The day I took the bus

I can’t ever understand why the people in this country seem to be in a perpetual foul mood. I’ve given it multiple chances, hoping for a salvation somewhere, one day, but as optimistic as I’ve been trying to be or have been… at the end of the day, I just want to get the hell out of this shithole and breathe in a country other than here.

I recently came back from Japan – the land of proper, and maybe more so for a Singaporean like me, a land filled with people with unusually great, FANTASTIC manners. What can I say, go book a ticket there and you’ll never wanna head back home. One has to experience Japan first hand to know, understand and feel what Japan is all about and one of the amazing traits of the country is its people’s natural sense to be courteous, and kind. It’s like a the Be Kind, Be Polite, Be Nice microchip is embedded in their brains. You can ask the simpliest questions like directions to Point A and a Japanese will make damn sure you know how to get there and even if he/she has no conversational English skills, he/she goes all out to explain to you even to the extent of printing out the map for you. Without making any form of why-the-fuck-should-I-help-you face. Without a hesitant pause. It feels like love sometimes, a love for mankind and all you want to do is hug the world and be nice.

Anyway, I came back to Singapore and it was back from such a good vacation and it being a new year… I planted that Japanese microchip in me but it proved to be no mean feat to behave as I should. On the way to mum’s place, I decided to take the bus located at the nearby shopping centre. Braving the sun (who wouldn’t after two weeks of 8 degrees), I waited for the bus to arrive and suddenly gastric pains hit me and made me puke. I puked several times before reaching the ladies and even then, rushed out so as not to miss my bus (which came at 15-minutes intervals) but of course, when I was 30 seconds away from the bus stop, I saw my bus! I ran after it and though it was obvious the driver saw my flailing arms, he closed his doors and drove off.

Fine.

My fault.

He was under no obligation to wait for me but he could have. It would have been nice. It would have been alright since it wasn’t even during peak hours The bus barely had any passengers on board.

But fine, I can deal with this.

I sat down, fiddled with my phone and waited for the next bus to arrive. When it finally did and I stood up, the entire contents of my handbag fell out from its unzipped zipper. Scrambling to collect everything off the ground, fearing that I might again miss the bus which was already parked right in front of me, I ran to the front of the bus and guess what, the driver closed his damn door on me. AGAIN. He was about to FUCKING drive off, when I banged against the door – insistent that he give way and open its doors.

He did.

But not without me making a scene like some mad woman.

Is it so hard to be nice, and wait? I understand that they must have a time schedule but it is it that awful to have to wait that extra 10 seconds for a passenger especially when it’s not even a busy part of the day?

You see, when a person is mean to me, I become a meanie. The cycle has to stop somewhere.

Kindness, people. When did it fly out of the window?

4th

It was an intimate celebration, just the three of us and a handmade cake made out of tinned fish and salmon flakes. There were candles (just one actually since anything more than that and the whole cake would be covered in wax!), and the compulsory photoshoot – an annual tradition we hope we’d abide to just so we can see how he’s grown over the years.

You do know we’re talking about our cat right?

But not just any cat, he’s our first little baby, our furkid Van She, also sometimes and maybe many times known as…

• Monstaaaaa (when obviously he’s acting like a monster ripping through our toilet paper)
• Kangaroo (when he actually thinks he is one and starts hopping from point A and point B like a kamikaze kangaroo)
• Gabboosh (just cause it’s a nice nickname)
• Babooska (same reason as above)
• Van Van (when we wake up in bed and he has his paw on my cheek. but never used when I wake up with his bum inches from my face)

Take note, little van responds to all these nicknames willingly unless of course he’s feeling lazy and just wants to roll about and ignore us – HIS PARENTS!

We are very proud of him despite his naughtiness – he smashes things, into things and eats all the human food we forgot to keep covered. The aftermath of his food misadventures always evident with pieces of spring rolls on the kitchen floor, the toaster oven’s door ajar and there’s a missing chicken drumlet and of course, the toppled bag after he’s rummaged and extracted out my leftover sandwich (this pussycat loves bread!) are just some of the silly things he’s capable of!

But I guess, we wouldn’t want it any other way!

New chef in the house!

The husband has FINALLY decided that he’ll put on that apron and start cooking so the kitchen’s been busy these days especially after he realized how easy my recipes are. I’m kinda like the chef who uses anything in the pantry and fridge, throw it all in, add a bit of this and that, season and ta-da! Cooking has always been an intuitive and agak-agak process for me but when it comes to teaching him to cook – it’s a bit different and requires patience especially when the trainee doesn’t even know how to even peel garlic! It’s working out alright though, at least he loves the end result!

