Happy Birthday Cheri Joan

Bonjour Paris



Another of my present I really love!
My Bonjour Paris Dairy from Jia Xuan.
It's from Korea and had the same set of photos from a postcard set I bought!
Great minds!

Seng Eel Chooka Hameeda!

Tweji Tuki Choayo!


Here's my favourite birthday present this year!
My Tweji Tuki soft toy from Shelby!
Really appreciated the gift because it come from her Piggy Bank.
Great afternoon at our favourite spot TeaCafe...
Seng Eel Chooka Hameeda!

Baby and Lapin

Look Who's Talking !!!

Wow! Look who's been talking to each other!
How did this happen???
Baby Mason and Lapin?!?
I didn't know they knew each other!
Wonder if there's a photo of Geun Suk and Lapin too!

In the Backlane

Remembering...Gulangyu

Wondering along the backlanes of Gulangyu
I felt like Alice in Wonderland
Every corner seem to take you to a different world altogther
The Cat ...
The Apprentice...

The Sound of Music

Remember... Gulangyu

The drumming waves of Piano Island
Resound on the far side of the island
The voices of tour guides arriving early each morning with packs of tourists
Resounds throughout the island...
The music of Gulangyu has slowly deserted the island
Seeking better fate in a faraway land
There was a time when the sound of piano
Could be heard throughout this lil dot on the map
Exuding from every tiny window on the island

I poured out my woes at the reception of MOGO where I stayed

I was comforted by Xiao Pan, the ever so friendly staff

I should count my blessings

I was there before the last sound of music is gone

A Concert A Day...On Piano Island

Tian Tian Yan

A concert takes place at the Gulangyu Concert Hall every night
And it happened to be the American Music Week
So how can I miss my first concert on this island to on Day 1?
Let the show begin...
For a start, a vocal and piano duet



It was a concert experience like none other
Nothing like the Suntory Hall Tokyo
Or Perhaps a concert in Vienna and Prague
Here, the concert runs free every night
And the local community has an interesting concert culture
Young man giving up seats to an elderly
who comes in 20 minutes after the concert started
Children talking
People eating, entering, leaving in the middle of a performance
Here, you won't find the snob, the pretentious
Nor the "I am so cultured' mentality in the concert goers
Everyone is here for a common purpose ...
The simple enjoyment of music
And the locals can tell a good performance from a mediocre
They discuss, critique, and share their opinions with audience next to them
They have probably seen more performances this lifetime than I ever will

Dinner on Piano Island

My Gulangyu TV Dinner

It was really cold on the first night
I found lil restaurant serving local treats
Decided to take-away knowing how huge the portions are
Dinner for the night...
Famous Fuzhou Shark Meat Fishballs with Shuo Bak Chang!



This is really yummy...

But check out that chunk of fats!!!

Oooo...super sinful

I allowed myself only a tiny bit


Didn't do much on this first day

Loiter around MOGO

And stroll along Long Tou Lu (Dragon Head Street)

Went to a nearby bookshtore and found lots of music books!!!

A book on finger practice by Lizst

A book entitled The Complete Pianist...

I spent the next few days reading that


An aluminuim tin can mug from my favourite store.. FEN

I used it to make my instant spinach soup

BabyFace@Piano Island

Out For Lunch

I arrived on Piano Island feeling famished
First stop... Lunch at the nearest cafe from MOGO
It's called Baby Face...
The interior looks a lil like the inside of an igloo
It was 3 pm and I sheepishly asked the lil gal at the counter...
"You still serve lunch?"
What can u possibly get on a lil island off the coast of Xiamen Island?
An island off an island?
Gulangyu was more than meets the eye...
My lunch?
The best chicken cutlet I have ever had!


Chicken Cutlet with Orange Dressing...says the menu
It came with a layer of spice flavoured rice
Lots of fresh greens
Presentation...Excellent!
Taste...Superb!


I was enjoying my Red Bean Frapp in the company of those in the cafe.
An old couple travelling together, browsing through the map on a lazy afternoon.
I was envious...why I was there alone...

Piano Island

Gulangyu

Piano island...
it sounds like a dream when Linzy told me about it.
An island of music, where you hear the sound of piano along the streets,
And every household seem to be nuturing a budding musician.
So here I am... on Piano Island.
Maybe the air here will make me a better musician?



MOGO Hotel
My Refuge

My hotel is 2 minutes away from the jetty on Gulangyu.
Everything seem to revolve around this part of the island,
I can return to my hotel half a dozen time each day!
Room 301...my refuge.

That's the bathroom with rain shower beyond my bed

Isn't this cool!

It's got wooden flooring like a spa!

As usual, I stock my ration for the week.
Sausages, instant spinach soup, beef cubes!

Nodame Cantabile Finale (I)

122 Minutes of Cantabile




Lost in a dream of music,
The 'Hen Tai' forest of Nodame,
A world where music takes flight...

122 Minutes...
drowned in the doubt of inadequacy...
thirsty for that divine music...
hungry for those moments of celestial harmony on stage...

Cheri Joan needs to put her fingers into action...
She dances like Nodame, cries like Nodame, doubts like Nodame...
But she will never play piano like Nodame...
GYABO!!!

Spring Cleaning

Spring Shower

Miffy and friends had a refreshing shower in preparation for the new year.
Look! They are enjoying a sunbath!

