$ 700 Budget

A friend told me that $700 could last him and his girlfriend for months. Of course, this doesn't include rent, and maybe transportation.

Makes me wonder how they do it. $700 doesn't take you very far these days, at least for me. I do watch what I buy, I consider hard when it comes to big purchases. That explains why my Kitchen Aid mixer is still sitting somewhere in some shop. They are thrifty folks, they make me feel like such a spendthrift!

I am so very curious, I will go on on an experiment to see how long it will last me! I will exclude bills. Since monthy bills take half of $700 already. Of course transport expenses will also be excluded.

To make $700 last, it does mean I have to cut down on some stuff that aren't really necessities. Like magazines, books, movies, coffee and meals with friends and buying barang barang that I do not need. I have given this $700 thing a bit of thought. As much as I want to make it last as long as I can, I will not totally deprive myself. What is life, if you can enjoy it?

SO, I will buy just 2 magazines a month, I will buy books only with the 20% Kinokuniya sale. The last sale just ended, I just bought 2 books. TWO! That is some kind of record for me. I haven't really been to the movies as often this year. Nothing new to attract me. But I will cut down on popcorn. ARGH! Or sneak in my own snacks. I will watch movies on weekdays and none after Friday.

Meals and coffee with friends. Now that is a tricky one. I can't keep turning down friends can I? I love my friends, so that couldn't be avoided. I meet up with 2 of my friends regularly - almost weekly. Thank goodness they can eat cheap! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Usually, we over order, so , it isn't exactly cheap.

The Husband loves hanging out. I love to hang out together with him too, but if we could just hang in more, could save us a little bit.

I think the hardest to cut will be grocery. No fancy vinegar, no nice breads, must buy house brands. No wines, no beers, no umeshu. No expensive cereals. Nothing indulgent. Like that how to live!

Thank goodness I am not much of a shopper! I will die from my own curiosity.

I will almost always buy something over to my parents' whenever I visit. Will my siblings kill me if I stopped buying? Somehow, this is something that I cannot save on. I love indulging them, and that indulgence will have to continue. It doesn't cost me that much anyway.

I will try to cook in more often too. So much for dinner dates. Maybe just one dinner date a week. I pity the man who has to eat what I cook.

How am I going to buy lens? I need my prime lens! I will buy maybe mid year, not now.

I will start this thing tomorrow. First day of a new year. I doubt the $700 will survive past February, considering that there is a wedding on the 3rd. Then there is Chinese New Year, how to save?

This is very motivating indeed.

Neverending Madness

After the 3rd of next month, everything will be back to normal.

I will pack away the tree, take down all the festive decoration, and will eat all the reminding leftovers if there are anymore left. Except the ham which I still have a lot of. Then everything will be nice and peaceful and oh so quiet again. I don't mind the yearly debaucheries, but I crave for the normality of everyday life. ( I am a boring boring person )

Until the madness begins again with just 3 weeks to go to Chinese New year!

Spring cleaning! Chinatown pasar malam! Decorating the house in garish red. Every other shop blasting Chinese new year songs! Seeing queues forming outside every bak kwa store. Queuing for new notes for ang baos in the bank. Trying to get the nicest looking red packets.

I am very looking forward to February.

Leap Second

We have an extra second to count down with to 2009!

City Scapes

I wanna go back there again.

Christmas

Now that the insanity is over, I can finally breathe!

I had the family dinner moved to the weekend before Christmas before Nicholas jets off to HK. It is nice this way, no rushing and jostling with the maddening crowd. I has a few presents this year. It is always nice to receive them, more so from loved ones. More more so when there is extra thought put into them! I had a Miffy stuffed toy from my brother. That cracked me up! He got someone to get it from god-knows-which-part-of -the-world and had it sent to Singapore, just for me! Now, tell me if that doesn't make anyone feel special. I just wished I got him something equally special. I try harder next year alright? Even my cousin got me something. It is nice to know that he appreciates the times when I took him out for coffee or ice cream or movies. The best thing of all, was having everyone together. It is always nice to see everyone around at the same time.

