Such is life

trombones! trumpets! french horn!

2012-02-02T18:01:00.002+08:00

I joined our school's brass band!

Now we are a band of 6

with 2 trombones,

2 trumpets,

1 french horn and

1 euphonium!

I'm terrible at hitting notes

and the sound which my trumpet produces isn't pure at all,

but it is SO much fun to make music with friends :)

P.S Happy 20th to you, Su! Thank you for always loving and being here for me.

Nhien

2012-01-31T21:21:00.000+08:00

This is my friend Nhien.

Bio classes are better because of him!

Yesterday he came into class, sat down on the bench in front of mine,

turned to me and said,

'Hey look Cat! I ripped my pants!'

I nearly burst out laughing in the middle of class.

It didn't help that he is totally hairy,

and that his forest of leg hair was peeking out of the rip not so modestly.

Towards the end of the period, he caught sight of the ribbon that I tied on to my homework diary to act as a bookmark, and said:

'What is that ribbon for'

I said: 'For my homework diary. What did you think it was for'

He replied........

'To tie my armpit hair'

carry me!

2012-01-29T12:29:00.002+08:00

Barry walked away from home today

(he's old, so running is not his thing, but we didn't notice until he had gone quite a significant distance)

so off I went on a dog-hunt

in the hot sun!

I found him after awhile,

wandering around block 4.

we walked home together

side by side.

then I had to carry him up the stairs to our house because his hind legs aren't very strong anymore.

he was really heavy,

but we cooperated with each other and everything went A-okay in the end :)

two friends and a prawn

2012-01-28T09:07:00.003+08:00

This is my friend Carlo :)

and that guy up there is Nam!

All three of us went prawning (prawn-fishing) last evening!

Carlo would murmur 'sorry sorry sorry sorry' very fervently while taking the hook out of the prawn's mouth

and half of the time, Nam wouldn't notice that he had a prawn on his line until his bob had disappeared from the surface of the prawn and had nearly reached the bottom

so I pretty much just giggled for the entire 2 hours that we spent at the pond.

we caught 5 small prawns in total!

which I thought was not that bad for two first-timers :)

have a lovely weekend! :)

The Imperial Palace throws a banquet in honour of the Foreign Dignitaries from barbarian shores

2012-01-24T10:10:00.003+08:00

Our family hosted a Chinese New Year dinner for mum's family yesterday.
Food was aplenty, and guests and friends abounded!
As mum and The Sisters floated purposefully around the kitchen,
They sprouted verse after verse of flowery names for each dish
that paraded out of the kitchen.

Here's the whole menu that they came up with!

Honourable Boar ushers in a Bountiful Year-
(Pork ribs)

The profitable noodles from the Dowager's Kitchen-
(Mee Siam)

Ivory Pearls from the Empress' Treasures...
(Chicken rice)

Bountiful meatballs floating in the Phosphorous, Flowing, Swirling Soup-
(Cabbage, meatball + fishmaw soup)

Golden nuggets nestle on Peony Jade Tray-
(Ngo Hiang)

Ruby red salmon splashing in the Shallows...
(Salmon and shrimp)

Twirling Dragon Prawns Dancing in the Joyous Stream-
(Prawn fritters)

Spring heralds Deep Sea Treasures blooming in the Imperial Garden-
(Veggie dish)

Majestic Food of the Zodiac Gods...
(Curry chicken)

A Gentle Maiden leans over the Balcony to Admire the Night Sky...
(Steamed herbal chicken)

Terra-cotta Warriors watching over the Imperial Jeweled Treasures-
(Pork trotters in duck sauce)

Succulent Mushrooms simmered in Sea-Goddess hair
(Mushroom oysters in Fatt-Choy)

Fatimah

2012-01-23T00:37:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year's eve was celebrated at my grandma's place,

with our dearest cousins and uncles and aunts.

that's my er su (second uncle) up there,

talking to Fatimah (his green parrot)

in his bright red wooden clogs.

he and my papa have twin pot-bellies ;)

hey look! it's bob!

2012-01-22T17:13:00.001+08:00

There are 3 wild roosters and 1 wild hen wandering around on the grass patches in our estate.

they are totes peckish (haha!)

Laura

2012-01-21T08:10:00.000+08:00

last night i doodled on my tablet while my friends jammed and plucked away

in preparation for rock night in march.

