SIGH.

After all these crap/sh!t/poop I'm going through.

I've lost a little motivation to blog like I used to.

You guys know who you are. No wait, maybe you don't. You probably won't even give a thought about the word "worry". To think I was so confident in overcoming this same problem the last time. You guys played tougher.

That doesn't mean I'm giving up or giving in. I've got my own life to live, I'm not your driver Ahmad, serving you as and when you like. I'm not strong, I can't defend your deathly strikes. But I know one thing's for sure.

I've got a God. I've got a God I can trust most in the midst of all your superficial love and care. I've got a God who watches over me and every one of you. I've got a God who collects my tears and listens to me. Most importantly, God makes me feel loved, appreciated, acknowledged, worthy, secure and everything else that you guys have cheated me of.

Oh how you can talk to Mummy and totally ignore me like I never existed. Even Mummy thinks its outrageous. How you can treat me so nicely asking me to drive so and so and once the job is done make me feel like I've turned into dust. How you can force me to drive even when I can't or don't want to.

God didn't, doesn't and will never do that to me.

"It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man." Psalm 118:8

signing off~DE XIN

ON THE 26TH OF...

26/12/1989, De Xin was born in NUH in Singapore.
26/12/2001, De Xin got her first ever mobile phone (nokia 3310).
26/03/2008, De Xin finally got her proper driver's license.
26/06/2008, De Xin officially signed a plan with 3 mobile.

Oh the wonders of 26. And you wanna know the truth? They were all coincidental.

signing off~DE XIN

I MISS...

Going out to the movies with Sherry, checking out different new restaurants around the cinema area. Talking to her about the movies, about the days in school, about religions, about this views and that.

Hanging out with Nancy, be it at Ikea, at J K Don, along ECP, at the movies or anywhere. Making a fool of ourselves in public, telling each other our love stories.

I miss being in a land where there isn't one-sided love. Where I can put in love so effortlessly especially in these two girls. Where things seem to fall in place. Where I feel belonged. Where I feel appreciated.

It just doesn't happen that easily here. Nope.

signing off~DE XIN

OMGOSHOMGOSHOMGOSH!

23/06 (TOMORROW!) 9am STAT1520 Economic and Business Statistics
24/06 (DAY AFTER!!) 2pm ACCT1112 Management Accounting

Yours truly is dying. Please. Pray. For her. Please. Thankies.

signing off~DE XIN

ONE FINE...NIGHT.

Daddy: "Eh, you want to upgrade your camera?"
Me: "I don't mind! What camera?"
Daddy: "D3. It's the best camera in the world."
Me: "You buy for me ah?"
Daddy: "No la. Crazy."
Me: "Then you ask for what!!!"
Daddy: "I never ask wor! I tell you only."

=_= "I never ask wor!" Ya right, Daddy. Lol. Build one super huge bubble then burst it instantly. Gah.

Some of you might have realised I've changed my blogskin. It's still a bit Garfield-themed *points at welcome section at right side bar*, just more simple. I didn't have a choice. I HAD to use a blogger template to support labels. Once exams are over, I'll be hunting down for Garfield skins that support labels. Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, just enjoy the Perth city night view =D. Taken by me! (By the way, the camera wasn't slanted. I just didn't take the picture at a straight view. Something like view from the side.)

signing off~DE XIN

AND AGAIN, FOOD.

This morning, as usual, Mummy and I went down Subiaco for our weekly marketing. For lunch, I finally took the courage to ask the lady boss (whom I believe is also the overall boss) what does their Today's Special Spicy Beef Soup taste like and whether or not it had noodles. Apparently she knows Mummy (I suppose, frequent customer?) and so she decided to give me a taste of the soup. I had to admit it was really good.

Mummy ordered her usual rice vermicelli with spring rolls and fried pork. Her serving seemed humongously big today. When the lady boss didn't get a chance to see Mummy, her servings would be smaller. Hmmm. Anyways, I'm always looking forward to the spring rolls getting all soggy and I'll grab a small piece from her bowl.

My spicy beef noodles soup. No, the green stuff were not the scary part.

Been a while since I ate thick bee hoon. I can bet you 90% of the white stuff in the bowl were bean sprouts and not noodles. Now you know what's scary. I didn't like how the bean sprouts jut out in different directions when I scoop the noodles out so I decided to eat up as much bean sprouts as I could find and realised my "noodles" were left with less than half. Don't know if it's their tradition to add SO MUCH bean sprouts but I sure didn't enjoy them that much. The soup was good though, so was the beef. Nice and tender.