A Chihuly Christmas

@ The Ritz Carlton Singapore


This is probably the best high tea spread I have had lately
3 tiers of delicate pastry

This was followed by a Tea Appreciation Session that

featured 10 different types of tea!

The first christmas pastry came in the shape of a tree

Paired with a fruity infusion

Here's the lil surprise under the Christmas tree

Green apple jelly with sago and almond mousse

A white chocolate ball with a Venus Swirl of Red on the inside

More surprises in Venus

A chocolate mousse and salty caramel

Yummaz!!!

Moon Cupcakes

From Hairloom & Caramel

This mysterious package arrived at about 5 pm in the afternoon

Guarded by a lapin and a hound

A Mid-Autumn note from lil Linzy



A furoshiki package within the brown bag

And 3 extremely adorable Moon Cupcakes!
They are so exquisite, I could hardly bear to sink my teeth into one!
Muazkz! Thanks Linzy.

No Man Can Help You Die...

To me, this is poem by Wilcox is the greatest reality ever...

Laugh, and the world laughs with you,
Weep, and you weep alone
For sad old earth must borrow its mirth
But has trouble enough of it's own
Sing, and the hills will answer
Sigh, and it is lost in the air
The echoes bound to a joyful sound
But shrink from voicing care
Rejoice, and men will seek you
Grieve, and they turn and go
They want full measures of all you pleasures
But they do not need your woes
Be glad, and your friends are many
Be sad, and you lose them all
There are none to decline your nectared wine
But alone you must drink life's gall
Feast, and your halls are crowded
Fast, and the world goes by
Succeed and give and it helps you live
But no man can help you die
There is room in the halls of pleasure for a long and lordly train
But one by one, we must file on through the narrow aisles of pain

Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(185-1919)

Keep It Simple

Castaway on the Moon

Linzy insisted that we watch this korean film last night.

Her favourate actress was cast in the film.

So being very obliging people, the Lims agreed.

Castaway on the Moon.

That's how I usually feel these days,

especially when there is a long vacation.

The film is oddly entertaining and at the same time, thought provoking.

We are all very busy people. We made it so.

Our planners are filled, and the lil boxes on our calendars are all marked out.

We act busy even when we ain't really.

We fill up our planners,

convincing ourselves that we have 101 important things to do.

We go in search for more and more 'important things' to clutter our lives with.

We plan, we schedule, we organise.

We buy, we hoard, we stock.

We are just so afraid of that void that leaves us pondering

about the very fact that there is a void within us with nothing really very 'important' to fill.

I started craving for char jeong meon while watching the show!

So, guess what lapin is having for dinner tonight?

Please, can we have char jeong meon for dinner???

Char jeong meon, Char jeong meon, Char jeong meon!

I am starving...

Lapin & Straw

The Scarecrow said to Dorothy...

"I do not know anything...you see, I do not have a brain for I am made of straw."

Currently, I am reading the story 'The Wizard of Oz' to my class.
This week, Dorothy met the Scarecrow and this picture came to mind.
Perhaps, having no brains isn't such a bad thing afterall...
Nothing to ponder
Nothing to doubt
Nothing to remember
Nothing to be sad about
Igonorance is bliss.

Casual Poet

A Casual Afternoon...



Licia Lee & I finally made it to Casual Poet this afternoon.
Hey Linzy! Can you spot what those people are ploughing through?
Yap, your Red Dot award-winning creation!
Very proud of you! (Applause!!!)



I love these red chairs.
Reminds me of those Linzy bought.
Her Moulin Rouge table and chair set!



The afternoon sun was seeping through the notices that were plastered
carelessly to the window panes.



A new resident at the Casual Poet!
Blackie the kitty

Muscisophilia

by Oliver Sacks
Author of "Awakenings"

My latest reading material.
You need to be equipped with knowledge in both Music and Medical Sciences to digest this stuff.
In one of the case studies, a patient who was struck by lightning
but was resuscitated, had a sudden surge in his musicality.
You will certainly find me walking in the rain during the next monsoon, awaiting that fateful moment!
Like Mozart said... It is from God!!! Hahahahah!



What an odd thing it is to see an entire species - billions of people
playing with, listening to, meaningless tonal patterns,
occupied and preoccupied for much of their time by what they call 'music'.

Casual Poet vs Tea Cafe

Tea Cafe Revisited

Had intended to spend the afternoon at Casual Poet with Shelby.
After battling the sizzling heat and climbing up the neverending stairway,
we realised it opens only at 3pm.
Plan B...
We headed for my new haven, Tea Cafe.


Tea of the day ... Long Jing (Dragon's Well) for me.
It came with preserved sugared mandrin.
A great symphony of taste.




Shelby's apple tea turned out to be quite a treat.
Mildly sweetened and has a light apple fragrance.
Tickles the tastebuds,
yet without the usual overbrewed tanin in most of the fruit tea I have tried.

Extra side orders...

Crispy fish rolls and tea egg.

Generous serving of fish rolls.

Toasted till they are real crispy. Yumz!

Most tea eggs are simmered till they are pretty dry inside in order to infuse the flavour.

This one is really flavourful and yet has a runny egg yoke!

The taste just overwhelms the senses.

Divine!

Another day of adventure at the Tea Cafe.

Bravo! Bravo!