Carrot Uncensored

Cooking congee

2012-01-25T22:35:00.001+08:00

The second day of the Lunar New Year was celebrated at Aunt Mavis' house and a buffet was called to feed us hungry souls.

Although I had my heart set on gaining some pounds from great food this festive season, my disobedient throat decided to wreck more havoc. Ulcers appeared, covering my tonsils and around my uvula (that sandbag-lookalike thingy at the back of your mouth). It was a nightmare to swallow.

This viral/bacterial attack is truly irritating. My voice is still not back since Manado - and it's been weeks! Then there's the hacking cough and the bloodied phlegm. And now, such a painful throat.

I wasn't sure what dishes the buffet would comprise, but I was sure I could hardly eat solid food in my condition.

So, I decided to try making myself some soothing congee before heading to the party.

Now, I've never made congee and I don't know how. Someone once wrote that anyone with common sense can cook decent food, and I do have some of that. I was not sure how much of a Nigella my common sense was, but something inside me told me that my congee would turn out fine.

The only food item I had at home was abalone, apart from rice grains and the usual condiments and sauces.

So, I made abalone congee.

My common sense told me to use chicken stock instead of plain water to cook the rice grains, and to not waste the brine in which the abalone has been soaked in. Oh, and a generous dash of fragrant sesame oil would not hurt, my common sense whispered.

Thank you, common sense. My first home-made abalone congee turned out fabulous.

Next time I shall experiment with some wolfberries and dried scallops. :)

Well-fed

2012-01-23T23:53:00.002+08:00

Lunar New Year might as well be a celebration of good food, considering how much money is often spent procuring the finest ingredients (by those who cook) or the best festive set menu at popular restaurants (by those who prefer to leave cooking to the experts) during the 15-day festival.

Only those who take the effort to whip up dishes for the compulsory reunion dinner on the eve of Lunar New Year will know how tedious the process is.

To help make life easier for dad and mother-in-law, both experts in the kitchen, I bought pen cai from Marriott Singapore Hotel - one for each family. As pen cais are large pots filled to the brim with all things tasty, such as roast pork, braised chicken, fish maw, dried scallops, abalone, oysters and many others, a family could be full from just that dish.

But dad and mother-in-law still insisted on cooking up a storm.

Ah well. Abundance of food, especially when plenty is left over at the end of the meal, is deemed auspicious to the Chinese.

So three hours after stuffing our faces at a long lunch with Joshua's side of the family, we adjourned to my parents' place for dinner. There was hardly any time for the tummies to rest! Then again, the tummies needed no rest. Dad's star dishes - fried prawns in XO sauce and a potent stew with mushroom, oysters, roast pork and black moss - always get appetites going.

Reunion meals are just a taste of what's to come. Feasting went on today, the first day of the Lunar New Year. Apart from the main meals, which comprised of rich dishes, we also ate our way through relatives' homes.

Oh man. If one intends to keep to a strict diet, one will be safer staying home and not joining in the festivities.

Tomorrow will be another day filled with good food. Frankly, I can't wait. Heck the expanding waistline. Such celebrations don't take place every day.

Now, I wonder if mum still has her old maternity dresses. I could use a roomy dress. :)

Brunch on the island

2012-01-21T21:23:00.001+08:00

"How would you like to have brunch and some champagne at Il Lido today?" the husband chirped, as he roused me from slumber.

The mention of Il Lido spirited away all the sleepiness in me. The restaurant at Sentosa had many diners singing its praises for quite some time now, but I've never been there.

"For real? All the way into the island for brunch?" I asked.

"Yes! Let's have a great meal before coming back to spring clean the house!" he exclaimed happily.

Ahh, see - there's no free meal in this world.

Still, my little girlie heart fluttered at the thought of going on a date with the husband. I couldn't wait to take in the view of the sea, sip bubblies and engage the husband in conversation using whatever that's left of my raspy voice.

Alas, brunch at Il Lido hardly got me cheering.

Brunch started off on a hopeful note. The antipasti, comprising wonderfully-baked salmon, foie gras, mozzarella chunks drizzled with virgin olive oil and sprinkled with pepper, fried calamari, and parma ham.

But things went downhill from there.

Lobster pasta and black truffle risotto were disappointing. I know the Italians take great pride in serving up their carbs al dente. To me, there is a fine line between firm and hard. This dish was full of hard pasta and rice grains. I left much of it untouched.

Then came the meats. Wagyu beef cheeks, lamb and prawns.

I love red meats, but beef and lamb in a single sitting were just too harsh on my tummy. Even the perpetually ravenous husband had difficulty finishing his meal.

Dessert was also more of an eye-pleaser than anything else.

Ah heck it. At least the champagne was good. Then again, at S$25 a flute, that champagne had to be good.

I won't be coming back to Il Lido anytime soon for brunch. I'm far happier digging into good old French toasts, eggs and Belinis at Epicurious.

The city of few lights

2012-01-13T23:06:00.001+08:00

Manado is dark. Very dark. Not dark like the devil sort of dark; dark like it has a serious case of electricity shortage.

Well, actually, I do suspect that the city has a problem with electricity supply. The exhibition halls have been plunged into minutes of darkness the past two mornings, and the hotel has had a few seconds of complete darkness the past two nights. It is really freaky when the black-outs happen at night because the streets outside are so dark too, there're no external lights to help illuminate the room.

The streets and roads are truly dark. They are only lit by lights from shops or houses along the roads or by a rare street lamp. There's no way I can walk down the streets here after sunset without falling down.

I wanted so much to ask my Indonesian colleague why the city is like that, but restrained myself because I was afraid she might take that personally. You know, some people can become suddenly patriotic. Like if a foreigner were to tell me that the people staying in Sembawang dressed like country bumpkins, even if that was an opinion I usually held, I'd be offended, insult his mother's dress sense and pluck out his eyes.

But today, while driving through the city after dinner, my Indonesian voiced her thoughts on how dark the city was.

The plucky woman had also asked the local tourism chief yesterday this: "So what's up with Manado? Why is it always so dark?"

According to her, the chief looked genuinely surprised and rejoined with a question: "Dark? Whatever do you mean?"

Hilarious! The man must have been so used to the lack of lights in the city that he failed to notice how dim the city is.

"He is in the dark about Manado being in the dark," another colleague quipped.

Anyway, with a couple of international events mapped out this year for Manado, the chief told my colleague that the local government has upped the city's electricity supply, which I hope will go into keeping more street lamps lit.

Some kind of work trip

2012-01-10T23:09:00.000+08:00

I went to New Delhi in September to cover a trade show, and I noticed a couple of similarities this current work trip to Manado has with that.

I was sick when I departed Singapore for New Delhi, and got sicker over the next few days there. I was sick too, when I departed Singapore for Manado, and have been getting worse every day. Today, my voice is completely gone and I'd cough like mad whenever I try to eat. Perfect weight-loss programme!

New Delhi rained almost every day. So has Manado the past two days.

The exhibition hall in New Delhi was in an awful state. It was dusty, the roof and overhanging air-con ducts was leaking, the toilets were hardly international standards. The exhibition hall in Manado is just as bad. It is a rush-rush construction project and half the exterior of the hall is still incomplete. The press room, which was JUST completed, has a strong chemical stench that drew tears to some of my colleagues' eyes. The interior is dusty too, and the toilets filthy. The electricity flow is inconsistent and there's no Internet connection. How to work like that, I ask you?!

I hope the parallels end there. The last thing I want is to experience another earthquake - yes, Manado is prone to that, as one just hit two days before I came - and a terror bombing that takes place to close for comfort.

Good night for now. I need to go sleep and prepare my soul for more surprises tomorrow. :(

Dreams

2012-01-07T10:40:00.001+08:00

I love my mind for being so creative.

I dreamt of a man who proposed to me with 100 pairs of shoes.

And also of a crazed man who carried me around a shopping mall, while I window-shopped, just to prove that he is more manly than all my other suitors.

Then there was last night's nightmare that saw my mum cursing her pot of curry with restless ghouls. So when I stole her pot of curry and dug in greedily at home, I unleashed a herd of angry, screeching spirits.

But still no sexcapades with superheros. :(

Osia revisted

2012-01-06T00:25:00.001+08:00

If you think that a meal at a celebrity chef restaurant is a pricey affair, you need to think again.

Michelin star chef Scott Webster is putting quality cuisine within the reach of more food lovers at his restaurant, Osia, at Resorts World Sentosa.

If you swing by Osia between 6pm and 7.30pm for dinner on weekdays, you will be able to please your tummy with an impressive three-course meal for a mere S$42++ per person. You will also be pleased to know that you can pick from three starters and three mains. The set includes Osia's star item - the decadent Valrhona hot chocolate soup and black pepper ice-cream, and coffee or tea.

We woke the taste buds with some tasty flat bread.

While I warmed the tummy with Cream of Cauliflower and smoked salmon - a wonderful combination, I say! - the husband had a fresh serving of carpaccio.

For mains, I had some of the most tender chicken breasts with savoury risotto.

And the man dug into red meat.

Ahh... this tenderloin is such a thing of beauty. So red, so rare, so juicy. I would have gone for beef, but I wanted to cut down on my red meat intake. My digestive system has been pretty wonky for months, and I figured less meat, especially red meat, might sooth my insides.

And finally... sweets!

Happiness? You bet!

I noticed that Osia has also a two-course set dinner for S$95++ or thereabouts, and choices include foie gras and steak. The price climbs with a selection of three-course and four-course sets. You can also jazz up your dinner with a wine pairing for an additional S$65++.

Totally. Neat.

The husband and I were already planning our next visit before dinner was over. :)

Anyway, dinner was courtesy of Cousin Jan who has left the US and taken up a pretty swell job here in Singapore.

Monkeys are so fucked

2012-01-04T22:56:00.003+08:00

The Lunar New Year is coming up in a couple of weeks and with it the arrival of the Year of the Dragon. It is at this time that plenty of fengshui masters are eager to share their forecasts of the new year.

I'm hardly a superstitious person, and would seldom pay attention to forecasts of fortunes. But something in my subconsciousness urged me to click on a weblink to a video clip of a local renown fengshui master telling the fortune of people born in the Year of the Monkey.

The forecast is pretty depressing. Monkeys are pretty fucked next lunar year.

Here is the video:

According to Master Hui, Monkeys will meet with many obstacles in their career that could potentially lead to court cases. To minimise pain at work, he recommends more tact be practised. "Watch your words. Build up a strong foundation in all your relationships," he orders.

Monkeys will also suffer more financial problems in the coming Year of the Dragon, so thrift is a must. Businessmen will be prone to bad cashflow and poor returns on investments. He advises against lending money to others.

That's not all. Stupid Cupid will be forsaking Monkeys, so those who are single will likely remain so for the whole year, while married Monkeys will suffer friction with their spouses. As if this revelation is not pitiful enough, Master Hui rubs it in further by declaring that Monkeys will have the WORST love life, compared to the other 11 animals in the Chinese horoscope.

Boo hoo!

His advice for singles: fluff your features and work harder at your courtship dance.

His advice for married Monkeys: keep problems at work away from home and avoid any sort of conflicts.

So far so bad. Rocky career, weak financial health and the opposite sex despises you. What could make life worse?

Well, how about more bad luck that could cause you injury and further deplete you of your finances?

Master Hui predicts that many accidents will befall Monkeys in the coming year. Motorists must drive with extra caution and patience, and avoid careening down the roads like an F1 race wannabe.

"Try to avoid dangerous activities," he adds.

Unlucky months will be January, February, June and October, while crisis-prone months will be January and July. Oh great. I will be travelling most of these months. Cue visions of me having a hard time getting stories or being arrested for writing a particularly senstive matter, losing my purse and being scared shitless throughout a turbulent flight.

Oh wait. Is flying considered a dangerous activity? Should I avoid travelling this year then?! But how can I not travel in this job?!

Of course, I could poo-poo Master Hui's forecast as a load of bull. Unfortunately, his prediction for Monkeys in the current Year of the Rabbit was quite accurate.

Oh! Such woe! And since the husband is also a Monkey, it will be double trouble for us.

I had better start accummulating good karma by not laughing at ugly people, attracting good fortune by attending auspicious events (I'm going to get myself on every wedding and birthday party guest list!) and avoiding meat as much as possible.

And I had better say only sweet things to my colleagues, write only stories that are full of the silliest praises for the trade, eat plain bread daily, stay away from malls, be super nice to the husband and agree with every damn thing he says, stay far away from all sharp objects including scissors and hair pins, walk very slowly and against walls to avoid being pushed over and trampled on, and avoid cars, trains (especially Singapore's world-class MRT trains... ahem!), ships and planes.

Oh, and pray that the world will not come to a bitter end on Dec 21, 2012.

The first day

2012-01-03T08:34:00.000+08:00

There was a wailing fest outside the kindergarten at the void deck of my apartment block, no doubt by children who were reporting for school for the first time.

I felt like joining them. Oh! That's the end of the holidays and the start of a whole new year of work and meeting deadlines.

Sigh!

The year's top 10

2011-12-31T23:59:00.005+08:00

Wheeeee! And like this, 2011 is gone.

To capture the highlights of my life this year, I've compiled a top ten list. Feel free to stick your nose right in! :)

Ten.

I was featured in a local woman's magazine for having an interesting job. And I got to wear a pair of impossibly high heels, which made me too terrified to move, for fear of toppling over and flattening my nose. It was a spot of vain fun and I'll probably not do that again. :)

Nine.

Singapore's general elections and presidential election got me emotionally flustered, much of it due to extreme opinions for and against the ruling party formed by incorrect information. Social media has made it too easy to spread information, whether or not it is accurate. And people who don't usually give a shit about national politics suddenly became keen and propagate frustratingly wrong views. I lost faith in my fellowmen, the majority of whom are complain queens who have no memory of how the country came along, as well as in the directions of the new generation of leaders who do not think before they speak and disregard the life and views of the common man.

Eight.

I am no longer a cruise virgin, having taken my first ever cruise on December 28-30. It was nothing extravagant - just a family-styled cruise from Singapore to Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, and then back, but it was an experience to be remembered.

Seven.

I visited India - New Delhi, to be exact - for the first time. It was an unforgetable trip - a terror bomb went off at the parliament house, 2km away from the exhibition hall; an earthquake threw me out of bed that same day; and I had to dodge waterfalls from the leaking ceiling of the exhibition hall everyday. Unfortunately, I cannot declare that it was my first and last visit to New Delhi. A new company project will take me to that city every year from 2012 on. Urgh. And I will have to be there every August, which eats into Joshua's birthday celebrations. :(

Six.

Heeding the advice of good ol' Uncle Hans, who often preached that family is most important, I learnt to pace myself and pass on work to team mates and successfully took several holidays with the husband this year. We took an inpromptu weekend getaway in Malacca in February, two lovely weekends in Sentosa at two beautiful resorts, escaped to Batam (awful guestroom and F&B selection, but we had each other to ourselves), had a makan holiday in Penang, and finally in December, explored Japan over eight days. All that time together made me love him even more.

Five.

As editor of my magazine (a role I took on in August this year), there was no escaping the necessary awards citation at the company's annual industry awards night. Every year, the editorial team will pick winners of four outstanding awards, and on THE day, the two editors will go on stage to make a short speech before announcing the winners. I had jelly knees for weeks leading up to the evening.

But I made it through successfully, and looked most wonderful too, don't you agree? :)

Four.

I was the editor of a live trade show daily for the first time in my career. Sure, I was editor of my magazine, but it was a different ball game to head the editorial team at a trade show to produce daily newspapers for four days straight.

There was a hiccup right at the start - my Thai colleague had to stay home because of the floods, so I was one man short. I had to get my sub-editor to help with reporting instead, and it was tough for her because she did not speak a single word of Mandarin, and we were in Kunming, and she her reporting skills were rusty. Much of the burden of getting news to fill my pages fell on one colleague who could speak English and Mandarin. To share that burden, I had to juggle editing and reporting, and at the same time, tread carefully around the political sensitivities of the Chinarians.

But I survived! :D

Three.

We may not have gone through the traditional rites of marriage at that point in time (that came eventually on June 3), but we decided to give hongbaos to our juniors and unmarried relatives. I've never done it before and found it awfully tedious to budget, plan and execute. For instance, silly me forgot that fresh notes do not miraculously appear in my drawers, and I did not go to the bank to exchange for new S$2 notes. That got me rather flustered the day before the eve of the new year. Thank goodness mummy had extras to change with me.

But the act of giving away hangbaos was emotionally fulfilling and I suddenly felt that it was time I started behaving like an adult. :)

Two.

I got hitched on June 3 the way my parents wanted - in the company of my closest family members and undergoing the traditional rites. It came four years after we were legally married. My sudden decision to comply with my parents' wishes surprised many and raised suspicions that I had a bun in the oven. Hah. I must have disappointed many. :)

One.

What could beat the fact that I finally have my own home? This is the proudest moment in my life and in 2011. We moved in on January 1. It was a splendid way to start the year, and the husband and I went on to enjoy every second in our little pink abode. We still love our own place immensely, so much so we rather go straight home after work than hang out at beer bars.

So that was the year for me. I hope the year has been as kind and generous to you too, and may 2012 bring even greater joy to you. :)

My creative 'lil boy

2011-12-30T23:22:00.000+08:00

The husband has unleashed his creativity once again through his latest short film. A homemade short film, that is. It tells a brief story of our recent holiday in Japan.

I LOVE IT! And the cheerful song (sung by local singer, Olivia Ong) is now stuck in my head. :)

I hope you will love it too.

Jolly Christmas

2011-12-26T22:22:00.001+08:00

Merry Christmas, people!

I spent Christmas eve with good friends and Christmas Day among my closest relatives. Both days involved a lot of feasting, and I ended up as stuffed up as the turkeys that fed my friends and family.

This year's stash of presents comprised many cute things. I guess friends and family have finally figured out that I am a real softie at heart. :)

See that flat pack on the far right (picture above) with a Hello Kitty face? That's a pack of facial mask, courtesy of cousin Nora, who also gave me that pink tube of sparkly hand cream. Who would have guessed that there were Hello Kitty masks? :)

The husband laughed, "Will you look like Hello Kitty after using the mask?"

Then there's also a Hello Kitty luggage tag (which I'll never bear to use) and a superbly comfortable set of PJs from Topshop, both courtesy of generous colleagues.

The Hello Kitty figurine at the back, as you already know, was a gift from the husband, who accurately and apologetically reflected that he has never given me a gift that was wrapped up. He has always presented his gifts as they were packaged. Most times, the gifts were things that I saw and fancied, and purchased right away, so there was no need for gift-wrapping.

"Never mind," I dismissed. "You are saving the earth."

My gift to myself this year is this - a Samantha Thavasa purse and a London bus charm.

I first saw Samatha Thavasa products while I was in Tokyo last year. I warned myself not to give in to its range of incredibly girlie and happy bags, purses and accessories. They are addictive. Once you start buying its products, you'd pay even more attention to its future collection. And because they were not as pricey as brands such as Gucci, one was more likely to buy - not just one item, but several at one go - without sufficient consideration.

It was a scary brand to fancy.

But I gave in this year, after seeing this at a Samantha Thavasa store in Kyoto. Why? I have no idea. There's no need for a woman to justify her shopping anyway. :)

I just have to make it a point to avoid the brand's outlet in Singapore from now on if I intend to keep my money in the bank.

Anyway, happy holidays, my friends. Enjoy the rest of the year as well as you can, before the rat race is upon us once again.

Eight days in Japan - Final

2011-12-24T04:37:00.004+08:00

In the final three days in Japan, we visited two cities spelt with the letter K. But that's where the similarities end - how different these cities are!

Kanazawa is bland. I don't even know why we agreed to make an overnight stop in Kanazawa. I did some brisk research on Kanazawa before departing for Japan and found only a few places I was interested in seeing. It was too late to ask my travel consultant to cancel our hotel booking there and let us have another day in Kyoto instead.

We arrived in Kanazawa by train on December 14, some time past 1.30pm. We took a taxi from the train station to Kanazawa New Grand hotel, which set us back by slightly over a thousand yen or almost S$17. We did not expect the hotel to be more than two turns away.

Kanazawa New Grand was the worst hotel we stayed in on this trip. The guestroom was musky and small - one side of the bed was set against a wall to provide more walking space - and the air-conditioner was not working. While it was cold outside, the room was as hot as a summer day. The staff apologised for the faulty air-conditioning and suggested that we keep the window open.

Not being able to tolerate the room, we decided to head out and spend as long as we could bear outdoors.

First, we needed to look for lunch. After wandering the streets for an hour we were still not able to find a place to fill our tummies. We found mostly fashion boutiques. There were some small cafes, but they were not open for business.

The people in Kanazawa don't eat! All they want is to buy clothes!

Finally, we spotted this family restaurant on a quieter side of town, next to a private carpark. It was dark inside but a waiter beckoned us.

The menu was all in Japanese and the waiter could not speak a single word of English. Joshua's limited Japanese also got us nowhere. We had to take the waiter to the front of the restaurant, and pointed at the display of faux food to place our order.

With our tummies filled, we went in search of the Kanazawa Castle and the Kenroku-en, the only attractions in the city I was keen on.

It was quite a long walk, and a painful one too, as my back and ankles were already strained by the past few days of non-stop walking. Fortunately, the walk took us down rather scenic paths and the sight of bald trees calmed my soul.

Kanazawa Castle is surrounded by much greenery and there were many quiet garden paths one could enjoy.

The castle has an interesting history. It was built in 1583 and underwent several reconstruction after being destroyed by war and natural disasters. Several parts of the castle still stand today, including the Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagura watchtower and the Tsurumaru Storehouse.

We were there too late and the castle was already closed. We could only roam the expansive gardens and admire the castle from outside.

Then, we crossed a busy street to get to Kenroku-en, the city's famous garden which used to be the castle's private outer gardens. Kenroku-en is recognised as one of Japan's three greatest gardens.

Pity too that the garden was already closed to visitors.

So we trekked back to the hotel and had dinner at a sushi place in the basement.

Again, we hit a language barrier with the chef at the sushi place. This time, we did not have any photos or faux food displays to point at. Using a mix of garbled Japanese and English, Joshua managed to find out that the restaurant offers only set menus. So we placed our order for two Set 1s.

And this, my friends, is Set 1:

It cost us 2,800yen. Of course, we didn't know that until at the end of the meal. It was the priciest platter of sushi I've ever paid for. However, it was really fresh and the sea urchin was nice and creamy.

With dinner done, we returned to our room and spent the night massaging each other's feet and watching hilarious Japanese variety shows.

The next morning, we exited Kanazawa and headed to Kyoto, the final lap of our holiday.

We arrived in Kyoto at 1.33pm and my spirits were immediately lifted. I couldn't wait to show the husband Kiyomizu-dera. The first time I visited the temple was last autumn and it was at night. It was beautiful then, and I wanted to see it in daylight.

However, I knew I had to brace myself for lesser autumn foliage, as most trees would have already shed their leaves.

Still, it was beautiful and we took a million photos. :)

We also explored the shops that lined the pathways leading up to the temple. So many things to buy and eat!

And the husband bought me this:

"Your Christmas present!" he chirped and rubbed the top of my head as if I was a little girl.

Done with Kiyozumi-dera, we proceeded to Gion, bearing hopes of seeing a couple of geishas.

Wandering around Sijodori, where much of Gion's life is, we wondered where we should go to find geishas reporting to work. Just then, a geisha swept past us very quickly and rounded a bend in a blink of an eye.

We quickly followed her and found ourselves going down a dimly-lit way, lined on both sides with neat, old-fashioned houses. She hurried on and passed through a wooden doorway that led to an even more dimly-lit house.

Such secretive places!

A few other geishas came by, and just like the first one we encountered, they walked really fast. So fast were they that they appeared as a blur on our photos.

They reminded me of F1 cars, which our amateur cameras cannot catch. They are F1 geishas!

I suspect brisk walking is one of the many skills geishas have to master.

As the evening wore on, temperatures fell and we had to get out of the cold and into a nice, warn cafe. It was not hard to find a decent cafe in Kyoto.

Later that night, we braved the cold (it was probably 4 degrees Celcius that night) and hit the streets in search of an izakaya. We found one a couple of streets away from our hotel.

Ichiban, it is called, and it stays open till 2am. Wonderful.

