If there's one thing you do this week...

Make yourself lunch!

I've taken to making and bringing a salad to work on days that I know we'll be lunching in Pulau Loyang. It may sound like a hassle, but I really enjoy the process of cooking for myself. 

Picture this: A quiet kitchen and the rhythmic sounds of washing, chopping and tossing. Time-consuming perhaps, but strangely therapeutic.

Just today, I found myself in a really long, seemingly unmoving queue for wanton noodles. (What I really wanted was a packet of economic bee hoon but there was none to be found in the area.) My stomach was growling, almost howling, when I suddenly recalled the packet of asparagus and organic soba I'd picked up the day before. So I slipped out of the queue, albeit a little regretfully as is always the case after I've been queuing for awhile, and zipped home to make myself a bowl of miso asparagus soba.

Too quick and simple to be fantastic, but the sight of fresh green stalks nestled amidst the creamy brown noodles made me really happy.

:)

The silent evolution.

It wasn't too long ago that I was hitting the pool every other day and packing off on an island getaway every chance I got. It's certainly been a long while since my last proper sun soaked beach vacation, and while Krabi was moodily wet a good part of the time, going out to sea and swimming with the fishes made me release how much I've missed it.

How did it happen?

How did I go from selecting my holiday destinations by beaches to selecting it by the restaurants I want to check out?
How did I develop such a consuming passion for food?

Redang, July 2007

Sydney, May 2010

Back to the island: Krabi, Oct 2010

I used to religiously check in on my favourite yoga and wellness sites, but I read more food reviews than I do fitness news these days.

I think it's time I retipped the balance...

LOL.

Smooshy: says: (2:32:00 PM)
fallin asleep

Smooshy: says: (2:32:05 PM)
somebody please slap me

leigh says: (2:37:47 PM)
-slap

leigh says: (2:37:48 PM)
haha

Smooshy: says: (2:38:50 PM)
AGAIN

leigh says: (2:41:10 PM)
-slap slap slap

leigh says: (2:41:12 PM)
slap me back leh

Smooshy: says: (2:42:55 PM)
mega SLAP

Cafe dreaming.

The thing I love, and miss, most about Australia is the very vibrant, very exciting dining scene. I like how there are so many enclaves to explore and how there is always a really good cafe/bistro/wine bar

to pop into at every corner. I happened to surf into one of the Aussie blogs I read while planning my food itinerary and surprise, surprise, the latest post was about yet another bistro opening. This one's in Redfern, in the grungy/new-agey Sydney suburb where Baffi & Mo is located. 

I went on to read a few of her earlier entries and there it was - a post on where to celebrate Christmas in July and all the yuletide offerings during the Australian winter.

Christmas, twice in a year. Lucky bastards.

Whoopeedoo.

It may be a long working Saturday in the office tomorrow, but I'm milking the short exhilaration that comes with most Friday nights. That, and I'm feeling strangely pumped up - we're FINALLY nearing the finish line for our launch issue and I'm feeling super, super proud and satisfied. "It's like giving birth," my colleague quipped. 

Yup, it sure does feel like it!

But it's never quite all work and no play food in the office. :)

The week of disappointing dinners. Or how curiosity killed the cats.

I was scrolling through my iPhone in search of an emblematic picture of my week and surprise, surprise - I have nothing but pictures of food, chefs and hastily-taken shots in various supermarkets. I shall not risk an overdose of food porn here and content with words, for now.

It's 5:41 on a slightly rainy Friday evening and I've just wrapped up yet another session in the kitchen. Cooking, an activity usually reserved for special occasions, has become a staple part of my weekends. It is time-consuming and all that supermarketing sometimes makes me feel like I'm morphing beyond my years into a messy homemaker, but I quite enjoy it. And my kitchen skills are improving at a rate that would make my Saffron instructors rather proud. That's not to say that I wouldn't like to spend a day doing absolutely nothing food-related while curled up on the couch reading a non-food-related book... but that will have to wait till we groove through the bumpy start-ups!

