Human Nature

Caught most of I am Sam last night except for the ending - decided to turn in at 1am. A most poignant study of human nature, I thought.

Through Sam's struggle to retain and subsequently regain custody of Lucy and the potrayals of the imperfect lives of each character, I'm reminded of how fragile man the emotional being is.

Great show.

Donating Sperm?

Read NYTimes: Hello, I'm Your Sister. Our Father Is Donor 150.

As I read this article, am reminded tt some time ago, a colleague posed a hypothetical question: Would I donate my sperm to a close female friend who is married & is unable to conceive?

Having never occurred to me before, I gave it some thought on the spot. My reply: I would be inclined to, but I belive tt the ability to procreate is a privilege from God. And my seed would contain a part of me, which I'm not sure whether giving it away would go against the order of things that God has intended for us.

Reading about these siblings borne of the same donor sperm and seeking out each other and their biological father simply sounds odd. But who am I to judge?

Interesting thought huh?

1359

Gently awoken by the sensation of cool drool against my cheek. *slurp*

Flipping over to a dry spot, I could hear the muffled drilling from a nearby construction site above the soft humming of the air-conditioning. Tried to will myself to sleep but my mind protested - it's time to get up. Checked the time - 1359hrs - and chuckled for I had set my alarm for 1400hrs.

As I peeled the covers off, echoes of last night's overnight prayer meeting still buzzed in my head. "Heavenly Father Lord, thank you for a wonderful night," I muttered.

Lurched to the kitchen for morning hydration ritual of 2 cups of lukewarm water. Looked out the window and realized it was raining lightly. After closing the windows, plonked down onto the sofa to see dad snoozing in front of the tv. My stomach beckoned for sustenance. After rummaging in the kitchen, failed to find decent food, so decided to buy lunch from the market nearby.

As I strolled past the void deck of the block next to mine, I spied a Chinese funeral going on. Besides the usual setup, an elaborate altar was setup on the green, complete with pictures of at least 4 deities and a paper car and mansion meant for the departed to enjoy in Hades. Must be a rich family, I thought.

Lunch consisted of soya bean drink (60c), shredded chicken yellow noodles ($2) and some pastries ($1.70). Wanted hor fun instead of yellow noodle, but made no fuss about it. "Both can fill the tummy," I told the apologetic auntie. BTW I love S'pore food, did I ever tell you that?

While I read the papers and enjoyed my salty tau sar pia, mom asked me for help with her mock english exam. Yes, Ed the home-school engrish tuition teacher. You see, mom was chinese-educated and at sec 2, was learning "A for apple, B for boy..." She never got to complete her O levels because being the eldest daughter, she had to help out at home and girls weren't expected to be well-educated.

Alright, enough of lazy saturday rambling.

Running While Exploring

4 Dec beckons.

Ran for 60min today at a comfortably slow pace, 11km and 10km more to go (urgh). Decided to take yet another different route & ran over to Serangoon Gardens. Partly to avoid the busy evening's exhaust fumes, the other part to explore a different route.

Turned out to be quite an enjoyable run, despite the near-killer slope somewhere near Cardiff Grove - running along near-empty roads, peering into big houses of different designs, staring back at dogs lazing in the frontyards, taking in the smells of dinner being prepared.

Gotta keep running!

Retreat!

Department retreat yesterday & today.

1st day spent indoors: from serious work discussions to hilarious fits to serious moments of personal sharings, t'was a good day - a day dedicated to taking our minds off the daily grind of managing projects and clearing tasks to focus on big picture talk.

2nd day spent outdoors: had loads of fun under the sun. How often does the cubicle slave get to run around sentosa, play volleyball and ultimate frisbee while getting sunburnt? What's most amusing, though not entirely funny, were the many injuries and bodily aches afflicted from the activities.

Mental note to pick up beach volleyball - gotta get shades & learn how to not sprain thumb.

Woof

Chow Chow on the loose.