We went in, overcame the language barrier by pointing at whatever other diners had on their table and shooting off words that came to my mind, such as buta (pork) and biru (beer), and remained there till past midnight.

It wasn't a massive spread - just five yakitori dishes and four mugs of beer, but the bill came up to over 5,000yen. Wow wee wow wee. Japan isn't cheap and the strong yen doesn't help.

The next day we took a train to Saga-Arashiyama, where the beautiful Tenryu-ji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, calls home. But before we went to the temple, we went on the sight-seeing Torokko Romance Train, which travels along the Hozu River.

You know why it is called a Romance Train? Because the wind that blows through the open-air carriages are so cold that couples have to cling to each other for warmth. I was so cold I could hardly pay attention to the scenery.

I was frozen stiff by the time the train terminated at Torokko Kameoka Station, and we had to stay indoors, where the heater was on at full-blast, until I was warm again.

Then, we walked about 10 minutes to get to the nearby JR Kameoka station to take another train back to JR Saga-Arashiyama station, and from there walk to Tenryu-ji Temple. It was an enjoyable walk, although the cold really bit into my bones.

Then, to our immense delight, light snow started to fall! Very, very light snow. And it fell only for a minute or so.

We were hungry when we arrived at JR Saga-Arashiyama, and went looking for food. We found a small tofu speciality shop near the bamboo groves, and ordered hot, soupy noodles.

Happiness!

From there on, we took a leisurely stroll through the bamboo groves to get to Tenryu-ji, where we spent more than an hour exploring its gardens, taking photos and sitting in a corner to ~~daydream~~ meditate.

Arashiyama's Togetsukyo Bridge is also a must-see. It is renowned for being flanked by cherry blossoms and spectacular autumn foliage. Alas, it was the end of autumn when we were there, so the trees along the bridge and the banks of the Oi River were brown and bare.

The good thing, though, was that the bridge was very near shops that sold HOT food! :)

In fact, the whole stretch of road linking Tenryu-ji to Togetsukyo Bridge was packed with restaurants, cafes and shops selling lovely snacks. There, I found a shop selling steamed buns with beef fillings.

Happiness! It is so easy to make me happy - just feed me, especially when I'm cold and tired. :)

We hung around a bit more, then returned to Kyoto city, where we spent our night again at the izakaya. It snowed again that night, while we were walking back to our hotel. The husband and I stood silently on the streets, with our heads craned towards the midnight skies, marvelling at the white specks that floated down.

I love you, Kyoto. Next time I will dedicate an entire trip to you.

All in all, this holiday was a wonderful one. I got to spend all day with the husband, chatting, joking and getting lost together. What else can I ask for? :)

Eight days in Japan - Part 2

2011-12-22T22:36:00.002+08:00

In the days following my return from Japan, a standard conversation often ensued between me and friends and colleagues:

XYZ: Oh, so you had a holiday in Japan? Where did you go?
Me: One day in Tokyo...
XYZ: Oh, did you buy anything? Tokyo's great for shopping!
Me: No, I didn't want to shop. Then I went to a couple of cities in Nagano...
XYZ: Oh, did you shop there?
Me: No, I didn't want to shop. Then I went to Takayama, which is all laid back and full of history.
XYZ: Oh, so did you shop there?

Hokay. Is it so strange that trips to Japan did not involve any form of shopping? Apparently, shopping for souvenirs and edible gifts is not considered shopping.

The other common question tossed my way was: "Why didn't you buy any Fancl products? Fancl is SO cheap there!"

But I don't use Fancl!

Anyway, enough of that. I want to tell you about Takayama, a charming town in Gifu Prefecture.

In Takayama people walked slowly and spoke tenderly. Shopkeepers who emerged from their shops would pause and smile or nod at passers-by.

In Takayama, much of the architecture appeared to have stood still in time.

The husband and I enjoyed walking down the streets slowly, stopping wherever, whenever we desired.

We chanced upon a cafe called Coffee Don. Its interior is reminiscent of an era when gentlemen donned bowler hats and smart black suits, and women wore their hair puffy and their eyes thickly lined, with a flirty flick at the end.

My heart did a little joyous dance when I realised that Coffee Don was playing the soundtrack of The Sound of Music film, which starred Julie Andrews. It was one of my all time favourite films. :)

So, while I waited for my caramel cappuccino and apple pie, I sang along to the songs.

The coffee was fragrant and the apple pie addictive.

We chatted with the boss of Coffee Don and learnt that the cafe has been in operation since 1951. His father started the business and now he's in charge.

"Coffee Don is the oldest coffee shop in Takayama," the boss chirped proudly.

"And it is really beautiful," came my dreamy rejoinder.

I hope his children or younger members of his family take over Coffee Don eventually, so people can continue to enjoy the place for many more years to come.

I asked the boss to recommend a restaurant that sold quality Hida beef that would not bankrupt us. You see, Takayama is famed for Hida beef, which brings red meat lovers to gastronomy heaven with its rich, buttery flavour.

I first tasted Hida beef several years ago when Gifu Prefecture's tourism representatives visited Singapore and brought with them a HUGE slab of it. They grilled it most deftly, leaving the meat still pink, while the fats were all melted and superbly fragrant.

And because Takayama is so renowned for Hida beef, there are just too many restaurants serving the meat. We did not want to end up in an outlet that served poorly prepared Hida beef at ridiculous touristy prices. We wanted to go to a restaurant that locals loved too. And I trusted Coffee Don's boss enough to rely on his recommendation.

He pulled out a map, scribbled the word Natupa on it, and gave us directions in halting English. Wonderful!

That was where we adjourned.

The boss of Natupa (pronouced Nappa) was a jolly old man who was so excited when he found out we were from Singapore. "Nice! Nice!" he exclaimed. Then he brought out his menu, which had only four items on it - all Hida beef dishes, and pointed at the second item.

It was a Hida beef steak, priced at 3,500yen (S$58) a piece. I looked at the other items and realised that it was the cheapest available Hida beef steak.

"This ok?" the chef asked, with a kindly smile on his face.

"OK!" the husband and I chimed together, and hoped it would be good enough.

While we waited for our lunch to be served, we horsed around and took this photo, hoping it would impress the chef and earn us a discount.

He was amused, but not impressed enough to shave a couple of yen off the price tag. :)

Anyway, here's our 3,500yen worth of red meat.

It was such a thin slab of steak, my friends. And it tasted so darned good! So tender, so creamy, so worth every single cent of the price.

Still on the topic of food, we also came across an eatery that stood out from the serene streets. In fact, it disturbed the serenity of the area with an ad jingle that has the ability to invade your head and stay in there for the rest of the day.

The jingle went like this: "Gyu tako gyu tako gyu tako..." and some other Japanese words.

No points for guessing what it sold.

Beef-filled takoyaki. Takoyaki is a Japanese ball dumpling made with batter, usually filled with diced octopus. It is the first time we tried it with beef fillings, and it is superb. :)

Apart from stuffing our faces in Takayama, we also fed our brains with visits to some heritage and cultural attractions. There were actually many attractions I was dying to visit, but we wanted to take it slower in Takayama. Moreover, all the hurried walking in Shinjuku, Yudanaka, Nagano city and Matsumoto had strained my back and weak ankles. Many times I had to lean onto the husband in order to walk. :(

The first attraction we visited was Takayama Jinya, which used to serve as Takayama's government office during the Edo Period. Walking through the preserved architecture, visitors could see how the ancient officials used to function.

In this room, important visitors were received and served tea. I was going to touch the kettle when I suddenly remembered my travel consultant's warning: "Don't touch the old exhibits. You might attract a spirit and bring it home with you."

Her warning came from experience. She once visited an ancient architecture like the Takayama Jinya and in her excitement, slipped her feet into an old pair of straw slippers. She fell sick after that and when she got back to Singapore, a relative with special powers told her she has a Japanese 'friend' tailing her.

Hokay. My goosebumps are up now. *shivers*

I kept my hands to myself throughout the visit.

The photo below shows a sedan for VIPs. Judging from its size, the ancients must have been so tiny!

The gardens at Takayama Jinya looked quite dreary - must be the season. I'm sure it looks most charming in spring and autumn.

We also visited Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall and Sakurayama Nikko-Kan, which are located side-by-side. An 800yen ticket grants you entrance to both attractions.

Because there was a Shinto shrine at the back of the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, the path leading to both attractions was fronted by this structure.

Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall displays a number of elaborate festival floats, which are used during the annual festive celebrations.

The Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall has also a small theatre where a video of the festivities is played, so visitors can understand how important these floats are.

A few steps away is the Sakurayama Nikko-Kan, where a one-tenth scale replica of the Nikko-Toshogu Shrine in Tokyo is on display.

The visit to Takayama would not have been as lovely if the hotel we stayed in was a dusty, old shack (which is how I would describe the hotel we stayed in Kanazawa; next post).

Takayama Green Hotel was the best property we stayed in throughout this holiday. Best Western Shinjuku Astina came in a close second. :)

Food was great; service staff was attentive, polite and knowledgeable; the guestroom was spacious and clean; and it offers private onsen to help us overcome the strict restrictions imposed on people with tattoos visiting public onsen.

Japan still holds much reservation against people with tattoos, perhaps because of the strong grip the Yakuzas still have in the society.

The travel consultant had earlier suggested that we cover our tattoos with plasters. I laughed. She has no idea how extensive my tattoos are. I would need to turn myself into a mummy in order to enter a public onsen.

Thankfully, Takayama Green Hotel has private onsen for hire at a price of 3,000 yen for 45 minutes. So that was where we spent our first night in Takayama. :)

The husband was the eager beaver about having an onsen experience, and he was also the one who preferred to shower in hot water. I, on the other hand, cannot tolerate extreme temperatures. Yet, I took to the scalding water very easily, while the husband huffed and puffed in discomfort. Hah.

Dining experiences at the hotel was also rather enjoyable. Breakfast and dinner was included in our stay and we got to choose Japanese or Western meals.

We had Japanese on the first night and the following morning. Both exceeded our expectations.

Dinner was a set meal of exquisitely prepared sashimi and other things, as well as a generous Hida beef shabu-shabu.

And we washed dinner down with quite a bit of excellent sake.

Breakfast was an impressive array of very healthy, but tasty, dishes. I'm not quite a breakfast person, so the spread was a tad overwhelming for me. But because every dish was so light, I warmed up to the meal quickly.

On the second night, we went for a Western dinner at the hotel's top-most floor. We started off with a delicate appetiser of prawn, sea bream and salmon sashimi with a sweet radish mousse.

The first main was a pan-fried cod fillet with garlic butter, and the second main was a well-done Hida beef steak. The latter was such a waste of good meat, as beef steak should never be done completely.

We ended dinner with a pretty selection of sweets. Such a lovely plate. Now I'm tempted to replace all the plates at home with such romantic creations.

Despite being so well-fed by the hotel, the cold weather got to us and made us hungry all the time. We snacked heavily on both nights in Takayama, and even emptied a one-litre bottle of local sake on the second night.

I'm sure I put on some weight on this trip. :)

We departed Takayama teary-eyed on December 14, bound for Kanazawa. And that leg, my friends, will be dissected in the next post.

Eight days in Japan - Part 1

2011-12-21T13:34:00.002+08:00

Do you know what happens when you take two cameras on a holiday?

You end up with 1,982 photos - and that's after I've deleted shots that made me look like a troll. All taken over eight days. That's an average of 247.75 photos a day - or more, including the bad shots. No wonder our fingers were feeling sorta wonky on this holiday.

The holiday had been a great experience for the husband and I. We must have enjoyed ourselves so much that almost every service staff we met asked if we were honeymooners. And with great pride we would reply that we've been married since 2007.

We arrived in Tokyo's Narita International Airport just past 1pm on Saturday. Taxis are an indulgence in this country, so we had to take a bus into Shinjuku and walk to our hotel. It was easy identifying the counter at the airport that sold bus tickets to take us into the city. But it was difficult identifying the right direction to our hotel once we alighted at Shinjuku Station.

The city is a hive of massive activity. Everyone marched with purpose and anyone (that's the husband and me) who halts indecisively and suddenly were regarded with disdain. It was stressful trying to find our way around these frowning, marching people.

We lost our way and ended up dragging our luggage through a network of alleys filled with shops that sold entertainment and companionship with lovely, doe-eyed girls.

"This must be the infamous red-light district," the husband panted - not out of excitement, but out of exhaustion. It was no joke dragging a 15kg bag round and round. That's why I told him to pack light. But the newly-minted vainpot insisted on bringing with him all his favourite new clothes.

It was past 3pm by the time we found our hotel - Best Western Shinjuku Astina Hotel. And the sky was already starting to darken.

There was no time to rest. We were hungry and we wanted to see a bit of the city. Plus, we had to trek back to Shinjuku Station to get our Japan Rail Pass and reserve our train tickets for the next few days.

The Japan Rail Pass is brilliant for free-and-independent travellers who need to take several train rides to different cities across Japan. Our pass, which offers unlimited rides over seven days, costs us some S$480. I'm sure buying train tickets without the Japan Rail Pass would cost a hell lot more. For instance, the ride from Tokyo to Nagano on the Nagano Shinkansen alone costs 7,970yen per adult, or S$133.

We walked around the retail cluster surrounding Shinjuku Station, and chanced upon Yakitori Alley. It is a long and narrow alley with many tiny yakitori shops packed side-by-side. The air there was fragrant with the scent of cooked meats. However, we did not want to stop and eat, as we were sure our clothes would end up stinking.

Soon, we gave up trying to shop in Shinjuku. It was too busy for our liking. We did not escape Singapore for yet another busy-bee city.

So we found a quiet ramen shop to sit down for dinner. It was one of those shops where diners had to buy a meal ticket from a vending machine outside, then hand the ticket to the cook behind the counter and wait patiently for your number to be called. I love such shops!

I ordered a bowl kakiage soba, hoping it would be as wonderful as the bowl I had when I first visited Tokyo.

I was not disappointed. :)

WIth our tummies nicely warmed and filled, and our spirits calmed, we proceeded to explore the lust-filled alleys of Shinjuku, where shopfronts were plastered with posters of cutesy girls wearing impossibly tiny school uniforms that showed off their butt cheeks or girls who were plain nude. Men who slid quickly into such shops wore business suits and hardly looked the sort, if you know what I mean.

"So pretty. Such big eyes," the husband murmured. I heard that and decided it was time to get him out of that area. So I pulled him by the ear and slid into a noisy izakaya near our hotel.

I love izakayas because they are like a good cross between rowdy bars and stiff wine lounges. At an izakaya, I could bask in the energetic vibe of other diners and yet have enough privacy to enjoy a casual conversation or hearty laugh with my companion.

We had quite a bit to eat and drink, but the bill came up to only just over 2,000yen. Brilliant!

It was almost 11pm when we emerged from the izakaya and into the chill of the night, and the area was just starting to get busier. There were a lot more men on the streets, as well as beautifully made-up women in the shortest of skirts and the highest of heels. If I were a man, my loins might burn.

We were back at our hotel in mere minutes and sleep came fast.

The next morning, we were up and about by 8am. Had a quick breakfast, checked out and caught our train to Nagano, the capital city of Nagano Prefecture.

We had enough time to explore one attraction and have a quick lunch before catching our train to Yudanaka, a small onsen town within the prefecture.

So the one attraction we went to was Zenkoji, a 7th-century Buddhist temple. It was not difficult to get there, as a retro-looking bus plies regularly between Nagano Station and the temple. The ride costs 100yen per person.

At the entrance of the temple was a fat cat, who sat most serenely, with his eyes looking calmly into the distance. He completely disregarded the number of humans who oohed and ahhed around him. Some reached out to touch his soft fur, others snapped a million photos of him.

When his admiring crowd dispersed, he strutted away slowly, with his head proudly in the air. What a cat! :)

Zenkoji has many sprawling spaces, some with tombs. There were many spots perfect for one to stand and daydream. If only we had more time to spend.

Exiting the temple, we decided to walk back to Nagano Station and see the streets along the way.

As it was nearing winter, most trees have shed their beautiful autumn leaves and were bare. Hence, we rejoiced when we spotted this tree.

Along the way we came across an interesting cafe. It occupies an out-of-service bus, where diners enjoyed their coffees and cakes on the upper deck.

Back at Nagano Station, mothers with young children started a feeding frenzy for the pigeon community. The kids loved the birds and many stood as still as possible to allow the birds to come real close. Hmm, did they not know that pigeon poop can cause health risks?

Lunch was had at a restaurant that specialised in freshly-pulled soba. Diners can choose to have just soba, or pair it with saba or tempura.

It was A LOT of soba. I knew right away that I would not be able to finish it. Surprisingly, the many petite locals around us were able to clean off their plates and we wondered if it was deemed rude to waste food. Didn't help that the husband said the Japanese took great pride in their work and the chef might weep if we don't finish his food.

So, we forced everything down our throats and had a couple of smokes after that to aid digestion. :(

Our Yudanaka-bound train took off at 1.38pm, and it was almost 3pm when we checked into Yorozuya Annex Yurakuan hotel. We were told it was the biggest hotel in the onsen town, and one of the oldest too. If I remember correctly, the hotel existed since the 1930s. It underwent renovation and expansion later, and we stayed in the newer Annex wing.

Yudanaka is a truly quiet town. When the sun set, the silence was palpable and the only lights were from some houses and an inn in the distance.

Although Josh loves quiet environs, he found the silence at Yudanaka too much to bear. He told me after we checked out the next day that the absolute silence frightened him and he could not sleep all night. Poor boy. I had been too exhausted to be scared and had fallen into a deep slumber the night before.

Anyway, we had dinner at the hotel. The spread was a feast for the eyes but not for the tongue. And having walked so much, we needed more meat. Alas, the only meat was a few slices of beef and a dry piece of pan-fried salmon. The husband was miserable. :)

Thank goodness for the bag of snacks I carried with me. We hit the vending machines (hurray for vending machines everywhere in Japan!) for some drinks and returned to our room for a snack attack.

We were up by 8am the next morning. We had to hike up a mountain to visit some relatives.

To be exact, we went to Jigokudani Monkey Park, part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park in the north of Nagano Prefecture. It was a cool four degrees Celcius that morning, hence I was all wrapped up like that.

The irritating thing was, while I was all wrapped up, the elderly locals who were also there for a stroll, came dressed in only a windbreaker or light cotton cardigan.

And while I huffed and puffed throughout the upward trek, the elderly skipped past me and had enough air in their lungs to chirp, "Ohayou!"

Darned healthy buggers!

While the concierge at the hotel said the trek up should take about 20 minutes, we took almost 45 minutes.

Anyway, we succeeded in making it up to the monkey park, which is very much a spa for happy monkeys.

They get to have a soak in a hotspring.

They get to be groomed by another monkey.

And like some spas, they get special services at the end.

It tickled me no end whenever a monkey pair moved from frenzied lice-picking to frenzied banging. :)

Life is so good for those monkeys.

We hung around our relatives for half an hour and then made the trek down. A car took us to the train station, where we caught trains to Nagano and onwards to Matsumoto.

It was a whirlwind trip around Matsumoto, as we had to take a three-hour bus ride to Takayama in Gifu Prefecture at 5.05pm. We arrived at Matsumoto at 3pm, hunted for the bus station, bought our tickets, walked as quickly as we could to Matsumoto Castle (it took us 20 minutes to walk from the train station to Matsumoto Castle) and admired it from afar.

Very pretty. There's a large garden facing the castle, where one could sit on a bench and sip from a flask of hot ocha. If we had more time, we would have done that.

Very soon, we hurried off to the bus station and started our journey to a town that became one of our favourite places on earth.

That story will come in my next post. :)

SMRT gets another punch in the gut

2011-12-20T09:37:00.000+08:00

Ho ho ho! More mud smears on SMRT Corporation's face!

News about a middle-aged woman falling over in a badly-driven SMRT bus and then slipping into a coma came to light today, although the accident had taken place last Sunday. Perhaps the train breakdown uproar was far more important.

Read about it here.

Frankly, I was hardly surprised. Bus drivers, whether they work for SMRT or SBS, are seldom known for having tender driving techniques.

Passengers falling in all directions like ragdolls were a common sight when I used to take the bus regularly to and from school. Efforts to hang onto the grip bars often proved futile because the buses swung too hard around bends or braked too hard.

My clearest memory was of a girl who crashed most dramatically towards the front of the bus, hitting the back of her neck onto a metal bar around the coin box and then stumbling head-first down the steps of the entrance. And the driver drove on. He did not even bother to stop and check if she was alright.

Perhaps back then - more than 10 years ago - consumers were less vocal and there were no conveniently available social media platforms for us to shame the driver.

The part of the story that pissed me off was the standard public relations response SMRT gave, no doubt only after the reporter asked the company for a response to this piece of news: "We are sorry the incident happened and investigations is on-going. We will be in touch with the family."

That's such a cold, unfeeling response. Will it kill them to spend a few more minutes to pen something with a little more warmth?

Our transportation service providers should stop singing that customer service is one of their priorities. It never was ten years ago. It still isn't today.

Boo-boo train

2011-12-19T16:03:00.001+08:00

Such drama on the rails while I was away in Japan!

The train service on the North-South Line, operated by SMRT Corporation, broke down for five hours in the evening on Thursday, cutting off access into and out of the city centre. According to various news reports, passengers had to wait for up to an hour in the stifling heat of enclosed carriages, where the air-conditioning had also failed, before being rescued by SMRT staff.

A man, who smashed a window of the train cabin to let in air after 40 minutes of waiting, told a newspaper that he had done so because repeated pleas to the train driver to do something about the ventilation had fallen on deaf ears.

Later, a spokesperson from the train company said that passengers should not break windows and that in the event of a power failure, a back-up system would activate emergency lights within the carriages and provide ventilation. He also said that if passengers had to escape a stranded train by going onto the tracks, power supply would be cut off and staff deployed to guide them.

And yet, the back-up system that provided electricity to run the air-conditioning and lights failed to work, and rescue staff came only after an hour. Clueless passengers in the train had to make do with repeated apology announcements instead of a frank explanation of the boo-boo.

At the same time, SMRT failed to provide real-time updates on the breakdown and information on what passengers could expect as immediate remedy.

Little wonder that passengers in the stranded train and those waiting aimlessly on train platforms at 11 affected train stations were pissed off and firing a barrage of tweets and online posts about the situation.

The breakdown came a day after its Circle Line was disrupted for 40 minutes.

As if all that drama on Thursday was not enough, the train broke down for seven hours on Saturday. A colleague shared how her boyfriend's sister was given nonchalant "I don't know" answers by station staff when Saturday's disruption set in. You would think that after Thursday's chaos, SMRT staff would all be educated right away on how to better handle a similar situation!

Aside from the train breakdowns, bridging services to help stranded passengers were a mess. Back-up buses were infrequent and insufficient. Some drivers lost their way, making journeys longer than necessary. Tempers frayed and arguments between passengers were many.

It is baffling how SMRT, the operator of two of Singapore's major rail networks, could fuck up like that. Already, we are disappointed with its lax security, which allowed its train depots to be broken into by graffiti artists - not once, but twice. Woe if those had been terrorists with bombs.

And as the operator of the backbone of Singapore's railway system, surely SMRT must regard system maintenance a task of utmost importance. So how could damaged rail claws go unnoticed despite regular checks conducted by SMRT?

Perhaps the maintenance staff only looked and did not see?

The other worrisome issue to emerge from this is how unprepared SMRT is for such a major disruption. Imagine the chaos if a train or station was attacked by terrorists!

SMRT has to wake up fast. Perhaps too much attention has been paid to making a fat profit by putting in retail shops to let, and too little thought was placed in ensuring the system is well-oiled and its crisis communication procedures are up-to-date.

A lack of competition has made SMRT complacent. So what if the North-East Line was operated by SBS Transit? SMRT has two lines in its grip and is resting on its laurels because it knows that it is unthinkable that another company will step in and take the operating concession from its hands.

If the management contract of Singapore's second cruise terminal can be issued for tender application by local and foreign companies, why can't our railway system do the same and let a more competent company take over? Let the operator concession be renewable after a set number of years, so that the operator will perform its best in terms of customer service, service reliability and so on, so as to bag a contract renewal in future.

