say Minestrone

It's mi-mi-minestrone! :9

From Wikipedia:

Minestrone (Italian: minestra [soup] + -one [augmentative suffix] hence "the big soup," the one with many ingredients) is the name for a variety of thick Italian soups made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes.

There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock). Angelo Pellegrini, however, argues that the base of minestrone is bean broth, and thatRoman beans "are the beans to use for genuine minestrone".

Minestrone is one of the cornerstones of Italian cuisine, and is just about as common as pasta on Italian tables.

Another Italian dish under my belt! I decided to go for Jamie Oliver's (mobile) version of the soup out of convenience. It is still yummers and definitely easier than the fancier ones. Nutritious soup for this frail body of mine. Think celery (normally I would stay away from this), carrot, tomato, onion, garlic, potato and more greens. It's impressive. I never really liked minestrone soup so I am glad this version appeals to me! I have to admit it is comparably more Chinese somehow. Beans + real chicken stock next perhaps? :D

Oh yes...

Happy White Day! ♥ (I'm getting old...)

As it is apparent that 6 of my facebook friends have their birthdays today... happy birthday to them/you! Not forgetting the Valentines: I hope your love has been reciprocated. :D

nails again

I decided to paint my nails with the same design :)

My right hand is always the flawed one...

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a bit of muscle ache. That was enough to make me stay in bed and fall right back into dreamland. So much for determination to get up at half past eight to make up for lectures missed and work out at noon! Grr. I shall be ambitious and wake up at 7.30 tomorrow. :D

It's nice to spend time with myself again. I do need the time especially when there's SO much to do in SO little time. Finance and Law are the modules I am most worried about. I have absolutely no idea what is going on for Finance and Law is just crazy considering how small(bad) my brain space(memory) is. But it's nice to mend things/ settle misunderstandings. The most recent events have made me realised how much more dramatic I have evolved since, maybe, CTC years? Or earlier last year. The good thing about it is someone facilitated bonding time between my housemate and me... although she might have seen the more dramatic side of me.

This is random but I have decided to really go for long hair (chest - waist length)... & maybe loose curls.

1 more week and 6 more days to go!! I am super excited :D

three sins

Too bored.

I'm not gonna write you a love song

Loving the tune of this song:

Sara Bareilles - Love Song

the H word

Boooooooo! (as in jeering boo not jump-in-and-try-to-scare-people kind of boo or the o-m-g-cuteness-overload boo) I have no will, none at all, to pick up any notes/reading materials/assignments AND IT'S JUST A FEW MONTHS AWAY FROM THE MAJOR EXAMS! Does it spell out d-e-a-d for you? It sure does for me. Especially when I spent the whole of winter break doing nothing productive other than reading something that I absolutely have no idea what it was. Hang on. Oh yes, it was Microeconomics and there were lines and words on the paper. Either way, d-e-a-d it is.

I have been feeling mighty lazy lately and today is the worst ever since Lent started. At least I paid attention during my make up Accounting class (skipped yesterday's class because of the recent disease), took notes for Corporate Law (it was painfully boring trust me) and ??? for Microecons. To be fair today was quite hectic because I just had to schedule the make up class before 3 hours worth of lectures, which adds up to a grand total of 4 hours straight. I thought I did quite well when I paid attention to most of the Law lecture and first 20 minutes or less of Microecons. *beams* I Spent the later quarter of Law imagining my lecturer as a blonde lawyer (legally blonde) and how fashionable she must have been because she wore this patent black coat/raincoat today plus her hair is styled in quite a glamorous way. She is probably older than 60.

The evening was spent deliberating with myself whether I should get a couple of things from ASOS. My very considerate and caring housemate decided to bring my attention to the fact that NUS 20% discount is back. My reaction started off with my excitement escalating uncontrollably followed by a very brisk crash as I brought myself back to reality. As of yesterday, I decided to curb my spending by leaving only £20 in my wallet. January Challenge: £20 for the rest of the month. It took me quite a bit of courage to give it a pass but I'm glad I did myself that favour. :)

I shall now do myself another favour by getting some work done! Woohoo~

people you love hurt you the most

3 weeks ago I was looking forward to my flight back to Singapore. I've arrived safely and will be leaving in less than a fortnight. Boohoo, time is passing unbelievably quickly! I have been having quite a bit of fun for the last two weeks here in the lion city but at the same time have been receiving some negative vibes coming from, sadly, home. Haih. I am torn whether I should be looking forward to my trip back to London. Maybe my sister's plan of returning to London is not all bad. It'll definitely make me feel less lonely.

