Burgers

There was an endless grey, but we were thankful for a respite to the rain in the afternoon before it continued. The dreariness is nothing, compared to what the other countries are going through. In fact, I wish it'll rain out the whole week. If these rains mean a less damaging Cyclone Yasi for Queensland, then it's fair, isn't it? For people who've been complaining about how hot Singapore usually is, don't you dare say it's cold now.

I feel almost guilty for being rather non-communicative to humans this week. I'm not interested in happy thoughts or Chinese New Year. It's got pretty much nothing to do with me. Goodie bags have been packed for the old folks and deliveries will be done tomorrow. That, to me, lends meaning to the lunar festival. I don't understand the rest of it. Friends will know that my mind is taken up by nothing but what's going on in north-east Australia, Tunisia, and Egypt, and of course, the US State Department's Arab Twitter Diplomacy.

The man slogged long and hard in the office today. When he finally paused for a breather before a conference call, he demanded meat. Okaaay. He got meat at DB Bistro Moderne where he wrestled with the precarious burger without much success. It toppled over, again, like the last couple of times. He laughed and laughed. I really don't understand what's so funny about it. Men don't quite learn, do they? And women don't quite get it, isn't it?

Anyway, I mean to point you over to snog blog's properly written review on the burgers where better food photos are shown, instead of my not-here-not-there ramblings that mean nothing to nobody but myself and the girlfriend's growly and snipe-y 2 cats.

Lazy Rainy Sunday Evening

It hasn't stopped raining. Has it been 48 hours? This rain has a hypnotizing effect. Beyond a session of pilates in the morning, I'm not motivated to do anything much but be a couch potato. It's quite a luxury lazing at home.

Went out to the balcony to pluck a handful of mint leaves. Time for mojitos! You know how I sneer at mojitos at most bars, disliking the lime juice and especially the horrible rum used. So I make my own, with dollops of Angostura 1824. Or rather, the man makes it. Total quality control. Yay. 3 glasses of mojitos, and I'm a very happy camper.

What passed for exciting tv programmes at home on a Sunday night for us would be stuff on NatGeoWild, staring at bats and sharks in mild fascination. Why aren't we at Guadalupe checking out great whites? Then we wondered why we never thought of walking the paths of researchers and biologists. Ahh....we could blame our childhood where endless lectures reminded us that in this country, we ought to be either lawyers, engineers, doctors or civil servants.

Cool weather = hot soup. So the man made a weird but not too bad tasting dried cuttlefish and old cucumber soup. We picked up the fresh bundles of egg tagliatelle from Mervyn's The Pasta Project at the supermarket. The man whipped up a simple pasta with white wine garlic sauce and scallops.

Dancing In The Rain

(photo stolen from a certain Mr Thomas)

We trained up at Glastonbury and Big Day Out mainly. The moment we knew St Jerome's Laneway Festival was coming, the tickets were bought in bulk, literally. Already, the friends made plans for boot parties and tanked up on supplies. Nobody wanted to pay for expensive alcohol at the tents that were selling the booze.

The friends' cars managed to find slots next to one another. The cars lined up in a row, and the boot parties were underway! The afternoon was well spent in tanking up on liquid fuel. With or without the festival, the boot parties could probably happen every other week! Heh. But of course, with the bands going on, that whole vibe was awesome. For many moments, you wouldn't think we were in Singapore.

Although we expected unkind weather, we weren't quite prepared for it to be this pissing wet. The weather held for half the afternoon before it went downhill. Can someone tell me who forgot to put the powerful combo of chilli and bawang in all corners of Fort Canning Park? The skies opened and rain poured forth, non-stop, increasing in intensity towards nightfall.

The grass fields became mudpits. Many pairs of Converse were totalled. Alot of us wore Crocs and friggin' awesome Wellies. Ponchos worked for a while. People who stood in the middle with umbrellas probably got very dirty looks. Ziplock bags were a heaven-sent. Poor iPhones and cameras. But if you could just throw caution to the wind and enjoy the rain pelting down, dancing in the watery beat to the sizzling rhythm from Foals and Temper Trap was the best thing ever.

Was Laneway Festival in Singapore a wash-out? Hell, no. Look at the crowd. (Don't say anything about hipsters ah.) It was still one of the better-organized outdoor festivals at Fort Canning so far. At least the sound system wasn't shite and held up in the storm. What a scream. Porta-loos aside, of course. I hate those damn things.

Here's My Truth

I've finished reading Hard Truths. Twice.

All other political opinions aside, I'm holding on to scathing personal opinions about our education system, and how it has brilliantly contributed to my unwavering decision not to breed.

That is all.

Finishing Up At Tatsuya

On the last day in the office, rounding up the day with a dinner at Tatsuya with the girlfriend seemed like a good way to end this chapter. It was one of the days when I left office early, and head out to a date at a sane hour. I should enjoy this while it lasts.

We had the misfortune of walking into the restaurant when the media visited and there was some sort of strange filming was going on. So annoying. Didn't want to be an extra in those frames. So we simply turned away and looked at our food. The Japanese media people were nice and quiet. Not too much of a bother. Whew.

The food was brilliant, as usual. I ate all the sushi I wanted, with the chef making a conscientious effort to knead less sushi rice for us. The girlfriend declined the huge oyster and went for the mega bean instead. Since she wasn't big on it on uni, I also stole most of it from her. Muahahahahha. Sake was absolutely unnecessary, but oh well, why not. It was a good accompaniment to the meal.

Last Day In This Office

Quietly, and without fanfare, it came to the last day of work. It was a busy last day. I had a project Closing to oversee and a Lunch to co-host. I wouldn't want the last day to be quiet. I was glad that this enjoyable 2-week project occupied the mind. In spite of all that I declared about being scared of hard work, keeping busy is good.

Time has flown by so fast since I put in the resignation in mid-August. I voluntarily served this longer-than-usual notice period because it made sense to. There was enough time to say goodbye to the colleagues I treasure, and to the job I love. By 4.45pm, my desk was clean. The IT and admin people had completed their checks and retrieval of all issued items.

I ran into plenty of people when I handed in the last bits of papers to HR. They were actually surprised that I was still around at this hour. People who left earlier than I did came to bid farewell. I was very touched. At 6pm, it was time to leave. Some colleagues were still in, and they walked me to the door. SO SWEET lah. Hugs aplenty, and it was the final goodbye. I'm going to miss them.

I had brought home most items, and today, it was just one bag of stuff to haul home. The girlfriend was waiting in the car. She put the bag into the boot, and drove out of the carpark. I took one last look at the office building. Strangely, I didn't feel anything. Buildings are just that- impersonal. Getting through the last day at work was easier than I thought. It was still bright, and the shadows slowly lengthened as we drove to dinner.

So this is it. A chapter is closed.

Finishing Up This Project

I was determined to be involved and active for the last project for the office. In a quirky sort of manner, the last months at work saw alot of nicely tied up endings. For example, visiting Hanoi on a first major work trip and finishing the last key trip in Hanoi, etc. In Chinese, they say, 有始有终. I like that.

The discussions for this 2-week project revolved around a topic that I'm quite fond of- 'Sustainable Urban Development'. I began teasing out a thread for the topic all those years ago, and I'm happy that now, it has churned along at an innovative pace with room for expanded modules and a measure of continuity. There was a module that I had to facilitate, and tried my best to link the modules together, themeweave and pave the way for the concluding sessions. I did so with much reluctance because no one was free to help out. Out of curiosity, I flipped through the evaluation forms on my session, and was totally chuffed to see ratings of 4/5 and 5/5.

