Fish Biryani Craving Sorted

Somebody mentioned that they had catered (more like do a to-go, self-collection arrangement) from Spice Junction for a party (that I didn't attend because I had more pressing matters to attend to, like go to WORK), and it was ridiculous how small the portions of biryani and curries were.

Or rather, some people at the party were taken aback by how the restaurant had cut up the fish and chicken in the biryani into tiny little pieces, and did the same for the curries ordered. There're only two reasons why it would be cut up so small. And it also depends on how you define 'ridiculously small'. I'm not going to put those reasons out here; it's easy to figure out why. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I told them so, and abruptly exited the conversation. 😛 I didn't doubt their experience, but since it was a conversation that I didn't want to be drawn into, it was really none of my business, and importantly I wasn’t present at said party, so why comment. I can do it here on the blog though.

As much as I'm fond of Spice Junction, I won't and needn't defend or pan it. There's no obligation to do so. Dining experiences are always subjective. My experiences (recent and ongoing) have been thankfully positive, and I can only speak for myself. I've never had tiny pieces of fish in my biryani all these years of patronizing the restaurant. The ikan tenggiri in the fish biryani comes in two big fillets when dining in, and whenever I do to-go portions, even for an order of 50 boxes of fish biryani (for many occasions), they turn out fine too.

ANYWAY. I suddenly had a craving for fish biryani after being denied of it a few times because the usual stalls at the food centers and coffeeshops ran out of it, leaving only the popular but sad-for-me choice of chicken. 😂 When the craving for fish biryani hits, I still zoom out to Spice Junction for a fix. It's hard to find another kitchen that does it in this way that I really love. Went out to lunch at the restaurant and ordered said fish biryani. There, craving satisfied in its pukka-style Malabar fish biryani using ikan tenggiri. Yummy.

A full portion of fish biryani last week.
I wouldn't term this piece of ikan tenggiri as 'ridiculously small'.

Privacy Policies

Thanks to the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) that went into effect on May 25, my inbox, for weeks, had a whole slew of updates to policies and terms and conditions. It was almost hilarious to see a whole page of similar subject headings from my subscribed apps and accounts. After the initial onslaught, then came the random pop-ups to inform users of 'privacy/cookie policy & user agreement' and whatever else on whichever website I was browsing through, and it's still happening now.

I was more amused than annoyed. As much as I’m someone who reads terms of service, I’m not very bothered to do that if these newly drafted terms of service run into twenty pages. The lawyers drafting these are seriously in need of a language clean-up. Basically, I’ve probably agreed to let these sites and comapnies track whatever the hell they want from my usage patterns.

Giggled when I came across Karen Chee's 'Updated Privacy Policy for Being My Friend' published in The New Yorker's Daily Shouts on June 23, 2018. Since corporations and websites are updating their privacy policies, then the humans should too. LOL. If you're not a subscriber, I'll save you a click. Keep your quota of free articles for something more substantial.

The article began in the typical tone of updating terms of service blah blah blah and the introductory paragraph end with, "If you wish to avoid elimination from my friend group, please respect my updated privacy policies, listed below." The comment continues in numbered format like all service agreements, and the article ends with "If you continue to interact with me online or in real life as of June 25, 2018, then you implicitly agree to these terms. Thanks, and good vibes!"

It's quite funny, doesn't over-complicate friendship, keeping the tone of the article light-hearted, and it probably appeals to a younger uhh age group. But yeah, even when we're much older, we're still capturing screen-shots of arguments and mostly funny lines from our text messages to one another in order to share with someone else. Which then, begets the idea of, nothing is really secret. We should be aware of that. What we put into writing and speak out aloud, we'll have to stand by it if confronted about it. We should, and not deny that we didn't say that.

3. If we are friends who text, you must never screenshot my texts to share with other people. Texting is the only time I bare my vulnerable soul to another person, and I trust that you will not take advantage of this. (Note: If you are an ex-boyfriend, I will absolutely screenshot whatever you text me and share it with all of my friends, family, and social-media followers.)

But yes, we have 'privacy policies' when it comes to friends, isn't it? There's a secret, private rule of who you keep and hold dear, who you tolerate, who you stalk (on social media lah), and who you avoid. (Or it could be an open secret among your social circle.) Well, I have this rule. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤫😬 I certainly don't go around announcing it, but it's pretty obvious who I hang out with regularly; these are people whom I love. I have no need to tell them what to do or what to say. These faeriefolk know what to say and what to do. Importantly, they somehow know how to handle me and my desire for solitude. Helloooo, extreme introvert alert! I'm past the point of keeping up with appearances. I don't even bother texting greetings or take up other people's genuine offers of lunch or coffee.

Then, there's this blog. I'm well aware that this is a public platform. If I want to keep things secret, then I wouldn't be blogging at all. OMG, I've been blogging for like a decade! Since I create personal content, and my opinions won't affect my job and ahemmm, place in society, so to speak. The blog is intended to keep in touch with friends who matter, and as an introvert, I don't particularly feel like texting the friends or talking to them that much. Why bombard them with trivia when there's already plenty of that populating everyone's world? I ask the faeriefolk to check in with the blog occasionally. I'm glad you do. For strangers who still read, I'm not bothered either way, since it's just like reading fiction, and for those who are friendly, I'm grateful. If people I avoid or maintain distance from, or have lost touch with, somehow stumble upon this blog, so be it.

One Teochew Cold Crab

Since I was still on antihistamines (clearing up decently by now), I might as well go for broke and eat all the crustaceans. Went out to dinner with V at Crystal Jade Golden Palace. If it's just us two, we can't quite order more than three dishes, which works fine since we have limited stomach capacity. Oof.

Yeah, it's our usual casual dinner, but it's still a reason to celebrate dearest V's birthday month. Wheeeeee. Ordered one Teochew cold crab (潮式冻黄膏蟹) for her. Actually, she could have finished a whole crab by herself. She was just being polite in sharing. :P She loves her crustaceans. I'm not that big a fan of crabs. I don't mind white pepper crabs or Teochew style cold, but I'll still only take two pieces, and that's more than enough. Took the pincer, bit of leg and bit of the body. That was like our appetizer and main together.

