Change

So, it's been a long while since I've updated this space. Six months may seem like a short time, but so much has changed.

As the new year began, I made a promise to myself that I would chase after the things that I love and what makes me happy. Three months in, and though I wouldn't use the phrase 'so far, so good', I would say things can only get better from here.

Photo courtesy of @the_keygs

One of the things I do love, but rarely have the chance to do so, is traveling. It's especially difficult for people in my industry to go on vacations, much less multiple ones! At the start of the year, I went on a much needed holiday to Boracay with some close friends from church. It was the first time traveling with this bunch that was not a mission trip up to Thailand, so that was pretty awesome :)

Looking forward into the next few months, I'd be traveling a little more too. Batam, Chiangmai, and *maybe* Phuket :)

Work-wise, I've more or less settled into my new job, which I'm pretty contented with at this point in time. It's flexible enough for me to have the occasional dinners with friends to catch up, to attend church and lifegroup, or to travel overseas, so that's always good. I feel very fortunate to have found a line of work that I love, and it's a very surreal situation to be in.

I've picked up reading again. It's been a very long while since I bought a book off the shelf. I miss the feeling of being immersed in a book, an escape from reality, to make me forget for a little while. Definitely hope I'll continue to pick up new books along the way, so please feel free to recommend me on any good reads you might have in mind! :)

Most importantly, I've started doing my quiet time daily again. Something happened a few years back, which gradually made me stop doing my QT altogether, just because. So I'm glad I'm back on track, even though it took me years to regain my foothold again.

I guess these are most of the things I've decided to chase after this year. There have been other things that I love and makes me happy, which I've tried to chase after too. But sometimes love does not equate to happiness; love involves the occasional heartaches. Things will get better though, over time.

Okay I don't know what to say anymore, but hopefully this update will just serve as a reminder to myself that this space still exists in this virtual world.

New Chapter

Ferris Wheel taken at Coney Island, New York (used my film camera)

After bumming around for more than two months, I'm finally starting work tomorrow!!!

Once I was done at Eleven Madison Park mid July, I holiday-ed in New York until end August before returning back to Singapore. I didn't look for a job straightaway because I still had to settle some complicated administrative work regarding my citizenship, which I knew would take a long while and many appointments. (I held two passports but Singapore only allows one after you turn 21)

Only when everything was settled did I then start searching for jobs. Anyways it doesn't hurt to take a long break, right? Vacations like these would definitely be rare for me in the near future.

I'm pretty excited about my new job actually, which is good! This would also be my first full-time position ever! Prior to this, I've been working as a part-timer or intern, so the duration of my work at various places have been fairly short, the longest being six months.

Praying that God will guide me through this new adventure and chapter in my life!

Commuting in New York & Homecooked Meals

Winter is finally coming to an end and Spring is hopefully arriving soon.

I'm still getting used to my new work schedule and commuting in New York is quite a pain sometimes. Because the trains run 24/7, there are bound to be some lines that undergo maintenance every week. So notices about which lines are affected for the following week or weekend are posted on several bulletins weekly in the stations, so it gives commuters a mental note on how to change their route to work/school/just commuting to places in general. Given that their system is quite efficient (more efficient that Singapore), it is still a total nightmare/headache for me to change my routine constantly because I enjoy routines :( Like how in the next month and a half, I'd have to start taking a bus then train to work rather than just taking trains and switching lines, because no trains will be running at the closest station near me at 4am in the morning for me to go to work. And so far my experiences taking buses hasn't been so great, given that I've missed my stops a couple of times and it makes it worse taking it at night/early morning because it's too dark to see any landmarks or road signs that might be familiar to me to navigate myself. Sigh. Okay long rant about commuting in New York.

This isn't a daily routine, but since I've moved here to New York, I find myself cooking a lot more on a weekly basis than I do in Singapore, because my grandmother has always been the one planning and cooking our meals back home since forever! And I must salute her, because she's got tons of recipes tucked in her back pocket and it's such a breeze for her. Every time I go grocery shopping here, I have to rack my brains to think of a menu and what I want to cook at home, what to buy, what my budget is... Very tiring just thinking about it HAHA! But my colleagues were surprised that I do cook at home, because a lot of them just eat out or consume TV dinners.

As you will see from the pictures below, a lot of the ingredients are the same because it's so hard to buy groceries to feed just one person!

Mac 'N' Cheese with Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage 

Yau Gai with Stir-fried Broccoli and Mushroom Omelette

Yau Gai (leftover, became super gelat!) with Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice

Sesame Chicken with Stir-fried Broccoli and Mushroom and Fried Rice with Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage 

Creamy Linguine with Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage with Fried Egg

Beef Stew Pasta with Mixed Vegetables 

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs, Mushrooms, Crispy Bacon, Toast with Peanut Butter and Jam and Peanut Butter Doughnut with Banana Cream from Doughnut Plant 

Yeap, simple homecooked food :) I have also made Beef Bolognese THREE TIMES since I've been here, but I've never taken a photo of it because it's something I cook at home too so it's really ordinary. I have witnessed a roommate from my previous lodging just heating up bottled pasta sauce and eating it with spaghetti. Disgusting. At least enrich it with ground meat or vegetables or something?? 

I feel like I've got a million things to blog about but no time to do so!! I am not exaggerating when I say work is really draining a lot of my energy. It's 6pm right now, but I'm so tired I just want to KO on the bed and sleep. But no, I shall go cook myself some dinner and probably have some ice cream for dessert~

New York City

Hours before I ventured into my first solo trip.

