Mlle Janie's Journey

New Year's Eve in Brussels

2012-01-08T15:45:00.001+01:00

Who wants to be Harry Potter?

Trying my hands at balloon tying

And it is a dog!

With fellow CSers ushering in 2012!

2nd Honeymoon trip to Krabi Thailand 29th Nov-02nd Dec 2011

2012-01-08T14:36:00.001+01:00

Day 1

On our way to the hotel

Our very lovely hotel room!

Dinner on the beach

Day 2 - Aonang Beach and Railey Beach

Lunch

Dinner

Day 3 - Poda Island

Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios, 08 Oct 2011

2011-10-09T15:47:00.002+02:00

Our first time to Disneyland Paris! We spent 12 hours there, from 10 in the morning. Still, at the end of the night, I felt sad to leave this magical place.

Main Street, USA

Fantasyland

Alice in Wonderland

It's a small world

101 Dalmatians

Adventureland

Disneyland has put on its halloween theme

Frontierland railroad depot

Big Thunder Mountain - So fun!

Phantom Manor at the back

Discoveryland

Space Mountain : Mission 2, with 360 degrees turn

Walt Disney Studios

Stunt Show Spectacular - featuring Flash McQueen

Cars moving on two wheels

Accident!

Man on fire

The stunt team

On the Studio Tram Tour, Behind the Magic

Snow White, Disney's first full length feature production, also our first unforgettable cartoon...

Scream!

Back to Disneyland and we saw the Happily-ever-after Disney's characters with Mickey!!

We conquered you, Space Mountain!

Disneyland at night. So magical and beautiful!

Goodbye Disneyland. Thank you Walt Disney for all the fairy tales. They live forever in little boys and girls' hearts!

My birthday 2011

2011-10-09T15:23:00.000+02:00

Birthday cake made by hubby! So yummy!

Our honeymoon in Spain (Sevilla, Cadiz, Madrid) - 9th to 15th May 2011

2011-09-06T16:54:00.001+02:00

9th May
Paris - Madrid

Our night train from Paris to Madrid

Travelling in first class with our own cabin,

own shower,

and champagne

complete with dinner!

10th May
Madrid - Sevilla
After arriving in Madrid, we took a train to Sevilla for our first leg of the trip.

First sangria in Sevilla

Reales Alcazares

Time for tapas!

11th May
Sevilla - Cadiz

We visited Plaza de España, built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 before heading to Cadiz.

Plaza de España

Lunch time

Our train to Cadiz

Street of Cadiz

Tapas again!

Playa de la Caleta beach

Jump!

Cádiz Cathedral

Cádiz Cathedral from the front

12th May
Cadiz - Jerez de la Frontera - Cadiz

On our way to Cadiz, we passed by a town called Jerez de la Frontera and saw that they had a festival going on. We decided to hop over to participate in the fun and it was well worth it!

Tapas time

Having our dinner back in Cadiz

13th May
Cadiz - Madrid

View of Cadiz

Madrid train station

Very delicious paella. Now you see it,

now you don't!

14th to 15th May
Madrid - Paris

Plaza Mayor

Lunch in a very happening cafe

Time to head back to Paris

Super outdated post: Bali, Indonesia Trip - 13th to 16th February 2011

2011-09-06T15:08:00.001+02:00

13th February

Since we arrived late, we only had time to take a walk around Kuta, and get a feel of the place.

14th February

We went to Seminyak and it is definitely a much nicer place compared to the touristy Kuta.

Hindu temple in Seminyak

Bottles of ~~Vodka~~ petrol

While trying to walk to the massage parlour, we saw a field right beside the highway.

Our V Day dinner!

15th February

After a hearty breakfast, we went shopping in the market and headed to Uluwatu after a late lunch. The view was fantastic and there were so many monkeys!

My all time favourite - Salty breakfast

Lunch

Very yummy nasi goreng

Greeted by monkeys the minute we arrived at Uluwatu

Back to Kuta for dinner

16th February

After a very relaxing morning by the beach, we headed to the airport and back to Singapore.