All I Need Is You

Hillsong United

Left my fear by the side of the road
Hear You speak
Won't let go
Fall to my knees as I lift my hands to pray

Got every reason to be here again
Father's love that draws me in
And all my eyes wanna see is a glimpse of You

All I need is You
All I need is You Lord
Is You Lord

One more day and it's not the same
Your Spirit calls my heart to sing
Drawn to the voice of my Saviour once again
Where would my soul be without Your Son
Gave His life to save the earth
Rest in the thought that You're watching over me

All I need is You
All I need is You Lord
Is You Lord

You hold the universe
You hold everyone on earth
You hold the universe
You hold
You hold

A Great Wedding and Too Many Men

Attended Teck Wee & Edna's wedding service today. T'was a most beautiful event & am truly happy for them. Seeing the video presentation of their past photos & how the couple's romance began made me realize how everything in their lives have been leading up to this faithful moment.

The service was short & sweet & it's the 1st time I saw Pst Derek doing solemnization. One advice he doled out to TW, "men must love their women a lot, but don't try to understand them." How true.

When I remarked to the bride tt I like attending wedding services because I find them v. meaningful, she point out that "they always preach the same message". Haha, true! But it's not the same, of course :)

Had dinner with 2 EFP pals, H & Gil, at Sofra, the turkish restaurant at Shaw Tower. Great food & lovely ambience, kinda romantic but not for 3 singletons pigging out. Coffee/tea followed at Bugis and H started lamenting how small her community is and how hard it is to find the right guy - she's dated so many guys, she's lost count.

One thing H surmised tt's remained in my mind, "she's a conservative person with a modern outlook looking for one of the same." Good luck, blurted Gil.

One up for SG Women

Stephy stands up to dirty old man who tries to sneak an upskirty camera shot.

Say Ah

Lunchtime with colleagues at Beo Crescent. The day the air-con broke down... when I told my mom how pitiful we are, she replied, (paraphrased to english of coz) "Pitiful? How to compare with those slogging under the hot sun?"

Exploring

After the boys ditched me & my dinner plans, decided to go exploring around Chinatown.

[more details later, bro wakes to sleep]

See pics here.

Melaka Day 4: Home Sweet Home

[full post coming up]

Uneventful bus ride, tho I meet AMK auntie. Looking forward to home.



View all of 72 photos here.

Melaka Day 3: Sights & Smells

9.30am Big breakfast after a brief jog at the gym (come on lah, with all tt stuffing, how to run half-marathon??) - we notice man-who-walks-with-mouth-open moving back & forth between his family's seats & the buffet counter like a bird feeding its young. After SS#5, it's back to vegetate in room with Far-flung Floyd who entertains a most matronly South African queen.



1pm 2 lazy butts finally muster up enough energy to cab over to Jalan Bunga Raya, a small road filled with bustling shophouses, interspersed with dark (some smelly) alleys.

Lotsa sights & smells: As we walked along in the mid-day heat, we passed many shops touting brightly coloured home decorations & a wide array of textiles, probably for locals in preparation for Hari Raya. The occasional confectionery with the ever-intoxicating aroma of fresh bakes. The coffee trader and its siren song of caffeinated products wafting across the street. Many Bata outlets for some odd reason. Countless scooters parked along the road.

As we stopped at 1 street corner, I spied from a distance - TAN KIM HOCK! Yes, as G puts it, we were tourists on the TKH pilgrimage & the sampling of its durian chendol which completes the Malacca tourist. But true to D's 'warning prior to the trip, when we finally tried it, the chendol standard really had dropped - to way way way down there.



3pm By the time we got genuinely hungry, most of the eateries were closed, so we trudged back up along the road to Discovery Cafe, a fav hangout for caucasian tourists. The place really is quite a hodge-podge of curiosities & knick-knacks of the past including an old transistor radio, chinese comics from the 1950s, old photos depicting the immediate area around the cafe before it built. Food was great, even though we weren't tt hungry, esp. its ice coffee.

