When I was photographing with this week’s word – composé (composed of, compound) – in mind, I was wondering how much of a stretch can I go in interpreting it? I’m still trying to familiarise myself with my new neighbourhood, and there are still things to be done to turn the apartment into a home. With my head half in the air, certain interpretation may be shaky. If only it’s possible to photograph the compounded stress I was feeling earlier in the week but slowly dissipated as more and more task got struck off the check-list…

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13 Jan: You know the whole “stressed spelled backward is desserts” thing? Yes, I sought some sweet cure today, in the form of a mixed box of bite-sized treats. Adorably called the children’s selection, six different desserts have been put together, checking the boxes on: fruitiness (lemon tart), nuttiness (hazelnut tart), chocolateness (chocolate tart), crunchiness (candied choux), silkiness (vanilla slice) and fluffiness (praline choux).

14 Jan: I’ve always found a mirror-based façade interesting, for its unintentional link between the actual building and one across from it, creating a new view which changes depending on the angle and also the weather. It is a form of compounded architecture, if I may put it this way, but one filled with dynamic interaction with other elements. As if that’s insufficient, the reflected building above also seems like paintings on the glass windows.

15 Jan: This is a most unusual sculpture, made up of disjointed body parts. Set up as barriers of a school ground, the main components of the series are hands and legs with fingers and toes, in a number of different poses. Colours were added to the mix by mean of painted blocks and tiles. It is a bit of a shame that parts of the sculpture had been damaged, like this case of the missing fingers.

16 Jan: A cobbler’s job is essentially of reparation and addition of materials to an old pair of shoes, forming a pair of newly compounded footwear that is once again functional. Shoes themselves from the get go are normally made up of different components for different parts of the shoes, from fabric, to leather, to rubber, and other materials in between. I do wonder how uncomfortable can a single-material shoes of the past be?

17 Jan: I was considerably cheered up this afternoon when I looked upon the sky. The colour of white, through the process of diffraction, had form a spectrum of visible wavelengths over my head. A somewhat diffused ribbons, if you must, for the colours appear as light wisps among the clouds. No arches, and no double rainbows. Still amazingly pretty though. I lost track of the amount of time I just stood there and observed the changes.

18 Jan: Undoubtedly Pierre Hermé has created something unique in his galette des Rois for this January. Instead of mixing flavours to a marzipane base, he had made up layers of goodies within the galette. A flaky base, followed by a lower layer of creamed rice, topped with an upper level of salted butter caramel, and finally a flaky blanket over the fillings. It is delicious, but not in the same league of the special last year: marron glacé (candied chestnut) with muscavado sugar.

19 Jan: This building in my neighbourhood is unique, and once or twice, F and I had wished our new apartment is “within” rather than “nearby”. It’s the architectural style that makes it so appealling. It stands out among its neighbours, and the multi-roof levels along with large balconies reminds me of colonial mansions in Penang and Malacca. You don’t see it here but it even has a front courtyard and a gate separating the courtyard from the street. Definitely not your typical Parisian building.