Back to Melby I Go

One year ago, in about one week's time, I was in Arizona, battling the snowstorm, running from stray dogs, bonding with strangers turn friends and teaching native american school children how to ensure that their friends do not become speed bumps.

This year in about one week's time, I'll be in Tweed Heads, Queensland, seeing my darling for the first time in about two months.

I am absolutely hopping with excitement and apprehension. How will this year turn out? How will honours be? Will I get a job? Will I be moving to Sydney next year? Will I be going home to Singapore? How will it be without bob in melby?

Same place. Same school. New year.

Chinese New Year is About the Food!

These sushi pieces look so much nicer than the ones I make for lunch in Melbourne....that's cause' my mum made these.....the artistic gene was never passed down to me

Bloody prawn ngoh hiang!!

A still life composition of my bento boxes

The most successful thing I made so far - cashew nut cookies!

Valentine's Day Special With the Family

My favourite Soonduboo and Mando!! I'll take this over some fancy baby-portion valentine's day set menu at a chi-chi restaurant out to charge you a quick buck to commerate the day they hung st valentine.

And That Is Why I Rather Be a Girl.....

After observing human beings interact for sometime, my conclusion on the modern failure to relationships: Expectations.

Telling it from a girl's point of view. When the girl first meets the boy, all she wants is for him to turn around and acknowledge her presence. After the first date, all she wants is a call from the guy. When they first get together, all she wants is a few dinner outings here and there. And after a while......she expects dinner dates, constant phone calls, remember her birthday/anniversary/valentine's day/dog's birthday etc, shower her with presents, manja her, sayang her, respect her, kiss her, cuddle her, meet her grandparents, go shopping with her, fetch her to school, fix her computer, watch movie with her...and the list goes on.

And girls being girls, we never tell the guy what we expect! Because the guy is suppose to know! If he doesn't know,we think he doesn't love us enough! I bet this is what all guys think is the ideal relationship:

Girl: Ey next monday my birthday. I want a bud light and we can stay at home and watch footy on TV. You can arrange the strippers and I'll order the pizza.

Haha...not in a million years. The last time my former boyfriend wanted to watch X-Man on our first year anniversary, I flipped. All the guys thought it was the best idea ever, while the girls totally sympathized with me.

Advice to all guys: Never suggest watching a guy flick on your girlfriend's birthday or on your anniversary. She normally wants an activity which involves some form of verbal communication. I think playing Daytona and air hockey cuts it for Bob and I. There is action and communication! It is perfect!

P.s Bob I just checked the price of a 8 person Daytona machine - USD40,000. Airhockey table is about USD2000. Just in case you were considering.

Prawn Star

I spent about three hours today ripping the heads off squishy dead prawns, brains and blood running down my arm. Then I had to cut open their backs and pull out all the sticky black stuff which I assume is prawn shit or something. After peeling what felt like a thousand prawns while listening to my aunt's hokkein music on a loop, I dug my hand into a pail of bloody mince pork to marinate. Finally, we wrapped the mince stuff into soybean skin and steam it all. And we got Ngoh Hiang!

My hand now smells like a dead animal.

Relationships

First year together, the boy tells the girl, "It's not that I don't wanna marry you, I just don't have the money."

Fifth year together, boy tells girl, "It's not that I don't have the money, I just don't wanna marry you."


While walking back from salsa class,

Me: Salsa is like a biblical relationship, the man leads and the woman pretends to follow.
Nigel: What? The woman pretends?

There are Salsa Clubs and there are Salsa Clubs

Departing from our usual salsa club where commoners such as Del, Ming and myself gather, we ventured into Brix, where the rich and old came to frolick.

Instead of diluted cocktails, the poison of choice was red wine and cognac. And gracing the dance floor were middle-aged tai-tais and their young handsome dance instructors/toyboys.

The men there were mostly Caucasian expatriates, hovering around young pretty foreign women whose careers involved nocturnal vice. These ladies with substantial skin showing, mostly stood in pairs or alone, surveying the scene for potential customers. We saw a few transactions being made. One rather matured one came over to our table and started chatting. Turns out she was rather fond of the only male in our group. Unfortunately that affection was not reciprocated.

The tai-tais hung on to their foreign dance instructors (DIs) like their latest Gucci handbag, while these DIs in their skin tight muscle tees looked broodingly bored. A rather crudely large man tried to salsa but looked like he was going to tear the arms off his helpless partner. The couple sitting behind us was bouncing like they were on crack.

It was 12:30am, and the place was throbbing with expensive cigars, Latino music and Valentino-clad socialites. After our new lady-of-the-night friend decided to flaunt her assets somewhere else richer, we made a move, back into the reality of our commoner world.

Pink is the New Black No Matter How Cliche It Sounds

So it is a bit pink....but it is also Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year...and I felt a bit festive...therefore the pink....and also because I actually like pink.......anyway just testing a new template to see how it goes

Housewife Training Part 1

Korean cooking class by Tarah, the chef of Togi, a fantastic Korean restaurant near the crossroad of east coast road and still road. I can't wait to try it. My salsa friends say her soondooboo is the best. She was teaching us how to make kimchi, chapchae and bulgogi. The secret to the sweet taste in bulgogi: pear.

Baking party with Clarence. We made vanilla cupcakes with frosted cream and coconut topping. Also made rock hard curry buns. The curry buns were an utter flop, and while we got the texture of th cupcakes right, I think it is too sweet. Oh well, will try again. Also made rosemary and thyme bread with my trusty bread machine. It went well with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

There Should Be an Oscar Nominee For Best Tear Jerker Movie

Watched Babel and cried so much I think strangers started getting concerned. I was literally sobbing into my skirt. At the end I cried so much I couldn't breathe and had eyes so red it looked like my marriage ended. I cry when I watch any show. I cried when Simba's dad died. I cried when the genie appeared in Aladdin. I cried when Harry Met Sally. I cried when I watched Friends. And through it all, my trusty Fibrewig mascara never ran on me. Who needs waterproof Maybelline when my Japanese kitschy mascara is as trusty as a Honda.

After mopping up the puddle I made, I went for my first tango class. Tango looks deceptively easy on TV than it actually is in real life. The girl has absolutely no idea what the guy is going to do next. And there are no hand signals unlike salsa. I was concentrating so hard it must have been funny to look at. And almost everyone there was married. And with their partners. And so it was awkward for me to dance with any guy there. When the instructor announced, "Everyone find a partner," all the girls glued themselves on to their husbands while I stood around looking like a home-wrecker.

And I miss my boyfriend. Long distance is too long. I have spoken more about him than with him in the last one week. Sigh...... I miss you Bob!! I made you muffins. But I ate them on your behalf.

Good Bye and I Wish I Tried Harder

Today is the first time I confronted someone willingly.

Today is the first time my friendship consciously ended.

Sometimes to love someone is to let the person know that you mean it when you said you had enough.