Two are better than one

'Two are better than one; 

because they have a good reward for their labour.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: 

but woe to him that is alone when he falleth;

for he hath not another to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, 

then they have heat: 

but how can one be warm alone?

And if one prevail against him, 

two shall withstand him; 

and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.'

- Ecclesiastes 4: 9 - 12

Meet me at Mike's

By Pip Lincolne

I hope to buy this book and make some lovely crafts to share!
Hopefully find time to visit the shop itself for a real treat.
 X Cross your fingers for me X

A blessing

Golda Meir with Pinhas Lavon

'Not being beautiful was the true blessing. 

Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources.

 The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome.'

-Golda Meir

Israel's fourth Prime Minister

To dance like Giselle

Picture by Jean-Pierre Maurin from here

'Dance like no one is watching

Love like you've never been hurt

Work like you don't need the money

And live like its heaven on earth'

- William Watson Purkey

Architour '10 - Domesticity

 Jalan Siap - embracing the 3Rs

Protect the castle!

 Beautiful imperfections

 Looking out inside

 I shall not want

It's crowded at this home today

A happy-looking house in Jalan Siap's neighbourhood

Next stop - Jalan Rukam

A pond within the house

A tree within the living room

Other side of the living room

Go down

Go up

Much to learn and admire

A piece of your sky

Living inside a botanical garden

Continue discovering

Great weekend with great friends

 Miss S.

Mister P.

Had a really great weekend with P & S. They are completely responsible for The-Great-Day-Out. P saved me from a potential disaster because I left my wallet at home and happily went on my way to meet them. He took a cab to my place to pick me up in time for the National Gallery guided tour (and loaned me the SD card which I also forgot to bring, and money too)

Yes, I do feel quite ashamed of myself.

S booked the ArchiTour for the afternoon and we had such a great dinner at Ootoya!

Let's go out more!

L'Empire des lumières - René Magritte

L'Empire des lumières  (Empire of Lights)

My Polish friend, Slawek introduced me to this work by René Magritte. If I did not remember wrongly, it was one of his favourite. Magritte was famous for his pipe painting where on it was written "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe"). 

I like this picture very much too as it alludes to many things in life for me. 

I hope you enjoy it too and find out more about Magritte and his pictures here.

霜叶红于二月花 (Autumn leaves surpasses spring flowers)

Picture from Chaemii's

I attended a Chinese concert '霜叶红于二月花' with my mother last night at the Saint Andrew's Cathedral. It was a free concert with tickets from my piano teacher. The concert was organised for the elderly and I thought the theme - 霜叶红于二月花 was beautiful and apt.

How often the beauty of the those in the autumn of their lives surpass the youthful ones. During the concert (all performed by the autumn ones) I was particularly impressed with a very old lady from China. She took to the stage in a stately blue gown and walked slowly to the grand piano on account of her age. But once she got herself settled, she was transformed as I was transfixed. Her agility, grace, and poise at the piano put me to complete shame. As she played, she did not appear to be playing, but willing the ivories to her touch and drawing the loveliest voice out of the the piano. It was nothing short of astounding.

She has definitely set the bar for me and I can only hope that I keep to the beat and in the years to come -  grow into a beautiful 霜叶too.

Breakfast at Cluny's

Idyllic breakfast at Simply Bread -Cluny

Pictures from here

Breakfast at Simply Bread with Neighbour last Saturday was really great. I love the long windows where the morning sun floods in. Neighbour like the white decor. I have yet to have had a better plate of scrambled eggs.

Scrambled eggs on buttered fresh toast, cinnamon buns and raspberry buns. I can feel my salivary glands going into overdrive even now.

I am going to discover more breakfast places!

Day and Night - Gao Xingjian

Taken from here

The exhibition on Gao Xingjian's works at Singapore Art Museum years ago was one of the best I had seen. I found out later that he was a Nobel laureate for his literature work. I had seen one of the interviews with him by Channel 8 a few years ago and if I did not remember wrong, he said something to the effect of, 'Where words end, painting begins'

The stark solitude of the characters in his paintings echoes deep.

Spider Lily of my morning

Spider lily at 7.20am

Have you spotted the giant Havanias?

Slippers that might fit the BFG (Big Friendly Giant)

Home-made goodness

Making your own meal is an experience nothing short of gratifying.

The colours, the smells, the mmm-so-good feeling that comes with each mouthful.

When I cook alone, I pretend I am demonstrating on a cookshow, expounding on the finer points of the culinary art to my invisible audience.

Here's a little of what went on in Min's cookshow today:

Brocolli flowers blanched in hot water and put to steam

+

Fresh salmon marinated in salt and lemon juice

Cooked under low heat with a (smalll) knob of butter

+

Potatoes boiled till able to put a fork through

+

Along, with finely sliced shitake mushrooms, diced zucchinis (and a secret ingredient)

=

A satisfying salmon lunch


Would you like to try it too?
(I mean try cooking it)

Tan Hong Ming

She does like you, Tan Hong Ming :)

Tanglin School Carnival (Episode 3: People)

Games stall also manned by Class 3/2

This kid is good! He got all three bottle caps into the pink slots!

Michael Han (in green sleeves) gets the Most Frequent Visitor award

He probably played about 10 times and each time he asked me for discount.

My gamestall bodyguards - 

I've never known of more gentle and hardworking boys.

THE Brother with 'Happy Belly'

Vanda Miss Joaquim

Adorable little one enjoying chocolate fondue

Tanglin School Carnival (Episode 2: Walkabout)

I walked around the school when the fried rice sold out (Thanks to Azri's hard sell tactics) Here are some things I saw.

Student enjoying prata

(Touted to be the best food of the carnival)

Orchids from Andy's garden

Taking a rest in the shade

Old school yellow orchid

Art and craft cloths

Ginger flower bathing in the sun

Tanglin's koi pond

Tanglin School Carnival (Episode 1: Fried Rice Paradise)

Azri scoops

Junhong packs

Grace stacks and Jiahui commands

Perfect mounds of fried rice (5 tokens each)

Poor little young ones terrorised by Azri to part with 8 tokens