Carpenter and Cook (Singapore)

Carpenter and Cook

Location: 19 Lorong Kilat #01-06 Singapore 598120
Contact No.: 6463 3648

Operating hours:
Tuesdays - Saturdays: 10am - 10pm
Sundays: 10am - 7pm
Closed on Mondays



A vintage home store and cafe, selling carefully curated furniture, home decor, fresh home-made baked goods and confectionery.

I paid this lovely cafe a visit with my loves some time back. 

We went there after lunch, so I only tried the lemon tart. It was refreshing! 

I always adore the feeling that cafe brings upon some form of peace and comfort in me. Furthermore, vintage is a die-hard love. 

The ambience was so soothing, I wish I could stay longer. As I grow up, I enjoy places that can slow my life down, slow my pace down. Even if it only last for that moment, it is a form of escapism. I felt that I was out of city in that moment. I felt I was in this cozy little dream-like house, filled with love and pacify from within. 

A must go place if you have yet to visit this amazing cafe! 

Chrysan & I finally figured why the four of could click almost instantly. We are so different yet alike at the same time.
Anyhow, none of us would deny how much we like photography.

Chasing Riches

I chanced upon this piece some time back.
It was being displayed at the museum for The Artsy Affair (TAP 2013).

This is a piece of art by an artist name Zhi Yang (Lek).
Take a minute and have a good look at it. What did you see?



The lady in the picture, she's so beautiful. In fact, I find her flawless. Yet, she's chained up, she's tied up. I felt so disturbed, so so disturbed.

Quoted by him, 'In the future, when the world has changed for the worse, people would be so focused on chasing material wealth and possessions that it becomes an obsession. Ultimately, it consumes so much of their lives that it suffocates them."

And this is clearly evidenced, being reflected in our today's world. The picture depicts the true reality. It's not just women. So many of us, are obsessed with pursuing what the "norm" beauty is, the beauty that commercial often focus too much on. We dedicate our life in getting the material goods, the surface beauty, the things that do not last. Whatever happens to the real, genuine, and pure beauty?


& it's killing us, slowly. We are our own murderers.

Dialogue In The Dark

Dialogue In The Dark

Venue: Ngee Ann Polytechnic Block 5, Level 1
            535 Clementi Road Singapore 599489
Hotline: 6460 6222
Opening Hours: 0900-1700 on Weekdays
Duration: 1 hour
Tour Size: 8 people per tour
Cost: $20/adult; $12/student; $60/family combo (2 adults + 2 children)

I went for this amazing journey into a world without sight some time back with this group of lovelies. Here, we learnt to see in a whole new way, enriching yet fresh.

In those simulation rooms, we were placed in everyday situations, in complete darkness. Simple things like crossing the street, strolling in a park, or visiting a cafe suddenly became extraordinary challenges. Somehow, this idea to integrate people and educate society in an entertaining way, took us from fear to fun.

"In the dark, the sighted are suddenly bling, while the blind people who are used to moving without seeing become the sighted ones. This role swap makes us think about our prejudices and stereotypes."

Accompanied by a blind guide, we began our journey with a white cane given to help feel our way through the darkened room. I remembered how sweet my guide's voice was.

We first arrived at an open park by the water, it was really peaceful. Then, we board a boat and cruise till we reach the city. Moving through the city, we were forced to cross the street. I felt really helpless then, just moving aimlessly with no direction (we all kinda went different way!). We then came to a neighbouring market, where we tried to guess what vegetable and fruits we were holding on to. We even tried to make a phone call at a nearby public phone.
Finally, we arrived at a cafe, sweet-smeeling. We were hungry then. I ordered ice-cream and a cookie! We tried to feed each other with our food in the dark. I remembered LX exclaiming that Chrysan was feeding his neck. I managed to feed Zaki better! (hahaha). We had a chat with our blind guide there; she shared with us how they manage to differentiate those different notes (according to size and so on).


Here in the dark, we cannot see differences of race, class, and religion. Dialogue in the Dark aims to raise awareness and facilitate inclusion of marginalised people in our community.

If you are thinking of a place to head with your friends, and hope it would be a meaningful one, why don't you head down an experience this unique trip! Furthermore, this has certainly created many jobs for the blinds too! Show some support alright?

Be Generous; Be Grateful

Today was a good day.


Thursday is a day I dread of; plus the pour this morning was just too much.
Being the only person who alighted at the bus-stop, I have no choice but walk in the storm. God pitied me, and sent me an angel. There he was, sheltered me and ask me if I needed an umbrella.

I placed a note next to his car after school (but I guess it's all wet by the time he sees it :( oh no). Thank you so much for starting my day right.

