2012, The year in review.

Well, 2012 had been a really good year for me, I guess. I is pretty funny how I look back on my previous blogsposts and find myself giggling and crying in the middle of the night. I aim to record down all the significant happenings that happened to me so the even if I lose my memory or die or something, there is something somewhere that I left my mark on. For now, it is this blog. So, here goes. Oh ya. I have a dead external hard disk that has a lot of my precious memories and photos stuck in there. I hope that technology would one day enable me to retrieve my data at a lower cost. :( For now, I will treat it as a time capsule. Thank god I have some of the photos in here(the blog) Not all is lost.

2012 started off really happily! After all, 'A' levels(oh dreadful thing it was) just ended and I was free to enjoy my holidays minus the homework and the stress. I got a job at the call centre with relatively high pay so I had income! I was really excited to start crafting and yada yada. 

1) I learnt how to knit! 

I started knitting a lot of bows. Hahaha. Gave them all away. On hindsight, I think it is really too kawaii for a lot of people to pull it off. :(

I am really proud of it! No pattern used! 

Other than a bow, I made two scarves! Okay, one scarf and one cowl. Haha. 

Cowl made with yarn from Josephine! It is really comfy! I think I will make another! ^^ I gave it to ma god mother, but the next one, I will give it to Josephine! 

This other scarf, made with a funky yarn! I will give this to my younger cousin. It is slighter shorter than a regular scarf. Josephine gave me the other yarn, similar but in blue and purple. I think I will make that for her brother! Need to find more younger kids. Haha.

Knitted my first bunny! Tutorial from here! Gave it to my bunny-loving friend. Tried to make it look more like a Holland loop. Haha. 

2) I used my sewing machine! 

My first project was a period pouch, the kind used to put your pad in. HAHA. I attempted to embroider too. But I am really not that good at it. 

It took me some courage to post this, a failure:( My "skirt". Which looked way to fat on me. #FAIL.
Oh well. I will try it again next time. Yes, that is my bed sheet. A Snow White one. Hahaha.

Made a pouch and a bag for Kelly doll. Most successful sewing projects so far. Fail la. Shall improve!

As you can tell, I am not very very successful with the sewing machine. Haha. It is okay, I will try harder next time!

3) MORE Deco-den!

Made my own phone case with deco-den! 

Really proud of it, but it is quite worn out now. I need to make a new one when I get my new phone next year. Haha. Tutorial here!

4) I learnt to make some jewellery! 

Haha, I am not really into beading, but I made some simple bracelets and earrings and more to come!

Fancy a feather in your hair? Yes! Haha, I have yet to wear it anywhere though. Maybe I should bring it to Korea. 

Bracelets made with howlite!

Ohhh. I like this one! I will give it to my Korean friend because she commented on the pink one I made previously.

I think the pink one is nicer, but I had to change the design because I did not have enough suede. Suede is expensive:(

Stretchy anklet for me! 

Wrapped bracelets for everyone! Tutorial here!

5) I learnt how to do Wire Art!

This one is really fun to do! It is quick too, compared to crochet or knitting. 

Super love the simple bow design! Whoever thought of it was a genius! I followed the tutorial from I SPY DIY, but added another loop on the bow because I like it that way. 

Heart! I did not really follow any tutorials for this one. Just...followed my gut feelings. HAHA.

Made some initial rings, but I am too lazy to take a picture, so it will have to wait. ^^

6) Last but not least, I crocheted even more! Haha, my first ever craft, I must say. I still think I crochet the best even though I am running out of patterns to do. 

Elephant for Lynette, tutorial here!

Butterflies! I need more lace crochet patterns:(

Dress for dearie! I made everything without pattern. 

Dress was on dearie before I put it on Ariel! Ariel is much skinner. Haha. This picture of her is my current favourite!

DIY button made with my own fabric and pink flower clip. Haha, gave this to my cousin.

TELL ME. THIS IS BEYOND CUTE. No one to give to:( Too cute already. I wanted to give it to my cousin, but decided against it. I always give her things, but I never did see her use it. Haha. 

That's almost all the things I made this year! I am sure there are more stuff, but the photos are probably in my hard disk in coma. Haha. Oh well. 

That's all for today. I will be leaving for Korea in a bit, so this will be my last post of the year. 2012 had been  really good for me. I hope it was for you too! ^^ Ciao!