Had soup too. I love Cantonese soups and how this restaurant does it. I can't leave without having a piping hot bowl of gorgeous soup. Mustard greens for vegetables. Dunno why I rarely eat them at home. Prefer to eat mustard greens at restaurants where they seem to cook it better. By then, we were stuffed and didn't bother to eat much of the vermicelli of shredded duck and pickled vegetables. Just a tiny bowl each. Packed the rest of it home.

Coffee and Dark Chocolate

Between appointments in town, J and I sat down at The Dark Gallery for coffee and a piece of chocolate. The cafe specializes in dark chocolate dessert items, and I was really pleased with what I saw. Nice to see a cafe take its cacao seriously. Woooohoo. I'll still skip the cakes. No matter how, cakes are crazy on the sugar. I wasn't in the mood for ice-cream, but its promises of 70% and 80% offerings are enticing. Next time.

Coffee first. The Dark Gallery partnered Common Man Coffee Roasters to provide caffeine. The cup of Ethiopian blend pourover from Padre Coffee was satisfying. It's tough to find a decent cup of coffee along Orchard Road, and I'm pleased to have another option. The first cafe has been opened at Millenia Walk for a while, but I've not managed to swing by till this new outlet opened at Basement Two of Ngee Ann City (just at the exit of the underpass link to Wisma Atria, across from Sunny Hills).

Today I was keen on trying its bite-sized chocolate squares. Picked two types- Peruvian sea salt 66% dark chocolate, and the other is a salted caramel with 66% dark chocolate as well. To be honest, it was really all right- not sugary, but it could have gone up to 80%. :P That would be ideal for me. That's for the cacao. It could have gone braver with the sea salt, and the salted caramel; it’s a little too subtle. Still made for a happy bite though!

Chicken Biryani at Ramiza's

Went out to Geylang Serai Market and Food Center for lunch on a Saturday after the month of Ramadan only to see crazy long queues at many stalls. Waaaaah. We were crushed that our first choice of Geylang Biryani House sold out its food by 11.50am. Seriously?!! They opened at 10.30am!!! Never mind, we went to Ramiza Dam Biryani instead.

Some guy in front of us bought like 10 packets and after that, the stall ran out of mutton biryani, offering only chicken to the rest of the queue. Okaaaay. Chicken biryani then. Apparently Ramiza Dam Biryani opens till 5pm, but that afternoon, they sold out by 2pm. It's my first visit to this stall, and I was wondering why it looked so familiar, and it was only much later then I realized that there is a branch at Changi Village (which I've not eaten at), and that stall has been around for much longer.

I wasn't that interested in the meat. It was the rice I wanted. Ate them all and gave away most of the meat. No egg in this chicken biryani. The hard-boiled egg only comes with its prawn and fish options. We get achar and fairly delicious dalcha. I was pretty glad that my portion of pukka style Gujerati chicken biryani didn't hold too greasy basmati rice. Hurhurhur. I kinda like my biryani to come pale and delicate instead of a shiny yellow and bright orange. Otherwise I prefer them super-spicy in Memoni style or Murgh.

I've not going to dissect what and how good biryani should be. It's too controversial. LOLOLOL. Even with our chat group titled 'Biryani Biradari', people go red-faced debating over the finer points of why one stall's offering at that point in time is better than another. I know what I like in a biryani- layers of flavors resulting from the proportionate use of spices and aromatics, and long-grain rice that doesn't necessarily need to be basmati. For example, the rice grains can be of the jeerakasala variety from Kerala mainly used in Malabar biryani, of which I like very much. Sindhi dum biryani and Hyderabadi kacchi style work for me too.

Ramiza Dam Biryani
Geylang Serai Market, 1 Geylang Serai
#02-158 Singapore 402001
Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm. Closed on Mondays. 

Get Back To Work, Crayons!

This is a super fast and happy read twice over—once for the fun, and twice for a different perspective. What a colorful happy book with not too shallow writing by Drew Daywalt in his bestseller, 'The Day The Crayons Quit' (2013).

Duncan loves coloring and uses his crayons all day. But one day, when he opens his box of crayons, it was kinda empty, except for the letters (from his crayons), detailing why they have quit. The reasons for quitting are hilarious. They kinda mirror real life, of course. So to an adult, this book is SO GOOD. Except, I'm not exactly sure what to make of the ending, or rather solution presented.

Gray Crayon just doesn't want to color all the big animals of elephants and whales. It's tired and would prefer to color penguins and tiny rocks. White Crayon feels empty and doesn't want to just color snow and color in empty spaces. Pink Crayon has never been used, except by Duncan's sister. It wants to be used, and reminds the boy that it's not 'a girl's color'. I love Purple Crayon and Black Crayon's snark. Awesome.

Peach Crayon's grouse is strange, and absolutely understandable, from a crayon's point of it. LOL.

HEY DUNCAN, 

It's me, PEACH CRAYON. Why did you peel off my paper wrapping?? 

Now I'm NAKED and too embarrassed to leave the crayon box. I don't even have any underwear! How would YOU like to go to school naked? I need some clothes. HELP! 

Your naked friend,PEACH crayon

Beige Crayon.

Beige Crayon just doesn't want to be called 'light brown' or 'dark tan'. It also wants to contribute to more than turkey dinners and wheat. HAHAHAHA. Green Crayon wrote such a political letter, and even represented its friends Yellow and Orange Crayons. Teeehehehehe. Yellow Crayon says that it's supposed to be the true color of the sun, not orange. Orange Crayon insists that IT IS THE REAL COLOR OF THE SUN. :PppPppP

Blue Crayon is just a whiner. It's being used all the time because Duncan loves blue, so that Blue Crayon complains about becoming short and stubby, and yelled out for a break. Okkkaaaaay. Then if it's not used, it would be complaining about that too right? You can't please 'em all.

