*1066 - from the last night in singapore

Party atop EV's roof the old school way--with sparklers, the balloon thingies that you blow out from a straw and "TOK" with your mouth (what in the world are these called??), and iced gems to munch on. Essentials of a Singaporean childhood.

Who knew that Tubs was so artistically inclined? But what a lovely rose!






"Hey guys, let's think of a five-letter word we can all spell out together." "Boobs?" "Okay!"


Followed aptly by ... SHIOK. Noone understands why Justin's S was so tiny.






Could it be that these little things, when taken altogether, shape our childhood and hence us as a whole? Me, growing up with these balloon thingies and eating iced gems (biscuit first, then icing) and a plethora of other Singaporean staples, and you, growing up with ... (???) ... things that were such a natural part of our childhood that we can't even begin to describe them to someone who has no clue what they are, who has never tasted anything precisely like that, who has never smelt nor touched nor seen nor heard of these things. I could feed you iced gems galore now, but it won't be the same, will it?

*1065 - worries

Taking a breath, stepping back, and trusting that He provides.

*1064 - ev in virginia

(FYI, Virginia is more than a view from a mountain and a zoo, but these were all the photos I took.)

First impressions: beautiful, Southern accents are adorable, and I would like a prairie dog for Christmas.

*1063 - bolero again

The actual orchestral piece, Bolero, is infinitely intriguing to me because it was not meant to be infinitely intriguing. The entire piece is based on a phrase (built upon the Thump ThuThuThu Thump ThuThuThu Thump Thump of a snare drum) that is passed through the orchestra, played by different instruments a total of almost 20 times in repetition, with no development besides adding more and more instruments. Ravel himself was much surprised at the success of his piece, saying that it was an experiment within a limit with no form, no development, no modulation, no contrasts, no invention, a piece consisting wholly of orchestral tissue and no music.

Still, it must be the insistent quality and the constant and unwavering crescendo and the way each instrument gave each of the same 20 phrases a different quality that kept us engaged when we watched (listened?) to this piece a few months back at the symphony.



But I thought this Pink Martini version was exceptionally fun (true, it only loosely follows the original). But then, I must be biased, because I have always adored Pink Martini!

*1062 - step by step,

we are getting closer to the start (it's always the start) of our adventure (our never-ending adventure)

*1061 - cayuga

I told you to get out of my life forever and never return, and you obliged. Has it only been two years since then? Two and a half? Or three? Four since we met?

No, I don't wish for you to be in my life again. But it is strange to think about how someone who once made your life a constant crazy jumble of truly amazing and cripplingly devastating is now completely separate and completely a mystery.

(The danger of Facebook--having unwanted memories pushed to the surface of one's newsfeed.)

*1060 - bedtime stories

The tale of Kokomo, the tiger who had two daddies.

*1059 - thunderstorm

Today, it rained. Pretty heavily.

After the first few drops fell and multiplied and started becoming actual rain and then a storm, any person would have known that it was probably not wise at all to have one's sun roof tilted and windows cracked. So I sprang out of my chair, ran screaming around the office for an umbrella, and sprinted outside with car keys outstretched, bravely battling the wind and the rain, leaping through puddles and soggy mulch in my now-soggy heels, all the way to my poor little bug which was actually perfectly dry inside (but, you know, better safe than sorry), and upon composing myself and turning around to head back in calmly like a very respectable employee, looked up and saw a window-ful of colleagues watching and waving and supporting me in my ... victory.

And then I return home to realise that I had left the kitchen window open and hence had puddles on my kitchen floor with little flecks of white paint that got blasted off the windowsill. Oopsies.

*1058 - so much for not shopping for a while

But every girl needs more shoes, no? Especially when she's clearing out her apartment and putting older shoes aside for charitable donations, no? It makes sense, no?

*1057 - mister G

This is a little someone that I'm going to miss when I leave:



"Yes. I am looking at you."

Awwwww.

*1056 - part two: the humans

Some of these were filched! (Thank you, Iris)

*1055 - silly beetle

A new battery + two new wheels + new rear brakes = $700

I'm done with shopping for a while. Ouchies.

*1054 - make some music

I don't know how to link to these things but

make some music now.

