Apple Strawberry Pie

I sternly told all guests NOT to bring anything to dinner. No extra food, no dessert, nothing. The idea was to just come with empty stomachs.

There was this one girl who had been suspiciously quiet all day. I knew she was up to baking tricks. She always put us on a sugar high after meals! True enough! She had so many things in her hands that she couldn't even ring the doorbell. She brought over a pie!

An apple strawberry pie!! I love apples in juices, desserts and soups. Strangely, I don't like it as a fruit. It's kinda eeky. I like apples very much in crumbles and pies. We dug out french vanilla ice-cream to go along with it. It had to be good vanilla. I absolutely hate bad synthetic tasting vanilla. That was the most beautiful apple strawberry pie, ever. Everyone finished their itty bits and sheepishly came back for more pie and scoops of french vanilla.

Of course, everyone discussed about how we should all quit our day jobs to run a restaurant. We were all going to contribute in our different specialized ways- food and dessert for sure, design, interior and architecture, accounts, tax and audit, legal, public relations, floor service, negotiations, etc. Haha. Yes. It's a very fun idea to think about. But when it comes down to the running of the business, I think we're all too lazy to actually turn it into something profitable.

Meanwhile, we'll continue with playing chef and hosting meals in our private kitchen. :)

Munching On Dips & Vegetables

The man combed through the cooking bible and decided on the dinner menu.

We had 3 kinds of dips- roasted red pepper, hummus and a white miso mayo. We thought that the pumpkin purée topped with yoghurt, coriander and lime could also be considered a dip. Heh.

There were baguette sliced and lightly toasted, and parboiled vegetables to go along with the dips. I hoped everyone had fun with the dipping and tasting of the different textures of food!

We had plenty of carbs on the menu. The man decided on a simple mushroom and porcini risotto and a fusilli with white asparagus and balsamic reduction. The fusilli was quite a hit. The balsamic reduction lent a world of difference to the taste when drizzled lightly over the white asparagus and fusilli.

When the plates were laid out, I giggled. The man could have been cooking for 20 people! In his defence, he was also cooking for our box lunches for the week and a couple of boxes to pack home for his bff's lovely mom.

The carnivores didn't care that tonight's menu was vegetarian. The rich flavors, crunch and varied textures were warmly welcomed by all.

Again, I present to you why I have such discerning tastebuds till I rather not eat if the food at restaurants isn't to my taste.

The Man

I've no professional qualifications to critique this photo. What I can tell you, is the emotions this shot stirred within.

I love this photo of the man. The photographer (credited above) has captured him in the full expression of his passion.

It depicts the essence of the man. Aside from his many talents, this gift of music and guitars is a huge explanation of why I fell in love with him. His intellect and ardent pursuit of his passion are also major reasons why I'm still in love with him.

Remove all the (gold) trappings from the man, and at the base, he retains his talents. He is still the man who loves music with a fierce focus. I pursue my separate passions with equal determination and intensity. This shared understanding and inner fire also fan our love and commitment to each other. We are bound by something that goes deep into our souls.

And this photo has captured the quintessential nature of the man I love.

Dessert

On a long boring day, a yummy lunch at Au Petit Salut Bistro does make me less grouchy.

I'm usually not big on desserts. But since the set lunch came with a couple of items I don't mind, I randomly picked one.

Lunch is nicely rounded up by financiers with berry compote.

Too Long

In class today, I was honestly quite taken aback that we were given 1 hour 15 minutes (including 15 minutes for tea) to read a very short speech on leadership by Parker Palmer. It was only about 20 pages of an A5 sized novel. Maybe less since the font size was rather kind.

There were four questions on the whiteboard referring to the speech. We were supposed to pick out salient points and reflect upon it. It was a good speech. It was peppered with anecdotes and sincere thoughts. It was well written and humorous. I was done in 15 minutes. Not going to sit and twiddle thumbs for the rest of the allocated time. Next to looking sullen and feeling annoyed, I could do myself and everyone else a favor by disappearing. So I hightailed out of the classroom to sort out emails, draft a couple of letters and finalize some details for next week's projects and well, tweet.

When I came back very much later, I couldn't believe that the class had to sit in two groups, spend another hour talking to one another to pick out points in the book and share with everyone else to make a group 'view'. I'm so not the sort to sit down and reflect over it. There must have been at least two others who thought the same way as I did. But they were better students and sat in class throughout. Anyway, I came in at the tail end of that 'group reflection'. I sighed, looked at the group's points and still proposed two new points to put up.