Laura is the bass(?) guitarist. she is so. freaking. cool!

she's like a piano/keyboard freak and she plays the guitar totes well, and she's everything spicy!

so she was the subject of an hour's doodling.

happy CNY!

wedding days

2012-01-17T17:28:00.000+08:00

my sister is officially a wife.
we had such a whirlwind of a weekend (and a monday night too!)
i didn't bring any of my cameras along with me during those three days,
but i did snap some shots with a borrowed instax camera.
these are my favourites!

day one:
church ceremony and reception at burkhill hall@botanic gardens

^ tim and che grace playing the raspberry game (whoever stuffs all five raspberries in their mouth and swallows them all without choking wins) + tim looking very debonair

^ tim wins the eating game + che grace and her BF faith

^ che grace likes this shot a lot. she thinks it looks like a marc jacobs ad

^ us at the raspberry game + aidan shows off his flexible bod

^ che grace looking pretty + bride&groom walk through an aisle of friends waving sparklers after the reception at burkhill hall

day two:
tea ceremony at our place and dinner at royal china

^ su says that everyone in the pic looks like a princess and i shrek.. + tim and che grace serving chinese tea to mum and pa

^ the wedding people + che grace looking beautiful

^ che france and che mar put the just married car together. the cans clanked very merrily all the way down the road

day three:
cocktail party at PS Cafe, ASH park

^ friends & candles

^ faith and che grace at the bar + us looking pretty

^my sister, and my new brother.

my sister Grace

2012-01-14T08:01:00.001+08:00

my eldest sister, Grace, is getting married today.
my own sister, married!
i am so excited for both my sister and my soon-to-be-brother Tim.
at 2 o'clock this afternoon, they'll both be marrying the love of their life.
i will miss che Grace when she moves out of our house:
her pigsty of a room,
her whole regiment of facial scrubs and expensive creams which cover up three-quarters of our sink,
barely leaving us any room to put our toothbrushes,
but most of all,
the laughter and happiness which she fills our house with.
at the same time, i am so excited to welcome tim into our family!
over the years he has successfully wormed his way into every aspect of our lives,
and i am so glad that now he'll be here to stay with us forever!

the make-up artists have just arrived and che Grace's best friend, Faith, is here too.
and i'm still in bed.
gotta run! :)

vectors, plasmids and DNA ligase

2012-01-11T17:49:00.001+08:00

Studying for bio is soooooooooo boring.
ESPECIALLY when the topic you're going to be tested on is genetics.
vectors, plasmids, and DNA ligase are so not my thing.

Mr. Farmer

2012-01-03T22:01:00.002+08:00

This is my friend UD.
He lives in Sydney and works at a hospital.
Recently, he decided to put his green fingers to work and started to grow a tomato plant at his workplace.
His inspired colleagues are planning to add some basil and other herbs and veges to keep his tomato plant company.
I think he ought to have been a farmer!

You're a snake

2012-01-03T18:40:00.001+08:00

My old domestic worker used to call me a snake

because I'd slip out of my clothes in the bedroom and leave them on the floor behind me.

You know,

like how a snake leaves its old skin behind when it moults!

I can go the distance

2012-01-02T19:24:00.000+08:00

Lucy has a fetish for Louboutins

2012-01-02T12:50:00.001+08:00

hello 2012!

Suckerfish

2011-12-30T15:43:00.001+08:00

Jie France called me a suckerfish cause I was smothering Mikey with kisses

He's THE pizza man

2011-12-30T15:07:00.001+08:00

Okay. so this is my future brother JON. He is crazy about food (in particular salmon sashimi!).
and he can really work pizza!!!

p.s he is not as hairy in real life

He likes meringues very much

2011-12-29T17:40:00.002+08:00

My friend TJ loves eating my meringues :)

Walrus-rabbit

2011-12-29T12:11:00.001+08:00

Last night, my sister dreamed that she rescued a walrus-rabbit looking creature from a canal.

Mr. Supermarketeer

2011-12-28T21:13:00.001+08:00

In preparation for three upcoming parties, Mikey, Mum and I set out to the supermarket to buy food.

Mikey doesn't go supermarketing very often (because when he does we spend hours in the supermarket), so today's supermarketing was a big deal! Mike was a big help.

