Hunting For Pie

Mid way through an excellent first episode premiere and second episode of 'House' in its new season and some old episodes of 'My Name Is Earl', I was hit by this intense craving for pie. The sweet sort. Apple preferably, but really, any sort would do. It was a full-on craving.

My eyes saw pies floating across the room. I could literally taste the pie in my mouth except that I had nothing to chew on. Boo.

The fridge had lots of dessert choices except pie. The ones that the friends gave which had been frozen and rationed were all eaten up. I was so so sad. But it was alright. I could just go to sleep and grab pie in the morning. But the man ran off and drove out to every convenience store and petrol station in a 2-km radius on a pie hunt. Forget Mustafa Centre or the 24-hr Cold Storage. Too far!!! But at this time, getting a pie easy was quite an exercise in futility. We could, however, get char kway teow or nasi lemak easily.

We couldn't very well knock on our friends' doors and ask for pie at this hour. They'll just like die, laughing, I swear.

In the end, the man came back with 2 apple pies from McDonald's. Beggars really can't be choosers!

I tell you, the fakey McDonald's apple pie topped with Tillamook's vanilla bean ice-cream never tasted so good. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. A craving satisfied feels like an absolute high.

PS: We've no more pie in the fridge, Dawnie. :(

What The Caterer Did

At one of the fringe events, a teabreak intended for 300 people almost didn't happen because some of the reputable caterer's staff went on strike.

The positive side was, the said staff had the decency to dump whatever they were supposed to set up in a corner for us to find. So when everyone pitched in to help set up tables, tea and all, the teabreak proceeded smoothly without delay to the stipulated timings. The guests were none the wiser.

Whew.

We didn't know why the staff went on strike. It could be dissatisfaction with several aspects of the job; they thought it was too much work or simply done for shits and giggles. That was none of our business anyway. Aside from service failure, the incident cast a shadow over this set of employer-employee relations. But it doesn't say anything else. Strikes are fairly common in industrial/labor relations and it's all part of scenario planning and business contingency plans, except in the context of our local workforce.

What disturbs me deeply is how I heard mutters go around the room with phrases of "Ex-convicts lah, no wonder lah." thrown about. I definitely didn't like what I was hearing. And I call some of these people with this mindset, colleagues. To one comment, I replied, "Does it matter? If that's the sole reason, it's quite shallow." Well, I think that colleague will never talk to me again. Ha. Not like many of them talk to me anyway.

I certainly hope the caterer won't be put off with his decision to continue supporting the Yellow Ribbon Project. It's a worthy cause. I'm too zonked to do in-depth analysis. The issues don't quite lie with employers, I feel. It lies with society at large. Sure, strip a beauty queen of a pageant title because of a criminal record, no matter how minor because it casts aspersions on her character on the international stage. I'm majorly against her speech impediments. It is a national embarassment and not at all endearing. But for the rest of the objectives the Yellow Ribbon Project tries to achieve, it's a necessary cause to integrate ex-offenders mainstream because it's a matter of bread and butter, life and death- to get them out of a vicious cycle. It's really not easy to make major headways in our society when the Project has to battle with mindsets like that.

Don't Sell Things Over The Phone

These banks and AIA don't get it, do they?

If they want to sell me their products, they shouldn't get telemarketeers to do it.

I'm on their database- they should know that their relationship managers or whatever they call it, handle my account. It's beyond my comprehension why they would even send strangers to call me. Why on earth would I trust that this phone call is from an employee, even if she has all my details? A resourceful trickster would have what they have anyway.

I find it laughable banks and AIA can, for 3 minutes, think that telemarketeers would be able to persuade customers will be naive enough to sign up for complicated 'upgrades' of financial products over the phone within 15 minutes without reading the terms and conditions first. I want to see the language, loopholes and pitfalls.

I don't talk to telemarketeers. I tell these people straight that my preferred mode of communication is via email. I talk to my friends over email. If someone one manages to get me on the phone on a very nice day and hang up with specific instructions to email me the details/info pack so that I can devour it with a fine tooth comb, I expect that to be done stat.

It's very simple, I want black and white statements, proof of workplace and mandate to sell. I want to read the fine print. If I don't receive any emails, I take it as they're not interested in any deals. Neither am I interested enough to pursue them to spend my money. What makes banks and AIA telemarketeers think I'd want to talk to them again over the phone? As it is, most of them are incoherent and can't even pronounce words properly.

Tomfools.

A Small Price To Pay

Nursing a really bad cold these couple of days, the man is extremely bothered by the blocked ears which have affected his hearing when he listens to music or plays the guitar.

The family doctor's medication and nasal spray didn't clear up the blocked ears. There isn't a fever- the family doctor didn't think the ears are infected. But the man isn't too sure if it's a good thing. But 3 days of compromised hearing are all he could tolerate. Worried for his ears, the man zoomed straight to the ENT specialist for a scope and a more thorough check.

