Thanksgiving 2024 :: Chicken Curry

It's Thanksgiving week and my Aunts have rolled into town. They're on their way to New Zealand for a few hikes and some wine. I would love to join them, but I have a few projects to eyeball before they go full-steam in January, and importantly, I have a needy dog this monsoon season. Pre 2019, I'd join the Aunts in the UK every Christmas and New Year. But now, they indulge Choya and toddle over to my part of the world instead. 

Put the Aunts up at a dog-friendly hotel and placed Choya with them for a day. LOL They're very capable of looking after her. Choya doesn't mind them either. Then they all toddled over for a simple dinner at mine. When I say 'simple', I really mean simple. I am no cook. So please don't expect anything if I am to produce food from my pots. 

No turkey. I'm not a big fan of turkey unless it's done Asian style. But I'm no accomplished cook. I'm not about to try roasting a turkey or even doing a turkey biryani. Chicken curry for Thanksgiving it was. That was all. Stole the dog's packs of chicken ovaries and chicken gizzards. Hurhurhur. Besides the all-essential potatoes, the offal is always a great addition to the flavors in the pot. 

I would just do chicken curry with okra, and basmati rice. Of course I used an instant pack of curry paste lah! I had earlier gotten those meal kits/packs of Prima Taste rempah and gravy for visitors, and bought too many. So I might as well use them. I did however, marinated the chicken with yoghurt and the additional meat curry powder that I always stock in the larder to 'curry up' the taste. I went super light with the salt since I expect the pack's paste to be sufficiently salted. #ImpieCooks2024 

I didn't even bother with side dishes. The Aunts said no cheese platter needed because they would have plenty of that after this Singapore stop. I did put out purchased nyonya achar and ngoh hiang rolls on the table. Choya got her share too. Steamed a chicken fillet for her to go with a raw ovary and gizzards. She can't be eating that much ovaries and gizzards, so I steamed the rest of it for her next day's meals. 

To my surprise, the whole pot was eaten up! There were no leftovers. I didn't think I used too little meat. It was a whole chicken plus an additional tray of chicken breast fillets since all these people prefer the breast meat. Had to sear the chicken breasts well and separately and not have them overcook in the curry. The husband was just so pleased to have a homecooked meal that isn't anything weird or just spam and eggs. LOL

Yeah, it's chicken curry...... white wine or champagne would match it nicely. But as we have it, this table likes red wine. So a bottle of red it was to accompany the meal. Skipped the pumpkin pie in favor of a small box of mithai! Ha!

Happy Thanksgiving. 🍁

[16] But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. [17] For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them. [18] Hear you therefore the parable of the sower.

~ Matthew 13:16-18, Douay-Rheims

Gotta Lift A 17.5kg and a 7.5kg Floof

Part and parcel of gym training is to keep muscle mass and be strong enough to lift both Ryo and Choya and carry them for a sustained period of time. Ryo is 17.5kg and Choya is 7.5kg. 

I carry the dogs in and out of cars. I don't let them do floors of cars; they go on the seats. The height of our cars' seats and the angles make it tough for the dogs to gauge jumping in and out sometimes. Jumping up repeatedly can scratch the seats too although we have seat covers and mats. 

I have no interest in having the dogs leap in and out of our cars often because I do not want to see any accidental CrCL (cranial cruciate ligament) tears or a full rupture. Jumping isn't ideal for dogs with hip and joint issues. Cars and vans with a spacious trunk or low floors are much better suited for the floofs to hop in and out. Ryo's mom happily carries him in and out of the car, and around too. She's so slim but all muscled; super strong. 

In addition to squats and everything else done with weights at the gym, bicep curls and overhead presses certainly help. Grinned when I saw dumbbells (or DB for short on gym whiteboards for WOD) at 17.5kg and 7.5kg. Perfect. When I can do dual DB overhead presses easily with both weights, that's when I'm strong enough. Although overhead presses remain at 10kg for now. 17.5kg (a side) is too heavy for me, for now. 

It is soooo important to have a dog that you can carry. You need to be comfortable with the weight, and handling. If you have no strength or discipline to control a reactive dog, then maybe you shouldn't be owning it. Consider all the pain of vet visits and such if your dog is injured or immobile. Not to mention explosive diarrhea — the bigger the dog, the larger the fecal volume. As much as I love my big dogs, I'm not having them in a small flat, and not without a helper. Ha!

A Cheeseburger at Honbo

Popped by to Honbo for an easy lunch. They do American smashed burgers, some sort of chicken burger, sometimes seafood specials too. They also have a vegetarian Impossible version, with cheese still. I'm not keen on crispy beef patties, so I don't order their signature 'Honbo' with two patties. I usually get the 'Cheeseburger'. I'm rarely hungry enough to get the double Cheeseburger. Heh. 

Honbo's mascots are hilariously cute. One greets you at the door. They're printed on the wet tissues too. Mrs Patty, Mr Bun, Onion, Cheese and Mr Pickles the Cat. Honbo has been in Singapore for slightly over a year. I don't know if they would survive beyond and open up another outlet besides this one at Chijmes. There're plenty of burger joints in Singapore and incoming ones from South Korea (Lotteria, it has been announced), which would also be insanely popular.

I get a simple cheeseburger each time because I always want to get the tater tots. Hahaha. I'll make stomach space and squeeze them in. Plain though. No cheese or anything. Just plain ole tater tots will do. I like them fried plain this way. The chilled lemonade is seriously good too. Although, the rest of the friends also like to have a pint of refreshing beer (Brewlander for now) along with their burgers. 

Sautéed Pork with Garlic Shoots

When I find gems of a quirky neighborhood izakaya that fits all my requirements and tastebuds, I try to keep them a secret. All the more so if I am friends with the owners, and would prefer to bring like-minded friends there instead of telling it to all and sundry who might just pick a bone with whatever standards they deem as the bistro/izakaya being unable to meet.  

That night at Kizuna, I knew what I wanted to eat to satisfy a few cravings — steamed white rice and grilled pork jowl. They don't usually do the pork jowl in an overly fatty cut, so I appreciated that. Skipped the goya chanpuru (ゴーヤチャンプルー, bittergourd stir-fry Okinawan style) in favor of more pork in the form of sautéed pork with garlic shoots (ニンニクの芽と豚肉炒め). 