It's my last project for the office, so I baby-sat it with alot more enthusiasm than the usual. I got to know each participant rather intimately. I normally wouldn't bother, but the 8 ladies in this project were rather sweet. (I think Jordanian ladies are really beautiful and absolutely charming.) So I decided to be more hospitable to them, on the imp's budget, not the office's. There isn't any office budget for what I had in mind.

It was a bit dicey, but I got around the ladies' dietary preferences. I simply split them into 2 groups over 2 evenings at 2 different restaurants. Then took them to check out the shops and malls at the various places they fancied for the different items they needed to fulfil their shopping lists. It was almost fun. Heh.

Casual Night Out- DB Bistro Moderne

I've been wearing heels everywhere all week. Now that I've stopped bothering with varnished toenails (because of parkour), it's quite a liberating thing. It's also probably because I finally found comfortable 3 to 3.5-inch heels, and decided to be vain for the last week at the office. I had to change them out to flats at lunch though. Simply impractical. But the heels were a perfect transition to the cocktails and dinners in the evenings.

The friends and I had 2 separate odd events to show face at that evening. So after the whole thing, we voted to 'de-stress' and drop the superficial smiles and spend time with the real friends for casual nosh at DB Bistro Moderne.

So far, the burgers have satisfied the friends, and the other choices of tomato tarte and fish have made me quite happy. People always wonder what would I eat at a burger joint. Plenty, I say. No one has to worry anything about my preferences because there'll always be something very nice to eat.

DB Bistro Moderne is nothing to shout about. It makes good burgers. It's easy food done well. So we've come by a number of times. Being in a convenient venue where we swing by quite often is ideal. The group isn't into wine at all. We rarely drink wine. So in that way, the restaurants' wine menus are of little interest to us. That's the one thing I can't tell you- if the wine menu is good. I suppose it'd be decent. But I'm no curator of wines. I know zilch about them. Very plebeian palate I have.

We'll Find Our Own Cats

I'm toying with the idea of adopting a cat. And it will be a hard decision because I need to be able to give the cat attention, care and commitment. These 3 reasons are also exactly why I've never had a cat even though I'd love one. But now, since I can work out a deal to ensure the cat has someone who'd love it care for it when I'm away, I'm open to the idea, though not completely sold that I'll be a responsible owner.

Since the girlfriend wants to adopt a cat too, I went 'shopping' with her. After 3 frustrating months of dealing with NAZI caregivers who set all sorts of senseless rules and conditions before allowing an adoption, I tell you, all altruistic notions of adoption have been thrown out of the window.

Yes, these NAZI caregivers have the cats' welfare in mind. I know. I've spent years sterilizing cats, putting them into foster care and helping them get good homes, but I'm NOT NAZI this way with regards to potential adopters. The caregivers we've dealt with are putting the best interests of their foster cats ahead of everything else, so much so till they think THEY are the centre of the universe and nothing else matters.

Hell if I'll agree to visit the cat every week at your place for 3 months to determine 'suitability'. Hell if I'll agree to weekly visitations for 3 months after the adoptions at any time of YOUR convenience or let YOU into my flat to inspect every nook and cranny to judge if it's fit for a cat. Or expect my home to look like yours? So what if we've no window grills? We never open the windows and close doors after we open it. It's inculcated because we know the cat would die if we're careless. I mean, sod off, seriously. It's a complete invasion of privacy.

If I don't even bother courting the man, do you friggin' think I'd court a cat? To prove a certain sort of commitment? What are we, 18?! I like cats a lot better than I like children okay.

Sorry (without feeling it), the girlfriend and I don't see things your way, certain NAZI caregivers. So you can keep your cats. We'll let the pet shops profit and BUY a cat, or spend weekends observing and staking out strays to see if they might be like us enough to allow themselves to be grabbed off the streets and taken to the vet for the all-clear and be showered with our best attention, even if they're diseased and require long term-care. We're 30-somethings, sane and perfectly willing to commit to an animal, come what may. Not bimbos.

吃饭

There're a couple of personal assistants (PAs) in my organization whom I work often. Initially everyone said they are the 'scary fierce types'. I don't think so. They must have not met the seriously scary fierce types whom I deal quite often, the ones who are curt and call to scold me, then hang up. Those ladies are angels compared to these! The PAs picked a date when they could have a longer mid-day break and took me out to lunch. They made me decide on the venue. I gave it a think and chose Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao.

I really like that plain spring onion noodles (葱油面). It's really kinda tasty, if you like spring onions. Apparently, none of them had tried it, so they were game. I was a little worried! It could be too plain for some people. They dismissed that. "How plain can it be? It's like rice only what." And promptly ordered plenty of other dishes to go along with the meal. WAAAAH.

We didn't bother with dessert since the table wanted some red bean pancake thingy and they didn't have it on the menu anymore. They said to have dessert elsewhere. They refused to let me pay. Then they were shocked that I hadn't been to any outlets of The Daily Scoop and promptly dragged me to try the one at Chip Bee Gardens.

There's also a tiny lovely gift. They decided it would go well with my usual black clothes. I'm overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of the PAs. This is the first (and likely to be the last) time I've ever lunched with them. I never never expected the sweet gestures.

Unbelievable

By today, enough is enough. When the same person annoys me for consecutive days with a consistent lack of common sense, I lost it, and made very snide remarks to this particular security/estate supervisor.

You won't get this story totally unless you're my colleague. Anyways, anyhoooo.

*********

Heavy rain meant we had to take umbrellas to shelter the guests out to the big bus by the road. My people were busy taking care of the guests. There was no reason why unlike other mao-mao managers who would melt in the rain, I couldn't go collect the umbrellas from the store. So I did.

Same supervisor was in charge of umbrellas. There were 2 large trolleys (1 empty and 1 filled) and 1 small empty trolley. I wanted to take both large trolleys. He stopped me, and asked how many I needed. "25, and an empty trolley", I said. He wouldn't let me take the full trolley and said he'd have a problem in the evening if all the umbrellas were wet.

Excuse me? What's the logic? The umbrellas shivering in these trolleys were ALREADY wet. He already had a problem on his hands. I don't care about his problem. I care about my guests. He's staying dry behind the counter. I'm going to be standing out there drenched.

Never mind. The next thing he did, completely boggled my brains. He started counting and transferred umbrellas from the filled large trolley into the empty large trolley. Of course by the time he filled that trolley, only 3 umbrellas were left in the original. He merrily passed me that filled trolley and looked perplexed when I told him that the empty one was also needed. It was ALIEN-WEIRD. I didn't understand one bit of his actions. It took all I possessed not to scream at him right there and then.

I asked him, "[insert name of supervisor], seriously, you did all that and it's back to square one? Why didn't you just give me the 2 trolleys in the first place? They now look exactly the same, and you wasted 6 minutes of my time." He stared at me blankly. "I can only give you the numbers you want. 25 umbrellas. Otherwise I'll have a problem this evening."

I backed away. O.MY.GOD. It dawned on me, he didn't understand, not.the.least. And he's the first point of contact with our clients and customers. How lovely. No wonder some people think we're second-class professionals and first-class idiots. Does he have a modicum of brain cells in working order? And perhaps some common sense? I don't know whether to laugh in his face or be sympathetic for his sorry ass.

