The coundown

I have been busy getting my life in order these last few days left to the year.

Yesterday I shopped for groceries. Then furiously vacuumed, dusted, wiped every surface in the home. Even rearranged furniture.

Today is a day of furious cooking. We will sit down to a fairly elaborate dinner paired with elegant wines. I will see the new year in with this small group of friends and their family.

I wish I could have more friends joining us, but one big tableful is all I can manage at any one time. The rest of you I will see very soon into the new year. I promise.

There will be another lot that I will not bother with any more. My relationship with them has been too lob-sided for too long. They have been too trying for too long in too many ways. I am better off without them, although I will never be able to figure out what went wrong.

While I am working on the to-drop list, I also sent sms to several numbers on my mobile. I will delete all the ones that I get no response from by January 2. Frankly, I don't remember who half of these people are.

In the next week, I will also go through my huge collection of calling cards. The ones I have not used in 5 years I figure I will never need again. I will get to deleting email addresses by the same criterion.

My contact list will be radically shortened. It is a good way to start over.

Hello new year.

A journey

I'd be safe and warm
if I was in LA
California dreamin'
on such a winter's day

If I have my way, these last weeks of the year would go like this:

I get into Los Angeles the week before Christmas and see as many of my friends as I can. Maybe do last minute shopping with them. Maybe even do some cook-ahead Christmas dishes for them.

I will drive to Santa Barbara on Christmas eve, and check into my favourite hotel - the Fess Parker Doubletree Hotel.

Maybe I will have my best girlfriend with me. Maybe not. I really just want to be by myself, do my own thing in my own way at my pace. Just chill. I do not want to have anybody with me whom I have to take feelings into consideration. My best girlfriend will let me be like that. Yeah, I probably will have her with me. That is if she wants to.

Get into one of my favourite malls. Into one of my favourite shops. Catch the mood of last minute desperate frenzied shopping. Watch clueless husbands buy useless lingerie that wives will return the morning after Christmas.

I will have room service for Christmas eve dinner. And watch old movies after.

Christmas day will be on the beach. Roller-blading. Playing with other people's dogs. Christmas night dinner at the hotel restaurant - whatever is on their menu is alright by me.

Day after Christmas is my turn to shop. With a vengeance. I swoop up anything that catches my eye, tickles my fancy. I stop when I am spent (emotionally and near financially) or when the shops close, whichever comes first.

I want to take the next few days at a leisurely pace. Visit the Santa Barbara Mission. Drive into the St Inez mountains. Stroll State Street all over again. Pet every dog I meet. Then get on the byways and highways of Greater Los Angeles. Stopping wherever I find interesting enough to stop for.

On New Year's eve, I will get into Pasadena. Finally to do this one thing I have always wanted to do once in my life while I am still able-bodied - be at the Rose Parade on New Year morning.

It will not matter what I do the rest of New Year's Day.

I only know that the next day, I will finally be ready to drive back to Bakersfield, to a storage unit I have maintained all these years. A repository for ghosts - promises broken, dreams unrealised, the many things that just didn't work out. Somewhere in there are also pieces of memory that I am now willing to live with.

I will perform the exorcism to rid the physical and emotional baggage I no longer need to hold on to. I will salvage the memories that will see me through the years ahead.

And then, finally, I am ready to come back to my life here and now.

If I didn't tell her
I could leave today
California dreamin'
on such a winter's day

I wanna be free

The only way I want to live

I wanna hold your hand
walk along the sand
laughing in the sun
always having fun
doing all those things
without any strings to tie me down

I wanna be free
like the warm September wind, babe
say you'll always be my friend, babe
we can make it to the end, babe
Again babe, I gotta to say

I wanna be free
I wanna be free
I wanna be free...

This Christmas

when I was small, and christmas trees were tall
do do do do do do do do do ...


don't ask me why, but time has passed us by
someone else moved in from far away ...

