Midnight Diary | Tell Me Who I Am

So it's been like two months plus I disappeared from the blog-sphere. Today when I finally got to check out some bloggers' blogs, only realized this "community" has significantly less active bloggers out there. Rather say, blog is slowly being forgotten by most.

I used to express freely on this space I owned since 2008. Instagram is the only social platform I actively check out. Perhaps Twitter, not often though. I don't active on Facebook even. This blog was the only place where I could on and off put down my thoughts and freed whatever shits in my mind. and I find difficulty to put my thoughts into words now.

How people change. I remember a quote I read from Nicholas Sparks, forgot from where though. He said "I don't know that love changes. People do. Circumstances do," something like that, which I find it is so so true.

I'm pretty sure the Me one year ago won't be too pleased if she sees the Me now. It's been almost one year since the first day I started working in Sg. Day by day nothing seems to change, but when you look back, everything is different. Worse comes to worst, I don't know what exactly I've done in this period of time. People think I'm living a rather good life. I'm however envious of the most of you. 

I used to have this "I'm the happiest girl on earth" mind.

I really am an easily satisfied person. A rainy day staying at home playing piano I feel happy; Having good food I feel happy; Drinking a good cup of coffee I feel happy; Reading a good book I feel happy. Even driving car I feel happy wtf. Now I'm having no luxurious to have all these simplest things. Am I not a happy person now fml.

I always appreciate the time to be with you and you. And it's getting less and less. Almost none existence. It's not the can-I-have-36hours-per-day kind of hectic life I have. But the can-I-have-a-normal-24hours-like shift work that exhausts my soul.

Meh. Bet you wouldn't even know what I'm talking about.

How sometimes I be like. LOL so unhealthy wtf.

Anyway. 

That's all for my recent two months update.

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3 books I've read within this period of time. 

1. Reconstructing Amelia, by Kimberly McCreight. It gives me chill down my spine. And kind of gives out a little 'Gone Girl' vibes. A good debut novel.

2. About a Boy, by Nick Hornby. Didn't know he's famous until I read the reviews of the books he published. About a Boy is purely a hilarious work. Well, a page turner.

3. High Fidelity, again by Nick Hornby. I had a pretty hard time to find connection as the author many times tells the story through records/song selections which I'm totally not familiar of. But this story about Rob who is the most self-denying, most fucked-up person in his own world, it's still fun to read.

Both Nick Hornby's books say something about boy and also manhood. I'm not sure how many of you have read Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but by reading Hornby's books kinda gives me the same feeling and afterthought. Even more precise I'd say. Did I mention, both books I've read were adapted into films. 

"Over the last couple of years, the photos of me when I was a kid. Well, they've started to give me a little pang or something - not unhappiness, exactly, but some kind of quiet, deep regret. I keep wanting to apologize to the little guy: "I'm sorry, I've let you down. I was the person who was supposed to look after you, but I blew it; I made wrong decisions at bad times, and I turned you into me."

- High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Didn't manage to take a picture of the book. Now look at its sexy back. and maybe focus on the little heart shape on the biscotti.

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Don't I always say home is not a place it's a feeling. Well, maybe it's really more of a place than a feeling, afterall. Else people won't get homesick right? I wish I can go back home now. :'(

BEST feeling. One day when I was at home watching 台湾金曲奖 :)

The other day watching Blood Diamond and eating papaya.

Resting at home especially when you feel sick. Easily falling sick ever since I started working shift. FML.

Home cook when I was so so sick. What makes home the best is because you have family by your side. :'((((

Craving for mommy's MiHunKuey. (y)

And when I'm home, either mama cooks holiao, or baba brings us eat holiao. How not to love being with your family and eating good food.

Pontian's hawker. Best WanTanMee and ikan bakar!!

Best steamed fish and kampung chicken. 

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I always find time to have a good coffee and a book. Or good coffee and good friends. Top 3 cafes I often go.