He steered the trolley everywhere,

(although he nearly knocked several old ladies over)

counted out 5 red apples and 5 purple brinjals,

and performed an extraordinary balancing act while bringing his favourite cups of yogurt to the trolley.

the end :)

An Asian Christmas

2011-12-28T16:41:00.003+08:00

Mum has fashioned a wreath out of a bunch of rambutans given by some neighbours,

and hung it up on our wall in place of our Christmas wreath.

She's loving the Asian twist she's brought to Christmas.

Made of muscle

2011-12-28T10:32:00.001+08:00

I'm pretty sure that all the grandmas in my pottery class have a crush on our teacher.
check out his muscles!

The sound of music

2011-12-27T08:42:00.003+08:00

My friend Daniel is a musician and a conductor.
This is him.

They liked their tree very much

2011-12-26T16:46:00.000+08:00

Ride of your life

2011-12-26T13:54:00.011+08:00

Upon picking me up from Junction8, Papa promptly dumped a Christmas Turkey on my lap (unlike my illustration, it was quite dead). The turkey was probably a champion turkey body-builder- it was so heavy. Barry had come along for a ride too. I guess you could say we both had a ride of our life!

Not again!

2011-12-25T22:59:00.002+08:00

-A long-time resident lizard of our living room

War of the meats

2011-12-25T21:22:00.001+08:00

Inspired by christmas dinner! (ham and ribs)

This is the real me

2011-12-25T13:53:00.000+08:00

My mother headbanging to 'Born this way' after church in the living room.
There's totally no doubt about it, she was just
born this way.

2011-12-25T07:10:00.000+08:00

That's me navigating slowly across our rubbish-strewn bedroom floor to pop goodies into everyone's stocking.
Merry Christmas Jesus!
(and you too!) :)

Santa Paws

2011-12-24T10:18:00.000+08:00

Michael and Barry, stuffing stockings!

2011-12-24T08:02:00.001+08:00

There are so many presents under our christmas tree that only the crooked top of our ole proud tree can be seen!

my friend tim

2011-12-24T07:29:00.000+08:00

this is my friend tim
he's really cool!
listen to him on radio here

happy 21st

2011-12-24T00:01:00.000+08:00

Michael Wong-See!

as lazy as a slug

2011-12-23T14:22:00.002+08:00

bits and pieces of dinner

2011-12-22T23:59:00.000+08:00

2011-12-22T09:08:00.000+08:00

i'm a total noob when it comes to photoshop

(the only time i use it is to edit away pimples and zits off photos)

i've spent a WHOLE THREE HOURS of my morning playing with the software,

and i STILL haven't been able to figure out how brushes work!!!

my self esteem has totally been affected.

No place like home

2011-12-21T21:19:00.003+08:00

Barry's gone bald at least thrice already, but the ticks are hanging on tight.

There are less of them now for sure, but occasionally, we find an odd one clinging onto Barry's fur for dear life. We sure hope that they ain't here to stay!

2011-12-21T14:40:00.000+08:00

Che France just found her long-lost pen under the sofa. It is very hairy

a member of the family examining her warts

2011-12-21T13:51:00.000+08:00

2011-12-20T21:53:00.001+08:00

I bought a wacom tablet this afternoon. It cost me, but it's worth it!

I'm as happy as a cheshire cat :)

Dear little things,

2011-12-16T12:15:00.000+08:00

mama loves you so.

made by elves

2011-12-14T19:13:00.001+08:00

i nearly couldn't sleep a wink last night because i was so excited about today's santa's workshop! (organised by me for my nice cousins). needles were pulled in all directions with complete disregard for safety, and the gingerbread (where i was the boss of my minion elves) looked like poo when we were squishing them into shape, but everything turned out wonderfully yummy and green and red and glittery in the end! :)

2011-12-13T22:59:00.000+08:00

so excited about my santa's workshop tomorrow!

OpeRATion Shrew

2011-12-13T15:40:00.001+08:00

Operation shrew involved lots of devilry and cunning-ness in the placement of sticky traps,

a pink fatpipe floorstick (to guide the shrew to the traps)

a long metal stick

and blah blah blah

after lots of nervous giggles (aunty, mum and I were the main players in the game)

and squeals (both from us and the shrew), we eventually caught him. he stank!!!

before I drowned him, mum brought mike to see the struggling shrew,

and gave him a whole breakdown on its anatomy.

the end! (literally)

2011-12-12T18:09:00.000+08:00

this morning mother, aunt, mike, che france and i breakfasted at benelli-
this nice place in tanglin mall.
the food was scrum ALTHOUGH
would you believe i was told off while i was trying to photograph a macaroon?
i mean, like, seriously?!?!?!?!?!?!
it's not as if there's some broadway musical going on! anywayzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
since i couldn't take pictures of the FOOD,
i consoled myself by taking pictures of the food WE ORDERED
and some cute people too.

like this small boy called michael:

isn't he charming.