I nearly died.

All my life in school, I was that girl who completed her exam papers in an hour out of two hours allocated or be done in two hours out of a total of three. The only papers I stayed throughout for were Thai papers because I couldn't read or write fast enough. I never ever stayed till the end of any paper in English. NEVER. I still got my As.

So now, I'm not going to slow down at work either. A class is different from an office. An office has a wider space and time. In a class, I expect top-notch thinking and substantial quality content. I'm not going to play nice and wait politely. People should either read faster or process thoughts at a quicker pace. At work, we'll just have to be mindful that we can be quite screwed if we move at the pace of the slowest denominator under circumstances which don't quite allow that.

Summer Truffles

After all the effort of lugging the bottles home, the man picked one out. He's thinking of 101 ways to use the contents of this bottle. There're plenty of good recipes floating out there to use for reference.

He could sprinkle it over sautéed fillet of halibut or monkfish. He would use it on pasta for sure.

I would really really love to have him do a truffled loose omelette for a decadent breakfast during the weekend. :)

Uni (ウニ)

I usually enjoy uni. I like it wrapped in seawood because it complements the uni's briny but sweet taste. The lightly toasted seaweed offsets the rich creaminess of the gonads.

From April to September, it's uni season. At top restaurants, the edible part of the sea urchin is usually served 'fresh', halved in its shell. Well, it's just the gonads, not even the roe. I've eaten fresh uni before, without guilt.

Tonight, however, my stomach lurched a little when uni was served. It isn't alive but it feels almost cruel to scoop it out like that to eat it.

Mary Roach On TED!!!

Mary Roach is one of my favorite writers of the decade.

As sort of a follow-up to Bonk, I love her TED clip where she tells us "10 things you didn't know about orgasm".

It was hilarious! (Thanks to Simian for alerting us to such fun stuff!)

Clip is for viewing and sharing by adults only. (",)

Talisker 57° North

Picked up a bottle of whisky at DFS. The nose drew me in. It held spicy notes characteristic of Talisker.

Upon tasting, there's the usual light peat, sea salt and dryness. It isn't too spicy. It's almost sweet, rather aytpical of cask strength single malts. The Talisker 57° North is quite a winner.

Opened the bottle on an evening after a long day. We tried it straight. I thought it went better with a dash of water. I preferred it with a chip of ice. I like my whisky cold.

Talisker, is the favorite single malt of choice of KT Tunstall. :D She has a custom guitar cut from the wood at the Talisker distillery and gifted by the owners. I like KT Tunstall's Paper Aeroplane quite a lot.

Hummus For Dinner

The man brought back a separate suitcase full of hummus, toppings, fluffy brown pita bread and all. He had gleefully checked that in and marked it fragile. Along with well-sealed tubs of hummus, mushrooms, etc, there were bottles of summer truffles, foie gras and whathaveyous.

One would think he had gone to London to do fulfil the grocery list for the month.

The man was most insistent on having the 'tapau-ed' hummus from Hummus Brothers for dinner. I thought he'd be wanting something else because he practically ate there everyday. Well, besides being one of the cheapest eats in London (apprx £6 per pax), it's also one of the healthiest. The man loves hummus. So do I. Not very surprisingly, we don't mind hummus for dinner.

This plate of hummus is out of this world. Very different from the usual. There's something in the tahini that they use. It's extremely flavorful- homemade with special ingredients. We can't put our finger on it. It taste like peanut butter. But we know they can't just put peanut butter randomly because of customers with allergies and the eatery isn't insensitive like that. Quite mind boggling. We're now thinking furiously what could those secret ingredients be.

The man opened the various exciting tubs and set about prepping dinner. Topped with chickpeas, brown field mushrooms, green salsa, sprinkled with paprika and drizzled with olive oil and the store's special lemon juice, this plate of hummus blew my mind.

I normally don't take chickpeas unless they're done correctly. In this case, I love them chickpeas! I polished off a whole piece of bread and ate chunks of hummus. Totally totally delicious.

Afternoon Tea

I got out of the heat and spent an afternoon with a cheerful toddler, a somewhat-grouchy-lack-sleep-but-cute baby and 3 lovely ladies.

