the hairdresser must be crazy

According to my sister, this is how idiotic I look.

soft focus

This is a more flattering photo of him than of me, but it is perfectly lit and completely unposed.

crochety old lady

My pair of cushy cushions are finally done.


But looking at this Flickr photo I found by Pezquehina, I feel like I've cheated by making such huge giant enormous squares, instead of 10,000 teeny ones.

blasts from the past

It's been an emotionally draining day on top of an inhospitable fortnight on top of a month that has tested my resolve.

These were good for a chuckle and some nostalgia for a couple of minutes at least this morning when I dug them out.


My past life as Qwerty the all-powerful mage with her trusty tanker Tobong, who also doodles pretty well during lectures. Ah, good ol' days of MUD and magic mushrooms.


The Flying Fish! And Lee Nam Heng!


Notice how Xiang Yun's poster is twice the size of her to-be-husband's?


Samsui Woman! I couldn't find any photos of The Awakening though.


In The Mood For Love. Am gonna frame up these cards properly and display them instead of just sticking them in a box. Mustn't waste Maggie and Tony!


I was so in love with him. He's so dreamy. And Mannequin is still my fave movie.

small is beautiful

The Nutshell Studies Of Unexplained Deaths is a fascinating book combining criminal forensics with dollhouse miniatures. Not unlike those recent CSI episodes that just aired.

From Apartment Therapy

bun, ban, banh

Bun cha: My sissy's fave dish of grilled pork patties and rice noodles with fish sauce. We had an inferior version in a high-class restaurant, but this roadside one was much oilier and hence better.


Banh beo: My fave dish. They're like chwee kueh, but with tasty little prawny morsels on top.


Banh xeo: Vietnamese crispy pancake, not unlike the Korean variety.


Bun bo: Squiggly short fat noodles in super savoury beef and crab soup.


Dunno what this is called, but it's deep-fried spring rolls eaten with a tangy mayo dip.

Belatedly, I realised that I didn't shoot any pho bo or rice paper spring rolls. Probably because I was too eager to dig in. Vietnamese food is too yummy!

strings attached

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

This made me pause and take a moment.

missing saigon

Was in dire need of a perk-me-up in the afternoon, so decided to MacGyver my own ca phe sua da in the office canteen.

Ingredients: three tablespoons of condensed milk, half a styrofoam cup of black coffee, all the ice the cup could hold. Straw for ineffective stirring, optional.

Total cost: $0.40.

Taste test: It was nowhere close to Trung Nguyen, it was more like cold condensed milk flavoured with coffee.

drip drip drip

Don't worry, I've not forgotten my threat to inflict my Vietnam holiday snaps on you. But it will have to wait because I've been up to my eyeballs...

But here's the best thing I learned while in Ho Chi Minh City: That I can drink coffee if it's sugared and milked and iced, without my heart racing and my head spinning.

I'm not sure what I love more -- the slow contemplative drip, the sweet swirl of thick coffee being stirred into even thicker condensed milk, or the crackling of ice as the hot hits the cold. Ah, what I'd give for a glass of ca phe sua da right now...

rush hour

Tourist snaps of Vietnam trip coming soon -- be warned!



In the meantime, here's a video of the swarms of motorbikes in Saigon. I would have shot one too, except that I was hanging on for dear life.

But no crappy camera phone can capture the exhilaration of weaving through traffic without ever stopping for a red light, the wind whipping through my hair, and the amazement after every ride that I was still alive.

miss saigon

Some stuff to keep you occupied:
-- mag goss on Glossed Over. Pay special attention to the interesting fact you didn't know about Katherine McPhee.
-- create your own library catalogue cards here. Trust me, it's fun after you finish filling up the form.
-- find out how alike you are to me in terms of our Visual DNA.
-- search for your fave Calvin & Hobbes strip. Somehow, I still haven't been able to find that particular one which made me cry [in a sweet, not tragic, way.]

All crocheting and cross-stitching is on hold as I'm off to Vietnam, but I'll be...

pins and needles

I made a needlebook. A what? A book to keep my needles. Made of felt. Pattern adapted from Martha Stewart, which has a treasure trove of DIY projects, and variations on Etsy, which I love more than eBay these days.

lost in the magic hour

I love this so much, I had to buy it. Etsy is a very dangerous place.

mi mi mi

Learn some new words. See if you can remember them in an hour's time.


Amigurumi [unbearably cute knitted or crocheted animals and figures], from the super talented people over at Etsy.


Unazukin [Japanese dolls, inspired by Russian ones, which nod or shake their heads in response to questions], from the crazy people at Bandai who gave us the Tamagotchi.


Nuigurumi [miniatures made of felt], also from Etsy.

the bag page

Assorted items found while rummaging through bag: Contact lens case [with lenses still soaking in solution within, to be thrown away by the end of the day], plastic frame glasses [550/450 degrees R/L respectively, to go to some short-sighted soul with no access to Lasik], small dropper of eye drops, large dropper of what I thought were eye drops, green-and-pink pouch from Geewee for various crochet paraphernalia, half-done greyish granny square, fluffy yellow ball of wool, metal crochet needle [in size 6, if anyone cares], violet striped notebook with three years' worth of "important" information scribbled inside, brown polka dotted make-up pouch.

eye am a moron

Luckily, my little mistake with the dropper bottles didn't do any damage to my peepers.

i can see clearly now

Well, not 100% clearly -- yet. But it's been less than 12 hours since my Lasik operation, and already I can watch TV and use the computer without needing glasses, which is a vast improvement.

Have to put on my bug eyes soon to go to bed.

Update: Five minutes after I posted the above, I applied my hourly eyedrops to my right eye. My eye burned like crazy. "Why is my eye so painful?" I asked my sis, my voice rising in alarm.

I looked down at the bottle I was holding. Through my non-100% vision, I saw that, instead of the prescribed eydrops, I had used the anti-bacterial solution meant for my toes.

My right eye is still red and painful and blurry now, after using lots of eye wash to rinse it out. What have I done!?!

how do you pronounce crocheting?

As an antidote to all that crazy crochet, here's some even crazier stuff:

Museum of Kitschy Stitches
What Not To Crochet

conehead

Poor doggie got bit or pierced by something in his genitals. And there're now two puncture wounds, a black sore and blood and pus oozing out. I can only imagine the pain.

He is not his inquisitive hyperactive self today, because he is all drugged out from painkillers and disoriented by the plastic cone he has to wear.

He's so embarrassed by how unfashionable it is that he doesn't want to step out of the house. He can't go down the stairs without help as the cone keeps getting stuck on the grooves on the steps. Doggie treats and meowing kitties don't excite him one bit.

And he is so depressed that he just stands in the middle of the room with his head drooping for long minutes. He doesn't follow me as I go about doing my laundry. He doesn't want to sniff my lunch. He isn't interested in jumping onto the bed anymore.

My doggie is sad.

granny-along

Meet my fellow hookers here. It's called a Granny-Along, and proves that I'm not the only one afflicted with the insane urge to make granny squares. There are already more than 30 members and hundreds of squares, and the madness only started last week!

In related news, I just went to Ikea in the pouring rain -- my shoes were filled with water and I could wring the rain out from my dress -- with one very wet square to measure against the cushions there. Fingers are crossed that my 3x3 squares are not too big for the kelly green cushion I bought.