1. The Faculty of Caffeine

2. The Replacement (from same owners)

3. Just Want @ Sutera Utama (then), forgot-their-name (now) 

FOC or The Replacement. Coffee is tip-top. and so is the food and service. Environment wise I actually prefer FOC now as it's much quieter as compared to last time, cause people now flooding to the newly opened The Replacement.

Old Just Want Coffee. Forgot the new name. My usual hangout place as it's near to my house. I thought after changing to a new brand the quality would drop. Thankfully the coffee is decent still, and so the desserts. So one fine day Dajie jio-ed me and mama for coffee. Had a really hearty lovey dovey moment with them.

BFF got me this or should say I die die forced her to give me this Easter egg container from Disney Sea. Damn cute can! Thanks Yann. xoxo

M cafe @ Nusa Bestari. Coffee is not bad but I don't like the environment. Kinda stuffy sometimes. and I definitely reject to sit inside 'Monsta cafe'. Not sure they are from the same owner, but one serves only coffee and another serves food.

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Not sure about guys, but most girls won't say no to a little sweet treats. 

Mommy got addicted to this.

Bf got addicted to this.

Singaporeans got addicted to this. LOL! Just joking la. But frankly 80% of the cars I saw which parked at the road side of durian stalls were Singapore cars. 

50sen of joy during SG50.

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When dessert can't buy you enough happiness, here comes a little boost. HAHAHA

Appreciate this fella bought me wine all the way from Russia. Kyaler Chan the future doc, thanks xx. Words can't say enough and we have no time to meet up. How la you tell me!!!!! 

Now I learn to appreciate the taste of Guinness. Well not exactly, I only drink draught Guinness from tap. Those bottles wan still cannot make it. and I did feel the alcohol level is higher.

The other wild night we spent @ Renaissance JB thanks to ChunPing. Missing the taste of honey vodka.

When we were all still sober. LOL. How are you people doing. Man this feels like ages.

Lai this is how you should hold a wine glass. Definitely a memorable night. It's hard to get together, but when we do, we do it sexy and wild wtf. 

And another one fine day... To be honest, this could be one of the best drinking rounds we had. Silent screaming and laughing and all. You know what I mean.

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My friendssssssssssssssssss..........

So one day in our group chat, those in JB wanted to go for breakfast. And the rest of us feeling imbalanced (or only me?). So we decided to post our breakfast pic in the group. Guess which one is mine? (sob)

Taken like months ago. My drinking kaki in Sg. Aghh I feel super guilty because I'm always the one to ffk. All the re-scheduling this and that. Meh. I'm forgiven right. Shifter privilege? :X

On that same day, same time, different places.
JB vs Moscow.
Awaiting to go in Sg vs awaiting to fly back Malaysia.
Coffee vs lappy
Fair vs dark
(LOLLLLL inside joke)

and this little bro met us both dajiejie in Sg. Never ending teasing and all.

Qian's convo. Felt so bad I couldn't make it. Shifter-life-sucks. Anyway you got my heartfelt wishes right. Be our little sun as always. I know you do. You always do.

Ping's bday. Guess you have had enough of my wishes? oh + my mom's. LOL!

Also the day I first met Rui's bf. Damn funny la. Ramzen's doppelganger. Good to meet you ahBeng.

Just few days back? My girls in Sg. Damnnnn life is hard. Meeting you in Sg is even harder la wtf. xoxo

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The pitiful Bf. Many said we are worse than those couples having long-distance relationship thanks to my shift work. Shifter-life-sucks. :X

No we don't have romance dinner. Prefer to take it this way. LOL. My favourite fish head meehun. *slurp*

Bullshitting about anything over coffee.

And annoy each other to the core. I sent this to him, and he asked me for a TAG in return. Like what? you wish. 

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So the bits and bobs of my life lately. Doesn't seem as bad. 