We had a full table that night. The others continued with cocktails, chrysanthemum gin and such. I stuck to my highballs. No sake. I didn't want to mix alcohol. The kitchen also kindly gave us a few slices of pickled daikon to go along with dinner and drinks. 

A thunderstorm had rolled in at dinnertime, just as we were all setting out to head to Potong Pasir. But the rain passed within the hour, and that kept the evening really cool. It made sitting outdoors very bearable. It was a lovely night chatting with friends over delicious food and super decent drinks. 

'Gwisin' and Regrets

I suppose one could say it's a story about the people who work with the animals at the animal control center, but I would like to focus on it being all about the animals. Heh. 

This is Paul Yoon's 'War Dogs' published in The New Yorker on October 20, 2024. Set in an animal control center at a New York airport over the course of one afternoon in early June, we have young Brian who works with the dogs, and 19-year-old Tess who works with the horses. They're lovers, partners and colleagues. They wondered if a 'war dog' by definition is a dog who works for the military. 

Right now, Brian doesn't want to talk about his parents with Tess who wanted to know about the death of his father and how his mother is doing landing in Seoul right now. Tess also can't seem to tell him why that she is unable to stomach her favorite an egg sandwich anymore, which is what Brian made for her for lunch. She's extremely bothered and confused. 

In an interview with the same magazine, a question was asked of the author if he deliberately set the story about animals and traveling, 

The chief animal protagonists in this story are two dogs and a polo pony. Their cognition can seem almost human at times. Was that a deliberate decision? Did you ever worry about anthropomorphizing them—or is that something that doesn’t have to concern a fiction writer?

The decision was deliberate, in that I’ve also been interested in how certain fables are crafted and work, but I was always weighing whether I was anthropomorphizing the animals in this story too much, whether certain choices I was making from their points of view were, in fact, my own human point of view rather than, say, pure dog. This is actually something I think about all the time—too much of the time, probably. I’ve been lucky enough to have had experience with horses because my wife is a rider, and I feel very comfortable around them, and dogs have been in my life in some form ever since I was in high school. I went to a boarding school where one of our dorm heads had a dog who really took care of us; I dog-sat all through college; and now my wife and I have a dog named Oscar who is ten years old. There isn’t a moment that goes by when I don’t wonder if I’m a hundred per cent accurately translating his gestures and expressions. But another part of me also trusts that because Oscar has been in my life for ten years, I do know him—or, at least, I feel that we have a strong bond, that we know how to communicate with each other, and so I tried to bring that trust and our years of living together into the story, too. Which is to say, there’s a little bit of Oscar’s personality in both of the dogs in this story. And maybe a little bit of Oscar in the pony, too.  

We have Ramsey the Argentine polo pony who's a frequent flyer, and two mixed-breed fifty-pound five-year-old dogs (a brother and a sister) who in came in from Afghanistan via Berlin, and needed some rehydration and rest. The dogs' owner remained missing although he was supposed to come in with them.

The story also moves to looks at Brian's mother Mary, who's flying into Seoul, and would be collecting a box that her late ex-husband had left for her, and finally meeting his other new family. There's this whole section about Brian's childhood growing up in Jackson Heights NY with his Mom doing shifts at the Korean restaurant, and why she left the estranged drunk husband and father-to-Brian, and how Brian doesn't want to go to college. Then there's Roger, Tess's father who's a veterinarian at this facility who has his own story about his father and some dog. He also sees Tess being kicked in the chin by Ramsey the pony when he reared up.

The author added in the Korean word 'gwisin'. Google tells me that 'gwisin' refers to spirits or ghosts, specifically people who have died. Are all of us haunted by giwsin metaphorically because we have regrets and we will always feel indebted to some family member or owe someone an emotional debt or something? 

Do all contemporary writers write like this? I can see why. But it's confusing af. After a while, I can't tell if it's the dogs who are doing the thinking or the humans who want to escape their own ghosts. They all become one story at the end.

The dog imagines leaving this unknown place, slipping past the fence, taking with him his sister, whom he can still hear, in a corner room in the building behind him, dreaming, the way he can hear birdsong and other dogs and a vacuum and horses and music from headphones and the notification sound of a computer and a man’s faint shouting and a woman saying a word he doesn’t recognize.

What he can’t hear are the passengers waiting for their flights in the main terminals or the people getting ready for their shift at a restaurant in Jackson Heights or the cows on a farm in upstate New York or Mary’s reaction when she opens a box and looks inside or the door to his old home crashing open and his owner, who worked as a translator for the Americans, being dragged out by three men who force him to lie face down on the dirt road as they shout that he’s a traitor and then fire a rifle at the back of his head.

He cannot hear any of that. He fixates on the woman in the grass on the other side of the building saying that word again as she is helped up. He waits for her to say something else. He waits for his sister to wake. Staring out beyond the pond, from where a breeze is approaching, his belly full and this young man’s heart beating loudly beside him, he waits for his name to be called.

Aching Everywhere!

That was one of the toughest gym classes I've done this year. The gym terms it 'GRID' but it's pretty similar to the offerings at all the BFTs, REVL, F45s, but maybe not as intense as Hyrox training classes.

In all the gym's 'GRID' classes, they change it up weekly with a different theme, including cardio, so it could be 'Short Sharp Sprints' and 'Cardio' or 'Strength Endurance' or 'Strength Power'. I don't really care which as long as it's not cardio every week. I'm not a fan of pure cardio workouts.

I dunno why people claim that they don't ache anymore. Okay, it's likely because they only do cardio and never load weights and increase resistance. With each 2.5kg increase or a deeper squat done, one WILL ache. Unless we're such fine athletes that these crazy workouts daily are the norm. 

This week was 'Full Body Strength', and OMG, it was BRUTAL. It was all weights, and the cardio portion was minimal. You know what, I'll work on all my arms, lats and obliques. The coach taking this class is also my PT coach. So he meant it when he said, 'Go heavy.'

'Dual DB RDLs + DB Goblet Squats of 45secs each, repeat for 8 minutes' were pure madness. I went for broke and did 17.5kg a-side, but ditched the weights for 'goblet' squat and simply did squats, then squat-holds because I was too tired to be bouncing up and down. Oddly my glutes were okay. Then... OH MY HAMSTRINGS!

