Loopie - Joop

so i've been busy nurturing the friendster freak in me. its been fun leaving messages and comments for my friends from the different stages of my life. i haven't found many of them yet, but it is my hope that i can maintain this from now on, and not lose contact with these wonderful ppl again. and jo has finally reappeared on the face of the earth. CONGRATS brave girl! i miss you loads too. because of my birthday, many people have sent cards and emails and messages this week. i'm very very touched. i'd just like to say that i'm really bad at remembering birthdays. so unless you are on friendster, and have listed your birthdate, it is going to be very difficult for me to remember your birthday. i know i know, i'm horrible, useless, hopeless and totally reliant on technology to remember stuff. i even forgot lapcheong's birthday. send me straight to hell, i deserve it. SORRY LAPCHEONG! my birthday resolutions this year: to reply to emails within 3 days

this will be our first trip out of bermuda. we are leaving on sunday morning, and will be back on tuesday evening. a very very short trip. but i've never been to nyc, so that will be something interesting.

We went to Lobster Pot for dinner just now. we had oysters, crabs, prawns, lobsters, and mussels and fish chowder! YUMMY! Look at our satisfied faces!! my right hand seems to be missing a glass of cocktail (i'd photo-shopped it off!). Hao-e got me a card and the cover like below. (apologies for the blurry picture!)

happy birthday to me! happy birthday to me! happy birthday to me! happy birthday to me! Today, i'm officially past the halfway mark of my 20's. according to some frens of the same age, we are still in our mid-20's. so when do we cross over? logically, i suppose it's when we hit 27.5 years!! that's barely 18 months away! GULP! then what would we call ourselves? nearly-30's?!? DOUBLE GULP! omg, i need a drink... 1 bloody mary PLEASE ! MAKE IT A DOUBLE!! i've never been overly sensitive to the ever-increasing number, a.k.a. MY AGE, but recently i've been in a nostalgic phase, going through the different stages of my life and thinking of things i had done and things i shouldn't. several regrets so far: not keeping in touch with frens and family not getting to know the people around me not partying enough during college i'm now busy looking for all my old frens through friendster/facebook, and taking the initiative to email frens. hopefully i

These are pictures of a park that is pretty close to our house. i sometimes go there for a walk after sending hubby to work. yes, i dun run/jog/shuffle feet, cos i think its stupid to run when you can walk, smell the flowers and take some pictures.

Looks good right? they're cranberry muffins made with stephie's recipe. hehe....

i love this mv so much, i just had to post it here

Guess what? my ole friend from pri sch remembers me! and she's now on my friendster!! hahaha.... one down, 150+ more to go.... heh very fun to see how everyone turned out. most of my good frens are either blissfully attached (like the ole friend mentioned) or already married (or in the midst of planning their wedding). BTW, DELLISE DEAR!! CONGRATS ON BECOMING MDM NG!!!! since last year, wedding bells have been ringing around me non-stop. there were updates on who's wedding was next at every gathering. my 3 best frens are getting hitched too in the next 12 months. talking about weddings lapcheong and wx even started a wedsite!! these guys are the cutest, they must be one of the rarest couples, since they're each other's first loves. how novel is that? to everyone: may you find your true love and companion in life.

I think me doth getting old. Have been feeling kinda nostalgic lately, maybe because i've been having so much time on my hands now. Recalled many people's faces from pri sch. it's been like what.. almost 14 years since i left the school. and i can still remember all the times we had, going to first friday mass, being a "reading sister" and having to read to the lower pri people who were a little weaker before school started, playing hopscotch at the back of the canteen, being a traffic monitor and helping schoolmates cross the street safely, yelping and laughing so hard at the back of the school bus and getting yelled at by the bus driver, etc... those were such carefree days. we could just talk about everything. and amazingly, i can still recall all of their faces and most of their names! we had a good time together but i haven't been able to keep in touch with the frens made there. there were many gals called pamela, gladys, joanna, wei ling, guess

this post is all godpa-in-law's doing. i'm a drama freak. in particular, i have a soft spot for korean shows. the storylines are almost the same. usually there is this freaking handsome male lead, who's often rich/powerful/intelligent and most of the time pretty cold. the female lead is essentially pretty/cute and kind. (my sassy girl has it reversed, that's why it's fun!) there are also usually 2 other characters, one supporting female who is male lead's ex or current girlfriend, and another male who's courting the female lead. in the end, if neither of the female or male leads die of an accident/fatal disease, they'll get together! (this is the ending i lurve.) BUT, there's a chance that one of them dies first like in autumn love story, stairway to heaven, and winter sonata (almost). argh.. that kind of ending, i'm not fond of. cos it's just very sad. so what if the shows do not reflect reality. come on seriously, where do you get s

Been feeling very housewifey these days. my purchases used to consist of charles & keith and pazzion shoes (oh, how i miss splurging on 3-4 pairs each time!! the sense of accomplishment!!) , southhaven and m)phosis clothes and lesportsac bags... now i go grocery shopping every other day. egg, milk, yogurt, instant noodles, cereal, pasta, etc. i check e-moo (bermuda's online marketplace) to hunt for desks, vacuum cleaners, kettles, toasters, etc. i go to houseware stores to purchase pitchers, drawer liners, corkscrews, pot holders, etc. today i made a purchase that better resembled my old life. nope, i didn't buy shoes or clothes. i bought myself a keychain that reminded me of my life in the city. it has a stiletto, a handbag and a mobile phone. with them are my car and house keys that belong to this life here on the island. PS: i really miss shopping in the transit area after lunch!