Y, the host not only opened up her house and made us food, the husband was also really sweet to potter around and let us make so much noise. HA.

We came from lunch, so tea was kept simple and very yummy. Each of us brought something to share. I didn't eat that much at lunch though- saving stomach space for some of the nibbles at tea! Easy cheese and good pepper and chives crackers always get my vote. I was slicing up quite a bit of that tasty smoked cheddar and munching away. The thoughtful host made radish cake (萝卜糕 ). She was so apologetic because she thought the texture could be softer. I thought it was okay. I loved it that she kept the radish cake unsalted and not oily. The full flavors came from the chinese sausages (lap cheong) and mushrooms.

I ate so much that I couldn't really eat dinner anymore!!!

Sutra

I wasn't too sure about going for the gala premiere. Sutra didn't attract me that much. I would have preferred to catch up on sleep since the show was in the middle of a terribly hectic work week.

Still, I got dragged out by the friends for it. So difficult to say no to them.

Sutra was quite a visual spectacle. But, after all that hype, I thought it underwhelming.

While the concept of Sutra is unique and the partnership unusual, I honestly didn't see inspiration in the choreography. The only good point was- it was presented to a contemporary audience who would otherwise not be able to appreciate the starkness of the Shaolin gongfu moves. The use of wooden boxes was simple and excellent. It created depth on the stage in a performance that had no dialogue, no storyline and no 'meaning' almost. You'd have to find the zen within those moves and around the boxes. It's anything you want it to be.

Too surreal for me.

It was the music that drew me in. The cadences were dark and determined all at the same time. The gloom and focus and reverberated in my mind. The friends said it gave them an adrenaline rush. I think it's more like adhering to the ancient rules of discipline and heavy rituals. Like what sutras are, Sutra, in a visual format, is bound by complex movements which are terse and spiritually symbolic.

SO YAH, since I'm an uneducated plebeian, one might say I'd describe it as a very artistic, highly structured and more sophisticated version of Ninja Warrior. So don't quote me! :p

Day Out

At least the 3 hours of standing and running around were done to an expansive view and a light soothing breeze.

It was a lovely afternoon. The sun was bright but not blazing. The trees provided shade while we went charging up the slopes.

We initially wanted to play paintball in the indoor gallery. But after a day out amongst the greens, insects and mozzies notwithstanding, most of us preferred the outdoor lasertag to having leadership training in an enclosed space.

It was awesome to see how quickly everyone got into battle mode. They sprinted, ran, hid, jumped, rolled and tumbled! Strategies aplenty were discussed and tactics quickly deployed when the situation turned.

Perspiring bucketloads once in a while is good. How often do we get to experience the great outdoors?? In Singapore, I'd say, not at all. None even. At most, it's a walk in the park. We've been too pampered by air-conditioning and cars. Limited by land scarcity and geography, we don't have the luxury of hiking up a mountain or checking out the nearest creek.

Well, I'm most gleeful that while most went away with mozzie bites, I had none. HAHAHAH. Through the years, it has been proven, that in a group of humans across all ages under jungle conditions, I'd either not get bitten by any sort of mozzie or insect, or have the least number of bites.

Seeing that I was in shorts and sleeveless tee, the colleague offerred insect repellent- I rejected it! I called him a wuss, so he told me he'd wait to see how badly I would be bitten. HEH. So there! ZERO battle scars.

Bak Zhang (粽子)

I kinda like bak zhang. I like the glutinous rice. But not madly in love with it.

It's terribly unhealthy. It's got pork too. I can't stand bak zhang with a heavy pork tang. I like those soaked in dark sauce till that is the main aftertaste. I definitely don't bother with the intricacies of what makes a good bak zhang.

I know the tremendous amount of effort needed to make bak zhang. I appreciate those homemade sort very much. Those are probably the only ones I eat anyway. I can't be bothered to go out to the shops and buy. They're usually oversalted.

Today, as I unwrapped the bak hang, the oil that dripped out made me gulp. Since I needed the carbs for the afternoon's programme, I didn't mind eating half.

In the end, I ate it all. Because the colleague's mother made it. And she was really sweet to come give me one. That delicious homemade flavor was unmistakable.

Doing The Flip

The weather plus work plus many social engagements meant I missed the regular swims all of last week. I was a little grouchy because I couldn't squeeze in a swim.