I found out that the french crepe stall finally had cheesecakes and so I decided to buy a slice home. Mummy and I did our usual marketing at the fruits market and Woolworths. You should have seen how I refused to stand in the crowd. I was really really scared anyone would knock into me causing my cheesecake to fall haha. Having waited for the cheesecakes for weeks, I definitely wouldn't want that to happen.

The moment we reached home (and after I packed all the groceries and Mummy packed all the plastic bags), I attacked the cheescake with no mercy.Cheesecake looking at you!

I was just thinking whether there was such a thing as custard cheesecake when I found a layer of custard at the outer end of the cheesecake. THE GOOD FRIEND. If you're reading this, PLEASE go give it a try. Let me know if you want me to get a slice for you next week or something if they have any.

Oh by the way heh. THE CHEESECAKE WAS REALLY GOOD. By far the BEST cheesecake I've had so far. I could tell the crust was made up of shortbread cookies. I suspect there was custard in the cheese body itself. The cheesecake was awesomely fragrant and smooth and moist. Shiok!

An hour later, I decided to satisfy my craving for iced chocolate.HOHOHO my first time and it was so good! Janice, come my place whenever you're free after my exams. I'll make a huge cup for you. Promise!

So. The combination of those three food wasn't really a very good idea because another hour later I was sent flying into the toilet. Mummy was worried for a bit but once I was out, I was enjoying a good plate of pumpkin rice (from previous day) again. With chilli some more.

Good food never stops me ^^. I have to say I'm glad to still be young. I mean. It'd really suck if I had diarrhoea the whole night. Glad it was once and that's it. *wipes cold sweat*

signing off~DE XIN

IT'S ALL ABOUT FOOD. BLOGS. FOODBLOGS.

Remember the Korean waffle biscuit I blogged about in two very recent posts? I just chomped down two small packets (which equals to 8 biscuit waffles) of them. Too good to be true.

So I took a well deserved food break from my studies and decided to surf around the net a little and I chanced upon http://ieatishootipost.sg. It's got me hooked for a good 2 hours and I've only scanned through half of the categories that interest me! He gives very honest and good reviews and takes spectular shots of the food he ate.

My interest for photography, surprisingly or not, came from taking photos of food I eat. You don't have to read too far down this blog to realise how true. It was during a meal with The Good Friend when he taught me the different settings a camera can have for different shots while I was taking photos of my food like usual that sparked the interest that's been inside of me since I don't know when. But the thing is, I only take shots of food with people I'm comfortable doing so with.

Ok now comes the news. For the past few weeks, I've been thinking of setting up a proper food blog, other than this blog. A blog that will only touch on the food I eat. I will still keep this blog, though, continuing my quest to mark on my journey of growth. It will definitely not happen now as I'm still in the midst of exams (boohoo). I should really give it a thought. A good thought.

As for now. More studying. Tempted to grab another packet of waffle biscuits but it's starting to feel a bit dry. Gah, will see how.

signing off~DE XIN

STUDENT IN DISTRESS! 2

Mummy made good lunch this arvo. Woke up at 2pm (yes, 2pm, no mistake) to the smell of fried shallots sipping through under my door (it was closed). Tried sleeping further but to no avail.

Pumpkin rice! Mummy said Daddy and I used to hate pumpkin rice and she had to finish one whole pot on her own. Somehow both of us had a change in appetite and now love pumpkin rice. Pumpkin rice family!

Studied the whole day with the company of snacks.

The waffles I bought yesterday. Mummy also say shiok! The freshness and fragrance will just flood your whole body. Especially the strong fragrance of vanilla. You should have seen how Mummy ate them. *crunchcRuNcHCRUNCHCRUNCH* Super loud la!

Introducing the frozen Japanese red bean pancake. That thing in the middle. Chewy. *nyumnyumnyumnyumnyum* Tasted a bit like the nian gao we eat during Chinese New Year. Not a single part of the pancake felt like it was frozen. Weird enough. But it was really good. Maple-flavoured pan cakes, mashed chunky red beans and chewy middle. Although the packaging illustrated a creamy middle, I was glad it isn't. This sweet chewy middle would beat any creamy middle anytime!

My most recent craving. So proud to be Singaporean hahaha. Didn't like it too sweet so I added a tinsy bit more water. Mummy thought it looked diluted but the taste was perfect for me. So good! Especially on a cold winter exam period night.

signing off~DE XIN

CAN'T HELP IT LOL.