I finished with 'Dual DB Floor Press + Tricep Push Up of 45secs each, 15secs rest, repeat for 8 minutes'. That was HORRIBLE. I decided to focus on the tricep push ups since that worked all the muscles I wanted. So I went super light for the floor press — just 7.5kg a-side. I almost took 2.5kg, but never mind. I used 5kg a-side last week for overhead presses, and coach gave me the side eye. 

FWWWAHHH. That was one class that made me downed a super chilled protein shake at the gym. I knew DOMS would be mega and I was keen to alleviate it. I didn't want an ice bath though. NO THANK YOU. NOT A FAN. I ached everywhere for two days after. Lats, obliques, hamstrings and especially triceps. My rear delts were fully worked. It's clear that I loaded them muscles fully. 

The Magic of Bombay Bicycle Club Is Gone

I was really quite disappointed with Bombay Bicycle Club's show at Capitol Theatre. They oddly weren't very tight. The vocals were squeaky and the band wasn't as good as I remembered. I really liked their songs and musical direction up to their hiatus in 2016. Their last album before they went on hiatus was 'So Long, See You Tomorrow' (2014), and that was really fun.

When they returned in 2019 and released an album 'Everything Else Has Gone Wrong' (2020), I was like, 'yeah, everything is wrong.' There wasn't a single memorable song in there for me. I was really hoping that they wouldn't do too many new songs at this show, but well......

In contrast, opening band Stopgap's brand of indie rock was quite fun and very enjoyable. It has been a long time since I heard them live, and apparently it had been years since they even played live anywhere. Stopgap started shakily, but they got back on track fast enough. Their mix was weirdly heavy on the bass when we were up at the front.

We moved towards the back when Bombay Bicycle Club came on stage. We weren't that big fans to want to occupy prime real estate. The engineers on the sound booth weren't really good tonight. Sound was so patchy. I didn't enjoy it. And the lights bothered me, especially the stark white and red combo flashing through a few songs. That was almost as bad as strobe lighting. 

I stayed till 'Shuffle' (2011, 'A Different Kind of Fix') and left. I didn't bother with the encore song. I was hungry and needed food and I would really rather go home earlier to the dog. I don't need to see this band live again. Bombay Bicycle Club has definitely lost its magic for me. 

The Work Year Is Winding Down

Work projects are petering off as we head into Thanksgiving and the year-end quiet. That's just for these few weeks. I have projects lined up in Q1 and Q2 2025, so while work is winding down, I also have meetings to do recaps, debriefs and set 'deliverables' for the next two quarters. 

Good gawwd. 'Deliverables' is such a fun word that I probably read it and heard it like 100 times that day. I could afford to roll my eyes double since many meetings were done via video-calls and I didn't turn on my screen. Ha.

I am thankful that work is steady and fairly paid. The nature of freelance work is unpredictable. I admit that I don't need that much to keep me in the black, but I truly enjoy the brainwork, the intellectual discourse and to keep the mental edge sharp.

At least many of these meetings are done while I sip a hot cup of well-brewed coffee. And the dog is at my feet. Then I don't have to worry about her going berserk at home from hearing thunder in this horrible week of afternoon rains. As usual, caffeine in the form of coffee always make me a nicer person to talk to. 

I have a few go-to coffeeshops to work out of. Great coffee, steady wifi and they don't grouse that I hang out that for 90 minutes. Yes, I could work at home, but I would rather step out sometimes since I need to take the dog for a walk anyway. Looking at the weather patterns, these rains come in the afternoons, so when we can get some morning sun, I'd rather do that for her. This means changing my schedule. So be it. It's part and parcel of choosing to be an involved pawrent.  

'The Book of Elsewhere' Is Truly Elsewhere

You sell me this name. It's Keanu Reeves. Even if it sucks, I have to read the book. Keanu Reeves teamed up with British China Miéville to do this sorta sci-fi but not sci-fi story titled 'The Book of Elsewhere' (July 2024). 

Tbh, I was super skeptical. I refuse to read the 'BRZRKR' series of comic books written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt, and illustrated by Ron Garney. This immortal warrior is not my thing. Then there's the whole series spin-off titled 'Bloodlines', which is written by Keanu Reeves again, with Mattson Tomlin, and illustrated by Steve Skroce. 

But this book is set in the 'BRZRKR' world. So if I don't flip through those comics, I would be quite lost. I had to scramble to read other reviewers' comments and summaries. Ha. I'm back with this thread of the immortal warrior struggling with his immortality. Sigh. Young B who learnt about his "dayfather" and the blue lightning as his "nightfather".  (Reviews here, here, and here.)

The immortal warrior Unute/B has been alive for almost 80,000 years. He can be injured but not killed. He can be 'reborn' via an egg. I was like, isn't that like the Paleolithic period which saw abrupt cooling and warming cycles? If that didn't kill Unute/B.... then I reminded myself that we're in the book's universe.

"I kill," he said to me, slow and implacable. "I die," he said. "I come back." 

Right now, present day, Unute/B is with the military, enlisted in black ops, of course. Dr Diana Ahuja leads the scientific unit in the military that studies his powers and strength. The unit mainly creates technological warfare advances, but does nothing to solve his immortality problem. The digital copy holds two fonts — different typeface for different eras.

There is a pre-historic pig who is in the same situation as Unute/B, and spends eons tracking the immortal down to gore him. I have no idea why the pig is here. Why must it gore him? Why him? At this point, I was absolutely lost. I have no idea what the actual story is.

In all fairness, the actor made it clear that the writer wrote the book, and not him. The writing is done properly so. The plot holes are glaringly hilarious. STILL.

Towards the second dawn, after hours of motionlessness, the egg twitched. The man watched. He held his breath. From within, a point like a spear pushed through it, stretched the fleshy membrane, splitting it, and out blurted a sopping pool of thick liquid. The rip grew wider, and out of the shade within spilled the raw pink body of a babirusa. Sharp bladed teeth. It lay wheezing. 

"Welcome," Unute whispered. 

The pig kicked, and staggered, and stood, and turned around and saw him. He sat still. A shudder passed all the way through its body. 

"Not used to seeing me so quickly," Unute whispered. 

The pig hunched. It stared at him.

