure they take out their journals and blah blah blah. i don't mind doing it but sometimes the girl in front of me is so annoying i feel like just smacking her face! muahahaha...i of course can't do that. and p3's are quite dumb sometimes. we talk to them and they just ignore.


siao siao already. aiyoh so tired. and i did the malay pledge on stage again. although it was like my millionth time i was still nervous hot and sweaty. and i perspired until my socks. haha. so disgusting. and today i got ready to send kakak mel like so early when i was told that it was actually at 12 midnight. but i'm still sending her. yay! woohoo!
hope the next time she comes to singapore she'll stay at our house for a few days. gotta go get ready now...buh bye!


love
arnee...

Pictures

Pictures

Well here are the pics I said I would upload earlier.

This one's of me, Emma and her sisters Sara and Ida and Frida, whose parents are friends with the Svanmarks. Ahh I miss Sara and Ida, who are really cute and funny.

I'm gonna go get the pics of the books in my camera now. So this is the first book I read, where I got that quote from.

And this is the other book that made me snort at the train station in Lund.

I started on another book yesterday which isn't quite chick-lit. It's called 'Boyhood' by J. M. Coetzee. I wasn't too keen on reading it at first cause it looked so serious but I'm halfway through it now and it's really interesting. It's about this boy who grows up in South Africa and I keep thinking about the South African band that visited my school in Sec 3. They mentioned Pretoria in the book and I think Wayne, one of the drummers lived there and I kept thinking about his sister, Cindy whom I was penpals with. Pity that we stopped writing to each other. But who can be bothered to write actual letters when there's e-mail these days? The Kwa-Zulu Natal Prestige Band. I still remember!

And now I'm gonna add the recipe I used for the fish batter yesterday cause it was so good and if I want to make it again I can just look up this blog instead of having to google all over the place.

Fish batter recipe

1 lb cod or other lean fish fillets I used Alaskan pollock
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda I used both baking powder and baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
2/3 cup water Made sure it was really cold, like Arlin said

And then I added 1 lightly whisked egg and dredged the fish with rice flour before dipping it in the batter. Oh and I marinated the fish with some spices first too.

What a crappy post this was. Recipe and book reviews. Borrring! You girls better start writing more so I'd have more interesting things to read!

Fish and chips

Fish and chips

I made fish and chips for dinner earlier. It turned out pretty good and I ate too much of course. I put some grill spice and thyme on the fries and the fish batter turned out light and crispy. But now I feel a bit crap cause of the over-eating. Oh well it's worth it. When I don't feel so full, I'm probably going to go back for some crumbs. Oh I should have taken pics, not that it looked nice or anything, but I couldn't cause the camera's batteries needed recharging.

So Arnee I've downloaded the songs that you wanted from me. Sorry it took so long. I almost forgot. But I didn't. So when we're online at the same time on MSN, I'll send you them.

I finished reading 'The Domestic Goddess'. I probably shouldn't have read it too fast but it was funny and fun to read. I'll take pics of the books like you did Arlin.

I do have a pic I can put up now. Although you guys have probably seen it already. It's me with Emma and the kids.
Urgh...for some stupid reason I can't upload any pictures right now! I keep uploading the same picture over and over and nothing happens. Damn annoying. Nevermind I'll upload some other time. And fix the other pics too.

Have fun in Vietnam Arlin! And have a great weekend girls! Love yous!! Mwah!

Nene...this is the book I was reading...the one I was telling you about...:)

- a r l i n -

hey....muahaha...my turn...ooh...i've not been blogging in my own blog for quite a while. i keep going to sretsis. today in school i had some photo-taking thinggy. so annoying my hair was like flying everywhere. and the most important thing on my face is my hair. and i kept going to the toilet every like 2 minutes. i'm vain. and i bought the ear stick thinggy. wearing it now. it looks like this........

not really clear...especially the white transparent ones. they're on top of my gameboy. and yeah i also took a picture that day for my heart thing.......

ok lah i want to go and eat spring chicken that ba bought. yum...


love.
arnee

Fabulous cursor

Fabulous cursor


Hasn't anyone noticed the fabulous new cursor we have? Cute right? A pinkish butterfly. I don't think it's irritating at all. Feedback?


I've started working at the school too. It's been an okay first week. The first day kinda sucked. But today was good. I'm just gonna try not care too much and then it'll be okay I think. And next Tuesday I'll start teaching the Tengku boy also. Just hope he won't be a spoilt brat or something.


Hmm what else is new? Nothing much really. Just working, making plans, started reading a new book. It's called 'The Undomestic Goddess' by Sophie Kinsella and it's really really funny. Shit I actually snorted out loud at the train station today cause I was reading this funny part. Then I pretended to cough so that people wouldn't think I was psycho. Hehe.


Chocolate potato chips sound kinda icky. Potatoes? And chocolate? Hmmm...

Oh speaking of food, I made risotto yesterday. With fresh button mushroom, asparagus and thyme. It's a bit salty and I did it kinda al dente like Jamie said to so it's a weird texture for me, eating rice macam tak masak. But otherwise it's pretty tasty I think. I should probably have added chicken or something too but I didn't have any.



Before I go I'm just gonna add a picture of Sir Aslan looking snooty and being a real snob.


Ohh you can move the pictures about! Just click on the picture, hold it and move it around. Doh that wasn't so hard.

My Fair Lady..

Oh yeah...I forgot to include this pic in my earlier post..we (Mel and me) actually went to watch a musical too yesterday evening...it was at The Esplanade again. I actually enjoyed it...The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! Hehe. :)