4plus Lounging by the pool & listening to my Muvo, I was dozing off in the mildly warm breeze, while G turned pruney in the pool in a sliver of her sunlit section of the pool. Then it was back to vegetating in the hotel.



8pm Began our search for Peranakan food aka SS#6 at the Taman Melaka Raya area which is within walking distance of our hotel. But the streets with its many empty eateries were too quiet for our comfort & we eventually ducked into a North Indian restaurant where a family was already dining within. V. polite owner near-protested tt we'd ordered too much - thought the naan stuffed with onion & coriander was quite good. Truth be told, it didn't seem like a lot of food & we'd to rationalize ourselves into believing tt despite our bulging tummies *grin*

Eventually trudged back to the hotel in the cool of the night.

Melaka Day 2: Exploring & Bingefest

9am Eagerly head down for breakfast aka stuffing session #2. Unfortunately crowd's pretty eager too, feels like hungry ghost festival, even the staff are overwhelmed - must be the weekend getaway crowd. After stuffing ourselves, we head back to hotel room to vegetate. G claims it's gonna rain, tho I beg to differ.



11am I declare tt the weather's too good to stay indoors. Drag G along for exploration-by-foot of tourist spots - she's been to Malacca many times before, see.



1st stop - Maritime Museum showcasing Malacca's maritime history under the Portuguese & Dutch. But before we got there, was attracted to some medium-sized boats I spied from a distance and finally realized it was the pier. Crowded with many locals, supposed they were all heading home. The Maritime Museum's actually a Portuguese ship constructed as a 2-storey museum tt invites vistors to explore along its decks - albeit narrow & pretty dark.

Up next - Architectural Museum. Almost missed it because there wasn't much indicating its contents, other than a comissioning plaque. Interesting exhibits explaining the diversity of architectural designs in Malaysia - including the Sultanate Palace, the Malay community house, the Nyonya house etc. Was v. peaceful till family came in with terrorizing kids who can't stop running around.



Circled the A. Famosa area and climbed up the hill via Porta da Santiago, the sole remaining fortress gate. Upon reaching St. Paul's Church on the hilltop, a basker's soulful crooning greeted us, reflecting the peace & solemnity of this resting place - a Dutch graveyard skirted 1 corner of the hill.

Walked over to the Stadhuys, the official residence of Dutch Governors since 1650s, now a collection of museums archiving the town's eventful past. With Arab traders who stepped foot onto Malacca, the centre of trade also become the centre from which Islam spread across Malaysia during the 1400's. Short history lesson for me there.



2pm Finally get to try the famed chicken rice balls - actually just chicken rice but with fishball-sized riceballs, dense with carbohydrates & fragrant oil. After stuffing session #3, walked down the Jonker stretch which looked pretty different in the day time. Bought pineapple tarts & coffee mix - these fav products tt are splattered all over the place. 1 shop we bought from "Bibik House" made the tarts fresh - how can any discerning pastry-lover resist?

Headed back to hotel to watch Ian Wright & Far-flung Floyed on TV while relishing our acquisitions - small wonder tt we got easily psyched up for stuffing session #4.

8pm A rickety, old Mercedes cab with a driver cursing at traffic brought us to the Portuguese Settlement - for a moment was worried about safety. Settled down at Restoran de Lisbon. Though the food didn't seem particularly Portuguese to me and more like normal S'porean seafood fare, we had a feast nonetheless. Otak was awesome, grilled fresh fish was heavenly & sambal belachan was just shiok.

10pm Same old rickey Mers brought 2 middle-heavy souls back to the hotel.

Melaka Day 1: Simple Pleasures

7.10am Woken up by phone alarm. Supposed to reach Kovan by 7.45, so no time for breakfast. Mad rush to wash up, finally hop into cab at 7.40. G calls to hurry - she sounds pissed.

8am Last 2 to board the bus. At least I manage to grab Sunday Times just before bus departs. And we're off! G's still fuming tho. At least I can catch up on my bible reading.