Thank goodness he did. He showed me the video of the scope. The middle ears are badly infected, gooey and all swollen. If he had chosen to wait any longer and hope for the best, it might not recover and the compromised hearing would become permanent.

He's been prescribed 10 days of steriods and 5 days of antibiotics, plus a follow-up next week. Poor thing. I blinked at the ENT specialist's bill. Did he increase his prices??! All good though. Luckily the infection is discovered early. It can be nipped without irreversible damage. Whew.

Plane Food

Between lamb chops, chinese-style snapper, teriyaki chicken and beef, of course I chose the steak fillet mignon. But I definitely didn't have high hopes for it. This was airplane food afterall.

When it arrived, I removed that slab of butter and took a bite. It was well done of course. A tad rubbery. Definitely wasn't great, but I was hungry. So it didn't turn out as bad as I thought. Sure, this particular menu on the route was created by Matthew Moran of Aria. But he didn't cook this nor could he vouch for the flavors after re-heating. Ah. How different his creations tasted on the plane and when we were seated at Aria itself.

The stewardess clad in red surprised me by asking how the steak was. Usually, they would enquire after the meal in general. They wouldn't ask about anything specific such as the food because they knew it wouldn't be fantastic no matter how. Weakly, I pipped, "Better than I thought." And she went into fake laughter. I got the goosebumps.

5 small pieces of steak were all I could take. I was happier with the dessert of cheese and fruit, especially those seedless purple grapes.

I wanted the cabin lights to go off quick so that I could stare at the night sky and admire those pretty stars again.

Not Connected

For once, I'm not bringing the laptop. It feels quite liberating.

There's the Berry of course, but will try my darnedest best not to use it.

L’shanah Tova!

(e-card from 123 Greetings)

Selamat Hari Raya & ‘Īd Mubārak !

Semoga keluarga anda dalam keadaan sehat wal'afiat!

A Bespoke Piece by BelleeBeadz

When I opened the package and saw this multi-hued bespoke choker that Belinda made, I totally loved it.

She has always been intuitive about my preferences in stones and jewelry. I've no idea how she knows, but oh yes, she knows. I had requested for 2 chokers which included a multi-hued piece that wouldn't be too girlish or sickeningly pink. I wanted a piece that wouldn't be too garish or bright. Somewhere in her busy schedule, she found time to create them for me.

I love the colors that adorn this choker. They remind me of this patchwork blanket that my grandparents sewn for a very little imp a long time ago.

Thank you Belinda, for making this piece even more meaningful.

Still Got Money, Huh!

I went up in flames when I glanced at the headlines.

When I read the article, I was very very annoyed. I was like, we've a rapidly ageing society at hand that faces a myriad of problems. Those issues could use these funds. Yet the ministry chose to sink it into 'social integration'.

Seriously. Social integration!! What.the.hell. Yes, integration into the Singapore psyche is crucial. The various races moving into Singapore because it's safe, politcally stable and peaceful need to be aware of the multi-cultural issues and society and not stay insular. In an earlier speech, our Prime Minister promised to calibrate the flow of immigrants into Singapore. I was not expecting a spin-off of activities in the form of S$10m to pump into social integration programmes.

So our government has to spoon-feed new immigrants and cajole them to join activities to make them Singaporean. It's rather laughable. Our forefathers were never made to do any sort of government-directed activities (except their definitive roles in WWII). They integrated just fine. Oh holy crap- everybody spoke dialects, Tamil and Malay regardless of race. And after all these pow wow and fiddling with our education system, what do we have now? Global citizens who might not know how to speak another language. On the flipside, is the government acknowledging that very possibly, we have no more shared and earth-shattering experiences to bind us together as a nation, a country and a people?

In other English-speaking countries, wait staff at restaurants and stores who are foreign, made all sorts of attempts to speak proper English to guests. Only in Singapore shops and restaurants, I get Mandarin thrown back into my face. I'm expected to speak Mandarin because I look Chinese and the wait staff at reputable Chinese restaurants can't speak any sort of coherent English. (Yes, that's a direct shot at Shang Palace at Shangri-la Hotel and Imperial Treasure Restaurant at Great World City.)

Sure, tell me this S$10m is also expected to create events and jobs to drive the events sector and stimulate general employment. I predict that our 'Speak Good English Movement' and 'Courtesy/Singapore Kindness Movement' will continue into the next 3 decades.

Why is there a need for purposeful social integration if we're attracting top quality foreign talents who are supposedly mobile and cosmopolitan? Isn't this sort of vibrancy the type that the government wants? I think it's obvious that we're not exactly attracting these 'ideal' people to stay. So what are we left with? Second and third-rate immigrants who have to be integrated into our society and made to understand the Singapore way of life? And have mainstream media trot them out in the run-up to National Day or significant racial celebrations and highlight how successful they've integrated as a result of using a portion of that S$10m.