"You don't have to," he whispered. 

It emitted its first sound, a horrid scream, into the desert night. It stamped, tusks shining, skin still growing upon it. The man put his hands out ready, and as it came for him, he turned it gently away.

I'm a hardcore fantasy fan. I like military stories. I can do corny. I can do B-grade. BUT. Haizzzzzz. I'd suggest for y'all... ... Don't Read It.

I'm sorry, Keanu. It's not you. It's me.

Making Most of The Sunny Mornings This Month

The spate of afternoon thunderstorms meant that the husband and I must take turns to stay home with the dog to ease her anxiety. The crack of the thunder is literally earth-shattering. It rocks our core and rattles the windows and doors. It's quite mad. Choya's astraphobia is real. 

We also have to make the most of the morning sunshine to take her out to get in essential vitamin D and up her endorphins in order to combat the high cortisol levels during the full-blown Northeast monsoon. I'm perhaps grateful that the thunder doesn't come in the nights so that I could sleep through.

Took her out for a walk by the sea and met Ryo's pawrents for a coffee. This is a quieter part of East Coast Park that both Ryo and Choya like. Ryo isn't as overwhelmed by humans and dogs along this stretch. Ryo was willing to walk a lot longer than Choya. So his Mom took him for another round along the paths. It's super sunny and hot, but there's shelter and a small breeze that stirred. 

This stretch sees fewer humans, and thanks to the efforts of the park's cleaning crew, it's also cleaner, and I'm not as worried about sharp bits and chicken bones, although both still exist. We'll just have to trust our training of dogs not picking things off of the ground. Luckily for us, Ryo and Choya aren't inclined to eat things outdoors in this manner unless they're so curious about them. While Ryo's mom doesn't mind giving him treats outdoors as a reward, he doesn't want to eat them because he's a tad nervous of the big outdoors.

This Smol Girl happily peed and made a poop. Then she just wanted to sprint around for a few minutes and chill, and sniff. She's not that keen to walk for so long in the sun, and she's generally not that enthusiastic about loooong walks. 

Choya asked to be allowed to run. She prefers to run free here without being judged. But of course we only dropped the leash and let it trail behind her instead of unhooking her altogether. We're not that brave. Off she went sprinting rounds. She loved that wind in her ears. Her face was pure joy. 

Aged Fish Isn't My Thing

I wasn’t too sure about dining at One Prawn & Co at New Bahru since it’s a lot shellfish, and uhhh prawns. Lunch is impossible for me since it’s ramen with prawn broth mostly, along with a few sides and snacks. The dinner menu was wider with more options. 

However, it’s not a restaurant I’d return in a jiffy. They call themselves 'Modern Asian Seafood Grill'. I’m not quite sure of their kitchen’s direction. Their flavors are a tad confusing. There’s nothing inedible or gross. I’m just not hot about its dishes. They’re either lacking in bite, or too overwhelming in trying to be innovative and give diners every flavor out there. This New Bahru outlet officially opens the weekend of 23 November. 

They also put a lot of caviar on the menu, and luckily that's an optional add-on. A crab coquette with sweet mayo and chives at S$16 gives you an optional add-on of 10g of caviar at $48. You might as well just buy a whole tin of caviar at $188. Nope, I don't know what caviar it is. I didn't bother asking. I'm not a fan of caviar and while I used to not mind eating it, over the years, I have ditched it. Now, I wouldn't eat it even it's placed in front of me for free. It's the same reason why I wouldn't touch shark and shark's fin.

Tonight, the kitchen had run out of things we wanted — the spiny lobster poached rice, monkfish skewer and furikake, and monkfish and cashew curry. They also ran out of XO Scottish scallop and vermicelli (one piece at S$28). All are OOS at 7.15pm. Okaaaaay. 

They had the ankimo mousse with pink peppercorn that came stuffed and rolled up in a crispy love letter. We had the beef bulgogi with uni, which was middling. The dry-aged hamachi with kimchi and puffed rice was fine, but the fish was cured way too dry and it took away all the natural flavors of hamachi. Ugh. The cabbage, plum and bonito wasn't great. I dunno, they used red cabbage. I had a different expectation of this dish if you put cabbage and bonito and plum in the same sentence — perhaps a more Japanese interpretation rather than this Asian slaw thing. The squid noodles and ink was okay I guess, but I'm not a big fan of squid.

Their fish is mostly cured. And this is my biggest issue with the restaurant. The 14-day dry-aged kingfish came as a 150-gram portion sliced up with pickled papaya slaw. For now, it's $30 per 100g of aged kingfish fillet. As a main, I found it really weird. It's all sour and sour and more sour. If you have an aged fish as a main, the side shouldn't be a papaya slaw. Eiooooow. I think the kitchen really needs to differentiate their textures and flavors better. It's not astute. The aging of fish has no finesse. The entire dish is really not to my taste. I like my fish fresh and grilled. Not cured and not as ceviche. 

I was a tad curious about the kingfish head with doenjang and ssam. But now, I'm not keen to try it at all. I suppose I could settle for a haddock burger. Ugh. Maybe the next time I come here, I would do that. Stick to conservative things. The restaurant's menu is creative, but its creations aren't suited to my preferred flavors, and definitely doesn't tickle my tastebuds in the right spots. 

This is the 14-day dry-aged kingfish with pickled papaya slaw.

Reminders of Mortality

I turned up at the old folks' homes and the hospice as usual this week. I'm still not fatigued from volunteering with the team and doing what I do best. I've always preferred to devote charity efforts to old folks in need and those on palliative care. It has been three decades and I'll do it for as long as I can. It isn't emotionally taxing for me, and I've long learnt to draw boundaries.

Hitting 50 years old soon meant that I'm seeing my friends succumbing to illnesses. Over the past few months, attending a few funerals and learning news of friends being diagnosed with cancer and such is sobering. It keeps in full view, our own mortality and vulnerabilities.  

Their choices of treatment, or not, is fully dependent on their illnesses's prognosis, current life's circumstances, as well as discussions with their family. Some people are great patients and some aren't. Some people choose to deal with their diagnosis calmly and matter-of-factly. Many place their trust and lives in their respective religious faiths. Some got berserk and totally emotional. Nothing is wrong or bad. It's your choice of reaction. Your entire outlook and philosophy about life might likely change as a result of your own diagnosis. 

