Little People, Big World

I've come out of hiblognation to point you to Little People (via).

And also to note that I'm on my countdown to the last day of work. The 12th officially, but with leave to clear, the 3rd. I'm wrapping up on the Taipei project (I suppose I ought to put up some pictures) and then before you know it, it'll all be over. And in that space under 'occupation', my answer will be 'unemployed'. It's been an interesting year of work, and I've enjoyed a large part of it. A couple of the projects - especially those dealing with statistics - I've dreaded, but I'm glad it's ending on a good note, with the trip to Taipei, getting to interview interesting people and see parts of the city the average tourist probably wouldn't.

And with things to do, books to read, bags to pack, visitors coming for Christmas and the wedding, I'm looking forward to December.

monday in the kitchn

A chicken pie (shortcrust pastry made from scratch). Leftover pastry makes for some ugly ducklings.


Prawn cakes - instead of breadcrumbs, we processed some rolled oats. Crispy!

And not pictured, an orange sponge cake, covered with a honey-marmalade.

too relaxed?

Last night, R forwarded a two-sheeted excel document from his friends whose wedding is a week after ours. It's a comprehensive list of helpers, contacts, a detailed schedule of the actual day and what-nots. And they've even scheduled a helpers' meet-up for next month.

It looks like we've got some catching up to do.

But with two months to go, and things more or less booked, I figure, eh, we're doing ok. Sure there are the little things to sort out, but I don't think ours is a complicated wedding. We do need some help from friends and family to run things on the actual day, but I think things should go fine.

(Although as I type this, I wonder, am I too relaxed? People keep saying I seem very relaxed for someone who's getting married in a couple o fmonths. Is there such a thing? Why do brides always seem so stressed out and busy doing stuff? I know I've asked this before, but it seems like such a surprise to people that it keeps me wondering, huh, what should I be doing? What should I be thinking about? And yet as I think about these questions - answers are a blank - I think of what is important to me on the day itself: That the people who matter are there. And that everyone's happy and eating good food.)

Songs for a rainy Friday (in four languages)

Juanes and Andrés Calamaro - Minas Piedras

Kaolin - Partons Vite

Adele - Hometown Glory

Björk - Vökuró

Penang Penang

Friday to Sunday. Family trip to Penang. For a wedding.

Best told in pictures.

Thursday bits

Margaret Atwood on life and debt

Palin for President? (click on stuff, especially the phone! Someone sure has a lot of free time)

And my favourite recent online discovery? Being able to watch full eps of The Daily Show online! Like this one from 20 October, where Jon Stewart investigates what makes "Real America".

want a naan

After a weekend of Penang food, I wanted something non-Asian for dinner. It's like people needing to eat Chinese food after a few days in Europe, except that I need to eat ang moh food.

The canteen at the airport had the usual offerings, zhi char, cai peng, noodles... the one western stall had such a queue, perhaps also from pasta-starved Singaporeans returning from trips in the region. It was too long, and the relatives were all picking the quick and easy choices, so I figured I should look for something else. The only thing else was the Indian stall, which listed naans - plain, garlic or cheese. But as I looked at their naan, I just couldn't help think of the lovely Indian food at Cherry Lane last week, shook my head and went for some hot milo (and at home, some crackers and a brownie).

Cos I really really like the Indian food at Cherry Lane. I don't know what the stall's name is but the eloquent owner (at least I think he's the owner) persuaded us that day to try this new yet-t0-be-put-on-the-menu starter of button mushrooms, capsicum and spices wrapped up in a pastry and deepfried. It's served with a pineapple sauce. And surprisingly tasty.

And once again their tikka - this time we had the chicken - is tender and succulent. And their cheese naan and garlic naan were tasty with the cottage cheese and spinach curry.

Wash it down with a dark Erdinger. How can one top that with a airport canteen naan and curry?

(And on that note, this used to be a food blog, but it's not really one anymore. I don't eat out that often, and when I do, it's not really been all that fantastic. I'd rather stick to places that I know are good, such as the Indian stall at Cherry Lane, where you can get something affordable and really tasty. The old reviews are all still there on the right, and will probably remain; it's just highly unlikely that I will be adding more on places in Singapore.)

post its

I have yet to watch Mad Men, but this post on its use of typeface is intriguing! (via)

“Housewife Finds Time to Write Short Stories” was the headline that appeared in a local paper when Munro first began publishing.

