Creative soul of this week - Helen Dardik

Helen Dardik, an illustrator who's now based in Canada, produces the most amazing patterns, illustrations, paintings and even toys! I bought a few of her patterned paper in March this year, but only recently started to use them. I decided to find out more about HD...she's so awesome and talented!

Check out some of her patterns here. Her designs are so happy and almost jumping out of the pages. Don't you just love the colours!

You can read more about her on her web page, and her blog. Looks like I am going online shopping again!

The Bible says, “You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone . . . . If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 CEV).

Very true. I am glad I have friends to share with, and more importantly, we would pray for each other.

Work visa

First they say I need to apply for a work visa under the spouse programme.
I got the approval letter within 2.5months (from Kuching) and it stated for me to go pay the fees.
Went to the bank to apply for bank draft.

Went back to Immigration.
Immigration said the name of the payee was wrong, I shouldn't have followed the payee on the letterhead. Officer gave me another name.

Went back to the bank and cancelled the bank draft and applied for another one, under the right name.

Went back to Immigration again. Officer told me since I was spouse of a citizen, I needn't pay the fees. But rather than work on the work visa, which will ultimately coincide with my spouse visa (valid till Dec 2008), he advised me to apply for extension to my spouse visa, and I should be able to get a one-year extension till Dec 2009.

Do I go back to the bank again to cancel the bank draft? Better confirm with Immigration again....Sigh. Saved on fees, (yay) but wasted time and admin fees at bank (sigh).

Does it matter - Mary Sutherland

Today's Truth Isaiah 45:3 (NIV) I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

(Paraphrased from Mary's Sutherland's notes)
Has your joy has vanished...
Are you asking God to show you the problem and the reason for your desert experience...
Have you really forgiven the person who wrote or said hurtful words...
But have you also collected every hurt and criticism since that day, collecting and storing each one, allowing them to grow into a wall between herself and God?

"Father, does it matter?"

He said, "They don't matter, but for months, your gaze has been on them and your occasional glance has been on Me. Lay them down. They do not matter!"

Surrendered the hurt to our Father, He will replace it with joy and peace.
No matter where you are or where you have been, my friend, it is no surprise to God, and He loves you still.
There is purpose and power in your pain.
Search for the nugget of gold, the hidden treasure in the darkness.
Look for the riches stored in secret places. God is with you and that's really all that does matter.

Oh the places you'll go

Jon loves being put into his car seat and taken out for rides. He likes to look at other cars and the scenary. I wonder where he will go when he grows up?Had fun with this layout and did it quite quickly coz I had an idea of what stuff to use. Used a patterned paper my niece, Izzie, gave me; a pic taken from a soy advert from InStyle mag (thanks Grace); and some mozzie netting I found in my FIL's hardware store! I doodled on transparent arrows to make the netting look like a road and cut and pasted a car and truck from a felt ribbon of vehicles (oops forgot which brand, will go and check).

Scrap n Crop's Aug 08 Challenge - Thankful

Just did this for Scrap n Crop's Aug Challenge where we have to scrap something that we're thankful for. I am thankful for Jonathan, even though he is current in a I-want-to-crawl-everywhere-touch-everything stage. I decided to use one of Dr Seus' quotes "Today you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you." Been hoarding this Hambly screen print of 5 dandelions for the longest time until I got the photo to go along with it. Did I tell you that I love orange, red and yellow combi?

Creative soul of this week - Donna

Low on mojo.
Stumbled upon a blog http://aquaflamingo.typepad.com/aqua_flamingo/
and as the song goes, "...and Donna was her name"
Mother to 6 kids, *gasp*
Yet time to scrap, and wonderful works.
Now I am inspired.

Children in crisis

Millions of innocent children around the world suffer everyday from exploitation, abandonment, abuse, slavery, child labour and atrocities of all kinds. These children are no different from ours. They have hopes, and dreams just like any child. However, they are often powerless due to the impoverished and unjust conditions entrapping them.