Don't ask me why, but this Bee Gees hit kept playing in my head. I don't even really know what it's trying to say, like so many other Bee Gees songs. Doesn't stop me from liking it though.

I feel the usual year end blah taking over. I feel this way every year, no matter where I am, no matter what I do. I have come to accept it.

Christmas is not my favourite holiday season. And this year, for the first time in the six years I have been back, I did not pick up the phone to call my friends in California on their Christmas Eve afternoon.

Because they would be too busy getting ready for their dinner.

Because I miss them especially during this time of the year.

Because they are there and I am here and that is that.

So instead, I choose to remember them in my heart.

Along with the friends who are not faring well because of illness.

And others who are no longer with us.

This Christmas, I prefer to remember my friends in the old hometown quietly. In my heart.

What friends do

It was a most delightful invitation. "Come to my place for Xmas eve dinner."

It was a most wonderful arrangement. "All the friends will do the cooking."

It was a most pleasant request. "Could you do Apple Crumble Pie for the dessert?"

The pleasure is mine, friend. And there will be a couple more extra pies to keep for yourself.

Mimolette - where everything is pretty

Your first thought as you walk towards the restaurant is, "How pretty everything is." The lush surrounding, the soft uplights showing off stag ferns nestled on branches of majestic mature trees, the old colonial house sitting pretty in this peaceful surrounds.

A soft amber glow wraps you when you walk through that funky red front door. In the background, soft strains of bosa nova sets the mood and tempo of the place that is gentle on the spirit.


The restaurant opened to mixed reviews earlier in the year. But I have absolutely no complaints. Every course of the meal has a nice little twist that surprises the jaded taste buds. It has to be fusion food at its best - strongly western in its core with a touch of the eastern for its accent.

And as you walk away from the restaurant after a perfectly enjoyable evening, your last thought of the place has to be, "How pretty everything is."

And there was light

What is Christmas without the Christmas lights?

Think Christmas in the Tropics on Orchard Road.

Now see how Bakersfield homes light up for the season.

And then there is this.

Man, I must be really missing that old hometown.

Home for the Holidays

This is the first time in six years I let myself recall Christmases of another lifetime ago, in another place I called home for 15 years, and remember the beautiful times I shared with friends who made the season so special.

Winter weather was miserable. I remember icy cold mornings oftentimes blanketed in thick tule fog that would not lift for days. I remember even more miserable evenings - when nightfall came at 5pm and the temperature would plummet from 15C to 6C in 2 hours.

I did not grow up with any Christmas tradition in my childhood. As a young adult, Christmas was all about parties and clubbing.

So that was the period in my life when I first encountered real Christmas celebration, so to speak.

Every home done up for the season. The Christmas tree resplendent with trimmings and ornaments. Carefully wrapped gifts sitting prettily under the tree, waiting to light up somebody's eyes on Christmas morning. Christmas lights twinkling inside and outside of the home.

The smells of the season - of baking cakes, breads, cookies and pies. Of firewood smoke puffs from chimneys. Of scented candles and incense adding to the warmth of hearth and home when we came in from the cold.

Above all, it was the friendship extended to me, unreservedly expressed in the form of open house, open arms, open hearts.

I miss you girls terribly during this time of the year. And I will come home for the holidays one of these years.

Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen

The friends have been raving about this stall that serves up real Italian fare in Ghim Moh estate.

We immediately checked out the place because

1. Ghim Moh is conveniently around the corner from where we live.
2. We are always on the lookout for good casual Italian dining.
3. It's a novel concept (hey, it's what makes life interesting).

Ragazzi has a decent menu of the expected starters, soups, salads, pasta and meats. The quality of food is really decent. The prices are unbeatable.

I would mention two shortcomings that the owner-operator might want to look into.

1. Our food came in jumbled order. The explanation was that they could not handle the onslaught of orders on a particular course. Oh well, I could live with that.

