Madness in October

What the hell did I get myself into, by signing up for THREE 10km run, two of them just a week apart????

And almost a hundred dollar poorer too.... *sob* The running tees had better fit me lor!

And what, over 24 years old had to pay more!? No respect! Why do all things nice has the cut-off age of 24?? Wah lieu..

Note to self: STFU and start running lar!

Melancholy

Watching the sepia-tinged After Our Exile brought about a sense of melancholy in me. Surprisingly set in (early 90s?) Malaysia, I watched with amusement the two Hong Kong leads sparred in accented Cantonese that I grew up with.

The setting is working class-typical; single-storey terrace house in a tired-looking housing estate, the corner unit with sagging fence and overgrown weeds, rusty road signs, dilapidated backyard with zinc roofing and the ubiquitous yellow bas sekolah, non air-conditioned of course. Everything was so reminiscent of my childhood home in Semenyih that I was feeling a bit homesick.

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So much has changed over the years.. The boy I snogged when I was 3 is now often elbow-deep in machine grease and can hardly recognise me.. The bougainvilla that mum so lovingly tended has been chopped down to accommodate another set of shiny wheels.. The garden that was once filled with pots of desert roses is unrecognisable now.. The town even has a TESCO now.. The prodigal cousin that returned home after a stint in behind bars is selling durians now.. I wonder if the townspeople has ever looked at us and mused about the family where "all their daughters has gone off to study in Singapore"?

Happy Merdeka; sorry I was one-day late. Better late than never eh..

I Really Should....

Curb my habit of shopping online
Have normal-sized feet dammit!
Read more books and less fashion blogs
Stop being such an annoying ass of an OCD
Run more (surpass the 5km mark and not die panting)
Tell him "I love you" more
Stop being such a pessimistic ass come Sundays
Stop impulse purchases from Watsons. 'nuff said...
Should take up the course and obtain a tourist guide license
Update this blog more often. Oops. Heh

Boys Don't Cry (this takes the cake)

My One Decade Milestone

My eldest sister recently marked her 20th year of being in Singapore, having arrived here for her JC studies. 20 years ago I was a wee bonnie lad of just 8 years old! She marked this milestone by reminiscing not too fondly of mugging for her weekly tests on long torturous bus rides, of hating the lectures and tutorials and well... the general suckiness of her JC life.

June this year marked my one decade residing in Singa-land. My earliest memories of this place were of the BKE, Xiao Guilin, the crocodile farm, the zoo and the Jurong bird park. Dad first drove to Singapore when I was 7 and we would stay at an aunt's place at Bukit Batok. I played the obligatory tourist and marveled at how my Singaporean cousins can speak English so well! They in turn, were strangely amused at my family's ways of speaking Mandarin.

Dad was (still is, actually) a fervent supporter of the renowned Singapore education system. Less academically inclined compared to my older siblings, I thought I'll be spared from the system. Dad will have none of that of course, and I found myself packing to study in a local polytechnic.

The first day of school was a day after my birthday. It was orientation week and I've never felt lonelier or more out of place. I looked different, dress differently and belonged nowhere. Life was pretty much nomadic for the first 4 years or so, renting rooms from almost all corners of the island. It was easy to feel homesick and I even looked forward to the backbreaking 6 hours train ride to return home. Understandably, the decrepit railway station at Tanjong Pagar really does hold a special place to my heart.

I consider my one decade here a significant milestone because the years have defined my growth and shaped my beliefs so much that I've become a totally different person, good and otherwise. I've tasted and in turn love freedom and independence, but at the same time also wished that I wasn't just ruefully watching by the sidelines my best friends progressing on with their lives with out me.

I threw myself into my studies and the eventual career choice was really quite a pleasant surprise. And it could not have been possible had I stayed on back home. It is through this that I have the opportunity to learn from and worked with people that inspired me with their passion.

Today, I do not have much material gains and am still struggling in striving to ascend the hierarchy of needs. But I pat myself for having come such a long way, literally and figuratively. Together my rock, I look forward to many more milestones that WE will achieve.

Italy, June 2010

Our wanderlust brought us to southern Europe this year, to the land of pasta and pizza for 12 days. It was also our 'real' honeymoon, so to speak. Why just Italy, you ask, and god forbid, why go during summer?! Heh.

Hey, if we survived 46 deg C in Dubai, what is a mere 30 deg? Plus, summer days are long and this gives us the perfect opportunity to enjoy the sights at a leisurely pace. Scrambling to outrun the sun setting at 3.00pm (eek!) is no fun at all.

