Experiment

There is a very fine technique to boiling eggs. In fact, there is a very fine line between a near-perfect soft-boiled egg and a... erm.. not-so-perfect one.

And if you're a seasoned soft-boiled egger, you'd know it's not a simple case of mathematics. It really depends on everything. Whether you're a kopitiam-style kind of egger, or you prefer boiling the egg together with the water over direct heat. The amount of water you're cooking the egg in. The clock you use to time your cooking. The egg itself.

For me, there is only one method, there is only one usual bowl, freshly boiled and still gurgling water to the same level. The same white egg. My trusted Ikea clock.

So at least now I know, the fine line for me lies somewhere between the eighth and the tenth minute. (The egg yolk was looking pretty at the eighth minute yesterday but there was still some bit of gooey translucent white hanging around it; the yolk this morning was already threatening to harden though the white was all, er... white at the tenth minute, all very much thanks to the blogging.)

I don't cook perfect eggs still.

But I know, on days I have near-perfect soft-boiled eggs, I feel (almost) as good as just having had a morning romp.

I can't wait for the perfect one then.

挡灾

I broke my wine glass first thing early this morning (no, I wasn't drinking at this hour, it had just been sitting way too tall on my very tiny and jam-packed dish rack and waiting for this day to happen), and the next thing I could think of immediately was: "Hmm. I sure haven't drunk at home for a long, long time. Shit, did I buy one, or two glasses?"

And then, the next, after a minute or so: Fuck, now I know how you get a glass splinter in your ring finger.

I think the anger (toward my clumsiness and the fact that I have 'wasted' a good glass for no good reason) set in only much later. No, wait. I don't think I'm even angry at all.

I only hope this one act of clumsiness is going to "block misfortune" for me for the rest of the day, and not just one of three waiting for me. Like it usually would be.

Sigh.


For all the little things I do for the people around me, I know they are all worth my sometimes silly effort when colleague-turned-friends start calling/texting/emailing you one by one at ungodly hours to make sure you're already awake and dressing up for that oh-so-important-that-you-turn-up-on-time-for meeting. Even though I never ask none of them to.

But today, I did it on my own. This is too ungodly.


This is so ungodly, I have even time to boil an egg and write a post before I get up to shower and stand in front of the wardrobe to decide the costume of the day.

跑

不怕记不住，就怕忘不了。
忘不了，太熟。 太熟了就要跑。

－ 太阳照常升起

Chun Li

Alright, alright.

To accede to the popular requests out there (remember, this is my world, I can imagine what I want; this is my blog, I can say what I want), I shall swallow my pride, dig a hole in the ground, and post a sneak-peek.

This is as cute as cute can be. Complete with the panda bear and the silk chinoiserie.

Alone

Sometimes... most times... almost ninety-nine percent of the time, I really think no one really knows how I feel.

Sister Devil

Oh yay! Another trip back to the Singers in March.

And with a really, really important mission too.

ME Inc.: babe, everything on march 1, one day?
D: yeah babe, all on 1st mar
ME Inc.: got "dress code", anything... must tell me early hor...
ME Inc.: i very hiao one
D: no dress code... but try and be in a dress! hahaha

Thank God auntie here has been in a 'dress' craze of late.

Erm... 'buying dress' craze. All notchet wear. =/

Wedding Gift

ME Inc. says: kan jeong boh, spider?
Ding says: i relak one lah
Ding says: u still in sg?
ME Inc. says: no lah
ME Inc. says: if now i'm still in sg, i would ve stayed on for ur jiu
Ding says: tot if u still ard can give me present b4 i get married mah
Ding says: i give my virginity to u mah
ME Inc. says: wah!
ME Inc. says: your virgin head ah!
Ding says: first time with u mah
Ding says: so virgin lor
ME Inc. says: orh i c
ME Inc. says: makes sense

At least, it killed my boredom while being stuck in the pile of shit - again.

True

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.
- Henry David Thoreau


I think I'm good with the second and the third. I just have to work on the first, I guess.

Then, it comes down to the same question: What the fuck is my true work?


I've been waking up way too early.

I don't think that's being really true to myself, is that?

Smothered

My laundry has been left at the cleaner's for days now. I just can't make it on time, with shit holding me back every night.

If I were a mom, my kids would have been left dead at the childcare by now.


God grant me the strength and will to tahan the shit, please.

Revealed

2 x "wah lau eh!/so toot!"

5 x "so feminine!/so cute!"

But I don't wanna be no fuckin' cute!!!


Still no picture lah.

Spooked... Again

"I've just had 1.5 hours phone call with my best friend... "

And I thought I must have fainted for a split second.


No more spookiness, God. No more, please.

Lesson One

あ
あなた
あした
ありがとう

Fuck.