Rebecca:)

Shopping overboard!

Well.....OMG. I went on a shopping trip this week and last week. I am so shocked that I can spend so much on myself! *gasps* Here are what I bought! I have not spent so much since I bought my sewing machine last year. But I guess this is much cheaper than a sewing machine. Haha.

1.

 This was from September. I do not think I posted it so it is belated!

2.

This was the day Lynette and Josephine visited NTU, I think. Haha. I forgot already. But I remember the skull beads! This is proof that I bought the purple feathers! You know what? They disappeared!!! I cannot find the feathers anywhere! So you think a birdy came by my window and thought that was his momma and stole it?! Grrr! By the way, I have already made something with the blue suede and used up the skulls! I will post that next!

3.

I bought stuff from Sophie and Toffee! I am preparing for my deco pencilcase! I have yet to find a pencil case that I have in mind though :/ Always happy to receive my purchase by mail!

Unwrapping their package is like unwrapping a present with many layers. Haha. Quite fun.

MY WHIP CREAM and the cabochons!

I love the roses. Hmmm. 

Because I bought the cabochons during the Cyber Monday, they were giving out a packet of cabochons with every purchase. I do not know if I would use them though. I was trying not to do a food theme. Hmm. 

4.

Recent trip Plaza Singapura on my hatchday! My glue gun had a 50% discount! Shiok only! $9.99. The best part was, I used the gift card that Lynette and Apphia gave me so technically, it was a birthday present! ^^ 

5.

YES, I DID. I BOUGHT MYSELF MY FIRST DISNEY PRINCESS AT THE AGE OF 20. 

Look at her! Ain't she gorgeous? I think she looks nicer in something I made for my other doll though! Will show in my next post! I am thinking of making a link of all the DIYs I made.

6.

Thank god this is the last one. Haha. Really cannot believe myself. Out of 6 shopping trips, 5 was for craft items. I am going into wire jewellery now. I have too many hobbies. Grrr. Haha.

That's all for today. Ciao!

Rebecca^^
P.S. Happy but poor. So much poorer. :/

Contact lens review: Blincon red lens

Well, I really liked the Blincon Pink lens, so when I saw the deal for more contact lens from Blincon, I bought 4 boxes boxes with a click on Groupon. It is amazing how these kind of coupon sites and all shopping sites for that matter makes it so easy to pay the money to them. All you need is enter all the details once, and then and forever more your money will disappear with a simple click.

Okay, so on with the review. This is also from the BB range.

The colour I bought this time round was red (new and not shown) and green. They still have orange, which I am also interested in, but that's for the next round because I bought a brown pair instead. Hehe. So here is what the blisters looked like. 

Was so happy to have red eyes again:)

I super love how the ring of the lens is quite thick, so it makes your eyes larger than it really is.
In terms of comfortability, it is the same the the pink one. I wore it for about 8 hours without any problems. I really love how it looks on me though.

Here is a picture of me with it. I stole it from Facebook! Okay. I did edit my eyes a wee bit bigger and face quite a lot smaller. Haha. Oh, and my neck and arms a wee bit slimmer. As you can see, my face still quite big. Hmmmm....genetics. Sigh, the eyes looks nice! Not really scary too. I mean, people usually go ewww at red eyes, but I like it. Haha.

Here's a close-up of my eye! Hahahah. I super super love this pair of lens!

Look! Even with my lousy camera and bad lighting, you can still see the red colour! Heh heh.

You know, this high-contrast picture could have been perfect if it was not pixelated. LOOK AT HOW RED IT IS! Haha, you can also see my sparse lower lashes. Like specks of dust. -___-|||

Okay, the last picture! I did not even photoshop this picture. Only cropped it. 

Okay, I cannot full express my love for this pair of lens. I cannot even choose between this pair or the pink ones. I bought the green ones too! I will write about that another day. ^^ 

I need to buy more contacts when I go to Korea! I researched and it is written on the internet that Korean girls are more into brown lenses though. Hmmmm. Oh well. 

That's all. Ciao!

Rebecca:/ 

P.S. Still worrying about the Facebook cover page I have to design. 

Hatch day~~~I am 20 already?!

