that was really fun, reminiscing about things that happened years ago, so i've decided that maybe i should do it more often. granted only 2 people read it from start to finish (i understand, you lazy assholes) but it was therapeutic for me to remember things from back when i had a pimple once every 6 months. it calms me down and not make me want to shave off my currently zit infested face. the other day, i got a scolding from my dad because he was knocking on my door for a very, very long time (or so he says) but i didn't hear him because i was watching my future husband and his sexy haircut and my headphones were on, and he couldn't just open my door because it's always locked. here's why;

years and years ago, back when i was in secondary school and had to wear a tie everyday, i had a classmate who had the same name as me, but with an extra H at the back. she was a really nice girl but we weren't that close, she was in higher malay and she was super studious. i, on the other hand, am quite rotten at malay that isn't melayu pasar and hung out at the canteen before school to copy homework. needless to say, we weren't bffs, but we talked. one time, after the exams were over (you know, the time when you were allowed to do your own things like read or play games or yak non stop), we got down to talking about ghosts. nadiah lived opposite bishan park, which has its share of ghost stories, so she had a few to tell. but the one that stuck to me to this very day is the one about the woman with a green face.

oooh, intrigue!

anyway, the story goes like this; nadiah has pretty bad eyesight so before going to sleep, naturally she would take off her glasses so her vision would be blurred. so this one time, after hours of hardcore studying, she decided to call it a night and prepared to sleep. just as she took off her glasses, her room door opened and she heard a woman's voice asking her to go to sleep. assuming it was her mom, she replied that she was and when she looked at her doorway, she saw her mom, only she had a green face and her hair not in its usual bun. again, she was asked to go to sleep and again she replied that she was. the door closed and she heard footsteps leading away from her room. she thought about how weird it was that her mother would check on her since it was after midnight and her parents went to sleep earlier than that. the next morning, she asked her mom why she kept asking her to go to sleep and since when did she start wearing face masks to bed. i'm sure we can all guess what the mom said.

JENG JENG JENG!

now, i don't know about you but anyone with a green face is creepy. but green face + hair?

seram.

my mom is really small and skinny okay, that in itself is scary enough. so yeah, needless to say, since then i never go to sleep with the door unlocked. i never do anything with the door unlocked, really. see, unlike nadiah, this nadia has perfect vision and i would like to not have to see anyone (or anything) with a green face please, thank you very much.

and on that note;

foodblog, finally! i actually created it back in 2008 and pretty much forgot about it, mostly because it's on wordpress and uh, how do those things work? some asshole already had dibs on the website name on blogspot (and it's not even in use!) so basically wordpress was my only option. anyway, lately my mom has been asking me more and more why i don't have a foodblog yet, cos see, she has her own favourites folder with a list of foodblogs that she follows (so high tech right my mom lol). so i thought for this year's mother's day, i would start using the one i created 2 years ago, for her. i wanted it to look nice of course, but have you seen this blog's template lately? i haven't changed it since i started it many, many moons ago. luckily the very nice ovenhaven helped me out with the layout and i ended up with the same template as her (eeeps! sorry!). so yeah, wordpress is... different. fixed widths! no space between paragraphs unless with complicated html! limited templates! confusing css! but, i have gotten semi-used to it, and here are 3 things i've posted there.


Pandan Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting


Baked’s Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Pastry Cream


Shrimp Burger with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

friends, are there anything you would like me to bake/cook? i kinda wanna bake/cook everything.

///end of food talk///

so y'all know my mother is awesome right?

she actually bought me this pair of heart shaped shades (that lights up!) out of the blue... just because. it has 3 different light settings, although when i would actually use any of them i don't know. so yes, now i have 3 heart shaped glasses, and only one is socially acceptable.

the other day i went out with a different nail polish on every finger because i'm clearly not a 24 year old.

then we went to sephora and did this. oh o.p.i., why so pricey?

new old books!

i LOVE thompson plaza and rivervale mall for their used-book fairs. the books are only 4$ each (10$ for 3!), in good condition and a pretty okay selection for a small venue. it always breaks my heart when i see books i paid full price for.

in lieu of a film still, i would like you to decipher this photo.

to be honest it makes me want to colour like a newly-acquainted-with-a-crayon 3 yr old.

i don't know why you say goodbye

i say hello.





hello hello

this is getting embarrassing. my 7th year of blogging, and so far this year i've only posted 5 entries, 2 of which probably shouldn't even be counted. i'm having flashbacks of being 17 and updating like, every other day. oh the days of having so much to say and the excitement of actually saying it! remember back when i didn't have a camera and all i posted were rants and quizzes and more rants? maybe i should change the blog title to "how i evolved from an angry girl to a mellow woman". for a few years now, i write but not about anything. my life has been condensed to pictures and the most brief of recaps. i don't know if it's about privacy (the thought of family members reading this makes me shiver) or my knee-jerk reaction to writing long essay-like entries (this is not school! rebel!) but i find my fingers hesitating on the keyboard more often than not. but the other day i came across this article and it brought me back to how something like this almost happened to me 3 years ago and then i remembered how i wanted to write about it but forgot to and in time, even i forgot about it ever happening. so in the name of nostalgia and the fact that this was probably the scariest thing to ever happen to me, here's the story.

