"a death in the family"

there is a book that i leave next to my laptop. "the best of best short stories 1986-1995".

from time to time when i feel like reading, i would read one or two of the short stories.

the other night, i read a very disturbing story right before i went to bed. needless to say, i didnt slip easily into sleep that night.

some of the stories in this book are plain weird. but maybe its because they were written so long ago and are quite antiquated, so i dont understand them the way someone in their time would.

but this story disturbed me quite alot, so i can see why it was chosen as one of the "best short stories". its a story that hangs onto you and doesnt easily allow itself to be forgotten.

the story begins as a girl tells her story to someone that she refers to as "doctor".
she tells him about her family and how loving the atmosphere was and of her mother's death. then how she discovered that the place her father worked at was a place used for torture, her suspicion that she wasnt the real child of her parents, that she was born of a woman that was tortured and given to her current parents to raise. in vivid detail she described how she planned and plotted her revenge for her birth parents. she deliberately ran her father down so that he was reduced to a vegetable, then she became the model of fillial piety, caring for her poor father. when she felt she had gained the trust and respect of the public, she spirited her father away to a secluded place claiming the change of pace would do her father good. there, she hooded his head with a bag he had given her for a previous birthday and tortured (by means of a blowtorch and electrocution) him until he yielded the true names of her birth parents. having obtained those names, she finished him off and left the house with all their valuables which she threw into some obscure place and called to police to make her father's death look like the work of burglars. at her father's funeral, she discovers that her parents are indeed her birth parents. her mother was initially thought to be barren, but by a miracle, managed to conceive her and when she was born, her father had been so happy, smothering her with kisses.

omg, damn disturbing right this story?? *shudders*

this is only the storyline. the story itself is wayyyy more vivid and describes her thoughts and feelings at each point of time. and it does so in way which leaves you in no doubt that the father is an evil man. then suddenly there is the twist at the end when u realize that the father never did anything wrong and it was all in her twisted warped mind only. argh!

red velvet fail

chis bedebah!

i tried making red velvet cake again today, but it didnt turn out right. its not red enough and the top and sides are too hard.

i think its because i substituted an important ingredient.

i substituted the white vinegar with red wine vinegar because i didnt have any white vinegar. maybe the vinegar i used wasnt powerful enough to react with the baking soda.

chis!

i dont care, imma keep making this damn cake till i get it right. but next time i think i'll use a different recipe. humph!

just for a change of scene though, my next cake will be a simple white cake. after that its back to perfecting the red velvet again!

evil hunters

anyone who knows me well enough or takes notice will know that the worst part of my body is my tummy.

that is why the main purpose of my going to gym is to work on my tummy.

however, this has resulted in my stomach muscles feeling the bite.

and after seeing this:


i was left writhing in agony.

hail

today, it hailed! ok la, im not sure if the correct past tense for hail is "hailed", but should be la.

little droplets of ice pattering onto my head. not particularly painful, but not exactly pleasant either. nevertheless, i still reveled in the novelty of it :D

the weather nowadays is quite annoying. for a few days, it was nice and seemed to keep getting warmer, but after that, the winds came.

and the winds do not come as a breeze. a gale is more like it! woe is anyone foolish enough to hold an umbrella open.

sometimes i feel like im about to be blown away. and im not even exaggerating. but on the bright side, it can be quite fun to battle the wind. wtf

it reminds me of the times after school when it was raining heavily and my friends and i would stand at the foyer enjoying the strong gusts of wind :D
our skirts would fly up and flap around, but no one cared because we all wore shorts underneath anyway. lol

sometimes i'd be walking happily under the warm sunshine with my coat unbuttoned, then suddenly the wind would pick up and leave me shivering. so i'd button up. then a few minutes later, the winds would die down and suddenly im sweating -__-

fake

"how are you and shaun?
i just drank with him just now"

if you had really wanted to know, you could have asked him yourself just now then!
baka!

trying to feign concern?
no thanks.
i know the real you.

whats between shaun n i is exactly that. between shaun and i. personal.

so i answered:
"we're both doing fine"

technically not a lie.
because we're both doing fine, just not together anymore.

anyone who knows either of us well enough would know that we broke up months ago.

but we're still good friends though.
no point being enemies when neither did the other wrong :)

why should i let you know im single again?
still waiting to pounce?
puh-lease.
as if i would still believe anything that came out of that trap.

