　おいしい！

Monday, August 28, 2006

Went blackberries-a-picking yesterday! Heh. Yours truly picked up 1.77kG of blackberries! Cool eh? Yummy yum yum! I see blackberries jam and pudding coming my way! *slurp*

10:52 pm　うまい！Y

Friday, August 25, 2006

Part 2 begins with violence against kiba!

just kidding!

although yoke is quite violent against kiba!

here's the real deal:

Part 2 begins with deux jolies filles as well

Told you! Victory signs were really in vogue! The legend goes that the

the more victory signs we displayed, the move leave we get!

Despite the friendly smiles, the girl on the left was actually in the process of strangling this uncle

Ehhhh.. removing the name from the wall proves to be no easy task....ehhhh ehhh ehhhh

The female species of that epoch could take the cold better than the males. Ooh la la!

People really loved to grin back then and I mean really grinned! What was that male homosapien thinking posing with the grapes? *très bizarre*

The rah rah hugo-ago-go sisters! haha! so 109 la4 mei4 right?

The training-my-patience award goes to this pic as it took me a gazillion years to upload! argh!

Impatience aside, the story continues to illustrate a bevy of eye candies to soothe your eyes

Eh.. now that you have read the full story, pay $ hor! € or £ are certainly acceptable too!

And so the story ends on a bright sunday noon. The outside temperature is 18°C. And urs truly is hungry yet again. Time for lunch and the story of the camping trip will just have to be continued when the symphony orchestra in my stomach stops playing!

Adios! Señor and Señorita!

11:29 am　うまい！Y

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

This story is about a happy community of people working hard to serve mankind. The story goes as such...

Once upon a time, there were two mei nus working in income

They had a mickey mouse by the name of HM

Voici their neighbour JT

JT likes to display victory signs next to the big name! haha

The community of citifolkers (mutants inclusive) love to grin wildly to take a picture!

They grinned and grinned...

There was a pink guy who doesn't look willing to take pic with mei nu (haha)

This dude looks happier!

And this fella is the happiest of all!

Victory signs were in vogue during our time. And just look at the slackers! Ha!

Tada! There must be something about the name!

As I make the rounds, I hook up another mei nu to take picture with me

Fire safety is taught to this community of people that's why we live without fears

Another mei nu en route

As it's time for dinner, part 2 will be up tmr!

7:12 pm　うまい！Y

Saturday, August 19, 2006

c'est magnifique n'est-ce pas? (it's magnificent isn't it?)

11:09 am　うまい！Y

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Life is a road that I wanna keep going.. love is a river I wanna keep flowing..

The scenery

Bundled up straw

Speeding through the fields

Beautiful landscape

Mobile fries station: Friterie!

Driving through the countryside is really amazing. The scenery is really beautiful and France has some really beautiful forests that I have yet to explore. Would love to go camping there. However, guess it's a tad bit too cold here to sleep in the tents at night. Remember the condominium tents we had at STC during NP time, wow.. there are like deluxe condominiums one here. Twice the size, two rooms and a hall. What luxury! The camping equipment really looks appealing too! Alas alas, quick come and go camping with me!

There are a lot of caravans and such here, as the people go for their holidays. Imagine driving with a caravan behind your vehicle in Singapore! Haha. Funny eh! But it's amazing to actually see one though, as a caravan is something that I only know from comprehension passages of the past. Think it will be really cool to hire one next time. Haha. We all have to live once so must try everything at least once!

Lots of work to do around the house actually. But they are rather macho-macho for me. Sigh. But I'm a farmer now, can't complain too much I guess! Heehee! The folks were doing the gutter yesterday and cityfarmer II made me feel more involved by letting me climb the ladder to hammer the two ends of the gutter. Hai! It's fun but I really have to get used to doing things around here as the French do everything themselves! Hm.. unlike in Sg where we just dial a number and the worksmen come knocking!

