Durian Party 2014!

'Tis the season for the durians...falalalalalala...

This was 1 month in the planning. We wanted to go to the durian buffet organised by I Eat, I shoot, I Post but alas, the tickets were all sold out. Thus, we took things into our own hands and organised our own little durian party.

Those on the left is called 'Red Prawn' durians due to the shape and the deep colour. It was a bit dry and very very rich. Some pieces tasted like coconut cream!

On the right were my orders from my regular durian seller. They were a mix of the D24 and Cat Mountain King variety. So, the taste of the flesh is a little more alcoholic or some would say, 'bitter'.

What you're looking at my dears, is $58 worth of tropical fruits. Yummmehhh!!!

Durian season also means that the queen of fruits, Mangosteen, would make its appearance and boy were these sweet! The Chinese believe in 'heaty' and 'cooling' fruits so Durians are supposedly heaty while mangosteens are cooling. Thus, eating them together will balance things out. See...there's a yin and yang to eating too!

I love living in the tropics. I can easily get my hands on these lovely fruits relatively cheaply and easily! Only thing marring the whole experience was the ants that accompanied them. There were different types of ants hiding under the 'leaves' of the mangosteen and in between the rambutans. We were not sure what sort of rambutans these were either. The 'hair' on them aren't very long and the outside of the fruit reminded me of those self-massage balls or those stress balls. Tasted like the usual rambutans but was a little tougher than usual. Hybrid fruit? Goodness knows.

Anyway, we bemoaned the fact that we were all getting old. 4 of us with 4 durians but we couldn't finish it all. Bah. Haha...nonetheless, it was a good time just hanging out with friends and my 2 godchildren. Never thought I'd spend an evening watching cartoons that taught the alphabet or played with toy cars and trains but yup...that was my evening!

Reclaiming My Life

It's official. I'll be on a sabbatical (no pay leave *sad face*) from work from 18 Aug to 26 Sep*. I decided to do it for several reasons but mainly because over the past 6 months, I feel like I've lost myself - my health, my sense of purpose and motivation in life.

So, here's my plan for the month that I'll be on leave:

• exercise every morning
• walk my dog everyday
• get back to my low/no gluten diet
• eat more fresh foods and cut out as much processed stuff as possible
• sleep more and improve my quality of sleep

I'm also planning to take up my fave pilates and I realised that a new gym opened near my home! They've got tons of pilates classes and they've got a monthly pass which seems quite reasonable. Also, I've already signed up for a yoga retreat in Krabi come end Aug with a friend. We're also going to extend our stay there so it's going to be a real holiday for me. :)

Finally, I can get a good rest and try not to think of the shit at work. Some people ask me whether I'm worried that my company will think me as dispensable and replaceable since I'm taking long leave. My answer to that is simple: if they really did think so, then they really do not value me as a staff. Nonetheless, I need to do this for myself and I don't care what the company thinks because I need to put myself first before I can give/produce/do good for others.

It has been barely 7 months since my surgery and I don't think I've rested very well. My feet ache all the time, my shoulders are always stiff and I've had insomnia for the past 2 months. I dread going to work every single day and my eyes are always tired. This is the disease of modern life and I need to get away from it all. I need to lose all the weight that piled on because of my endometriosis as well as my sedentary lifestyle. I need to stop getting sick every single month. I need to heal myself both physically and mentally.

So...although I will miss the income, I am very excited and looking forward to the month of rest as well as learning what motivates me. I've got a schedule in mind already and I can't wait to be able to share with everyone as the days go by!

*Updated as of 28 July. Had to push it back by a week as a colleague will be on leave from 11-15 Aug and there needs to be 1 of us in the office.

Monarch Butterfly Wing Nails

Design by +cutepolish but I modified it. Instead of using textured nail polishes, I opted for 3 different smooth polishes - bright orange (Model's own), pastel purple (Canmake) and dark pink (Innisfree). I don't have a striper but I do have a nail art pen (The Face Shop) which I've found to be excellent for drawing as well as dotting. Only trouble with pens is that it requires a bit more strength and coordination when doing my right hand.

I'm quite happy with my nails! Fly on!!

Feeling Nostalgic - SCGS Homecoming 2014

It has been 14 years since I've last stepped into my secondary school and this year, it is the 115th anniversary. Thus, SCGS had their Homecoming Carnival and all alumni were invited!