I couldn't help it, after reading through all the crayons' words and feelings, my first thought- you crayons complain too much! 👀 Does this make me an evil boss in real life? This feels highly metaphorical. Oh well. Duncan is nicer. He just wants to color and he wants his crayons happy too. So he gave in to his crayons' demands. Hmmmpfff.

Ame's 39th!

Celebrated Ame's 39th before she flew off on a well-deserved vacation. Time is tight since this is like a super busy period at work for us (on separate projects), and we were hard-pressed to find a date to meet. We love catching up with one another IRL and it isn't too difficult to go down the list of dates to squeeze out a slot for a loooong lunch and a few cups of coffee.

We got gifts for the birthday girl, but we didn't manage to do cakes or dessert or candles. Hurhurhur. Never mind, we'll buy her loads of ice-cream when she gets back. She's an ice-cream monster. For all the talk of cutting down on dessert, she definitely inhales like four scoops of ice-cream a week. I'm not exaggerating.

This is a momentous year of changes for Ame. She finally made the decision to quit her job. It's been a decision that she has mulled over for almost three years. She has made plans and will devote her time to her heart's calling.

May your paths lead straight and your heart stays light and true. Happy Birthday, dearest Ame. To the new beginnings. 

[6] Therefore having always confidence, knowing that, while we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord. [7] (For we walk by faith, and not by sight.) [8] But we are confident, and have a good will to be absent rather from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

~ Corinthians 2:5, Douay-Rheims

Cast Iron Cookware

By now, the man and I know what pots and pans we use often, and those we can do without. Re-assessing our cook-ware means throwing out (up cycling, rather, and passing on to the friends or the recycle table at our estate) stuff and replacing items. Besides the usual pasta and stock pots, we also needed two cast iron pots and a new grill pan. For dunno-what reason, the man took a great interest in Le Creuset pots. 😒

I heartily dislike the colors of Le Cresuset. While I'm less resistant to its range of grays, white and black, I'm not interested in its combination of porcelain or enamel. I'm not fond of colors in the kitchen. I'm a black and steel girl. We went to the mall to check out the discounts at its kitchen section. I had this 😑 face when the man was looking through options at Le Creuset. I had earlier told him that I wouldn't use anything from Le Creuset and hence I wouldn't wash it either. Some pots shouldn't be cleaned in the dishwasher. He's welcome to sort it out all by himself. He wisely wondered if there were other options of cast iron pots.

I gently pointed him in the direction of Staub. While the brand is similar to Le Creuset, providing choices of ceramic in its cookware and serveware, it offers a full cast iron option. In black, of course. That is what I want. I’ve always fancied items from Staub except that I haven't bought any because of earlier space constraints and I didn’t want to let on that I occasionally cook. When it's really your MIL's kitchen, trust me, you do not want to use it. Now that our own kitchen is being renovated, we could streamline everything, and I would cook something for myself (since what I cook don't always fit general tastebuds), I could justify the purchases of Staub cast iron cook-ware. The man had forgotten that Staub existed. He was quite excited about it. He went to and fro the two brands' display shelves at the mall, mulling over options. I was relieved that he preferred how the Staub cocotte felt in his hands compared to the Le Creuset French oven. In the end, we went home with a number of gorgeous Staub pots and pans. ✌🏻

Be Clear, Sinuses!

The sinuses decided to flare, and wham, overnight, I woke up with clogged sinuses and muffled hearing in one clogged ear. Each time I pinch my nose to pop the airways, clear mucus comes out of my eyes. What the. I’m not totally sure what caused this round of allergies. Not caused by food for sure. Airborne particles. Air? Dust? 🤷🏻‍♀️ After a week of pharmacy meds, I caved and went to the GP to get stronger meds and had him take a look inside the ear canal.

The meds helped for sure, but effects are slow—180mg of fexofenadine, and fluticasone propionate in the form of corticosteroids in a bottle of Flixonase nasal spray. The allergies abate, then return. Arrrrrgh. The clogged ear is most irritating. It’s not entirely blocked and it doesn’t cause any sort of pain. Hearing my own voice echo when I speak is disconcerting. It unclogs when I lie supine, and while exercising. The eustachian tube in one ear remains half-blocked, and it simply refuses to clear. It doesn’t hurt, and it’s clearly not infected.

Somebody suggested chilling out in a salt room. Halotherapy. I'm highly skeptical. However, I had an hour to kill, and the gym has a salt inhalation room filled with heated Himalayan salt rocks, so I went. Popped in the ear buds, turned on the music and snoozed in there. I was like...whatever... Lying down unclogged the ear. Like the mucus sloshed the other way. When I got up, it sloshed back- there didn’t seem to be any perceived improvement to the congested ear.

The girlfriend breezily suggested I roll into karnapidasana twice a day and hold it there. Wait, what? I had to google. Oh, a yoga asana. The Karnapidasana is not a pose you want to get into with cold muscles. I wouldn’t attempt it till the end of the day. I can do this pose, but I rather just take it easy and do the halasana. It’s just an extension of the Pilates rollover. But man, it is painful on old bones!

There isn't any fever, pain or nausea. I decided to use the nasal spray for the ear too. What? Don’t tsk. They’re interconnected. It’s just a stop-gap two-day action before I dig up a non-expired anti-bacterial ear spray from somewhere. I wasn’t about to go to the GP again. If this doesn’t subside in another week, I’m off to the ENT specialist.

Rolling It Out On The MOTR

After a particularly grueling week both at work and signing up for crazy weights and cardio at the gym, and having missed all scheduled Reformer classes, the body was aching like crazy. Took a break from gym classes, and I'm glad to have private sessions at the pilates studio to fall back on.

Early on a Monday morning, the pilates instructor set me on the MOTR (Movement on the Roller) to isolate and stretch out those tiny muscles. But first, she insisted on some cardio. With feet in its resistance straps and the MOTR upright, I had to run for three minutes like that. Yucks. That's always one way of getting the heart rate up a little bit before doing balance and core work.