Everything about how you choose to view being stricken with cancer or other autoimmune diseases, cholesterol, heart and kidney issues, is entirely on yourself. You decide whether you choose happiness or optimism, or choose to spiral, and remain at rock bottom, or push the blame on something else. Asking 'why me' doesn't help. None of us are so special. If we have the privilege of health, then please use that to serve your community. 

I can't judge you or tell you what to choose. I'm the worst at that. If I'm a close enough friend and you choose to ask, I can only tell you a logical course of action. Otherwise, I treat you as per how I always do, but I will support extra and spur you on in terms of dietary choices or whether you feel like going out. However, no one person can be a sole caregiver and not get burnt out. Aside from your medical team, you will need to roster a team of friends and contacts to look after your daily and emotional needs. I tend to treat you exactly how I treat my old folks (we're all getting there) — with civility and respect for your choices, whether you're throwing a tantrum or not. I'm excellent at ignoring you and taking you at your words. BUT being sick doesn't give you the right to be cruel or mean, or play manipulative games.

Over the decades, I've learnt to compartmentalize my emotions towards human illnesses and death, and tragic as they maybe, they don't hit me as hard. Or rather I have seen so much physical pain (from illnesses) and emotional angst and dead bodies that I've grown a tougher shell against it. I honestly think I can even deal with any potential illnesses for the husband and myself. We get our administrative affairs in order, and will deal with the unpredictables when they arise.

It's probably Choya falling ill that I can't bear.

MONO :: 'OATH'

I have watched MONO so many times, and it is still about the only band that I'd watch again and again and again. This time in Singapore, they showcased their twelfth studio album 'OATH' (released in June 2024), produced by their long-time collaborator, the late Steve Albini (July 1962 to May 7, 2024).

The inspiration for 'OATH' came from a place of loss for everyone, of memories and the past, and the present, and the music made everything even more poignant this year as we move into this season of life. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the band. Wow! MONO has been around for decades! I grew up with their soundscapes. I've loved them for ages, since their debut album 'Under the Pipal Tree' (2001).

MONO did an Asia tour for 'OATH'. I wouldn't have minded going up to Bangkok to catch it, but since I would rather stay in town, I couldn't be more pleased that they made a stop in Singapore at Esplanade Waterfront Theatre. It's a beautiful venue that could totally showcase their sound and all that reverb, distortion and delay. It's a sonic expedition like no other. 

My seat was right up at the stage. I couldn't be bothered to sit in the middle or near the sound booth where sound is always the 'best' at gigs. I wanted to SEE the musicians. Also, there aren't any vocals. It doesn't matter. Ear plugs are a must at MONO's shows. But I took them out at various points just to feel the blast of the amps and all the different layers of instruments coming through. The final encore song 'Everlasting Light' (2009, 'Hymn to the Immortal Wind') was dedicated to the late Steve Albini.

Tonight, MONO performed with a 12-piece orchestra, featuring local and international musicians. Of course. I didn't think they would lug 12 additional humans plus gear along. The French horns, trumpets, trombone, violins, cello, etc. The orchestral arrangements were superbly matched to the band's music. Bravo to the musicians. 

25 years. Since the band began in 1999. They haven't lost their touch at all. They could still compose, didn't lose inspiration or sight of their music. And most of all, they could play and put on a show. And what a show we saw tonight in Singapore. This is the penultimate realm of post-rock and contemporary classical. Absolutely stunning. Intense and moving. 

WHAT AN EPIC NIGHT. 

Beef for All of Us

I had two fillets of beef tenderloin that I should eat up. One regular 250g grass-fed Oz, and one lovely Argentinian grass-fed 300g. Thawed them out for dinner. The Oz tenderloin for Choya and the Argentinian fillet for us. I had time to pop out to get some bok choi. Gonna do the beef Asian style in the form of steak donburi for us. 

Our Argentinian tenderloin is beautiful and shouldn’t be cooked through. If tenderloin fillets are done right, they are juicy and super flavorful. Marinated ours simply, and added a dash of shoyu. Grilled the man’s steak medium-rare, and mine medium-towards-rare. The way I prefer it is a very pink medium. Few restaurants bother to humor me. Hahaha. Never mind, I’ll cook it myself. Gosh, this new Staub frying pan does its job soooo well. #ImpieCooks2024

Seared the Girl’s Oz steak blue. She loves it this way. She has her raw base, but it’s nice to get some cooked toppers to boggle her mind and tantalize her tastebuds. There’s no boredom for her meals in this home. 

She loves accompanying us out for meals. But she especially loves having dinner together with us at home. It pleases her to smell the same proteins ingested for everyone. She had her juicy steak with yoghurt and pumpkin, and coriander. 

As the steaks are being seared and finished, I boiled up 1-go of Japanese short-grain rice in the donabe. Both would need to rest, so the timing is perfect. They could all rest while I got the sunny-side-up done. 

The man thoroughly enjoyed his dinner too. For someone who doesn't take too much carbs at dinner, he took a whole bowl of rice the moment he learnt that it was cooked in the donabe. There were loads of onions and garlic plus shallots. He also added a liberal spoonful of furikake to the rice. Wah.

There Must be Diginity Even for the Homeless

In an excellent commentary written by Harry Tan, Vanessa Lim, Belle Phang and Brian Monteiro titled 'Homeless Shelters That Feel Like Home Can Help Keep People Off The Streets In Singapore' published on 8 November, 2024 on CNA, they reminded us that there are homeless people in this city, and many still sleep rough. And many more will do so.

This article summarized the various help channels available to people who need temporary living spaces. We have seven transitional shelters in Singapore. 

Currently, homeless people here have access to two main shelter options: Safe Sound Sleeping Places (S3Ps), which are temporary or overnight shelters run by community or religious organisations, and the longer-term government-funded transitional shelters in one-room to three-room HDB flats or former public buildings.

I'm not exactly involved in MSF's PEERS (Partners Engaging and Empowering Rough Sleepers) network of agencies or shelters. But when rental flats get freed up (as one unit with co-tenants or otherwise) and can accommodate homeless folks, and if they're the elderly, then they will be trickled down to me and the team to sort out their day-to-day subsidies and such. 