I am always feeling generous around this time of the year. I got The Husband a watch. Something that he really really fancies, but never had the heart to part with the money and buy it for himself. He has never hesitated in buying anything that I want. (Well, almost never, I am still waiting for my Kelly.) I thought I just indulge him a little and get him a slightly more expensive item this year. I did tell him though, that it is also his birthday, wedding anniversary and also, Valentine's Day pressie. We never really had the habit in buying gifts on special occasions all the time, I thought I make this one really special.

We have a great time over at Elaine's for Christmas lunch. More like a late lunch that spilled over to dinner actually. I can't remember the last time we spend this day together. We should do this again next year!

I love Christmas, not only for the food that I can get to eat, but also, it is a time when I show people how much I love them. People tend to get a little sentimental and a little mushy during this time of the year, and without them even saying it out loud, I know I do mean something to a lot of people.

Happiness

is seeing the glint in your friend's eyes when she opens up the present you got for her.

It is something that she has been eyeing for ages but never has the heart to buy it.

Popping

I thought I try some colour popping. After all, it is Christmas eve, can't be all too serious right?

The Professional

Very pro looking hor someone?

Bears

My Longest Photo Entry Ever

A Christmas dinner

Photography and Reading

I have the answer.

I would choose reading over photography. My love for reading outweigh my love for photography.

I pondered over this question for a while. Ultimately, I would go back to my first love - Reading. It has provided me with many many hours of pleasure and many happy memories. I remembered ordering a book when I was still in primary school and got it delivered to our home. My mum wasn't feeling too fantastic about it. HAHAHAHAHA, especially when she didn't know I ordered it 2 weeks ago in school. It was $25! What was I to do? It was the holidays, and I will be bored without any new books to read! I remembered my mum buying new Enid Blytons now and then. I couldn't wait to dive into them. Most of the stories I read were about fairies and gnomes and elves and all those magical things. It was a form of escapism for me, being able to take myself to a faraway land. I wished I kept those books instead of giving them to my cousins!

I get upset, I get happy, sometimes, I can't put down a book. Most times I start with one, finished it and then go on to another book. There were a couple of times when I attempted to read more than one at the same time simply because I couldn't possibly wait to start or that I have hit a dry spot in the first book and needed something fresh to keep me going.

I get stuck in Kinokunoya for hours, just browsing the fiction section. Yes, to me, that is also another form of escapism.

Thinking about the books and all the reading that I have done, it is hard to give it up. I just picked up a camera not too long ago. As much as I enjoyed photography thoroughly, it will never be able to provide me with the same sense of enjoyment I derived from reading. I never 'escaped' with photography and everybody needs to escape once in while right?

I can be contented just being a point-and-shoot person. (Not like I am doing a lot of difference other than pointing and shooting anyway) Never will I be contented not being able to read another book again.

My Wish List

Just in case you are in a generous mood and want to bestow me with some of your love, this is my wish list for Christmas....

KitchenAid mixer. The Artisan will do.

Hermes scarf ring.

Peugeot salt and pepper mills.

Soda Siphon. (more for The Husband)

A pair of nude Louboutins pumps.

A(nother) Chanel 2.55. The smallest one in Beige. This time, in lambskin.

A PS3. For laughs.

$1000 Kinokuniya vouchers.

50mm f1.4 lens.

I still want the Lensbaby 3G.

Hermes wallet.

A dry cabinet.

More Short Crust Pastry

Elaine tried following another short crust recipe and she says that it is better than the one from the Pastry Chef book. She found it in Patisserie. Another one of those text book type.

I wonder why we didn't take that book out in the first place?

The Pastry Chef

There isn't much food porn in this book. There aren't a lot of glossy pages. You need to approach this book not too much like a recipe book or everyday cookbook. Not like a I am hungrywhattocooknow book. It is more of a reference book.

I need to prepare myself to read it. It is pretty text heavy, and can get a little dry, if looking at nice photos of food is what you want. It explains how some food works together that way, and how some react the way they react. why you need this in this pastry and why you don't. What is this and what is that. Once you get into the groove of the book, it is pretty interesting.

