TGIF...

woke up this morning realising that i have developed cravings for scones (never browse through food blogs in the morning when the mind is fresh). scones with jam and cream are just sinfully amazing. i remember there was once that i had an obsession with them back in melbourne. so i begin to start learning how to make them, and as how my obsession usually entails... i made lots of them. it's no wonder i gain so much weight. the purpose of making the scones was for the cream and jam. nicelicious. reminds me of the time i had my risotto obsessed month.

and so while having my breakfast this morning (wheatgrass omellete + sauteed mushrooms), i decided to google around for places that would sell scones. i soon discovered that majority of these places that serve scones are hotels for high-tea. why would i want to pay S$80-150++ for lumps of flour with dollops of cream and jam?!

i shall make plans... as soon as i can find the perfect non-expensive scone serving place.

hmmm... ah-teng's bakery looks rather promising. plus the name doen't seem "atas".

Ophiuchus...

my colleagues today pointed out that i may no longer be a Sagitarius. and suddenly my life has taken a drastic turn. apparently there is a 13th zodiac sign which has recently made headlines and quite a stir all across the world. this perhaps changes everything... or maybe not. however, being a christian this does not really mean much to me. but its strange when people ask me of my zodiac sign... i can no longer refer myself as a man with a horse's ass.

decided to find out more and came across a list that describes the sign. let's see if the shoe fits:
1. interpreter of dreams - eh... i struggle to interpret my own at times

2. attracts good luck and fruitful blessings -
i hope so too

3. serpent holder, lofty ideals -
me = idealistic = ?!?

4. a seeker of peace and harmony -
well i usually "siam" from conflict

5. doctor of medicine or science, natural-pathhic -
me? a doctor?! my dad could only dream.

6. adds, increases, joins, or gathers together -
huh?!

7. poetical, inventive nature, expanding qualities -
not sure about the first two, but i'm definitely expanding horizontally in the physical aspect.

8. seeks higher education and wisdom -
seek only lar... never actually get there.

9. overseer, supervisor of work -
hmmm... that explains certain matters.

10. fame- either grand or completely misunderstood -
definitely misunderstood. but i do at times have delusions of grandeur.

11. longevity, aspirations of healing the ills of man -
and again... my dad could only dream.

12. architect, builder, reaches for the stars (figuritively and literally) -
sounds familiar. we have impossible ideas maybe.

13. tax assessor or levys taxes -
i hate paying taxes

14. astrological talents, intuitive -
really? no leh. my sense of intuition sucks.

15. large family indicated, but apt to be separated from them when young -
is 5 a large number?

16. the number twelve holds great significance -
i was born in December

17. foresight and good fortune to benefit from hard times -
hard times? uiseh...

18. has secret enemies in family or close associations -
i'm sure

19. many jealous of this subject -
oh most definitely, whats not to be.

20. notable father, apple of father's eye when young -
i was born right in the middle.

21. high position in life expected (depending on aspects) highest fame and legend comes after death -
dammit! crap! shit! sigh...

22. feelings of granular, wise, genius mentality -
i'm definitely a genius! nice...

23. likes to wear clothing of vibrant colors and plaids in particular -
i wear white. any color which stands next to me would definitely be accentuated.

24. receives the favor of those in authority -
haha... yea man.

upon further contemplation... i'm wondering if the snake actually resembles a certain part of the human body. male specific. woot!

designer's block...

