life is like a basket of cupcakes

life. something that has no direct nor definite definition. on everyone's end, people think of life with a reflection of theirs in their mind. "Life is a condition that distinguishes organisms from non-organic objects, i.e. non-life, and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally." (thanks to wikipedia) but is that the only definition? how do you define your own life? if life can be defined in a simple sentence, wouldn't that make our lives mundane?

hmmm i guess there's some confusion between "life" and "live", but nonetheless, do you find yourself having difficulty in grasping either of these definitions? "live", to people who do have their basic needs met, is definitely not defined as survival, nor is it for food and water, but for something that cannot be bought, something that cannot be obtained easily. other than having a sense of security, a sense of belongingness, but most importantly the sense of being loved.

i bet half of it on top was rubbish wasn't it? haha it wasn't convincing enough...where are my GP skills? haha. anyway, my title speaks for itself. in a sense it was influenced by a couple of factors (you know, anime (they have so many cakes inside lar!), and also hunger basically), but ya i guess i wanted to remember what it felt like to make something together. maybe not for a particular someone yet, but at least the feeling of making something together. was working with my mum this time, and it was pretty fun. although i guess i have totally 0 skill in baking, after much guidance i think it turned out pretty well. i think i still need to learn a lot more, but basically here's the recipe for it!

Vanilla Cup Cakes!
125g butter (suggest you use the SIS version, they have weight markings along the way)
1/2 cup sugar (fine grain)
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk (evaporated)
1/2 teaspoon vanila
1 1/2 cup self raising flour

Equipment required
1 metal whisk (preferable if you use a electronic beater)
1 beating bowl
lots of paper towels
1 oven
1 weighing scale
1 measuring cup
1 folding knife (or a rice scoop)

1. Cream butter, add sugar and beat until light and creamy
(tips : please leave the butter out to melt first and don't be an idiot like me)

2. Add egg yolks, one by one, and beat well
(reason being if you beat the egg yolks first, some will be residual in the bowl itself)

3. Add egg whites, which have been beaten into a thick froth, folding in

4. Add flour (sifted), a little at a time, and fold till smooth.

5. Add milk and vanilla

6. After mixing, put batter into tin, lined and greased (butter)
(i suggest you use bigger moulds for this or your cupcakes will turn outta shape)

7. Put in medium oven (170-200 degrees celcius) for 15-20 mins, and test occasionally with toothpick to see if it's ready.

my next target...cookies! woot! haha but it sure wasn't easy, it's pretty hard work. i really admire those bakers who can do it on sure a daily basis. adding ingredient by ingredient, it's a tedious process, and how it turns out depends on how you do the steps in between. you can only beat one way, and ya there are pretty strict rules here, but that's to help it turn out well in the end!

i really wish i have someone to bake for next time (:

or maybe i already have? haha...till next time!

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Now playing: Rina Satō, Marina Inoue, and Minori Chihara - Keikenchi Joushouchuu☆ (経験値上昇中☆)
from Minami-ke
via FoxyTunes

singapore airshow 2008!

unlike previous airshows, this is singapore's first time in organising a homeland airshow. i can remember my previous visits to the asian airshow at changi...agonising queues, but hot models. plane models that is.

really. plane models.

the long queues at pasir ris!

anyway, despite warnings, i decided to meet my fellow cousin and friends there at pasir ris mrt for the shuttle bus. sorry qingzhen, haha five peeps cannot take cab. and you were right. there were so many people going for it lar! the snakelike queue was so long that the end was at the start, meaning that the queue had made one round around pasir ris mrt itself. i will omit some details, but we queued about 1 plus hour and had to endure a 30minute bus ride towards the airshow ground. the only redeeming factor was that the bus was airconditioned, and our driver pulled a miracle in driving on the opposite lane to overtake about 5 buses and quite a dozen of taxis, allowing us to arrive much earlier than others, which was received with great applause by us haha. i still feel a bit warm due to the sunburn, but i guess i'm alright. it's a wonder how some people dressed in full protective suits (black tudongs, black shirts, black pants, or jeans if you might call them) managed to survive. it brought back memories of the heat intensity during our commissioning parade trainings and ya, the feeling called "really hot lar!" anyway, we had to endure another short queue upon entering the airshow due to the security and stuff, but i guess that was rather short so i shan't complain too much. overall we took 2 whole hours to get there. okay 1 and a half hours. omitting some details...haha. kidding lar.

anyway, we reached there at about 12pm, and after settling down, the airshow started at about 1215. of course there's a lotta talk that the airshow displays are awesome, so i couldn't wait to see for myself. simply put, they were spot on. the F16 black knights, the first to come on, showed such great confidence and grace in their various flight displays, and you could see that these professionals are flight veterans who know what they are doing with pin point accuracy. it was so breathtaking that at some point you wonder if these pilots are human or computer controlled. similarly for the F/A-18 from the US, great maneuvers! i'll let the pics do the talking then!