Been talking to Daddy via webcam -there he goes another joke- and he's been really corrrny.

On Fathers' Day, the moment he saw me, his first message was

"hi japen toy"

With his limited spelling ability, it was doubly hilarious. Mummy couldn't stop laughing lol.

Then just a moment ago

Mummy: "Ask Daddy his car got pong pong sound or not."
Me: "Eh! Your car got pong pong sound not!"
Daddy: "Pong pong? BONG BONG ah I tell you! Everyone see already say suh-port car ar!"

The next hilarious moment was when I giggled. Then there was lag time so my giggle sound could be heard coming out of the speaker from the other end. Mummy tio shock and asked why I laugh until like that. That made me giggle for another good 1 minute. Lol.

Just a second ago

Mummy: "Why your face so red today!"
Daddy: "Aiyo I show you black face la."
*scoots off to switch the dining room light off*
Mummy: "HAHA! You go and switch off light you become Chindian."

What the crap. Uh, no offence intended.

Oh and and. He asked me how was my exam preparations.

Me: "Like that lor."
Daddy: "Huh. Heavy duty ar? HD is heavy duty leh."

Right.

Then we talked about the allowance he's gonna give Mummy and I for our Sydney trip and I was bargaining for more.

Daddy: "What you want to buy?! You still lack of what???"
Me: "Shopping looor."
Daddy: "Shop your head la shop."
Me: "Oi. My head is priceless hor."

Gah. I love Daddy. I wanna drive his new baby!!!!! =( He should give his baby a name too. =D

signing off~DE XIN

STUDENT IN DISTRESS!

Went down to the city with Mummy today. Mainly to use the Border's coupon I got (3 for the price of 2 fiction books) but also for more GOOD FOOD! Today, it's Korean food! Don't know the name of the restaurant but I know it's along Pier Street and it has a small Korean minimart right beside it. My favourite korean place in the whole of Perth, seriously. Not to mention how last year Mummy and I wanted to try this restaurant twice and on both times this place was closed. However, with the new trading hours, they're open 7 days a week!

The must-haves for every korean meal. Oooooh the bean sprouts were so good! The sesame taste was really fragrant. That coming out from the mouth of someone who only eats her mum's fried bean sprouts (I'm not a big fat of bean sprouts), these bean sprouts gotta be really good. Mummy loved the sweet lotus roots (middle right). Mummy and I are not used to the weird pickled vegetables (middle left), though. The kimchi was EXTREMELY SPICY.

My bulgogi dolsot bibimbap (rice with soy beef and season vegetables in stone pot). First served, then with the sauce added, then everything mixed. THE SPICINESS WAS SHIOK! Never eaten anything this spicy in Perth! Other places' supposedly spicy food were always served not so spicy and I always had to add a heap load of chilli before I was satisfied. This one was just right and HEY, it's better than J K Don's =D. The stone pot was DAMN HOT even till the end. Burnt myself countless of times. Which means, my food was piping hot throughout! Love love!

Mummy's ddeokbokki (fried rice cakes) in soy sauce and chicken added. Was so good, the taste! I reckon the rice cakes could be more chewy. They probably soaked them too long or something =\. Hurhur but it's still so good. Did I mention I found a recipe for the spicy version of ddeokbokki??? Aaah! Highness!

After lunch we went over to the Korean minimart next door. I can say it's my food haven! I'm a sucker not just for desserts but also for Korean food! Bought three packets of Korean spicy beef ramyun (tried it once and totally loved it),

some snack Mummy said I love when I was young and

a bottle of weird drink! To my surprise it actually tasted really good. The first taste was nice, then a bit weird, then fwah, shiok! It's some rice drink. I'm gonna buy it again if I go back! (Pardon the empty bottle. It was THAT good.)

Then we shopped around. Went down to Borders to use my coupon. I was really happy because I've been DYING to get two books.

The books I bought! Yep, I've been dying to buy PS, I Love You and The Kite Runner, both in their original covers. Then, as I was searching for the original covers of those two books, I chanced upon The Last Concubine. It got me hooked within the 5 minutes of Mummy-sweeping-the-floor (Mummy says no household chores for me during my exam period). I initially wanted to stop at the second sub-chapter of chapter 1 but I kept going on until I was halfway into the second sub-chapter! I'd say this is better than Memoir of the Geisha. Nice descriptions.