2. There is only tiramisu for dessert. Trust me - pass on it.

Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is located at
Block 10 Ghim Moh Road,
Gim Eating House.
S. 270010
Tel: 96934228

She must love us

to go through this much trouble.

A multi-course festive meal carefully planned and painstaking prepared from scratch.

Every detail in place. Every need taken care of. Everything was perfect.

Thank you, kawan,

for the wonderful evening,

for the generous hospitality,

and most of all,
for the invaluable friendship.

And the moral of the story is ...

This time two years ago, this was the arrangement she made with me:

I would do Christmas eve dinner, she would do New Year eve.

In the end, I did both Christmas and New Year's because she said her place was too small for the crowd.

This time last year, she made this arrangement with me:

I would do Christmas eve dinner, she would do New Year eve.

On 27 December, she phoned to tell me that 31 December was Hari Raya Haji. Her maid would like the day off and therefore she would do New Year eve dinner on the 30th of December.

This time, she made this arrangement with me:

We would each take care of our own Christmas plans, and I would do New Year eve dinner.

Early this week she phoned to say she would like to do New Year Eve dinner at her home because she had some people she had to take care of. Could I cancel/change my New Year eve plans with my friends at my home accordingly?

I said this time let's she and I take care of our own Christmas AND New Year plans.

I think this time, something finally clicked in my brain.

(The) Remains of the Day

A head butler who comes from a family tradition of personal service whose only goal in life is to serve his employer to the best of his ability.

At the expense of love.

At the expense of emotion.

At the expense of personal happiness.

A life of unquestioning loyalty, unexplored romance, unexamined opportunity. In what remains of the day, there is a hint of regret, but no self-pity.

I could not see giving up my life for tradition or career. My life is mine to live the best I know how till the end of days.

She's so pretty

Hello world.

Meet baby Kiara.

Handmade Dim Sum@Shanghai Ren Jia

The small eatery is named 上海人家 (Shanghai Ren Jia)

I am not certain whether they mean Home of Shanghai People or simply Shanghai People.

The place is very small. There are maybe 8 tables that seat 4 people each. The place looks utilitarian in spite of attempts at softening the harsh starkness with posters of the famous Shanghai Tang, arty table cloth and various symbols of wealth.

But this is the place to come for truly made-from-scratch dim sum. Expect to wait for your order of handmade xiao lung pao and shen jian bao because these are made only upon order. If you are in a hurry, it is a good idea to call ahead to place your order.

Our lunch was lah mein, xiao long bao and shen jian bao. Dessert was panfriend red bean paste pancake.
Straightforward. Simple. Satisfying.

Exactly how a home-style dim sum lunch should be.

This is definitely our current favourite dim sum joint.

Shanghai Ren Jia Dim Sum is located at
906B Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 787110
Tel: 64567752

Popiah @ Home

The man and I finally found the mood, time and courage to do homemade popiah dinner for the friends.

My impression of popiah from early memory and friends' remarks is the nightmarish amount of work involved.

Well, my recollection was not altogether off the mark. There is no getting around the labour intensive slicing and cutting of vegetables that make up the popiah filling. It took me more than 3 hours to get through 3 kgs of vegetables. And I am NOT slow.

But it was not nightmarish, and it was certainly worthwhile effort.

We had a wonderful time with the food. And an even more enjoyable time with the company. There was the update of a wedding. And all those travel tales to share.

The thoughtful friends took care of dessert.


This velvety rich chocolate truffle cake is my all-time favourite sinful finish to any meal.

I *heart* these people.

Letdown @ Domvs

Delicacies of Desire: White Truffle.

Chef Lino Sauro.

A reputation for fine dining. A recent make-over.

A re-launch of the restaurant with a new menu.

I was convinced. I had high expectations. I was sorely disappointed.

The new decor was boring, the lighting was so dim as to depress, the background music was dodgy enough to irritate.

Passable food in teeny portion is served up in fancy style at exorbitant price.

Not my idea of a good evening out.

No more ristorantes for me. I will stick to trattorias and pizzerias for Italian food henceforth.