Discussions about doing a terrace and tearing down the garage and building three in its place are in progress. Argh! Such massive works! Nothing to the French but kinda seems like a very massive project for me! Such are the difference in background and culture. The french here are actually very hardworking with regards to doing works in and around their house. Heehee. See me a year from now and I bet I can fix things around your house too! Ok! I will charge you 500€ for them! heehee. Ok la, since you guys are my good friends, 400€ will do! 20% discount specially for you!

I dunno how a trip to Gravelines turns into a social commentary on the French. I dunno what I am typing actually and thus end this entry! Haha

11:26 am　うまい！Y

Monday, August 14, 2006

Outside the house on a tranquil morning: warehouse, stables behind + mini pool

Nosferatu grazing with his protection against houseflies!

The nearest town from here: La Ferté Fresnel (3.5km)
(No train station here. Need to drive 12 more km to reach the train station.)

What I can get from the bakery! Yummy eh?

Miam miam! :P Craving for a croissant now?

Haha! Discordant eh? Hornet's nest in bro's-in-law old car! Yucks!

More updates coming soon...........

9:44 pm　うまい！Y

I was up North for a couple of days visiting my dad-in-law with cityfarmer II. He lives in Gravelines which is the hometown of my hubby. It is an old fortified town under the reign of Louis XIV way back then. We still see the remnants of the fortifications and statues of chevaliers.

It was way too cold up North! Apparently during the canicule, it can be up to 48° but of course due to the unpredictable change in weather, the temperature took a sudden plunge and back to the temp of polar bears! Haha! It's the wind that is really cutting! As Gravelines is near the beach, we get all the seabreezes that can cut u up in two and left your teeth chattering till there's no tomorrow! And of course, being summer, hardly anyone turns on the heater in the house! I have to be armoured with layers of blankets and socks as my feet have a habit of turning into blocks of ice as night falls. I am never one who sleeps with socks as this idea appears so 'duh' to me. Alas, wouldn't want my toes to fall off whilst I'm sleeping.

Of course when you are visiting, you do absolutely nothing besides being treated like a guest. You get invited to eat at restaurants, sleep, next day wake up eat again, watch tv and sleep again. Haha! The days of being a sloth! Really need to find something to do before I waste away in France and become a half wit. Really need to gain some intelligence in the head than the pounds in the body.

Since it's a town by the sea, it's famous for fries and mussels. However, I was enticed by the paella instead! Just imagine.... how the serving for paella for two looks like. Let me tell you, it's beyond your wildest dreams! It's funny how we always thought French cuisine comes in petite portions on fancy ware. It may be true enough in those exclusive restaurants that makes you think that you are eating gold. Otherwise, other restaurants serve you portions for a horse! I could never finish my meal in a French restaurant and it's so frustrating as ms hyw will know, I always finish my food in Sg.

Just look at this ridiculous portion!

Their paella comes in woks!

Amazing isn't it? The above is what we had left after we served each other on our plates!

This is what we served on our plates and I K.O. after that!

It was ultra delicious but I could not really move after that. At this rate I'm going, I'm going to be a big fat french mama! Haha! Mamamia! And of course we couldn't finish everything. What a waste. Keeps me wondering why the portion was so humongous when obviously 2 people will never be able to finish it!

A nice cuppa to end the evening.

This sums up Day One's dinner up in the North and the saga continues....

12:18 pm　うまい！Y

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Here is my kingdom.

1:28 pm　うまい！Y

It's 10°C out there and I just came back from a long-but-not-so-long French fusion dinner! Drank and stuffed myself silly! Hey, at least the wine keeps me warm! Aperitif. Salad. Rice, chicken.Calva, Blaissac. Comté. Flan, brownie, plum tart. Hibernation.

12:55 am　うまい！Y

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Tomorrow is National Day. The 9th August. The 41st birthday of my country.

I always like National Days. The National Days of the past were pretty interesting to me. I can recall National Day 1990 as the first time I watched the whole programme on TV from the beginning to the end. In school, we received a beautiful National Day limited edition $1 phonecard with a cool design of the flag against a purple background. Everything is crayonised and really cute. As it is my first phonecard, I really treasured it. I used to have a penchant for phonecards back then and have a mini collection. I believe the phonecard now lies somewhere in my house. Some boxes in the storeroom, or in some drawers that have not been opened for years. If I can manage to find it, I will post a photo of it here. Alumni from C.H.I.J Ponggol should be able to recall the existence of one such phonecard.