Well, I happen to turn 20 today. I do not feel any difference actually. Haha. Just slightly happier that I am getting a little bit of attention today. The day started late. I woke up at 1330! Cooked some lunch and left for dental. I always enjoyed craft shopping in Plaza Singapura. Always Spotlight, then Daiso! Haha, the best part is I always keep my spending under $50. Today was good because I finally got my PINK GLUE GUN. I am always harping about it and I finally got it! YAY! I think I can buy a tool box for myself already. Because the next thing on my list are pilers. Hahaha. I really have quite a lot of craft items in my room....I need to reorganize my stuff.

I ate normal minced meat noodles for dinner. I was sort of frustrated because I wanted to buy my hair extensions after Daiso, but my godmother called and said she wanted to meet me. I was not really really into meeting her, I do not know why I was like that. I felt obliged to meet her. I could not reject her :/ So instead of going to buy hair extensions, I ended up going to NEX and having dinner with my godmother. Actually I can understand her feelings, but sometimes, even though I really appreciate it, I just do not....Argh.

Everyone at home is sick. I think I passed my cold to others and I am just recovering from all the illnesses accumulated. So birthday meal is postponed to Saturday. :) Looking forward to my sashimi!

I was really really touched when Rachel and Freya called me to sing Happy Birthday when I was browsing in Daiso! Haha, I almost teared. So embarrassing! >< Haha. I am so so happy to have such friends. Thank you for being there and remembering me! *feeling mushy inside* You both have a special place in my heart. ^^

Even though sometimes people just message you on Facebook or message you on Whatsapp, I really feel quite loved when I read these messages. Even though it just takes 3 seconds to type and I do not really think much about doing it when I am on Facebook, but when I am the one receiving it, I really feel quite mushy inside. I am really not a really easy person to get along with. I am really weird. But I am just happy that there are people who accept me for who I am. Disney princess, Sailor Moon and all. Haha.

Oh no. I just received news that gave me a little dent on my hatch day! >.< I am to design a cover for my CCA Facebook page. Okay. I need to generate ideas ASAP!

That's all for today! Ciao!

Rebecca:s

P.S. Really nervous.

End of first semester in Uni!

YAY! I am finally done with the first semester of university! It has been a tiresome 14 weeks, with chionging of essays and hand-ache from the final exams! I am finally done! Even though I am not too optimistic about the results of my final exams, I am still happy that it has ended. I left for Bangkok the next day, so I just reached back in Singapore yesterday.

Bangkok was sort of fun, yet I felt that it was sort of a wasted trip. I know that this trip was for my grandparents. So I am not to expect much shopping or whatever. So it was more of a leisure trip. I rather eat the cheaper street local food than going to the restaurants though. But because we were with my grandparents, we had to eat "better" food. We went to this supermarket seafood restaurant. It was like consuming a novelty good that is quite useless. :/ We had to choose what you what to cook, supermarket style, and then you choose how you want to cook your food. But it is sooo expensive! You pay $10 for 1 kg of cockles. You can buy 3 times that amount for the same price at Geylang Serai. Furthermore, you have to pay more money for them to cook it the style you want. Steamed, deep-fry, stir-fry etc, etc. Even cutting of fruits require money. HAHA. What a waste of money that can be used for shopping.

The best place to shop seem to be Platinum, the fashion mall. I super like the thing there. But I only had 2 hours at the place. So haiz. I think the quality of clothes in Thailand is much better than Guangzhou, and the price is also about there. So ya, I think can go there to shop again next time! I only bought 2 tops, 2 shorts, 1 pair of slipper wedges and 1 cardigan. Hmmmm. I am not a big shopping queen. Haha.

I have been back for 1 day and I made an anklet and bracelet already. Hahaha. I am so productive when it comes to crafting. So naughty much? Okay. I have to credit myself for grabbing a copy of "The Economist" which my tutor recommended we read for free before boarding the plane. HAHA. $12.50 saved. Shiok only. Haha.

I miss my Phad Thai and Tom Yum already. :( I also liked the chicken skin there.

Okay. That's a really quick update on Bangkok. I enjoyed my trip to the temple! Erawan is a must go for me. Must ask god for blessing before proceeding on with your trip^^

Ciao!

Rebecca:)

Food and Cheesy potato recipe, my style.