Our Wedding - 7th May 2011, Episode 1 of 3

2011-07-07T12:30:00.000+02:00

Two weeks before the wedding, I started preparing the napkin rings and place cards for the wedding dinner.

When people asked me how's the preparation, I would go, 'There isn't a lot of things to prepare actually.' And I believed in it.

If only I knew. On the day of the wedding, we were up early and only finished with all the preparations (including dolling up) 10 minutes before 4pm, the time that we were scheduled to be in the town hall. I was completely stressed up till that moment to say our vows, but once standing there beside my love, all the stress went away. It was a touching and sincere moment for me when we became husband and wife.

We continued with our celebration of vin d'honneur and dinner till 1am with the close family of Philippe. It was an intimate and enjoyable first round of celebration. Two more to go, and looking forward to them! How lucky am I as a bride, who gets to go through the celebration three times in her life.

Preparations

Busy busy!

The groom waiting for his bride

At the town hall

Hand bouquet from my mother-in-law

It is time to say 'I do'!

Husband and wife!

Calling my parents

Vin d'honneur

Exchanging rings

Dinner time

Time for the routine

Pièce montée from Mémé

Our Wedding Bands

2011-04-13T18:58:00.001+02:00

We collected our wedding bands on Monday!

We have decided on these wedding bands quite a while ago, but as our wedding dates were still a mystery to us then, we told the shop that we will get back to them in a weeks' time for the date to be engraved. Two weeks flew by, and not being able to decide which date of the 3 weddings is the most significant, we decided to use the date when our love story begins. And so here they are!

The hand that will hold me in his and protect me forever...

Love!!

Hong Kong 26th to 30th January 2011

2011-04-11T22:19:00.002+02:00

For the trip back to Singapore for CNY this year, we decided to have a short holiday in Hong Kong before arriving in SG, followed by Bali before we came back to France.

26th January 2011

After travelling for 14 hours on flight, with a transit in London, we finally arrived in Hong Kong before 3pm.

First stop of course, was to eat!

I couldn't wait, so we headed to Maxim's in the airport for dim sum

After dropping off our luggages, we headed out for dinner and breathed in the atmosphere of the city that never sleeps!

The ever colourful and lively Mong Kok

Dinner - Delicious and spicy Tom Yum Soup

Supper - Mango dessert at 许留山, the moment I had been waiting for!

27th January 2011

We went to Charlie Brown café for breakfast, which Phil had been telling me about since 2009. Finally, it was my chance to see it! And I totally understand why he likes it so much.

So cute... Who wouldn't fall in love with the café?

黄大仙寺

Time for lunch - So good!

After lunch, we walked around Tsim Sha Tsui and towards Star Ferry terminal.

It was pretty hazy during our time there

Avenue of Stars

28th January 2011

Breakfast at 茶餐厅

What happens every morning along Ladies' Market

Setting up of stalls

Coffee break on Hong Kong Island

On the way to The Peak tram station

Going up on the tram

The peak

Along The Peak trek

Look like Lego buildings...

After leaving The Peak, we headed to Repulse Bay as I read from the internet that there is a BIG shopping mall there. Surprise surprise. It seemed the construction of the mall has stopped halfway and there was absolutely nothing there... I was really disappointed and hungry, as I thought we could have our lunch there. Sigh...

Repulse Bay

The only good surprise was after this promenade,

there is this old temple and behind it, there are many statues of deities.

Including 月下老人! So it wasn't so bad after all.

Since the afternoon at Repulse Bay ended earlier than planned, we had enough time to head to Stanley, a place that I liked when I went to HKG with my parents in 2005. Luckily, it is still as I remembered.

Ended our night at Lan Kwai Fong

29th January 2011

We had dim sum breakfast in 新世纪广场 before heading to Lamma Island for the day.

What a great start to a day!

Decoration for the Rabbit year. Cute!

Along the fish market

We took a ferry to Hong Kong Island to get to Lamma Island

On the way to Lamma Island

Arrived in Lamma Island after around 40 minutes. We began our long walk from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan (orange line on the map). It looked like such a straight road on the map, I was in for a surprise. The long climb started from here!