Such a nice feeling to see these familiar green Peranakan tiles. Used to walk along this corridor everyday to get to morning assembly as well as walking to the bus stop to go home.

Shaw Hall on the 2nd floor where we took our major exams, assembly when it rained, Teachers' Day performances and where we also played badminton during PE. Overlooks the mini amphitheatre (can't remember the actual name) where for today, they were dunking teachers and students.

On the ground floor is the Gymnasium where we had lessons for half of the year.

The trampolines used to be placed at the left of the gym and we loved jumping on it! Didn't care too much about the beams and floor exercises.

Managed to take a pic with Ms Heng, who was SCGS's principal for more than 25 years, and was pleasantly surprised that she remembers me!! After 15 years?!?! She's the only principal whom I've got the most respect for. She really listened to us students and didn't treat us as mere children but we all knew that she is strict when needed too.

I loved our amphitheatre and how it was such a nice place to just hang out and chill with friends during recess.

Other areas where we could just hang around included the benches in the quandrangle in one section of our classrooms.

The toilets are so spacious and with so many cubicles, we never had to queue to use the loo!

Oh my...the desks are still the same! This was my classroom in Sec 2.

That's the pond that I used to have to cross in Sec 1 whenever it was time for PE. It was such a peaceful place that's just outside my Sec 1 classroom and also the centre of the building of classrooms. My Sec 3 and 4 classroom was in this block too...really loved the greenery!

 Our classroom! Used to be nameless but was for Sec 4/5!! Now, all the classes have funky names.

The view from the corridor outside our classroom. You can see the top level which houses the library. We used to lament how we needed to climb down one storey and then climb up another level just to get to the library. There wasn't a connection on the 4th floor. Boo.

 What's with this "jinyu"? We're a Peranakan school! Kim Gek all the way!!! Jinyu...tsk tsk...

This really brought back tons of memories. I used to use a lot of these exercise books back in the days. :)

I wrote an entry in the journal that is in the time capsule. I'll definitely be back in 2049 for the opening and to read my entry! :D

For the other half of the year that we didn't jump on trampolines, we had dance lessons. In the largest dance studio, Cubey and I reminisced the 'torture' that we endured at a particular dance instructor's hands and how you smelt him (or rather his CK One) before you saw him.

New addition above the basketball court! Finally have the chance to go look see after driving past so often.

Humongous 2 basketball/netball courts and to the left (not seen) were 4 squash courts. This is a serious MAJOR change.

There's a freaking gym gym now. It's better equipped than my condo's gym! I don't think I'll be shocked if 15 years later, there's a pool.

I had fun today! There is a lot of artwork lining the walls now and it's amazing how all the art are students' works and they're SO good. It has been a long time and yes, I do feel a little old but yet at the same time, I really do enjoy remembering my teenage years. I'm glad that a lot of things haven't changed but yet it's quite interesting to note what has. It was quite surprising and fun to note that the drink stall auntie is still the same!! The CCA board positions are still the same!!

I'm not sure about the curriculum now but during my time, I am glad that we had a well-rounded education where we had great teachers who helped us academically but yet we also had tons of fun activities that involved art and culture. How many schools can boast of the fact that every year, we had an annual Sing & Sync competition where we competed on a song and dance item? Cultural day trips were a norm. Camping/travelling overseas as a class/batch was not uncommon. It was a privilege to have studied in SCGS. I'm proud to be a Kim Gek. I'm happy to have my good friend and partner in Secondary School to walk down memory lane too! :)

2 Nail Designs for June/July

I realise that I've got a penchant for pink nails this month and I don't know why...hmm...

First up is my simple but very blinged out nails:

 It was glitter galore as I used coats of different types of glitter. The glitter base is OPI pink shimmer and I then layered it with larger silver glitter as well as The Face Shop white speckled polish. Added large and small crystals to my thumb and index finger to finish the look. Simple and very long lasting! I had this nail design on for 2 weeks before I decided to change to the following:

Yes, more glitter on my ring finger and it's Ciete's mix of small blue and larger dark pink glitter. I painted my nail a shiny grey first before I added the glitter polish so that this will make the glitter more dense and stand out.

The feathers on my index were handpainted by moi using a nail dot pen by The Face Shop. I love these nail dot pens. If you don't have one, simply draw the feathered strokes with a toothpick.

I can't decide what design to do next. I'm a little bored with the designs that I see in some books (the ones that I like are too complicated for me) as well as with those that I see on YouTube. Any suggestions?