And I've just added Oh Happy Day to my Google reader.

Band montage!

Some music videos make no sense. And some songs make no sense. So here's a song which makes the music video make more sense. Oh just watch it (via Sweetney).

Doubledouble

And today, you get a double post!

Because I'm a bit tired of writing and analysis. And I need to read something else. While Amazon has its Kindle, Sony apparently has been pushing its eReader, with UK book bloggers like dovegreyreader and kimbofo getting to test drive them.

So The Beside Crow gives us the Pony eReader! You can get your own too! Watch your life change before your eyes.

(And I must urge you to read the rest of the blog posts, it's like overheard in NY, except it's erm, conversations in a London bookstore. It's been providing some good reads for this dreary Thursday morning, of which I have a box of yesterday's fried rice and a big bunch of grapes to look forward to for lunch. And tonight, I have the exciting prospect of more telephone interviews with people who don't pick up their phones! Glory glory!)

what I heard on woxy

I heart woxy
Because when you finally switch from the crap computer that takes 15 minutes to start up and never gets a steady internet radio stream, to a newer, much speedier one, you can always count on woxy to play some new (at least to me) and fantastic music, like...

Ida Maria (myspace)

Eulogies (myspace)

Horse Feathers (myspace)

Getting better

I've done it several times before, but each time I have to decapitate a chicken, I get quite squirmish.

For yesterday's roast, of course the carcass came intact, scrawny feet and head flopping about on its skinny neck. I did the job as quickly as I could, and disposed of the head, keeping the feet for future stock-making. And this time, it was easier, it was less panicky. The first time I had to chop off a head, I was quite convinced that the chicken would wake up out of its frozen sleep just as the knife was about to touch its neck. And it'd squawk at me, hop off the table and run out of the kitchen, in all its nude featherless glory.

And yet that is not as bizarre as this clip from Martha Stewart that was on Serious Eats.
Anyone wants to turn their baby into a turkey? Anyone?

oh my word....

It's a personal library like no other! (via Books on the Nightstand)

Walker's house was constructed specifically to accommodate his massive library. To create the space, which was constructed in 2002, Walker and architect Mark Finlay first built a 7-foot-long model. Then they used miniature cameras to help visualize what it would be like to move around inside. In a conscious nod to M. C. Escher (whose graphics are echoed in the wood tiling), the labyrinthine platforms seem to float in space, an illusion amplified by the glass-paneled bridges connecting the platforms. Walker commissioned decorative etched glass, dynamic lighting, and even a custom soundtrack that sets the tone for the cerebral adventures hidden in this cabinet of curiosities. "I said to the architect, 'Think of it as a theater, from a lighting and engineering standpoint,'" Walker says. "But it's not a performance space. It's an engagement space."

Ben Folds and Regina Spektor!

You Don't Know Me, (also streaming from his website) from his new album Way To Normal (out on the 30th)

Are you happy?

DSD brought up this series of articles from The Guardian, essentially asking people, 'Are you happy?'

It's hard to say yes or no straightaway. Instead, I mulled on what makes me happy. Or not.

Happiness is when I’ve got my hands in something – cookie batter, flour, shortcrust pastry dough. And when that smell wafts throughout the house. And even more so when it turns out well (I’ve had a couple of disasters recently – still edible but sadly not up to par). Being with friends and family and enjoying good food and wine always brings happiness. The smell of coffee percolating, the smell of rain, the smell of freshly baked goods. That incredibly fresh, clean taste of sashimi. Some sinfully good dark chocolate and a good cup of coffee. Mmm...happiness.

Happiness is reading a good book. One that makes me laugh, and cry, one that draws me into a new world and I stay there, way past bedtime, because I can’t bear to leave it.
Happiness is listening to an amazing band, and drowning out the rest of the noise that comes with living in a city-state. No more cars blasting their horns or tyres screeching or heavy vehicles blasting their way down the street, and more importantly, no more detestable TV Mobile.