The MOTR is quite a nifty inexpensive equipment that doesn't take up much storage space. I'm considering of buying it for home use. While it doesn't actually substitute for a Reformer, many similar movements can be modified to be done on the MOTR as well. I don't bother with buying any weights for home use. My body weight will suffice, along with TRX straps and a pull-up bar. Everything else is done at the gym. But if I'm thinking of being less reliant on the gym or giving up that membership altogether, then adding a MOTR to the home exercise regime would totally be the answer. Functional training + strength and core. ✅

Unsurprisingly, I've never thought about stopping pilates sessions at a dedicated studio. I love those! Sure, I can totally practice mat pilates on my own, but without equipment, it isn't as fun. With the gym providing decent Reformer sessions, I veer away from it at proper pilates sessions, and focus on the Cadillac, Chair and the Ladder Barrel. It helps to have the instructor spot any mistakes in form and pacing. With a good instructor, these pilates sessions meet a different set of needs and they're able to condition those muscles deeper and better.

Folklore With The Parentals

Took the man's parents to Folklore for lunch. They hadn't visited and were curious about it. We thought that the restaurant would have settled into an organized hum, and decided to brave it on a Sunday for lunch.

Well... a peak lunch hour, the wait for food still averages 40 minutes. I suppose that can't be helped if the kitchen choose to keep to its logistics structure in spite of complaints about it for a whole year. We were prepared to wait a little, and thankfully, our food turned up in 35 minutes. I like it that the dishes came altogether at the same time, instead of how many other restaurants do it one by one. Tucking in to your orders and enjoying all the flavors make for a better dining experience.

The food is still good, but it has scaled back on the heat, making it friendlier for people who don't that much chilli and spices. The sambal belchan is still as fiery, and dry. :P The parentals enjoyed the oxtail stew and chap chye. They were very taken by the sambal buah keluak fried rice, but they still preferred to have their food with steamed white rice. Remember, this not a Peranakan restaurant. It's an Eurasian interpretation. We got to dessert since it was a table of four. Sago gula melaka and kueh kosui shared around made for a nice end to the meal.

Years ago, the parentals had asked us if we intended to have children. Our honest reply was, "No, we don't." This is a fundamental agreement that has never shifted from the time the man and I met. The parentals gently tried to understand our reasons behind it, and we patiently explained them. Once they heard us out, they never asked again. We're quite relieved at how they've respected our decision. They've never even insinuated or hinted at anything otherwise on birthdays, special days and commercial occasions. It helps greatly when they're not the kind who would or could be caregivers for any potential grandchildren. (Not that we ever expected them to.)

Happy Father's Day to my FIL. He's quite amazing for tolerating this fierce and quirky daughter-in-law who doesn't share any of his food preferences or hobbies, and tends to say a firm NO to his requests or rejects his hypotheses and assumptions outright. I'm immensely glad that we don't disagree too much on regional and American politics and social causes. It's awesome that he stays out of my business and I stay out of his. 😉

The Mind Works In Different Ways

Bought Lapham's Quarterly's Winter 2018 issue themed 'States of Mind'. Contributors and essays talk about the mind and the brain. They're discussed in tandem and separately as a thing of science, and also a thing of the arts and of course, philosophy.

The topics are wide-ranging, and different in nature. The science is always fun, and we usually roll eyes at articles of the mind since that's super subjective. It's how I always roll eyes at quotes by Carl Jung, or some of his writings. Of course Carl Jung came up in this issue.

In Damion Searls's essay 'The Difficult Task of the Future', he picks an angle which explores Carl Jung's correspondence and fierce debates with psychiatrist Hans Schmid-Guisan on the topic of introvert and extrovert personality types. This is Carl Jung's bid to find psychological types, resulting in a summary known as the Myers-Briggs test.

The introvert’s need to find hidden meanings behind the actions of others—which drove Schmid crazy during his correspondence with Jung—undergirds the entire project of Psychological Types, of course: Jung is doing what introverts do. And yet he manages a delicate dance around his own limitations. Even as he attempts a kind of Olympian insight into all the different types, he again and again admits his own partiality, saying straight-out that Freud is as right in his way as Jung is in his, and that the desire for a totalized view, which leads to a theory like Jung’s, is a fact of Jung’s own psychology—that it was almost impossible for Jung to recognize the existence of types other than his own, that it took years, and that he presents them inadequately in his book.

Anyway, within the issue is a little map of some of the untranslatable words in the world's languages created by Haisam Hussein. I like this one quite a bit. It's fun to see some of these words. There're many words I come across in my usual translation work that I struggle to find equivalents in the other language. Well, there're many which we've already adopted through social media trends, say, the familiar fika, hygge, ikigai, and lagom.

In this map, there are 22 words in total, here're some of my picks,

7. HANISA, a Yamana verb prefix, to do something haphazardly. hoping but hardly expecting to accomplish the desired aim. (We would have done this many times for different reasons.)

9. TORSCHLUSSPANIK, a German noun, a sense of alarm or anxiety caused by the suspicion that life's opportunities are passing one by. (Would we feel this at age 25, 30, 35 and 40?)

13. YOIN, as a Japanese noun, that describes the lingering memory of an experience that continues to reverberate.

14. SHEN3MEI3 PÍLÁO, as a Chinese verb, illustrating that to see so much beauty that one tires of it. (This one tickles me because it's written in hanyu pinyin- 审美疲劳.)

22. JALANYPA-MULYU-MULYU, a Warlpiri noun referring to the rapid, repeated poking of the tongue in and out of the mouth, typically in anger. (Besides having to google to learn about Warlpiri as a language, people and culture, this totally cracked me up. I mean, imagine it, pronounce it. Ha!) 

Kept this image in a larger resolution. Hope you can read it if you save it!

Leica Women In Photography :: Silvia S. Hagge

Organized by Leica Singapore under their year-long series titled ‘Leica Women in Photography’, tonight’s mini-lecture celebrated Argentine photographer Silvia S. Hagge. She has been based in Singapore for two decades, and still views photography with such passion. She took a break in between to dabble in multi-media and ceramics, eventually returning to photography.

