*1224 - rent

Whenever D's not around, I get severe separation anxiety because we spend every waking and sleeping moment together otherwise.  From sprinting for the bus every morning together, working from 8 to midnight together (yes, not the ideal lifestyle, new years' resolution to change that), all meals together, passing out from tiredness at the same time.  Anyway, he's away and whenever that happens, I turn into a sloppy gluttonous jittery trashy-American-TV-watching slob.

Which is what's happening now as I'm talking way too much to Poka, blazing through all the chocolates in the house, and getting really mad watching House Hunters.

These people furrowing their brows over having $600 rents per month should try living in San Francisco.  Our little house is so much littler, so much older, and I don't even dare to tell you how many times that amount we are paying than that.  Ahhhh!!!

Leaving for D's in a few days and hopefully my sanity will be restored soon.  It is almost Christmas!

*1223 - pixie

If I weren't Moonface ...

(Remember him? Enid Blyton's Enchanted Wood/Faraway Tree, favorite childhood series)

... and perhaps were blessed with a nice petite bone structure, I would LOVE to have a chic little bob.  Cropped it all off once in my life and unfortunately that was not to be.  I thought it to be ultra fun and cool but it was really hard to maintain, and it wasn't the cute little pixie bob I've always dreamed of having.

Oh wells, it's always going to be me and my boring long hair I guess!

*1222 - bangkok

It made sense to swing by Thailand since we were all the way in Southeast Asia already.  And the contrast between Bangkok and Singapore was remarkable.  

Whizzing around in tuk-tuks: quickly discovered it was cute but a bad idea and switched over to metered taxis.

Man or woman?  We watched the ladyboy cabaret show, albeit nervously on the edge of our seats which happened to be the front row, dead center seats.  Audience participation in a ladyboy show?  Sure gave us the jitters.  

 

And of course we sailed the Chao Phraya river on a long tailed boat.

 

 

This cute little river merchant came by and ended up selling fresh pomelo to the ang moh couple behind us.  I was like UHHHH are you SURE you want to eat ROOM TEMPERATURE RAW EXPOSED FRUIT on the Chao Phraya with your delicate non-Asian tummy bacteria?  Perhaps they were armed with preemptive charcoal tablets like we were.

Wat Arun, temple of the dawn.  Fascinatingly decorated with bits of porcelain, apparently brought by Chinese boats.  Dizzyingly steep, made my knees wobble especially on the way down.

 

The reclining buddha's toes!  

     

And a very.  Eyeopening.  Experience.

 

View from the observation deck of our hotel.  Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel in Bangkok.  The daytime view of Bangkok is a lot better than the nighttime view.  We went up there the first night, peered around, shrugged and went to sleep.  And lo and behold, woke up to this lovely view!

Apparently the best mango sticky rice street stall.  I could not tell you where it was, T led us there.

I looove mango sticky rice.  Especially with the little crunchy things by the side.

Also on the agenda was our first Thai massage ever (involving a roomful of Thai massage ladies screaming with laughter at our pain), other touristy sights, lots of mystery street food (just point and consume and down charcoal pills after), lots of really good non-mystery non-street food, and realising why girls in Singapore head to Bangkok for the sole reason of shopping.

*1221 - brunch in Singapore

My recent trip home served more of the purpose of immersing myself totally into the Singaporean culture/food that did not exist elsewhere; hokkein mee and prata and chilli crab and carrot cake and sentosa and the gardens and ku de ta and the like.  But every once in a while one does need to sit down in an atas environment, preferably surrounded by green lushness, and likely frequented by the casual ang moh in her yoga wear and doggie in the middle of a weekday.  Nothing quite beats good old sweaty hawker food, but there must be appreciation for everything else that is good in a different way.

Spruce.  Very tucked away and pleasant ambiance apart from the fighting ang moh couple next to us whom we tried very hard to ignore due to extreme awkwardness.  The lady was throwing a silent tantrum and refused to eat her $20 lox and cream cheese and not a word was exchanged the entire time.  Woops.

Eggs benedict was fine, the saving grace was the corn waffle beneath it that provided some interesting sweetness and texture that raised it a teensy step above a regular eggs benedict.  But then, I am hyper-critical of eggs benedict given the number of really amazing ones I've had.  So ... not bad but wouldn't return for it.

