My Birthday (4) - meixiang & lene

meet up with mx to pick up my birthday gifts over a drink at toastbox on Wednesday... mx is this super sweet lady who puts in alot of effort to maintain every friendship.... she's the one who will plan almost all our jc gathering and make it a point to me a gift and a card on all my birthday and also during xmas.... 

and these were what she prepared for me this year... 

she is one that will write very nice notes and wishes for us all and knowing that i am into scrapbooking, she bought alphabet stickers for me...

thanks for the gift and more importantly, thanks for being such a sweetie for the last 15 years 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lene, who is usually the first few to celebrate my birthday with me in the past 18 years was only able to meet me 2 weeks after my birthday due to a car accident... =(... though not seriously injured externally, she actually sustained some internal injury lo.... so when she asked me to meet her all the way at tiong bahru where she lived, i readily agree.... 

she treated me lunch at Lao Beijing at Tiong Bahru Plaza and i ordered a fried fish la mian  


then we shared 小笼包，

crispy fried beans (very yummy)

and salted egg prawns (super yummy too)

then we took a short walk to to this very cosy cafe "forty hands" along Yong Siak street... 

our drinks

it was super duper crowded hence dun really have the mood to take many pictures but you can have a look at the following 2 blogs which i found 
http://4-the-love-of-food.blogspot.sg/2011/01/forty-hands-cafe-gourmet-coffee-in.html
http://www.thefoodnomads.com/2011/11/27/forty-hands-yong-siak-street/

we sat and chit chatted for more than 3 hours so can conclude that it's really quite a nice place to just hang out.... will be returning for the whole day breakfast set soon... =D

gifts from charlene:

a pencil case with a matching card holder and a very sweet bracelet from korea... =) 

PTL's belated birthday treat on my birthday month

since dun know when, PTL and I have a routine of meeting up twice a year, once in April to celebrate his birthday and once in October to celebrate my birthday... 

this routine was upset by his job oversea posting to Bahrain last year... in the end, we celebrated my last year oct's birthday during April this year, which was his birthday month, and he demanded for his April birthday treat @ Salt Grill and Sky Bar during my birthday month today.... =S

to go up to the restaurant, we have to first locate the mysterious lift which was tucked in a well guarded corner at ion level 4

i din know that ion was this tall before this visit lo... 

saw this just outside the lift

staff were all super polite & super attentive...greeted us warmly and led us to our table the moment we stepped out from the lift.... 

the restaurant is very spacious with simple and clean deco ... nothing really special actually... 

guess the main draw is really the full length glass window and the fact that it's located on the 55th floor.... 

based on what i saw on their website, they only employ singaporeans and pr... salary starts from $2k with 5 day work week... so you see, with good pay and welfare as incentives and proper training, singaporeans can be good service staff too...

and see again, even my bag received good service lo... the staff placed this basket next to my chair and sweetly told me it was for my bag.... =) 

part of me was saying "heng, i carry my coach bag today!".... hahahaha

before i go on to the scenery from the 55th floor in orchard and to the food, let me introduce the PTL who took me as a carrot today... =S

anyway, lucky us managed to get a seat next to the full length window and guess what, the first thing that caught my attention was the big crooked yellow box on the road.... wahahaha.... 

do u know why it's different from the usual yellow box? PTL said that it was meant for the bus to filter from the utmost right lane to the utmost left lane and true enough, i saw a bus did just that after he explained it.... heee  

pepper & salt against the singapore backdrop from the 55th floor of ion... =)

my plain and rasin bread that was served before the meal...very soft and yummy....  I thought was meant to be dipped in the olive oil and grinded nuts until i read this... 

we took the brunch menu @ $45++ each for a 2 course meal 

my starter - salt & pepper squid... super yummy.... squid super soft.... aioli sauce (i thought it was mayo) was very yummilious too.... 

my main dish - crab omelette served in miso broth.... the omelette was super soft and literally just dissolved in my mouth la.... quite a generous amount of real crab meat that was equally soft....  and when the egg, the crab meat and the soup are eaten together... i felt that i was in heaven.... hmmmm..... 

his starter - prawn toast

his main - egg benedict with salmon

i thought both was so so only when compared to mine.... wahahaha... 

the staff were all super attentive, filled up my cup of warm water whenever it was half empty, cleared our empty plates within 2 minutes, serve our main dish within 5 minutes of clearing our starter plates... but also because they were so efficient, we din dare to nua too long after the meal.... =S....else i would think that it was quite a nice place to nua and bask in the warm sun that was shinning thru the glass ceiling above... 