DON'T Cook like a Chef

I cook a lot. For myself. For the man and me. For friends and family. I will not go so far as to say I LOVE cooking. I view it as a wonderful and necessary skill, and I just happen to be very good at it.

It follows therefore that I also enjoy watching cooking shows. There is always some clever tip to pick up from the experts. And of course, there is always the entertainment factor to these shows.

I particularly enjoy watching cooks who are also artists with their craft. The ones who create something extraordinary out of the ordinary so that their final presentation is a feast for the eyes as well as for the stomach.

Then, along comes Cook like a Chef - a series about how to cook, as opposed to what to cook.

I must admit the chefs (not lowly cooks, mind you) are, for the most part, brilliant in their take on any food. And I would most happily have accepted their generosity in showing us how those exquisite dishes are made in the world's best restaurants.

Except that they seem to be saying to the lay man (yes, the armchair-chef-wanna-be sitting next to you in front of the telly), that anyone, simply anyone, can do this magic at home.

Watch - the chef snaps his fingers and 3 of the 8 prep chefs on standby leap to do his bidding. The chef now goes on to make and then leave behind a horrific mess every where he turns.

By the end of the show, there is this exquisite dish. There are also all these tired prep chefs and messy work surface.

You know, this show should really make a distinction between what is feasible in a professional kitchen and what is do-able in a home kitchen.

I cook out of necessity. I also cook out of enjoyment on occasions for friends and family. I will work to the extent that I can still enjoy the company I have invited for dinner.

I-am-not-a-restaurant.

I will be doing everything from planning the menu, to grocery shopping, to preparation, to cooking, to serving dinner, and finally cleaning up.

So get real, Cook-like-a-Chef. Please do tell your audience to NOT attempt what you do in our homes unless we too have a team of elves to do our bidding and clean up after us.

A squall came through here

Pictures on left: see the white-out during the squall @0830hrs
Pictures on right: after the squall passed around 1000hrs

A "Sumatra" squall is an eastwards-moving line of thunderstorms. The line develops at night over Sumatra or the Malacca Straits and moves over the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore in the pre-dawn and early morning hours during the Southwest Monsoon season. The squall is characterised by the onset of strong gusty surface winds accompanied by heavy rain over Singapore, lasting 1 to 2 hours. Following their passage, cloudy conditions with light rain sometimes persist till the early afternoon.

Guide to Singapore's Weather
NEA Meteorological Services

Back to Basics @ Trattoria LaFiandra

Trattoria Lafiandra has been our choice for the quick fix of pasta and pizza since it opened in late 2003.

I have always loved the place because it is exactly what it purports to be - a trattoria - and does not try to be any more than that. The place is small (about a 40-seater) including the alfresco section. The menu is manageable for the husband chef and wife restaurant-manager team.

Then the trattoria decided it was time to grow. We went to their new venue at the Singapore Art Museum earlier in the month.

The bigger new venue does not have the warm cozy feel of the original trattoria. Food quality has become a casualty of an expanded menu. The awful acoustics of soaring aria as background music made me just want to flee from the place. The new branch has all the ingredients of a disastrous recipie.

I have been back to the original trattoria since. Everything was as it has always been.

Thank goodness for the good things that don't change.

Trattoria Lafiandra is located at
46 Prinsep Street
#01-01 Prinsep Place
Singapore 188675
Tel: 6238 8746

Trattoria LaFiandra al Museo is located at
Singapore Art Museum (formerly St. Joseph's Institution)
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Tel: 68844035

Ugly is ugly

Friends don't let friends go home with ugly people.

me in previous blog

"Ugly" can be subjective leh.

my lovely sensitive friend

the following beauty/ugly quotes come to mind because there's a ring of truth to them:

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.

Dorothy Parker

Beauty is but skin deep, but ugly lies the bone,
Beauty dies and fades away, but ugly holds its own.