The Ship Restaurant

Would you believe that I've never been to The Ship Restaurant at Shaw Centre? I've hopped into Shashlik, but not The Ship. Shashlik serves baked ikan kurau! They're in the same category of those Chinese-Western old school restaurants that your parents (if you're at least in the late 20s) might have gone dating at. These two restaurants have been around for 2 decades!

My team rustled up a last-minute date among all the horribly busy schedules and hustled me off to lunch at The Ship Restaurant. What an awesome suggestion. It's a place I've always wanted to try, had the audacity to recommend it to some friends to take their parents to, but never actually stepped in. What a thrill! They said it wasn't my usual atas dinner venues, but hoped I'd like it all the same. I did! I do! That's the thrill in a group makan- middle ground.

Oh my gawwd! The Ship's decor is absolutely tacky, but it's such a scream. It's like stepping back into time, and so very kitschy-fun. The rib-eye steaks were quite passable. There were the 'famous' escargots that the intarwebs raved about. They were alright. The butter used wasn't ideal, so the full fragrance of the dish was buried under all that strange oil. The escargots were ummm....shrivelled :P But it would do. The most horrible dish of all was the dessert of one fried banana with dunno what yellow sticky gravy splattered on top. They used unripe bananas that aren't pisang raja. And for a fried banana, it came stone cold. EIOOOW.

They told me to order the beehoon soup with fried fish slices. I didn't even bother glancing at the menu, and did accordingly. My goodness, that bowl of soup was not overly salty, well flavored and lovingly boiled. Those crispy slices of fish served on the side were crunchy, yet moist and unexpectedly delicious. I'm quite sure it's better than any of those served at overpriced local hotel cafes.

I was pleased as punch with a good meal and sitting down with a team I love, talking about nothing and everything under the sun, trading tales about Sri Lanka and home renovations. Ah...happiness on a rainy afternoon. Even quirkier, we spied our (ex)Boss taking a time-out at lunch and wandering around the mall with his wife. Heh. We called him up to tease him.

How could I have waited so long to come try the food at The Ship? I LOVE THIS FISH SLICE BEEHOON SOUP. I'm coming back, ONLY for this dish.

Where's My Inner Peace?

I wrote many farewell notes over the weekend. It was a painful exercise. The memories, oh the memories. These colleagues are not just distant humans anymore. My resolve crumbled and I went out to buy some trinkets and snacks. You know I'm not great at wrapping gifts and have taken to putting things into pretty paper bags and call it a day. But I decided to wrap these tiny gifts piece by piece. This morning, I lugged heavy bags of presents to the office.

It was a very busy day. But at some point, I found time to clear out my desk. There're lots of things which don't belong to me. But plenty more precious assets that I'm taking away. In the evening, I hauled a heavy suitcase home, filled with some personal knick knacks and paintings I had accumulated over the years. Despite not wanting the cubicle to overflow with personalization, there's still some sort of 'decor' that has been unknowingly done.

The bags and suitcase were both bulky and heavy, straining the arms just a little. Lots of people offered help with them. But I gently declined. It's a burden I must bear alone, literally and metaphorically. The physical load is of no consequence. My heart is heavier. It's filled with a tangible weight that's causing me to toss and turn in the nights. I'm a little sad this week, for all that I'm leaving behind; filled with some measure of regret at what I've chosen to give up, and alot of dread at what's to come.

PeraMakan

I had a craving for buah keluak. For all sorts of reasons, namely the lack of parking spaces on the weekends, we rarely go to the east for meals at its popular and long established Peranakan restaurants.

There used to be a good one at Pan Pacific Hotel Orchard, but the restaurant went downhill quite quickly. We haven't mustered enough courage to try it again. Currently, a convenient and dependable venue for us would then be the thankfully decent and more than adequate PeraMakan at Keppel Club.

Since Dad was busy giving a speech somewhere, we took Mommy out to lunch. It was her first visit to the restaurant. How fun! She likes the food alot. I rarely see her take extra helpings of rice, or slurp that much gravy from the dishes. The table was laden, but all I wanted was buah keluak and white rice. So that was that. Ordered lots of extra nuts! Meshed within white rice, that bitter salty taste and texture was all sorts of satisfying. I wasn't interested in anything else except fishballs. Those were really springy!

We then bundled Mommy in the car to head to Forty Hands to tapau coffee. She was most fascinated. It's been a long while since she has gone by Tiong Bahru Estate, and it has changed quite a bit from the estate she remembers. I was really glad to taste a proper flat white in a regular size, even though the cafe was stuffed to the brim.

Seeing Lard

The intention was to tapau coffee from Forty Hands and see which little shop or stall we could hop in for lunch. Tiong Bahru Estate is charming and for now, I'm quite happy going there for almost-daily coffee and occasional meals.

The one thing is the ridiculous amount of lard you can find in the food at the stalls. Not to mention a generous sprinkling of MSG. I suppose when something taste decent with those unmistakably oily tint, you'll know straightaway that it's got MSG and lard in there. It never fails to give you this 'dry mouth' syndrome or an increased heart rate.

We arrived at the Tiong Bahru Market area at an in-between hour and easily found a parking lot off the side roads. We randomly hopped into a coffee shop and had to google about it on-the-spot. There was no queue at the 'famous' 'Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice' stall. We bought a plate to try. The combination of rice, curry and tender squid was delicious. It's interesting, but not something I care to have every week.

The man wanted a side of roast duck too, except that I wouldn't share any and it was too much food for him. So none of that glossy handsome duck. Luckily he didn't consider buying one home. He had to quaff down alot of char siew and pork dumplings from a plate of oily, lard-filled and suspiciously tasty wonton noodles.

I was more fascinated with the coffee shop than its food. It's so old school- the tiles, the fittings, the feel and all. The coffee shop definitely has lots of regulars coming by on the weekends. People know one another. How very interesting.

Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice

at Tai Kwang Huat Coffee Shop (no air-conditioning)

Blk 57 Eng Hoon Street

Singapore 160057

Eggs For Dinner!

It was quite hilarious how the girlfriend and I plonked ourselves at Wild Honey by 6.15pm. No matter how conditioned we are to work late and through the weekends, on Friday nights when we can run off early, we still do. Always.

Eggs and lovely bread for dinner. Best. Nothing else I wanted more. That dim sum lunch was heavy for me, and this was a good sort of food before heading home for light jumps and a swim. Refreshing. The man's work day ended quite late, and then he was out partying. Since it was a boys' night out kinda thing, I declined his invitation to join them. I really wanted to catch up on the programmes on NatGeoWild.

I like spending time with the girlfriend, and doing mundane errands at the shops and the supermarket. I was told that Wild Honey will have another outlet along Scotts Road come September. I was busy chatting about other stuff and didn't ask about the details. :P We'll know in due course!

Bears At Lunch

Feels like I haven't left Hong Kong! Save for a lunch at Au Petit Salut, I've been having a string of dim sum lunches this week. Where on earth did these people learn that I like good dim sum? Apparently the colleagues aren't quite done with me yet. Today, two lovelies whom I'm closer with at the office grabbed me out for a dim sum lunch at Wah Lok. Mmmmm. Good food. We've had fun times on trips together and even though I'm so picky about food, they tolerate my quirks.

