August 2008

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The Omnivore’s 100

August 31, 2008 in Ramblings | No comments

From mei.

Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi – maybe
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth US$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I so need to go out and try the rest.

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A Comet Appears

August 31, 2008 in Ramblings | No comments

One hand on this wily comet,
Take a drink just to give me some weight,
Some uber-man I’d make,
I’m barely a vapor

They shone a chlorine light on,
A host of individual sins,
Let’s carve my aging face off,
Fetch us a knife,
Start with my eyes,
Down so the lines,
Form a grimacing smile,

Close your eyes to corral a virtue,
Is this fooling anyone else?
Never worked so long and hard,
To cement a failure,

We can blow on our thumbs and posture,
But the lonely is such delicate things,
The wind from a wasp could blow them,
Into the sea,
With stones on their feet,
Lost to the light and the loving we need,

Still to come,
The worst part and you know it,
There is a numbness,
In your heart and it’s growing,

With burnt sage and a forest of bygones,
I click my heels,
Get the devils in line,
A list of things I could lay the blame on,
Might give me a way out,

But with each turn,
It’s this front and center,
Like a dart stuck square in your eye,
Every post you can hitch your faith on,
Is a pie in the sky,
Chock full of lies,
A tool we devise,
To make sinking stones fly,

And still to come,
The worst part and you know it,
There is a numbness,
In your heart and it’s growing.

A Comet Appears – The Shins

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It Crumbled

August 30, 2008 in Ramblings | 1 comment

The walls crumbled.

I let it.

The alcohol had nothing to do with it. Truthfully I was worried about how I am getting increasingly immune to the effects of the alcohol. But then I had something else to worry about.

Like what will happen when I let the walls crumble.

I have mixed feelings when I realised it was not as bad as before.

As for the walls, they were rebuilt the moment I was home.

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Familiar Face

August 27, 2008 in Ramblings | No comments

What are the chances of meeting someone that you have not met for almost 20 years?

A familiar face. Amongst the crowd. Walked past me. I looked at the face, trying to remember.

Then I remembered.

I turned my head back. At exactly the precise moment the face did the same thing. We both laughed. Did not stop.

Two weeks later.

Facebook.

Somethings in life are like that.

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I Have A iPhone

August 23, 2008 in Interests and Hobbies, Ramblings | 1 comment

I took sometime off with my friend to buy this :
iPhone

First, they verified our IC with the reservation email that they sent to us. Then, we were in this queue for almost 15 minutes.
Queue 1

After which, they moved us, in groups of 10, to another part of the building for yet another queue. We were in this queue for around 2 hours, where they had people filling up the application form for us. We were offered free bottled water and coffee, but it was boring and hot, there were no seats, nothing. If my friend was not with me, I would have given up.
Queue 2

Then they moved us again, to yet another queue. It was only in this queue that we managed to see the building where the people were purchasing the iPhones. We were in this queue for almost 45 minutes.
Queue 3

Then we were finally moved to this glass building, where we could purchase our iPhones. The whole process took 15 minutes, even though they had like 50 counters selling them.

After 2 hours and 15 minutes, I finally had my hands on an iPhone.

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Heights

August 21, 2008 in Words of Wisdom | No comments

“The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.”

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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We, the Citizens of Singapore

August 21, 2008 in Ramblings | No comments

I may complain a lot about the Government. I may complain a lot about Singaporeans. But that comes naturally as a Singaporean.

True, the Singapore Government is not perfect. It has a lot of faults. But if you look at the other countries in the world, how many Governments out there are better than the Singapore Government? I can count with one hand. At the end of the day, I am born in Singapore. I may not work or live in Singapore in the future, that I am not sure, but no matter where I am, Singapore is always my home.

Which is why I could never understand what is this big fuss about all Chinese should be proud that China is hosting the Olympics. True, I am a Chinese, but I am a Singaporean Chinese, not a China Chinese. I am glad that they can spend so much money to host the Olympics, the opening ceremony was stunning, and they are excellent hosts and so on, but please understand that because I always consider myself as a Singaporean Chinese, I can never relate myself to whatever is happening in China.

You can use the Olympics to showcase yourself as a new superpower. You may have all the tallest and shiniest buildings, but if you continue to have no moral values, continue to have corruption rampant throughout the country, continue to behave like hooligans outside your country, no amount of money spent, no number of tall buildings built, no number of bullet trains owned will earn you any respect.

I ain’t afraid to tell this to anyone,

I am Singaporean. And I am proud to be one.

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American Dream

August 20, 2008 in Happenings | No comments

This brings a tear to my eyes :

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olyplaschke20-2008aug20,0,3864343.column

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Room With A View

August 20, 2008 in Ramblings | 2 comments

My new client place where I am currently stationed now is in town. Besides the obvious advantage of being in the city and the MRT station is within walking distance, it has a very nice view of the port, the ongoing construction of the integrated resort and the superb view of the sea. On a clear day, it is even possible to view the whole stretch of East Coast beach and pick up buildings in Changi.

When I need to feel better during work, all I have to do is to look out of the window, and my spirits will soar a bit. I think I finally realise the importance of having a nice view, regardless of whether it is at work or at home.

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Memories

August 17, 2008 in Ramblings | No comments

As part of a New Year’s resolution I made, I had to travel to a part of Singapore that I have not being for more than 2 years.

As the train passes station after station, I discovered that there are less greens than I remembered. Where once there were lush vegetation, now stands tall concrete buildings. Where once there were open lands, now stands yellowish brown construction sites. Buildings that I remembered were being constructed now stands tall and filled with life.

I remembered the scenery. And more.

A friend once told me, at the end of the day, the things that anchored you to a place are your friends, families and places which you have lots of memories of. In a fast moving place like Singapore, the places that you had fond and bitter memories of, are temporary. So what is left are friends and families.

At the end of the trip, the memories that came flooding back, both bitter and sweet, reminded me that I still remember them. And that no matter where I am, or who I am, those memories will forever have a place in me.

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