That Afghan Girl

This is an award-winning NGM cover which left me and probably half the world very intrigued with this girl. Those riveting eyes, are like abysses of her affliction, which is not something you'd usually or want to see in a girl thats all of only 12 or 13.



holy crap after sooooo long then i chanced upon this........
same eyes, more weather-beaten



1985 NGM article here

17 years later....

2002 NGM article here

Broken Bells by Broken Bells

...is a great indie rock album to get through a lazy sunday afternoon with!
it's one of those few albums which are worthy of repeated listens from front to back, back to front, with every song delivering interesting lyrics/layering of instruments/melancholic yet upbeat feel. and of course, James Mercer's vocals!!! omg. so dreamy. same vocals behind The Shins, which i dig. i dare say it could be my new favourite indie album of 2010!

Broken Bells - Vaporize

What amounts to a dream anymore?
A crude device; A veil on our eyes
A simple plan we'd be different from the rest
And never resign to a typical life

Common fears start to multiply
We realize we're paralyzed
Where'd it go, All that precious time?
Did we even try to stem the tide?

Why should we waste it on
Buying into the same old lies?
The longer we wait around
The faster the years go by

It's not too late
To feel a little more alive
Make an escape
Before we start to vaporize

Doubtless, we've been through this
So if you want to follow me you should know
I was lost then and I am lost now
And I doubt I'll ever know which way to go

A Low Perspective

How low can/should you go with your camera when you wish to involve the lower part of random people's bodies as subjects in your photo, without looking like a pervert?

personally, i find it a lil odd to be bringing a camera and/or myself to a low level in the midst of the street or train, being pretty obvious to the people that i'm trying to shoot their legs.
eugenes says we're just conditioned to think that it's inappropriate, but really, no one will diss me or anything. well, he's got a point there. i'd say the photographer's body language and equipment plays a huge part in looking pro, and less pervertic. try contrasting that with an image of a stranger pointing his phone at you from a low level, even if the intent was perfectly harmless, and what comes to mind?? -brandishing a slap your way-

if i should be thrown a less-than-impressed stare the next time i try it, i'll try countering it with 'nice shoes!' -insert kodak smile-


P.S: as much as i admit how i'm a leg person, me shooting legs has nothing to do with it.

A Low Perspective

Now, for the second installment to 'Domesticating Myself'

i find cooking rather therapeutic to the soul.
it's a treat to the 5 senses.
it takes my mind off everything else - im 101% committed to perfecting my cause
it puts my multi-tasking ability to test - tenderizing meat while yakking away on the line. lol

it's only of late that i should develop such fervour interest in it, even though i've always had the keen untapped passion for it. reason one being i'm slothing my life away and reason two being me and my sissy have nothing to eat for dinner on most days. i hate to cook for one, and she makes for a good guinea pig. she eats ANYTHING n EVERYTHING!

i'm a huge fan of cantonese-style soup,its my no.1 comfort food. i grew up on it, thanks to my grandma and my mum. so i try to make it weekly. and when i ask my sissy to critique on the soup, she'll tell me "its lacking something" "what?" "mummy's love". i know right!


















tonkatsu curry rice. just made it today!






tried to replicate Macs scrambled eggs for breakfast.

its damn easy peasy.

for every 2 eggs - you add a tsp of milk and a dash of salt.

• whisk the eggs until your arm feels sore, or until a consistent layer of froth forms.
• heat the pan and spread a small dollop of butter
• as the very last of the butter is liquefying, add the egg mixture.
  

the next point is the most important, as it largely determines how your eggs will look/taste
this is AKA the Martha Steward scrambling technique

• wait until the first hint of setting begins. using a spatula, push eggs toward center while tilting the pan to distribute runny parts.
  
• Continue this motion as the eggs continue to set. then Ta-dah!
  

tomyum soup with lemongrass/kaffir lime leaves/calamansi juice for the extra punch.

if i'm up to it, i'll try my hands at those ridiculously chi-chi sounding dishes that places a lot of emphasis on presentation and style. watch out for this space.

Yeah, days of my aunty life.

I've succumbed to the Ikea nesting instincts

in case you're wondering what i've been up to lately, i'll summarize it in two words - DOMESTICATING MYSELF.