and so a new year begins yet again and thus my fourth year in the island. 201o was the year of change and self re-evaluation. and the year ended so pleasantly with the gathering of good unwithering friendship. as friends we begin to realised how much more we are to cherished moments. every spoken word felt like it would be our last breathe of thought and not to be taken lightly. it was a realisation that time truly passes so inevitably. a scary thought realising what has been done in the past cannot be erased but feeling of uncertainty of what the future would be.
its interesting to observe as the new year begins, the faces of people seem rather hopeful and full of life. people in general seem so fresh and friendly. i personally thing its so full of crap of how we humans like to assure ourself of a hope we ourself are unsure what exactly this hope we are looking forward to. most of the hopes are pretty general... career related, wealth, health, relationships, etc. but if you pry deeper into it, it usually tends not to go any further from that surfaced of hope. hence by mid year, many get tired and deluded. many faces turns black, taxi drivers are less nice and friendly. come year end people just want it all to end hoping to recharge and make a change in the year ahead. an endless cycle for most people. but of course there are others with a larger purpose and goal in life. you can tell by their unphased attitude which sometimes can be seen in their faces. but i'm no philosopher/ intellect to write and comment of such issues. in fact, whatever i just wrote is probably all jibberish stuff.
so anyway, for me it seems its about getting back into the designing. as in designing a whole piece of architecture and not bits and pieces of it. i realised that i have not actually done this for the last 2 years. and i am really very rusty. irony is that when i started out my working career as an architect. i told myself that i would focus on learning/ improving on my lacking of contract administrative skills. learn to how to handle people, write letters, documentation, etc. i told my self that it is THE true way to go far in life. in most ways that would be true, if i become a project manager or work for contractor. but then i realised and after chatting with my boss, what use is an architect if he cant design. designing is still the bread and butter of being a architect. and no matter what people say otherwise. you aint an architect if you don't/ cant design. after 4 years i realised that contract admin has become of my strngths and my comfort zone. i rather sit down trying to crack my head in wrting a AI/ AD. putting/ crafting words carefully together. during yesterdays mini internal design review with the bosses i felt so vulnerable and lacking that confidence in letting out my ideas as compared when i run meetings, solve site peoblems, figuring out how to deal with contractors/ authorities/ consultants, where i know what i want and exactly what i want to do. imagine that i used to dread typing minutes, now i type minutes to relax. i always thought that designing was a subjective manner and it depends solely on preference hence i refuse to dabble with much indepth. instead focus on the more objective manners of contract admin. but actually contract admin can be as subjective as designing. there is no one certain way of doing things as well. its also about preference and style. whichever method works best to get the results. it is an art in itself that not many people can grasp. but just today, i decided that its not something i would wanna be proud of although of course i believe many at my age are no where close to the skills i have. i will not be satisfied until i get the best of both worlds... designing and contract admin. to master both skills and be equally as good at each of it. i want to be... the GREATEST renaisance architect in my era. yes i am dreaming. but nothing wrong dreaming big i supposed. deep down i do feel that i have the heart to design. i just need to brush up that confidence which dearly lacks in comparison with my other skill. sigh. and so... i am sitting hear experiencing my first designer's block in a long time. feels good. hope it gets easier once i break it thereafter. i shall find myself a muse this year to inspire me, which also goes in line with my other resolution to get my plus one by November. the greatest new year resolution.
i think my boss is good in forcing to spend more hours to design and banning me from writing ADs/ AIs. i had a goal of issuing out 100 ADs by the end of the project. unfortunately my boss dictates how many ADs should be issued since she signs them. dammit!

bipolar thoughts...

was in the midst of writing something in this space but ended up digressing and wrote something completely different ---> structural harmony.

Professor Peter Zumthor

pride...

i had one of the most shocking conversations today...

heres a rough outline of it...

me: morning V, i've received your latest structural plans and have a few queries. i realised that the structural beams does not tally with the beam annotations. for example, your annotation for beam x is 250x600mm but when i dimension of the plans... its not as what it says. which do i follow? plus its not really aligned to any of my gridlines. And some of the beam lines are skewed.

c&s: oh... yes... umm. well you just have to follow as per the annotations.

me: you sure? why doesnt it tally?

c&s: oh, normally i dun draw them to scale.

me: (shocked) but why?

c&s: everything would be hidden above the ceiling so it doesnt matter...

me: okay... can you just re-look into your drawings. at least it has no set-out according to my gridlines. if not, how would the contractor establish the positions.

c&s: okay

me: i need this urgently as im currently doing the structural coordination (since you bloody cant do your work) to tally with my architectural plans.

c&s: yes will do.

naturally... he never came back with the revised drawings... wheres your sense of pride in the work you do man. sigh.

and the drawings were a disaster. sigh again.

pheromones...

for the past week, the weather has been completely splendid. it regain my confidence in the truth that we can all live without air-con when you have good natural ventilation. it also made me realised that it wasnt my thoughts that was keeping me awake all night but mostly the heat. the thoughts were just means of distracting me of the heat. alas the week has ended and so has the month of october... hopefully it stays this way. earlier in the shower i figured it could be a sign that God is rewarding me for my wise choice to visit grandma over the weekend. but indeed it was a very good choice. the perfect alibi and reason not to go for the guerilla lighting that i-am-so-glad-its-coming-to-an-end.

recently there is this lil girl who have been trying to ask me out on numerous occasions. first it was for a ballet... then it was some concert... then it was some event at zouk... and then it was the guerilla lighting. well yes... i would had agreed if she was a hot young thang! but unfortunately... she's not and im just superficial that way. but this weekend she finally managed to coerced me into having dinner. well her reason... was something that i just couldnt back down... plus i had no solid alibi this time. long story short... it was awkward. whats worst was that she barely ate.