This is going to be slow and painful. I feel like a five-year-old, if not a retard (complete with a retard 'do), learning to write characters for the first time. I hope either I become smarter, or this becomes easier.


"You said GMM! I will test you!"

And that's like barely another two months away. Thanks for the kind reminder.

Fuglified

By the way, it was absolutely true. What I have been telling everyone.

That I had flown back "just to cut my hair".

IT IS TRUE!!!


In fact, Dean was so excited and pleased that I had saved six months' of untrimmed tresses only for him, I think he kinda lost control with his scissors.

Fuck. Someone give me one hard whack on my head if I say "yes" to bangs ever again.


This is the moment where I thank God for having made me fall prey to all that fortune of caps/hats I have amassed over the months.

And no. There is no picture in this post.

Short but Sweet

It was a nice change indeed, to be hanging out with some other different boys over the short weekend.




And then, I got some chicks too - FINALLY! Young one, old one, also can. I am that desperate.




I got to scratch the itchy throat, deoxidize the rusty voice, whatevachumightcallit. Then again, in Singers, I don't usually really get to sing (pardon the intended pun).



And most of all, I got to devour most of what I had wanted to. The mee pok ta. The zhay bee hoon. The pai kut hei mee. The mee siam. Mom's soup and steamed egg.

But the best moment was when my little "I am Popeye the Sailorman, I give you eat my spinach!" boy's eyes lit up the moment he saw the fried chicken stall at the airport.

His favorite-hero-of-the-moment probably became as real as it ever could for him. Though I didn't think he was any one bit disappointed there was no spinach at all on the menu.




After our happy meal (after which the little bugger actually made me watch him pass crap and clean his lil' lily ass), we kissed each other goodbye, I walked past the gate and he turned away in excitement to look for his new toy trains left behind in the car.

The little bugger.

*****

"If I buy a condo for the two of us, would you come back home?"

That is probably how much we need each other.

The First

And so, mee pok ta it was.

Excited

As the weekend draws nigh, the mood draws high.


But what will number one be?

Mee pok ta? Or, hei mee? Or, fish-head bee hoon? Or, yong tau foo? Or, mee siam?

Or… zhay bee hoon?

Emotional

You know you're a highly emotional individual when you get upset easily...and then you become happy again just as easily.

:)

Feetmama

Oh yeah. Screw the pretty skirt and shoes indeed.

I just realize this morning that, hey, the one that feeds me eggs and pays my bills fits exactly into my recent “Retro-fitting” craze.

And I remember too, that I like smallness. Insignificance. But I appreciate quality. And most of all, beauty. I like underdogs.

And this, is like a love that grows from perhaps, nothing.


Then, I also realized that over the past two year perhaps, I have horrifically grown from an eight to an eight-half, and now finally a nine. In another continent, I would be a ‘forty’ now.

And in my favorite land of the Nippon, I am a disgusting twenty-six centimeters.

I think I have to spring-clean the shoe rack (that has also horrifically grown in size since… six months ago).

And I also wonder: why? Why, oh why, is it that, even at this age, it is my shoe size that’s growing – and not my bra size?!

Midweek

So it's back to the grind with a half-fucked, half-awake brain at the by-now-already-very-messy desk.

YY: How come you have three calendars on your desk?
Me: Nah, I'm gonna keep this one 'cos it's most decent, this one's crap so I'm gonna chuck it. And this one... this one's just my man looking at me as I work everyday. I need that.

I think someone's gonna miss Fatmama very soon.


I haven't been feeling quite in the... right mood.

Maybe it's the fucked-up body clock, which left me with almost zilch rest before I decided I should just get my ass to work in the morning.

Maybe it's the restless fucked-up body, dying to rid of the lethargy after missing last Saturday... and then another one to come this week.

I thought I would perk myself up tomorrow at work with a decent outfit, nice coat and heels and all. Just to get the mood up and going.

And then...

"You in GZ?"
"Yup, wassup?"
"Thought you might be in town."
"Back tomorrow for ball game though, wanna join?"

!!!!!

Screw the pretty skirt and shoes.



Now Mama's really, really happy.

SnailMail

My first snail-mail in the mailbox!

And it's not a freakin' money-suckin' bill! : )

Instead, it comes with a photograph of a happy family. Which warms my heart very very much in this freezer-apartment.



Mama's very happy.

Fuel

"Wow... you're really like an energizer battery."

Yes, dear. That's why I'm the Fatmama.



Mama's happy.

Day Six

Speaking of decent dinners... how about this?

I think I probably had two main courses on my last night alone.

No? A 12-ounce steak and a 2.5-pound lobster in one go? And those crab cakes and ahi tuna sashimi on the side?





And then some live music for dessert?



Despite the hangover, I am all set to go.

I wanna go home. I wanna go home. I wanna go home.