8plus Arrive at 2nd link at Tuas - my virgin trip leh *blush* Awfully quiet tho.

9am We're in Johor! Woohoo! Gee, I sound positively deprived. Pretty hungry but decide to sleep it off. Am reminded by NYTimes article about the basal, irrepressible nature of man's hunger.

10plus 20min pitstop at Taman Lucky Gardens. FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD! But too sleepy to really eat, so grab buns & kopi instead.

12plus Arrive at Melaka Sentral, the less-than-2yo air-conditioned bus terminal. As we proceed to collect our tickets for the return trip, we spy some familiar fastfood restaurants. I remark to G, "When was the last time you saw an A&W?"

1plus Check-in at Century Mahkota Hotel into a simple no-frills apartment but too warm for our pampered butts. Instead we opt for an upgrade... AIR-CON *sigh of content* Turns out to be the right decision because it really was quite warm over there.

2plus Wandering around, searching for lunch. Streets are rather quiet, guess it's sunday. Settle for decent looking cafe serving chinese food. So begins the 1st of stuffing sessions - G's in ectasy over sambal seafood fried rice. Food's spicy but shiok - as usual, sweat like anything. A caucasian couple lunches there too, wonder if they know what they're in for - practically the entire menu's spicy.

After lunch, discover tt next door's a pet shop with many interesting pets. For one, they had 2 hyper-oodle poodles, taking turns to zip around the shop after the owner took them out of their cages - must be awfully eager to be brought home.

3plus Make our way to Mahkota Parade nearby, it's the biggest shopping complex there. G finally satiates her craving for Mac's Vanilla Milkshake, now extinct in S'pore.

6plus Back to hotel. I decide to go for a run at the gym's treadmill. For 30min, I avoid making eyes with a buxomy ang-moh poster-girl on the wall in front of the treadmill.



8plus Headed to the weekend bazaar along Jonker Walk. Oh, joy! Assorted dim sum, chendol, pineapple tarts... Craved nyonya laksa but by the time we got hungry, the shops were already closing. Many interesting shops around, including 1 with a lingzhi showroom & another selling coffins. Eventually settled for Chinese-style foot massage to appease our tired legs, 2 Chinese chaps from Shenyang who massaged us expressed their amazement at how the locals can master so many languages & dialects.



11pm 2 contented sleepyheads head back for beauty sleep.

Hello Melaka!

Off to small land of good food & cheap shopping, I go! Already got 1 request list of unmentionables...

Friday Blues

Was the last to leave work today - you know when the email's down for maintenance, tt no one's expecting you to still be in office.

At least got to satisfy myself with McChicken Fold-over, didn't win a trip to Bangkok though. But the ad's pretty funny: a Thai lady goes "Sir, this one normally 200baht, but for you special, 100baht. Cheap cheap."

Met ZS & M for drinks at Acid Bar & got to know some people - friend's friend, you know. A place tt has live acoustic music is always a great place, esp. when a mean somebody requests for Bohemian Rhapsody into the 3rd/4th set. Broke out laughing when singer/guitar duo starting bashing their way through the song. But the crowd, singing along, was pretty supportive. The rendition brought the longest round of applause too.

Possible alternative career: Singer in pub - but's gotta be smoke-free.

Of Cow Dung & Spicy Mango Sorbet

My new food craze: Indian food.

Was watching Floyd's India on central and salivate, I did, even though I just had dinner.

Deliciously red Tandoori chicken, minced lamb with yoghurt, Tandoori-roasted peppers stuffed with chopped cashew nuts & half a dozen spices, lamb cuts seasoned with spices & yoghurt and simmered over cow-dung fire (seriously), Floyd's proprietary mango sorbet with chopped red chilli (must be for those who live life dangerously).

