Sunday, March 31, 2013

Fuck - Helmet for my pillow by Robert Leckie

"Always there was that word. Always there was that four-letter ugly sound that men in uniform have expanded into the single substance of the linguistic world. It was a handle, a hyphen, a hyperbole; verb, noun, modifier; yes, even conjunction. It described food, fatigue, metaphysics. It stood for everything and meant nothing; an insulting word, it was never used to insult; crudely descriptive of the sexual act, it was never used to describe it; base, it meant the best; ugly, it modified beauty; it was the name and the nomenclature of the voice of emptiness, but one heard it from the chaplains and captains, from Pfc.'s and Ph.D.'s until, finally, one could only surmise that if a visitor unacquainted with English were to overhear our conversations he would, in the way of the Higher Criticisms, demonstrate by measurement and numerical incidence that this little word must assuredly be the thing for which we were fighting."

This paragraph reflects the book in its entirety. A lot of bombs and fighting, a lot of bombastic words.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Kein wunder why I am tired...

I am very exhausted nowadays. Even going to bed earlier doesn't seem to work. I am not conscious that it is a restless sleep, and I wake up feeling very tired without realizing why. I already don't sleep enough so I feel very anal and nasty the next day.

Last night, I went to bed as usual. Apparently it rained very hard, which I did not hear because I was sleeping through the rain (so complained Bobo who had to get up and close the windows). But to me, it felt as if I wasn't sleeping and I was feeling very stressed, hot and fidgety.

This morning Bobo asked me. 

"Did you know you freaked me out last night?"

"What did I do?"

"You were snoring. I got up to close the windows because of the rain and then I happened to look at you. Then you suddenly opened your eyes, looked at me and whined "我没有睡到" ("I didn't sleep at all" - English), then closed your eyes and went back to snoring. Did you know how freaking scary that was?"
Wirklich?

Friday, March 15, 2013

Reddit Gift Exchange

I participated in the snacks exchange for a lark, because sometimes you just have to do fun things to make yourself realize that work is not everything. Besides giving and receiving stuff in the mail is really exciting (though painful to wait for, I am not a patient person).

Before I go into what I got, my giftee also got what I sent him! He actually bothered to spread them out to take a foto, so sweet :). And registering the mail really ensured that the things arrived in their original shapes, (just check out the rice crackers) and not shattered in a thousand pieces like what happened to the cookies I sent to schnappi a long time ago.
My gift: Jagabee Potato sticks (I have yet to find someone who hates them), rice crackers, ribena pastilles, preserved mango, chocolate and retro local cookies.
When my cousins and I were small, the little cookies with the equally tiny icing on top was very ubiquitous. Now my cousin feeds her little girl macaroons (cheapest -> S$2 a piece), I am like WTF?!

I remember always digging for the yellow ones, even though the bloody things taste the same. Haha. Anyway back to my present. I was busy today, so B1 got the parcel for me from the post office. So when I came home, I tore into the parcel (it took 3 bloody long weeks to arrive!).
I didn't have the heart to tell the two lovely senders that nearly half of the stuff they got me can be found in Singapore. But I thought that the Garfield sweet was really outstanding! I loved the containers it came in. I never saw that before. And I always wanted to try saltwater taffy ever since I read about that in books (psst, ok, I read that in BSC - Babysitter's Club- so you know how long I have been wondering!).

I will bring some to share with Bär, he being more of an insane sweetaholic than me. I will post tomorrow what B1 got from the mail as well, because the weird stuff he bought me for gardening has also arrived today!

Updated!
Was absolutely happy when I realized that they also put in chocolate eggs into the parcel as well!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Insanely good food at Saveur Singapore

Taken by my lovely camera before its lens went kaputt (S$6.90)
Mr Bear said the night scenery at Gardens by the Bay was very nice and that he was going to bring Mrs Bear there Samstag night. So being the shameless thick-skinned thing I am, I immediately put up a paw and asked if we could go along.

So Mr Bear said, ok, how about dinner? I reassured that I would have no problem finding a place as long as he told me his budget.

S$20 a head? Wtf? On a Saturday night... Flexing my fingers, I dug deep into the Internet and found Saveur.

Saveur used to operated as a food stall by two Shatec (I missed their old training restaurants, Rosette and Petals) graduates in a kopitiam called Ali Baba Eating House (I kid you not) located along Joo Chiat. It later moved to its current location in Purvis Street. The place is so popular that it does not take reservations. Instead you will queue up obediently for one of its 60 seats.

B1 and I got lost, because I remembered wrongly Purvis Street as the street near Bugis MRT station. Nope, it is near City Hall station behind Raffles Hotel and perpendicular from the National Library. We left our names, after someone kindly told us to (you see, everyone was bizarrely standing in a line, even though the restaurant has opened for dinner). Then we wandered to Mani.cur.ious like I said before.

