Monday, July 06, 2009

the perfect jam

I have been craving for jam these past two weekends. I scoured Puregold for some good ol' jam but I couldn't find one to my liking. Then, the past weekend, I went to Rockwell and was able to find a jam that looked good enough. Could've been better, but it was good enough. I've been thinking of thick brown toast slathered with warm butter, then topped with a rich fruit jam - my preference being strawberry or blueberry. I settled for a French blueberry jam. I still miss the blueberry jam I used to buy in Japan. It was a cheap brand - similar to the SM bonus brand - but it was rich and yummy. 

I wish things in life could be fixed as easily as finding a perfect jam. I would even settle for a good enough fix. I've just been feeling restless and so I pour my restless energy in violin practice. Recently, I've been playing the piano again, after being inspired by Nodame from Nodame Cantabile :) Sweet drama :) 

The weekend past, I watched a movie, bought books, studied Korean and math. Things seem to be getting routine again. But the learning keeps my weeks bearable. I'm slowly getting the hang of Korean. Very similar to Japanese and it's easier to read. Grammar's kind of tricky, but after French, grammar for Asian languages seem so much easier :P 

My mom talked about buying burial clothes for my grandparents. It's a "double month" in the Chinese calendar, and the Chinese say that such things can only be bought on such months. And tradition also says that it's the daughters who are responsible for paying for these garments. My grandmother appreciated the gesture, I think, but she laughed it off saying she preferred more modern garments so my mom need not bother. I just suddenly realized how steeped in tradition the Chinese culture is, and how little I know about Buddhist practices and beliefs, about the traditional Chinese ways. I do not know if doing these so-called practices really do any good, but I guess there's no harm in doing them. 

I also realized that I have come to a point in life where death has become a natural subject for conversation. For my grandfather, the mention of death scares him. For my grandmother, it is treated as a matter-of-fact thing. These thoughts and conversations on passing away do no good for my already restless spirit.

I'm blabbing but I don't really care. I'm just writing things as they pop into my head. I finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. Beautiful book. It touched me and made me believe in human resilience and happy endings. Now, I'm reading the book Angel lent me - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I'm thinking about which drama to watch next after finishing Nodame Cantabile. Maybe I'll switch to a Chinese one before watching another Japanese drama. 

Will end blabbering here. 

...

I think I'll eat a slice of buttered toast with jam tomorrow. 

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Monday, June 29, 2009

the story behind the photograph

i chanced upon this lovely site - beautiful and charming photos by stephanie williams
i love how each photograph seems to be telling a story of its own :)

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Of interesting books and good friends

Met up with Angel today at CCF :D I missed that girl! Also got to see Carolyn :)
I love how we both love to read and that we can discuss books, old friends, recent happenings, and everything under the sun...kinda like we used to before at Caf Up. 
She lent me The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Might seem like a boring title but I've read many great reviews about it. :)
Angel got to watch Wicked in NY! Coolness! I hope I get an opportunity to do so too.
Today's service made me reflect on my own impatience about the future, about my plans, about where I am now. It seems as if I grumble more than ever these days, even if just to myself. Today was a reminder that I need to trust God, trust that He has plans for me, and these things might not happen according to my timetable. 

Got an email from the Rotman correspondent today. Will email back tomorrow with a reply. 

Dinner at Ama's house later. Howell might go~ Should be interesting.

Dinner last night at Uno was nice as well. Got to wear my new heels :) Also saw Jilliane, who has such a happy disposition :)


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Friday, June 26, 2009

frustration

i need to snap out of this spell i'm in.
i've been on a constant string of low spells lately.
i'm tired of thinking myself happy. 
if only choices were effortless...
let me wallow for a bit. i'll get tired of it soon.

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

5 Things

Despite a sort of sluggish start, today was a good day :D

Here are my 5 happy moments:

- Woke up early so I had time to have a leisurely breakfast. Breakfast/brunch is my favorite meal of the day :)

- Walked around with Ama and Dad around the production site today. It was nice hearing the little stories between them. Ama bought warm veggie buns too :D Sa-pe also bought Krispy Kreme donuts! Yum!