We also had Il Gelato! I really love the Perth Entertainment Book =P. We had two single scoops for the price of one. Mummy had banana, I had nougat. Finally. Been wanting to try that flavour since I don't know when. Yumyums!

Finally got a hang of how a normal female shops. She'd say "I want to get ___" and when she goes into the shop, she gets distracted by other clothes and goes "you think this is nice?" Not once, not twice. I really hope I don't shop like that! I got quite grumpy towards the end because my books were pretty bulky and Mummy was being very undecisive. But I just. Followed her everywhere she went. Till she finaly got the top she wanted and said "let's go toilet."

..........

After toilet, we had coffee! At Forum Coffee Shop.

Mummy's cappuccino and my long macchiatto + carrot cake. Coffee was nice and hot and strong but just not smooth. Cake was good. Reminds me of the time where I saw a stall in Singapore that named it carrot cheesecake and I nearly laughed my head off. Just because the cake has cream cheese topping. Carrot cheesecake. HAH. Goodness.

Caught a bus back. Went Kong's with Mummy 'cos she wanted to buy rice. Back home now. About time to study. Gah, exams. Oh I forgot to mention, do drop any prayer requests if you have any. I'm more than happy+willing to pray for you =).

signing off~DE XIN

DIM SUM NO DOLLY!

Mummy and I were listing places for lunch last night and at first we decided on Chi Restaurant (above Woolworth's in the city). Then as I went back to my studies, I realised I was having a craving for dim sum. Haven't had dim sum since end of last year! -disclaimer- shanghai xiao long bao not considered dim sum -end of disclaimer- Unbelievable. So we thought of a few dim sum restaurants and...decided to come back to this place! My second homestay family brought the whole homestay bunch and my parents and I to this place for lunch once when my parents came to visit. Was SO good I had to go back again.

Deep fried beancurd roll with dunnowhat sauce.

Pork ribs. I reckon there were too much cracked bones. Had to keep spitting them out. But the taste was still *twothumbsup*.

Char Siew Bao! So awesome I had to *push chopsticks away* use my hands. The bun was not too thick (some restaurants have their bun SO THICK and the char siew so pathetic) and it was nice and soft!

Chee cheong fun with prawns. Authentic cantonese style. Super thin, super smooth and super bouncy. You don't even get this texture in Singapore, ironically an Asian country.

Have to digress a bit here. Being a food lover, I really have to say this. Singapore's food can NEVER be compared to Malysian food. Of course, I mean the asian food. The chicken rice, laksa, hokkien mee, bak kut teh, EVERYTHING. Please don't disgrace yourself by saying Singapore's the best 'cos obviously you haven't tried better. *winks*

Pork and yam thingy. Deep fried to perfection. Those frills just MELT in your mouth. The yam+pork. Oh man, beats Uncle Billy's yammy duck ANYTIME.

Har gow. Not a big fan of it. Only ordered on impulse heh. I have to say. THE PRAWNS WERE SO HUGE. Nice skin too.

THIS, however, loses to Liu Fu's. Deep fried squid tentacles. It's still good, though, the spice and everything. There's just this thing missing and I don't know what it is.

Oooh. Here comes the classic. Mummy can never leave a dim sum place without having tried their egg tarts. Puff pastry was good and flaky. That's not the point 'cos I can get them anywhere from any supermarket but THE EGG CUSTARD. FWAH! Shoot through the roof.

THIS is my #2 all time favourite. A must-have at every dim sum place. Sesame ball. The ones at Kongs? With mung bean filling? Nah. Nothing. This is authentic. Stephanie Toh told me the original one had no filling at all. This one has lotus paste so I don't know if it's the original one. But still. Way better then Kongs'.

I have to emphasize on how good these sesame balls were. They appeared rock-hard. Can't even poke through using our chopsticks! But once you bite into it, oh man. Heaven breaks lose. It becomes so nice and chewy and ooooh you just gotta try it.

Red bean pancake. Was a bit of a disappointment. This is actually my #1 must have in any restaurant if they have it and it's my favourite red bean dish every. This, however, is not the traditional one. What's with the ice cream and chocolate sauce man. I didn't even touch the chocolate sauce. This disappointment sent Mummy and I into a huge traditional red bean pancake hunt in the oriental stores in Northbridge.

