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I had been enjoying this book Hard at Work: Life in Singapore. It is the work of  Gerard Sasges, an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. As part of a collaborative project between 2014 and 2017, almost 100 students interviewed 300 people from all walks of life.  However, only 60 interview were eventually selected for the book.   I really like the book, it made me pondered about different job.  I love how the interviews were transcribed and edited into a first-person stye. Whenever I read an interview, it felt like the person is talking directly to me, sharing with me, his/her thoughts, experiences, hopes and challenges.  Even though the interviews had been transcribed into English, I applauded the effort to keep all the Singlish used.   It makes all the interviews so close at heart. Through the dialect used and view point of world, I came to understand my parents generation and the earlier generation even more.  I do

Macarons pronounced ma.kr.aanz is different from Macaroons pronounced ma.kr.oonz.  Both are similar in that they use meringue (whipped up the egg white with sugar).  However, macaroons have coconut mixed into the meringue to make the whole cookie while macarons do not have coconut unless it is coconut flavor.  A macaron is a sandwich cookie with the 2 meringues shells holding a filling.    Macaroons Stacy, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Macarons Bryan Ochalla, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Macarons are expensive sweet and cost $2 each for common flavours (chocolate, rose, vanilla) that you can find at places like delifrance or polar.  It can cost $3 each for interesting flavours. The cost comes from the high failure rate due to the demanding procedure that takes into account the ratio of meringue shells recipe and actual baking of the shells where the temperature is crucia

Do you have a minimalist kitchen? Maybe you are an aspiring minimalist working towards an empty countertop? Maybe you already have too many bakewares that are taking over your cabinet space!   Is that stopping you from baking the lovely cake recipe that you found on Instagram or Youtube?  Don't fret, I have been there.  I am not an avid baker but I do occasionally find a cake recipe that I am really itching to try! However 9 times out of 10, I do not have the exact same bakeware.     I went on to research how I can use my existing pans to try out new recipes.  I usually half the ingredients on any new recipe since I was not using the exact same bakeware but that may not always be ideal too since it is a lot of trial and error.   So I found a very good post on cake pans size and conversion .   I wanted to bake a chiffon cake however the recipe called for a tube pan.  A tube pan seems big and hard to store and I was not sure if I will make it regularly so I decided to not invest in o

When I first got into this hobby, I would walk into bookshops and check out all the books on crochet.  I bought a few books with beautiful designs on the cover.  Reality struck when I gave up working with the suggeted thin yarn and the top looked weird on me since I had a different body shape as the model.  :(   Nowadays, I just stick to reading the books in the library. Truth be told, we usually do not make every single item in the book.     So here is a list of 5  household items that are beginner-friendly and allowed you to practice your crochet along the way.  [Disclaimer: I donot own any of the patterns and these are merely my curated list of beginner-friendly crochet items.  Make sure you follow the guidelines from the pattern owner if you intend to merchandize anything.] 1. Dishcloth Skills you get to practice: yarn selection, repeating stitch to form a square, create border, changing colour (optional) Dishcloths are usually made with 100% cotton yarn for absorbency of liquid. T

(Photo by Dingzeyu Li on Unsplash ) I am a libra so... When I was younger, I was sucked into the world of astrology and blood types.  I would read and analyse every single detail of my star sign's strengths and weaknesses, agreeing or disagreeing with the points.  I was especially absorbed in the compatibility between different star signs.  So once I found the birth date of my crush, I would read up on whether it would be a forever kind of pairing.  If not, then what are challenges to expect and how to counter them.    In my teens, I would pore over the astrology forecast in the newspaper everyday.  All these in the hope to see a glimspe of what is to come and hopefully be prepared for it.  However, I soon realise that the comment was very generic and I stopped following that segment totally. As I looked back, this was my attempt to know more about myself and others around me.  A layman kind of psychology.   However you may realise that even if you have the same star sign as anoth