August 2020

 

Another month has past. Same old same old. Usually in August, I'd be back in Penang celebrating my Dad's birthday. But the border between Singapore and Malaysia has not opened for leisure traveller yet, so I am stuck in a small island. The latest update from Malaysia side is, border will be closed till next year. Bummer. 

So how did I keep my sanity in this tiny island without going mad? Well luckily, the month of August is also National Day month. So we get a holiday, and lots of promotion to keep me sane. I will share more. Please read on. The other silver lining for me was that the gym was slowly opening up, increasing the number of participant in the class. I was so happy to be back doing slow yoga and zumba again even if the competition was stiff. 

One of my accomplishment for August was finishing one of my creative project, a pencil colouring picture of Tokyo. Since I had so many half done project lying around, I told myself that I'm gonna at least complete something in August. And since I missed Japan so much, I decided to complete this 2SGD drawing I got from Daiso. If I use a water brush to paint over it, it actually transformed into a water painting. But I'm too lazy for now, so it will remain as a colouring picture for now. 

I was so proud of it that I went to Ikea to get two frame to put them in. I have another drawing of Kyoto which I am also looking forward to complete one day. So above is where I kept the painting, above my bed in my bedroom. Hopefully one day, they will hand beautifully in my new home in Penang, reminding me of my beautiful memories in the land of the rising sun. 

Just for fun, while I was decluttering, I also came across a mooncake box that I couldn't quite bare to part with. So I made the above two Japanese dolls to put them in and decorated it to make it into a frame. Pretty cool huh? I love the fact that the black background is actually shinning in material. I call this, autumn scene with sakura flowing down from the trees.... hahaha. 

Before all this Covid started, I actually planned to go to Kyushu in August. One of my new joy in visiting Japan now is to buy Japanese books. But since that plan is being scrapped, I decided to give myself 50SGD to splurge on Japanese books in Kinokuniya. So one day on my half day off, I went book shopping and got these two delightful books. I love these books cause they make me so calm reading them. It's like reading about my soon to be lifestyle! Hahaha. 

Since there was the National Day long weekend, I also decided to use the time to cook up all the food that I was craving. A week before, I had went to a yakitori izakaya with my friend, and had a nice lunch that cost me over 90SGD. But I wasn't satisfied as they didn't make their chicken skewer juicy enough. So I decided to make my own. And it was a success! Probably cause I tend to undercook my food, so the leek and the chicken was just nice and juicy. I plan to make this again cause it's the only way I get to really eat as much awesome food I want without bursting my bank account!

I also decided to cook Sarawak laksa one day. I got these sauce while on my two weeks cruise around South East Asia. The first stop was at Kota Kinabalu. I made a bee line to the supermarket and got two packs of Sarawak laksa for my souvenir! Because I was deprived of Penang food for the past 6 months, this dish was a welcome comfort food for me. 

As I mentioned early, August tend to have lots of local flavoured promotion for the residence of Singapore. National Gallery decided to give all residence a one-year insider membership for free. So I signed up and went to activate my membership on my half day off. I have visited the place twice since, and each visit, I discover a new thing to see, experience and explore. It's a nice place to go for some quiet time whenever I am in town. 

Garden By The Bay decided to give residence 6-month free entry if we buy a 20SGD ticket for two observatory. It was a worthwhile deal. I've been once so far, and I love the smell of all the plants inside. I will take this as my forest bathing 6-month treatment, and plan to visit it at least once a month till February. Hopefully I will get to see the autumn fest, October pumpkin, christmas, and Chinese New Year decoration. 

Just to finish off. I am having a slight coffee crisis here. I am running out of drip coffee, and the brand that I want is out of stock in Singapore. Bummer. But I also bought myself a Devil's Brew one day while taking a break from work one day. It was so good! I signed up for their loyalty program for 20SGD, which gave me an total value of 22SGD, and 20% off purchase. So far I have drank 2 cups. Each cost around 4SGD actually. I found a breakfast promo which I can get half a sandwich or a scone with the coffee at 3.50SGD, so that's going to be my Friday treat until I ran out of money in my e-wallet.

So that's all the updates I have for August. September should be quite fun as I would be starting my leave clearing. By November it would only be a weekly affair. I wonder what fun things I would entertain myself with. Since I can't travel, I tend to have a lot of cash to spend in Singapore. Even if it's staying at home and cooking up a storm. Stay tune! And Stay Safe!

CNY 2011 - Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Yes I know it's almost 2 month since Chinese New Year 2011. Still, better late then never! Some paper craft I made during this CNY of the rabbit :) They were given away to my colleague's two daughter, and one to my colleague who was my guide at the Botanical Garden.