I'm feeling kind of bummed out for some unknown reason. Hope it goes away soon... grr.

damnit I'm stressed... for being inefficient

I'm just one malted milk biscuit away from finishing the whole packet, which I bought yesterday. I'm full, yet I can't stop munching. Must. Stop. Impulse. Snacking. SERIOUSLY. How bad things get! I'm getting nowhere with my freaking ASS-ignment and thinking that munching will help get my mind on it, which obviously failed, I'm forever going to stay a terrible student with a big hip*. :(

It's currently snowing quite heavily outside. December first and I'm already seeing snow-covered roofs in London. C'est la folie! Hehe I miss learning French :)

*A moment on the lips, forever on the hips - this rings in my ears after I stop snacking. Every time!

snood

It's freaking cold in here! The heaters in my room and the hallway, which is right in front of my door (which is open), are both switched on and I'm still freezing my brains out. Seriously. I can feel my skull contracting in this super cruel, bone-chilling coldness! Metoffice (weather forecast) has been putting up updates that snow has fallen on the other parts of the UK. Tomorrow is predicted to be London's turn. I'm definitely not walking out with tights and shorts. My dressing sounds crazy ("tights in Winter?!") but normally 2 layers (100+ denier) of them is sufficient to keep my legs warm... at this time of the year. I guess this year's different. It gets more worrying after I read this:

Some of the snow showers have been frequently heavy with hail and thunder mixed in.

...global warming at play? 2012? (2012 is a freaking scary yet entertaining movie!)

My head is kind of woozy right now. It might be because of the spontaneous coldness but I have a gut feeling that it's because of the weird smell coming from the (BLUE!!) snood I bought today. I made the purchase without realising that it's 100% acrylic. It would have been fine even if I do realise it (it's NAVY blue!), but the smell is really putting me off. Is it paranoia at play or am I really feeling restless? I'm really hesitating at the thought of returning it :(

It IS quite ordinary looking... and acrylic smelling. (I shall assume it's the smell of acrylic)

Let's hope it doesn't snow tomorrow! I'm planning to wedge 2 hours of rush-shopping (more of running errands than anything really) in between the 4 hours break I usually get on Tuesday~ :D

week 8

Friday's arrival signifies the beginning of weekend 8. I'm highly anticipating the end of Michaelmas for it has been a reaaally tiring one. At this point, my body-clock is somewhat messed up. It might be due to my recent sensitivity towards caffeine, which is totally uncool. Not being able to sleep at 3am is really annoying because it's almost a 100% that I'll end up waking up past noon- sluggabed indeed. Waking up that late is not fun when the Sun doesn't greet you with its glorious rays. Especially when the first thing you think about upon waking up is... catching up with lectures and getting the assignments done! (though on the bright side I'm starting to be more studious hehe)

One of the few interesting things that happened this month includes my housemate's friends visit from France. Their company made me realise how much of a goodie we both are and that I really need to step out of this house more often... both day and night! I've been finding each day as mundane as ever and I could barely remember what I did on day X of the week. Or even one interesting thing I did on week Y. Other than the Harry Potter afternoon. Is that how I want to live my university life?! No. Henceforth next Sunday I will be taking another (baby) step out of my comfort zone- some Christmas market event described as atas by la housemate. Well better than just doing ordinary stuff e.g. shopping, watching videos, etc. right! *detemined

Now that the temperature is falling closer to 0 and lower, I've been feeling hungry so often. I love snacking without guilt, which obviously in reality it rarely happens. As my butt and thighs aching (good sign) due to a recent conditioning class I attended, I just end up feeling even more guilty for snacking! A moment on the lips, forever on the hips. Haih.

It feels weird to be blogging again. I kind of miss how smooth things would just flow from my mind and I would type on and on... and how I used to treat it as an avenue for thoughts with minimal restrictions. Ahh life works in such weird ways. (wts what sort of paragraph is this)

WEEK 8 IS COMING TO AN END WOOHOO! :D I shall ignore how bleak week 9's schedule looks (2 essays and 1 assignment due).

End of weird post :)

Roberto Cavalli oversized labradorite ring

I shall be a foolish student who stays up late to finish my essay and weekly chores, taking breaks every now and to google and oogle at beautiful rings. Statement rings, not any other rings just in case you're wondering. (I have to admit I am the sort who do weird things late at night...)

Here is one.

How cute is that? Reminds me of an evil egg nested in a gold nest. I like how nicely wrapped the centrepiece is. However it's definitely not worth the price: £230. I'd rather get their corset skirt instead.

Okay! End of story :)

untitled

A girl will stop sucking her lollipop when it loses its sweetness. A boy will switch to another game when he gets bored of the current one. Question: are you a grown up?

