Eeps.
I'm not dead - just incredibly busy.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
The end of school and all that.
The end of school and all that.
Soooo... school officially ended (minus exams) with Monday's FYP presentation. There's been quite a bit of fanfare going on about the campus and on Facebook, and quite a show of school spirit. I don't quite feel it but it is a little surreal, as it felt just like yesterday that I was a clueless dope at the orientation camp. I've made new friends, drifted from some and got really close to others, over the four years, but as D said, we probably wouldn't keep in touch with many. But I am grateful nonetheless, for those whom have become family over time.
Most of my week's enthusiasm and nerves were instead channelled towards my first days at the office, where I'd gone to help out during production. Turns out the journey to the office isn't as painful as I'd made it out to be, and while it may be a little too early to say, I think I've joined a fabulous team. It was however a little tough being thrown into the grind of production right after school, but I think it made last night's glass of sparkly that bit more satisfying.
TGIF? :)
Soooo... school officially ended (minus exams) with Monday's FYP presentation. There's been quite a bit of fanfare going on about the campus and on Facebook, and quite a show of school spirit. I don't quite feel it but it is a little surreal, as it felt just like yesterday that I was a clueless dope at the orientation camp. I've made new friends, drifted from some and got really close to others, over the four years, but as D said, we probably wouldn't keep in touch with many. But I am grateful nonetheless, for those whom have become family over time.
Most of my week's enthusiasm and nerves were instead channelled towards my first days at the office, where I'd gone to help out during production. Turns out the journey to the office isn't as painful as I'd made it out to be, and while it may be a little too early to say, I think I've joined a fabulous team. It was however a little tough being thrown into the grind of production right after school, but I think it made last night's glass of sparkly that bit more satisfying.
TGIF? :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
I spy a pattern.
I spy a pattern.
I just realised that I've established a social pattern of sorts recently - Peranakan food on Thursday nights out and cooking + mahjong at my place on Saturdays. My subconscious way of finding some sanity amidst this busy, busy period perhaps?
I just realised that I've established a social pattern of sorts recently - Peranakan food on Thursday nights out and cooking + mahjong at my place on Saturdays. My subconscious way of finding some sanity amidst this busy, busy period perhaps?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Surprise revelation.
Surprise revelation.
More often than not, the person who gave you the most grief ends up being the person who teaches you an important lesson. When it comes to lecturers, Duffy definitely topped my list last semester.
I am not exactly subtle about my lack of appreciation of the irrelevance of the modules we take, but I really enjoyed his magazine publishing and travel writing classes. While I often griped about how he was a pain when it came to refining my ideas and writing, I suppose I did enjoy being stretched and challenged artistically by someone who's been there and done that. And surprisingly, I think I took away a lot more from his seemingly frivolous modules than I thought I would.
Bumping into him today for the first time this entire semester and sharing my writing plans drove home a point he always stressed back in class - writing for your reader. I won't go into details of kismet and what nots, but it's funny how that lesson subconsciously became the fundamental concept that guided and led me to my current job.
In fact, I think it is possibly the most important and life-impacting lesson I'm taking away from my four years in school. Man. How's that for a revelation?
More often than not, the person who gave you the most grief ends up being the person who teaches you an important lesson. When it comes to lecturers, Duffy definitely topped my list last semester.
I am not exactly subtle about my lack of appreciation of the irrelevance of the modules we take, but I really enjoyed his magazine publishing and travel writing classes. While I often griped about how he was a pain when it came to refining my ideas and writing, I suppose I did enjoy being stretched and challenged artistically by someone who's been there and done that. And surprisingly, I think I took away a lot more from his seemingly frivolous modules than I thought I would.
Bumping into him today for the first time this entire semester and sharing my writing plans drove home a point he always stressed back in class - writing for your reader. I won't go into details of kismet and what nots, but it's funny how that lesson subconsciously became the fundamental concept that guided and led me to my current job.
In fact, I think it is possibly the most important and life-impacting lesson I'm taking away from my four years in school. Man. How's that for a revelation?
