Afternoon Tea

On our second visit, Aunt E made us a huge chocolate meringue cake.

Now, when a dear feisty 80-year old lady portions out cake for you, you don't ask for a tiny slice. You eat whatever she puts on your plate.

The man and I ended up eating 3 huge slices of cake each. Very tasty without being too sweet. We were so stuffed!

We brought a bottle of dessert wine. Now, when 30-something year olds bring you wine, you don't say no to it either. You sip. So Aunt E brought out her beautiful crystal glasses and brightly had a dash of Monbazillac for dessert as well.

It was another beautiful afternoon. Alas, time passed too fast. We kissed her goodbye and promised to come see her again. She bade us well and told us to take care. But she didn't say 'see you soon.' I felt that really keenly. It left us feeling really pensive.

On the train, I couldn't stop the tears from welling up. I stared out of the windows at the passing sights to soothe the emotions. After a couple of stations, I cheered up quite a bit at the sight of green fields.

The tears didn't spill.

Strawberries In Summer

Today, this image of Aunt E's gnarled hands and sweet administrations and all they are associated with, fill my mind with both happy and sad thoughts.

At The Marketplace

Each time at the National Gallery, there'll be a particular room that I'm fascinated with. There isn't an explantion for it. It could be a certain stage in life that makes me view the paintings with different emotions. That would result in specific paintings calling out to me at every visit.

While I've always enjoyed contemplating masterpieces, I also want to pay attention to the other artists.

This time, I'm quite enthralled by 'The Four Elements' by Joachim Beuckelaer. I've seen them, but the paintings never really jump out at me till now.

There're so many layers of meanings and interpretation of paintings. The Four Elements hold deep philosophical threads within each brush stroke. Biblical connotations aside, I go into the plebeian mode and look at how the 4 paintings cleverly depict everyday life at the marketplace. The details in the paintings are simply amazing.

The man is very taken by them too. He likes it so much till he circles the halls to double back and revel in them again. I laughingly say it's because the paintings appeal to the cook in him.

In Water, all the different species of fish and their lifeless glassy eyes staring up chilled me a little. In Earth, the different varieties of vegetables and fruit lend so much color to the background. In Fire, the haunches of meat and poutlry hanging off the hooks are mesmerizing- they look so fresh. The painting is described as ingenious as it has multiple vanishing points. When I stare harder, I'm drawn into the picture, into that noisy market. In Air, all the different kinds of fowl made the stomach churn just a little. I don't particularly enjoy eating fowl.

The National Gallery is one place I can linger and spend hours strolling through the halls. Such richness of color, vivid lines and classical beauty.

Fizzy Water

Yay! So little traces of San Pellegrino on this trip! I've a total weakness for sparkling water. At home, there isn't much of a choice when it comes to that. For sparkling water that's low in sodium, the restaurants seem to offer just San Pellegrino. The other San B-something isn't nice at all. Too salty.

For now, I'm going crazy at every meal. I'm just grinning over the many choices of sparkling (and still) water available in this city. Water, with or without an elegant slice of lemon, can be unbelievably tasty.

Don't ask me why I can't stick to boiled tap water. I'm on vacation. Fizzy, non-sugared liquid is just so refreshing after the long walks along the hot streets.

Brand New @ Forum, Kentish Town

If we didn't count the hiccups along the way, Brand New was great.

Never mind that the train couldn't stop at Kentish Town for some reason. The station was suddenly closed. We got off at the next station to grab a cab to hmv Forum for the gig.

For £17.50, we didn't just watch Brand New. Kevin Devine played too! He and his band was the 2nd supporting act. We arrived at the Forum really early and also caught the 1st supporting band Moneen. They made us grimace with their loudness and stage antics.

Halfway through, it started getting really hot. The 2350-seater theatre became a furnace. People started leaving. The air was heavy with sweat and little oxygen. My lungs couldn't take it. I was gasping for air and feeling faint. In a daze, I somehow saw roast ducks going round a carousel. It was terrible!

What the f#*k were the organizers thinking? The air-conditioning worked fine from 7.30 - 9.20pm. When Brand New came on at 9.25pm, the crowd went wild and sucked up all that air. The air-conditioning system wasn't strong enough to support at 2350-strong crowd that was jumping up and down heating up the venue.

F^)king hell. As nice as this venue is, I'm never coming back to another gig at the Forum again. (Unless it's an acoustic set.)

I had to get out to the foyer for air. Thank goodness Brand New played all my favorite songs already. I stumbled down the stairs and to the exit. Took me a few minutes to cool down and sip regular Coke to feel normal again.

1.5 hours into Brand New's set, we left the theatre before the encore. Might as well. The man wasn't about to wait till the end to fight with the crowd for cabs and to get on the train. Thank goodness Kentish Town station was operational by then.

Indian Food!

Honestly, after all the haute cuisine and sandwiches, we needed fiery Asian spices in our food.

We strolled down the lanes at Soho and picked The Delhi Brasserie for dinner.

We're in London! Of course we've gotta eat Indian food at least once. It would be so good here.

There was papadum and garlic naan. I only wanted the saag paneer and pilau rice. There was one requisite meat dish for the man and also dhaal. The man admitted that the dhaal was, anyday, better than his. Such arrogance! This dhaal was way authentic! Of course it'd be 5 times better!

However, dinner was £19 per pax inclusive of lassi, sparkling water and tax. It'd have been cheaper if we had printed out the discount coupon from its website. Still, the price was normal by London standards. If you make the mistake of converting pounds into Singapore dollars, then our meal would be kinda pricey. For the same quality, a meal per pax average at Raj is S$25 and Vintage India is S$90. So there we go- pricing is always relative to good food.