After the 5.30am start this morning, I so so looked forward to laps in the afternoon. After a late lunch, I headed off straight to the pool. The weather held. The soak was brilliant. 5 usual suspects had the same idea.

The little children who usually played in the pool on the weekends were not around. There were other annoying people in the pool who were in the way by just posing in the middle of pool without doing anything much (not even floating); they obviously didn't get pool etiquette! Unfortunately for them, this estate had tons of swimmers. I felt a little bad for pushing the recreational swimmers out the pool. But they were adults, not children.

Mr Powerful Front Crawl and the other really strong guy torpedo-ed the lengths so fast that basically, every other non-swimmer gave them a wide berth. I meekly followed in their wake. They did 60 laps. No way I could do that. I was so out of breath at 30. Couldn't even do 5 more. Died-ed.

I didn't get out of the pool after. I just flounced around. I wanted to get the flip right. I rarely rarely do that flip at each turn of the lap. There isn't a need to spend all that effort. Today, motivated by the others, I spent 30 minutes trying to get the right distance and timing to the wall. Flipping wasn't the problem. I just had to stop feeling like one clumsy ox. Keeping the water out of my nose was the main concern. Eeeeeek.

By the time I was done, I stumbled out of the pool feeling quite giddy.

The Finale, Season 5, House M.D

*SPOILERS AHEAD for fans of House.*

Watching House with the friends can sometimes be very tedious. After 5 seasons, they still mull over diagnostical scenarios in real life and tend to go off into different arguments of how something which could be a medical probability become an impossibility under field conditions. Whatever. I usually shush them so that I can focus on the imperative issue of watching the show per se. It's tv, people!!!

For me, the pure enjoyment in the show lies in its simple formula of keeping each episode neat so that there're very little spillovers to the next. The characters remain rather consistent with sufficient character development. Most of all, the lines House delivers often leaves me clapping in glee.

When we watched the finale of Season 5, the friends were grimly satisfied that this was how it should end for House, for now. They declared that it was the most logical conclusion.

I, was devastated. I was almost moping. I didn't like how Season 5 had been wrapped. Where's my happy ending?!!!

I certainly hope the essence of the show remains for House Season 6. Although I'm really curious how that will pan out if Season 6 is going to be filmed in and around a psychiatric hospital.

Don't Use It As A Weird Noun

When copywriters and wordsmiths gather, we can be really mean. Like laughing really hard over someone's queer usage of 'spunk' in a tagline.

Now, spunk has three distinct and vastly different meanings. If you ain't talking about Spunk by Sex Pistols, the record label or Wolfe's play, it's going to be rather peculiar in its other usage as a noun.

Especially if you use it to describe someone to "have bright spunk".

A Limerick Writer At Work

She doesn't work so well with alcohol. Or rather, she comes up with particularly hilarious lines. Haha.

Ristorante Bologna

Someone piqued our interest in Ristorante Bologna. This is another restaurant that has fallen through the cracks and off our radar.

I remember the restaurant in its older (before renovation) and more dingy days. I was so young then. I had lots of dates who brought me there for meals. The bestie and I also had a very unmemorable meal there.

I casually mentioned Ristorante Bologna to the friends and got an avalanche of comments. In short, we're all separately going to Bologna this week (some have gone and more are going tomorrow and over the weekend) for nostalgia's sake.

Importantly, we trust Chef Carlo Marengoni. Many of us attended his masterclass in homemade pasta during the last World Gourmet Summit and went away with extremely favorable impressions.

Tonight, I thoroughly enjoyed my asparagus risotto with asiago cheese. That cheese was a little strong and wonderful for cheese lovers. I totally dig it! The pappardelle pasta with crab and spinach served in lobster sauce was light and delicious.

We also had the grilled fish of the day which was seabass. It was ever so lightly grilled and served with a splash of olive oil and vegetables. That oven-baked rack of lamb with rosemary and red wine sauce served with spinach cake was beautifully done too. The clincher was its red wine sauce. That sauce was not tart and lacked the usual sour sharpness. It was well rounded with honey tones. It went beautifully with our Glenlivet 12 y.o. We eventually found out that the grape used was Barbera.

Obviously, that left us with no space whatsoever for dessert. Zilch.

