postcrossing

Resumed this hobby again, and today, received 2 postcards from strangers. One from Germany and one from Finland. What's the capital of Finland? Helsinki! Hahaa. Trivia.

contemporary office scene with typewriter

Germany stamps

from Stefanie

postcard from Helsinki

pretty stamps

an afternoon tea

An English afternoon tea, to be exact. What comes to mind? Scones, sandwiches and tea, naturally. I think my fascination with English tea came about from those children storybooks especially those by Enid Blyton. Somewhere in each book, there would be a feast or two!

I think the afternoon tea business in Singapore is blooming. Seems quite popular with the folks here, and at some places, it was fully booked two days early.

tea

3-tier afternoon tea pastries

To me, an English afternoon tea is somewhat characterized by scones, jam, clotted cream and tea. It will not be complete without having these as prerequisites!

raisin scone with clotted cream and lemon curd

a sip of tea, a nibble of pastry

It was indeed a luxury, to have a leisurely afternoon tea with friends and loved ones.  =)

take stock - an investment journey

It is now the middle of the year. Sad to say, overall, have yet to see any profits. The online platform portfolio is seeing a -2.6% as of this month. The funds are equity funds and categorized into USD, Asia, Malaysia and Europe.

USD fund price decreased while its currency value has gone up a little due to the Europe debt crisis. Likewise, on a good month, it has seen the unit trust price going up but the currency was at its lowest. In other words, it does not bode well...

To hedge against the volatility, there are money placed in dividend generating fund. At least, this can defray the fund management costs and whatever ongoing fees. Currently, dividend paying fund is my favourite because at least it is seeing positive value! 

How about the stock market? After 3 months of dabbling, lesson learnt, need to have bigger capital and need to buy more lots if per unit price is less than a dollar. Now, the stocks portfolio has 5 lots in 3 different stocks (excluding the written off infamous company share that was purchased at 47 sens and now valued at 15 sens....) but its current price are lower than buy price. The max price difference is currently at -8%.

As for GE insurance linked unit trusts, it saw about $800 decrease in value as of this month. Best month this year was in February. Hope the market turns for the better by this year end!

visiting

biopolis

Took this picture of Biopolis when we went to NUH to visit Ezri, cousin Ivan's baby boy. Only got to see Ezri through the window as he is still in the ICU. Had a great time with Ezri's older siblings; Sophie and Toby. Adorable kids. Can see that they are a hit with the nurses at the hospital too! =)

sophie and toby

Salted Caramel Artisan Ice Cream @ Upper Thomson Road

Just had dinner, and we chanced upon this ice-cream parlour. Bright and clean, it just beckoned us in for a look. And we looked, we tasted and we liked. So ended with a triple scoop purchase to be shared by 3 pax.

triple scoop @$5.50

horlicks tim tam chosen by HS

avocado chosen by R

chocolate and stout

The avocado tasted like avocado milkshake, full of avocadonian flavour and creamy.  Horlicks tim tam was horlicky and was sweeter than the avocado. The chocolate and stout was bitter, chocolatey with a stout aftertaste. A nice contrast to the sweeter flavours.

All of us liked the ice-cream texture, and our chosen flavours. It has a sticky texture which only means that it has lots of butter fats! Yums!

down to the last bite

tense up ex

Went out and got myself some collagen. Drinkable collagen that is.

Not sure if it works, but if it doesn't, at least I would've drunk some super expensive yakult!

downer

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Most days I feel like Dan the Downer. so I guessed the people around me would pretty much wanna say....

a day of reflection

Happy Vesak Day!

it's been a while

It's been a while since I had a birthday cake for my birthday.

Thank you guys for celebrating.

bk shots

comes in 2

spicy chicken patty, some bbq sauce and bread, nothing else in between

Not bad for a quick bite, and reasonably priced at $2.50. They should add some greens to the burger though.

angry birds online

New found entertainment. But I'm stuck at this:

#19

Play it online , on iphone, where-ever.

marking another year

Yesterday was the end of another year of existance. Today is the beginning of another.

Cheers.

hairrassed

Don't know what possessed me, or rather maybe it was the sweltering heat, that made me stop by at QB house yesterday. Just wanted a trim, and some layering done. But Serene ('coz they put the name at the cabinet so that you know who to scold) seemed intent on giving her customer (that would be me) the most hideous haircut ever.

So, that's my current state now. Live with it till it grows out.

Made me ponder though. Just how many of us as employees are guilty of receiving instructions, and proceeded to execute it based on personal interpretation, and then when it reached completion, only to find out that the customer is pissed. Sounds familiar? Probably we would encounter such character in our organization too.

What can be done to improve? Well, best to improve before the deed is done otherwise, likely need to end up working 10 times harder to get back to neutral state. One way to prevent surprises, is always check with the customer along important milestones. More chances of trapping errors and earlier rectification. Or give the customer see a mock-up of the intended outcome. Is that what he/she wants.

When customer said she wants a trim, maybe to the hairdresser, a trim meant chop off 3 inches of the hair. Possible, because individual experiences differ although the same term is used. Or even when customer has specifically said 1.5 inches off the length of the hair, the hairdresser could literally interpret it as 1.5 inches off all places of the head, including the fringe! So when not sure, always check.

But then, the customer could be at fault too. When things started to look strange, why didn't the customer raise the alarm? Well, it could be due to the trust of the customer had that the person who's providing the service is a professional. Ah, such blind trust.