Wow wow wow wow wow

*1053 - russian doll of a vacation

Just a few, for now, of a vacation nested in a vacation, of gloriousness within gloriousness, of going from one sunny island to another sunny island. Yes, it was beautiful, yes, all we did was to do nothing at all (which we did very well indeed), and, yes, you ought to be jealous.

*1052 - the big move

The next month is going to fly by. In a month, I'm going to be on the opposite side of this continent, six hours closer to home (heh), starting a new life of sorts in ...

... San Francisco!

*1051 - trepidation

In less than six hours, I am due to get out of bed and begin on the arduous journey back to the place that isn't quite home. I never like leaving.

*1050 - hokkien mee recipe

Hokkien mee could possibly be my #1 hawker food craving when I'm away from Singapore for too long.

Newton Circle's hokkien mee--looks good but was sub-par:



Unsatisfying. So, I had to have my fill at my favourite place to have Hokkien mee ... oddly enough, it's the Food Republic version (I can only vouch for the Wisma outlet, but I suppose the rest should be good too).

No picture of the awesomeness.

And upon listening to my Hokkien mee escapades, Mummy decided that I should try to make Hokkien mee from scratch to feed the family. And so I did!

This is my version:



Belachan in the corner of the plate, not featured. It was surprisingly authentic-tasting and reasonably simple to make. Of course, it was leagues beneath my favourite Wisma Food Republic version haha. But still, an accomplishment, I think! The secret, I think, is in using quality ingredients. My egg noodles were a little too eggy.

Singapore Hokkien Mee recipe (feeds 5 to 6):

- About 25 prawns or more (the more the better, right?)
- A big chicken bouillon cube
- A whole squid, sliced
- Half a head of garlic, finely chopped
- 3 to 4 eggs
- A packet of thick rice noodles
- A packet of yellow egg noodles minus a little (I prefer more white than yellow)
- A giant packet of bean sprouts
- A few sprigs of spring onions
- Salt, fish sauce, and sesame oil to taste

1. De-head and de-shell prawns. Add heads and shells to a small pot of boiling water with a chicken cube, and boil for an hour. Toss in a bit of salt to taste. This makes a yummy prawn stock.

2. Remove shells. Drop prawns and squid into the stock, blanch for a couple of minutes, and remove quickly when just cooked.

3. Fry garlic in oil. Crack in eggs and scramble them. Add in noodles. Cook on high until noodles start to brown slightly.

4. Add 1/3 stock and fry until it's almost dry. Add another 1/3 stock, turn down the heat, cover, and simmer until it's almost dry.

5. Add in prawns, squid, bean sprouts, spring onions, and remaining stock. Add fish sauce and sesame oil to taste. Turn heat back up and cook to your desired dryness (I like my Hokkien mee more wet).

6. Serve with sambal and lime. Garnish with parsley and take a stunning photograph of it so you can show off to your friends that you just made Hokkien mee from scratch!!

(Adapted from this really good recipe.)

*1049 - eataly

Proscuitto on foccacia. A light lunch shared by two girls one day in the middle of work when I skipped across 11 Madison Park to Eataly in NYC. Also, the fluffiest iced cappuccinos we had ever tasted; it felt like we were drinking coffee-flavoured clouds from a cup.



Followed by duck for dinner, at a cute little French restaurant near the apartment, that was pretty well done (but I always LOVE duck) ...



... and Peruvian tamales and chicken for lunch the next day. Three girls diving into an entire roast chicken.



Friends and food. Sometimes I wish I were living in NYC so that I could be with the girls.

*1048 - having fallen in love

"That was the strange thing, that one did not know where one was going, or what one wanted, and followed blindly, suffering so much in secret, always unprepared and amazed and knowing nothing; but one thing led to another and by degrees something had formed itself out of nothing, and so one reached at last this calm, this quiet, this certainty, and it was this process that people called living."

The Voyage Out, Virginia Woolf

Oh, that's so Woolf-ish. Making the process of falling in love sound like the most painful and sorrowful thing.

Beyond that, in the bigger scheme of things, we don't KNOW until it happens. A vague sense of the future, perhaps, and a strong desire or effort to shape it a particular way, but we never really know, do we?

*1047 - calculate

EV: "So, does 5318008 have any particular significance??"
J: "Uhhhh ..."