I'm averse to social engineering. I see it an evil necessity. It is sad that in this age, humans still have to be taught, educated and prodded to live together as different races in harmony. Does our government really need to have a strong hand in cultivating how the Singapore society should grow or the direction it should move towards (or away from)? We're not plants who obediently line the expressways and roads in an orderly fashion. Why can't they freaking do this to Singapore in Second Life instead of manipulating us like amateurs playing The Sims?

Pruning, sifting, is it? I.am.not.a.happy.camper.

Reading 'Men In White'

On a quiet afternoon at the office, I settled into the chair with that thick hardcopy of Men In White- The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party by Sonny Yap, Richard Lim and Leong Weng Kam. I flipped the first few pages and sped read through it.

Fresh events that linger in my mind are Singapore's recent celebration of its 44 years of independence (and of the ruling political party in power) and the end of LDP's 54 years of dominance in Japan.

" "Not even half a loaf." "Half a loaf" "Just a plain slice of bread without butter or jam." These were the bread and butter metaphors conjured up by politicians to explain to the less educated, if not undernourished, population why the new consititution was deficient. " ~ Pg 65.

"Take a cursory glance at the headlines of the English language press after PAP's inauguration and you will see how the party had to contend with a bombardment of smears. It was painted red, extremist, pro-communist and communist. It was accused of being a "communist-backed party". Lee was titled "commissar". ~ Pg 66.

I'm convinced that the controversial 'graduate mothers' policy that has been scrapped is the root of kiasu-ism in Singapore parents today who have grown up being influenced by the policy. I grew up in a stable environment where a privileged education didn't exactly teach, but in its unspoken lessons, gave awareness that I shouldn't just wait for handouts, but go get it for myself. I'm not sure that I could empathize with this paragraph- "These were massive changes, and they touched and shaped the lives of just about every man, woman and child. If there were painful adjustments to be made, the people coped as best as they could. They trusted that their leaders would deliver them a better tomorrow." ~ Pg 357.

I'm not sure that the electorate today still trusts in our leaders to deliver a better tomorrow. I mean, going by the results of the last general election, 66% does. So that's still a majority. We're now playing the speculating game of when-is-the-next-round-of-elections in 2010. It's like how the leaders keep emphasizing on Asian values and society and whatever. But I'm not exactly feeling all that. As it is, I find it quite a challenge and not much of a point to fulfil the norms in this country when my relationship with it is purely wrought on an economic basis. I've learnt that if I put in anymore commitment, this country would break my heart and crush my ideals.

That Monocle (in the issue of Sep 09) Singapore Survey 2009 should have made its rounds by now. Regardless of it being commissioned by EDB, the survey views the Singapore Civil Service as one of the top 5 global brands the island has exported, along with our massively successful Central Provident Fund which provides major means of funding of ownership of our model of public housing. So....it's like......wow. Didn't the Minister for National Development just pronounce that HDB flats are still affordable? Well.

Full credit is given to the leaders in those early turbulent years. There're few clear directions to follow beyond getting the economy up and housing the nation. Meritocracy and education for all has by and large, worked well. A generation has grown up to be very well educated, well travelled and sophisticated. Otherwise we won't be laughing at a certain beauty queen's use of 'Boomz', or being irked by foreign talents who've come to supplement our service industry and build those flats and houses we live, work and play in. Find me a Singaporean who's a blue-collar worker? Can- few and far. Can we sustain all these with an electorate that hasn't known any other life?

So there is one paragraph in 'Men In White' that I agree with. "A new generation of Singaporeans had grown up who did not know hardship, he said, and if they were not lucky, they might discover at great cost that an opposition could cause much confusion by "raising false expectations of unattainable benefits from greater welfare spending, as in Britan and in so many third world countries." " (Aiyah. Forgot to note the page.)

I believe the PAP model of governance is effective, and importantly, decades down the road, it can be sustained as an efficient political system that will function even when PAP is no longer the incumbent.

Staying In For The Night

We spend so much time doing social rounds till we don't get the luxury of staying home alot unless we specifically allocate time to that purpose.

So this evening, we turned down invitations to (restaurant) dinners and drinks to stay in to watch some of those movies we got last week. (There is 'Lantana'!)

I was watching a segment on reindeer as food on 'Discovery Travel and Living'. So I had to remind the man not to be too adventurous. "No reindeer brain or anything weird! Pasta please!!!" I yelled from the room. He flipped through the August issue of Gourmet and picked out a recipe- tonnato sauce with arugula.

He made a side dish of Spanish chorizo and scallops to go along with the pasta. While I generally avoid spiced meats, the man appreciates that salty meaty taste like chorizo and all kinds of spiced sausages. Those scallops were nice.

In case I made noise about the chorizo, he oven-baked a halibut in onions, fennel seeds and lemons as well. I raised an eyebrow at the addition fennel seeds. He rarely uses fennel seeds in his cooking. He's fond of using fresh fennel, not the seeds. He just wanted to prove a point about not overly trigger happy with fennel seeds after that disasterous dish at Spruce.