Last week, he attempted Spaghetti Bolognaise and last night, we went for Thai!

Thai green curry with chicken, eggplant and potatoes. Sprinkles of basil.

A stir-fry of baby kailans, asparagus, broccolis and button mushrooms. We splashed some oyster sauce for flavour and topped it off with sesame oil.

The 4-pm breakfast: Hatched

Given the choice to wake up at 9 am and having a fruitful well-packed with activities day versus waking up at 3 pm only to realize that there’s not enough time to do everything one had mentally checklisted the night before in bed, I’d chose the former. But, the lazy latter creeps up on me every single time and I hate it every time it happens. That should be my new years resolution (yes, I’ve begun The 2012 list) – turn into an early riser.

In the meantime, between the 1 1/2 months to the new year (aaw, come on rising early needs preparation work, need to build up on my mental strength and physical capabilities in order to push one’s doona out of the way and slowly lift the body out of bed), I’ve decided that I can still have breakfast any time of the day as long as it’s the first meal of the day. Any first meal of the day is breakfast, even Merriam Webster would with agree me on this:

Definition of BREAKFAST

- noun – the first meal of the day, usually taken in the morning

Let’s just ignore the “usually taken in the morning” because I’m nothing but a usual person. Haha.

Which is why establishments like Hatched would be frequented by people like me and the husband (well, at least for the next 1 1/2 months). Hatched serves all-day breakfast, specialising in dishes involving the humble egg.

The perfect oval shells packed with  proteins, vitamins and minerals is so versatile, so many things you can do it with it. Fry, boil, poach, half boil, bake or if you’re like me, scramble them up with a good dose of milk, cheese, salt and peppa and serve with a browned toast. That’s the way I like them but occasionally a bit of luxurious poached egg on a muffin, with lavafuls of hollandaise sauce will definitely make my day.

Hatched really does demonstrate every single thing you can do to an egg. Once you have the egg in your hand, it’s in your hands what you can do to it! They have the classics, eggs benedict and scrambled egg, boiled eggs and soldiers but also offer fresh variations like their Mexicans-style eggs fried with caramelised onions, potatoes and capsicums. Check out their menu!

Located on Evan’s road, right next to that 24-hour prata stall

Burly Benedict, eggs benedict on a muffin with corned wagyu beef and Mornay sauce

His – Smoked Royale, eggs benedict with pieces of Salmon and hollandaise sauce

Mee Hoon Soto Ayam

Getting in touch with my roots, I got busy perfecting a classic noodles dish – The Mee Hoon Soto Ayam. It’s a very Indonesian, very Malay, and a very comforting dish to slurp during these rainy evenings. The bagedels were omitted out to make it seem healthier (it’s not I tell you and you can see evidence of how fatty it is by the oils swimming at the top) and instead I took inspiration from a version of the dish I had at one of those pitstops from KL to Singapore. As toppings, I replaced the bagedels with thin strips of fried tofu, chicken slices, half a boiled egg and red chillies plus corainder leaves as garnish.

White porcelain bowl and flashy pink lace placemat from Daiso!

Girls Day Out

Now that things are chilled, not many family dramas going on…I find more time to spend with my two favourite girls – mum and farah, or nara or the annoying sister whom I love but sometimes wanna wring her neck with raffia string (if you don’t comprehend this you’re probably an only child).  We used to be very close especially when we were both studying in Melbourne and also when she was still wearing diapers since I was her only friend then. In Melbourne – I remember each memory vividly, all the late nights sobbing our hearts out while watching Japanese dramas, our (skinny) selves tucked under the doona. Sharing a Sara Lee banana custard crumble –  our winter comfort food,  a secret dessert that kept us warm and safe as we tried to console ourselves to sleep (and the fact that we still haven’t found our Takeshi Kaneshiro lookalike boyfriends) because those nights, some of those  nights, we missed our little brother and mum so much it made “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” a cliche we wished wasn’t true.

My sister, whom I shared my deepest thoughts and whom I could talk to about everything, was the best personal (FOC) shrink I’ve ever had and still is. She provides free services around the clock, who wouldn’t want that. And damn, when we bitch, we’d bitch real well! We did had a lot to bitch about though, making the bitching a natural and easy thing to successfully be good at.

I remember I’d always look forward meeting her at the bus stop as she trudged in her blazer with her Year 11 books after she was done with school. Those thirty minutes of travel were sometimes the best parts of my day where we didn’t have to deal with anyone else, we were a bit of birds unleashed where we joked and laughed as loud as we wanted to. Be ourselves.