Pricier taxis

2011-12-07T18:02:00.002+08:00

ComfortDelGro, Singapore's largest taxi operator with a fleet of 15,700 taxis, will adjust its taxi fares next week.

According to The Straits Times, the fare changes are these:

Basic fares: Flagdown fares will increase by 20 cents for most taxis, and by 70 cents for limousines. Meter fares will go up by two cents per fare band, over a slightly longer distance.

Peak period surcharge: The peak period will be lengthened in the morning from 6am to 9.30am, compared to 7am to 9.30am now. The evening peak hour surcharge will now also apply on Sundays and public holidays, and run from 6pm to midnight compared to 5pm to 8pm from Monday to Saturday at present. However, the surcharge will be reduced from 35 per cent to 25 per cent of the metered fare.

City surcharge: The $3 city surcharge from 5pm to midnight will apply on Sundays and public holidays as well.

Call booking fees: Current call booking fees will cost 20 cents less than now at all times, but those booking a taxi in advance will have to pay substantially more - $8 compared to the current $5.20.

With higher flagdown fares and meter fares, my taxi expenditures, which are incurred mostly during office hours when I head out for meetings and interviews, will climb. Already, it usually costs me almost S$20 to cab from office in the west to the city centre. I wonder how much my fare will be from next week on!

This fare adjustment pissed me off because customer service has not improved along with the last fare adjustment. Taxi booking call centre operators still sound half-dead. Too many taxi drivers still pick and choose their customers, rudely rejecting passengers who are not bound for the airport or who need to go into the not-quite-attractive far ends of the island. Too many empty taxis cruise around town during peak hours or rainy days, slyly waiting for a better-paying taxi booking to come in.

The quality of taxi drivers have not improved too. Some drive like they are operating a slow-moving scenic car ride, others race like Grand Prix stars.

A new addition to ComfortDelGro's crappy service comes in the form of its SMS taxi booking confirmation. In the past, when you call to make a taxi booking, you will be put on hold while a taxi is being secured. An automated message will then inform you of the taxi's number plate.

Today, you may be asked to hang up and wait for a confirmation by SMS.

On the few occasions I was made to wait for the SMS confirmation, I had only one successful booking. The SMS confirmations often took too long to come in, and I had to walk out in the rain to try my luck flagging a taxi off the road. Twice the SMS confirmation came after I've already boarded a flagged taxi and was five minutes into the ride – and one of the spurned taxi drivers called to scold me.

Anyway, what inspired me to write this post was this paragraph I saw in The Straits Times article:

In a statement released soon after ComfortDelGro issued its fare changes, the National Taxi Association (NTA), which represents taxi drivers here and currently has more than 11,000 members, urged the other five taxi operators - Trans-Cab, SMRT, Premier, Smart and Prime - to follow suit.

Hey! Isn't that price fixing?

In 2009, the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) fined 16 coach operators and the Express Bus Agencies Association for fixing the price of coach tickets to Malaysia.

It seems to me that NTA is publicly urging the other taxi operators in Singapore to commit a crime!

But why do I have the feeling that CCS will not rap the knuckles of NTA?

I hope the other taxi companies will have the brains to poo-poo ComfortDelGro and maintain their current fares. That way, commuters will all switch to the cheaper options and forego ComfortDelGro.

Unfortunately, reality is a different story. With ComfortDelGro running the majority fleet of taxis in Singapore, ComfortDelGro shunners will have to wait forever to get a taxi.

Then you have someone like Cedric Foo, head of Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, who rubs salt in commuters' wounds by saying that the certificate of entitlement is too high for everyone to own a car now and public transport is still not comprehensive enough.

And he was quoted by the newspaper: “Commuters can then vote with their feet. If they feel the fares are too high, then they can take a cab with another company.”

Read between the lines, my friends. Foo was really telling us to suck it up. The deal is this - if you are too poor to own a car and to take taxis from next week on, you can either squeeze with the crowds on Singapore's inadequate bus and train services or walk to your desired destination.

Some people we have in the government. Sigh.

Monday morning

2011-12-05T08:35:00.000+08:00

As I sat on the toilet this early morning, feeling mournful about having to get out of bed on a nice, chilly morning and the end of the glorious weekend, a depressing thought struck me.

If we had a kid, we'd have to wake up even earlier to bring the kid to the parents' place before we proceed to office. And if we were deadbeat by 6pm, we would still have to hold ourselves up and go get the kid home.

My spirits sank farther than it already was this Monday morning.

Maybe I'm still not ready to be a mum. :(

Christmas rainbow

2011-12-04T23:39:00.001+08:00

The annual Stargirls gift-exchange get-together is a sure sign that Christmas is approaching.

This year's stash turned out to be rather pink. Me like!

The ritual of drawing lots to see who gets whose gift exchange contribution was carried out after lunch, dessert and endless banter.

And I got to take home... *drum roll* .... Xiujie's contribution of a Stila Daydream Palette, which contains a heart-racing rainbow of 22 eye shadows.

How wonderful! And perfect for my travels. :)

Delayed bleeds

2011-12-04T17:15:00.000+08:00

Damn you, reproductive system, damn you. Why can't you just keep to the bloody cycle (literally!) like you are supposed to?

I know what you have up your sleeves. I bet you intend to bring on the bleeds just when I'm due to fly off to Japan, so that I will be plagued by cramps and inconveniences during the holiday. That's what you have been doing all through this year - screwing up my cycles and giving me the bleeds during my work trips.

I hate you.

Dec 10 come quickly!

2011-11-30T08:33:00.000+08:00

This week and the next are packed with interviews, media lunches and parties. Yet, I feel that time is not passing quickly enough for next Saturday to arrive in a blink of an eye.

We can't wait to breathe the Japanese air!

I could eat a cow - part 2

2011-11-28T23:48:00.001+08:00

Update! Update!

I did eventually eat a cow! Well, not exactly a whole cow. Part of a cow, to be exact. Four strips of a part of a cow, to be more exact.

And I did not get my Korean cuisine fix at Auntie Kim's. Instead, as the husband turned out onto Pasir Panjang, we spotted Ju Shin Jang Korean Charcoal BBQ restaurant across the road. And that was where we went instead.

A wide array of complimentary appetisers was provided, but I fancied only the cold tofu in a stimulating kimchi sauce.

Frankly, I'm truly surprised how something so simple could taste so good. I could eat this cold, spicy tofu with rice every day!

Apart from a serving of galbisal (boneless ribs) and moksal (pork collar), the husband and I also stuffed our greedy faces with japchae (sweet potato noodles fried with loads of fragrant sesame oil and greens) and samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup).

On a cold, stormy evening like today, nothing warms the tum-tum like a boiling bowl of samgyetang! :)

And samgyetang tastes even better when it is shared between the husband and I, as we discuss the possibility of taking a makan vacation in Seoul next year.

I could eat a cow

2011-11-28T18:44:00.000+08:00

My ongoing rendezvous with Korean drama, The Man Who Can't Get Married, starring Ji Jin-Hee and Uhm Jung-Hwa, has got my bovine lustings stirring in the depths of my stomach.

Ji's character loves beef as much as I do. He pigged out at a BBQ house in the second episode and the show's producer created food porn by showing beautifully marbled pieces of raw beef and the slow, sensuous way Ji placed a slice of beef in his mouth. With his eyes closed.

It was a torture watching that episode at 11pm, when Korean restaurants are closed and I have no way of satiating my bovine craving. :(

So, I can only do it tonight.

There are a couple of Korean restaurants, most located in town. Nothing gets on the nerves of the husband and mine more than being stuck in a traffic jam when we're hungry. My best bet will have to be Auntie Kim's on Thomson Road. Parking is a bitch there, though.

I can only pray that most people will be too lazy to get dinner outside on a rainy day.

Help or slave?

2011-11-27T18:27:00.001+08:00

"Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners."

- Novelist and Anglican clergyman, Laurence Sterne

My dim sum brunch at Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant at Orchid Country Club was rudely interrupted by a man's rebuke, "Hey! What about these water bottles?! Are you blind or do you want me to pack them for you?"

I looked up to see where that came from, and saw a large-set Chinese man, seated at the table with his family, staring daggers at his diminutive domestic helper who was half-way across the restaurant. She had left with her female employer - the wife of the man who had shouted after her. She turned around sheepishly and returned to the table to get the forgotten water bottles. And as she approached her angry employer, he scolded some more, "Do you expect me to do your work for you, you stupid woman?"

By the smug look on his face, he probably thought his public display of anger towards his domestic helper was something to be proud of, something that was a right bestowed upon him since he pays her a monthly salary, even if that salary was a meagre amount. So the poor girl - in all senses of the word 'poor' - has no dignity during her employment here.

His public display of anger and obvious lack of respect for his domestic helper reflected his lack of manners. His aged parents sat stone-faced next to him, and when I looked at them, I could not help but see them as people who had failed to raise their child with manners.

Is the domestic helper not someone else's child too? How would her parents feel if they knew she was insulted like that?

Furthermore, if her employer could scream at her like that in public, what more could he do to her within the walls of his house?

The rude man reminded me of my nutcase brother-in-law, who once shouted (in a shrill voice like a crazy woman, no less) at his domestic helper, "Do you want to die?" when she did not respond immediately to his order to help search for a lost S$50 note. And the reason why she could not respond right way was because she was doing the dishes and had to rinse off soap before she could attend to him.

Then there was also my mother-in-law, who, no doubt was poisoned by the nutcase, kept scolding the domestic helper for being lazy during the few months when his family moved in temporarily with us. That angered me so much that I told her to stop insulting the girl. In those few months of interaction with the girl, I've not seen her idle. She was almost always on the ladder, cleaning the ceiling fans every morning when I woke up for work. In the evening, she would be scrubbing the bathrooms or looking for some laundry to do or iron. Some days when the nutcase and his wife were not at home, I'd tell her to rest and watch some TV or listen to the radio, and she'd instead ask me if she could help me iron my clothes or clean my bedroom.

Domestic helpers are human too, not robots that can go on and on 24/7. Must a domestic helper perform some chore every waking moment in order to be seen as hardworking? Surely there are laws here that determine the maximum number of hours a domestic helper is required to work?

Domestic helpers are not slaves!

Sometimes I feel that Singaporeans are not ready to be employers of domestic helpers. Perhaps my view is very unfair, as surely there must be fair employers around, but I cannot be faulted for thinking this way. Online media are flushed with too many photos of employers making their domestic helpers stand by the table while they dine in restaurants, and with news of employers (and these are educated people!) abusing their domestic helpers. Too often I've seen tiny domestic helpers treated like mules, hauling several large bags behind their care-free employers.

Then there are also stories I've heard, of how some employers allow their domestic helpers to only eat instant noodles or leftovers.

Having said all that, one must not deny the fact that there are also domestic helpers in Singapore who abuse their employers, by being violent with the family's young children or elderly members, or spicing up the family's cuisine with dubious ingredients, such as poop.

With so much hullabaloo over domestic helpers, why not ban the practice of live-in domestic helpers altogether? Employers with an evil seed in their hearts will less likely see these by-the-hour helpers as their property, and with reduced interaction comes reduced animosity, so helpers will less likely want to take revenge on the employer.

A thing for Hyun Bin...again

2011-11-22T19:46:00.001+08:00

I'm ready to let you in on my latest fantasy, which joins a long list that includes mid-air copulation with some good-looking superhero (cue visions of Hugh-Wolverine-Jackman, Chris-Captain America-Evans and Christian-Batman-Bale), frisky action with cops and soldiers, and energetic meetings with the boss (not my real-life boss of course!).

What's that fantasy? This:

Yes. I absolutely want to be overpowered by a dude in a tacky tracksuit with blue sequins that looks like it was stolen from the National Day Parade performers wardrobe.

But wait. Not just any dude. The dude has to be Hyun Bin, the only man whom I imagine can carry off the god-awful attire with such finesse.

Fans of Korean drama will probably find the image familiar. It is taken from the SBS drama, Secret Garden, which was aired in South Korea in late last year.

So why am I only talking about Secret Garden, or rather, Hyun Bin's character in the drama now, a year later? Because remember what Hyun Bin did to me after I watched My Name Is Kim Sam Soon some years back? I became a star-struck teenager all over again, madly in love with his face and character for several months and watching the drama from start to end twice.

Okay. I lied. I watched it more than twice. And I watched countless times that particular episode in which the characters of Hyun Bin and Kim Sun-ah got drunk while playing on the piano and later pulled each other into a long kiss.

I'm no drama mama (usually) and did not want to lose my marbles like that again.

But when I was in Jeju, my tour guide could not stop waxing lyrical about Secret Garden and insisted that I must must must watch it and fall insanely in love with Hyun Bin again.

So that was what I did. I went out and bought the series and watched a couple of episodes every goddamn night. Even the husband is hooked on it now.

I won't detail the 20-episode plot here because my post will then go on and on forever. I will, however, say that the plot is quite squirm-worthy at times, and very familiar too, as the rich-boy-courts-common-girl-against-the-wishes-of-his-venomous-mother-who-makes-life-difficult-for-the-girl-to-break-them-up storyline has been done to death in My Name Is Kim Sam Soon, Boys Over Flowers and others that I don't know about.

Still, it managed to warm my heart, make me laugh out loud and smack the husband's thigh while I do that, and reduce me to a weeping fool.

It gets 9 out of 10 from me only because it cast Hyun Bin in a character he plays best - a suave owner of a reputable company who is absolutely full of himself, but is willing to give up his pride and wealth for a common girl-next-door. And it was a Hyun Bin parade, full of close-up shots of him with his signature smirk and smile, meant to drive his fans into orgasm.

God help me.

And in this show, he gets to change his wardrobe so often, it was like a fashion show. I'm now itching to buy a complete winter wardrobe for the husband.

Hyun Bin's character was impossibly tender in the last few episodes, crying most stylishly (yes, he demonstrated that it was possible to cry beautifully and still look real) over his beloved. He moved me to tears and I want to pull his character out of the telly and tell him to love me instead, cos I would never make him so sad.

See, I told you - God help me.

Seriously, it has to be a sin for a man to look so beautiful.

Box of joy

2011-11-20T23:22:00.000+08:00

Food should always be served up like porn stars - great to look at and wonderful in the mouth.

And that's why I'm smitten by this box of brownies.

Brown and pink go together wonderfully, and together with the images of Shirley Temple-era mummy and child and brownies, the box of brownies screamed, "TAKE ME HOME!" from the shelves at the snack shop.

And congratulations to Market O's product design team, I did exactly that.

Within the pretty box of cellulite-inducing treats were even more pretty things.

Every square of brownie came individually wrapped in colourful packets that were just too pretty to rip apart.

But I had to steel my heart and rip open one of these pretty packets, as I was starving. Moreover, I was eager to find out if the product tasted as good as its packaging looked.

And yes, the brownie was lovely on the tongue - crunchy edges and a soft centre full of chocolately goodness. It went splendidly with cold milk. :)

I'm putting this on my shopping list for my next trip to South Korea.

Before bidding goodbye

2011-11-19T16:48:00.001+08:00

I love Incheon Airport for its fuss-free complimentary WiFi connection. :)

There is just slightly more than an hour before my Seoul-Singapore flight, giving me more than enough time to post one final post about Jeju before I leave South Korea.

I must tell you about the best meal I've had throughout this trip. It is a dish of chicken baked rice from a cafe called Paris Croissant at Incheon Airport.

This is also the cheapest meal I've had during the past few days. Because of the accursed weather, I chose to be confined to the warmth and shelter of my hotel, with the exception of Friday, which was when I had to go for a full-day site inspection. And so, I had to eat in the hotel.

Amazingly, the hotel has only one all-day dining restaurant. And that restaurant offers only buffet for dinner, which costs 48,000 won (S$57) per person. For that amount, I would expect some different dishes every day. Unfortunately, I was faced with the same boring dishes.

There was a farewell dinner for event delegates on the final night, and I was looking forward to a better meal. Alas, the president of the local tourism board invited me to make a speech and toast, and later, draw three lucky winners for the night's raffle. I could not say no, as it was a branding opportunity for my magazine and my face as the magazine's editor.

And so, I was jittery all evening and could hardly eat anything.

Very sad, I know.

Putting aside my lack of dining ecstasy, this trip has been rather enriching. Jeju was some place I knew only through the Korean drama I am Kim Sam Soon, so I am glad to finally set foot on it and see the destination for myself.

Although, I have to say, the trip did not set off on a right footing. Apparently, the show organisers overbooked the hotel and some delegates were left without rooms. Some fella, without asking for my permission first, decided to make a female delegate my room-mate. I was incredibly angry. I don't mind rooming in with colleagues, but not a stranger!

I've my valuables and pages of my unpublished magazine in my room, and I can't possibly lug everything to the exhibition and interviews, I screamed into the phone.

I seldom scream at service people, but this situation was just ridiculous. Plus, I was running a fever and extremely exhausted from a lack of sleep during the flight into Jeju.

The man I spoke to sent the female delegate up to my room anyway, and the woman tried to get in. She was equally shocked when I opened the door, and muttered to herself that she could have been given a wrong room key, and left.

I suspect many delegates must have been angry about being made to share a room without advance notice.

Alright, there's some activity at the boarding gate now, so I think the crew will be boarding us soon. One last thing before I end this post: the other thing I love about Incheon Airport is that foreigners are given the chance to experience traditional arts and craft and way of life.

Several areas called the Korea Traditional Culture Experience Centre in the departure terminal offer live traditional music and dance acts at specific times of the day, and conduct classes for foreigners to make their own traditional dolls, paper artwork, etc. The centre near gate 23 allows foreigners to dress up in hanbok and take photos.

And all the activities are for freeeeee! How nice!

Hokay, got to go now! :)

Around Jeju in a day

2011-11-18T23:01:00.003+08:00

I'm cursed with bad weather whenever I visit South Korea. It poured when I was in Seoul earlier this year. It poured yesterday and today in Jeju.

Thankfully, today's site inspection programme comprised of all indoor locations.

First stop was a darling home of many celebrity teddy bears and stuff toys. If you are a big fan of Korean dramas and movies, you might recognise this:

Or how about this?

Super cute, eh? The first scene was from Winter Sonata, while the second was from The Legend - both productions that starred Bae Yong Joon.

These teddy bears are masterpieces of Joanne Oh, owner of Joanne Studio/Joanne Bear Museum in Daepo-Dong, Seogwipo, Jeju. She created a bear that resembled Bae Yong Joon in 2005 and sent the TV star's fans in Japan and South Korea into a wild frenzy. His fans bought the bear, called it Joon Bear and brought it along with them on their travels. They took photos of Joon Bear against tourist landmarks and sent the photos to Joanne.

Since then, Joanne has gone on to create bear doubles of well-known personalities such as Lee Min Ho (the bear is called Minomi) and Barack Obama.

Leveraging on her fame and growing popularity of hand-crafted stuffed toys, Joanne became actively involved in conservation efforts by running campaigns to protect polar bears and sun bears. Adorable polar bear and sun bear stuff toys were sold to raise funds.

Joanne Studio/Joanne Bear Museum is a very fun place to be. One could buy a beautiful toy, look at displays of her collection, take loads of photos with super-sized teddy bears that are as tall as I, and enjoy complimentary cups of herb tea and home-made soft cookies at a cosy area on the top floor.

And even if you did not buy anything, Joanne and her team would still present you a thank you gift of a palm-sized bear. :)

Anyway, while Joanne was showing us around her museum, I spotted a soft toy that featured in the popular Korean drama Boys Over Flowers.

"Hey! I know this fella!" I exclaimed, and went on to gush about Lee Min Ho and Koo Hye Sun, and how much I enjoyed the drama - TWICE. And when we were about to leave, Joanne gave me an additional surprise.

Yup! She gave me one to take home! :)

Next stop, we went straight into the pulsating heart of Africa.

Yes, you read me right. We went to Africa. Well, the Museum of African Art in Daepo-Dong, Seogwipo, Jeju to be exact. The imposing structure was built to resemble the Grand Mosque Djenne in Mali, West Africa (see photo below).

The museum houses African artefacts from the 18th century to the early 20th century. My tour guide said the museum was a joint project of a famous South Korean photographer and a gentlemen who lived extensively in Africa. Much of the artefacts belongs to the latter.

There is also a very inspiring photo gallery that showcased photos that celebrated the vibrant colours of the continent... and the photographer's brilliant skills.

Visitors to the museum can take a step deeper into Africa by attending one of the three daily performances (except on Mondays) by the Banaya band from Senegal.

Gosh, the quartet are just bursting with energy. While the men worked their drums maniacally, the lady unleashed a frenzied traditional dance. The audience loved them!

We moved from the museum to lunch, and then to Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Because Ripley's was screened several times on TV in Singapore, I found most of the exhibits familiar. As expected, the museum featured all things weird.

I liked this best:

Ancient Chinese were punished for lying by being tied to a metal stack and roasted on a fire burning below. Mega ouch!

With some extra time leftover before our next stop, we swung by The Shilla Jeju, one of the most expensive hotels on the island, to look-see, look-see. It is a truly beautiful and classy property, and I can imagine escaping into its bossom for days on end for some peace and quiet.

The Shilla Jeju has an expansive garden and walking trails that look out towards the sea. The atmosphere sent a nice tingle down my spine, as I imagine the husband and I walking hand in hand through the area on a misty morning, and then stopping at an observation deck to take in the sights and sounds of waves lashing at the shore, and stealing a kiss.

After standing in awe of nature for a long while, we skipped off to Marine Park, where we said many hellos to dolphins and made our own stained glass (it was actually plastic).

There! My masterpiece! I found it rather therapeutic to do this. It was nice to do something that did not require much brain power and I felt like a child again. I remembered how much I enjoyed sitting alone in class to work on my colouring book, while my noisy classmates played.

Next, we went to Halim Park, where many grandfathers live.

I mean these grandfathers:

Dolharubang is what these stone statues are called. It literally means stone grandfather. Dolharubang are native to Jeju, and they are commonly found at doorsteps. Their bulbous eyes serve to watch visitors closely, and as guardian spirits, they keep bad things out, if you know what I mean.

Dolharubang are sculpted out of volcanic stone, something Jeju is not short of, as it is a volcanic island.

Halim Park is also full of other stone creations, such as this:

Digressing here, let me tell you about three things Jeju has in excess, which are also the very things that shaped Jeju's culture, history and way of life.

First, rocks. Some 90% of Jeju is covered by volcanos. It has 368 oreums, or extinct volcanic cones, and the famous Hallasan shield volcano. Jeju is so rocky that farming is difficult, as one would hit rocks after digging just 50m into the ground.

Second, wind. As a result of the strong winds and typhoons that whip through Jeju, the locals don't like staying in high-rise apartments. In summer, the wind from Russia is cold and dry. Low-rising houses are preferred, and the roofs are anchored down with ropes and nets to prevent them from being blown away. Hence, skyscrapers are non-existent in Jeju and commercial buildings don't rise too high up.

Third, women. In the past, Jeju's population was dominated by women. And because the men eked out a living from the sea, many perished while on fishing trips. The women had to stay strong to feed the family, and many became expert divers. They were able to dive up to 200m into the sea to harvest abalone. The women were so strong - emotionally and physically - that they fought off the Japanese during the war, my tour guide said. Hence, on Jeju, elderly women are very much respected.

After checking out all the Dolharubang Halim Park offered, we took a breather at the nearby Herb Cafe. The cafe's exterior is heavy with rosemary and other herbs, making the air very fragrant.

Herb Cafe is famous for its mega-sized black pork burger, according to my tour guide. I was told that each burger can feed four adults. I did not try it today. Perhaps next time. :)

Our last stop was Jungmun Beach, which is known for its year-round clear, emerald waters.

It was a pity the Olympus Pen was not able to capture the emerald shades of the sea. Nevermind. Here's yet another Dolharubang, this time sitting by the sea, to say goodbye and good night, as I end my post now.

More photos of Jeju on Facebook! :)

All about sex

2011-11-17T18:37:00.003+08:00

I arrived in Jeju yesterday afternoon and caught a quick nap to make up for a lack of sleep throughout the overnight flight. When I woke up, it was already past 4pm and I decided to visit a nearby attraction before the sky darkens.

A quick look at the map and I found my destination - Jeju Loveland.