1) Revamping my room
2 days in a row, i dragged my lazy ass all the way to Ikea at an industrial part of tampines to pick out my items, and somehow managed to impress myself by lifting all the flat packs from the self-serve area onto my cart. i now spot a muscle or two on my arms, i kid you not. superwoman much? It was only when i was close to checking out that i should meet an extraordinary service staff at Row 22, who went all out of his way to help me out despite having knocked off. into details, i shall not go, but given the chance to nominate him for some ikea excellent service shit, i would spare every effort in writing a flowery essay for him. so much praise for him!

New bed? check.
Shelves? check.
Lamps? check.
Mirrors? check.
Photoframes? check!!

and not too long ago, replaced old aircon which was spewing out hot air - how ironic is that. more new items - mattress! new bolster/pillows/sheets/quilt!

As for now, i'm left with finding new curtains/blinds (i can't decide), a rug and quilt cover that'll complement a black bed and a roman purple wall, and deciding on the wall decorations and figuring how to get them up. geez, its seriously so much effort but its well worth it.

but i'll tell you what takes up more effort - separating keepers and throwers. you know how hard it is to part with items which has got some sentimental value and emotional attachment to them, but are all rather meaningless. i'd sit there for a while and ponder, reminisce. then i decide...OUT!
Let go of the old ones, i've got some new ones.

i'll let you in on one interesting detail - i unearthed a load of junk from my secondary sch days and found a few sheets of a so-called 'diary'. sporadically, i used to write things on paper and keep them somewhere, somewhere from prying eyes.

(mitch you'll be so darn laughing at the next line)

One entry wrote "It's the holidays and i'm so boredzzz to death. roar. - a lot of uninteresting details - Gah.... and i can't stop thinking about him. him. yesh it's Ch*******. i can't get him out of my head..how?? i'm so pathetic like that...roar."

Seriously, FML!!!!!!!!!!
that was the most cringe-worthy thing i've read in a while (after Pee-oh-nee-muacks, that is), what with my seeming lack of ability to string a proper sentence together, my poor grammar and did i really used to use 'roar'?? not cool at all. off it went into the dumpster.

Ok back to present day.

The now junks, do not magically grow legs and walk themselves to the bin. Lugging them to the recycling bin is no mean feat.

And not to forget the cleaning up. After the Ikea guys left, it was time to get down to serious business. Mr Dust and his huge extended family that comes in all shapes and sizes, that has lodged themselves in every nook, cranny and surface possible, and in copious amounts(yes i'm that dirty and lazy)! horrors. Now, they've found a new home ie. my air passage ways. double horrors. I'm now typing with a blocked nose and swollen eyes..... how to go for convo later?? Sniff-

And to quote the narrator in Fight Club, who's sucked into today's evil world of consumerism:
"Like many others, I've succumbed to the Ikea nesting instinct."

To be continued...

The Thing About Love Is...

I was just listening to Alicia Key's The Thing About Love (now one of my must-listen-to songs after midnight), which put me into perspective for a while on that title. i asked a couple of my friends to complete the following line, and boy, was it interesting to read their replies and having a discussion on it. Although the first half of the sentence itself already has a negative connotation to it, but i didn't expect such negativity. but see the hopeless romantic, the realistic, the positive and sexedup one! omg.


The thing about love is......

Loo: it becomes unreal as you get older and wiser

Keil: it's not happening to me right now

Hansel: there's no boundaries (and i thought that was it.....)

-2 mins later-

Hansel: and then sex takes it to a whole new level

right.

moving on...

Steph: having to feel kan cheong all the time!
accepting undesirable and foul whims
and other derivatives
almost non-existent unless u admit all 3

Mitch: CONDITIONAL

Shing: it is overrated

EK: shitty. shitty when there isn't love going around.

Kenny: it makes you stupid

Kelly: the best and worst thing that can happen to you


Well as for me, i'd like to quote Pablo Neruda on this one.
"Love is so short. Forgetting is so long."

Have I Told You Lately...........

Have i told you lately......................

that i snagged the hottest thing around town?

He purrs gently but confidently when i press on his hot button
He dresses in hot black leatherette
I like the fact he carries himself with lotsa retro-styling, just like his predecessor
And he feels so darn good in my hands!


Please meet



























IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.