Inside this kitchen was the wonderful smell of cooking on charcoal. Reminded me of a smell I remembered from my childhood. How nice it was...

洪聖爺灣海灘

Somewhere close to the beach is an organic herb garden which has quite a special atmosphere. I felt like I was in a secret garden.

We arrived on Lookout Pavilion after trekking non stop for more than an hour. The long climb was worth it when we reached this point. And of course, the seafood dinner after. I did not take any photos of the food, as my camera lens started vibrating again, a problem that started when I arrived in Hong Kong.

30th January 2011

On our last day in Hong Kong, we took things easy and enjoyed a cuppa in Charlie Brown. Bliss!

Bella Roma 18 to 21 March 2011

2011-03-28T20:05:00.002+02:00

We headed to Rome over the weekend to celebrate Phil's birthday. He had been telling me how he feels that Rome is the most beautiful city and which he loves. So where else to go but Rome?

After waking up at 2.15am to catch the 7.10am flight to Ciampino, we arrived in a very sunny Rome. I really love how everywhere we turn, we can catch glimpses of archaeological sites and beautiful architectures, both ancient and new.

Along the way to the colosseum, all I saw were beautiful architectures

And of course, fountains

Colosseum

There are archaeological sites everywhere, the whole city is a conservative site

The 'typewriter' - Altare della Patria

It was not too difficult to guess that it was the season of artichokes

Tiber river, which was very muddy due to the rain before we arrived

Pillow cases made Italian flag - even the pegs were the same colour!

Zucchini flowers - why oh why am I not living in Rome...

Piazza Navona

Pantheon - the only building that we managed to squeeze in without having to queue for hours

Trevi fountain

Vatican city

Their own Vatican post - mails get posted out fast!

Castel Sant Angelo

Court of Cassation

Vatican city across the Tiber river

Real wood oven pizza in the making!

Yum!

We went to Nemi, a tranquil little town in the province of Rome. Despite having some tourists around, the town is still filled with a sense of peacefulness.

Lake Nemi

See you again soon, Roma.

Countdown to 2011

2011-01-01T18:05:00.001+01:00

We ushered in the new year with good food, great wine, and awesome company. Happy New Year 2011! May we be surrounded by only good people and be filled with happiness everyday!

The only pictures I took of the food for the night was the appetizer. We were too busy eating and laughing after that.

Priceless pictures of the man slut!

White Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T17:02:00.000+01:00

It had been snowing in Paris quite frequently before Christmas, and being the first time to see snow falling, I was really excited. But being in the North of France during Christmas, oh my gosh... I can die of excitement from seeing so much snow!

Presents for everyone

On the road

Presents for everyone and from everyone!

Dessert for the night

Christmas Day

We tried to build a snowman but as the snow was too cold, it was impossible to stick. So our snowman ended up looking more like a duck.

Us!

Not so scary ice stalactites

The scary, pointy ones

We really had great fun in the snow. For all I know, this might be my one and only chance to see so much snow in the North. According to the family, they have not seen the snow so thick in the past, not even the 90 years old grandma. Lucky I am!

4th Dec - Snowy morning in Paris

2010-12-05T17:03:00.000+01:00

The beginning of the snow

Getting heavier

Having fun with snowball fight

After 2.5 hours of snowing

Tuileries in Autumn

2010-11-07T19:30:00.001+01:00

Baba Bling Exhibition 23rd to 31st October 2010 Part II

2010-11-01T13:25:00.002+01:00

Some other pictures taken during the Baba Bling exhibition in Paris.

Photos of the Eiffel Tower to and fro the museum over the days

Beading

With the performer for the wedding celebration

Handicrafts of the children from the clay workshop

With Katherine

My first painting attempt of a kebaya on myself

My second painting of a dragonfly

My third painting of a butterfly

My fourth, fifth paintings of a bracelet and star

and sixth of a ring

seventh of a tengkat

And finally, I'm ready to paint on others!

On the last day of the exhibition

A group photo of the people involved. Say 'Baba Bling!'