But I digress. This post was meant to be a rant on my supremely unsatisfying dinners out this week. Two were pretty horrid, the third unmemorable. I shan't go into details - let's just say it involved, against better logic, a timer and horribly substandard fare. It will definitely be awhile before I let my curiosity get the better of me. I'm sticking to tried-and-tested favourites for now! Actually, I might just go on a pre-Krabi detox while I'm at it.

Tofu and veggies, anyone?

Off to the shower and then to the East to feed the babes with today's creations. Let's hope they like it!

I'll write you another time.

I wonder if this obssession with food is an occupational hazard?

Searching for the sunset.

Post-shoot town trawling with C on a Friday night. What turned out to be complimentary desserts after I found a stone in my sticky date pudding, but yummy nonetheless, and extremely comforting after a long, trying week.

 Where rainbows end

Searching for the sunset

Level 3 spicy wings with the poly quartet - yummy but nowhere near the virgin level 6 I had with the CS babes.

Treading water.

Very, very, very, very, very busy. Gulp.

Taking stock.

I suppose it is when you're dog tired yet still buzzing with contentment that you can be certain you love your job. It's been a crazy week at work, but witnessing our hard work translate into a tangible product, and of course having the traditional closing drinks with the team, make all the scrambling and late nights worth it.

 But I did have a spot of calm before the storm. I spent the entire weekend doing absolutely nothing work related and what a breath of fresh air it was! It was good catching up on all the gossip with the GQC babes over pizzas and desserts on Saturday, as it was having Jin over on Sunday evening to demolish a few cupcakes and wine, in a somewhat homely tribute to our pre-India/HK happy hour margaritas. And despite her allergy to dust, she gamely got on her knees to peek under my bed and behind the piano in the hopes of uncovering something I've stupidly misplaced.

I've yet to find it.

Well, I should know by now that life indeed works in funny ways. Perhaps the answers I'm looking for will come to me in another way.

I'd still like to find it though.

I pulled a Merlion last night.

image from inmagine.com

After a long weekend of feasting, I returned to work yesterday only to have a Nepalese-Indian lunch after our shoot, and a five-course European dinner tasting at night. Both meals were very, very enjoyable and while I didn't roll back feeling as ill as I did after Sunday's dinner, I found myself springing awake at 3.30am, overcome with nausea. 

If there's one thing I detest the most in this world, it's barfing. This is coming from someone who would rather spend a week fighting nausea in India than to actually hug a toilet bowl and get down to it. So I held it in for an hour in the dark, but just as I thought the breathing exercises were working, a jolt of acid shot up my chest and I was soon at the mercy of my first barf in six years.

It was gross. So, so gross. Serves me right.

Too much food on my plate.

Literally, and figuratively. It's been absolutely crazy at work the past week, but I did find pockets of calm - some expected and some surprising - to keep me sane.
A Friday evening in a shophouse nestled away from the noise and traffic, chatting with a very hospitable interviewee; a movie, dumplings and finally catching up with C; a delish dinner with a new friend in one of my favourite parts of Singapore; an absolutely FILLING Sunday dinner with close friends and family; and a looooong three-hour sobering walk (definitely needed it after all that food!) this morning that took us through an empty CBD to Marina Bay Sands.

Yes, it's been a good long weekend indeed. :)

Official beginnings.

So I've graduated - the official proceedings have been attended and the caps have been tossed. It doesn't feel any different though, perhaps because I've been working for almost two months now. I do think the entire process is a tad overrated, but it did wrap up my final four years of education very nicely and provided my academic pursuit with a closure of sorts. I've never been a fan of NTU, but it is the place where I forged several unforgettable friendships. And the school did offer me many opportunities, some of which without I wouldn't be where I am today. So yes, it has been a tediously long but nevertheless fruitful time.

The safety net that comes with being a student has officially been whipped away, but I like feeling the ground beneath my feet. :)

Perspectives.

Exactly a week ago, I was sipping on a glass of wine with the sound of crashing waves in the background. Today, I'm home exceptionally early on a Friday with a stack of ozalids waiting to be proofread by morning. The contrast is fascinating - life certainly takes us places doesn't it? :)

It's been awhile since I had a small pocket of time to reflect back on the days gone by, and it seems like a lot has happened in the past few weeks. There's been a couple of rough patches on the personal front, but I do believe that the best way to live is to let the bad things go, and I think I've bumped my way through just fine.