After Work Drinks

The man's office is just 3 minutes away from trendy Soho. After work drinks are almost de rigeur at the corner pub. Ale and cider are kinda common I suppose. It's tough finding single malts at the pubs.

The lovely weather meant that humans spill out to the sidewalk and sit on grass patches for drinks. Aye, the vibe is cool indeed.

I admit I'm so not a fan of standing at pubs unless I'm in flats. It's amazing how these women can wear such high heels and walk for miles. I can't.

Smelling The Flowers

The red postbox standing alone in the little towns seems more charming than the those in the city.

Fish & Chips

We had the most amazing fish and chips for lunch the other day.

We didn't let the dear Aunt E cook and thought we'd just pack fish and chips for all of us. Honestly, I'd have loved to taste her food. From all accounts, she is a superb cook. But she lives alone and is getting on in the years. We really shouldn't let her do that. She used to have such a beautiful garden of plums, strawberries and tomatoes till she grew older and the arthritis hurt too much to keep her garden in pristine condition.

It was just a little shop by the train station in a little town out of London. We weren't expecting anything. But those huge slabs of fish turned out awesome. I thought it really cool that there were a couple of choices for fish. We had cod, plaice and haddock. The chips too- real potatoes and and properly fried.

What an unexpected surprise find!

We didn't bother with ketchup for the fish. Aunt E sliced fresh tomatoes for us. I squealed at the Lingham's chilli sauce and sea salt that she thoughtfully brought out for us. The sweet chilli went swimmingly with fish.

Orla Kiely

As sweet as the sales executives were at Orla Kiely, I wasn't about to take photos at the quirky boutique. One fight over photography on this trip is quite enough.

This is one label I really like. The sales executives mentioned that the big sale would be on mid July. But looking at the dresses, I would really need to try them on before any purchase. They weren't items the friends could just pick off the rack for me. Plus chances are, there wouldn't be any more sizes left by then.

So I hopped across to the Covent Garden boutique (2 doors down from Monmouth Coffee!) to look at the items proper.

Guess which dresses and bags made it into the shopping bag? :D

Harrods

The man definitely has a sweeter tooth than I do.

I had to go to Knightsbridge by the Tube because the man wanted macarons from Harrods. We also wanted to get a couple of small gift items.

I ended up spending quite a bit of time at Harrods because it's got so many things under one roof.

I wanted to buy a cute bear. But nothing caught my eye. They really weren't very cute. Quality wise, it wasn't as good those bears made some 8 years ago. That's how old my Harrods bear at home is.

On a day where there wasn't a car, I foolishly came away with a couple of extra items besides boxes of macarons. I must have walked for kilometres up and down those streets.

More Dips @ Tas

One thing that I appreciate in restaurants is how some bother to mark out which dishes are vegetarian and which contain nuts.

Generally, the friends and I like restaurants that have a good vegetarian selection or are inclined to have the chef whip up instant creations.

The most irksome is when we sit down at a restaurant and enquire if a dish is vegetarian, the server says yes, only for us to realize later than the soup stock used was chicken rather than vegetables, or have the server sneer at us when we ask if dessert is vegetarian. I want to clobber them and tell them that if animal-based gelatin is used, it renders the dessert NON-vegetarian. Like, Yoplait and Dannon use kosher beef-gelatin. So these brands of yoghurt are NOT vegetarian.

Tas remains one of my favorite budget eating venues not just because it serves good quality of one of my favorite foods. It's also because it caters to all dietary preferences of the friends. We could all sit down to a civilized meal together without harrassing the kitchen over the precise wording and content of the menu.

Posh Nosh

While the man was slaving away at the office, I cleared my work emails (via hotmail) and had all the time in the world to have leisurely meals with the friends.

In a light summer dress and heels, I tottered to Piccadilly Circus to meet the girlfriends. They were going to Wimbledon tomorrow and over the weekend, so today was the only day to meet! And I hadn't decided if I want to go to Wimbledon- not a tennis fan.

The girlfriends took me out to a chi chi lunch at The Ritz. It was most delightful. I miss girlie afternoons with them!

Too bad they had to return to the office. So I toddled off to Fortnum & Mason to stock up on some stuff. Then I sat down at one of their cafes with a girlfriend's edited and revamped novella to savor afternoon tea all by myself.

One Bag

There are times when I don't bother taking the camera along with me to meals and events, especially if I'm just carrying a tiny clutch. Even if the camera is present, depending on the vibe and situation, I choose not to whip it out even if there's something that I badly want a photo of. It's sometimes, just crass.

Naturally, photography isn't permitted at the designer boutiques nor the counters of luxury brands at chic malls.

Obviously, Chloé doesn't either. It didn't take me long to decide on a particular bag. I wanted a shot of it on the display rather than it slouching about at home. I don't have pretty hooks to hang it up for a good shot either. It was only after I told them to bring a new piece out for me and handed over the credit card that the uppity sales executives in their sombre suits allowed me to take one photo.

They watched me like a hawk. Whatever. At least they weren't thickheaded to say no there and then, and told me to take photographs at home, which would defeat the whole point of getting my way.

Delis

At home, there is never a decent take-out deli when I want a sandwich for lunch. Usually, I'm stuck with Subway.

In Paris, I avoid their delis because the food really isn't edible for the price I'm paying in euros. Plus I still have to sit at the sidewalk to breathe in the exhaust from the vehicles because the inside is stuffy from lack of conditioning. Not romantic. Imho, London has much nicer delis.