Baba Bling Exhibition 23rd to 31st October 2010 Part I

2010-11-01T13:04:00.002+01:00

Finally, the special workshops for the Baba Bling exhibition organized by The Peranakan Museum Singapore has come to an end. It was hard work but I had a fulfilling time, attached to the talented Katherine and Patrick, the Face Painting team from Little Crystal Paints.

The couple hard at work

Here are some of the great works done by them, specially for the Baba Bling Peranakan theme.

太阳公公起床了

2010-10-21T15:24:00.002+02:00

My mum was telling me that Qin has been singing a song for the past few days which she learned from school. It is a song from a Chinese drama 早安老师 from 1989 but my mum can't really catch the lyrics. And so, I set upon the task of searching for the lyrics, and oh, how nostalgic it makes me feel! I'm so happy that the teachers are teaching the children of today to learn this song!

I'm sure my friends will all be able to recognize the song and sing to it just by looking at the lyrics! I hope you will enjoy this song as much as me, and the fond memories of yesteryears while listening to this song.

太阳公公起床了
公鸡喔喔把我们叫
你追我赶大家赛跑
看谁最先到学校
看到孩子可爱的笑
多少辛劳也忘了
老师早同学们好
我们开始上课了

老师讲课我睡着了
老师发问我把头摇
望着黑板心在沙滩
你扮渔民我扮海盗
现在读书不用功
将来后悔太迟了
老师早同学们好
我们上课了

昨日送走成材的木
今日灌溉新幼苗
老师早同学们好
我们开始上课了
老师早同学们好
我们开始上课了

Goodness from Singapore!

2010-10-13T10:06:00.001+02:00

I just received a parcel from my dear friend, Pin and her sister! It was for the wonderful time they had in France and also, for my birthday. But we would like to thank them for visiting us here and travelling together!

I'm so happy and touched by the kind gesture and thoughtfulness. :D

Thank you again, ladies! Gros bisous!

Autumn in Paris

2010-10-13T00:01:00.001+02:00

I took a walk in the late afternoon under the nice warm Autumn sun and enjoyed the sight, at the same time reminding myself to be careful about the terrorist alert. Still! Paris is indeed beautiful in Autumn.

Église de la Madeleine

Along Place de la Concorde

Lovers locked their love on Pont des Arts

Ein Prosit

2010-10-12T23:27:00.001+02:00

Ah... This song brings back wonderful memories of the Oktoberfest! Every few minutes or so, the band would play this song and everyone would raise their beer mugs, sing along, and toast to each other around the table, with friends made that day over beer. Enjoy!

9th October 2010 Montmartre

2010-10-12T22:12:00.003+02:00

Fête des Vendanges

On the hillside not far from Sacré-Cœur and the Place du Tertre, are the famous vineyards of Montmartre. To celebrate the grape harvest each year, five days of cultural activities and games are organized, with the Grand procession of guilds and folkloric groups from all over France wearing traditional costumes, and the most important, to celebrate the French drink. Wine!

The very good dinner that we had in a local restaurant

Wednesday 6 October 2010

2010-10-09T14:34:00.002+02:00

On a bright and sunny day 30 years ago, a little baby girl was born to her doting parents. Today, she celebrated her 30 years on Earth with the man that she loves, and it was a day filled with happiness and surprises!

Surprise 1

Surprise 2

Such a cute birthday banner!

Surprise 3

We had our first authentic Japanese lunch in Paris. Finally! After all the Japanese food by Chinese chef. This is the best!

I went shopping in the afternoon and saw the works of this street artist

Work in progress

Later in the evening

Finished product

Surprise 4 (not exactly, because I picked the design myself, but he suggested the article)

The little blue box! What's in?

It's a ring! But don't get excited, my friends. It's my Birthday ring, not engagement ring

Surprise 5

Received it through the postman the day after

We headed to a great Thai restaurant for dinner

Surprise 6

What would birthday be without the chance to blow out a candle

Birthday cake (which I insist on having every year) completed with a birthday song

Surprise 7

The day ended with champagne

Knowing I'm all alone here without my family and friends, Phil did his best to compensate me and planted me with little surprises throughout the day that really filled my heart with joy and happiness. Completed with the wishes sent to me from friends and family, I thus enter the other phase of my life.

