A Valentine's to remember (:

Went to London to celebrate Valentine's day this year. First time celebrating it really. It was really fun going for a mini trip like that. Had lunch at Royal China in Bayswater, which was one of the recommended places in London to go to for Dimsum. They served really good dimsum to be honest, but the portions were small-ish and it was pricey :/

Disclaimer: Picture quality kinda sucks cos I was using my digital instead of DSLR. Felt it was too heavy to lug around in London the whole time :/

Char Siew Cheong Fun! Ordered two of these (:
The usuals.
The tastiest (and also priciest) eggtarts I've ever tasted in my life! The pastry was golden browned to perfection and each layer crumbled and melted in the mouth! (:
Glutinous rice wrapped in leaf (:

Had dinner at Koffman's at the Berkeley. Its not a Micheline star per se, but the head chef is the guy who trained loads of now Michelin-starred chefs around London. My aunt recommended we went to this place so we did. And boy, did it not disappoint! (:
Us (:
Lovely bread selection. Garlic brioche was totally my fav (:
My starter: Terrine of Foie Gras with baguette and brioche.
His: Langoustines and scallops with shellfish broth.
My main: Home-styled, braised beef cheeks in red wine.
His: Pig's trotter stuffed with sweetbread and morsels. (The chef's specialty! Totally recommend it) (:
My date (:
Dessert: Pistachio souffle with pistachio ice cream (: (The fluffiest souffle I've ever tasted! One of their specialities as well)

All in all, it was a great Valentine's celebration, and I think I've gained 5kgs more after that one day meal in London. Oh well, well worth it I'd say (:

xoxo, elvyna.

Breathing in snowflakes.

At the end of a bad day, there's nothing I look forward to than to just get home to the comfort of my bed and wallow in self-pity. Sometimes that's not the case though, as I've learnt.

Take today for example. It was a pretty "meh" day at the labs. A whole day's worth of work wasted when the data analysis machine displayed the most rubbish results ever. So I left for home in a 'not-so-great' mood.

The journey home though, was an interesting one.

1) I met a lovely old man who insisted I took the last seat in the bus but I counter-insisted he did instead. He finally sighed and sat down but was still facing me so we ended up having a conversation about how the weather's so cold and how we thought the bus driver was trying to kill us all with his driving. He even gave me a pat on the back when it was his stop to alight the bus.

2) Winked at a little girl with a pink scooter in the bus and found out she couldn't wink when she started blinking at me intensely instead. Her smile sans her two front teeth only made her all the cuter and made me laugh to myself.

3) I got off at the interchange deciding to walk home instead of letting the bus take me all the way. The cold wind against my face, the little puffs of smoke coming out of my mouth everytime I expired, the sky turning a dusky blue orange with hints of stars behind the clouds. I was just in awe of everything. How it was one of the prettiest things I've seen, how I should be thankful that I'm warm and bundled up although it was so cold, and how, put simply, that I'm breathing and alive.

Suddenly, my day didn't feel as bad as it did when I left the hospital. I guess sometimes it's just about making priorities and looking at things from a different perspective. I must've been so busy lately that somehow I just forgot about all the little things that used to make my day. I mustn't forget, not ever.

Thanks for the reminder God (:

xoxo, elvyna.

It's like wishing for rain in the middle of a desert.

In a blink of an eye, January is gone. We're 1/12 into 2012 but where did all the time go? Time is flying by so quickly it's scary.

Scary knowing in a few months time I would have to be done with lab research and present in front of consultants at the 4th year conference.

Scary knowing that I'll be in my final year of medicine come June.

Scary to even think about graduating as a legit doctor in 2013.

*sigh*

But you know what? Baby steps. It'll all work out in the end, it always does.

xoxo, elvyna.

Happie Chai-knees Niu Yer! (:

The first few weeks of 2012 just seemed to pass by so quickly. I don't know if it's because I've been busy living a routine life (read:labs and research) but where did the past 23 days of my 2012 go? Ah well. It's my second time celebrating CNY away from home but reunion dinner last night with the group was so awesome I didn't actually feel that sad!

The food was great as well (thanks to the housemate and his awesome culinary skills), we had braised pork ribs with black bean, curry chicken, emperor chicken, kung po prawns, spring rolls (the boy made it and it was delicious!), ma po chicken tofu and of course, I made dessert (as usual).

Was a gruelling process making the pineapple jam from scratch but it was well worth it in the end when everyone loved the pineapple tarts! (:

Made apple streusel cake the other day because I was craving for a crumble. Haha. It's so dangerous to know how to bake something you're craving. Lol. Once in a while shouldn't be too bad right? :P
Can't wait for February when I start placements again! I've had enough of labs for now.

xoxo, elvyna.

Madame Tussauds.

Weekend day trip to London again, but this time to see Madame Tussauds, Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. It was fun! (:Morning in the Underground.

Few pics from Madame Tussauds. The rest are on Facebook. Shrek! (Love his tummy!)
Classic. Breakfast at Tiffany's.
A cool Hulk model to pose with (:
Natural History Museum; South Kensington.

Stegosaurus.
Kepala T-Rex.
Japanese food since I've been craving for it forever! Miss times back home when I can just drive out and have Jap food easily. Things I take forgranted :(
Tempura Udon!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Been really busy with labs lately it's insane. Handed in my Literature Review last week and got really good feedback with the draft I sent in from my supervisors and the team in the lab. Thank you God for helping me (: Hopefully the results are good too when it comes out some time April *prays hard* First time writing a science-y paper.

Also, got tickets to a Tim Hughes concert in Southampton on the 31st of January. Went last year and it was awesome! So those are my highlights and upcoming events in Jan. Chinese New Year is coming and this is the second year I'm not going to be home to celebrate it :( There's a Southampton International Medics Society CNY dinner in town tomorrow night though which I will be attending. Hopefully the food is good.

Ah well, first wordy post in a while. Updates about my life I guess. Till next time..

xoxo, elvyna.

Agape.

This video made me cry for the longest time ever.

I don't recall the last time I watched something that moved me so deeply like this video did. It made me remember a lot of things. His love. The feeling it gives me. The understanding of the Father's love in giving His only son to die for me, for us. Reflecting on everything He's done, His love, His mercy, His grace. Who am I that I am the object of His affection? Why me?

"That God in eternity looked at me forseeing my fallenness, my pride, my sin. I want that man in my family. I'll do anything to get him in my family. I will pay for him to be in my family with my son's life."

I will love You with every breath, every song, every word, every action, every cell in my body because You are God.

xoxo, elvyna.

Chocolate Chip Cinammon Cookies.

First bake of the year! (: Decided to make cookies because I ran out of my usual Rich Tea and Digestives McVities biscuits. And also cos I have an empty cookie jar container! Hehe. I don't usually bake cookies (cos it's so tedious and takes such a long time with so many rounds of baking), but the picture of the cookies in the book is so mouth-watering I had to (:

Anyways, this is also the first recipe I'm trying out from the Chocolate Bible by Le Cordon Bleu which I bought just before Christmas last year. So excited to try out recipes from the book, everything looks so heavenly!

Yummy!

xoxo, elvyna.