　おいしい！

Friday, July 03, 2009

Have you ever put your head out of the car window with your cheeks kissed by the wind? It's such an incredible sensation. It brings you right back to childhood. To the old toyota. Your grandfather's in front of the wheel. You stuck your head right out of the window with a devil-may-care attitude. Come what may. You hecked it and started to stand and wave your arms around, breaking into a kind of rain dance. The wind blew stronger and stronger over you with the acceleration of the car. You felt like a free spirit. All your worries were thrown to the wind and blown far, far away. You looked upon the sky and saw a moving cloud. It looked so ornate, like those incredible swirly waves that goddesses and Monkey God ride on. You heard the buzz in your ears. The olfactory effect shuts out the world. You soared high into the sky with the buzz, the swirly clouds, the intangible wind. You closed your eyes. You were flying. Up, up, into the clear blue sky....

Labels: just thoughts...

4:48 pm　うまい！Y

Monday, March 02, 2009

Hello pple! As far as you guys know, I've embarked on my journey of self discovery in the land where supposedly dreams come true, where anyone can become anybody and where everyone can sue anyone till the cows come home. Yesh, I'm in America. Hard to believe ya. Everyone needs a timeout from life and I need one right at this moment. (Not the chocolate alright?)

So far, no great discovery of late. Sigh, this is supposed to be another one of those emo post and yet it started like that again. Guess I just can't help it. The only thing I've discovered so far is that I LOVE taking sunday afternoon naps, wrapped in my comforter, warm and cosy while the raindrops pitter patter onto the window panes. I haven't done that for soooo long. I remember I used to take naps like that in the afternoon in Singapore and woke up completely refreshed and happy. It's nice to relive it yet again. Oh, I just woke up from a completely energising nap after a heavy brunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I have no idea how many pounds I'd gain on my one month sejour here. Probably a lot.

Enjoying the freedom from a lot of things. The ability to just roam around the city like a happy lark and not think of incredibly boring things like finding a job and securing the next high pay and good benefits. Went to Yosemite National Park for a weekend getaway and just got back yesterday. It's really tranquil and serene. Lush evergreen trees in a white landscape with stars abundant, twinkling merrily in the deep night sky. The guide at evergreen lodge near Yosemite National Park really inspired me in a sense. He's following his heart and doing what he really likes and hopping around the state, doing guiding tours in nature with the deep, lush forest as his office. How many of us actually have the good fortune to work in something that we love? I miss eating s'mores by the fireplace in the recreational room, listening to r & b music from the satellite radio in our spacious wooden lodge and drinking cocktail in the lodge bar, just being on full holiday mode, without a care in the world.

I have 4 more days left in SF before I head down to New York, then Boston. San Francisco is a nice place to live in I guess. She has a relaxed and happy vibe. The big houses in Pacific Heights overlooking the bay are incredibly lovely and majestic! Limousines and big cars lie the roads in the area. Looking at the lovely houses makes me wonder what kind of people live there and whether they are happy. Having such a beautiful landscape each time they awake and look out their windows. But guess it's the people who live in them, which makes it homely and warm and not the imposing exterior no matter how much it could take your breath away.

I roamed around several places that I read about in novels and it's incredibly amazing to find what you read come to life. Settings in novels concretised in front of my eyes. North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Fisherman's Wharf, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights. They are no longer just words in the novel. They became distinctive districts in real life, each with their own character and vibe. It's amazing how many novels can be set in SF and how I can finally imagine the place come live at last.

In 4 days, I'd be leaving this hippie place for the city that never sleeps. I guess I'll miss it in a missing-a-good-friend kinda way. But you know me. Sometimes I miss people and things even before I've parted with them. That's me. Strange but true. Sentimental and always holding on to things that slip away.

That's enough emo-ing for one entry. I'm a lone ranger in the great scheme of things....would I ever find what I seek?

Labels: sentiments, travel

3:20 am　うまい！Y

Sunday, February 08, 2009

I've cooked up a storm for 12 people today! What a feat! Singaporean fare! It includes roti prata,miso soup, 2 types of curry (lamb and beef),rice, kimchi dumplings, har gao, mapo tofu, baby kailan with mushrooms, sesame dumplings for dessert and kiba did the chocolate fountain to end the dinner. What a feat! Sorry I just have to repeat that. But how very tired I am...

Labels: cooking, food

2:54 am　うまい！Y

Monday, January 26, 2009

Happy Niu Year everybody!!! I guess all of you are having a blast right now and stuffing your faces with pineapple tarts ya? I'm with you guys and I'm quite sad being left all alone on the other side of the globe. Sob sob. I know, can't cry during New Year. I'm kind of happy though seeing that my cousin posted some pics of the extended family celebrating CNY eve together. Even though physically I'm not there, I miss you guys and my heart is left there and basking in the festivities as much as you guys are. Ok, this is so emo... I should quit emo-ing.

Had the nicest birthday celebration that I could ever asked for! Kiba planned a surprise party for me on Saturday night and to think that I suspected nothing. Some background info : usually I could read Kiba like a book and he could never really spring a surprise on me, except this time! A million kisses for my sweetie who went through all this trouble organising it and many thanks for those who drove down to Normandy. You guys really warm my heart. Bisous bisous!

Apparently it went like this. Siti came over on Thursday and got told of the plan that night while I was in the shower. She was a neat distraction alright. The weekend proceeded as per normal as we return to Normandy every weekend. Kiba wanted to go to the chinese restaurant in Normandy and told me that he had a craving for chinese food for the past 2 weeks. I even chided him for wanting to bring Siti to eat chinese food in France instead of authentic french cuisine.