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The big question.
The big question.
picture from here
Blogging sometimes leaves me in a bit of a dilemma. Writing is a form of catharsis, but I have a personal policy against airing dirty laundry on the world wide web. On the other hand, writing only about happy things has given some the impression that I live a charmed life of sorts. I don't, by the way.
Food seems to offer a neutral ground, but I don't want to just talk about the things I put in my mouth, even if a big chunk of my life revolves around that of late. The terms of my contract have also got me grappling with what I should or should not reveal as a huge portion of the things I see and do these days ultimately channel towards my work. I am starting to wonder if lickthyspoon is that good an idea after all, but that's a question for another day.
The big question therefore is - what do I write about? I'm done writing about my innermost feelings in the hopes that my words find an encho in the emotions of others. The act often leaves me feeling a bit too vulnerable for my liking, and I like my privacy a little too much these days. Feelings, I have decided, are a very personal thing meant to be shared only with select people, not anybody who can find your page via Google.
And to be honest - baring your soul to the computer can sometimes make people think they know you when they don't, agree?
Perhaps what I need is this, in a supersize can.
picture from here
picture from here
Blogging sometimes leaves me in a bit of a dilemma. Writing is a form of catharsis, but I have a personal policy against airing dirty laundry on the world wide web. On the other hand, writing only about happy things has given some the impression that I live a charmed life of sorts. I don't, by the way.
Food seems to offer a neutral ground, but I don't want to just talk about the things I put in my mouth, even if a big chunk of my life revolves around that of late. The terms of my contract have also got me grappling with what I should or should not reveal as a huge portion of the things I see and do these days ultimately channel towards my work. I am starting to wonder if lickthyspoon is that good an idea after all, but that's a question for another day.
The big question therefore is - what do I write about? I'm done writing about my innermost feelings in the hopes that my words find an encho in the emotions of others. The act often leaves me feeling a bit too vulnerable for my liking, and I like my privacy a little too much these days. Feelings, I have decided, are a very personal thing meant to be shared only with select people, not anybody who can find your page via Google.
And to be honest - baring your soul to the computer can sometimes make people think they know you when they don't, agree?
Perhaps what I need is this, in a supersize can.
picture from here
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
My current food hero.
My current food hero.
picture from here
That's Pim Techamuanvivit, a food blogger turned author with her new-ish book The Foodie Handbook. I'd been tempted to pick up the book each time I chanced upon it in stores, but I never quite got around to doing it until I popped by the library last Sunday. What that says about my cheapo streak I shall not ponder, but it is quite the amazing read!
Don't get me started on Sudi Piggott's How To Be A Better Foodie, which had me throwing my hands up in defeat after chapter 3 (I got too tired of having to google her many exotic terms). Pim's book is personable and relatable, with enough elaborations to spare my fingers from Google exhaustion. And I admit that the fact that she's an Asian holding her own in the Western world of food talk has got me rooting for her.
Her paragraphs on dining in French restaurants remind me of my food-centric Parisian summer and while I go "oh I've tried that!" at parts, I am most often filled with admiration at her ability to confidently stroll into a snooty establishment and charm the sommelier.
I once said that I was never as aware of my own ethnicity as I was in France, where I stood out like a sore thumb just for being Asian. Perhaps it was my youth, coupled with a student budget and a lack of fluency in the language, but I never quite felt comfortable dining in the city's many classy restaurants, even when I had a Frenchman by my side. It is really quite difficult to fully appreciate a meal when you feel like a zebra in a room of gazelles.
To be fair to myself, I was just beginning to discover my foodie side at that time and hardly well-versed in the art of food like Pim is. And I was poor. Well, apart from creating an itch to bake a perfect fruit tart, her book has kindled in me a spark of hope that I would one day be able to walk confidently into a high and mighty Parisian restaurant and feel like I've got every right to be there. Not too sure about charming the sommelier though.
Check back here in three years for my progress. And perhaps I would have gotten around to giving Sudi Piggott another try sometime between then and now.
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