This restaurant has a very extensive menu that we like. Move over, Pontini and Zambuca. Bologna is our new favorite seat in hotels. Many Italian restaurants have got individuality and flair of their own. I can't just put them in any one league. Sure, Bologna doesn't have some of the quiet elegance of DOMVS' basil spaghetti, the pizazz of Oso or the warm comfort of Bontá. But Bologna is charming. Importantly, if you're a pasta person, you'll like Bologna's extensive selections.

Next week, Chef Carlo is cooking up a feast of fresh homemade pastas. Think spaghetti chitarra-style with spring onions, boston lobster and cherry tomato, homemade strangozzi pasta with minced sausage, black truffles and pecorino cheese, rigatoni pasta sautéed with sweet capsicum, mussels, basil leaf and olives. By the time we finished reading that list, we were drooling and wanted to go to the kitchen to ask for all these tonight. And yes, if you desire just a simple pasta aglio e olio, Chef Carlo will do it just for you.

I'm very very interested in its 'Summer In Italy' menu from 15 - 20 June 2009. Chef Carlo has created a full menu of Italy's summer seasonal vegetables! A couple of us are really excited about it. We can't wait to taste the sautéed beet stalks stuffed with fish and seafood, grilled vegetables with goat cheese and leaves tossed with fontina cheese, croutons and white truffle-balsamic vinaigrette.

It helped tremendously that service was good, understated and considerate. It ended the evening on a nice mellow note.

Limericks

I should have organized a get-together for the friends for Limerick Day! It'd have been hilarious and so so fun. Limericks and anti-limericks would be thrown up galore. I know of just the right 10 people to make a party to pit wit and skills! Drunken debauchery, literally.

Dear Dawnie blew me away with her skills over msn. On-the-spot creativity. Not bawdy, but quite cute! I gave her 3 words- lollipop, rainy days, hot chocolate. Here's what she came up with in 5 seconds:

On rainy days I like my chocolate hot,
Mix it in with your lollipop.
Twirl it in with cinnamon and spice.
I guarantee you something nice.
If you don't agree, I'll doff my top. ©

I was duly impressed. I can't, for the life of me, make anything rhyme. Writing in iambic pentatmeter is no sweat. But I royally suck at writing to rhyming schemes. The second set consisted of pink, bear, whisky.

Said the bear to the whiskey, I do like your tone,
Your taste is rich, not to mention your colour alone.
To call you just merely a drink,
Would be like saying that I was pink.
But to take more than a sip, would mean tomorrow I must atone. ©

Mind you, she was rushing out for lunch with her mom. Between pulling on her clothes and pee break, she came up with limericks just like that. "Magic." I said. She gleefully announced, "It's my party trick!" and gave me a parting gift:

According to Imp, today is Limerick Day.
And far be it for me to doubt what she has to say.
So I sit here and write her a piece of fluff.
No Illiyad or Chaucer or Beowulf,
But one to briing her a laugh if it may. ©

If she had merrily spouted anymore of these saucy lines, I'd have prostrated myself in complete deference to her superior intelligence.

Mother's Day

We took the man's parents out for Mother's Day lunch at Yan Ting.

On the weekends, Yan Ting has this dim sum buffet that is currently, imho, the best in town. The kitchen has cut back on the oil used in the dishes and beefed up its selections on the menu.

I'll admit, we really didn't mind the choice of champagne that came along with lunch.

After the initial hiccups and strange food mix, I think the Cantonese restaurant has kinda understood the Singapore taste in Chinese food and has adjusted accordingly. I wasn't at all impressed at the start. However, my experience at Yan Ting this year has so far been pretty good.

Since I've decided to snub Shang Palace till they improve their service, Yan Ting is my current to-go place for Cantonese food. Plus they always accommodate all my naughty requests. Heh.

Today, the kitchen ran out of lobsters. The manager was very apologetic. He replaced it with abalone and spinach. It was still a tad disappointing though. I really liked those steamed lobsters. Luckily the rest of the food was superb and the service was attentive.

We eat with the parents twice a week. It gets rather challenging to take them out sometimes. Often, we run out of venues to explore, especially when the father isn't too adventurous with food. So today, we're glad that the parents enjoyed the lunch tremendously.

I like seeing the parents smile. They do spoil me so. It doesn't take too much effort to make the parents happy. So it's really easy to organize meals and outings with them.

Oban 1992 Distillers Edition

I've always liked the bottles from Oban. As a beginner single malt drinker, I started off with its easy 14 y.o and have remained a fan of the distillery.