Here, Eat. and Pret A Manger dot the landscape. They serve decent sandwiches with the freshest ingredients. The saltbeef sandwich at Pret is a particular favorite of the man when he's on the go. Even the Subway here taste so much better. Bah.

I've too many proper meals scheduled with friends. There's virtually no need to eat at delis. But I'll merrily junk hotel breakfasts for sandwiches. Now, let me see how many sandwiches I can squeeze in before flying home.

After the morning debacle with VPN and the error on log-in page on the hotel's chargeable high-speed cable (instead of the free wifi I'm now using), I'm too tired to go try again. I hate the flipside of technology.

Right now, I'm going to patter down to Monmouth Street to get a cup of Monmouth Coffee and a quiche or something. And think about whether I want to do major shopping at Orla Kiely which involves 3 pieces of clothing and 3 bags.

Museums & Galleries: Tally For Paris

The man had teambuilding games that involved ALOT of running around Notre Dame and central Paris. He had to google to solve the puzzles. For some strange reason, he knew the French word for 'condom'. Ha. I most certainly did not want to run around. I want to WALK, thankyouverymuch.

While the man was hard at work, I'm very pleased that I've accomplished most of what I've come to see in the short sojourn here. The Louvre and Musée d'Orsay are the 2 museums that I always go again and again.

The girlfriend bought me the Museums and Monuments card, gave me the key to her chic apartment, told me to be good and shooed me away to the streets of Paris at Le Marais.

I headed to Rue du Temple and slightly beyond. This time, I don't even need the navigator anymore. I've a very keen sense of direction. After yesterday's walk, hard stares at the map and fairly strategic directional signs along the streets, finding everything is no sweat.

The tally is such. But I think it doesn't beat the girlfriend's record when she went to Ho Chi Minh City for a day and did EVERYTHING.

• Jacquemart-André Museum
• Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaisme
• Musée d'Art Juif
• Musée de la Poupée - "Au Petit Monde Ancien"
• The Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou (Beaubourg)
• Musée national d'Art Moderne (MoMA)
• Musée du Petit Palais
• Musée Carnavalet
• Musée d'Picasso
• Musée d'Orsay
• The Louvre
  

Till the next time.

Bye Paris

The man had the afternoon off before we were due to leave Paris. His colleagues rented bicycles and gamely sped round street corners to see more of the city.

Neither the man and I cycle. I wasn't about to start. So we strolled along the streets to nowhere in particular. Over (bad) coffee and very delicate cheesecake, we decided to ditch the cabs and company transport to brave the Metro to figure out the lines and directions to Gare du Nord station for the train back to London.

As far as possible, I avoid the Metro in Paris. I find it really confusing. However, the man had been hopping on it quite a bit for meetings and whatnots. So this time, he thought we should just go on it together. DOH. Such enthusiasm. Like I don't take trains at home.

I concede. While I'm not enamored with Paris, what better way to see the city than taking its public transport that runs through its veins and heart.

Swinging

On the way to yet another lunch, but carefully circling Notre Dame and its snaking queues, there're many buskers out on a cheerful day.

I'm tickled that the puppet is jamming along to the Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind'.

Parfait Thoughts!

Very annoyed this morning because I want to do some pieces of work that suddenly cropped up. But the stupid work server keeps kicking me out over VPN. So now, I've to ask the other colleagues to help do the stuff.

I dislike doing that. It interrupts everyone's rhythm. If I could just read more than the inbox subject headings, I could do it on my own without having to trouble others.

Arrrrgh. So now, I'm sitting by the street, looking at my breakfast and feeling slightly cheered. It isn't difficult to smile at the very colorful parfait.

The man admonished, "Please enjoy yourself. It's your vacation too. You're not indispensable to the firm." Right. Okay. But there's a line between responsibility and being on leave. "Spend away on my card. I want to see the nice things you bought." Ooh. Now, that!

Carte blanche!!! We'll see. Am meeting another friend for lunch and I intend to go to more museums and quirky little shops.

L'église Saint-Eustache

I'm quite thrilled that the man is away at work.

Often, I prefer doing things on my own, at a whatever pace dictated by the heart. I'm happy to be doing exactly what I like in Paris without having to worry if he'd be okay with it.

Along the way to Rue Montorgueil and meander to the remnants of the old markets in the lanes of Les Halles to smell and taste Paris, I went into L’église Saint-Eustache.

I meant to visit the not-quite-completed living church the other couple of times I was in Paris. But alas, paying homage to other shrines along Champs-Élysées took precedence.

This trip, I was determined that the other things I'm interested in, are given priority. I love Renaissance architecture; am curious about Reubens' paintings, Henri de Miller's 'l'Ecoute', and Richard Mason's work of lamenting the great food market of Les Halles that is no more by 1969. Saint Eustache would be the perfect ground to view all.

It was really peaceful to simply stroll, read the cards to see what each work of art meant. I wished I had time to attend mass here. It would be so beautiful.

There was a woman playing the pipe organ. I sat down to listen. What a treat! She wasn't playing anything spectacular. It was more of practising and keeping the church richly clad in music. This church organ at Saint Eustache is reputed to be the largest pipe organ in France.

The hour spent at the church was such a splendid interlude.

Walking Around

The weather is glorious. Just a light cardigan will do. No leather jackets necessary as the sun is out and shining bright. Very nice weather to do some wandering about in the city.