I do sometimes reach out to rough sleepers, especially if I see them for more than a week in the usual spots I frequent. There're many occupying little corners along Roberston Quay and Mhd Sultan Road, as well as Little India and some quiet corners of Jalan Besar. 

Family resources, help and support can only go so far. Many will still slip through the social safety nets. I'm glad that the Ministry of Social and Family Development is doing regular and almost annual surveys of 'Street Count of Rough Sleepers'. Based on that count, we do have homeless people in Singapore. Not overwhelmingly so, but at a number we should not dismiss. The full report to 'Street Count of Rough Sleepers 2022' is linked here. 

530 rough sleepers were found, a significant decrease from the 921 rough sleepers sighted in a previous single-night count in 2019. This means that for every 100,000 persons in Singapore, about 9 are sleeping rough. While much work remains to be done, the incidence of rough sleeping is lower than global cities such as New York (40) and Hong Kong (21).

The CNA article also suggested that we should brighten up these transitional living spaces so that they feel more welcoming and feel less like a stigma and housing 'unwanted' people in marginalized venues. 

Physical spaces affect people’s moods and behaviour. So shelters can influence how residents see themselves and the world around them. A cramped shelter with no privacy, sterile corridors, and bare-walled rooms is hardly inviting to anyone and reinforces the stigma around homelessness. 

Incorporating warm lighting, plants and cozy colours into the shelter environment conveys the idea that "you deserve a place to call home". This mindset can help the residents progress towards attaining stability. 

In 2023, CNA reported on a prototype room for migrant workers that was designed to feel like a home, suggesting that this could be the future for dormitories. 

We extend the same idea to homeless shelters and suggest that designing innovative shelters that feel like home could help to keep people off the streets in Singapore.

I dunno man. We don't even treat our migrant workers and domestic helpers right. Government efforts to even improve the way we transport workers are half-hearted because the businesses don't want to incur higher costs and the government doesn't want to regulate it or force them to. 

Along this sort of reasoning, then broad questions will come in as to why should we make that distinction to 'help' the rest of us living on the fringes. It's sometimes very disheartening to hear people say, 'If we make it so nice, then people won't want to leave!' It's on the same logic as 'Why should people on handouts have a big television or the latest model of a phone?' 

Hello, this idea of aspirations! Can you fault someone for having aspirations? Austerity and minimalism might be something. But many prefer a warmer touch. People like decorating their office cubicles, studios and lockers, rooms, homes and everything else. 

Singaporeans have this problem with 'dignity', and providing welfare to the less fortunate. While many of us might not be racists, we are elitist and materialistic af. Pragmatic to the point of being apathetic. Perhaps we simply don't care because we're too wrapped up in our own problems and doing life. Nobody wants to be labelled as poor, or living on the poverty line. Many are proud and would like to be independent and find freedom in living our life the way we want, as far as the society permits. However, life does deal many of us a bad hand at various points in our lives. Few of us can weather these storms.

Extracted from MSF's full report titled 'Street Count of Rough Sleepers 2022'. 

Plenty of Food at Izakaya Shun

Went to Izakaya Shun for a casual dinner. We expected it to be halfway decent, and it was. We took the $99-course with the free-flow alcohol. Nothing to quibble about the meal. It's well-budgeted and they manage to streamline the ingredients into this reasonable set meal.

While it's a set course, we have a choice of choosing our appetizers and mains, and dessert. It was a generous set, I must say. I had nothing to complain about it. Would I return? Not necessarily so since there're other restaurants to check out, but this izakaya is under the same group that owns a few other restaurants (and Kemuri next door) in the same area. 

I was pretty happy with the easy sashimi. There wasn't exactly sushi. They came in the form of a maki, and shime-saba sushi. The beef stew in the appetizers was surprisingly delicious. For your mains, stick to the beef or pork. The table smartly chose the wagyu beef. I bravely opted for a main of fish — it's middling. That sea bream was okay but it wasn't fresh enough by my standards to be steamed in this manner. It should have been better seared or grilled. 

I was very happy with sticking to highballs all night. I wasn't going to mix my drinks. The table merrily took Suntory beer, then highballs and sake. Hahaha. Sure. That sake with the free-flow alcohol was bad. Sharp and irritating. But if we topped up $29 for a better version, then it's '$29++ x the number of diners' for the table, even if one doesn't want it. Zzzzzz. Okaaaaay. 

After the 47th US Presidential Elections

Democracy cuts both ways. Especially in America. 

I have no words today.  

I give you 'Civil War' (2024), written and directed by Alex Garland. It was first shown at South by Southwest in March 2024, and then released at the theatres a month later. Made with US$50million, it has grossed US$126million and counting. The cast stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman.

Blockbusters truly like to blow up government institutions and iconic buildings, American or otherwise. Have we been so desensitized to violence that we love watching these disasters and destruction onscreen? I watched it shortly after it was released, and shuddered. America is the battlefield. You incinerate the idea of democracy and the entire idea of America, and while you're at it, throw in the Constitution of the United States too. 

Manohla Dargis's review of this film in The New York Times said,

If the violence feels more intense than in a typical genre shoot ’em up, it’s also because, I think, with “Civil War,” Garland has made the movie that’s long been workshopped in American political discourse and in mass culture, and which entered wider circulation on Jan. 6. The raw power of Garland’s vision unquestionably owes much to the vivid scenes that beamed across the world that day when rioters, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “MAGA civil war,” swarmed the Capitol. Even so, watching this movie, I also flashed on other times in which Americans have relitigated the Civil War directly and not, on the screen and in the streets.

Thom Yorke's Solo Show

Toddled to Star Theatre to have a listen to Thom Yorke’s solo act. I was glad that the friends picked seats at the back. I don’t want to be at the front where the musicians could see me use the phone and such. I have no wish to be scolded in public for doing a rather normal thing. He also had his recent Melbourne set interrupted.

This tour is billed as ‘Thom Yorke: Everything’. It was really quite like that. Our friends in Australia told us it was pretty good, although we really missed Radiohead as a band. Ahhh… we all last got together in Sydney 20 years ago for that awesome Radiohead gig. We are fans of Radiohead but not too keen on Thom Yorke per se. But hey, we’re all in town. Might as well catch a show. Tbh, I’m not too keen on his solo albums. They’re too electronic for me. The show’s strobe lights were rather annoying and for four songs, I kept my eyes shut and head down. 