Honeydew sago! Yumyumyum. I never end any dim sum session without this. Feels like it washes away all the other dishes in my tummy. Oh so good. Oh and if you know how I drink my bubble tea, you'll know why there's the picture of the sago. Hehe.

After lunch, we drove over to the butchers area. Got free parking! Went to Emma's. Once I got in I searched high and low for gochujang 'cos I finally found a recipe to make a dish I've been DYING to make since I don't know when. Will blog if I successfully cook that dish.

Anyways. I found it! Was super duper happy. Also bought siao man tous (those that babies eat), and japanese red bean pan cake (not the shanghai one but it's ok 'cos I've got a craving for that too). Ohoh and two sweet plain rice dumplings, and some dessert mix. Couldn't find chocolate marshmallows =(.

Mummy went to the butchers to get minced pork (we're gonna try making the shanghai zha jiang mian one day), pork for char siew and pumpkin rice, and beef. Then we went over to another oriental store (VHT) and searched high and low for red bean pancake and we found it! You should have seen Mummy's reaction when she saw it. Priceless.

Bumped into Jay at VHT haha. Same usual funy guy.

Couldn't find yam paste with gingko nuts =(. Will still be on the search. Oh and I bought another normal pork dumpling with yolk. I love my dumplings with yolk =).

There's my day today. Good way of reliefing the whole week of stress. Introduction to Finance (ITF) is finally over, so is Microecons. Down to Business Statistics (next Monday) and Management Accounting (next Tuesday). Alright, I'll make things easier and do up a timetable here.

14/06 9am ECON1101-Microeconomics: Prices and Markets [over]
16/06 9am FINA2221-Introduction to Finance [over]
23/06 9am STAT1520-Economic and Business Statistics
24/06 2pm ACCT1112-Management Accounting

Naturally, these come with a prayer request. Those that are over, I pray for favour in the marker and that the computers will screw up some how and mark all my MCQ answers to be 100% ^^. Those that are not over, just the usual requests.

Alrighty I'm off. Didn't get a good sleep the previous night. Barely 4 hours of sleep.

signing off~DE XIN

NICE CUPPA ON THE BALCONY

Miss having a nice cuppa with Daddy in the night on the balcony of the hotel in Cairns, dipping Arnott's Milk Coffee biscuits in the coffee, eating them all nice and soggy. That was 3.5 years ago.

signing off~DE XIN

Don't give me this "it's just 5 more months" shit. It's not. It's so freaking not. Wait till you step in my shoes.

HOME...

During the first 1.5 years I'm here in Perth, I always play Michael Buble's Home whenever I'm about to go home and I'll start crying myself to sleep every night when my flights got nearer and nearer. Last semester, however, I didn't. I might have gotten used to it, maybe. It could have also been because Mummy was there to keep me company.

It's not the same for this semester.

Playing the same song, at the same period of the semester. The only different thing is, I'm not flying back. I'm no where near my date of flight. But I'm still crying. I still miss Daddy. I miss the Daddy in Singapore. The Daddy with a big belly.

I want to go home. I don't want my parents to come here. I just want to go home. Singapore home.

signing off~DE XIN

MUST TRY!

Interesting dishes.

My blueberry and custard tea cake. LOOK AT THE CUSTARD INSIDE!

Homemade cakes, tarts, pies, quiches, friands, brioches, slices, petits fours, cookies, sandwiches. Smooth, thick and distinct coffee. Definitely a must try.

Maison Perry The Patisserie
125 Broadway
Nedlands
WA6009

What are you waiting for???

signing off~DE XIN

WINTER+EXAMS

Winter has made its grand arrival with the very heavy downpour of rain yesterday morning and drastic drop in temperature (love of ice cream during extreme cold weather).
Exams are just days away (love of snacks under stress).

*stares at empty cookies and cream ice cream tub in despair*

signing off~DE XIN

SEXAYE!

Daddy's new baby. Subaru impreza 1.6i. Mummy was telling me all about the car just over lunch today. How the exhaust goes "bop-bop-bop-bop" just like a sports car. Check out the body kit! And it's RED! Metallic red. Not to mention it's MANUAL! I was all so excited and Mummy suddenly, with a very glum face, went

"But. The seats very low."

IT'S AN IMPREZA, MUMMY!!!!! Omgosh. Lol. Oh and I love how it has bucket seats. I'm probably one of the very few girls who love bucket seats. Haha. So cool!

Welcome back to the ever-so-cool manual world, Daddy. =D

signing off~DE XIN