The girlfriend had sneaked away from work and arranged lunch. "We eat simple. L'Atelier Berger", she instructed. "Find me."

WIN lor. So much walking to do!!! Grrrrr. Armed with the trusty GPS navigator, a map and stopping to clarify directions, I walked and walked from my hotel all the way to 49 Rue Berger. HA. I checked the watch and felt so proud that I got there 25 minutes earlier than stated.

The girlfriend narrowed her eyes at me and asked "Why so late?". I had a mini argument with her about how I was early rather. Then something dawned on me. I forgot that Paris is one hour ahead of London. OOPS.

The girlfriend rolled her eyes. No sympathy from her even though I'm new to the city. Hummpf.

Hello Left Hand Drive!

The man had to take a jaunt to Paris during this work trip.

I wasn't the least interested in visiting Paris. I had a choice to stay on in London or to hop across to other cities to see friends.

Since I couldn't quite juggle schedules to hop north or wherever else because the friends are also travelling, I decided to be a good girl and follow the man to Paris.

What the hell, it's just another city. It isn't strange to me. I can also quite happily wander around. But I really really do not want to bother with the shops in Paris. Not my first time here, won't be the last either. In between, I've got the friends who indulge me by helping to buy stuff from wherever. So there isn't much attraction to shop. The culture of a city attracts me most. Hopefully, I can catch up with friends. If all else fails, I could immerse myself in more museums.

Loved the quick train ride that came with breakfast on proper cutlery and plates. The strawberry and cream yoghurt was so filling. Decent butter provided. If only they would do something about the cold bread.

Oh well. Bonjour!

Blur @ Southend

What a reunion. It was truly a homecoming gig for Blur.

It was a small venue. It was packed in, but not too crowded. Perhaps about 800 people were there. I like this sort of venue.

The band came on at 8.45 pm and opened the night with 'She's So High' and 'Girls & Boys'. The band had added a 3-men horn section and 3 back-up singers at the side to add to the layers and texture. Blur was obviously warming up for their gigs at Glastonbury Festival and Hyde Park. It was 1.5 hours of pure nostalgia and enjoyment.

Some of the friends wiggled right up front. The man and I went straight to the back- for a very good reason. Damon Albarn, with his gawdy gold chain (and gold tooth!) was flinging water at the crowd. The crowd responded by flinging right at one another- beer and whatnots. Eiooow. I no want to get wet.

2 encores of 3 songs each. The night ended on a great note of 'The Universal'.

See the little girl perched on her mommy's shoulders? She was throwing up her hands in the air all night to songs that she liked. We were absolutely tickled by this young fan.

What a night!

Southend

I asked, "So what's there to do in Essex?"

"Nothing." came the flat reply. When people give me this sort of answer to my questions, I'm invariably thrilled. I like doing nothing.

The drive to Essex was fast. Virtually zero traffic out of central London. We reached Essex under the estimated 1.2 hours. Way too early. Blur was scheduled to come on only at 8.45 pm. Perfect. I wanted to spend some time walking around the area. So we drove around the rest of Essex. Lots of quaint cottages to look at.

Then we headed down to Southend-on-Sea to get nearer to the gig venue. Well, it was a bleak rocky beach and desolate grey sea. The friend wanted a spin on the rollercoaster. OK! So up the rollercoaster it was! WIEEEEEEEEE. Cheap thrill.

Then it was a quick dinner of frozen pizza and ale at the local pub. The usual sort of gig dinner- forgettable. Heh. I didn't want ale nor guinness draft. So I picked cider. After trying out so many, I decided Brothers cider tasted better than Magners.

The cider and crap carbs were totally walked off when we realized we might just be late for the gig. In the crisp evening air, we almost sprinted all the way up the slope to get to the Pavillion on time.

The Next Time, To Stockholm

When I decided to join the man in London, I thought of a friend almost immediately. Work calls, so I can't afford the luxury of a 2-week holiday often. I wouldn't know when I'd be in Europe again, so this is one friend I want to visit at the first opportunity.

(In case I piss off all the other peeps who live in Europe, I better put a disclaimer and say, ehhhh, I love you all equally, but some visits must be made sooner than others. :p)

However, the woman had completed her thesis and was going to Stockholm on those exact dates I'm free to saunter to another part of Europe!! Hahaha. We share a wanderlust at the same period! Well, technically, to visit her, I'd have to fly to Stockholm anyway. It isn't very far from London. But she'd be traipsing around and it isn't very fair of me to barge in on her holiday. So we gave up the idea of meeting in Stockholm this round.

Another time then. I'll make my destination Stockholm.

She says it's kinda nice that we're in the same time zone! I thought so too! Heh. Thanks to her, I'm addicted to Monmouth Coffee now. And when I grab my cuppa in the mornings, we can both imagine we're sitting across each other. :) Yes, we're silly that way.

To Market To Market

I quivered when I saw that stack of brownies in its rich brown glory. The first bite induced an orgasmic Mmmmmm.

We spent hours at Borough Market.

It wasn't just the man's idea of heaven. I was fascinated by the colors, smells and sounds.

We ogled at all the fresh produce available and ate our way through many stalls. We hung around the stalls till I could identify more vegetables now! Ha! I know what's a parsnip!

We ate plenty of olives, slurped hot steaming fish soup and ate juicy berries. The tomatoes were so sweet, along with the mushrooms. There was this stall that sold great vegetarian burgers and another with authentic Greek dips. Ooh la la.

