arty farty party

darling andre invited me over his studio for an intimate gathering of old frens from our lasalle days. he katered food. drinks were free flowing & he had an amazing mix of musik blaring. his studio was in a "light industrial" area on the west side of the isle. but fuckinell!!! the krew didnt show up. thats weak hey? a fren goes thru all this trouble to organize shit... and no one fronts!!! fuck 'em. big uuup!!! to my man andre. becos i had a blast!!!!!!



the guilty party: andre



rebecca, stephan, din & ah long

i'm loving andres space!!! we were both painting majors in lasalle. 2 other painting majors were at the party as well. but andre & me have always been kontemporary artists. so i LOVE love looove love his works. din-ability is now a freelance illustrator/ comic artist/ animator. whilst 'ah-long' is a chef at his parents buddhist veggo restaurant in chinatown. but andre..... he stayed true to fine arts. wat a trooper. i am so genuinely happy for his success and hopes he goes on to make it very BIG in asia sumday!!!!!! bless. 

job hazard

i spent a most relaxing evening at lower pierce reservior with my parents. we packed a picnik & sat by the water awaiting the sunset. mum whipped out her berita harian (malay newspaper).... and slowly we eased into a komplikated konversation on work ethiks. an aussie is imprisoned for insulting the krowne prince of Thailand whilst a lokal bureaukrat was bagged for bragging about his trip to Paris kosting S$42,000. even the venerable monk of ren ci is being charged in kourt for forgery & misappropriating funds.

mum randomly asked.... "you willing to go to prison for work sayang?!" she knew journos get thrown in jail often for kontempt in refusing to name their "sources". some get tangled in defamation suits whilst others who incite emotion & free thinking are deemed "dangerous" to korporations & korrupt officials. when push kame to shove... is protekting demokracy & the 4th estate more important than protekting oneself? tough question mum!!! i asked myself if i wud be that person who lived in fear or go all out "guns blazing!!". its interesting the attitude every individual has with regards to work ethiks. live to work or work to live?

lower pierce reservoir

santa claws & honey ham

i've been going thru a rough patch recently & am slowly easing my way online again. sorry i havent been blogging. i'm so glad the festive season is o.v.e.r!! its a terrible time to be throwing soirees & preparing for HK at the same time. i am knackered!! even my "one man" welkome wagon usually his 'ho! ho! whore!' self turned grumpy gus half-way thru my xmas dinner party...........    

.....so tired he dropped asleep in front of the xmas tree & snooozed for the next hour. poor thing is probably exhausted from cuddling & scamming everyone for bits of turkey. yesssh!! i cooked. 'ang moh' *western* food is easy to cook. nuthing to it. 



the star of the table :my 6 kilo leg of ham glazed with honey, aprikot nectar & a dash of sherry. took several hours to cook to perfection. i made rosemary roasted potatoes, a garden salad, an italian tomato & bocconcini platter, grilled mushrooms, turkey roll & a few chops of steak. 





everything went down smoothly with non-alkoholik sparkly & good konversation. i made pineapple tarts & fruit cake for sweets. *blush* the dinner skored rave reviews. so i'm stoked to be spending the next few days chilling by the beach sumwhere doing absolutely nuthing!! its forecasted to be 36ºC today. the next 4 days are bloody hot as well. thursday will be 39ºC!!!!! yikes!! summer is here alright. pass the sunblock!! 

my week in txt messages

yesssh my mom is in town. surprise visit from the "mothership"!!! gosh. papa lost his job 3 months ago & didnt tell me until recently. he says he loves me too much to make me worry. raaaawwrr!! why are eurasian men like that ah?? keep sekrets. sheesh. i guess they have good intentions. i do miss my papabear. wish i kud give him a hug!!!!   

tonight is the gorilla biscuit gig at the amplifier!!!! dave-o wanted to spend the day at the beach. i had to say no. "dumped for a punk rock band"!!! haHahaHA!! if only you knew mr.perry. if only you knew. we'll be hanging out next sunday.... so its all good. he too will be unemployed soon. oddly... everyone i know whos lost their job seem to be in punk as fuck xposix attitude!!! makes me proud. sxe!!!! 

xmas stuff update

i've always loved kreative projekts. everythings so generik & mass produced these days. too easy to buy "ready-mades". i guess time is a luxury not many kan "afford". but this year..... i made time. its therapeutik doing kraft work. especially in good kompany. just the other day.. i went for a looong walk with my godma & kollected these. we chatted.. walked... picked.. & chatted sumore.

then i put it all together & made this!! a "native" wreath. simple centrepiece for a dinner table. just chuck a few kandles in the middle & bobs yer unkle!! but i chose to hang it on my front door.

most of the dekorations on the tree are store bought (recycled every year). although i popped sum corn & strung it up for tinsel. looks a million bucks. but cheap as chips!! 

we blared nat king coles xmas choons on the stereo & piped our own icing to heart gingerbread cookies. pretty silk ribbons & they're ready to hang on the tree. we tried making our own gingerbread house.... FAIL!! the house krumbled into a million pieces. haHahaHA!! theres always next time??