Today's a public holiday - Queen's Birthday! But hardworking hao-e has gone to work as usual. Bought some apples on saturday so i tried out stephie's apple crumble recipe again. this time - success!! It turned out quite nice!! in the oven... the finished product... Stephie - more easy recipes please!!

This is my car. Also known as Torty because its a green hatchback. it is a little cranky in the mornings and takes some time to warm up before it will willingly leave the porch. Front view... Back view... This is a photo of our apartment with torty parked in front. it is a white 2 storey building with dark blue window shutters. we are staying in the bottom apartment with the door slightly ajar... Another exterior view of the apartment, my living room windows face the great big fat bush. that's what i'm seeing as i'm blogging... Interior of the house: This is the living room.. And this is the kitchen with a huge fridge and a little dining area...

Did you know that ballet has its roots in french acrobatics? i've gotta share this amazing video with everyone. this takes years and years of hard work.

What a day!! Things accomplished today: 12 noon - paid for car 12.20pm - arranged vehicle insurance with BF&M (Good bay!) 1.30pm - transferred ownership of car to US!! 2pm - picked up groceries 2.30pm - picked up toaster and kettle for $20 3pm - picked up bissell electric broom for $25 "05535" is now officially ours on this very lucky day (for anyone who needs inspiration for 4D.) Temp name of car is "torty" cos its a hatchback and its green (and it is not very fast..)

She made it on bbc. So did the old man and the shocked lady in bright yellow. Instant celebrity status. Have you guys seen them? Chuckles..

----------Reasons why people think we're "crazy"--------- - We like to keep Mass interesting. We sit, stand and kneel, in no particular order. Probably just to keep the blood flowing. - It's not merlot and Ritz they're serving; it's the Flesh and Blood of Jesus. No, really. - Forget a big meal afterwards, just pick up some of the breakfast tacos they're always selling after Mass - Purgatory. - We all have 20 cousins. On each side of the family. - Infant Baptism isn't dumb; it's after-life insurance. - $5.00 in the collection basket is the epitome of generosity. Anything more than that, someone has hit the lottery. - A missal is a book, not a weapon. However, it has been known to pull double duty. - The signs we make aren't just a mark of respect, they're a lot of fun to do. - Every Catholic Guy tries to sit next the really hot girl they like at Mass. THis is because they really want to hug during "Peace Be With You" and hold hand

This is photo of my dorky hubby and me in cool shades! (notice my gummy smile? i know you absolutely love it!)

Today was declared a holiday by the bermudian govt last week. One of the first (if not the frst) female bermudian politician, Dame Lois Browne Evans passed away last week and her funeral is being held today. All flags have been flying at half mast since her passing. And word on the street is June 5 will be declared an official holiday for all eternity. ooh... do u think there will be a similar holiday for sgp when the "old man" passes too?

Time flies , it's been almost 2 months since we'd arrived on the island. which means that i have but 10 months left on my countdown clock. stressed. tick tick tick, as if i'm on death roll waiting for the final knell to sound. We just got our keys to our apartment. the appliances are new but the general feeling of the place is a bit dark. prob due to the dark wood and mostly brown furnishing. looks a tad bit drab. hopefully we can jazz it up with our little touches. our shipment has not arrived yet. despite being at sea for almost 3 months now. i think our things would have turned moldy by now. or maybe they've dropped into the ocean during the storm, and no one has bothered to find out and inform us about the loss. i'm getting desperate. we are supposed to move out the current place by sunday. and if the shipment is not here, and i dun suppose they will be coming this week, so i'm going to be left hanging without pots and pans, cutlery, dishes and

No pictures, cos it flopped. nothing wrong with the recipe. but i think the oven isn't hot enough and the heat wasn't distributing evenly. i put the tray in there for more than an hour cos it just won't brown. so it turned out very chewy with the sugar heavily caramelised and the crust not crusty enough. i'm going to throw it away later. will try again when we move over to our apartment which is supposed to come with a new oven. blog about it another day.

I've bought all my baking utensils yesterday in town. Mind you, i walked so much, and carried such a lot of things, my arms nearly broke and there are minor lacerations on my arms where the bag handles were... sigh... all this prep to try out my sis' apple crumble recipe. Looks very simple on paper, don't know how it will turn out. i'm not much of a baker, so cross fingers for me. i'll try to take some photos of the product and post it here.

Do you know that in a particular asian powerhouse, one woman commits suicide every 4 minutes ? And do you know that 70-80% are due to conflicts between husbands and wives? Have you heard of this outrageous saying: 'marrying a woman is like buying a horse: I can ride you and beat you whenever i like.' What kind of medieval world are they living in? Sorry but this kind of topic always riles me. I am deeply ashamed to tell you that this phenomenon happens in China. Not India. And, do you know that for every hundred girls born in China, there are 117 boys born? And by 2020 China will be short of 40 million women? uhoh.. by then do you think women could take more than one man as husbands? A total reversal of roles huh!

What do you think of death sentences? To many ppl, death by hanging, electric chair, shooting etc is a little barbaric. So they jail their worst convicts for life. I suppose (if you've seen enough chinese shows) the phrase "long pain is worse off than short pain" rings true. imagine sitting in a small cell, your life passing you by slowly.. day by day, hour by hour, min by min... with no apparent end in sight. instead, if you are given a death sentence, there's an obvious end that you can "look forward" to. Secondly, less taxpayers' $$ is used to keep them alive and well in prison. Italian inmates have petitioned to be given the death sentence. Some after so many years in prison, have earned degrees, and repented but they are not allowed back into society anyway... Such a bleak topic... but i guess i'd prefer the death sentence too. and i'd go willingly too. lessen my pain. lessen others' responsibilities.