7 Apr 2010 – On the Go Again!

Will be off to Kuantan/E Malaysia tomorrow bright and early and back in SIN Sun. Do not know if there will be a chance to blog? Sun: AmyR baked a yummy pineapple cake and it was warm and fresh with the morning coffee. Thanks Amy and belated Happy Passover. Easter lunch not quite the traditional food but Richard from NZ requested for Paragon’s Crystal Jade’s Dim Sum**** Good food will always be tasty no matter what kind or where or when it is eaten.

Mon: breakfast with Jane, Yong Tau Foo=stuffed tofu, is a clear soup containing a varied selection of vegetables stuffed with  surimi=fish paste These are then sliced into bite-size pieces, cooked briefly in boiling broth and then served either in the broth as soup or with the broth in a separate bowl. Essential accompaniments are spicy, vinegary chili sauce and hoisin sauce. The market@North Bridge Rd- Special Yong Tau Foo*** is one of the stalls with an A for hygiene and A for the food too! Have not been to this market since before the renovation, 5 years ago.

Tue: met Henry for early lunch and looking forward to visiting him in HKG next week. A Single Man**** excellent acting from Colin FIRTH as George, a 52 year old British college professor who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim. George wonders if there is a meaning to life without his partner and is consoled by his closest friend Charley who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student Kenny, who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit. This is a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.

A few times in my life I’ve had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.

4 Apr 2010 – Happy Bday Richard YUNG

Easter/Påske (Norwegian), Pesakh (Hebrew), is the central religious feast for the Christians. After Good Fri is Easter Sun/Resurrection Day, when Jesus rose from the dead and stayed around for 40 days before he ascended into heaven. Easter and the holidays do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars. Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. In Western Christianity, Easter marks the ending of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.

It’s pretty much common knowledge that Easter is a Christian celebration of Christ’s rising, but this holiday also has pagan origins. Where did the colored eggs, cute little bunnies, baby chicks, leg of lamb dinners and lilies come from? They are all symbols of rebirth and the lamb was a traditional religious sacrifice.

Good Fri: family dinner at Les & Ivy’s Sentosa Cove condo. While I was in KCH, a naked body of a young Chinese woman was found drowned in a lap pool of a bungalow just down the road from the condo! What really happened? 

Sat: Tea with Leonard@Max Brenner Chocolate Bar*** Tried to get a ticket@Esplanade for Antonín Dvořák‘s New World Symphony (Czech: Symfonie č. 9 e moll „Z nového světa“), unfortunately sold out. C’est la vie, win some (Buko Nero****) and lose some! Instead had a lovely dinner@Leong Kee’s (Klang) Bah Kut Teh***/pork ribs herbal soup and a pleasant cool drizzly evening walk around the colourful Arab St area.

Reincarnation, resurrection, rebirth, reawakening, renew, revival, etc. For me all those words=learning at various stages in life. Casting away ignorance, prejudices, destructive and negative thoughts or ideas clearing space & room to move forward towards maturity; evolving and flying freely like the beautiful butterfly after the gestation in a cocoon! Am now truly ready for a double rebirth with Resurrection Day falling on the same day as ChingMing 🙂

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances – Robert Flatt

2 Apr 2010 – Betrayal & Crucifixion in AD33

Arrived back in SIN Tue evening, met with Garry ROGERS who was passing by from Australia. Had a great evening catching up with ‘another ageing non-conformist’ 🙂 his words! Thanks for the champagne and the delightful company. Garry has recently built a house in Bali and I am looking forward to taking up his invitation to visit. Relaxing Wed morning, updating mail etc. Later at the office to drop off the lapis in the afternoon and bday dinner with Jo & her family.

May, the adorable and cheeky 31yrs young second daughter managed to pull an April Fool on me over the phone from Norway yesterday! So good to hear her voice and that she is out enjoying nature up in some mountains skiing for the Easter break. Met up for a long breakfast with Lynne ONG, married MICHAELS who is here visiting her son & family. Lynne & I go a long way back… classmate & friend from 1962. She now lives in Cornwall with her husband and hopes to visit her there sometime this year!

Dinner at Buko Nero****@ Tanjong Pager. Italian restaurant with simple decor, managed and owned by a couple, Tracy & Oscar. The food is good for the value, unfortunately I was not allowed to take any pictures of the dishes. While waiting, read Her World and strangely this restaurant is featured in April’s issue. The signature dish Tau Kwa Tower is from the magazine. Have tried to get there a couple of times but there was never an available space in these 20 seats for my big butt! Wise to call and make a reservation, at least a couple of months ahead!

Apr Special Dates:

2 Apr – Happy Bday Marianne HUSTAD

4 Apr – Happy Bday Richard YUNG, Happy Easter and ChingMing

5 Apr – Happy Bday Shirley TONG

12 Apr – Happy Bday Peggy TAN

15 Apr – Happy Bday Lynne ONG/MICHEALS & Aileen KOH

17 Apr – Happy Bdays Anne STENSETH, Sharon KOH & Sara LAM

22 Apr – Happy Bday Ike BOROWSKY

29 Apr – Happy Bday Stanley LAM

30 Apr – Happy Bday JohnWT CHENG

1 April is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four – Mark Twain