so i foot the bill, which totalled up to be $115 before taking a walk around the restaurant to take in the view from all corners

my conclusion -  Singapore is really very cluttered... =S

ending the post with a photo of me... =) 

Haul @ Nex

PTL make me treat him lunch at Salt Grill restaurant for his April birthday celebration during my birthday month... yes... half a year late but the amazing thing was the restaurant reservation confirmation email actually stated that they have a smart casual dress code... which mean no sandals, no shorts and no sport attire.... and PTL had reminded me not once, not twice but THREE times to dress appropriately... =S

so i opened my cupboard and try to see if i have any proper attire... look look look.... all the decent dresses are for work leh .... too formal for weekend... =(... look and look harder again and i managed to find only one dress which i think is casual but yet decent enough to wear for the lunch.... 

stress me up so much as if i'm going on a first date like that lo.... =S... but it also set me thinking.... now that i had stocked up enough decent dresses for work (thanks to Little Match Girl).... i should start buying some decent clothing for causal outing..... not that young anymore.... should stop dressing in t-shirt and shorts and sling bag.... but, i'm just being a typical singaporean leh.... =S

anyway, since i was in a shopping mood,  i popped by Nex after my art course .... i needed to buy a pair of shoes for work as the previous pair decided to call it quit last Friday... and yes, i only have 1 pair of shoes for work... i'm a typical libra (according to mabel)... i tend to be very logical and only buy what i need... 

i totally agree with her... cos i only have 1 pair of sports shoes for all outdoor activities.... 1 pair of black pointy flats to go to work in... 1 pair of black heals to go clubbing in.... 1 pair of kitten heals for occasions when i dun feel like wearing heels to club or to attend wedding dinner.... 1 pair of open toes kitten heels for rainy days outings... 1 pair of slippers and a pair of flats to go shopping in and to meet friends ... total 7 pairs of shoes ... i really think i'm a rare breed lo... wahahaha.... 

i have always enjoy shopping alone... cos i cant multi-tasked.... when i am with a friend, i will end up talking and talking and have no mood to shop.... 

anyway, my 战利品 for today:

the one on the left is the exact same pair of working shoes that i had previously.... i just love it so much that i had to replace the spoilt one with the exact same design...it's comfy, it's cheap ($25.90) and every durable... i wore it to school every day and it lasted for more than half a year wahahaha...

the pair of kitten heels i have at home is in gray... so bought the pair of kitten heels on the right for easy matching...

either mondo's sizes has become bigger or my feet had strunk... i now wear size 35...1 size down from the usual 36.... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stroll stroll stroll and strolled into kitschen... the shop looks expensive from the outside but actually their selections are rather affordable... 

blue dress @ $36.90

jacket @ $33.90.... luv the vibrant colour but think it looks too plain.... so planning to get a brooch to dress it up a little.. =) 

wanted to buy another dress but the size which i wanted was out of stock... =( 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

though the nie gang had bought me 3 bags just last week... but i was just in a shopping mood lo....so seeing that i bought 2 instead of 1 pair of shoes, forgive me for buying another bag so soon k???  ;P ... actually, i also dun know why i bought this bag.... this is like my first non-black bag for work ... and it's not waterproof... =( ... but i like the shape and the gold buckle thingy... =) 

$33.90 from double index

Effective Drawing (3) - lines & shades

quote of the day's lesson  -

"instead of trying to duplicate the drawing styles of others, learn how to appreciate the one that you are most comfortable with - which is the one that you always use"

hit me in the heart cos based on my previous drawing (shading), i realised that my strokes were all over the place and very coarse... 

very messy hor??? 

so when i saw my coursemate's artwork

i was so envy....how come theirs like so systematic, so orderly one... 

so when i heard the trainers asking us to embrace our own style, i was like wooooooooo.....okaaaayyyy.... ;)...happiness

this 3rd lesson is a review of the strategies learned in the previous 2 lessons and after a recap, we were told to do another self portrait based on the photo that was taken during the 1st lesson... 

preparing to start

but after half an hour

 wahahaha..... reason - I cant multi-tasked cos was too busy chatting with my coursemates.... I cant work under stress cos too low confidence to even try to draw in the presence of the trainers and other coursemates..... 

conclusion: i m a 孤僻 artist.... i need to work alone.... without human distraction.... 

din really have the mood to do this piece of homework cos i had completed a smaller version just the night before the lesson...so procrastinated until the last day of PSLE marking.... i know i will have plenty of "lobo" time as marking is usually completed by 9am but due to the  many rounds of checks, samplings and scanning of the final results into the system, we can only be dismissed after 1pm

brought along my sketchbook and drawing tools to school but "聪明"的我 forgot to bring the picture.... =S.... which turned out to be a blessing.... wahahaha....

i went facebook and printed out my favourite picture instead...

and i would say, drawing a prettier me makes a whole lot of difference to my drawing..... 

