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

恭喜发财! :)

*956 - if only

This is what I would do if I were home right now.

(After I have fulfilled my duties as long-lost friend, daughter, and sibling, of course.)

I would stuff a handful of moneys in my bikini and kayak my ass to a little hammock under a tree looking out into natural gorgeousness on a little Indonesian island, sustain myself with fresh caught fish and stingray that I spear with a sharpened wooden stick a la Bear Grylls, use my moneys to purchase a large bottle of water (hydration is key in these parts of the world) and a larger bottle of Gewurztraminer, and get a nice, reasonable tan while shutting myself away from the rest of the world and thinking lovely thoughts of love joy peace and bunnies and cupcakes and steamed broccoli (mmm) and contemporary art and yellow primroses and purple irises and breeeeeeaaaaathe my very best ujjayi (ocean) breath and then let go of all the uglies in my mind, in my heart, in my life.

And then I might take the ferry back home.

*955 - an assortment

What Blackberries are good for: spur of the moment photos, when G12 feels too unwieldy. In other words, the only form of photographic evidence of my life as of late.

The one thing that has been consuming my life in the past few weeks: snow, and a lot of it. Snow and I are no longer friends, because of the damage it is done to my car, my wallet, and my inner peace. Snow storms mean two-laned streets that become 1.5-laned, unparkable snowed in parking spots, getting stuck for hours on ice with wheels whirring and tires burning, a lot of shoveling, getting towed and having to pay $150 to get my car back, getting the front of my poor little bug broken by the towing company, slippery roads and swerving cars, frostbite within 3 minutes of being in the open, soggy toes and salty boots, running ankle deep in icy slush and sliding uncontrollably down icy slopes, the need to scrape off the car in the mornings and shiver for the next 10 minutes while driving, an inclination to be a hermit and not have to face the cold, a general grossness and discomfort all around.



Ok, that turned into quite the rant. Well. I do admit. Snow can be pretty. Sometimes. It was a lot more enjoyable when I didn't have a car.

Next!

These are the best burgers in the world: handmade by Evelyn. Thick, juicy, a hint of thyme to surprise your palate, crispy bacon, melted cheese, lots of fresh veggies. Mmm.



Kid's night involved wheel-shaped pasta in cheesy goodness next to a bevy of t-rex's and stegosauruses fighting it out, chicken nugget style, on Spongebob plates. Also on the menu were s'mores goldfish, chocolate pudding, caramel pudding, fudgesicles, mini swiss cake rolls, chocolate chip waffles, juice boxes, Disney movies, and a couple of stiff drinks. Obviously, my diet needs some working on.



Last but not least, this is possibly the third cat I have endeared myself to in my life. I have not quite learned the nuances of winning over his love, but I do know that he is more affectionate by day than by night, and he does like a good eyeball rub together with the customary chin scratch. Purrrr.

*954 - give thanks

So, let’s do this: give thanks for as many things as you can type in ninety seconds. Who knows what my brain will come up with? Here we go.

Love, God, sunshine on icy days, cute boots and scarves and winter coats, good hair days, rose-scented hand soap, smiles and dimples, pasta and prosciutto, asparagus and squash and eggplant, pretty red nails and ridiculous pink toenails, smiley family photo on my coffee table, wonderful work buddies, long emails and happy texts, hot chai tea, lots of wine, ...

It kind of ended on an anticlimactic note (I guess I should have tried to end with a bang as I saw the seconds ticking to a zero), but there you go. This is what I am thankful for, at this precise moment, in ninety seconds.

:)

*953 - cultural difference

You can look at it from two angles.

One, intrigue. Poo versus pew and baNAHnas and toMAHtoes, tales of an exotic land and places never seen, confirmation and disconfirmation of stereotypes, discovery of the bizarre little things that seem shocking to one but are just another very ordinary fact of life to the other.

Two, contradiction. Different upbringing, different values, different interactions, different taste buds, different habits, different experiences, different outlooks. The question is, are those differences reconcilable or even worth reconciling?

Stereotypical as it is, that is perhaps why birds of a feather tend to flock together. Embrace what is comfortable and tried-and-tested, or venture out into what could be more exciting and eye-opening? I say a bit of both.

What I would give to re-live my college life with the knowledge that I have now.

*952 - just wonderin'

If I were a man and grew out my beard, would I have a magnificent, full-bodied crop, or would I have sparse, scraggly hairs on my chin?

I am guessing the latter, seeing how the hair on my head is fine (as in, thin) and far from voluminous.

Just a passing thought.

*951 - post-Christmas fancy dinner

Perhaps the most involved fancy-schmancy dinner I have cooked from scratch. Everything turned out to be more delicious than expected. Mmm!

Jalapenos



Soup in the making



First course: Spiced Thai peanut soup



Second course: Kaddo (Butternut squash baked in cinnamon and brown sugar, served with a tomato meat sauce and garlic yogurt)



Third course: Salmon lemon risotto with asparagus



Fourth course: Fresh berry trifle

*950 - heritage

Ultimately, the ones who were raised with you in the same culture and churned through the same machine called "Singaporean Education" tend to end up being the ones with the deepest connections. 'Twas a lovely week with a visiting friend, and am sad to face the reality of Real Life Away From Home again.