so i let her decide on the place... since it was her idea. so she chose japanese. decent choice. good old healthy stuff maybe. then it came to the ordering... i jumped when her dinner was a couple of makis. at first i tot she was ordering it as appetizers to s

hare... then when i asked what she would have for her main... she gave me a look as though i was being funny. because THAT was her main. a couple of makis. of course we should not underestimate the filling capacity of the makis. 70% of it is rice. but i was shocked... and i wasnt hiding it. of course then i realised that i shouldnt had judged her eating habits. so i tried to see the positive side (as i am so good at doing) of not indulging into the sin of gluttony. but i cant really blame her... she eats grass on most days. so i guess the maki were really an effort in itself.

slowly and surely dinner was ending... then she started mentioning about the guerilla lighting thing again... telling me had not completely explored all the sites. i looked out of the window pretending as if something interesting had caught my attention... but really figuring out a gentle escape plan. long story short... i wiggled my way out of it. poor girl. but shes only 22... its just wrong. curse us men... who only see the aesthetics of things.

anyway as i mentioned earlier... i hope the good weather will continue for weeks to co

me.

so to end the week... i shall share with you my current obsession. no i am not interested in simon baker... but his character- patrick jane in the drama series... The Mentalist. i also discovered that he's actually australian... it goes to show... being american isnt all that big of a deal. anyone can pull it off.

food repertoire...

in exactly 2 minutes, the weekend will be officially over and its back to the design shop... designing?

so i figured i'd end the weekend, with a list of some of my tummy must have/ favorites.

the importance of seasoning. practically every food item i eat, i must sprinkle at least any of the above items on it. it really does make a difference... its in the details of things.

although i do try to use normal cooking/ veg oil for some of my meals. somehow i have this strange habit of always picking this over the normal oil most of the time. guess it's also due to the fact that i've placed the olive oil bottle at a more convenient location for use. but seriously, i always feel my food would be healthier when i use it.

ever since mom introduced me to breast milk, i have never stopped drinking it. of course i had ceased to drink from the mother's cup for over 20 years. but i have no qualms over its replacement from the moo-moo family.

most singaporeans love their asian black vinegar especially in their bak chor mee. i do like black vinegar... but the angmoh version of it some how gives a different kick to it.

and speaking of kicks... i used to dislike the whole nose to ear sensation you get with mustards. but as time goes by, and with little baby steps (american mustard)... i've grown to love that sensation.

i'm not really a herb obsessed person, i.e. must always add herbs into the food. but there are 2 herbs that i dearly love. i recently made a whole jar of basil pesto. very handy stuff. and the scent of rosemary always brings back memories of my days in melbourne picking those rosemary herbs at flagstaff garden.

having to work like a cow in singapore... i'd have to eat like one as well. and the bitter-peppery taste of rucolas separates it from all the other veggies. i do admit that i used to hate eating raw veggies... but when i realised that its a much healthier option and the discovery of these delicious rucolas, it has become my preferred option.

i once had this month long obsession of risotto making. i made them every other day just trying to get the right texture etc. despite that, i've yet to grow sick of it. unfortunately due the tedious nature of risotto making, it is not an everyday kind of dish i'd make. but whenever i make them... it's gotta be yummilicious. i like the fact that a lot of heart and patience is required in making it.

being an avid lover of milk... it would be natural to love another derivation of it. CHEESE!! but knowing that too much it it makes you a fatty, i do try and control my consumption of it.

i've also discovered that ricotta is a much healthier alternative over thicken cream. hence i've been using it for all my cream based dishes... even for that creamy texture in my scrambled eggs.

i love tomatoes and when i discovered that its good for my prostate. i loved it even better. on top of the usual fresh tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes are an interesting ingredient to add for even say... porridge.

breakfast. my currently most important meal of the day. the fact that i wake up 2 hours earlier than normal just to have breakfast demonstrates how much importance i've placed it to be. i wasnt always a morning person in the past, especially during my archi student days. the mornings somehow rarely existed back then. irony was that i used to date a morning person. strangely it worked out okay.

fish is a very important part of my diet. having told that it makes you smarter, i knew it was an important substance to help nourish my idiosyncratic stupid little useless brain. i am very picking of how my fish is done. making it does not require rocket science, but i think that it usually taste better when heart was put into cooking it. one of my criteria in a partner i supposed is that she should love to eat fish. like cats.