im going dancing later to release steam.
toodles.

bernie in oxford [2]

so the continuation from "bernie in oxford [1]" is finally done.

there are nearly 110 pictures, so to those of you with limited bandwidth... blame bernie!
it took me over half an hour just transferring the html of the pictures from flickr to blogger T.T


i'll pick up where i left off on the previous post.


after lunch, we walked to the city centre


all these are sights along the way


if im not mistaken, this is the botanical gardens.
fancy going in winter -_-"


im gonna wait a few few weeks then go back when all the flowers are in full bloom!
i bet it'll be breathtakingly gorgeous! *excited*


mini maze of hedges


this is bernie's beloved hat.
he says its the only hat he's ever looked good in.




these are my beloved earmuffs!


im missing wearing them already. they double as a headband too! lol~


the half-frozen lake


the stupid boy kept trying to step on the ice.
damn suicidal.
either that or god complex. wtf


and his fascination with the ice continues...


emo because he just realized that he's not god and therefore cant walk on ice.


the leaning tree of oxford =p


i like this mini bridge!


anyone remember this pic?


or was it this one...


random huge vase


spot the amy




i think this shot would have been much nicer with the right camera :(




see the stripes of soil?
now imagine loads of beautiful, colourful, radiant flowers blooming!


i think this alcove was meant for a statute =p


some kinda wierd tree...


see the tree in the background perfectly framed by the foliage in the foreground?
this bernie, spoil pictures only. haih.




i have no idea what field is for, but its quite secluded.


i think the building at the back is christchurch.


being a fool






i started to drizzle, so i put my hood on.
it looks totally wierd, but at times, practicality triumphs.






i think this was a uni.
cant remember the name though.




no access


stella hates it when i go into strange alleys, but bernie revels in them.




dunno wad building.


bodleian library


its huge. there are so many different blocks to the library and in one of these is the location where harry potter was filmed.
too bad we couldnt find it -_-"


the buildings in this area are just so english!




bernie being a pompous old fart. wtf






i always thought this building was interesting :D
its cylindrical and set apart from the rest of the buildings.


i was allowed inside because i had a library card, but bernie had to hang around outside while i sneakily took some pics for him.


i like the ceiling :)


view from the top of the stairs.
that guy checks everyone's library card as they enter.




i u wanna know why notre dame didnt impress me THAT much, it because there are buildings like this a dime a dozen in the city centre.




christchurch is b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l
and also freaking huge. i pity students who are late. have to run like marathon. wtf






i love the colour of the sky in this pic!








yes, this is still christchurch. wtf




bernie has a fascination with this staircase.
i think it was also one of the locations where harry potter was filmed,










the great hall in harry potter.










the tables were set.
im not sure if they are always set, or if it was because they were gonna have a dinner there that night.




when i was younger, i used to have a thing for stained glass windows. i think i still do :)


the table where the teachers sat!


he just couldnt get enough of the staircase -_-




ok, final picture of christchurch.
lets ignore that head, spoil the picture only. but the top part looks so magical right?? right!


a spontaneous shot.
i likey!!!


eh no, this is baru the last picture of christchurch.
see the warden? if not for me being a student at brookes, we would have had to pay the visitors fee! bernie, if i ever go to manchester... u know what to do la =p


love the colour of the sky!


it was nearing dinner time and we were hungry, but we were waiting for my friends, so to momentarily dispel our hunger, we had crepes! omg, damn chocolatey! definitely needed water halfway through!


perfect setting for horror movie.
this is the psycho killer!




and we reached jamies!


bernie was so excited to try the truffle tagliatelle!


it was a bad face day :(








vainass wanted another solo shot


then he curi curi took pics of the kitchen




i see u not using gloves!




we were seated downstairs this restaurant seems to have alot of hidden eating areas!
not exactly hidden la. but just areas i didnt know about.




sinks in the loo


the waitress put those two cans on the table and for a moment, bernie and i were confused.


then she put this plank on the cans and we suddenly understood. lol~


our antipasti!


our favourite is the pistachio meat!


our food


i had wild mushroom ravioli since i've ordered the truffle tagliatelle twice before.
but i regretted it because although it was nice, the truffle tagliatelle is still yummier.


ta da!
the delicious truffle tagliatelle!
damn... this picture makes me wanna go back there again... but i cant because im broke T_T

the end!