By establishing Street Children Centres, World Vision helps these vulnerable children by providing shelter, protection, and ensures they receive the basic needs of life, healthcare, education and decent job opportunities. If you want to help, please click on the link
http://www.worldvision.org.sg/st_childrencrisis.php

Stuff I ordered

Love Elsie
While waiting for my order from Two Peas in a Bucket to arrive (ordered since July), I went to the uber and talented Elsie Flanningan's blog and realised she had came up with new stuff in her Etsy store. Aren't they gorgeous with a capital G?Alas, it was only one day after she had listed her items and they were sold out! I bravely emailed her and asked if she could produce one more set for me.

To my surprise, Elise replied within minutes and she even went to reserved the listing under my name! Talk about excellent customer service! I made my purchase and am now waiting patiently for Elsie's Monkey stationery to arrive. Qtea Kit - Aug 2008
I just subscribed to get monthly kits from Q Tea - my belated birthday pressie from Simon. They supply funky and eclectic mini-kits, with a vintage vibe. The embellishment oriented scrapbooking kits with a difference - the majority of the contents are NOT commercial scrapbooking products. So we will get a fun, creative selection of unique accessories, vintage finds, handmade items and funky fabrics.....can't wait to get my first kit!

Found a doggie

Earlier last week, we found a lost doggie outside our gate. It was a very cute female Shitzu, and she was injured at her abdomen. We brought her to the vet to get her wounds treated and asked if he knew of anyone who had lost their dog. Simon recalled that he saw an advertisement in the papers about a lost dog. They came over to check the doggie and it turned out to be the same breed but the wrong dog.

She is such a sweetie and is so well behaved. Stanley would wash her face and mouth every morning, and she would just stay put at the sink. She sould sleep with our cats and not make much noise. In fact, we only heard her bark a small yelp when we let her out in the afternoon to do her poop.

Now that Stanley's girlfriend, Grace is here, the doggie has two dog lovers to play with her and she seems livelier. But I am sure she misses her owners. So every two days or so, we will drive to the two supermarkets nearby and check out the notice board to see if anyone put up a notice about a lost Shitzu. Otherwise, could she be a present for Jon??

Jon's Birthday

We spent the morning in a flurry to clean the house and put out the extra chairs. I took care of Jonathan while Simon went to buy the ice to chill the drinks. We catered from one of Simon's aunt and soon after the buffet spread was laid out, we received out first guest. Simon commented that it was a wedding lunch coz we had like about 60 adults and kids in the house!

Jonathan was happy to see so many people in the home. He is like me, we get our energy from being around people. He enjoyed being carried by people, and was constantly turning his head here and there to check out the guests.

When we put out the cupcakes on the coffee table, our guests were surprised. They have not seen a cupcake stand before. I am very happy with the way the cupcakes turned out. But it may be a bit of an overload of cream cheese coz it's in the cupcakes as well as the frosting! Jonathan quickly swiped at one cupcake while waiting for people to gather around. Smart boy quickly out his fingers into his mouth for a taste. A bewildered look followed by a smile of approval. He wanted more. I let him have a few more licks of the frosting.

After plying the guests with food and drinks and giving them food to tapau back, most of them soon left and we started cleaning up the place. After a quick nap, Jon woke up and we helped him unwrap his presents. We told the guests not to buy any gifts coz he is only 1 year old and doesn't know how to play with most of them, unless we teach and engage him. Anyways, he was so happy and high that we took quite a while to put him to bed at night.

We are very happy and blessed Jon has reached one year old. We thank God for his protection over Jonathan and he is growing healthily and is an active baby. We also want to thank our friends for all your well wishes. Simon's parents for allowing the party to be held at home and Stanley and Grace for their help. Now, time to rest and recuperate. I was down last week with a cold and Simon over the weekend. Thankfully, we didn't get any worse over the weekend.

Preparations for Jon's birthday

Baby's first birthday is a big occasion for many people. Jonathan turned one year old on Aug 10. We initially wanted it to be a small affair. But with the completion of the extention to the house, MIL thought it was timely to invite close relatives for a get-together. Plus our staff too.


On Sat afternoon, I went over to Amy's place (one of our cell group member) to bake the cupcakes instead of the usual birthday cake. The recipe was for chocolate cupcakes with a surprise filling of choc chips and cream cheese. They smelt yummy whilst being baked in the oven.

