o v e r f l u o

You are the love of my life You are the hope that I cling to You mean more than this world to me I wouldn't trade you for silver or gold I wouldn't trade you for riches untold You are, You are my everything – Song by Clint Brown – Was chatting with a friend about how yea new songs are great, but we also miss old songs which were simpler and easier to remember. Songs like "You Are". Kudos to Sue Ann who reminded me of this song back in our uni days. My first "random" uni friend, a fellow musician, committee member and then housemate – those jamming sessions down in the basement of Clayton's campus center, and also times of worship. Thankful. ^ Belyuen mission trip 2009, in the van, hehe ^

Ian warned me of Noodle Box's small portions. That tiny box cost A$9.95! But I thought I'd give it a try since I already walked into the shop, and didn't quite know what else to have for lunch within a walkable distance. Apparently, the founders of Noodle Box were inspired by a trip to Singapore's hawker food markets. No wonder la. Because the Kway Teow in it was loaded with sauces and tasted good! That tiny box paid off I suppose. So, okay lar. Once in awhile, A$9.95 for some flavours of home.

I love weekends. Weekends mean more time to have with the Mr. Today we visited  Scarvelli along Whitehorse Road in Balwyn. The mushrooms were tasttty. And the hot chocolate was Lindt, with honey flavoured biscuit bears. Mm mm. The little things. Like honey. And biscuit bears.

A Facebook Page has been set up to campaign against Ashley Madison from setting up shop in Singapore from 2014. Ashley Madison is a company that encourages adultery, encouraging casual encounters and extramarital affairs. Read more at the  Facebook Page . To show support and my stand, I've "liked" the Page. It's a small act, but a way I know to raise my voice; a tiny voice in the crowd, but still, a voice.  One person commented on the page that it is of no use to campaign, because we campaigned against casinos but casinos were built in Singapore in the end. I disagree. Just because the main goal did not score does not mean nothing happened. A lot would have happened "in the field". In the process, Singaporeans were brought to awareness of the casino situation and what was actually happening. Because there was hype, some people thought more about the situation and what it actually meant to them.  So back to Ashley Madison. I know about this

Healthy healthy! Chopped up some fruits for breakfast.  Turned out a bit too ambitious for one sitting, but good nonetheless. 

It's something I hear about a lot, have a gist of what it is, but don't know enough to explain it or be sure that I'm doing something about it. I know it's affecting me and you though – the weather here has been crazy! 30 degrees one day and 17 the next.  It gets quite some media coverage, but how much do we really know about it? A conversation with a friend last week sparked thoughts, and I figured I should take some time to understand this situation, at least enough to know what's happening, and know what I can do more in my everyday life to be a better citizen of the world.  Here's keeping it simple from online research: • • •  G L O B A L  W A R M I N G What it is and how it happens Carbon dioxide and other pollutants collect in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat, hence causing the planet to warm up. That's what we call Global Warming – when the average temperature o

Had a Vietnamese themed dinner with Eugene and Lillian today at our house and it was yums! Simpler to make than I expected.  For the Rice Paper Rolls, we followed the recipe on One Handed Cooks . Basically you cook rice vermicelli, pick a mix of meat and vegetables you want, and make simple sauce. We had thinly sliced pork fillet, chinese lettuce, and carrots. The sauce was mega yums – hoisin sauce (hoisin, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, water), and Vietnamese dipping sauce (fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar, chopped garlic, chilli if you like spice). You can eat it with herbs if you'd like. Herbs like basil, coriander and mint.  And you need the rice paper rolls which just need to be soaked in water for like three seconds. The great thing about this dish is that you only have to cook the meat and rice vermicelli. Plus, the DIY rolling adds to the fun, and you can mix the ingredients however you want. We made beef pho too. Wasn&#

^ Studio of artist Gisele d'Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht. ^ Light-filled space that is open, yet cosily in a corner. Mm mm.

Since the sky had cleared up and there was good evening light,  I took the camera out to play.  Took a shot of the view outside my house: Then turned away to snap something else.  When I turned my attention back to the skies, this appeared! Okay the photos look like they are from the '80s.  Here's the unedited one with brighter colours. These seem to be quite common appearances here.  It must be to make up for the craziness of the weather.  Double crazy gets double rainbow.

