Eat drink and be merry - June 2013

THE SHIONGS

It's been a long 2013 but such an eventful one. Yesterday I lamented about my frustration with the repetitiveness of everyday life. I feel sometimes like i'm on one big merry go round, kind of fascinating at first, and then it just keeps spinning in the one same direction and would not bloody stop. First world problems indeed. When I ask myself, what do I have to worry about, what do I have to complain about? The Gen Y in me is disgruntled with my expectations vs reality. I read a great article last night from "Wait but Why" on the perception that we have today as adults vs the 70s vs the 50s, you get the drift.

 

This series of photographs were taken in the Freud Museum in London on 8 June 2013, where we celebrated the union of two dear friends who have taken (at least in Asian terms) a path that is very much less travelled. You know, people of the heterosexual kind ask 'ee-yer, why your friend gay one'. Sometimes I just want to knock them on the head and tell them to walk in their shoes and they wouldn't make it past the front door. Shame. But why should they be?

 The alternative life is not easy. With judgment, with stereotypes, with all the whatyoushouldbes and whatyoumustbes in order to fit in to society.  

You have one little brown mug in this life time. Fill it with what you will.

Life you know, is just what you make of it.

Happy partnership :)

too long out of the kitchen

So today is cook off night. We were slightly indulgent tonight with a scallop, potato and bacon salad with a medley of roasted vegetables....and I have a chocolate brownie baking the oven.

Just what I needed to kick a PMS-y Monday blue's ass.

Bali. Where do I begin? Third time on this island, and am still experiencing something new each time. So this is our annual 'summer' holiday, and I am glad I have some time off to really relax and be free.


We arrived in Denpasar and Ubud on Sunday night. We stayed at De Munut, a small cluster of traditional bungalows just off the centre of ubud. This place surpassed my expectations (by a long long mile). Price quality ratio is the best by far for any place i have stayed in asia , friendly hosts, Beautiful surroundings, gorgeous grounds, peaceful environment, newly renovated rooms, a pool and an awesome outdoor bathroom with a rain shower, what more could I ask for ? Oh yes, and fantastic fresh fruit juices this morning... Gosh I was spoiled !! The only downside is that it is atop a rather steep slope and is super dangerous to walk back up the slope after a dinner in town. Take a scooter... Makes life so much easier !

On day 1 we explored Ubud on foot. We wandered along the two main streets Jalan monkey forest and Jalan hanoman. We then went to monkey forest itself, where a certain monkey to fancy to a certain Mr Mo. beware if you head there -- the monkeys are rather forward with their approach. Some rather aggressive, but others relatively mild (though keenly interested in jewellery and bags). We finished the evening at murni's warung, a little resto at the bottom of the steep slope. Ubud is a colourful little town where history, culture and traditions run deep. The next days we took a motorbike and headed out to the padi fields around Ubud....such a quiet tranquil place!

We finished  the week in Gilli Trewangan going diving with awesome coral reefs and lots of little fish.....

9 feb 2013

Forgot a little announcement. We. Got . Engaged.

Krabi

So it's been 10 year since i was last in Ao nang, the Xmas of 2003...it's may 2013 and I am now back with mr mo. This seaside town , though ravished by tourism is still beautiful , and holds a special place in my heart. I'd be happy to return once I find a quiet enough hotel to rest in. The mercure, though extremely comfy is way too concrete for me, far too much like the condos in Singapore. Next time, we will find something closer to nature....

I spent most of Thursday working after we arrived, but we finally got going on Friday"

Some things we have been up to, revisiting banana pancakes, finding an awesome local hole in the wall for dinner, diving and cooking class ! We met some really nice people this trip, well travelled and fun to talk with. With massages in tow, there is really very little I can complain about.

This holiday also helped me to unwind (though it took 2 full days before cracking down to hold mode), it also gives us much needed time to spend together away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Mothers day 2013

To my dearest mom

role model
pillar of strength
Laughter of the house
Queen of battiness
Secret intelligence
Adventurer of her generation

Hope you has a swell time in dingy old new Ubin seafood restaurant with you crazy family. Happy 31st mothers day!
:)

Gunthers and 2 may

So for mr Mo's birthday this year, we headed to gunthers at purvis street, a restaurant full of accolades, unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed with the food, was expecting to be superbly blown away based on all the reviews online. Mr mo too... That said, service was impeccable and staff were ever so patient and helpful. For the first time I bought mr mo a geeky gadget -- a galaxy note for his birthday so he'd stop complaining about our iPad!