Opened in 2004, Jeju Loveland is a park with 140 sex-inspired sculptures. And I do not mean sculptures that are vaguely shaped like sex-related products or actions and which require much pondering to understand what the sculpture is trying to say.

At Jeju Loveland, the sculptures whip their messages right in your face.

I was greeted before the entrance by a marble replica of my best friend:

I was so tempted to strike a more vulgar pose, say, one that involves me sticking out my tongue at a specific part of this marble sculpture, but I was afraid I'd give the man who was wielding my camera a premature ejeculation. Already, he was grinning from ear to ear when I approached him for help with a photo.

After snapping this shot, the man urged me to go to the washroom. Whatever for, I asked. He grinned on and pushed me in the direction of the washroom. "Look!" he said excitedly.

And I saw what he was so eager to show me:

Haha. Any woman who needs a pee must first perform a hand-job.

The man grinned on and nudged me to go into the washroom. In halting English, he told me to look through a door inside. For a moment, I thought some woman would perform peeing in one of the cubicles and decided against looking into any cubicles - I've had enough of women peeing without closing their doors in Kunming. But the enthusiastic man refused to let me exit the washroom and insisted I look through a door.

I finally realised there was a peephole on one door and looked through. It was a cartoon depicting a blowjob.

The man laughed heartily when I emerged from the washroom and then left me alone. Very interesting fella.

Stepping through the gates of Jeju Loveland, I saw this beautiful piece:

If my back was strong enough to arch like that, this would be my signature post-coital pose.

More sculptures of women in sultry poses followed.

As well as sculptures of women yielding to men.

I was starting to think that the perception of women as sex objects sounded too strongly at Jeju Loveland, until I saw a few sculptures that depicted male sex slaves with heavy women. Good to know that the park did not just portray the female species as subjects to be dominated during sex. :)

Walking on, I was quite baffled by this particular one that depicted a woman dropping or extracting a chili from an open oyster with insides that resembled the female genetalia. What was the artist trying to say? Hot pussy?

There were some hilarious displays in the park too, like this one showing a couple making out in a car, which rattled along to a woman's erotic moans and screams. Just then, a great photo opportunity presented itself when a group of men came by and peered inquisitively through the windows. Peeping toms! :)

I'm sure it was no coincidence that the car's number plate was 6969.

Or this showing a man and his hound having some fun with the female species of their own kind.

There was also this piece that made me pause in my tracks and wonder, "Wow. Really?"

Putting Jeju Loveland's lusty art pieces aside, I found the park quite nice for strolls. I guess the cool weather helped. The park has a large pond in the middle of the park and loads of trees and flowery shrubs around. Most of the visitors today were elderly women who giggled among themselves, and couples of all ages. I saw also groups of people in suits, no doubt conference attendees who had a bit of time for some fun.

Admission costs 9,000 won (S$10) per person, and you must be above 18 years old to be admitted. If you are too young for Jeju Loveland, don't fret. There are plenty of free sex websites online that won't know if you are lying about your age, and you'll get to see more explicit stuff.

Anyway, more photos on Facebook!

Burning up

2011-11-15T16:45:00.000+08:00

It is nine hours to my flight to Jeju and I've developed a fever. No doubt the result of my scratchy throat and dry, hacking cough.

It seems that this year has not been a good year for me to travel. I either fall sick just as I'm departing or during my trip, or get an unexpected visit from Lady Bloodymort. :(

I hope I hold up long enough to find my way from Incheon Airport to Gimpo Airport for my flight to Jeju, and then the next three days at the conference.

Early cheer

2011-11-14T08:00:00.005+08:00

GOOD MORNING!

When was my last narcissistic bout? Frankly, I can't remember. And when I cannot remember when my last narcissistic bout was, that means it has been too long.

So, here's a cheery photo of me with my very best Colgate smile to kick start your week and sweep away all the Monday blues.

And just in case you were wondering how on earth did I manage to get an ice-cream fix so early in the day, wonder no more. This photo was taken yesterday afternoon. Yes, I am just finding an excuse to show off my grin and somewhat obedient curls.

Don't say I didn't warn you ahead of this post. I did say it was time to unleash a narcissistic bout.

To Italy and back

2011-11-13T23:18:00.002+08:00

Apart from housing one of the world's largest collections of modern and contemporary South-east Asian artworks, the Singapore Art Museum holds another treasure in its bossom.

I'm talking about Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo, a vibrantly-decorated little restaurant that enchants with some of the best Italian food I've ever tasted.

Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo has been keeping stomachs happy since 2003 and I've been there several times. Perhaps it was a selfish thought that restrained me from blogging about it - I want it to stay a secret among consumers in the know, so that it will never be too crowded.

But, you know, you can never hide a good thing and the restaurant has picked up quite a bit of press coverage.

Ah well, there's no point in keeping one of my favourite haunts under wraps anymore - it is hardly a secret today.

In October when a travel trade show was in town and I had one of my foreign colleagues over, I brought the editorial team to Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo for dinner. Dinner was supposed to be had at Pizzeria Mozza (by celebrity chef Mario Batali) at Marina Bay Sands, but it was just impossible to secure a reservation. With 11 people in my dinner group, I cannot afford to make the journey to Pizzeria Mozza and take a chance.

"We have to take a chance; the pizzas there are truly amazing," insisted my sub-ed who have had meals at Pizzeria Mozza in California and Singapore.

I suggested Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo and promised that they won't be disappointed. True enough, they loved it.

Today, some errands took the husband and I into town, and the Singapore Art Museum was just round the bend. It struck me then that I've never brought the husband to Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo. There was no better time to have a nice dinner date in a charming little restaurant than this stormy evening. So, there we went.

I have a number of favourites there, including Zuppa di pesce (a generously portioned seafood soup), Carpaccio di manzo, Risotto ai porcini, Tagliatelle alla Nonna Teresa, Gnocchi di patate al pomodoro fresco and Pizza con salmone e rucola. It is awfully painful to have to decide on only one dish for myself. Restaurants like Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo are best visited by many friends and loved ones, so a wide variety of dishes can be ordered and shared. :)

Since there was just the two of us, and I insisted on saving space for some heavenly Tiramisu, we ordered a Tagliatelle alla Nonna Teresa and Pizza Capricciosa to share. Frankly, that was quite ambitious too, as the pizza was rather huge.

Tagliatelle alla Nonna Teresa is a flat ribbon pasta with Bolognese sauce, mushroom and ham, oven-baked with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese on top. Divine, I tell you! Pizza Capricciosa is a tomato sauce-base pizza with mozzarella, artichoke, ham, black olives, salami and mushrooms. Not one of my favourites since I don't like artichoke, but it was still nice.

There was something very enjoyable about stuffing one's face with glorious food like these on a cold, stormy evening, and having beer to warm the blood. The whole experience was even better when one's seated by the window at Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo, which granted one views of the rain pelting down on people and vehicles rushing by outside.

When both dishes were polished off, I called for a sweet ending - a bowl of Tiramisu. Trattoria Lafiendra Al Museo does Tiramisu brilliantly, and this dessert should never be missed, even if your stomach was close to bursting.

This splendid meal and precious time alone with the husband set me back by S$90.98. Beautiful number. If I was a gambler, I would go out and buy 4D. But I am not. So you see, an authentic Italian meal is affordable...at least in comparision with the airfare to Italy. :)

Learning to slow down

2011-11-12T12:31:00.000+08:00

I've been trained to do as much as possible. But lately I've been told that one should only do what is humanely possible.

I feel strange when I don't push myself past my limits. Perhaps, subconsciously, I'm a sucker for pain and mental stress.

Poor event planning

2011-11-10T23:25:00.001+08:00

An invitation to a trade conference and exhibition in Jeju next week came three weeks ago, and since lead time was so short, I quickly said yes.

It was only early last week that I got a copy of the programme. Turns out, the event comprised just a day's conference and business meetings, and another day of tour around Jeju to see a couple of hotels and event venues.

However, for some strange reason, the organisers arranged for me to fly home the afternoon after the conference/exhibition day, which leaves me hardly enough time to see the destination's hardware.

I wouldn't have minded, but I realised yesterday that the flight from Singapore to Jeju would take almost 12 hours because of the lack of direct flights! I'd have to fly to Seoul's Incheon airport, transfer to Gimpo airport, and from there, take a domestic flight to Jeju. Horrible.

And all that painful travelling for only one day of activity.

It is terrible planning and a true waste of resources. Since the organisers are flying me in, they should make full use of me by showing me around and opening avenues for more press coverage.

I tried to maximise my time in Jeju by requesting for an interview with the tourism board in the late afternoon on the day I arrive. That request was turned down, so I can only conduct the interview the next day, which means I have lesser time to attend the conference and interview people at the exhibition.

Bah. So much for trying to help people who don't want to help themselves.

Ah well, the up-side to this is that I will be home on Friday night, allowing me to enjoy the full weekend with the darling husband.

Something pretty, something sweet

2011-11-07T16:43:00.001+08:00

Question: What's better than a Chupa Chups lollipop?

Answer: A Chupa Chups lollipop that comes bundled with a Hello Kitty surprise!

Packaged within a pink and white plastic capsule is a strawberry flavoured lollipop and this itsy-bitsy Hello Kitty toy:

There are 12 different miniatures in the collection and this is only my first. That's a smart way to get Chupa Chups flying off the shelves.

I have another capsule in the fridge, and I hope that contains a different miniature. :)

Christmas came early!

2011-11-06T23:20:00.001+08:00

The husband ought to thank his lucky stars that I'm not the kind of girl who fancies diamonds and pearls. It is so easy (on the pocket) to please me.

All it takes to get me hopping in joy are these...

I can't wait to play these all day! But in return for the husband's spot-on Christmas present selection, he deserves all my attention today. The games can wait till he hits the road with his cycling buddy one of the nights.

As well, he sponsored half of the cost of my latest want - the Olympus Pen. :)

This is the E-P2, one generation before the current E-P3. Functions-wise, both generations are very similar, except the E-P3 has a touch-screen. Value-wise, the E-P2 went at a discounted S$698, with a very retro-looking FL-14 external flash, an 8GB SD card and a hard case thrown in for free.

I'm no hardcore techie who buys only the latest in the market, so the E-P2 is hot enough for me. :)

The E-P2 offers eight art filters, among other functions. For now, those are the only functions I've got myself acquainted with. We are supposed to sign up for a complimentary course that will turn us into Olympus Pen experts.

The art filters aren't too bad.

This was taken using the Pin Hole filter:

This was taken using the Pale & Light filter (courtesy of the husband):

This was taken using the Soft Focus filter:

This was taken using the Pop Art filter:

This was taken using the Grainy Film filter:

Oh, the lens cap, by the way, features the famous F logo from the classic 1963 Olympus Pen F.

According to the salesman, my E-P2 set is one of the special edition kits that feature the F logo lens cap. How nice. :)

With two wonderful cameras now, we won't be fighting to take photos in Japan. We can both be extremely trigger-happy! :)

I'm signing off now to go explore the camera with the husband.

That reporter - Part 2

2011-11-04T22:35:00.001+08:00

Reining in my temper and trying to be as understanding as possible, I wrote the rude reporter a reply that patiently explained why I did what I did.

I looped the Big Boss Woman in my reply, and I pointed out to the offensive reporter that I like to be very open with my colleagues. There was nothing we should hide from the group editor.

His reply came, with the group editor removed from the email thread. He said he wished only to convey one message, and that message is that he rather focus on realistic stories that can be obtained from the event and not my kind of "ideal world" stories.

That pissed me off. The story angles I gave him are not ideal world stories and I dare lay a bet with him that I will be able to secure the same stories at the same show or any other trade shows.

How is the rate of green exhibition technology in Taiwan an ideal world story when there are a number of exhibition service providers at the event?

How is the engagement of university students in events as a way to groom them for the future an ideal world story when there are students present and relevant industry authorities are there to explain reasons behind the presence of these kids?

These stories are absolutely do-able.

Later in the day, the group editor replied to our exchange. Her email took on a cutesy tone, perhaps in a bid to reduce the tension. "Children, stop quarrelling, kiss and make up," she wrote at the start, and went on to explain that it wasn't my character to boss colleagues around and that the reporter was also right to feel frustrated because he really just need to file one story and not two a day.

I knew right away that such a laugh-it-off email from the top dog will lead the reporter to undermine my authority from then on. The reporter now knows that he can be rude to me and get away with it.

True enough, the reporter's reply went: "I'm not mad at her, though it might seem that way from what I wrote. She wants decent material for her magazine, and I have no problems with that."

And with that 360-degree about-turn in tone, he effectively swept his rude behaviour under the carpet.

Really? Not angry with me? I must have been blind, illiterate or a pure moron because from his email last night, I really read it as him being angry with me.

Let's see, he wrote: "I am not being paid a per diem to cover this show for you. So you are in no position to order me around. Sorry that is how it is."

The rest of the email was even more offensive, but there's no need to reproduce here, as it contains internal information.

Sneaky fella, that's what he is. And he has no balls to stick to his complaint, which makes me even more furious.

But never mind. I've wasted enough time being angry with him. I should be generous and forgive him because he is a ball-less idiot and there's no cure for that.

Moreover, I will get the last laugh because I will just stop assigning him jobs. :)

That reporter

2011-11-04T15:53:00.000+08:00

Following my brief rant last night, I received an email from that reporter, with this subject line in the email: Time to tone down your attitude.

He went on tell me that I have no right to order him around since I do not pay him per diem. Yes, in exactly those words.

Hmm. I've never been known among colleagues as being bossy, so that took me completely by surprise. So I went through our email thread to find out what could have triggered his anger. I then realised that my distinct directions on news angles and questions to ask might have been the cause.

While I see my instructions as a way to make it easier and quicker for the reporter to zoom in on topics that can be developed at the trade show, I suspect he interpreted those same directions as bossy orders.

Isn't it better that I tell him to pursue news that I can use and therefore guarantee his word-count payment, than to let him chase news angles and copy I cannot use and not being able to pay him? He'd get hopping mad too if I had taken the latter route.

Or did he expect me to just accept half-fucked stories? There's a reason why my company's titles are leading in the region. We do not simply regurgitate press releases. We add value by analysing the impact of the new development on the trade.

Whoever said this job was easy? And therein lies the problem - reporters expect this to be just another job, not unlike the newspapers. Then they are in for a rude shock when we send them to get stories from a trade show.

Allow me to digress here. At the recent trade show in Kunming, a reporter broke down and cried when I told her the second time that I cannot use her copy, even after she went out with my instructions to get specific information. She explained she was stressed out, the interviewee did not speak English and was not able to provide the information I needed.

Please just use what I have, she pleaded frustratedly.

Frankly, there was nothing in her copy. It was just a few lines on that international hotel chain opening two new brands for the first time in Kunming. Nothing about the hotels' facilities, room count, or the group's expectations on market performance with the entry of those two brands.

I can't bring myself to use her copy. My competitors will laugh. My readers, who are travel experts, probably know more about the new hotels than what I have put in print.

So I had to be the bitch and break my reporter's heart.

Back to the reporter who is the main subject of this post.

I see his email to me as a sign of low self confidence. Or a massive ego. And even if he was frustrated with the difficult show, he crossed the line by venting on me.

His rude note ruined my night.

Managing people is not easy. I just want a happy team. To achieve that I could be completely soft and let everyone do what they want, but at the expense of quality, or be a bitch and demand only great copy and heartlessly remove whinny or underperforming staff.

Both ways I lose.

Instructions

2011-11-03T21:46:00.001+08:00

How is it that even after I spoon-feed you with specific questions you need to ask during your interviews and the story angles you should work towards, you still send me articles that go completely off tangent?

Grrrr!

The man at the mart

2011-11-02T23:53:00.003+08:00

There are many things about the husband that tickles me. One of them is his love for the tidbit section in supermarkets.

He could lose himself among the rows and rows of snacks that altogether conjure a vision of a rainbow with their vibrant packaging. Like a child in awe, he would hold a box or packet in his hands and carefully study the descriptions and pictures on it. Then he would pick another up, compare descriptions of its contents and ponder for the longest time which he should buy.

I could leave him along the snack aisle and go around to get the necessary items on our shopping list, and when I am done, he would still be there. :)

And at that point he would turn to me in glee and proceed to show me what had intrigued him. "Look!" he would exclaim. "These are chocolate biscuits shaped like mushrooms! And this box resembles Crayon Shin-chan's favourite snack! And these marshmellows look really delicious!"

Tonight, he spent a good 30 minutes rooted in front of the Japanese tidbit section in Cold Storage, and fretted incessantly over what to buy. I just had to laugh. I felt like a mother who had to rein her over-enthusiastic child in and stop him from loading the shopping basket with a pile of sweets.

The husband realised what made me laugh and said, "What if our child turns out just like me? You'll get a handful when all three of us visit a supermarket!"

Oh well, in that case, I would just have to leave them at home when I go shopping for groceries!

Pre-trip shopping madness

2011-11-01T19:50:00.000+08:00

I have been on a ridiculous shopping spree for warm clothing at Gap, Esprit and this new American shop called Aeropostale in City Link Mall over the past few weeks.

I think I've bought enough clothes for me to wear a different outfit every day for two weeks!

The shopping continued last week in Kunming when I spotted a H&M store in the city centre.Who would have guessed that boring Kunming has a H&M store?!

It is brilliant and I will no longer have any complaints about having to spend a week in the Chinese city. :)

I spent a good hour in there, harvesting a heap of coldwear for me and the husband. And look what I got:

The husband must be equally hyped up over the holiday because he did not slap his forehead when he saw my purchases. In fact, he went online to check the weather forecast for Tokyo, Nagano and Kyoto, and then announced happily that I could use these thick gloves and scarf in Nagano, where temperatures were expected to hit seven-degrees Celcius.

And today, I swung by the H&M store in Singapore after lunch and was awed by the extensive collection of coldwear there. So I bought more things for myself and the husband. When I got home, he put on his new clothes and did a little catwalk for me, and then declared that he wants to pop by H&M himself this weekend!

This holiday is turning out more expensive than I had expected, and the massive spending has started even before we fly off. Tsk!

I had better steer clear of the shops between now and December 10, otherwise I would not have enough to spend in Japan!

The filthiest of animals

2011-10-18T00:39:00.000+08:00

Question: Which of these two species - man or animal - hold more compassion in its heart?

Before you form your answer, watch these two video clips.

Here's the first:

If a dog could risk its life to get to another injured dog, surely mankind would be capable of far more kindness, right?

Now, watch this:

Even if you did not understand Mandarin and Cantonese, you would have guessed what happened just by watching the video.

This was what happened: A young girl in Foshan, Guangdong province in China was run over by the front wheels of a truck. The driver not only did not stop to help, he escaped, but not before mowing her down again with his back wheels. Several people who passed the injured child, either on foot or on a vehicle, did not stop to help too. Some pretended she wasn't there, while others glanced and quickly moved away.

Then, a second truck came along and ran over the child's limp body. By now, you would be able to see a red mess around the child, and I dread to think what those are. More people passed by the child and still no help was offered. Finally, an old cleaning lady stopped to help. She lifted the child into a sitting position and the girl simply flopped forward like a ragdoll.

As of this evening, the news reported that the child is brain-dead. The second driver has been arrested, and the first driver has surrendered at a police station.

The question now is, should the 18 people who ignored the child be held responsible too? By not offering help when they clearly could and yet not endanger their own lives, are they not accomplices? Are they not as responsible as the second truck driver who chose to drive over her instead of bringing her medical attention?

Uncle Hans once told me, the filthiest of animals are humans.

All animals kill for food. Some kill to protect their young and herd. Some kill for fun and to vent their anger. One could hardly blame the latter segment of animals, for their brains lack a well-developed right temporo-parietal junction - the part of our brain that acts as our moral compass.

So when humans - physically upright apes with brains endowed with a moral compass - disregard a fellowman's obvious pain and suffering, it is shocking and unforgivable.

I cannot understand how people could walk past a horrendously injured young child. And did you see that mother with her young son among those heartless 18 passers-by? You would think that her motherly instincts would kick in and she would stop to call for help. Nope. She just pulled her son closer and quickened her pace.

And why is this horror yet another incident in China? It reminded me of the time I was in Shanghai and a taxi next to ours knocked over a female cyclist at a pedestrian crossing, and drove off without stopping to check if she was ok. In fact, no other drivers or pedestrians stopped to help.

A colleague living in Shanghai once told me that I have to be very careful when crossing the roads because if I got knocked down by a car, the driver would harass me for compensation if his vehicle was damaged.

This shameful news comes on top of the many cases of unscrupulous Chinarian businessmen who risk the health and life of consumers in order to make more money, selling baby formula tainted by melamine, fake eggs, steamboat cooked with dregs taken from the drains, etc.

Are Chinarians generally selfish or are the few inhumane ones just so incredibly horrid that they cast a shadow over all their fellow citizens? How does one explain the bevy of horror tales coming out of China?

Some argue that Chinarians suffered a lot of hardship during their civil war, resulting in generations who care only of material wealth and their personl achievements. Seriously? The Cambodians suffered plenty of hardship under the Khmer Rouge. You don't see them behaving badly today.

There can never be a good explanation for the lack of humanity displayed in the second video above.

We will get there

2011-10-16T18:22:00.000+08:00

Discovery TLC channel ran a travel feature on Australia's Hayman Island Resort this afternoon. The destination is exquisite. Fine white sand, clear blue skies and turquoise sea are accompanied by top-notch butler service and beautiful accommodation mere steps from the sea.

And with most exquisite products and experiences, one must be ready to dig deeper into one's pocket. According to the TV programme, a skyplane ride to the resort costs US$1,500 a person and a night's stay costs US$3,500. That's excluding the air plane ticket from Singapore to Brisbane and the daily expenses on the island.

Jaw-dropping, I know.

A travel agent friend once told me that good things don't come cheap. I would argue that orgasmic chilli crabs costs me no more than S$50 each and a bloody good lunch at Nanbantei sets me back by a mere S$60 for two. But, of course, a holiday at Hayman Island Resort is a completely different matter and I have to agree that good things don't come cheap.

"Will we ever be able to go there?" the husband asked.

"Definitely. We are getting there, darling," I told him and gave him a loud smooch on his forehead.

I think we have come a long way in terms of our financial abilities. I remember how, as a teenager, I would have to think twice before grabbing a bar of Toblerone. A pint of Häagen-Dazs was a luxury for me when I just started out at work. The price tag was the first thing I looked at when I spotted something nice in a boutique.

Today, Toblerone bars and pints of Häagen-Dazs are dropped into the shopping basket with nary a second thought. And I am able to pick stuff I fancy off the racks in boutiques without much regard for the price.

The husband who used to only buy new clothes once a year - just before Chinese New Year, is now hitting the shops more often. He's even hauling home more buys than I do now!

That's not to say we are rich. We are not. We are just better able to afford 'wants'. And that's the whole point of working so hard at our jobs - we work so that we can have a better life.

After the husband placed the deposit weeks ago on our December holiday to Japan, he beamed and said, "I can't believe I can have a holiday in Japan and bring you along too. I've never thought I could afford it."

It is heartbreaking to think that he has such little confidence in his future.

We must always believe we can achieve much more than what we possess today. That belief will give us confidence and with that confidence, we can make things happen.

If I did not believe that I could move from being a marketing graduate to a journalist, I would not have taken the necessary steps to get into the editorial sphere.

So if we believe that we can one day bask on the fine sands of Hayman, that day will come. The day may not come right away, and we may have to take a couple of seaside vacations in destinations such as Nikoi Island - private too, but not as pricey, but it will definitely come. :)

Dreaming of Fuji

2011-10-15T22:01:00.000+08:00

"Look!" the husband gasped in horror, pointing out of the hotel room's window behind me.

I turned to see what had scared him so, and saw a thick column of grey cloud rising from somewhere in the distance, rapidly filling up the expanse of the sky.

But it wasn't an ordinary cloud. It was a cloud of smoke and ash, and it was coming from Mt Fuji, a short distance from the hotel we were in. The husband and I scurried out of our room and onto the streets. We knew we had to get as far away as possible from the eruption.

It was chaotic on the streets. People were running and screaming urgently to one another. There, another horror greeted us. Water was rolling in rapidly, swirling around our ankles within seconds.

Tsunami, someone screamed. Then I remembered that an earthquake had also happened just before Mt Fuji blew up.