When Mr and Mrs Bear showed up, bizarrely dressed in bermudas and polo tees, B1 and I were sweating like mad. A middle aged lady had even fainted from the heat. Yup, the food is worth fainting for. Finally we got our seats, where we were served iced water very promptly without being asked, a totally appreciated gesture.
I insisted that it was a goose when we saw it on the signboard. Turns out it was a Duck
We had been standing outside the restaurant like little match girls, we noticed this signboard about their pasta being available for takeaways. Must be very popular, we concluded, so B1 and Mr Bear both ordered that. Me, I ordered foie gras with creamy lentils and pickled pearl onions, while Mrs Bear, bread rolls and Soup of the Day (which was Mushroom soup). 
Sorry, usually I wouldn't order bread rolls unless I know who made them. (S$2)

The pasta was most excellent. Al dente, with just the right touch of flavorsome chili oil. One thing I didn't get was why it was minced meat sauce in the menu, when it tasted like tuna to me. B1 liked the crunch of the little sakura ebi (I skipped that because I don't like prawns).
Mushroom Soup. Ok, nothing exciting. (S$4.90)
My foie gras was a wee bit crispy and then all creamy and gooey and yummy inside, all of the right kind. Not like that horrible place Two Face Pizza that burnt it. Just the right amount of sear. Swoon....I would have preferred the apple-infused port wine and vanilla bean, but I decided to save some $$ for dessert.
Just the right amount of sear (S$7.90)
Then it was onto the entrees. I chose the braised short ribs, Mrs Bear, the pan-seared bass, and the guys, the duck confit, because everyone else was ordering it.
Duck Confit (S$10.90)
 The duck confit was pretty awesome, though a bit chao tah (burnt), I thought. B1 loved the mushrooms (duh, he being a mushroom nut after all).  It was fragrant and not the least bit gamy and ducky. B1 insisted I try even though I didn't eat much duck ever since it entered my non-edible list because I like ducks.
Pan-seared sea bass (S$14.90)
Mrs Bear mmm-mmmed through her pan-seared sea bass. She kept commenting that it was juicy. I had to restrain myself from saying "moist, you say it's moist, not juicy." I am naughty and fussy that way. But she was sort of right, the fish flaked easily at the fork and was moist and flavorful.

It was during dinner that we had a pretty wild conversation about foreign brides. It was brought up because Mr Bear realized that he had dressed really down and other diners really dressed up well for dinner. Duh, it's a French restaurant, after all, on Purvis Street. Besides cheap and good eats then party in some club downtown is a good idea. I pointed out to Mrs Bear that there were a lot of local girls dressed up and eating with Caucasian men. I remembered a conversation with an online friend, who said that the Thai women who migrated to his country were ugly and married to really old men. I realized that these women were actually smarter than me. They get to stay at home and keep home without having to worry about where their next meal was coming from. Whereas I studied all the way to MSc, but have to work like mad everyday.

Mrs Bear replied "but they have to please the old man, you know?"

"We have it worse," I retorted. "We have to please our bosses at work. Come home and have to please the old man at home too." Got the evil eye from B1 for that. hehe.
Braised short rib (S$14.90)
Finally my braised short rib came. It was worth the wait. It was soft and tender, and had my favorite mesclun salad and vinaigrette dressing. Yum yum. I thought the gratin wasn't as hot as it should be though.
Strawberries with basil sorbet (I forgot what was the price, it was a special)
We decided on our desserts. I got the strawberry special with basil sorbet, which tasted great! Too bad Mr Bear kept stealing from me. :( He and his wife shared a chocolate mousse with crushed hazelnuts. B1 ordered Textures of Citrus, which was blood orange jelly served with orange granité, freeze-dried pineapple, feuilletine, citrus segments, and lime zest. I didn't like his much.

Textures of Citrus (S$6.90)
Chocolate and Hazelnut (S$7.90)
The entire bill came out to be about S$120, which was pretty excellent, considering what we ate. It was really worth fainting for. I would definitely come back here to eat.

In a nutshell,
Saveur
5 Purvis Street, 
Talib Court #01-04 
Singapore 188584

Sunday, March 3, 2013

In flagrante fartico

The two of us are in the descending lift, when B1 suddenly farts. It's a running joke between us, especially since he doesn't like it when I make the nasty sound.

It is an especially loud one, and we are laughing appreciatively (too comfortable with each other for our own good), when the lift suddenly slows down to our horror. A mother, with two young kiddies and her maid in tow, comes into the lift. None of them notices our look of guilt, especially the hapless boy who moves towards the rear of the lift (B1 and I are both leaning against opposite walls perpendicular to the door. 
The boy stands between us. And for the most bizarre reason, he starts sniffing REALLY LOUDLY *lol*. Sniff Sniff Sniff (3 times)! He then wears a very peculiar expression. Must be because he is the perfect height for taking in the Odious Maximus. We are truly caught in flagrante delicto.

B1, the dick he is, immediately puts a finger across his nose, pretending that the offender is me. Offended, I pointed at him. The kid ignores both of us and moves closer to the door (probably in the vain attempt to inhale fresh air). 

When we alight, and barely reach out of earshot, I screech like a banshee with laughter while B1 scolds me like a naggy granny for outing him.

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