Decemberness

When the season turns

A long overdue entry - I've finally found some time to revive my dormant blog.

The egrets have invaded our field, fast and furious! My last count was 29. From afar, these creatures resemble carelessly strewn plastic bags, indistinguishable if not for their nodding heads. Our field must seem like a fully stocked larder to them cos the hardworking birds seldom lift their snowy crowns, so intent they are on feasting.

How I love Novembers when the rain turns the field into a marsh, bane of all residents but much appreciated by the yearly flock of egrets.

Homage

How rare it is to have an American book out on the shelves in Singapore before the US!

I'm thrilled that Patricia Cornwell's latest novel, Scarpetta, is a cool tribute to the Scarpetta series that I grew up reading.

Time travelling (at the movies)

I'm a period drama junkie. Stately manors, forbidding castles, sprawling gardens complete with a labyrinth, fields of wildflowers, vintage clothing - they all set my heart fluttering.

Which was way I couldn't peel my eyes off the screen during the 2+hr Brideshead Revisited especially when the director utilizes the slow-mo and panning shots to a max (thank god for lighting and camera trickery). You see the characters close up, words unspoken, brimming with emotion. You see the reflection of Venetian waters dancing off the walls at night.

I admire the director's eye for detail in recreating a 1920 English uppity society. I marvel at the effort it must have taken to put every guy into shirts, vests, blazers, ties and scarves (no tweeds allowed for dinner at Brideshead).

Other than the trite issues of love and social status, themes of homosexuality and religion add a certain tenseness to the plot, another reason why I didn't doze off halfway (also partly cos I kept imagining Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney instead of a snooty matriarch). I've just discovered that the author with his rather misleading name - Evelyn Waught - is actually a male.

On a chocolate high

Marks & Spencers dark chocolate digestives is therapy for the stressed and worried me.

Who knew that the humble brown wheat biscuit could help elevate moods sky high. But who am I kidding, of course it's the luscious coating of dark chocolate that seals the deal or addiction in this case.

Unlikely other tried and tested choc biscuits - Oreos, Tim Tams, Famous Amos - utility for dark choc digestives diminishes at a much slower rate than its counterparts. Arrgh. I hate its insanely high and dispproportionate caloric value (itsy bitsy biscuit vs. GAZILLION of calories).

The Time Traveller's Wife

It's a love story; deeply moving, highly inspirational, utterly romantic but never gushy or maudlin.

It's fantasy, magical realism weaving time travelling seamlessly with modern everyday life.

Always believable, never too incredulous, the characters are down-to-earth and their story is told matter-of-factly.


I sped through 3/4 of the book, too enthralled to leave it. And then I stopped, avoided the book, ignored its lure, knowing that soon, I'll have to return to it and from then onwards, all will be a downwards slide. As Clare says "we're at the top of a rollercoaster".

I cried for the rest of the book, silently and sometimes chokingly when it gets unbearably painful. The book broke my heart and now I feel bereft of something dear.

***Eric Bana popped into my mind when I thought of an actor for the role of Henry and Eric Bana IS going to act as him in a 2008 production!

Postcards from the Old Quarter, Hanoi

Guess who?

Cui sent me this modified pic of myself below which I found very cool.


It piqued my interest so I got the website from her. Got totally carried away embellishing pics of other people. Hahaha I'm not trying to sabo anybody. Just that I took some passport pics of TR the other day which came in very handy... :D

quite a cute pirate actually :)

OMG! He looks like Qi Yiwu!

at least I can afford this Warhol

hahaha his dream come true!

now he looks like that Thai actor with long hair

all over Giselle!

we took this at Vivo remember?

knowing me

How do you get people to "get it" when they don't get it? Doesn't the fact that I have to explain what "get it" means and what it entails suggests that the other party doesn't get it?

And what is a good gauge on how well a person knows you?

When a person understands your moods and knows when you don't mean some things you say. When a person buys you a packet of Spirited Away bookmarks when she is browsing at a Pasar Malam. When a person drops you a message at the right time. When someone writes you a note on pretty paper. When someone ships you a scrapbooking album for your bday. When someone buys you the chocolate pie because she remembers you saying you like it. When someone knows when to say something comforting. When someone knows when you need to hear his voice, and calls. When someone lends you a book you like. When someone buys you frivolous stickers. When someone brings you to a concert you've been hankering to go. When a person spends lazy Sundays with you. When someone cares about the unimportant things you care so much about.

Words are all very well but action speaks louder than words sometimes.

Long distance

Received a call out of the blue at 1pm a couple of days ago.