Now, I want dessert. :) Let's see what's available in the freezer.

Would SingTel Stop Being Sneaky Already?

(Click above for a larger image)

I reviewed my cellphone bill for the past 2 months and got miffed at SingTel. The telco is totally irresponsible. Last year, they gave me a stupid ringback tone without my permission. Now, they bloody charge such expensive rates and still have the cheek to try to fleece me for a service I never asked for.

On the bill, SingTel billed me for this 'MP3 Music Pack' (What the fuck is that?) They claimed to have sent me a text message to advise that they've given me a free trial to the 'MP3 Music Pack' and another to advise that if I do not opt out, they'll charge for it. I've been out of town a fair bit for the past 3 months. I get useless unwanted spam advertisements over the cell on autoroam. Even if receiving messages is a free service, it's annoying. I most certainly don't recall getting any info on the 'MP3 Music Pack' shite. To the best of my knowledge, my explicit permission to bill me for this service hasn't been sought at all.

The bill stated S$5 for this month and S$9.05 for last month. I don't even know how the toot in the world they calculated the amount. The previous bills didn't even list the MP3 Music Pack down as 'free'. This listing isn't seen anywhere nor do they have the decency to send an email. I called up SingTel and told them to waive both charges and remove this useless service from my bills forever.

From now on, I've to scrutinize my SingTel bills like a hawk just to make sure they don't sneak anything else in for their year end inane Christmas promotions. What does it take for SingTel's A & P department to wake up their farking idea and get some integrity into their campaigns?

I want to switch telcos.

Bye and Hello!

Look who followed me back on the plane and had a comfy corner all to himself.

Of all places, I found a very very sweet bear sitting in the shop window of Haigh's Chocolates. The man wandered around the shop buying chocolates for his office. I didn't bother to get any for mine. I was busy staring at the bears, picking them up and putting them down. There were many bears stacked together. They had different stitches which made them smile differently. Each bear had unique facial features. This one called out to me.

But I couldn't decide whether to buy him. Not that I didn't want to, but there're too many at home!!! But the man insisted that I should have another one. He held the bear, put on a little voice and pleaded "Hello imp, please buy me." Arrrgh. Bears are always cute. How to resist?!!!

Not for the lack of imagination, the little one is named 'Sydney'.

The Night Sky

When the cabin lights darkened, I didn't go to sleep- the plane would land at midnight in Singapore! I had already finished watching Young Victoria and sped through The Interpreter. Did not want to play Bejeweled or anything like that. Quite enough of light for the eyes.

So I stared out of the window. And gasped.

The night sky was gloriously dotted with twinkling stars. It looked so close. For the want of a better metaphor, the stars were like diamonds sparkling brilliantly on black velvet. City dwellers who live in high rise buildings and brightly lit areas rarely get a chance to see such a splendid sight.

I laid tummy down and twisted around to get the best views. I ticked off the little I know about the stars. I spotted Orion- first his belt, body, bow then right arm and there! Betelgeuse! I spent a good 2 hours with my nose plastered against the window to admire the night sky, leaving oily marks and wiping them so that I could get a clear view each time I shifted positions.

I didn't know time passed so quickly. I was so lost in my thoughts, so to speak. Mindless staring perhaps, I wasn't chewing on any particular issue or idea. I was just......enjoying the interlude of having nothing to think about. A vacuum, sort of. Very nice.

Manly Beach

Tired of skyscrapers and steel, we headed out to Manly Beach for the afternoon. Feeling the chill on my skin, I chickened out of wearing the layers of blubber just to surf in those freezing waters. I'm not as mad as my friends who went whooping into the cold waves.

But I did consider swimming with the sharks at OceanWorld. I mean, it's something I've always wanted to do. I've met sharks on dives, but not as many as I'd see on a dive at OceanWorld. But in the end, I didn't. I'd rather do this in an open ocean because I can't get over the iffy feelings about aquariums. Not too afraid of being eaten by a shark. They're usually more curious and nervous about humans than anything else. But I'm scared of the BIG ones (am torn between wanting to see a Great White and not) and those ferocious ones who live in areas where stupid humans feed or hunt them.

For us sane people, walking up and down those slopes to check out residential streets, little shops and walkways occupied our time. The cool weather made it so easy to walk on and on for long periods. One thing- it wasn't romantic to sit by the beach to eat. The seagulls were brazen. There were 2 dudes sitting on the beach munching on fish and chips. One was holding the fish in his hand and sweeping away seagulls flying too near for comfort. We watched in helpless mirth as an innocent silly-looking seagull crept up next to him and snatched his lunch right out of his hand. I don't like seagulls. They're like pigeons- flying rats. UGH.

