Bittersweet

If there is ever one word to sum up life, it has to be bittersweet...

Googled to see what would come up from this word and chanced upon this "Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a moment of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich even when it contains a splinter of sadness" as Shauna Niequist writes in her book.

Yep if I ever own a cafe, it'll be called bittersweet

Souffle success!!

Looks yummy? It sure is!! =)
I used this recipe I got from Real Epicurean.

Bye bye Xiao Hei 小黑

My first blog post of the year is in remembrance of my dear hamster 小黑，she passed away last evening, 2nd Jan 2011. We have had her for around 2 years and 4 months. She was a brave and strong hamster that fought the tumour on her belly that just grew and grew while she became thinner and thinner. Missed her chubby furry self when she was younger. Hope she will be happy in hamster heaven together with 小白。

Jurong Bird Park

Its been a long long long while since my last visit to the Jurong Bird Park!! Has it been more than 10 years?? The weather was great and we were there from 8.30am - 2pm =D Caught the Birds of Prey show, Penguin feeding, Birds & Buddies show and did Lory feeding. The Lory feeding was my favourite part of the day. The colourful lories perched on my arm and drank up their feed from the clear plastic cups while we snapped pictures of them.

Wonderful stay at Fullerton Bay Hotel

A wonderfully relaxing one-nights' stay at the Fullerton Bay Hotel - a pleasant surprise planned by my Lao gong =D
Look at the view from our balcony! Free flow of Nespresso coffee - 12 different flavours to choose from and Gryphon teas. Relaxing rain shower, Molten Brown shower gels and shampoo, thick comfy bathrobes and a breakfast complete with eggs benedict, no wonder I am having withdrawal symptoms!!! We had dinner nearby at Lau Pa Sat - satay and bbq stingray and sugarcane juice. Walked off the dinner at Marina Bay Sands and bought my very 1st Coach bag =)

Life in Equilibrium

Was reflecting on the things I needed to let go of before the year ends whilst in the shower (I am one of those who ponder about stuff while showering =p)

Well the most obvious one is my ability to have children...been feeling very poorly about this "right" (dun think God made this a right, humans call it a right as majority of the population has it...making themselves miserable when they realise they dun have it) being held from me for so long.

Life is in equilibrium, just not mine alone i guess but collectively. I have been focusing only on my side of the equation and how unfair things seem (such as when I found out that a close friend is pregnant when she did not intend to have children and the pregnancy was easy for her, as she only discovered her pregnancy 5 months into term and sailed right thru it discovering the sex of her baby on her very first visit to the gynae). If I had only considered that the other side of the equation was her joy and that by knowing and made aware of how hard I have tried to have one of my own will make her treasure what she has all the more. That kinda balanced things out didn't it.

Life is cruel as we are made aware of things that we don't wish to know or rather given information that do us no good (like maybe I only have one kidney from a rudimentary horn or my mum knowing that her daughter has to go through IVF...). But it is also the sharing of such information that makes others realise how fortunate they are and encourage them to do what they can to preserve/maintain what they have.

Maybe we are not blind, not that greedy and discontented =) just that we see the 2 different sides to the equation at starkly different times of our lives dats all. After all that being said, why do I still feel so bad inside?!

Merry Christmas to all!!

TCM Visits to Ban Choon Chan

We have decided to try out this TCM place called Ban Choon Chan and literally had to 三顾茅庐, make 3 visits to this place before finally getting to see the doctor. They were closed on my first 2 visits although it was not a stated rest day.

Here's the address: Blk 81 #01-636 Marine Parade Central Singapore 440081 Tel: 6344 6718 Business hours: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat 8.30am - 3pm, Sun 8.30am - 12pm Closed on Tuesdays and public holidays.

Our 1st visit was on a Saturday and we waited for 5 hours from 9am till 2pm before collecting the medicine and stepping out of the place!! The queue system was by rows of chairs and everybody stood up and moved when the next patient steps out. Nope, no queue number to take and registration and stuff =) Really quite cute and primitive (but it works!)...the images just popped back in your head kekeke. 2nd time round we went on a weekday, Thursday and arrived at 8am to be first in the queue and left at around 9.15am. Phew!

These are the herbs we had to brew at home:-

Hope we are one step closer to becoming a mum & dad!!