It was Mag calling from Aust asking me: "What is the plural of fish?" I couldn't believe my ears. And I couldn't believe that she would call me for such erm, frivolous stuff! I have crazy friends haha. That said, it was nice to hear her voice again.

happy family

"Consider the four wives: Mama, Mekome, Beatrice and Ugly. Mama may be the bossy matriarch, but Mekome is Big Daddy's favourite, and everyone knows it. Beatrice, big-hearted and benevolent, cheerfully ignores it all. And Ugly is asocial, avoiding the entire family. Each mother is hell-bent on protecting and promoting her own offspring. Mama and Mekome have little boys, Kusu and Ekendy, boon companions constantly up to mischief. Beatrice and Ugly have newborns, wide-eyed Gentil and long-limbed Bomo, and carry them everywhere."

Aren't gorillas endearing?

Twiggies

Twiggies, also known as Twinkle, is an old-fashioned sponge finger filled with choc or vanilla cream.

It comes individually wrapped and is the size of a small banana. NS men will remember it as a night snack. The sponge is a little dry and the cream is stingy BUT,

Oh it's so chocolaty and cute (Mr Twiggies - looking like Banana In Pyjamas - singing "Anytime is Twiggies time!") that I'm completely addicted to it!

By the way, Twiggies are made with unhydrogenated vegetable shortening - how they unhydrogenate shortening, I really do not know.

Becoming MS

I adore the Kate Spade "Occasion" book Gill gave me for my 23rd - a (calculated?) move to bring our the inner Martha Stewart in me. Dare I say I might actually like the book better than the bags? It's witty, informative and filled with whimsical watercolour drawings!

I first saw the range of books ("Occasion", "Manners" and "Style") in the library many years ago. I remember badgering my mom to get them for me but to no avail apparently. I must have pointed it out (hinted blatantly) to Gill each time we pass the Kate Spade shop in Raffles City and she was kind enough to remember hahaha.


We had dinner at Charcoal - a restaurant run by overly eager to please Shatec students. Despite the negative inference from the word "students", the food is good and I didn't feel like a guinea pig. I like their reasonable 4-course set meals and fluffy bread rolls with butter. No doubt the best thing is the absence of a crowd on a Saturday evening.

Bday wishes

I got this from Gill's blog. Totally cute!!

190908

technology workshop in the supreme court the whole afternoon.
feeling restless. and sleepy.
a birthday song led by taryn and the others.
happy and embarrassed.
sneaking out to buy a polar curry puff during tea time.

7pm - it's finally over!

blending in with the walls at UE Square.


dinner at Spizzico - handmade sausage bits in my spaghetti. the mozzarella tower wrapped with parma ham yum yum.


taking pics anywhere, everywhere.




I get my present!

it doesn't matter how old you are

I hope I'll be like them at their age....


I share in your joy....


Completely unabashed...

scrapbooking 1

JH wanted to see one of my "creations" so here's the one I gave TR for his bday. The layout was copied from a magazine with some modifications.

Day 5 - Oberammergau

I'll never finish blogging about my grad trip at this rate but I'm adamant in keeping some kind of journal since it's unlikely I'll print the photos anytime soon!

Day 5 is one of my fav days. We signed up for a one-day tour with STA in Singapore which brought us out of Munich to the Bavarian mountains (Gill and I had a minor argument whether to take the tour or not hahaha).

The gorgeous scenery viewed from our bus! The guide is a portly old man who, upon hearing that we're Singaporeans, said that we spoke good English and needed no headphones.

Green, yellow and blue - the colours of nature!

3 different shades.

Schloss Linderhof - Gill's fav castle (and King Ludwig II's extravagant holiday home for that matter!) This is one of the smallest and grandest palaces I've ever seen. The interior was done up in a dazzling Rococo/Baroque style but unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside.

Lush palace gardens and elaborate fountains (Neptune and his sea horses).

Another gold gilded fountain. We were told that King Ludwig enjoyed building castles more than managing his country!

Oberammergau was not our main stop but it's the dearest little town I've ever seen! The only dwelling houses seem to be quaint wooden cottages which had us all oohing and ahhing. It's souvenirs galore there and we just had to skip lunch for it! TR bought a pair of musical dolls and I bought a porcelain one (which became really troublesome to lug around later -_-).

Spotted: another pretty cottage.

Oberammergau is famous for its buildings with beautiful hand painted murals. Guess which fairytale this picture depicts? Clue: "what big eyes you have grandma!"

This biblical tableaux is one of the many murals depicting scenes from the bible.

A piece of blue sky.