We had to get to higher ground fast. But where? We could not speak the language and nobody stopped to direct us when we asked where we needed to get to for safety. We were frightened out of our wits. I was crying and shaking, and the husband tried to comfort me although it was plain that he was terrified too. Eventually, we found a young lady in a green suit who could speak English. She told us to follow her and said we had to get to an orange building in the centre of the city. We would be safe once we get to the 13th floor, she said.

So we followed her and after a long and frantic race, found ourselves on the 13th floor. Relief was short-lived, as the orange building was somehow closer to the furious volcano. It started to spew burning rocks that smashed into a commercial building in front of us. That commercial building started to disintegrate. Some of the hot rocks crashed through our windows too, forcing us to plaster ourselves to the farthest possible corner of the room.

I knew we would die that day and I called my mother to apologise for putting myself in danger and not being able to return home alive, and to say my last goodbye.

Then I woke up.

It was yet another natural disaster-related nightmare. While I would usually dream of tsunamis and killer rocks falling from the sky, I guess this Mt Fuji nightmare must have stemmed from a pre-bedtime discussion with the husband about the upcoming Japan holiday.

Stupid, ridiculous nightmare, I grunted as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Then, curiosity took over me. Is Mt Fuji still active? I mean, it has not erupted since the Hoei eruption in 1707, so it must be quite extinct already, right?

It turns out, geologists have determined that Mt Fuji is not extinct. Some say it is dormant, others say it is active.

There are three stages of a volcano's lifespan: Active, which is pretty much self-explanatory; dormant, which means it is sleeping and may spring to life any moment; and extinct, which is the stage that make residents around it exhale in relief.

My online search for information on that state of Mt Fuji turned up some interesting materials. The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program published a few reports on activity underneath Mt Fuji. According to those reports, small earthquakes were recorded under the iconic volcano in August 1987, January 1996, from September 2000 to January 2001, and from April to May 2001.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, 67 quakes were detected on April 30, 2001 and 130 between May 3 to 9, 2001. These were more than the 53 quakes picked up on December 18, 2000. Being the optimist that I am, I will remind you that although the frequencies had gone up, those quakes were essentially tiny ones.

Then, I remembered that a 6.1 magnitude quake had struck near Mt Fuji in March, just days after the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Interestingly, I also found materials that mentioned the possibility of the Hoei eruption being triggered by the Hoei earthquake that took place 49 days before. Read this and this. Best to take the second source with a pinch of salt.

So the earth is alive under Mt Fuji. But does that mean Mt Fuji will erupt again? I want a definite answer from a reliable scientific community. I need to see "Yes, Mt Fuji will erupt again." or "No! Never in our lifetime!"

I pressed on with my online research and came across a transcript from Correspondents Report, a programme on Australia's ABC Radio National. It said that scientists "agree that Fuji may be nearing a peak in its volcanic cycle...". However, none was able to put a date down as to when that eruption would take place. The transcript went on to say: "Geologists think Fuji erupts every 300 years or so. The last eruption was 298 years ago."

Yikes. Oh, by the way, that transcript is dated February 2006. It is like that joke, where the doctor tells the patient he has only three days to live, as of two days ago.

Depressing stuff. So I ended my online research.

Our Japan holiday will go ahead as planned despite the frightful dream. Natural disasters around the world are happening in greater frequency now. If we choose to be terrified, we will stay home and never get to see the world and satisfy our wanderlust.

If Mt Fuji is active and the threat of an eruption is real, then we just have to keep that in mind and find out what we should do if that happens while we are there.

Work woes

2011-10-11T23:53:00.000+08:00

Love gives you incredible depth of trust, such that when you are disappointed with your beloved, you will think of all possible reasons to explain his/her bad behaviour.

Maybe he was having a headache, that's why he was uninterested in chatting tonight. Maybe he was stressed out by something at work, that's why he yelled at me over something so small. Maybe he is going through a peak period at work, that's why he has been coming home late every night.

And considering the number of reasons I have been creating to explain and excuse the disappointing work performance of a colleague, I could have tricked myself into thinking I must have been in love with her. But, of course, I was not in love with her, which only goes to show I must have been extraordinarily forgiving or foolish.

Unfortunately, as my mum always told me, the deeper you love someone, the greater your disappointment. Now, after the latest round of slip ups which truly embarrassed the title - MY title - I found myself unable and unwilling to find reasons to excuse her anymore.

I also find myself unable to rely on her anymore. I don't know when she will next slip into depression and get distracted from work, which appear to coincide with our busiest periods. Because I know she can be quite distracted, I have to pay extra attention to the pages she worked on, checking things I should not have to fret over and triple checking if corrections were made.

I once told her that what she's doing to me was akin to me sending my stories or sentences incomplete or riddled with errors to the group editor. "Do you think I will be able to keep my job that way?" I asked her. I wonder if she understood me then.

Her distraction did not just affect me. Another editor had to stay till late last night to rectify a slew of errors she made with an online project. He, however, chose not to bring the matter to the group editor. His reason: she is in deep enough shit now.

I'm frustrated, angry and disappointed. And I hope she grows up fast and learn that she is absolutely replaceable.

Anyway, I may have a much bigger work woe ahead. I just heard that our parent company had filed for bankruptcy some days ago. I don't know how true that is. Even if it was true, my company is the only profiting subsidiary, so I guess we will most likely be sold off. I hope nothing in office will change even after a switch in ownership. :(

Remedy for swollen feet

2011-10-07T13:46:00.002+08:00

Trade shows are always the bane of my feet because while flats are wonderful creations by some genius shoemaker, they are not quite perfect with the kind of work clothes I fancy. And all that standing and walking around in the exhibition hall and the evening parties always murder my feet.

Since silly me forgot to pack in a pair of flats or sandals on this work trip, I was stuck on heels for the last five days.

I woke up with a swollen left foot and my big toe throbbed with pain as I made my way to the club lounge for breakfast. Awful. If the husband was here with me, he would have made such sweet love to my wasted feet and brought them back to life.

Thank goodness, though, the Grand Hyatt Erawan, where I am staying, has a renowned spa.

It's just an elevator ride away. Thank goodness for that too! So I booked an hour-long oriental foot spa with I.Sawan Residential Club and Spa.

I was led by a therapist down a winding path lined on both sides with greens, to a quiet cottage where the treatment was conducted. That brief stroll was enough to relax my soul.

A loving foot scrub was followed by one of the best paid foot massages I've had in my life so far. An hour was just not enough!

Now, the swell is gone and my legs are alive again.

I must come back for the oriental foot spa the next time I'm here in Bangkok.

We are going on a holiday!

2011-10-02T00:26:00.002+08:00

The husband and I have been talking about taking a holiday in Japan for the longest time now.

And it is finally happening!

I'm bloody excited. Although I've been to Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe last year, it was for work. Exploring a destination with the husband is a lot more fun!

We visited CTC Travel this afternoon to see what's hot in Japan.

The husband's mind was dead set about going to Hokkaido, but later realised that the destination would be covered in snow in December - the only time I am able to go on leave. A white Hokkaido is not what he wants. He wants to see various colours of nature while soaking up in a hotspring somewhere in a quiet village.

That's exactly what I want too. So we decided to explore central Japan this year-end and keep Hokkaido for July next year. :)

Since the husband did not want to waste time visiting certain attractions provided in a standard tour, we asked the Japan product manager to tailor a free-and-easy itinerary for us.

"Plan a programme that will take us into the villages," the husband ordered.

"Don't you want to visit a theme park?" the product manager asked.

"Nope. We want quiet and pretty places. We want to make babies," he answered with a chuckle.

My god. And an hour before he complained about not being able to take a nap because of the incessant wailing of his baby nephew.

Anyway, the product manager was really familiar with Japan. Right away she was able to compose three different itineraries that would take us to some of the most scenic places in Nagano, Kyoto, Gifu, etc. She knew where the most scenic hotspring hotels were, where we could take a ride on a slow old-fashioned train, where we could stroll down picturesque rivers and where ancient towns still stand.

She got us terribly excited, and I'm madly in love with her.

We managed to secure our flights this evening (thank goodness!) and she will draw out an itinerary for us by next week. Ooh! I can't wait to see her suggestions and for December to come quickly.

Thankfully, December is only two months away. Yay!

Wimbly Lu, I love you

2011-09-30T23:29:00.002+08:00

Everything happens for a reason.

If the husband did not buy a pricey entertainment gadget for his parents, he would not have gone into the depths of Braddell to have the product, which turned faulty last week, exchanged for a better one yesterday. If he did not go into the depths of Braddell, he would not have discovered Wimbly Lu Chocolate Cafe Company.

The whimsically named Wimbly Lu is not the namesake of its owner. In fact, according to a wait staff, Wimbly Lu is a play on the names of the cafe's two owners.

Wimbly Lu is a beautiful, dreamy little place, tucked within a cluster of private houses on Jalan Riang. It is hardly a place you would expect to find inside a residential area in Singapore. It specialises in handmade chocolate desserts - an assortment of cakes, éclair and truffles.

Red brick walls, wood paneled floor and a mish-mash of retro furniture give the cafe a storybook feel. Tilt your head up and you will notice a clear glass ceiling lined with yellow light bulbs. I'm sure the cafe will look really nice in the day when sunlight streams through that glass ceiling. In fact, the best time to be under that ceiling will have to be on a stormy afternoon. Oh, make sure you nurse a cup of hot chocolate as you listen to the soothing rhythm of raindrops.

Wimbly Lu serves a limited selected of savoury snacks too - crepes with ham and emmental cheese, crepes with mushrooms, garlic and mozzarella, shoestring fries, chicken nuggets, etc.

The husband and I ordered a serving of crepes with mushrooms, garlic and mozzarella to share. It was simple, no pretense and immensely comforting.

We each had a glass of iced chocolate. The alcoholic in me chose to have mine with Baileys Irish Cream. :)

Later, we each picked a dessert - éclair for me and a madly rich Blackout Cake for him.

The sweets were brilliant. Again, these were unpretentious desserts. No fancy gold flakes. No expensive looking wrappers and decorations. The beauty of these pastries lies exactly in their simplicity.

Then again, maybe these pastries tasted so good because they were made with organic eggs.

Of course, the cosy ambience and comforting company of the husband made the whole experience wonderful. :)

Wimbly Lu is very new, having just opened on September 22. Tomorrow it will debut a breakfast menu comprising a plate of sausages, bacon, eggs and toast, and the same option in a small serving for people with smaller appetites. Pancakes and sweet crepes will also feature on the breakfast menu.

It is truly a lovely place to hang out and satisfy one's cravings for sweet and savoury things, and I intend to return over and over again.

If you happen to be in that area, do drop by for a little snack. Oh, and try to catch Lu, one of the owners, for a chat - she's lovely. And say hello to Ethal (I probably spelt it wrong), the shy, petite chef who made me very happy with her tasty crepes.

The (fucking troublesome) dress

2011-09-29T09:05:00.000+08:00

I realise I'll have the same gripe every year around this time - why is it so difficult to find the right dress for the bloody awards gala?

Most girls would jump at the opportunity to go shopping for a va-va-voom dress, matching come-fuck-me heels and fancy accessories, and plan how to fix their tresses for the night.

I guess I'm just not girly enough. I dread having to hunt for THE dress. Last year I got distracted by shabu shabu halfway through shopping. Last night my mind was on FoxCrime although my body was at Ted Baker.

Other times I'd just grab the first dress to catch my fancy. But this time I've to consider the messages conveyed by the dress. You see, as editor now, I've been ~~asked~~ ordered to make two brief speeches on stage before presenting two awards. No amount of begging and groveling to please let me off helped.

The big boss woman was adamant about getting me on stage.

I'm terrified of being up there, within sight of so many people. It's scary enough to walk up the stage and stand there. It's mortifying to have to make a speech.

So I need a dress that will give me comfort and courage, and at the same time make me appear authoritative. Maybe one that covers me from head to toes.

And because I'm prone to tripping, I cannot have a dress that's too long and flowy, just in case I step on it on the way up the stage, rip it from my neck or shoulders, unleash the full glory of my fair boobies to the delight of the audience, and fall flat on my face. For the same reason, no sexy halter or bustier dresses. Like I said earlier, better have a dress that covers me from head to toes.

I also intend to wear sandals on stage. Heels are too dangerous. They encourage tripping.

I am contemplating feigning a bad back, which isn't a complete lie, as already you know, and have the organisers roll me on stage in a wheelchair. There's no way I could trip, tear my dress and reveal my boobies on stage that way.

Maybe that's what I should do. I feel relieved just thinking of the wheelchair entrance.

A great plan

2011-09-28T00:56:00.001+08:00

"Karen, did you get the assignment that was due yesterday?" my colleague shrieked suddenly, breaking the silence in the office.

"What assignment?" I asked in horror, while my stomach lurched from the fear of missing a deadline. I have been so buried in my China show daily project, while also trying to write my magazine pages, that I was certain I must have missed something along the way.

"Each of us must recommend a new restaurant, a must-do activity and a must-see attraction in Singapore for a special feature," my colleague replied. She, too, had overlooked the assignment.

The assignment was easy to write and right away I knew what I would recommend as a must-do activity and a must-see attraction. But the new restaurant was a challenge. I've not been exploring new eats lately. Well, I did explore new eats - new to me but not new to the rest of Singapore and those who track new dining experiences closely.

Anyway, my latest dining experience at the relatively new Level 33 restaurant and bar at the Marina Bay Financial Centre was a disaster. Bad food and amateur service at haughty prices. There was no way I would recommend that place to anyone, except my pretentious enemies.

Trying to recall new restaurants in town at a snap of my fingers was a tough task when one's panicky.

Then it struck me suddenly - The Jackson Plan.

I've been seeing press releases from The Jackson Plan for a while now, and was intrigued by its rather homely English furnishing (think beautiful tiles and curvy wooden tables and chairs), non-nonsense Brit food (think cider braised pork cheeks with black pudding, bubble and squeak, and haggis) and selection of imported English beers.

Being only a couple of months old meant The Jackson Plan qualified as a 'new' restaurant, and if dinner turned out well tonight, I would be more than happy to recommend it to my readers.

So I booked a table for me and the hubs right away.

And guess what? Laying my bet with The Jackson Plan turned out to be a truly great plan! I love it!

The crab cakes with quail eggs and anchovy cream were lip-smacking good. The spiced lamb chops were wonderfully addictive and it came with juicy fats that had crispy, burnt edges. They were so good I ditched my table manners and sucked noisily on the bones. I ended my meal with sticky toffee pudding, done so brilliantly that the husband and I polished off the plate within seconds.

Oh, and what's a visit to The Jackson Plan without tasting its beers?

House brews at The Jackson Plan were pretty alright. While I found the pilsner a tad too bitter, I enjoyed the heavier weizen. There were ten imported beers to choose from too, and I tried the Hobgoblin Ruby Beer and Fullers London Pride Premium Ale. Both were lovely. I especially enjoyed Fullers London Pride, which has the fragrance and taste of honey.

I must add that the total bill was not frightful at all - no more than S$160 for two of us.

My only complaint was that I did not have my trusty Nikon with me and so, I am not able to tempt you visually now. I must make it a habit to have my camera with me at all times, in case of such last minute restaurant or attraction reviews.

Before I could finish my dinner, I was already making plans with the husband to return soon, so I could take photos of the place and try other dishes and beers. The Jackson Place deserves a proper blog post with beautiful photos!

Two words

2011-09-25T22:09:00.006+08:00

Inconsiderate [in-kuhn-sid-er-it]
adjective
- without due regard for the rights or feelings of others

Intelligence [in-tel-i-juhns]
noun
- capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc
- manifestation of a high mental capacity

***

I will form a sentence with each of the words above:

My inconsiderate pea-brained neighbour is watching the F1 race with his TV tuned to maximum volume, making it seems as if the race tracks run right outside my door.

One of Joshua's friend, who clearly lacks intelligence, had this to say about the aforementioned neighbour, and I quote him verbatim: "Watch f1 don't surround sound must well don't watch, is the same as making love without the woman moaning."

The ear-piercing sounds of the F1 vehicles offer as much entertainment as the visual effect of the races. That I agree, just as I agree that the sounds of love play an important part of love-making. But the inconsiderate neighbour does not live in a standalone house, surrounded by miles of rolling hills or open plains. His unfortunate neighbours are merely three steps away on his left and right.

If he really wanted to enjoy the maximum sound-surround effect of the races but was too miserly to pay for a race ticket, he should at least watch the damn race with his fucking doors closed. Or put on ear phones connected to his home entertainment system.

Furthermore, most of us fuck with our main doors shut. And even the noisiest woman do not moan/scream/shriek with pleasure at 110 to 147 decibels, which happens to be the estimated sound range made by an F1 car in action.

Two idiots. I should introduce them to each other.

Sharing the nest

2011-09-24T14:05:00.001+08:00

Most times I'm thankful that I do not exist in my dream world. Last night was one such instance.

I received a letter from the Housing Development Board, informing me that the second family will be moving in soon. Apparently, the reason why I was able to pay so little for my house was that the cost was split between two families.

I was horrified, as I didn't know of that arrangement and had already spent so much on home renovations and furnishing. I had to clear out a bedroom for the incoming family.

The wife of the other family turned out to be a Malay girl I went to school with years ago. We were not on the best of terms, which made the experience awkward. To make things worse, her husband turned out to be the Malay dude I used to date.

We were the worst possible house-mates!

He came home just as I was making dinner for Joshua and myself, and he conveniently asked me to cook him dinner too. Urgh! And as I cooked, he stood behind me, boasting about his love for shopping and ability to buy anything he wanted.

That was not the end of my nightmare. The husband and wife later informed me that their three young children will move in the next day, after they've settled their belongings in the house.

And because I had made my study area part of my walk-in wardrobe and bedroom, I had screaming monsters running around my bed and making a mess of my clothes halfway through their homework.

I called my mother in tears, telling her that I'll have to put off baby plans because the current environment was bad to raise a child.

Then I woke up and thanked god it was all a dream.

Dr Quack

2011-09-22T01:02:00.002+08:00

I seriously think I'm cursed to suffer incompetent doctors.

Either that, or the medical network engaged by my company is just unreliable.

How is it that in a just a year I am able to encounter several doctors who were not quite interested to ask more than just a few superficial questions in order to diagnose me, so much so that I had to almost always seek a second opinion from another doctor because I was just not getting any better?

And the doctors who eventually fixed me are not in the medical network.

I was woozy all Monday morning and my stomach felt odd. By night, I had almost paralysing stomachaches. It hurt so bad I wept. The frightened husband bundled me out of bed and took me to the nearest late-night clinic that was on my corporate medical network.

When I stepped into the doctor's office, I almost threw up. I was nauseous all day and took great pains trying to hold it in because only God knows how much I hate the taste of puke. But the doctor smelled so bad that it made me sick. It was a stench that reminded me of homeless men in the streets of Shanghai.

And he was so badly dressed too - in slippers, a sloucy pair of grey trousers and an extremely crumpled blue long-sleeved shirt. His shirt was so crumpled, it looked like he had balled it up and tossed it in a corner of his room the previous night, and wore it again the next day.

His manners were quite lacking too. Throughout the consultation, he spoke to me in an I-don't-really-believe-anything-you-say way. Imagine this: his mouth was curved into a joyless inverted U shape, and his head shook side-to-side like he was disagreeing with whatever I was saying.

Right after I said I was having a stomachache, he snarled, "Stomachache? You need to give me more clues." Dude, wait lar. I'm struggling to cope with my pain, your stench and talk at the same time.

I described a few more symptoms and then he snarled some more, "You sure you did not eat something dirty? Something raw? Something expired? You sure? You sure? It could be food poisoning."

"I ate the same thing as my husband and he is alright," I defended myself.

"Maybe you skipped your meals. Did you eat today?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then you must have eaten late. You sure you ate on time?"

"YES. I ATE ON TIME. I ATE AT THE SAME TIME AS MY HUSBAND," I screamed through gritted teeth because I was so offended at the way he was speaking to me. I felt like I was a criminal being interrogated.

Just then, my husband chimed in, "You always have no time for lunch at work. Maybe it is accumulated."

"Ah! See! You did not eat on time. So this it is mild stomachache, mild gastric from irregular eating habits!" he declared.

"Will that cause nausea and diarrhoea?" I asked.

"Yes yes yes. Go lie down for me to check," he ordered. I did so and he prodded my belly in three spots. I yelped in pain and he declared, "There! It is just mild stomachache."

I told him right from the start that I was in great pain. Was he trying to undermine my honesty by declaring twice that I was just suffering from mild stomachaches?

"Could it be food poisoning?" I asked, which prompted him to demand accusingly if I had eaten bad food. I insisted angrily that I did not and reminded him that my husband was not sick.

"Could it be the steak tartare from Sunday's brunch? Or the raw oysters?" the husband asked.

"Ah! See! You had raw food! So it is food poisoning then!" the doctor declared, and went on to say how some people have weak stomachs and should refrain from raw or spicy food.

Poisoned food that took effect after 24 hours? Really? I wanted to strangle him and go straight to the hospital, where doctors will not keep changing their diagnosis.

"But the way she is hurting, could it be a serious form of food poisoning?" the husband probed. He probably guessed that my silence was an indication of my anger, and took over the conversation with the obnoxious doctor.

"No lar! She is not even running a fever. If she has serious food poisoning, she will have a fever now," he answered, while slumped in his chair.

"Fever? How do you know I do not have a fever? Did you even take my temperature?" I asked, exasperated.

'But you said you don't have a fever just now," he answered.

Oh. My. God. I cannot believe he is a doctor.

Then, he started to scribble stuff on my charts.

"So? What's your diagnosis then? One moment you said I have gastric from irregular meals, one moment you said I have food poisoning. How will you medicate me if you cannot be sure?" I demanded.

"It's OK. Same treatment for both. I'll just give you Ocid and some pills to stop the nausea. Happy?"

No, dude. Not happy. I was not happy before I came to you, and I was even more unhappy after meeting you.

I could not trust him at all and googled for information on Ocid once I got in the car. If I was going to ingest what he gave me, I had better be sure I wouldn't die from it.

So in between massive knife-twisting-sort-of-pains in my stomach, I contemplated whether yet another complain letter to Healthway was in line. In the end, I decided not to. Instead, I wrote to my HR manager and asked her to please, for the god's sake, not to renew the contract with the wretched medical network next year.

Understanding my parents

2011-09-19T03:21:00.001+08:00

When I was a child, my parents always said, "One day you will grow up and understand why we are so hard on you now" or "When you are older, you will understand the sacrifices we made for you" right after meting out a punishment.

I used to be whipped real hard by my parents - a lot more by daddy who had a fiery temper - for slipping a few mere points in my grades, for getting into trouble in school and with my aunt who took care of me, and for all sorts of reasons. Most times, I was whipped until I bled and my limbs were riddled with swollen strips where the cane landed. The punishments were so painful and the restrictions imposed on me were so ridiculous in my view that I could not understand why they would think I would one day grow up and comprehend their actions.

I think that day of revelation came tonight, as Joshua and I sat in the living room discussing baby plans.

Having a child would mean we had to give up quite a bit of our couple-time and our carefree spending habits. Impromptu holidays and frequent treats at fancy restaurants and bars would have to be cut down to almost zilch. We had to think and behave more like adults. And when our children's exams swing around, we will have to make time to help them with revisions, whether we like it or not. Naturally, with such changes in lifestyle we have to make for the good of our children, we would want to make sure the sacrifices are worth it. I'd be upset if my children failed to see why I did what I did.

If I thought that Joshua and I could never have enough fun time together now, it would be far worse when we have children.

It dawned on me why my parents were only now starting to behave like new lovers again. That's because their children have grown up. They've married me off proper. Kenny's well-established academically and is taking his Masters now at MIT. His future is bright. Derek's doing quite OK with the Navy. And even if Derek fails to do as well as Kenny and I, my parents already have my word that I will take care of him.

They have little else to worry about.

Dad's harsh temper and often stony face have given way to greater patience and humour. I am starting to see him crack the silliest jokes in our presence, and show more public displays of affection for mummy. He is finally shedding his role as the traditional Chinese father figure and bringing back the person he was as a young man.