This year was un eventful (unlike last year where we went diving with sharks ... ) , is this what happens after being together for such a long time ? Zz

Delhi - Gurgaon

Sitting in the Delhi office, and nursing a throbbing migraine that's been floating about for the last two days. I wish I had a little more time to enjoy this place, but right now, I'm frankly too pooped to do anything more...i can't wait to go back home....but for now, work beckons...

HELP!

So it would seem that I have a major bug on my blogger and I keep getting spammed!!!! any idea on how to remove this?? i've tried changing my password to no avail :S

What I've been up to this month

The last month has been a treacherous month of work. With lots of projects ni the pipeline for 2013, I could barely take a breath to stop and take check. Today is the last day of January -8.5% of the year has passed us by.

That said, January 2013 marks a special month for me, it's always a month of firsts in many ways, first month of...school, getting into a relationship, living abroad, going skiing, starting new job, and this year, I climbed the great wall. Well, just 4km of it. In the remote border between Beijing and Hebei lies the beautiful and less touched Jin Shan Ling. We scaled the steps before the crack of dawn in the ice and snow to be able to catch a glimpse of the sunrise peaking over the mountains of Hebei. The moment and the view, it was breathtaking. Nevermind that my eyelashes were stiff and frozen from the cold, my fingers fingers swollen and slightly frost bitten, thighs freezing up like a slab of bacon out of the freezer, scaling up the stairs and muttering to myself it is the last time i'm ever doing this, It was worth it. and i did it again, two days later with Mr Mo. And i'd do it again! but in another season perhaps.

Beijing, my unexpected experience. To be honest, I have always been apprehensive about visiting china -- with all the horror stories i've heard, swindling, rudeness, arrogance, loudness, pollution, etc.. i could go on. Yes it is true, the sewer system sucks, it stinks up the entire city (I shudder to think of Beijing in summer). The pollution, the smog, unbearable. I had trouble breathing when I arrived in the airport last Wednesday. Even indoors, my eyes watered from the particles in the air. The sky was a dirty yellow.

The spitting, oh the spitting, I have to watch where I walk, carefully avoiding the line of fire of saliva every 10 meters. Everyone smells like szechuan pepper spiced ashtray, especially in the tube.

Those were my gripes of the city. That said, I was overcome with the city's architecture, it's people, smiley, warm, polite, genuine, a civilisation that now see signs of, but has yet to be destroyed by western globalisation. A city, where people are humble and enriched by history and culture. I am humbled by this experience. Perhaps we were lucky with the people we met, a synical part of me could say it is jsut a facade, and what do I know, I'm just a tourist. I do though, look at this country with a different lens now. Despite it all, Beijing has truly charmed me.

7 January

So we sent Mr Mo's mother off over the weekend, and spent some time lounging and recuperating. It was a quiet epiphany, the last few of which have been spent in Paris having galette des rois, a lovely almond pastry with various loved ones.

So it's back to school today, and it's bizarre to see that festive preparations for the chinese new year are already underway here in Singapore. It is like a two month long party !

Ushering in 2013 - a cold start in Hanoi

For the first time in 6 years we celebrated the new year in Asia, in a super peaceful and quiet environment, certainly a far cry from the parties till dawn we have had in the last few years! This year we spent the new year in the north east of Vietnam, in the Quan Lan village near bai thu long bay, having bay's less known sister. Mr Mo's mother visited over the new year and he took us both to Hanoi and The Bays for a week.

We first arrived in Hanoi on 30th December , a night flight and an hours bus journey into the city centre. Suffice to say initially the 'balmy' winter was a pleasant surprise and change from the humidity and heat I had been warbling over the last few months, but my packing left much to be desired as I severely underestimated the weather.

We revisited an old favorite dinner place and bia hoi of Mr Mo's in a side street which specialized in bit tet--- beef steak to the uninitiated. Sizzling plates of 'beef' drenched in gravy, or pummeled discs of unfathomable meat like texture, mi xao piled with onions, our fellow diners happily sucking on their pigeon feet, to be later spat out and crunched under the shoes of the next unknowing diner, indeed we are in Hanoi. One thing that puzzled me to no end is mr Mo's frequent indignance about tze char and chicken rice in singapore which always came bony but he relished in the pigeon feet strewn on the ground with discarded corn cobs, something I'd never understand. 

On that note, we got relocated against our better judgment from the bluesky hotel as they were fully booked, to a dodgy looking guesthouse whose front of house reminded me of a gambling den in malaysia from the 80s. Not a great start. With no heating and single glazed windows, we huddled in the cold to fall asleep. Remind me the next time I set my perimeters for a hotels in cold climates -- hot water which we had, clean rooms (bed was at least clean) and a goddamn heater (as opposed to a wonky air con which served no purpose other than to keep us awake with its clacking drone throuhgout the night).

Tomorrow, we start our adventures to the bays.