I should really be sleeping

It's 12.33AM and homesick. How sad my night get?!

Haih. Tomorrow at about this time marks the very first week I am all alone in this country. All alone as in totally independent, solely living with myself and not with any kin within reach. It was a busy week full of nothing but packing. & today, just, to be exact, I'm finally done with it. YES! I am Done with packing. Even though my bed doesn't look very inspiring and how I wanted it to be, I've decided to close one eye and make good with whatever I have done for the last... fortnight? How pages of notes could I have read with that amount of time?! (morphing into a studious being for once) But I guess some things have to be given up sometimes.

Anyway more about my first taste of independence. So far, I find living alone can be quite domestically exhausting. Especially when I'm discovering my trait for hygiene. Other than that, I have been feeling like something is missing. It's likely that it's because I'm still missing my sister. Whatever the reason may be, it sucks so bad because I get this feeling of emptiness now and then. Hopefully socialising will help to fill it up! :D

More updates soon enough. Time for some beauty sleep!

day x+n of packing

Packing never seems to end. Especially when I have this ever-growing idea of mine to spruce up a warm and comfortable room. It's difficult to stop it at an idea because, unfortunately for this case, inspiration keeps coming! Either that or something doesn't go right, hence the need to think of a replacement. Safely to say I'm more or less done with thinking of what goes where. The things that I am left to do: wait for fitted sheet and pillow cases to come, wash my new duvet sheet (which is so soft!!), install the sheets and new pillows (boohoo for hollowfibres), place the drawer liners to the specified (lucky) shelves in first wardrobe, arrange my second wardrobe, get curtains, ect. Yep, there's still a whole lot of actions to be carried out. I can't believe I'm spending so much time into this. It better be worth it!

Year 2 started out pretty mundanely, sadly. Currently it feels like it'll just be another year in uni, but we shall see. It's still too fast to judge. My timetable issn't too bad. My Mondays are INtEnsiVe: 9am to 6pm. What say you? However I'm still in the middle of course selection, which is a total bummer since I've been bugged with the indecisive disease. Microeconomics or Macroeconomics? I started off thinking "definitely Micro" but now that term has started, I've decided to go with Macro and is sort of enjoying it. But! It's just the first week. Lectures always start off, for the most of them, nicely and make you go "ooh this issn't so bad after all". But when I look at the exam paper for Macro it is quite intimidating as it is mainly essay-based questions. Micro is more of proving equations and applying them to the question. It does look challenging because it means that if you don't get the equation right, then that's the end of it. Haih. I shall reserve some time before bed thinking about this.

Back to packing...

beyond control

Tonight I felt heartbroken saying goodnight to you. Just 5 days left. The last five days of the 112 days I came back for Summer holiday. I've tried to not think about it but missing you makes me all weak and fragile. Ready to crack, go berserk and put down everything else that I have ahead of me just to have that warm snuggle and comforting hug. & never ever let myself go. Unforgivably silly, but you're that important to me. Even after our little tiffs or big arguments, I still really, really love you.

p.s. (mild humour) growing corn bits all over yet? ;)

p.p.s is it emotionally easier to send someone off or be the one departing?

can't wait to trim my nails!

Terribly dry hands and miserably long fingernails. :(

Parents are in the house! They were away for about 10 days, leaving me with much liberation and an elder brother. It was quite a peaceful time for myself, the house and TV, although these were minimal. I really enjoyed the outdoors time but at the same time somehow missed the homely noise my parents always make. I can say that my life is all about trade-offs with very little best-of-both-worlds situations. Most of the time.

Anyway, I decided to spend the afternoon at home. Chanced upon a couple of pictures which sort of give me an idea of how I would want to re-furnish (decorate, rather) my room this coming fall. My own room! How exciting. I'm thinking of going along with the existing colour template of white, beige and black, which are pretty neutral. Throw in some light patterns, fairy lights (and bed net!) and maybe introduce a sheer lining curtains to the small window in my room. I'm going for warm and soft theme to retain some Spring amidst the cruelly cold Winter. Oh yea and the gloomy rainy London weather too, which is quite a contrast compared to my potential room. So much furniture shopping to do! It's like as if the apartment is mine and I'm never ever going to move out of it. Oh how I wish...