Silvia Hagge spoke about her journey in photography through the decades, and her penchant for black and white street photography, sharing with us her photos and her unique eye in capturing street scenes focusing on humans, and often finding angles from ground up. While she might have had used a point and shoot to begin with, as most of us did, she now enjoys using a Leica M (Typ 240). She shoots exclusively with a 35mm.

I grinned when she said that in a day of which she might have done 100 shots, she would only probably be pleased with one, or two. In a trip, she might only be really pleased with five or six shots, at the most. I totally get that. The 'money shot', is only that one or two shots out of hundreds of them. I enjoyed her travel tales and how she gets her inspiration, and how she decides what her strengths are, and how she sees photography as a practice. It's a matter of getting out there to shoot, just practicing till one gets better at it. Walking the streets to find a shot, no matter in which city or which country, is also a matter of focusing and not let everything else distract you.

I love my Leicas—the M, T and Q are all meant for different purposes. Often, the M is taken out when I'm on my own in whichever city, wandering the streets to frame shots. I rarely take the M out to socials... Hahahaha. Socials are done by the T or the Q. Photography is still a hobby for me. I'm kinda serious about it, but it's also something very private. I certainly do not share many shots with friends and not even with my partner. Tonight's talk was nice. Lovely to hear Silvia Hagge's voice and listen to her inspirations and what drives her to shoot the way she does. I don't attend all of Leica's events, but when time permits, I try to attend talks and masterclasses by photographers whose works I admire.

Martha Argerich in Concert

As wonderful a pianist as Martha Argerich is, I’m not a fangirl. I didn't even block out the calendar for her concerts or think about buying tickets. But the girlfriend graciously extended the tickets to me when she had to fly out for a last-minute work trip and couldn’t make it to both concerts in Singapore, so I shouldn’t waste the tickets. After all, why pass up the chance to see and hear a superbly talented pianist? The much loved Argentine classical pianist just turned 77 years old last week, and no longer performs solo recitals, preferring to shy away from press coverage.

The first concert saw Martha Argerich and long-time collaborator, fellow Argentine conductor-pianist Darío Alejandro Ntaca in a double piano recital. The program was a standard Schubert, Mozart and Brahms, flawlessly executed. However, I very much preferred their two other choices since I like those composers’ style- the night’s quiet opening piece, Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, L.86 which has been transcribed for two pianos, and of course, Rachmaninov’s fierce and fast Suite No. 2 Op. 17. Loved the two easy and short encore pieces, which were Debussy’s En Bateau and Rachmaninov’s Waltz.

The second concert saw Martha Argerich with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), conducted by Darío Alejandro Ntaca. The night opened with safe and popular (and boring to me) pieces in Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453. I was just so happy that Martha Argerich finally began her evening with a wonderful rendition of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26. It was the only piece I was looking forward to hear tonight. At least I had that to hold on to. For her encore pieces, she played Scarlatti's Sonata in D minor, K.141 and Debussy's La soirée dans Grenade from Estampes.

The girlfriend had fantastic seats for both nights, putting me in the stalls smack on the left of the concert hall where Martha Argerich sat. Those fingers were magical. Imagine the talent and decades of hard work that went into creating the pianist today, overcoming personal battles and cancer. She has not lost that touch. Even though I'm still not a huge fan, watching a great performer live on stage is always a treat. It was wondrous to have seen Martha Argerich play, twice.

Tanzanite For Its Blues

While the MIL wouldn't abandon her diamonds, I might have convinced her to give tanzanite some love. She came back with a pouch-ful of tanzanite from her recent trip to Africa. Earrings, rings and bracelets. Very nice. Nowhere better than to buy tanzanite from its source. She bought the pieces from a reputable jeweler in the country, and had it examined again when she got back home. All properly certified. It's quite refreshing to see her wear another glittering gem besides precious stones like diamonds and rubies.

My jewelry are strictly functional, and restricted by skin allergies to weight and material. It's just a bonus if the jewelry lines are kept clean, non-floral and nothing dramatic. They can be boring, I don't mind. I lean towards tanzanite in the hues of bluish-violet and blue. Tanzanite is named as such for these specific hues on the color spectrum. It's formed from from zoisite, which also occurs naturally in brown, gray, green, pink, yellow and of course violet (the purple hues). It's a semi-precious stone that's apparently going to be mined out. Ermmm. Well....

I appreciated the MIL's gift of those simple tanzanite earrings that are of the loveliest hue of deep purple-blue. It's not a color match with my current favorite tanzanite ring, which I can't seem to stop wearing. Doesn't matter! While I don't need to wear matching jewelry of the same design or even of the same shade, it's nice to have similar hues, so I'm happy to have this option.  Blue is probably the one color I wear if I'm not in varying shades of black, white or gray. Oof! The shades of blue that lean towards cobalt and aquamarine. Never teal.

Picking Out Fun Wallets

Shopping was a fun and fairly efficient way to spend a little more time after catching up with W over lunch. We were supposed to get a birthday gift for dear G, whom we would be seeing the following week. We hadn't had any inspiration about what sort of gift we should get. Usually we'd get two gifts, but we hadn't even settled on one. Hahahah.

It wasn't my intention to step into Kate Spade to find said birthday gift, but W likes Kate Spade and has a few fun pieces from the brand. She's also saddened by Kate Spade's passing. She thought it would be wonderful for us to get an item from there as this range would be the last of the designer's work, or at least designs she had approved of. Okaaaay.

The birthday girl likes whimsical items, and with enough blacks for work, her off-duty clothes are generally colorful and happy. Many items were on a 40% - 50% discount. Yay! Found something for her, of course. Chose a fun color, but safe enough wallet. The coin compartment is really small. Oh well. Just reduce usage of coins. Go cashless. Hahahahaha. Luckily for us, G loves our pick! It's definitely be something she would use.