^THOSE are the food pics. i had some eggs benedict thing. it sounded way more glamorous than just 'eggs benedict'. they phrased it real fancy. but it was good.

anyway, i've got two skype conversations running,
so gotta run!

christmastide

2011-12-11T16:33:00.002+08:00

A few years back, at our old house, we had a resident cricket in our christmas tree.

we loved him

and he loved us too i think,

because he would serenade us round-the-clock

this year, we ain't got no cricket.

instead we have a shrew (which is kinda like a rat)

living under our staircase amongst my mum's art materials

it's kind of gross, really.

it's not my dad's favourite kind of pet

we would infinitely prefer having the cricket back again in place of this rodent which is gracing our house this christmas season.

an aesthetic spoonful of rice

2011-12-08T15:25:00.000+08:00

last night i was fiddling around with my new nikon tripod (an advanced christmas gift from moops and poo), when mum excitedly declared that che mar had the most aesthetic spoonful of rice she had ever seen on her spoon. i dashed upstairs to get my sony and quickly ran down again to snap a pic before che mar swallowed it down into her gut. notice how the the slender strand of vegetable droops just-so

P.S this is my 1000th post over the past few years :)

2011-11-27T20:23:00.001+08:00

my sister's fiance took this gorgeous picture at botanics,
while we were snapping some photos for my sister's wedding in january.
beauty!

2011-11-27T19:40:00.003+08:00

here's a little something that i put together over the weekend

hope you have a lovely christmas!

new books!

2011-11-24T17:45:00.001+08:00

A POEM

2011-11-17T13:40:00.003+08:00

my future kids are going to have rad parties

theirs will be way better than michael wong-see's.

cotton candy, photobooths and candy galore,

they'll go wild and will party hardcore!

they'll be dancing till the sun goes down in the west,

then tired and dreamy they'll then have some rest.

at midnight, the party will finally end,

then the little princesses and princes will fall asleep, all content.

2011-11-12T16:20:00.004+08:00

Thanks soooooooo much to everyone who came to support me at MAAD last night!
my fabulous friends, classmates, cousins, family people and artists- this post goes out to all of you :)
just taking your time to come down to red dot meant so much to me!
i hope your enjoyed yourself squillions.
and until i set up shop again
i will forever be
your friend,
and wannabe artist.
:)

peek

2011-11-10T16:16:00.003+08:00

here's a sneak peek of what I'll be selling tomorrow at MAAD!
i'm so excited that i can barely type without making a spellnig mistake!
xxo

A SPOT AT NOVEMBER'S MAAD!

2011-10-27T15:52:00.000+08:00

hello!!!!!

i'm so excited to share that i've got a spot at next month's (november's) maad!

i will be selling a whole mish-mash of handmade crafts,

like paper-cut cards, hand-carved rubber stamps, ceramic necklaces (i am going to collect a newly fired batch next week!) and lots and lots of other goodies :)

my spot is just outside red dot museum (i don't know the exact location YET),

so...

pop by and say hello if you're in the area!

you will make my day :)

Catherine

We make art

2011-10-17T23:18:00.001+08:00

monday is pottery day.

I glazed some pieces and brought home some finished works this evening.

my pottery aunts had a longan party in class-

i was not invited to join in the feasting.

i think it's because they were jealous of my necklaces that i was glazing.

this is my small army of army ants. jie france has named two of them already.

their names are Ernie and Warrick

this is my clock that i was a bit dubious about at first. but it's been really well received by my family, so...

this one's a big blue bowl and a copper rust-coloured pitcher (jie frances' favourite)

and THIS THIS THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

IS MY AWESOME MOM AND HER AWESOME NEW PAINTING.

it's a painting of me when I was a kid

i really really really love it :)

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat!

2011-10-15T17:14:00.001+08:00

I spent the morning making christmas cards for some of my favourite people. These three are my favourites :)

smooches

2011-10-13T19:50:00.001+08:00

this is the apple thing i was talking about in my previous post which was not an apple
my mum and i made it (the blue dress) together, from scratch.
what do you think of the skull and crossbones on my right arm?