Grr now I'm anticipating my flight back to London, wait till my sister moves back to Singapore and start the decoration! That's a good thing right?..

today is an ambitious day

I am overwhelmed with thirst for achievement today. The number personal things that I need to iron out are building up. I shall clear up the documents in my laptop for a start. Then move on to my to-do list:

1. Get the long-expired security system updated.
2. Edit CV before internship ends.
3. Clear my diary after internship.
4. Start using sunblock.
5. Sleep early.
6. Frog squats (hehe) the three mentioned above on a daily basis.
7. Transfer photos from camera and get it uploaded.
8. Clear up my pile of old magazines.
9. Drop by Bras Basah to get my million things done.
10. Sunblock. (will be using mom's temporarily)
11. Hair rollers. (lol)

& perhaps:

1. Get a haircut.
2. HDD, earphones, microphone and webcam. ($$$ T_T)
3. Lotion and moisturising milk from Hada Labo.
4. Shu Uemura cleansing oil. Or an alternative since I don't use that much make up anyway.
5. Anna Sui lippie.

Above all, get all of the 11 main things crossed out of this list! *imagines the orgasmic sense of achievement. I honestly think that I should keep a personal diary that lists the things I have to do... Hang on, I already have one. Sad to say that the list is not enforced. Alright then! This spells a change of system for maintaining my list >:D

I've been wanting to change my blog template as it is getting kind of old but can't bear to make the move. I think it's quite a comfortable piece ey? The only thing that is starting to put me off is the black background. I am very tempted to change it to something lighter e.g. powder blue/gray/beige. Or something very cute and artsy. I already have something in mind but finding the right pattern is quite a problem. If only I know how to paint! Urgh to change or not to change? Hint: watercolour ;)

druut

Stuck between 2 extremities. Either I'm blind, stupid or there issn't a democratic point where everyone will be happy.

Submitted my very first cheque back to senior is exchange for cash. My sentimental self feels like I've betrayed myself. My very first cheque!! But then again, it's allowance not salary or anything... I shouldn't feel bad right?

i love my macaroon

Hehe ♥ (except the funky smell it has).

I was unfortunate enough this early morning to be horrified upon the discovery of something in the office. Guess what is it? My bank statement. Oh my lorddd! All the outflows with no single inflow. Plus I didn't have much saving to start with. Thank goodness for my dad's buffer amount! Interest for overdraft is the last thing I would want to have. It's like poison, sucks the blood out of one from every now and then until one gets in the green zone. I guess my Warehouse dress will have to wait. Either that or farewell. Urgh, definitely disliking this sudden curbing of appetite!

Online shopping has taken over me. I no longer have as much control as I used to have. My resolution to save up is totally disregarded. The reason why I came to such judgement is because I realised some of the good I bought on the net haven't been giving me as much satisfaction as before. In addition, there wasn't as much deliberation on whether I should make the purchase as before. Ahhhhhh impulsive buyer doesn't go with being an Accountant, yes?

Ok I shall stop immersing myself in financial misery. SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS!

Im so boring

New haircut! Not much difference ey? It's the pose.

Another lousy morning. HAIH. Being a good daughter is so difficult. At the same time, I'm positive that being a good mother is an even more challenging feat.

Anyway. Not many people is in the office right now! I'm enjoying the "tranquility" and the slice of sea view from here. Beautiful fluffy bunch of clouds + gentle sun + listening to MP3 = calming. Oh darns. I just jinxed it. My senior is here :(

Lunch and Kino with Mila later!! Hehehehehe~

it's the immigration headache again

I had an unbelievably lousy morning to start with. Completely spoilt the rest of my day. Firstly, having to wake up at 7AM is no longer an acceptable thing considering the amount of rest I had for the last couple of weeks. Secondly, being grumbled at is not appeasing at all. Thirdly, not controlling my anger makes everything worse. What happened to my ability of active listening? I reckon I've thrown it out of the window a month back. Recent development of spontaneously immense angst really sucks. For me, I get swallowed by an overwhelming sense of guilt after throwing a (stupid) tantrum at my poor victim. Right away. Irritated --> Anger --> Guilt. Sigh. Is this what I have to through during my teenage hood? Is this like to test whether I will turn out to be a refined, wise and cool-headed adult?

Managed to cool off some steam with my beloved, who chivalrously opened his doors to me. Though we marginally missed McDonald's breakfast (5 minutes), which I have been craving for since forever, quick brunch was pretty satisfying! Unfortunately I have to continue my rush that began since the morning...

As for now, I'm beat. I'm really super sleepy. & hungry. I won't be surprised to see my weight being pulled up by at least 5kg by the end of this Summer. Ahhh demoralising! I shall call Gymbox as my therapist from October onwards. :D

It's actually time to get off work but I'm actually staying on. This is amazing. Normally I'll be getting off asap but I'm actually staying on to try and finish a new task that is due tomorrow. & blogging. New love for the office perhaps?

Alright one more research and I'm out of this place! Sleepybug is pulling me home.