It was only much later when we were cruising along in the car, having a casual chat and giggles when we realized that G would not have minded the ONE design we didn't think she would like. We showed her the photo. We were like.... 'it's so not you!' And she said, 'I do like it quite a bit!' It was hilarious. Whaaaat? Since when do you like uhhh crabs? And red, and stripes? Then our eyes widened. Oops. We FORGOT that she's a Cancerian. 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

Tacos & Margaritas

Went for to D and J's for dinner. We contributed store-bought chips, and home-boiled-and-blended hummus. They whipped up our all-time comfort food in the form of tacos. 🌮 Wooooot. The hosts went shopping at the Mexican grocer's (where all of us shop at because only they bring in the ingredients we need) and cooked up a storm. Tortilla, carnitas, along with the usual refried beans, tomato salsa, corn, onions and guac. Mmmm. I couldn't stop nibbling on the corn through the night. The pulled pork was slow-braised for hours in the oven, ensuring that it turned out flavorful and tender. Qué sabroso es este carnitas!

Dessert was a homebaked classic tres leche cake. I took one bite, and shared it out. Cannot! Too sweet! I would have preferred it to come topped with sour fruits. People with a sweet tooth would like it though. This cake is soaked in three kinds of milk- evaporated, condensed and heavy cream.

Brought over a friendly bottle of Highland in the form of a Deanston 18y.o bourbon cask finish. Everyone was like, "Oh this will be good with dessert, I'll just have a nip." I had no idea how much a nip is, but the entire bottle was finished! LOL. And it wasn't by the man and I! Hahaha. I was merrily chugging margaritas. Glad the friends liked it!

It was a hilarious night of conversation which ended with us re-living Eurovision through the years. Including the one with Canadian Celine Dion singing and winning for Switzerland in 1998 with 'Ne partez pas sans mo', and Finnish metal band Lordi winning 2006 in Athens with 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. There was even Johnny Logan winning the second time for Ireland in 1997 with 'Hold Me Now'. Oh yes, we went there. Not going to link to the videos. I'll spare you that. 😂

Remembering Anthony Bourdain

I'm not a fan of shows about food or dessert if it's just reality television competition style, or describing recipes. I'm more interested in shows about food as a docu-film style. I've come to thoroughly enjoy Anthony Bourdain's shows. In fact, his shows and his comments probably exerted a fair amount of influences on my early attitudes towards food. My first fine dining experience on my own as a rather young imp was at the now-closed Les Halles in Manhattan, New York City. Then I began to explore and later on moved away from ‘fine-dining’ on pristine tablecloths in opulent restaurants, and welcome foods and cuisines that are just as fine eaten anywhere.

One of Anthony Bourdain's earliest column writing is for The New Yorker in April 1999 titled 'Don't Eat Before Reading This', just before he published 'Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly' (2000). Anthony Bourdain's first television series began at about the same time I was interested in food as more than a form of sustenance for hunger. There were Food Network's 'A Cook's Tour' (2002-2003), The Travel Channel's 'No Reservations' (2005-2012) and 'The Layover' (2011-2013), and his current 'Parts Unknown' (2013-2018) on CNN. The Washington Post and many other publications have described him as a 'culinary adventurer'. They're spot on about that. His shows held that exciting edge that other sugary-coated shows don't. He was a storyteller, and he was a dreamer, curious about cuisines and respectful of cultures. I like his take on Seattle in S10EP7 of ‘Parts Unknown’.

“If I am an advocate for anything, it is to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food. It’s a plus for everybody.”

There's the celebrity, and there's always a personal side to any reasonably successful person whose job is to be somewhat talented and famous. Over the years, I've come to like Anthony Bourdain's public image, comments, and many of the opinions and causes he stood for. In this world of celebrity chefs and stardom, I appreciate the humility and the seemingly genuine emotions he had chosen to show us. For the lack of a better description, he was very relatable. Well, I also appreciate his taste in music and comics. His last few tweets were about the mix Michael Ruffino adapted and made specially for the episode Hong Kong titled 'Rising Sun Blues'.

I feel a deep twinge of sadness at Anthony Bourdain's untimely death. His choice took away the continued sharing of this immense talent with the world. It's such a shame. He didn't even wait for his 62nd birthday to pass. I can't even begin imagine the immense inner turmoil and pain he was dealing with. Yet he lived, boldly, loved fiercely, and had generously shared many wonderful foods and experiences with the world. He is missed. A photo from an episode in Season 8 of 'Parts Unknown' about Vietnam will always remain with me, and no one could describe that photo in a tweet better than Barack Obama did.

Lobsters & A 37th Birthday!

Hopped in to Pince & Pints again for trusty lobsters for dear V's birthday dinner. It was meant to be a surprise dinner. Her partner organized it and gathered the few of us to dinner. So sweet lah! I don't seem to be very good at keeping surprises like this a secret. I kept avoiding texting V too much, just in case I texted the wrong chat window. HAHAHAH. The other chat window was active with planning for this dinner. M got gifts, and G got a gigantic bunch of flowers.

I tried to squirm my way out of a birthday dinner with V, even suggesting that if she was to be taken out on a romantic date, then that wouldn't include me! Hahahah. She pooh-poohed it and said we would be all have having dinner together on this date. DOHHHHH. Okaaaay, no more surprises there already lah. But she mustn't know about the others. Hurhurhurhur. On the evening itself, I was a tad busy collecting cake for her and all that, so I didn't even text her my usual, "See you later! On my way to Pince & Pints!" She must have been wondering why the heck is this imp so silent?! 😂

Marked V's 37th with a table full of friends, laughter and love, and celebrated her, this wonderful girl and great friend to us. Happy that I got some lovely photos of the group at dinner, and contributed towards some fun memories for the girlfriend.

With each passing year, we shift priorities and re-evaluate goals versus values. May you live your life with intent as you make these shifts to live a life with renewed purpose (on your terms). Happy Birthday, V! You are very much loved!

Reformer HIIT

The gym printed class descriptions into a brochure.

