- 電車に乗った -

With steady and careful steps, everyone was hurriedly walking along the sheltered walkway and up the escalator to catch the approaching train. The rain was a dampener and people with companions were heard remarking about the sudden downpour. The drains were quick to swell with its contents threatening to spill over the walkway and congested roads.

The rain worsened the already terrible condition of overcrowding in trains. A couple of trains went by and she was unable to board any. The small talk that she had to continue with her companion did no good to her throbbing head. All she wanted to do was to return to her cosy shelter where the familiarity would feel her with peace.

Finally she decided to squeeze in to the next train, narrowly being squashed by the train door. Thankfully, her skillful companion pulled her in just in time only to find her back plastered against the train door and her nose facing somebody's underarms. The passenger in front unceremoniously stretched out his hand over her head to reach for the door for support. Oh my gosh I am going to puke, she thought. As she tried to turn her head, since her body had no space to move, she caught the eye of an old man who seemed to be staring at her with what seemed like bemusement.

Over her own thoughts, she heard her companion's familiar voice about somebody sitting on the floor. She battled within herself whether or not to turn her head back as she would be greeted by an unsightly sight and smell before she could locate the subject. Curiosity won the better of her as she turned her head to the other direction where the subject of conversation was.

There in formal wear was a guy sitting on the floor next to the door playing with his iPhone! He sat there with earphones plugged in his ears seemingly oblivious to the crowd who were throwing him dirty looks and mumbling under their breaths about his absolute inconsideration. Fatigue and exasperation equated anger. She could not help but comment in a rather loud voice about the guy who sat and blocked the entrance in the sardine-packed train. Granted he might have had a long train ride or was also very tired but do not just plonk himself at the entrance of the train door when everyone else was jostling to find a foothold in the train! Or at the very least, look apologetic for blocking the way and taking up more space than necessary!

When the train door opened once again at the next station, he made no effort to even look up or move. There he was, well-dressed and sitting on the floor at the entrance of a public train. Many people could not board because of his obvious inconvenient presence. Many people had to make a slight detour just to alight.

When she finally reached her stop, she resisted the urge to give him a kick on her way out. She could only muster enough courage to throw him another dirty look before she was pushed out of the train.

What a terrible train ride. The too-close-for-comfort bodily presence of others and the sighting of inconsiderate people got her rather rifled up.

She could not wait to return to her safe nest. Away from the storm. Away from all the other people.

- みんな、元気？ -

ヨ－、しゃしぶり～～　

I've been trying to write a post for the past 2 weeks, possibly the longest period of my literary drought to date. I have been wondering about what to write and I did have some flitting thoughts but none of them were ever penned.

Drought. Mental drought.

It is getting harder to pen my thoughts nowadays. Haha maybe because I am not using a pen. Haha ok lame. How work has dulled my brain and sense of humour -.-

Writing is no longer a form of release when your creativity and personal style are dammed. I mean, creativity and style are like water. Flowing water that are gushing through but imagine a dam that obstructs. The water loses its force. It loses its freedom.

Oh wow. I used water as an imagery for my Writer's Block. Well Done!

As you can probably tell, I'm living in my own world. More so now than ever. My thoughts are still slamming against the walls of the dam, hoping to be released but losing its force.

Sometimes, things get pretty hard to bear. But we'll do just fine. We all will. Because we have lasted through storms that will tide us over the droughts.

In case anyone is wondering, that is if anyone actually cares, I just had an extremely long and tough week at work.

I'm fine :) See! I'm smiling :)

じゃ～

- お腹がすいた？ -

During the festive season, it's hard not to get even fatter especially since I have this tendency to (over-)indulge -.-

Wen-chan and I were talking about food and the additional excess consumption of it. During this festive period, it has led to MORE calories than usual piled on. OUCH OUCH OUCH.

Hardly ate home-cooked food for the past few days and the food outside served at restaurants leave much more to be desired especially during this season where many families are eating out.

I realised I only have an almost full set of pictures of only one meal - which is the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. I think the mass production of food and the serious lack of servers was a dampen on the customers' spirits as well as the stomach. Food was not hot and we waited so long for each dish that was, may i repeat, not even warm! -_-"' The taste..well..hmm..from such a reputable restaurant, the standard of the food that night was totally not worth the price.

So anyway, the must-have in CNY - the YuSheng. Salmon sashimi was sadly lost in the pile of shredded vegetables.

But it's always the company that counts, yea?! ^-^
This was the dish my sister kept commenting, "I don't know what I'm eating" ROFL.
Err..yea the abalone. My first abalone in this new year season, and definitely not the last :P

There were more prawns but I was kind of preoccupied (complaining about the speed and the absolute lack of it) when the plate came so everyone already helped themselves to at least one prawn when I remembered to take a shot of it. [Note to Self: I Need More Patience]
And yup, I know I know..despite the many reminders to stop eating Shark's Fin, I shall admit this is not my last bowl of it during this lunar new year (err and the lunar new year has not even ended). I will stop after this period! But the shark's fin here is not really a lot..so maybe the harm is not as great?? o.O *hopeful*


Ok yup! The dessert marked the end of my reunion dinner on the eve! I didn't take any pictures of food on the first day of new year though!
And errr..on the second day I had only 2 pictures haha. Obviously I was too busy eating and the other obvious reason is that I obviously cannot take picture of every dish when it's such a big group! My whole maternal side (aunts, uncles, cousins and all) gathered to eat! But boy did I regret not taking pictures of more food. It was the most..extravagant meal so far.

The yusheng had TORO sashimi and LOBSTER meat!! It's like o.O whoa whoa WHOA! And they were generous in the proportions too! BEST OF ALL? My cousins don't take raw food! HAHAHAHA ^-^ So I had quite a far bit of the lobster. Oh gosh, first time I had raw lobster!! Especially in yusheng! So sweet and succulent! *smacks lips* Again, I regret that no pictures were taken. BUT in such a high class setting, I think I will really look like a country bumpkin if I'm caught snapping shots of every dish, eh?

BUT the shark's fin here was really, really unique. It wasn't served in a bowl like all the other places I've eaten before. It was served in a packet form?! It was wrapped in paper and the broth, served on a separate bowl, was clear and tantalizing on the taste buds.

So I can't remember every dish I had that day so let's move on to the 2 pictures that I actually manage to get. Here below is the crab pincer and vermicelli. And under all these, steamed, I presume, separately, is egg white!! So after you stir the vermicelli with the egg-white, believe it or not, it actually tastes really good.
And yea..the abalone..I think it was my 3rd abalone for this new year. HOW TO NOT GET FAT ON ALL THESE FOOD? ROARS!

Oh while waiting for the others to arrive, we were taking pictures. ROFL.

And a very blur shot of me and little rascal, Nat, from my sis's phone :)