Happiness is being able to feel stronger when doing Pilates - knowing that I did better this week than the weeks before, even though it’s just the slightest of improvements, and although I know I ought to practise more.

Happiness is when I talk to R, a smile that sneaks onto my face without me noticing it. But happiness is not wedding prep and having to wait till December to see him again. That’s not happy.

Happiness is not work. I used to be happier at work, now, the projects just seem to bog me down. Perhaps it’s due to my having given three months’ notice (yes, that’s right, three months) a couple of weeks ago. And time seems to just be ticking away slower and slower. And yet, while I'm happy to have resigned, that question continues to linger: what am I going to be doing next year? Plus it's always the question that's asked of me. So my answer is, I'll take a break for a while, and then I'll see what happens. It's too early to think about it, when I'm here and not there.

If you go by points, it seems like happiness wins. But while there are all these little things in life that make me happy, there's this feeling that there's something missing - job satisfaction perhaps, and the fact that the man I love is far away (at least for now). But I've had a good life so far, and I think I'd like to focus on the things that make me happy. Such as today, when I get the assignment to spend the next couple of days viciously editing an article, written by a student* in Beijing. I'm only on the first paragraph, and it's full of red marks. How delightful.

*Actually, not a student. But an assistant professor.

Earl meet world

Meet Earl.
He's the newest member of the iPod family. His two relatives are, sadly, now dead and gone so for now, the kingdom rests on the shoulders of Little Earl.

Little Earl may be tiny but sure packs a punch with a battery that doesn't seem to need charging for more than a week. About the length of my thumb, he slips into my pocket and delivers music without complaint. Though the lack of a screen is a bit disconcerting, he makes up for it with his portability and usability. And you know what, that'll do for now.

Thanks go to R, who somehow had the prescience to bring Earl over in July.

eating the world (or so)

Hot on the heels of the Omnivore's 100, is the Traveling Omnivore's 20 (via Serious Eats) (And originating from Fork in the Road)

1. Assam laksa in Singapore (why Singapore, I don't know. However, I will be in Penang next month, so assam laksa there too!)
2. Barbecue brisket in Texas (I'm going to guess that it's a yes, as we had all kinds of barcbecued meats in Texas, and it was a long time ago)
3. Uni sushi in Tokyo
4. Fried fish tacos in Ensenada, Baja Mexico
5. Pav Bhaji in Bombay
6. Stuffed quahogs on Cape Cod
7. Wine in Sonoma Valley
8. Beef rendang in Indonesia
9. Pizza in New York
10. Grilled steak in Argentina
11. Boudin noir in Paris
12. Fried oyster po'boy in New Orleans
13. Banh beo in Vietnam
14. Braaied game in South Africa
15. Prawn curry in Goa
16. Hot pot in Szechuan province
17. A carnitas taco from a taco truck in L.A.
18. Jerked chicken in Jamaica
19. Barbecue burnt ends in Kansas City
20. Single-malt scotch in Scotland

Haven't done too well. In four of the listed places, it's more like been there, haven't done that.

Making mooncakes

It's that time of year when restaurants come up with all kinds of things to stuff into a mooncake.

And it's also that time of year when I avoid trying any new-fangled mooncakes and instead, with my mum, make our own snowskin ones with the simple filing of lotus paste. They may not look as nice, but I quite like them.




Happy eating!

oh i like

I did the morning blogrun and found this very useful post reviewing notebooks - not the plug and play type.

Warning: coveting ahead (via) especially those by Tyler Bender!

r.i.p.

Having spent the past hour trying to revive my ipod, I think it is time to come to the sad conclusion that it is dead. Of course as I write this, I cannot help but try the reset again, just to see if that brings it back to life.

There were faint flickers of hope in this dramatic hour, when resetting it and connecting it to the macbook's itunes triggered a prompt to restore this ipod. But when I hit the restore button, itunes suddenly realises it is not detecting the ipod anymore.

It was working perfectly fine this morning. I had fully charged it last night with no problems. And I had just been thinking how well behaved this one is, compared to the previous one, which had a wonky battery, and would barely last an hour sometimes. Oh my ipod, you have been such a good friend for more than two years, accompanying me on commutes, drowning out TV Mobile, offering non-stop music anywhere.

I am sorry to see you go.