The eating has not slowed down.
The friend had us over for yet another round of home-cooked gourmet dinner. 
Then we headed to our favourite trattoria for some serious carbo-loading. 
At this rate, I will never be model thin again. But I have decided I will not deny myself good food and company for the sake of thinness. Yes!
Chicken Rice
The absolute best thin-crust pizza to be had is at the Trattoria in Seminyak, Bali. Since it is not exactly in the neighbourhood that I can pop in whenever the craving grabs me, the next best thing is to make it myself.
I have tried different combination of flour mixes to come up with a crust that has that wonderful quality of crisp chewiness. This recipe comes closest to what I am striving for:
2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1.5 cups warm water
400 g bread flour
200 g plain flour
3 Tbs olive oil
1. In small bowl mix dry yeast and sugar in half cup warm water and wait till mixture bubbles.
2. Mix salt, bread flour and plan flour in large mixing bowl.
3. Make a well in flour and pour in yeast mixture, remaining warm water and olive oil.
4. Knead until the mixture comes together in a ball.
5. Transfer to a well oiled bowl. Let dough rise in a warm place till it is twice the original size (takes about an hour).
6.Punch down the risen dough and separate into 6 balls.
7. Roll the dough out into 24cm rounds (or stretch it by tossing in the air several times).
It is still not quite what Trattoria puts out, but I think this is a worthy close second.
I love Suhaila Salimpour's choreography of Golden Zills:
This performance by Team Korea is reputedly adapted from Suhaila Salimpour's choreography.
Sometimes, I am not so sure that it is a good thing to be credited for one's work.
Anyway, the reason for bringing up Suhaila Salimpour is that she will be in Singapore in mid-April.
I am excited!
me: I am calling about the fax I sent you yesterday.
she: Oh, sorry hor. It not yet received. Maybe I receive it tomollo then I can call you can?
If it is of any consolation, she and the office are not of Singapore origin. But I will feel a whole lot better if she and the office are from another planet altogether.
She came up to me, all smiles and sweetness, and cheerily asked, "Hi, can I help you? Looking for ling-ger-ree for yourself?"
I generally overlook mispronunciation. It is a lost cause after all. Yes, pronunciation can be a matter of regional influence. And I am no expert in linguistics.
But ling-ger-ree?
I suppose she thinks Ero (as in the brand name Ero Lingerie) is singular for Eros?
Sigh. Yes, thank you miss. I am looking for ling-ger-ree for myself. And you can help me.
Ok. I understand. Sorry I have disturbed u both with my problem. Thanks. Bye
I have read and re-read the sms countless times since receiving it some 3 months ago. I cannot decide if there is resignation or resentment in those words.
We met in Bali. She was the resident belly dancer in a restaurant and we struck up what I thought was a friendship. We kept in touch by sms and email. And some time over the next year or so, she left Bali for Jakarta. Her villa in Bali was put up for holiday rental.
Then I got email and sms from her saying that she was in desperate financial trouble. That she was putting the villa in Bali up for sale. That she could not get a loan from any bank. That she desperately needed to borrow USD20,000 from me to tie her over the next 3 months.
Alarm bells went off in my head. Was it reasonable to ask to borrow money from someone one met on vacation? Why was she not asking to borrow from her friends and relatives in Jakarta? Was this whole scenario for real? Was she for real?
After mulling over the situation for a full day and night, I sms'ed to her:
I am in no position to lend you any sum of money.
Her reply:
Ok. I understand. Sorry I have disturbed u both with my problem. Thanks. Bye
I cannot decide if there was resignation or resentment in those words. It bothered me for reasons I am not able to articulate.
I looked up her villa in Bali online. It is still hers; it is still being put up for holiday rental.
I know I will never hear from her again.
I understand now that the"friendship" was pegged at USD20,000. And so, with equal parts resignation and resentment, I deleted her from my contact list.
Yes, I was a member of Club Singapura the entire time I lived in California.
Yes, I tried to make it to as many of the events as I could in the year. Click on Events and take a peek at the pictures :)
Yes, all we ever do is meet to eat.
Yes, we are so Singaporean like that, no matter where we live.
Yes, the club still has relevance after all these years.
When we cook...
When many friends cook...
Among the many good memories of last year was that we ate well.
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.
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.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...
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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
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.