Our itinerary was rather unique, that we started at the north in Milano and worked our way down to the south that is Roma.

During our journey, we were treated to soaring hills near the Swiss Alps, quaint islets on misty lake, Renaissance artistry that left us in awe that we stopped snapping photos of it because it just doesn't do the details justice, sea breeze that caressed our faces while we listened to the sound of waters lapping on banks of centuries old palazzo and piazzas, the marvels of ancient Roman civilisation that is so lovingly preserved...

The Pantheon

Rilek..

Piazza Navona at dusk

Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine

Blue Grotto, Capri

Pinocchio was a Florentine

Piazza Del Campo at Siena

Look ma, I'm not that short ain't I?

Summery blooms and bees hard at work at Como

Life is.. sitting at an alfresco pizzeria and grimacing at the price tag!

Shrimp on Antidepressant Not So Happy

The oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico isn't the only threat to crustaceans.

Shrimp exposed to the human antidepressant fluoxetine, also known by the brand name Prozac, are changing their behavior in dangerous ways, according to scientists at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.

The shrimp become five times more likely to swim toward light, potentially bringing them closer to fishermen's nets and birds beaks.

“Crustaceans are crucial to the food chain. And if shrimps’ natural behavior is being changed because of antidepressant levels in the sea, this could seriously upset the natural balance of the ecosystem,” lead researcher Alex Ford said in a university press release.

“Much of what humans consume you can detect in the water in some concentration," Ford said. "We’re a nation of coffee drinkers and there is a huge amount of caffeine found in waste water, for example. It’s no surprise that what we get from the pharmacy will also be contaminating the country’s waterways.”

Drugs can get into our waterways in a variety of ways, including toilets, landfills and sewage runoff, according to a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

Traces of those drugs end up in human waste, which then gets flushed down the toilet. Waste water treatment facilities haven't traditionally tested for pharmaceuticals and therefore haven't been able to remove all drug compounds before releasing waste water into rivers and oceans.

That's how drugs end up being fed to shrimp, Ford says.

“Effluent is concentrated in river estuaries and coastal areas, which is where shrimps and other marine life live," he said.

Read the full article here here

People whom have had near death experience often reported walking in a dark tunnel going towards a shining beacon of light, presumably at the end of the tunnel. In a horribly reversed role, the light here spells the end for these crustaceans.

Isn't this a vicious cycle, that we end up consuming waste that we dispose of in the first place?

I'll never look at my hae in the same light again..

10 things I learned about Italy

The country is full of Jose Mourinho look-a-likes (fine, he's not Italian but you get the drift).

The country is full of lao chios that look like Sophia Loren.

It's a hell lot sexier to pronounce places names in Italian: Milano, Firenze, Roma, Lago Maggiore, Fontana di Trevi, Toscana etc.

There is NO free public toilet in this country. The most expensive was 1 euro and cheapest was 0.30 cents euro.

If you're travelling with a toddler, DO NOT, under any circumstances use the baby stroller on the cobble stone paths. Your kid will thank you for this.

Chinese food is way cheaper than the national grub of pizzas and paninis.

Forget Prada. Lug home Carpisa by the bulk instead ;p

Romans cringe before shaking their heads piteously when they hear you take cappuccino with your American breakfast (they're thinking "bloody Americans!" in their head)

Roma has more genuine Egyptian obelisks than Egypt itself

Starbucks does not exist here, to my utter dismay!

Where is the luck?

It's been 3 weeks since, and despite the feel-good vibes and other positive indications, it is still silence from them. Not even a courtesy reply to my follow up...

BUMMER

How long can I stay detached from Monday to Friday, going into the circus when I refuse to be even part of the revelry? It's exhausting living among the despicable clowns and jesters..

Wtf photo #1

Photo credit to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/27/michelle-obama-g-20s-othe_n_627028.html#s106805

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel with sagging jowls, and Laureen Harper looking disinterestedly spaced out at the G-20 Summit.

Radio silence....

I have reached a new level of laziness by the lack of posts for more than a month.. More than a month! *sheepish*

Hang on there... :)

PAssion Run 2010

This year's run will take place in the late afternoon and if the distance doesn't kill me first, the humidity will. It's my first long-distance run for this year, and I'm determined to take up more active running to lose my post nuptial weight gain. :(

Is it too much to ask for a singlet that really is XS-sized? Why is it that other than Nike's, other brand's singlet are always over-sized? Heck, I need to grow an extra pair of boobs for those gaping armholes. And what is with the yellow colour?? Who'd fancy looking like a canary?!