We bought a bunch of white asparagus and a bottle of figs balsamic glaze so that we could have it as a snack back at the hotel. As the man lovingly eyed everything at the market, we almost wanted to call the friends to cancel dinner and demand the use of their kitchen/s, just so that we could have an excuse to buy more stuff at the market! With such quality ingredients, the man was certain that he could whip up the best meal of his life. Heh.

The trip to Borough was also to check out the stuff that we want to buy and pack home. We'd have to come back with a trolley to grab all the stuff we want. We drooled over many beautiful bottles of balsamic vinegar and tubs of sea salt, fish paste for bouillabaisse, etc.

If the man decides to relocate here, I tell you, he'll be cooking non-stop. He might even be convinced to open that restaurant to see if he can sell anything to a fraction of the 9 million inhabitants in this city.

Oysters For Breakfast!

Many many wild gigas heaped high await the brave. Oysters were freshly shucked upon request. It was too early in the morning to eat oysters. I couldn't even bear the sight of it. But the man went straight to the stall at Borough Market and put away a good dozen for breakfast.

Hummus, Fresh

Now I know what's the big deal about Hummus Brothers.

The last time the man brought the tubs home, the hummus was already delicious. Now, trying it fresh for myself, I was very taken by the simple yet tasty flavors.

The mix in flavors is well balanced. The green chillies go great with paprika. I could eat hummus with brown bread everyday. I love those mushrooms!!! They're the cute brown field mushrooms. Very yummy. The servers must think us mad to go so often.

Well, it's also because they offer free wifi at the shop and we can use the BB to our hearts' content. WOOHOOO.

Of course we're going to grab a couple more tubs and brown bread to pack into the luggage for the flight home. We came prepared with an empty suitcase just for groceries.

Monmouth Coffee

If I have to, I'll make a daily stop at Monmouth Coffee just to get a fix.

I nearly swooned after the first sip. This one cup is the only way to start the day with, or make everything feel alright again after a crap day.

It is indeed one of the best cuppa I've ever had. Aromatic, strong, bittersweet and absolutely divine. This brew is going to be the benchmark for all coffees of the world.

I drank a regular flat white (because the friends insisted that it was the only way to drink a cup at Monmouth) and completely overdosed on caffeine. But I had to. The next couple of rounds, I'm so getting decaf.

I couldn't resist grabbing a slice of their apple pie that looked so good sitting there. The sun was out and blue skies abound. It was such a pleasant morning. We sat by the road to munch breakfast, oohed and ahhed over the coffee and revelled in the simplicity of noting the passing of time.

All Greek

There're many Michelin-starred restaurants for selection. But I'm not particularly inclined to visit even though the friends have made dinner reservations for a couple. Okay, maybe one- for Chef Michael Wignall at The Latymer.

Sometime during the fairly comfortable 13-hour flight, I had a dream and decided that lunches and in-between meals should be taken at Greek restaurants (both on and off the radar) and Hummus Brothers. Greek food and good dips are what we sorely lack at home. I'm going to eat to my heart's content here.

I love those lunch sets. £12.50 for a starter, main and dessert. Best. Those dips are awesome. They use beautiful chickpeas and tahini- it shows in the final taste of those dips. I can't stop eating moussaka. The vegetarian picks and regular options with lamb are all equally tasty.

I think my senses are going to explode with all the flavors the food has to offer.

A Short Chat

It's a nice feeling to bump into a woman whom I've always considered as my boss. I always remember how she helped me out so much when I first started freelance writing.

She is one woman I respect enormously for her sharp intellect, down-to-earth practices, personal style and accomplishments. We will meet at social events, but nothing beats talking to her like this on our own time again. I miss those discussions.

Upon arrival at Heathrow, we grimaced when we realized our pink passes to priority clearance at customs didn't amount to very much when we had to wait 15 minutes for our luggage. Ah well. (Note to self: don't compare don't compare Changi Airport with the rest!) While waiting, we continued the chat that began at the departure lounge of Changi.

I can't help but feel thrilled when she noted that I've 'grown up' and again, she stressed that she would always have a place for me should I ever decide to join her proper. Heh.

It's quite amazing how short but sincere chats like that with someone so formidable make my day.

Forms and Clauses

Addendum: A terse call to the Bank made them remove the clause from the agreement. Lovely.

After all the hooha about banks and accountability to customers, they still haven't learnt. Or rather, they are still protecting their asses like nobody's business.

I took one look at the agreement and grimaced. I'm one of those who scrutinize fine print and refuse to sign up for boutique membership cards because of their silly terms and conditions. What more a binding legal contract?

One clause in this agreement from the Bank read,

"I/we/am/are fully aware of the risks inherent in securities trading and have read and understood the Risk Disclosure Statement and the Standard Terms and Conditions (including any amendments and supplements thereto) provided to me/us by the Bank. I/We am/are capable and willing to assume (finally or otherwise) the risks of securities trading."

The bank obviously hired a damn good legal team. I don't even need to send this over to my lawyers to know that they would advise me not to sign it.

The bank is arbitrarily going to divest and invest my portfolio without my explicit permissions, at their discretion. Even if I don't make a trading order, authority is still held by the bank to, well, do whatever they want. I'll only know their idiocy or brilliance when the statement comes in at month's end.

How on earth can anyone of sane mind and clear insight willingly sign this statement?

Blur

Com'mon, hands up those who pranced around to Blur as 18 year olds.

I did.

A decade and a little bit more, I cannot believe that I'm going to the Blur reunion gig. But seriously, how awesome this is. Blur played in Singapore in 1997. Don't tell me you didn't go shrieking and screaming?