Popular saying

It is better to be beautiful than to be good, and it is better to be good than to be ugly.

Oscar Wilde

If you tell me your blind date has a great personality, I know he/she is ugly

Overheard at a bar

so no, my sweet friend. "Ugly" is not subjective. Ugly is Ugly. Life is not fair like that.

Singing the blues @ Roomful of Blues

This place has the ambiance of a neighbourhood pub done just right.

Dim lighting that casts deep shadows creating a sense of nostalgic loneliness.

A lone guitarist who plays maudlin songs in a bluesy folksy kind of way. After knocking back a few, you would even begin to believe that the man is strumming your pain with his fingers, singing your life with his words. Just like they said in a song.

The attentive staff is easy to like. The crowd is friendly without being personal.

The pub food is standard greasy fried fare: chicken wings, onion rings, fries. As a concession to some notion of health consciousness, they can even fry up some greasy tofu for you.

To sum up, the place is casual and comfortable in a familiar way.

Bluff one. Friends don't let friends go home with ugly people :)

Roomful of Blues is located at
72 Prinsep Street
Singapore 188671
Tel: 6837 0882

p.s. Blues jamming session happens on Saturdays 9-11pm.

About the rich

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rich Boy, 1926

Yes, they have more money.

Ernst Hemmingway, Snows of Kilimanjaro, 1936

And they can choose their problems.

me, in a flash of brilliant clarity, just now

This too is love

Her husband died unexpectedly after a very short illness. She works at two low-paying jobs to make enough to raise two young children. She is 40.

He lost his wife to illness recently. There are no children, and he has no other relatives living here. Financially he is extremely comfortable. He is 60.

He looks to her for companionship. He sees her as providing the family environment he wants. In return, he will see to her financial needs and provide a secure environment for her and her children.

She is hesitant because she is not in love with him.

I say she must look at this as a workable and viable relationship that is mutually beneficial.

And in time, she will learn to love him. This, too, is love.

Harvest Thai by the pool

I do not look for Thai food outside of Bangkok because I believe that city serves up the absolute best of their cuisine. Certainly I do not crave Thai food in Singapore. There are simply too many other excellent and exciting culinary choices in this city.

But for the last several weeks, I keep running into mention of Harvest Thai in various places. Curiosity eventually won out because of several distinctive features that kept being highlighted.

Well, I think the different-ness (location, owners, mission statement) is a mixed blessing. The food is good but not inspiring.

I will recommend that first visit to anybody.

I think it will be a very long time before I want to make a return trip.

Harvest Thai is located at
ACS Barker Road, Sports Hall, Level 3
Tel: 6254 3520

Will you tell me?

I am not fond of this woman, to say the least. I have not seen her in over a year, and I do not miss having no news about her. But I finally met her again over the weekend.

In the intervening months, she broke up with the scum she called her boyfriend. It was not a pretty picture. He would not work (I told you he is scum); she supported him financially. He is wholly dedicated to living well (off her), looking good, and screwing around with all manner of other women.

I believe she knew about his philandering for a very long several months before she finally confronted him and then tossed him out on his ear. Anyway, this woman now proceeds to give excruciating details of who told her where the scum was seen with whom and when and what.

And then she puts the question directly to me: did I know about this?

Flashback to school days. First crushes, first dates, first loves. I remember good loyal girlfriends who will do everything to watch out for you. Protect you. Even lie to cover for you. And we have asked ourselves this: "If you knew my boyfriend/fiance/husband was cheating on me, would you tell me?"

There were two distinct opposing camps on this moral dilemma.

The first camp says no, they will not tell because there is a chance the dalliance will run its course and you will be none the wiser for it.

The second camp says yes, they will tell because you must be given the chance to make an informed decision whether you should devote any more of your time and life to the bastard.

I belong firmly, categorically, unflinchingly to the second camp (surely you can guess?)

Back to the present:

she: did you know?

me: yes. i saw them many times at many places. aren't they disgusting?

she: and you did not tell me?

