Life Sucks

Within a period of 6 weeks, attended 3 weddings and a funeral. The celebration of the beginning of a new life for 3 lovely couples and the celebration of the end of a long and wonderful journey for a nice old gentleman all have 1 thing in common - food. The first wedding in late November was at the Hilton Hotel. The only thing I can remember about the food was that I can't remember a single dish we had that night. That was how normal the food is. Nothing special and nothing bad cos I sure can remember if it is was either. The second wedding was a lunch last Sunday at the Marriot. The food like in all good hotel was good but not remarkably so but the whole experience was marred when while in the rest room, I saw a chef (in full uniform no less) came out of the toilet. We talking of the WC here and walked out of the toilet, presumably to the kitchen without washing his hand! Did he washed his hands subsequently in the kitchen? I sure hope so. Needless to say, I shot off a letter to t...

I don't like log cake cos half the time they are too creamy. But got this belated log cake from a vendor and it was heavenly. Combination of ice-cream and chocolate - what more can any one ask for!

Can't understand what is this Singaporean or is it a world wide obsession with being skinny. Read from a friend's blog that she haven't been exercising recently and is 'pui' liao. The last time I met here was like 3 over weeks ago and back than she was still skinner than this tekko uncle here. Unless she has been eating some supergrowth fish food I don't think she can grow from skinny to pui in less than 1 short month unless she is p..... hmm. And by the way I do think she need to put on some more weight. Then there is this other girl I bumped into one afternoon at the hawker centre. Again she said she put on weight. Looking at her, I think a strong gush of wind will just blow here away. Then there is this young lady who eats very little because yah she scare of putting on weight. And mind you, there is no way any body will call her chubby cos she's definitely skinny by any definition. Finally there is M - she keep on insisting that she is fat! And I have to...

It's Christmas - the season of giving - gifts and more gifts. Looking at the crowd; the buzz in the malls, time must be good. Everybody seem to be shopping shopping like no tomorrow. Duh but seriously I wonder how many especially the young knows what is Christmas? To many, it is probably just another holiday - a nice holiday with gifts with Christmas trees, hollies, light up at Orchard and of course the jolly Santa. So for the record and the uninitiated, on Christmas we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. Maybe got some snow in Bethelem at that time but I am quite certain no Christmas trees and mistletoes. Nevertheless, to everybody out there - have a blessed and merry Christmas; and Happy Holidays!

Got another email from a friend forwarding yet another warning not to watch the Golden Compass. This one came with a 10 pages PDF doc written by a local pastor. At least in this case, the writer appears to be more lucid and more analytical in his writing as compared to the earlier emails which was just parroting the warning from overseas. The main arguments against the movie however is still the same - that the movie promote the belief in atheism; that God is the source of evil and evil is the source of good???; glamorize evil, sorcery, violence, withcraft and steers children toward evil. The writer also rants against the author Phillip Pullman who is a self declared atheist and whose supposingly sole objective in life is to put down God. (Question - if one believe there is no God - then why does one need to keep on trying to destroy God?) After reading the article, what is one supposed to do? I did the most logical things any kaypoh will do - I promptly went to watch the movie! And I...

Celebrated our 19th Wedding (ROM) anniversary on Monday. Time really flies. Already officially married for 19 year (customary marriage 17th year) and the marriage is getting better and better. I guess like they say 'wine taste better as it aged'. Like any couples, we have our up and down over the years. She was always fearful that I will follow our family tradition and end up with an affair or 2 or worse more than 1 wifes but so far fortunately for her and unfortunately for me:) I prefer not to follow the trend. As we both have to work, settled for a quiet dinner alone at Spageddies at Marina Square. Not the most romantic dinner but no choice - she has got tons of Christmas shopping to do for her office party and could not afford more time. Tried the Pepperoni bread which is actually a pizza inside out. Quite nice. I ordered the Seafood Sizzlelini which comes in a hotpot and filled with mussels, prawns, scallops and crayfish on top of spaghetti cooked in neapolitan sauce. She...

Today we cremated a person and celebrate the birthday of another. This afternoon, we cremated a nice old gentlemen. Unlike most funerals we attended, this one surprisingly there were not much wailing and crying from the relatives. Not that he was not loved. In fact, he was much loved by most people. Even for us, who only see him at most thrice a year (his and his wife's birthday and CNY), he was always jolly and kind with a twinkle in his eyes, the type of old man that people want to hug and protect - not the typical nagging old man. So why no tears for a nice old man. He has 7 children and countless grandchildren and great grand children. I counted total of 63 names listed in the Chinese Obituary. He was not rich rich (as in wealth) just a humble hawker but what he was rich in was love - both for others and others for him. So I think the best send off we can give for this grand old man is not to shed tears but to celebrate his rich life. RIP Ah Kong! Tonight we celebrated the bir...

Day 1: Singapore - Japan Dragged myself out of bed to go to the airport for the flight to Japan. Lucky thing, this time round no cramps so can walk properly. Even than, squeezed into the small little seat on the plane and stuck there for 7 hours, the legs were suffering and it was with relief that we finally touched down at Narita Airport the next morning. Day 2: Narita - Akakusa - Kinugawaonsen Managed to fumble our way and boarded the Keisei Skyliner to Akakusa in Tokyo. With only less than 5 minutes to spare to catch the next outgoing train, decided not to chance it and purchased tickets for a later train. Went for breakfast. Our fast real meal in Japan and what do we eat - MacDonald! Sheesh! After 2 train rides and 4 hours later, we finally reached our first destination - Kinugawaonsen, a region famous for its Onsen which means hot spring. But it is early winter and temperature here is about 4 degree. Er how to bath in the hotspring in this type of cold? Anyway, after checking in, ...

Went for mini carbo loading at Eighteen Chefs with the family. Eighteen Chefs is a sort of outlet serving pasta, baked rice etc. It's main claim to fame is that it was run by an ex-convict and it's mission is not just to serve good cheap food but also serve as a job outlet for delinquent youths. Source: ST Stomp Foodies Club We ordered the calamari rings, a mango salad, black pepper spaghetti; seafood aglio olio; and 2 student set which comes with a drink and ice-cream. The student set was either choice of baked rice or chicken sausage spaghetti in tangy tomato sauce. I felt the aglio olio was a tad too dry. Alicia didn't like the tangy tomato sauce. M liked the baked rice with minced beef but all agreed the black pepper spaghetti was the best.