This is the start. of. something. new

2011-10-10T21:45:00.001+08:00

it's got nothing to do with the green apple
but it does involve pretty flowers,
pattern paper,
and a sharp blue cloth scissors...

maad's pyjama partay

2011-10-08T06:11:00.002+08:00

to celebrate the end of a week of exams, my sister frances and I hung out at red dot museum's monthly handmade market last night. it was absolutely AMAZING- the best handmade market i've been to in my life! we met lots of crazily creative people, and came back home with lots of spoils!

this little ladybug hairclip (made out of ribbon!) took up residence on top of my mop of hair as soon as it was bought, and the wooden spool (!) totally captured my heart. the top of the spool is removable so you can actually put a spool of thread in, or wrap some ribbon around it's body!

these two ornaments are little stuffed walnuts, with a stamped hedgehog and rabbit on each of them. i'm planning to put them in someone's stocking this christmas ;)

these are little cloth flowers which I plan to dress up some plain hairbands with,

this is some ridiculously useless knobby pop-up flower creation that we couldn't resist buying

(have you EVER seen anything like it!)

(they make perfect decorative beards)

and this pink rat-lizard knitted plush belongs to my sister.

she says just looking at it (blinky) makes her happy

i think it's delightfully hideous and totally annoying.

when blinky wears the knob on his head it's called:

'blinky goes to panama'

WHEREAS

when blinky wears the knob on his bum, he turns into a mean rattlesnake. SSSsssssssssssssssss

i bought some really radical and bold cloth at spotlight too. maybe i'll post a picture of it after I've turned it into something functional :)

2011-10-06T21:31:00.002+08:00

it's been a really taxing week for my brain with all the exams we've had so far,

i don't think i've ever looked forward to friday so much before!

i guess i'm surviving good after being away from school for so long,

thankfully :)

here are a few things which are keeping me happy....

one:

my most recent addition to my book collection, Paris, Made by Hand. thanks maman, i'm loving it :)

two:
my beautiful sister Frances, who has been keeping me company while my other two sisters are away...

and lastly,
three:
a cute dog named Barry, who wore a glowstick necklace while out on his walk last night. he's an alien superstar :)

2011-10-01T08:11:00.000+08:00

at the moment i'm STARVING for some beauty. anything! as long as it's beautiful!
going through my friday blogs makes me wanna visit every single stationery/design shop in japan (imagine if there was a tour company that did that!),
stroll through the back streets of paris,
browse through poppytalk's handmade market (featuring so many of my favourite artists!)
and buy EVERYTHING that's on my favourite's list on etsy.

I haven't touched my sewing machine in ages, or
played with ANY of my film cameras (due to my time-to-save-money campaign) or
read any delectable books
or made anything with my hands!!!!

sooooooooooooooooooo
once I got back from school this afternoon,
I rummaged through ALL our craft drawers, in search of inspiration,
and finally decided to make something with sculpey- a soft clay that bakes in the oven to become hard/solid.....

and....

tada!

a sculpey necklace!
my mum and sister said it looks like food (which is not a compliment), but I like it :)
I was planning to varnish it to make it shiny, but I haven't got down to doing that yet :)

The experiment in LPone

2011-09-23T23:06:00.003+08:00

i had this really emo post going on just now, but it like disappeared somewhere sooo... you're spared :-)

che mar and I just had a total sister night!

we hit up little part 1 which is a minute away from thomson plaza, and had a blue whale of a time!

there was a little brown beetle dozing on my bed before we left, so che mar snapped a pic of it using her new olympus camera, which she went craazzy with the whole night. here are some of my favourites:

the end :)

2011-09-20T21:44:00.000+08:00

A sad day calls for

a pretty dress, ice-cream with my papa, and a kiss on the cheek
to make a night shiny again.

feeling like THIS

2011-09-16T06:39:00.001+08:00

there are tons of lizards in my house

i don't know where they come from, but they are permanent residents.

they make a lot of noise throughout the day with all their chirping,

and throughout the night too!

lately i've developed a great tactic to make them shush up.

when they start chirping (the lizard should preferably be near you)

i go: SHH!! very fiercely.

normally they're pretty obedient and they shut up straightaway

if you get a rebel (like the one on the that lives behind the bookshelf on the patio),

then too bad.

but otherwise this brilliant trick works just great!

photo via peonies and polaroids

a girl and her friend

2011-09-14T18:11:00.001+08:00

an original illustration

Potter's hand

2011-09-11T20:36:00.005+08:00

my sister made these figurines for my godmother's birthday. if you haven't already guessed, it's a nativity scene, starring Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus.