The other evening at the store, I spied a new bottle of whisky they just brought in. I'm quite the sucker for packaging. It looked rather pretty. The tasting notes sounded okay. I'm usually fine with bottles from the Highlands. So I grabbed a bottle and hoped for the best.

The Oban 1992 Distillers Edition is a delightful bottle.

It is not particularly peaty. The sherry cask makes that dram very easy on the palate. It's rather sweet and full of hints of burnt nuts and heather. The finish is surprisingly rich and soft.

It's an enjoyable single malt. There're little touches of sea notes because of its geographical position and also influenced by its primary identity as a bottle from the Highlands.

Over A Dog

For 5 nights, the poor dog whimpered and whined through the night. It does that from midnight till about 3 - 4am till it gets tired and finally falls asleep.

It is very obvious that the owners have gone to bed and locked him out in the back. Encased in their air-conditioned bedroom, they couldn't hear his pathetic begging to be let in or they probably just ignored it. It speaks volumes about the character of this family.

Last night, I heard the dog howl. Continuously. I got really upset. It wasn't so much of the 'noise' that irritated me. It's the fact that the neighbors can be so callous and inconsiderate to the others that pissed the hell out of me. I can hear that poor dog scratch and thud against the door.

Calling security isn't going to help. Somebody did that 2 nights ago. The whining stopped, but it resumed the following night. This family obviously don't take the words of a 'lowly' security guard to heart. So at 2am, I strode upstairs sans make-up. Yes, I was that furious. I do kinda know which unit the poor dog belongs to. Very new tenants, apparently. But I need to verify it for myself instead of depending on hearsay.

I headed up a couple of floors and listened. The dog cooperated by whining even louder. I pinpointed the unit and rang the doorbell. 2am, so what. I don't get sleep, they don't get to sleep. After I rang thrice with a decent interval of 2 minutes, nobody answered the door. So I did the furious psychotic 'ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong' for like 10 times in a row. Still, nobody came out. Maybe I look too much like a hantu.

I stomped back to the flat to type out a very nice memo (not signed off as 'Anonymous', but with my name, number and email) to this selfish neighbor. I printed 10 copies and went back upstairs. I slipped it under said unit's door as well as the rest of the units 2 floors up and down. Selfish actions should be properly made known and acknowledged.

As I trudged around, I realized that there was no more whining. The dog had somehow been silenced. Somewhat suspicious, I went back home and listened intently for a couple of minutes more. Complete silence, except for sounds of the night.

Cowardly pricks!!! They obviously knew why I rang that doorbell and refused to answer. Good on them that at least they felt something and let that dog in. With that memo, I hope they know the consequences of every thoughtless action. Maybe they don't realize they're being mean to the dog. It is also unforgivable that they have the cheek to be inconsiderate to their neighbors.

Hummmpf. I'll be listening out again tonight, and tomorrow.

Are You Mainstream?

At work, the organization is setting up its database for efficient contact tracing in case of a pandemic. Each department is keeping a detailed list of contact names and numbers. Everyone is required to fill them in.

There're the usual columns for name, address, etc. Then there're the columns for emergency contact #1 and #2, and all the requested details of names of the 2 emergency contacts as well as their relations to us.

I filled up mine. Then I scanned the list to kaypoh at other people's details and heaved a sigh. Everyone else listed their Emergency Contact #1 as their wife or husband. Emergency Contact #2 is listed as sister/brother/mother/father.

My Emergency Contact #1 is listed as "Partner". Emergency Contact #2 is listed as "Partner's Mother".

Very telling, don't you think?

Remember,

"MOE said its framework reflects the mainstream values of Singapore society, where the social norm consists of the married heterosexual family unit. It added that schools do not promote alternative lifestyles to students." (read more in this article on channelnewsasia.)

When people tell me to get married, I ask them why and all the answers I get are, "Because God says so", "To prove that he loves you and wants to commit", "It's the norm." I can never get a satisfactory answer that's based on logic, point and pertinence. The good friend supplied,"So that if you have children, they won't just say 'ya' when people call them 'Oi bastard!'?" Still not convincing. Works only if I want children in the first place.