Fast forward to 2009, we're driving east to Essex to catch them live.

Good gawwd. I'm most certainly NOT going to bob my head the way I did when I was 18.

Another Night Out With The Parents

We checked their schedules and quickly fixed a date with the man's parents and took them out to dinner at Lighthouse.

Luckily we're all used to a late dinner at 9. So there's always plenty of time to shower, change into something slinkier and dress up for a night out. But recently, the man can't do that. His not-so-new job has been keeping him at work till at least 8pm. Poor thing.

Tonight's food was excellent. The tomato soup went down really well. Sweet, a little tart and hot, it was extremely comforting.

The seafood stuff didn't go down so well though. There was a heavy iodine taste to the shellfish that we didn't quite fancy. But my cod was beautifully pan-fried.

The beef cannelini was slurpped up very quickly and proclaimed good. A pity that the aglio olio came in the non spicy version. We had the audacity to ask them for cut chilli or chilli flakes for the pasta. Naturally, the kitchen didn't stock any.

For dessert, we stuck to the dependable choices of warm chocolate cake with a melted heart and tiramisu. Haha. Totally boring, but safe.

The server was very thoughtful. He somehow noticed that I was a little cold towards the end of the meal and brought me a pretty grey chiffon shawl that matched the teal dress. Lovely.

I think the parents enjoyed the night out. We know they're inclined to check out new restaurants. We prefer to take them to places where we've gone for 'reccees', so to speak. Then we'd be able to gauge if a place would be to their liking. We like their company too. So dinner company was really pleasurable.

After dinner, we headed downstairs for a nightcap. The parents insisted that it was their turn to buy us drinks. They didn't even discourage us from alcohol! Awesome. I couldn't stop thinking of Postbar's Bloody Mary after getting re-acquainted with it the other evening. :D

Rainbow Colors

As I looked at these 2 bags quietly sitting on top of the piano and patiently waiting for me to be done with photographing them, a thought struck me.

I like fun colors. I'm in black all the time till it doesn't make sense for me to buy 5 2.55s or re-issues in nothing else but black patent/matte/whatever leather. A colored bag would be so much nicer than boring black. I never did buy the 2.55 in white. Not so into it really. After that period of mad acquisition of a shelf-ful of 2.55s, I haven't bought another since.

Am toying with the idea of burnt sienna. But I'm just thinking that if there's another one in a gorgeous shade of plum, burgundy or wine sitting next to them, it'd be so pretty.

We'll see.

Connected Again!

I am surprised! IT has enabled access to blogspot sign-ins and comment functions! (Refer to earlier post yesterday.)

Woots. I'm just amazed that they unblocked it so fast and didn't make any fuss about it. I was out all morning and didn't log on to the work server. So when I waltzed in at 2pm and checked out blogspot just for fun, my eyes popped. I realized everything's back to working order. Even the pageload speeds were excellent. Better than before. Swell.

Then I received a polite email from IT asking me to check the websites because access has been enabled. Hmmm... Of course I very politely thanked them for their efficiency. :D

I certainly hope they enabled access for my department rather than just for my IP address.

Very happy now.

Monday Lunch

Since I was miffed all morning at work, lunch at Spruce was the perfect perk-me-upper.

The girlfriend really liked the place and took us to try it. We were hungry, yet we didn't want to over-eat. So we ordered loads of food to share, which kinda defeated the purpose. Haha.

The mac & cheese was a clear favorite. The steak frites and rotisserie chicken were pretty good too. The braised duck papardelle was quite lovely.

There was ginger date pudding with super sweet caramel vanilla syrup and a really thick slab of chocolate fudge cake (more cake than fudge) for dessert. All in all, while the desserts at Spruce are not as yummy as PS Cafe's, I really prefer the food here over the latter.

It's decent comfort food. Plus it's a nice in-town-but-not-overcrowded venue.

I've heard that service isn't great at Spruce. Tentative and green at best. But they must have done something about it. At lunch today, we received good service. We had smiles, recommendations for coffee, prompt service and even an offer of a shawl to the girlfriend who felt a little chilly from the air-conditioning.

Suck It Up, IT!

My IT department is bloody sneaky. For months, years, I've had no problems blogging at work when logged in to the work server. Having limited bandwidth is okay. I'll live. But over a weekend, access is suddenly denied to sign-ins and comments on blogspot. The server allows sign-ins to livejournal, twitter and every other thing, but not blogspot. DUMB DUMB DUMB.

After going up in flames at 8.30 this morning and growling about in the office, I wrote a note to the IT department to ask why has access been suddenly denied. I ain't giving up without a fight! Luckily there are many other options are available if IT refuses to budge.

I'm not inclined to bring the laptop to office and surf on mobile broadband. Not when I have wireless @ sg and wi-fi available in the building. And tadaaaaah, I've got the BB. That's going to be my lifesaver. I haven't been in love with a phone this much since dunno when.

On hindsight, I don't have it as bad as the friends who are in the banks and really have to lug along mobile broadband or depend solely on their BBs and iphones. We have it better than the friends who are working in China and have to play hide and seek daily to get around The Great Firewall.

The IT department thinks that I will now never be able to blog or comment on blogs at work.

See. I can. *flips middle finger in the air*

Brunch @ One Ninety

We decided to have an early Father's Day celebration lunch. We didn't want any Chinese at the restaurants. The father was adamant about having many many slices of unhealthy foie gras. So One Ninety it was. (And it's about the only buffet venue that I like.)