*949 - i like them runny

I've thought about this many a time, and I think this is how it goes, vaguely at least (favourite first): poached (preferably Benedict), soft-boiled (Asian style), and then omelette (though this comes in so many variations, it could rank first or last, depending) or scrambled or sunny side up or even tamago. Hard-boiled rarely features.

Whatever it is, I pick runny yolks.

A terrific Christmas present: a cheery yellow egg poacher!


Which produces the most ridiculously perfectly circular poached eggs that smile at you.






Bacon and eggs--classic, oh so good, oh so bad.


To continue with the egg theme: innocuous-looking French toast ...


... but do not be deceived! They are actually the teeniest little cheese-stuffed pumpernickel French toasts, even smaller than your palm! Or mine, at least.


-

Goodbyes are the most painful.
When and how and why?
If or maybe or never?
It hurts.

*948 - 2011

A new year, a fresh start.

*947 - dreams

The first thing I think about when I stir from my sleep is "what did I dream about last night?"--a habit formed from dream journalling (the first step towards lucid dreams, they say).

The past week's dreams have been heavy with frustration, panic, insecurity, sadness, general misery. When I am awake, my head swims from the dichotomy of emotions my heart feels. I am pulled this way and that, shoved, prodded, dragged, left alone, shaken.

Half the day goes by in a pretense. But which half?

I dread and I long and I am quite frightened.

*945 - Christmas

... For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

- Luke 2:10-11

Blessed Christmas to all! 'Tis the season for joyful giving and merriness over enormous Christmas feasts, but above all, to remember the greatest gift--the gift of life and life in abundance because He lived to die for us.

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*944 - work play

As if spending twelve hours a day together in the same office isn't quite enough, we do things like chill out over beers and chat till 5 in the morning on the weekends. The coworkers also feature regularly in my nightly dreams--this essentially means that I spend almost all my waking (and sleeping) moments with them. While this sounds depressing, I'm actually rather content.

And also because we do things like chat till 5 in the morning, I am now at the airport with 1.5 hours of sleep after a sleep-deprived week at work, trying to keep myself awake with a cold, overpriced ham and brie sandwich that I don't actually want to eat. Zzz.

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*943 - bedraggled

To accompany the below post, here's what I looked like at the end of the night, when I left my brolly in the T.



I was actually much wetter and more miserable than I look.

DON'T LIKE RAIN (when I'm outdoors).

*942 - rain or snow?

Which do I prefer? Torrential rains but relative warmth, or lovely dry snow but painful cold? Rain is probably the lesser of two evils, but I'm bedraggled with soggy toes at the moment--can't wait for the powerful moment several hours from now when I get to kick off my knee-high boots and unleash the soggy mustiness within. Ugh.

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*941 - gorgeous!

In my humble Asian opinion, the Eastern European girls are asdfhjklhjk beautiful! Danced the night away, probably damaged my eardrums and ruptured my vocal chords, and will soon nurse the hangover away with fried chicken and more drinks.

Ah, weekends.

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*940 - sweet dreams are made of this

What you can't achieve in reality can come true in your dreams. Sometimes, it's such a disappointment to wake up from the sweetest of sweet dreams, and then slowly realising as you blink the sleep out of your eyes that life isn't all cotton candy and bunnies and little yellow daisies and today, well, today is going to be just another day.

(It's alright, I don't like cotton candy anyway!)

*939 - girly musings

My new favorite (favourite? There are some things I spell British on purpose because they look better; most other things I spell American when I am here because I don't want people to go ??!?!!!$!%?!?, but whenever I do, I feel like I'm betraying my roots. Anyway, my new favorite) hairstyle is to go to sleep with damp, braided hair, and then to bunch it messily into the characteristic Evelyn-style low side ponytail, but now with lovely crinkly hair!

Like so. Sans chubby face and uncomfortable pose and awkwardly cropped photo to exclude friend (just in case she doesn't want to feature).



And because this photo is related. If it doesn't appear now, it never will! At my company's holiday party = us before I head down and inhale twenty flutes of champagne. Yum.



-

Also, my first purchase from Asos! Free shipping and returns to/from the US, how not to resist?? Bought 4.5 items, returned 3 (undies count as 0.5). Wonderful. I just inspired myself to peruse the site, even though I ought to be in slumberland by now.

-

My camera-wielding, narcissistic self-portrait days seem to have waned away. The main reason, possibly, is because I see myself as far less attractive than I used to see myself back then. Back then when I was at least 15 pounds lighter and very unappreciative of the fact. Hahaha.

I say this as I pig out on a very unncecssary post-dinner bowl of cranberry almond cereal.

Obviously, I could try harder.

*938 - the inaugural (perhaps?) winter-related post

The lake is freezing over, the geese are huddling, the Boston sky released its first mini-flurry, and the sun is on its evening descent now, at 3 pm. The Evelyn is uncommonly slothlike and unreasonably worried (about the flurry--harbinger of leaky nose and ... popsicle toes).

It's official. It's here.

Brrrr.

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*937 - lights out

As if to spite me, just because I leave work at 2.30 am--of course, tonight is the best night of all nights for the electricity on my entire street to go out. From 1 to 6 am, I think they said. I just stabbed my eyes in the dark trying to remove my contacts, and have given up all hopes of having a nice hot shower before I have to rise and shine in a couple of hours. Yucky.

Well, since there is not much else I can do without electricity, I guess this is it--goodnight, world!