The lengthening hues of the setting sun at Manly painted a beautiful picture. Along this stretch of the beach, there weren't many people hanging around by sunset. We had a really serene moment to ourselves, not talking, just looking, seeing, enjoying the sound of the waves hitting the shore. Then as darkness fell, shops and activities ceased by 5.30pm. Day tourists would have returned to the city and most locals headed home. Only the Coles supermarket showed any signs of activity. We hung around a little while more before walking to grab the ferry back to the city.

Glass Brasserie

Many good restaurants in Sydney are closed during the weekend. It suits our itinerary for the jaunt anyway. Evenings are taken up at gigs and the theatre, leaving only lunch and the weekdays to sample a little of what Sydney has to offer.

Somehow, I didn't nose around for Japanese sushi here. We should have, right? I mean, any Sydney restaurant has access to really fresh seafood. Hmmm. Maybe we shouldn't have given up those seats at Tetsuya's. Although I don't think of Tetsuya's as a traditional Japanese restaurant.

So we trusted Time Out and were happy to have our cravings satisfied at Intermezzo Ristorante at GPO and enjoyed a fabulous degustation experience at Rockpool on George Street. A pity we don't have time to squeeze in another lunch at the Bar & Grill (Hunter Street).

I always make it a point to hop into one restaurant raved about by bloggers and friends. We had the opportunity to pop into one such venue. Thanks to Rebecca and the friends' high approval ratings, we sashayed over to Luke Mangan's Glass Brasserie at Hilton Hotel for lunch.

We felt a little bad because we were the only ones togged out so casually in sneakers and jeans (even if they're from Dsquared²). Everyone else was in ritzy suits. I tell you- I sorely missed my Chanel bags, chic dresses and stilettos for that 1.5 hours. Still, service was excellent. My requests of serving the salad dressing and vegetables, etc on separate plates were duly noted. There was no service charge on the bill. So we tagged on a tip. The service was absolutely worth that AS$30 tip.

Chef Joe Pavlovich's menu didn't disappoint. On account of those oysters at the fish market, we didn't have any at this lunch. I loved how the gnocchi had been pan-fried to bring out a little bit of that flavor and somehow lightened the taste of the cheese. The heirloom tomato salad was lovely, as was the roasted carrots with dukkah. Fish was fanbulous. The Rockdale fillet was decent, but not as good as others I've had. It wasn't at all surprising that we did not order dessert. There was simply no more stomach space! :)

Our meal went beautifully with glasses of a bottle of fruity Pinot Gris.

We almost fell into a food coma for the rest of the afternoon.

Unintentional Shopping

Honestly, I didn't intend to walk into Chanel. I didn't even know its store location in Sydney. I chanced upon it on my way hurrying to somewhere. It was smack in my path. I wasn't even out shopping for the day! Was quite amazed that the store was open at 9am! I mean, I'm too used to stores opening at 11am in Singapore. Oh well, most stores and cute malls close by 5pm in Sydney.

This is going to sound really silly, but it was rather interesting somewhat to step into a store at 9am. Not really awake and influenced by the dizzying morning chill and drizzle, I walked straight in.

That made for the worst sort of shopping decisions, ever. Plus, strangely, there were a couple of items on discount. They also had items that I knew the stores in London, Paris and Singapore either didn't stock or were out of stock. It didn't take much to persuade me to whip out the credit card to buy things that were neither bags nor shoes. *gulp*

Late Night Dinner At Albion Place

As far as we're concerned, Albion Place Hotel's A$14 steaks are fantastic value for money. It's one of the few places in the city that serves decent food at 10pm for the last order.

The boys loved the 300g Porterhouse steaks that came with huge servings of sides- mash and chips with sauces of our choice and options of additional roasted vegetables or salad. The beef was tender, well grilled and so tasty.

The rest of the stuff on the menu were just as good, like Nachos with beans, guacamole, salsa, jalapenos and sour cream, Szechuan spiced squid and Flathead fillets in fat yak beer batter.

Importantly, they serve Little Creatures Pale Ale on tap!!! In its draught form, it seemed to taste so much better than in a bottle. Or perhaps it could be the weather that kept the beer cool even after a good 15 minutes on the table.

Coffee At St James Church

Forget Starbucks. Since I have plenty of choices here, I refuse to go near one. I didn't bother with fancy coffee joints either. Let me introduce my favorite coffee joint in downtown Sydney.

Opposite the Sydney Law School and round the back of NSW Supreme Court at Philip Street and the adjacent St James Church and an exit of the St James train station, the stand is simply named 'Coffee At St James Church'.

The stand uses beans from Toby's Estate. It's honestly not as good as Monmouth Coffee, but the flat white (no sugar) is a very decent brew that is thick and aromatic. We can't quite find many of the same standard around downtown Sydney. Oh, that piece of pistachio biscotti which comes with each cup must be one of the better ones I've had so far. YUMMZZZ.