our black knights!

inverted knights!

cupid's arrow!

and of course, our A380! chio isn't it?

the australian roulettes

static displays

after that followed a short visit of the flight displays of some of the interesting looking planes and definitely some which were head turners. too bad we couldn't get any food after staying there without lunch, and after a short tour of the exhibitions, we left back for pasir ris, of course, queueing, again.

exhibition display of a 777 engine

another long queue back home!

i'm pretty much inspired to do aerospace engineering now. in a sense that what i do next time will definitely have an impact on the lives of the people in the air. fuel efficiency, speed, durability, strength...but definitely one factor that people all require, trust. i can't wait to enter NTU lar!

anyway here's a short lame joke i heard from the airshow while queuing. disclaimer, it's damn lame, but please, if you have the answer, just put it on the tagboard! haha...okay here goes.

siu mai

cha shao bao

man tou

cha shao bao, man tou and siu mai were great friends. however, one day, siu mai was killed. after they were informed of the news, cha shao bao cried but man tou didn't cry. why? (thanks to wikipedia for the pictures) have a great day ahead!

month of endings and new beginnings

ah! it's already coming to the end of feb! feels pretty much like yesterday since chinese new year started. nonetheless, February is a month of endings and new beginnings. somehow what i feel that this month brought is not just happiness, but also redemption and quite a bit of reconciliation between people and families.

that being said, every new beginning should be something that we should always look forward to. even though it might mean not seeing each other for another 4 months, or even 7 years. a couple of friends who've left for kiwiland. to the kiwipluckers in new zealand (jim n' jiahua), please take care ya? and when you're free send some kiwis back (the fruit, not the bird) haha...and to my 2 friends going to aussie for medical studies (1 new found friend actually), gambate! but do remember us back home aye? (: we'll be rooting for you guys out there!

say, it has been a rather enjoyable time right? the past 2 weeks preceding cny...lotsa celebrations, food and meetups. just recently this week happened to pop by with seng ee into NJC. to be honest it hasn't changed really...i even managed to see one of my juniors there lar! meltee...haha you remember me! after that we walked around to find teachers, familiar places. took a glance at the place that i used to sit during the first 3 months, the benches by the pond...and secretly smiling to myself haha! kidding lar...i must admit that the benches was a rather cosy place in the morning. met melvin somewhere along the way too! it was a pleasant surprise, and apparently he's teaching physics relief back in NJ, which i must say is a pretty pleasant job. cheap food (good too!), getting to see JC students (which in some sense makes you feel younger), and working alongside your fellow teachers. i would've loved to, but i don't think i have what it takes to be a relief teacher. at the moment.

that aside, we went teacher visiting. sadly to our dismay, we weren't able to find any that were free at the moment. let's see who i met...eh miss willa chen (who went for the maldives trip) and i think ms maureen ng (who now has a large piece of paper cheese floating above her cubicle, and still has our turtle that we gave her for teachers day!) only. didn't manage to see any others liao. our fav physics teacher left alr (ms yee) and i didn't happen to see any other teachers that i knew at least. even so, i still feel a sense of attachment to the college. everywhere that i walk around, i knew that i was here sometime ago, doing eccentric things with my friends (fried ice cream!) and so many precious memories. it does bring back happy memories, doesn't it? haha nonetheless, it was a memorable trip back to NJ once again. will hope the guitar alumni really gets the esplanade!

happens that on that day itself, it was jim's sending off too! hmmm i decided that there was nothing to be sentimental about...haha i remember my secondary school sending off for one of my classmates. felt rather sad, but i guess this time, you can say that i sort of matured. i mean if he's happy, i'm happy already. i quoted this from one of my cousin's blog, also during sending off. i thought it was kinda sweet, and maybe it didn't have to apply to this situation, but i felt it was rather meaningful. "it's bye bye, not goodbye." take care bro!

and i have one shout out for the peeps who are going to celebrate their 21st this year. all the 1987 peeps. if you're going to invite a lotta people, can you hold it somewhere at the centre area? haha people at the west will suffer if you hold it all the way at downtown east, and people at the east will suffer if you hold it all the way at hometeam bukit batok. so do us all a favor and hold it somewhere centre please! hahaha kidding lar, but so many 21st birthdays don't you think? all of a sudden people are calling you and wondering if you're free to celebrate with them. it's quite fun lar, and it's definitely not troublesome. in a sense that these are the friends whom i haven't seen in sometime. had a rather fun time at downtown east with you...but nonetheless, wish i'd have spent more time catching up on the time we lost. and the other surprise one at timbre felt really cosy and with the same gang of people i worked with in army, it was really enjoyable! so out to clarence and yuhang, happy 21st! and also to all whose 21st birthday has passed within the 2 months, a happy 21st birthday to you too! may you have a wonderful year ahead of your coming of age, and may all your wishes and dreams come true!

phew...i think i shall put it as it is for now. looking forward to the singapore air show tmr! take care people!

