Season's greetings!

DAAAAYYYYUM my friend Samson makes me look good. Check out all his amazing work at www.7braidstrong.com or follow him on instagram @7braidstrong.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I absolutely love the holiday season for all the shopping, lights and decorations, Christmas tunes and FOOD!

My sister, her husband and her baby will be flying back to Singapore for Christmas, as will my two favouritest cousins and I'm excited for the reunion! There's really just so much to be happy about and thankful for, so it's hard for me to indulge in my usual snarky 'tude. Is it super old-timey that I referred to "attitude" as "tude"? GAH.

Before we get too caught up in the festive season, do take some time to think about the less fortunate. I hope you will be stirred to take action to help those in need. Even if you don't have much to give, don't forget that kindness is free. Treat people with respect and courtesy, and stand up against hatred and injustice. Okay now that I've gotten the preachy-ness out of the way...

WHAT'S UP FRIENDZIES!?!

Speaking of doing good, I'm totally heading into brag town today but it's adjacent to actual-message city:

I was at the gas station buying some milk, when a young boy, maybe 8 years old, wearing dirty ratty clothes with holes in them, comes up to me and asks if I have $2. I reply "yes" and he asks me to give it to him. So I say "ok, but why?" to which he responds, "I'm hungry". So I give him the $2 but think, what could he possibly buy with just $2.

So I walk up to him, I ask him if he's been fishing in canal and he says "yes, but never catch any fish, that's why I'm hungry." Feeling unusually charitable, I offer to buy him a sandwich. He gladly accepts, then asks if I'll buy one for his friend. I agree. Suddenly 1 boy turns into 3 boys and each boy wants 2 sandwiches because I guess they are hungry and growing. I buy the 6 sandwiches. In the meantime, they are choosing the sandwiches like "hmm eww this one is fish, I'll change it for chicken". I think, 'beggars (not that they are beggars per say but he did ask me for $2 right?) can indeed be choosers.'

I go off on my way, having spent $20 bucks at the gas station on 6 sandwiches and a carton of milk. I feel good but also a little silly for spending so much. Plus those kids kept calling me "auntie". Amazing that I didn't just throw their sandwiches on the floor and say "AUNTIE?!? I'll show you auntie!!!!"

However, the kicker is that I saw them again recently - they were fishing by the canal and as I walked past, I glanced at their fishing rods and gear. That stuff looked high-tech and pretty fancy! And they were fishing with a guy I assumed to be their older brother who most certainly didn't look dirty, ratty-clothed. They most certainly weren't beggars as I had so quickly assumed. So the moral of the story is, while it's nice to buy sandwiches for the less fortunate, it is also really nice to not be totally punked by some hungry free-loading kids with amazing fishing gear. Also, I guess 8 year old boys' clothes will get dirty and ratty and holey because they are 8 year old boys after all.

Happy holidays and thanks for reading!

Presidential

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! I've taken quite the hiatus from posting because I've lost my photographer, but I met up with dear Samson who I forced to take some photos of me and I gotta say, I LOVE HIS WORK. Not just because it's of me. Check out his stuff at www.7braidstrong.com or follow him on insta @7braidstrong.

So okay, so much has happened and I've really missed writing so this may come out kind of long and rambly.

I was watching the U.S. elections like a hawk, I pretty much devoured any liberal leaning news (yes, I like my opinions to be validated by like-minded news - totally biased!) so as you can expect, I was disappointed when HRC wasn't elected.  I had hoped the U.S. would elect its first female president, and also because the civil rights causes that HRC champions are near and dear to my heart - Women's rights, equality for the LGBTQ community, and rocking pantsuits. Like come on, GO HILLARY! I actually teared up quite a during the 3 days post-election but life goes on!

Over here in Singapore, our parliament just passed a bill to amend our constitution with regard to our presidential election to propose racial representation. It seems a little forced to me, considering we're a meritocracy but I do believe in fairness and equality for all. And since I think our President tends to be a symbolic figurehead, k whatever. However, I can't wait to see the bill evolve into ensuring women are also equally represented. How about it eh?? WOOO GO CRAZY ANGRY FEMINIST!! Maybe I could be Singapore's first female president. VOTE FOR ME! My slogan will be "I'm with her (because she has pizza)".

So speaking about potential jobs for me... My dear friend Char suggested I start a vlog to talk about stuff I'm good at - like cleaning, being insane about dogs and being a strange dingbat. How fun would that be? Me droning on endlessly about cleaning products and how difficult it is balancing having a dog and being Singapore's first female president... SMASH HIT BABY. Unfortunately I don't think it's likely to happen since I'm bad with technology and I don't think anyone I know can bear following me around and videotaping me for long stretches of time without going batshit cray. But one can dream I suppose.