One whispered, "We've got something for you. Please don't scream very loud. It's a public place okay." The other had this expression where I believed she wanted to crawl under the table and hide. I was puzzled. More presents? Scream? OMG> BEARS!

BEARS APPEARED! They sat on top of the bags and joined us at the table. I was thoroughly amused at how the one who rolled her eyes at my 'talk-to-bears' antics was also the one who shot down all earlier choices of bears by virtue of them not being cute enough. I don't know how many shops they traipse in search of bears, but I'm very touched that they took that effort and man, they picked out 2 really cute ones.

Okay, if you manage to read the words on one bear's pink tee, do ignore it. It's NOT a girl, it's NOT anything, it's NOTHING. It's a private joke between me and THESE PEOPLE. Nope, I haven't named them yet. I won't do so till days later when I decide what they look like. Although, for the bear in pink tee, purely because of what the tee says, its interim name is 'Choyy!', with an exclamation mark.

There was a paper bag to contain the bears. But I chose to tuck them under my arm and carried them to Ikea to meet MORE PEOPLE. Everybody tried really hard not to roll their eyes. What? I like my new bears!

The Disgruntled Chef

Of course I've been leaving the office more or less on the dot. There's nothing outstanding on my plate which requires intense concentration to clear it. The friends have also made lots of efforts to come meet me before February arrives. Contrary to what everyone thinks, I won't be very free after January. :)

It's quite refreshing to sit at a restaurant for drinks before sunset and dinner. It does feel quite relaxing walking around Dempsey Hill in the late afternoon instead of hopping into yet another air-conditioned mall. The cocktails weren't too bad at The Disgruntled Chef. While not mind-blowing or full of character, the food at the restaurant felt casual enough to be shared as bite-sized portions at the table, lending quite a fun vibe overall.

We were the first table to arrive. This is getting to be a really bad habit among different groups of friends! What's wrong with us?! At least the bar and the kitchen were ready for guests and no one was eating dinner! The restaurant filled up about an hour later, and that was when we ordered food to go with our drinks.

The man was still thinking of the cocktails we had at Lily last weekend. So he continued with the whisky and cucumber cocktails here. I stuck to non alcoholic stuff. There was umm....too much alcohol ingested prior to pre-dinner drinks already. Heh.

My Farewell 'Party'

I sternly told the office to do nothing for me by way of farewell. A card was more than treasured. I didn't think I would be up for any sentimental talk. I might just cry. Arrrrgh.

Still, I knew something was up today. I've got a week more to go. But zipping between meetings and having some colleagues travelling meant we're short on dates to sit down for a chat even. The colleagues could only pull a last minute thing. And that tactic worked. They picked a really 'strategic' date to do this today. Clever people.

The colleagues kept it so low-key that I could not protest. It was literally one drink. :) Two, for some of us. Those who don't normally drink, took a cup too. Some couldn't drink because they had to attend an evening work event that didn't permit suspiciously flushed red faces. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the carton of Coke Zero. What's up with that man! It was just a loud "Cheers", and that was that. Nothing more on the subject was said, and we talked about other stuff. They kept it short too. Awesome.

Am touched by colleagues' well-meaning gift. They didn't just randomly buy an item. I voiced violent objections to gifts. Did they listen? No. They thought about it, went out together to get me a nice white Nike jacket in the right size! How to say no to such a thoughtful gift? Luckily they didn't buy it in S. They somehow decided to buy it in M, which is a perfect fit. S would have been too small. Now, I need to find a slot to wear it and grab a nice photo.

The Art Of Delegating

Agency X complained to high heaven to Agency Y and Z that our organization pressurized them to do a task that they didn't want at such last minute notice. They put it in not very nice words.

Of course I got wind of it. I was quite miffed. Excuse me, I did mention that Agency X had the right of choice and could say no. If they have an issue, they should have told us that in the face and not whine to a hundred people about how overbearing we are. We simply asked a question. Never mind, I'll let it go and remember how lucky we are to have covered our asses in black and white.

Anyway, Agency X farmed out the task to Agency Y. Agency Y was fine doing it. And a line in the email made me screech in laughter and promptly shared this with the colleagues.

Agency X: We're quite busy during this period. We can't spare the manpower nor resources to do it.

Agency Y: Okay then. We're fine with it. We'll do it.

Agency X: Good. Let me know when you're doing it. We would like to sit in for that 3 hours.

Well. Well done.

再见了香港

I'm not sure if bringing a suitcase full of bears and cows for a short trip counts as psychotic. But I know not many grown women do that. The housekeeper/s sure had some fun arranging the soft toys on the bed! So I don't think I irritated them too much.

In the mornings, I plucked soft toys off the bed and plonked them onto the chairs to allow space and minimize trouble to the housekeeper making the bed. When we came back in the late afternoons, I found the cuddlies quietly sitting on the bed. The housekeeper had taken the trouble to line them up. In the nights, probably during the turn-down service, we would spy the bears neatly tucked under the covers, holding on to tiny boxes of chocolates or mints. How very nice.

The long weekend flew by, and all too soon, it was time to go home. It's always the same in any country, on any work trip or vacation- there's a tinge of wistfulness towards the end of my time there. This was a totally random trip decided at the last minute. Okay, the dates weren't completely random. Sure, it coincided with some interesting events, so all the better.

En route to the airport, the man buried his nose in a magazine and read all the way. Lucky him. I get nausea when I do any sort of reading, including messages on the phone. I stared out of the window and soaked in the familiar sights that lined the road. Don't know when I'll be back again. But at least it's nearby and not to difficult to swing another long weekend in the city.

It's nice spending time with the man. I'm not given to calling him 'my husband'. It gives me the goosebumps. When other people say 'your husband', I generally ignore it and don't repeat after them. The term 'partner' slips out easier. Or simply his name. He has a name and an identity. He doesn't belong to me. I'm reminded that he is my friend first and foremost. He isn't my best friend. I already have a best friend. And two and three at that. He isn't my soulmate. I don't believe in the idea of soulmates. To me, that's a load of bullshit. But he is a trusted friend, an intimate, like those I hold nearest and dearest.

Bought Shoes

When I mentioned about the ridiculous prices of Tory Burch ballet flats at the boutique, the girlfriend smacked me. What did I do?! She glared at me. "Don't you get them online? Anyway, don't you know anything? It's on sale right now! There's the sign right there. 30% off and more."

Oh. Of course I dunno lah. I'm not a serious shopper! Yes, I get my supplies online, but hey, things are always kinda interesting if you do see them physically. Anyway, I was just passing by that day and didn't bother to walk in. I knew its prices from the online forums.

We had an hour or so to spare before heading to the airport. The man dragged me to the mall. I wasn't the least bit interested in getting clothes or whatever. I was in such a good mood that I didn't want to let mindless shopping spoil it. But I didn't mind going to 2 shops and to buy chocolate from La Maison du Chocolat. We went into the Tory Burch boutique and looked at the prices properly. After the discounts, the prices were comparable to US retail prices, and cheaper than whatever the online spree stores in Singapore offer. Items on discounts at the shop were limited in range and sizes though.

The man was quite hilarious. He was more enthusiastic about getting those shoes than I. He scanned the shelves and pronounced, "Grey, red, orange, gold, silver and blue!" He knew I wasn't about to cart shoeboxes home, and instructed the sales executives to dump the boxes, stuff the flats well, and wrap them up. I just sat on the couch in mild amusement. He even insisted on carrying my paper bag around the mall like it's a man-bag. Dohhh.