Duane came over to my place to cook me brunch!

Oeuf Poché Meurette 

Fancy name for egg poached in red wine, served with bacon chunks, mushroom duxelle, pan-fried bread and a rich decadent red wine sauce. His first time cooking this and my first time trying it. The mushroom duxelle looks really yellow here because he used duck fat to cook it down, and a bit too much I must say. I do prefer eating regular poached eggs compared to this, because if I'm not wrong, the tannins in the red wine gives the poached egg here a slight rubbery texture. Maybe it was a one-off thing, but if it really was the tannins, then choosing a red wine to suit this style would be more difficult than controlling boiling water and some vinegar. 

I spent the next few hours packing and repacking, and repacking again. Due to my dismay, it didn't matter how much I repacked everything into one check-in luggage bag because I had to eventually buy one luggage from Cheers to distribute the overweight-ness of my one bag with another. 

Loved ones and friends who came to send me off so late at night :')

It's only been a day since I landed in the Big Apple, and things have not been smooth in the past 48 hours. I've had issues with my passports, my flights, and now I can't even apply for my social security card and unable to open a bank account without the social security number due to some missing required documents that are all the way back in Singapore. Thus, I might not be able to start my work as scheduled because there isn't any paperwork to deal with without both my social security card and bank account.

But I still thank God for all that He has done, for He has shown His grace and mercy upon me. He allowed me to enter Singapore's departure gate; He provided an alternative flight for me that landed on the same day as my previous arrival time, albeit 9 hours later into the late night; He's blessed me with loved ones I can count on back home who would help me in the blink of an eye when I am in need.

I should have known things weren't going to be so smooth-sailing like it seemed back in Singapore. It makes me feel horrible about myself because I know I could have prevented some of the mishaps from happening if I had been more alert and paid more attention to what I was getting myself into. But well, there's no looking back and the only way is to move on.

Winter isn't as dreamy as it seems. The winds are harsh, with a mixture of rain, snow and slushy puddles (especially at intersections!!). I learnt the art of deciphering a slushy puddle from snow-covered pavements you could walk on without sinking your boots in ankle-high.

I had an unpleasant time getting lost, walking in the wrong directions with boots, socks and feet soaked to the bones. But it was exciting walking through new places and just taking it all in. I think I still haven't gotten used to the idea of drinking hot drinks as of yet, because I found myself buying a banana strawberry smoothie from a neighbourhood deli and an iced lemonade from Shake Shack. I felt a little out of place walking past people with hot cups of tea or coffee in their hands along the streets. But it's alright.

And yes, I had my first taste of Shake Shack today. Bought a single Shake burger with no tomatoes and it was delectable. The meat patty and the shack sauce were such a winning combination. Gahhhhhhh I shall obviously go back for more in the future.

Single Shack Burger (USD$4.75) and Shack-made Lemonade (USD$2.60)

I know it's still Chinese New Year back home and I have quite a number of photos to upload and go through. So in the meantime, I hope whoever's reading back home in Singapore are stuffing their faces with Chinese New Year goodies and collecting more red packets!!

A new beginning

It's been a long while, and so much has changed, since I last blogged. So I was thinking that perhaps this new year calls for a fresh start, to start blogging again with a newfound perspective on life and new experiences I know I'd be going through this year.

So for a start, why coffee and crafts? 

They are both things I love and enjoy. I can say that even though my knowledge of coffee might be limited, I do know how to appreciate a good cuppa here and there. I've also always wanted to do a barista course but never found the opportunity to do so, as of yet. As for the craft side, I am a self-proclaim hoarder and addict when it comes to buying anything related to craft. Put me in a craft shop and I would just spend hours in there, not only grabbing anything that appeals to me, but also running craft ideas through my head and contemplating whether certain items are worth the purchase. I can safely say that more than half of the craft items I have bought over the years are still either brand new or is stored away in my craft box or bag at home, waiting for the opportune moment to arise and be used. It also does not help that my generous friends are so kind enough to feed me with my addiction by gifting me with various craft merchandise as well. 

Another question I asked myself was: what is the purpose of this space?

I guess just like my old blog, I really wanted a space to record down what I've been up to in life, be it in words or photographs. Having taken probably a three-year hiatus from my previous blog, I really missed recording down events that have taken place in my life in a virtual platform in the form of a blog. I regretted not doing so for my university life, which was an incredible journey by the way, and I guess I only have photographs on Facebook as memories to get by. 

I know having the word 'coffee' in the blog address might seem like I'd be doing some cafe hoppings or something related to coffee, but no. Unfortunately, in the long run at least, I would not have the leisure of time to do cafe hoppings around Singapore because of my future work life. Working hours would be irregular and sleeping time would be precious. You get the point. But for now, you might just see some short reviews on places I will visit in the months to come because I am currently on a month's break and will be working in a foreign land for six months starting this February. 

I really hope I do not disappoint on this, but I'm thinking of dedicating a portion of this blog to share DIY craft projects I might have for birthdays or gifts for celebratory occasions like Valentine's day, Christmas and so on. I know it will be difficult for me to find the time to do these side projects due to work, but hopefully there will be some energy left in me to carry out craft projects despite the long hours at work :)

Okay, this seems like a promising short introduction to a new blog. So here's to new beginnings in the new year!