I'm captured by, your holy calling,
set me apart
I know you're drawing me
to yourself

bombshell toes

2011-09-09T20:10:00.006+08:00

I got my toe-nails done today for the first time ever.

my godmother treated me to the whole-shibang (there wasn't any occassion, she just loves me alot)

some foot scrub and ginger something scrub and some exfoliating thing and then I got to choose the colour of my future toe-nails.

which took me a LONGGG while.

it reminded me of the time where I used to look-forward to going to the dentist so that I could pick a new colour for my braces!

i'm totally into the whole nude-looking feet look at the moment (like simple nude-coloured flats and stuff),

but I didn't quite want to choose a too nude coloured nail polish lest my feet look like a camel's hoof

(which was not the look that i was going for)

so in the end I picked a nice flashy-bling light pink.

the whole time when the lady was lovingly tending to my feet,

I pretended to read the newspaper very intensely

(like a seasoned tai-tai who went for foot spas every week),

but I was watching her paint my toes from the corner of my eyes the whole time, really.

my toes are totally distracting me from my work.

i keep looking at them every 5 seconds.

p.s I watched jeux d'enfants last night! (I KNOW right! while everyone is slogging away for their exams I'm going for spas and painting paintings by the dozen, and watching movies and shopping at 313... i'm totally guilt-ridden now. okay not really).

I fell in love with Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard all over again (this is like my 34th time already!)

m'aimer si vous osez!

2011-09-05T17:15:00.000+08:00

the story goes something like this:

one day, a girl woke up at seven in the morning and studied the history of Russia until noon.

learning about Russian politics and politicians wasn't terribly exciting,

and after a while, she got quite sick of reading about zinoviev, kamenev, kirov and trotsky.

after all, they were all already dead.

after eating a yummy lunch of chicken sandwiches with parmesan basil pesto,

she flopped down in bed and thought about her life

and felt a bit like a loser because she hadn't gone out of the house in centuries.

soon, her mom came to the rescue, and flopped down in bed beside her.

she told the girl to get off her bum and go paint.

inspired by her mum's painting that was currently being exhibited at this cool place,

she got off her bum and went to paint.

after an hour and a bit, the girl finished painting her painting.

it was a picture of her brother gazing at horses in a field.

it was the first time that she had ever painted on canvas,

so she was mighty proud of herself.

acrylics and watercolour were the main mediums that she made use of

although she used a sharpie to draw in the eyes (of the horses)

only that it is a secret,

because not many artists use sharpies to draw in eyes of horses.

then she gave the painting to her brother because her brother loved and rode horses.

P.S the girl is me!

the zine crane

2011-09-04T17:51:00.002+08:00

Sitting at my wooden desk in the corner of my dark room, I notice the soft shades of green pouring through my melon window curtains. I overhear the passing cars, sucking past air while sitting on a black creaky chair. I turn around my chair and peer to catch all the details that compile my room.

My eyes linger on my bed, filled with overstuffed pillows and fresh messy sheets and move their way to the elderly Yamaha keyboard of yellow tinted keys in the opposite corner. My attention returns to the compact desk and I begin to type on my dull shiny dell laptop. I tap lightly on the consistent symmetrical keys and they sound with rhythmic intervals and slight pauses. The keys feel smooth and small.

I take a sip of my milk tea, sniffing the fruity scent of artificial flavouring and the warm aroma of hot liquid. The warm tea enters my mouth with unexpected heat and burns the tip of my tongue. I open up my itunes and stream Debussy's dreamy chord modulations and Beirut's elegant and endearing vocals, disrupting the still air. I lay back into my chair and breathe in the musty air with a hint of day old tangerine peels in the wastebasket below.