Last Sunday when I popped home for dinner and to celebrate the Mid Autumn with them, my parents laughed so hard while playing with sparklers. Dad chased mummy around with sparklers and they danced a silly dance together outside the apartment. They were like children.

I wish they had reverted to their original selves earlier, and not now when they are already past 60. How many more years do they have to enjoy each other's company? 10 years? 15 years?

Will Joshua and I go down the same road? Will we have to forsake our role as lovers when we have children? Will the only conversations we have revolve around the children's school work, school fees, their health, household budgets, savings for their further education, etc? Will our lives become routine for at least 23 years until they graduate from school and find financial independence?

At the same time, I am also increasingly aware that I will not have them around me forever. 10 or 15 years will come and go very quickly. It scares me.

I hate the idea of death. I hate the idea of losing people I love. I'm terrible at coping with loss. Lately, whenever I watched a TV programme or movie that depicted death of parents, I'd cry and be terrified of seeing them suffer age-related diseases and depart.

Being the eldest child also meant that I would have to bear the responsibility of planning for their old age and eventual departure. Mum has started to give me instructions on what I have to do if they fell very sick and became dependent on machines to live.

"Don't try to save us. It will be very financially taxing on you," she ordered.

I told her that she was being very cruel to make me listen to such instructions. I've refused to be engaged in such conversations after that.

Teachers of moral education said that as long as one has been filial to one's parents, one would have no regrets when one's parents are gone. Maybe I've not been filial enough, that's why I fear their passing. I wish I could go back in time and be more patient, loving and generous towards them. I wished I had curbed my fiery temper every time I disagreed with them, and just did what they told me to do.

And I wish my brothers and I had become sensible adults earlier and lift the burden of parenthood off their shoulders sooner.

But no point wishing all that. Time has passed. We could only payback proper now and over the next few years.

An afternoon of bubblies and horsies

2011-09-18T20:04:00.001+08:00

I've never attended a polo match before, so when a friend at The St Regis Singapore came to me with an invitation to join in the hotel's Polo Sunday today, I jumped at the opportunity.

"Come with a fancy hat," she ordered.

Yikes. I do have a couple of hats at home, but none the sort that you would see on the heads of fine ladies at a polo club.

So I went in search of a fancy hat on Saturday, but found none. Instead, I found many beautiful shoes, as I had told you yesterday.

The lack of a hat did not keep me from The St Regis Polo Sunday. I was sure my friend at the hotel would not bar me from entry for that reason. :)

So the husband and I made our way to the hotel, where the party started off with brunch at the very elegant Brasserie Les Saveurs.

Brunch at Brasserie Les Saveurs is perfect for lazybums, as one would be served a main course and several delicate treats throughout the session. But if you could bear to pluck yourself off your seat and take a stroll around, you would discover plenty of wonderful things to eat, such as cold wild mushrooms in a petite glass, fresh oysters, cold crabs, piping hot foie gras and an impressive selection of the prettiest desserts.

Brasserie Les Saveurs made foie gras so well (just look at the picture of it below!), I took a health gamble and had two servings. The husband wasted no time in informing me how goose liver was harvested. Poor geese. Thank goodness the chef did justice to their suffering.

I had a Black Angus beef tartare for my main, while the husband had a French seabass. The steak tartare was a tad too citrusy, but it is raw and I love raw beef. The fish was tender, with a nice crisp skin.

And as we tucked into our mains, eager waiters and waitressses called at our table to unload tiny servings of lobster bisque, tuna tartare, foie gras creme brulee, etc. Oh, and our flutes were always full of champagne.

Speaking of drinks, anyone who visits The St Regis should always have a glass of Bloody Mary. After all, the cocktail was perfected by a bartender at The St Regis New York in the 1930s (or so I've heard). A special blend of Bloody Mary is created for every St Regis hotel, and the flavours reflect the local culinary culture.

The version Singapore has is the Chili Padi Mary, which, surprisingly, was not spicy at all. The husband has a Red Snapper, which is recognised as the original Bloody Mary. And that was an assault on the tongue. Oh boy, was it spicy!

At 3pm, the husband and I heaved our bellies off the table and headed off to the Singapore Polo Club in our own car, while the rest of the guests were driven there in a convoy of Bentleys.

There were more champagne and pretty things to eat there. Gosh. The high society people are really well-fed.

There, we did what everyone else did - sip copious amounts of Veuve Clicquot from slender flutes that kept toppling over, while trying our best not to melt in the afternoon heat. I cannot imagine how some Caucasian men were able to stay conscious dressed in a shirt, jacket and a silk scarf tucked under their collars. Why didn't they keel over from heat stroke?

The Parade of Polo Teams took place at 4pm, and we managed to catch a bit of the game before we had to leave for another activity.

The St Regis Polo Sunday was a real eye opener. It was fun to be wined and dined all day like that, and to see the horses in action from a sheltered pavilion, even if we were not huge fans of the game of kings. If I were an event planner for a group of high-value delegates, I would partner The St Regis and incorporate the Polo Sunday into my programme. I'd tailor-make fancy hats for all the ladies and linen shirts for the men. There would be so many photo opportunities and I'm sure the delegates would talk about the event to their friends long after the day is over. :)

Gifts for my feet

2011-09-17T23:18:00.003+08:00

Now that the husband has put up some nice shelves in the store room, with the help of a carpenter, of course, my shoes finally have a proper home.

I must also add that I now have space for more shoes! Hehe.

But that wasn't the reason for my enthusiastic shoe-shopping this afternoon. I just happened to chance upon some very pretty shoes, and since I had money in the pocket and was feeling inquisitive, vain and generous, I stepped in. And nobody could restrain me after that. Not even Hercules.

I think I made some merchants rather happy, although I doubt the husband felt the same way when he swung by to pick me up. "Shoes," I chirped, as I slid into the car and noticed him eyeing the oversized shopping bag with ~~great~~ grave concern.

"Are you planning on wearing them or are they just for display?" he asked.

He teases me that way all the time because despite my extensive collection of footwear, I often end up wearing the same few shoes that are most comfortable.

So what, really? I'm just giving in to my girly nature, and that nature specifies that girls can never have too many shoes. :)

No more playing nice

2011-09-15T08:37:00.003+08:00

There's this saying, "Spare the rod and spoil the child."

I think it is an apt advice too for managers of people in an office.

Having suffered the fearful temper and treatment of my ex-boss during my PR days, I don't want to inflict the same emotional and mental stress on my colleagues.

So whenever a reporter writes to me to say he/she needed more time with their assignments, I'd extend his/her deadline - where possible. When a reporter sends me a story that misses the whole point of the issue at hand or that is completely incomprehensible because of its crap English, despite my innate fiery temper and impatience, I'd still grit my teeth and talk them through the copy to extract more sensible information, and then re-write the fucking piece for them. The same patience is extended to my careless designers who often miss out some corrections or make the corrections in the wrong places.

The only thing I do not tolerate is office politicking, gossip-mongering and boot-licking, and my team knows that well because I've rapped many knuckles.

Unfortunately, some (thankfully not all!) have abused my patience with deadlines and copy quality. For instance, one did not submit an assignment by deadline, and when I asked for it, he simply replied, "Well, if I don't send it means I'm not contributing to the project". Not a single shred of decency to tell me right from the start that he can't take up the assignment.

Another, attended an industry event and interviewed only the tourism official for a trend story. When I asked why didn't he interview trade buyers who would paint a more realistic picture of market conditions, the reporter told me he was denied contact with trade buyers during the event. It was the biggest bullshit of the year. So I feigned anger and said, "I will write to the tourism board's chief and tell him I'm incredibly disappointed that his staff kept my reporter away from the buyers!" The lazy reporter immediately told me he could resolve this himself and I should not bother myself with such small matters.

Lately, my biggest heartache came from a colleague whom I've taken under my wings and have shown incredible patience with her shortcomings because she has potential she does not know how to unleash. Alas, because of boyfriend problems, she was completely distract at work and disappeared several times at a time when the team is mad busy.

"Are editors supposed to suffer fools?" I asked a colleague exasperatedly. "Aren't we editors supposed to be devils in Prada?!"

She hailed from a national paper, so she should know. "No, darling. Editors elsewhere are much feared," she chirped.

Hokay then. I'll be the bitch everyone fears if that is needed to have things done around here.

Fear

2011-09-13T08:29:00.002+08:00

It took a series of documentaries on the 10th anniversary of the September 9 terror attacks on the US to ring clear the danger terrorists still present.

While the documentaries declared that the 9-11 attacks had forever changed the way nations view and practice security, bustling cities - cities that are advanced enough to have set a sturdy anti-terrorism system in place - still fell victim to attacks.

Perhaps the authorities paid more attention to potential hijackers of planes and ships, and forgot to look at simpler methods of mass destruction. Who would have thought that a couple of men with backpacks could inflict such damage to mankind before the 2004 Madrid train bombing and 2005 London bombing took place? Those attacks claimed 192 and 56 lives respectively.

Rush hour train and bus stations make great targets and the Singapore government has been running campaigns for years now, calling commuters to do their part by being vigilant. Report suspicious people; watch for baggage left unattended, the campaigns ordered.

But will suicide bombers with common backpacks on their backs really stand out from the crowd? What if they were cool cats who knew exactly what they had to do and did not fidget anxiously or loiter around nervously?

Anyway, how many of us commuters truly look around when we are on the trains and buses? Most of us have our eyes glued to our smartphones, iPads, mobile entertainment devices or printed reading materials. Those who aren't, are sleeping.

If you noticed someone fidgeting nervously on the train or bus, would you would press the emergency call button to get the station master or inform the driver? Or would you think, nah, we are not that unlucky to die today. And what if you were wrong? Imagine how many people will be laughing at you or cursing you for causing a delay.

If commuters are not dedicated enough to do their part, how about the train or bus operators? I don't recall seeing spot checks on commuters being conducted at bus interchanges. Although some train stations do carry out random bag checks on commuters, I say, those appear to be such half-hearted attempts.

The level of commitment SMRT places on security at its train depots is an even bigger joke. Vandals broke into two train depots easily and sprayed beautiful graffiti on the train cabins. If those weren't vandals, Singapore would have witnessed two massive tragedies.

After being chauffeured to and from work every day for the past two months, courtesy of the husband who was temporarily posted to a branch office near my office, I returned to the maddening race for trains and buses this morning and found myself overwhelmed with anxiety when I was in the train station. Commuting to work by train suddenly felt so risky!

Taking the bus has its risks too, but terrorists have less incentive to bomb a bus taking a route that does not pass through the city centre.

Perhaps I will switch to buses from now on. It will take a hell lot longer - at least two hours from home to office, but I may stand a higher chance of staying alive.

Oh, what a trip!

2011-09-10T18:40:00.006+08:00

This business trip to New Delhi must be quite jinxed, particularly for me. Almost everything went wrong, right from the start.

First, I woke up on the day of departure with a bad throat and fever. I loaded up on herbal tea all day, hoping that I'd be better by the time I took off in the evening. Unfortunately, I got worse. Flu and a terrible cough developed, and I had to stuff myself with Panadol everyday during the trip. Resting in my room back at the hotel was out of the question, as we were quite short-handed and I had to get news copy for my China features.

Second, the state of the exhibition hall was ghastly. The air was heavy with dust, which aggravated my throat because my nose was congested and I had to breathe through my mouth. It was no fun eating dust.

To understand how dusty the hall was, imagine this: every morning when I arrive at the press room in the hall, I had to wipe my desk and chair with wet towels. And the wet towels would become black rags after a few swipes. It amazed me how filthy furniture could become overnight.

The roof of the exhibition hall was also leaking and I had to huddle under an umbrella to write my stories. Just so you also know, whatever that was leaking through the roof and from the air-con vents above me was black. Black!

The toilet was also something from a horror movie. The toilet seats were coated with brown slime. Don't ask me what that slime was; I was not brave enough to take a closer look. Thank goodness, though, an army of cleaners was sent in during the actual days of the exhibition and they turned the toilets into facilities seen in developed worlds.

Third, the Delhi High Court was bombed on Wednesday, the third day I was there. It killed 11 people, the last I heard on the local news. And the bomb site was just 2km from the exhibition hall. If the terrorists were just a tad smarter, they would have bombed the exhibition hall, where hundreds of foreigners were and created a ripple of mass hysteria across the world.

Minutes after being informed of the attack, the first thing I thought was, please don't let this be like the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which saw a series of shootings and bombing across the city in three days.

Despite my anxiety, the locals seemed nonchalant. It won't happen to us, many Indian trade people said to set me at ease. Hello! Are you god or the head honcho of the terror group? How would you know for sure? I bet those poor souls at the Delhi High Court did not think they would die from a bombing when they got out of bed that morning.

Fourth, 10 hours after the bomb attack, a sturdy vibration rattled my bedroom in the hotel just as I was about to fall asleep. I thought it was another bombing close by because the vibration was so regular, starting out strong and tapering off after mere seconds. It didn't help that I saw hotel security running from the main gate towards the hotel's lobby. I called the front desk and was told, "It's just an earthquake. It is safe to return to bed."

To be sure we were not in danger, my brave (and more decently dressed) colleague went out of the room and asked a patrolling guard what was the tremor all about. He gave her a blank stare and continued walking down the corridor. Several guests had also emerged from their rooms, and were given the same blank stare when they approached the guard. How very helpful!

Then, in a stroke of genius, I turned on the telly, and the local news channels were awashed with reports of an earthquake. It was first reported as a 6.6 quake, but later revised to a 4.2. I've never thought that Delhi was in a quake zone, but after that night, I came to learn that it was ranked a high 4 on a scale of 5 as a high-risk seismic zone. Experts also said that Delhi's infrastructure was not quake-proof. Urgh.

I kept awake for the next hour, terrified that the brief shake-up was a prelude to a more sinister one. But eventually, my fever and headache won and I fell asleep. It was a fitful sleep, as I dreamt of running frantically from a collapsing hotel. :(

Fifth, the worse thing that could happen to a girl on the very day she's wearing white bottoms happened to me. Yep. The bloody period arrived - a full week ahead of schedule. My uterus must have been scared shitless the day before and decided to shed its lining ahead of time. Thank goodness my make-up pouch is always in a perpetual mess, with all sorts of things in there. It threw up a tampon, which helped plug the leak until I got back to the hotel a few hours later.

Sixth, we found out how obsessed the airport policemen were with printed flight tickets. Without a printed flight ticket, one was not allowed into the airport. One has to go to a special counter at the end of the Indira Gandhi International Airport to print that bloody ticket. Oh, and a printing fee of Rs30 is levied. Who the hell prints their flight tickets anymore? Hasn't the push for ticket-less flying been happening for years now?

Fortunately, I had my printed e-ticket with me, only because I made a last minute flight change and the editorial secretary printed the new e-ticket for my information. The big boss woman did not, and she freaked out big time, screaming at the airport police to let her pass. The screaming did not help because the airport police did not understand English. All the dude said was, "Gate six!" Amazing, considering how India is said to be the country with the biggest number of English speakers!

Several Caucasian travellers behind us had the same problem and a commotion ensued, as nobody wanted to leave the queue and impatient locals pushed forward to get through. "Move!" they shouted at us, and one rammed his trolley against the back of the big boss woman.

Frankly, I don't see how screaming can help matters. Being stubborn and insisting on being let through might not help the situation. Stepping away and going to gate six, as directed, might just be the solution. So I took the big boss woman's passport and went to gate six. To cut the story short, the staff was not able to print the ticket because he insisted on a PNR number as a reference to call out the ticket detail, but no such number was indicated on our e-ticket. The big boss woman was eventually let through after one quick-thinking airport police (possibly the only one who bothered to use his brains!) got a name list from the Singapore Airlines counter and found her name on it.

Seventh, we found out out how obsessed airport security was with luggage tags too. You know how the counter staff would pass you paper luggage tags with the airline's branding? Most of us won't bother to use them, right? At Indira Gandhi International Airport, you had better plaster those luggage tags all over yourself and your belongings, otherwise you will not be able to pass through the immigration gates.

Eighth, I was seated next to an irritating asshole on the flight home. At first, he was just chatty, despite me giving him one-word answers. Where are you from? First time in Delhi? For business or holiday? Where did you go in Delhi? What do you do for a living? He was too inquisitive. After a minute's silence, he said: "I'm not trying to be funny. I just thought we should chat, since we are seated together."

I looked at him and realised he was just a young chap, probably in his early or mid 20s. I know how guarded and stuck-up us Singaporeans can be, so I decided to be a little more kindly and said to him: "OK, I will talk to you, but once the movies come on, please be quiet." He grinned and agreed.

Unfortunately, he started downing whisky too early in the flight and was tipsy after an hour. And that was the start of my nightmare. He talked nonsense, telling me that his girlfriend is a married woman in Singapore and he uses her for sex, that Singaporean girls are hot, and other things in Hindi, which I did not understand.

When I ignored him, he jabbed my arm and cheek, and pulled out my earphones from my ears. At one point, he tried to lean on me and I gave him a huge whack on his head. He backed away from me in shock after I hit him, and gave me some peace for a while.

Later, dinner was served and halfway through his meal, he started to take food from my tray and played with my cup. That was the last straw. I felt like I was a mother travelling with a young child who would not let me eat and watch my movies peacefully. I asked an air crew to please give me another seat. They did and I was able to fly in peace for the next few hours.

Considering all that had happened in one single trip, I should count my blessings and be thankful I was able to return home in one piece. Oh, and another thing to give thanks to - I was not afflicted with the dreaded Delhi Belly.

But before you think my trip to Delhi was all horrors and nothing nice, I have to tell you that I found time to go around and see some of the heritage treasures, such as the India Gate and Humayun's Tomb.

More photos on Facebook! :)

H&M is here

2011-09-03T18:11:00.000+08:00

H&M opens in Singapore today.

While I had once wished fervently for H&M to descend upon my shores, now I wish it hadn't. There's no more exclusivity. Just like how Zara and Mango have created fashion carbon copies across Singapore, so will H&M.

There's also nothing for me to look forward to in Shanghai from now on.

:(

Lazybum

2011-09-01T21:32:00.001+08:00

How is it that everyone in office are buried so deeply in work that most of us are only able to afford a hasty lunch at our desks but you, YOU!, are able to strut around the office, hop from one desk to another and chit-chat with colleagues from the other departments?

Stop bringing your pot of snacks to me and tell me over the next one minute how wonderful they are and I should take a few pieces because it is ok to get fat. I refuse to accept your offer because you must be discouraged from wasting precious time this way. Precious time that could and should have been used to lay my pages.

Today you made so much noise at your desk, shouting across the aisle to tease a colleague who was given a new laptop. You spent a good 15 minutes whooping away and peering over the shoulders of the IT dude setting up the machine.

That's 15 minutes you could have used to help the only other designer on our team to lay some bloody pages.

I was so close to screaming my head off at you. Not only are you not taking the initiative to lighten your colleague's load, you are also interrupting my train of thought, making it harder for me to pen my cover story.

And you are so lazy and much too comfortable in your current situation that you reject opportunities to learn and do more. You are that kind of old office farts who come to work everyday trying to do as little as possible, while exaggerating whatever little task you complete. All you care for is payday.

I despise you. If I had my way, you'd be tossed out of my team.

The good news is, I will not have to stain my own hands. Someone much higher up has noticed how lazy and pretentious you have been and how much you have been going around to disturb other people at work during office hours.

I hope discipline comes soon.

Still not good enough for us

2011-08-29T23:33:00.001+08:00

Two Saturdays ago the husband and I went out to look for good fish porridge and raw fish salad that could be a temporary stand-in for Joe Pork Porridge while the shop's owner and head chef recuperate from his chemotherapy.

We ended up pretty disappointed and I was depressed all morning.

Still, the husband refused to give up. He said another porridge stall, also in Chinatown Complex on Smith Street, came highly recommended by food bloggers and netizens.

I was skeptical. But what the heck. I might be pleasantly surprised. So we went yesterday.

Tian Tian Porridge is a small stall tucked away in a quieter part of the massive Chinatown Complex's hawker food centre. The team running this stall comprised of rather aged people and I thought to myself, "Oh no. If they made really good porridge and raw fish salad, I'd be depressed again in future when they pass on from old age."

That's the tragedy of good food stalls in Singapore. Few of the younger generation are willing to learn the ropes from their elders and carry on the tradition of good food. In a few years' time, the only places one could find excellent and authentic Chinese or local cuisine are in pricey restaurants.

Perhaps because of Tian Tian's aged crew, the wait was rather long. Thank goodness we were able to sit at our table and wait, unlike the torture we were subjected to at Zhen Zhen Porridge in Maxwell Market. Had Zhen Zhen Porridge served up porridge and raw fish salad that danced on our palettes, we would not have minded the wait ON OUR FEET. Alas, you already know how the story went.

Anyway, I'll get straight to the point: I was disappointed yet again.

Tian Tian Porridge's fish porridge was nice and watery. It did not taste bad, but neither did it taste like what Joe (I'm sure that's not his name) whips up from his trusty, dented porridge pot. While it was a comforting bowl of porridge on a somewhat chilly Sunday morning, it still did not satisfy my lust for Joe's porridge.

Tian Tian Porridge's raw fish salad was also not the taste I was looking for. It had a strong sesame oil flavour and fragrance but something was missing. The husband said he liked it, but I could only bear a single slice and then returned to weep into my bowl of fish porridge.

Hokay. I did not really weep into my bowl of fish porridge. My parents brought me up well enough to know that anyone with money in his/her pocket must never cry into food because even children of impoverished families ate with smiles on their faces. But I did weep in my heart, as I realised that hopes of finding fish porridge and raw fish salad similar to Joe's were now even thinner.

No more searching, I told the husband at the end of breakfast. It is time we look for something else to claim as our ultimate comfort food.

Bad news for Singapore

2011-08-28T10:57:00.002+08:00

I woke up to bleak news this morning.

Dr Tony Tan has won the presidential election race with 35.19% of over two million votes cast. He's a mere 7,269 votes ahead of Dr Tan Cheng Bock who garnered 34.85% of votes.

Seven thousand votes seen in the context of two million votes look like peanuts - making up only 0.34%, but they are enough to throw 65% of all eligible voters into depression.

A recount has been called for, but I doubt it will swing the result to our favour. The ruling party must be so happy to have their kawan sitting on the throne.

There's no escaping Mr Helmet Hair and the godawful way he wears his pants to right under his nipples.

I hope he will use his big fat salary of S$4 million a year - paid for by a majority of people who don't want him as president - to hire a NEW hair stylist and fashion consultant.

Which man for presidency?

2011-08-27T10:44:00.003+08:00

Today, Singaporeans will go to the polls to vote for our seventh president. Four candidates are in the running, each touting their own strengths and the many things they could do to make life better for Singaporeans.

Mum called me at 9am, rousing me from my slumber on a fantastic rainy morning, just to ask me who should she vote for.

I reminded her that her vote is secret and nobody should influence her choice. So she asked me who will I vote for.

"I will vote for the best looking man," I replied.

Why? Because our dear president plays a largely ceremonial role, and the real boss of the state is the prime minister. Of course, the president will also get to have a say in how the government spends our national reserves and in the appointment of people in key public offices. But that's pretty much all the power he has.

It made me worry when some presidential candidates pledged to challenge the government and its policies. They are trying to bite off more than they can chew and Singaporeans who don't fully understand the extent of a president's power will expect those things to happen and will be very disappointed that the president they had elected cannot deliver on those promises.

And so, I'm going to vote for the best looking bugger. I will have to see him all the time at national events and ceremonies and he will be representing Singapore at functions attended by other heads of states and ministers, so might as well have a president who is good to look at. This is especially important when he will be standing next to attractive leaders such as Nicolas Sarkozy (and he has a gorgeous wife to boot), Barack Obama (not very popular with his people, but he looks good in his suits!) and Yingluck Shinawatra (love how her hair is always so neat).

With that in mind, Dr Tony Tan is out. His hairstyle belongs to the 50s and he wears his pants too high. Tan Jee Say is also out because more than once I've seen him on the TV news with the cuffs of his trousers resting on top of the back of his shoes.

That leaves Tan Kin Lian and Dr Tan Cheng Bok. They are not much to look at too, but a choice has to be made. I will go for the latter since he is more eloquent than the other.