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I put that line in between because I'm now totally jumping to a new thought because it's kind of past my bedtime (10pm, yes I am a baby) and I'm feeling like there are a few things I have to just talk about.

1. I had an epiphany today and I think it's super valid and important - We women may all be one half mermaid - the top half! Slap on some shell bras and be your best half mermaid self my sexy lady friends.

2. If your name was Frank, would you use the phrase "I'm gonna be Frank with you" before dropping some truth, and would you smirk each time?

3. I am supposing in this scenario that you, like me, say 'excuse me' to the people around you when you sneeze. When you're alone, let's say in a room by yourself, maybe your dog is there. And you sneeze. Do you say "excuse me?" Asking for a friend.

4. Have you ever trolled a scammer? I had my first experience doing so. And it felt great after the fact. Apparently there are these scams going on where you get some call from "UPS" or "DHL" or some delivery company and they ask you to maybe transfer money or give them your kidney or something. So what happened was I receive a call from what appeared to be a local number, I answered and one of those automated voices come on and say something about a package and press 1 to be transferred to an operator. So I press 1 thinking "hmmm maybe I bought something I don't remember?" and some dude answers in crisp China style mandarin. He says a bunch of words and I say "I can't speak Chinese, can you please put me through to an English speaking operator" to which he responds "No" and hangs up. I was like WHAT KIND OF SERVICE IS THIS??? I wanted to call back and yell! Then it dawned on me. How annoying, what a waste of excitement over the fact that I might have been the recipient of some drunk online shopping I may have forgotten buying (it happens).

5. Did you know that I have magic words? I wrote this post on 2 July and it was dedicated to my sister who was pregnant. She had told me she was due between then and 10 July. And guess what? Less than 24 hours later, she went into labour and gave birth to a super cutie. I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything, but I may have the power to induce labour. I should most definitely be President of something.

Okay, thanks for reading, if you've made it all the way here, congratulations and what's wrong with you? Love yewwwww.

Dope stuff

Top: Forever 21 (Similar here) | Skirt: Paul Smith (Similar here) | Shoes: Charles & Keith (Similar here)

Clutch: Kate Spade (Similar here) | Necklace: Nichii (Similar here) | Ring: Jessica Buurman (Similar here)

First up, my deepest thanks to my friend Samson aka 7braidstrong who does cool stuff like take photos of me drinking coffee. It was, in his words, dope. 

I'd like to follow up this post with my usual ranting and raving but I think it wouldn't really do justice to his photos so I'll just let you soak them up and enjoy the tall drink of water that is yours truly. LOL.

Follow me on instagram for daily shenanigans at alexwearsstuff. And follow him on instagram for super dope artsy stuff at 7braidstrong.

This sh*t is bananas! B.A.N.A.N.A.S.

Top: GG5 (Similar here) | Skirt: Primark (Similar here) | Shoes: Valentino

Bag: Aldo (Similar here) | Brooch: Gift from Char (Similar here) | Ring: Vintage (Similar here) 

So I found this super easy no carbs banana pancake recipe so I felt compelled to share it. If you're like me, very into diet trends, and you're all "Carbs are bad" then you will LOVE this recipe. But if you're like my weirdo friends (you know who you are!) and you don't like eggs, then move along.

Mush up one banana into what resembles baby's vomit

Crack 2 eggs and whisk them

Mix in the banana mush

Heat buttered pan and pour in the egg-banana mix

Cook over low-medium heat on each side for a few minutes, I kind of estimate and check for golden brownness

Eat that delicious banana pancake delight. Serve with whatever you think pairs well.

I had some with Nutella too and that was delicious because I love Nutella as much as I love my family. Nutella is my family. The banana pancakes are really delicious and sweet so it doesn't even need any syrup or icing sugar but feel free to add on whatever makes you happy!

Helpful tip: these pancakes don't bubble like normal pancakes so you might not know when to flip 'em. Good to cook it low and slow so it doesn't burn but solidifies nicely.

Also, don't make them too large because then they're hell to flip. Unless you're Jamie Oliver and you can flip things sans cutlery. The first time I made it too large and I tried to flip it and it was a disgusting mess and looks like scrambled egg (but still tasted good).

*Post initial photo taking edit: I made the pancakes again but this time using a blender - I blended the bananas and the eggs, which made the texture way smoother and more watery, which, when poured into the pan, made much neater, flatter and rounder pancakes which cooked a little more evenly! And I decided to use a Happy Call double sided pan for the flipping, which made it waaaay easier and less messy. Suck on that Jamie Oliver!

So round. Much smooth. Many yum.

Happy cooking, thanks for reading!

Geys and Goons

Top: Gap (Similar here) | Skirt ASOS (it was previously a dress, similar here) | Bag: Banana Republic (Similar here) 

Shoes: ASOS (Similar here) | Sunglasses: ASOS (Similar here) | Ring: Vintage (Similar here) 

A random thought first...