It's really quite lovely to sit and have a cuppa with the friends over an early morning chat session. The 2 baristas are seriously funny and cute! I can't get how they can be so cheerful in the mornings when none of us are quite awake till the first rush of caffeine.

After all that conversation, we found out that 1 of the baristas is off to a trip to Southeast Asia very soon! So perhaps we might see him in Singapore then! However, we warned him about the pathetic state of coffee in our city. We told him to bring his own coffee beans. :p

A Streetcar Named Desire, Sydney

There are other productions that I really wouldn't mind watching. But the dates didn't permit. It was the 'A Streetcar Named Desire' that stole my heart. The man made this trip for Ben Folds (and a leeetle bit of work) and I made it for Cate Blanchett.

Cate Blanchett is like my favorite actress, on both film and stage, ever. Her grace and stage presence make me swoon.

The Sydney Theatre Company's 'A Streetcar Named Desire' would not be the same without Cate. I hope that scar on the side of her face would fade away soon. What a trooper she is for carrying on like that even when injured!

It was a stellar night, one that was worth giving up our confirmed seats at Tetsuya's, thrice over in a heartbeat. It was very probably because of her that the production already boasted of a sold-out season.

Read reviews here, here and here.

Stocking Up Supplies

A shopping trip to the delis and grocery stores features very largely on any trip.

I don't cook. So when things on the shelves caught my fancy, I simply tugged at the man's sleeve to point them out. He'd think about it for 5 seconds to see if there would be anything he could do with them.

On this trip out to Blackwattle Deli (@Blackwattle Deli), it was the bottles of dukkah that bowled us over. Very spoilt for choice over the many labels and flavors. Lots of options to coat fish with or dip it with bread in olive oil!

There were bottles of olive oil which didn't quite catch our interest. We wanted the wines to cook with! But due to the liquor limits, we really couldn't bring it back nor ship many back home. We spent a long time dwaddling over the colorful packages in this little deli. One would think we were starved of supermarkets at home.

And of course, the selection of cheeses that we could stock up on for the month. Perfect.

Cupcakes

The cupcake fad in Singapore has kinda come and gone. Last I know we're still into macarons. I wonder what's next.

But it seems as though The Cupcake Bakery is still going strong in downtown Sydney. So I hopped in for a cupcake.

And oh dear. The cupcake didn't blow my mind. As all cupcakes go, they looked pretty. But the ones I saw weren't striking in terms of design. But when I bit into it, it was too sweet and the texture was just not quite right. Too crumbly and not moist enough to make me go ahhhhh.

I've eaten other cupcakes baked by the friends that tasted way better. Their designs were superb too. Hmmm. As far as desserts go, generally, I'm really not impressed with Sydney's offerrings at the casual delis and swanky restaurants. We do have more than enough dessert selections to equal or better Sydney's, especially the home-bakers who sell stuff through their blogs or the personal friends who churn out great sweets. :)

Oh, I just had to say that while striding down George Street, I saw the Krispy Kreme store and shuddered. Of course I didn't want to buy any sort of doughnuts! Eiooow. Plus the shop was mostly empty each time I walk by. I think nobody really cares about doughnuts anymore. Except Singaporeans.

Ben Folds At The Sydney Opera House

Tonight's performance is something that I couldn't wait to watch- Ben Folds. I was so impatient during our fancy dinner by the harbor. I wanted time to pass quickly so we could zip straight to the performance!

Ben Folds, armed with an arsenal of a solitary Steinway, with its ivories fluttering at every nuance of his nimble fingers, had his name up in the lights of the iconic Sydney Opera House.

In that 2 hours, his amazing talent owned the piano; his charisma and easy humor commanded the stage. It was request night! See that overflowing bowl of request slips? He randomly picked songs from there for tonight.

He started with 'The Luckiest'. 'Rockin' The Suburbs' got the crowd grooving. He bantered, teased and chatted with the super responsive crowd. Then he covered The Postal Service's 'Such Great Heights' and Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer'. He charmed the crowd by asking for a pair of sunnies to play the latter!

He got the crowd to provide back-up vocals to 'Not The Same'. He played conductor and had the crowd do this little thingy to fill the hall with our music. Tis fun! We so want him to come to Singapore. But tongue-in-cheek songs like 'Bitches Ain't Shit'...uh-oh, we're sure it won't do for strait-laced Esplanade Concert Hall.

Of course there's the de rigeur 'Rock This Bitch'! Fans would know that he does a different version each time he is made to sing this song. Check out this one in Perth a couple of years back. Hurrah for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra! They were really sporting!

The encore was the rousing 'One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces'. Man, you gotta be there. It was a magical, awesome night of pure wizardry.

A Quiet Morning

Bright, cool and sunny, it's a beautiful day to be driving a convertible with the top down in Sydney. Exploring the city has never felt more chic!

We ditched our breakfasts at the hotels and went off to a little cafe in a trendy avenue at Potts Point for bread and jam and excellent coffee (that isn't Starbucks) thickly brewed and aromatic.