When I ask them what is it that the man can provide for me in marriage that he can't already provide for me now, I'm usually met by silence. Because if one breaks it down, people usually struggle when they start listing out how the spousal benefits are great in terms of insurance, medical and housing. Well, I can afford my own- do not need supplements via marriage. I don't even want to marry for love. Marriage versus living together- there isn't an ounce of difference in my mind. What the man has done for me, is clearly more than what some husbands do for their wives.

No wonder I've always been an outcast in terms of ideas, opinions and lifestyle. Not that I mind really.

Perception

Singapore has been built by migrants. It rose from obscurity as a fishing village into the modern city we know today. It is still being built into a world class city by lower-skilled migrants who spend most of their time here to better their lives back home. Yet Singaporeans have a love-hate relationship with them.

There are many lower-skilled foreign workers who have been accused of causing social problems. There are many Singaporeans who do not accept them in their midst. Myself included, because I keep running into the bad ones. I've socked a couple right in the face and got hauled along to police stations because I have a huge problem with how they take liberties thinking that women in Singapore are like women in their home countries- meek, easy prey. In fact, the most recent one I punched was just 3 weeks ago. He somehow made the bad call to trail me (right after free-sparring class) into dark alleys up and down even after he knew I knew.

On the other hand, if you have 800,000 lower-skilled foreign workers in Singapore, a quarter of that would turn out to be bad eggs, just like our fellow Singaporeans. The statistics actually don't present scary figures. Singaporeans find it unacceptable probably because we could possibly have lower tolerance for the former.

On the way home from office on some days, when the sky is still bright at 6.15pm, I would pass by a lush green field surrounded by ongoing construction works for buildings. Often, there are plenty of lower-skilled workers on that field playing cricket.

Yes. Cricket. In their technicians/workers' uniforms, they play. Energetically, they bat and deliver. Proper wickets have somehow been constructed along with proper bats used. That field isn't even a proper pitch by any standards. Still they play, enthusiasm shining through.

I don't know if there's an official organizer for the rather regular game of cricket. Perhaps not. But it's kinda nice to stumble upon such a random thing like that in sanitary orderly Singapore. It reminds me that the bad is bad, but there is alot of good only if I choose to see it.

That field is earmarked as state land. I'm not sure permission has been sought to use it this way. That's exactly why I smile each time I see it.

Doing A Little Work

Came up from the pool all hungry and from just outside the door, smelt pungent spices from our kitchen.

I wondered what he was doing for dinner. I thought we were just going to have the leftovers from dinner the other night. There were still plenty of that bean casserole and pasta packed away in the fridge.

The man was pounding away on the lesung, making marinade for the lamb roast. Oh, okay. Lots of food coming up. Luckily I had burned off some calories.

He put me to work cutting mint leaves for the chilli yoghurt dip to go with the lamb. The mint leaves smelt beautiful, more subtle and delicate than the usual. I plucked one to play around with it. "Don't waste any leaf." He said. "These are organic at S$4 a box instead of the usual S$2.50." Wah. Okay. I plucked off what was needed and cut them very carefully. I felt quite useful.

Went Shopping

The boutique people texted me 3 weeks back to tell me new stocks have arrived. I forgot all about it.

Today, I went to browse for a gift for the man's mommy. The bags were rather horrendous (to me) this season. To my slight annoyance, everything I eyed was out of stock and left with the last piece- i.e. the display piece that had been pressed, prodded, fingered and a tad stained. The mommy favored classics and owned many beautiful pieces. Whatever else left wouldn't be to the mommy's taste at all.

After circling the boutique thrice with the very attentive sales executive who tried, in vain to suggest various designs, I gave up hope of getting something from Chanel.

I strode into another label's counter. I got something plain and very simple which I thought the mommy would like. Something chic she could use for the casual days. She took one look at the paper bag and roundly scolded me for 'spending money'. I don't care! Haha. I cannot show you what it is because she reads this blog. :) She doesn't want to open it till next week.

Oh. I'm pleasantly surprised that the boutique honored a 5% discount with a Takashimaya Amex.

1414-761: Aware is Back!

(Going-ons and updates are detailed on The Online Citizen and tweets everywhere!)

It is ridiculous that at an EOGM, somebody unpopular on stage can yell at the audience to "shut up and sit down!" It is so childish for the organizers to resort to switching off the floor microphones. For a while there, I thought I was in the middle of an auction for the biggest tuna at the fish market.