*grumble grumble*

I Am Happy...

... because I did a good deed this morning by returning a lost iPhone found on the bus to its owner. *thumbs up to myself* I wish he's cuter though... ;p

Slurrrrrp...

There's nothing more tummy-warming than slurping down a bowl of hot ramen on a rainy day. I was at my happiest when ieatishootipost compiled its list of contenders for the best ramen in Singapore. What a delightful excuse to embark on ramen-tasting trips!

I started off with Nantsuttei over at the spanking new Parco at Marina Bay. The Nippon-centric new extension is not unlike the shopping malls at Ponto-cho, Kyoto, with its quaint yet edgy little boutiques. Damn, the wanderlust strikes again... :)

There was already a queue when hubby and I reached there at 5.00pm. It was fast moving though and we were seated within minutes. I almost imagined myself back in Japan, when the bubble was popped unceremoniously by howling kids in the restaurant. Now, what I wouldn't give to just slurp my ramen IN PEACE in those atypical ticketed and fuss-free ramen joints. Grrrr.. why, pray tell, is it that Japanese kids are so much more well-behaved? Tsk..

I ordered the basic Ramen that comes with just a piece of char-shu. No biggie. The noodle and soup are the centerpieces here and I could do with less meat in my diet.

THE bomb here is the blackish garlic oil over the tonkatsu broth. It was yums with lots of garlicky umami flavour. The Hakata-style noodle is slightly thicker and the oily soup coated the noodles well. Too bad it turned soggy pretty quick. I prefer the more chewy noodles of Marutama. I declined the handful of beansprouts as I do not want my soup to be diluted.

My verdict? Undecided, because I've yet to try Ippudo. Now, will the crazy queues at Mandarin Gallery please move to here instead? :) My all-time fave is still Marutama at this point.

I had this humongous bowl of black ramen in Ponto-cho, Kyoto (unsure of the address though) that touted it's signature black goodness as a must-try. It's nothing like what I've tasted before! My guess is that it uses pork bone broth with black sesame paste, hence the inky pallor. The soup is thick and rich with a nutty taste.

I WANT TO GO BACK TO JAPAN!

Of Wursts, Brezn and Jolly Shandy?

Over the weekend on Saturday, the hubby and I popped by Brotzeit for an early dinner. It was by no coincidence that we also felt like gulping down copious amount of beer (or bier, as the Bavarians call it), no thanks to this mad weather. We've dined at both the Raffles City and Vivocity outlets but the latter one is our perennial favourite. Humidity aside, it's at least a semblance of waterfront dining, no? Of course it helps too that the view towards RWS is easier on the eyes compared to just last year where massive piling works and mounds of earth are all that you can see.

The mango Affensaft was refreshing and hubby's Weissbier with sprite tasted surprisingly like good ole Jolly Shandy! Heh. Apparently, Germans drink this 'refreshing concoction' after sports. Hmm.. not sure about the alcohol, but it it's definitely a thirst quencher.

We ordered sausages for our mains; my Weisswurst looked spiffy eh? It's pork and veal sausages served with homemade brezn (pretzel) and sweet mustard dipping sauce. The boiled sausages are really tender and I can taste the meaty goodness of the veal and pork. Don't be fooled by the size; I can only manage 2 of those.

I've never been more fascinated with the brezn. My first taste of pretzels were those from Auntie Anne's and I subsequently tasted one that was closer to Brotzeit's from a Hungarian street vendor. It was rock-hard, salty and I nearly gagged swallowing it. Oh, and it was bigger than both of my palms combined! The one served at Brotzeit tasted just like that, albeit smaller. The taste grows into me, I guess, as I chewed and the coarse salt brought out the dough's flavour.

*Burp*

Hello blogosphere

This maiden post is sneakily written 51 minutes past my lunchtime (pats myself on the back), in this lawless boondocks I call My Office. Monday is blue as usual, today with the cramp hovering nearby. Madonna was played on loop this morning, thanks to the excellent Glee tribute to the Material Girl. Sue Sylvester and Kurt Hummel rock my socks! My fave quote, "I'm gay, she's black. THAT makes us couture". How true... Ms J Alexander would be so proud :)

What are you waiting for? ~Strike a pose..

OK, got to go. Work beckons.