As a matter of fact, I really love singing National Day songs. The old traditional ones are the ones that I like best. Songs like "One People, One Nation, One Singapore", "We are Singapore", "Count on me Singapore", "Five Stars Arising", "It's the Little Things", and "Jia1" sung by Kit Chan. The new songs of current years have lyrics that are easily forgettable and does not tug my heartstrings as much. I would say my favourite song is "It's the Little Things" and the close runner up will be "Jia1" (My Home) I wrote it in Hanyu Pinyin as I prefer the Chinese version much more than the English one. I used to sing loudly in Primary School with the rest of my schoolmates with our songsheets and the fire of patriotism really rose in me. Even now, if I sing these songs, I will feel so inevitably touched and a sense of nostalgia so great that memories of each national day of the past flood into my mind.

I went to my first National Day Parade in 1996 with my then best friend and her family. It was a spectacular event. The grandeur of the National Stadium. The throngs of people in red and white with face paint of the national flag, the crescent, the five stars. The awesome contingents of soldiers, guards, airforce, navy; the school uniform groups :the girl guides, scouts, bands, red cross, NPCC, and the various contingents of communities. The flag bearers of the armed forces, the teenagers in school uniform groups. The commanding officer shouting instructions. The scale of the event. It totally swept me off my feet! It was really something to be sitting there in the spectator's stand, cheering, singing National Songs, doing the Kallang wave that I really feel the love for my country! Taking the plege as a whole stadium, standing at attention as a whole body to the national anthem. Just being there, really makes one feel like a citizen of his home, his country.

That is the reason that I always find a way to attend National Day events. No matter if it's the parade itself or the previews. I had been a fund raiser, going around collecting donations from the event attendees to help charitable organisations, so as to watch the parade in the stadium. I had gone to as many previews as I can to feel the real nationalistic spirit that one can only feel at the event grounds. My last National Day preview wasn't that far away. It was just last year. Being 22, sitting in the drizzle with my chums, wearing the yellow duckie lookalike ponchos, munching tidbits provided in the goodie bags and laughing ourselves silly with lame jokes and the like. The National Day parade and its preview are ageless. Everyone is able to enjoy themselves and have an incredibly good time. At times when I was unable to get tickets, I remembered going to Kallang basin with 2 canoeist pals and watch the fireworks from there, together with hundreds of others having picnics on the shore, armed with camcorders and cameras, taking pictures as the fireworks go off, basking in the nation's celebration.

I wonder when will my next National Parade/ preview be? One has to attend to feel the emotions the event evokes. It's something that a TV emission will never be able to do justice enough. Being overseas make me appreciate the warmth of Singapore. The every cheering food, the fast and high level of services, the cleanliness of the garden city.

Although I am perfectly happy in my current environment, in the beautiful countryside of France with my beloved hubby,from time to time, it's my home and my friends that I dearly miss...

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

Over the years, I've grown, to be a part of you
You've cared for me, and opened the way
To a happy and beautiful life
You make me feel warm and safe
And give me hope for brighter days

Chorus
It's the little things that we share
The love and joy that's in the air
The children's laughter everywhere
And all our favourite things...

Over the years, I've learnt we share a destiny
And no matter how good others may be
No one cares like you care for me
Cause deep down inside
I feel you're a part of me
My Singapore,
The place that I call my home

12:30 pm　うまい！Y

Monday, August 07, 2006

Hey MAN! Haha.. et voici le HAYMAN!

Funny isn't it? Such a jolly good fellow! The harvest of hay is over and now comes the straw! Hm... bet you didn't know French guys are that big in size. Well, as for my harvest, I harvested flowers! Dahlias and lavender! Fresh from the garden. There's also the ever famous courgettes and chilli! Yup. I have chilli in my own garden! How cool is that man! Sad to say, haven't master the art of HAY bee hiam (a très Singaporean dish with mashed shrimps and chilli) or else can make my own. But don't worry, no contents of hay within. (Hiak hiak hiakz.. found my sense of humour back!)