Does drinking cream of broccoli soup count as eating my veggies?

I am literally having some of it now and it is delicious. I've been really bored of food lately and I wish I could just eat a pill that would give me all the necessary nutrients I need, give me a sense of satisfaction and satiation, and also not make me a pudgy blob monster. Scientists, get on it already!

Something I am not totally bored of yet though.. Salted egg yolk coated deep fried chicken. OMG that shizz is the bomb. Now you're probably thinking, "ooh sounds good, where can I get some of that?" and I can tell you....

GEYLANG CLAYPOTRICE!!! 

Stolen from their Facebook page because I forgot to take photos.

Disclaimer first: this is my friend's business so I am biased but if it wasn't good I wouldn't bother posting about it. So it is good, trust me, I'm a very greedy human* being.

The original Geylang Claypot Rice restaurant is located in, no surprises here, Geylang (GASP SHOCK), but due to the fact that my friend and his business partner are enterprising young men with rice on the brain and in the stomach, they've opened a second outlet at Serangoon Gardens to cater to all the goonies. I assume that's what they call themselves. Totally true fact: the people from Geylang called themselves "Geylords". Maybe.

Also stolen, because I'm a thief

I've heard from my friend that the Serangoon outlet's claypot rice has a boneless chicken version which is great because I used to absolutely loathe eating claypot rice only to be biting into shards of chicken bone. It's up there on the charts of worst things ever, like just behind 'leaving dog poop on the side walk' and 'writing Game of Thrones spoilers on Facebook'. 

Obviously while their claypot rice is their signature dish, I, being not that into claypot rice (scarred from the bones yo), prefer their other dishes including the salted egg yolk chicken, the seafood beehoon (I avoid the seafood since I'm allergic but I go to town on those noodles), and the Qinglong vegetables. So now this soup I'm drinking is kinda not cutting it anymore. Where's that food pill when you need it?? 

Salted egg yolk *drools*

I'm pretty sure this is basically a cholesterol and calorie bomb but I LOVE SALTED EGG YOLK FRIED CHICKEN. I need to find a way to marry it. It's so good!! It also comes in a squid version but meh I'm all for chicken. When I was a kid, my mom told me all meat was chicken so I'd eat it because I really loved chicken.

Rrraaawwwrrr

Apparently Qinglong's literal translation is 'Green Dragon' and now with Game of Thrones back on the air, who isn't all about dragons? So topical. Anyway, this vegetable dish is awesome. I had never tried it before and I was more than pleasantly surprised. I'm no food blogger so I'm not going to try and pretend I know food by using words like 'palate cleansing' and 'refreshing with a twist' or 'bow chica wow wow' (I also don't read food blogs), but I just want to say that I like this dish and highly recommend it.

Shrimp + cereal = dinner and breakfast rolled into one

Ok so I'll be honest, I don't eat shellfish so I could only eat the cereal but from the way my friends inhaled this, I think it's good? The cereal was really yummy so yes, we also finished all the cereal.

Deep fried soft shell crab + eggs

I think this is the boo's favourite, he said the eggs are yums max. I can only sigh and feel a deep longing for this crab that would only give me the feeling of a midget squeezing and weakly punching my throat if I were to eat it.

Bonjour

I'm so bad at describing food, I keep thinking about writing "I like this a lot" and "yum". I'm not very original and my vocabulary isn't really great. Anyway, french beans - supercalifragilisticexpealidocious. Take that for a description yo.

So anyway, not shown here: an onion omelette and a xiao bai cai vegetable dish because I was really greedy and I kept forgetting to take the photos until we had all started eating. Some of the photos I took were just plates with remnants of food. It's kind of gross.

Anyway, Geylang Claypot is a great place for large gatherings as a pot of rice can go a long way so it's quite economical. Although of course when you order the more expensive seafood dishes, it can be more pricey. I think it's got pretty standard zi char prices. The food comes in small and medium sizing so you can always mix and match to suit your group size. 

The restaurant in Serangoon is fully air-conditioned which is important because it's so freaking hot in Singapore. And I heard that they've just got their liquor license so that means PARTY CENTRAL! Gather all your friends and head down to Geylang Claypot Rice restaurant Tuesdays to Sundays for lunch or dinner or maybe even just to hang out. 

To see the Geys, go to: 639 Geylang Road

But if you feel like visiting the Goons: 4 Maju Avenue 

Thanks for reading!
 

* Technically while I claim I'm human, I've never really had it proven. How do we know we aren't all just aliens walking around and when we die we actually go onto our next alien form. I will probably be a Trump supporter cos you know those people are truly aliens. Anyway, how do we go about proving one's humanity? This has given me an awesome idea for the Humanity Games, kind of like the Hunger Games but with more food. Yup. Back to food again.