It felt sooo deliciously good that, finally, I was able to say to her:

why would i? you are not my friend.

That trishaw uncle story

I have been following the trishaw uncle story for a whole week. I have read some of the comments that range from the sympathetic to the vitrolic. One question keeps popping up for me:

Pedalling the trishaw reduces the trishaw rider to little better than a beast of burden. Why do we still have trishaws in Singapore?

And the only answer I come up with is:

We have trishaws in Singapore for the crass amusement of tourists.

That puts the fracas in a whole new perspective for me. And it makes me mad.

I knew you were waiting for me

And the river was deep I didn't falter

When the mountain was high I still believed
When the valley was low it didn't stop me
I knew you were waiting

Knew you were waiting
for me

Aretha Franklin

Turkish Delights, Round 2

Pides and Gozlemes

We could not stop thinking of the decadent experience. Obsession gave way to compulsion. We went back a second time to Turkish Delights.

But this time we have a plan. We will make pigs of ourselves only over the food that really really matter.

We still ended up eating plenty. We ended up nicely stuffed. As opposed to over-stuffed.

No we will absolutely not go back a third time before the promotion ends on November 4. That will be overdoing a good thing.

Desserts to die for

I ended the evening with a little bellydance jamming with Jessica and Zahra. Thank you girls. It was a fun end to a perfect evening.

Turkish Night @ the Ritz Carlton

I am not a fan of one-price all-you-can-eat buffet dinners.

So I must admit it was with some reservation that I decided to go to Turkish Delights (23 October to 4 November) at the Ritz Carlton.

I am delighted to declare that my doubts were totally dispelled. The wait staff was faultless. There was extensive range in their mezze, salads, sides, mains and (my personal favourite) desserts. There was uncompromised quality in every course of the meal.

I will go out on a limb on this one and say that the food was the best I have ever experienced. Even compared to my experience in Turkey!

Definitely no Turkish restaurant in Singapore produced food that even came close.

I am contemplating going one more time before the promotion ends next weekend.

Yes, that is truly how good it is!

Mummy Simone!

This sms just came in from the Bling Girl :

Our little (girl) rascal finally made a dramatic entrance by emergency C section at 410 today. All is good! Mummy is super sleepy.

Congratulations mummy and daddy!

Anniversary

In the beginning, there was ...

PIZZA PARTY

It has been a whole year ago that I started blogging. Wow.

Darren's dance

I have not seen him about in a long time. I am happy to learn that he has this regular gig. And I really like him in this drum solo.

Bellydance rivalry

It has been a quiet week around here. The mind has gone blank and I am unable to come up with anything original to write about.

Trying to find something interesting to discourse upon, I looked up the Bellydance scene in the old town where I once lived, not really expecting to find anything.

I was so wrong. And I take cold comfort in knowing that bellydance rivalry is the same anywhere...

Turkish Delights

23 October 2007 to 4 November 2007

To celebrate Turkey’s Republic Day on 29 October, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia will present culinary treasures from the Middle East at Greenhouse. Chefs Selami Guleryuz, Kemalettin Yalcin and Orzan Ozyurt from The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul will delight diners with a delectable selection of donner kebabs and Manti pasta, freshly baked pides and gözleme and traditional sweets such as baklava and Maras dondurmasi ice cream. In the evenings, guests may also enjoy the live barbeque station, exotic Middle eastern music and belly dancing. Turkish coffee and tea, ordered separately, complete the unique experience.

Every party of six or more diners will receive a complimentary bottle of Turkish wine, while stocks last. All diners also stand a chance to win a five-night stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul, including a pair of return air tickets, airport transfers and a city tour.

For more information, please call +65 6434-5288 or email rc.sinrz.restaurantreservations@ritzcarlton.com.