A Civil(ized) Evening

It was completely unnecessary, but for old times' sake, we went to The Chinnery. We like it because it's quaint, and totally locked in time- those dark wood glossy finish, booth seats and heavy silver cutlery. The overhead lamps at each table weren't retro though.

The man said it reminded him of the servers at the Singapore Swimming Club in the olden days when they dressed in suits. So the waiters were clearly more dressed up than we were. I was just in jeans, tee and a cardigan! The only concessions to being slightly dressy were my bag and heels.

The menu is as conservative as it gets, sticking to traditional gastropub food, not so much of the modern fare we know today. Their fish and chips were beautifully fried. However, they stated the use of cod, and I'm not a huge fan of cod. For some unknown reason, the smell and taste of cod are quite a turn-off nowadays. I miss having a simple haddock or plaice for fish and chips.

The list of whisky is quite impressive. Naturally, there will be a number of selections that we haven't tried before. But a gentleman's pour, is overpriced in comparison to Singapore bars. Still, we had a dram each. Couldn't quite resist it.

Whisky In The Room!

I wouldn't normally pick up a Glenmorangie at DFS, much less a Glenmorangie Finealta. But the man was adventurous enough to try it. I was like, whatever. He drinks more than I do anyway. So the bottle came along.

I nosed it. It was just that wee bit of peat. Then I swirled it around in the mouth. The flavors come through stronger and well-rounded when opened up with a dash of water or bits of ice. I don't think it's a whisky for the evening unless you prefer lighter floral flavors. I'm not keen on having whisky in the day. But a dram of the Glenmorangie Finealta on the rocks is almost refreshing because it's so light.

The man just likes to have whisky in the room I suppose. He pours a pre-dinner drink before we head out each night, well knowing there'll be more drinks to come with the meal and after. So you see who the true alcoholic is? Naturally, we finished the bottle quite easily during this long weekend. Ahemmm....in addition to all the other alcohol ingested outside of the room. It's ridiculous, I tell you.

To Che's Again

I remembered Che's (車氏粵菜軒) very well, and thought it better than Yung Kee in terms of the quality of food, its dim sum and overall presentation. There wasn't a dish that was particularly outstanding though. I just prefer Che's. It's popular, but it has got a slightly less touristy feel. And their porridge is good. I love their fish porridge. Yummmy.

So I nosed around and the friends were able to meet for dim sum! WOOHHOOOO. So we made up a table. It was a tad embarrassing when we arrived at the restaurant so super early that all the staff were just finishing up their morning meal. Oh dear. Still, a few got up to show us to our table and got us pots of tea. Such hospitality. We felt bad for interrupting their meal.

As usual, the table groaned with the weight of all these dishes. I wasn't sure if our eyes were bigger than our stomachs because no matter how loudly we protested, the food simply disappeared somewhere amidst the laughter and conversation.

At one point, someone asked the waiter how many more dishes were there left on the order chit. That was all, he indicated. Then he asked if we were Singaporeans. SOME of us nodded. The rest sniggered. The waiter grinned and replied this gist in Cantonese. "No wonder, Singaporeans always order alot of food." Our eyes opened wide. Is it??! Hmmmm.

車氏粵菜軒 (Che's Cantonese Restaurant)

香港, 灣仔, 駱克道 54-62 號博匯大廈4樓

54-62 Lockhart Road, 4/F The Broadway, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

T: (852) 25281123

At The Street Stalls

On the last couple of work trips to the city, the man had never gotten a chance to try the street stalls, those that are slightly more hygienic than the true blue dai pai dong (大排檔). How can he come to Hong Kong and not try the essence of a city? It isn't all about its private kitchens and its not-that-fantastic Michelin-starred western restaurants.

So this trip, I anyhow anyhow dragged him into one at an odd time. It was an in-between meal. Wahahahahah. He had beef brisket rice and the hot milk tea. He loved it. It was kinda amusing and sweet at the same time to watch him tuck into a simple dish with such fervor. But no, it didn't inspire me to learn to cook for him.

The man doesn't really speak Mandarin or understand Chinese, (in spite of a 12-year education at our finest schools in the language), so he makes me his interpreter. This weekend, he's damn happy lor. Since it's much easier to speak in Cantonese to get things done, he made me sort out logistics all the way. He simply pointed to some dot on the map and I would have to get us there and make the food appear by magic. Hmmmpph.

Reading The Newspapers

I'm not keen on hotel breakfasts whenever I'm in a city with amenities conveniently located. Especially not in Hong Kong. This is a beautiful room. Besides the free wifi, there's a Nespresso machine which provides a thoughtful perk-me-up in the mornings.

It's only during work trips or vacations that I strangely have the leisure to comb through hard copies of newspapers, as well as magazines. So I haven't slept in. I've been waking up at 7am to enjoy the view (and haze). It's awesome to be able to read 3 sets of newspapers and physically turn the pages and hear the rattle of the paper. I still like reading hard copies rather than scan them online.

The man too, has been utilizing the gym to the max. He likes the view of the harbor from the treadmill. He's having a great deal of fun with its giant Nespresso machine and all its choices of coffee flavors. I've banned the Nespresso from our flat, so he only gets to fiddle with them in the hotels or at the friends' homes.

Most of all, it's such a luxury to be able to appreciate and feel the passing of each minute. This is a really short trip, but it feels like it's been much longer. It isn't exactly a vacation, but not totally work either. (not office-job-related work, my own work-work) It's probably because I've squeezed quite a fair bit of things to see, meet and do.

Lung King Heen (龍景軒)

When we tried to make reservations for Lung King Heen (龍景軒) for a dim sum lunch on either a Saturday or a Sunday, we were told that it had been completely booked till Chinese New Year. I was not pleased. There must be something I could politely do to rectify that. Anyway, I got my reservations for a dim sum lunch with the girlfriend and her dad, and a dinner with the man. Heh. :) I was most pleased.

As usual, I'm quite conservative when it comes to food here. We wanted to try out the various types of abalone and of course order my favorite lobster vermicelli. That was done, along with its fabulous soups, fish maw and vegetarian shark's fin.

The restaurant offers a good range of Chinese teas which always pique my interest. I'm not too into tea at dinner, but at lunches, depending on the mood and palate, I'll pick either a light or a stronger brew. Imho, they do make the best cheong fun (肠粉). It's delicate and dainty. That soy is absolutely superior and light. And yes, I like the porridge here most of all.

When it comes to Cantonese restaurants in Singapore, London and Hong Kong, I do have preferences in each country. But if you ask me which is the one I truly like, Lung King Heen is easily the favorite-st of them all.

Cold Day Out!

We bundled up for an afternoon out at Hong Kong Park. We wandered round to the aviary and the almost strange conservatory. Of course being the sucker that I am, there was also a stop at the tea museum.

Well, the whole point was to check out the indie gig 'Sound In The Park' (公園好聲). It was fairly interesting to hear how the bands spoke in Cantonese, did some numbers in the same language and sang the others in English. Quite an eye-opener.

We wanted to listen to Noughts and Exes. They sound great on their album. We wanted to hear them live. They were missing a drummer today, but acoustic worked fine. The band was tight, and played well together. They were a joy to listen to. It was a rather enjoyable afternoon. But oh man, it was a long and periodically painful wait to hear the melodious sounds of Noughts and Exes.