Even more so, I'm amused that a self-proclaimed feminist mentor who thinks she commands great respect has to ask us to "respect your elders". Sorry lor, I only respect the elders who conduct themselves with enough integrity to deserve my respect. Her protégé obviously hasn't learnt that phrase either. Hasn't she heard that respect is earned? It is extremely thrilling to shout her down in the middle of her bigoted speech with narrow-minded perspectives. She would do well to preach elsewhere.

Personal religious values should never never encroach on secular organizations. Even more so, an NGO should never have spent money the way Josie Lau and her team did. They spent more money in 3 weeks than Aware's budgeted expenditure in 5 months without members' consent.

I have been so so angry for the last 2 weeks. There're many who think that the Aware saga has got nothing to do with them. Well, maybe. How do I even begin to postulate that it has alot to do with them, indirectly, that this isn't some devious money-spinning en-bloc sale. Since it doesn't impact one's pocket, Singaporeans generally don't care. I'm highly embarrassed by how the players have cemented the word fundamentalism with Christianity to a large number of people. What the hell happened to multi-racialism and diversity? But I don't say a word. I'm afraid that if I speak, I can't rein in that anger.

I'm glad I ditched the vacation to attend this EOGM. I'm very thrilled that the vote of no confidence against the feminist mentor's protégés has been carried through 1414 - 761. I'm even happier when Josie Lau and her team announced that they would step down. But I hate their use of the word "graciously". If they truly understand the meaning of gracious, they'd not have done what they did.

This Aware saga is something more than a catfight. While it is indeed an internal dispute per se, it is also about the voice of civil society being heard. It is about protesting against a select group imposing religious values on secular movements. It is about caring for the community and gaining the trust of the majority and minority. It is also about not sullying the name of your religion by using underhanded means in one's actions. It is about integrity and transparency.

Today, I'm glad to see that there're many women who care about women in Singapore. We don't need apathy. Aware's work will continue with passion, logic, understanding, vigilance and a strong unwavering voice.

The Wii Is Still Around

Some of us were so competitive during the after-dinner games.

There was this particular laser-hockey thingy that they kept playing. It reminded them of the real thing at the game arcades. It was quite hilarious to hear the cursing and swearing that arose out of an innocent simple game. HEH. I just thought it lit up the screen very prettily.

The man and I have kinda lost interest in the Wii. The last time we played it was, let me see, almost a month ago. That was when we cleared through House Of The Dead with ease and opened up all the locked songs and director's cuts. There hasn't been any urge to play it again till tonight. When the man has time, he prefers to read, play guitar, head to the gym or cook. I'd have plenty of other things to do (like swim) instead of being glued to the tv screen. But it's still a nifty gadget. More to entertain the friends than ourselves.

I think the next time I turn on the Wii, I'm going to play the games with the left hand as lead. Time to train up the left hand for gaming purposes too. That would extend the shelf life of the Wii at home.

Eating At Home

Cooking is the man's way of relieving stress. He is perfectly contented to stay put in the kitchen all afternoon to do a couple of dishes for dinner. He's probably faster in his prep now. Getting fresh groceries takes no more than 45 minutes.

The evening's meal had the anchovy pasta and the delicious baked cannoli beans in homemade tomato sauce, parmesan and romano. Carnivores had a hearty ham and bean soup and a grilled rack of lamb with homemade porcini mustard.

I tossed up my usual salad with aged balsamic vingear, onion dressing and truffle oil. At the side, there was pan-fried chicken liver with rosemary, lightly seared scallops in olive oil. There was something for everyone who had different dietary preferences.

I love homecooked food. All the sauces (except for the salad) are made and mixed from scratch. The man has learnt to use a lighter touch on the oil. Although we use the supposedly healthier olive oil at home, he tends to be fairly liberal in dosing the food with that and butter. Of late, he has been using very little oil and butter, which made the food alot tastier. The man has heavier tastebuds than I do. I'm not fond of things that are too sweet or too salty. So he has adapted to my lighter taste in food.

Obviously there wasn't any dessert. This bunch of us can't bake. Not till the friends (who bake) get back from wherever they are for short visits anyway. We stuck to deli-bought tiramisu and blueberry cheesecake that some of the friends brought.

We considered popping by the Beer Fest. But we were all too stuffed and satiated to go burst the stomach with beer. Strangely, we didn't bother with whisky tonight. Instead, we had plenty of juices for a healthy dose of vitamins.