Okay la maybe I'm living a good live afterall. (self-convince)

End of my shift. 

Morning earthlings.

Good night.

Love,

Ee

Lately | Piano Cover: Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi

Simply slept too much during the day. A little bits and bobs...

After JJ Lin's cover, here come's another...

I don't usually do classical, been listening to this piece on repeat, called Nuvole Bianche from an Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi. 

and I found this laid at the bottom/deepest end of the drawer past two weeks? Only recalled back I once so fancied this pianist till I actually bought the album. Had been so in love with him as well as Emily Bear but.. Gone are the days, I don't have a particular favourite now.

I couldn't believe at first. I actually sent out a total of 27 postcards from HCMC. Like siao or what seriously. Who on earth would spend her traveling time write all the post cards. ME (facepalm). The content's getting shorter and boring though wtf. How about just send one to the gang's representative next time? Haha if u know what i mean.

Recent favourite. Enough say. Haha. #fatdieme #idontcare

Paid a visit to Malacca. Never get tired of this place where I'd spent my 5 years of university life, wonderfully I would say. As usual, the traffic is crazy, the queue is never ending.

BFF got me this complimentary ticket to YongHwa's concert in sg. CNBlue is my only favourite band. I have no particular favourite singers, but to name only one, it would be CNBlue. Too very bad I couldn't make it because I went to Malacca that weekend. Holy sh*t. Missed a great chance to see him in person. Anyway, since I don't have bias, love all 4 of them, shall wait till the band concert next time. Still super gek-sim though... T,T

There's this one fine day, I went back to JB happily after night shift. EZlink checked. Passport checked. Phones (msia and sg) checked. Earpiece checked. Book checked. Till I reached JB, upon I placed my order for a cup of hot choc only realized... Bloody freaking hell I forgot to bring back my wallet. Luckily left some Ringgit in my coin purse or else... (facepalm again). Brilliant me. Forever clumsy.

Old friends meetup in Sg. Bloody long time never met them although most of us working in Sg. Oh well I know what u wanna say, I'm the one who's forever busy. I myself also don't know where has all the time gone. Anyway it's good to catch up with u. Till next time alright. Pardon my pale/tired face I didn't bother to put on some makeup. 

BBW this year in Johor was just... plain.... boring. To the core. Mostly old, unwanted, non-marketable titles. I found some books I'd bought last time, last last time, last last last time, which means they had those old stocks pilled up. Nah... still VERY cheap. So I couldn't resist myself to pickup some titles just for the sake of buying books (buey paiseh-ly admitted). I usually browse through the intro, reviews (if any) and first chapter if I really wanted to buy the book. Not this time though, I simply grab the titles which seemed captivating. 

6 new books added. Will still read them if I run out of source. Including the new books, guess I still have 20% of the books left unread in my bookcase. For the sake of buying books huh...

Started collecting Cecelia Ahern's works ever since I first read her PS I Love You and Where Rainbow Ends. The Book of Tomorrow however, just like The Gift, a little sprinkle of magic but doesn't make it a fairytale. All in all, I'm not sure if it's way too "teen read" or the story simply has too many weird oddities, the first half of the book is way too boring describing a grumpy little girl's play and act. Second half of the book is too complicated with plots twists.

More often than not, I would finish a book feeling sad that it's over. But for this, I'm feeling rather grateful that I'm done. Some more I read the book during my nightshift to while away my time. Consider the thickness of the book, it's a reallllyyyy long story. Perhaps my previous read is too good and I can't seem to enjoy this one. I'm starting to get discouraged by Ahern's latest efforts. 

I have this habit to jot down the quotes I like during the entire reading. No matter how much I don't appreciate the story, I do find some quotes I liked. 

"Nobody who says as little as he does is as simple as you'd think. It takes a lot to not say a lot, because when you're not talking, you're thinking, and he thinks a lot."

"Nothing is never nothing. It's always something."