A Parade of Paper Dolls

Taking a break from photography, I've been making an average of 4 paper dolls per night daily this week. And this collection is probably the highest cost of materials so far, with most of the paper materials coming from Japan. I figure if I bother to fly there and buy those damn expensive papers, then I better put them to good use instead of keeping them in their original wrapper! And looking at the result of it, I sure am glad I used them! At this rate, I think I'll have enough dolls to sell at the pasar malam soon!

The Three Sisters

Added two more ladies to my doll collection :) And now there are three in this new set.
Origami can actually be quite therapeutic after a stressful day of work. Making the two dolls took me about an hour, and really calms my nerves. I think it's a great hobby. Cheap, quiet, and peaceful. And at the end of it, you get a nice gift from yourself :)

PaperCraft

Check out the cool paper cutters I got from Daiso today for only S$2 each! Aren't they cool? And the cut outs are so pretty too! To think that I almost spend around S$5 each to buy them at TokyoHand while I was there 2 months ago. They even sell the ready cut outs for like S$3 per pack! Terrible! I am so glad I waited and found these in Singapore instead :)

After making all the cut outs, I can't help but start making paper dolls again. The doll on the right was freshly made today, and is one of the latest style in my collection since I just got the instruction manual 2 months ago at Tokyo Hand :) Sorry the photo didn't turn out that great, since I wrap it up before I remember to photograph it, hence the glare in the photo. But in real life, it's really rich in color, and you can actually see the texture of the paper as well. The new hair-do and the rich gold color background paper also make it rather exclusive :)

Below are two souvenirs I got for myself when I was in Japan :) More papers! To make more dolls! The one of the left cost me around S$7.50 and comes with special cut outs came from Tokyo Hand; while the ones on the right, around S$16 and comes with matching Washi papers (和紙), and comes from a paper craft shop in Ueno! What can I say, I'm a sucker for papers :) I wish Tokyo Hand would open it's shop in Singapore, I can spend a whole day there just walking around! The one in Shinjuku was like 8 stories!


Ref:
Daiso
Tokyo Hand
Washi Papers (和紙)

Paper Craft: Green Collection

After spending too much time cutting out pictures to decorate my bookmarks, I've decided to wise up and pay a little extra for nicer accessories. So on a recent trip back to Malaysia, besides spending some money getting nicer ribbons, I've also ventured into nail arts and craft art accessories.

Photo shown here are some of the new bookmarks with the new and improve flower accessories around it. They look nicer in real life as the flowers glitter in the light :) Plus the green ribbon also have a nice silver eadge to it that makes this collection just glow with a 3D effect!

Origami - Ugly Betty Style

This is what happens when I watch too much TV! Ugly Betty was showing this evening, and I end up with origami like this! hahaha.

Ref:
Ugly Betty

Origami - Girl's Day Out

Two hours in the papercraft R&D section produces a modern day origami of a dress and hat bookmark. I love the little dresses. But its harder to find the accessories to go with it to make it look nice.

Origami: 花 Collection

Cordy is in a paper doll making craze this weekend :) She can only make 4 dolls per hour, which means this collection takes her 2 hours! But heck, when you are doing something you like, time flies, and the result sure is satisfying!

Btw, what you see here are actually individual bookmarks as per the previous post. I just manipulate the photos taken to make this one photo :)

New Collection of Origami Dolls

Origami Flowers - Lilies

I love origami flowers! For one thing, they never die! (unless you sit on them that is). Here is a bouquet of lilies that me and my hubby made, complete with leaves too! They make great home decorations, and really brighten up a room!

湖蝶带走我的梦 - Butterfly Origami

My latest collection of origami card, butterflies! I love butterflies. And it is believed that if you whisper your dreams and wishes to a butterfly, they will fly away into the heavens and convey your message to the big boss upstairs, and your dream might just come true.

It also represents miracles in life. And its one the title of one of my fave songs from David Tao :)

For Mum

Here's another paper craft I made. While making one yesterday for my friend's wedding, my Mum ask for one as well. Since she is leaving Singapore today, I made this one for her. She actually has a few more at home of single kimono girls made into bookmarks. I'm planning to make more designs soon as part of my future retirement supplement income :)

Note: In case you're wondering, the chop at the bottom right corner is my name in Japanese :)

Congratulation on Your Wedding

Web Comic

I thought I've lost this two photos for good, but while uploading some pix to facebook today, i managed to find them again :) Here's a simple web comic I made sometime back, but its still applicable still from time to time :)




This post is inspired by Irregular Webcomic. This is one of the coolest site recommended to me by Lynx :) Its a comic script made from Lego sets, RPG figurines, white boards, the author himself, celebraties, death, etc etc. I thought its would be fun to make one of my own out of origami :)