homemade burgers

my parents both had meetings that ended late and we needed to all be at the Indoor Stadium for a Praise & Worship night on Friday so what is the best takeaway/quick bite food? BURGERS! i toasted the burgers lightly on the grill and spread on homemade garlic butter and honey mustard. the burgers were made from beef mince seasoned with hamburger seasoning, steak seasoning, paprika, black pepper and garlic salt, mixed with chopped onions and bacon so that the burger will remain moist. grill on high heat and add loads of ketchup to finish off the burger.

(the reason for it being vegetable-less is because i thought i had lettuce in the house but i actually didnt - probably the best vegetable accompaniment would be pickles. or rocket because it wont wilt with moisture and keeps well.)

ahh... Singapore, my wacky home

the hairdresser's is gossip central - people gossip about random people and when you leave, they gossip about you. it is an "auntie-eat-auntie" world.
middle-aged women who have nothing to do tend to haunt the hairdresser's.
whoever said that young girls are vain because they have so many different shades in their hair and/or outrageous hairdos have not seen the middle-aged women that hang out at neighbourhood salons.

why is the new shopping mall at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station called Dhoby Xchange (dhobi = Hindi for washerman)? do they trade dhobis there?

the guy selling me ice cream today told me green tea was their most "sellable" flavour.

in a press statement made by some big-shot in the education ministry, he talked about there being a "good improvement" in the standard of English in Singapore. erm... yea...

another Bak Chor Mee place

my mom introduced me to the Fishball Noodle stall in Seng Huat Coffee Shop opposite Bugis Junction along Bras Besah Road (next to Tong Seng) today and my my do they sell humungous fishballs! the Bak Chor Mee is pretty good - noodles were al dente and the sauce had a good mix of ketchup and chingkiang vinegar. strangely though, sambal chilli was "help-yourself" and it wasnt the right type of sambal so the best option is just having the noodles with lots of chopped red chilli. they even give crunchy lard! mmmm...

hooker heels and good food = lots of fun

on my first day back i had dinner with Ave and Farah at the oh-so-glamourous Golden Mile Food Complex because Farah suggested we try this Indian stall that she has been patronising since she was a kid. prior to the outing she and i had this conversation:

Me: "so what food do they sell?"
Farah: "oh Indian lor... south rather than north. they have everything there."
Me: "OOOoOoOoO i feel like having fish head curry! do they have that?"
Farah: "errrr... no."

so apparently the best stall in the row of 4 is #01-13's (the ORIGINAL one) although all of the stalls are owned by the same family - the grandfather, father and 2 sons. according to Farah, they are all next to each other to monopolise the market because not many people know they are owned by the same family.

Farah: "i have to warn you that everything at this stall is red."
Me: "oh, should i be alarmed?"
Farah: "no lah... it's really nice food."
when Ave's Soup Kambing (mutton soup) arrives...
Me: "eh! that's not red! you said everything they cook is red!"
Farah: "no lah! soup kambing isnt red!"
Ave: "if my soup kambing is red, I would be alarmed!"

anyway, Ave had the Soup Kambing, Farah had Mutton Chop (background) and i had Mee Goreng! mmmmmm...
we were stuffed after our food and loads of sugar cane juice with lemon so we took a walk down North Bridge Road. a certain someone was wearing bright pink and black stilettoes and kept getting looks from weird men along the way... which led to a whole spew of hooker jokes... especially since we passed a lot of shady KTV lounges along the way. we chanced upon a new eatery just before Golden Landmark Hotel, right across Sultan Mosque. it's a Lebanese place called Baladi which looked inviting with their vibrant decor. however, Ave did notice that the rugs hanging from the ceiling were from IKEA and for a while it made her feel weird knowing that because she had a rug like that and it was always filthy...

i think we actually sat there for a really long time savouring our dessert/drinks, lounging on their huge sofa and chatting about anything and everything.
Ave ordered a Freeze (or something like that) thinking it was a milkshake made with strawberries and ice cream but it was actually an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce AND whipped cream... OooOOooO... Farah ordered a mint tea which she gave the thumbs up to for being very refreshingwhile i had a Lebanese coffee which tasted nice and strong (quite like Turkish coffee) and had a hint of some spice in it that i still cant figure out...

we had a fantastic evening and as the last customers to leave the place at 10.30pm, were wished warm goodnights by all the members of staff! :) it's a nice place to chill (plus isnt crowded) so it is definitely a place for keeps!

My big brother, the graduate

my family reunited for my brother's graduation (finally!) on 14 July (Bastille Day! co-incidence? i think not...) and we took a family picture (at a rip-off price - though what about graduation ISNT exorbitant?) to celebrate the joy that is my the ease on my parents' financially. and then we decided to take some photos outside (for FREE)
ahhh... my parents brimming with joy...
and the infamous statuettes that got nicked by the drunken sportsmen. i actually think the cap suits the elephant! outside the Peacock Theatre where the ceremony was held
and of course, the RECEPTION! sandwiches (with alfalfa sprinkled on top), champagne with orange juice, and olives... mmmm...
and they served strawberries with cream... delightfully British...
bye bye LSE...