i was on my way back from school and the bus that i was on was about 2 stops away from eunos interchange. there were only 3 people on the bus, me (near the back) and this woman and an old chinese man (near the front). the ahpek was muttering to himself and didn't receive much attention from anyone because who hasn't seen an ahpek muttering to himself? then suddenly, he stood up and walked towards the bus driver, gesturing wildly and getting louder. when the bus driver told him to sit down, he started pacing up and down the aisle, and i was rolling my eyes thinking "great, of course there's a crazy man on the bus and there's no one i know to witness this" (which i think about a lot whenever i encounter such weird/funny/amazing situations) when i caught sight of something. there, in the back pocket of his ahpek shorts (you know, the tailored kind that every old chinese men seem to have) was a huge knife.

A FUCKING KNIFE DUDE!

being repeatedly stabbed is my 3rd worst fear (the 1st is drowning at sea at night and the 2nd, drowning at sea in the day) so naturally, the bargaining started immediately "god if you let me live i will be a better person" "god if you let me live i will pray more" "god if you let me live i will not complain about anything anymore" and while i was having my inner monologue with god, the other woman was napping, unaware of the fact that she could be murdered in a few minutes. the driver was really into getting the bus into the interchange so yes, i was the only one who noticed this freaking madman with a freaking knife going freaking berserk. i was mentally checking off all the things in my bag that i could possibly defend myself with "stack of notes? pencil case? wallet? don't let me die please fuck i just turned 21!" when the bus finally entered the interchange and started to park. the doors opened which should have made my heart sing, except for the fact that the ahpek was in between me and the door. at this point, the sleeping woman woke up and got off the bus fine and dandy because she was sitting near the front and did not have a crazed man blocking her door! i finally caught a break when the bus driver called out to the ahpek and he walked towards the driver, still yammering, hands moving about like he was conducting an orchestra. i stood up, got off and rushed towards the crowd. not until i was in the middle of a group of secondary school students did i look back, only to see that the ahpek had alighted and was walking towards the mrt station. that night and the day after, i looked out for any news report of a deranged middle aged chinese man attacking people but there was nothing so i guess someone must have gotten hold of their meds.

now how's that for an opening number! but for serious though, this really did happen.
why do you think i now walk around with a swiss army knife in my bag?

click-it-don't-lick-it time!

there was that time when i made this awesome chocolate cake 3 times

the best chocolate sheet cake ever.

there was that time when i compiled photos of food i've eaten

food porn.

and there was that time when i documented my day from start to finish

my april 30th. kinda meh, kinda me.

random pretty photos

i made these in january (gosh how up to date am i)

how weird is carrot cake? i don't know, the notion of vegetables in desserts still weird me out, people are putting bacon in chocolate? WEIRDDD. but these cupcakes sure are purdy.


flowers from my nyai's garden

doesn't this look like a painting? no, i'm not trying to flatter my own photography skills, but don't the petals of this flower look like someone painstakingly brushed it on with colour, stroke after each lovely stroke? does anyone know what flower this is exactly? i probably should know damn it, i was convinced at the age of 9 that i would be a botanist. at 8 i was going to be a hairstylist. at 10, a lawyer.

my nani turned 76 last month

when i have adult chilren/grandchildren and i don't get a homemade cake, imma throw a bitchfit. i may be a big person but i will not be the bigger person. not on my birthday. not on my 60th birthday.

just so this post isn't just food and flowers, here's the goon platoon at fatboys

cute joint, good enough burgers, dynamite onion rings. great service too, amalina and nabillah (aka the chinkchasers) thought the servers were cute lol. blue cheese dressing oh my god!

i don't even know when i took this photo but i kinda love it.

that is all.

nayo turned 2 last week! i'm very sorry if people really think her name is nayo (if only!) but it is a nickname that's based on a private joke that shall not remain private anymore.

the year was 2007. a pregnant huda wanted to name her unborn daughter naomi. "naomi? for real?" i sorta mocked. at that time, ne-yo just broke out and people were all over him (for reasons i will never understand) so i told huda "imma call your kid nayo so don't blame me if people draw comparisons with the uggo singer!" and when she was born, i was glad huda took my advice and did not name her naomi. instead, we have this cute baby called alysha umairah. the end!
this story is 80% true.

i've been watching a lot of films and taking a lot of stills

important ones like this.

let's end this megapost with this throwback to my childhood. best $2 i ever spent?

or, at the rate i'm going through them, the worst?