The advice we had going in was to ignore the brunch items because anything they made, I could probably make just as well on my own.  Yes, that is the sad downfall of being able to cook--things that used to be WOW become yeahhhh-I-could-make-that-myself.  Snob, I know.  So anyway we got a burger which was ... also fine.

Overall it was LOVELY ONLY BECAUSE COMPANY WAS LOVELY, otherwise, a place to relax and nibble and be seen but overrated in my opinion.

Then, D and I tried Jones the Grocer.

An Australian concept, I believe, and actually had inspiring pancakes.  Coconut, with mango, and why don't we ever eat pancakes with ice cream around here??  They need to do that more often.

 

The bread with the "BLT" was lovely, crisp, herby, and the "L" in the "BLT" was watercress I believe which was a lovely touch.  The tomatoes were thick and seasoned.  I thought the details were impressive.

And this was classic Singaporean customer service, where we wanted hot water for our teapot and were refused because it was policy not to be able to refill teas.  We managed to weasel out a cup of boiling water from the server which we poured into our teapot and refilled ourselves.  It was bizarre and an embarrassment from the outside looking in but if you know anything about (poor) Singaporean service, it was all rather ordinary actually.

Sitting outside on an unusually cool day, people watching without deadlines and without anywhere important to be or important to do.  Thumbs up to vacations.

     

*1220 - skyline

Well it isn't that bad.  You know me, melodramatic in the moment.  And homesick for a country with some serious night views.  No kidding.

D and I went up to Ku De Ta, which was lovely, but really I think the coolest part of the Singapore skyline is looking out in the direction of MBS and not as much from it.

In my opinion, the prettier view from across the bay:

Always amazed at the transformation we have all witnessed over the years.  I have to give Singapore props for excellent city planning.  Just look at that view and the extravagance of twice (I think)-nightly light and laser shows.

You do get to see the rest of the city from Ku De Ta, perched on the 57th floor, which is also pretty nice.

 

*1219 - up down flat

This constant drama is boring me.  Three perfect weeks and I am plunged back again into what shouldn't have to be the reality.  It is a whirlwind of one dramatic event after another, yet nothing different ever happens.  It's always up and down and it's always a flat unmoving line.  Zoom in and you see the fluctuations.  Zoom out and nothing has changed.

Ideally, don't we all want that line, both zoomed in and out, to be climbing up, up, up?  Somehow if that line stays straight for too long, the canvas tilts to the right and the perspective changes; you've been going down, down, down all this time and bringing it back up takes more than ever before.

Not depressed, just musing and only slightly glum.

*1218 - wading

In work.  Discovered that a double load of work is the best cure for jetlag--I had close to none because my days were caffeinated and adrenalined, and my nights were way too short but therefore instantly adjusted to the usual sleep in the early AM and get up several hours later type of schedule.

Still struggling through everything on my plate and have almost weeped several times due to extreme panic and stress.  But welcome back, me, I can tell my absence was felt ;)

Irrelevantly, I am so parched but this cycle keeps repeating:

I fill my glass and gulp --> I turn to my work --> Poka gulps from my glass --> I have to get up and rinse it --> Repeat x 5 so far.

Laters.  Updates when I've resurfaced for air!

*1217 - poka hotel

In a bid to stay awake so I can pick D up from the airport tonight at 1 am, I was looking through photos from the past month or so and chanced upon these, taken just before I left:

 

NOOOOO our poor Poka, stuck in a kitty hotel.  She was scared even before the journey to the hotel started (unrelated reason) and I'm sure is having a miserable time adjusting because she is, as most cats are, extremely adverse to change :(

I feel like a bad Mummy, leaving my baby behind for two whole weeks.  But it's best to put her in a professional establishment where they know how to look after scared kitties since this was a long trip.  I hope she remembers us and decides to like us again when we retrieve her.  Russian Blues are supposed to be very loyal to their owners so that does give me a bit of hope, but but but what if she has a bad memory or bears grudges or is emotionally scarred??  You'll never know!!  Aiiyeeeeee.