Germany Part II

2010-10-05T23:19:00.002+02:00

4th October 2010

We had some time to explore Augsburg before heading back to Paris.

Vending machines for cigarettes can be found anywhere

Big German breakfast

Basilika St. Ulrich und Afra

Erlebnis Stadtmarkt

Yummy Japanese ramen for half the price in Paris

The German foodcourt

Transiting in Mannheim to Paris

Where do you live? Worms

Mannheim

Meal on the train in First class back to Paris

We spent a short time in Germany, but I really enjoyed myself thoroughly. I think this will get into the list of 'Best weekends in Europe'!

2nd to 4th October - Germany

2010-10-05T22:46:00.000+02:00

After almost giving up hopes of attending Oktoberfest, we finally made it! We searched for more than a week for CSers to host us in Munich, but being the festival period, everyone rejected us. Finally, Phil contacted a couple in Augsburg, 40 minutes by train to Munich, and voila! We made it, thanks to the lovely couple.

I had so much fun in Munich for the Oktoberfest! Under the influence of alcohol, everyone was friendly, happy, and funny. On top of the great ambience, the weather was fantastic, sausages were delicious, and of course, the German beer.

2nd October 2010

Boarding our train to Germany

Speed of the train: 303km/h

Welcome to the foreign country! Connecting in Stuttgart to Augsburg

The first lady that I spotted in the beautiful German dress, dirndl.

I fell in love with the dress immediately and went crazy with the camera in Munich capturing the different designs, both for ladies and men!

In earlier times, each 'tracht' identified a person as belonging to a particular group in terms of social and legal status (married, single), origin or trade.

Today, the term is used to describe any garment reminiscent of the attire of rural communities. Regional varieties vary greatly.

Women's attire, the dirndl, consists of a closefitting bodice combined with an apron in a different colour. Sometimes its sleeveless and worn with a cotton and lace blouse, sometimes it features sleeves and a high neck. Hats are often costly and elaborate. They vary according to occasion and region: 'Goldhauben' (Upper Austria) and 'Bollenhut' (Black Forest region, Germany) are only worn on festive occasions.

A man's traditional clothing is made from leather, linen and wool. The 'Lederhosen', knee-length trousers or short-pants made from leather are worn with rustic shoes and wool socks. Again, jackets and hats vary according to region and occasion.

We arrived in Augsburg, and the first thing we did was to grab a beer!

And another

With the delicious Currywurst

3rd October 2010

Thanks to our lovely host, Lena, I fulfilled my wish to try out the dirndl

Between Augsburg and Munich, there is a lovely town called...

Munich train station

So many people were dressed in dirndl and lederhosen!

We took a little tour around Munich before heading to the festival

Lunch before our long walk to Oktoberfest

Unbeknownst to us, we were crossing the street to enter the magical world of carnival and festival

Countless beer tents

Our first drinks

All in our stomach

and everyone became friends!

The servers with their impressive strength

Another beer to go with the pork knuckle

More beer and sausages to call it a night

Till the next time, Oktoberfest!

26 to 28 September 2010

2010-10-02T10:58:00.001+02:00

We revisited Cap d'Agde to celebrate our first year anniversary, since it was where we started our love story. We also spent one night in Montpellier while we were at it.

Montpellier

Beautiful wall paintings

Between the real and the fake

Cap d'Agde

Back to where I spent 3 months of my life

The famous nudist beach

Drinks on The Port

Boat parking

Sunset against the port

View from the room

Breakfast on the balcony

The beautiful coastline

Agde, where we first held hands.... ;)

Happy Anniversary!

And, my present

Getting emotional with 30 round the corner

2010-10-02T00:34:00.001+02:00

I just read a blog post by one of my favourite blogger, Erin, who was feeling rather down at the point of blogging about how she felt she has wasted her 20s.

I can't help but feel that I'm with her. With the 3-0 lurking just a few days away, I am also making some reflection on what I have achieved in the past 10 years, since I stepped into the social university.