The sunshine splattered the area for most of the morning and early afternoon, paving the way for cheerful blue skies to come through the haze. Later in the afternoon, the wind tore through the park and it was COLD! Thankfully we didn't underestimate the windchill. No boots were needed though. Walking shoes were sufficient. However, by the time the gig was over and we chose to walk back to the hotel, I had enough of being blown around and needed a very hot soak in the tub to warm the bones.

Night Out

It's been a long while since I've partied this hard. We painted the town red. Okay, 2 streets only, and not that many bars. It started with beer at Pickled Pelican (the name tickles the hell out of me), then the requisite hello round the corner at FCC. Finally hungry and wanting something else besides beers, we hit up Lily & Bloom for its cocktails. The food was secondary. Bloom for dinner and Lily for drinks.

I made the mistake of ordering a Bloody Mary at Lily. Good lawwwd, it was bloody horrible. I took 2 sips and flatly rejected the drink. The head bartender came over, took one sip and totally understood the grimace on my face. He apologized for that drink and personally tended to us after that. So I guess he's presumably the bar's most experienced bartender, and that made the night. Stick to the menu of cocktails at Lily. Do not deviate. They do the mojitos, Sidecar, etc quite well. I like their 'Old Cuban'. They use a very proper Zacapa rum in many of their cocktails, and that was certainly appreciated.

We graduated from rum to concoctions with whisky. We left it to the bartender to decide what he wanted to do. Plenty of good ones came up. As the night wore on, the bar packed out. So trust me, the only place to plonk yourself at, is at the bar. Do not move, at all. It would help if you're drop-dead gorgeous or the whole group looks glamorous. Only then, you'll be assured of getting your drinks immediately and without anyone forgetting it or directly snubbing your order aloud. So for the promptness of our drinks and attentive service we received, a grateful tip was left for the bar.

Coffee Shops

I've created a new label of 'coffee' on this blog. Heeeee. It's almost as though my internal radar will automatically zoom in on the nice coffee shops wherever I go.

While the Nespresso machine in the hotel room did the trick in the mornings, I wanted to check out lovely coffee places in Hong Kong. The girlfriend recommended Caffe Habitu and I figured that since there're 2 outlets in Central, the schedule might permit me to swing by a conveniently located outlet.

While I managed to hop by Caffe Habitu's branch at Harcourt Road, I couldn't sit down to enjoy a cuppa, and had to grab a flat white to go. It was really quite good. It satisfied a caffeine craving very well. I'm thrilled to have found good coffee in Hong Kong. I'm sure there're more tiny indie cafes tucked away in the side streets.

Then, walking by Fortis Bank Tower, I stopped and stared at the 3 coffee shops adjacent to one another. I couldn't stop cackling. Looking at the shop signs and customers moving in and out, it was hilarious, to say the least. There's the mega Starbucks that's like an unwelcome epidemic wherever I go, a local Pacific Coffee Company, and the fastest growing new chain Caffe Habitu.

There's also Cafe Zambra. I wasn't exactly looking for it. I was looking for the Gloucester Road outlet of Tom Lee and nothing could be more perfect than to have Cafe Zambra located right next door. Of course I hopped in. I was gleeful that time permitted a sit-down. Their flat white was fragrant and held the proportionate ratio of coffee and milk. Ahhhhhhhh. Very happy, I am.

Eat, Chinese Food

We were taken out to lunch at Yung Kee Restaurant (鏞記酒家). I think it's overhyped. And you know what? The porridge wasn't as fabulous as I expected! Not the fish or the century egg porridge. But they were decent. I had ALOT to eat. The man thoroughly enjoyed his beef brisket noodles. "It's better than London's!" He declared. I promptly and rudely burst out laughing. Oh dear me.

There was plenty of food on the table. Roast goose, soya chicken, pigeon, char siew, roast belly pork and beef. Good golly. That wasn't all. There were 2 kinds of fish- steamed and fried. Prawns, scallops, clams and crabs. There were 3 kinds of vegetables and seafood. It was amazing. It was more ridiculous that the table finished everything in 2 hours. What a banquet.

I saw many tables buy stuff and had them packed into rather big boxes. There was nothing that I would buy as no one at home would appreciate them. So I stuck to the rather fun job of staring at the other tables that tapau-ed everything in the plural- roast goose, century eggs and all. I marvelled at how on people were at lugging such bulky and unwieldy items home. But I understand their enthusiasm, which is the same way as how I've gone hysterical over transporting bags of coffee and other items of groceries home.

Happy Sights Upon Check-In

The best part about staying at one regular hotel in each city, or at an international chain, is how guest services have come to remember my preferences, and will always meet any demand I make. They offer complimentary services that I appreciate. Nothing is quite impossible. Once, I was most impressed by the choice of songs they uploaded onto the iPod in my room. That hotel's guest services obviously realized the genre of music I prefer.

The cheerful colors of the vases of cut flowers and fruit platter which greet me when I step in are most appreciated. Once they realize which fruit I mostly pick out from the platter to eat, then they add more of those. I'm very spoilt. Fruits come to me nicely sliced and placed, so I won't bother touching a fruit if I have to peel or cut it. :P

In cold weather, a temperature-regulated bathroom with a tub and a separate shower stall is essential for us. It was definitely a welcome sight to have 2 sinks in a bathroom when I'm travelling with the man. His messy placement of toiletries all over the sink irks me to no end. With 2 sinks, his mess doesn't bother me quite as much. Ha.

Hello Nice Weather In Hong Kong

Thought I should at least peek at the weather before going up. Hehehe. The Hong Kong Observatory takes their job seriously. Such detailed information was listed on their website. Aiyoh. This is the not here not there but nice weather. Too hot for cashmere and wool, but too cold for just a leather jacket when one factors in the windchill. I brought gloves anyway. Leather can already, no need to have the cashmere-lined ones. The fingers are always cold.

I'm feeling a little crippled because surprise surprise, I don't have my Macbook with me. The man forbade me to take it along because it was just a short trip. Hmmmmpf. The last time I went for a 4-day trip, the Macbook came along! But there is a Berry, an iPhone and an iPad equipped with unlimited data autoroam. Hurhurhur. I think it's kinda sorted.

Except I've nowhere to upload the photos in the camera. They'll have to stay on the SD card. It's not a matter of space. I've another 8GB SD card. I hate having no back-up to the photos. Bah. Need them to put up blog posts later.

The Calamari Does It

We've quite unanimously come to prefer Mozza Pizzeria over Osteria Mozza. I've not tried the original in LA, but the friends think it's quite a close reproduction. Especially the oil. Yes, it's olive oil, but I wish they'd go easier on it. I don't quite like food to be gleaming that much.

Naturally, the music works like a charm. We do listen to what's being played at the restaurant. Details matter. Things like that matter to us. Somebody clearly put thought into the selection of music. Never mind if they repeat it night after night. What's not to like about Arcade Fire, Muse and Gorillaz?

I like the selections of pizza available, and how readily the kitchen agrees to 'customize' items to dietary preferences. This is definitely a default dining place for us. After going through its menu, I've decided that I like its margherita and I'm especially fond of the white anchovies with chilli and tomatoes.