- Emailed Nakagawa-san and Fukazawa-san and they replied :D I'm happy to be back in touch with them. Fukazawa-san has an awesome new job! Happy for him! 

- Violin lessons went great. My teacher says I'm improving. Currently practicing the three Minuet pieces and My Happy Farmer. Almost done with Suzuki Book One. Yehey!

- Ni and zel (even my parents played along! :D) did Uniqua, Pablo, and Tigger role-playing. With the special participation of Polar Bear and Blue Bear :P

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Sunday, June 21, 2009

bursting at the seams

I ate a lot today. Ugh.
Fathers' day today was spent at Ever Memorial with my cousins and aunts and uncles. Chatted with Achi Rowena to catch up on family "tsismis" (gossip) and dog stories (she now has 23 dogs, mostly pekinese breeds). 

Then, had lunch at Circles. Saw a few acquaintances - friends of parents, Matt Matthew. Saw Cherie Gil with her 2 children as well. Loved the indian food :) The Indian chef even stopped to chat :) I like the crumbly cheesecake dessert, plain cheesecake accentuated only with a small slice of tart kiwi. Yummy!

Went to Makro where we bought lots of bottles of juice and tested whether the packaging material for the different products was PVC or POF. Hehe. 

Practiced the violin for a bit when I got home. 

Then we went out for dinner again, at Shantung. Saw Boss Pete (who didn't see me) and a friend of Coco's. 

I still feel stuffed...and it's 10:32 pm...will probably not help digestion :(

---Another thought from the book "The Art of Racing in the Rain---

"Her last breath took her soul...she was released from her body, and, being released, she continued her journey elsewhere, high in the firmament where soul material gathers and plays out all the dreams and joys of which we temporal beings can barely conceive, all the things that are beyond our comprehension, but even so, are not beyond our attainment if we choose to attain them, and believe that we truly can."



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Saturday, June 20, 2009

coffee shop reading

Korean classes left me dizzy today. So many grammar points in one class. Mind-boggling, to say the least. But it was fun :) Will take hours of intensive studying to catch up :S

GMAT review was quite tiring as well. Data sufficiency, why do you find happiness in tormenting me? Sniff.

Started my new book, The Art of Racing in the Rain, while waiting for my ride home. Spent around an hour in Seattle's Best. The book's an engaging read :) Funny and touching, filled with witty insights. 

Some thoughts I bookmarked:

"...racing is doing, It is being part of a moment and being aware of nothing else but that moment. Reflection must come at a later time...When I am racing, my mind and my body are working so quickly and so well together, I must be sure not to think, or else I will definitely make a mistake."

That's how I am when I'm playing the piano. I'm so immersed, my fingers seem to be moving on their own. When I stop to think about notes, I forget what I'm playing and make a mistake.

"She was my rain. She was my unpredictable element. She was my fear. But a racer should not be afraid of the rain; a racer should embrace the rain. I, alone, could manifest a change in that which was around me. By changing my mood, my energy, I allowed [others] to regard me differently. And while I cannot say that I am a master of my own destiny, I can say that I have experienced a glimpse of mastery, and I know what I have to work toward."

Will share more insights from the book as I read more.

Ended the day with dinner at Mushroom Burger with my mom and eizel :)

Fathers' Day buffet lunch at Circles tomorrow! 

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welcome

writing is the outlet for my introspective, rationalizing self. i find comfort in it - whether it be laughing over the silliest of things, sharing the mundaneness of daily routines, or breaking & dissecting the complicated strands that bind life together.

welcome to my world. you may find it utterly eventless at times, my thoughts overly philosophical, my views a bit distorted. but however you may find them to be, they are the thoughts, opinions, events, and emotions that propel, inspire, trouble, and comprise me.

my life encapsulated.


i am. i love.