Well, I love potatoes. I love potatoes and udon. Not together, but I love them both. However, my father saw a variety programme that mention that udon is not good for losing weight because it is made of high protein flour. Haiz. Anyways, I just wanted to post some pictures of the yummy food I made/ate recently. Nom.

Mummy bought us Ah Zhong mee sua from TAIWAN! OMG. It flew all the way back to Singapore and was still warm! <3 <3 <3 She bought like 3 big bowls worth of it in the lock and lock container. Yummy. Cannot wait to go back to Taiwan to eat their mee sua again and again! It is very famous by the way! My only concern is that I do not like the vinegar in Taiwan. Still has the coca-cola smell to me. :/ I bought my China/vinegar sold in Singapore over on the previous trip in the sushi soya bottle and had it spill in my S$80 Japanese bag on the way to Dan Shui. *heart pain* But it was worth it. Because the noodles tastes 10x better with my favourite vinegar. Haha.

Met up with Josephine and Lynette after a long time and ate in their school. Not bad, I am partial to smoked salmon though. Haha.

This is how I eat my green apples. Because the skin is very thick and hard, cutting them across then coring them with a corer makes it so much easier to eat. Furthermore, you can apply the yoghurt on top. Ahhhh. Yoghurt and apple tastes soooo goooood! Ahhh. Hahah. Red apple tastes nicer with yoghurt, but green apple tastes nice with it too! Don't cha think the apple looks happier like that? ^^

Mariska, an exchange student from The Netherlands, got her parents to share this joy with us! Her version of candies. HAHA. I expected candies, but this is one packet of yummy cookies! It is cinnamon flavoured, tastes very much like gingerbread cookies but in the shape shown on the packet! It is so adorableee. <3 She is going back in December though. :/ I will miss all the HS8008 girls. Those 3 hour lectures were made bearable with all of you awesome girls! Learning about Culture and Globalisation was taken to another level. Haha.

Ohhh, there is an "atas" restaurant in school! Called "Venice", the food there costs slightly more than Pitchstop. Like $10+++ This was the Salmon toast. Told you I am partial to salmon. I always end up eating salmon with something. Haha. I super like the salad here! I got a tiny shock when I saw it at first because the salad sauce looked like...dark sauce =__= But! It was gooooood. Omg. I love the sauce. Must be the good kind too, because they were stingy with it. Like a few drops only. Next time, I will try the pork something pasta!

Hehehehe. Restaurant looking food! Nom! Potato, sautéed with butter and baked with cheeseeee. Swiss and Cheddar. It was so good, it deserves another picture.

Here's the recipe:

For one portion,

1 1/2 potatoes. (I used medium ones, but one big potato would also do)
2 large pinches of fine salt.
2 tablespoons of butter.
4 table spoons of cheese. (Can mix and match)

First, using a non-stick pan, put in butter and use low heat to melt the butter. Increase heat by a bit and put in cubed potatoes and sautee with the salt. While doing that, mush it a bit with the frying slice/wooden spoon. This is to increase the surface area to volume ratio so that more of the potatoes would get the buttery goodness and texture is improved. When you can see the potato turning a little brown from the caramelized butter, turn off the heat and bring out your casserole/plate/whatever bake-able bowl and scoop half of the potatoes onto it. Put in some cheese in and the rest of the potato on top! Dump cheese on top!!! I think I put in more than 4 tablespoons of cheese, haha. In my experience, Swiss cheese does not turn a pretty golden-brown. I think the best mix of cheese would be Parmesan and Cheddarrr. Cheddar then Parmesan on top! Bake till the cheese turns golden brown like above. As you can see, there are parts where it does not. I suspect those are the Swiss cheese part. Haha.

This is the mashed version, the lazy way where I mashed the potatoes and butter together, put it in the cup, piled cheese on top. It was not as good as the unmashed one. I love the half-mashed, half cubed texture.

Okay. Are you hungry yet? If you finish up all the cheese before your potatoes, the potatoes inside also taste good with a little Greek yoghurt/sour cream/cream cheese. I eat this with an omelette. Western food all the wayyyy, my style! Usually, I would want to drink soup after. So I make TOM YUM SOUP. Fat la me. Hai.

That's all. Ciao!

Rebecca :\
P.S. Sick, with two more exam papers and no motivation to study.