All the silly things we’d get up to, photoshoots by the railway tracks and picnicking by the beach. Scavenging for the cheapest tops and ra-ra skirts at Supre, to later prance around at Coles for a chance to get to know cute stacker boys. We were XXS-es then. All the pasta dinners at La Porchetta, the gelato cones at King’s Park, the fish and chips wrapped in newspaper at Lorne. The Blonde Aussies with perfectly ruffled hair, pining for one of our own but content with each other’s company. The teriyaki eggplant bento we’d always order at a Japanese joint run by a Turkish man. The chicken kebabs we’d halve at Westfield shopping centre, our neighbourhood mall. Oh my, oh gosh, I miss those days.

Now, we live at the opposite ends of the island. A cab ride away. Though we’re not as close as we used to be…she is still my younger, fearless, collected, stubborn, logical sister (with thicker hair and a waist I’d die for). She’s my defender, my best friend, the joker, the prankster (but I still want to wring her neck sometimes).

We managed to make time last week and have a tea session at Arteastiq – a specialised cafe which serves different kinds of tea and coffee. It screams girly with its pretty, colourful chairs and teacups fit for the Queen’s breakfast table. Mum tagged along as well and by coincidence, it turned out to be an impromptu Girls Day Out.

Couldn’t resist the hot fruit teas, I chose lychee and the tea as you can see, was very clear in colour but was very aromatic especially with the fresh lychees left to soak in its waters. Love the transparent teapot, where can I get one? Hmmmmm…

Candy coloured chairs served as special lighting which made everything looked prettier, daintier and girlier.

Farah’s selection – Hot Mocha with biscuit. I stole half of it but she didn’t notice it at all (think the pastel chairs might have something to do with this cause she’s usually vigilant when it comes to catching food thieves aka her siblings).

Mum’s found the perfect teahouse to escape to after work/during weekends. She had the Cocospoon with dark chocolate. See that stick of dark chocolate? Dip it into the steaming cup of milk and you get delish hot chocolate. The individual Cocospoons are also on sale at the cash counter.

Heartwarming orange cake – fluffy in the inside, with a muted but nicely aromatic orange flavour.

The tea lounge is located next to Art Jam – where you can take social painting classes.

Bon Appetit!

Junkie moments

I swear these were taken and instagrammed before we took the oath to be healthy and go vegan!

Had the pizza at the in-laws while laughing through slideshows of past birthdays and the Wendy’s treat was a fulfilled late night supper craving. It was my first time and now I’m suddenly building spuds in the air – visualizing all the delicious toppings one could have.

Chilli and cheese, an unbeatable classic. Sour cream, chives, beans and bacon bits. Broccoli and cheese – a more forgiving option for us. So I say!

Mini Muffins

This week marks the start of our healthy lifestyle week, in which we both made a pact to go meatless. NO MORE DEAD ANIMALS, at least till we lose a couple of kilos here and there, everywhere. We have to look good for all the beaches we’re heading to at year’s end, hopefully!

Since fruits fall in the category of what makes a healthy diet and bananas fall in the category of fruits, and banana choc muffins fall in the category of bananas which are in the fruits category – I guess that logically and completely rationalizes the consumption of banana choc muffins in the household! No?! Yes?!

Yes?

No?

Haha, yes?

Keep telling myself yes?

No?

Just eat one and shut up woman!

Preview: Mui Ne

I know I’m bad at updating my blog with travel entries, seem to have a neverending backlog but I couldn’t resist uploading this fun vid of us ATV-ing at the white sand dunes in Mui Ne, Vietnam. A birthday treat from the husband! Enjoy, till I find time to edit more vids and pics!

A Curious Us

Many moons back, remember how I mentioned a newly created mantra, in which we will try to get out and discover new cafes around the island? Well, we haven’t been religious about it, and I haven’t been blogging about all the new places we did check out. One of which is A Curious Teepee, located just next to cineleisure. It’s probably one of two reasons (the other would be Once Upon a Milkshake) why anyone would bother to walk up and venture towards the Scape section.

I do love the cafe. It’s got a clean Swedish charm but with just the right dose of eccentricities. A handful of trinkets, notebooks, funky clothes and of course, what charmed me was the cafe/drinks section of the shop. Don’t you just love how they’ve fused both together? Kinda like Pluck where you can grab a vintage dress and then plonk yourself down for some teh tarik ice cream. Nice concept.

Pretty stands to entice

Cactus and coffee