The gym re-branded its reformer classes from Starter, Classical, Flex and Athletic into Refomer Beginner, Intermediate and HIIT. Nothing mentioned about scheduling Classical classes for now, but as with gyms, schedules fluctuate according to demand. I was really curious about the HIIT style (High-intensity interval training), of which Australian pilates studios do very well, as do a number in the US. These are styles that pilates studios don't seem to do here. Merrily went for the first few sessions of Reformer HIIT.

I do hope that people taking the class would understand what scooping truly is in order to work the core properly and use it to aid them. Even at my fitness level, I can still get DOMS from a supposedly ‘easy’ 45-minute reformer session when I focus on scooping and activating my glutes to isolate whichever muscle groups I’m working on. Many days, speed gives me an extra calorie burn. On other days, by deliberately doing slow reps, the muscles work doubly hard instead.

The gym’s Reformer HIIT class utilizes sandbells and power reels. Tabata-style sets. Yay. One could definitely increase the heart rate and work up a sweat doing squats and lunges with those accessories. Along with fairly inventive planks on and off the reformer, you get a great workout. This class is not for newbies or people recovering from injuries and nursing continuous medically-untreated pain.

I enjoyed HIIT elements at reformer classes in Brisbane, Australia, mostly because I was on vacation and didn’t have time to do other forms of cardio. I was happy that reformer classes sorted that out. While I’m glad that gym's group classes do them now, I haven’t decided if I like Reformer HIIT as a regular class. The cardio and weights portions within are what I get from other classes at the gym, say LES MILLS GRIT™Strength. I still favor the traditional elements of pilates and its movement in group reformer classes.

I recognize that the gym simply wants to give its members more options, especially when everyone’s stretched for time and can’t ideally squeeze in different workouts weekly. If for any reason I miss out on my usual weights and cardio classes, then going to a Reformer HIIT class would be better than not attending any classes at all.

晚餐 :: 三菜一湯

Woke up to a day cleared of work. Wheeeeee. I didn't head to the gym or pilates studio either. I had intended it to be a rest day, and I was glad that it could be kept that way. Began the day at the coffeeshop with an unhurried well-brewed cup of caffé latte.

Since I had time, I went out to the market to get groceries and fresh foods. There were no plans for the night. The evening meal could be sorted out at home then. Decided to do a classic Asian meal of a soup and three dishes of fish and vegetables. Thrilled that the girlfriend could make it for dinner too.

Also brought out two small golden pomfrets to be done in two ways- steamed and pan-fried with sambal belachan on the side. These people can eat a lot of fish. Two pomfrets weren't overdoing it. Stir-fried vegetables were necessary of course. They came in the form of baby bok choi, and french beans with minced beef. I only cooked two cups of brown rice because we don't take that much rice. Two cups fed us well, and included one portion left for the man's (next day) lunchbox.

Prepped ingredients for soup. Everyone at this table loves soup, so I wanted to boil up a classic Cantonese chicken soup for them. Soup isn't difficult to boil, and ingredients are easy to gather. Anyone can produce a decent pot of soup. It's just a matter of how thick the soup turns out, and what sort of flavors one prefers. I have my own preferences, of course.

The pot yielded exactly seven bowls of tasty chicken soup. Perfect. Everyone had one and half bowls. I had saved some cabbage leaves and lotus root for the last boil so that they would remain crunchy and edible. Nowadays, boiling up a good pot of soup for friends (who like soups) is one way of telling them that I care. #ImpieCooks2018

Although cooking isn't my favorite activity, I'm glad I don't suck too bad at it. I was quite happy producing these edibles. It was an unimaginative dinner, but it filled tummies. For these friends who don't have time to cook and eat out too often (even though choices are usually to take less salt and sugar), it was just a simple meal to contribute towards their daily healthy calorie intake. A mundane evening with good company that wrapped up a tiring work day for the faeriefolk.

Such Adorable Cup Sake!

Went over to V's for lunch over the weekend. We packed delicious boxes from The Daily Cut and Guzman y Gomez, and brought them over to her dining table. Yeah, we eat at these eateries all the time during the work week, but we like their ingredients in our choices of grain bowls anytime. No issues with eating the same things on a weekend. Heh.

E brought over sake. Grinned when she trotted out the cute little cups with pull-off lids. Three grains on a bottle. That will be an Ohmine junmai (大嶺純米、大嶺酒造). The Ohmine junmai ginjo has two grains, and its junmai daiginjo has all of one grain. The Ohmine junmai which is both creamy and clean at the same time, is lovely when drunk chilled. It’s perfect for day-time drinking. 😬 It was a good afternoon of conversation and laughter.

The one thing I oddly didn't do in Tokyo, was to step into sake bars or buy those single serve, one-cup sake. Haizzz. Next time then. The fun isn't to buy them now, which is easily done. I want to simply chance upon them, and take them home. Those little glass cups are wonderful when re-purposed into random drinking cups.

Ohmine junmai, 大嶺純米.

Cheap Steaks & Wine

The friends and I have been dining at Les Bouchons off and on. It's quite cool that the restaurant has survived the years. It has kept its prices and quality of food decent. It's great for days when we can't be bothered to cook dinner, not into paying a lot for beef, and just want some meat to chew on. Okay, the wine selections here aren't cheap since they start at S$90. But this is Singapore; we're resigned to these heavily taxed prices at full service restaurants. At least our cabernet merlot tonight was fruity and easy to drink.

It was one of those evenings again when we just want a casual dinner. We checked in with one another at 6pm, and would simply call a few restaurants to see which one was available for a 7.30pm seating. Les Bouchons said yes, and an indoor table was available at Robertson Quay. Yay. Sitting outdoors, even at night, in our stiff corporate suits, is just too damn hot.

