This is home, truly

I've been stuck at home watching Korean VCDs. First it was My Lovely Samsoon. Then it was Full House. The watching has taken its toll. I'm majorly "jetlagged". I don't know if I can recover!

Two people have told me what a waste of time it is. But hey, I love a good story. I'm not a fanatic, and I guess once in a while won't hurt?

Too tired to think of what to blog. Had my hair cut today. Yay. Got sick of my too-black wardrobe, bought a chilli red shirt from Topshop earlier on. I really need to get out of this rush-like-crazy morning drill. No time to think of what to wear. No time to even open my eyes. And I'm always late for work. Aargh.

Can I ever get enough sleep???

Help.

Singapore (Idol) Dreaming

My mum - who has hit at least five decades old - is in love with Jonathan Leong, one of the two finalists in Singapore Idol.

I bought this particular issue of 8 Days some weeks back and with it came a huge poster of the Idols, as well as stickers that said "blah", "fave" etc for you to stick on whichever Idol's face you fancied. And to my horror, my mother has been following the Idol results and sticking crosses on those booted out!!! She got a lot of time man. And she has been using this free web-based SMS service to msg me her predictions every week. Wah liaos...

So anyways, last night, she stuck the "fave" sticker on her dahling Jonathan! And pasted the "blah" sticker on Hady because she doesn't want me to vote for him (I like him). And, she pasted a cross on Jasmine - a most accurate prediction, as 24hours later, she was voted out. Mother oh mother...

a day full of pple I know or like

Took this photo (left) of 4-year-old Lav at the food kiosk of the mrt station where I have a meal at least once a week. She's the youngest daughter of the kiosk owners and she can talk. Really talk. Every time I take my seat, she drags a stool to my table and sits her tiny frame gingerly on it. I'm always afraid she falls off cos her feet can't touch the floor. And then she talks, and she makes me laugh and laugh and laugh.
Her favourite colour is pink. And she can't speak mandarin, or so she claims. And she readily sings "number" songs for you. Like this: "Straight across, diaaagonally down. Straight across diaaagonally down. Straight across diaaagonally down, you get the number seven." HAHA. And when I leave the table to head home, she always asks: "Tomorrow you come?", and then "Saturday you come?". I walk a little further and she shouts after me "XXX jie jie, BYE BYE!!!"

Children like her really make you feel so loved. I wished I was surrounded by more of them.
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Today my agency organised a seminar at a hotel. And I met my PAP idol. Yes, my PAP 偶像 Teo Ser Luck. It was quite embarrassing cos colleagues were egging me on to take a picture with him, cos I had brought my camera!!! They were coming up with different ways for me to be in the picture, like "eh go go go you stand behind him then we take for you lah!!! you will be in the picture one!!!" Determined not to suffer another "Mayday tragedy" (yes, I had the op to be in the same pic as them, but I was too damn shy), I waylaid him on his way out. And I got my picture!!! Haha. My colleague was even more stressed than me cos she said she was afraid she wouldn't get the shot right!

Saw also Mrs Carmee Lim!!! MY RGS PRINCIPAL!!! Now ex. She's still EXACTLY the same. Never one to go unnoticed, never one to be disinterested. Always enthusiastic. I want to use the word effusive. But it's not quite right, cos you can feel her genuine sincerity in what she says to you. Guess what colour she turned up in? Bright red. The jacket was bright red. But it suited her well. Dull colours would never do this vibrant lady any justice.

She gave me her namecard and said, call me anytime, if you need someone to talk to, a mentor or anything!

And at 65 years old, she's still an amazingly keen learner. Copiously taking notes during the workshop and responding to the speaker with guffaws and "oh!!!" and "mmm" like she's the only person he's talking to. Fantastic. I'm proud to say she was my principal. :)

Do you want dessert?

Or, in mandarin, 你要甜品吗？

I think we were asked that question at least four times in 10 minutes, after different servers at Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) Restaurant noticed we were done with our dinner. Rather than feel irritated, I was quite amused. Err...so they get commission for recommending desserts ah?

I usually don't write about food cos I absolutely don't know how to describe flavours. And, sometimes I can't even identify exactly what I'm eating. I only know general terms like green veggie, meat, you get the idea. But, because I'm currently reading Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires (saw it on olduvai's blog), I couldn't resist writing something on food.

First dish was a cold dish, served with ice cubes. In Hokkien, it's called ter kah dang (sounded something like that). It's meat from pig's trotters contained in some hard jelly-like rectangular cubes. Served with parsley and sliced cucumbers. First time I've ever eaten it and it's not bad.

Next came the oyster omelette - yummy. Oysters very fresh. Then there was Taiwan dou miao, just the right sweetness. Lastly, we had crayfish in some eggy gravy. Delicious too.

The bill came up to about $20 per person. Cheap for the big portions we got! Definitely value for money.

I wish I had ordered my kong bah though... was craving for the fragrant fatty pork after dinner! Also craving for longan dessert, but my mum made it seem like a crime to order it from the restaurant cos it's "cheaper to buy from NTUC". Hmm. Well, I did end up at a supermart to buy a can of longans for $1.10! I mean, there needs to be some closure right?

Nice way to end the evening. :)

Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) Restaurant
8, 9, 10 Mosque Street

By the way, they don't accept credit cards.