bookworm
music lover
optimist
vegetarian
the hustle and bustle of airports
traveling and sightseeing
coffee table conversations
good food & yummy desserts
daydreaming
foreign languages
the sound of crunching leaves

friends

adele
adrian
alex
angel
camie
cHa
charlene
christa
daphne
elaine
emil
emma
emma's work blog
eric
eric's photos
gene
gie
greg
heidi
jella
johanna
julie
kala
katie
kaye
lesh
lin's taiwan trip
ma'am jamie
malt
mic
mikiko
nancy
nini
nins
pao
ronald
ryoko
student in london
teddi
teri
teruha
yenie

kitchen creativity

80 breakfasts
apple pie patis pate
b comme bon
bake it pretty
baking obsession
bella eats
bon appetit
bread and butter
c'est moi q'ui la fait!
chocolate & zucchini
chubby hubby
cook and eat
dandy sugar
delicious days
the delicious life
delicious magazine
dessert comes first
dessert first
ella cinders eats
epicurious
flagrante delicia
flour arrangements
gourmet magazine
happy-hiropon*わたしのお気に入り
ideas in food
italian foodies
the jewels of new york
lemonpi
love and olive oil
lucy's kitchen notebook
matt bites
milk and cookies
nordljus
peter bakes
quick indian cooking
room 4 dessert
sevenspoons
table for three, please
tartelette
la tartine gourmande
tastespotting
saveur magazine
the scent of green bananas
slashfood
usa cafe
use real butter
the wednesday chef
wrightfood
yvette van boven
zoe bakes
ラーメン食べたら書くブログ

vegan blogs

another one bites the crust
b36 kitchen
c'est la vegan
the conscious kitchen
creativegan
dabbles with apples
don't eat off the sidewalk
eat me delicious
fat free vegan
good good things
half-eaten
have cake, will travel
hello veggie
innocent primate
just the food
raspberry swirl
the raw chef blog
two vegan sisters
post punk kitchen
seitan is my motor
tahini too
tofu for two
vegan appetite
vegan cupcakes
vegan feast kitchen
veganlunchbox
vegan yum yum
veggie wedgie

happiness & inspiration

apartment therapy
bloesem
bloesem kids
the blue hour
bonjour!
the cherry blossom girl
curious bird
debi treloar
decor8
design*sponge
emmas designblogg
happy living design
how we say hello
jennifer causey photography
katie did
little postcards
living etc.
lovelydesign nectar and light
papastour
paumes
pukka living
sanctuary
the seventy tree
simply photo
smosch
stylefiles
sunny cafe
this joyride
today i love

random reads

blogTO
dramabeans
hanfever
keiko lynn
mysoju
nytimes
psychologies
sarah dessen
spcnet tv
toronto star
telegraph
tribulations d'une caissière
YA Fresh

quotable quotes


mary anne radmacher
live with intention
walk to the edge
listen hard
practice wellness
play with abandon
laugh
choose with no regret
continue to learn
appreciate your friends
do what you love
live as if this is all there is

diary of an anorexic girl
Dreams...how many dreams are out there, swirling in the atmosphere, mingling with oxygen, stars, and earth? How many wisheson candles and falling stars have burned out with the light of their source?

People walk around on a mission - a sad mission - to forget the dreams that were nourished in youth. They feign happiness in the face of success, labor, and the monotomy of life.

There are too many abandoned dreams. Why doesn't someone reach up and grab one, fashion a net out of optimism, youth, passion. Braid the threads of childhood, carelessness, and lazy Saturdays into a web of hope in which the dreams will naturally fly.

Happiness is not an impossibility; it just needs a little imagination.

one tree hill
Katherine Anne Porter once said: There seems to be a kind of order in the universe in the movement of the stars and in the turning of the earth and the changing of the seasons. But human life is almost pure chaos. Everyone takes his stance, asserts his own rights and feelings, mistaking the motives of others, and his own.

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  Si Tu S'avais by Shy'm
  Primavera in Anticipo by Laura Pausini & James Blunt
  Ru Guo by Fish Leong
  아쉬운 마음인 걸 by AST'1
  Please Don't Stop the Rain by James Morrison

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