No idea what I just cooked. Just knew I was hungry, found things in the fridge, and made some soup. It doesn't taste good, but is still edible. I pretty much dumped in every Chinese condiment at home except oyster sauce. Cooking like that is fine when it's just for me. When the husband is home though, that's a different thing. I feel like eating Kway Chap.  -- God has perfect timing. I took in the bins today and just as I was entering the house, it started to drizzle.  Some time back it was raining on and off the whole morning, but I really had to walk to the supermarket 15 minutes away to get groceries for a gathering that night. The whole way there and back, it didn't rain at all. It poured again only after I got home.  Thankful for little nuggets of grace in my everyday.

I'm home alone today and will be having lunch and dinner by myself (woke up too late for breakfast), I decided to finish off some ingredients in the fridge before they go bad. So on the menu for lunch and dinner today, are corn fritters and bacon!  The stuff I share isn't always exactly unique. There are tons of corn fritter recipes out there. But well, I share so family can see what I'm up to now that I'm away, and I'm disciplining myself to write, think, and maybe take good pictures as well. Yep. But anyway, the point is: Corn fritters! Maybe the point of what's shown here is: If I can do it, you can too! Like,  if Yan can cook, so can you .  ^ Remember this guy? ^ Good catchphrase man. I still remember it today. My mom used to watch that. But I'm not as good as Yan. So really, being the kind of cook I am who gets put off by seeing long recipes and so only chooses to do simple things most of the time – if I can do it, you can too.

Oh the things you can find at Diaso!  S$2 in Singapore, and A$2.80 in Australia. If you want to make some buttons, whether for a bag or new shirt or whatnot,  this is a super easy way. Buy this kit from Daiso. • • •  B U T T O N S ^ The kit. Cloth not included. ^ ^ What to do for: Tadah! Buttons! ^ • • • Ezpz Photo credits for the making of, and craft kit idea credit: Lillian Ling.

Dark night Outside our walls Pattering rain Rousing from sleep "It's raining", she says He replies, "But we have each other"

Hello! We've got new neighbours across the street and have been wanting to say hi, but Ian says we should go with something in hand – like a baked cake for example. But I don't quite bake so, hm. Yesterday we were visiting a church life group and had to bring a dish, so I made some Chocolate Ripple, and since I was at it, I made some for the new neighbour as well.  Considering that I can make this by myself and from memory too, it means this is a super simple recipe. I learnt it from Ivie a few years back. Arnott's has their version  which is in cake form and non-crushed biscuits, but I prefer Ivie's version. • • • C H O C O L A T E  R I P P L E ^ Ingredients ^ Arnott's Chocolate Ripple biscuits (250g packet) Thickened cream (300g) Caster sugar (1 tsp) Vanilla essence (1 tsp) Caster sugar is just finer than regular sugar and hence easier to mix ^ How to make ^  Pound the b

While reading about Google's founders , I learnt a new word: Simpatico. The author described Larry Page and Sergey Brin as simpatico.  It reminds me of the word "simple".  As defined by the Oxford American Dictionary: simpatico adjective: (of a person) likeable and easy to get on with. Yes, I would like to be simpatico.

Met Miss  handmadelove  today. Walked nearly 14km around the city and North Melbourne. ^ Discovered  Lark  store amongst other prettiness. ^ Back home, played kitchen helper as she cooked Claypot rice. ^ My kitchen duties as above. ^ Cutting off the bottom of bok choy amazes me a little –  it's almost like a flower.

Super fun craft day with Lillian today! A mix of cooking, origami, coaster painting, and making buttons, recycled paper, and peanut mochi.  I love mochi. It's a sort of Japanese rice cake with a variety of fillings. It's easier to make than it seems. We followed the recipe from Issue Eight of Kinfolk Magazine, contributed by Diana Yen. Previously, we tried it with red bean paste. Today, it was peanut filling. Yums. Chewy and flavourful, sweet, but not overly. Here's an adaptation of the recipe. • • • M O C H I ^ Ingredients for the dough ^ Glutinous rice flour (1 1/2 cups) – must  be glutinous Granulated sugar (1/2 cup) Water (1 1/3 cup) Cornstarch to work with ^ Ingredients for the filling ^ It depends on what you want. Here are two options:  ^ a) Peanut ^  Mix ground peanuts with some sugar to sweeten it,  and water to make it a little paste-y. b) Red bean It's like boiling red bean soup, but with less