being a person who likes milk and cheese... you must always know where your sources originated from. introducing the mother of all things from the moo-moo land. the moo-moo itself! every inch of it taste good... and it comes in striking red!

decided to include this recent liking of mine... just like sundried tomatoes, you can add it with practically anything and it taste good.
last but not least... i could never live without my coffee fix. it makes a whole lot of difference with/ without it throughout the day. i actually cut down my consumption rate briefly when i was at A61, because i figured it was the healthy thing to do. but now i'm back to my old ways again and it's just splendid.

man oh man... all this talk about food and i realised that it's way past my bedtime!!

the beginning...

the year 1983 was the beginning of a beautiful friendship... and an epitome of improvised standards.

but not for me...

the weeks passes by so quickly. thankfully i still do get to appreciate every single day as it is. i'm satisfied with the decisions i've made thus far. career prospects would be rather puzzling but i think/ hopefully its for the best.

work has somehow gone back on track. no longer would i be distracted with other such nonsensical things, instead now that things are settling and the scope becoming more clearer. i can really sit down and plan/ do my work in a proper manner, without having to worry of some menopausal asshole/ bitch whining and grumbling incessantly. although with much due respect to his experience and all, i still find it amazing that a 60 year old man could behave in such a manner. one word only crosses my mind... bitch.

dad says that people like that are very useful, and at the end of the day gets the project going. i couldnt agree more, however, you tend to wonder why these sort of people even do exist. strange.

but thinking further, reasons why he flaunts his "30 years of experience" so much is simply perhaps because he has nothing else to show about. and before reaching his 30 year mark, he had nothing to flaunt at all. so its an accumulation of something that most people would eventually catch up with. its a tangible skill that perhaps he felt that its something he should seize and take advantage of before its too late. oh well... right now i dun give much of a fuss/ hoots about all these any longer.

mid week...!! and i have to write a complete tender specs for the house.

I may be wrong (But I think you're wonderful)

pictures...

was clearing my digital camera files. these photos were kept in there for such long time was mainly because i really had no idea what to do with them. until today. so i thought i might just post up some of them just to share... since i do rarely upload photos:

improvised mini coffee table.

a man not liking his juice.

suspiciously edible fungus.

sigh...

column smacked in the middle of a room. nice work OMA.

a once messy desk with never ending piles of work.

cake.

spandrel color mockup review.

Tonight... You Belong To Me

something ain't right...

something has changed within me

something is not the same

i'm through with playing by the rules

of someone else's game

too late for second guessing

too late to go back to sleep

it's time to trust my instincts

close my eyes and leap...

comfort food...

had problems with the keyboard. but all's well now that it's fixed. i find it rather creepy to realise that somehow or rather i have this subconscious knowing of where all the letters are distributed on the keyboard. i decided to put it to the test by typing the alphabets from A-Z without looking at the keyboard... and true enough i just knew where all the keys were. not knowing that i actually knew.

anyway... now that work is beginning to pick up (although my teammates beg to differ that my load aint as much as theirs, which could be true but why bother), coming home on time for dinner to whip up simple meals without starving to death in the process is becoming a challenge. sometimes i end up just grabbing something to eat on the way home to avoid all the fuss later.

due to the unpredictable knocking off hours... i have developed 2 of my favourite recipes that i usually whip up that are quick and still tasty. plus the possible variations that avoids it from becoming a bore to eat. the secret is actually in the making of the sauce and the only element of fire required is for the noodles/pasta.

1. pasta carbonara.

i personally find the conventional ingredient of using cream as the sauce base very "jelat". so to resolve this "jelat" tasting dilemma. i picked up this version from Anthony Thompson from Saturday cooks (i'm personally not a fan of his, but it was an easy/ interesting recipe).

its so simple as whipping an egg and ricotta with grated cheese together then tossing in the cooked pasta at the end. nice.

2. momofuku's ginger scallion noodle.

i read this recipe in some magazine once, and i thought to myself that its so damn easy to make. so simple yet so fulfilling. all it needs is sliced scallions, diced gingers, some oil, soy sauce, salt and sherry vinegar. mixed them all together and serve it with ramen noodles. easy with no haste. the best part is that the sauce can be made in advance and kept in the fridge. serving the sauce cold ain't a problem.

so basically, if i'm feelin' angmo-ish i'd go for option 1. and when i'm having my zen vibes... option 2 kicks in.

another sunday gone by...