"Thank you for flying Emirates"

i got to Birmingham airport at 7.50pm because my flight on the voucher was scheduled for 9.55pm and when i checked in online i was quite sure it was still at 9.55pm. at the airport, however, the flight was listed at 9.10pm (though it didnt really matter too much because i had already checked in and only needed to hand over my suitcase and collect my boarding pass). the queue was snaking but i got to queue at the business class line (which only had one guy in front of me) because i had checked in online (whoohoo!). funny how the ground-staff at the airport chose to give survey forms on the airport's service to people who were on the 'fast-track'. the lady wrote down that i arrived at 7.50pm and received my ticket at 7.52pm (even though i only got my ticket at 8pm because the guy in front had some passport problems) and then when i got to security they jotted down the time i arrived which was 8.10pm - makes them look really efficient. then the plane got delayed for boarding and take-off because the mechanism to load the cargo wasnt working and it had to be done manually.

did i mention that after passing through security i realised i actually carried a small victorinox in my handcarry because it was my keychain? and strangely enough it passed through security without raising any alarms. and to compound that, the guy in front of me got stopped because his keychain had a small pair of scissors in it, while mine had a small knife AND scissors. so i was praying that when i got to Dubai it would pass the security check as well. miracles DO happen. passed through without being stopped (didnt want it to get confiscated a la the Dublin incident of June 2005). prayer works! :)

was surprisingly blessed with the front row seat on my flight from Birmingham to Dubai and managed to snag an aisle seat from Dubai to Singapore. the people that were sitting around me, however, left much to be desired. on the Birmingham-Dubai leg, an huge African man was sitting next to me and for the whole time since boarding the plane to the doors shutting, he was on his mobile phone. and not only was that rude, it was annoying because he kept calling people (not that people were calling him, except maybe only one of the calls). he's take his phone out, call someone, and when the conversation ended, call another person and repeat himself. and then he'd decide to switch off his phone and put it in his pocket. 10 seconds later, out comes the phone, switched on, and then he makes a couple other calls. he didnt seem to be a frequent traveller because he didnt know that his table was a pull-out one as we were in the front row and that he had a personalised screen that he had to release from under his arm-rest. plus he held up the stewardess deciding what to eat when he was studying the menu every 5 mins before the meal.

on the Dubai-Singapore leg, i had one guy who kept jerking his chair in front of me, and 2 Arab children who kept making a nuisance of themselves behind. they kept kicking the our chairs (me and the person next to me) and could not sit still when the plane was waiting in line to take-off that the steward had to make an anouncement asking parents to ensure that their children remained seated during take-off. not that the parents actually did anything - which resulted in one of the stewardesses frustratedly instructing them to sit down from her seat where she was strapped in in preparation for take-off. plus they did make quite a lot of noise. their brother, who was sitting across the aisle from them annoyed the Malay guy in front of him so much that he actually turned around and half-yelled at him to "stop it (kicking his chair)". the boy sitting behind me threw a tantrum when he was told (finally) by his dad during the flight to sit still with his seat belt on when we were going through turbulance.

i dont think i can do long-haul direct flights very well anymore - i think transits are the way forward. food was so-so (i did feel indignant about not getting a croissant but i'm learning to let go...) but inflight radio was really nice. think that when i fly back it shouldnt be that full so that i can get a few seats together to fully recline. *cross fingers*

Happy Birthday (again) Big Brother

the plan was for me to surprise my brother with a birthday cake from Hummingbird Bakery on Portobello Road but then he surprised my mom by telling her that he was planning on getting a cake from PAUL in Covent Garden so she had to tell him that i was already getting a cake. AND so my brother got in contact with me and he had a long discussion - PAUL or Hummingbird and it was the cream cheese icing on Hummingbird's cakes that won. my brother audaciously asked for 2 cakes so that his friends could partake in some of the Bakery's creations so i ordered a 6" Red Velvet Cake and a 6" Yellow Vanilla Cake. my mom and i went all the way to collect it the day she landed and i arrived in London and we had to battle the rush hour nightmare on the London Underground trying to transport the cake back to my brother's place in one piece (or rather, 2 pieces) because the shop had put them in humungous boxes which were then put into paper carrier bags. but they made it and were really delicious!
this is the Yellow Vanilla (which my brother preferred)
we did the Yellow Vanilla cake the honours of all the adorable candles that i had bought in Coventry (from Sozo in the Warwick Arts Centre as they were having a 1/3 off all prices closing down sale)
doesnt that just look magical? little people on fire!!
and this is the Red Velvet that was really rich but i love! (and i was watching Gilmore Girls the other day and in one of the episodes, Michel talked about how he loves going to eat Red Velvet at Westins with Lorelai... hehehe...)

