Reality Shock

Linda emailed me today:

BTW Pearl's been hospitalised for stomach ulcers and now they suspect it may be caused by a growth (maybe tumour) in her brain! This is scary and she is totally hysterical....She'll be there for observation and tests for some days.

A chill went up my spine. Suddenly I remember how much fun Pearl and I had when we were kids and then I realize how rotten a cousin (read:absent) I have been.

I think I'll go visit her this week.

Father's Day 2005

We didn't really have a clue where to go this year for our Father's Day. The plan was originally to go to some pub called George's Dragon, but then we stumbled upon a newly opened chinese restarant and decided to go there instead.

What a lucky find. It just so happened that it was a newly opened chinese tea-themed restaurant. The deco was undeniably tea culture chic. We asked the boss to recommend several dishes to us and he advised us to get the 'pork ribs ginseng tea soup', 'chicken fried in tea oil', Teow-chew style red snapper and tea-soaked french beans.

All the dishes had some tea mixed in. Even the rice was lightly sprinkled with tea leave dust. We also ordered a pot of special chinese tea that cost a bomb. The smell of the tea was glorious - caramel with a hint of bamboo shoots.

The boss even taught us how to drink chinese tea in the proper manner. He did not allow our tea to languish in hot water, instead he filled up one pot containing the tea leaves with hot water, and then transfered the tea to another empty pot. This was to prevent the hot water from extracting nicoteine and other undesirables from the tea leaves.

Everybody agreed that the food was excellent. Not too salty, not too heavy - just nice in every single way. However, I had one complaint. The bill came up to RM183!!! That's a bit too much to pay for a lunch.


bro, mom, dad, gf and niece

My family is now seriously considering drinking Chinese Tea regularly. It's a noble past-time.

Sometimes Never Is Better

After lunch today, my colleagues and I took a little walk down Chinatown that found us stumbling upon a Hong Kong style desert house that was cramped and narrow, had signs pasted on the wall advertising their fare and exclusive use of Cantonese.

Since I couldn't read chinese, I simply pointed at a desert in a photograph on the wall that looked yellow and cool - it later turned out to be mango puree with sago pudding.

A group of people walked in to the shop, hungry for refreshments. Suddenly one of the group, a woman stopped dead in her tracks and gasp my name out loud.

In return, I gasped as well - she was my ex-colleague whom I hadn't met since... we both left the company. Her office was just around the corner. We exchanged name cards and swore to meet up for lunch soon. I enquired about her daughter, and was shocked to find out that she was 3 years old now... has it been so long since we last met? Where does the time go?

I don't think we'll ever meet again. Once you walk down a different road, it's hard to reestablish the friendship that once was there. Suddenly there seems to be absolutely nothing in common anymore. It's sad, but it's true.

I Know The Following Are True

My birthday falls in July, and I will be 27 years old then. However, in my mind, I turned 27th on 1st Jan 2005. Yes, that's right - if you were to ask me how old I was, I would automatically give you the age I would be in the current year without hesitation.

But if you ask a 26 year old woman, she will probably tell you she's 25 if you asked before her birthday. On the flipside she might also tell you she's 25 since it's not 2006 yet.

I guess that's the difference between men and women. Men do not really mind growing older because we've been told so many times that we're like fine wine (lagi old, even better).

Women have two great enemies that grow stronger with the passing of the years - age and gravity. As they grow older, their gravitational field changes and their face, boobs and bum start to sag.

I know this is true because beauty salon owners are millionaires and i am not.

But guys on the other hand are strange. They use age as excuses to moan and dodge stuff. They won't do chores because their poor backs are killing them, but can probably go play golf all day long. The only thing men mind is losing their hair.

I know this is true because Yun Nam is opening more and more branches.

The Simple Things In Life Make Me Happy

It was a lovely morning. Above us were rolling clouds with coloured hues. We had woken up early at 7am to go for an early swim. The water was warm and still in the pool.

J decides after 5 laps that she has had enough exercise for a day. I relent because it has been a long time since she last swam. I am surprised that she can even swim.

After we dry off, the next stop is Werner's Oven at Siglap road for a hearty German breakfast.



I order the german sausage plus 2 sunny sideups for her and the pancakes for myself. Damn, the coffee there is really good.

On days like this, I know that I've found happiness in life.