*972 - play date

Hold your horses, everyone--late May to early June: EV's going home (yes, Singapore)!

Who wants to have a play date? :)

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*971 - nutritional breakfast #1

Beginning the day with 13% of our daily saturated fat intake each fulfilled with just one shared vanilla yanyan.

Also, we do not appreciate duplicates in our yanyan. There were three moles in holes!

*970 - teriyaki

The best teriyaki sauce I've ever made, not so ironically, comes from a recipe we used in culinary class some two years back (has it really been that long?)--so vastly different from its ubiquitous mass-produced bottled counterpart!

Though I've made it several times on the usual salmon or chicken, last weekend saw a foray into the lesser trodden path of ... teriyaki steaks! So yummy that I made what I originally thought was four portions for two, but we ended up licking our plates entirely clean.





Yes, store-bought crinkle cut sweet potato fries in the background--his (also very yummy) contribution.

Here's the recipe (with vague measurements). The secret ingredient is orange juice, for that mysterious tangy sweetness.

- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed oranges because I don't drink orange juice)
- a splash of sesame oil
- a splash of honey
- a little knob of finely minced ginger
- a clove of finely minced garlic
- scallions

Mix and use as marinade.

*969 - come again another day

What is the point of these delightfully sunny 40 degree (F) days when all you get to experience is the 10 degree (F) coldness when you make that shivery trot from your doorstep to your car in the morning and from your car to your doorstep at night?

We'll see heavy rain and wind tomorrow--disappointing for a Friday night, but looking on the bright side, at least my embarrassingly filthy little bug will get a nice wash!

*968 - a taste

It's hard when things come a full circle and bite you in the ass, hard. To anyone I love that I have ever hurt--I'm sorry. I really am.

*967 - bolero

Sylvie Guillem performing Bolero with the Tokyo Ballet.

Though rather cliched because of her prominence, she is one of my favourite dancers to date. Maybe even my favourite. I can't even begin to explain why. Beyond her infamously acrobatic body and impeccable technique, I love her quirkiness, her diva-esque snobbery (somewhat), her strong-headed rebelliousness. You can see it when she dances.

*966 - speech recognition technology

I've been seeing prolific ads for a particular speech recognition technology on the telly lately. Amazed by the advancement of technology these days, and to take advantage of the free downloads of that program for iPads (this is the biggest reason), I downloaded it and decided to test it out. Speaking very clearly and deliberately, I created my blog entry for the day!

"meeting sangria exchange involves a bottle of dry red wine sliced oranges, lemons apples or any other fruit you want a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice for very much/L triple sack on the single of sugar and good store and a good long soak in Fitch some people at soda to it which at CNN spent driving now if only it were a hot summer day"

I suppose the gist of the message is there, and it's pretty good at recognising fruit names!

And this is the sangria that I made. Probably a little stronger than the average sangria. But probably a little more delicious as well. Rum-soaked apple slices, mmm.



(This is what I actually said, for the record:

I'm making sangria tonight. This drink involves a bottle of dry red wine, sliced oranges, lemons, apples, or any other fruit you want, a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice, a very large splash of rum or triple sec or brandy, a sprinkle of sugar, a good stir, and a good long soak in the fridge. Some people add soda to it, which adds sweetness but dilutes the drink. Now, if only it were a hot summer day ...)

*965 - colours

One of the prized traits of a research analyst or consultant, at least at this company, is detail orientation. Of which I have to an alarming degree, just like all my colleagues, which makes work such a breeze because we're all on the same nitpicking page.

I still find it funny, though, that there have been five men across from me standing around a screen for the past half hour picking three colours for a report and discussing the nuances of teal and turquoise and all related colours on the spectrum of blue to green. Awesome! I'm thoroughly in support of detail orientation that extends to these depths.

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*964 - lately

I have been absolutely exhausted these days, and absolutely ravenous.

*963 - pole

I did something I've been meaning to do for years, ever since it picked up momentum as a dance/performance/atheletic form that goes beyond its common associations with sex and stripteases.

Nope, I didn't take a pole dance class.

But I will, on Saturday! :)



Is it not beautiful and inspiring? Imagine how strong one has to be!

Very very excited, though early Saturday mornings do not typically see me in my best form. A good reason to be healthy and treat the liver with care come Friday night!

*962 - where?

I almost started bawling at work from a sudden twang of homesickness. Teared up and sniffled and quickly turned my thoughts back to excel formulae and data sheets and the whole nerdy shebang.

I've never really decided on where in the world I want to settle down in. I've never really meant to make a decision, I guess. Why should I? I am out of place here, and I've lost my place there. But I can be happy here, and I can be happy there.

Now, more than ever, love and promises and a future together are no longer shackling me down.

But I'm staying. I want to. And I shall, at least, for now.

*961 - please?

I'll try not to be all Tiger Mother-ish about it, but I would love for my children to love to dance :)

*959 - i'm always talking about the weather

The mess outside my apartment:



Got stuck in ice again yesterday, for maybe the fifth time this winter. When I say stuck, I mean preposterously, impossibly, untenably stuck--spinning tires, burning rubber, spitting ice and muck, zero grip, without hope of even rocking the car back and forth an inch.

Of all the times I've been stuck, I've only managed to get out with the help of either the unlucky friend who happened to be with me, or a kindly passerby taking pity on the little Asian in the little yellow bug.

Yesterday was a fortuitous combination of both (friend + stranger). I put my car in neutral and watched with mouth agape as the two muscle men rocked my car off the ice with sheer strength. Wow. I wouldn't have been able to budge my car an inch otherwise. God never fails to send help (and muscle men, where applicable)! :)

*958 - happy wednesday

Stretching, spiraling, reaching, releasing, contracting, curving, lifting, leaping. Flying.

Hard as I try, a gabazillion unlimited yoga classes at the gym cannot fill the dance-shaped void in me. (Preferably modern, but I guess modern jazz will do!)

Life without dance? No thanks.

*957 - the only auspicious thing that remains in my vocabulary

恭喜发财! :)