Personal:

1. I will be going on Sunday October 28 for dinner.

2. Turkish Delights buffet dinner Sun-Thurs $52++, Fri/Sat $68++

3. Three sets of bellydance performance at 7:30, 8:15 and 9pm.

4. I have no idea who the performers are, so if any of you go earlier than I, do share.
(update: shimmy has kindly provided detailed information regarding entertainment in comments)

5. For additional information and update by 3aGurl , click here.

100 best dishes of Singapore

It came with the Sunday Times (October 14) - a special edition of Lifestyle listing the 100 best dishes in Singapore.

I read the supplement cover to cover. And then re-read it several times over.

I recognised 70% of the restaurants named.

Of that 70%, I've been to 80% of them.

I've eaten 80% of their recommendation.

I agree with their selection 90% of the time.

I feel I am such a gourmet.

I also feel I am such a gourmand.

Maybe I flatter myself with the above labels.

Maybe I am truly just a glutton indulging my compulsion.

Selamat Hari Raya

We caught the aidilfitri spirit.

Our idea of celebrating the festival is to get a few good friends together for a mini medley of Indonesian-peranakan favourites:

Satay
Ketupat
Sambal Eggs
Sayur Lodeh with lontong
Rendang (no picture - rendang is not photogenic)
Kueh Lapis (no picture - it was polished off before I could get the camera)
Pecan Pie (just because)

Now the friends want to know what is planned for Deepavali.

My friends are optimistic forward-thinking kind of people :)

We will we will Raks you

Because it was a cool breezy Saturday night
Because it was Aidilfitri
Because it was Claribel's star performers

... Arabian Nights of the What's your move series, part of da:ns festival 2007, was a jam-packed event.

This has to be about the best attended and most fun bellydance event I have been to in a long while.

Read 3A Gurl's review of the event here.

audience participation led by Belinda

Claribel, principal of Claribel's Raks Sharki Studio
event participant of Arabian Nights

The superstars of Claribel's Raks Sharki Studio

Claribel's Raks Sharki Studio is located at:
153 King's Road,
#01-01 Farrer Court,
Room C, Clubhouse,
Singapore 266367

Tel: 64743459, 97972261
email: claribel_ng@hotmail.com
website: http://claribelstudio.com/

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

I love mutts of every stripe.

These kampong angin are permanent residents at the House on the Hill. They probably double up as the ever-alert security patrol too. (Not!)

From the looks of it, Scarface is the undisputed King of the Hill after having fought off many would-be usurpers.

The House on the Hill

The House on the Hill - outside

The House on the Hill - inside

The friends have been trying to get us to visit their home on the hill.

This is where they plan to live when they are done with the tiresome business of having to make a living in the hustling and bustling capital city.

Until then, this is their weekend getaway. A private retreat from prying eyes. A holiday home for friends who want to get away from it all just for a while. And occasionally, the place for lavish dinner parties with select company.

We finally made the trip. And we can understand why they are so proud of their home on the hill.

What are they saying?

We were looking for room 1218. Took us a while to figure out which way to turn. Do they put up directions like this to test our deductive-inductive capability?

This warning was displayed prominently at the hotel entrance. I decided I should not walk the short distance to the shopping mall next door. Doesn't quite inspire you to join me for a holiday here, does it?

Indonesian Feast

I don't know how the Indonesian friends manage putting together a dinner spread as elaborate as this to feed the friends. But I am deeply appreciative and totally in awe.

Friends at play

On a really quiet night, I find amusement in googling myself and my friends just to see where we might show up on the internet.

For example, here and here.

Medicine Man-Music Man

For those of you who are not already aware, I have left the medical profession to become a full time musician. So if you do require musicians and singers in all genres for any function, do give me a call and make a difference to my livelihood! :)

I read those lines in his email over and over. A confused jumble of thoughts and feelings ran through me.

He is a lovely, sensitive, ever-obliging sort of guy. A professional who for many years ministered to the sick by day and played his music by night.

Many of my girlfriends, especially the ones in the entertainment field, pegged him as eligible bachelor doctor - a prize catch - on their radar screen.