Mum then asked if retired presidents would be paid pension until the day he conks off. If he is entitled to a pension after he ends his presidency term, then, she reasoned that it is best we vote for the oldest dude on the list. That way, taxpayers will not have to pay him pension for too many years, especially if he had been a disappointing president.

Now I know where I had inherited my strange lines of thought from.

Dr Tan Cheng Bok and Dr Tony Tan are the oldest of the four at age 71. Tan Jee Say is the youngest at age 57. Between the two doctors, again, I will go for Dr Tan Cheng Bok because he is better to look at.

So there, my decision is made!

No freedom of speech?

2011-08-25T23:01:00.001+08:00

I am amazed every time Singaporeans lament how there is a lack of freedom of speech in the city-state.

No freedom of speech? Really?

Have these complaining Singaporeans gone to Stomp, where comments - even really childish ones - against the government and its policies are aplenty? Have they seen the scathing challenges Facebook users post on their walls? Have they read any of the many independent political blogs run by Singaporeans?

If freedom of speech was really lacking, many people would have been arrested, interrogated and made to disappear overnight.

If Singapore's mainstream media were puppets of the government, as so claimed by disgruntled citizens, there will not be a single news article on political parties and individuals who disagree with or challenge the main political party.

Singaporeans. Sigh. It should be made compulsory for every Singaporean to go and live in China and North Korea, then they would understand the true meaning of "feedom of speech".

Foolish is a woman's heart

2011-08-22T22:28:00.000+08:00

Why is it that no matter how educated, street-wise or financially-independent women are, we will always morph into fools when we fall in love?

My poor girlfriend got herself pregnant with her cheating husband, even when she had been fighting endless battles with him over his reluctance to give up his lover, and even after the many unforgiving violent tantrums he had thrown whenever she demanded that he make a choice between her and the other woman.

They would fight, he would move out of her parents' home, he would return and beg for another chance, she would forgive him and let him return home, they would live sort of peacefully until he starts to spend unexplainable time away from home at night, then they would fight again, he would move out again, he would come back again to her to make peace, move in and put the same old same old cycle in motion.

There's only so much well-meaning friends could say to her and after several rounds of keeping her company during her days of disappointment and depression, she started to keep her distance. Perhaps she knew that what she wanted in her heart of hearts was something her friends would sternly disagree. Everyone could see he was recalcitrant, except her.

After the mother of all fights, she finally woke up and realised that nothing about the wretched marriage could be salvaged. So she served him a notice of divorce.

Alas, like a scene out of a movie, she discovered she was pregnant with their second child after the notice has been served.

How could she be so careless to get herself impregnated at a shaky point of her marriage? What the heck was she thinking? Has she not heard of condoms? Did she think that another child would mend the marriage and win back his heart?

I don't know if she was foolishly brave or just plain foolish when she decided to carry on with divorce proceedings AND keep the baby. Or, as she might argue, she was merely acting on her motherly instincts by not aborting the child.

I'm upset. Very upset. It is none of my business and her life isn't mine, but I can't help but feel terrible hearing what has happened to her and how more complex she has made her future.

Why do women always suffer in the hands of love? Why are women such suckers for pain? Why can't more women learn to be as emotionally detached as men? And why is it that men almost always get away when they stray from a marriage?

Gah!

I need a beer.

Things to do on a weekend - Part 3

2011-08-21T17:02:00.005+08:00

Days seem to get a little more fun in the second part of the year. There are more festivals and public events in Singapore, which you should use to your benefit in filling your weekends with your beloved.

So here goes part three...

Sunday, July 1: You know the 2008 movie Yes Man? In it, the female lead, played by Zooey Deschanel, is a leader of a running-cum-photography club. She and her members take a run with their cameras and photograph anything while on the move. Sure, you get shaky images at the end of the day, but heck it. It is fun and one should not take things too seriously in life. Grab your partner and a camera (or your smartphone with a lomo app will do too) and do exactly that today.

Saturday, July 7: Oh! The Great Singapore Sale would have started by now! Grab your debit card (so that you will only shop within your limits!) and hit Orchard Road for great bargains. Be kind to your partner and ask him/her to hit the shops he/she prefer on his/her own. You both can shop separately, then meet at a certain time at the bistro to rest your feet and refresh over an iced cuppa. End the day with a nice dinner at a place you both like.

Sunday, July 8: Stay home today because you are dead broke from yesterday's shopping.

Saturday, July 14: Hang out at your neighbourhood library and feed your mind with freeeeeee books! How great is that, eh? :) Later, grab a cheap meal at a hawker centre nearby.

Sunday, July 15: Payday is still not here yet and your bank account should still be running low after last weekend's Great Singapore Sale spree. How about grabbing your bike and hit the park connectors around your neighbourhood with your partner? And when you both are beat, find a shady spot to rest your bums and share dreams of your future.

Saturday, July 21: Is it possible for a vast garden to flourish inside the cold grey walls of a convention centre? In Singapore it is. The Singapore Garden Festival runs from July 20 to 27 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, and there's where you should be to see some of the most amazing landscaping creations and species of flora.

Sunday, July 22: One last weekend before payday. Hurrah! Stay home and go through old movies that you and your partner used to love, or if you are the active sort, visit the neighbourhood public pool to cool off Singapore's mid-year sweltering heat.

Saturday, July 28: Money's in! When you are done cheering, round up your partner and mutual friends and have a buffet dinner at ONE°15 Marina Club's Latitude restaurant. Latitude features a different buffet theme every month, and most times, the spread is beyond wonderful. Prices average at S$60 plus per head, excluding taxes. Get an outdoor table so you can also take in the salty sea breeze and imagine you all are in some seaside resort.

Sunday, July 29: Time to impress your partner's parents again. Take them out for a dim sum brunch. Never mind if you are a woman - us women are financially independent today and can afford to buy our in-laws or future in-laws some indulgences. But if you happen to possess the culinary prowess of Martin Yan, invite them over for a home-cooked meal instead.

Saturday, August 4: Volunteer at a pet shelter or home for the disadvantage. Yes. You need to accumulate good karma and let your sensitive side out for some sunshine. Take photos of the experience, if possible.

Sunday, August 5: Compile photos from yesterday and post it on Facebook or your blog, and encourage your friends to do the same. Then, pick a couple of your favourite shots and put them together in a pretty handmade album as a gift for the pet shelter or home.

Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12: Singapore's National Day falls on Thursday, August 9, which gives you a long weekend if you are able to secure leave on Friday. Time for an overseas trip, my friend. Need a suggestion? August is a good time to head to Bali, when the skies are clear enough for activities at sea,and at night the air is cool.

Saturday, August 18 and Sunday, August 19: Guess what? Another long weekend, thanks to Hari Raya Puasa falling on Sunday. If you enough dough, consider taking a much longer vacation starting from August 11 and ending on August 19. August is a good time to visit Japan to see the Autumn foliage.

Saturday, August 25: Time to conserve your finances as you near the end of the month. Stay home for a Korean drama marathon. With South Korea churning out so many dramas in great frequency, you will have plenty to choose from. In case you need a suggestion, go for Secret Garden, starring Hyun Bin, if you fancy romantic comedies.

Sunday, August 26: Continue with the Korean drama marathon. :)

Saturday, September 1: COMEX, said to be Singapore's largest IT and consumer electronics exhibition, opens today. It is a good hunting ground for discounted tech gadgets, so if you have been eyeing a particular camera, laptop, desktop or anything that's a robot, this is the place to be. However, beware of the maddening crowds. And remember to breathe...

Sunday, September 2: Found something you like at COMEX yesterday? Then today is a good time to explore your newfound toy.

Saturday, September 8: Swing by Ngee Ann City mall to see what's on offer at its annual Mid Autumn Festival mooncake fair. Eat your way through all the samples while you decide which to buy for your loved ones, especially the future in-laws.

Sunday, September 9: Have you visited Resorts World Sentosa's Maritime Experiential Museum & Aquarium? No? Then what are you waiting for? Before you go, check out what else in brewing at Resorts Worlds Sentosa (perhaps a live jazz performance on its grounds or a promotion at one of its celebrity restaurants), so you can have a full day of fun there.

Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September 16: Spend a weekend at Pulau Ubin, possibly Singapore's last remaining village, where life is a lot slower and happier. Don't expect any five-star hotel carrying an international brand there. Instead, pack a casual wardrobe for guided tours around the island, camping under the stars and a durian feast, if it is in season.

Saturday, September 22: Did you know that the People's Association organises many activities for residents of this city-state? Activities range from a cooking class at one of Singapore top restaurants to a passionate a belly-dance course, which are perfect for couples or larger group of friends. Plan and book ahead for the activity of your choice.

Sunday, September 23: Stay home, simply because your past weekends have been so busy. Don't forget: you need me-time too.

Saturday, September 29: According to the Chinese lunar calendar, tomorrow's Mid Autumn Festival. Today is a good time to prepare for tomorrow's family gathering. Hit the neighbourhood market for traditional paper lanterns and decorations for the house. While you are there, buy some ingredients for a homecooked meal. Rope your beloved in, so he/she can be part of the family gathering.

Sunday, September 30: Today's Mid Autumn Festival. Have dinner with the family and then visit the neighbourhood park with some lanterns to bask in the joyous atmosphere. Pack along a box of mooncakes and a flask of hot Chinese tea for all to share under the full moon.

Also see Things to do on a weekend - Part 2 and Things to do on a weekend - Part 1.

Things to do on a weekend - Part 2

2011-08-21T16:51:00.001+08:00

Had fun reading my first installment for this series? Good. Let's move on to part 2 and discover what other fun things you and your partner can do in Singapore over the weekends of the second quarter of 2012.

Sunday, April 1: Take a light brekkie, then trek through MacRitchie Reservoir Park. There are six routes to choose from, ranging from easy strolls to difficult treks. A highlight of the park trail is the HSBC TreeTop Walk, which is a free-standing bridge that offers a bird's eye view of the flora and fauna that dwells in the forest canopy. The last time I ventured there, I took a little over four hours to complete Route 4 and the TreeTop Walk. And my shoes fell apart at the end of the journey. :)

Friday, April 6 to Sunday, April 8: Three days of not having to work, thanks to Good Friday! Check into any hotel in Resorts World Sentosa - I recommend the Hard Rock Hotel. Lose yourselves in the Universal Studios theme park, catch the musical circus act Voyage de la Vie at the Festive Grand Theatre, shop yourself a brand new lingerie wardrobe at Victoria's Secret and have a meal at one of the celebrity chef restaurants.

If you still have time and energy, explore the rest of the island, which is full of fun things to do. You could race 688m down Dragon Trail at the Skyline Luge, skydive indoors at iFly and catch some fireworks during the Songs of the Sea performance at night.

Saturday, April 14: Catch an afternoon movie at Plaza Singapura or The Cathay, then proceed to Timbre @ Old School at Mount Sophia, just a short drive from the theatres. Dig into a four cheese pizza and Erdinger beers, while waiting for the band to come on at 9pm. Party on to 12.30am.

Sunday, April 15: The last time you caught up with your favourite relative was during the Chinese New Year in January. Do yourself a favour and go visit him/her again today. It will also be a great opportunity to help your partner get into the good books of your favourite relative! Bring along his/her favourite snacks.

Saturday, April 21: Round up your besties and their partners and have a barbeque at East Coast Park, like you used to do when you were a mere teenager. Remember to take lots of photos, which you can then upload onto Facebook! :)

Sunday, April 22: Go shopping for something new to wear on your vacation. What vacation, you say? See next point!

Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29: This is the start to yet another long weekend! Tuesday is the Labour Day holiday, so take leave on Monday and you are all set for fours days of vacation! Go on, spend these few days overseas!

Saturday, May 5: Bake a cake with your partner by following a recipe listed on allrecipes.com. If it turns out well, share it with your neighbours. If it fails, well, share it with your neighbours all the same, because you need to get rid of that yucky mess anyway.

Sunday, May 6: Dress up for high tea at The Regent Singapore's Tea Lounge. It has one of the best high tea spreads, comprising lovely scones, savoury baked salmon, various Asian dishes and an assortment of desserts, I've encountered.

Saturday, May 12: Grab your ezlink cards and take an MRT train ride across Singapore. Stop wherever you like - except in town - and explore the neighbourhood. Even better, go to your nearest bus interchange and hop onto any long-distance bus. You might see places you never thought existed, which will offer many good photo opportunities.

Sunday, May 13: Hey, isn't there still some flour, eggs, sugar, butter and other stuff left from last Saturday's baking attempt? Have a go again. After all, practice makes perfect! :)

Saturday, May 19: The Singapore Arts Festival would have started yesterday, on May 18. Check the festival's calendar of events and see what you can participate in today. There are free and paid performances, recitals and exhibitions you can experience. Very fun!

Sunday, May 20: Inspired by the Singapore Arts Festival yesterday? You could be an artist yourself! Bag some crayons and a drawing block, and plonk yourself down somewhere, anywhere in Singapore and draw away! Never mind if you have the artistic abilities of a monkey. Abstract art could get you famous too!

Saturday, May 26: Sleep in as long as you can, so you will have energy to dance tonight away at Zouk or Butter Factory with your partner and buddies.

Sunday, May 27: Had fun last night? But can't feel your feet? Poor thing. Check yourself into one of the seven branches of Traditional Javanese Massage Hut and ask for a Tired Feet treatment. It costs only S$90 for 90 minutes and I swear your feet will be almost brand new after that. Couple treatments are available.

Saturday, June 2: Go fly a kite at the Marina Barrage. Get your partner to take photos of you, and you do the same for him/her too.

Sunday, June 3: Make a photo scrapbooking with photos from your kite-flying mission! :)

Saturday, June 9: Pack a wicker picnic basket filled with smoked salmon sandwiches, pretty pink cupcakes, macarons and chilled sparkling wine. Head to the Botanic Gardens with you partner, hand in hand. Make sure to bring along a tartan mat to complete the look!

Sunday, June 10: Stay home today. You've gone out a lot over the past weekends. Make today really filthy. Watch porn online with your partner. Then, when you both are in the mood, bonk your brains out using some of those hot moves shown in the lusty clips.

Saturday, June 16: Beerfest Asia should be on this weekend! Do you still need me to tell you how you should spend your Saturday?

Sunday, June 17: Nurse your hangover with greasy food and ice-cold Coke. And there's no better place to get these than your neighbourhood hawker centre. If you are physically up for it, walk around the neighbourhood town centre and check out the old-school shops that sell almost everything under the sun. You might find something cheap and quaint for your home.

Saturday, June 23: Have in hand Dr Leslie Tay's The End of Char Kway Teow and Other Hawker Mysteries, and go on a hawker food hunt by following the book chapter by chapter.

Sunday, June 24: Hawker food is heavy with calories. After yesterday's hawker food binge, you should be kind to your waistline and heart, and go for a walk. Start off with a visit to the Reflections at Bukit Chandu war museum on Pepys Road, then continue onwards by foot down a canopy walk that cuts through Kent Ridge Park. It is a very nice trail, trust me.

Saturday, June 30: Time for another museum visit! You've been to the National Museum of Singapore and the Peranakan Museum earlier this year. Why not swing into the Asian Civilisations Museum today? The permanent galleries showcase cultures of different parts of Asia and stories of migrant communities of Singapore's past. There will also be temporary exhibitions and other events. After the visit, cross Cavenagh Bridge, one of Singapore's oldest bridges, into Boat Quay and have an Irish dinner at Molly Malone's.

So much to do in Singapore, right? But that's all for part 2! I'll be back with the third installment soon.

Missing Joe

2011-08-20T23:40:00.002+08:00

I am miserable.

Joe Pork Porridge is still closed. It has been months already, and my cravings for its divine raw fish salad is getting unbearable.

Whenever the husband and I wake up early on the weekends, we would glumly wonder what to have for breakfast. It has often been Joe's fish porridge, fish vermicelli and raw fish salad or nothing.

There are no indications as to when business would resume and we were getting tired of waiting. Driven by desperation, curiosity and concern, the husband called up the boss' home and found out that the poor man is stricken with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

He said he would return to work only when he's feeling better and he did not know when that would be.

That scared me. I've been eating from Joe Pork Porridge since I was a child, and my parents were fans since their courtship. The founder passed on the business to his children but it seems that nobody from the third generation is keen to take over the business.

I cannot imagine life without Joe's fish porridge, fish vermicelli and raw fish salad. Few things in this world could inspire me to wake up earlier on weekends, and these dishes are among them.

I'm very tempted to pay the boss a visit at his home and beg him to teach me how to cook his fish porridge, fish vermicelli and raw fish salad. If three dishes are too much to ask for, at least let me have the recipe for the raw fish salad. I've not been able to find any other raw fish salads that taste remotely close to the one sold at Joe Pork Porridge.

Joe Pork Porridge's raw fish salad is some kind of wonderful. The fish slices are perfectly thin and drenched in an addictive savoury sauce, sesame seeds, Chinese parsley, chili padi and ginger strips. That sauce is a mystery. It has the comforting taste and fragrance of sesame oil, but there is definitely more to it than just sesame oil! But what, I do not know.

Even Dad, who is often able to replicate a dish he had tasted, is dumbfounded.

It must be opium, my parents once joked.

Anyway, the need for raw fish salad proved too strong to ignore this morning. So the husband did some research online to find where else is famous for the dish, bearing in mind to strike off all the disappointing stalls we've sampled in the past.

Zhen Zhen Porridge or 真真粥品 came up. I've heard of this stall before. Located in Maxwell Food Centre, Zhen Zhen Porridge has been known to draw fans - locals and foreigners - from all over the island.

Ah well, if that many people love it, the cooks must whip up some kind of magic in their porridge pot. So off we went.

The queue at Zhen Zhen Porridge was amazingly long. And slow. We finally got our bowl of fish porridge and raw fish salad after 45 minutes.

The husband watched my expression closely as I took the first spoonful of porridge. A frown crept into my brows.

Then I tried a slice of raw fish. My frown deepened.

"Fail huh?" the dejected husband asked.

Yes. Another disappointment. The porridge was velvety but too salty and its taste reminded me of solemn Saturday lunches at my paternal granny's home. It tasted like what granny used to make, and I did not quite like it.

The raw fish slices were too thick and the sauce was not even close to the divine concoction of Joe Pork Porridge's cooks.

The experience left us even sadder.

Please, please, please, recover soon, dear boss of Joe Pork Porridge. We really miss you so!

Some dream

2011-08-19T09:23:00.000+08:00

Old wives said one was more prone to strange dreams after a heavy meal that was consumed too late.

Those old wives must be right last night.

I was in need of a new home and rented a flimsy cottage near the sea. The view of the sea was hardly beautiful. Jagged rocks lined the shore and the sea that flowed between them and beyond was a dark and depressing blue.

The grains of sand at my feet were large and they cut my feet like broken glass.

In the dream, my family comprised the husband (who wasn't Josh!), a toddler and a domestic helper.

Right after moving in, a storm broke out, turning the sea into an evil-looking brew churning wildly in a witch's cauldron. I screamed for the husband and helper to help me nail our windows and door shut.

Just as I was chaining up the front gate, I saw tigers. The beasts prowled the shores, mere metres from my doorstep. One leapt into a neighbour's cottage and screams from within were silenced soon after. Another started to make its way towards my cottage. I was so frightened, my fingers stiffened and I could not work the chains and lock.

Then, horror of horrors, I saw my husband outside, trying to move as stealthily away from the tiger as possible. There was no way he could make a dash into the cottage without alerting the tiger, which would definitely outrun him.

Moments later, the husband did make the dash and once he was safely in doors, we slammed the door shut, just as the tiger pounced forth, almost snapping the door in half.

Then, my fickle mind whisked me off to a completely different scene. I was in the waiting area of a hospital with a man each on my side. One's a friend I knew through work, whom I had a tiny crush on when I first knew him but then despised him after finding out that he hit on my colleague after I rejected his advances. Of course, by then, his lecherous reputation had also reached my ears.

The other man was someone who often appeared in my dream as an illicit lover.

And there we sat, discussing getting into a threesome. How wonderful. Alas, I did not stay asleep long enough to make that threesome happen. :(

My mind keeps doing that to me lately, teasing me with prospects of sex but pulling out at the last minute.

Maybe I need to pray to some deity. I wonder if there is a god of dreams?

The husband's misery

2011-08-18T19:38:00.001+08:00

I feel so sorry for the husband. I think people in the oil and gas sector are just borne without tact and understanding of customer service.

He's earning more than his last job but he's far more depressed on most days that it sickens me. I just want to pull him out of his job and make him stay home, where he can watch TV all day long.

I think he is better off in a charity organisation, which although may not pay as well, will definitely make him feel better as a person at the end of the day because he's working for the good of society.

Since he dare not take the plunge and try out another industry, I'll do it for him. I'll send out his resume to the likes of the Red Cross Society on his behalf, then throw in his resignation.

Being an adult really sucks some times.

Not enough of you

2011-08-14T23:59:00.014+08:00

I'm so obsessed with you that even 24 hours a day together is painfully insufficient.

And such woe it is that we have to lose precious time to sleep!

Things to do on a weekend - Part 1

2011-08-13T13:55:00.004+08:00

"Singapore is so boring!" a colleague bemoaned during a ciggie break. She went on to tell me how she and her boyfriend had ran out of things to do over the weekend, and have been spending almost every weekend in front of the telly and doing nothing else.

How funny. The husband and I hardly have this problem. We always have somewhere to go or something to do. So much so, our greatest gripe is not having longer weekends together. Of course, we do spend an occasional weekend at home and in front of the telly, but that's because we wanted to and our mission was to have our limbs entangled on the couch while we embark on a movie or drama series marathon.

There are many things to do in Singapore, I told her. And even if one has run out of things to do in Singapore, there are a few nice destinations nearby that are suitable for short and cheap weekend breaks.

So for the sake of people like my colleague, who bemoan boring weekends, I've dedicated my day today to show you what you can do every weekend for the whole of 2012!

Now, there are 105 days of weekends in 2012, which will make this post mighty long. And that also means that I will need to spend my entire Saturday writing this. Now, I can't do that, can I? The husband will feel so neglected. So I shall present this post as a four-part series, sectioned by months.

Let's start the calendar of events on Saturday, January 7 since the New Year falls on Sunday and most of us would be getting ourselves ridiculously drunk at countdown parties that day.

And now, let's roll!

Saturday, January 7: You have been partying like a rockstar since the end of December and through January 1. It is time to detox, my friend. Considering how most of us would have drank and partied ourselves to poverty during the New Year parties, let me recommend an affordable day spa.

Aramsa - The Garden Spa at Bishan Park is the one. Go for the Awakening Dew thermal steam detox. It will cost you S$78 for 30 minutes. Toss in another S$48 for an hour's massage after that, if you like. Explore the spa's menu for other routes to heaven. Couple treatments are available too.

Sunday, January 8: One day of detox is not enough to make up for days of plying your system with champagne, Long Island Teas and Guinness. Continue to love your body today by sleeping in late and waking up just in time for a slow lunch at Original Sin, a Mediterranean vegetarian restaurant. Savour your last bite at 2pm, when the restaurant prepares to close for its afternoon break.

Saturday, January 14: Chinese New Year is coming up, so there is only one thing you should do: go shopping for new things!

Sunday, January 15: Shop on, my friends! Then, in the late afternoon, schedule a foot reflexology session to soothe your abused feet. Most shopping malls have at least one foot reflexology outlet.

Saturday, January 21 and Sunday, January 22: This is the Chinese New Year weekend, and Singapore will enjoy a looooong break, as Monday and Tuesday are also declared public holidays! If you are not busy celebrating the festivity with your family, this is the perfect time to go on an overseas holiday. :)

Saturday, January 28: After all that revelling, you should wind down and spend some quiet time at home with your partner. Rent a bunch of movies, surround yourselves with leftover Chinese New Year goodies and be one with the couch for the rest of the day.

Sunday, January 29: You've spent a whole day at home yesterday, so it is a good idea to shake off those crumbs and empty food wrappers and head outdoors. Start early by going for breakfast at Chinatown (if you are a Chinese or enjoy Chinese food). I'm not a breakfast person, but I love going to Chinatown for my porridge and raw fish fix. Avoid that god-awful stall by the main road, which is popular only because it is in a prominent location, and head into the Chinatown Complex's Joe Pork Porridge. Hate porridge? There are many other food options in Chinatown Complex.