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Now playing: Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yū Kobayashi, and Ryōko Shintani - Gōin ni Mai Yeah~ (強引niマイYeah～ Overbearing Dance, Yeah)
via FoxyTunes

chinese new year! part 1!

firstly, wishing all you readers out there, a happy lunar new year! 恭喜发财，万事如意，心想事成，身体健康，大吉大利，年年有余，但是最重要是天天开心! yep! wishing this year of the rat will bring back many happy returns!

i think i have a rough schedule of my chinese new year. seems like it's the same process year after year, even though it's considered a new year. well, there's no helping it. there are just a couple of places that we need to visit, and yep this sequence is something i look forward to anyway. after that traditional temple visiting to usher in the new year, it was to my paternal grandma's house. this year's pretty quiet apparently, most people came pretty late and ya saw the regulars, and as always, after the house visit we'll head to vivocity for our new year coffee. to my horror, there were so many people at harborfront lar! a good mix of china PRs, maids, and people from different races (other than singaporean chinese) were there queuing up for sentosa. of course, a rare few chinese over there going to sentosa with their families, but ya, seems like sentosa's attracting the big bucks with their spring season theme. and there were so many peeps at vivo too lar! what happened the previous years was that there was almost no one in shopping centres, so it was pretty much a big shock to me. guess people were there to catch the 3 chinese new year movies...and ya after coffee, we shopped for our family steamboat and headed home.

today, i've officially declared that people who are online between 1200hrs to 1700hrs have no life...haha i was one myself lar. whatcha doing online aniwaes? it's so fun going out to visit friends n' relatives lar, and somemore got angpao lehz. stop being a hikikomori and get some fresh air! haha~ kidding lar, but it's one of the rare days that it didn't rain! it's a nice day ya? okay i'm not making sense haha...just came back from my visit to 2 other houses actually, relatives living near this area.

in a sense, pretty much of the top seemed like random ramblings doesn't it? yeah i guess it is...just felt the itch to blog today for no particular reason. it's just, chinese new year feels rather different this year. when people ask you what you're doing now, and you get to hear other people's stories, being pretty much a NEET (not engaged in education, employment or training) does have it's banes. should get my butt moving again soon...i can already feel the mould growing lar! haha~ and as many pointed out, our traditions are eroding year after year. don't you feel like you've outgrown the chinese new year excitement? other than it being a public holiday and it being an income generating period, most people don't see the significance of it. i'm not saying i do either, i think i'm becoming pretty ignorant nowadays.

however, new year's about change, isn't it? new aspirations, new dreams, and new resolves that i'm really looking forward to achieving this year, so year of the rat, here i come! ~smiles~ so many things to look forward to in the next few days too, so it's just the beginning. happy new year all again! thanks for all the smses and wishings again!

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Now playing: Kotoko - Hayate no Gotoku!
via FoxyTunes

preparing for the new year!

it's finally coming towards chinese new year eh? finally finally! spring festival! lotsa new year goodies and gatherings of all sorts! starting to get excited...nonetheless, still recovering and ya hopefully will be fully recovered by cny itself (:

just had a class outing round the corner. was really happy to see so many people turning up, and had a pretty fun time in yum-cha. okay i'm not complaining about the last class outing if you're wondering, and i'm not going to. what's past is past, so haha was really happy to see my classmates once again. it's been 2 years since we've been out of there and pretty happy we're still meeting up. i wouldn't have 100% assurance that this will still carry on. not that i'm being pessimistic or anything, but it's not possible to fit everyone's schedule always. of course some of us will still meet up, but maybe not in such large numbers. that's why i'm pretty thankful to sock for organising it this time, seems like not everyone has changed and ya good to hear about their stories and to know that some quirks don't change! haha (: minds with the guys slightly later on in the day following with my family's tradition to walk chinatown during cny.

been cleaning the house recently too. after all the detergent and cleaning solutions, coupled by lots of dust and secret tastings of new year goodies, my throat doesn't seem to have been getting better. it's really happy to see that AT LEAST once a year, your house is clean. haha not saying that my house is not clean during other times, but the feeling when you throw away things without remorse in such great amounts during cny is truly a remarkable experience. i guess over time i've become more objective on throwing things, and the things that have piled over the years ("ah! my primary 3 homework!" or "ah! a souvenir from the sec 1 sports day!") have ended up in the trash, FINALLY! waah i can't imagine why i didn't throw them...maybe i was still holding hints of memories strongly then, and having the "no harm keeping wad" thought. so i think after i cleared out all the trash, it amounted to about 10kg plus plus...and i know i'm not done yet. really wonder what treasure i'll find tmr morning. haha.

*what am i to do with my life in the days ahead, what will i expect of my future, and who do i really want to be* i'm in serious deliberation now.

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Now playing: Mami Kawada - Hishoku no Sora (緋色(ひしょく)の空)
via FoxyTunes