Well, life's like that I suppose. Learn through mistakes and make better informed choices. Otherwise, REPENT! Hahaaa

new word

I've been hearing this word ever since the election results were announced. Watershed. So went to look it up in the dictionary.com.

It means "an important period or factor that serves as a dividing line". So, a "watershed victory" means a "turning point victory" probs.

GE 2011

It has been an exciting fight, with some hits and misses, and more importantly, the political awakening of sorts for many. A first in many areas such as allowing the use of new media in campaigning, younger candidates unveiled and contested in the election, reactions of epic proportion to certain keywords, and  opposition contesting out of their comfort zone.

The main news channels reported that based on their past experience, results could be announced anytime soon. And that phrase was repeated since 11pm yesterday night. But the results weren't announced till much much later, close to midnight. Past experience doesn't necessary guarantee future outcomes, do they? Many then resorted to twitter for latest unofficial updates.

The people of Singapore has voted, and PAP has won the majority and this is expected. Most would want to retain the continuity and stability in the economic progress of the country. However, this year, the voters had sent strong signals. Look at the votes. Many areas sees  ~40+ % of voters had voted for the opposition. It was  with surprise when one or two elected ministers said that they had learnt more about the needs of the citizens during the past 9 days. So, what happened to the past 5 years when they were in office? Think there is much to be reflected and to be improved upon.

It was also with great pity that the country lost Mr George Yeo, as WP has won Aljunied GRC. While Marine Parade gained Ms Tin Pei Ling. Mr Yeo, is a person who is not aversive to the new technologies and one of the few ministers who has been actively engaging the younger generations through the use of new media. He has served the country well, in his capacity as Foreign Affairs Minister. Thank you Mr George Yeo. (and am proud to have shook hands with you once before!)

Voters had indeed taken a leap of faith in Aljunied. The winds of change is here, and the change is now.

Singapore, Voting

The time is now. This opportunity only comes once, every 5 years. Vote wisely, or you shall live to repent! Or so, we have been told. In recent days, the word "repent" is widely reported, perhaps widely (mis)used.

What is politics? According to wiki, politics came from a Greek word πολιτικός and it means "of, for, or relating to citizens". It is a process where collective decisions are made. So, is politics then an Art or a Science of running the government? The wise will say, "It is both a Science and an Art." It needs to be regulated, methodological and yet, have heart. But the core of the matter remains the same. These decisions ought to be for the betterment of the citizen, and collectively agreed upon by the citizen. Who then can help citizens to voice out their needs? This decision now lies in your hands, Singaporeans. Come Saturday, you will have equal power in determining which party or who can best represent your 'voice' in Parliament.

It is with fascination, that the young have been actively following the election campaigns. Social media, I think, undeniably helped in this aspect. Political apathy? Perhaps not anymore. The first step to any change, is awareness.

Happy voting. Great power comes with greater responsibilities.

on my way home

Was sitting in the bus, by the window, on my way home. The colours of dusk was intriguing. Beautiful. An everyday occurrence, but how many would notice?

from bus window, when dusk falls

lunch @ sushi tei

Had a decadent lunch yesterday. Ordered a yaizu sushi set and here's how it looked like.

6 pieces of sushi

this otoro replaces uni 'coz they ran out of that

ebi

Don't really know how to eat that prawn sushi. It's like, do I bite the middle part and then let the head and tail falls off? No idea man. So decided to just remove the tail part, then tried to cut the body off from its head but to no avail. So ended up with a limp head with body hanging by the thread and tried to dip wasabi in that manner... heh!

souvenirs from abroad

Cathy just got back from her honeymoon. So here are the stuffs she brought back for me.

choco tarts for the office pantry

individually wrapped

crunchy biscuit

I did say she could bring back the coffee from her hotel room if she's not drinking them. So here they are:

french nescafe, decaf.. but one stick only (psst limited edition!)

alot of these

creamer

And the finale, my jam tower from Harrods. Hahaha!

mini jams

Friends, you should go abroad more often. Then I'll get lotsa goodies when you come back! Hehe~ =P

trance music on guitar

Pretty cool. Who would've guessed that acoustic guitar can produce such sounds. Whoa! Read more about this talented dude here.

Hokkaido Fair Apr-May 2011 at Takashimaya Part II

Yea, I know. Two days in a row! Hahaa. Just had to get something related to dairy product, as Hokkaido is also well known for its dairy stuff. Went around again, and chanced upon this stall selling puddings and cheesecake in the form of a mini milk container. Cutes! They have white pudding and rare cheesecake. But the rare cheesecake was sold out, so bought the white pudding instead.

white pudding mascarpon $5 (~330 yen)

snow white

soft like tofu

The taste was a little sweeter than I thought but still likeable. Texture is soft and wobbly. Hmm.. milky but not intense, and with a hint of cheese. Nice.

Of course, can't resist getting cakes. I've always wanted to eat Japanese cakes! So got myself a cake from Patisserie Joli Creer. Expensive, I must say. At $20 per box (~ 1325 yen).

cake box

Patisserie Joli Creer

20cm roll

jun nama roll cake

Note that the cake's expiry date is pretty fast. So check the expiry from the counter people prior to buying! The cake is soft and nice, even after having travelled from Hakodate to Singapore. Haha.

Also bought the koiichigo roll. Note that this product contains gelatin.

pretty packaging

strawberry roll $18 per roll (~1198 yen)

with fresh cream

soft sponge

real strawberry fruit

Here's a link to Joli Creer's website.

If ever one would die from cake overdose, I think for my case... this shall be it.