The night started with his own ‘The Eraser’ (2006). He debuted his new song 'Back in the Game' in Christchurch NZ, and included it tonight too. The geometric graphics as a backdrop are brilliant and seizure-inducing. I found myself looking away very frequently. The talented multi-instrumentalist moved effortlessly between an electric guitar, an acoustic, the keyboards and the rig to create familiar sounds, synth pop and some dance club beats. 

I really liked this acoustic version of ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ (Radiohead ‘The Bends’ 1995). Admiring his voice is one thing. Liking his solo stuff is another. I very much prefer his voice against the backdrop of a full band. (Full Singapore setlist here.)

When the opening chords of ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ (Radiohead ‘Kid A’ 2000) began, everyone stood up. It was the final song of the show. No point sitting down. The night ended with an expected encore and three songs — ‘All I Need’ (Radiohead ‘In Rainbows’ 2007), ‘Cymbal Rush’ (solo, ‘The Eraser’ 2006), and ‘How to Disappear Completely’ (Radiohead ‘Kid A’ 2000). Thom Yorke played a two-hour show, giving the audience all their money's worth. Hehhhh. 

Missy Turned 16!

Our busy schedules meant that we couldn't find a date to have lunch until this November. Between all the work obligations and such, we made a 11.15am brunch date at Grub Pasta Kitchen. 

It was a great venue since it was right at where Y was done after a padel session. Missy could get here easily on her own. Choya got in a walk and all the sniffs and UV exposure needed.

It was a belated birthday meet for Missy who just turned 16. Wow. To think I saw her as a little tot, and she's now 16. Before I know it, she's going to be 18! What a pleasure it is to have a chat with this girl and admire how she has blossomed into this intellectual human who's got her good head on her shoulders. 

Food was dependable and easy. We had a tad too much carbs! Ahahaha. But never mind, the growing girl needed nutrients and sustenance. I got my morning coffee fine too before moving on to an orange spritz for dessert. No alcohol at lunch. That tends to give me a headache in this heat, plus there would be alcohol later on in the night.   

Choya was pleased to be there too. She likes being invited out to outings with our friends. Of course she remembered Missy and Y. Missy was the first kid she met as a young pup. She liked Missy so much. Heh! We scored a reprieve with the weather on this outing. It was actually cool-ish and a breeze stirred. It was cloudy but the thunder and rain held off till we got home later in the afternoon.

'Buttermilk Graffiti'

No prizes for guessing why I had to satisfy my curiosity with a read of Edward Lee's 'Buttermilk Graffiti — A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine' (2018).

In 'Culinary Class Wars', while Chef Edward Kyun Lee was impressive with his steadiness in churning out innovative food with different textures and flavors, I couldn't get over how in the show's Round 4's Mixed Teams Restaurant Challenge, he didn't realize it was chuck that was used and not a tenderloin or a ribeye. How? You use these cuts and meats all the time?! Especially when you're a Korean-American chef based in Kentucky, and you don't actually cook Korean cuisine. SERIOUSLY. But he did rectify that as best as he could, in that unassuming humble manner when speaking with the customers.

There're recipes in here, but this isn't a recipe book per se. The author-chef stated that he expressly didn't include illustrations or photos, and pointed us to his instagram page for these. It's a book about food, about how a food comes about, what it means for the person cooking it, and all the memories they stir. 

The title of this book, Buttermilk Graffiti, is poetic shorthand for my life. Buttermilk is the iconic ingredient of the American South, one that I not only learned to cook with but grew to love. Graffiti is the art form that first inspired my identity, the thing that connects me to the memories of my youth in Brooklyn in the 1980s. Each word by itself is important but one-dimensional. When they come together, though, they become the full story of who I am. If my food were just one or the other, it would be fine, but it wouldn't be as uniquely layered. 

.....................  

It is in those stories that you will find the flavors and textures of who you are, and where you will find your story. If you really want to know someone, you have to eat what he has eaten. The story of your favorite foods is your culinary memoir, not a nameless collection of recipes. And that story will be part of the bigger story we all tell every time we turn on the gas and put on a pot to boil. It is the story of American food. 

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book so much. But I did. It isn't just about the recipes. It's about Chef Edward Kyun Lee's stories of his life in America, his experiences and what shaped his recipes. He was thoughtful, and mused much over his memories, his youth and what he has done so far. 

Here's the content page and the chapters in the book, and the foods that he talked about. He began his musings with his part-time job at a diner in New York City while attending NYU, a college trip to New Orleans where he learnt about beignets and those at Café du Monde, a cafe of which almost all the waitstaff were from Vietnam in 2016 and 2017. He also had the calas from the cafe, which vaguely reminded him of Korean hoedduck/hotteok. That became a recipe for Korean Doughnuts and Matcha Beignets. 

Then we moved on to Lowell, Massachusetts where the author-chef reminisced about boxers, famous boxers and met retired boxer Jack Brady (he passed on 1 September 2018), understood more about Cambodian food at Simply Khmer owned by Sam and his wife Denise. This trip produced Amok Trey and Pork Laab with Fried Egg on Popcorn Bread.

I honestly am not interested in trying any of these foods he listed. Maybe Chanterelle Hummus in 'Chapter 4: The Accidental Fast' in Dearborn Michigan. Okaaaay, the caveat is, I have tried them. I'm just not keen to revisit any of them. Not desserts and not fried foods. Even when tradition and immigrant cultures intersect, American food has a ton of fried things, and burgers and pizza, fried dough, fried chicken, fried meat and more fried things. :PPppPPP 

I'm mildly interested in the food 'Chapter 7: A Kibbeh in Clarksdale'. The author-chef went to Clarksdale in Mississippi. He went to Chamoun's Rest Haven run by Paula. It's a Lebanese restaurant, but it also offers Italian food on its menu. It's the food of Clarksdale, of which it is "Italian, Lebanese, barbecue, Mexican, soul food, Chinese—some of it authentic, some not; it all bends to serve the community." He ate kibbeh (one could eat this raw or fried) and cabbage rolls. This stop produced two recipes, Cabbage Rolls with Nasturtim Leaf Kimchi and Beef Tartare-Stuffed Deviled Eggs with Caviar.