Day Five

Drab.

Drab drab drab drab drab.

Finally, it is drabby. And wet.

Day Four.8

Fark.

I know I said last week I would keep my card away, and that was task number one for the new year.

Fark.



But you know, there are some things you just can't say 'no' to.

Like some... not one, not two, but some.

Day Four

I know!

It feels almost like I'm lying underneath some coconut trees in my bikini at some beach out there (possibly far, far away).

But you don't have a frozen ass at the beach, do you?



The weather at eight degrees remains miraculously wonderful.

I just hope my flight out doesn't get screwed up.

Day Three.Five

At the end of the day, the best girl wins the date.



They were pretty darn good seats, the ones that were painstakenly gotten for me. This must've been the closest I have ever been near a game. The 'wowness' wore off after a while, but at least, it kept me focused on the game despite the drooping eyelids and the still-sore neck.





And I kinda found a new idol tonight.

No, not that tall black one that everyone else loves. It's that short skinny one in number nine who seems to be the only one capable of amazing me from the court tonight.



The boys lost. But the crowd remained astounding.



Oh, and Hanny-boy, this surely beats watching the Blazers at the Rose Garden. :)

Day Three

Farking hell.

I am such a problem child.

A problematic indigesting bloated child.

Day Two.99

: (

I feel terribly sorry, putting a bunch of boys, half of whom I don’t even know, through unnecessary trouble over the past week – just to get hold of these two pieces of paper.

Now, I don’t even know who to bring to the game.

But before I fret, I am not done yet jumping around with excitement!

: )


“Can you help me ask if I have to pay for them?”

“They are free.”

“Oh, please tell him I said, thank you very much!”

“Heh heh… in Japan, we say, nothing is more expensive than ‘free’. Heh heh heh…”


Yes. Whatever. For just one game. Whatever.

Day Two.9

“If it ain’t legal, it ain’t seafood.”

I think wild salmon should pretty much be legal, ‘cos it’s tasting really like real seafood should be. Especially when it’s cooked “medium wild”.

My first decent meal in days.

Day Two.75

You can take the Singapolian out of the neighborhood, but you can’t take the lianness out of the girl.

“You like my fleece jacket? Me too. And I like it a lot ‘cos it’s damn fucking cheap. Only twenty Sing dollars! And it’s reversible! Twenty Sing dollars leh!”

There’s no one around me I could embarrass… other than myself.

Day Two.5

It is actually seventeen today. The ice’s finally beginning to melt and make the grass all mushy.

Amazing. The powers that I do possess.


The weather’s so blue, so beautiful, I just had to take occasional walks outside of my beautiful big brown house.

Yes, kidding you not.

That’s my office for the week.

Day Two

Scheiße!

I can’t believe this is happening to me – again!

No showers, no painkillers, no nothing this time. I’ll just leave the sprained neck as it is, and hope it goes away. Somehow.

Day One

Almost twenty-seven hours later, after more than seven hours of delay in the Honks, another fourteen hours in the air (in the warmest cabin I have ever sat in), then another two hours of delay in Chicago, I am finally safe and still very sound in Boston.

I reckoned an early swim in the morning would stave off any onsetting lethargy, since getting in the hotel at two in the morning meant no sleep for me before I hopped on the shuttle bus at seven. It did – for a while. The hyperactive mood that irritated everyone else died somewhere around nine in the morning.

Still, thank God for the swim. I haven’t jumped into the water for, let’s see… donkey months?


The weather’s not as terrible as everyone said it would be. Perhaps, not just yet.

While everyone else is huddled up in their downs, I am walking around in a cashmere sweat over two layers of cotton tees. And a cute woollen hat to cover the ears. I just wish my fingers and nose were a little stronger, though.

I like. I like the cold.


Then again, it’s warm-er today. Perhaps about six in the Celsius.

I think I do bring warmth everywhere I go.

"Slattern"

Can you imagine? I learned a new word from a Japanese movie?

Erm... a new English word?


Before I will learn to understand the real dialogue, I am rather impressed with the quality of the subtitles.

Perfect grammar, profound vocabulary.

I ought to be ashamed as a native English speaker.


P.S.: Of course, it's Kimutaku.

Seikos & Casios

It's been officially six months.

How time flies.

And I wonder if the notion of time flying by faster has anything to do with aging brain cells. How the rate of events happening is far greater than the rate at which our brains process every one.

Or maybe, we feel time is cheating on us by flying by faster than it normally should, because we're not done yet savoring the sweetness of a certain past. Maybe time is not moving unusually fast; maybe we are just deliberately slowing us down. Maybe time is just the only one moving; maybe we are not moving.

Anyways, regardless of theory, time will only pick up speed.

I don't want to slow it down, I don't have special powers though I wish I had.