We intended the day to be easy. We definitely didn't want to hit the markets at main tourist area at The Rocks. Shopping wasn't large on the agenda either. We went further away uphill where there were no crowds. It's Father's Day today in Oz and I suppose many are indoors hosting family gatherings or at the restaurants honoring the Dads.

Sunday morning is for going to mass at St Mary's Cathedral and strollilng around a little at the expansive Botanic Gardens. A pity we weren't quite prepared for a picnic. We should have bought a picnic pack from somewhere and plonked ourselves on the green grass for lunch and do....nothing.

Importantly, I got to step into the Art Gallery of New South Wales. There were installations in the contemporary section, a collection of 74 works from Australia artists titled Tackling The Field. and we saw a very familiar collection of silk ikats from Central Asia.

What bliss. No chaos, plenty of time to chill out. My kind of day. Let's see if I can pop into more galleries and museums before going home!

Sydney Fish Market

There is no way that we'll leave Sydney without going to its famed Fish Market.

As much as we wanted to be the bright-eyed visitors at 7am in the morning, we couldn't stomach the thought of so much raw seafood this early in the day. We settled for brunch at 11am.

There was raw fish- chunks of tuna belly and salmon belly. The knife skills sucked. The fish was cut across the grain and we knew they weren't the best cut. I was sure it wouldn't even be termed as sashimi. However, both fish were nothing but fresh, so the huge strips chopped into ugly squares were eaten.

The tiny salty Coffin Bay and Lake Wallis oysters didn't go down so well. The friends preferred the creamier Pacific oysters. The boys merrily quaffed down about 25 each, sprinkled with just lemon juice- no tabasco or anything else. Crazy man. I refused to join them. I don't eat oysters much. At this volume, my stomach already churned at the sight of those huge trays on the table. I wouldn't be able to stomach more than 2. Eeeeps.

I didn't mind the fish and chips. They kinda lined the stomach for all the raw stuff. But the bulk of my stomach space was reserved for lobsters. Meaty and full of roe, I ate one lobster by myself and seriously considered having another.

There was something incredibly relaxing about sitting outdoors in brilliant sunshine with temperatures at a comfortable 17 degrees celcius, eating that really huge brunch spread. We sat for hours enjoying the fantastic company and laughter.

Sugar Army At The Annandale

We drove out to Leichardt and had the loveliest dinner along Norton Street, otherwise known as Little Italy. The pizzas and fettucine vongole were out of this world.

However, food was not on the priority list in Leichardt. We didn't come here to eat. We specifically came to pay homage to one of Sydney's live music institutions for rock- The Annandale.

Delightfully dingy, crummy and full of indie vibe, we were there to catch Sugar Army.

They were so good. Then again, we're quite starved of gigs at home that we lap up anything we can get when we travel. The guys squeezed up all the way to the front. I didn't have my earplugs, so I remained at the back of the room. Man, the band was loud! The poor eardrums sufferred a little!

It's nice to have so many friends around. It was really cool that many just popped out for the night to say hi! I took one look around the bar and gave up hope on any sort of whisky. There was a bottle of Glenfiddich sitting on the shelf. But naaah. I'm told that Sydney hasn't exactly caught on to single malts. There isn't quite a swanky whisky bar in the city. (Correct me if I'm wrong!) The only available choices seem to be Glenlivet and Glenfiddich.

At Annandale, beer seemed like the thing to drink. So Tooheys Extra Dry it was. Pretty tasty I thought! Quite crisp. Light, no smelly sour aftertaste. They plied me cup after cup. Luckily they didn't insist on doing the 100% sort of drinking!)

A pity we won't be able to hang around for Shihad next week.

Grilled Seafood Platters!

I've more or less decided to eat nothing but seafood here in Sydney. It is so so so so fresh. The chefs at the restaurants know how to strut their stuff to bring out the best flavors with the least amount of marinade.

I really don't mind the grilled seafood platter that's quite common at the restaurants. Lightly grilled with sea salt, it isn't heavy on the stomach. Quite yummy. But I just saw the girlfriend's amazing photos of her trip to a BIG aquarium in California and how beautiful the marine creatures were. even in captivity. And promptly felt a little tinge of guilt. After all, in those initial days of diving, I sized up every sighting as a potential meal. :p

This grilled baby octopus is absolutely intriguing in terms of appearance and taste. I can't quite decide if I like this more than the tender calamari. Similar in terms of texture, but quite different in taste. Both are, well, very tasty.

Good Morning, Sydney

Driving down the road feeling the cool breeze is simply refreshing.

Yue Lian Kai (越蓮開)

The other evening, when the invite came I vaguely dumped it in the drawer and forgot about it. When work required me to attend the same reception, then I remembered.