After last year's major downsizing and disappointing selections, they've gone back to re-planning the menu. This year's experiences at One Ninety have been pretty good. However, it's quite reflective of times that its beautiful martini/juices bar and ice sculpture are no more. One orders alcohol from the menu and the juice bar is relegated to a little station in the middle of the food. For a change perhaps.

Today, I was only interested in 3 items at brunch- the green lipped mussels in white wine sauce, grilled lobster tails and mash, and the very flavorful risotto with morel mushrooms. The chefs at the stations did my favorite foods beautifully.

I was so not interested in dessert. But I had to take a few bites of that sawdust pudding. It's the Macanese Serradura (木糠布甸). It's basically like custard, I suppose. The one we had today was probably made from the original vanilla whipped cream with crushed Marie biscuits. Quite nice to round up the meal with- except that it was too sweet.

Honjin 7

We've heard nothing but bad reviews about Honjin through several sites. The owner's other restaurant got canned too- 7th Storey Restaurant at Marina Barrage. Somehow, the branches have flourished since 1991.

I've never bothered trying any of the Honjin branches. I didn't even bother with the 7th Storey restaurant I was skeptical, but the friends wanted to take us there to dinner at the Adam Park branch. We didn't go for the buffet whatever. Often, buffets serve mediocre to bad food. We were there for the beef shabu shabu.

But for a restaurant that so many canned, Honjin 7 at Adam Park was still packed to the brim at 9pm. It's in a beautiful location. I used to come to this Guildhouse quite frequently in its previous incarnation. Now, Honjin takes up the entire building, open to public and additional discounts catered for NUSS members. Quite impressive. Can't be that bad, I thought.

The beef shabu shabu was decent. Light dashi was used as clear broth. At the end of the meal, the broth was used to make Japanese porridge for the table and fed 4 of us. I loved that porridge. It was light and yummy. Yes, it was S$45 for 12 slices and S$20 for subsequent orders of beef. But the many plates of US beef we had were beautiful. They were superior to the more gamey Australian cut. A full plate of perhaps 20 slices in a similar cut for shabu shabu from Meidi-Ya will set you back by at least S$90. So I'm not too surprised at the prices at Honjin. While the servers mentioned that the S$45 portion of shabu shabu was only enough for 1 person, the man and I felt that it was enough for 2. We aren't big eaters.

We ordered many yakitori stuff and cooked sushi rolls as well. Those were pretty alright. I put my foot down and refused to order sashimi. One does not order sushi or sashimi at this sort of restaurants. It's obviously going to be disappointing. The Alaskan crab thingy on the menu was nonsense. For the price that was tagged to the grilled leg we had, the portions were measly. So stingy.

The service was adequate. Inexperienced, but attentive. The server gave us a good recommendation for a bottle of fruity and sweet sake. She cleared our plates fast and replaced them with new ones. Whatever we ordered arrived within 15 minutes.

Honjin 7 does have pricey food because it isn't top notch. I agree with the many critics that for the price, many other places offer Japanese buffets at a more attractive value with a wider range. If you ask me, Tamaya has better quality food and offers a BIG Alaskan crab leg.

So yeah, it wasn't that bad. I guess our dinner experience at Honjin 7 is one of the rare few that is okay. But yes, in general, the food really isn't remarkable. I'm not brave enough to tell the owner in his face that the quality of his food doesn't exactly match his prices. Not when his restaurants are packed out week after week.

Would I go back to this branch at Adam Park? Yes. Would I try the rest of the menu? Not exactly- I'd pick my food with greater discretion for sure. The dinner company was awesome though.

Honjin 7
7 Adam Park
Singapore 289926
Tel: 6220 9989

Lighthouse @ Fullerton

We were terrible. We ditched a concert at the Esplanade and went for drinks at Postbar and dinner at Lighthouse instead.

Given the restaurant's stature, I was a little surprised by the filmsy paper menu instead of the gracious black leather base type. Whatever works, I suppose. The rosemary bread and the fresh butter with olives woken all tastebuds. It was beautiful.

The man conceded that the Isolana styled risotto- rosemary, cinnamon and fresh pork sausages was degrees superior to his. But of course! I thought so too. :P This was hearty and well stirred with watchful eyes on the time.

The egg tagliolini with butter, fresh thyme sauce and norcia black truffles was so simple and so tasty. I couldn't fault it at all. Very well done. The handmade tagliatelle with poached lobster, organic asparagus, bisque sauce, bisque sauce and lobster foam was reminiscent of lobster bisque- in 3D form. Heh. It was nice, but I thought it underwhelming. The lobster was over-poached till it was rubbery. Not a good point in an otherwise subtle but reliable dish.

Thank goodness they allowed duck breast to be done to any degree instead of medium rare or rare. We like duck well done. We compromised and ordered it medium well for bresse duck breast with saffron rice cake and crispy asparagus salad. The duck wasn't memorable. It was the sauce and the saffron rice cake which stuck in our minds.

Dessert was strange. ice, I think the pastry chef had an off day. The pistachio in both the cannoli and ice-cream was overpowering. It was very sweet and tart at the same time. It was nothing like any cannoli I've had at all. The pistachio in the dessert was really heavy-handed. That taste almost made me throw up dinner.

That said, the man concluded that the food at Lighthouse was better than Locanda Locatelli. He had stale bread, lousy starters and eeky dessert at Locanda Locatelli. Only the mains were decent. Lighthouse was consistent with its appetizers, mains and (I hope) dessert.

Between enjoying the food and clucking our disapproval at the long queues that didn't move fast at a club across the road, we realized that the chef seemed to like using chervil as garnish.