Then, I returned home for dinner and the plan was to go back to her house for bible study and then we'll decorate the cupcakes at night. But there was a blackout just after dinner, not just in Miri but most parts of Sarawak! Fortunately, we had already baked the cupcakes and creamed the frosting! We had to cancel Bible Study and we entertained Jonathan who experienced his first blackout. Luckily we had installed a few emergency lights for such ocassions. I waited till Amy returned home to get the cupcakes (she went out for a drive since it was too hot to stay at home).

Thankfully, electricity returned and I could pipe the frosting on the cupcakes in the air-conditioned living room. And I could store the completed cupcakes in the fridge. But the fridge was soon full, and I had to store two boxes of cupcakes in my bedroom. As it was my first attempt at frosting, I was a bit slow and wasted a few piping bags...heehee.
After cleaning up, it was about half past midnight. I went to bed, exhausted. Here're a few photos of the completed cupcakes.

Singapore in July - catching up with friends and food!

MGS Founder's Day Dinner

I went back to Singapore to attend the MGS Founder's Day Dinner on July 25. It's been a goody 20 years since I left MGS. The class of 1988 formed only three tables, but we certainly had a good time catching up with each other.

Bee Jade, Clarissa, me and Audrey

Bee Mei and me

Some of us looked the same, some have grown sideways, some look like tai tais, and some sporty as ever. Thanks Chwee for organising for us.

Catching up with Small Garoupers @Peramakan
I am happy that the dinner venue was at Keppel Club's Peramakan Restaurant. We occupied two tables, and I felt like I was the bride sitting at one table for half the dinner then at the other dinner for the other half. Caught up with Sam and Yumi who are based in Japan, and LiYen who came back from HK for the MGS Dinner. Also had the chance to see Melvin and Chiew Nee's little baby girl Melanie.
Peramakan originally started as a small restaurant at Joo Chiat Road, which also offered catering services. I was very happy each time during church functions that we catered from Peramakan. Many say that PeraMakan stayed true to the Peranakan taste even after shifting to their new premises. But hey, I don't have to be a Nonya to fully appreciate their culinary expertise and their home-style cooking.

We had the Beef Rendang - soft beef shin submerged in spicy coconut gravy that simply melts in your mouth. I didn't know that the extra tender and smooth texture is achieved by simmering the meat for at least a good 3 hours. We had more dishes including the tasty hee peow soup, chap chye (I can't remember all). I think all the cholestral (quite a few laced with santan) is not good for the heart, but the occasional indulgence should be forgiven lah.

Thank goodness we were too full, otherwise I am sure Eng Lee would have ordered the Durian Pengat, smooth whipped durian served chilled over sweet potatoes and yam. Will surely reel from OD of sugar. In the end. we had some durian and kaya puffs.

With cousins at The White Rabbit

Suifang read about this new joint on Chubby Hubby's blog, and she made reservations for us on a Sun night.

We shared the escargots, goat cheese salad. No complains from anyone. Thomas had the stew, Suifang had the crispy pork and I had my rack of lamb, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Izzie ordered the Pasta with truffles, and since she couldn't finish it, she passed some of it to me, which I gladly wolfed down. Poor Cat had to have her steak well done coz she is pregnant.

Rack of Lamb with vegetables

PS: Since we were there at dinner and I couldn't take nice photos of the place, the photos of the restaurant are from Chubby Hubby's blog.

Jap food at Rakuichi @ Dempsey
Indeed so many restaurants have sprung up at Dempsey, and parking can be a real pain, but I am most happy that Wendy Anne and Guan Liang introduced Rakuichi (another outlet at Far east Shopping Cnetre) to me. I let GL do the ordering so I could be surprised dish after dish.

It was my first time trying Ox's tongue and I love it. Grilled to a perfection, the meat was tender and juicy. This was served with other grilled items like veg, chicken skin, sweet potato

Warm salad

Fresh and thick slices of Sashimi

Raw beef

Grilled items including Ox Tongue, Chicken Skin, and veg

Grilled Ox Tongue

Seared sushi - yums, some with cheese on it

Fried fish (sorry I forgot what type)

Tempura

And local food

In case you think I only went to restaurants to makan, I didn't. As Simon's aunt and cousin came with me, I didn't stay at my mom's place. We stayed at Lloyd's Inn at Lloyd Road, off Killiney Road. So I got to eat my fav bar chor mee for breakfast a few mornings. I also introduced Amy to Kaya Toast, which we had either for breakfast or tea almost everyday. She tried from four places: Killiney, Toast Box, Ya Kun (yumms) and the one at Chinatown. As a result, she developed a cough, but still she persisted in her daily snack.