After you are done with breakfast, proceed to Sentosa's Siloso Beach to get some vitamin D. Find a spot to bask in the sun or go swim in the lagoon or play some beach volleyball. When the sun starts to slip over the horizon, go get a shower, then stroll down to Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort's 88 Noodles for a very good bowl of wanton noodles.

Saturday, February 4: Valentine's Day is coming. You need to save money for something romantic for your partner. So do something real cheap today. Hit the library. Don't whine. Reading IS fun. And free. If tomes bore you, reach for the comics.

Sunday, February 5: I'm sure the weather is good today. Put on some comfortable shoes, pack a small towel and a bottle of water, and grab your partner for a leisurely stroll from Hort Park and down the Southern Ridges, where you will walk among the canopies of the trees.

Saturday, February 11: Valentine's Day is only a few days away. Start the romancing today. Book a late movie in a GV Gold Class cinema or Cathay Platinum Movie Suite, which will give you and your partner plush recliner seats and quality dining options.

Sunday, February 12: Save the pricey Valentine's Day lunch/dinner for the actual day. Today, have a lunch cookout together. Working together towards a common aim, in this case, to fill your tummies, is fun and brings people together. Have a bottle of wine (or two!) along with lunch, get a little buzzed from the alcohol and spend the rest of the day satiating each other's lust.

Saturday, February 18: Visit the National Museum of Singapore. Tour the visiting exhibitions, as well as the permanent galleries. And no, the museum is not boring.

Sunday, February 19: Continue your cultural weekend by visiting the vibrant Peranakan Museum today.

Saturday, February 25: It is never too late to fall in love with lomography, and oh!, the cameras are so cute! Make a beeline for Sunshine Plaza, look for a shop call Thirtysix and pick a camera you like. Spend the rest of the day figuring out how to use it. :)

Sunday, February 26: Grab your lomo camera and head to the Arab Street district, where you will embark on a shoot-from-the-hip mission. The architecture there is beautiful. Take time to stop for a mint tea or Arabic coffee in one of the many quaint Arabian-theme cafes there. Venture onwards to the hip Haji Lane, where you will find shops selling local designer apparel. I have a favourite cafe here, which is hidden away on the second floor of a furniture shop. Want a clue? You must read A Thousand Tales. :)

Saturday, March 3: Spend a day at the zoo and Night Safari! I hope you'll be as lucky as I and get to catch the animals bonking. :)

Sunday, March 4: Gather your best friends or favourite relatives and go for brunch. Talk about everything under the sun while stuffing your face silly with fluffy French toasts, savoury baked eggs and chilled Mimosas or Bellinis. Umm, yummy!

Saturday, March 10: Check the show guide for the Esplanade and pick a play or performance in the evening. Go earlier, so you can have dinner with your partner in one of the nice al fresco restaurants by the bay.

Sunday, March 11: Think you know Clarke Quay very well? Think again. Join The Original Singapore Walk's Of Dali, Barley and Hadhramis tour. A guide, familiar with the history of Clarke Quay, will take you down the trendy enclave and regale you with tales of yore.

Saturday, March 17: Take a break from the fancy meals and activities you've had over the past few weekends. Visit a public pool, or, if your skin is thick enough, hunt down that neglected friend or distant relative who lives in a condominium or house with a pool. Spend the afternoon soaking off the heat in the pool or baking in the sun. Pack some cheap ham and cheese sandwiches and juice.

Sunday, March 18: You are probably sun-burnt today. Stay home and recuperate. Watch your favourite movies again while sucking on homemade ice lollies. I like to make mine with Coke. :)

Saturday, March 24: I hope you've taken lots of photos during all those activities you did over the past few weekends. Sit your partner down with you and scour through your photo folder to pick out 20 of your favourite shots. Have them printed and you both can now start making your own photo scrapbook! Don't know where to start? Visit Laine's Papeterie at Wheelock Place.

Sunday, March 25: Scrapbooking takes up time, so dedicate today to your project too. You will have fun reminiscing the good times as you work on the pages. When you are done, celebrate over a home delivery dinner and some beers.

Saturday, March 31: Arm yourself with S$200 and embark on a food trail through Geylang with your partner. It is more than just a lively red light district and you can find some of the most splendid beef kway teow, frog leg porridge, fried Hokkien mee, dim sum, bean curd dessert, as well as an assortment of tropical fruits. The trick is to share one signature dish at each store so you can pace yourself for a full night of culinary exploration.

There! That's all for part 1, folks. That's quite a bit of things to do every weekend, no?

Watch out for part 2. :)

I LOVE CURRY

2011-08-10T09:09:00.004+08:00

This got me fuming.

In particular, the case of the Chinarian family living in Singapore telling their Indian neighbour not to cook curry because they cannot take the smell.

It is like inviting guests to your home, only to have them tell you to stop living the way you have been used to because they are uncomfortable.

We Singaporeans take pride in the way we adapt to the cultures and living habits of our fellowmen, regardless of their race. That's just the way Singapore is - a melting pot of different cultures and races.

Some may hate the smoky air during the Hungry Ghost Festival when the Chinese burn incense paper offerings and joss sticks, but they close an eye because that's the Chinese custom.

Some may disagree with the noise during Malay weddings held at void decks of apartment blocks, but they tolerate it because that's the way the local Malays celebrate.

Some may find the smell of Indian spices too overpowering, but they keep mum because that's how their Indian peers have been making their meals since the time of their ancestors.

These Chinarians - or any other foreigners for that matter - are merely guests on our homeland, regardless of their permanent residency status. They must not forget that. If they want to live among us, they must adapt to us, our culture and our way of life.

How dare they demand Singaporeans, those borne and bred here, to cease certain aspects of our living habits just to suit them?

When foreigners here apply for permanent residency, does the government give them a copy of our national pledge and insist they read it, digest it, comprehend it and memorise it?

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and

progress for our nation.

And how dare that Community Mediation Centre officer advise the Indian family not to cook curry when the Chinarian family is home? The officer should instead inform the Chinarian family that curry is an integral part of the Indian lifestyle and custom, and that the Chinarian family should learn to accept the smell.

And if the Chinarian family can't adapt, they should return to their land of flying spittle, Melamine and dangerous trains.

Meanwhile, I say, Singaporeans should rally behind our Indian friends and have a major island-wide curry cookout! :D

Update on August 11: the Community Mediation Centre responded to the public lashings by clarifying that the mediator did not tell the Indian family to avoid cooking curry when the Chinarian idiots are at home. That decision was offered and agreed upon by both families. Oh what big hearts the Indian family has!

Pretty prints for my feet

2011-08-09T20:08:00.001+08:00

Lookie! Lookie! Look what I found!

These are the cutest shoes I've ever bought. :)

These Tatum Print Mid Blazers are from Nike Liberty 2011 collection, a partnership between the sports company and Liberty London, a fashion and fabric company. There many other designs I totally love.

Frankly, I have hardly any clothes to go with these sneakers. But never mind that. I can always rejig my wardrobe!

Eating our way through Penang

2011-08-06T13:20:00.002+08:00

Penang, Malaysia is not a destination for people on a lean and mean diet and who derive pleasure from depriving their tongues and tummies of all things tasty and sinful.

Therefore, Penang is my kind of wonderland. I would rather have a feast than to abstain from one of life's biggest pleasures. An expanding waistline can be cured with more rounds of vigorous sex later on or with an energetic wrestle with the husband to get him to submit to me in the bedroom.

The husband and I flew into Penang on SilkAir on July 28 and rented a car from Hertz at the airport. Having our own transport allowed us to explore the city and stop and eat wherever we fancied.

The downside was, we forgot to reserve a GPS device and they were all snapped up. We had to rely on a very unreliable map. To make things worse, road signs mysteriously disappeared whenever we hit forked roads and intersections. We ended up lost in a wrong part of town and going round and round in circles for over an hour.

So although our flight placed us in Penang at 2.30pm, we only got to check into Hard Rock Hotel past 5pm.

Our nerves were frayed and the poor husband was so tired he could not drive anymore. So instead of exploring Batu Ferringhi for dinner, the husband suggested we head to Tree Monkey restuarant at Tropical Spice Garden, just a few minutes' drive from the hotel for dinner. Thank goodness he did some research before the trip!

And it was a great suggestion. One could catch the sunset from the restaurant, so we had a couple of drinks while the sun slipped over the horizon and then had a leisurely dinner.

Tree Monkey does Asian and Western cuisine and the menu is very extensive. If you can't make up your mind, which will definitely happen, go for a tapas platter which comprises six to eight different yummy dishes. The tapas platter comes with rice, so your problem is solved.

If you enjoyed what you ate, you could return to Tropical Spice Garden earlier in the day and attend one of its cooking classes. It was something the husband wanted to do, but we later decided that we wanted much more to eat than to learn how to cook. Hehe.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel to explore it a little, took silly photos of each other and rested in bed for a bit. Later, we rocked our souls with Strakats, an excellent band at Hard Rock Cafe. We rocked till 2am, then staggered back to our room and crashed.

The next morning, the husband tore me out of bed at 9am, rushed me through my shower and whisked me off into town. I can understand his enthusiasm. Our plan was to spend a full day navigating Penang's city centre for food, food and more food, and there was no time to waste!

Right at the top of our eat list was Penang laksa and char koay teow. Both are done very differently from the versions found in Singapore, and after much research, the husband knew exactly where to find the best versions of these two dishes in Penang.

It so happens that they can both be found in the same coffeeshop: Taman Emas, opposite a rather impressive looking Chinese girls school.

Penang char koay teow is divine! Or perhaps, I should say the version served at Taman Emas is divine. It is savoury and spicy, and the flat rice noodles is chewy. It puts even the most highly recommended char kway teow (spelt this way in Singapore) back home to shame. Singapore's char kway teow is too sweet and mushy.

Penang laksa is a real beauty. The way to eat this dish, we were told, is to dip fried spring rolls into the soup, take a bite of the damp roll, and then slurp up a spoonful of laksa. Hmm! The combination was truly wonderful. However, Penang laksa did not excite us a lot because it was heavy with chopped ginger flower, which we hated. Hah, despite so, we cleaned off the bowl. :)

Oh, and that was just breakfast.

After wiping our happy mouths on our sleeves, we hopped into our car and drove further into town. Next stop, Union Primary School. Or rather, a mobile street stall outside Union Primary School.

Look out for a mobile stall with a sign that reads Apong Guan, the husband ordered. So I did. And we found that stall in no time.

Apong Guan sold banana fritters. These banana fritters are unlike the ones in Singapore. They are fluffy pancakes wrapped around diced bananas, shredded coconut and sweet corn.

Quite yummy. And bloody cheap at RM0.40 a piece - that's hardly S$0.20 each!

The husband said that the owner of Apong Guan, has a brother who also runs the same business just a few metres down the road. His brother's stall is called Apong Chooi. Some food blogs said the owner of Apong Chooi is a real mean bean and has a nasty temper and sharp tongue. But because the banana fritters from Apong Chooi are nicer, it boasts more regulars than Apong Guan.

So the owner of Apong Chooi is a food nazi then!

For me, I'll gladly support the gentle owner of Apong Guan, who flashed me patient smiles whenever I got a little too close trying to see how he made his wares.

Sweets make me hungry. Always. So after gobbling my last bit of banana fritters, we dived into a bustling coffeeshop opposite the school and ordered a bowl of Hokkien noodles to silence my growling tummy. In Penang, Hokkien noodles is a soupy noodle dish made with prawn stock.

Just look at the colour of the broth and you can tell how much flavour it contains. The cook probably used a helluva lot of prawn heads and shells to make the stock. I'm not surprised if the stock was cooked layer upon layer every day, such that what I drank could contain soup remnants from donkey years ago.

I wanted to have another bowl - not because I was a glutton, but because servings in Penang came ridiculously small! - but the husband bade me to pace myself. The day was still long and there were many things we had to eat.

Next stop, Toh Soon Cafe along Lebuh Campbell in an old part of town. It wasn't easy to find because of the frustrating lack of road signs to point us in the right direction and the terrible map we had in hand.

We went in circles again. This time for 40 minutes. I lost my temper and gave up trying to be the navigator. So the poor husband turned into a small road and stopped the car.

"Toh Soon Cafe should be somewhere here. Let's park the car and walk around, that way we can also enjoy the architecture," he said.

And what do you know? Toh Soon Cafe was immediately down the alley on the left side of where he parked his car! The coincidence made me laugh and my awful temper was gone.

Toh Soon Cafe is an old-fashioned coffeeshop that is more like a hole in the wall, with tables and chairs laid out along an alley. It is famous for its thick coffee served in traditional ceramic cups and butter-and-kaya toasts that were made crisp over charcoal fire.

I'm not quite a bread person but I really enjoyed the ambience. It was sort of charming to slowly sip coffee and nibble at toasts, while listening to the chatter of old men.

The husband remembered that there was a Peranakan museum nearby (that boy really did his homework!) and it was where we went after our coffee and toast break.

The Pinang Peranakan Mansion is a restored Peranakan home that was built at the end of the 19th century. You can't miss it. It is a large green house in a street full of smaller shophouses.

The museum takes visitors back in time to see how rich babas and nonyas lived back then. This museum is said to contain over 1,000 antiques.

It is quite fascinating to wander around the musuem, moving from the airy courtyard to the elaborate main hall and dining room, and from fancy bedrooms to the solemn prayer and ancestor hall. I felt like I was trespassing through someone's home! :)

We spent almost two hours at the museum and were quite sleepy when we exited the attraction. The afternoon heat did not help, so we made a beeline for the hotel and stole a quick nap before dinner. :)

That evening, we made like the horde of tourists who stayed around Batu Ferringhi and had dinner at the Long Beach Cafe.

Long Beach Cafe is a mad-busy hawker centre housing a cluster of food stalls. The stalls sold all sorts of cuisines - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Western - and all sorts of dishes. To cater to foreigners, the hawker centre also sold a variety of imported beers usually found in fancier bars.

We ordered some grilled seafood, char koay teow, a traditional Hainanese fried spring roll and fried oysters. The grilled seafood was brilliant, the char koay teow was not as good as the one from Taman Emas, the fried spring roll had too much yam for my liking and the fried oysters made me smile because it did not have the muddy, shellfish taste I always get from the same dish in Singapore.

Dinner almost burst our seams, so we had to walk around to spend some calories. There wasn't much shopping we could do in that area, which is transformed into a night market after sunset. Street stalls sold cheap accessories, mass produced T-shirts, old-fashioned toys, pirated movie DVDs and music CDs, as well as fake branded bags, wallets, belts, watches and sunglasses.

We'd rather spend our dough on food and alcohol!

We ended our second day in Penang at Hard Rock Cafe with the Strakats again. That band really knows how to rock the house down with a variety of songs that were given a rock twist. I love how they enlivened Adele's Rolling in the Deep and rocked up Tracy Chapman's Gimme One Reason.

Their Queen medley featuring Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions, Another One Bites The Dust and We Will Rock You really got the crowd going. It was brilliant.

The pace was supposed to be a lot slower on the third day, which we intended to use lazing by the pool and bronzing our bodies. But the husband woke me up at past 10am, saying he was starving and wanted some dimsum. So much for wanting to sleep in on my holiday!

But, as you already know, I can never say no to him when he wants to eat. So off we went into Penang's China Street in search for old-school dim sum.

We found it soon after turning into China Street.

The little shop did not come highly recommended by food blogs and guides, but it was an immediate solution for the husband's hunger. The dimsum we had were not to-die-for, but they were truly old-school.

What turned the drab morning breakfast around was this humble bowl of koay teow soup - flat rice noodles with chewy fishballs and crunchy fried onion bits.

This seemingly unlikely winner was so delightfully light, yet so tasty. I am hardly a fan of fishball noodles because it was a dish I associate with being ill. Dad always made this or plain porridge for me whenever I fall sick, and I hate bland food. But I could eat this Penang version every day!

The husband also had a hefty bowl of wanton noodles from this stall in the same coffeeshop.

Hehe. It reminded me of a riddle I've heard since young. :)

Q: Which hawker is the strongest of them all?
A: The wanton (one-tonne) mee seller!

Then we drove around a bit to see more of Penang's old places.

The rest of the afternoon was spent recuperating by the hotel's pool and later, a movie marathon in our room. Our room, by the way, was pretty nice, compared to Hard Rock Hotel Bali.

For our final dinner in Penang, we went to Kang Ho Coffeeshop on Mount Erskine Road. A food blogger recommended this place for excellent fried oysters.

That food blogger did not lie. :)

We also had a pot of bak kut teh, a herbal pork rib soup that goes wonderfully well with fried dough fritters.

The version found here was murky and looked so messy, it dampened our appetite. But it is proof that one should not judge a book by its cover. The soup turned out to be a real flavour bomb and was packed with a variety of mushrooms and tau pok (sponge tofu), in addition to chunks of meat.

We were quite reluctant to leave Penang the next day. There are still so many eateries we've not gone, so many celebrated local dishes we have not sampled.

"Let's have our favourite dish here before we say goodbye," chirped the husband and we unanimously agreed that parting dish should be Taman Emas' char koay teow.

I love Penang. Because of its thriving hawker food culture, one could really eat a lot and not bust his/her pocket. There is no need to dine only at fancy restaurants. Cheap eateries like those I've been to can whip up some excellent stuff. You only need to study a couple of food blogs to know where gastronomic orgasms can be found.

The husband and I will return to Penang for sure. Next time round, we will stay in a different part of Penang, perhaps closer to the city centre to save on travelling time. The less we drive, the more time we can spend stuffing our faces! :)

Political sensitivity

2011-08-04T14:45:00.000+08:00

Last year, my Chinarian project partner rejected my news piece on the Chinese government banning outbound travel to Japan after both governments clashed over a maritime accident and barked "Who does she think she is to write something like that?".

Fed-up, I decided to keep Japan out of my destination feature line-up for the same project this year.

Alas, I forgotten that I had to strike The Philippines off too, as memories of the fatal bus hijack is still fresh in the minds of the Chinarians.

"Can you please don't write about The Philippines? There is political sensitivity," my Chinarian counterpart wrote to me.

Hmm, are there many countries that DO NOT have sensitive political relationships with China?

Now that news broke about China being suspected of masterminding a five-year-long cyber espionage campaign targeting the governments of Canada, India, South Korea, Taiwan, the US and Vietnam, as well as organisations such as ASEAN and the International Olympic Committee, I wonder how many more destinations I have to strike off my feature.

China will likely deny the allegations and accuse somebody, anybody of trying to smear its reputation. Then the Chinarian government will be angry with somebody, anybody and more countries will have politically sensitive relationships with China.

Perhaps the only destination I can safely feature without incurring the ire of the Chinarians is North Korea.

What's the fucking deal?

2011-08-04T08:36:00.003+08:00

In today's issue of the Today newspaper is a letter from a reader. He was addressing the recent incident where a National Technological University graduate announced enthusiastically on stage, "We fucking did it!"

The reader chastised the graduate, saying that schools should teach institutional talking and that "students of all ages (are) using expletives shamelessly - in all languages and in all places".

I think the reader is too uptight. He needs to get someone to anal-fuck him.

Yup. I did it. I used the word fuck.

Fuck is a brilliantly versatile word. It can be used in a variety of sentences that convey vastly different meanings and emotions.

When used in "I will fucking kill you!", the prized word conveys a sense of immense anger. When used in "This kitty is so fucking cute!", the word paints a happy picture. When used in "Oh fuck me now!", the recipient of that remark should feel very proud and proceed to do as he was told.

The fucked-up problem with fuck is not that it is a fuckingly vulgar expletive, but rather, it has been so fucking overused. The society is changing and so is the way society speaks. Elders should open their fucking minds and accept the fact that fuck is here to stay on the tongues of the poor and the rich, the delinquents and the educated.

So everybody, fuck is really no fucking deal. Be brave and embrace the word! :)

Festival of the ghosts

2011-08-01T23:26:00.002+08:00

The recent Saturday marked the start of the Hungry Ghost Festival. During this lunar month, spirits are released from hell and they get to roam among the living or visit surviving family and friends. Think of it as summer vacation for our brothers and sisters from the netherworld.

It is during this month that traditional and superstitious elders warn youngsters to come home before dark or not to stay out too late (to avoid crossing path with the spirits), keep away from the pool or sea (to reduce being used as a substitute body for drowned souls), wear bright colours (apparently, spirits are drawn to mourning shades of black and white) and do as many good deeds as possible.

Oh, and most importantly, youngsters are warned to never say that ghosts don't exist because a passing spirit might just do something to prove its presence.

So yes, I BELIEVE THAT YOU GUYS EXISTS!

The Hungry Ghost Festival is more than one's imagination or a leftover belief from ancient China. Even our doctors - those educated in western medicine - believe in it. You see, the Chinese believe that ill people who are on the brink of death will slip over to the other side during the festival. Wandering spirits will take the opportunity to claim souls. Many doctors have admitted that the Hungry Ghost Festival is a difficult month for the weakest of patients.

Freaky, I know.

To survive the Hungry Ghost Festival unscathed and free of unwanted haunting, a local fengshui master has published these nine pointers. It is in Mandarin, I know. But being the kind, kind person that I naturally am and the need to accumulate good karma this month, I will use my limited knowledge of Mandarin to translate the contents into English.

Survival tip #1: Spirits are by nature afraid of living beings or more literally, the breath of living beings. So as long as you avoid annoying them, you will be safe. By annoying, I suppose the master meant things like going to the cemetery late at night to summon spirits to tell you which is the winning horse for Sunday's races.

Survival tip #2: Stay healthy. Those weak of health have a weak aura, which raises the chance of them "crossing lines" with spirits.

Survival tip #3: Be compassionate and loving; do more charity. By building up your good karma, you will also gain the protection of good spirits and gods.

Survival tip #4: Don't verbally put spirits down and or insult them.

Survival tip #5: Maintain a positive mindset and disposition.

Survival tip #6: The Chinese will perform rituals to pay respect to visiting souls of ancestors and stray spirits. These rituals involve making food offerings, burning incense, joss sticks and paper models of material products such as clothes, shoes, houses and cars. Be respectful and stay out of the way of these rituals. Watch that you do not step on the offerings or ashes.

Survival tip #7: Avoid prolonged hours of using the computer, as eletro waves from the machine can lead those with weak auras to sense and see spirits. Great, I'm shutting down the laptop once I complete this post. :(

Survival tip #8: Leave home wearing bright, auspicious colours.

Survival tip #9: If you are feeling down because of work stress or relationship woes, do not take lonely strolls down the beach or drown your sorrows with alcohol. By doing so, you will make yourself vulnerable to ghostly encounters. Duh!

There! Good luck and wish you all a safe month ahead! :)

But before I end this post, I would like to talk a bit more about survival tip #3. It reminded me of a particular colleague Joshua has. She is a real awful piece of work, often pulling her weight around and creating problems for new staff or subordinates. She's fat and lumpy, and has banned the office girls from wearing sleeveless clothes or clothes with low necklines. She, however, continues to wear such clothes.

Recently, she and her cronies were tasked to plan a company retreat, which was supposed to take place at the end of the year. They decided on Taiwan without consulting the rest of the team, and because a large number of staff are Muslims, many could not go. She then pressurised everyone else in office to sign up for the trip before informing them of the travel date. When the trip was finally confirmed for early August, some had to cancel their participation due to other prior plans. She kicked up a huge fuss and imposed a cancellation fee of S$600. Then suddenly, she realised she had to make a trip somewhere in August. Not surprisingly, she bent the rules to suit her and allowed herself to withdraw from the trip without having to pay a cancellation fee.

She also gave Joshua so much grief when he applied for wedding leave, saying that our wedding celebration was held far too long after the day we registered our marriage legally. I will bitch slap her if I were there.

She does not allow staff to take time off, not even for family emergencies. She would force them to take a full day's leave. Today, Joshua related bitterly to me what the vile woman did to another female colleague. The latter's son fell very ill and she brought him to the hospital before coming into office. The vile woman scolded her, made her take a full day's leave and minutes later, insisted that she stay on to finish her work.

I've never met anyone as foul as she. One day she will have a family emergency and nobody in office will pity her.

She ought to bear this in mind this month: not only the gods are watching her, the spirits are too. All that bad karma will catch up with her one of these days.