From the first job up till the nth jobs that I held, I did not manage to save up any fortune. Yes, our happiness may not be measured by the wealth that we have, but it is sadly the truth that everyone needs money to survive in this tough society.

By moving from one company to another, I was not able to climb up higher and thus not able to get more dough out of it. I am also always starting all over again, so I always remained at the bottom of the corporate ladder.

Every penny that came in were spent on useless things, like going to the clubs every weekend. Going on holidays. Buying things that I didn't need. Etc.

The time when I seriously started to try to save up some money was when I decided on coming to France. And by doing so, it had again depleted me of whatever that I had, and landed myself with debt.

Now, I have overstayed the duration that I am supposed to be away, and have officially been unemployed for one year, which means I am still ages away to clearing my debt.

Do I have regrets? I'm sure I do. Being an adult, I still have nothing to call my own. I still can't support myself even for daily necessities. I still can't provide for my parents when they have been doing it for me over the years. It feels shitty at times, really.

When I saw my friends' updates on FB, and some already have their own business, some doing great in their careers, some with their own families. Everyone seems to be far ahead of me. Here I am, still the same as 10 years ago.

What has changed? Nothing much, except that I am getting older, but none the wiser. It seems the past 10 years had just fled by, in the blink of an eye.

But of course, no matter how regretful we are, we have to live for the present and the future. What made us who we are today are the decisions we made from yesterdays. This is how we have to comfort ourselves.

I can however, say that the one thing I'm sure of is I had never for one day, regretted my decision to be here. The only regret that came associated with this decision, is the strain that it caused between me and my sisters.

2010-09-22T22:53:00.000+02:00

I successfully acted as a baby-sitter for a 3 and half years old boy for the past two days. He is simply adorable. Naughty at times, but mostly just cute. I love it when he wanted me to carry him, and holding me to watch his favourite cartoon before letting me go.

I caught myself smiling when I remembered the innocent laughter on his face. I am raging with maternal instinct now. Come to think of it, has been a while since my niece was born. Can't wait to have my own little one!

Ah... the joy of being close to a child. :)

2010-09-17T23:28:00.000+02:00

We went to the prefecture this afternoon with anxious hearts, and lo and behold! My visa renewal was done, without any hiccups like it was 5 months ago. Oh, the relief is sweet.

Double rainbow! Today must be my lucky day!

And I have dinner served!

Delicious appetizer of eggplant and mozzarella cheese

Breakfast for tomorrow has been prepared too!

Home-made Brioche

My latest gift

Laptop cushion. Love it!

A very Unsophisticated Blog Post

2010-09-16T20:27:00.003+02:00

I met this Asian secretary in the school who was rude to the MAX! Not once, but twice! I haven't been so angry for a long time. I was so angry that I trembled while I spoke to her this afternoon. The story was that:

I have to go to the prefecture again tomorrow to renew my visa, so I need a certificate from the school to prove that I have indeed, been going to school all these months.

So I made a request for it on the school's website 2 Wednesdays ago, and I went to ask the secretary on the next Monday, because the website said to collect it IN 7 days. I was a bit puzzled too with the IN 7 days, because how would I know to go on which day, the 3rd, 4th, or 5th?

Anyhow, I went to her and after asking me when I sent in the request, she said it was not ready, that 7 days were not including weekend, and it was AFTER 7 days, not IN.

*Je suis informé(e) que je pourrai réclamer mon certificat au Secrétariat dans 7 jours.: Oui

(This was the statement that we declared after submitting the form online. Dans, not après. Unless the French has another way to interpret this sentence then too bad.)

Damn rude lah! That woman. Simple question like that she replied with her face totally black and no smile and tone sibei rude. Asked her when I can come back to collect, she said to just come back to ask after 7 days. WTH

So yesterday, I went back to collect the certificate and I received it from another colleague of hers, but something was not quite right with the duration. So I went again today to check, and it was the rude Asian woman again. I talked to her politely and even thanked her for the certificate first before I asked her the question! I told her that I didn't understand, that how come it was written that I studied for a total duration of 3 months, but it was dated for 26/04/2010 to 28/05/2010, and 12/06/2010 to 10/09/2010?