I also brought them to the Tiong Bahru market where I had my share of Chuee Kueh and carrot cake. A pity that the Hokkien mee stall was closed.

Food Republic foodcourt at Suntec Convention Centre

Of course coming back to Singapore, it was not just an affair of food, it's just how I chose to write about a week stay in Singapore mah. I met my family at home, and also went shopping with my mom. I enjoyed a lovely lunch and caught up with my niece Winnie and nephew Eason. They're both so active and are quite skinny, like my sis-in-law.

I asked Winnie what she wanted me to buy for her. After thinking, it was not toys, but paper. Has she inherited my love for paper? SInce we're at Takashimaya, I brought her to Art Friend and let her select some papers. In the end she bought a stack of matt cards and a patterned paper. Then we went to Creative Hands where she selected some stickers. She wanted to make a birthday card for her mommy. Good girl.

We then went to a shop called The Better Toy Store where they sell very good quality wooden products that help in a child's development. As my luggage was overweight already, I couldn't buy the wooden toys. But I canced upon very lovely wall decals made in France and I promptly bought two sets for Jonathan: one in the study and one for our bedroom.

Who else did I meet? What else? I managed to meet Christina who also was back in Singapore from Shanghai the same week. Very happy to have met up with her coz we haven't seen each for a year. With me in Miri and having Jon, Christina who's very busy in Shanghai, the only probable way for us to meet would be for me to visit her in Shanghai.

I also visited Wendy Kwek at home where I saw her little one - Ryan. He's just turned a month old and asleep most of the time. Megan was home too and was the big jie jie. As her new place is being renovated and her old place sold, she's staying with her parents at Normanton Park. Coming here was so nostalgic. I remembered the days in secondary school where I would come over and swim with Letitia and her, do our projects in the living room, and even having grilled cheese sandwiches made by her father (who like my father, looks like Lee Kuan Yew!).

And of course, there was some retail therapy. While I brought Simon's aunt and cousin to different shopping centres everyday to shop a little from 11am to 2 or 3pm (they could only last so long before we had to go back to rest), I didn't buy much. Just a coouple of tops, a pair of Crocs slippers (noooooooo, not the big ones, but the Y-sandals). Of couse, I had to make a stop at my fave shop Made With Love at Plaza Singapura to buy some SB stuff.

The Singapore Garden Festival happened to start on the Friday while I was in Singapore. I thought enough of shopping. It was the first day of the show and the flowers were all in their prime. It was nice and cool coz of the flowers and we spent about 2 hours there. My MIL would have loved to be here, especially in the Orchid Show.

Here're a couple of my faves. Entitled Seeking Shangri-La. Imagine the not-too-distant-future when the earth is enexorably warmed and our efforts to redress her balance comes to nought. In the world bereft of dry land where even the loftiest peaks have drowned, we seek the mystical beacon of Shangri-La, only to find it too has submerged. Designed by Peter Cheok, it was awarded the Best of Show and awarded Gold. It was implemented by Far East Flora and the set was built by a Malaysian company. At intervals, bubbles would automatically be released, like bubbles under the sea!Simplicity: different shades of the greens of grass to form the iconic Marilyn Monroe. Enough said.

Many things I miss about Singapore, and here're some of them:
- Family
- Friends (calling or emailing is different from meeting them in person)
- Efficient public transport (coming from me who got her driving license only at 36years old)
- Greenery and fresh air (the greenery really makes a lot of difference in temperature and quality of the air)
- Good and cheap local fare (bar chor mee, char siew and any roasted meats, kaya toast)
The things I miss in Miri:
- Simon and Jonathan
- the slower pace of life
- big and roomy house and bedroom

A few things I am thankful for:
1. My family: healthy
2. Time: to meet so many loved ones and friends in one week
3. Simon and my in-laws: for taking care of Jonathan while I was in Singapore. Poor baby was down with cold sores and miserable
4. Going to Wesley Methodist Church and being part of God's family
5. Racial harmony and equality