*cue Homer Simpson blank stare while drooling*

Floyd's quite a character, though I hear he's quite a pain on the set too. But I'm simply happy to be a TV follower :)



FLOYD’S IMPERIAL BIRYANI
Serves 10

This is a sumptuous dish of tender, spicy mutton cooked gently in fragrant rice. A celebration dish, it should be served for a very special occasion. It is best to have small pieces of good quality mutton, and if possible, on the bone. Lamb or goat can be used instead of mutton, if preferred.

1 kg/2 ¼ lb basmati rice, washed under running water for at least 15 minutes and strained
350g/12oz ghee
salt
150g/5oz coarsely chopped red onions
100g/4oz flaked almonds
2kg/4 ½ lb mutton morsels (or lamb or goat)
250g/9oz natural yoghurt
100g/4oz cream
100g/4oz cashew nuts
100g/4oz raisins
6 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
8 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 tbsp lemon juice
a pinch of saffron threads soaked in 2 tbsp water
a few drops of rosewater
plain flour
vegetable oil
150g/5oz finely sliced red onions
small packet of silver leaf to garnish

1. Soak the washed rice in fresh water for 1 hour. Meanwhile, dry roast all the pieces for the masala in a frying pan over a low heat, then grind them to a powder in a food processor or blender. Mix together all the ingredients for the purée.

2. Drain the soaked rice thoroughly. Heat some of the ghee in a large wok or shallow frying pan and sauté the rice for 2 or 3 minutes until each grain is coated with ghee. Add enough water to just cover the rice (I emphasise you must only just cover the rice with the water). Season to taste with a little salt and then cook the rice gently until the water has evaporated. At this point the rice will still be slightly undercooked. This is correct. Remove from the heat and keep to one side while you prepare the mutton.

3. In a large heavy-based flameproof casserole with a lid, heat some ghee and fry the chopped onions. Stir in the masala powder and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, mixing well. Stir in the purée and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

4. Stir in half the almonds, then add the mutton and season with salt. Stir in the yoghurt and a little water if the mixture seems dry. Cook gently until the mutton is tender and slightly dry. Stir in the cream and continue cooking gently.

5. Sprinkle half the cashew nuts, half the raisins and half the mint and coriander leaves over the mutton. Tip the rice on top, add the remaining raisins, mint and coriander leaves and mix them into the rice, and then level the top of the rice.

6. Sprinkle the lemon juice, saffron water and rosewater over the rice, then drizzle a little melted ghee over the top.

7. Make a stiff paste with plain flour a little oil and water and knead it until it is like putty. Put a rind of paste around the edge of the casserole lid, making sure that there are no gaps. This will seal the casserole so that no vapour, steam, or more importantly, wonderful aromas can escape. Place the lid with its seal on the casserole and cook gently for 15-20 minutes.

8. Meanwhile, fry the sliced red onions in a little oil until they are crisp and golden. Put to one side. Fry the remaining cashew nuts and almonds on a little ghee until they are light toasted.

9. Just before serving the biryani, lay some pieces of silver leaf over the top and sprinkle on the toasted nuts and the crispy onions.

For the masala
10 cardamom pods
10 cloves
4 blades of mace
10g/ 1/3 oz ground cinnamon

For the purée
40g/1 ½ oz root ginger, peeled
40g/1 ½ oz cloves of garlic, peeled
2 tsp chilli powder

Goodbye, Ms Sng. Good Morning, Vietnam

So that's it, Ms Sng is flying off to Ho Chi Minh to teach for a year. Last night when we met at Menotti's, I asked how long she took to decide. S said when she saw the ad last week, she just went for it.

Wow. You go, gal!

2 Beers & a Tau Huey

Met M, J & 2 of J's colleagues for after-dinner drinks, specifically Erdinger + Heineken. Listening to his colleague go on & on abt various topics makes me wonder how much more I have to experience in life - travelling, office politics, diving etc.

After tt, had soft, fluffy Yong He tau huey at Geylang. Mmmm...

Under a Lot of Plessure

Terribly busy this week, work's really picking up. But busy's good yeah??