A happy artist is a better artist... (according to me).. ;P

first quarter that i drew.... 

half

3/4 done.... 

before showcasing the completed artwork... let play mix and match for few more rounds  

and tatatata

though still not perfect but at least not a monster anymore.... wahahaha

pix on the left, drawing on the right

something somewhere is still not right... think is my right eyebrow, my right cheek shading that affects how my nose will look like and definitely my lips.... 

we will be given another hour to complete our artwork later in class... gonna ask trainer how to touch-up, if possible give it some 'photoshop'.... wahahaha.... 

it's amazing how a darker or softer line/shade can make a very vast difference to how the final artwork will look like... 

drawing is really a test for patience and perseverance... shade, erase, shade again.... and this cycle can repeat and repeat and repeat and it still dosen look like how it should look like... wahaha

but after 6 practices in the last 3 weeks... my eyes are better at picking out lines and shapes though i know there are still plenty of rooms for improvement.... i'm amazed at how i can control what i want to see just by consciously switching from my left mode to my right mode.... 

i will work harder at training my right brain to bring out the artist in me.... not only because i need it so that i can have an easier work life balance in the future but this career shift somehow created a goal for me.... 

left brain had already helped me to obtain my business degree from ntu and post grad diploma from nie now it's the right brain's turn... 

i feel like i m back in sec sch doing my O level because i need to get into the diploma course next year and which after that i can do my degree in art education... 

it's a battle of the left and right brain with the latter a late bloomer.... let's see which side of the brain gets to be more developed 10 years down the road.... it's a long and tedious journey but i know things will just work out for me.... wahahaha.... =D

jiayou jiayou jiayou!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

effective drawing (1) - lines 

effective drawing (2) - shades

effective drawing (4) - edge

effective drawing (5) - negative space

My Birthday (2) - RSS

met the RSS gang for dinner at Paradise Dynasty @ ion to try their xiao long bao  which was strongly recommended by casper....was happy to see that there was a 1-for-1 xiao long bao promotion for citibank card holder... =D

slight disappointment when we read the terms & conditions - only 1 redemption is allowed per table and the complimentary basket of xiao long bao is limited to the 6pcs original de lo... but luckily, their food was yummilious... =) 

introducing the members of the RSS gang and its associates

ailing & chunyang 

casper & caroline

last but not least Yuan and her basket of xiao long bao... =P

this girl ordered a basket of the famous 8 colours/favours xiao long bao so that she can try each and every favour.... and because of this, she was labelled as the selfish yuan the whole night.... wahahaha

while chunyang, ailing, caroline and I shared a basket and since i won the "oh ah bei ya som", i get to choose first and i took the cheese 

  

and the original favour 

my main course - spicy dumpling noodles.... very yummi... luv luv...  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
headed over to Balaclava @ ion where they sang me a very soft birthday song over a mini birthday cupcake from awfully chocolate.... heee 

they were much more lenient this year with the candles.... still have the scary memory of the 30 candles they placed on my birthday cake last year lo... 

 

 

super happy birthday girl finishing up the yummilious cupcake 

really good live band ... 3 sets every night.... first set starts at 940pm and last set ends at 1am

the latecomer....what a good laugh we had when this sunshine couple wore couple tee.... wahahaha

more photos with friends of more than 18 years..... 

the cool blackies

the polka dots babes

my first drink of the night.... Jager Bomb...sweet sweet de...i like.... but not suitable for a chill night.... more suitable for a clubbing night cos have to drink it all in one shot....

my 2nd drink - tasted like gassy apple juice  

my 3rd and last drink - bacardi 151...which has a 75.5% alcohol content.... numbed my tongue la... =S

ending the post with the crew that made the night possible.... thanks for the great friendship and great company all these years.... riverside class 7 rocks.... =D  

the guys of the night 

and the babes