I like the portions of the appetizers. While some might think it tiny and miserable, it's just right for the man and I. It's definitely not enough for 3 persons though. The appetizers are rather well done. I love the calamari and its accompanying beans and chickpeas. YUMZZZ. The man, of course, never fails to sweep up the bone marrow on toast with a clove of roasted garlic. He's a dessert person and has tried everything on the menu while I simply marvel at his sweet tooth. He loves their gelato flavor of olive oil. It's subtle and rather fragrant.

The Shoppes and some restaurants at Marina Bay Sands are growing on me. Not so much of the shopping, although that's a bonus. If I want something, MBS has most shops I'd buy things from without needing to weave through crazy town traffic. The selection of food is more decent than any of the malls in town. Perhaps the ample space makes it feel less crowded. Walking through the area is much more pleasant than trying to fight crowds in the malls along Orchard Road.

I Like Silver

Took me a good long while to hop by Society of Black Sheep. They've got some stylish pieces that I very much want to linger over. A pity I was in a hurry to get to dinner and couldn't stay to try on the dresses and tops. I've got to return.

What I managed to do, was to leave the shop with one item from Carrie K. I like her eye and creations a fair bit and will always try to see if that's any beautifully crafted piece that shouts my name. I like silver. But not any bit of silver will do. I'm very particular about what sort of silver, and how it's been crafted into its final design. The weight of it matters to me. I don't like them hollow. Whichever piece, be it a ring or a bangle, needs to sit right and feel heavy.

Tonight, the rings called to me. I loved how the weight of the stacked rings felt. It just so happened that they had a set that fit my finger snugly. There really wasn't much to think about. So a set of these rings are now mine.

Getting Up and About

By the time I leave this job, I'll be intimately acquainted with Shangri-la Hotel. Well, until they re-name all their ballrooms, seminar rooms and whatnots, or undergo a major renovation. For a while, it was absolutely painful when both work and family events, social meals and galas all took place regularly at this hotel. I can negotiate the corridors blindfolded. Luckily all these have petered off somewhat.

So it seemed fitting that this one last key event (for me) today was also held at the hotel, for a city that gave me my first consultancy project. It was a short but solemn set of proceedings that had zero margin for error. Like I said, I had the easiest task. I simply watched, waited and watched some more. The others were in a state of confident buzz. Awesome. The event was beautifully and flawlessly executed.

Thanks to the rain this morning, I couldn't get no swim done, and I was quite miffed. I figured I didn't need to turn up at the venue at 9am sharp. So I took alot of liberty and made a detour for coffee and breakfast. I'm a terrible person in the mornings. I was made nicer today because the rest of the hours was fueled by respectable caffeine from Forty Hands. It made me rather agreeable, and fairly tight-lipped with dispensing unnecessary comments. It was a fun-filled day.

Being Needy

I needed to talk to the girlfriend properly, and it wasn't to be done over emails. She commanded, "Come over for dinner, I'll cook. What do you want to eat?" I was very specific. "The fluffy sort of Thai omelette please. With brown rice. Only."

I wasn't being rude. Not really. We've known each other far too long to be coy. We're fairly direct about some things even though we hold opposing opinions on a couple of topics. I wasn't in the mood for anything else, and I remembered how tasty and awesome her omelette was the last time I ate it. that was all I wanted for dinner.

And that was exactly what I had for dinner. With fish sauce and sliced chilli padi. Ahhhhh. Best. The girlfriend knew that I wouldn't want dessert, but would not reject chilled Japanese pears. Indeed. Heh. As usual, I ignored her cats till one of them deign to come sit on my lap as we adjourn to the garden for tea in the cool night air with a steady drizzle.

Did I get my talk? Of course I got it, and more. I seek the man's opinions on certain issues, and I require my girlfriends' counsel on others. Then there're other matters of which I need the depth and experience of my dad, and also the friends' parents. These 2 weeks, I needed them all, to hear a couple of lines from the people who know me and the world at large. I didn't want reassurances. I was looking for honesty and a reflection of reality. All of which, was piled onto me. :)

2 Dishes For Dinner

The man rummaged around for a standard Shrimp Fra Diavolo pasta recipe and tweaked it to suit his fancies. I thought about it and requested for him to use squid ink tagliatelle.

Like how we've been doing for the past weeks, we went out to stock up on fresh pasta weekly from The Pasta Project (a counter near the cheeses and ham) at Great World City Cold Storage, brainchild of Cookyn With Mervyn.

Of course the tomato sauce was made from scratch. It simmered and reduced in the pan to form yummy and almost tart flavors to match the squid, scallops, barramundi, huge New Zealand clams. The supermarket had giant prawns today. So huge till we had to grill it longer with double the time needed for other big prawns. The man had to cut off the heads to flambé them separately.

Just for fun, we cooked a pot of Chinese soup to go along with it. The pasta was hearty enough and a cream soup would just kill all the flavors. A clear soup would be nice. I know pork bones are good for Chinese soups. But we don't do pork at home, and improvised with chicken. The man boiled up chicken stock, then added in the ingredients. It's just a simple whatever-and-anything soup- dried cuttlefish, dried scallops, old cucumber, carrots.

This is a 2-dish meal that isn't easy to prepare at all. The man says it's no sweat off his back. I don't think so! This isn't exactly a light dinner! But it's precisely what I like to eat, and it's not something easily found outside, cooked with the quality of ingredients I favor. Best sort of meal for a fussy eater. Why do I bother to spend so much money eating out? Sigh. Cooking at home everyday is so not possible! It takes too much energy to do it.

Seeing Bits Of Pompeii At The National Museum

Our big boss had given 2-month museum passes to everyone in the organization by way of a year-end gift. He gave us all cds of a Singapore singer for 2009. I gave my passes away to the interns. The man and I already have museum membership, rendering the big boss' thoughtful gesture more useful for others.

We finally found some time to saunter to the National Museum to view the exhibition, Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town in 79CE. But not before we skirted and circled the ridiculous Sunday traffic in town to park along the narrow road at the back of the museum. The traffic jams apparently lasted all day. We had such a tough time getting to brunch at Artichoke. Good lawwd. Don't tell me this is the start of the Chinese New Year traffic jams?

It was a small but compact layout. I was quite fascinated by the plaster replica of a bread loaf. The notes explained that it was a common bread loaf buried in volcanic ash and somehow carbonized over time. This was certainly a more cheerful sight than the replicas of plaster casts of human figures frozen in time.

It was a good recap of a city that is now no more as a result of nature's wrath. Well, the capricious Mount Vesuvius. It was a nice light stroll. Of course, nicer still, would be to stand at the site at Naples. Clearly, my earlier visits to Italy were sadly lacking in cultural education. Pathetically, I only covered Rome and Milan. I've not had a chance to visit the site where Pompeii once stood.

Tau Sar Pao (豆沙包)

I didn't have coffee the whole week. I refused to drink the shite coffee at the office. I succumbed to Coffeebean and Starbucks at 2 lunches because I couldn't tahan not having caffeine in my system. I felt like a friggin' zombie all week.

There was a morning coffee run to Forty Hands. The place was packed out. Luckily we didn't intend to eat there. So it was just a grab and go. For fun, the man decided to try their tau sar bao (豆沙包, red bean paste bun). I'm not sure what to expect, but that tau sar pao tasted really Chinese, and was quite nice. It didn't reek of flour or too much sugar. Rather pleasant! Goes with the coffee!