Had a truckload of fries with the meal. Love those fries, and it's fantastic when the restaurant does bring out chilli sauce when I ask for it. I can't have fries without chilli sauce. :P Forgot to tell them that we didn't want salads. No point having them when we take these salads for lunch almost daily. Hahahaha. It was an easy evening of wine and steaks. My extra tender beef fillet was tasty. The kitchen can be a little heavy-handed with the salt over the steaks, so just remind them to go light. The done-ness of steaks have turned out pretty all right. Mine has come properly medium-rare on most orders.

'Others' Is Not A Race

Sat down with Melissa de Silva's part fiction and mostly autobiographical chronicle of her feelings about her Eurasian heritage, and the definition of 'mother tongue', as well as the Kristang language in ''Others' Is Not A Race' (2017). Thirteen chapters, or very short stories if you prefer, captured about the Eurasian experience in Singapore.

Compartmentalizing people into different races is a government construct in Singapore, a questionable legacy left over from the British, and for some reason, cited as a social achievement in today's government policies. It's got its advantages, but nowadays, I feel, it's not as relevant. First and foremost, we are Singaporean. As aware as I am about racial identities, race is irrelevant to me when we are all humans.

I feel and see and hear it. The partner and I look like the majority race in Singapore, we sound Singaporean, and we hold Singaporean experiences. But ethnically and on our identity cards, we are not. We hear both sides of the story, and in daily life, we are still accorded majority privileges in this country. Filling up forms takes us to 'Others', and it's really annoying. If we had chosen to have children, they would be classified under 'Others' too, regardless of whether they follow paternal or maternal links. Don't even get me started on surnames (which has some seen amended progressive policies).

Don't even go to the area where one might ask, does it matter, why is this an issue? Why are some people making a fuss? If you need to wonder about it, then there's a high chance that you've never experienced racism in Singapore, or you've been told that that this is the way it is, and just accept it. But after a few years, surely, you'd wonder at how some words and phrases are acceptable when they're directed at you, or if you speak it to... other... people.

Chapter 12 'Letter to Anonymous Policy Maker (Re: 'Others' Is Not A Race)' says it all.

There were many Eurasians in colonial times and after independence who had contributed to the development of the country too. Yet it was as if they'd been obscured from the official narrative. After decades of working together, building and living side by side, did it come down to this? Six meaningless letters on a form?

Others. 

What does it mean, she wondered, when policy makers willfully choose to see some within society as 'other'? As people on the outside, as if they were invisible? Many Singaporeans were ignorant that they were even fellow citizens. She recalled reading an article online, '7 Things We Can All Learn From Joseph Schooling's Olympic Win.' Something like that. And number 7 was: 'Eurasians are born and bred Singaporeans too.' 

Wow. 

Seriously? 

Like it was some kind of revelation. 

Why the ignorance? It was obvious.

Croissants & A Bear

Before Missy goes off on her packed schedule this mid-year holidays, Y made a date with me and Missy for breakfast. I honestly don't do breakfast often, oof, and it's tough for both Y and Missy to sit down to breakfast during the school term, unless it's on the weekends. It was quite a treat for us to do a leisurely breakfast on a week day.

Didn't need eggs at Merci Marcel that morning. They do really good breads, so just bread, butter and jam would be great. We knew she would enjoy the croissants, sourdough and baguette too. A pain au chocolat is probably the only sweet/sugared bread I don't mind. A chia seed infused yoghurt with coconut provided a tasty morsel to the breads. Juices and coffee completed the meal. There, carb quota for the day hit.

Missy asked me to adjust the shoulder straps on her backpack. I'm not familiar with the brand, and these straps look...complicated. Ed the Bear was useless in providing information. We had to google for youtube tutorials about it. LOL. Sorted that out in five minutes, thankfully. It wasn't that difficult after all. Hahaha. After breakfast, we went off to the bookshop to do some research that Missy needed to complete her holiday assignment, and to check out new titles for her weekly reads.

Good Tenants Are Hard To Come By

I suppose it's a lucky sort of thing when one somehow randomly found good tenants in B and S who moved in to the rental unit and looked after the flat for almost a decade, making it their home. The usual wear and tear aside, the lovely couple have kept it clean and neat. Each time their work trips coincide or when they pop out for a vacation, I go over to feed and walk their dogs; and never fail to marvel at how everything in the flat is in apple-pie order.

It was with a whole lot of wistfulness when they announced they might be leaving Singapore for good, and would not renew the lease. I sat on that information and didn't immediately look for new tenants. (Yes, I do all these myself, including drafting a seriously detailed and scary lease agreement.) Weeks passed, I was mad-busy and shoved it low on the priority list and suddenly......hurrah! I felt an actual spark of happiness when they sent news that they would be staying on in the city after all, and requested for a lease renewal. I wasn’t entirely joking when I asked if they would like to buy the flat instead. Hurhurhur.

When B and S signed the lease hiatus and renewal, and sorted out monies, they left for a looooong vacation; I took the opportunity to spruce up the flat. I would have done that anyway if I had to look for new tenants. But now, with the renewal, it didn't feel like a chore sorting out the flat; it felt fun, and there was more enthusiasm about making it 'nicer', going slightly beyond the basics. Of course I told them about it so that they could store away valuables, delicate and precious items and such. They sent the dogs to a trusted pet hotel, and I collected them later when the flat's been aired out all safe from hazardous fumes and dust.

I wasn't going to touch their furniture. They've accumulated loads of beautiful sentimental and practical pieces. Sorted out a new coat of paint, got in a new compressor for two temperamental air-conditioning units, checked plumbing and all that, as well as swopped out the old crickety electrical appliances for new ones (that were on a fantastic discount), and gave the place a thorough cleaning. There, all ready to welcome them back.

First, there's trust and respect in how both parties would honor the lease agreement and its terms. We work on the principle of common sense and reasonable-ness for whatever else skirting these clauses in the agreement. As time passed, we understood how one another tick. Slowly, a rather solid friendship is built. Well, the relationship feels and works like that of good neighbors, except that our flats are located in different estates that aren't next to each other. Haha! As long as B and S make Singapore their home, and there isn't any sort of en bloc nonsense, I hope they never move out of this flat. :P