The reception for Vietnam's 64th National Day also saw the Festival of Ullambana and the launch of Yue Lian Kai- Blossoming Viet Nam Padma Exhibition anchored by 4 Vietnamese painters- Dang Phuon Viet, Nguyen Duc Long, Nguyen Quang Duc and Nguyen Thi Nhan.

Since I attended this for both personal and work purposes, I was pleasantly surprised to bump into familiar faces. Which reminds me, sigh, that it's high time I learn Vietnamese. So many years and I've only memorized like 5 phrases. FAIL.

Aside from offering my congratulations for Vietnam's National Day, I was also anxious to gawk at the paintings on display that were the embodiment of Vietnamese culture, traditions and people.

The artists' varied styles were distinctively clear in their paintings which reflect their personal beliefs and thoughts. If you like mandalas, you'll find many of the beautiful intricate paintings on display of significance.

I prefer the paintings of lotus flowers (蓮花). My personal favorite is this one above titled Heaven-covered Earth by Nguyen Thi Nhan. I like her touch and brush strokes on oils. Many of the paintings are available through Ode to Art.

I didn't stay for dinner. I arrived early, had a little bit of quiet to myself, stayed for the formalities, schmoozed a little while more and when the crowd obscured my view of the paintings, it was time to leave. A lovely evening indeed.

Moon (*Spoilers Ahead!)

*Don't read this post if you haven't watched the movie and you're as anal as I am about it.

When we haunted the movie theatres in London in June, we were intrigued by the trailers to Moon. We couldn't wait to watch the movie.


MOON: Movie Trailer - Watch more amazing videos here

It took alot of effort to restrain from googling or reading any sort of reviews about the movie. So one fine morning, I had to flip through Life!. It left me fuming. I had accidentally flipped to Life!'s review of Moon. I instinctively averted my eyes, but not before I saw the word 'clone'. WAH LAU. Damn effing brilliant lor. I was damn pissed off man.

Thank goodness that it's still worth watching. I like it. It borrowed many ideas and paid homage to Blade Runner and Ghost in A Shell. Moon has a nice air of mystery, but it doesn't go too deep into the emotions of the clones when they finally realize what has been happening. You heard that song on the alarm clock? It's Chesney Hawkes' 'The One and Only'. So ironic!

It's still a good choice at the cinema and doesn't waste your 97 minutes.

100% This One, Anyone?

After the movie, we headed to Brotzeit for dinner.

Of course beer was duly ordered. After that bout of drinking last week, I couldn't stomach the idea of beer. I'm so not a beer drinker at all. While I generally don't mind dark beers, I decided to pick an easy Riesling tonight instead. It went beautifully with my mozzarella salad.

When the friends' 1 litre mug came, my stomach churned. Goodness. Luckily the Vietnamese hadn't developed a taste for German beer in such quantity. If I had to do a 100% for this mug, you'd see an immediate glorious Merlion puke effect.

Watching 'Up'

Generally, we like movies by Pixar. We finally watched Up.

Most people told me that it was a very touching movie. One mentioned that he teared within 15 minutes into the movie. I was quite incredulous. Indeed, it had a very fun, sweet and substantial storyline. Enjoyable. But, my tear ducts didn't flow. Ah well. It was rather draggy in the middle.

Realized with a slight jolt that I'm not particularly touched by it. I was quite busy dissecting the movie to the many social themes in there concerning the elderly. I suppose they're topics close to my heart; I was busy being clinical about it and relating it to our social context/problems, retirement homes versus independence, en-bloc drama etc. The themes of miscarriage/infertility, marriage and companionship, single parent and children's emotional well-being weren't what tugged at my heartstrings. The very major message of how one should live a full life is what stood out like a homing beacon.

Like those scenes of them saving up and never be able to make it because something else always crops up. That just sucks. Hello, financial planning and making prudent investments, much? I can never just blindly save and be happy at still not saving enough to buy what I want. Both the partner and I are very clear that money buys us the freedom of choice. That freedom is the most liberating ever. We know how powerful and comforting that is. We never want to be restricted by the lack of money in this life.

I refuse to have to be the only one left to fulfil my partner's dream because of our procrastination, forced or otherwise. I want to take concrete steps to ensure that a shared dream is fulfilled soon with clear indications of timeline. We both have childhood dreams. And those have come to fruition. We've many other things we'd like to do still. We've done some and will continue to do them. And yes, we've certain dreams we have yet to complete. But those dreams are not something the other can help to do. It must be done on our own terms and merit, or not at all. We do share dreams that do not involve (our) children, travelling to an exotic destination, flats and stuff like that. These dreams kinda concern cats, (other) children, oceans, beach bumming, the elderly, music and world peace. WAahahahAHa.

The characters in the movie live in an era where love and relationships, marriage and commitment are much simpler. Purer, even, if you will. I admit I won't be able to have a relationship the way the characters do- which is the whole point of the movie- a fairy tale almost. Nice still.

So thank you, Up, for reminding me that I'm living my life the way I want. :)