Being an Aquarius, it was predicted that I would get pretty down today. No, I couldn't figure out a single reason. Everything went well today, and I was anticipating JJ being interviewed by FM Yes 933.

Exhausted, I soon fall asleep after bathing and drying myself. There's praying session tonight. Waking up late, I had to rush through my dinner and preparation. I forgot about the broadcast, long-forgotten. You could imagine how frustrated I was when I finally managed to recall it after praying session. Even Eunice couldn't cheer me up, feeding me with food.

I have no idea what got over me this year; I don't know why in a way, it felt worst than a breakup (exaggerating). And then, this video. I chanced upon this video at the right moment.

Disclaimer: The above long-winded story (and a boring one) has no meaning to what this post and the following video is about.

I'm not too sure if someone cut onions or what, but I could not stop tearing.
If you have about 12 minutes or so of your life to spare, please watch this video. (There's English translation :))

Sometimes we know that we are not obligated to do certain things. Yet, there is something especially important to everyone. Everyone.



Although it may not be linked directly, I drew different thoughts after the video.

When was the last time you give your loved ones a hug and tell them you love them?

I'm saying this because I'm extremely guilty towards my parents. It was my daddy's birthday 2 days ago, but I forgot about it completely. So in the midnight, I wrote a really short message on a normal A4 paper for him. I placed it on the desk in the living room, so that would be the first thing he sees the next morning.

He always treasures every single little thing I gave for him. Even if it's real ugly, he would still keep it somewhere safe. Sometimes back, I flipped through my mum's cardboard because she wanted me to help look for some documents. There, I saw all the cards I drew for her. Some of those cards were drawn back then, when I was as young as 4 years old. There was this sense of guilt being inflicted.

You know, it's so irony that most of us would spent hours and hours doing up gifts, choosing presents for our friends or lovers. I'm not saying these people are not important. We all need friends and lover, and to show them our appreciation towards them. But yet, how many of us actually spend equal effort for our parents. We owe them so much, that no matter how rich we are in the future, it would never be adequate to return back them the love they gave us.

They are not obligated to give us the best of everything that they could afford. Please don't take it, take them, take love for granted.

IKuanTao; (Tian Dao)

“Why are you a Vegetarian?” “Are you a Buddhist?” "Are you a Taoist?" “Why don’t you want to try eating meat?”

These are the questions I get most often when I meet new people. Yes, I am a Vegetarian. It’s a lifestyle, not because of any religion I am in. It was by choice; no one forced me to.
Warning: This post may be a little sensitive; and I really mean no harm if I offend or conflict with any beliefs (I have been wanting to do this for the longest time ever but I don’t know about the responses I would receive). I’m writing it to the best of my knowledge and I really hope I don’t get any fact wrong or put anyone in a unfavourable position.

Yes, I do go to Temples. There are 3 in Singapore, and one more coming up soon. Yet I’m not considered a Buddhist. The irony? Perhaps it was because one always relates Temple to Buddhism. However, I’m not.

I belong to this organization calls IKuanTao. It’s not a religious organization, it’s about Tao. Basically, we are a community with common beliefs. So what are our beliefs? How is it different from any religion?

Credit: Eugene

No, we are not very different from most religious practices. We do believe in the mightier being, or rather, beings. We believe in the existent of all Gods, Allah, Buddha and the list goes on. No, it’s not that we are “kiasu” and believe in all the different mightier beings. It's a philosophy or life. I believe it’s the different affinity that we have with various Gods and so, in different religions. Here, we embrace all the mightier beings. For that I sincerely believe that religion is a tool that brings all together, the only possible reason for humanity to be restored. I believe that only when we are humble enough to believe that there are mightier beings above us, are we then willing to serve another genuinely, making this place a better one.

And so why a Vegetarian? No, not all of us are Vegetarian here, but we do promote the practice of Vegetarianism. It’s just too cruel to kill another to satisfy our cravings. It’s as though one is eating corpses for his or her every meal. Okay, maybe I have made it sound too gross. Is there really a need to eat them? They do have souls and can feel pain the way we do. They do have families that they want to protect and live with. This is just so wrong. (Don’t tell me about the food-chain that we were being educated when we were younger; it does not justify the need for these animals to go through that kind of sufferings). At least that’s how I perceived it. We believe in re-carnation by the way.

Nope, I’m not a Christian, nor a Buddhist. So I suppose Free-Thinker is a more accurate term? That doesn’t matter anyway. We all have our own beliefs, and different fates. We all grew up in different cultures and environments that influence our beliefs. I just hope everyone can understand; and not using it against one another.