Very Confusing

When I picked the area of charity work to commit to, I knew, as a young child, that I'd like to work with the elderly and the dying. These are the 2 areas I'm very comfortable with. I don't just know what to do with them- I know exactly what sort of concrete help I can offer- either through private fundraisers or tapping on government aid schemes.

I'm very clear that I've no patience nor energy to work with children in any scope. Except for abovementioned 2 areas and the marine environment, the rest of the areas of charity/volunteer work really don't call out to me. The few times I attempted to broaden my horizons, so to speak, I ran away screaming.

But because the friend asked, I went with her on her rounds to another sector of volunteer work to explain our Workfare Bonus/Income Supplement Scheme. Not that I knew what that was about. I had to read this thick stack of materials and lug the file along just so that I could have something to refer to. I wasn't averse to this sector of volunteer work- just that I knew I wasn't going to be that good with handling emotions of the humans concerned.

The friend refused to let me tag along for the full 3 hours. She cast me aside after 45 minutes because she said we wouldn't be able to cover 1 block if we did it together. So we split.

At the end of that 3 hours, I was so ready to pummel the punching bag. Literally. I kept my cool, didn't say anything inflammatory and didn't argue with anyone. I did the job- hated it. There were humans who drove me up the wall with their accusations and whatever. Look, if you're so unhappy with the government, don't take their money. In a nutshell, whatever they said effectively suggested that some people would actually be happier in a welfare state.

[Insert all theories of comparative social policy. Now compare all policies, inputs, production, operations and outcomes. Can also read OECD publications.]

I'm not supportive of a government who spends the bulk of its budget on social welfare. Yay to education and I'm iffy about defence. So after that evening, I'm like, I pay (not high) taxes to help people like you?? Disgruntled humans who don't even say a word of thanks and think that everything ought to be accorded to them with no strings attached and no prior conditions set. There is a very clear divide between this sector and the sector which doesn't want to pay high taxes.

I'm so so befuddled by my fellow countrymen.

Priorities, Priorities

I've never been interested in taking photos with my cellphone. I've got a proper camera for that. Whatever shots taken with the phone, they're for the wallpaper.

Once I've a database in excel format of the phonebook, I don't bother to upload or download anything into the phone. I simply update the excel sheet. So naturally, I lost all programme cds for compatibility suites to the phones.

Surprisingly, the moment I got the BlackBerry, all I was interested in was to transfer all my favorite photos of bands and gigs into its folders. I've decided to use only bandshots as wallpaper.

I had lots of great shots of bands in the old phone and none in the laptops. I momentarily panicked when I was clueless as to how to do the transfers. So the girlfriend and various other friends sternly told me to shut up and bluetooth it over to their phones. Then they would bluetooth to the BlackBerry and email it over for various copies of backup files. Hahahah. I forgot such a thing as bluetooth existed.

I'm thrilled that all my favorite shots of Deathcab For Cutie's gig and whatever else are all safe in the BB now.

And yes, I'm not so dodo. I've installed the BB suite into ALL computers and laptops so that I can transfer whatever files needed to anywhere. I've backed them up in the ipods too. So there. And of course the first thing I did was to get that Jack Bauer's signature ringtone into the phone.

Pirates VS The Navy!

While the girls were oohing over plastic bags and ramen box toilet paper holder, I shimmied out of the shop to look at its window display.

I was quite mesmerized by this chess set of pirates and naval officers. So COOL! Not too sure if the pirates were each wielding a cutlass. They look more like swords to me. I love those frowns on the naval officers. Haha.

I like chess sets when they're not in the usual wooden or glass pieces proper. In fact, I don't like playing on the regular pieces and preferably not in black or white. I find it rather annoying somehow. I like playing chess with pieces in peculiar shapes.

I shall go back to take a look at that chess set again and figure out a display space for the board.

Elves!!!

I had a work lunch and couldn't join the girls for their fun lunch.

But I really wanted to say hello to a new friend who I would not be able to meet till next year otherwise. Luckily I could do a quick tea or something.

As it turned out, they were strolling around the tiny mall. None of us wanted to eat or drink anything so soon after lunch. So we continued weaving in and out of colorful shops.

We walked into a rather interesting shop and all of us came away with something cute. There was the ramen box toilet roll holder, lots of plastic bags, cute memo blocks, notebooks and all. Very idiosyncratic stuff. We like.

The girlfriend sneakily bought me the elves I was admiring earlier! I thought they would look really cool in my office cube. Very quirky. Now I've got 2! I set them up on the shelves. The elves could watch over the alcohol and the plants. Heh.

Happy Containers

The man's bestie is totally his intellectual equal. Wait, actually, she is smarter. There're few things in the world that the man wouldn't do for her.

I truly enjoy her wit and company over msn, chats and meals. She is such a great girl. Along with her husband and his gems of wisdom, I totally love the hilarious moments we share over Trivia Pursuit and late night Charades.

Besides dinners at our flat, we also want to pack her food for her other meals. The man dilligently trawls the net and (now) cooking bible for recipes, scours the supermarket for organic ingredients to go into her food and do plenty of taste tests to make the food will be to her liking.

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to deep freeze dhaal and DHL it over to the States for her. So the man and I are relegated to cooking fresh food for her when she's back in town. This round, I think he has cooked her loads to last for the week. Heeeee.

While we had our dinner, the containers were filled up with pumpkin dhaal, mushroom soup and basmati and left to cool.

By now, the containers are all packed and ready to go. We're going to hop into the car and swing over to her place in a bit.