'Chapter 14: German Mustard' killed me. He talked about German food, some made by his wife Dianne (who's German) and his mother-in-law. He talked about how he and Dianne would search for German restaurants while on vacation and finding them scarce. LOL I dunno, I don't particularly care for German food. Do you? He offered five misconceptions about German food. Well. Never mind. At least German mustard is good. And this is the one chapter that he dedicates to his wife, unofficially perhaps. It's the one that we see the fatherly and husband-ish side of him. The recipes offer Hasenpfeffer (German rabbit stew), and Roast Butternut Squash Schnitzel with Squash Kraut in a Mustard Cream Sauce.

In the Epilogue, the chef-author said that in this book, he wanted to give a voice to the people who seldom get one, and to investigate cultures he didn't know a lot about. he also tried to cook food that he was previously unfamiliar with, and might still be. He still wanted tell stories, to be respectful of people's words and craft.

Maybe cooking the food of others is appropriation; maybe it is learning. Often I ended up with more confusion and more questions than answers. A question such as "What is Nigerian food?" never has a simple answer. In fact, even Nigerians will debate the answer endlessly. In the face of so many uncertainties, how can any of us be authorities on anything? It is disheartening at times, but it is also the reason I still yearn to learn and discover new cultures and foods I know are out there.

We go to Shapiro's Delicatessen in Indianapolis in 'Chapter 15: The Palace of Pastrami'.  The Jewish deli has been open since 1905 and is currently run by fourth-generation owner Brian Shapiro and his wife Sally. Then he went to watch the races at Brownstown Speedway, and talked about racing, and the legendary African-American mechanic and race-car driver Charlie Wiggins (1897-1979). I grinned at the recipes. I understand these recipes. Pastrami and beef tongue. I already cure beef tongues, which are getting really pricey in Singapore. I'll skip the pastrami though. These three recipes are for Beef Tongue Pastrami, Beef Tongue Sandwich on Everything-Spice Sally Lunn Bread, and Beef Tongue on Johnnycakes with Thousand Island Dressing.

The book ends with 'Chapter 16: A Tale of Two Cornbreads'. We go to Hosanna's Kitchen in west Louisville that apparently has one of the best soul food in town, and owner Janice's cornbread is tops. We also go to Shirley Mae's cafe and bar eight and a half miles away Smoketown. Shirley Mae's cornbread tasted different too, and this woman rejects the term 'soul food'. So we have a recipe for Lacy Cornbread with Rhubarb Jam.

I looked at Janice and Shirley Mae and assumed they were cooking the same things—because they were black, because they were women, because they cooked in Louisville. And though there are similarities between them, the differences were much more significant. Those differences define who they are and how they've made the choices they've made in their cuisine. Their two approaches to cornbread are not simply a variation in technique. They represent a rift in their upbringing: one rural and the other urban. I never would have made that distinction if I had not talked to them at length. I would simply have assumed that they made different cornbreads for reasons that were random. It took me a long time to understand that their choices in their cornbread recipes tell an intimate story of their past. 

There was nothing terribly difficult or noble about my coming to this relaxation. I just the time to get to know Janice and Shirly Mae. They made me realize that recipes can be an incredibly personal expression. A simple conversation about the origin of a recipe can lead to an entire afternoon talking about one's childhood in Tennessee. There is nothing terribly difficult about making cornbread, either. I could give you Shirley Mae's recipe in one paragraph. But you'd be missing the point. 

Hello New Staub Skillet!

Remember the small and cute Lodge cast iron skillet that cracked into two through to the center? Bought a replacement skillet. They call it a 'frying pan'. Opted for a Staub with dual handles that could go into the oven too. It's the same size of 8 inches. 

Obviously I didn't bother going out to the shops to buy a pan. I'm that lazy nowadays. Also, store discounts can't quite beat Amazon's prices. For this new pan, Amazon JP did the heavy lifting for me. Browsed around, found an ideal pan in the right size and color. Bought it. It was delivered within a week, from the warehouse in Japan straight to my doorstep. Yayyy.

Finally got down to seasoning the new pan. These cast-iron pans come pre-seasoned anyway. I just needed to coat it once before actually using it to sear steaks. It will be in frequent use anyway, so it would be kept nicely oiled. I also have a habit of scrubbing the pan with only salt, then oil it and heat it a little before storing it away till the next use. 

I went to get spring onions. Spotted a slab of pork belly that was on a discount. $2! Score. Got that. Well, I wasn’t going to eat it. I just wanted an oily cut of meat to smear the pan and I wouldn't feel too guilty about chucking it. Pork belly is ideal; that thick layer of fat on top left a nice sheen on the pan and all around. Once I cleaned out the meats and all, I coated it again with oil and baked it. It's all good and in business now.

Deepavali Thali Galore!

I am so stuffed from the Deepavali/Diwali feasting. Our friends took us out to a lovely lunch at Adda. We all chose to have the Deepavali thali, and we opted for either meat or vegetarian. I prefer vegetarian. For most of these festive meals, I always prefer the vegetarian courses.

Adda's thali was well-portioned. Nothing was too much. A basket of plain naan was also served for people to mop up the gravy with. The mixed vegetable curry and paneer khada masala in my set was delicious. The dessert held two items of rasmalai, which was oddly not achingly sweet, and a mithai of rose and gulkand. I took a bite and skipped the rest. Our friends also gifted us a box of 'less sweet / lower sugar' mithai from the restaurant. 

Then we were also invited over to the friends' homes for festive meals. Luckily for us, we didn't have to choose one or the other. They fixed it as a lunch and a dinner on different days, freeing up our stomach space and easing all digestive systems. Heh. I'm thankful to have friends who bother to host guests at their home, and really welcome us. I don't have such generosity or energy, really. I try to be as unobtrusive a guest as possible, and be ultra neat in the friends' homes.

The friends catered some dishes, and cooked a few. Of course they cooked basmati rice. That's least effort, and comforting to have warm rice. Some also cooked dal in different forms, and even idly, appam and dosai. A few gamely cooked curries like cauliflower kurma and bhindi masala. They were all really delicious. I just didn't have enough stomach space to eat all that rice and appam with the masala. Mmmm.