"You shouldn't try to stop everything from happening. Sometimes you're supposed to feel awkward. Sometimes you're supposed to be vulnerable in front of people. Sometimes it's necessary because it's all part of you getting to the next part of yourself, the next day."

Maybe I'm more into non-fiction as I grow older. But fictions do get my imagination goes wilder. What my next book will be...

Need a short escape. 

Need a cup of good coffee.

Need a good drink.

and it's almost 4 in the morning.

Need a good rest now.

I guess.

love,

Ee

The Replacement | Lodge & Kitchen @ Jalan Dhoby

Past 5 days were great. Perhaps this short getaway just came right on time. Been feeling so stressful in Sg. Nothing to do about my work. It's just.. nah I can't quite name it.

Wanted to blog about this spontaneous sister trip to HCMC until I reached this newly opened cafe (~1730hrs?) located at Jalan Dhoby - The Replacement.

Quoted from their Facebook, "The Replacement - Lodge & Kitchen is the second establishment from the team of Faculty Of Caffeine!" I'm a fan of FOC, been secretly following their news and got to know their opening from my sis who is also a FOC regular. Can see that why both of us went to HCMC for cafe hopping huh? (but somehow turned out becoming skybar-hop LOL).

Seeing a familiar face smiling at me upon I got in there. The girl who used to work at FOC, is now helping out at this new branch. Had a little chitty chat, knowing that it has not yet officially launched. But I bet this cafe has already won the hearts of many.

It's impossible to miss this place if you happen to pass by the street. The very classy white building (occupied two shoplots) stands out among the rustic run-down area. Smart, sharp, very eye-catching.

Will let the pictures do the talking.

1. The Replacment Lodge and Kitchen

2. One-way street. Upon seeing Roost recycle bar, turn right into the street @ Jalan Dhoby.

3. You will see the beautiful white building on your right.

4.

5. The reason they called themselves Lodge and Kitchen. Combination of a cafe and a place to crash. 

6.

7.

8. Perhaps this area makes itself the signature of this place. 

9. My first cappuccino. Still as good. (At least I cant tell the difference LOL lousy me)

10. Some other areas.

11.

12. Now you have to get down to the cashier and place your order. Something new introduced. Prices listed are nett.

13. The menu. Perhaps more items will be added in near future.
PS: shout out to all FOC's brownies lovers: At The Replacement, the brownies are being replaced by Churos! 

14. Combination of marble and retro tile? That's quite a brilliant idea and I like it.

15. Got down to my own business.

16. My second cappuccino. Featuring Sync Press, *for more info*

17. Chef's salad. Generous portion, luxurious ingredients. So very nice.

18. closed up. Smoked salmon, greens, sauteed mushroom, poached egg, pecans, etc. etc..

19. As a result. Tadaaaa.

20. the lonesome yet arrogant rose.

21. This is a good place to observe the playful kitties playing/hopping outside the shop (entrance). It's fun to see even though I don't like cat. LOL.

For me, it's kinda like the total opposite of FOC. Black vs. White. Unlike FOC, The Replacement runs its business until 10pm daily! Lalala~ such good news to me!




That's all for The Replacement. It's been long since I last blogged about a cafe. Not even for FOC. Yea so, you know how stressful I was till the point where distractions' much needed. Am feeling so much better now.

I actually haven't been home since I landed. Haha! My parents' so gonna screw me hard. Anyway, I need some own space some times. Blogging like this to while my time away, accompanied by relax jazzy music, is really my favourite thing to do on earth.

Day time Cafe-hopped.

Transformed into party people at night.

Aghhh gonna miss HCMC so much. Will definitely return! Haven't really resumed back to work, already trying to plan my next trip. How can! Gosh.



All photos taken by iPhone6. Instant blogging from the cafe itself.

I've been here for like 5 straight hours. Siao or what. FML.

Monday sibeh BLUE.


xoxo,
Ee