*1216 - tonight

TONIGHT the boy sets foot on this little island.  It's happening!!  I can scarcely believe it.  Pictures and stories and pseudo Singaporean food abroad by means of packet mixes/sadly inauthentic restaurants can help, but nothing comes close to understanding my roots and my motherland by experiencing everything in person, obviously.  Expecting to have a sleepy, sweaty, sunburnt, salivating (from overly-spicy food) D in my hands for the next couple of weeks.  Hurrah!

*1215 - baby milestone

Today, I meet my almost a year old first ever nephew (!) for the first time ever (!), and carried/touched a baby for the first time ever in my life (!).  The Aunty Evelyn-Timmy moment lasted all of five glorious seconds with everyone around me trying to say reassuring things like "carry baby is automatic one don't worry" and "rely on instinct, yes, your instinct" etc. before both of us chickened out and I swiftly returned him to mum.  I promise I'll get better at this with my own child.

"I don't know, I'm as scared as you are Timmy, this is all happening too quickly, I'm not ready for this, are you sure you want me to hold your child"

 

"Instinct?? Heh heh heh are you sure what if my instincts are wrong oh no baby incoming"

"Oh hi Timmy I'm carrying you all by myself this isn't that bad is it"

 

"Ok we both want out aiieiiayiiihhhhaaaaahhahhahahelp"

And ok, let's just be totally objective here for a moment.  Aunty-dom and blood relations aside.  You have to agree that Timmy is a handsome young chap.  I'm seeing my brother in him which is terrific because my brother's a handsome young chap as well.  He's a terrifically happy baby with great elasticity of facial expressions and from what I hear is growing up to be a little professor in the making!  Am such a proud Aunty :)

*1214 - newest hobby

Was just chatting with my little namesake today (most lovely!!) over prata (kosong, egg, with milo dino!!) and decided it was time to say something about my hobby in hiding over the past couple of years (on and off).  I started in Boston for a couple of months as some friends do know, took a long break, and started again mid this year.  Didn't really mention it to anyone publicly in case any of the higher ups at work were not in approval oh heavens please no, hear me out first.

Dancing has always been so much a part of my life, something that began as a choice when I was a wee little brat (no really I was quite the brat), that took a different acrobatic turn when I was 12 in the form of rhythmic gymnastics, that went pretty mainstream with the jazz and the lyrical jazz classes throughout, and then took a more cognitive, intellectual, and experimental turn when I studied it in college.  So movement, music, athleticism in the form of dance, is a part of me and it's not going to be taken from me due to external pressures or perceptions.

Well so anyway that was my disclaimer to my newest hobby, pole dancing.  Yes, it is becoming more mainstream especially in Australia and the US, a little in Singapore I hear.  Just a handful of years ago, the pole dancer was associated with sleaze and kinkiness and strippers and red light districts and general behavior you would want to hide from your boss at work in a professional setting.  But thankfully nowadays the perceptions are changing and the art form itself is changing.

The studio I study at is terrific and I'm very thankful to have found it after several missed tries.  If forced, I can do an excellent booty roll and a solid sultry walk around the pole.  But none of that interests me and I certainly do not feel empowered by erotic dancing.  No no no thank you.  This studio allows me to focus much more on technique and developing my pole skills as an art form, and that's the direction I really want pole to move towards as more people get educated about what it truly can be.  Because I really think it's beautiful.  You'll be hard-pressed to find skanky slithering on floor, stripper heels, etc. in many top-notch pole competitions around the world.  There's a lot more consciousness of it as acrobatics and dance and art.

Now if learning how to be sexy with movement is something that will empower you and something that sounds like fun, by all means!  Pole is a great way to learn to do that (and is a very impressive skill to have).  But I'm just saying that my personal preference is to study it as purely acrobatic while leveraging my grace, flexibility, dance background minus the sexy part which I'm just not comfortable with.

And by the way, pole dancers are typically dressed minimally whether with skanky intentions or not, because exposed skin is the best way to create friction with the pole--the only way you're able to do all those cool tricks on the pole.  It's all about body placement and finding the right piece of skin to grip the pole with, places like upper thighs (hence the little bottoms) and around the torso (hence the little tops).