Don't be mistaken, it has a lot of recipes. I tried the short crust pastry, it is pretty good, albeit a little on the rich side. But was the best among 3 that I tested.

How I choose my Friends

Must love Indian food. Singapore has a very happening Little Indian and it is sad to find out how many non-Indians have not ventured into Little India and check out the shops and eateries there. It is not the lack of love for the Tandoori chicken really. More so for the reason that people are not willing to get to know the other cultures better. We have all embraced Ang Mo cultures and Japanese culture. Why not try to know the local ones more intimately? Some people only know how to go to Orchard Road, then they complain about having nothing to do in Singapore. I admit lah, other than the food, I know close to nothing!

Generally, they must love to eat. Not in excess, but really love to eat. You feel good, being around people like that.

I avoid people who takes themselves too seriously. People who walk around, thinking that they are so special. The ones who do not have the ability to laugh at themselves. They are the same as the people who do all the cool stuff because those stuff are cool. The coolest people whom I know, are not dressed cool, they have no cool gadgets or hobbies. Somehow, seeing them being so comfortable in their own skin, makes them so. Yeah, I no like pretenders.

I don't like stingy people. I don't like it when they try to rip me off by conveniently forgetting to pay for their meals or drinks when you fork up with the money first. YOU KNOW WHAT???? MOST PEOPLE REMEMBER! AND THEY REMEMBER IT FOR A LONG LONG LONG TIME! These stingy asses will argue and bargain really HARD for the sake of a couple of bucks. Those who will take advantage of your generosity, those who will ask for that dollar back from you when you where out of short change to buy the papers. Stinginess is very unattractive. Makes me feel that those people are too uptight to have fun. You wonder how much a friend that person is when he asks for the few bucks back for the latte he bought for you at Starbucks when you have paid many times and never once asked for any money in return.

I can't stand born and bred Singaporean Chinese pretending they do not know how to speak Mandarin. They are usually the ones with the fake accents. Buay tahan.

Most of my friends are very honest with me. They will tell me when they think I am making the wrong decision, or talk me through things that I am confused with. They are with me when I go through some bad times, let me talk incessantly when I need to. They make me feel that I am not as bad as I think I am, without sugar coating too much. I am very grateful to have them.

Everybody has that competitive friend in their lives. The one who will compete in anything. Jobs, hobbies, travels, family lives, love lives, how their pet guppies are smarter than yours. Those people are toxic!

The one who talks about herself and herself only. This friend is the one who doesn't really care about what really is going on in your life. she cuts you off when you try to talk or gives a one line answer or comment. Why do they not realise that their friends are busy because it is the excuse they give to avoid her?

Friends who put you down to make themselves feel better. They are the ones who will not feel happy for you when you tell them good things that happened to yourself. Instead, will tell you something negative.

Friends who think you know nothing better. Argh. I hate being treated like that. It has happened a few times. I wonder what is it that makes people do that to me. DO I really look like an idiot?

Lastly, they must love Seinfeld. I don't get people who don't get Seinfeld.

Marina Barrage

I went for my first 'proper' night shoot. I took a few 'proper' shots and soon get a little bored. So I started taking some bo liao photos. I really should read up a little more about night photography, I didn't quite like how my photos turn out. The Marina Barrage is pretty interesting, and it helped that it was cool and windy when we went. Worth a peek. There is a cafe somewhere and the steamboat place that used to be in 7th Storey Hotel is now at the Marina Barrage. I may go back to the Marina Barrage in the day to see how different the place will look, plus there is some kind of gallery too. Something on water and and PUB obviously.

We set off in the car, and I forgot my tripod, and I decided that we had to go back home to retrieve it. Very unlike me. Most times, I would not go back for the tripod. But, I wanted to do a proper night shoot this time. Such commitment! I had quite a bit of fun, though I am not hooked on shooting at night. I would try again, if the weather is nice and windy. Hopefully, with more understanding, and more practise, I will get a teeny bit better.

These are the bo liao ones. I got a little enthusiastic with the zooming in and out, that it get out of hand. The Husband had to step in and told me that I was getting OTT and made me stop.