Oh now, the coffee. I looked at my credit card bill and went hmmmmph. I've only begun going to Forty Hands in earnest during December, and the man and I have spent like S$575 there on coffee and sandwiches. It's not a good thing to love a coffee joint because when the coffee sucks, it's worse than a bad break-up.

I've always ordered a flat white in a large till a couple of weeks back when a few in succession became really bad. For a while, they got the proportion of coffee and milk in a large correct. Then the barista simply added more milk than coffee. So now, I'll just pop a regular. Or have 2 cups if I really want. Not the large, ever again. And even for the regular, I will not pick certain timings to pop in simply because I've noticed that during the peak hours, the baristas get very distracted and the coffee invariably turns out quite eeeky.

Had To Settle For Prata

We chope-d our tickets and attended the sold-out album launch of Caracal's Bear.Shark.Wolf. Had to applaud and support the young boys for realizing a dream, and for them to head to Canada to check out that scene.

We got there too early, hung around and had some fun. But standing for 4 hours killed my back. It was good music, but wayyyyy crowded. Too packed. The air-conditioning became thin and the air was heavy. Mild claustrophobia set in. I didn't like smelling the body odors of 4 people around me, nor fear it would get suffocating.

My legs turned to jelly and I didn't like the air no more. Luckily I was lurking fairly near the exit/entrance. I bailed out and sat on the steps at the door. The man and some friends came out shortly after. I grinned. All their backs hurt. Time to go!

We were finally hungry and got around to thinking of where to go for a late dinner. For dunno-what reason, the man had a craving and went all the way to Siglap for this Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow at this seemingly rather popular kopitiam at 936 East Coast Road. I know nothing about it. It was my first time there.

When we walked into the kopitiam at 11.10pm, we saw a bowl of beef noodles trotted out. We stepped up to the stall 2 minutes later, and the guy said the stall was now closed for the night. Whatever. I didn't care. I simply settled for fishball kway teow soup. The man was disappointed. He grudgingly had prata instead. So I guess the next time we should just head there by 10pm just to make sure it wouldn't be a wasted trip.

Out With My God-Daughter

I was very impressed when the 4-year old little girl finished 3 rather big char siew bao (叉烧包) all by her tinyself. She loved this sort of char siew bao. Then there were porridge and noodles of which she merrily shared with us.

My god-daughter apparently has decided that I'm not a threat. So nowadays when I see her, she willingly put her hand into mine and allows me to take her to the toilet or into a store without the mom. She has learnt that the mom will appear at some point. Heh.

The little girl ate lots, walked to the shops where we topped up her wardrobe, and then promptly asked to be carried and fell asleep on the mom's shoulder. There was a rather terrifying wedding exhibition in the atrium at the centre of the mall. We were in a hurry to get the sleeping kid to somewhere quiet, and popped into the cafe at the National Geographic Store.

While the girl snoozed, the girlfriend and I chatted. The cafe was quiet. How nice. Served in a quaint teapot, the piping hot genmaicha (玄米茶) was soothing. It was the perfect accompaniment to the mad crowds outside. The girl woke up an hour later and declared she was hungry. Alright! Additional food for her it was. These little girls eat ALOT! Much more than I do, seriously. Such a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Multi-colored Thoughts

When I returned to the office, my desk was filled with beautifully packed gifts. (My gawwd, was it only 5 days ago that the new year more or less began?! It felt like the I've aged so much in a week.) I like all gifts equally because of what's written on the gift tags, and the thoughts behind them.

However, one of the gifts from a colleague stood out. She crotcheted gifts of brooches for some of us. She's got such nimble fingers! *happy sigh

She's very thoughtful to pick out colors that we like. See this black brooch for me? It's fabulous. She somehow knows I like teddy bears. So she crocheted one for me! I pinched its nose and am very tickled! I decided that it's to be a girl.

(Do ignore that plastic Santa I stole from some restaurant's decor. You'll see it appear every now and then on the blog even if it's not Christmas. And it's not because I believe in Santa Claus. It's just a very cute accessory.)

I was at 1 Altitude. I placed the bear on the table for drinks and again at the table when we adjourned for dinner. The servers tried their best not to glance at it. My friends, to their credit, have stopped raising their eyebrows at my antics. They stared at the bear, actually said hello to it and promptly ignored it all evening, till almost the end when they asked her how was the food. I cracked up with laughter.

The colleague is one of the not-distant ones, but not too close still simply because I never really got to know her. The gift is such a lovely gesture. A pity I didn't make more effort to lunch and chat. She's always been one of those sweet ones who surprisingly didn't run away from being associated with me at work. Hehehehehhe. Yes, it's not really a good thing to be associated with me at work, or be identified as the imp's friend in the office.

Countdown

On a chair I perched, part of an ops meeting for a key event next week, running through the logistics with the team, sitting back and listening to the briefing, noting my portions and picturing it in my mind. It would be fun. Serious fun.

Amidst the chatter, it felt a little surreal, as though I'm out of it already. I'm already seeing the ops meeting as half an outsider, rather than a full-fledged team member. My role is the easiest, with hardly any effort. The rest of the checklist requires a tight eye, quick thinking and close coordination.

We've worked together for years. I trust them without a doubt. They've got common sense. You know how rare a trait that is? When they run ops, total situational awareness. These are competent, valuable people that I will not hesitate to recommend to any good organization. And I rarely, if never, recommend anyone to anywhere, least of all my friends. It's just a principle I practise. If I believe in someone, I might just make a mention, that's all. I don't push.

I'll miss the team, all of them, so much, quirks, warts, hearts and love. Damn glad that I missed the year-end party. I didn't want to be part of that bullshit and play a hypocrite. I'll make my farewells privately. They left a farewell card on my table, and that was lovely enough. I haven't read it yet. It's sitting in the tray at home marked 'UNREAD'. I'm not going to read it till after . The last month at work is harder to cope with than I have envisioned. Such a different set of feelings from December. I'm damn happy to be leaving still, but sad to leave this group of awesome humans.

Last lap. Countdown. And I'm willing the clock to slow.

Quiet Night At The Tiffin Club

We've been staying up into the wee hours chasing the seasons of The Wire through to Season 5 now, and finally relenting and pacing ourselves. We can't finish up Season 5 too fast when there haven't been any sort of news about Season 6. It's a brilliant brilliant show. Excellent dialogue. It really improves my command of the language. :P All the late nights have made us just that bit grouchy in daylight.

So it isn't surprising that I've been looking dazed all week. I'm half asleep most of the day. Note that I haven't hit up a cup of proper coffee all week. Bloody hell. It's only the first week of January and I'm feeling like it's hurtling towards the hectic middle of the year. It's been another tiring day, not all of it work, but a little draining emotionally, and unkind to the brain cells. At the end of it, all I wanted was a quiet dinner with the man. There wasn't too much to talk about, but plenty to mull over.

We rounded over to The Tiffin Club, a place that dropped off the radar till a girlfriend mentioned about a family dinner there a couple of weeks back. So it floated to the mind and we were glad for its quiet surroundings.

The menu isn't too conservative, and almost adventurous. I really really love that tauhu telor and laksa croquette in the mixed platter of appetizers. The man was in love with his slow-braised Sumatran gulai lamb shank with nasi ulam and tangy achar salad. He literally polished every last bit of the food. Nothing was wasted.

As we drove home, the drizzle continued steadily into the night, painting a misty distortion on the windscreen. There were a zillion thoughts swirling in my mind. Indecisiveness. Pensive.