why wy?

Beautiful, beautiful pictures from chin yuen, travelling parter of karen 'take the mickey' leong. hmm, that sounds like it could be a '50s gangster name...

So Mr Cheng, will you be selling prints?

Many thanks to Mon, who has the best cooking library I know, for a recipie for amok! The texture was exactly right, but something still felt missing. Amok is a famous cambodian curry that is steamed, not boiled, and we couldn't get enough of it during our Siem Reap trip.

This is the queue to get in to the free Bollywood show tonight, and I thought I would be able to get a good seat by arriving an hour early. Needless to say, we didn't even get in, the venue was packed solid by time the queue got close to the entrance gates. Damn, I was really looking forward to a night of bhangra-ing, I even wore a halter top.

The people who got in must have stood in line for a good two hours at least. As a singaporean, from the land of overnight condo camps and hello kitty lines, I feel ashamed. Kena beaten even in 'relaxed' melbourne. To be fair, it felt like the entire NRI population and their grandmother were there, and they have pedigree when it comes to queuing, eg Ghandhi's peaceful revolution, the delhi train stations et al.

There's a nerve interview with norman mailer and he has some choice quotes:

About sixty years ago, I got into a correspondence with this woman. When you're an author, people can send a letter to your publisher to get it to you. So we wrote and wrote and wrote. Finally, I said, "If you're serious and you're coming to New York, take a room at this hotel, and I'll come there, and when you open the door I want you to be stark naked." And it came to pass. That's the nearest I ever came to online dating.

So I did have a few romances by mail. It's not shocking to me. In fact, I can see where it has a libidinous edge, this idea that you can start with a lack of knowledge about someone and, step by step, move into more intimacy.

Q: In the book, you both agree that women "control" men. Could you elaborate?
A: I think women are in control mainly because they see themselves from early girlhood as future coaches. They're in control the way a coach is in control. Coaches can handle athletes who are much more powerful than they are. You have guys who could kill you with a punch, and his little Jewish manager says, "Listen, you dumb fuck! How many times do I have to tell you to keep your right up around your ears? Do I need to tie a string to your fucking head?" And this big oaf of a guy is like, "Gee, ok boss. I'm so sorry." You could use that as a paradigm for marriage.

His latest book is The Big Empty.

Picture this: sunny yet cool, temp is 24, the grass is dry and fuzzy, no ants... it's perfect for a picnic except this: No alcohol allowed. Which is a bit of a pisser, considering that the music and entertainment is so wonderful. Finally, the city has come alive because of the Commonwealth Games. Public transport runs at decent intervals (10 min), there is so much to see and do, but alas everything reverts to normal this weekend. It is like Womad, with lots of world music and percussion groups, the Dohl Foundation (Punjabi drums - let's just say, Indian men are cute, Indian drummers with their well-cut biceps are heavenly) and Liam Teague and the renegades, with their steel drums, were amazing. We queued for over an hour to see les 7 doigts dela main and it was worth it - effortless circus cum physical theatre.

Security is so tight that they don't even allow you to bring in bottled water, unless it is still sealed. Thankfully, they made me empty the nalgene and so missed the thermos of mulled wine, for which we were grateful for since it started turning cold.

I'm feeling generous, so here is Wei's recipe for mulled wine
1 bottle cheap red plonk - you are going to cook it, after all
1 cinnamon stick
5 to 10 cloves
orange peel
I can't remember if I added a piece of star anise, but you can't go wrong
dash of whisky or brandy (some say to add only at the end)

simmer the above on a very tiny fire till it bubbles just so. In a covered saucepan, so we don't lose *too much* alcohol. When it is ready, add sugar to taste (I put about 3 tablespoons).

drink on a cold night.

George Clooney for President! If not for the thought of having someone intelligent in office, let's make american politics watchable again.

Part of the commonwealth games celebration, each country submits a design of a fish, and these are put on barges. There are 71 countries taking part, which gives you a sense of the breath of the British Empire (I would call them colonial bastards, but then again I am blogging in English).

So for Singapore, I'm guessing Luohan fish, or chilli crab, or maybe even those genetically engineered glow in the dark fish, but we are being represented by - the guppy.



Noted, as the sign says, for it's ability to breed. Take that Durex survey. You've just been measuring the wrong species. Malaysia had Arrowana I think.

The lime tree I bought last year is fruiting, and the tomato plant I bought last month came with two green ones (which have ripened and are delicious by the way), with two more peeping out.

This is not a real blog post, more of a space filler in case you think it's been abandoned. The reason: I'm pretty buggered after 10 hours in school, and besides I went over our download limit so the internet isn't much fun. Curse you bit torrent. You are like cocaine, wonderful but deadly. Also a bit bummed out that U2 aren't coming after all, I was hoping to work during the concert, seeing that tickets are all sold out. bah humbug.

Interesting news, let see:
The African runners, here for the commonwealth games, got lost and ended up running on the highway to the airport. The cops had to send a car to pick them, apparently highway running is illegal (unless you can go at 100kmh).

Da pink ting has served me well, but it is time for the dame to retire. The brakes have gone soft and the wheels are crooked, but it costs too much to fix. I took it to the nearest bike shop, and the guy wanted $130 to service and fix it (there's a lot wrong with it). For that price I could get a new bike. I'm not sure if this is a credit to female logic or not, but I just spent the same amount (and a bit more) on a fancy new jacket that is wind and water proof. So now, I would also like to introduce The Blue Terror.



This came with da pink ting, and joe's been using it while he was here. It's called the blue terror because I wasn't comfortable with a racer initially. Once I had no choice (ie not spending more money), I learnt to ride it pretty fast.

The story of the new jacket (which doesn't have a name): It was $350, down to $150 for a few weeks, till the end of the month (feb). So I rock up today, and it is no longer on sale, the guy apologises. But there's still a sign up about the offer, so I point that out. Ah, he says, we forgot to take that down, so we will give you the offer but you will be the last one.

In retrospect, it's a pretty effective sales pitch cos it makes you feel special and that you can't wait. I guess I will know if it was a genuine mistake or a clever marketing gimmick when I walk by tomorrow and see if the sign is still there...