Lime and Coriander Prawns

was looking for something nice to cook for jon some time ago because he helped me move and transport my double bed on his roof rack and found something in one of my cookbooks - chargrilled lime and coriander chicken.

the recipe called for chicken breast which chargrilled might possibly get really dry so i decided that as a thank you present, something grander than chicken was in order. thus i made chargrilled prawns and squid with the marinade. i cleaned out some squid and prawns and let them marinate in chopped lime zest, grated ginger, chopped coriander and lime juice. they sat in the fridge for about 6 hours before i grilled them (and in the meantime set off the fire alarm in the house). they turned out rather nice so i made them again and added chopped fresh chillies to the marinade. only downside is that the meat doesnt get much of the marinade because most of it gets onto the shell. next time i'll try using fish instead...

London to Coventry = EPIC

yesterday i left London for Coventry by train via Euston. because over the weekend they were doing engineering work on the railway to and out of Coventry, i was supposed to take a train to Rugby and board the rail replacement bus to Coventry. the trains ran every 20mins past the hour and i wasnt going to be able to make the 2.20pm one so i boarded the 3.20pm one instead. and what a melodramatic journey it was!

we had just pulled out of Watford Junction and travelled for about 20mins before we stopped in the middle of nowhere. and the train manager came onto the PA to announce that we could not move forward as some guy had climbed onto the overhead steel structures near Bletchley and the power had to be switched off while the police came to apprehend him. it turns out the guy had climbed up with the intention of committing suicide. we stood there for an hour before the train manager came to announce that they were going to move forward to the nearest junction for us to change direction and go backwards towards Watford Junction because the police were not able to apprehend the guy as quickly as they had hoped. so when we got back to Watford there would be some form of alternate transport onwards, probably buses. and the moment we started moving backwards, the train manager came on to say the police had managed to do so but then we still had to go to Watford Junction to turn around again. and then when we finally changed direction and started to pull out of the station, we jerked to a stop again. this time it was because we had lost the ability to tilt which meant a further delay because the Virgin Pendolino trains are able to tilt so that they can go faster. so there was another 15mins added to make it a total of 1h 45min delay. by the time i got to Rugby it was 6.20pm and had missed the connecting bus so it was a further 20min wait till the 6.40pm bus came to take me to Coventry. what was initially a 2 hour journey became a 4 hour one.

the train manager came around to hand out free bottles of water and claim forms for refunds of the train fare. he also announced that the shop on board the train was giving out free coffee and tea but after a while the shop announced that no more hot drinks would be served on the train. probably they ran out of hot water? :)

some people were really affected by the delay - one family was supposed to get to Birmingham International airport via the rail replacement bus from Rugby and after waiting for 10mins for the bus they took a cab. suspect they were on the verge of missing a flight. and train manager announced that for all those who missed their last connection to the small towns in Wales, the station staff at Wolverhampton would put them onto the next train to Shrewsbury and then arrange for bus or taxi to their final destination stations.

going to mail off my claim form tomorrow but wondering how much money i will be able to get back. considering that even though i paid £22.20 for the return tickets, the return portion is only worth £1 because the outward-bound bit costs £21.20. :(

I HAVE INTERNET IN MY HOUSE NOW!

stuck in limbo

it sure feels like it - everyone has gone home and in a way i like living in the UK but some part of me misses Singapore though i know that a lot of the fun plans i have will have to wait till Moon gets back from UCLA. and my on-off frustration with flying is back again.

and everyone seems to be doing an internship - which i should point out is vastly different from working (which is what i am doing) because internships actually are tailored for you to move around the company and get a sense of different departments while i am doing pre-event work (which i dont mind but i do enjoy the adrenaline of the build-up to the event and i wont actually be around for the event). i kind of feel like i am not 'progressing' to an internship because i am actually taking a step back to working in an ex-employer's whereas everyone else has managed to get somewhere beyond their past experience. even the places i applied for unpaid work experience in the UK didnt offer me a job because they are only looking for 1 or 2 people and i sadly fall short in some area to be selected. why why why?

but then again i get to work in a place with pretty good staff welfare (team lunches plus a pantry with a coffee machine... mmm...) and with people i am comfortable working with. hopefully something good will emerge. faith, right?

watching people graduate makes you feel like you want to get out to the world as well but yet gets you all nostalgic about idyllic university life. oh bother.

in England

people say thank you to the bus driver when they alight.
when i was waiting for a bus today in town, an old man asked me what number i was waiting for and pointed out my bus to me when it was approaching the bus stop.
salespeople are friendly.
you can return stuff you have bought if you dont like it. or if it doesnt fit.
dogs are walked any time of the day and they dont have the urge to pee at every lamp-post.
jack russells are attracted to alfa romeos (or rather just that one that i saw).
dogs do not bark at other dogs that they meet out on their walk.

i have moved

physically, not this blog.

so that means no internet for possibly the whole time until i am back in singapore. will occassionally try to go online, probably only when i get onto uni campus.

sorry guys... email if you need me. will check every few days.