I can't wait for all my stories to happen. I just can't wait till I get to the end of the road.


Speaking of time... I had wanted to speak about time.

In an ironic way, I have moved back in time in my search for time.



I think me dad is going to be very proud of his little girl. : )

Reassurance

Haru: Isn't it true that it is better for guys to be more gentle?
Yuko: Yes, most girls would put gentleness in the first priority...
Haru: Right.
Yuko: But girls who like gentlemen are not right. Because it proves that they are not gentle. Those who have a lot of love will not seek gentleness from their spouse. This kind of girls might be rare, but if you can find them, you will be very blessed.

That must be me.

Maybe.

Tomboy

At ten in the morning, the berry beeped while still sitting on the coffee table, waiting for its mistress to get done with the naughty hair.

YY: Hihi, coming in today?
Me: Yes yes coming. Been too caught up with this Jap drama. Wouldn't stop. Wanted to watch till the end, then come in straight to work. But my body shut down at 6.
YY: Haha... I still find it difficult to believe that you can be caught up with soaps. Just doesn't seem to go with the "cool" you. Haha...

Well, well. This tomboy here is really still an old-fashioned girl at heart.

Reunion

I have found meself so many, so many, so many old school friends on Facebook.

I love this Facecrap shit.

Puraido

For the past couple of nights, this has been me.

Not quite warm, but nice and cosy enough. PJs and layers of sweats. Tucked under my fleece blanket. Lying on my sofa, which has also turned ‘bed’ for the last couple of weeks because the real thing is just too cold for me now.

Oh, and grandma socks. But rather funky ones, at that.



Candles and free flowing chamomile tea.

Then when I am all nice and ready, I have Takuya.



Ooh yes. I do need that chamomile indeed.

Cow

I hate bad stomachs that keep churning and growling and irritating and make you feel like a regurgitating cow.

And this stomach here now is farken bad.

It has to be the damn raw prawns, or too much tea, or... the damn raw prawns.


Then again, maybe the bad stomach will be my ticket to escape.

It's just all a matter of timing... Hmm.

"Chan"

I think my bro has lost it. His Singaporean-ess.

And I don't think it's funny.

Hmph.


Me: Hey I'm trying to get poker going tomorrow.
Bro: Who's in?
Me: So far there's you, me, Crouchers, Shan.
Bro: The rest?
Me: Out of town. No reply. Non-committal.
Bro: Then cancel lor.
Me: No lah. Still got chan. Just asking you to be ready.
Bro: Who's Chan?
Me: Chance. Singaporean speak.

Even Gorgeous says "Wah Lan Eh!" better than you.

From One to Another

And another one goes by yet again.

In my short six months here as a foreigner, I have rather quickly celebrated three personally affecting occasions. First, there was the big three-O. Then there was Christmas. And now, I'm watching the turn of another calendar year, this time with my ass frozen and my toes all numb.

Contrary to much popular belief, I didn't have a crazy one. I'm a little done with craziness for the time being; it has been getting way too senseless. The mood has been chilled (no thanks to the weather), and I thought I'd like to keep it that way for a while.

So I am glad. That, with my usual buncha cronies, we ate and then we chilled instead.












In all, I suppose it had been mostly a good one, the last day of the year. Like I had really wanted it to be.

I got to work in the morning, cleared some mail, had it slow and easy, stayed away from the boss, ate my favorite soup for lunch.

Then, for the rest of the afternoon, I set out on my mission. The "Newness" campaign. The "ME-Make-ME-Feel-Good" mission. A rather hesitant mission, but one I thought was very much needed for the ME-soul.

I got more cleaning tools for the poor house, and I picked up a pair of warmer-looking bedroom slippers as well.

I got myself nice underwear. New color. Limited edition some more.

I got that down jacket, which was more of a necessity than a desire because I aim to come back alive. But point was, I did splurge.

And then it came to the crunch of the day: one or two, one or two, one or two, one or two... ?

In the end, without much thinking on deliberate, it was two.

Paulie and Katie. Like yin and yang. Nicely balanced.

When the mission was all done and over, I rushed home and put on my favorite dress. Just so I could say I had worn it once in the soon-to-be-past year. Despite the biting chill.

I ate one of the most awesome fried rice ever in my life (perhaps since I am not the biggest fan of fried rice).

In fact, I think I might have found a much-needed new hideout for the coming year. Something the current ones can't offer. Good food... wait. Good Japanese food to go with the gin-and-tonic. I think I will try the Vietnamese menu next.



I have no resolutions for the new year, as usual. Maybe since I have more checkpoints and pit-stops in my usual days than normal.

For now, I just know I am tucking the card away. And then I need to pick up a couple of books to get something going.

Oh yes, and try to get some running tomorrow. If I could thaw my frozen lazy ass.



I miss the third.