Since the parent have been dilligently updating us with their lives via blogosphere... i better post something up as well.

natasha liu... nice.

it has begun...

i've finally started on mom's special de-tox/ diet plan for me. this was in lieu of our horrific discovery of what went on in my colon; somehow i have a feeling she would've put me on the diet plan either way.

and so this morning was the first day of a new beginning of healthy living (until the supplements depletes) as i had promised to mom. finally got around in purchasing the elusive apple cider vinegar for the Honeygar mix. truth be told it wasn't all that hard to find, i was just plain ol' lazy. yeap... that lazy bone got the best of me. it sure did.

here's a breakdown of the sequence...

upon rising, i am to take my first glass of honeygar with a teaspoon of herbal klenz, mixed vigorously with great enthusiasm. apart from the strong apple cider vinegar, the herbal klenz was pretty tasteless. so part one a-okay.

for my immediate second glass of honeygar, i am to mix it with a quarter teaspoon of k-salt and a teaspoon of spirulina. the color of it looked disgusting. it had this green thick gooey look that resembled sewer water. the taste we'rent fantastic either, it reminded me of that green herbal powder we used to mix it with water and drink. it was such a crazy thing back then in church that almost all the kids complaint of their distaste. those good ol' parents, always lookin' out for us kids. yummilicious!

so that was pre-breakfast. for breakfast i was to take oats with fruits. i bought a bag of oats but i ate scrambled eggs with baguette slices instead. yummy. ooops. upon completion, i am to take a tablet each of c-complex and b-complex, then top it all up with sprinkling a packet of immuflora unto my tongue. it tasted like fizzy orange.

based on mom's instruction, the salad was to take up 50% of my dinner meal, with good ol' honeygar and flaxseed oil as the dressing. the other 50% was basically protein (chicken or fish) and carbo (rice or potato). I confess that i completely violated the stipulated dinner course. i had cream pasta with meatballs. the dijon mustard really gave it a kick. yum. oops. but i did manage to comply to the second half of dinner which was one c-complex and b-complex each. yumz!

as a bonus or in the event i am in need of supper. her instructions clearly stated that for Supper (if hungry), must eat plain yogurt with flaxseed oil. so since i anticipate the occasional hungry nights, i took a detour home from work to purchase a tub of plain yogurt. just plain, nothing more, nothing less. just the plain ol' goodness of white bacterial fermented milk.

now mom gave no specifics on how much faxseed oil i should take per yogurt serving, so i assume its a table spoon. the color combination of the faxseed oil with yogurt looks compatible. but plain yogurt in the first place... ugh!

so have i made you proud, mom? :)

play it again... sam.

tired brain... (edited)

2 weeks have gone by and tomorrow is Friday! normally we would own this glorious day as the last working day of the week. unfortunately for our team, its the day my team leader, the fat, grumpy, middle aged man, will be returning from his Italiano trip. sad. we anticipate more grumbling, going on and on about how useless the trip was (and it probably was).

Despite his absence throughout this week, the week was not as blissful as i would had expected it to be. perhaps it was self inflicted. given that team-leader was away, i'd decided to seize the opportunity to take charge in some of the work and learning the ropes of trying to adapt into the dynamics of the team. all without the hassle of having team-leader yacking all the way.

apart from work, it was a good time to settle all my planned after work activities. time to get down to business of project change-of-lifestyle. fortunately, i have not been working beyond 7pm thus far and hopefully it will be that way for as much of the year. good thing my team leader is not an advocator of working after hours, just for the sake of it.

on a side note, i was called in for a second interview from a firm that i had previously been interviewed by. this time they were certain and determined to offer me the job as

an Architectural Executive (whoa... canggihnya). the package offered was slightly higher than the current and chances of a pay raised after probation is much promising.

slipping out from work during lunch time is a very new thing to me. given that 2 years ago, it would never cross my mind to such a thing. "betraying" my employer would be so wrong. but as i soon realised... loyalty my ass! seriously, at the end of the day none gives a rats ass of how goody and faithful you are towards your employer. in fact, its something they will take full advantage of given opportunity.

my cello instructor have been urging me to fix a date to lo

ok at cellos. my first lesson was a rather surreal one. never would i imagined myself playing such a beautiful instrument. the feeling was so nice. listening to the sound alone was mesmerizing.

i foresee my instructor not being too pleased of my lack of practice due to the current short-handedness.

it has past my curfew. time for bed.

last day...

in response to the sister's constant showing-off of her culinary skills... i have decided to challenge her with my own culinary extravaganza!!

my first home cooked meal in my new kitchen... sunday breakfast before service- scrambled eggs a la Gordon Ramsay style.

ka-pow!