I was told that it would just be the 4 of us who were going for the dinner. Me, Siti, Kiba and Greg. Colette was sick unfortunately and thus she could not join us for the meal. Upon reaching the restaurant, we were told that it was full house that night and there were no more available tables. Oh my god. This can't really happen on my brithday, can it? At this juncture, I spotted Greg from the corner of my eye, already seated at the table and I heaved a huge sigh of relief! Phew! We had a table after all.

I must have been a bit blur cuz it took me a moment to register that there were other people at the table as well. Hm.. the faces look rather familiar... Oh. My. God. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! These are actually my friends! "What are you guys doing here?!" I had asked, completely astounded! Hahahaha, I really appreciate the fact that they took time off to drive down from Paris to celebrate for me! You guys are such a sweet lot. And u too, kiba kun! =)

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful hubby and wonderful friends like that. Really really touched. Thank you for making my 26th bdae such a joyous one. The nine of us played Balderdash till the wee hours of the morning, 3am+ and it was quite hilarious indeed.

Thank you one and all! Hontoni arigatou gozaimashita!

Labels: bdae, CNY

2:33 pm　うまい！Y

Thursday, January 22, 2009

This is the first year that I won't be spending CNY in Singapore and I'm already feeling the blues...

I'm always a big fan of Chinese New Year. I love the festivities! The whole ambience being ri ri nao nao and how everyone's scrambling for the New Year cookies! How my aunts will go around offering me more and more love letters, bak kwa, kueh bolu, sweets, chocolates! The new clothes, the feeling of a beginning of a new season, the gambling, the ang pows, the sounds of drums of the dragon dance troupes all day long! The glorious glorious food as we tuck in together with so many other people of the extended family! I LOVEEEEE Chinese New Year!!!!

Yet here i am.... in cold damp Paris. Wet roads, chilly winds, grey skies. It's so depressing that I can't breathe. The cookies at the small chinese super market look suspicious and totally unlike the ones that I eat back home.

This won't be the last year that I'll miss CNY I know for sure. Sad. As I see CNY decorations in pictures of people's houses, I'm sad that I won't be there to decorate my parents' house in SG. The lack of the festive ambience, the knowledge that I'd be working on the first and second day of CNY, in a world so far removed from SG, in an office filled with french people, with no one understanding the true meaning of CNY, others thinking that it's just bank holidays for the asian countries make me want to book the first flight back and bask in the New Year festivities, celebrating joyously with the rest of my family...

Labels: chinese new year, sentiments

1:17 pm　うまい！Y

Thursday, January 15, 2009

What a day.

Yesterday evening, I received another "slap" in my face since arriving in France.

It was at the freaking Etam outlet at the shopping centre "Italie 2" where I was looking at this cashmere pullover that caught my fancy. It's not often that cashmere is available to folks like me and since there was a 50 pct discount on the item, I seriously wanted to look for a colour that I like.

To my right was this young sales assistant, probably around 19-20, who was pulling out the miscellaneous items that shoppers hanged any-o-how over the rack in front of her. Thus I approched her:
"Bonsoir"
"Oui?" She replied friendly enough while continuing to toss out the mismatched items on an available trolley.
"Ou se trouve le rayon qui a des pulls comme ça?"
"I DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH" she snapped while flashing me her hand as a "stop" gesture or something. "Tout est là!"
"Ok... tout est là..." I repeated shocked beyond words.

Wah. What a freaking bitch.

The 3rd time I'm gonna get this in my face, I'm gonna give the person a tight warm slap right across his/her freaking face.

It's always when you don't master a language, you find yourself at a loss to give out the right rebuttal. Kiba said that it'd be funny to say "Moi non plus" i.e. (Me neither)

Well, at least I'm not the one arranging and re-arranging messy clothes everytime someone misplaced them. Pathetic little bitch.

Such a bad aftertaste in the mouth. Yucks.

On a happier note, Kiba brought me to a restaurant specialising in raclette and tartiflette. They are both very cheesy and potato-ey dishes which can give us carbo overload and nice spare tyres around our already-not-so-hard tummies. Initially I thought we'd share the tartiflette as I could not expect myself to finish it. However, Kiba had an equally huge serving of raclette and I was left on my own! Woe is me. I can still sense the reblochon cheese bubbling in my stomach. *Burp*

Went to watch "Les Femmes sont Folles" ("The Women are Crazy") and it has to be the worst theatre play that I have ever seen in the history of theatre in France. The three actresses gave me a feeling that they were trying too hard and the comedy ended up crass and not funny at all. The set looks cheap and thrown together and characters were all too one dimensional. The jokes are very colloquial and I had difficulty catching them. That's perhaps one of the reasons why I don't find it funny. It's such a huge contrast to "Le Clan des Divorcés" which was the most wonderful play I've watched in France. Such dichotomy. All the actresses slipped into their characters effortlessly like a glove and it was outright bursts of laughter from the start to the end of the play. Haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. Highly recommended if you understand French and are in Paris at the moment.

Looking forward to watching "Grease" next week. It's adapted and is now the french version with an all french cast. I'm in my theatre phase right now. Life is too short to let it waste away, which brings me back to the dilemma of me and my contract with the bank. I'm currently wasting in front of my comp screen, rooted to a desk and a telephone that rings but brings no good tidings.

I need a massive change in my life. I wanna go travel. I wanna do something else. I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna really really really wanna zigazig ha.......

Labels: biatches, life, Ponderings, theatre

4:05 pm　うまい！Y

Monday, January 05, 2009

It hasn't snowed so much in Paris till today. It's kinda romantic to be walking along tree lined boulevards with the snow falling gently on a quiet Monday morning. My snow boots have been put to good use. =) Now's time to trudge back home in those trusty boots again!

Labels: snow, winter

5:20 pm　うまい！Y