So obvious right??? It was obviously wrong!

But she insisted she was right, took out her documents and counted to me, so I pointed out the dates printed on my certificate and they added up to more than 3 months!

So angry. She accused me of accusing her and said I don't believe her, and shoved a calendar into my hands and asked me to count myself, all the while complaining about me loudly that it was me who made a mistake. I was sooooo angry that I was trembling. And I was polite! All this while!

So I told her while I counted, 你有必要这么激动吗? 我不了解所以才问你, 有错吗?
Something to that effect. So I counted the weeks and voila! She was wrong.

I counted in front of her, and she don't believe. She said 你怎么算的?

妈的, TL.

So I counted again, this time she realised that it was her mistake, then finally softened her voice.TMD!

So angry! I was only asking, must be so worked up or not? Some more is her fault!

She still didn't admit it was her fault though, she said '他们' made a mistake. WTF

But actually, in a way, she didn't make a mistake with the duration. When she counted with her own set of documents, it was correct, because I took 1 month break in between June to Sepember.

But as the date on the certificate didn't indicate the date of the break that I took, she was wrong.

In the end they changed the date to indicate the break and the duration remained as 3 months. And guess what! There was a mistake in the date AGAIN! Urgh.. I want to die already.

Good mood post... sorta

2010-09-14T21:54:00.000+02:00

This post was supposed to be up on Sunday, but my good mood turned bad when I spotted another ratatouille! And unfortunately this time round, the little bastard was too clever and escaped without being trapped.

Last night, the same (we assumed) ratatouille appeared arrogantly, and sashayed slowly towards the kitchen. This little bastard! It must have thought we would not be able to catch it. It even had the audacity to climb onto the kitchen top when Phil was right there, in the kitchen! Urgh.. If I wasn't that scared, I would have strangled it with my bare hands. Imagine my joy when barely 10 minutes later, we heard the fabulous 'kiap' sound coming from the trap. Hiding behind Phil, I witnessed the death of the mouse. Hiak hiak hiak. So happy!

And thanks to the mouse, I had to clean up the kitchen today. One by one, I washed all the bottles, glasses, pots... and cleaned the kitchen top and stove. Still not done yet! Grr... Now, Phil is cutting up a piece of wood in the hope of sealing up all possible entrance for the ratatouilles. Hate them!

On to the reason for having good mood! For the past 9 months, I always thought all the shops were closed on Sunday so there was no where we could go to shop around and buy things. How wrong I was! The secret that had been kept from me was finally revealed...

Tadah! With over 120 boutiques to shop from!

There are also Ikea, Castorama, Celio outlets next door! The catch is, it is in the outskirt of Paris, so it took us quite a while to arrive. In case you would like to check it out, take RER B (towards CDG airport) from Gare du Nord or Chatelet and alight at Parc des Expositions. From there, take bus no. 640 and after 5 mins, you arrive!

As there were road diversions, we had to take a longer route to arrive. So after arriving there close to 4pm, we didn't have enough time to go to the rest after hanging all afternoon in Usines Center and Ikea.

Swedish meatballs! Have not eaten them for the longest time. But I think the ones that I had in Singapore tasted better..

Almond tart from Ikea

The things that we bought over the weekend! So happy!

I love the pair of jeans that I bought in one of the boutiques in Forum des Halles. Only 12 euros and they fit nicely! It is similar to 'This Fashion' where most of the items are cheap. Overall, it had been a great weekend of shopping since Xmas time last year! Can you believe I haven't been buying anything other than groceries all these months? So impress with myself! Hahaha

Crime Scene Investigation of the Ratatouille

2010-09-12T13:56:00.003+02:00

The tools used to take care of the ratatouille:

The trap was set

And the rat was trapped!

Thanks to the help of the little piece of cheese and my very brave man

As I wrote last night, I spotted a disgusting small ratatouille at about 1am. I screamed for Phil and he bravely setted up the trap in the kitchen and went to bed.