Life on the work front's busy, as is the usual, but very exciting too with lots of new happenings. I remember my days as a communications intern at Sentosa when I had to constantly call writers up to chase for their RSVPs, and telling myself that I would never do that to someone else when I'm on the other side of the fence. Fast forward five years and I have become exactly that sort of writer. I always tell myself I'll try to sort my schedule out to see if I can fit the event in, only to forget about it entirely when work piles up.

Talk about ironic! But I'm trying to rectify that.

For now, it's TGIF (for a little bit) and back to work. :)

Walking in paradise.

Walking in paradise.

Falling asleep to the crashing waves outside my door and waking up to a private pool. Definitely not the kind of luxe I'd splash out on myself but man... it feels good.

In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high.

Now that I officially write for a living, writing purely for my own pleasure is no longer as cathartic as it used to be, but it is still a good form of release whenever and wherever introspection strikes.
I've been at this job for awhile now and it hits me, every now and then, just how lucky I am to be doing what I love. And I try as much as I can not to take it for granted and to grasp on to that tiny bit of magic beneath the daily grind. There are times when I bumble about trying to find my footing; others when things go so well I feel like I own it - the former keeps me in check and serves as a reminder of how much more I have to learn; the latter serves as a tiny pat on the back on my growth so far. Most importantly, the fluctuating balances keep me on my toes so I don't slip into a rut.

I will be embarking on one of my career's firsts in less than two days - something short, but nonetheless exciting, thrilling and just that bit nerve-wrecking. Thank you stars, for aligning the way you do for me. :)

Serendipity.

Serendipity.

It's beyond happenstance.

Normalcy.

Normalcy.

The thing about integration is that you can never remove one part without compromising the others. These interminable links and the unfamiliar need to watch my tongue in front of these others has tipped the balance. Where can I go where I need not fear the grapevine? Who should I turn to when I really just want to be me?

What's left after I've bypassed my support system to guilt and a weighing sense of responsiblity? I would like my life back but I'm not sure that's possible anymore.

30 days later.

30 days later.

It's certainly been awhile, slightly over a month actually. That's how long it took to document my entire Aussie trip but I'm glad that's done and I can get back to web catharsis. Several things have happened while my introspection was on hiatus, of which the most momentous would be starting work full-time. I can't quite believe it's been a month actually - I've gone full throttle from day one and time has whizzed by.

It was, as jumping headfirst into new situations tend to be, a little trying at the beginning as I struggled to find my footing (after a long vacation!), but I've since settled into the job. I guess I forget sometimes, especially when work gets really intense, how lucky I am to be doing and loving what I'm doing. I love experiencing all that my work exposes me to and there's so much to learn from the excellent mentors around me. Blessed I am indeed.

I have at the same time closed a chapter in my life. All that's happened this year has really got me thinking about what I want in life and I realised that I'm not willing to trade in the many things this relationship required me to in order for it to work. Right person wrong time or wrong person right time - I don't know. What I do know is that there's still that insatiable hunger in me to lead my life according to my own rules and I'm not ready to compromise any of it for anyone just yet. It's taken me awhile to get here but the freedom is liberating.

Stay tuned. :)

The Aussie Diaries - Sydney Day 7

The Aussie Diaries - Sydney Day 7

Final breakfast at Baffi & Mo.

I thought I'd skip the java and have a hot chocolate with the girls, but man did I need a caffeine hit after the late night packing. And I really wanted a good latte before I came home. So yes, dairy overload.

Eggs benedict - yum.

B&M's famous potato hash - yum too.

Gingerbread hotcakes with Persian fairy floss. This looked like it came out of Hansel & Gretel but it was really way too sweet for breakfast.

Redfern's a semi grungy, semi new-agey sorta neighborhood. Very nice. And look at the vain bitch all dressed to match the colourful door... ;)

Goodbye Sydney, goodbye Australia. You've been very good to us indeed (minus the excess baggage charges)!