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'm 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 do that.

Smelling The Flowers

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

Fish & Chips from Tiny English Shops

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 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 summer day.

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

Parfait Thoughts!

Very annoyed this morning because the stupid work server keeps kicking me out over VPN and I can't finish some pieces of work that suddenly cropped up. So now, I've to ask the other colleagues to help do the stuff. Back to square one. Boo.

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. True. No one cares if I'm gone. I'm just another digit. But there's a line between responsibility and being on leave. He added, "Spend away on my card. I want to see the nice things you bought." Ooh. Now, that!

Carte blanche!!! We'll see. I'm not terribly interested in shopping because I don't need to buy anything. Am meeting another friend for lunch and I intend to go to more museums and quirky little shops.

L'église Saint-Eustache

Thrilled that the man is away at work. Me-time! Often, I prefer doing things on my own, at a whatever pace dictated by the heart. 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 meandering 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. Meant to visit the not-quite-completed living church the other couple of times I was in Paris. But alas, on those trips when I was a silly naive little girl, paying homage to other shrines along Champs-Élysées took precedence.

This trip, I was determined that other things are given priority. There're a few activities on the checklist that involved Renaissance architecture; Rubens' 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. Of course there is a venue showcasing all these. L'église Saint-Eustache would be the perfect ground to view it all.

Spotted the church and its gigantic head and hand sculpture 'L'Écoute' by Henri de Miller. What beautiful Gothic facade. Built sometime between 1532 and 1632, the church holds plenty of Rubens. Many tourists stop by the church, but this afternoon, there weren't many people. How nice. 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. The church hosts summer recitals on the pipe organ. But I wasn't in time to listen to any. This church organ at Saint Eustache is reputed to be the largest pipe organ in France. 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. 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. Bright and early I went out. Then a text came in from the girlfriend. She 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.

Bonjour Paris!

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.

It's just another city. It doesn't make me feel unwelcome, but I'm just not into it. I don't like Paris very much. There, I said it. I can also quite happily wander around. Not at the shops though. Not keen on shopping. There's nothing to buy. Not my first time here, won't be the last either. Six years of studying French as an exam subject ensured that I could understand the language and if forced to, even speak it passably. Shouldn't be much trouble getting around. Even if I'm alone, I'd like to think that I'm not an easy target for the notorious muggers in the city. In between, I've got the friends who indulge me by helping to buy stuff from wherever. 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.

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. 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. Took 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.

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.

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.

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*

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.

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.

"No Distance Left To Run"

The man has been annoyingly putting this song on repeat. He has ambitions to do it acoustic. I'm almost ready to tear my hair out.

Many will remember Blur and maybe, some of us would be thrilled that they're doing reunion gigs. Who can forget 'Song 2' and My Chemical Romance (but of course) covering it??!!!

It's kinda nice. But it's so EMO! Seriously. The man's going to make me listen to it some more till I can imagine every chord on the guitar before I actually play it.

A Little Bit Of Rice & Lots Of Fish

Sushi is the singular pull factor that could get me out of office early. Even single malts don't tempt me that much, unless it's a specific tasting I'm interested in.

I was glad to turn off the laptop at 7.15pm and head to town to meet the girlfriend. She just came back from a week Down Under and I so wanted to hear her stories! As I walked out of the office, that dull ache at the back of the neck dissipated almost immediately. Wieeeeeee.

Eat, we did. We ate many many pieces of sushi at Tatsuya. I kinda wanted to try the girlfriend's winter melon purée thingy. It looked really delicious. But the kitchen put shark's fin in it. *scowl* So I just stuck to a clam soup.

The chefs and servers probably thought I needed cheering up. I didn't think I look it! They were extra attentive. They gave us extra dessert. Hmmmm.

Mr Grey

The friend has a parrot in the house. I'm certain that the parrot likes males only. When we girls talk to him, he doesn't respond at all. In fact, he'll fluff up his feathers and look mighty haughty. If he's in a good mood, he might grudgingly squeak a "Hello." 

When the males talk to him, he responds with an enthusiastic "Hello!" and continuous coos. So not fair.

The other night, he was in a really good mood. Not only did he flapped his wings and responded to my greetings, he also sorta grinned at me. For the 2 hours that we were there, Mr Grey cooed and repeated 'Hellos' all over. Hmmph.