Their initial gut reaction (much like mine) must have been like, he has changed his line of work to become, like, what? Alamak! a musician! How more alamak can it get?

But guess what? All of us are happy for him. Truly happy to see that he is in a position to pursue his first love, which has always been music.

He will follow his heart and feed his soul. And he will always be a prize catch for some lucky girl.

The music man formerly known as Dr. Malcolm Mah can be contacted at:

malcolmmah@gmail.com
mobile: 96973642

Pho @ Milk & Honey Concept Cafe

The restaurant is as our friends have been telling us.

It is a small quiet Vietnamese restaurant in an island cluster of shops and eateries within the very residential Binjai Park estate.

Everything on the menu is freshly and deftly prepared by owner-operator husband and wife team of Victor and Vicky.

It is a lovely place for a quiet evening of light dining. I particularly love the old-style living- and dining-room furniture that give a home-feel to the restaurant.

Milk & Honey Concept Cafe is an odd name for the restaurant. I shall remember to ask about that on our next visit.

Milk & Honey Concept Cafe is located at:
3 Binjai Park
S.589920
Tel: 6463 4710

RIP Andre

At a time like this, I wished I lived within a reasonable travel distance of everybody I know and love.

Almost Heaven

The gods watch over you. Keeping you safe. Everywhere. Always. In this island of the gods.

Even on the hotel grounds.

It feels good.

Almost Bollywood

I can see them breaking into song and dance. Almost anyway...

Makanan Bali

We thought of our pig-out friends. Just for a few brief moments. Really we did.

Bali Smiles

... those lovely smiles that make every moment special...

Pork Content

Read the warning.

Didn't stop somebody.

Sunset on Kuta

That spectacular sunset on Kuta Beach - a beautiful way to soak up the last rays of the sun.

Bali morning magic

Morning of my Life

by The Bee Gees

in the morning when the moon is at its rest
you will find me at the time i love the best
watching rainbows play on sunlight
pools of water iced from cold night

in the morning
'tis the morning of my life

Days of Paul Ropp

We left for Bali with just the necessary toiletries and one change of clothes. The check-in luggage weighed a mere 10 kgs.

On our return 48 hours later, the luggage weighed in at 20 kgs. The haul from our shopping spree was some 40 pieces of light weight summery clothes.

This shopping expedition was carefully strategized and precisely executed. We have pinned down the logistics of power shopping to a science and elevated it to an art form. YES!!

Pig--out @ Plum Village Restaurant

On the suggestion of wildgoose, the pig-out friends got together to try out Plum Village Restaurant in the suburb of Upper Thomson Road.

As Hakka Yong Tau Foo restaurants go, the place lives up to expectation. The signature dishes - stuffed yong tau foo, fried noodles and belly pork mui choy - compare favourably with the other Hakka Yong Tau Foo place.

The interior decor is done a la Chinese tea-house style, which gives it a nice warm feel. The lighting is not overly bright or harsh. Service is friendly, efficient and adequate. The noise level is well within tolerance range. In terms of ambience in a family-run Chinese restaurant, this place is a lot more pleasant than most.

It all added up to a nice evening of eating out with friends.

Plum Village is located at:
16 Jalan Leban
Singapore 577554
Tel: 64589005

sinlady banner

After many many many attempts, I finally managed to get photo of my California vanity plate to fit in the blog header. It involved using an online blog header generator, then saving it to comp and cropping.

There must be a more elegant way of doing this. Anybody? Help?

Something about girls and poles

They look cute, sweet and sexy. They are dancers, they are fitness enthusiasts. They combine pole-dance with exercise. The result is a strength building and sexy form of fitness training called pole-xercise.

Suzie Wong (below,) has been trumpeting the benefit of pole fitness and pole dance. I finally got the chance to see her and her friends at play/work last weekend.

I know it takes dedicated training to build upper arm and core strength to do the routine. The girls looked really really good.

I am tempted.