while xmas may be grim for many this year.... its a good time for us lot to reflekt & appreciate the blessings we're bestowed upon. i believe little things go a long way. so i've made food /money donations thru the church. in packing for my move to HK... i've placed lots of unused klothes & sundry in various charity bins as well. i do wish i kud do more!! but here's hoping that the xmas spirit is strong with you all as well. *love & hugs*

tis the season

the xmas tree has been up for awhile. meant to post these up last week!! but i havent even found the time to string my popcorn tinsel. been too busy working & skating. i planned on throwing a themed party this year. but... meeeh!! fuck it. i'll stick to a good ole aussie style barbie. chuck the turntables out on the deck. very kasual shit. it'll probably be 40°C out anyway. polyester kostumes and hot weather equals bad idea. haHahaHA!!!



i've started xmas shopping for everyones and i'm not holding back this year. it'll be my last xmas in Oz for a long while. so i thought i'd go the extra mile. i feel slightly melancholik everytime i think about this probably being my last summer xmas here. not that travelling & working overseas is ever a bad thing. new adventures, frens, fiends and sponteneity. i do look forward to that!! but i guess i'm more aussie than i think & feel.

suurpraiiize!!

so wats the BIG surprise?? i've been relentless in bugging my godma about her surprise prezzie. she finally handed me sum weird looking city link package on the kondition i not open it till xmas. but i know wat it is already!!!!!!!!!!!! ahaHaHAHA!!!  

the package is from: slam city skates. helloo!!! a brand new skateboard deck!!!!! bet its a blueprint. muaHaha!! the shape, the weight, its so obvious. as soon as i saw the mailing addy of the sender ..... i shrieked!! and ran thru the kitchen door, round the house, back into the house thru the laundry door before giving godma a tight squishy hug!!!!! and a kissh!!!!

kant believe i have to wait till Xmas to rip the darn packaging. uuurrrgh!! in all my years... i've always received skate related tee-shirts and even shooz as b-day & xmas pressies. no one has ever bought me skating paraphernalia or hardware (if you not kount my element skate tool). i finally know wat this feels like. *sigh* godma is the bestest!!!! really made my day. 

i miss this....

my mum is very old skool. we're rarely on the same "frequency". but one thing we BOTH love doing together is hanging out at geylang (malay distrikt). its as if mum knows everyone in that neck of the woods. theres always sumone stopping us for a chat!! the old wet market (under renovation) used to gross me out as a child with the smell & sight of hanging carcasses and puddles of blood on the weathered floor..... 

they used to slaughter chooks on the spot & chuck it into a spin cycle kontraption to removes the feathers. i love the rich aroma from the spice shop. i do miss wet markets. i also miss the "kampung" atmosphere. worse still. i've been having mad kravings for a dish kalled "kachang pool" only found in geylang. its basikally mushed broad beans cooked in spice, a sunny side-up fried egg, onions, sliced fresh chillies & hot krusty kuts of french loaf. i waaaant. *mopes*

i've tried making "kachang pool" here in perth. but theres always that extra sumthing thats missing. i havent been in singapore for hari raya celebrations in over 4 years. i dunt even have a propa baju kurung (traditional outfit) to wear in my kloset. my best frens soya bean shop is in haig road market as well. geylang. oh the things we take for granted!! i need to go back there. its krucial!! 

all the above fotos are taken at geylangs perkampungan (except for the yummers plate of kachang pool!! which was taken at the hawker centre nearby) mum mentioned there are plans to demolish & rebuild this area into sumthing else. i'm trying to figure out why they wud wanna do that?? it seems the only spot in geylang that still has sum form of kharacter left. then again.... this is so friggin typikal of the evil isle. bloody murder. bleeah!!

a javanese/malay wedding

my kuzzin En got married last sunday. i was slightly shocked to see fotos of her wedding. the details of her ceremony is almost exaktly wat i want for my wedding!! traditional javanese garb. kick ass kompang procession. tarian and pencak silat. the works!! i wanted to use royal (yellow/gold) kolours too. turns out.... my mum helped plan her wedding (explains alot). i wunt be getting married soon. so i'm over it. anyway this is my fave bit of a malay wedding!! the grooms arrives.

oh. wats this?? a human toll booth? draaats!!

hwaaah!! thats not even the bride behind the fan!! bwahaHaha!! malay/javanese weddings are fun like that. everyone is a praktikal joker. so how much? the money packet is handed over. my ole man haggles and finally says, "eh!! boleh lah!!" *eh!! kan go thru already!!* haHahaHAHA!! 

papa eskorts the groom to the dais. he meets yet another "toll booth"!! the mak andam (brides' personal assistant). but she was easier to please. yeaay. groom & bride sit proudly together on the dais.

papa walks off deklaring, "fwaaar. i'm the man!! i'm the MAAN!!" yes papa. you da man. aHahaHAHA!! for sum reason.... whenever any of my javanese kuzzins marry a "white" dude... my papa is always there to help. i guess he wished he had sumone to prep him when he married my mom. my papa is sweet like that (which is why i love him so much). i know he'll go all out for my husband-to-be if i married a "mat salleh" *white man*.

my kuzzins hubby Bernardo is swiss. his "malay" name is now Bernie Abdullah. niiiice. i think he looks amazing in the traditional malay garb. the head dress my kuzzin is wearing used to weigh a tonne back in the days!! its probably alot lighter now. everyone around me is getting married or is about to. i'm pushing 30 & been single for the past 7 years!! *sigh* proverbial matrimonial bliss of my choosing is not gonna happen. so i asked my mom to arrange my marriage next year. i am very serious about this.