-Volthair 2

i've been quoting Volthair a LOT, I know, but i'm really in love with her style of writing.

my room isn't quite like Kathy's.
my window curtains aren't melon- they're a plain, speckled, off-white colour
and all I can hear from my room is the soft cooing of migratory birds and the chirrup-chirrup of small brown birds which flitter amongst the tall trees just outside my window.
it's not big enough to house a piano, but it does have shelves and shelves of space.
the topmost shelf is my favourite. it houses my art-supplies, stuffed away haphazardly in a regiment of glass jars of different shapes and sizes.
the small honey jar which contains all my sequins and glittery stars and shiny dancing people is pure magic! they positively glow and shine from within their bee jar.

birth of butterflies by djkart

2011-09-01T17:22:00.000+08:00

i've just discovered two gems in my postbox!
oh glorious day!
thank you benjamin winkler for the chapbooks, and Brandy Erdmann for the zine!
you truly are angels sent to earth!

oh happy day

2011-09-01T16:54:00.001+08:00

I was walking along the overhead bridge that would lead me back home
when I saw
a policeman with his cool camera taking pictures of speeding cars.
that must be like the loveliest mean-y job ever
I smiled at him, and he smiled back at me.
then I walked down the overhead bridge with a grin on my face, because
i've always had a soft spot for men in uniform ;)

2011-08-24T21:50:00.001+08:00

"Looking forward is too unbelievable. I might hit a point where I am stranded in Africa or I adopt lions into my home. The possibility stands! The possibility stands. I am still soaking in what I am sitting in now. The past stings slightly, like rare two minute rain showers on a sunny day"

-Volthair, issue one

floating in a world of my own,
with my fingers resting on my cheek,
my toes curled up under warm sheets
i am falling slowly into a world we call sleep
.

this

2011-08-24T20:35:00.002+08:00

this just arrived in the mail

have I ever mentioned about how much I love receiving things via snail mail?
last week I dropped off a whole bunch of letters at the post-office, five to be exact.
they're probably up in the air now, on the way to
Australia, Germany, and America
up up up up up in the air.
Volthair's zines just fell into my lap from the starry night sky two seconds ago (actually I found them in the mailbox)
the author decorated up the package so beautifully that I nearly gasped when I saw it.
a handwritten note was included in the little package too.
i love handwritten notes,
they're so personal.

i can't wait to dive into the zines
but before that
there's a whole tower of homework to clear first,
as usual.
so they'll just have to wait
for me.

2011-08-21T04:37:00.001+08:00

my very first zine -one week of my life- is up on etsy!

be the first person to email me at catherinemaytang@gmail.com

to receive a free issue!

P.S This post also goes out to international readers

mooks is an ice-cream monster!

2011-08-13T18:47:00.000+08:00

2011-08-12T22:18:00.001+08:00

i bought some goodies from MAAD's pyjama market:

a set of little prince pins (soo gorgeous. the lady selling them was amazing too)
and a zine titled 'Run of the Mill- The Travel issue'

this is the second zine that i've ever purchased (the first one is thousands of miles up in the air now, on its way to me- hopefully!). I've only read the contents page but i've fallen in love with it already. I can't wait to snuggle up in bed and read through the whole shibang.

isn't the picture of the old men playing checkers adorable?

papa and i stood there watching them for a bit and pretended to understand what was going in the game.

but seconds later we got bored and walked away.

a belated father's day dinner

2011-08-10T19:52:00.001+08:00

sometimes she's so strange

barry enjoying all the fuss immensely

that's the good thing about standing fans- you can get them to blow wind up your belly

god has blessed our family abundantly. we can each make about 100 different facial expressions.

bloody goodness (papa are you reading this?)

hammy

2011-08-05T23:16:00.002+08:00

i'm a bit crazy about origami at the moment (it's lasted a week so far).

my table is strewn all over with packets of origami paper,

my self-healing mat has assumed its privileged position on the middle of my desk,

and to add to that delightful mess-

my glue gun's been dripping hot blobs of glue all over my markers.

so far, i've made a few watermelons and some blue (and some pink) elephants.

this evening i learnt how to fold happy tulips:

and a FEARSOME hammerhead shark

which i've named hammy.

ham says he's going to chomp off your legs.

did you know that sharks are attracted to contrasting colours?

beach babes wearing black-spotted white bikinis beware!

btw,

hammy wishes you goodnight and sweet dreams, while

the tulips send their love...

wind

2011-07-30T14:14:00.002+08:00

missing you, A.