Disclaimer: Actually, upon closer inspection, it's straw man. Heehee. But can't find anything to rhyme with straw, so there... haha.. bet you guys can't tell the difference! Moi non plus!
Furthermore this guy has lost his berries... So what's the point?! :p
(NB: For those with a slow brain, straw-berries!.. hahaha... lame is our motto after all!)

Those in blue are contributed by cityfarmer II and that is my dear hubby! And see, I am not the lamest! Hahahahaha.

Et voilà! My own harvest! Nice big dahlia isn't it? Sugoii ne?!

2:27 pm　うまい！Y

Thursday, August 03, 2006

The heatwave has come and gone. The temperature is in the early twenties and my toes are already screaming, white and frosty looking with the cold. Haha.. well this is what we call "cannot make it" in the Singaporean context as this temperature is supposed to be the comfort zone of the native French. Living near the equator all my life, what do you expect but a mammal with the capacity to withstand cold like a... hm... well I have no idea which mammal can't really withstand cold but I guess the polar bear should be one of the last on the list. Heh.

Wearing a pullover in the middle of summer does make me feel like an idiot but I guess not all mammals are constructed the same way. Haha. Imagine the air conditioned LT11 or LT12 in NUS and you kind of get the drift. This massive air con hanging over me in the air. This perpetual feeling of being in LT12. I love LT12 even though I fell down the stairs once without anyone even bothering to help me out and this ass of a guy saying "Excuse me, would you move, I need to get to my seat!" as he knocked into me with his knobbly knees and bulky backpack, passing by without helping me up. How wonderful indeed! Well, mind you, not all NUS guys are like that. Just that particular idiot with no sense of gallantry. No wonder NUS guys have such a bad reputation, thanks to idiots such as this.

Nevertheless, I love LT12. It's one of the cosiest lecture theatres in campus and not to mention one of my favourite lecturers taught me there for my first theatre module. I love his air, his sense of humour and his bitchiness. It's professors like this that stand out and make a lasting impression.

My stream of consciousness flows without me knowing exactly what it is my mind wants to say. Just that, enjoy the cool refreshing feeling that the subsiding canicule brings and let your spirit dance like candle in the wind....

3:08 pm　うまい！Y

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Morphing begins! I have been in France for 17 days now and the days seem to float by. Attended a harvest festival the other day in Gauville, a village near here and witnessed incredibly beautiful fireworks at close proximity. Never would I imagine myself standing in the fields of Gauville at the age of 23, admiring fireworks; surrounded by so many French people. My last fireworks would probably be the one at Esplanade in Singapore though I forgot what the occasion was. The fact is, I am here now. An Asian amidst the French. In the countryside where no one speaks my language other than my beloved husband. Seems like a chapter out of a story book, isn't it? Mais non. It's the real life.

The countryside is really really beautiful. With the lush greenery surrounding the little cottage up on the hill. haha.. I'm romanticising it by calling it a cottage but in fact, its really heidi-ish if you get what I mean. I always think it's so cool for Heidi to be sleeping in the loft and people going "Hey Heidi!". Okay, not really funny. But then again, that's my brand of jokes. Been missing many periods of my life. The nerdy primary school days playing hard and studying hard, the slack IRC years of secondary school life and the slackier life of junior college. All the friends that I have made are left behind some point in time due to me not keeping in touch religiously enough. As a result, I became Heidi, albeit a lost Heidi in the world of the French!

Melancholy isn't it? Haha, all of us have melancholic moments all the time but that, will pass. A new life of harvest festivals, fireworks, french dinners and clearing of horse poo from stables. Picking beans from the garden, sitting by the stairs, facing a rainy french pasture. A far cry from the days of clocking into the office, always having stuff in my in-trays and nonsensical follow-ups on the phone. The office days are over and a farmer's life has begun...

4:48 pm　うまい！Y