Anyhoo, I had my very first little recital back a month and it was so much fun!  I was the baby of the recital in that I had only been studying it more seriously for a couple of months, so our routine was quite simple and involved a lot of dancing around and just a few of my best tricks on the pole which were nothing to brag about at all.  Still, I was proud of us for the very brave attempt!  We also got to perform alongside Miss Pole Japan, Yukari!  She was so beautiful and tiny in person!  And watching her perform in person was so much more amazing than watching her on Youtube, the audience was gasping with hands over mouths, but anyway this is her:

Can you believe that she was there performing with us?  Starstruck *.* (that's my little emoticon demonstrating extreme starstruckedness).  She was apparently recently headhunted by Cirque du Soleil.  Holy moly.  Well I am excited to learn more and get better at this!  It's such a great physical challenge, I really enjoy it.

Anyhoo, here are a few pictures of me in my little routine which I'm sure provided excellent contrast to Yuakri's ridiculously awesome one ;)  Photo credits to Mirage Visions, as seen in the watermark.

*1213 - home bound

At the airport, sick in a very discernible and mucusy way, flight already delayed 1.5 hours, with clam chowder in my hair.  Not off to a great start here but at least I'm on the way to the place I still call home.

To the poor soul who has the misfortune of sitting beside me on the flight: I sincerely apologize that you are stuck with both a middle seat as well as me on your left, and wish your immune system the very best of luck.

*1212 - flying tomorrow

AND am sick

what to do?? watch out, Singapore

what a mahvelous time to be ill (sarcasm)

!!!

*1211 - don't mess with me

Poka looks like a gangsta with menacingly furled lip and slitty pupils.

This was right before she developed kitty pimples on her chin from the undue stress of moving to a new home.  Yes, kitties get acne from stress!!!  It was so sad but kind of funny.  I felt like a Mummy watching my child go through puberty.  She has since cleared up, thank goodness, and I'm pretty certain she likes our new place much better than the old.  As you can see, she's got herself a nice sunny spot for excellent sunbathing.

*1210 - chicken pie with whole wheat crust, ugly but yummy

i ♥ pie

ORLY?

(... ya, rly.)

*1209 - uni

Is it very odd that for someone who enjoys Japanese food, I only recently discovered the true joy of uni (sea urchin)?  This was the dish that blew me away.  It's not often that I eat something that renders me speechless because I'm a fussy prick but D can attest to the fact that I was sitting bug-eyed, nibbling carefully and quietly at my uni and making the joy last for for a full 10 minutes.

Uni on a spoon, with raw quail egg, ponzu, spring onions, tobiko.  SO AMAZING.  We went to their sister restaurant recently and to my great disappointment, this dish wasn't on the menu and we had to settle for uni nigiri.  MAYBE IT'S GONE FOREVER.  I don't want to contemplate that thought.

This was at Nihon Whiskey Lounge.  If you sit on the second floor, you get to peer down at the bar area and wonder what happens to all those bottles if one of those little Californian earthquakes strike.

Being a whiskey lounge, they serve a bible's worth of whiskeys.  I'm not man enough to drink straight whiskey so I prefer to go for the whiskey cocktails.

We like getting an omakase of oysters--a selection of various types.

We are by no means oyster experts and can only distinguish basic and obvious differences. "I think this one's creamier."  "Maybe brinier."  "Saltier?"  "Could be the sauce."  "Eh maybe."

Pork belly is always a treat.  When I was a child, I used to cut out all the fatty bits.  Now I realise they add so much flavour and I just relish and try not to think about how bad it is for me.

One of my sushi always needs to include unagi.

While one has to include sake.  Yes I know, cheap fish, but I happen to like the flavour very much.

This one had scallop and asparagus and lemon slices on the top.

*1208 - pho bo

I adore a good bowl of steaming pho, sprouts stuffed into the hot soup as quickly as possible (I don't like the rawness), and the thin slices of beef fished out immediately (I don't like the cooked-ness).  But this is admittedly an arduous task for an angmoh who recently learnt to use chopsticks and has little experience with ever putting soup in a spoon and piling stuff on top of it so you get a cohesive single slurp of yumminess.

Puzzling to me is why I've never made Vietnamese spring rolls.  This is probably one of few dishes in which I actually enjoy the taste of fresh mint (I'll pass on the mojitos, thanks).  I love the lightness and terrific contrast of textures: chewy and soft and crisp.

Grilled lemongrass pork over vermicelli.  Also very flavorful and I love the peanuts.