2011-07-22T09:42:00.003+08:00

2011-07-20T09:35:00.008+08:00

here's a video that my awesome friend Tim and I put together in Sydney. It's a collection of bits from here and there, funny bits and happy bits and all sorts of other yummy warm things. do take a look!

much love,
C

2011-07-18T19:20:00.002+08:00

michael and I went prawning in the morning. we barbecued all 15 of them. then we headed to bugis to chill. so pooped now!

home, winter, castle hill, NSW state library, ampersand

2011-07-14T19:24:00.000+08:00

tim's toe

2011-07-13T21:00:00.001+08:00

mona vale & michael

2011-07-13T19:23:00.000+08:00

UD and i visited mona vale's little paper lane this arvo. i bought so many things from the place that i nearly died upon seeing the total cost. my favourites purchases of the day is hello sandwich by ebony bizys- a book about gift wrapping, and a very square box brownie film camera from vinnies. it's a little rusty, but everything seems to be in working order, so i'm now in seven heaven pretty much.

may,

can you do the dishes please

coogee

2011-07-13T17:11:00.002+08:00

we went for a walk at coogee beach today. the skies were as blue and as cloudless as always, and the waves were spectacular. they crashed against the cliffs and foamed and creamed... we could have watched them for hours. we spotted four dolphins swimming gracefully against the waves too, they were beautiful.

2011-07-11T18:48:00.001+08:00

tim and i traipsed around newtown this afternoon. i bought a box full of pantone postcards of every conceivable colour, two issues of frankie, an ancient photoalbum from vinnies and two nesting stamps from an art store nearby. tim bought an issue of frankie and a whole lot of foodstuffs to make nachos- doritos, salsa, sour cream.. we had a callipo icicle each on the train, and a freezing white choc at gloria jeans. they made winter a degree or two cooler.

2011-07-10T16:44:00.007+08:00

the worst part about the cold during winter is when you have to sit down on the freezing toilet bowl in the morning. it makes me fantasize about my almost-warm toilet bowl back home in Singapore nearly every time I visit the loo.

two

2011-07-09T18:17:00.000+08:00

It was so cold in the morning that the backyard was covered with a carpet of frost. Tim and I caught the bus to the radio station. The skies were as blue as the sea, and I wandered all over the place and snapped some pictures here and there. See the pictures up there? Uncle David is a sugar-snap and tiny-tim farmer, while Tim wears mismatched socks, always.

a first night

2011-07-08T21:12:00.008+08:00

i'm all wrapped up in woollen everything. the little mustard-yellow house that i love oh-so-much has changed a little since I last saw it: the furniture has been moved around, and new things have taken up residence in cozy niches... but the people i love are all here, and that's all that matters really :)

cacophony of cicadas

2011-07-04T09:36:00.001+08:00

iced apple vinegar

2011-07-03T11:27:00.003+08:00

tea at PS cafe

2011-07-02T21:13:00.000+08:00

new glasses

2011-07-02T13:00:00.000+08:00

after dinner portraits

2011-06-30T20:46:00.000+08:00

mikey draws che france..

f-r-a-n-c-e-s

something new

2011-06-30T07:19:00.000+08:00

i'm so excited about a project i'm working on currently. it'll all come together in two months or so!

bonjour!

friends

2011-06-30T07:12:00.002+08:00

my poppy is loving my new wellies. good thing too, because she'll be seeing them a lot these rainy days. see the brown on her forehead? she's been digging burrows again, her playpen is full of them!

2011-06-28T04:14:00.000+08:00

it is 4 in the morning and i'm awake. reading blogs.
because that's what i love best.
kind of.
the house is pitch black and the glare from my laptop is blinding me
i'm being nice by not turning on the light in the corridor-
my sisters will stir and wake up and probably yell at me and call me a pig.
did you know, i'll be in sydney next week friday!
i'm so excited i can barely sleep.
i can't wait to roll my luggage down the carpeted floor in the airport, and breathe in the airport smell (don't you love the smell of the airport?), and look out at the world from my window seat on the plane, and stand on tippy toes to spot my second family at the arrival place in sydney plus smother them with kisses when i do, feel winter for the first time, snuggle under the covers, toast marshes over the fire....
i plan to finish all my holiday homework this week, so it won't be on my mind on my holiday in sydney.
that means i'll be at my study desk nearly all day, using my brain, for once.
don't you love the photo of these curious sheep?
it's my desktop photo at the moment. it'll probably stay there for a good one month or so-
i'm loving it!

you can buy a print of it here.

little eats and other things

2011-06-18T06:56:00.002+08:00

Taipei, as seen from the 89th storey of Taipei 101

2011-06-18T06:55:00.001+08:00