At about 1.30am, sheeze, the ratatouille made its appearance again, and was about to run towards the couch where I was sitting before it ran back into hiding when, I guess, it caught me staring at it. I was too scared to be up awake, alone with the ratatouille so I went to bed and asked poor Phil to stuff the opening below the bedroom door frame with a towel to prevent it from entering. I also kept the bedside lamp on in case it was attracted by darkness.

You know how it feels when you have the eerie feeling of something disgusting around you? Like imagined tickle up your thigh, etc. I kept feeling that and kicked around like a mad woman. I know, rats are everywhere, but this was the first time (and praying hard, last time!) that I found it in my common space. I was freaked out!

At 4am, we woke up again and Phil checked on the trap. It was still empty, with a piece of the cheese being nibbled off. Phil set the cheese properly again, and we went back to sleep.

This morning, Phil woke me up and informed me that the ratatouille was caught and he has thrown it downstairs. He reckoned that it probably got caught within 1 hour of readjusting the trap. So relieved! At least I will not have to be home alone feeling the little thing running around somewhere in the apartment.

The hole of the front door where it came in through

I saw it when it was near the hole, and it scurried close by the wall and into the kitchen. Urgh. Phil had made prevention measures (the other part of the door) when he moved in a couple years back but unfortunately, it was not enough. The thing that we can do now is to tuck the floor mat outside as close as possible, to seal up the hole.

2010-09-12T01:06:00.004+02:00

Urgh!!! The most disgusting thing has happened. A ratatouille ran into the apartment! Holy s**t! Phil has setted up the trap with a piece of delicious cheese. Hope it gets caught! *Shudder*

On to better things. We cooked crabs today! I cooked chilli crab and Phil cooked cold crab with mayonnaise.

Tourteau before being killed

My mum told me we can stab the tummy to kill them but as we were both too afraid, we decided to boil them to their death. Not that it is any much more benevolent, but.... Believe me, I really did struggle before killing them, but they are way too delicious not to be eaten!

After being boiled

Time to cut them up and clear off the insides

Finally! All geared up to attack the crabs

Chilli crab with Mum's recipe

Tourteau froid a la mayonnaise

Yummy! Phil was not too used to eating crabs the Singapore way because the sauce was too messy being compared to the French way of preparing crab. But he has been totally won over by the chilli crab!

Recipe for cold crab:

Cook the crab in water with thyme, bay leaves, onions and white pepper and leave to boil with lid on for about 30 mins. Remove the crab from the pot and soak it in cold water. Drain dry and cut up the crab. And voila! The dish is ready, and serve with mayonnaise. They can be kept in the fridge to be eaten the next day too. This way of preparing crabs will enable us to taste the authentic flavour, which is delicious too!

Random pictures

Tart made by Phil with Mémé's recipe

Very unhealthy dinner but yummy

My present for our first year anniversary!

What's inside shall we disclosed in two weeks time...

Common Mistakes in English

2010-09-08T15:05:00.004+02:00

And well, since I'm on the topic of speaking good English, I can't help but notice some irritating errors that quite a lot of people make. I will just list a few most common ones and which I cringe at when I saw the mistakes being made.

Its vs It's
Its means 'belongs to it'. If you want to say 'the cat’s bag' you say 'its bag' not 'it’s bag'. 'The lasagne is delicious. Its flavour is superb!'

The apostrophe denotes an abbreviation: It’s is the contracted form of 'it is' or 'it has'. 'It’s a hot day.' 'It’s been great seeing you.'

They're vs Their vs There
They're is the contracted form of 'They are'. 'They're very interested in the event this Sunday.'

Their is the possessive pronoun form. This form is used to express that 'they' have a specific quality, or that something belongs to 'them'. 'Their house is in Paris.'

There is used as an introductory subject in sentences with 'There is' and 'There are'. It is also used as an adverb of place meaning 'in that place'.'There are many people visiting the exhibition.'

Your vs You're
Your is the possessive pronoun form. This form is used to express that something belongs to 'you'. 'I think your skills are outstanding.'

You're is the contracted form of 'You are'. 'You're going to have a great time!'